Hello, here are the deets for my next gig, hope to see you there!
Twin Peaks Cocktail Soiree
With Jugu Live, and Brendan Maclean DJ Set
Fri 9th of March
Apothecary
24 Bayswater Rd
Kings X
-Cherry Pie Cocktails and Donuts
-Devilish Games of Chance
-Tarot Readings
-Prizes for Best Costume
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The other day I voted in Triple J’s Hottest 100. Just thought I’d post my votes here (lazy idea for a blog post). It was quite difficult to pick only ten, so I decided to only choose songs that really inspire me to make music, music that makes me happy 
There are still five days left to vote – go here to vote for your favs
1. Peter Bjorn and John – Second Chance
2. Chairlift – Sidewalk Safari
3. CSS – Hits Me Like A Rock {Ft. Bobby Gillespie}
4. Little Dragon – Ritual Union
5. Architecture In Helsinki – Contact High
6. Active Child – Hanging On
7. Austra – Lose It
8.Foster The People – Helena Beat
9. Yelle – Safari Disco Club
10. Lykke Li – I Follow Rivers
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Last week, I attempted to buy a microphone cable from Dick Smith Electronics (cause I’d just come out of the store next door and thought I’d try my luck). Not finding any, I thought I’d quickly ask for assistance. My question turned out to be an unexpected puzzler.
“Do you mean HDMI cable?” he asked.
“No, just a XLR type mic cable.”
He showed me a karaoke microphone which had a cable included. It had a 6.5mm plug on the end of it.
“Thanks, but I’m just looking for a standard microphone cable.”
“Sorry, we don’t have those.”
Yeah well Jaycar would.
My mission took me onto the music instrument store where I found one straight away hanging on a rack on the wall. However music store guy took one look at me (young girl) and thought I couldn’t possibly know what I was doing.
“Are you sure this is the one you want? Now what are you plugging it into?”
Dude I know what a mic cable looks like!
He cracked some dad joke about it being called “Mike”. I tried to fake laugh unconvincingly.
—
Today I went to Officeworks for a few bits and pieces and thought I would look for an extra firewire cable this time. Big mistake. Again what I was searching for aluded me.
“Firewire? Do you mean CAT5?”
“No, I mean Firewire, you seem to only stock USB.”
“Never heard of it.”
What? Am I going mad? Twice in the course of one week? I thought Firewire cables we pretty standard, are they becoming obsolete? Don’t Officeworks sell hard drives that use Firewire?
Went home empty handed. Online shopping is the way to go. Looking forward to the day everything is completely wireless!
A. I got to play the role of a wedding singer.
Yep that’s right, as of last weekend, I’m officially a wedding singer.
It all started when a friend recommended me to a friend who happened to be looking for someone to perform at her wedding- and as a friend of a friend, I was less inclined to turn down the offer. I was hesitant at first, purely for reasons of vanity and pride. Say “wedding singer”, and that cute 1998 movie starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore pops into my head. But then Adam Sandler’s character was portrayed as a bit of a loser. And therein lies my prejudice. Did I really want to go down this road? To be honest wedding singers seem to be on the bottom rung of the musician ladder, sharing the space with cover bands as they kick buskers in the head down below. Poor buskers. Actually I really respect them. I got a busking licence last year but was too chicken to go out and use it.
So sure, it’s not what I originally had in mind when I started this Jugu thing, but you know it wasn’t too bad after all. A gig is a gig, and a wedding gig is definitely better paid (in that they pay you at all), and the audience more grateful. Weddings are great, everyone is positive and happy, and it’s one of the best traditions of our culture, the celebration of love and all that.
But then there is the responsibility. The responsibility factor of this job is huge. Ok, admittedly not so much as a brain surgeon or rollercoaster safety technician, but in the context of musical performances, a wedding is pretty much up there. What if they don’t like your music? What if you ruin their big, special day that they have spent months planning and agonising over, a day that they will remember for the rest of their lives? What if you drink a little too much bubbly and slip in an inappropriate joke that grandma doesn’t really appreciate? And as a solo musician, I was feeling the pressure.
