'Have you ever slept with anyone famous?' called out the young girl from the back of the room.
Tessa Niles
The first year music student looked at me wide eyed and expectant.
Had I not just spent the last hour giving a speech about the necessary skills and codes of conduct essential for women to succeed as a background vocalist? Did she think I'd spent the last 30 years of my life with a mattress strapped to my back?
I looked around the room at the fresh faced kids raised on a diet of reality T.V and promises of instant fame and softened.
Yes, I'd regaled my stories of having sung on hundreds of C.D's and performed with music's greatest stars. Yet undoubtedly the burning question of the day was 'had I managed to snare a rock star...or two?'
Backing vocalists know only too well that their reputation in rock n roll is a hard won battle. The perils of mixing business and pleasure are known in every industry, but in rock where women are almost always in the minority and expected to look like they're built for sex, matters of reputation can be crucial. Musicians are not interested in the complications of a relationship on the road which is almost certainly why groupies were invented. Having worked with some of the greatest musicians and self-confessed Lothario's such as Mick Jagger, Eric Clapton, Robbie Williams and party boys, Duran Duran, I became used to the bevy of spectacular women that passed through their revolving doors.
I cottoned on pretty early that working in a world where all musicians are not created equal it was going to be necessary to impress with my professionalism and vocal skills but to remain 'off the menu'. Not always an easy thing to do but pretty much essential for sustaining a career.
At times, resisting the intoxicating world of rock n roll and the phenomenon that is 'The after-show party' was challenging. After a particular performance with Duran Duran in Vegas I let my guard down and got shit -faced drunk. I don't remember much other than the crippling hangover and the missed flight back to London, oh and feeling mortified that I might have disgraced myself somehow. However no one seemed to think anything of it and my behaviour was no doubt tame compared to the bands. After that I left the hard partying to the pros.
Throughout the '80's, '90's and '00's I sustained a successful career working in recording studio's as a session singer and as a member of various touring bands.
Striking the right balance between being a professional musician and someone fun to be with was not complicated but I was mindful that women in rock have to work that bit harder to become trusted and respected team players.
So to answer my student's question, yes, sex, drugs and rock and roll are omnipresent and an intoxicating cocktail - just find your own limits.
Tessa Niles is an English singer, best known as a backing singer for a wide variety of contemporary artists. She began her professional singing career in 1979, and is now the author of Backtrack, which is now available on amazon http://goo.gl/Aekvov