Brooke flows sweetly
DON’T believe everything you read about Brooke Fraser.
Despite some news reports, the Sydney-based singer and songwriter did not have a Wikipedia-invented stalker, her husband is not a full-time musician, but she is married, and Fraser admits her husband Scott Ligertwood, did help her write part of the chorus melody in her latest single Something in the Water – “ah ah ah ah ah ah”.
“Wikipedia makes it all up. It used to have all this stuff about my personal life and this on-off relationship with a person I had never heard of. My husband is a graphic designer. He writes a little bit of music but he never gets on the stage.”
Fraser hints that Scott may make an appearance at her upcoming gig at Alana Estate though – “in honour of Valentine’s Day”, she says, slightly cagey.
Fraser headlines her second NZ Winery Tour with OPSHOP and Midnight Youth in the middle of a national 19-date national Winery Tour, at Alana Estate, Martinborough on Sunday, February 13.
“It’s really exciting for me. After I released Albertine in 2006 I felt exhausted in every way. It has been a long time since people have heard from me and I sound different. I thought Flags could be completely panned and I could be laughed out of the country but the response has been great.”
Fraser is a self-confessed opinionated woman who drives herself a little crazy by being overly organised. She is also charmingly humble.
“I don’t think that I’m that clever to write some of the songs I have, but I put my best out there. I’ve always felt an inevitability of my songs. I’m not in charge of what I write. I use the songwriting craft to shape the songs but sometimes it’s not necessary. I don’t have a lot of control,” she says.
That lack of control and sense of inevitability relates to her Christian beliefs, which influence her songwriting considerably.
“All of my writing stems from the way I see the world and my faith is part of that. Some of my songs come from God,” she says.
“Songwriting is something I was born with. I feel most at home when I have a piano or a guitar with me. The hard work starts when the songs are out there - the touring, promotion – that stuff gets tricky. When it’s just me, an instrument, and pen and paper - that will always have longevity for me.”
Fraser confesses that her responses to assertions that she is a ‘Christian’ artist are inconsistent.
“Sometimes they are better than others,” she says. “I don’t intend to make ‘faith-based’ music. I want anyone with a heartbeat or arms or legs to be able to listen to my music. When people try to put a limit on that and put it in a little box sometimes it is necessary for me to clarify my position. It’s really only a problem in some parts of America – some parts of the ‘Bible Belt’ where people have certain expectations, but you never know what you will encounter,” she says.
“Sometimes people have strong opinions about what you should be doing, but my family and the people around me are the ones I look to. I am very confident that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’ve always been an open person and my faith is part of that.”
Despite not living in Wellington for a decade, Fraser is “around all the time”. She grew up in Naenae where she jokes her favourite spot was “hanging around the railway tracks” and after attending Naenae Intermediate and Naenae College she based herself in Sydney, heading to LA to write and record most of her latest album Flags.
“I have an interesting relationship with LA. It’s pretty ugly for a start but I’ve made my peace with LA - now I’m happy to go there. We got an apartment and made it home for six months. When you grow up in NZ you take it for granted, and when you travel you realise that the rest of the world does not look like this place,” she says laughing.
Flags, released late last year, has reached double platinum sales in NZ, debuting at number one. The first single - Something in the Water - still sits in the NZ Singles Charts. It will be released in March in England, Ireland, Spain, Germany and France, with an international tour planned.
“I find it hard to write on the road - when you hit the hotel you just want to sleep and I want to do something different for the next album - find a cave in Wales somewhere or something and write music. This album reflects a community and I made the album with the band in one room but for the next album I’d like to try the opposite.”
Brooke Fraser, with OPSHOP and Midnight Youth, Alana Estate, Martinborough, February 13.
Despite some news reports, the Sydney-based singer and songwriter did not have a Wikipedia-invented stalker, her husband is not a full-time musician, but she is married, and Fraser admits her husband Scott Ligertwood, did help her write part of the chorus melody in her latest single Something in the Water – “ah ah ah ah ah ah”.
“Wikipedia makes it all up. It used to have all this stuff about my personal life and this on-off relationship with a person I had never heard of. My husband is a graphic designer. He writes a little bit of music but he never gets on the stage.”
Fraser hints that Scott may make an appearance at her upcoming gig at Alana Estate though – “in honour of Valentine’s Day”, she says, slightly cagey.
Fraser headlines her second NZ Winery Tour with OPSHOP and Midnight Youth in the middle of a national 19-date national Winery Tour, at Alana Estate, Martinborough on Sunday, February 13.
“It’s really exciting for me. After I released Albertine in 2006 I felt exhausted in every way. It has been a long time since people have heard from me and I sound different. I thought Flags could be completely panned and I could be laughed out of the country but the response has been great.”
Fraser is a self-confessed opinionated woman who drives herself a little crazy by being overly organised. She is also charmingly humble.
“I don’t think that I’m that clever to write some of the songs I have, but I put my best out there. I’ve always felt an inevitability of my songs. I’m not in charge of what I write. I use the songwriting craft to shape the songs but sometimes it’s not necessary. I don’t have a lot of control,” she says.
That lack of control and sense of inevitability relates to her Christian beliefs, which influence her songwriting considerably.
“All of my writing stems from the way I see the world and my faith is part of that. Some of my songs come from God,” she says.
“Songwriting is something I was born with. I feel most at home when I have a piano or a guitar with me. The hard work starts when the songs are out there - the touring, promotion – that stuff gets tricky. When it’s just me, an instrument, and pen and paper - that will always have longevity for me.”
Fraser confesses that her responses to assertions that she is a ‘Christian’ artist are inconsistent.
“Sometimes they are better than others,” she says. “I don’t intend to make ‘faith-based’ music. I want anyone with a heartbeat or arms or legs to be able to listen to my music. When people try to put a limit on that and put it in a little box sometimes it is necessary for me to clarify my position. It’s really only a problem in some parts of America – some parts of the ‘Bible Belt’ where people have certain expectations, but you never know what you will encounter,” she says.
“Sometimes people have strong opinions about what you should be doing, but my family and the people around me are the ones I look to. I am very confident that this is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’ve always been an open person and my faith is part of that.”
Despite not living in Wellington for a decade, Fraser is “around all the time”. She grew up in Naenae where she jokes her favourite spot was “hanging around the railway tracks” and after attending Naenae Intermediate and Naenae College she based herself in Sydney, heading to LA to write and record most of her latest album Flags.
“I have an interesting relationship with LA. It’s pretty ugly for a start but I’ve made my peace with LA - now I’m happy to go there. We got an apartment and made it home for six months. When you grow up in NZ you take it for granted, and when you travel you realise that the rest of the world does not look like this place,” she says laughing.
Flags, released late last year, has reached double platinum sales in NZ, debuting at number one. The first single - Something in the Water - still sits in the NZ Singles Charts. It will be released in March in England, Ireland, Spain, Germany and France, with an international tour planned.
“I find it hard to write on the road - when you hit the hotel you just want to sleep and I want to do something different for the next album - find a cave in Wales somewhere or something and write music. This album reflects a community and I made the album with the band in one room but for the next album I’d like to try the opposite.”
Brooke Fraser, with OPSHOP and Midnight Youth, Alana Estate, Martinborough, February 13.
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