NAU NUA: BONNIE PIESSE

The inner love

She’s all she has, and believe me, that means much more than it seems to mean. Bonnie Piesse is a singer with a voice born in the deep sweetness of life, her lyrics approach to the dark experiences in order to get some light from them. She believes in true love, the one that comes from ourselves to be shared with every gift, people and experiences, from life. She’s better known as an actress because of her works in TV series and mainly due to her role as Beru, the woman who goes on to raise Luke Skywalker in Star Wars of George Lucas. But she wants to sing and write personal songs, even when she composes for a film, because her songs are her way to share her love with all of us, and that’s only possible if they are born in her own soul. After a great debut album called The deep end, she’s working right now in her next EP and promoting her Indie Go Go platform in order to get the financial help to finish it.

What is “All you have”?

All I Have" is really that I would totally reveal my heart to someone... dive in deep and be there for them 100%... which is quite a vulnerable thing in my experience! The lyric "I'd give up all I have to be to be to be to be with you" is like, I'd drop all my guards, let down all my barriers, to be totally there with you.

Love is the most important thing your life?

Actually it is one of the most important things yes. But it's not really "love" as most people think of it... (ie romantic attached love). I aspire to experience as much love as possible, which I'm coming to understand more and more, comes from me and is only in my experience. I'm learning to be brave and make choices from a place of love... which can feel quite uncomfortable and scary sometimes... but it's so so important!

Is it true that you started to sing before talking?

Haha yes apparently! My Mum says I was singing very very young... especially when she was driving I would be in the back seat of the car experimenting with my voice as a baby. And I started to make up little tunes very young too and I'd try to teach them to her so we could sing together (I assume this is when I was already talking). I've loved singing as long as I can remember.

And some barriers after, you've worked on cinema, TV series and specially composing and recording your own songs. Is it the Force with you?

It may be that the Force is with me, yes! I've had a lot of 'lucky' breaks in my career... booking my first series regular role on an Australian TV show when I was 14, getting selected by George Lucas when I was 16 to be in Star Wars, working with some truly amazing musicians, and yes more recently making music for TV and film. I've always wanted to compose for films and I was extremely fortunate to connect with the very talented Mark Kilian earlier this year, whom I've now worked with on a couple of films. It's so exciting for me to hear my voice and my melodies in that medium, and such a treat to work with someone as talented and skilled as Mark.

But as a songwriter, do you prefer to write fictional stories, music for others stories or from personal experiences?

Whatever I'm writing for or about, I need to have some experience of it... so even if the content isn't something I've lived through/experienced exactly, I always try to connect to the human emotions and human struggles and I find they're universal. So writing for film, I can try on the emotionality of the scene and what the characters are going through and I express from there. Just writing songs in general, I usually come up with a feeling first and go from there and see what the song wants to be about. It takes me on a journey and I love that part of songwriting... I never know what's going to happen!

Do you have an spiritual concept of existence?

I've experienced many things that can't be explained or described. Like I went to India to meditate for a month a few years ago. It was very beautiful and freeing and I felt I connected with parts of me and existence I didn't have an experience of before that. One of the most important things in my life is to keep exploring the depths of me and freeing all the parts of me I've kept locked up. With that come many beautiful and challenging experiences! In terms of spiritual concepts, I've found in the past that I've clung to beliefs and ideas that I really didn't know for sure. I am open to many different beliefs and ideas but I try to keep open to the 'unknowingness' of it all. I've gone through many experiences and teachings to come to that perspective.

What do think about music as a way for discovering, even self-discovering?

I think it's an amazing tool for that. For me to express more and more honestly and authentically, it takes a lot of work to strip away all the untruths and break down the barriers. I find singing to be a very beautiful and very vulnerable experience. Especially singing live I find it so raw and exposed, that it helps me see where I'm still not open/where I'm still blocking my expression... the more I work on myself, the more open and free in my expression I become... the more I express, the more I see what's next to work on. They (music and my own growth) work together beautifully. I also thing music is truly an amazing tool to help people feel and access parts of themselves maybe they'd forgotten about. You can hear a piece of music and immediately feel deeply moved and inspired. I think that's amazing.

And what's the worst aspect in the music business?

I think it's very sad when artists 'lose their way' and kind of sell their soul to try to be popular. There's a way to stay true to yourself and still create accessible music, but sometimes artists are pushed to do things that don't feel authentic to them and they sacrifice their vision and their true expression to try to fit into a box. I think it's sad when this happens, but of course there is a personal responsibility to that and it takes a lot of strength to stay true to your vision. Also like any business, there are shifty, shady things that go on where people are deceived and ripped off. I think it's so sad that people behave this way.

One of the good things is to find people to collaborate with. In your case Jack Thompson , Eric Kaz , Bonnie Hayes and J.D Souther . What did you learnt from them?

Yes! Also Teresa and Pat Bunch-some amazing writers from Nashville. I never went to music school. I studied it in high school and in my own time but didn't get a University education. So in a way, writing with all those amazing writers gave me my composition education. They came to the table with a lifetime of experience and success. I learned so many things from those writers; song structure, chord progressions, arrangements, how to write catchy, accessible melodies, new techniques for coming up with lyrics etc. and most importantly I learned how to push myself to write when I don't feel like it. I used to only write when I felt inspired, and I've learned that if I just sit down and show up, often inspiration comes-you just need to give it a chance! I'm really grateful to Val Garay for introducing me to all those amazing writers.

Now you are recording a new EP and presenting a campaign to get financial support enough for making it possible. Could you explain us how it works?

Yes there are several crowd funding platforms, and for a number of reasons I chose to use Indie Go Go. It's a great way to spread the word about your music and invite fans to help you bring your vision to life. I also love that as a musician you can do this yourself. You don't need to sign away your life! You can raise the money yourself and then move forward with full ownership. I like that a lot. Also I love that the fans get prizes for their contributions!

What kind of songs are you composing now? Intimistic or more powerful?

I write about whatever I'm experiencing at the time... so sometimes it's about loneliness and isolation, other times it's about deep gratitude and love... all the things that I come across on my journey to self-discovery. And even if my subject matter is sometimes dark, more and more there is seeming to be silver linings and glimmers of hope.

What is the first thing you like to see when you open your window?

Sunshine.

And when do you feel you have arrived to “The deep end”?

There doesn't seem to be an "end" to "The Deep End".

BONNIE PIESSE videos here

An interview by Juan Carlos Romero

Bonnie Piesse website www.bonniepiesse.com

Bonnie Piesse Indie Go Go platform here to help her make the new EP

Photo by Jennifer Stenglein