Each week, Benjamin Law asks public figures to discuss the subjects we’re told to keep private by getting them to roll a die. The numbers they land on are the topics they’re given. This week, he talks with Holly Throsby. The singer-songwriter and author, 47, has been nominated for five ARIA awards – including two for Best Female Artist – and written three novels. Her forthcoming solo album is Normal Magic.
MONEY
What was money like for you, growing up? I grew up in a big house in [inner-Sydney] Balmain and didn’t feel we were wanting for things. At the same time, people probably think my mother [ABC radio presenter Margaret Throsby] earned a lot more money than she did, but she never went commercial and has been at the ABC her entire life. She taught me well. There was a certain attitude of deprivation around some things. Apparently, my grandma would have half an egg for breakfast, saving the other half for the next day, yet her piano was always in perfect tune. It was OK to spend money on art and culture.
You say Margaret taught you well. What did you learn? She was very averse to debt and to living beyond your means; I learnt that early on. She was prudent and careful, so I’m quite risk-averse when it comes to money.
At the same time, you’re a musician and an author – for all the financial security that work offers? [Laughs] More like “financial nightmare”!
Tell me more! Well, I’ve had some good years and some shocking years.
What does a “good year” and a “shocking year” look like? A good year feels incredible. Making a living from creative work is, to me, the ultimate achievement. A bad year feels like I’m eating a lot of beans. Now that I have children, that doesn’t just affect me. I hate that collision of art and economy: you don’t want your work to be affected by the necessity of income but, at this stage in my life, I’m ready to sell out at any moment. Give me an opportunity!
‘The reality is that people don’t actually buy music any more, so you’ve got to make money somehow.’
Holly Throsby
“Get me that sync-deal, baby.” Yes! Early on in my career, it was just the most uncool thing you could do to put your song in an ad. Now musicians congratulate each other on having their song in an advertisement. The reality is that people don’t actually buy music any more, so you’ve got to make money somehow.
Once all the essentials are covered, what do you like to spend money on? Remedial treatments. If I had money, I’d be rich in massages, acupuncture, spas and saunas. Exfoliate me.
POLITICS
Some people wish musicians would shut up about pet causes and sing. Others feel if an artist has a public platform, they have a responsibility to use it. Where do you sit? In the middle. It’s important, if you have a platform, to stand for the things you believe in. But I also understand that, for some people, putting yourself out there can be dangerous. I have a deep respect for artists who put themselves on the line. In the age of Twitter [X] and Q&A, I’ve sometimes thought, “I’m just too sensitive to put myself out there in that way,” but I’ve also felt, “F— it, I only have one life, and it’s important to talk about what I believe in.”
You publicly advocate for LGBTQI rights, animal rights, social justice and the environment. Why those issues, specifically? Social justice is something I’ve always felt strongly about. LGBTQI issues because I’m a queer person and I spent the first portion of my career being way too scared to come out.
Are there principles that guide how you write about people in your novels and songs? A sense of community is one of my strongest values. And I enjoy representing non-traditional family structures: a child being raised by someone who isn’t their biological parent; an adopted person; a single mother. Non-biological families are interesting and something that should be celebrated.
Is there anything that you used to believe that you don’t any more? Actually, I feel I’ve quietly become more radicalised as I’ve gotten older.
What’s contributed to that? Police brutality and the crazy disparity between rich and poor. I’ve always been on the left politically, but I feel as if I’ve gone a little further in that direction as I’ve gotten older.
Can you be friends with someone who has different politics to you? Yes, but I don’t think I could ever sleep with someone … [trails off]
Want to complete that sentence? … who voted for the Coalition or One Nation [laughs].
DEATH
What have been the losses that have impacted you the most? Certainly, my brother dying when I was 17; he was 33. He died in a motorcycle accident and that was really, really, really difficult.
You were both so young. [Nods] He was my mother’s son from her first marriage, so my half-brother. It was very traumatic – for me personally but also watching my mother go through that. It made me really terrified to have children for a long time because I was scared of losing them. But I did have children and have managed to let them live their lives. And I do think I’ve experienced post-traumatic growth after being in a traumatic pit for a time. Humans can bear a lot.
Expand on post-traumatic growth. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve noticed there’s a lot more humour in my work, a certain lightness. And as I’m getting to the age where friends and family are being diagnosed with illness, it’s a reckoning. It points me towards feeling that I want to ensure I’m connecting to people I love in a meaningful way.
Any funeral requests? Weirdly, I don’t care about music. I would just hope it was somewhere in nature, so people could feel a sense of togetherness in the outdoors.
Normal Magic is out September 4. Holly Throsby will be on tour from October 31 to November 15.
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