By Ethan Benedicto
Berwick is shaping up to be filled to the brim with the harmony of different voices, instruments and atmospheres as 17 artists look to bring their talents to the village.
As part of the City of Casey’s Live and Local micro-festivals, genres from soul, R&B, indie alternative and more will be echoing throughout the streets from 10am to 7pm on Saturday, 6 July.
Owners of Gather: Food, Coffee and Co and Little By Little Café, Brent Madhavan and Ryan Lim are more than keen to be hosting 10 artists between both locations.
Speaking for himself and on behalf of his partner, Mr Madhavan said that “it’s just great to be involved in these sorts of local community initiatives where you get to showcase small artists or artists that don’t get that opportunity where they live”.
“The epicentre is the city, and for local artists that live out in our area or surrounding areas, [like] Cardinia, Frankston, the Peninsula, it’s a big trip into the city.
“I think it’s awesome, not only do they get to do it in their local community, but our customers, our patrons, the local people that come here get to see it as well and it’s not really an opportunity that they get exposed to all the time,” he said.
Gather: Food, Coffee and Co, which is situated in the middle of Wilson Botanic Park will have five artists performing, beginning at 10am and ending at 2pm.
Narre Warren South local, Shehan Bodinagoda will be taking the 12pm slot and is wracked with a combination of nervousness and excitement.
While he is used to playing with other artists, Mr Bodinagoda is also jumping on the chance to showcase the fact that “you can be a freelance musician and you can still challenge your boundaries”.
Multi-faceted in his approach from drums, bass, guitar and vocals, he is more than eager to put his versatility to the test, with a number of unreleased tracks set to play.
Admitting that performing outside instead of inside a venue would prove to have its challenges, he also added that “I can let myself free a little bit”.
“It’ll give me an advantage since I don’t really have, metaphorically and literally, a closed space around me”.
Casey’s initiative for the micro-festival has its roots in bolstering not just the local, but also the southeastern music scene, nurturing its growth into the future.
For Mr Bodinagoda, “it’s a great opportunity for artists who have different genre versatility where they can showcase their talent”.
“[Artists] can also challenge the stereotype and the standard thought of ‘my favourite artists or my favourite genres are only existent within the CBD’.
“It’s a great chance for the people to see that, right, well these are local artists, and they don’t have to go all the way to Fitzroy, to Thornbury to listen to their favourite type of music,” he said.
Thirty Eight O Six Brewing will be another hosting venue, with Alisya Rae, one of the three artists on the venue’s line-up, more than eager to hit patrons with her vocal range and acoustic precision.
Taking over the 12pm slot at 12 Enterprise Avenue, Ms Rae shares a similar sentiment to Mr Bodinagoda, saying that “it’s a great idea” to bring local music more to towards the southeast suburbs.
“Especially to highlight artists that are either from that area or just to make live music much more accessible,” she said.
While not a southeast local, being from the eastern suburbs places her in the same boat, adding that many of her gigs are played in the northern suburbs “where all the live music tends to be located”.
“It’s just so much more accessible to bring the beauty and the community aspects of live music into outer suburbs like the southeast,” Ms Rae said.
Expanding further, the big appeal to her was the chance to play with other artists, and like the patrons, also be exposed to their sound and what they have to offer in a live experience.
As for her own segment, Ms Rae is looking at a “more stripped-back type of performance”.
While there would normally be another performer or band, she acknowledged the more “intimate setting”, making her set a “kind of acoustic stripped back vibe of my music”.
“I’m really excited to share some of my originals, I’ll be releasing a song this week as well which is a fully produced studio version but to be able to share that with the community in a more intimate seeing is really exciting for me,” Ms Rae said.
Lava Lounge at 27 High Street is the fourth venue and is also the only one with a late afternoon – early night line-up, with the first performance beginning at 3pm and the last at 6pm.
Looking beyond the upcoming micro-festival, Mr Madhavan is confident that with consistency, Berwick and the southeast could be a major hub for music in the near future.
“I think Berwick would be a great opportunity to seize and utilise, and it would work really well within this area and I think we have the demand for it as well, within the youth and the people,” he said.
