Hot Spots Q&A: Rat vs Possum

Monday 28 June 2010, 5:09 PM
By The Team | Posted in Things

Rat vs Possum create faux tribal noise rock and unique visual explosions. They once bubble-wrapped an entire venue and regularly appear in war paint. One shimmering foray into their junglebeat soundscape and you’ll want to join their cult. Hot Spots caught up with Rat vs Possum mastermind Matt Kulesza to politely probe him about the band and what they love about Melbourne.

Where did Rat vs Possum emerge from?
We’ve all been friends for years, living in share houses together, going to parties together, working together and now we make music together.

Your performances are always glitter-filled good times. How do you come up with new ways to dazzle your audience?
When we first started we used to really enjoy making every show different and more performance based and interactive for the audience in some kind of way. We started out playing in warehouses, or galleries, or house parties, so there was a lot of room to be creative and work outside the square of usual venues that might get upset if you make a big mess with glitter and fresh produce. At the moment though we’re really enjoying stripping things back and playing as a five-piece band and writing music as our priority. Crazy, I know.

Which venues in the city do you most enjoy bringing your jungle beats to?
There are heaps of great warehouse spaces in the inner north that we love playing at, venue wise though we generally always have a good gig at The Toff.

Where are your favourite places to eat / read / go out / knit in Melbourne?
Rooftop Bar for a drink in the summer and 1000 £ Bend for a coffee in winter.

What do you love about Melbourne?
A great community as well as lots of different opportunities and options for exhibiting art and playing music.

What kind of good vibes are you getting from other Melbourne-based creatives?
Local techno-rap posse Keith! Party are about to release their album which sounds amazing and is unlike anything else going on anywhere.

What is the next sparkling frontier for Rat vs Possum?
Release a 7” in a few months, get started on recording our next album and fit in one more tour in September.

LINKS:
Rat vs Possum

Q&A with Malthouse Theatre’s Artistic Director, Michael Kantor

Thursday 17 June 2010, 1:22 PM
By The Team | Posted in People and Places

The Malthouse Theatre’s artistic director, Michael Kantor will take a big bow at the end of 2010. After six years pumping the creative heart of one of our finest theatres, Kantor has decided to move on. Fortunately for us, he’s got one fine farewell gift for all Melburnians: six more months of sensational stage action in Malthouse’s second season this year.

What have you learnt about Melbourne audiences during your time as Artistic Director at The Malthouse?

Melbourne theatre audiences are inherently adventurous and thrill seekers – there was very little I could conjure that would really test their resilience!

What’s your earliest theatre memory?

As a seven year old, I remember being entranced by a show at the old Pram Factory, called the Smith Family Show, rambunctious-larrikin-circus-like-madness that had Max Gilles, Sue Ingleton and Evelyn Krepe. It was really my introduction to the magic of theatre.

What is it about Melbourne that nurtures creative talent?

We like things rude and cheeky, and that lack of reverence makes space for the wild and untrammeled performers of excess – we should always be careful of being seduced into thinking we should be refined and ‘tasteful’ as that would put a stop on it!

In a nutshell, what can we expect from season two at the Malthouse?

Adventurous theatre making from some of the best in the business, raking over stories old and new to find the theatrical sparks that will light up the cold Melbourne winter.

What is the highlight of the program?

There are many highlights, but if pushed, I would say that I share in the excitement building for our co-production with the Sydney Theatre Company of a new adaptation of Kafka’s The Trial, directed by the hot talent of Matt Lutton, and starring the remarkable Ewen Leslie, who has proved so luminescent in Richard III.

The season opens with Maybe Forever, an ode to failed love featuring dance duets, songs and soliloquies. Do you think Melbourne in the winter can help mend a broken heart?

Melbourne breaks hearts in winter. Our job – and Maybe Forever’s job – is to help you laugh instead of cry while you nurse your broken heart!

Do you have a favorite place in Melbourne city to harness inspiration and creativity, and to gather your thoughts?

