More than 25 years after Bachelor Girl’s ARIA Award-winning debut Waiting For The Day became a defining release in Australian pop, Tania Doko and James Roche give the beloved album a remarkable new chapter. Waiting For The Day: Artist Sessions brings together 15 of Australia’s biggest names from Jess Mauboy and Delta Goodrem to Guy Sebastian, Darren Hayes, Courtney Act, Ella Hooper and Tommy Emmanuel, with each artist reimagining one of the album’s iconic tracks.
For Doko, the project is about far more than revisiting the past. It’s a celebration of friendship, creativity and the enduring power of songs that have refused to age. From hearing artists she grew up alongside reinterpret Bachelor Girl’s music to witnessing the continued impact of 'Permission To Shine', Doko describes the experience as a genuine “pinch-me moment”.
As Bachelor Girl takes the Waiting For The Day Redux tour around Australia, Doko chats with Futuremag Music about the stories behind the reimagined album, hearing artists put their own stamp on her songs, the emotional difference between singing heartbreak at 25 and 25 years later, and why she believes collaboration is something more Australian artists should embrace.
Futuremag: I’m really excited this album is getting a remake, because the original Waiting for the Day is such a defining moment for Australian pop. When you look back at a younger you, what do you think you would have said if you could have seen what the album would become decades later?
Tania: I would say, you know, you can’t possibly know what’s ahead of you. You can only hope that songs don’t date and get crusty, especially lyrically and songwriting-wise. So it’s quite the pinch-me moment to lean in and have pulled it off, you know? We asked 15 artists and they all said yes. And to talk about it with you as a finished product is quite remarkable.
Futuremag: It's great that you’ve got so many incredible Australian artists, because it kind of feels like a celebration of friendship as well as the album.
Tania: It’s definitely a celebration of friendship. For instance, it all started with Tommy Emmanuel and James. Tommy used to tour with James, and we were actually going to just do an acoustic record with Tommy, but that didn’t quite work out.
Then we thought, “Oh, well, why don’t we do a full-blown studio record, full productions?” And then we started asking more of our artist friends. Tommy, for instance, was on 'Blown Away,' and then more of our artist friends came on board.
It turns out many of them grew up on the record and know the licks better than I do. They’re doing, like, the new and improved versions of my vocals. That was very humbling to experience, and to be in the studio with Delta and Jess singing these vocals back at us. James and I would just be looking at each other going, “What?” Extraordinary stuff.
Futuremag: After hearing so many incredible artists bring their own take to your work, what sort of pinch-me moments did you have where you thought, “Wow, this is really happening”? Or where you felt really inspired by how someone else had interpreted your work?
Tania: Oh, both. I mean, to hear them interpret our work, but also be themselves, is a beautiful tightrope to walk. The fact that they could do both — be respectful of the melodies and the work, but put their spin on it.
I mean, Susie DeMarchi from Baby Animals on almost everything is quintessential Susie DeMarchi. It’s her. She’s so distinctively her, and yet she’s singing a Bachelor Girl song. How random.
Futuremag: Revisiting it many years later, are there any lyrics or moments from when you originally recorded it that may now it or resonate with you differently as your life has moved on?
Tania: Yeah. I want to say 'Gotta Let You Go.' I can go back to when we wrote it, on the day of the heartbreak. Pretty much my first big love. You know, it’s a sad day, but some good will come of it, I guess. The point is, I can go back to that day and feel the heartbreak. But now my vocal tone is more accepting versus when I was 24, 25, recording it. I was full of ... there was still some angst and some … whatever the opposite is to not accepting, you know, just a kind of a conflict.
My voice was like a real angst and an inability to just relax into the situation because of the heartbreak, of course. But, you know, whatever it is, 25 years later, even more, I’m actually glad that happened because all those heartbreaks, I turned into music. And they also, you know, all led me to my husband and Sweden. I mean, it’s super cheesy to say, but it’s true. And he was the right guy because he had the spine to meet me halfway and not run away, or not find excuses to not lean in.
