ENTERTAINMENT Gig
ISSUE# 30.16
September 30 – October 7, 2015 Editor : Mandy Nolan Editorial/gigs : gigs@echo.net.au Advertising : adcopy@echo.net.au P : 02 6684 1777 w : echo.net.au/entertainment
ALL YOUR NORTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT
Guide PAGE 29
| LIVE MUSIC...P25 | CULTURE...P27 | CINEMA...P28 | GIG GUIDE...P29 |
PARKWAY DO IT THEIR WAY
FIRST TANGO IN PARIS
T W E LV E Y E A R S AG O A B U N C H O F K I D S F R O M PA R K W AY D R I V E I N E W I N G S D A L E W E R E P L AY I N G HARDCORE IN THE GARAGE .
WHEN AUSTRALIAN CLASSICAL MANDOLINIST R U T H ROS H A N WA S INTRODUCED TO LIVE A R G E N T I N E A N TA N G O I N PA R I S AT T H E A G E O F 2 3 , S H E WA S H O O K E D.
Well I learned classical (and still play in orchestras from time to time) but I always listened to a wide range of music, including tango, when I was growing up (thanks to my parents’ record collection). So I think tango is a I’d love you to tell me more kind of music that’s been with about your trip to Paris me always and although it has its and your introduction to own unique feel and emphases, Argentinian tango. it isn’t terribly different from Well my husband and I decided to music I’d played in the past stop at a hotel in Malakoff because on the mandolin. The hardest we didn’t want to drive for another thing has been singing, which second. By reputation, Malakoff I started taking seriously with is a dodgy suburb of Paris but we this group, and has been a steep were really lucky with the hotel. It learning curve for me. Although was run by these lovely Algerians I think tango is a genre I always and we soon became friends understood to some extent, with the proprietors and other mastery of the traditional form is guests. So when we asked for a not my aim. It’s more a starting recommendation of a jazz club one point to try to find my own night there was a lively discussion artistic voice. about the best place for us to go. Tango seems so evocative of Finally a place was decided upon another era – nostalgic for a and we were packed off into a taxi. different time. Why do you We got to the jazz club and they think we are drawn to the said they didn’t have jazz that night, romance of the past? they had tango. That night was amazing. It was Juan Jose Mosalini I think that, regardless of its era, there is something about good and his Orquestra. music that takes you away from They played tango like I’d never time, place and circumstance. heard it before – the music was Mozart and Vivaldi wrote music stirring and there was such an according to their era but that atmosphere of love between music is still beautiful today and the players. One young violinist will always be; it just stacks up. was clearly new to the band and I put good tango in this timeless how they were smiling at her and category but for many tango encouraging her was beautiful. also evokes the glamour and Afterwards, we got back to the romance of dressing up and hotel on such a high. going to a dance halls with a live How was it different for you to orchestra playing. play what you had been playing CONTINUED previously? Now, with her quintet Tango Noir, she has recorded three albums of melodic tango-inspired pieces and songs, and gathered an exceptional group of musicians around her in the process.
Twelve years on, the boys have become men, touring internationally to sold-out houses around the world, having just released Ire, the 10th album for the band that ended up going by the name of Parkway Drive. (Luckily they didn’t live at Sunrise Boulevard; that name just doesn’t have the hardcore resonance!)
‘You have to create something that connects with people – you have to create a reason for going to a show rather than its just being a thing to pass the time; it’s connection and it’s an experience!’
On the eve of their return to sold-out shows on home turf, vocalist Winston reflects on what it’s like after over a decade on the road.
‘I think it’s a thing when culture feels marginalised to any degree and there is a very negative stigma that goes with heavy music – but that draws those people together in the same way it pushes other people away who don’t like it. I am yet to meet someone in this culture who is a closed-minded arsehole. It’s the audience that is driving this, it’s the people coming to the shows, and it’s the people feeling the connection to the music; that is a huge difference from the approach of mainstream – ‘I am a rock star and I am drawing you here.’
‘We still have the same passion and drive for what we do; it’s not just having an eye on the pie, because there has never been a pie! It’s been an interestingly rollercoaster ride!’ Unlike most bands, Parkway could never rely on radio play. Hardcore is about playing live, and the audiences who love what you do will find you. ‘I 100 per cent underestimated our genre,’ says Winston. ‘We were one of the first bands to have this sound; heavy music is very marginalised, and for a very good reason: it’s very abrasive, just when you think this is what it’s capable of, it surprises you. There were shows in Europe where we played to 120,000 people! We first started playing to 120 people! ‘Heavy music in Australia is very much a sideline act to mainstream, and when it comes to industry and ARIAs I don’t think they know or acknowledge how big it actually is and the reality of what we are doing in the genre leaves most other genres in the dust!’ The worldwide following for hardcore is phenomenal, as is the loyalty of Parkway fans. Winston believes that one of Parkway Drive’s greatest strengths has always been their live shows.
Winston believes the marginalisation has helped grow the industry rather than the reverse.
The new album Ire heralds a new approach for the band. ‘It’s basically the first time since the band’s existence that we have gone into a way of writing where we haven’t followed a formula that we are used to. It’s still very heavy and angry, but it’s the difference between a third of my lifetime. I would be surprised that if anyone would feel the same as they did 10 years ago; we literally had to relearn from scratch how to cull our egos. Sometimes to get what we wanted it necessitated playing less, and often what we did before was about more more more!’ What keeps Parkway Drive fresh is their desire to make new ground. And that is what they’ve done. Catch them this Saturday (sold out) or Sunday at the Byron Bay High School. Tickets from Oztix outlets www.oztix.com.au.
coming soon WED 30 JESSE PUMPHREY FRI 2 THE SMITH STREET BAND, LUCY WILSON, FEELING DAVE, DJ TAYA MILLS SAT 3 AFL GRAND FINAL BIG SCREEN FROM 1PM THURS 1 OCTOBER DRUNK MUMS, WHITE LODGE, THE JUNGLE GIANTS, THE SLIPS, DJ CHRIS BRADLEY ART OF SLEEPING, SUN 4 MATHEW ARMITAGE HOCKEY DAD MON 5 KYLE LIONHART TUE 6 MARSHALL O’KELL HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN • 24 September 30, 2015 The Byron Shire Echo
9 OCT 10 OCT 16 OCT 17 OCT 23 OCT 24 OCT 29 OCT 30 OCT
THE BADLANDS BOOTLEG RASCAL WOODLOCK THE RUMINATERS BOO SEEKA MARSHALL OKELL MAT MC HUGH THE VANNS
thenorthern.com.au • 6685 6454 Byron Shire Echo archives: www.echo.net.au/byron-echo