Cheersquad

24/09/2025

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Posted • If you’re up bright and early tomorrow morning, tune in to RTRFM 92.1 for chats with Pam on the breaky show!

24/09/2025

Ash Santilla, the former front man of Melbourne indie rock band 67 Special, who released two albums in the mid-2000s, has spent the last decade battling a range of issues that have been challenging to say the least.

Stage 4 bowel cancer plus the impact of mental health would be enough to destroy anybody’s spirit; instead, the singer-songwriter has channelled much of his angst, anxiety, and depression into creating his forthcoming debut solo album, The Darker Side of Up, and it is without question an incredibly heartfelt and emotional offering.

The opening track and powerful first single was ‘Nightcrawler’. Alongside its equally intense, visceral, and confronting video clip, the dark rock song rises from the shadows of psychological torment and pharmaceutical failure. Over the eerie soundscape of an ominous guitar pulse and hammering piano, the stentorian voice of Santilla rings loud and clear, like a clarion call from deep within, before the chorus explodes and the tension and unease of the verses is released.

Now Santilla reveals the album's second single, the grand catharsis of 'Buckle and Belt'. It's a love song that delves into the complexities of devotion and the potential for emotional fragility in relationships, and one that had a lengthy gestation before being recorded for the album.

"I’ve not written many so-called ‘love songs’ in my time, but I think 'Buckle and Belt' is as close to one as I’ve come," Santilla confesses.

"It's about a person who claims he’d be everything he could for his partner, ‘the buckle, the stitching of her sharpest pant leg, the neck of her longest red dress’, but almost disclaims his devotion with a waiver that he, or his mind, may wander, and so this ‘devotion’ is ambiguous," he explains. "In the chorus, there's an implication that she, the heroine, knows more than she makes out. So really, both protagonists are aware of the frailty of the connection they have, because of the lead character's implied inability to be completely committed and to not “get blown by the wind.”

Beginning like a lost piece of music from the Dirty Three, the song evolves into a beautifully soulful piece of rich and stately gospel and rock. Santilla's commanding vocal is suitably bruised and delivered with raw, heart-laid-bare conviction. His voice elevated to even greater heights, courtesy of Olivia Bartley's harmonies.

Check out the single and video here
https://cheersquadrecordstapes.bandcamp.com/track/buckle-and-belt

Chris Familton Publicity

24/09/2025

Many thanks The AU Review for premiering the new single and video from Ash Santilla (67 Special)!

'Buckle and Belt', from the forthcoming album The Darker Side Of Up, is out tomorrow on Bandcamp and streaming.

"Buckle and Belt” is built upon rich and raw vocals and electric guitar, with harmonies from Olivia Bartley adding a gospel feel. With some lovely keys and a grandness reminiscent of Nick Cave, this is lush, soulful and poetic.”

The AU Review Chris Familton Publicity

Discover the best new music, travel, film, gaming, arts, food, culture and book content on Australia's premier independent online publication. Since 2008.

19/09/2025

Cheersquad Records & Tapes are proud to present the long-awaited first solo album SUPER! by much-loved Perth power pop/garage-punk artists Benny J Ward Music. Best known for fronting the Hoodoo Gurus' Perth regular support band of choice Rinehearts, whose 2023 Dom Mariani-produced album Full Bloom received raves around the world, Benny has been working towards the release of Super! for more than two years, when he first began recording the album's tracks and releasing them as a series of singles. The album is out on both Cheersquad Records & Tapes and US label Kool Kat Musik - with the limited edition hot pink 12” vinyl (100 only) and black 12” vinyl pressings and digital formats from Cheersquad and CD from Kool Kat - who both released that Rinehearts album.

Benny has also announced a Perth album launch, set to take place at Fremantle's Buffalo Club on Saturday October 4. Benny will be backed on the night by his home-based solo band Thee Teleprompters and supported by The Psychotic Reactions, Gunns and Bribes. A run of shows on the other side of country, with Benny's all-star East Coast combo Benny J & The Psych Ward, featuring members of Even and the Meanies, follows.

