How Sarah Blasko’s sound was shaped by Sydney’s Newtown in the ’90s

ARIA Award-winning singer and songwriter Sarah Blasko moved to Newtown in Sydney’s inner west aged in her 20s; it’s the suburb that went on to inspire the songs that made up her third studio album As Day Follows Night released in 2009 and last year’s I Just Need to Conquer This Mountain.

It was while walking between Newtown and Darlinghurst on her way to her small office at her manager’s headquarters in the mid 2000s that Blasko had most of the ideas for the songs that make the final cut.

“I distinctly remember having to stop along City Road to write down an idea for the song Over & Over,” says Sarah Blasko.

Sarah Blasko’s favourite Newtown retail and hospitality haunts. Picture: Getty

She also penned some of the songs for her latest album writing at Brighter Coffee in Stanmore and Newtown’s 212 Blu café.

It’s the same neighbourhood she met fellow musicians and band mates Holly Throsby and Sally Seltmann.

“Our band Seeker Lover Keeper was born via a drunken evening at The Townie in Newtown,” says Blasko.

“I also met Darren Hanlon who was my housemate and has been my friend for 20 years in and around Newtown. I met all of my band mates around the area too – David Hunt, David Symes and Ben Fletcher all came together from Newtown.”

Sarah Blasko’s favourite Newtown retail and hospitality haunts. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

From shopping second hand clothing at Vinnie’s in her 20s to scouring the Glebe Markets in late 1990s era, Blasko’s rite of passage stirs all the feels now she’s aged 48.

“I mostly liked shopping for second hand clothes and buying CDs and records when I was new to the area,” she recalls.

“Hum Records – which is still there – is somewhere I used to buy new music, and I’d buy old records at Vinnies & Egg Records. Indie music culture spoke to me, but then I signed to a major label.

“I’ve always been into what could broadly be described as alternative culture I guess – wanting to do things my own way, dress the way I want to. I grew up listening to Sonic Youth, the Cure, the Pixies, Bjork, Nick Cave, Talking Heads. I feel that they all kind of make pop music but in their own idiosyncratic style and that appealed to me,” she says.

And naturally, she found her subculture in Newtown in this era.

Blasko has just announced an upcoming tour where she will play her seminal albums, The Overture and The Underscore and What the Sea Wants, The Sea Will Have, in full.

Sarah Blasko’s memories of Newtown

Early influences

When I first lived here in my mid-20s, it felt like it was mostly full of university students in share houses and coming from the suburbs of the Sutherland Shire. I’d always dreamed of living here.

Newtown was the home of anything goes – people from all walks of life – goths, hippies, musos, eccentrics. I remember it being dirty and smelly, but in a beautiful way. I can still smell the late-night books at the huge Gould’s Books on North King.

Sarah Blasko’s favourite Newtown retail and hospitality haunts. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Everything I was buying was cheap back then – from the 2-minute noodles, a couple of potatoes and some frozen peas. Sometimes we would eat the Hari Krishna meals that were served out of a cart at The Hub. Happy Chef was my favourite place to eat – cheap and cheerful. I’d always order a wonton soup, or you’d find me eating rice paper rolls from a place called Pho 236.

A local character

There’s a guy that I still see now and then but I don’t know his name. He’s not an elderly gentleman, but he likes to tear down King Street on his mobility scooter at about 20km per hour with music blaring and his tattoos out. I love this guy so much and he expresses so fully the spirit of Newtown. I also love seeing the activist Danny Lim holding up a sign near Newtown Station too.

A favourite no longer

Happy Chef is a place I really miss. It was a very simple Chinese restaurant with all the classic dishes. You could sit in there for hours and read the paper if you chose, and nobody would bother you.  They were so friendly and the food was always fast and good. It was quite sad they didn’t return after there was a fire at the restaurant. In my mind, Newtown hasn’t quite been the same since.

Sarah Blasko’s favourite Newtown retail and hospitality haunts. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

One that’s stood the test of time

Hum Records in Newtown which has been there since 2000.  I have great memories of listening to all their staff picks on the headphone stations – CDs were mostly around then, the resurgence of vinyl hadn’t happened yet – so you had to wait a moment for the next CD to start spinning before the music started. I used to stand in there for a very long time. I distinctly remember listening to The Sleepy Jackson [first album] Lovers on one of the stations and deciding to buy it almost immediately – [the song] Good Dancers is such an incredible start to an album.

Sarah Blasko’s favourite Newtown retail and hospitality haunts. Picture: realcommercial.com.au

Later, it was Repressed Records which opened around 2008. There’s also Black Star Bakery which opened in Newtown – and although very, very different now, I do still think their Watermelon Cake is delicious.

Pete’s Musician’s Market has stood the test of time too – I have bought many a last-minute guitar lead or pick in that place. “The Townie” aka The Town Hall Hotel still remains though very different now. It’s where every musician who was playing a gig would end up, the phrase “let’s go for one more at The Townie” still rings in my ears, and so does the taste of a cheap chardonnay from the upstairs bar. I got to know some of my favourite people at this place.

Favourite new-kid on the block

Bella Brutta has the best pizza in Sydney; it’s been a very welcome addition to Newtown. Cafe Paci and Ante & Bar Planet have really elevated the food vibe in the area too.