Over Under Away

Over Under Away – Volume I is the first compilation LP from Melbourne independent label ​Hopestreet Recordings and is released to celebrate their 10th anniversary.

It features 10 tracks from Hopestreet’s first generation of artists: psych-Bollywood SciFi orchestra ​The Bombay Royale​, cinematica pioneers ​The Cactus Channel​, soul queen ​Emma Donovan and her mighty band ​The Putbacks ​and dusty country soul from ​The Meltdown, ​plus ​a couple of rarely heard gems, an afrobeat rap cut by One Sixth​ and a Marvin Gaye inspired environmental panic anthem by ​Zillanova feat. Cisco Tavares​.

Over Under Away is the label’s creation story. The material in Volume I was created in Hopestreet’s infancy, when the same people played in all the bands, and everyone who worked in the office was also making the records. If a compilation put together out of nine different albums sounds unusually cohesive, it’s because the same people performed, wrote and produced all the songs. Putbacks guitarist Tom Martin leads the charge, appearing on 8 out of 10 cuts. All production and engineering duties were shared by label founders Bob Knob and Tristan Ludowyk. These days are past, but the aim of Over Under Away – Volume I is to represent the seed that grew into the label as it is today.

The compilation takes its name from a song on ​Emma Donovan & The Putbacks’ 2014 album ​Dawn​. Over Under Away is a story of struggle, perseverance and, above all else, patience. About growing from small beginnings to “sing and shout and talk up loud.” Hopestreet began as a recording experiment, an afternoon goof between friends in a decrepit factory in Brunswick. The only ingredients were an Otari tape machine, some decent musicians and little bit of goodwill. When the label started, 7a Hope Street was surrounded by a desert of vacant industrial property. Now it’s surrounded by gleaming new apartment complexes. In that moment between decay and gentrification a little magic happened. Now the label, like it’s surroundings continues to evolve, but this compilation celebrates that fleeting point in time and everything that grew from there.