She’s a girl not afraid of taking chances and in a business where it is easy to get manufactured to sell records she has stayed true to her art and it’s paying off. Having just scored an ARIA for Best Independent Release and a swag of accolades as an exciting new talent, she is a girl who rocks. BB loves her style, attitude and the fact that at just 25 she is chasing her dream her way. BB chats to BB…..

Secret and Lies is a bit of a departure for you into the pop genre – can you tell us what inspired that?
It was not a thought out genre moment but more of a natural progression. I was a little bit older and was inspired by different music. I got obsessed with the keyboard and loved having new sounds, new challenges and control over the production and having more of an involvement in the direction of where I wanted the music to go.

Your songs are very raw and emotional – are they based on personal experiences generally?
Yes, a lot is based on personal experiences. You absorb different things in your life; whether it be things happening to you or to people around you - other people’s sadness, stuff that goes on with friends, relationships, and I guess that all comes out from my point of view when I sit down to write songs.

How did you end up in music?
It’s something I’ve always done. I played drums when I was quite little and piano and always wanted to be musician. I picked up the guitar one day and just started playing. I am completely untrained and self-taught. I guess when you find something you love, you run with it. I got it into it and it didn’t take long to get the hang of the guitar. As a kid I always sat with a guitar in my lap, watching TV and playing.

How do you approach song-writing?
I hear everything in my head before I write it. I get melodies and chord structures in my head and then work out how to write it. It’s a random thing, as in it can happen at any time, which is why I always have a notebook on hand wherever I am to write it down as it pops into my head.. I like that kind of way of song writing.

You do a lot of festivals – what is it about them that you love?
It’s a day of music – everyone is there to have a good time. There are no expectations. It’s not like playing an intimate gig. It’s a lot of fun. It’s challenging getting up on a big stage and projecting yourself, but it’s like having a conversation with a crowd, and making it as infectious as possible. I like the over-the-top nature of festivals.

Touring or recording – which do you prefer?
When touring I always prefer to be recording and vice versa. I love both just as much, really.

Who inspires you – both musically and generally?
I’m preparing to write my next record and have been going to the State Library a lot – reading the Brothers Grimm tales, and strange picture books, and going to the Art gallery and absorbing images.

I love my vinyl collection -Kate Bush, Eurythmics, Neil Young, Radiohead. I have a broad range of musical influences.

I’m also really into words and how they sound and feel on their own and how they connect and I’m fascinated with that at the moment and trying to saturate myself in that so that when I start writing I have this catalogue of inspiration in my head that will hopefully flow naturally into the song writing. . This is the first time I’ve approached song writing in this way. I really want to have a good grip on words before I write the next record so that I can go deeper into lyrical meaning and emotional aspects of the words.

You have managed to hold onto your individuality in a business that thrives on creating images that are saleable – how have you done that and is it important to you to not be moulded into a product?
I guess it’s persistence and having a thick skin. I’m very stubborn and know what I want and how I want to look and the type of music I want to create.

For example, if I’ve ever done photoshoots where I felt umcomfortable I end up not looking like me. It’s not who I am. One of the great things about being a song writer is that you can express the deepest part of you and share that with people and help them to discover themselves, so it’s important to be true.

When did you seriously start to pursue this dream?
As soon as finished school, at 17, I started playing gigs, and it’s been my full focus ever since.

Starting out that young in this business, how did you have the strength to stand up to people and for yourself and your vision of you as an artist?
It does happen a lot – people promising to sign if you do this and that and create an image of you that they want to sell. One of the most important things that happened to me was when I was starting out at 18. I met with Modular Records who wanted to sign me and they asked me: “Who do you want to be? What kind of artist do you want to be?”

I thought about it and said, I don’t know yet…and so I decided to go away and figure it out. Along the way people have said we can turn you into this and that, but I just didn’t feel it was right. So, I had to get out there and play gigs, experience the music business from the bottom up. Doing that was the best thing I ever did as it allowed me to figure out who I was and the type of music I wanted to play and the artist I wanted to be.

That’s quite a strong stance to take in your teens….
Yeah, I get that strength from my mum and dad, who have both always been self- employed. I get that strength of conviction and doing things my way from them.

Gotta ask your opinion on Australian Idol, as we are a little obsessed with it and often times the music business is tough on them.
I think it’s good. It’s a really intense regime of being a pop artist really quickly. Those kids work really hard and it’s just a different way of getting out there and figuring out what you want to do in the music business. A lot of musicians hate it, but always watch it and am interested to see the talent. There’s all different ways of getting into the business and I think it’s just another way..

What’s been the most challenging part of having a music career?
Just the day to day of getting through. Having the strength and conviction that I can actually do it. As you progress the workload gets more and more but I thrive off working really hard – it gives me the extra energy and fire.

Vox pop:

Dog or cat person?
Cat

Thing you are most passionate about?
Wine

One thing that really annoys you?
Sound of windscreen wipers on a dry screen

Best chill out….
Listening to my vinyl