Curiouser And Curiouser

A quick chat with Bertie Blackman on the release of ‘Secrets And Lies Remixed’ reveals her to be darkly quirky, impish and as complexly delightful as her music.

2009 was a big year for Ms. Blackman - among other achievements, ‘Secrets And Lies’, her biggest step forward as far as electronic experimentation was concerned, won an ARIA for ‘Best Independent Release’.

“Just completing that record was huge,” she says when asked about a clear highlight for the year. “Making a record is a lot like giving birth - you put absolutely everything you have into it, your soul, heart and sweat and blood. When it’s out of my hands it’s a really odd feeling and I have to shut up a little bit.

“The process of writing is what I love, it’s my favourite part of what I do, so I always cherish that and sink my fangs in when I’m working.”

Bertie recently handed ‘Secrets And Lies’ over to a bunch of (generally) lesser-known producers to tweak her work - what does she think of the results, and were there any big surprises?

“I wanted it to be underground and more indicative of where I started with the record. James Weir from Forum 5, a Melbourne DJ, helped me put it together. It’s not really my world, so I handed the project over a bit. It’s been a little treat to put out to groove along to, to have sex to ... whatever people want to do with it,” she giggles. “I might even go and have sex on a dancefloor to it! You should do it - you have sex to it and let me know how it goes.”

One listen to Blackman’s lyrics and it’s impossible to miss the ever-present animal imagery - vicious, feeding sharks and clawing birds of prey litter her songs, and it seems that Bertie likes to attach human characteristics to the animal world. Or possibly vice-versa.

“In my imagination, people don’t exist, they are all creatures. I also don’t want you to think I have a sick, weird animal fetish. I don’t, like, have sex with sharks or anything like that. You’d probably die. I’m a curious creature and I guess I’m a bit childlike in the way I approach things, I use a lot of imagination in my work. Probably, subconsicously, the sharks are various parts of the music industry, things like that.”

Bertie Blackman plays the Surfers Paradise Festival, Surfers Paradise Beach, on Sunday May 2. This is a free event.