Name: Gabriella Cilmi 
Nationality: Australian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Gabriella Cilmi 's new album Pure Love is out via V2.  
Hometown Recommendation: DEFINITELY Stone Henge during the equinox's or solstice’s. 
Things that I am passionate about but rarely get to talk about: I really love historical fiction books my favourite is ‘The Red Tent’ by Anita Diamant and I’m just about to finish the last book in The Wolf Den series called ‘The Temple of Fortuna’ by Elodie Harper.  

If you enjoyed this Gabriella Cilmi interview and would like to know more about her music and upcoming concerts, visit her official homepage. She is also on Instagram, and Facebook. 



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in writing lyrics or poetry? How and when did you start writing? 

My mum is a big Cat Stevens fan and I remember listening to ‘Moonshadow’ one day while we were driving in the car at night, the moon seemingly following us all the way home and being really moved by the lyrics. I think that moment made me truly realise the magic of songwriting, how songs can sometimes mirror life and make you contemplate bigger questions. 

My earliest memory of writing lyrics was in primary school. I wrote a song called ‘I Told A Lie’ which was meant to be sang as a duet so my friend  (who was a boy) and I would perform it in the girls' toilets because we thought our voices sounded nice in there. 

We were around 9 at the time and I’m not sure you could call it a song because there were very few words and the melody was very repetitive but I was really proud. 

Entering new worlds and escapism through music and literature have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to writing?

I love it when a song can express a feeling I haven’t found the words to express yet and it can be really simple like the lyrics in ‘Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood’ (I love the Nina Simone version)

Oh, baby, I'm just human
Don't you know I have faults like anyone?
Sometimes I find myself alone regretting some little foolish thing
Some simple thing that I've done
Cause I'm just a soul whose intentions are good
Oh Lord, please don't let me be misunderstood
Don't let me be misunderstood

What were some of the artists and albums which inspired you early on purely on the strength of their lyrics? What moves you in the lyrics of other artists? 

Definitely Cat Stevens records like ‘Tea for the Tillerman’  and ‘Teaser and the Firecat”.

I’ve always loved ‘Morning has Broken’ which I thought was written by Cat Stevens, but later discovered it’s actually a traditional Christian Hymn, the words by an author called Eleanor Farjeon. 



I love the feeling of hopefulness and renewal the lyrics convey and I’ve always loved songs that capture elements of nature. 

I was inspired by those lyrics on my track ‘Pure Love’. I wanted to express how sometimes in order to move forward you have to surrender and that connecting with the natural world can give you a new perspective

Sometimes I get like, I got nothing to give 
So I let the moonlight, underneath my skin 
Just to feel like the fire inside is still within my reach 
And feel the hurting return into ashes in spite of me

Have there been song lyrics which actually made you change (aspects of your life? If so, what do you think, leant them that power? 

I think every time I hear a song that moves me I am changed in someway. I feel like it gives me more permission accept my imperfections or helps me to feel less alone. 

‘Change’ by Big Thief is one of those songs I come back to especially when i’m feeling fear around the passing of time or loss. I love these lyrics …

Death, like a door
To a place we've never been before
Death, like space
The deep sea, a suitcase
Would you stare forever at the sun
Never watch the moon rising?
Would you walk forever in the light
To never learn the secret of the quiet night?



It is sometimes said that “music begins where words end.” What do you make of that? 

I think contemplating life, writing it down and computing is one thing and it can be very powerful. 

But perhaps by adding the extra layers of melody and chords to accompany the words you can explore more texture and capture more emotion.

The relationship between words and music has always intrigued me. How do you see it? In how far can music take you to places with your writing you would possibly not have visited without it? 

Sometimes when I’m writing, a melody might come to me before the lyrics do and in order to make that melody feel good to sing you are restricted in the words you can use … 

Like for instance, the word that you feel most appropriately says what you want to convey might have too many syllables or maybe the rhyming scheme is off. Sometimes though thats a good thing and the limits make you come up with something you might not have before and work out to be more interesting. 

