Interview with Sunshine Coast HSMer, Dave Hateley from Hello Sunday Morning on Vimeo.

To the music lover it is an expensive musical utopia.

To the scenester, it is somewhere to be seen.

To the party boy, it is a great place to go on a 4 day bender.

To the used to be local, it is a great place to catch up with old friends.

But to the HSMer it is a combination of some of these, and something entirely different.

The thought of going to Splendour sober does not occur to many people, but to view the festival through sober eyes is interesting, to say the least.

Over the years I have attended many a Splendour and proabably worn all these hats and had a pretty good time doing it.

I have tried some new things, done some really fun things and done some stupid and embarrassing things, all of which you clock up to experience and good times.

The thing I have never done before is attend a whole Splendour sober. However by 7 months into a year you are pretty used to not drinking so it isn’t really an issue anymore.

I don’t like to get on a sober high horse because I don’t think it is a sustainable way to live, but you know, I think I enjoyed this Splendour much more than any I have attended in the past and remembered a whole lot more of it.

Ususally, even whilst drunk I have trouble even walking onto a dance floor. Most of this is a self conscious thing and I would usually liken my dancing style to a rigid robotic style (not in that can dance robitic style). So this year I set out to dance my little heart out and stop worrying what people thought about my dancing. I said to my self that I would dance like I was on ecstacy and boy it was fun. I am sure I looked like a dick many a time (especially when I lost my sunglasses doing a hand stand trying to impress a girl),  but it was amazing fun!

So I think for the rest of my sober year I am going to try to embrace the night club dance floor.

It is also a great place for people watching!

The most impressive get up I saw all weekend was this guy in female leather calf high boots, black stockings, short female shorts, a purple check shirt, oversized female sunglasses and a chain link handbag! Mezmarising, even for a straight man!

Lastly, a bit of a Splendour romance always helps.

It was such a fun weekend!

Football is something that is very strongly associated with alcohol in our society. It also has had its fair share of problems associated with it. All you have to do is search alcohol and NRL and you will get some interesting results. There are some obvious problems there.

Prior to this year it was a common past time to either go to a game or watch it somewhere else with mates and have a few beers. Last night I went to Lang Park to watch the Reds with my friend Ed. We landed some free tickets from a friend’s Dad who was in Vail skiing (thanks Alec), and I drove down from home (the Sunshine Coast) on Saturday afternoon. We were sitting out of the yobbo section with a bit more of a “proper” crowd.

I actually went to the football primarily to watch the football. As stupid as this statement sounds it holds quite a bit of truth and aside from the Reds losing it was a concept that had been long lost in my mind and proved to be thoroughly enjoyable.

The second was going to the Caxton Sreet Hotel afterwards. The football brings a lot of old friends out of the woodwork and for someone who doesn’t live in Brisbane anymore, it provides bang for your buck in terms of catching up with people. Most people are supportive of what I am trying to and no one has really voiced their opposing opinion to my face.

The most surprising thing was though, that people who were drinking were more worried about me judging their drunkenness, than judging me for what I am doing. I found this really interesting because to be honest, who am I to judge someone for doing this when I have done it so many times in my life before. It can be entertaining to take the moral high ground but my aim for this year is not to take it with respect to alcohol.

Dave

You may be interested in why I have decided not to drink alcohol for the year of 2010 because it is a pretty big thing to commit yourself to. When you try to explain it to people they sometimes look at you blankly like they don’t understand.

The biggest reason I decided not to drink this year was so that I could apply myself to my studies and finally finish University. I know what you are thinking, this guy is 26 and still hasn’t finished uni, he must be one of those annoying mature aged students. This isn’t really the case, I would be about the average age for my degree at the moment. In say that though, I have been at uni since I was 18 with only one full semester off.

I am what you would call a student with enough intellectual capacity for university but a below average study ethic. At the start I got by doing this, but over the last 4 years when things got a little more serious in my studies, I have spent a lot of time cramming last minute study in, repeating whole years (another story for another day) and doing supplementary exams. This year I want to actually develop a proper study ethic so I pass everything on the first go (and two tests from last year) and finally finish uni come November.

Other smaller reasons I am not going to drink this year are more the “gunnas” that you always say that you are going to do and never end up doing (sort of like studying). Like not missing a great morning of surfing because you are hung over, getting fit, waking up early and reading more books.

Back to the drinking. As a drinker I was your typical youth drinker, a binge drinker. Although my drink of choice and the number of times a week I partook in this hobby has changed over the years my pattern of drinking never really did. It was all or nothing; there was no such thing as drinking 1 or 2 for enjoyment. This sometimes led to things that I am not proud of, like being caught drink driving but I am also not going to try and tell you that I didn’t have a bucket load of fun during these times.

If you actually stayed interested enough to finish reading my first blog, thanks. Hopefully I can provide you with a little entertainment and insight throughout the year.

Dave