Rising indie star GIMMY is stepping into 2026 with a whole lot of heart.
As her raw new EP Labour of Love begins to find its audience, GIMMY, real name Gemma Owens, is opening up about family influences, songwriting as therapy, and the beautifully chaotic drive behind her music.
The EP is a raw and emotionally charged collection recorded in an intensive five day burst with producer Sam Joseph. The seven tracks explore social anxiety, loss, falling in love, and the beautifully chaotic honesty of daily life. Each song arrives on its own terms, through moments of home writing, travel inspiration, and full-band collaboration.
Blending gritty indie rock, punk edges and tender poetic folk expression with a uniquely Australian charm, the EP sonically draws connection to bands like Soft Play, Nick Cave, Fontaines D.C., The Preatures and The Smiths, while remaining distinctly her own.
GIMMY is soon kicking off an Australian tour in support of the album, starting in Bangalow in NSW, before stops in Adelaide, Fitzroy, Sydney, and Newcastle. See here for more details.
As part of our Up-And-Coming Australian Artists series, we spoke with Owens’ about her music influences, the making of Labour of Love, and her upcoming tours.
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GIMMY’s Labour of Love is out now.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: What artists influenced you growing up?
GIMMY: I was heavily influenced by my Dad’s Northern Irish taste which I may say was good thank goodness haha. With the likes of The Pogues, The Who, The Smiths, Eric Clapton. We did a lot of family jams so it naturally bled into my own songwriting as a youngster I suppose.
When did you discover your passion for creating music?
It kind of hit me in the face without much thought to be honest. Ever since I was young, talking 10-12 years old, I was in my room writing songs and poems. It was my way of processing the world around me and my initial connection to love and pain. I was never a big follower of music, more the songwriting was therapy and connection for me.
Then when I was 18, I decided I would love to take on some big stages with a band then the mongrel drive in me began. While still holding my roots of songwriting close, I wanted to begin my career in music.
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What are some career highlights so far?
We have had some great opportunities but to keep it simple and close, my highlight was doing my first crowd surf at our local venue Bangalow Bowlo, with all our mates heaving in the crowd. Another getting our first record physically in my hands, that was a pretty unreal moment.
Tell us about your new EP Labour of Love. What’s it all about?
The EP explores social anxiety, love, loss and the beautifully chaotic honesty of daily life, blending indie-rock grit with poetic vulnerability.
What kind of personality traits and values do you believe it takes to succeed in the music industry?
Teamwork, kindness, authenticity and understanding goes far in anything you do, but I do think these are pretty important pillars in this industry. Keeping true to your art and personal boundaries with health and worth in this transient, unpromised industry I think is a must for self preservation & general joy. Having a teamwork mindset with the common values of being a good kind person is essential because you’re always working with a team of people, its close and personal, so to have people that share those values and have your back creates a safe environment. That family essence is everything to me.
And lastly, respecting your art, your practice, your creativity. Everyone will have their opinions and two cents, but protecting that creative duckling trying to hatch from you is important to keep it authentic to the project, to be stoked with everything you release. I know I am a picky bitch but no ra-grets.
Oh and a shit ton of patience because everything is a slow burn haha.
How would you describe your music to a potential fan?
Bit of vulnerability, bit of chaos, bit emotional with a hint of sass. The genres and songs sway between these attributes, hence the five line hyphenated genre: post punk-indie-folk-garage-rock.
What are your goals for 2026 and beyond? What can fans expect from you this year?
We are very pumped for our debut UK/Europe tour happening this June in the Euro summer. I can’t wait to dip my tootsies in over there musically and personally. Pretty pumped about our second vinyl getting pressed with the photo of my mum and dad having a pash on the front cover. As well as visiting some favourite spots on our Australian tour in March.
So you can expect lots of live shows all over playing our new songs. And beyond that, I would love to support some bigger bands on some bigger stages, I wanna hear it large haha. Keep writing songs we are proud of and keep pushing into other parts of the world.
