Teenage bands set to rock Ballina festival

TEENAGE bands from across the region will perform at the third annual Folded Music Festival in Ballina.

The event, run by mental health group The Healthy Minds Club, will be held at Ballina Skatepark on Saturday, September 20.

It gives local youth the chance to perform live at a free event in front of about 300 people.

Last year’s winners, indie rock band The Maggots, are set to return, with the festival to feature high school bands and a local headline act, which is yet to be announced.

Gaia Cadou-Blake, Molly Cooney, Sia Parkinson and Amara Wade formed The Maggots in 2021 and graduated from Byron Bay High School last year.

As part of their prize, they recorded at Byron Music Studio with local producer Angus Beats and released their debut single No Answers, which is now on Spotify.

“It’s a nice feeling to be asked to play at these events and it was such a great opportunity to go into the Byron Music Studio,” Sia said.

“That was our first experience in a proper recording studio.

“We were very lucky that it was free, and it made us want to make more music.”

The band said the recording session inspired them to write new material and find more opportunities to perform together.

Molly Cooney, Gaia Cadou-Blake, Sia Parkinson and Amara Wade (absent) will play at the Folded Music Festival after winning the event last year. Photo: MITCHELL CRAIG

“The music program at Byron Bay High School is really good, we were lucky to have them,” Molly said.

“I rarely did any other music lessons outside of it because it was that good.

“It’s great that we’ve stayed together this year and we all take Fridays off work to practice.”

Folded Music Festival organiser Jackson Connellan said interest from schools across the region has been strong.

“This year we’ve been inundated with requests,” he said.

“We now want to take the event to another leve.

“Marty Brennan came on to our board a few years ago and he was keen to help us tap into the arts and the music scene to help connect with the young people.

“We’ve seen how much it means to them.

“It just makes us want to showcase more young musical talent on a larger scale.”

The winning youth band will receive 12 hours of studio recording time.

Entries close on August 1. For details, contact the organisers.