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RedHotPie took some time out with sizzling soulstress Vanessa Amorosi recently to chat about the Hazourdous...
RedHotPie Editor | February 03 2010
Vanessa Amorosi - The RHP Interview
It’s been the biggest come back since George Foreman starting flogging kitchen appliances. Having weathered the industry’s tight grasp on her initial forays into the business, Vanessa Amorosi has wrestled back ownership of her persona, music and life.
If anyone wanted to argue with that wisdom, their case would have ran out of steam around the time Amorosi’s recent single Who I Am hit the top of the ARIA charts affirming her second wind.
Now with the strongest record of her career on shelves, the singer seems comfortable in her almost unrecognisable new skin.
RedHotPie took some time out with the sizzling soulstress recently to chat about the Hazourdous nature of playing it safe in the music business and the singer’s revitalised career.
(RHP) Hey Vanessa, how are things?
(Vanessa Amorosi) Really good thanks
And where are you today?
I’m in Melbourne
Ahh, not out on the farm then?
No, I still have the farm but I only head out there if I get some time off, but I’m usually in the city at the moment.
Well speaking of cities... Gothenburg, that’s a fair way from the farm, you did the new record there; how did that come about?
Well I had been doing a lot of writing in America, and I finished the album there but I didn’t like it, so on the way back home I had a stop off in London and someone told me about these Swedish producers MachoPsycho so, obviously I wanted to check it out. I went there for a day and loved it; I just fell in love with the boys and in that one day we wrote three tracks and they were really open to ideas and very cool with me saying a lot of things you know. It’s hard for people to take risks, I mean everyone wants to follow what’s working for other artists, but I really had a sound I wanted that wasn’t the most commercial vibe say so it was a little scary.
I often found Australians and the Swedish folk getting along quite well
Yeah I think it’s our humour, we’re quite cool in taking the piss out of each other
Yes, the language barrier makes things interesting but there’s a bit of that larrikin spirit on both sides
I love the MachoPsycho boys and I speak to them a lot now and I’m still writing and doing things for other people but yeah it’s been amazing, I’m so wrapped that I went there because in the beginning I was like, Sweden really? That’s a long way out of my way but thank god I checked it out.
I hadn’t heard you had finished the album in the States before scrapping it, what went wrong on the first go?
It was just too safe, I mean I’ve been in the industry for ten years and the last thing I want to do is play safe and you know, I had a lot of things I was ready to put into that album, things I wanted to say that I’ve never had the confidence to say in the past. Yeah that was what annoyed me, and the sound wasn’t what I wanted, it just wasn’t cool
And did you put that down to where you were at creatively or the people you were working with?
I think I was trying to make a record I thought people would want to listen to rather than making a record that was truthful and that was a problem. I’d be going into the studio and it was a case of ‘hey lets write about this because it’s safe, the melody is safe, the chord is safe, yeah that line there, I’ve heard it before so it’s safe’. When I finished it, the album just wasn’t exciting so I figured if I’m not excited about it, I can’t expect anyone else to be excited about it.
Did you have to take a deep breath before making the decision to start again?
Oh yeah, it was a pretty scary moment because it was due and we really needed to run with it so I’m really glad I went with my instincts and pushed myself a little harder and put a bit more on the line.
I guess a lot of people are intrigued by the label side of things, so when you go to the record company and say, well the albums done but you can’t have it, how does that conversation go?
Well it was more like ‘here’s the record but I hate it and I’m making another one’ (laughs). I’ve got a great team so it went surprisingly well, I mean it’s such a fast paced industry now, showbiz, time is money and if you’re wasting time, things can get really tough and there were the consequences from my disappearing for too long before Summer In The Real Word, being gone for like eight years or something crazy.
Well you mentioned your time away; I read you spent a lot of it over the last few years behind the desk studying music production.
Awesome, I love that side of things, the only thing is it takes me twice as long as other people to get things done; because by the time that I’m whipping it and I’m moving along, I go away and do a record and I don’t come back for year and a half and then when I get back on the computer I get frustrated because I can’t go as fast as my brain is moving. And then they bloody upgrade everything and everything is in different orders.
