WEBVTT - Summer series: in conversation with Tina Arena 0:00:06.440 --> 0:00:09.560 Hello, and welcome to Something to Talk About Burstella Podcast. 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:12.960 I'm Sarah Lamarquin, your host, and this year I have 0:00:13.080 --> 0:00:15.120 had the privilege of sitting down with some of the 0:00:15.120 --> 0:00:18.720 biggest names in the country. Because when Estrada's celebrities are 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.360 ready to talk, they come to Something to talk About. 0:00:22.120 --> 0:00:24.760 We're continuing to publish across the summer break and we'll 0:00:24.800 --> 0:00:27.840 be back with a brand new episode on January twelfth. 0:00:28.080 --> 0:00:30.560 In the meantime, each day for the next two weeks, 0:00:30.600 --> 0:00:33.320 we'll be revisiting some of your favorite episodes from the 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:35.720 past year, and I'm happy to report that there have 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.760 been a lot of popular episodes, but out of the 0:00:38.920 --> 0:00:41.920 fifty we released in twenty twenty four, we've narrowed it 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:45.880 down to ten conversations to revisit over the summer break, 0:00:46.080 --> 0:00:49.519 and today we'll be revisiting our episode with Tina Arena. 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.760 We had a huge response to this conversation from October, 0:00:53.159 --> 0:00:56.800 which was full of truth bombs from Tina about getting older, 0:00:57.120 --> 0:01:01.360 social media women being pitted against one another, and a 0:01:01.400 --> 0:01:04.640 heartbreaking admission about why her son has been living on 0:01:04.680 --> 0:01:07.200 the other side of the world from her. And if 0:01:07.240 --> 0:01:10.120 you're curious as to why Tina thinks she was quote 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:12.800 unquote burnt at the stake in a former life. 0:01:13.160 --> 0:01:14.039 Then take a listen. 0:01:15.120 --> 0:01:18.880 You have been a stellar regular over the years, one 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:22.120 of the most beloved performers this country's ever produced. But 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:26.680 I'm talking to you today about one of the moments 0:01:26.760 --> 0:01:31.840 where really that this period of your career, Tina Arena, 0:01:31.880 --> 0:01:35.520 the performer that we know today, really in some ways began. 0:01:35.640 --> 0:01:40.199 I would say, let's go back to November nineteen ninety four, 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.760 an album called Don't Ask is released. 0:01:44.240 --> 0:01:46.280 What are your memories of. 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:49.960 That time, Tina? Going back to the release of that 0:01:50.160 --> 0:01:52.800 album in late nineteen ninety. 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:56.840 Four, clearly I was considerably younger, so I perhaps wasn't 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:00.360 as cynical as what I am now. It was a 0:02:00.480 --> 0:02:06.800 very exciting time because music was really exciting then, and 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.720 there was a structure around music that I think was 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.560 much more It was just a little bit. 0:02:13.360 --> 0:02:15.360 It was a lot better than what it is today. 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.680 So it gave artists had. 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:25.080 An opportunity to present their works and also to be 0:02:25.200 --> 0:02:29.160 able to go on some sort of an adventure with 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.680 their artistic careers, their performing and their writing and their 0:02:32.760 --> 0:02:36.920 creating of records and so forth. There was a real 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:39.560 sense of excitement because I really think that that also 0:02:39.760 --> 0:02:47.320 was a time where music was really validated, really really valued, valued, 0:02:47.360 --> 0:02:50.560 I guess is really the word. It wasn't really so 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.799 much a commodity as such. I mean, of course it's 0:02:53.800 --> 0:02:57.040 a commodity, but it wasn't a commodity in the technical 0:02:57.200 --> 0:03:03.320 terms of the word. It was something that people looked 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:08.720 forward to. They weren't having music rammed down their throats, 0:03:09.320 --> 0:03:13.760 so it enabled people to have the opportunity to really 0:03:14.600 --> 0:03:17.840 immerse themselves in an artist's journey. 