Get To Know PAK Records
PAK Records have spent the past decade finding new and diverse ways to bring music, events and artists to Adelaide’s local scene. Here, Jessi Tilbrook and Sam Szabo chat PAK’s evolution and why they won’t stay still.
Image by Jack Fenby
In 2013, Jessi Tilbrook couldn’t find the type of gigs and community she longed for in Adelaide. So, at 21, she decided to create an alt-music space the city craved. It was called Punk Ass Kids – a Wednesday club night at Rocket Bar that would host some of the country’s hottest emerging bands and a 300-thick mosh of sweaty uni students.
Today, Punk Ass Kids is all grown up. It’s tightened its name to PAK Records and expanded its events services to become a music label dedicated to the local scene. In ten years, Jessi, along with her long-term business partner Sam Szabo, have held more than 150 gigs across Adelaide.
They’ve hosted tens of thousands of people, each time finding new and creative ways to bring artists, sounds and experiences to diverse audiences.
“People have this perception that Adelaide isn’t very adventurous,” says Sam. “We’ve never really held that to be true. We always tried to do things that are more risk-heavy because we thought there was space to do so.”
Rewind to 2013, and then-uni student Jessi sent a professional pitch to Rocket Bar outlining how Punk Ass Kids would connect the dots between Adelaide’s alt-music scene and the city’s club space. “They called me up and said they were keen but could only offer me a Wednesday night,” she says. While she was hoping for a more alluring slot, Jessi agreed.
“It ended up being amazing because Punk Ass Kids became a destination. It wasn’t everyone hanging out on Hindley Street on the weekend looking for any old place to go. We had a dedicated scene.”
The niche it occupied in Adelaide meant the duo booked bands on the cusp of breaking into the big time. During their four-year residency at Rocket Bar, Punk Ass Kids hosted West Thebarton, Grenadiers and Bad//Dreems during some of their earliest years. When DZ Deathrays headlined the inaugural Punk Ass Kids Winterfest, Sam recalls hundreds headed to Hindley Street for the Wednesday night event.
“It was actual bedlam,” he says. “It wasn’t a ticketed event. You just had to come and hope you’d get in. The line went down past the Rosemont and onto Morphett Street.”
Routinely attracting such large crowds meant the pair could give local bands support slots and a ready-made audience. Horror My Friend, Druid Fluids, Young Offenders and Hydromedusa all cut their teeth playing the raised Rocket Bar stage. “I remember seeing Hydromedusa and they completely shattered my mind,” says Sam. “That happened routinely. A lot of bands took pride in playing and putting on a show there.”
In 2017, when Punk Ass Kids became PAK and said goodbye to their Rocket club nights, they set their eyes on the city. “We wanted to be more creative,” says Sam. This change saw the pair create a galactic universe in an old boat shed for a line-up featuring Press Club and Crocodylus; work with King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard; and even wrangle Queens of the Stone Age for a DJ set at Cry Baby.
Then, when 2021 rolled around, Jessi and Sam changed tack and started the independent label arm of PAK. Sam’s group, Baby Candy, was their ‘training wheels band’ before they signed with one of Adelaide’s most exciting acts, The Empty Threats.
“Sometimes I see an Empty Threats show and it feels like a religious experience,” says Jessi. “When they started sharing their recordings with us, I couldn’t believe how much I loved the songs.”
“We just had this kinship with them,” adds Sam. “It was a very natural collaboration.” Since then, they’ve signed post-punk six-piece Coldwave, folk-rock artist Ella Ion and Jessi’s band, Rocky’s Pride and Joy. This year, PAK Records has curated a national tour for The Empty Threats and will have helped release two albums and an EP by the end of the year. “When I’m old, I want to look through my record collection and see my friends,” chuckles Jessi.
“It’s always been artists first,” Sam says. “Whether it was the club night or what PAK is now, we’ve always tried to build a spotlight for an artist to exist in. We want to look back in five years and see this depth and breadth of a catalogue we’re proud to have played a part in.”
Stay in the loop with PAK Records at @pakrecords_ or online at pakrecords.com.au.
