Forget everything you know about ironing.
As part of Horizon Festival's 2025 programme, the Sunshine Coast's iconic Solbar will transform into a pulsating dance floor with the unmistakable buzz of feminist electro beats, as Cairns-based duo The Ironing Maidens return to the region with their acclaimed show 'Electro House Wife'.The performance promises not just a sonic spectacle, but a bold, immersive art experience that fuses humour, activism, and beat-driven catharsis.
The Ironing Maidens – comprised of artists and electronic music producers Melania Jack and Patty Preece – have long been turning heads by transforming household tools into instruments of resistance. Quite literally. "Our instruments are built from irons and ironing boards," Jack laughs.
"It started from researching women in electronic music history, like Daphne Oram, who was creating electronic music and building synths in the 1950s – at a time when most women were expected to be in the kitchen or doing housework. So we thought: 'what if we made instruments from those symbols of domesticity?'"
However, 'Electro House Wife' is no novelty act. It's a high-energy, unapologetically fun, and deeply thought-provoking performance that reclaims traditionally feminine spaces and transforms them into places of empowerment.
Drawing from house music roots – a genre long known as a safe space for queer communities and people of colour – the set evolves from retro beats to booty-shaking percussive bangers. "It starts with a classic old-school house sound," Jack explains, "then we take people on a journey that gets more modern, a little heavier, a little sassier."
Presented as part of Horizon Festival's 2025 programme built around radical hope and collective action, 'Electro House Wife' feels right at home. "We love what Horizon is about," Jack says.
"The idea of bringing people together through art, creating a collective experience on the dance floor – it aligns so much with what we do. Our show is colourful, immersive, and really interactive, so Solbar will be the perfect space."
The show's evolution since its humble beginnings – including a now-legendary laundromat tour across regional Australia – reflects the shift in how audiences engage with performance art.
"When we started, we couldn't even explain what we were doing," Jack admits. "We'd just rock up to laundromats and set up, but now people are more open to immersive, non-traditional performances. They get it – and they're ready to dance."
Despite its glittering visuals and tongue-in-cheek presentation, 'Electro House Wife' doesn't shy away from the serious. At its core, it's a pointed critique of the undervaluation of domestic labour and the rigid gender roles that persist today.
"It's about challenging the binary that tells us who should be doing care work – both in the home and out in the world," Jack says, "but we do it with colour, sound, and a lot of fun. People are more willing to engage with these themes when they feel part of the experience."
Adding even more energy to the stage are dancers Leigh-Anne Vizer, Nadia Milford, and Georgia Pierce, whose choreography helps elevate the show from performance to full-blown dance floor rebellion.
The Ironing Maidens will also be activating their interactive artwork 'Mother Controller' during the Horizon Festival's opening event: a projection-based instrument built into, you guessed it, an ironing board.
For those already familiar with 'Electro House Wife', this edition of the show will include sneak peeks into the duo's new project 'Hot And Heavy' that's currently in development. "As long as the gender pay gap exists, 'Electro House Wife' will stay relevant," Jack says, "but we're always creating, always evolving."
The Ironing Maidens' 'Electro House Wife' plays Solbar (Sunshine Coast) 3 May. Horizon Festival takes place at various Sunshine Coast locations 2-11 May.
