Create NSW announces 12 new screen productions for the state

Screen production in NSW continues to boom with 12 new projects set to go into production with the support of the NSW Government. ‘Create NSW’ CEO Michael Brealey said the screen productions, which include drama and factual programs, will receive investment through Create NSW’s Production Finance Program, Made in NSW and Regional Filming Fund initiatives….

Read more

The Jewish International Film Festival will kick off its program with screenings of Jungle

The Jewish International Film Festival (25th October – 22nd November) will host four screenings of Jungle, the incredible real life survival story of Australian based Israeli entrepreneur Yossi Ghinsberg, by Wolf Creek director Greg McLean. Tickets are on sale now for Sydney, Melbourne, Perth and Canberra audiences, with a special Q&A with Yossi Ghinsberg following…

Read more

The Australian Winter Road Trip: Byron Bay to Kingscliff (Part Two)

Teaming up with Camplify and Destination NSW, we are discovering the very best winter vibes of Byron Bay and NSW northern coast, tasting the culinary scene, and enjoying the region’s stunning natural landscapes. In the second half of our trip along the east coast (look back on the first half) we plunge into the thriving culture and experience…

Read more

Liza Lim, Andrea Keller amongst winners of the 2017 Art Music Awards

The winners of the 2017 Art Music Awards were revealed overnight in Sydney, with 11 awards being doled out across a range of national and state categories. Celebrating the works of Australian composers, educators and performers, the Art Music Awards took place at the City Recital Hall for its seventh year. Liza Lim emerged as a double-winner,…

Read more

Win a double pass to see Angels In Amercia starring Andrew Garfield in Melbourne

America in the mid-1980s. In the midst of the AIDS crisis and a conservative Reagan administration, New Yorkers grapple with life and death, love and sex, heaven and hell. This new staging of Tony Kushner’s multi-award winning two-part play, Angels In America is directed by Olivier and Tony award winning director Marianne Elliott, and stars…

Read more

Book Review: Fiona Horne’s The Naked Witch proves there are many feathers to a witch’s hat

Fiona Horne is a witch but she could also be considered an “onion.” In her memoir, The Naked Witch she strips away the layers and gives readers a raw and honest account of her life. This enables readers to delve deeper and deeper into different layers and just when you think you have her all…

Read more

POPSART: Danielle Cormack as Hedda and four world premieres as Queensland Theatre launches 2018 season

Start booking your tickets to Brisbane theatre folk, it’s going to be a stellar year for treading the boards in the Northern state! Launching the Queensland Theatre’s 2018 program earlier this week, Sam Strong presented an exciting, bright, fresh season that celebrates diversity and Australian stories. Contained in their programme for the new year are four world premieres,…

Read more

Adelaide Festival announce Australian premiere of Brett Dean’s opera Hamlet

After dazzling audiences and critics alike at its recent world premiere, produced by the renowned Glyndebourne Festival Opera, in the UK, Neil Armfield‘s production of Australian composer Brett Dean‘s masterpiece Hamlet, conducted by Nicholas Carter, is set to make its Australian debut in March, with an exclusive season at the 2018 Adelaide Festival. Hailed as…

Read more

You can now get meat pie burgers in Melbourne

We’re surprised someone didn’t think of this sooner to be honest. Melbourne’s popular St Kilda Burger Bar (STKBB) are slinging a different kind of burger special to celebrate the AFL finals series, pushing out a very, very ‘Strayan hybrid food that takes the ever-loved burger and mashes it up with a meat pie. Dubbed “The…

Read more

The Long Room transforms into The George on Collins

The iconic George building’s basement bar, The Long Room, recently underwent a huge $4million transformation to become The George on Collins. During its 12 years of operation, the bar was a hotspot for after work drinks for many of Melbourne’s young corporate hustlers. But owners Greg Kahan and Simon Jones decided it was due time…

Read more

Batch Brewing Co.’s Iain McKelvey on running a community minded brewery & producing damn good beer

We at the AU are honoured to have Batch Brewing Co. on board as sponsors for our upcoming 9th Birthday Party in Sydney. Now a staple of the Marrickville scene, we caught up with Iain McKelvey to talk about the origins of the group, running a community minded brewery and producing damn good beer… How did Batch Brewing Co. get…

Read more

The Best Gifts for Dad in Australia this Father’s Day

Father’s Day fast approaches on Sunday, September 3rd, and those who plan early can often find some of the best gifts around. Make sure you’re not leaving these ones to the last minute, because they are surely going to be the popular gift choices as the big day creeps towards us. From a beer curating…

Read more

Interview: Queens of the Stone Age’s Mikey Shoes talks Villains & the hunt for an individual creative authenticity

Only weeks ago, Queens of the Stone Age marked their return to Australian shores with a blistering run of shows that saw the Americans begin to introduce fans to their new album Villains, due for release this Friday. A few hours before their final show in Melbourne took place, I was ushered into artist catering, where bass…

Read more

Interview: Adam Brand on his anticipated return to the Gympie Music Muster

The Gympie Music Muster kicks off this Thursday through to Sunday, celebrating mates, music and making a difference. Now in its 36th year, it boasts an all-Australian line-up featuring hundreds of performances across five stages, covering genres such as country, bluegrass, folk, blues and rockabilly. Golden Guitar winner, Adam Brand returns.

