Ironjaw Bookings On Keeping The Shows Rocking In Adelaide…

‘I want to put on more cheaper shows because of the cost of living is just fucked. People need entertainment!’

Michael Boakes, otherwise known as Ironjaw Bookings, is a man of many hats. Vocalist of I Choose Violence, animal lover and a driving force behind the promotion of many shows in Adelaide and beyond. Through it all, is an insatiable appetite to create powerful line ups, at affordable pricing that promotes the music scene and its bands.

‘There’s just a bunch of different movements happening in Adelaide right now. I feel like that’s the sentiment that is mostly shared, is to keep it cheap, keep it all ages, get people indoors, get people to have fun. Forget about the shit that’s happening outside those walls.’

Two of the ‘movements’ include shows Ironjaw Bookings is putting on over the next few months in Adelaide. The first on May 22 at TIA Live featuring Arkangel. The second an all-day event on July 25 at Jive featuring a selection of metal, punk and alternative bands and importantly, all ages. Both with Michael’s own fan enthusiasm directing them as Michael shows when discussing the first show.

‘I have not worked with Sunken, No Way Forward, or Arkangel yet as band, so I’m looking forward to it because of that reason alone. They’re all in the ballpark of genres of music I like. What fans can expect is lots of breakdowns, lots of two steps, and yeah, just a bit of fun!’

Then in July, the all-day event, something Michael has done before with ‘I Am Not A Burden’ and ‘Southern Death-Fest’, to name two recent festivals, as thirteen bands tear up the stage at Jive with the teasing title of ‘There Will Be Blood’, a stellar brains trust behind the construction of the day.

‘Harry from Chapel Hill helped me formulate this, as well as Ryland, who’s in Double Barrel Solution, and he’s in Seppuku Bookings as well. What makes this one stand out is we just want to keep it cheap. We want to keep it all ages because there’s a lot of cool, all ages events happening lately, but they’re not usually in actual venues. They’re in community halls. We wanted to give some new bands, some young bands, a chance to get started as well. We’ve got three interstate bands on the lineup, which are Identity Error, As Long As It Bleeds and Nebulam. I’ve been wanting to work with them for a while now.’

Thirteen bands, roughly twenty five mins a pop, all for $25 first release of tickets, or $38 thereafter, is value for money in anyone’s language. Michael is also vocalist of I Choose Violence, and its common sense that his band would perform at these events, something that then combines Michael the singer, with Michael the organiser.

‘We’re headlining it only purely because of the reason that A, I booked it all, and B, we’re releasing another EP, which is basically a follow-up or side B to the last one we released a year ago, ‘War Of The Damned’. Well, I fucking suck at talking either way, so that part’s not hard to switch. That’s why I just sing and I try not to talk on stage. Obviously, I have to go from like, “Hey, I’m in this very aggressively named band to a possibly aggressively named business, which it is not. ” There are just two sides of professionalism in my head that just click and I can’t explain how they do. They just do. They’re meant to be hopefully taken as two separate entities anyway, because I sing about certain things over there, but those things don’t necessarily need to bleed into the business side of things, so to speak.’

Back to the shows, ‘There Will Be Blood’ and the Arkangel headliner, and some final words for the Adelaide market.

‘I would like to hope that people just make it to them either way because don’t worry about supporting me and my stuff, but the other bands, especially bands that are touring from interstate, because that keeps bands wanting to come here and Adelaide’s a quiet, weird little place, and we need more bands to come here.’

Interview By Iain McCallum

ARKANGEL Tongue Of Lies Release Show is on May 22 at TIA Live, tickets from EventBrite…

There Will Be Blood is on July 25 at Jive, tickets from MoshTix…