Why you have to be tuned into Overdrive

Syphilis, street parties, new spaces and new segments

This week on Tuesday Overdrive, the show's title will prove rather apt.with the new year well into the swing of it, all segments are resembling Metamucil-induced regularity...


4.30pm will see me facing off with the Pobs about his latest Podcast episode, Gather Around Me, featuring Cam "Sexenheimer" Smith, as they manage to leave Tony Abbott out of it for at least five minutes whilst quibbling over the "syphilis holocaust"...


Plus from 5.00pm -  ARTY-FACT goes double time as we take back the streets of Newtown with this Saturday's Street Party hosted to celebrate art and music without all those backfiring cars...as I am having a brief chat with the awesomely named, Chris Lego, who is partly claiming the reclaim...

and a catch up with Gaffa Gallery director, Kelly Robson, about the hot new premises - which shall be revealed this Thursday - hosting the years (and the space) debut exhibit FIDELITY... 


If there's time, I shall launch the long-awaited (for me, anyways) segment - MUSICAL MICROSCOPE - but just in case, I'm posting the pilot episode just for you migspace-heads..


107.3FM 4-6PM - 2SER.COM (LIVE STREAM) - TUESDAY OVERDRIVE
xx

Why hasn't our PM got something better to do?

Perhaps it's a ploy to scare Tony Abbott..


No wonder this blessed little cherub is going to extremes in demonstrating her political disdain towards KRudd: by picking her nose she is probably making her own solid attempt to scrummage up some Haitian aid whilst our PM is hot on the publicity trail alongside ex-play schoolie, Rhys Muldoon, co-author of literal nightmare, Jasper and Abby and the Great Australia Day Kerfuffle.

Having recently visited the humble chambers of Kevin Rudd during an exciting excursion with my Political Reporting class, I can now attribute the wealth of Harry Potter editions adorning his bookshelf (ironically, alongside, The Bible..hmmm...) as research for his own venture into the world of children's book authorship...

Not using the publishing world as an attempt to maintain financial independence form ball-busting wife Therese Rein, apparently proceeds from the book will go to Centre for Community Child Health.

The grammatical errors featured in title alone: "Jasper, Abby and the..." would be much more appropriate (what did commas ever do to you Ruddy..?), are enough to make me hurl

There is alsthat a niggling issue that continues to goad me: the Haitian crisis, over which Rudd seems to be sitting pretty..(much like Mark Latham post-Boxing Day tsunami getting caught poolside at a Terrigal resort instead of attending press conferences..)

Righto Krudd, you've proven that any idiot can write a book, especially when the target demographic may not even be able to read yet, do as the US have done (come on, you must be pretty used to that "monkey see, monkey do" mentality by now...) and join hands - and chequebooks - alongside Howard and Keating, and hey why not Hawko! in an effort to help Haiti, so you can find something else to add to that "What I Did Over Summer" Parliamentary report...

But it seems that, alas, the only leaf Kev wishes to draw from regarding US politics descends dangerously close to the recent Sarah Palin deal with Fox...with plans for Krudd to take on Kochie in the breakfast TV stakes...Glad to hear he's got nothin better to do....

Hopefully I shall further pursue the issue of Krudd and the kid lit tragedy on Tuesday Overdrive tomorrow from 4.30 with my old fav, Ben Pobjie, who is keen to return to the airwaves following his axing from Melbourne community station 3RRR...

Why Barry Crocker is true blue

Yep, I held the utmost in journalistic honour and prestige recently, when granted an interview spot with the one and only ocker icon that is BARRY CROCKER!! Gracing my Overdrive show slot usually reserved for the likes of (the rather bludgey) Ben Pobjie last Tuesday at 4.30, was the self-dubbed, "Last of the Entertainers" (incidentally the name of the show he was there to plug in the first place) obviously no modest stranger to the likes of self-endorsement...


It was hard to stop the man once he got goin bout his lengthy career - which has spanned over some 4 decades consistently - and all that goes with it: the 33 (yes, count 'em) gold records; the sleazy affairs; the height of the jazz movement and what his alter-ego, BARRY MCKENZIE, would make of our dear PM, Kevin Rudd (incorrectly) quoting him during that infamous "sauce bottle" quote...


So check it out, here's the interview (with a few tactful edits here and there...) and don't forget where we all come from, fair suck of the sav bottle!

Why not, YACHT?

