Watch: The ‘Nice Day To Go To The Club’ Documentary
Jack Stokes and Tom Redden of Daybed Records. Shot by Mark Tipple
Back in March, we made the trip to our nation’s south for the inaugural ‘Nice Day To Go To The Club’ festival. The brainchild of YH mate Fitzy and the local lords at Daybed Records, the festival was designed to raise some much needed funds for Fitzy’s former stomping ground - Port Noarlunga Football Club.
Soundtracked by the likes of Bad Dreems, Cosmic Psychos, Mini Skirt and some more heavy hitters, it was a cracking celebration of community, local sport and live music that we felt pretty damn special to be part of. Now, the legends from Daybed and filmmaker Mark Tipple have released a doco about the day, with an epic insight into what it takes to pull off a first time festival. We caught up with Tom from Daybed to learn a bit more about how the festival came to be, and what viewers can expect from the doco. See the yarn below and scroll to the end to watch the flick.
Fitzy and the boys. Shot by Mark Tipple
G’day Tom. Can you give us a little intro to yourself and Daybed Records?
Allooo I’m Tom, one half of Daybed Records. The other half is my good friend Jack Stokes. We’re both live here on the Mid Coast of Adelaide in the lovely state of South Australia. We both share a fascination for music and the arts, and we are really inspired by our local community.
Daybed Records started out as just a platform/label for Jack to put his own music (Ethanol Blend) on, which he invited me to help him start. It quickly became a platform for us to do anything we felt like doing creatively, and just a good excuse for us to catch up and spin business ideas.
We now help younger bands in the area, release music, run events, record artists, and now festivals has recently been added to the list.
How did the festival come about and how did you get involved?
‘Nice Day To Go To The Club’ came about (for us) via a phone call with the great man, Fitzy. We were chatting about what we had been up to and how we should catch up when he was in SA next. Then he’s like “oh also, I’ve got an idea to run by you two – I’m keen to do a festival at my old footy club. Keen to help?” Our obvious answer was “yes” not really knowing what we’d got ourselves into.
The idea behind it all was to raise much needed funds for the Port Noarlunga Football Club who had recently had its funding cut to finish off its new facilities. It ticked all the boxes for us, as it was in our local area and was giving back to the community.
From there, after multiple chats with Fitzy the idea just grew and grew.
The ‘Plan B’ site. Shot by Mark Tipple
What was the coolest thing about being involved in the Festival?
For me, it was seeing the young local bands like ‘The 745’ and ‘STELLAR’ (some who are still in high school) being able to play alongside some of their favourite bands like Bad Dreems. Plus, being able to play on the big stage in their home town. So many young kids will see that and hopefully start a band of their own one day. That made it for me. So cool.
What was the hardest thing about bringing it together?
As Daybed is still a side hustle, I think overall pulling it all together in 3 months outside of our full-time jobs was a challenge. But one thing that definitely stands out, was about 1 week out of the festival, we had to completely re-do our whole site plan. Due to the carpark we had planned to have the festival on, was not going to approved by council in time. I think that’s the moment my brain officially melted.
In the end, the ‘Plan B’ site turned out SO much better. So it must have been a sign.
What was the response like from the community, the bands and the attendees?
Overwhelmingly positive. It honestly took a week or so after the festival to process how good the day was. All people involved we’re just beyond stoked. Everyone from; the Cosmic Psychos, to the 55 year old punter who hadn’t seen his favourite band for years, to the volunteers from the football club working the bar all day – we were just blown away with all the kind words and feedback from everyone.
Any plans for another one?
It’s pretty hard not to get my notes out on my phone every second day and plot my ideal 2024 line up….so maybe….
The Bearded Clams. Shot by Mark Tipple
Was the doco always part of the plan?
Not at all. About 3 weeks out from the gig, I was watching this video on YouTube called ‘Moana: A Moshumentary’ which is based on the Mid Coast scene from the late 90s (well worth a watch). I just thought to myself ‘this would be great to recreate’. And a friend sitting next to me at the time gave me the number of Mark Tipple who is a Mid Coast videographer – and away we went. It really took a path of it’s own though and Mark has does an incredible job. It’s something we’ll look back on for the rest of our lives. At first I thought the doco could be 8-10 minutes long… 50 minutes later…..
What can viewers expect from the doco?
A bit of everything. You can expect a different insight into local music and the behind the scenes of putting on a festival. Not that we’re Splendour or anything, but it’s cool to see the challenges that small event organisers go through. You also get to see Jack at his best - it’s a good laugh.
Learn more about Daybed Records here and watch the ‘Nice Day To Go To The Club’ doco below.