Hi! My name is Oscar - I'm 24 years old and I currently live in country Victoria, among the trees, in a lovely little town called Castlemaine (1.5 hours outside of Melbourne, Australia). Prior to this I had been living in central Melbourne for 3 years or so, and before that I was living in Sydney, where I was born.

I currently work in front of house at a patisserie, but my real passions in life lie in music, art, food, and travel!

Why I’m on Couchsurfing

Myself and my partner Georgia (https://www.couchsurfing.com/people/george.spain) are embarking on a two month trip throughout the USA in 2019 (early Feb - early April) and we are keen to couch surf while in the US as a way to meet and share experiences with lots of interesting and amazing people :)

Interests

If you peruse my photos it's probably pretty obvious that music is my main passion in life. I have been writing and playing since my mid teens and music has become an inseparable part of who I am since then. Wherever I go, I take it with me. My main instrument has always been guitar, but I picked up the drums about two years ago and it's quickly become an obsession for me. I've just finished recording my second album 'Black Dog', which is due for release sometime in 2019, and I'm currently working on songs for another record. I'm hoping our trip across the US will definitely provide me with some amazing things to write about!

Hand in hand with music is my love for words. I've always been a great lover of poetry in particular and have been building my collection of poetry for many years now. But there's also nothing better than sitting around the house reading a good novel on a lazy afternoon.

Cooking and food are also another great passion of mine. We try our best to eat as well as possible in our house, using fresh organic and locally sourced ingredients whenever we can. Where I can I like to do things completely from scratch and as traditionally as possible, from cooking paella over an open fire to roasting snapper over a bed of pine needles and pebbles, because it's thrilling to learn about and taste food from all over the world in your kitchen. We love to share a glass of wine, although we're still learning about it in all its intricacies, and I have a great love for strange and exotic beers, my favourites generally being Belgian wheat style ales. My latest obsession has been with coffee, delving into the world of pour over brewing - tasting beans from all over the world processed by so many interesting Melbourne based roasteries.

As an extension of our love for music, my partner Georgia and I also host our own radio show 'Beyond the Dunes' on the local community radio station MainFM. Our show focuses on lesser known musicians and artists, trying to expose ourselves and our listeners to something new every single week. We invest a great deal of time into seeking out interesting music, online and in record stores (we have a collection of about 400 vinyl records these days) and learning all about the artists and their stories so we might share some of that with whoever is tuning in. We're hoping to pick up lots of interesting records while we're in the USA as well!

Georgia and I are big thrifters, always rummaging through op shops and second hand dealers for interesting furniture, records and other knick knacks. We've loved setting up our home with all the things we've found over the years, and we're certainly hoping to find some treasures during our trip.

Part of our trip is definitely going to be strongly nature focused. We love exploring all different kinds of terrain and wilderness and can't wait to see what the US has to offer!

• arts
• poetry
• cooking
• traveling
• music

Music, Movies, and Books

I've always loved all of Charlie Kaufman's films (Eternal Sunshine, Adaptation, Synecdoche - New York, Being John Malkovic) and I've always admired Sophia Coppola's slower style of direction. Other particularly loved films would include Still Walking by Hirokazu Kore-eda, A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence by Roy Andersson, Tampopo. Recently I saw Gus Van Sant's 'Don't Worry He Won't Get Far on Foot' and absolutely loved it.

A few books I've really loved recently and a couple of favourites:

Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal - Jeanette Winterson
Hunger - Roxanne Gay
In Cold Blood - Truman Capote
A Manual for Cleaning Women - Lucia Berlin
Ice - Anna Kavan
John Wiener's collected poems
The Woman on the Bridge Over Chicago River - Allan Grossman
The Man Who Mistook his Wife for a Hat - Oliver Sacks

It's too hard to pick with music! But some noteable mentions - Bill Callahan, Daniel Johnston, Joni Mitchell, Vic Chessnut, Sybille Baier, Jason Molina, Townes Van Zandt, Sharon Van Etten, Karen Dalton, Michael Hurley, Nina Simone, Lambchop, Charles Bradley, Dirty Three, Rodriguez, Arthur Russell, Chili Gonzales, Mulatu Astake, Thalia Zedek, Sonic Youth, Pavement, Twain, Cash Savage and the Last Drinks, Timber Timbre, Leonard Cohen, Wilco, Lonnie Holley, David Bowie, Circuit De Yeux, Carla Bozulich, Art Blakey, The Velvet Underground, Lower Plenty, Aretha Franklin, Patti Smith, Baby Dee, Little Wings, John Maus, Marc Ribot, Yo La Tengo, Savages, Steve Gunn, Pavement, Marissa Anderson, Bonnie Prince Billy, Rowland S Howard, Connie Converse, Miles Davis, & really loving the young London Jazz scene at the moment as well - bands like the Ezra Collective, Nubya Garcia, Moses Boyd etc.

One Amazing Thing I’ve Done

Playing at "A Festival Called Panama' in Tasmania was a really big highlight for me. It's an amazing festival with a beautiful spirit and community, and it was a real honour to play alongside some out of this world artists the year I performed.

Teach, Learn, Share

I would love to share my songs and words with you if you'd like to hear them, as well as long interesting and meaningful conversations late into the night over a glass of wine or beer. I love to cook for people and would be delighted to share a meal. I suppose we all have a little something to teach from our different experiences - hopefully it's something that leads us to be a little kinder and more generous with one another wherever we go.

I have no interest in engaging with bigots. If you have prejudices against people of colour, members of the LGBTQI community, or anyone differently abled then don't waste my time.

What I Can Share with Hosts

You can have a little listen to some of my tunes below if you'd like!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCd6zyvoimM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOgpJf9DK3A
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPIPC5KEOHA

If you want to check out the FB page for our radio show and see all the music we play you can do so below! :)

https://www.facebook.com/Beyond-the-Dunes-1385569694890593/

Countries I’ve Visited

Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain

Countries I’ve Lived In

Australia