About Us
Who We AreLex Cran
MadfaMusic is the brainchild of Lex Cran, a die-hard music lover. In the 1990s and early noughties Lex worked in Melbourne’s independent music scene, initially as an artist manager and musician. She then worked as one of the band bookers for 3 Melbourne music venues: the iconic Fitzroy pub The Punters Club; one of Melbourne’s premier band venues, The Corner Hotel; and North Melbourne’s intimate Public Bar. She also wrote reviews for the in-house magazine that the booking office produced, and assisted with promotion for the innovative local label Way Over There records. A short contract in 1996 saw her working at Sony Music, doing publicity for the Unipalooza tour (featuring Something for Kate, Jebediah and Bluebottle Kiss).
Lex was involved at 3RRR FM for many years, as gig guide producer and a volunteer broadcaster, presenting "Ecosonic" on Friday afternoons until 2001. The show included a wide variety of music including pop, rock, acoustic, electronica, hip hop, alt-country, and anything else that appealed. Lex also wrote album reviews for Voiceworks magazine and was one of the team behind “A minute or Less”, a compilation featuring 78 Melbourne bands playing songs of 1 minute or less duration. Lex has spent the last 10+ years working in arts administration and human resource management and talking music with anyone who will listen. She has now created MadfaMusic to share her passion and to create an online space for other music enthusiasts to share their love of alternative music. In 2014 Lex returned to 3RRR FM and is currently a volunteer broadcaster. Fee B-Squared
A chance encounter with 3RRR FM on a school bus in the 80s started an ongoing love affair with the groundbreaking community radio station that has made Fee B-Squared one of the most loved and respected broadcasters in Melbourne. 13 and a half years as co-host and producer on prime-time 3RRR FM morning show ‘Breakfasters’ has brought Fee some amazing opportunities - she’s DJ’d for Spike Jonze, been a regular DJ at Meredith Music Festival, an MC at the Age EG Music Awards, and is an integral member of the Rockwiz brains trust.
Her dark history as a qualified aerobics instructor firmly behind her, Fee is now more likely to be found stealing Kim Deal’s cigarette butt off the stage at the Northcote Social Club, then tweeting about it the next day to her many loyal followers. In 2014 Fee kicked off a new show on 3RRR FM, presenting “Maps” on Mondays from 4-7pm. Naomi Taig
Dreamer. Writer. Optimist. Music lover. Naomi is into the simple things in life, especially when they are layered, complex and interesting. A love for music was diagnosed early on and may have been nurtured via interpretive dancing to the Star Wars sound track on vinyl on the shag pile carpet as a toddler. An adoration for the muppets and Countdown also count as contributing factors in shaping her music taste in those formative years. Along with excellent tea, books and sunshine, music tops the pyramid of life’s essential food groups for Nay. It cheers her up. It calms her down. It pretty much aids every state of mind, AND makes the commute to the day job a little party in her head. |
What We DoMadfaMusic is full to the brim with great music for your enjoyment. It's somewhere to visit if you're stuck at your computer and need some music to keep you company, as well as being a great destination for music videos, interviews or reading gig reviews from a fan's perspective.
If you're a time-poor music lover, you might have one columnist you try to read each week, or one radio show you manage to catch regularly. If you spend a decent amount of time in front of a computer or can listen to music via the web at home or work, then MadfaMusic could be another great way for you to keep up with good music. We're mobile enabled too, so you can use the site while you're on the move. Check out our Now Playing pages to have a listen to the new music we're currently listening to, spend some time with new release albums via our Recommended Listening page, or check out our the music chosen by some of our favourite artists via the Curated by Musicians area of the site. MadfaMusic is based in Melbourne, Australia (one of the great music cities of the world) so there's inevitably lots of local music on the site but we also feature music from anywhere and everywhere else, across all genres of music, except the mainstream. Have a look around. If one thing doesn't suit your taste, something else is sure to. Most of all, enjoy and let us know what you think. And if you like what we do and want to get involved, get in touch! ContributorsLex Cran Fee B-Squared
Naomi Taig Citu Permadi Patrick McKaskill Andy Wear Phoebe Dubar David Branigan David Talbot Pete Ferenczy Paul Field Kade Mills Sarah Ancell Rascal
If you love alternative music and want to share your passion with others, Join MadfaMusic!
