Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich Explores Australian Music in New Book

When Kelly-Dawn Hellmrich flew to Alice Springs at 17 to escape a relationship marked by verbal abuse and physical intimidation, she sat outside a duplex with her mother sipping Cruisers and confronting a painful reality. She saw a woman whose own ambitions had been stifled, sparking a lifelong terror of what domestic expectations might demand. I was so scared at the time of ever being a mum and having to lose myself that way, Hellmrich writes in her first book, It’s Not For You. Now pregnant with her second child and wearing a necklace that reads Mother, she faces those exact fears from a radically different vantage point.

Inside It’s Not For You and the Camp Cope Legacy

The book blends memoir with 18 in-depth interviews featuring women and gender-diverse artists who have changed the Australian music industry on their own terms. The title stems from a signature line in a qbd.com.au song, capturing an ethos built from the band’s earliest days. Formed in Brisbane in 2016, the trailblazing punk band famously stopped mid-set during their very first show to call out a concertgoer who was shoving women aside at the front of the stage. That commitment to creating safer spaces evolved into fierce industry activism, including spearheading the It Takes One campaign to combat sexual harassment at gigs and calling out festival lineups dominated by male acts.

The collection of interviews features prominent musicians and creators including Courtney Barnett, Vika and Linda Bull, Julia Jacklin, and Amy Taylor of Amyl and the Sniffers. For Hellmrich, sharing such personal history arrived with apprehension after years of facing inflammatory headlines during Camp Cope’s active run. Yet that very history positioned her as a trusted confidante for peers willing to open up about the realities of their creative lives.

Navigating Motherhood and Professional Isolation in Music

Among the most prominent threads running through the book is the intersection of parenting and professional musicianship. Hellmrich admitted she could not escape the topic, noting that while interview subjects carried countless other professional concerns, she wanted to examine how artists approach family life from varying angles. When she first raised the prospect of expanding her family with her partner, she voiced direct fears about her creative survival. I had this conversation with my partner: ‘Oh my gosh, is this the end of my creative career?’ she recalled. Her partner responded with unwavering encouragement, telling her, I’ve got this feeling that it’s just the beginning.

Other artists in the book detail the private anxieties of balancing pregnancy and career momentum. DJ Anna Lunoe performed at festivals while visibly pregnant, yet she privately concealed her nausea and worried about losing professional relevance. Producer Anna Laverty initially hid her family status on social media. When she searched online for female music producers with children, she found only a single result. Laverty, who founded the Music Producers and Engineers’ Guild of Australia, also shared experiences of being hired by male bands while remaining acutely aware of subtle dynamics regarding authority and respect.

Challenging Institutional Bias Across the Australian Scene

Systemic biases in the industry take many forms, from overt sexism to deeply ingrained assumptions about technical authority. Sarah Blasko confronted the internalized belief that she required a male partner’s validation after splitting with her romantic and creative collaborator before recording her third album. Letting go of that perceived need for a second opinion led to an Aria award win upon the record’s release. Similarly, journalist Sosefina Fuamoli recounted older male critics patronizing her achievements with backhanded remarks when she secured spots on industry panels, telling her, Oh, it’s great you’re booked. I wasn’t available, but good for you.

Following Camp Cope’s final show at the Sydney Opera House in 2023 and the band’s subsequent split, Hellmrich relocated to Penrith with her partner to raise their children. Western Sydney serves as a central motif throughout her memoir. Once viewing her hometown from the margins of cultural power, she ultimately recognized how those roots shaped her artistic identity. For a long time I felt lesser because I was from here, and then as I grew up, I understood that it really shaped my art and it shaped my personality, she reflected.