Soundwave GM Takes Over Booking For Melb Live Music Venue

He's best known as the general manager of Australia's annual Soundwave festival and just months out from the 2016 event, Chris O'Brien seems more than happy to add extra work on his plate with the announcement that he has taken over booking gigs for popular Melbourne live music venue, Sooki Lounge.

Based in Belgrave, right near his home of the hills in the Dandenong Ranges, O'Brien told theMusic he was excited about working with the venue which he described as "a beautiful room".

"Essentially I'm just coming on board to help lift the profile of the venue and help the new owners out," O'Brien explained. 

"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."

Live music shows take place each Thursday, Friday and Saturday night with acts such as Tex Perkins, Jon Toogood of Shihad and Ash Grunwald all set to perform there in the coming months.

While he admitted there were other acts he is currently working on to book for the venue, he assured that there are no specific types of artists he is looking for. 

"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."

In regards to next year's Soundwave event, while O'Brien was unable to give a date for a full line-up announcement, he did say that it is "not too far" away. 

"We’re just re-theming the event at the moment, just from an artwork perspective," O'Brien 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."

To hear more about Sooki Lounge's future events and gigs, head to their official website or check out their Facebook page.