4:%/&: 4 -"3(&45 $*3$6-"5*/( '3&& .64*$ 16#-*$"5*0/ t ."3$) t t '3&&
IDJO
ANGELIQUE K
DEAD TO ME
STEVE EARLE
INSIDE: t .: .03/*/( JACKET t #6%%: (6: t :&-"80-' t 5)& )&3%
www.themusic.com.au
THE DRUM MEDIA • 3
MANY ACTS EXCLUSIVE TO VIVID LIVE
MAJOR PARTNER
25 MAY – 3 JUNE STRATEGIC PARTNERS
KAREN O IN ‘STOP THE VIRGENS’ V FLORENCE + THE MACHINE THE TEMPER TRAP V BRYCE DESSNER / NICO MUHLY / SUFJAN STEVENS JANELLE MONÁE & THE ARCHANDROID ORCHESTRA AMON TOBIN LIVE BEYOND 3D ‘ISAM’ V EFTERKLANG & SYDNEY SYMPHONY V PVT SHUT UP AND PLAY THE HITS V IMO GEN HEAP V MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND V SEEKAE NIGHTS LIKE THIS V DANNY BROWN V MED V ELLESQUIRE V HALFWAY CROOKS DJS MODULAR PEOPLE V TOM VEK V JONATHAN BOULET V KINDNESS V PENNY DROP ZOLA JESUS V LIGHT ASYLUM V FORCES V GOODGOD DANCETERIA! FUTURE CLASSIC V URBANSCREEN
BO OK NOW SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM/VIVIDLIVE
PARTNER
4 • THE DRUM MEDIA
MEDIA PARTNERS
INDUSTRY PARTNER
THE DRUM MEDIA • 5
THE
APP WILL
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WATCH LIVE MUSIC
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HUNDREDS OF FULL-LENGTH LIVE CONCERTS AND INTERVIEWS INCLUDING:
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iPhone and iPad are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. App Store is a service mark of Apple Inc.
6 • THE DRUM MEDIA
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE IN ASSOCIATION WITH BLUESFEST TOURING PRESENT
ANGELIQUE KIDJO ‘WILDLY INTOXICATING MUSICAL BREW’
MOJO MAGAZINE
WITH SPECIAL GUEST
KEB’ MO’ AFRICA’S PREMIER POP DIVA SHARES THE STAGE WITH THE GRAMMY-AWARD WINNING BLUESMAN AND FULL BAND.
2 APRIL. CONCERT HALL. FROM $49*
NEXT WEEK!
JOIN US ON FACEBOOK ‘MUSIC AT THE HOUSE’ *A TRANSACTION FEE OF $5 - $8.50 APPLIES TO ALL BOOKINGS EXCEPT INSIDERS
BOOK NOW 02 9250 7777 SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM/MUSIC THE DRUM MEDIA • 7
Australian Tour
With support from THE RUMJACKS
The Manning Bar Sydney University Saturday 7th April 2012 (02) 9563 6000 Tickets available from www.manningbar.com
NEXT WEEK
NEXT WEEK
NEXT WEEK
NEXT WEEK
NEXT WEEK
THE DRUM MEDIA • 9
THE DRUM MEDIA • 11
Big Tree Artists, Riot! Entertainment, Loud Magazine and Headless Management present:
TOUR 2012 Launching the new EP
EP out now on iTunes, Amazon MP3 and www.ourlastenemy.bigcartel.com
ON TOUR MARCH-MAY THU 29 March - BEER GARDEN GOLD COAST FRI 30 March - THE HI FI BAR BRISBANE THU 26 April - THE LOFT WARNAMBOOL A/A FRI 27 April - COMMUNITY HALL SHEPPARTON A/A SAT 28 April - REVOLVER UPSTAIRS MELBOURNE
SAT 5 May - TBA WOLLONGONG FRI 11 May - THE WALL SYDNEY SAT 12 May - TBA newcastle SAT 19 May - CAVERN CLUB ADELAIDE SAT 26 May - THE BASEMENT CANBERRA
THE DRUM MEDIA • 13
th f e or ha m rperl hoy te
l
900 PRINCES HIGHWAY, TEMPE PH: 9559 6300 www.valvebar.com.au WED 28TH 7PM
THURS 29TH 7PM
“KINGSTONE FLAVA’S” REGGAE - ROOTS - SKA NIGHT FEAT LOCAL TALENT
WEST TIGERS HOME GROUND HEROES FINALS 10 GREAT BANDS COMPETE FOR GRAND PRIZE
FRI 30TH 7PM
SEANCE RECORDS PRESENTS THE DEVIL’S ARCANA BLACK METAL FESTIVAL FEAT: “DROWNING THE LIGHT” , “WARDAEMONIC” , “MOON” , “CORVUS”
SAT 31ST 4PM
SEANCE RECORDS PRESENTS THE DEVIL’S ARCANA
SUN 1ST 12PM
GOOD TIMES RECORDS PRESENTS HARDCORE SHOWDOWN
BLACK METAL FESTIVAL FEAT: “VASSAFOR” , “PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS” , “ORDER OF ORIAS” , “SPIRE” , “EREBUS ENTHRONED” , “ILL OMEN” , “CROWNED” , “NONTINUUM” , “SORATHIAN DAWN”
FEAT: “DISPARO” , “TAKEN BY FORCE” , “POSTAL” , “NO SUCH LUCK” , “BLACK SAILS” , “BREAK A LEG” AND MANY MORE
COMING UP: Wed 4 April: Psychedelic/Noise Show feat: “Psychic Date” , “Flesh Borer” and many more ; Thu 5 April: R2R presents The Infamous Ragz 2 Richez with support from “Prince Of Thieves” , “Keeda” , “Monchichi” , J.Dwight” , “The Unthinkables” , DJ Victor Lopez, DJ Cookie, Swaze, Intalekz and many more ; Fri 6 April: 3pm - Holy Hardcore 3 - hardcore festival; Sat 7 April: Midi In The City and In The Mix session feat: Prize, Drox&Illbot, Amberscape, Simon Man, Trinity, Mr Vengeance, George Sadlik/Junkbeats, Oliver Gurney, Simon P, McBean, Andosound ; Sun 8 April: 4pm - Rock Show with “Rough Church” (LA), “Cuervo” , “Gas Wylde Band” , “Drywell” and many more
For band bookings please email valvebar@gmail.com
Bistro open Lunch and Dinner !!