0:03:18.800 --> 0:03:20.760 So it was a beautiful time. 0:03:20.880 --> 0:03:25.440 It was a crazy time, but it was exciting certainly 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.080 creatively that moment. 0:03:28.320 --> 0:03:31.840 In Australia, we go back to November nineteen ninety four, 0:03:31.880 --> 0:03:35.840 Paul Keating was Prime Minister. This thing called the Internet, 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:41.000 which I'm imagining, Tina, would have facilitated a lot of 0:03:41.040 --> 0:03:43.560 the change of culture that you've just spoken about, like 0:03:43.640 --> 0:03:47.320 the onslought of digital media, social media, everything that's come 0:03:47.400 --> 0:03:50.920 with the era that we live in now. Culturally, it 0:03:51.000 --> 0:03:54.160 was the year where Muriel's Wedding was released. It's also 0:03:54.280 --> 0:04:00.400 turning thirty this month, and Priscilla, what about the culture 0:04:00.440 --> 0:04:03.760 at that time would you like to go back and change. 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:08.720 I missed the fact what I really enjoyed about the 0:04:08.800 --> 0:04:12.400 eighties and the nineties, particularly in Australia, is the fact 0:04:12.440 --> 0:04:17.600 that Australians were much more invested in their own culture. 0:04:18.240 --> 0:04:21.920 They were much more invested in their own music. Hence 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:26.360 Muriel's wedding was a wonderful example, and so was Priscilla. 0:04:26.400 --> 0:04:28.880 Queen of the Desert was really really very much a 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:33.600 foray into what Australian culture was at the time. I 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:38.719 really feel that that has unfortunately, very sadly drifted so 0:04:38.880 --> 0:04:41.920 far away now in these last sort of twenty years, 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:48.440 because we've had such an infiltration of American music and 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:52.600 in English music too, which is really sort of buried. 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:58.000 It buried our community and our capacity to be able 0:04:58.279 --> 0:05:01.440 to bring our art to the fore front. I think 0:05:01.480 --> 0:05:05.960 that's what's ultimately disappointing today as a musician. You can't 0:05:06.080 --> 0:05:12.880 really compete with you know, one hundred thousand songs or 0:05:13.000 --> 0:05:17.200 so that are streamed or delivered every single day. It's 0:05:17.240 --> 0:05:21.760 just it's it's impossible. So there, you know, it's there. 0:05:21.880 --> 0:05:25.400 There is a big pot, and people have. 0:05:25.520 --> 0:05:27.320 Just thrown everything into it. 0:05:27.400 --> 0:05:29.400 And of course that's that's not going to make a 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:33.680 really beautiful minnestrone, you know, throwing absolutely everything in the 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.640 kitchen sink, and it just doesn't work. It's just it's 0:05:36.720 --> 0:05:39.320 we live in a world that is ultimately saturated. So 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:43.680 therefore those little jewels and those beautiful things really struggle 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.719 to come to the forefront. So I do I do 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:52.880 miss I miss that implication and that real fight for 0:05:53.000 --> 0:05:56.800 our own culture that we had in that time. 0:05:58.240 --> 0:06:01.680 What about when you're in the presence of a live audience. 0:06:01.920 --> 0:06:04.960 I think it's the closest that you can that you 0:06:05.080 --> 0:06:08.520 can come to grace if you want to kind of 0:06:08.640 --> 0:06:12.160 use that word. For me, that's that's the that's the 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:13.320 moment of reckoning. 