Monique Brumby

Monique Brumby (born 16 September 1974) is an Australian indie pop/rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer. Her debut single, "Fool for You", peaked into the top 40 in the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Singles Charts, and provided an ARIA Award for Best New Talent at the ARIA Music Awards of 1996. Her single, "Mary", won an ARIA Music Awards of 1997 for ARIA Award for Best Female Artist.

Brumby's songs have been used for television: Neighbours, Home and Away, McLeod's Daughters, The Secret Life of Us and Heartbreak High; and in the Australian films: Diana & Me (1997) and Occasional Coarse Language (1998).

Early years Brumby was born in 1974 in Devonport, Tasmania, and moved to Hobart at age seven. She attended three different primary schools including Lauderdale Primary School (in nearby Clarence) and then secondary school at St Michael's Collegiate School to Year 12; she sang in stage musicals and tried out for women's soccer. In 1991, she was selected for the Australian under-19 youth team in a three test series against New Zealand. While still at school, Brumby busked by singing to acoustic guitar in Hobart streets and obtained some part-time gigs. In 1993, after leaving school, Brumby had paying gigs in Hobart clubs and then travelled to England on a working holiday as a boarding house mistress for a year;

Career 1995–1997: "Fool for You" to Thylacine Brumby signed with Sony Records, she wrote and recorded her debut single, "Fool for You", which was released in April 1996 and peaked at No. 31 on the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Singles Charts. Kelly included the track on his Words and Music released in 1998.

"Mary" was released in September 1996. In addition to Craw, Moffatt and Patten, Brumby's session musicians for the EP included: Michael Barker on drums, Bridie on piano and keyboards, and Paul Kelly on harmonica. "Mary" won the 1997 'Best Female Artist' ARIA for Brumby and received another nomination as 'Producer of the Year' for Bridie. Brumby used session musicians: Barker, Bridie, Craw, Dickins, Moffatt and Patten, with Helen Mountfort (My Friend The Chocolate Cake) on cello, Simon Polinski on bass guitar. The B-side, "My Friend Jack", was co-written with Maryanne Window, her guitarist/bass guitarist. Brumby was also awarded Young Tasmanian of the Year in the field of the Arts. Also in 1997, an art photography magazine, Black + White, published The black+white album – A visual celebration of Australian music which included semi-nude photos of Brumby.

1998–2002: Eventide to Signal Hill Brumby co-produced her EP, Eventide, with Polinski, which was released on Sony/Columbia in August 1998 with its lead track, "Wrecking Ball" receiving most airplay. For the EP, Brumby provided songwriting, vocals, guitars (acoustic and electric) and djembe with Window on acoustic and bass guitars, and co-writing "Way it Goes" with Brumby. Brumby described Eventide:

There's a lot more space in the music on Eventide. The songs have got more of an edge and there's also some experimentation with electronica. We thought we'd release the five tracks as a bit of a taste test Signal Hill was released on 7 October 2002 by Little Wind distributed by Shock Records, and was produced by Brumby, Moffatt, Polinski and Paul McKercher.

2003–2006: "Driving Home" to Into the Blue Window became Brumby's manager and a member of Monique Brumby & the Riders to tour in support of Brumby's releases. Other members of the Riders for her 2003 single, "Driving Home", were: Shamus Goble on drums and Tom Rouch on electric and slide guitars. In 2005 she participated in Garageband, a project from Irish singer, Andy White, she recorded vocals for the band's self-titled album, Garageband. Brumby was the support act on the Australian tour by US group, The Bangles.

In March 2006, Brumby released her third album, Into the Blue, produced by Brumby and Doug Roberts (Deborah Conway, Chris Wilson, Jack Jones, The Badloves).

2007–present: Skeletons' Polka and Monique Brumby In 2007 Brumby produced South Australian singer-songwriter, Emily Davis' debut album, Moving in Slow Motion—it was Brumby's first production for another artist.

She has since produced the debut album, Zenith Valley, for Melbourne-based acoustic rock group, Mosaik.

Brumby formed Monique Brumby and the Flash Mob, with Shamus Goble, Maryanne Window, Dave Higgins on keyboards and Sophie Turner on guitar. In 2008 they were the support act for another tour by The Bangles. From July 2009, she recorded her fourth album, Skeletons' Polka, co-produced with Mark Opitz.

I'm very excited about the new songs. I went 'home' to Tassie for a month and just demoed the songs using a vocal booth and a little eight-track recorder. It was very relaxing – it's always good to get back to Tassie and reconnect – and then I brought the demos home and played around with them using Pro Tools and added reverb and stuff like that before sending them off to Vicki [Peterson of The Bangles]. I also gave copies to people such as David Bride and Jeff Lang who are going to be playing on the album so that they could begin thinking about what they might be able to add.

In 2011, Brumby released "Underground" which was to be released from her fifth album Half Moon, Half Everything (October 2011) but the album never eventuated. Brumby's self-titled fifth studio album was released in January 2014, which included "Underground" and singles "All the Ways" and "Silent War".

Personal life In the December 1997 issue of Outrage, Brumby acknowledged that she is a lesbian, and although some see her as a role model, her sexuality is only one facet of her personality and she would rather be described as a musician.

Discography Studio albums Title Album details Peak chart positions AUS Thylacine Released: June 1997 Label: Sony/Columbia (487196 2) Format: CD, cassette 58 Signal Hill Released: October 2002 Label: Little Wind/Shock Records (M1249) Format: CD, digital — Into the Blue Released: March 2006 Label: Little Wind/Rajon Records (CDR0565) Format: CD, digital — Skeletons' Polka Released: March 2010 Label: Little Wind/Rajon Records Format: CD, digital — Monique Brumby Released: January 2014 Label: Little Wind/Rajon Records (201445667) Format: CD, digital —

EPs Title Details Eventide Released: August 1998) Label: Columbia Records (666470-2) Format: CD

Singles

Awards and nominations ARIA Music Awards The ARIA Music Awards is an annual awards ceremony that recognises excellence, innovation, and achievement across all genres of Australian music. They commenced in 1987.

Best New Talent

Breakthrough Artist – Single David Bridie for Monique Brumby "Fool for You" Producer of the Year

"Mary" Best Female Artist

David Bridie for Monique Brumby "Mary" Producer of the Year

Thylacine Best Female Artist

"The Change in Me" Song of the Year