Spunk Records 20th Anniversary
Spunk 20 year anniversary feat The Middle East.
Spunk Records celebrates 20 years in 2019 and is celebrating with two concerts at Vivid. Headlining the two shows are Townsville band The Middle East along with label mates The Ocean Party, Emma Russack, Machine Translations performing their classic “Happy” album and Jack Ladder & Holly Throsby in combo mode!
Spunk founder Aaron Curnow couldn’t be more happy about the event. “I was totally happy celebrating the labels 20th at my local bowling club, with bands and barefoot bowls! To also be doing it at the Sydney Opera House and for Vivid and with the Middle East, Ive really got to pinch myself! It’s a humbling experience!”
After cutting their teeth playing house parties and sleepy dive bars in Far North Queensland, The Middle East came to prominence after their self-released bedroom recordings (The Recordings of The Middle East) were serendipitously picked up by Spunk in 2008. After being re-released as a shorter E.P, ’The Recordings..’ went on to garner critical acclaim and a cult following before being picked up by Triple J, giving rise to a wider audience both here in Oz and abroad. Amongst a turbulent year of touring North America, Europe and at home, performing at a myriad of festivals including Glastonbury, Coachella and Bonnaroo, the band recorded their follow up L.P “I Want That You Are Always Happy” for release in 2011. “I Want…” was featured in Mojo, Uncut and received a J Award, an Aria nomination and was shortlisted for the AMP award. After going their separate ways later that year the band would spend the following years playing in an abundance of various musical ventures and solo projects.
The Middle East will finally reunite at the magnificent Joan Sutherland Theatre to celebrate Spunk Records 20th anniversary, performing their most enchanting songs from the first two albums as well as new and unreleased music. “Strange but wonderful to be given this opportunity after years apart. To play beside a whole lot of water under a bridge. Well done to Aaron from Spunk for doing his thing for 20 years and much gratitude to Vivid and the Opera House for putting it together” - ( Jordan Ireland)
Talking Spunk, the label Spunk began in 1999 with the release of Bonnie “Prince” Billy’s “I See A Darkness” album. Over the next 20 years the label has released 550 albums from a plethora of artists such as Arcade Fire, Bat For Lashes, Antony & the Johnsons, Sufjan Stevens, Belle and Sebastian, Mogwai, Joanna Newsom, Four Tet and Bill Callahan. Many of these acts have performed on the stages of the Sydney Opera House, the setting for this event!
To celebrate 20 years, Spunk will be reissuing some of the classic domestic releases on it’s label. Albums from Jack Ladder, Holly Throsby, Firekites, the Middle East, Wagons and Machine Translations will be available for sale each night! Machine Translations will be performing their album “Happy” in full on the Friday night with a special performance by Jack Ladder & Holly Throsby thrown in the mix. On the saturday night, the Ocean Party will perform their final final ever show and Emma Russack will intrigue with songs from her new album “Winter Blues”.
