(^194) | marieclaire.com.au
PHOTOGRAPHY BY CYBELE MALINOWSKI; GETTY IMAGES. EDITED BY ALLEY PASCOE.
BJÖRK
I started listening to Björk’s music when
I was in high school, hearing it for the
first time on a visit to my older sister’s
university. Some students were playing
her album Debut while they were
drawing a chalk mural on a pavement.
I remember it clearly: her unique
voice and distinct way of looking at
the world captured me then and there.
I’d never heard anything like it before.
Childlike and worldly all at once,
Björk’s music and perspective were
fresh and exhilarating. From there, I
followed her every move; I guess you
would say I became a devotee. Her
music has carried me across some
varied landscapes, but I still return
to songs such as “All Is Full of Love”,
“Bachelorette” and “Hunter” among
many others to draw strength in times
of creative or personal drought. I think
Björk is the most original voice of my
generation, and the risks she has taken
with her music, the breadth of what she
has done and her uncompromising
spirit never fail to inspire me.
HOLLY THROSBY & SALLY
SELTMANN (SEEKER LOVER
KEEPER BANDMATES)
I first met Holly in about 2003, after she
played a show at The Basement in
Sydney. I met Sally not long after, when
we did one of those “Singers To Watch”
photo shoots that you do when you’re
younger! We were all from Sydney and
put out our first albums around the
same time, so we were definitely aware
of each other. One memorable night,
we ended up at The Townie [Town Hall
Hotel] in Newtown. We discovered we
had a lot in common and gushed a little
over each other’s music. Not long after,
we emailed about the idea of touring
and joked about starting a “girl group”.
We eventually agreed we would do it
for real – and Sally offered the name
Seeker Lover Keeper. A few years later,
we made an album and released it in
- I discovered so much about
myself and Holly and Sally through the
experience of recording and touring
together. We had to lay ourselves bare
and that was often confronting, coming
from working on things as a solo artist.
I’ve found a great deal of understanding
and a sense of solidarity with Holly and
Sally, which has been really important
to me over the years. We have all since
had children, and written books and
albums, so it has been interesting to see
how far we’ve all come working on a
new album together last year.
JESSICA CHAPNIK KAHN
I’ve known Jess since I was 12. I
remember seeing her from across the
room for the first time at Christian Life
Centre [now Hillsong] in Sydney. Her
family reminded me of my own: she was
one of two daughters of a similar age
to my sister and me, and we all looked
shy in this massive, noisy, chaotic
Pentecostal church. I gathered courage
to say hi and we became friends. We
both wanted to be actresses and would
write each other letters with Bible quotes
and talk about NIDA and boys. When
my family left the church when I was
about 17, we lost contact. Then at 21,
we were thrown together in a startling
display of serendipity when we both
enrolled in the same university course
at the same time on the exact same day.
We quickly rekindled our friendship- often at the uni bar! – and sought to
make sense of our religious upbringing
and rid ourselves of the baggage that
came with that, since we’d both left it
behind. Two years into our degrees, my
mum died. I often wonder what I would
have done without Jess’ friendship at
that point. She guided me through that
difficult time so graciously and she has
done so through countless other tough
points in my life. We have come in and
out of each other’s lives over the years,
but something stronger than both of us
keeps pulling us back together.
Seeker Lover Keeper’s new album
Wild Seeds is out August 9 via
Liberation Records.LAST WORD
“I THINK BJÖRK IS THE
MOST ORIGINAL VOICE OF
MY GENERATION”SAR AH BLASKO
The singer/songwriter speaks candidly about
the women she holds closest to her heartTHE WOMEN WHO MADE ME
CLOCKWISE FROM LEFT Holly Throsby
and Sally Seltmann of Seeker Lover Keeper;
Jessica Chapnik Kahn; and Björk.