Pianist Andrea Keller grew up in Sydney, Australia. Committed to creating new music with an emphasis on improvisation and collaboration, she has released twenty-three albums as bandleader and has recorded for others, including the Black Arm Band Company, the Australian Art Orchestra, and the Vanessa Perica Orchestra. Andrea has also been commissioned as a composer by ‘Across Silence’ (the art of music, Auslan and haptics), the Monash Art Ensemble, and Ensemble Offspring.
The three-time ARIA award winner, is a champion of Australian creative music and a nurturer of emerging musicians. She runs the educational program Gender Defying Jazz and is Head of Jazz & Improvisation at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, University of Melbourne. Andrea lives in Melbourne with her three children, aged eleven, fifteen, and twenty-five.
UKJazz News: What is the best advice you received about balancing/juggling motherhood and career?
Andrea Keller: I became a mother relatively young and didn’t have any female mentors or friends that were mothers. I had female mentors who were childless and male mentors who were parents, but they weren’t offering advice because theirs was a completely different experience. I just figured stuff out as I went. In my mind it wasn’t a choice of one over the other, there was no question that I just had to find a way to do both.
UKJN: What information or advice do you wish you’d received but didn’t (and had to learn through trial and error or on the go)?
AK: Once I recognised how phase-like the journey was and how important it was to be flexible and adaptable, I was able to minimise the stress and enjoy the ride.
UKJN: Your top tip(s) for other mothers in jazz:
AK: Pick your battles. Be organised and think ahead. Plan a slice of time each day (no matter how short) that is yours – to play a song, write a song, ponder your next project. keep coming back to that space and grow things in the background. Although it never feels enough to me (so sporadic, sliced up and brief), eventually something develops, and sometimes that something is a thing that turns out to be really meaningful to me.
Book time in the studio/or a gig and musicians that you love working with, and then work backwards to figure out the timeline and write/rehearse the tunes. View your commitment to create music as sacrosanct. See yourself as an improviser not just in music, but in life.
UKJN: Baby/child gear tips for travel/touring/gigging:
AK: A good stroller is imperative with young ones, compact but with full recline. They’ll be spending a lot of time in it, especially if there’s jet lag involved.
With things like car seats, portable cots and high chairs, I made choices on whether to take these or borrow them, depending on how we were traveling (by car or plane), how often we were changing places, how remote we were going, if it was just me and kids traveling, or a larger entourage. Ideally on planes with lots of stops and not much help I wanted to carry less stuff so I’d borrow as we went, but if it was by car, I’d load it up!
I always packed a small snaplock bag holding a variety of elastic bands to child proof hotel rooms, etc. We had a great collapsible bath which I took on the road many times with newborns and young babes – it folded flat and fit in the suitcase on top of the clothes (ours was a ‘Stokke’ – it was one of my best pieces of gear I owned!)
UKJN: Best general travel/gigging/tour-with-child advice:
AK: Keep your kids close on tour. Over the years I have booked many babysitters (on local recommendations) in unknown places, some were great, and others weren’t the right fit. But really my kids were happiest when they were near me, back stage, watching the gig, close by or with someone they knew/I knew. Keeping stress at a minimum for everyone is one of my priorities.
This is obvious, but – have plenty of snacks/water on hand at all times, and spare clothes! You don’t need lots of toys/activities, just a few well chosen ones.
Be prepared to be exhausted moving between work-mode and family-mode on the road, especially if you’re breastfeeding, so try and have someone on board to get you food and drink to sustain you (ideally a great husband/partner)!
UKJN: What has surprised you about becoming a parent and remaining engaged with your professional activities and ambitions?
AK: I was pleasantly surprised by how clear I became on my priorities. Becoming a parent pushed me to get better at recognising what is and what’s not worth doing for me and my family.
I was shocked at how so many in the industry make assumptions, without consulting with me, about what I can/can’t do and what I might want/not want to do with each child I’ve had. This has been particularly disappointing when it’s come from people I know well. I also find it frustrating because it seems exclusive to mothers.
UKJN: What boundaries have you set for yourself as a mother in jazz (could be related to travel/touring, riders, personal parameters, child care decisions, etc.)?
AK: I don’t have specific boundaries that I set, except that I want my family to have great experiences without unnecessary stress, so I aim to consider the impact on everyone involved and if it doesn’t feel like it’s going to be a positive experience I decline or make clear demands on what I need to make it work.
Andrea released her twenty-third album as leader in October 2023. Flicker & Polar Bird is a double album that mixes new creations with re-imaginings of older works. The music celebrates the connections Andrea made as the ANU H.C. Coombs Creative Arts Fellow in 2022, which enabled her to work with a host of wonderful musicians, deepening existing collaborations, and creating new ones. Featuring Miroslav Bukovsky (trumpet), John Mackey (saxophone), Rachael Thoms (voice), Liam Budge (voice), Véronique Serret (violin), and string sections in Sydney and Canberra, the compositions on this double release date from 2010 to 2022 and include many previously unreleased tracks.
Mothers in Jazz was started by vocalist Nicky Schrire. The initiative aims to create an online resource for working jazz musicians with children, those contemplating parenthood, and jazz industry figures who work with and hire musicians who are parents. The insight of the musicians interviewed for this series provides valuable emotional, philosophical and logistical information and support that is easily accessible to all. “Mothers In Jazz” shines a light on the very specific role of being both a mother and a performing jazz musician.
