The name Lisa Mitchell might not be instantly recognisable to a majority – yet – but her music most certainly is. She ignited the summer with her dreamy and humorous pop ballad Neapolitan Dreams and more recently had radio listeners and audiences alike crooning along with her as her second hit single, Coin Operated Laundry, asked the question ‘Have you got a dollar? Have you got a dollar?’. If the name Lisa Mitchell still isn’t striking a chord then it’s time to crawl out from beneath that rock and read on, because the Mitchell star is one you just have to watch rise.
On the phone from Sydney, Mitchell is a little jetlagged. She had just returned from London at 5am the previous morning after having played at Glastonbury. ‘It was amazing,’ she said of the experience. ‘I grew up in Melbourne hearing about the legend that is Glastonbury, so to actually play it was a bit of a dream come true really. It was an incredible day.
‘I played twice – once at 12 o’clock and again at 2 – the 2 o’clock show taking place in a bigger tent. It was surprising how many people were in there and when I played a song of mine called Neapolitan Dreams – which everyone over there knows because it appears on the Surf Washing Powder ads – everyone joined in and started clapping along. It was a fun show.’
Mitchell was plucked from relative obscurity three years ago when she appeared on that supposed pop star making machine, Australian Idol. Mitchell placed sixth before being evicted. ‘I was 16 when the auditions came through,’ Mitchell explained in her soft, almost elfin sing song voice. ‘I tried out and ended up being on telly. It seems like quite a weird thing now but I loved it at the time.
‘However, there were things about the show I didn’t love such as judging music – I don’t really agree with that. But the fact that I got to get out of my little country town for a while and live in Sydney for a while and be surrounded by all these older musicians was very exciting for me. From that point of view it really excited me. And career wise that exposure was really key in getting the contacts.’
But unlike many of her contemporaries who have appeared on the show, Mitchell has actually managed to break the mould created for her. She now stands at the precipice of indie pop stardom and is about to fall headfirst into a whole new world when her debut album, Wonder, is released this month. Advance praise for the album has been more than favourable with Mitchell’s unique song writing ability capturing the hearts of many critics.
‘I suppose it’s kind of like a diary entry,’ Mitchell said of her songs, the process behind them and the influences which appear there. ‘I always relate it back to diary entries because for me it’s just an extension of journal entries. It’s like a little recount from the day of something that’s turned your mood around. It’s about recalling these little moments of hope, of when you have a little breakthrough. I suppose instinctively I want to remember what that was, so I write a diary entry about it or a song.
‘Still, I’m not someone who is adamant about writing in the same book everyday. It’s quite erratic as well: some days I’ll write in it heaps and other days I won’t write in it at all. It’s only when I feel the need. But the other day I bought a packet of long airmail envelopes. They’re a nice classic set with the red and white stripes around the edges. So I’ve been writing on them and I just carry one around with me everyday and just sort of write all over it.’
It’s Mitchell’s unconventional approach which makes her perfect for a life as an indie pop star. Even her attitude toward influences, and how they manifest in an artist’s music, is different to the opinion you so often hear and, as a result, all the more refreshing.
‘With influences it becomes this scramble of everything that you like and then you try and put everything that you value in a song of someone else’s into your own song. You can’t help it really. Originality is inevitable as well, but you can’t help but be influenced by other artists too. I quite like it when I recognise someone’s influence in someone else. It makes me pleased about the world when you can hear people in other people. I think that’s a nice thing and a big compliment to that artist. It just gives you faith in other people and art.’
Wonder is released through Warner Music.
Scott-Patrick Mitchell