YACHT: Not as in pleasure cruiser, but an acronym: Young Americans Challenging High Technology toured Australia recently off the back of the mystical 2009 album release

See Mystery Lights

Why Peats Ridge Festival was my Skank Nirvana

I may still be picking the dirt out of my toenails but, check it out, I got to go to the spectacular spectacle of all things arty farty, musical, zen and environmentally sustainable - yet, in a refreshingly skankier, un-concdescending, un-preachy Tim Flannery-ish approach - hosted by the glorious Glenworth Valley on the Central Coast over 3 days, concluding in the early hours of the new year...(well, 11am, but that's pretty rough post NYE...)

Why Tropfest is the Arse-End

Since when did amateur film comps become a corporate spectacle?
Tropfest is now the blue blood of a concept that was once considered classless.
But with Polson comes power comes money and so them's the brakes for any struggling film students out there with no connections.
Well, this kind of thing really pissed off three artsy Newtown types, Martin, Spiros and Bill, who now dig into their own pockets to fund the now annual Newtown Ficks Film Festival (as well as JVC's - but they're NOT sell-outs by any stretch)...

Anyone who can, should get down there, it's over the weekend of the 31st May - 2 June at the PACT Theatre (Erskineville, right near Newtown)...it'll be 3 days of keeping it REAL...and we should all encourage that, right, peeps?
Plus, film-makers make the best bar buddies ever (heaps better than pretentious actors, who end up breaking down in a messy heap of self love when too blotto...trust me...)

In the meantime, check out my feature on it! It's going to appear in the upcoming edition of Precinct, which makes it official - my Precinct cherry's been popped!

Soon it'll be Reportage after I go undercover to the D&D ball this Saturday night. I'll be vox-popping whilst trying to pull some poor bloke and make my poor Mumsy's wishes come true, and I might actually settle down with some nice, desperate dude and hopefully getting blind on the virtues of a press pass...stay tuned, it'll be posted!

Film festivals, in the height of their popularity, seem to be neglecting the grassroots notion that they once encapsulated.

With the likes of short film extravaganza, Tropfest, which has made a sharp ascent into the mainstream, there is little opportunity for up and coming film makers to put their work out there and be guaranteed a screening.

In light of this, three Newtown locals: Martin Kelly, Spiros Hristias and Bill Jordan got together in 2005 to put together and are the directors of what is now known as Newtown Flicks Short Film Festival.

“As we saw it, these were the facts,” says Kelly. “The Valhalla and Cheval Theatres had closed down and the likes of Tropfest was unattainable for most film makers.”

Now in its third year, running May 30-June 1, the festival is determined not to become like Tropfest. “It’s the brand-name festival, that’s what we call it.” Says Kelly, only half-jokingly. “We were pretty concerned about making sure that we weren’t just going to be another branded festival, what we want to do is really support, assist and showcase young people.”

And, of course, being centred around Newtown, the festival is possessive of that slightly eccentric, bohemian feel that makes up this Inner-West suburb. “We want that Newtown vibe, we want that Inner West sort of vibe,” agrees Hrsiatis.

In terms of its conditions, the only criteria is that films are twenty minutes or less in duration, and all are intending to be screened during the festival. “If we do get too many, then we guarantee that we will find other venues to show it at a later date.” Says Kelly.

Newtown Flicks awards four prizes: The Open Category, Film School, Director’s Choice, and, one of the first of its kind, the Treehouse: a special award dedicated to children’s film.

“I haven’t really seen any other festival in Australia that had just a childhood category it’s quite uncommon. It’s one of the reasons why I entered it,” says Tonnette Stanford, 2007 Treehouse winner with her film, Wally.

When it comes to the categories, Newtown Flicks is about moulding itself around its entrants and not the other way around. “We’ve got an award chosen by the directors.” Says Kelly. “For those films that don’t fit into those that have tangible qualities

Last year’s directors prize went to Sarah Antill, and that was something that didn’t fit within the other categories.” Antill, whose featured documentary, Not Sitting Still, was produced as an educational film, used Newtown Flicks to raise the film’s profile.

“Since winning, I’ve begun working on much bigger projects with two documentary makers,” she says. “The Newtown Flicks win gave me the confidence to approach them, and an award that got them to look at me.”

Stanford has also achieved a large degree of success, with her production company, Stickybeak, producing films that are currently being distributed around the world.

With a festival that prides itself on ditching production values in the name of a good story, Newtown Flicks, again, stands alone in the world of film festivals. All three directors are sceptical of film makers and their use of special effects.

"They’re looking for prouction qualities and sound editing, etc etc…” says Kelly of usual festival standards: “Newtown Flicks is an opportunity to have your work up on the big screen for everyone to see, for everyone to hear – to have their voice heard.”

And with some big-name judges on board, such as Garry Maddox and Genevieve Lemon, it also enables film-makers a chance to be offered objective criticsm.

