Fellow Tasmanian and long time supporter, Justin Bailey, grew up in a family of musicians in northern Tasmania. He picked up the sticks around 8 years old and since then, he's been unstoppable.
Justin is influenced by some of the greats like Benny Greb, Craig Reynolds (Stray From The Path), Rook (Machine Gun Kelly) and our very own Joe Larwood (Drastic Park).
Justin has been a busy bee with both Brad Harbeck's Great North and Frogs in Suits in recent times. From tours to recording and releasing plenty of music he's showing no sign of slowing down.
Frogs in Suits recently recorded their second EP at Grove Studios in NSW, of which they've released their first single 'Headwires'.
BRAD HARBECK'S GREAT NORTH
FROGS IN SUITS
]]>What We Did On The Weekend (WWDOTW) is a podcast based in Melbourne, Australia.
Starting in 2019 as a way to remember silly stories that happened over the weekends, hosts Jason Mack (Jase) and Mathew Burgess (Burgo) quickly realised that they were just going to heaps of local heavy music gigs.
Inevitably, WWDOTW transformed into a gig review podcast where Jase and Burgo chat about cool bands and venues they'd been to with added nonsense in between.
It didn’t take long before the podcast started gathering momentum in the heavy scene and the boys started doing guest DJ spots and hosting events outside of the podcast. Local bands started approaching them for promotion and that's when they knew things were going really well.
From interviewing bands to reviewing shows and festivals, the podcast was in full flight when Covid hit and put a huge handbrake on shows.
Instead of packing the pod up, Jase and Burgo worked harder and ramped up the band interviews, chatting to a stack of international and interstate acts. The hustle didn't stop there, they also ran a zoom based music trivia competition with Australian bands and hosted the final at Stay Gold, Melbourne.
While navigating through Melbourne's wild Covid lockdowns, the boys decided to start booking shows, including the very first live shows back in Melbourne (2020).
Bands that have played for WWDOTW include: Drastic Park, Dregg, Dweller, Earthbound, Wake The Blind, Bad/Love, The Impaler, The Motion Below, Inhibitor, Blklst, In Vanity, Lune, Some Heard Trouble, Static Revenue, Draftday, Atlvs, Tapestry, Cerement, Relapse, Nicolas Cage Fighter, Agnes Manners, Jacob Fitzgerald, Observist, Druid, Loose End, Excuse for an Exit, All Regards, Gravitate, Blood On My Hands, Vengeance, Anticline, Ghost Seeker, Clay J Gladstone, Rumours, Bloom and Deadlights.
WWDOTW have their 4th annual Beyond Blue fundraiser show coming up at Stay Gold featuring Saviour, Tapestry, Reliqa, Alera and Silver Fang.
Taking place on November 19, the fundraiser will kick off with live acoustic acts during the day, as well as tattoos and a huge raffle.
Their previous fundraiser raised over $18k with the help of Alera and Anti Vinyl Vinyl Club.
WWDOTW have been making cover compilation albums as a part of their annual fundraising efforts. The Better Sessions volume 1 sold out all 200 copies and features tracks from Bad/Love, Drastic Park, Some Heard Trouble and a heap of other cool Australian alternative artists.
The Better Sessions volume 2 has been announced and is currently available for pre-order via AVVC and will feature bands such as Clay J Gladstone, Headwreck, Loose End and a heap of others.
Over then 3 and a bit years of the podcast WWDOTW has continued to grow and has now become the number one heavy music based podcast in Australia. They have now welcomed a 3rd member in Dana Hope as a live show photographer and also co-host for monthly gig reviews.
For more information look up @wwdotw on any social media platform.
Search for 'What We Did On The Weekend' on any podcast platform.
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Lu took a keen interest in music early in life, and decided to pick up the guitar after her favourite musician Joel Little (Goodnight Nurse) gave her a guitar pick. Shortly after, her uncle bought Lu her first guitar from Aldi (to make sure she actually wanted to play).
She really wanted to play the same guitar as Joel, so she upgraded to a cherry red Epiphone SG not long after.
Paperweight have bolted out of the gates, showing no sign of slowing down. Their first two shows were sold out, with their third on the main stage at Knight and Day music festival alongside some of Australia's biggest acts such as Parkway Drive, Polaris and Bakers Eddy.
With over 24k views in just one month on their latest music video, Paperweight are a force to be reckoned with. Check out 'Scapegoat' below.
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Hailing from Central California, Jay has been on her musical journey since age 10. Growing up in the marching arts as a trombone player, she found her love for performance and quickly picked up other instruments (vocals, guitar, bass, drums).
After years developing knowledge and experience by being a part of WGI Percussion ensembles, Jay taught percussion in her community for 7 years. Over the years Jay has established several successful percussion programs at the middle school and high school level. That was left behind after the pandemic hit in 2020.
Jay previously played drums in a band called Second At Best. Later she fronted Avenue 28 where her musical career developed a solid foundation. After Avenue 28 disbanded in 2018, Jay took a hiatus from bands to pursue a higher education and focus on the percussion programs that she taught.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, Jay began posting regular drum videos on social media tracking her growth and progress. In December of 2020 Jay joined her most recent project Unlikely as the drummer. Since joining, Jay has experienced awesome opportunities with Unlikely such as sharing the stage with Tiny Moving Parts and Ridgeway. Unlikely has also been featured on New Rock 104.1.
