Missy Higgins [ tickets ] didn't long to become a famous musician, but somehow she's found herself one, winning over fans with heartfelt, self-written songs and even sweeping the 2005 ARIA Awards, Australia's equivalent to the Grammys. Grounded and focused, Higgins is touring incessantly in support of her 2007 release, "On A Clear Night."LiveDaily contributor Maya Marin recently sat down with Higgins for an in-depth conversation about the new album, as well as her childhood in Australia, her rise from high school student to recording artist and more. LiveDaily: You're originally from Melbourne but you've relocated to LA. How's that working out for you?Missy Higgins: I've just relocated temporarily to LA for this year to work this album and see how it goes. I'm originally from Melbourne, so it's a long way from home, but I figured I was going to dedicate this year to working this album and seeing how it goes for me over here.First off, tell us about your childhood in Melbourne. I know that you started piano lessons very early. Did you come from a musical household?I came from a very musical household, actually. My dad was always playing piano at the back of the house. He put me through lessons and he used to sit next to me every night and help me practice. And my brother, he's a musician. He's seven years older than me and he's always done music so I've always looked up to him. He was in a jazz band in Melbourne and, when I was growing up, we used to go and see them play and he used to get me up on stage to have a sing. My sister's very musical as well. She used to sing in his band, too. We had this dream of having the Higgins Trio, like a Hanson equivalent but with the Higgins. What sort of music did you listen to growing up?When I was very young, I listened to a lot of my dad playing classical piano and we used to go and see a lot of musical theater as a family and then we would bring home the soundtracks and always have them playing. My earliest musical memories are Starlight Express, Cats, Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera. Then I moved on to what my brother was into, and that was jazz, so I started listening to a lot of female jazz greats like Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simone, Sarah Vaughan and Billie Holliday. Then I got into my own thing and, in my teenage rebellion stage, I started listening to grunge and then got into more singer/songwriter style music and I guess that's how I formed my style today.And when did you start writing songs?I wrote my first song when I was 10, and that was just this piano piece, basically--a story about the convicts that came to Australia during the settlement of Australia. It was this whole story about a guy stealing a pig and a beheading and there was a dream sequence ...That was quite ambitious for a 10-year-old!Yeah, I know! And there was no words or lyrics. It was all in my head.I read that your sister played a big role in jumpstarting your career when you were still in high school. I know it's a pretty well-known story back in your homeland, but could you please tell us?The first real song that I wrote that I was proud of, I wrote when I was 15, which had lyrics and proper structure with a verse, chorus, etc. I was in grade 10 at the time and I managed to record it onto a tape and then, a couple years later, when I was in my final year of high school, my sister sent that tape into a radio demo competition and it won that, which basically meant that I got my song on the radio and I got to do some shows. It was like I accidentally fell into this musical career and, out of that, I ended up getting signed in Australia, and from that, I ended up being signed in America too--all from that one tape, actually. I have a lot to thank her for.Do you think you would have submitted your music on your own accord?No, I'd never heard of the competition, so I would never have done it on my own, but who knows, I may have ended up in the same position, just by a different road. You can never tell.What happened between winning that contest and recording your first album, "The Sound of White?"I finished my year of high school and then I went backpacking around Europe before I started writing for the album and really buckling down.Did you feel that was important for you to do?Well, my best friend and I had been saving up to go around Europe for a couple of years. We'd been working after school and on the weekends. It was something that we'd been so excited about, and then, all of a sudden, I won this competition and I got this record deal and she was really worried and everyone around me was so, "You're not going to go away, right?" I was like, "Of course I'm still going to go backpacking! We've been planning this and just because I got a record deal doesn't mean that I have to stop everything and change my whole plan." I guess, in the back of my head, I knew that it was something important to do in order to be able to do the album that I wanted to do and to get life experience. All of that is just so important. Tell us how you feel you've matured as an artist from your debut to your second release.I've literally grown up so much between when I wrote that first song, "All For Believing," when I was 15 to when I wrote most of the songs for this album when I was 23, so I think I've had a lot more life experience and I've been on the road for so many years and got to experience so many different cultures and countries and make new friendships and, I guess, just experience the highs and lows of life. That all just accumulates over time into a bit of wisdom--or relative wisdom for my age, anyway--and I've learned from my mistakes and I think I've matured musically as well just because I've been playing with so many great musicians in Australia and over here. I'd like to think that I've improved. I'd like to think that I'll keep on improving for the rest of my career. That's the idea, anyway.You mentioned you've been working with some great musicians. Who have you been working with?My band from Australia, I love all those guys. They just came over for a tour with me last month and I'm touring with them again in a few weeks. They just really inspire me and they're great guys and great musicians. The people I played on the album with, like Mitchell Froom who was the producer, taught me a lot about piano playing and arrangement and composition and that kind of thing. Matt Chamberlain on drums was a really great opportunity because I'd always admired his drumming and to be able to work with him on the album was really inspiring, and Neil Finn came and he sang on the album and played guitar. He's like an idol of mine, so to have him on my album was amazing.Mitchell Froom is the famed producer who's worked with Crowded House, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney. What do you think his years of experience brought to your sound?I think he's really great at simplifying songs that are too complicated and intricate for the sake of being intricate rather than being artistically better. He and his engineer, David Boucher, they can make an instrument sound so beautiful and so real and so present in the room with you when you listen to their albums. They're just really great at what they do. I think Mitchell brought a real classic sound to the album. He has an ability to bring the singer into the room with you and really feel as though that singer is telling you the story, rather than being supported by heavy production. He has the important things out front and makes it sound really simple and beautiful.
