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Dannii Minogue Interview
Dannii Minogue is on a roll. Her debut album "Love and Kisses" (Savage Records),
entered the British charts at Number 8. It was certified Gold in Australia
and the UK and was a hit in Europe, Japan and Southeast Asia.
Australians have voted Dannii the "Best Female Personality on Australian Television," "Best
New Star of 1989" and "One of the Sexiest People Alive." The British public
voted her "Best Female T.V. Star" and "Number One Woman of the Year" in 1991.
And, in 1988 Dannii designed a high fashion clothing line for young people.
It sold out in Australia in 10 days.
Dannii Minogue is 20 years old.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, she's been on Australian T.V. since she was 7.
As an 8 year old she made her first appearance on the variety program "Young
Talent Time" in Australia. She later became a permanent member of the cast,
and an album derived from the show included her first solo track when she was
14.
Dannii Minogue was recently in New York working on her second, follow-up album,
and we talked to her.
Q. Dannii, did you have a game plan before you came to the
States? Was it your idea to crack the charts of Australia, Japan, the U.K.
and Southeast Asia before hitting this country?
A. It wasn't exactly planned that way. That"s the way that it fell. Those countries
took off first without a lot of trouble. The States is the only place we haven't
really gone, so now, yeah, it’s the last thing.
Q. Are you the only act on Savage Records?
A. No. they probably have 20 artists now. A lot of them are rock bands.
Q. You were just 7 years old when you were featured on an
Australian T.V. show. How did you get that role? Were your parents in show
biz?
A. Somebody, a friend of my parents knew of a part that was going in a drama
T.V. show and she knew that they wanted, like a young girl, to play the part.
So, she just said to my mommy, what do .you think? Would Dannii be interested
in doing this? I was, and I got the part, and that was the beginning of it.
Q. You're also a fashion designer. How did you learn that?
A. There was this variety program I was on in Australia, and I used to design
a lot of my own costumes, for that. I got back a really good response from
them, so that helped me to launch my label in Australia. I've never gotten
any formal training but I hooked up with the right people, some really good
manufacturers. I had my label there for about 3 years and was very, very
successful. When I moved to London to live, I stopped doing that because
I wanted to design everything myself and have like a really firm grip over
what was happening, and I really couldn't
do that from London, so, at the moment I’m in the process of setting
one up, for the U.K. because now that I’m living there, I can have a
really firm grip on what’s happening. Hopefully that will be out the
end of this year.
Q. Where is your clothing going to be distributed?
A. The one that I'm setting up in the U.K. is going to be going through a catalog,
in the U.K.
Q. What record did you hear at 7 years old that convinced
you to be a singer?
A. The first records I heard were my parents' ones that I played which were
like Stevie Wonder, Boz Scraggs. By the time I was into buying my own records,
I was buying Olivia Newton-John, Grease Soundtrack, and all that kind of stuff.
I'd be listening to it, thinking wow, isn't that fantastic. I have to make
a record.
Q. Do you play an instrument?
A. No, I don't.
Q. Do you write your own material, or does your producer choose
it for you?
A. I work with my A and R man to find producers I want to work with. Sometimes
they have songs written that I like, but some songs I've written myself or
co-written with other people.
Q. So, how do you write a song then? Do you write the words
or melody?
A. Yeah, I write the words and melody. It’s actually quite simple, you
think of a song and melody and sing it to the person you're writing with or
onto a tape, and they can play it on the instruments.
Q. Dannii, with all of the success you've had, how do you
prevent yourself from getting a big head, or having it go to your head?
A. I don't know. I don't think I'm prone to that. I see it as something special,
a really big compliment, to get an award for something. But, I don’t
work to receive awards. I just work to make whatever I'm making really good,
and then if people like it they like it. If they like it enough to give you
an award, that's like a big compliment I don't know, it’s a weird concept
to sit down and think O.K. I'll have to make sure I don't get a big head about
this. It’s not the way I think.
Q. Aren't you just a little taken aback by your success, or
because you've been in show biz since you were 7, does it seem like you've
been doing it forever?
A. I think you receive what you deserve. I’ve put a lot of hard work
in, and I feel good about that. I know I've got a lot to learn still.
Q. If you've accomplished as much as you have at the age of
20, what do you think you'll have accomplished by 40?
A. I don't know. I don’t really like to look into the future that much.
I know there's going to be a lot of good things in store, if I do the right
thing. I just keep a very open mind. If tomorrow I decide that I don't like
acting and singing and clothes designing and I want to become a pilot, then
that's what I do. I've got a whole big life ahead of me, and I don't know,
maybe I'll fall in love, and quit it all and have kids. I don’t know.
I just keep my mind open.
© Gary James All Rights Reserved
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