Wild Mountains Songs 2020

Songwriters

Ben Ely is a founding member of the Aria award winning band Regurgitator and worked on many other projects including film and tv, Dance, Circus and theatre receiving an AFI and Australian Screen Film award for his work on the feature film Somersault. In recent years he has been a member of the Gold Coast based Dance company known as The Farm working on shows such as TIDE, The Ninth Wave and a show collaborating with Kate Harman called Depthless. His career spans 20 plus years working as a music producer, live performer and visual artist.

Amidst smooth harmonies, rhythms inspired by a strong family lineage of Polynesian performance, and unassuming grooves that work a gradual, smile-inducing high through even a casual listener, Bobby Alu tunes have a way of sneaking into the subconscious and taking up residence. Every now and then, one will pop up as a toe-tapping reminder to take it slow, enjoy the ride. It’s the curator of calm’s way – deliver island-time vibes with gentle optimism rather than forceful instruction, and encourage the type of reflection best achieved in a hammock. Though it’s not all palm trees and daydreams – there’s a robust energy in Alu’s mastery of traditional Samoan log drums, and a vitality to his songwriting that nods to world, roots and pop intelligence.

If you’ve been part of the Brisbane punk/metal/dub scene for any time between the mid-90’s to now, you would have surely come across the powerful melodic metal guitarist, and endearingly sensitive and thoughtful lyricist Chris Farrer. Known most predominantly for his years as frontman and guitar hero of “The Quickening”, a local favourite with a cult-like following who inspired countless of Brisbane bands. An aluminium process worker by day, a guitar obsessed dude by night. He wrote a shitty bio and sent it to us hiding in a toilet cubicle at work, so we did this for him. Chris RULES.

Jen Boyce is a founding member and bass player of Brisbane band Ball Park Music. She has previously played solo under the moniker Little Planes Land and has interest in writing pop, country and folk music. She is a sucker for a good harmony and a song that tells you a story.

Founder of Wild Mountains Songs, and celebrated songwriter and environmental activist from Brisbane who is a self described “garage-folk” artist. A fluid femininity underpins her one-of-the-boys security blanket vocal punchiness, supported by cleverly angled melodies and re-invented rhythms that lands the listener in a nostalgic jukebox flutter, ready and willing for the next hook. With plenty of songs, gongs, spins and wins under her belt, she keeps life interesting by continually reshaping her work and mixing with new collaborators.

Francesca de Valence is an Australian artist and award-winning songwriter obsessed with inspiring people all over the world to become creatively free. Speaking and performing on stages around the world and through her work as founder of global tech phenomenon and songwriting community, I Heart Songwriting Club, Francesca is an ‘uplifting, enlightening, and empowering’ force (Music is My Muse). Francesca has supported Jimmy Webb, Belinda Carlisle and Deacon Blue and her latest creative project is an ongoing musical and visual experiment of her relationship with Paris. Francesca’s recent successes include showcasing at Folk Alliance International January 2020, national radio feature on Radio France International and is an alumnus of John Butler’s The Seed Fund 2020.

Nathan John Kearney is an alt-country songwriter who also plays in the acts Camping and Lackadaisies.
He has released 2 solo albums and 2 solo EP's and plays regularly in Brisbane and along the East Coast of Australia. Nathan's songs evoke echoes of Townes Van Zandt, Emmylou Harris and Uncle Tupelo, with a modern, Australian perspective

Old Semeil is a place for poetry to become song, for stories to sing. A place for music to ramble and roam. Gavin Cook (guitar/vocals/harmonica) and Sophie Ellis (viola/vocals) blend world-folk influences, alt-country and classical to create something altogether contemporary.

Old Semeil have performed at the Brisbane Festival, Darwin Fringe Festival and supported The East Pointers in Scotland, to name a few. They continue to perform in and around South East Queensland. Gavin is a core member of Q Music award nominated band The Mouldy Lovers, where he also sings and strums. 

Jackie Marshall is a Queensland Conservatorium jazz-trained singer, songwriter and recording artist. She has released three critically acclaimed alt folk country albums, her latest ‘Lilith Shrugs’ in October 2018. Marshall most recently performed in the Queensland Music Festival sold out “Women Of Woodstock” shows, has composed and recorded music for successful Slovenian hybrid theatre work ‘The Summer Book’ (Tove Jansson) by award-winning director Barbara Stupica, has recently completed producing indigenous artist Lydia Fairhall’s debut album for release in 2020, and will head to Egypt in 2021 for a unique project featuring her distinct vocals alongside a selection of Crystal Tones Singing Bowls as directed by visionary author and teacher Carmel Glenane, in several major sites along the Nile. Marshall is a seasoned stage performer whose warmth humour and depth of approach appeals to audiences and critics alike.

Megan Cooper’s music is high country, folksy, vintage, familiar. She has an inbuilt affinity with everything that is good in twang, delivering a deliciously elegant serving of aural sweetness that is rooted in the traditions of Americana and Australian Folk.

After spending five years writing and touring as a member of 'The Middle East' and solo as 'R.L Jones', Rohin started writing scores for film and advertising as well as collaborating with artists across Australia as Music Director of Non Profit Organisation 'Museum Collective'.

As a producer he focuses on facilitating and developing collaborative projects that engage artists across multiple disciplines.

Seja Vogel started playing music in Brisbane synth-punk trio Sekiden and has since lent her synth and singing skills to touring buddies such as Regurgitator, SPOD, Dave McCormack (Custard) and Ben Salter. She has created two solo albums; We Have Secret But Nobody Cares and All Our Wires, of her trademark 80s synth sounds and vocal harmonies and was the winner of the Grant McLennan Memorial Fellowship in 2013. On the side she hosts Australian music interview podcast HearSej and creates tiny felt replicas of instruments under her successful textile label Pusewidth.  

Sound Engineers 

Darek Mudge is an audio engineer, music producer and studio and electronics technician currently based out of Plutonium Studios in Brisbane. Darek is currently in-house engineer at The Music Farm (Byron Bay) and Plutonium Studios. In the last six months he has recorded or assisted with albums from Tired Lion, Great Gable, Emma Bosworth, The Flangipanis, Glasshouse, Isabella Merced, McDermot and North, The Cutaways, Matt Corby, Violent Soho and more. He also works alongside producers Wayne Connelly (You Am I, The Vines), Scott Horscroft, Bryce Moorhead, Alex Henriksson and Magoo. 

Having spent his formative musical years performing, recording and touring as Brisbane band the Cairo’s lead singer, Alistar finds himself as a gun for hire, both in the studio and as a session musician. A natural ear for music and a thirst for musical knowledge and composition has led Alistar to collaborate with long time partner and fellow songwriter Clea - the duo teaming up to win song of the year at the Qld music awards for Clea’s song ‘Dreaming’. A countless number of tunes Alistar has either written, recorded or mixed have been added to rotation on triple j radio and collectively his songs have racked up millions of plays on Spotify. Alistar spent most of 2019 touring internationally with the Last Dinosaurs as their session drummer. Alistar has built a small studio in QLD’s scenic rim where he’s currently recording Clea’s new album during the Covid pandemic lockdown.