'It’s Hard To Push Back The Fear': Jay Watson Steps Into The Light As GUM

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.

Features / Music
Why The World Needs More Ska
"I think ska-punk's popularity was part of people wanting to have a bit of fun and lighten up a little bit"
Features / Arts
Why RockWiz Live! Is Bigger, Bolder & Rowdier Than Its TV Counterpart
"We've got a little bit more license to muck around."
Reviews / Live
Live Review: SixFtHick, HITS, DEAFCULT
"It's a fitting birthday celebration for this fine outfit, drunken and vaguely debaucherous but with everyone staggering home happy and only mildly damaged."
Features / Music
Wild Brisbane Rockers SixFtHick Are Blowing Out 20 Candles Soon
"Some nights you feel more fucking demonic than others."
Features / Music
Why He Wanted To Create A 'Cooking At Home' Record
"I want to make something that doesn't add to this fractured world."
Features / Music
Their Cold War Is Over And Philadelphia Grand Jury Is Making Up For Lost Time
"I had a weird secret plan for a couple of years ... I was, like, 'I reckon we'll play again.'"
Reviews / Album
Album Review: Cold Chisel - The Perfect Crime
"One of Australia's finest ever rock bands prove that there's plenty of life in the old dog yet."
Features / Music
On Stealing Inspiration From (And Doling It Out To) His Younger Contemporaries
"they think they're getting the experience and all the benefits of working with an older musician and they don't see that I'm pinching ideas from them"
Features / Music
Frenzal Rhomb Are Good At Punk, Terrible At Stage-Diving
"We've been put into a bit of a spin by our drummer who thinks that he can fly, but it turns out that he can't."
Features / Music
Why Last Dinosaurs Explored Far-Flung Continents
"it ended up being better than a lot of other places where we've tried very, very hard — it was just crazy"
Reviews / Album
Album Review: Dave Rawlings Machine - Nashville Obsolete
"Americana dream team of Dave Rawlings and Gillian Welch return and usher us back to a bygone era."
Features / Music
ABC's 'Stranded' Doco Showcases Brisbane's Influence On Punk
A warts-and-all look at a virtual police state.