March mixtape 2024 | run tide mix

Run Tide is the name of this month's mix so let's explore life's real time algorithms. The artwork features giant metal prawn sculptures 'running on the moon tide', which is inspired by when there is a mass sea life migration from the estuary to the sea.  Visible from Windang’s bridge across Lake Illawarra’s estuary entrance, the sculptures recognise the ingenuity of generations of fisherman and their lunar-driven catches.

Just like new street art, we search out new sound art. We beg, chase, court, explore, rabbit hole + discover to bring you a swathe of randomness on an genre-less tip. Whatever your sonic stoke, we are folk to bring you corduroy lines of unpredictable beats from the hidden recesses of this coastline.

For those who are new to the GPC mixtape series, we source the freshest tracks from Illawarra artists or those with links to the recording studios + venues along the Grand Pacific route to celebrate the musical counterculture that makes this stretch of the pacific southeast a global creative hot spot. Included in this warm hug are bands, labels, studios and venues from Sydney South all the way down to Moruya that collectively make up one of the best music regions in the world. We share all our mixtapes with radio stations around the globe that have cool underground sounds programming. Shout out to The Buoys and Sir Archer who have had their recent releases played on BBC 6 Music in the UK, all from our mixtape shares.

As always, here is the write-up (underneath the mixtape section) with links to the artist profiles so you can follow them, links to their gigs so you can see them live along the Grand Pacific route + links to wherever they want us to link so you can grab their tunes. They depend on your patronage so let’s get to it. To be in to win guest tickets to some of these shows just sign up to the newsletter in the web page footer to enter + receive future guest list ticket info.

You don’t need to sign up for SoundCloud account to listen, just press play if the music hasn’t already started. If you do have a SoundCloud account you can follow us there + get all the archive in one place, as well as the new ASSEMBLY series curated by Illawarra cool folk.

Too easy.

 

Winter McQuinn – I Will Be The Same. Kicking into those late summer vibes along the grand pacific is the latest from Bellambi psych rock label Third Eye Stimuli. Winter McQuinn is a solo musician and artist from Melbourne/Naarm, also known as the frontman of psych-pop band Sunfruits and as a drummer in a plethora of other bands. Throw on the headphones, pull up a beanbag and get with the fuzzy warmth of Winter.

Soft Spot – Ode To A Picnic Rug. One of our favourite recent finds is Soft Spot, who are starting to make waves in the ambient scene and another recent success with UK radio. Their new track feels like walking through a really cool art gallery, like MOMA in Tasmania. Calming, ethereal and perfect to put on the turntable when those southerlies blow in an epic thunder slab.

Human Noise – Radiate. To see them live is to love them. Their album of new tracks is worthy of any main stage of a festival. See them before they are discovered and become bigger than Coldplay. Post-punk art-indie at its finest.

Andy Rantzen AKA Pelican Daughters – Blue Bottle. Back into ambient sounds with a Sydney-sider we found by digging in the crates on a recent trip to the UK. We seriously need to get this guy into our collections. If Mo Wax and Ninja Tune is your bag then hop on board with Rantzen.

Nick Griffith – Winter Leaf. The second winter of this mixtape as we move into the autumnal vibes of March. Another 70s vibe to partner the mixtape’s opening track. There is a definite Topanga Canyon scene breaking out along this coast.

Takaicardia – Nothing They Say Is True. Straight into heavy weather with a band playing this week at our beloved hot spot in Port Kembla, The Servo. The band on a big line-up so grab your tickets and get down the front. A very cool band with Zep and Sabbath inheritance tamed with a real sleazed-up 90s sound that we think is awesome.

Velvet Trip – I’ll Follow You. Stop what you are doing and buy this new album. That’s it. That’s the message. The Velvets have been our sound of the summer as we hung out the back of the surf truck waiting for the right conditions.

Major Arcana – Jasper. Straight back into rock with the Majors. Such a great live band and they deliver this Radiohead-esque massive assault of the senses. Another world class band from these shores that should be taking over every mosh pit from Sydney to Seattle.

