Indira Elias
It feels good to free myself from the expectation of genre and to practice intuition without words.
Australian born, of Lebanese, Filipino, Spanish and Portuguese heritage, Indira embodies a uniquely modern collision of ancient knowings and traditions. She fuses genre and sound in much the same way, drawing inspiration from myriad places with tender care. Cinematic soundscapes, painted in folk-noir, create a haunting and ethereal collection of songs that speak the language of mythology and fables.
Indira Elias is an artist, musician, composer and producer based on Gadigal and Birrabirragal land in Warrang/Sydney, Australia. One of the Powerhouse Museum’s 2021 Generation Fellows, Indira is a creative powerhouse herself. Testament to her curiosity and willingness to “try anything and learn everything”, Indira writes, performs, arranges, produces and engineers her music, self-releases through her newly-established label ‘Loba Records’, and handles creative direction of her projects.
The Generations Fellowship connects artists with established industry experts and mentors, to pass on intergenerational knowledge and create pathways in the music industry. Between September 2021 and March 2022, Indira Elias explored a number of musical instruments in the Powerhouse collection.
A little carved man on a donkey, sitting atop the Yugoslavian Gusle, reminded me that every instrument has a story to tell — about the hands that played it and the hands that made it.
Between shelves that house medieval armour, Australia’s first 3D printer, and some very old units of measurement, we inspected intricate hurdy-gurdies, carved with the faces of sirens, an Italian dulcimer from the 1700s, painted with views of the seaside, and some beautiful, old guitars.
Texture and timbre are the things that feel electric to me.
I was inspired by the opportunity to play beautiful old guitars from the Powerhouse’s collection — a Louis Panormo parlour guitar from 1822, and an archtop guitar made entirely of plastic from the 1950s.
We re-arranged a couple of my songs which are normally played with a pretty big band for this Farfisa.
Intense solitude and self-reflection are the biggest catalysts for my work.
GENERATIONS FELLOWSHIP
The Generations Fellowship connects artists with established industry experts and mentors, to pass on intergenerational knowledge and create pathways in the music industry. Established in 2020, this is a partnership between Create NSW, Powerhouse and Australian music management and touring company, Astral People.
Valued at $100,000, the Fellowship supports three early career solo artists or groups to carry out six months of professional development. Each Fellow is provided with $25,000 in financial support, and in-kind support in the form of studio space at Powerhouse Ultimo or Powerhouse Castle Hill, with industry mentoring and networking facilitated by Astral People throughout each residency.
