the montgomery edit was captured by artist samuel hodge one overcast friday evening. the songstress and her boyfriend, dale came up to the studio after our up late event at the powerhouse museum.

the five of us hung out while montgomery pulled an edit from our current collections and choose her favourite pieces from the RWB archive. we got to know each other while samuel regaled us with fun facts about the weather, sea creatures and birds. samuel must have been channeling montgomery’s vibes... as we got into the outfits, they coincidently matched our conversation and turned out to be all the things she loves too…

then the storm broke and we got stuck in the studio! freaky!

montgomery, you selected some choice pieces for the shoot... what attracted you to these particular RWB items?

the seaside tier dress (which is now the crowning jewel of my wardrobe) with the matching bucket hat! the silhouette of that dress is gorgeous and the embroidered designs all over it... they are so cute. it felt very reminiscent of a matching dress and bucket hat i had when i was 5. it matched a teddy bear i owned so i wore that outfit all the time. 

your voice is incredible - music and melody seem so effortless for you. what inspires you musically?

the best things definitely come effortlessly but that unannounced inspiration comes in ebbs and flows so I search for it in things like old songs i haven’t listened to in a while, or a new plugin that gives me a sound i haven’t played around with before.

we spoke a lot about animals at the studio, tell us about your spirit animal.

I don’t know if this is a spirit animal but I had this weird superstition with Galahs when I was younger that when I would see one, it was a sign something good was about to happen. Like, on the way to a concert in Brisbane when I was 13, I saw a galah painted on the side of the highway and announced to everyone in the car that something good was about to happen. Later at the concert the drummer ran all the way up to the second level of bleachers where we were sitting and I jumped out of my seat and hugged the poor man. A big deal for a 13 year old fan girl who’s trying to prove to her friends that galahs bring the goods.

is there a story behind the name montgomery?

I wish I had a cool story but I went through a few names in my head that never really felt right until I decided I’d make a mySpace music account one night (really showing my age here) just to try and motivate me to share my music. the simpsons was on across from me and I heard “montgomery”. I’m embarrassed to say I named myself after mr burns on a whim but it stuck even up to years later when I actually started releasing music. 

at RWB, we love creating an outfit for the stage. what do you like to wear when you are performing?

I like to wear something that creates a bit of movement on stage, something that makes me feel elegant but then contrast that with something like chunky boots or an old worn shirt, things like that. I want to dress as an exaggerated version of myself for the stage. 

what is one of your favourite inventions?

this is a tough one to answer because I want to say something practical like electricity which powers all my favourite things like my lava lamp and the kettle I use to make the cup of coffee I depend on every morning.

but I think the ability to record sound is an important invention to me because, as we talked about with your book being published, it’s something you know you can leave behind and will hopefully remain to exist long after you. Sound recording has obviously evolved so much and will continue to which exists me.