roller derby
TALKING SHOP Profiling music industry professionals
Name? Graham Seaton Who do you work for? Ruffneck Promotions Current position title? Venue booking agent, office morale expert How long have you been in this position? Four years What are the main responsibilities of your position? Booking bands for The Cambridge Hotel (and sometimes The Plantation in Coffs) and making sure everybody knows they’re playing. I also manage a band called Long Island Sound. How did you get involved in the music industry? When a DJ friend was looking for someone to book bands at a club he worked at, I volunteered. One thing led to another… history was made. Proudest moment? Any sell-out show is a proud moment. I also get a kick out of watching a local band play their first show at the Cambridge to 50 people, then coming back and playing their fifth show to 200 people. Is there anyone you would really like to meet (living or dead)? Eddie Vedder and Robert De Niro. Best live show you’ve been to? I can’t decide between Oasis at The Civic Theatre in 2002 and Pearl Jam at Acer Arena in 2006 Favourite venue? The Cambo. Favourite musical instrument? iPhone To whom should we be listening? Original bands at The Cambridge. What would be on your ultimate rider? A case of Carlton Draught; water crackers with cheese and salami; some pickled onions; and a packet of deli rock sea salt chips. Best way to spend a Sunday morning? Sleeping. Any advice for people trying to break into the industry? Start small, organise a local bill at a pub before organising the next Big Day Out. Work for free and work hard.
40 reverb
magazine issue #055 — F ebruary 2011
scarz ‘n’ strikez
calamity cutthroat
The Hottest Thing on Eight Wheels It could be fair to say that no other sport has undergone a bigger facelift and makeover in the last decade than roller derby. Gone are the endurance races of over a century ago, replaced with a predominantly female, full-contact sport that was improved by putting it to a punkabilly beat. There’s a new cut to the ‘derby girl’ costume that is universal, but who orchestrated this takeover? Kevin Bull gets his skates on… The story of roller derby has many a twist. There have been great success (over 50,000 fans at the Oakland colosseum in 1972), dwindling crowds (less than 200 in San Francisco in 1958), and now an underground revolt that on the surface appears as a peaceful takeover. The game is still the same, the rules are unchanged, yet the soundtrack to which the contemporary roller derby rolls is very different. The seeds of contemporary roller derby were sown in 2002 in the American south — Austin, Texas, to be precise. With no affiliation to the sport’s history, this grassroots DIY revival has taken a sport that was tired and near forgotten, and reclothed it as their own. “Elements of the old game still survive,” explains Fallen Star of the Newcastle roller derby league, “and the vintage/retro fashions that you see now are both an expression of the modern retro revival, and also a way of enhancing the alter-egos that grow within the game. Every superhero has a costume.” And every alter-ego has their derby name, a “secret password to an exclusive club”, as Fallen Star so eloquently puts it, where your mild-mannered mothers, shop assistants, receptionists and business professionals can strip away their daytime uniform, strap on their skates, take on their derby personality and become a different person. “Being able to take on a persona whilst skating is all part of the fun and empowerment, and often the line between persona and personality are blurred.” With derby names such as Skarz ‘n’ Strikz, Calamity Cutthroat and Kamikaze un-Leesh-ed skating the local rinks, it is refreshing to hear that the grinding of teeth stops once the skates are removed. “The derby world is like no other culture I have ever seen,” says Calamity Cutthroat of the Newcastle
roller derby league. “We are a heavy duty sporting club but we are also a family. I spend more time with my squad than my real family.” It is this sense of sisterhood that I hear often. As the president of the newly formed Central Coast Roller Girls, Jodie Stephenson explains, “It’s the lack of judgement amongst the girls. You can be who you are from any walk of life and your team loves you anyway. A mum of three is out there with an 18 yearold fresh out of school, a tattooed punk, a former figure skater… anyone is welcome — it’s called “derby love”. The spectacle of a roller derby bout is like no other sport. Fast paced and full of the derby girls’ personality, there is an air of ‘take no prisoners’ on the rink. With the Central Coast Roller Girls media officer, Linda Wales, putting it more simply, “chicks skating around bashing each other is way hotter than guys doing it.” But what is it that attracts the girls to pull on the skates, and why are we seeing so many tattoos, fishnets and hotpants? “The girls have decided it is time to see some female empowerment”, offers Kate Tomlinson of the Sydney roller derby league. “To step up to the challenge that girls can play rough… and possibly look better at it too. The fact that derby isn’t a girly girl sport like netball means you have to be a little tougher than the average girl to play this sport, and that type of girl is generally not your average girl but an alternative girl looking for something more. Also, most rockabilly or alternative girls appreciate the look of derby a lot more. Some girls become their derby persona once dressed up and on the track, and you wouldn’t guess it’s the same girl a few hours earlier who is quiet and shy. For some it’s the female bonding thing
fallen star
including the fact that most teams have some lesbians within their teams and within derby, that’s cool… no one cares about sexuality. They are there to play a sport and have fun with the girls! The costumes and music just add to the fun of it all!” When posed the question of what is attracting girls who are into alternate subculture to roller derby, the answer revolves around the simple emotions of acceptance, and expression without judgement. When you consider that any alternate culture, be it punk, rockabilly or goth, that sits outside of the perceived mainstream, the feeling of being accepted by your peers is paramount. To find this within a sport, where your subculture is actually encouraged and embraced is unique. Kamikaze un-Leesh-ed of the Newcastle roller derby league confirmed my thoughts. “I think it appeals to so many people who don’t fit in anywhere else or want to participate in a sport that also has another side to it that makes it more interesting than something like netball or soccer.” Suzie Tomlinson of the Western Sydney Rollers continued this thought, “roller derby is an unusual/different sport and I guess that may be why it attracts alternative girls. I don’t think it’s because of it being a primarily female sport as netball is also primarily female and doesn’t attract the same demographic. I also don’t think it’s the contact as there other contact women’s sports that again, don’t attract alternative girls. I guess the dressing up for bouts probably helps to attract alternative girls because where else can you play a sport and wear fishnets and makeup? I do love dressing up!” So is this a case of which came first, the chicken or the egg? Did contemporary roller derby evolve from the alternate subcultures, or did the alternate sub-cultures evolve into contemporary roller derby? Either way, roller derby is expanding worldwide in the hands of women who live an alternate lifestyle, and when they strap on the skates in the evening, they roll for their very own sport. For Calamity Cutthroat, “roller derby teaches you to channel your aggression, overcome your fears, achieve an amazing level of fitness, step out of your comfort zone and feel good about yourself… oh, and smash bitches… that’s always a plus in my eyes!”
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