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The late 60's belonged to the sounds of Jimi Hendrix's guitar and the prodigious voice of Janis Joplin, that would soon bring these two forces together. The place...Max Yasgur's dairy farm near the hamlet of White Lake in the town of Bethel, New York where a 3-day concert took place. During the sometimes rainy weekend, thirty-two acts performed outdoors in front of 500,000 concert-goers. It is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most pivotal moments in popular music history and was listed among Rolling Stone's 50 Moments That Changed the History of Rock and Roll. That pivotal moment was no other than Woodstock.
Now, here comes New Zealand born singer/songwriter, Vera Black, who has a unique heart-felt style of Folk/Soul/Rock, as she instills in her own "Modern Woodstock", to produce real music with real meaning. This unique beauty (formally known as Amanda Baker) now graces us with her gut-wrenching and mesmerizing tone in the musical scriptures that she delivers. After touring the world with her 6-piece band, it's no wonder that this Australian beauty takes us on a journey through the life of "peace, love, music, and feathers." I can honestly say when I heard this girl wale, her essence had taken me back to Wayne's World, where that 1992 audience fallen in love with "Cassandra". Black will make you go "Schwing!" soon as that first note hits waves onto your speakers. With her hit "The Fool", we would a fool not to keep our ears peeled to this Queen of feathers and life.
You are compared to two of my favorite artist such as Annie Lennox and Janis Joplin. What about these eccentric artist that inspired your particular sound?
The music I have listened to over my entire lifetime has inspired the sound I have today, I love so many different types of music, I love great singers. In regards to Lennox and Joplin, they are two passionate women and the message is clear, they have unbelievable voices and they are prepared to use them, to tell a story and tell it with maturity and conviction. This is how I hope to communicate with my music.
"The Fool" is such a beautiful and powerful song that defines so many relationships. How does this song reflect to your own experiences?
Well, I did write this song for a dear friend of mine who was going through a bad break up, I wrote it and sang it to her, to say “hey I know how you feel, and if you could put it in a song, it would sound a little something like this.” I would be lying if I said the experience didn’t come from me first. I’ve had my fair share of shitty relationships, I tend to talk very little about it, but write about it, it make’s for great venting and allows you to get on with your life.
"The Waiting City" was a film you had the chance of writing the song "The Beauty of Life" - that was performed by Isabel Lucas and Joel Edgerton- who play musicians in the film. Can you remember your initial reaction to watching that particular scene?
It’s always strange seeing someone else’s interpretation of your work, I remember thinking, you write a whole song and 15 seconds end up in the film! But it was a great experience, just having to work to a ‘brief’ and a set of guidelines makes for an interesting change in the way I normally write. This film was written and directed by my sister-in-law, Claire McCarthy and shot by my brother, cinematographer, Denson Baker ACS. I felt so proud to be apart of an Australian feature with the involvement of my brother and sister.
After performing in the Led Zepplin tribute tour around NSW with some of Australia's best musicians and vocalists, was it a challenge to sing the songs to their perfection, due in part to the people’s songs you were performing? Which songs were your favorite to take on?
It was a challenge I really enjoyed. Led Zeppelin is one of my all time favorites. I did my own take on the songs rather than trying to match up to the great Robert Plant. I opened the show with Rock & Roll, it was cool, 'coz I think the audience is always expecting some guy to come running out looking and sounding just like Plant, but surprise….. it’s me! I loved doing ‘All of my Love’, nothing beats singing with a full string section. ‘Battle of Evermore’ is such a great song, I sang the female part once sung by Najma Akhtar.
What are your top 5 songs you cannot live without? Why?
That is a very hard question….‘The End’ by The Doors would be up there…it’s the feeling I get when I listen to it…when I hear it, it’s mystical and spiritual, the tone of Jim’s voice hits that spot for me. ‘Push it’ by Salt & Pepper, I can’t imagine what life would be like without ‘Push it’. 'Lifeline' by Ben Harper, it’s simple, beautiful, it makes me think and more importantly, it makes me feel something, reminds you that your human. ‘Big Love’ by Lindsay Buckingham. He is one of my favorite songwriters, along with Stevie. The guitar alone is awesome. I once gave this to a new guitarist I was working with and told him we were going to play this song and he had to learn it. I was just kidding, but the next week he came back and he had learnt it and he was playing it perfectly, so we had to add it to our set. ‘The River Song’ by Dennis Wilson. I remember the first time I heard this song, My heart started beating really fast and my palms were sweaty, I thought….. I want to write music like that. I’m such a sucker for a Gospel Choir, which is where I started singing, in a choir.
Favorite poem or quote that you live by?
“I’m not here to be a princess, I’m here to be the Queen” Quote by Vera Black
The one instrument you wish you knew how to play?
I can play a little bit of a few instruments, enough to write songs, but I wish I was freakishly talented at piano. I would also love to be able to shred an epic guitar solo.
Did you grow up in an artistic household?
