You may not know her name, but there is a very good chance at one point you’ve been singing along to the words of one of her songs.
Helen Croome, more commonly known as Gossling, has experienced a boom in her career over the past few years. She’s played some of Australia’s biggest festivals, recorded a major supermarket jingle and toured with one of Australia’s most popular hip-hop artists.
Tone Deaf caught up with the Melbourne songstress to talk about life as an artist on the edge of national fame.
Gossling has just been signed to Dew Process, a move that will see her join an impressive catalogue of artists including Mumford & Sons, Sarah Blasko, The Living End and the Dropkick Murphys.
Dew Process initially sought out Croome hoping to involve her in the Create and Control arm of their label, but soon realized this combination wasn’t going to be suitable. Soon after, they instead asked Gossling to be a part of their label.
“I’m quite excited about the partnership because they’re a fantastic team of people, very genuine and I think we have the same ideas on a lot of things and I’m hoping that it’s going to be a really easy partnership,” says Croome.
The decision to sign with Dew Process will see Gossling release her first full-length album.
“That will kind of be a big deal because I haven’t done an album before, they’ve just been EPs,” she giggles, obviously excited at taking the next step in her musical career.
But Gossling has been signing more than record deals.
She recently was announced on the lineup for two of Australia’s biggest New Years music festivals; Peats Ridge and the Pyramid Rock Festival.“I’m not really an outdoorsy person, if that makes sense. I don’t really choose to be a festival-goer much as a ticketholder.”
She admits she’s quite excited about having the opportunity to play larger, less intimate shows.
“I think I look forward to it mostly because it’s playing to a crowd that might not chose to come to one of my shows. They may not of heard of me. It’s just playing to some new people who hopefully enjoy the set and then become fans afterwards,” the Melbourne songstress says.
Gossling is no stranger to larger festivals though. This year she was fortunate enough to perform at Splendour In The Grass, alongside Jack White, Bloc Party, The Smashing Pumpkins, Missy Higgins and many, many more.
Gossling said she is grateful for the opportunity to play these festivals, partly for the exposure and partly for the comfort that performing at a festival allows.
“I’m not really an outdoorsy person, if that makes sense. I don’t really choose to be a festival-goer much as a ticketholder,” she explains. “I much more enjoy going to the festival as a performer and to be able to find space back stage and chill.”
It’s not just big festivals and record labels that are chasing Gossling’s unique vocal sound.
The millions of people who shop at Woolworths each day have probably found themselves unknowingly singing along with Helen’s voice in the supermarket chain’s latest jingle, “Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday (I Love You)”.
The opportunity to sing in the commercial was a new, but fulfilling experience says Croome.
“That was a really cool experience, just lending my voice to something and just being booked as a… It’s kind of similar to the 360 project [single “Boys Like You”] because that was really me just lending my voice to something. It’s nice to be something other than the songwriter.”
Despite never actually hearing herself sing while shopping at Woolies, the supermarket songstress has had a wealth of wonderful experiences as a result of the song.
“I’ve had quite a few people send me videos of their kids when the ad comes on the telly. It seems to really connect with the kids, which is really cute.”
The best makeshift clip she’s seen? “I got a video of my mum hearing me in the supermarket for the first time which was pretty funny, so it’s been an awesome thing to be involved with,” she punctuates with a laugh “-very fun.”
Gossling’s unique vocal styling also saw her spearheaded by hip-hop artist, 360 for his song “Boys Like You”. The tune peaked at #3 on the ARIA Charts and found itself at #8 on Triple J’s Hottest 100 in 2011. Gossling also embarked on a national tour with 360 after the release of the track.“It’s sort of a weird thing that my brain does where it doesn’t feel like it owns the whole thing. But I mean, I still enjoy doing co-writes because it comes up with material that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to do on my own.”
“It’s really different, the hip-hop genre, compared to folk. It was quite a difficult thing to get my head around for the shows, because there is such a different crowd and vibe,” she details. “Just touring with a hip-hop act in general was quite different to touring with my band.”
For fans of Gossling who may be upset at missing the opportunity to see the songstress collaborate with the MC, don’t fret. Gossling revealed that she will indeed be jumping up on stage with 360 at Melbourne’s Pyramid Rock Festival.
While Gossling has enjoyed lending her voice to other projects, she has also engaged in some co-writing on some of her own tracks.
The first single, “Wild Love” taken from Gossling’s third EP Intentional Living, was co-written with Dan Hume (Evermore, Lisa Mitchell). While the experience was predominantly positive there have been some drawbacks.
“It’s a good experience but there’s something about performing the songs that I co-write with people that I don’t always feel as strongly connected to as the songs I have written entirely myself,” reasons Croome.
“It’s sort of a weird thing that my brain does where it doesn’t feel like it owns the whole thing. But I mean, I still enjoy doing co-writes because it comes up with material that I wouldn’t necessarily be able to do on my own,” she says honestly.
There’s no doubt that talent and charisma have helped Gossling on her long career, but it takes more than talent to cut it in the music business.
Croome counts herself lucky in this regard. Over the past few years Gossling has had overwhelming support from Triple J and it’s safe to say she’s more than appreciative.
“I don’t think I’d be where I am without Triple J and their support,” concedes Gossling, saying that lot of the people she works with and her team – booking agent, publisher, and now a label – are all partly to her significant airplay.
“They’re such a major player,” she says, “…it still blows my mind that I can get played on radio and listen to myself [in] Melbuorne and people can hear me singing in Perth at the same time, it’s crazy.”
Regardless of how Gossling is achieving her success, one thing is for sure; her stunning voice and charming demeanor should see her popularity grow over the next few years.
Intentional Living is out now through Dew Process. Gossling plays Pyramid Rock this New Year’s. Full dates and details here.
