ULLAH

Writer/Interviewer: Aysha Swanson

Photography: Peter Sherlock

Above: Ullah by Peter Sherlock

Standing in The Triffid  crowd last month, it was impossible not to get pulled into Ullah’s world. There’s a quiet magnetism in the way she moves across the stage, with both fragility and strength, she makes you feel like like every lyric is being sung just for you. Her new EP For Then feels exactly like this: confessional, joyful, and alive, the songs carrying the intimacy of someone who’s learned to let go and to dance freely. The EP is a record of growth, a document of experimentation, and a statement about navigating fear, self-doubt, and the pressure of perception. It’s a project shaped not only in the studio but through live performance, where songs are tested, refined, and allowed to breathe in real time.

For Ullah, the process of making For Then has been as much about personal discovery as it has been about music. There are tracks that speak to the tension of wanting to express yourself fully while feeling the weight of how others might see you, and moments of liberation where the act of performing becomes a declaration of autonomy. It’s in this balance between vulnerability and strength that the EP finds its heart, carrying a sense of intimacy that doesn’t rely on spectacle but on honesty and connection.

In this interview, Ullah reflects on the personal experiences and transitional moments that shaped the EP, the journey of building confidence in her own voice, and the small victories of sharing that honesty on stage. By the end it was clear: Ullah’s music isn’t just something you listen to, it’s something you feel, together, with everyone in the room.

Above: Ullah and Jack by Peter Sherlock

AYSHA: Your songwriting’s often described as really confessional, almost like turning your inner monologue outward. Did this EP feel like a continuation of that, or a shift in how much you’re willing to reveal?

ULLAH: I think 'How to Dance Pt.1', one of those singles that is coming out, definitely feels more confessional in terms of acknowledging when I was a kid I used to dance intensely. I used to be really free and we would always go to folk festivals as kids and I was one of those free range kids. I was always pretty dirty and gross and pretty feral.

I think getting to the older stage and becoming aware of others perception and then having that fear of others perception feels a little bit scary acknowledging and speaking out loud and being like, okay, we’re on stage now. I’m going to say that it can be scary to dance and it can be scary to be aware of others’ perception, but this song’s all about letting go and feeling free and then dancing on stage. There’s definitely a level of being like, this is what I’m afraid of and I’m about to do what I’m afraid of. That definitely feels scary.

But I think since then, the other songs that are on it, 'Shoulder to Shoulder' feels very confessional, and same with 'I Want It All'. They both feel very honest and revealing, but I don’t think it feels too scary. Not yet anyways. I don’t feel like there’s enough people listening to feel too scared.

It definitely does feel, and also having people who, I know that feeling of being in the crowd and being like, I really want to dance, I really want to move, but no one else is, and that feeling of like, oh, I just really want to get into it. But then when I tell people feel free to dance, feel free to dance with me, and those people that do, that feels really exciting to have people who are breaking the fear as well with me.

There’s a whole bunch of articles that have come out recently about how Gen Z and even millennials, just the fear of dancing and how dance floors are not happening anymore. At gigs there’s no movement, it’s the age of social media and the fact that we’re not only afraid of being perceived by our peers that are directly around us, but then also being captured on a phone and it could possibly being perceived by millions of people around the world. It’s sad that that’s the reality, but unfortunately it is.

AYSHA: A lot of your work circles “growing pains” and changing comforts, did this project come from a specific transitional moment in your life?

ULLAH: I definitely think so. I am an incredibly, well, maybe was an incredibly critical person on myself. Never to anyone else, but only to myself, and incredibly harsh and mean, and every time I would get off stage I could only ever think of negative things that had happened, or anytime writing a song it was just complete criticism for myself, and that’s an exhausting mental space to be in. It doesn’t impact me positively and it doesn’t actually impact anyone else around me positively either to just have to listen to someone bag themselves constantly.

I think these group of songs were part of a period of time of trying to shift out of a really critical headspace. Especially 'I Want It All', I remember writing that song and the whole goal was to be able to sing it with a group of people, having people in the audience singing it and us all singing for a common goal of just wanting it all and that childlike glee.

When we started playing it in Perth at local gigs and it wasn’t even out, and then when people started to sing it with us and it just kept happening, I remember that was when I slowly was moving out of that headspace.

I think a lot of the songs are about trying to appease others, whether that be through dulling yourself down, and about being fearful of others’ perception of yourself and being fearful of my own perception of myself and trying to break away from that.

I think now I’m in such a different headspace, still can be quite critical of myself, but I’m learning how to give myself more grace and the same grace that I give others. I feel like they’ve all come from that time period of shifting.

AYSHA: You’ve spoken about songwriting as a kind of cathartic release, was this EP something you needed to get out of your system, or something you slowly uncovered over time?

ULLAH: 'Shoulder to Shoulder' was a song that really needed to come out. It felt revealing, honest, and very much about how consumed I was with disliking myself and being so critical. When it did come out, it was such a relief to acknowledge that and be honest about it.

With 'How to Dance pt 1' and 2, I went in with an idea of what I wanted, but I didn’t realise how much of a release they would actually give. Especially performing 'How to Dance pt 2', I didn’t expect how good it would feel to connect with people in that way and to connect with myself that way too. That sense of release and connection came after the fact.

AYSHA: Your music sits in that space between fragility and quiet strength, how did you approach holding that balance across a full EP?

ULLAH: I think that I don’t know how to not, I guess. When I hear an artist who’s able to have a really strong sound where every single song fits really nicely into a genre and a theme and a feeling, I’m like, that’s amazing that they can do that. I just don’t feel like I can do that.

