Fresh Finds: Class Of 2025 – Aussie Acts To Add To Your Playlist

Steve Bell, Journalist

Steve Bell

Many, many moons ago Steve Bell was unassumingly writing a small fanzine for the inner-city Brisbane record store where he worked when on one otherwise normal day he was poached into the cutthroat world of street press, embarking on an eye-opening journey interviewing bands and banging on about music for the street press publication Time Off. It's an association that's now existed for well over 20 years - including a decade full-time as the print editor for Time Off/The Music - and one which still provides him with immense enjoyment and satisfaction, even though in recent times it's nestled alongside other music-related vocations such as co-owning a record store and indie label, radio broadcasting and navigating the podcast world.

Reviews / Live
Live Review: Hinds, The Creases, Tempura Nights
"It's like we're at a sloppy house party."
Features / Arts
Cresting The Wave Of India's Comedy Big Bang
"It didn't exist and now it's there, like a big bang almost."
Reviews / Arts
An Evening With Mr Paul Foot
"Then things get weird."
Features / Music
Cherie Currie
Why Cherie Currie Of The Runaways Wasn't A Teenage Dirtbag
"If we wanted to party a little bit after the show then fine, but we never partied before because we needed to be good."
Features / Music
Why Nostalgia Can Be 'Fucking Schmaltzy'
"It just goes on and on and fucking on, it's merciless."
Features / Arts
Making Australians Give A Shit About His Comedy
"I don't have the self-esteem to know when I'm even being me, so I just try to not think about what I'm doing at any time."
Features / Music
How Kristin Hersh Is Making Herself Whole Again
"That disappearing act turned out to be dissociative disorder, which means multiple personalities — my other personality was music."
Features / Music
Shakespeare Says It Better, Even In Modern Times
"'method in his madness' or 'brevity is the soul of wit', they're just things that Shakespeare made up."
Reviews / Album
Album Review: Paul Kelly - Seven Sonnets & A Song
"The project may seem highbrow in theory, but in practice it's anything but."
Features / Music
Why She Builds A Creative Sneeze Guard For Her Music
"I thought that it's time for me to step up and be, like, 'No, this is how I want it.'"
News / Music
Five Reasons You Should Buy A Record On Record Store Day
Other than the fact it's just good use of your money
Features / Arts
Why Paul Foot Has A Great Connection With The Royals
"When I say 'we' I mean in the sense of the 'royal we', referring to me and Prince William. Not that he's coming with me..."
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