Clare Bowditch (born 1975) is an Australian musician, actress, radio presenter and business entrepreneur.
At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2006, Bowditch won the
ARIA Award for Best Female Artist
The ARIA Music Award for Best Female Artist, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Ind ...
and was nominated for a
Logie Award
The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
for her work on the TV series ''Offspring'' in 2012. She has toured with
Gotye
Wouter André "Wally" De Backer (born 21 May 1980), better known by his stage name Gotye ( ), is a Belgian-Australian multi-instrumentalist and singer-songwriter. The name "Gotye" is a pronunciation respelling of "Gauthier", the French cognat ...
and
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
, written for ''
Harpers Bazaar
''Harper's Bazaar'' is an American monthly women's fashion magazine. It was first published in New York City on November 2, 1867, as the weekly ''Harper's Bazar''. ''Harper's Bazaar'' is published by Hearst and considers itself to be the st ...
'', ''Rolling Stone'' and ''Drum''. She currently hosts an Australian music program on a
Qantas
Qantas Airways Limited ( ) is the flag carrier of Australia and the country's largest airline by fleet size, international flights, and international destinations. It is the world's third-oldest airline still in operation, having been founded ...
airlines in-flight audio channel.
Bowditch is currently an ambassador for the
Australasian Performing Right Association
APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...
(APRA),
Pirate Party of Canada
The Pirate Party of Canada (french: Parti Pirate du Canada; PPCA) was a minor party in federal Canadian politics. Founded in 2009, the party officially registered with Elections Canada in 2010. The PPCA is modelled on the Swedish Pirate Party and ...
(PPCA) and Smiling Mind. She is also a member of the Victorian state government's Live Music Round Table Panel. She was the secretary of the Music Victoria board until 2012.
Life and career
1975-1997: Early life
Bowditch was born in Melbourne and raised in the suburb of Sandringham.
She graduated from the
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...
's School of Creative Arts with a Bachelor of Creative Arts (BCA), a now-defunct degree.
1998-2002: Red Raku
Bowditch began writing songs at the age of three and continued writing them in private until 1998 when she met John Hedigan and, on the same night, formed a band called themselves Red Raku. Red Raku self-released two albums, ''Sweetly Sedated'' (1998) and ''Roda Leisis May'' (2002). Producer and drummer Marty Brown collaborated with the band and in 2002 Bowditch and Brown had a daughter, Asha.
2003-2008: The Feeding Set
In 2003, Libby Chow and Warren Bloomer joined and the band changed their name to Clare Bowditch & The Feeding Set. The band released ''
Autumn Bone''. Later in 2003, they signed with
Capitol Records
Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...
which rereleased the album.
In 2005, Bowditch was invited by
Deborah Conway
Deborah Ann Conway (born 8 August 1959) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top 5 hit "Man Overboard".
Conw ...
to take part in the Broad Festival project with three other Australian female artists at which they performed their own and each other's songs.
With Bowditch and Conway were
Sara Storer
Sara Bettine Storer (born 6 October 1973) is an Australian country music singer-songwriter and former teacher. She won a record breaking seven Golden Guitar awards in the Tamworth Country Music Festival in January 2004, and as of 2017, she has w ...
,
Katie Noonan
Katie Anne Noonan (born 2 May 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter. In addition to a successful solo career encompassing opera, jazz, pop, rock and dance, she was the singer in the band George and remains the singer in the band Elixir; perf ...
and
Ruby Hunter
Ruby Charlotte Margaret Hunter (31 October 195517 February 2010), also known as Aunty Ruby, was an Aboriginal Australian singer, songwriter and guitarist, and the life and musical partner of Archie Roach .
Early life
Ruby Hunter was born on 31 ...
.
In October 2005, Bowditch and The Feeding Set released their second album, ''
What Was Left
''What Was Left'' is the second studio album by Clare Bowditch and the Feeding Set. It was released in October 2005 through Capitol.
At the J Award of 2005, the album was nominated for Australian Album of the Year.
At the ARIA Music Awards o ...
