Dabbling in a range of different activities, from arts to writing, film to music, Ocher has developed a variety of engaging performance methods. “The solo performance I tour with is very bare bones, perhaps to the point it makes certain people uncomfortable” she says. “It’s very vulnerable, up front and in your face. With the band – a drum duo, Your Government – we have video projections and much more going on with lights and stage action, but it’s a very different experience. I love this performance being so bare, it creates a certain intimacy with the audience.
“The video work is quite a different thing altogether,” she continues. “There’s perhaps some places where the two have met before – I’ve made video art pieces with musical pieces, as well as just music videos – but the only time so far that a new piece of video was screened along with a live performance was at the big Bowie Gala in Berlin last year. The video was dedicated to all of the artists I’ve met in the city and became close with, some of which had left the city by then.”
In order to truly captivate her audiences, Ocher takes a considerate and engaged approach, rather than just playing the set and leaving. “I’ve tried a bunch of approaches,” she says. “It depends on the set, the location, the reaction of the audience. I like to read the reactions and adapt accordingly. It’s a dialogue, though perhaps there’s the illusion of it being just a monologue. But that would be rather boring, wouldn’t it?”
Despite managing to tour internationally, and keeping up a consistent flow of releases, Ocher sets herself set apart from the industry by upholding a D.I.Y. work ethic. “Setting myself apart from the industry wasn’t intentional,” she says. “It’s just that the industry generally supports music that I find tremendously dull. I haven’t counted the times some label big shot told me I had ‘no commercial value.’ Man, it started when I was a kid, I’m quite used to it and expect nothing else of these people. Therefore, I had to find other ways to get things done without relying on any existing channels.
“When there is help, it’s wonderful,” she continues, “but you can’t expect someone to always be there and take you by the hand. People are a lot more open minded than the A&R reps give them credit for. You just have to reach the right people, the very particular audience. It proves the industry wrong time after time.”
Ocher goes on to explain, “D.I.Y. was the only way to go. It’s also about the exchange we share with one another, because that’s the only way to keep the ball rolling.”
In light of this approach, it comes as no surprise that Ocher self-booked her current Australian tour, which follows a run of shows through Southeast Asia.
“I’ve researched like hell and contacted hundreds of promoters with estimated dates – which must have been hell to do before the age of internet,” she says. “It’s a different type of work, of course it takes away heaps of time, but it’s all about discipline. You wake up at a certain hour and work. Some people work for companies, I do music.”
BY THOMAS BRAND
