Sydney Fringe holds In Conversation series for songwriters

As part of Sydney Fringe (September 1 to 30), APRA AMCOS will from tomorrow hold a series of free In Conversation sessions with four major songwriters.

Local stars Ngaiire, Briggs, Katy Steele and Sally Seltmann are allrecipients of APRA Professional Development Awards, and will each will sit down with moderator Chit Chat and offer insights in how they turned their passions into a livelihood, and how to sustain their careers in music.

The first session (Saturday September 2) is with singer Ngaiire, with all events open to the public.

It is at Caravan Stage, Kensington St Festival Village, Chippendale, between 2-4 pm.

Immediately after, at 4pm, is the beginning of the Fringe Ignite, which she curated, which is the festival’s opening celebration of live music, food, and eclectic performances at the Kensington Street Festival Village.

Ngaiire herself is singing, along with a spoken word set by L-Fresh The Lion and appearances by ten acts including Colourfield, Sarah Behner, Crooked Letter and Stereogamous.

Trailblazing and politically active rapperBriggs’ session is on Sunday September 10 at HPG Festival Hub, 225 Euston Rd, Alexandria, between 2-4 pm.

As one half of multi-award winning A.B. Original, the most recent being two wins at the National Indigenous Music Awards in Darwin, Briggs will talk about his career so far.

Presumably it will include his observations on to what extent A.B. Original’s single January 26 helped ignite the current and heated debate on why the concept of Australia Day is disrespectful to the Indigenous community and its supporters in the broader community.

Katy Steele will talk about her journey, growing up in a music family – including blues singer father Rick and Luke of The Sleepy Jackson and Empire of the Sun – to fronting Little Birdy and moving for a time to New York to find inspiration for her solo career.

Her session, on Sunday September 17 between 2-4 pm, is at HPG Festival Hub.

The final conversation is with Sally Seltmann, at the HPG Festival Hub on Saturday September 23, from 2—4 pm.

Seltmann’s session will be about being in demand as globally acclaimed songwriter, producer, collaborator, screen composer and recording artist despite her refusal to compromise her art.

Hopefully, she might also talk about her next two projects, one of which is her fifth solo album which she’s just started working on.

This month she’s heading to the Pilbara, WA as part of The Vast Project. She joins a group of songwriters including Bernard Fanning andPaul Dempsey, as well as visual artists, film makers, and poets.

As she describes it, “We’ll be taking over an historic ghost town, camping out, experiencing the land, collaborating together, recording an album, making films and producing paintings. As you can imagine, I’m really looking forward to it!”

More information at the website.