Missy Higgins: Fresh Face from Down Under

The journey began in Melbourne, Australia when a young Missy Higgins was realizing her dream of becoming a musician. Having spent most of her adolescence looking for freedom and self-sufficiency, she found herself drawn to alternative artists such as Nirvana and Courtney Love. Rebelling against school work, Missy spent a lot of her time in the music room experimenting with the piano and teaching herself how to play the guitar. There she created a song that would inspire her music teacher to encourage her to cut a demo and her sister to submit it to Unearthed, an Australian song competition.

"All For Believing" won the competition and brought in hordes of music offers from major record labels. Missy was blown away! Her initial reaction was to quit school and seize the moment, but she stuck it through and finished school. By the end of the year, her urge to follow the spotlight had dimmed and so she left to backpack through Europe for six months. Fortunately for Missy, the record labels would be waiting when she got back.

Read on to find out more about how Missy's respect for herself and the decision to experience the world changed her life and ultimately her music career.

TeenMusic.com: How are you enjoying the music business so far?

Missy: Um, it's interesting. I'm really enjoying it. It's been a complete roller coaster for me in the past year and a half. Since I've released in Australia it's just been the craziest ride.

TeenMusic.com: Do you think you've finally gotten your big break or are you still waiting for it to happen?

Missy: In Australia I definitely have. Over here (In America) it's a totally different ball game. You've really got to spend a lot of time over here and play a lot of shows and put in the hard yards to get anywhere. The album is still in the top 5 in Australia.

TeenMusic.com: How do you plan to achieve longevity in this ever-changing business?

Missy: I guess I'm always being conscious of maintaining my artistic integrity and never really compromise myself. Whether I maintain longevity or not I will be doing it on my own terms. And if longevity means having to compromise myself then I don't want it. I think honesty always shows through and if you're true to yourself and you've actually got the talent behind it you'll be able to stick it out.

TeenMusic.com: Can you offer some advice to teens who might be hoping for a career in music?

Missy: How I started was basically getting my face out there at open mike nights and acoustic venues. You've got to get a demo tape together and give it to as many people as possible and I think the main thing is to just play as much as you can even if [your gigs] are free and even if they seem like they're getting you nowhere.

TeenMusic.com: How do you think backpacking through Europe better prepared you for writing music?

Missy: I think I matured a lot overseas. I think that whole experience just forced me to grow up and forced me to see the world through different eyes. I experienced different cultures and different ways of living and different points of view and different frames of mind. I think that experience really helped me to put the world into perspective and get my life into perspective and realize that I wasn't the center of the universe that I was just one little piece of it.

TeenMusic.com: Why do you think it's important to experience life rather than to give it all up for a music career?

Missy: Everyone told me that once you get into the music business and once you get a record deal they don't let you go until basically you've recorded and finished the deal. It would have been very hard to get 6 months or a year off once you have a record deal. (Traveling) was something that I've always wanted to do so I thought I should do that first.

TeenMusic.com: How would you describe your sound to someone who may not have ever heard your music before?

Missy: I guess it would be adult, contemporary, piano-driven pop. I've co-written a couple of songs on the album but mostly I wrote them all myself.

TeenMusic.com: How has growing up in Australia influenced your music?

Missy: I think there's a general down to earth-ness of Australians, a real kind of modesty and honesty that we are born with. I think that really helps with the entertainment industry. Even if you're famous in Australia you can't get too ahead of yourself and you can't get appear too arrogant or too confident because they'll just cut you down to size. I've kind of been forced to give myself reality checks once in a while. With my song writing, it's really good to have that honesty.

TeenMusic.com: Where is one place you dream of performing?

Missy: I'd love to perform anywhere in Europe pretty much. I love Spain and I love Italy and I love France. I would love to be able to tour in any of those places because I think that Europe is the most amazing place.

TeenMusic.com: Which song is your favorite on the album and why?

Missy: My favorite song kind of changes all the time. I don't really listen to the album because I'm too critical. It's not pleasant. My favorite song to play live from the album is "Any Day Now".

TeenMusic.com: We've got your video for "Ten Days" playing on the site. Can you tell us a bit about making that video and if some of those shots are from your European excursion?

Missy: Yeah, that's right. We took a camera around Europe. [The song] relates to being away from home. I actually wrote that song when I was in Los Angeles and it just relates to being away from the person that you love.

TeenMusic.com: What's the next step in your music career?

Missy: I guess keep doing what I've been doing for the past few months. I released the album on June 6th and the next step is to just get some really good support tours going and just put myself out to the American public. I just want to be able to give myself the best chance. I'll be doing a bit of a tour with Jason Mraz and you can get more info about that on my website.www.MissyHiggins.com.

Check out Missy Higgins "The Sound of White" in stores now.

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