Brunswick Picture House | Sunday | 3.30pm
The Jazz Singer
Award-winning vocalist Emma Pask will delight as she interweaves storytelling through timeless swinging jazz standards, upbeat latin rhythms, tender ballads, and some raucous blues. She plays the Brunswick Picture House this Sunday.
Your singing career started so young. How did that come about?
I was 16 and in year 11 at high school when James Morrison first heard me sing with my school band one afternoon in a workshop. He asked me to sing with his band on a concert that evening. Not long after that night I received a call from his office and was booked to sing with his band. From that fatal evening in the school hall, I spent the following 20 years on the road with James and the band.
You took part in The Voice not long ago. Do you feel like your career has shifted from being part of The Voice; where has it taken your career direction?
I loved my time on the show. It was short, but I enjoyed it. I was given a great opportunity to sing to a larger audience. The hard work really begins when you leave a show like that. To keep the momentum flowing and get out there touring, doing gigs, and meeting all the people you had a chance to sing for on the television. Careerwise it feels like it’s always on the up to me, and that’s how I like it. You never know what’s around the corner, and that’s exciting considering all the fun twists and turns my career has had already.
What’s the highlight of your career so far?
There have been so many fun things I’ve been able to experience and achieve throughout my career. Highlights for me would definitely be having worked hard and saved enough money to be able to self-fund and self-produce my music. That along with some pretty cool gigs too. I recently toured Australia with Grammy Award-winning vocalist from the USA, Kurt Elling. Opening for him each night was an incredible honour.
What’s on the horizon for Emma Pask? What can jazz fans look forward to in the coming months?
I’m heading off to Cuba in January (2019) and people have the opportunity to come along with me, which I think is really cool! I’ve been invited to play at the Havana International Jazz Festival in Cuba and I’ve teamed up with Cuban Cultural Travel to create an exclusive 10-day tour for anyone to come along and join us for our musical debut in Cuba. There’s a lot more info about the tour online if you visit www.cubanculturaltravel.com or email [email protected] or call 02 8214 8420.
There are a lot of young musicians living in and around Byron. Do you have any tips, trade secrets, or lessons from your years of experience that you’d like to share with all the aspiring performers who are out there?
Keep working on what you love! I’m not gonna say the road is easy, but if you love what you do, then really you just have to keep on keeping on. Play/sing as much as you can. Surround yourself with musicians who are on the same path as you, who you feel are supportive and share your creative passions. Avoid any negative people when you can.
Get out there and experience live music, listen to anything and everything you feel inspired by and that you enjoy, listen and play what makes you feel good.
Emma Pask is at the Brunswick Picture House on Sunday at 3.30pm. Tix are $25/30 and can be bought on www.brunswickpicturehouse.com
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