I guess it opens a lot of doors musically when you have your head around that side of things though. The material you’re bringing out now is really layered, there’s a lot going on, most vocal artists rely on session guys to play a lot of the stuff but you’re having a crack at some it yourself
Yeah, I’m playing all of it... badly
You’re following in the footsteps of Dave Grohl
Yeah I always wanted to be a guitarist, but I am no guitarist. It all works in the studio because I can just chop it and get it in time, as far as having a great feel and having that extra bit of something I call in the big guns for that. It’s good to able to play the instrument to a degree so you can at least say, well this is kind of the idea.
Well you need to be able to communicate with the big guns when they roll up you know
Exactly, and if you’ve got drummers coming to play on a track it’s good to know exactly what groove you want when you’re pointing to the snare or the tom or the ride, and you need to know what exactly you’re pointing at, you can’t just stand there saying ‘yeah so when you hit the snare, then you hit that drum, and if you hit the kick use that cymbal thingo there,’ cause they’ll think you’re a total idiot.
And are you slinging guitars live?
Yes, I’ve been doing that for a couple of years, I’ve been playing guitar since I was a kid but I never wanted to get on stage and play guitar in front of my guitarist, because he’s a gun and you never want to play next to a gun, so you know, I’ve got the courage now to get out there and play a few tunes you know.
I also read recently that you’ve never had vocal lessons and don’t believe in them, does that only pertain to your own voice only or everyone’s?
For me it’s all been about my ears and creating a sound, I don’t know how I’d go to a vocal teacher, describe a sound and have them tell me how to produce it. Everybody’s throat is different and everybody hears things differently, so I think it’s a more unique and credible way to learn by studying yourself; go to a room listen to a whole bunch of singers you get into and start singing, and I mean hours of it every day, I mean I know everyone needs to do these vocal exercises and warm up things which work for them, it just never has for me.
So in the five minutes before you walk on stage there are no scales being sung?
No, I think as a kid I always found it quite embarrassing so I never did any of the stuff. I remember when I was younger and I first toured with Jimmy Barnes, he was just about to walk on stage and he started doing these big screams, and we were in this little tent and I just wasn’t ready for it, you know, I’d just done my set and I was coming back and tucking into some sandwiches and Jimmy comes over, grabs a sandwich and goes YEEEEAAAAH right next to me and I nearly fell over!
I think we’re making good progress here, I think your warm up phobia could have been caused by Jimmy Barnes.
No, I even remember all the kids when I was in school doing the warm up drills, the ma me ma me, that freaked me out but suddenly when you see Jimmy Barnes do it, it becomes cool. So yeah, I still haven’t got around to trying it, but if I do ever warm up, I’m gonna do it like Jimmy
So you just walk on cold, that’s pretty punk rock
Laughs, yeah I think it’s because I talk so much, all day very day, I’m well and truly warmed by the time I hit that stage every night
Now something else people might not know about is your own music collection, I heard you’re into heavier stuff like Tool, Faith No More, Mr Bungle and the like?
Yeah I grew up in a little country town and that’s what we were into. Yeah I remember when I went to see The Tea Party for the first time, changed my life!
And will you be making it to Soundwave this year to catch the Faith No More reunion?
Yeah I really hope so.
And what about you, what have you got on the horizon; Rob Thomas is just around the corner yeah?
Yup, we have a bunch of shows beforehand and then I’m off with Rob Thomas, I think it’s going to be amazing, I mean the Day on the Green gigs are just so cool.
And how do you find support gigs generally?
Well this one is gonna be pretty groovy for us, I mean we get an hour on stage so it doesn’t really feel like a support thanks to Rob. I have done supports where I’ve been petrified; I mean I supported Kiss when they came out.
How was that?
Yeah it worked but everyone was saying ‘it’s not the right tour Nes’ but I just said let’s just do it. I remember when we walked out on stage and the guys were like ‘I’m gonna kill you if they egg us,’ but it worked I mean we went out and did and old seventies number to start, a little bit of Janis Joplin, and I just said ‘I know you all know me as a pop singer be tonight we’re gonna rock,’ so it was all cool after that.
And did Mr Simmons put the moves on you after the show?
No.
No? He didn’t?
No, which was nice, nah he wasn’t creepy at all.