Tues Wed Thurs 22 Mar Fri 30 Mar Sat 31 Mar For Bookings
TRIVIA WITH KEVIN $500 PRIZE POOL
Weekly Jackpot 7.30pm
WEDNESDAY 28TH MARCH
Jez Lowe (UK) + Wheeze & Suck Band
Open Mic Night 7.30pm
BYO Instruments (PA Provided) Rock up to play
OPEN MIC NIGHT
7.30pm
THROUGH A GLASS DARKLY LIVE MUSIC
THURSDAY 29TH MARCH
BattlefeIld Band (Scotland) FRIDAY 30TH MARCH
Garvais KoffI& The African Diaspora With Pat Powell & Yannick KoffI THURSDAY 5TH APRIL
Rosie Ledet & The Zydeco Playboys (US) WEDNESDAY 11TH APRIL
April Verch james@thelaunchsquad.com.au | www.thelaunchsquad.com.au
+ Nathan Rogers & Dry Bones (Canada)
Fri 13/4 PAPE MBAYE & Chosani Afrique + KEYIM BA ‘A celebration of Senegalese Independence’ Sat 14/4 The Flood Fri 20/4 Davidson Brothers Sat 21/04 Eran James + Heavy Yen Sun 22/04 DIG IT UP – Celebrating 30 Years of recording from the Hoodoo Gurus Fri 27/04 Suzie Higgie & Conway Savage + Starling Sat 5/05 Mods Mayday Featuring The Chords (UK) Wed 9/05 Tim Chaisson (Canada) Fri 11th May Abby Dobson Sat 19/05 Liz Martin
14 • THE DRUM MEDIA
THE DRUM MEDIA • 15
28 WEDNESDAY 8.00PM FREE (FRONT BAR) 29 THURSDAY 7.00PM
MUSO’S JAM SONGWRITERS ACROSS AUSTRALIA PRESENT:
THE BLUES PIRATES & OTHER NOTORIOUS MISCREANTS FREE 30 FRIDAY 8.00PM $12.00(PRE) / $15.00(DOOR)
OVER REACTOR (MELB) + BEGGARS ORCHESTRA + SOLKYRI
31 SATURDAY 8.00PM $10.00(DOOR)
THE FAULTS
5 THURSDAY 7.00PM $12.00(DOOR)
STAND ALONE
7 SATURDAY 8.00PM $10.00(PRE) $12.00(DOOR)
LANDER CONFIGURATIONS
+ THE LAUGHING LEAVES (MELB) + THE SHADY EXPEDITION + BLACK LABEL + DIRTY LITTLE SECRETS + JAREK + SKIPPY’S BRAIN
+ THE RUMJACKS
COMING SOON:
GENE VINCENT: A TRIBUTE TO THE WILD CAT ROLL OVER RACISM: FEAT. GAY PARIS + MANY MORE XIBALBA (USA) + WARBRAIN ‘GOBOOKEM.COM’
CNR OF GEORGE + SWANSON ST
ERSKINEVILLE 3 DOORS FROM THE RAILWAY STATION
FRI RI
ROSEOFAUST@BIGPOND.COM
APR PR
P 9565 1441 FRI 30TH MAR
BERNIE HAYES WITH SPECIAL GUEST
8PM
THU 5TH APR
THE DELROYS MON
30
9PM
Coming up slow and steady from the mean streets of Erskineville, the Delroys are purveyors of the boomingest sounds of classic Jamaican reggae and rocksteady. Lead by the local vocal and guitar work of Shoutie and Lunchbox legends Bernie Hayes and Ernie Garland the Delroys got da sound to get da people a movin and groovin. Tight and tasty horns, a real deal bass player poached from the SSO, sssssmokin keys and a Spinal Tap type penchant for drummers, these boys know how to fill a stage and work a room.
FRI 13TH APR
Bernie Hayes is a local iconic Newtown legend singer/songwriter and a long time performer at the Rose of Australia Hotel along with special guest Tom Morgan, who has written for bands such as the Lemonhead’s and has a vast following of his own. Combined Bernie & Tom will be playing a range of originals and well know hits. Bernie is one half of the Shouties and plays in a wide range of well-known Inner City acts. 16 • THE DRUM MEDIA
+ CHAINSAW HOOKERS + TOPNOVIL + SKINPIN
PUBLIC HOLIDAY EVE SPECIAL EVENT
9PM
TOM MORGAN
27
LUCY DESOTO
9PM
AND HER BAND
Playing the world’s best loved rockin’ boogie and blues grooves with an impressive set of original material in the oz rock tradition, showcasing a powerhouse rhythm section, electrifying guitar sounds and thrilling vocals. Lucy Desoto is no stranger to the BLUES for 25 years Lucy Desoto played in bands with the late great Rock’ n Roll Outlaw, Pete Wells, as well as Angry Anderson, Dave Tice, Mark Evans, to name a few of her fellow travellers and musicians.
APR 8PM
+ AS SILENCE BREAKS + DATURA CURSE
9LLM 79,:,5;,+ )@ :,3,*; ;6<905.
