Page 53 - Tropic Magazine Issue 28
P. 53

TROPIC  •  MUSIC







                                              Sounds of summer

                                              Live music is coming back to our city in a big way.



                                                     Across a few big weekends in   The following
                                                     February, Cairns Performing    weekend will
                                                     Arts Centre (CPAC) will host four   bring former    Tones and I
                                                     superstar Australian musicians in    Powderfinger frontman Bernard
                                                     its new series of events, Cairns   Fanning and his country folk-tinged
     3                                               Summer Sounds.                 charm to two shows across February
                                                     Legendary artist John Butler, who’s   20 and 21. Finishing off the series
                                                     been helping us get our groove on for   on February 26 and 27 Cairns will
                                                     over two decades, will kick off both   welcome eight-time ARIA award-
              Meet Jelly Oshen                       Summer Sounds and his national solo   winning Amy Shark. The singer
                                                     tour on February 4 and 5.      songwriter became a household
              How old are you? I’m 19 but mentally   Tones and I will then take over the   name after releasing her hit single
              I might be 12. What instruments        CPAC stage on February 13 and 14.   Adore, clocking over 100 million
              do you play? So far I’ve got decent    Her smash single Dance Monkey   streams and second place in the 2016
              knowledge on the piano, guitar, bass/  reached No. 1 in 20 countries and   Triple J Hottest 100.
              double bass, drums, and a little bit   clocked up over two billion streams
              of steelpan drums. We’ve heard you     – making it the most played Spotify
              learnt to play instruments by ear?     song by a female artist globally    MORE: ticketlink.com.au
              Yeah, I think I just started figuring   last year.
              out simple melodies from riffs to
              whole songs on the piano and then
              I used the same process with other
              instruments until I could make my
              own songs. What influences your
              music? I guess the struggles and
              beauties of life and stuff, like sharing
              how I feel about what’s happening to
              me in a way that anyone can relate
              to. When did you start performing to
              a crowd? My first gig was Kuranda
              Roots Festival, then Cairns Festival,
              Ecofiesta, and my first single launch
              was at Bar 36 in 2018 on my birthday.
              Favourite live music venue in the
              Far North? Kuranda Amphitheatre.
              What’s your favourite live music                                                  Mountain Kauri Studio
              memory? Probably the first time I      Studio scene
              got the audience to really sing along
              with me during an original song at     Mark Myers – known in the music world as a member of The Middle East –
              Wallaby Creek Festival. Name some      has been rather busy since the Townsville band broke up in 2011.
              artists you’ve played with? Last year I   After ten years spent running Big Sister Studio in Brinsmead, Mark has recently
              opened shows for Greta Stanley, Dami   renovated and opened a new recording studio in the Tablelands.
              Im and Emily Wurramara, and I’ve       Built from scratch and with salvaged materials from his old space, Mountain
              jammed with Kid Heron, Katchafire,     Kauri Studio sits on a 20-acre plot of mostly uncleared forest.
              Kooii, Nicky Bomba and Jemere          The studio has a 24 m² control room, a 38 m² live room and 3.5-metre-high
              Morgan. What’s the last album you      ceilings, which Mark describes as sounding “beautiful on the inside and
              listened to? The Adventure Time        non-existent on the outside.”
              soundtrack. Who would you most         As a producer, Mark has recorded over 200 bands and won four QMUSIC
              like to collaborate with? The Gorillaz   awards (including Best Album and Best Song), a musicNT award, and has been
              or Steven Universe. What’s in store    nominated for an ARIA.
              for 2021? Loads of new music and       He’s recorded music for many renowned artists, with names like Emma Louise,
              hopefully touring!                     Tim Hart of Boy & Bear and Greta Stanley among them.


               MORE: @jellyoshen                      MORE: @mountainkauristudio




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