St. Jerome's Laneway Festival

There are five radical reasons I'm totes excited for Laneway. Imma gonna share em with you!

[Creed Birch & Richie]

1. I'll be hittin up the festival with Creed Birch and his bestie Richie. They are so good at dancing. And smoking cigarettes, they are really great at both those things. 

We are going to have a fly time.

[THEE Dress]

2. I have an excuse to wear this totally rocking dress again. This vibrant little number is a bridesmaids dress; my mother wore it to my Aunty’s wedding back in the day!

[Sweater Weather - The Neighbour Hood]

3.I will get to hear ‘Sweater Weather’

 by The Neighbourhood LIVE!

[This is Matt]

4. At the festival I will be meeting up with my friend Matt McMullen. He’s from Fremantle. 

Drives a Big car and works at Drum Magazine. 

Bonus: This will be the first time I meet his partner too! 

How I lurve LOVE and meeting new peeps.

[Alpine-Villages]

5. Alpine. 

Do I really need to explain how or why these guys are so rad?

There are plenty of reasons why the rest of the country is excited. Below is run through of the acts on the lineup!

xXx

Bruce Danger.

Bruce Danger is a budding comedian/actor and more often than not, come Friday or Saturday night you will see his shining energy bounce off the walls and off other people as he entertains the Ambar Alley Way with his flamboyant charm.

Bruce Danger will performing stand up at The Melbourne International Comedy Festival's RAW Comedy Competition.

At The Charles Hotel (509 Charles Street, North Perth) 

THIS Thursday January 31st at 7.30pm.

 Its going to be both fun and funny! 

Bruce Danger Facebook Page

xXx

Father.

[My Father and I]

From a young age I desperately sought my fathers affection, better still any sort of attention from him. My father, who I treasure dearly, is an exquisite, eccentric man of leisure. I am not saying he is lazy, actually his work ethic in very admirable. He is one of the most motivated people I know but somehow is mind, his thoughts are years ahead of his actions. Or what is actually happening right here, in life, as we stand in it.

[This is me - I was little, tiny water baby]

From a young age I learnt there way were two ways I could get close to my father. The first was to listen. Listen to the thoughts that tumble and bounced off the walls of his adult ADHD mind. I would observe the ideas and master plans that only escaped the maze in his head by being spoken out aloud. He would explore the options, our options as a family by reciting them with his own voice to back us. Forward and back. Back and Forward. Fairy tales would banish as I would hear his heart breaking, tearing, shredding, mending and then back to the beginning. Right back to the start, a life of pain and missed opportunities. Bending his morals, forgetting his goals, re-assessing and re-pressing not what his life is but what his life is not. It’s still the only time we talk really. When he needs someone to listen, you know someone to just say it all back too. Not just someone, anyone. I’m grateful I can listen, it’s a quality that some of us don’t have. Some even with great working ears still fail to hear.

[My Father, my 3 brothers James, Liam and Harry & my sister Indiah - 2012]

My father has always worked hard. I mean anyone that has five children never really stops do they? At one stage he had four children under the age of six. I’m the eldest but there is a seven-year gap between me my brother James, the second eldest. Then there’s Liam, Indiah and Harry. My fathers slim, athletic body has served him well. He is 60 in July this year. He has represented Australia in swimming, completed a university degree and had way too many job titles to count. He taught me how to paddle in the water and dominate in the pool. He also taught me to workhard. Work until you body is fatigued. Work until you mind is overloaded with information. Work until your emotions are absorbed by what you have to do not what you might have wanted to do. Those ideologies that fuel the body with adrenaline of life. My father gets this from the water. I get it from music.

I was 13 when I started working for him in our family swimming school business. It was on the corner of Selby and Granthem Street in Churchlands. Our house was connected to the 25m indoor swimming pool. At the time he had four young children, a very ill wife and his own business. He would spend eighty hours a week, seventy of which were in a 32-degree heated pool. Like I said, he had impeccable work ethic. I went to school some days. Other days I helped with the kids and my step-mum. Then there were the days we taught swimming together. I had never really felt like my fathers daughter until that winter in that pool. He never really read books to me as a child. I can’t remember him every really playing with me either. But being in that pool with him as I interacted with the swimming classes, teaching young children to adore and enjoy the water, that’s when I had him. He was always watching. And though I was sharing his concentration with 6 little babies at maybe 2 or 3 years of age I knew I held his attention and love.

[This is me at Marandoo Rio Tinto working Australia Day a few years back]

I have had varied occupations in my life. Four years of which were in the mining industry, assisting mechanics and boilermakers on shutdowns for various companies such as Rio Tinto and BHP. I always worked hard but never had a passion for the industry; despite there being so much opportunity for me to grow. Living in Newman before it became a FIFO town I partied, grew the most beautiful friendships with mates, but never really had “real” relationships with men. I used to get bored very quickly. Suppose that comes back to my “Daddy Issues” but since I have been working in the music industry everything has changed.

