Monique lives and works on Yuggara & Turrbul country, in a place traditionally known as Tuwong (a Turrbul word for the Pacific koel). This land, and all of Australia, was never ceded by the First Nations owners.
BIO
Wielding a cello and strikingly crafted vocals, Monique Clare is a multi award-winning Australian songwriter. She weaves compelling lyrics, driving rhythms and intricate cello lines through stories of grief, love and learning. Mesmerising, cathartic and offbeat, her songwriting mirrors the classical training she grew up with, immersion in the traditional folk scene, and art-pop influences. Insatiably adventurous, her career has spanned teaching cello in war-torn Afghanistan, performing onstage with Eminem, and leading hikers up mountains for sunrise concerts.
Monique’s disarmingly candid stage presence is born from years of touring the US, UK, Ireland and Canada with The Maes, gracing stages from Orkney Folk Festival to Telluride Bluegrass Festival. Laced with chamber-pop and echoing influences from Björk and Joanna Newsom, her 2022 debut album was described as a “laudable and overdue debut” by Listening Through The Lens. Since its release she’s been awarded album of the year at the Australian Folk Awards, song of the year at the Queensland Music Awards, received a Danny award at Celtic Connections in Scotland, and been nominated for Best Instrumentalist at the 2023 National Live Music Awards.
Raised by a singer and a pipe organist who shared a mutual love of Bach, Gregorian chant and French Impressionist harmony, Monique grew up in a habitat of choirs, surrounded by layers of individual voices forming an immersive wall of sound. While she grew up in a musical family, it took her 13 years to discover Björk, 16 to form a Radiohead obsession, 21 to catch on to The Beatles and 26 to fall in love with Joni Mitchell.
On top of this musical baptism of fire has been an array of experiences as a multi-genre session musician. From touring internationally with Melbourne outfit The Maes, to being a hired gun for world-class artists such as Kate Miller-Heidke, The Whitlams, Katie Noonan and Eminem, to accompanying legendary fiddle player Darol Anger, she’s absorbed a set of entirely divergent genres and approaches to music. Playing on stages like the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Woodford Amphitheatre and the Orkney Folk Festival with these artists has given her an unshakable stage presence that she carries into her own shows.
2021 saw Monique represent Australia at the World Expo in Dubai, record and release an international co-write with Amanda Rheaume in a project supported by Folk Music Canada, and produce collaborations with musicians from around the world as part of Global Music Match. Her debut album ‘Sight’ was released in 2022, debuting at #11 on the AIR independent charts and featured on ABC’s The Music Show.
Awards
2024 Danny award recipient, Celtic Connections (SCO)
2023 Contemporary Album of the Year, Australian Folk Music Awards
2023 Contemporary Classical Song of the Year, Queensland Music Awards
2021 Best Music Video, West End Film Festival
2017 Young Artist of the Year, Folk Alliance Australia
2017 Ros Hales Award for Women in Music
PRAISE FOR SINGLE, ‘BETTER NOW’
“(Better Now) lends itself to deep textures that shimmer with celebration…there's a depth of not just sonic interest, but personality”
- Scenestr Magazine
“…A wonderfully organic take on pop - you can feel the thumbprint of her work all over this track”
- Dave Ruby Howe, Triple J Unearthed
“The song rises and falls, builds intensity and gives way to pensive delicacy in such a satisfying way.”
- Jerry Ijale Agbinya, Triple J Unearthed
“Wow, what a sound”
- ABC Saturday Night Country
“A rare talent”
- Inner FM
PRAISE FOR SINGLE, ‘IT WORKS’
“Beautiful, dark, and alluring”
- Nkechi, Triple J
“Bold, clever and vivid… Icicle sharp vocals…reminiscent of the incredible voice of Kate Miller-Heidke”
- BMA Magazine
“Powerful”
- The Music
“An impressive and magnificent single”
- Music Is My Muse
QUOTES
“Touching…incredibly beautiful”
- Andrew Ford, The Music Show ABC
“Monique is most obviously a virtuoso, and can tease musical sounds from her instrument and combine them in a way that is truly fascinating…when joined together with that overarching clear vocal, we have a synergy of sound”
– John Lamp, The Pulse
“The most incredible musician…a must see this festival”
- The National Folk Festival (AUS)
“A force to be reckoned with”
- Playlist Play
"Monique brings courage and a zeal for life together in her music - she’s a joy to hear".
- Punch Brothers bassist, Paul Kowert
"Her raw and honest lyrics (spoke) to each person in the audience".
- CutCommon Magazine
“There's a depth of not just sonic interest, but personality, that by using her cello accentuates both Monique's musical style and her persona.”
- Scenestr Magazine
“Monique takes her years of music training and her brilliantly quick and creative mind and delivers a performance that is stunning to fans of any music genre. Her songs are intimate and soaring - both sonically and lyrically, and her stage presence is pure joy".
- Matt Smith, Folk Alliance International president
“Monique Clare captivated her audience at The Black Malabar with her raw talent and inescapably honest songwriting”
-Zac Perrington, The Black Malabar
"Absolutely delicious"
-Wendy Harmer, ABC Sydney
“Personable cello-slashing Aussie charm”
-Klof Magazine, UK
Monique is an endorsed D’Addario Artist and plays on Kaplan cello strings.
“Kaplans are meaty, robust, and particularly good for rhythmic, chordal playing. For my work, which involves multi-genre, amplified performances; accompanying singing; playing trad fiddle tunes and occasionally crossing back over to classical - Kaplans are the best.”
