Next Stop: Stokes
Fuelled by a love of garage rock and DIY gigs, Mount Gambier’s Stokes hit the road for their first tour with their hometown pride in tow.
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Hey Stokes! Tell us a little bit about yourselves. What should we expect from your set?
Stokes came about in 2018 when we were together in high school, and we’ve never stopped since because it’s the best thing for us. You can expect to hear songs from our EP (which we’ve just pressed on vinyl), new releases, plus some unreleased material. There’s a bit of variety, which we love – laid back bluesy grooves, rough garage and punk.
What do you hope to learn from this tour?
We’ve done shows two nights in a row before, but this will be the first time we do it as a tour. So, it’ll be cool to experience travelling together with [other] bands, navigating cities and making sure to pace ourselves for multiple shows – all the things that make a show happen that aren’t directly related to just being on a stage.
The Shadow Ministers and Stimpies are joining you on tour. What do you hope they take away from the Berrin scene?
We hope they can view Mount Gambier as a prime spot to stop for a regional tour through SA and VIC. Even though they will be playing to a mostly unknown crowd, we’re sure they’ll pick up a lot of new fans once they get on stage at The Globe. We know our audience will be there, because they always are for us, and they will totally love these bands.
What do you hope this tour achieves overall?
For us, hopefully we can make new meaningful connections, especially in Melbourne, where it’ll be our first time performing. Beyond us, we hope this tour can help to put Mount Gambier on the map for touring artists. We’re located equal distance from Adelaide and Melbourne and have about 30,000 people living here. It just makes sense for artists doing regional tours to consider Mount Gambier.
You’re very proactive in your hometown, even hosting house gigs. How do you hope this helps your local scene? Any advice for locals looking to get started?
We do these things for all sorts of reasons. They’re fun and people love to get involved, but also, because there’s a lack of established music venues in our area. However, one thing our region is good for is community. Our backyard show Live at the Wireless brought together all sorts of performers – pros and newbies – and these musicians were from all over the region (Penola, Port MacDonnell, East Allendale and Photo: Supplied Millicent). We ended up having about 150 heads turn up, which is ridiculous.
Our advice to locals… is try to get involved in town as much as you can, both attending gigs and performing. Once you feel you’ve got your sound dialled in and people enjoy your work, have a crack at reaching beyond Mount Gambier and getting a show in a city like Adelaide. Also, when opportunities like Beer & BBQ Festival’s Untapped tour come to Mount Gambier, don’t miss those – they can give you the chance to get on a major festival in Adelaide. And make sure you’re having fun, too!
See Stokes play alongside The Shadow Ministers and Stimpies at the Crown & Anchor (ADL, June 12), The Globe (Mt Gambier, June 13) and The Penny Black (MELB, June 14). All shows are FREE to attend.
