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Interview with
EMILY ULMAN

(21st May, 2025)

Interview by Dave Bruce

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Photo credit: Izzie Austin

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Have you always wanted to be a musician?
Not always, but I’ve always wanted to tell stories. Music just became the most natural way for me to do that. It lets me say things I can’t always find the words for in conversation.

When did you get the song writing bug?
I wrote my first song when I was about six. It was about rollerskating and I’d sing it up and down the driveway while skating laps. I didn’t know it was songwriting at the time, but the feeling of making something up and singing it into the world stuck.

How would you describe your sound? 
Lyrically driven, emotionally layered, and always leaning into mood. Somewhere between folk, indie, and singer-songwriter, though I try not to box it too tightly. If a song wants space, or harmony, or a synthI’ll follow where it goes.

Why do you think people resonate with your music?
I think there’s something comforting about hearing a feeling said out loud that you didn’t know anyone else felt. I try to write honestly and with detail, of those quiet, specific moments that somehow become everyone’s.

Which artist’s music and/or performance, past or present, inspires you today?
So so many. Leonard Cohen, always. Paul Kelly for his storytelling. Sharon Van Etten for how she holds vulnerability and power in the same breath. And Fiona Apple, for the way she makes music that is entirely and unapologetically her own. And Stephin Merritt, for his dry wit, devastating turns of phrase and commitment to the long game of songwriting (and not giving a fuck).

Your new single ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’ has just been released!  Describe its origin and evolution.
It started with a Japanese proverb I couldn’t stop thinking about: “the reverse side has a reverse side.” That idea of contradiction and complexity and that nothing is ever just one thing kept showing up in my thoughts, and eventually in the song. I had also just been on a picnic with friends in regional Victoria and was struck by the landscape. It felt both pristine and overgrown at once, which mirrored what I was writing. Mountains Mountains Mountains is about the coexistence of opposites, the slow work of perspective, and the kind of resilience that doesn’t always look like strength.

Is there an EP or Album on the drawing board?
Yes, the album is finished and will be out later this year. Mountains Mountains Mountains and Every Hillside are the first songs from it. They mostly hold the mood of the record lyrical, landscape-heavy, emotionally honest, but there are other shades still to come. I’m equal parts excited and terrified, which feels about right.

Any tours or events coming up soon?
I’m playing an intimate show at Merri Creek Tavern on Sunday 2 June with Alec Ilyine (BEL), which will be really special. There’ll be more live shows on the way as the album rolls out; small rooms, big feelings.

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What are you looking forward to, and what can the fans expect?
I’m looking forward to releasing more songs and building something around them that feels connected. I’ve been on the other side of the industry for a long time, so it’s been a shift stepping back into the artist role. But I’m loving it. Fans can expect lyrical storytelling, soft harmonies, mood lighting, and probably a quiet joke in between songs that only two people laugh at. That’s usually enough.

If you could perform with any music artist, Alive or Dead, who would you choose? And why? 
Jonathan Richman. I would not speak, just observe. I’d happily play triangle. Or turn pages.

What are your long-term aspirations as a music artist and how are you progressing towards them?
To keep writing music that feels honest and a little unexpected. To be part of a broader creative conversation in Australia and beyond. And to make records that still hold up years later. I’m working towards that by taking my time, trusting my instincts, and collaborating with brilliant people who care deeply about the work.

With that in mind, what piece of advice would you give to an artist starting out?
Build your community. Not just an audience, but actual peers. Other artists, writers, producers and people you can learn from, grow with and lean on. The industry is unpredictable. The people are what make it worthwhile.

What is the best thing about performing to a live audience?
It’s a kind of magic you don’t get from streaming stats. Just people, in a room, feeling the same thing at the same time.

What’s been the career highlight so far?
It’s hard to top co-creating Isol-Aid during lockdown and seeing artists connect with audiences from across the globe. But this new chapter, returning to music on my own terms, feels quietly huge. I think the highlight is still unfolding.

Finally, a few questions for some quick answers –
FAVOURITE:
Album – 69 Love Songs by The Magnetic Fields (today, at least)
Artist – Fiona Apple, with a rotating cast of close seconds
Movie – The Long Goodbye
Place to visit – Any small town bakery on a regional tour. I’m pie mad
Venue to play – The Forum, Melbourne
Food – Toast, obviously. Preferably on my mum’s freshly baked woodfire stove bread.
Drink – A perfectly made hot chocolate, no syrup, no shortcut. Proper.
Person in History – My Booba or Zeyda
Tattoo – Western Bulldogs 2016 Premiership cup. No regrets. No revisions.

EMILY ULMAN
Upcoming Tour Dates:

MON 2 JUN | MERRI CREEK TAVERN, NORTHCOTE VIC
Tickets

Stream: Mountains Mountains Mountains

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Follow EMILY ULMAN
Instagram – Facebook – Spotify

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Press Release 8th May 2025 (below) HERE

EMILY ULMAN
shares evocative new single
MOUNTAINS MOUNTAINS MOUNTAINS

Stream: ‘Mountains Mountains Mountains’

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AMNPLIFY – DB