Looking at Ayesha Madon’s burgeoning music career, the word ‘meteoric’ doesn’t come close to describing the year she’s had. She made her debut as a live performer at Australia’s leading new music festival and industry conference Big Sound and just dropped her latest single ‘Fish & Chips’. Ayesha joined Grace and Al on Friday Arvos to unpack her recent stardom, creative process, and her methods for balancing creative pursuits.

You may know her as Amerie on the hit Netflix show Heartbreak High, but there’s more to Ayesha Madon than meets the eye. A musician first, Ayesha has been writing and creating music since she was a kid. Her first single ‘Outside of the Party’ dropped in 2020, pre-dating her quick and dizzying rise as an actor. Ayesha talked about introducing her new fans to this side of her life.

“I was a little nervous because obviously putting any of your own work out there is quite vulnerable and I’m playing a character in Heartbreak High and my music feels more personal to me. It was nerve-racking, but everyone has been so lovely to me and they’ve been welcoming it with open arms.”

Juggling two creative pursuits, 2022 has been a busy year for the 24 year old. Running Grace and Al through her frantic schedule, Ayesha also spoke of the harmony she’s found in pursuing two creative careers.

“It’s like really hectic, I need a vacation! But they’ve been so complimentary of one another in a lot of ways. It is a lot of work, having to schedule things and having to kind of give both my all… I think at the end of they day they work very symbiotically. When I get creatively agitated with one, there’s always the other one and they kind of help thrust each other forward in a way for want of a better word than thrust.”

Written in collaboration with David Hammer (Genesis Owusu, Montaigne) Ayesha’s latest single ‘Fish & Chips’ continues the trend of matching deep introspective lyricism with bright pop sensibilities. Focusing on nostalgia as her main muse, Ayesha dug into the duality of her sound.

“I come up with melodies first and lyrics come later, and lyrics are kind of indicative of what I’m going through at that time, so if I’m having a mental breakdown and me and my collaborator have made this boppy beat, that’s what I’m left with. I do like the dichotomy of having the slightly darker themes in a more disguised way.”

While she’s no stranger to the stage, studying musical theatre and working on the stage show ‘FANGIRLS’, 2022 saw Ayesha’s first performance as a recording artist. In front of industry professionals at Big Sound, Ayesha spoke about some unexpected nerves.

“It’s very personal and very intimate and very scary! I just needed to get through the set, and I think the person that made me the most nervous was one night my cousin came and just having my family there was the most nerve wracking, I’m like this is all I’ve got guys.”

Now in the closing weeks of a mammoth 2022, Grace and Al were keen to hear what was next for Ayesha.

“I am just going gun ho writing and I really want to, this is all speculation because I don’t know what form this is going to be released in. Obviously there is going to be more music, obviously there’s going to be live… But expect the unexpected, that’s all I’m going to say.”

Want to hear more from our chat with Ayesha Madon? Listen to the full interview with Grace and Al up top! You can also listen to ‘Fish & Chips’ below.