I have worked in and around music for the last couple of years now. It’s a pretty beautiful world filed with the quest to express oneself fully, self reflect on our emotions and thoughts and share a piece of oneself with the world through melodies, timbers and tempos.
Read moreA Conversation With ... Thandi Phoenix
Up and coming Newtown singer/songwriter Thandi Phoenix has built up a following for her powerful, classic vocals and ability to glide effortlessly between electronic genres.
Read moreA Conversation With ... Kaiit
At 21, we think future-Soul and RnB singer, Kaiit, is doing pretty damn well. Since her first single “Natural Woman” went viral, the Melbourne-born Indigenous artist has been co-signed by two Neo-Soul legends, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu, as their musical love child from down under.
Read moreA Conversation With … Jessica Olivieri
Showcasing the talent and creativity of Western Sydney’s many communities has been the raison de entre of multidisciplinary arts company Urban Theatre Projects. Now leading this organisation is curator and artist Jessica Olivieri, who was previously curator, contemporary performance at Campbelltown Arts Centre.
Read moreA Conversation With … Claudia Barrie
Independent theatre director Claudia Barrie has been pushing the Sydney theatre scene, taking on plays outside of the canon to probe and ask questions of audiences all too used to convention. This month, Claudia takes on a new work by Stef Smith, Girl in the Machine.
Read moreA Conversation With … Jess and Stef of TWOOBS
With 98,000 followers on Instagram, an internationally adored footwear label, and a freshly established podcast under their belt, sister duo Jess and Stef Dadon are showing no signs of slowing down. The sisters - better known, perhaps, as “How Two Live” - sat down with BYO in anticipation of their latest collection drop for TWOOBS, to chat all things fashion, Instagram, podcasts and more.
Read moreA Conversation With … Pepper Keen
Known for co-launching Melbourne’s Sugar Mountain festival, which since 2011 has continued to set the benchmark for multi-arts festivals, Pepper Keen has pushed interdisciplinarity to the centre. Facilitating the VIA ALICE program in 2017, this year Pepper returns to the VIA Planet Earth series with Red Bull for VIA SÃO PAULO.
Read moreA Conversation With … Imogen Kelly
One of Australia’s most celebrated burlesque performers, Imogen Kelly has toured her shows throughout Australia and overseas, winning a bevy of awards along the way. Her theatrical, narrative style of burlesque has been part of the revival of the form, and one that Imogen is bringing to the Factory theatre in June for her show Herstory – Leading Ladies.
Read moreA Conversation With … Ella Haber
We got to sit down with the emerging Sydney-based singer/songwriter, Ella Haber. The 21-year-old classically-trained multi-instrumentalist weaves her bold, mature and relatable lyricism with jazz and soul melodies. Her passionate performances on stage demonstrate her abilities in the setting when she unmistakably feels the most comfortable.
Read moreA Conversation With … Neil Perry
Rockpool Group’s Chinese haven, Spice Temple, has been a Sydney-Melbourne institution for over a decade. Led by renowned Australian chef Neil Perry, the Culinary Director of the Rockpool Group, the restaurant is known for its punchy Sichuan flavours, attention to detail and rich attention to the culture behind the recipe.
Read moreA Conversation With … Yann Mathias
CEO of London’s The Design Laboratory, Yann Mathias has been involved in crafting the visual language of some of the most recognisable brands and companies.
Read moreA Conversation With … Sunbeam Sound Machine
Sunbeam Sound Machine sound exactly like what their name suggests. And frontman Nick Sowersby, the brain behind that sound, has crafted a multi-instrumental dream-pop sensation in Melbourne that is definitely going places.
Read moreA Conversation With … James Elazzi
A young playwright from Western Sydney, James Elazzi is committed to telling stories in Sydney’s theatres that have otherwise been left backstage. Next month, James’s latest work, Lady Tabouli will premiere as part of Griffin Theatre’s Batch Festival. We spoke to James on what it took to get this script to stage and how he hopes it will start a conversation.
Read moreA Conversation With … Claudia Bailey and Molly Moloney
Director Claudia Bailey and lead actor Molly Moloney sat down with Backyard Opera to discuss their short film, Appetite, which premiered last week at AFTRS. The film follows Bridget on the morning after a one-night-stand and explores the often-unspoken (but entirely recognisable) sentiment of shame after sex.
Read moreA Conversation With … William Yang
One of Australia’s most celebrated photographers, William Yang’s work has provided a visual archive of the development of Sydney’s queer underground, from the birth of the gay liberation movement, to the glamour of the eighties and the trauma of AIDS during the nineties.
Read moreA Conversation With … Meg White
The inaugural recipient of the Screen Australia Onbass scholarship, cinematographer and photographer Meg White will take up her postgraduate studies in film at the American Film Institute later this year. Already, Meg has worked with some of Australia’s most celebrated screen talent such as Rachel Perkins and Russell Crowe.
Read moreA Conversation With … Jungle
Few bands are able to make just about anyone get off their seat and dance as quick as Jungle. The English modern soul musical collective, based in London, are guaranteed party favourites and make us feel a bit groovier, no matter where we are listening to them.
Read moreA Conversation With … Saxon Wright
Having been at the helm of café-cum craft roaster Pablo & Rusty for the past fifteen years, CEO Saxon Wright has had a front row seat to the rapid transformation of coffee in Sydney and around the world. This has meant that Saxon has had to take on many hats, from roasting, to green bean sourcing to technological innovation.
Read moreA Conversation With … Lime Cordiale
Dynamic brother duo Lime Cordiale current ‘Money’ tour is blessing Australia and N.Z. with an iconic blend of chilled jazzy pop, and will drop in to Sydney for Bad Friday on April 19. We chatted to Oliver Leimbach, one half of the outfit, about all things touring, toxic masculinity and the pressures of Sydney life.
Read moreA Conversation With … Flint Eastwood
Charting new territories in indie rock songwriting and pop-inspired synth instrumentation, Detroit duo Flint Eastwood have come to our shores for a few choice festival appearances and their own headlines shows in Sydney and Melbourne. We spoke with one half of the duo, Jax Anderson about making music on your own terms, the value of collaboration and finding a place for one’s queerness.
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