:(; 1<5 ;/, 4,;96 ;0*2,;: 65 :(3, 56>
73(@05. /0;:! 73(*, @6<9 /(5+: *64, )(*2 )90./;,9 @,9 63+ *65:0+,9(;065 5(2,+ 0»=, .6; :64,;/05. ;6 :(@ ^^^ YLLMIHUK JVT ^^^ ZLSLJ[[V\YPUN JVT H\ ^^^ MHJLIVVR JVT ZLSLJ[[V\YPUN
SELECT TOURING PRESENTS
FRI MAY 11 THE METRO ALSO APPEARING NATIONALLY ON GROOVIN THE MOO
TICKETS ON SALE FRI MARCH 09 www.selecttouring.com.au // www.facebook.com./selecttouring
SELECT MUSIC PRESENTS
K]d][l Lgmjaf_ Hj]k]flk
K9L *) 9HJ >9;LGJQ L@=9LJ= OAL@ KH=;A9D ?M=KL <9FA=D D== C=F<9DD
>gj la[c]lk Yf\ af^gjeYlagf _g lg2 ooo&^Y[]Zggc&[ge'hYkk]f_]jg^Ú[aYd OOO&>9;LGJQL@=9LJ=&;GE&9M
GRAVEL & WINE TOUR TUE 3 APR THE VANGUARD
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS THE PREACHERS / Tickets available from www.thevanguard.com.au 02 9557 9409
DAEAL=< =<ALAGF *;< N=JKAGF OAL@ :GFMK 9;GMK LA; <AK; GML F GO 9nYadYZd] Yl Ydd _gg\ j]lYad]jk ooo&hYkk]f_]jemka[&[ge ::: ,1(57,$ 086,& &20 ::: )$&(%22. &20 3$66(1*(52)),&,$/ ::: 6(/(&77285,1* &20 $8
WWW.GINWIGMORE.COM
THE DRUM MEDIA • 17
COOGEE
www.thebasement.com.au
The Home of Live Music Since 1973 TUE 3 & WED 4 APR
TROMBONE TLAKE A OOK SHORTY & (USA) ORLEANS AVE The legendary New Orleans brass
SAT APRIL 21
TRIPLE SHOT OF ROCK
MICK SUN APRIL 22
player’s Bluesfest sideshow, second show by popular demand
KRYSTLE WARREN (USA) + PIERS TWOMEY Krystle returns for a headline show
SHOOGLENIFTY (SCOT) The creators of acid-croft, a fiery & infectious blend of Celtic music
JOHN COOPER CLARK (UK) The original punk poet brings his satirical humour to The Basement
ROGER VS THE MAN + DATE BROTHERS W/ DANIEL WELTLINGER A night of fusion with rock, roots & jazz elements
DOOBIES, EAGLES & WEST COAST ROCK
Barry Leef & 9 piece band rock out the classic songs of the era
GREAT BIG SEA (CAN) Bluesfest sideshow – breathing new life into traditional Newfoundland music
DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET
Witness the legendary guitarist who has played for everyone from Ringo Starr to Bob Dylan
TUE 27 MAR WED 28 MAR THU 29 MAR
FOLLOW US ON FACEBOOK AND TWITTER
18 • THE DRUM MEDIA
+ SHELLEY SHORT + THE WINTER STATION
Tickets & info from www.coogeediggers.com.au
COOGEE DIGGERS 9665 4466 CORNER BYRON & CARR STREETS
USE ME.
FRI 30 MAR SAT 31 MAR THU 5 APR MON 9 APR
BLUESFEST @ THE BASEMENT IN APRIL: MON 9TH: DAVID BROMBERG QRT (USA) WED 11TH: VUSIMAHLASELA (S. AFRICA) FRI 13TH & SAT 14TH: MACEO PARKER (USA)
THOMAS
$12 STEAK & ALE DEAL
TUE-FRI 12-3PM 45% -!2 7%$ -!2 4(5
-!2
&2)
-!2
3!4
-!2
RIOT HOUSE COMEDY TUESDAY’S
$5 PINTS
RIOT HOUSE COMEDY THE STUDY feat
THE DALTON GANGS LAST RAID
VIENNA CIRCUS CASTLECOMER OSCAR MULERO ALLAN NONAMAKA + SCHADENFRUEDE + MARSHALL + STUART HARRINGTON
THE DRUM MEDIA • 19
GIVEAWAYS
30
THE SANDRINGHAM HOTEL 387 KING STREET NEWTOWN / 9557 1254 S YEAR WWW.SANDO.COM.AU BOOKINGSCONTACT SANDO@ATOMICDROP.COM.AU WWW.MYSPACE.COM/THESANDRINGHAMHOTEL
WED 28 MAR
CHECK OUT THE JACKET
My Morning Jacket are coming to Olde Sydney Town to play stuff from the new album and a few of your favourites next Tuesday 3 April at the Enmore Theatre. You can read about them in this week’s Drum and then you can head to our Facebook page for a chance to win one of two double passes to the show.
$10
THE WALK ON BY + DIVINE SOUTH
THU 29 MAR
$5
SPACETICKET + WITCH FIGHT + THE BERKSHIRE HUNTING CLUB + 400KW MONSTERS FRI 30 MAR
DEAD TO ME MEET COBRA SKULLS
Modern American punk rockers both signed to the says it all Fat Wreck Chords label, San Francisco’s Dead To Me and Reno’s Cobra Skulls, are coming to town, having picked up Canberra outfit, Lamexcuse, to deliver some serious damage to a few venues around Australia.
$10
+ PAPA PILKO AND THE BIN RATS + RUFFLEFEATHER + VALE OF AH
SAT 31 MAR
"OFF THE HIP PRESENTS"
LOS CHICOS (SPAIN) + THE KILL CITY CREEPS
+ JOHNNY AND BENNY (ASTEROID B-612) + LA BASTARD (MELB) + THE ESCAPES $12 PRE-SALE / $15 DOOR SALE TICKETS ON SALE NOW AT WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU
SUN 1 APR
DEAD TO ME (USA) + THE COBRA SKULLS (USA)
$15
+ CHRIS DUKE AND THE ROYALS + THE GUN RUNNERS + DIVIDERS
EVERY MON
“SANDO SKETCH CLUB”
EVERY TUES
“THE SONGWRITER SESSIONS”
COMING SOON
ADRIFT FOR DAYS + FUTILITY (ACT)
+ THE VEIL + L.I.N.T. FRI 6 APR ---
NOT LIKE HORSE + KHAN OF K + RED BEE
+ MODERN MURDER SAT 7 APR ---
BAYONETS FOR LEGS + THE HAVELOCKS
+ ANDY GOLLEDGE + MANNEQUINS + ANTHONY OUSBACK + BRADEN EVANS + JENNA MURPHY
78 SAAB *** WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU *** SAT 14 APR --- DEE MINOR AND THE DISCHORDS FRI 13 APR ---
*** WWW.ZOMBIEDOGENTERTAINMENT.COM ***
THE GO SET + HANDSOME YOUNG STRANGERS *** WWW.OZTIX.COM.AU *** SAT 21 APR ---
STREET LEVEL BAR
THE THINGOS
WED 28 MAR --+ $3 SCHOONERS OF SANDO LAGER
JOHNATHAN DEVOY + SPECIAL GUESTS FRI 30 MAR --- VIDEO JUKE BOX SAT 31 MAR --- DAVE TICE AND MARK EVANS 4PM-7PM DJ KAKI 8PM-LATE SUN 1 APR --- PAUL HAYWARD'S LIVE PUNK KARAOKE BAND MON 2 APR --- UNHERD OPEN MIC TUE 3 APR --- ADAM PRINGLE AND FRIENDS – FUNKY AS F#CK + TOOHEYS $6 NEW JUGS (7-8PM) THU 29 MAR ---
----------------DJ’S BISTRO----------------OPEN 7 DAYS SERVING GREAT PUB FOOD ALL NIGHT
20 • THE DRUM MEDIA
GOODGOD CHICKS & GUNS
Chicks Who Love Guns playing at GoodGod Small Club Friday night, who will be showcasing their latest EP, Stutter, and a whole lot more. We have one double pass to the show to give away, and the winner can collect a copy of the EP when they arrive at the show.
