Sesame Girl: Finding Something Real in the Softness
- Anne
- 1 day ago
- 9 min read
Dreamy guitars, honest feelings and the memories behind Sesame Girl’s new EP
Interview Feature
There’s something very personal about the way Sesame Girl write. Their new EP, "Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket", holds onto memories, friendship, insecurity and love without trying to make any of them bigger than they are. Instead, the Australian band lets those feelings sit alongside dreamy guitars, fuzz and softer moments, giving the songs enough room to breathe.
The title grew out of “Wings of a Butterfly”, a song about asking for proof instead of promises. For vocalist Heather Duncan, the butterfly has always carried a personal meaning. She has been fascinated by them since childhood, and the image became a natural fit for a record that allowed the band to be more delicate and precise with their songwriting. “A locket to me is also the ultimate accessory of sentimentality”, Duncan says. It’s an idea that runs through the EP: memories, relationships and difficult feelings kept close rather than neatly put away. Sesame Girl made the record with producer Simon Lam, whom they first became obsessed with through his band Armlock. In the studio, they brought together natural textures such as banjo, slide and acoustic guitar with hazier, crunchier guitar tones. The result is still recognisably Sesame Girl, but there’s a little more space in the songs this time. Duncan describes it as a record where they finally gave themselves permission to be “emo”, allowing the emotions to come forward rather than filling every gap with another guitar part. That balance is especially clear on “Wings of a Butterfly”. The song began with a small voice memo of the riff before the band built it up with Lam in the studio. Its central idea is simple: being told that someone loves you is one thing, but sometimes you need to see it in what they actually do. The butterfly becomes a metaphor for that kind of love - fragile, beautiful and capable of slipping away as time and the seasons change.
We spoke to Sesame Girl about the memories behind the EP, the relationships that shaped it, and what changed when they stopped trying to hide the more vulnerable parts of their songwriting.
Indienoxzine:
The title “Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket” feels incredibly personal. When did you realise that image could hold the whole EP together?
Heather Duncan:
I think I came up with it when we were writing our song ‘Wings of a Butterfly’, which kind of ended up as a title track. Like all musicians, I keep a list of potential titles in my notes app and as throughout the process of writing and recording I just kept coming back to it and slowly convinced everyone that even though it’s a bit of a mouthful it would suit it perfectly!
I’ve also always been really obsessed with butterflies ever since I was a little kid, and so the title "Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket" feels very sentimental. A locket to me is also the ultimate accessory of sentimentality, like wearing a photo of someone you love in a necklace? That’s so special. I think the title also hints to how on this record we really found our flow in keeping things delicate, just like a butterfly. Which meant that all the emotion I poured into the songs had nothing to hide behind, and the message in each one hits really hard.
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Indienoxzine:
Butterflies appear throughout the record, but they never feel like a simple symbol of transformation. What do they represent for you personally?
Heather:
I mean butterflies do just evoke a lot of memories for me, like I remember chasing butterflies around the garden when I was a kid, and I remember seeing a swarm of monarchs out mushroom picking with my boyfriend and so when I see them flying around it takes me back to different versions of myself. And for sure, it feels like with this EP we’ve really come into our own and had a transformation into something fully realized, but it makes me believe there’s always another cocoon to emerge from and you never have to stop evolving, which definitely inspires me moving forward.
Indienoxzine:
On “Wings of a Butterfly”, you sing about wanting proof instead of promises. Do you think reassurance is something we ask for because we’ve been disappointed before, or because we simply want to feel safe?
Heather:
I think for me it’s definitely both! I’ve always struggled with my self esteem and insecurities and so I feel whether or not those feelings come from past relationships or from my own internal relationship, that the reassurance still isn’t too much to ask. Whatever someone needs to feel safe or special I know I would do and so to expect the same doesn’t seem too far fetched.
Indienoxzine:
The EP also deals with the feeling of being made to feel unlovable. How did that come through in “Kick in the Teeth”?
Heather:
I think it’s a feeling that you get driven to when you’re with someone who won’t commit, who keeps you a secret, or makes you feel like you’re not enough and I’ve experienced that heaps of times. In a way, you just want them to love you even more desperately, to prove that they were wrong about you, even if, realistically, you know you’ll never be what they want. You can see that sentiment in lyrics like: “taking off my clothes to be the secret that you keep. I know that I’ll never be the person that you need”. I think it’s a really sad song that comes from a pretty dark place of my own insecurity. I’ve worked hard to try and believe that I’m worth loving, and I think nowadays I do feel that a majority of the time.
Indienoxzine:
Friendship feels just as important as romance across this EP, especially on “Superstar”. Was it important for you to show different kinds of love rather than focusing on just one?
Heather:
It definitely wasn’t a conscious choice or anything! Friendship is definitely under-utilised as songwriting material, so I’m glad it got it’s moment on the EP! I do write a lot of romantic sad songs too, so it’s under-utilised by me too! We were travelling down and staying with friends to be able to work with our producer Simon Lam in Melbourne. And so we were just so surrounded by the love from our friends during the process and we were so happy to be able to come home to them each night, even if we were sucking and playing bad in the studio. So it just made us want to write something that captured that feeling of how special it is to have amazing friends in your life, and how you’d do anything for them no matter what.
