“Bird’s Robe: This Is Family” - Episode 1: The Beginning
15 years ago, Bird's Robe Records was launched with a live show in a little club in Sydney called the Excelsior Hotel, along with our first 2 releases.
Since then, it's been a truly incredible ride. Hundreds of shows, thousands of fans & millions of streams (not dollars, haha), for artists who don't tread a musical path that would be considered conventional.
This is the story of how some of Australia's most unlikely underground musicians were drawn in together under a bird-themed moniker and go on to form a scene that would see its music shared across the globe.
If you love post-rock, prog or otherwise experimental rock, chances are that you're a fan of a Bird's Robe band. Whether it's the crushing, emotional crescendos of sleepmakeswaves, We Lost The Sea & Meniscus, the fiery, catchy prog rock of Toehider & Closure in Moscow, or the quirky inexplicable energy of The Crooked Fiddle Band & Troldhaugen, this wide array of genres and styles have one thing in common: they are family.
Since 2008, Bird's Robe has been at the heart of a burgeoning scene of innovative and experimental musicians based in Australia. This group of acts have spread their wings over the past decade to go from bedrooms and rehearsal spaces, to performing at some of the world's most iconic venues and festivals, achieving an impressive level of mainstream recognition despite the odds.
This documentary seeks to tell this story in ambitious fashion - because the story of Bird's Robe, is the story of the bands themselves.
This Is Family is a multi-episode documentary, which will not only explore the origin and development of Bird's Robe as a label, management & touring organisation, but also the individual paths of key artists, such as sleepmakeswaves, We Lost The Sea, Meniscus, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, Closure in Moscow, Toehider & many more.
This isn’t just a series of montages & highlight reels (though there’ll be plenty of that). We’ll cover a range of topics, including what it’s like living life on the road, trying to build a career in the music industry, juggling family, relationships, mental health, finances and everything else. We’ll be chatting to not only the musicians, but also the crew and the teams behind the scenes who make everything work. There are some wonderful stories to be told, but also some challenging and cautionary tales, which we want to share as well. It’s going to be inspirational, funny, sad, cathartic and nostalgic for sure - but also informative and transparent.
This is a truly epic project, but we wanted to do nothing less: any story about this group of exceptional musicians has to be as epic as the music itself.
Producers - Mike Solo & James O’Connor
Director of Photography - James O’Connor
Interviewers - Andy Dowling, Simeon Bartholomew, James O’Connor, Nate Hill
Editor - James O’Connor
Additional footage - Nate Hill, Leigh Hawkins, Adam Davis-Powell, Moshcam
Filmed at - Stage Door Studios, The Brain Studios, Carriage Studios, Manning Bar, The Triffid, Max Watts, Metro Theatre, Dunk Festival, various locations
Bird’s Robe - the stats:
5 x ARIA nominations
7 x #1 Independent Albums
5 x ARIA Top 50 Albums
Over 50,000 records sold
Over 200,000 fans on social media
Over 50 million streams online
1,500+ shows over 17 years
200+ releases over 15 years
100,000+ tickets sold
