Lisa Woodbrook is back on Perth shores after time away guest-headlining around the world, working with other international musicians on cruise ships and over east. The highly accomplished singer has returned to perform her brand-new show Heartfelt, playing for one night only on July 13 at Lyric’s Underground. Ahead of her performance I caught up with Lisa to hear about the process of making Heartfelt and a new single called I’m Done, set to be released June 30.
To begin our chat, we delved into Lisa’s recent time on cruise ships working with a full band and world class facilities, “It’s a brilliant way to get your content out there and enjoy performing, sometimes to 1,000 people at a time” she said.
Lisa explained she likes to keep the content in her shows versatile, covering multiple genres including “comedy cabaret, theatre, live music and stand-up”. She’s also known for finding stories within the work of other great artists, as seen in her award-winning shows It’s Not Me It’s Definitely You: Songs of Amy Winehouse and Lily Allen and Feeling Way Too Good: The Songs of Michael Bublé.
Her latest production, Heartfelt, will see Lisa combine her favourite top 40 tacks, including the likes of Lizzo, Adele and Alicia Keys, with some of her own original songs. Although she finds enjoyment in performing other’s music, Lisa says it’s time to share her own heartaches, triumphs and memories through song. “[It’s] a lot of fun finding stories within other artists and that’s what led me to create my own original music, because I had my own stories that I wanted to share through song.”
Discussing the differences between finding connection and story with both original and covered music, Lisa spoke about the experience of putting yourself out there artistically. “It’s a quite a vulnerable thing to do. The show coming up is a bit of a different approach to my other shows. There are some more vulnerable moments because it is about my original music.”
To reach a place where you are comfortable to release your music Lisa says it’s about, “Trusting your process, rehearsing it like crazy, really spending those 10,000 hours to get it to the standard you want it. Then just letting it free into the world.”
She explains that knowing when the piece is ready for audiences is something that comes naturally to the artist. “When it’s your own work, it’s kind of instinctive. [Knowing] when to let go of a piece of music or when a show is ready for opening night.”
We returned to the topic of vulnerability and how it can be an asset when sharing your own work. “Your vulnerability can guide you in a way. It’s an interesting process, you could be sitting on a show or a piece of work for 5-10 years and never put it out there because it’s just not ready.”
“When it’s your own original work, you just instinctively pick the right time and now’s the right time for me.”
Lucky for us, Lisa has chosen Perth as the perfect place to share in the early days of the work. “Perth is brilliant. It’s been wonderful coming back, and performing, especially being on the East Coast for nine years. I think Perth has a real hunger for arts and culture.”
You can see Lisa’s new show Heartfelt at Lyric’s Underground in Maylands July 13 and listen to her single I’m Done which releases on June 30.