In the car, singing enthusiastically to a choir practice track for Florence and the Machine's "Rabbit Heart". Keep singing as I pull into the car park of my building and run inside to grab something. Hare round the corner (still singing loudly)… and there is new neighbour hanging out washing in communal courtyard. Abruptly cease singing and introduce self, trying to appear as un-eccentric as possible.
Fast-forward 12 months and it's that time of the year again... when every spare moment is an opportunity to sing because Menagerie choir has a SHOW coming up.
You’ll find me walking around the park with my headphones on, singing alto lines quietly to myself. On my bike I’ll sing louder, telling myself that I’m moving too fast to be heard. And in the privacy of my home, I’ll belt it out. Sorry neighbours.
This is my third season with Perth indie-pop choir, Menagerie, and, even though it’s only been about 15 months since I joined, I can’t imagine my life without choir. At the risk of sounding nuts (hell, I’m singing in public on my bicycle – I’m clearly not worried about appearances any more), I think that joining Menagerie was one of the best decisions of my life.
I stumbled upon Menagerie whilst scrolling through my Facebook news feed. A friend had joined the fledgling choir and was inviting others to the first performance. I remember that they were going to be singing Fleet Foxes’ “White Winter Hymnal”. A choir covering Fleet Foxes? Impulsively I tapped a quick comment, asking if there was room for another singer in the group.
I assumed there would be some kind of audition process, but to my delight, it was just a matter of signing up*. Nonetheless, I was nervous when I arrived at that first rehearsal. My last performance as a chorister had taken place at my Year 12 prize-giving. During the 20 or so intervening years, any singing I had done had been to myself.
I needn’t have fretted. Turns out singing in a choir is a bit like riding a bicycle. Plus the conductor, Claire Coleman, is so lovely, ensuring that everyone feels at ease, no matter what their musical background.
Ah yes… musical background. I took piano lessons as a child, about 3 decades ago. A high point of those early Menagerie rehearsals was the moment when I realised that I was using the score to remind myself of the various permutations of the alto part… I was reading music!
It was like discovering that I could still understand a little-used second language.
The clincher, though, was the music itself. Menagerie’s repertoire stole my heart… those indie pop songs gorgeously arranged by Claire and various seriously musical members of the choir.
From the seasons I’ve sung in so far, I think my favourite numbers have been The Mountain Goats’ “This Year”, “Wrapped Up in Books” by Belle and Sebastian and Arcade Fire’s “Wake Up”, with a nostalgic special mention to The Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man”. When I heard the news that one of my all-time fave songs, “New Slang” by The Shins, had been selected for the set list of our upcoming show, I just about combusted with excitement.
Plus there are smaller side projects. As part of a Menagerie subset, I’ve sung with local rock band SMRTs (in Serbian!) and recorded an a capella version of Prince’s “Take Me With U” for an album called Rain Supreme, a 30th anniversary tribute to the Purple Rain album put together by Fulsome Prism and Luke You.
This season’s performance, “Hey Music! I [heart] You”, sees us collaborating with local songwriters, Timothy Nelson, Odette Mercy and Josh Fontaine at Fringe World. Last Monday was our first rehearsal with Timothy. I confess, I got a little star-struck. We're covering Timothy’s super-cool “Out of My Mind” and hearing his dark-disco vocals live was such a buzz that I forgot to sing my part several times during that first run-through.
So much happiness. Looking back, though, the highlight of my very first rehearsal was quite simple. It was the moment that we put an alto and a soprano line together, and I experienced, anew, the sheer joy of singing in harmony.
Oh, it’s something else. Being filled to the skin with music, feeling the sound physically in your chest, hearing it soar around you from 80-odd other singing bodies.
And so, with about four weeks until our season at Fringe World, I’m looking forward to a month of rehearsals, long evenings at the Budgie Smuggler artists’ club, balmy late night cycles home and, of course, singing, singing, singing at every opportunity.
PS – “Hey Music! I [heart] You” runs 14-18 February. You can read more about the show and book online here.
* Since then word has got out about how awesome choir is. There’s a waiting list now.