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PRINT EDITOR
Kaya Martin
EDITOR
Lucas Radbourne
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Riley McDonald
GIG GUIDE
Jacob Colliver
CONTRIBUTORS
Jake Fitzpatrick, Oliver Winn, Juliette Salom, George Tana, Lewis Noke-Edwards, Kosa Montieth, Dom Lepore, Simone Anders, Joshua Jennings, Lily Baumgartl, Ava Villella, Liam Heitmann-Ryce-LeMercier, Ella Morris and Bryget Chrisfield
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Æ Despite being a music editor, fan and musician myself, I’ll be the first to admit it: I don’t get it. You’re telling me that a bunch of different frequencies, tones and rhythms can come together to make something so achingly beautiful that we cry? So viciously energetic that we thrash our bodies around, leaving a trail of destruction in our wake? So deeply vibey that we’re pulled onto the dance floor by the invisible hand of God? Makes no sense.
Until one of you science types sends me a strongly-worded letter to the editor, the only explanation I can come up with is magic.
This month, we’re taking you behind the magic, showing all the tricks we’ve got up our sleeves. Is techno getting harder? Is it better to be sincere or ironic in your art? Can rock ‘n’ roll be saved (and does it need to be)? All will be revealed within these hallowed pages.
On our cover, Elsy Wameyo bridges the gap between the two sides of herself through song. Inside, Spike Fuck gives up on a quest for meaning, Magdalena Bay transports us to Imaginal Disk world and we get to know Sydney’s newest soul sensation, Don West. We won’t spoil the rest, you’ll just have to give it a read.
Abracadabra and whatnot. We hope you enjoy the show.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS
Our magazine is published on the lands of the Bunurong Boon Wurrung and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung peoples of the Eastern Kulin Nation, and we wish to acknowledge them as Traditional Owners. We pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging.
DISTRIBUTION
Beat Mag will be distributed free every month to hundreds of locations around metro Melbourne, to enquire about having it at your venue email distribution@furstmedia.com.au
COVER
Our March cover star is Elsy Wameyo shot by Brian Kinywa.
NEWS
Ç BRUNSWICK MUSIC FESTIVAL EXPANDS 2025 PROGRAM
Brunswick Music Festival has revealed its most ambitious program yet, expanding to include underwater sonic experiences, punk shows in heritage buildings, and a stellar international lineup for its 37th year
PANDA BEAR DROPS FIRST SOLO ALBUM IN FIVE YEARS
Noah Lennox, also known as Animal Collective member Panda Bear, has just released his brand-new project Sinister Grift. The album sees him expand on his experimental roots and lean into old school rock, playing all of the instruments himself.
Ç BRISBANE-BORN POP PHENOMENON MALLRAT ANNOUNCES
AUSTRALIAN TOUR
Mallrat is set to bring her magical realism infused new album to stages across Australia this April, with shows locked in for Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. She’ll be performing at the Forum on April 4.
Ç MELBOURNE GUITAR SHOW ANNOUNCES STACKED 2025 PROGRAM
Melbourne Guitar Show returns with this year’s edition also marking a milestone for the iconic event, moving to a new home alongside an incredible lineup of performers, workshops and more locked and loaded for March 1 and 2 at Melbourne Showgrounds.
THE GOVERNMENT HAS JUST ANNOUNCED NEW FINANCIAL SUPPORT
The Victorian government has announced a $15 million expansion of financial counselling services, including specialised services for First Nations communities through Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations, as well as targeted support for primary producers and small businesses in Western and Northern Victoria.
Ç THE YARRA VALLEY CELEBRATES DAME NELLIE MELBA
Yarra Ranges Regional Museum is hosting a dynamic exhibition to honour the achievements of Australia’s first internationally renowned classical musician with a series of immersive experiences.
SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS WON’T BE RETURNING IN 2025
The annual four-day music festival will not go ahead this July, following the cancellation of its 2024 edition. However, its organisers insist that it will return eventually, calling the year off “a breather”.
ICE CUBE ANNOUNCES TWO-DATE AUSTRALIAN TOUR THIS MARCH
West Coast rap legend Ice Cube is bringing his no-holds-barred brand of hip-hop down under, announcing a pair of headline shows that’ll shake Sydney’s ICC Theatre on March 7 and Sidney Myer Music Bowl on March 8.
Ç COMEDY FESTIVAL REVEALS 2025 LINEUP
The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has unveiled its latest wave of international performers, bolstering an already stacked lineup of comedic talent heading to Victorian shores this autumn.
CHERIE CURRIE ANNOUNCES SHOW AT THE CORNER HOTEL
Rock legend Cherie Currie has announced her final Australian tour, bringing the curtain down on a trailblazing career that helped redefine women’s role in rock’n’roll. The fivedate run hits Melbourne on September 11.
AT YOUR LOCAL INDEPENDANTLY RUN MUSIC VENUE
J (NZ)
SORCHA RICHARDSON FRI 14 MAR
20/03 AMBLE (IRL) SOLD OUT 21/03 BARRY ADAMSON (UK) 22/03 CRYWANK (UK)
23/03 12 GOLD BARS - A CELEBRATION OF STATUS QUO
27/03 THE BETHS (NZ) SOLD OUT 28/03 SPIKE F*CK SELLING FAST 30/03 MELBOURNE INDIE VOICES - MUSIC NERDZ KARAOKE (MATINEE)
03/04 THE MURDER CAPITAL (IRL)
04/04 THE PEEP TEMPEL SOLD OUT
05/04 THE PEEP TEMPEL SOLD OUT
06/04 SEVENTH WONDER - FLEETWOOD MAC CELEBRATED (MATINEE)
10/04 GUM & AMBROSE KENNY-SMITH III SELLING FAST
11/04 PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS
12/04 PIERCE BROTHERS SELLING FAST 13/04 UNCANNY X-MEN (MATINEE)
MOLONEY SUN 16 MAR
ALDRIDGE (USA) SUN 16 MAR
ALICE IVY SAT 29 MAR EV FRI 04 APR THE BROTHER BROTHERS (USA) SUN 30 MAR
GIG GUIDE
01/03 THE AMAZING GIG: PETE & BRIDGET HELLIAR AND BROOKE MCCLYMONT & ADAM ECKERSLEY
02/03 LOIN GROIN FT. BENNY THREEBONES MATINEE 03/03 SOCIAL SANCTUARY WITH EL TEE, IMOGEN CYGLER + KISSES 10/03 SOCIAL SANCTUARY WITH SAM BAMBERY, SEAGULL + HANNAH EVERINGHAM (SOLO) 12/03 TALISK (SCOTLAND) SELLING FAST 13/03 OTOMO YOSHIHIDE (JPN) + UMINARI TRIO + TOMOMI ADACHI & NOISE SCAVENGERS 14/03 SORCHA RICHARDSON 15/03
21/03 THE EAST POINTERS (CAN) SELLING FAST 22/03 MOANING LISA ALL AGES. ALCOHOL FREE MATINEE 22/03 MOANING LISA 23/03 HYDRA: THE AUSTRALIAN TOTO SHOW 28/03 HACHIKU 29/03 ALICY IVY
30/03 THE BROTHER BROTHERS (USA) 04/04 EV 08/04 JOHN CRAIGIE (USA) 12/04 KIM SALMON’S SMOKED SALMON 17/04 RUBY GILL
18/04 MONSTERS OF RIFF 19/04 NERVOSA (BRAZ) 23/04 THE STEMS 24/04 TENTENDO 25/04 NAHKO (USA) STICKING AROUND FOR A BEV AFTER THE GIG? FLASH YOUR STAMP OR TICKET TO ONE OF OUR BAR STAFF FOR 10% OFF POST-SHOW DRINKS
MELBOURNE GIN FESTIVAL RETURNS THIS MARCH
The Melbourne Gin Festival is set to return to Port Melbourne this autumn, transforming The Timber Yard into a gin lover’s paradise. Starting Friday, March 21, this three-day event brings together 46 craft distillers for a weekend of tastings, masterclasses and entertainment.
Ç MELBOURNE’S MOST POPULAR BABY NAMES IN 2024 REVEALED
Data from the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria revealed the most popular baby names from over 79,239 births in Victoria during 2024. Isla has claimed the crown as Victoria’s most popular name for baby girls in 2024, while Oliver continues its decade-long dominance for boys.
VICTORIA ROLLS OUT NEW ROUND OF MUSIC INDUSTRY SUPPORT
The Victorian state government has announced its latest support package for the local music industry, with multiple funding streams opening this week for artists, venues and industry professionals.
Ç AUSTRALIA’S FIRST VIETNAMESE MUSEUM TO BE BUILT IN MELBOURNE
In a massive win for cultural representation in Melbourne’s west, the planning permit for Australia’s first Vietnamese museum and cultural centre has been rubber-stamped. The $2.3 million project is set to become a three-storey powerhouse of culture in Sunshine.
Ç BILLY STRINGS TO MAKE ARENA DEBUT THIS JULY
The Nashville-based artist is riding high following the release of his latest album Highway Prayers and will make his first trip to Australia and New Zealand in July 2025, bringing his acclaimed live show to arenas across both countries.
Ç CENTRAL CEE ANNOUNCES AUSTRALIAN TOUR THIS JUNE
UK rap phenomenon Central Cee has revealed dates for his Can’t Rush Greatness world tour, supporting his debut album of the same name. The tour announcement follows Central Cee’s historic streaming success, with the album achieving the biggest streaming day of all-time for a UK rapper globally.
ART MUSIC AWARDS NOMINATIONS OPEN
In a significant year marking the AMC’s 50th anniversary, APRA AMCOS and the Australian Music Centre have opened nominations for the 2025 Art Music Awards, celebrating excellence across Australia’s contemporary, jazz, improvised, experimental, and sound art communities.
Ç COURTEENERS ANNOUNCE FIRST AUSTRALIAN TOUR THIS MARCH
British indie rock outfit Courteeners have announced their debut Australian tour, bringing their anthemic sounds to three east coast venues in March 2025, with support from BIIG TIME.
PILL TESTING EXPANDS TO FOUR MORE VICTORIAN FESTIVALS
Following successful implementation at Beyond the Valley in December where over 700 patrons accessed the free and confidential testing, the pill testing program will continue its rollout across both single and multi-day events.
AIDC 2025: DELIVERING OSCAR NOMINEES, AI FILMS AND OVER 115 SPEAKERS
Australia’s premier documentary event returns to Melbourne this March. AIDC 2025 will feature over 40 sessions and more than 115 speakers at ACMI. This year is the future-focused theme, Future Telling: New Horizons in Documentary & Factual Storytelling.
GLOBALLY-ACCLAIMED CIRCUS COMING TO MELBOURNE
Brisbane circus company Circa is coming to Arts Centre Melbourne’s Playhouse starting on May 14. Under the direction of Yaron Lifschitz, the production explores the physical limits of human capability, pushing bodies to their extremities while examining the challenge of finding perfect balance in an ever-changing world.
SUBMISSIONS NOW OPEN FOR SXSW SYDNEY 2025
South by Southwest Sydney has opened submissions for its third annual event, inviting creatives across music, screen, games and conference streams to showcase their work at the October festival.
Ç NORTHERN TURTLE ISLAND ARTISTS HEADLINING 2025 YIRRAMBOI FESTIVAL
Northern Turtle Island (Canada) has been announced as the 2025 YIRRAMBOI Focus Nation, bringing over 20 Canadian First Nations, Métis and Inuit artists to Narrm. Starting May 1 at the Arts Centre and Immigration Museum, the festival will present multiple new works focused on cross-cultural dialogue and shared histories.
Ç THE JUNGLE GIANTS ANNOUNCE AUSTRALIAN TOUR WITH SYCCO
Brisbane indie-dance outfit The Jungle Giants will tour across Australia and New Zealand, supporting their upcoming fifth studio album. The band returns to some of their most beloved venues across both countries, with rising star Sycco joining the lineup to deliver special DJ sets.
Ç GAYTIMES 2025’S LINEUP ANNOUNCES BERGHAIN RESIDENT DJ HEADLINER
Set to run from March 21 to 23 in Gembrook, Victoria’s biggest queer music, camping and arts festival has dropped its huge lineup, headlined by Berghain resident DJ Roi Perez alongside Berlin-based Australian Jennifer Loveless and local favourite Alex Lahey.
Ç GROOVIN’ THE MOO WILL BE TAKING ANOTHER YEAR OFF
Groovin’ the Moo festival has announced a 2025 event isn’t happening following its cancellation in 2024 due to low ticket sales. The team posted on Instagram revealing they are taking the time to “find the most sustainable model” for the much-loved regional festival.
Ç ROCKWIZ EASTER SPECTACULAR PROMISES SURPRISE GUESTS AND COMEDY ROYALTY
Popular music quiz show Rockwiz will return to Arts Centre Melbourne for its ninth annual Really Really Good Friday event on April 18. Hosts Julia Zemiro and Brian Nankervis will lead the live quiz night, supported by the Rockwiz Orkestra and an array of surprise musical guests and comedians.
HEAVY CONGRESS: NEW SOUND SYSTEM FESTIVAL COMES TO MELBOURNE
In a significant first for Victoria’s music scene, Heavy Congress is bringing sound system culture to the Yarra Valley, announcing a massive 10-hour festival at Rochford Winery on March 29, featuring 12 of the southern hemisphere’s largest sound systems.
