Tina Arena: Unchained
We could all learn a lot from Tina Arena. Her perspectives are so profound that...
Kristen Pearson - Unleashed
How many of us can say that we knew what we wanted to do before we could walk? Kristen Pearson is one such person. She’s been singing for as long as she can remember and has spent the last few years writing, recording and preparing for her upcoming showcase. She’s really starting to make quite a name for herself on the Sydney scene.
In just a few years she has been a featured regular with Sydney dance producers Reel Sessions, performed the vocals on several tracks featured on dance compilation albums and has even supported Boy George when he was out here in March this year.
“I’ve always been a singer and I’ve always loved to write poetry, so those two passions finally came together about four years ago,” says Pearson. “I write about my life, my friends, my heart, what’s going on in my head… it’s quite autobiographical.”
She describes her sound as a mixture of dance, house, soul, funk and pop and adds that usually it’s elements of all of the above rolled into one.
Since 2005 she’s been writing solidly with various Sydney producers and says the last few years have been a revelation. It all started she says, by getting bored of singing other people’s songs and never hearing anything in certain genres that were vocally challenging. According to Pearson, writing her own music has become a way for her to explore herself.
“I’m not going to sit here and say that my music exists within a vacuum – I’m human, I have a heart and sometimes what you feel is better expressed in a song. I guess you could say that music is my therapy. I write in code some of the time too, so only I will know what the meaning of a particular lyric is… and therefore it’s open to a multitude of interpretations! It keeps people guessing so you’re not giving too much of yourself and your experiences away.”
Now that she’s got a good body of work under her belt she’s focusing on her upcoming live gigs, and if the sound of Ilio, her 2005 EP released with Reel Sessions, is anything to go by, it should be quite the dance funk extravaganza! Ilio features five tracks, all co-written by Pearson. While some have a big room house feel like Get with You and You Are Here, others are more laid back, like Fish, which was featured on Opera Bar’s first compilation last year.
Following her showcase, she’ll be performing as a featured artist for Liquid Love which is run in conjunction with Ministry of Sound. She’ll be sharing the room with a number of strong artists and DJs, and Pearson’s been madly writing some new songs which she will be premiering on the night.
“So, Where Were We? is one,” she says. “It’s basically about loving someone so totally but also never being able to make your relationship with that person quite work. It’s a soulful house track and has such a nostalgic feel to it, it’s one of my favourites. And then we’ve been working on Fly Me which is basically as mainstream dance/house as you can get. I’m really looking forward to it playing at Arq or Stonewall one of these days! It’s about sex and getting your groove on with someone who can make you weak at the knees with a simple glance… gotta love lust!”
She’s also got her sights set at performing as part of the 2008 Mardi Gras celebrations.
“It’s been my dream to sing and perform at the party… It’s one of the best nights of the year and I’ve always wanted to play the main stage one day. Nothing’s been 100% confirmed as yet but I’m really hoping that it’ll come to fruition.”
Not that playing in front of large gay crowds will be something new to her – she supported Boy George on his Australian tour in February and performed at Perth’s Big Gay Out alongside Courtney Act who she remembers as being “absolutely gorgeous and a lot of fruity fun!” Singing with Boy George though stands out as one of the big highlights of 2007.
“When I first met him, we had a bit of a chat and he said he was very impressed with my vocals and it was then that he asked me to sing with him. I was nothing short of chuffed! This also happened in Melbourne too. I basically jammed over whatever track he was playing. His voice still sounds the same… it was weird hearing it right next to me. The quality was as good but the familiarity of it and the sound being raw into my ears was just surreal!”
Next year she plans on touring to London and Ibiza during their summer to promote her forthcoming EP, due out early next year. Putting the EP together had her working again with James Billings of Reel Sessions, DJ Yogi from Random Soul and Glenn Abbott from Machine Gun Fellatio and Super Massive.
“These guys are all amazing producers and song writers and together we produce some pretty amazing music. I love the process of writing a song and taking it into the studio and seeing where it leads us. It’s a very creative process and one which I’ve totally embraced and loved doing… it’s my sole purpose.”
Also look out for her at:
Liquid Love – 1 Dec, 8pm, Sydney,
Canberra Convention Centre – 8 Dec, 8pm,
Cruze Bar – Circular Quay, Sydney – 31 Dec 2007, 9pm.
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Tomas Finnerty
said ages ago