Meet the neon pink, latex-clad, dildo-twirling artist seducing Australia’s dance scene.
It’s my first time speaking with the bubbly, bona fide artist, and yet the conversation quickly feels like a chinwag with an old friend.
She’s calling from a beachside hideaway in Byron Bay and tells me she’s still recovering from a three-day bender prompted by the festival she played the week prior. It’s the latest in a string of live performances and she’s having a ball. “With my kind of personality – and I don’t know how sustainable this is – but I’m out in the crowd, I’m dancing, I’m drinking a lot,” she says with a raspy voice. “I’m absolutely loving it.”
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The queer creative’s candid personality provoked a swift rise to fame after releasing her first single – EAT MY ASS – in late 2022. Her career has been on an upward trajectory ever since.
In a world that revels in unfiltered self-expression, BIG WETT has emerged to deliver electroclash dance anthems that are equal parts provocative and empowering. The Naarm-based artist will release her debut EP – PU$$Y – on September 22, continuing her unabashed celebration of sexuality.
Unbridled confidence is a trait she has long considered intrinsic to her character. On the rare occasions such fearlessness fails to come naturally, she has a simple strategy up her sleeve.
“Some days I’m not feeling like BIG WETT, but you know, fake it till you make it,” she says. “Then eventually you do make it and you don’t need to fake it anymore. That’s kind-of the secret. No one would ever know in my shows if I was feeling sad or going through something personally. If I’m sad, I just act hot and then I’m like, ‘Oh I’m not sad anymore’,” she laughs.
Belting obscenities into a diamanté-encrusted microphone, holding a standing split in unyielding pink latex and twirling double-ended dildos with her teeth are just a handful of the stage theatrics in her arsenal.
BIG WETT’s X-rated brand of 90s rave-inspired synth-pop has garnered an adoring fanbase, applauding her for giving a fresh voice to queer pride and self-empowerment. While her brash lyrics centre around sexual liberation, money, power and some of her absurd personal fantasies, she says these themes first emerged subconsciously.
“My personality is quite loud – well, some would say obnoxious, I would say fun – so I think it all just came out like that,” she remarks.
A filthily fun example is heard on NUMBER 1 PUSSY, where she owns her desirability like a braggadocious male artist. “Gold medal puss,” she sings over a thumping baseline, “she winning every race, my pussy is gourmet and you love love love the way it tastes”
“It’s funny and it’s unexpected,” she says. “I think the more I played around with just being really vulgar and crass, the more people kind of enjoyed it.”
Sex-positive feminism in music has become increasingly prevalent in recent years, with BIG WETT often drawing parallels to the likes of Kim Petras, Peaches, and COBRAH.
Despite what the bimbo-esque BIG WETT character may suggest, there is nothing vacuous about the act’s intent. At the core of this project is a beamingly positive artist who wants people to feel good through her music.
“I want them to wake up in the morning and feel like they want to jump out of bed,” she says excitedly. “Like they want to dance in the mirror. I want them to feel hot and cool and confident. “That they want to shoot their shot with someone and send them a text and ask them out for coffee.”
Most importantly, she says physical attributes are inconsequential when it comes to adopting this attitude.
“Being hot isn’t about what you look like, it’s about the vibe you bring,” she states fervently. “It’s about your personality. Being hot is being someone that you want to spend time with. They’re interesting and funny, they make you feel good about yourself and they feel good about themselves. It’s like a positive energy that’s addictive, and I think that’s kind of what I’m trying to convey.”
Her social media is frequently flooded with comments from fans – affectionately known as ‘wetties’ – expressing their gratitude for the ways BIG WETT music enriches their lives. Listeners have shared that she’s helped them feel more confident to exercise in public, given them the courage to be more sexually adventurous with their partner, or simply fuelled a boost in their mood. “If I’m ever feeling sad, I put on my own music because it makes me feel sassy and silly and hot and fun,” she says.
Her dreams of pop ubiquity extend back decades, having expressed a strong affinity for the spotlight since childhood. “I’ve always been like the class clown, always doing things to make people laugh. I was in musical theatre and choir as a kid, I did a lot of dancing and gymnastics and cheerleading and singing. I always really wanted to be an actress.”
She chuckles as she recounts subjecting her mother to frequent recitals of scenes from Mean Girls and Bring It On after school. “She’d be sitting there like, ‘Oh my god, someone give this kid a stage and a microphone’, and now they have.”
