If you were on Bruny Island earlier this month, you might have even seen her hanging out with Spiderbait drummer Kram as part of the Festival of Voices’ One Eye On The Stranger program. 

One of seven artists from across the country to win a spot on the weeklong artist retreat, Shannon returned to Launceston last week with a bunch of new friends and a well-kindled creative spark. 

“It was basically like the Hogwarts of music, you just got to run around and find other people to work with and we all just got along so well,” Shannon said. 

“They were all wonderfully diverse people too - all of our music styles were completely different and yet we were able to team up on all of our songs and make minibands and it was just great - it was like having your fire lit again for songwriting. 

“Kram was really cool, he was actually just a really nice guy, he helped develop one of my songs to be better and funnily enough have a bunch of drum fills in it - classic.”

The OEOTS program wrapped up with a showcase concert at Hobart Town Hall, where each musician played two songs with Kram on drums and a backing band of their choice.

“It was such a great experience for everyone, to have a full tech rehearsal and proper soundcheck and all the fancy production was something you don’t normally get.

‘I got to play a song that I’ve had kicking about in my brain for a really long time and not had the capability to do before because I haven’t had eight singers on hand.”