Northcote the new St Kilda?

Northcote the new St Kilda?

August 12, 2005

http://www.theage.com.au/news/opinion/northcote-the-new-st-kilda/2005/08/11/1123353447391.html

"I moved to Northcote 12 years ago," says Mick Thomas, "and everyone said I was nuts." They're not saying the singer-songwriter-playwright and former Weddings, Parties, Anything frontman is nuts any more. According to new stats, Northcote has more songwriters than any other suburb in Victoria. Does that mean Northcote is the new St Kilda? The Triffids' late legendary founder, Dave McComb, lived in Northcote. Nick Barker has recently moved north. My Friend the Chocolate Cake's David Bridie has given years to the suburb as have the Whirling Furphies' Frank Jones, and Kavisha Mazzella.

This musical energy finds expression later this month in the Darebin Music Feast, which will feature, among others, Mazzella in three acts — with the Italian Women's Choir accompanying the silent movie Dall'Italia all'Australia, playing with her band, and leading a BYO vocal cords event called The Big Sing.

Things were different in the old days, says Thomas wistfully. "When I first came to Northcote, I'd been living in the Punters Club in Fitzroy and it did feel like moving to the outback. Everything I did had to start with a 15 to 20-minute cab ride. Now when you go into the Northcote Social Club, you're always running into people — it's like going to the Punters or the Prince or the Espy circa 10 years ago." Real estate agent Kerry Davis reckons the space and greenery are part of the attraction. "It's not just musicians who are coming here, it's people across the whole arts spectrum," she says. "The bigger houses here lend themselves to the communal living that a lot of artists enjoy."

So what are the Northcote landmarks, the equivalents to Richmond's clock on the silo that says 11 degrees? Davis reckons the Westgarth picture theatre is worth a tune, and the parklands that surround the suburb down to the Fairfield boatsheds. My Friend the Chocolate Cake have sung about (John) Cain Avenue, near Dennis railway station. But you can't beat a good shopping mall. Thomas has written the seminal track, Northcote Plaza, while Mazzella's instrumental Tarantella di Northcote Plaza attempts to describe what would happen if all the old Italian guys standing around in groups talking at the plaza suddenly started playing accordions.