Written by:
Colleen M. Lee
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this Issue of Curve:
Vol. 18#6
After speaking one-on-one with Missy Higgins, I thought she was quite shy and reserved, not at all the person I saw performing in San Francisco a few days later. She is one of the few artists who sounds better live than on CD, and on stage she was all charm and bravado�she frequently teased the audience by adjusting a falling bra strap. Finally, after six songs, she said humorously, �I will never buy a Target bra again.� Now if we could just get the enigma to open up about her sexuality...
How do your American audiences differ from your Australian audiences?
They are different, but it�s really hard to articulate how because you know I find that America is such a vast country. The people vary from city to city and town to town, so it�s really hard to generalize. America [is] like a hundred countries rolled into one.
You were inspired to film Missy Takes the Wheel. Tell me a little bit about it and what green ideas are implementing on tour?
Yeah, well a couple a years ago I decided to make my tours green, which basically means that we try as hard as possible to make less of an impact on the environment. We drive as many of the legs as possible and we power all the venues with electricity from renewable sources. The flights that we can�t avoid and the rest of the travel we offset through carbon credits and you know carbon credits are the things you buy online from a carbon credit fund, which is an organization that purchases electricity from renewable sources. Same thing as the green power I guess. They purchase wind power or solar power and put that back into the grid so it essentially prevents coal/fire electricity from entering the grid.
Who�s your favorite Australian performer?
There�s a band called the Waif that I think their just amazing and they�ve been a huge influence on me from the very beginning. I started listening to them when I was in high school. I became good friends with them and the people that they work. Their guitar player ended up being my guitar player for a long time.
You toured East Timor for the Australian Troops. Did that experience at such a young age affect you?
It definitely affected me. I had the most incredible time and it really opened my eyes. It was the first third-world country I�d ever visited. I found the people to be so beautiful and their hearts so open. The people have been through so much and are the most positive people I�ve ever met. They always had huge smiles on their faces. I�d never been on tour on a military base, which is a real eye opener�to play for the troops and the locals at the same time. A real juxtaposition between worlds.
Can you give me the back story on your song �The Secret?�
That�s kind of a hard to explain because it�s about keeping a secret. I wrote that in Minneapolis on a really, really cold day when I didn�t want to leave my hotel room. It was about a relationship that I had with someone a couple years ago and they wanted to keep it under wraps. Basically they were uncomfortable with the reality of it and I wanted to shout it to the world. It�s about dealing with that aspect of things when it�s not something that both of you are comfortable having completely in the open.
What�s the meaning behind �the special two?� Are you referring to a sister or a female lover? And, why are you bleeding?
[Laughs.] It�s funny how the bleeding thing, a lot of people think that there was actual bleeding. I do use metaphors. It was about a personal experience. I don�t really want to say who it was about, because even the person I wrote it about doesn�t know that I wrote it about them. It�s was a hard time between me and someone that I loved very much, because I felt as though I�d betrayed them. I guess it�s like an apology letter when you betray someone that you love so unconditionally. You find that your world comes crashing down around you because it was something that you told yourself that you would never do. So I guess its kind of a song about battling with your conscious.
It sounds like you�ve been in love and have been hurt a few times.
I guess so. I�m definitely a romantic, so I have been in love quite a few times, but, you know, for a lot of years I was one of those people who just loved the idea of being in love. I think I have stopped that now. I think something happened to me a couple years ago and now I�m just really enjoying getting to know myself.It sounds like you�ve been in love a few times and maybe hurt a few times�
Are you a multi-dater?
If I�m in a relationship, I�m definitely just committed to that one person.
Where do you see your music going?
I�ve never planned where my music was gonna go. At the moment, I think I�m really exploring my own sense of self and where I kind of sit in the world. I was on anti-depressants for a long time and I stopped them I think maybe about a couple of years ago, but at the moment I�m trying self-exploration and trying to get my head back on track�teach [my mind] to be more still and open, because I think at the moment it�s way too crowded.
Is your goal to hit mainstream success?
That�s definitely not my goal. I would not wish that upon my worst enemy. My goal is to a nice live following. A good fan base to build around. To tour the country and have fun. Play different cities. Playing live is my favorite thing to do so just to be able to do that is good enough for me.
So do you want to retire in Australia? I know retirement is probably a very long way away for you but do you plan on retiring in Australia?
[Laughs.] I don�t know, that is a long way off. I think Australia is definitely where my heart is, so I�ll definitely end up back there unless I fall in love with an American person, which is my mom�s worst fear. [Laughs.]
You now live in the States. Do you plan on hooking up with an American?
It�s funny because that band the Waif, all of them met Americans and fell in love. You end up spending most of your time touring America, so its kind of half-inevitable that it happens.
And we can be very charming.
Oh you�re alright. [Laughs.] I could do a lot worse. [Laughs.]
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