The article from Australian Women's Weekly NZ Edition October 2006.
The article from Australian Women's Weekly NZ Edition October 2006.
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'All grown up'
Hayley Westenra looks and sings like an angel. But New
Zealand's best-selling singer tells Suellen Dainty that dealing with a
stalker, living alone on a tight budget in London and missing her friends
has made her worldly wise at 19.
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HAYLEY WESTENRA LOOKS LIKE THE DAUGHTER every parent longs for. Dressed in sensible jeans and a t-shirt, the pretty, unassuming teenager has perfect manners and flawless skin.
New Zealand's slightly built, world-famous performer still looks too young and fragile to pack her own suitcase, much less tour Europe and England without Mum, Dad or a chaperone.
Top-selling teenage singers are usually portrayed as demanding divas, complete with tantrums, hissy fits and submissive helpers.
But surprisingly, Hayley, who opens the front door herself and answers her own telephone, doesn't have a team of minders fussing over her, despite recent threats to her security.
Mum and Dad - Jill and Gerald Westenra - are back in Christchurch with Hayley's younger sister and brother, Sophie and Isaac. So, for the past year Hayley has been travelling on her own.
She has rented herself a small but comfortable flat in a leafy West London suburb. It's a base for what looks like being an incredibly busy year as her career takes off for even higher levels of the stratosphere.
Right now, after weeks of punishing touring, she is unpacking her bags and taking it easy. "It's just so great not to be in a hotel and not to have to live out of a suitcase. I can walk down to the shops, come back, work on my music and relax for a bit."
Hayley deserves some time out. So far this year, she has toured the world with Il Divo, the phenomenally successful popopera quartet, performed solo in America and raced back to England to appear in summer music festivals.
It was an exhausting schedule, made even more so by a German fan who began to stalk her. The 40-year-old man maintained he was in a relationship with Hayley and for a time she was forced to hire Victoria Beckham's former bodyguard to protect her.
"It is under control now but at the time - March and April this year - it was incredibly scary. It got very bizarre and I honestly don't want to talk about it too much. It was at its worst when the guy jumped up on stage and ran after me.
"But I'm well looked after and I don't worry too much now. At the time it wasn't easy. I kept thinking I shouldn't be in this state when I'm performing. I should be concentrating on the show and my songs and making sure that the audience is enjoying the show.
"It's okay now," she stresses. "I feel quite safe and anonymous here in London because I don't attract paparazzi and I can just go about my own business and enjoy the time off." London has been Hayley's work base for the past three years. She may be fending for herself in the big international city, but she's not living the life of luxury you'd expect of someone so successful.
"I'm pretty sensible about money. I don't go on huge shopping sprees when I get my pay cheque. Dad keeps an eye on what I'm spending. Often I have to call him and say, 'Dad, you know I really need a new dress for this performance'. I have to spend money on performance dresses. But everything else is strictly high street.
"People seem to think you get huge advances when you sign a recording contract and you get to keep it. But the advance comes out of record sales so there is no point in hiring a huge studio when you can make do with a smaller one for rehearsals and then hire a bigger one for the actual recording. You need to be sensible about everything in this world.
"It's easy to get carried away by image and trends, but if you can make sure music is the centre of your day and of your life, then you're okay.
"I'd love to get a place of my own one day, but for the moment I just rent a flat near the studios where I record. I love England, although I haven't really seen that much of it outside London because I'm always working or dashing off to America or Europe.
"The other day I went to Bristol to meet someone I'm writing songs with. I went through Bath and was just amazed at how beautiful it was. I mean, New Zealand is obviously where my heart is and will always be, but I need an overseas base and London is perfect." Hayley may look younger than her 19 years, but she seems as mature and sensible as someone twice her age. She realises that she has an extraordinary voice of perfect pitch but that it is not enough to guarantee continued stardom and critical accolades.
Her album, Pure, made her New Zealand's best-selling artist ever and it was the fastest selling debut album in the history of England's classical charts, selling more than two million copies. In the same week it soared to the coveted top position in the classical charts, it also reached number eight in the popular charts, where it stayed for ten weeks, alongside stars like Dido and Sting. The album sold more than one million copies in Australia, Asia and Europe. In England, her biggest overall market, she is the most downloaded classical artist.
