Page 13: Kate Ceberano on growing up in the Australian music scene

Kate Ceberano chats to Herald Sun’s Alice Coster about the heady days growing up in Australia’s music scene ahead of her upcoming tour.

Australian singing legend Kate Ceberano. Picture: Supplied.

She has the pipes but Kate Ceberano can also paint quite the picture.

Describing the heady days growing up in Australia’s music scene, Ceberano talked of the dangerous ways artists regarded drugs and alcohol.

“I remember walking in backstage one time, and it was like Scarface,” she recalled.

“There was, like, this mountain of white stuff, which I knew was something dangerous. First of all, I looked beyond the mountain.

“I looked at the person offering it, and I thought, ‘That person looks like a greedy wolf, licking his lips.’ And I said, ‘I don’t want to be the young edible.’ I am not Little Red Riding Hood. I said, ‘No, thank you.’”

When asked why drugs and alcohol hadn’t significantly affected Ceberano in her life, she cited her young age – “I was often 18 years younger than all of my peers,” and not wanting to be taken advantage of or seem stupid when coming up in the industry.

The Bedroom Eyes singer appeared on ABC series the Creative Types with Virginia Trioli ahead of her upcoming 22-date Australian tour.

Ceberano on Creative Types with Virginia Trioli Picture: Aaron Smith

“It’s so important for me to express my culture, my Australia, in song,” Ceberano said of the tour.

“This is a love letter to the artists, bands, audiences and storytellers who I’ve travelled with over this vast continent for four decades, a deep dive into what makes ME an Australian artist: my hungry heart holding their words to my chest, making them the soundtrack to my life.”

A tour of celebration, the tour title – Australian Made – refers to when Ceberano was just 20 years old and performed with I’m Talking on the original Australian Made tour of 1986, where she shared the stage with INXS, Jimmy Barnes, Models, and Divinyls.

But first she made sure to stop into Princess Theatre to hear the stellar production and pipes from Jesus Christ Superstar. Ceberano of course memorably played Mary Magdalene in the Andrew Lloyd Webber rock opera more than 30 years ago and was excited to see Mahalia Barnes version.