0:06:13.520 --> 0:06:20.120 That's where I that's where I feel that I'm truly 0:06:20.360 --> 0:06:24.760 doing my job. That's where I that's where it is. 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.159 That's sort of that's where it starts and stops for me, 0:06:27.240 --> 0:06:31.760 because that is the ultimate truth, and people see it 0:06:32.440 --> 0:06:35.880 right in front of their very eyes and they're able 0:06:35.920 --> 0:06:40.040 to participate in something that extraordinary happens when you get 0:06:40.640 --> 0:06:47.159 beautiful music and performance and people coming together, it's always 0:06:47.200 --> 0:06:51.680 a celebration where everybody is on the same frequency, and 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:55.400 that's an extraordinary that's a real gift, and I'm very 0:06:55.400 --> 0:06:59.800 grateful that i have the opportunity to still be able 0:06:59.839 --> 0:07:02.000 to do that and to focus and to feel like 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:05.080 I've still got some learning and growing to doing that, 0:07:05.200 --> 0:07:09.760 and that I'm excited about doing all of that. I 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.360 think that if the live aspect wasn't what it is, 0:07:12.760 --> 0:07:17.240 it can't be manipulated. It's not going to be manipulated 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:21.760 by artificial intelligence. That, as far as I'm concerned, is 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:27.280 just the technocrats doing what it is for them to 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:32.680 be able to survive, have some sort of evocation, and 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:35.880 to rape and pillage people and their crafts all at 0:07:35.880 --> 0:07:41.160 the same time. It's unbelievably disappointing that they feel that 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:43.520 they have the right to be able to do that 0:07:43.640 --> 0:07:47.040 to people, and the fact that very few people turn 0:07:47.080 --> 0:07:51.680 around and say to them, who do you think you 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:54.200 are by wanting. 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.640 To take us what it is that we do. 0:07:58.440 --> 0:08:02.080 And to transform it and to not remunerate us for it, 0:08:02.520 --> 0:08:05.200 you know what I mean, and then to create some. 0:08:05.040 --> 0:08:06.520 Sort of a digital. 0:08:07.840 --> 0:08:12.600 Replication of that person of that spirit. It doesn't work 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:15.360 for me. It just doesn't make any sense. So therefore, 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:18.320 getting back to the question, the live thing is the 0:08:18.320 --> 0:08:22.840 most beautiful thing. You can't mess with it, you can't 0:08:22.880 --> 0:08:23.280 touch it. 0:08:23.800 --> 0:08:26.480 If you were starting your career now, then, Tina, in 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:29.320 this landscape, do you think it's something that. 0:08:29.240 --> 0:08:31.120 You would persevere with? 0:08:31.240 --> 0:08:34.600 Would you put aside your doubt? No, you think you'd 0:08:34.640 --> 0:08:35.559 just go and do something. 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:41.600 I can tell you really honestly, Sarah, if I feel 0:08:42.559 --> 0:08:44.400 a big part of the reason why I fight so 0:08:44.520 --> 0:08:48.920 strongly for musicians and that I've had some stand up 0:08:49.040 --> 0:08:52.320 arguments with people in the music business and record industry 0:08:52.360 --> 0:08:55.480 and in radio and so forth. And I don't mean 0:08:55.640 --> 0:08:59.840 to have those disputes to them. I'm not, They're too 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:05.040 attack them on a personal level. What I find frustrating 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:10.320 is that if nobody says anything, nothing is ever ever 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:11.120 going to change. 