Dirty rat radio dobs on rubbish and plainly states the real deal as the world unfurls around us.....


Tuesday June the 17th ~

Lost exotics escape the Tank Stream drain for sin in the speakeasy at Palmer & Co as the sun sets. 5 - 7


Thursday June the 19th ~

Fossils reanimate late, after imbibing enough sly grog - back at Palmer again, from 10 through til 2


Saturday June the 21st ~

Strip the bogus broadcast bullshit back to bare bones: Jack Off to save FBi (& ourselves). 3 - 5

Hot Shit DJs combine vinyl and volts at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre between 8.30 and 11.30

Hot bread for cool heads. Free (beyond) the bush!


Wednesday June the 11th ~

As above, so down below at Palmer & Co. 10 til 2.


Friday June the 13th ~

Escape the bitter midwinter air outside to fire up yr limbs & loins in the toasty surrounds of the Hotel Hollywood: Shiny Shiny returns with Hot Shit deejays (Hot Flush and I) fanning freaky sonic flames into an incendiary immolation. Burn off the bullshit to be free. Read-heads forevs! 8 til 1.


Saturday June the 14th ~

Jack Off jinks from film-fest guest action to seamless soundtracks, between 3 and 5 on fbi radio.

Thence Dean and Nancy on 22 extends its ever-lovin' arms from heaven, welcoming heathens and angels alike, said secular spirits co-mingling in the sky above Sydney, all spun in song from 9 til half 12.

Fee-free sounds to keep you cosy. Get yr skates on!


Wednesday June the 4th ~

Nite owls go to Palmer & Co. Fangin' from 10 til 2.


Friday June the 6th ~

Bit of a stretch for cool cats to skip popular platters spun at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre. Clowder convenes between half 8 and half 11.


Saturday June the 7th ~

Snuggle up somewhere warm and tune in to an especially cinematic Jack Off as we welcome Georgi M. Unkovski, whose debut feature DJ Ahmet has multiple screenings at the Sydney Film Festival. It's the tale of a North Macedonian teen shepherd who stumbles across a rave in the sticks, a portal to potential freedom and love, forbidden at home.

Georgi will be spinning some of the soundtrack in a mini guest set - and Festival CEO Frances Wallace will join us to give an overview of the myriad screenings and events happening across town in coming weeks.

If you value our propagation of live local and international lore please support FBi via a tax-deductible donation as raising $30G before the end of the financial year is critical for the station's survival.

While I wrote this newsletter the terrible news I have feared (and warned about, for months) came through - Sydneymusic.net is to shut down. Since FBi jettisoned our published version of the Diary of Death when the new station website launched, this facility has been the only comprehensive and curated resource available to steer people to the good gear. If our key community radio outlet were to suffer the same fate, due to a similar lack of funds, you can kiss nightlife in this city goodbye - forever.

After my usual 3 til 5 broadcast I'm hoping to quickly farewell some mates moving overseas, before joining assorted world travellers atop the A by Adina for another 9 til 12.30 set of pan-global music, mayhem and mirth at Dean and Nancy on 22.


Sunday June the 8th ~

Normally my weekend work would wrap there but I'm having to extend myself well beyond in order to realise two massive nights for Vivid Festival, beginning with a return to Tumbalong Park, where I supported Japanese genii Cornelius last year.

This time I've the huge pleasure of bracketing free live performances by Ivorian legend Dobet Gnahore and Australia's Immy Owusu (a Surf Coast original descended from Ghana's Highlife king Koo Nimo). In honour of this brilliant trajectory of talent I'll be spinning formative African tunes from across the continent, from 6 right through til 10.

Monday June the 9th ~

Lastly, just down the way in Darling Harbour, I'll be busting out boxes of 7 and 12" vinyl for 5 hours from 6 - spinning via rotary mixer from the cockpit of a grounded plane beside the Neon Dreams Roller Rink. Feast on vegan diner food from Shannon Martinez and get Trolley'd on booze then figure if you will fly high or fall flat on the floor. 

