Electronic Press Kit
– The Dead Maggies, their releases, and the rise of Tasmanian Convict Punk
– Band photos & Art
– Stage & Tech requirements
– Links (downloads etc)
– Press discussion points
– Full Biography is at the end, scroll on down…
The Dead Maggies and the rise of Tasmanian Convict Punk
– A short history and biography.
Tasmania is an island state, south of the Australian mainland it juts out of the wild seas where the cold Antarctic waters smash into the South Pacific. Named Van Diemen’s Land by the first European explorers, the British invaded in 1803 launching the “Black Wars” a cruel campaign of nearly successful genocide against the indigenous Aboriginals. Van Diemen’s Land was a natural prison, and this is how it was used. Convict Punishment Centres were built here, psychological torture was institutionalised, and soon Asylums were built for the madness invoked by the brutal punishments.
A time of panic in The Empire, people were sentenced to ‘Transportation’ to Van Diemen’s Land for crimes ranging from murder and cannibalism, to stealing bread and milk for their families. However in these green, spikey and wild lands, those who could not be broken, those who could escape, could find a different way of life.
The story of Tasmania is of rebellion and revolution. Of wild bush-rangers fighting to survive and of wild rebel armies fighting the invading government. Of amazing characters who forged legend. Of alliances between escaped convicts and Tasmanian Aboriginals. A country forged of natives, Celts and convicts.
The Dead Maggies “created their own genre… Tasmanian Convict Punk” (ABC Radio) mixing heart-racing raucous folk-punk and cow-punk together to write music born of this land and its history. They are storytellers, mixing tales from Tasmania’s dark and oppressive past with timeless echoes, weaving complex melodies amongst irrepressible rhythms. The lyrics captivate your mind while the music steals your heart and you are left with only the story and the dance.
The Dead Maggies formed in 2013 shortly after Maggie Thatchers death and during the rise of Tony Abbott, they took on her name in protest. We should learn from our mistakes. Their first release Sing about dead people (2013) accounted life and death in old Van Diemen’s Land. Their 2015 release was a full-length album Well Hanged, which follows 200 years of Tasmanian history from the European invasion to the present day. The “history children didn’t learn in schools” (LCP) and a “musical tour of Tasmania’s Dark Ages” (MONA), Well Hanged continued into current day environmental and human rights abuses. Because oppression and revolution are our history, and it is our now.
In 2017 they released two EP’s one, a pair set at different times, ‘The Wild Folk’ continued the telling of stories from Tasmanias old world around 200 years ago. The other, ‘Wild Dogs & Flannies’ addressed tales set today, tales of a new, still challenging world.
In 2019 after an Asia tour (their fourth international tour), they had a week hanging around West Java and recorded 11 tracks. These are anticipated to be a new album, with scheduled release in February 2020 on Folk ‘Til Ya Punk Records.
As London Celtic Punks described it in one of their generous reviews:
“This is what folk-punk is all about.”
Band photos / Art
[startwrap class=”two”]
[divup] 
[endwrap]
Stage & Tech requirements
5 x vocal microphones on stands, 4 at front of stage 1 on drummer.
1 x instrument microphone on stands (clarinet) next to central front mic 1
Drum Kit at rear centre of stage
Bass amp either side of drum kit (we don’t care)
4x DIs (acoustic guitar, violin, banjo, mandolin)
If there are any guitar amps around, we can plug violin and/or banjo in (not essential)
Links
TripleJ Unearthed (2 free downloads from Well Hanged)
Review of Well Hanged by London Celtic Punks
Folk ‘Til Ya Punk Records (Label)
Facebook
Twitter
Youtube
Instagram
Soundcloud
Achievements and press discussion points:
Had a Pogue come to a show in Germany.
Had a Sex Pistol ask them to support in Hobart.
Played a mainstage of Boomtown (70,000 capacity festival in UK).
#7 for London Celtic Punks Album of the Year 2016.
First international band hosted by Indonesian Celtic Punks collective (WLRV records).
Had the stage manager of The Spiegeltent ask the audience to settle down, worried that they were dancing too hard for the historic floorboards.
Nominated as best Tasmanian Live Band in National Live Music Awards 2016
And here is the full length bio:
Tasmania’s folk-punk, cow-punk, beer swilling, shanty singing, flannie-wearing, musical peasants, The Dead Maggies are story tellers, weaving tales from Van Diemen’s Land’s dark and turbulent folklore and history – set to fast, upbeat, toe-tapping, foot stomping, wild music that makes you dance, shout and folk till you punk.
The Dead Maggies formed when hearing of the death of Maggie Thatcher and burst straight into a performance then in April 2013. Since then they’ve released three EPs and one album, garnered national airplay on Triple J and Radio National and been feature album and in the charts of community radio stations including 4ZZZ, Three-D, 2BoB and Edge Radio.
They have undertaken four international tours. They were the first international band hosted by Indonesian Celtic Punks, in 2016. They have toured Europe in 2014 and 2017, including performances at Outcider and Boomtown Festivals in the UK (Boomtown a 70,000 capacity festival with M.I.A., The Specials and Cyrpus Hill).
They have cemented themselves as regulars of the Australian festival circuit, including; Falls Festival, Port Fairy, Dark Mofo, Psyfari, The Spiegeltent, National Folk Festival, Yonder, Fractangular and Illawarra Folk to name a few. They’re equally adept at being the rowdy band at the folk festival, or the acoustic act at the punk show.
The Dead Maggies were recently recording in West Java, and plan to have a new album released early in 2020.