New site Alt Scene Asia

Hellooo lovelies! I know I’ve been off in the ethernet once again….but I have been making way for a new website that will better integrate some of my interests, provide a better service and be more informative, leaving this one for my personal blogging. I’ve had so many people ask me, “where’s good to go for alternative music & culture in Japan/Singapore/Malaysia/India/Cambodia?”etc and usually I cobble together a facebook reply with lists, and point them towards my blog and certain tags.

I had a lightbulb moment a few weeks ago (drinking beer and watching something like Nat Geo or or TLC on foxtel), that there ought to be a website that alternative type people can check out, to look up where’s cool to go in each city. Now, there certainly exist numerous websites that cover their own city or country and in great depth, along with other sites that do all of Asia but with only glancing references to the alternative scenes there (like Lonely Planet or certain parts of CNN).

There are also those wesbites dedicated to their music style, such as Punk or Dark Alternative, and they cover off artists, gigs and scenes all over the world – but only in their genre. But how to bring these into the one place? While necessarily sacrificing the detail and depth of a genre-specific website, I believe there is value in putting together on one site, posts that link people to the sorts of places they’d like to visit when travelling in Asia, of course providing links to those more detailed sites for those who want to read more.

Anyway, that’s the vision, and that’s where Alt Scene Asia comes in. I’d like to cover alternative music scenes such as punk, post-punk, goth, deathrock, rockabilly, psychobilly, maybe industrial and just weird shit, as well as fashion, food, art & culture. In some places, just finding a place that plays *rock* is a battle, where everywhere you go you hear mainstream pop, R&B, urban, and artists like Rihanna blaring at you from every shop or bar. I do not want to cover off that stuff, or mainstream asian genres like K-pop and J-pop. There are enough sites serving them already 😉

So, AltSceneAsia. I’m gathering together a team from various cities and countries to write, because local knowledge is key, and also hoping to have a lot of guest writers. So if you know about a certain city, or know people who do, please drop me a line.

So that’s the place where I’ll do more informational posts, not that there won’t still be some here, but this blog will more be my personal experiences while travelling (as it always has been), alternative events etc here in Sydney, and my fashion and style inspirations.

In other exciting news, I’m off to Japan again! I haven’t been there since last November, and really need an update to stay current. Plus, I just can’t wait to go back 😉 It also looks like I’ll have a quick mini-vacay to Myanmar with hubby the month after…so will hopefully get some local knowledge of the punk scene there, as well as just holidaying.

And now back to the website, to get it passable before promoting it. I’m no code monkey, and the tweaking is taking aaaaages!

Cobweb Club B-grade horror night

I may have left this a little late to promote, but tomorrow night is the premiere of the Cobweb Club in its new premises at the Imperial Hotel in Erskineville. Woohoo! It’s 5 minutes walk from my house – score! This time around I’m not DJing…but that’s good, cos I can spend time on my hair, make-up & costume beforehand…and drink the bar dry! (not that I’m encouraging immature behaviour). EDIT: I did indeed DJ that night..3rd time now!

Deathrock Club B-grade horror movie theme

I’ll let the Cobweb Club spruik itself:

Calling all creatures from the Black Lagoon! Sydney’s only dedicated goth rock, punk, deathrock and post-punk club is back, and we’re bigger and better than ever! And at $10, it’s a bloody bargain!

On this night, we’ll be transforming our venue into a B-Grade Horror Movie delight, so start planning your ooky, spooky, creepy, crawly, nightmarish costumes now! There will be prizes for the best (and most creative) outfits, so brush up on your knowledge of things that go bump in the night…

We’re also excited to bring you something that rarely happens in goth clubs any more… vinyl DJing! Two of our DJs will be playing a midnight versus set of new and classic goth, punk and deathrock tracks. Come and have a dance to records that might be older than you are!

This time round, we’ve got the keys to one of Sydney’s newest venues, with an airconditioning system that will leave you as chilled as the grave, despite the summer heat. It has over 4 million dollars of sound, lighting equipment and venue design, and best of all, it’s right off King St in Newtown.

I’ve written about the Cobweb Club here before – Out Come the Bats!,  My First DJ Gig at Cobweb Club, and Outfit for Cobweb Club. For a taste of the last one soundwise, here’s a YouTube Playlist of Cobweb Club Oct 11, or for the playlist itself see here. It is, of course, one of my very fave clubs, and one of the few goth clubs here that don’t play EBM or Industrial. The fashions are always stunning, as are the props, and I have a feeling this one will be the spooky-ookiest one yet! I know there’s going to be creeping fog along the floors, muahahahaha!

If you’re in Sydney, I hope you can come along. It’ll be a blast!

Goth fashion at Wave Gotik Treffen 2011

I haven’t yet posted properly about WGT…and there’s so much to say! In all, it was fantastic to rub shoulders with so many other alternative people…and just see a whole city taken over by goths.

