Grace Woodroofe Reclaims Her Name

Perth-born/Melbourne-based singer/songwriter Grace Woodroofe has just released a new single, Beginning, the first glimpse of a forthcoming album which details her resilience and recovery during the course and aftermath of a toxic relationship. BOB GORDON spoke with Grace Woodroofe ahead of her WA shows on Monday, April 24 at The Ellington and Wednesday, April 26 at Mojos.

You recently completed a run around the East Coast in support of Ben Harper, how did it feel to return to the stage in that way?

It was just the most perfect and amazing welcome back. It couldn’t have gotten any better. It was the most joyous thing to be back on stage. I was playing new songs for the first time. The audiences were so receptive, and obviously to be with Ben, who I basically started with, was such a gorgeous reunion. It was just the perfect welcome back and a very lucky one (laughs).

I guess a good proportion of his audience would be familiar with your music and story, knowing that he has been a mentor for you over the years. Was it a warm embrace?

It really was. I went out into the crowds and at the merch desk after my set at every show, and I heard some amazing stories. Some people said they’d seen us play together in New York many years ago and different people in Philadelphia as well. It’s just incredible that his fans really do follow him around the world and I’m lucky to be a part of it too.

You’ve just released your first single in eight years, a song titled Beginning. It’s really beautiful right from the get-go, the whole thing sounds like a new dawn… because that’s what it is, isn’t it?

Thank you. Yes, it absolutely is. It’s been a long time between releases. I’ve been writing this record for a few years now. And Beginning just felt like the right one to start with, sort of detailing my absence from the industry and what I’ve been going through the last several years. It’s terrifying and exciting at the same time. The day before the song came out, I was like a nervous, anxious wreck and then the morning when I woke up and the song was out, I felt such calm. Like it was the right thing to do.

The song sounds ethereal, but it sounds real as well. It’s ethereal and real and warm and unsure yet reassuring…

Wow, that’s so lovely to say. That’s definitely what I’ve wanted to do with this record. I know ultimately, my audience have always really resonated with my honesty, and certainly the delivery of those songs in being so raw and honest, I really wanted to make it that way, especially given the subject matter of the songs. I just wanted to be as truthful and revealing as possible because I feel like that’s what people really resonate with in my music.

You’ve been very open in that sense. It’s not just like another album coming out. It is something of a comeback to the industry as such, but a lot of the songs, I believe, are about you having to lift yourself out of what was a difficult relationship. With the honesty that you have, it means that you’re going to be talking about that a lot. Is that something that you had to consider? I mean, here we are right now…

Yeah, so before I launched the whole thing, I was talking with my team, and they were wanting to be protective of me and asked what I thought was acceptable to talk about and how much and what would I be comfortable with? And I said, ‘I feel ready to reveal it all. I feel like I’m out of it enough that I can look at it as something that I experienced but I can reflect on it and not be too emotionally devastated going through the details again.’ But to be honest, like once I started doing press, and even just posting about it and trying to be vulnerable with people, it has felt quite heavy reliving it and going through such detail.

And we’re only one song in (laughs). So gosh, I have to look after myself too. But I also just really, really feel like it’s important to share the story just for people to know what’s been happening and most importantly I want to help others that have been through similar experiences and be a voice for them or even just help people understand the phases and the signs of emotional abuse.

You’ve also reclaimed your name. In 2015 you moved more towards electronic music and changed your artist name to RW Grace. I recall it was also related to Grace Sewell establishing a profile as a performer. It stemmed more from the relationship though, didn’t it?

Yeah, exactly. So with that Grace part, there were a lot of Graces popping up at the time. That was a small part of it, but to be honest, the main reason I changed it was because at the time when I was in that relationship, my partner kind of ridiculed singer/songwriters, he thought they were really cheesy and would openly make fun of them in front of me and mock them. He never said it to me directly at the time, but you know, I am a singer/songwriter. That is me, you know?

It is. He’s also mocking a significant part of the history of popular music…

I think it all stems from his insecurity. I think he wanted to be one and he couldn’t be so you know, a lot of that. I mean, we could delve into the psyche of it (laughs) but I wanted to and slowly did change who I was and the sound and sort of rebranded. I was trying to become something a little more left-of-centre, a little more electronic, or to be seen more as a band even though I was still essentially a solo artist. And, I’ve said this before, but I still love those songs and all the work that I put out as RW Grace, because that’s still very much the heart of me and I put everything into my songwriting, but it was just like the representation, I think.

And that time is also so muddied with that relationship. With everything that I was doing at that time I was so desperately trying to keep him happy that everything else went by the wayside. I was cancelling shows and I was missing opportunities because I was so focused on him and trying to keep him happy and do what he thought was acceptable. And certainly in my career as well, like he had a big say in all of that stuff. So, it’s like a dark… it’s a dark time to reflect on.

It must be very empowering as a person and as an artist to reclaim your name, and go, ‘Here I am. It was me all along’…

Exactly, yeah. And I hope my fans and people get that too. I never went away; there was a slight detour, but my heart and soul have always been in this from the very beginning. And now I can just fully embrace exactly who I am as a singer/songwriter. I’m proud of it.

Given everything we’ve spoken about, with the songwriting process overall, did you know what you wanted to go for? Or was it more instinctual as you went?

Actually, the concept and everything came to me quite early on, like the sonic sort of realm. I definitely knew that I wanted to make a project about my relationship, because there was so much to unpack personally, cathartically and as I became stronger and shared more of my story with other collaborators and friends and people, it made me realise that the story could have some power behind it and that it was almost timely, in a way, as well. A lot of women are kind of standing up and saying this behaviour isn’t acceptable. So, it became for justice or something, and sonically it started to fall into place as I was writing.

I began writing it all on my own, just on GarageBand in my lounge room, with a piano. Then, as I slowly started to collaborate with others, the sound was forming and I really wanted it to be honest and bare at times and then at other times, lush and confronting and angry. I wanted all the songs throughout the album to mirror the emotions that I was feeling throughout the stages of the relationship. You know, when you begin it’s beautiful and light and joyous. And then as it travels down the timeline, there are red flags and paranoia, and things like that. And then complete darkness. All these different emotions, I wanted to sonically follow. So, the album isn’t one genre. It’s almost like a soundtrack to the relationship.

How will you feel going out and performing these songs live?

I’ve been performing live; it just naturally seeps through me as I’m playing. And in order to give the best performance of the song I think I do have to zone out into that world that I had written it in. Certainly, on the Ben Harper tour, by the end of every show, I was exhausted (laughs) because I had absolutely given everything, and I think that’s just what people resonate with as well. And I’ve had people come up and share their own stories and then send messages and things like that. So, it’s really important for me to be able to access those emotions and share them.