BuzzFeed Oz sat down with The Veronicas to discuss their comeback, their upcoming Sanctified tour, and finding balance in your life.
1. On song "Sugar Daddy," a fan favourite that recently leaked:
Lisa: It's going to be on the deluxe album! But someone's gone and put it up and I'm just like... "oh well!" *laughs*
Jessica: [The fans] were like "guys it's leaked! Take it down!" and I'm just like *shrugs* "whatever." When you've had that many songs leaked, you just don't care anymore!
Lisa: It's like "oh well, listen to it, enjoy it!"
2. On their recent "Birthmas" (Their birthday is December 25):
Lisa: Our birthday and Christmas was amazing this year, it was actually very chilled out, because we were so busy leading up to it we didn't have a party or anything like that, it was more just family time and sleep. I did get very spoilt with presents, Jess got me some pretty special things. I got this Encyclopedia of Cryptozoology, and this amazing kimono jacket, and all these cool little books and crystals, I got this crazy crystal that helps channel alien energy! All these amazing, cool, little bits and pieces. I was very spoilt.
3. On their favourite movies:
4. On performing while sick:
Jessica: It's the worst thing, as a performer. You just feel so... defeated, because you can't give it your all, and it's all you wanna do.
5. On what they'd be doing if they weren't musicians:
6. On how they decide who gets to sing which parts of each song:
Lisa: Sometimes, we have to have an old fashioned punch up. But most of the time, our voices are actually very different, so there are just certain parts of the song that might suit me a little more, or Jess a little more, or if it's more of a "me story" or a "Jess story," that can also determine who sings what. It's different for each song.
7. On their favourite TV shows:
8. On what it feels like to finally be on the verge of a national tour after spending so long fighting with former label Warner and unable to release any new music:
Jessica: It's awesome, I mean, it's a crazy feeling. We've been waiting to tour this music for such a long time, and to finally be able to do it and starting off in Australia, and then taking that tour to the UK and then after that we're heading to the US to do a promo tour. It won't be the full tour yet, but it'll be a promo, acoustic tour with songs, visiting radio stations and blogs and stuff like that. It's just getting it out to the fans, it's all we've wanted for so long so it's just that we finally get to be able to do what we've been waiting to do.
Lisa: Hopefully we can take this tour to all the fans, wherever they are around the world. We'd love to go to Asia, more of Europe, America obviously.
9. On how they like to unwind after a long day:
10. On what's in store for The Veronicas once the tour is over:
Lisa: Hopefully by the end of this year we'll have started writing a new record! That's my goal! *laughs* I'm already itching to get back into the studio, but it's obviously, the touring aspect of it and connecting with the fans on that level is by FAR the most rewarding part.
11. On their favourite books:
12. On whether we'll hear all the classics on the Sanctified Tour as well as the new record:
Jessica: That's been one of the hardest parts of putting the show together, because we've got so much music between the three records, we wanna do so much of the new record for all the fans, obviously. It's trying to pick which songs from all the old stuff, because we had SO MANY. We had literally a two-and-a-half hour show... we're only meant to do an hour-and-a-half! So we were like "well what are we gonna take out?! We don't wanna take anything out!" So we're trying to figure it out, it's actually quite hard. We might actually change up the show each night with different songs.
13. On their favourite albums:
14. On whether they still get excited to play the songs from their first two albums:
Jessica: You know what, I because it's been sooo long, we used to feel like that and now we're excited again!
Lisa: It's like "oh! It feels new again!"
Jessica: I hated doing "When It All Falls Apart" live, I'd be like "ughh, I really don't wanna do that one!" and now I'm like "I'm so excited to do it!"... it's just bizarre.
Lisa: And also any songs that we sort of feel like we've stylistically moved on from, we can play with it a little bit, re-do it and make it new again.
15. On their style icons:
16. On the video for "If You Love Someone":
Jessica: So, "If You Love Someone" was really our chance to be as real as possible, and to show a side of ourselves that isn't necessarily a normal pop star's agenda. For us, it was just about embodying a completely different side to ourselves that gave the song the weight of the value that we felt when we were writing it.
17. On their favourite place in Australia:
(The girl reside in Brisbane when they're not traveling.)
18. On what we can expect from the music video for "Cruel":
Jessica: For "Cruel," it's sort of like the inner workings of our mind and it encompasses everything that a Veronicas song is, which is like, the sound is very upbeat song, but the lyrics are a little bit bitter. When we wrote the song we had the visuals already in our mind for what we wanted. We've taken on a Tarantino-esque concept, visually, for what we wanted. We shot it out in the desert, an hour out of LA in Lancaster on this movie set that they've used for a whole bunch of different videos and films. There was just so much good energy there, you couldn't even believe that this place exists, honestly, it doesn't look real. The desert itself just doesn't look real, there's just so much of it and it just looks perfect! So, it's a bit dangerous, we're obviously in latex for a lot of it, and we sort of wanted it to be a Thelma and Louise, Pulp Fiction and True Romance, on a cinematic level.
Lisa: True Romance is one of my favourite movies!
Jessica: I was pretty excited, I got to drive this incredible, vintage, black Cadillac in the video, and I had high heels on. I don't ever drive with heels on even when I'm driving normally but because of the way it was shot, I had to drive a $150,000 vintage Cadillac, in heels, and not kill us or hurt the car! But I did it and it was awesome! And we got to do a whole bunch of stunt work! We got to do a massive fight scene. It was crazy, Lis had to beat him up, he got into a knife fight with me, with a real knife!
