Growing up in Stanwell Park is the inspiration behind singer-songwriter Bec Sandridge as she begins to make her mark nationally.
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Sandridge’s music is getting national airplay on Triple J and has been picked up by radio in Berlin. She was interviewed for Wollongong produced Youtube television show In The Loop shortly after releasing her latest single.
The full interview can be seen at https://www.facebook.com/intheloopgong/videos/548380308620571/.
Sandridge said her interest in music started in Year 9 when she decided to buy a bright blue acoustic guitar off eBay. A neighbour taught her how to play.
“I was obsessed with the guitar,” she said.
“I was always too scared to sing in public so it was always about the guitar for me. My first gig was...in Wollongong at Otis Bar. My whole family placed bets on me because they didn’t think I had the guts to sing in public. I wrote three songs in a caravan park and played four covers.”
The performance gave the then 18 year old the confidence to keep going and she took herself to Europe. She is 25 now and still admits to being a nervous performer. But after busking in the cold in Scotland she feels she can play anytime and anywhere. “I used my own money to fly to Glasgow..to play as many shows as I could in front of people I didn’t know to build confidence,” Sandridge said.
It led to the opportunity for her to tour with other musicians for two months and she has traveled back and forth between Australia and the United Kingdom for four years now. Last year she lived there for six months.
Sandridge’s music has evolved and she describes what she does now as Spaghetti Disco Pop.
“I started out as a singer songwriter with an acoustic guitar and it was very folkie,” she said.
But what she does now is a combination of something both sad but happy sounding.
That style helped her win the Triple J Unearthed competition late last year which resulted in her being able to play in the 2015 Yours and Owls Festival.
“That was pretty life changing for me,” she said.
“I got to play alongside some...of my favourite bands. I also ended up signing a deal with Farmer & The Owl (record label) which was a bit of a whirlwind. I’ve just released a single. A seven inch vinyl will be out with my first two singles. Apparently one of my singles in on high rotation in Berlin. I don’t know how it happened. I blame the Internet.”
Sandridge is playing the Big Sound Festival in Brisbane in September and is already on the bill for the next Yours & Owls Festival in October.
“My dream is to sell-out at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. It is a really cool venue,” she said.
Sandridge also likes the fact there are more opportunities for original home-grown artists like her in Wollongong along with new venues and facilities like that now offered by Relativity.
Sandridge has announced her own tour in August to celebrate the release of her EP.
Greg Ellis
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
Almost four decades in electronic, print and digital media. A writer, presenter, emcee, photographer and videographer with degrees in business management, marketing and human resources and tertiary qualifications in photography.
