We interviewed Jess Ribeiro who will be headlining NGV Friday Nights at NGV International on 19 Aug 2016.
Describe your sound in 5 words or less?
David Lynch meets Patsy Cline
If your music was an artwork what would it look like?
A mountain made of crumpled papers, photos, postcards, books, old love letters, half baked songs, sentimental trinkets, seashells and crystals, as well as late night boozy illustrations. At the bottom of the mountain there is a rambling river dribbling streams of consciousness, and floating on the water, old suitcases full of diaries and journals for people to fish through.
What’s your favourite gig you have played to date?
In Brisbane we got naked with the crowd, very fitting to the weather.
What inspires/influences your music the most?
My surroundings. The people and the land I encounter. Also, my childhood inspires my imagination a lot of the time. I often find myself daydreaming about the past, trying to make sense of it, wondering where I have come from.
What song do you wish you wrote?
The Rainbow Connection written by Paul Williams, made famous by Kermit the Frog.
What part of making music excites you the most?
Playing with other people.
What can someone expect from your live show?
A bit of realism, common sense, with a touch of exotic, supernatural elements.
Tell us about the last song or album you created?
Kill it Yourself was a bunch of sketches inspired during travels and work through central Australia, The Top End and the deserts in North America. It was recorded in Melbourne and produced with musician Mick Harvey.
Degas: A New Vision showcases works by Edgar Degas that reveal how the artist observed the world around him. How do you feel your music reflects life today?
Kill it Yourself, is about our present disconnection from food source and nature,
and the innate longing to rebuild that bridge. It came from spending time living in the city then working in remote places like Gilawinku (Elcho Island), Tennant Creek and Darwin,.
The music is a reflection on thoughts about the juxtaposing world today, well some of the songs anyway… because then there’s love songs too.
What are you working on now?
New songs for the next record.