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Gigs

Meanies Desperate Measures Tour

May 19, 2021
Meanies Desperate Measures Tour
Meanies Desperate Measures Tour

“Howdy folks in Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Ballarat, Macedon, Wollongong, Sydney, Narrabeen, Newcastle, Geelong and Canberra who were hoping to see us old age teenagers live in concert in July; It ain’t gonna happen. We’re sincerely sorry, but this Covid shit is continuing to fuck with everything, and we need to postpone to August/October/November. Current ticket holders will be able to use those tickets. Refunds will be available if you can no longer attend.

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The Meanies take desperate measures, finally!

Melbourne punk rock legends tour their new album a year late; with national ‘better late than never desperate measures tour’ .

Byron’s Dicklord open most shows!

Better late than never, and in the midst of their part in the national Spring Loaded tour with a few old buddies,  Australia’s punk-rock heavyweights The Meanies announce their ‘better late than never desperate measures tour’. The tour is a belated celebration of their ‘new’ album Desperate Measures, which is out now on Cheersquad Records and Tapes.

Desperate Measures is a hard, fast and catchy onslaught of hard-hitting Meanies mayhem. It evokes the classic sound that made the band a household name in all the worst houses back in the ’90s, and which has influenced generation after generation of young punks ever since.

Joining The Meanies as they take their desperate measures are one such group of rowdies, the mighty DickLord, whose album ‘It’s Soooo Boring’ is out now on Valve.

 

RESCHEDULED:

Saturday 21 August (rescheduled)
new date to be announced soon
Barwon Club, Geelong, VIC *
+ Poppin Mommas + Eyeroll (no Dicklord)
Tickets here

Saturday 16 October (rescheduled)
Jive, Adelaide, SA
+ Cull The Band
Tickets here

Friday 22 October (rescheduled)
The Tote, Melbourne, VIC
+ Persecution Blues + Cheeky Geezers
Tickets here

Saturday 23 October (rescheduled)
The Tote, Melbourne, VIC
+ Super American Eagle + Sidesplitter
Tickets here

Friday 5 November (rescheduled)
The Eastern, Ballarat, VIC
+ Dicklord + The Dawdlers
Tickets here

Saturday 6 November (rescheduled)
Railway Hotel, Macedon, VIC
+ Dicklord + Persecution Blues
Tickets here

Friday 12 November (rescheduled)
The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD
Tickets here

Wednesday 17 November (rescheduled)
The Basement, Canberra, ACT
+ Charlotte & the Harlots
Tickets here

Thursday 18 November (rescheduled)
Lansdowne Hotel, Sydney, NSW
+ Blitz Babiez
Tickets here

Friday 19 November (rescheduled)
Narrabeen RSL, Sydney, NSW
+ Tshitaki
Tickets here

Saturday 20 November (rescheduled)
Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, NSW
+ I Hate People
Tickets here

Sunday 21 November (rescheduled)
La La La’s, Wollongong, NSW
+ Ape Rib
Tickets here

News

Thirty Four, new video by Nick Batterham

May 5, 2021

Rich, evocative, haunting, beautifully harsh, ‘Thirty Four‘ is a bruising affair, a tender, raw, at times simmering indie rock journey drenched in wonderfully emotive piano. It’s a song that evokes the comparisons Nick Batterham has had to Elliott Smith and Nick Drake; you can add Ken Stringfellow to the list as well.

Formerly involved with bands such as Blindside, The Earthmen and Cordrazine, Nick has teamed with photographer, videographer Thuy Vy to create a music video for ‘Thirty Four’ themed around Polaroid photos.

“I love Polaroid film and have wanted to make a clip with it for a very long time,” Nick says. “I used to scan my Polaroids as they developed, with the intention of animating them. This was labour intensive and time consuming. Thuy suggested filming them time-lapse and setting them in locations that helped to tell the story.”

“The video is an extension of a long fascination with photographing my friends,” Nick adds. “I like that a photograph captures one perspective of a moment in time, yet in Polaroid form, remains ephemeral. They take time to appear then can fade over time. A romantic relationship is a collection of shared moments and experiences, which can be well communicated by photographs. They also capture the fractures within a relationship before either person can see it for themselves. My dear friends Nick and Tiara were amazing to work with. So honest and generous, as well as being ridiculously good looking! I can’t thank them enough for their presence and patience.”