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:12.400 And how are. 0:09:12.320 --> 0:09:15.320 These kids supposed to make some sort of a living 0:09:15.880 --> 0:09:18.080 or have some sort of a life when they're not 0:09:18.520 --> 0:09:23.680 in the least bit respected. So it is particularly sad. 0:09:24.120 --> 0:09:28.800 I do really fret for the younger generation. 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:29.720 I really do. 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:32.800 I am scared for them, and I fight for them. 0:09:32.800 --> 0:09:34.320 And I've had some people say to me, well, why 0:09:34.360 --> 0:09:38.560 would you bother fighting. You're fine, You're privileged, you have 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:40.920 a career, you have money to be able to do 0:09:40.960 --> 0:09:43.200 what it is that you want to do. It's like, well, 0:09:43.240 --> 0:09:47.280 it's actually not about me. I know, I'm fine. You know, 0:09:47.360 --> 0:09:50.480 I've already hit almost fifty years in my career, and 0:09:50.920 --> 0:09:53.760 yes I am privileged, but I've worked very, very hard. 0:09:54.440 --> 0:09:58.400 So it's a privilege that I deserve because I've implicated 0:09:58.440 --> 0:10:04.080 myself in it in a very traditional way. But I 0:10:04.120 --> 0:10:07.920 will fight for the new generation and I will hold 0:10:07.920 --> 0:10:09.880 the government up to the fact that they should be 0:10:09.960 --> 0:10:15.160 respectful of the artistic community and understand that the artistic 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:19.320 community make an extraordinary financial contribution to any gross domestic 0:10:19.760 --> 0:10:23.800 product of any country. So that's nothing to negate. You 0:10:23.880 --> 0:10:26.520 can't just put that aside and go, yeah, they're just musicians. 0:10:26.600 --> 0:10:28.760 Leave them, you know, don't worry about it. Throw them 0:10:28.760 --> 0:10:29.160 a bone. 0:10:29.360 --> 0:10:29.959 Fuck off. 0:10:30.160 --> 0:10:34.679 No, we don't take that. And it's unbelievably disrespectful. I 0:10:34.760 --> 0:10:37.760 think that's the thing that I find really disheartening is 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:42.120 the real lack of respect, and that's demonstrated in the 0:10:42.160 --> 0:10:46.600 fact that they are careless and they don't care about 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:50.319 our future or our children's future. 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:56.560 You have never been one to hold off sharing your opinion. 0:10:56.600 --> 0:11:01.040 You are a passionate advocate for the industry, You started 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:05.920 a big conversation with an interview Instellar during COVID where 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:10.000 you called out lack of support for the arts community, 0:11:10.200 --> 0:11:14.080 you know, complete decimation of an industry and really took 0:11:14.320 --> 0:11:17.360 a big one that ignited a huge national conversation at 0:11:17.400 --> 0:11:20.680 the time when you were inducted into the ARIA Hall 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:24.360 of Fame in twenty fifteen, you use that moment to 0:11:24.760 --> 0:11:29.200 call out the industry, especially radio, for not playing a 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:32.360 quote unquote old woman, your God forbid woman over forty. 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:34.439 Why would we be listening to this on radio? These 0:11:34.440 --> 0:11:37.280 are moments where some people might think, I'm just going 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:40.640 to have a good night, wear my great gown, have 0:11:40.760 --> 0:11:43.760 a glass of champagne, and bask in the moment, and 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.400 hopefully you take a moment to do those things as 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:47.880 well when I. 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.720 Wish I was better at that, But anyway, go continue. 0:11:50.320 --> 0:11:53.200 To do though, where does this come from, Tina? And 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:55.720 has this been something that has been with you from 0:11:55.760 --> 0:11:59.240 the beginning? Were you always outspoken? 