Addicted to bass
Neighbours star and Grease leading lady Natalie Bassingthwaighte has a secret that's about to pop

Talking all matters music, Neighbours' Natalie Bassingthwaighte reveals herself to be a fan of another Neighbours Natalie. "I love the new single," she enthuses of Natalie Imbruglia's hit Shiver. "Have you seen the clip? It's great." While Bassingthwaighte says "it would be wild" to one day meet Imbruglia, you'd be forgiven for thinking the conversation might dry up. Imbruglia is no fan of Neighbours, recently referring to it as a "meat factory". Bassingthwaighte "wouldn't bag it at all." But they've got far more in common than just Ramsay Street.

Secretly frolicking down the beaten path from soapy star to singer a la Imbruglia and Kylie Minogue, Bassingthwaighte is already enjoying chart success. She's also revelling in the news that her song has been added to national playlists without anyone recognizing her attitude-laden vocals. "The idea was for the song to be taken on its own merits, not because it has a singer with a high profile," says Bassingthwaighte, only now revealing she has joined electro-rock outfit Rogue Traders and is the voice behind "Voodoo Child," the No.2 song (at press time) on the club charts. The group, which previously included only DJs James Ash and Steve Davis, won an ARIA award for best dance track in 2003 with "One Of My Kind." Says Ash, "The hardest thing really has been trying to keep this quiet." Picking Bassingthwaighte from the 15 singers who auditioned in November was less difficult. "I didn't know what to expect," says Ash, 31. "Then we got her behind the mike and she just tore the song up - we thought this could be the right person."

Though "Voodoo Child" (to be released May 29) was already written when Bassingthwaighte joined the group, she hopes to help with the songwriting. Already a budding tunesmith, she's inspired by everything from jazz to folk rock. "I wish I could do an album with lots of different styles, but I realize you have to concentrate on one," she says.

Variety has become the signature beat in her career, too. Alongside her sometimes 12-hour days playing scarlet woman Izzy on Neighbours and top-secret recording with the Traders, Bassingthwaighte has been flying from Melbourne to Sydney up to three times a week to rehearse for her role as Sandy in the stage musical Grease (which opens in Sydney on May 6). "She's a very driven girl," says Ash. And hungry for success: "What I've really wanted I've set about getting," she says.

Bassingthwaighte's childhood in Wollongong, NSW, was filled with impromptu performances with her three sisters (the oldest, Melinda, is a beautician and younger twins Lisa and Nicole are an accountant and a budding writer respectively - "all crazy cats" she says). She attended Wollongong High School of the Performing Arts, before moving to Sydney and working at the Kaos theatre restaurants as a vocalist and stand-up comic. Stage roles in Rent, Footloose and Chang and Eng in Singapore followed. Of making her way through the fickle world of showbiz, the 29-year-old says, "One minute you're poor, the next minute you're rich... and then you're poor again."

For now she's enjoying the upswing that has surprised even her: "I've bought an apartment and a house in the past two years; that's bizarre." She's set up home in Melbourne's Elwood with partner Ryan Eckersley, 28, a Neighbours assistant director. While she enthusiastically calls Neighbours "a great learning experience," Bassingthwaighte remains elusive about her future with it. "My contract runs out in July; I'll see then," she says. One thing she is certain about is her desire to get onstage with Rogue Traders: "I just reckon we are going to have a whole heap of fun."