Ç THE WAREHOUSE PROJECT RETURNS FOR 2025 AUSTRALIAN SHOWS
Manchester’s legendary underground music institution The Warehouse Project has announced its return to Australian shores following its successful debut in 2024. Headlined by Partiboi69, the event will showcase some of electronic music’s most innovative acts at PICA on April 25.
Ç MELBOURNE’S NEW ROOFTOP CINEMA EXTENDS SUMMER PROGRAM
Palace Cinemas’ newest inner west venue, Palace Penny Lane, is doubling down on its successful rooftop cinema program, announcing an extended season running through March 30 following consistent soldout sessions.
VICTORIAN WOMEN CAN NOW ACCESS FREE TELEHEALTH SERVICES
Victorian women will soon have access to a free virtual health clinic offering specialist care for conditions including endometriosis, menopause and reproductive health.
FIRST NATIONS FILM FESTIVAL RETURNS THIS MARCH
Australia’s Birrarangga Film Festival returns to Naarm from March 13 to 18, with over 150 films from across the globe. It will showcase First Nations filmmakers from 15 countries including Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Canada, Finland, Norway, Russia, Mexico, Hawaii, Sierra Leone, Kenya, Fiji, Peru and Taiwan.
CYBORG ART PIONEER TO PERFORM A RADICAL MELBOURNE GIG
Stelarc is bringing his latest innovations to Australian stages, performing in Melbourne on March 13 at the Northcote Social Club. The shows will showcase new wearable machines paired with sounds from BOLT Ensemble, Japanese avant-garde duo HUH and composer James Hullick.
Ç SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM TO HEADLINE FREE TWILIGHT CONCERT
Australian electronic music legends Sneaky Sound System will cap off Moonee Valley City Council’s summer festival season with a free performance at Lincoln Park, bringing their chart-topping anthems to Melbourne’s inner northwest on March 29.
Ç NFL JOINS MELBOURNE’S HOLY TRINITY OF SPORT
The Los Angeles Rams will become the first NFL team to play for competition points on Australian soil, with Premier Jacinta Allan announcing the multi-year deal alongside Visit Victoria Chair Andy Penn and board member Eddie McGuire.
TOM ALLEN IS TOURING AUSTRALIA IN APRIL
UK comedy sensation Tom Allen is bringing his fresh stand-up show Completely to Australian shores this April, hot on the heels of his London Palladium sellout special. He is performing in Melbourne from April 15 to 20 at the Malthouse Theatre.
Ç ROAR FEST REVEALS FULL 2025 PROGRAM
The inaugural Roar Fest brings together Australia’s leading female musicians and industry figures for a two-day celebration on Boonwurrung Country this March, featuring ambassadors Kate Ceberano AM, Tania Doko, and Ella Hooper. The headline concert will take place on March 9 at the National Theatre.
Ç GLOBAL TECHNO FESTIVAL GLITCH IS COMING TO NAARM
Renowned electronic music festival Glitch is making its Australian debut, bringing five international and local acts to Melbourne on April 12. The single-day event marks a significant expansion for the Malta-based festival and will be headlined by homegrown artist STÜM.
Ç THE WOMBATS, DMA’S, BALL PARK MUSIC LEAD SUMMERSALT
UK indie-rock favourites The Wombats will lead a indie-heavy lineup of artists for SummerSalt’s spring concert series across Australia. The Liverpool trio will be joined by DMA’S, Ball Park Music, Del Water Gap, Bea and her Business and Ra Ra Viper for a string of outdoor shows.
Ç HANS ZIMMER ANNOUNCES FIRST AUSTRALIAN TOUR IN SIX YEARS
Film composer Hans Zimmer is returning to Australia for his first tour since 2019. The multiple Academy Award and Grammy winner will present his Hans Zimmer Live production featuring a 19-piece band and full orchestra. He’ll be performing at Rod Laver Arena on April 29.
Ç MELBOURNE FRINGE FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES MAJOR COMMISSION OPPORTUNITIES
Melbourne Fringe Festival has opened its first funding round of 2025, offering a combined $75,000 across multiple opportunities for First Nations and d/Deaf and disabled artists.
Wesley Anne y Anne
BAND
Saturday 1 March
Snarski
Sunday 2 March
The
Tuesday 4 March
Wordcraft
Thursday 6 March
Siomha
Thursday 13 March
Dean Owens
Friday 21March
Georgia Lines
Thursday 27 March
Family Music
Saturday 28 March
JC and the Tree
Sunday 30 March
Thursday
Aeriqah
Saturday
Wave
Thursday
Saturday
Ukulele
Friday
Fountain Lakes FRONT
Friday
“I’m not Australian, not Kenyan.
ELSY
WORDS BY JAKE FITZPATRICK
WAMEYO
Elsy Wameyo is living in a moment when the weight of two worlds is coming down on her.
Æ
Right now, she’s in Nairobi, Kenya – the first of those worlds – visiting family and reconnecting with her roots. The sun is shining, birds are chirping, and you can tell she feels at home here, even as the clock ticks toward her return to her other life in Adelaide.
“It’s been good,” she says of the trip, a smile in her voice, “really refreshing. We had a family reunion, but now I’m heading back to work.”
With that, the moment of calm slips away, replaced by the knowledge that her journey is never truly static. She’s soon to shift back into a life that’s worlds apart from this lively, bustling city where time doesn’t seem to stand still. In contrast, her hometown of Adelaide, she says, couldn’t feel more different.
“Adelaide is very conservative, small-town vibes,” she reflects.
“People there can be narrow-minded. Nairobi, on the other hand, is like Melbourne on steroids. They call it the New York of Africa. It’s a non-stop hustle. People work 24/7. No one ever stops.”
It’s a contrast that she’s had to navigate ever since migrating to Australia at the age of seven. For most of her life, she’s lived between two identities, unsure of where she truly belongs.
“My journey of living between two worlds was tough,” she admits, her voice softening, “especially as a child, having to grow and adapt at the same time. My music is a healing process for me. I use it to fill certain voids. I struggle with identity. I don’t know where I belong. I’m not Australian, not Kenyan. I’m floating in the middle. Music is my bridge between the two.”
Credit: Brian Kinywa
“Our family is creative. I have a cousin who’s a poet. I didn’t fall too far from the tree.”
That bridge began to take shape, one word at a time, back when she was in high school. Wameyo fell in love with the art of storytelling, captivated by the power of language. “I was drawn to alliterations and metaphors,” she says. “Every week we’d write stories and I realised I loved that. I loved reading. I love how the Bible is written – how you can find deeper meanings within the sentences. It’s not just straightforward.”
But music, for all its power, didn’t come into focus for Wameyo until later. She grew up in a family where music wasn’t at the centre of the table. She was the “black sheep” in that sense, although she found her spark through her family, acknowledging a latent creativity that ran in her blood.
“All my mum’s sisters are singers,” she says, “but they don’t release music. Spending time with them made me realise it’s not completely foreign. Our family is creative. I have a cousin who’s a poet. I didn’t fall too far from the tree.” What sets Wameyo apart from many of her Kenyan peers is the unwavering support she received from her parents. They gave her the freedom to pursue her musical passion – a rarity that she doesn’t take for granted.
“I give thanks to God for my parents,” she says. “A lot of African parents don’t allow their children to pursue music. It’s all about becoming a doctor, lawyer or engineer. My parents couldn’t be more different. My dad is my biggest supporter.”
Wameyo found another home in the Adelaide music scene. Growing up north of the city, she discovered Northern Sound System, a local studio that became her creative base. “That’s where I started making music,” she says. “The doors have always been open there. The community has always been so loving.”
From there, it wasn’t long before Wameyo’s music began to catch attention. Triple J picked up on her sound and she quickly made a name for herself, performing at some of the country’s biggest festivals, including Laneway and Groovin the Moo. Yet, despite the success, performing never felt like a stretch for her.
“I was always a natural performer,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve never been camera-shy. I’m loud, outspoken. I think that helps when you’re in front of people. My ability to feel deeply makes it easy for me to be free on stage. It just comes naturally.” As 2025 begins, Wameyo feels a sense of calm wash over her. This year, she plans to slow down – an intentional break from the frenetic pace of the previous year’s Saint Sinner tour.
“Last year was exhausting,” she admits. “This year, I said I didn’t want to perform as much. We’ll pop up at festivals and say hello, but I’m trying to take it easier. I’m focusing on re-centring myself. Just breathing.”
One of the highlights of the year, though, is sure to be her performance at the Brunswick Music Festival, a double-header alongside Miss Kaninna on the scenic Gilpin Park outdoor stage. For this show, she will be accompanied by a Kenyan band, combining her two worlds for one enchanting evening.
“It’s going to be the two worlds coming together,” she says.
“Playing at these elite festivals feels like a monumental moment for me. It’s a reflection of who I am and what my music represents. I’m excited to be part of it.”
ELSY WAMEYO
WHERE: GILPIN PARK
WHEN: 7 MAR
Made in partnership with Brunswick Music Festival
PEACH PIT
WORDS BY OLIVER WINN
Many
bands fall under the loose umbrella of indie rock, but very few have cultivated such a unique appeal as Peach Pit.
Æ The Vancouver-based quartet have embedded their warm and intimate sound within listeners moody playlists all over the world, becoming a staple within the genre. With their recent album Magpie, Peach Pit are touring again, returning to the country the titular bird calls home.
The band are playing at The Forum on March 5 – a step up from the Northcote Theatre, which the band sold out rapidly last year on their first Australian tour. It must feel pretty good to sell out big venues like that, but frontman Neil Smith and guitarist Chris Vanderkooy tell me the highest highs were perhaps from back when the band first started.
“We had the album release show in Vancouver at this dive bar called Pat’s Pub and we sold out the show. It was 100 tickets sold,” Smith says, recalling the band’s Sweet FA album release in 2016.
Back home, the two gathered in Smith’s bedroom, eagerly counting the stack of cash that lay between them.
“I think we had like, 500 bucks, and we were literally throwing the money in the air. We were like, ‘We’re fucking rich,’” Smith says. “Honestly, the sold out London show might not even be as good as that first 500 dollars.”
I ask them about how it felt when they first got paid to play. “I know what story you’re gonna tell,” Smith says to Vanderkooy with a somewhat nervous laugh. Vanderkooy then recounts when the band duped an oyster festival into paying them 700 bucks – more than double what they’d ever been paid before.
The scene they describe is hilarious: a group of flannel sporting dudes splurging their spendings on oysters and alcohol, ecstatic with that special post-gig feeling. Then, the festival’s promoter approached them, and a drunken Smith replied, “Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you paid us 700 bucks!”
Needless to say, the promoter wasn’t very happy.
Fast forward to 2025, almost a decade later, and Peach Pit’s gradual rise to fame hasn’t taken away from the core of friendship and artistry the band began with. Vanderkooy says when the band started, rehearsals were just “Friday night with the boys”. Today, it’s still the same, but instead the band enjoys a larger rehearsal space fitted with a sofa and a TV.
“We had the best time rehearsing for these shows, because we were just able to kind of like half hang out, half play,” Vanderkooy says.
Even as the band’s sound has ventured down different sonic routes, it’s been anchored by the dynamic between the members. Smith’s tender vocals are still tinged with his signature melancholy, Vanderkooy’s guitar riffage continues to bounce from wild solos to atmospheric and sparse notes, drummer Mikey Pascuzzi’s grooves carry a familiar sense of buoyancy and Peter Wilton’s bass continues to innovate.
“I think we had like, 500 bucks, and we were literally throwing the money in the air. We were like, ‘We're fucking rich.’”
But Smith’s lyrics have started to evolve. As he and the others emerge from life’s tumultuous twenties, his lyrics depart from writing about what’s immediately in front of him to focusing on more abstract ideas. Magpie, Smith explains in a YouTube comment on the song’s video, came from a poem he’d found surrounding superstitions regarding the bird. One magpie meant sorrow, two signalled luck, three for a wedding, and so on.
“I came up with this sort of shady character, Magpie, that lives in the gutter and who’s always boozing and chasing a high and feels like he’s got his shit together because they’ll still let him sit at the strip club bar. In some ways it’s who I felt I might end up like if I never quit drinking,” Smith says.
In the end, the goal for Peach Pit is to continue riding the wave. It’s certainly an idyllic lifestyle – playing music and earning a living from it – but any preconceived ideas of what a famous rock musician’s life would look like, are quickly challenged by taking one look at the band. Donning straight fit denim, loose cardigans and plaid flannels, they really are just a group of chill dudes, and that’s probably the most Peach Pit thing about them.
Nine years, 2.2 million monthly listeners and four highly-acclaimed albums later, they’re still the same guys who were gorging on oysters in celebration of being paid to play music.
