JOIN THE WORLDWIDE CELEBRATION OF MUSIC-MAKING THIS WEEK ‘MAKE MUSIC DAY’ RETURNS THIS FRIDAY JUNE 21
All the world is a stage, and this week the joy of music-making is stepping into the spotlight at home and abroad. Come and join the worldwide celebration of music this Friday June 21 with the return of Make Music Day, a global day dedicated to celebrating all things music-making. Make Music Day is a chance for musicians and artists to come together to perform and showcase creativity with their peers and communities, with free public concerts set to take place both live and online worldwide.
Presented in Australia by the Australian Music Association and the NAMM Foundation, Make Music Day originated in 1982 as Fête de la Musique in France before evolving into a global event that encapsulates over a thousand cities and places across 120 countries. A day long musical free-for-all celebrating music in all its forms, all ages and levels of skills are welcome, with communities also encouraged to get involved and support their local artists. A full list of events and information is available at https://makemusicaustralia.org.au/.
Proudly heading up Australia’s Make Music Day endeavours in 2024, Australian Music Association CEO and ARIA Award-winning musician Alex Masso shares, “Music making is something that resonates with people from all walks of life, all over the world. We think there should be a day to celebrate the way music making brings us together and gives us an outlet for expression, connection and so much else.”
“We know that professional musicians left the industry due to the challenges of the pandemic,” Masso adds, “but the interest in making music remains strong in the community at about 17% of the population. We saw a spike in sales of instruments such as guitars during the pandemic, it’s something that people turn to for fun, for a challenge and for creative expression and there are endless opportunities for musical expression from creating something by yourself at home to playing with a band or orchestra, singing in a choir, or going along to a jam session.”
Following the pandemic years, a recent report from Creative Australia found that in 2022 the number of professional musicians almost halved as proportion of the labour force since 2015, but a separate study of participation in the arts found that the proportion of people playing music has remained stable during the same period.
In a stunning display of solidarity and celebration, rock bands, songwriters, ukuleles, community bands and choirs, even flowerpots will be part of the musical offerings at Make Music Day Australian events in 2024. As part of the upcoming festivities, Billilla Gardens in Victoria will come to life this week with the ringing sound of flowerpots. Composed by Elliot Cole, Flowerpot music is a composition celebrating the unlikely beauty of the humble flowerpot played with mallets.
Elsewhere, South Regional TAFE Margaret River and Arts Margaret River have taken the opportunity to combine musical performance with technical training, with TAFE students learning the inner workings of the world class sound system at Main Theatre then performing their original works on stage.
Suburban and regional centres will also come alive with music this week, including Parramatta’s ‘Best of the West’ battle of the bands, a musical picnic in Grafton (NSW), and a travelling Impromptu Choir in Clare, SA, moving from a park to the library and a café.
Additionally, Make Music Make Friends is a project bringing together schools from Australia and nine other countries, who will collectively share songs and introduce themselves to each other through music. And breaking global barriers, My Song Is Your Song connects songwriters from different countries to perform a version of each other’s songs, with prizes on offer for the global music song swap spanning a ukulele from famed Slovenian-based company Flight, a Scarlett 2i2 4th gen audio interface from Focusrite, and a Novation Launchkey 37.
At the Curious Rabbit in Wagga Wagga (NSW) there will be a series of ukulele workshops and a jam that is open to everyone keen to participate, with ukuleles also on the menu at Merewether Ocean Bath in Newcastle (NSW) for hours of singing and strumming, and as part of a flash mob event called The Other ‘Lithgow Flash’ (Mob), a reference to Olympic legend Marjorie Jackson-Nelson who set six world athletics records and won multiple gold medals in the 1950s.
Make Music Day is presented in Australia by the Australian Music Association and the NAMM Foundation and takes place this Friday June 21.
For information further information on events, visit https://makemusicaustralia.org.au/.
