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An Interview with Katie Noonan

An Interview with Katie Noonan

By Lisa Pellegrino


Katie Noonans’ first solo album ‘Skin’ is set to be released on August 11, 2007 and features the first single ‘Time to Begin”.

Lisa Pellegrino from Radio Adelaide (101.5FM) had a chat with Katie about new beginnings, her album and her new family.


Katie Noonan is perhaps one of Australia’s most talented and accomplished female voices today. Time and time again, Noonan has expressed her indisputable talents as a singer, songwriter, pianist, keyboardist and producer.

Trained in both opera and jazz, Noonan first came to mainstream attention when her band, indie-pop group George, released its’ highly acclaimed debut album, ‘Polyserena’. Fronted by Katie and older brother, Tyrone Noonan, this five-piece group introduced alternative, at times political, well-crafted music to the popular charts, enjoying a comfortable mix of commercial and critical success.

She later went on to form the more modest side-project, Elixir; a jazz outfit comprising of Katie, George Guitarist Nick Stewart and Katie’s husband, Zac Hurren. Although Elixir did not experience the same degree of commercial success as George, its’ debut album did make an impressionable entry into the Australian popular album charts- a Stella performance for any jazz endeavor.

Over the past several years, Katie has also spread those musical melody wings of hers and has embarked on a myriad of notable collaborations, including the jazz/opera performance “Two of a Kind” with her mother, Soprano Maggie Noonan; a collaboration with well-known Australian composer Paul Grabowsky entitled “Before Time could Change Us” and numerous concert series with orchestras such as the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.

And so, “the time has come the walrus said” for this little ‘Alice’ of Australia’s music wonderland to release her first solo album, “Skin”.

The album, due to be released on August 11, 2007, sees Noonan taking on her solo endeavor in full force; acting as producer, songwriter and pianist. “Skin” introduces a more mature and ‘enlightened’ Noonan, one who has over the past few years, experienced the life changes of fame, industry, marriage and children. It is also an album that captures a woman who has come to embrace who she is and who she is not and a woman who is ready to embrace the changes the future holds.

I recently caught up with Katie Noonan to talk about her new album, family and of course, new beginnings.

Lisa Pellegrino: Do you want to give us a bit of a rundown about what the album is about?

Katie Noonan: It’s a pretty joyous record I guess, because it documents the last couple years of my life, which have involved a lot of big beautiful blessings. I married my soul-mate and we had two beautiful baby boys. A lot of that stuff is in the record. It’s a fairly diverse album.

I had a pretty old-school approach to the overall aesthetic. We tracked it completely live to two inch 16-track tape. So there were no computers and nothing digital, which I think makes for a more organic human-sounding album.

Lisa: Why did you choose to do it that way?

Katie: I find so much current pop music is so symphasized and synthetic and the voices are kind of edited and auto-tuned and I prefer to hear records where you can tell that there are human beings standing in a room playing together.
I like records to be imperfect because, you know, human beings are imperfect.

Lisa: So you’re a bit of vinyl fan?

Katie: I love vinyl. The record is actually coming out on vinyl too…which I’m very excited about. Tape machine is like vinyl as oppose to CD.

Most my favourite records like ‘Abbey Road, ‘Songs in the Key of Life’, ‘Blue’ Jonnie Mitchell- all those classic albums were all done on tape machines. And when you hear the tape machine rewinding, to get ready for your take, it actually makes you perform differently because you know that it’s going live to tape so it’s more like a gig.

Lisa: Where about did you record the album? Because with the album ‘Unity’ with George you……

Katie: We escaped to the hills (laughs). The Elixir record and both George albums I made in the hills of Byron Bay, which is a pretty magical part of the world…and it was great to totally escape. I think that was because we were really working on fortifying our band...kind of…vibe, I guess. So we separated ourselves from our family and friends and really worked on just connecting as a unit, as a group of people.

Whereas this record was quite different. I was getting to know new players all the time. Purely from a logistical point of view, it was easier to do it in the city. So I tracked keys, bass, drums and vocals, we did live to take in Sydney, in a great studio called ‘Linear recordings’ which is a converted warehouse, which is a totally analogue studio, which was really cool.

Then we did more stuff on top of that. Then members of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra joined us and we had horn players and a few extra guests joined us. And then we tracked the rest of the record in Los Angeles, up on Mulholland Drive, it was very cool.

Lisa: The first single, “Time to begin”, you say it’s about new beginnings…

Katie: Yeah- the title kind of gives it away a bit. It’s very much about this new era of my life as a solo artist, as a mother and as a wife. I feel like I’m a woman now, I feel like I’ve grown up. Obviously, ‘everyday’s a school day’ but I feel a sense of arrival with this record, personally and musically as well, I guess.

This single’s about shedding skin, new beginnings and embracing positivity into your life each day.

Lisa: Is it difficult balancing a family life; with the two kids, your husband and your music career?

Katie: Not really because my priorities-I mean it is-but my priorities are very clear in that my babies come first and music is a close second; my babies and my husband, my boys, my three boys!

I’m actually very lucky in that I can take my family with me. We are Gypsies; we’re used to travel. My son Dexter has been around the world twice and he’s just turned two. He got a passport at three months.