Edifying edits beyond social scope, all served free.


Wednesday May the 28th ~

A right royal ruckus at Palmer & Co, from 10 til 2.


Thursday May the 29th ~

A lawless lark called Wink & Spin, happening monthly in the heated beer garden of Woy Woy's fabled Link and Pin, between 6 and 10. All bops are bastards!


Friday May the 30th ~

A beanie-busting luxury retreat, floating above the freezing festival hordes, Dean and Nancy on 22 was deservingly named one of the top ten hotel bars on the planet just last week. I reckon it has no peer. See (and hear) why betwixt 9 and 12.30 tonight.


Saturday May the 31st ~

The Opera House are pitching Sabres of Paradise for a spot on Jack Off this weekend but I'm unsure as to whether they'll be able to conjure the live component prior to their first performance in 30 years that night. Tune in from 3 til 5 to discover!

A bit later you might like to bask in a few tunes within the Hotel Hollywood womb, after sampling Vivid's myriad food options during the one-off culinary fiesta that is Hollywood Dreaming, which sees Foster St shut to traffic and given over to some of Sydney's best chefs. Guessing 10 til late.

Condensed droplets of free pop music purveyed...


Wednesday May the 21st ~

Tap yr toes (bottom right, above) at Palmer & Co. Every Wednesday evening between 10PM and 2AM


Friday May the 23rd ~

A breezy Uncanny debut on vinyl from 9 til midnight


Saturday May the 24th ~

Dodge the dross via Jack Off - 3 to 5 on FBi Radio

Get high at Dean and Nancy on 22 between 9 & 12.30

Shocking subterranean sounds borne on high.


Wednesday May the 14th ~

Light as a feather lullabies @ Palmer & Co. 10 til 2


Friday May the 16th ~

Shifting sonic snows stew deep beneath another shitty city gutter @ Be A Little Cooler 10.45 til 2


Saturday May the 17th ~

Free-range and free-flowing Jack Off from 3 til 5. Carolina Eyck on her Moog theremin last week here.

Rock of ages back in the CBD at Chuck Trailer's with screaming strings between 9 and 1. All gigs free.

Uplifting sights and sounds given gratis post peril.


Wednesday May the 7th ~

Palmer & Co. As old as the hills. Under, not over. Night, not day. For up to four hours, from 10.


Friday May the 9th ~

Somehow we prevailed in staging another Good Riddance at the same damn time that this country saw off a hate-monger best described, by my producer Hugh, as a scrotum stretched over a bollard.

The joy was delirious and palpable on the streets of Newtown (please see this footage and my fulsome thanks here). Hot Flush and I were constantly assailed by young folks (who'd just happened by on their way down King St) in the last few hours, asking who we were and where they could see us play.

Ironically the discontinuation of Sin City Soirée over the road at Pleasure Club, which always triggered similar scenes as the night got rammed and deep, meant our only combined (Sham DJs) offering was back at the Hotel Hollywood where it all began. None of them had even heard of it!

That's why I love playing for free to all ages in public: everybody gains and grows, courtesy of each other. We'll reconvene for Shiny Shiny there in Slurry - from 8 til 1 tonight - and set it alight!

STOP PRESS: After writing this newsletter last night I've awoken to the devastating news that one of Sydney's greatest deejays (not to mention interviewer, arts programmer, film buff and broadcaster), Paris Groovescooter, has left this mortal coil. Paris was perhaps the most thoughtful and genuine fellow in the whole scene, animating all around him with his wry and kindly ways. It turns out he has died on his birthday today - and I never knew, til now, that he shared that with my only sibling, my dear departed brother. I was playing at the Hollywood when Sean finally found peace. Liz and I will attempt to imbue what we do at that same site on Friday with the vibrant, mischievous and inclusive energy of Paris. For now our hearts & love go out to his one true peer and companion, Georgie.


Saturday May the 10th ~

Jack Off broadcasts with what's left of FBi Radio's staff and infrastructure, each Saturday between 3 and 5 in the arvo. Last week featured lovely Louis from Floodlights, all of which can be heard here.

