ALICE Springs music collective The Black Wreath has launched a month-long campaign to rescue its HQ.
The group, founded in 2011 by local musicians, has become a major part of the creative heart of Central Australia, providing recording and rehearsal space, live performance rooms and pulling the strings behind Blacken Open Air – and its predecessor, Blacken the Globe – since 2013.
As a label, The Black Wreath has issued recordings from a wealth of metal and rock acts based in and around central NT, including Southeast Desert Metal, the Holy Dimes, Miazma and Indigenous rock guitarist Jeremy Whisky.
After last year’s Blacken festival, the landlord of the collective’s building notified them the property was going to be put up for sale. The Black Wreath is now attempting to take ownership of the space they have built since 2017, and has launched a Pozible campaign to help secure the funds.
Tickets to Blacken and its offshoot events, merch and lifetime membership are among the items being offered, but the campaign needs to raise $1M before the end of the month. They have already raised $177K in less than a week.