Warrior Girl Becomes A Woman DRUM MEDIA, Sydney

Life on the road is obviously constantly full of surprises for gilli moon. But then, she's also gone from being an aspiring young singer songwriter from a little NSW country town to being an established artist and performer in Los Angeles from where she not only regularly tours around much of the US through the year but writes and records music for her own CDs as well as for television and film. And she's done it all independently. No wonder she has the confidence to pull off a solo gig in a death metal club.

"One of the bookers booked me into this place on the beach in San Francisco that was full on death metal rock, and I go in there and my posters are on the wall and I'm thinking, "oh no, this is not gonna work, it's not gonna work, I'm gonna do this solo thing on the piano." By the end of the night, the room was full, people wearing their death metal t-shirts, and they all came up, bought my cds, joined my email list, it was really cool!"

Life on the road is obviously constantly full of surprises for gilli moon. But then, she's also gone from being an aspiring young singer songwriter from a little NSW country town to being an established artist and performer in Los Angeles from where she not only regularly tours around much of the US through the year but writes and records music for her own CDs as well as for television and film. And she's done it all independently. No wonder she has the confidence to pull off a solo gig in a death metal club.

"On the last album I had a song called Naked which is about being yourself and I'm very much about that when I perform and when I write. Especially when I'm with my band and I'm taking centre-stage. I end up doing a lot of different things, like I paint on stage now. I have no fear! It's a great feeling. It means you get to enjoy every day and just know that whatever happens, you just enjoy the moment, and I'm really, really enjoying being an artist. I think in the last six months I've really truly come into my own and I'm just very, very happy.

Musically, gilli pretty much covers the full gamut in terms of styles on her new album, Woman, from rock to cabaret, torch songs to dance pop.

"Absolutely, about being a woman, about how women have relationships with not only their partners but with the world. Like Temperamental Angel, I'm still covering personality and emotion, but this album is particularly about the female experience. When I came out of the Temperamental Angel experience I realized that I'd gone through angst and different stuff about my own career and personal growth and I felt that was very much like being a teenager, a lot of high emotions and a lot of anger. What I wanted to do with Woman was to show that she'd grown up, that she was strong.


Interview with Monique Lisa, September 1997

gilli talks to Monique Lisa in her first days as an international jett-setter...

You just can't hold a good woman down. gilli moon is proving that saying in a big way. She creating a  storm in LA, getting rave reviews to boot. Now on home turf, does she go on a spree of self promotional gigs? No. She establishes an organisation for songwriters in hope to offer new writers the support that she never received.

Before heading OS, Ms Moon performed her songs as a soloist. She was also known for her vocal talent in the World Music band, Shamballa. She co-founded The Music Writers Forum in 94, always feeling the need to support the song writing community. 

If you wondered what ever happened to this mover and shaker,
she packed her bags and followed her dreams.. " It was May 96. I went to LA on a hunch, regardless of warnings from my friends." Explained Gilli "From the day I arrived, I was out all the time, meeting everybody" Stumbling across the National Academy Of Songwriters" (NAS), she volunteered her time and in return, they showcased the five foot Australian.

Countless American movies, shows the saddened image of fresh young stars arriving in Hollywood to no avail. Seems this picture is far from the
truth. "Being Australian got me in the door. Besides, they don't care about what you've done in Australia." Moon explains. This is a reassuring fact for young bands looking at a larger horizon. It appears, apart from talent, you need confidence and ambition. "In a few months, I made more 'in roads' there, than I did in Australia after years. It was a lot easier than I thought" states Gilli.

The producers of L.A's Drama Music, are currently working on
Gilli's material. Needless to say, she'll be returning to the States for that. Being the workaholic she is, Gilli's thrown her self into establishing a song writing organisation.

Songsalive is a volunteer organisation, dedicated to the nurturing, support, promotion and exposure of Australian Songwriters. Apart from many other
services, Songsalive has a regular forum, held in the APRA offices, which allows songwriters to receive feedback on their material and learn about the industry in general.


Two supportive key figures, Phil Tripp and Neil Wilson (Shock Publishing/Hello Mr Wilson), have attended these forums. Phil Tripp comments, "Gilli Moon has taken the initiative and has the ambition to set this up. The industry should take it seriously. It's a great idea and deserves industry support". Being one of the more active publishers seeking new talent, Neil Wilson's made the effort to attend a workshop and commented, "Anything that encourages Songwriters to perceiver with their ability, is a good thing. I'll continue to support things like Songsalive and urge others in the industry to do so". 

This relatively new songwriters forum has will be having it's launch at The Hard Rock Cafe in September. Many members will be showcased alongside the cream Australian songwriters.

Monique Lisa