Medical music for the clear-eyed and full-hearted.


Wednesday January the 8th ~

Swingin' at the Speakeasy is back and bubbling over with life-affirming infusions that will uplift even staid souls laid low by the ennui of old.

As this century's twenties kick into gear we can only hope the vim and zest of last time will be reprised. Sure as shit ain't no time to lose!

Join us at Palmer & Co each Wednesday from 7 til 10PM for three sets of live music (from Andy Baylor and band tonight) with Pia Andersen plying her trade in vintage tunes on the decks, then my bad self all the way til close at around 3AM. It's forever free.

Saturday January the 11th ~

Jack Off has been eviscerating our piss-ant pollies and broadcasting eerie improvised live fare that entirely matches our unique emergency and toxic atmosphere. You can listen back here.
This week we had hoped to have our only guest from the virtually stripped-of-music Sydney Festival program (William Tyler was originally confirmed for next week's program but was later cancelled by organisers) in Regurgitator's crazy kids project the Pogogo Show - however a vastly more vital cause has interceded at the last minute, as they prepare to play this Bushfire Appeal Concert at the Metro.

You can still get tickets for their shows at the Spiegeltent between Friday and Sunday and I strongly suggest parent who want to crack up as much as their kids get on it. Hopefully we'll find a time to share the air on the wireless in future.

So Saturday's show remains a mystery. Usually this allows whatever bubbles to the top to best reflect the moment - and fuck me are we amidst a moment.
I hope you are hanging in there despite the carnage and the fear. Community is coming to the fore - and perhaps in an equally unprecedented (and imperative) manner. Please always feel free to send word by reply here or via any other means you wish.
We will get through this.

2020 vision/s in a time of mortal peril. Birds sing of crisis. Leaders flee. How do we even begin?


Friday January the 3rd ~

After escaping the usual frame via a sober and sedate NYE so as to head into the new era with as clear a head as possible, it is curious that my week is essentially a reprise of the last of last year.

It starts with an epic bracket of exotica, anthems and curios at Jacoby's Tiki Bar - all the way from 9PM til as late as 2AM. This is possibly the only joint in town still going off despite the exodus and apocalypse. It's a true tonic. Entry is always free.

Saturday January the 4th ~

On Saturday I'm stoked to welcome ex Captain Ahab member and current Clipping mainstay Jonathan Snipes to Jack Off on the station that (a few years back) placed the Clipping song Wriggle on playlisted rotation one week - before banning presenters from playing it the next!
Jonathan is here to soundtrack the Sydney Festival production Joan Didion's The White Album. He will treat us to a live performance of some improvised noise and ambience somewhere between 3 and 5PM.

Sunday January the 5th ~

Thence it's back to balmy Bondi for a dip in the turquoise sea and a three-hour set at Anchor Bar and Restaurant, right at the top of Campbell Parade.

My dear mate Martin (Purple Sneakers founder PhDJ) tipped me to this joint recently - and as I had far more time on my hands over the break than usual I thought I'd reach out about possibly playing a set there.

Little did I know that the owner Steve has been a huge fan of my radio show for countless years. Nor that the staff are amazingly musically-literate across the board (though somehow long-term manager Ayla had never heard her namesake song by Flash and the Pan).

We all enjoyed last Sunday so much that we're doing it all over again, particularly to farewell Ayla during her final shift. Have a dip then pop up for dinner. It's absolutely free. The air is pure and cool. Atmosphere ace. 6 til 9PM. See you then!

Only taking a moment of this precious lull in the churn of info and obligation. Please forgive me for interrupting at all. Wherever you are and wherever yr heading I wish you peace, safety and progress.


Friday December the 27th ~

New beginnings as the old year ends. Playing my dear old mate Pasan's relatively new space - Jacoby's Tiki Bar - just a few blocks from his best-known venture, Earl's Juke Joint.

Jacoby's just scored a 2AM licence so DJs are at last on the cards - and the roster is as solid as it gets. Tonight will be my first outing there.

You can expect a wild span of sound and vision as we try all sorts of styles on for size. 9PM til midnight. Entry is absolutely free!


Saturday December the 28th ~

Jack Off extends itself obscenely this Saturday, absorbing the entire Purple Sneakers timeslot as that mob take a break. Hear uninterrupted selections from the outer edges of everything, sent (and meant) from the heart. 3 til 6PM on FBi Radio.

