Mary-Anne
The Story
No.......Mary-Anne didn't begin her singing career by singing into a hairbrush as a young child but rather by singing straight into a microphone plugged into a guitar amp at just 3 years of age.
The Beginning
It all began at the tender age of 3 when Mary-Anne began taking ballet lessons at the Australian Ballet School. Her first stage performance came just a year later as a ballerina. It was around this age that Mary-Anne's fascination with music began when she started staging performances in the lounge room of her family home for family and friends whenever they visited, dancing and singing along to ABBA records. She was just 4 years old when Mary-Anne sung for the first time in public in front of 2,000 people. Not phased in the slightest at the amount of people present, it was from this moment on that Mary-Anne knew exactly what she wanted to be - a singer and Mary-Anne's parents decided they should do something about it. They approached the local singing school who told Mary-Anne's parent's to return when Mary-Anne turned 6 as she was too young to commence private singing lessons at 4. They did.
Choosing between singing and dancing
At just 7 years of age Mary-Anne appeared on television for the very first time singing on Young Talent Time, a popular variety show for children in Australia. By the age of 8, Mary-Anne was taking singing, jazz ballet, ballet, drama and piano classes. Mary-Anne was attending 6 classes a week as well as going to school. This was hard work for an 8 year old but Mary-Anne loved every minute of it! It was at this point however that Mary-Anne's parents insisted that she make a choice between ballet and singing so she could focus on the one area. Without hesitation Mary-Anne immediately chose singing.
Singing in Nightclubs at 10
At just 10 years of age Mary-Anne started performing in nightclubs and began what she claims was her greatest training. At least once a week she would accompany her parents to local Cabaret nightspots which featured professional entertainers. She would open up the show by singing 2 or 3 songs before the main act. Then she would sit in the audience with her parents and watch the main show.
Beating 5,000 kids to Young Talent Time
A short time later Mary-Anne missed out on becoming a Young Talent Time member when she beat 3000 children to finish in 2nd place. Mary-Anne was devastated as it was the only thing that she wanted at the time.
First professional gig at 13
At 13 she began performing professionally in her first Wedding Band earning $60 a night, working two nights a week.
First deal
At 15 Mary-Anne saw an advertisement in the paper seeking a young artist who could be marketed overseas. The ad was from a management and production company based inEurope. Mary-Anne answered the ad sending in a demo tape of cover songs she had recorded after the deadline had closed. Mary-Anne won the contract after 6 months of interviews and recording test demos out of 5,000 performers all around Europe and Australia. She and her family were flown to London and Spain where she recorded her first album. It was an experience of a lifetime however the album was never released due to the company directors falling out.
"What The Funk" performs to 1,000 people every Saturday during a one year residency
Not the slightest disillusioned and with a non stop determination to succeed, Mary-Anne returned to Australiaand put together her own 8 piece funk cover band which began performing in pubs and clubs around Melbourne. One particular gig turned into a residency which lasted for over a year with people lining up all the way down the street to get in to see Mary-Anne perform. The venue held 1,000 people. She was the only single female artist fronting her own cover band in Melbourne at that time and she was just 16 years old.
Recording and writing original songs
It was around the same time that Mary-Anne also put together her own original band and started writing her own songs. She bought herself a 4 track, an electronic keyboard and a vocal compressor and began recording her own songs in a small shed out the back of her parent's home. When she later progressed to an Atari Computer and Cubase program she taught herself how to programme learning how it all worked as she went along. She'd spend all day everyday doing this constantly writing, developing her own style and tapping into the essence of who she is as a songwriter and artist. She would spend sometimes 24 hours in the shed which her father converted into a studio for her just writing and recording.
Concert performances, festival performances, cabaret work, floorshows, jazz bands, duos, pub bands, acting roles, modelling work, television appearances and Interstate shows all followed. Mary-Anne was an all rounder and could do anything that anyone requested. However her focus was always on her original music - writing and recording.
First releases and other deals
It was when her song Whatever It Takes was covered by girl group Essence that publishers began to take notice of Mary-Anne's songwriting with offers from various Australian publishing companies. A collaboration with Josh Abrahams on a version of Somewhere Over The Rainbowled to her first release in Asia. Since then Mary-Anne has had a total of 17 tracks released all over the world. Her song Bird Waiting To Fly has been translated and released in Turkey by a major Turkish artist and another of her songs Secret Life has just been covered by Chrissa and released in Germany and Australia. She has also released an independent Italian album which has sold nearly 3,000 copies just through live shows, radio and word of mouth.
