Ok, time for today's "Duh!" statement: Vanessa Amorosi has returned in a big way!  With the recent release of Vanessa's new album, Somewhere In The Real World, with I have TOTALLY fallen in love with, we just knew we HAD to interview her and find out some more about this incredible album!  So, back in April, we had the chance of getting all the goss we could, and there was NO way we were passing up on that opportunity.

GQ: Hey Vanessa, how's your day been so far?

VA: Oh, you know, crazy busy, can't complain.

GQ: Your new album is coming out next month, and I have to say, it's a pretty awesome album!

VA: Well, yeah, I just hope people like it ...

GQ: I'm pretty sure they will ... it's already my fave album of the year!

VA: Oh, thank you!  What are you getting into the most?

GQ: Well, there's so many styles on it, it really depends what mood I'm in, but I'd have to say I LOVE 19 Turning Point, I just can't get that one out of my head ...

VA: I'm so rapt you said that ... do you know how many people I've asked that question to, and I'm so glad you said that!

GQ: There's also Somewhere In The Real World, which really shows off your voice ... there's just so many styles on the album I'm finding it hard to put into one genre.  How would you define this album?

VA: I think it's really ... I hope people will go on a journey with it.  I'm not the sort of person to just do a ballad over and over and over again, and I hate it when you buy an album, and it's the same thing on repeat, it drives me mad.  It also works for me cos when I start touring, I've got different elements to my show, and different vocal things that I can do, it's not just the same thing.  It can't be categorised really ...

GQ: Well, 19 Turning Point is sort of Kelly Clarkson, chick-rock style, Somewhere In The Real World is sort of gospel style, and that's something I really didn't expect to hear on this album.

VA: Well, there's another one called Who Am I, which is a bit gospel too ... I've always been a gospel fan.  With my first album, which I did as a kid, I did a lot of gospel backgrounds.  I've always loved harmonies.

GQ: Another thing that surprised me was, at the start of tracks like My Problem Is You, and I Want Your Fire, the male vocals on the track ... who is that?

VA: It's actually the studio guy I worked with and did the production with.  He'd never sang before, and I was like "Mate, I need a guy's participation in this, and you are singing!" and we were always gonna replace it, but I fell in love with it, and I'm like, "Nah, screw you, it's in there, it's finished!"

GQ: Well, it sounds awesome.  Was there any production put onto his voice or anything?

VA: No, not at all.  He always reminds me of Offspring when he goes to sing, it's just so funny, I'm doing this R'n'B backpedal, then he comes in with "FIIIIIIIIIRE" and I was always killing myself laughing!  That's why it works, I think, cos it's my stories, my lyrics, but the music is as diverse as I can get it.

GQ: The seceond single from the album, Perfect, is one that Australia has fallen in love with.  Was that always planned to be a single?

VA: Yeah, definitely, cos I always wanted to show as many different sides as I could of the album, cos with Kiss Your Mama, everyone was like "oh cool, it's rock now, it's soul" and that's why I really had to do another single to say "well, not really ... it's not all like this", and that's how Perfect came about.  I hope to actually release 19 too, which will surprise people even more!

GQ: Well, like I said, I can't get that one out of my head, I love it so much!

VA: Oh, I'm rapt, I'm gonna go and tell my record people now, haha!

GQ: One of the things that came into my mind when I heard it was it's a driving song, you can really pump it as you're driving along and just belt it out!  Again, another song I didn't expect you to be doing, so it's another side of you that's showing ... I guess it's showing more maturity.

VA: Yeah, well when I wrote the first album, I was very young, and I was writing about stuff I wanted to experience, so it always had that sort of fairy-dust on it, and now, with this album, it's raw, and very straight-to-the-point.

gay fans are more appreciative and understand vocals a lot better

GQ: My partner is also a big fan of yours, and he has another album of yours called "Change".  That wasn't released over here, was it?

