First gigs, Golden Globes, teen nostalgia: Sage Mellet on the albums that changed her life

“It just blew my mind.”

Music can act as a catalogue, documenting different eras and moments from our lives. The good time, the bad, the mortifyingly embarrassing. Thanks to our auditory abilities, sound waves are almost instantly converted to nerve signals – voices become speech patterns and sounds become recognisable songs. 

When we talk about music that changes our lives, we’re rarely being hyperbolic. It’s a constant companion through our ups and downs, a reminder of the past versions of ourselves. Sage Mellet knows this well. The 25-year-old holds many titles – singer in Approachable Members of Your Local Community, full-time marketing manager, content creator and sister to Troye Sivan. 

We caught up with Sage and found out how she styles her favourite pieces from the iconic label Wrangler, as well as the stories behind the most influential albums of her life so far. Good genes, good jeans, as they say.

I want to know, what role has music played in your life and how has that relationship changed?

Honestly, music is everything in my life. I grew up in a very musical family and I definitely associate music with nostalgia and with memories. I do this thing where I will become obsessed with a song and listen to it on repeat, then it just reminds me of that time when I was obsessed with that song.

I have one playlist on Spotify I’ve had ever since I was in [my] early high school days. And so when I go back and listen, I can go in and attach each song to a different year in high school or a different moment in my life.

What’s the experience of joining the band Approachable Members of Your Local Community been like for you?

Having two brothers in the music industry, I related to music in a more leisurely kind of way, rather than as a career. In 2020, my boyfriend at the time was in the band, Approachable Members. He was the drummer and I was always on the journey with them, but I wasn’t in the band. Then it was lockdown [and] they wrote some songs and he one day was like, “Do you want to sing on the song, just so we can see what it would sound like with the female [part]?”. 

So I recorded the song and I loved it and he sent it to the band. I’m friends with all the members but he didn’t tell them it was me. They turned around they’re like, “Oh, who is this girl? And does she want to join the band?”. I used to kind of get debilitated by the thought [that] pursu[ing] music or be[ing] in a band meant you had to completely give it your all. I mean, I definitely give it my all but I work and do other things and I definitely related to it more like a passion thing, which I still do now. It’s been such a fun, fun project.

Tell us about an album that changed your life.

The first album that I think really changed my life, which is hilarious, was My World by Justin Bieber. I had the biggest crush on him – I think every ’97 baby did at the time. So I just remember listening to that album and being obsessed with this guy [obsessed] with his music.

How were you listening to the album back in 2009?

It was actually [on] YouTube! I would just listen to the lyric videos specifically so that I could learn the songs… I don’t feel shame [about loving Justin Bieber] at all. I think I feel nostalgic about it. I think there was a reason I loved it at the time. I don’t know if I’d listen to the album in full now [but] there are definitely some songs that still hit a spot for me 100% [like] ‘Eenie Meenie’. That song defined my coming-of-age crush on Justin Bieber.

What’s another album that changed your life?

My second one was Black Eye Pea’s The E.N.D.. It was the first concert I ever went to. My brother Troye took me for my Bat Mitzvah present [when] I was 12 years old. It just blew my mind, I absolutely loved the concert. I honestly think ‘Alive’ could still be one of my favourite songs of all time. I was so obsessed with it. 

It was funny when I was going through and picking out albums for this interview and I put down Black Eyed Peas, I sent ‘Alive’ to my brother Troye. And I was like, “This song makes me feel so many feels”. It was so crazy because he responded, “I swear to God, we were talking about first concerts yesterday and I played this album and listen to the song for the first time in years”. It just shows what a core memory it was for the two of us.

The synergy! What’s the third album you’re sharing today?

My third one is also kind of funny. Like I am loling at myself that I’ve chosen all these albums, but they’re just significant memories of me. It’s Avicii’s True album. It was the first proper album that I made myself listen to in full. I was 16 at the time and I was going to Melbourne at the end of the year in the summer. 

I had made some Melbourne friends and we were all going to the Avicii concert so I was like, ‘Okay, you are going to listen to this album in full, learn all the songs and then go to the concert’. It was just sort of fun, and it really marked a coming of age for me… It was such a fun day, that album definitely made a mark on me.

And from more recent times, what’s an album that’s changed your life?

Mark Ronson’s Late Night Feelings – I was obsessed with this album when it came out. I was living with Troye in LA and I was 22. The year prior to that album coming out, my brother took me to the Golden Globes with him, which was the most insane experience I’ve ever had. He’s actually friendly with Mark, they share the same manager. 

We were at the Golden Globes, and it was the year that ‘Shallow’ came out and was winning all the awards. So Mark got up and went [to collect an award] and… they were playing the song and I must’ve been singing along [because] after the show he came and said to me, “I saw you singing the song, was it big in Australia?”. And I was like, “Yeah, it was massive!”. I was just so embarrassed, I was like sitting there belting out the song. It was just such a crazy experience. I was pinching myself.

What’s your fifth and final life-changing album?

It’s Sza – but I don’t know whether to do Ctrl or her new album SOS – but just Sza in general. I had to include her because for the past three years on Spotify, [she’s] been my most listened-to artist. I’m sure the majority of young, like 25-year-old girls, are the same. I have no shame in that. I think I’m truly obsessed with her and her music so I had to have her in there. If I had to pick one, it would be Ctrl.

Now that you know what Sage listens to, check out what she wears from Wrangler.