After two weeks of life in the fast plane, I’m back in Sydney, surrounded by familiar tastes: my people, my ‘no wobbles in sight' elevator music and my enjoyable water cooler banter.

I won’t open this post with the highly predictable, “I can’t believe only a day ago...”, because that would be lying. My body is a broken temple, brought down by scores of bass and booze. I think I’ll be feeling like this for a while. Nonetheless, my hedonistic ear drums are thanking me for every minute of it.

This is part two of my time on tour with Parklife (read Part One here on TheVine). It's a tale of three festivals, in three days, in three different cities, with three hours sleep each night.

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Getting to tour with Parklife was — jazz hands to the sky and second to birth — the coolest experience I’ve ever had. And one that not even 10 Garden Bar mojitos will ever allow me to forget.

My three days of off-tour-rehab after part one, proved to be unsuccessful with an explosive mid-tour party on the Tuesday and a Little Dragon house party in Bondi on the Wednesday. On Friday afternoon I arrived in Brisbane with a quick flight from Sydney. My mate and I quickly acclimatised ourselves with some Brisvegas-style Oktoberfest activities at a pub near our hotel. Dinner was had with some of the Fuzzy crew responsible for making Parklife Australia’s most unique big festival experience, while the evening offered up some pre-festival celebrations into the smaller hours. The words “slow down” just don’t seem to exist in the vocabs of today’s artists.





Saturday showed up in the form of a steam roller. The day in Brisbane would be spent MC’ing the Kakadu Stage, announcing Magnetic Man, MSTRKRFT, Digitalism, Wolfgang Gartner, Example, Adrian Lux, SebastiAn and Harvard Bass. Watching these artists in that special moment, seconds before they appear in front of thousands, is almost indescribable. A mash-up of intense looks, nerves and sweat, jumping up and down, deep focus, Grey Goose shots, spontaneous yelling, two or three quick cigarettes and last minute high fives. Chatting with these artists afterwards was quite the different experience, with each act keen to hear an opinion of their 45 – 60mins of good times. The Kakadu stage was undoubtedly one of the best places to be in Brisbane on Saturday, with each act pawning a mix of fresh produce and accomplished party beats. This was my first ever taste of Brisbane. How would I describe it? Baked at 26*C and all about the rare, quite fleshy and seasoned attitude that says only one thing: we’re here to party, and party we shall.

With an extra early exit to Sydney (as a result of me getting daylight savings all wrong), the amazing crew at Fuzzy gave me a day to enjoy the sights and sounds of Parklife with my sister and mates in my own backyard. Despite the rain, Sydneysiders quickly proved to the artists that the only thing that would be getting them down was dirty beats balanced with a healthy supply of bass. A surprise visit from two good mates from across the ditch meant the day was spent showing them what Sydney does best...having a proper Sunday session :)

With an alarm clock positioned right next to my face for extra effectiveness, Monday morning started at 5am. The morning was spent on autopilot, even before catching the flight to Adelaide. It’s safe to say at this stage, I had become the shell of the shell of my former self. That’s two layers of shell, created by two festivals in two days, 2000 kilometers apart. A third day, initially, seemed like a crazy idea for everyone involved. That was until I landed in Adelaide. Having never experienced this little haven of fun times, I was quickly blown away by the friendliness of its people, the relaxed vibe and the eagerness to party on a Monday. Hell, for all the Radelaidians knew, it was probably Friday!

This is the first time I’ll admit that I nearly didn’t make it to my final tour duties. My 20 min powernap proved to pack more power than the sound of my alarm. I woke at 2.40pm, 20 minutes before my first interview. I guess this is when the reality of this experience hit me, despite all of the green carpet (its an eco-friendly festival) treatment on this tour to date. I was a nobody in a sea of epic body’s (the line-up this year was pretty amazing). There would be no manager to bang my door down, no hairdresser to brush my mane. It was straight out the door, barefoot, shoes in hand, off to my interview with Mylo. Leaving no time for Milo, let alone hygiene. Call me free range organic. Turns out I was half Adelaidian after all :)

Adelaide was all about catching up with artists, their experiences on the tour and what we can look forward to after Parklife. I had interviews with Mylo (just), The Naked and Famous, Sebastian Tellier, Digitalism, Harvard Bass and Santigold. Fuzzy TV captured all of these, so you’ll be able to check them out real soon.

I think one of my favourite parts about following this festival was seeing how artists come together from all around the world. Many of them are good friends, and have not seen each other for a while. Many have never met before, and many of them don’t know when they’ll cross paths again. But being able to spend time together in a country over the other side of the world is definitely a part of the job that is loved by all.

The other insight was the pace at which things happen. I can only imagine what it must be like for artists who live this life year round. You’re constantly in a new place or on your way to one. It feels like the world is never standing still. But it must be the spontaneous and ever changing nature of the job that feeds excitement.

Last and certainly not least is the time, effort and love that goes into creating festivals of this size and appeal. I have never seen a bunch of such hardworking, dedicated people who are in this game because they are passionate about what they produce, as Fuzzy. Massive props and of course a huge thank you to both Fuzzy and TheVine for giving me the opportunity to come on tour. It was incredible.

My conversations with artists over the past two weeks have led me to this final thought. Life is about trying new things. About taking big chances. About saying hello to change, or introducing it to everyone else. And most importantly…life is about memorable music.

It’s been good Parklife. 'Til next time!

@jimmytwotwigs

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