SAFE IN SOUND 2026

Line-up

1. 

   Sat 31 October · Set Time: TBC · Jolted Arts Space - 342 High St Northcote

   Lucas Abela & Steven Hagiliassis

   Lucas Abela and Stephen Hagiliassis collide in a live encounter where shattering electronics meet the human voice at its most primal.

   For decades, Lucas Abela — better known as Justice Yeldham — has pushed noise into the realm of physical extremity, turning glass, contact microphones and electronics into instruments of extraordinary sonic violence. Abela’s approach is not simply about making noise, but about transforming the materials of sound itself. Against this comes Stephen Hagiliassis’ extraordinary vocal practice, drawing on Greek folk traditions, prayer, chant and the raw force of screams. His voice can move from ritualistic and meditative to visceral and confronting, carrying both cultural memory and physical presence.

2. 

   Set Time: TBC · Jolted Arts Space - 342 High St Northcote

   Tête-à-tête, Matt Larsen, Robbie Avenaim and Ernie Althoff

   Ah... Mr Matt. Mr Robbie. Your table is ready.

   It has been reserved exclusively for tonight's sonic dégustation. Whether the audience has reservations is entirely their affair.

   Your waiter this evening, Mr Ernie, waits patiently in the wings. He's been instructed not to explain anything. Should he accidentally become helpful, please alert management immediately.

   Tonight's menu is à la carte. There are no entrées, no mains and absolutely no dessert. Instead you'll be served a carefully curated sequence of vibrating metals, amplified objects, reluctant percussion, prepared mechanisms and sounds whose provenance remains delightfully uncertain.

   Every course has been tasted for resonance rather than flavour.

   Please refrain from feeding the instruments.

   The bells are genuine. The whistles are mostly genuine. Everything else is subject to spontaneous revision.

   We trust you'll find the evening both satisfying and impossible to digest.

   Bon appétit.

3. 

   Set Time: TBC · Jolted Arts Space - 342 High St Northcote

   Safe in Sound & Jolted Arts presents

   David Shea and Jay Euesden

   David Shea and Jay Euesden come together in a deeply immersive meeting of sound, voice and vibration. David Shea's long exploration of meditation, resonance and acoustic phenomena draws on the rich tones of Tibetan bowls, prepared piano and subtle sonic textures, creating spaces for deep listening and contemplation. Jay Euesden's trance-like vocals weave through this landscape, creating a hypnotic interplay of voice, breath and sustained sound.

   Together, they create a slow-burning sonic journey where ancient resonances meet experimental practice. A performance that invites audiences to listen differently — moving between meditation, improvisation and the transformative power of sound.

4. 

   Set Time: TBC · Drill Hall, 395 Barkly St, Footscray, Melbourne

   Safe in Sound & Jolted Arts presents

   Victor Meertens with the Noise Scavengers

   A meeting of sculpture, sound and invention. Legendary Australian sculptor, sound artist and experimental musician Victor Meertens brings decades of exploration with found materials, discarded objects and unconventional forms into dialogue with The Noise Scavengers' adventurous approach to sound.

   Known for transforming industrial materials into expressive sculptural works, Victor's practice has always explored the hidden life of objects — their textures, histories and unexpected possibilities. Together with The Noise Scavengers, a collective of sound artists exploring the space between rock, electronics, improvisation and sound art, this collaboration turns objects, machines and materials into a living sonic environment.

5. 

   Set Time: TBC · Drill Hall, 395 Barkly St, Footscray, Melbourne

   Safe in Sound & Jolted Arts presents

   Jim Denley, Carolyn Connors, Esther Tuddenham and Steven Hagiliassis

   Four distinctive voices from Melbourne's experimental music community come together in a spontaneous meeting of breath, voice, electronics, poetry and sonic exploration. Jim Denley brings his unique approach to flute and improvisation, creating delicate and unexpected musical pathways. Carolyn Connors explores the extremes of the human voice, moving between song, spoken word and theatrical expression. Esther Tuddenham blends poetry, voice and intermedia practices, while Steven Hagiliassis draws on Greek folk traditions, religious texts and shredding vocal sound worlds.

6. Play the video for Marbles - Joel Stern, Vyvyan Hughes Stern, Beatrix Hughes Stern (on YouTube)

   Set Time: TBC · Jolted Arts Space - 342 High St Northcote

   Marbles - Joel Stern, Vyvyan Hughes Stern, Beatrix Hughes Stern

   Marbles is a family band including pets. They are Joel, Bea and Vyv. We improvise all the way using different instruments. Our sounds are weird but cool. Spectacular. We have played one gig. It was ok but Tommy and Julian kind of wrecked it. Julian was playing guitar but Tommy just kept saying 'here comes the ambulance'. Marbles is named after our cat that ran away. We are making a poster which we haven't finished. We can show you when we're done. 😁. In conclusion, our noises are very rare.

