Interview Transcript from Illawarra Stories Wollongong City Libraries Oral History Project – Melanie Stjepanovic
Interviewer: Jennifer Macey
Interview Date: Unknown
Jennifer: Would you mind just saying your name and where you’re from and how old you are?
Melanie: Yes. Ah, I’m Melanie Stjepanovic. I am 24 and I’m from Austinmer. I think this is my 10th year that I can recall coming. Um, but I’ve had a couple of times where I haven’t been here, I’ve been overseas and stuff like that. Um, but I have performed, I’ve helped volunteer, done a bunch of that stuff, brought friends along, camped, all the good stuff that Illawarra Folk Festival is about, yeah.
Jennifer: Beautiful. Um, so why, yeah, so, like, how did you first – did your parents drag you along?
Melanie: Um, so, I don’t remember what year it was, but my brother and sister are musicians and they, one of them got taught by Ann Lehmann who does all the youth tradition stuff. So, they, um, performed a while back, probably the first year it came to Bulli and I was very young at the time. I think I just came for the food and that was about it. Um, but then after that I was getting lessons with Ann and she got me involved with all the folk school stuff. So, after a little bit of, you know, getting a little bit of support from her, emotional support, I actually performed my first year here with my friend Vanessa. And that kind of branched on to me playing solo stuff and, you know, getting very familiar with the, the youth, um, traditions and all of those, um, things that Ann helped, um, organise.
Jennifer: So, what do you play?
Melanie: I am guitarist and I sing, yeah. And I’ve, I’ve been playing solo, probably that was probably one of my first solo full set list, ah, performances. So yeah, 2011, I think it was, when I first started, yeah.
Jennifer: So, um, so what’s it like playing here? It’s fun,
Melanie: I have never, I think one of the best times that I had here, I was just upstairs, um, in the restaurant and the Good Girl project was on and we had, um, I think it’s Helen Begley – I’m trying to remember names at this point. Um, but she contacted me and said, “Oh we need a local girl to help me perform.” So, um, yeah, it was nice kind of reflecting on that just then. Um, and it’s nice that, you know…
Jennifer: Did you just get up on stage?
Melanie: No, not just then, a couple of years ago I performed with her. I remember playing at Miner’s Camp I think it was. Yeah, and that was really lovely, getting to connect with, you know, musicians from all over the country. And that was some, um, stuff about like colonial, um, history about the first women that came to Australia. So, all of her stuff’s really interesting and she’s really researched all of that. And kind of learning about other people’s crafts has just been so interesting and so engaging and really like, it, it embodies the whole, um, spirit of the Folk Festival, I think.
Jennifer: What is it that you like about folk music?
Melanie: I think there’s just like, it kind of, it feels very diverse. Like I feel like there’s always something for som-, for everyone. And for me personally, like I don’t see many people my age here. But when I do, I’m like that’s fantastic because I think they’re definitely missing out. And I, and I know that when I see young kids here, they’re having such a fun time. And you see them when you’re walking over to the Black Diamond Marquee and they’ve all got their, ah, flutes out and they’re trying to, you know, make a couple of coins and that’s really fun to see. And I think it’s just, um, a great way for the community to kind of come together and, you know, celebrate such fantastic craft. You know when people really put so much time and love into their, um, into their work, it really brings the community together.
Jennifer: But you’re a young person [laughter]. Who likes folk music! It’s not typical. I mean, like you seem to really connect with it on an intellectual level – like that sort of analysis that you just gave…
Melanie: Yeah, well, like some festivals, you go to and a lot of people, you know, they’re on some sort of substance and they’re not really engaging. And I think that it’s nice to kind of sit down and listen, like really listen. And with, yeah, folk festival’s especially, like there’s no pressure to be anywhere, there’s no pressure to be with anyone. You can really spend time with yourself, and, you know, and, and hear people’s stories, and that’s really fascinating and really beautiful.
