MTV Unplugged Artist Tash Sultana Reveals Who Would Take Part In Their Dream Jam Session

On Sunday, May 23 2021, ARIA Award-winning multi-instrumentalist, singer and songwriter Tash Sultana will take to the stage for MTV Unplugged Melbourne.

It’s a moment Sultana has been waiting 18 months for, having spent much of 2020s isolation creating their sophomore album Terra Firma and manifesting a new chapter.

“I’ve been waiting to get to this point for ages. Because every time I go to play a show, as we all do, during COVID — something COVID happens,” Sultana joked to POPSUGAR Australia. “But I think I think I might be able to get through this one a little bit unscathed.”

The sensationally talented Aussie has been on a steady upwards trajectory for over a decade, having carved out success for themselves as a busker in Melbourne before going viral with their 2016 home video performance of Jungle. The track was viewed more than a million times in five days and has since been streamed 151,000,000 times on Spotify. 

MTV Unplugged, however, marks a new era for the artist and one they just cannot wait to share.

“For me, MTV Unplugged is the beginning of a new chapter of my life. So it’s a f—king big, big moment,” they said.

Considering the musicians who have taken the Unplugged stage before them — including Nirvana, Mariah Carey, Jay-Z and Liam Gallagher — the gig is big in more ways than one especially, as Sultana notes, considering not many Australians have done it.

After a tumultuous year for the music industry thanks to border and venue closures, Sultana enthused that they can’t wait to get out on stage and “do these new songs in a new light and in a new way” while remaining pragmatic about the continued travel restrictions which mean international touring is off the table for the foreseeable future.

“We’re actually pretty fortunate here, so I’m happy to be patient,” Sultana told POPSUGAR Australia. “Because we’ve got a big beautiful country. And now looks like we can also get to New Zealand. So that’s where I’ll be beginning. And then as it unfolds, we’ll change the plans to suit the weather pretty much and I’ll be back.

“We’ll get back everywhere that we want to go and need to go and by the time that happens, this new show will be so dialled in, it will just be like sleepwalking.”

Of course, we couldn’t chat with someone as notable as Sultana and not ask who, living or deceased, would be in their dream jam session and — as you might expect — the fantasy line-up is iconic.

“Free Nationals, Anderson .Paak, John Mayer, Bob Marley, Erykah Badu, Bon Iver and Jimi Hendrix,” they answered, immediately making us wish we could hear exactly what such a collaboration might sound like.

As for what’s next for this homegrown talent and what they hope to achieve next, Sultana remains, as always, humbled and hopeful.

“I just want to jam,” they told POPSUGAR Australia. “I just want a long career where I can play as many shows as possible, and jam with as many people as possible.

“If I can do those two things, and if I can help other people on the way, I’ve succeeded.”

MTV Unplugged Melbourne: Tash Sultana premieres Sunday, 23 May at 10 am on MTV.