Following her Top 4 placement on this year’s season of Australian Idol, singer IVANA is hitting the ground running with the release of her dancefloor-ready debut single, “Ooh La La La.”
And she’s doing it all on her own terms!
As the song ignites across all platforms, Peter Gray spoke with the rising talent about her career aspirations as an independent artist, what she learned from her time on Idol, and what can we expect from her sound moving forward.
Congratulations on the release of “Ooh La La La”. Putting out a song, is it one of those things that’s gets easier with every release? Or when you put yourself out there you almost just have to leave it up to the universe?
Honestly, with this song, because it’s my first release off of (Australian) Idol, I was literally so nervous. It’s my first song in a different direction to what I usually did, so it was definitely scary. But you’re right, I have to leave it up to the universe and see how it goes. We just hope it all goes well. It’s been a big dream to have this song and release it. So I’m really happy that it’s out there now.
I was someone who grew up on the original Idol. Back in the Guy Sebastian days. I’m ageing myself now. Obviously he has his success, but we have seen that often winning such a show doesn’t guarantee success. When you’re approaching something like Idol, do you have an endgame in sight? Are you looking at it as a platform more than anything?
You’re spot on. I could have just sat at home and continued being a singer that nobody knows, or I could go on a show like Australian Idol, hopefully progress and gain a bit of a platform and a following. You want to expose yourself to different people. I didn’t expect anything going into it. I was like, “I’m going to go and have fun and see how far I go.” It worked out amazingly. I couldn’t be happier.
Looking at your performances on the show. You sang cuts from Rihanna and Becky Hill, and your voice very much suits that house/dance sound. But, at the same time, you covered Anastacia and Miley Cyrus. You have this very eclectic pop voice. Was the sound of “Ooh La La La” the kind you always thought you would explore?
When I went into Idol I was a ballad singer. Adele was my go-to, and Alicia Keys. All the sad, heartfelt stuff. On Idol they kind of pushed that song “Remember” by Becky Hill on to me, and I thought it would be the ballad version. I kind of freaked out a bit because I didn’t think I could sing that sort of (dance) style of music, because I had never tried. Once I went up and performed it, honestly it changed everything for me. It was like a lightbulb went off and I just felt like I knew exactly what I wanted to do.
Continuing that journey singing Rihanna and Becky Hill, all that upbeat, funky dance music…I just fell in love with it. Then when “Ooh La La La” happened, I knew that it was exactly the path I want to go down.
As you said Adele and Alicia Keys were your go-to artists. Were they the musicians that you specifically looked up to when you were growing up?
When I was younger I didn’t really know that I wanted to be a singer. Obviously, every little girl and boy dreams of being a singer, but it was never anything serious (for me). I’ve always had a big admiration for Adele. She’s always been someone that I have absolutely loved. I love her music, I love who she is as a person, and just the way her music tugs at your heartstrings. It’s just beautiful.
I think when I started to develop the fact that I wanted to be a singer, I thought “Why not be like someone I love so much?” That was kind of the direction I was going. But on the other hand, there was Rihanna. And I absolutely love Rihanna. I don’t even know if it was her music, I think it was just her style and the way she was so cool with everything. I think her influence is really coming through in the (music) I’m doing now. I want to keep that heartfelt voice that Adele has (too), so I’m trying to combine it together.
Without revealing too much, have you got ideas on what’s following “Ooh La La La”?
I have actually quite a few song banked since Idol. I have been writing and working really hard, and they’re all in that dance/pop world, but they’re all very different sounds, if that makes sense. There’s some that are in that festival space, like Ibiza-club-pumping songs, which I’m really excited about. And then there’s some chilled, rooftop-by-the-beach vibes as well. I’ve done some drum and bass tracks as well.
I spoke to Ricki-Lee earlier in the year about her album and that it was an independent release. I believe you’re releasing your music independently as well? We hear so much about song ownership and that artists are taking more prominent steps in owning their own masters. That was obviously an important step for you in releasing your music all on your own terms.
You obviously hear a lot of things about labels and everything, and, you know, there’s perks to being independent and with a label, as well as downsides to both, but I just think being independent and being able to build a great team around me, and release the music that I want with their 100% support is everything. If I meet someone and it’s not going well, I’m not going to want to continue working with them. I want to work with people that have my best interests. So the team I have built around me is amazing.
And it’s great, because with these songs that I’ve written, if I hear them in three months and I don’t like it anymore, then we’re not going to release it. Right now I’m not being influenced by anything. It’s really great to see everything develop. Obviously the first season of Idol was very different where you’d be signed to a label and you were releasing song that you didn’t want to. That sucks. Why would you want to do that?
And with your releases lined up, are you going for an EP? An album? Singles? How do you see your body of work being represented?
At the moment, me and my manager have been speaking about doing singles. Just getting singles out, building up my Spotify and my listeners, and giving people time to know who I want to be as an artist. I think once I gain that more of a following the plan is to release an EP or album. But, at the moment, I think just single after single after single. I want to get music out and for people to listen to me, and I think that’s the quickest way to do it. Obviously I’m not rushing anything. Everything will be in its own good time. But I just want people to hear what I can bring out for them.
Ooh La La La is available now.
