The coastal town of Byron Bay is home to a vibrant local music scene and important community spaces like Howl & Moan Records; a record store and live music venue that dedicates itself wholly to platforming, booking and enriching the careers of young, emerging musicians in Australia.
Howl & Moan aims to connect everyday folk to the grassroots talent of the area in a way that puts human connection and interaction at the forefront. A counter to scrolling Instagram stories and sliding into DMs, once you step through the doors of Howl & Moan, you’re greeted with the opportunity to meet and share your love for music face-to-face. The store has become an institution, and gracing its stage has become a rite of passage for many artists.
Back in 2017, Mario Fraietta took a chance in setting up Howl & Moan and has since built something foundational for the community.
“I took over an existing record store, purely by accident,” said Mario. “I had moved up to Byron to open a cafe and a lot of stuff was happening behind the scenes with the council. As that was happening, I was coming to the record store and talking to the owner. A few weeks after, I found an old Gumtree ad that he put up saying he's selling the shop,”
“I gave him a call and by the end of that conversation, I'd agreed to buy it. This was February 2017. I took over on the 3rd of March, rebranded it as Howl & Moan, and hosted my first gig on the 12th of March.”
Prior to owning Howl & Moan, Mario ran a cafe in Young NSW, west of Canberra, where he first began to put on live music. It soon became clear that there was an appetite for live music in spaces other than the usual. Having observed the way Sydney record stores like Black Wire in Annandale and Beatdisc in Parramatta would host intimate, in-store performances, Mario knew exactly what his next venture would entail.
“From day one, the intention was to figure out how we engage the local community and host music. Live music was the most obvious way. So during that first year, we were hosting regular weekly events,” he said.
“We'd host three bands on a Tuesday night, mainly for free, and built up a reputation. All the community got behind it, and since then, we've been a bit of an institution for emerging bands. We've hosted a lot of first gigs; people who have met at the record store and then wanted to play their first show here.”
Over the years, Howl & Moan has become the go-to place for early-career artists to build themselves up. Whether you’re a bright-eyed, high school aged artist, a busker known to the area, or a new kid on the block looking for a fresh start, Mario is all ears, and Howl & Moan is your sanctuary.
“All I've tried to do is become that central point where anyone can come and ask us about anything to do with the industry. Whether it’s how to put on a live show, where to play, how to get a record pressed, how to even record music. We talk to everyone. So it's a meeting place and that's the thing that we're trying to focus on,”
“Even in the online, digital world, there's still that human connection that is very important, and it's hard to share experiences behind the computer. So I feel our role and our added value is that this is a meeting spot and not just a retail store.”
The most exciting part about Howl & Moan’s live music programming is its emphasis on booking acts who have never played a show before. The immense beauty in booking first, second or third gigs for emerging artists comes in the form of raw, unfiltered energy that you oftentimes won’t get at pubs or nightclubs. Having hosted three-piece indie band Loose Content’s second show ever as 14 year olds, its success stories like theirs that keeps the spirit of Howl & Moan alive.
“The first gigs are always the most memorable. Under 18s cannot play in a licensed venue, so we try to create an environment that's a safe, all-ages space for them and their friends to come and support live music,” he said. “One of Loose Content’s early gigs was where I was like, “Wow, these kids are so good and they're so young”. From there, I knew to tell everyone to keep an eye on these kids, and now they're doing great,”
“When there is a gig on anywhere, be there for the first band. For that first band, it could be their one and only show, or they could be the next big thing. That fulfills me, the experience of not knowing what to expect. I'm always at the front of the venue, trying to show the band that I'm here to support. And I try to encourage people to do that,”
“I was lucky enough to see one of Violent Soho's first shows in Sydney. There were six of us there, and look how far they’ve come. The one thing I always try to do is be there early, give them support and encouragement. Lately, it's been very difficult, because the Northern Rivers has essentially lost nearly all of its dedicated live music venues to DJs or other activities. We’re in a very difficult position up here, which is probably nationwide, but we have to try and encourage people to get back to seeing live shows.”
As a vanguard of original live music in Byron Bay, Mario hopes to translate the essence of Howl & Moan Records into a record label, releasing a ‘Sounds of Byron’ compilation album to showcase the bands that have played at the shop before. While the expense of putting it all together is prevalent, the passion and belief in the local music scene far outweighs the worthy struggle to shine a light on local talent.
“The dream is to really get the word out there that we believe in the local scene and the music that is generating here,” he said.
“Hopefully as a label, we're active in terms of trying to put shows on more regularly. We do have a good relationship with a lot of players in the industry, so it's up to me to curate and believe in emerging talent. We're fairly limited in what we can do in the shop, so we want to get to that next step,”
“[Howl & Moan Records] is one of the last in person experiences you can get with music. The big thing we focus on is making the experience here welcoming, safe, with great sound and that raw emotion of the audience and the band being one. Live music is emotional, music in general is emotional. It's a real, tangible, physical space here. And that's what we hope the shop remains as.”
Howl & Moan Records is located at Shop 4/103 Jonson St, Byron Bay NSW 2481, the traditional lands of the Bundjalung Nation of the Arakwal, Minjungbal and the Widjabul people. Howl & Moan Records will also be hosting Little Bands at the upcoming Regional & Remote Music Summit. Read more here.
Written by MusicNSW Marketing & Communications Coordinator, Adele Luamanuvae.
Bands credit: Media Puzzle & Mulch
Image credit: Nedlands Studio