“Hey Sydney – When’s it gonna be enough? The street violence and blatant disregard for other human beings lives and safety is out of control.”
That’s the plight of Aussie rock five-piece Strangers after one of their bandmates was viciously assaulted in the suburbs of Sydney over the weekend – the second case of an Aussie band being involved in an allegedly unprovoked attack this year.
Strangers Drummer ‘Bashed’ In Unprovoked Assault
Strangers drummer Timmy Hansen was the victim of a group bashing on Saturday (15th February) at around 3.30am in which he was “jumped by 8 men [and] beaten to a bloody pulp for absolutely no reason” as the band explained in a Facebook post alerting their fans to the unprovoked attack.
In a statement explaining the incident, the drummer says he sustained “multiple facial lacerations and severe bruising, abrasions to my limbs, facial swelling over the left side of my forehead, cheeks, and eyes. My front four top teeth (which were dentures from a previous car accident) were destroyed during the assault.”
Hansen says he was bout three blocks from home when he and his housemate saw “approximately 4 males in their early 20s attempting to break into a picture frame shop.” The pair attempted to intervene and “scare them away but then noticed another 3-4 males… before I knew it, I’d been hit by the other men and collapse to the ground in a daze,” recounts the musician.
“My housemate managed to drag me away from the attackers,” says Hansen but “he was also assaulted in the process while trying to free me. When the group realised I was limp and saw the damage that I had sustained they fled down Evans Street towards Balmain.” Shortly after the police were contacted and surveyed the scene while an ambulance was called to take the drummer and his friend to hospital.
(Image: Timmy Hansen post-assault. Source: Strangers Facebook page)
The attack is the latest in what’s been a drastic rise in street violence and alcohol-related assaults in Sydney of late. The NSW Government has vowed to curb the rising problem with a spate of tough new measures – including 1:30am lockouts, 3am last drinks, and statewide closure of bottle shops from 10pm – despite the harm they will do to Sydney’s live music scene (as the likes of MusicNSW, The Preatures have all warned).
Hansen Speaks Out About Attack
Speaking to Tone Deaf on Monday afternoon, the Strangers drummer was keen to not let the incident be used as a positive reinforcement for the impending new Sydney lockout laws.
“That’s what I definitely didn’t want this to come out as,” explains Hansen, emphasising the random nature of the assault while expressing concerns that the State Government’s imposing new measures to curb such street violence may in fact contribute to their rise.
“I don’t believe in the lockout laws and I never have,” says Hansen. “These lockouts are just going to bring everybody out into the street… at any point in time, and have people just consume more alcohol earlier on in the night,” he adds.
“We struggle in Sydney as it is anyway for shows, to see local bands,” he continues. “The Annandale Hotel wouldn’t have anything like this happen inside – neither would the Oxford Art Factory, it’s all when you’re out on the street afterwards, mingling with other people that these things can get out of hand.”
Hansen says the new laws will merely be a temporary “band aid” tat don’t get to the heart of the issue.
“I definitely don’t see it as a better solution… It doesn’t matter if they can be open for longer or they bring out the lockout, there are still going to be these sort of people around and that’s where the issue is, that’s where it begins – the actual people that are out there looking for these fights that aren’t educated about what could potentially happen and the consequences of it.”
More Live Music Is The Solution, Not Lockouts
Echoing the sentiments of INXS guitarist Tim Farriss’ comments that more live music could provide the solution to curbing alcohol-related violence, Hansen says he “totally agrees” that live music can help stave off boredom and reduce friction; “the more times you have something to engage your brain and have a good time, the better.”
“We are starved for entertainment here,” says Hansen of the Sydney live music scene, “all your nightclubs and DJs and that sort of thing – the lockout will definitely affect that – but as more venues, better venues that are easier to get to – it’s more of the same crowd in the same place that enjoy the same thing and that’s where you’ll minimise more of these assaults… These [attackers] could have been at a rock and roll show having a good time and getting rid of their energy in different ways.”
Strangers Working On New Material
In more positive news, Hansen says Strangers are in the midst of putting the “last minute touches” to pre-production for a follow-up to their full-length 2012 debut album Persona Non Grata, due approximately mid-year. “We’re looking at probably heading back into the studio in the next month or two, begin tracking it,” says Hansen, “That’s been a priority over the last six months.”
Hansen says that he’s on the way to making a full recovery, with a follow-up post on the Strangers Facebook page thanking fans for their overwhelming support and noting “apart from some nasty swelling and the lack of a few teeth, I am on the mend and will be back behind the kit in no time at all.”
Adding: “Instances like this need to stop. I don’t know the best way for it to happen, but I truly believe that curfews and closing down live music venues is not the answer. Let these kids offload their energy sweating it out at a rock show enjoying some live music instead of taking it out on the next unlucky person to be walking by due to boredom.”