VIEW: MAKE MUSIC DAY PROMOTIONAL VIDEO
MAKE MUSIC DAY AUSTRALIA 2024
SELECTED EVENTS – FRI 21 JUNE
CITY CONCERTS
Challis Singers at Gordon Library (Gordon, NSW)
Make Music Day Celebration at Bernie’s Music Land (Ringwood, VIC)
Jazzscape Trio at Paddington Library and Woollahra Library
Winter Concert – Music for Canberra Orchestras (Canberra, ACT)
CITY – OUTDOORS
Canada Bay
Make Music Day Parramatta – Best of the West (Parramatta, NSW)
CITY – PARTICIPATE
Sing Australia Gordon (Gordon, NSW)
REGIONAL – CONCERTS
Make Music Day ORC (Orange, NSW)
Groove is in the Heart (Margaret River, WA)
WollCon Voices Sing! (Wollongong, NSW)
REGIONAL – PARTICIPATE
Cobar Seniors’ Singalong (Cobar, NSW)
Make Music Day at Kitten Vintage (Mackay, QLD)
Music Mayhem (Dalyston, VIC)
Make Curious Music (Wagga Wagga, NSW)
Open Floor Jam with Two Up Music Show (Shorncliffe, QLD)
REGIONAL – OUTDOORS
Make Music Day Clarence Valley (Grafton, NSW)
Impromptu Singing (Clare, SA)
Uke by the Beach (Newcastle, NSW)
The Other “Lithgow Flash” Mob (Lithgow, NSW)
SCHOOLS
Grovedale College
NBSC Cromer Campus
St Xavier’s Gunnedah
CREATIVE AUSTRALIA STATISTICS:
In the Creative Australia report ‘Creating Value: Results of the National Arts Participation Survey’, the proportion of the Australian population actively participating in music (playing, singing, composing) was 17% in 2022. The previous comparable reports showed 18% in 2019,15% in 2016, 20% in 2013, 15% in 2009. Source: https://creative.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/creating-value/.
In the Creative Australia report ‘Artists as Workers: An Economic Study of Professional Artists in Australia’, the proportion of professional musicians in the Australian Labour Force was 0.07% in 2022. The previous comparable reports showed 0.12% in 2015, 0.11% in 2008, 0.13% in 2001, 0.13% in 1993, and 0.17% in 1987. Source: https://creative.gov.au/advocacy-and-research/artists-as-workers-an-economic-study-of-professional-artists-in-australia/.
The Australian Music Association’s Annual Market Report, which tracks imports of music products using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics, found that 2021 had the highest number of guitar products of the past 10 years, followed by 2020. For pianos and keyboards 2020 was the strongest year, followed by 2021. Source: https://australianmusic.asn.au/market-report/
RADICAL SON SHARES NEW SINGLE YULUWIRRI WANDABAA (THE RAINBOW DREAMING) FEATURING EMMA DONOVAN AND FRANK YAMMA NEW ALBUM BILAMBIYAL (THE LEARNING) DUE OUT JULY 11
A celebration of ceremony and culture, the brand new single Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) out today from Kamilaroi and Tongan artist Radical Son combines powerful storytelling with driving delivery, with Radical Son also joined on this magnetic track by revered Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter Emma Donovan and Pitjantjatjara singer-songwriter Frank Yamma. Also set to feature on Radical Son’s upcoming sophomore album Bilambiyal (The Learning), due out next month, Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) once again finds Radical Son delivering artistry that is equal parts dynamic and meaningful.
Bringing together three eminent artists from the Wantok Musik stable, Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) opens with Radical Son, aka David Leha’s, inescapably gripping vocals, declaring “Spirit Dreaming / Serpent Dreaming / The Rainbow Dreaming” before the track instrumentally swells to match its emphatic thematics. Firmly driven alongside Radical Son’s delivery by effusive percussion and colourful yet urgent ambience, Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) takes further flight courtesy of the powerhouse guest vocals provided from Emma Donovan and Frank Yamma, with the single building to interplay all three artists in an unforgettable climax. “Emma, Frank and I recorded separately,” shares Radical Son of bringing Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) to life alongside Donovan and Yamma. “I was really sick the week I had flown to Melbourne to record. The recording sessions were long days and one of the guys had to pump me up full of medicines to get me through the those days. I don’t know how we did it – but it came out sounding pretty good.”
