She’s a songwriter, model, an actress, and now a chart-topping solo artist. It seems like Zoe Badwi has done it all. I caught up with the bubbly and beautiful blonde songstress today and found there’s still plenty she hopes to achieve.
You were part of the girl group Sirens and Black Dogs. What made you decide to go solo?
I’m still in Black Dogs as well, I’m not leaving them, I love them. But Sirens finished up a few years ago. It was great fun but that was I think all I could do there. The solo career came about because I was playing with my band Black Dogs at a venue and Grant Smillie from TV Rock walked in. I could see him tapping his foot away when I was singing so even that was awesome. But then he came up to me afterwards and asked “Do you write?” He said he had some beats that I could write over and I said “Yeah, for sure.” So I wrote “Release Me” and I went to see them and sung it in front of them and both of them just said “Yep, we love it.”
Sirens had a very mainstream pop sensibility while Black Dogs is a lot edgier. What can we expect from your debut solo album?
You can expect a little bit of edge, definitely. A little bit of rock, pop, house, all the elements combined. I’m trying for something that’s a little bit of everything all put together.
And how’s the album coming along?
Really well. I’ve got the next three tracks ready to go. The next single will be released in two weeks which is called “Don’t Want Ya.” And other than that I’m just writing madly. I might even get together with a few other people and write some songs, just to get a little bit of a different sound.
Who would you like to work with?
James Ash from Rogue Traders, he’d be good. And there’s another guy called Dennis Dowlut (Disco Montego) who is just amazing. And Andrew De Silva who used to be in CDB … Andrew’s actually in my band Black Dogs and I think he’s one of the most talented people I’ve ever met in my life. I’m very lucky to be in a band with him.
TV Rock coproduced your new single “Release Me” and you’re signed up to their record label. What are they like to work with?
Ivan [Gough], he’s married with kids so he’s a little more settled but he’s a lovely guy. And he’s really talented in the producing side of things. I just have to tell him what I want and we talk about it and he finds these really interesting sounds and knows how to fit them in.
And Grant, he’s hilarious. He plays at a lot at the clubs where I’m playing so we always hang out, have a laugh, and have a bit of a drink. But they’re just really nice, down-to-earth guys. I didn’t think they’d be combing the Melbourne band scene to find somebody new. I thought they were just sorted and settled. When they approached me I was very lucky I think. I’m just very grateful for the opportunity. They’re so nice to me, they think I’m good, they believe in me. It’s a great partnership back and forth.
Your song “Release Me” went to number 1 on the ARIA Club Charts. What do you like to dance to on a night out?
When I’m out I love vocal house, but soulful vocal house, old school stuff. Old bands that I like that probably people haven’t heard of are like The Brand New Heavies, I loved Disco Montego. I love artists like Inaya Day and I still love Whitney Houston, just because I think her voice is just amazing. I love anyone who just tells a story, the emotion pours out of them, that’s what I love the most.
I spotted you working on The Singing Bee last year. That show’s one of my guilty pleasures. What’s it like to be a part of?
I was so excited when they asked me! I saw the first season and thought ‘That’d be so fun’ and then I got the call to go in it. I tell you what, I was packing my dacks to be on that show, because it’s the best musicians in Melbourne in the band. You get, I think it was like 40 songs you have to learn and you could sing any one of them, you didn’t know which one it was. But thank goodness one of the girls who has been in it for a while, Kelly Wolfgramm, she divided up the songs. So we still had to learn about 10 songs and be on standby to sing them. I didn’t care about the audience or the cameras or anything like that, it was just the musicians that were there because they were all so good. But I did well and I was proud of myself and I had so much fun.
You’re playing plenty of shows around Melbourne next month. What can people expect from your live gigs?
High energy and a lot of dancing. I’m not even aware of how much I dance. My friends who come and watch go “Woah, you really busted it out tonight Zoe!” I just get carried away! But I sing a fair few different songs, a couple of covers and some originals. You’ll get to see my new song while will be out in two weeks. I’ll start performing that around just to test it, see what the reaction’s like.
Do you have any idea when the rest of Australia will get the chance to see you on stage?
Well I’m heading up to Adelaide this weekend and then I’m in Brisbane in a couple of weeks. So I think it’s just sporadically on the weekends I’ll just be heading to different spots around Australia and just getting it out there.
Aside from the music I hear you’re also a model and an actress. Do you have a favorite creative pursuit?
Singing is my favourite, but it depends. Singing’s always number one but you go through different modes where you want to model more than you want to act, or you want to act more than you want to model. But it depends on what the role is or what the shoot is. I always manage to have myself a good time. I think that’s the most important thing along the way, whatever situation you’re in just find the fun in it.
And finally, do you have a message for your fans out there?
Thank you for supporting me! I can’t believe that people like a song that I wrote. Not even in a silly way, it’s just really nice. Thanks for singing it louder than I do when I’m performing it. I’m so grateful, I really am. I’m stoked.
Image used with permission from Warner Music Australia
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