Renowned singer-songwriter Lisa Richards has lived a life like few others, having spent more than two decades living abroad in the United States and crossing paths with all manner of iconic people and places in her time there.
Though she's been back in Australia for four years, her newest (and sixth) studio full-length, A Light From The Other Side, is steeped heavily in her personal experiences from her 22 years in the United States. Little wonder; from her humble roots busking in Kings Cross, Richards garnered experiences that would make most music fans instantly jealous — from hanging out with Debbie Harry at South by Southwest to playing a show at now-shuttered, still-iconic venue CBGB's.
Richards previously described the album as being inspired by the "tsunami of change" that followed the breakdown of her 14-year marriage and consequent relocation to Australia, though its sombre roots don't preclude it from being infused with a sense of optimism and hope. Indeed, in and around making the album, Richards found herself experiencing all manner of happy accidents in her life and creative pursuits.
Ahead of her show at Brisbane's Junk Bar tonight, 13 October, and her remaining performances in Canberra, Melbourne and Sydney (plus Adelaide, come the new year), The Music was fortunate to lock down the lady of the hour to talk us through some of her best and most unexpected experiences in recent memory.
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Lisa Richards' Top Five Happiest Accidents
1. Finding Greg Walker. I was thinking about recording a new album and pondering who I would work with. Would I go to NYC? Back to Austin, Texas? I didn't have very much music community in Australia and really had no idea what I'd do. I was on a website — I don't remember what website — but I started randomly listening to Australian women songwriters' songs and previewing production styles. I can across a woman whose name I don't recall, but I listened to a song of hers and the production was very simple. Double bass and vocals and I just immediately thought, 'Who is producing this album?' It was Greg J Walker. So I found an email for him and emailed him and send a link to my past recordings without expecting he would get back to me. In my email I said, 'I love your production I want to work with you.' He wrote back very quickly and said, 'I love your sound; yes, we must work together!' And so we did!
2. The song Weather on the album A Light From The Other Side. Sitting around with Greg, experimenting with sounds, and he has this old grand piano on the floor; just the top part with all the strings. He grabs a loose piano wire and threads it under the piano strings and starts gently sawing and coaxing the most beautiful eerie string-like sounds out of this old piano. It was a beautiful surprise.
3. New York City. I went on a date with a fella in NYC. He went all out. Scalped two tickets for Porno for Pyros, who I had never heard of. We went to this concert at Roselands Ballroom and he grabbed my hand and we ran down to the front. It was an amazing concert; there were acrobats, and there was a circus element that was fantastic. I loved it. Then after the concert we took a taxi down to the east village to a little cafe on East 7th Street between 1st Avenue and Avenue A. We sat outside, it was raining gently and there was an African-American tap dancer tapping to a jazz band. It was the best date I ever had.
4. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries. I discovered the television show Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries on a Qantas flight from LAX to Sydney a few years ago. I was intrigued by the costumes and the characters and the great music — and found that it was Greg J Walker who creates all the music for that show, after I discovered his work as a producer.
5. Going to see Alanis Morissette's only small club show in NYC, at Tramps. I had no idea who she was but was totally blown away by her show, her stage presence and how every member of the audience was singing along to every word of every song and most of audience were music business people. That was a great experience and a total surprise.
