Latest / Early Edition with Ryan Bridge / Astrid Jorgensen: Australian vocalist and conductor on pub choir, NZ tour

Transcript

Astrid Jorgensen: Australian vocalist and conductor on pub choir, NZ tour · Early Edition with Ryan Bridge

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Have you ever heard of a pub choir? It's this
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: new thing taking the internet by storm. Astra Jorgensen, who
• 0:06
  Speaker 1: was actually born in New Zealand, thirty four year old
• 0:08
  Speaker 1: former schoolteacher, goes on America's Got Talent, massive audience and
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: puts this video online. It gets huge views and clicks.
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: People are absolutely loving it. She gets hundreds of audience
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: members to sing together. They don't know what's going on
• 0:24
  Speaker 1: until they arrive and this happens. It's pretty cool. That's
• 0:48
  Speaker 1: a choir that didn't know it was going to be
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: a choir before they arrived there. Astra Jorgensen is the
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Australian vocalist and conductor and joins me this morning, good morning.
• 0:56
  Speaker 2: Good morning. So nice to chat with you. O, nice.
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: To have you here. That it's going viral, it's all
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: over the world. What was it like doing it?
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: I mean, it's sort of crazy because it happened a
• 1:07
  Speaker 2: long time ago. For me. I did it all the
• 1:10
  Speaker 2: way back in March in America, and then I had
• 1:13
  Speaker 2: to hold onto this secret for like six months and
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: I couldn't tell a single person, and so I had
• 1:19
  Speaker 2: this strange experience that I went through and then suddenly
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: it popped up on TV and then it exploded online.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: Over a hundred million people have watched me at work,
• 1:31
  Speaker 2: I guess, which is wild. I sort of can't really
• 1:35
  Speaker 2: fathom it, If I'm being honest, I don't really think
• 1:37
  Speaker 2: about it that much because it's just too big to know.
• 1:41
  Speaker 2: You know that a hundred million people or something crazy
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: like that have seen me do my thing.
• 1:45
  Speaker 1: Ashould Africa's obviously an iconic song people know, are there's
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: some songs that work, some that don't. Have you had
• 1:51
  Speaker 1: any flops?
• 1:53
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean I've done probably I do a different
• 1:56
  Speaker 2: song at every show or every tour, so I mean
• 1:59
  Speaker 2: I would've done about four hundred shows, So I've tried
• 2:02
  Speaker 2: a lot of songs. I mean, obviously some some are
• 2:05
  Speaker 2: better than others. But it's more that I arrange the
• 2:09
  Speaker 2: song for each audience. And so it's not just that
• 2:14
  Speaker 2: the song is important for the show, but it's more
• 2:17
  Speaker 2: that the way that I decide to split up the
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: notes and write some new harmonies, and depending on how
• 2:24
  Speaker 2: the audience feels like every show is entirely unique. So
• 2:28
  Speaker 2: for sure, some shows are better than others, but it
• 2:31
  Speaker 2: depends on so many things, how people feel, how I've
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: done the arrangement, you know. But what's exciting for me
• 2:36
  Speaker 2: is it's unfolding in front of us all. Like the
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: point of the show for me is that we can
• 2:42
  Speaker 2: make art together in real time. And so even if
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: it even if it's not everyone's favorite song, or if
• 2:50
  Speaker 2: I give some weird instructions sometimes because I'm figuring out
• 2:52
  Speaker 2: on stage, it's exciting to me that it's always unique,
• 2:55
  Speaker 2: and I really want people to feel excited about that too,
• 2:58
  Speaker 2: that we can make something that exists just for us
• 3:01
  Speaker 2: tonight and it will feel new and good and we
• 3:04
  Speaker 2: were the creators.
• 3:06
  Speaker 1: Music's an energy thing, isn't it. It's transferring energy from
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: one to another. And to have so many people involved
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: in doing it, I mean you look at the people's
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: faces and they almost get it. They get a mess
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: of buzz out of the fact that it is them
• 3:19
  Speaker 1: doing it.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean it looks like a great show. I'd
• 3:22
  Speaker 2: love to attend myself. I'm always doing it. But I mean,
• 3:26
  Speaker 2: like you are for sure right that it is something
• 3:29
  Speaker 2: really deeply human, Like you can't be in acchoir by yourself.
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: You have to sing with other people, you have to
• 3:36
  Speaker 2: work together. And I think it's this really joyful, equalizing experience.
• 3:40
  Speaker 2: Like we've all sung in groups before, it really hits different,
• 3:44
  Speaker 2: you know, when there's a thousand voices carrying something together.
• 3:49
  Speaker 2: It's this strange mix between I am contributing and also
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: I am not that important. And I think it's like
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: a really nice line to walk as a person who
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: sings in the choir, to realize that you are making
• 4:03
  Speaker 2: the choir sound different because your voice is unique and
• 4:06
  Speaker 2: you are contributing, but just as much as everybody else.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: And so that's and safety in numbers, Safety in numbers too.
• 4:12
  Speaker 1: That Well, I've always been curious America's Got Talent? Did
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: you apply to go on that show? Or how does
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: it work? Do they go and ask people to appear?
• 4:23
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm not sure if I'm allowed to even say,
• 4:25
  Speaker 2: but I'll tell you what they did ask me to
• 4:26
  Speaker 2: apply because I'd never even seen the show. I don't
• 4:30
  Speaker 2: know how to watch America's Got Talent because I live
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: in Australia. I was I was born in New Zealand,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: but I live in Australia. I don't even think we
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: show their show. But they did get in touch online.
• 4:42
  Speaker 2: I think they'd seen some videos because pub Qua has
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: been going for eight and a half years. I've been
• 4:46
  Speaker 2: doing every single show the whole time, and I think
• 4:48
  Speaker 2: they must have seen some of my clips online and thought,
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: oh that looks fun. Yeah, and I mean I'll say
• 4:55
  Speaker 2: yes to anything once. You know.
• 4:58
  Speaker 1: Ester, lovely to talk to you. Thanks so much for
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: being on the show.
• 5:01
  Speaker 2: I've had the loveliest time singing across New Zealand, so
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: thanks for having me.
• 5:04
  Speaker 1: Ah, yes, are we any good at singing?
• 5:08
  Speaker 2: You're so good at singing. There's an incredible singing culture
• 5:11
  Speaker 2: across New Zealand. I mean, you know, I do live
• 5:13
  Speaker 2: in Australia and they're okay, but New Zealand is really,
• 5:17
  Speaker 2: I don't know, seem to tap into something together and
• 5:20
  Speaker 2: to share that moment really nicely and you laugh a lot,
• 5:23
  Speaker 2: and I just have the best time with New Zealand audiences.
• 5:26
  Speaker 1: Nice flattery. Estra Jorgensen, who's with us Australian vocalist and conduct.
• 5:30
  Speaker 2: Him for more from Early Edition with Ryan Bridge.
• 5:33
  Speaker 1: Listen live to news Talks.
• 5:35
  Speaker 2: It'd be from five am weekdays, or follow the podcast
• 5:38
  Speaker 2: on iHeartRadio.