A Conversation with Bex

Photo of Rebekah Massay (Bex) @bexmusicnz

Rebekah Massey, also known as Bex, is an Auckland-based indie-pop artist and singer-songwriter. Known for crafting music that explores self-discovery, relationships and rich emotion, Bex makes her Melbourne debut at Creature Bar. The performance highlights the release of her latest song, “It’s Always Me,” and marks the beginning of her breakthrough into the Melbourne music scene.

Here is a conversation with Bex: 

Ange: How are you? How are you feeling? What was your overall experience doing the gig?

Bex: It was a really great opportunity. It was my first time doing a gig, actually, outside of Auckland. I just came over here to check out the music scene and stuff, and I thought I might as well try and get a gig in it while I can. It was pretty awesome. It was a pretty vibey spot. I was on Lygon Street in Creature Bar. Yeah, it was a really, really vibey place

Ange: This is your first time coming to Melbourne outside of Auckland. How was it? What did you think about it? Do you think it was a good introductory experience in Melbourne?

Bex: Yeah, I thought it was good. I actually had more people than I expected. Some of my sister's friends came along, and some family friends of my bandmate. So it was nice to actually perform for people. And I thought potentially it might be like an empty room kind of thing. Yeah, it was nice. It was nice that the venues were free. In Auckland, we have to pay or book out all of the venues, and it's quite an expense to be a small artist there. So it's nice to like go have a vibey night. There's less risk involved. And yeah, I think it's just good for supporting and developing young artists in the scene. So yeah, it was really good.

Selin: What songs did you perform?

Bex: This is one of the first times I perform with tracks, because I couldn’t bring over a whole band. Usually I play with a whole band of bass, drums, guitar and keys. But I just had synth guitar and tracks, and I played some songs from my online discography. So I had one that came out just this Friday “It's always me,” I played  “Clearly”, a new title, and the rest of it is all unreleased music. So some of it I sell from an EP that's like a gig exclusive, like, I only ever sell it when I perform live, or, let's say, that's where you can get your hands on it at the moment. And then the rest of it is future releases.

Ange: Is there any reason that you specifically chose the song, or was it set curated for a specific reason? Did you feel like it went with the theme?

Bex: So with the set, I did specifically curate it for Melbourne iit was all kind of cohesive, with the tracks, and atmosphere. Not that they were all made to be different from my original live sound. So yeah, that's why I chose all the songs in terms of lyrical theme or something. There was no lyrical theme, but all of my lyrics do kind of have, like an existential kind of, like self-dread kind of vibe to them. 

Selin: Your bar experience was with another person, Orlando Cooper. Did you guys perform separately, and did you guys come together for one song? How was that experience like?

Bex: Yeah, so he kind of opened for me. So I’m mates with him. We went to uni together. We came over together to explore. So he opened, which was his first time playing a solo set, because he writes solo music and plays guitar and sings, but he's never performed by himself before, so that was his experience. He plays guitar for me when I do shows, so he just jumped on, and we had two different, completely separate sets.

Ange: Were there any huge differences between this performance and the one that you were doing in Auckland, seeing as you didn't have the band with you?

Bex: I think that the tracks were a lot less intense. I like to go for really dramatic, big sounds and have a nice build-up throughout the songs. But I think these were more chill, kind of sit-down kind of things, yeah, I think that would be the only big difference. But it's all obviously my music, so that's what stayed consistent.

Selin: Who are you inspired by? And what sort of artists do you listen to to fuel your creativity? 

Bex: Some of my stuff is kind of Clairo vibes. And then I'm inspired by this New Zealand band called Awning. They're kind of this grungy rock, indie, kind of vibes. And then, probably, like Phoebe Bridges, is another one I get as well. Yeah, I would stop there, because I could go on for days.

Ange: Do you think there was a significantly huge difference between performing in Auckland and performing for a Melbourne crowd?

