IN the lead-up to the 2015 Southbound in Busselton, the Bunbury Mail will chat with artists from the line-up to get you in the mood for festival fun.
SOUTHBOUND: Sassy young Adelaide MC Tkay Maidza is making her mark across the world and will bring that addictive “life is for having fun” attitude to Busselton’s Southbound festival in January.
The 18-year-old, responsible for the catchy rap which has dance-floors chanting “stomp ya feet like a brontosaurus”, has showed no signs of slowing down with new singles U-huh and Switch Lanes reaffirming her presence on the airwaves.
Speaking to entertainment last week, Maidza was halfway between Sydney and Canberra as she headed for a gig at new venue The Chop Shop, having only just returned from overseas the day before.
“I got back from overseas yesterday, I was in LA for a week and then New York City,” she said.
“We were doing showcases for labels – it was really fun to see people react and really interesting to see whether they like the stuff.”
With the July release of new track U-Huh, Maidza described it as “a shout out to all the people that pretend to like you and be your friend.”
More recent offering Switch Lanes maintained the ballsy attitude, with lyrics “I don’t know why they think we are alike, when I win it’s like I give them life.”
“Every time you write a new song you just hope it is going to go down well – I’m releasing some more stuff now and showing more of myself so I just really hope people like what they hear,” Maidza said.
“It’s more my personality and it turned out exactly how I wanted it to.
“Lyrically I didn’t think about it too much, I just wrote and it was exactly what I was aiming for, so I was like, ‘Oh cool’.”
The talented teen is looking forward to joining the Southbound line-up, which includes big names like Alt-J, Milky Chance, The Temper Trap and The Presets.
“I’m really excited to go along to Southbound , it will be my first time and it will be the first time in a long time I will be doing something over New Years,” Maidza said.
“My approach to festivals is that I want to know exactly what’s going on – I will over-practise songs so that even if something goes wrong and I forget where I’m at, I will still be able to get it right.
“I’m really looking forward to seeing George Ezra, I think he’s cool, and Glass Animals.”
As far as “best festival memories” go, Maidza will always remember letting loose at Byron Bay’s Splendour in the Grass.
“It’s one of the, if not the biggest festivals in Australia and I was in this tent and I didn’t expect anyone to be there but it was packed,” she said.
“And when we did Brontosaurus everyone went absolutely crazy, it was so good.
“I think that was when I realised it was all really happening, that I could be onto something.”
After Southbound is done and dusted, 2015 will be another huge year.
“I’ll be doing quite a few shows in the beginning of the year and then I’ll be doing a lot of writing to prepare for later in the year,” Maidza said.
“I’ll be doing quite a few collabs, I’ve written a lot of songs for people.
“Sometimes I get stuck on lyrics but then I’ll have an epiphany and all of a sudden it will come together really quickly.”
Catch Maidza and the rest of the line-up at Southbound 2015 on January 3 and 4 at Sir Stewart Bovell Park in Busselton.
Go to southboundfestival.com.au for more information.