Amy Sheppard – The Singer-Songwriter Behind #KissMyFatAss

SUMMARY

This Saturday is the AFL Grand Final and none other than Sheppard will be performing! And so this week on Power Up Life, we’re excited to have Amy Sheppard, one of the lead vocalists in Sheppard and the singer-songwriter behind Kiss My Fat Ass.

Amy has become one of the most recognisable faces in Australia, especially when it comes to self-love, after opening up about her own insecurities and struggles with body image.

On top of being a proud member in Australian band Sheppard, Amy also happens to be one of 9Honey’s monthly columnists. 

Here’s just a taste of what Gianna and Amy spoke about in this episode:

• Life growing up in Papua New Guinea and then studying at an all-girls boarding school here in Australia
• Working alongside her siblings in Sheppard
• Life in the public eye
• The story behind Kiss My Fat Ass

So let’s Power Up Life!

SPONSOR

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CREDITS

Host: Co-Founder/CEO Happow, Gianna Lucas

Producers: Gianna Lucas, Marija Dukadinovska, Carissa Shale

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TRANSCRIPT

00:00:03
Speaker 1: I’m not just happy, I’m Happow.

00:00:11
Gianna Lucas: This is, Power Up Life, the podcast. I’m your host, Gianna Lucas, co- founder and CEO at Happow, the social enterprise that powers this podcast. We help you slay life in high school, uni and beyond. Each week on the show you’ll learn epic life skills in a super chill way. Hear from well- known legends as they reveal their biggest setbacks and milestones to date and you’ll find out what our Happow squad think about a whole stack of topics too. From epic challenges to super raw moments, this show has it all. So let’s power up life. ( singing) Recognize that track from 2019? It’s the song that quickly became the anthem behind Body Image Movement and Insta hashtag, Kiss My Fat Ass. Amy Sheppard, the singer songwriter behind, Kiss My Fat Ass, has become one of the most recognizable faces in Australia, especially when it comes to self- love after opening up about her own insecurities and struggles with body image. On top of being a proud member in Australian band, Sheppard, Amy also happens to be one of Nine Honey’s monthly columnists. By the way, a bit of a fun fact, last week it was announced that Sheppard will be performing at the AFL Grand Final this coming Saturday. So freaking awesome. I’m so excited to be chatting with Amy in this week’s episode. And here is just a taste of what we spoke about. Life growing up in Papua New Guinea and then studying at an all girls boarding school right here in Australia, working alongside her siblings in Sheppard, life in the public eye, the story behind Kiss My Fat Ass, her beautiful blue hair and so much more. So let’s power up life. And I’ve got her in her studio in Queensland. Welcome to Power Up Life, Amy.

00:02:34
Amy Sheppard: Hi. How’s it going?

00:02:35
Gianna Lucas: I’m very well, thank you. I probably am the most excited ever to interview you. I am a big fan of yours for your music, but also everything that you stand for. I can’t believe I’m actually going to say I’m a fangirl. Wow. It’s a big reveal on my part, but you are an all- round legend. So, firstly, thank you of everything that you do and all the positive vibes you’re putting out there, especially on your Instagram page.

00:02:59
Amy Sheppard: I appreciate that. So, it’s funny, really, Instagram is just this fake world. You put things out to the universe and you do that really… I don’t know. You’re not really that well connected with the people on the other side, so when you get to speak to them face- to- face it’s pretty cool.

00:03:15
Gianna Lucas: It definitely is very cool. And I think for you, you said it can be a bit of a fake world, I think you’ve definitely created a path that is the most realest you could ever be on a platform like Instagram. And I think your profile, particularly, is full of color and vibrancy. And I just love how you’ve been able to showcase yourself in anything. It doesn’t matter what you’re wearing and you wear it proudly, and you look absolutely amazing. I know you can see your cellulite, but we all have cellulite and I love how you basically have told people to kiss your fat ass, especially in your music. Oh, I’d actually love to talk a little bit about that. I want to also talk about your past and how Sheppard all began, but particularly about sort of the Kiss My Fat Ass movement, which has gone absolutely bonkers. It’s gone viral. Particularly for you, when you created this song why did you create it and was this a catalyst there that made you go, I need to put out a song that gives this message around the world? What was that thing?

00:04:15
Amy Sheppard: Didn’t start with a song, it obviously started on Instagram. I just got sick of the BS on Instagram and just people portraying this fake life, and I was one of them. I was definitely part of the problem. I would post photos and Facetune them, pose in a perfect position so I looked the part, really. I was just trying to be what I knew a pop star was, so that was obviously curated images and I just got sick of it. I just felt so disingenuous and so fake.

00:04:47
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:04:48
Amy Sheppard: And I got sick of trying to be that person. And I would see all the girls that I was following and I just couldn’t keep up anymore, and I got sick of keeping up. And it started off with just one- off posts. I would post a photo and you could see in the corner a little roll on my tummy and I’d do (inaudible) like that. In looking back, that was nothing. But it was amazing the reaction that those photos had and it just made me sort of open my eyes to what people were actually craving, yeah, in a role model. So I started doing photos where I would post the photo that was edited, because I still… I guess I was sort of attached to that image of who I portrayed myself as originally. And so, I would post the photo edited, but then I’d do a swipe across so it was like, ” Check out the photo before I edited it.”

00:05:35
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. Yeah.

