A mushroom grower, hip-hop artist and four chefs walk into a bar…
A popular Adelaide mushroom grower is preparing to host the first of a series of Collision Courses, where art, live music and food intertwine.
In an unlikely combination, Westside Mushies is hosting four of Adelaide’s top chefs, two silo artists, a DJ and a Melbourne-based hip-hop artist for a night of mushrooms, music and art this Saturday.
The “chief mushie whisperer” of Westside Mushies, Adam Bray, told CityMag he had casually hosted similar events before and the response made him realise it was time to make it official.
“There were people doing things that they never would usually do, there were people eating food they would never have usually eaten,” Bray says.
“Maybe they might not have ever done that stuff again, but at least that one day it was just something totally different.”
This Saturday’s first official Collision Course will see Melbourne hip-hop artist Brad Strut performing in his final Adelaide appearance, alongside four Adelaide chefs putting their mushroom skills to the test.
“We’ve mixed things like street art with rap with gourmet food… some people might have come for the food and have never been around graffiti, some people come for the graffiti and have never been around the food,” Bray says.
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“It’s an interesting sort of melting pot of people that wouldn’t usually meet.”
Some of CityMag’s favourite chefs will be cooking up a storm, with Maylands Hotel’s Grant Schooling opening the night, followed by Bloom’s Sam Smith, Urban Grow Boi’s Jackson Bennett, and finally Carton Deli’s Duane Tilka.
The dinner and music will be paired with a live art installation by Adelaide artist duo Jack Fran and Sam Brooks, whose art has brightened up not only streets, but silos around the state.
Westside Mushies is preparing to host a new kind of event. This picture: Johnny von Einem
“The challenge has sort of been to make it not a hip-hip show… it’s more of a curated thing,” Bray says.
“There’s only the one performer, his DJ is sort of curating a soundtrack for the whole night that is, I don’t know, just appealing to the foodie types for example, who might not be fully into hip-hop.
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“The aim is to make it approachable and make it something that isn’t going to scare them off or that they’re going to hate, that they can actually be there and listen to it and appreciate it, and see the talent involved.”
Bray says the idea for the Collision Courses “just came about”.
“The first ever event that we did there… I just pulled all these random people together. I had no idea what I was doing. One guy had painted the outside of our shed so he brought a couple of friends and painted a few other walls.
“The chefs were just like chefs that were my customers, so they sort of did it as a favour for me. Pretty much anyone that said yes I just said ‘yep, we’ll find a way’.”
The art outside Westside Mushies is regularly updated. This picture: Johnny von Einem
Bray says the response to those first events left him sure he had found a successful format.
“People saying that they hadn’t seen stuff like that before and that Adelaide needs more of it. I would have heard that probably 10 to 20 times. People just saying ‘oh shit I wish there was more’.
“I just kept thinking and thinking and I just knew that I had to do something with it.”
Bray says he wants to keep Collision Courses going, with each one set to present a unique opportunity, and he is keen to get the word out to performers amid all the live-music venue closures.
“Because it’s not our main business we have the ability to take risks on these little events, because it’s not like our whole venue depends on it.
“We have more flexibility about trying crazy things, trying different things, pushing boundaries. Bringing these different worlds together that perhaps might not usually have a chance to mingle.”
Final tickets are available for the first-ever Collision Course, hosted by Westside Mushies at LOT WST in Royal Park. Collision Course is on April 6 from 5:3o-8:30pm.
Connect with Westside Mushies on Instagram to find out more.