Buy the album!
https://bennyjward.bandcamp.com/album/super

See the shows! Tickets available from the venues.
Sep 21 - Carine Tavern, Perth w/You am I
Sep 28 - Buffalo Club, Fremantle (solo) w/ Davey Lane
Oct 4 - Buffalo Club, Fremantle ALBUM LAUNCH w/Psychotic Reactions, Bribes, Gunns
Oct 31 - The Bridge Hotel Castlemaine (solo) with The Meanies & Relays
Nov 1 - The Old Bar, Melbourne ALBUM LAUNCH
Nov 2 - Desert Highways Record Store (instore - 2PM - FREE)
Nov 3 - Young Street Tavern, Frankston (Cup Eve) w/ The Meanies & Public House
Nov 4 - The Tote, Collingwood (Cup Day) w/ The Meanies (7'' Launch), Budd, Relays
(Nov 1, 2, 3, 4 shows - Benny J & The Psych Ward, featuring Mark McCartney, Link Meanie and Matt Cotter)

Dave Laing Publicity

15/09/2025

WA & VIC - Benny J Ward Music is hitting the town!
Get on it, tickets on sale now, get 'em from the venues.

The Carine The Old Bar The Tote

15/09/2025

Only 10 copies of the purple vinyl left. Don't say we didn't warn ya!
https://cheersquadrecordstapes.bandcamp.com/album/i-cant-control-myself-born-to-be-punched

12/09/2025

Posted • Good folk of WA and in particular Fremantle! I will be launching my record over there in a matter of weeks! At the . I will be joined on the night by my dear man and supporting is the great who also has a great record of his own on the way. Tickets in the bio!

11/09/2025

The Meanies are set to release a new single and will be celebrating it with a run of shows in late October/early November.

Recorded 25 years ago by Shane O’Mara at his studio Yikesville, ’Shutdown' is seeing the light of day for the very first time. It’s not your average bear as far as The Meanies usual sound goes but hey, a change is as good as a holiday and they can’t afford one of those right now.

With a b-side featuring Frenzal Rhomb and Perth punks The Leeches doing renditions of Meanies classics 'Play This Song Each Night' and 'Scum', the single will be released on October 9.

Link says, “'Shutdown' is sonically The Meanies at their sexiest. Bono would say 'this record has hips' to which I'd reply, 'p**s off Bono you pretentious t**t'. You can dance to this one. I can't, I'm a terrible dancer.”

The single will be available on limited edition translucent red 7” vinyl and limited-edition gold 7” vinyl (250 of each colour) through a joint venture between Cheersquad Records & Tapes and Fantastic Mess Records. All covers will be hand-numbered. Cover art is by Link and Glenno Art - art by Glenn Smith.
Pre order your copy here
https://cheersquadrecordstapes.bandcamp.com/album/shutdown

To celebrate the new single, The Meanies will play a small run of shows, including a Melbourne Cup Day afternoon show at The Tote on Tues November 4 alongside Budd, Benny J & The Psych Ward and RELAYS as part of the Tote's 2 Years Reborn series of shows. Doors open 2PM.

Come and see The Meanies.
Friday 31 Oct - Bridge Hotel, Castlemaine
Tickets https://www.oztix.com.au/?requestedEventId=bef06735-5107-45e4-b04e-648c9c92bfeb

Cup Eve Mon 3 Nov -Young St Tavern, Frankston VIC
https://events.humanitix.com/the-meanies-live-young-street-tavern

Fri 7 Nov - Islington Barracks Hotel, Newcastle NSW
http://bigtix.com.au/the-meanies

Sat 8 Nov - Petersham Bowls Club NSW
https://events.humanitix.com/the-meanies-shutdown-single-launch

10/09/2025

Al Matcott's debut album, Summer’s Coming, was a full-throated howl against global warming and the forces behind it. Featuring caterwauling guitars, driving rhythms, and incisive lyricism, it earned him a Double J feature album.

Now the Naarm/Melbourne artist is stoked to announce that his follow-up album, Fake The Days Away, will be released on Cheersquad Records & Tapes on October 17.

You can pre-order your copy now on blue and white regranulated 12" vinyl or digitally
https://cheersquadrecordstapes.bandcamp.com/album/fake-the-days-away

'Fake The Days Away' often explores how the electronic hallucinations of the internet have pushed reality and nature aside and are now, foot-to-the-floor, driving us into a death spiral of lies, paranoia, hate, and—above all—utter, dogsh*t stupidity.

The album touches on themes of loneliness and isolation, toxic masculinity, Ben Roberts-Smith, liars and fake people, and the importance of friendship. Strikingly, the album is counterbalanced by some of Matcott’s most personal writing. There’s even a love song.

Sonically, it dials down the distortion of Summer’s Coming, with a lush, varied, and more naturalistic sonic palette. What remains is his penchant for earworm melodies, the rich timbre of his vocals, and his engrossing narratives. Folk and country meet garage and psychedelic rock as Matcott turns his earworm melodies and memorable one-liners to the hyperreal wasteland of our digital lives.

