MANE: ‘I love anthemic pop music’

“My immune system decided to crash in Edinburgh and I pretty much lost my voice,” says Adelaide indie pop artist Paige Renee Court, known as MANE. “I was just backstage napping before I went on.”

Having just returned from a recent recording session in Los Angeles and a whirlwind thirteen date tour of the UK and Europe, Court is feeling somewhat worse for wear.

“I’ve been burning the candle at both ends lately,” she says, “and because I’ve been in this funk lately. I’m like ‘hey everyone, lets go party!’”.

Court has been incredibly prolific so far this year, performing to industry representatives and prospective festival bookers at the Made in Adelaide showcase at the Edinburgh Fringe.

Arts South Australia partnered with Scottish music business event organisation Born to Be Wide to showcase local talent. The showcase also featured fellow Adelaide artists Carla Lippis and Wanderers.

“Touring Europe forced me to be organised,” she says. “The crowds were really receptive, just pin drop silence. I’d like to go back next year to the UK and Europe. America is a bit hard [to return to] because you have to get a visa and it’s just so ridiculously expensive.”

Her new single What If The Love Dies was produced in collaboration with Grammy and ARIA award winning producer Eric J, known for his engineering work on Chet Faker’s breakout album Built on Glass and Flume’s sophomore album Skin.

“I love anthemic kind of pop music… that’s what I want to be making,” Court says. “I’ve been listening to a lot of Lorde’s new album, I think it’s amazing. I think she knows all the secrets of the world.”

The song itself is an exploration of desire and longing that was written in response from the personal experiences of a friend.

“For the most part it is personal, but in this case I could relate to it.  One of my friends was in a long distance relationship — the person lived here and his visa ran out and he had to go back to Argentina. They’d been together for a few years and it was all very hard. I just caught her on a day where this big thing happened and he didn’t know if he ever wanted to even come back to Australia but she then decided she would go chase him.”

“She was literally a mess crying to me and she said, ‘What if the love dies?,’ and I thought, ‘That’s a great line’.”

MANE will return to Adelaide for a hometown show before performing headline shows in Melbourne, Wollongong and Sydney. As a rising new talent, Court is apprehensive but enthusiastic about the east coast jaunt.

“I’m kind of nervous, but excited. It’s my first headline tour so I’m not really sure what to expect but I know I’ve done everything I can do. I’m looking forward to it.”

MANE with special guests Neon Tetra and Little Dust
Friday 27 October
Rocket Bar & Rooftop
Tickets via moshtix.com.au

What If The Love Dies is out now

Header photo: Ryan Cantwell