This is what my publicist would say about me….
Alternative Pop Songstress, previous EG female artist of the year and Triple J unearthed winner. Just released her 3rd independent record OH MY GARDEN. STACK Mag called it “ One of the most captivating pop records of 2012”. Recorded in LA over 18months with producer Brad Wood (Liz Phair, Ben Lee), OH MY GARDEN sees Sophie with an eclectic array of stunning tunes coloured by irrepressible undercurrent of synth and bold pop grooves. Born in New Zealand, Sophie grew up in Singapore, Darwin and Melbourne.
You’re hitting the stage for AMWE 2012, who is else is on the line up for show, where and when it is?
Thursday November 15th
with The Medics and Sue Ray
@ Ding Dong Lounge, Market Lane, Melbourne 8.30pm
What’s your earliest memory of performing and who inspired you to start?
I first sang solo in front of an audience when I was 15. School Talent quest, New Zealand. I knew 3 chords on the guitar by then and decided that was enough to put a band together. I gathered a drummer, cello and accordian player to perform ‘Jesus Doesn’t want me for a sunbeam’, that Nirvana version. I sang with a country-twanged Dolores O’Riordan accent and felt like I had turned from maths geek to rockstar overnight.
You’ve toured with some really great artists and bands, what has been your favourite tour of your career so far?
Opening for THE EELS ‘Strings’ tour at Brisbane’s Tivoli was my fav. I was a gushing fan and loved it ALL even though I was only asked to play acoustically IN FRONT of the drawn curtain. They had such a complicated set-up on stage so I couldn’t bring my own band. Lovely gentlemen to me and awesome musicians. ‘The Chet’ is still my favourite muso in the world! I managed to score guest tickets to their Paris and London shows a few years later when I backpacked through Europe. They were as nice to me as they were in Brisbane.
‘Fess up. What records have you stolen from your parent’s record collection and why?
Well my folks grew up in Malaysia and didn’t really own any records as they were from a small rural town. But they loved Karaoke. In recent years, I’ve been asking mum for her Chinese CDs as I have a dream to do a Mandarin cover album one day. My fav producer J Walker (Machine Translations) and I have talked about this project a bit. Hopefully one day!
What’s on heavy rotation on your iPod right now?
I’ve been slightly obsessed with Ornette’s ‘Crazy’ (Both Noze remix and original). A French female artist.
Elbow’s ‘Seldom Seen Kid’, live abbey road session with BBC orchestra. I cried when I first saw that DVD performance. Everything that I had ever wanted for myself as a musician.
Little Boots ‘Hands’ – synth pop magic
You one-time wish was to be a presenter on Playschool, was it the music aspect that was attractive for you? And if you were to send them an audition tape what children’s songs would you perform on it?
I’m crafty, can draw good cartoons, can sing, play guitar and play a mean toy glockenspiel. Haha…Why wouldn’t they have me?
I would audition with reenactment of David Bowie in ‘Dance Magic Dance’ from Labyrinth. My band behind me grooving on keyboard synths. Yeah!!
If you could curate your own festival, where would it be, who would be on the bill, how many people would you let in and what features would it have?
Somewhere in outback NT. Red dirt and Pop.
The National, Beck, Bat for Lashes and Peter Gabriel.
Maybe 500 people? That way I reckon my parents and aunties can cope with cooking Malaysian feast of satays and curries from a couple of food trucks
When you’re Rolling Stones Big, what are you going to request on your rider: don’t be shy.
A masseuse, dim sims, red wine, a grand piano.
Because it’s more fun to do things together, which living Australian artist would you most like to collaborate with?
Would love to work with Paul Mac. For his classy electronic pop chops.
The music video for ‘I Understand’ is certainly an interesting concept, can you divulge the secrets behind the shooting with under water part of the clip?
The video shoot was physically and mentally demanding. It looks so deceivingly simple but most of the filming (10hour shoot) I was actually hanging , gaffer-taped to a rotating device. I had to get my back corrected at the physio a few days later. The directors wanted my face to go through gravitational changes and stress, without me acting so they turned me upside down. The hardest part was being underwater, upside down, hands and feet tied, plugs up my nose, couldn’t see with no fight/flight reflexes left. I nearly choked the first take. I could hear the directors yelling ‘get her out, get her up NOW!’. Yikes, still can’t believe we did it.
Here’s a groovy behind-scenes vid of how we did it! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80o-iA4s2NI
