LITTLE MISS CURIOUS

KATE MILLER-HEIDKE HAS A MIGHTY IMPRESSIVE NEW ALBUM ON THE SHELVES ENTITLED CURIOUSER, AND AS SHE HITS THE ROAD TO PROMOTE IT SHE JOINS BEN PREECE FOR A COFFEE.

It’s lunchtime on a Friday and despite having a bit of a sniffle, Kate Miller-Heidke still effortlessly looks like a million bucks, having just hopped on a plane from a photoshoot. She may disagree, but to the world outside her career has come a mighty long way in what seems like a very short time. It feels like only yesterday we were talking about the release of her debut album, Little Eve, an album that didn’t necessarily spawn any smash hits but still managed to sell gold and snare the singer a few ARIA nominations.
Now it’s onto album number two, Curiouser – an album that, to put it quite simply, is a masterpiece in pop that sees Australia’s latest up-and-coming superstar make the full-blown transition into pure pop princess. Miller-Heidke, along with partner and collaborator Keir Nuttall, drummer Steve Pope and bassist Ben McCarthy travelled to Los Angeles to work with Mickey Petralia (Beck, Eels, The Dandy Warhols) who caught the singer’s attention after his work with Flight Of The Conchords. Over the phone, the producer seemed to have the right combination of humour, enthusiasm and most importantly, weird old electronic stuff.
“Keir and I had done these demos at home that were quite detailed and we had torn a lot of songs apart and put them back together again,” Miller-Heidke explains. “We were really happy with them, on the whole, but we just needed a producer and engineer to really bring out the character of the songs. We didn’t want someone to change too much but to spark off some new ideas. He was the very first producer to call us back after we sent out the demos and he was so positive about them from the start and had some cool ideas. We just clicked with him and that’s something I am learning more and more doing this, to trust my gut instinct. Everybody has an opinion, everybody wants to have their two cents’ worth and in the end, it just comes down to what my instincts tell me.”
Proving her instincts have indeed served her well, the resulting Curiouser is a triumph in pop music that smashes her past with her present while looking into the future. The songs are still distinctly Kate; with their razor-sharp lyrics and incredible hooks, they sum up the two-worded mission statement; fun and fearless.
“That was the vision and we had that vision,” she explains. “That was the fun of it, I guess, just sticking to that vision of joyous abandon and fun of pop music. Obviously there are all shades of light and dark on the record – there’s emotive ballads and different kinds of sounds, but ultimately it come down to that feeling of joyous pop.”
Keir Nuttall has always been right behind his life partner and musical collaborator but towards of the end of the Little Eve run and most notably on Curiouser, his presence seems to have taken a step to the forefront of the whole Kate Miller-Heidke “project”. All songs are now co-credited to the two, and Nuttall now gains a mention as co-producer alongside Petralia.
“He’s a big reason why this album has turned out the way it has,” Miller-Heidke reveals. “It was totally a collaboration and we found this incredible synchronicity that we had never quite tapped into before. I was always too shy and always felt songwriting was very private, never wanted anyone to hear when I was halfway through writing a song. I got to the point early this year where I stopped giving a shit and we started writing together and more and more ideas were sparking off – it was really a burst of inspiration.
“We had no songs when we went in. That’s why I think this album has a much greater sense of cohesion than the last one. It was done to a certain formula as well; two ‘up’ songs, then one slightly more ‘down’ song. Every song either had to have a sense of fun and wit and sparkle about it, or a sense of heartfelt, tug-of-the-heartstrings kind of emotion. They were the two criteria for the songs and nothing in between. Looking back on the recordings I’ve done in the past, it’s the songs that don’t quite fit either of those that sometimes can veer into bland territory or I just get sick of them easier.”
With songs about a lack of ass-shaking abilities, apocalyptic dreams, bitchy ex-friends and even a desire to be around in the 60s, there is no topic that is safe from the Miller-Heidke treatment. She is reluctant to reveal too much about certain songs as to not completely reveal the mysterious appeal to some songs. Potential single ‘Caught In The Crowd’ seemingly recalls some experiences from school days and, more specifically, observations of struggles with a friend dealing with bullies.
“It’s a song that just has a grain of truth that lies at the core and is quite potent,” she says. “Is it a true story? I don’t want to say too much, people can think what they like. Obviously I have literary license at my disposal but also Keir was involved in writing more lyrics than one might think as well.  I don’t want to give away too much about the stories behind the songs because I don’t like it when my artists do that.”
With reference to Alice In Wonderland, the album title is evocative in nature and seems to be drawing different things out of different people. Miller-Heidke smirks at this suggestion and loves the mystery involved. She mentions that Petralia thought a noun, but really is reluctant to completely give away her personal meaning.
“The word just seemed to sum up the aesthetic and the spirit in which the album was made,” she explains. “The spirit of exploration and expansion and obviously in Alice In Wonderland it’s that whole LSD, bright-coloured world that’s gone slightly warped and wonky. At the same time, the fact that the word has a few different layers of meaning appealed to me – the music’s curious, as in as it’s a bit peculiar and strange and curious can also be an attitude as well. Some people don’t get it at all and can’t even pronounce it.
“Everyone’s always going on like ‘Ooo Kate’s quirky’ or ‘Kate’s different’ and it’s like ‘There you go, it’s curious, I’m laying it out for you – that’s it, you don’t have to go on about it anymore’. It’s like She’s So Unusual by Cyndi Lauper – that was an inspiration as well.”
Miller-Heidke laughs off suggestions that she is poised to become Australia’s next big household name, and has a theory of her own to measure fame.
“I think a pretty good gauge of how famous you are is how many people recognise you at the airport,” she smirks cheekily. “Yesterday when I was coming into the airport, this guy just stared at me and he goes ‘Heidke!’, trying to say my name like he had heard it on Mel and Kochie six months ago and it had burbled up from the depths of himself. And then just the other day, because I fly so much now and I’m a platinum frequent flyer, the person checking me in said ‘I really like your new single, I remember when you were only a silver frequent flyer!’.”

WHO: Kate Miller-Heidke
WHAT: Curiouser (Sony BMG)
WHERE & WHEN: The Tivoli Thursday Nov 20