00:05:36
Amy Sheppard: And they had a really good reaction too. So I was like, ” Okay, I think I’m onto something here. People are really responding well to this.” And then one day I was looking for content to post and I just couldn’t find a photo that was Instagram worthy and I came across this photo that my boyfriend took of me beside the pool. And I was just really casual, really candid, and I was looking back at him. And I loved the photo, everything about the shot was beautiful except all of the reasons why I wasn’t good enough. So, my cellulite, my tan was messy, my hair was just in a bun, not styled hair, wasn’t wearing makeup, all these reasons. So I spent 10, 15 minutes trying to edit cellulite from the back of my legs and I don’t know. Just in that moment I was like, ” I’m putting this out. I’m about to put this out to my fans.” Majority of them are under 35 women and I’ve faked it, you know?

00:06:28
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:06:28
Amy Sheppard: And I just felt so guilty and so, I don’t know.

00:06:33
Gianna Lucas: So you posted it, the edited version at that point?

00:06:36
Amy Sheppard: No.

00:06:37
Gianna Lucas: Oh, you were thinking about it, yeah, yeah, yeah, as you were editing. Yeah.

00:06:39
Amy Sheppard: Edited photo ready to post. And just before I uploaded it I just thought, ” I’m just going to upload it as is. I’m so sick of this.” So I just uploaded it without any of the facetuning and then I just put my phone down because I was just so over Instagram. And then put my phone on the charge, came back an hour later and I was overwhelmed with messages, people comments and people reaching out saying, ” That was such a great post, we want more of this.” And the rest is history really, I just never looked back. I thought, ” Well, they’ve seen it now, so what have I got to hide?”

00:07:11
Gianna Lucas: That’s right. I can keep bringing it out there, everyone knows everything about my legs, my butt, all of that. I absolutely love it. And look the reality is, what you’re going through is something that really everybody goes through. I mean, but for you it’s probably heightened because you are a public figure. And you’re right, in the music industry everything is so beautifully airbrushed and amazing, and you naturally would probably feel a bit of anxiety because you’re going, ” Well, do I look like blah, blah on their page? Yes, it’s airbrushed, but how does that compare to my profile?”
And then, of course, adding to that your followers, especially as you said, mostly women under 35. I mean, that’s a lot to carry for anybody in their day- to- day life and I just want to applaud you because I can just imagine, obviously I wasn’t there in that moment, but I can just imagine how agonizing it would have been for you to go, ” Oh, I’m just posting it as is.” Because you were probably excited but probably, I’m guessing, really nervous at the reaction. And of course, people loved what they saw about you, which is absolutely fantastic. And obviously, the rest is history, as you said. So yeah, as I said, I just wanted to applaud you because people like myself, I am a size 14, for example, and I’m really, really… I love my body. And it’s so nice to see people like yourself in the media showing off an amazing body, a healthy body, but a real body. And wearing it proudly and looking great. So, from the bottom of my heart, from everybody like me, I just want to say a massive thank you.

00:08:45
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, it’s funny how you said like a real body as we, because I’ve seen all different sizes and shapes on Instagram, but something about them still isn’t real.

00:08:54
Gianna Lucas: Mm- hmm ( affirmative).

00:08:54
Amy Sheppard: And I think it is that a lot of people still Facetune, even if they are in a larger body-

00:08:58
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:08:58
Amy Sheppard: … a lot of Facetune going on. So it’s like cellulite is this dirty word that we’ve all been taught and conditioned to coverup when we all have it. 90% of women have cellulite.

00:09:07
Gianna Lucas: Mm- hmm ( affirmative).

00:09:08
Amy Sheppard: I just don’t know why it has to be such a negative thing, because if we all were honest with each other and just posted it as we are then no one would care about it, no one would even think twice.

00:09:19
Gianna Lucas: Yes, exactly right. And so I think you’re being a bit of a trailblazer there, especially in Australia, and paving the way for women like myself to go ” Yeah, I’m going to do it too.” So, I want to ask you about the, Kiss My Fat Ass, song. So how did that come about then? Mind you, I don’t know how many times I’ve listened to it, but it’s definitely in my most listened to songs on Apple Music. So how did that come about?

00:09:44
Amy Sheppard: Well, the whole hashtag started on my second photo. So I uploaded the one beside the pool and then after that I uploaded just one of my butt really and I said at the end of it, “If you don’t like it then kiss my fat ass.” And then I had all these women posting, they started a hashtag for me and I had all these women joining in sharing their hashtag, Kiss My Fat Ass, photos. And that went on for-

00:10:05
Gianna Lucas: I’m pretty sure I was actually one of them. I think I did one of me in a pool with a flamingo and I’m really sure-

00:10:10
Amy Sheppard: No.

00:10:11
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. So I joined the movement too.

00:10:12
Amy Sheppard: … for that, that’s really nice. Yeah, it was amazing to see how many women got onboard of all different shapes and sizes from all over the world. It was just something that brought us all together in that little hashtag world. And then of course, I’m a songwriter so we had some studio time, I think it was a month later, and I sat down with George and Jay, who are the other songwriters in Sheppard, and we were like, ” What are we going to write today? What should we write about?” And I thought, ” Well,” we came up with that. I think it was Jay had that (inaudible) .

00:10:42
Gianna Lucas: Mm-hmm (affirmative), mm- hmm ( affirmative).

00:10:43
Amy Sheppard: And I started singing that like (singing). Yeah. And then it was just tracks to that kiss my fat ass and we just wrote it there and then in one day and-

00:10:54
Gianna Lucas: One day. Including the music and everything, just one day?

