“Welcome to Southbank, sirens in the sky”

The writer-producer of a song about Southbank that celebrates the suburb’s lifestyle and landmarks says he wants to “spread some joy” with the AI-assisted creation.

“Welcome to Southbank, sirens in the sky …”

“Melbourne Square says the building’s on fire.”

So sings local resident Joshua Salil Ganguli – or rather an AI agent at his service – in a banger of a song about the quirks of life in Australia’s most densely-populated neighbourhood.

As well as sirens set off by burnt toast, the lyrics refer to the firebombing of Soho – “Yes, actual firebombing – jerry cans, machetes, the works” – although, according to Joshua, for the community Facebook group the crime was of little more note than a fire drill.

“It’s a fairly resilient community,” he tells Southbank News.

And amplifying anxiety about the issue, he believes, “doesn’t do anyone any good”.

The song describes the traffic noise on Power St, sewage smells from Australia 108, blocked rubbish chutes, black market babysitting and a micro-economy of dog walking, storage cages and parking spots.

It affectionately evokes the aromas of Southbank Spices, the “hard rubbish heaven” on Fawkner St and the “rock park” by the river, which “is honestly worth moving here for”.

The 47-year-old songwriter, who has just started a new job with a software company that specialises in industrial AI, has “dabbled in music quite a bit,” he says.

Creating the song with the free AI platform SUNO involved inputting the instrumental parts and sampling his voice to create vocals, then fine-tuning the whole through a series of versions.

“I’m a songwriter but I can’t sing,” he laughs.

“I’ve done karaoke and it wasn’t very well received.”

While the listener might not be totally convinced by the authenticity of the audio – “it’s Southbank, nothing here is 100 per cent organic”, Joshua says – they are likely to tap their feet to it.

The song has been an exercise for Joshua’s creative side and “a little labour of love for the community,” he says.

He was inspired to write it by a friend’s funny track about his Facebook group in Aspendale.

Joshua took some phrasing from Is it yellow bin night tonight, comrade? by Eugene & The Aspendale Collective, notably its egalitarian term of address.

I wouldn’t say my political persuasion is socialist or communist or anything like that, he says. But ‘comrade’ before it was co-opted, I think was ‘comrade in arms’.

“We live in the same community, we have the same challenges, so we’re comrades.”

Down there by the beach, the comrades have a different set of concerns, checking in with each other about hovering choppers, “mystery bangs”, lost cavoodles, suspicious cars, “cats … conducting neighbourhood audits” and whether it’s recycling night.

For Joshua, who lived in the US, New Zealand and Dubai after leaving India 25 years ago, Southbank has been his first Australian high-rise experience.

After arriving around 2015 he lived in Melbourne’s southeast and a couple of other inner-city suburbs.

Relocating to Southbank for the convenience of the commute while his wife was pregnant, he expected to stay for two years but the couple have now been there for six.

Their daughter goes to Nido childcare in the Melbourne Square building and the sense of community around that and the Southbank Boulevard Play Space, which he has put into the song, is quite special, Joshua says.

“It’s been different from any other place that I’ve lived,” the now Australian citizen says. “There’s a sense of community around the place and you get to know a lot of people.”

“It’s high density, but it’s also super convenient. I mean, really I can’t fault the place at all. It’s brilliant.”

You can listen to Southbank Toast Panic on SUNO (without signing up) here.

Stay tuned for an updated version featuring a few local landmarks left out of the original. •