Who is Clare Bowditch?
Difficult question to ask oneself, and rather awkward to answer out loud but I guess… my work bio would say something like “Clare Bowditch is an ARIA Award winning musician, and ABIA Award Winning author, and a Logie Nominated actor, an award-winning Audible Original broadcaster, who hasn’t toured for ages for reason that she will reveal in person when she comes to Adelaide in June…”
If we were to have met in the supermarket aisle, however, and you wondered out loud why I was buying bulk dog-and-cat food, you’d know me as the mum of three really tall children, all of whom have now finished high-school, and I’m about to head out on tour with their Dad (Marty Brown) for the first time in years, so we’re leaving the kids in charge of the dog and two cats and then I’d make a strange expression like a scared smile and show you my crossed fingers and say: WISH US LUCK!
What would you do differently from what you do now?
I would have planted far more fruit and nut trees sooner.
Who inspires you and why?
It’s quite easy and handy to draw inspiration from people we’ve never met; poets who wrote it just so, or politicians who did the right thing. I like hearing stories of brave people as much as the next human. What the ones who truly and deeply inspire me, are true friends – ones who’ve been around for decades and just keep getting better and more true with time.
I’ll mention one in particular – my teenage buddy and first-ever-band-mate Aurora Kurth. We were in our first band together, but split up after high-school – she went down the cabaret path, I went into rock and roll / folk. In June, however, (thanks to the invitation from Adelaide Cabaret Festival), we’re getting the band back together for three shows we call Random Creative Adventure – where anything could happen! Can’t wait for you to meet her and do what I’ll be doing which is, heading home feeling inspired!
What would you do to make a difference in the world?
I’m not sure how much difference it makes but what I try to do with my work and will continue to do for the rest of my life because I can’t seem to stop doing it even when I try is – create work that attempts to remind people that despite the challenges and losses, what remains tucked inside us anytime we want to call on it is this free portable resource called ‘creativity’ and ‘creative thinking’.
This is true not just for ‘special people called artists’ and not just for the purposes of ‘general entertainment’, it’s actually a really useful skill and practice to apply to most situations that need to be made ‘different’ or ‘better’ in some way… and it’s just sitting there at all times, waiting for us to remember it exists…
Favourite holiday destination and why?
This month, it’s definitely… Adelaide. Just got back from two glorious shows at Ukaria Cultural Centre with Iain Grandage, where I wandered around the Old Jurlique Gardens gently crushing lavender in my hands and breathing in the fumes… Now I’m returning for the Adelaide Cabaret Festival with Aurora and a brilliant band of merry fellows. I know I make it sound more like I’m there for work not play but it’s the other way around – I say yes to the work because the destination offers respite and joy.
When friends come to town, what attraction would you take them to, and why?
I know it’s not exactly my town as I’m from Melbourne but when I’m in Adelaide again this month, the attraction I want someone to take myself and Aurora to see… is that two-century old river red-gum growing in the middle of Overbury Drive in Clarence Park that I read about in the paper recently. Why have I never visited it before, and really looked at it like it deserves to be looked at?
What are you currently reading?
The Introverts Guide to Leaving the House by Jenny Valentish, which – as far as I’m concerned – could not have been published at a better time. I may ‘present on stage’ like an introvert but, like so many of my colleagues, I do sometimes need a little encouragement in getting my frock on and leaving the front door… this book is playful and quite brilliantly written for the audience it serves.
What are you currently listening to?
A new band from Melbourne called Bleak Squad, who just happen to include four legends of the Aussie music scene, and you have every right to call me biased when I tell you who* they are but don’t let that stop you from listening to them, and when you do, you will hear for yourself I am quite sincere when I decide THIS IS THE BEST GRUNT-INSPIRING MUSIC I’VE HEARD FOR AGES (*Adalita, Mick Turner, Mick Harvey and my husband/drummer Mr Marty Brown. I KNOW!!!)
Happiness is?
A confusing thing to attempt to either chase, or describe in a short sentence but… we know it when we feel it, and I wish it for you and me both, and for the world as a whole.
What does the future hold for you?
More random creative adventures, and – fingers crossed – an audience who are willing to take them with me. Who knows what might happen:? Maybe old mate happiness will decided to show up this winter, out of the blue? Xo
Clare will present Random Creative Adventure (with special guest Aurora Kurth) in the Banquet Room – Adelaide Festival Centre on Friday 6 & Saturday 7 June, as part of the 2025 Adelaide Cabaret Festival. For more information, visit: www.adelaidecabaretfestival.com.au for details.
Image: Clare Bowditch – photo by She Is Aphrodite