I feel like with 'I Want It All' it’s so joyful and I want it to be intense and powerful, and then 'Shoulder to Shoulder' is maybe a quiet power and a quiet strength. I just feel like it comes from going into each song and acknowledging them as each song and not trying to have them all come off as perfect and succinct.

I think moving forward, I’m starting to work on an album, there’s like 9 or 10 songs that I want to record, and I think once again because they’re coming from a place of one period of time, they’ve definitely got a theme across them. But I think in sound they’re all really varying, but in the theme there is definitely something that goes through them all, similar to this EP.

Above: Ullah by Peter Sherlock 

AYSHA: You’ve built your audience really organically through live shows, did playing these songs in front of people shape how they ended up on the record?

ULLAH: Definitely, definitely, definitely. Especially 'I Want It All'. That song is fully built for a live stage and for it to be sung together to an audience who is singing it with you, for there to be moments of almost like a duet with the crowd. That was really intentionally built and workshopped through.

Because it’s taken me so long to record music, all the songs on it are songs that were played like a year before they’ve been released, or two. 'How to Dance pt 1' and 2, those are two years being played live. So by the time it gets to recording, you’re able to see what people are really connecting with. From there it’s like, okay, these are the moments that are really important and how can we really hone in on those moments because that’s what people love, that’s what people connect with.

I think the one thing I’m afraid of is moving into the next group of songs, it’s going to be the first time where we’re not doing it with that constant validation with a crowd, with a live audience. So it’s going to be interesting moving into that phase. But I’m really grateful to have done it that way with a live audience.

When I’m in an audience, I love when there’s a sense of community. It’s to be in a crowd and for everyone to be doing the same thing, that makes me feel so good, I’m a part of that community. It makes me feel so good that sometimes people come and they are able to get that sense too.

AySHA: There’s a strong sense of intimacy in your work, even when you’re playing with a full band, how do you preserve that closeness as your sound expands?

ULLAH: I think that because when I started playing music, I started doing solo shows for like a year before I put the band together, and because of that I got in the habit of communicating with the crowd. There’s so much time of tuning, and the people that I was watching in the local music scene, like Jack Davies and the Bush Chooks or Claudie Joy and the Joyboys, were just insane musicians, and watching how they were interacting with the crowd left me knowing that it was really important that I wanted to build a connection and a relationship with the audience as well.

I’ve been to gigs where I remember watching Angus and Julia Stone and they didn’t talk to the crowd once, there was no interaction. For some people that’s what they like, but for me as an audience member, I want to connect with you. I want you to, even if you just give me one or two sentences, to feel like I’ve left knowing the artist more. That’s kind of what I want.

I think also complete anxiety and nerves and discomfort force me to talk. For some people it makes them go silent, and honestly I wish I had that sometimes, because it just forces me to say stupid things and I can’t help it. That’s just the reality, and whether there’s a band there or not, it’s going to happen.

AYSHA: You’ve supported artists like Missy Higgins and Stella Donnelly, did those experiences shift your perspective on what your own music could become?

ULLAH: Watching all of Stella’s shows and then the one show with Missy Higgins in Perth, both of them put on a show. There’s ups and downs through the set and it carries you through, and there’s moments of interacting with the crowd with authenticity and connection, but also there’s no lulls. Every moment is intentional, and I just think that’s amazing and really inspirational.

I think that’s something that we’re striving for moving forward, learning how to really have those shifts and changes and everything be really intentional and on purpose. Same with Missy Higgins, her set was really long, she played the whole of the new album and then also some of her older work, and it was amazing. The fact that she was able to play so long and it didn’t even feel like that long, it just felt like, yeah, it shows the artistry that’s involved.

It’s one thing to go up on stage and play your songs and talk, but it’s another thing to really be creative in how you’re putting on a show. So I think that’s definitely impacted how I want to move forward with my music.

Above: Ullah by Peter Sherlock 

 AYSHA: You’ve said you’re focused on “getting better at your craft”, what do you think this EP shows about where you’re at right now as an artist, compared to when you started releasing music?

ULLAH: I think it’s hard to say because a lot of them were recorded early 2025, so it feels like so much has happened in the past year. I think something I’ve learned through the experience of recording them was autonomy, and having the confidence within yourself.

I was in the habit of sitting in the passenger seat and being too fearful to give my ideas, even though I wrote the songs. In the recording process, being too fearful, not knowing how to communicate, or saying things like, oh, I wonder if we should try this, oh no, but it’s probably stupid, don’t worry about it. Why would I say that about myself? It’s so rude. I would never say that about anyone else.

By the end of it, it’s like, I should trust what I have to say. Ideas should be allowed to be given space and if they don’t work, they don’t work, but it’s not that big of a deal. Just trusting my ability, and if I trust myself more, it means that those around me also probably feel safe to voice their ideas too. That’s something I learned through it.

Before that, I had no trust in myself. I think that’s why it took me so long to record things, because I just knew it wouldn’t be the experience it could be. If you’re going into a space where you don’t know yourself, where you’re not comfortable with yourself, you’re not going to end with the product that you’re really happy with.

AYSHA: This interview will be out after your EP release, is there a track on the EP that feels like the emotional anchor for the whole project?

ULLAH: I think that although I’m promoting 'How to Dance pt. 2' the most, maybe 'How to Dance pt. 1' is the emotional anchor. It’s a quiet song, it’s got a build, and the ending has my family and Jack, the drummer’s family, singing in it. My family is really tone deaf, so to have them on it was really special.

There’s a lyric at the start: “my limbs would move if I just gave them the chance,” and I feel like that kind of encapsulates the whole thing. I think that song is probably the most honest, at this moment in time it feels like the most honest. Yeah, 'How to Dance pt. 1', that’s my answer.

AYSHA: I'm so excited to hear it. 
I'm so, so keen.

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