| Interview with Andrea, from the Australian Times - News 02/11/08 |
| Saturday, 01 November 2008 | |
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Interview with Andrea, from the Australian Times. Andrea McEwan is a brazen romantic. She is an actress, singer, musician and songwriter. She collects vintage dresses and enjoys champagne – the expensive kind. She is known for living on a diet of books and has written lyrics with Katie Melua. Andrea McEwan is no less Australian than Cate Blanchett. She speaks with Liezl Maclean about her music, writing and her debut album Candle In A Chatroom. You are on the brink of a major European tour, which dates are you really looking forward to? I always get excited about travelling, so all the dates really. I suppose it is because I am from Australia - such a big isolated Mother of a country - that I still find it quite extraordinary that so many countries are on your doorstep in Europe. On this tour we have some dates in Norway and Sweden. I haven’t been to either of those places, so they are of particular interest. I harbour a secret desire to try out one of those outdoor saunas in Sweden! You know the ones where, after a sauna, you run outside, cut a hole in the ice and jump in the freezing water! I am also excited about the UK dates. There is a theory that the audiences are a little harder to please in the UK and it is a tougher playing field generally. I’d like to see if that’s true. Is it fun working alongside Katie Melua? Yes, very fun. When you are on the road, it is a very male dominated environment, so it is great to have another female around (I also have a female guitarist in my band now!). Katie is a great person to have around because she is such a pro - so calm and self-assured. I was a tour rookie the first time I toured with her and she really put me at ease. She also has great disco stamina (very important on a tour bus!), shares my love of sushi and is a great person to write with in a spare moment. Tell us more about Candle In A Chatroom? The idea for Candle In A Chatroom sprang from an article that I read in a weekend magazine about relationships in the 21st century. It contained very frank interviews with people who sought convenience in love and relationships above all else. In some ways these people were able to compartmentalise their lives so neatly. At the time I had just read a book containing the greatest love letters - Victor Hugo to Juliette Drouet, Napoleon to Josephine, and Beethoven to the ‘Immortal beloved’. The two things just clashed so abruptly and I began to wonder if romance had any future if society was going to continue to move at such a pace. What did you find to be the most difficult part, the writing or the recording? Probably the recording. Up until that point my songs had been my babies. They hadn’t had a life outside the four walls of my flat. Once you get to the recording and production phase, it becomes collaboration. It is not only your art anymore, but other people’s art as well. It requires trust and a certain letting go. I also found it difficult sometimes to describe sonically what I heard in my head. My vocabulary seemed insufficient, especially when faced with a roomful of professional musicians who had been in recording studios for most of their lives. Do you have a favourite track? The thing about the album is that each track is so different. Every song has a different mood and tells a different story. I find that my favourite song changes all the time. I love to sing ‘Isn’t it Funny’ because it is one of the first songs I ever wrote. In terms of my favourite song from the album - at the moment it is ‘Berlin Love Story’. Mike Batt (my producer) wrote the most beautiful string arrangement for this song. It is unabashedly romantic and I like that. It is also very personal - it tells the story of how I met my husband. What has been your biggest challenge since moving to Europe? Probably the isolation from my family and friends back home. So much has happened career-wise in a relatively short amount of time and I have had to face a lot of challenges far away from the people who know me the best. You have been described as ‘living on a diet of books’. How do you choose what you read and how does it influence your writing? I spend a lot of time wandering around bookshops. There is no better way to lose yourself. Also, I always follow up on friends’ recommendations. I think what I chose to read was also influenced a lot by drama school. They liked us to read widely and we always had to read books that supported and informed the plays we were doing. I think that it influences my writing in that sometimes I write a song in the third person or as a character. If you could have a super-power, what would it be? To be able to time travel - but only backwards. I have always thought it would be amazing to be able to go back in time with my head full of all the great songs and write them first. Imagine coming up with Imagine a couple of years before Lennon! What would you most like to wear to a costume party? Something vintage. I collect vintage dresses but I never get to wear them anywhere. I have this great lemon and lime vintage prom frock from the 50’s. Definitely that. What makes you groove? The kindness of strangers and the way my husband looks at me. Also, a glass of champagne, the expensive kind! |
