Soundwave general manager Chris O’Brien, a.k.a. the guy AJ Maddah tells you to talk to when he doesn’t have the answers himself, has confirmed he has taken over booking gigs for Melbourne live music establishment Sooki Lounge.
Speaking to The Music just a few months out from Soundwave 2016, O’Brien said his new post will hopefully raise the profile of the Victorian music spot and will not be affecting his position at Soundwave.
“Essentially I’m just coming on board to help lift the profile of the venue and help the new owners out,” he said. The venue is located in Belgrave, not far from O’Brien’s home in the hills of the Dandenong Ranges.
“It’s one of those venues that do everything. We have monthly comedy nights, we’ve got Cal Wilson, Tom Gleeson and Dave O’Neill coming up. But we do jazz, blues, rock, pop, punk – literally anything and everything,” he said.
Meanwhile, the venue, which O’Brien described as “a beautiful room”, hosts live music each Thursday, Friday, and Saturday night, with the likes of Tex Perkins, Shihad frontman Jon Toogood, and Ash Grunwald all set to perform in the coming months.
O’Brien also made it clear he’ll be thinking outside the Soundwave box when booking the venue. “I just put the word out that the venue is open for business and that there’s good production, there’s a great restaurant there and a beer garden as well,” he said.
Speaking of Soundwave, O’Brien wasn’t able to hand over that much coveted lineup announcement date, though he did say it’s “not too far” away. “We’re just re-theming the event at the moment, just from an artwork perspective,” he said.
“So once that’s done which should hopefully be in the next few days, we’ll be ready to lock down the announcement and get it all cracking.” Head on over to the official Sooki Lounge website for more info and details on upcoming gigs.
