As we’ve previously mentioned, 2016 is well and truly the year that female Aussie musos broke out in the biggest way. It seemed that no matter where you looked, it was the ladies making waves in the local music industry, from Tash Sultana and Alex Lahey, to Sampa the Great and Montaigne.
Vera Blue has without a doubt risen as one of the most prominent names in the pack. After receiving high rotation on triple j thanks to her brooding, elegant singles ‘Fingertips’ and ‘Hold’, the artist shot to the top of the charts thanks to ‘Papercuts’, an unlikely collaboration with emcee Illy.
Since then, Vera Blue, real name Celia Pavey, has embarked on sold-out tour dates and has a string of big festival performances on the horizon. We caught up with the singer ahead of her performance at Beyond The Valley to get the lowdown on what it’s been like behind the scenes of Vera Blue’s breakout year.
Beyond the Valley 2016 kicks off at Victoria’s Lardner Park from December 28 – January 1, with limited tickets still available from Eventbrite.
Tone Deaf: It’s been an absolutely crazy 12 months for you. What’s it been like sitting in the eye of the storm?
Vera Blue: Yeah, it’s been amazing. I’ve been having lots of fun doing lots of touring and meeting lots of fans. I’ve been doing a lot of writing and recording. A lot is happening because it’s festival time as well, which I’m really excited about.
TD: How’s it been for you personally? Is it overwhelming or do you feel like all of your hard work is finally paying off?
VB: *chuckles* Yeah, at times it can be overwhelming. There’s moments where it’s a little bit like that. But for me, I think it’s more exciting and just seeing everyone unfold is the best part and we have worked really hard on this project, so it’s very special to see that people are really enjoying the music and the love’s being spread around, so it’s good.
TD: Was there a flashpoint moment where you felt like things were really beginning to take off? Like when you were asked to join Matt Corby on his national tour?
VB: Yeah, well that was kind of the start of the exciting bit, knowing that I was going to be playing to fans of Matt was a big thing for me. For that many people to be seeing your music, they might want to come see you play and I knew that might be the starting point of a bit more hectic time for me, which is good. You want more people hearing your music and coming to your shows. I recently did a tour and people were saying that they saw me performing with Matt and that’s why they came.
TD: We were actually going to ask, do you have a good sense of the impact of that tour? Do people email you and tell you that’s where they first heard of Vera Blue?
VB: Yeah, there are a few people who maybe don’t listen to the triple j world, which is huge but there’s people who just don’t listen to that much radio, but who’ve been fans of Matt Corby for a long time. So yeah, there’s people who’ve come across my music by seeing me support someone else, which is awesome. I did the Broods support as well and they were really great crowds to be performing in front of.
TD: What did you learn from that tour or from Matt directly? You’ve cited Matt as an inspiration before.
VB: I think it’s more just the fact that he’s very calm and collected and very natural about what he does. He’s always staying grounded and just enjoying the moment of performing and showing the fact that you love it to your crowds and making them feel comfortable. It’s just about being humble and keeping your feet on the ground and loving the moment. That’s what I’ve learnt from all the artists I’ve toured with, really.
TD: Matt’s amazing at turning any venue, no matter how big or small, into an intimate space. We felt that when we saw you at Howler here in Melbourne. There’s a closeness between the artist and the audience there.
VB: Yeah, definitely. There’s something really special about performing at venues where you’re kind of really close to the audience. Part of your performance is to make them feel comfortable, I believe, and give them something to take away from your performance and connect with them. I think that’s something Matt and I have in common as well. Lyrically, our music connects with our fans and they can take something away from it.
TD: One of the most remarkable things to happen in the last 12 months is the success of ‘Papercuts’, which last time we checked was still in the top 10 of the ARIA singles chart, which is amazing…
VB: It’s very cool!
TD: It is. Can you take us a bit into the background of that song and the recording of it? Did you at any point anticipate the success it would have?
VB: It was very unexpected. Especially for Illy, he’s been working on some new music and it’s a very different direction to what he was doing before, but he’s very passionate about it and he loved it so much, so we weren’t quite sure how it was all going to go.
