Sounds like Kita Alexander has been letting off some steam while on tour.

Playing some of her biggest shows around the country as part of her ‘Rage’ tour, the singer-songwriter has never felt more at home on stage. Mass singalongs, a crowd that feels more like a community, and an elevated production have all played into the fact that her recent concerts have been much-talked about among fans, followers and the media. And maybe Rage has everything to do with it…

The album is all about reaching that breaking point, accepting it, owning it, and then emerging all the better for it. Over 12 tracks we get a big dose of the acclaimed songwriter’s skills, while swaying between the abstract and introspective – throughout the highly personal release there’s moments where you feel as if you’re reading pages from her diary with lines that are too specific to be fictionalised.

It’s a great listen, but you really need to be experiencing it live… which you can do on October 29th at Felons in Manly as part of Surf & Sound Festival (tickets here).

We spoke with Kita about the tour, what ticks her off, and more. Check it out below and we’ll catch you at the show!

You’ve been raging around Australia over the past little while. How’s the tour been?

In my opinion, I really stepped up for this show. I’m really proud of what we put together. It was very curated around fan involvement, and I had so many talented musicians on stage. I was pinching myself every night going, ‘How the hell did these people say yes to working with me?’

It was so much fun. We’d get the crowd yelling at 120 decibels. I don’t know how loud that is, but my sound guy was like, ‘Jesus, that’s crazy loud.’

Obviously, it was called The Rage Tour, but it’s not as angry as people think. It’s kind of healing. It’s like a healing anger. It’s not about allowing rage to run rampant, it’s about becoming friends with it in a way.

There’s a part in ‘Avoidance’, just after the ‘hell of a drug’ line, that reminds me of Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, with that really fast, almost melodic delivery. I imagine that section would go off live. How have crowds been responding to that song?

Everyone’s been screaming that song! Sometimes you have a slower track, or a middle track or end track on an album that you love so much, but it doesn’t necessarily resonate with the audience. But that one did its job.

It was actually the first song I ever wrote for Rage. I wrote it with my really good friend Shungudzo in America. She’s an incredible topliner and has been a collaborator of mine for many years. It was the first time we’d seen each other in a year, and she goes, ‘How are you?’ And I said, ‘I’m alright. Shit happens, but I’m okay.’

The reason I love working with her is because she kind of sees through my soul. We can write lyrics really quickly and easily together because she just sees me. She goes, ‘Are you getting therapy? It looks like you need some therapy.’

And I was like, ‘I don’t need that. I’m fine. I have my clairvoyance and I’m good.’ And she looked at me and said, ‘Avoidance, that’s one hell of a drug.’ Obviously, that’s a killer line. So we wrote the song.

When you’re in the songwriting process, sometimes you don’t necessarily clock what you’re saying. It just happens. It’s free-flowing out of your mouth. At the end of that session, I listened back and was like, ‘What the fuck? What am I avoiding? This is a hectic song. I need to check myself in for therapy.’

And then I did, and I love therapy.

That actually leads into my next question. Rage feels like a particularly vulnerable record. Do you ever have moments where you wonder whether you’re sharing too much of your personal life with the world?

I think the great thing about art is that it’s subjective. It can mean one thing to you and another thing to someone else. There are definitely moments where I’m like, ‘I’m not going to say that.’ But other times it’s just a great, killer rhyme or a great sentence, and I want to include it.

I feel kind of safe knowing people can interpret it however they want. They can take it word for word, or understand that it has some flair to it. It could be an exaggeration or an under-exaggeration, or I could have been writing from a completely different experience than the one they’re thinking of.

I love that art can be interpreted however you want. But you know what? I listen to other people’s music and I’m like, ‘Oh my God, that must be about this and this.’ It’s fun to create stories in your head. That’s art.

Speaking of rage, which is more likely to set you off: someone parking across your driveway or someone dropping in on you while you’re surfing?

You’ve nailed this! People have tried to ask me what gets me angry, and I’m like, both of those! Don’t come near my driveway. Don’t do a U-ey in my driveway. I mean, it’s probably the driveway. Dropping in, I only really surf The Pass, so that’s inevitable.

But if someone drops in on my kid, I will death-stare them like they’re smoking on the beach, and I’ll shake my head at them. They can just feel the rage emanating from my body.

Between touring, making music and being a mum, do you still manage to get much time in the water?

Not enough. But I surfed yesterday! My kids say we’re a surfing family. The other day they said to me, ‘Mum, remember when you used to surf?’ I was like, ‘Used to? I’ll show you!’

It’s hard because you come back from tour, you’re exhausted, and you want to hang out with the kids. I’m not great with manoeuvring kids and their surfboards in the ocean as well as myself, so I leave that to Owen. I prioritise just hanging out with them.

But yeah, I need to surf more. That’s my New Year’s resolution, or just my resolution, because I got the best wave yesterday. Sometimes I just go on the tiny waves because no one’s on them and they’re easy. But when your board locks in and you’re just gliding along, you don’t have to do anything. You just stand there.

That’s the best feeling. When your board is locked into that wave and you’re not moving. It’s the best feeling.

‘Atmosphere’ was obviously a massive song, and still is. Can you see yourself working with more producers in the electronic music world down the track?

Yeah, for sure. I’m open to it. My caveat is that they have to get on a Zoom with me or get on a phone call with me. My artistry is super important to me. I’m not just a topliner or a songwriter for other people, and I don’t want to just pitch songs into the abyss and pray that maybe it’ll line up.

So if someone really wants me and they’re willing to get on a call, and they’re an EDM producer or artist that I like, then yeah, I will. I’m not going to do it willy-nilly, though.

Surf & Sound is a bit different from your traditional festival. It’s spread across three weekends, combining surfing, art and live music, with the whole of Manly getting involved. How do you feel about these events that take over a town, compared to your typical weekend music festival?

I was on the very last Splendour lineup before it cancelled. I was just about to play my first Splendour when it was cancelled. I’ve been to it many times over the years and loved it. But now that I have a bit more of an understanding of Surf & Sound, combining surf, art and music in a town and taking over for a few weeks, I think it’s so generous of whoever’s organising it.

The wonders it does for that community, bringing people into the local shops and cafes. I think we need more of it. So I’m super excited. It makes me want to hang out. It makes me want to bring the kids!

Finally, what can we expect from your Surf & Sound set? Will you be bringing some of that Rage Tour energy to Manly?

It’s funny because I always thought the show was super upbeat, and then my cousin came and he was like, ‘It was such a whimsical show.’ I was like, ‘What was it? I thought I was jumping and dancing the whole time!’ But it’s an experience. It starts fun and upbeat and boppy, and then I come down.

It’s going to be upbeat, it’s going to be fun, it’s going to be beachy, and I think I’m going to try and figure out a little surprise to put in there.