‘My Island Home’ was released 20 years ago and is, to this day, regarded as one of Australia’s most iconic songs. Can you tell us how it came about?
Well, the song was actually released in 1987 by the Warumpi Band, who hail from Papunya and were a massive Aboriginal band with a lead singer who was like an Aboriginal Mick Jagger. I met Neil Murray from the band in my graduating year at National Aboriginal And Islander Skills Development Association (NAISDA) in the end of year dance workshops and as soon as he heard me singing the songs of Yam Island, he told a mutual friend to give me his number and asked me if I wanted to be in a band. It kind of became my song by default because the record company made the executive decision that it would be the anchor of my first album and it just grew into being my first child.

Almost overnight, the song was everywhere. Were you prepared for that kind of instant success?
It’s such a great question because it’s so incredibly fast moving, that moment in time. When the window opened it sort of blew open and I don’t think I was prepared for how quickly it would move. I basically just made it up as I went because there was no one like me that I could look to for guidance. I really had to find my lighthouse, my beacon of light, which as it turned out was my cultural identity.

Where does your interest in music stem from?
Music is and always has been a big part of Torres Straight Islander culture. You can read historical books about World War II and it’s documented that the Torres Straight Islanders would get together and sing of an evening. Torres Straight Islanders have been surrounded by music from the moment they are born. When Christianity came in the late 1800s, the bible got translated and all of these songs were being made in language so there has always been singing in my culture. I loved that I was surrounded by music but I also loved the idea of performing. I didn’t understand that it could be a job, I just wanted to do it.

When did you first start to think that maybe it could be a job?
When I finished highschool in 1987 I came down to Sydney to start my dance career and it occurred to me that if you could make money from dancing, and keep in mind it was only measly money, I wondered what you could do as a singer. After that I joined Bangarra Dance Theatre and I had the fortunate opportunity of getting a stint with Yothu Yindi doing their bush tour in Northern Territory. That was amazing! It was my first real money earning venture.

For a while there you were juggling dancing and singing. What made you take the leap to focus on singing?
Well I thought it either goes off or it doesn’t. If it doesn’t, I have my dance to fall back on. That was about the extent of it!

You’ve achieved so much in your career and personally as well, what have been some of the highlights?
Well in the beginning everything was a highlight. I’d be turning up to events and I’d see Diesel, Darrell Bathingwaite and Jimmy Barnes there. I feel so blessed to have started a music career at a time when a lot of the people that I listened to when I was growing up were still very much part of the Australian music landscape. It’s their music that made me dream big so to be up there with those names feels like a massive accomplishment. Another highlight would have to be the Sydney Olympics but really my biggest highlight is my children. Performing for Nelson Mandela and being asked to sing at the dinner for Princess Di and Prince Charles was also pretty special.

You mentioned earlier that music is intrinsic to Torres Straight Island culture, do you think music has a way of transcending cultural barriers?
And religious barriers and any barrier really. Music is music, it attaches to people’s emotions, it doesn’t dictate how you should feel. It defies everything. It defies politics, everything. Music will be the answer to solving a lot of things.

You’re a woman of many talents, having appeared in The Matrix franchise and Moulin Rouge!. How does acting compare to being on stage?
It’s an extremely different process but it’s great because it gives me the opportunity to put Christine away and become a character. I love embodying somebody else. When I’m on stage as me, you’ve always got to feel the audience vibe before you can gauge how playful they are. With acting it’s completely different, it’s all fantasy.

You’re coming to the Gold Coast to perform at Bond University’s Indigenous Gala. What are you most looking forward to doing while you’re in town?
I was actually on the Gold Coast earlier this year for my birthday and I had a ball so the bar is set pretty high. I’m here in a different capacity this time around though, I will be doing a 10-minute keynote about my career and the highlights and then I perform so it’s going to be really nice.

Do you have any words of wisdom for aspiring artists?
I don’t see myself as a word of wisdom person but I guess I’d say be true to yourself. Be the authentic you because there’s no one else out there that’s like you so find out what that special uniqueness is and build your brand on that. And as far as work goes, prepare, prepare, prepare.

You released ReStylin’ Up 20 Years earlier this year, what can you tell us about that album?
It feels like a lifetime ago! It’s a souvenir album because the tracks don’t sound like the original songs did way back when. They all have such a different feel about them. ‘My Island Home’ has been made into this bluesy/soul version and all the songs have been taken apart and given a bit of a revamp.

What’s next for Christine Anu?
At the moment I’m writing a song for the Healing Foundation that will come out sometime in the beginning of next year and I hope to get back in the studio in 2016, when I’m not doing Hairspray the musical in Brisbane of course.