newsletter – The Offtopics

To say that a lot has happened in the last year is something of an understatement… but what didn’t eventuate, for obvious reasons, is a whole heap of Offtopics gigs.

Those of you who witnessed our experimental Zoom gig back in December will recall that we certainly gave the whole iso-performance thing a red-hot go. Thanks to some excellent sound and lighting the show was something of a qualified success but there ain’t nothing like the real thing baby! (with apologies to Tammi Terrell)

So with that in mind we’d like to invite you to P.O.M.E this Saturday night to witness the rise and rebirth of The Offtopics.

The venue is a cosy sort of place so it might be the perfect location to showcase our new songs and new sound for some old favourites. A leaner Offtopics outfit with our ersatz funk dynamo back on guitar duties will see us pushing towards a 70s R&B sound in the vein of Gil Scott-Heron and Bill Withers.

Check it out – Tickets here: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing?eid=713171&

Bookings essential in this Covid aware era!

And here’s a FB event if that’s your thang: https://www.facebook.com/events/264484728574342

Come on down for some fun times, great music and delicious cocktails.

See you there!

With love from Huw, Stu, Linc, Tim, Polash and the whole extended Offtopics crew!

P.O.M.E is at 267 Swan St Richmond and The Offtopics will be playing two sets from 7:30pm.

Hey there friends of The Offtopics, it’s Polash aka “The Funk Dynamo” here… though, to be honest, I haven’t been feeling very dynamic for most of this year. I know it’s been a long time since you’ve heard any updates from us and I apologize unreservedly. There have been some events besides the obvious global happenings going on for us that have made me want to gnaw off my time tapping foot rather than do a mail-out. This isn’t me substituting sounding mysterious for being interesting. Neither am I having a moan (who needs to hear that right now??) I’m just trying to keep things “real” for a moment.

It’s still hard for me to talk about it but I promise I will bring everyone up to speed over the coming weeks. Rest assured, we Offtopics, have been making plans to get some new music out there. It’s complicated by the same pressures that have been affecting everyone but it WILL happen.

In the meantime I want to share something super positive with you all. During lockdown I teamed up with my buddy Darius Kedros to record a solo EP which I’ve called “Polash From The Garden”. The EP has six songs on it, three of which Offtopics fans might recognize from our live shows. I really hope you enjoy these stripped back acoustic versions. The other three songs are originals from beyond The Offtopics’ wheelhouse though they may get funkified after the zombie apocalypse.

It wouldn’t be one of my projects without some beautiful visuals to go with it so I was absolutely thrilled to team up with Rebecca Stewart again and she’s come through with the goods. Here are some of her concept roughs to spark your interest.

There’s a whole story behind the visual ideas for the EP cover and if you’re keen I’ll do a deep dive in another email.

For now I just want to let you all know that the first single off the EP is called “Isolation (Tonight)” and will be available on all streaming platforms THURSDAY 19 NOVEMBER so SAVE THE DATE!

That’s it from me for the moment. Please write back to say g’day. Don’t be like me and go quiet ‘cos the world is getting you down. Right now, nothing would please me more than to have a bit of back and forth via email.

I hope you’re all hanging in out there. Lettuce know!

All the best,

Polash OTO*

AKA The Funk Dynamo
AKA The Love Wombat

(*Of The Offtopics)