St Kilda, one of Melbourne’s ‘entertainment engines’, has long played host to many a lively venue and a seemingly endless array of interesting characters. As a recently-returned denizen of Melbourne’s premier nightlife zone, I’ve had the good fortune to befriend two young women of Hellenic ancestry who stand out even given this suburb’s formidable reputation – Bella and Krisy.
Isabella (aka Bella) Spasis, the 30-year old owner of St Kilda’s iconic Dog’s Bar, has a work ethic that would make her ancestors from Florina nothing but proud. Not only does she own, manage, book bands, work behind the bar as well as cook to keep her venue swinging, but on those less-frantic days of the week she devotes her time to being a NDIS support worker.
With seemingly indefatigable energy, she bounces between being a deeply caring member of our society to being a charming and charismatic bar owner, with all the responsibilities that entails. Bella has been in hospitality since the tender age of seventeen, but has also worked as a security guard at a mental health hospital. Having experienced a tempestuous childhood and a fair share of bullying, Bella quickly learnt how to handle herself and has a strong, but compassionate, female presence. And she’s not to be messed with.
Declaring the Dog’s Bar her home and proudly claiming her status as a “bar room queen” Bella would rather “reject business from difficult punters than allow them to upset the safe ambience” within which she so carefully cultivates. So strong is this emphasis upon a safe space, particularly for women, that Bella has instituted a “discreet warning signal if a woman feels threatened or harassed”: with signs inside the women’s toilets stating that the signal is to go to the bar and order a drink called an Angel Shot, bar staff then know to monitor that client’s company to ensure her safety. Bella has expertise in defusing such situations. She just “gently ejects the harassing party” if they persist with being obnoxious or threatening.
After what seemed like endless Covid lockdowns and their impact on Victorian businesses, Bella seized the opportunity to purchase the ailing bar which she has now breathed new life into: initially with two business partners and now as a sole operator.
With St Kilda soon to be declared Victoria’s very first ‘live music precinct’, she has a vision to restore the Dog’s back to its former glory. Already playing host to live musicians on five nights of the week, Bella is currently seeking Council permission to increase her live music operating hours until midnight in order to give often-struggling musicians that extra hour in which to strut their stuff on stage.
Nothing attracts an audience in St Kilda like live music and Bella has a particular emphasis upon giving female musicians opportunities they may not find elsewhere: not only will she be increasingly booking as many female acts as she can find, but for International Women’s Week in March ‘girl power’ will be front and centre. As the ‘Dog’s’ continues to enhance its social media presence, keep an eye out for this ever-evolving and dynamic line-up of eclectic local musicians doing what they do best.
Krisy Kostic (of Serbian-Greek heritage), is also a driven young St Kilda musical identity. With her father having long owned and operated ‘Kazbar’ on Chapel Street, Krisy grew up in a hospitality environment and it courses through her veins. Kostic spent a number of her years working the bar scene around the mines of Western Australia and quickly learnt a valuable lesson that reinforces her strong Greek identity: everyone loves live music – especially where men are often deprived of the company of women – so she taught herself how to play the ukulele and the ensuing, epic sing-alongs would have put Homer to shame. So successful did Krisy prove at this venture (and I’m too embarrassed to convey to you just how well she was tipped by revelling miners), that she purchased her first home in St Kilda by the age of just twenty-nine. Now at the ripe old age of thirty, she divides her time between playing the live music scene of St Kilda (and beyond) and working as a fashion designer.
Krisy not only designs and hand-makes her own range of performance outfits, but under her new label of ‘Krisy Swim’ generates a unique range of bikinis and budgie smugglers. She also proudly models her range.
A true all-rounder, one creative pursuit (music) actively supports the other (fashion design), and vice-versa. Creatively ambitious, she has decided to eschew returning to W.A. and concentrate upon her burgeoning career here in Melbourne. Steeling herself to continue growing her fashion brand while now song-writing originals in order to one day replace her covers sets, Krisy has the sort of determination and confidence – both onstage and off – that you just know will see her succeed.
When I asked Krisy where her profound love of live music comes from, I was surprised to hear that as far as she was aware there are no other musicians within her family. She is both self-taught and self-inspired as a musician, just as he is with her fashion endeavours. With her mother being born in Veria, though, it comes as little surprise that quite a few notable musicians do stem from that Greet township: Matthaios Tsahouridis and Larry Gus spring to mind, while Sakis Laios and Pavlos Pavlidis also proudly call Veria home. As Krisy puts it about her love of music,”It’s my Greek blood singing out!”
You can currently catch this spirited performer, under her stage-name of ‘Kitty’, entertaining her audiences at St Kilda hotspots like the Dog’s Bar, The Espy and The Vineyard.
