4 12 Questions
Julia Deans is one of New Zealand’s best known rock chicks as the former frontwoman of Fur Patrol, but whose career has veered from Irish folk to the musical Brel. This week she sings Joni Mitchell in the Auckland International Cabaret Season.
Julia Deans is one of New Zealand’s best known rock chicks as the former frontwoman of Fur Patrol, but whose career has veered from Irish folk to the musical Brel. This week she sings Joni Mitchell in the Auckland International Cabaret Season.
1. Do you come from a musical family? My grandfather, Jack Moriarty, was amazing. He could play anything and my mum grew up doing lots of Irish dancing. I always sang at church and with my friends. Then when I was 18 someone asked if I wanted to play guitar and sing backing vocals in this band [Banshee Reel] and that was it. I’d moved to Wellington to go to jazz school and study composition but I only lasted three months. We started touring and that was way more exciting. 2. Why jazz? I started out playing classical piano and didn’t know much about jazz so just wanted to explore. I love learning new things and despite wasting a few thousand dollars dropping out after three months I still got so much out of it. So many New Zealand musicians have studied jazz — Warren Maxwell, lots of the Fat Freddy’s boys, the Shapeshifter boys. 3. Who was your teenage musical influence? I discovered Led Zeppelin when I was about 13. It was one of those flash bulb moments. I was at a friend’s church youth group camp and this gorgeous guy was running it. He was one of those awesome humans who didn’t push the whole Jesus thing but was interested in helping us as teenagers. We were lying in our bunk beds asleep one morning when the door opened and I saw this arm push a ghetto blaster through it and press play. Good Times, Bad Times blasted out and I sat up. I think [Robert Plant] influenced my singing. He could do that big trill and then the deep sexytime voice. Chris Purdy was the youth camp guy’s name. I wonder where he is now? 4. Did you have a religious upbringing? I grew up in a fundamentalist Christian church. I was only into the singing really. I just didn’t believe [in] it from a young age. There was a lot of fear in the teachings, Armageddon and Christians being tortured. My parents were really young and I was about 5 when they joined. I know how those outreach programmes work — they often look for people that are lost or vulnerable and to their credit, they provided great support. Mum and Dad got out too once we became teenagers. I don’t believe in God now but I think the beautiful thing that happens in churches is people congregating for a common belief and supporting each other. 5. Is it harder to be a woman in rock than a man? Yes, I think so. I’ve been fortunate with the people I’ve played with and most musicians don’t give a shit about whether you’re male or female, it’s how you play. But in Australia it was more of a boys’ club. I