Australian singer/songwriter Missy Higgins has enjoyed phenomenal success with her irresistible melodies and ‘arrow through the heart’ lyrics, delivered by a striking voice that clearly means it. Missy has appeared on the cover of Australia’s Rolling Stone magazine twice and is a three-time chart topper and multiple ARIA Award winner (Australia’s Grammys). But one of her most recent milestones was becoming a mother, with her partner Dan Lee and herself welcoming a baby boy in January 2015.

You’re originally from Melbourne (which we love as we are all about clever Melbourne Mamas!). Are you still calling this home?

We live in Melbourne still, although we’ve been travelling a lot. We just got back from spending a few months in the States which was pretty fun. We toured with Sammy for a bit and then set up camp in LA for a couple of months while I did some writing. It was great to escape the blistering cold of Melbourne for a while.

Obviously home now includes your gorgeous son Samuel Arrow Lee. How has life changed since having a baby? How do you manage to juggle your career and Samuel?

It’s definitely a challenge, juggling career and baby. Only because ideally I would spend all my time doing both, because I love them both, but I can’t. So there’s an inner conflict going on all the time. But I love my work and I absolutely love being a mum so in that respect I’m lucky, it’s just about constantly trying to strike that balance where you feel fulfilled in both areas. Life has certainly changed dramatically since having a kid, I’ve had to get a lot better at time management for one!

They say it takes a village to raise a child. Tell us about the villagers in your support network?

We are lucky to have a great network of willing grandparents around us. They help out a lot, and Sammy loves playing with his cousins, which is lovely. We also have an awesome nanny once a week. Basically she wrangles Sammy so that I can play piano without him needing to sit on my lap and bash the keys himself the whole time!!

You’ve spent the last few months in the U.S. playing several weeks of sold out club shows. What was it like touring as a family?

It was really fun actually and not as hard as I had expected. Sammy came to a lot of sound checks and watched me on stage, climbed all over the venue and sound desk, and had a ball. He’s also pretty great with babysitters, thankfully. The flights were the hardest thing, no sleeping for anyone on any of them. We got a lot of death stares. But I did love waking up in strange hotel rooms in weird parts of town and having my family there with me. Usually that’s quite a lonely thing, but it was pretty wonderful this time.

With a nearly 2-year-old son, being part of a family friendly music festival like The Lost Lands is the perfect fit for you. Will Samuel be there, rocking along to some of the acts? We’ve heard good things about The Teeny Tiny Stevies!

Yes I definitely want to bring him, he absolutely loves music and I love the idea of a festival that is meant for little people like him. I’m most excited about looking out into the audience and seeing him bopping along on his daddy’s shoulders to my music. That’s what I’m hoping will happen anyway!

Following The Lost Lands you will be embarking on a national tour fusing your live band with some of Australia’s leading symphony orchestras. In the past you have been asked to play with orchestras but have usually said no. Why the change of heart?

I did a one off show in Tassie on a mountain top with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and it was just so special, I wanted to do it again. Playing with an orchestra is something I’ve always had in the back of my mind as something I wanted to do some day, but the timing was never right. After the Tassie show, though, it seemed like the perfect time.

Was it a challenge to adapt your songs to work on that scale with so many instruments involved? What sort of help did you need to enlist to make that happen?

I can’t take any credit for the orchestral arrangements, they’ve all been done by some of the country’s leading arrangers (including my keyboard player!) so they’re really quite amazing and very cinematic. My songs seem to lend themselves really well to orchestration, I think because of the way they’re written on piano. And with an orchestra they sound absolutely epic, it’s incredible to hear!

Your Melbourne show will be at the amazing Plenary at MCEC. What was the reason behind choosing this location?

It seemed like the perfect venue to play with an orchestra. The MSO play at The Plenary a lot, as it has exquisite acoustics, perfect for strings. If you’re going to perform with a world class orchestra, you want world class sound.

Can we expect to hear any new music as part of this tour?

Yes, definitely. I’m not sure which songs yet, but I have written a heap of new songs lately (one or two about little Sammy).

What inspires you, and what has motherhood taught you?

My little boy inspires me to look at the world through hopeful, optimistic eyes. Every day is completely fresh for him, he doesn’t dwell on yesterday. So that’s what motherhood has taught me, I guess, that the only thing that really matters is right now, this second. And fun can be had in unexpected places!

One thing MamaMag readers love to hear is other mama’s funny parenting tales. Any stand out moments that Master Samuel has made you roll with laughter about?

Sammy has taken to trying to pash little girls in the park. It was cute at first but now I think I’ve gotta rein it in a bit!!! That can’t continue till he’s 18!!

You can catch Missy Higgins at the Lost Lands Festival on October 29 at Werribee Park. Her national orchestral series kicks off in Sydney on Nov 3, with her Melbourne show at The Plenary on November 27. For tickets and details see www.missyhiggins.com