Art & identity with Angeline Armstrong
Obus Lover Angeline Armstrong of Melbourne alt-indie
band Telenova shares her creative journey & more with us.
Q1. As a musician, writer and director, how do you balance multiple creative pursuits & projects?
A. I’ve always had far too many things that I’ve wanted to pursue at once! Eventually I narrowed that down to directing, writing and music - but still kept a bit of dancing and acting on the side as well. I’ve learnt to be fairly fluid I think, in going along with where the doors are opening and embracing those opportunities wholeheartedly. I didn’t make a deliberate decision to pivot my focus more on music (prior to Telenova I was in screenwriting/directing land), I just witnessed the doors and opportunities opening for Telenova more-so than directing and dove right in. The way I keep hold of those other pursuits at the moment, is incorporating them into the Telenova universe - which I feel very lucky to be able to do. To have a band, management team and label who trust me to oversee the creative vision for the band. As well as songwriting and performing with the band, I also creative direct everything from music videos to merch suites and tour art and design. It’s very rewarding to get to play in all those spheres.
Q2. Did you always know you would end up in the arts or is there an alternate universe where you do something totally different?
A. It was hard because I didn’t come from a family of ‘career’ artists. My parents introduced me to great music and great films from a young age (they’ve got great taste in my opinion!) But being a scientist and a nurse by profession, I didn’t have any family or family friends who modelled what a career in the arts might look like? So for a long time, it felt like a childhood dream that I was holding onto, without any sort of tangible steps to take. At one point my dad was trying to wrap his head around what ‘creative careers’ there are, that are like ‘real jobs’ trying to convince me to choose subjects at school that were moving towards a Marketing or Law degree. During work experience we went and saw this young, successful, boss woman lawyer in a court case. As we were leaving, she literally pulled me over and said four words, deadly serious. ‘Don’t be a lawyer’, so yeah, that stuck [laughs]. I guess my heart was always in the arts. It’s the language I live and breathe. If it wasn’t my full time job (or any time of my life when I’m not fortunate enough to have it as so) my mind will always be full of creative ideas. Interpreting the world around me, and expressing itself in some sort of art form that I can share with others.
Q3. What inspired the name "Telenova" and does it hold any special meaning to the band?
A. It actually came to me in a dream! I know artists all the time talk of great moments of inspiration coming in dreams - unfortunately the majority of my dreams are incredibly mundane and repetitious. I like to think it’s because my imagination and creativity is just so overactive during my waking hours, that there’s nothing left for my dreams. Even this particular dream and moment of ‘inspiration’ was relatively mundane which is apt. One morning I fell back asleep with my phone in my hand, I had been in the middle of a group chat with the boys in the band. We were brainstorming band names. Then in my dream, one of my band mates suggested ‘Telenova’, and we all loved it! When I woke up from the dream and scrolled back through my phone to find the message I realised it was a dream, then told the band about it. No one could refuse because they’d already agreed to it in the dream [laughs].
Q4. If you could collaborate with any female artist or band, living or deceased, who would it be and why?
A. This is such a hard question and will likely change week-to-week but for me, but today it’s probably Caroline Polachek. Because she is so quirky, so strange, so talented, so powerful, so hot, and in such a lane of her own and doing it so, so well. Her live show was hands down the best I’ve ever seen. She’s an absolute superstar. So captivating. She dances, has incredible vocal control and tone and uniqueness she produces, her lyrics are intriguing and clever and funny and earnest all at once. Her visual vision and universe is so strong and so refreshingly unique. And she’s in her late 30s and breaking out in a solo career right now! I admire her so much for all of that.
Q5. Can you describe how you feel in this Obus outfit?
A. My immediate thought was - it’s so Annie Hall! It’s giving me sophisticated, nonchalant elegance with a boyish charm, which I like. I've been wearing it non-stop on stage!
Q6. What’s next for you and for Telenova? Any exciting projects to share?
A. With Telenova, we just kicked off an international tour (our biggest ever) which spans across Australia, New Zealand, the UK and Europe this year. We’re just wrapping up a sold out capital city run in Australia and have a bunch of regional Australia shows to play before heading overseas. It’s also a huge year because we’ve just finalised our debut album ‘Time Is A Flower’ which is out August 16th and available for pre-order now. Really proud of this record. I like being able to explore quite complex, meander-y streams of conscious style thought in the lyrics but through hooky melodies and catchy songs that people can be all wrapped up in. It’s really cinematic and we spent a lot of time on the details in threading together a real narrative and sonic journey for audiences listening to the record. We’re already well into writing album two - so there’s a lot on the horizon. Oh and the third music video that I directed with an incredible team is premiering at St Kilda Film Festival in Melbourne during the Clipped x St Kilda Film Festival Event at the Alex Theatre - the clip is sort of like a mini musical in a music video. Very excited to have that one out.
Angeline wears our Homage Wool Vest & Pant. Shop New Arrivals here.
