Missy Higgins

Missy Higgins' debut album 'The Sound Of White', went to sell nine times platinum, one of the biggest selling Australian albums of all time. She had just turned 21 when the album was released in August 2004. Born Melissa Morrison Higgins on August 19, 1983 she writes songs filled with so much emotional intensity she fills you with wonder at a maturity, honesty and ability way beyond her years. In a world of frivolous mindless music stars, Missy was a godsend. Like Joni Mitchell. Patti Smith. Tori Amos.

The youngest of three children, growing up in Melbourne, Missy came late to pop music. Her father played the piano; her older brother gigged with a jazz band. These were her first influences. Underage, she talked her way into her father's gigs and thought about singing jazz standards in smoky clubs.

At thirteen she began five years as a boarder at Geelong Grammar, an hour's drive from home. It was her idea. She wanted her independence. She wanted new friends. It wasn't exactly how she planned. Living in a dormitory with her new friends Missy needed time by herself and found it in the school's music room. Sitting behind the grand piano, she found her voice, and wrote her first song 'All For Believing', about her feelings for her then-boyfriend. As an assignment for music class they'd been asked to write an original song. Missy put it off until the last minute. Missy wound up skipping one class and locking herself into a practice room just a half hour before it was due.

In 2001 keyboard manufacturer Roland's Product Manager, Marc Allen visited Geelong Grammar's music room to do an in-house demonstration and record some of the Year 11 music students, including Missy Higgins. Impressed by Missy's 'All For Believing' he adding a cello player and a simple string ensemble via the Roland orchestral expansion board, as a demonstration of his company's equipment. Missy's sister entered the recording in Triple J's latest 'Unearthed' talent search, and Missy won.

Winning allowed Missy to record a “proper” version of her song as part of her prize, and Triple J played the song on high rotation for a month. 'All For Believing' became one of the network's most requested songs. Triple J staged a concert and Missy had to add a few more songs to the only two or three she had. Record companies started wanting to sign her up.

There was just one hitch. Missy had promised herself and a friend that after high school they would backpack around Europe. She'd saved up for this. Missy saw no reason not to go ahead with that plan. One of her key reasons for signing with the EMI distributed Eleven was the label's readiness to let her go. That's what she was listening for as she spoke to record companies. Missy spent most of 2002 travelling, taking her guitar. She planned to write songs on the road, but after leaving her guitar in the luggage compartment of a train in Spain, she concentrated on writing poetry and in a journal instead. She returned with the ideas for several songs. On her return she found out that a live recording of 'All For Believing' had reached an influential Los Angeles radio station, and now there was interest internationally.

Following the release of the 'Missy Higgins EP', featuring 'All For Believing' Missy took her songs to America to record them with John Porter. He was chosen because he'd worked with Ryan Adams. His other credentials include the Smiths, Elvis Costello and the Los Lonely Boys. Missy liked Porter's plans to simply put her and her songs in the studio with a bunch of musicians. The result is the album 'The Sound Of White'. Precocious to the end Missy made a few small last minute adjustments in the mixing process, going over Porter's head. This was her album, after all. She was the one that has to live with it for the rest of her life.

Preceded by the national No.1 'Scar EP', 'The Sound Of White' album also entered at No.1, accumulating 8 weeks at the top and 47 weeks spent in the top ten - more than half a million copies sold in Australia alone.

Months of touring followed, nationally as well as America, the UK and South Africa. Internationally her album was released to cautious response rather than Australia's overwhelming one. Something to work on in the future, but not the reality check it might have been for someone else in the same situation. Missy Higgins doesn't need the outside world bringing her down to earth. She wasn't seduced by her success, couldn't be bothered with the trappings of fame. Her scene wasn't being seen. And importantly she avoided the follow-up trauma others experience. She kept writing.

Eventually however Missy decided it would be best for everyone, herself and her audience, if she made herself scarce for a while, if she disappeared. On a friend's advice she took herself to the remote Western Australian town of Broome. For six months she swam, strolled, and wrote songs, some from personal experience, but others as she had done at the beginning of her songwriting journey, from sheer imagination. The Broome experience also gave Missy Higgins' second album its name. Looking up at a sky full of stars she realized her insignificance in the overall scheme of Life. She called her album 'On A Clear Day'.

This time she recorded in LA with Mitchell Froom, best known for producing the first three Crowded House albums, as well as records for Elvis Costello, the Indigo Girls and Ron Sexsmith. He's known for his quirkiness and Missy put her songs in the hands of Froom and the musicians the producer brought into the studio for the purpose. In Australia the album and its first single 'Steer' were both greeted with immediate No.1 status. Ed.Nimmervoll