| 2001 NEWS UPDATES:: |
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JULY/AUGUST >> |
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Thank
you to all those who ordered Warner products over the past month, especially
Peter Luckett of Merrylands in NSW, and Paul Wessels in
Kingswood, NSW. I hope you enjoyed not only the stuff you ordered but
the bonus gifts we nearly always manage to include. The
latest goss on the book front is one in and one out. MURDER
IN THE OFF-SEASON has now been published in the same A format
as the previous Lizard Books. It had previously been available only
in the big format with the bonus edition of MURDER
IN THE GROOVE included. On
the downside, THE SPYING GAME, the memoirs of real life PI Frank
Monte which I worked on, has been withheld from publication because
of legal action. We'll just have to wait and see if it makes the light
of day in some form or other. I
have been invited to appear at WORDPOOL, a literary cabaret organised
by the Queensland Writers Centre in Brisbane on August 28 at Jameson's
in the PM session. I'd love to meet any of my Brisbane fans – music
or books! I
know most of you who visit this site are Dave Warner's From The Suburbs
fans and I wish I had more music news to offer you. The
AFL CDs which I have been working on with Martin Cilia for
three years now should be out next year on Sony. It's been a long hard
haul but for you AFL fans it will hopefully be worth it. There are 16
CDs, one for each club, with six tracks per disc. The CDs will feature
the club's official theme song plus a track or tracks about players.
The musical styles vary from country to dance. And
if you like rock music you'll love GARAGE
DAYS, the film I wrote with director Alex Proyas. It's currently
being shot in Sydney for a 2002 release. The story is about a young
garage band trying to make it, and the relationships within the band.
Sounds simple, but with Alex's twist on things it is "out there". Already
shot is the telemovie BALMAIN BOYS (previously titled LEGEND).
This will air on Channel 10 some time in the future. And cricket-wise, what can I say? They dropped Justin Langer!!!!! What a spineless act, caving in to media pressure to bat Ricky Ponting at 3. Well Ponting is no number 3. He's failed before there and he'll fail again, though the Poms are so weak he might do deceptively okay in this series. Mind you, his form over the his last several test innings has been well behind that of Langer. Justin Langer has been the team's best batsman over the last few years both on average and more importantly, median score, measures. So often he has had to bat with no opening partnership to cushion his entry. Sure Damian Martyn deserved a call up but then he deserved a call up last year when Mark Waugh's form was abysmal. I wonder why Mark Waugh wasn't dropped? Well,
have a great winter all of you and thanks for the e-mails and messages
you send. DAVE WARNER |
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JUNE >> |
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GARAGE DAYS: Shooting on this new Alex Proyas film, which Dave co-wrote, began on Monday June 4 on the streets of Glebe and Newtown, in inner-west Sydney. The film stars Kick Gurry, Maya Stange, Pia Miranda, Andy Anderson, Marton Csokas, Yvette Duncan Russell Dykstra and Chris Sadrinna. Gurry plays Freddy, the frontman of a young garage band who, thorough a series of misadventures, ends up playing at Homebake in Sydney. We will be keeping
a close watch on this production, so check back here for regular updates. The McElroy/Network
10 telemovie The Balmain Boys wrapped its shoot at the end of
May. |
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MAY >> |
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HI SUBURBAN SOLDIERS
OLD AND NEW and
thank you for taking the trouble to tune in to the site. I especially
wish to thank all of you who have bought CDs, books and T-shirts from
us, or even have taken the trouble to drop a line with some feedback
on the books and so on. It's
been extremely hectic for me lately with the imminent shoots of the
telemovie BALMAIN BOYS and the Alex
Proyas feature GARAGE
DAYS. I'm a co-writer on both of these and as production draws
closer I've been called in to have a look at the progress. I'm also
working with Martin Fabinyi of Mushroom Pictures on a sequel to CUT.
So if I haven't responded to your emails or letters, I will get around
to it. For those wanting
to know a little about BALMAIN BOYS, let me fill you in briefly
on the story: Matthew Abbott is a football legend who has played all
three codes – Aussie Rules, Rugby and League. He is also a cop.
When he gets injured in the line of duty he must give up both careers.
While deciding what to do with his life, his best mate, a roguish lawyer
named Andy Grace finds himself holding some hot money for a dangerous
client. When the money disappears along with Larry's partner, the scene
is set for Matthew "The Legend" Abbott to play detective. The
story is comedy-action, with the lead roles going to Paul Gleeson (Ledge)
and Jeremy Sims (Andy). Ray Quint will direct. The project is being
produced by McElroy Television in conjunction with Columbia Tri Star
and Channel 10. Expect it on your screens later this year. GARAGE
DAYS is the story of a young band trying to make it in the pokie
infested world of the Sydney pub scene. Actually it's as much a story
about the people in the band and their relationships as anything else.
