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 HEIDI LEIGH AXTON talks to VANESSA AMOROSI about her brilliant new album, HAZARDOUS and the pressures of growing up in the spotlight.
Fans might be surprised to learn, that if not for a change of fate, Vanessa Amorosi may have abandoned music for a career in the armed forces. “Yeah, definitely,” she admits frankly. “I did training as a kid. I had an album ready but there’d been a lot of knock-backs and heartache. I just thought it wasn’t really the place I wanted to be. My whole family are musicians and entertainers but it’s a hard industry. You’re living pay check to pay check. I looked at where I’d come from and my family situation and thought, ‘Do I want a battle like this?”
Amorosi was first discovered by Jack Strom, business partner of Mark Holden, singing in a Russian bar at 14, but due to previous empty promises, she was wary. “I was gigging at a young age and had people approach me promising to make me a star. By the time Jack met me, I was totally over the whole fabrication of that stuff. However, he was supportive and gathered people around me I needed. Mark Holden organized musicians I hadn’t worked with before to collaborate and it took off from there. Eventually we had a song on radio, but there was a huge journey in-between of having the album but not a record deal and people not believing in the material. No one can make you a star. It’s the luck of the draw and a lot of hard work.”
Michael Jackson mentioned in an interview the image pressures child stars face growing up in the spotlight. Did Amorosi feel this pressure, and was this the spark for This Is Who I Am? “This Is Who I Am is really about personal stuff I never coped with well. It was difficult as a kid, still going to school, having a hit and dealing with the change of how people view you. While other girls were partying, meeting boys and dating; I was working. I never went through the normal situations. Everything was bizarre, even from my first boyfriend. Now being older and wiser, everything’s fabulous. I can deal with it all and it makes sense, but as a kid, sometimes it didn’t. As a kid, I never wanted to wear high heels or dresses. People were saying, ‘No, you only sell records if you wear mini skirts and crop tops.’ I was like, ‘We’re not doing it then, so where do we go from here?’ It was important to have songs that related so I didn’t have to do that stuff.”
What was her reaction to Christopher Watson, who has worked on CSI New York and the horror film Hostel, directing the clip for the single? “I love Chris Watson. We hit it off straight away. I did think it could end up being dark, but it was great.”
So she was nervous that some gross and gory stuff might pop up in the background? “I’m sure he might have liked to have some of that stuff in there,” laughs Amorosi. “It would have been hilarious.”
VANESSA AMOROSI supports Rob Thomas at The Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Wednesday Feb 10. Her new album HAZARDOUS is out now through Universal. www.myspace.com/vanessaamorosi
1. Written by little_mini_nassy, on 11-04-2010 00:00
Hazardous is the best album money can buy! Get it now!!
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2. Written by Zoe, on 09-05-2011 15:41
Vanesaa Amorosi Rocks she is the best singer in the world.  |
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