'', on
EMI
EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British transnational conglomerate founded in March 1931 in London. At the time of its break-up in 201 ...
. The album peaked at number 35 on the ARIA Chart. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2006, Bowditch won the
ARIA Award for Best Female Artist
The ARIA Music Award for Best Female Artist, is an award presented at the annual ARIA Music Awards, which recognises "the many achievements of Aussie artists across all music genres", since 1987. It is handed out by the Australian Recording Ind ...
.
In October 2007, Melbourne guitarist Tim Harvey (Jade Imagine)joined the band and Bowditch and the Feeding Set released their third album, ''
The Moon Looked On''. The album peaked at number 29 on the ARIA Chart. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2008
The 22nd annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) took place on 19 October 2008. The nominees for all categories were announced on 10 September, while the winners of ...
, the album was nominated for two awards.
In late 2008, Bowditch completed a twenty-five date sold out date solo tour through major and regional venues in Australia, during which time she was supported by Australian band Hot Little Hands.
2009-2010: The New Slang
In 2009, Bowditch and her family temporarily relocated to
Berlin, Germany
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constituent ...
, where she wrote the album ''Modern Day Addiction''. The album was partly recorded with producer Mocky (who has also worked with
Feist,
Gonzales Gonzales may refer to:
Places
* Gonzales, California, U.S.
* Gonzales, Louisiana, U.S.
* Gonzales, Texas, U.S.
* Gonzales County, Texas
Other uses
* Battle of Gonzales, 1835
* Gonzales (horse) (1977 – after 1996), an American-bred Thoroughbred ...
,
Jamie Lidell
Jamie Alexander Lidderdale (born 18 September 1973, Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, England), known professionally as Jamie Lidell, is an English musician, soul singer and podcast host living in Nashville, Tennessee. Lidell was formerly a part of ...
and
Peaches
The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fuz ...
) at the
Hansa studios
Hansa Tonstudio is a recording studio located in the Kreuzberg district of Berlin, Germany. The studio, famous for its Meistersaal recording hall, is situated approximately 150 metres from the former Berlin Wall, giving rise to its former nickna ...
in Berlin and completed in Australia with her newly expanded eight-piece band the New Slang. The album marked a change in direction for Bowditch, having been written on a Casio keyboard and piano.
In October 2009, she released her first single, "The Start of War". The song also features Bowditch's partner, Marty Brown, and
Mick Harvey
Michael John Harvey (born 29 August 1958) is an Australian musician, singer-songwriter, composer, arranger and record producer. A multi-instrumentalist, he is best known for his long-term collaborations with Nick Cave, with whom he formed The ...
, formerly of
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds are an Australian rock music, rock band formed in 1983 by vocalist Nick Cave, multi-instrumentalist Mick Harvey and guitarist-vocalist Blixa Bargeld. The band has featured international personnel throughout its care ...
. The album became both
3RRR
3RRR (pronounced "Three Triple R", or simply "Triple R") is an Australian community radio station, based in Melbourne.
3RRR first commenced broadcasting in 1976 from the studios of 3ST, the student radio station of the Royal Melbourne Institut ...
's and ABC Radio National's ''Album of the Week''. The album peaked at number 10 on the ARIA Charts. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2010
The 24th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) are a series of award ceremonies which included the 2010 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fine ...
, the album was nominated for three awards.
Bowditch supported
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...
on his 2010 Australian tour after being handpicked by the Canadian singer-songwriter. Bowditch was joined by fellow Australian musician
Deborah Conway
Deborah Ann Conway (born 8 August 1959) is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actress. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their top 5 hit "Man Overboard".
Conw ...
, who was the support act for the second show of the Melbourne stop of the tour. Bowditch revealed in a 2012 interview that she received a marriage proposal from Cohen during the tour, which also involved a shared journey in Cohen's private tour jet—Bowditch turned down the proposal and explained, "I got to spend all that time with him. Most of the time I just sat there watching and smiling and being amazed at the theatre of it all. He was absolutely charming."
