River Island Australia recently asked a group of Aussie bloggers how they do Australia day and I was lucky enough to be one of them!

Mixtape // Spring Melodies

It's officially daylight savings time in the Land Down Under, which means the sun is shining and summer is officially upon us! Here's a couple of tunes to celebrate the warmer months.

Listen Out Festival 2014

This is the second year in a row that I've worked at Listen Out festival and I always have a great time. It's such a chilled day and with great live music playing in the background, what more could you ask for?

Mixtape // 15 Best Road Trip Songs

I've been working a lot lately and I'm just starting to get sick too, so a social life is off the table at the moment. I couldn't, however, not put up a blog post this week, so I thought I'd just piggyback off the fact that I went on a road trip a couple of weeks ago and share my top road trip songs... enjoy!

If you haven't seen my road trip posts, click here.

1. Dakota - Stereophonics

Mixtape // Autumn Melodies

Need some Autumn music inspiration? Here's 3 songs to add to your playlist.

Mixtape // David Jones Runway VAMFF

Last night I was lucky enough to work at the David Jones Opening Night runway for the Virgin Australia Melbourne Fashion Festival. I wanted to blog about the actual show, but taking runway photos on your phone really doesn't work, so I though since the music was so amazing, I'd make a playlist. So here are most of the songs featured during the runway! Enjoy :)

St Kilda Festival Sunday 2014

♫ Listening // Lester The Fierce - Howl

After working at the St Kilda Festival all week, I was a bit over crowds of people, so I decided to stick to a couple of the smaller stages. Also, my friend who I was working for programmed these stages and gave me tips on which bands I would most enjoy.

St Kilda Festival Live n Local

This week I've put in over 75 hours of time working at the St Kilda Festival for the second year in a row. The St Kilda Festival is a landmark event on the Melbourne events calendar being one of the biggest free street festivals in the Southern Hemisphere. Most people will be familiar with Festival Sunday, which is happening as I type this, however I was working at the Live n Local week. This is where bands from the local area play free gigs all throughout St Kilda, and this year South Melbourne and Port Melbourne.

St Jerome's Laneway Festival 2014

St Jerome's Laneway Festival has been something I've been looking forward to for months. It's always one of the prettiest looking festival, with it's incredible view of the Melbourne skyline, and the fact that everyone looks amazing. It's hard not to try and steal people's clothes. I got there a bit later than I normally would for a festival because it was meant to be 35C but I don't think it ever got that hot though.

Big Day Out 2014

Not much can beat the feeling of being part of a crowd of several thousand people all singing along to classic 90s rock, but we'll come back to that later. It's been 4 years since I've been to the Big Day Out, and the first time I went in 2010 was my first ever festival. I didn't get let loose into the festival until 2.30pm because I decided to volunteer in the morning, but my shift finished right in the middle of Tame Impala's set so I rushed over there to hear the rest of it. Tame Impala are definitely one of my favourite bands to see live. If you ever get the chance to see them live, do it, you won't regret it.

The Jezabels | The Brink | Interview

When I was first asked to do an interview with The Jezabels, I wasn't sure if I would do it or not. Not because of them, but because I've only ever done interviews via email and actually talking to someone seemed so daunting. However in the spirit of getting out of your comfort zone, and the fact that I'd be an idiot to turn it down, I said yes. So a couple of weeks ago I nervously sat by my phone waiting for Heather (Piano, Keyboard) to give me a buzz. Here's what happened...

What are some of the themes and influences for your new album The Brink?

It’s a bit of a dramatic title The Brink, it was a very challenging year for us to move to London and be writing through the coldest winter we’ve ever experienced. There was a feeling of living on the edge and really trying to find your feet, not really knowing what we were doing and working towards. A lot of challenged cropped up along the way, adjusting to a new place.

Mixtape // Top 10 Songs of 2013

It's crazy to think that another year has come and gone. I feel like I've done nothing this year but my blog begs to differ. This year has been fairly amazing for music and it was very difficult to pick only ten songs. However I managed it, so here they are!

10. The Naked And Famous - Hearts Like Ours

I always completely obsess over The Naked And Famous' singles, however I'm not too impressed with their whole album. This song gives me chills and I think it draws back into my love for songs that would be perfect for video montages. This song instantly makes me happy.

Strangers From Now On | Interview

Strangers From Now On are a 4 piece alt-rock band from my hometown of Melbourne. Bassist Dan Myles sat down for a chat about the band, the music and everything in between on the eve of their December 5th show in Melbourne at Boney.

Who are Strangers From Now On?

Ex-lovers who left things irresolvable, the person next to you on the tram, awkward one night stands, old friends that fall by the wayside, the jerk from the bar last weekend, the people you meet traveling and never see again. Either way… an odd name for a band

Mixtape // 10 Australian Songs For Summer

Guess what guys?! It's finally summer! To celebrate the oncoming warmth, I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite Summer songs by Aussies. There are some older songs and new hits, consisting of mostly pop, electronic and indie. Please take a listen and let me know what summer songs you're listening to!

1. Glorious - Natalie Imbruglia

Freya Bennett | The Marvellous Reject Girl | Interview

Melbourne musician Freya Bennett sat down to A some Q's about her music career. With the release of her first EP The Marvellous Reject Girl and a string of sold out shows at the Melbourne Fringe Festival under her belt, she's now gearing up to head over to the city of churches (Radelaide) to take on the largest annual arts festival in the Southern Hemisphere, the Adelaide Fringe Festival. Freya is also having one last gig in Melbourne before she travels west, click here for details.

Tell us a little about yourself…

I am a Melbourne singer songwriter who loves to paint! I just got a kitten who is currently trying to help me answer these questions

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Thanks Phoenix.
I teach music in the evenings and I write music during the day. My dream is to be a professional singer-songwriter and film composer. 

Gotye And His Collaborators

I've now listened to Somebody That I Used To Know 1,303 times since adding it to my iTunes over two years ago. Obsessed is an understatement. Melbourne Music Week is in full swing and as soon as I saw that there was an event on featuring Gotye, I knew I couldn't miss it. This panel was all about his amazing video clips and the talented people behind them.

Sofar Sounds

As one of the musicians pointed out, there's something very powerful about a room full of strangers coming together to really listen to music. And that's exactly what the guys at Sofar Sounds created. 

Listen Out

I feel a bit embarrassed putting up this post because the pictures are so damn awful.

On the weekend I worked at a brand new Australian music festival called Listen Out. You may recall me working at Parklife the past couple of years, which was one of my favourite Australian festivals, but due to poor ticket sales, it was cancelled. Listen Out is it's replacement. It was much smaller than Parklife, but it did feel a bit like a giant outdoor party rather than a music festival. However, in saying that, working there was a lot of fun.

Foals + Alpine | The Palace

We've had these tickets to see Foals for about 5 months now, just sitting there, waiting for the actual concert. Last night was finally the time to bust those bad boys out from the drawer and actually use them. I was really excited when I found out Alpine were supporting Foals because they're an amazing up and coming Aussie band with some great summery tracks. I've been listening to their album A Is For Alpine for months now. They definitely didn't disappoint. I was super impressed with how well the 2 lead singers' voices worked together.

Cold War Kids @ The Hi-Fi Bar

There is a serious bro-mance going on in this band. Every chance they go they'd be all over each other. Not that there's anything wrong with that, it just made the gig that much more entertaining. Cold War Kids are out in Australia for Splendour In The Grass and ever so kindly did some sideshows, which is what I went along to. I apologise for the crappy photos, The Hi-Fi is possibly the hardest venue to take photos in.