Q&A With Montaigne: What Sport Means To Me

You know Montaigne’s music, but did you know that they also played soccer at a semi-professional level during high school? For a large chunk of high school, they were balancing high-level sport, music and study, all at once.

As we get older and our lives become busier, finding time to exercise gets more and more difficult. So, to get a few tips, we caught up with Montaigne to chat about how they managed to balance sport with school and a flourishing music career.

YEAR13: It sounds like you had a ton  going on as you were going through your final years of high school - you were building up to a career in semi-professional soccer, you were planning on studying science at an Ivy league college and your music career was just starting to take form. How did you manage to keep it all Balanced?

MONTAIGNE: Part of what helped with the balance was that I don’t think we ever really started putting applications in for colleges! I did get good grades at school though. And part of why that was possible while doing music & football as well was that my mum was managing the music stuff for me then & took a lot of that load off my shoulders. The other thing is that in Year 11 & 12 I had a bizarre routine where I would wake at 3:30am, do the Pomodoro technique studying for about 2 hours and then go to bed at like 8 or 9pm after school unless I had football training. That weirdly gave me a lot of clarity because no one would be awake then and social media wasn’t what it is now then, so I didn’t really have anyone to talk to or anything to do but study. And at night I’d write songs or do whatever. That might have helped? I’m not sure, it feels so long ago.

YEAR13: What was the role that sports played for you during that time? Was it something you looked forward to as a release, or was it something that felt almost like work?

MONTAIGNE: I enjoyed sport because it was fun, and I was naturally good at it. Unfortunately, because I was naturally coordinated and intuitive about sport, I never worked particularly hard at it & I think that’s one of the reasons I never would have been a professional. You really have to want to push yourself and work hard and deep down I never really wanted to.

But I did enjoy it immensely. Football felt really good to play. My brain is really attracted to games & puzzles and sport scratches that itch in such an embodied & holistic way.

YEAR13: Despite those early successes in soccer you left, and you’ve talked before about some of the competitiveness and toxicity within those competitive spaces. Do you play any soccer socially anymore, or has the experience been tainted by those previous experiences? If not, are there any sports you’re enjoying atm?

MONTAIGNE: I have played a lot of social football in my adult life & I really enjoy it. The game isn’t tainted for me, fortunately. I think a lot of my experience in my adolescence was due to the cohort being just that — teenagers. And teenagers can be mean or prone to excluding those they don’t see as similar to themselves, or worthy of belonging. I was always really different to the people in my teams because I was immensely nerdy & physically weak.

I do wonder if there is generally more conviviality between everyone in a football team nowadays or if it’s the same old human nature. I really enjoy bouldering/climbing now actually, because that’s a sport that encourages collaboration and friendship and sees the value in all kinds of bodies and shapes. Or at least that’s what I’ve witnessed in my time climbing.

YEAR13: Are you the kind of person who sticks with one sport, or do you like trying them all? I know personally I get flak from my friends and family because I tend to get very obsessed with certain sports, in a goal-oriented kind of way.

MONTAIGNE: I like trying them all! If it’s fun, I’ll try it. I think I tend to like things that depend on a degree of puzzle-solving, like climbing or skateboarding.

YEAR13: You’ve discussed the stresses of touring, producing and performing. Touring sounds like it must be absolutely exhausting - is sports or exercise something you do as a bit of a release? I think I saw a video of you kicking the ball around back-stage at Splendour one time!

MONTAIGNE: 100%. I would say I’m pretty good at listening to my body & it regularly reminds me that I need to exercise if my muscles are tight or I’m feeling sluggish or a bit despondent. You’ve gotta break that stress cycle you know, and exercise is the best way in my opinion.

YEAR13: If there was one piece of advice you could give your high-school self, what would it be?

MONTAIGNE: I’m not sure I would give high school me advice, the things that held them back the most were largely out of their control.