Toy Symphony

There’s a new guy in town.  He’s well-dressed with awesome taste in music, and he throws huge parties every month. Everyone’s talking about Party by Jake, a brand-spankin’-new Canberra company hosting gigs that feature not only music, but also incorporate a fashion element. (FYI: Jake isn’t actually a real person) 

The brainchild of man-about-town Duncan Brown and business partner Chris Waterman, this dynamic duo came up with Party by Jake to reflect the way that certain styles of music and dress often go hand-in-hand. “I think people in Canberra are quite stylish and do put a lot of effort into their appearance,” Duncan tells me (although he insists that he wouldn’t call himself a fashionable guy). “It’s about trying to offer something a little bit different that I think people in Canberra will like.”

Party by Jake’s first endeavour is Heartbeat, featuring indie dance music and street fashion. Heartbeat events will be held monthly, and by the time this has gone to press the first party will have gone off at Transit Bar, featuring clothes from quirky Sydney label Pete Versus Toby. Fluoro colours, bold designs and wicked slogans such as ‘Non-smokers die every day’ have gained Pete Versus Toby a cult following amongst the scenesters of Sydney, and Heartbeat offers Canberra its first taste of this up-and-coming label.

Another Sydney label, myPetsQuare, will be the fashion feature at the March Heartbeat party. Sporting a similar aesthetic to that of it-girls Agyness Deyn and Cory Kennedy, myPetsQuare is a heady mix of brogues, bowler hats and sharply cut blazers teamed with feminine pieces like floral frocks and form-fitting dresses.  “Our main goal is to be the centre of attention,” confesses Angelique, one half of the design team behind myPetsQuare. Clad in these threads, you certainly would be – and don’t worry, lads, they also make mens’ clothes, like slouchy cardigans and edgy slogan tees. 

The unifying theme behind the clothing brands featured at Heartbeat is individuality, something that can be difficult to achieve in Canberra, where there is little room or opportunity for new designers. “You’ve gotta stand out, you’ve gotta do something different,” says Marco from Pete Versus Toby. “There’s too much of everyone just copying!” Duncan agrees, “People do want to pay for exclusivity and originality. There are little boutiques like Felt and Itrip Iskip which are doing Canberra proud, and even some of the product in places like Parliament and Globalise is great. But you buy a tshirt there and there’s fifteen other people wearing it.” 

The sky’s the limit for Party by Jake, with whisperings of a progression from street fashion, the involvement of Canberra clothing labels and – maybe – even their own clothing line. “It’s cool to bring a little slice of something new,” Duncan says. “Canberra’s got a lot of potential.”

For info on Party by Jake events, head to www.myspace.com/partybyjake

After a review of the drama department late last year, ANU has announced a shift in focus to a more theoretical, research-based approach, moving the drama department into the School of Cultural Inquiry. This means that theatre companies Papermoon and Moonlight have been put to sleep.

Papermoon began in 1992, taking its name from a song featured in its first production, A Streetcar Named Desire. It provided an outlet for ANU drama staff to maintain their practical skills. A bit more than a decade later, Theatre Studies graduates formed sister company Moonlight to give graduates the opportunity to continue their practice, and to put on work that is considered challenging, particularly commercially.

‘We’re very proud of the what we’ve done,’ says Tony Turner, Head of Drama.

‘We’ve won the prestigious Canberra Critics Circle awards for the last five years, and two awards last year. The quality of the stuff we’ve been doing speaks for itself.’

And an audience base was developing, with significantly stronger audiences in 2009 compared with 2008. But there won’t be a 2010 audience.

Arts sub dean and chair of the review, Joan Beaumont says it’s too early to tell what will happen to Papermoon and Moonlight in the long term. She says the review and subsequent recommendations are about ensuring ANU students receive the highest quality of education.

‘Both the staff and students and the external panel members involved in the review were unanimous that we are not offering an actor training school at ANU—we’re  not a NIDA or WAAPA. What we’re offering is drama as part of a much broader degree in humanities and social sciences,’ Beaumont says.

