Baby et Lulu is the magical musical partnership of Abby Dobson: ‘Baby’ (Leonardo’s Bride) and Lara Goodridge: ‘Lulu’ (FourPlay).
Singing and recording in French, choosing classic and contemporary chansons has grown from a kooky little side project to a going concern, with the girls recording their second album Album Deux this year. This one for the first time features a number of their own original compositions written, of course, in French!
‘We got an ARIA nomination, which was exciting,’ laughs Abby. Not that they went. ‘We’ve been lots of times and you really have to turn it on. I am naturally an introvert. I can do it; it comes at a cost!’
So how does a self-confessed introvert cope when she finds herself centre stage?
‘A lot of people I know definitely have that side of them. I wouldn’t have admitted to it, or allowed myself to think that way. But being alone, that is always how I recharge. That is the definition apparently – introverts are people who recharge on their own and extroverts recharge in a crowd. That always made a lot of sense to me!’
So what is it about the coming together of Baby et Lulu that is so magical?
‘We are so complementary!’ says Abby. ‘I think she would be the extrovert. We are wired differently but we are great friends and we adore each other. When I do my own shows I would be a lot more anxious about putting the show on and making sure it was great but with Baby I feel a lot less pressure. The band is excellent. I am not holding the show, and she (Lara) is probably a little better at show biz than I am. We just cover each other in different kinds of ways. There are some days when I am quite lively and animated, and can be the opposite. It’s not always the same. It’s so nice to have a pal in your corner who knows you. We naturally cover for each other!
‘As for the appeal of Baby et Lulu – it’s hard to know what the appeal actually is! We are still mystified. Our shows in Sydney always sell out – we don’t really know why. We are two Australian girls singing in French!’
Many of the songs are wonderfully tortured. Such is the nature of love!
‘It is intense and melancholy. I love the exquisite pleasure of feeling sad; it is exquisite and beautiful and taps into the poetic lines of you. That’s what I love about singing generally and singing in French – yhe joy in playful songs. Some of the songs are really intense and passionate and we are allowed to do that onstage. As a singer I am allowed to be intense and dramatic and emotive, whereas talking to my friends in a cafe I am not always allowed to be so dramatic!
‘A lot of people don’t love the depth of what are deemed unpleasant emotions. I watched a little story that showed we think that sadness is a bad thing where people are trying to pretend life is rosy and that we should be happy all the time and, if you are not, you have done something wrong. We don’t have a great tradition of that here. Thank god for music! Go to a concert; you can cry in the dark.’ Music really does allow people to be exquisitely sad. If only for three minutes.
But its not all heartache! There is a lot of joyous, cheeky moments!
‘Baby et Lulu is playful and we dress up. We put on our high heels and lipstick and curl our hair and dress up. And we dress with each other. It’s very girly. Neither of us does that. I thought that girly fun was over. I think people like that as well so they dress up too! I am not sure if it’s escapism for people.
People tend to come and they come again, or bring friends, or come in big groups. Baby et Lulu is something to share.’
Baby et Lulu is at the Byron Theatre at the Community Centre on Friday at 8pm. Tickets at byroncentre.com.au.
