I managed to catch Kate Miller-Heidke on Rockwiz the other night. The truth be known, I didn't know too much about this singer songwriter, but after hearing her unique singing voice and storytelling via song, I decided to find out a bit more about this talented artist.
She has the appearance of a pixie or an elf, not unlike Joanna Newsom, and the similarity does not end there. Neither is afraid to change the music to suit the story, and they bend the lyrics musically to achieve their end.
This song, Career Advice, is an observational number that is witty and well constructed.
The lyrics:
I was having a bad week – I crashed the car and the cat carked it • Weighed myself outside Woolies and I’d put on 4 kilos
Arranged to meet an old friend for coffee • I poured my heart out – told her all about • Poor dead fluffy, and the bloody car, and did she think I should go on a diet?
She studied my face, trying to frame the words to say • Just the right blend of sympathy and advice • She took a big breath. And looked into my eyes and she said:
You should go on Australian Idol! • Even if you don’t win, you’ll have a great time. • Don’t worry that you don’t look like a supermodel • They’re even letting fatties on there now so you should be fine.
I said ‘Thanks, I feel a lot better now’ • Then I erased her number from my phone • I didn’t know how much we’d grown apart.
The very next day was my birthday. • No one called, except my grandma • And she was drunk, she just needed a lift home from the pub
Then that Sunday night, I went to dinner with my rellies • They said ‘Happy Birthday! Do you mind if we put the tv on? • It’s nearly the final of Australian Idol and
You should go on Australian Idol • You’re much prettier than her – she looks like a pudding • ‘You’ll win it no worries love’ said my uncle • And I just turned and looked at him like he was something that I stood in.
And don’t get me wrong – if I turn on the tv and it’s on • I can’t stop watching. Even with the ads • Even with those two dickheads blabbing on between songs • I love to see their spirits crushed, their egos shattered • I love the ones that really suck in the first auditions • I love to watch them sob, their dreams in tatters • And I laugh while I eat my dinner • They’re crying in their 5-star hotel, and I’m cackling on my cack-brown couch • And it’s not that I am jealous, I’m not jealous, I’m not jealous. • The next Sunday, I had a pretty bad hangover
Feeling pretty grumpy • Sitting on the couch, eating Pringles feeling sorry for myself. • I flipped to Channel 10 and before I knew it I was watching a really short guy • Singing that really annoying song by Craig David.
Suddenly I rose to my feet – it must have been divine intervention • I saw the light in front of me, and I screamed!
Why am I watching Australian Idol? (God!) • Am I really reduced to this pitiful state? Jesus! • I may as well just head down to my local karaoke bar • Or better still just change to SBS. • You better believe it – I changed to SBS • So Marcia, Dicko, whatever your name is… • Shove it up your ass!
From Kate's website:
In July 2004, when 22 year old Brisbane based singer-songwriter Kate Miller-Heidke released her self-financed, self-distributed seven track debut EP, TELEGRAM, the purists whod followed her career saw it as a dalliance, a distraction from her real path as an opera / cabaret singer. Kate saw her future.
Yet she would have to wait another year before her faith would be publicly vindicated. And by that point her other career was hitting extraordinary heights.
In July 2005, Kate not only made her professional solo debut with Opera Queensland in the role of Flora in Turn Of The Screw, but she was also nominated for (and would go on to win, ahead of Missy Higgins, Midnight Oil and Paul Grabowsky) a prestigious Helpmann Award for Best Performance In Australian Contemporary Concert for her role in the cabaret production Women In Voice. It was sweet vindication for the long years spent studying Classical Voice at the Queensland Conservatorium, and yet and yet it was the breakout success of her predominantly self-penned EP that same month that touched her deepest.
One year after it was released, a copy of TELEGRAM unwittingly fell into the hands of Richard Kingsmill, Music Director for national youth broadcaster Triple J. Unknown to Kate, Kingsmill had added a song from the EP: the haunting guitar-ballad Space They Cannot Touch to low rotation on the station. A mere six weeks and 20 000 downloads later, Space They Cannot Touch was on high rotation and had become the stations Most Requested song. By years end, TELEGRAM was into its sixth pressing and Kate Miller-Heidke singer-songwriter had arrived.
By this point the combined impact of radio airplay and an already dynamic live show saw Kates popularity soar. With little to no promotion beyond word of mouth, Kate began selling out shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.
Review:
Kate Miller-Heidke is taking Australian audiences by storm with her own stirring pop/folk songs, huge vocal range and captivating, theatrical stage presence. Never before in Australian music history has a young singer/songwriter enjoyed high rotation on ABC’s youth network JJJ whilst receiving a coveted Helpmann Award for her electric performance in the popular 2005 cabaret show “Women in Voice”.
Explore the lighter side of a modern girl’s life through Kate’s witty observational songs whilst being touched and haunted by Kate’s pure, virtuosic voice wrapped around her honest, self-penned songs.
Youtube
Get it.
