Most musicians are drawn to the allure of the stage.

They dream of bathing in the spotlight, their fans fawning for just a glimmer of their attention.

Jay Bishoff prefers to sit with them on the grass.

Pictured with friend and event supporter Anita Sweeney, Jay is the founder of Peregian Originals.

A much-loved and sorely missed free, open-air community concert series, it thrived on the shores of Peregian Beach for 20 years.

It became a launchpad for hundreds of local and touring musicians, including Andrea Kirwin (pictured), Bobby Alu, Kate Miller-Heidke, OKA, Sun Salute, In2natioN, Cheap Fakes, Mufassa, The Lyrical, Hayden Hack, and audience-favourite Tijuana Cartel.

Even Kingswood, Sticky Fingers, Ash Grunwald, and Scotty and Andy from The Living End made appearances across some stellar line-ups.

Born in 2000, with Jay and fellow songwriter Paul Fogarty at the helm, the Originals ran twice a month for more than 11 years, before scaling back to monthly events. Covid ultimately brought it to an end in 2020.

Years on, locals still remember it vividly.

Every so often, someone will ask on a community Facebook page: “What happened to Peregian Originals?”

Spread out on colourful tapestries with gourmet picnics, up to 1,000 people would gather and connect as Jay curated a rotating cast of soloists, duos, trios and full bands.

Peregian Originals was where backpackers, corporates, tradies and hospitality workers collided, becoming one on balmy Sunday afternoons.

Families relaxed while children climbed trees for a better view. Dogs, instruments, beers and frisbees filled the park, while surf club volunteers cooked sausages and kids lined up for face painting.

The community left feeling charged and fulfilled, ready to take on the week ahead.

A legendary community music event is born

Jay and Paul had only recently moved to the area when they found themselves reading front-page stories about the decline of the Noosa music scene.

Live music venues — particularly those supporting original acts — were shutting down.

“Paul and I agreed this might be the perfect time to do something, to try something different,” Jay says.

“We found this wonderful little grassy square down at Peregian Beach, out in front of Baked Poetry and other cafes.

“In those days there was this wonderful, large wooden stage, put in above the even older Peregian swimming pool.

“This stage was amazing, and nobody was really using it for community events.

“Without any formal permission, we ran a cable through the trees and plugged into a cafe called Heaven.

“The first Peregian Originals concert featured Paul and I singing our original songs to three or four kids with soda pop and ice creams in the park on their bikes.

“But you know, we kept coming back, and the thing just grew and grew. And grew!

“Eventually, we outgrew the square, and moved the event into the much larger space behind the surf club.”

After two years, Jay and Paul received a Noosa Shire Council Australia Day Cultural Contribution Award.

Paul later moved to Germany to pursue songwriting, but Jay continued the event.

Local community champion and dreammaker

Jay remains deeply embedded in the local music community, supporting emerging artists through open mics, songwriting events and community concerts.

His latest venture, The Songrise, brings grassroots original music to The Presynct in Nambour, alongside other creative figures helping revive the Nambour entertainment precinct.

Jay says Peregian Originals became “a kind of ritualistic, spiritual event”.

“People raised their kids out there, year after year in attendance. We had our challenges with the naysayers, but it was also a magical time, in many ways.

“Many years into it, when our audiences were regularly hitting around 600–700 in the park, a small group of local neighbours — 11 people to be exact — became determined to shut down our community event.

“It went on and on with noise complaints. We did a four-month EPA study, and the guy told us: ‘Look, you could virtually double your volume and still be within the legal limits.’

“It was totally ridiculous, all the fuss. Then the newly amalgamated Sunshine Coast Council, with the local councillor, and even the mayor, really turned against us.

“It was unfair. It was wrong.

“Together, with my dear friend and event supporter Anita Sweeney, we decided to resist.

“Against all odds — with 2,000 people in the park with signs, dancing their butts off to OKA — we beat the Council twice.

“The first time was Facebook and public protest. The second time was television, and our presence at the Council Ordinary Meeting.

