Mobil song quest winner reluctant star

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 14

Mobil song quest winner reluctant star

By

HELEN BROWN,

in Wellington.

"She’s out." "But she said she would be here when I rang an hour ago.”

"Sorry." - /■ He shut the door in my face. I was beginning to think an interview with Mobil Song Quest winner, Linden Loader was not my kind of job.

I stood shut out on the footpath on a cold grey Saturday — feeling like a reEorter from some seedy taloid. pushing my unwelcome way into someone's life. I knocked again on the pleated glass door. A chicken bone was stuck in the drain by my feet. Beside it were two large grey rubbish tins. The door opened a crack. It was the eye of her flatmate.

“When will she be back?” “I don't know.” “Could I use the phone, please?” Sheathes of flowers were scattered unopened in a small, untidy sitting room. Telegrams, cards, a box of untouched chocolates added unworldly glamour to a typical student flat. Linden was exhausted, the voice on the phone said. She had two performances in an opera that day. It would be extremely cruel to pursue her. She was just a child.

Heck, I didn't want to distress a 19-year-old. Not that 19 is all that young. Try again tomorrow then? Yes.

Next day, it was raining. The chicken bone was still there. Linden Loader was warm and smiling, though a little pale. The flowers were now neatly arranged in vases and bowls. All but two of the chocolates were gone.. Her boyfriend, Lyn, was doing dishes in the adjoining kitchen. “My first day off for ages." she stretched back in a chair, high-heeled black boots appearing under the turned-up cuffs of her jeans.

There had hardly been time to think since she'd won the competition in Christchurch a few days before. Performances in the university's opera had seen to that. But things were beginning to sink in — the real shock of changing from a girl in her first year of a Musßach to winner of the “Miss New Zealand" of the singing world. “I don't mean offence to other singers, but when I started, the Mobil award was something up there,” she waved a hand skyward with

a dreamy smile. "Now I think they can’t be that good if I've won."

She didn't sleep the night after the competition. She was up at 7.30 the next morning for a radio interview. A barrage of journalists and photographers at Wellington Airport later that day were another shock for a modest girl from Wanganui. “I don't think I’ll get a fat head. I haven’t had trouble getting through the door yet. Lyn will let me know if I do.”

Linden’s greatest ambition is to be “happy while I'm doing this thing." To her, that means being secure in personal relationships — specially with Lyn.

"I don't want to be rich and famous, though it would be quite nice." She has proved herself owner of an outstanding voice. But does she have the necessary lioness personality to succeed as a professional? She paused and tilted her head to one side. T don’t know. Nobody pretends it’s easy. I'll have to wait and see.” So will everyone else. I asked if she would have liked things differently. Would she, for instance, have felt more ready for the award two years from now? She rolled her eyes and laughed uncomfortably. “No. I don't think so.” She does, however, feel

nervous about entering any more competitions — in case she wins again.

Linden Loader had felt nervous about the contest for about three weeks. She received sheet music for her songs just six days before the big night.

"I didn't have butterflies in my stomach. I had ostriches. But when I got on stage, I felt happier. They were a very warm audience."

The most enjoyable thing about singing for her is “the kick you get out of communicating with people.” She also likes making loud sounds. "When I start singing, most people try to get out of the room, if it's a small one."

The youngest of five, Lin-

den shared a special musical relationship with her mother (who plaved the piano). Her grandmother had been a singer, so when Linden was 14 she started lessons to see if she had inherited any talent.

She moved to Wellington and studied at Polytechnic under Anthea Moller. She is how continuing with Ms Moller at Victoria University, of Wellington, perhaps another year before taking up her. scholarship in Melbourne.

She has dedicated support from Lyn. An industrial design student at the Polytechnic. he plans to travel with her (“There’s no dragging or pushing,” she said quickly). Her family are also strong allies.

“They come to all my concerts. There are so many of them we call them the Loader line-up."

But Linden Loader cannot imagine going back to Wanganui to live.

“When I go home. Dad always likes me to sing. But I feel nervous if people aren't enjoying it, or if they don't understand classical music."

Bach. Vivaldi, and Schubert are her favourite composers. When her voice gets bigger, she’d like to try Mahler, maybe Wagner and “piles of opera." She forgot to fill in her interests on the competition entry form, but she does have a few — apart from singing. Such as a riding on the back of Lyn's motorbike, and visiting art galleries. She’d like to get involved in the theatre, too. But for now, it's a case of

getting through each day, facing each challenge as it comes. She is booked to perform with the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra on August 21. “I’m a bit apprehensive because it’s a big orchestra. I hope - I can make enough noise without blowing my chords to the end of the room."

I stood up to go — leaving Linden and Lyn to enjoy the rest of their free day. I noticed the gold and blue winning sashes draped over the arm of a chair, and went to examine them respectfully.

“Looks a bit as if they’ve come from a horse show." Lyn remarked.

“We're hanging them in the toilet," Linden confessed with a smile. “No offence to Mobil."