News

Growing up in the backstreets of St Kilda, Alex Hamilton will be taking it back to where it all began at the Memo Music Hall on June 13. Raised on Neil Young and Bob Dylan, with some Nebraska-era Bruce Springsteen thrown in for good measure, Alex writes folky-country-rock songs that feel weathered, warm and unmistakably lived in. Alex joins Myles on the show, tune in to hear about the Southside Winter Warmer event, featuring Alex Hamilton & The Highway, Chelsea Hotel and Mr Sippy.

Locally based fingerstyle guitarist Rose Marie Gonzalez performs regularly as a soloist in her curated residency Guitar Kingdom, and as a member of the Melbourne Guitar Quartet. In 2025, she released her debut album 'Reach Down Low', which reflects her musical influences, blending classical guitar traditions with contemporary Brazilian and Latin sounds. Rose visits the Global Village, tune in for a live performance, and to hear about the Guitar Kingdom show at Bar 303 on June 20.

Improvisational duo Driftwood have expanded their distinctive sound world and will release their new album 'Maps' on June 12 on Room40 Records. Working with clarinets (Aviva Endean), guitars (Nick Ashwood), and microtonally retuned pump organs, they have added synthesisers to their second album, creating a truly unique record. Stopping by The Sound Barrier this Sunday, they'll be chatting with Ian Parsons about the album and their launch tour across Victoria and New South Wales.

For the second half of The Sound Barrier, Ian Parsons will catch up with Miranda Hill, the Artistic Director of Homophonic!, along with percussionist Niki Johnson. They will be chatting about the 2027 Homophonic Composer Pride Prize: a competition for a new work to be composed for percussion by an Australian LGBTQIA+ composer. Find out more about the annual competition and its $2,500 prize, as well as the opportunity for the winning composer to work alongside Niki Johnson.

Centered around live improvisation, collaboration, and the studio as an instrument, Tony Soprano Band are coming into Studio 5 Live during Deeep Space. Drawing from the language of breaks, sampling, and loop-based composition, every sound on the record 'Downtempo 1' originates from live performance. Lloyd Briggs chats to band members Daniel Rock (bass), Lucky Pereira (drums), Robert Downey (sequencer, drum machine) and Winton Findlay (synthesizers) about their new record.

Yugambeh/Kombumerri (Gold Coast) based alternative 6-piece Selve are about to release their new EP 'Breaking Outta Heaven' on June 19. An expansion of their 2025 album 'Breaking Into Heaven' (the first full-length album ever recorded at the iconic Abbey Road Studios by an Aboriginal artist), the EP arrives as the band prepares to embark on an east coast tour before heading to the EU and UK. Brooke catches up with the band, chatting about their free show at Lulie Tavern on August 14.

Joining MzRizk for the first half of Boogie Beat Suite this Tuesday is hip-hop, Afrobeat and Afro-soul project Cool Out Sun. Spearheaded by N'fa Jones and Sensible J, their 2024 album 'A Lion Is A Lion' was a PBS Feature Album. The beats are provocative, the lyrics powerfully imaginative; the music lets the spirit move you, with cultural connection shared in song. Tune in to hear about their show at The Horn African Cafe on July 25, as part of Leaps and Bounds Festival.

Coming to Australia for the first time this month is ethereal psych-doom-rock band Blackwater Holylight. Hailing from the US, the band has released four full-length albums since 2018, including this year’s 'Not Here Not Gone', which explores the duality of light and dark: menacing riffs provide the bedrock for beguiling melodies, while dense walls of shoegaze guitars are paired with lighter-than-air synths. Tune in to hear about their show at Dark Mofo and the Corner Hotel on June 19.