Afterwards I'll rekindle the audio adventures at Jacoby's, from 9 til at least 11.30PM. Free again.


Sunday December the 29th ~

My final gig before the decade desists is also aptly far-flung and fresh. Find me putting out all the hope and love I can muster ahead of the do-or-die 2020s at Bondi's Anchor Bar from 7 til 9 for free.

Thank you to each and every one of you for yr ardent attention as listeners, music fans, truth-tellers, colleagues and friends this year. The shit really is about to hit the fan and few are under any illusions as to the scale of the imminent impact any more.

How we conduct ourselves in relation to each other and our home planet will determine whether we and our descendants will survive, let alone thrive.

I'm not fucking around when I say we'd best ensure every decision we make from now on reflects this grave gravity. Whether or not we prevail en masse, the quality of our remaining time together will be defined by our dedication in this regard.

Yesterday I was reminded, via a heartfelt post made by selector sister Hip Hop Hoe, of this astonishing phrase by Sydney's dear-departed poet Candy Royalle.
I vaguely recalled it crowning her head in this exquisite, now-vanished, memorial artwork - behind the street party we had in front of The Hub on election night. I'll not forget again.
'Loving instead of hating living instead of waiting'

Diabolical events - fit for the endless apocalypse.


Wednesday December the 18th ~

Santa had heatstroke and his reindeer were immolated after losing all sense of direction in the smoke haze. One of the only places semi-safe for an apt Xmas memorial is the sandstone cellar of Palmer and Co, just above what once was the Tank Stream.

Dance to The Dovetails and shimmy to the selections of the unflappable Pia Andersen between 7 and 10PM - then extend yr limbs and embrace the collapse of civilisation with old Shithead here til close at 3.

If the world still exists next year Swingin' at the Speakeasy will be back mid-January but if you wanna guarantee bacchanalia before the lights flicker out for good best make a move tonight. Entry is free.

Friday December the 20th ~

Many missions coalesce to varying amounts of acclaim, as I first play a private party celebrating the 30th birthday of All Buttons Great and Small, then kick on to spin for the punters of The Paddington from 10PM til 2AM. Also free.

Saturday December the 21st ~

As a terrifying combination of fierce winds and extreme temperatures sweeps Sydney I'll be ensconced in the Redfern studios of FBi Radio, transmitting an exceptionally dense program that will feature a plethora of live guests. We'll begin with the sublime minimalism of N.Y.C.K., transpose to little-known wanderer Hugh F, then hopefully hear from Darren Hanlon at the death. Jack Off from 3 til 5PM.

Sunday December the 22nd ~

The best way to wrap up this week - and another year of monthly residencies at the Petersham Bowlo - will unfold between 3 and 6 on Sunday arvo.

The joint always closes before Xmas and I usually do the final week of each month so I'm stoked to at last get to play not only in December but over the final few hours of trading for the year.

There will be a brilliant array of bands inside from 2 including The Sticks, Richard Cuthbert, Melodie Nelson, Dance et Al, Evan Lock, Magnetic Heads and Lewis Goldmark.

All of that is absolutely free, as are all the tunes I'll be relaying out by the greens from 3. By 6PM everything will be shut up til the new year. Join us to make the most of our time together, while we can.

The end of time arrived early. How do you propose to spend yr last remaining minutes of liberty?


Thursday December the 12th ~

I'm gonna work. At Palmer & Co from 10PM til 3AM.


Friday November the 13th ~

Then at Sydney Brewery from 6 til 10PM.


Saturday December the 14th ~

Thence I will pause to play for a day. First via Jack Off on FBi Radio, between 3 and 5PM.

Then at this lass' 70s Canape Birthday Party from 9.


Sunday December the 15th ~

Lastly I'll ascend to the Imperial rooftop to receive widespread punter praise and weird anonymous individual staff opprobrium for identical reasons, my queer musical taste and deejay practice. Ain't changin' Shit so maybe this will be my last shift atop the fabled Erko pub. That said, I've believed that before and then been reinstated after a second incarnation of management got the heave-ho. You just never know. Musical chairs and grandiose airs. 6 hours bent from 2 til 8. As per the rest, it's free.

Some pissed prick tried to pinch my Strand Hatters' Akubra mid-set at Palmer and Co last week.

