YELO helps people find the gigs, artists and stories shaping the local scene.

I started YELO in 2023 because I missed the way local culture used to feel.

I grew up with 90s street press: free music magazines you’d grab at the pub with a beer on a Sunday. They were full of artist features, gig photography and long monthly gig guides you’d circle with the Keno pencil. They made a place feel alive. They gave you identity, purpose and a sense of where you belonged.

I worked my way through the ranks of community newspapers, from cadet journalist to editor, while moonlighting as a street press reviewer. By day, I was learning how to find the local story and make it matter. At night, I was reviewing gigs and interviewing rising artists including Xavier Rudd, Butterfingers, Donovan Frankenreiter and Ben Lee.

I found street press far more thrilling than traditional news. Its feature stories gave writers room for big words, imagery, humour and whatever strange turn of phrase the story needed. I could be freer and more creative than I ever was in the newsroom.

YELO came out of both worlds: the personality of street press and the practical local instinct to work out what is happening, who is making something interesting and where the cool shit is hiding.

It began with a Sunshine Coast gig guide and grew into local stories, photography, playlists, radio and an archive of the people keeping live music moving.

Along the way, I served as secretary of the Sunshine Coast Music Industry Collective and began sharing local music and gig news each week on ABC Sunshine Coast.

YELO remains independently run from the Sunshine Coast, with contributions from photographers, writers, artists, venues and music people who have trusted me with their stories.

Mostly, it exists to help people look up from their phones, leave the house and remember that interesting things are happening nearby.