FAR toooo FABULOUS!
Michèle (Shelly) Andrews and Olinka Heath met some twenty years ago when Shells’ delightfully nutty Blue Merle dog shot into Olinkas’ garden causing the toddler to cry and Olinka to chase Shelly up the road! Goddess be praised!
Soothing words and exceptional muffins-in-the-letter-box later, the zany pair found that they were both farm girls bought up about 10kms apart but had never met.
Both women had a babe in arms, loving partners but no sisters around.
Self declared best mates and honorary sisters, the pair were often mistaken as such.
Olinkas pile of songs and beaten guitar united with Shelly’s delightful ear for harmonies and soon a duo was formed.
The original “Far Too Fabulous” was a collection of five women singing mostly home grown songs with lots of juicy harmonic layering.
Five dropped to three, to two, back to three and finally again to two to create the 4 year project of the “Far Too Fabulous” C.D.
It is 20 years of deepest kinship you’ll hear on this disc. You’ll hear songs written through life’s travels. Through the eyes of a parent (Shelly’s ‘Sweet Things’) through the pain of separation (Olinkas ‘Got Four Wheels’ and Shelly’s ‘Skin on Skin’)
You’ll hear the heart numbing-ness that family conflict can cause (Olinkas ‘Birthday Song’) and the words of joy and self claiming after which the C.D. is titled ‘Celebrate Yourself!’
We took songs and worked them slowly layering them with patience and the skill of Stephen Upston of Breaker Bay Studios. He gave us a long lead to play on and we took up all the slack.
What do you not learn about your self and your ‘sister’ when you embark on such a project?
What pain is not experienced as the terrible self doubt of bum notes and poor intonation, or disempowering lyrics causes yet more internal sabotage? How could the end product ever become good enough for anyone else to enjoy? Patience, care, careful weeding…
And yet, what joy as we got it right here and there! Building songs with our ears and attention and layering the sounds with the patient Stephen. We found ourselves in a world of musicians willing to exchange their skills and time for wine and cake. Bless them all.
In the end we stopped stripping out the im-perfect songs and put some of them back on for the raw passion they contain. (‘Storm In My Tea Cup’, and ‘Was That A knock?’)
“It’s art” says Shelly, and so it is.
We have grown and found confidence. Now we gift it to you, to the world. Enjoy and be Blessed.
Michèle (Shelly) Andrews and Olinka Heath met some twenty years ago when Shells’ delightfully nutty Blue Merle dog shot into Olinkas’ garden causing the toddler to cry and Olinka to chase Shelly up the road! Goddess be praised!
Soothing words and exceptional muffins-in-the-letter-box later, the zany pair found that they were both farm girls bought up about 10kms apart but had never met.
Both women had a babe in arms, loving partners but no sisters around.
Self declared best mates and honorary sisters, the pair were often mistaken as such.
Olinkas pile of songs and beaten guitar united with Shelly’s delightful ear for harmonies and soon a duo was formed.
The original “Far Too Fabulous” was a collection of five women singing mostly home grown songs with lots of juicy harmonic layering.
Five dropped to three, to two, back to three and finally again to two to create the 4 year project of the “Far Too Fabulous” C.D.
It is 20 years of deepest kinship you’ll hear on this disc. You’ll hear songs written through life’s travels. Through the eyes of a parent (Shelly’s ‘Sweet Things’) through the pain of separation (Olinkas ‘Got Four Wheels’ and Shelly’s ‘Skin on Skin’)
You’ll hear the heart numbing-ness that family conflict can cause (Olinkas ‘Birthday Song’) and the words of joy and self claiming after which the C.D. is titled ‘Celebrate Yourself!’
We took songs and worked them slowly layering them with patience and the skill of Stephen Upston of Breaker Bay Studios. He gave us a long lead to play on and we took up all the slack.
What do you not learn about your self and your ‘sister’ when you embark on such a project?
What pain is not experienced as the terrible self doubt of bum notes and poor intonation, or disempowering lyrics causes yet more internal sabotage? How could the end product ever become good enough for anyone else to enjoy? Patience, care, careful weeding…
And yet, what joy as we got it right here and there! Building songs with our ears and attention and layering the sounds with the patient Stephen. We found ourselves in a world of musicians willing to exchange their skills and time for wine and cake. Bless them all.
In the end we stopped stripping out the im-perfect songs and put some of them back on for the raw passion they contain. (‘Storm In My Tea Cup’, and ‘Was That A knock?’)
“It’s art” says Shelly, and so it is.
We have grown and found confidence. Now we gift it to you, to the world. Enjoy and be Blessed.