2011-present: solo work
In 2011, Bowditch co-wrote and performed a successful musical stage show based on the life and music of
Eva Cassidy
Eva Marie Cassidy (February 2, 1963 – November 2, 1996) was an American singer and guitarist known for her interpretations of jazz, folk, and blues music, sung with a powerful, emotive soprano voice. In 1992, she released her first album ...
. The show, entitled ''Tales from the Life of Eva Cassidy'', featured Bowditch singing Cassidy's songs in the style of Cassidy, in addition to telling stories behind the songs and life of the late singer. The sold-out show was performed consecutively over two weeks at the Atheneum Theatre in Melbourne.
In July 2011, Bowditch released the EP ''Are You Ready Yet?'', which featured the single "Now That You're Here" (with
Lanie Lane).
In May 2012, Bowditch released the single, "You Make Me Happy", which was featured in the TV series ''
Offspring
In biology, offspring are the young creation of living organisms, produced either by a single organism or, in the case of sexual reproduction, two organisms. Collective offspring may be known as a brood or progeny in a more general way. This ca ...
''.
Bowditch plays Rosanna Harding in the series; a musician who does some work with Billie's husband Mick, played by
Eddie Perfect
Eddie Perfect (born 17 December 1977) is an Australian singer-songwriter, pianist, comedian, writer and actor.
Widely known for his role as Mick Holland in Channel Ten's TV series ''Offspring'' in which he performs his own music, he has record ...
.
Bowditch's fifth studio album, ''The Winter I Chose Happiness'', was released on 14 September 2012. The album peaked at number 11 on the ARIA Charts. At the
ARIA Music Awards of 2013
The 27th Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAs) were a series of award ceremonies which included the 2013 ARIA Artisan Awards, ARIA Hall of Fame Awards, ARIA Fin ...
, the album was nominated for an award.
In 2013, Bowditch founded the creative social enterprise, Big Hearted Business (BHB). It exists to teach creative people about business, and business people about creativity, in ways that make sense.
The inaugural Big Hearted Business conference was held on 23 and 24 March 2013 at the
Abbotsford Convent
The Abbotsford Convent is located in Abbotsford, Victoria, an inner city suburb of Melbourne, Australia. The Convent is in a bend of the Yarra River west of Yarra Bend Park, with the Collingwood Children's Farm to its north and east, the river a ...
in Melbourne, Australia. The speakers list of the event included comedian
Catherine Deveny, writer Rachel Power and designer Lucy Feagins.
In October 2019, Bowditch released her first book, ''Your Own Kind of Girl'', a partial memoir from her early life, published in Australian and New Zealand by Allen & Unwin, who acquired the rights after a highly competitive auction between eight publishers.
In 2020, Bowditch released the Audible Original podcast series 'Tame Your Inner Critic'.
Personal life
Bowditch and husband Marty Brown were introduced to each other via their bandmate John Hedigan in 1997. They are now parents to three children - a daughter, Asha, in 2002 and identical twin boys in 2007.
Bowditch has been approached to take on several roles as a "social commentator": she wrote an article for ABC's ''The Drum'', entitled "Mr Jones and Me", and also made her debut on the ABC's ''
Q&A'' program (she was the first panelist to also perform a song — "Bigger Than the Money").
In December 2015m it was announced that Bowditch would be undertaking the role of program host for the afternoon radio program of
ABC Radio Melbourne
ABC Radio Melbourne (official callsign: 3LO) is an ABC Local Radio station in Melbourne, Australia. It began transmission on 13 October 1924, and was Melbourne's second licensed radio station after 3AR.
Most Local Radio stations in Victoria sim ...
, starting on 25 January 2016. She presented her last programme on 29 November 2017, leaving to pursue other activities.
Discography
Albums
Extended plays
Singles
Other appearances
Awards and nominations
APRA Awards
The
APRA Awards are presented annually from 1982 by the
Australasian Performing Right Association
APRA AMCOS consists of Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA) and Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS), both copyright management organisations or copyright collectives which jointly represent over 100,000 songwr ...
(APRA), "honouring composers and songwriters". They commenced in 1982.
!
