ologism

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Ologism - live at the Royal Society of Victoria!

The Royal Society of Victoria and Ologism have been trying to organise a gig for ages, but these two highly respected entities have not been able to get our diaries to match. They didn’t have a building until 1859, then it was either one thing or another for either them or us.

If RSV weren’t organising and sponsoring the Burke and Wills expedition, we were shooting a music video on top of the Dish. If they weren’t busy with a visit from the HMS Challenger, we were doing gigs around Australia at pubs, theatres, bowls clubs, universities, sporting grounds and the backs of trucks.

Next, they were all tied up convening the first Australian Antarctic Exploration Committee and then establishing the Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences; we were doing web-streamed performances from under the Sydney Harbour bridge, at the Nati Frinj, on Mount Ainslie, in front of the Alice Springs telegraph exchange and from CapeGrim in Tassie.

Finally we’ve gotten ourselves sorted out and it’s all going to happen on 12 July at 7:30pm. Tickets are available from Eventbrite - just click here, we’d love to see you there. 

[ologism]

Ologism - live at the Royal Society of Victoria!

The Royal Society of Victoria and Ologism have been trying to organise a gig for ages, but these two highly respected entities have not been able to get our diaries to match. They didn’t have a building until 1859, then it was either one thing or another for either them or us.

If RSV weren’t organising and sponsoring the Burke and Wills expedition, we were shooting a music video on top of the Dish. If they weren’t busy with a visit from the HMS Challenger, we were doing gigs around Australia at pubs, theatres, bowls clubs, universities, sporting grounds and the backs of trucks.

Next, they were all tied up convening the first Australian Antarctic Exploration Committee and then establishing the Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences; we were doing web-streamed performances from under the Sydney Harbour bridge, at the Nati Frinj, on Mount Ainslie, in front of the Alice Springs telegraph exchange and from CapeGrim in Tassie.

Finally we’ve gotten ourselves sorted out and it’s all going to happen on 12 July at 7:30pm. Tickets are available from Eventbrite - just click here, we’d love to see you there. 

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Future food fun

We’ve had some pretty special food experiences over the years. We’ve eaten great food, we’ve sung in restaurants and we’ve sung about wine, potatoes and resistant starch. Apparently this has not gone unnoticed and we’ve been invited to rock out with some friends at a Melbourne Fringe show - My Veggie Garden Rules. This is a reality TV show, set in 2050, when burgeoning population and climate change have made food production pretty bloody hard. Expect root tubers. 

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Antarchy!

Take ants for granted at your peril. Here’s another favourite track with lyrics and bonus info. 

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Big night out

If you haven’t heard, this year the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research is celebrating its centenary. In our experience, scientists know how to party and they’ve asked us to help. Ologism is playing at ‘Walter and Eliza’s Big Night Out’ at Federation Square on Saturday 15 August. The onstage team includes Paul McDermott, Rod Quantock and Matt Elsbury, and we will be revealing a brand new song written especially for the occasion - very excitement. Click below for more details.

http://www.wehi.edu.au/news-events/science-square/walter-and-elizas-big-night-out

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Thermodynepic

A small theatre and en energetic crowd were the main ingredients for a really fun gig. We thought it’d be fun to add an explosion to one of Marty’s solos (it seemed appropriate in a song about thermodynamics). It was fun, but the chemistry wasn’t all that precise, so we weren’t sure when - or if - it would actually go off and how big it might be. After gathering bits of random footage, this video is less than three minutes, cut down from about 20. It was absolutely worth the wait.

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Every now and then we stumble upon a bit of live video that someone shot somewhere and it often brings back fond memories. Here's some 'Nanotechnology', live from Alice Springs.

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From Alice

We’re home again after a great time touring Alice Springs. We were gone for less than a week, but the readjustment seems to have been steeper than expected. Maybe it was the weather or beautiful desert scenery, maybe it was great gigs, maybe it was just long enough to feel like a holiday. In any case the contrast to normality is undeniable. 

Perhaps this is not so surprising when the comparison between the normal and the not normal is marked. We walked on red earth, we observed black kites and thorny devils, we drank wine and listened to a duet in a pub. We bought aboriginal art, we let the sun warm our faces and burn our legs, we stood in the street and let to massive desert rain invigorate us with great, cold slaps of wet relief. We met a man with an orange bicycle and a Dachshund called Madeleine. 

The tour included a gig in the Todd St Mall and gigs Centralian Senior College. We also did two web-streamed gigs, one from the Desert Knowledge Precinct and another from the Telegraph Station Reserve. We’re hoping to have a couple of videos uploaded soon that might go a very small way to capturing the fun we had. 

Ologism (or variations thereof) has been around for more than a decade. From a pretty vague thought exercise about doing some sort of science performance utilizing music, it has evolved into one of our favourite things. For the last three years we have been supported by an Inspiring Australia Unlocking Australia’s Potential (UAP) grant. We’re immensely grateful for this opportunity. It has taken us all over the country, from Sydney to Natimuk, Townsville to Adelaide, Burnie to Darwin. It helped us explore web streaming and develop more online content, but this trip to Alice Springs included our last live performances under the grant (probably).

