Graham Reid | | 7 min read
Far and Wide
It's entirely possible that more people know Sally Stockwell's face than her voice. The actress/singer has done a lot of stage work but also appeared in Outrageous Fortune, Shortland Street and After the Fall.
We caught up with her as a singer around the time of her debut album Weightless in 2015, but because a lot has happened since then we felt it timely to come and talk in more depth with the release of her new album Little Triggers.
Produced by Eden Mullholland, Little Triggers has darkly dramatic songs (Village with "‘Don’t wish it all away’ they say. What the fuck does that mean anyway? I don’t see no one else here to help today . . . where has my village gone") and Stockwell delivers with compelling desperation ("Come to me darkness. Come to me vision" on Uncovering Me).
It's quite something with an over-arching theme.
This is what she says of the new album: "This project has taken me nearly nine years to pull together alongside motherhood, and it’s been a difficult journey to articulate/achieve. Little Triggers captures a lot about the ‘underbelly’ of motherhood—those things we don’t often talk about—and I’ve had a lot of incredible heartfelt responses from mothers who’ve heard my upcoming songs (with video trilogy) or seen my theatre show. I believe it's rare to find a whole album dedicated to motherhood from a mother’s perspective ."
So Sally . . .
Where did you grow up, and with who?
I grew up in Ĺtautahi / Christchurch, with my mum and two older brothers. Every fortnight, we'd stay at my dad and stepmother’s house with our four step-siblings for the weekend.
Was music an important part of your childhood?
Absolutely. My mum played piano, my brothers were in bands playing guitar, bass, and drums, so our house was full of music, guitars, drumsticks, and plenty of tapping on dinner plates. My dad was a keen music listener and played varied artist like Bowie, Grace Jones, Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Lou Reed.
What are your earliest childhood memories of music which really affected you . . .
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My mum would sing “My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean” to me and my brother. Now, I sing it to my girls. Lullabies are the perfect song – full of love and comfort, regardless of the voice. And as a mother with little time for myself, I’ve used them as a meditative practise for connecting to my voice and getting a little practise in.
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Summer holidays in Golden Bay, nine of us squished in Dad’s Holden Kingswood, windows down and Neil Diamond or Dire Straits playing; bliss.
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Roberta Flack’s "Killing Me Softly" – She was spell-bounding to me and would just study the vinyl cover on our shag-pile rug. I love everything 70s.
Was there a time when you felt it was going to be music and nothing else?
No it was never music and nothing else because I was torn between music and acting. I trained in acting first and then developed my music alongside it.
Over time, I’ve found a way to blend both, and now it’s more satisfying to have them complement each other in projects like music videos and theatre shows. But there’s definitely been times when I’ve wanted to solely just do music.
When you started on your music career were people around you supportive or did you have to find those people?
My mother was always supportive. My brothers helped open doors for me musically, and we often collaborated. My eldest brother, Ben, was a sound engineer and taught me everything from setting up a home studio, basic recording skills etc to gigging. He also just championed me in general.
The first song of yours which you really felt proud of was . . .? And why that one?
I wrote a song called 'This Time' while going through a breakup with my musician boyfriend, who I was living with at the time. We’d been in a band together, but I hadn’t had much input in the songwriting beyond the vocals, which was frustrating because I could hear so much in my head but didn’t have the chord knowledge to express it. After the breakup, I knew I needed to stand on my own musically. So I bought a cheap, crappy keyboard, dusted off my basic childhood piano skills, taught myself a bit more, and wrote 'This Time.' It had a structure and chord progressions I was happy with, I wrote it surprisingly easily, and it felt good to play. It ended up my debut album ‘Weightless’.
Any one person you'd call a mentor, angel on your shoulder or invaluable fellow traveller?
My older brother, Ben (mentioned earlier). He’s like an angel on my shoulder now. He was a very talented musician and sound engineer. I always felt like he inherited all the musical genes in our family. Tragically, he passed away from a drug overdose due to an relapse in 2012. It was an incredibly difficult time for me…he was supposed to produce my debut album so it took me some time to get back to the project and find the support I needed. Eventually, I worked on the album with Ben's good friend and producer, Louis Bernstone (Ellamy Studios). Louis has become a bit like a “proxy brother” to me, musically he’s always there when I need him, and he was a key person in that time in my life. I still have Ben with me through everything I do, especially musically.
Where and when was the first time you went on stage as a paid performer?
Three answers for three performance disciplines- take your pick!
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Dancer: 1992, Christchurch Town Hall, at the Freemason’s 100th centennial (yes, it was bizarre)
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Actor: 1996, Centrepoint Theatre, Palmerston North, in a play called Social Climbers (Roger Hall)
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Singer: 2004, Auckland’s Food & Wine Festival, performing in a covers band.
Ever had stage fright or just a serious failure of nerve before going on stage?
No, just the usual showdown between nerves and focus/willpower. As an actor, I’ve ‘dried’ on stage, where I felt the blood drain from me and I lost my lines for a horribly, horribly long time. For me, singing is easier on that front for me because I sink into the music vibe and relax/warm up.
As a songwriter, do you carry a notebook or have a phone right there constantly to grab ideas they come? Or is your method something different?
It’s usually my iPhone when I’m at the keyboard, as the iPhone captures the first vibe/essence of the song which I often return to. I also keep a ratty notebook in the car and a journal, so ideas and lyrics come from there too. It’s a bit of a patchwork process.
What unfashionable album do you love as a guilty pleasure?
Aja – Steely Dan and Love Deluxe – Sade. They may be unfashionable but I unabashedly stand by them.
Any piece of advice you were given which you look back on which really meant something?
“Only you can do what you do, the way you do it.” I didn’t fully understand it for a long time but I find myself offering it to others sometimes. It can dissolve a bad case of imposter syndrome/ inferiority complex when deeply applied. And Bowie’s “Never play to the gallery/never work for other people” is a great one too for staying authentic to oneself and journey.
It's after a performance/concert and you are in a hotel room or back at home, what happens then?
It’s all about the wind down for me - a cup of tea or something stronger, food, TV, sleep tinctures, reading then hopefully, sleep.
Is there any fellow artist you admire for professional and/or personal reasons?
Nick Cave. I admire his performance power, his writing, and his humility in connecting with fans on a human level. His songs have a beautiful recklessness. I’m often moved by how openly he shares his grief journey through The Red Hand Files and the way he answers fan questions with such heart and humour.
And finally, where to from here for you do you think?
I’m excited about live performances of my Little Triggers album—starting in Christchurch and then touring in 2025.
I also hope to spark deeper conversations around the themes of motherhood that my album explores (via podcasts and interviews) to see where those discussions go.
I’ve recently returned from Auckland to Christchurch after 30 years, so am finding my feet with my family and kids which I’m really enjoying.
Hopefully, a balance of the two!
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You can hear and buy this album at bandcamp here from November 22
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