Ecca Vandal

At the end of January Ecca Vandal, a South African born singer/producer with Sri Lankan heritage, shocked the music world with the sudden, unexpected release of her new EP, End Of Time. The EP continues Ecca’s refusal to remain static in her sound, taking elements of hip-hop, pop, electronica and a touch of punk-rock to create a unique sound that is all her own.

Ecca explained that she takes this approach because she to wants to ensure that things are kept “fresh and interesting, for both fans and myself”. Her history of coming up through the vibrant live music scene is another thing that Ecca credits with influencing her style now. “I came out of music school and found myself going to gigs with people I met there on Tuesday and Wednesday nights even,” she explained. “I’d be jumping from a jazz gig to a soul gig down the road and then I’d go to a punk-rock show down the corner.”

With this upbringing in the live scene, Ecca says “it’s a bit of a bummer” to see how the lockout laws in Sydney are affecting the scene for musicians here: “you can really tell that the richness of live music and culture is not as present there as it is in Melbourne, it really sniffles musicians, and I’ve seen a lot of them move down to Melbourne.”

Despite this sentiment towards the live music scene, Ecca is “really excited” to bring her tour to Sydney tomorrow. “I’m really excited about this, especially given that all of the new songs on the EP are going to be played live for the first time,” she said.

For Ecca, adding this new dynamic to the songs was extremely nerve racking but certainly worth it: “we had no idea how it was going to sound live, but thankfully the musicians that I play with are absolutely amazing, they’re monsters in the best way. The songs have taken a new shape and sound really lush, which has taken them to a new level now.”

For those considering heading along, Ecca says you can expect the show to follow very much in the footsteps of her music: “there’s different dynamics to the set, there’s light and shade and there is a lot of constant energy from both me and the guys I play with, I feed off their energy a lot. You can expect to come and have a dance with me…”

Mar 4. Newtown Social Club, 387 King St, Newtown. $15+ $3 b.f. Tickets & info: newtownsocialclub.com