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Music

Julian Teakle’s Community Compilations Are Open Love Letters to Hobart Music

Meet Hobart’s unofficial musical/cultural attaché.

Hobart, Tasmania has always been a city tucked under the Australian mainland and left to soak in its isolation, peace, and quiet. It's a city that many associate with the blocky MONA museum that sits on the water's edge, or just lots and lots of trees and cold weather. But Hobart has been home to a prosperous music scene for years, contrary to what those mulleted musicians from Melbourne and Sydney have to say, and while they haven't exactly had their big break yet, they're on their way.

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In 2010, Rough Skies Records wrote its love letter to the scene: Community, a compilation of underground music coming straight out of the city that everyone underestimated. Seven years have passed and the label has just celebrated the release of Community 4, the fourth in the series of Tasmanian tributes.

Community 4 stretches across the whole of Hobart, from the shoegaze-infused Peak Body to Powernap and their speedier, old-fashioned punk music. There's cute and catchy indie pop from bands like Filthy Little Star and Foxy Morons, and even some experimental electronica from Andie Laureson. They're all thriving in Hobart's tight-knit, independent music culture.

And who better than to ask how the scene is doing than Julian Teakle, owner of Rough Skies Records and a fatherly figure in the community, with arms wide open and a history of playing in bands like The Native Cats, The Bad Luck Charms, The Frustrations, and more since the 1990s. If anyone knows Hobart music, it's Julian.

Noisey: What made you want to start compiling Community?
Julian Teakle: For a while I was organising shows in Hobart, and I suppose it was a lot of work for something that didn't have much longevity. Organising gigs is fun but I wanted to do something that was a bit more permanent in terms of documenting music.

When you made the first album, did you have intentions to continue making it a regular compilation?
No. With the first one, there was "let's just see how this goes…" The first one had quite a great response: we got a good review in The Monthly and it sold well. It also seemed to inspire people to get involved in music and so, it encouraged me.

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The first one was released in 2010. How has music in Hobart changed in seven years?
I think a combination of there being a couple of labels in Hobart and venues that have entered into long term existences like The Brisbane Hotel and The Grand Poobah that provide good support for local bands. I think that's very conducive. On top of that, you've got places like Edge Radio. I have this grand theory that in a small town you need two permanent venues, a couple of floating venues, a good community radio station, good access to local media, and a couple of good record shops. And once you've got those things in place, all you need is the people to play in the bands. There's a lot more women as well.

It definitely seems like the scene has gotten more diverse and bigger.
Yeah. It's not the same old people forming bands, and in a town like Hobart, or Tasmania in general, where so many people move away, you've gotta have that constant intake. If someone leaves, that means a label could shut down and four bands split up.

You're a figurehead of the Hobart music community. How does it feels to be in that scene for so long and be so familiar with it?
There's a certain comfort in it. There's a bit of pressure—

Pressure to do what?
To support people, to encourage people and stuff. Because I'm just passing on what older people did for me. I met some really cool, encouraging people when I was like 18 or 19 and starting to play in bands, and I've just tried to follow on with what they were doing. Though I'm glad there's other people forming labels in Hobart and doing things because it kind of takes the heat off me a bit. [laughs]

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What are your favourite memories from being in that scene?
The best times have been when I've put out a 7" by a local band and when you hand it over to them for the first time—like when I've put out these Community compilations—and going up to someone and tapping them on the shoulder and handing them a CD. It'll be the first time they've been on a CD or the first time they've been on a vinyl, and I know what that feels like because I've put out my own music.

How do you decide what music and what musicians you feature on the Community compilations?
Initially, because I've got limited resources in terms of getting stuff out, money, and pressings, I look at all the bands and say, "Oh, I'd love to do a record with those guys but I may not be able to afford it at the moment." Doing Community was the most, in some ways, economic way to get a lot of music out there. My compilations aren't entirely reflective of what's going on in Hobart, and I genuinely miss some bands, regret it and kick myself later on. But it's mostly what people are suggesting to me or I'm finding out myself. Groundwork goes to show.

Did you ever have to balance the line between making a good representation of underground Hobart music and trying to avoid making it a mixtape of all your friends' music? 
Oh, totally! You fall into the trap sometimes of…  it's like you try to encourage your friends' music but it's not really your thing. Sometimes I've had to explain to people here, because they're not used to how record labels work, that my record label is a labour of love where I'm putting money and time into music I really care about. It's not a public service. Ultimately, you look through the history of great record labels and there's a—it's a wanky word but—curation, personality, and reflects my music taste. I'm not going to put out music to be a nice guy. I'm gonna put out music because I care about it.

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How do you hope listeners react when they listen to your Community compilations?
I hope they take time to look at their local culture and see what's going on. I've encountered a lot of people over the years in Hobart who are into this type of music but there's no in for them to enter the scene. But with this, I sell it cheap and it's available in the good record stores in Hobart. Maybe some 17 year old will pick it up, they'll buy it, and then they realise these bands are playing and that they can be part of it. When I put out the first one, I remember these young bands were playing and I'd say— I felt like a bit of a wanker—"Hey, I run a record label. This is a compilation I put out. You guys should check out other local bands and these are bands you can play with." And consequently, a lot of those bands went on to appear in future Community compilations which has been the great thing about doing this in the longterm: seeing the Community compilations feed into the scene and then spit out other great bands.

What's different about this Community 4 compared to its predecessors?
I like to have things different, but same. I like to have a good spread of new bands that haven't appeared on previous ones, I like to include some acts that have appeared on previous ones, but I also like to include the bands that have broken up but "this is what they're doing now." The reason why I do such extensive liner notes in the CDs, detailing who's playing in what, is so someone can lay out all the covers of the CDs and go, "well, this person was in this band for the first two CDs, and went into this act, they recorded a band on the fourth one…"

Like a giant spider web.
Yeah! Pretty much.

What about the album are you most proud of?
I'm not trying to push away Sydney and Melbourne, but I really believe in the idea of regional identity, especially in a big place like Australia. The early motto of Rough Skies Records was "positive parochialism", where I wanted to encourage an idea of a scene or music culture in Hobart. By sending the CD out and doing interviews with Noisey and other scenes as well, I'm getting it out there. I'm being open to outside stuff but also saying, "Yeah, this is part of Hobart. Part of our culture".