Welcome to our next Flash Feature with Gold Coast musician Kate Leopold of Leopold’s Treat! Ali caught up with her after she wooed the audience with her lyrical acoustic set at NightQuarter last Saturday night. Kate will be back at NightQuarter again this Friday with the whole band and we recommend you jump on down and check them out. You won’t be disappointed!
Want to know more about Kate?
LeopoldsTreat.com – store page
Triple J Unearthed – Leopold’s Treat
Welcome to our next Flash Feature with Brisbane musician Ross Burbury!
As an Eats & Beats regular and someone who regularly gigs up and down the coast, Ross knows how to get the crowd up and moving with his soothing acoustic sound.
He’s been hailed as the next Bob Dylan or Paul Kelly because of his heartfelt lyrics, genuine stage presence and versatile voice.
We caught up with him here at Eats and Beats at the Kingston Butter Factory. Have a listen and send a message to give him some support on the links below.
Want to know more about Ross?
Triple J Unearthed – Ross Burbury
YouTube Channel – Ross Burbury
The air of my little Brisbane flat rumbles with the mariachi music of ‘Trio Águila Hidalguense’ – Violins with folk sensibility, latino-Spanish guitar rhythms, and high toned male choirs that could invoke passion in even the most stone faced stick-in-the mud. This was just one of the many busking bands I encountered during my time in Mexico. Listening to them now as I write, I reflect on the ways Mexico presented itself to me, what Mexico means to me now, and how those ideas may have changed from the ones I had before the trip began.
My first sight of Mexico City was from several hundred feet above the earth. My Aeromexico flight approached the airport and I looked down at the sprawling chaos of slums, industry, and traffic. The general urban industrialisation went as far as the cloud of smog allowed my eyes to see – no earthly horizon perceivable – while the plane’s decent over Mexico City seemed to last for hours. In many ways, Mexican culture illustrates collision between pre-colonial Meso-America, colonial Spain, and contemporary U.S.A. This cultural collide permeated much of Mexico, and certainly Mexico’s architecture. My simple description of Mexico City’s vibe would be gritty European buildings painted with beautifully natural looking colours of all kinds. Mexico City’s financially rich areas, such as Escandon, or the historic downtown district exemplifies the grand and colourful European image. The majority of Mexican buildings however are simple and utilitarian in construction due to economic hardships – yet, despite this, colour was still present. Buildings with bold singular colour diversified the urbanised hill-scapes into complex Jackson Pollock-esk paintings of economic hardship. Despite the certain challenges faced by many Mexican people, their love of earth born colours result in buildings that truly come to life.
Colour is a good segue into the small amount Mexican art I managed to see. Frida Kahlo’s family home an obvious example, and was a ‘must’ on my list. Blue in its simplicity, with a central court lush with tropical trees, a few deep coloured Mesa-American feeling sculptures, and plenty of cats; Freda’s family home had a magical feeling of both historic conservation, and spontaneous abstraction and passion. A particular highlight was seeing the many plaster castes and dresses worn by Kahlo, and seeing the art workshops of Diego and Kahlo. I also visited the Museo Dolores Olmedo Patino. While fantastic works of art are hidden within its walls, the exterior grounds also delight – lush grass fields, bounding hairless Mexican dogs, and many peacocks the perfect accompaniment for the many fantastic works of art.
The Mariachi music on ‘Trio Águila Hidalguense’s’ CD has now come to an end, and I find myself back in Australia. Importantly, the mariachi music, though historically important, is about as informative of modern Mexico as the Bee Gees are of modern Australia. On one hand, many of the Mexicans I met loved rock music and led me to believe a strong, musically diverse scene was present in Mexico City. On the other hand, Spanish influence is in abundance from the street buskers to the night clubs. For instance, while in the city of Puebla I went to a few Latino ‘disco’ dance clubs. Certainly, they played a lot of popular American dance music, yet, there was always a strong mix of Spanish rhythms. To me Mexico was and is a place of warm people, delicious and strange food, amazing artists, and spontaneous moment-to-moment living that (perhaps ironically) also is a landscape and culture of profound historic importance.
The idea for Fringe was spawned by a trip to Melbourne in 2014 where an inner-city bookshop attendant of The Little Bookroom , imbued with enthusiasm, renewed our dream to create a place where people can share that same enthusiasm for literary culture, but also art and music, critical thought and philosophy. A place for the young, and the young at heart, where discussion is mandatory, passion is overflowing and freedom of expression is valued above all else.
Specifically, we will be reviewing local culture via our blog and upcoming podcast. Discussions will be ignited, some of it controversial, some of it moving but all of it will get you thinking and at its centre, we will be promoting Logan’s finest.
In the near future you will see a review of the Beenleigh Theatre Group’s Beauty and the Beast and keep your eyes peeled for their next show Gypsy coming up in November.
Have you attended the local Eats and Beats events? Or wondered about them? We will be reviewing that too in conjunction with the upcoming local music festival Under This Sky on August 1st and 2nd.
If you, or someone you know might be interested in submitting work for discussion and promotion please do contact us. We are looking for:
Our only catch is that you must have been founded in Logan, currently residing in Logan or currently performing in Logan. Any questions? Just shoot us an email.
We look forward to meeting you!
Grant and Ali x
Fringe was founded by Ali and Grant with community in mind. A place where people can share their enthusiasm for literary culture, art and music, critical thought and philosophy. 
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