We all have a love-hate relationship with the internet, whether we admit it or not. While it is a source of continual inspiration and entertainment, it is also akin to being drowned in advertisements, bombarded with negativity and the subject of multinational companies lusting and salivating over your cookies.

While others may see obstacles, Australian-based musician and artist, Zheani sees opportunity, and with her latest EP, I hate People on the Internet, she is turning this dark digital soup that we inhabit into a source of abrasive, beat-laden anthems. Fusing heavy guitars, spiky synths and a fascination with occult imagery—Zheani is a force of nature for sure.

The GATA team recently had the pleasure of being invited to the artist’s live show when she touched down in Tokyo earlier this year and were engulfed in a fiery sensory experience, that won’t be forgotten anytime soon. Check out the accompanying interview with the artist, to see what lurks in the mind of this feisty and talented force. From the films of Happy Gilmore to the darkness of the digital world, her array of influences and inspiration is an erratic and fascinating web of culture that needs to be experienced.

GATA: Your new album I Hate People on the Internet has imagery of burning everywhere; phrases like "To live a perfect life, gonna burn it all down" and napalm is used as a metaphor for the need to renew oneself, like snakes shedding their skin. Has this album begun a new stage in Zheani's musical career?

Zheani: I’ve had some time to dwell on things since releasing I Hate People on the Internet so that I can now put it into the context of my body of work. I think I’ve always felt misunderstood, and I naively thought that if I was completely honest in my music, people would finally “get me”. I think I Hate People on the Internet was me arriving at the fact that “I’ve bared everything and made myself crystal fucking clear, and still almost everyone makes up their own story of who and what you are, and my response to that was just “fuck you”. [I know there are fans that can relate, and I cherish my mutt bitches that do]. While it’s disappointing knowing that I’m not going to get what I wanted, I also think it’s growth getting to move forward.

At this point in my career, I’m just going to embrace being misunderstood, lean into it and focus on being an artist. I’m happy to be an avatar and let people project themselves onto me to feel empowered; I’m also happy for people to think I’m fucking whack and embody everything that’s wrong with modern women. Your sins, your pain, throw them on me.

G: Do you believe in fate or destiny?

Z: By all accounts, I should have been a statistic and statistics are just destiny in a world where god is dead. I think in life, you only have the slightest sliver of free will, and that tiny little bit is a miracle and should be fought for and used to its absolute limit. I also think believing in destiny, even if it’s delusional, is motivational; it makes life seem grand and makes you avoid that easy path down to stagnation.

“What does it mean to be an “outsider” or “alternative” in 2022 internet music? To look alternative is mainstream, every sound that isn’t awful can find a healthy niche to enjoy it. Someone like Azelia Banks is an “outsider” because she’s vicious to her node.”

— Zheani

G: Music has always been a support for your mental well-being. Could you tell us a little about your creative process when composing? Do you compose music when you are happy/sad or both?

Z: I compose in all kinds of states, happy, sad, and frustrated. I see parallels between how I make music and create sigils. I sometimes come up with multiple verses, make dozens of takes and then all of that is distilled down to just a few phrases. I like to imagine the weight of what’s cut down is still there, imbued into the final song somehow. A lot is also created freestyle and adlib, I’m not a trained musician in any sense and I really do rely on happy accidents when making music. I know what sounds good but not really how to make it sound good and I feel like I have to find my cadence and the texture of my voice from scratch with every new song I work on.

G: We believe that “pain inspires creativity", who do you think Zheani would be if she had no sad memories?

Z: I think I would be somewhere beautiful in nature, farming and riding horses with little babies running around, secure in myself and at peace. That pretty much describes the end goal of my current journey but if I can go through it and get there by being an artist that’s hungry for validation, starved for love, mind warped to the point I want to be a “star”—then that’s a richer life in the grand scheme and the pain will all be worth it in the end.

“By all accounts, I should have been a statistic and statistics are just destiny in a world where god is dead. I think in life you only have the slightest sliver of free will and that tiny little bit is a miracle and should be fought for and used to its absolute limit. I also think believing in destiny, even if it’s delusional is motivational, it makes life seem grand and makes you avoid that easy path down to stagnation.”

— zheani

G: The images and videos that accompany Zheani are always super strong; how important is the creativity of these visuals to you, and where does your inspiration come from when it comes to creating them?

