Happy Motel's Lone Star is Jordan Jeavons

Part-catering crew, events company and festival organisers, the Happy Motel is infamous for Barrio’s Neon Lobster and the Naughty Corner as well as boutique festival experiences such as Here’s to Now and Nebula Deluxe. Consisting of James Brown, Jordan Jeavons, Carlo Jensen, Andy Nowell and Duncan Welgemoed, they threw memorable parties and dinners with style. Now it’s in the hands of Jordan Jeavons, as Welgemoed will concentrate on Africola, Brown is busy with MASH, Nowell is to start a new pizza venture while Jensen has his own design business Peculiar Familia. “I basically said, ‘Guys, I want to continue doing this,” Jeavons says. The Happy Motel will become a full-time concern for Jeavons rather than a shared hobby between five time-poor creatives and food identities. “It has to be [full-time],” Jeavons says. “I gotta pay the rent, you know? I’ve done catering for years in my own right, since I was about 14 through Dad and stu ff. My kind of catering world is always something that’s pretty rustic and down to earth. And that’s the in fluence of my old boy [Russell Jeavons of Russell’s Pizza fame]. I love doing that side of things, also the music world and throwing parties, someone’s got to do it in Adelaide and people have got to take risks and do cool things.” The first showcase for The Happy Motel as a purely Jeavons-run concern will be at new festival Silver Raven, which will feature acclaimed Americana hero Jason Isbell as well as locals The Audreys and Bad//Dreems while The Happy Motel will do a Louisiana-style cook-up. “I’m all about supporting that kind of thing because I know there are only a few people that are going to put the energy in bringing someone out like Jason Isbell.” For Jeavons, it’s all about collaborating with di fferent kinds of creatives for boutique experiences. “Hopefully we’ll just team up with a bunch of legends for the next few years and do a bunch of great parties and cook some food every now and then. “We want to do stuff that appeals to us and the things we want to be at. Great food. Great booze. Awesome music. Good parties. Places that look cool, feel cool. I don’t think anything about that is going to change. The only thing is that we are more likely to team up with other people and bring things together with di fferent organisers but that’s always what we’ve done anyway whether that’s Alpha Box & Dice, Adelaide Festival or Coriole. So hopefully we can fill the calendar with some special intimate events.” Silver Raven Turkey Flat Vineyards, Bethany Road, Tanunda Saturday, April 2 silverravenfestival.com Photos from The Happy Motel’s Here’s To Now at Coriole Vineyard. Credit: Andre Castellucci