How Troye Sivan’s sister is finding her own voice in the music industry
PHOTOGRAPHY BY GABE HANVEY
WORDS BY JASMINE SHEPARD
Forging her own path.
Influencer. Podcaster. Business-owner. And now, band member. The 23-year-old younger sister of world-famous singer-songwriter Troye Sivan, Sage Mellet, has a resume that beggars belief and a rapidly growing social media following.
It’s not hard to see why. Naarm-based Sage is softly spoken, with an expertly curated IG grid, and an affinity for shedding light on taboo topics. Her podcast, Preach the Peach, co-hosted with Alyssa Carp, takes a deep dive into sexual harassment, sexual health and female empowerment.
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Peach Pack, their related subscription-based service, delivers an aesthetic selection of sustainable menstrual hygiene and self-care products, featuring my personal favourite Australian brands, Fluff and Tom Organic, to name a few.
To add to that extremely impressive resume, Sage is forging her own career in the music industry as the latest addition to the synthy, Adidas-clad indie-pop group, Approachable Members of Your Local Community (AMOYLC).
Singing was never a career path for Sage, but rather a bathroom pastime. Sage’s boyfriend, Sam Korman, (also AMOYLC’s resident producer and drummer) overheard her and convinced her to record vocals for the band’s latest single, Strong Enough. Sam sampled the floaty, soft (and unnamed) vocals to the other band members, and it clicked. The boys jumped on the vocals, and Sage was welcomed as the fifth member. The band was complete.
The effervescent Sage gave us insight into collaborating with your boyfriend to create music, using your social media following to make a change and her biggest creative inspiration – family.
Lovely to meet you Sage! Tell me a bit about yourself.
I am in my last year of university, doing a media and communications degree at the University of Melbourne. The rest of my time I fill with two passion projects, Peach Pack, which is a side hustle business which I do with my best friend. And now I am part of a band.
What did your childhood look like? Did you always have a clear direction of your career path growing up?
I had a really great childhood. I grew up in Perth, with my three siblings. With the nature of Perth and that really slower-paced lifestyle, I just spent a lot of time with family and friends. It has only been in the last few years of my life that I have really sat down and thought about what I want to do. The band and Peach Pack have been manifestations of my values and the type of things I want to do with my life.
With your significant Instagram following and tackling important issues on Preach the Peach podcast, how do you continue to be confident in releasing meaningful content to your audience?
From the get-go with my Instagram, I built a following from my brothers. My brother Troye [Sivan] put out YouTube videos and I would feature in them, so I got followers from that. Because I never started my Instagram as an influencer, I knew that my social media presence would be something that reflected my values. I am so grateful for the platform that I do have, and the people that engage, and so it just seemed like a really obvious decision for me to talk about these topics that I think are really important. With the podcast, we are really touching on topics that are still quite taboo, and that can be quite scary. And I have definitely told my parents, maybe they shouldn’t listen to it! But because I really believe in it, that is motivating me to continue putting that kind of content out there.
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As the sister of pop icon Troye Sivan, how have you managed to establish such a successful career in your own right?
That’s funny that you say that because with COVID I have been so harsh on myself. I’m like, ‘Have I established a successful career, what’s going on in my life?’ But I personally see it as a journey. I don’t think I have reached these certain goals that I’m like, ‘Oh yep cool. I have a successful career now’. Slowly, every day, I am working on these projects that are fulfilling me and making me happy.
How did you get involved in Approachable Members of Your Local Community?
It is actually quite a funny story! My boyfriend Sam is the drummer of [AMOYLC] and last year during COVID, the boys got a grant to write an album. They had this song, a duet, and Sam has always heard me singing in the bathroom, singing around the house. He asked me then one day, “Will you just sing on it for now so we can just get a gauge of how it will sound?” It was a lockdown, I had nothing better to do so we recorded it. He sent the song to the boys and didn’t tell them that it was me. Mickey, the bassist, responded, “Who is this girl, and does she want to join the band?” We went from there and started working on the whole album together!
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AMOYLC has firmly established itself within the indie-pop music scene since its formation in 2017. What do you bring to the band?
Obviously, I am the biggest fan of the band – I’m not biased! I think I bring a bit of that feminine energy. The lead vocalist, Josh has such an amazing voice and it has been so fun to add to that. As well, we are all such great friends. It is great to show the world our friendships and the band dynamics with me, as a female, entering that.
I love the synthy vibes of AMOYLC’s new single Strong Enough. How would you explain the title track?
‘Strong Enough’ is a song about something I really resonate with – it’s about being able to recognise when something in your life has expired. Whether that be a relationship, a partner, or even a job. A lot of things get to their use-by-date and it is difficult for people to realise, is this thing serving me? This song is paying homage to those who are able to recognise, this thing is no longer serving me and I feel strong enough to leave that.
What, or who, is your biggest inspiration?
Honestly, every family member of mine is the biggest inspiration to me. In terms of my brothers, I am just so inspired by them. Watching them use their creativity to create a career for themselves is something I am trying to implement into my life.
What is next for Sage Mellet?
The next step is that the single is coming out on Friday! I am so excited, but I am so nervous honestly. I never thought that I would be singing. But to be with the boys and be part of something bigger than myself is just so exciting.
Keep up with Sage here. Follow AMOYLC here to listen to the new single ‘Strong Enough’ on August 20.
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