Margaret River Music and Events provides high-quality professional live music for events in the South West. They play across the three major music disciplines: Classical, Jazz and Popular styles, making them a really diverse and comprehensive live music provider in the South West Region. All Margaret River Music and Event musicians are professionals and have obtained music and/or performing arts degrees. When clients book with Margaret River Music and Events they can have a high level of confidence, knowing they’ve booked musicians who are amongst the best that WA has to offer.

Tell us about your journey to becoming a musician?

I started to play the flute over 30 years ago! It was clear that out of all the things I did as a child, music was the thing that I seemed to excel at most. I graduated from The Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA) back in 2008 and during my time there I met and played many wonderful musicians whom I’m still in touch with. After graduating I continued to play concerts and gigs with other musos in the jazz, classical and contemporary music spaces here and in the USA, where I was based from 2013-2022.

How has your practice changed over time?

It’s become shorter! Being a mother to two beautiful girls as well as a music teacher at St Thomas More Primary School in Margaret River means that I have to be really intentional and concise when it comes to practice. The research is out and we now know that shorter, but more focused practice sessions are actually more powerful than long and perhaps less focused practice sessions. As for creativity, we still need long sessions to really be in a ‘flow state’ and this is something I’m endeavouring to build into my weeks this year so I can get into the song writing zone again.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced working in the music industry?

Money. I mean, that was predictable right? While the price of everything else has gone up, music’s price has stayed where it’s been for the last 20 years. Reflect on what a CD cost in the 90’s… Reflect on what you’d have happily pay for an hour or two of live music then too. The needle hasn’t moved much. Platforms like Spotify have also contributed negatively. We live in a world now where the middle man takes the cake, so it only makes sense that musicians would be victims to this system also.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?

The best piece of advise I have been given was actually by a fitness coach… it was “Harness your inner robot-mode”… That advise was in relation to being consistent in exercise and doing it even when you don’t feel like it! Musicians are often emotional, dynamic creatures who find it hard to be disciplined and practice consistently. On those days I’d rather clean the toilet than sing or play my flute or uke, I find ‘Robot-Mode’ to be a helpful mindset to put on!

What would your dream project look like, if you had unlimited money and time?

A venue here in Margs, where the focus is the music and the musicians…not the wine, not the food (although they’re there!). A social performance space where local and touring musicians would love to play because of the appreciative audience it attracts.

Name three creatives that inspire you and why?

Asha Henfry – she has done a lot of practice haha! She has achieved a great deal in a short space of time and has such a joyful way of being in life and in playing.

Kevin McDonald – he’s an amazing all-rounder. He can play anything you put in front of him and he know how to fix everything from instruments to sound issues… and even the wiring in your house haha!

Sean Lillico – he’s a very virtuosic jazz pianist and I’m always impressed with his ability to pull off amazing improvised solos on the spot.

Website / Instagram / Facebook

Image credit Ovis Creative