Tikaram: Outsider Looking In

Two years ago English singer Tanita Tikaram was dragging herself through what she describes as “a series of dodgy jobs. I was selling double glazing over the phone,” she recalled during a recent interview, “and I was terrible at it! I always got into long conversations with whoever answered the phone and could never bring myself to say, ‘Let me speak to the manager.’ ”

Tikaram could hardly be described as pushy, but she’s done an extraordinary job of making her way to the top of the European charts. Her debut LP, “Ancient Heart,” spawned several hit singles and made it to the Top 10 in six European countries. And with a U.S. tour just begun (she plays the Bacchanal tonight in San Diego and the Roxy on Tuesday and Wednesday), America may be her next conquest.

A surprisingly mature performer for one just 19, Tikaram spins tales of liberation and betrayal in a dusky voice heavy with world-weary wisdom. Born of Fijian and Malaysian parents on a German air base, she moved to Hampshire, England in 1981 and now lives in London. While she recalls hearing Fijian music as a child, she says her exotic parentage didn’t play much of a role in defining her creative sensibility.

“Moving around all the time--which my family did--had more to do with shaping me. I was always new in town and that taught me how to handle people. And, when you’re an outsider you always have your own space around you--you need that kind of detachment in order to write.”

Tikaram’s big break was a performance at a London club that impressed manager Paul Charles, who promptly got her a record deal and ushered her into a studio with producers Peter Van Hooke and former Zombies leader Rod Argent. The record came together without a hitch, was released in Europe last September and was an immediate hit.

One imagines Tikaram might find all this intimidating, but it doesn’t seem to faze her in the least.

“I don’t understand what I’m supposed to be afraid of. I don’t use music as a personality prop, my friends don’t treat me differently, and people aren’t fawning over me.

“Well,” she added, “you do get a bit of that, but when anyone acts perversely you turn a blind eye. It’s not something you take to heart.”