I despise hat thieves so set off (after cueing a few really long tracks and putting visiting DJ Soup in charge) in cool pursuit (they had a ten minute start and would, in all likelihood, have hopped in a cab to split). Halfway around the block in Hunter Street I saw this tool (and his mini-Milat mate) stranded outside a pub - my hat atop his swollen, misshapen mess of a face. He was immeasurably improved aesthetically but still ugly as all get-out - and thankfully too inebriated to even recognise the DJ he'd been badgering as I approached, close enough to pull my property off his dipshit dome.

This triggered a piss-poor attempt at protest on his part but I managed to impress upon him that it would be unwise to fuck with an angry hat owner who was literally on the phone to the police at that very time. I swear to gods if anyone pulls that shit again anywhere at all I will be less diplomatic...

Wednesday December the 4th ~

This may be tested as soon as tonight as I return to the scene of the crime - playing Palmer from 11 til close at around 3 (the city is nuts at the mo thus this could easily extend to 3.30AM). The usual Speakeasy affair ain't on due to a private function earlier so doors won't open earlier. Entry is free.

Friday November the 6th ~

On Friday I kick off the musical offerings for the summer Finders Keepers market at The Cutaway. After my midday til 2 bracket there'll be live music from Lisa Caruso, Elizabeth Fader, Alice Terry and Sparrows before DJ Dylabolical wraps things up.

Saturday December the 7th ~

Saturday sees next-level nutsness yet again, as I play music for 11 or 12 hours in total, beginning with an 11.30AM til 1.30PM set back at Finders. Jo Fabro, Fetherstone and Richie Cuthbert follow live before I magically reappear to spin another two hours of idiosyncratic audio at 5.
In between I'll be hosting a particularly wayward edition of Jack Off that will culminate in a 40-minute-long Spod epic I've been hanging to unleash for months. Tune in from 3PM on FBi Radio.

Finally I'll drag myself up to the Hollywood Hotel and attempt to do justice to the final set (for this year) at one of my favourite residencies of all time.

Yet again last week was superb. It felt like the day peace was declared after a long and bitter war - with every soul in the joint singing to strange old standards like Unchained Melody or Those Were The Days. Those melodramatic radiophonic relics were interspersed with gigantic jams from Africa and Latin America, not to mention just-released local fare. The atmosphere just builds and builds, dancers cut loose and everyone is so kindly and appreciative. I love my job there.

Please join us for my last set til the lockouts lift in January 2020. We'll roll from 9 right through til close at 2 or 3. We are always free!

Aquatic audio and air waves escalate as summer crashes ashore. Absolutely everything is free.


Wednesday November the 27th ~

Swingin' at the Speakeasy features the Steve Edmonds band alongside DJ sets by Pia Andersen between 7 and 10PM, thence a few sonic stunts from myself til 3.


Friday November the 29th ~

Palmer and Co will also be the venue for more vintage capers come Friday, from midnight til 3.


Saturday November the 30th ~

Somewhere down there lies the future of my mind, especially after attempting this Saturday's absurd schedule.
It begins with the opening set (from midday til 2) of Redfern Surf Club's Massive Summer Block Party. A freaky food truck, whack drinks and crack selectors (Le Fruit x Mr Friendly, Ariane, Bea Goode, Shantan Wantan Ichiban and Purple Sneakers DJs) oughtta make for a wild time. See you there!
By mid-arvo I'll dash across the road to Jack Off with RVG live on FBi radio between 3 and 5.

Then from 9 it's time to knock out another 5 to 6 hour set for the lairs and larrikins of the infamous Hollywood Hotel, wrapping up around 2 or 3AM.

Sunday December the 1st ~

If you've kept up with all that you actually really deserve a beer - and on Sunday yr in luck as there's actually a piss-up in a brewery, Willie The Boatman's to be exact.
Given live music has made a comeback there of late this may be the last time I'll get to share a DJ set with discerning Sunday drinkers, something that kinda breaks my heart as I love the place so much.

Let's make it a memorable hurrah, whether it proves to be the last for me or not. 3 til 6PM. Amen!

Love and respect to the fighters challenging power out there. We ain't going down with this shit!


Wednesday November the 20th ~

Supernatural scenarios transpire in the heart of the CBD at Swingin' at the Speakeasy, with Miss Pia's Swing Combo (featuring The Senator) live from 7 til 10, then old Shithead here til close at 2 or 3. Free


Saturday November the 23rd ~

Jack Off with Quivers on FBi Radio between 3 and 5PM, then quicken the pulse further via an erotic escalation at the Hollywood Hotel, from 9PM til an unsustainable peak is reached around 2 or 3AM. There have been ever wilder scenes late of late. All free.

