Zara Richards

Australia is a country that’s welcomed you with open arms for the better part of three decades. When did it click that you had a fanbase here? And when did you fall in love with us? I first came with [musical collective] Beats International at the beginning of the ’90s [Australia] is the other side of the world, but then you get there and it feels familiar because we speak the same language and have the same sense of humour and style. It’s a really interesting mix of the exotic and the familiar.

Rum Jungle have been releasing music since 2017. When did you realise you were ready to drop a full-length project? We put together the band and had no idea what we were doing. The three of us at the front – me, Maje [Kolmajer] and Josh [Giles] – were going to be three dudes on acoustic guitar and maybe some box drums. But then, we just fell into being a band.

Going back to the beginning, what artists inspired you to get into songwriting growing up? I was very inspired by folk-leaning artists, such as Johnny Flynn and Fleet Foxes. I loved the transportive nature of that lush, organic sound. Congratulations on the release of Light Sleeper! It’s a wonderful record. Walk us through the building process – how have you evolved as an artist between the release of this record and your previous work? What inspires you as an artist now?