with Alice Worley
Hey friends, check out this extra-long spread! There is a reason for this, but we’ll get to that in the second half. For now, let’s chat about what’s happening.
Here Lies sideway
sideway officially closed its doors, and we were all reminded how fragile the state of music venues is right now, not just in the ACT but across the country. With thin profit margins and insurance costs so high due to COVID lockdowns, it can be hard to keep hope high that our remaining venues will make it through the next few years.
But you can do your bit to help ‘em simply by getting out there and supporting your remaining local venues. It’s the only way they can continue to keep you entertained and keep the local scene alive!
Reports of a new owner potentially carrying the sideway torch have been floating around. The Canberra Times reported that Andrew Heaney would be reopening the venue “soon”, so hopefully its doors will swing open again in the not-too-distant future. Fingers crossed that it not only does this, but the spirit inside will remain the same.
Squeaky Clean
In the meantime, local watering hole and burger palace Squeaky Clean have committed themselves to eight weeks of free Friday night shows!
No word on the acts we’ll see past the July 5th show- Degenerate and Stella Eve -but with a commitment to supporting local acts that have just lost yet another venue, this should prove to be a wholesome and talent-stacked series. Thanks so much to the owners of Squeaky Clean for recognising the need for another music space right now, even if it’s just to get us through the winter!
>> Edit: a whole bunch of excellence has been added to the series so give them a follow on IG @squeakycleanbar
Slagatha Christie
We said goodbye to our beautiful Slagatha Christie on 21 June at The Polo. Both fun and terribly sad, the room was full of warmth and good friends as the trio took the stage for possibly the last time. Seeing us all off with a version of Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House, we all had a little cry as we raised our lighters and phone torches.
The other acts – Drive Safe and Ruth Lorelle got to share some personal feelings about how much the band meant to them, and I’ve mentioned before that my musical journey began watching them at old Transit Bar one night. They are a lovely bunch of incredibly talented people we love and will miss so much.
But they left us one final gift in the form of a spiffy new album – Beware of the Flowers – so cherish it by humming it in the grocery store or screaming it in the car on the ride home after overthinking the cost of living. However you love your music. Listen here!
SERTRA
Local legends Sertra have announced a new track release, Resent, and with it comes the aptly titled launch party—Resentfest!
Resentfest will feature Big Reef, Body Shirt, Fearetical, Gina Ransome, Kilroy, Rental Snake, Scrambled, and Stockholm. It’s all going down at The Polo on Saturday, 3 August from 3pm until late and is absolutely stacked. Talk about value for money! Tix start at $20 via Humanitix.
PUNK GIG GUIDE
And now for another goodbye: from me…
That’s right, after over a decade contributing to BMA and about 7 years (give or take) writing the punk column, this issue will be my last.
Been doing this a hot minute now, and the time feels right to hand over the mantle to someone else, maybe even someone who can showcase a whole other side of the local punk scene that I have been less immersed in.
I have a lot to thank for my time writing for BMA. There are all the amazing bands I’ve seen, the interviews I’ve had the pleasure of conducting with some of my favourite musicians, and the friends I’ve made. But there’s also something about myself that is very different due to BMA’s influence over the years.
I initially started writing in this street press all those years ago as a way to force myself to be more social and to stop letting my anxiety get in the way of the community I wanted to be a part of.
I put my hand up to write gig reviews for BMA, not because I went to heaps of gigs, but because I was being held back by an anxiety that literally stopped me in my tracks when I would walk towards places like The Phoenix, The Magpies Club, and Acoustic Soup at the ANU Food Co-op.
I would get to the door, see all the people in there, and imagine their judgemental eyeballs shifting to me as I walked inside. It scared the crap out of me. And even if I got into the room, what then? I had no friends in there, nowhere to stand that I wouldn’t feel awkward and out of place.
Surely, everyone would see me and think: “Who’s that person? I’ve never seen her before; she doesn’t belong here”. However, I was held accountable when promising a gig review to BMA, so I had to go to the show and take up space. I had to go in there and immerse myself in the experience of watching the bands. And yeah, it was awkward and lonely those first few times, but after a while, people started to talk to me, and I started to get to know the people working the door or behind the bar.
The more I went, the more I felt comfortable and like I belonged. I cannot imagine feeling anxious going into any venues these days, local or otherwise, and my confidence has ballooned far beyond what I could’ve ever expected. Writing for BMA and forcing myself to have that accountability has completely changed my personality and quality of life.
I am tremendously grateful to have been given the opportunity to contribute to this awesome publication.
I’ve interviewed and hung out with some of my absolute heroes as a contributor, including Henry Rollins, Kram, and Louise Post (who said she’d say hi to Patty Schemel for me, and I absolutely melted).
I’ve met and been witness to some of the coolest shows on the planet. I’ve seen the rise and fall of so many bands and now venues as well. It’s been such a rich part of my life, and it’s made going to gigs a part of my DNA.
I want to say a massive shoutout to the boss man, the big cheese, the golden egg – Allan Sko. Thank you so much for being so supportive and enthusiastic about me and my writing for so many years. You do amazing work, and BMA is an absolute institution at this point. You deserve an infinite pat on the back for getting it out on the stands every month for such an incredibly long time. Kudos and Bravo! [nawwww! – ALLAN]
I also want to give a special shout out to some ex-BMA staff who helped and encouraged me along the way: Julia Winterflood, Hayden Fritzlaff, and Andrew Nardi.
You were all big parts of my BMA journey and are some of the most iconic BMA alumni ever. I raise a glass to you!
And finally, thank you to everyone who reads this; you’re all bloody legends, and I appreciate the eyes on the page. It’s been an absolute hoot and an honour to write for this magazine for so many years. Come say hi if you see me at a show. I like a chat and you can never have too many gig buddies.
Support music, support venues, and support each other.
Catch you round, Canberra xx