Article: Heavenly Sounds

Heavenly Sounds

"Some places were a little bit resistant to having secular music within their walls."

I’ve never been one to divulge too many juicy details regarding my personal life, but I think it’s time to come clean about something. I don’t mean to brag, but I had a four-way with three beautiful women a few weeks ago. That’s right, you read correctly – a four-way. Well, to be fair I should clarify a little – I had a four-way group interview with three beautiful women, namely Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby, the three lovely ladies who comprise all-female indie pop supergroup SEEKER LOVER KEEPER. Our interview was equal parts confusing and amusing; four-way phone conversations can be tricky beasts to tame. To avoid complete and utter interview chaos, each member would announce herself before responding to a question. The format felt necessary, if a little rigid, but as time passed and the girls began to truly open up it felt like I became a wallflower in the rehearsal room being treated to a rare chance to eavesdrop on an intimate chat between old friends.

The tale of how these three good friends joined forces to form a band is a simple one, explains Blasko. “We were just talking about making music and writing and stuff like that one night after one of Sally’s gigs and the three of us just felt like it’d be a really nice thing to do together.” Given the trio are all used to being front and centre in their respective solo careers, how do they decide who gets prime position on stage when they play together live? “You’ll notice that we actually are just next to each other on stage,” chips in Throsby dryly, giggling and quashing any notion of inflated artistic egos. “It’s a bit of a combination of who’s singing the lead vocal but then how well can I hear myself through the monitors if I keep changing mic spots?” chips in Seltmann.

To date the triumvirate has released three singles from their eponymous debut – Light All My Lights, Even Though I’m A Woman and On My Own – each featuring a different member on lead vocals and each paired with a stunning video featuring male actors (Barry Otto, Aden Young and John Waters respectively) miming to, dancing and interpreting the songs. The concept was all Blasko’s, says Throsby. “We were all at a loss for something that was really exciting and Sarah had this idea – she’d worked with Barry Otto on Hamlet, she composed the music for a Bell Shakespeare production and had seen him dancing the way he does in that clip by the stage just for fun and I guess had put that image away in her mind and thought it’d be great to bring it out sometime.”

Check out Barry Otto busting a move to the Blasko-led ditty Light All My Lights.

Seeker Lover Keeper are set to embark on a tour with a twist over the coming weeks – they will be performing around the country not in the usual pubs or theatres, but in churches and cathedrals. Entitled the Heavenly Sounds tour, the group will bring their angelic voices to a patch of hallowed ground near you soon. But what inspired the change in venues? “The album has been received really well and the [previous] tour went so well we just really felt like it would be silly not to do more shows,” explains Blasko. “But we want to do the shows in an environment that really supports the sound and so we thought it would be a nice idea to do a church tour, something a little bit different and in an environment that was really going to enhance what we were doing.”

I wonder out loud whether or not the fact the shows will take place in churches might affect the ticket buying decision process for non-religious fans of the band. Throsby doesn’t seem to think so. “Well I’m not religious,” she states, “but I don’t think I feel awkward. I think our fans are quite open-minded.” Blasko laughs, before adding “it might feel awkward because they don’t think they’ll be able to drink anything there. They’ll have to drink beforehand or carry a hip flask.” The other two then begin to toss around ideas as to how punters could get around the lack of alcohol at the upcoming shows, before a light turns on in Blasko’s mind. “We could do communion!” she blurts excitedly. “Let’s do communion.” Queue everyone bursting into a fit of laughter.

So the group hope their fans will be open to the idea of seeing them perform in churches, but what about the churches themselves? How receptive were they to the idea of playing host to a show of this sort? “We haven’t really had a lot of contact with it actually,” explains Blasko. “I have heard that some places were a little bit resistant to having secular music within their walls, but they seem to be okay.”

As for the group’s plans following the upcoming tour, Seeker Lover Keeper will be put on the backburner and everyone intends to return to their respective solo pursuits. “I want to have a little rest and I haven’t planned too far in advance actually. Sally, what are you doing?” Throsby asks. “I’m gonna make another solo album,” responds Seltmann, with Blasko concurring, adding that she is laying the groundwork for her fourth album at the moment in London. It appears the Heavenly Sounds tour might be the last chance in a while to see these three sirens on stage together, so say your prayers and get to a nearby church quick smart.

Seeker Lover Keeper will play a church near you on the upcoming Heavenly Sounds tour, taking place during late November and early December. This includes a stop at St Stephen's Uniting Church in Sydney on Thursday November 24, for which yours truly will be in attendance. For other show dates, check out the group's website.