Artists have been using alter egos for a long time – think Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust or Eminem’s Slim Shady.
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These alternative characters are usually vastly different from the original personalities that wear them. But in the case of 22-year-old Celia Pavey, she and her alter ego Vera Blue are more like two sides of the same coin.
Having started out as a singer in her home town of Forbes, NSW, Pavey is now coming up as one of the country’s most promising young stars with a blend of folk and electronica reminiscent of Florence and the Machine.
Her debut track Hold has made serious headway via Spotify, triple J and Shazam, solidifying Pavey’s position as a future queen of Australian power electronica ballads.
Vera Blue is still Celia Pavey, the same person. It’s just a different style of music, Vera Blue is different.
- Vera Blue
Pavey said while donning the role of Vera Blue has helped her tap into a different creative side, the two were most certainly one in the same person.
“I’m still the same person. It’s a changing style of music and it needed its own name,” she said.
“I like to be myself and I like people to relate to that. Vera Blue is still Celia Pavey, the same person. It’s just a different style of music, Vera Blue is different.
“It gives me the freedom to experiment and be more open minded about sounds and have fun in the studio. With that, you start to love what you’re doing and people enjoy it, it’s great.”
Whichever personality she uses, Pavey’s lyrics are uncompromisingly honest, rooted in personal experience.
“They (the lyrics are) always about something that I’m going through or have gone through. I’m very inspired by the people around me,” she said.
“The main thing for me is that people can related to the songs and make them their own when they hear them and enjoy the sounds. I think I just want people to feel something.”
She said she was at an age where she wanted to write about things that were happening around her.
“These songs are about love, they are about hurt, and they are about moving forward in a positive way. A lot of the lyrics in the songs are all personal, but I try to make them so everyone can relate,” she said.
“I can’t make things up, it has to be honest.”
Vera Blue will perform at Karova Lounge on Wednesday, August 31.
