Words by Selin Ruby Kaya
With a wealth of words available at our disposal in the 21st century, it’s difficult sometimes to find ones which align with our values and in the music realm, represent our artwork.
This is something which lead singer and guitarist Alannah Sawyer from Naarm based alt-rock trio Babyccino has grappled with and eloquently executed in her band’s debut EP, Stomach Bug.
The band, consisting also of members Harry Green (drums) and Cecilia Carrasco (bass), formed through a mixture of high school and family friendships. Their unique name, Babyccino, stemmed from people’s perception of Sawyer’s age.
“A lot of people when I meet them… they often think I’m 16 years old, because I look quite young,” she said.
“And someone at work once told me that I looked 14 years old – and they were being serious – when I’m 21. I was like, ouch!” she laughed.
Whilst Sawyer sometimes found humour in their assumptions, she found it frustrating when it came to being understood as an adult.
“So I thought that as babyccino is a children’s drink, it’s kind of a play on [words] of how people view me as being a young woman when really I’m an adult,” she said.
“I thought it was fun as well.”
Babyccino’s debut EP Stomach Bug sonically represents a diverse range of alternative rock sounds, ranging from rolling guitar moments in ‘Thorny Rose’ to brassier elements in ‘Memento Mori’ which all contribute to a more full sounding record, adding layer upon layer of detail.
Sawyer gained inspiration predominantly from her dad, who is a huge David Bowie fan.
“My dad is pretty into music, and he had a big influence on me growing up,” she said.
“He’s a massive David Bowie fan so naturally I kind of had to be, which had a big influence on me.”
Bowie fans alike would therefore delight in Babyccino’s eccentric style which is full of quirks and left of field production elements.
Whilst Sawyer’s dad played his part in influencing her style, she also drew upon her own personal experiences as a woman in constructing the EP. This is perhaps most evident in the EP’s title, Stomach Bug, which details a collective feeling women have when assessing their physical health.
“Stomach bug to me is something that is so vague that when you’re feeling ill and you don’t really know what it is, you’ll just say it’s a stomach bug because you don’t want to deal with it and you don’t want to acknowledge that it could be something serious and it probably isn’t, but also is it?” she said.
“I always think of this time when I had appendicitis, and I was like it’s just period pain, I probably just ate a dodgy takeaway, or maybe I ate mouldy bread or something like that.”
This notion is both anecdotally and scientifically prevalent in regards to the dismissal of women’s pain as simply being a product of hysteria.
“I definitely think it’s a collective feeling, I think a lot of women are connected in that way,” she said.
Alannah Sawyer
“We’re a community when you’re out on the street, I feel like you kind of have this, I don’t know how to describe it, like you’re always looking out for your sisters, even if you don’t know them.”
Stomach Bug additionally draws upon Sawyer’s introspective world, as she details the inspiration behind the track ‘Memento Mori’ (which translates in Latin to “remember you must die”) stemmed from a trip to the Père Lachaise cemetery in Paris, where her and her friend found themselves accidentally locked in there after dark.
It’s an eight-minute long song which dips and dives through erupting brass band sounds, to quiet moments of reflection expressed through angelic melodies. It’s impressive to see the inclusion of such an expansive song on a debut EP, of which Sawyer explained the meaning is constantly changing over time, but most recently felt as though her feelings throughout the COVID-19 pandemic connected more intimately to the track.
Above all, Sawyer said the songs included on Stomach Bug are best listened to with an open mind, and for beauty to be in the eye of the beholder.
“People can interpret the songs in whichever way they like in their own life, and that’s what I’d like,” she said.
“I would love for them to enjoy it.”
You can catch Babyccino at their single launch on Wednesday the 25th of August at The Gasometer Hotel, tickets here
Or via their various platforms here:
Sounds of the Suburbs 