00:10:55
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, pretty much finished writing it and then we would have spent another day on production-

00:10:59
Gianna Lucas: Wow.

00:10:59
Amy Sheppard: … so probably in a few days we had it ready to go. And I just instantly had all these ideas about what I wanted to do for the film clip and that was inspired a lot by the Bloodline’s film clip.

00:11:11
Gianna Lucas: Yes.

00:11:13
Amy Sheppard: I remember seeing that clip and just being so down on myself because I saw, Emily Ratajkowski, or how do you say her name, that model. And I was just like, ” Oh, she’s perfect.”

00:11:23
Gianna Lucas: Mm- hmm ( affirmative).

00:11:24
Amy Sheppard: And that would be after the men idolizing those naked women walking around. I just wanted to recreate that with a variety of women. And I chose those women from just… A lot of them are friends of mine or women that I’ve come across on Instagram who have inspired me in some way and women who would do cool things-

00:11:42
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:11:42
Amy Sheppard: … despite what they look like. That was my main objective was to get people doing cool things. I had, Kara Saunders, who’s a crossfitter and she had just had a baby. I think she was six weeks postpartum. So one of the shots was her cuddling her baby. It looked really maternal. And then in the next shot she was doing devil presses with huge dumbbells. And she is amazing, she is so ripped and strong. And I just, yeah, I’m really inspired by people who do cool things. But, there’s too-

00:12:12
Gianna Lucas: Unafraid.

00:12:13
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, they aren’t afraid and they aren’t the stereotype of beauty.

00:12:17
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, exactly. And I know that you had, Taryn Brumfitt, as well from Body Image Movement.

00:12:23
Amy Sheppard: Yeah.

00:12:23
Gianna Lucas: And you also had… And I’ve forgotten the name, it’s just left me. But, she’s a personal trainer, Tiffiny Hall. You had so many amazing women, so diverse.

00:12:31
Amy Sheppard: Yes, she is amazing. She also was really honest with her post-aby in saying that after she had her baby a lot of the magazines were like, ” Quick, Tiff, we want you on the front cover of the magazine doing your bounce back and how you did it in five weeks and dah, dah, dah.” And she was like, “I…” She refused to do it because she just said, ” I’m not going to be able to do that safely for myself and safely for my child.” So she went ahead and posted a photo of her post- baby body and that was pretty cool as well because she is the ideal body-

00:13:02
Gianna Lucas: Mm- hmm ( affirmative).

00:13:02
Amy Sheppard: … fitness expert person and yeah, she was pretty honest about her body and how it changed a lot. Yeah, so I love her and she’s such a great authentic person. Who else did I have on there? I had-

00:13:14
Gianna Lucas: There was around 10. There was 10 girls, something like that.

00:13:17
Amy Sheppard: It was 12 of us.

00:13:18
Gianna Lucas: Oh, it was 12. Jeez. Your sister, your sister was one of them.

00:13:21
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, and I had my friend Laura who was pregnant at the time. I had, Kaylah Truth, who’s another Queensland rapper. Lorrie, she’s transgender and she’s so creative. She’s a makeup artist. She’s done my makeup a few times.

00:13:34
Gianna Lucas: Awesome.

00:13:34
Amy Sheppard: And, yeah, just a whole collection of… A dancer, yeah, people-

00:13:40
Gianna Lucas: Everybody. Everybody was in the film clip. It was an awesome film clip and of course that also went viral as well, and so it should. And I think out of that I’d just love to ask, obviously things have gone from strength to strength for you, do you have a goal with Kiss My Fat Ass? Is there something that you want to do? Obviously you’ve got your music, which is a big part of that, and then you’ve obviously got this platform, what are your goals for that? What are your dreams for it and of course for women and girls who follow you?

00:14:08
Amy Sheppard: Look, I never set out to have an objective with this. I never did it for anything, I just want to keep the message going. I want to be a real model. Obviously, my focus is on my music and that’s where I want my focus to be. I don’t want to have to worry about fitting into a size six (inaudible) . I don’t know, we’ll see. And that’s not to say that I’m not going to do anything more with, Kiss My Fat Ass, I might… I don’t know. If you have any ideas let me know, but at this stage I’m just riding the wave and I’m continuing to post my photos and I just want to be as authentic as possible for my fans.

00:14:41
Gianna Lucas: I love it. You could almost create a, Kiss My Fat Ass, album and then there’d be a collection of songs all about women and female empowerment, potentially.

00:14:49
Amy Sheppard: I love it. Yeah, I love that I can say songwriting is where it’s at for me, so I’d love to incorporate that somehow. I don’t know.

00:14:57
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:14:58
Amy Sheppard: I thought about a few things, maybe even a children’s… I don’t know. Who knows?

00:15:04
Gianna Lucas: Look, the future is very bright. I was going to say, blue, potentially because of your amazing hair. It’s so iconic as well. Do you get approached a lot on the street for people noticing you because your hair stands out so much?

00:15:16
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, I think out of all the band members I’m definitely the most recognizable because of the hair. But it’s fine, I don’t get completely mobbed because we’re not Ariana Grande famous.

00:15:28
Gianna Lucas: Yet, yet.

00:15:29
Amy Sheppard: Yet. People spot us and then they might just whisper and I do notice that a lot. But Australians are pretty cool, they don’t tend to mob celebrities, I find.

00:15:39
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. Luckily Queensland is not LA, because things would be a little bit different over there I’d imagine.

