BK Q1: Favourite Food?
Bess-Serena: Cheese and Bread
BK Q2: Favourite Film?
Bess-Serena: Always loved the movie
"Made in Heaven", made in the 80's and stars Timothy Hutton and Kelly
McGillis (It's the ultimate love story)
BK Q3: Favourite Actor?
Bess: Paul Newman
BK Q4: Favourite Animal?
Bess: Dogs, especially Labradors
BK Q5: Favourite Possession?
Bess: My old mate BART, he is a
chocolate brown teddy who has been all around the world with me. He even
stayed on in Singapore one time to do a bit of sight seeing for himself!!
BK Q6: Three words to describe yourself?
Bess: Optimistic, Earthy, Peace-Loving, and
Open Minded.. there's four!
BK Q7: Person you would most like to Meet?
Bess: hmmm...well, if I were to sit
down with Jesus and maybe Madonna I think the conversation would be pretty
memorable.
BK Q8: First Job?
Bess: I sold the afternoon paper after
school in gr.6 and was a nanny at night.
BK Q9: Best Concert?
Bess: Jeff Buckley, hands down
BK Q10: Favourite Band?
Bess: This is a hard one... Pearl Jam
up really loud always gets me going and Cold Play and george (too hard to choose
just one)
BK Q11: Favourite Album?
Bess: "Grace" by Jeff
Buckley (of course!!)
BK Q12: Most memorable
moment?
Bess: Writing my first song on guitar,
the words and music all came out together.
BK Q13: Best Advice?
Bess: It's sounds obvious
but...believe that you are capable and deserving of anything, put your head down
and go for it and it can really happen. Also...do everything with love in
your heart
BK Q14: Favourite piece of clothing?
Bess: hipster jeans, they're well worn
and well loved.
BK Q15: Favourite TV show?
Bess: At the moment I'm enjoying
"The Secret Life of Us"
We sent these questions off to Bess-Serena and she was kind enough to answer them. So here is what Bess-Serena had to say. Feb 2000. This interview is an exclusive to the Bess page, so please ask permission before using for your own sites.
BK Q1: What have you been doing since you left Savage Garden?
Bess-Serena: Since my
time with Savage Garden I have been working and travelling. I spent some
time in the U.S. working on some songs with other writers and I lived in
South East Asia for a few months. Since
being back in Australia I have been writing with my partner, guitarist Nick
Stewart
of Brisband "george" and performing every chance we get.
BK
Q2: What style is your music?
Bess: My music
style is a little hard form me to categorise as we have been writing and
performing acoustically so far, but I could say that the songs fall into the
pop/rock category with a twist of folk
and blues in there and I'm also interested in experimenting along the way
with
electronic sounds, perhaps as a side project.
BK
Q3: Have you written many songs? Do you have a favourite?
Bess: I have
written quite a few songs, some bad and some good, some that were stepping
stones to others and some that needed the accompaniment of someone else to
really bring them to life like "Soul
Of Love" which is the first song that Nick and I wrote together and is my
favourite
so far.
BK
Q4: What is your favourite memory from your time with Savage Garden?
Bess: I had a
lot of laughs on the road with Savage Garden and learnt a great deal about the
music industry from a very unique position and my favourite memories of
that time were probably each time we
arrived in a new country together for the first time and felt that ‘little
fish in a big pond’
thing. It was very exciting and challenging and it felt good when we all piled
back on the
plane
all the richer and wiser for the experience.
BK
Q5: When do you plan to release an album?
Bess: I'm
working towards recording an EP (5 or 6 songs) within the year and distributing
it independantly.
For now, performing live and jamming with lots of wonderful muso's and singers
here
in Brisbane is preparing me well for that long awaited time in the studio.
BK
Q6: What are your hobbies and interests?
Bess: In my
spare time I like to decorate and beautify the home I share with my best friends
so that in it I may relax with a book or do some arts'n'crafts, practice
my natural therapies or have a swim in the pool. Sounds just lovely doesn't it,
so I guess I should also tell you that a considerable amount of my spare time is
spent trying to figure out what's wrong with my car!!
BK
Q7: Who are your favourite musicians?
Bess: : My
favourite artist is Jeff Buckley by far. I was brought up listening to a wide
variety of music from Neil Young to
Santana. Stevie Wonder, Donna
Summer, John Denver, Mike Oldfield
and The Rocky Horror Picture Show have made up some of the soundtrack to my
childhood and I have developed a great reverance for artists like Led Zeppelin, Jimi Hendrix and Sting and The
Police. I'll admit that Madonna
made her mark on me in the 80's, but now I’m enjoying listening to
Stellar 111, Pearl Jam, Powderfinger,
Diana Ah Naid, Iota, Foo Fighters, Lauryn Hill, Ani Difranco, Fiona Apple, Bic
Runga and of course george to name but a
few.
BK
Q8: What are your plans for the future?
Bess: I plan to
keep writing and performing music, travelling as much of the world as I can and
eventually I'd love to buy some property near the ocean and build a home
with a studio to live in with my family.
I also have some ideas for the future which involve cultivating and promoting
original music in Australia by providing an educational and supportive
environment for young musicians and
artists to find their feet at whatever level.
BK
Q9: Who inspires you?
Bess: My
Mother continually inspires me through her understanding, her words and her
actions. Any one person who holds true to
their heart and their destiny, those who believe in themselves,
shall inspire me always.
This is part of an interview from Ugly Phil where Savage Garden Launched their album. They performed three songs
TTM&B, TMD and IWY. There was an on going joke about Bess and Jenny being dancers. This is
from March 1997
Bess-Serena: Yes hypothetically I'm a backing singer/dancer
Ugly Phil: Ok lets get to the bottom of this, what's your name?
BS: Bess-Serena
UP: Bess, alright
Jackie: Yeah Phil , where are you going with this?
BS: I actually said Bess-Serena but Bess is cool yeah
UP: Well that's right, yeah Bess-Serena when you're drunk you wanna try
pronouncing that. Do you sing?
BS: Yes, yeah I sing
UP: Do you wear Slinky outfits?
BS: Well it depends on how we feel before we go on stage but usually.
UP: Do you wear the CFM boots?
BS: No uh well
UP: Sometimes?
BS: Occasionally, I've got to find the right pair.
UP: Do you gyrate?
BS: It depends on what you refer to as um
UP: onstage?
BS: (laughs) yeah, yeah
UP: Bess your a dancer right?
BS: Yeah I'm a dancer (laughs)
J: You got it out of her
UP: I've got myself a date with the dance from Savage
Garden later on
BS: I'm a singer, I'm a singer
UP: Would you go out with a guy like me?
BS: um
UP: I'll get you concert tickets
BS: (laughs) no
UP: Ok
Please do not take this transcript without permission first
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