Interview: Brooke Fraser

Hey! How are you doing, Brooke?
Good. Where about's are you located at?

San Jose.
San Jose. Wow!!

I'm came up to San Francisco and saw your show on Tuesday.
Oohh... I'm sorry. That was a bad show.

[interrupting] No! I was gonna say it was awesome. We had a blast.
I'm glad. Thank you so much for coming up for it. That's very cool.

So you thought it was bad?
Well, for us anyway. We made the best of it. You can always tell if I'm having a rough show because I overcompensate and tell far more stupid stories than I probably should. I guess that's what makes it fun; it makes for an interesting night for everyone.

Yes, I did like your stories. You are up in Portland, right?
Yes. It's freezing up here. I thought that San Francisco was cold. But, it's cold. I thought I was coming during summer. I told all my friends back home that are staying and suffering through winter that we were going to escape. But, I don't think that's necessarily true now.

Yeah, it's been a pretty cold June so far.
Yes. It's crazy. Will it warm up soon?

Yes, it will. Faster than we know it.
Good.

How's the tour going?
Yeah, good. It's only our third show but the past two...

And then my iPod Recorder stopped working so I frantically started writing! I will do my best to paraphrase the questions and answers to the best of my knowledge and remembering. Take the jump for the rest of the interview...


[continued on from above]... shows have been good. We were in L.A. then San Francisco.

With the CD being released just a few weeks ago, how have the crowds been different from your previous U.S. tour a couple of months ago?
It's been good. I'm still surprised every night that when I walk on stage that there are actually people in the audience. I don't know where they've heard about it, but it's very exciting. I've been asking the crowds whether or not this was their first time seeing me and so far it's been a mix.

It's been quite the journey for the CD to be released here in the U.S.?
Yeah it has. We finished recording during the summer of 2005. It's been a long time, but our first priority was to get it out to where I have a fan-base: Australia and New Zealand.

Why did it take so long to get here?
Even though I'm still signed to Song BMG Worldwide, I had to independently release this album. With not having a secure fan-base, the record company maybe was scared of taking a risk, so we've released it independently. We played Hotel Cafe, down in L.A. and met the locals and got a feel of how we could release the album here.

As far as the touring goes, how has the band changed now that your touring the U.S. compared to when you tour in Australia/New Zealand?
My two core members of the band, Ben (drums) and Beth (keyboards, back-up vocals & viola) have been with me for the last two years. Both of them live here in America. I actually fly them out to Australia to tour with me there. Ben's from Detroit and Beth is from Long Beach. Chris Polley, who played keyboards on Albertine introduced me to these guys. He couldn't tour with me because he's off working with Gwen Stefani. But, Beth and I became quick friends. And it works out amazingly.

As far a 3rd album, are you writing any new songs for it right now?
Right now, my focus is on Albertine. Once the tour is over and I'm back at home then I'll start working on new material. I know some people can write on the road, but it's hard to drive 11 hours, wake up, play a show and then focus on new material. Once this chapter is shut, then I can begin to start on something new.

I know that Albertine was inspired by your time in Rwanda and I'm sure your first album had a very different inspiration. What and how do you choose your inspiration for your music?
I don't even know how to answer that. I have no idea. I'm not a mechanical type of writer - I can't sit down and pull things out of my ass. I can't really predit where it will come from. I guess I trust God and go from there. As far as my time in Rwanda, I could have never forseen the significance that would have on my life or my music at that time in my life.

What's your plans for the next couple of months?
We are going to be touring till October - kind of a crazy adventure. Our last scheduled date is September 26th in London but we are going to back track after that through October. This U.S. tour will run till the 4th of July and then my husband and I will be going back home for a week for a conference. Then we'll be back at it.

Do you know if you are going to come back to San Francisco?
No, but the next time I do, I'm definitely taking a day or two there. I haven't had a chance to see the city and it's so well-known for it's food, culture... I need to check it out, for sure.

Yes, you should. It's a great place! Thank you so much for your time Brooke and again it was a pleasure seeing you perform.
Oh, thank you. That's very encouraging.

Good luck with the rest of the tour.
Thank you!