There are many standout names taking part in Melbourne’s Open Air series at Fed Square next month. The free events, running from December, offer a mix of live music, outdoor cinema, festivals, and art.
On March 1st, the Main Stage will feature Sun Ra Arkestra and Wax’o Paradiso, blending cosmic-jazz, psychedelic sounds, and dance beats.
Melbourne’s Mildlife will also be bringing their signature psychedelic jazz and funk to the stage, following their ARIA Award win for Best Jazz Album with their third studio album, Chorus, which was impressively their third win in just four years in the category.
The album debuted at #1 on ARIA’s Vinyl, Australian Artist Albums, and Physical Albums charts, and reached #36 on the ARIA Albums chart. Chorus earned critical acclaim and followed their previous albums Automatic (2020) and Phase (2017). They also released Mildlife Remixed II, a remix album featuring producers CC:DISCO!, Prins Thomas, and Lovefingers. Talk about being busy.
Read our chat with Mildlife’s Adam Halliwell below to find out what the group has planned for their Open Air performance, how it feels to be performing alongside Sun Ra Arkestra, their thoughts on their ARIAs success, and more.
Explore the full program at fedsquare.com.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: First of all, are you looking forward to playing Open Air next month?
Adam Halliwell: Yes, Very.
How cool is it going to be to play an event alongside a legendary group like Sun Ra Arkestra?
The Sun Ra Arkestra is one of my favourite musical groups, definitely in my top 5. So it’s such an honour to be sharing the stage with them… I guess it’s going to be very cool. But hopefully more than just cool.
Being a local act, are you already familiar with Wax’o Paradiso?
Yes, we have played shows here and there with Wax’o for years and years now. So, yes we are familiar.
Are there any other acts on the Open Air lineup you’re eager to see?
Ramayana and other tales with score by Harry Sivanesan looks pretty nice.
What have you got planned for your own performance?
Hopefully some tight performing. Tight as in free and connected to one another, not too spacey. Spacey as in focused, not spacey as in the outer world, but definitely that if you are considering what we are playing. I mean, its a free concert, so I’d like to keep it a bit free.
When you’re playing an event like this, do you tailor your set to suit a more general crowd?
Yes, we do. I mean, it’s a public performance, so we are more than happy to tailor our set. It may intrigue a friend or a new customer to delight the ears open our sounds from the time.
Looking back, were you happy with fans and critics’ reaction to Chorus last year?
Yes, quite happy. I mean it has given us the privilege to tour around the globe and have an ever growing audience. We were able to travel to some new places this year, so I’m rather happy about the way things have panned out.
How did it feel to win Best Jazz Album at the ARIA Awards? You’re really starting to dominate that category!
To be honest, quite confused. I mean, I think the ARIAs need to create some new genre categories. Music is developing and changing constantly so it would be nice to see it reflect that.
Tell us about your remix companion EP, Mildlife Remixed II, too. How did those four remixes first come about?
Well, we basically shout around the email system to the people we love. ‘Hey, we have this new album, do you want to do a remix.’ So yeah, like this. The artist then selects a remix and then goes forth and remixes. The exception being the last remix is by us.
Would it be too much to ask you to pick a favourite remix?!
Oooo, I dunno. My favourite is not important. But there was elements in all that really intrigued me.
What else have you got coming up in 2025
As our album cycle has come to an end, we have some scattered touring. So, mainly we are going to be doing some writing for the next record and start working on that.
