Project Type: Work in progress (page 1 of 1)

The DNRC Records

Davey Dreamnation self-released his debut album Islands In the Stream of Consciousness online in 2002.

Although the recordings met with little fanfare at the time, Davey’s subsequent musical efforts were so seething that they led to widespread social and political unrest, forcing the United Nations to enter into treaty negotiations with him.

The result was, of course, DNRC Records.

Originally conceived of as a clearing house, DNRC Records was the label that Dreamnation founded, financed and fledged in those heady days of the new century.

A label that would go on to issue—and then, strangely, delete—exactly one hundred releases by a range of recording artists.

Over an astonishing fifteen year period, DNRC played host to—and then promptly dumped—some of the world’s most influential singers, songwriters and instrumentalists.

From the soaring medieval medleys of busker-turned-superstar Mead to the haunting and ethereal whisperings of Celtic pop princess Enya, DNRC Records released them all. In every sense of that word.

While also acting as a vehicle for Dreamnation’s own recording aspirations, the label was no vanity affair.

Dreamnation made a point of supporting new, young and obscure acts, giving a leg up to artists as varied as the Guide Ponies, Cruns, Cliches, Catholic Autistic Terrific, Nipple Happy Lovelies, Sluice, Clint Bo Dean, Christy Burr, Captain Sans Tenille and, of course, Scaramouche.

As part of the rehabilitation of DNRC Records, each remarkable record is now being lovingly reviewed, remastered and reissued for your personal enjoyment.

With new and unreleased tracks, exciting fresh cover designs and extensive liner notes, this is your one-stop-shop for all things DNRC.

Steam (2009)

‘Steam’ is a series of prose fiction pieces I wrote while living in Gangnam, Seoul, in 2009, where I was undertaking my second Asialink residency.

‘Steam’ is set in a fictional future Korea, and features a young male Korean by the name of Duck-young Moon. The story describes his search for the truth about his grandfather’s disappearance during the Korean War.

Duck young’s quest also features a cast of mostly Korean characters, including Duck-young’s brother, Hyun woo, the elusive Doctor Kang and his assistant, Gilmo.

‘Steam’ is a story which may one day become a novel, but started out as a sequel to ‘Smoke’, a much shorter story about an Australian woman living in Melbourne.

The benefit of the Asialink residency in terms of the writing of ‘Steam’ cannot be over-stated: the characters, places, historical events, incidents and dialogue of the story are all a result of my being able to spend three months living in the place I was describing.

As was the case with ‘Smoke’, the 31 prose pieces that form ‘Steam’ were posted consecutively to this website, without further revision.

While the full text of ‘Smoke’ remains online, I’ve decided to take down ‘Steam’ from this site for the time being, as the text requires a great deal of revision.

For now, you can read what I posted when I finished writing the first draft.

Smoke (2007–08)

In November 2007, while living in Melbourne, I began writing prose poetry pieces about a girl named Jet Fader and her mysterious Korean boyfriend, and posting them, unedited, on this website.

By February 2008, what had started out as a meditation had morphed into a 31-part series with a vague narrative arc and potential for plenty more.

These pieces would later be compiled as ‘Smoke’, and would serve as a foundation of sorts for ‘Steam’, another story featuring the same characters, which I drafted while living in Seoul in 2009.