We were lucky to catch up with Sue McMillan recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sue, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Do you wish you had started sooner?

When it comes to music it’s probably an understatement to say that I’m a late bloomer. My mother was a Sydney Conservatorium graduate and singer/pianist. She sent me for piano lessons when I was about 6 or 7 years old, but soon after starting them we moved so I stopped. My mother actually passed away unexpectedly not long after we had moved and I never had another lesson ever again.

I loved music though, and although I could no longer sit at the piano next to my mother, turning sheet music and singing along loudly to The Beatles, or show tunes or whatever the song du jour was, I could huddle around a small boom box I had in my bedroom and listen to the Top 40 on the radio.

Growing up didn’t provide me with a lot of confidence for many various reasons, and I was brought up in an Australian culture of no one likes a show-off, and you don’t brag on yourself, which I’ll admit suited me just fine, and still does. However it meant that my musical dreams flew under the radar for many years and they were like a dirty little secret I kept just for myself. That was until a friend at high school who played guitar got me interested enough to buy my first guitar at age 16 – a cheap, need a ladder to reach the strings kinda guitar.

I locked myself away in my bedroom, and as I didn’t know how to play anyone else’s songs I just started writing my own, and boom… I was in love! I wrote hundreds of songs, and I even found a small home studio through a friend to go and record a few which was magical, and eventually purchased my own little home demo setup… a Tascam 424 no less.

I had been born as a songwriter and producer, but I didn’t even know it yet. For many years, I just wasn’t aware you could make a living from being a songwriter, and believed you had to become an artist in order to get your songs out there. So I did that until I focused in on songwriting and production. It all made sense right? You write a song, you record, then people can hear it.

It wasn’t until I moved to London that I really started to pursue music in earnest, and I’ve had many segueways into “real jobs” or starting businesses to keep the money coming in, as a lot of us in the creative industries I’m sure are familiar with.

I gigged around town, I recorded an album, I met with industry people, and rinse and repeat, until I realised that all I really wanted to do was to write and record. I didn’t need the spotlight like air to breathe, but I would possibly cut off my right arm if I couldn’t write a song. In fact I liked being in the background where it felt, for me at least, like the real magic was happening.

I guess starting sooner would mean I could be further along in my career by now, but my journey has been my own unique path. I’m also acutely aware of the age clock ticking away in a very youth-centric, especially if you are a woman, industry like the music industry. However, I don’t necessarily think starting earlier would have changed things as much as other things would have, like: more self-confidence and support, having a champion in my corner who could actually affect positive change in my career, knowing the “right” people, more financial freedom, and to be better at promoting myself. It’s never just one thing is it? There is no magic pill, which is why it is so challenging and equally amazing.

What I can say is that I have learned many important lessons from taking the scenic route. I’ve gained invaluable relationships, experience and knowledge and I’m better prepared for whatever comes next, maybe more so than my younger peers. There is a value to coming at things creatively with “life” under your belt, and I’ve developed a number of important skills from my meandering journey that provide value for not just me, but my collaborators too. If I can pay forward bits of that on my way to others then how awesome is that! I may not be doing things the way you “should” do things but I’m ok with being different. In the end there’s only what works and what doesn’t, and that can look very different for everyone.

To cut a long story short, it’s taken both time and quite the internal battle with myself but I’m finally throwing everything I have at my career as a songwriter and producer, and I am extremely happy, and relieved, about this decision. I am no longer looking to fit in with society’s norm for getting a “real” job or what success has to look like. I realise I probably won’t have financial security, but that’s nothing new for me. I may or may not achieve “success”, but that looks different for everyone anyway, right? And most importantly, I realised through a lot, and I mean A LOT of trying to not be like this, that this is just who I am. Music is something that is part of me and my identity, it’s a passion, a love, not a job, it’s me, and I can’t quit me.

So starting my creative career sooner or later.. I used to think it mattered, but not anymore. Now I just focus on doing what I love as much an as often as I can.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

Simply put, I’m an Australian songwriter and producer living in London.

I originally started out as a singer/songwriter, and my first taste of songwriting success came when I won the UK Songwriting Contest in the Folk/Country category with a self-penned song “To Be Repaired”. I’ve also been a runner-up, finalist and semi-finalist in various categories for the ISC (International Songwriting Competition) as well.

I used to write in a lot of different commercial genres like pop, pop/rock, urban and dance but I discovered Keith Urban’s album “Days Go By”, which turned Country music into my main passion and focus. I still write in pop and other genres, especially for sync projects but I love country music and the way it can also seamlessly blend with other genres such as rock, pop, blues, soul, etc.

