FBi Social - Saturday 20th August

Anyone with the slightest interest in independent music in Sydney loves FBi Radio, 94.5FM. It's an institution, run by the people for the people and has helped countless local bands get the break they needed and deserved. Well, not content with filling the city's airwaves with awesomeness, FBi also has a venue, meaning punters can get their fill of live talent too.

Saturday saw four Sydney acts take to the stage. Opening things up were female-fronted four-piece The Glimmer, who offered some country surf with a pop twist and the odd sea shanty thrown in for good measure. Their set boasted some seriously catchy tunes. Next up was the evening's highlight. The beautiful, bespectacled Caitlin Park (pictured, below), along with her drummer from Bobbysix's hometown of Brighton, served up intelligent, experimental lo-fi folk music laced with electronic elements. Despite battling against sound issues, she utilised samples and loops to fine effect. Park's songs were accessible while remaining interesting and nuanced. She is an artist certainly worth checking out.

In contrast to Park's understated delivery, March of the Real Fly's vocalist/drummer Cam Crew stood atop his stool, occasionally wandered around the stage and employed all manner of histrionics with a level of overconfidence that was kind of irritating at times. However, there is no doubting his relentless energy was the driving force behind a fun, American-influenced punk-pop set that had the biggest crowd of the night dancing. Keyboardist/percussionist/vocalist Anita Miles (pictured, top) bopped around twixt sweet indie uber-nerds Daniel Levett and Sam Clayton to create a dynamic so cute that you just wanted to put them in your pocket and take them home.

Whipped Cream Chargers, the night's headliners (above), perfectly dissected rock n roll swagger and cool disinterest. Frontman Sebastian Harrison-Naish was the prime example of this, with his rubber-legged hip-shaking belying a facial expression that suggested he might just doze off at any moment. He didn't though, and nor did the audience, who were treated to a typically excellent barrage of dirty psych-garage-swing-punk that brought proceedings to a suitably impressive close.

Four fine local acts for ten bucks? Nice one FBi.

Getting To Know... Cameras

Sydney's Cameras have been favourites of BobbySix.com for a while now and 2011 could be the year when they become yours too. With an LP and a US tour on the horizon, these are exciting times. Guitarist/vocalist Fraser Harvey tells us a bit about the band:

I generally try and avoid having to describe Cameras' sound to people. It's better if they just listen to it and work it out for themselves - so I'm going to have to recommend going with that.

We take inspiration from a lot of different things, certainly not always musical.

Sydney is located at 33.52 S latitude and 151.13 E longitude. This is generally the case all of the time.

I'm currently listening to a lot of classical actually. We are getting ready to record so I generally like to switch off to most of what's happening in the world of current music at this point of the process and hear something completely different. Mostly Rachmaninoff and Prokofiev, but there's a little bit of Kate Bush ticking over too.

It might surprise people to learn that our drummer Ben was a second runner up in the Chelsea Flower Show in 2003.

This year will be busy. Our LP will be coming out around September, we'll be touring the US throughout October and some of November, and then coming back [to Austraila] for a tour hopefully.

Hear some tracks from Cameras at their Myspace page. We recommend Defeatist. It's brilliant. Also, check out the video for June below (you can get a free download of it here)

Interview by Rob Townsend 

Update: shortly after we posted this interview, Cameras announced that they will definitely release their debut full-length album this year, on Speak N Spell through Inertia. We've been banging the Cameras drum for ages now, so this news excites us. Remember, you heard about them here first.

Get yourself some of Dear Pluto's sweet European finds

If you're Sydney-based and have even the slightest inclination towards vintage clothing, then you'll surely know of Dear Pluto. Tucked away in Surry Hills, the pretty space hosts vintage sales each weekend as well as intimate events like Monday movies nights and swap parties.

Well, excitingly, Dear Pluto's main lady - the chick who also brought you those amazing Hibernian House Vintage and Retro Sales - has spent the better part of February scouring the op shops of Europe for stellar frocks, florals and all sorts of fancy threads. Today, she arrives back in the country, masses of clothes in tow. "At Dear Pluto," she tells us, "We like our vintage like we like our men. Sexy, European and with an accent thicker than Karl Pilkington. Okay, so vintage doesn't talk, but if it did, Dear Pluto's range would be charming the hell outta you."

Intrigued? Well, even more amazing is that the hand-picked goodies the shop offers all fall below the fifty dollar mark, with some pieces giving you change from five bucks. So, if you haven't visited Dear Pluto yet, or if you are overdue a visit, then this weekend is the perfect time to pop in to see Emma and Millie The Cat and snap up some embarrassingly cheap vintage awesomeness. Our advice is to get there early, as the European stuff is sure to fly out of the door.

Get rummaging on Saturday (11am till 6pm) or Sunday (11am till 5pm) at 5a Wilshire Street, Surry Hills (map below. The Facebook event page is here)

Words by Rob Townsend.

Smirnoff's Black Room VIP opening night

Sydney is awash with art at the moment, as it is officially Art Month Sydney. Along with an extensive programme of official events and lectures etc, there are also plenty of other non-affiliated art exhibitions going on. I was recently invited down to Carriageworks for the opening night of the Smirnoff Black Room, an exhibition which then went on to open at Blank Space Gallery in Surry Hills.

The event was attended by the glitterati of the Sydney art scene. Here are some pictures.



This shot of vodka tasted and smelt of white chocolate. It is the nicest spirit I have ever had.