Today, I have the pleasure of sitting down with Melbourne-based alt-pop artist Sunset Salore, who is quickly making waves in the music scene with her distinctive sound and evocative lyrics. Known for blending funky basslines with catchy hooks, Salore’s music captures the micromoments of contemporary life with a fresh perspective.
Her debut EP, ‘Love Kills The Monsters,’ is set to release on October 4th, and it promises to be a compelling exploration of human connection and emotional depth. This is what she said about the upcoming release:
“It is a 7 track EP, so a long EP or short album, whatever way you want to look at it. We will do a full band launch in Melbourne, Australia, early in the new year, once everyone gets over the Christmas crazy period!
With singles like ‘Call It’ and ‘Mystery and Magic’ already resonating with audiences, Salore is poised to establish herself as a rising star in the alt-pop genre.
In this interview, we’ll delve into her creative process, musical inspirations, and what fans can expect from her upcoming EP.
Listen to Mystery and Magic below
Follow Sunset Salore on
What is your stage name
Sunset Salore (salore pronounced sai-lor)
Is there a story behind your stage name?
It’s a play on the word ‘sailor’. The idea of sailing off into the sunset – everyone loves a good sunset, right!
Where do you find inspiration?
Everyday life is what inspires me the most. It’s easy to take inspiration from the big things, but the little things are what intrigues me. A lot of my music is about moments that are pivotal, or the sum of a lot of moments which get to that pivotal point. There’s inspiration in everything, and often those things are the most relatable.
What was the role of music in the early years of your life?
I sung in choirs growing up, so harmony and music was always a fun part of my life, but I played piano, violin, clarinet, drums, guitar, you name it. I can’t say I was amazing at any of them and singing was always my main instrument, though piano has stuck with me, but I loved music in all it’s forms. To this day I collect musical instruments and still take immense joy from that.
Are you from a musical or artistic family?
My great grandfather was a pianist on the Belfast music halls in Northern Ireland. He had an act with his brother who was a singer. Apparently they were quite popular in the 1920’s or thereabouts! My grandfather bought me my first keyboard in the 1980’s, a lovely little Casio which is still in my parents house.
Who inspired you to be a part of the music industry?
I don’t think it was a conscious decision influenced by one single point of inspiration, but I always loved listening to music, going to gigs, and singing, so I guess it just happened organically from being around music a lot.
How did you learn to sing/write/to play?
Well, I took piano lessons as a child after the keyboard was gifted to me by my grandfather. I didn’t start songwriting until much more recently when I was working with Freedom Music Studios in their Artist program. That challenged me to get out of my comfort zone and to try my hand at writing. It’s a skill I’ve been trying to hone since then, though I’ve been working with KYE on my more recent songwriting efforts and I really think we’ve got into a good rhythm!
What was the first concert that you ever went to and who did you see perform?
This is a hazy one for me, but I think the first major one for me might have been Take That. (If you want to be precise about it, it was probably some Disney show when I was 3 or something!) It snowballed from there and they all merged into an onslaught of gigs – which was wonderful! My first artist that I bought however was probably Kylie Minogue or Michael Jackson both on cassette. The first CD was Bon Jovi. Now I’m showing my age… !
How could you describe your music?
I’ve seen it evolve over the years and it has merged a few genres to the point I found it hard to label this latest body of work. The closest we’ve been able to label it as is Alt-Pop. For me that means funky baselines, catchy hooks, something to move your feet to, while telling stories of contemporary everyday life micromoments.
Describe your creative process.
Lately what has been working for me is either writing on my Roland digital piano connected to my BOSS RC-600 looping station to capture the key hooks and then writing melodies and lyrics over the top. Or, the other method has been to work up something digitally in a DAW and then extrapolating the digitised concept out into something more fully fleshed.
I meet with my coach, KYE, weekly and we work up a demo from wherever I have landed to that point. From there I have been enjoying taking the songs that make the shortlist into the recording studio, where I’ve really enjoyed them being worked up to the next level.
I’ve been working with Spud Thompson in production, and I’ve rewritten some parts of the tracks in the moment depending on what they needed. It has been a collaborative process.
What is your main inspiration?
I’ve listened to a lot of older funk, jazz and soul in the writing of this EP, and have included a lot of influences from these eras/genres. I like making a new sound based on what feels right in the moment, not necessarily staying true to a particular genre.
What musician do you admire most and why?
I love Florence Welch from Florence and the Machine (I even named my cat after her), because of her vocal agility, ability to convey emotive concepts and write consistently interesting music. She’s fantastic live too.
Did your style evolve since the beginning of your career?
Yes, absolutely, though not necessarily consciously. It also varies depending on the instrument I’m playing, so for instance while drumming, I much preferred rock compared to what I might sing, or listen to when practicing guitar for example. I guess the common thread is that my musical taste is eclectic.
Who do you see as your main competitor?
I don’t believe in having competition in this space. The music world is tough enough without trying to compare yourself or fight for attention over others. I think we can lift each other up, learn from each other, and celebrate music instead.
What are your interests outside of music?
I volunteer for a charity called Rafiki Mwema www.rafikimwema.com who support vulnerable children in Kenya who have faced abuse. We support them through the justice system, as well as to regain physical health and offer access to psychosocial support during the process.
Check them out, the work is incredible, and they need funds to continue the work.
I also love animals and have 3 cats and a horse who keep me busy!
If it wasn’t a music career, what would you be doing?
I would be working in marketing, which is what I do currently to support my music career! If I won the lottery though, I’d do music and charity work full time. Maybe there’s even a novel in there waiting to be written, who knows. It’d be a tough ask for me to give up music though.
What is the biggest problem you have encountered in the journey of music?
Once I figured out the path on which to hone my skills (and that never ends), and the steps to record and release music, the challenge really is funding. As an independent artist, there’s no big record label propping you up.
If you don’t know how to do something, you have to ask around, or get on Google and hope you got it right. It is expensive to do this properly, and I want to get to a point where my music can fund itself so I can continue to make music.
If you could change one thing in the music industry, what would it be?
Access to fair pay for music. Streaming numbers are impressive, but returns for artists are so little that it can be really, really tough for an artist to make a living doing this craft.
Why did you choose this as the title of this project?
Love Kills the Monsters is also the title of an upcoming track on the EP. It was the second track I wrote, and as soon as I did, it became obvious the EP needed to be titled after it. The concept really is about loving your demons away, whether they are personal battles or someone else’s. The idea that kindness can soften or solve for our problems is one I wanted to explore.
What are your plans for the coming months?
Well the first single, ‘Call It’ landed on the 12th July, and this single, ‘Mystery and Magic’ dropped on the 23rd August. So next we are launching the EP in full on the 4th October which is very exciting! It is a 7 track EP, so a long EP or short album, whatever way you want to look at it. We will do a full band launch in Melbourne, Australia, early in the new year, once everyone gets over the Christmas crazy period!
Do you have any artistic collaboration plans
In some of the new material I’m already writing I have some collaborations in mind, but they’re not really at the stage to comment just yet. I’d love to do collabs though! If you’re keen, reach out…!
What message would you like to give to your fans?
Keep supporting live music, particularly independent artists releasing music. We need you and appreciate you SO much for all that you do. If you can’t make it to a gig, share the music with your friends, and add it to your playlist. That goes so far. Other than that, a big THANK YOU for all your support to date.
‘Call It’ has been really well received and it’s thanks to listeners like YOU! Hopefully ‘Mystery and Magic’ will resonate with you just as much. Finally the joys of listening to independent artists like me are that we are small enough to read your messages and chat with you on our social platforms etc so feel free to reach out and follow along! Mystery and Magic
