We’re barely past the formalities and already Megan Washington is laying out ground rules. “Don’t ask me how I feel about becoming my true self!” she requests with such distaste that you can feel her eyes rolling down the phone line. “And don’t ask about what people can expect from my tour!”
In case you hadn’t gathered from her introduction, not to mention her brutally honest style of songwriting on last year’s There There, Washington suffers no fools. She’s at a point in her career where she can more or less do as she pleases; an enviable spot for any artist to find oneself in. Take just a matter of weeks ago, when Washington took the stage as a guest vocalist for jazz legend James Morrison. Although at first uncertain, she now views the move as an important step in the right direction.
“I had a lot of identity questions when I agreed to do that tour,” she confesses. “I always thought that what you do creatively is a reflection on who you are – it is who you are. When I was studying jazz, it was how I really thought about myself. It’s who I was at the time. I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to sing that music anymore, or that I wouldn’t sing it authentically. When I moved into pop music and writing my music, that was who I was. That’s how I saw myself. When I did the shows, though, I realised that I’m a bit of all of those things. Jazz is always going to be in my DNA. I didn’t have to try and sing like anyone but me. It was also a nice change of pace, too. When I’m onstage with my band, I’ve got to be in charge of everything. It was a relief to be able to walk off for four or five songs.”
Washington refers to her music as simply ‘pop’, but in the half-decade and more it has existed in the collective conscience, it has taken a chameleon-like approach to the outer spectrums of baroque, rock, jazz, folk and the ‘indie’ umbrella. “It’s a real concern,” she continues, talking about finding oneself between two different musical worlds and not quite accepted in either. “A lot of people take authenticity really seriously – they want you to sing according to the style, to an era, traditionally. I’ve never gone for that, but I know it’s a serious concern to a lot of people. I’ve realised a lot about myself and a lot about my process.”
Having effectively wrapped up touring in support of There There with a sold-out run of full-band dates back in February, Washington is now stripping her live show to its very core for her current national Tangents Tour. Aside from a handful of guests, this is a show focused primarily on intimate, piano-led renditions of songs from both her studio albums and hidden gems from her EPs. It’s also – in the spirit of Seinfeld – a show about nothing.
“I don’t really have a setlist and I don’t really have a plan,” Washington says. “I have a list of all the songs I know how to play and then I just make it up. It’s pretty evident when you’re there. That’s kind of great for me, because I get lots of ideas when I’m on the road, so I do a lot of writing. I tend not to play those songs, however, until they’re finished or they’ve been recorded. On this tour, I can show everyone these works in progress. I played two songs the other night that I wrote just last week. There’s really only one rule – if anyone films a new song, they die.”
The Tangents Tour began three weeks ago in Bunbury, is currently taking her through New South Wales and will wind up at the end of the month with a date in Darwin, bringing the grand total to 32 shows. Washington was excited at the prospect of being able to perform on her own terms and to experiment with what she has created. She hopes that those who plan on attending are of a similar ilk – the kind who aren’t there exclusively for the quote-unquote ‘hits’.
“If it was a band show, one of my regular shows, of course I have no issue playing the songs that everyone knows. With these shows, though, I think the people attending are interested in more than just hearing, say, ‘Sunday Best’ or whatever. I don’t think that’s what they’re going to the show for. The show’s intention is different to me. I might not even play those songs – that’s the thing. These shows can go anywhere.”
Of course, it should be stressed that just because the show does not have a concrete setlist, this isn’t about to become your show. As far as heckling is concerned, Washington believes one has to know their place at a gig like this. “Sometimes I’ll love you if you yell out at the right moment,” she says. “Sometimes, though, I will just want to kill you. There’s no real rhyme or reason to it. It depends on what day you get me. Sometimes I just hate people.”
Megan Washington’sThere There is out now through Mercury/Universal. Megan performs at The Basement on Thursday September 10 and Friday September 11; and The Brass Monkey on Wednesday September 2.