, -
,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, "You Make Me Happy" (Clare Bowditch and Eddie Perfect)
, Song of the Year
,
,
, -
ARIA Music Awards
The
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...
is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of
Australian music
The music of Australia has an extensive history made of music societies. Indigenous Australian music forms a significant part of the unique heritage of a 40,000- to 60,000-year history which produced the iconic didgeridoo. Contemporary fusions of ...
. Clare Bowditch has won one award from eight nominations.
, -
,
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
, ''What Was Left''
,
Best Female Artist
,
, -
, rowspan="2",
2008
File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...
, rowspan="2", ''The Moon Looked On''
, Best Female Artist
,
, -
,
Best Adult Contemporary Album
,
, -
, rowspan="3",
2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
, rowspan="2", ''Modern Day Addiction''
, Best Female Artist
,
, -
,
Best Adult Alternative Album
,
, -
, Victor Van Vugt for Clare Bowditch - ''Modern Day Addiction''
,
Engineer of the Year
,
, -
,
2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
, ''Are You Ready Yet?''
, Best Female Artist
,
, -
,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, ''The Winter I Choose Happiness''
, Best Adult Contemporary Album
,
, -
EG Awards / Music Victoria Awards
The
EG Awards (known as ''Music Victoria Awards'' since 2013) are an annual awards night celebrating Victorian music. They commenced in 2006.
, -
,
EG Awards of 2009
The EG Awards of 2009 are the fourth Annual The Age EG (Entertainment Guide) Awards and took place at the Prince of Wales on Friday 20 November 2009.
Hall of Fame inductees
Painters and Dockers
*The Painters and Dockers formed in 1982 for a ...
, Clare Bowditch
, Best Female
,
, -
,
EG Awards of 2011
, Clare Bowditch
, Best Female
,
, -
, rowspan="2",
EG Awards of 2012
The EG Awards of 2012 are the seventh Annual The Age EG (Entertainment Guide) Awards and took place at Billboards on 20 November 2012. The event was hosted by Myf Warhurst. It was the last time under the title of EG Awards before changing its na ...
, ''The Winter I Chose Happiness''
, Best Album
,
, -
, Clare Bowditch
, Best Female
,
, -
J Award
The
J Award
The J Awards are an annual series of Australian music awards that were established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J and which are judged by the music and on-air teams from radio stations Triple J, ...
is an award given by influential Australian youth radio station
Triple J
Triple J (stylised in all lowercase) is a government-funded, national Australian Radio in Australia, radio station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greate ...
to Australian Album of the Year. It is judged by the music and on-air teams at triple j, Unearthed and Double J.
, -
,
J Award of 2005
The J Award of 2005 is the inaugural annual J Awards, established by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's youth-focused radio station Triple J. The announcement comes at the culmination of Ausmusic Month (November), on 3 December 2005.
In 20 ...
, ''What Was Left''
, Australian Album of the Year
,
, -
Logie Awards
The
Logie Awards
The Logie Awards (officially the TV Week Logie Awards; colloquially known as The Logies) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television, sponsored and organised by the magazine ''TV Week''. The first ceremony was held in 1959 as the ...
(officially the TV Week Logie Awards) is an annual gathering to celebrate Australian television. Awards are presented in 20 categories representing both public and industry voted awards.
, -
,
Logie Awards of 2013
The 55th Annual TV Week Logie Awards was held on Sunday 7 April 2013 at the Crown Palladium in Melbourne, and broadcast on the Nine Network and simulcast of Today Network's radio stations. Public voting for the "Most Popular" categories were con ...
, Clare Bowditch in Offspring (Network Ten)
,
Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent
The Silver Logie for Most Popular New Female Talent was an award presented at the Australian TV Week Logie Awards. It was first awarded at the 41st Annual TV Week Logie Awards ceremony, held in 1999. The award is given to honour a standout perfo ...
,
, -
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowditch, Clare
1975 births
Living people
ARIA Award winners
Australian indie pop musicians
Actresses from Melbourne
Singers from Melbourne
Australian indie rock musicians
Australian television actresses
21st-century Australian actresses
21st-century Australian singers
21st-century Australian women singers
People from Sandringham, Victoria