Mona Foma isn’t the first festival Brian Ritchie has helped start in Australia.
As the bassist of The Violent Femmes, the band’s 1992 Sydney concert turned into the inaugural Big Day Out when other bands including Nirvana were added to the bill. Having been festival director of Tasmania’s Mona Foma since its inception in 2009, he can see the similarities. “Both of them heralded new models of festivals in Australia,” says Ritchie.
“Big Day Out was the first festival to gather a whole bunch of alternative bands together right when the youth market was shifting towards that kind of music, and it spawned numerous imitators,” he says.
Mona Foma 2023
- Launceston, February 17 to 19
- nipaluna / Hobart, February 24 to 26
- Bon Iver, Angel Olsen, Soccer Mommy, Kae Tempest, Perturbator, The Chills, Pavement, Bikini Kill, Peaches, Jockstrap, Vieux Farka Toure and more
- For the full lineup and to grab tickets, head here
Keep up with the latest music news, features, festivals, interviews and reviews here.
“When [Mona Foma] came out with a mixture of pop music and then very arty music, classical music, jazz, all different styles of music, and then mixing it with other art forms… including theatre, dance, visual art [and] lights. Nobody had really been doing that in Australia the same way,” says Ritchie.
The Wisconsin native became fascinated with Tasmania before becoming a musician when reading the autobiography of Tasmanian-born Hollywood actor Errol Flynn. When the opportunity arose to travel there with his band he took it. “It was difficult to get to Tasmania and expensive, but I insisted on doing a gig here,” recalls Ritchie. “Then my wife was working for The American Museum of Natural History in New York and they sent her to Tasmania to collect insects… and we mutually fell in love and decided to move.”
When Mona owner David Walsh heard that Ritchie had moved he arranged a meeting. “It wasn’t a museum at the time, he was planning to open a museum,” says Ritchie. “We started talking about creative ideas and a festival was one of them, and even though I had no experience doing a festival he seemed to think that I’d be able to do it, and I guess he was right.”
Playing many festivals with The Violent Femmes readied Ritchie for the role. “I would always be able to see what could be done better, and then I was able to do that here [at Mona Foma],” he says. “Taking what I knew as a musician and then in a fantasy sense creating that reality here in Tasmania was a learning process, but also probably if I was more experienced heading into it I wouldn’t have been as innovative.”
No more FOMO for Mona Foma: Tasmania’s summerfest of art and performance is back
Ritchie says Mona Foma changes every year. “We don’t have a model, we don’t have the same three stages every year, we don’t even stay in the same city,” he laughs. “We’re one of the only festivals that started in one city and then moved to another city, and now it’s happening in both Hobart and Launceston.”
“We’ve done it as a result of circumstances as well. When Covid happened a lot of people just folded their tent… but we had to adapt to the circumstances and put on an all-local festival, and a festival in smaller venues or smaller capacities. We’ve always adapted to either the environment or our own desires or different stimuli.”
Mona Foma moved to Launceston in 2017. “We felt like Hobart was getting to be over-serviced in the arts sector and we thought we might be able to make an impact on Launceston, and also bring some of the ideas to a different place,” explains Ritchie.
“Launceston actually has an unbelievable infrastructure in the city in terms of the venues, the walkability [and] the beauty of it. [There’s] the gorge, which is unique in the world as far as I know, and we’ve been able to use it as a venue every year for various artworks and events. We did discover that we missed Hobart and that we wanted to do it there and Launceston.”
This year the festival boasts an impressive line-up, including the recently reformed indie rock band Pavement and seminal riot grrrl band Bikini Kill. The Violent Femmes never toured with either band, but Ritchie is excited to see them again. “Both of those bands, believe it or not, are a little bit younger than us,” he laughs.
“We have played with them on festivals, I’ve seen both bands obviously, and it’s great that they’re back. It’s an interesting thing that bands can keep going indefinitely now, as long as they stay alive and are able to play. I think it’s a good thing.”
Ritchie is especially looking forward to the Old Tafe Sessions in Launceston. “We’ve taken over an entire building, which used to be the Tafe… and that will be an incredible cornucopia of art and music.”
Things will go late in Hobart too with The Party. “It’s in the old Mercury building, which was the offices of the Mercury Newspaper when it was still printing on-site,” explains Ritchie. “It’s a remarkable space, and it’s going to be an insane place for a party.”
New York composer Nico Muhly is also doing a residency throughout the festival. “We’ve been talking with him for several years, but then it was derailed by Covid, so we’re finally able to present that,” says Ritchie. “He’ll be performing not only with the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra and Chorus but also in Launceston with Nicholas Tolputt, who’s a local countertenor.”
Chloe Kim will attempt to solo drum for an astonishing 100 hours throughout the festival. “She moved here from Korea and she’s studying jazz at the Sydney Conservatorium, [and] she’s a fantastic artist,” says Ritchie. “I think this is just as massive undertaking to play the drums for 10 hours a day for the entire festival in different locations.”
Ritchie says most of his work is done. “My curation and stuff like that has already happened, so I’m just basically waiting for it all to unfold, and most of the other people are doing the heavy lifting,” he laughs. “I don’t want to be stressing during the festival, I just want to sit back and be the number one punter.”
Mona Foma runs from February 17-19 in Launceston and from February 24-26 in Hobart. For the full lineup and to grab tickets, head here.