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:02.160 Do you know, Sarah, when you grow up in the 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:07.800 industry from a little girl and you're you're subjected to 0:12:08.000 --> 0:12:12.280 just seeing things really early on, so you start putting 0:12:12.320 --> 0:12:22.160 two and two together. There's unfortunately the arts is full 0:12:22.160 --> 0:12:24.640 of a lot of bullshit that I just don't really 0:12:25.760 --> 0:12:28.120 I don't have any time for it doesn't interest me. 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:32.520 I don't feel I learn anything from that. I think 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:36.560 we learn when we're out of our comfort zone, when 0:12:36.600 --> 0:12:39.679 we do create a conversation, when we ask a question 0:12:40.400 --> 0:12:43.720 that people don't necessarily expect to be asked, when we 0:12:44.000 --> 0:12:48.280 confront and have a discussion about something that is absolutely 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:52.760 not discussed. And I guess the smoke and mirror thing 0:12:52.920 --> 0:12:55.680 for me is always I've had a real problem with 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.520 that these last few years, and I guess in it 0:13:00.960 --> 0:13:04.959 subconscious way, I've slowly been deconstructing that a little bit, 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.400 and it's like my life. I don't want my life 0:13:08.440 --> 0:13:11.160 to be smoke and mirrors. I have a privilege of 0:13:11.200 --> 0:13:16.120 being able to do my job, and the basis of 0:13:16.200 --> 0:13:24.120 my job is about honesty. So I don't really I 0:13:24.200 --> 0:13:28.280 can't be anything, but because I don't believe that that 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:32.360 is my I don't believe that's my purpose era. I 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:36.040 believe that my purpose obviously came out of fighter. I 0:13:36.040 --> 0:13:38.560 don't know what kind of karma I have. I don't 0:13:38.559 --> 0:13:41.199 know what kind of past life I have. I may 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:43.440 have been burnt at the stake. There are times where 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:48.000 I've felt that very seriously around some people that I 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:52.520 feel haven't had the right intentions or perhaps didn't say 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:53.320 the right thing. 0:13:53.960 --> 0:13:58.760 So I'm a very keen observer. I observe people. 0:13:58.800 --> 0:14:04.520 I study people, and their behavior gives me the answers 0:14:04.559 --> 0:14:09.920 that I need. I also spent many years not listening 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:14.680 to myself and listening to others, and as a result 0:14:14.720 --> 0:14:18.679 of that, I lost my way. I lost who I was, 0:14:20.080 --> 0:14:25.240 and that's not what it's about. Ex Self expression is 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:33.960 about you what you inherently feel, think, desire, and I 0:14:34.000 --> 0:14:38.040 can't be anything but truthful and if people that's fine. 0:14:38.080 --> 0:14:40.480 If people don't agree, I'm so comfortable with that because 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:44.560 I'm comfortable in the notion of agreeing to disagree. And 0:14:44.600 --> 0:14:47.480 that's something Australians don't do very well at all. 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:48.800 But I lived in. 0:14:48.720 --> 0:14:51.440 France for a long time and there's a lot of 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:54.640 people that agree to disagree, and there's some extraordinary I 0:14:54.680 --> 0:14:57.800 have had some extraordinary conversations over the last few years 0:14:57.800 --> 0:15:00.480 that I think have probably been a massive con tribution 0:15:00.760 --> 0:15:04.160 to the woman that I am today because I was 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:07.040 out of my comfort zone and some things I knew 0:15:07.080 --> 0:15:10.040 and some things I didn't know. And sometimes I would 0:15:10.080 --> 0:15:12.240 make points where people were like which I never thought 0:15:12.280 --> 0:15:15.200 about that, or other times though ire like, no, but 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:17.960 you don't see this is sort of and I go, oh, okay, 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:23.040 so I'm just open. I'm very open to discussion. 