The Other Middle East
Sarah Whyte takes a trip and looks at the fate of the Sydney Independent Music Scene.
Last Friday I went to The Middle East. It took me forty minutes to get there and I was met by two burly men upon arriving, having to show identification and my pre-arranged ticket. A little hesitant, I continued to walk on, only to be greeted by the melodious harmonies of mandolins, banjos, flutes and voices floating around me. My friends ran up to me with smiles, hugs and a jug of beer. I couldn’t believe we were finally here.
The Middle East is an Australian band that heralds from the tip of the Australian coast, from a small town called Townsville. The eight piece band played at the Manning Bar at the University of Sydney recently to a sold out crowd- who were aware that The Middle East was not only a currently turbulent geographical region, but also a band that makes you want to go home and pull out anything remotely resembling an instrument, or ideally several instruments at once in the hope of producing melodic noise.
If Townsville is the place where every dangerous reptile, shark, stingray or mammal resides in Australia, then The Middle East band acts as a musical antidote to such horrors- with soothing ballads, beautiful melodies and poetic lyrics.
The harmony between the three lead singers- a girl with flowing red hair and a short straight fringe, and two guys with rough beards and gypsy-like clothing- are divine. Listening to the music, you can only close your eyes and imagine that you are in paradise - perhaps Townsville without the killer creatures.
The Middle East is your typical ‘indie’ band. Indie music is short for Independent music (and not shortform for the soundtrack to Indiana Jones, as one enterprising friend once had me convinced). It’s light years away from the ‘mainstream’ music that you might find on Western music film clips where near-naked girls dance next to near-naked boys.
Indie music is eclectic in style and can range from folk-like dance music, to more adventurous and louder music, to anywhere in between. Being ‘independent’ somewhat collapses the conventions of genre that restrict other artists, meaning indie bands can draw on anything and call it art - so an extra tambourine or triangle should never be far away!
Yet the future of the Indie scene is currently in turmoil in Sydney. The closure of classic Indie venues such as the Hopetoun Hotel and threatened closure of the Annandale Hotel in Sydney’s Inner West, due to mounting costs and council demands, has shocked the Indie music culture and its devout roadies. These venues offered performance opportunities every Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights to varied audiences, giving up-and-coming bands staggering coverage within Sydney’s and Australia’s music community. Increasingly, Indie bands such as The Middle East are having to rely on online coverage, such as Myspace and Facebook rather than live gigs to promote their soft melodies and haunting harmonies.
Perhaps these bands should go on tour; and ditch Sydney’s diminishing venues for a crack at the Indie scene in the Middle East. It’s bound to be a hell of a ride.