Jennifer: So, do you think it, it, you know, and also that generational thing too, because it, folk music seems to attract people from all different generations and appeals to different generations. Like…
Melanie: Yeah, I think it, I think it peaks and troughs. Like if you look at mainstream music, like there’s always at least one folk singer that’s kind of, you know, um, keeping the young ones participating. And, um, I, I know when I was in high school a lot of people, “Oh, she’s a hippie chick,” or “She’s, she’s a bit of a strange one.” But like I did get a few friends that helped volunteer and they came and saw me play and they really love the Folk Festival now. And we try and, you know, come camp at least every couple of years we come and we, we help volunteer and we see the music and we really love it. And I think, like, I guess it’s, it just depends on where everyone’s at during the year and whether they can be bothered. Or yeah, a lot of people are travelling at the moment, so I haven’t seen many. But you know, I still have a couple of friends that I’ve, you know, crossed paths with here and people that I don’t see unless I’m at the Festival, so that’s fantastic. Like I think, yeah, as I said, it brings people together.
Jennifer: And what was it like growing up in the festival, like, you know, from being a kid here and then growing up through it.
Melanie: Yeah, well, I mean, there’s especially a few instances where I think, um, a couple of the first times I drank alcohol was probably here. Um, but it’s very, like everyone’s looking after each other, you feel very safe. And um, yeah, I think it was just like a great environment to kind of feel like you could do that kind of stuff and like no one’s really judging you. And as I said, it’s like a community so you [laughter]. I don’t know, it’s, it’s an interesting one. ‘Cos, like, I was sitting down today with, um, Ali Barber, who, you know, played at the first Folk Festival and he was telling me all his stories. And like, yeah, it’s just great that you can kind of share those kind of things with anyone. You just sit down and you have a good chat and you, I, yeah, I think, regardless of age. Like it kind of, it can drive people apart in a way. Like I, I feel like sometimes, even like having a few piercings or something, like some older people may not want to engage with me and that’s fine. And maybe I don’t want to engage with them, like. But um, yeah, it’s just like great that you can get up and dance and, you know, share the same spaces with different people from different places.
Jennifer: And what do you think of the music? Like, how, how does that affect you every year like how does it move you?
Melanie: Well, I, like the first night I came, fantastic. Like went and saw, um, an indigenous elder, Brian Morley, I think it was, he was playing and that was fantastic. Um, and then I went on to another area and these people, um, I think they’re called Anna Smyrk. Um, she was talking about, um, you know, the state of the world and climate change and all of that. And then moved on to another stage and Cigany Weaver were just like killing it on stage. And then went over to Kay Proudlove, and she’s local and she’s fantastic. And, um, after that went and saw a German band and like it’s just great that you can kind of just see so much in such a short period of time. And, yeah, like, this like, it’s almost overwhelming like every year I think that’s the reason I always come back is ‘cos I feel like I’m missing out on something if I don’t come, yeah.
Jennifer: And, um, do you get inspired musically?
Melanie: Oh, definitely. Like last night after I watched a few bands and came home and I was like I should probably, you know, sit down and strum my guitar ‘cos I haven’t done that in a while, it’s a bit dusty. Um, and so yeah, like it definitely inspires me and it makes me feel like I should be, you know, pushing a bit harder and going to the Folk Schools that Ann ran, well still continues to run. Um, they really did kind of challenge me in a way. Like I remember buying a autoharp after I went to one of them and I was like, this is cool, I’m going to start learning this. And it kind of dropped off a bit, but then every time I come back, I see someone playing the autoharp and I’m like, I should be playing that like. Yeah, it kind of like, it kicks you up the butt. So, you’re going to motivate yourself and that is really, really good.
Jennifer: And are you still performing?
Melanie: Yeah, yeah. Um, I well, I’m not sure what’s going to happen when this is released, but I’m in a band and we’re releasing a single. I’m in Friday Park, um, so that’s going to happen at the end of January. And it’s interesting, they’re a bit younger, they’re 18-19, so they’re teenagers. Um, they’re, they’re cool, but I’m, I’m trying to get them to come to this and they think it’s a bit daggy. But I don’t think they understand, like you know, how cool, like I don’t know, they think of folk music and they just think of old people. I think that’s like the whole misunderstanding here is that there are younger people here and there is, that not everything’s just old wooden instruments. Like a lot of them, um, have a lot of character, they’re new, there are people adapting like it’s not, it’s, it’s celebrating the old traditions as well as, you know, bringing in the new and making sure people can engage that. And, yeah, so I do my solo stuff as well as I’m in a band. Folk’s really helped me with my song writing, um, but yeah, I’m on electric guitar now, so that’s something that’s really different. I guess in the folk world there’s not too many guitars. I remember there was a story about Bob Dylan first coming on stage with an electric guitar and everyone in the crowd was like, “What are you doing!” So, I don’t want to be like that, but at the same time you kind of have to do that when you’re in a space where everyone’s playing electric. You feel like you kind of have to challenge yourself and do the same thing.
