The metamorphosis of gifted folk singer/songwriter Celia Pavey into the electro pop powerhouse Vera Blue has been as visually electrifying as it has musically scintillating.
It began with the release of the critically lauded EP “Fingertips” and its achingly ethereal breakthrough platinum single “Hold”. Musically, the track fuses Pavey’s raw lyrical insights and captivating vocals with elegant, hypnotic electronica.
The rapturously received debut album “Perennial” came next; along with that dance-inducing, double platinum single “Regular Touch” – and its far more cinematic visual direction. The album saw Vera Blue play 5 completely sold out Australian tours, European/UK and USA dates, and multiple festivals including Lollapalooza and Splendour in the Grass.
Now comes “Temper”, Pavey’s ecstatic, glorious first single of 2021. Hot-headed in all the best ways, it’s an anthem of defiance that translates the turbulence of new love into driving, 80s-inspired pop. “This song’s about grabbing hold of that emotion and trying to suppress it so you don’t scare your partner away. It makes me dance, but it’s also got that emotional edge.”
“Temper” is an encapsulation of Vera Blue to this point: a song that pushes a multi-platinum, ARIA nominated and APRA award-winning songwriter into an entirely new, and totally thrilling realm. It’s a trend-setter for just how far the Vera Blue universe can expand. Sparkling and invigoratingly hot-blooded, it might be Pavey’s most clarified statement to date: “It feels fresh, fun and relatable, and I hope everyone likes it as much as I do!”
Peter Gill Caught up with Vera Blue AKA ‘Celia Pavey’ for a chat ahead of the CPAC show on 11th of Feb..
Celia, I read an interview where you said you used to get teased for having red hair, how do you feel about it now?
“Yes, I am definitely proud of my red locks all my immediate family, my parents and brother and sister are red heads. In high school it was a little bit difficult when the term ‘ranger’ came out, which was very aimed at kids with red hair. I did suffer a little bit, but now I try to grow it as long as I can, and I flick it around on stage as much as I can, I am very proud of it!”
You grew up in Forbes, I believe your dad was a horticulturist, I read it was a musical family. I know your mum played the organ, what did your dad play?
“All of my mums side was very musically inclined and we spent a lot of time around the piano singing songs, and my sister and I sing a lot. My dad at one point wanted to get in on the music thing, so he started learning drums which was really cute. He had a drum kit set up in the granny flat right near the house and he would go in there and play drums. He didn’t keep it up, he just wanted to see what it was like, it was pretty cute, we loved it”
I guess the family was so musical you couldn’t avoid it..
“We definitely couldn’t avoid it, we were just going to do music no matter what. I love it, it comes with it’s pro’s and cons, obviously being a musician is a very emotional thing, and I am always drawing from emotion when I am writing, so it can be taxing in that way, but it’s beautiful to be able to put music out, and for people to relate to it, that’s what’s really special”
You taught yourself guitar, what kind of music did you want to learn?
“When I was about 14 or 15 we always had a guitar lying around at time. I spent a lot of time on youtube learning to play and listened to a lot of Angus and Julia Stone, a lot of Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez, and Simon and Garfunkel. I just fell in love with that style of music”
How did you go about from being Celia the person to being Vera Blue the project?
Well the project is when I started delving into electronic music, that’s what created the new sound. I see the Celia Pavey music as being more kind of acoustic, more raw.. I mean the Vera Blues stuff is very raw too and lets me experiment with different sounds and let’s me unleash a part of me that only ever happens when I am in that mode”
– Peter Gill
Vera Blue plays CPAC on 11th of Feb, tickets are available through Ticketlink
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