Name: Robert Baxter
Nationality: Taiwanese/Australian
Occupation: Singer, songwriter, model
Current release: Robert Baxter's new EP PARTYANIMAL is out via Ascent.
Current event: Catch Robert Baxter live in support of Ashnikko at one of these dates.
Fashion Recommendations: For fashion content I am so inspired by Zendaya's Odyssey press tour especially the look with the wings. I want that level of drama always.
And a piece I am obsessed with is the Gata Delgato Mogged Fur Jacket in butter. I wore one in the BRB music video and now I need to get one myself.

If you enjoyed this Robert Baxter interview and would like to find out more about their music, visit them on Instagram, and tiktok.



Do you think that some of your earliest musical experiences planted a seed for your interest in fashion as well?

100%. My first concert as a kid was Lady Gaga’s Born This Way Ball, and I have been in love with flashy and leather and studs ever since.

I have always loved pop stars, like please take it all the way there. I love to see a world built with visuals in the music videos on the covers on stage, too.

I turned into a cat for the cover of the PARTYANIMAL EP, like I want people to gag.

Fashion and music are often closely related to one's identity. Can you please tell us a bit about your own sense of identity – and how it concretely influences your creativity?

My identity is being an unapologetic audacious popstar and my creativity is completely interlocked with that. The music, the fashion, the visuals are an outward expression of my mind.

I am so grateful to have such a diverse community of people around me who inspire me so much. They make me feel safe and secure to do whatever I want.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what role did fashion play for you at the time?

Music was everything to me, I started writing music at this age.

I spent a lot of my time in the dance studio and I was always experimenting with how different music made me move. I dressed so crazy at this time, I wanted to not conform so badly I wore board shorts all the time when I wasn’t swimming etc. I am glad my parents never forced me to “dress normal”.

Mostly I was myself and I’m proud of that. I remember having a really religious family come over and one of the kids around my age saw I had the CD of “I Kissed a Girl” by Katy Perry and she told me it was devil music and I’m going to go to hell and stuff.

It made me giggle and even more excited to listen to it again. Music meant escape and play and expression.

Describe your personal style, please, and how your choice of fashion allows you to express it. Which fashion brands or style icons do you personally find inspiring - and why?

My personal brand is showing up and showing out any occasion that deserves it.

I get decision fatigue so I give myself a sort of rule book, like don’t do makeup or wear heels to go out, save that for when you’re getting paid etc. Or when you’re giving a speech do your version of a blazer, because I can give anything.

I’m a chameleon and I’m never faking it or forcing it. I am me all the time. Rihanna, Doja Cat, Zendaya, Lady Gaga are some of my favourites.

What do fashion and design add to your perception of music?

I love that I can make my stargirl tanks, inspired by the cover of the STARGIRL EP and it creates a world. Someone who is comfortable wearing two red stars on their nips is a star and belongs in the Robert Baxter universe.

That is another layer of the music that is said without even having to use words. It’s a loud comfortability.

I design my own covers, posters and merch and I understand how a font choice or a shirt length says something about my world. It adds so much to the Robert Baxter music world if someone chooses to look.

Fashion can project an image, just like music can. As such, it is part of the storytelling process. What kinds of stories are being told, would you say?

I am telling the story of the rise of a global pop star.

I am saying I’m comfortable, in my skin, in my clothes, everywhere. I am creating drama and displaying excellence.  

Fashion and music can be expressions or celebration of identity, but they can also be an effort to establish new ones or break free from them. How would you describe your own approach in this regard?

I love to break free stereotypes. It’s not a super comfortable space for some people so maybe I’m hoping to make it easier for them.

I know I had these ideas placed onto me from a young age, the nerdy Asian or “do you know karate”, the bitchy gay person or “help me choose my outfit.” I guess maybe I’d feed into it more if it made sense for me but I’m not that book smart and I’m not that bitchy aha.

I express this through fashion and music. I can be loud and soft and sexy and smart and feminine and masc ish and very gay. I can be on an all fem line up and strut out in a bikini micro shorts and boots all while having a man name like Robert Baxter.

Does what you wear change your personality – and thus the music you create or the way you perform?

Hmm no - I would say it’s the other way around, my personality is pretty stubborn and then the music and clothes and performance are an outwards representation of that.

Of course getting into the popstar look helps me get in the mood and channel that part of me, but it’s already there within my personality waiting to be at the forefront.

Are you currently active in the fashion industry? If so, tell me about your experiences, please.

I have modelled for brands and magazines, and walked Melbourne Fashion Week, Melbourne Fashion Festival and Australian Fashion Week. I love modelling and I love fashion, but I have prioritised music, anytime I can connect the worlds I love to.

I think that sometimes a really great model is a blank canvas, they can be moulded to fit different styles, whereas I have a really strong brand that I won’t shut up about. So it probably makes me more suited to being an artist who models vs being a model.

I have rarely heard of actors, authors, or even painters design a piece of clothing – but is quite a regular feat for musicians. Why do you think this is?

Well artists make merch for a lot of reasons, and that is in a way making a piece. There are fans out there who will wear a face or logo slapped on their chest but I like to be a bit more intentional with the designs and have it translate out from the music.

If someone is walking around in a Robert Baxter item they wear it loud and proud which is so special.

Fashion extends to the artwork of releases and promotional photography as well. Could you talk about your approach in this regard and what some considerations were for some of your most recent cover designs and images?

Sometimes I will have the vision of how it looks when I’m writing the song.

I enjoyed dipping into the cat fantasy on “KITTY CAT” so much that it inspired me to call the EP PARTYANIMAL.

My other EPs ‘you wouldn’t expect cupid to cry’, and ‘STARGIRL’ had very intentional art. I would do reshoots when the image didn’t match the vision. Building a visual world is so important to me.