Talented and creative local womyn contributed to issue 2 of Woami - poetry, articles, rants, collages and artwork as well as ideas and inspiration.
Issue 1 is still in the shops and has interviews with:
Portland (USA) singer/songwriter, feminist and lesbian activist - Sarah Dougher
Melbourne band - Origami
Flea from The Homewreckers, also the editor of Thunderpussy zine, and
Melb grrl band Feracia!
CONTRIBUTE!
Please contribute your ideas, stories, poems, drawings, articles, reviews, rants, anything! Just email them to me at fieryrockbabe@yahoo.com.
Three hours of grrrl power with speakers on the day like Stealth and Domino from SLIT Magazine, Lucy from Village Bike, Kelly from Pretty Ugly, Melamoo from Lezzarine, and Carmen from Ugly Duckling zine. Come and sell your zine/s at a stall and stick around after to help make a page for the very special Ladyfest Melbourne zine!! All aspiring zine-makers and professional zinesters welcome!
Also featuring bands and spoken word at an all ages event afterwards.
The workshop is on at GOOD MORNING CAPTAIN Cafe, Johnston St Collingwood from 12 - 3. Email me or Flea at Flea@ladyfestmelbourne.com if you want to hold a stall!! Hope to see you there :)
check out www.ladyfestmelbourne.com for details and other awesome stuff happening during the four day festival in November!!
($4.50 plus postage)
a very packed zine that includes colour!!
Ember Swift @ The Corner, April 3 2003
Did someone say 'boinked'?
Seeing this Canadian trio perform their captivating fusion of jazz, folk punk and funk was yet again one of the best gigs I've ever been to. The atmosphere was vibrant as people packed themselves into the Corner Hotel to see Ember Swift and her band for their second Melbourne show.
The nite began with support artist local Jess Mcavoy. A whirlwind of intense, feisty yet delicate songs, played on acoustic guitar was well received by the audience; many of whom sat on the floor as if watching a school play. Then Australian singer/songwriter Emma Wall got up to motivate and excite with a humorous introduction to Ember and her band. It was to be a performance combining music with activism, creating hope, and positive energy amongst the diverse crowd.
Ember Swift, Lyndell Montgomery and Adam Bowman were greeted with gusto as they took to the stage. "This is a song about getting happy" Ember announced, warming up with 'Happiness Ball', starting off slow and building up to a crescendo of jazzy funk infused percussive noise. Their diversity of instruments and the way they play them is one of the things that make them so captivating to watch and listen to. With Ember on lead vocals and guitar, Lyndell on bass, electric fiddle and bowed guitar, and Adam on drums they have a lot to play around with, and plenty of style to do it with.
A funky bassline introduced the beginning of 'Include my Food', from new album 'Stiltwalking', a song about the politics of food. Ember motivated everyone to get up and create a dance space, and soon had turned a room full of spectators into wild dancers.
With their genre hopping fusion of styles, the band switched between slow mellow tempos to fast paced punk-folk, Ember and Lyndell seeming to compete with their instruments, Lyndell going crazy on her electric fiddle. The sweet high sound of the fiddle, combined with Ember's passionate strums and picks and Adam's funky drumbeats make for a wonderfully unique and addictive sound.
Many of the bases for the bands' songs are their political and moral beliefs about the world, women's rights and human rights. The band made these views evident in songs about the right to protest, anti-corporate, pro art sentiment, and the beauty that lies within and not in standards created by the media.
"Kick over the so-called standards for size and beauty, ignore the billboards, rip up the magazines, turn off the TV, and say stuff you to the likes of Calvin Klein!"
The easygoing strains of summertime love song 'Lick Your Lips' gave way to quiet as Lyndell expressed her dissent towards the war and the US government. It was a dramatic speech, poetic and impassioned. "Every time I read a newspaper, or turn on the TV, I'm reminded that they think we're sheep! They're trying to sell as fear, disguised as patriotism, and hoping that in our tizzy we won't notice, that the wolf is gnawing on our civil liberties."
One of the many highlights of the evening was the song $5, a fast bass driven tune, sung 'Ember-style', freestylin, rhyming and very catchy. Adam rocking out on the drums, began a fluid syncopated snare drum rhythm, incorporating some electronic blips while Lyndell introduced the theme of the next song, body issues. Ember illustrated her amazing talent on the bongos; is there anything she can't do?
The trio finished on 'Pek', a haunting and mesmerising tribute to the Middle East. After much cheering and screaming for an encore, the band played their punk-folk rendition of 'Goldilocks', and the joyful bouncy 'I boinked the bride', (boinked being the Canadian term for bonked), with the large crowd singing along to the chorus. The trio are most definitely true artists and performers, know how to bond with the audience and each other, provocatively entertain and play with real feeling and emotion.
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