Unite To Help Save THE TOTE - Fight Back For Music

Unite To Help Save THE TOTE - Fight Back For Music

By Erin Eddy
Every heavy music punter in Melbourne knows The Tote. It has incubated and hosted some of this country's biggest acts, such as King Parrot, Amyl & The Sniffers, Magic Dirt, The Beasts Of Bourbon, The Datsuns, The Hard Ons, Mudhoney, The White Stripes and the list goes on.
The building itself is 152 years old, but has been operating as a live music venue since 1981. If you’ll allow me to do the maths for you, that’s 41 years of punk, rock and metal marinated into the walls of this iconic structure.
In recent months, The Tote has been put on the market; not simply the business but the entire building. It has a hefty price tag of 6.6 million dollars, and unsurprisingly the Melbourne music community is extremely nervous that we’re about to witness the demise of one of the city’s most important hubs for rock and roll.
The heroes of this story are power couple Shane and Leanne, who have been at the helm of another legendary Melbourne music venue, The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar, for around eight years now.
They have embarked on a quest which they have titled “The Last Chance To Save The Tote!”
Shane and Leanne have dedicated their entire adult lives to working in and running venues and they eat, sleep and breathe the city’s live music scene.
Shane says The Tote is a venue he has wanted to own and run for 20 years, and has been waiting for his chance to swoop in. But he was never expecting that when finally, his chance arose, that the sale would include the actual building itself, and therefore was not prepared for the price tag associated with that.
“I’ve wanted to run The Tote forever,” Shane told HEAVY, “simply because I love going to The Tote!”
“We knew that at some stage it would come up for sale, but we were kind of blindsided by the fact that the entire building was up for sale and the price that’s on it… it’s not doable.”
Shane isn’t exactly the type of person to let pesky finances deter him from a crusade to save this venue, however.
Together, he and Leanne and the patronage of The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar have begun a crusade to raise funds for half of the asking price of the building, in a bid to save it from falling into the hands of developers, who Shane fears will convert this piece of history into “shitty apartments.”
“With a six-million-dollar price tag, it’s unattainable for someone who is passionate about music,” Shane laments. He’s calling upon the Australian music community to rally and attempt to achieve the seemingly impossible and ensure magical music moments continue to take seed within the walls of The Tote.
The deadline is this Thursday April 6 th .
“The time is now,” Shane says. “Don’t protect the walls, protect what happens within those walls. If we’re going to let our most important venue die because some shitty investor has lots of money and they want to build apartments, then we can’t claim to be the live music capital of the world.”
If Shane and Leanne are successful at obtaining The Tote, the first thing they’re going to do is put the building in trust, so that it remains untouchable and a live music mecca forever.
Shane is one of the most enthusiastic, passionate, salt of the earth people we at HEAVY have had the pleasure of speaking with and his bid to save The Tote is nothing short of admirable.
Please listen to our interview to get the scoop straight from the horse’s mouth, then make sure you hit up www.facebook.com/thelastchancerockandrollbar for updates on the campaign, and more importantly, to make a donation.
No money pledged will be taken from your bank account until the start of May, and donations will only be extracted IF the guys are successful at meeting their target. So pledge today, you have nothing to lose, and can be a part of Melbourne music history if the target is met.
The Last Chance Rock & Roll Bar is also hosting a pledge drive spectacular this Monday the 3 rd and Tuesday the 4 th of April, which will be live streamed via YouTube, with some of the industry's most well known musicians getting involved.


Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

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Backstage Chats With PALAYE ROYALE At GOOD THINGS 2025

Backstage Chats With PALAYE ROYALE At GOOD THINGS 2025

HEAVY was lucky to again be invited backstage at Good Things 2025 to chat with the bands about their shows and other fun stuff. Today, Angela catches up with Palaye Royale.Big thanks to Destroy All Lines and the team at Dallas Does PR for allowing us to share the day with them. Big thanks also to the team - Kyra, Geoffro and Angela as well as our new video team, Grey & Brook. Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Joulu 14min

