ISOL-AID FESTIVAL #23

Fasten your seatbelts and count
TWO  THREE

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ISOL-AID MUSIC FESTIVAL #22
Saturday 22nd August 2020

A socially (media) distanced music festival

Feat (in alphabetical order):

ALI HOLDER (USA), BERNADETTE NOVEMBRE, DAMON SMITH, DANNIKA, GEORGIA MAQ, HALF WAIF (USA), LAS MAR, MZ NEON (USA), OCEANATOR (USA), PAUL JACOBS (CANADA), POM POM SQUAD (USA), REB FOUNTAIN (NZ), SACHÉM

Good golly, it’s the 23rd ISOL-AID. We may not be able to physically travel to one another but we can board the wifi plane and set controls to the heart of the party for a BIG TIME rush this week. After our regional detour to Bendigo last week, we’re heading international this weekend with stops in the USA, Canada & New Zealand alongside some local legends. To board, all you need is an internet connection!

To kick off this week, Isol-Aid welcomes Orygen’s Executive Director and 2010 Australian of the Year, PROFESSOR PATRICK McGORRY AO who will lead this week’s Acknowledgement of Country and welcome everyone to ISOL-AID 23.

A world-leading researcher in the area of early psychosis and youth mental health, Professor McGorry says,

“Orygen is delighted and thrilled to partner with Isol-Aid. Our mental health and wellbeing is precious and precarious, and COVID has brought that to the front of all of our minds. We are searching for ways to inject some happiness and connection and joy into our lives  to keep us going through this ordeal. Isol-Aid is one super way to do this. Young people have been especially hard hit by the pandemic, and hope and a strong safety net are lifesavers.”

In addition, Professor McGorry will be opening the floor to audience questions during a special Q+A,

“I encourage anyone to submit questions about how to manage their mental health or how to reach out and support others – which is imperative we all do.”

Following Professor McGorry’s discussion and Q+A, award-winning singer-songwriter and performer DAMON SMITH will be taking over Orygen’s instagram with a special 20 minute set highlighting mental health and the lockdown experience.

After this special opening, we head to the US of A to visit OCEANATOR, the project of Brooklyn-based musician Elise Okusami. Oceanator creates powerful music with immense amounts of wonder. Growing up and playing music throughout Brooklyn, Oceanator is the logical culmination of a musician raised on the sounds of New York City. Don’t miss this incredible performance!

We skip over and say “oui” to Montreal’s one-man-garage-rock-band PAUL JACOBS, an avant-popster with psych leanings and an easygoing attitude. Buzzing into our bandwidth. After this we head back over to Brooklyn to hang out with POM POM SQUAD – describing themselves as “quiet grrl punk”, they form a clever clan who mix chunky distortion with wry wit. The band’s music focuses on mental health, identity and self acceptance. Continuing the cool will be HALF WAIF, musician Nandi Rose’s project. Half Waif reflects the sum of her influences, with parts elegiac 19th-century, parts electronic soundscapes and a longtime fascination with change and disconnection that untethers from what came before.

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After this we trip on down to Austin for a performance from ALI HOLDER, a singer/songwriter who blends Texan country and Americana with a streak of blues. Her recent sophomore full-length record elevated Ali further than these roots and saw her produce a thoughtful album that speaks on privilege, poverty & gender inequality

We then jet over to LA to visit MZ NEON, a musician, DJ, actress, punk icon and rapper. Genre destroyer and lyrical provocateur, she is a self produced triple threat of sharp wit, hypnotic sensuality and musical virtuosity. We know this performance will be unapologetic and all-consuming on our attentions.

Bringing it all back home, SACHÉM is a spoken word poet, rapper and emerging singer born on Meeanjin Country (also known as Brisbane). Sachém’s perspective on the world proudly represents both sides of his Indigenous and African American roots by lacing rhythms with personal stories and rhymes of poignant social issues that impact all. Following Sachém’s magic will be filmmaker-turned musician DANNIKA, a popster who treads the lines between broad and specific by way of cinematic twang. A whole lotta romance and a whole lotta light, Dannika is one to watch.

BERNADETTE NOVEMBRE fulfills the neo-soul role this week bringing her soulful sound that is sure to get you moving and grooving. Bernadette’s music is a soul made tangible – life experience and emotion in every note.

NZ artist REB FOUNTAIN will continue the heat with fine songwriting and a sound that transcends genre. Both personal and universal, Reb Fountain is set to release her debut album this year and this performance will be a taster of things to come.

The penultimate performance will come from LAS MAR – an artist who mixes odd-time beats, indie songs and psychedelic sounds into a pot of lush tunes. A jazz drummer turned multi-instrumental artist, Las Mar produces and records everything from his bedroom studio.

Closing out this week’s edition of Isol-Aid will be none other than GEORGIA MAQ. Where does one even begin with this superhuman? Emerging as the front person of Camp Cope, Georgia also released a solo debut Pleaser that saw the artist shy away from indie songwriting and instead nail a more electronic, poppier sound. Proving herself as a complex songwriter and creator of sad-bangers, Georgia’s solo performance will be a next level finish to an excellent lineup this week.

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We love that our festival is free to watch, but we do ask online attendees to help support the artists if you can. 100% of whatever you donate will go directly to the Isol-Aid artists and their teams.

As you know, the loss of touring and live performance income has caused financial strain and even strife for many in our music community. Throwing in even what you’d normally pay for a beer or two at the show will make a huge difference to these acts. And we’ll be eternally grateful, too!

You can look good and feel amazing. Artist donations, merch and feel good vibes from isolaidfestival.com

We think you’re pretty fly,

Team Isol-Aid x 

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AMNPLIFY – DB