New shows announced + what's new at Dinosaur City Records

We’re excited to introduce ‘Leisure Coast Label Series’, a new initiative presented by Volumes in collaboration with ourselves and fellow South Coast record labels Farmer & the Owl, Spunk Records and Third Eye Stimuli.

We’ve just announced six new shows across Sydney (Oxford Art Factory) and Wollongong (La La La’s) from November 9 to November 11 as part of the series, featuring an all-star line-up of artists from our local roster, including Elmo Aoyama (who will be playing her very first Australian show), Nick Griffith, Greenwave Beth and Solo Career. They’ll be performing alongside the wonderful FLOWERTRUCK, Big White, Tees, The Oogars, e4444e and more.

For full line-ups and tickets, check our Facebook event page. Due to Covid restrictions, capacity at each show is limited – secure your tickets now and spread the word before they’re gone!

VIEW EVENTS

This year we’ve released new records from Nick Griffith, Elmo Aoyama, Gum Country and Cotillon, singles from Navy Gangs and NOCON, plus the Stay Inside: Songs from the Great Indoors compilation where we released a song (or two) per day throughout April – and there’s more to come! We’re excited to soon introduce stunning French artist Laure Briard to Australia, announce an exciting new local signing, plus share a hot new single from NOCON before the year comes to an end.

Check out our top five picks from this year below, or click here to hear the best of Dinosaur City Records 2020 so far.

1. NOCON ‘HOAX’

NOCON is the new Melbourne-based art-punk duo comprised of Jamie Timony (These New South Whales/MOSSY) and Jake O’Brien. A follow-up to skuzzy punk debut ‘AGAG’, ‘HOAX’ was recorded and produced remotely by Jamie and Jake during a winter in isolation. The track sticks to the parameters established with ‘AGAG’ (bendy guitars, driving bass), while leaning further into the band’s influences from trap, emo and cloud rap.

Learn more about NOCON via this interview which just went live on Deafen County, and follow them on Instagram to stay up-to-date with show announcements and new releases.

LISTEN TO ‘HOAX’

2. NAVY GANGS ‘SOMETIMES’

This August, New York-via-Nebraska rockers Navy Gangs dropped a sweet new single, ‘Sometimes’, which was written and recorded by Matt Tillwick during quarantine in Manhattan. Matt says of the new track, “While I am trying to be healthy, safe and sane while maintaining income, friendships and relationships, I’m feeling pretty stressed and drained by it all. ‘Sometimes’ is a reflection of these feelings.”

LISTEN TO ‘SOMETIMES’

3. ELMO AOYAMA ‘SPELLS’

Elmo Aoyama, best-known for her contributions to much-loved Sydney band Big White, has quickly made a name for herself with her new solo project and recently released EP ‘Spells’. An ambitious debut spanning dreamy synth ballads and industrial-pop anthems, singles ‘Spells’, ’21’ and ‘Summertime’ saw rotation adds on FBi Radio, Triple R and 3RTR, spins on KEXP, triple j and 2SER and praise from the likes of NME, Bandcamp, Deafen County, Weirdo Wasteland and Happy Magazine.

Check out ‘Spells’ now if you haven’t already, and don’t miss out on tickets to her debut Sydney show with FLOWERTRUCK and e4444e at Oxford Art Factory on Wednesday November 11.

LISTEN TO ‘SPELLS’

4. GUM COUNTRY ‘SOMEWHERE’

We discovered LA-via-Vancouver duo Gum Country when they played with Greenwave Beth at a bowling club in Eagle Rock, LA last March (feels like a lifetime ago now!). We released their debut album ‘Somewhere’ on bright pink vinyl and limited edition cassette in June and hope to tour the band here in Australia when Covid restrictions permit. ‘Somewhere’ received a stellar 7.2 review from Pitchfork, was Bandcamp’s Album of the Day, topped the KEXP charts and was warmly embraced by community radio here in Australia. The record saw praise from our favourite media outlets including Stereogum, Consequence of Sound, Northern Transmissions, The Line of Best Fit and Deafen County among others, and was added to Spotify’s mammoth ‘New Music Friday’, ‘Fresh Finds: Indie’ and ‘New Punk Tracks’ playlists. Go Gum Country!

There’s a high chance you’ve already heard tracks from ‘Somewhere’ on the radio, Spotify, Bandcamp or elsewhere. If not, check it out below!

LISTEN TO ‘SOMEWHERE’

5. NICK GRIFFITH ‘7AM’

triple j’s Dave Ruby Howe called Nick Griffith’s contribution to Sydney’s music scene over the years and over many projects “demi-god level good”, and he’s not wrong! Nick’s released music under Big White, Bored Shorts, Dream Dog, Bourgeoise Earth and more, with debut solo album ‘7am’ drawing praise from the likes of The Fader, The Music, Tone Deaf and Happy Magazine among others, a handful of plays on triple j and double j, plus feature album at FBi Radio and 2SER. We just received news it’s been nominated for the Australian Music Prize, too. We’ve still got a handful of Nick Griffith cassettes available on Bandcamp, plus you can stream 7am on Spotify, Apple Music, Bandcamp and everywhere else!

Nick will be playing a full-band show in Sydney for the very first time on Wednesday November 11 as part of the Leisure Coast Label Series. Get your tickets here.

LISTEN TO ‘7AM’

DINOSAUR CITY RECORDS IN THE NEWS

Nick Griffith ‘7am’ nominated for Australian Music Prize 2020

The Australian Music Prize has just revealed the first 52 albums nominated for the prestigious award, and Nick Griffith’s ‘7am’ is one of them, alongside other favourites of ours including e4444e’s ‘Coldstream Road’, Primo’s ‘Sogni’ and Gordon Koang’s ‘Unity’. View the full list of first round nominees here.

Secret 7″ – all proceeds to Choose Love

Secret 7″ is an anonymous charity record sleeve sale, this year raising funds for Choose Love, helping refugees. I was invited to participate in this year’s event, and have designed a one-off artwork for Bob Dylan’s ‘Blind Willie McTell’. You can read more about Secret 7″ via their website, and bid on your favourite artwork/s here (try spotting mine!).

Deafen County interview NOCON for this week’s Rendezvous

NOCON caught up with Deafen County to talk the process of making new music over email, YouTube samples and the value of humour in songwriting. You can read the whole thing here.

Dinosaur City Records X FBi Radio ‘For the Record’

A few months back, I spoke with FBi Radio about all things Dinosaur City Records. I gushed over my favourite bands (our entire roster) and shared my favourite memories of running the label so far (most of those took place on tour ). You can listen back to the whole thing here.