Lucy Botting is Girlboss!

“My friend started her own business and she would make posts with #girlboss. I‘d never really seen it before, but it was like, ”I love it‘. It just struck me as quite a powerful phrase.”

The Wellington musician took that powerful phrase to heart with the March release of a debut EP entitled ‘Body Con‘.

“When I was in Wet Wings I was kind‘a young. [That duo got started when she was 17.] I was really shy and didn‘t really want to share any of the songs I‘d been writing, and to be honest I didn‘t really finish many songs. I started listening to heaps of girl bands and I was like, ‘I wanna do this!‘ It was kind‘a inspiring.”

Teaching herself guitar and writing new material, she co-opted her Wet Wings partner Darian Wood plus Douglas Kelly and Olivia Campion to form Girlboss. She‘s happy to name influences including Chastity Belt, Tops, Kate Bush, Lush, Cocteau Twins and the band Tennis, but still not sure just how to describe the Girlboss sound.

“I don‘t know, ‘cos everyone says it sounds like Real Estate or Mac DeMarco ’cos it‘s like chill, surfy-pop. I‘d just say like chilled pop. Chill rock-pop,” she laughs.

Listening to her song themes and lyrics it‘s clear Botting has imagination and humour. Of the songs on the EP she explains that JBR is about her “childhood obsession” with JonBenet Ramsey, Summer Goth was based on a rollerblading goth woman.

“The Gottage is about like wanting to have a lover but also wanting to have your own space,” she smiles.

“It‘s a cross between a garage and a cottage. It‘s like a childhood in-joke. So, the song is kind of about the humour from that, but also like real shit.”

The song Body Con touches on body consciousness, and it should be no surprise that Botting has some strong female values. She admits to finding working in a very male-dominated industry hard at times.

“I was super aware that I was playing in front of male audiences who had been playing the guitar since they were like 10, and they were really techy. It just made me extra nervous and wound-up because there was that pressure to be really good at my instrument, especially as a woman. I feel like it‘s double pressure on your ability. I want to do a good job on behalf of women.”

As for any advice for those female artists looking to make a start:

“Just do it!”

“I‘ve spent years and years second guessing myself, my songwriting, everything. My advice is to just do it and not give a shit cause that‘s the only way that we are going to have a voice in the music industry.”

Looking to the future, they already have an album written, the band learning those new songs with the hope of recording in June or July.