Rin McArdle is about to embark on a Melbourne rite of passage. A resident of the city as of four months ago, the former Adelaide-based singer/songwriter will follow in the footsteps of many prominent musicians who too have had their time at one of Melbourne’s landmark venues before hitting the big time. She’s about to embark on a residency at Fitzroy mainstay the Evelyn Hotel.
Not that McArdle wasn’t flying high before this. Around the release of her debut EP Lefty Lou & The Hamley Street Blues, her impressive list of performances and support slots runs off like the resume of a musician more advanced in years, and McArdle certainly has a hard time trying to recall everything she’s done. “I was at Canadian Music Week in Toronto last year. In the last few months I’ve done a lot of writing. I played an event called Scouted in Adelaide – that was with some amazing Australian artists – heaps of writing, touring a lot at the end of last year and more writing recently. Now I’m about to get fully back into playing.”
McArdle’s return to playing will see her taking on many more Melbourne performances, starting with the residency. “It’s something I’ve always thought would be a cool thing to do and wasn’t sure how it would happen,” she says.
Apparently it is actually quite simple. “I just sent them an email. I didn’t know what I was doing, but I told them what I’ve been up to and what I’ve done and they were like, ‘Yeah, we’d love to have you.’”
Being such a well-known venue for live music which has churned out so many well-loved Aussie greats, for McArdle to make her mark means bringing in a little taste of home. “I’ve decided to bring friends over from Adelaide for it. I think it’s cool for people to get out and play as much as they can,” she says.
“The focus with this was I really wanted to have a huge degree of difference across the nights. One night when Nina McCain is supporting, I have my really good friend Bec Stevens playing, and they probably never would meet each other or play together otherwise. I thought their sound would go well together.
“On October 11 I have a folk-punk band playing. Then I’ve got an electronic group called Take Your Time playing. I think they’d probably never play together. I wanted to get the best lineup I could get, combining pals from home with bands I love from Melbourne.”
McArdle has put a lot of thought into creating an interesting and eclectic supporting lineup, featuring the likes of Max Quinn, The Flying So High-Os and Take Your Time. Throughout the month she will bring together a group of artists that will no doubt present a delightful diversity for the audio palette.
She has a very generous outlook on this opportunity when it comes to her friends and colleagues, only wanting for herself the chance to perform more frequently in her adopted city – what she needs from you, however, is a sweet and unselfish sentiment. “I just want to be playing in front of people and I want people to feel moved. In whatever way, I just want people to feel something. If there’s a few people or if there’s a lot, I just want people to be able to walk away from the show feeling like they really felt something. I want there to be a vibe regardless of numbers,” she says.
“My music can be pretty sad. When I play live, if someone’s affected emotionally then to me that’s a good show and I did good. I want to create an environment where people really want to stop and listen to what’s going on and be exposed to something different.”
