Right place for singing sisters

Vika first fell in love with Carole King's music after hearing Aretha Franklin's version of Natural Woman.

By Kyra Gillespie

Vika Bull (The Black Sorrows) and Deborah Byrne (Young Talent Time) will make their debut appearance at the stunning Bunjil Place theatre to perform their highly acclaimed Tapestry: The Songs of Carole King.
The tour began in 2016 in celebration of the 45th anniversary of Carol King’s masterpiece 1971 album Tapestry, and will return again in the New Year for a string of regional shows throughout Victoria and New South Wales.
For Vika there is something special about performing the music of Carole King to audiences.
“Carole King’s songs are beautiful and timeless, they simply don’t age,” she said.
“I think the songs that she wrote with her husband Gerry Goffin, in the ’60 especially, don’t date because he’s such a great lyricist and she’s great with the melodies.
“They’re a great song writing team.
“I am just in awe of the fact that Carole wrote so many wonderful songs that I still love so much today.”
For 25 years, the glorious voice of Vika Bull has comprised one of the most distinctive, versatile and emotionally charged sounds on the Australian music landscape.
Aretha Franklin’s striking rendition of Natural Woman, written by Carole King, was what inspired Vika to pursue music at the very beginning of her career.
“One of the first songs I ever fell in love with was Natural Woman by Aretha Franklin, and when I realised that Carole and her husband Gerry had written it together is when I truly discovered Carole King as an artist. So when I got invited to sing her songs with Debra it was really a no-brainer.
“It was a bit scary at first because I’ve never performed with Debra before, and she has had so much experience.
“I’ve been in the industry since I was 17, but she’s been doing it since she was a little girl.
“She was awarded The Queen of Pop, has performed in major musical theatre productions and gone into the acting side of things too whereas my training is in rock and roll, singing in Australian pubs six nights a week for seven years.
“She’s got a lot of experience and I have a lot of respect for her being in the industry for so long doing so many different things. I’ve learned a lot from her over the past two years.”
Despite coming from two diverse musical backgrounds, the powerhouse duo remain loyal to the original melodies.
“We’re different voices singing the songs so, of course, they’re going to sound a little bit different, but we don’t muck with the melody too much.
“If we did that we’d be crucified because people come to hear the songs – and hear our voices too, of course, but we remain pretty true to the originals.
“The people who come to the show have been listening to Carole King just about all their life, so there’s definitely a bit of extra pressure to get it right.”
She smashed onto the music scene in the late ’80s, singing back-up vocals with her sister Linda in the blues-rock band The Black Sorrows and has since forged a diverse pathway into soul, gospel, blues, country and the island music of her Tongan ancestry.
She has released eight albums with Linda who she said had been the driving force in her creative journey as an artist.
“I have a very close family and have grown up with strong Tongan traditions and customs which have influenced my sound in a big way.
“Tongans are great harmonisers and great singers, which has translated into a lot of our work, so it was no surprise that we became a team.
“Our mum has a lot to do with that – she’s always drilled the importance of family into us. Sometimes it drives us nuts, but that’s the way she’s always been.
“She’s held us together all these years. She’s our matriarch, and we write about it a lot.”
Vika and Linda have collaborating on studio and concert performances with a veritable who’s who of the industry including Renee Geyer, John Farnham, Hunters and Collectors, Kasey Chambers, John Butler and Dan Sultan.
Despite all the time spent together, Vika said her and Linda have never fought like typical siblings.
“We just finished a three-month tour around the world with Paul Kelly and the boys were worried about me and Linda fighting – and they were surprised when we didn’t!
“We get annoyed with one another from time to time but we don’t fight. Our mum has always pointed out that there are only two of us, so why the hell would we want to fight?
“We’re very mindful of that, and our kids are very close too so we work very hard to try and be patient with one another.”
Tapestry: The Songs of Carole King will be performed by the iconic duo at Bunjil Place on Sunday 4 February 2018.
Tickets can be found on the Bunjil Place website.