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Azza's Mazters

June 2020.

Some time in the past few years (maybe as far back as 2015??), Az gave me a box full of his MiniDV master tapes for transferring.

They sat in my wardrobe for a while before I finally got around to purchasing a dedicated MiniDV playback deck. I'd been wanting one for a long time, and this was a good excuse to pull the trigger. Once it arrived (shipped from the US) I hooked it up and excitedly popped in one of Azza's DVs to capture. Unfortunately, the tape played back all glitchy and choppy.

Turned out that a lot of these tapes had been recorded in LP mode, making stable playback a lot tougher. I let Az know and asked if he still had his camera - it often helps to play back LP tapes on the device that recorded them. He did still have it. So the next time I saw him, I grabbed that off him and gave it a test. It worked a treat and I popped it aside until I had the time, and hard drive space, to complete the task.

So, here we are, half way through the year 2020 in the midst of a global pandemic, and I've finally got them all captured. Actually, I'd finished it in May but it took a bit of time to go through the footage and trim/join files as necessary.

There was also a lot of work identifying the shows themselves. From the earliest tape that had been recorded on Az's camera (The Meanies at The Tote 2008-04-13), the camera's internal time and date had been set incorrectly - it was 7 days early, and about 9 or so hours off. Some tapes were labelled well, so I didn't need to rely on the datestamp - others weren't. Using the DV timestamp and Az's old tradelist as a reference, most of them fell into place fairly easily.

Things got tricky when I got to (what turned out to be) the 2012 tapes, as the camera's internal battery must have reset, and with it the date. And none of these tapes were on Az's list. This also coincided with Az not labelling the tapes with as much detail as he'd done earlier. A tape labelled simply Link solo was datestamped 2008-01-01. Thankfully Old Skin 6/7/12 Gaso also had a 2008 datestamp (2008-03-21). Now, with a bit of head-scratching, I was able to go back to the other unknown tapes (7 different shows in total) and work out the dates. Combine that with visually identifying the venue, or listening for between song banter than would assist, and then it was off to Google for confirmation. Two 2013 Sun God Replica shows proved particularly difficult (the camera hadn't recorded a datestamp at all!), but after a bit of back and forth we pinpointed them.

Some of the LP tapes were still a little patchy, particularly at the start or end. Some I could play for a minute, rewind, play, rewind then play again and it would have sorted itself out. Others had persistant glitches at particular spots of tape that I simply couldn't overcome. But the vast majority of it managed to capture just fine.

I still have two tapes sitting on my desk, un-captured: one has digi-glitching that simply will NOT go away, no matter how far into the tape I let it run or how many times I try again. It's labelled Xenos Hamilton 09. I'll try it again some time. The other is labelled Slug Gun White Walls Cut Sick. I'm pretty sure Slug Gun is 2009-08-21 at the Farthwrop Centre, Portland and it may also have a Face On Fire set from this show. The other two sets are 2012-10-26 at the Gaso. The problem with this one is that the actual tape itself (inside the hard cassette shell) has snapped. Not uncommon, according to the internet, but I've never seen it before. I'll follow a YouTube tutorial and do my best to repair it.

84 MiniDV tapes.
122 individual sets.
69+ hours of documented live music.
893 GB of video files.

Hit me up if you've got tapes (MiniDV, VHS, or otherwise) that need transferring!!




These recordings are all listed on the artist pages throughout my site.


