infinity baby with baby cool

Baby Cool is the alter ego of Grace Cuell, the co front woman of Meanjin/Brisbane based band Nice Biscuit. Making her solo debut in 2022 with several singles from her first album Earthling on the road to self love Baby Cool has continued to channel her creativity into her upcoming album Infinity Baby.

Writing songs as a way of making sense of the world around her, this new album offers both acceptance and gratitude. With years of experience on stage and in the studio, Baby Cool is an artist to watch out for. Balancing music, art and motherhood Grace took time out of her busy life to tell us a little about herself and her new music.

Photo credit: Lisa Kelly

Your music has been described as a lush mix of psychedelia and folk/kraut pop. What comes first the melody or the lyrics? Can you describe your creative process? 

I mostly write a melody first and then try and find a chord structure that works around that, which is a bit of a backwards way to write. With this album I experimented a bit more with the chords first though. I have a tonne of voice memos on my phone of me singing in the car that would sound weird to anyone else that would listen to them, but when I listen I can imagine the arrangements. I am completely self taught and don’t have a huge depth of theory knowledge, everything is mostly done by ear. Which I think is maybe freeing in a sense because I’m not sticking to any rules (mostly because I don’t know the rules).

Having been in the music industry for more than ten years now co-fronting 'Nice Biscuit' as well as your solo albums and gigs, have you seen many changes for women in the industry since you began? 

There’s certainly more visibility, but my overall opinion on the industry as a whole is that things are pretty bleak. Women and minority groups are certainly more represented than 10 years ago, but the insidious nature of streaming and social media has completely changed the way we interact with music and I don’t believe it is a positive thing.

 What I do love is that there are still emerging artists dedicated to making art in spite of it all. It almost feels like a beautiful act of rebellion to keep creating.

Who would you describe as your biggest influences?

Because my creative world is so entwined with my emotional world, my relationships have always had the biggest influence on my work. I believe that we are all made up of tiny parts of all of the people we open (and close) our hearts to over our lifetime, and I can hear all of these tiny parts in every song I make. In terms of sonic influences, I was listening to a lot of Jessica Pratt, Leah Senior, Angel Olsen, Maple Glider and Bedouine when I wrote this album. 

Photo credit: Lisa Kelly

You have said that your first album 'Earthling on the road to self love' was in part a love letter to yourself after some challenging times and also finding solace in music. How would you describe the new album 'Infinity Baby'? 

Infinity Baby is a bit more grounded than my first album. I listen to the first record and hear how beautifully off with the fairies I was. If Earthling was a love letter to myself then Infinity Baby is more like a calm intervention. The new record really looks at the shadows in my emotional realm and balances it out with a deep sense of gratitude for all of it.

You have been very busy over the past couple of years with your solo music, the albums, an east coast tour plus support gigs, but also a UK tour with 'Nice Biscuit' and 'Baby Cool' as co-headliners. Do you have any downtime? What do you do to wind down?

Downtime is something I crave but don’t have a lot of. Outside of music I am a high school art teacher which is an all consuming job. Teenagers are both incredibly humbling and frightening. But the role keeps me making art which is a huge part of what I need to feel grounded and calm. I love working with clay, sewing, drawing and making paper by hand. Bringing something new to life from different materials is so satisfying.

It's an exciting time you have coming up, not only with the release of the new album in June but also you are beginning your motherhood journey. How are you feeling about this life changing event? 

It’s so beautiful and scary and joyful and intense— it’s every emotion at the same time. My days are very soft and slow at the moment with my beautiful daughter Violet. She has already taught me so much about myself and the world. Maybe a lullaby album is next?

Photo credit: Lisa Kelly

Listening to your lyrics they seem quite self reflective, is writing about your personal experiences a pattern for you or indicative of where you feel you are in your life? 

I have always felt things very deeply, and writing is a way to channel some of this energy into something more tangible. When an emotion or experience transforms into a song I can look at it more objectively and figure out what lessons I might take from it.

And finally Grace Cuell where did the name 'Baby Cool' come from? Is it a play on words with your last name? 

Band names are weird. Yes it is a play on my last name and I guess it’s relevant that I’m also the youngest in my family. Also I used to play in a band called Johnny Mort and The Morts and we had a song called Baby Cool which was loosely written about my niece being born, so I hijacked the name.