00:15:46
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, it’s actually nice. I think about the life that Justin Bieber and all those people have, and it would be pretty full on, because I’ve obviously had a taste of it and-

00:15:55
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, you have.

00:15:55
Amy Sheppard: … if you think isolation… If you didn’t like isolation, that’s probably the life that they have, you know?

00:16:02
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:16:02
Amy Sheppard: Not being able to leave their house because there’s literally paparazzi out-

00:16:06
Gianna Lucas: Following them. Yeah, and that’s so, so true. Especially because in the United States it is such a hotpot really, especially in LA particularly. And I’ve got a couple of friends over there as well that are in sort of the entertainment space and they say for some of their mates that are especially probably more well- known it is very difficult and they’ve only got a handful of places that they can go to where paparazzi won’t frequent. I don’t know if it’s a mutual respect thing that they just won’t go there. But apart from that, you’re right, they have to go incognito, they have to cover up, they’ve got to be really strategic the time of day that they leave. So it really is kind of like an iso on steroids.

00:16:45
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, giving up-

00:16:45
Gianna Lucas: And it is difficult.

00:16:47
Amy Sheppard: … anywhere they go in the whole world. It must be really lonely and you can see why so many celebrities have issues-

00:16:55
Gianna Lucas: Mm- hmm ( affirmative).

00:16:55
Amy Sheppard: … because it’s just a… Yeah, it’s a scary, scary life. I don’t know. I think the more honest I am with my followers and my fans that maybe it’ll take away some of the elusiveness and I can just-

00:17:05
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:17:05
Amy Sheppard: … me and just like, ” Yeah, this is me, it’s nothing exciting. I’ve got cellulite just like you.”

00:17:11
Gianna Lucas: It is true. It is so true and I think bringing people along on the journey because it’s very much like a one- way friendship, so everybody seems to know a lot about you but you don’t know a lot about the fans. I mean, it’s impossible to know everything about your fans. So, they will be so excited to see you but then you won’t have that connection back with them, and so, how is your cup being filled? And I think you’re fortunate that you’ve got siblings and your band members, you get to spend time together and you’re in the same bubble, so you can support each other when one’s feeling a bit flat or down. And I think that’s probably one of your biggest and most beautiful blessings that you could ever ask for, having family in performing arts. So, I’d actually love to ask you a little bit about that as well. So, how is it working with your siblings? Do you sometimes want to pull your hair out as well if you drive each other insane? Is it any points that you drive each other insane?

00:17:57
Amy Sheppard: Yes, of course, but it’s also… I mean, I think the pros outweigh the cons for sure 10 fold because you can be honest with your siblings. You can say whatever you like really and bring them back down to earth and vice versa pretty quickly. And you don’t have to walk on egg shells. It’s not awkward if you say something. Whereas, with some of the other band mates it might be you have to be a little bit careful of the way you word things because you don’t want to damage the relationship. With siblings you can just go and say it and have a fight, and the 10 minutes later Emma’s like, ” Can I use those earrings?”

00:18:27
Gianna Lucas: You’re like, sure babe, sure.

00:18:28
Amy Sheppard: Yeah.

00:18:30
Gianna Lucas: Thanks for asking.

00:18:33
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, because we’re always helping each other. And our mom comes on tour with us and having her, a lot of people just look at us like we’re the Brady Bunch because we’re all together, but really it’s pretty cool because she helps us where she needs but she’s not invasive, you know?

00:18:47
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:18:47
Amy Sheppard: If wanted to go out and party she’s not going to be like (inaudible) .

00:18:50
Gianna Lucas: Can I come?

00:18:52
Amy Sheppard: Yeah. Or even if we want to party on the tour bus, for example, she’ll totally give us our space and she would just go to the back of the bus and-

00:18:59
Gianna Lucas: Oh, that’s where the cool kids go. The cool kids traditionally go to the back of the bus. See, you’re mom’s cool. That’s awesome.

00:19:06
Amy Sheppard: Yeah. The back of the bus. The front of the bus, yeah, with all the peace and quiet. Yeah, so it’s actually really nice having family there. And then when you do need them they’re fully supportive and there for you.

00:19:17
Gianna Lucas: It’s so true. And I think about my own mom as well and she’s sort of a part of Happow in our business in many ways. And I love her for that because she’s sort of become a very big mentor and confidant really and we can go to her and we can say anything. And she’ll be very honest with us as well and be like, ” Hey guys, I reckon this.” And we’re like, ” That’s so true.” Her insights are so invaluable. And yes, she’s older than us but she’s incredible. So I think it’s so awesome that you’ve got your mom along the ride with you. It’s something that’s rare, not everybody gets that, so it’s something to really appreciate.

00:19:50
Amy Sheppard: No one in the whole world wants to see us succeed like my parents do, so we can trust them and we take their guidance very seriously. Very grateful.

00:19:58
Gianna Lucas: Absolutely. And I can imagine your mom supported you as well back in the day. I know that and I’ve read as well, and I know you’ve spoken publicly about this. About your childhood, particularly the insecurities that you had growing up. And of course that would been a massive catalyst for, Kiss My Fat Ass, anyway, but can you tell us a little bit about what life was like for you as a teenager going through high school? I’m guessing you’re like everybody else, sort of having those ups and downs, concerns about everything to do with your body, maybe your mind, the way you were thinking, if it was cool or not, whatever.

00:20:33
Amy Sheppard: Yeah. So we actually grew up in Papua New Guinea in Port Moresby and it’s such a different lifestyle to Australia. We’ve been in communities with barbwire fences. It’s not the safest place in the world.

