Monique Brumby
Encyclopedia
Monique Brumby is an Australian Indie pop
Indie pop
Indie pop is a genre of alternative rock music that originated in the United Kingdom in the mid 1980s, with its roots in the Scottish post-punk bands on the Postcard Records label in the early '80s, such as Orange Juice, Josef K and Aztec Camera, and the dominant UK independent band of the mid...

/rock
Rock music
Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

 singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

, guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

ist and producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

. Her debut single, "Fool for You", peaked into the top 40 in the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA) ARIA Singles Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

, and provided an ARIA Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

 for 'Best New Talent' in 1996
ARIA Music Awards of 1996
The 10th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 September 1996 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre...

. Her single, "Mary", won an ARIA Award in 1997
ARIA Music Awards of 1997
The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United...

 for 'Best Female Artist'.

Brumby's songs have been used for television: Neighbours, Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...

, McLeod's Daughters
McLeod's Daughters
McLeod's Daughters is a Logie award-winning Australian drama series that aired on the Nine Network from 2001 to 2009. It tells the story of two sisters, Claire and Tess McLeod, who are reunited after they inherit the family farm...

, The Secret Life of Us
The Secret Life of Us
The Secret Life of Us was a television drama series set in the beachside suburb of St Kilda, Melbourne, Australia. The series was produced by Southern Star Entertainment and screened in Australia from 2001 to 2005 on Network Ten and on Channel 4 in the UK...

and Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High
Heartbreak High is an Australian television series that ran for seven years from 1994 to 1999. The series dealt with the students of Hartley High, a tough high school in a multi-racial area of Sydney, and proved to be a more gritty and fast-paced show than many of its contemporaries...

; and in the Australian films: Diana and Me (1997) and Occasional Coarse Language(1998).

Early years

Brumby was born in 1974 in Devonport, Tasmania
Devonport, Tasmania
-Sport:The Devonport Football Club is an Australian Rules team competing in the Tasmanian Statewide League. The Devonport Rugby Club is a Rugby Union team competing in the Tasmanian Rugby Union Statewide League...

, and moved to Hobart at age seven. She attended three different primary schools including Lauderdale Primary School (in nearby Clarence) and then secondary school at St Michael's Collegiate School
St Michael's Collegiate School
St Michael's Collegiate School, colloquially known as "Collegiate", is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for girls, located in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia....

 to Year 12, she sang in stage musicals and tried out for women's soccer. In 1991, she was selected for the Australian under-19 youth team in a three test series against New Zealand. While still at school, Brumby busked by singing to acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...

 in Hobart streets and obtained some part-time gigs. In 1993, after leaving school, Brumby had paying gigs in Hobart clubs and then travelled to England on a working holiday as a boarding house mistress for a year; she returned to Tasmania to write songs and, in 1995, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, where she performed in local pubs and clubs. She joined a guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

-based band and wrote songs with its members before leaving to concentrate on her own songs. In September 1995 she was the support act for Jeff Buckley
Jeff Buckley
Jeffrey Scott "Jeff" Buckley , raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American singer-songwriter and guitarist. He was the son of Tim Buckley, also a musician...

's performance at The Athenaeum
Athenaeum, Melbourne
The Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum is one of the oldest public institutions in Victoria, Australia, founded in 1839. The first President was Captain William Lonsdale, the first Patron was the Superintendent of Port Philip, Charles La Trobe and the first books were donated by Vice-President Henry...

 in Melbourne and at the Phoenician Club in Sydney.

"Fool for You" to Thylacine

Brumby signed with Sony Records, she wrote and recorded her debut single, "Fool for You", which was released in April 1996 and peaked into the top 40 in the Australian Recording Industry Association
Australian Recording Industry Association
The Australian Recording Industry Association is a trade group representing the Australian recording industry which was established in 1983 by six major record companies, EMI, Festival, CBS, RCA, WEA and Universal replacing the Association of Australian Record Manufacturers which was formed in 1956...

 (ARIA) ARIA Singles Charts
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

. It provided an ARIA Award
ARIA Music Awards
The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Australian Recording Industry Association...

 for 'Best New Talent' in 1996
ARIA Music Awards of 1996
The 10th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 30 September 1996 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre...

