From NY To NT: Why Courtney Barnett "Jumped At The Opportunity" To Play Barunga

From humble beginnings in Melbourne, Courtney Barnett has gained fans all around the world in just a few short years. From appearances on Jimmy Fallon (twice) to The Ellen Show, The Colbert Report, Saturday Night Live, Coachella, Glastonbury and just last weekend, Governors Ball, Barnett didn't need to come to the small community of Barunga in the NT. But there she was, in Barunga.

I sat down with Barnett right on the bank of the river running through the town to talk about why it was important to her to slip Barunga Festival into her busy schedule, women in the music industry and not recognising Fred Armisen in the street.  

"I guess I was totally honoured to even be asked, first of all. Michael [Hohnen, Creative Director of Skinnyfish Music] got in touch with us and I've just never been here. I've never done anything like this. I guess I kind of jumped at the opportunity and, like, kind of rearranged some tour scheduling.

"We pretty much just got back from America and stay [for Barunga Festival] and we go on a bit of camping trip after the festival and then I go to Europe straight away," Barnett elaborates. She and Jen Cloher have arrived in Barunga having driven four-and-a-half hours from Darwin in a 4WD with a tent on top. "[I] pretty much am just home for this! It's just nice to... meet new people, see new bands, be part of a totally different experience. It's not like a… people drinking and doing drugs type of festival, it's just nice. It's just a nice community feeling and seeing all the kids dancing this morning was fucking cool."

Barnett has a refreshing view on her newfound world stardom — yes, even I cringed when I used the phrase. 

"I just see it more as a chance to travel around the world singing my songs to people and… yeah. People are always asking questions like that — how does it feel like to be this or that — but at the end of the day, that's all it is — an amazing opportunity to sing to people." 

"I get worried sometimes that people are so politically correct that they say things because they know it's the right thing to say but they don't actually mean it."

Having appeared on so many festival bills and late night talk shows, does Barnett find herself stopped in the street very often?"

"Uhhh sometimes, but not really. I'm enough of, like, a nobody but enough of a somebody. It's a good balance. If people do recognise me, I assume that like, they're mega-fans because I'm so bad at recognising people in the street. When we're wherever, my friends will be like, 'oh my god, that's so and so, the actor from something' and I'm just really bad at— unless they're, like, wearing their costume or have the same hair. I'm really visual and they need to, like, look— someone like Fred Armisen, glasses, the hair, people need to have their thing."

In its 31st year this year, Barunga Festival have branded 2016 with the theme 'Celebrate Women', boasting a lot of strong female musicians on the bill and a focus on learning from the local indigenous women through bush medicine, weaving and damper workshops.

"I think… everything's slowly getting better [for women]. And it's definitely… slowly gotten better over time. With high thanks to like, amazing women who have come before us. And not just women… I mean, there's always men that are instrumental in it as well. I dunno… there's still moments where I get so pissed off about stuff but I think the conversation is, like, open and… and… everyone's quite aware of it," Barnett ponders.

"I get worried sometimes that people are so politically correct that they say things because they know it's the right thing to say but they don't actually mean it. I've really noticed that recently. Fuckin'… I think that pisses me off even more. They get up on their high horse and like, I dunno. The cool thing is, there are so many fucking amazing women making music and you can talk about all that stuff but you just gotta, like, do it and be awesome and that's it."

Having watched ARIA-winning Play School host Justine Clarke earlier this morning — "she's rad" — with a coffee in hand, Barnett is surprised to hear Barunga Festival has been running for longer than either of us have been alive.

"31 years! I had no idea. I dunno, it's hard to say because I've only been here for half a day but the vibe— you can tell instantly that the vibe is good, it's very inclusive and all the activities are all quite varied from art to sport to music. The support of everyone involved seems awesome, too. 

"I think I'll just wander and see where I end up. I don't like being too structured, you know? Fate takes you to the right place [laughs]."

Barnett explains that festivals like Barunga need to exist so as to "not lose those traditions, those values, the music and the art".

"That's the purpose of singing songs, to keep stories going and share them through time. I guess we record music and shit, but the purpose of music originally was to share stories verbally."