Not only is she one of the incredible coaches on The Voice Australia, but Delta Goodrem’s new single ‘Wings’ is taking the world by storm! She has had an incredible career so far and things don’t seem to be slowing down just yet. After the huge success that is ‘Wings’, Delta is back in studio recording her brand new album and I caught up with her to chat about her new music, The Voice and her fruitfiul career so far.
‘Wings’ is an incredible song. What inspired the track?
My good friend, Ricky Martin, came to me and said after we finish the blind auditions on that season of The Voice, that I should come on tour with him. I didn’t have an album out at that moment, but I thought ‘Sure, I’ll come out and sing with you every night’. I sang to 10 000 people but it was just me and my piano and a couple of instruments. Sometimes you choose to do something but you don’t know why you’re doing it at the time and I knew there was a reason I agreed to do this. At the end of the tour, I got straight off a stage in Perth, flew to Sydney, walked straight into the studio and I knew exactly what type of song I needed to write. I had all these gold tattoos on my hand that I put on for the show and they had these big wings on them and that’s how we decided to create a song called ‘Wings’.
What do you think it is about the song that people love so much?
The song comes from a place of letting go. Everybody is looking for a new horizon and second chances and what if we just choose to let it all go and remember that these wings are meant to fly? We’re free. Everything we need to work out is all within ourselves and I just found a space where I can break it all down and be free within myself and around my surroundings. It’s finding that freedom that everyone relates to.
Being a coach on The Voice must be tough. What do you find is the best advice to give contestants?
I know it sounds really simple but I always keep reminding them to enjoy the moment. I think music is all about moments and creating your next moment. I try to make sure that any artist I have on my team is learning everything that I am giving them and that they walk away thinking that that was the best time, I am so proud, I had a great time, I learned a lot and I had fun. That’s the goal I have with that show. Each artist is so different and is after different things but I love mentoring and seeing contestants going through what I went through when I first started.
Surely you’ve also learned a few lessons from being a coach. What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned while on your time there?
‘Wings’ also came about from the lessons I learned on the show. I felt like I was trying to please everybody when I first started on the show. I then realized that I just need to be me – and exactly me. I am a strong-headed woman and I can be quite eccentric at times and I just wanted to be completely free in that chair. Once I did that it just felt so much better.
You’ve had quite a long, sought-after career in music. What’s the secret?
The secret is patience. The secret is knowing that this is what I am meant to do in life and never giving up and constantly working on yourself.
You were signed when you were only 15! What do you know now that you wish you knew back then?
Everything! I think that when you are confident in your own talent you just need to remember not to take anything for granted and think that it will always be there. No one gives you a map on how to handle it all either. I released my first album and it became a huge success and I broke a bunch of records but I’ve always done the best that I could but I look back and think ‘Oh, I could have done this better’ but it’s all led me to this moment and I wouldn’t change that for anything.
Throughout your career, which of your songs are you most proud of?
I’m not being cheesy when I say ‘Wings’. Also, I am really proud of my recent album ‘Child of the Universe’. It’s not that it set the world on fire but I was really proud of that album, musically. I will, however, always say ‘Born To Try’ because it’s what has really given me my life. It changed the course of my whole life.
Who is that one artist you would love to get in the studio with?
Stevie Nicks or Coldplay. I have been so fortunate to being able to sing with my idol Olivia Newton-John my entire life, being an Aussie girl and I’ve met people I’ve admired artistically along the way but first choice would be Stevie Nicks.
Over the course of your career you’ve achieved so many great things. How do you decide what’s next for Delta?
There is a lot of thought that goes behind anything I do. Even choosing to do ‘Cats’ was a long process but what I’ve really learned is that I am an ‘in the spot’ kind of person. I choose to do what I love to do not because it’s the right thing to do or calculated or strategic but it’s because it’s what I want to spend my time on. For the first time in my life I’ve surrendered to the thought that I don’t know where it all leads but I know that I will embrace every move I make.
What message would you like to send your South African fans?
I’d love to get over there with the music sometime soon and thank you so much for connecting to my music and for embracing me.
What exciting things can we expect from you over the next few months?
It’s all about the new record. People are just discovering ‘Wings’ and putting out a new album is my next goal.
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