Melbourne Songstress Ain’t No Goose

By Em Allen on June 12, 2013 in

2012 was a big year for Gossling (a.k.a Helen Croome), the sweetheart indie artist whose collaboration with hip-hop heavyweight 360 scored her an ARIA nomination and a chance to perform on the ARIA stage. Fast-forward a year and she’s just hit the streets of Paris, recording a gorgeous new single, ‘La Minute de Silence’, alongside Oh Mercy frontman Alex Gow – life’s tough for some, hey? She’s also got a debut album in the works, which you should all go and buy when the time comes. I caught up with Gossling during the month…

My hometown… is Albury/Wodonga, on the border of New South Wales and Victoria, but now I’m based in Melbourne.

The most exciting thing about the local music scene is… the community of musicians that support each other’s projects

The collaboration with Alex Gow came about… when Original Matters (the label releasing the compilation album) approached me asking if I’d like to be involved in a project where Australians artists were covering French songs. They said I could choose whichever song I liked and the song I chose happened to be a duet. I knew Alex from touring with him a few years ago and thought he’d be an amazing collaborator.

My French is… très inégale. I’m what you’d call a hack.

My favourite memory from the shoot is…. walking on stage at the Moulin Rouge and through their costume rooms with the millions of feathers and sequins. It was incredible to be backstage in a venue with so much history.

2013 is shaping up to be…. the year I finally release a debut album. It’s been a long time coming, but I definitely needed that time to make sure I was ready.

I’d like to think that my music is…. enjoyed, genuine and memorable.

My earliest music memory is… getting my first keyboard and finding the ‘demo’ button. I thought I was so clever fooling people into believing I was actually a child prodigy. Every person that came to our house had to watch me pretend to play the demo song. I fooled no one… but myself.

Growing up, my parents listened to… Bowie, Bach, Bocelli and Meatloaf.

One song that makes me really nostalgic is… Meatloaf’s ‘Paradise by the Dashboard Light’. My brother and I would jump around our living room singing every word. There were air keyboards and air drums. And the air guitar involved carpet burns on our knees from sliding into the big riffs.

If I could have written any song, it would be… ‘Delicate’ by Damien Rice. To me it’s the most perfect song I’ve ever heard. The melody is instantly easy to follow but not annoyingly hooky. The chord progression isn’t new but feels unique. And the lyric is pure, genuine and incredibly relatable.

If you come and see me play, you can expect… to convert and embrace ‘dad jokes’ for the comical genius they are.

I’ll know we’ve really made it when… Clue ‘6 Across’ in the Woman’s Day crossword is: ‘What is the name that Melbourne singer/songwriter Helen Croome performs under? (8)’.

Check out Gossling’s latest single and all her tour info at www.gosslingmusic.com.