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.560 I wish we had more of that in this country. 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:26.120 I agree. 0:15:26.160 --> 0:15:30.920 I think agreeing to disagree and listening to one another 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:34.920 and maybe God forbid, learning from one another is I 0:15:34.960 --> 0:15:40.000 think becoming a really endangered trait. And it's certainly to 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:45.120 be speak your truth and listen to somebody else can 0:15:45.240 --> 0:15:47.800 make you a target. And I think especially as as 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.480 a woman and a high profile woman, and you talked 0:15:50.480 --> 0:15:54.320 about you know, possibly you know, being burned at the stake. 0:15:54.400 --> 0:15:56.680 I mean might still think, you know, we still like 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.800 to burn women at the stake, even in twenty. 0:15:59.480 --> 0:16:03.080 Twenty four, you know, we do, Sarah. And it's really sad. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.960 It's really sad because I was really hoping that as 0:16:08.040 --> 0:16:12.080 women we would be able to somehow evolve a little 0:16:12.120 --> 0:16:15.840 bit more graciously as opposed to being in this sort 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:22.080 of thing of let's fight. No, things are not solved 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.880 like that. They can be solved much more beautifully and 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:30.160 gently than that, and I don't like this sort of 0:16:30.280 --> 0:16:36.000 male female you know, friction. I believe in the balance 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.280 of life. I believe in the balance of the female, 0:16:38.320 --> 0:16:40.080 like I believe in the balance of the male. 0:16:41.080 --> 0:16:44.240 So that's truly what I feel. 0:16:45.080 --> 0:16:50.960 It's unbelievably important to support other women in a very 0:16:51.320 --> 0:16:54.760 honorable way, even if you don't agree with them, but 0:16:54.880 --> 0:16:58.360 to just sit there and go, you know, what they're doing, 0:16:58.360 --> 0:17:02.280 what they feel is right. So just be gracious to 0:17:02.760 --> 0:17:07.040 enough to understand that that is very honorable. You know. 0:17:07.480 --> 0:17:11.399 I'm a woman who's had many other people attack me 0:17:11.680 --> 0:17:15.160 over the years because I am forthright, because I do 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.760 speak my mind. And it's like, I'm like, look, if 0:17:17.800 --> 0:17:20.960 you want to cancel me and knock yourself out, I 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:24.919 really like, is it going to really change my life? Well, 0:17:25.080 --> 0:17:29.040 probably not spiritually for me anymore, because I'm learning to 0:17:29.240 --> 0:17:33.640 protect myself around that and I won't buy into the bullshit. 0:17:33.920 --> 0:17:35.080 I just just don't. 0:17:35.960 --> 0:17:39.000 And media plays a big, big, big role in that. 0:17:39.119 --> 0:17:43.360 Therefore, it's important what I say. That's why I feel 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:47.960 that the truth is everything. The truth is everything. 0:17:50.320 --> 0:17:53.000 And coming up, Tina opens up about the heartbreak of 0:17:53.040 --> 0:17:55.280 her teenage son moving to the other side of the 0:17:55.280 --> 0:18:03.840 world during the pandemic. You spoke there, Tina about the 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:08.160 honorable idea of supporting other women even if we don't 0:18:08.200 --> 0:18:11.960 necessarily see I too. I I wanted to ask you 0:18:12.000 --> 0:18:16.000 a little bit about how you think the industry may 0:18:16.080 --> 0:18:19.600 hopefully have improved. Maybe it hasn't improved in terms of 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:24.000 the way that women were once pitted against one another. 