It's interesting that recently both High Fidelity and Almost
Famous have covered this sort of territory, and covered it very
well. We hope that we have a slightly different angle on it all but
at the same time will provide a funny film with lots of heart. Alex
is a wonderful director and I am sure that the visuals will be scintillating.
The project is being produced by Fox Searchlight. By the way, thanks
to all those who complimented me about the SBS TV series GOING
HOME. It is a unique and interesting show that continues soon
for its second season. Unfortunately, I can't be part of the writing
team this time as I am now working on Balmain Boys for McElroys.
Nevertheless, I am sure it will be great viewing. I know I'll be watching. On the music front, we can announce that finally the long awaited Sony-AFL project is almost ready to roll off the slipway. Martin Cilia and I have written and recorded songs about players of each of the AFL clubs so that we will shortly see the release of 16 separate CDds with 5 tracks per CD. Each will include the club song plus four other footy related original tracks. Johnny Leopard is
currently visiting Sydney. With Tony "New Boy" Durant, and John "One
Armed Bandit" Dennison resident here we will have to see if there is
any possibility of the original Suburbs doing gigs later in the year.
We have been approached over the possibility of a few private parties
and if any of this can be achieved, perhaps we can link a public gig
in as well. I will keep you posted. What else can I say? If you're in the Southern hemisphere, please steer clear of the winter flu. If you're in the Northern hemisphere, enjoy the sunshine. Webmaster Stuart O'Connor and I will try and keep you updated on the shows as they progress with a sprinkling of star gossip. Thanks again ... DAVE WARNER |
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MARCH/APRIL >> |
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MURDER IN THE OFF-SEASON IN REPRINT:: There are still a few copies of the special edition of Murder In The Off-Season, backed with Murder In The Groove, in stores, but Dave's stocks have gone. MITOS is about to be reissued as a single book, but it won't be in stores until August. For those who've been asking, the CD Surplus & Dearth is now sold out. There are no plans at this stage to reissue this title. Dave is also in discussions with Mushroom Pictures about a possible sequel to Cut. The Alex Proyas film Garage Days, which Dave co-wrote, is currently in pre-producton and is scheduled to begin shooting in May. |
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FEBRUARY >> |
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MORE SONG LYRICS::
As
part of the revamp of Dave's site, we'll be adding a lyrics section,
and AND we're still working on plans for new features, such as fan feedback, reader and listener reviews and a downloadable MP3 track each month ... plus much, much more. Watch this space for further details, but email those book and CD reviews to the webmaster now (less than 300 words please!) |
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JANUARY >> |
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DEAR SUBURBAN SOLDIER Welcome to Warnerworld in the new millennium. I hope that last year was fabulous for you and that this year will be even better. This year promises a lot on both large and small screen. GARAGE DAYS, the film I've co-written with director Alex Proyas, is slated for filming in Sydney in the early part of the year, while THE LEGEND – a telemovie I've co-written with Tony Morphett for McElroy TV-Channel 10 and Columbia Tristar – should be shot around the same time. Both are exciting projects with excellent creative teams – Alex is a brilliant director and Tony Morphett is the doyen of Australian TV writers. Of course most of
you want to know about performances by the Suburbs and new or
reissued CDs. At this stage, the only recording project on the screen
is an AFL
/ Sony Music
one in which I have written and recorded six tracks for each AFL Club.
The tracks include songs about players and the club, and a There have been a couple of near misses in getting the Suburbs back together and I can only perservere to get most of the orginal guys on stage for a show or two. It isn't easy, and of course it is an expensive exercise but sooner or later it will happen. Johnny Leopard and drummer Howie Johnstone are in Perth these days while Tony Durant and John Dennison are in Sydney. Likely bass player Greg Macainsh is doing a law degree but maybe we'll get him out of the books and plugged into an amp. I wish to thank all of you who wrote to me or, even better, bought a Warner product of some description. I know it takes time and effort and I always attempt to reward that with a bonus gift or two. Hopefully you weren't disappointed. DAVE WARNER PS: I'd like
to send a big hello and thanks to Greg and Jenny Nankarrow of Nedlands,
in WA, for being such solid Suburban Soldiers. Also to Peter Horbury
in Victoria and to all those Soldiers in the far-flung reaches of the
world. IN OTHER NEWS:: Dave has co-written a 10-part whodunnit, against a backdrop of Australian Federation, which was published in THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD. It's called The Unusual Suspects, and you can read it online right HERE. COMING SOON:: We'll be adding some new features to the site, such as fan feedback, reader and listener reviews, more song lyrics and a downloadable MP3 track each month ... plus much, much more. Watch this space for further details, but you can start emailing those book and CD reviews to the webmaster now – but please keep them to less than 300 words! |