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Sophie Koh.
"I just got to Sydney on the 6am plane, so I'm here in Parramatta," explains an enthusiastic, if slightly flustered, Sophie Koh as she juggles an interview, her breakfast and preparing for an imminent session for Triple J. "So do tell me if it gets too noisy."
She'd better get used to this sort of multi-tasking, given the
upsurge of interest in the petite ex-Darwin-now-Melbourne artist
following the excellent response to her debut album 'All The
Pretty Boys'. It's an eclectic mix of singer-songwriter strummery
(the title track) and full-band pop/rock (Here's Something
Else) with odd touches of New Buffalo-esque electronica,
which is surprising given her reputation for her predominantly
acoustic live shows.
"I think that's because it was recorded over four years," she explains. "Half the songs were done before Unearthed happened [which exposed her to a national audience and led to her deal with Shock] and the other half was done a year or so ago, so I've changed quite a bit over that time in what I listen to and what sort of music I like to do. But in the end it's me and Richard [Pleasance, producer] and that's just the nature of that album. I've just grown a bit over that time. I mean, [the songs] are all acoustic-based. The electronics and effects on the album, I don't do that on stage at all: it's just acoustic or as a three-piece band. But they're all songs that I started off [writing] on guitar, even though it changed a little bit in the studio. It was my first record so it was my first time in a studio working with a producer and I was hungry for all these sounds that I could make," she laughs. "I haven't found a way to incorporate that into the live show, but I think it's good to have the album different to the live show. People appreciate the songs as what they are, and if they sound OK as an acoustic version you know that it's an OK song."
Koh also appears on the 'She Will Have Her Way' tribute album,
upon which 16 female artists from Australia and New Zealand
perform songs by Neil and Tim Finn. Her contribution - a rockin'
version of Split Enz's Charlie - closes the album, and
I was curious as to why she chose this relatively little-known
track. Whatever romantic notions I might have had about the
song's personal significance were swiftly quashed. "Well, I
was one of the last people that were approached to do the album,
so I was handed a list of five songs to choose from," she laughs.
"And I researched all the songs that were given to me and thought
that Charlie was a bit interesting, a bit freaky, and die-hard
fans hold it pretty close to their heart."
So someone at EMI had decided what songs were going on the album?
"Yeah, pretty much. They tried to get a balance between some
Split Enz songs and Neil songs and Tim songs and some Crowded
House stuff, which is fair enough. And I was happy with the
choices they gave me, but for me it was between I Hope I
Never [subsequently chosen by Lisa Miller] - and I love
that song - and Charlie, but I just thought I Hope
I Never had been done and done. And I wanted to do something
different: compared to a lot of the other songs mine was a bit
more rocky, and now that I've heard the album I can hear that
they started off pretty acoustically and then built up."
The album is certainly a fairly mid-paced affair: Charlie
and Little Birdy's take on Six Months In A Leaky Boat
are about the only tracks that pick up the pace. "Yeah, I kinda
had in the back of my mind that everyone else was maybe going
to do a more acoustic version, so I thought 'hey, why not rock
it out a bit?'"
So is it getting pulled out for gigs? "No! I think I'd need a few extra guitar players - but my drummer and my bass player really want to play it, so I might just have to get some guest guitarists in to rock it up."
Easy: just bring the chords along and ask if there's a guitarist in the audience. "Yeah! Exactly right!"
Andrew P Street
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Sophie Koh launches 'All The Pretty Boys' at the Grace Emily on Sat 8 Oct.
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