Z: I really see what I do as an art project and the music videos are just as important and take the same weight of effort as the music does. Some of the music video inspiration comes at the same time as the song comes together but other times I have concepts and I’m just waiting for the song to emerge that will suit it. The music videos are extremely DIY, 90 percent of them are literally just me and Shida doing every aspect ourselves, filming, styling, make up, production, editing etc and they end up IMO better than most industry music videos with 30 people in the production credits where they spent tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.
I really wish I could see other artists' creativity shine through if they were forced to make their music videos themselves. There would be so many more wholesome gems and I expect just as many people exposed as products.

G: We know you are an internet girl but technology is advancing a lot, and things that were more analogue or "romantic" have changed. Is there anything you miss from the old internet of the 90s, and things you don’t miss?

Z: Something that I feel like the current internet has washed away is credit. Every artist has influences but these days I feel like the process of influence is so sped up its that you can’t own anything. I’ve created things myself and seen them replicated so quickly that I feel like I would look like a crazy person if I tried to lay claim to them. Imagine the originality that would emerge if they only turned on the internet and mass media every five years and everyone was forced to work from their hearts in isolation.

The internet used to be wild and free. Now its primary role is to be a market and a system of control. I can say I hate the internet and what it’s become but realistically no one would ever have given me the chance to be a musical artist in any previous era.

You can’t have subculture with the internet because anything counter-cultural becomes commodified and therefore mainstreamed instantly, a process that in the past would have taken as long as a decade. There is no scene, I’m isolated and I don’t know 90 percent of the girls I’m in the “scene” with because there is no scene, there is an “internet node” of similar sonics and aesthetics. Therefore there’s no ethos.

What does it mean to be an “outsider” or “alternative” in 2022 internet music? To look alternative is mainstream, every sound that isn’t awful can find a healthy niche to enjoy it. Someone like Azelia Banks is an “outsider” because she’s vicious to her node.

G: We know you love being at home. Can you talk us through a day at home with Zheani? What do you like to do when you have time to unwind?

Z: So I am currently planning the most immaculate girl gang! I want a group of iconic egg-laying, scrap-eating bitches to take up residence in my backyard. So my most recent endeavour has seen me go to great googleable lengths to find the most exotic and cunty chicken breeds available in my area. I will raise them from baby chicks and they will in turn recognise me as their mother. I’ve saved four photos I found online of each breed and have named these prototype images the following. Gucci, Gandalf, Took and Orc <3

Hopefully the above can answer your question about what I like to do to unwind. I like to completely disassociate into a hyper-specific and mundane domestic topic and then plan it meticulously. For a few moments, the act makes the rest of the complicated world I find myself in melt away.

“I’m happy to be an avatar and let people project themselves onto me to feel empowered, I’m also happy for people to think I’m fucking whack and embody everything that’s wrong with modern women. Your sins, your pain, throw them on me.”

— zheani

G: Is there any project you are working on now and would like to tell us about?

Z: At the moment I’m working on a new mixtape and organising to start work on my first-ever full-length album which I will begin recording in early 2023. The mixtape is going in a new direction, it’s a sexy, vicious bacchanal. I think it’s the first project I could describe as party music…even if it’s party music for the end times. Finishing this mixtape and starting to build a universe around it is my immediate focus.

“I really wish I could see other artists’ creativity shine through if they were forced to make their music videos themselves. There would be so many more wholesome gems and I expect just as many people exposed as products.”

— zheani

G: Would you like to tell us your favourite five movies, and the reason why you like them?

Z: No chance! Let me rant about a bunch without counting for a moment because I know GATA cares about film. For me all my favs are sentimental. I love Kevin Smith films—Clerks II is everything and Tusk is the abomination that gets an honourable mention. I love nostalgic Happy Madison films and have watched Grandma's Boy way too many times. Who didn’t like Little Nicky as a kid?

Lord of the Rings came out when I was a little girl and that shit was incredible, next time you rewatch it make sure you get the director's cut. Tim Burton has always been a huge inspiration, back in high school I made it my business to collect all of his films on DVD also go watch The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari if you want to see where Burton found most of his swag.

But BeetleJuice is a perfect creepy dark original fun story with an absolutely amazing cast. I was so inspired and taken by my love of certain directors that I actually went to university to study film after high school. Don’t be impressed, I dropped out before the first year could even finish (because what the fuck is a schedule and how do you hand in an assignment?) but yes, big film geek—I love funny dorky dark shit.

The one genre I avoid more than anything else is horror, my life has been scary enough and I just don’t need more anxiety before bed…Ari Aster films are good though.