Catching up with Hayley Westenra, chart angel
BY
CATHRIN SCHAER
She
has the voice of an angel, they say
- her sweet singing will make grown
men cry, encourage world peace and
bring out the grandmother in all of
us.
Clearly,
Hayley Westenra is no ordinary 14-year-old.
Any
other teenager in New Zealand would be
watching television this evening. But
this one is on the phone to a journalist.
Before that she was having her photo
taken by a national magazine. And before
that it was a singing lesson with Dame
Malvina Major.
The
Christchurch fourth-former has frequently
been compared to 14-year-old Welsh singer
Charlotte Church, whose albums have sold
millions in the United States and Britain,
earning her family and her record company
millions in the process. Church got her
start at 13 on a televised talent show
and, after performing for the Queen,
the Clintons and the Pope, she has bought
her parents a new home.
If
Westenra's local sales are anything to
judge by, it's possible that the girl
whose own publicity describes her as "New
Zealand's answer to Charlotte Church" really
could be.
Her
eponymous album has gone triple platinum
(45,000 copies sold) since April and spent
weeks at number one in the local charts
- she's the bestselling New Zealand act
of the year so far.
But
she's not your regular commercial artist
and you won't hear her on the radio, comments
one industry insider. Her success was undoubtedly
sparked by her appearance on 60 Minutes
a week out from Mother's Day. Her appeal
is to a market for light-operatic, easy-listening
music that has been largely untapped.
That
market is also older - most of the people
who have bought the album have been 35-plus,
says Roger Marbeck, director of Marbeck's
Record Stores in Auckland. He agrees that
introducing Hayley to middle New Zealand
via the high-rating current-affairs show
really started tills ringing: "She
has a good story, good looks and sounds
great and I think a lot of people took
her to their hearts."
Hayley
got her start performing in talent shows
and school productions.
At
6, teachers noticed her perfect-pitch singing
abilities and suggested she take up a musical
instrument to encourage her talents. Violin,
piano and recorder lessons followed, as
did parts in more than 40 stage productions
by the age of 11.
After
he saw her on a Christchurch television
station, Auckland promoter Gray Bartlett
offered to manage her. A contract with
local record company Universal Music followed
shortly afterwards, as did a scholarship
offer from Dame Malvina Major.
So
who exactly is this child prodigy? And
even if she does have the voice of an angel,
can a teenager really be so angelic?
Most
likely. Chatting to Hayley, her answers
reflect two sides of her personality, neither
of which would offend anyone. In some cases
she speaks like a canny, mature-beyond-her-years
professional; in others she chats like
any happy, frisky 14-year-old.
Ask
her if she understands what she's singing
about on the likes of Ave Maria and "Of
course I do" is the quick reply.
"To
portray the emotion in a song you need
to have an understanding of what the song
is about," she explains. "And
if the song is in another language then
I make the effort to find a translation."
Which
is part of the reason she is having German
and Italian lessons. As for some of the
more adult feelings she might have to relate
to when she's singing pieces such as Memories
or Love Changes Everything, Hayley says
she thinks of sad or happy moments in her
own life that she believes might be similar.
And
ask her whether she aspires to become a
pop star and she replies that her own voice
is suited to more operatic songs. "I
do sometimes dance to stuff like Britney
Spears, but ... " (she hesitates to
find words that would not be rude) "I
find some of the pop stuff a bit, um, simple.
I think with operatic songs they can be
slightly more powerful, more emotional."
Of
becoming famous in her home town, she sagely
says: "It's quite strange that people
want my autograph but kind of thrilling
too. And I know I haven't actually changed
as a person. It's just people's perceptions
of me that have." All of which seems
pretty sensible.
But
then ask her about clothes or boys and
her replies are the same as any teenager's.
The favourite stores she names tend to
specialise in teen-glam as worn by popsters
such as Spears.
Local
designer Sonya Smith makes special clothes
for Hayley's public appearances.
"I
just got these black trousers with a really
big flare and Indian mirrors at the bottom.
And a crossover top," she enthuses. "Oh,
and I also got a pair of boots from Overland.
And I just got a pair of Skechers shoes
too," she continues happily. "I've
never had anything like that before."
Why?
"Because
I guess I didn't need it. But my friends
are pretty jealous now," she concludes
with a giggle.
Her
friends will probably also be jealous when
they find out she recently met Nathan King,
of Zed. The group, who have a huge adolescent,
mostly female, mostly hysterical following,
also come from Christchurch and are Hayley's
label-mates at Universal.
"I
got to meet him when I was up at the record
company in Auckland one time," Hayley
says, and the way she says it you can imagine
she's blushing right now. "They were
being really funny, riding round the offices
on scooters."
Most
of the time, though, Hayley reckons her
life is pretty average.
"I like going to the movies with my friends,
shopping, going to parties sometimes," says
the schoolgirl whose favourite subject is science. "And
I do my homework and practise my instruments.
It's just that on top of that I have some other
commitments."
Such
as performing in front of 200,00 people
at the Auckland Domain last year. Or jetting
off to Europe to record her next album
later this year. Or fielding offers from
international record companies who would
apparently like to see her and her siblings
- 11-year-old Sophie and 7-year-old Isaac,
who are also musical - all play together
on one record.
Yes,
lately things have been a bit hectic, admits
Hayley's mother, Jill, who travels with
her daughter everywhere.
"We're
living in a minor state of chaos," she
laughs. "Things seem to be racing
along at a slightly ludicrous pace. But
then again we never expected it to get
to this scale. It's all been a bit of a
fairytale.
"We're
excited but cautious. Everything comes
at a price and we know there will be some
difficult decisions to make."
Slowly,
she and husband Gerald Westenra are learning
to draw the line, not wanting to overcommit
their daughter. "We're spacing things
out so that Hayley doesn't get too tired,
and we're also concerned about the kind
of music she'll sing," Jill explains. "For
instance, she shouldn't sing arias at her
age because it could damage her voice."
Jill
isn't worried about the potential for exploitation.
She then proves she's not one of those
showbiz mothers by saying she believes
the record company has Hayley's best interests
at heart. Nor does she think Hayley will
ever turn into a hard-livin', rock'n'rolling,
former child star.
"I
know her pretty well and she's just not
like that," Jill says.
"None of us was ever rebellious. I never
felt like I needed to be because I had all
the freedom I wanted. And I see that very much
in Hayley too, in the way she approaches things.
"Actually
I feel really spoilt," Hayley says. "So
far this has just all been a really neat
experience. I love performing because it's
just so exciting."
And
what she says next makes you think her
Mum is probably right:
"The other day, when I was signing CDs
at a mall, this old lady came up to me. She
held my hand and said, "Your singing is
just so beautiful, I listen to it every day."
Something
that might have made many other 14-year-olds
cringe meant a lot to Hayley.
"I
feel really lucky to be able to give pleasure
to people like that," she concludes. "I
think it's really nice."
*
Hayley Westenra sings at Hamilton's Founders
Theatre tonight and Auckland's Civic Theatre
on Tuesday.
|
