Have you always been involved in making music?
Yes I have. I've actually played guitar from the age of eight, so it's been very much a part of my life. Singing and song writing is also something I started as a little girl, I think I was about twelve when I wrote my first song. That happened first I suppose, then I got into acting, by going to drama school and then getting onto television. I think I always had a desire to do both music and acting, and it's great because as it's turned out I have a very diverse career. When I'm not doing one, I'm doing the other, and sometimes they marry together.
Saying that, have you ever done any musicals?
Yes, I've done a few. When I was on Sale of the Century many years ago, back in the mid to late '80s, there as a new Australian musical being produced that I starred in called Seven Little Australians. Then I did Torch Song Trilogy, I was the torch singer, Sweet Charity...not a lot of musicals, music for me has mostly been doing my own music, but I've also done cabaret as well.
What are your musical influences?
A lot of people. I think you absorb all kinds of things that you've grown up with. Because I play guitar, a lot of it for me has a country/folk beginning, and I think that comes from my dad – he used to have the ability to make up songs about people and places and it had a kind of dreamy, melancholy quality to it. I also grew up listening to a lot of jazz standards and torch songs...I've just recently done a theatrical show called “All The Pretty Little Horses” which is marrying my own original songs with people like Leonard Cohen, Nick Cave, Marianne Faithful...so there you go, that gives you an idea – it's quite diverse!
The corporate scene is also quite vibrant and there's a lot of demand for high profile people to be called upon to do events and so forth and I've put together a few projects for that. One is called “Alyce Platt in the Flesh” and we do retro, 1980s songs and then I've got another one called “Salon Cabaret” which is light-hearted songs like Hey Big Spender and Robbie Williams' Let Me Entertain You.
You mentioned Sale of the Century. Internationally, you're probably best known for Sons & Daughters or Neighbours, but do you think in Australia you are better known for being yourself because of Sale of the Century?
Yes, I'd say so, that's the power of television. I was on it for five years, five nights a week, seven o'clock timeslot, you know, and every other week I was the cover of some magazine to do with Sale of the Century! And some people to this day are still surprised to learn that I sing! Through my MySpace page I'm finding that people who are attracted to my music are a completely different audience to my television audience. Some of the people who've come to my site and heard the music are not that aware of my television background, I actually got a message the other day from a band in Canada who came to the site and loved my music, and said they'd be touring Australia and were really keen to see if I'd be interested in supporting them! They don't know anything about my acting or TV background, so I felt like that was a huge compliment.
Although Sons & Daughters was made twenty years ago, thanks to re-runs it is still very fresh in the minds of many viewers, isn't it?
Gosh, it was another lifetime ago! In fact the last time I was in London, in 2001, I was walking along a street in Chelsea and a cyclist was riding past and then he came back and backed up and said “Oh my God, Amanda Morrell!” and I just said “You are kidding me!” It's just amazing. The following in England is quite incredible really.
You were in the show at the peak of its popularity, do you have any particular memories from that time?
I had the most incredible experience on that show, some people may not know this, but I did get married back then to the first assistant director, so that was a huge change. Not that the marriage lasted very long, because I was very young, and also I formed very strong friendships that I cherish with people who are very much in my life to this day. I'm still very good friends with Antonia Murphy, Ally Fowler, Kim Taylor and Peter Phelps.
Why did you leave the show, because the producers didn't want you to, did they?
That's right. I just got to this stage of having been there for two and a half years and I had this burning desire to pursue a film or music career. Then, no sooner had I left...Grundys who made Sons & Daughters were also making Sale of the Century, so they knew of me, and the co-host Delvene Delaney was leaving and they were looking for a replacement, and my name came up. It was just so left of centre and I kind of reluctantly went along for the audition and Tony Barber, the host, and I just clicked. Even though he was more like a dad, because of the age difference, we got on really well, and I think I had this tongue in cheek attitude and they liked that – and there I was!
You mentioned you've been over to the UK, would you like to come over with your music?
I'd love to, that would be fantastic, a dream come true. I've have this show I've just written called “All the Pretty Little Horses”, if you go to my website, although it is still in the process of being developed, you can see press clippings and sample some songs I perform in it. One my dreams would be to take it to Europe and perform in the festivals.
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