Your Guide To Southbound 2015

Southbound is returning, taking place at the beginning of January at the usual stomping grounds – Sir Stewart Bovell Park in Busselton – an almost three-hour drive south of Perth.

WA’s biggest music, arts and camping festival has done a great job of expanding and embracing new ideas with each passing year since its inception in 2005, and Southbound 2015 will be the first year people are allowed to bring their cars into the camping grounds and camp right next to their vehicles (or sleep in them). If, however, you’d prefer to leave your car in the parking area, obviously you can do so. There’s so much to do and so much to see that we at The Music have decided to put together some tips for getting the most out of your weekend.

Make sure you’ve packed everything you need

This seems simple enough, but the last thing you want is to get down to the festival and realise you’ve forgotten a hat (it’s really hot during the day), or your sleeping bag/warm clothes (it’s freezing at night), or in the worst case scenario, your ticket or ID. Make sure you’ve got some comfy shoes and enough cash to get you through each day. We’d also recommend buying yourself a portable phone charger because if, like me, you own an Android that manages to drain your battery after half a day of semi-constant use (you’ll probably be taking a lot of photos), the last thing you want to do is have to line up in a queue of people waiting get their phones charged. And then you’re stuck without a phone for a couple of hours. Sure, it’s a great service on offer, but you don’t want to not be able to take a photo of your favourite band to Instagram when you can just have your phone charging in your bag or pocket as you walk around, right? Everyone loves sitting around the campsite in comfort, so feel free to bring camping chairs as well, if you’d like!

Get a good night’s sleep on Friday

It’s also verrrrry important to get plenty of sleep the night before. For one, you’re gonna want to get down to the festival early on Saturday morning to get yourself set up in a good spot and with enough time to enjoy the first day. Plus, sure, the music might stop late in the evening, but the punters don’t – a cherished memory was a couple of years back when a couple of super-energetic patrons decided to form a group of people and run around the campsite singing Hey Baby by DJ Otzi for about four hours after 12pm. Last year, people all over the campsite were yelling ‘Alan!’ and ‘Steve!’ across the grounds to each other in an ode to that Funny Talking Animals video on YouTube. It’s great fun and a huge laugh, but it’ll definitely be cutting into your sleep time. And once that sun rises over the horizon at 5.30am, your tent is gonna be stifling – you aren’t going to get much sleep, so yes, make sure you’re well rested beforehand.

Keep hydrated and apply sunscreen

I know, I know, I sound like your mum, but it’s actually so important when you’re spending most of your day out in the field with the sun beating down on you – you don’t want to miss your favourite band ‘cause of sunstroke.

Make sure you organise your timetable beforehand

It sounds like common sense, but if the line-up happens to contain a large number of your favourite bands, you gotta sort out what you’re doing before the festival. Both stages get pretty packed about by 4-5pm, so if you want a good vantage point to dance/take photos/cry, make sure you know where you’re going and when. We’ve got the timetable handy in this here magazine, so rip it off and cram it in your pocket – it’ll be your bible for the entirety of the festival.

Make sure you spend some time in Basecamp

Basecamp is the hub of all things chill, so if you’re looking to get away from the music for a bit, it’s the perfect place to be. Basecamp provides some amazing breakfast choices in the mornings when you’re feeling tired and the worse for wear. There’ll be a heap of couches in the Loungeroom to laze about on; the Chai Zone provides the caffeine hit you need to keep going, and the silent disco will get your limbs back in order while simultaneously giving you some much-needed me time. It’s definitely worth checking out the Market Stalls too, offering a wacky variety of summery festival hats, sunnies and plenty of hidden gems to remember the festival by.

Southbound’s great reputation rests on you, the people, who’ve done an amazing job over the years of sticking to the rules and keeping it a fun and safe environment for everyone. We’ve done well so far, so let’s keep it that way. Don’t do anything stupid, we’re all in this together and we want Southbound 2015 to be recognised as the best yet. Have fun, and we’ll see you down there!

TOP FIVE ACTS TO SEE AT SOUTHBOUND

The Black Lips

Flower-punk band The Black Lips have been steadily building a reputation for mayhem and disorder in the glitziest possible way. Their earlier shows were known for nudity and regurgitation, and while their last show in Perth didn’t quite hit those levels of depravity, it was certainly one of the best shows this writer has ever seen. In recent years the Atlanta natives have developed a knack for tunes that can’t be underestimated – their 2014 record, Underneath The Rainbow, one of the year’s most solid releases. 

DMA’s

Born from the ashes of several Sydney bands, DMA’s have risen at a mind-boggling speed to become one of the hottest new acts in Australia today. Channelling the likes of Blur and Oasis almost scarily well, their self-titled EP has been a huge hit on triple j and has served them well in building this strong reputation.

The Presets

The duo of Julian Hamilton and Kim Moyes continue to produce bangers worthy of the world stage, this year releasing Goodbye Future and No Fun as part of their resolution to continually release singles across the year. With classics My People, This Boy’s In Love and Youth In Trouble surely squeezing their way onto the setlist, we’re in for a massive show.

Salt-N-Pepa

Cheryl “Salt” James and Sandra “Pepa” Denton became luminaries of the hip hop world when they began their career in 1985 as the first all-female group in the genre, turning the tables on a male-dominated world. Their massive hit, Push It, has endured an ever-changing musical landscape since its release in the late ‘80s, and as such, they’re an act not to be missed.

Bluejuice

Ahhhhh, Bluejuice. Considering we now know for sure that this is going to be band’s last ever live show, they had to feature in this list. They’ll be taking to the stage with tracks from Retrospectable, a compilation album consisting of the best tracks from their three studio albums from 2007-2011, and we can be assured the band are going to put on an especially batshit crazy performance. Let’s give ‘em a send-off to remember!