. The single was also nominated as 'Breakthrough Artist - Single' and 'Producer of the Year' for its producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

, David Bridie
David Bridie
David Bridie is a musician from Melbourne, Australia. Bridie first rose to prominence as a member of Not Drowning, Waving, which he started in the early 1980s with guitarist John Phillips. They released four albums on Australian independent labels to some level of critical acclaim and very limited...

 (member of My Friend The Chocolate Cake
My Friend The Chocolate Cake
My Friend The Chocolate Cake is an Australian musical group based in Melbourne. They have recorded seven albums since being founded in 1989 by David Bridie and Helen Mountfort, members of Not Drowning, Waving...

). Musicians used on the recording were: Rob Craw on guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...

 and backing vocals, Will Dickins on bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....

, Stephen Moffatt on guitar, and Greg Patten (also from My Friend The Chocolate Cake) on drums
Drum kit
A drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....

. In October 1996, Brumby attended a Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records
Mushroom Records is an Australian recoJrd company formed by Michael Gudinski and Ray Evans in Melbourne in 1972. After its sale in 1998, it merged into Festival Mushroom Records. From 2005 to 2009, it is one of the record labels operated by Warner Bros...

-run writers' workshop, she worked with Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...

 to co-write "Melting". Kelly included the track on his Words and Music
Words and Music (Paul Kelly album)
Words And Music is an album recorded by Paul Kelly and originally released in 1998. It was released on Mushroom Records in Australia and Vanguard Records in the United States...

released in 1998. Brumby's version appeared on her 2006 album, Into the Blue.

Her first EP
Extended play
An EP is a musical recording which contains more music than a single, but is too short to qualify as a full album or LP. The term EP originally referred only to specific types of vinyl records other than 78 rpm standard play records and LP records, but it is now applied to mid-length Compact...

, Mary, contained the eponymous single, "Mary", which was released in late 1996. In addition to Craw, Moffatt and Patten, Brumby's session musicians for the EP included: Michael Barker on drums, Bridie on piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 and keyboards
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...

, and Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...

 on harmonica
Harmonica
The harmonica, also called harp, French harp, blues harp, and mouth organ, is a free reed wind instrument used primarily in blues and American folk music, jazz, country, and rock and roll. It is played by blowing air into it or drawing air out by placing lips over individual holes or multiple holes...

. "Mary" won the 1997
ARIA Music Awards of 1997
The eleventh Annual Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards were held on 22 September 1997 at the Capitol Theatre in Sydney. The event was hosted by Australian actor–comedian Paul McDermott, with presenters Elle McFeast, Kylie Minogue, Ben Folds and The Presidents of the United...

 'Best Female Artist' ARIA for Brumby and received another nomination as 'Producer of the Year' for Bridie.

Her debut album, Thylacine, was produced by Bridie and released in June 1997 by Sony/Columbia. Brumby used session musicians: Barker, Bridie, Craw, Dickins, Moffatt and Patten, with Helen Mountfort (My Friend The Chocolate Cake) on cello
Cello
The cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...

, Simon Polinski on bass guitar. In June and July, Brumby was the support act for Kelly on a national tour. Thylacine provided Brumby with an ARIA Award nomination for 'Best Female Artist' and the associated single, "The Change in Me" was nominated for "Song of the Year" in 1998
ARIA Music Awards of 1998
The 12th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards was held on 20 October 1998 at the Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre...

. The B-side, "My Friend Jack", was co-written with Maryanne Window, her guitarist/bass guitarist. Brumby was also awarded Young Tasmanian of the Year
Tasmanian of the Year
Tasmanian of the Year Awards is an award given to the most outstanding Tasmanian in any given year. The Awards are made by the Tasmania Committee Incorporated and is organised and funded with government support....

 in the field of the Arts. Also in 1997, an art photography magazine, Black + White
Black+White
Black+White was a bimonthly Australian magazine published by Studio Magazines that debuted in the summer of 1992. For a period it was also known as Black+White magazine....

, published The black+white album - A visual celebration of Australian music which included semi-nude photos of Brumby.

