Taste Test: Missy Higgins

14 November 2012 | 6:00 am | Cassandra Fumi

Missy Higgins tells us about some of her favourite records.

More Missy Higgins More Missy Higgins

THE FIRST ALBUM I BOUGHT WITH MY OWN MONEY
I think that would probably have to be Hole – Live Through This. I was slowly becoming quite obsessed with Courtney Love so it was kinda the beginning of becoming a bit of a grunge teenager and all the angst that came along with that. I don't remember it being a big deal to spend my own money or anything, but I do remember it was pretty cheap. God, I think it was like five bucks or something. I guess they were in those days.

THE ALBUM I'M LOVING RIGHT NOW
I am loving Ane Brun's It All Starts With One. It's really amazing and ethereal – a bit kind of Kate Bush but with amazing orchestral instrumentation – and she has a really stunning voice.

MY FAVOURITE PARTY ALBUM
Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers is always a really good one to bring out

MY FAVOURITE COMEDOWN ALBUM
Anything Sigur Rós.

Don't miss a beat with our FREE daily newsletter

THE MOST SURPRISING RECORD IN MY COLLECTION
Backstreet Boys. Actually, no, I don't think I have them in my collection, I used to. My older sister and I, that was our guilty pleasure, as well as Destiny's Child. We used to love doing karaoke and we had this song we did [Backstreet Boys'] I Want It That Way – we totally worked out the harmonies and dance moves. That was our song for a while there.

THE FIRST GIG I ATTENDED
The first gig I attended was a really cool one actually, it was Radiohead's OK Computer Tour – it was at Festival Hall in Melbourne and my older sister took me along as she was a big fan. I didn't really know much about them at the time – but from then on I was just so in love with Thom [Yorke] and just became a bit obsessed with Radiohead. I remember we had seats right up the back and I was completely enamored with him as a frontman.

THE WEIRDEST GIG EXPERIENCE
I'VE HAD

Probably being given concussion at the Falls Festival about six years ago [a hug from an over-exuberant Tim Rogers ended badly] when I had finished playing. I then got asked to go up about an hour later and sing a few more songs and I was completely high and had no idea where I was and just got up in front of thousands of people and jumped around on stage and had the best time of my life.

THE COOLEST PERSON I'VE MET
Bob Geldof was a pretty cool guy to meet. I had just listened to him give a talk about global poverty and I was so inspired by him and where he'd come from and all the activism he was doing. He just has a really incredible aura about him.

MY BIGGEST NON-MUSICAL INFLUENCES
Probably my parents, I guess that's a pretty obvious one. But they are just so solid and give me such good grounding and I always know that when I go to them they give me really calm, clear, wise advice.

THE BIGGEST CELEBRITY CRUSH I'VE HAD
Oh god, all the typical ones come to mind. I used to love Brad Pitt, he is still so damn good looking. When he got with Angelina it was like, 'How beautiful are those kids going to be?' I also used to have a huge crush on Angelina Jolie but now I think [she] looks skinny and quite weird – she started doing things to her face and she started to look like an alien or something.

IF I COULD HANG OUT IN ANY TIME AND PLACE IN HISTORY
I would have liked to meet Jesus or Buddha, that would have been pretty cool. Just to sit under the fig tree with Buddha would have been pretty amazing. That's if either of them existed, which they probably did – I would have quite liked to meet either of those two. That would probably be quite high on my list.

IF I WASN'T MAKING MUSIC
I have no idea. I really tried to figure that out for a while there. I think I would probably be doing some sort of writing because it's the writing part of music which is half the reason I love it so much. Yeah, writing novels or journalism; just some sort of creative writing.