Bandcamp, the internet’s most indispensable music platform, is home to Melbourne/Naarm’s emerging eclectic talent waiting to be unearthed.
DIY music is so incredibly romanticised for its selflessness. Prioritising music over profits, it allows artists to get a little more experimental, dive into ultra-niche genres and build their audiences in a more organic way.
Bandcamp, the online music platform where passionate fans directly support their favourite artists, is built on these generous notions.
Creating genuine art is one thing, but artists need to keep afloat. Insurmountable streaming titans like Spotify do no favours for our homegrown acts by taking massive cuts of their revenue, so it’s no wonder why Victoria’s more intriguing and unconventional music comfortably rests under Bandcamp’s wing.
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The site’s Bandcamp Fridays initiative that began during the COVID-19 pandemic will attract any muso’s attention. On the first Friday of every month, Bandcamp waives their fees for 100% of profits going directly to the artists. Take notes, Spotify.
While we don’t see Spotify following suit any time soon, Melbourne’s underground labels are still bustling with heaps of unique music that’s proudly sitting outside of popular streaming services. Here’s a primer on the homegrown labels that aren’t doing it like the mainstream.
Chapter Music
Active since 1992, Guy Blackman’s independent label Chapter Music is one of the country’s longest-running. Blackman formed the label out of passion, starting it from the ground up as a 17-year-old compiling local Perth bands and a Sonic Youth tribute playlist to tape for fanzines.
Despite falling in and out of closure over the following decades, Chapter is now at its healthiest. Their page reveals many cassettes, CDs and records across indie pop, post-punk, country and folk genres up for grabs.
It’s been able to preserve the legacies of Melbourne’s late ‘70s experimental post-punk groups Essendon Airport and Primitive Calculators, reissuing their sole studio albums. Chapter is also home to Hobart’s speak-singing post-punk duo The Native Cats. Elsewhere, the aptly-titled Cool Sounds have a place on the label for their groovy disco-ready indie pop.
Of note is Yirinda’s (meaning “Now” in Butchulla language) self-titled album, the work of Fred Leoone and Samuel Pankhurst. Combining ancient Indigenous language spoken by only a handful of people with modern musicianship, the two have produced a deeply moving textural work. Invoking thousands of generations of story and culture, this contemporary release is an important act of cultural preservation.
Garden Seat Records
Eclectic is the best way to describe Garden Seat’s roster. Established in 2021, the label mainly reissues unheard lo-fi rock and punk from Australia. Local bands such as Castlemaine’s Good Moon and the Northern Territory’s Straight Skirt have had their legacies preserved with a series of CD releases.
Garden Seat go the extra mile with their merch – Proximity, the latest record from garage rock outfit K5, features a hand-screened album cover for its vinyl. There are some off-kilter outliers though.
Garden Seat distributed cassettes for the experimental electronic and hip-hop collective Dealers of God, whose psychedelic soundscapes and impressive hodgepodge of pop culture samples are in a league of their own. The label also announced its new “Prescription Club”, where a $15 subscription will provide you with exclusive signed goods, interviews, gig tickets, merch and more.
To get a rundown of the Garden Seat experience, check out their Yes Yes compilation which collects all the artists that live under their umbrella. From pleasant indie pop, acoustic noodling and grungy alt-rock, there’s bound to be something you’ll love.
Nice Music Label
The brainchild of sound artist Simon J Karis goes beyond the modesty of being ‘nice’. Founded in 2016, Nice Music has grown with a sprawling roster of Melbourne-based sound architects with a sharp ear for innovative sound design and collaging. Much of it evokes minimal techno but is vaporwave in spirit.
Nice Music’s expansive output is decorated with intricately designed physicals for each genre-pushing album. Each artwork is highly stylised and packaged on cassette or CD. Some include accompanying photography and lyric books. Karis’ care for the physical product gives this explorative music even more discoverability.
An unmissable release is the collaborative EP THRASH between Karis and London’s Actress aka Darren J Cunningham. The distortive, acid techno riffage of the titular tune is remapped by the two with separate edits. Collectively, the package reveals their acute attention to a visceral industrial groove – and how far oblique electronic music, drawing upon Cunningham’s from abroad, is being taken on Melbourne soil.
Companion
Few genres are as mesmerising as the weightless sounds of ‘90s chillout. After a lengthy day or a big night out, downtempo, trip-hop and ambient dub are the ultimate musical ingredients to relax. The problem is, you don’t see much of that music coming out today. Where can you find more of that sublime sound?
You’ll be as surprised as I was to find out the best contemporary downtempo is happening here in Naarm. Companion’s owners Pjenné and Millú transport listeners through entrancing repetitions and lethargic electronica collated on their label’s growing catalogue.
The gorgeous, lysergic artworks packaging their releases cement them as meditative journeys. It’s amazing how this home for such mystical, effervescent releases is prospering in Melbourne – that’s something to celebrate.
The aquatic Osmosis by Space Biology aka Ivanna Ivanivna is Companion’s most serene album. Its deep, dub-infused arpeggiations airily echo in a dreamlike space, making for the perfect post-rave remedy. The technical prowess to form such soothing soundscapes mustn’t be overlooked.
For more on the Melbourne underground music scene, head here.
