ISSUE# 29.36
PAGE 39
February 18 – February 25
MUNGO’S CROSSWORD
Editor : Mandy Nolan Editorial/gigs : gigs@echo.net.au Advertising : adcopy@echo.net.au p : 02 6684 1777 w : echo.net.au/entertainment
| LIVE MUSIC...P22 | SOAP BOX...P22 | STARS...P24 | CULTURE...P24 | CINEMA...P259 | GIG GUIDE...P26 |
MAN OF THE
WORLD
This year Xavier will embark on the next adventure as frontman to Xavier Rudd & The United Nations. Featuring guitar, bass, drums, percussion, keys, horns, flute and backing vocals, the collaboration brings together musicians from all corners of the globe with diverse musical influences representing the cultures of Australia, Indigenous Australia, South Africa, Samoa, Germany and Papua New Guinea. Hi, Xavier. Congratulations on your new project – it’s really an amazing achievement.
Can you give me some background on this project – what was the inspiration for bringing so many musicians from different cultures together? Thanks! It’s something I’ve wanted to do for years. I always wanted the time to be right so I’ve really taken my time with it.
X AV I E R R U D D I S R E N O W N E D F O R B E I N G A ONE-MAN-BAND SETUP WITH A HALF-DOZEN G U I TA R C H O I C E S , T H R E E D I D G E R I D O O S A N D VA R I O U S S T Y L E S O F N AT I V E D R U M .
It’s an amazing collaboration of different people, all with strong ancestors and stories of great magnitude, coming together to play music with all of their individual styles… It’s very powerful.
comes from song, originally. Every culture has their song, but a lot of people have strayed away from that song. The question is, can we change the world to go back to music.
In a political landscape of fear and disharmony, what do you see as the bigger importance of a project like this? The messages in the record talk about simply respecting creation, aside from human beings… It’s sort of like the concept of everyone putting down their weapons and their fears and their barriers as humans and remembering the earth. We’re just a natural part of the earth, and so often our egos lead us away from that natural energy.
How can we learn from ancient traditions – are they still relevant in our rapidly progressing postmodern world? Absolutely. Every native person in each place has a key to the energetic connection between the land and that place. Human beings have an energetic connection to the land like a plant does, but we’ve had our egos that have strayed us. Our native custodians in each place still hold those songs, which can be with all of us, but they are the ones who hold it.
Do you think music can change the world? Or, at least, some of the people in it? Music is the world. I think that the world as we know it
So it’s important for anybody who wants to be connected to land to connect to the native song and the native people of that area.
LION TAMING
T WO LIONS ARE CHRIS AND K A R A M A L L O RY. R E C E N T LY M A R R I E D, C H R I S A N D K A R A F E L L I N L O V E TO T H E I R O W N S O U N DT R AC K O F AC O U S T I C G U I TA R , B A N J O - M A N D O L I N , UKULELE AND VOCAL H A R M O N Y. Fans of Two Lions have been waiting with bated breath for the launch of their debut EP since taking home the Song of the Year award for Heading Home in the 2014 NCEIA Dolphin Awards. Chris spoke with Seven about Two Lions.
What was the songwriting / song creation process like? It was like being catapulted around the world at a really fast rate. Just a massive power centre that gave me huge insight into some questions that I’ve been asking. That’s how I remember it. Blue and white and yellow lights running past the memories… at high speeds. What have been the highlights for you working on this project so far? The whole thing has been a massive highlight. I just feel stoked to be part of it! It’s a banging band – it’s pumping! Everyone is really great at what they do; I just feel really honoured to be part of it. It’s insane, you know.
Tell me what you set out to achieve with your new EP. Kara and I have been collaborating as songwriters for the past few years. We felt like we had five strong songs and we wanted to create some high-quality recordings of them. How do you feel about the end result? Where did you record? What sort of feel did you go for? After doing a lot of research we decided to record with Jordan Power, a prolific and very talented local producer/engineer. We knew we wanted to have bass and drums and a ‘full sounding, indie folk’ recording, but as typical singer/songwriters we didn’t have much of an idea of how to achieve that. With Jordan’s guidance, we crafted a deceptively simple yet full sound using bass drums, mandolins, ukulele, cello, violin horns and vocal harmony.
CONTINUED P24
We are both incredibly happy with the result and are very excited to finally share the recorded songs with our friends, family and local community. You are a husband-and-wife duo. Tell me a little about how you two came to be playing and living together. Which came first? Kara and I started seeing each other soon after we finished studying music at the Gold Coast (I did a Bachelor of Popular Music and Kara did Education with a Music specialisation). I used to gig around a fair bit as a solo musician and after Kara moved in with me, it was very natural for us to start performing together; it was like an extension of our relationship and growing love for each other in a way.
CONTINUED P23
coming soon THUR 19 JESSE PUMPHREY & DJ WADEEP SAT 21 THE BELLIGERENTS, THE JENSENS DJ SAMMOND FRI 20 FEB SUN 22 THE SWAMPS THE COURTNEYS MON 23 THE FIRE TREE DJ TAYA MILLS TUE 24 KIT BRAY & SWANNY FREE SHOW WED 25 GARRETT KATO
27 FEB 28 FEB 6 MAR 7 MAR 13 MAR 14 MAR 19 MAR 20 MAR 25 MAR 26 MAR
KING OF THE NORTH THE VOYAGES WAXHEAD FLOATING BRIDGES HOUSE OF LAURENCE TIMBERWOLF TIKI TANNE REDCOATS STICKY FINGERS CLINT BOGE
HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN • thenorthern.com.au • 6685 6454 North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
The Byron Shire Echo February 18, 2015 21