PEACH PIT
WHERE: FORUM
WHEN: 5 MAR
MAR
DEC
MARCH
SUN 09 WOMEN'S ROAR FESTIVAL: IN CONVERSATION W/KATE CEBERANO, ELLA HOOPER & TANIA DOKO CELEBRATING INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY
FRI 14 STEFAN HAUK ALONGSIDE SHANNON BOURNE AND HIS BAND THE MIDNIGHT FANG
SUN 16 CAMILLE O’SULLIVAN (IRE) LOVELETTER
WED 19 SINGSONGS THE ULTIMATE SINGING EXPERIENCE - THE BEST OF BRITISH
THU 20 STEVE ROMIG LIVE AT THE EMBER LOUNGE
SAT 22 HYDRA – THE AUSTRALIAN TOTO SHOW
SUN 23 GROOVE DIMENSION – 70’S FUNK-RNB-DISCO-SOUL
THU 27 JEMMA CHER “LET’S DO IT" ALBUM LAUNCH
FRI 28 THE AUSTRALIAN INXS SHOW
SAT 29 THE U2 SHOW ACHTUNG BABY
SUN 30 THE POEMS, PRAYERS & PROMISES OF JOHN DENVER
FEAT DARREN COGGAN
FRI 6TH BEKA BAKER presents BACK CATALOGUE BOWIE with guest MICHAEL DWYER
SAT 1 PSYCHO SEQUINZ – GLAM ROCK BAND
SAT 7TH STEVE LUC AS – A Night of X Music
DEC
FRI 13TH MOVING TOWARD THE PULSEBEAT (DJ Randy Lipz XXX & DJ Bricolage)
SUN 2, 9, 23, 30 SOUL STRUT 3121 2PM FREE ENTRY DJ RANDY LIPZ XXX SOUL FUNK, DISCO, DANCE
DEC
SAT 14TH VIDEO DISCO (Fringe Festival Event)
267 SWAN STREET
267 SWAN STREET
FRI 20TH SUPERSONIC 90ʼs f t. DJ Dan Brunswick & DJ Eddie Monsoon
FRI 6TH BEKA BAKER presents BACK CATALOGUE BOWIE with guest MICHAEL DWYER
FRI 7 SURROUNDED BY SOUND #3 – TALKING HEADS ʼ77 (2025 ATMOS MIX), FEAR OF MUSIC (5.1 MIX)
FRI 6TH BEKA BAKER presents BACK CATALOGUE BOWIE with guest MICHAEL DWYER
SAT 8 BLACK RAINBOW (BRIS) WITH KINGʼS VENGEANCE
SAT 7TH STEVE LUC AS – A Night of X Music
FRI 18TH ʻTHEY CAME FROM BALLARAT,ʼ THE MAVISʼS (Warm Up Show) with THE DEAD SALESMEN
SAT 7TH STEVE LUC AS – A Night of X Music
FRI 14 – FRI 21 EXHIBITION ʻA DECADE IN MUSIC BY MARK MORAY, PHOTOGRAPHERʼ
FRI 13TH MOVING TOWARD THE PULSEBEAT (DJ Randy Lipz XXX & DJ Bricolage)
SAT 19TH LITTLE MURDERS (Under Northern Lights Album Launch)
FRI 13TH MOVING TOWARD THE PULSEBEAT (DJ Randy Lipz XXX & DJ Bricolage)
SAT 14TH VIDEO DISCO (Fringe Festival Event)
FRI 14 MARK MORAY EXHIBITION OPENING NIGHT - LLOYD SPIEGEL LIVE
SAT 14TH VIDEO DISCO (Fringe Festival Event)
FRI 20TH SUPERSONIC 90ʼs f t. DJ Dan Brunswick & DJ Eddie Monsoon
SAT 15 MEET MARK MORAY AT GALLERY FREE ENTRY 12PM - 4PM 7PM IAN COLLARD GREENS & GRAVY.
SUN 20TH SOUND AS EVER presents ʻ THE FL ANNEL FILESʼ CD L AUNCH f t. per formances by Anthony Atkinson, Jane McCracken, K T V (duo), Rob Clarkson, Sodastream (duo), Penny Hewson, and Robots In Love (formerly Sobriquet)
FRI 20TH SUPERSONIC 90ʼs f t. DJ Dan Brunswick & DJ Eddie Monsoon
FRI 18TH ʻTHEY CAME FROM BALLARAT,ʼ THE MAVISʼS (Warm Up Show) with THE DEAD SALESMEN
FRI 18TH ʻTHEY CAME FROM BALLARAT,ʼ THE MAVISʼS (Warm Up Show) with THE DEAD SALESMEN
FRI 25TH PSYCHO SEQUINZ (Glam Rock Covers)
SAT 19TH LITTLE MURDERS (Under Northern Lights Album Launch)
SUN 16 GALLERY, BBQ 1PM – 3.30PM. 4PM MATT KATSIS
SAT 26TH DARK GLOVE (Michael Sheridan of Max Q & No)
SAT 19TH LITTLE MURDERS (Under Northern Lights Album Launch)
SUN 27TH PIANO 4TE with Adam Rudegeair, Solune, Ania Reynolds, Hong Yang
SUN 20TH SOUND AS EVER presents ʻ THE FL ANNEL FILESʼ CD L AUNCH f t. per formances by Anthony Atkinson, Jane McCracken, K T V (duo), Rob Clarkson, Sodastream (duo), Penny Hewson, and Robots In Love (formerly Sobriquet)
THU 31ST HALLOWEEN TIM BURTON/DANNY ELFMAN TRIBUTE ft. Lake Minnetonka
For full gig list & event details visit v
SUN 20TH SOUND AS EVER presents ʻ THE FL ANNEL FILESʼ CD L AUNCH f t. per formances by Anthony Atkinson, Jane McCracken, K T V (duo), Rob Clarkson, Sodastream (duo), Penny Hewson, and Robots In Love (formerly Sobriquet)
FRI 21 LA DISCOTHEQUE (FREE ENTRY) DJ RANDY LIPZ XXX & DJ BRICOLAGE 60S, 70, 80S
SAT 22 MOVING TOWARDS THE PULSEBEAT FREE ENTRY DJ RANDY LIPZ XXX ALT, PUNK, POST-PUNK, INDUSTRIAL, GOTH.
FRI 25TH PSYCHO SEQUINZ (Glam Rock Covers)
FRI 25TH PSYCHO SEQUINZ (Glam Rock Covers)
SAT 26TH DARK GLOVE (Michael Sheridan of Max Q & No)
FRI 28 SUPERSONIC 90ʼS BRIT POP & UK ELECTRONIC BEATS DJ EDDIE MONSOON
SAT 26TH DARK GLOVE (Michael Sheridan of Max Q & No)
SUN 27TH PIANO 4TE with Adam Rudegeair, Solune, Ania Reynolds, Hong Yang
SUN 27TH PIANO 4TE with Adam Rudegeair, Solune, Ania Reynolds, Hong Yang
THU 31ST HALLOWEEN TIM BURTON/DANNY ELFMAN TRIBUTE ft. Lake Minnetonka
THU 31ST HALLOWEEN TIM BURTON/DANNY ELFMAN TRIBUTE ft. Lake Minnetonka
For full gig list & event details visit v SC AN QR FOR ALL EVENT TIX (OZTIX.COM.AU)
SC AN QR FOR ALL EVENT TIX (OZTIX.COM.AU)
For full gig list & event details visit v SC AN QR FOR ALL EVENT TIX (OZTIX.COM.AU)
Want a gig at Odeon Richmond? Send band bio/performance links to: en q u i r ies @od e o n r i c hm o n d. c o m .a u ODEON RICHMOND IS AVAIL ABLE FOR PRIVATE HIRE
SAT 29 LAIKON PRESENTS ʻREBETES - A BRIEF HISTORYʼ. PETER STATHOPOULOS PRESENTS AND PLAYS ORIGINAL 78 RPM RECORDINGS . LIVE REBETIKI TRIO - ARCHILLES YIANGOULLI, SOTIRIOS KIOKPASOGLOU AND TONY ILIOU.
Want a gig at Odeon Richmond? Send band bio/performance links to: en q u i r ies @od e o n r i c hm o n d. c o m .a u ODEON RICHMOND IS AVAIL ABLE FOR PRIVATE HIRE
ODEON RICHMOND IS AVAIL ABLE FOR PRIVATE HIRE
Want a gig at Odeon Richmond? Send band bio/performance links to: en q
FESTIVAL GUIDE
WORDS BY JULIETTE SALOM
BRUNSWICK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Taking over the pubs, clubs and streets this March, Brunswick Music Festival is back for another rocking year of of showcasing the best local and international musos. The famous Sydney Road Street Party will be kicking the festival off, with dozens of gigs to follow throughout the week.
VARIOUS VENUES 2–10 MAR
Ç CHILLOUT FESTIVAL
Keep your chill this month with Australia’s largest and longest running queer country pride festival. Taking place in Victoria’s Spa Country of Daylesford and Hepburn over the long weekend, you can discover a variety of events and venues to celebrate pride.
DAYLESFORD 6–10 MAR
PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL
The Port Fairy Folk Festival – affectionately called the Folkie – is back bigger than ever this year with a selection of artists featuring Australian and international folk royalty. Their stacked lineup boasts the likes of Missy Higgins, Peter Garrett, Cat Power, plus heaps more.
PORT FAIRY 7–10 MAR
Ç PITCH MUSIC AND ARTS
Back for its eighth edition of music, art and otherworldly experience, Pitch is gearing up for five non-stop days of transcendental partying. Set against the backdrop of the Grampian rolling hills, you can listen to the likes of Honey Dijon, DJ PGZ and Joy Orbison as you dance your heart out.
GRAMPIAN PLAINS 7–11 MAR
GOLDEN PLAINS
Aunty isn’t fluffing around with this year’s lineup for Golden Plains. Icon after icon are hitting up the Supernatural Amphitheatre this long weekend, including Kneecap, Fontaines D.C., PJ Harvey and heaps more.
MEREDITH 8–10 MAR
NEW BLOOM FEST
The best of the best from hardcore scenes the world over are coming together for this celebration of all things grunge, punk and alt-rock. Back by popular demand, New Bloom Fest is doing it all over again, this time with friends from Balance and Composure, Basement, Drain and more.
THE TIMBER YARD 10 MAR
AIREYS INLET MUSIC FESTIVAL
Set against a coastal hamlet in the charming seaside village of Aireys Inlet, the town’s inaugural music festival will be celebrating its 19th edition over three exciting days of music, culture and community.
AIREYS INLET 14–16 MAR
REMINISCE MELBOURNE
This month, the Bowl is being transformed into a dance party for the ages. Reminisce is showcasing all your favourite DJs, with legends like Laidback Luke, Tocadisco, Adrian Lux, Sneaky Sound System and more taking over the stage.
SIDNEY MYER MUSIC BOWL 15 MAR
Naarm is getting its very own slice of Celtic life as the Melbourne Celtic Festival makes its way to the Mission to Seafarers this St Patrick’s Day. Expect the best of the best in Celtic music from all over the world, including Skerryvore and Austral.
THE MISSION TO SEAFARERS 17 MAR
HIGH COUNTRY HOP FESTIVAL
High Country Hop is a festival to celebrate Australia’s two great loves: music and beer. Journey to Beechworth to mark the Victoria hop harvest, all the while soundtracked by some of the earthiest artists going around.
BEECHWORTH 21–23 MAR
Ç MEADOW MUSIC FESTIVAL
It’s the last hurrah for the beloved countryside music festival Meadow this month. After 10 editions of treasured music and immaculate vibes, Meadow is closing out with one last party, featuring Pond, MJ Lenderman and more.
BAMBRA 21–23 MAR
Ç MELBOURNE FOOD AND WINE FESTIVAL
Make sure to come with empty stomachs and a thirst to be quenched – Melbourne Food and Wine Festival is back for another year of long lunches, celebrity chefs, international flavours, and, of course, delicious food and drink.
VARIOUS VENUES 21–30 MAR
SUMMERSALT
Summer might be officially over, but the sun will still be shining for this year’s SummerSalt festival. Salt is in the air and music too, with icons such as Missy Higgins, John Butler, Fanning Dempsey and more stepping out into the Mornington sunshine.
MORNINGTON 22 MAR
DEKMANTEL NAARM
Electronic heads and club rats unite: Dekmantel is taking over Naarm this month. The day festival will be happening at Footscray Park, jam-packing the open air amphitheatre with non-stop beats and bass.
FOOTSCRAY PARK 30 MAR
Ç MELBOURNE CELTIC FESTIVAL
21 March
23 March 2024
Victoria
Hiatus Kaiyote ‣ Pond
MJ Lenderman & The Wind
Empress Of ‣ Kaiit ‣ Floodlights
Marcellus Pittman ‣ ORB
dameeeela ‣ Osmosis Jones
Guitar Wolf ‣ Pureblast ‣ Armlock
Chee Shimizu ‣ Twine ‣ Eggy
Big Yawn ‣ Empress ‣ Miles Nautu
Proto Moro ‣ Pop Filter
Annie-Rose Maloney ‣ Mika James
Think About You ‣ Follow The Robin
Npcede ‣ James Range Band
STAGE GUIDE
WORDS BY JULIETTE SALOM
Ç INT. SPACESHIP – NIGHT
This immersive stage game will have you role playing as an up-and-coming sci-fi auteur that is preparing you for your next big blockbuster. The multiple-choice text-based game draws on ACMI’s current exhibitions, as well as insight and stories from the real world of sci-fi hits.
ACMI THROUGHOUT MAR
MELBOURNE CINÉMATHÈQUE
Melbourne Cinémathèque is back in full swing for 2025 with a program of rare and significant films to keep you company every Wednesday night. Whether you’re catching your favourites on the big screen for the first time or checking out a flick you’ve never heard of, this is where Naarm cinephiles unite.
ACMI EVERY WED
MOZART BY MOONLIGHT
Experience Mozart under the stars with this transcendental performance at the Royal Botanic Gardens that will see Shakespeare Australia and Melbourne Opera team up for a magical evening of music and memories.
