Bang on the Strillers

Oof, this is a great episode, I reckon. The thumbnail just doesn't do it justice (it's really hard putting text on fountains, guys - REALLY HARD). Wynter's a smart cookie and we have a good, thorough chat about independent producing. Smeriously. I rectum-end it.

Jenny Wynter is a Queensland-based singer/songwriter/performance maker and she's a gem. We not only manage to rattle off some pretty damn insightful political commentary, but we covered the joy of silliness, quite a lot more about lettuce than you would expect from cabaret artists, a labrador called Bublé, working smarter not harder, the future of performance vs online production, and how phenomenal Mad Max Fury Road is. So good... FANG IT!!

Since the recording of this podcast (June 2016) I have had my own brush with not being able to walk for a while so it's been quite enlightening to listen to this again...wow. Who knows what the future will bring?

P.S. If you do like the theme tune Fang It (To Tony's Place) you can purchase the album You're the Voice: Songs for the Ordinary by an Anthemaniac via my website - www.geraldinequinn.com.

Photo of Jenny Wynter by previous podcast guest Alexis Dubus. So incestuous, we are...

Covers vs original cabaret! Deal or No Deal! River Phoenix! Marrying young! Aaaand why we're not big fans of the Australian Football League.

After 5-odd weeks of medical ridiculousness (follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter to work out what was going on - OK now), I've finally had a chance to edit this podcast from May 2016 which I recorded with the King of (Perth) Cabaret Tomas Ford, in a teeny, tiny room in a doss house in Melbourne. Tomas is a darling of the WA cabaret scene and frequenter of our east coast, as well as an Edinburgh Fringe invader. He's of average height and pleasant demeanour, and not only has produced original (and confronting) electro cabarets Australia-wide for the last decade, but he is also the creator of Crap Rave Party, a celebration of the worst songs (by request) which has toured Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and Edinburgh.

He has produced a small child and supported Gary Numan - neither of which I have done.But I have had my face on a tram. Swings and roundabouts.

WE DID IT!

After a guerilla season of Bang On The Strillers live at The Butterfly Club in January 2016, Quinn put her welfare cheque where her mouth is an coralled some of the best cabaret writers/singer/performers in the industry together to record a live show as part of the 2016 Melbourne Cabaret Festival. Featuring Mike McLeish, Michelle Brasier and original songs from Astrid & Otto Rot (aka Die Roten Punkte), Karlis Zaid (and Karin Muiznieks), Shanon Whitelock (who also played house band) and myself - I even wrote a song specially for the show! Thanks to Chapel Off Chapel and to Mike McLeish for being so supportive with the project, and to the audience who came, and specially to the audience to PAID to come. Forgive the mic blow outs, I couldn't afford someone to ride the mix, but it still sounds like a great bootleg and if you get behind us, we'll only get better. Considering I basically pulled this show out of my arse in the middle of a horrible cold, with a brand new all original show opening two days later, it's a wonder I don't have my own TV show to populate with my talented friends.

ENJOY! And please support the podcast. Share, rate, and soon I hope you can also donate.

Songs featured in the recording included the following copyrighted material from the original songwriters involved in the show:

Hair That You Wear - words & music Karlis Zaid; Flasher - words & music Karin Muiznieks; I Live for Music Theatre - words & music Geraldine Quinn; Bi-Polar Rhapsody - words & music Shanon Whitelock; Cabaret Overlord - words & music Geraldine Quinn; Love Songs - words & music Geraldine Quinn; Burger Store Dinosaur - words & music Die Roten Punkte (aka Astrid & Otto); Astrid's Drinking song - words & music Die Roten Punkte (aka Astrid & Otto); You Love It - words & music by Geraldine Quinn;

All other text and farting around written by or made up by the speakers.

Please don't rip anyone off for money. We're all independent and these guys agreed to do their original material for the podcast, knowing I make no money from it. So the best thing you can do is buy their stuff and see their shows. They're all really great.

Actor, performance maker and cabaret artiste Ash Flanders (Sisters Grimm) joins me for the second Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2016 special to talk about inbred dogs (yeah, I mean pugs), music theatre cabaret, brothels, stand up versus cabaret, being "safe" onstage, our mutual fascination with John Farnham, Casey Bennetto (again), theatre schools, the glamour of an artist's life, puppy play and how everyone's a failure and THAT'S OK!!

And I didn't have too much libelous material out. And why did I say "next week" at the end?? AM I A LUNATIC!?!?

If you get onto this early, you can still see Ash Flanders' show 'Playing To Win' at the Melbourne Cabaret Festival 2016 (at 6:45pm until 19 June 2016). I'm going tonight. And the fact I used the present tense is evidence of how hopeful I am that this podcast will upload with no problems (seriously, the amount of tech stuff that has been going awry lately, I'm about to throw my computer out the window and destroy the internet...check out my chipmunk transitions in this ep, thanks to some weird sample rate balls ups).

Please do book for our shows ('Playing to Win' until 19 June, 'Bang On The Strillers - Live' on 21 June and 'Fox Poncing' 23-25 June) via www.melbournecabaret.com

#IStandByTheArts

Late in 2016, singer-songwriter, fruit-pusher and maybe witch Benn Bennett returned to the stage after a far-too-long hiatus with the enchanting 'Occasional Suburban Witch'; a cabaret collaboration Bec Matthews and Sarah Ward celebrating the women of the Western suburbs of Melbourne who Benn loved and laughed with. In fact, Benn is one of the great collaborators, having created unique, hilarious, touching and award-nominated work with previous guest (and drunk pash of the podcast) Wes Snelling (episodes #3 and #5).

We sat in his sunny Western 'burbs kitchen listening to Kate Bush (it was with Benn that I took part in The Most Wuthering Day Ever last year, both dressed to the nines in 'Wuthering Heights' frocks and wigs) and talked in our everyday circular fashion about footy franks, songwriting, suburbia, working with other artists, being terrified of debuting your own songs, Prince, matryoshka dolls, 'Return to Oz', and musicians' musicians. Also my Toni Childs impression rears its head...but only when I was attempting to do an impression of Elton John...hey, swings and roundabouts! Benn also plugs about a dozen local businesses in Yarraville, Melbourne, so I'm hoping the podcast gets a sponsor out of this episode...failing that, please share/subscribe and say nice things on iTunes if you wish/can. Everything helps.

See you in Oakleigh for brunch! S.L.A.P.

Photograph of Benn, Bec and Sarah by Pier Carthew