Clare Bowditch (born 1975) is an Australian musician, actress, radio presenter and business entrepreneur. At the

ARIA Music Awards of 2006 The 20th annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) were held on 29 October 2006 at the Acer Arena at the Sydney Olympic Park complex. Presenters on the night includ ...

, 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 Indu ...

and was nominated for a Logie Award 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 s ...

'', ''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 founde ...

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 songwri ...

(APRA), Pirate Party of Canada (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 ...

'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 not ...

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, Katie Noonan and Ruby Hunter. In October 2005, Bowditch and The Feeding Set released their second album, '' What Was Left'', on EMI. The album peaked at number 35 on the ARIA Chart. At the

, Bowditch won the

. 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 List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

, where she wrote the album ''Modern Day Addiction''. The album was partly recorded with producer Mocky (who has also worked with Feist, Gonzales, Jamie Lidell and Peaches) at the Hansa studios 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 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 career and pre ...

. The album became both 3RRR'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

on his 2010 Australian tour after being handpicked by the Canadian singer-songwriter. Bowditch was joined by fellow Australian musician

, 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. 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 Lanie Lane (born 11 February 1987) is the stage name of Lanier Stefanie Myra Johnston, an Australian blues-jazz singer-songwriter and guitarist. Lane released two studio albums between 2011 and 2014. At the ARIA Music Awards of 2012, Lane was ...

). 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. 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 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 rive ...

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, 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

(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 fa ...

, "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 ...

. 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 votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

, ''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 celebrates ...

, ''Are You Ready Yet?'' , Best Female Artist , , - ,

, ''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 , 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 ...

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 station intended to appeal to listeners of alternative music, which began broadcasting in January 1975. The station also places a greater emphasis on broad ...

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 , ''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 , Clare Bowditch in Offspring (Network Ten) , Logie Award for Most Popular New Female Talent , , -

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