ISSUE# 32.29 ENTERTAINMENT DEC 27 - JAN 3, 2018 Editor : Mandy Nolan Editorial/gigs : gigs@echo.net.au Copy deadline: 5pm each Friday Advertising : adcopy@echo.net.au P : 02 6684 1777 W : echo.net.au/entertainment
LIVE MUSIC...P48 | CULTURE...P49 | CINEMA...P52
ALL YOUR NORTH COAST ENTERTAINMENT
The Power of 3, Beautiful Girls + Willie Nelson
CLOSE ON 16 YEARS AGO THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS MADE THEIR DEBUT RELEASE WITH MORNING SUN, A MELTING POT OF SUNNY SURF SOUNDS AND REFRESHING REGGAE UNDERTONES. AUDIENCES WENT NUTS FOR THEM. Particularly here in Byron, where their sound had people packing into venues fro the get go. For Matt McHugh, Byron is still a bit special. ‘Byron is one of the highlights; it’s the first spot on the entire planet where we had a proper big sold-out show. It just went nuts and I remember thinking we are in Byron Bay, we might as well be on Mars! It was like the birthing ground for this band. Weirdly the sense of it all isn’t lost on us.’ The Anniversary Tour looks back to the albums that kicked it off for TBG. ‘The tour is to celebrate the 15th anniversary of the fist two records,’ says Matt. ‘There will be a bunch of songs from them, but not in chronological order – it’s not our style. The most important thing is we are getting back to the spirit of how they are made – it’s guitar, bass and drums. The sound is raw.’ McHugh believes that in the search for bigger and better sounds, sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of what you have. Particularly when it comes to recording. ‘It takes some perspective to say that; it’s not so much, it’s a mix of proving yourself,’ he says of making things more complicated and layered in the studio. ‘I can make this more complex and more harmonically interesting, so you start layering and all of a sudden there are a million things on there that have to be reproduced in live performance, and when you face a creative fork in the road, a lot of creative people add another idea to it; they think, I’ll just add something else. Instead of honing
down on three or four and making them special you make more noise. I only understand that practice doing this tour; there’s something satisfying in stripping it back.’ McHugh is thoughtful about how he approaches his music these days. ‘As a guitar player I find spaces and pockets to fill in and have atmosphere rather than turn on the distortion and go that way. You have to be more creative; you can’t just sit back and let everyone do everything. There are moments getting this new set list together before we went to Europe when I wasn’t confident. But now I realise it’s energising, and there’s something very special about it.’ What McHugh loves most, is the power of three, and how much just three musicians can achieve on a stage. ‘My favourite bands are the Police or Jimmy Hendrix or Sublime – they are all three-piece, and so is Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath; so many just have guitar, bass and drums. I don’t know why you would need to be more powerful than that!’ McHugh is a big advocate of keeping things simple. ‘As I am growing older,’ he says, ‘I am all about exactly that. Simplifying my life. It’s what makes me happy. And not having any desires for a bunch of bullshit that seems exciting when you are 20. I feel that there is a real alignment of that principle in everything I am doing at the moment.’
Live Music
McHugh credits his quiet ability to just follow his own path to the fact that being a musician wasn’t really what he set out to be. ‘I had a blessing in that I grew up playing music but didn’t grow up wanting to be a musician. I wanted to be an artist or designer when I left school; it just kind of happened we got stuff on the radio and because I didn’t have stars in my eyes, it was a bit of a joke. It was a mix of terror actually. I thought people will find out this band sucks! I made a clear decision put the music first because I love music. I know how to say No to things that don’t align, and because of that it hasn’t been easy. Every record you push the parameters out and it’s a battle with your fans and the perception of what you do and you have to be prepared to go out and stand up for yourself. ‘In the music industry people don’t really put the music first. Money is what is important. But you can tell when people do what they love
doing. You can tell when someone is legit. ‘I was just a baby when my dad used to listen to a lot of outlaw country such as Merle Haggard and Willie Nelson. My first love was Willie Nelson. He was probably only about 40 but to me he was like a wizard. Ever since I was a kid I though that was who was cool. I never thought pop stars were cool. I have always thought that in my head. How you can manoeuvre into that position with a body of work, not based on how cool you are or what you look like but by your legitimate contribution.’ Although he became known for mellow acoustic music, McHugh says he grew up playing punk rock. ‘I still think Fuck them,’ he laughs when he reflects on the industry and his place in the sun. Matt McHugh brings The Beautiful Girls to the Hotel Great Northern on Fri 5 Jan.
EMPIRE FREEWAY
DROP LEGS DROP IN
Ray Winter’s new band Freeway are playing their first gig at the Empire Café in Mullumbimby on Friday from 5pm. ‘I’m excited about playing there,’ said Ray, ‘It’s got the old relaxed Mullum vibe. We want to keep the feel of the 60s and 70s alive. Music was so creative then and all about self-expression. We prefer to put our own flavour into the tunes we play and change the grooves around so there is something for everyone.’ The trio is Ray Winter on vocals, guitar and slide, Paul Brewer on bass and Pete Davidian on drums. Free entry.
Byron band Drop Legs have attracted a solid following with their energetic live performances and fusion of heavy reggae and surf hip-hop. The band’s accelerating career has seen them recently complete their fifth east coast tour ending on another packed out show at The Great Northern, Byron Bay, as well as touring Indonesia for Sailor Jerry and supporting the likes of Opiou, Sticky Fingers, Bootleg Rascal, Bonjah, Band of Frequencies, Ocean Alley, The Bennies and more. Drop Legs have teamed up with BlackRat And The Bandits, and Dos Loona, for a big end-of-year celebration at the Byron Bay Brewery. Free entry. Friday at 8pm.
CONT P48
coming soon WED 27 BLONDE RURGANDYS THE SWAMPS THU 28 SUNROSE, THE DOLLA LAMAS, GALLIWANTER FRI 29 THE CINEMA WRISTYS, STORK, LIQUID FACE SAT 30 DE NYE PSYCHEDELIC PORN C GOOCH PA CRUMPETS, RAAVE TAPES, LMS PANDAMIC, VANILLA GORILLA THE VIOLENT MON KS THE SQUID MON 01 FERGO LICKERS TUES 02 MARSHALL OKELL
5 JAN THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS 6 JAN TIJUANA CARTEL 12 JAN PIST IDIOTS 13 JAN PARCELS 14 JAN BOO SEEKA 18 JAN SKEGSS
HOTEL GREAT NORTHERN • thenorthern.com.au • 6685 6454
North Coast news daily: www.echonetdaily.net.au
The Byron Shire Echo December 27, 2017 47