ROYAL BOTANIC GARDENS 1 MAR
Ç BUTT HOLE
It’s non-stop cabaretical creativity at the assend of the CBD most Saturdays in March with The Butterfly Club’s Butt Hole. Expect a little bit of everything at this show, from poetry to puppets and messes to masterpieces.
THE BUTTERFLY CLUB 1, 8, 15 & 22 MAR
IN CONVERSATION WITH STAN GRANT
Walkley Award-winning author and journalist Stan Grant will be delving deep into conversation at the State Library this month, talking politics, personal histories and his new book, Murriyang.
STATE LIBRARY 4 MAR
SAUNIGA
Another production to hit the art scene of Naarm this month thanks to Asia TOPA, SAUNIGA is an electrifying work-in-progress from internationally acclaimed Queer Indigenous arts collective FAFSWAG. Combining dance, costume and ceremony, SAUNIGA explores the creatures of the earth as the earliest ancestors.
ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE 6–8 MAR
FIRE DRILL SCENARIO
South Korean choreographer and artist Geumhyung Jeong is no stranger to Naarm audiences. After a successful performance at RISING in 2023, the artist is back to present a show of wit and movement as she explores the risks involved with live performance.
ARTS HOUSE 6–9 MAR
Ç LOOSE NEWS
This is the news, but not as you know it. Loose News summarises the current affairs of the week in a live show with a hilarious twist. A band of comedians will be in charge of delivering the hard-hitting stories in this live sketch show, so nothing can go wrong, of course.
THE BUTTERFLY CLUB 7, 14 & 21 MAR
KARNIVAL OF KARACTORS
Whoever said the circus can’t be sexy? This flirty circus-cabaret is spicing things up with an adults-only show that promises the sexiest of acrobatics and the naughtiest of jokes. Promising a sizzling carnival of entertainment, this is a circus show unlike any you’ve seen before.
CLUB VOLTAIRE 8 MAR
NILS FRAHM
Berlin-based pianist, composer and producer Nils Frahm is bringing his otherworldly exploration of classical and electronic music to Naarm this March. The musician has garnered a reputation the world over for his unconventional approach to an instrument as old as time.
HAMER HALL 14 & 15 MAR
Ç KAGAMI
In a tribute to the late great Japanese composer Ryuichi Sakamoto, KAGAMI offers fans an immersive experience that places the audience at the centre of the art. This three-dimensional mixed reality performance brings the music of Sakamoto to life in what will be a groundbreaking production as part of Asia TOPA.
MELBOURNE CONVENTION AND EXHIBITION CENTRE UNTIL 16 MAR
Ç YAMEN SAADI WITH SIMON TEDESCHI
Stalwarts of the classical music world are partnering together for a rare performance this month. Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra Concertmaster Yamen Saadi will be joining forces with Australian concert pianist Simon Tedeschi to present works by Kreisler and Grieg’s romantic Sonata No.3.
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE 18 MAR
OMEGA ENSEMBLE: LA MUSICA NOTTURNA
Watch the magic of music unfold right in front of your eyes with a musical exposé of the cello that explores this treasured instrument’s rich history and musical traditions. Better yet, La Musica Notturna will be guest directed by Italian cellist and conductor Umberto Clerici.
MELBOURNE RECITAL CENTRE 24 MAR
COMFORT FOOD CABARET: A MID-CENTURY MEAL
It’s dinner and a show at this performance with the country’s favourite singing cook, Michelle Pearson. Taking place in the Robin Boyd modernist house museum, this show combines modernist history with mid-century food. Now serving: a history lesson with dinner.
ROBIN BOYD FOUNDATION 28 & 29 MAR
BALANCE AND COMPOSURE
WORDS BY JULIETTE SALOM
Over the last five years, the world has shifted on its axis, undoubtedly changed in innumerable ways.
Æ
The beginning of 2019 was a time before the most unprecedented of times. Cities weren’t locked down, problematic politicians weren’t yet re-elected, the smoke of faraway bushfires hadn’t yet blanketed foreign skies. And Balance and Composure were still a touring band.
Only just, anyway. From March until May of that year, the Pennsylvanian rock outfit played their final shows on a farewell tour, waving goodbye to a dedicated following of fans after 12 years of music. Or so they thought.
“I was kind of devastated when the band broke up,” Jon Simmons tells me over a video call from his home in Philadelphia. “I took it like a relationship breakup, was kind of a mess without it. A lot of it [was] just not having an outlet anymore or having the human connection that we had with this family we’d made. It was a big piece of me.”
The world of Balance and Composure shifted along with everything else over that period of time. They played their final shows, then a year later barely anyone the world over was playing shows at all. Everything slowed down, some things stopped and balances were thrown out of whack.
What did come, though, was time, distance and growth – all invaluable tools to get over a breakup. Or, for some, to realise that you should get back together.
“Oh, I knew. I knew the guys would miss it, so I had hope for sure,” Jon says about the band’s fateful reuniting. “I didn’t want to put any pressure on them, so I let them come to me and come to the group and everyone kind of felt the same way. It was a beautiful thing.”
Now, with a new album out in the world – with you in spirit – and back on the road again, Balance and Composure seem to have found the right stride they want to take it all in. “It just feels fun, and, I don’t know, we’re really happy right now,” Jon says. They’ve rediscovered a sense of balance, a new pace for their world to turn on its axis at.
“We’re back in our groove”
Along with Jon on lead vocals and rhythm guitar, the boys of Balance and Composure also include Andy Slaymaker (rhythm guitar, vocals), Matt Warner (bass), Erik Petersen (lead guitar) and Dennis Wilson (drums), replacing Bailey Van Ellis who was on drums in the band’s original iteration.
The band may be back playing shows, but Jon says they’re making sure they go about it in a more considered way. “I don’t think we’re going to tour as much anymore as we used to. We kinda just wanna keep everything fun and light. It feels natural again. We’re back in our groove,” he continues. “[But] we’re not touring like 300 days out of the year anymore, which makes it, when we play, it’s rare, more fun and special.”
For Australian fans, rare often means that Northern Hemisphere artists don’t make it all the way down under, but Balance and Composure aren’t letting that be the case.
“We love it there. We’re in love with Australia,” Jon says. “The first time we went over there we fell in love with the place. People are great and the shows are terrific, so we’ve made it a point to always come here.”
The American rockers are being brought to Australia by New Bloom Fest, a festival that will be spotlighting hardcore, rock and alternative artists at its three instalments across the southeastern seaboard. Only in its second year running, New Bloom Fest has already secured some massive names for the March 2025 edition in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
“We can’t believe that’s the lineup,” Jon says, referring to bands such as Basement, Drain, Sweet Pill, Glitterer and more. “We’re shocked and so happy about it. It just worked out and we feel very lucky to be a part of it.”
The Balance and Composure boys are good mates with fellow Americans Glitterer, Jon says, and also know the rockers that make up the British band Basement, but says that he and the band are “excited to meet everybody else.”
Surely that means it’ll be nothing but party vibes when the band finally comes back to Australia? “Responsible party vibes,” Jon corrects me, laughing. “I think it’s just gonna be a fun rock and roll vacation for us, you know? I’m looking forward to it. I feel like many memories will be made.”
BALANCE AND COMPOSURE
WHERE: THE TIMBERYARD
WHEN: 10 MAR
WORDS BY GEORGE TANA
For close to a decade, 999999999 (9x9 for short) have been at the forefront of unrelenting, high-energy hard techno music.
Æ
Students of the underground, the duo have built a cult following with their gritty, improvisational live sets and unwavering commitment to hardware.
Ahead of their highly-anticipated appearance at Pitch Music & Arts Festival, the Italian act share insights on their creative process, the global techno resurgence and what’s in the pipeline for their label, NineTimesNine.
For many artists, there’s a defining moment when they realise their music is connecting with people. For 999999999, rather than a singular event, their come-up moment was a slow-burning awareness that their sound was truly leaving a mark. One of the earliest times the duo noticed their star on the rise was at the legendary annual Awakenings techno festival in the Netherlands, where they recall “noticing the energy in the crowd growing….especially when people began recognising tracks from previous sets.”
Armed with a lethal mix of keen audience perception and a hefty involvement in the hands-on process of spontaneous sound production, their live experiences make for an auditory experience to behold. The duo share that the ability to hone these skills cohesively in a live setting is “all about reading the room… Chaos is what makes our sets exciting. It keeps us and the audience on our toes.”
“We start with some loose ideas, but we’re always ready to switch things up if the crowd’s energy calls for it”. For better or for worse (depending on who you ask), the modern era of electronica is notably digitised. As many acts rely on pre-programmed sets and soundscapes alongside the unprecedented assistance that contemporary music gear allows for, 999999999 stand apart with a notably hands-on approach.
“Analog gear gives us the ability to stay in the moment and react to what’s happening in real time. It’s not about perfection; it’s about feeling the music and letting it evolve naturally during each set.”
Parallel to the intensity of their tactical, kinaesthetic approach, their musical stylings lean heavily into the industrial, raw feel of the underground. On underground club culture, 999999999 notes, “There’s something special about the intimacy of a dark club where you can see every face.”
Inversely, performing at a large-scale festival like Pitch Music & Arts is a completely different beast.
“Festivals give us a chance to reach a massive audience and the energy is overwhelming in the best way… Both experiences fuel us differently and we love adapting to each.”
Having played everywhere from Bogotá to Berlin, they’ve witnessed firsthand the global rise of hard techno. On this upsurge, the duo drew comparisons between the real world and how it exists alongside the escapism of music.
“The world feels like it’s moving faster and getting more intense and harder techno reflects that. It’s music that matches the times: powerful and direct. People connect with that intensity because it feels honest,” they say.
As techno continues to evolve, 999999999 sees the genre’s mainstream growth as an opportunity to push the boundaries while staying true to their roots.
Their self-owned label, NineTimesNine, has become a go-to platform for their specific breed of electronica, but they’re looking to expand their reach, aiming to “expand into more multidisciplinary projects, including collaborations with visual artists and fashion brands.”
“We want the label to be a hub for creativity, not just in music but across different forms of expression.”
As for what’s next, in 2025, they plan to dive into “unexpected sounds and collaborations, blending different influences” all while holding onto their “raw, analog edge” and sensibilities.
While their music may not be traditional or heavy in lyricism, it tells a story all the same – one of “freedom and chaos, breaking down walls and losing yourself in the music.”
With their unrelenting energy, commitment to live improvisation and passion for pushing the boundaries of techno, 999999999 continues to prove why they’re one of the most pivotal pioneers and key tastemakers in the global electronic scene today.
999999999
WHERE: PITCH MUSIC & ARTS
WHEN: 7–11 MAR
MELBOURNE GUITAR SHOW
WORDS BY LEWIS NOKE-EDWARDS
The Melbourne Guitar Show makes a triumphant return on March 1 and 2 2025, taking over the Victoria Pavilion at Melbourne Showgrounds, the show’s first year at this new venue.
Æ Having had a year off and with newly appointed CEO of the Australian Music Association Alex Masso at the helm, the Melbourne Guitar Show is revitalised for a new era.
Attendees can expect the biggest brands in guitar, bass, effects, amplifiers and more, all available to try, buy and discuss with product experts. In addition to a huge range of instruments, the Melbourne Guitar Show will showcase some of the country’s best musicians on the main stage, as well as workshops, panel discussions and songwriting workshops for all.
“It’s really important for us as an industry to engage with consumers,” Alex begins, “to get people excited about playing the instrument. The reason we do guitar is it’s still the most popular instrument.”
A tough admission for Alex, a drummer himself, to make.
“It’s a great opportunity to get people from all walks of life. All the exhibitors, everyone from the biggest brands like Fender and Gibson, global companies, through to people living in Australia, making a few guitars a year, Australian manufacturers.”
For the first time, Fender is also curating its own program of performances, workshops and demonstrations as part of The Fender Experience. In addition to a new venue, this year’s show has better access, as well as a revised main stage.
“It’s gonna be a bit different. People are used to seeing a series of bands playing the main stage. We’ve got a range of acoustic and electric, we’ve got some people presenting, panels, interviews and other things happening, not just playing guitar.”
“We’ve got a new room which is the Make Music room, which is really focused on getting people playing and making music,” Alex beams.
Alex speaks further to the buzz of the show that anyone who’s attended before can attest to, the main floor feeling alive with sound, music and effects.
“We’re super agnostic about genre professional status; beginner, advanced, intermediate. We honestly couldn’t care less if two people are walking into our show and one is the top guitarist in Australia in their field, and the other has just started last month and they’re a kid. Those people are equally important to our event. We want them both to come.”
Speaking further to the reach of the Melbourne Guitar Show, Alex acknowledges there’s a ‘traditional audience’, however this year’s event is making a special effort to reach out to all corners of guitar playing. “If you’re a singer-songwriter and all you do is support yourself, you’re not focused on being a lead guitarist – we want those people. That’s still music,” Alex smiles.
“This is going to be a milestone year for the event, but we’re also making some shifts in a few different ways,” he explains. “I think it’s heading where we’re indicating here, trying to include content creators and bands and panels on the same stage. Having the music-making element… we’re going to keep going in that direction.”
Alex speaks further to how actively the Australian Music Association takes on feedback, allowing the attendees, exhibitors and performers to inform the future of the show.
