A Quick Chat with Zanna Black

Zanna Black has unveiled her latest single, This Town, alongside its wistful music video on February 7. A dreamy yet bittersweet indie-folk gem, the track weaves together layered harmonies and moody instrumentation, capturing the nostalgia of small-town summers. Known for her evocative songwriting and enchanting sound, Zanna’s latest release is a heartfelt reflection on displacement and resilience, inspired by both Queensland’s flood-affected communities and her grandfather’s journey of escape. We caught up with Zanna to find out more.

Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?
‘This Town’ is a bit of a guess at what it must have felt like for my Grandad to flee his home city of Prague when he was a young man due to political unrest. The lyrics were left unfinished for a little while and before I got around to finishing them, Brisbane, where I lived at the time, and Northern NSW, where my family lived, were hit with some major floods that wiped out a lot of houses and basically all of Lismore. It felt like the whole world was crumbling and although I knew it wasn’t, it was a tiny glimpse into what it might be like to be forced to leave your home in wartime. I’m sure that’s what it would feel like, as if everything everywhere was falling apart, and I can’t imagine how devastating it would be to have to leave without knowing if you could return.
I think this song was a way of reflecting on my Grandad’s story using my own experiences as a backdrop for it all, and I hope people can see the parallels between what he went through and what a lot of people are going through all over the world still.

Who are some of your influences, and why?
Josh Pyke’s lyrics are amazing, I love Elliott Smith because he’s the father of sad music, Laura Marling is just the best, Feist has something other-worldly about her voice, and Foals are probably my favourite band because their albums seem to cover every genre I love all at once without being messy or disconnected.

What's the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?
Most of my songs are written using an acoustic guitar, and I always write the lyrics alone, usually over a few sessions and always on paper. Although ‘This Town’ actually started with an effected guitar loop, I turned it back into an acoustic guitar thing to write the lyrics.
Once I have the lyrics finished, I usually play through it a bit with my band, and when they’ve come up with their parts, we record a demo, which is when we’re most creative with it. Often we really like the demo, and it can be hard to get the studio version to have the same feel to it but with everything recorded properly.
We usually don’t have much time to get everything recorded in the studio, so it’s pretty stressful but also a lot of fun on the day. Then there’s a fair bit of emailing back and forth between the producer and the band until we’re all happy with the mix, etc.

What do you think makes a great song?
I think it’s hard to put your finger on, but sometimes I just hear something and feel like I need to be listening to it at every possible moment for a couple of weeks until it’s out of my system. Then listening to it later on kind of transports me back to that time when I was listening to it every day.

If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
I would love to write a song and hear Meg Mac sing it. Sometimes I write things that just really don’t suit my voice, and I’d love to hear how it sounds with a really strong voice like hers.

When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
I like baking. One day I want to get all the fancy decorating stuff and learn how to make really pretty cakes, but I like just doing the actual baking part of it the most. And the eating part.

Who are some local bands we should check out?
Mecha Mecha
Goodbye Spacebear
Transmissions From The Water-Tower
Darcy Forever Band
Wormgirlz

Winter or summer and why?
Winter because my house and car don’t have aircon, and it’s Brisbane.

What do you have planned for 2025?
We’ve got another demo in the works called ‘White Dress,’ which is one of my favourite songs to play live. We’ll release that one soon, and we have a couple of others lined up.
I’m doing an hour of songwriting a day at the moment and posting whatever I’ve written that day on social media. I want to write 100 new songs and so far have written 22.
And we’re not going to forget to apply for Woodford (it’s so early!) again this year.

Interviewsaustralianmusicscene7 February 2025