Nick Batterham - Lovebirds Album Launch

‘Thirty Four’ features on Nick’s new solo album ‘Lovebirds’ that he will launch at Melbourne Recital Centre on June 25th. Go here for more information on the album launch.

“Nick is a wonderful musician, composer, sound designer and lyricist,” Thuy Vy says. “The more I listened to his music and read his lyrics I found that our works share a similar sensibility. We’re both concerned with ideas of love, melancholy, preservation of memory, vulnerability and fragility of feelings. This video is a distillation of our shared interest in photography as a personal way to hold onto time. And our love of Polaroids as a medium, in particular a Polaroid as an only copy of a moment and the preciousness that it holds.”

Pre-order Nick Batterham’s beautiful new album Lovebirds on limited edition red vinyl, black vinyl, CD or digital here.

Nick Batterham - Lovebirds - red vinyl
Gigs

Even Save The Queen’s Birthday Weekend

April 16, 2021
EVEN - Queen's Birthday Weekend
EVEN – Queen’s Birthday Weekend

While dumped PM Gough Whitlam might as well have been auditioning for the Sex Pistols when he said on November 11, 1975, “Well may we say ‘God Save the Queen’, because nothing will save the Governor-General!”, Melbourne’s royal rock’n’pop trio Even, who did include a stonking cover of the Sex Pistols’ “Pretty Vacant” on their recent Down The Shops covers collection, reckon that the Queen’s birthday at least is worth celebrating. Indeed, they reckon it is their Antipodean duty to do so, especially given that Prince Philip is now no longer around to start the party.

But with four shows across the holiday weekend at great venues in the inner North, South, East and West, “Even Save The Queen’s Birthday Weekend” is not just a celebration of a fabulous public holiday; it is also a celebration of the great rock’n’roll city that is Melbourne.

Even’s Friday to Monday run is gonna provide some right royal rocking with four hand-selected support acts adding a unique flavour to each show. New Cosmic Country queen Freya Josephine Hollick opens proceedings at the Gershwin Room on Friday the 11th. From then, it’s the tres glam Imperial Leather, featuring entities from both RRR and PBS-FM at the Westwood on Saturday the 12th; stranded Mississippi-based Canadian-Australian bluesy country singer-songwriter Meghan Maike on Sunday the 13th at the Leadbeater; and melancholy and melodious young trio of singer-songwriters the Folk Bitch Trio on Monday the 14th at the Northcote Social Club. Monday’s show is a matinée and under-18’s are allowed in if accompanied by an adult.

That is four great line-ups and a real celebration of Melbourne music, so we suggest you grab tickets to all four shows, explore the length and breadth of rockin’ town and make a proper long weekend of it!

Oh, and Even would also like it known that we’ve been working on album #8, and it’s coming along nicely.

ESPY – GERSHWIN ROOM
Friday 11 June, 7:30pm
With Freya Josephine Hollick
Tickets here
Facebook event

HOTEL WESTWOOD
Saturday 12 June
With Imperial Leather
Tickets here
Facebook event

THE LEADBEATER HOTEL
Sunday 13 June
With Meghan Maike
Tickets here
Facebook event

NORTHCOTE SOCIAL CLUB
Monday 14 June, matinée
With Folk Bitch Trio
Tickets here
Facebook event

EVEN taken by Jay Hynes
News

Nick Batterham ‘Turbulence’ video

March 24, 2021

Accomplished Melbourne composer and songwriter Nick Batterham is excited to reveal the second taste of his forthcoming solo album Lovebirds with the stunning new track ‘Turbulence’. The release follows from Nick’s recently lifted single ‘No Perfect Man’, switching out its predecessor’s hauntingly subdued sounds for a cacophony of rock elements, overlaid with the same melancholic sentiments Nick has come to be known for. The single comes with the announcement that Nick’s new album Lovebirds is ready to be released via Cheersquad Records & Tapes on Friday 21 May with album pre-orders now available via the label’s Bandcamp.

As an album opener, ‘Turbulence’ kicks off Lovebirds with a goodbye, typifying the album’s extravagance as a simple piano ballad breaks loose into a soaring cinematic epic. Scheduled to be released Thursday 11 March, ‘Turbulence’ highlights the sheer brilliance of Nick Batterham’s intricate songwriting. A continuous build of atmospheric strings, horns and guitars propel the song from seemingly unassuming love song to a heart wrenching orchestral production of great heights.

