Blanche DuBois
Blanche DuBois are sisters Nadija and Adriana Begovich.
They’ve been making music together since 2002; forming their own label, Streetcar Productions, in that same year and releasing their debut album, Raging Favourites, to positive reviews in magazines across the country including Rolling stone Magazine who said: “Despite obvious nods towards touchstones The Waifs, there’s flashes of dark, distinctive beauty on the debut from this Perth outfit. They make acoustic mood music for rainy days and Mondays.”
Two EPs later – Slow Motion (2004) and Love Only Hurts (2005) – the band landed a deal with Australia’s largest independent publisher, Mushroom Music Publishing, and a series of licensing and sync deals followed, which continues to see Blanche DuBois garner airplay across hit-Australian and international television shows including Home and Away, Neighbours and Ugly Betty.
2007 saw the release of their second full-length album, All The Things We Never Say, with ARIA Award winning producer Richard Pleasance at the helm. The album scored positive reviews via the Australian music press – with the Sydney Morning Herald remarking “Unlike their doomed namesake, there could be a rosy future ahead for Perth sisters Nadija and Adriana Begovich (aka Blanche DuBois)” and Drum Media labeling it as “a beautifully imperfect album rather than an overproduced piece of forgettable pop. Nadija and Adriana’s catchy melodies and reputable lyrics will have you singing the songs – particularly Slow Motion, Always in Doubt and a remix version of the well known Love Only Hurts – to your self long after the album’s finished playing.”
All The Things We Never Say was also well-received by radio, with tracks Dance Away the Day and Slow Motion being added to national rotation across the Nova FM network.
In between, Blanche DuBois toured Europe and have played festivals in Australia such as A Day on the Green, alongside artists such as Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Ben Folds, Paul Kelly, Pete Murray, Missy Higgins, Kasey Chambers, Crosby Stills and Nash, Joe Cocker and even The Bangles – performing as either an acoustic duo or with their full-band lineup.
Four years later came Young Heart - the sisters' third full-length album, produced by Matt Fell at his Love Hz Studios in Sydney.
Speaking about the album, singer Nadija Begovich said, “The songs on this record are about your head and your heart, about life and love and loss and the feelings both unique and universal to us all.
“We’re writing a lot more about personal experiences and the past four years has seen a lot of changes for my sister and I – good changes though; the kind which make you grow because you’re forced to learn from them.”
This record also marked the first time Blanche DuBois explored co-writing – working with fellow Australian artists Angie Hart and Mick Thomas to pen three songs.
“We’d always admired Angie as a singer/songwriter,” Nadija says. “We sat down with her in a freezing cold house in Melbourne and wrote two tunes, Hell and The Wires, which ended up making it onto our record. It was a great experience and something we’ll definitely look at doing more of in the future. We wrote Run for Miles with Mick Thomas, also in frosty Melbourne.”
Like many, this record was the result of blood, sweat and tears. It’s the end of a relationship, the breaking of a heart, the building of a bridge, the bond of two sisters, the dreams that keep you alive and the tales you spin to make the world seem that little bit brighter.