Bigsound debut for Joff Bush, Bluey’s award-winning musical brain

As members of the Australian music industry arrive in Brisbane this week for an annual conference and festival, one of the city’s most popular recording artists is among the guest speakers.

‘You know how babies have those big eyes that stare really intensely, just taking things in? That’ll be me,’ says composer and musician Joff Bush. Picture: Glenn Hunt

As members of the Australian music industry arrive in Brisbane this week for the 22nd annual Bigsound conference and festival, one of Queensland’s most popular recording artists is preparing to make his debut as a guest speaker.

Joff Bush is best known as the primary composer for the hit ABC TV cartoon series Bluey. In this role, he has won an ARIA Award for the chart-topping soundtrack Bluey The Album (2021), earned effusive praise from Hamilton creator Lin-Manuel Miranda, and attracts more than 950,000 monthly listeners on Spotify alone.

Yet because of his unusual entry into the music industry, he has steered clear of rubbing shoulders with his peers at Bigsound – until now.

“Lots of my friends have been to it, and been part of it – but I’ve never been because I was a bar pianist and music teacher for so long,” Bush, 38, said with a laugh.

“I’m somewhere in the film world and the music world, now that the [Bluey] albums are out, and doing well (but) I’m an absolute baby when it comes to the ‘normal’ music industry.

“You know how babies have those big eyes that stare really intensely, just taking things in? That’ll be me.”

On Thursday, Bush will give a presentation on the methods he enlisted to strengthen his creative muscles prior to getting the gig on Bluey, which called on a diverse set of collaborative skills.

Before his work life became consumed with soundtracking the world of talking blue heelers, Bush set himself daily challenges such as inventing meals, writing three piano tunes within an hour, and penning letters to friends from the perspective of historical figures – all of which helped him build his unique artistic toolkit.

“I’ll talk about that sort of approach, where you create something first, you find your voice and what you want to share with the world – and then you take that, and just show up as yourself,” he said.

Each night this week, 19 ven­ues in Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley will come alive to the sounds of more than 140 performing artists, including showcase events arranged by companies such as Mushroom, Live Nation, Oztix and Unified.

Led by industry development organisation Q Music, Bigsound was attended by about 11,000 people last year.

Speakers booked to appear alongside Bush at the Judith Wright Arts Centre include Australian singer-songwriters Kate Miller-Heidke, Christine Anu and Gordi, as well as US Rolling Stone journalist Brittany Spanos.