The Lady is a Hawke

"I can play a drum kit. I can play most percussion instruments. I can read percussional music like timpani and glockenspiel. Guitar, bass guitar, synth and piano. That’s about it."

Few musicians can boast this level of proficiency, but Pip Brown comes from strong musical stock. Her mother was a singer and her stepfather played the drums and led the town brass band, which is where Brown first got her taste for performance, playing the side drum during marches and parades. Her first band, Two Lane Blacktop, took her all the way to the prestigious South by Southwest festival and after coming to Australia she found herself teaming up with Nick Littlemore, now of Pnau fame, to form the band Teenager: a time she remembers fondly, if not a little pointedly, as "interesting".

"'Interesting' is the word [for Nick Littlemore]. There's a few more words as well. He's a real character, a crazy scientist sort of guy. He's constantly creating, and he's quite inspiring." These bands brought her to where she is today, and shaped her experience as a musician. "Everything is kind of a learning thing for me, and each band is an aspect of music that I love. It's been like an evolution."

Now Brown is going it alone. Her new project, Ladyhawke, is a homage to her favourite musical decade: the 80s. "I guess the stuff I grew up listening to seeped into me, and as I got older I was researching more bands and that's how I came across ELO and that sort of stuff. I guess I’m just tipping my hat to them and trying to put my own flavour in as well."

With its driving rhythms and synthesizer-heavy production, Ladyhawke’s self-titled debut has drawn comparisons with artists such as Cyndi Lauper, Madonna and Fleetwood Mac. "I was surprised that I was being compared to Stevie Nicks, because I can't sing like her: she’s incredible. But I can understand the look."

In terms of the sonic aspects, she managed to lay her hands on original 80s equipment thanks to one of her co-conspirators. "Pascal Gabriel, who's a producer and one of the main collaborators on the album with me, collects old synths. He has a huge collection, so there were a lot of toys to play with."

Even her website is 80s inspired, with a vertical scrolling shoot-em-up video game recalling old arcade machines. "I’m a fan of videogames, all the old eight-bit and 16-bit consoles, so I really wanted to have an eight-bit game [on my site]. There was a game designer in London who was really keen to design one for me." In the game, you play as Ladyhawke and fight cats – naturally.

Brown played many of the instruments on the album herself. "It’s a mixed bag. On 'Back of the Van' I played all the guitars, some synth and the drums. All of the songs I play the guitar in. I play 50/50 bass on the album. On some songs I play synths, although some of the producers I worked with are the ultimate synth geeks and one was classically trained, so I can’t stand up to that."

However, when it comes to live performance she is stuck with choosing one instrument, and guitar is most often the choice. This doesn’t mean the multi-instrumentalist in her isn’t frustrated: "At first I thought 'I wish I could do it all myself' but you can't. You look like a dick, for starters. I needed a band to help me play live, so I got one. Drums were my main instrument for years, and I really miss playing them. I love playing the bass as well, so I get instrument envy on stage."

Ladyhawke is out now through Modular.

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