My Dad is a great story-teller and writer, almost every night we would sit around the table, eating dinner and listen to my Dad tell stories, some funny, some scary, it really encouraged our imagination. He also had great taste in music, he would often turn on ACDC’s ‘Thunderstruck’, in the morning, as loud as our little stereo could handle and head off out the door to work, it was his way of getting us up and ready for school. My mum was a ballet dancer. When I was young I would go to my Mum’s ballet class and watch, I didn’t like listening to that at daggy piano recitals they would dance to, so I would take along my cassette walkman and listen to Maxi Priest or Madonna. My brother, being a cinematographer, he has always had a camera in his hand and I was most of the time, more than willing to get in front of it. He was always making some kind of movie, or commercial about some made up product. He would often experiment with filters and gels even in his early teens, he had such patience for getting the perfect shot, he still does. My brother and I both did theatre. I performed quite a bit in musicals and I was also a dancer and dance teacher for some time.
Have you ever considered yourself as a girly girl or tomboy when it comes to your sense of style?
Definitely a tomboy, from when I was very young, I would wear a baseball cap and dressed very boyish. I always preferred hanging out with boys and being competitive, I always wanted to ‘one up’ them. I was also in the Scouts with my brother for a while, the only girl in the group. Even now you will barely see me in a dress, I love my jeans, leather pants, shirt’s with flared sleeves and waistcoats. I love wearing clothes that make me feel like a strong, sexy woman, clothes I can confidently move and dance around in and not be self conscious that my butt crack will show or boob will fall out. I love the art of dressing sexy but only revealing a little and leaving the rest up to the imagination, sometimes that can be much more of a turn on. I’m a big fan of the styles worn by Jim Morrison, Hendrix, Zeppelin, Johnny Depp, then I just add a bit of soft rock feathers, I love a look that’s timeless.
Are there any negative messages in music today you wish would change?
There are, but people need to make their own choices for what they listen to and buy. I bring a message of Peace, Love, Music and Feathers, it’s so much easier to love than it is to hate place.
Now. my family heritage is African American and Cherokee and I see that you make your own featured head-piece. Can you describe the process on how you created your own?
I come from a Maori Heritage, native to New Zealand and they too wore feathers. I just love feathers. All the different tribes and everyday people that wear them and their reasons for wearing them, and what it means to wear certain feathers. I am so fascinated with how feathers are formed and the amazing colors that are magically created. I kind of stumbled upon it, I had always worn feathers and my last trip through the States I saw some amazing feather work, it was so inspiring I started making more of my own feather pieces that represented me and my style. I wanted to make feather pieces that didn’t just look beautiful being worn around your head or down your hair, but could be worn as a necklace, attached to a waistcoat, belt or even just hanging on your bedroom door knob, it oozes great energy where ever it’s worn or hanging. I loved the whole idea of feather hair clips and I was often wearing a braided leather headband, so I combined the two. Whilst you can still take off the leather band and wear it as a hair clip, it can be looped onto a leather band and be worn numerous ways.
Tell me your inspiration behind your feather designs.
I am a big fan of the ‘Woodstock Era’. I’m sure I was there in another lifetime. I loved the style and what they believed in, I love the music and how it made everyone feel. The braided leather band represents that for me, freedom, love, peace, music…then all you need is feathers, to me feathers also represents this. I think what the Native American’s have done with feathers, is the most amazing feather work I have ever seen. I think anyone else who works with feathers will say they are inspired or influenced by the Native American style, I love it. I was very inspired after visiting Santa Fe, and the designs I saw, I started making dream-catchers when I got back to Sydney. I would really love to visit one of the tribes there, if they will have me, and teach me how to make a Native American head-dress. Through trial and error of figuring out how the feathers would best sit and fall I finally came up with some set designs that worked really well. Each piece to have it’s own personality, I would wake up in the morning and imagine what feather colors I was going to mix together, what twine and beading would match, and who it would look cool wearing it.
Who do you see wearing your designs?
I made quite a few pieces for Angus and Julia Stone for a music video shoot. They really suit feathers and wear them so well. I also made some for actress Isabel Lucas, I met Isabel from doing ‘The Waiting City’. She saw what I had made some for Angus and Julia and asked if I would design some especially for her. I really enjoyed making those for her, Isabel is the perfect example of who looks great wearing feathers. She wear’s them really well and looks absolutely gorgeous. I would love to see Nicole Ritchie wear my feathers, she suits this look really well. I would love to design special pieces for Stevie Nicks, Steven Tyler and Keith Richards. It’s the down to Earth girls and guys, that are conscious of the world around them that best suit feathers, they are not for the material girls, it would look too much like your trying to be fashionable. If you’re going to wear them you have to mean it.
Do you have a name for each of head-pieces you have made?
Funny you should ask, I did start out naming them, I had one feather head-piece that I attached little silver spoons to, I called it “Reese Featherspoon”. I started getting faster at making them and had to make a lot to have enough to sell each week, I could barely keep up with demands. I did get attached to them, so naming would have just made the attachment worse.
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