Along with the mesmerising addition of Donovan and Yamma on Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming), Radical Son also worked alongside Marcus Longfoot and David Bridie to pen the track, with Mitch McGregor on percussion, Phil Wales on guitar, and programming courtesy of Longfoot and Andrew Robinson. And, as with much of Radical Son’s creative endeavours, the beating heart behind his incredible new track is one of passion and advocacy for culture and for connection in the modern age, as he elaborates, “I absolutely love this song. A song about ceremony and culture. There is so much depth in our Culture and Country. Country provides us a way of living and sustenance both physically and mentally. It provides the story and the way. It is there for us. Right in front of us. The only thing is we don’t see it as we are looking at the screens that stand between us.”
Joining recent singles Until You Call My Name and Elder, Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) offers yet another spellbinding glimpse into Radical Son’s upcoming new album Bilambiyal (The Learning), with the hotly anticipated full length set to further showcase Leha’s cultural connection, innate integrity and powerful perception across its 12 tracks. Releasing via Leha’s own label, Wantok Musik, and following on from his debut release Cause ‘N Affect, Bilambiyal (The Learning) was also crafted alongside a powerhouse team, including Full Circle Audio, Marcus Longfoot, Andy Robinson, David Bridie, Frank Yamma, Emma Donovan and many more. Opening with the starkly intimate Elder Reprise, Radical Son instantly conjures goosebumps as his almighty vocals soar, akin to standing on a mountaintop proclaiming: “I wish to be an Elder”, before seamlessly oscillating between warm and soul-hued beauty (How Long Must I Wait), contemporary glow (All My Life) and the utterly calming balm of Until You Call My Name, with the latter straddling raw ambience and rousing vocals. And between shifting between reggae hues (Only One Life), glossy soul (A Golden Age) and rousing, iron-willed ballads (The Fall), Bilambiyal (The Learning) also fervently reflects Radical Son’s powerful devotion to his country and his soul, displayed with gusto via the stunning might of Elder, the album’s various spoken word interludes, and the vulnerable and unforgettable punch of Bilambiyal (The Learning)’s title track.
One of the most compelling artists in the Australian cultural scene, Radical Son, the son of an Aboriginal woman and Tongan man, channels his experiences from his past into immense power and resolve, with his trademark sound pulsing with the urgency of hip hop and emotionally-charged soul. A festival favourite, cemented by his show-stopping cover of his mentor Uncle Archie Roach’s Walking Into Doors in 2022, Radical Son has performed to standing ovations at Bluesfest, St Kilda Festival, VIVID, the AFL Dreamtime 2032 game, and the official Uncle Archie Roach memorial in Melbourne and Sydney.
A highly skilled concert artist, with performances alongside classical ensembles and high-profile collaborations under his belt, Radical Son’s artistry also expands to film and TV, with credits including Defining Moments, a six-part NITV documentary exploring life-defining experiences, and theatre work, including the lead role of Pemulwuy in I am Eora at the 2012 Sydney Festival.
Studying as a musician at The Eora Centre for Visual and Performing Arts in Redfern, as well completing a Bachelor of Music from Newcastle Conservatorium, Radical Son’s creative prowess and steadfast substance is only matched by his otherworldly stage presence that repeatedly transfixes; and this fact is only set to heighten with the upcoming release of Bilambiyal (The Learning), and an upcoming performance in July as part of QPAC’s Warriors Concert for 2024’s Clancestry Festival in Brisbane.
“I have put the work in to improve as a vocalist, and I think that will show,” shares Radical Son of what fans can expect from his upcoming performance. “I think it’s important to stand up as an Indigenous man and share what is important to me. I’m grateful that I have the ability and the option to do so.”
“I am excited to be releasing our album Bilambiyal (The Learning),” Radical Son concludes. “I am very proud of this work and grateful to those who have collaborated with me to bring it to life.”
Yuluwirri Wandabaa (The Rainbow Dreaming) is out today via Wantok Musik.
Bilambiyal (The Learning) is due out on Thursday July 11.
