Rising Brisbane star to join international acts at two-day musical feast

The dust will barely have settled on the new year when a string of international acts descend on Brisbane’s live music precinct over two huge days.

The mini-festival – on January 2 and 3 at Fortitude Music Hall – will feature British indie-rock darlings Foals, Australian electronic dance duo The Avalanches, acclaimed musician and producer Sbtrkt, and British singer-songwriter Declan McKenna.

Eighteen-year-old Brisbane artist FELONY will play Fortitude Music Hall on January 2 alongside international acts Foals and Declan McKenna. Credit: Darcy Goss - @darcygossmedia

Eighteen-year-old Layla Borhani – aka FELONY – will also take to the stage, in what she describes as a full-circle moment.

It wasn’t long ago that the Brisbane local was performing Declan McKenna covers with her high school band.

Now she’s about to play on the same line-up as one of her favourite musicians, this time performing original songs at one of Brisbane’s pre-eminent live music venues.

“It’s going to be crazy to be able to watch them, let alone play with them,” Borhani said.

“It’s definitely going to be the biggest show we’ve played.”

Last year, FELONY supported friends and fellow Brisbanites Selfish Sons on their national tour, playing small but packed venues.

“I think we became really tight as a band during that time,” she said.

Fresh from working on an EP in the studio with Brisbane-based producer Cody McWaters (King Stingray, The Chats), Borhani is ready to make the jump and play a venue like Fortitude Music Hall.

Last year, FELONY toured with friends and fellow Brisbane band Selfish Sons. Earlier this year, she spent time in the studio with producer Cody McWaters working on her first EP. Credit: Darcy Goss - @darcygossmedia

Her confidence is a testament not only to having McWaters onside, but also to the music community she’s coming up in.

“I played Bigsound this year. People saw the show was strong and reached out,” she said.

“The scene in Brisbane is so up and coming, and it’s such a community now … I don’t know what I’d do without the scene. I’m such a scene rat.”

FELONY’s latest single, Everyone I Like Wants To Kill Themselves, is a punchy pop track that encapsulates her ability to swing between soft honesty and loud anarchy.

It’s heartfelt, noisy and fun – all at once.

“I love pop music – I love Wham, Cyndi Lauper and Madonna, just huge pop moments like that.

“But I was also a drummer, so I love rock music: Paramore, Foo Fighters, that’s what I grew up on.”

Navigating the world right now is a challenge for most, let alone young people feeling their way into adulthood. But it’s in that generational void that Borhani finds inspiration as an artist.

“I try to speak for my generation of young people ... in a kind of self-aware way; [exploring] how the internet raised us and [gave us] access to every catastrophic event in the whole universe. That is really scary, and it can force people to feel like they have to be in control of the world.

“But at the end of the day ... you can see that kids, including myself, are just looking for something to belong to. So I write about that, in a pop kind of way.”

FELONY plays Fortitude Music Hall on January 2. See the full line-up and event details here.

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