“It’s not like I’m not going to be home for years or anything.”
A J Award, two ARIA awards, chart success and critical acclaim; SARAH BLASKO has had it all. Well, everything except international recognition, that is. It could only have been a matter of time before the enchanting Sydney-based singer outgrew the pond that is the Australian music scene and decided to tentatively dip her big toe into untested international waters. Blasko has undergone a sea change in the last year as she attempts to conquer the European market and it is from her new home in London that she chats with me about relocating to the UK, special edition albums, our mutual love of Joanna Newsom and some exciting new projects – including a remix of one of her songs by dance duo The Presets and the creation of an all female ‘supergroup’ alongside Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby.
Blasko reveals the move to London has been on the cards for quite some time, but the opportunity only recently presented itself when her stellar third album, As Day Follows Night, was picked up by English record label Dramatico for widespread distribution across Europe.
“It’s such a weird feeling starting over in all of these different countries,” Blasko says, on the subject of rebuilding her profile from scratch. “There’s so much ground to cover. It’s been really fun but quite a learning experience at the same time.” Rather than view the experience as a laborious task, Blasko manages to put a positive spin on the situation. “It’s quite refreshing because nobody knows who you are or anything about you. I’ve always lived in Sydney and it was just time to live somewhere different and have a different experience.”
Having said that, diehard fans fear not – the lady hasn’t skipped town for good. Come October, Blasko is set to return to our shores to play a string of dates nationwide. To coincide with the tour, a new edition of As Day Follows Night has been released; this time with a bonus live disc of songs performed over two nights at The Forum in Melbourne late last year. “We thought it would be great to have a record of one of the nights,” Blasko explains. “It was a nice thought for me because I’ve never actually released anything live before and I’ve wanted to for a while.”
Avid collectors will note this is not the first time a special edition of As Day Follows Night has been released. An earlier package contained a collection of special artwork cards that revealed an amazing assortment of vibrant colours when brushed with water. Was this innovative and charming idea a ploy to encourage the bit torrent generation to fork out for a physical copy of the album?
“I think that the record label probably feels that way,” Blasko replies matter-of-factly. “I don’t; I feel pretty happy with an album just standing on its own but then at the same time I’m always a sucker for the special edition of something. I just bought Joanna Newsom’s new album today and it was a special edition version.” I frantically try to maintain my composure as one of my favourite Australian female artists casually namedrops one of my favourite American female artists and continues, “I try to think about what I would like if I was really into someone’s music and to me, having a really limited edition thing is just an exciting concept.”
One track noticeably absent from any edition of As Day Follows Night is The Presets’ recent remix of Hold On My Heart. Not exactly known for her music’s ability to pack out nightclub dancefloors, I quiz Blasko on her opinion of the remix and how the collaboration came about. “I heard through friends that The Presets really liked the album and that they were particularly keen to work on the remix for that song,” she explains. “They just went about it and I heard it and it was really different to what I would have expected, because it’s quite different to their sound. It’s very summery and ripe and it’s very danceable.” And would she ever consider a shift from sweet, unassuming indie poster child to electro club diva? “I don’t know,” she laughs. “I think it’s one of those things that you’ve got to feel natural about. I would like to do something different like that.”
Something that has taken Blasko in a different direction is her collaboration with fellow adorable indie pop songstresses Sally Seltmann (formerly known as New Buffalo) and Holly Throsby. Blasko prefers to remain tight-lipped on the subject, offering “it’s kind of a secret, although I think it’s already out there. I don’t want to talk about it too much because I’d ruin the excitement of it later.” She scoffs at the thought of calling the endeavour a ‘supergroup’ (“it’s a bit of a tacky name!”) but does confirm the trio plan to record the album in New York during August and that it will get a release early next year.
The move to London seems to have provided the perfect tonic for Blasko; to have a change of scenery which, in turn, has helped her gain a fresh perspective. When asked whether living in another country has made her nostalgic and long for home, she replies bluntly “not really, no. It just really felt like it was time for me to move and the thing is, with being able to play music in Australia, I’ve got opportunities to keep going back, so it’s not like I’m not going to be home for years or anything.” Thank god for that.
Comments
Post a Comment