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The Truth About Everything: An Interview With Sia

Sia Furler is having dog drama. Talking from her temporary home in Los Angeles—a "dope" A-frame she's subletting in the Hollywood Hills—the Zero 7 singer and solo artist admits that she didn't properly introduce her new dog, Liklik, to her old dog, Pantera, and she's spent that past several hours keeping the two from attacking one another. She's confident, however, that the two will eventually make friends, and that Liklik will provide Pantera with some much-needed companionship when she takes them both on tour with her later this year. "I wasn't planning on getting another dog, but I found Liklik and I had to have him," she says. "He's only got three legs, and I'm a sucker for a cripple."

On record, Sia can come across as a bit of a wounded bird herself—the achingly vulnerable voice of Zero 7 songs like "Destiny" and her solo hit "Breathe Me," which was used to memorable effect in the last episode of HBO's Six Feet Under. On the phone, however, her vitality is palpable. In a brief conversation with ARTISTdirect, she blew through a myriad of subjects, everything from Zero 7 ("the closest thing to family I've ever had") to her temporary Hollywood digs ("it's so beautiful; I found it on Craigslist") to her new live album, Lady Croissant.

Let me start by asking you about where that title came from—Lady Croissant.

Well, we couldn't say "vagina," because that was apparently going to impede sales.

Ha! Was that originally going to be the title? Lady Vagina?

No, Vagina Croissant. That's my alter ego. We all had our own names, like alter egos, when we were touring on the last album. I can't remember all of them, but they were things like Shit Fucker, Ass Jacuzzi, Finger-Loving Gimp, Meat Curtains... There was a whole load of just foul, foul names, and I was Vagina Croissant. And seeing as this was a live album, it just seemed to directly relate to that whole experience. But apparently, things with the word "vagina" in them don't sell as well.

Well, I'm sorry to hear they censored the title, but such censorship did not extend to the contents of the album, I hope.

There is no censorship apart from the odd bum note. We just pulled those down in the mix. It's a live album—pobody's nurfect.

How did the idea of doing a live album come about?

Let me tell you the truth: The record company and my management were worried that everyone would forget about me, because my new album isn't going to be ready... Well, it's finished, but the whole marketing process will take months and months, because they want to set it up really cleverly. It won't be out until September. And we had recorded this show at the Bowery Ballroom in April [2006], and they thought it would be a smart move to put something out to tide the fans over.

So the performance on Lady Croissant is almost a year old, then.

Yeah, it was April 8th or something. When was Easter? It was the day of Easter. I remember that, because the day of the show, I was putting together an Easter hunt for the band. It involved a lot of puzzles and mathematical equations and dares—like there'd be a puzzle they had to do, and then there was a clue on the back of the puzzle. And there were mathematical equations that would give them the floor number of the next clue, 'cause they were all over every floor of the hotel. And there were other things, like they had to ask the concierge where Santa Claus lives—riddles and things like that.

So I had spent a couple of days working on this hunt, and the boys did it, and it was really exciting, but at one stage... I had made eggs, and dressed them as the band members, and they would find their own egg and inside there would be a present for them. But Sam, the bass player's egg was missing. And I thought maybe I'd fucked up and put it on a different floor, so I was running up and down the stairs trying to find it. And I pushed on one of the doors, and it was faulty, so the elbow—that sort of metal elbow to the door—locked, and the door flew back in my face, and I got a bloody lip, and I cut my eyebrow open and got a concussion. That was at about two o'clock, just before sound check.

Then somebody decided that it would be a great idea to tell me that Michael Moore would be coming to the show. He had emailed my record company and said he was a fan and could he have two tickets. And this was really exciting news, but also quite nerve-wracking, because I'm a huge fan of his. So then I went into a bit of a whitey and forgot to eat, so by the time the show came 'round, I was fucked, basically. I was really, really, really, really fucking nervous, and I hadn't really eaten anything. So I had a couple of glasses of vino, and I went on unusually drunk. So it wasn't the best show of the tour—but it is the one we recorded! [laughs]

So what people are hearing on this album is a slightly drunk—

Concussed.

—cut up, bruised, battered Sia.

That's exactly what they're hearing. And you know what's even worse? [Michael Moore] didn't even come. His assistant sent an email apologizing, because filming had gone so late that he hadn't been able to make it. But everyone who works with me now knows never, ever to tell me if any sort of celebrity is coming to my show. I get totally star struck.

Have you considered sending Michael Moore a copy of the album with a note or something?

I should, telling him the story! I will! I hadn't considered that at all. 'Cause I'm slack, actually, that's why. And forgetful.

After that story of the Easter egg hunt, "slack" does not seem like the word to describe you. That sounds like quite an elaborate project.

That's true. I'm not slack when it comes to trying be nice to the band, or doing things for my friends. I love that sort of thing. I love a good challenge, anything that involves fun or toys or celebrating things. But anything that involves sending something—anything to do with posting, emailing, returning a phone call—those things are tricky for me.

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