Pacific Avenue – Cigarette Song. Almost an ode to Madchester and it wouldn’t surprise us if that was the intention. Hauntingly familiar but amazingly new, we love it but then we are biased. These guys should be in tour with The Charlatans or Ride. It would be a perfect combo. Anthemic arena rock deserving of a much wider audience.

Stumps – Cyanide. With a growing following we still haven’t seen them ourselves but we can’t wait to see these Sydney-siders at UOW gig in coming weeks.

The Buoys – Guard My Heart. On the same bill as Stumps at UOW bar, this track was picked up by the UK’s biggest indie station music industry panel and we couldn’t be more stoked for them. Their big, big sound is sure to get them catapulted around the world’s festival stages.

Sunscreen – Drain. You cannot miss this band at one of the best gigs of March at one of the Illawarra’s best little club nights created by Holy Pav at their antique hideaway, the Railway Hall at Thirroul train station. It’s such an intimate vibe and we always walk away from these events totally buzzed. Suncreen support the queen of the Illawarra, Babitha. What a line-up!

Bronte Alva – Change Loving You. The secret artist at a recent Echo & Salt event in Thirroul, Alva carries on her non-stop charge of great tracks.

Maina Doe – Witness. Sweet grooves and late summer vocal layers make this is a super-fly track we have had on a hard loved-up rotation. We will not be held responsible for the population surge in nine months’ time.

Helena Massey – Little White Car. Another track from the album from Massey made in conjunction with Albion Park’s Meteor Infant on guitar. This artist is getting great reviews around the world and we can hear why. Faultless.

The Social Dead – Always You. We love these guys. They deliver. Relentlessly. See them live. As soon as humanly possible. No notes.

Hockey Dad – Base Camp. A brand-new track from the region’s premier festival headliners as they prepare to leave these shores for more global touring. But be reassured, they will be back in Sydney by July.

Morning Mood – Blue. A serious funk phenomenon has erupted in our ears. They are sure to be planning some gigs so make sure you get yourself down the front for this eight-legged-groove-machine.

Juno Point – Red Mist. With a new album out this month, this Australian indie super-group are the kind of band that when you go to all your friend’s houses, they all have the very same album. A quiet entrant into the music-lovers canon. With too many tracks to choose we went for Red Mist just for the vibe.

Joe Mungoven – Cyclone. This guy has to be one of the hardest working musicians right now. He is constantly gigging and making the most of every event and chance to share his music. His gigs are always sold out so if you see him coming to a town near you then don’t hang about locking down a ticket. See him on his latest east coast tour at  La La La's in Wollongong on the 6th March.

Lime Volts – Are You Sure? Just because we can, we add Lime Volts. These guys are part of the ‘synth coast’ scene south of Sydney where a plethora of cool studio whizzes just chuck out the tunes every week. This is another two-minute ambient track we just wanted to include. The ambient synth scene is absolutely huge here and we are so glad they all have decided to call this shoreline their home.

MFV – End Line. Whenever we hear that MFV are playing we go and see them. They never fail to win us over. This brand-new track has all the hallmarks of studio maverick Shadow Morton, who was responsible for The Shangri-La’s sound in the late sixties as the American east coast’s Phil Spector. Check out all their tracks via the links and make a mental note to go see them at The Factory Theatre in Sydney in March or when they slide down the grand pacific for another show at some cool gig that they always seem to be involved in.

Synth Club - Sunbeam. Launched with a live Instagram event, this collective summarise everything we have been saying about synth coast, with all the noodlers and doodlers from Wollongong's Elk Collective's teachable moments to the more structured commissions of composers, such as Wombarra's Medard Fischer. This scene is only increasing as the world begins to notice too.

Remember, we run guest list competitions for gigs via our newsletters so sign-up to hear these mixtapes first and be in with a chance to see new artists by invitation.