Jay has taken pride in being actively involved in the music scene of her hometown. She strives to be the representation in her community that she needed when she was growing up.
Jay will be on a Pacific Northwest tour this summer with Unlikely and Mindless Society.
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Tin Pot Clay Man is the moniker of Gaurav Jaswal, an Indian-Australian multi-instrumentalist (vocals, guitar, bass, drums, synth). TPCM blends together elements of 80's post-punk and shoegaze whilst paying homage to the indie/rock grassroots of Gaurav's previous bands.
Gaurav was born in Abu Dhabi, UAE before his family relocated to Australia at the age of 4. He began playing guitar and drums when he was 9 years old and hasn’t stopped since.
Well known for his time in band Dal Santo who released 2 albums over 7 years together, Gaurav has recently ventured into his new project Tin Pot Clay Man. TPCM’s fun and uplifting debut single, ‘Hostile Reset’ gained attention for its unique vibe and catchy chorus; also receiving radio play all the way in France!
Their latest single, ‘Sleepover News’ is a more serious track inspired by Gaurav’s challenges growing up as an Indian-Australian but driven by a contagiously dancy bass line which stays true to the TPCM sound.
With a debut EP expected in early 2022, keep your eyes peeled for Tin Pot Clay Man!
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Drastic Park are a 4-piece Punk Rock band from Melbourne Australia.
Referred to by Josh Merrial (Short.Fast.Loud) as a “very exciting young punk band” who can “write a damn catchy pop punk song”.
Drastic Park have built a fanbase that love them for their distinct throw-back sound, as well as their comedic antics on stage and on social media. Since they started in 2019, they have released 15 songs (4 singles and 2 EPs) and played a plethora of sold out shows, supporting the likes of 28 Days, DREGG, Antiskeptic, Ocean Sleeper and Agnes Manners.
They have gone on multiple tours, including a triple headline tour with Clay J Gladstone and Wolf & Chain and their most recent tour across Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney and Brisbane in support of their latest single, “Deadline”.
After the band signed with Destroy All Lines for all bookings, they secured a slot at the inaugural Knight and Day festival, supported Real Friends at their Melbourne sideshow and then went on to land the main support for Millencolin at the Melbourne and Brisbane Good Things Sideshows.
In the past few months they have been working with producer Alan Day of Four Year Strong and introduced their 4th member, Elise, on guitar and backing vocals. 2023 is shaping up to be a big year for Drastic Park!
Listen to, and connect with Drastic Park here.
]]>Happy Pessimist Clothing Co is beyond stoked to announce the sponsorship of fellow Big Sound Percussion artist and absolute legend, Joe Larwood.
Joe started playing drums at the age of 14. Growing up in the small town of Taupo, New Zealand, Joe spent a considerable amount of his time teaching himself how to play drums.
Inspiration gathered from bands such as Blink 182, Madball, Metallica and Iron Maiden, Joe was well on the way to learning the craft from some of the greats!
In 2014 he made the choice to cross the ditch and set up his life in Melbourne, Australia. In 2016 he began to further his playing and study under Melbourne's own Dan Kerby of DK Drums Academy.
2017 saw Joe join the band Steadfast. fronted by ex-Storm the Sky vocalist Daniel Breen. They began working on their debut EP "Inside the Mind of Youth" which released in February 2018. Inside the Mind of Youth debuted at No.20 on the iTunes alternative charts and Steadfast began to play shows supporting the likes of Saviour, Masketta Fall and recently Storm the Sky on their farewell tour.
After the disbanding of Steadfast in 2020 Joe moved on to join the lads in 3-piece Pop Punk band Drastic Park. Since joining Drastic Park, the band has gone on to release a completely self-produced and self-engineered EP titled “Imposter Syndrome” and have just completed their first tour with Sydney legends “Clay J Gladstone” and Adelaide Champs “Wolf & Chain”.
2021 has a lot in store for Joe and Drastic Park so keep your eyes peeled on their socials.
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Happy Pessimist Clothing Co is proud to present the first of several sponsored artists, Daniel Gay. Dan has been a long time supporter of our brand and it was a no brainer to welcome this legend to the HP family.
Growing up in Ballarat, Victoria, Dan has been playing drums since the age of 9. Raised in musical theatre and finding a love for performance, his preference for music shifted from there, finding influences from bands such as Issues, A Day To Remember, Blink-182 and Hands Like Houses.
Completing a Bachelor of Music Performance at the Australian Institute of Music, Dan has been taught by some of Australia’s best, including Darryn Farrugia and Gerry Pantazis. He also studied under Dan Kerby (DK Drums) for 6 years.
Dan has previously played for ‘Anyone Anyone’ making a name for himself through playing shows and posting drum covers online. He has also worked as a drum educator in both schools and privately for the past 4 years.
Dan has just launched his newest project ‘GhostSeeker’ who have just dropped their debut single ‘Live To Hate Me’