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.520 I feel like sometimes that narrative has been turned down 0:18:28.080 --> 0:18:30.440 a little bit. What do you think you were someone 0:18:30.480 --> 0:18:33.880 who has a lot of high profile women that you support. 0:18:34.000 --> 0:18:37.880 I mentioned the ARIA Award being inducted into the. 0:18:37.800 --> 0:18:38.320 Hall of Fame. 0:18:38.359 --> 0:18:41.440 It was Kylie Minogue who inducted you. She flew back 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:43.000 into Australia for that. 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:46.119 And I'd asked for Kylie to do the induction because 0:18:46.119 --> 0:18:50.160 for me, it made sense that she would do it 0:18:50.640 --> 0:18:55.199 as she's known me for a long time and she 0:18:55.359 --> 0:18:58.520 understands my trajectory, so for me, it made sense that 0:18:58.600 --> 0:19:02.520 somebody like Kylie, who's been on a long journey herself, 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:07.119 she would completely understand and empathize. That's why it was 0:19:07.640 --> 0:19:09.840 I made that call and I really wanted. 0:19:09.480 --> 0:19:11.800 Her to do it. 0:19:11.800 --> 0:19:15.040 It was a really beautiful moment, and you, of course 0:19:15.080 --> 0:19:19.280 an fellow a young talent, time alumni Danny Minogue. Have 0:19:19.560 --> 0:19:23.400 been in one another's lives for years since, very formative 0:19:23.480 --> 0:19:26.520 years when you're on the show together and again somebody, 0:19:26.600 --> 0:19:31.240 I think the power of those high profile relationships and 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:35.159 friendships probably shouldn't be that revolutionary, that we have women 0:19:35.240 --> 0:19:38.760 supporting other women in this way. But do you think 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:42.919 that that has become something that I imagine there have been 0:19:42.960 --> 0:19:45.200 points in your career where you've even been told, oh, 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:47.680 we can't release that, we've already got a woman signed 0:19:47.720 --> 0:19:49.679 to the label, or so and so is doing that. 0:19:49.760 --> 0:19:52.560 There's only a room for one woman in the charts, 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:53.680 one woman on the room. 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:56.160 What are your thoughts about all of that. You've made 0:19:56.160 --> 0:20:01.639 a very interesting point, Sarah, when in the eighties or 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:07.320 night just probably started way back before then. Because the 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:13.400 industry was predominantly male at the time. The women were 0:20:13.440 --> 0:20:16.840 pitched up against one another, and I think a lot 0:20:16.880 --> 0:20:20.760 of those males had some sort of a fantasmical, sort 0:20:20.760 --> 0:20:24.280 of an expedition within themselves and their own lunch boxes 0:20:24.320 --> 0:20:29.639 to sort of sit there and fantasize voyeuristically at those women. 0:20:30.240 --> 0:20:33.800 And also the relationships to the dynamics between women. 0:20:35.880 --> 0:20:36.760 I'll be very honest. 0:20:36.800 --> 0:20:42.280 I've been in several situations over the years, and particularly 0:20:42.359 --> 0:20:46.200 in the nineties and late nineties, where I had met 0:20:47.080 --> 0:20:52.960 some very very successful women internationally who shall remain nameless. 0:20:53.000 --> 0:20:56.480 I will not mention their names at all, because it 0:20:56.520 --> 0:20:58.320 would be disrespectful. 0:20:57.640 --> 0:20:58.359 Of me to do that. 0:20:59.400 --> 0:21:04.400 But where I've felt really uncomfortable because of that very 0:21:04.840 --> 0:21:09.560 notion that we were being pitted against one another, We're 0:21:09.600 --> 0:21:14.399 in complete competition. It's such bullshit. It's absolute bullshit. It 0:21:14.480 --> 0:21:19.040 is so boring. It is a storyline that makes no sense. 