vol #14: admiring greatness, #reallifemusic & heartstoppers
sent from parry's iphone with love
parry:
What’s good? Doin? Hi I’m Parry. Joss made me write a bio but I'll write about how we met instead. In the peak of lockdowns I was running a podcast called Parry Talks (one day it will be back I promise) where I interviewed local artists in an attempt to paint a picture of what was happening in Australian music.
Joss at the time was a member of Room 2 Radio (the internet's first online club) and I interviewed her alongside Toby and Nicole. It was on Zoom it was so random and so awkward but it’s since kicked off an unstoppable friendship that is all giggles and motivational quotes. It’s weird how the world works hey?
If you haven’t already caught wind I love music more than anything else in this world, so there’s a lot of music stuff here.
parry lookin fresh
this is the online bit:
Archived Interview/Studio Footage & Admiring Greatness
My favourite thing in the world is hearing people talk about the things they truly love. There is nothing that is more inspiring, more energy enthusing then when someone speaks from the heart about something they truly care about.
It all comes down to asking people one question, especially when it comes to music, What is greatness? Who has achieved greatness?
I always ask myself this question. It’s always easy to get bogged down in the day to day battle that is life where the big picture is always forgotten. I’m not saying it's necessary to achieve greatness, but appreciating greatness in any field every single day is what makes me happy. I’ve been manifesting that recently watching old clips of my favourite artists of all time in the studio where they witness and also appreciate greatness.
This clip of the greatest producer of all time Pharrell, alongside the greatest rapper of all time Jay Z during the creation of what was meant to be Hov’s final album of all time. It is just a weirdly special clip to me, two people I admire more than anyone else coming together, achieving greatness together and also watching them admire each other's craft. Mwah.
In a similar vein, my favourite Tyler, The Creator song is 2seater and in his Cherry Bomb documentary he goes behind the scenes in the creation on the song. Him geeking out to the string ensemble playing his music for the first time in Hans Zimmer’s studio is such an amazing behind the curtains moment of someone witnessing and achieving greatness.
when parry and i did a radio show together we spent the majority of it talking about tyler
Derrick Gee
Derrick Gee is the greatest TikToker ever. If you haven't come across him in your For You page yet, he is the epitome of modern music editorial. Many people love to talk about the “death of musical journalism,” as web articles and journalists are being transformed into digital creators. Derrick Gee does this perfectly, with amazingly considered music takes built for vertical video consumption. He makes them with such deep care and knowledge and his non-gatekeeping mentality is so refreshing in the space.
I especially love his recent take on the whole Frank Ocean / Coachella debacle, a unique lens on a massive pop culture moment where he talks on fandom and music as a commodity.
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3. Frank Ocean Livestream / @morgandoesntcare
On that Frank Ocean performance, yes there were parts that were a bit, what the hell are you doing, but within the madness and chaos Frank reminded us of why he is the most iconic artists of this generation. I watched this performance initially live thanks to a fan who live streamed the set on her phone from the barrier to hundreds of thousands of fans across the globe. @morgandoesntcare has turned into an icon in the Frank Ocean community, giving fans an opportunity to watch the set.
She ended up getting over 40,000 followers thanks to the stream. You can read the whole story of the live stream thanks to a Pitchfork interview.
this is the irl bit:
I made a private playlist 2 years ago and was stuck for a name and called it #RealLifeMusic. It was just a place where I’d dump all my new favourite Australian songs. Why I named it that at that time I had no idea.
So you’re asking me how a Spotify playlist can be in the irl bit? Let me explain.
I never used to enjoy Australian music. Surf rock, alternative music never felt like what my experience of Australia was. While coastal towns, deep sunshine, bustling cafes, sticky pub carpets and warm sunsets are pinnacles of Australian culture, there was a distance between the quintessential image of Australia and what my real experience of Australia is.
Culture outside of the city always felt left out of the discourse around what Australia truly is. Grabbing Manoush from Al Fayah bakery in Lakemba on a Saturday morning, heading to Little Lagos in Enmore for Jollof rice, pulling into Canterbury Kebabs on the way home from a night out or hitting Argileh in Bankstown. Where was the music that sounds like that?
While I have named multiple iconic suburbs in the heart of Sydney, I assume that many across the country also reflect on the backstreets of popular suburbs that defined their experience of what Australia really is. This is what Australian culture is for the majority of the country. The one dimensional exploration of mullets, shoeys and never sat well with the definitive features of true Australia. Defined by multiculturalism, community and a melting pot culture.
In March of 2019 OneFour dropped their now certified anthem The Message. Off the back of the release, group chats were sent into mayhem. For the first time for many young music fans, it was the first time that they got to hear the words that they were using every day in the musical mainstream. This began an overhaul of Australian music culture, one that showcased to the world for the first time that Australia was more than what Bondi Rescue and Neighbours had painted it as.
After the song dropped I’ll never forget the moment that one of my friends sent it to me and said, this is some real life shit. Real life music.
Since then, Real Life Music has been a brand I wear on my sleeve. Real Life Music is music that showcases the real life experiences of Australian culture. I’ve neatly packed in over 120 songs that depict the amazing, multicultural music scene that Australia is. I’ve been especially loving DoloRRes’ Bosco and FRIDAY*’s Beaming. I could (and I hopefully will) write an entire essay about this, but dive into the playlist below :)
Al Fayhaa Bakery Lakemba
Manoush like you’ve never had it before. Probably my favourite food ever. Lakemba is all the hype during Ramadan (Eid Mubarak) but if you want a true Real Life Sydney experience, head down to Lakemba in the mid morning on a random Saturday and hit this spot. If you’ve never had proper manoush before, start with a plain Zaatar, a half Zaatar half cheese/meat or a Zaatar with vegetables.
Pair with a Blue V for ultimate satisfaction. Best breakfast ever.
literal omnomnom vibes
Enough said. Real Life Music live in the flesh.
ta ta princesses xxxxx