‘It has to move me’: Mo’Ju takes on Sydney Opera House

When asked about their upcoming WorldPride concert, artist Mo’Ju says it is about everything, everywhere, all at once.

“People like to categorise things – but it’s actually about allowing myself to encompass all of it,” they told AAP.

Mo’Ju intends to take back control of the narrative that boxed them in as just Wiradjuri, just Filipino or just queer with the upcoming Sydney Opera House concert.

“Being a third culture kid is really important to me to reframe the narrative,” they said.

“There’s all these intersecting parts of identity and it felt like I couldn’t lay claim to any of them because there was always somebody standing there waiting to tell me that I wasn’t enough of one of those things.

“But I am all of these things at the same time and you can’t take it away from me.”

The concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra will preview the first half of Mo’Ju’s fourth album, a homage to their uncle and Filipino film-maker Peque Gallaga.

The album’s name Oro, Plata, Mata (Spanish: Gold, Silver, Death) is lifted from the 1982 historical war drama he directed.

The film, set in the Philippine island of Negros during World War II, follows two families as they struggle and cope with the changes brought about by war.

The main characters are taken from their life of luxury (“oro”), to a time of refuge in the province (“plata”), and finally to a retreat in the mountains (“mata”).

The title and three acts refers to the traditional Spanish Filipino superstition which says that design elements in a house should not end in a multiple of three.

The album, like Mo’Ju, isn’t boxed in to be a musical translation of the film.

“My work is about legacy and telling the stories of my family and keeping traditions alive,” they said.

“I was inspired by my tito as one of the few artists in my family tree.

“The album is about things that are going on in the world right now but how the story is told in the film is the thing that I’ve carried over this album.”

“The film used a lot of Puccini, which is like a pop opera, so the album is electronic music that was inspired by orchestral music that’s now being interpreted by an orchestra,” they said.

“We’ve done this kind of weird 360 – it’s really cool to have both elements on stage happening at the same time.

“My whole agenda with music is to put it outside of boxes. It’s about soul and experimentation but I find the important thing is that it has to move me.”

Mo’Ju will take centrestage at the Sydney Opera House with the orchestra on Tuesday as part of WorldPride.

The second half of the album will be performed with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra on March 17 at Hamer Hall.