Metro Australia – July 2019

Thissentiment,again,speakstothepositivecurrency

ofcommunityin music.Thesedocumentariesaren’tjust

chroniclesofsuchcommunitiesbutproductsofthem:each

productiongoing from idea to actualitybecauseof the sup­

portandparticipationtheyhavereceived,frominterview

subjectstocrowdfundingcampaigns.WhenSangiorgi

Dalimoreand Hunderreflecton the commongroundof col­

laborationbeingfertilesoilonwhichtofosterfriendships,

theydosowithsincerity.And,ofNowSound:Melbourne’s

Listening, Willissimilarlysays,‘It becameapparentthatwe

were very much makingthis film with the community,for

thecommunity.’^19 The respectivefilmmakersof both docs

tellmethatwhattheycaredaboutmost,in termsofrecep­

tion,wasthatthepeopledepictedonscreenlikedwhat

theysaw– whichcanbetakeneitherasa greatexample

of wantingto avoid misrepresentationor as a desire to be

liked that may not, ultimately,serve a film well.

Each work is, in turn, billed with genuinepositivity,some-

thing that echoesthe emotionaltenor of fandom.The tag­

lineforHerSound,HerStoryis ‘Celebratingwomenin

Australianmusic’;^20 NowSound:Melbourne’sListeningis

synopsisedas‘a lovelettertothemusic scene and its ever

expandingsubcultures’.^21 The

shoegaze­centredmusiccommu­

nityofearly­1990sLondonmay

havebeen,in itsday,mocked

as‘TheSceneThatCelebrates

Itself’,^22 butnowsuchself­

celebrationis a matterof course.

Ratherthanmereback­patting,

celebratoryactscanbea bell­

wetherofthehealthofanyscene.

WhereastheAustralianmusic

ofyoresufferedfromtheself­

sabotageofculturalcringeand

tallpoppysyndrome,asHerald

SuncriticMikeyCahill(another

figure interviewedinNowSound)

suggests,thatold‘reticencetocelebratesuccessbecause

wemaybeseenas“upourselves”’hasfallenaway.And,

ata timewhen‘success’is farmorenebulousthanthe

chart positionsand financialwindfallsof past generations

• ‘artistsarebarelymakinganymoney,’Cahillsays– a
  documentarycanserveasa formofvalidation.^23
  NowSound:Melbourne’sListeningbothboresdown
  intoitstitularcity’smusicscene(a hostofstatistics,read
  in narrationby3RRR’sLaurenTaylorover3Dmodelsof
  neighbourhoodgeography,feelinglikeCityofMelbourne
  promotion)andbouncesaround.There’sconversations
  abouttheclimatethathasbirthedsucha vibrantscene,
  naturally,butthenthere’stalkofgenderinequality(‘There’s
  probablyneverbeena bettertime,in independentmusic,
  to be a woman,’says Jen Cloherin Willis’film – though
  she also appearsinHerSound,HerStory– ‘because,up
  untilnow,it’salwaysbeena bitshit’);Melbourne’sgrow­
  ingcommunityoftransmusicians(SimonaCastricum
  is featured);and the harsh financialrealitiesof running
  record labels, staging festivals and keeping venues

open.A contraryvoicecomesfromYortaYortarapper

DRMNGNOW,whosethoughtsrebukethenotionsof

communitysooftenblithelyinvoked(‘Howdoesan

Indigenousartist find a place for themselvesin a musical

worldthat’snotnecessarilysomethingtheydeemasbeing

a community?’);Willis describesthis interviewas ‘revela­

tory’,inspiringhimtoreframehisperceptionsofbothhis

film and himself.It was one of many treasuredmoments

thedirectorhadwhilemakingNowSound:Melbourne’s

Listening, a productionfilled with cross-collaborationand

growingrelationships.‘Maybethatmodel’sa bittooidyllic

for makingall types of documentaryfilm, but you need to

builda leveloftrustandfriendshipwhenmakingprojects,’

hesays.‘I’vebuiltmylifearoundtheMelbournemusic

scene.It’sreallyspecialtome.A lotofmy close friends

are connectedto musicsomehow.’^24

Thisideaoffriends­chronicling­friendsplaceslimitson

criticalobjectivity(just as typingabout films featuringyour

friends,andyourownself,maycauseonetospiralintoa

strangeformofmeta­reviewing),butfamiliaritycanalso

offerinsightandintimacythata moreobjectivestudycan’t.

The regular ‘badness’ofmusicdocumentariescomesnot

fromthesubjectivityofproximity,but

fromfandom,andthehaloeffectof

back­in­the­daynostalgia.Onewayin

whichbothNowSound:Melbourne’s

ListeningandHerSound,HerStory

arecontrapuntaltothesameoldrock­

umentarysongis thesimplefactthat

they’renotaboutsomethingthathap­

pened,butsomethingthat’shappen­

ing. Willis calls his film ‘a snapshotof

whatit waslikefrom 2016 to 2018 in

Melbourne’,evendaringtodubthis‘a

goldenageofMelbournemusic’.^25 In

that,it feelslikeaninsta­history:less

self­congratulatoryand more storytell­

ingforposterity.

WhatNowSound:Melbourne’sListeningoffers,says

intervieweeSimonWinkler,3RRR’smusiccoordinator,is

‘immensefroma culturalandhistoricalperspective,both

forpeoplein thescene,outsidethescene,andcoming

tothesceneata laterstageseekingunderstanding’.^26

Thinkingofthedocumentary’smeaning,BeckySuiZhen

Freeman– who servesas a recurringfigure throughout–

alsoprojectsforward:‘I feellikeit servesa purposeforthe

futurethatwecan’tbeawareof.I think,in twentyyears,

[...]it’llmakeusfeelmoreimportantabouttheliveswe

lived.’^27 Certainly,it’shardforme, givenI’mliterallyon

screenwatchingSuiZhenperform,toseeNowSound:

Melbourne’sListeningandnotthinkaboutthelifeI’velived.

In 2016,in honourofthestation’sfortiethanniversary,

theexhibitionONAIR: 40 yearsof3RRRwasstagedat

theStateLibraryofVictoria.Forsomeonewho’sbeen

‘onair’at saidstationforhalfmylife,seeingrandombits

of3RRRmemorabiliaexhibitedwasa surrealexperi­

ence, one akin to walkinginto a museumand finding

objects from your parents’ lounge room displayed as if

Onewayin which

bothNowSound:

Melbourne’sListening

andHerSound,Her

Storyarecontrapuntal

tothesameold

rockumentarysongis the

simplefactthatthey’re

notaboutsomething

thathappened,but

somethingthat’s

happening.

106 • Metro Magazine 201 | © ATOM