“An attempt to be gracious in defeat, a farewell blessing to a runaway lover. “May everywhere you fly from here be safe and smooth, high up above my turbulence…” The song has gained new meaning since we can’t fly anywhere anymore” – Nick Batterham

Director James Teh:
“The initial idea for this music video came from Tina Fey interview I saw one day on a BBC streaming channel. She told a story of how her kids had overheard her and her husband reminiscing about how much they missed air travel since the lockdowns had begun. Much to their surprise their children treated them by cooking dinner and seating and serving them as if they were on an airplane.

Nick Batterhams song Turbulence whilst warm and fuzzy on the surface carries a dark undertone. I wanted to reflect this in Nick’s music video. Parents on the brink of disaster possibly being brought back together by their childrens creativity and love.

“Myself and a director buddy Vittorio Badini Confalonieri shot this film on a sunny Saturday in Bangkok. The cast are mostly non-actors and real family members which led to some nice moments. I am very happy with the results and was very grateful to put some moving pictures together to such a beautiful song.”

A stalwart of the Melbourne music scene for the past 25 years, Nick Batterham is a prolific artist who has lent his immense musicality to beloved local acts The Earthmen, Blindside, Cordrazine and most recently, The Bell Streets, as well as regular compositional collaborations with renowned visual artist RONE. Nick’s upcoming sixth studio album, Lovebirds bristles with spiky observations and raw emotion, delivered with the world-weariness of Elliott Smith or Nick Drake, while the production nods to Phil Spector at his most opulent. Promising a lavish feast of orchestral pop that explores love’s dizzying highs and soul crushing lows, Lovebirds is now available for pre-order with instant access to Nick’s first two singles ‘No Perfect Man’ and ‘Turbulence’.

News

NEWSLETTER: Chris Wilson is #1

February 5, 2021
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We are so enormously excited and proud that the new and expanded edition of Chris Wilson’s ARIA-nominated 1994 Australian Blues & Roots classic ‘Live at the Continental’ has debuted #1 on the ARIA Vinyl chart, #1 on the ARIA Jazz & Blues chart, #2 on the ARIA Catalogue Album chart, #6 on the ARIA Australian Artists album chart, and #19 on the actual ARIA Album chart! Not to mention #1 on the Australian iTunes Blues chart and #2 on both the AIR 100% Independent Album Chart and the AIR Independent Label Album Chart!

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News Releases

NEWSLETTER: New Nick Batterham single out today!

January 28, 2021
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Nick Batterham‘s beautiful single ‘No Perfect Man‘ is out today! It is the first single of Nick’s forthcoming album ‘Lovebirds’, coming out this May on Cheersquad Records & Tapes. Available digitally on your preferred platforms and for sale through Cheersquad. Have a listen, watch the video and buy No Perfect Man here.

Nick’s undeniable fervour for composing immersive, visceral atmospherics is again paramount on ‘No Perfect Man’. Performed and recorded by Batterham with Ben Wiesner on drums, and featuring strings by David Berlin, Zoe Black and Christopher Moore, with Cor Anglais by Michael Pisani, ‘No Perfect Man’ blends residual classical elements of recent works with poignant lyricism and intimate storytelling. Always managing to extract the immense from the minimal, Nick’s delicate arrangements of rich orchestration and vivid colour paints bright lights and deep shadows like a Caravaggio. Ripeness turns to decay. ‘The centre could not hold,’ Batterham sings, echoing the words of Irish poet W. B. Yeats from a century ago. Nick’s double tracked octave vocal describes the co-existence of our inner and outer voice. Joined in chorus by long-time collaborators Kelly Day, Nick Murray and Jethro Woodward, ‘No Perfect Man’ is a compelling and exciting first taste of Batterham’s forthcoming sixth studio album.

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News

NEWSLETTER: Gigs are back + Chris Wilson and EVEN out today

January 22, 2021
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Can’t help but think ‘it’s gonna be a good year’ when the first two CRT releases are as good as these two today.

We’re feeling pretty chuffed down Cheersquad way to be able to bring you Chris Wilson’s ‘Live at the Continental‘ for the first time on vinyl and to have a bit of fun with Even and their collection of covers from over the years, ‘Down The Shops’. The response to both releases so far has been overwhelmingly positive and you’ve gotta be happy with that.

Then to be able to follow it up with the majestic ’No Perfect Man’ from the forthcoming Nick Batterham album ‘Lovebirds’, what’s not to crow about!

Here’s to 2021 and great music – there’s a ton more to come folks.

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