Delivered a 40 page document to council today, outlining who lived here & how the building has been used for the past 15 years. All part of info required by bureaucracy so we can change the use of the building to what will eventually be a live performance space. Was told at the planning counter, council still needs a ‘demolition report’. I said “but there’ll be no demolition. We’re building things in – not tearing stuff down”. Apparently, if you change a sink in a toilet, removal of the old sink classifies as ‘demolition’. So now, we need to write a report, outlining the ‘demolition’ of an old sink. If you cut a small hole in a roof to insert a roof vent, the little circle of tin being removed classifies as, you guessed it, ‘demolition’. F#ck me.

Richmond Town Hall, council headquarters.

Playing the game…
More red-tape news soon, no doubt.

Fires out.

Back to the State Library this week & the Vic Electoral Commission. Spent most of Monday researching the identity of previous tenants in our building. As mentioned, need to prove someone was living here prior to us (names, dates etc), as part of submission to council to change the ‘use’ of the building. They need to know the building has been partially and continually residential (for 15 years with no break) – so we can keep living here, and in turn, change said ‘use’ to a live music & performance venue. It’s tricky & hopelessly bureaucratic – but a game we’re stuck playing for now.

State Library Melbourne.

Pretty much found all the info we need. Documenting & hoping to present to council later today. First round of plans already there & scrutinised. More ‘exciting’ news soon, as we work the red tape.

Fires out.

Video highlights from Sunday night – Bulldogs vs Adelaide. It was a beautiful thing.

Fires out.

Big weekend of football done. Highlights video of the Bulldogs/Crows game not available yet – the biggest upset of Round 4, the Dogs absolutely thumping  the comp’s top side Adelaide. Unbelievably, Western Bulldogs were a whopping 75 points up at 3-quarter-time. In lieu of said footage, it was great to see Melbourne (who’ve been struggling for a decade now) get up & comfortably beat hot favourites Richmond. More on the Dogs game later…

The comp’s now wide open after this weekend – It’s been a stunning 4 weeks. Plenty of signs hot-favourite sides are not so hot, and promising signs for teams who’ve been down & out in recent years, like Melbourne & The Dogs.

Fires out.

ANZAC day tomorrow & the hundredth anniversary of the Gallipoli landing & subsequent slaughter. A time to remember Australians who have fought and died at war.

The Australian frontier wars were a series of conflicts that were fought between Indigenous Australians and European settlers that spanned a total of 146 years. The first fighting took place several months after the landing of the First Fleet in 26 January 1788 and the last clashes occurred as late as 1934.^{[citation needed]}

Mounted police engaging Indigenous Australians during the Slaughterhouse Creek Massacre of 1838.

The most common estimates of fatalities in the fighting are at least 20,000 Indigenous Australians and between 2,000 and 2,500 Europeans. However, recent scholarship on the frontier wars in what is now the state of Queensland indicates that Indigenous fatalities may have been significantly higher. Indeed, while battles and massacres occurred in a number of locations across Australia, they were particularly bloody in Queensland, owing to its comparatively larger pre-contact Indigenous population. (Read more)

Fires out.

Really liking this song ‘Foolish‘ by Melbourne band, Alpine. Been hearing it for about a month now – single release from their forthcoming 2nd album, Yuck (set to drop 12th June). Great production & songwriting. Happy pop sound with an indie edge, dreamy vocals & catchy as hell. Said in an interview, they were going for a slightly Austin Powers vibe…

Fires out.

New Venue Update: Well into the process, dealing with local council & associated rules and regulations. This week, a new obstacle – they want a ‘demolition plan’, which we don’t have. And we don’t have one because… there will be no demolition. We’re fitting out a venue, not pulling the building down. Apparently we need to write a document explaining why demolition is not required (again) & requesting an exemption from providing said ‘demolition plan’. Stay tuned for more red tape.

Fires out.

Delighted with Kegasaurus Wrecks’ debut album, ‘Swamp Gas Beer‘. As posted yesterday, we just received a promo pack complete with CDs, t-shirts, caps etc – also reminded us how much we miss the guys. We met these fine Floridian gents on a US tour in 2010. I must say, bias aside, it’s a great sounding record. Well crafted rock/metal, deep pounding drums, in-your-face guitars – and gutsy yet melodic vocals.

The songs bring a party-vibe while maintaining a soulful substance. And the production (courtesy Dewayne Hart) sounds amazing – it’s solid & precise without losing the band’s organic rock feel. A big thumbs up to Kegasaurus Wrecks for a fine debut release. Get yourself a copy. And check out the band’s Reverb Nation page.

Fires out.

Great start to the week. Package arrived from West Palm, Florida. Ian Scott, guitarist & vocalist with Kegasaurus Wrecks, mailed us their brand-spankin’ new album complete with t-shirts, stubbie-holders, caps & posters.

Florida’s Kegasaurus Wrecks – new ablum, t-shirt & cap.

We first met Ian at a show in Lake Worth, Florida. Completely by chance, we were playing at a bar about an hour from his place & didn’t realise he was the son of a friend of a friend of my mother’s (4 degrees of separation?). Went to a great party at Ian’s place a couple weeks later. Then later in the year, we added his place as an official US tour date. Their street is party-central. Ian’s home has a stage, bar & band room (you need never leave the neighbourhood).

All the best with the release, guys! Listening to the album now…

Fires out.

Spent most of yesterday frantically researching info for local council. To change the use of our building to a licensed premises, we need to prove what it actually was in the first place. Even though council rates records show exactly what it was, they don’t care. Rates notices are apparently ‘insufficient information’. So our local council have been deliberately billing people for living here (for decades), knowing full well they’ve had ‘insufficient information’ to do so. The idiocy of bureaucracy.

State Library Melbourne.

Back to the State Library this arvo to dig through archives & public records to prove what we’ve known all along – that someone had been living here before we arrived. Our application to have a live music venue stops dead in it’s tracks, until we can do so.

The shit-fight is now well underway…

Fires out.