13/06/2025
This Saturday night at Rising - Melbourne, catch Rip Van Hippy or DJ2 (Antediluvian Rocking Horse) as they perform seperate gigs in Little Bands.
(Antediluvian Rocking Horse) performs in part of the DJ Emsembles, 'Group E' which kicks off at 9pm at Wax Music Lounge.
Rip Van Hippy is part of the Cease and Desist : Little Bands at The Toff (Curtin House)
Free Entry
More info: https://2025.rising.melbourne/program/little-bands
Little Bands was a Melbourne band scene that ran parallel to punk in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Forty years later, the spark has been reignited for RISING 2025
It started when synth-punk mavericks Primitive Calculators were living in North Fitzroy, next door to fellow local renegade and electronic post-punk pioneer Ollie Olsen, who led the great Whirlywirld. Olsen was not only a central figure in the Little Bands scene but also played a crucial role in shaping underground music, influencing the electronic and alternative music landscapes, both at the time and in the years to follow.
Together, Primitive Calculators, Olsen, and the iconic Marie Hoy put on nights where side-projects would form to play once or twice for no more than fifteen minutes at a time. It was about attitude, not ability. If you were keen to stick it to the industry and make music for the sake of it, you were in. Equipment was shared. Non-musicians jammed with musicians. Experienced players searched out new instruments. Outfits with names like Too Fat to Fit Thru the Door and Thrush & The C***s, would storm on stage to blast out a set, then hang out to see what happened next. The divide between audience and performer dissolved into a surge of experimentation and creativity.