HEAD TO THE DRUM MEDIA FACEBOOK PAGE TO ENTER
CROSSING RED LINES
THU 5 APR ---
Saturday night, they hit the Annandale and we have three double passes to that gig to give away.
COBRA SKULLS,
T H E D R U M M E D I A I S S U E 1 1 0 3 2 7 T H T U E S D AY M A R C H 2 0 1 2
DRUM MEDIA
Giveaways – Check it out for free stuff and head to Facebook for more! 20 The Front Line hits hard with industry fact and conjecture, plus Backlash and Frontlash. 22 Foreword Line – the latest news on tours, releases and more. 24 Growing up with funk all around, Trombone Shorty chats about the music of his old ‘hood. 30 Steve Earle on doing what he loves. 32 Hear all about Angelique Kidjo’s new challenge; helping educate girls back home. 34 Dead To Me and Cobra Skulls talk politics and about popping their Australian touring cherry. 36 Last visit, My Morning Jacket went surfing in Byron Bay and learned all about the magic of Bluesfest. 38 Yelawolf chats about the good and bad experiences in dealing with fans. 40 Buddy Guy has never been a fan of flying, even before 9/11. But that isn’t enough to keep him away. 40 How perseverance and consistency got the ball rolling for The Herd in their ten-plus years together. 41 On The Record reviews new release albums and singles from Meshuggah, The Used, Simone Felice and more. 42 Eilen Jewell’s still a country girl at heart. 44 Lucinda Williams says she’ll never take so long to make a record again. 44 Moving around for more reasons than one. Royal Baths discuss their newfound home. 44 “We are really big fans of Australian rock’n’roll,” says Los Chicos’ guitarist. 44 Gin Wigmore goes against her superstitious nature in her decision to cut and add songs. 45 Taking Back Sunday chat about their appearance on the kids show, Yo Gabba Gabba! 45 Chris Maric gets local with hard rock and metal in The Heavy Shit. 46 Sarah Petchell brings us local and international punk news in Wake The Dead. 46 PUBLISHER Street Press Australia Pty Ltd GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast EDITOR Mark Neilsen ASSOCIATE EDITORS Michael G Smith, Scott Fitzsimons FRONT ROW EDITOR Daniel Crichton-Rouse frontrow@drummedia.com.au CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Adam Curley CONTRIBUTORS Aarom Wilson, Adam Wilding, Alex Hardy, Amber McCormick, Anita Connors, Anthony Carew, Bethany Small, Brad Barrett, Brendan Crabb, Brent Balinski, Bryget Chrisfield, Celline Narinli, Chris Familton, Chris Maric, Craig Pearce, Cyclone, Dan Condon, Danielle O’Donohue, Dave Drayton, Fiona Cameron, Giselle Nguyen, Gloria Lewis, Guy Davis, Huwston, Ian Barr, Jake Millar, Jamelle Wells, James d’Apice, James Dawson, James McGalliard, Jessie Hunt, Justin Grey, Katie Benson, Kris Swales, Liz Galinovic, Liz Giuffre, Lucia Osborne-Crowley, Mark Hebblewhite, Matt O’Neill, Paul Smith, Paz, Pedro Manoy, Rip Nicholson, Rob Townsend, Robbie Lowe, Ross Clelland, Rod Hunt, Sarah Petchell, Sasha Perera, Sebastian Skeet, Sevana Ohandjanian, Shane O’Donohue, Steve Bell, Stuart Evans, Tim Finney, Tom Hawking, Troy Mutton PHOTOGRAPHERS Angela Padovan, Carine Thevenau, Chaz Webb, Cybele Malinowski, Josh Groom, Justin Malinowski, Kane Hibberd, Linda Heller-Salvador, Luke Eaton, Rod Hunt, Tony Mott ADVERTISING DEPT sales@drummedia.com.au Brett Dayman, James Seeney, Andrew Lilley
themusic.com.au
It’s business time in the club world as Paz gives us Business Music. We get the latest updates from our local industry and beyond from the good folks at MusicNSW. Viktor Krum asks you to Get It Together with the latest in hip hop. Dave Drayton gets Young & Restless with all ages goings on. Adam Curley muses on all things pop culture The Breakdown. Cyclone gives you urban and r’n’b news in OG Flavas. Michael Smith delivers some Blow with jazz and world music news. Go south as you enter Pedro Manoy’s Swamp Shack. Dan Condon features the world of blues and roots with Roots Down.
FRONT ROW
This Week In Arts plans your upcoming schedule; Dan Spielman prepares for the mighty Macbeth’s return to Sydney stages; the Australian Chamber Orchestra hits The Standard for an underground performance. Rebecca Rocheford Davis discusses Time Stands Still for Darlinghurst Theatre Co; painter Hilton Owen takes on the everyday for inspiration for his new exhibition; John Kaldor waxes lyrical on German artist Thomas Demand; British comedian Francesca Martinez is anything but “normal”. Cultural Cringe wraps up the week’s arts news and whispers; Made You Look live-tweets an Art Month talk.
