Ange Takats tells us a story…
Ange Takats weaves intricate and soulful stories with her beautiful lyrics, melodies and soul. Her music manages to combine the songwriting talents reminiscent of Leonard Cohen and Joni Mitchell with a modern-day fervour and sass. She has spent the last 6 months playing Australia’s festival circuit, and was featured at Brisbane’s Greenfest last weekend - the perfect platform for her folky goodness. Grab a hold of her very special LP from 
, and discover that beautiful storytelling hasn’t faded with the dissent of folk legends, but is alive and thriving.
You have a solid schedule right through to October at this point, what have been and will be some of the highlights?
I’ve spent the past 6 months doing the folk festival circuit - kicking off with Woodford at the beginning of the year.
I’m really excited about playing The Village festival up in Yeppoon in August because it’s a chance to see Mr Percival perform again. I’m a big fan! There are loads of other great performers taking part like Tijuana Cartel & Mojo Webb.
Tell us a bit more about your live performances. What can people expect when they see you play live?
I suppose storytelling would be the key word to describe my performances. My songs are very story-based and I like to weave little anecdotes between the tunes to give people some idea of how the song came about. I always enjoy the energy of the crowd and talking to them while I am on stage. Maybe it’s better for someone else to describe my live performance style:
“Ange Takats captivated the audience with her simple but perfectly crafted songs and I must admit her voice is truly one of the most beautiful and powerful female voices I have ever heard, bestowing goose bumps on me throughout the evening,”- Tsunami Music Magazine
Some great things have been happening in Ange Takat’s world. You’ve been selected as the album of the week on Artsound FM 92.7 in Canberra, you’re supporting Renee Geyer in Eumundi on June 11, and you’ve just been selected as an outstanding entrant in this year’s Q Song awards. Do you feel that everything is happening at once?
It’s always nice when things fall in to place. I’ve put a lot of time and energy into the music side of things over the past two years and it’s great to get recognised and rewarded for that. Each new album review gives me a little thrill but playing to packed venues at Woodford and the National Folk Festival in Canberra have definitely been music career highlights in recent months.
What inspires you when you’re songwriting? Is there a particular way/place/mood that you like to write songs in?
Um….I gain inspiration from all kinds of sources. My debut album Aniseed Tea has songs inspired by Irish nudists, Romanian Canadian medical students, knitters, heart breakers, op-shoppers…
Most of my songwriting happens in my little beachside unit on the Sunshine Coast. I often start writing a song with my guitar and then finish the lyrics in my head as I walk along the beach. That seems to work for me.
What would your dream gig be? Where? Who with?
Supporting Paul Simon or Joni Mitchell. I am in awe of them both as songwriters. But in reality, my dream gig is any gig that has a bunch of people seated in front of me, willing to listen and enjoy what I do. ‘The dream’ is to play those kinds of gigs all the time!
Finally, what’s in store next for Ange Takats?
The festival scene slows down over Winter so I’m going to use that time to focus on my songwriting and the business side of things. I was successful in securing an RADF/Arts Queensland grant at the end of last year which helped fund my album tour and I’m keen to apply for some other grants in the coming months.