Indienoxzine:
“Superstar” has a very nostalgic quality to it. What do you remember about writing that song?
Heather:
We wrote "Superstar" in the studio and we were just playing guitars for hours and it was going nowhere and then I sang the chorus and we were all like ‘Oh my god’. It’s my personal favorite song we’ve ever made, when I hear it I can’t even believe we came up with it because it’s literally so good and I love it so much. "Superstar" is a sincere ode to friendship and wanting the best for the people you love. It’s about celebrating their wins, while also being there for them no matter what they’re going through. It feels very nostalgic in a way, and it brings in some of that 90’s gazey dreaminess that we’ve always been obsessed with.
Indienoxzine:
The EP moves between dreamy, almost weightless moments and much heavier guitar-driven sections. Did those contrasts develop naturally while writing, or were you consciously trying to balance softness with something rougher?
Heather:
I think the contrast of soft and heavy has always been something we’ve had to work with. We love heavy music and I have a very soft voice unfortunately. So I think we’ve almost just embodied that in our writing without too much thought. But I do think it’s kind of a blessing in some ways to have an inbuilt challenge that forces you to adapt creatively, it makes it more unique I reckon!
Indienoxzine:
You worked closely with Simon Lam on these songs. Was there a moment during the recording process where a song changed completely from your original idea?
Heather:
We were so stuck on Rubberband for ages because my original idea was for it to kind of sound like ‘Teenage Dirtbag’ and that was stumping us like crazy. Then our friend Liam, who is kind of like our secret 5th member, sent us a song he had written and let us use the chords for it which worked really really perfectly for some reason. Apart from that, I think working with Simon meant we could follow an idea until it started to work because he was so endlessly patient with us while we tried a million things until it clicked.
Indienoxzine:
“Rubberband” looks at relationships from a slightly different angle, moving from someone else’s relationship back towards friendship. What were you trying to capture there?
Heather:
I wrote "Rubberband" standing in our kitchen putting a rubber band on something. The song follows looking at a friend’s relationship, looking inward at your own relationship, and then appreciating your relationship with your friend over anything else. When you give your heart to people who don’t care enough or treat you well, all you can do is take the lesson and surround yourself with the love of your friends. On this song we went way more classic 90s rock and I love how all the songs on this EP are lowkey different genres but still cohesive. But we had to give the children a rock moment, that’s a given.
Indienoxzine:
“Prettiest Girl in the World” feels particularly vulnerable. Where did that song come from?
Heather:
It’s about noticing how you feel in a moment where nobody is looking at you, and how you can be yourself and be loved freely when self hatred isn’t creeping in. The inspiration for this song came from how I have to turn off all the lights before I can have sex with anyone. It’s really about those moments when your eyes are shut and you’re not being perceived, or perceiving yourself and you can just exist, and for all you or anyone knows, you’re the prettiest girl in the world. It’s a really deeply personal song for me, and I think it’s kind of brutally honest in a way that it just kind of acknowledges the problem, but doesn’t offer a solution apart from closing your eyes and not thinking of it. I really respect anyone who can preach self love and body positivity, but I don’t know if I’d ever be able to do that genuinely. So this song is kind of just how I deal with those feelings of low self esteem, like seeking self love through the validation of love from others, but still feeling like you have to conform to a very narrow standard in order to be treated decently and deserve that love. It is a sad song, but I think it’s also kind of positive in a way, like I’m saying: whatever work-around it takes, ‘I can let you love me’ and maybe that can be enough for now.
Indienoxzine:
Looking back at “Lucky Charm”, what do you think has changed most about the way Sesame Girl writes music today?
Heather:
I think we’ve just evolved as people and as music listeners and musicians. We’ve always been into so many different genres and as we’ve grown and changed that’s come out in our music more and more. I feel like I’ve found my voice lyrically and we’re all able to show up more genuinely and reveal more of ourselves in the way we write today.
Indienoxzine:
Many of these songs hold on to very specific memories, yet they still feel easy to relate to. When you’re writing, do you think about your own experiences first, or about leaving enough space for listeners to find themselves in the songs?
Heather:
I think I’m definitely just focused on telling my own stories and painting an image of my own emotions, but I think all the things that I go through are easy to relate too, which is kind of sad because sometimes they’re really difficult.
Indienoxzine:
Finally, when listeners reach the end of “Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket”, what do you hope stays with them long after the music has stopped?
Heather:
Of course we hope you love the record as much as we do! And you take that with you, but whatever stays with you and resonates is just as meaningful. The main take away I’d want anyone to have is that they’re not alone in those feelings, and to get a sense of belonging from that.
“Butterfly Wing in a Silver Locket” feels like a record about letting yourself be seen without having to resolve everything first. Sesame Girl leave room for the messy parts of love, friendship and self-doubt, but there’s warmth in the way they hold those feelings. By the time the EP comes to an end, the idea of the locket feels fitting: these songs are little pieces of memory, kept close because they meant something. And sometimes that’s enough.
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