In a recent Billboard article, you mention how it seems hypocritical that the Taylor Swifts of the world “will get up to accept an award and be surrounded by straight, white, middle-aged men”. Do you think, then, that change has to start on a more micro level? For example, I saw recently that Georgia Nott from Broods started a new side project created entirely by women.

That’s 100% correct. I saw Georgia the other night and we talked about it, and I think that’s an incredible start. It’s more about women seeking out female writers, female musicians.

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But also labels and publishers — if they can present artists with lists that just have a bunch of great producers, and maybe there might be some women producers on there. It’s this whole thing of if you’re a guy in this industry, you’re called a producer and if you’re a girl, you’re called a “female producer.” It would just be wicked if it were all just whoever is best for the job. Artists and labels have to think about that. I work with a lot of younger female artists and they get super excited to work with a girl and I feel like there’s a different energy there and they feel more comfortable opening up because I can relate to them more. I would just love if they had more of those options. I think there are a lot of girls out there making music, but they have to scream a bit louder just to get noticed. It comes down to the managers, publishers, artists, [and] records labels all just trying to seek out and give opportunities to females. Something like Georgia’s project is the perfect example of bringing girls together and creating this body of work. There are a lot of female artists who would be into the idea, it’s just about encouraging more women to get into this field so we can get to the point where artists can work with just as many female producers as male producers.

I was wondering if you could share about any new projects you’re working on?

I have a song on Troye Sivan’s upcoming album and we also did a song for the Love, Simon soundtrack with Jack Antonoff called “Strawberries & Cigarettes” which I’m really excited about. I’ve been working a lot with Mikky Ekko and Sasha Sloane on her solo project. I’m also working with Missy Higgins, she’s an Australian artist who is like an idol of mine so it was awesome to work on her album. I’ve been working with Tove Styrke, the other Swedish Tove, who I love and I think is a genius. There’s a couple things in the pipeline that I can’t really disclose as of yet. Also with Cold War Kids… I’ve just been trying to branch out and do a bunch of different projects and not get kinda stuck in one level or specific genre.

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Do you think L.A. culture has changed the way you think about the music industry in comparison to how things worked in Australia?

I love it here because you get artists coming from the U.K. or Scandinavia for writing trips so you get to sit down and work with a bunch of artists whereas in Australia you feel quite isolated. When I was in Australia I thought the lack of female producers was just an Australian issue because I hadn’t really worked out of Australia. But when I got to LA that was when it kind of hit me that it was a world-wide situation, where there were so few women producing for other artists working especially in the top pop world. When I got here and started talking with other producers like Max Martin and Jack Antonoff, I found out that it’s just this way, that it’s a kind of boys club when it comes to producers and engineers. It’s been good because I’ve been given a lot of opportunities but it’s also kind of a bittersweet moment when you’re in the studio with an artist and they’re like, “Oh my god this is the first time I’ve worked with a female producer,” or, “This is the first time it’s ever been an all girls session.” That’s great, but it’s kind of sad if that artist has made four or five records and this is the first time they’ve gotten to work with a female [in the studio].