CREATIVE CONVERSATIONS 070: KODIVINE ON THEIR UPCOMING DARWIN FRINGE SHOWS
Words by Brooklyn Gibbs.
Kodivine is the creative work of Kodi Twiner - musician, performing artist and events organiser. They are the creative director of their own production venture, Rhino Milk Productions , which specialises in producing events that priotise fem-identifying and gender-diverse people.
Kodivine has performed at countless music festivals including Desert Festival, Falls Festival, Mullum Music Fest, Bello Winter Fest, Newkind Festival, Darebin Music Fest, and has featured on panels and workshops, discussing women’s representation in music and creative arts.
Futuremag Music caught up with Kodivine before their upcoming Darwin Fringe shows to get a taste of what’s to come!
Please see the bottom of this article for ticket and show information.
FMM: How would you describe yourself to someone who is coming across your work for the first time?
Kodivine: I would say that I’m a musician and events organiser. I can’t help myself but to organise and re-imagine what a gig can be, and I don’t really do things by halves. So, my music is kind of like neo-soul RnB with jazz influence. But, what moves me in music is having a groove and having artists and audience linked into the same moment, and that’s often through groove. So, I try to have a really strong groove element in my music. As an organiser, I organise events through my creative production’s venture, Rhino Milk Productions. We specialise in booking events that priotise femme-identifying and gender-diverse people.
FMM: I love that! So, where does some of your creative inspiration come from for this work?
Kodivine: It comes from way too many years seeing line-ups that aren’t diverse enough and that don’t represent the community that we come from, and the depth of stories that reflect who we really are.
FMM: It’s really good to see a group of people so passionate about a diverse representation in the entertainment industry and putting a plan into action. I believe you’re from Alice Springs/Mparntwe? So how do you find that’s going over there?
Kodivine: I am based in Alice Springs/Mparntwe, but I have lived in so many places and pre-pandemic I was based overseas, so it’s been a few years of real change to my lifestyle and I’ve been producing events throughout NSW and the NT, and across the country.
FMM: Well done! So let’s talk about your upcoming shows for the Darwin Fringe Festival! Firstly, Prickly Pear because that sounds so interesting. I understand this show is about showcasing the creative practices of women and gender-diverse people. It’s a really good line up of creatives too! Tell me more about Prickly Pear and what people can expect.
Kodivine: Prickly Pear is a fantastic show that I would encourage people to come and see. It books emerging artists and the slots are quite short, so you see a large variety of disciplines in only one show, so I think it’s a really diverse and stimulating experience for the audience. It’s focused on making connections, so audience and artists feel connected - there’s not this fourth wall between them. Prickly Pear has happened a few times. The lineup always changes - it books local, emerging artists. For this addition, we are bringing nine travelling artists from Alice Springs/Mparntwe to perform in Darwin at the Fringe.
FMM: Yeah, cool - I love that and I’m really keen to check that out. It sounds super exciting!
Kodivine: Yeah, so it’s music, poetry, dance, burlesque. Previously we’ve had live, ceramic artists, so there’s been visual artists involved before, showcasing works in progress. This one at the Fringe is being held in Brown’s Mart on the 9th and 10th. I think there’s 13 performers involved, so you really do see a wide variety of performances for just a one-hour show.
FMM: That’s awesome! So tell us more about The Lucky Bat one that you’ve got coming up as well with Velia. I see that this show has soul-soaked storytelling. So, what sort of soul-soaked storytelling can we expect from this performance?
Kodivine: Well we had the first rehearsal last night and I’m super excited. Velia is a friend of mine - we’ve known each other for a few years through music industry events. Actually, this is the first time we’ve collaborated in a deep and creative way together. So, Velia is a singer-songwriter and rarely performs with a live band, maybe never, so it’s a really big step for them. The band is made up of Darwin players and Alice Springs/Mparntwe players. I don’t think this show is going to ever happen again - it’s going to be really special. I fall into this RnB-soul-jazz category and Velia definitely loves Groove, but our voices are very different. However, we’ve got this shared taste and shared musical repertoire that has influenced us, so it’s interesting to see how that manifests differently in our practices.
Velia’s stories are timeless and crafted beautifully. I’ve got a bunch of new songs that I’ve never played before, which will be debuted at this show, and they pull from my lived experiences and the identify I feel I need to inhabit in different ways as I move through the world. So, one of my new songs speaks to my recent experience of doing recovery on Bundajalung country, where I went to uni. A lot of my friends and family were affected by the Lismore floods. So, I would say there is a realism and confrontational sassiness in my songwriting as I don’t write sweet, love songs. These particular songs speak to our inter-relatedness with our environment and the pending climate disasters that are already upon us, and how it all happens at the same time. There’s no sudden space where we’ll have enough time to deal with this - it’s already here.
FMM: Thank you for sharing that! I’m really keen to check out both of these shows. It’s different and that’s what I love about it.
Kodivine: Yeah, I think musically, it’s interesting and the band is really, really shit-hot. They’re great players and the embodied way all of us have music in our lives and in our bones, is going to make this show a rare moment that hopefully we all feel actualised in.
FMM: And following the Fringe performances, what else is in the works for you?
Kodivine: I am producing live music events with 8CCC Community Radio from now until the end of the year, so one of those is Sunday Sauce on July 24th in Alice Springs/Mparntwe. It’s free to attend and the lineup is about 15 acts - all femme, trans, non-binary, queer. It’s a music-focused event. All of them are musicians. I will be recording new stuff in probably about October this year in the Territory, and that will be recording a new EP, including some of the songs I will perform at The Lucky Bat.
Catch Kodivine at the Darwin Fringe Festival
Prickly Pear - July 9 - 7pm - 8pm
Prickly Pear - July 10 - 3pm - 4pm
Get tickets here.
Kodivine x VELIA - July 14 - 7pm - 9pm
Get tickets here.