Photos by Ian Ritter
Interview by Kris Peters
The Bendigo Hotel in Melbourne is stamping its mark on the live music scene from early in the New Year when it hosts Robot Rocks Presents, a showcase event of bands and artists aligned to the Golden Robot label.
The brainchild of Kim Bencic, Robot Rocks kicks off on January 7 in the first of what is hoped will be a regular music program that will highlight some of Golden Robot's emerging artists across Australia.
The first installment will see Stonetrip, Cicadastone, Shotgun Mistress, Gen2, The Vendettas, Mark E and The Exiles take to the stage in one massive night of live music covering a range of genres and styles.
Bencic and Mark Alexander-Erber, CEO and founder of Golden Robot Records sat down with HEAVY to talk about Robot Rocks Presents and Golden Robot.
"Robot Rocks will be taking primarily our Australian - not all of them - but part of our Australian roster and touring them around Australia in 2023," Alexander-Erber explained, "which is fantastic."
"Golden Robot Records has been going about 8 years now," he continued, "and we have fast become one of the leading independent labels in the world. We've got 12 labels in the group, around 500 bands, with some of the biggest names in the world. We have Filter and The Answer and three members of Guns N Roses, LA Guns, RATT and Faster Pussycat plus a huge slew of great Aussie singer/songwriters, like Nick Barker and Johnny Casino. We've worked with Steve Kilby from The Church. We've worked with Mark Of Cain and we've got new bands that have joined that could be the next big thing. We just signed an incredible band out of New Zealand called Shepherd's Reign that could be the next Sepultura, so we're right across all fronts from country music, hard rock, heavy rock, metal, punk, old school rock and classic rock etc. We're an Australian label out there kicking ass all over the world, especially in Europe and the UK and America."
While Alexander-Erber oversees the above and more, he gladly defers to Bencic when asked about the Robot Rocks Presents events.
"A couple of the bands came to me and asked me what I thought about putting some shows together for everyone that's on the roster with Golden Robot Records," she began. "There seems to be a lot of festivals going on and you just can't get on them, so we thought together we'll put our own shows on and just go around Australia."
In the full interview Kim talks more about the first show on January 7 and the bands involved, outlines her future plans to take Robot Rocks gigs throughout Australia. Mark talks more about Golden Robot Records, their stable of bands, upcoming releases - including Stonetrip who will be releasing a new single and their debut album early next year, tips for getting your band on a labels radar, showcasing homegrown talent and more.