Perth Music

Jessica Mauboy has just released her debut single Running Back featuring world renowned rapper, Flo Rida. Co-written by Jessica, this urban anthem was recorded in Sydney and then Flo Rida added his verse in Los Angeles. For 19 year old Jessica, it was a dream come true. Running Back is taken from Jessica’s forthcoming album Been Waiting which she has co- written and recorded over the last 12 months. Featuring a mix of rhythmic pop, urban and pop tracks the album is a testament to one of the brightest new talents on the Australian music scene. After finishing a guest spot in Perth for this year’s Telethon, Jessica caught up with Justin Middleton for this exclusive interview.

I asked Jessica what it was like being in Perth as a guest for Telethon. “It was really good. It was my second time back to Perth doing Telethon so it was really nice to see everybody and all the newcomers doing their new acts and everything. It was really lovely raising that amount of money. There were a couple surprises, one of the guys from American Idol, ummm….Mike….Mark….I can’t remember his name but he had such a great voice (Michael Johns). We were chilling in the green room along with the Home & Away crew, it’s really cool.”

I also asked Jessica how she feels about the huge response she has had for the new single already and also how the song ended up Flo Rida on it. “It’s been amazing. The feedback has been great and everyone has been really positive and of course the record label are really excited. We didn’t know this was going to be the first single, we wanted to come out with something really nice and really sing about something. I wrote the song and I was in the studio and finished the production of it and doing a bit of a touch up and re-vocalling and there was a part that needed a little bit more. So we thought maybe we could do a rap and obviously I knew I wasn’t going to do the rap because I CAN NOT rap. The producers knew a couple of rappers, friends of friends, and they came in and did there thing but it didn’t quite fit. The producers were like “Yeah they were good but nah, we’ll keep looking around”. So I was talking to my A & R guy and being Sony BMG they have heaps of connections. He went off and said “I’ll do something about it” and when he came back he said “I’ve got the best thing for you” and then just said “Low low low”. I knew straight away it was Flo Rida as I’m a huge fan of his and so I had a listen to what he did. Apparently he did all of his bit in one take and that was it. I couldn’t believe it because it wasn’t thought out, it was something unexpected and just happened. I’m just so grateful to the record label and their connections.”

While Jessica made a name for herself as part of Australian Idol as well as part of The Young Divas, her debut album is really her growing into herself musically. I asked her if this is how she sees it. “I mean being in The Young Divas and Australian Idol was totally different to what I’m doing now and this album has helped me grow and made me confident and I just wanted to make the most it and do it the way I wanted to do it. The album is complete and we have just finished the artwork and everything so hopefully it will be out before Christmas and we are also just planning a tour for later in the year.”

I also asked Jessica what else she has been up to since departing from The Young Divas. “I was over in Indonesia as an ambassador for multiculturalism and that was just so much fun. Growing up in Australia and being able to share that with the people in Indonesia was great. We are so close and we just wanted to build that friendship and help each other out. Not having travelled that much it really did open my eyes and it has made me want to do a little bit more. Music really brings people together so it is something I love to do to. The last time I was there was as an invited guest on Indonesian Idol which was great, singing in a different language as I am part Indonesian. I also got to go to some of the schools that the Australian government are in the process of building.”

Running Back is out now. For more info visit www.jessicamauboy.com.au

This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 15th, 2008 at 9:34 pm and is filed under Videos, Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.