In her early teens, she also began to develop a love for hip-hop greats like 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg. “I wanted to be like a rap star – which was hilarious – when I was about 14. And what I do now is kind of like the perfect mixture between both.”
Pop culture has seen a notable resurgence of 90s trends and Y2K fashion in recent years. Serendipitously, she says she has been embodying this iconic era for most of her life. “I was born in 1991, so I never left the 90s. I literally have been listening and wearing this stuff since it was cool and I’ve never really strayed too far away from that kind of aesthetic.”
Whether she’s donning a reworked nun’s habit for her music video G-SPOT, or adorned in her signature wraparound sunglasses, paired with platform pleather boots, a pink fur coat and matching leg warmers, BIG WETT has earned a reputation for her wittingly gaudy outfits.
“Most photos of me as a kid, I’m in costumes. I was always dressing up, doing some sort of performance or something extra. I’ve always kind of dressed mildly like a toddler, and I think that’s really ignited that kind of youthful spirit in me of like, ‘Who will I dress up as today?’
“The freedom that comes with not really having anyone tell you what you can’t do – that it looks silly or you shouldn’t do that or you’re too old for that – the freedom that comes with that is endless.”
However, being a sex-positive public figure is not without its challenges. BIG WETT’s online presence often attracts internet trolls who leave disparaging comments, mostly to the tune of ‘What happened to you to make you like this?’, and ‘Your mum must be so disappointed’.
“Look, I’ve had my fair share of creeps and I’ve had my fair share of haters,” she sighs. “Honestly, I’d prefer the haters. All the creepy guys that send dick pics unannounced and send me fucked up messages…I’d honestly rather have someone tell me to go and get therapy.”
There’s a sombreness in her tone as we discuss the subject, and when asked how she manages the backlash she confesses it’s an ongoing process. “I’ve kind of learned my lesson. I used to read every comment, but now I’m just like – ‘Don’t do that’.”
The riotous BIG WETT project was initially born out of “boredom and alcohol” during Covid lockdown. “I was in Melbourne with my boyfriend and housemates and we were doing a lot of painting and sculpting and cooking and writing songs,” she says. “We wrote a bunch of serious songs, and then after like nine months of lockdown, things started to get a bit kooky, and that’s where the first BIG WETT song was written. It was called Fuck A Big Dick, and basically all I said was fuck and dick in it.”
She maintains a close collaborative relationship with Reggie Goodchild of electro-pop duo Confidence Man, with whom she co-produces her tracks. “We work together really well because we dated and lived together for a while, so it was all like over many beers. It’s a really nice creative outlet where it doesn’t have to be perfect, and I like that.”
First attracting buzz after uploading a folder of demos to SoundCloud in 2021, it didn’t take long for tracks like EAT MY ASS, to catch the attention of radio stations and talent scouts across the country. Once promoters caught a glimpse of BIG WETT’s flamboyant on-stage performance, she was quickly billed on some of Australia’s biggest lineups. In the past six months, she has appeared at Dark Mofo, Meredith Music Festival and Splendour in the Grass among a host of others. In March, she signed with independent London-based label Play It Again Sam [PIAS].
Despite the somewhat dizzying nature of her ascent to fame, shesays every show has been a blast and brought about new friendships with like-minded fans. “I honestly love tour life, and I really love meeting fans. I find that the people who really like my music are all kind of kooky and fun, and so oftentimes we really get on.”
Teasing it as six tracks of “erotic bangers” exploring the joys of sex and life “in all its messy glory”, BIG WETT will release her debut EP on September 22.
Those eager for a taste have been treated to the tantalising new single – Don’t You Want It All – a song she describes as an “unapologetically horny” portrayal of “sex on drugs”. A combination of pounding bass, fast-paced techno, contemporary sounds and raunchy lyrics designed to “empower and arouse”, PU$$Y will surely make for an invigorating listening experience.
Continuing her fierce ascent to stardom, BIG WETT will bring her showmanship to all major Australian cities in November as she embarks on her first headline tour – one she plans to be the first of many. “I want to go everywhere, and I want to play everything,” she says. “I’m in it for the long haul.”
BIG WETT is playing Yours & Owls on October 14 – 15. For the latest tour dates, head here. PU$$Y is out on September 22 via PIAS.