You weren’t insulted?
No and you wouldn’t be if you’d saw him in real life, he’s a bit scary. But no, I became friends with Paul, we got along really well so Gene was very cool and very business-like, thank god.
If anyone wanted to argue with that wisdom, their case would have ran out of steam around the time Amorosi’s recent single Who I Am hit the top of the ARIA charts affirming her second wind.
Now with the strongest record of her career on shelves, the singer seems comfortable in her almost unrecognisable new skin.
RedHotPie took some time out with the sizzling soulstress recently to chat about the Hazourdous nature of playing it safe in the music business and the singer’s revitalised career.
(RHP) Hey Vanessa, how are things?
(Vanessa Amorosi) Really good thanks
And where are you today?
I’m in Melbourne
Ahh, not out on the farm then?
No, I still have the farm but I only head out there if I get some time off, but I’m usually in the city at the moment.
Well speaking of cities... Gothenburg, that’s a fair way from the farm, you did the new record there; how did that come about?
Well I had been doing a lot of writing in America, and I finished the album there but I didn’t like it, so on the way back home I had a stop off in London and someone told me about these Swedish producers MachoPsycho so, obviously I wanted to check it out. I went there for a day and loved it; I just fell in love with the boys and in that one day we wrote three tracks and they were really open to ideas and very cool with me saying a lot of things you know. It’s hard for people to take risks, I mean everyone wants to follow what’s working for other artists, but I really had a sound I wanted that wasn’t the most commercial vibe say so it was a little scary.
I often found Australians and the Swedish folk getting along quite well
Yeah I think it’s our humour, we’re quite cool in taking the piss out of each other
Yes, the language barrier makes things interesting but there’s a bit of that larrikin spirit on both sides
I love the MachoPsycho boys and I speak to them a lot now and I’m still writing and doing things for other people but yeah it’s been amazing, I’m so wrapped that I went there because in the beginning I was like, Sweden really? That’s a long way out of my way but thank god I checked it out.
I hadn’t heard you had finished the album in the States before scrapping it, what went wrong on the first go?
It was just too safe, I mean I’ve been in the industry for ten years and the last thing I want to do is play safe and you know, I had a lot of things I was ready to put into that album, things I wanted to say that I’ve never had the confidence to say in the past. Yeah that was what annoyed me, and the sound wasn’t what I wanted, it just wasn’t cool
And did you put that down to where you were at creatively or the people you were working with?
I think I was trying to make a record I thought people would want to listen to rather than making a record that was truthful and that was a problem. I’d be going into the studio and it was a case of ‘hey lets write about this because it’s safe, the melody is safe, the chord is safe, yeah that line there, I’ve heard it before so it’s safe’. When I finished it, the album just wasn’t exciting so I figured if I’m not excited about it, I can’t expect anyone else to be excited about it.
Did you have to take a deep breath before making the decision to start again?
Oh yeah, it was a pretty scary moment because it was due and we really needed to run with it so I’m really glad I went with my instincts and pushed myself a little harder and put a bit more on the line.
I guess a lot of people are intrigued by the label side of things, so when you go to the record company and say, well the albums done but you can’t have it, how does that conversation go?
Well it was more like ‘here’s the record but I hate it and I’m making another one’ (laughs). I’ve got a great team so it went surprisingly well, I mean it’s such a fast paced industry now, showbiz, time is money and if you’re wasting time, things can get really tough and there were the consequences from my disappearing for too long before Summer In The Real Word, being gone for like eight years or something crazy.
Well you mentioned your time away; I read you spent a lot of it over the last few years behind the desk studying music production.
Awesome, I love that side of things, the only thing is it takes me twice as long as other people to get things done; because by the time that I’m whipping it and I’m moving along, I go away and do a record and I don’t come back for year and a half and then when I get back on the computer I get frustrated because I can’t go as fast as my brain is moving. And then they bloody upgrade everything and everything is in different orders.