LIVE
It’s all here: gig reviews, tour guide, what’s happening this week, charts, gig guide, random shit and more. Backstage and BTL – your guide to studios, recording, gear, courses and more. The Classies – need a singer/bassist/drummer/ any other service/product you can think of? Your answer is here. And on iflog.com.au.
iflog.com.au
CLASSIFIEDS
ART DEPT artwork@drummedia.com.au Dave Harvey, Matt Davis, Kieryn Hyde COVER DESIGN Dave Harvey ACCOUNTS DEPT accounts@streetpress.com.au GIVEAWAYS/GIG GUIDE Justine Lynch THE DRIVERS Grant, David, Julian, Ray, Paul, Al, Mark PRINTING Rural Press (02) 4570 4444 DISTRIBUTION distro@drummedia.com.au SUBSCRIPTIONS Subscriptions are $2.20 per week (Minimum of 12 weeks) – Send your details with payment to Subscriptions Dept, The Drum Media, PO Box 2440 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 (cheques/money orders to be made payable to Dharma Media Pty Ltd) ADDRESS Postal: PO Box 2440 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Street: Level 1/142 Chalmers St Surry Hills NSW 2010 Phone (02) 9331 7077 Fax (02) 9331 2633 Email info@drummedia.com.au www.themusic.com.au The Drum Media is also available on iPad via the iTunes App Store
47 47 48 48 48 48 49 49 49
50
51 52
53 65 68
LEVEL 1, 354 BOURKE ST. SURRY HILLS
BUY NOW AT TUES 24 APRIL
SOSUEME 5TH BIRTHDAY
LIVE: YESYOU, ELIZABETH ROSE, FURNACE & THE FUNDAMENTALS
DJS: ALISON WONDERLAND, SOSUEME, JOYRIDE PSEUDO ECHO
THUR 26 APRIL
PSEUDO ECHO
PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS RICKY-LEE
THUR 30 MAY
RICKI-LEE
'DO IT LIKE THAT' LIVE DOORS OPEN 6PM. FREE ENTRY ALL NIGHT. STICKY FINGERS
JAM PRESENTS FRI 30 MAR
STICKY FINGERS
KINGSWOOD, GINGER AND DRUM
DJ: PHDJ
JOYRIDE (LIVE)
SAT 31 MAR
JOYRIDE (LIVE)
TIGER TOWN, FORMER LOVE
DJ: F.R.I.E.N.D/S
MEOW KAPOW
THUR 5 APR
MEOW KAPOW
GHOSTS OF YORK, 1929INDIAN
DJ: F.R.I.E.N.D/S
COMING UP THE LEISURE BANDITS, SALOONS, SEA LEGS, MESSRS, KOOL THING, TOM UGLY, ENOLA FALL, GREY GHOST, FIRE! SANTA ROSA, FIRE!, PIGEON
UPSTAIRSBERESFORD.COM.AU OR 8313 5050 FOR GIG INFO HAPPY HOUR BEFORE 8PM FRI & SAT. DINNER & SNACKS AVAILABLE
PRIVATE BOOTH & VENUE BOOKINGS 8313 5000 THE DRUM MEDIA • 21
THE
FRONT LINE
FRESHLY INKED
Bloc Party have signed with Frenchkiss Records and Cooperative Music for their fourth album. The influential London indie band went on hiatus in 2009 to focus on other projects, their last album, Intimacy, having been released in 2008. Their first three albums were released through Wichita. Frenchkiss is now part of the Cooperative Music stable, who have distribution through Universal. Frontman Kele Okereke said, “This signing has made Bloc Party very happy because not only do we know and love the people at this label but we know and love this label’s output. Frenchkiss has released some mighty fine music over the years, music that has gone on to influence this very band. So here’s to some more mighty fine music.” “They are in the best spirits and we are lucky to be working with such professionals, friends and ambassadors,” said Frenchkiss owner and founder Syd Butler. “Their parents raised them right. We all know they make phenomenal records and we are honoured that the next one will be on Frenchkiss.” Cooperative Music General Manager Vincent Clery-Melin added, “We’re so happy to still be working with Bloc Party after all these years and over the moon to start a new relationship with Frenchkiss, one of the best US independent labels around!”
FIRST OFFICIAL SPLENDOUR BAND ANNOUNCED .
Showing signs that organisers may drip-feed lineup announcements this year, last week Secret Sounds, who book Splendour In The Grass, announced that Oxford indie five-piece Zulu Winter have postponed their tour to bring it in line with the festival, making them the act announced. Formed just last year, the band had intended to tour in April and punters who had bought tickets to those shows will be refunded. Keeping things in-house, Secret Sounds affiliate label Dew Process will release the band’s debut album, Language, Friday 11 May. The band will now tour Europe further into April instead.
FANS’ FURY AS CRANBERRIES CANCEL LAST MINUTE
The Cranberries announced the cancellation of a Sydney show over the venue’s speakers 15 minutes before they were due to perform last week. Irish rock veterans The Cranberries had been due to play Sydney’s Enmore Theatre and in a statement the next morning the band claimed food poisoning kept frontwoman Dolores O’Riordan from performing. Fans took to social networking platforms to berate the handling of the situation. “Most of us who were at the Enmore show last night have a sad story to tell,” posted Nikki McNally on Facebook. “The hardest part of my story isn’t the fact that we waited outside the venue from 1.30pm, on my birthday, to ensure we would have the perfect spot in front of the stage. Or the fact that I’ve waited 14 years to see The Cranberries headline and I still don’t know how I’m going to make it to the Monday show. The hardest part by far is the way in which we were told. It sounded like a joke at first!” The band rescheduled the show to last Monday, with refunds available from point of purchase for those who couldn’t make the new show. The band’s statement read, “We want to apologise for tonight’s last minute cancellation at the Enmore Theatre in Sydney. It was unavoidable and we’re very sorry. Dolores is suffering from food poisoning and was unable to perform. Right up to the last minute we were hoping the show might be able to go ahead, but Dolores was just too unwell. We know you’re all very disappointed and this has been a huge inconvenience for you. Hopefully most of you can make the rescheduled show. Once again, we’re very, very sorry.”
