Brumby was born in 1974 in Devonport, Tasmania, and moved to Hobart at age seven.[12] 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.[13][14] While still at school, Brumby busked by singing to acoustic guitar in Hobart streets and obtained some part-time gigs.[12][15] 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;[15] she returned to Tasmania to write songs and, in 1995, relocated to Melbourne, where she performed in local pubs and clubs. She joined a guitar-based band and wrote songs with its members before leaving to concentrate on her own songs.[15] In September 1995, she was the support act for Jeff Buckley's performance at The Athenaeum in Melbourne and at the Phoenician Club in Sydney.[16]
"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.[4][6]
Her debut album, Thylacine, was produced by Bridie and released in June 1997 by Sony/Columbia.[21][22] 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.[21] In June and July, Brumby was the support act for Kelly on a national tour.[15]Thylacine provided Brumby with an ARIA Award nomination for 'Best Female Artist' and the associated single, "The Change in Me" was nominated for "Song of the Year" in 1998.[4][23] The B-side, "My Friend Jack",[24] 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.[25] 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.[26]
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.[27] 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[12]
— Monique Brumby, 13 October 1998, The Examiner
Brumby started writing songs and making preliminary recordings for her second album,[12]Signal Hill,[15] however problems occurred with Sony and she left to form her own label, Little Wind. Her first independent release was "Silver Dollars" in November 2000 which was distributed by M. Brumby also provided vocals, guitars and keyboards, with assistance of session musicians including her live band, The Riders, consisting of Window, Tom Rouch and Shamus Goble. Additional musicians were Tim Powels (The Church), Joe Creighton (The Revelators), Barry Palmer (Hunters & Collectors, Deadstar), Angus Husband, Stuart Harrison, Bruce Haymes (The Casuals, Professor Ratbaggy), Chris Wilson, Adam Pedretti (Killing Heidi), Craig Patterson and Rachel Samuel.[28]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.[2] In April 2003 Brumby toured the east coast of Australia as a support act to Michelle Shocked.[29]
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.[2][9] She toured extensively throughout Australia, including a performance in her home town of Hobart playing alongside Jewel and george as part of the 'A Day on the Green' concert. Live versions of "The Change in Me" and "Prophecy" by Brumby were released on the associated various artists' album, A Day on the Green, Live!.[30] In 2005 she participated in Garageband, a project from Irish singer, Andy White, she recorded vocals for the band's self-titled album, Garageband.[31] Brumby was the support act on the Australian tour by US group, The Bangles.[32][33]
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).[2] The album was mastered by Leon Zervos at Sterling Sound, NYC, features her version of "Melting", co-written with Paul Kelly, who appeared as a guest performer,[20] as well as guest performances by Michael Spiby and Kerri Simpson.
In October 2006 she played as the support act for Pete Yorn's Australian performances.[34]
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.
Emily was looking for a producer so I'd realised her potential and said I'd be interested in helping out. Emily's eyes kinda lit up and it went from there. And it was a great experience as I'd never produced anyone before. So I learnt a lot, especially with Pro Tools. And we actually mixed Emily's album in my lounge room after we'd laid down some good bass and drum tracks at Doug Roberts' studio.[35]
— Monique Brumby, July 2009, Rip it Up
She has since produced the debut album, Zenith Valley, for Melbourne based acoustic rock group, Mosaik.[36][37]
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.[38][39][40] From July 2009, she recorded her fourth album, Skeletons' Polka, co-produced with Mark Opitz.[41]
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 [sic] 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.[35]
— Monique Brumby, July 2009, Rip it Up
Brumby undertook a series of album launches starting on 19 March 2010 in Hobart to showcase Skeletons' Polka and its first single, "They're Still Alive", both issued on Little Wing/Rajon.[42][43]
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.
Monique'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.[44][45]
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.
^Brumby, Monique (10 September 2004). "Forum > Q & A". Monique Brumby. Archived from the original on 31 August 2007. Retrieved 29 July 2009. NOTE: Archived copy of early official Monique Brumby website: may not have full functionality.
^McCormack, Louise (20 March 2008). "Monique Brumby". Cherrie. Evolution Publishing. Archived from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 13 July 2009.
^ abDunstan, Robert (July 2009). "Monique Brumby". Rip It Up magazine. Rip It Up Publishing Pty Ltd. Archived from the original on 2 August 2009. Retrieved 9 March 2014.
