Bec Sandridge on finding her way from soul-searching and busking the streets to sold-out festival slots
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Bec Sandridge on finding her way from soul-searching and busking the streets to sold-out festival slots

From busking the streets in Glasgow to gaining serious airtime on triple j, the sophisticated and entrancing Bec Sandridge has spent the last few years honing her craft and cementing her place in the music industry.

With her star-status rising each and every year, she already has countless shows under her belt, including support slots for The Rubens, Montaigne and Highasakite, along with appearances at Secret Garden Festival, The Hills Are Alive and Groovin The Moo, just to name a few.

So far, 2017 has seen Sandridge’s latest hit ‘High Tide’ on high rotation on triple j, attracting divided opinion for her Like A Version cover of John Farnham’s ‘You’re The Voice’, as well as embarking on her own headline tour, ‘In The Fog’, in support of her EP of the same name.

“It was good, I just get kind of stressed out when it’s my own show because I convince myself that no one is going to turn up,” she laughs, “but then I end up having the best time ever. I got to do a bunch of DJ sets after the shows, and my band and I got to have a couple of beers and just hang out. Often you just play the show, you get back to the hotel, and then the next morning you leave at like 6am, and it’s pretty bam, bam, bam. But this one was chill, we just got to have fun.”

Along with spending her time scouring Melbourne for the best coffee and consistently running out of Nutri-Grain, Sandridge recently returned to her hometown of Wollongong to perform alongside some of her favourite artists at this year’s edition of Yours and Owls Festival.

“It’s always a bit special,” she says of performing back home. “My parents come along, my uni friends come along and it’s always nice having friends about when you play, especially at a festival. The stages are usually pretty big and it’s pretty scary so even if no one likes what I’m doing, my mum will probably tell me that it’s okay,” she laughs. “And plus, I just moved to Melbourne (well, 10 months ago), and I only get to visit home every four months so when I do it’s pretty special.”

Currently working towards an album, touring Europe in October, and potentially touring Australia in November, the nomadic pop-punk legend got her break when Passenger, who was staying at her Glasgow hostel, invited her to tour with him.

“I was meant to be going back to uni, and I only had like three songs,” she explains, “so I called mum and she just told me I should defer. This was right before Passenger blew up, so the crowds were like 200 capacities. It was a pretty nice introduction to playing shows, it could have been much worse.

“You can never predict anything which is why it’s such a stressful thing, but for me I always want to work really hard and make sure I’m only ever putting out stuff I’m proud of, because at the end of the day, if something is good it will find its own path and its own platform.”

With one of the most unique voices in Australian music at the moment, Sandridge is well on her way to achieving big things and is on the verge of releasing her newest single.

“I just got back my first single and I haven’t recorded in three years, so I’m just really itching to release something new,” she says with a grin. “I recorded all my songs three years ago. I just wanted to take my time in releasing it and I didn’t want to just put stuff out because I had to put stuff out, or work with people because I felt pressured to work with people, because it’s so easy to do that,” she explains. “I’m really proud of it [her music], but I’m really excited about the stuff ahead.”

And so are we. Keep up to date with her movements via her Facebook page.

Written by Talia Rinaldo