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Citu PermadiCitu is an historian, and firm believer that misery and ingenuity are a lethal combination in art. However, while he skillfully embraces the misery as his existential declaration, he finds it doesn’t give him much inspiration for ingenuity. Some mediocre guitar skills and a childhood nativity play are the extent of his artistic experience. Nevertheless, Citu loves good music and exposing himself to a variety of genres. For him, music is like food; you can eat whatever, depending on what mood you are in. But of course, excitingly scrumptious food, with tasty beer and good company is always preferable.
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Paul Field
Paul Field is the Producer and Director of The Wiggles and Dorothy the Dinosaur television series (broadcast in 128 countries) and DVDs, which have sold over 23 million units. He is an accredited writer and full member of APRA and has been a judge for the ARIA awards for over twelve years and part of The Wiggles’ songwriting and screen writing team for over a decade. A passionate music lover, Paul was also the singer and a songwriter for The Cockroaches who had the top ten charting single "She’s The One" in Australia and obtained gold and platinum album status. However, with Pauline, his wife of 29 years, his proudest works to date are their children, Luke, Bernadette, Clare, Joseph and Dominic Field. |
Andy Wear
Andy Wear variously proclaims himself an artist, a musician and a writer. These proclamations rest dubiously upon a backdrop of questionable gallery showings, shambolic bedroom recordings and the occasional publication in obscure academic journals. He can, however, claim with great conviction that he is a doting father and a complete music obsessive.
Phoebe Dubar
When Phoebe Dubar was six years old, she wanted to be a vet and a rockstar. Grade 8 Biology class quickly ruled out the former, when she fainted whilst watching her best friend dissect a frog. Yes, Phoebe may not have had the constitution required to cut animals open, but thankfully her passion for music has seen her perform in countless bands, orchestras and ensembles over the years as vocalist and violist - most recently, with her disco band PASSERINE. But what about her love of animals? Phoebe finds solace in her two furry friends; Bruce (Springsteen) the Russian Blue cat and (Aunty) Meredith, her German Shepherd dog.
David Branigan
Itinerant gig goer, reviewer and slacker. Raised on Melody Maker, community radio, minor chords and vintage cords. Perpetually crushing on Chrissie Hynde. Son and heir of nothing in particular.
Pete Ferenczy
Seeing The Clash, Madness and The Cure videos during the early eighties put Pete on a path that would head in a certain direction…Robert Smith first led him to Albert Camus, Madness taught him to dance, but it was the words of Joe Strummer that resonated most strongly in his mind, and his thirst for knowledge was born.
Passionate about music, literature, politics, philosophy, film and art, his gig going obsession began in the mid-late eighties. At the tender age of 14, he saw bands that would constantly expand his tastes: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, New Order, The Cult, The Fall, The Go-Betweens, The Ramones, Iggy Pop and The Pogues, amongst others. These were the days when St Kilda was still dangerous, Melbourne was still a town, NME and Melody Maker took 3 months to get here and gigs cost practically nothing!! The Venue, The Old Greek, The Crystal Ballroom, The Palace, The Club…. Indie record shops were a weekend trek about Melbourne…... And thank God for 3RRR… As a young curious mind, there weren’t many options to learn about what was going on in alternative (sub)culture….
But anyway….. that was the beginning….. and now after years of gigs and concerts, learning and being involved the time is nigh for Pete to vent his fermented thoughts to you, the gig going public.