00:20:44
Gianna Lucas: Wow.

00:20:44
Amy Sheppard: I think Port Moresby was referred as the second least livable city in the world.

00:20:48
Gianna Lucas: Really?

00:20:48
Amy Sheppard: Yeah.

00:20:48
Gianna Lucas: I never knew that.

00:20:51
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, second least. So, it’s not the safest place. But life was good. We had a really close knit community. It’s almost like growing up in a really small country town. But we had a really good childhood. Often on the weekends you get to go out to the islands and you’d have your really close knit friends. So coming to Australia was a huge culture shock for me. I was a chubby 12- year- old and I was thrown into a private girl’s school, all girl school. It was super religious, super strict. I had to do things… I had never even crossed the road by myself or made my bed.

00:21:25
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:21:25
Amy Sheppard: And, yeah, I had to grow up pretty quickly. And obviously, girl’s schools can be very cliquey and I was just like this awkward chubby 12- year- old. I could barely make conversation because I was so used to my little group of friends.

00:21:42
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, of course. Your community.

00:21:44
Amy Sheppard: My community running around with boys and girls, and all of a sudden I was in this bloody school with these cliquey girls. I’d never even experienced bitchiness before. Yeah, so that was a huge shock and my confidence was shot after one semester at this school. Yeah, and all through primary school as well I was bullied for being overweight like so many women are. And yeah, I just didn’t really have any confidence until after school really. But I always knew that I wanted to do music and I always had that dream. And sort of going through the bullying and all of that just kept a fire alive inside of me and I was so determined. I knew everyone else would go off and do uni and all the usual things, but I just had this tunnel vision that I was going to do this music and I was going to win an ARIA, and I was going to do all this stuff. So it’s been really fulfilling to be able to live out that dream.

00:22:39
Gianna Lucas: And what a dream you have lived out. And I love how you said you had tunnel vision, because obviously from a young age, even when you were going through all that stuff, you knew. You could almost see and taste where you were going to be. Was it very real for you, like it was there but not quite there yet?

00:22:55
Amy Sheppard: But it was just a matter of time for me. That’s all I was working on. That was all that I cared about really, so it’s the only thing that got me through those hard times. And what really gave me any glimpse of confidence was being able to pick up a guitar and sing a song, you know?

00:23:09
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:23:10
Amy Sheppard: Not many kids could do that. So that was my little party trick and-

00:23:13
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:23:13
Amy Sheppard: … being able to write your own music as well, at a young age, was a definite advantage, but it’s also a really great emotional outlet creatively to be able to put into words how you’re feeling, so.

00:23:24
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:23:24
Amy Sheppard: Yeah.

00:23:25
Gianna Lucas: I was literally just about to ask you was it almost like a form of therapy, because for me it was too. My family is very musical, my parents particular. My dad plays guitar. My mom plays piano. They’re singer songwriters at a much, much smaller level. And even for myself growing up I was a very, very anxious child, particularly in primary school, so I used to write lyrics, write music myself. I used to have folders of songs, some will probably will never see the light of day, but others weren’t too bad. But for me it just allowed me to put my head into something that I really enjoyed and I got carried away with it, and I felt like it literally took me somewhere else. And for a long time music was my whole universe, it was my world. And I was fortunate enough, when I was 14, I actually had a recording contract. I was in Australia’s youngest all girl pop group called, Charmz, with (inaudible) . It came out of the Barbie Diaries. Yeah, it was a Mattel, Shock Records bonanza.
And that was real interesting at 14 and to have that. And for me, even then, dealing with school and also being in that band came with its own pressures as well. It was before sort of Instagram, Snapchat, Tik Tok, it was before all of that. All we really had was Myspace and Facebook was starting to become a thing. And I just keep thinking to myself, ” Man, if I was 14 now and I got that opportunity now, I reckon the pressures on me would be so much greater because everybody has more access to you. They can get to you at a lot faster rate.” So, music was, yeah, so therapeutic for me.

00:25:01
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, it is. I feel, yeah, very fortunate to be able to have that for life and-

00:25:04
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:25:04
Amy Sheppard: … it’s something that nobody can take away no matter what they say or do.

00:25:07
Gianna Lucas: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

00:25:07
Amy Sheppard: Haters can hate but I’ve always got that part of me that will never leave.

00:25:13
Gianna Lucas: And may it never. And it never will. So what’s next for you then, personally for yourself as, Amy, and then also as, Sheppard, the band with your family? Is there anything that you’re working on that you can reveal, potentially, on the show?

00:25:30
Amy Sheppard: We’ve decided to release a song a month, so we’ve just… Because last year we spent all year writing. I don’t know whether you saw, I went to Nashville and George went to Sweden, and then we came back and worked together, and then we went to the states. We went to LA and wrote. So we have all these songs under our belt that we just want to get out there. And obviously being trapped inside and not being able to do any gigs, we just decided to give the people what they want-

00:25:51
Gianna Lucas: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

00:25:51
Amy Sheppard: … and just release song after song, after song. So, yeah, we’ve got a really good song coming out next. I don’t think it’s been released yet or revealed yet what it is, but I hope it’s going to be a big one.

00:26:03
Gianna Lucas: I’m sure it will. Oh, no doubt, your music is unbelievable. I’m not just saying it because I’m interviewing you. I’m genuinely saying that, Sheppard, you’re… I mean, I remember when, Geronimo, came out and it’s still played all the time on all the major radio stations like it’s a new hit because you can’t help but feel good about yourself when you hear it. You just want to bounce. ( singing) Do you ever get sick of it? You just want to say, ” I’m done with that song, I’ve done it to death?”

