Welcome to Notes From Pig City. This is my online archive for as much of my journalism as I can keep up with. Published pieces will be reposted here as soon as they can be. I also write exclusively on my Patreon page; those pieces are not republished here.
I’m the author of two books: Pig City (2004), a book about Brisbane, and Something To Believe In (2019), a music memoir. I'm currently employed by AAP. I continue to freelance occasionally for other publications, mostly Guardian Australia, where it doesn't conflict with my full-time gig.
I have a wide variety of interests, and they’re reflected by the number of tabs in the main menu. You can click through those, or the archive list at the bottom to find what you might be interested in, whether you’re a casual visitor or looking for something specific.
If you want to get in touch send me a message here.
You’ve just put out a coffee table book of photographs of your early years with Blur. I imagine you didn’t have too many expectations at the time. Why had you stopped taking photos by the time the band blew up? I told myself that I was not experiencing life, that I was looking at it through […]
Blur’s Dave Rowntree: 10 chaotic questions Read More »
It’s a tradition almost as old as popular music itself: a band name that puns, plays on, or pays tribute to the name of another artist. In the rock & roll era, you can trace it back at least to Chubby Checker. Known to his mum as Ernest Evans, the Chubber named himself in homage
My petty gripe: ba(n)d puns Read More »
You had to see Jeff Buckley to believe him. Jon Pope, a veteran of the Australian music industry, was tour manager for the singer on his first visit to Australia, in 1995. Three days after Buckley’s first show at the Metro in Sydney on 28 August, the road crew were preparing for a much more intimate gig at the
Jeff Buckley: Once in a lifetime Read More »
Occasionally the musical universe offers unexpected gifts that we might never have thought to ask for and had no right to expect. Strange Love, the debut album by new Melbourne supergroup Bleak Squad, is one such gift. The names speak for themselves: Adalita (Magic Dirt), Mick Harvey (the Bad Seeds, the Birthday Party), Mick Turner
Bleak Squad: Strange Love Read More »
You’ve played many prestigious venues in your career. How do you feel about gracing the Sydney Opera House stage? It’s on a lot of people’s bucket list, so I’m very excited. I’ve been doing this show [Don’t Tell Anybody The Secrets, based on Williams’ memoir] at different venues. When I play, I always tell a
Lucinda Williams: 10 chaotic questions Read More »
In a career that spanned close to 40 years, the late satirist and comedian John Clarke played thousands of people. In his native New Zealand he was Fred Dagg, sheep farmer and gumboot philosopher. In Australia he was best known as one half of Clarke and Dawe – the voice of an endless parade of risible politicians,
But also John Clarke: “He had us nailed” Read More »