Beautiful Lucy's Room

For many years as a journalist, Salli Fune wrote about newsworthy subjects: crime, politics, celebrities. Now, she is writing – and singing – from closer to her own heart. But don’t expect the same old songs about heartbreak and relationships. When it comes to her music, Salli could easily be singing about darker themes like addiction and deception, as she would be about love and a sunny day in April.
“Relationships, and even human experiences for that matter, are dynamic. They’re never linear,” says Salli. “I like songs that peel the layers and approach them from different tangents, as you would a news story. Like a song about a breakup doesn’t have to be the usual ‘I’m so heartbroken’ angle. There are so many ways that emotion can manifest itself. It’s like taking a snapshot of a situation and writing from there. And relationships can be about anyone or anything."

The former front woman of San Francisco band High Drama (with whom these recordings were made), Salli names among her primary influences female singer-songwriters such as Aimee Mann, Liz Phair, Julia Fordham, PJ Harvey, Suzanne Vega, Sarah McLachlan and Beth Orton for their insightful dissertations on relationships. “There’s a certain intelligence and depth to their songs, but at the same time a lot of raw emotion. I love how they write with such unabashed passion and honesty. They’re really writing about things that everyone – not just women – can relate to but more eloquently than the average person.”

That explains half her inspiration. “My family was always into music.” (In fact, it was her older sister who taught her her first guitar chords at age 10.) “At home, I grew up listening to a lot of Sinatra, Billie Holiday, Burt Bacharach, Carpenters, Henry Mancini and Nino Rota movie themes, things like that. I guess that’s why I’ve always been drawn to the sound of that era. I love tunes that are catchy and instantly memorable, they draw you in because you feel like you’ve heard them before. I guess a part of me wants to balance the darkness with catchiness.”

Her eclectic musical leanings probably have a lot to do with moving around a lot in her lifetime, “Always stopping and starting. Wherever I went, music became the one constant thing, a source of stability.” Born in Tokyo, raised in Manila and then spending her formative years in Australia, Salli found inspiration in a lot of obscure Australian and British artists, as well as “all those jazz-inspired bands like The Style Council, Sade, Everything But the Girl, Carmel, Swing Out Sister and Matt Bianco who were coming out of England at the time. But then I also listen to a lot of stuff that doesn't necessarily come out in my music, like hard rock, punk and shoegazer stuff. Over the years, I really wanted to pursue creating a unique blend of all these diverse influences, rock with a touch of jazz, lounge and ‘60s pop.”

After returning to Australia in 2005, Salli got to do just that when she formed Beauitful Lucy's Room in Canberra. With its infectious mix of jazz, pop, lounge and folk rock, the band nailed a unique sound that attracted a loyal fan base.

Now based in Melbourne, Salli continues to play her original compositions, winning a whole new set of fans with her acoustic shows.

For more information, visit http://myspace.com/sallif and http://myspace.com/beautifullucysroom.