Music beyond borders

By Emma Sun
LOUISE Celmen is an Australian singer with a local touch. Many locals probably wouldn’t know her name, but that’s understood since Louise spent most of her life travelling.
The songstress started her career at the age of 19 in Sydney, where she studied singing and dancing and entered a lot of competitions.
“A band called Domino Trio found me,” Louise said.
“They were with a big production company at the time, and we became the Domino Trio plus one.”
After working with them for four years, Louise was discovered by a lady who suggested she take up classical training. She ventured from that into musical comedy.
“I’ve worked with quite a few singers and been on some talk shows, such as Graham Kennedy, Don Lane and Bert Newton,” Louise said.
She started travelling when she turned 25, visiting Philippines and working on cruise ships, and a few years later left Australia completely.
“I went to Indonesia, all the Asian countries, Europe, America and then back to the Asian countries,” Louise said.
“I came back to Australia about 30 years later.”
Louise sings blues and jazz, but said her shows are more of a variety act, where she would do a lot of costume changing, singing and dancing with backups, and creating an atmosphere for the public.
“It’s all about getting the people involved,” Louise said.
“I’ve done cabaret shows before, and a lot of people like to eat dinner before the performance, and dance a little after. I interact with the public.”
Louise admitted that as with everything, getting started was difficult.
“You’ve got to crawl before you can walk. It was very hard because those days it had nothing to do with what you look like; it was what you could project on stage.
“It’s a pity because these days, it’s more about image than what is coming out of your mouth. It’s too money minded.”
Music isn’t the only thing Louise is interested in. It seems like artistic talent runs through her blood. Louise enjoys doing almost anything in the artistic field.
“I like fashion designing particularly theatrical costumes, painting, jewellery designing, makeup, and arts and crafts like that,” Louise said. “I love theatre, and they all basically come into the theatrical parts.”
In the end, music will always be the most important thing to Louise.
“That’s my love of life. I wouldn’t want to do anything else.”