Espionage gallery strikes again with another enticing exhibition, this time with stencil artists Fletch and Lost Track. Ryan spoke with gallery director Joshua Smith, and artist Fletch.

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Jane’s Walk is an initiative adopted by 5000+ in honour of urban activist and writer Jane Jacob’s, author of The Death and Life of Great American Cities. The walk aims to reconnect people with their surroundings, and the places where they live. The walk takes people around a few well known, and less known spots in the city where people are encouraged to observe and converse about how the space is used and/or how it could be used.

A few of the walk’s highlights included Ebenezer Pl and Leigh St, two success stories of property owners and developers who created vibrancy through tasteful development and curated leasing. Then there are the potential of such streets as Austin St, behind us here at Radio Adelaide, and Rosina and Solomon Streets. Also on the agenda was Bank St, now highlighted for development due for a need of a throughway from Currie St to the future Torrens River development, and dear Tuxedo Cat, an example of renewed use of an empty premises.

The Scenery were joined by architects Branko Jaric and Clement Nyanja, who were chosen by 5000+ to head up this project.

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The word on the street is that the State Government is hassling Sam Wright to organise Moving Music Three so that the Premier can take part. Thus is climate for our endearing safari bwana, who with the help of his merry band of misfit architects and travelling minstrels, has successfully encapsulated his audience with Moving Music Two. We sent the diabolik John Dexter armed with his trusted recording/incrimination device for a live action report on what has become Adelaide’s most anticipated event.

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We here are at the Scenery thrive in our independent community radio environment and greatly appreciate  the facilities granted to us for our hour a week. And as station volunteers we of course must contend that we are mere amateurs in the radio broadcast world, well especially Alex…and here’s why…

This week’s feature track is from Adelaide’s very own Avant Gardeners, from some random vinyl I bought at Format. Go down there and buy it too. and some cider. and some club-mate. and some art. and some zines.

Not sure of the track name (help!) from the album Mine Errant Vangarden…it’s Avant Gardeners!

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GOOD NIGHT.

This week Ryan caught up with Patrick Lang of Pixelhunt, an Australain gaming magazine and e-zine. Also dropping by the show was Ellen Buttrose, one of the organisers of 5000plus’ Project Tag.

Pixel Hunt is an Australian independent gaming magazine and e-zine. Instead of following the usual gaming magazine structure of game previews and reviews, Pixel Hunt adds a look at the culture surrounding gaming.

Gaming culture has completely changed, as it slowly becomes accepted as an entertaining art form in the same way as a film or television show. People now look back at the evolution of gaming, from the pixelated 8 and 16 bit artwork and animation to the scores that accompanied such games.

Modern gaming culture is an ever expanding beast of its own, with televised multi-player gaming battles to discussions of cinematic story sequences between game play. Ryan Winter spoke with Pixel Hunt print editor Patrick Lang.

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Project Tag is a 5000plus initiative to highlight the often unrealised statistics of youth homelessness. 5000plus engaged two Uni SA architecture students, Ella Buttrose and John Pagnozzi, to design an interactive art installation that would engage with the public and highlight the issue at hand. Ella joined the Scenery to discuss the project, currently encasing the entrances of 199 and 200 North Terrace.

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This week’s feature track comes from Brisbane solo artist The Trouble With Templeton with the track Impulses. Get your swoon on.

Time to go to work chaps. Night night.

The Scenery,

fuzzzzzz.

The Scenery were lucky enough to be included as conversation partners on the forum, joining an illustrious list that included; The Jade Monkey, Fnucky, Suzi Wong’s Room, The Adelaide West End Association, Tuxedo Cat, Udaberri, Music SA, Adelaide Fringe, Format, Magazine and Renew Adelaide.

The turnout to the event exceeded expectations, with the venue reaching capacity shortly before the forum was to start. Most sincere apologies to all those who were turned away. I must say that it was exciting to see a wide cross section of the community that cared enough about the topic to come in attendance.