So there is a real peace in my voice now, and I’m not over-singing it. That’s probably what I can hear in my voice now. I don’t push as much. There are times I do, but generally, you know, when I’m in my lockdown … We made this record in the mid-’90s or sort of late ’90s, when Alanis Morissette was doing her thing with Jagged Little Pill. And now, you know, what’s become, let’s say, En Vogue, is really stick it to the whatever you’re trying to say.
But there’s a real power in understated singing as well. And I like to think that this record has both. And I think that represents where I am now as a human. I don’t have to, you know, yell down the line to someone to make my point.
Futuremag: Yeah, absolutely. And one of the songs that we’ve already heard from the remake was 'Permission to Shine', which has the incredible Guy Sebastian. Now, you’ve spoken out in the past about how 'Permission to Shine' has helped many people over the years based on its message. Do you remember the first time someone came up to you and said, “This song has really helped me through a difficult time”?
Tania: Oh, Brooke, we have many, many stories. Life-saving stories that the song saved someone’s life, quite literally. So, I mean, kudos to the writer and Clive Davis, who’s the legendary A&R in New York who recently passed away, who handed us the song and saw that we were the right band for that song.
If a four-minute pop song could save a life, then I think 'Permission to Shine' has —and I say this quite humbly — has done it many times, or at least been a reminder. And, you know, being on the radio or in Woolworths or wherever, when you’re down the biscuit aisle going, “Oh yeah, I really have been down on myself today and being really crappy in my head,” and then, “But yeah, like, I’ve got to give myself a break.” That’s where the song has not dated.
And look, honestly, we couldn’t have made this record if we felt that most of the songs didn’t still stand up. From a songwriting point of view, of course, we changed all the clothes, but from a songwriting point of view, they’re still true.
One of the first times I sang 'Permission to Shine' was maybe when it was sort of out and about on the charts or whatever, on radio. It was in a jail, actually, to young inmates. And they, by the end of the song, wanted to know me. But I tell you what, when I first walked in, they just thought, “No, you’re just some silly, privileged pop star. What could you possibly offer us?” And it’s true. So when I started singing it, though, it kind of connected us. And that’s the power of music.
Futuremag: Yeah, that’s so beautiful. And even now, because you’ve got people who were fans of the song when it was first released, as well as people who might be discovering it for the first time through the Verge movie with Guy Sebastian, it’s going to reach a whole new generation again now as well.
Tania: There’s a lot of people that didn’t, of course, that didn’t know we existed. And, of course, we had the longest hiatus known to man. We were not working for 15 years. And that was by choice.
We moved to Sweden, I wrote for other people, James moved to the UK, we had families. And so, yeah, this is the bonus. This is the icing on the cake, that through Guy or through all these artists, yeah, we get to meet new people and that’s a nice thing.
But really, the heart of the project was to collaborate with people we respect, people we’ve worked with and our friends. And that’s a nice feeling.
Futuremag: And you’ve got the tour to celebrate. Without giving too much away, how are you going to bring all these new, beautiful collaborations to life on the tour?
Tania: Well, we may or may not have some of them join us. Not all on the same show, but, you know, that’ll be a lot of work to coordinate every single artist on that album. It’s hard enough to coordinate us, get the soundcheck to run on time. But you will be hearing the reinterpreted, revamped versions, that’s for sure. And some stories to boot.
We’re just going to celebrate these songs that meant so much to those people who’ve been around from the beginning, but also the newbies. The newbies that are discovering us. And that’s a nice thing. Well, the great thing about our audience is it really does range from kids to oldies to, you know, people in their middle age. So it is a sit-down show, but by the end people are on their feet.
Futuremag: What’s the main thing you hope people take away from the tour? Is it the collaboration, the friendship, or just the story of the songs in general?
Tania: Yeah. I think take you back to a simpler time. But also I think music is — and I need to do this more — it is a bit like cheap therapy.
I mean, if you go to a psychologist, it could be 200 bucks just for a session. And I do believe that, for a little bit more than a lunch and a glass of wine, you get this escapism. You get this sort of warm and fuzzy feeling of this simpler time.
