Dannii Minogue is in her element, after a decade in the music industry she has finally found her niche as the glamorous face of dance music. Six months ago, she was welcomed with open arms by the notoriously cool independent dance label All Around The World. Until now, credible dance and sexy, internationally famous pop starlets may have seemed a contradiction in terms - and especially in Dannii's case where people who have concentrated more on her show-stopping looks, may have overlooked the hard graft that's gone into her music. "There's a lot people don't know about me" she admits. So how did she find herself as part of this eclectic coupling? Even being christened the pioneer of modern electro-pop. "Last year, after the release of Neon Nights, I was asked to go to the US to promote it," she recalls. "Everyone from NY and LA, to Miami and Dallas were going crazy for Who Do You Love Now. It was knocking Justin Timberlake and Beyonce off the top of the dance charts for seventeen weeks consecutively. I couldn't believe it. I guess dance music was looking for someone people could know, or they already knew to add a different edge to it. I finally realised what 'my thing' is."
A few months later, Universal: All Around the World Records asked if Dannii would write the lyrics to a dance track called Flower Power, which at that point was fast becoming Ibiza�s biggest dance instrumental. Dannii soon penned You Won't Forget About Me Feat. Flower Power. �I'd heard it without vocals and I thought, 'Fantastic'. I had already written loads of vocals for myself and knew I had something that would be perfect for it." An album deal followed: "We had the same ideas of which direction my music should go in and I'm loving working for an independent label; they have all the best connections with producers and directors. Together, we're bringing a different dimension to the pop and dance worlds. It makes sense." The album promises to combine her oozing fun, intelligence and sex appeal with their bona fide musical credibility. "I've been writing my own songs for a couple of years now" she reveals. "I'd never done it before but I needed a new challenge. I'm not against other people giving me songs as long as they're different, but I like a bit of a thrill and love pushing my boundaries. I thought I'd give it a go and that I would either crash badly, or it would be well received and I'd feel a real sense of achievement." Luckily for Dannii, it's been the latter.
What most people don�t realise is that Dannii co-wrote and produced nearly all the songs on her award winning Neon Nights album. "I really love writing music, Put The Needle On It, I Begin To Wonder and Don�t Wanna Lose This Feeling were very special to me, it was the best I'd ever made at the time" she says. "It gave me the confidence to be even more assertive and even more in control of the production of my new album. And again this album moves on, it has more urban beats on it than the 80s electro clash of Neon Nights. I always want to hear something new on the dance floor, songs that give you a new sense of excitement, that�s what I�m aiming to achieve again."
This time round, she's most proud of her new track Fear of Flying which has received an 'astounding' response from everyone who's heard it. "It's about becoming the best you can possibly be and realising that your fear of flying will be completely different from other people's and that's OK." She describes her own biggest fear as "that of comparing my relationships to the extremely happy marriage of my parents and somehow falling short." She wanted to write something more varied than just love lyrics, though there is plenty of that kind of vibe on the album too, "Everyone needs a song about love and heartbreak they can listen and relate to when they turn on the radio."
Despite its cooler edge, Dannii�s new video is especially one for the girls. The video for You Won't Forget About Me, was directed by Hervey & Carolyn has a distinctly Sex and the City feel to it, and also stars an gorgeous male model Benjamin Hart, who just so happens to be Dannii's best friend. "I held castings for so many men, but none were as perfect as him," she says. "The video shows me coming back from a hot date and I'm in my apartment analysing the night with three friends. I kick off my expensive dress and jewellery and dance around in a big baggy mans T-shirt. There is a side of me that loves getting glammed up. But mostly, you can find me looking daggy without make-up, wearing baggy pants."
Her laid back style is part of Dannii's upbringing; she is, of course, one of Australia's biggest female exports, having sold over 6.8 million records since she released her first album at the age of 16. Born in Melbourne, she inherited her mother's - an ex ballerina - love of dance. She started her career in show-business at the age of seven which soon led into being talent spotted for the Australian version of the Mickey Mouse club. "I've always loved singing and dancing. I wasn't necessarily the best, but I've always been a very fast learner. Even now, it takes me less time than a professional to learn a dance routine." she says. She was brought up listening to Stevie Wonder, Roberta Flack and Janet Jackson. "I loved Janet because she wasn't typically skinny, but she was the most amazing mover," she says. After six years on the show and a stint on the soap Home and Away, her intention was to step away from showbiz and concentrate on her studying. An A-plus student, she had her heart set on becoming a director of music videos. "But then I was asked if I wanted to make an album. At the time I thought it was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that I'd be back a year later and would continue with my studies. So I went for it." Within weeks, she was on a plane to England, where she has pretty much remained ever since. "I was only 16, I had absolutely no idea what lay in store."
Fast forward to 2004 and Dannii is now one of Europe's most well known and most loved faces of pop as well as a diminutive style icon. A massive fan of albums such as Maxwell's Urban Hang Suite and Hotel Costes's chilled anthems, it seems like a natural progression that she has more recently found herself immersed in dance culture. For the past few years, she has spent a week every summer in Ibiza, soaking up the sounds and the atmosphere and hanging out with DJ Roger Sanchez and Steven Miller (a.k.a After Life). "It's a great place to find out what's going on musically" she says. "I have people coming up to me asking me to listen to their tracks, which is great." When she's out there, she loves El Devinos where she's also performed and Caf� Del Mar because, "the music is really mixed in with the nature and the sunset. I love that feeling of having your toes in the sand. I guess that's the Australian side of me." Does she ever join the crowds on the dance floor? "I like some clubbing, but at my age, I also like places that have nice cocktails and a chair to sit on" she laughs. "I respected DJ's before that because I love to see how they move a room, but I have even more respect for them now. It takes hours and hours of practice and they make it look so easy. I wish I had time to do it properly, which I just don't at the moment."
She's busier than she's ever been; as well as recording her new album, Dannii has been cast as the lead role in a Sixth Sense-style psychological thriller, which has the same team and distributor as Four Weddings and a Funeral "It has such a brilliant script and it looks like it's going to get the go ahead just as I start promoting this album. So it's going to be an interesting time." We'll also be seeing her on the big screen in a slick new Mercedes advert, filmed in Budapest; a stylish mini movie co-starring Max Beesley and Bryan Ferry. "It was crazy working with Max. That guy has got so much energy." And Mr Ferry? "He's so sexy! What about the rumours that she was paid a six figure sum for it? "I never discuss money" she laughs. "It's just rude."
At the age of 33, it seems that Dannii Minogue has finally arrived exactly where she always hoped to be. "Actually, I've never had game-plan" she insists. "I'm not competitive. That's a misconception about me. In my view, there's no point in mapping your life out because it always takes you where it's going to go and it's never what you expected. All I know is that I'm happier now than I've ever been." She's found confidence in her thirties which she lacked in her twenties. "Maybe it's because I made all my mistakes in my 20s. Both career wise and personally. Now it's time for me to put to use everything I've learned and really start living." |
