Ahead Of Leaps & Bounds, Shiralee Hood Shares Smith Street's "Massive History"

Although this is Shiralee Hood's first year as MC, 2016 marks the fourth Smith Street Dreaming — an Indigenous music festival that celebrates the First Nations footprint in Collingwood and Fitzroy. "There is a massive history in Fitzroy and Smith Street," Hood observes. "[The] Collingwood area with the [Smith Street] Parkies [the history] goes right back, because that was the fringe that the Aboriginal people were pushed to live when the city was developed." Smith Street Dreaming's aim is to foster understanding and respect between the Smith Street community, workers and visitors and Hood points out, "Where the people sit out front of the Woolworths there, that's an actual cultural site".

Hood got her start in stand-up comedy as the national winner of the 2009 Deadly Funny competition, which she praises as a "brilliant initiative". "Aboriginal people are just so funny, we always had a lotta laughs in our family," she shares. When asked to share some of her proudest achievements, Hood remembers Essendon Football Club getting in touch hoping to book her act. "I thought it was one of my mates playing [a prank]... I was really pleased to find out it was fair dinkum," she reveals. "So that was a dream come true."

Smith Street Dreaming only utilises a corner of Collingwood at the moment, but Hood would love to see it grow down the track. "I think we should work towards having the whole street blocked off," she enthuses. Other artists featuring on Smith Street Dreaming's line-up this year include Yirrmal Marika, Lady Lash, Indigenous Hip Hop Projects and Stray Blacks.