The future
Mary-Anne has recorded a couple of tracks written by World wide No 1 hit songwriters the Matrix and is currently working on her debut album with songwriters in UK, Canada and US.
The Beginning
It all began at the tender age of 3 when Mary-Anne began taking ballet lessons at the Australian Ballet School. Her first stage performance came just a year later as a ballerina. It was around this age that Mary-Anne's fascination with music began when she started staging performances in the lounge room of her family home for family and friends whenever they visited, dancing and singing along to ABBA records. She was just 4 years old when Mary-Anne sung for the first time in public in front of 2,000 people. Not phased in the slightest at the amount of people present, it was from this moment on that Mary-Anne knew exactly what she wanted to be - a singer and Mary-Anne's parents decided they should do something about it. They approached the local singing school who told Mary-Anne's parent's to return when Mary-Anne turned 6 as she was too young to commence private singing lessons at 4. They did.
Choosing between singing and dancing
At just 7 years of age Mary-Anne appeared on television for the very first time singing on Young Talent Time, a popular variety show for children in Australia. By the age of 8, Mary-Anne was taking singing, jazz ballet, ballet, drama and piano classes. Mary-Anne was attending 6 classes a week as well as going to school. This was hard work for an 8 year old but Mary-Anne loved every minute of it! It was at this point however that Mary-Anne's parents insisted that she make a choice between ballet and singing so she could focus on the one area. Without hesitation Mary-Anne immediately chose singing.
Singing in Nightclubs at 10
At just 10 years of age Mary-Anne started performing in nightclubs and began what she claims was her greatest training. At least once a week she would accompany her parents to local Cabaret nightspots which featured professional entertainers. She would open up the show by singing 2 or 3 songs before the main act. Then she would sit in the audience with her parents and watch the main show.
Beating 5,000 kids to Young Talent Time
A short time later Mary-Anne missed out on becoming a Young Talent Time member when she beat 3000 children to finish in 2nd place. Mary-Anne was devastated as it was the only thing that she wanted at the time.
First professional gig at 13
At 13 she began performing professionally in her first Wedding Band earning $60 a night, working two nights a week.
First deal
At 15 Mary-Anne saw an advertisement in the paper seeking a young artist who could be marketed overseas. The ad was from a management and production company based inEurope. Mary-Anne answered the ad sending in a demo tape of cover songs she had recorded after the deadline had closed. Mary-Anne won the contract after 6 months of interviews and recording test demos out of 5,000 performers all around Europe and Australia. She and her family were flown to London and Spain where she recorded her first album. It was an experience of a lifetime however the album was never released due to the company directors falling out.
"What The Funk" performs to 1,000 people every Saturday during a one year residency
Not the slightest disillusioned and with a non stop determination to succeed, Mary-Anne returned to Australiaand put together her own 8 piece funk cover band which began performing in pubs and clubs around Melbourne. One particular gig turned into a residency which lasted for over a year with people lining up all the way down the street to get in to see Mary-Anne perform. The venue held 1,000 people. She was the only single female artist fronting her own cover band in Melbourne at that time and she was just 16 years old.
Recording and writing original songs
It was around the same time that Mary-Anne also put together her own original band and started writing her own songs. She bought herself a 4 track, an electronic keyboard and a vocal compressor and began recording her own songs in a small shed out the back of her parent's home. When she later progressed to an Atari Computer and Cubase program she taught herself how to programme learning how it all worked as she went along. She'd spend all day everyday doing this constantly writing, developing her own style and tapping into the essence of who she is as a songwriter and artist. She would spend sometimes 24 hours in the shed which her father converted into a studio for her just writing and recording.
Concert performances, festival performances, cabaret work, floorshows, jazz bands, duos, pub bands, acting roles, modelling work, television appearances and Interstate shows all followed. Mary-Anne was an all rounder and could do anything that anyone requested. However her focus was always on her original music - writing and recording.
First releases and other deals
It was when her song Whatever It Takes was covered by girl group Essence that publishers began to take notice of Mary-Anne's songwriting with offers from various Australian publishing companies. A collaboration with Josh Abrahams on a version of Somewhere Over The Rainbowled to her first release in Asia. Since then Mary-Anne has had a total of 17 tracks released all over the world. Her song Bird Waiting To Fly has been translated and released in Turkey by a major Turkish artist and another of her songs Secret Life has just been covered by Chrissa and released in Germany and Australia. She has also released an independent Italian album which has sold nearly 3,000 copies just through live shows, radio and word of mouth.
The future
Mary-Anne has recorded a couple of tracks written by World wide No 1 hit songwriters the Matrix and is currently working on her debut album with songwriters in UK, Canada and US.
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