MOSHCAM LAUNCHES MOBILE PLATFORMS
Moshcam last week made what they call their “most exciting development” in launching their mobile app across Apple devices. The free app will allow users access to Moshcam’s library of professionally-filmed concerts, which they claim now includes over 1,000 sets. The app comes with free single-track videos and interviews, with the full concerts available for purchase. The app is available across iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Nine months in development, Moshcam’s Chairman Stephen Peach told Your Daily SPA,
INDUSTRY NEWS WITH SCOTT FITZSIMONS frontline@streetpress.com.au
Heavily-touted New South Wales outfit The Rubens have signed to Ivy League, alongside Lanie Lane, Deep See Arcade, Cloud Control, Josh Pyke and more. On the back of triple j favourite, Lay It Down, the band are currently recording their debut album in New York with David Kahne (Paul McCartney, Regina Spektor, The Strokes) and will return to Australia in April for their first national headline tour. The band’s frontman Sam Margin said, “We’ve been bunkered down for three months straight in the recording studio and are starting to get cabin fever. We cannot wait to break out and play these live shows and road test the newer songs. We’ll be putting everything into them to make sure they are special.” Meanwhile, 4ARM have struck a deal with Riot Entertainment, who will release their album, Submission For Liberty, locally, with distribution through Warner. It’s out Friday 13 April.
label as well. Aztec, which was formed in 2004 by Ted Lethborg and former Aztecs drummer Gil Matthews, specialises in importing bulk albums and vinyl for retailers as well as re-releasing remastered classic Australian albums that are otherwise out of print. The importing arm suffered from declining CD sales and the ability of consumers to buy international products online themselves. A directive from one of the major retail chains to only order Aztec imports for customer orders, and not for shelf-stock (as they had been doing to acquire rare and limited edition releases for customers), appeared to have impacted heavily on Aztec. Confirming the news of the company’s receivership, Lethborg issued a statement to Mess&Noise claiming that the company took a hit to the tune of $350,000 due to the decline of retail stores. “I have spent almost a decade working at/for Aztec Music,” Lethborg wrote. “Since late 2004, I have run (with Gil Matthews) the Aztec Music Label. I have put my heart and soul into the label: often working seven days a week, building relationships with record labels and artists alike (actually building and re-building relationships with labels, as they change personnel with alarming frequency).” He continued, “Two years ago, Aztec Music (the importer) lost in excess of $350,000 from distributors and music stores closing down/going out of business. That’s way too much for a small company to endure and, in the end, it caught up with us and the bank had no choice but to withdraw their finance. As to what happens to the (my) label, time will tell. I am hopeful that I will be able to either rescue or re-launch it. We have released over 60 titles (with many more to come) and we were just about to start our vinyl reissue program... For now, I will take strength from all the wonderful feedback we have received over the years and remember the looks on the faces of legends like Lobby Loyde and Billy Thorpe as I handed them each reissue as it came out, and make plans for the continuation of what has been a labour of love and one of the absolute pleasures of my life.”
“This is probably the single most exciting development we’ve had in our history so far. We’ve always thought that this is the natural progression for the way in which the world is going really and it had been part of our plan for quite some time now expand into the mobile space, particularly with the advent of tablets. The experience on an iPad is pretty spectacular and the ability to put it up on an Apple TV device is wildly impressive too.” Last year the company inked a deal with Sony to have their internetready Bravia TVs pre-loaded with Moshcam access. “That Sony Bravia distribution is global, there’s a channel on Sony Bravia TVs all around the world – or certainly in all the main markets,” said Peach, who said it has raised the profile of Moshcam around the world. He added he believed it to be “One of the more popular channels.” Moving forward, “Developing an Android app is next for us and reaching out to what I guess is the ‘other half’ of the world and we’ve got a range of additional add-ons and things that we’re already trying to develop.” He added, “Our aim is to be very broadly based, not to be backing any particular technology or hardware provider and really let the fans decide how they want to access Moshcam.”
Former Divinyls manager Vince Lovegrove has died after a car crash in Federal, NSW, on the weekend. Lovegrove was the lead singer in the Valentines with Bon Scott and is credited with introducing Scott to AC/ DC, which he would later front. He was also a writer, penning a book about good friend Michael Hutchence and was an AIDS activists following the death of his wife in 1987 and young son in 1993 due to the disease. He leaves behind daughters Lilli Rae and Holly. The family said in a statement that they “wish to thank everyone for their condolences at the loss of our beautiful father Vince.” A private funeral is proposed and a public memorial will be held in Sydney at date to be advised.
THIRTY TRACKS UP FOR SONG OF THE YEAR
PUBLISHERS’ ASSOCIATION APPOINTS NEW GM
The 30 nominations for the 2012 APRA Music Awards Song Of The Year have been announced. The awards, which feature a number of other categories, will be held at the Sydney Exhibition and Convention Centre Monday 28 May, the closing night of the three-day Song Summit music conference. The night will also see the awarding of the Songwriter of the Year and the Ted Albert Award for Outstanding Services to Australian Music, determined by the APRA Board of Writer and Publisher Directors. The first round of nominations for the APRA Song Of The Year has been completed to create a list of 30. Songs have to be written by an APRA member and been released in the last year. All-conquering Gotye (Wally De Backer) is represented twice in the list. “Yet again it is wonderful to see such an eclectic group of songwriters in the shortlist for the 2012 APRA Song of the Year,” said APRA|AMCOS CEO Brett Cottle. “In what is a genuine peer-voted process, the APRA Song of the Year recognises creative diversity in the Australian music industry, reflecting country, hip-hop, pop and rock songs. From the legendary Don Walker to up-and-comer Lanie Lane and everyone in between, this award continues to offer both peer and public recognition for a broad range of Australian songwriting talent.” The nominations include tracks by Lanie Lane, bluejuice, Cold Chisel, 360 featuring Gossling, Kasey Chambers, The Jezabels, Troy Cassar-Daley, Kimbra, The Jezabels, Emma Lousie, Calling All Cars, Last Dinosaurs, The Beards, Hillsong Live and more.