Azza MiniDV Collection 2004
2004-01-XXYarraman Park, Portland, VICEmprica
2004-06-XXHeywood Football Club, Heywood, VICEmprica
The Androids
Azza MiniDV Collection 2006
2006-03-03FriThe Royal Hotel, Portland, VICEmprica
2006-05-12FriPortland North Primary School, Portland, VICEmprica
Azza MiniDV Collection 2008
2008-04-13SunThe Tote, Collingwood, VICThe Meanies
2008-06-28SatAz's house, Tyrendarra, VICJournal Of A Deadman
2008-07-18FriShadow's Nightclub, Mount Gambier, SAJournal Of A Deadman
A Red Dawn
Frankenbok
2008-08-15FriThe Tote, Collingwood, VICThe Meanies
Bored!
2008-08-16SatThe Tote, Collingwood, VICThe Bakelite Age
2008-08-29FriThe Barwon Club, Geelong, VICEmprica
Matt Skitz & Chris Wallace jam session
Honeytrap
2008-09-13SatThe Loft, Warrnambool, VICMagic Dirt
2008-09-20SatThe Loft, Warrnambool, VICRollerball
2008-10-13MonBillboard, Melbourne, VICTerrorust
Carcass
2008-10-24FriThe Hi-fi Bar, Melbourne, VICTerrorust
Pig Destroyer
2008-11-01SatThe Arthouse, Melbourne, VICSuper Fun Happy Slide
Cut Sick
Fuck... I'm Dead
Captain Cleanoff
2008-11-21FriPortland Civic Hall, Portland, VICXenos
2008-12-05FriThe Attic, Hamilton, VICXenos
2008-12-13SatKris McDonald's house, Portland, VICXenos
Drifter
Emprica
Azza MiniDV Collection 2009
2009-01-14WedThe Old Jail, Mount Gambier, SAPsycroptic
Whitechapel
2009-01-25SunThe Corner Hotel, Richmond, VICShagnum
Super Fun Happy Slide
The Day Everything Became Nothing
The Kill
Captain Cleanoff
Agents Of Abhorrence
2009-01-27TueThe Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne, VICMelvins
2009-02-25WedThe Esplanade Hotel, St. Kilda, VICPoison The Well
The Dillinger Escape Plan
2009-03-20FriThe Corner Hotel, Richmond, VICIre
Nancy Vandal
Frenzal Rhomb
2009-05-01FriThe Loft, Warrnambool, VICHoneytrap
Tigernauts
2009-05-02SatThe Arthouse, Melbourne, VICRort
Ire
Cut Sick
Extortion
Trash Talk
2009-05-06WedKokopelli's, Portland, VICXenos
2009-05-09SatThe Mojo Bar, Portland, VICXenos
Beneath Dying Skies
Lay The Fallen
2009-06-24WedThe Loft, Warrnambool, VICWolf & Cub
2009-08-21FriFarthwrop Centre, Portland, VICNarcalypse
Lay The Fallen
Emprica (cam #1)
Emprica (cam #2)
2009-09-26SatThebarton Theatre, Torrensville, SABad Religion
NOFX
2009-10-10SatThe Forum, Melbourne, VICMelt Banana
2009-10-16FriCasterton Civic Hall, Casterton, VICXenos
Magic Dirt
2009-10-24SatKris McDonald's house, Portland, VICXenos
Honeytrap
2009-10-30FriShadow's Nightclub, Mount Gamiber, SAXenos
2009-10-31SatPortland Foreshore, Portland, VICXenos
The Lost Royals
2009-12-10ThuThe Hi-fi Bar, Melbourne, VICThe Meanies
Tumbleweed
Azza MiniDV Collection 2010
2010-01-23SatKokopelli's, Portland, VICHoneytrap
2010-01-29FriThe Underdog, Warrnambool, VICThe Day Everything Became Nothing
2010-04-17SatThe Mojo Bar, Portland, VICXenos
2010-04-23FriThe Loft, Warrnambool, VICWitchgrinder
Five Star Prison Cell
2010-05-14FriThe Loft, Warrnambool, VIC28 Days
2010-06-11FriKokopelli's, Portland, VICThe Lost Royals
Next Chapter
2010-08-13FriDutton Way house party, Portland, VICA New Beginning
2010-08-27FriKokopelli's, Portland, VICKamikaze Death Squad
The Lost Royals
2010-09-10FriKokopelli's, Portland, VICXenos
2010-10-08FriThe Mojo Bar, Hamilton, VICXenos
2010-10-30SatPortland Foreshore, Portland, VICXenos
Kamikaze Death Squad
Kashmere Club
Azza MiniDV Collection 2011
2011-01-21FriThe Arthouse, Melbourne, VICInternal Rot
2011-01-22SatThe Barwon Club, Geelong, VICXenos
Moth
2011-02-12SatThe Mojo Bar, Hamilton, VICA New Beginning
Xenos
2011-04-23SatKokopelli's, Portland, VICXenos
2011-04-24SunThe Arthouse, Melbourne, VICInternal Rot
Die Pigeon Die
Garbage Guts
Super Fun Happy Slide
The Day Everything Became Nothing
The Kill
Captain Cleanoff
2011-07-01FriThe Mojo Bar, Hamilton, VICXenos
King Parrot
2011-07-23SatKokopelli's, Portland, VICBroozer
2011-08-27SatThe Tote, Collingwood, VICSun God Replica
Hoss
The Celibate Rifles
2011-09-07WedThe Loft, Warrnambool, VICFrenzal Rhomb
2011-09-23FriKokopelli's, Portland, VICXenos
2011-11-25FriKokopelli's, Portland, VICXenos
Azza MiniDV Collection 2012
2012-04-17TueThe Tote Front Bar, Collingwood, VICLink McLennan's Amazing Jukebox
2012-07-06FriThe Gasometer, Collingwood, VICOld Skin
Debacle
Extortion
Suffer
2012-07-12ThuYah Yah's, Fitzroy, VICSun God Replica
2012-07-13FriThe Tote, Collingwood, VICBudd
2012-07-22SunThe Gasometer, Collingwood, VICSun God Replica
2012-07-25WedThe Old Bar, Fitzroy, VICCaptain Cleanoff
2012-08-12SunThe Retreat Hotel, Brunswick, VICSun God Replica
Azza MiniDV Collection 2013
2013-06-21FriThe Prince Of Wales, St. Kilda, VICSun God Replica
2013-07-05FriThe Post Office Hotel, Coburg, VICSun God Replica