10 things to do before i die

WITH SINGER-SONGWRITER SHARON VAN ETTEN.

1. GET MY DEGREE IN MENTAL-HEALTH COUNSELLING. I’ve realised over the years that music is therapeutic for me and for fans – I’m able to say what they can’t communicate in their own emotions. It’s made me want to help people express themselves in a more positive way. I have a long way to go – I'm only a second-year student, but I’ve set the bar to get my degree by the age of 50.

2. RETIRE AT A BEACH HOUSE AND OPEN A WINE BAR. It would be like a living room where people watch movies and listen to music. I’d have my whole record collection there and listen to records all day long while I tend to the wine bar, with a bunch of funky wines. I think it’d be a nice way to slow down and just check out.

3. PERFORM ON BROADWAY, JUST ONCE. Growing up, Mum would take me to New York for our birthdays every year (they’re just three days apart). We’d get a hotel, go to a fancy dinner then go to Broadway. Before I learned to write my own songs, I thought I wanted to do musicals; my favourites were West Side Story, Les Misérables and Phantom of the Opera. Maybe I should relive my high school speaking role as Anybodys in West Side Story.

4. DO A DUET WITH BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN. I would love to do a face-off with him, or we could remake “Dancing in the Dark”, and that moment where he pulls Courteney Cox up from the crowd. That would be great. I have a lot to learn from him as a performer, too.

5. GO TO HAWAII. It’s good to set some achievable goals! Hawaii is so beautiful and tropical. And it seems both far away enough and close enough that if something happens, my family can come and save me.

6. SURF WITH MY PARTNER. I did manage to stand up once – it’s documented somewhere – but I don’t want to surf a big wave. I want to maybe gasp for air at most, but I don’t want to think I’m going to die. I’m not an adrenaline junkie. I had a C-section when I had my son, so the last time I had the opportunity to surf, I didn’t feel confident jumping on my belly. It would be nice to have that confidence again.

7. TAKE A KNIFE SKILLS CLASS. Chefs say all you need is one really good knife, but I think you also have to have knowledge. I’d love to know the secrets of julienning, chopping, and basic things like cutting onions or how to stop tomatoes from smudging all over your chopping board.

8. PLAY IN SOMEONE ELSE’S BAND FOR A WHILE. I’d like to play drums or bass or whatever. It would be nice not worrying about singing all the time and instead learning how to shred in someone else’s band. Having one job: go play bass, then leave. I think playing with Courtney Barnett would be really fun, but I don’t know if I’m good enough.

9. VOLUNTEER FOR HABITAT FOR HUMANITY. Habitat for Humanity is an organisation where you go and build a house for a low-income family. There are about 50 people in a team, and you construct something together for someone who really needs it. My uncle used to do it and I think it would be really rewarding.

10. TAKE A TRIP WITH MY MUM ON THE TRANS-SIBERIAN RAILWAY. Mum is a retired history teacher. She once got a Fulbright Scholarship to study in China, and she came back fully changed – she started studying Buddhism. I feel like we’d spend time bonding; she’d teach me about the areas we were travelling through, and we’d have fun roughing it, washing our underwear in the sink together.