If there's one thing Perth does right, it's host a pretty decent punk festival. So far we've seen the likes of Punks Against Poverty and Punktoberfest rolling out each year and now, another is set to grace us with its presence (and if you're not from the area, you may wanna head over for it).
Friends n' All Fest will make it's debut on Feb 16th, 2019 and will feature the likes of Frenzal Rhomb, Flangipanis, Nerdlinger, Alex The Kid, The Decline, The Shakeys, local legends Two For Flinching, Blindspot, The Bob Gordons + heaps more.
The event was conceived by Clare Martella and her business partner Matt Hatton (Two for Flinching frontman) who we grabbed for a bit more about the event and why you should lock it away in your diaries now...
Matt, congrats on the great lineup which not only boasts a few interstate bands, but a plethora of locals. Was that intentional to help nurture the local scene?
Thanks so much for the compliment on the lineup we’re really proud of the way it has turned out. Our aim for this line up was to have a huge mix of interstate and locals so getting amazing interstate bands such as Nerdlinger, the Flangipanis and Saint Killed Her was always gonna be high on my priority list.
They’re amazing humans and musicians so to be able to have them is a huge privilege for us plus it allows us to give back to this amazing Perth scene!
As mentioned earlier, there are a few punk festivals in Perth popping up all the time, what is the punk scene like that way?
And going on from that last statement this Perth scene is freakin’ epic. I love it! We just had Mad Hatter Fest last weekend with Bodyjar and I couldn’t have been prouder of the way my Perth punk family conveyed themselves. It started from 12:30pm in the arvo and went right the way through to 1am and there were punks there from the get-go, right the way to the end of Bodyjar's set. Cheering on their fellow bandmates and were so appreciative of all the hard work me and my team have put in. So makes it all the more worthwhile. And makes me look forward to this one.
Scoring Frenzal for the headline slot is a great get too, do you intend to overwork them before their Download Festival slot?
Yeah, to be honest, I don’t really know how we managed to pull off scoring Frenzal. Only thing I can really put it down to is their management of Chris Moses from Blue Murder also Jeff Halley, Jacob Snell and the team at Monster Management were amazing to work with in helping set this all up. And that Frenzal must be pretty sick dudes to jump on lol
Yeah they're one of our favourite National treasures too haha speaking of Download Fest, I noticed your band Two for Flinching is pretty far down the lineup order, did it cross your mind to chuck a Twelve Foot Ninja and put yourselves higher up? haha
I’m not gonna lie I did consider it and to be honest I wasn’t even gonna put us on (I don't wanna be that guy who abuses the situation like that) haha but as soon as I told the boys what I was doing I had no choice! I’m happy just to be a part of the day and give back, have a beer and share in great music.
Always abuse the situation when it calls for it I say hahaha if successfull, will you bring back Friends n' All down the track?
I’m planning different types of fests all the time just because I love the way WA responds to something like this. Soundwave and Big Day Out have been gone for quite some time now so hopefully we can develop them into being as big as something like that. Well, that’s the goal anyway.
You've got our backing, best of luck with it!
Friends n' All Fest 2019
Feb 16th @ The Civic Hotel, Inglewood WA
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1DRTnP0gY8&w=853&h=480]