Read more

‘Your Choice’ becomes key motto as Falls Festival celebrates its silver jubilee in 2017

The beloved Falls Festival turns 25 this year and in its release of the first line up for the summer event tour dropping today, it’s evident that the crew behind Falls are making their silver jubilee one to remember. The international visitors to stages in Lorne, Fremantle, Byron and Marion Bay over New Year’s are largely…

Read more

Exclusive Single Premiere: Horace Bones “The Rats” (2017)

Horace Bones are fast gaining a reputation for their live shows; vocalist Oisin Kelly emanates a kind of fascinating instability, the band at once formidable and so, so enjoyable. Today, we bring you Horace Bones contained in a recording, an exclusive premiere of their third single for 2017, “The Rats”. Danny Cockburn‘s grinding and gritty bass riffs underlie…

Read more

Naomi Keyte and Letters to Lions join the AU’s 9th Birthday line up

The AU’s 9th Birthday Party is a little more than a week away (next Wednesday!) and yet we’ve still got plenty of surprises up our sleeves! Joining up with The Lansdowne and Batch Brewing Co. for our 2017 event, our ninth birthday celebration has already brought together a line up of live music featuring  Bad…

Read more

Melbourne International Film Festival Review: The Killing of a Sacred Deer (USA/UK, 2017) is the product of skilful filmmaking

It’s not often that an art-house thriller comes together so perfectly to create an unsettling horror capable of antagonising your thoughts even after you’ve walked out the cinema doors. But that is exactly what The Killing of a Sacred Deer does, the fifth feature film of Greek auteur Yorgos Lanthimos. As a darkly comic rendition…

Read more

Amy Winehouse exhibition set to make music lovers fall in love with the songstress all over again

Six years ago, the world lost a musical soul that will forever leave an imprint on your heart. Amy Winehouse was a young singer-songwriter at the peak of her career when it all came tumbling down. Tragically, we lost her but her music truly does live on. Amy Winehouse: A Family Portrait is a personal…

Read more

Win a double pass to see Yamato the Drummers of Japan in Sydney

Since 1993, Yamato have performed in 53 countries around the world, reaching over 6 million people, making them the most prolific Japanese performing art group to tour internationally. Yamato are the epitome of the Japanese spirit and bring new life to the traditional Japanese taiko and wadaiko drums by paying respect to its rich history…

Read more

Tina Arena to play Evita at the Sydney Opera House

A decade since her last stage musical, Tina Arena will take on the role of Eva Peron in Evita at the Sydney Opera House in September next year. The much loved Australian star will join legendary Director Hal Prince, winner of 21 Tony Awards, in re-creating the original West End and Broadway production created by Tim Rice…

Read more

Music Video of the Day: Stu Larsen “Chicago Song” (2017)

Stu Larsen has been living that global troubadour life for years now, becoming a well-known and acclaimed performer through Europe and the US, while remaining a favourite amongst local circles in Australia as well. His travels, clearly, serve as apt inspiration for new music and in his delivery, Larsen communicates his narrative with beautiful nuance…

Read more

Win a double pass to see Sarah McLeod in Sydney or Melbourne!

Sarah McLeod has been celebrating the release of her new album Rocky’s Diner recently and is now at that long-awaited moment where she’s able to bring the music to life with fans everywhere. She’s bringing Rocky’s Diner to the east coast this week, playing the Workers Club in Melbourne and as part of the Sydney Guitar Festival…

Read more

Single of the Day: Alvvays “Plimsoll Punks” (2017)

Toronto’s Alvvays are gearing up to release their second album, Antisocialites, one that hasn’t been without a considerable amount of hype. We’ve already heard (and dug) “In Undertow” and “Dreams Tonite”; this week, we’ve gotten a new dose of Antisocialites in “Plimsoll Punks”. The single shows the Canadians further embracing some smooth surf vibes, while the injection of…

Read more

Paul Kelly’s Australian tour comes off the back of Life Is Fine‘s chart debut at #1

It’s slightly hard to believe but over the weekend, Paul Kelly achieved a career first in gaining his first #1 charting album. The latest from one of Australia’s most iconic songwriter’s, Life is Fine, debuted at the top of the ARIA Album Chart, following a week of acclaim surrounding the album coming from all corners of the…

Read more

New Music to Listen to This Week (21st August 2017)

Welcome to another round up of the best new finds in music of the past week. This time round you’ll find charming new stuff from Sydney’s Body Type, a noisy new single by Siamese plus Grizzly Bear’s recent return. Get listening below! ———- This content has recently been ported from its original home on The…

Read more

UNSOUND Adelaide returns as its own independent music festival in November

The Unsound Festival was one of the main drawcards of the Adelaide Festival program between 2013 and 2016 for many experimental music fans; the themed concert series drew music lovers in from around the country for its eclectic and unique line up, while on an industry level, Unsound enjoyed much critical acclaim during its time under…

Read more

Gamescom 2017: Overwatch‘s latest map Junkertown finally brings the game to Straya

Blizzard’s Gamescom 2017 briefing was full of details for upcoming content, but among the most entertaining announcements was that the developer’s popular team shooter Overwatch would finally be getting a fully-fledged, Australian-themed map.

Read more

Gamescom 2017: Age of Empires 4 announced, headed by Homeworld, Dawn of War developer

After 12 years of dutiful remakes, remasters and rereleases of the wildly popular medieval strategy series by the now defunct Ensemble Studios (RIP), Age of Empires 4 has finally been announced.

Read more

Gamescom 2017: Ubisoft reveals a stylish new cinematic trailer for Assassin’s Creed: Origins

While Assassin’s Creed: Origins may have been revealed at this year’s E3, that didn’t stop Ubisoft from showing us yet another fresh look at the newest Assassin’s Creed entry.

Read more