CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 158: AZURE ON HER UPCOMING EP, EAT YOUR HEART OUT
Interview by Brooke Gibbs
With her debut EP Eat Your Heart Out on the horizon, Azure is embracing the messy, dramatic and unfiltered. Drawing on horror, heartbreak and everything in between, this new era leans all the way into who she is. We caught up with her to talk chaos, confidence and choosing the bad idea anyway.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Eat Your Heart Out is such a bold, almost confrontational title — what does that phrase mean to you personally?
AZURE: Eat Your Heart Out is very tongue-in-cheek, very camp — but it’s also kind of a mission statement. It’s me saying, this is exactly who I am, like it or not, you know? There are a few layers to it too — the ‘eat’ connects to my experience with eating disorder recovery, and then there’s that horror, almost undead, horror feel running through it. I felt like it wraps up the chaos and the honesty of the project on a few levels.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: There's a real horror-meets pop aesthetic across this era — what inspired that visual direction?
AZURE: I’ve always loved horror movies — the drama of it all, the intensity, how everything feels so heightened. This EP really leans into that because, to me, a lot of girlhood has felt like a horror movie at times. Falling in love, getting your heart broken, healing, learning, becoming… it can feel chaotic and overwhelming, but also a little bit absurd. I wanted the visuals to reflect that — it’s self-aware, camp, cheeky, can be really dark but still really honest underneath.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Do you see this EP as a character, a version of yourself, or something completely different?
AZURE: I think it’s definitely a version of me, just amplified. I’m not really interested in playing a character through my music — it’s all rooted in real experiences and real emotions. I just let it be more dramatic, more camp, more honest than I probably would day-to-day…which is saying something, because I’m kind of always those things.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Monster feels like a statement — what were you working through when you created it?
Monster is very tongue-in-cheek. It’s that ‘I know this is a terrible idea, but I’m choosing it anyway’ energy. I was really inspired by bad idea right? by Olivia Rodrigo and ‘I hope ur miserable until ur dead’ by Nessa Barrett — those songs that make you feel silly, heartbroken, furious, and somehow like it’s still your fault. I wanted Monster to sit in that exact feeling, just with a bit of Paramore in the sound. It’s that thing every girl’s done — convincing yourself he’s a good person and you can fix him… and he’s just not. And you cant.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: The visuals (chainsaw, blood, pageant queen energy are iconic) — what's the story behind that concept?
AZURE: It’s basically the horror version of being a girl. I wanted it to feel like an ode to my mental illness girlies — that unhingeness, where sometimes we feel like the villain. It’s also a nod to my theatre roots with the camp of it all, and just my genuine love of anything dark and horror.
I feel like my journey over the last five years has left me feeling like that girl — covered in blood in the middle of the room, still wearing a crown, hair blown out. Or in leopard print and a push-up bra, holding a chainsaw just in case someone tries me again.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: There's a strong pop-punk edge in your sound — who were you listening to while making this project?
AZURE: I had Paramore, Maggie Lindemann, Nessa Barrett and Olivia Rodrigo on repeat. It’s that mix of pop sensibility with a bit of grit and chaos — emotional but still fun, a little bit dramatic, a little bit unhinged.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: This is your debut EP — What do you want people to understand about you after hearing it?
AZURE: I think if you listen to this EP and you don’t understand me, you’re not really listening. I’m saying exactly what I mean the whole time — it’s all there. It’s messy and dramatic and self-aware, but it’s also completely honest.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: What's been the biggest shift for you between your earlier releases and this project?
AZURE: The biggest shift has honestly been signing with Community Music. Before that, it really did feel like it was just me and my manager Dustin Skipworth against the world, doing everything ourselves. Now having a team behind me has changed everything — I feel a lot more supported, and it’s given me the space to be more ambitious creatively.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: If Eat Your Heart out was a movie, what kind of film would it be?
AZURE: It would definitely be a musical — but like a horror-leaning, slightly period drama moment. Very dramatic, very theatrical, a bit chaotic. A horror musical… but make it set in the 1800’s. Thats just what it looks like in my head.
FUTUREMAG MUSIC: Anything else you want people to know?
AZURE: I just hope people feel something when they hear it. Even if it’s messy or complicated — that’s kind of the point.