Named after a Beyonce song, Who Run The World is a celebration of female South Australian artists across two, meticulously curated nights in Adelaide as part of Umbrella: Winter City Sounds.
Erin Fowler and Emily Bettison are two established, local musicians who between them have curated an evening of vibrant pop and powerful storytelling at inner-city arts hub The Mill where both are artists in-residence.
Passion Pop, curated by Emily, features three of Adelaide’s finest female-fronted pop outfits: Nakatomi, Emily’s own band Ferrns and Kado.
“Something that I’m really passionate about that I’ve found recently is pop music, so the idea of a live band performing to create a similar vibe as a DJ would,” Emily says.
“There’s a huge club culture where you go and dance with the DJ and I’m really interested in how live bands can do that.
"I wanted to put together a few female-focussed pop artists to put on a really fun night of eclectic, alternative-electronic pop. I’ve got a really cool line-up, which I’m excited to share the stage with.”
To complement the dancefloor feels of Passion Pop, Erin has curated a programme of intimate performances called Story & Song that focusses on the art of storytelling, featuring Naomi Keyte, Erin’s band Sitara and Hannah Yates.
“I really love multi-artform expression and I love working with other artists as well,” Erin says.
“I wanted to find artists that tell a story really beautifully and Naomi is obviously such a good choice for that, drawing from nature, and [she] has a really poetic and beautiful way of telling a story.
“Hannah also is a really strong storyteller, so for me we’re all working together on ways we can weave interesting ways of telling a story, maybe collaborating with some other artists as well and then my band will be performing alongside a visual album that we made last year.”
“They’re two quite contrasting nights, but I think they both fit in really well with the theme of winter,” Emily adds.
“So we’ve got upbeat pop stuff where everyone can dance the night away and get really sweaty, and then you’ve got a more intimate night, which can be accompanied by mulled cider, soup and wine. We’ve got two quite opposite themes that fit into the winter vibe.”