Our guest this week is the extraordinary Carolina Eyck, perhaps the pre-eminent thereminist on the planet. As a massive fan of this untouchably original electronic instrument I'm so excited to hear from such an astonishing artist, live in the studio, ahead of her shows across the country with the Australian Chamber Orchestra. Tune in!

Afterwards I've the bittersweet task of farewelling probably the sweetest cat I've ever had the privilege of working for, Stefano Filardi, who has stewarded Dean and Nancy on 22 from inception, making it (in my opinion) not just the best hotel bar in the Asia-Pacific (as recognised via awards) but truly the best anywhere in the world. If I was travelling and happened on this place I would think I was dreaming!

The caring, creative and hilarious team culture Stefano has built has been an utter delight to be part of - but after many years of hard work it is his turn to travel now! This night is going to be beyond anything anyone has ever seen in a licensed premises I can tell you. Book now, if you still can. I'm pulling out all stops, from 9 til half 12.

Hot takes on cost-free, star-struck scenarios...


Wednesday April the 30th ~

Time and life stand still in Palmer & Co. 10 til 2


Friday May the 2nd ~

Records spin as the weekend swings into being at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre. 8.30 til 11.30


Saturday May the 3rd ~

Floodlights illuminate Jack Off, live, from 3 til 5
Then, for the umpteenth time, we're back at our usual haunt in Newtown - bringing all and sundry another inclusive, communal, election-night celebration of diversity and each other, in person, in public, open and free.

Good Riddance is a rite of passage that embraces all the love and liberty we embody and enact, despite the devolution routinely deployed by the political class and the consequent degradation of this planet and its people. This is a volunteer-run, triennial party - put on to process all we endure and somehow surmount, still.

Join us early, from the minute polls close at 6, to maximise this (somewhat fraught) opportunity to catch another sublime suite of satirical / spiritual sets from resident selectors Betty Grumble, Pete Strong and myself - plus the debut of my vibrant and valiant partner Hot Flush, on the same decks (and in the very spot) where we first met!
Full circle, forever...

Places to be singed by song in Sydney and beyond.


Wednesday April the 23rd ~

At Palmer & Co, by candlelight, betwixt 10 and 2.


Friday April the 25th ~

Warmed by the massive mining colander fire pits of The Gum Ball, as the Earth quakes for Sham DJs age-old antidote to new age guff, transmitted directly into head-holes via our midnight silent disco set.


Saturday April the 26th ~

Jack Off may extend last week's record 95+ minutes without a mic break, if yr lucky. No guests, just mixed music on fire via Free Broadcast Incorporated.

The resplendent surrounds of Dean and Nancy on 22 may be a little more serene this evening, as our suave and stellar Chief Steward Stefano is off doing casual guest shifts in places like the Maldives. If you'd like to travel to such a dream location, without the cost of flying, spend some time here as I soundtrack yr trip til well past 12, from 9.

Sound, under sky, by sea, for free...


Wednesday April the 16th ~

Sand/stone sonics @ Palmer & Co from 10 til 1.30.


Thursday April the 17th ~

Wink & Spin joins the dots with sets astride local heroes The Cannnes, Kiwi interlopers Wet Bandit and Queensland cousins Bakerfield - all live and free in the beer garden at Link and Pin between 6 and 11.


Saturday April the 19th ~

Jack Off interrupts yr holiday-making with two hours of mirth, madness and music on FBi from 3. Listen to Liz Stringer last week, singing the house down and baldly stating facts on her transition from thirsty hot mess to cool & sober star, on-demand here.

As frankly stated in the above interview such self-awareness and discipline has not yet been much of a feature in my life. I CAN organise a piss-up in a brewery! Catch myself and Hot Flush doing a three hour Sham DJs vinyl set at the Bob Hawke Beer and Leisure Centre from half 8 on Easter Platterday.

In a couple of weeks, on election night, Good RidDance will be back with yet another free party on the streets of Newtown. Keep Saturday May 3 free!