Katie Noonan might be one of Australia’s most prolific musicians. She first came to prominence in the early noughties as frontwoman of indie-rock band George, who had a number one album with their debut Polyserena. Two decades on, Noonan has over 20 albums under her belt, including solo efforts, one-off collaborations and work with her long-running jazz trio Elixir. She has picked up 28 Aria award nominations for her music, and was musical director of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.
Many years ago, Noonan was gifted a copy of Joni Mitchell’s 1971 album Blue and fell in love with the music of the folk singer-songwriter. To mark its 50th anniversary, Noonan will perform songs from that seminal record as part of Sydney festival, with a band that includes her 17-year-old son on drums.
Noonan is excited to pay tribute to Mitchell’s music. “She’s a huge bastion of integrity for me … making the music that she needed to make, regardless of pop culture,” says Noonan.
For Noonan’s own songwriting, one item has proved indispensable: a notebook. Here, she extolls the virtue of that process, and shares the stories behind two other important personal belongings.
What I’d save from my house in a fire
My songwriting book. It’s a really beautiful navy-blue book with pages that are gentle and soft to touch, and I love writing my thoughts and music ideas into it.
I distinctly remember my husband buying it for me as a surprise. It was when I was music director of the Commonwealth Games as well as artistic director of the Queensland music festival, so I was flat out working extremely long hours. … [So he bought it] to try to inspire me to get back into my songwriting, and help me remember that I’m a musician before I’m a producer or administrator.
In these digital days, I often sketch things into my voice memos on my phone, or in the notes app. But at the end of the day, nothing beats the organic simpleness of a pencil and paper. And when it comes to music making, I try to keep things as organic as possible.
My most useful object
I have been running a free music school in the town of Eumundi, where I live, for eight years. I was really underwhelmed with the music education available at the local public school. Unfortunately, quality music education is a privilege of the wealthy in Australia. I think that’s outrageous, because there are so many studies about the importance of arts education – in particular, music education – for the developing brain, for social connection and for mental health. So I decided to start my own music school, offering scholarships to kids.
In that process, two years ago, I met a young First Nations artist called Layla Barnett, who just blew us away with her voice and her artistry. She’s only 13 years old, but she’s an old soul. She and my husband have been writing amazing songs together, and she’s done lots of guest spots with us at shows. She gave me a special teacup last year with a Teddy Jakamarra Gibson artwork on it, that has become my go-to cup. I am an avid tea drinker and I do love nice fine bone china – I don’t like the thicker ceramic lips of mugs when it comes to drinking tea. Plus, it’s so vibrant and my kitchen is orange and red, so it matches perfectly.
The item I most regret losing
I left a very beautiful and much-loved Trelise Cooper black embroidered leather jacket on a flight from Perth to Sydney … This one was a super-feminine jacket with a peplum and this beautiful rose embroidery. I wore it everywhere for years, all winter, on and off stage. Especially if I was playing outdoors or in a cold venue.
Then on this flight, I was half asleep and left it behind when I got off the plane. I ran back to get it, but it was already gone. I kept on chasing lost property at Sydney airport, but it had disappeared. I’m still so sad about that jacket. I’ve never replaced it, because I haven’t been able to find one as beautiful. It seems it was destined to be someone else’s – I hope they love it as much as I did.
