Thanks to Time Out Sydney here’s a guide to Sydney eats, beats and streets courtesy of Modular besties Ladyhawke (aka Pip Brown) and Van She lead singer Nick Routledge.
Best venue (as a punter)
Nick Routledge: “The Enmore Theatre. It’s got the balcony, which is massive and has a very old theatre feel to it, which I really like.” The Enmore Theatre, 118-132 Enmore Rd, Newtown 2042.
Pip Brown: ‘Spectrum – mainly because Sarah (Lanarch) who does all my artwork is a DJ there and I played there a few times. I heard that Hopetoun shut. That sucks. I played there too once.’ Spectrum, 34 Oxford St,
Darlinghurst 2010
Best venue (as a performer)
NR: “The Metro. It was the first place I saw bands that I really liked so it was a bit of an experience to play there. When you’re underage and you go and see your first show, you go to somewhere like the Metro and you’re underage and it’s really, really exciting.” The Virgin Mobile Metro, 624 George St, Sydney 2000.
Best pub
PB: ‘The Cricketers Arms. I love that pub. It remind me of a pub in Melbourne I worked in for two years called The Builder’s Arms before that got bought out and changed.’ The Cricketers Arms, 106 Fitzroy St, Surry Hills 2010
Best bar
NR: “Pocket Bar. It’s mad! You can get amazing crepes for like ten bucks and they make really good Margaritas too. The atmosphere is like a New York bar, a little bit like a Melbourne bar but more New York. It’s below street level so you can see people’s feet walking by.” Pocket Bar, 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst 2010.
Best club
NR: “La Campana’s GOODGOD SMALL CLUB in the Spanish quarter. A friend of ours just bought it. It just kind of feels like the new fun place where they play good music, rather than whatever’s on the internet.” GOODGOD at La Campana, 55 Liverpool St, Sydney 2000.
Best café
PB: ‘Fratelli Fresh in Potts Point. Just because it’s a place to meet friends rather than eat. I can’t have dairy and I don’t drink coffee.’ Fratelli Fresh, 81 Macleay St,
Potts Point 2011
NR: “I have a few cafés that I go to but my favourites are Single Origin and La Buvette. Single Origin do the best coffee, Tim from Cut Copy got me onto them. La Buvette’s got really good breakfast.” Single Origin, 60-64 Reservoir St, Surry Hills 2010. La Buvette, 35 Challis Ave, Potts Point 2011.
Best restaurant
PB: ‘Mad Mex. I love Mexican food and I would go there all the time for burritos.’
Mad Mex, 241-247 Crown St,
Darlinghurst 2010
NR: ‘Fratelli Paradiso. The menu is all written in Italian and the waiters have to read you out the menu. If you go there a lot, you kind of become part of the crew. When the guys from the band are in my area, we go down there if we feel like treating ourselves and spend a whole bunch of money.” Fratelli Paradiso, 16 Challis Ave, Potts Point 2011.
Best park
NR: “Arthur McElhone Reserve in Elizabeth Bay. You can just sit there and look at the water, and nobody else ever goes there.” Arthur McElhone Reserve, Billyard Avenue, Elizabeth Bay 2011.
Best record store
NR: “Ashwoods. It’s right next to the QVB. Michael [Di Francesco, Van She’s guitarist/synth whiz] got the whole back catalogue of America on vinyl the other day.” Ashwoods, 139 York St, Sydney 2000.
Best shop
PB: The Mac (Apple) store. But otherwise I do all my shopping on eBay. The Apple Store, 367 George St,
Sydney 2000
NR: “Incu at the Galeries Victoria. They’ve got really good clothes. My friend has a shoe label called Vanishing Elephant and he’s stocked only at Incu.” Incu, The Galeries Victoria, Shop RG 19-20, 500 George St, Sydney 2000.
Best art gallery
NR: “My brother just put an exhibition on called Go Font Ur Self* at the Peer Gallery so I guess I’d say that’s my favourite because my brother curates it.” Peer Gallery, 153 Bridge Road, Glebe 2037.
What Van She are doing right now
NR: “We’re writing a new record that will probably be out next year. I think we’re probably going to go to Japan at the end of the year for some shows and then we’ll probably go to the UK, but we’re just writing at the moment. We need to put our heads down and play guitar.”
What Ladyhawke is doing right now
PB: I’m having a short break in New Zealand with my family at the moment before starting my national tour. [Ladyhawke plays at the Enmore on Saturday 7 November]. Then I’m going to work on my second album. I’m planning on it being a bit different. I want to get most of it done over the summer. That’s me being really optimistic though.
Interviews: Pamela Proestos and Dan Rookwood
Check this extra stuff out from our bros at Time Out…
• Buy the Music Issue of Time Out Sydney (on sale in all good newsagents from tomorrow, Wednesday 28 October) and get a free mixtape download album featuring 11 exclusive tracks from Modular artists including Ladyhawke, Tame Impala, Van She, Wolfmother and Cut Copy
• Win tickets to see several of these artists perform live at Modular’s Christmas Party on 12 December
• Sign up to Time Out’s free weekly e-newsletter http://www.timeoutsydney.com.au/Newsletter.aspx
• Get six issues of Time Out delivered to your door for just $6 – and no obligation thereafter here.
• Vote in the Sydney Music Art and Culture awards here.
Title Image Provided by Van She
