The talented Aussie songstress joins acts like Vera Blue, Briggs and Client Liaison, among many more for By the Pier, a festival that’s set to dazzle Queenscliff later this month.
There’s no question that Julia Stone is one of our most prolific musical acts, along with brother Angus, she’s been behind arguably some of Australia’s biggest tracks, like ‘Big Jet Plane’, ‘Chateau’ and ‘The Devil’s Tears.’
On top of duo work, she’s released a number of hit solo records like The Memory Machine, and Behind the Horns, the latter of which hit the number 11 spot on the ARIA charts.
Her recent album dropped last year, Sixty Summers, which gives audiences a different sound than many fans are familiar with from the artist, but it was widely well received and critically acclaimed, reaching the top 20 in Aussie charts soon after its release.
Keep up with all the festival news, reviews and interviews here.
View this post on Instagram
Now things have opened, and she’s able to stop stripped back solo shows and play with a full band at festivals like By the Pier – held at the stunning Bellarine Peninsula in Victoria – are on the horizon for Julia, it finally gives her a chance to play these songs live in a way that rings true to the original intent of the album.
“Two or three years ago, the idea of not playing five shows a week was pretty bizarre,” Julia says. “It would have never occurred to me that I would have stopped touring, the actual reality of being back on stage is going to have a whole range of emotions and feelings.
“The way that I did most of the concerts because of COVID restrictions was that I turned most of the songs (on Sixty Summers) into stripped-back, folksy versions. A lot of the venues were just sit down, and then there were separated seats.
“It didn’t have the same atmosphere as how I intended to play the music live. But I did get one show in one of the (lockdown) gaps, we played an outdoor venue. I got to do ‘Break’ and ‘Unreal’ and dance in the original form of the music, it was really fun because everybody could dance. So that will be really enjoyable to be in a festival setting, and to be able to play the stuff from 60 Summers.”
The world of festivals in Australia is something to be proud of, there’s no shortage of shows and events on any given weekend that cross genres like dance, heavy metal, and of course Indie and alternative oriented festivals like three-day event, By the Pier.
Aussie artists and Internationals love playing Aussie festivals because there’s something special about them, people can join together, sing their hearts out, and bask in the glow of some of their favourite artists.
“There’s nothing quite like it. It’s special to have that feeling of thousands of people all singing together and, you know, being a part of that feeling is amazing. I don’t think anybody’s going to be taking it for granted,” Julia adds.
Julia has been a staple of the music industry since the early 2000’s with her and Angus’ first release, and since then, has written some amazing music, each coming at a different point in her life.
For an artist that intertwines emotion and lyricism from personal feelings, it appears to the average listener that it may be a hard feat to play songs all these years on and still connect to them, but as Julia notes, it has come from a version of herself in the past, so there is always a connection, even if it’s something different to what was first thought.
“I really think there is a through line throughout life. I don’t feel like the person I was 10 years ago, but the person I am now isn’t particularly different. I think there are things that changed but there’s a part of the music that always makes sense.
“It certainly doesn’t mean that experiences like that are not current and happening because they feel like life just repeats itself in a lot of ways. I look at a photo of myself when I’m six years old, and I sort of remember being the same person.”
Julia will be a headliner on the By the Pier stage on Saturday March 26, alongside Client Liaison and Briggs, two artists she’s looking forward to crossing paths with.
“I’ve never seen Briggs live, so really looking forward to that, and I always enjoy the festivities and energy the boys from Client Liaison bring to a show, they can get everybody dancing.”
Catch Julia Stone and many more at By the Pier, from March 25 – 27, grab your tickets here.