Ahead of the album's release, Matcott gives us a second taste, the opening track 'All Night'. It's a compelling statement of indie rock, overflowing with vocal, guitar, and bass melodies all surging along with invigorating momentum as Matcott writes about the feeling of limerence (“a state of involuntary infatuation with another person, characterised by obsessive thoughts and a longing for reciprocation of feelings”).

As Matcott explains, "'All Night' was inspired by the poetry of Alejandra Pizarnick. The song explores the stark contrast between how obsessive and all-consuming night can be, in contrast with the barren desert of the morning after."

Listen here
https://cheersquadrecordstapes.bandcamp.com/track/all-night

Chris Familton Publicity

10/09/2025

2025 marks the 20th year of The Jimmy C, the solo home recording project of 48 year old Australian multi-instrumentalist, “drummer/songwriter”, husband and father, Jamie Coghill. Since 2005 he has recorded 9 albums, 4 soundtrack albums for American independent film & T.V. and a few miscellaneous singles and EPs. He writes all the songs, plays all the instruments and records, mixes and masters all the recordings by himself (he even does his own graphic design).

To celebrate this impressive milestone, The Jimmy C and Cheersquad Records & Tapes are, for the rest of 2025, giving away a 20 song career retrospective/best of/anthology collection - completely free!

Check it out here
https://thejimmyc.bandcamp.com/album/twenty-years-of-the-jimmy-c

09/09/2025

Posted • ARTIST PROFILE:

Appearing at for the first time, please welcome the sublime folk sounds of Dutch-born, Melbourne-based Joyce Prescher!

Joyce, renowned for her two acclaimed albums, will captivate the Skyline crowd with her introspective songwriting and poetic lyricism. Her slow-burning songs, shaped by her European roots, feature subtle, evocative storytelling, showcasing her unique gift for crafting compelling narratives. Most recently, Joyce has been collaborating with Lachlan Bryan (The Wildes, The Pleasures) on a new series of covers, as she explains.

“I’m currently working on a duets project with Lachlan where we are revisiting some of my much loved bands from the days I was still living in the Netherlands. We’ve released two singles so far: ‘My Heroics’ (Absynthe Minded) and ‘Nothing Really Ends’ (dEUS), and we’re still in the studio working on more!”

These new releases highlight Joyce’s strength as both a curator and interpreter, breathing new life into songs from her youth and connecting her roots with the Australian folk landscape.

“There are some great acts on the line-up,” agrees Joyce as she looks down the impressive list of acts on this year’s bill. “I’m very much looking forward to catching , and is really great, but I’m looking forward to getting some new music in my ears too,” she enthuses. “I find that’s the beauty of festivals. The joint discovery of your next favourite artist and the memories that are forever tied to the music!”

🎶Head over to dashville.com.au to secure your tickets!

08/09/2025

Posted • ARTIST PROFILE: & The Cactus Flowers

We love welcoming international artists to , to share in the communal vibe and Australian bush festival experience. Canadian-born and raised, Meghan Maike is truly an international artist, having also spent seven years living in Clarksdale, Mississippi, and now firmly based in Naarm/Melbourne.

Born into folk and honed in country, Maike’s singer-songwriter influences range from Emmylou, Gram, Neil and Lucinda, to indie heroes, The Sadies. Her most recent release is the Americana swagger and sway of her 2023 album Dead Horse Creek (Cheersquad).

“It was written when I was living in Clarksdale, recorded in Ventura, California, and released in Melbourne, Australia, back out to the world! So I suppose the record has done a bit of travelling to truly be realised, much like myself,” she says. “The songs are deeply personal stories, but tap into core human experiences so (hopefully) resonate with others. Songwriting is a way for me to express my heart of hearts without going entirely insane - kind of externalising something to look at it from the outside in, if that makes sense!”

A first-time Dashville attendee, Meghan is super stoked to get to Wonnarua country after hearing so much about the festival. “I’ve heard so many great things, so I am very excited! What appeals to me is the boutique-ness, the intimate vibe, and the natural setting. I used to coordinate small festivals (much smaller than this) back in Mississippi, and what I loved about them was that it was as much for the artists and staff as it was for the attendees. There are so many more meaningful interactions, a certain personal touch, the magic of a shared experience - and I think that extends to the performances as well!”

For all festival and ticket info, head over to: https://www.dashville.com.au/dashvilleskyline