Clare Bowditch

It's not unusual to feel nervous before interviews, especially with musicans whose albums you always have on high rotation. But with her voice always three steps shy of a laugh, it would be practically impossible for Clare Bowditch to make anyone feel unwelcome. She even apologises for the noise in the background; she's wandering the streets of Northcote in search of a decent coffee.

Such expeditions will soon be a memory for Bowditch. Despite achieving national acclaim with her second album 'What Was Left' and a subsequent ARIA in 2006, she and her family (fellow band member and producer Marty Brown with their three children) are preparing to move to Berlin.

"I'm a Melbourne girl but I'm really just excited about getting out of here for six months. We've been trying for four years to get ourselves over there and realised that the only way to do it just to do it."

I ask if she feels nervous about moving three young children to a new continent. "Nah, that's the easy part!" she laughs. "I'm not really nervous about anything. I'm just going to tour and take the adventure as it comes. The longer you're around the more people think they know how you make music or what sort of music you have. It's exciting to go somewhere where people will just take you how you present yourself on that night."

It's clear the change of scenery will be good for Bowditch both professionally and personally. When I compliment her for writing one of the definitive songs about coping with death (The Thing About Grief, 'What Was Left') she tells me her father recently died after battling dementia. He had made a habit of accompanying the band on tour, one of his last being Bowditch's appearance at WOMADelaide in 2006. The song Homage To My Dad And The ABC on her debut album 'Autumn Bone' is a classic example of Bowditch's ability to create moving, uplifting music about meaningful topics without becoming cloying or too sentimental.

"I should really pull that song out again. Now I'm in that very fresh early stage of missing him. I should remind myself that there's some future point."

Sensing a need to change the subject, I ask Bowditch about her upcoming Winter Secrets tour. Intended as a stripped back showcase for Bowditch's music, she'll be supported by Feeding Set member Tim Harvey's band Hot Little Hands. So are there any residual issues with dumping the Feeding Set? Are they jealous Bowditch has left them off the lineup?

"No, no, not at all!" she laughs again. "It's pretty incredible timing actually. My guitarist Tim has been with Hot Little Hands and they're about to do their first album release. They'll be supporting us on the Winter Secrets Tour. Marty is heavily into production at the moment and Libby [Chow, french horn and vocals] is following film."

Sounds like the perfect arrangement, no?

"It's a bit like an open marriage and in between all of the Feeding Set tours, we've been supporting people solo. There are no ends or beginnings!" she reassures me. "We're old, old friends and we have that understanding with each other that sometimes you do things on your own and sometimes you do them together."

It's hard to imagine Bowditch spending time with people who weren't understanding of the need to provide space and support to fellow musicians. It's no secret that she contacted 2006 'Australian Idol' evictee Lisa Mitchell following her rejection on the show. At only 16, Mitchell had been rather dragged through the wringer of public animosity by the time her 'Idol' journey had come to an end.

"I could see early on that she was fairly talented and fairly talented people with fragile sensibilities need support. A friend of a friend told me she'd pegged me as one of her idols so I wrote her a letter encouraging her."

We discuss the brutal nature of musical popularity contests. Bowditch is frustrated at their success.

"I just can't understand that kind of vicious criticism and the idea that winner takes all. It just has nothing to do with the adventure of music and what I believe it to be."

This might partially explain why Bowditch has introduced an added element to the Winter Secrets tour. Musicians from around the country, be they experienced or not, are able to compete for the opportunity to perform Bowditch's Your Other Hand with her onstage in the capital city of their residence. They'll also be joining in a group rendition of Kev Carmody's From Big Things, Little Things Grow. A grand idea, but one that's given Bowditch a case of the butterflies.

"The thing I am most nervous and excited about with this tour is the competition. And I haven't received any entries from Adelaide yet, so I need to get those in!"

Clementine Ford

Clare Bowditch plays at Jive on Fri 20 June with support from Hot Little Hands.