Monique Brumby

Monique Brumby (born 16 September 1974, Devonport, Tasmania)[1] is an Australian Indie pop/rock singer-songwriter, guitarist and producer.[2] Her debut single, "Fool for You", peaked into the top 40 in the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) ARIA Singles Charts,[3] and provided an ARIA Award for 'Best New Talent' in 1996.[4][5] Her single, "Mary", won an ARIA Award in 1997 for 'Best Female Artist'.[4][6] Brumby's songs have been used for Australian television: Neighbours, Home and Away, McLeod's Daughters,[7] The Secret Life of Us[8] and Heartbreak High;[9][10] and in the Australian films: Diana and Me (1997) and Occasional Coarse Language(1998).[11] Early years Brumby was born in 1974 in Devonport, Tasmania, and moved to Hobart at age seven.[12] She attended three different primary schools including Lauderdale Primary School (in nearby Clarence) and then secondary school at St Michael's Collegiate School to Year 12, she sang in stage musicals and tried out for women's soccer. In 1991, she was selected for the Australian under-19 youth team in a three test series against New Zealand.[13][14] While still at school, Brumby busked by singing to acoustic guitar in Hobart streets and obtained some part-time gigs.[12][15] In 1993, after leaving school, Brumby had paying gigs in Hobart clubs and then travelled to England on a working holiday as a boarding house mistress for a year;[15] she returned to Tasmania to write songs and, in 1995, relocated to Melbourne, Victoria, where she performed in local pubs and clubs. She joined a guitar-based band and wrote songs with its members before leaving to concentrate on her own songs.[15] In September 1995 she was the support act for Jeff Buckley's performance at The Athenaeum in Melbourne and at the Phoenician Club in Sydney.[16]