By Brendan Rees
Narre Warren singer-songwriter Victor Stranges is performing his new solo acoustic show, Pop Preservation Society, at Cafe Cibo Bar in Cranbourne West.
Victor performs a classic catalogue of songs spanning from the Everly Brothers to The Ramones.
Calling the show ‘Pop Preservation Society,’ Victor says he is aiming to “protect and defend the rightful place in pop history for the world’s greatest artists and songwriters.”
The formula is simple: He plays the songs with an acoustic guitar in a stripped back arrangement, and he plays the hell out of them.
Audiences are able to hear these pop treasures in their rawest form and discover the song writing craft and melodic acumen of classic rock and pop artists from the 1950s onwards.
“We have a real community feel with families and locals attending the shows,” he said.
Victor was keen to perform at the Cafe Cibo Bar after his bass player, Ron E. Smith, spoke to the owner and “he organised a gig for me there.”
“He and his wife Claire are very good friends with the owner, Karen Auchettl. I love the intimacy of playing solo so I was in.”
Victor is an original recording artist whose album, “Hello Me To You,” was named as one of the Best Albums of 2009 by Pop Underground, which is a community of writers, musicians, industry observers and fans united in their love of insanely great popular music.
Victor wrote his first song when he was 13-years-old before he starting song-writing at the age of 17.
“I was inspired by the music I heard at the time on the radio and TV – we are talking early 1980s here,” he says. “So anyone from Kiss to Adam & The Ants, to The Sex Pistols, The Beatles, etc.”
“When I was 16 I was playing drums in a punk band called Drunk ‘n’ Disorderly. It was from that experience that I was exposed to a wider range of styles and bands, particularly post punk songwriters/artists such as The Smiths, R.E.M., Split Enz, Elvis Costello, and The Cure.
Music runs in the family for Victor. “My mother had an amazing voice and she used to sing Italian songs and play her 45s on our little Sanyo turntable back in the early 1970s.”
“My younger brother, Michael, is a multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and record producer. He often plays with Australian artist Kim Salmon.”