VA: Um, I'm not sure, but all the other albums I released were things that didn't make it onto the first album, so to get another album out there, they just threw together a whole group of songs, which I don't think was great work, personally, but it definitely shows different sides to what I do musically as well.

GQ: There's a few tracks on that album that I didn't even realise was you.

VA: Well, yeah, there's a few acoustic songs on there that are like real country, sit-by-a-campfire sort of things, and I guess it shows another side to me.  I've always liked all different sorts of music, and I love writing and singing different types of music, and that's why I always make sure my albums are as diverse as I can get it.

GQ: Something I have to ask ... Especially with Somewhere In The Real World, your voice goes into heights that no human should be able to reach.  How do you prepare your voice for that sort of height?

VA: Haha!  Um, I have to be able to feel it.  If I can't feel it, then I can't sing it.  That song was the quickest song to write on that whole album, and it was really the state I was in that day, real confused, real down-in-the-dumps, and the guy I ended up writing with just started playing the guitar, set up the microphone, I just didn't want to focus on writing songs, just wanted to sing.  He started playing the verse chords, and I just started singing, and when we got to the chorus, he just stopped, and that's just where the chorus went, that's how the song wanted to go, so we wrote the music around that melody and kept those vocals.  I think if a song has that much energy, it's best to be left alone, don't play around with it too much.

GQ: You're originally from Dandenong, and Gabriella Cilmi, who's also hitting huge heights, is also from there.  Do you think it's something in the water in Dandenong?

VA: Well, I'm actually from the Dandenong Ranges, so about half an hour from Dandenong, I grew up in a little place called Emerald, but it's definitely on the right side of the city.

GQ: My partner has family in Kalorama, so I know the area you're talking about.  It's beautiful out there!

VA: Yeah, I really love it.

GQ: It'd be good too, cos you're a fair way out of town, so you could just go out on the balcony and belt it out, and no one would hear you.

VA: Yeah, very quiet and peaceful, which is nice cos there's so much hussle and bussle in the city.

GQ: Between this album and your last one, it's been quite a while, so what have you been up to in that time?

VA: I've been doing a lot of producing and writing for other people, engineering, a lot of behind-the-scenes music stuff, I'm really heavy into it.

GQ: What do you enjoy more?  Behind the scenes, or centre stage?

VA: I love both of them very equally, it can become very stale if you continue to do the same thing over and over again.  I love working in the studio, but the fire in me became like I just gotta get out of here.  It's the same thing when I'm doing gigs 3 or 4 nights a week for the next couple of years, I'd just wanna get out of doing that and go back to being more creative.

everyone was like "oh my god, you've gotta put this on the album" and we're just like "you're joking!"

GQ: Another song from your new album that I absolutely cracked up listening to is I Thought We'd Stay Together, especially the last chorus.  Did that start off as a letter, or just a bit of fun?

VA: No, it was definitely a letter.  I was writing it to my producer, cos he sent me this whole new mix, an upbeat thing, and I was taking so long to get back to him with it cos I was going through a break-up, and everytime he'd ring up, he'd be like "Mate, when you gonna send me the hook?" and it just got to the point where ... he's such a shit-stirrer ... he'd send me these raps like "Oi Vanessa, when are you gonna send me these hooks, you said it was gonna be a hit, it'd better be a friggin hit, you're taking so friggin long" and he'd record it and send me these little snippets.  So I was like "Alright smartarse" and got in MY studio, and literally told him what I'd been doing, and that's why it starts off like "Hey there, I hope you're doing well, I love the new track you sent me that I got in the mail, I'm sorry that I took so long" and then it goes into this whole story of why I was taking so long.  I'd written him a hit, cos that's what he'd told me to do.  It was quite funny cos when I sent it to him, he was in fits of laughter, and we were just thinking, you know, this is just a comedy song, we write like a million of these comedy songs, and his manager heard it and said "oh my god, I love this" and he played it to my manager, and it just got taken out of our hands, and everyone was like "oh my god, you've gotta put this on the album" and we're just like "you're joking!"  We started thinking maybe we should write comedy songs more often!

