Naomi Robinson performs ‘Paper Hats’, and talks to the Music Editor about her music.
Tess Bury: When did you start making music?
Naomi Robinson: I started learning guitar when I was ten on this little High School Musical acoustic. After that I started writing music in my basement, and tried to start a band with friends from school. I was really shy so I tried to get heaps of people to come and make music so it wouldn’t be awkward, but it just ended up being really cramped. Then I got a Tascam recorder and started tracking guitar and looping beats off YouTube, but now I just use Ableton and a boss loop pedal which is a bit easier and less time consuming as a Tascam records each instrument individually.
Who are your biggest influences?
I’ve been getting into more rap stuff, at the moment I really like Tyler, The Creator and Odd Future. Tyler is in both the projects and is so good at keyboard. I’ve been trying to learn his stuff from YouTube tutorials. I also just discovered Dorothy Ashby who was a Jazz harpist in the sixties. Her album Dorothy Ashby Afro Harping is amazing and it’s really cool to hear music from a harp because it has thirty six strings, so there are so many chord and harmony progressions you could do. Dorothy is a certified harp shredder.
What is the culinary equivalent to your music?
Blue cheese. It’s stinky but it tastes good.
Best gig you’ve ever played?
My favourite gig was at Jack rabbit Slims, it’s not the venue as much but it was because it was during the end of our tour and the last show we played supporting North East Party House. It felt like we had really become a family and gotten to know each other so it was nice to play the last show in our hometown. Plus, I got to stage dive and nearly died when the crowd dropped me…
What do you have planned for the future?
I just started a solo project called Playground, and I’m really looking forward to playing some shows around Perth and to just keep writing more music.