The night I got to Australia, I went to
see a band called Death From Above
1979 (DFA) at a place called the Ding
Dong Lounge. When I got in there,
I was surprised to see the crowd was
an exact replica of the hipster indie
scene that Canada is dominating at the
moment. When kids found out in the
club that I was from Canada, they
started approaching me and namedropping,
asking about Broken Social
Scene, Metric and The Dears. They
were asking me — why are all their
favourite bands are from Canada???...
it was insane!!
I got into this concert for DFA through
a man named Michael Harrison, who is
one of the key promoters on the island.
He told me that he had my first record
and asked me if I was still being
managed by Chris Savage. He hooked
up the tix and told me to ring him when
I got to Melbourne the next day (there
is a point to this story) the partying
continued, including a trip to the zoo
where I saw lions.
So when I got to Sydney, it was pretty
clear Melbourne is Montreal and
Sydney is best compared to Toronto.
While at lunch with EMI folk Lily and
Mish Stampfil (she's cool), Mish said
she was really trying to get a tour
happening to put The Joyful Rebellion
out around and that there is this one
promoter she has been having a hard
time reaching. The promoter happened
to be Michael Harrison — the same man
I talked to a day prior, who’d hooked
me up for DFA (what a small world!).
She was stoked that I talked to him and
says he is a key to the puzzle.
I also found out that there is this radio
station in Sydney called Triple J, and
that’s where they play most of the cool
stuff. They cater to the university kids
and the “cool hipster” crowd. And it’s
like college radio here, which means
some bands that offer great music get
only as far as that station and never
make it to the really commercial
stations (which in Australia is NOVA).
Check it out — Australia is full of
hippies: kids who surf. So I suggest we
also put out “Crucial” here. “Crucial” is
surfing music. As are, Jack Johnson,
Ben and Xavier Rudd — that’s what
people here are listening to these
days… and CanRock of course (haha)!
Let’s mix up our worlds. We can put
“Crucial” on one side and “The Bed's
Too Big” on the other. I suggest we put
“Crucial” on a 7-inch with wicked ocean
artwork; meanwhile the “B-Boy Stance”
12-inch will keep the hip-hop crowd
interested.
Bob Marley is on the cover of
Rolling Stone… it could be the way!
Check out Triple J:
www.abc.net.au/triplej/
The hit track “B-Boy Stance” can be found on the
latest K-OS album, Joyful Rebellion.
