Caitlin Smith, Singer

Pulp, cleverf*!ker by Vaughn Davis Year: 2001 Age: 29 Edu: Selwyn College, First Class Honours Masters Degree in Politics (Auckland University) Goals for 2001? Travel and do as many festivals as possible. Goals for 2010? International respect and acclaim. Releasing CDs of original material with incredible musicians. In a couple of sentences, describe what you do for a living: I sing full-time: teaching, singing ads and working studios with bands and producers and performing. I’m the vocalist for my jazz band The Fondue Set and sit in with whoever will have me. I also do voiceovers and voice coaching. What made you choose this career? It chose me. It’s a spiritual thing. Being partially sighted, I faced quite a bit of discrimination in the labour market despite my qualifications, so I opted for a job in which there were fewer boundaries because of my sight. How did you get started? About four years ago I gave up my day job working in the social justice field and everything fell into place. I also used to sing in a punk band called the Sound of Mucous in the early 90s. How long have you been doing it for? I’ve sung all my life but started learning piano at age six and studied music in school. I’ve been teaching for three years and will keep learning for the next 80. What do you like most about what you do? Helping other people understand and get the most out of their voice and having the chance to work and create with incredibly talented musicians. Most people would think you have a pretty cool job. Is it a pretty cool job? Yip. There’s a lot of unseen work involved though: booking gigs and schlepping gear, practicing and studying. You have to do it for the love, because your social life goes out the window with the amount of gigs you do and being a vocalist I can’t be that abusive of my body. What perks do you get that most other people might not? You get to play in very swanky venues and drink fine wine at flash parties (as well as working the scungy bars and smoky dives!). I just got a residency at Otto’s in the Auckland Metropolis Building – every Friday night till late – now that’s flash! You also get to organise your own time and be your own boss. Getting to play international music festivals where they throw in five-star accommodation ain’t bad either. Is recognition for your work, and recognition for you as a creator of it, important to you? It is important, but often I work behind the scenes, so recognition isn’t always my motivator though it certainly helps if I receive it. The act of creation and doing a good job is more important to me. Do your parents fully understand how you fill your days? Yes. They know how hard I work as we hardly get time to see each other because I mostly work seven days a week. What’s the best experience you’ve ever had doing your job? Singing in front of a 60-piece orchestra as one of the soloists in the APO Jazz Series at the Aotea Centre last year was mind blowing. It’s a very big sound. Having Melissa Auf de Maur call from the Big Day Out in Australia to get a warm-up tape off me because she enjoyed the warm-ups I gave Hole when they came in 1999 was pretty special! What’s the coolest thing you’ve ever been involved in creating? Writing backing vocals from scratch in the studio when you really change the feel of the song. In an Eye TV song called ‘Worse for Wear’ I completely buried the song in banks of backing vocals and its become a little bit of an anthem for me now. Tell us about how you came to create it? Collaborating with producer Simon Holloway, we layered six or seven harmonies on top of each other by ear. It was late at night and it all felt very Cocteau Twins-esque. Chocolate or Strawberry? Depends. Fresh strawberries and dairy-free dark chocolate. Should any sane person seek to do what you do? Not if they want to make money. You’ve got to be in the music profession for the music and the greater good of others rather than fame or fortune. There’s a lot of artifice in this business, so if you were sane the people might drive you to insanity. How should they go about it? Woodshed to get as good at your craft as possible, then play/sing with as many good musicians as you can and find your own voice rather than copying others. Writing music also helps. Will you be doing this forever, or do you have something in mind to do next? I’ll keep it up as long as I can. It’s important to keep learning and improving. Do you think your job involves more or less sex with strangers than, say, being a meter reader? How much sex does a meter reader have? Do they often sleep with strangers? Do people sleep with meter readers in order to evade paying fines? What if an audience member is partially known to you and therefore no longer a stranger? The answer: no. If you didn’t do what you do, what would you do instead? Go back to working for an environment or social justice organisation.