Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon croons “There’s a new girl in your life”, and as a model, Oxford scholar and frontwoman for Sydney rock outfit Haïr Dïe, Alys Hale has our full attention. She turned to music at a young age at the encouragement of her family, and though at first she may strike you as shy, the sounds she creates are loud, guttural and electric.

“Music was the most important thing in my house growing up, and my father encouraged me to sing and play from a very young age.”

Her personal uniform, it fits the bill – “big boots, leather jackets, poorly fitting suits and a collection of T-shirts stolen from my partner” – and she’s happiest when she’s playing to a crowd, taking cues from iconic women with voices, like hers, that were made to be heard. Her brand of humour is dry, and she’s lightning-quick with that inimitable British wit.

“I’ve always worn a lot of black and tried to be fairly androgynous. There was an unfortunate era of a sequin blazer but beyond that I’ve consistently gone for a darker aesthetic.”

Hale studied English literature at Exeter College, Oxford. “I was fortunate enough to have the most brilliant tutors who taught me about feminist literary theory, modernism and how to make my arguments less like a messy Jackson Pollock painting and more like a coherent, linear train of thought,” she says. “Fundamentally, it taught me that you can never spend too much time reading nor can you work too hard.”

“[To write or make music] I quite often turn to my friends. I’ll talk to them about how they feel, what they’ve been reading lately or how terrifying the news is. Alternatively, I’ll put a record on and just lie down and listen.”