Jane Badler: Dark & Moody
March 2013
Sci-fi icon and cult figure Jane Badler will unveil her new show and perform songs from her upcoming album Diamond Crimson Blood at The Famous Spiegeltent’s Supper Club this Thursday March 21.
Taking her theatricality and artistry to a new level, the European tent of mirrors will make for the perfect setting for Badler’s neo-gothic electro sounds which will take her audiences on a journey of seduction, obsession, betrayal and the duplicity of life.
“It’s going to be a very special show because we will launch our first single, Stuck On You, as well as some covers like Fever and Tainted Love but with my own dark twisted spin on things,” Badler announces. “I’m excited about performing some six tracks from the new album which people wouldn’t have heard before, as well as some songs from my second album [Tears Again, 2011]. It’s going to be a pretty intimate show with five of us artists, including [cabaret performer] Meow Meow, so it’s a late-night show which is going to be a little bit sexy but a lot of fun, and a great way to introduce my new band to people before we go off to Europe in August.”
And that’s half the fun for Badler, who says it’s particularly exciting to be accompanied by a whole new collective of individuals she both admires and relates to musically – a group that features some impressive names, indeed. Consisting of Johnny Justin on guitar, Colin Berwick as the musical director and pianist and Nui Moon on percussion, Badler describes her new band as the ‘dream line-up’ which perfectly aligns with her own brand of surreal pop-cabaret.
“Most of my songs deal with a lot of dark themes of addiction, lust and betrayal,” Badler claims. “It’s dark, moody, dramatic – it’s everything I love. I’m an actress so I’m not interested in the mundane day-to-day stuff, I’d rather sing about obsession and mortality. But it all has a humorous twist too! The theatrical appeals to me because of my background in acting, though I can’t even honestly say anymore where the acting stops and the music starts. My entire life has been like one big morph of both. From eight I sang in talent contests, I grew up playing the guitar and flute, I sang in clubs through university to make money in New England clubs, then the acting really took off in the 80s. I stopped singing for a while until I moved to Australia and it’s at the forefront of my passion right now.”
Badler’s forthcoming album will take her to Europe for a lengthy tour this year, and will include a handful of Australian dates too – but not too many, as she warns…
“Well, what I do is a bit more ‘big city European’ so I can’t really see it working in the rural outback of Victoria, for example. There’s just no point in taking it where it may not be received as well as, let’s say, Sydney. I will actually play in Sydney and I will do the opening of the Ballarat Cabaret Festival with the same show – maybe a few other cities – but that will probably be it for Australia.”
Jane Badler performs at The Famous Spiegeltent, The Arts Centre, Melbourne on March 21.
artscentremelbourne.com.au
Photos by: Jennifer Stenglein
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