Sunday November the 24th ~

Bask under alien skies upon the fertile dirt of the Petersham Bowlo's greens - and offer up any progeny born of last night's depravity in return for the faint prospect of peace on Earth.

Bentspoke Brewing will have an outside bar on the boil - and inside will proffer a potent array of all ages entertainment courtesy of the final It's A Family Affair for the year.

$8 for adults (kids are free) will get you gigs by Froggy Prinze, Sam Shinazzi, Jerrah Patston, The Sticker Club and The Rock Bots from 2 til 8 - or just soak up some sweet songs in the fresh air for free as I spin out there from 3 til 6PM.

Boots for scooting! Still praying for so many loved ones facing flames all around them as I write.


Wednesday November the 13th ~

Hop, skip or jump beyond yr allocated lane at Palmer and Co for Swingin' at the Speakeasy - with free live music from 7 til 10, then classics via turning tables courtesy of me til close at around 3.

Saturday November the 16th ~

Jack Off between 3 and 5PM on FBi Radio, then travel to Hollywood for a gratis art deco experience of entertaining audio variety between 9 and 2 or 3AM.

Sunday November the 17th ~

I'm pretty glad that I'll have enjoyed some time in a few old surfie-built 60s cabins down south leading in to this weekend (instead of doing the usual 5 hour Friday lead-in to my 7-8 hour Saturday) as the Imperial have extended my already rather vast monthly Sunday set on the roof another hour.

I expect to be fresh and fab for a full six hours up in the sky. Join us from 2 til 8PM. It's also free!

Make a song and dance about it. Everything is free.


Wednesday November the 6th ~

Swing to the Speakeasy for scale across the spectrum. Sara O'Connor live from 7 til 10, then old Shitty on the decks til close at around 3.


Friday November the 8th ~

Press play for 5 hours of orbiting audio from 8 at the South King Recreation Club each Friday.


Saturday November the 9th ~

Retired/retooled Violator Steve Gunn, all the way from the Brooklyn that ain't on the Hawkesbury, joins us from the get-go as Jack Off airs from 3. Sometime before our two hours is up we may also hear from The Jezebels' Hayley Mary in solo mode.

Later I've a long-booked birthday bash to spin at til after midnight so Meem will be holding forth at the Hotel Hollywood from 9 til 1 in my stead.

After a super-tricky tech scare soon after my arrival last week we saved the day via miraculous lifts and gifts. I remain outraged that K Mart no longer stock any form of RCA cord - but am forever indebted to Liz for the night rides and Tim for the long leads. There were minuscule odds we'd be able to rectify those issues so late but we prevailed and just in the nick of time, as the joint was inundated with celebrating cinematographers from the State awards night straight after I got connected again.

The place pretty much exploded in dance after midnight. You just never know what's around the corner there. Either way I'm not missing out any more than I have to this week so I'll be back on deck/s from 1 til close (somewhere between 2 and 3).


Sunday November the 10th ~

The most vital event this week, indeed this year, is Picnic Among Friends at Girrahween Park.

This community memorial picnic was devised by my dear friend Victoria Spence a decade ago - and for 10 years now her devoted team of artists and activists have realised an exquisite collective context for honouring those we've lost, together.
Victoria is the most preternaturally gifted celebrant I've ever encountered - and a wise and passionate advocate of calm, common-sense when it comes to making a place for meaningful rites to honour our lives and deaths.
This is the final Picnic Vic will be organising herself. She has sown the seeds and is encouraging others to further develop these unique shared spaces for memory, loss and love to coalesce.

If you've never had the chance to attend one of these before I entreat you to come to this exquisite bushland between 2 and 5 on Sunday. It's one of the most gentle and kind gatherings imaginable. Kids and pets are welcome (there is a memorial for the latter specifically), Voices From The Vacant Lot will sing, there are activities and installations that will take your breath away. There is fire.
To honour the final Picnic at Girrahween I've the unimaginable privilege of playing some subliminal, then celebratory, sounds through a stereo Sunny Bin soundsystem too. This is something I've done once for a Picnic at Rookwood Cemetary only - and it was one of the most overwhelmingly spiritual experiences I've ever had doing my 'job'. I dissolved in tears throughout but it was as much from gratitude and awe as sadness. I can't imagine how much more sublime the experience will be amongst the birds and bush I live for in this country. Please, be with us there.