‘It’s a lifeline’: Egoism on their debut album, and the importance of community.

Image Credit: Yewande/@wizzz.fizzz

Egoism has been taking off in the Australian music scene, performing at and selling out local music venues across Australia following the release of their debut album. The three-piece band originates from Sydney, consisting of vocalist and bassist Scout Eastment, vocalist and guitarist Olive Rush, and drummer Adam Holmes.

The indie-pop band began with Eastment and Rush, joined by Holmes a few years after its formation. Their debut album, ‘And Go Nowhere’, released on the 30th of May, with the band embarking on their first album tour with intimate headline shows around Australia’s east coast while supporting Californian rock band Half Alive on their Australian headline tour.

The last show of the ‘And Go Nowhere’ tour took place at the sold out Bergy Bandroom in Brunswick, with Eastment describing wrapping up the tour as “bittersweet”, comparing the experience to coming home from a school camp.

“Sometimes it’s a bit hectic, and not that fun at times. But then you get a real comedown afterwards.” Eastment says.

“I’m bored of the lows, I want more highs,” says Rush. “And touring is full of both.”

The band's debut album consists of 13 tracks, including tracks ‘Addison Road’, ‘Sydney’, and ‘Melbourne’, which are listed to be current favourites by Holmes and Rush. The album’s opening track, ‘Getting Older’, is the most streamed from the album, and is the perfect introduction to ‘And Go Nowhere’. A strikingly poignant single, ‘Getting Older’ manages to successfully encapsulate feelings of mental turmoil and the pressure of aging through emotionally rich lyricism, launching listeners into the album that covers a variety of different topics including identity and relationships.

The album was heavily inspired by British music from the late 80’s and 90’s, as well as indie pop from the early 2000’s, an influence that feels particularly evident in ‘Addison Road’, an energetic track with richly layered melodies that are almost impossible to get out of your head. Rush listed the Kooks, Two Door Cinema Club, and Phoenix as a few influences. With the album having been in the works for a long time prior to release, the album’s success came as a welcome surprise to the band.

“I feel like we should have released it sooner, almost. I didn’t know it was going to do this well.” says Rush.

“I think it also did this well because we've been working it for so long,” added Eastment.

Growing up in Sydney has become a staple part of the band’s identity, with their slogan ‘just a local band from Sydney’ plastered on billboards in Sydney and Melbourne, and a dedicated track to the city in the album. Having a support system and community in Sydney has acted as an important source for music inspiration for the band, but Eastment notes that the scene is one that is constantly fluctuating and evolving.

“You can develop a music community and feel really solid in it, and then suddenly it all disappears.” Eastment says. “It’s so fluid, and then it rebuilds. It’s very fleeting.”

“I feel quite connected to the Sydney music community right now.” Rush says. “If you’re only going to listen to the biggest thing in the world right now, you’re already two steps behind. You need to go into the room where there’s 70 people just drunk, and there’s someone that is actually making something fresh.”

“There’s a lot of songs on our recent album that are inspired by the people around us.” Eastment says. “And also just shaped by our experience of feeling the pull of your family and connections.”

A vital part of Egoism is the treasured connection they have established with their community of supporters. The trio have prioritised investing in a close relationship with their fans, through setting up billboards in Sydney and Melbourne where listeners are able to sign with permanent markers, organising an email newsletter where fans can receive letters written to them by the band members, and creating a close friends story on the band’s instagram where followers are able to view additional content. It’s not particularly common to see a band gaining such popularity still commit to pouring time and attention into generating a genuine connection with their supporters in a multitude of ways, but it’s something that the members continue to dedicate themselves to.

“It’s a lifeline.” Rush says, describing the band's relationship with their fans. “I see it as an investment, because I think that we’re building a community that’s going to support us in the long term.”

On top of the band’s relationship with their fans, there’s a genuine community forming between the fans themselves. Drawn together by the music created by Egoism, there’s even a discord server for fans from around the world to communicate within the fanbase, with the band members present on the server as well.

“They come from different places, and then they actually come together for our shows, and they all have group chats where they just talk about us, but really they’re just talking about each other. They’re all friends, and that’s what’s important to me, personally.” Rush says.

“For example, there's all these in-jokes, and little memes and things that they share with each other,” Eastment says. “That feels real. It doesn't feel cliquey. It feels really friendly.”

The band notes that the pop scene can be one that prioritises individualism over community more so than other music genres, which is a notion they evidently disagree with.

“Essentially, we’re trying to bring that kind of scene mentality and that kind of community spirit to a genre that is notoriously anti that, and notoriously like ‘keep everyone separate’, have it just be your individual connection from artist to fan. And I don’t really believe in that.” Rush says.

On the 13th of June, the rising band played a sold out show at the Lansdowne Hotel in Sydney, a gig that the band unanimously agrees to already be a favourite in their career so far. Although the trio had played the Lansdowne Hotel previously, selling out the venue for their own headline show was a new milestone for them.

“I’ve never heard 300 people screaming our lyrics back at us before,” Rush says. “It felt real. It felt like that was the most defined kind of connection I've ever felt in terms of our music and our audience.”

To keep up to date on Egoism, check out their instagram here.

21.07.2025