Melissa Parkinson (nee White) is a content creator and music maker who was born in the heart of Melbourne in the early 1980s.
Her family originally from Calcutta, India came to Melbourne in the early 1970s and are of Anglo-Indian background.
With a mix of Indian, British & European backgrounds, coming across other kids of the same background in her school days was rare.
Her experience in the playground left her feeling like she did not belong here.
Most kids at her primary school in Flemington, though multicultural did not know what an Anglo-Indian was, and the theme continued well into her adulthood.
Despite a negative experience growing up, being teased for her accent, Melissa was inspired by the historical factor of her background and became curious about anthropology, history and culture.
This has shaped the kind of content she is now working on at present, developing a pilot podcast series called Cultureline: An Odyssey of Anglo-India.
“Though I am born Australian, personally I grew up feeling like a foreigner,” says Melissa.
“Up until around the age of 8, I told other kids at school I was an Indian. Though I grew up in a very multicultural area, amazingly, kids would make Native American calls at me. It annoyed me that they didn't seem to know India existed.”
“When I was told I was Anglo-Indian by my family, I had developed a world of fascination in history, yet I was hit with a sense of frustration as all the other kids could say “I'm Chinese” “I'm Italian” “I'm Greek” “I'm Vietnamese” “I'm Australian” and everyone knew what that was and they all had their little groups and cultural commonalities.”
Though Melissa experienced unwanted attention around her accent, she was fortunate that she had a few teachers who praised her for her communication skills when presenting and reading in front of her peers.
Source: SBS Hindi
Between this and her love of writing story books at school, she learnt to get by when she felt excluded.
“I'd say I also get that from my family who had a way of transporting you to a place in time in Calcutta which is where they migrated from. So powerful were the moving images flickering in my mind that I felt a unique kind of connection to India, even though I had never been there. When I finally went to India in 2016, I felt instantly at home. The kind of hustle and bustle that would normally stress me out in Melbourne didn’t bother me in India. I felt like environment was familiar to me, as though I’d inherited bygone stories and memories.”
When she was 17 years old, Melissa’s literature teacher told her she had a voice for radio.
Source: SBS Hindi
“I had so many kids make fun of the way I pronounced words that I didn't know what I was going to do with my growing love of and fascination with media production...who'd want to listen to me?”
In the meantime, Melissa had been developing her musical side.
She began her journey as a young child and felt a calling for being a singer at the age of just three. While she had learned how to play the piano as a child, this did not continue into her teenage years, however she made sure she took the time to continuously develop her vocals at home.
It was in these humble settings that she developed her own style.
“Music is another huge thing for Anglo-Indians, the world of pop Motown funk and rhythm and blues of the 70s and 80s has shaped my love of music and influences as a singer and songwriter. Thanks to one of my uncles I also had an obsession with the making of Michael Jackson's Thriller video which I would watch on repeat,” says Melissa.
But it wasn't just the contagiously magical rhythms and dance moves that captured Melissa when watching this video.
“I loved watching the behind the scenes work and influences that led to the final product. I found the whole thing extremely exciting. I felt like I could be part of something like that one day.”
From then on, she would pretend to do concerts for her dolls and teddy bears and remembers being hell bent on dancing with her cousins on the “stage” at her grandparent’s house to Thriller.
Source: SBS Hindi
“The stage was actually a brick platform of an old fireplace...It was funny. Though I had every reason to shy away growing up, but I even got up at school during lunchtimes to sing Whitney Houston songs! I felt like these kids have no idea who they are messing with, bullying and teasing me. And I'm going to get up and show them all I can do whether anyone likes it or not- and up I'd jump on the lunch table and belt out “I Wanna Dance with Somebody”!
Between the age of eight right through to her teenage years, the singer/songwriter used to run through songs on weekends and eventually also after school.
“My favourite singers were always divas. I enjoyed imitating different tones, vocal runs etc. These included songs sung by Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Aretha Franklin, Randy Crawford, En Vogue, Brownstone, Brandy and Monica... I think I was always drawn to R&B because my aunts and uncles used to play R&B, funk, Motown growing up. I have distinct memories of getting up at Anglo-Indian dances back when I was a kid, swishing my skirt around to the Neutron Dance and the like!”
Melissa was also an active member of her high school choir in North Melbourne.
“I could flex between head voice and pop-soul-jazz styles. I was very much self-taught. I remember my friends taking an interest in my singing during lunch time. I was never the popular girl to be casted in any solo performances. It got me down as I always felt like I had something to offer as a performer. So I remember in year 12 taking initiative myself with a lovely music and drama teacher who was new to my school and roped in some mates to sing Michael Jackson’s “Ben” at the end of year assembly...it was huge for me, to have friends that were that willing to take part in the performance regardless about how confident they were and to also have a solo part. It felt triumphant.”
Later on as Melissa went on to study professional writing and editing she performed for a poetry night which was well received. It wasn't until her early to mid twenties did she attend any vocal training.
Melissa then went on to study a Bachelor of Multimedia Studies, choosing to do so because of the developing digital age in the early 2000s.
Source: SBS Hindi
“It was an interesting decision to make as I went in as a writer with ideas and some news reading and publishing experience under my belt. I hadn't the faintest clue how to use technology to communicate and had a rough time feeling under-skilled at times alongside kids who could create magnificent graphics and animations etc. During my time studying, I still recall many questions around my nationality. At this point less kids who came from India knew what an Anglo-Indian was, nor did anyone else. “are you South American?” “You look Mediterranean” “you look Polish” “are you Greek or Egyptian?”
After I graduated, I travelled and despite being told I look this and that...my accent and mannerisms just painted me once again as the foreigner. It did make me curious about my family tree and other cultures and nationalities, however- especially mixes from different parts of the world. It inspired me in many ways. It made me interested in anthropology, DNA and history before any TV shows had even been made about the subject.”
In the meantime, Melissa went on to record her first demo EP under the pseudonym of Fleur Salvador.
Source: SBS Hindi
Melissa points out, “Fleur is my middle name and Salvador after Salvador Dali, whose surrealist art I feel an affinity with.”
She then went to the UK with a friend but didn't get a chance to plug her music and felt a strong gut feeling that she needed to go home even though she had a two-year Visa.
Within months of coming back, the producer who worked on her EP wanted to collaborate and so they began an act called Finding Alice, (inspired by one of Melissa’s favourite stories), became a semi-finalist for a band competition which then led to meeting her husband Dean, a professional musician who has rocked big stages.
Melissa reminiscences, “We were engaged within a month. The band had four members and due to having a difference in musical vision, Finding Alice became a duo again, this time with myself as singer/songwriter and Dean as musical extraordinaire who plays all the instruments!”
She adds, “Though we haven't performed for ages, we did perform at our wedding and we are planning to gig as an acoustic duo in the future.”
Having had experience as a correspondent writer, writing for international publications and creating graphic art layout for various businesses, Melissa is now a part-time Master of Media student.
Source: Supplied
Melissa states, “In 2016 I had the amazing opportunity to travel to India as part of my studies with the help of the Asia bound Scholarship. My time in India mixed with my life experiences have inspired a new podcast series I am currently creating called Cultureline which I hope to make accessible to the wider community as I explore mixed-race culture. The pilot series is called “An Odyssey of Anglo-India”. In doing so I hope to raise awareness of this minority-race I am apart of so that people realise the world - isn't just all “black and white”.
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