Mallrat: No Wrong Way To Make Art
Grace Shaw is a rising young artist from Brisbane, Australia. You might know her better as Mallrat, the name under which she releases catchy pop tracks strung together with seemless rap verses. I only came across her music recently, enticed by the music video for ‘Uninvited,’ and instantly hooked from the second the chorus looped in.
That day I wound my way though her numerous tracks; ‘Tokyo Drift,’ ‘Better,’ ‘Suicide Blonde,‘ ‘For Real,’, finally finding a strong connection with ‘Inside Voices.‘ Her light and airy vocals depicting scenarios and emotions I can either personally relate to, or vividly picture in my head, was something that kept me hitting repeat as the days went on. I found myself unconsiously learning all of her lyrics, espeially the raps, and knew I had to talk with her!
Make sure to check out her work if you haven’t already. You’ll either be really happy to have listened, or stuck with a bittersweet curse when her music sticks in your head for days.
First off, can you tell me a little bit about yourself?
I don’t actually enjoy talking about myself!
What pushed you to initially start making music? I’m absolutely obsessed the raps you write, why did you gravitate towards that style of music?
Thank you! I think it’s just a reflection of what I listen to. Though I love hip hop, I feel like my music is more on the pop side of things.
Who are some musicians that inspire you and your sound? I’m assuming The Orwells will be one of them? If I’m correct, you got the name ‘Mallrat’ from one of their songs?
Yes! I love how angsty their music is, it makes me feel like a teenager should feel. I also love Lorde, Kanye, Lana del Rey, ASAP Rocky, Charli XCX, SOPHIE, Post Malone, Skepta, John Mayer, Rihanna, Billie Eilish… a bit of everything.
Growing up in Brisbane, did that influence your music at all? I’ve never been before, so I’m not too sure if they much of a have a music scene!
There are so many great artists from Brisbane, especially bands! The Jungle Giants, Cub Sport, Golden Vessel, WAAX, Gill Bates, Ball Park Music… I was too young to be ‘in the scene’ when I lived in Brisbane, as I moved away last year (when I was 18), but all of those artists have been so supportive since I started making music.
What do you hope to achieve through your music?
I hope that I can make people feel something.
How do you feel about female representation in the music industry? Do you think there’s anything we could be doing to better encourage young female artists?
There’s heaps of work to do, but I think things are improving. A lot of that probably has to do with the internet and how artists are able to control their brand, and find their audiences independently.
I think in general women are less likely to try something if they feel under qualified, whereas men are super confident in their abilities, even if they have no particular reason to be. I hope everybody thinking about making music can find that confidence and remember that everybody’s still learning, and there’s no wrong way to make art.
What exciting new projects can you let us in on? What can we expect from you in the future?
I have an EP out on June 1 called In The Sky! It’s really good ;)
Photo by Michelle Pitris