“I’m pretty pumped to be seeing C.W. Stoneking, because he’s one of my favourites,” says organiser Kyle Ford. “Batpiss, super excited to see them. We’ve put a lot of effort into putting it together this year. We’ve crossed a pretty broad spectrum.”
Despite the added diversity, Chopped remains a hardy showcase of quality Australian music. “It’ll still be really super Chopped and super Australian,” says Ford. “That’s one of our key things that we love, supporting locals. Y’know, we’re not averse to having a little bit of overseas stuff in there, here and there, but it does make us pretty happy and proud to be pushing Australian music culture.”
The lineup is indeed strong, featuring acts from all across the board, which makes it suitable for even the pickiest of punters. “It’s a really strong feeling that, across the genres of the lineup, they flow together and it’ll cross over for the people that are a little bit one direction,” Ford says. “It’s got a very Chopped vibe.”
This year’s festival site contains some new infrastructure, ensuring it’ll be the strongest instalment of Chopped to date. “This year we’ve set up and structured the event and confirmed what Chopped is,” Ford says. “We’ve put a lot of money into our own infrastructure and upgrading fixtures, so when you walk in there’s just an amazing feeling. We’ve worked hard to make it better all-round.”
Despite beginning as a car and drag show, the vehicles are no longer the primary drawcard. Realising this, Ford has altered the setup for this year’s festivities. “We’ve changed the way the drag racing is positioned, so that the spectating area is the whole length of the drag strip. As a punter that’s going for the music and the drags are a bonus, the atmosphere is going to be a whole lot better.
“There’s going to be a shitload of hot rods and choppers and all that sort of stuff. We’ve tightened up on rules to try to keep the field looking like how it was when we started. Getting back to our origins, we’ve been doing that, trying to scrutinise a little harder. Everyone’s still welcome to bring whatever they want. In the campground you can have whatever you want – we’ve still got a interesting cars there that aren’t allowed into the event arena because they don’t fit in with our rulings, which is always cool.”
Additionally, this year’s Chopped will feature some hilarious, one-off novelties, including a bunch of tiki stuff. “We’ve also built a massive fucking Easter Island head this year,” says Ford. “We’ve seriously upgraded on that, that’s going to go off. We need a crane to move it.”
With a range of Australia’s finest craft brews slung around the festival, the gastronomical delights at this year’s Chopped will also be well worth savouring. “We’ve had Young Henrys with us for the past couple of years, but more in a minor role, on top of other beers. But obviously they’ve watched how much of their product is being drank at Chopped, and they’ve decided to get behind us a bit more this year. The good thing about it is the cross-section of people that Chopped brings in. Obviously a lot of Victorians, but so many other people from Australia, so to [Young Henry’s] it’s opening up their good beers to the whole country.
“We draw in more of a national crowd, lots of festivals go from town to town, for them it’s good in that sense. Ole Smokey Moonshine are also with us this year, they’ve built a moonshine cocktail bar. They’re artisan spirits, so there’s going to be a sweet moonshine cabin with a bunch of sweet moonshine cocktails, they look really good. It’ll look like it’s a little cabin on the side of a hill in Tennessee.”
BY NAVARONE FARRELL
