MICHAEL EXELL

SINCE launching their debut album, Holes in the Sky, last December, Minky G and the Effects seem to have fallen off the radar in the local music scene; however, this is far from the truth, with the band leader Michelle (Minky) Gardner being busy as ever.

Having only one notable gig since the album launch, their debut at the Ellington Jazz Club in February, the band members have spent the last few months auditioning keyboard players, and they have settled on Murray Bishop to make the trio a quartet.

The reason behind adding a keys player to the full-time line-up was an attempt to fill up the band’s sound, and shadowing the classic four-piece rock line-up of guitar, piano, bass and drums.

Being the band leader does not only include playing guitar and singing; Minky is the songwriter for the band.

She says she brings basically complete songs to the band and they “just make them more awesome.”

This was a main reason behind bringing in a keys player because of what the guest keyboardists, Lukas Murphy and Nicholas Owen, added to her songs on the album.

The band, although being relatively quiet since the album launch, has a lot of plans lined up for the remainder of the year.

A south-west tour is being flagged for later this year, with a spot at the renowned Fairbridge Festival already confirmed, as well as a single and music video with the track “Trouble” from the album being put forward as a possibility.

Minky G is also immersing herself in her reinvention as a career musician.

Until midway through 2009, Minky was a radio journalist working in the Nova 93.7 newsroom while studying at the Western Australia Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).

However towards the end of the year, she decided to make an attempt at becoming a career musician.

As well as being the band leader of Minky G and the Effects, she is a well-known solo performer and collaborator around Perth.

She hones her art by spending up to three hours a day practising in her rehearsal space.

As a solo musician, she has had spots supporting local acts, Matt Gresham and the Sunshine Brothers, while continuing her ongoing collaboration with The Brow Horn Orchestra.

She performs a number of corporate gigs and weddings, as well as an array of gigs at cafés and open mic nights.

In addition to her career as a performer, Minky runs community jam sessions for local councils as well as teaching guitar at a local high school two days a week.

She has also contacted the David Wirrapanda foundation in hopes of visiting remote Aboriginal communities to help spread music.

Becoming a career musician is an extremely hard career.  Not only do you have to have talent, but being able to write songs, manage a band as well as supporting yourself financially doing what you love takes a lot of heart and a lot of guts. Minky Gardner and her effects have both.