Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2013

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AUTHOR

GEORGIA HORSLEY (12G)

ARTICLE

Songs and stars in Sydney

Holly is a member of the band Seeker Lover Keeper with Sally Seltmann and Sarah Blasko. While discussing this, she gave me some ideas on arranging and writing music for groups. Though Holly herself cannot read sheet music, her natural musicality and the skill of the people around her allow her to produce the fantastic music she does. This musicality is something I would like to continue to develop myself, thanks to her advice and ideas. I showed Holly some of my songs, which, thankfully, were all warmly received. Her constructive advice on not stressing at all was also warmly received by me. As well as discussing songwriting, Holly and I talked about the music we listen to and found that we have very different tastes. She suggested I try listening to various bands to improve the lyrics I listen to on a daily basis, and to help with this made me a mixtape titled ‘Good Words’. This playlist contains material all the way from from Joanna Newsom to Leonard Cohen, and has since helped me veer my musical taste as far away from Kraftwerk as is required. Having time to talk with someone so successful and so full of knowledge was incredible. In addition to the infinite amounts of wisdom Holly gave to me, there were other great things about having this opportunity: I was fortunate enough to go to her house, and discuss contemporary American poetry with her (I have never been an avid fan, but we both enjoy David Sedaris), and listen to her talk about her friends (all my favourite ABC television personalities and musicians that I love), and have her sign my guitar , and pet her dog . This may be somewhat superficial, I know. But, for some reason, being partially starstruck made the experience so much better — like the difference between Florence and Florence + the Machine. I would like to thank the School most sincerely for giving me the means to have such a wonderful and beneficial experience. I will remember it for the rest of my life.

AFTER BEING FORTUNATE ENOUGH to have been awarded the Friends of Girls Grammar Bursary for Outstanding Performance in the Arts last year, I ventured to Sydney to meet singer-songwriter Holly Throsby in December 2012. This was by far one of the most worthwhile projects I could have done during my time away from School. Holly taught me some fantastic things about songwriting, arranging, and the music business, knowledge that I will be sure to preserve for years to come. She encouraged me to explore music as a career option, and gave me very useful tips on how to do that successfully. As well as this invaluable information on the music business, she gave me advice about songwriting and song structure, which was surprisingly quite different from the advice my teachers had given me. Holly emphasised writing for myself, and throwing noticeable standard structure out the window! She told me how she personally writes, and how she values lyrics and music in her compositions. Despite being quite hesitant, I did manage to hold a logical conversation with her about these things.

TO WATCH GEORGIA PERFORMING ONE OF HER ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS GO TO OR SCAN THIS QR CODE WITH YOUR SMART PHONE (QR CODE READERS ARE AVAILABLE IN THE APP STORE)

AUTUMN ISSUE / 2013