One Australia’s most fruitful and innovative contemporary musicians, David Bridie is set to perform at Redland Performing Arts Centre in Brisbane.
David’s performance will feature songs spanning his career, with a preview of new tracks from his forthcoming solo release. “The performance will be piano-based completed with sound textures,” David says.
"I was working recently with Archie Roach on a song about the young kid that was murdered in Kalgoorlie for stealing a bike."
“I will be performing material from previous albums, with a preview from my recent album that is set to release early next year.”
With no title in place yet, David wrote the album at Bruny Island in Tasmania. “I wanted to create an album that was both minimal and spacious,” he says.
“This will be the first time some of those songs get a public performance.”
A seven-time ARIA Award-winning songwriter and composer, David rose to prominence in 1983 with the critically acclaimed band Not Drowning, Waving.
Nine albums later, David formed acoustic outfit My Friend The Chocolate Cake. “They are both great bands, My Friend The Chocolate Cake is still going but Not Drowning, Waving ended a while ago. But I always like to do a couple of songs from that band,” David says.
{youtube}NgYe5ixQa-s{/youtube}
My Friend The Chocolate Cake released a new album ‘Revival Meeting’ in June this year. “We are really proud of the album, it was a bit of an Australian wake-up story.”
Along the way, David has produced albums for artists such as Archie Roach, Christine Anu, Monique Brumby and Papua New Guinea artist George Telek.
“Oh look I love [producing music]… I was just working with Archie Roach again on a song about the young kid that was murdered in Kalgoorlie for stealing a bike; that’s quite a big, Australian story. But it’s really great to work with Archie all these years later.”
With an extensive career in all areas of music, David has scored over 100 films and television series including ‘Bran Nue Dae’, ‘The Man Who Sued God’, ‘Tempted’, ‘Proof’ and ‘In A Savage Land’ just to name a few. “I love doing film soundtracks… it’s a different way of using music,” he says.
David has since developed, alongside respected PNG musician Airileke Ingram, the Wantok Musik Foundation, a not-for-profit music label aiming to generate and foster various cultural exchanges between indigenous Australia and Melanesia by recording, releasing and promoting music in that region.
For as long as David can remember he has always wanted to be a musician. “It’s a good industry and it’s a difficult industry to be in. I have been very fortunate to work with some great artists and bands, which means inspiration for me comes from all different areas.”
{youtube}c3odrxVLN-Q{/youtube}
Over the next six months, David is focusing on releasing his new album. “Getting this album out is [my] first priority… I am thinking of coming up with a book that goes along with it.”