I’ve spent many hours – maybe months – sitting under the great dome of  The State Library, researching some obscure playwright or fragment of an old Australian pantomime. I always find the shared quiet excitement of all those studious people toiling under the watchful eyes of the muses of theatre and learning that lines its vast walls, inspiring.

When season two is all over, and you finish up at the Malthouse Theatre, where are we likely to find you enjoying a celebratory drink?

The choices in Melbourne are myriad, but I’m likely to be found in the back room at Madame Brussels or taking a trip down memory lane at The Gin Palace which has seen me through many an opening night shindig! 

MALTHOUSE THEATRE SEASON TWO
23 June to 5 December

Maybe Forever
23 June to 26 June

Human Interest Story
23 July to 1 August

Sappho…in 9 fragments
30 July to 21 August

The Trial
13 August to 4 September

Thyestes
16 September to 3 October

Intimacy
1 October to 23 October

The Animals and Children took to the Streets
9 November to 28 November 28

A Woman in Berlin
16 November to 28 November

The Tell-Tale Heart
16 November to 5 December

Circus Oz: Raising the roof of the Big Top

Friday 11 June 2010, 3:34 PM
By The Team | Posted in Events

There’s something about the circus that takes you back to those childhood days of perfecting a handstand, juggling oranges and that wholesome head-spin only 17 consecutive round-offs can induce. Most of us threatened our mothers we would run away to join the circus (only to make it as far as the next fence) but a talented few actually turned cartwheels into careers.

We speak with Rowan Heydon-White and Mason West, two of six new recruits to Melbourne’s own Circus Oz troupe who will light up the Big Top next week for the world premiere of their latest season.

What talents do you bring to Circus Oz?

Rowan: We do a performance called Chinese Pole together which is a big steel pole that stands at about 6 metres high. We climb it and do tricks – some single and some double – passing each other on the pole with lots of dropping and catching.

Mason also does Rola Bola which requires him to balance on a whole bunch of pipes that roll different ways. Balancing on the board itself is tricky, not many people in the world can do it.

Mason: It has also been fun jumping into all the group acts as well as our own performances.

What do you love about the circus?

Rowan: I love the lifestyle, being physical and using your body every day, as well as the travelling it has allowed me to do.

They say builders never do work on their own house, and chefs never cook at home, do you ever perform at family functions or birthday parties for your friends?

Mason: I only do it for my family because all my mates are performers and they can do it themselves!

Rowan: I try to keep work at work, but who knows after a few glasses of wine…

You’ve both spent a lot of time overseas, what makes Melbourne special for you?

Rowan: I haven’t seen much of Melbourne yet but I’m excited to be here. While I was overseas people would always say that Melbourne was the circus capital of the southern hemisphere.

Mason: I like that it’s warm here and the circus community is big. It’s a nice change.

After months rehearsing at the Circus Oz Lab in Port Melbourne, you’re bringing the show to the Big Top at Birrarung Marr. Where are we likely to find you enjoying a celebratory drink after a performance?

Mason: Probably at the Circus Oz Front of House tent or wherever the bar tab is!

Rowan: Since arriving here we’ve been flung straight into work and constant rehearsals for the new show. Once the show kicks off we’ll get some more time to explore – I’m looking forward to checking out the fantastic arts scene.

In a nutshell, why should readers check out the new show by Circus Oz?

Rowan: Because it has got half a new cast, fun people and new acts. We’ve had a blast devising it so hopefully that will mean you’ll have a blast watching it!

Mason: It’s a roller coaster of fun and excitement!

Rowan, Mason and the rest of the talented Circus Oz troupe perform the world premiere of their latest show under the Big Top at Birrarung Marr from 16 June – 11 July. Tickets are currently on sale and selling fast. Don’t miss out on this two hour spectacular from Melbourne’s own internationally acclaimed circus company.

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WIN! To celebrate the return of the Circus Oz  we have a Family Pass* to the performance on Wednesday 23 June at 7.30pm to givaway to one lucky reader! Tell us what you love about the circus in the comment section below to enter the random draw. Entries must be 25 words or less. One winner will be selected and notified via this page on Thursday 17 June. Good luck!

*Family Pass includes two adult tickets and two tickets for children under 15.