Hometown Tunes: Melbourne & The Ninch
Hometown Tunes is a new series by Pure Nowhere — a collection of playlists focused on small cities & local music scenes across the world, accompanied by personal stories. read & see more here >
★ words and photos by levii wishart ★
I’ve often found myself wishing that there would be albums and films from the gritty bayside town I’ve spent most of my life in. Something I can relate to on that personal level. Most of the art I consume and ever will consume is tied to the big cities: London, New York, Los Angeles, Paris and so on.
These cities exist in a party that mine has never been invited to; in magical existences that create a mythology out of their surroundings. Where a plain old walk down the streets of Rome co-exists with Audrey Hepburn’s adventures in Roman Holiday, or a drive through New York plays out like a journey through its abundant music iconography (perhaps Leonard Cohen’s ‘Chelsea Hotel No. 2’ plays faintly through the open windows of the actual building).
Abbey Road. Penny Lane. Chateau Marmont. Graceland. The list goes on.
Whether you are involved in it or not, every city, every town, has their local music scene; the bands started in small garages, high school music rooms, churches and so on. The acts that aim to conquer the hometown scene before moving on and up.
I think it’s important to seek out and support these guys. Especially in Australia, where not every town has an internationally recognised virtuoso to journal and document the place you grew up in and know so well. Something you can listen to when you find yourself far away and missing the feeling of being ‘home’.
‘Tones and I’ just bought a house around the corner from me, and she was on Jimmy Kimmel a few months ago with arguably one of the biggest songs of last year. And in our closest city of Melbourne, we have plenty of big names tied to the area, sure — Kylie Minogue being the most recognisable. I’m not ignorant of that; I know they exist. But they have not created an immortal version of a city that would forever lend itself to it’s starry-eyed youths. They have not created a culture of inspiration for dreamers who can lean comfortably on music that sings of the greatness that sat in their very same seat. That being said, I do enjoy some Kylie.
And, of course, in the outer towns, we have nothing near that, which makes the scramble for that same representation of life so much more interesting. We need to seek it out, celebrate it and create it for ourselves! And we have fallen in love with the process.
Having music originating from your hometown is incredibly exciting and inspiring. Lyrics that were written about experiences that took place down the street, around the corner, across the road. The bar where you get drunk with your friends, the pier you jump from into the sea, the hill you were made to run up and down during Outdoor Education classes, the people, the food, the train station, the best view in town where you can see the sparkling lights of the city across the sea.
These bands are for me and others in my hometown, a soundtrack to a time in your life and the place that you’re from, whether it was intended to be or not. And that shows the importance of a prominent local music scene.
I fell in love at an annual ‘Secret Party’ gig hosted The Belair Lip Bombs. I can almost pinpoint the moment, staring across the room, ‘Golden Skin’ blaring. I went to high school with the members.
Along with other local act, The Grogans, they introduced me to venues that I would later frequent and love, Yah Yahs and Cherry Bar (the venue that famously and loyally turned down a request to perform by Lady Gaga over a pre-booked local act).
I catch Velvet Bloom and The Vito Collective at events run by my friends and avoid telling them that ‘Teach Ya’ has become my anthem for some overdue self-love and improvement.
I’ve met new friends at these shows and had run-ins with old ones, drunken nights and new experiences, hypnotised in the middle of a mosh, dancing with people I’d only known by seeing their face tagged in mutual friends photos. “Oh I hooked up with the drummer”, “I heard that song was about so and so”, “My friend’s cousin plays in that band”.
Local acts wade into unknown waters, painting pictures of places that have never felt a brush. It can feel daunting, to romanticise or expose a place in such a way, with no previous examples.
Some of these bands never make it out into the big time. But that doesn’t mean they should go unsung.
Pure Nowhere has compiled a playlist of acts hailing from our half-home, The Mornington Peninsula and the surrounding city of Melbourne, Australia. We hope this music makes you feel alive and real and here with us. Especially in this time of uncertainty and with entertainers being deprived of their livelihoods, shining a spotlight on these acts is needed more than ever.
Diving into the local music scene here and in my surrounding city has given me a soundtrack to going out where I grew up.
