Chase That High

26 March 2014 | 9:53 am | Jazmine O’Sullivan

"I don’t know how I’m going to fit [the tour] in actually!"

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Ella Hooper won the nation's heart years ago as the frontwoman (or girl) of Killing Heidi, with hits Weir and Mascara reaching numbers two and 14 respectively in triple j's Hottest 100 of 1999. Fifteen years later, you can now get a weekly dose of Hooper on ABC's newly revamped Spicks And Specks, where she is a team captain.

“It's my dream job,” Hooper gushes. “I'm so happy and I just feel so lucky and blessed. I've always loved the show, and I've always loved Alan [Brough] and Myf [Warhurst].” Coming onto the show after such a popular line-up, she admits, “I definitely felt there were some big, big shoes to fill and they're still a little roomy, but we're just trying to play our natural game and develop into our own roles. But yeah, the country just adored those people, and rightly so – hopefully one day we'll be held in the same esteem.”

Accompanied on the show by fellow team captain Adam Richard and host Josh Earl, Hooper puts it down to a good friendship that creates the perfect on-screen chemistry. “Josh, Adam and I just really click as people – we hang out, we're mates, we go and have dinner – working with friends makes it so much easier and I feel helps us work really well.”

When she's not on screen, Hooper also hosts a radio show on 2DayFM, mentors aspiring musicians, and is about to embark on a national tour in support of her music as a solo artist and in particular her debut single, Low High. Quite the busy schedule! “I don't know how I'm going to fit [the tour] in actually! We've been doing big rehearsals whenever the band and I can squeeze them in, but honestly it's really tough to schedule it in because every day there's something going on, but I love it. Getting into the rehearsal room and playing the music, I feel like 'Oh, this is the best bit!' It's a bit of a reward.”

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Branching out for the first time as a solo artist was a brave move for Hooper, who had grown accustomed to having a band around her for many years. While she admits she's a little nervous to be stepping out on her own this time, she also explains that it's something she felt she had to do. “I do really love being in a band, and I already miss it, but I knew I needed to change up my habits. When I'm in a band I have habits that are lifelong, because I've been doing that since I was 13. I just needed to change those habits to work my artistic sensibilities and to shake them up. Branching out as a solo artist for me is all about change, embracing change and forcing myself to change.”

The idea of change seems to be working for Hooper, who confesses that even when it came to the actual writing of Low High she utilised a whole new approach. “I usually take songs in and workshop them with the producer I'm working with, and we might change the sound slightly and sometimes the order or the rhythm, but this one actually started with a percussion line and a melody idea. I didn't actually know what the song was going to be about as I was writing it, which is really unusual for me, but it let the song be so free and that's why I love it so much. It feels like something I've never done before, which is exactly what I wanted to do and challenge myself with for this solo record.”

Low High is really just the first taste of what Hooper has to offer as a solo artist, as she plans to follow up the single with the release of her debut album, In Tongues, in the coming months. “I can't wait to just show all the other sides of my music. There's some stuff [on the album] that's harder and darker than Low High, and there's also some stuff that's funner and lighter, so I really can't wait to share the whole thing.

“The live show is going to be very stripped-back, which is sort of exciting and scary. I've got one electric guitarist, Tim Harvey, who is also Clare Bowditch's guitarist, and another guy called Robin Waters from a band called The Boat People, and he is triggering samples and loops while doing synthesisers and bass, so he's really busy over there – he's my octopus! I think I'm stressing him out,” she laughs, “because I'm basically getting him to be the whole band while Tim and I just put the cherry on top! It's really interesting though, I'm not sure if it will be what people are expecting, but we'll see.”