Lisa: It was done in below freezing weather, at night, as well, which made it feel that much more real.
Jessica: It was just such an eerie location, as well. There was no electricity there, no running water, so it's just like a dead set, basically. You have to bring everything in.
19. On Home and Away or Neighbours:
20. On their message of equality in the video for "If You Love Someone" and how they feel about Prime Minister Tony Abbott in relation to this:
Jessica: Um... him as a person, my values differ to some very specific values he obviously has on things such as gay marriage. I believe it should be legal by now in Australia, and everywhere! It should be legal everywhere!
21. On Chris or Liam Hemsworth:
22. On the importance of using their social platforms to be able to reframe conversations about important topics, such as the issue of body shaming, which Jessica addressed on their Facebook recently:
Jessica: When I wrote [that Facebook post] it wasn't meant to be as focused on myself as maybe it came across, and it wasn't even meant to be "don't skinny shame, it's just as bad as fat-shaming!", it was just reframing the conversation. So many people want to comment on your health, and what's healthy, and I don't like that. People can sit their and judge your body type, body shape, people do that all day. But when people try to bring in health to the conversation, it's a completely different thing.
Health... it's balance. It's balance of emotional health, mental health, physical health, spiritual health, and the combination of all of those things when you look after yourself equals a complete health. It's all connected, in my opinion.
Lisa: I think we're an easy target in the stigma that's attached to girls in pop music, people think we wanna look a certain way. We are just genetically very small girls, and like Jess said on Facebook, we've never been healthier, mentally, emotionally and physically.
Jessica: That particular post was written because I saw a comment that really upset me, which was that by being us, we were encouraging eating disorders in young people. I just felt that that was so unfair. So, I wrote what I felt, and only because I've been studying health for a significant few years now, because I was soooo sick in my early 20s from a bad diet and an unbalanced lifestyle and a considerable amount of stress. I'm just so glad that it got such a positive reaction from people. [We need to] stop equating health to a specific weight or a specific body type, and start equating it to a lifestyle.
Lisa: Every body is different, so what's healthy for me is going to be different to what's healthy for someone else. And beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
23. On Kylie Minogue or Delta Goodrem:
24. On the secrets to living a happy, healthy, balanced lifestyle:
Lisa: Get out your bag of tricks! (pretending to be Jess) "THEY'RE ALL HERE IN MY BAG!" *both laugh* No, I think self-love is number one. We need to take the time to do things for ourselves that make us happy. Whether that's surrounding yourself with your loved ones more, and switching off social media and all that stuff… if you turn off your social media for ten minutes and go outside and put your feet in some dirt, or stand in the sunshine for a minute… I believe that that would make a huge difference! It does for me!
Jessica: I believe that what you're saying is right but I think that you're in a very different stage in life… I think that for people to find self-love, that comes from having a healthy, balanced diet. That's one. If you're able to nourish yourself and you're able to heal yourself, that is such an empowering thing, you respect yourself so much more if you're able to do that…
Lisa: Learn to cook, then, is what you're saying…
Jessica: I loved myself so much more once I healed myself, because I realised that I had this power, that you don't necessarily believe you have because you spend time depending on fast food, or restaurants, or other people, for things that you can do yourself. Now, how involved you get in that is up to you, but at least do the basic amount of research…
The main things would be to cut out soda… If you can grow your own food, do it, if you can cook your own food, do it. Learn about treating your body like a temple, don't treat it like a fucking garbage can. You'll gain a new respect, and you'll love yourself for that, trust me. From there? Have fun! Spend time online, but make it conscious. Don't sit there and get stuck in the cycle of Instagram, Facebook, Twitter.
Spend time with your family because you won't have forever with them. Spend time engaging in reality with your friends, help out your freakin' community. Don't be a fuckin' lazy piece of shit, seriously! Give back, in anyway you can! Expand out beyond the square that you're comfortable in. Our greatest growth comes in our uncomfortability. That's the most important thing that we're able to do as humans that animals can't, is expand our learning.
25. On Nicole Kidman or Cate Blanchett:
Jessica: ... Stop!
Lisa: No, people say that a lot!
Jessica: They do say that a lot...
Lisa: Jess is like "Stop... but it's true."
26. On how they find balance with their hectic schedules:
Jessica: It's a constant challenge. I mean, I try to find time, but I don't always, and I feel it when I don't...
Lisa: You end up like this.
Jessica: I actually feel quite centred today.
Lisa: No, I mean sick. (Jess had a cold at the time of the interview)
Jessica: Oh, well...
Lisa: When you don't get proper rest...
Jessica: Yeah, you have to make sure you're looking after yourself. I mean, this [cold] is the result of spending 18 hours in a latex dress in below zero degrees in a desert! I don't recommend doing that! Don't do it in a latex dress, rug up if you're gonna spend 18 hours in a desert, in below zero degrees! Bring a jacket! That's my advice. Advice from Jess, bring a jacket! *laughs* No, okay, when we're on the road, I like routine, we're Capricorns, so I like routine. I like reading, and I like to sing Hare Krishna chanting music, that actually relaxes me, and it can also serve as my meditation time, rather than just sitting and going inward into my mind.
Lisa: Now, after a show, we wouldn't go out with the band and everyone else, we would go home and take those few hours to unwind, I just try to do something that going to make me happy, and then I'll try to get at least... six to eight hours sleep.