When I meet former Go-Between Robert Forster at a cafe in the centre of Brisbane for a walk around his home town, it’s no surprise to see a book on the table in front of him. It is The Café With No Name, by Austrian novelist Robert Seethaler – a gift for his wife, Karin […]
Robert Forster: What can ordinary be? Read More »
Ollie Olsen, the maverick Australian post-punk and electronic music innovator, died on Wednesday after a long struggle with multiple system atrophy, a rare neurological disease which he “fought like a Viking”, according to a statement shared on his social media accounts. He was 66. Olsen – who changed his name legally from Ian Christopher Olsen
Ollie Olsen 1958-2024 Read More »
The Saints – the Brisbane band who jump-started the punk movement in Australia with their hot-wired debut single (I’m) Stranded – have announced a national tour in November with a new five-piece lineup, more than 50 years after their rough beginnings. Joining founding guitarist Ed Kuepper and drummer Ivor Hay will be singer Mark Arm, from the Seattle band
The Saints return to reclaim their dues Read More »
Fifty years after their formation in Sydney, the vastly influential punk band Radio Birdman are preparing to call it a day, with a final series of Australian shows over winter culminating with a farewell gig in their home town. But is this really goodbye? Songwriter and guitarist Deniz Tek isn’t making promises. “The rationale is
Radio Birdman: Reign in Blood Read More »
Ed Kuepper still remembers the first time he saw Jim White play drums. It was back in the mid-1990s and Kuepper – founder of the Saints, Laughing Clowns and Aints – was headlining the Prince of Wales in Melbourne, supported by a rising instrumental trio called the Dirty Three. “I know the Dirty Three aren’t
Swinging with Ed Kuepper and Jim White Read More »
I’ve said for a long time that Praise was to Brisbane literature what the Saints’ album (I’m) Stranded was to music. In fact, I first made this analogy on the last page of my first book Pig City, a book in which I quoted Andrew at several key points. Why the comparison to Stranded? It
Tribute to Andrew McGahan, Brisbane Writers Festival Read More »