
I first met Mina Yu at a Fem Belling performance; I was instantly blown away by her playing, her crisp sound, and the way that […] Read More
I first met Mina Yu at a Fem Belling performance; I was instantly blown away by her playing, her crisp sound, and the way that […] Read More
The words ‘ethno-jazz’ and ‘folk-jazz’ often come up, when people try to describe Zela Margossian‘s music, but make no mistake: this is not a sub-genre, […] Read More
“I loved drums but also piano and composition, this why I decided to play the vibraphone and marimba; it sits right in the middle of both — a piano played with mallets. I’m joking, of course!”
“I did not expect the music that came out of me to be political, to be conscious jazz. I thought I would write a beautiful lovely AABA jazz standard that could swing.I didn’t realise that I was so angry or desperate.I didn’t realise I was so opinionated.”
“The best part of being in Koi Kingdom is how open and free each member is with each other’s compositions. The foundations lie in the players that we are, so you hear heaps of Marcos’ signature whammy sound and b9 chords, Cheryl’s rhythmic and sometimes atonal blowing and Stephen’s songlike phrasing and free-blowing grooves.”
“All songs have to do with Tides and emotions rolling in and out and finding our balance and equilibrium in the face of all the waves that keep crashing on our shores.”
“I wanted Butchers Brew Bar to be in Dulwich Hill as I’d been living here for 20 years and while I loved the area, there was very little to do here at night.”
“This might sound silly, but as a kid my parents gave me this dumb quote on a bit of wood to go on my shelf. ‘The best way to get something done is to begin.’ This sickly phrase actually sits really well with me, and has totally been a call to action for me many times. For me creativity requires action.”
“One negative aspect of being a male jazz musician is that sometimes people will hire you just to fulfil a quota of males that they think they need to have in the group (usually 100% is the quota). I think people should be hired based on talent and merit rather than on the basis of their sex, and it kind of sucks when you realise you’re only in the group because you’re a bro.”