Extreme makeover Written by Nate Mic¨® | 20 December 2010
Natalie Gauci has swapped her squeaky clean Australian Idol image with a look, and sound, that¡¯s got plenty of chutzpah and attitude. Interview by Nate Mic¨®.
Former Australian Idol winner Natalie Gauci is unrecognisable in the electro pop kitsch dance group Tune In Tokyo, with Paul Brandoli (Antoine Dessante, Inaya Day). Here, she talks with SX about her new venture and life, post-Idol.
How did your pairing with Paul Brandoli come about?
We love going out clubbing. We tend to go to gay clubs more. It's less confronting and you just have a good time. I met Paul through that scene and we decided we should work together. We just kept writing songs, and now we're working towards the album. I find a lot of my working relationships become friendships which I think is important.
What's the story behind the name ¡®Tune In Tokyo¡¯?
There is a scene in the movie Girls Just Want to Have Fun where the main dancer is making moves on a girl. He's got his hands on her boobs [like a radio] trying to "tune in Tokyo". My brother and sister and I used to rewind that part over and over again. We thought it was so funny.
Was Paul keen on the name from the start?
He took a little while to warm to Tune In Tokyo. He thought it was a little too silly. But after a while, it was haunting us. You know what's even funnier? The abbreviation of Tune In Tokyo is TIT!
You pull out some big moves in the video clip for 'Dreamer'?
I've always danced since I was a kid. My influences are Madonna and Janet Jackson. It's a dance song so why not? Paul came up with the idea of ¡®vogueing¡¯ and explained Paris is Burning. And then he was explaining the drag queens, or the young kids that want to dress up as something else, be who they want to be. It's all about dreaming. Having that dream and going for it.
The song has hit number three on the club charts. That must be a great feeling?
It's exciting, but it's daunting as well. During Idol when I was with Sony, I found it really difficult to write songs when I didn't have any experiences to write about. I was just sitting at home with my keyboard. I needed to go out and experience things.
How do you look back on your time on Idol?
I look back and I feel almost detached from it. I feel like it was part of my life that was amazing and absolutely changed my life. And I look at that like a chapter in my journey of life. I look back and think I can't believe that was me.
How is married life treating you?
Married life is amazing. It's beautiful and it keeps life very interesting. Definitely not a dull moment. My husband is a psychiatric nurse, and also a musician. He's a very talented musician in a band called Quadrazine.
Dreamer is available now through iTunes and Onelove
go.idolforums.com/?id=3334X607576&xs=1&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2Furl%3Fsa%3DX%26q%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fsxnews.gaynewsnetwork.com.au%2Ffeature%2Fextreme-makeover-008213.html%26ct%3Dga%26cad%3DCAcQARgAIAAoATAAOABAvr-66ARIAVgBYgVlbi1VUw%26cd%3DP6VpuuIJOfA%26usg%3DAFQjCNGbL23iLndNdkIiGLgzbDexOLv_MA&sref=http%3A%2F%2Fidolforums.com%2Findex.php%3Fshowtopic%3D522420%26st%3D440Also FORGOTEN IDIL FINDS NEW GROOVE
Even in the program¡¯s top-rating heyday, winning Australian Idol was never a sure path to success: remember, for every Guy Sebastian there¡¯s a Kate DeAraugo.
Even so, 2007 winner Natalie Gauci seemed to get a particularly raw deal. Winning the show just as the public started to tire of it, she was the first Idol victor not even given the opportunity to release a studio album before she parted ways with record company Sony BMG, dropped after just one single and a hastily-recorded Winner¡¯s Journey album of covers.
Three years on the talented 29-year-old has reinvented herself as a dance diva, thanks to a cracking new single Dreamer, released with producer Paul Brandoli under the moniker Tune In Tokyo.
This turn to dance is making queer fans pay attention ¡ª she played to an enthusiastic reception at the closing night of Sydney gay club Live earlier in the month ¡ª and it¡¯s actually Gauci¡¯s love of the gay scene that was behind the genre shift.
¡°I started going out to a lot of gay clubs about 18 months ago, and that¡¯s how I met Paul. My husband Hamish and I tend to go to gay clubs instead of straight clubs because it¡¯s more fun and not as rough; it¡¯s a vibe we really like,¡± Gauci told the Star Observer.
¡°Dreamer was the very first song we wrote together. It¡¯s hard, because we now have a standard that¡¯s quite high, so we have to keep writing good songs.¡±
So high, in fact, that the song¡¯s already been nabbed by Spanish pop starlet Soraya, who released it in September as the title track for her latest album. Cue misinformed online rumblings from Soraya fans accusing Gauci and co of stealing the singer¡¯s work.
¡°Sometimes it takes a little while for a song to be released, and I think Soraya was meant to be releasing her version next year. Now it seems like we¡¯ve done a cover of her song, but we wrote it,¡± Gauci said.
¡°It¡¯s all a little bit strange, but I think it¡¯s worked out for the best ¡ª now the song¡¯s being promoted internationally by a famous European singer.¡±
And Soraya will have to try her hardest to outgay Tune In Tokyo¡¯s video for the track. Directed by Melbourne director/model Dan Brophy, a past Sleaze Ball poster boy, it¡¯s a relatively simple affair ¡ª an array of fierce, queeny gay boys vogue like their lives depend on it in front of a white screen while a glammed-up Gauci rocks out to the track.
¡°Dan asked me what the song was about, and I told him it was about coming out ¡ª not in a gay-specific sense, but in a sense of being the person you think you can be,¡± she said.
¡°I was called a dreamer in high school, but I¡¯ve always been like that. So Dan gave me the DVD of (1990 drag documentary) Paris Is Burning to watch, and suggested the idea of these teenage boys who want to get out of their skin and dress up and dance.¡±
info: Dreamer (OneLove) is available now on iTunes.
Tags: Australian Idol, Dan Brophy, Natalie Gauci, Paris Is Burning, Soraya, Tune In Tokyon
This post was written by:
Scott Abrahams - who has written 278 posts on Star Online.
www.starobserver.com.au/play/entert...ew-groove/40489