I was pleased to see many many different goth subcultures represented, from deathrock to Victorian to neon Cybergoth to Horrorpunk to Steampunk to fantasy to vampires and more…. There was just so much amazing fashion and make-up that floored me every single day, and often I was too reticent to ask awesome people to stop for a photo. However, here are a few fave pics from the ones I’ve uploaded so far, as I know you all want to see pretties to inspire you! (Click on any to see it full-size).

Cyber geisha and steampunk creations at left, and an amazing costume designer from Scotland, right:

 

I met a girl with the same Louise Black corset as me, but in black – who could resist a photo?

 

A stylish steampunk couple, and a horrorpunk skeleton guy:

  

Psychobilly and deathrock – on the right is a great couple from Mexico:

  Mexican goths 

I’m seen here with Rachael from Melbourne and Satine from Denmark. Right is a Vampire Lestat type.

 

Why not sneak a few more friends’ pics in? Left is me with Sisen and G-sus, right is with Brigitte Handley of the Dark Shadows, and a dutch friend.

 

More romantic goth looks, and cyber steampunk:

 

Of course, one of my favourite groups and looks is the Deathrock look, seen magnificently here:

 

How about some looks in white, just to be different? (And spot the Takuya Angel-clad Sisen lookalike next to her; one of many)

   

…and back to black….

   

I have a lot more crowd shots, photos of the architecture of Leipzig, as well as my own outfits and partying photos, but these can wait. I haven’t had internet since I got back (save through my phone), so when I move into my new house this weekend (squee!!) I will have a LOT more to share with you.

What is your fave make-up /outfit? Are you inspired to try something similar yourself? Have you adopted new looks through attending alternative festivals? Do tell 🙂

WGT, here I come!

It’s now just one week until I leave for my next travel assignment: just under 3 weeks in England and Germany.  Why? The 20th anniversary of Wave Gotik Treffen!!

WGT, as it’s known, is the oldest worldwide goth festival – and I’ve never been before! It seemed a good time to go, what with old school faves like the Damned playing. There are waaay too many artists to mention, but some I’m looking forward to especially are: Killing Joke, Misfits, Cinema Strange, Bloodsucking Zombies from Outer Space (psychobilly), Balzac (Japanese punk/deathrock), Fields of the Nephilim, Zombina and the Skeletones (horror punk),  and a few others I’ve heard are coming but are not confirmed yet.

I’m particularly pleased that there are psychobilly and punk bands there alongside more traditional gothic, deathrock, industrial and ebm bands. There’s nothing like variety! I’m also looking forward to seeing the spectacular way people will be dressing up, as well as their hair and make-up – be sure, I’ll be taking, and posting, lots of inspirational pictures for you all!

Here are some from the WGT website from last year:

 

 

 

I haven’t bought any new clothing, but am sure I will do actually at WGT, as well as in London the week before.  Boy, is packing gonna be a nightmare anyways… packing old Victorian style gear, cyber clothing, Japanese goth stuff, platform boots and shoes…

I’m seriously considering getting rid of the orange/red in my hair and going back to turquoise – and have already bought some dreads in brown and turquoise to install before I go. I wish I’d made some stunning headpieces already…look at this for example:

Apart from WGT, I’m hitting London for the weekends before and after, and definitely heading to Slimelight, Electric Ballroom, Dead & Buried (if it’s on), and whatever other alternative nights I can find. Do you know of any I should look up?

So there will most definitely be a lot of outfit shots, for those who’ve been missing those of late. If you are heading to WGT, or clubbing around Camden in June, do let me know, and maybe we can meet up!

Military look for Murder in the Dark club

I attended the opening of new Gothic Industrial club “Murder in the Dark” on Saturday night at the Gaelic Club, and so thought it appropriate to go back to my monochromatic ways for the night. My first night out since I returned from Japan, I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with old friends and meeting new peeps as well!

Murder in the Dark is the latest venture for Rivetting Promotions, and coming up on 22nd April is the Grendel/Nachtmahr/Shiv-R gig at the Sandringham Hotel Newtown (with other dates in other states) – so mark it in your diaries if you’re into dark electro-industrial music.

But back to the outfit:

Military leopard cap: Kitty Van Horne
Jacket and skirt: Purpur
Frilled Collar: Black Peace Now for men
Diamond tights: Leg Avenue
White wedge boots: Esperanza
see my Esperanza shoe post here for more)
Dreadlock weft: Ales Wigs 
(see my Ales Wigs post here for more info. The weft is pinned around my bun with copious amounts of bobby pins)

 

Here’s a crowd shot at the club from the smoking room…often the busiest place in a club!

The little Kitty Van Horne cap I bought at the Sydney Alternative Rock n Roll Markets, the Purpur outfit at House of Fetish – and I should point out that I do have the matching Purpur cap in slick PVC, but the leopard makes the ensemble a little more whimsical and less matchy matchy.

Outfit posted just so y’all know I haven’t abandoned the dark aesthetic, despite my recent love affair with colour blocking!