UAP might be over, but Ologism certainly isn’t. We’re always exploring live gig possibilities, so let us know if you know people who’d like to rock out with us.  We will also continue to share things online, and we’re toying with other media as well.  This is a new phase for Ologism, so don’t anywhere. Stay tuned for whatever happens next and stay in touch. 

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Air Shower - new video!

With rising population, water resources under increasing pressure and the ever pressing need not to stink too much, we invite you to join us for an 'Air Shower'.

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In the Heart of the Hunter

Novocastrians unite - at the Wicko! It has taken us far too long, but we’re coming to Newcastle, Australia's 7th largest city and one of our great live music cities. We’re only in town for one show, but it is free. Come on down and help us rock the Wickham Park Hotel on Tuesday 21 October from 8pm. 

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Ologism Tour Guide

We took a moment to look up all the places we've performed and there are nearly 50 of them across Australia, so far. Zoom in - there's often more than one pin in a single town/city. Check it out here.

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Back in Batmania

Clearly time has been flying. We recently realised that we haven't done a gig in Melbourne for a couple of years, but that's all about to change. We're doing one show only at Kaleide Theatre Wednesday 9 July, 7:30pm. We love Melbourne (and Melbournians), so it'd be nothing short of ace if you could join us. Tickets here or on the door.

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Our Tasmanifestation

We have just returned from Tasmania. A subsequent examination of our map of Tassie indicates that we covered 1,200 km, on our way through 4 performances in 3 busy, fabulous days. The tour was predictably exhausting and superb. If there was any doubt that the tour was going to be interesting, it was quashed when our first flight had to taxi back to the terminal (and at break-neck speed) to let an ill passenger off the plane. If we thought that it might not be cold, that was put to rest as a sharp breeze sliced its way off the ocean at Cape Grim. 

We were utterly blessed to visit the Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station and do a web-streamed gig. Many thanks to Sam, Nigel, Jeremy and the team for their hospitality, patience and ingenuity. 

We’ve been to Burnie nearly every year for more than 10 years, so it was great to catch up with Ben and Drew and the nice people at the Burnie Arts and Function Centre and Merv and Del at Glen Osborne House too.

We raced to Hobart to share the stage at The Grand Poobah with Warning Will Robinson, which was a great night. Thumbs up to Juniper and Manu and WWR. We also enjoyed some very fine late night souvlakia.

Massive thanks (and hugs) to Tim and the team at CSIRO Marine and Atmospheric Research for their dock, enthusiasm, good humour and sausages.

We went to Faraday’s Candle too, which was simply great. If you see it playing near you, get a ticket.

In short we worked hard, had a ball and met plenty of ace people. Thanks to everyone who came out – we can’t wait to get back.

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The next generation, under our influence

We don’t do many shows for schools and we haven’t done one in Victoria for ages (seriously it’s been years), so we were pleased that about 400 secondary school students and teachers turned up to RMIT’sStorey Hall to watch the show. They were a great audience, so big thanks to them for being ace. 

We were also very pleased that we were able to secure the photographic services of Nick Pitsas to capture the moment(s). Here are a few choice shots from the gig and there are some more in our photos section.

Next stop, Tassie.

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Windy web streams

CSIRO has an archive of air dating back to 1978. Researchers from around the globe can ask to use very small samples in their work, but of course there is a limited supply of any particular year. Limited because the air is different now, because atmospheric and geologic processes – and us - are constantly changing it.

So if you want some “standard” air, where does it come from? Tasmania, specifically Cape Grim on the north-west coast. Most of the winds at Cape Grim arrive from Antarctica and the Indian Ocean, without passing over any other major land masses. This makes them a standard or “average” global air source.

The Cape Grim Baseline Air Pollution Station is jointly run by the Bureau of Meteorology and CSIRO and is crucial to our understanding of climate and atmospheric systems.

It’s also a completely beautiful and wild part of the world and we’re utterly stoked to be going there.

We’re not quite sure why we chose to visit a wind-swept coast of north-western Tasmania in June, but we urge you to tune in to our web-streamed gig on Tuesday 10 June to see how we fare. The gig will start some time between 12 noon and 2pm (AEST), depending on agreeable technology, so check our Twitter feed on the day for updates and the url.

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A few years ago we performed at 'Market of the Mind' in Melbourne. It was a completely fun gig and a great event, which happens each year during National Science Week, in August. We recently rediscovered some footage from the night. Enjoy.

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We locked ourselves away for a couple of days to do some workshopping and recording. Predictably it was a thousand kinds of fun, but (to our relief) it was also very productive. At this stage you’ll need to trust us on that, ‘cause the process of mixing down tracks and editing, etc, has only just begun. However, if you have any interest in cloud seeding or resistant starch, we might have something special for you. We also took the time to re-visit supermodels and sheep. If either of these things appeal to you, that’s completely normal. If the combination is especially appealing, we won’t judge you.