Passionate about music, literature, politics, philosophy, film and art, his gig going obsession began in the mid-late eighties. At the tender age of 14, he saw bands that would constantly expand his tastes: Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, New Order, The Cult, The Fall, The Go-Betweens, The Ramones, Iggy Pop and The Pogues, amongst others. These were the days when St Kilda was still dangerous, Melbourne was still a town, NME and Melody Maker took 3 months to get here and gigs cost practically nothing!! The Venue, The Old Greek, The Crystal Ballroom, The Palace, The Club…. Indie record shops were a weekend trek about Melbourne…... And thank God for 3RRR… As a young curious mind, there weren’t many options to learn about what was going on in alternative (sub)culture….
But anyway….. that was the beginning….. and now after years of gigs and concerts, learning and being involved the time is nigh for Pete to vent his fermented thoughts to you, the gig going public.
David Talbot
Life as a cautionary tale, paid up member of the lost generation, David stumbles on through the valley of the shadow of death...but he has music! It soothes the soul, feeds the spirit, and harmonises the chakras.
Growing up in Melbourne in the 1970s, David watched Countdown every Sunday night. He would tape songs off the radio, and then replay them over and over, as he deciphered the lyrics.
He was indoctrinated at an early age by the Top 40, but as a late bloomer at 22, alternative music started creeping in. Ratcat's Tingles EP (1990), was a starting point, and a trip to the U.K. in 1991 opened his ears a bit more. By 1992 he was into The Stones Roses, Ride, Smashing Pumpkins, The Breeders, Jane's Addiction, and many more 'alternative' bands.
On a trip to Nepal in 1994 David contracted a bug that changed his life path markedly and still effects him to this day.
Music has been a great help to him through all the bad times, and it makes him feel so good, that he wants to share that passion with others, so that they might 'feel the magic'.
Growing up in Melbourne in the 1970s, David watched Countdown every Sunday night. He would tape songs off the radio, and then replay them over and over, as he deciphered the lyrics.
He was indoctrinated at an early age by the Top 40, but as a late bloomer at 22, alternative music started creeping in. Ratcat's Tingles EP (1990), was a starting point, and a trip to the U.K. in 1991 opened his ears a bit more. By 1992 he was into The Stones Roses, Ride, Smashing Pumpkins, The Breeders, Jane's Addiction, and many more 'alternative' bands.
On a trip to Nepal in 1994 David contracted a bug that changed his life path markedly and still effects him to this day.
Music has been a great help to him through all the bad times, and it makes him feel so good, that he wants to share that passion with others, so that they might 'feel the magic'.
Kade Mills
Kade spent his childhood listening to Casey Kasem’s American Top 40 and recording his favourite songs armed with a portable tape recorder that he held up to the family stereo (the type that had speakers as tall as a small child). His first memory of getting super excited about music was when he recorded Kenny Loggins’ “Footloose”, allowing him to practice “cutting loose” in his bedroom for many weeks. He followed this up with a rap dancing phase (thank you Rock Steady Crew). While much good music has passed through his ears, the dance moves have stayed the same, as has his ability to get excited about music.
Nick Van
Certified Armchair-anything and accredited Backseat-everything, Nick gained these qualifications by being apart of the 'internet generation', his olive skin hiding what would certainly be an LCD-screen tan, if not for his love of sports and the outdoors. This 90's kid grew up listening to hip hop after a dubious-but-innocent childhood love affair with 90's boy and girl bands and all of the amazing pop that went with it (Aqua anyone?).
Nick has no formal musical experience/talent other than his ability to badly imitate his favourite musicians by using rap-isms as nonsensical rebuttals in everyday arguments with friends and family. He also knows, like, 20 DJs, probably.
Nick has no formal musical experience/talent other than his ability to badly imitate his favourite musicians by using rap-isms as nonsensical rebuttals in everyday arguments with friends and family. He also knows, like, 20 DJs, probably.
Thanks to the following fabulous people who've helped in a variety of ways...
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DisclaimerAll music posted on MadfaMusic is legal and free. In the unlikely event that an audio file is not meant to be here, please get in touch and we will remove it. Please support your favorite artists by buying their music and merchandise, and going to their shows. Please also support the businesses that support musicians, like your local record store or public radio station.
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