I’d like the acknowledge the attendance of fellow Radio Adelaide family Jennie Lenman of Streetcast, Seb Tonkin of The Range on Tuesdays, Luke Penman of Local Noise, Luke Eygenraam of the Friday Range and the Live Sessions, and Ryan Winter of the Scenery.

The Scenery recorded the event with the much appreciated help of Ross from Northern Sound System. Paul Gallasch also videotaped the event, which will be available to view in the next coming days.

Please note that the sound quality is not extraordinary, and that non microphoned members of the crowd have been crudely amplified.

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We can only hope that this is just the beginning of the conversation.

Support the venues that support “fine grained” Adelaide culture, and buy some damn beer.

THIS is the link to Raise the Bar

Listen in to the Scenery this Friday May 11th as we recap this event with a chat to Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood, and Ianto Ware.

XO

We also played tracks from a few of our favorite Adelaide bands, so instead of picking between them, we have four feature tracks. Yessir.

Starting with everyone’s favourite new punk band Big Richard Insect. You have no excuses for not seeing this band, as they constantly pop up over the Adelaide map playing that straight up garage punk that’s making the Australian music scene palatable again.

I was down at Format, bugging Stan as he busily  prepared some whiteboard, for some people, for some thing. Two innocuous and stolid questions popped into my head, 1) can I buy a beer 2) what’s coming up. I took option two, as I stood in front of a large board that answered my questions. Stan moved his head to the left and examined the board. “Weeeell”…

And that’s when he told me about Paul Gallasch. “You should have him on the show, he’s a funny guy… and it would be good publicity for us”.

Stan went on to say that Paul had been around during Format’s early days, when they occupied a space down Hindley St. He had been in America for some time living in New York, and travelling around the country. Not to mention falling in love with a girl, breaking up with said girl, and then holding a funeral for her as part of his short film ‘Killing Anna’.

During the end of his time there, a friend asked him to hitchhike with him from San Francisco to New York. As the culture of hitchhiking was becoming far less in the world, Paul agreed, deciding that he would film the adventure. The experience exposed Paul to the strange candid relationship that Americans had with the camera, with complete strangers divulging personnel, and sometimes shocking stories of their life.

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To help Paul and support the making of this documentary, follow the link below through to the ‘Foreign Country’ pozible page.

‘Foreign Country’- film/app by Paul Gallasch on Pozible.

Yet another band you have no excuse for not seeing is Sparkspitter. A mate had been overseas for some time, and had just returned home for a quick stint before jetting off again. His other mates were heading to the Metro to see Sparkspitter, he asked me if I wanted to come along. “Sure”, I said, thinking how I didn’t like the name of the band, and I’d indulge his mates.

What I was met with was one of the greatest local band shows I have seen thus far. It begins with lead man Rohan playing chords on his steel lap guitar into a loop pedal, one bit, then another. He lets a bit loop then jumps up behind the drums to clinically metronome the band to life. At cues bassist Matt Barlow, or guitarist Tom Capogreco will hit the pedals, engaging another loop. What it becomes is a beautiful marriage of ambiance and timing, glued together with the nuances of Tom’s almost spacey guitar. GO SEE THEM.

When I was eighteen my flat had a stack of Pizza Haven boxes that stood taller then me, dishes that stank of death and pale ale bottles in place of food essentials. When Nikki Lovell was eighteen she was in Uganda, giving her time in an effort to better the lives of the people in the village of Namwendwa.

On her return to Australia Nikki established the charity One Village. She has now written a book of her experience in Uganda entitled ‘We are One Village’. Ryan caught up with Nikki for a chat about the book, and her experiences in Uganda.

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I again found myself in Format talking to Stan.

“Do you have the Old Mate tape?”, I asked.

