STACK #223 May 2023

MUSIC FEATURE

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The idea being: “Take it seriously, whilst not getting serious about it”. This has become the motto of my life, currently. The horns and strings give Brave such a nobility. Do you remember feeling the truth in the lyrics when you first recorded the track versus now? (It’s amazing how applicable they are to any point in life, because you can have that revelation of bravery at any time, and you can reaffirm it at any time.) I think being in the limelight, and desiring a career that relies on popular culture and being relevant, requires a bit of spunk. It’s a win-win- win -fail-repeat kind of occupation, and it's only for those who are brave enough to fall over, recover, and keep going. As a teenager, Brave was written with A&R men hovering over consoles and shaking their heads with disappointment and frustration: "This is not the way we make hit records!" I hated to disappoint anyone, least of all the record company, but I was so was inexperienced and didn’t know how to cure what was 'wrong' with me. I seem to swing in the complete opposite direction from others, and resented the advice from old men telling me what young people wanted to listen to. I wrote Brave with my

My Life Is a Symphony by Kate Ceberano is out May 12 via ABC Music.

INTERVIEW

KATE CEBERANO ON A MUSICAL LIFE Arriving in tandem with a series of symphony-backed shows, goddess goliath of Oz pop Kate Ceberano is releasing a record that cherry-picks tracks from across her 40-year career, and

brother, quietly, in the studio between breaks, when the label had left us alone. The studio was too expensive not to take advantage of, and the rest is history. I was overcome with emotion recording this again. The horns and strings sounded like a phoenix rising, and singing in unison with my daughter doing the background

As a teenager... I resented the advice from old men telling me what young people wanted to listen to...

elevates them to deliciously dramatic heights with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra.We asked her all about My Life Is a Symphony. Words Zoë Radas

Beethoven or Mahler are made to seem easy for

Pash absolutely floored us; a well-placed tambourine gives the horn section such dignity!Which makes it extra cheeky hearing you deliver one of the best lines in Oz pop ever: “I really love to speak in tongue.” Do the lyrics/message of a song feel different to you when you have the symphony orchestra behind you? Haha... very good question. It is a 'brave' thing to do (pardon the pun), bringing pop music into the esteemed community of musicians and conductors, who have studied, trained and drilled themselves to a level where

them... Considering the time between when I wrote Pash and now, [Roscoe's arrangements have made] the song sound whimsical and nostalgic. I had asked for a Willy Wonka-styled '60s musical and he delivered. I mean, Pure Imagination – the title track fromWonka – is simply gorgeous, and I feel the orchestra engaged with the recording of these songs because of this approach.

vocals (in the studio where I first recorded it at the same age)... it's such a fitting tribute to the song that has travelled with me my whole career...

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Weirdly enough, most of the songs that dominated Australia's charts at this time 30 years ago were re-recordings of much older hits – think The Four Seasons' December, 1963 (Oh What a Night!) and Faith No More's Easy . The biggest number one of May '93, Gimme Little Sign, fit the trend. It was originally released by soul artist Brenton Wood in 1967... but this version – delivered by an exuberant, 20-year-old, Greek-Cypriot-English-Sydneysider named Peter Andre – presented the adorably wholesome R'n'B we were craving.

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Peter Andre performing Gimme Little Sign at the 1993 ARIA Awards. Source: YouTube

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