0:21:19.800 --> 0:21:23.119 Nobody gets anything from it, not the women and not 0:21:23.240 --> 0:21:27.560 the women watching or the greater audience at large. I 0:21:28.280 --> 0:21:33.120 think what I've struggled with a lot is those really 0:21:33.240 --> 0:21:37.439 boring narratives and cliche things that they do when someone goes, oh, 0:21:37.480 --> 0:21:40.080 I've got a really great idea, or what do you think, 0:21:40.119 --> 0:21:43.280 and it's like, it's actually not a great idea at all. 0:21:43.920 --> 0:21:48.280 It's you think it's a great idea, so you know, 0:21:48.640 --> 0:21:52.199 and hence you don't see any beauty coming out of 0:21:52.280 --> 0:21:55.400 one person or the other because they're just both being 0:21:55.440 --> 0:22:00.600 pitted against one another in this absolute bullshit narrative that is, 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:05.840 I don't know, it's not interesting for anybody. It's really 0:22:05.880 --> 0:22:07.560 not interesting for anybody. 0:22:08.080 --> 0:22:11.280 In terms of challenging narratives. I also, Tina, wanted to 0:22:11.320 --> 0:22:15.080 ask you about the fact that you changed your name 0:22:15.840 --> 0:22:19.439 to Tina, your stage name when I believe when you 0:22:19.480 --> 0:22:24.320 first appeared on Young Talent time back when you were eight. Again, 0:22:25.480 --> 0:22:28.120 you know, we did not see a lot of diversity 0:22:28.359 --> 0:22:31.359 on our screens in the late seventies and eighties. I 0:22:31.440 --> 0:22:35.280 mean sometimes exactly. I mean we've come a long way. 0:22:35.720 --> 0:22:38.479 That's I'd love to ask you a little bit about 0:22:38.480 --> 0:22:39.119 that moment. 0:22:39.280 --> 0:22:41.879 And you know, changing your name, well, you know, Australia 0:22:42.000 --> 0:22:47.240 was very, very white in the seventies, and that's okay. 0:22:47.800 --> 0:22:52.239 I was born and raised here, so I'm not an 0:22:52.280 --> 0:22:56.000 important sorts. My parents came here when they were quite 0:22:56.400 --> 0:22:58.680 in their twenties, but I was born here. 0:22:58.840 --> 0:23:00.000 I didn't have an issue with it. 0:23:00.080 --> 0:23:04.879 Sarah, my name is peenapi Ina and I understood as 0:23:04.880 --> 0:23:06.480 a kid that I was going to get ribbed and 0:23:06.520 --> 0:23:08.560 I was going to get called everything under the sun, 0:23:08.800 --> 0:23:10.120 and I kind of did in a way. 0:23:10.920 --> 0:23:11.639 But that's cool. 0:23:11.960 --> 0:23:16.160 I really I kind of was water off Duck's back 0:23:16.200 --> 0:23:18.560 for me. I was such a happy go lucky kid 0:23:18.560 --> 0:23:21.040 that I kind of just got on with it, and 0:23:21.080 --> 0:23:23.840 when it was actually John Young who made the suggestion 0:23:23.960 --> 0:23:29.080 to change one letter because he as a Dutchman who 0:23:29.200 --> 0:23:31.480 was born in Holland and came to Australia as a 0:23:31.520 --> 0:23:36.320 young man being ethnic, understood and went, well, if we 0:23:37.640 --> 0:23:39.880 allow her to be called Pina, she's going to be 0:23:40.440 --> 0:23:43.679 she's going to be confronted with some serious bullying and ribbing. 0:23:43.760 --> 0:23:44.400 And he was right. 0:23:44.680 --> 0:23:45.920 So he said to my mum and dad, what do 0:23:45.960 --> 0:23:48.280 you think if we changed the peed with tea. My 0:23:48.400 --> 0:23:51.320 parents were like, that's fine with us, and they looked 0:23:51.359 --> 0:23:53.480 over and I remember the moment. Actually, I was sitting 0:23:53.560 --> 0:23:57.840 in his office and he had this beautiful office of 0:23:57.960 --> 0:24:01.080 this gorgeous sort of racing green color on the wall 0:24:01.119 --> 0:24:04.760 and these really cool sort of Italian leather couches. John 0:24:04.840 --> 0:24:09.159 was unbelievably stylish, had incredible taste in these old gold records. 0:24:09.200 --> 0:24:11.400 So I was just wandering in the office and I 0:24:11.440 --> 0:24:14.720 was seven or something, just looking at the gold records, 0:24:14.720 --> 0:24:16.080 and he sort of said, what do you think about 0:24:16.160 --> 0:24:19.080 changing your name from Peanut to Tina? And I turner 0:24:19.080 --> 0:24:21.280 and I remember and I went, oh. 0:24:21.119 --> 0:24:22.520 That sounds cool. 0:24:22.560 --> 0:24:24.480 With me, and then I kept looking at the Gold 0:24:24.560 --> 0:24:27.840 Records and just. 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:29.840 Studying the room and the space. I was fine with it. 0:24:30.280 --> 0:24:32.679 Well, there would be a few of those Gold records 0:24:32.680 --> 0:24:37.359 in your future, Tina. And then Tina became Tiny Tina. 0:24:37.400 --> 0:24:41.560 I wanted to ask you about that transition from child star, 0:24:42.160 --> 0:24:48.600