The Star Online: Entertainment: Music
The Star Online: Entertainment: Music |
| Posted: 29 Jul 2011 02:15 AM PDT Brooke Fraser's wholesome image has won her a following in the region. New Zealand folk pop singer-songwriter Brooke Fraser is known in her home country for her clean-living lifestyle – no drugs, no hard partying and certainly no overt displays of sexuality. It has made her a role model of sorts for her fans – including those in the region – and it is a role she takes on willingly. She tells us in a telephone interview from Sydney, where she is based: "I don't think I feel pressure about having to be a role model. "I'm certainly aware that having influence means that there's a responsibility that comes with that. "To me, it's important to be myself but I also recognise that people are watching the way that I live and sometimes it's a little daunting." Her fans here can finally see the 27-year-old play her gospel-influenced tunes live when she performs at live music venue TAB in Singapore on Aug 12 and 13. Despite the fact that her first two albums, What To Do With Daylight (2003) and Albertine (2006), were not officially released in these parts, Fraser has a following here – the second night is already sold out. Her latest and third album, Flags, which was released in New Zealand last October, will be released next month. She is popular in her country – all three of her albums went to No.1 in the New Zealand album charts, and a song from the new album, Something In The Water, went to the top of the singles charts. Fraser also holds the record of being the first artiste in New Zealand to achieve the feat of having both an album and a single go to No.1 at the same time. The album also peaked at No.8 in the Australian charts and No.14 on the United States indie charts. The daughter of former All Blacks rugby player Bernie Fraser and a businesswoman mother, Fraser says that she "stumbled" on songwriting at an early age. "I've been playing piano for a few years, I started when I was seven, and around 11 or 12 my piano teacher at the time set us an assignment of composing a melody and arrangement and putting some words to it. "I remember starting off with this and discovering that I felt at home doing it. "It was something that felt really natural and right and I guessed that I stumbled into something pre-destined." Music was not her only calling. At 15, she started writing for Christian youth magazine Soul Purpose and eventually became its editor. She gave up journalism to pursue a full-time music career in 2002, performing regularly in music venues in Auckland and soon signed a record deal with Sony Music. Married to musician Scott Ligertwood, Fraser has set her sights beyond New Zealand and Australia and is hopeful about her music reaching a global audience. "It's exciting, with my second album Albertine, that was the first time we visited the United States and now with this album, Flags, for the first time I've been able to take my music to Europe and now to Asia. "So I'm doubling the size of the markets I'm trying to reach in one year. "It's daunting but incredibly exciting to me," she says. She tells us that this interview is her first ever with press from Asia and says that she cannot wait to play in Singapore. "In terms of what you can expect from my show, I tend to talk a lot and be very chatty. Because this will be my first shows in these places, I'll probably be over-excited and talk far too much, but otherwise my shows are pretty laid-back and relaxed. "I love to have a good laugh and a good time so the gigs are going to have a warm and welcoming atmosphere." – The Straits Times, Singapore/Asia News Network More details at www.tab.com.sg Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by Used Car Search. |
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