00:26:29
Amy Sheppard: Never. You could never hate a song that has given you so much.

00:26:32
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. That’s so true.

00:26:34
Amy Sheppard: We can only ever hope to have another hit that big, you know?

00:26:37
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:26:37
Amy Sheppard: So, yeah, we’ve got a lot of respect for, Geronimo.

00:26:40
Gianna Lucas: And how about yourself personally, do you have any goals that you’ve got coming up or little things that you’re working on, a little project?

00:26:47
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, I do. I can’t reveal it. I’ve got-

00:26:51
Gianna Lucas: Okay.

00:26:51
Amy Sheppard: … up, but, yeah, look out for those. But just in iso I’ve just been… I’ve been trying to do the splits, like so many. They haven’t got there. I’ve been practicing all iso and I still can’t do them.

00:27:04
Gianna Lucas: How far are you off the floor?

00:27:06
Amy Sheppard: Oh, not even that far anymore, but I just can’t seem to get that last little bit.

00:27:10
Gianna Lucas: That’s still a pretty big effort to almost be on the floor. I couldn’t go to the floor, so.

00:27:16
Amy Sheppard: It took me a long time to get to there, but now-

00:27:18
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:27:18
Amy Sheppard: … I’ve kind of been stuck in that position for a while.

00:27:21
Gianna Lucas: You’re over that. You’re not over, Geronimo, but you’re over the point where you just can’t do the full split.

00:27:25
Amy Sheppard: I don’t know. I mean, that’s just been my goal for maybe a year now and I still haven’t been able to do it, but anyway, that’s my most immediate goal besides writing music and the other thing that I can’t reveal. Yeah, and just, I guess just spreading the message through doing podcasts and doing as much as I can. I’ve been doing my column with, Nine Honey, every month.

00:27:47
Gianna Lucas: Congratulations on that, by the way. It’s fantastic.

00:27:50
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, it’s been really fun. I wasn’t sure how I’d go at writing for articles, it’s a different style of writing but it’s been also very therapeutic and-

00:28:00
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:28:00
Amy Sheppard: … I’ve really enjoyed it. So, I need to think of this month’s topic though.

00:28:06
Gianna Lucas: Maybe something will come from this interview. You’ll go to sleep tonight and you’re like, “Yes, Gianna and I spoke about that thing. That’s my topic.”

00:28:13
Amy Sheppard: Yeah.

00:28:14
Gianna Lucas: Just reference me in the article and it’ll be great.

00:28:18
Amy Sheppard: (inaudible) Carrie Bradshaw.

00:28:19
Gianna Lucas: Yeah, exactly. Ah, too funny. Amy, thank you so much. Right after this don’t go anywhere because I’m going to be asking you about your favorite big and small thing that you are grateful for. This is, Power Up Life, the podcast.

00:28:36
Carissa Shale: This week we asked you, ” What’s one thing you’d love to do to make the most of each day?” And here’s what you had to say.

00:28:43
Speaker 5: Doing exercise and going outside. These two important things are like therapy to me. One, to get emotions out by pushing myself when I go running and do workouts. And the other to relax and refocus myself. Being outdoors with the rush of the sun is one of the best feelings ever and getting fresh air after a long day of school simply gives me that extra self- awareness.

00:29:05
Speaker 6: Make sure that I have a really nice breakfast and then I have a coffee afterwards, and go outside and take off my shoes and stand barefoot in the grass. It just is something that allows me to take my time for the rest of the day and make sure that I’m grounded and attune with myself.

00:29:22
Speaker 7: I recap everything that I’ve done with my boyfriend. It’s actually really nice to reflect and share what we’ve done every day. It’s being able to feel like we’re sharing our experiences and still sharing life together through these recaps makes me feel really good about my day and also is really cathodic when the day doesn’t go so well.

00:29:42
Speaker 8: Something I love to do to make the most out of each day is to read. I love to fill my mind with knowledge because knowledge is power. I’m currently reading, Unlimited Power, by Tony Robbins.

00:29:52
Speaker 9: I really like to find time to go outside. There’s nothing quite like the sun in your face or the wind in your hair to really feel like you’ve made something of your day.

00:30:01
Speaker 10: Top out my day with a podcast or reading a daily devotion, or quote of the day as a mood booster and something that gives me a goal for the day to do to reach my full potential.

00:30:15
Carissa Shale: I’m, Carissa Shale, and that’s this week’s talk topic. Got something to share, drop us an email, yoursay@ happow. com.

00:30:24
Speaker 11: Want your voice heard, email us at yoursay@ happow. com.

00:30:32
Gianna Lucas: All right, Amy, I ask everybody who comes on, Power Up Life, one big thing and one small thing you are grateful for. Let’s start with your big thing. What is that big thing that you’re grateful for?

00:30:44
Amy Sheppard: Well, we did touch on it before. I am so grateful for my family and to be able to work with my family.

00:30:50
Gianna Lucas: Yeah.

00:30:50
Amy Sheppard: So, obviously it’s a huge asset to have your family on side. We’re all on the same team, we all do the same thing and it’s kept us really close.

00:30:59
Gianna Lucas: Good answer, especially if they’re listening.

00:31:04
Amy Sheppard: Exactly.