I started slowly meeting and writing with UK country artists and in 2018, “Boom Tick” a song I co-wrote with artist Jade Helliwell won the UK Song of the Year award at the BCMA’s (British Country Music Association Awards) and I’m proud to say this song has been the opening anthem of Jade’s live performances ever since.

I write with UK, Australian and US talent and make frequent trips to Nashville writing and performing in various writers rounds around town. I’ve had around 30 cuts on artist releases as a writer and/or producer, with more scheduled for release, and Australian artist Helen Shanahan’s song “Unborn”, which I produced, has been synced twice on popular Australian TV show Home and Away.

More recently, I’ve been named a “One to Watch” by NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International) for a few different songs I’ve been a part of.

Writing is done either in person or online via Zoom et al and I’m a bit of an all-rounder when it comes to the writing room. I can be on the guitar coming up with melody and music, or lyrics, and I am a big ideas person. I always have a list of ideas in my phone ready for throwing out. Once I get to know an artist I also like to personalise the ideas to them and their personal experiences and brand. It also is a big benefit to be able to produce demos out of the song, whether it be a simple guitar/vocal work tape or a fully-produced demo, so that is another skill which not every writer or room has that I can offer.

The production side is something I sort of fell into as a natural progression from writing songs, and demoing those songs, and then moving on to producing songs for the artists I work with. I’m very thankful to those artists who have trusted me with their work and every single project has given me real growth. I never promoted it but it has just grown organically which I’m very grateful for.

I’ve had some great support with my production and mixing skills from the amazing mix engineer/producer Adrian Hall in the UK who has been a real mentor for me and someone who I admire and respect a great deal. I’ve pretty much learnt from just “doing” and of course consuming as many YouTube videos, short courses and whatever else I can get my hands on over the years. Just watching how someone like Adrian works has been super influential in my development and I’m very grateful to have someone like him take an interest in what I’m doing.

I think artists like working with me as I like to embrace working collaboratively, and I’m good at listening to what the artist wants and delivering that. If I don’t think the project is the right fit for me or that I can add value to the project then I don’t take it on, it’s as simple as that. The most important thing is always the song, whether writing or producing, and I’m very detailed-focussed, and I’m not afraid to bring in people who can add value, in whatever way is needed for the song, and I try and keep ego out of the room when writing and producing, as it can be a destructive and obstructive element. The process should always be enjoyable and I commit fully to projects when I take them on. The artist is investing in me, and I invest in them in return.

Currently I work from my studio in London and do some remote production work also, whether it be demos or releases, depending on the client’s needs.

In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?

What I am seeing, and what concerns me most, is the diminishing value consumers, and sometimes industries, place on a creative piece of work. I can’t speak for all creative industries but in the music industry it has been diminishing for some time with the advent of digital streaming, and although things like the Music Modernisation Act (for example) are helping and pushing forward the plight of creators, we still have a way to go for systems and structures to catch up with the digital age.

Put simply, if we don’t value creatives via their work, and remunerate them accordingly then the art will suffer. If you can’t make a living from your creativity then what will happen to the art it produces. I mean, can you imagine a world without music?

I fear that creatives will always be exploited in some way as there is always the threat of thousands of people or more right behind you in line ready to jump in if you don’t take an opportunity, and the “powers that be” know this and use this to their benefit. Most of us don’t create just to make money, but we all need money to live in one way or another in this modern world.

The best thing consumers/fans can do is vote with their support, in terms of buying concert tickets, merchandise, paying fairly for songs and streaming services, and having some awareness of the issues. Consumers alone can’t turn the tide though, and it’s mostly companies that need to think long-term about this and fairly compensate the creators. Laws need to be progressed to meet the new demands of the digital age and art in itself needs to be valued more by everybody.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

One particular occasion springs to mind where I was at a Country Music festival in the English countryside and an artist I was working with was playing. The makeshift venue on the site was packed shoulder-to shoulder with eager fans and I was standing somewhere near the back, where I usually stand, enjoying the show.

It came to a moment in his set when he played one of the songs that we had written together and something happened I wasn’t expecting. The crowd sprang forth in full voice singing every single word along with the artist for pretty much the entire song and every chorus the decibel level rose.

I stood there and looked around at everyone singing, some with arms around each other belting out the words we had pulled from thin air and just had one of those moments. I almost started blubbering it was such an emotional moment, where you realise that something you had a part in creating had connected with people. People actually liked what you are doing and on a scale I wasn’t prepared for.

That was one of the most amazing and rewarding moments I’ve experienced in my music career and I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of that feeling.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://suemcmillan.com
• Instagram: @suemcmillanuk
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/suemcmillanuk/