Pulled from my second EP Bitter Sweet Memories Paradise is one of my favourite tracks from the EP. The DIY record was a lot of fun to make and some of the best memories come from working on this song.
I wrote Paradise whilst visiting Sydney in 2015, on a day my family decided we had to go to Manly, on a ferry, during torrential rain and rough waters. Now as someone who gets easily sea sick I wasn’t particularly happy with the situation, and was feeling quite green by the end. BUT, when we reached the jetty at Manly the storm had passed, the sun was out and it turned out to be a picture perfect afternoon. It inspired this idea of a perfect place, somewhere we can go to escape the shit we’re currently dealing with.
I recorded this track with a bunch of mates, all DIY and a disorganised like the uni students we were at the time. It’s funny to look back at the EP now two years later and see how far the songwriting, production quality and friendships have changed. I’m getting ready to release new music this year, working with the amazing producer Jared Adlam. But this track helped pave the way to make it possible. It also helped me find one of the greatest friends I’ve ever known.
During recording we really wanted to add a violin. I can play one, but I’m pretty average and didn’t want to play on the track. Luckily, whilst we were recording in the studios at uni, a great violinist, Gabrielle Kerr, was auditioning for our music degree. I introduced myself and asked if after her audition she’d like to come hang out in the studio and play on the track. Surprisingly she said yes, and I’m glad she did. Two years later she has played on almost all my tracks and has become of my closest friends. We even live in a share house together with two other musicians. It’s certainly a musical household.
Paradise ultimately is a song about escaping a gloomy future to a place you can decide your future. It’s striving for a world where you are free to be yourself, where no one can stop you from living up to your potential.
Catherine
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Catherine Gunther 