Success has hit an all-time high for Moe singer-songwriter Darcy Fox.
Not only is she grounded beyond her years, the musician is releasing her first official EP, entitled ‘My Own Happy Ending’, which will be available on Friday.
The release of the EP was made possible when the 21 year-old guitarist won the FReeZa Push Start Battle of the Bands held at Moomba, defeating more than 350 acts.
The official launch is a show for all ages at The Push Pop Up Shop in Northcote on Sunday, which is part of the Darebin Music Feast.
Despite her accomplishment and plans to move to Melbourne, Ms Fox said the Latrobe Valley would always feel like home.
“It’s taken years of crafting my own identity and influences from all different places to create who I am today. I’m a country girl at heart though. I love the life down here, and this will always be my home,” Ms Fox said. It has been an exciting year for the young musician, who recently returned from her ‘Tale of Three Cities’ tour in July.
The two-week Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide stint was the first for Ms Fox, who performed with two other singer-songwriters – Imogen Clark and Paige Renee Court.
Ms Fox, whose dream is to one day play at Nashville, Tennessee, is currently preparing for her tour in New Zealand with Ms Court next month.
The pair will be backpacking, spending an extensive amount of time traveling across the country on buses, and even busking to add to the overall tour experience.
Ms Fox said the adventurous tour would make the young musicians feel like ‘traveling gypsies’.
The singer-songwriter counts Taylor Swift, Ed Sheeran and Passenger as her musical influences, and said she would never feel comfortable changing her ‘authentic self’.
“I would never feel comfortable with changing who I am, into the image of like the ‘sexy pop star’ clich . That’s just what I think, and it’s not within me,” she said.
“I’ve had a lot of trouble figuring out what kind of artist and genre I am in, but I do love country music and I take a lot of influence from it,” she said.
Knowing about the struggles that aspiring musicians can go through from personal experience, Ms Fox said perseverance was the key to anyone trying to achieve something in life. Ms Fox has created quite a following via social media sites, beginning with Myspace and more recently Facebook and Youtube.
But the real following, she said, were the people she met at gigs across regional Victoria.
“I’m glad I have that presence, where I am playing in different places and making myself known… if nothing’s happening for yourself then make it happen and make your own opportunities,” Ms Fox said.
According to the young musician, ‘My Own Happy Ending’ is ‘very different’ from her first independent album, ‘Unprotected Grounds’ because it explores the angrier side of relationships and uses a Cajun box drum, for a more acoustic sound.
“The new songs are all very similar, because I’m a very personal songwriter and I sing about things that have happened to me, which I feel makes a connection with the audience” she said.
“I’ve always wanted this and I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, maybe sometimes you feel like it’s not worth it and nothing’s going to happen, but this life is your only chance and you got to make it happen.”
*Sarah Price is a Monash University journalism student
