Alex Lahey & Gordi Launch Live Music Initiative ‘Over Our Dead Body’

Two of Australia’s hardest-working live musicians, Alex Lahey and Gordi (aka Sophie Payten), have launched a new live music initiative aiming to bolster support for up-and-coming artists around Australia.

According to a press release, the artist-run grassroots venture – run entirely by and for artists, quirkily named Over Our Dead Body – has a clear goal to “grow local fan bases for emerging artists, with the support and endorsement of more established artists”. With its core direction coming from Lahey and Payten, the initiative will give industry-entrenched artists a chance to promote their own up-and-coming favourites, curating “intimate, affordable opportunities for emerging artists to perform”.

In a joint statement, Lahey and Payten said of their vision for Over Our Dead Body: “We keep hearing the same thing – it’s harder than ever to break artists in Australia at the moment. triple j’s Australian Artist Survey showed that nearly half of all Australian artists have thought about quitting the industry in the last few years, in part because there aren’t enough opportunities to perform. So, we started thinking – what can more established artists do to help lift up emerging artists?”

To formally launch the new initiative, Over Our Dead Body will host a series of intimate live music showcases at the Shotkickers bar in Naarm/Melbourne, each with lineups of three acts picked by artists whose own projects are among some of the country’s most revered.

Itself dubbed Decent Exposure, the series’ first show will be held on Wednesday December 6. Georgia Maq (best known as the ex-frontwoman of Camp Cope) curated the bill, which features June Jones, Katie Dey and The Vovos. Payten’s own curated show will be held the following Wednesday (December 13), with performances coming courtesy of Pisco Sour, Obscura Hail and Leo. Last up in the first lot is a show curated by Lahey, going down on Wednesday December 20 with sets from The Belair Lip Bombs, Eaglemont and Harris.

Tickets for all three shows are on sale now, with each costing just $20 – head here to grab yours.