INTERVIEW: Jessica Mauboy on performing at Night At The Barracks this October.
Published: 31 July 2024
Australian pop royalty Jessica Mauboy has had a remarkable 2024. In February, she released her remarkable fifth album Yours Forever which hit the top 10 on the Australian album charts and produced the Gold single ‘Give You Love’ featuring Jason Derulo.
The album was accompanied by a sold out Australian tour, and earlier this month Mauboy released the stirring single ‘Higher’, the official song for the Australian team competing at the Paris Olympics.
In October, Mauboy will return to the acclaimed Night At The Barracks festival in Manly, Sydney. Staged over four weekends from 13 September to 6 October at the historic Barracks Precinct at North Head Sanctuary, the festival will see performances from some of Australia’s biggest artists, including Mauboy, Matt Corby, Icehouse and Jon Stevens, as well as a number of tribute shows including the Gospo Collective’s Whitney Vs Jackson show, and Taylor Made: A Taylor Swift Tribute.
It is Mauboy’s second appearance at the festival after she appeared at the very first event in 2022, and she recently sat down with us to tell us about her performance and her incredible 2024.
Hi Jessica! Thanks so much for chatting to us today. How is everything in your world right now?
I’m so excited to be going to Paris for the Olympic games to support the Australian Olympic Team. My new song ‘Higher’ is the athletes team song and I am so proud to be able to sing it for them. I hope it will bring them inspiration and that it will remind them that the whole country is behind them, cheering them on.
You will be playing Night At The Barracks on 5 October, your second year performing at the event. What makes this festival so special for you?
It’s so awesome to be coming back to Night At The Barracks. I had such an amazing time performing at it last time. This festival is so special to me because it is so important to celebrate and champion live music, especially for Australian artists. I love any opportunity to be up on stage performing for fans and the Night at The Barracks is such a wonderful evening out!
What can we expect from your set on 5 October?
I’m so thrilled to be bringing the band. The set is going to be high energy, it’s a real burst of pop rhythmic soul…I’ll be singing all my favourite songs and all the songs I think the crowd is going to love. It’s going to get everyone up on their feet dancing and it’s going to be a vibe!
As you just mentioned, you have recently released your new single ‘Higher’, the official song for the Australian 2024 Olympics team. It is such a gorgeous song, can you talk me through a little how the song and the involvement with the Olympics teams came together?
This song has been 2 years in the making for the AOC, with Will Hyde coming to the AOC with the idea of having the Australian Olympic Team have their own song. Will is the amazing EP of the project, and my friends Shannon Busch (Artist name Wilsn) and Stephen Mowat wrote the song. There were a number of key people behind the song, providing inspiration and insight into the journey of the athletes, and this guided the lyrics and tone of the song. Lending my voice to this incredible song I hope will bring a confidence and excitement to the athletes, and a knowing and believing in yourself for the big journey ahead.
What Olympic sport do you think you would bring home the gold medal in if you weren’t a musician?!
Oh goodness, my voice is my strongest muscle in my body and the one I train and use the most every day. My sister Sophia is the real sporty one in the family, but not many people know this about me…I played hockey when I was younger when I was growing up in Darwin... so maybe hockey!! I heard that break dancing is now an Olympic Sport which is so cool… so if I could have my own sport recognised, it would definitely be running in heels!! That’s something I’ve gotten pretty pro at over the years of running and dancing all over the stage!
You have also just made a guest vocalist appearance on the new 3% track ‘Won’t Stop’, how did this collaboration come together, and what was is like to make?
I absolutely LOVE this song and the 3% guys! They are such legends, and their new record is unreal. I can’t wait for everyone to hear it and to really listen to the lyrics and hear their stories.
‘Won’t Stop’ is such an incredible track. The energy in it and the power of what it is about is something unlike anything I’ve done before. It’s such an honour to be a part of such an important and impactful project, it’s got so much soul and I’m so proud to be a part of it.
If you haven’t seen the music video yet, please go and check it out. We filmed it in Bomaderry and it’s raw and real and it really makes you stop, think and feel.
2024 has been a big year for you, with the release of your incredible album Yours Forever and the following sold out tour. What has been one of the highlights for you his year?
I have to say 2024 has been unreal. I’m so proud of the Yours Forever project. It’s my fifth studio album and I really took my time crafting it. The national tour was such an incredible experience and opportunity to meet fans and music lovers, so much so that we’re having a little encore run at The Palms at Crown Melbourne in September. I just love being on stage and singing my songs for everyone. There’s nothing quite like it. Returning to Night At The Barracks and being at the Paris Olympics is the icing on the cake!! How lucky am I!
‘Higher’ is out now, you have Night At The Barracks coming up in October, what else is on the cards for you in 2024?
I love being an Ambassador for Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair (DAAF) and the Indigenous Literacy Foundation (ILF), and both incredible organisations have their annual celebrations coming up with the DAAF happening in the first week of August up in Darwin, and then Indigenous Literacy Day on September 4 is being hosted at the Sydney Opera House. Both causes are very close to my heart and I’m so proud to be part of a positive future and to champion and celebrate First Nations creatives and initiatives.
Tickets for Night At The Barracks on sale now, click here to get yours now.
‘Higher’ is out now via Warner Music Australia. You can buy and stream here.
Yours Forever is out now via Warner Music. You can buy and stream here.
Follow Jessica Mauboy on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter.
Read our 2019 10 page interview with Jessica Mauboy in issue 7 of Women In Pop Magazine
NIGHT AT THE BARRACKS 2024 LINE UP
13 September - Icehouse
14 September - Pete Murray
15 September - Gospo Collective: Whitney Vs Jackson
20 September - Birds Of Tokyo
21 September - Jon Stevens: Noiseworks & INXS Collection
22 September - Australian Rock Collective: Best Of Arc (Featuring Kram, Darren Middleton, Davey Lane And Talei Wolfgram)
27 September - The Presets (Live) And Bag Raiders (Live)
28 September - SIX60
29 September - Taylor Made: A Taylor Swift Tribute (Featuring Clare Bowditch, Alex The Astronaut, Clementine Ford, Charley, Emily Wurramurra And Lucy Durack)
4 October - Matt Corby
5 October - Jessica Mauboy
6 October - Xavier Rudd
