Following a completely sold-out national headline tour and an appearance at Splender In The Grass, two-time Aria Award winning songbird Megan Washington brings the Tangents Tour to The Tanks Arts Centre on Friday 25th September.
Washington released her Aria Top 5 album ‘There There’ in 2014 to rave reviews and has steadily built a reputation for brilliant and captivating live shows. With her trademark lyrical hooks , ‘There There’ is a daring record showcasing Washington’s emotional depth and audaciousness.
NQ Music Press caught up with Megan ahead of her visit to Cairns.
How’s the tour been going so far?
It’s been good actually, it’s been really fun. I’m playing solo so I get to really engage with the audience and get a vibe from them, which is something that I’ve never really been able to do before. It’s really interesting.
You must be looking forward to getting up to the warmer weather here in Cairns?
Of course! Does it ever get cold up there?
Not really, well. There’s a couple weeks a year that it gets a bit fresh.
Like you have to put on a T-shirt? (laughter)
Yeah we have to break out our longer shorts in the winter mornings (laughter)
How was your Splender In The Grass experience? Did you get check out any of the other acts?
Fun! It’s always fun. I liked that we had lots of balloons all over our stage which was really funny. I was able to check out Oh Mercy which was so good; I’m such a huge fan of that band. I hadn’t seen them for ages so it was really good. And Mark Ronson was good. But for me it was all about Oh Mercy.
The album was released nearly a year ago, have the songs grown and/or matured in anyway?
For me once a song is written it becomes a piece of repertoire. A lot of people assume if you write a sad song about something sad that happens, then every time you sing it you’re going to be sad, but that’s not really how it works for me. They’re good songs so they’re still fun to play. On this tour I’m playing songs from all my releases; all my early Ep’s, I Believe You Liar, Insomnia, everything. But its interesting cause when you hear them albums you hear the production. Essentially with this tour I’m playing the songs in the way they were written, it’s just me and a piano. So it’s good to get back to the core.
‘There There’ is a very honest album, even your titles (Marry Me, Consolation Prize, Get Happy) are very frank in a sense. Was it a big release emotionally to get these thoughts and feelings expressed?
Not really I’m a pretty frank individual so to speak. It was important for me to write music that had a point. I guess it was a relief to write those songs, but like I said before, once its written it’s just a song to me.
You recorded the album in London and it was produced by Sam Dixon who also co-writes. What was it like working with him?
Sam is a very well organised, functional person. If you had to draw him he’d be a straight line where I’d be a squiggle. It was interesting because I had to learn a lot of discipline and I guess to be like a professional (laughter). I think he enjoys my madness, I don’t know I guess you’d have to ask him.
You recently did a tour with James Morrison as part of QLD Music Festival. Was it nice to step back into your Jazz roots?
I was a little worried about that tour because I use to think what you did, had to be who you are. When I was a jazz singer that was all I did,I was so obsessed with it and I loved it so much. Then when I become a songwriter and moved into the pop world. I became so obsessed with that and that was all I wanted to do. So when I decided to go back and sing that music, I did wonder if I still had the chops. I guess I’m at a place in my career now where I can sort of choose to do whatever I like in a way. I feel like I’ve been quite inconsistent as an artist my whole life. So I feel like people don’t really expect me to do any one thing. To do that tour was very fulfilling and very rewarding. I loved it so much because jazz will always be in my DNA. You can’t unlearn something that you’ve already learnt. James is such an incredible musician and I got a whole lot out of it.
Are you enjoying playing Solo on this tour or do you prefer the band experience?
I kind of feel like everything has its merits. I’m a pretty fluent sort of person. I don’t just love the band or love the solo gigs, or love the tour or just love the recording. I kind of like it all. There are positives artitubutes for all those things and also negatives. I tend to just focus on the good bits and not the bad bits and before you know it it’s all over.
Any plans for 2016? Will you keep touring or is there any new work in the pipelines?
No I’ll take a break from touring for a little while. I’m working on new music all the time but I might also try to live a bit of my life next year, maybe try to be in the one spot for more than two weeks. The other day I realised I haven’t been in one spot for longer than 3 days for the last 6 months. I don’t want to stop working maybe just work hard in the one spot.
Megan Washington performs at Tanks Arts Centre on Friday 25th September. Support by The Tambourine Girls. Tank 4 Uplate with Greta Stanley. Doors open 6.30pm. Show starts 7.30pm. Tickets from Ticketlink
Mitch Sullivan
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