GORDI & ISOL-AID PRESENT LUNCH WITHOUT BORDERS: AN INTERNATIONAL LUNCHTIME EDITION OF ISOL-AID FEATURING JULIEN BAKER, ASGEIR, SHURA, NANNA FROM OF MONSTERS AND MEN AND MORE

Gordi along with the team behind the popular weekend streaming festival Isol-Aid are proud to unveil a special international lunchtime edition of Isol-Aid: Lunch Without Borders.

Taking place over 2 hours from 11.30am Australian eastern time this Wednesday, Lunch Without Borders will see 5 artists from around the globe play a short Instagram Live concert for their Australian fans via Isol-Aid’s growing platform. They’ll be joined by 3 local Australian artists throughout the event. Isol-Aid launched 3 weeks ago and has run a live streaming festival over consecutive weekends and has been warmly embraced by the Australian music community.

As borders start to close and touring in Australia an impossibility for international artists, Canowindra musician Sophie Payten (aka Gordi) wanted to connect her musician friends abroad with their Australian fans, while expanding the reach of Australian music industry charity Support Act. The curated event will see each artist play 15 minute back to back sets on their own Instagram Live stories, with traffic directed from Isol-Aid’s site and social accounts.

The lunchtime concert will feature Tennessee singer and boygenius member Julien Baker. Her first two albums Sprained Ankle and Turn Out The Lights were met with critical acclaim and saw her perform numerous times on US late night TV, collaborate with an impressive list of artists and toured Australia most recently in 2018.

Of Monsters And Men’s frontwoman Nanna Bryndís Hilmarsdóttir joins the Australian lunchtime event from her wintry home studio late at night in Iceland. With several number one albums in many countries, they recently celebrated the eighth anniversary of their debut album My Head Is An Animal. OMAM were recently out in Australia for Falls Festival over the new year period.

Further inland from Nanna’s home in Reykjavik, Iceland is electro-folk falsetto star Asgeir.  Originally due to return to Australia next month, the popular singer released his third album Bury The Moon earlier this year. One in 10 people in Iceland own a copy of his debut album In The Silence.

British indie electronic producer-singer Shura comes to us from her newly adopted home in Brooklyn.  Recently fleeing the UK as President Trump threatened to close borders, she made it back to the US just hours before the British travel ban was imposed. Her second album Forevher features the slinky synth pop single “religion”.

Staying in New York, Hana Elion and JJ Mitchell make up synth pop duo Overcoats. Recently joining the Loma Vista roster, their recent track “The Fool” showcases the band’s emotionally-led harmonies and passionate delivery, which will no doubt be highlighted in raw acoustic duo format.

Joining the overseas visitors for lunch are locals – our host Gordi whose second album Our Two Skins is out in June, as well as Melbourne experimental bedroom pop purveyor Katie Dey in solo piano mode and triple j Unearthed star George Alice who has caught global attention with her streaming hit “Circles”.

The live stream will kick off from 11:30am this Wednesday (Aus EST), with each artist playing a 15 minute live set via Instagram Live.  It will be moderated by the Isol-Aid Instagram page where viewers can be directed to the individual artist accounts for each set.

Viewers can donate to Support Act, Australia’s leading organisation raising awareness and funding for musicians and arts industry workers suffering from mental illness, injury and other related issues. More information on Support Act can be found at: supportact.org.au/about-support-act/who-we-are/