Backstage Chats With SCENE QUEEN At GOOD THINGS 2025

Backstage Chats With SCENE QUEEN At GOOD THINGS 2025

HEAVY was lucky to again be invited backstage at Good Things 2025 to chat with the bands about their shows and other fun stuff. Today, Angela tackles Scream Queen to get the low down.Big thanks to Destroy All Lines and the team at Dallas Does PR for allowing us to share the day with them. Big thanks also to the team - Kyra, Geoffro and Angela as well as our new video team, Grey & Brook.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Joulu 6min

Backstage Chats With WARGASM At GOOD THINGS 2025

Backstage Chats With WARGASM At GOOD THINGS 2025

Big thanks to Destroy All Lines and the team at Dallas Does PR for allowing us to share the day with them. Big thanks also to the team - Kyra, Geoffro and Angela as well as our new video team, Grey & Brook.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

14 Joulu 13min

Deeper Wells And Deeper Laughs: Dyssidia’s MITCH BRACKMAN Gets Real

Deeper Wells And Deeper Laughs: Dyssidia’s MITCH BRACKMAN Gets Real

Interview by Ali WilliamsIf you thought progressive metal was all serious faces and minor chords, think again. Mitch from Dyssidia joined HEAVY’s own Ali Williams for a wild, winding, and refreshingly unfiltered chat—spanning everything from vinyl snobbery to deadly Frisbees and Adelaide’s criminally underrated music scene.Dyssidia just dropped their sophomore album Deeper Wells of Meaning—only five years after their debut, because, you know, global pandemics and musicians’ creative “pauses.” Mitch spills on the pain of planning an album launch, only to have COVID crash the party two weeks later. The silver lining? More time to marinate, mature, and, presumably, stare at the ceiling thinking about vinyl colour options. Forget digital downloads; Mitch’s passion for vinyl is a religion. The band doesn’t just release albums—they curate tactile experiences. The latest artwork, painted by Adam Burke (with an actual brush—no AI here, people), is so gorgeous that Mitch reckons at least 20% of positive feedback is just fans drooling over the cover. Want a double LP with wild colours? Dyssidia’s got you. Want a band-branded stubby cooler? Even better—just watch out for Mitch’s plans to weaponize plastic frisbees at shows. Rock and roll, but with dental insurance. The band’s gearing up for their album launch in Adelaide, with Adriatic, Wings of Thanatos, and Kuiper joining the chaos. Touring across Australia is like prepping for the Olympics—distances are brutal, costs are bonkers, and sometimes even the koalas get confused by daylight savings. Perth fans: you’re loved, you’re loyal, but unless someone donates a private jet, don’t hold your breath for monthly Dyssidia visits.Dyssidia have re-joined forces with Wild Thing Records—mainly because the contracts are so chill they’re basically handshakes, and the friendships are the real glue. According to Mitch, it’s not about the business as much as it is about the hang. “Most of the time, you’re just trying to survive and connect with other bands, so your mini-tour isn’t just you in a van talking to yourself.”There’s no road map for being a modern prog-metal band. Dyssidia is all about that flexible, DIY, make-it-work spirit—embracing the weirdness of the times, working from home, and enjoying the freedom to create on your own terms. New music is brewing (eventually), Adelaide is still underrated, and at least Ali and Mitch are now Facebook friends. In the words of the great philosopher: Thanks babe.”Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

12 Joulu 18min

Backstage chats with ALL TIME LOW At GOOD THINGS 2025

Backstage chats with ALL TIME LOW At GOOD THINGS 2025

HEAVY was lucky to again be invited backstage at Good Things 2025 to chat with the bands about their shows and other fun stuff. Today, Angela gets cozy with All Time Low.Big thanks to Destroy All Lines and the team at Dallas Does PR for allowing us to share the day with them. Big thanks also to the team - Kyra, Geoffro and Angela as well as our new video team, Grey & Brook.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

11 Joulu 8min

Backstage Chats With YOURS TRULY At GOOD THINGS 2025

Backstage Chats With YOURS TRULY At GOOD THINGS 2025

HEAVY was lucky to again be invited backstage at Good Things 2025 to chat with the bands about their shows and other fun stuff. Today, Kyra and Angela get up close with Yours Truly. Big thanks to Destroy All Lines and the team at Dallas Does PR for allowing us to share the day with them. Big thanks also to the team - Kyra, Geoffro and Angela as well as our new video team, Grey & Brook.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