“Yep”

With the transaction complete, I made my way to radio to tell Ryan of my intentions to dust off the old Radio Adelaide tape decks and play Old Mate. Scenery live radio is a beautiful thing, as we do not hide behind the thin plastic glaze of professionalism, and are prepared to inflict dead air in the name of entertainment. It so happened that the radio decks were not sending the music to the panel, until I pressed a little button with some gibberish written under it. So it came time to play Old Mate live on the air. I hit play, Ryan brought up the channel. Nothing, just the mocking hiss of static…

Until…

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I’ve gotten off at Gawler station. Old Mate – Bad Situation. Buy the tape at Format maybe.

I said four didn’t I?

SWIMMING. It’s FREE. Do yourself a favour why don’t ya. A beautiful collection of songs sure to make your drive home in the dark that little more eerie.

The Scenery is shot in front of a live studio audience. Sit, Ubu, sit. Good dog.

On this episode of the Scenery Ryan and Alex were joined by Negroni enthusiast Ianto Ware, and Nina Jerebica of Suzi Wong’s Room. The tireless Ryan Winter also had a chat with Daniel Randell, the general manager of Music SA about a proposed music training centre to be built in the Adelaide CBD.

We once again return to a topic of concern for the Scenery; liquor licensing. The eternal crusader Ianto Ware returns to regale us with the trials and tribulations of Hindmarsh cafebar/lounge Suzi Wong’s Room. On previous episodes of the Scenery, Ianto has discussed the lack of a liquor license classification for a small bar/venue. This lack of classification is currently preventing a host of small venue operators the relative ease of realising their goal compared with other states, not to mention it being an effective wall in the way of this city reaching it’s potential vibrancy. In order to give an actual example of the frustrations experienced by small venue operators, Ianto invited Nina Jerebica, manager of Suzi Wong’s Room, onto the show to talk about her experiences with liquor licensing, and the interpretation of licensing rules by licensing enforcement.

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Music SA, headed by Daniel Randell, has proposed that a vacant three story building on Currie St become Australia’s first Music Industry Training Centre. It would provide courses for people wanting to work in the music industry, including promoters, artist and event managers, sound technicians, festival organisers and road crew. Importantly it would also re-enforce Adelaide and South Australia’s somewhat under resourced music industry. Ryan Winter catches up with Daniel Randell to talk about the project.

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This week’s feature track comes from a split 7″ that we bought from Format before the show between Nothing People and Scenery favorites Mondo Phase Band. We played ‘Horseshoe’ from Mondo Phase Band which you can hear here and our feature track ‘Pride’ by Nothing People. If you don’t like fuzz then I can not help you.

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Hide the Laphroaig.

Scenery Out.

…and all through the city not a creature was stirring…

…except for the bewildered peoples of non-christian faiths.

And three chaps in a studio planning for a no content holiday show. That was until Scenery producer Ryan Winter announced that he had indeed sourced some content for the show, which did need to played to the souls grieving the untimely death of zombie Jesus.

Ryan caught up with curator and art dealer Joshua Smith of Espionage Gallery. Now I don’t know if this is an amalgamation of memories from around the same time, but I’m pretty sure the first time I saw Joshua’s work was when a friend of mine was showing me around the upstairs of the old Fad Bar. It was a jaw droppingly good multi-layered stencil of a 50/60s styled lady on canvas, and me being a big fan of stencil art, immediately fell in love with his work. The next time I came across him I was drunk at the Highway, and we were on the same quiz team together. We chatted throughout the night about street art and stencil techniques, all of which I have now forgotten, and then I never saw him again.  But time and time again I would see his work pop all over this fair city and over the years he has developed an impeccable reputation amongst the Adelaide art scene, the good one.

Along with producing his own work, he also curates Espionage Gallery, located just off Rundle Mall. At the time this story was featured on the Scenery, Espionage was hosting ‘Limited Edition’, featuring the art of some Scenery favorites including Jake One & Two, Twoone, Ankles and Joshua Smith himself. The idea being for each artist to make a few copies of the same print, hence limited edition, with the idea of encouraging people who would not normally buy, or who could not afford to purchase art, the opportunity.

