BELOVED COMMUNITY EVENT SANTA FEST RETURNS TO WOLLONGONG ON DECEMBER 14 FEATURING KLP, LENNY PEARCE AND MORE
After a short one year hiatus, Santa Fest is back in 2024, with hundreds of Santas set to descend on the main watering holes of Wollongong for the mother of all pub crawls that will hit 11 local venues and feature 30 live music acts, bringing back this beloved community event in support of local charities Sahssi and Disabled Surfers Association.
Hailed as ‘Wollongong’s Christmas party’, the Santa-laden crawl will kick off at North Gong Hotel on Saturday December 14, before merrily ambling to The Illawarra Hotel, Towradgi Beach Hotel, Humber The Prince, La La La’s, and more, with tickets on sale now from Oztix.
After spreading Christmas cheer for thirty years and contributing over $2.5million towards charitable causes, Santafest had to sit last year out due to challenging conditions, but the spirit of the event has been revived as key figures in Wollongong’s hospitality scene step forward to ensure the tradition continues, albeit with a sustainable new approach, and with a full line up of live music at the forefront, featuring 30 acts across the participating venues, including sets from KLP, Lenny Pearce, Furnace and The Fundamentals, Fleetmac Wood and more.
With the blessing of the event’s creator (Neil Webster), Adam Murphy (Humber/Heyday/Halfway), Josh Hill (North Wollongong Hotel), and Ryan Aitchison (The Illawarra Hotel) have come together to save and rejuvenate this iconic event. Working collaboratively, they are poised to bring Christmas joy and charity back to Wollongong for another 30 years.
“Santa Fest’s humble beginnings started in 1993 with a group of mates coming together to celebrate the festive season and donating presents to the less fortunate. North Wollongong Hotel proudly became the spiritual home of Santa Fest, nurturing the event from one hotel to multiple venues, from a group of mates to 12,000 people coming from all over the world to participate at its peak,” explains North Wollongong Hotel venue manager, Josh Hill.
“This event is culturally important to Wollongong, I came from a Sydney venue, and every local I’ve spoken to has shared a story or two of their fond memories attending this event. The team at North Wollongong Hotel are proud and excited to continue the legacy that Neil started in 1993, continue to support local charities and continue to provide an event that creates fond memories for everyone who attends.”
To make the event future-focused, we know we need to make changes. What was once perceived as a day of intense drinking is now evolving into a Festival of Place. Our goal is to celebrate Wollongong—its people, its live music, its hospitality, its unique character and most importantly, its charities—by inviting people from near and far to Wollongong’s Annual Christmas Party,” says The Illawarra Hotel Publican, Ryan Aitchison.
Tickets to Santa Fest are available now from Oztix.
CHARLIE BEDFORD RELEASES UPBEAT NEW SINGLE ‘DAYDREAM’
Jam-packed with charisma and summery tones, the new single Daydream out today from Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist Charlie Bedfordsparkles with upbeat instrumentation set against frank lyricism. Also marking the first taste of this exciting artist’s new album due out in early 2025, Daydream finds Bedford expanding his blues roots further into upbeat indie rock territory, with the talented musician also primed to perform his latest single live in action in South Australia and Victoria to close out 2024, with some shows also locked in to kick off the new year.
Embracing inspiration from the likes of Neil Finn, Custard, John Mayer, Paul Kelly, Ash Grunwald, Theo Katzman, David Bowie and The Clash, amongst others, Charlie Bedford’s ever-emboldening trademark sonic style finds fresh new terrain on his latest single. A track soaked in honest storytelling, fun and passionate delivery, Daydream flourishes with luminous melodics, driving instrumentation, and an Aussie tinge that also urges its listener to strive for positivity, as Bedford elaborates, “Daydream can be interpreted a few different ways, but the way I resonate most with it is by identifying it as an internal conflict – loosely based around procrastination. The takeaway for me is to realise how easy life can be if you push on, find the positives in your situation and access the willpower to get the important things done.”
Working alongside Mark Lowrie from Guffland Studios to bring Daydream to life, Bedford also amassed a team of fellow creatives to enhance every aspect of his latest sonic endeavours, both on the new single and for the broader impending album of the same name set to release next year. “I worked with a number of people behind the scenes, getting opinions and advice on my songwriting,” Bedford shares. “The person I worked with most overall was my good friend Mark Lowrie from Guffland Studios in Melbourne. He helped me produce, record and master this album. He was fantastic to work with, always open to entertaining my wild ideas and adding a few of his own along the way where he saw fit. I’ve also had the absolute privilege of collaborating with some amazing artists, one of them being a very talented friend Nikota Kelly, we’ve been collaborating closely on the artwork and visual design of my singles and album cover. Her work naturally matched the exact style that I was looking for with these new recordings, our creative flow has been just perfect – it’s been incredible working with her and watching her illustrations come to life!”