00:31:06
Gianna Lucas: I love it. I love it. All right, something small that you are grateful for that maybe people would say is trivial, but you’re like, ” Nah, it’s my number one, it’s my go to.”

00:31:16
Amy Sheppard: I am grateful… Blah, I might have to think about this, a small thing. Because all my things are pretty big. I was going to say I’m so grateful that I knew what I wanted to do from a young age. I know a lot of people don’t have that luxury and it can be really difficult because they’re trying to figure out what their passion is, but I’ve always had that. So, that’s another thing I’m grateful for.

00:31:35
Gianna Lucas: That’s a good answer. Good answer. Anything potentially that you just can’t live without? Is it anything that you go, ” Oh, if I don’t have that, that’s it.”

00:31:42
Amy Sheppard: Well, I am grateful that my hair supplier came and dropped of a lot of blue hair dye before isolation happened. I am grateful for that.

00:31:53
Gianna Lucas: I was going to say I was going to suggest that as an answer because I thought, ” Man, that color, you need to keep on top of it because that regrowth will be profound.”

00:32:01
Amy Sheppard: I was putting in my conditioner now and it just, I guess it gives it a freshen up every wash.

00:32:08
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. No, it’s amazing. It looks gorgeous. Even on Zoom it looks amazing. I love it. I love it. All right, Amy, right after this we have got the challenge, my favorite part of every single interview. I can’t wait.
Learn epic life skills in a super chill way. Sign up for free at happow. com.
Amy, it’s time for the challenge, my friend. So the challenge we are going to be playing today is called, Silent Songs. Very appropriate for you, I think, considering you are an artist, an amazing music artist.

00:32:44
Amy Sheppard: No pressure.

00:32:45
Gianna Lucas: Yeah. Oh, no, there is a little bit of pressure, but I reckon you’re going to nail it. I reckon you’re going to nail it. If you don’t you’re still a winner because you’ve had a lot of fantastic music, so this does not determine your future. Sheppard is amazing. Side note. It’s almost like the disclaimer at the bottom of the game.

00:32:59
Amy Sheppard: My palms are sweaty.

00:33:01
Gianna Lucas: So are mine. I always get nervous before I play a game. All right. So how this game works is Brandon, he is in the study right now in the studio with me, and he’s got four songs, four well- known songs. I don’t know what they are, obviously, but what they are is he’s taken away the melody, he’s taken away the artist, all we’re left with is words on a piece of paper. And he’s going to read those words out to us of the four different songs. The first person to get the song right wins that particular round, and of course it’s four songs so four rounds. The person who wins the most amount of points wins the game. Got it?

00:33:37
Amy Sheppard: Got it.

00:33:37
Gianna Lucas: Okay. All right, cool. All right. Here’s the first one. Brendan, would you like to come up to the mic and say, good day.

00:33:45
Brendan: Sure thing. Good day, guys. How you going?

00:33:47
Gianna Lucas: Good.

00:33:48
Brendan: First song, here we go. See if you can guess what this one is. Here we go. ” Look what you made me do, I’m with somebody new. Oh, baby, baby, I’m dancing with a stranger.”

00:34:01
Amy Sheppard: Yeah.

00:34:01
Gianna Lucas: Yes, yes.

00:34:01
Brendan: Yeah?

00:34:01
Amy Sheppard: Dancing With A Stranger.

00:34:03
Gianna Lucas: Is it, Dancing With A Stranger?

00:34:04
Brendan: Yes, that’s correct.

00:34:04
Gianna Lucas: Yay! Nailed it, nailed it. Well done. Well done, Amy.

00:34:04
Brendan: For bonus points, do you actually know what the other artist that sung that song with Sam is?

00:34:14
Gianna Lucas: Oh, this is bonus point. If I get it can I get the point?

00:34:18
Brendan: Yeah, definitely.

00:34:18
Gianna Lucas: All right. No, it’s not Rita Ora. No. Do you know, Amy?

00:34:22
Amy Sheppard: No.

00:34:23
Gianna Lucas: No Googling. No. All right. Maybe we’ll go on to the next song. All right, song number two.

00:34:29
Brendan: It was, Normani, Normani.

00:34:29
Gianna Lucas: Oh no, I wouldn’t have got that. No. All right, number two.

00:34:33
Brendan: Number two, here we go. ” Shower you with all my attention. Yeah, these are my only intentions. Stay in the kitchen cooking up. Got your own bread. Heart full of equity, you’re an asset. Make sure that you don’t need no mentions. Yeah, these are my only intentions.”

00:34:53
Gianna Lucas: Oh, hang on.

00:34:54
Brendan: ” Shout out to your mom and dad-“

00:34:55
Gianna Lucas: Hang on, hang on, hang on, hang on.

00:34:56
Brendan: “… for making you.”

00:34:56
Gianna Lucas: Wait.

00:34:56
Brendan: ” Standing ovation, they did a great job-“

00:34:59
Gianna Lucas: He wants to keep going. May, number one, may you never enter the band Sheppard. I don’t think they’ll ever accept you if that was your audition tape. Number two, is that Justin Bieber, Intentions?

00:35:08
Brendan: Correct.

00:35:08
Gianna Lucas: Yay!

00:35:08
Amy Sheppard: First one.

00:35:10
Gianna Lucas: It helps that the song title is in the lyrics. That always helps. All right, number three. How you feeling, Amy?

00:35:23
Amy Sheppard: Good. Good, I’m ready for this one.

00:35:25
Gianna Lucas: Good, good. We’re one each now, it’s a draw. It’s good, good, good.

