Ryan and Alex took to the Scenery chairs on this episode, as Mateo was jet setting in sunny Madrid, and Dexter was frolicking along mysterious, yet to be trodden paths. Filmmaker Paul Gallasch came in to tell us about the American Dream, and Ryan spoke with Nikki Lovell of One Village.
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.