Establishing himself as one of Australia’s most exciting up-and-coming artists, Charlie Bedford began his music career playing in bars and clubs at the age of 12, ultimately going on to become a regular fixture on the Aussie pub, club and festival scenes. Growing up surrounded by music, Bedford has performed in North America multiple times, including in Memphis, Nashville and Muscle Shoals, and has performed with band members from many iconic acts, including BB King, Ray Charles and Wilson Pickett. Bringing a modern twist to the blues genre via his 2020 full length album Good To Go, Bedford’s most recent record also reached #1 on Australia’s RMR Charts, #2 on the USA RMR Blues Rock Charts and #14 on the UK’s IBBA Charts, alongside global acclaim. A finalist in the 2020 Music Victoria Awards for Best Blues Album, Bedford has also acted as a Youth Ambassador for The Bendigo Blues & Roots Music Festival, The Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society and Blues Music Victoria, and continues to push his music into new sonic terrain, including expanding his songwriting prowess with his more recent creative pursuits.
“I’ve always listened to and enjoyed many different styles of music,” shares Bedford of his professional evolution from his earlier years as a blues guitarist. “Growing up there was a lot of the alt pop rock world playing – everything from 90s Australia over to David Bowie and The Clash. My real connection with blues music started from getting guitar lessons. My good friend Phil Smith took me under his wing at an early age and invited me to one of his jam nights in the Dandenong Ranges. It was there I discovered blues music, the rawness, grit and honesty. A local blues legend named Billy Kavanagh blew my mind and I was hooked. They told me about the Melbourne Blues Appreciation Society and their Youth In Blues program – and it all snowballed from there, from trips to America through to representing Australian youth and starting my first bands – and so much more! I’m now finding through my original music a bizarre blend of all of these sounds and I’m loving it. The more of a mix focused into one song the better I reckon!”
A passionate audiophile, mentored by some of Australia’s finest, Charlie Bedford’s live performances also shine with his modern amalgamation of pop, rock, blues and soul, with upcoming shows locked in as part of Port Noarlunga Blues Fest in South Australia and also in Victoria set to close out 2024; and the promise of more shows on the horizon.
“I’m currently performing numerous solo shows all around Victoria and surrounds,” shares Bedford. “Daydream is in the set as a more raw and stripped-back version. I’m currently organising the next events for the live show and will be touring it with a full band following the release of the new album!”
“It’s super exciting to finally be releasing this single, I’ve been working on this track and the others from my forthcoming album for a long time now, and to finally share them with everyone will be absolutely awesome,” Bedford concludes. “My new album Daydream will be released February 2025 and I’m ecstatic about it!”
Daydream is out today, Wednesday November 20.
THE NOMADIC UNVEILS STIRRING NEW SINGLE ‘MARIE ANTOINETTE’ TAKEN FROM SOPHOMORE ALBUM ‘NEW HORIZONS’ DUE OUT DECEMBER 14
A haunting yet hopeful exploration of love, loss and growth, the stirring new single Marie Antoinette out today from Sydney singer songwriter The Nomadic offers a sweeping glance into the artist’s upcoming sophomore album, with New Horizons imminently beckoning for release on December 14.
Helmed by singer-songwriter Rob Gaylard, The Nomadic sweeps in today with a glimmering and oscillating bundle of melancholy and optimism, with Marie Antoinette stylistically nodding to the likes of early Coldplay, Radiohead, Phosphorescent, The War On Drugs, The 1975 and The National, while also fostering The Nomadic’s introspective and immersive unique flair. “Marie Antoinette is about being in a relationship with someone where things are so close to working but it’s not quite there,” explains Gaylard. “You both have work to do on yourselves, you both have hidden trauma, there’s a revolution coming for both of you! You just don’t know it yet! But over time you will come to see the silver lining in the current (painful!) cloud and realise that you grew from pain, suffering, hardship and crisis. The song is not about anyone in particular, just really inspired by the stage of life I was at and the observations of the world around me and the struggles friends and family were going through!”