Ryan also spoke with artist Cameron Brideoake, whose exhibition followed ‘Limited Edition’, entitled ‘Mythmaker’.

‘Mythmakers’ explored Cameron’s fascination with world culture and ancient history, and then marrying the two with street art.

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Espionage is currently hosting the exhibition ‘Les Dessinatrices’, an all female exhibition featuring artists from around the world, as well as a host of local talent.

This week feature track must belong to Willis Earl Beal. The man who reportedly puts up posters in his home town of Seattle with his phone number and instructions to ring it anytime to have him sing you a song down the line. He’ll also send you a picture if you send him a self addressed envelope. We played ‘Ghost Robot’ off his Acousmatic Sorcery LP, unfortunately I couldn’t find a version on the net, so here’s the lead single ‘Monotony’.

Success. Goodbye.

I would apologise, but I suppose you wouldn’t think it sincere.

Love Mateo & Alex

Fontanelle is the work of a group of like minded Adelaide artists, lead by the tireless Brigid Noone of FELT Space fame. The conspicuous new Bowden landmark is a new artist studio and gallery, compromising of work spaces, a dark room, and installation space. Fontanelle is run by a committe of artists and directed by Brigid, who intend to provide a welcoming and open creative environment for the resident artists, as well as the wider community.

Mateo and Ryan spoke with Brigid, as well as committee member Ben Leslie.

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Fontanelle’s grand opening was held on Sunday April 1st. The exhibition Sensation Seekers runs from now, right up until April 29th, so get down and support your local art gallery.

So the Fringe and the Festival are long gone. John Dexterity hit the streets to find out what you thought all about it.

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We dragged the poor Jane Howard from her exhaustion coma and into Scenery Studios to give her post festival analysis.

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Adieu.

So it’s come to this…

I stood looking up and down the line up for the Barrio ‘End of the World Party’, it’s last night as the festive season drew to a close. A group or friends were more or less lined up where the back Neon Lobster would have been, tempting me like midnight sprites to line cut, and offering plausible rationale for doing so. After battling with my conscience for some time, and faced with never seeing the bowels of the wonderful Barrio beast, I quickly buttered my way in as the line made it’s natural progression forward. We waited for forty odd minutes, which paled in comparison to the some who had been in line for up to two hours, before we made it to the glorious front. Before even quizzing us, our arms were loaded up with offerings as we made our way past the giant Barrio sign, and into the mouth of madness.

The great hype that surrounded the mysterious Barrio injected a pleasant excitement into the festival season that many Adelaideans take, not for granted but something else, like a cruise control mentality. It certainly exposed holes in the draw of the Garden of Unearthly Delights, that for many who patroned it in it’s infancy, has become a strange, unnatractive beast, more like a pen for ticket holders than a destination of curiosity.

Both Tuxedo Cat and Arcade Lane shone amongst the current barrage of buzz words being thrown about this city (renewal, activation, vibrancy) and continue to teach lessons about the potential of unused spaces and the need for small live/arts based venues.

Here Simon gives a Fringe show critique.

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Some may have noticed that the Format space, usually bustling with the goings on of the Format Festival, was a little subdued this year.

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The Scenery office was buzzing at the list of nominations for this years South Australian Screen Awards, with many a Scenery friend making the list.

We must congratulate and good luck:

Best Documentary Nominee Peter Drew for Adelaide’s Forgotten Outlaws.

Innovation in Digital Media nominee Dario Russo for Danger 5

Innovation in Digital Media & Best Feature Film nominee Sam Wright

Best Perfromance nominee Kieran McNamara for Steak Knife

Good Luck Chaps!

and as for us, we bid you adieu

Love,

The Scenery.