GQ: So that wasn't even meant to be on the album at all?!?

VA: No, definitely not!  We've got so many of these songs and we've got ones where I just rap through them and sound like a total twit, and I send them back to America, cos I have great friendships with the boys now, and I'm constantly stuffing around, and it just made me laugh, and I was telling some of the guys in the studio "you'd better be careful with some of these comedy songs we write, cos if it ends up in the hands of somebody else, then it might end up on the album", so we were hiding all these nursery songs and stuff ...

GQ: Oh well, you've already got your next album ready then!

VA: Hahaha!  The Christmas Album, oh that'd be hilarious!

GQ: What about an April Fools Album?  No one's ever done that before ...

VA: Oooooooooooh... that is actually a good idea!

GQ: Put all your comedy tracks on it ...

VA: Oh, there's a lot of them too ... which one would we choose?  Oh my goodness ...

GQ: You've got a lot of gay fans too ... do you see any difference between your gay fans and straight fans?

VA: I think gay fans are more appreciative and understand vocals a lot better.  Every show that I've done previously, like I did one in Melbourne called Trailer Trash, and another rave in Sydney ... I can't remember the name, but it was so amazing, I'm gonna go back this year and just party with them ... but yeah, the crowds are just so appreciative, if I give them a high note that's difficult vocal-wise, there's a total roar from the crowd, and it just makes me wanna sing harder!  You love great singers, and that's what makes me get off performing, cos I'm appreciated in that sense.

GQ: I think that's another reason my partner loves you so much, cos he's obsessed with Mariah Carey, and she hits phenominal heights with her voice, so, in terms of vocal range, you're probably like the Australian Mariah Carey ...

VA: Hahahahaha!  Oh, that's lovely!  I'm sure Mariah wouldn't be happy that a country girl takes that title... hahaha!  That's awesome, that is such a compliment, thank you!

GQ: Well, it's true though.  Listening to this album, you've matured a lot, your voice still hits places that no human should be able to hit, and it's just amazing to hear that and ... any artist that has that sort of power and range definitely has longevity.  Your first album was around 10 years ago, right?

VA: Yeah, I recorded that stuff when I was around 14 or 15, so I look back to those recordings and I sound like a little chipmunk, haha!

GQ: I have to admit, I always loved Have A Look, cos it's got that bit of grunt in it.  Do you still do that live?  Obviously, you'd have to do Absolutely Everybody, cos it was such a huge hit, but things like Have A Look and The Power, do you still do those live?

VA: Yep,definitely do.  I worked too hard for those hits.  I'll play them until I'm in my grave.  I just do different version of them to keep them fresh and interesting, cos I have been doing them for so many years now.

GQ: What sorts of styles?  Have you ever done a jazz version of Have A Look?

VA: I'm done many very weird and wonderful versions of all of them, haha!  It depends on what crowd.  If I can get away with it, I will certainly try it!  We've done some rockier versions of Absolutely Everybody, for sure!

GQ: I had another question to ask you, but I've forgotten what it was ...

VA: You do what I do ... who am I again?  What was I doing?  I had something intelligent to say, but then again, I'm not intelligent, so I lost it ...

GQ: I just remembered!  I guess you've been asked this a lot, but if you could do a duet with anybody, dead or alive, who would it be?

VA:Um ... I would say Prince, I'd like to do a duet with him, or Mary J. Blije.

GQ: That'd be interesting!  Ok, one last question ... do you have any messages for our readers?

VA: Don't take yourself too seriously.  That's what I've learned now, to be able to laugh at myself, and I have a lot more fun now.  When I was young, it was all about wanting to achieve things, and getting there quick, and I really missed out on a lot, so now I try and just not going to set stupid goals for myself, and I'm just going to enjoy the process of getting there.  It's the old saying of "don't wish your days away", I did a lot of that.

GQ: Thanks heaps Vanessa, it's been an absolute pleasure talking to you!

VA: You too!  Thanks Leigh!

Tags: Vanessa Amorosi