Blak Social, the First Nations arts collective working across music and theatre, will host their Blak Social Party event as part of Horizon Festival on the Sunshine Coast.
The Last Kinection, Ethan Enoch, and Djanaba will celebrate Blak music and First Nations artists on Kabi Kabi Country (Maroochydore) this July.Adding to the line-up a blend of ethereal vocals and dark instrumentation she describes as "blaktronica", is Tasmanian-born, Brisbane-based artist GLVES (pronounced "gloves"), the stage name of Michelle Levings.
"It's kind of a mixture of folktronica," Michelle elaborates of her sound, "it's using organic sounds that are to do with my heritage.
"It's then coupling that with ethereal vocals and storytelling – so it's got that folky sort of feel to it, but it's sort of electronica, so that's why I call it blaktronica." Certainly adjectives you'd ascribe to GLVES on hearing her latest single 'Ships'.
There's a lot of pride for her heritage coming through in her powerful style of storytelling. Standing out from her peers, Michelle's handling of her delivery of those stories is a more contemporary style.
"I'm really focused on making sure that my music reflects all elements of the human experience," Michelle says. "It's really easy to create music that's going to be palatable to the wider market.
"For me as an artist, it's really important to create music that shows the full scope of the human experience. The light and the shade are important to me, so showing the dark side.
"I really appreciate my darkness as well as my lightness in terms of my mood and the way I view the world. My music can be quite dark which I fully embrace. I love the bittersweetness of music."
With Blak Social coming together at Horizon Festival for a sonic presentation of their heritage and sounds, there's a power that First Nations artists deliver as a collective that perhaps an individual performance won't.
"I think it's powerful to showcase altogether, our collective stories," she says. "They're all so different but we all have a basis in an experience of being in the colony and having the identity we have.
"It comes from a place of resistance and survival, despite some of the negative connotations that are associated with our identities.
"I guess for me there's a sense of rebellion, and when you get together with other rebellious misfits, I think it's very powerful."
Michelle will also be part of SPARK Ipswich festival in July, where she won't be performing alongside artists of strictly indigenous heritage.
The stance and impact on Michelle's appearance of being alongside people who are descended from the colonies provides a different kind of experience, one that will see her share, teach, communicate, and collaborate.
"I look at each performance as a communication," she says. "It doesn't really matter where I perform – I performed recently at Dark Mofo and that was a different energy again, so I could really lean into that avant-garde stuff.
"You've got to pick your audiences as to where you can lean more into that, like if they're going to get that or not. Spark Festival, there's a range of genres and different kinds of artists, and I just see myself as an added element to that, that I'm bringing my own storytelling to that."
Not one to conform to the stage on which she's playing, Michelle has conviction. "I think it's important to stand true – all artists do that, I suppose that's why you're an artist, you're putting yourself out there.
"I think there's an extra level of thickness to your skin if you're a First Nations artist. That's just my perception of things.
"But also, my genre of music is not a mainstream genre, so I look at each performance as a way to showcase 'this is the sound and story I create', and yeah, just enjoy it."
GLVES joins Allday and Hope D playing the all-ages music festival Brightdaze (Ipswich) 8 July as part of SPARK Ipswich. GLVES also plays Blak Social Party alongside The Last Kinection, Ethan Enoch and Djanabaat at Solbar (Sunshine Coast) 26 August as part of Horizon Festival.