For me family is about having loved ones together, regardless of geography. So as long as we’re together as a unit, we feel at home.

Lisa: And you come from a musical family yourself. You’re parents are both musicians…

Katie: So I guess I grew up watching a woman, a mother balance music and family, so for me it’s a pretty natural thing.

Lisa: Do you think you’re going to get your children to get involved in
music?

Katie: Like a Tin-Lids thing? (laughs)

Lisa: You know, get them to marry musicians like you have?! ...…

Katie: (laughs) I wouldn’t encourage them into the music industry anymore than I would any other. I just would encourage them to find whatever makes them happy and go from there. But thus far Dexter is, he is very musical. He loves drums though, much to my… disgust. I don’t won’t to grow up…I might have to grow up with a little kid with a drum kit in the house, which could be…a bit frightening.

Lisa: But imagine that, you could be a ‘Partridge Family Band’ if you’ve got somebody covering each instrument!

Katie: (laughs) As any parent would say, you just want your kids to be happy, so, whatever that is. He might completely revolt against creativity and become like a tax accountant or something. Which would be great-he could do my books! (laughs)

Lisa: Are George and Elixir still coming out with material?

Katie: Yeah-we’re still together. George is just on an extended break. We were the ‘six-year overnight success’; as probably some Adelaide people would remember us touring here quite a few times before there was any major National exposure. I predominately took time off to focus on my family and all that stuff. But our last gig, I was about five months pregnant, it was January 05’ and we played at the opera house, which was a nice way to say goodbye for a while. We just decided after almost ten years of doing it full time, it felt like the right time to focus on some different creative projects. But yeah, we’re still totally together and I’m sure we’ll do another album.

Lisa: Both projects?

Katie: Yeah-and Elixir as well. Elixir’s very easy to drop in and out of because it’s always been like that. So we kind of get together, have a quick jam and then go on the road. Because it’s much more improvised and I guess it has more of a jazz aesthetic, whereas George, we’d want to get back together and jam a bit and write some new material and that kind of thing.

Lisa: You did the songwriting and producing of this album as well, keyboarding…

Katie: All of that stuff. I’ve always been fairly involved across the board with my records. Because I guess ultimately if you’re more involved with those elements you just have more control over your sound and the general direction the record’s making so then if it doesn’t go in the direction you like, you can’t blame someone else, (laugh) you can only blame yourself (laughs), which is good.

I did a lot of songwriting for this record. I did a kind of songwriting trip and wrote with a few people in London, which was really fun. One of the track’s on the record “Who are you?”, I wrote with Rollo, Dido’s brother, he produced all Dido’s records and he’s in Faithless…I really like Faithless, interesting kind of dance music…. That was really fun. It was the first time I collaborated on lyrics, actually, which was interesting.

I’d never really co-written before this album, other than with Nick in George and my husband. I hadn’t ever co-written with a stranger. So I didn’t actually expect to enjoy the experience but I really loved it.

Lisa: Were you nervous?

Katie: I was nervous but it’s actually surprisingly liberating writing with someone you don’t know because it’s almost like you can reveal more of yourself because they don’t know you.

You know how…if you sing for a room of your friends, it’s way more scary than singing for a room of strangers because they know you- all your imperfections, that’s that ex-boyfriend and all that stuff. Whereas if you don’t know them it’s actually surprisingly liberating to just throw it out there and because they don’t know you there’s not going to be a reaction, I guess. So it actually can make for, I think, more intimate lyrics.

And also writing with different people who you don’t know, they constantly surprise you, which sparks great songs. So I had a good time co-writing, it was fun.

Lisa: So what’s next on the cards. It’s your time to begin. What’s new?

Katie: I’m just focused on this record at the moment. So the record’s out in August so I’ll be doing hopefully lots of touring because I have got a great new band, a seven-piece band, which is feeling really fun. I’ve got backing singers for the first time. I love that. Two beautiful singers.

Lisa: Are you getting them to wear the whole Supremes-style outfits…Ikettes even?

Katie: (laughs) No. No no. There’s a girl and a guy. The girl, she’s beautiful, and the guy, he’s an amazing Tongan dude. He’s so fly. He shows up to each gig in a hat and a suit. So I don’t need to tell them what to wear. They look pretty gorgeous on their own (laughs).

Yeah so I’m just focusing on that band and touring and the next single and just working on this record.

Lisa: And more babies?

Katie: Maaayybeee. Not for the near future but, possibly. It’s pretty amazing.

Lisa: And maybe a collaboration with your father?

Katie: That’s the one person I haven’t made an album with. I’ve done my brother, my Husband and my mother. My dad’s a beautiful performer. I mean, he toured with Johnny O’Keefe and Six O’clock Rock and all that stuff. He was a bit of crooner-star in the 60’s.

-Actually, when we moved house, once, I found all this fan mail from these women to my dad. It was really bizarre. I found an old Women’s Weekly and he was on the cover! He was quite a kind of…star. But then fatherhood and babies and being a husband, he decided to give up music and focus on journalism because I guess it’s a bit more of a steady job. But yeah, maybe, one day. My brother performed with him at the Brisbane Cabaret Festival. They did a show together, it was beautiful.

‘Skin’ is set to be released on August 11, 2007.
For more information, visit: www.myspace.com/katienoonan