Eventide to Signal Hill

Brumby co-produced her second EP, Eventide, with Polinksi, which was released on Sony/Columbia in September 1998 with its lead track, "Wrecking Ball" receiving most airplay. For the EP, Brumby provided songwriting, vocals, guitars (acoustic and electric) and djembe
Djembe
A djembe also known as jembe, jenbe, djbobimbe, jymbe, yembe, or jimbay, or sanbanyi in Susu; is a skin-covered drum meant played with bare hands....

 with Window on acoustic and bass guitars, and co-writing "Way it Goes" with Brumby. Brumby described Eventide:
Brumby started writing songs and making preliminary recordings for her second album, Signal Hill, however problems occurred with Sony and she left to form her own label, Little Wind. Her first independent release was "Silver Dollars" in November 2000 which was distributed by M. Brumby also provided vocals, guitars and keyboards, with assistance of session musicians including her live band, The Riders, consisting of Window, Tom Rouch and Shamus Goble. Additional musicians were Tim Powels (The Church
The Church (band)
The Church is an Australian rock band formed in Sydney in 1980. Initially associated with new wave and the neo-psychedelic sound of the mid 1980s, their music later became more reminiscent of progressive rock, featuring long instrumental jams and complex guitar interplay...

), Joe Creighton (The Revelators), Barry Palmer (Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors
Hunters & Collectors were an Australian rock music band formed in Melbourne in 1981, fronted by singer-songwriter and guitarist Mark Seymour, they developed a blend of pub rock and art-funk...

, Deadstar
Deadstar
Deadstar was an Australian band from Melbourne based around the songs of singer Caroline Kennedy and guitarist Barry Palmer ....

), Angus Husband, Stuart Harrison, Bruce Haymes (The Casuals, Professor Ratbaggy
Professor Ratbaggy
Professor Ratbaggy is a sometime four-piece band based in Melbourne, Australia. Sometimes thought of as a side-project of iconic Australian singer-songwriter Paul Kelly, the band is in fact its own entity: Kelly is one of the four members .The band's name is derived from the 1960s Australian TV...

), Chris Wilson, Adam Pedretti (Killing Heidi
Killing Heidi
Killing Heidi were an Australian rock band from Violet Town, Victoria. The band, which has been on hiatus since 2006, are best known for their multi-platinum album Reflector, released in 2000.-Early years :...

), Craig Patterson and Rachel Samuel. Signal Hill was released on 7 October 2002 by Little Wind distributed by Shock Records
Shock Records
Shock Records is Australia's largest independent record label. It helps distribute records from overseas records labels such as Epitaph Records, and also for small record labels designed specifically for that band such as Cement Records...

, and was produced by Brumby, Moffatt, Polinski and Paul McKercher. In April 2003 Brumby toured the east coast of Australia as a support act to Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked
Michelle Shocked is the stage name of Michelle Karen Johnston, an American singer-songwriter.-History:Shocked received her first international exposure in Europe, particularly Britain, with her debut album The Texas Campfire Tapes .Her first U.S...

.

"Driving Home" to Into the Blue

Window became Brumby's manager and a member of Monique Brumby & the Riders to tour in support of Brumby's releases. Other members of the Riders for her 2003 single, "Driving Home", were: Shamus Goble on drums and Tom Rouch on electric and slide guitar
Slide guitar
Slide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...

s. She toured extensively throughout Australia, including a performance in her home town of Hobart playing alongside Jewel
Jewel (singer)
Jewel Kilcher , professionally known as Jewel, is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, producer, actress and poet...

 and george
George (band)
George are a rock band from Brisbane, Australia. Their first album, Polyserena reached #1 in the Australian Charts on 17 March 2002.-History:...

as part of the 'A Day On The Green' concert. Live versions of "The Change in Me" and "Prophecy" by Brumby were released on the associated various artists' album, A Day on the Green, Live!. In 2005 she participated in Garageband, a project from Irish singer, Andy White
Andy White (singer-songwriter)
Andy White is an Irish singer/songwriter and poet, born in Belfast. He started writing poetry and music from a young age, penning a poem called "Riots" aged nine. He attended Methodist College Belfast. He studied English Literature at Robinson College, Cambridge University, graduating in 1984...

, she recorded vocals for the band's self-titled album, Garageband. Brumby was the support act on the Australian tour by US group, The Bangles
The Bangles
The Bangles are an American all-female band that originated in the early 1980s, scoring several hit singles during the decade.-Formation and early years :...

.

