You’re playing a mountain of shows during the Leaps and Bounds Festival, alongside a host of spectacular Melbourne artists. What has compelled you to take part in Leaps and Bounds for another year?
I’ll have to disagree with the term “mountain”, as I feel such a geographical allegory doesn’t really align itself with the Melbourne identity. I would suggest I am playing a “rich tapestry of intersecting laneways” of shows for Leaps and Bounds Festival. I couldn’t resist the prospect of bringing the vision and scope of a worldwide tour and bringing that passion to a myriad of venues across the City of Yarra. And to clarify, I will not actually be performing on the Yarra River on this tour, as the rhythmic yelps of its many coxswains makes it difficult to keep time, musically.
You performed at the Leaps and Bounds Festival in 2013. What would you say was the most memorable experience of playing at this festival? What are you looking forward to this year?
I’m looking forward to getting on stage and cranking out some quality tunes, night after night. As I’m already completely focused on the upcoming Leaps and Bounds festival, I’m unable to recall last year’s most memorable experience. I always take things one show at a time. Or in this case, six shows at a time.
You’re fairly active in Melbourne’s music community in both a professional and creative sense. Why are festivals like Leaps and Bounds so important to our music community? What makes Melbourne’s music community so special?
Festivals like Leaps and Bounds are great for contextualising the mountain of musical talent Melbourne has to offer. What makes us so special? To be honest, I think it’s indefinable blend of sporting spirit, artisanal caffeination, and general resilience to invariably temperamental weather. Sometimes it can be like four seasons in one day! I came up with that joke about Melbourne weather so do not attempt to steal it from me, okay?
