Perdita
14-11-2008, 09:56
It's been quite a year for Aussie pop princess Gabriella Cilmi. The melodic charms of 'Sweet About Me' bagged her a UK top ten hit and her superior follow-up, 'Save The Lies', was an impressive slice of Girls Aloud-style electropop. She recently picked up six Australian Record Industry Awards (ARIAs) and her third single, the soulful 'Sanctuary', is out now. We gave Gabriella a call to find out how she's dealing with her rapid rise to fame.
What's 'Sanctuary' all about?
"I wrote half of it at home in Melbourne and finished the other half in London. The Melbourne half is about being in a really comfortable place but wanting to get out there and do other things; the other half is about how comfortable I felt with a friend of mine in the UK."
Who's the friend?
"We're not friends anymore. It's a bit awkward singing it actually. I hope to hell they're never in the audience because that would be really weird."
Each of your singles has a different musical style. Is that deliberate?
"When I recorded my album, I didn't stick to one style or restrict myself. I love all different types of music and wanted to explore that. When I wrote 'Sweet About Me' I was listening to lots of early psychedelic records and Parisian pop music. Me and my producers used to call 'Save The Lies' "Rod Stewart" because it reminded us of 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' It has that white soul thing going on."
Who's the real Gabriella Cilmi? Are you a soul musician or an electropop singer?
"I grew up listening to the music my parents were listening to and stealing records from my aunties and uncles. I didn't listen to the typical things people my age did. I did buy a Spice Girls record once, but on the same day I bought a Silverchair album, so that evened itself out. My parents brought me up on glam rock like T-Rex and Sweet, which shows on my album I think, but then I also love people like Willie Nelson. I'd love to make a country album."
You bagged six gongs at the ARIAs last month. That's an impressive haul!
"I didn't really expect to win any so I hadn't prepared any speeches. My mum kept saying to me, 'Are you sure you don't want to plan what to say?' I was like, 'I'm not doing that, I'm not writing it on a piece of paper!"
You pipped Kylie to the Best Female prize. Did you feel bad beating an Aussie icon?
"It's crazy! That's the one I really wanted, but the one I least expected to win. Kylie's won her fair share of them now, so I think it's OK that I beat her. It was cool just to be in the same category as her."
The press gave you a hard time after the show. Was that difficult to deal with?
"I think sometimes they just stir things up. Everyone thought I was drunk when I collected the awards, but in actuality I was just really jet-lagged and had been working really hard. I think sometimes they want to feed off rumours, but at the end of the day I know the truth and that's all that really matters."
Do you think some people are almost waiting for you to trip up and go a bit wild?
"The younger you are in this business, the more crap you have to take. People are trying to find something to say about you all the time. I'm just lucky I'm not one of those Disney people. They must get it worse than anybody. So much crap is written about them. You just have to try and ignore it."
Liam Gallagher said 'Sweet About Me' is one of his favourite tracks of the year. Was it strange to hear that?
"Sometimes Liam doesn't say the best things, so it's nice to know that. I used to play 'Wonderwall' with my mates in my garage and my Dad used to sing 'Live Forever' to me. I remember reading the lyrics and singing along to their tracks, so it's pretty cool."
Gabriella Cilmi's new single, 'Sanctuary', is out now.
What's 'Sanctuary' all about?
"I wrote half of it at home in Melbourne and finished the other half in London. The Melbourne half is about being in a really comfortable place but wanting to get out there and do other things; the other half is about how comfortable I felt with a friend of mine in the UK."
Who's the friend?
"We're not friends anymore. It's a bit awkward singing it actually. I hope to hell they're never in the audience because that would be really weird."
Each of your singles has a different musical style. Is that deliberate?
"When I recorded my album, I didn't stick to one style or restrict myself. I love all different types of music and wanted to explore that. When I wrote 'Sweet About Me' I was listening to lots of early psychedelic records and Parisian pop music. Me and my producers used to call 'Save The Lies' "Rod Stewart" because it reminded us of 'Do Ya Think I'm Sexy?' It has that white soul thing going on."
Who's the real Gabriella Cilmi? Are you a soul musician or an electropop singer?
"I grew up listening to the music my parents were listening to and stealing records from my aunties and uncles. I didn't listen to the typical things people my age did. I did buy a Spice Girls record once, but on the same day I bought a Silverchair album, so that evened itself out. My parents brought me up on glam rock like T-Rex and Sweet, which shows on my album I think, but then I also love people like Willie Nelson. I'd love to make a country album."
You bagged six gongs at the ARIAs last month. That's an impressive haul!
"I didn't really expect to win any so I hadn't prepared any speeches. My mum kept saying to me, 'Are you sure you don't want to plan what to say?' I was like, 'I'm not doing that, I'm not writing it on a piece of paper!"
You pipped Kylie to the Best Female prize. Did you feel bad beating an Aussie icon?
"It's crazy! That's the one I really wanted, but the one I least expected to win. Kylie's won her fair share of them now, so I think it's OK that I beat her. It was cool just to be in the same category as her."
The press gave you a hard time after the show. Was that difficult to deal with?
"I think sometimes they just stir things up. Everyone thought I was drunk when I collected the awards, but in actuality I was just really jet-lagged and had been working really hard. I think sometimes they want to feed off rumours, but at the end of the day I know the truth and that's all that really matters."
Do you think some people are almost waiting for you to trip up and go a bit wild?
"The younger you are in this business, the more crap you have to take. People are trying to find something to say about you all the time. I'm just lucky I'm not one of those Disney people. They must get it worse than anybody. So much crap is written about them. You just have to try and ignore it."
Liam Gallagher said 'Sweet About Me' is one of his favourite tracks of the year. Was it strange to hear that?
"Sometimes Liam doesn't say the best things, so it's nice to know that. I used to play 'Wonderwall' with my mates in my garage and my Dad used to sing 'Live Forever' to me. I remember reading the lyrics and singing along to their tracks, so it's pretty cool."
Gabriella Cilmi's new single, 'Sanctuary', is out now.