Washington talks to GRIND!

1. What  is you’re favourite book and why?
My favourite book.  Its by Haruki Murakami and its called Kafka on the Shore by and the reason why is because it’s the kind of book that changes the way you see the whole world after you’ve finished it.  Yes you should definitely read it.

2. What’s you’re favourite song to perform on stage?
Its usually the one I’ve written most recently.

3. Do you have any favourite teenage memories?
Well… I think that’s an oxymoron as far as I’m concerned. I guess learning to drive was pretty amazing, like the freedom that came with that was very life changing. Yeah getting my licence changed my life.

4. What did you want to be when you were younger?
Umm, a singer… I also wanted to be in musicals, I wanted to be like Liza Minnelli or Sally Bowles in Cabaret. On Broadway! I tend to turn my film clips into little musicals, that’s how I get it off my chest, get my kicks that way.

5. What song would you find on your mp3 player?
Many many of them. On my most recently played is Dear Yoko from Double Fantasy,  which is the album that John Lennon made with Yoko Ono when they were married.

6. Where do you see yourself in 5 to 10 years?
Hopefully what I’m doing now, maybe a little bit better and with a little more professionalism and hopefully doing it in another country, that would be fun for a while.

7. If you could visit anywhere in the world where would it be and why?
You know, I’ve been to a lot of the places that I want to go but one place I’ve never been to is Africa! And  I would really really like to go to Africa because its such a fascinating place and I was obsessed with the Lion King when I was little.

8. What is one thing you know now that you wish you knew when you were 17?
Oh god, how long have you got!? Well lots of things, I guess that one thing that I learned was that the only thing that is important , ever, about anything, anyone, any place any time,  anything is authenticity. If you’re doing something and it doesn’t feel like you, and it doesn’t feel authentic, correct and natural and it feels weird then its wrong and you shouldn’t do it. And if you’re doing something like pretending to be somebody well it sucks and you shouldn’t do it.

9. If you were to die and come back as something or someone what would it be and why?
I would come back probably as my best friend, Patrick’s dog, that dog has the best life of anything, any human any animal any thing ever that I’ve ever seen. He’s this little mangy brilliant mutt. He gets all the best things about being  dog and all the best things about being a human! Like it he gets to live 2 lives.

10. Who inspired you to get into music?
My sister. She’s really creative and introduced me to bands an d artists and she taught me how to play the piano. She is awesome.

11. What would be if you weren’t a musician?
Something  that involves lies, like a lawyer or an actor, something where you get to lie or pretend. Well I mean I’m basically an actor now, I write musical songs and call them pop songs and people believes me, its hilarious.

12. How did you feel winning 2 arias?
It felt horrible, I wanted to just cry, I went back to my hotel room and I pulled the blankets over my head and I wrote in my journal, ‘today was a very bad day’. I’m kidding it was amazing.

13. Do you have some advice for young sprouting musicians?
Yes I do. Play and play and play and then gig, and then play and then gig and then when you think that you’ve played and you’ve gigged enough play and gig some more!

Interview by Nikki Chamberlain