Interview with Sia
After the success of her most recent album, the fabulous Some People Have Real Problems, and the whirlwind tour that followed, the multi-talented chanteuse Sia deserves some well deserved relaxation by way of some time off. Culture Bully’s Jen Paulson was able to check in with the singer as she begins to wind down from her recent adventures for this week’s installment of Five Questions.
Jen Paulson: While your songs have very grown-up and often deeply anguished themes, on stage you have a youthful, whimsical quality to your persona. What were some of your favorite hobbies or activities as a child?
Sia: I used to like to dress up my smaller, younger and most malleable neighbor Niki as Robert Smith. I also used to like to steal the other neighbors flowers with my gang and mash them with tap water, creating l’eau de thiefs, and then sell it back to those same neighbors in old yogurt containers,as perfume. Sometimes my other neighbor would call us all over to the fennel plant in his back yard so we could watch his mum shagging her boyfriend through a hole in their door. I watched a lot of TV. I used to do the crossword with my grampa. My mum taught me how to make pottery on her spinning wheel. I ate a lot of vanilla gelati. I put on fingerless glove musical extravaganzas. I had a bogey collection. When I moved rooms, my mum had to buy an extra sturdy spatula to remove it from the wall.
JP: The last time you were in Minneapolis, you played a fabulous show at the Fine Line, and a girl-fight broke out right in front of the stage during “Day Too Soon.” Do you remember that strange altercation and if so, what were your thoughts when it was going down?
S: I was thinking I hope she finds peace, and perhaps her local alcoholics anonymous meeting. Booze and repressed anger, recipe for disaster.
JP: You just finished up a tour not so long ago, what is the first thing you do when you get home?
S: Snuggle with my dogs then moisturize. I’m like human jerky. Touring = too much party.
JP: Did you have one of those textbook moments where you knew you had to be a musician or did it just come to you gradually or over time?
S: Totally just pretended I was a singer to get attention once, and next thing I knew I was at rehearsals.
JP: I can say from experience that you put on a really fantastic live show. What are some of the best concerts that you have been to that really stand out in your mind?
S: Thank you! I love Beck’s shows. Everyone is a different theatrical experience. I like Santogold’s dancers. I love Dolly Parton because she is such a wonderful storyteller. Same goes for James Taylor. Antony and the Johnsons for his pure voice. Har Mar Superstar for his relentlessness and nudity.
[Interview by guest contributor Jen Paulson]
Cool interview. I will be interested to see more of this “Five Questions” series. Sia seems like a really interesting and spirited person. That “The Girl” video is strangely addicting.