On my first album I remember feeling stressed because I couldn’t find a word that made “sense” to fit a line in the chorus of a song called ‘Got No Place To Go’. 



The only thing that fit the melody was the word caterpillar and the lyric ended up being “There's a caterpillar in my soul”, the producer ended up really liking that line in particular. 

I think the fact that the melody required that exact about of syllables and rhythmic sound, having that resection really worked and I don’t think I wouldn’t have thought of that line if I had the lyrics prepared before the melody.

What are areas/themes/topics that you keep returning to in your lyrics? 

I was signed really young, I was only 13 and I feel like I’ve explored this topic on more then one track on my new album including one called ‘Too Far Gone”. 

A topic i’ve really enjoyed exploring is that whole idea of ‘The Good Girl’. Especially growing up in the 00’s, we were taught through school, media etc that to be agreeable and pleasing to others is important for women. I co-wrote the lyrics to ‘No to A King’ with a woman called Anna Krantz who’d had some similar experiences to me with being signed young. 

I purposely seemed out female collaborators on this record as it was important to be to tell my story through the female gaze. 

On the basis of a piece off your most recent release, tell me about how the lyrics grew into their final form and what points of consideration were. 

I co-wrote ‘Pieces’ with a brilliant artist called Julia Church. She had some chords on the go that I thought were really reminiscent of Roberta Flack. 

It was the chords and melody that  came first and naturally a story unfolded about seeing someone you once loved with someone else and all the flood of emotions and questions that come with that. 



The song was written on piano but we recorded it live with a back to tape and that happened about a year later. The time in- between I spent workshopping ideas with the band and getting the lyrics ironed out here and there but it didn’t stray too much from the original idea. For me its all about how the lyrics sound when I sing them and can I convey the emotion that I want to.

Sometimes something looks great written down but doesn’t feel great when it comes to singing it. 

Do you tend to start writing with what will be the first line of the finished lyrics? The chorus? At a random point? What are the words that set the process in motion?

Sometimes it starts with a lyric, something that I’ve written down in a notebook somewhere. Often I have a melody before a lyric and then I just start with whatever pops into my brain and move forward as if anticipating the next part of the song. 

If I overthink and do things too methodically I usually don’t get very far. It’s important to let the idea and the lyrics be imperfect and then iron out bits and bobs later. 

I used to edit a lot while I was going but that wasn’t very helpful.

I'd love to know how you think the meaning or effect of an individual song is enhanced, clarified or possibly contradicted by the EPs, or albums it is part of. Does the song, for example, need to be consistent with the larger whole? 

Thats an interesting question. 

I think the track listing of the album is really important when you are listening as a whole experience. Peter Miles who produced my new album is a great believer in this and really helped me put the puzzle pieces together so it feels like a journey from beginning to an end. 

The album is called ‘Pure Love’ for a reason and I wanted the overall listening experience to feel raw and honest but also hopeful and up-lifting. 

I think putting a song like ‘Pure Love’ which is uplifting and about coming home to yourself ...



... next to a track like “No To A King’- a critique on the outdated patriarchal ideas society projects on to women, makes both songs feel more powerful and you can feel how they are inter-connected.  



When you're writing song lyrics, do you sense or see a connection between your voice and the text? Does it need to feel and sound “good” or “right” to sing certain words? What's your perspective in this regard of singing someone else's songs versus your own? 

I love it when songs take on a brand new meaning when interpreted by different artists like ‘Hallelujah’ by Leonard Cohen sang by Jeff Buckley …



... or Nina Simone’s version of ‘Don’t let me Be Misunderstood’.



Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you feel as though writing song lyrics or poetry is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

I had this conversation with someone recently who believed it WAS different but I don’t think I agree. 

Part of me thinks we are all creating art every minute of the day with our thoughts, words and actions.