The Squeaky Clean Winter Gig series will run through July and August. Photo: Trent Poulos.
Squeaky Clean is a charmingly gritty bar in the city that has quickly become a community favourite since opening in 2023 with a loyal band of regulars. Musician and photographer Trent Poulos is one of them, taking his love of the bar to the next level by helping owner Jonathan ‘Jono’ Murphy put on a series of gigs to showcase Canberra’s music scene.
“Musicians and creatives are doing it really tough at the moment,” Trent told Region.
“I’ve seen so many musician friends having to disperse to Sydney or Melbourne. We’re losing the core of our community because people can’t make a living wage playing music here.
“The way we think about creatives and support them needs a bit of love. A city worth living in is only as good as how we treat our creatives, otherwise things are just a bit boring!”
Jono agreed. “We want to use this as a chance to put some money in their pockets.”
Trent Poulos and Jono Murphy: injecting more life in Canberra’s nightlife. Photo: Lucy Ridge
The series of gigs covers every Friday night in July and August – historically a ‘slow’ part of the year for Canberra hospitality– and features a lineup of some of Canberra’s best local bands.
The gigs are free, and Jono has committed to paying the bands out of his own pocket. This was a conscious decision to make the gigs as accessible as possible for Canberrans and hopefully encourage a few more people to come out on a cold night.
“Sometimes tickets are a barrier to entry, especially with the old ‘cossie living’ crisis,” Jono explained.
“And since we’ve opened, we’ve built this really nice community of people who call themselves ‘Squeaky Friends’. They know they can come down on their own on a Friday night and they’ll know 10 other people there. And they’ve supported us since day one, so I didn’t want to create a barrier for them.”
Squeaky Clean runs weekly pool and buck hunter competitions. Photo: Lucy Ridge.
Jono and Trent had been chatting about putting on gigs for a while, but the recent closure of sideway was definitely a prompt to hurry up and create another outlet for musicians to showcase their talents and get paid appropriately. They want to encourage other venue owners to put on more gigs and support live music in the same way. There are plans to apply for funding later on, but for now, they’re flying by the seat of their pants and doing everything themselves.
The first gig of the series featured Stella Eve and the alt-punk rock band Degenerate. The place was packed and Jono said the vibe was “wild”. There was a big turnout with a house party atmosphere, with plenty of other musicians checking out the space and hospitality workers on their break nearby coming to see what was going on.
Trent has tapped into his network in the local music community, with bands and artists like Box Dye, Sophie Edwards and Koebi Faumui all jumping at the chance to be a part of future lineups.
The first gig in the series on 5 July was ‘wild’. Photo: Trent Poulos.
The last act in August is yet to be announced, but Trent and Jono have assured Region that the mystery artist or band is very exciting. They wouldn’t give any hints, only suggesting the name rhymes with ‘shmaylor shmift’ but that feels like a stretch … We’ll have to wait and see, but there are seven other killer local lineups to get behind in the meantime.
Squeaky Clean is located at Level 1, 45 Verity Lane, Canberra City (entry via the laneway). They are open from 4 pm to 2 am Tuesday to Thursday, and from 2 pm to 2 am Friday and Saturday.
The winter series of gigs will be held every Friday night throughout July and August, with music kicking off at 7:30 pm. Follow Squeaky Clean on Facebook and Instagram to see who’s playing next, or visit their website.
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