Bex: Yeah, I think within the scene that I'm in, in Auckland, there's a huge difference. It’s all just musicians supporting each other. But I think there's a real big push in Melbourne for everyone to support local artists. I don't think it's just specifically artists supporting artists, which was really cool. And like, in terms of people being friendly, I think people are friendly kind of everywhere, which is nice. But, yeah, there were a lot of people at the gig who weren't musicians at all, which I don't usually get, so that was, that was really nice and encouraging.

Selin: The people in the crowd, did they know your music going into your gig, or were they just kind of there supporting you? 

Bex: A lot of them were friends of someone. Yeah, I was trying to push out to people on social media, like,  “Please, if you know anyone in Melbourne, bring them please, please, please.” This is a really cool opportunity for me, andI would love to perform for someone. So a lot of them were like, “Oh, I know so and so, and I know so and so, and that's how they came to the gig.” So they told me, “I checked out your music yesterday and stuff.” And it was so cool. Like, this is really nice to have support and community. And I feel really lucky and privileged to have all these people’s support. 

Ange: Were there any other artists who came from Melbourne or Auckland to support you? 

Bex: No, I have some friends in Sydney, and they said if I had told them earlier, they would have come over. But no, all these people were Melbourne-based, 

Selin: Because you performed at a bar, did you have a pre-performance drink or a post-performance drink to get you hyped up?

Bex: Usually, I don't, but I got a drink token, which, again, we don't really get in Auckland very much. And I was really nervous. I always get quite nervous before gigs. But I was especially nervous before this one, I think, because of the whole outside of Auckland thing, and outside of my comfort zone. So, yeah, I did have it. I did have a cheeky pre-drink.

Selin: Do you get nervous when you're performing in Auckland, or is it just because you're in Melbourne, you're in a new environment, it's kind of getting real, so you're a little bit more nervous? 

Bex: Yeah, I always find that whenever I put on my own gig, like I'm the headliner, I find that it’s really high stakes. I get quite nervous about that, but usually once I get into the first song, it all just goes away. It's fine, as soon as I get a little bit comfortable on stage, I run with it. Opening for people, it's more ”oh, it's not really my gig. So it's fine if I stuff up,” which is usually when I'm more comfortable, I actually perform better. But yeah, I was nervous, probably equally as nervous as Auckland shows. 

Ange: How did you manage to find this gig? Especially outside of New Zealand?

Bex: It was really hard. We were sending a lot of emails, and probably reached out to just hear nothing back from a lot of places. I think it was just so busy, and it was also over that awkward Christmas/New Year's kind of thing. A lot of places were closing down. And so we, me and my producer, emailed some places and he actually reached out on Reddit. He talked to some of the Reddit music community, Melbourne music, and kind of was like, “We're trying to plan a gig, does anyone know some great spaces? Because we've heard nothing so far,” and then that's how he got in touch with Creature Bar.  Yeah, so it's a funny story, but it was really, we were really lucky. I think Reddit was the place to go, it turns out.

Ange: Do you see sort of like coming back and doing a bigger show in the future? 

Bex: Yeah, this is such a vibe. We were kind of testing the waters, because I think Orlando was thinking of moving. And all of his jazz mates have all come over and love the music scene here, and he wanted to come check it out himself. I've always wanted to check out a bigger space in Auckland, just in terms of development. It's hard to develop in Auckland, but we love the scene in Auckland; it's just really, it's just a real challenge. I mean, it's challenging everywhere. I'm not saying you guys have it easy here. No, it's challenging everywhere, but it is more supportive, I think. So yeah, I would love to come back and work with some local Melbourne bands because it was just us Kiwis doing the show. We actually went to a few gigs, like, on some of the other nights, we checked out Mellowing. They were pretty awesome. They had an album release gig that was really cool. And we went to the Retreat Hotel and listened to some jazz and Uso, which was just down the road. Oh, it's just so good. You just walk along into five gigs going on. It's great,

Selin: Where do you see yourself in a couple of years? What's the goal?

Bex: Long term, I would have put out an EP at that point, I think. And I think I would have tried to do a couple more Australian shows, yeah, have that New Zealand/Australia relationship and fan base.