“The entrants are being at least measured by their peers or people that they aspire to be and I think that that’s very important that they get a realistic vision when they get the opportunity to show their stuff.”

Stanford acknowledges the assistance that public attention can bring for a film maker: “Every time you enter a film festival and it gets screened, especially if it wins an award…it expands its profile and the fact that Newtown Flicks was especially good was because they organised a lot of media and stuff surrounding it.” She says.

Newtown Flicks is also intent on focussing on the importance of the ultimate critic: the audience. “Catering to and considering what an audience wants is crucial,” says Kelly, acknowledging the importance of the audience perspective in terms of educating the film maker: “so it’s about planning for them as well… the program considers not only about presenting a show for a film maker, but about presenting for an audience as well.”

Antill agrees: “When Not Sitting Still was showing at Newtown Flicks, I sat just in front of a woman who had obviously come to see someone else’s film, because when it started, she was rummaging through her handbag for chocolate. At the end, she was dabbing her eyes with a tissue and snuffling,”

When looking towards the future of Newtown Flicks, for film makers, audience and director’s alike, Kelly and Hrsiatis remain enthusiastic, but uncertain. “We’re much better placed now than we were then – but it’s the Great Unknown.” Says Kelly.

Further plans involve the expansion of Newtown Flicks to the western suburbs, thereby capturing the voice of Sydney in its entirety.

“Their story is as valid as someone who has a beautiful, carefully constructed production.. That’s the point we want to make about the festival.”

Why Movies Should be Musicals

So...they made a long and crappy drawn out musical version of Gone With the Wind , although I wonder whether it was just a perfect opportunity for clever critics to use the line, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn about this musical..."

And that's not even to mention bloody Edward Scissorhands - The Musical (the movie was stupid enough, and not worthy of Johnny Depp's good looks...)

Anyways, it inspired me to go further afield and consider other cinematic greats that should make it to Broadway, please feel free to add your own classics...

Once Were Warriors - The Musical - ("Get me some eggs, WOMAN...Some eggs, some eggs...ohhh get him some eggs..)

Requiem for a Dream - The Chorus Line - ("So, my mom's on the crack, and I dig the smack...")

Bad Boy Bubby Does Broadway - ("Ode to Cling Wrap")

High School Musical On Ice - (and I aint talkin about the ice skating version...)

So, compardres, any other suggestions??

Why Music is a Corporate Whore

Well, Media Watch broke the story about the controversy embedded in the climate change capital and their cozy relationship with The Age (wow, I can't believe there's something about Melbourne that I now truly hate...)

Furthering this thought, something that I have wondered about ever since last year's Splendour in the Grass festival, and the "carbon neutral" costing that is now whacked onto (already bloody hefty) admission prices for all those bloody PoMosers (in other word, post-modern posers) who love the thought of being environmentally friendly, and thus, heaps cool.

However, my qualm revolves around the fact that to get to Byron Bay, one needs to expend numerous emissions of a carbon nature, and how the hell does an extra $5 on a ticket price reconcile this? And what about the festival itself? What, is it bloody well running on solar powered amps or what?

And now, you have no choice! Now, I don't want to look like a corporate whore (but in any case, it may well be true, if only I had enough moolah), but I attended Richard Branson's glorified advertising bonanza, oh, oops, I meant the V Festival, and this crappy carbon neutrality thing is already included in the (already exorbitant) ticket prices, and this h

In light of this, dearest Jade, (ex-editor of The Dwarf, current ed. of A Fine Line) let me run with this hot-headed train of thought, and even published it in the December issue of A Fine Line, so here it is, somewhat brought down a level, anger-wise...

So here it is...

CARBON NEUTRAL - AT WHAT COST??

It seems that lately, carbon has become the latest buzzword. We talk of the imprint in our “carbon footprint”, and think of ways in which becoming “carbon neutral”. The problem with this term, many argue, is that there is no possible way to neutralise or offset one’s carbon emissions

But it seems that as much as the capital world used to blame ideas of environmental consciousness as conspiracies against consumption, they are only now too happy to jump on the proverbial bandwagon. Now, it seems that money can buy the way out of anything: even, as the case may be, the degradation of the natural world and the piece of mind that comes with the title of “carbon neutral” too can be attained for a price.

Not to be outdone in any way, the music industry too has felt an obligation to stand up for the rights of Mother Nature. It seems to have started with Coldplay’s album, A Rush of Blood to the Head, the first album to be classified as carbon neutral.
On a local level, national festivals and tours by the likes of Splendour in the Grass and the John Butler Trio have placed a carbon neutral levy on ticket sales, assuring patrons the notion of carbon neutrality. However, is it all too easy to claim that the carbon emissions at major music festivals can really just disappear from forking out a couple of extra bucks here or there? When one considers the potential environmental impact of the travel ticket holders must endure to arrive at particular venues, not to mention all the electricity consumed by the various bands and their equipment, it seems hard to fathom that a couple of dollars added on to the original ticket price could make much difference.

