Female solo artists of today have a rich ancestry of strong voices getting across some strong messages. One such contemporary singer is the self producing, self managing Lisa Fitzgibbon. Natalie Thorne went along to meet the Australian born UK based artist to find out what makes the modern woman of music tick.
FT: How did you get started in music? Was it something you always wanted to do or did you just fall into it?
LF: I didn't start out to go into music, it just sort of happened unintentionally. I was always writing songs, in musicals and in school bands and I played saxophone and drums. I could pretty much pick up any instrument and get a grove out of it. It wasn't really something which I chose to do though until I went to college to study communications. I happened to be at one of the best contemporary music colleges in the country so the music caught my attention straight away and I changed my major from communications to music, studying voice. After college I kind of suffered a bit of a set back. I got nodules on my vocal chords. I went to a specialist and she told me either stop singing for two years or get the nodules cut out. I decided to stop singing for two years so I came to England to study theatre. I then went to Oxford and stayed with a friend who needed a singer in her band and that was it really.
FT: Who were your main early influences?
LF: Suzi Quatro, without knowing! There was a guy who lived in the house across the road who used to play her all the time. We had Abba and the Bay City Rollers and stuff around at the time, which was really boring but then there was the sound of this woman screaming coming from the veranda of Craig Dunn's house. So I would often sneak over and hide out of sight to listen. I really got into jazz singers too when I was in my late teens, singers like Sarah Vaughn. I also liked early Joni Mitchell stuff...who didn't!
FT: Are influences from other artists still important now, even though you are a musician in your own right?
LF: I'm a lot more selective about who I listen to now. I try to avoid a lot of pop music and I find myself listening more to political and instrumental stuff. I think it's really important the type of music I listen to. I'm the sort of freak who walks into a restaurant and if there is horrible music going on in the background I can't eat there. If there's bad elevator music going on, I have to leave, I can't not listen to it. It would drive me mad!
FT: Female singers are often extremely political in their writing and are often at the cutting edge of social movements. Do contemporary issues appear often in your work too?
LF: Absolutely. On my new album one of the songs is called Illumination which was my 9/11 song . I felt a responsibility to write a song about it because I had issues surrounding it myself. That was a really difficult song to write. I've got another song called Not in My Name which I wrote in my friend's bath after the big anti-war march. On my second album I've got a track called Before it's Too Late which is about aboriginal reconciliation issues which we have back home. It's a big thing for me because a lot of my community back there are aboriginal. But you can't just shoot your mouth off. Express opinions by all means but do the research.
FT: What sort of things apart from political issues motivate you to write a song?
LF: Well, my latest album, 'Songbook 14', is one songbook which I started two years ago. It maps a progression of time from post dodgy record deal, through a really destructive relationship, then the 9/11 crisis and the world going to war, my sister getting married. I had to deal with some serious shit so its a real mix of personal stuff and social comment.
FT: Is it hard to write about everyday issues when living your life as a musician is so different to most of your audience's nine to five life?
LF: I think I probably see more everyday life than the average person actually because of the way I tour and gig is to go to places and really get involved in communities, like the Isle of Man where I've probably done six or seven tours of now and I did an album launch there recently too. I've created a real affinity with the place. I've got somebody on the Isle of Wight who is getting me gigs now and somebody in Yorkshire too. It's always about going to the communities and its always through people who have found me somewhere and taken me somewhere else.
FT: Do you think that your music makes a change?
LF: I know it does. It can be overwhelming sometimes. I get emails and people come up to me after gigs and say to me, 'that one song, that explains exactly how I feel. Thanks for explaining to myself how I feel'.
FT: What do you think you would have been if you didn't go into music?
LF: Probably something very practical like a plumber! I don't know though, I mean this is what I do. It's hard to think of a life outside of that. When I'm in the studio I co-produce all my stuff. I'm a songwriter as well so I'm starting to write for other people too. I also self manage my own career so there are so many facets to what I do now and there is never enough hours in the day to do everything, but I love it.
FT: What are your plans for the future?
LF: Well, they kind of change everyday really but in the immediate future I'd like to tour for six months of the year, nothing too big though, I don't want to be doing stadium gigs, I want to build it up ethically and solidly. If I sell ten thousand copies of every album I do from now on, that will be enough for me. I don't' want to be too greedy about this. My main goal is just not to take anything for granted and make the right decisions. I just want to do my job really, really well
© Fyne Associates 2005 www.fyne.co.uk