11 Joulu 13min

Living In A Perfect World With STEVE TULIPANA From SEASON TO RISK

Living In A Perfect World With STEVE TULIPANA From SEASON TO RISK

In 1994, Season to Risk had been on tour for the past four years, playing as a young opening band on legendary shows with Killdozer, Unsane, Neurosis, Prong and Killing Joke. Their first album had sold well, with songs charting on radio and getting music video airtime on MTV and Canada's Much Music. There was an opportunity to take advantage of the popular wave of alt rock and nu metal dominating the air waves and being signed unexpectedly to major label Columbia Records put them in the position that they had amazing support as artists, but also someone to answer to and the machine must be fed.The band decided instead to work with Martin Bisi (producer of Sonic Youth, Foetus, Swans, Cop Shoot Cop) and use their major label money to deliver a punishing post hardcore masterpiece of crushing noise rock, In A Perfect World. The album has become a cult classic and over the course of the past 30 years, some of the songs off In A Perfect World became mainstays in live shows.And now, Season To Risk have decided the time is right to revisit that timeless album, having In A Perfect World remastered by Duane Trower (Weights & Measures Soundlab), creating a reissue that gains new clarity without losing its raw urgency. Released on Record Store Day in the United States, In A Perfect World has been rejigged to embrace the modern sound, with Season To Risk using the experience to harness their focus and energy into live shows and a new record.Singer Steve Tulipana joined HEAVY to take us behind the scenes. We start by asking if the nerves are any different, releasing the same album three decades later."I mean, it's weird," he smiled, "It's 30 years old, which is kind of a trip obviously for us. To think about how much time has passed… It doesn't feel like 30 years ago by any means, which is over half my life. I'm more nervous because we have some US dates we're going to start. It's a pretty gruelling little run of shows we're doing, and we haven't done that in many, many years. So that's got me nervous, more than the record coming out".Going into In A Perfect World back in 1994, Season To Risk had just finished four years on the road and were understandably more than a little jaded. We ask Steve if this had any effect on the finished product."Yes, I do think we were (jaded)," he nodded. "So a lot of the material from the first record - and it's a cleaner record for sure - we were young, and it was our first material that you take a bunch of years to write. Then you get signed, and then it was delayed forever. We were always trying to challenge ourselves, and we were wanting to be more… it's not like it was incredibly conscious. I mean, we didn't want to sell out, but we were trying to find this heavy thing. We had some road on us, and we had some life experience on us at that point so it was darker and things were a little more fucked up. To be candid, I was a little more fucked up in my head, but that's the experience you go through, right?"In the full interview, Steve focused on the reissue of In A Perfect World, reflecting on the surreal nature of the album's 30-year anniversary. The remastering process was highlighted, with improvements made by guitarist Duane Trower being explained, although digital rights for a remastered version have not been granted by Sony, leaving fans without a digital option for now.The conversation also explored the band's artistic evolution, with Steve discussing their maturation and the incorporation of new elements like synthesizers in their upcoming material. The importance of clarity in lyrics while maintaining a unique sound was emphasized. We spoke about the release of a new album, with the aim for completion by the first quarter of the next year.Steve discussed the natural evolution of Season To Risk and how it has impacted their music and more.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

11 Joulu 23min

Backstage chats with COBRA STARSHIP At GOOD THINGS 2025

Backstage chats with COBRA STARSHIP At GOOD THINGS 2025

HEAVY was lucky to again be invited backstage at Good Things 2025 to chat with the bands about their shows and other fun stuff. Today, Angela sits down for an awesome one on one with Cobra Starship.Big thanks to Destroy All Lines and the team at Dallas Does PR for allowing us to share the day with them. Big thanks also to the team - Kyra, Geoffro and Angela as well as our new video team, Grey & Brook.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/heavy-music-interviews--2687660/support.

10 Joulu 8min

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