KATE MILLER-HEIDKE

Words by Luke Carlino

Regional Victoria’s LGBTQIA+ home base, Daylesford, offers more music, dancing, and fun than ever before over the Labour Day weekend.

This year marks the 25th edition of the ChillOut Festival in Daylesford, a celebration of the thriving LGBTQIA+ arts community in the gay capital of Victoria!

This year, the festival is back with a bigger line-up than ever before, featuring performances from Art Simone from Drag Race Down Under and the viral TikTok star Rudy Jean Rigg over Labour Day weekend.

However, the biggest name on the bill is the one and only Kate Miller-Heidke, who headlines the festival’s main event, Carnivale, in Rainbow Square on March 12. The classically-trained alt-pop queen is truly in a league of her own. She recently completed the tour cycle for her fifth studio album, Child In Reverse, which hit the ARIA Top 10 and included a range of singles, most notably Simpatico featuring Mallrat.

Being unanimously chosen by jury and public as Australia’s 2019 Eurovision Song Contest certainly made Kate a household name. Her performance of the original piece Zero Gravity won first place in the semi-final, and a top ten spot in the Grand Final, along with the Marcel Bezançon Award for Artistic Achievement. To this date, she’s the only person who has sung at all three: Eurovision, Coachella, and the New York Metropolitan Opera.

She has also dabbled in television – her work has been featured in promos for the classic TV soap Neighbours, and she has made appearances on the Masked Singer and performed her song I am my Own Panther Now on the ABC comedy show Preppers. When you consider her mega-star musicianship fused with her taste for dramatic theatricality, it’s no wonder she’s among the ranks of Australia’s most esteemed gay icons.

All of this, in turn, has led to a much-needed break that Kate is currently taking by the beachside. She was kind enough to steal a moment away to chat with Beat about her performance at ChillOut, what she’s been working on, and what’s yet to come – while we’re never quite sure what to expect when it comes to Kate’s career, we know it’s always going to be dazzling.

We begin by revelling in the fact that live performances and festivals like ChillOut are well and truly back. “It feels like something I’ll never take for granted again,” says Kate, “live performance (from the stage and from the audience) is my version of church – it’s the opposite of feeling lonely.”

This year’s ChillOut theme is Find Your Wings, a fitting match for the soaring pop, folk, musical theatre and opera blend of Miller-Heidke’s sound. The headlining spot is not an honour that the 17-time ARIA Award-nominated artist takes for granted.

“I’m incredibly honoured! It means so much to me to be welcomed by the queer community. I can’t wait. I just know the vibe will be fabulous,” she says. “ChillOut has an amazing reputation, I’d heard about it for years from friends who have been and I’d always wanted to go, so being asked to headline was a real treat. I couldn’t say yes fast enough.”

Started in 1997, the event has grown to be one of the highlights of the Victorian festival season. It’s located just an hour and a half drive out of the Melbourne CBD, in Daylesford: the queer culture epicentre of the countryside, and also the mineral spa capital of Australia.

Visitors can book a ChillOut glamping package (think less rugged mountainside, more luxury yurt with hot showers) or stay at one of the town’s quaint hotels or cottages to make a weekend getaway out of the event. There’s also a shuttle bus to bring guests from their accommodation to the festival hub.

It’s a time for the LGBT+ community to come together for a wet and wild five-day celebration featuring music, comedy, sports, arts events and raging parties. On the schedule this year?

Life drawing, granny drag bingo, speed dating, horseback riding, bushwalks, twilight bathing and so much more. After the party, guests can book into one of the glamorous local spas to relax and rejuvenate. Kate is set to close out the event on Sunday.

Festival appearance aside, Kate most recently collaborated with Marcus Bridge from Northlane for the Last King of the Cross TV series soundtrack, an unlikely pairing that has created something special.

“A TV producer put it to me that my song Last Day on Earth could work as a much harder song in collaboration with a metal singer. I’ve always loved crossing genres and reinventing songs,” she says. “Marcus was my first choice of collaborator, he’s one of the best singers I’ve ever heard and hearing his death growling/screaming up close was an unforgettable experience. So dramatic!”

The collaboration can arguably be considered less strange for a diverse artist with a now 20-plus-year career that has touched and melded various genres seamlessly. Although most of her music could now be loosely defined as pop, she got her start as a classical vocalist.

She earned herself a bachelor’s degree in classical voice on a full-ride scholarship and even went on to get a Master of Music from the Queensland University of Technology. Her voice – bright, dynamic and impeccable – has allowed her to transcend the confines of genre and deliver stunning performances in whatever she tries.

As Miller-Heidke discusses, longevity is rare in the music business, especially for women. “I feel truly grateful about it. Having impeccable management is definitely a big factor. Also, I have a fairly diverse musical background, so have been able to dip my toes into opera, TV and theatre as a performer and a composer. Job security is not a thing in this industry, so my only strategy is just to keep going! So far, it’s worked out pretty well.”

The remainder of the year sees Miller-Heidke working on large theatre productions, including a ballet and an original musical. She is also working on Muriel’s Wedding the Musical overseas and a new solo project – “it’s still early days for new music, but I’m very excited about it!”

For now, your best bet for a dose of Kate Miller-Heidke is at ChillOut Carnivale on March 12. Grab your picnic basket and your friends, and prepare for a day-long rager featuring special guests DJ Eddie, Cerulean (Miss First Nation 2021), Dean Aruci, Elektra Lite, Tuck Shop Ladies, Gabrielle la Bucci, Jude Munroe, Rude Jean Rigg, Karen from Finance, Jude Perl, Diamond and York, Greg Gould and DJ Du Jour.

ChillOut Festival runs from March 9 to 13 in Daylesford, Victoria.