We are very lucky at the Scenery to speak with some of Adelaide’s most productive and brightest people, that have actively spent their own time and money building up cultural institutions that do their darnedest to keep Adelaide buzzing. There have been times in my adolescent/adult lifetime where I’ve been saddened by the inevitable closure of some iconic shops/venues/magazines around Adelaide. I remember being a delinquent punk that frequently wore NOFX t-shirts and being crushed when Veranda Music closed down, or years later when I first discovered the old Tuxedo Cat, only for it to be shut down soon after. Then there was the abandonment of the Tivoli due to residential apartments being built directly behind it, troubles shared by the block away East End Exchange/Electric Light/Producers which now stands empty. The dank jazz dwelling of Fad bar gave up the ghost, to eventually become the crisp modern Gallery on Waymouth. Across the street from Veranda was Big Star which bit the bullet in 2010, and now this year saw the closure of Mr V’s Music, and sees the closure of Krypton Discs. There are many other places, and many different reasons for each of these places closing down. Some reasons were preventable, others an inevitable outcome of an ever changing economy. Regardless you still feel noticeable loss when they’re gone, and they become a part of nostalgia that you tell you children many years from now.

Bucking the trend of many was the perfectly placed Jade Monkey. It resides down an unassuming side street that links Rundle Mall with Grenfell St. You may not give Twin St as much credit as it deserves, but it houses hip hop store Clinic 116, alternative clothing store Irving Baby, a second hand book store, the odd entrance to the Adelaide Arcade, and other oddities but importantly no apartment and no residences. This allowed the Jade to operate with very little bother.

But I guess a matter of importance to some was that Twin Street, as well as the immediate western corner of Grenfell St was quite ugly, and needed some form of re development. Enter Hines Property Group, who successfully had approved a 17 storey hotel complex (no doubt a feat in itself) that would consume the current location of the Jade.

When the news reached the patrons of the Adelaide live scene an outpouring of support saturated social media. A digital petition was set up that accumulated thousands of signatures, the commercial media had news reports, the Lord Mayor made a statement, the Premier made a statement and Ianto’s Renew blog on the subject had the most hits of any.

It seemed Adelaide had finally felt the loss of what is of great importance to it – culture. The fallout of the Jade closure has had a very positive effect, but in a very Adelaide way.  In that there is now many people talking, talking about live music, the future of small venue bars and the ultimate vibrancy of the city. There is even, as we speak, talk of the creation of a lobby like group that will look into the liquor licensing regulations, building codes and alleged corruption in the policing and distribution of liquor licenses and their exaggerated attention on smaller, and pop up venues. At this stage though it is all very much potential – Adelaide in a nutshell.

For now we say support you local venues that support local music, and give the Jade Monkey the send off it deserves.

On this episode we spoke to Dr Ianto Ware of Renew Adelaide and Zac Coligan of the Jade Monkey. Ianto discussed the obstacles and absurd licensing regulations that would prevent, in our current environment, anything like the Jade making a viable presence on the Adelaide scene. Whilst Zac spoke about his appreciation of the support, and the future of the Jade Monkey.

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This week’s feature artist is Melbourne band Witch Hats with their single ‘In the Mortuary’.

Following the LP releases of Royal Headache and The Twerps, not to mention the work of Dick Diver, Witch Hats have followed suit in maturing their sound. We love the kind of immediate revolution that have befallen bands that debut hard, lo fi and full punk only to return thought out, conceived and comfortable. I’m not sure what that says about us, or them, or consumers in general. and i don’t care.

Arrivederci

*note 1: while there is an actual children’s telemovie that was filmed in Perth called ‘Clowning Around’, Alex was of the firm beleif that a show or an epsisode of a show un attached to that production was filmed at Adelaide’s clowning around store BUT will contend that this may have been a created memory that he has for some reason imagined (and for some time may I tell you).

*note 2: witch hats are infact from Melbourne, Victoria. Sorry Mateo.