“It’s got to be more tangible than that.” Says Falls Festival director, Simon Daly on the potential for festival organisers to do their bit.
The Falls Festival occurs annually on camping sites in Lorne, Victoria and Marion Bay, Tasmania. Since 1999, the organisers have been ardently working towards doing all they can to maintain the sites that they use. This includes incentives such as a conveyer belt to sift through recyclable materials.
“If just one item from those bins is non-recyclable waste, then the whole lot is deemed contaminated,” Daly explains. “So with conveyer belts, we can ensure that everything that can be recycled will be.”
Also new are the self-composting toilets, which, in Marion Bay, are all you get, no port-a-loos for these guys! “100% of the toilets at Marion Bay are composting.”
Daly believes that the next step is to get the bands involved, but sees the festival as an overall positive experience for the average environmentalist who doesn’t wish to tread heavily on the earth. “We use the time to really get in there and educate a lot of like-minded people.”
The Falls Festival has also encouraged its attendees to pay a surcharge of “a couple of dollars”, according to Daly, to offset the carbon emissions related to their travel. In fact, just over a quarter of all patrons opted to do so.

There are problems with such terms as “carbon neutral” and “carbon offsetting” being offered in that consumers are being led to believe that they are in fact, cancelling out their environmental impact altogether.
Not true, says Professor Christopher Dey from the University of Sydney, who has recently penned a research paper entitled: “Carbon Neutral: Sense and Sensibility”. He argues that….
Others agree that such incentives are just ploys taken on from major corporate giants.

The move by UK band, Coldplay to create their “carbon neutral album” seems to have been the origins of music’s involvement in environmental activism, which has since been taken on by the likes of major tour promoters and bands.
However, Aussie hip-hop outfit, Combat Wombat have been conscious of the carbon impact that national touring can involve by adding to their tour bus a vegetable-oil fuelled engine. “It is very efficient,” says Combat Wombat’s Monkey Marc of the bus’s capacity to run. “We actually get more miles per gallon on veggie oil than we do on diesel.”
Not only does this system benefit the environment, but also funds.
“All the oil we get is old so it’s all recycled and free. We’ve done just over 20 000 kms around Australia for basically nothing.”
But is it really even plausible for anyone to just chuck in an old frying pan and fill up the tank?

We are constantly fearing the imminent environmental armageddon and we want to act responsibly as individuals, while still enjoying things such as live music and travel. The question which seems difficult to resolve is how this should be done. It seems all too easy to boil it down to a system where one person can pass off their own environmental activities by paying a few dollars, but for all those penny-pinchers out there fear not. It seems more productive, in cases such as Combat Wombat and the Falls Festival, to get out and get actively involved. Then, maybe you’ll rest easier about the well being of Mother Nature.

Why The Presets hate my guts...

I just want to say, sorry Kim, I was so bloody hungover that day...but no excuse, it was the WORST bloody interview I've ever done, and I love these guys so much, though thankfully not as much as Cut Copy, and they're also heaps better looking than old Kim and Jules...

WARNING: If ever you interview an electro-pop muso (oh sorry, "artist") don't tarnish their egos by implying that it's all just about laptop pop

PRE-SETTLED

“Are you asking me out on a date?” asks an incredulous, Kim Moyes of The Presets, at one point in the conversation we’re having about the guys’ new album, Apocalypso.

I would certainly be lucky to get a night out with one half of the latest “it” bands, as these hard-working lads seem to be doing a gig practically every night. What, with shows jam packed from here to overseas and more to follow throughout the year, it doesn’t seem a date would be able to fit in the diary.

“We are exclusive Qantas Club members,” he agrees of his extensive schedule. “we kept getting offered festivals, tour supports and gigs and stuff.”
It’s obviously paid off, with the guys becoming somewhat of a hit across the shores.
“It’s going sort of well over there,” Moyes modestly concedes. “the album’s going to be brought out in the States and then the UK and Europe.”

Apocalypso is the highly anticipated follow up to The Presets’ debut, Beams, and is very much characteristic of their previous release of catchy ballads noir.
“We’re a pretty intense couple of dudes, we’re a pretty dark band” says Moyes of their style. But still: “we’ve always made music to party to.”