“But the amalgamated Council did manage to force me to create a committee. For me, that became like a Jay voodoo doll, where they could put pins in me.”

Picture: There were protests to save it, but ultimately Covid brought Peregian Originals to an end.

While living in Bali, Jay continued to run Peregian Originals remotely for more than a year before passing it on to East Coast Originals in 2014.

“It was a pure community event while I ran the thing. I know I wasn’t making any money — no one was.

“It wasn’t about commerce. It was this incredible symbiosis between the organisers, the performers, the audience and the stunning beach location.

“When we started it, I assumed every coastal community must have something like this. I came to realise we had created something pretty special together.”

Jay’s connections also helped secure major artists at reduced rates, including OKA — whose frontman Stuart Fergie (pictured) later passed away in 2022.

“Peregian Originals was a celebration of artistic freedom, community joy and freedom in healthy flight, created on the ground with love.”

Where did Peregian Originals go wrong?

When Kim Ferguson (pictured) took over, she expanded the event into Cooroy, Scarborough, Coolum and Moffat Beach.

Peregian Originals evolved into East Coast Originals, a not-for-profit where proceeds went back into artists and production.

But despite donations and fundraising, Kim says funding increasingly came from her own pocket.

“We were forking out money of our own,” she says.

“Council sponsorship helped, but post-Covid we didn’t have the volunteers to keep it going.

“There was so much red tape, so many voices, and people involved for so long — everyone had their opinions.”

Thousands of hours of unpaid work

When the pandemic hit, community events were severely impacted.

“Covid shut us down and every time we tried to restart, there were more restrictions,” Kim says.

“If people only knew what goes into these events… there’s so much time and effort for zero profit.

“Lots of people want it back but aren’t willing to do the work. It became thousands of hours of unpaid time.

“I was pregnant and we had two older volunteers. It became a back-burner project — which is sad, but you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

The future of East Coast Originals

Kim, now based on the Gold Coast and co-owner of Mo’s Desert Clubhouse, says discussions have begun around a possible return.

Any revival would require strong support from Council and the community.

“There’s a bit of a road ahead for these events to succeed.

“They would need to be in a different format, and artists would need to be paid.

“Obviously we’d love to bring it back, but there needs to be more community involvement and consultation.

“There would need to be donations to make it viable. It’s a process to get that to happen.

“There are so many moving parts and strong opinions in the community.

“It can create division around parking, noise and other issues — some people want it, some don’t.

“But it’s an amazing event and I believe it will come back. How it comes back and in what format, we’ll see.”

A new Peregian Beach crowd

After several years away, Jay is now living back at his old stomping ground, near the site of Peregian Originals, which he says feels like a ghost town compared to what it once was.

He says the suburb has “changed a lot”.

“Back then we were aiming for a creative community; now it has become a commerce community.”

Asked whether Peregian Originals will make a come back, Jay says, “I don’t think the Originals, as we all knew it, can or even should start again at Peregian Beach today.

Those were special years shared — things have changed.

One last lament in a sea of beautiful memories

Jay’s only regret is that the Originals events didn’t receive the proper send-off they deserved.

“Acknowledging its closure with a send-off celebration, or at least a final public letter of closure and thanks to everyone, for this 20-year standing cultural institution, I felt was warranted.

“In music it is said, ‘get your intros and outros right’. A lot can go wrong in the middle, but nobody will remember if you get the start and finish right.”

So, where to next?

Jay is now turning his focus to a new live music community event at The Vogue in Nambour.

“This just may be the next big thing for us all,” he says.

“By that I mean the whole community, with the same inclusive, free-flowing spirit of Peregian Originals.

“My involvement with The Vogue will focus on welcoming everyone to enjoy that spectacular venue.

“Nambour may just be the place.”

On behalf of the Sunshine Coast music community, YELO thanks Jay, Paul, Anita, Kim, and the many volunteers and musicians who helped create Peregian Originals and East Coast Originals — a local cultural icon lost, but not forgotten.