In March 2006, Brumby released her third album, Into the Blue, produced by Brumby and Doug Roberts (Deborah Conway
Deborah Conway
Deborah Ann Conway, is an Australian rock singer-songwriter and guitarist, and had a career as a model and actor. She was a founding member of the 1980s rock band Do-Ré-Mi with their surprise top 5 hit "Man Overboard"....

, Chris Wilson, Jack Jones
Jack Jones (singer)
John Allan "Jack" Jones is an American jazz and pop singer. He was one of the most popular vocalists of the 1960s.-Overview:...

, The Badloves
The Badloves
The Badloves is an Australian band that formed in 1990, dissolved in 1997 and reformed in 2008.-1990:The Badloves were formed by frontman Michael Spiby in Melbourne during January 1990 under the name DC3. The band consisted of Spiby , his brother John Spiby , John Housden , Stephen O'Prey and...

). The album was mastered by Leon Zervos at Sterling Sound, NYC, features her version of "Melting", co-written with Paul Kelly
Paul Kelly (musician)
Paul Maurice Kelly is an Australian rock music singer-songwriter, guitarist, and harmonica player. He has performed solo, and has led numerous groups, including the Dots, the Coloured Girls, and the Messengers. He has worked with other artists and groups, including associated projects Professor...

, who appeared as a guest performer, as well as guest performances by Michael Spiby and Kerri Simpson.

In October 2006 she played as the support act for Pete Yorn
Pete Yorn
Peter Joseph Yorn is an American singer-songwriter and guitarist who first gained international recognition after his debut record, Musicforthemorningafter, was released to critical acclaim in 2001.-Early history:Yorn's father is a dentist and his mother is a former concert pianist who worked as a...

's Australian performances.

Skeletons' Polka

In 2007 Brumby produced South Australian singer-songwriter, Emily Davis' debut album, Moving in Slow Motion—it was Brumby's first production for another artist.
She has since produced the debut album, Zenith Valley, for Melbourne based acoustic rock group, Mosaik.

Brumby formed Monique Brumby and the Flash Mob, with Shamus Goble, Maryanne Window, Dave Higgins on keyboards and Sophie Turner on guitar. In 2008 they were the support act for another tour by The Bangles. From July 2009, she recorded her fourth album, Skeletons' Polka, co-produced with Mark Opitz
Mark Opitz
Mark Opitz, started his career with ABC TV in Sydney in the 1970’s and has since gone on to work with many of the great Australian musicians that have graced both the Australian and international music charts for the past 25 years....

.
Brumby undertook a series of album launches starting on 19 March 2010 in Hobart to showcase Skeletons' Polka and its first single, "They're Still Alive", both issued on Little Wing/Rajon.

Personal life

In the December 1997 issue of Outrage, Brumby acknowledged that she is a lesbian, and although some see her as a role model, her sexuality is only one facet of her personality and she would rather be described as a musician.

Albums

  • Thylacine - Sony/Columbia 487196 2 (June 1997)
  • Signal Hill - Little Wind/Shock Records (M1249) (26 November 2002)
  • Into the Blue - Little Wind/Rajon Records (CDR0565) (3 March 2006)
  • Skeletons' Polka - Little Wind/Rajon Records (1 March 2010)

Extended plays

  • Mary - Columbia Records 663692.2 (September 1996)
  • Eventide - Columbia Records 666470-2 (August 1998)

Singles

  • "Fool for You" - Columbia (663063.2) (April 1996)
  • "The Change in Me" - Columbia (664147.2) (1997)
  • "Silver Dollars" - Little Wind (M1248) (November 2000) limited release of 500
  • "As Sweet as You Are" (2002)
  • "Wired" - Columbia (666470.2) (2002) (promotional release)
  • "Driving Home" (March 2003)
  • "Daisy Chain" Rajon Records (2006) (promotional release)
  • "They're Still Alive" (March 2010)

External links

  • Official website
  • [ Monique Brumby] at allmusic
  • Monique Brumby at Australian Rock Database
    Australian Rock Database
    Australian Rock Database is a website with a searchable online database that lists details of Australian rock music artists, albums, bands, producers and record labels. It was established in 2000 by Swedish national, Magnus Holmgren, who had developed an interest in Australian music when visiting...

  • Monique Brumby at MusicBrainz
    MusicBrainz
    MusicBrainz is a project that aims to create an open content music database. Similar to the freedb project, it was founded in response to the restrictions placed on the CDDB...

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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