You might remember Chantelle Barry as the Popstars alumn who took a very public fall from grace. These days she’s left the world of manufactured pop far behind to forge a career as an indie singer-songwriter. She’s currently in Australia to promote her debut album Simple Things. I caught up with her to talk about life in Los Angeles, the new CD, and why she still calls Australia home.
How does it feel to be home?
It feels so good. I wish I could be here more and do what I’m doing over in L.A. Nothing compares to being home with family and friends.
How does life in Los Angeles compare to living in Australia?
I think the biggest difference is that it’s so fast-paced. There’s something happening all the time. There’s like seven or eight lanes on a freeway all going one way.
Oh my goodness. I struggle with Sydney!
Yeah, I know! It’s crazy! It seems like there’s always traffic. It’s always peak hour. Everyone around you is in the same industry, pursuing something creative in entertainment or fashion. It’s go-go-go, really competitive. But I do love it too because I have a bit of a competitive nature, which I think is what drives me in music.
What inspired you to head to the States?
Well, when I was younger I always wanted to go to America. I had some friends at a singing and dancing school that I went to as a kid and they went to America. And when they came back I was like “Oh my god, I want to go there!” It sounded so exciting and fun. And the opportunity arose in about 2000 for me to go and just visit. So I visited L.A. and I fell in love. The weather was fantastic; it’s comparable to Perth. And I knew some very good music producers over there. So I was like “I think I want to move and give it a go.” So it was just good timing I think. And I’ve been there for eight years. It’s been a slow but steady progression. Things have been happening and I’m happy there.
You’re out here to support the release of your new album Simple Things. What can you tell me about it?
Simple Things is very much a story. Every song on it is something that’s happened from my life over the course of the last seven or eight years. The title track, for example, “Simple Things” is about just getting back to the simple things, you know? Where material things don’t matter so much, and I refer to being young and carefree. And being in L.A. definitely inspired that song. At the time I wrote it I was broke and down on my luck, and I was like “I just want things to be back to simple; money not to matter and not to drive things.” I wrote that song and everyone that heard it really responded to it. It was such a good feel. And I realised it was actually relatable; it’s not just me who goes through these downs. Everyone wants the simple things in life.
I wrote the album over the course of probably two years, and then I chose the best songs. Scott Whyte, he produced the album, and we built a studio pretty much, and just locked ourselves in it for four months and really got to it. And it was such a fun process. We wrote a couple of songs together. We wrote the single together which is called “You,” and I just did a music video for that.
It seems to be going pretty well. I’m really, really proud of the album. I didn’t compromise any of the sounds or styles. Hopefully everyone else will receive it that well too.