Interview by Luke Jacobz
[We’ll Be One plays]
Luke: At the age of thirteen my guest became one of the most recognisable Australians in history. She’s performed with Michael Jackson, she’s been nominated for ARIA’s, plus she’s also doing her HSC. Most importantly, she is my friend. Nikki Webster, how are you?
Nikki: Good!
Luke: OK Nikki, greatest hit album at 17. Why?
Nikki: Why? Well basically it’s just kind of to say this is four years from the Olympics, and you know I’m turning 18, so just to kind of sum up what I’ve done over the past couple of years. It’s got the Olympic tracks on.
[Under Southern Skies plays]
Nikki: I just wanted people to get to know me, and to realize that I’m not living in a bubble, I do grow up like everyone else, and kind of just to say I can now explore different avenues and take different influences of music and try and interpret that into my CDs.
[Strawberry Kisses plays]
Luke: Kylie Minogue once said she used to look back on her career when she was younger and sort of cringe, now that she’s grown up she sort of looks back and has a bit of a smile. Is that the same with you?
Nikki: Well it’s weird because it’s four years since I first started and I look back at my first video clip Strawberry Kisses and I go, ‘Oh my God, did I used to look like that?’ and it’s kind of scary because I never thought I’d be able to do that. So it’s kind of creepy for yourself to look back and go, ‘Is that how I moved? That’s scary!’ But it’s good fun; it’s all good fun.
Luke: Now us as a public, we only sort of see the finished product. How much time and preparation and hard work goes into it all?
Nikki: It takes months, I mean it’s not just a simple process, you go in and it’s done overnight. You kind of lose the days, you don’t get to the see the sun go up or go down, you’re just in the studio singing, and then you stay in there and you see it mixing, and then you see the final product.
[Something More Beautiful plays]
Luke: Nikki, knowing that you’ve already got a career are you ever tempted not to finish your HSC?
Nikki: Not really. It was something that my parents were like, ‘You can give up if you want at the end of year 10,’ and I was like, no, you never know especially in this industry what’s gonna happen and I always wanted my education behind me. Even if I didn’t do very well, I still wanted to keep learning and kind of just mingle with people my own age, ‘cause I spent such a lot of time with older people. So yeah, it was something that I wanted to do. It’s all over now, so that’s one good thing! [laughs]
Luke: How do you take critisism, is it a positive or a nagative?
Nikki: I’ve had a lot of it, which is the tall poppy syndrome, which happens in Australia. But I was warned about that straight after the Olympics so it wasn’t something foreign to me, I knew it was gonna happen at some time. So I just kind of take it on my shoulders and tell them, ‘I’m not gonna give up no matter what you say,’ and be strong to myself.
[I Wanna Be Like You plays]
Luke: OK Nikki, what are your goals for the future? Where do you wanna be in ten years time?
Nikki: I really don’t know. I’d really love to travel overseas and try my music over there, and see what happens and just see if I’m receipted over there and see how people feel about my stuff. And just try acting, I’d love to give acting a go. I’m up for anything! I think there’s so many different opportunities. I’ve got my clothing range, so I’m designing, so hopefully that grows – maybe into boys, that would be a good move. But whatever, I’m up for anything.
Luke: Nikki, thank you very much for chatting with me today. It’s been fantastic!
Nikki: Oh, thanks!
Luke: I’m gonna get some pancakes, do you want some?
Nikki: Sure, no worries!
Luke: Great!
[We’ll Be One plays]