“A lot of the stuff we’re doing is guided by the people on the floor, as well as the artists. A lot of things we’ve wanted to change, people agree. It’s just listening to what people want to do and make a great event for them.”
“I think ‘community show’ is a better description,” begins Alex, wary that the Melbourne Guitar Show might look like a trade show from the outset.
Alex goes on to rattle off a few things he’s excited about himself, citing the The-Super-Fun-Awesome-Happy-TimePedal-Show, whose host Gabor will be featured on the main stage.
“I’m also trying to sneak a couple of genres in,” Alex muses. “I guess we’re known as a bit of a blues and rock event, but we’ve got a flamenco guitarist. CB3 are a great band – jazz, funk, a bit of a neo-soul influence. They’re really good. And of course Paul Dempsey, an iconic Australian songwriter. So yeah, trying to broaden the music as well.”
“We’ve got the quiet mornings, a bit more family friendly,” he says, explaining that the first two hours of each morning will be quiet time before the noise kicks off. He acknowledges the need to make noise though.
“The raucous cacophony is part of the fun,” he says.
The 2025 Melbourne Guitar Show stands as the first show back after a break and is primed to be the best yet.
MELBOURNE GUITAR SHOW
WHERE: MELBOURNE SHOWGROUNDS
WHEN: 1 + 2 MAR
Made in partnership with Melbourne Guitar Show
BRUNSWICK MUSIC FESTIVAL
Sydney Road Street Party
The biggest street fest of the year is back for 2025! For one day, Sydney Road will be packed with revellers, music, market stalls, roving performers and food as the roads close and the party opens. Bounce between scattered stages with a mix of musical styles, from punk to dance, folk, Greek and community choirs. Duck inside the venues for bevs and even more beats, running from day, late into the night. Dance DJs are taking over the Bergy Seltzer beer garden with an epic lineup of 10 live acts in the bandroom, including Aardvark, GUSH, Zombeaches and Hot Machine. The Retreat has The Pro-Teens, Don’t Thank Me, Spank Me! and more on the main stage, with live performances and DJs pumping outside. You’ll find folk music from Ruth Parker and other singer-songwriters out the front of Co-Conspirators, while Stay Gold is going alt and indie, featuring Greek-Australian punk band Frenzee. ON3 Open House is back with their energetic celebration of dance DJs. Brunswick Ballroom has scored The Vasco Era alongside a mix of folk, country, psych rock and indie pop. If DJs and sax sessions are on your dance card, head to The Penny Black. Your favourite local wine shop, Staple Liquor, is presenting a “best of” lineup of their past vinyl DJs. It’s a lot to get through, but you’ve got all day.
Gamelan DanAnda X Firetail Album
Launch
Balinese gamelan orchestra Gamelan DanAnda and electro-jazz-fusion band Firetail are launching their 12th vinyl album with a night of pulsing rhythms in a fusion of musical traditions. They’re supported by READY NEW GANG, merging the music of Balinese shadow puppetry with double bass by Scott Owen and drums by David Williams.
Miss Kaninna, Elsy Wameyo & 6 Seasons of Gariwerd by Amos-Roach
It’s genre-fusion storytelling from powerful young women, with tickets costing only $30. Multiaward-winning artist Miss Kaninna, a proud Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Kalkadoon and Yirendali woman, performs her punk, rap, neo-soul stylings that made her breakout singles Blak Britney and Pinnacle Bitch immediate hits. She’ll be playing alongside Elsy Wameyo, a Nairobi-born artist from Adelaide who fuses hip-hop, R&B, gospel and traditional African music.
Bahamadia (US) w/ Kaiit + CD
Prepare for an unmissable night of rap and smooth soul as legendary Philly rapper Bahamadia takes the stage at Gilpin Park. Since her 1996 debut album, Kollage, she’s been a hip-hop pioneer, blending with jazz and electronic music for an iconic sound. ARIA-Award-winning neo-soul artist Kaiit joins her with the delicious vocal grooves that made them a global sensation. With tickets only $40, it’s a steal.
Tangled Mates: 12 Hour Brunswick Music Fest Party
Get ready for an epic 12-hour dance marathon as Tangle Agency and Crates Mates take over Quad Club. It’s an all-night journey from 5pm to 5am, blending live music, DJ sets and visual displays, powered by the venue’s quadraphonic sound system. The lineup features New Zealand’s Nice Girl and Montréal’s Ramzi (musician and visual artist Phoebé Guillemot), alongside Bayu, Birdsnake, Ex Ponto, Hybrid Man, KALOPSIA and San of the Rambutan.
Pachyman (US)
Howler hosts Pachyman as he performs his 2023 album, Switched-On, inspired by oldschool dub. Using throwback synth sounds, he evokes waves of sun-soaked nostalgia for an era of feel-good electronic groove. It’s smooth. It’s dreamy.
MESS: New Waveforms
Five emerging artists present a showcase of electronic music drawing from the vast instrument collection of MESS (Melbourne Electronic Sound Studio). Join MESS alumni D. Tyrone, Mimmie, Reibang Chakma, Zoltan Fecso and INHARMONICITY for an electric evening at Brunswick Mechanics Institute.
Saturate
Naarm-based artist Sara Retallick will transform the Brunswick Baths by night into a wholly unique audio-aquatic experience. Immerse yourself in SATURATE, a sound installation that can only be heard beneath the water as you explore and swim between different audio zones.
Kutcha Edwards and Friends
Legendary Mutti Mutti, Yorta Yorta, Nari Nari senior Songman Kutcha Edwards is coming to Yubup Park with Kutcha and Friends, a free singing and storytelling journey of his life and experiences. Moving between music and speech, gravitas and humour, Kutcha weaves tales as only he can.
Golden Threads Festival
Fleming Park plays host to this lively free festival of SWANA / Middle Eastern music, culture and food. Performances include Yara, Rezanator, Kaza Band and DJs Luqman and HIP HOP HOE as well as workshops in belly-dancing and dabke, and eats by A1 Bakery and Chef Aheda.
Bulleke-bek Journey
It’s a Brunswick live music crawl with a full day of free acts sprawling across venues and genres, including a vinyl launch party at the Beast, alt-country at Co-Conspirators, New Orleans jazz at the Moldy Fig, streetside songs at Staple Liquor, a punk conglomerate at the Coburg RSL and much more.
Live At The Library
“Grandma-rock-meets-clit-pop” outfit The Vovos will be breaking the silence of Brunswick Library for a first-come-first-serve free show, joined by the new solo stylings of Grace Robinson.
MAGDALENA BAY
WORDS BY DOM LEPORE
The Californian duo’s synth-pop odyssey about the prismatic human psyche has taken the world by storm.
Æ Bringing together sickly-sweet hooks, boisterous musicianship and vivid worldbuilding, it’s no wonder why Magdalena Bay are one of the world’s most captivating pop groups right now.
Mica Tenenbaum and Matthew Lewin put so much of themselves into the adventurous project, drawing upon music they loved as kids and beloved cult films from decades past to shape their dazzling band.
With their latest record Imaginal Disk, they’ve skyrocketed into stardom. Lauded by critics and pop heads alike, the album’s passionate acclaim came in like an avalanche. The rapturous concept album, their most realised yet, still feels like an event – but writing with such ambition wasn’t outside their wheelhouse.
“I don’t think we ever have released something that we felt was unnatural while we were making it,” Matthew says. “Imaginal Disk is just a culmination of our musical exposure and experience from our childhood up until now.”
Their earliest musical endeavours were rooted in progressive rock. Their first band, Tabula Rasa, had a tiny audience of “just parents” Matthew tells me.
On Imaginal Disk, they naturally stuck to their prog roots. “We were in an era of going back to music we really, really loved in high school,” Mica says. “A lot of that is older music, like progressive rock that inspired our first band we had together, where I was really digging into Paul McCartney and Joni Mitchell for the first time.”
On their debut album, Mercurial World, they largely played with electropop. This time, rock instruments are at the fore. The sprawling, 15-track record sounds enormous – massive drum kicks and jubilant piano keys decorate the synths bolstered by Mica’s soaring voice. Their precise knack for prog and pop has coalesced into a truly distinctive sound.
“We were programming drums, but it didn’t feel complete until we recorded the live drums,” Matthew says. “It’s not like we set out to make a record with more live instrumentation – the songs we were making all happened to call for those things.”
Take the song Image: a bouncy, glittery synth barrage about changing as a person – a universal theme presented in extraterrestrial glamour. Death & Romance follows in the tracklist, offering an exuberant, powerful pop-rock ballad about star-crossed lovers whose strong feelings for each other bring them closer, yet strain their relationship.
Death & Romance is easily Imaginal Disk’s fullest cut, so it was surprising to discover it was the first written for the album. “It felt different. It called for more acoustic instrumentation that we hadn’t been doing a ton,” Mica reveals. “In a way, it set the tone for what came next.”
With the lustrous pop music sorted, this lent itself to constructing a cohesive visual identity, something they committed to quite early in the process.
The duo’s love for ’70s and ’80s cinema played a huge role in Imaginal Disk’s extremely stylised aesthetics. The combination of colouring, film technique and cinematography was crucial, but most important was the feeling.
“We’ve always been into sci-fi,” says Matthew. “We watched Flash Gordon pretty late in the writing process, but that was a big influence with the colours and the tone.”
The album follows the character of True Blue, played by Mica. In the album’s universe, she’s abducted by aliens who insert the titular “imaginal disk” in her forehead – a CD containing human consciousness. True Blue rejects it and learns what it means to be human.
The integral idea is even integrated into their website, playing like a cryptic point-and-click adventure game. Its map contains lo-fi-styled visuals Matthew says they “love to lean into” and lyrical references and motifs scattered across its surreal locations.
But Matthew admits it’s easier to make music “sound really big and expensive with just a laptop” than to “fake” big-budget videos, so they took advantage of the limitations. Mica shares they used fast cuts and edited the videos themselves, resulting in a visual style that’s entirely their own.
“It’s like, ‘How do we make something feel unique and special without a crazy set piece or a billion dollars of special effects and stuff?’. I think those limitations have always been a benefit to us in that way,” Matthew says.
With Imaginal Disk unveiled to the world, bigger and more diverse audiences are on board to witness it on their extravagant Imaginal Mystery Tour. The two welcome the surge of popularity, yet find the intensity has differed from past shows. “When we play bigger shows, I think there are more people, but the number of crazy fans gets diluted a bit by more casual fans, which is a natural extension of growing your audience,” Matthew admits.
“The show we’re doing now is a little bit less dancey,” he continues. “It’s more of a theatrical performance.”
Mica also chips in: “We’ll see more people just watching. I’ve grown to like that. At first, I was like, ‘Okay, they’re maybe jumping less,’ but it makes sense.”
Above all else, what can’t be understated is the incredible way Imaginal Disk explores self-examination and the human condition, even if it’s drenched in the supernatural. That’s where its depth comes from.
“I think there’s a really cool spot in between something that’s personal and abstract. Maybe those aren’t even really at the end of a spectrum, almost not at odds of each other,” Mica says. “What we feel is abstracted in a way, so it’s fun and it’s not hard to add mystery to these human experiences.”
Matthew agrees: “It’s probably a more effective way to describe the intangible human emotions. How else are you going to do it?”
MAGDALENA BAY
WHERE: PALACE FORESHORE
WHEN: 7 MAR
DON WEST
WORDS
BY LIAM HEITMANN-RYCE-LEMERCIER
Emerging talent within the Aussie soul scene, Don West is bringing his unique school of charm and sepiatinted vocals to a stage near you.
Æ Touring across Australia to celebrate the release of his self-titled debut EP, West will be setting stages alight across Brisbane, Byron Bay, Sydney and Melbourne – and even making his way to Europe, in a Copenhagen performance that will see him sharing a stage with pop voice of the moment, Chappell Roan.
Calling in from the east coast, he is as smooth and breezy over the phone as he is onstage. Speaking of his upcoming full-length album, as yet untitled, “I’m very excited about it,” he says. “I just tightened the screws at the start of the year.”
Recorded in the middle of 2024 with a close friend of his, shut off in a makeshift studio for two months in the depths of a particularly miserable winter, making the album was something of a bleak experience.
As a result, he admits, “There are a lot of dark songs in there. It’s very different to the first EP, but there’s also some good energetic stuff. I’m just excited to get some music out; to keep the wheels turning, if you will.”
Speaking of his early inspiration as a musician he emphatically underlines, “I’ve always loved soul.” He was raised on a healthy diet of blues music, due to the influence of his brother, for which he expresses some gratitude.
Were it up to his father, Don’s tastes would have cantered toward more mainstream touchstones such as AC/DC. “Thank goodness for my brother,” he adds wryly.
One of the most significant guideposts of his early musical education was Marvin Gaye. “I remember listening to one of his live albums. It was insane,” he reflects. “You can hardly hear the music because it was just women screaming throughout the whole album, which I thought was pretty cool…”
Much of Don’s speech follows this ponderous, lyrical style, often concluding sentences with elliptical pauses. It echoes his invitational performances. Both in speech and in song, Don West is incredibly cool.
As to his breakthrough gig this August, performing at the Syd For Solen music festival, Don has his “very hard-working agent” to thank for that.
“I’m excited,” he admits. “Never been on a lineup like that.”
