DONNA MARIE
Interview by Norman Darwen at Band On the Wall, Manchester, England

ND: Lover's rock used to be looked down upon by people from outside the community…

DM: "Yeah, yeah, I do know what you mean. Well, Lover's Rock really, it's had slightly different formats with different people. There was the eighties lover's rock with Carroll Thompson and that kind of vibe but I guess I'm a little bit different and do things a little bit different - but I'm the same. But yes, it has moved on. In terms of the style of the music, it used to be more laid-back in the eighties but now it's more versatile, the music style is more versatile, really. It's still reggae but now it's more altered with the times. Well, it's grown, yeah.."

ND: Who were your influences when you started singing?

DM: "I love reggae, but at the same time, vocals, I tend to go for - well, you'd say R&B now - soul, soul vocals. They inspired my singing voice - Aretha Franklin, people like that, Gladys Knight, the old school."

ND: You've definitely got that kind of voice...

DM: "OK, yeah. I mean, when I was younger I'd like imitate them to the 'T'. I mean, I didn't really take singing seriously when I was much, much younger. I didn't think, "Yeah, I'm going to be a singer", but at the same time at the back of my mind it was there. It was in my bones, something hard to resist. It was almost like watching somebody on the television and almost feeling jealous - "I wish that was me, I would love to do that", and yeah, it grew with me, yeah."

ND: And how did you start recording?

DM: "In 1989 I met Sidney Crooks from the original Pioneers. I was introduced to him through a producer who was living near where I lived who knew I could sing. I remember him saying Sidney was coming down this night and to try and meet him and I sort of took it like nothing. I was at home, just chilling out on the carpet. I had bought a new carpet, because I was in a new house, and I thought, "Yeah, this is comfortable" so I was just laying out on the carpet, and my phone rang. It was the studio engineer, and he said to me, "Ain't you supposed to be meeting Sidney?" I said, "Oh yes, I am", and I literally flew out, grabbed my coat and said, "Yeah, I'm on my way". I darted down there and I met him. He said, "Sing a little bit, let me hear you". So I wracked my brain, sang a little bit and he said, "Yes, I like your sound. We want to do some recording". We just talked it over and that was the start. And then I did a single from the theme from (popular Australian television show) 'Cell Block H', (sings) 'You used to bring me roses', yeah. That was my first single, so that was 1989. This is like 13 albums later!"

ND: You've recently started doing Reggae-gospel?

DM: "Yeah, because ever since I started singing, before I started recording in '89, I used to go to church regular, I was a Christian really, because I was brought up that way. So I was singing gospel before I was singing anything else, so that was always in my background, and people always said to me, "When are you going to do a gospel album?" All over the years they've been saying that, I kept saying, "Yes, I'm gonna do one". I never got round to it until I did 'Gracefully Yours'. I've got two gospel albums now out there. 'Now Is The Time' (Gospel Times / Jet Star) is the latest one."

ND: How do you go about writing?

DM: "It's funny. Sometimes I just have to get deep and see what comes to me. It's different situations and different topics. Writing 'Now Is The Time', I reflected on September 11th. That made me write that, just reflecting on that. I thought, "Well, yeah, now is the time we need the Father, more than ever, because we don't know what next". That inspired me to write that one, and that's how I write. I might be feeling a certain way about something or I feel like going deep within myself because I need to reach out to God at that time for some reason. Secretly I'm a spiritual person. I don't show it out, but that's my inward self. I just write what comes to me like that."

ND: What plans have you got for the future?

DM: "Well, to make more music. Working on it, trying to make it go further. Reggae music has been a long time coming, trying to get certain recognition. It's like talking about Bob Marley, it sort of came up to there, got recognised - and then it stopped. UB40 took it another stage, because they're doing reggae so they got it some more attention. But reggae is so - I don't even know how to put it - it's a big thing. A lot of people love reggae. If you travel and see the reception you get on reggae, you would not believe it. I'd love to take it that one step further."

ND: OK, Donna, thank you for your time.

DM: "Thank you!"

- Norman Darwen