But he was originally a fan of the Vera Blue and he just liked my voice so he sent me the song and asked if I’d like to sing on it. I did a couple of demos and he loved it and there was even space in the song where I could add my own lyrics, I wrote the bridge, and I just straight away connected to the song.
We had a few hours in the studio and I recorded my part and he was there kind of mentoring, saying what he wanted and didn’t want, and it was just a great moment. Very positive.
TD: Going back a bit, how did the Vera Blue project first come about? What inspired it and how would you say it differs from the work you released under your own name?
VB: Well, the stuff that I was doing under my own name was very folky, it was very stripped down, and I’m very inspired by folk music, everything from Joni Mitchell and Simon & Garfunkel through to Matt Corby and Angus & Julia Stone and I was writing folk music, but I went into the studio wanting something different.
I didn’t know how to explain what i wanted it to sound like, but I went into the studio with my producer Andy Mac and we experimented and I was listening to a lot of Alt-J at the time, so it was this experimental mix of electronic and folk. We experimented with this one song that I’d half-written, which was ‘Fingertips’, the main song on the EP. And that’s kind of where it all started.
I also had a co-writer in the room, Gossling, and because it had this particular taste and vibe to it, we created this EP and I thought it’s so different I thought I’d give it its own project name and Vera Blue is what came out. It’s amazing because I feel very comfortable being Vera Blue now. It’s an exciting project.
TD: Do you talk about your time on The Voice openly? How do you regard reality singing competitions now? They often get a bad rap amongst professional musicians.
VB: Yeah, I’m happy to talk about it. I had a positive experience with it, some people can have a negative experience but mine was… I just cruised through it and it was quite fun and I met a lot of talented people and got to hang with the coaches and stuff.
I think of it as just one little moment in my career, which kind of started everything and I was able to take the resources and signing to a record label and stuff like that and take it to the next level which is where I’m at now. I wouldn’t talk down on it at all.
It’s an interesting world. Television is quite crazy and there can be many fake moments there, but for anyone doing music, they have to go out into the world and make their own way. So yeah, I don’t know. I guess it’s just about doing what you want and learn from it.
TD: It kind of feels like if you go into those situations with your own fully formed identity and don’t lose it in the process, you do end up triumphing.
VB: Definitely, you have to stay true to yourself and that can be challenging when producers on a TV show may want to change you. But I went through the show and that didn’t happen to me. I was able to embrace my own artistry and it was very special and I was lucky to have that and some people don’t, which can be quite sad.
TD: Considering how crazy the last 12 months have been, what’s on the cards for the next 12 months?
VB: Definitely lots of stuff. So I just did a tour, which was really fun and then heaps of festivals to end the year and then I might be heading to the States to do a little bit of writing and signing with a record label there. And then going into the studio to work on a new record. I think it’s going to be an album but we’re tossing up what we’re gonna do. We gotta get some good songs, which is what matters.
Beyond The Valley 2016 Lineup
Ali Barter
Audiojack
Big Words
Carl Craig
Claptone
Dom Dolla
Ecca Vandal
Guy Gerber
Luke Million
Ngaiire
Purple Disco Machine
Roland Tings
The Delta Riggs
Tigerilla
Torren Foot
Alex Lahey
Bag Raiders (LIVE)
Bakermat
Chance The Rapper
Dena Amy
Dune Rats
DZ Deathrays
Eats Everything
Emma Louise
Giraffage
GoldLink
Harts
Hermitude
Highasakite
Hot Chip (DJ set)
Hudson Mohawke
Japanese Wallpaper
Jarryd James
JME
Kllo
Kölsch (DJ Set)
Ladyhawke
Lastlings
Lunice
Montaigne
Motez
MSTRKRFT
Oliver Huntemann
Paces
Pachanga Boys
Phantogram
Running Touch
Ryan Hemsworth
SAFIA
Skream
Slumberjack
Sonny Fodera
Sticky Fingers
Thundamentals
Tokimonsta
Total Giovanni
Vera Blue
Wafia
What So Not
ZHU
Wednesday, 28th December 2016 – Sunday, 1st January 2017
Lardner Park, Warragul VIC
Tickets: Beyond The Valley
