Chatswood Song is an unidentified pop-punk song. It was discovered and uploaded to Reddit by user Chernyat in December 2019. The song was featured in a 1997 amateur documentary titled "Video Surveillance: Race Around Chatswood".

HISTORY

On 17 December 2019, Reddit user Chernyat first posted the song to various subreddits after finding a tape in a thrift store in Newtown, Sydney. The tape featured footage recorded by the Chatswood Youth Centre in August 1997, and had the song playing throughout the film. The Reddit posts included direct links to a crude reconstruction of the song as well as the full original 35 minute documentary via Google Drive.

On 27 March 2024, YouTuber Strange Australian uploaded a video titled “The Lost Media of Australia Iceberg Explained” which featured a segment covering the song.

On 03 May 2024, Strange Australian managed to get the full names of staff members who worked at the Chatswood Youth Centre in 1997-1998. One ex-staff member, John, was able to provide further details about the video and its origins. He said that the video could have been made for a state government funded creative arts festival called ArtStart. However, John did not know anything about the song.

On 13 September 2024, Strange Australian and OP Chernyat discovered archived websites from the official ArtStart ’97 website, listing the Video Surveillance Workshop as an official program of the festival. The website also confirmed the filming and production dates of the documentary (16, 23, and 29 July 1997, and 06, 13 and 20 August 1997). They also found information confirming that part of the ArtStart program included a competition for young unsigned local musicians to send in demo tracks. 4 to 5 bands would be picked from the entries to have their demo recorded professionally and released on a Compilation CD.

On 14 October 2024, this compilation CD (called "If It Fitz") was uploaded to YouTube but did not include Chatswood Song.

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