Jennifer: Do you think that, um, coming here to the Folk Festival sort of put you on that path to music?
Melanie: Oh, definitely, yeah. I mean, like I don’t, like, there seems to be more freedom here than when you go to a, a different fe-, like I feel like there’s more space to be yourself when you come to like a folk festival, whereas maybe just a normal mainstream festival you feel like you have to fit the crowd, whereas here you can just kind of be yourself. So, um, that definitely helps with creative progression because it doesn’t narrow you down and think that you have to be like the mainstream. You can continue with traditional folk or you can, you can operate in a different way with your music.
Jennifer: Um, like the Elephant Sessions, that is totally had electronic and then there was like some funk in there. And, you know.
Melanie: Yeah.
Jennifer: And then the fiddle, like the Scottish traditional fiddle, like it feels like there’s that fusion as well, so it’s not.
Melanie: Yeah, it’s very engaging and um, that’s the thing with like mainstream music is that it’s all based on old traditional folk music, and it has touched people in certain ways that they may not be aware of. Like punk music isn’t just rock, like it’s Blues, and it’s all that kind of stuff as well. So, when people try and disregard, you know what seems like something that might be a bit daggy, I don’t know, that it isn’t, like it’s part of your life, regardless of whether you know it or not. So yeah, I think like seeing, yeah, the new instruments and new covers and people kind of taking on, tackling on new songs and stuff like that, that’s cool as well. Yeah.
Jennifer: Is there anything I’ve missed?
Melanie: I could tell you some like some bad stories?
Jennifer: What about like highlights? Can you remember like…
Melanie: I shared a tent in the, um, oval and it rained and it flooded and my friends and I just had the worst night. But I don’t know if that was a highlight. [Laughter] Um, yeah, camping up the top near the Grevillea Park’s always lovely, waking up to some people you know, singing, dancing, you know, going down to yoga, that kind of stuff’s beautiful as well. Yeah.
Jennifer: And what’s it like performing and seeing the audience? What does that feel like?
Melanie: I, honestly, ‘cos I’ve performed so many stages it gets to the point where you, it all kind of melds into one. But I love it, I love an audience that engages. Like if you play any bar or any, you know, cafe where you’re just background music, it’s just, it’s kind of demoralising to the point where you’re like no one really cares like if I’m here or not. Like I could just be a cassette, you know, or a CD, a CD player. Like so when you actually have an audience that engages, it’s very, you know, it keeps your spirits high. Yeah.
Jennifer: Oh yeah, and your Mum performs as well.
Melanie: Oh yeah, and my, and, and all my family. My brother was Beatmeisters bass player this year and Mum’s in Femmes Fatales. So, she’s been doing that for a little while. They played the HONK! festival last week. It was a brass…
Jennifer: Oh, I know what the HONK! is, but what is Femmes Fatales?
Melanie: Femmes Fatales, I think it was organised by Mel Wishart, and they kind of perform as a mourning band. So they, um, their first performances were, um, you know, getting all upset about the, the lack of funding for the Arts and going on and, um, having a little procession playing their instruments and, and getting all fired up about the fact that no one’s putting any attention to the Arts, so and that’s continuing. They’re talking about plastics and they’re talking about all those things that the government won’t talk about. So, um, yeah, that’s something that they’ve been, my Mum’s only been participating in for a couple of years, but they’ve been pretty good. Yeah,
Jennifer: So, music’s in your family?
Melanie: Yes. [Laughter] Yes, it’s ongoing, um, don’t know when it will stop. The whole house is full of instruments and there’s no time where it’s quiet, so I kind of, like when everyone’s out, so I kind of try and enjoy the quiet. [laughter].
Jennifer: All right, thank you.
Melanie: All good. Thank you so much.