RADICAL SON – UPCOMING SHOWS:
WED 31 JULY | QPAC, BRISBANE QLD| ALL AGES
Tickets available from https://www.qpac.com.au/whats-on/2024/clancestry-warriors
CHUTNEY SHARES A CULTURAL COLLISION FOR THE AGES VIA NEW SINGLE + VIDEO TOXIC MOONLIGHT
“Chutney have brought the sampled songs – born hundreds of years apart – together to make something excitingly modern” – Rolling Stone
Britney Spears and Beethoven collide in dark and beautiful whimsy today in the hands of Sydney klezmer punk collective CHUTNEY. Teaming up with The Potbelleez vocalist Ilan Kidron on guest vocals to conjure Toxic Moonlight, the hypnotic melodics of Britney Spears’ 2003 hit Toxic fuse with Beethoven’s melancholic masterpiece Moonlight Sonata alongside CHUTNEY’s trademark Eastern European and Middle Eastern flair. Or, as CHUTNEY themselves put it: “It’s the illicit love child of Britney and Beethoven in a raucous Balkan bar – it’s bonkers”.
The equivalent of The Cat Empire partying in pop and classical territory, with a hora dance in its chorus thrown in for good measure, Toxic Moonlight welds two equally iconic yet exceedingly diverse songs, with over two centuries elapsing between Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata and Britney Spears’ Toxic being released into the world. Growing from a seed planted by Kidron, with The Potbelleez front man noting the klezmer-esque qualities of Toxic, as well as CHUTNEY violinist Ben Adler exhuming Moonlight Sonata, the end result for Toxic Moonlight captures the urgency and catharsis of both originals, while also transforming the source material into a modern and daring reimagination. “It was 2021 and we had a gig lined up with Ilan,” shares Adler of the Toxic Moonlight origin story. “We were in a reprieve between COVID lockdowns so we’d developed a certain nihilism that, in retrospect, was highly conducive to unfettered creativity. I was talking with Ilan about songs he’d like to sing with us, and he observed that the string riff in Toxic sounds “really klezmer” – we only discovered years later that it’s actually a Bollywood sample! Anyway, Ilan’s suggestion was all I needed to klezmer-ify Britney’s song. Something about its darkness and (toxic) romance then led me to Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata, especially after I realised that importing Beethoven’s descending bassline might open up a whole new set of possibilities for the otherwise pretty harmonically static ‘Toxic’ verses. I sketched up a chart and we tweaked it in rehearsal, at a gig and in the studio into its present form”.
And for Kidron, it was a no-brainer to tackle the global Britney Spears hit into new and uncharted waters with CHUTNEY, as he explains, “I was always really impressed with Mark Ronson’s version, and although Toxic had been covered plenty of times, I knew CHUTNEY would translate it really daringly and originally. They have an unashamed ability to bend the rules; but somehow it works. This version plays between a dark oceanic void and a western bar fight. There is emotional drama and a dance between tension and release that I love here.”
Opening with the moving solitary piano line of Moonlight Sonata before swelling with driving percussion and swooning strings, Toxic Moonlight flits between moody verses and vigorous, upbeat choruses with dark and wholly innovative abandon, with Kidron also placing his own unique spin on Toxic’s original lyrics. Dan Natoli of AKA Music produced, recorded and mixed the track, and is responsible for the epic expansion of CHUTNEY‘s live sound in post. CHUTNEY bassist and second keyboardist Ralph Marshall also worked as a de facto assistant producer on the track, as Adler reveals, “He coaxed an outsize number of ‘electronic haze and mechanical fart’ noises out of his synths and Moog”. “It all felt super easy, it was well rehearsed” says Kidron of recording Toxic Moonlight. “I had fun in the ad libs, though when I’m performing or recording everything kind of dissolves into the performance. If I’m really enjoying it, it becomes kind of amnesiac. Toxic, if you will. It was all set up really live, although it’s a studio album, the method is really genuine, what you hear is what you get. I loved the old school approach.”
Also accompanied today by a brand new music video directed and produced by Adam Dostalek, Toxic Moonlight expands the drama and potency in a visual setting, ultimately following two dancers through a shadowy narrative before ending with a passionate performance from the band themselves. “Our marketing guy Michael Puterflam hooked us up with one of Australia’s top directors, Adam Dostalek, who fell in love with the track,” shares Adler of bringing Toxic Moonlight to visual life. “Our first phone conversation sparked immediate creative chemistry, so we decided to go for it and create a gripping, dramatic narrative to amplify the toxicity of the music. I had Adam and Ilan over for pancakes one morning and we stomped around my kitchen talking over each other for two hours until we had the basic concept storyboarded. In essence, the video tracks our heroine rescuing her love from a toxic environment, and bringing him to a community where he is free to be himself. It’s a metaphoric journey, and we discussed a number of modern-day abstract toxicities, including arrogance, bullying, talking without listening and conformism of thought. As hard as it is to escape toxic environments, it’s often harder to recognise their toxicity – and that applies to relationships too.”
