Crafty sisters

Like watching one of their shows, interviewing the Kransky Sisters is something of a surreal experience.

For one thing, two of the three talk at the same time, Eve Kransky providing a kind of weird echo to her older sister, Mourne.

An example, when asked if they were familiar with Australia’s oldest gay and lesbian magazine: Oh yes, I like lots of newspapers. Particularly craft newspapers, Mourne says. Yes, craft, Eve adds.

Mourne, Eve and Arva Kransky have become famous for their deadpan spinster routine, in which they mash up songs -“ first made famous by artists like Nirvana, Marvin Gaye and Pink -“ performing them on tuba, guitar and musical saw.

Legend has it the three (in real life Christine Johnston, Annie Lee and Michele Watt) live most of the time in the rural town of Esk, where they tape songs off their family wireless with a Walkman.

Said wireless is the inspiration for their upcoming tour, titled Heard It On The Wireless.

People say they’ve seen us on the television [the trio have been regulars on SBS’s In Siberia Tonight] but we haven’t seen ourselves, Eve says. We don’t watch television.

We don’t watch television, Mourne adds. Our mother said we couldn’t watch it. It was evil. Yes, evil. The wireless has nice things on it.

The last Kransky tour celebrated spinsterhood with the title We Don’t Have Husbands. For the record, the Kranskys remain fancy free.

We don’t have time for husbands, Eva says. And they wouldn’t fit in the car.

The Kransky Sisters -“ Heard It On The Wireless is at The Studio, Sydney Opera House, from Wednesday 22 March until Sunday 2 April. Bookings: 9250 7777 or the Sydney Opera House website.