In fact, Turner had hoped to develop actor training, and in particular, director training in the future. He’s so disappointed with recent developments that he’s resigning after nearly 20 years at ANU. 

‘The uni wants to take drama in a different direction—and they have every right to do that. I’m leaving because it’s not the direction I want to go. I don’t believe you can teach drama without putting actors in front of an audience.’

Beaumont says an increased push by the Federal government for research-based teaching means universities are moving away from exclusively practical programs more suited to the TAFE sector. But Beaumont says ANU students will still gain practical experience in the classroom. And there will still be performances as part of assessments.

‘This is not a move away from performance to totally textual study. We have a curriculum that we promise to deliver. And we’ll be looking at stronger links to the community.’

This is, of course, a community where arts funding and opportunity is getting increasingly dry, making it difficult for emerging artists to gain the kinds of transitional experience Moonlight provided.

The ANU Arts Centre is now dark after staff members were moved across to the School of Cultural Inquiry. Beaumont says its future is still ‘an open question’ although the centre will still be used by external hirers.

Fiona Atkin, PhD candidate and Moonlight’s (sleeping) artistic director has more on that. While she may not see any Moonlight productions hit the stage this year, Atkin will be directing a play for Free-Rain later this year which will likely use the ANU Arts Centre. Ironically enough, it’s the very play that gave Papermoon its name—A Streetcar Named Desire.

After the success of its Abstractions nights, held last year as part of the Made in Canberra festival, HellosQuare Recordings is again returning to The Street Theatre for a series of four shows this Autumn. For the last few years, the label has dedicated itself to presenting and releasing experimental and free improv orientated music locally, though over time has broadened its scope to include overseas artists and distribution. On home turf in the badlands of Belconnen, label main man Shoeb Ahmad outlines the first in the upcoming series of shows, featuring Sydney trio Roil.

The group comprises Chris Abrahams of The Necks on piano alongside double bassist Mike Majkowski and drummer James Waples, both of Three Omegas. “Roil's all improvised like The Necks, but it is very acoustic and not as minimal,” Ahmad says. “It's definitely more dexterous and a bit more intense. Chris Abrahams' piano playing is quite something.”

 Joining them will be nomadic Aussie sound artist Robert Curgenven, making a Hendrix-style slight return home from his current European base. “He's made his own dubplates for the turntables. He ampfilies it so there's a lot of feedback resonance and he layers it with field recordings,” Ahmad explains. “It's very ghostly stuff. It is electronic music but he doesn't use a laptop or anything like that.” Rounding out the bill is local roustabout Tim Dwyer, under his unpronounceable ///???\\\ handle, rocking his dubbed-out garage drone vibe.

For the second instalment, Ahmad has coaxed venerable UK electronic duo Icarus to town. Formed in the mid-'90s over a shared love of drum 'n' bass and jungle, the pair have spent the last 15 years fusing the manic BPMs of those genres with no wave and free jazz. During their tenure they've released records on Temporary Residence (home to Mono, Explosions in the Sky and Pinback) and remixed the likes of Siouxsie Sioux's post Banshees group The Creatures and Four Tet. With one half of the duo Ollie Bown currently based in Melbourne, working as an electronic music researcher at Monash University, the time seemed ripe for Icarus' first run of Australian shows.

And of course there's more in the pipeline, with Ahmad keen to take advantage of The Street's liberal-minded booking approach. If just some of the gigs he has in mind come to fruition, then you, dear readers, are in for a treat...

“The Street's good, it gives me a good forum,” Shoeb says. “Venues are hard to come across in Canberra and the main point is a lot of places won't take a punt on this kind of stuff. The scope doesn't stop with electronic music - why not make it accessible. Well, 'accessible' in inverted commas!”

Roil,  Robert Curgenven and ///???\\\ play Street 2 on Friday March 12 from 8pm. Entry is $15 or $12 concession. Icarus, Shoeb Ahmad, Reuben Ingall and Luke Penders play Street 2 on Thursday March 25 from 8pm. Entry is $10 or $5 concession. Bookings via www.thestreet.org or 6247 1223.