Emerging Brisbane-based songwriter Madeleine Paige gives us an insight into the huge annual street party that takes over the streets of Fortitude Valley this weekend.
yourGigs (yG): What role do the Valley Fiesta and the Valley itself play in the Brisbane music industry?
Madeleine Paige (MP): Well, live music needs a home and the Valley has almost all the great live music venues in Brisbane. Pretty much all Brisbane artists cut their teeth in the Valley; and because it's all centralised everyone can socialise, network and support each other - that's why we have such a strong music community. Fiesta is a hyper-concentrated showcase of that already very exciting scene.
yG: What memories do you have of the Valley Fiesta and what does it mean for you to be playing the event?
MP: Oh man, this is my first Fiesta gig and I am so excited to be playing it! Ever since I was a teenager I've loved Fiesta. Back in the day I used to love seeing bands like Zephyr Timbre and George. Last year The Boat People were really fun and so were Laneous & The Family Yah. I'm just so honoured to be playing a festival that's such an institution. I even get to play on the same stage as Bertie Blackman - I love her!
yG: Do you think such an event could take place anywhere else but Brisbane?
MP: Fiesta is just so uniquely Brisbane I couldn't imagine it anywhere else. I've lived in Sydney and London and I never experienced a community event as awesome as Fiesta.
yG: Are you planning on modifying your usual live set at all from a normal venue show to cater to the outdoor street-party mode?
MP: Why yes, in fact! I've put together a gorgeous little mini choir, so glorious harmonies will float down the mall!
yG: The fact that 100,000 people are expected to attend this event is a sign of a Brisbane's healthy music scene - how do you view the scene and how has it changed/developed since you've been in it?
MP: Since all the nightclubs opened in the Valley over the last five years or so, there has been a massive influx of people in the Valley. It used to be just all kinds of weirdos (which was fascinating for a small-town Toowoomba girl!) Although there was a beauty to the untouched Valley, the new highly popular Valley means more people to come to shows and sustain this great music scene we have here.
yG: As a Brisbane muso, what do you think of the recent naming of The Go-Between Bridge and how beneficial to the scene is it to have a council that supports live music?
MP: I actually voted for it! Melbourne has ACDC Lane, Oklahoma has Flaming Lips Alley, and now Brisbane has the Go-Between Bridge, which is even more awesome because of the double entendre! Love ya, Brisbane!
yG: Can you tell us about your upcoming release and what hopes you have for it?
MP: Well actually I'll soon be heading off to my yearly retreat to my cabin of isolation on the Northern NSW coast. I've got lots of song ideas buzzing around my head all the time and the best way to make sense of them is to separate myself from reality once per year! Look out for my debut album in 2010.
The Valley Fiesta runs October 23 to 25. Madeleine Paige is playing at 2:45 on Saturday 24 on the Naked All Sorts Mall Stage and her acclaimed EPs, The Voice Behind the Noise and Angels in the Architecture, are available now.
Andy Ryan
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