Sister Act is Back

Aussie popettes Christine and Sharon Muscat talk wardrobe malfunctions, performing with Britney Spears and the return of sister2sister after a 22-year hiatus…

All good comeback stories should involve an abundance of laughter. Aussie sibling pop duo sister2sister are true industry veterans who made it at a particularly cut-throat time in pop music. Back in 2000, their debut album, One, spawned two top five hits (“Sister” and “What’s a Girl to Do?”) and even nabbed the pair an ARIA award. Suddenly they were opening for Britney Spears and dealing with the relentless pressure the industry placed on young artists. Thankfully, Christine and Sharon Muscat went their own way and likely spared themselves the public personal struggles faced by many of their contemporaries. The pair continued to work as in-demand backing vocalists for the likes of Delta Goodrem and even founded their own singing school, aptly titled the sister2sister School of Singing. Now, they’re back with new music and recently finished up a giant tour supporting ’90s U.K. boy band 5ive.

Hello, ladies, welcome back! What are you enjoying about being back on stage?
Christine (C): Just hearing our songs live again and doing the routines! We’re excited to feel that again.

Your latest single is called “Nothing’s Gonna Bring Us Down Now”. What inspired you to release new music?
Sharon (S): Because we’re so busy doing backing vocals and with the singing school, we kind of got sidetracked. With the 5ive tour it gave us a push to release the new song. Yes, it talks about love, but also adversity and all the good stuff you want to crank in your car. It’s a vibe!

What would you consider to be your career highlight to date?
S: I think playing those iconic big rooms, like Wembley. The Fire Fight concert was also such a celebration and coming together – the whole world locking down after that makes those memories very vivid. The excitement of the 5ive tour is also a highlight.
C: It would have to be the Britney Spears tour in 2000. I just remember doing those and the sound of the audience. Looking back I think, “Holy crap that was epic!” Not many people get to experience that – to be a couple girls from western Sydney being Britney’s main support act in America and Asia… whoa.

Back then do you think being sisters was helpful in a way that you had each other?
C: It helped cut through the stigma that pop music was manufactured. It gave us a little bit of an edge and credibility.
S: Coming out of the ’90s grunge it was so much fun to shit on pop! Even if they were manufactured, so many of the acts did such cool stuff. As sisters it helped because we had our own little jokes and had each other as a support system.

What is the secret to working with family?
C: We’ve both said if we were friends we probably wouldn’t talk because you’d have a big barney and you’re done. But with a sister we’re stuck together so we’ve got to make it work. I’d like to see two sisters or brothers run multiple businesses together and still be in each other’s daily lives. We have arguments but we’re still here and doing something right.
S: We have a lot of respect for each other creatively. Ultimately, we’re both each other’s biggest fans and have respect for each other.

Speaking of Britney, you were around her and a lot of other pop acts from that time. Were you surprised to hear about her personal struggles?
S: She’s not the first person to struggle at the height of fame. Experiencing what she experienced at such a young age I think anyone would be hard pressed not to struggle. But also, our memories are just so fabulous and all I can think is how awesome she was to us – how welcoming, how warm…
C: Down to earth!
S: Yeah, really genuine. Britney was what Beyoncé is today. It’s icon status.

What would be the craziest thing that’s ever happened onstage?
C: Sharon had her boobs out!
S: Don’t say that Christine, that’s the thing that’ll get printed! I had a wardrobe malfunction but fortunately it was the days before everything was captured on a phone.

Before Janet Jackson?
C: Yes, Sharon paved the way for Janet. We also performed in a stadium in our pyjamas – no make-up, no hair done… it was horrendous!

Finally, looking back what advice do you have for aspiring singers?
S: Being well-rounded is the main thing. There does come a point where you need to make a living. Our advice would be to get good at a lot of things and to keep working in the industry. The more strings you have to your bow the better. We’ve been really lucky to leverage our abilities and skills in a lot of ways to do what we love. Whether we’re making own music or supporting other artists and mentoring kids, we’re so grateful that we get to do what we do.