Adler continues, “We chose to make a video for Toxic Moonlight for a few reasons. In my head, this track has always been cinematic – post apocalyptic stadium symphonic rock vibes. Ilan sings out of his skin, and we think our arrangement is outrageously unique and deserving of attention. We also thought Toxic, as one of the most popular songs ever, might be the gateway drug we need to infect the broader Australian music scene with a love for klezmer fusion.”
While balancing two exceedingly well-known songs, Toxic Moonlight is an entirely new beast; one of contrast, cohesion and just the right amount of madcap brilliance. “Toxic is such brilliant writing,” says Kidron of the Britney Spears 2003 smash single. “It’s rarely a good idea to take on recording and releasing a cover unless you’re going to spin it really differently. We did Toxic Moonlight live a few times and it was just heroic fun. And when the climax goes bananas, it still feels like people are going to start throwing chairs around the venue. The arrangement should sound disjunct, what with the sections contrasting so much, but it rides like a velvet clad rodeo bull, smooth and bucking in chaos.”
Hailing from Sydney, singer-songwriter Ilan Kidron commands over one billion combined streams and is globally beloved as the lead singer for the multi-platinum selling group The Potbelleez. With several ARIA Award nominations in his wake, Kidron’s work with The Potbelleez has spanned two full length albums, multiple EPs and ongoing chart successes, while his solo work has led to the formation of The SchoolKids, an acclaimed songwriting and production team, as well as work alongside the likes of Ricky Martin, Tina Arena and Ricki Lee. And as well as the release of Toxic Moonlight, 2024 is shaping up to be another bumper year for Kidron, as he concludes, “I’m currently finishing my own album and touring back with The Potbelleez. I’m also singing and performing a symphonic electronic dance event called Synthony for Vivid Festival.”
Renowned for transforming klezmer music, an instrumental genre drawn from the Jewish villages of nineteenth century Eastern Europe, with their own unique twist, CHUTNEY wields a vibrant brew of jazz, funk, rock, folk, Latin, classical and everything in between. With both original tunes and modern takes on traditional bangers in their ever-growing catalogue, CHUTNEY is also set to release their debut album Ajar on August 6. A spicy collection of instrumental and vocal, Ajar ultimately represents a coming of age for CHUTNEY; it’s the band’s bar mitzvah, and everyone is invited to the party. “Totalling over an hour of music, it feels like we’ve made one of the biggest independent albums produced in Sydney in recent times,” Adler says of their upcoming new album. “We’ve selected our favourite 13 songs from four years of gigging. The songs feature two other wonderful guest singers – soul songstress Sarit Michael and musical theatre star Doron Chester. From samba to Dixieland, power ballad to Bulgar, we’ve left the door ajar for everyone’s tastes.”
“CHUTNEY is a cherished project for all of us,” Adler concludes. “Most of us are Jewish, so it’s deeply meaningful to be able to reimagine our cultural heritage as something fresh, relevant, and indelibly Australian in its musical larrikinism. We like to say that we are CHUTNEY because we are a mixture of disparate ingredients bound by the warm sugary embrace of klezmer. In truth, though, my housemate had fortuitously left a jar of chutney in the fridge when I hosted our last rehearsal before our first public gig, and as we gathered around the piano munching on apple slices dipped in chutney, the name materialised and just stuck – like its namesake stuck to our fingers.”
CHUTNEY comprises: Ilan Kidron (guest vocals), Ben Adler (violin), Paul Khodor (keys), Ben Samuels (clarinet), Ralph Marshall (bass, Moog), Yiss Mill (percussion) and Cameron Reid (drums).
Toxic Moonlight is out today.
Ajar is set for release August 6.