Inspired by travelled pasts and ancestral stories are worldly, gypsy group Mzaza, the 2016 Queensland Music Award’s World category winners.
This Friday (6 May), the award-winning Brisbane group are treating hometown audiences to one more energetic show, before heading to Europe for their very first overseas tour. Though their upcoming performance also marks another ‘first time’ for the six-piece band. "We've never actually performed at the Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre [BEMAC] before, even though we've had a relationship with the organisation for a long time," says the group's French-Sepharic lead vocalist, Pauline Maudy.
"It's one of our last shows before we go and definitely one of the biggest, so that will be a really nice send off and way to share some songs with our friends and fans. We might have a couple of surprises in there as well."
Each of the members of Mzaza were cultural refugees at some point in their lives, and although they’re definitely all Brisbane locals now, their home countries spread across the Northern Hemisphere. This year marks the band’s 12th birthday and while the band has had a few line-up changes here and there, they’ve continued to create their signature upbeat and inspiringly unique music.
Their vast, cultural backgrounds and musical educations certainly bring an exciting twist to the world music stage, which Pauline says has been heavily influenced by both the traditional music from their European homes and their new homeland, Australia. "Our music is mostly influenced by music from France and from the Balkan.
"We’ve got other influences but it is mainly illustrated in our stories. For me, what's interesting is that we're all from different places and we all have passions for different cultures, yet at some point or another our families, or we, have moved to Australia and we have all met here. It’s kind of a representation of the mix of people you can find in contemporary Australia and what that sounds like," Pauline explains.
This month’s tour is named after one of their latest tracks of their 2015 album, named ’Enfants Du Chemin' or 'Children Of The Road’. The song is a intriguing reflection on travelling and the feelings of home, inspired by Pauline's first move to Australia as a teenager. "When you or your family have migrated, after a while you feel like you don't belong anywhere anymore," Pauline says of the song.
"You're not really like the people back home and you're not really like the people in your new home and you feel a bit out of place. That's what it's about, but it's also about when you're family is from somewhere else, it pulls you back to that place."
The band are embracing that inevitable pull and are looking forward to travelling back to Europe and getting the opportunity to return to the origins of their influences. “It’s about going back to the places that have inspired us, getting that inspiration again, working with people over there and bringing that back to Australia,” Pauline says.
Mzaza perform at BEMAC 6 May and Studio 188 (Ipswich) 14 May.