VITAL REISSUE LABEL AZTEC IN RECEIVERSHIP
VALE VINCE LOVEGROVE
Former Festival Mushroom Records MD Jeremy Fabinyi is returning to Australia to become GM of the Australasian Music Publishers’ Association [AMPAL]. Fabinyi takes up the revised role after Peter Hebbes stepped down earlier this year to focus on his own publishing group. AMPAL collects statistics regarding the value of music publishing which it provides to the government and uses as a basis for discussion in the industry. Fabinyi has spent the last ten years in Europe, where he held positions with international trade organisations CISAC and BIEM in Paris, served as Executive Director of MCPS and interim CEO at PRS For Music. Prior to leaving for Europe,
BEDROOM ROCK STARS
Entries for this year’s Red Bull Bedroom Jam have opened for musos aged between 15 and 21. Artists are asked to upload a video of themselves performing an original track to the Bedroom Jam website and will then be added to the ‘Buzz Chart’, which is determined by how many people Like and Tweet the video through social media. The top act each fortnight will have a film crew sent to their house to film three tracks in their bedroom. The second set of five winners will perform alongside an established local act. Industry representatives will determine the eventual winner. Entries are open now through redbullbedroomjam.com.au.
AMID ACCEPTING NEW LISTINGS
The next edition of ‘industry bible’ the Australasian Music Industry Directory [AMID] is now accepting listings. The biannual publication, published by Street Press Australia (publishers of The Drum Media), features contact details and listings for all aspects of the music industry, from artist managers and labels to media and lawyers and stage production and concert promoters. Those that have a listing in the current AMID will receive an email requesting any changes or updates within the next two weeks. If you’d like a listing form emailed to you, please email: amid@ streetpress.com.au. Free listings close Friday 20 April. As part of the Street Press Australia publishing house, AMID has not only remained the most comprehensive directory but has also tackled the issues facing the industry. The current edition addressed the often-complicated topic of publishing, as well as offering guides to parts of the music world that most start-up acts find daunting.
OPEN THE BOX
This May, the Lansdowne Hotel will present one of the sweetest festivals getting around this season. Funbox: An Indie Festival will transform the Lansdowne into an audio-visual wonderland, with the city’s best indie bands, DJs, solo artists and short filmmakers exhibiting their work on one of three different stages. Because this story only gets better, Funbox is seeking anyone and everyone to be a part of it – from bands, solo artists and DJs, signed and unsigned, to filmmakers. If you think you’ve got what it takes to turn the Lansdowne into a fun box, contact clancy@subdivisionmusic. com.au with links to your work. Good luck!
FRONTLASH
BACKLASH
The band itself is pretty cool, but more to the point – ladies and gentlemen, we have our first 100 per cent confirmed act for Splendour In The Grass from the organisers themselves.
We know nothing about Queensland politics and why the Liberals were voted into power there and Labor was unceremoniously dumped, but if everyone does this across the board as revenge for Labor, can we just remind you that if it happens federally, Tony Abbott will end up as Prime Minister? Now, you don’t want that, do you?
ZULU WINTER
MONORAIL Oh how the Simpsons references were bandied about, but finally a prominent eyesore and transport system that doesn’t really go anywhere or do anything useful will be gone.
Renowned Melbourne importer Aztec Music has been forced into receivership, clouding the future of its reissue
music 22 • THE DRUM MEDIA
Fabinyi was the Group Managing Director of Festival Mushroom Records, Festival Publishing and Festival Studios, CEO of AMPAL and AMCOS during the ’90s and was a principal of Mental Management, who looked after Mental As Anything, The Wiggles, The Cockroaches and Machinations among others. AMPAL’s Chairman, Catherine Gerrard, said the appointment is a “major step forward for AMPAL. We have a strong plan to focus AMPAL as the leading body for publishers and publishing in our territory. There is a lot we want to achieve and we cannot think of anyone better than Jeremy to set our new strategic direction into motion. Jeremy is well-known in Australia and around the world and he will be a great asset to our organisation.” Fabinyi added, “I’m delighted to be returning to Australia – I’ve been away too long! I look forward to using my experience to support Australian and New Zealand publishers and the songwriters they represent.” His role starts Tuesday 10 April.
themusic.com.au
POLITICS
MONORAIL The only negative we can think of is can anyone find a quicker way to get from Darling Harbour to the centre of the city instead of using the monorail across the Pyrmont Bridge, we’d like to know.
THE DRUM MEDIA • 23
FOREWORD LINE
NEWS FROM THE FRONT
TOUR NEWS LAST DINOSAURS Due to popular demand, Irish folk singer James Vincent McMorrow’s show originally planned for The Vanguard Monday 9 April has been moved to The Factory Theatre. Tickets bought for the Vanguard remain valid for the Factory. Similarly, the 2pm Saturday 14 April Oxford Art Factory Bleeding Knees Club all ages gig has moved to The Factory, tickets for the original venue valid for the new venue. The over-18s gig the night before remains at the Oxford Art Factory. Local country artist Kirsty Akers has picked up the support slot for Steve Earle when he plays Lizotte’s Newcastle Wednesday 4 April, perfect timing as she’s releasing a new single, Sweet Ol’ Jackson, the follow-up to her duet with Bob Evans, In Spite Of Ourselves. The Sunday 24 May Sydney Opera House concert by Deborah Voigt is completely sold out. UK punk poet John Cooper Clarke returns to Sydney next week to perform at the Brass Monkey in Cronulla Wednesday 28 March, The Basement Thursday 29 and the Hard Rock Café Saturday 31.
REEF
NO BARRIERS
British rock band, Reef, hasn’t made a trip to Australia since 2000. In the years since, they’ve wowed audiences at Glastonbury and Reading Rock Festivals, they’ve consolidated a following around the world, and they’ve released three stunning studio albums. This year, they finally return to Australia and they’ll be playing the Metro Theatre on Saturday 9 June. To commemorate their visit, a box set of their tracks, a booklet of photographs and a 12” vinyl edition of their newly-arranged fifth album, will be released this month. NICKI MINAJ
MOTHER F***IN’ MONSTER
Tech-house remixer/producer Stimming, is coming to town to present his latest album, Liquorice, at the Abercrombie’s End Of The Line night Monday 9 April.
Nicki Minaj has announced her Pink Friday Australian Tour, which will land in May. As a bonus, Australian fans will have the chance to be among the first in the world to own her new album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded, with each ticket purchased. Minaj will be unleashing the monster within at the Hordern Pavilion on Wednesday 16 May with a stage production that is sure to blow you away. Tickets will go on sale Friday 30 March at 10am sharp.
