For years, the hot pink masthead screamed out to punters at bars, clubs, cafes and concert venues across Perth, offering a weekly free guide to the city’s bustling live music scene.
X-Press Magazine was a stalwart of Perth’s street press, and played a role in launching the careers of some of the west’s biggest musical names, including Eskimo Jo, The Waifs, and John Butler.
A move to digital saw the final print edition roll off the presses in 2016, but the magazine still holds a special place in the heart of many music-lovers across town – including three-time editor Bob Gordon.
And now, Gordon has written a book chronicling four decades of the beloved street press magazine, from 1985 to 2025.
The early days of X-Press saw it take the form of an “exercise book-sized” magazine, cobbled together by “enthusiasts, rather than writers” Gordon said.
But that had changed by the early 90s, when Gordon first got involved as a second-year media studies student at Edith Cowan University.
When a regular local music writer set sail for Melbourne, Gordon was offered the gig, interviewing not just local acts like an early Eskimo Joe – then playing gigs as “Freud’s Pillow” – but also international musicians like Jeff Buckley or the Red Hot Chili Peppers.
“[Local bands] would come in with a handwritten kind of press release and a photo that someone took of them, a friend who had a decent camera took of them in their backyard sort of thing,” he said.
“John Butler came in one day for his first interview, and he was busking still.”
Central to X-Press′ appeal was the gig guide – a weekly “what’s on” covering all the best shows in Perth, from pub rock bands to techno DJs playing late at the Northbridge clubs.
It was “simpler times”, Gordon recalls. Nowadays, you can look up anything at a moment’s notice.
“But also, if you don’t know what you’re looking for, you don’t necessarily find it,” Gordon said.
“On a Thursday morning or afternoon, you could get it, and this stuff would be there; this is what happened on the weekend, this is what you can go to this weekend.
“It was definitive, in a way, it was confirmed. This is what happened, and this is also what’s going to happen.
“Kav [Temperley, Eskimo Joe frontman] used this expression; if you got the cover of X-Press Magazine and sold out the Grosvenor Hotel for your launch, that was going gold in Perth.”
There were controversies. One edition featured the band Holy F— on the cover – uncensored.
Gordon viewed it as part of the “edgy” nature of street press. Advertisers, and a fair few complainants, disagreed.
The furore made Gordon realise the magazine had become more popular – not quite mainstream, but part of the fabric of Perth regardless.
Temperley said X-Press was a way to feel connected to the broader Australian music scene in the isolated western capital.
“In the 90s, Perth and WA felt cut off from the rest of Australia, bar the touring acts that would roll through town and the only way you’d even hear about those tours was through X-Press Magazine,” he said.
“It was a huge deal in the local scene. If you landed the X-Press front cover, you were instantly world-famous in Perth.”
Gordon’s 200-page coffee table book is being launched at the Astor Theatre – where else? – later this month.
On the billing is a number of Perth artists whose careers have been shaped by the magazine, including Temperley, Gyroscope, Cal Kramer from the Southern River Band, Dave Hole, Katy Steele and Carla Geneve.
For Gordon, the retrospective was a chance to be reminded that, among the chaos of print deadlines, interviews and gigs, the team at X-Press did a good job of taking the pulse of Perth’s music, arts and culture scene.
“Everyone was really invested in it, and everyone also had a very good time, because if you worked at X-Press, you did get all the invites,” he said.
“To all who sailed in that ship, it was important to us. And looking back, I think, you know, we did a pretty good job of highlighting what was happening.”
Rewind – 40 Years of X-Press will be held at the Astor Theatre on Wednesday, March 18.