[Image taken by Mandy Mateljak]

I used to look to men to fulfill my excitement. The rush I would get from being in control, you know, playing the game; I now get all this from the business. The positive affection and the jealousy rejections (killer aren’t they), the natural highs and the reflective lows. The personal achievements, the mental melts downs, the missed calls, milestones and insomnia induced nights alone now are all self-inflicted and controlled not by my Father or a boy.

They are controlled by me.

Breakspoll 2013

Woooaahhhh! 

Last year Breakfest polled an extremely admirable third (behind Shambhala and Burning Man) in the 11th International Breakspoll Awards. For those who know what Burning Man and Shambhala are you can imagine how incredibly stoked we were to be placed against such mammoth international events. 

[last years Breakspoll results]

So what is Breakspoll?  Well, its all about recognizing the best of the brokenbeat scene and by scene I mean the world! It combines online voting that's culminated in the Breakspoll Awards, which then gets presented live on stage. This year in Cable, London.

[Breakfest 2012] 

So I was wondering if I could ask a tiny, weenie favor... If you could care to take maybe 42 second out of you day to vote. There are a few sections but you don’t have to answer all the fields for your vote to count!

Link to vote

All you need to do is vote for BREAKFEST as best large scale event and if you feel like supporting our local boys on the international scale then vote for BLACK & BLUNT in best Breakthrough producer and Breakthrough DJ. Oh and if you  like reppin' the ladies, vote for my dear friend Lady Waks in the Best Producer and best DJ. She rocks!!!

[Lady Waks and I]

I’m getting goosebumps just thinking about Breakfest again. I promise, if you vote next time we meet I shall kiss your forehead. Twice.

xXx

Beans and Bunches

[One of my designs that was published in Modern Wedding Magazine]

After leaving school I attend Floral Design College for two years where I completed my Florist Traineeship. I won various awards for my designs including ‘Interflora Florist of The Future’ and had my designs published in Modern Wedding Magazine – Australia, for 2 consecutive years. I have a huge passion for creating and find floral design very relaxing and de-stressing activity. Most weeks I have fresh blooms in the house!  

[Jessica Birch Wedding Flowers]

One of the busiest times of the year for a florist is Valentines so this V-day I will be helping the lovely Miss Stacey in her stunning flower store Beans and Bunches. Tucked away in Arcade 189, Northbridge (the lil arcade in-between Esra Pound and The Bird) Beans and Bunches has the answers to those “What to get her” questions.

[Matt and I in Stacey's shop - purchasing Defyre's Birthday Balloons] 

Lush potted plants, handmade gift cards and hampers, boxes of roses and various floral designs are just some of the options for Valentines Day that the store offers. Beans and Bunches also proudly stocks all Australian made wares including Mek & Bud earrings, Poppy and Bea jewellery, Kobi Beach & Circa Home scented candles and Evodia body products.

For more info on Stacey’s store or to place an order head to her website here or her facebook page here. Note: there maybe a chance if you order fresh cut blooms for delivery on V-day I may been doing them up for you, so support you locals and share the lurve this February! 

xXx

Fresh Produce: Chicks in Kicks

 Ambar loves all the fresh fruits of the bass music spectrum. Fresh Produce delivers the perfect opportunity to the dance floor diners – you get to sample the broad range of upcoming DJ talent, in one single sitting; and this time the chicks are gonna lace up and play ball!

On Australia Day Eve, at Fresh Produce, one of my beautiful and talented friends Ashleigh Fanning, aka Miss Demeanour, will make her Ambar debut. I had a lil chat to Fanno over a dart and a cheeky red wine funnel! 

What do you play? I play fun, party breaks!

What Musicians/DJ do you admire and why? In the EDM scene I would have to say locally, the Japan 4 crew, bringing the party every weekend without fail! Most recent admiration would have to go towards Marten Horger. Not only is he one hell of a talented artist but also the most down to earth, kind & inspirational DJ/Producer I have met to this day.

Who is the most inspiring female in your life? Mumma Fanning of course! You're the bomb ma!

Tell me about your favourite pair of kicks? My fav pair of kicks would have to be my New Balance 574 backpack editions my brother bought me in NYC!

Chicks in Kicks edition will… be the beginning of something beautiful! Look out fellas, the ladies are steppin up!

You can hear Miss Demeanour’s music here and you can like her FB page here!

The line-up host 5 talented ladies in total. Be sure to pull on a pair of fresh kicks and come down to enjoy one of the prettiest parties of the year! For more information on the event, head to the FB ecent page here.

xXx

Twothousandandtoothhurtingteeen.

It’s the 14 of January, 2013. Believe it or not this party animal slept through NYE and majority of the events around it. I haven't had the greatest start to the year, I have had a terrible case of ‘sore tooth’ and totally ran myself to the ground - wonder if I will ever learn NOT to burn the candle at both ends! Anyway, my coarse of antibiotics has nearly finished and I am ready to re-start the year and give up this Nurofen Plus addiction!

To all my readers thanks for being patient, some nice treats coming your way in the coming weeks xXx