The Spooky Men's Chorale
from Australia's Blue Mountains
"School choir was never like this"
The Spooky Men's Chorale, an idiosyncratic vocal ensemble from the Blue Mountains, west of
Sydney, Australia, are returning to the UK to tour for a second consecutive year. They will be
performing another show-stopping mix of poignantly funny originals, haunting Georgian male
vocal anthems, heartbreakingly beautiful love songs and choral-ised rock standards between
at Folk Festivals, concerts and workshops across the UK. Dates here
The Spooky men are a genial bunch of hirsute larrikins whose preoccupation with facial hair,
fascination with power tools, polished musicality, wry humour and grandiloquent demeanour
together combine to answer the question: "Is there a role for masculinity in the 21st century?" with
a resounding "Yes!" (delivered in resonant, testosterone-rich three part harmony.)
In 2006 the Spooky Men's Chorale gave 28 performances in 23 days in venues ranging from
jampacked village halls to folk festival main-stages filled to capacity. Their tour included a
successful run at the Edinburgh Festival Speigeltent, and appearances at London's Bush Hall, and
Shrewsbury, Towersey and Broadstairs festivals.
The Spooky Men dared to hope that their maudlin pathos, post-modern despair, bristling
indignation, cowboy exuberance and mock Slavic inscrutabilia would strike some kind of chord
with British audiences. In the event, they were delighted by their rapturous reception at every
appearance and were somewhat taken aback by their instant cult following with cohorts of ardent
fans bearing banners and wearing Spooky couture (black clothes and facial hair). They now find
themselves billed as a headline act on festival posters, where last year they were unknown.
These eighteen black-clad, be-hatted blokes are quintessentially Australian males, embodying
brooding resignation alloyed with statuesque incomprehension: they provide a welcome alternative
to the more stereotypical reptile-wrestling, beer-saturated, confidently misogynistic Aussie bloke.
The Spooky Men’s Chorale tour starts on14 July in Loughborough and finishes on 6 August in
Dublin. The tour includes appearances at Brampton Live, Trowbridge Village Pump Fest, Warwick
Folk Festival, Wickham Folk Festival and Sidmouth Folk week and a score of towns and villages.
The Spooky Men will also be gleefully clutching their second CD, “Stop Scratching it”, a follow up to
their debut disk, "Tooled up".
“It is spooky. You're listening to what sounds like archangels singing ethereal harmonies. But it's a bunch of beefy men from the Blue Mountains, with a wise guy out the front wearing a furry deerstalker hat. …If you have preconceived ideas about choirs leave them at the tent flap. This sound is sexy, powerful, at times impossibly gentle and sad, unmistakably male.” The Courier Mail
