Pink Martini will be playing a string of shows in September that will feature three performances alongside the Sydney Symphony Orchestra at the Sydney Opera House.
The shows are part of a large tour which sees them performing both originals and classics for audiences around the world. Thomas Lauderdale founded the self-described 'Little Orchestra' back in 1994. He answered some questions about the shows.
What drives Pink Martini to continue writing and playing shows?
Well this is Pink Martini’s 22nd year, so we have been touring for a long time! I think at this point we get motivated the most by being able to collaborate with inspiring artists, guest musicians, and orchestras, and we still enjoy travelling all over the world. It’s thrilling and magical to perform in venues like the Hollywood Bowl, Royal Albert Hall, or the Sydney Opera House.
The band traverses across different genres of world, jazz, and classical music. Are there any rules in your songwriting process?
The thing that matters the most is beautiful melody. Everything evolves from there. The songs should be earnest, never ironic. We want to seduce the listeners and get them to keep on listening. Ultimately the dream of Pink Martini is to create beautiful melodies that can accompany all of life’s moments – from falling in love to grieving a loved one, from throwing a dinner party to vacuuming your house.
The band were still recording in the studio for 'Get Happy' when you started work on the next album, 'Dream A Little Dream'. Did it feel like a direct follow-on between the two, or were there contrasting ideas and concepts which required separate platforms?
Well, 'Dream a Little Dream' is of course our collaboration with The Von Trapps, the great-grandchildren of Georg and Maria von Trapp, whose story was told in 'Sound of Music'. Work on 'Get Happy' was already underway when I met The Von Trapps , and I had immediate ideas of songs that would be appropriate for their voices, their spirit, their talent. We had an all-night "listening party" in my loft after we decided to work together, and I played them song after song after song that I thought would inspire them, and work for them. Working with The Von Trapps, there was a certain sort of exuberance and optimism, and willingness to try anything. So, yes, it was a very inspiring project for me which was distinct from 'Get Happy'.
Is the writing process for a new release underway, or is the focus completely on the upcoming shows?
We’ve actually just completed recording our ninth studio album, 'Je dis oui!', which is due out in late October. The album features our two lead singers, China Forbes and Storm Large, in addition to guest appearances from Rufus Wainwright, Ari Shapiro, and the amazing Ikram Goldman, who is a queen of the fashion world in the US, and is Michelle Obama’s stylist! It also features three songs I was commissioned to write for the upcoming French film Souvenir, starring Isabelle Huppert. We’ll definitely be featuring some of the new songs from 'Je dis oui!' for our Australian audiences.
A tour this large means that the band members are spending the large majority of their time away from home and family. Is the band itself a family away from home?
The best thing about being in a band with 12 people, is that if you’re not getting along with someone you can go hang out with someone else! That certainly wouldn’t be the case if there were three people in the band. But for the most part, we all get along really well... Considering how much time we spending touring and travelling together. We have been through a lot together, and definitely are a family on the road.
It has been six years since Pink Martini have performed in Australia, how have the performances evolved since that time?
Well, of course we have three new albums’ worth of material, and we have some exciting new musicians, like Cuban percussionist Miguel Bernal, who joined the band this year. New musicians and new material keeps our collaboration inspired and fresh. But ultimately, we are still trying to do what we always have done best. Our show is a big multi-cultural, multi-lingual party. We want to play music that grandparents can enjoy with their grandchildren. We try to fill our shows with as much variety as possible, and then throw in surprises. And of course, every show must end with a samba line in the audience!
How do you ensure each band member retains their energy on a tour of this scale?
When I think about how lucky all of us are to have this almost preposterous, implausible sort of vehicle to be able run around and actually make a living – to play this kind of music with ten to twelve full time musicians – it just seems incredible. The travel can be exhausting sometimes but we are all here because we love what we do.
Without giving away too much, how is Pink Martini able to retain its 'Little Orchestra' identity when playing alongside larger orchestras?
The emphasis on our tag 'Little Orchestra' is definitely on the Orchestra. I would bring twenty musicians on the road with me if we could afford it. So when we get to collaborate with a full orchestra on stage, it just makes everything more romantic and dramatic.