The good thing about a wedding gig is that nothing is corny enough. Love was the topic of the night, and love songs are what I write. My song ‘The Deep’ didn’t seem so out of place than in the usual sleezy pub setting of my Jugu performances. I also love classic jazz songs, and I got to get out all my old jazz compilations CDs and in my preparation for the day, I got to take a trip down memory lane with Ella, Dinah, Sarah, Billie and Nina. I sung a shortened version of Etta James’ ‘At Last’ as the bride walked down the aisle, and Nat King Cole’s ‘Love’ for the first dance. I even got to pull out my saxophone for a bit of a solo. The rest was just a usual Jugu set, while the guests sat down to dinner. Easy peasy, and very fun.
And so after all my uncertainty to put on the wedding singer hat, the night was a great success, a beautiful intimate wedding, with very friendly people. The newly weds had even kindly given me a seat at the table, which was really generous of them. A lot of the guests had positive things to say about my music, as well as words of encouragement like “don’t give up”, “follow your dreams” and so on. I had a fantastic chat with the best man – a famous Indonesian pop singer Sandy Thema – who gave some great advice about the music business.
So move over Mr Sandler, there’s a new wedding singer in town.
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Yep I’m back at The Gaelic’s Wednesday night event, i.e. The Study, on the 24th of August. This will be my last gig before I head to Europe for a holiday. Also lovely ladies Aliza Waxman and Phebe Starr will be playing!
That’s Right – my video for The Deep has been chosen as Indie Clip of the week on the most iconic Australian music video show ever – RAGE!
I found out the news last night via email and actually squealed out loud like a piglet. After calming down a bit I rang Heremaia from The Creative Foundry straight away to tell him the news, he and John were the two video gurus who worked tirelessly filming, editing and animating the whole thing, the very fact that it was chosen is proof of their amazing talents.
The clip will be played sometime tonight and tomorrow morning after 8am – the playlists will be posted today on the RAGE website which will give more of a clue to the exact times.
To think that my music will be heard by a bunch of sleepy-eyed teenagers eating their Saturday morning breakfasts is such a strange and exhilarating thought. I’m reminded of my younger cousins, Jake, Ronan, Lauren and Nathan especially. Hopefully I will be just a little bit cooler in their eyes now.
It is definitely the highlight of my music career to date, and a great motivational boost that I sorely needed.
Thanks to everyone who requested it, I think that must have made the difference. Cheers!!
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Last weekend ten of my closest friends and I stayed in the Blue Mountains. It’s kind of an annual tradition generally consisting of cafe mornings, bushwalk adventure days and late nights involving games of the board/video/drinking/loud varieties. We hire one big house, cram as many people as we can inside, and hope that the neighbours don’t complain too much.
This year’s trip also coincided with the Katoomba Winter Magic Festival, and Keegan Thomson had invited me to perform on Blu FM, the local community radio station. Keegan along with his co-presenter Samantha Hatch were attempting a 24-hr radio broadcast marathon, and I was booked in for a 6.30pm performance on Saturday the 18th June – 22.5 hrs in.
After freezing our fingers off at the festival that afternoon, my boyfriend/equipment-carrying-muscle-man Ryan and I wandered into the studio early to set up for the performance. The small studio space (a lot messier than my first visit last year) had been filled with friends and guests who provided a live audience and moral support for the presenters. After a few hiccups we managed to get the technical stuff working and it was time for my “interview”.
Although the conversation focused mostly around a “floor pizza” incident that had happened earlier, Keegan and Samantha were doing surprisingly well in their sleep deprived state. I performed two of my new songs “Told You So” and “Now You’re Near Me”, though regret describing the later as “repetitive” on air, sometimes honesty isn’t always the best policy when you’re meant to be promoting your music. It all went well and I stuck around to watch The Trobes perform some fantastic acoustic tracks. We had to leave just before the finish line to meet the gang for dinner, but listened in the car as Keegan and Co celebrated their victory over time and tiredness. Thank you to all that managed to tune in or stream the show online, I hope you enjoyed it!
Performing on BLU FM - concentrating rather hard!