And her second album, Odyssey, was hugely successful as well, reaching the Top 10 in both the popular and classical music charts in England and number one in the Hong Kong classical charts.
But you need brains and determination as well as a beautiful voice to endure in the fickle performing world. And no one is more aware of that than Hayley.
Her friends from school can stay at home if their skin breaks out or if they feel tired and grumpy. On a world tour and singing before thousands of people every night, Hayley does not have that luxury. She has to manage her life carefully, which would be tough on anyone with less resolve.
"I drink lots of water. I'm attached to my water bottle. I try to eat well. Basically your voice is part of your body and so you have to look after your whole body. I avoid dairy and sugar. I fly a lot and on planes the air is dry and hard on the voice. And it's easy to pick up germs from being in a confined space with so many other people."
Her vocal exercises vary from day to day. "If I've played a big concert the night before then I might take it easy on my day off - half an hour of practice, if that. But sometimes I do more. Sometimes you really need to work your voice more."
DAME KIRI TE KANAWA has often spoken about the dangers of pushing young, tender voices too far, too fast. Hayley agrees: "It's a really fine line because because obviously you want to progress and move on and cement the correct technique. But I'm a fairly good judge of how far I can push things."
Hayley's parents are both musical, and Hayley's been singing since the age of six. Her grandmother was a talented singer and her grandfather played the piano by ear perfectly, although he'd never had a lesson. Sister Sophie and brother Isaac both play musical instruments and sing. "It was a great thing for me to come from a musical family. If I had been the only one who was interested in music, I don't think I'd be here today, because they understood and it sort of propels you along."
By the time Hayley was 11, she'd already been on stage more than 40 times.
But her most valuable performing experience was busking in Christchurch's Arts Centre. Few 11-year-olds could manage that, but from the start Hayley was something of a child prodigy. "I guess busking made me realise for the first time I could actually make a career out of singing. It was very busy on weekends and you had to get there early to pick your spot. It's touristy, but a lovely atmosphere. I got quite a big crowd and I loved that immediate feedback.
"At first I sang a cappella, songs that I'd learned at school. And then I decided to play the violin as well, but the crowds melted away so I stuck to the singing. Sophie joined me, then Isaac with the flute. I earned enough money to buy a little mike, then a little machine to provide backing tracks."
"It was a fantastic thing to do. It made me independent and self-sufficient. It's where I learned how to keep audiences interested. Even now, when I'm working out the song order for my concerts, my busking days help a lot."
Hayley says growing up in New Zealand in a close family meant she had a great childhood even though it was different from her peers'. "I don't honestly think I missed out on anything and that's because my career unfolded so gradually. My singing was part and parcel of family life." Hayley signed her first record deal with Universal at the age of 12 when most girls would be down at the netball courts or trawling shopping malls for bargains.
"Everything was very easy. I knew I wanted to be a singer, but there was no extraordinary pressure. My friends were my friends. I went to school. There were no photographers hanging around. It was exciting really."
But Hayley admits it has been hard to keep up childhood friendships when she is on the other side of the world.
"Most of my friends are at university now. We email and call occasionally but it's hard with the time difference. It's hard enough just staying in touch with my family. Either I force myself to get up early or stay up late to make calls, but it's worth it.
"I guess it's important to have a support crew - my family, my friends back home even if I don't stay in touch with them as much as I'd like. I also have a great management team."
Hayley is not tempted to try pop.
"I love pop music, and dancing around and singing the odd song, but it's a case of sticking to what you're good at. Pop music is different from classical. It's very image- and trend-driven. If the single doesn't make it - you've had it, no matter what the album is like. I'd prefer to make a great album and not rely on singles. I've started work on my third album, so that should be out next year. That's what I'm focusing on."
But what about her life off-stage? Does she have a boyfriend? "No" she says, "I don't have one. Someone pointed out to me recently that perhaps guys my age are intimidated by me. But it's just one of those things. I'm not going to go out and actively pursue one. But if the right guy came along then I'd make time for him. Although it's hard touring. You may meet someone who is nice and then you never see them again.
"Yes, you have to be wary, but I think I'm a good enough judge of character to work people out. I'd like to marry and have children. I'd like to settle down one day and have a family life but I'm not sure where I'll be. I'll always want to keep music going, but children need to come first. I'm lucky enough to know that from my own family."
