Set Free

I was born and raised in Adelaide and now call Melbourne home. We did not have the money for formal music lessons, no matter how often I asked, cried or begged, but that never weakened the drive. I learned by taking every chance available: leading school choirs, singing in church and eventually serving as a worship minister.

I think deeply, feel deeply, and notice what others often miss. I'm obsessed with travel and culture. I care about people's wellbeing, sometimes more than they even realise about themselves. That perspective finds its way into everything I write.

I've been misunderstood and mislabelled more times than I can count. But I've learned that being misunderstood doesn't mean you're wrong. It often means you're seeing something others aren't ready for yet.

My journey has not been simple. Childhood was shaped by family violence, an abusive father and a mother who struggled to regulate overwhelming emotion. In adulthood I survived abusive relationships, coercive control, addiction, PTSD and the loss of Mum. Each time life knocked me down, music gave me a way to stand again.

The stages kept coming: I twice reached the grand final of Adelaide's Search for a Star, reached the Top 100 of Australian Idol, performed as a drag artist and opened Feast Festival in 2012. But the purpose is not trophies or fame. It is finding the voice I was denied and using it to reach someone else.

I'm Still Here brings that purpose together. It is for the person searching for a song that can say what they cannot yet say, and for anyone who needs proof that being knocked down is not the end of the story.