The female voices that shaped Dee’s sound
Think13 follows the creative partnership of Dee and Christoph through new songs, album work, live performances, interviews and collaborations. Dee’s three most influential female singers offer more than a personal list: they reveal the technical, emotional and cultural forces shaping her identity as a vocalist.
Dee names Aretha Franklin, Nina Simone and Macy Gray. Franklin brings soul authority, Simone joins jazz precision to protest-song urgency, and Gray contributes the grainy intimacy of Bay Area neo-soul. Each gives her a different way to make a song feel lived rather than merely performed.
Their influence matters most in the space Dee shares with Christoph and the young artists involved in VAGABOOM. On Think13, that influence appears in confident phrasing, patient ensemble work and an insistence that performance can be both disciplined and generous.
A singer’s early musical map
Franklin’s place in Dee’s listening history points to the power of a voice that can hold a large room without losing vulnerability. The lesson is practical: control the centre of a phrase, leave room for feeling, and make restraint sound stronger than strain.
Simone supplies another kind of command. Her mixture of jazz phrasing, folk directness and political urgency shows that vocal strength can be intellectual and physical at once. Dee’s connection to that tradition is about range—the ability to move between tenderness, bite and reflection within one song.
Three distinct models of vocal power
Gray adds a distinctly local and modern colour. Raised in Oakland, she created an alternative soul language from smoky tone, clipped detail and sharply observed storytelling. For Dee, Gray’s importance lies in texture: a vocal identity can be built through character as much as vocal power.
None of these singers points to one prescribed style. Their example gives Dee permission to be precise without sounding cold, raw without becoming vague, and playful while retaining emotional weight. In the Think13 songs and live sets, the through-line is conviction rather than imitation.
What connects the choices
The strongest comparison is not who has the biggest voice, but how each artist turns presence into narrative.
| Singer | Musical roots | Defining vocal quality | Dee’s lasting lesson |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aretha Franklin | Gospel and soul | Powerful, conversational phrasing | Make authority feel human |
| Nina Simone | Jazz, folk and protest song | Tonal range, rhythmic detail and urgency | Join control to conviction |
| Macy Gray | Oakland neo-soul and alternative R&B | Textured, intimate delivery | Build a voice around personality |
Taken together, the choices describe a singer who values emotional precision. Franklin shows the architecture of a phrase, Simone its shifting dramatic scale and Gray its surface detail. Dee can draw from all three without asking any of them to supply the whole blueprint.
From the Bay Area to Australian stages
Think13’s Bay Area perspective gives this musical lineage a specific setting. Oakland and San Francisco reward musicians who can move between formal events, intimate rooms and community spaces; radio appearances and live interviews also put the artists in direct conversation with listeners rather than behind a release cycle.
Many Australian listeners recognise that rhythm. Melbourne’s laneway venues, Sydney’s compact live rooms and Brisbane’s community stages all reward close contact between performer and audience, from afternoon sessions to late sets. A voice developed through phrases and stories travels well across those settings without needing spectacle to hold attention.
The Australian market adds familiar pathways: Triple J and community radio, Unearthed, independent record shops and a strong appetite for live albums. Dee and Christoph can meet audiences through streaming while preserving the value of a shared room, just as they do in the Bay Area.
VAGABOOM turns influence into participation
VAGABOOM gives the influence a social dimension. The youth performance and educational program places singing, creative work and live presentation within a group setting, so vocal confidence becomes cooperation rather than solo display. Dee and Christoph’s role is as much about listening, encouragement and thoughtful artistic direction as it is about musical direction.
Britain’s Coda learning platform offers a useful parallel: it connects practical instruction with performance and creative development rather than treating those as separate activities. The comparison highlights how guided practice can prepare emerging musicians for public expression without making the experience feel exam-driven.
In Australian cities, comparable opportunities often come through council-supported ensembles, school partnerships and community arts groups rather than one national model. VAGABOOM’s Bay Area lessons therefore carry a broader message for the Australian market: technical coaching and a welcoming stage can turn individual talent into a durable community culture.
The influence that travels forward
Think13 remains valuable because it documents influence as an active process. Dee and Christoph’s songs, albums and collaborative performances show what happens when received music is filtered through two artistic lives, live experimentation and the energy of younger performers. The three voices do not stand still; they meet in arrangements, rehearsals and moments of risk.
Remember Dee’s three choices as a map of purpose. Aretha Franklin contributes soulful command, Nina Simone combines tonal and moral force, and Macy Gray demonstrates the power of texture and place. Dee’s own sound is strongest when it carries all three qualities without mistaking homage for identity.