I guess it opens a lot of doors musically when you have your head around that side of things though. The material you’re bringing out now is really layered, there’s a lot going on, most vocal artists rely on session guys to play a lot of the stuff but you’re having a crack at some it yourself
Yeah, I’m playing all of it... badly
You’re following in the footsteps of Dave Grohl
Yeah I always wanted to be a guitarist, but I am no guitarist. It all works in the studio because I can just chop it and get it in time, as far as having a great feel and having that extra bit of something I call in the big guns for that. It’s good to able to play the instrument to a degree so you can at least say, well this is kind of the idea.
Well you need to be able to communicate with the big guns when they roll up you know
Exactly, and if you’ve got drummers coming to play on a track it’s good to know exactly what groove you want when you’re pointing to the snare or the tom or the ride, and you need to know what exactly you’re pointing at, you can’t just stand there saying ‘yeah so when you hit the snare, then you hit that drum, and if you hit the kick use that cymbal thingo there,’ cause they’ll think you’re a total idiot.
And are you slinging guitars live?
Yes, I’ve been doing that for a couple of years, I’ve been playing guitar since I was a kid but I never wanted to get on stage and play guitar in front of my guitarist, because he’s a gun and you never want to play next to a gun, so you know, I’ve got the courage now to get out there and play a few tunes you know.
I also read recently that you’ve never had vocal lessons and don’t believe in them, does that only pertain to your own voice only or everyone’s?
For me it’s all been about my ears and creating a sound, I don’t know how I’d go to a vocal teacher, describe a sound and have them tell me how to produce it. Everybody’s throat is different and everybody hears things differently, so I think it’s a more unique and credible way to learn by studying yourself; go to a room listen to a whole bunch of singers you get into and start singing, and I mean hours of it every day, I mean I know everyone needs to do these vocal exercises and warm up things which work for them, it just never has for me.
So in the five minutes before you walk on stage there are no scales being sung?
No, I think as a kid I always found it quite embarrassing so I never did any of the stuff. I remember when I was younger and I first toured with Jimmy Barnes, he was just about to walk on stage and he started doing these big screams, and we were in this little tent and I just wasn’t ready for it, you know, I’d just done my set and I was coming back and tucking into some sandwiches and Jimmy comes over, grabs a sandwich and goes YEEEEAAAAH right next to me and I nearly fell over!
I think we’re making good progress here, I think your warm up phobia could have been caused by Jimmy Barnes.
No, I even remember all the kids when I was in school doing the warm up drills, the ma me ma me, that freaked me out but suddenly when you see Jimmy Barnes do it, it becomes cool. So yeah, I still haven’t got around to trying it, but if I do ever warm up, I’m gonna do it like Jimmy
So you just walk on cold, that’s pretty punk rock
Laughs, yeah I think it’s because I talk so much, all day very day, I’m well and truly warmed by the time I hit that stage every night
Now something else people might not know about is your own music collection, I heard you’re into heavier stuff like Tool, Faith No More, Mr Bungle and the like?
Yeah I grew up in a little country town and that’s what we were into. Yeah I remember when I went to see The Tea Party for the first time, changed my life!
And will you be making it to Soundwave this year to catch the Faith No More reunion?
Yeah I really hope so.
And what about you, what have you got on the horizon; Rob Thomas is just around the corner yeah?
Yup, we have a bunch of shows beforehand and then I’m off with Rob Thomas, I think it’s going to be amazing, I mean the Day on the Green gigs are just so cool.
And how do you find support gigs generally?
Well this one is gonna be pretty groovy for us, I mean we get an hour on stage so it doesn’t really feel like a support thanks to Rob. I have done supports where I’ve been petrified; I mean I supported Kiss when they came out.
How was that?
Yeah it worked but everyone was saying ‘it’s not the right tour Nes’ but I just said let’s just do it. I remember when we walked out on stage and the guys were like ‘I’m gonna kill you if they egg us,’ but it worked I mean we went out and did and old seventies number to start, a little bit of Janis Joplin, and I just said ‘I know you all know me as a pop singer be tonight we’re gonna rock,’ so it was all cool after that.
And did Mr Simmons put the moves on you after the show?
No.
No? He didn’t?
No, which was nice, nah he wasn’t creepy at all.
You weren’t insulted?
No and you wouldn’t be if you’d saw him in real life, he’s a bit scary. But no, I became friends with Paul, we got along really well so Gene was very cool and very business-like, thank god.