00:35:29
Brendan: I’ll try and get a better singing voice this time for you-

00:35:31
Gianna Lucas: Oh, goodness me.

00:35:31
Brendan: … in tune. ” Baby, this is what you came for. Lightning strikes every time she moves and everybody’s watching her.”

00:35:41
Amy Sheppard: Oh.

00:35:41
Gianna Lucas: You know it, Amy, don’t you?

00:35:41
Brendan: “But she’s looking at you, ooh, ooh, ooh-“

00:35:42
Gianna Lucas: Hang on, hang on, hang on. She’s got it. She thinks she’s got it.

00:35:44
Brendan: Yeah.

00:35:45
Gianna Lucas: Amy. Yeah, yes, you want to sing. Yeah, sing the song.

00:35:47
Amy Sheppard: ( singing)

00:35:52
Gianna Lucas: Very nice. Very nice. Do you know the song though?

00:35:56
Amy Sheppard: Is it, Rihanna?

00:35:59
Brendan: One part of it, yeah.

00:36:00
Gianna Lucas: One part of it. Okay.

00:36:00
Brendan: There’s one other artist.

00:36:02
Gianna Lucas: One other artist.

00:36:02
Brendan: Very big guy.

00:36:02
Gianna Lucas: Oh.

00:36:02
Amy Sheppard: It must be-

00:36:04
Gianna Lucas: Think it, think. I reckon it’s the DJ.

00:36:07
Brendan: Scottish.

00:36:08
Amy Sheppard: Is it… Scottish?

00:36:09
Gianna Lucas: Is he Scottish? Hang on.

00:36:11
Amy Sheppard: You sure he’s Scottish?

00:36:12
Gianna Lucas: Is he Scottish? Yeah. Brandon’s nodding, Scottish.

00:36:15
Amy Sheppard: Is it-

00:36:16
Gianna Lucas: I was thinking, David Guetta. Who were you thinking?

00:36:19
Amy Sheppard: Yeah, I was going to say… Well, David Guetta-

00:36:21
Gianna Lucas: He’s not Scottish though.

00:36:22
Amy Sheppard: Right, he’s not Scottish.

00:36:23
Gianna Lucas: Is it the guy who was dating… I think he dated, Taylor Swift.

00:36:27
Brendan: Yes, that’s correct.

00:36:28
Gianna Lucas: Okay, okay, okay, okay. Do you know the DJ that… I don’t know his name, I’ve got is face. He’s really good looking.

00:36:33
Amy Sheppard: I don’t know.

00:36:36
Gianna Lucas: Oh-

00:36:36
Brendan: People are going to think, Calvin Klein.

00:36:38
Gianna Lucas: Oh, Calvin Harris!

00:36:38
Amy Sheppard: Calvin Harris.

00:36:40
Brendan: Yes, yes.

00:36:42
Amy Sheppard: How hopeless are we?

00:36:43
Gianna Lucas: It’s okay. It’s all right. I reckon we both get a point because we said it at the same time.

00:36:48
Amy Sheppard: I knew it was, Rihanna, but I didn’t know the DJ.

00:36:51
Gianna Lucas: That’s all right, you knew it was Rihanna, I didn’t. It didn’t come to me straight away, so that’s good.

00:36:53
Brendan: This is the decider.

00:36:55
Gianna Lucas: Okay.

00:36:55
Brendan: Here we go. ” Can you feel it? Now it’s coming back. We can steal it if we bridge this gap. I can see you through the curtains of the waterfall.”

00:37:04
Gianna Lucas: Of course she got it.

00:37:07
Brendan: I’ll stop there.

00:37:09
Gianna Lucas: Do you want to sing the chorus for us, Brendan? Actually, maybe we’ll give it over to, Amy. Amy, do you want to sing the chorus for us?

00:37:14
Amy Sheppard: ( singing)

00:37:22
Gianna Lucas: Very good. Very good. Of course, that is Sheppard, Geronimo. I’m glad Brendan put that in there, I think it’s perfect for you. Amy, thank you so much for coming on, Power Up Life. Actually, what was the score? Whoops, I’m jumping ahead. Amy, won. Amy, won. Yay!

00:37:38
Amy Sheppard: Just.

00:37:39
Gianna Lucas: Just. That’s all right, you’re still a winner in the end.

00:37:41
Amy Sheppard: Slight advantage there.

00:37:42
Gianna Lucas: You did have an advantage, but you know what, it was a good advantage. I don’t have a song like that, so he couldn’t sing it, so. Thank you for coming on, Power Up Life. How can people follow you, stay up to date with yourself and Sheppard?

00:37:54
Amy Sheppard: So, I am at Amy Sheppard Pie on Instagram and the band is at We Are Sheppard on all platforms.

00:38:02
Gianna Lucas: Amazing. Thank you so much. Wishing you an awesome week ahead and I look forward to chatting to you again soon. I just love how real and raw, Amy Sheppard is. I think it’s so awesome she uses her talents and creativity to enact change in the community, especially when it comes to body image and self-esteem. I often head over to Amy’s Insta profile quite a lot actually because she’s always posting such fun colorful and empowering posts. They’re the perfect pick- me- up. Of course, we at Happow wish Amy and the entire Sheppard band all the best this coming Saturday as they perform during the AFL’s Grand final halftime break at Brisbane’s Gabba. As Amy said on Insta just the other day, ” The AFL Grand Final is Australia’s version of the Super Bowl halftime show,” and we’ll all be watching.
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