Patience Hodgson has the disarming likeability that you’d expect to find in the girl-next-door instead of a front-woman of a rock band. Our interview was meant to cover The Grates new album and forthcoming tour, but instead we chatted about chocolate-filled doughnuts, her ability to jump like a kangaroo and morph-suits. More on the doughnuts later.
Firstly, for anyone who has seen The Grates live will know that Patience certainly isn’t one to hide behind a microphone stand and peer at the audience suspiciously. She jumps, runs, leaps, bounds and tears around the stage, while astonishingly still being able to sing on key and remember the words. I put to her that she must be part kangaroo.
‘We’ve all got a little bit of kangaroo in us, don’t we? We’re Aussie after all?’ she replied.
I disagreed; just looking at the YouTube videos of her performances had made me tired. She insisted it was no special talent, although she does like to keep fit in the ‘off season’ so that heading back on the road isn’t so physically hard.
The videos had managed to make me tired, but it was nothing compared to how hungry her latest podcast with Melinda Buttle, The Minutes, had made me. This is where we got onto doughnuts. They were discussing the culinary options at Splendour in the Grass. Patience loved the Byron Bay Doughnut Company’s chocolate filled offerings so much she mentioned them on-stage. I asked if she had any swing to bring them to Stonefest. Unfortunately for us, the answer was no.
Speaking of Stonefest, Patience told me she’s excited about playing in Canberra again.
“We haven’t been to Canberra for quite a while, and my best friend lives in Canberra so we really, really wanted to get down there and be able to see her on tour,” she says.
“It’s a bloody great line-up! I’m really looking forward to seeing Velociraptor and then I was really happy to see that Lady Lane and Owl Eyes were on the bill as well, so hopefully I’ll be able to get along and see everybody that day.”
No doubt they’ll all be looking forward to see her in kangaroo-like action too.
Stonefest is on at University of Canberra on Saturday 29th October 2011. Click Here to buy tickets.