The artists he is performing alongside are those he has seen before and greatly admires, leaving him “honoured to be on the same poster” on the upcoming European summer circuit. “It’s a good look,” he says of sharing print space with Chappell Roan. “Good optics.”
Born and raised in Sydney’s northern beaches – “Manly Beach, to be exact” – Don’s upbringing has been a major influence on his music. Indeed, it’s where almost all of his writing takes place, either on the couch in his living room or under the sun in the local park.
“My manager loves to call my music a sub-genre of soul, and that’s called ‘coastal soul’. It reminds you of the beach and the sunshine, you know, its appeal. It’s such a vibe…” Another pause. “Yeah,” he adds reflectively.
Besides his burgeoning career as a soul singer, West is also signed as a talent to IMG Models, a pairing of career pathways he says balance one another out. Rather than having to audition for jobs, he says, “they just go, ‘You’ve got this. They want you.’”
As such, the dual role as model-musician does not represent a significant scheduling clash. “One helps the other, you know; one gives the other a leg-up. It’s a bit of fun – usually music-related shoots or campaigns… Keeps the boredom away.”
The simultaneous career pathway in modelling has not directly influenced his unique onstage persona. A compelling presence at 6’4”, broad-shouldered, and with a full mane of long, glossy brown hair, Don oozes cool in every space he performs.
His distinct personal style – vest tops and high-waisted pants – is not one that has been shaped by his background in commercial modelling, he insists.
“It’s just me. I don’t really think about it; I just wear what’s comfortable, what makes me feel confident. I wear what I wear and that’s it.”
Continuing an ascendant rise within the Australian live music scene and beyond, Don West emerged – and has remained – purely and simply himself.
DON WEST
WHERE: JOHN CURTIN HOTEL
WHEN: 27 MAR
FONTAINES D.C.
Whether they like it or not, Fontaines D.C. have been tasked with saving rock music.
WORDS BY KAYA MARTIN
Æ It’s an honour (or burden) that’s been bestowed upon plenty of others across the years: The Strokes, The Ramones, Arctic Monkeys, Patti Smith, Green Day, and even, perplexingly, the nation of Sweden. Now, whispers are on the wind that it’s Fontaines D.C. who must carry the cumbersome torch.
While I’m not here to unpack the nuances of genre or dive into whether or not so-called ‘rock’ actually needs saving, it’s hard to deny the band’s impact. At a time when it felt like modern rock may have lost its way, Fontaines D.C. came out with Romance: their brightest and most accessible album yet, fusing echoes of classic Brit-rock cool with a sense of sanguine bleakness especially attuned to the current moment.
The album sprung the Dublin five-piece from niche post-punk circles into the daylight, scoring them two Grammy nominations and sending their streaming numbers skyrocketing. They even picked up some notable fans along the way: Harry Styles, Cillian Murphy and Florence Welch were among those spotted at gigs, Sir Elton John shouted them out as “the best band out there right now” and even Barack Obama showed support, adding the single Favourite to his annual playlist.
Nearing the top of the charts, the band are often the sole electric guitar-slingers nestled among titans of pop, country and hip-hop.
What’s most impressive is despite a stylistic swap from monochrome casualwear to more vibrant and outlandish aesthetics, not much else has changed. Their lyrics still blend cryptic anguish with breakthrough moments of sweetness. Ominous riffage still builds into hooks of poppy euphoria – though perhaps a few more than they’ve offered before. It’s still the same five guys who came together at music school with the hopes of making something great.
Now, six months since the album’s release, drummer Tom Coll isn’t as overwhelmed by the mainstream attention as one might expect.
“The last album felt like a bit of a marked jump, I guess. Big time,” he laughs. “We’ve been doing the band for eight, nine years now, so it’s been a slow, gradual build-up as well. It feels like each album is one step.”
Smiling widely in a red Adidas sweatshirt, he recounts some of his best memories from the Romance rollout: a secret show in New York City, a set at Glastonbury and a huge hometown wrap-up show.
“I haven’t spent that much time in Ireland over the last few years,” he says (the band’s now based out of London), “so to spend five days and have the whole year end in a big Irish show was really, really special. It was lovely. All of our friends and family were there as well.”
The next step for the band involves a blitz through Japan, an Australian tour with stops at the Sydney Opera House and Golden Plains and a brand-new single, It’s Amazing To Be Young. In a similar vein as Favourite, the track is the first they’ve dropped since Romance and oozes a nostalgia-tingled sense of wonder.
“If it’s five of us in a room and we’re all in that creative space, something really special happens and stuff just falls out of us.”
“Carlos and Grian started writing it on a piano at Carlos’ house and it was around the time his baby girl was born,” Tom tells me. “It was a really heightened emotional time for him and for us – I feel like that bled into our lives so much as well. It was, like, seeing your friend become a dad for the first time. He was the first one of us to ever have a kid, so it was wild.”
It’s this sense of raw emotion and vulnerability that’s part of the larger appeal of the band. From the hammering debut single Starburster, penned by frontman Grian Chatten during a panic attack on the London tube, to the self-loathing dithering of Death Kink, Fontaines D.C. aren’t afraid to dredge up the ugly, the crude and the resentful, though they always leave room for beauty.
I ask Tom how he feels about being labelled such a serious band. “I don’t know,” he ponders. “I feel like we don’t take ourselves that seriously when we’re in a room together. A lot of us are very shy and I feel like we don’t really put much of ourselves out there and that’s sometimes mistaken as being very serious and aloof.
“From day one, we’ve always really taken art very seriously and always wanted to write the absolute best music that we can. We take that craft and that learning experience of doing that very seriously,” he says. “As people, not so much.”
As for the notion Fontaines D.C. are saving rock music, that’s something that doesn’t appear to be on his mind much at all. He’s just happy to have his friends by his side, together against the world.
“I’m a big fan of hip-hop and lots of solo singers and stuff like that – that’s amazing. But I feel like as an artist, I would hate to have all the pressure on just my shoulders. There’s something emotionally safe about being in a band as well, because you’re there, and you’re with your mates, and it’s like everyone’s doing it, you know?” he says.
“If it’s five of us in a room and we’re all in that creative space, something really special happens and stuff just falls out of us. It’s this really amazing thing knowing the lads for so long; it’s this special kind of creative spark. That’s what we bring.”
FONTAINES D.C.
WHERE: PALACE FORESHORE
WHEN: 8 + 10 MAR
PLAYLUNCH
WORDS BY OLIVER WINN
If east-side eshays had a theme song, then Playlunch’s single Station Rat would be it: “Passed out at the station in Boronia / Goon on my breath and reeking of ammonia…”
Of course, there’s nothing without balance, and the band wouldn’t be the same without its quieter, more introspective members. You’ll find them “having a conversation about something delicate or sensitive and then gradually everyone will be drawn into it.”
Bell describes how one member will be opening up about something they’re dealing with, and the others in response will be tearing up for them. It’s refreshing to hear this sort of vulnerability among men, and Bell says, “It’s a really beautiful dynamic”.
Æ I mean, come on. What other band out there has combined Red Hot Chili Peppersesque funk rap with a strong Aussie inflection and made it sound good?
Well, Playlunch certainly has nailed this niche genre they’ve dubbed ‘bogan funk’ and they’ll be bringing some bangers to St Kilda Festival this February.
With songs about the shenanigans of school athletics days, tributes to the beloved Kath Day-Knight and the envy of a girl who can afford Foxtel, Playlunch is unabashedly Australian.
Frontman Liam Bell says the band is “all about connecting as immediately and deeply as possible with the people in the room” through irresistibly groovy bass lines, anthemic horn riffs and bouncy drum beats. If going from writing songs about the ABC to being signed by the broadcasting corporation is a measure of success, then this band is undoubtedly doing well.
Underpinning Playlunch’s work is the desire to create a musical experience that’s as “dopamine-filled as possible”. Bell says he wants Playlunch to be a “party band”, so it’s no wonder their gigs are rowdy and exciting. Take the song Athletics Day for example: when played live, the bustling crowd is divided into four and plays a house athletics-style game, with each quarter being named after famous Australian TV presenter.
But Bell has a lot on his plate; though the band has seven members, he does most of the work. He doesn’t just write the band’s songs and play guitar. He also handles social media, music production and brand design, all while working part-time jobs on the side.
“I think the workload is a lot, and it’s no secret that having a project like this is an absolute death sentence for your bank account,” says Bell. The large number of members also means it’s more difficult to coordinate things. “The comms, the purely logistical and financial things… It’s really expensive to get that many people from city to city to play gigs.”
Despite the tough times, the large number of members in Playlunch makes the project unique among other emerging acts. The band’s dynamic is fluid and multifaceted, something that’s visible in their individual performances. It definitely helps those long road trips on tour, as members can bounce between one another if they’re starting to “get a little bit sick of them”.
Each of the boys’ idiosyncrasies interact in interesting ways, so no one ever gets bored. Some of the members can get a bit “mischievous and chaotic” – think silly pranks being pulled, or even spontaneous jams leading to light bulb moments.
“I think one of my favourite things about this band is it’s really great to be this bunch of boys, you know, and be rambunctious and get up to mischief,” Bell says.
“But it’s also so beautiful how often we have these times where this group of men are opening up to each other… and having these really deep conversations about stuff.”
This authentic connection between members of the band undoubtedly shines in their enormous stage presence. Playlunch has curated such a deep connection (ABC Music senior label manager Graham Ashton calls it “the purest connection between artist and audience I’ve ever seen”), that fans have started to show up to gigs in costumes, dressing up as teachers on yard duty handing out detention slips.
That is ultimately what makes Playlunch so exciting to watch and listen to. It’s not necessarily the 2000s Aussie references itself, but rather the sense of unity, community and unbridled joy it imbues within the crowd. Playlunch has become more than the sum of its individual parts.
“We used to think about Playlunch as just seven of us guys – it’s these songs that we write, it’s the costumes we wear,” Bell tells me. “But now, everything we do is such a small part of that. The fans have taken over and made it into something else entirely.”
PLAYLUNCH
WHERE: BRUNSWICK BALLROOM
WHEN: 7 MAR
WORDS BY SIMONE ANDERS
There is a great sense of hollowed longing in the sound of NPCEDE.
Æ Angry, disaffected and detached with a select few euphoric moments, their music is a pervasive mix of industrial, noise, post-punk and melancholic EDM, representing a mix of rap in the vein of slowthai and a more acidic, garage iteration of Death Grips.
All this is easily mixed and balanced by the heightened energy of the trio, featuring brothers Victor and Roy Moore and childhood friend Zac Hellyer.
Recent slots at The Eighty Six Festival and SXSW Sydney have quickly solidified their reputation for wild, unkempt performances. Their lyrics and aesthetics pull from the hypersexuality of the internet to the sensory overwhelm of hyperpop.
Although, according to Roy, the origins of the band could not have been more unplanned. “The genesis of the band basically came out of necessity. We were at a house party where we would perform a DJ set, but neither of us could DJ, so we spliced together a 45-minute song on Logic, put it on a USB and LARP-ed as DJs while we played the guitar over the top.”
Victor adds, “We got asked to do a show from these DJ sets. We didn’t have anything aside from some industrial beats. We wrote eight tracks for this one show and we had three months to do it.”
“On top of that, we were all learning to actually play our instruments,” says Roy.
“On the production end, we would start off with beats and flesh out an idea from that – slowly build that up and retroactively learn to play it live, rather than jamming it out,” says Victor. “During that time, we were mostly listening to a lot of hyperpop, a lot of experimental hip-hop.”
With lyrical motifs of depressive veracity and the discordant sense of human connection in the internet era, both Roy and Victor were keen to integrate those themes within the confines of their sound.
“When performing in a digital world, you are sometimes lacking the kinetic energy of a drummer, which we don’t have. In the beginning, we talked about how we could approach it sensorily, as well as how we can create a performance with computers in the same vein of Swans, but with a laptop.” Victor’s intrigue with this concept shows up in both the lyrical and visual language of NPCEDE. “The lyrics are about how hardwired our need for distraction is, especially for younger audiences. Considering everything else going on in the world, there is an inherent frustration. At this point, that sense of discord seems pretty universal. Even the music video for the song Spleen is about growing up with porn and seeing the world through this twisted erotic environment,” he tells me.
“I think there is such a high sense of reflexivity that our generation experiences. It is kind of a double bind, where you are told to do certain things by older people but you are so self-aware in doing them. There is a tension and a frustration there,” says Victor.
Their live shows are visceral, with Victor diving into the audience, head-to-head with fans, unrestrained. That literal sense of connection dissuades assumptions of performative nihilism that may be lobbied at NPCEDE. This delicate interplay is something Roy takes to heart. “To be able to switch between irony and sincerity is important. We as a band are still very much resting in our raw feelings. I don’t personally like when bands use a distraction like irony as a way of curtailing what they are doing. It can be funny, sure, but it almost feels like a form of self-preservation. I think there is a degree of earnestness in our music. If I were to forecast, I would say that earnestness and sincerity would be our response to the past decade or so of irony.”
Their performances become, as a result, an interplay of these feelings.
“Even within the lyrics and that appeal to nihilism as a disaffected young person, there is a hidden sense of optimism, I feel. It almost feels anger but not quite,” laughs Roy. “We are definitely taking a leaf from the existentialists though. Whatever, God is dead, but now what?”
WHERE: MEADOW MUSIC FESTIVAL
WHEN: 23 MAR
NPCEDE
SPIKE FUCK
Last year, Melbourne musician Spike Fuck had a creative outbreak.