But also, you know, lights, camera, action, a light show, visuals, show. And then you groove. You get to groove out. You get emotion that perhaps you’ve buried under the carpet. You get to just release emotions. That’s what music will do.
And especially if you know the record and then you get to hear all the new clothes, it’s, “Oh, wow.” And how interesting to go to a new city, you know, or a city you haven’t visited in 30 years. And I think you need to do that for your nervous system and your heart. And too often we’re obviously on the screens and Netflix, and we wonder why we’re feeling quite isolated and not inspired.
But you go to a gig, a live experience, and you do feel lighter. Unless the gig really sucked. But usually you do come out feeling lighter. And there is something about the arts that you can’t replace. So I think that’s what people will get from this show. I hope so.
Futuremag: Yeah. And I think it connects people too, because sometimes I’ve gone to gigs with friends or family, other times I’ve gone by myself. And anyone there, other than who’s performing, you meet other people. It’s based on, like, “Oh, what’s your favourite song? Have you seen these guys before?” And sometimes you get friends out of that with similar interests.
Tania: Well, exactly. It’s community-inducing. And that’s what the record did unto itself. For instance, you wouldn’t see Susie DeMarchi on a record with Guy Sebastian. I mean, that’s kind of odd. Or Sheppard with John Stevens, for instance. I mean, it’s… but now we’re this little community, and we’ve got to know our artists, if we didn’t know them already, even more through song, through music. It connects you.
It’s easy to go through life and just do the mundane. But yeah, I think that’s the nice thing about making this kind of record. Because I’m also a bit of a coach with artists, like emerging artists and everything. It surprises me how little artists or songwriters work together in their own sort of towns or communities. Like, for instance, they’ve got this song and they can’t quite crack the coconut on the chorus. But, you know, they’ve got all these songwriter friends and they don’t think, “Hey, can I play you something? Or do you want to collaborate on this song to kind of finish it with me, or try at least?” And it’s a bit like that. Sometimes we just stay in our corner, and I don’t know, we feel protective or lazy. I don’t know what it is. Scared. It’s probably scared.
If I’m gonna stand for anything, it’s collaborate. You know, this has been the quintessential collaboration. And it’s nice to collaborate on essentially a pop record. And you don’t often see it in this country, you know, a body of work just being celebrated by a bunch of pop stars or, you know, rock stars. It does happen. I’m not saying we’re the first, because we’re not. Certainly not.
But I like to, hopefully, have a lot of artists do more of it. Because lean into your community. Collaborate with your community, because you never know how much of an impact you had on them. And it just gets you present to the impact they had on you. I get to be around Guy and go, “What?” Or Darren, and you know how awesome he is. So, yeah. But if we didn’t have that song, we’d just stay in our corners.
Futuremag: Yeah, hopefully this rework inspires a lot more collaboration, because it’s really important. And it’s so important that artists don’t gatekeep as well. If you have a skill or a talent, share it with those people.
Tania: Yes, yes. And I think, you know, a couple of brains or a couple of souls or a couple of hearts on one track almost always makes it better. There are some people who are kind of freaky, and they can do everything themselves and they’re quite insular. But most of us need energy. And that’s why you do a gig too, to exchange energy and just bounce ideas. Like, “Hey, finish this. How do I… where do I go with it?”
And certainly the artists that we chose, you know, they make up 50% of the worth of the song, if not more. So they really put their sort of footprint on the flavour of the song, such that we could then finish the song in that flavour.
Or sometimes we had the flavour already and they sang. But, you know, I mean, that was like half the battle. What are these songs going to sound like now? Okay, all of a sudden, I’m trying to think of other artists I haven’t mentioned. WILSN puts her stamp on it. It’s like, you know, we don’t have to reinvent much more here because her flavour says so much.
So that is something I’m very grateful for: that they just were being themselves and we get to sort of celebrate them, and they celebrate us, and everybody’s happy.
