Videos

The Other Option Documentary: Australian Bands in Southeast Asia

I recently discovered that, besides BANANA PUNK RAWK TRAILS, others are producing interesting work on Malaysian, Indonesian and Singaporean hardcore punk.  The Other Option is a recent documentary on Australian punk and hardcore bands and their touring routes to Southeast Asia. Check the official trailer here:

Intrigued by it, and especially because I lived in Australia in 2009, I immediately contacted director Rohan Thomas to ask him why he decided to get involved in such a project. I also wanted to know if it’s true that, as I thought, Southeast Asia has become a crucial territory for the promotion and touring of Australian hardcore punk bands.

The following is an interview I conducted with Rohan by email in December 2015.

What moved you to investigate this particular topic?

I used to run a punk rock podcast before working on this film. For my third show I interviewed a band from the Gold Coast called Not OK who had just toured South East Asia. Two things jumped immediately out at me. First, there was a punk scene in South East Asia – and I wondered, what it was like?

Second, I just saw Not OK play a local show in front of about 10 people. How did they go from this to playing a 12 date overseas tour in Asia to packed rooms and festivals? Once I started investigating these two questions, I thought that the history of Australia and Southeast Asian punk rock touring was interesting enough to try and document it. Continue reading The Other Option Documentary: Australian Bands in Southeast Asia

ANGKARA play at the Book Launch

The launch at 216 Beach Street last November 28th was a succcess!!

Thanks to Gerak Budaya, Penang Institute and George Town Literary Festival for letting us bring some punk rawk into their programme!

Speedwitches, the Garrison, ANGKARA and Coma rocked it out pretty hard… see this short clip from ANGKARA‘s performance to get an idea.

Did you get your copy of the book yet?