The Byron Shire Echo – Issue 33.17 – October 3, 2018

| LIVE MUSIC...P32 | CULTURE...P33 | CINEMA...P36 | GIG GUIDE...P37

ALL YOUR NORTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT

PHOTO: JIM LEE

ENTERTAINMENT

SEVEN

SOME LIKE IT HOTA

BEST OF BRITISH INDIA FOR BYRON GUITAR FEST BRITISH INDIA EMERGED FROM THE MELBOURNE UNDERGROUND 11 YEARS AGO AND WENT ON TO BECOME ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S MOST SUCCESSFUL INDEPENDENT ROCK ACTS. WITH FOUR TOP 10 ALBUMS TO THEIR CREDIT THE BAND SHOWS NO SIGN OF SLOWING DOWN. BASS PLAYER FOR THE BAND, WILL DRUMMOND, SPOKE WITH THE ECHO AHEAD OF THEIR PERFORMANCE THIS WEEKEND AT THE BYRON BAY GUITAR FESTIVAL.

Great name for a band. Where did it come from? Unfortunately there was no great epiphany or someone appearing on a ‘flaming pie’ in a dream à la The Beatles. As 15–16-year-olds we saw the name of a clothing store in Singapore and were at the same time devouring The Beatles’ Anthologies and must have been up to the episode where they spent a long time in India. This tour is like a final farewell party for Nic Wilson, your lead guitarist. Is it sad for you guys to have him leave? It’s extremely sad that Nic is leaving. He has been a great barometer in so many ways for the band, whether that was in the songwriting realm or coming to the man for stressful business decisions we have had to make. Nic exists on his own plane and has never been one to follow a trend, so his ideas have always come from a pure well. Nic is retiring from touring AND music so he won’t be a part of another album. What’s next? We don’t know. As I have said to a lot of people, the bomb has just gone off and we have to see where the dust settles. We have spent half of our life making music and touring, so our

next move is one that we need to consider carefully and be respectful to what we have achieved and what we still want to achieve. What can your fans at the Byron Bay Guitar Festival expect from your show? Because we are sending Nic off we will be playing a large retrospective of our career. It will be sad but we have to enjoy every last gig with him and we have always loved playing festivals together. Other than the release of the album you’re working on, is there anything else on the horizon for British India? Our main focus at the moment is giving Nic the proper farewell. This band means a lot to the many fans who have come to our shows every year and we want to put on a great show for them with Nic still on the stage. Other than that we are just writing and assessing what the future will hold. British India headline the Byron Bay Guitar Festival at the Byron Brewery this Saturday and Sunday. With 25 performances, five specialty workshops, and even a guitar retail section! $50 day pass or $90 for both days. www.byronbayguitarfestival.com.

Six over-65-year-old Gold Coast locals share their lives in a new show All the Sex I’ve Ever Had at HOTA this week. First performed in Germany by Mammalian Diving Reflex, the show is created in situ with non-professional participants whose experiences and stories weave together a unique story of place. ‘A lot of people tour a show, but this is a process that is toured,’ says co-writer and creator Alice Fleming. Working with Darren O’Donnell, the two spent a month working with six locals to create the show. ‘We break it down year by year from zero until now,’ says Alice. ‘We use sexuality as the lens. The first time they saw someone’s genitals, the first kiss, the first crush, the marriage, the divorce, the heartbreak and everything in between. Sex and sexuality is just the lens that we look through.’ It all started a few months ago when there was a call out for older people who might like to participate. After a series of one-to-one interviews, six people were chosen. Those six were as diverse as the list would let them be. ‘We have the owner of the Love Street recording studio; he’s a party animal! People who have dabbled in same-sex encounters; there are people who have had affairs, marriages and children, then broken up; people who are single now then broken up; people who are doing online dating now. There’s a lot of diversity.’ As creators, Darren O’Donnell and Alice Fleming have distinctly different points of view when it comes to relationships. ‘I am a romantic,’ says Alice, ‘Darren O’Donnell doesn’t believe in monogamy and I am naively the opposite. I am quite interested in people who have shortlived romances early on, and there is one person here on the Gold Coast who has this amazing through line that they have with this one person on and off, and then finally they are together. Life is quite incredible how it can hit you over the head with the same message!’ The end result is a pacy show that’s very funny and engrossing. ‘You become quite obsessed with one person’s story. You want to know what happened and then it moves on to a different person and then you get hooked into them. It’s fascinating following the threads.’ All the Sex I’ve Ever Had at HOTA on the Gold Coast. Thursday 2pm and 7pm; Friday at 7pm. Book on hota.com.au.

coming soon WED 3 DAN HANNAFORD 12 OCT ANDREW STOCKDALE JAZZ IN THE RESTAURANT THIS SATURDA 13 OCT OCEAN ALLEY Y THU 4 FRIEND ZONE THE VANNS 19 OCT PETER BIBBY FRI 5 BOY TOYS, KING CIG WING DEFENC 21 OCT THE BRONX E SUN 7 UFC ON THE BIGSCREEN VANILLA GORIL 26 OCT PIST IDIOTS LA HOBO PONCHOS FREE ENTRY 27 OCT BOOTLEG RASCAL TUES 9 MARSHALL OKELL HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN • thenorthern.com.au • 6685 6454 North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au

The Byron Shire Echo October 3, 2018 31

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