   Joel Stern. A key figure in Melbourne’s experimental music and sonic art communities, Stern’s practice spans performance, composition, collaboration and critical investigations into sound and listening. As an artist, he has performed both solo and with groups including Sky Needle, Soft Power and Sunshine Has Blown, while his broader practice explores the social, political and technological dimensions of how we listen.

7. 

   Set Time: TBC · Drill Hall, 395 Barkly St, Footscray, Melbourne

   Alessio Diletosso & Joe Manton

   Composer, musician and electronic music innovator Joe Manton presents a composition that becomes the landscape for an encounter with Alessio Diletosso. Using his interactive systems, Alessio responds to the structure, textures and ideas within Manton’s music, exploring and revealing its hidden possibilities through movement, sound and technology.

   Manton brings more than two decades of experience in electronic music, composition, software development and instrument building to the work. Alessio’s practice similarly sits at the intersection of music, technology and interaction, using custom-built systems to create an expressive and highly individual musical language.

   Rather than simply performing the composition, Alessio enters into it — responding to its rhythms, textures and sonic architecture to uncover what might lie beneath the surface. The result is a live exploration of the inner worlds of Manton’s composition, where written music, interactive technology and human interpretation become inseparable.

8. Play the video for Robert Seamons Propagation Band. Featuring; Danny Heifetz, Angus Lesslie, Daniel Tucceri (on YouTube)

   Set Time: TBC · Drill Hall, 395 Barkly St, Footscray, Melbourne

   Safe in Sound & Out-Here presents

   Robert Seamons Propagation Band. Featuring; Danny Heifetz, Angus Lesslie, Daniel Tucceri

   Guitarist, songwriter and gardener Robert Seamons takes the stage with his band. Featuring Danny Heifetz, Angus Lesslie and Daniel Tucceri.

   Seamons writes songs in the great tradition of the ballad, drawing on melodic worlds reminiscent of Gordon Lightfoot, Jad Fair, The Beatles and the Bee Gees, while following his own wonderfully idiosyncratic path. His songs range from heartfelt ballads to curious observations on plants, gardens and the everyday world around him.

   For this performance, Seamons is joined by master accompanist Danny Heifetz, original drummer of Mike Patton’s legendary Mr. Bungle, secret Chefs 3 and Angus Lesslie, founder of Melbourne yacht-rock, soul and funk institution Sex on Toast. At the piano is Daniel Tucceri, who has performed with Neil Hamburger and other adventurous artists.

   Together, they bring Seamons’ music to life with musicianship, warmth and playful musicality — connecting his intimate, eccentric songwriting with three musicians from very different corners of contemporary music.

9. Set Time: TBC · Drill Hall, 395 Barkly St, Footscray, Melbourne

   Safe in Sound & Out-Here presents

   Kaleb Chehine and his Accidental Orchestra

   Presented and supported by OUTHERE, Kaleb Chehine brings his live podcasts to the stage — though “podcast” hardly begins to describe them. Part old-school radio play, part improvised storytelling and part wonderfully unhinged live broadcast, Chehine selects different story genres and launches into them in real time. Characters, narratives and situations emerge through improvisation, blurring the boundaries between the absurd, the comic and the unexpectedly dramatic. For this performance, Chehine will be accompanied by an ensemble of artists curated by Rohan Rabario, Co-Director of Liquid Architecture, who will underscore and respond to his unfolding story, creating an improvised soundtrack that shifts with the characters, situations and twists as they emerge. Together, they twist, stretch and reinvent the familiar tropes of radio drama, creating a live broadcast somewhere between comedy, theatre, sound art and complete absurdity.

10. 

    Drill Hall and Jolted Arts Space

    Master of Ceremonies

    Stuart Flenley with Charlie McCarthy

    Taking on the prestigious role of Master of Ceremonies is Stuart Flenley — host, guide, commentator and keeper of festival order (at least in theory).

    Joining Stuart is Charlie McCarthy, a charmingly opinionated ventriloquist doll following in the grand tradition of Charlie McCarthy — the legendary wooden wit who became one of the most famous figures in the history of ventriloquism.

    Together, Stuart and Charlie will navigate the unpredictable world of Safe in Sound Festival, introducing artists, offering observations and attempting to maintain control over an event where anything can happen.

    One has the microphone. One has the moving mouth. Neither can be completely trusted.

    Expect charm, chaos and a little wooden wisdom.

    Appearing both on the 31st Oct and 1st Nov