In the five years since the release of her most recent EP, 'How We Disappeared', Eliza Hull hasn't stopped.
An advocate for disability in the music industry, as well as advising multiple organisations such as the ARIAs, Music Victoria and APRA, alongside releasing multiple books centring around disability, Hull allowed her next musical body of work to simmer behind the scenes.May this year saw the release of 'Running Underwater', the first taste from her 'Here They Come' EP, that's due December this year.
The powerful song beautifully showcases Hull's unique and strong voice, and represents Hull's struggle with the lack of recognition of disability in the music industry, and finding the courage to disclose her own disability, Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease.
"For a long time I hid my disability, especially in the music industry," shares Eliza. "This was due to under-representation of disabled musicians, and I was constantly shown that disability was a deficit or something that should be feared and hidden.
"It was such a heavy weight holding on to these beliefs, it was exhausting to constantly hide.
"This song is about pushing up against society's view of disability, it's about letting go of the fear and being authentic and true to myself, and showing that it's OK to be different."
The equally powerful video features Roya the Destroya, an artist and dancer who strikingly represents the song's themes visually.
"Roya is an incredible performer. She's performed everywhere from The White House to internationally and around Australia," Eliza says.
"She also likes to busk on the street and get that audience reaction. She discovered a stripped-back version of 'Running Underwater', and started using it to busk with.
"She sent me a video of that and I really fell in love with the way she embodies and expresses the song. I always knew that's how I'd like to present the song in a visual format.
"I reached out to a great director Keiran Watson-Bonnice. It was just a really great day. It was absolutely freezing, because we used an old goods shed. I like the simplicity of the location, it matched with her incredible movement."
Hull began singing at five years old, and began performing through a very fortunate series of events.
"I started when I was five years old. I got asked to sing in a local Eisteddfod and won a gold medal. It was like 'oh, this this is something I can do'. And it gave me that positive reinforcement that at that time I was really searching for, because that was the exact time that I developed my disability.
"So I started falling over in school, and I was pretty confused what was going on as a child. And I think music was a way to kind of express that and have purpose. I just haven't stopped.
"The music is the thing that never lets me down. I think the industry is tricky, but the actual music never lets me down, and it's been a constant and a way to express myself."
Always looking to expand her musical gift, Hull's 'Here They Come' EP will feature songs co-written with Odette and Gordi.
"It was a lot of fun working with Georgia [Odette]. She's very creative and has an incredible sense of being adventurous, and ability to take risks, which I was really excited by, and needed to have that energy in the room.
"Gordi saw me perform on ABC's 'Q&A', and she really liked the song, so I reached out to her and we worked on a track called 'Island', which is the quieter moment on the record."
Eliza recently returned from a five-week tour of the UK with another artist with disability Ruth Lyon; Hull also performed at The Great Escape Festival, where she enjoyed playing another collaboration from the forthcoming record, 'Lilac Dreams'.
"It was a lot of fun [the UK tour], and lots of people were interested and wanted to chat after, and were buying records and my books. I've always had a sense that my music would go really well there, so I need to go back really.
"'Lilac Dreams' I wrote through one of the APRA 321 sessions during BIGSOUND festival, with Georgia from Moreton and Guy from Grand Pines. It's a really nostalgic track, it makes you kind of think about your childhood and your teenage years. It's one of those reflective songs."
Speaking on the strengths and weaknesses of the industry in regards to disability, Hull provides hope.
"They're doing well because we are having the conversations and fearing it less. Even if certain people don't have a disability or have never experienced anybody with a disability, a lot of people are stepping in.
"In the past, the door was shut for a lot of people. So there's less stigma, and that's why I felt more comfortable to disclose that I have a disability. Before that, there was just no conversation happening, and it made me feel like it wasn't a safe space to disclose that.
"What we as an industry could do better would be keep going. I'd really love it if radio had a set quota of musicians with disability they were playing.
"More opportunities for disabled musicians to come forward, more awards, given professional development, a financial contribution to disabled musicians and, potentially even certain awards categorised for disabled persons. That would be really beneficial. And record labels and publishers considering disabled musicians on their roster, and giving them that step up."
Eliza has written multiple books centred around disability, her first 'We've Got This' contains stories from parents with disability. The book was inspired by the underrepresentation Hull saw in the area of parenting with disability.
"I was in my 20s at the time, and had decided I wanted to have a child, and I went to see my neurologist. It was just thinking ahead, like 'I really want to have a child'. And he said that he didn't think that I should, that I wouldn't be able to manage.
"If I had listened to him, then I wouldn't be a parent. And that made me realise there needs to be a lot of change in the medical space and the wider community, when it comes to parenting with disability.
"And when I went out and searched for a book like this to feel less alone and to know what it was gonna be like to be a parent with a disability, there was nothing out there. So I knew that there was a definite need for that."
Eliza Hull 2023 Tour Dates
11-13 Aug - Byron Writers Festival (Byron Bay)Sat 26 Aug - Melbourne Recital Centre
Sun 10 Sep - Riverside Theatre (Sydney)
Fri 22 Sep - Undercover Festival (Brisbane)
