Hey all

We are nominated for a couple of Smacs and it would be awesome if you voted for us here: http://smacawards.com/

We are in the categories of record of the year (for Zoundssssss), best Sydney song (the Price), neatest foot imprint at a local sydney beach (Ned at Bronte 21/10/09) and biggest wheel.

Danke.

If life in Dappled were to be represented right now it would surely look like this: All five of us, standing aboard the good ship Dappled, jetting streams of coloured success onto the river of life. Despite the Sydney music scene looking as healthy as the back end of the bain-marie at Eddies’ 24hr convenience, life is pretty good.

Next on the list of good things after ARIA nominations (and other award noms that I’m not sure if I’m allowed to mention yet (Emmy???)) is Laneways. Looks like we’re doing it. SICK! It’s probably the best line up I’ve ever seen for a Laneways and so come and along and cry.

In other news, check out Tired Hands. Beautiful singing and songs. http://www.myspace.com/24zzz

And I think we might change our name to Alfresco for the next album. We’ll hold a public poll closer to the time and see what you all think.

Kynd Ragards

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Hello everyone.

We were awoken yesterday with the exciting news that we are nominated for an ARIA in the category of “Best Independent Release” for Zounds. We were in a gallery of nominees with Keith Urban. We even had champagne at 10.30am yesterday. It felt weird. But good. But then weird again.

It is a great honour for us to be nominated for this award. We have put a long time into this band and, as hard as it is to believe, we still do it now because we love it. Yesterday I was a little underwhelmed by the whole affair but today I am feeling overjoyed. Not only for myself, for Tim, for Dave, for Ned, for Allan, and for Hugh but for everyone that has put time into this band. If we win, i’ll say “fantastic” and mack with the rest of Dappled.

As a Sydney band, the current situation in this city is freaking the shit out of me. The closing of the Hopetoun is heralding a new age in this city. The SMH reported today that the Annandale is a similar situation. This makes me incredibly sad. And worried. Dappled starting playing in the city in 2003. Our first gig was at the Excelsior in Surry Hills. If I remember rightly, it wasn’t too bad. My boss from Turramurra Pizza Hut came. He said it was ok. Whenever we had a show we used to get so excited. Our first show at the Hopetoun was over 6 years ago now. But I still remember the buzz and the thrill of hitting the city and playing our first inner city venue.

How does this fit in?

We wouldn’t be playing today if we hadn’t played small venues for years. It gave us the ability to get our sound worked out and get the confidence we needed to move to the next stage. We wouldn’t be nominated for an ARIA, we wouldn’t have made Zounds, we wouldn’t have played overseas and we certainly wouldn’t have the drive to continue to make records. There is a definite path that bands need to follow. You start jamming, then you play gigs and, as you move along, you start playing bigger rooms. The thought of living in a city without the Hopetoun and the Annandale frightens me. The pressure is placed on other smaller venues (of which there are barely any) to allow all of the up and comers to play. In a city ruled by awful shiny “modern” pubs, how long will these venues be able to last? And then what are the options? To get 400 people into Oxford Arts or the Factory Theatre is impossible for a band that has been around for a year.

I also fear for the warehouse venues that are opening (the CAD Factory in Marrickville for example) that will, no doubt, be targeted by council, licensing police and the police in general as more people begin to attend due to a lack of pub venues in this city. I worry that the whole closure spiral would begin all over again and then what? Who knows?

I think Sydney has (and will have) a vast array of super incredible bands. It is so important that this scene is continued. I wish I knew how. But fuck I hope something is done soon….

Sydney. I love you. But you’re bringing me down.