A Day In Hobart With Local Rock Band Luca Brasi
Hobart is a harbour town abuzz with festivals, museums, urban wineries, craft beer bars, old pubs and fine-dining restaurants
Hobart is a harbour town abuzz with festivals, museums, urban wineries, craft-beer bars, old pubs and fine-dining restaurants. The majestic kunanyi / Mount Wellington towers over the city, and the expansive River Derwent twists and sweeps its way through. The city oozes laid-back charm and a sense of history. On a winter’s day, it’s a city full of possibilities.
We meet the Luca Brasi boys on a winter’s evening at The Hanging Garden. The venue is a sprawling, nature-shrouded cultural precinct covering nearly a whole block in the heart of the city. It’s a place where Hobartians go to watch live music, indulge in food and drinks and stay for late-night dance parties.
Image: Jesse Hunniford
The Luca Brasi boys are warm, funny, personable and have a uniquely Tasmanian charm. They are a lot of fun to be around; they bounce off each other, and the bond that they share as band members and friends is palpable. The band formed in St. Helens, on Tasmania’s east coast, in 2009. Since their humble beginnings, they have released five studio albums: Extended Family (2011), By A Thread (2014), If This Is All We’re Going To Be (2016), Stay (2018), and Everything Is Tenuous (2021). Stay became their first ARIA top 10 album. The present line-up of the band features Thomas Busby on lead guitar, Patrick Marshall on rhythm guitar and vocals, Danny Flood on drums, and Tyler Richardson on lead vocals and bass guitar.
Image: Jesse Hunniford
Luca Brasi have called Hobart home for many years, they’re a regular authority on the city. “You’re in a capital city, but in 30 minutes, you can be at the beach or on top of a mountain. That’s what I love most about living here; you’ve got the best of both worlds,” says Danny. The mountain he refers to is kunanyi / Mount Wellington, which at 1271m, towers above Hobart. The city’s citizens find comfort in its continual, grounded presence. For Hobartians, the mountain is a place to frolic in the winter snow, connect with nature, walk, run and ride mountain bikes. “It’s a special place,” says Danny. “Going up for sunrise and watching as dawn breaks over the mountain is a magical experience.”
Image: Jesse Hunniford
It’s cool outside, but we’re sitting around a fire and have started to warm up and peel off layers. I ask them what they love about winter in Hobart, and they all agree Dark Mofo is a highlight. “If you put on Dark Mofo in summer, it just wouldn’t have the same feel; you’d be missing the point,” says Pat. “It’s something to look forward to, to bring us all together in the darkest and coldest part of the year,” adds Thomas. “It’s been amazing for Hobart.” Dark Mofo 2023 marks the tenth year of Mona’s midwinter festival in Tasmania. Since its beginnings in 2013, Mofo has delved into centuries-old rituals to explore connections between ancient and contemporary mythology, humans and nature, religious and secular traditions, darkness and light, and birth, death and renewal. Centering around the southern hemisphere’s winter solstice, each year festival-goers celebrate the dark through large-scale public art installations, music, food, light and noise.
I tell them that we are going to visit Mona tomorrow, and there is an all-round consensus about Mona’s awesomeness. “Mona is fantastic,” says Tyler. “Going there it’s like entering into some weird, unhinged parallel universe. Every time we go, the gallery has changed so much; it’s constantly evolving. We love to sit on the lawns, have some food and drink and listen to some weird music”. “It’s always a really immersive experience,” adds Thomas. “You’ll be listening to some wacky Avante-garde experimental music, and it really complements the whole atmosphere and themes of Mona”.
Image: Jesse Hunniford
After experiencing Mona for myself, I can agree that it’s a phenomenal place. The architecture, the surrounding landscape and the provocative ideas presented all had a profound effect on me. As part of Mona’s ‘Like A Rockstar’ experience, we were treated to a sprawling long lunch in the very rockstar-friendly Faro Restaurant and exclusive access to James Turrell’s Unseen Seen and Event Horizon. His work explores light and consciousness. His artwork, Unseen Seen, can be entered through a large white dome located in the experimental restaurant Faro. The display is to be viewed in pairs, and you must decide together whether you will take the ‘hard’ or the ‘soft’ setting. We decided on the ‘hard’ setting and were slightly disconcerted when we were given a panic button in case it became too intense inside of the display. When the light show began, I was utterly mesmerised by the appearance and potency of the lights and colours, creating crazy patterns above me. It was as if I had lost all control of my mind, and it felt like I was having a hallucinogenic experience without taking any substances. It’s a remarkable thing to be right inside of an artwork. My mind felt very still and relaxed. It was as though I was having a sort of mental orgasm.
Image: Jesse Hunniford
After such a mind-bending experience, it was time to relax and have some lunch at Faro. The menu features wild-caught, sustainably sourced seafood, and you will not find any commercial meat on the menu: instead, only game meats such as venison and wallaby are on offer. The menu is influenced by artist and curator Kirsha Kaechele, who released a cookbook titled Eat The Problem; the book is focused on invasive species and sets out to challenge ideas about sustainability and cooking. Each recipe features an invasive species that has devastated the native biosphere. Think crispy-skin cane toad, snake jerky (snerky), feral camel toes, and myna bird parfait, all washed down with a boar’s eye Bloody Mary.
Image: Jesse Hunniford
Like the other artists I have interviewed on this trip, the band tell me that they feel creatively inspired in the wintertime. “There are only seven hours of daylight in the middle of winter, which can feel oppressive at times,” says Tyler. “But that’s when we know that we have to come together, to celebrate, to take care of each other. Those are all themes in our music, and it’s a big part of being Tasmanian”.
Image: Jesse Hunniford
This article is produced by Rolling Stone in partnership with Tourism Tasmania. Explore more wild, weird and wonderful experiences during Tasmania’s Off Season.