WORDS BY JOSHUA JENNINGS
Æ After a three-year hiatus from the music scene, there was suddenly a lot to say – about death, mortality, life, sanity, joy, sadness, judgement, forgiveness, heaven, hell, purgatory and so on. The compulsion to say it all felt intensely urgent too.
In the flash of lightning, the artist behind 2016’s mythical EP, Smackwave, had 10 demo songs to have his way with in the studio, alongside his new band (which also answers to Spike Fuck).
But despite his burst of energy, long stretches of time passed with nothing new uploaded on Spotify. Then, the band freed the six-and-a-half minute epic Other Right Hand of the Lord at 11.59pm on December 24, 2024.
Spike says the song is a snapshot that windows fans into what he’s been up to in his absence.
“That’s who I am doing it for ultimately. It’s a conversation between me and them. My goal isn’t to attract the attention of a record label or to appease the industry. If that stuff comes my way and there are people who can genuinely help us to achieve our goals? Great. But if not, that’s also fine. We’ve got everything we need right now,” he says.
“I understood that planning a release on Christmas Eve was knee-capping myself in a sense, but I like to think the choice to do so was in support of this more noble or quixotic purpose of making music for the pure love of it, and to get it to the people who actually wanna hear it, no matter when it comes out.”
The soulful Other Right Hand of the Lord, which sits somewhere on the spectrum of gospel-inspired polyphonic folk-rock, hits heights that are natively at odds with what Spike describes as his own inclinations towards nihilism, pessimism, cynicism and detachment.
“I’m not a positive person naturally –it’s actually a daily effort for me to be,” says Spike. “However, I think this lot of songs, and that one in particular, has this thread that’s like, ‘I am alive. I’m still alive, and what a great thing that is.’ It’s not some paltry oh-lookhow-wonderful-life-is-now kind of thing. It’s more along the lines of, ‘I’m alive, and in a sense, I choose to be every day, so now I better work at making it bearable and perhaps even enjoyable.’ And in doing so, it has.
Not even to give an answer about death or life or meaning – I have none, and I’m not in the business of trying to find one anymore. But there’s something about making music and creating that allows you to peer above the pettiness of it all… All I’m ever trying to [do is] convey my inner, wholly subjective experience that seems near impossible to do in day-to-day life outside of art and music. But to put all of that feeling and experience into music and have it resonate with someone else, and they understand it at a deep level and they feel it, that is probably the most rewarding part of it, and also something that I’ll never fully comprehend.”
The band recorded the almost-seven-minute song inside a place called Dennis, a shedturned-studio attached to the West Footscray share house of band bassist and producer Elvis Walsh, replete with gear procured from the deceased estate of a late “Dennis”.
After winning over live audiences with all of a microphone, an industrially stabbing backing track and a karaoke-show vibe, Spike is thriving with a band – as Other Right Hand of the Lord shows. Although, as Spike says, he wasn’t originally paying the song’s potential a whole lot of mind. Walsh, on the other hand, was envisioning something inspired.
“He had this whole vision for it to have this big, bright, Big Star production,” says Spike. “I chose to trust his process and I’m so glad I did, because now I couldn’t imagine the song any differently, and it’s probably the song I’m most proud of.”
To describe Other Right Hand of the Lord as psychedelic, as Spike has, has at times confounded people, he says.
“The song is my take on psychedelia, though psychedelia if it were slightly more honest – and not about the colours I saw on my last acid trip, or some platitudes about being one with everything,” says Spike.
“What I’m really interested in — here and more broadly — is the psychedelic experience produced by, say, coming off methadone and psych meds — the terrifying lows and the general sense of chemical terror it can produce. The pain is so intense that it goes beyond the physical and even mental. It’s truly existential and even beyond drugs now. Life is so inexplicably strange. What I’m really interested in is the outer reaches of human experience. And the aspects that aren’t perhaps immediately life-affirming the way that a profound acid trip is; the aspects that don’t make sense, or are so incredibly painful and disorienting at the time that they defy explanation, but in the long run, can lead you to appreciate life so much more fully, as if your life depends on it — which it does.”
Spike Fuck’s tour stretches 10 dates across mainland Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand.
“I’m clean and sober now and I like to keep a regular-ish routine where I can,” he says. “On tour, I’ll basically just keep the routine I have at home… but yeah, I’ll figure that out as I go. It’ll be a journey of discovery, I guess.”
‘I’m alive, and in a sense, I choose to be every day, so now I better work at making it bearable and perhaps even enjoyable.’
Spike Fuck, the band, have been recording two to three days per week around civilian life and keeping a serious schedule.
“The process has certainly been gruelling at times, but everyone involved, including myself, has risen to the occasion. Each win, each song we complete, each person I meet and get to know, each opportunity presented [and] each contribution of the band members makes the song something far greater than it otherwise would have been. It’s all just been such a pleasant surprise,” says Spike.
“Music is inherently personal and emotional and requires you to give something of yourself that you might not want to give, so it’s important to trust and have a good relationship with your bandmates for it to work. Because it’s about the music but equally, it’s about the connection with other people.”
SPIKE FUCK
WHERE: CORNER HOTEL
WHEN: 28 MAR
JOLT ARTS
WORDS BY LILY BAUMGARTL
LIVE MUSIC: JOLT Arts isn’t your average gig venue. It describes itself as an arts space for the avant-garde. Hosting everything from noise experiments to psychedelic electronic performances, JOLT Arts is a space where sound and sight collide in the most random and unexpected ways.
FAMOUS FOR: supporting boundary-pushing artists, creating a space for people with disabilities in the arts and putting on events that make you rethink everything you know about music and life.
INFAMOUS FOR: bringing sonic chaos to High street. Walk in expecting a regular gig and you might just find someone making music with a toaster. If you’re looking for a predictable night out, JOLT probably isn’t the place for you.
Æ JOLT Arts is so much more than a music venue. It’s a creative playground. Since its beginnings in 2008, it’s become a home to contemporary and experimental artists, fostering career development and opportunity through programs and performances that challenge the mainstream.
Accessibility isn’t just a buzzword at JOLT Arts. It’s a core focus of its mission and is built into everything it does. From the start, it has backed artists with disabilities, running an NDIS-supported day program that encourages creative expression.
With strong support from funders like Live Music Australia and the City of Darebin’s Community & FUSE grants Program, JOLT Arts continues to push the boundaries of sound and space, and maybe even space and time.
The venue perfectly matches this vibe – think original unpainted walls and period details that pair well with rule-bending music.
For those who are interested in the more alternative side of art, lean into JOLT Arts. You could leave feeling inspired, or maybe a little confused, but either way, it’ll be unforgettable.
NEW GUERNICA
WORDS BY LILY BAUMGARTL
LIVE MUSIC: Some say New Guernica is the epicentre of Melbourne’s electronic music scene. It hosts a mix of underground local talent and internationally acclaimed DJs live all weekend.
FAMOUS FOR: the unmistakable red strobe glow appearing on Instagram stories every Thursday night. New Guernica has iconic lighting and paired with its copper bar countertops and industrial interior, followers could be convinced you’re in Berlin.
INFAMOUS FOR: the hardcore weekends spurred on by $4 seltzers that can leave you wanting to escape to Yah Yah’s across the street.
Æ Its reputation precedes it. It’s one of those places that you’ve just heard of. Whether it be a trip to Melbourne or a birthday bender, New Guernica usually makes it onto the itinerary.
Its attraction can be largely credited to its rotating schedule. New Guernica keeps things fresh, showcasing underground techno nights, house-heavy weekends and on the more chill side of things, eclectic mid-week sessions.
The club was once a staple of Melbourne’s nightlife in the CBD, but now brings new life into the heritage-listed Forester’s Hall, because nothing says peak clubbing more than dancing under century-old ceilings.
In 2024, New Guernica introduced a new addition to their weekly rotation: Tilt Shift. This is an event hosted every Tuesday and curated by local Melbourne artist Stockholm Syndrome. It features leftfield electronic music that can be enjoyed outside the club via online streaming platforms such as Twitch, YouTube and Instagram.
New Guernica is also making moves with its sex-positive events. It recently went into collaboration with THROUGH events, bringing to life nights of homoerotic dance parties and DJs. For those who are curious and keen, NUTT brings darkrooms, leather and kink to Smith street.
It’s an authentic place, full of passion and pride. If it were a person, it would be that friend who thinks they’re so cool, but it’s okay because they actually are.
WHERE: 342 HIGH ST, NORTHCOTE
OPEN: MON–FRI 9:30AM–3:30PM
WHERE: 64 SMITH ST, COLLINGWOOD
OPEN: THUR 9:30PM–4AM / FRI–SAT 10PM–4AM
REBEL REBEL
WORDS BY AVA VILLELLA
LIVE MUSIC: is consistent and groovy. Spinning vinyl every Friday and Saturday, Rebel Rebel boasts an impressive roster of skilled local DJs who spend their days crate-digging to deliver rockin’ sets by night.
FAMOUS FOR: its atmosphere. The kooky memorabilia and funky decor captures the ’60s and ’70s rocker vibe that effortlessly oozes from the venue.
INFAMOUS FOR: being a pillar for the local community. From events like bingo to artist markets and film screenings, Rebel Rebel knows how to bring people together for a good time.
Æ Named after the iconic David Bowie song, Rebel Rebel is a dive bar that channels a cool, grungy vibe through its nostalgic decor and design. The incredibly kind staff and laidback atmosphere have earned this bar a reputation for being unpretentious and welcoming. With a focus on good times and great tunes, Rebel Rebel has cemented its status as much-beloved hotspot in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. Out back, it opens up to a spacious, dog-friendly beer garden, offering the perfect spot for soaking in the afternoon sun and enjoying a couple of cold ones with your mates. Inside, the space is filled with tables decorated with twinkling fairy lights and plush cushions. The hardest part is picking which of the cosy nooks you’re going to settle into before you get to the easy part – settling down and enjoying the evening.
What’s more, Rebel Rebel recently opened Edna, it’s very own kitchen offering Italian American inspired eats including meatball subs, Philly cheesesteaks and mozza sticks. Rumour has it the menu’s about to get a big refresh, so keep your eyes on Edna Preston’s socials.
The bar itself is a riot. The Rebel Rebel team knows how to guarantee a good time for all their patrons. The bar prides itself on pouring delicious local beer and wines while also boasting a serious cocktail game, all at great prices. At Rebel Rebel, the good times can roll freely without emptying your wallet.
WHERE: 93 PLENTY RD, PRESTON
OPEN: MON–TUE 4–11PM / WED 4PM–12AM THU–FRI 4PM–1AM / SAT 2PM–2AM / SUN 2–11PM
VOODOO BAR & GRILL
WORDS BY ELLA MORRIS
LIVE MUSIC: As a restaurant that embodies the birthplace of jazz and blues, you already know the kind of music you’re getting. Nightly performances transport you straight to the vibrant streets of New Orleans. Whether you’re here for a laid-back dinner or a night of Creole-inspired fun, the rhythm will set the tone for an unforgettable evening.
FAMOUS FOR: dinner and a show. Why settle for an average dining experience when you could witness a dynamic performance? At 6:30pm and 8:45pm, enjoy a sensational burlesque show alongside your meal. With a rotating cast of talented dancers, there’s never a dull moment as you indulge in Southern-inspired fare.
INFAMOUS FOR: being a hidden gem. Tucked away through a laneway entrance, Voodoo Bar & Grill is one of Melbourne’s best-kept secrets. Its intimate, cosy ambiance ensures you won’t be swarmed by crowds, even on the busiest nights. You truly have to be in the know to experience its charm.
Æ From BBQ to burlesque, Voodoo Bar & Grill is serving a slice of the Big Easy on a silver platter.
For those who hope to experience the immersive culture of the south but haven’t yet made the journey across the world, don’t worry. For an authentic taste of New Orleans, you only have to travel to the Melbourne CBD. Voodoo Bar & Grill is a perfect example of inspiration done right.
The Creole-inspired decor and softly dimmed lighting create a vibe that is truly hard to find anywhere else. With jazz and blues in your ears all night and mind-boggling burlesque numbers to accompany your dinner, there’s no way you’ll be bored on your next night out. While the entertainment is top-notch, the real star of the show is the food. From tender glazed pork ribs to Cajun-rubbed chicken, this bar and grill delivers every southern classic you could dream of. And for those who love to stay a little longer, make your way in on a Wednesday for an all-you-can-eat BBQ feast.
WHERE: 167 FRANKLIN ST, MELBOURNE OPEN: WED–SAT 5PM–LATE
ANTONY SZMIEREK
Service Station At The End Of The Universe
Æ This record opens like a cracking DJ set, promising a reflective, dance-tastic time, during which the lyrics take us higher and help us process the messiness of life. Antony Szmierek obviously has a thing for sci-fi (see: the opening title track, which boasts rave elements and rolling, I Feel Love-inspired bass that’d make Giorgio Moroder himself have a boogie).
Szmierek (pronounced ‘Shmerrick’) is one who wanders the streets actively seeking flashes of blinding beauty, which wind their way into his poetic, insightful turn of phrase.
“Does hope come with that Happy Meal? Nah, I didn’t think so…” – Szmierek has said he “wanted to be half Alex Turner and half Dr Dre”, which is perfectly put. This Mancunian’s chilled, conversational delivery spits the most exquisitely visual prose, which is also littered with motivational affirmations just begging to be scrawled on Post-It notes and stuck on your walls: “You get one life, live it/ In the valley of the kings.”