From their debut into the musical world with such hits as, “Girl and the Sea” and “Are You the One” (“That’s kind of an ironic question, cos there is no one, just lots of potentials…”) the guys look set to follow up their previous successes with their latest release.
From their latest ambient single, “This Boy’s In Love”, to others such as “Kicking and Screaming”, the album encapsulates what is now recognised as The Presets unique sound.
“People would get too much of a shock if they buy the record and discover four golden country greats.”

So after gaining a familiar sound, and a strong following, Moyes and fellow bandmate, Julian Hamilton have worked out the winning formulae to success, and drive this outward confidence forward in Apocalypso.

“We’ve sort of worked on the idea that we had a couple of years ago and sharpened them up.” Moyes says of their new musical insight. “Certainly after touring and playing in front of people for a couple of years, you get a really strong sense of what works and what doesn’t work in front of a crowd and that informs the way you write your music.”

Having been touring with the likes of Duran Duran and Queens of the Stone Age during the V Festival, the stellar lineup sounds like it would be most artists (not to mention fans) wet dream.
Moyes, however, remains one cool customer. “I don’t have any great desires to play with anyone. They’re just a bunch of old bands.”

When pressed for gossip, he is dismissive, admitting that they’re just not the band for after parties anymore. “When I do a festival or a gig, I get there an hour before I have to play and then just leave straight away.” Says Moyes. “We just do it so much and have been for such a long time that now all we want to do is just get home and go to sleep.”

And therein lies some of the reluctance felt by Moyes in this embarkment into mass celebrity.
“We’ve definitely worked very hard for all of this, and then its like: ‘how the fuck did this all happen?’” he admits. “Why did we want this? At the time it seemed like such a great idea and now all I can think about is dinner and sleeping.”

Further dispelling the myth around rock stardom he adds: “I thought it was going to be drugs and girls and parties and champagne and expensive cars, but all it is is perpetual tiredness and constant hunger”

This may ultimately be the price that must be paid when you life mainly revolves around touring but it’s still about the music, and the show must go on, even for the fatigued.

“Now our album’s out we go into rehearsals for a couple of weeks, then we go to the States in June; then we come back and do a big album tour around Australia, then probably back overseas to do a bunch of festivals we’ve been offered…” On and on he lists their up and coming plans for the year, yet there is definite excitement in his voice in the prospect of introducing the world to Apocalypso.

“There’s something on there for all situations in people’s lives. I hope people take it on and have a really good time with it.”

And if Moyes’ anticipation is anything to go by, Apocalypso will be the album that transcends time, even being a catalyst in the creation of history.
“I hope they can look back in a few years when they’ve got kids and they can go through their collection and go ‘wow what’s this great record, who’s this?’ And they can go, ‘well this is The Presets, this is how I met your father.’”

Told you so (and judge yourself by the photo)... guess what? we never got round to that date...

Why I'm Just Like Bono....

After attending the extravaganza that was U23D at the overhyped IMAX theatre in tacky Darling Harbour (can you sense the resentment I was already facing..?) I was told that I'm the Bono reincarnate...Well hey, those 3D glasses are pretty cool...

I wouldn't usually pay $25 to get in anywhere (the music world is nothing but capital scum, nowadays, but that's a whole new post altogether! And yet, here I was, paying this very amount to, essentially see a movie...

When it got to the stage where Bono's wearing a stupid bandana with nonsensical letters and crude religious symbols (you WISH you were a jew, mate...) i was inwardly groaning...when the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was slowly and robotical;ly being recited I inwardly hurled up my entire overpriced QVB meal...

There was one stage during the "gig" where Bono grabs a fellow U2er (The Edge, maybe?) and plants a smacking big kiss on his lips...now, the homophobics out of the hundreds who attended couldn't really stand the sight of this (especially not in 3D) and an audible gasp escaped them...I was hoping that this was more of a godfather kind of way, as in a perhaps untimely ending (or maybe a horse head under Bono's silken sheets..)

But this isn't some gasbagging rant on how much i hate bono, or U23D (although i do and did..), it's about my supreme likeness to said frontman...

It's all embedded in another GLORIA JEAN'S scandal...and you thought their support of Hillsong and Mercy Ministries was the extent of it...well actually it's pretty commonplace now: it seems that most major coffee franchises now do remote communities in the likes of PNG and Tibet out of business with their importation of crud beans (a scandal in itself..)

So by the end of the night, my friend (no names, let's just call her, G-Banger) floating in an ethereal cloud of U2 bliss (but I think even the Human Rights stuff was a bit much for her) she proposes a coffee at none other than evil GLORIA JEAN'S, to which I must explain my objections.

At this, her eyes lit up:

"Migs!" she cried in delight. "You're just like Bono"

I'm ready for the kiss of death...