Our Golden Friend X Milk! Records: Two Iconic Melbourne Labels Pick Each Other’s Brains

Brunswick Music Festival kicks off this week, despite a year of incredible strain, and as usual they’ve created a program that flaunts Melbourne’s music culture something fierce. There are album launches we've been hanging all lockdown(s) for, Port Fairy Folk team-ups and punk gigs in the library, but some of the most exciting shows in the mix are always the label showcases, two of which are happening at new fest hub in Gilpin Park this weekend.

Our Golden Friend, named for founder and General Manager Lorrae McKenna’s extremely handsome golden retriever, are celebrating their fifth birthday there on Sunday 7 Mar. To mark the occasion a bunch of the artists on their roster are playing, which means it’s one of the most solid line-ups you could put together in Melbourne without flying people in - RVG, Good Morning, Elizabeth, Chitra, and even an OGF All-Star band.

No to be outdone, Milk! Records are putting on a 'park hang' the day before with Loose Tooth, East Brunswick All Girls Choir (playing their first show in two years), Hachiku, and Kee’ahn, who isn’t on the label but is amazing.

Beyond the obvious takeaway - which is that we will be spending most of the weekend in Gilpin Park - this proximity seemed like a good opportunity to speak to the people behind two unique, artist-driven labels about what life's like behind the scenes. Much to our pleasure, McKenna and Milk! Records Label Manager Tom Larnach-Jones then agreed to pick each other’s brains instead. 

Our Golden Friend General Manager, Lorrae McKenna: Tell me your absolute most favourite thing about Milk! Records?

Milk! Label Manager, Tom Larnach-Jones: Favourite thing would be our artists and watching their releases come to life. Album release day in particular is always a magical day! My other favourite thing would be my Milk! co-workers Marcelle and Anika. Every day is very eventful with them and we do have many laughs. 

TLJ: What's been your most hectic Zoom meeting this past 12 months? We recently had an amusing one with an artist who was packing their bags during the call to rush to the airport before the borders closed…

LM: Zoom has certainly become a big part of our lives in the past 12 months! For me, being a new mother and running a record label and management company has brought with it some interesting situations, especially when it comes to Zoom calls. I’ve had quite a few Zoom calls with people in the US early in the morning Australian time where I have had to ask politely if I may turn off my camera and breastfeed my five-month-old baby whilst right in the middle of quite important Zoom meetings! Fortunately literally everyone who has been on the other end is very understanding of the situation!

LM: What has been your best and most joyous memory so far working at Milk!?

TLJ: That would be the Milk! Xmas Party in 2019. It was the culmination of my first year working at Milk! and it was the first time everyone was in a room together at the same time since I started. Everyone was so excited to see each and it felt like a big catch-up with Courtney and her band being off tour for the first time in years. The audience was super great too, especially at the all-ages shows. Lots of generations really getting into the music together! Most moving Milk! moment would be Dyson Stringer Cloher performing their a cappella track Can I Borrow Your Eyes at their Rocksteady Records in-store. Moved me to tears!

TLJ: We end up holding most of our Milk! meetings at Half Moon Cafe where you will always see at least a couple of music friends. What's OGF's haunt of choice?

LM: Pre-Covid times the OGF office used to be situated above the Tramway Hotel in North Fitzroy and that was definitely our home and hub, I miss working above the pub and I think all of our bands definitely miss having band meetings at the pub! Unfortunately the dawn of Covid forced us to give up our office space and move everything into a new home office in my house in Preston, which now has become our new hub, it’s not quite as vibey as the pub but it has a beautiful garden and a rehearsal room out the back so has turned out to be quite practical in the end.

LM: What has been one of the biggest challenges for you during the dawn of Covid in our little music industry world?

TLJ: For me personally it was the isolation of working from home and living alone during lockdown. I’m sure lots of other people felt the same. I really thrive on seeing other people and interacting with them so I missed that. My poor cat Josie had to deal with me being in her domain 24/7. I was extremely lucky and grateful to still have a job though! Not being able to make concrete plans was hard too; especially for artists with releases ready to go. Thankfully the wheels have started turning again and the Milk! fans were extremely supportive of us, especially on Bandcamp Fridays, during this time! 

TLJ: How have you gone about finding new acts during COVID with the lack of actual gigs to attend?

LM: To be very honest the only new addition that I have had time for during the past crazy Covid year has been the arrival of my son Alvy!

LM: What are your star signs, (Sun, Moon and Rising)?

TLJ: I have asked my mother for my birth time so many times but she’s always been kind of vague about it so I’ve never got an accurate birth chart. But I am a Capricorn and from what I’ve read a VERY typical one.

TLJ: Our animal friends contribute a large part of both our label's personas; George the gentle giant who I adore at OFG and Jen [Cloher]'s cat Bubbles who is Milk!'s unofficial CEO. What other animal friends are vying for the spotlight at OGF?

LM: George definitely commands the most attention just purely because he is our logo and namesake (hot tip: a dog is a great marketing tool!). We actually have five furry friends who are all part of our OGF family and feature in our weekly newsletter from time to time. We have George of course and Lulu our 15-year-old matriarch who is a sweet little mini foxie cross who make up the canine portion of OGF. Then there are our three cats Tiger (we call him Fatsy), Gary (we call Ratsy) and Squink (also lovingly know as Mama or Mum).

LM: Please tell us about Josie your cat? What is her fave food? What are her star signs (Sun, Moon and Rising)? Any other cute stories?

TLJ: Josie is terrified of everything. My brother calls her “Cartoon Cat” as her frightened eyes are so huge! I had to get a little creative on her chart as she was a stray. She was found in the afternoon in the Woolies carpark in Brunswick (right near Gilpin Park!) and became mine on December 2nd many years ago. The internet tells me she’s Sun: Sagittarius, Moon: Pisces and Rising: Sagittarius. Her favourite food is bacon. She doesn’t like anyone but me and that suits me fine.

TLJ: If you weren't running OGF, what would you be doing?

LM: I’d most likely become a tarot reader or more recently after my own experience with childbirth I’ve decided I’d be quite interested in being a doula as well I think.

LM: If you had to pick one person from the Australian music industry to be stranded on a deserted island with who would it be and why?

TLJ: I’m going to pick two people: Guy and Ben from Chapter Music. I’ve chosen them because we have been great friends for over 20 years so I’m sure we wouldn’t kill each other on the island!

LM: While you’re stuck on that island with the above person you can only listen to one song for the rest of eternity, what song would it be and why?

TLJ: I’m not sure if I would dare pick one track, especially with Guy and Ben as the target audience! Chapter and Trifekta (my old label) did co-release a Crayon Fields album back in the day. Maybe their track Lovely Time from the release might be appropriate for our joyous time on the island.

TLJ: Who are you looking forward to seeing at BMF?

LM: I’m just really looking forward to being out and about at live shows again! I can’t believe it’s finally happening. So I would say I’m just excited for Brunswick Music Festival as a whole and being back out in the community again enjoying music together.

LM: Soy milk or almond milk?

TLJ: Soy milk! I only discovered the joys of soy in the past couple years. So yum and cheaper than cow’s milk! Well, at least the brand I buy.

For the full Brunswick Music Festival program head to their website.