Our introduction to Szmierek was via 2024’s Yoga Teacher, with its muzak-like melodies backing this winsome tale about a distracted, hesitant yogi: “My friends joke that I’ve come here just to meet someone and I deny it, lyingly/ On this musty borrowed PE foam mat/ I’m a downward-facing class traitor.” See also: “‘Try to lose yourselves,’ he says/ ‘Too late, mate, I’m adrift!’,” which Szmierek rhymes with “midriff” – such genius word choices! We’re tipping he’s a Wordle champion.
The beauty of Szmierek’s music lies in the fact that it works in isolation, playing as background music, but undivided attention to lyricism is strongly recommended. Szmierek is a novelist and former English teacher, which totally makes sense. All hail the alliteration king!
The stream-of-consciousness Restless Leg Syndrome is profound AF and Crumb (“I wanna be a crumb in your bed…”) is cute, not creepy. A conceptual genius to boot, Szmierek somehow even manages to pen an entire song about the adventures of a square of confetti – “the ghost of the party the night before” – which dislodges itself from the Rafters, catching the light and causing an epiphany.
We’d follow Take Me There’s pied-piper beat onto any dancefloor. However, Szmierek’s complex storylines and wordplay never get overwhelmed by those banging garage beats.
“You can’t cancel plans on the voices in your head…” – Crashing Up maps an overactive mind (“Starting to miss the H in my ADHD”): “I”m sorry I never got back to ya/ but I’m trying…” – sometimes trying our best is enough, right? Don’t be fooled by this song’s sweetly sung chorus, though it’s actually devastatingly self-loathing.
Then all of this album’s characters collide at Angie’s Wedding, with its Yoga Teacherrelated blooper followed by “haha, fuck!” proving this track was recorded in a single take.
Exhilarating and new, Service Station At The End Of The Universe feels like a grounded teenager sneaking through the bedroom window to meet up with a crush they’ve been dreaming of pressing flesh with, or holding hands with your bestie and legging it through a thunderstorm. Enamoured is an understatement.
LABEL: MUSHROOM MUSIC/VIRGIN MUSIC GROUP
RELEASE: 28 FEB
CLOSE COUNTERS
Lovers Dance Academy
Æ What sounds like a UFO hovering above our doomed planet – beaming up info – opens Waterfall; arpeggiated synth dancing like dust particles illuminated by sun rays. Then once the beat drops, Lovers Dance Academy’s opener morphs into a trippy banger.
“I’m kissin’ on all your freckles/ Your ears, your thighs and your nipples…” – way to make us blush, Jace XL! This Hiatus Kaiyote backing vocalist’s soulful crooning during Constant Love encapsulates lustful infatuation: “I can’t get no sleep wit you/ Constantly I dream of you-ou.”
Sprinklings of sonic fairy dust abound throughout this record, with hip-hijacking bass offset by uplifting melodies. It’s easy to imagine this Naarm/Melbourne-based producer duo bopping away behind their instruments/consoles while constructing these funky belters, which serve sci-fi elements with a human touch.
Dusk’s hook – dat glockenspiel? –sounds like a woodland nymph skipping across soft moss. Feeling Takes Over Me (feat. Lyric Jones) – Lovers Dance Academy’s clap-happy, eight-plus-minute focus track –epitomises the Close Counters ethos: “Leave all the hurting at home/ Just let me dance all night/ I’m over here in my zone…”
The piano-enhanced penultimate track Freedom We’re Needing (feat. Shiv) – with its broken, syncopated beats and infectious “La-la-la-la-laaaaaaa” BVs – elevates us to a higher state of consciousness. Then closer I’ll Be There For You lands like a warm hug: “I don’t know anyone who shines the way you do/ My love…” – it’s giving Brand New Heavies house remix.
In need of some soul-enriching dance medicine? Join Lovers Dance Academy. Once you’ve pressed play, all attempts to remain motionless will prove futile.
LABEL: HOLY SOUND
RELEASE: OUT NOW
KXB & THRUSH
Driving Through A Tunnel That Is Filling From Both Ends
Æ KXB’s second record is a cross-continental collaboration with Berlin vocalist/ filmmaker, Thrush (from Concentration band). Driving Through A Tunnel That Is Filling From Both Ends was composed with the tape format in mind. It’s also mixed continuously, as a nod to ‘90s bootleg jungle mixtapes by the likes of LTJ Bukem.
Sonically, KXB could hail from anywhere. The Australian duo – Sam Gill and Wes Holland – recorded Thrush’s improvised vocals in Melbourne, weaving her work into tracks later on in the process. Thrush’s contributions are so spontaneous that she’s even captured wondering aloud, “Are we already recording?”
Opening hand No Deal lures us into a soft, cushiony, chillout space. Once drums enter song two, For My Sins 1 – metronomic and precise – the dancefloor beckons. The thick Scottish brogue of Disnaeland’s singsongy narrator calls the incomparable Arab Strap to mind.
Lurching, hypnotic, sinewy lead single I Feed You leans into its twisted core: “Don’t be fucking cute with me!” If you dig Aphex Twin, this one’s for you.
FIFO experiments with chopped vocal sounds. Young Skins Pt I has a sinister feel, like an ooze threatening to swallow you whole, while Young Skins Pt II is a percussive dervish featuring choked bleeps.
Mechanical whirs and a static undercurrent – like ball bearings on a vibratory surface – burst to life within Soft Knock (Live At Pizzeria Venezia)’s pulsating beats. Remote Discipline (RF On The Tools Acid Mix) blooms into a dense, Underworld banger, offset by breathy accents and distant, keening wails. These inventive, crunchy sounds get under the skin. “How did you like that?” Thrush inquires at one point. Our answer? Very much so.
REB FOUNTAIN
How Love Bends
Æ Wintery, atmospheric, somnambulant and soothing, How Love Bends is a whole mood. Listeners will feel suspended in a snow globe for this album’s entire duration, surrounded by floating glitter fragments that represent our love-related hopes and dreams.
“I just wanna be adored” – me too, gurl! Doesn’t everyone? The aptly titled Come Down is your soundtrack for teary Tuesdays. City leaves us in a similar mood to The Smiths’ Asleep, pensive with exactly the right amount of pathos. The beseeching Ring Ring urges a romantic prospect to “figure it out” and reciprocate interest: “Can’t you be my lover in time?” Over Joy/ed sounds like the complete opposite of its title. Luxuriating in its stately pace, this standout brings the Twin Peaks soundtrack to mind.
Every single cinematic song on here is syncable (especially Everyday Fitness and Memorial, which is just begging to accompany closing credits), so it comes as no surprise that Aotearoa’s Reb Fountain is also an award-winning original score composer (for Escaping Utopia, a three-part doco about Gloriavale, NZ’s most extreme religious cult).
Elsewhere: funereal keys underscore the spoken word He Commands You To Jump Into The Sea, the strings-enhanced Drake brings high drama and Forever’s rolling cymbal crashes conjure an endless string of dumping waves.
How Love Bends is for those who choose to dance in the shadows. Think PJ Harvey meets Aldous Harding.
THNDO
Lessons In Love
Æ Full disclosure: we’ve been unashamedly fanning-out over Thndo since 2018’s Queenscliff Music Festival, where she covered Queen’s Love Of My Life to mark the 27th anniversary of Freddie Mercury’s death and totally won our hearts.
As the title suggests, this album’s about the ongoing search for love – including the icky bits. The sassy, strutting Along The Way finds our protagonist struggling to rebuild trust after betrayal and indulging in revenge fantasies: “I could be petty, baby/ Go find myself a Tom/ Maybe a Jess or Kelly.” Other songs, including Ocean Floor Pt. 1 and Pt. 2, navigate bravely surrendering to intimacy without resistance.
As track one wraps, girlfriend’s vocal runs are so flawless they actually make us teary: “I wasted so much time not knowing you…” – what a wonderfully wistful sentiment! Reminds us of Björk’s stunning I Miss You (“...but I haven’t met you yet”).
Forward proves that minimal backing and occasional finger snaps are all the musical adornment Thndo’s sublime vocals need – if that. You can tell she feels deeply and pours her big heart into every single syllable sung (see: Fall, featuring inspired vocal phrasing).
The piano-driven, gospel-inflected closer, Purpose – co-written by Thndo’s close friend and collaborator, Audrey Powne – posits the struggle is worth it if true love is the prize: “I found my whole life in you.”
As brilliant as she sounds on record, Thndo’s effortlessly elastic vocal range needs to be experienced live to be fully appreciated. Grace and dignity incarnate, Thndo evokes the Queen Of Soul: Aretha Franklin.
GIG GUIDE
MARCH 2025
THU 27 FEB
ELDERBROOK. TYSON O’BRIEN Forum Melbourne. Melbourne. 6pm.
TOUGH BREAK + THIS SIDE OF PARADISE OneSixOne. Prahran. 9pm. HARMS WAY. TERMINAL SLEEP, MORE Bendigo Hotel. Collingwood. 7pm. $46.95. BUDDHATTA.
CURLERS, PAUL KIDNEY EXPERIENCE
Shotkickers. Thornbury. 7pm. $18.35. ELECTRIC FUNERAL. SERPENTRY, ROSWELL DEATHSQUAD, RUN RUNNERS
The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar. North Melbourne. 7pm. $16.35. DOGGEREL
The Beast. Brunswick East. 8pm.
ST KILDA BLUES FEST OPENING NIGHT
FT: Ashley Naylor, Kerri Simpson
Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 7pm. $45.
JAMES
SHAKESHAFT. NARCISO
The Merri Creek Tavern. Northcote. 8.30pm. BEN ANTONIADIS. OLIVIA LAY
The Drunken Poet. West Melbourne. 9pm.
SHOTA IKEDA: THE TRIO PROJECT Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 8pm. $40.
ANDREW DE SILVA’S DEDICATION TO GEORGE MICHAEL Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7pm. $40 - 60. DE JUNHO. GIAN, BINTA, KNOWNAS1MMY, KARANI, NEGASSA Howler. Brunswick. 8pm. THE VOCAL LEGENDS: ENGELBERT & TOM JONES
FT: Earl J Dennis Wendouree Centre for Performing Arts. Wendouree. 8pm. $15 - 55. AP DHILLON Rod Laver Arena. Melbourne. 7pm. $159.90. CHRIS JOHNSTONE QUINTET: PLAY GRANT GREEN & JOE HENDERSON
Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9.30pm. $45.
THE HARRIETT ALLCROFT QUARTET
Lido Jazz Room. Hawthorn. 8pm. $25 - 30.
SAT 01 MAR
THE SKA VENDORS. MISS SKATONIC, DJ LARRABEE
Retreat Hotel. Brunswick. 7.30pm. $27.50.
MISS GEORGE: TRIBUTE TO DIANA KRALL Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 6.30pm. $45.
SPA COUNTRY BAND Daylesford Hotel. Daylesford. 12.30pm. Free.
HYDRA: THE AUSTRALIAN TOTO SHOW Memo Music Hall. St Kilda. 7pm. $30 - 45.
BLACK ALEPH. BLACK HEART DEATH CULT, KUIPER, SANDS Shotkickers. Thornbury. 7pm. $23.45.
SHÉN. KASEY TAYLOR Northcote Theatre. Northcote. 3.30pm. $99.91.
SIREN SOUNDS FT: Future Static, Excuse For An Exit, Aurateque, Nightlight, 51st Avenue, This Space Is Ours, My Safe Word Is Murder, Maizie Stay Gold. Brunswick. 3.30pm. $39.99.
UPS & DOWNS: 40TH ANNIVERSARY. THE CRYSTAL SET Brunswick Ballroom. Brunswick. 8.30pm. $43.96.
MOANING LISA Northcote Social Club. Northcote. 8.30pm. $24.
ANDRE LEW TRIO
Wesley Anne. Northcote. 6pm.
CASS AWARE. STAR-JOCK*, SOLE BUTTER Revolver Upstairs. Prahran. 8pm. $16.32. SAI GALAXY.
MURDER BEFORE ME Clocktower Centre. Moonee Ponds. 7pm. $35. NOT SO BIG BAND: THE BEST OF FRANK & ELLA WITH BEN MCGILL & AMELIA EVANS Paris Cat Jazz Club. Melbourne. 9pm. $45. TOKYO GROOVE JYOSHI Bird’s Basement. Melbourne. 7.30pm. $55.
RITA SATCH & BARNEY MCALL: SPIRIT IN THE DARK The Jazzlab. Brunswick. 8pm. $35 - 40. THE EDWARD YORK QUINTET Classic Southside. Elsternwick. 8pm. $25 - 30.
BOB SEDERGREEN & FRIENDS. CHANTAL MITVALSKY Lido Jazz Room. Hawthorn. 8pm. $25 - 30. JAHNAVI HARRISON. KELI WOODS The Thornbury Theatre. Thornbury. 7pm. $65.30. HONG YANG Ragtime Tavern. Preston. 8pm.
STUDIO38 PRESENTS DAYTIME CLUBBING FOR OVER 30S Hotel Esplanade (aka The Espy). St Kilda. 3pm. $39.95.
SATURDAY
NIGHT PARTY
Pride Of Our Footscray Community Bar. Footscray. 10pm. Free.
