cross state rivalry

[filthwizard]

Why has there always been such an enormous Melbourne/Sydney rift?? even in such a creative pursuit like improvised music. exept for maybe tinky's long standing collaboration with Simon and a few other projects (such as AAO) there is so little companionship... i know theres a huge distance to cover and all but surely we should be working together ... theres so much to learn....

[isaacs]

For a period of a few years I deliberately set out to collaborate with as many Melbourne musicians as possible simply because "there's so much to learn" as you put it perfectly. For quite a while the permanent membership of my trio was Ben Robertson and Dave Beck. This was one of my all-time favourite combinations and we played in Melbourne several times and I managed to get them to Sydney to play too. I also had an ongoing collaboration with Shelley Scown featuring her with my trio at festivals, two-piano projects which I initiated with Paul Grabowsky and Joe Chindamo, also collaborations with Matt Clohesy, Danny Fischer, Gary Costello, Ian Chaplain and Andrew Gander (in his Melbourne player phase). A major part of my development experience has been collaborating beyond the Australian city in which I live. It was something I consciously set out to do, as for many years before that I had had to limit myself to collaborating with a wide range of Sydney players until it became clear that the way forward was finding new players outside Sydney to play with. This has included non-Australian players but a big part of it for that period was connecting to the Melbourne scene in some way. Apart from the artistic attraction, it is very practical. If you want to bring your Sydney band to Melbourne (or vice versa) there are huge financial obstacles which I still experience. If you are willing to travel by yourself and play with local players gigs suddenly become much more manageable and frequent. I must admit I have occasionally encountered a parochial attitude the exact opposite of this. I remember sitting having dinner with a Melbourne rhythm section player who shall remain nameless. He was to be engaged in the rhythm section for the Wangaratta competition. At that point he didn't know who his rhythm section colleagues would be and it is at Adrian's discretion I believe. This person expressed the fervent wish that the rhythm section would consist entirely of Melbourne players. I found it curious, I would have thought the opposite, that a gig like that would be a chance to enjoy some different collaborations that would not have been possible otherwise. I would suggest that it is really cool to collaborate (at least some of the time) across the NSW/VIC border. It offers artistic nourishment and practical advantages.

[tam]

well, i don't know what you mean by any rivalry.

there are heaps of groups who utilize players from both melbourne and sydney - and speaking for colleagues in melbourne - there is a lot of respect for musicians who are great musicians - regardless of where they hail from. and if there are any sydney musicians playing here in melbourne, i always see heaps of local musicians at the gigs.

filthwizard, if you could elaborate more... because i don't know where you've gotten this idea from

[isaacs]

tam said:

if there are any sydney musicians playing here in melbourne, i always see heaps of local musicians at the gigs

Without wishing to lend credence to filthwizard's ideas of a "rift" the above was not my own experience a few weeks ago.

[jazzcunt]

ahhh filthwizard, clearly you are operating under some delusion that anything at all out of sydney could be viable in a quality context. look at their coffee - crap, look at their fashion sense - gay, look at their beaches - white trash, look at their musicians - isaacs as far as the eye can see. there has never been a rivalry filthwizard. you are a silly cunt

[tam]

well that's constructive.....
jc, you've outed yourself as an unimaginative, homophobic new Member. Cos our beaches are so great here in melbourne...

[mim]

Tam, before you go arguing with someone who's using a pseudonym (because I made that mistake with dear Ironguts), consider the possibilty that it's possibly somebody you know, or somebody well known by everybody, having a laugh. When I realised I had been agreeing with Scott, in an argument against Ironguts, I felt like a right twit.

[tam]

aaahhh, but ironguts exists (or existed) as a separate entity to tinky, no?
a touch of devil's advocate, or just some scandalous opinions? my comments aren't as serious as some may read.... but i can't help but take the bait...

just cos i don't use a pseudonym, dosn't mean i can't have fun too!

cheers for the advice though!

[tinky]

I think any rift that exists is all in jest. When it comes to it there is quite a bit of respect both ways. I love to have a go at my sydney cunt mates and they give it back. ( in a wimpy sydney way)
The general vibe in syd is different to melb and that should be celebrated, god it would be boring if it were the same. One thing for sure, there is a lot of good players up there and down here playing their arses off. Both towns/cities have heros, history and the voices of tomorrow. ( what a wanky thing to say )

[alison]

I think I actually heard strings while reading that, Tinky...

[jamie]

Tinky, you are gay.

But really, I don't think there is a rivalry....I had a ball last week working with James, Simon, Tinky, Sam, Roddy and Ben, and thinking about it, in that one hit we've covered Perth, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne. Sure the scenes are different, but in the end we're all just musicians wanting to make the best music that we can.

[Baked Bean]

On this note are there any (apart from tinky's april appearance) melbourns guys thinking of coming up to play anytime soon???

[kingkazoo]

I won't have a bad word said about the lovely beaches of my realm (Tam). I love the beaches of the bay, especially the one's closer to the city - mud, rubbish, syringes. They are the inspiration of my music. They may also be why Melbourne has "the dark side" and Sydney is gay. I dunno.

[thierryf]

It Goes Back to Pre federation Australia When customs existed on the NSW/Vic Border.
Alternate; " I've Never Known an honest crim from Sydney" Brandon Reid. [ Chopper ]