Ah, Spring. The season of eternally blue skies, intense hayfever and love. What better time than now to lose your heart to the infectious beats of Melbourne beat-maker and ground shaker, Chela?

She makes alt-pop disco tunes that make you want to put on your shiniest dancing shoes (or steal them… from your best friend’s sister) and the best part is she’s got equally sick dance moves to boot. It’s no wonder she’s been asked by the likes of Clubfeet and Goldroom to collaborate.

She’s also been remixed by the Collarbones boys, and just recently finished off supporting The Preatures on their nation-wide tour.

Need more convincing?

On her recent trip to Sydney, Chela caught up with one of our film team members, Shirley Cai, and serenaded her to an acoustic version of her new single ‘Romanticise’ in a gorgeous little gem of a music store – Prestige – along Oxford St in Bondi. Lucky for you we put together a video of the performance… squeaky chair included.

Alright guys and girls, hand over your hearts…

Shirley: What’s the meaning behind ‘Romanticise’?

Chela: A friend of mine was being extremely negative about life and I became sick of hearing about it, so the message is simply something like ‘lighten up buddy!’

The music video is great. Tell us a bit about how that came about…

Thanks! I’d had a lot of good feedback on my dancing so I decided to focus in on dancing for the video, it’s half choreographed and half improvised. Once we had the green screen footage we fuelled up on chocolate brownies and made the graphics in 2 days with $200 dollars. I wanted it to look a bit like MS Paint, lo-fi trying to be hi-fi.

Describe the perfect day in the life of Chela.

This could take a while! I like to go on adventures. Something that involved a picnic and a road-trip from the rainforest to the city at sunset with my loved ones and loud music.

‘Romanticise’ is a little like a love song wrapped up in disco synths and cunning beats. You wouldn’t pick it unless you listened to the lyrics. I find that’s generally the case with most of your songs though. How would you describe your music?

You’re right, it’s definitely nostalgic and emotional underneath all the fun stuff. I’m a sentimental ‘ol fool so that’s the way it is for me.

What’s next for Chela?

I’m working towards a full length, so I’m writing lots more tunes. I’m being very anti-social and locking myself up in my bedroom!

Okay, final question: You get whisked away to a private island to be romanticised by another musician/band. There’ll be an abundance of coconuts, tiki torches and they’ll even perform their own rendition of ‘Romanticise’. Who would you pick and why?

Haaa! I do love coconuts. I’d pick Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graffiti because one of them looks like a safari tour guide/professor, he might be handy on the island once the performance is over.

Related: Free Download :: Clubfeet ‘Heartbreak ft. Chela’ (Guerre remix)