After relocating back to Sydney in 2022 following years as a regular fixture on the New York City indie rock scene, Gaylard’s original designs for his latest body of sonic work also grew alongside working with some high-profile local talent, with an army of collaborators from around the industry joining Gaylard to grow The Nomadic journey; and, to ultimately bring both Marie Antoinette and its broader album New Horizons to full-bodied life. “I was lucky enough to work with some of the best in the business!” shares Gaylard. “I relocated home to Sydney Australia in 2022 and recorded New Horizons with Dan Frizza in Sydney at Forbes Studios. The Nomadic is the best of Aussie rock talent, with Miles Thomas (Lior, Ronan Keating, Montaigne) on drums, Oliver Thorpe (The Whitlams, Matt Corby, Meg Mac) on guitar, and Brendan Clark (Meg Mac, Montaigne, Jack River) on bass. Dan Frizza as producer lends the kind of magic touch that has seen him enrich the work of the likes of Tones and I, King Princess, and Gurrumul.”
Mastered by Greg Calbi of Sterling Sound in New Jersey, New Horizons builds upon the foundations set by The Nomadic’s 2022 debut album My Mind is Racing. Detailing themes of loss, change and hope amongst fluctuating moments of indie hues, classic and modern rock, wistful anthems, alt-country and more, New Horizons feels instantly intimate and welcoming, with many of Gaylard’s own powerful experiences percolating throughout. “The main themes of the album are feelings of being stuck in life and having the feeling that there is ‘something out there better for you’, of not wanting to let go of dreams, going through big changes professionally and personally, loss of relationships, and generally life upheavals!” Gaylard reveals. “This personal theme is set against the backdrop of major global changes and events, including the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, climate change, social and societal changes, and revolutions in the west.”
Opening with calm melancholy, New Horizons kicks off with Treading Water, before diving into an alt-country-meets-rock charmer courtesy of All Changed. From here, The Nomadic explore more upbeat rock territory (the Led Zeppelin-inspired First Light), unbridled and driving optimism (Don’t Give Up On Your Dreams), and a Bloc-Party-esque propulsive rocker (Hearts And Minds), with the latter also traversing heartache set against a personal backdrop of political instability and crumbling security witnessed by Gaylard during his time spent with the UN in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2011. Shifting into glossy emotives via title track New Horizons, a sublime nine minute opus buoyed by violin and cello, the album’s second half oozes into wistful beauty (Luminescent View), evocative storytelling (Erasing Mental Photographs), and a nod to The Boss himself, aka Bruce Springsteen, via The Absolution; also another track heavily influenced by Gaylard’s time in Afghanistan, and in particular the mental health issues caused by America’s troop surge in 2009. And returning again to some alt-country flavours with Blood Red Sky, recalling the devastating Australian bushfires in early 2020, New Horizons ultimately closes out with a rousing call to arms (Revolution), the gentle yet equally powerful stylings of Find A Way, and, ultimately, its closing track, and also The Nomadic’s brand new single out today: Marie Antoinette.
Imbued with a passion for music and songwriting from a young age, Rob Gaylard’s road to forming The Nomadic stemmed from his own nomadic lifestyle, living in five different countries in the first 10 years of his life, including Australia, Burma, Singapore, the Soloman Islands and the UK. This nomadic theme continued into Gaylard’s adulthood, with the talented creative living and working with the United Nations, national governments and NGOs in Kenya, Somalia, the Sudan, Afghanistan, Indonesia, and Israel/Palestine. Also a massive sports fan alongside his musical pursuits, Gaylard’s adventures under The Nomadic moniker entices listeners to enter a world of boundless melodies and wanderlust-inspired styles, first witnessed in 2022 with The Nomadic’s debut album My Mind is Racing, and set to flourish further this December with the release of New Horizons. Commencing The Nomadic project in 2014 off the back of immersing himself in the vibrant energy during a stint in New York City, Gaylard ultimately returned to his Australian roots in 2022, teaming up with producer Dan Frizza to begin work in earnest on New Horizons in 2023; and the rest is set to be history.
“It’s incredibly exciting to be releasing Marie Antoinette today!” shares Gaylard. “It feels like the culmination of a long journey, from the initial conception of the songs to the development and creation of the final product in the studio, mixing and mastering! Combine that with the emotional experience of going through some rough times and coming out the other side to see some New Horizons – overall It’s been a bit of a marathon!”
Marie Antoinette is out today.
The Nomadic’s full-length album New Horizons is due out Saturday December 14.
Soundcloud: MARIE ANTOINETTE
Stream: MARIE ANTOINETTE