Sydneysiders Northlane have been invited to open for August Burns Red and Blessthefall when they hit the country in April, playing Newcastle Panthers Wednesday 18 and The Metro Thursday 19. Fronted by death metal godfather Chris Barnes, Six Feet Under have joined the metal feast headed up by Devildriver with Darkest Hour, hitting the Hi-Fi Saturday 5 May. Alison Wonderland is “in da house”, or at least Oxford Art Factory Saturday 31 March. Last Dinosaurs have completely sold out their Oxford Art Factory gig Saturday 21 April, so they’ve announced that they’ll return to the venue Sunday 29 for a second shot. New signings to Ivy League, Sydney four-piece The Rubens, have been invited to support Lanie Lane on her forthcoming Bangity Bang Tour, which will see her play the Metro Theatre Friday 1 June. Before that though, they’re playing their own sold out headline shows at GoodGod Small Club Monday 16, Tuesday 17 and Wednesday 18 April, supported by Sures all three nights. Showcasing the new EP, Intentional Living, Gossling comes to the Clarendon Guesthouse Friday 27 April, then heads down to the Basement Saturday 28 and on to the Brass Monkey Sunday 29, supported throughout by Winter People.
HOWIE DAY BARRY ADAMSON
HAVE A GOOD DAY
US singer/songwriter Howie Day is returning to Australian shores this month to tour his long-awaited third studio album, Sound The Alarm, on which he collaborated with the likes of Mike Flynn (The Fraw, Augustana), Mike Nenneen (Fountains of Wayne) and Martin Terefe (Jason Mraz, KT Tunstall). He’ll be playing at The Standard on Friday 30 March.
Brisbane’s The Belligerents will be in town Saturday 31 March to showcase their new single, Infatuation, opening for Oscar & Martin at GoodGod Small Club. Brisbane’s Lion Island are launching their EP, Back To The Street, Saturday 7 April at Red Rattler with a bit of help from locals Polar Knights, The Keep Secrets and Snowale.
Heirs will be touring the East Coast in May in support of their latest release, Hunter. They’ll be hitting up The Bald Faced Stag on Saturday 5 May. Tickets are available now and people who purchase said tickets will be receiving an added surprise, which is to be announced in April - oh yeah, that starts Sunday.
ZOMBIE SHAKE UP Brisbane punk/rock outfit The City Shake Up will be hitting the road in April/May on the back of their latest single, a cover of the ‘90s classic, Zombie, by The Cranberries. With The Cranberries also currently in the country for a national tour, the four-piece saw the chance to pay homage to the classic, while giving it a modern twist. You can hear their rendition at The Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle on Wednesday 18 April, St. James Hotel on Saturday 21, Liverpool PCYC on Sunday 22 (all ages gig) or in Canberra for an 18+ show with the venue yet to be announced.
Brisbane four-piece TheCityShakeUp are taking their cover of The Cranberries’ Zombie down the coast for a spin, hitting the Cambridge in Newcastle Wednesday 18 April, SFX Saturday 21 and Liverpool PCYC for an all ager.
24 • THE DRUM MEDIA
HUNTING FOR HEIRS
Over the April long weekend, Hamburg’s Stimming will be touring Australia. Hailed for his delivery of an original sound to house music, he’ll play at The Abercrombie in Sydney on Monday 9 April.
Wormwood, the event, takes over Dirty Shirlows Saturday 14 April, with two bands – Infinite Decimals and The Paper Boat – coming up from Melbourne to join Lyyar and Brain Drain, along with the requisite DJs.
SIX FEET UNDER
Post-punk outfit Magazine’s Barry Adamson returns with a new solo album, I Will Set You Free. The album has been coloured by the memories and experience of his early years in music, and in recording it he has looked deep within himself for answers to set him free. To celebrate its launch, he’ll be playing a string of shows across Australia. Catch him at The Factory Theatre on Friday 25 May.
HEIRS
STIMULATING
Melbourne alt. metal three-piece Cave Of The Swallows follow their recently released EP, Dead Upon Your Feet, up the east coast to introduce it in person Saturday 7 April at Venom.
Canberra’s Hoodlum Shouts release their debut album, Young Man Old Man, this Wednesday and take it out on tour through April, playing the Transit Bar in their home town Thursday 19 and Blackwire Records Friday 20 accompanied by Marathon, Life & Limb and Ramps. Saturday 21, they head into the Bald Faced Stag with Totally Unicorn, Gay Paris and Lo!
SET YOU FREE
N’FA JONES
FROM LONDON TO…
Frontman of genre-bending Australian hip hop collaboration 1200 Techniques, N’fa Jones, is set to launch his brand new solo EP, Babylondon, with four very special performances across Australia. N’fa’s recent travels have seen him living in London and playing all manner of European festivals including Strawberry Fields Festival and Glastonbury. The EP will be out on Friday 6 April and he’ll be hitting up The Factory Floor in Marrickville on Thursday 12 and The Cambridge Side Bar in Newcastle on Friday 13.
FIGHTING FLOODS Tin Can Radio have announced new ‘replacement’ Sydney dates after the forced cancellation of their main-stage appearance at Playground Weekender Festival. The five-piece will be bringing their high-energy show to three intimate music venues across Sydney beginning with the Beach Road Hotel in Bondi on Thursday 29 March, FBi Social Masquerade Ball on Friday 30 and Oxford Art Factory on Saturday 31.
themusic.com.au
JAREK
NATURE SONG
Moving away from the DIY approach of his last, Jarek’s highly-anticipated second album, Tree Of The Seas, was put into the hands of Davin Pidoto (The Dirty Three, Paul Kelly, Augie March). Combining acoustic and electric guitars, percussion and woodwind, the album explores organic and otherworldly sounds. To support this release, Jarek have also announced a string of shows schedules for April with special guests Skippys Brain. They’ll be playing The Phoenix in Canberra on Wednesday 4 April, The Patch in Wollongong on Thursday 5, The Bald Faced Stag in Sydney on Saturday 7 and The Annandale Hotel on Sunday 8.
THE DRUM MEDIA • 25
FOREWORD LINE
NEWS FROM THE FRONT
KARNIVOOL
M A R L E Y
MACEO PARKER
MIDNIGHT JAM Due to popular demand, two very special midnight performances by funk legend, Maceo Parker, have been announced for Friday 13 and Saturday 14 April at The Basement in Sydney. With two shows already scheduled for 9.30pm on both those days, the addition of these midnight performances means that no one will miss out. Those who have already purchased tickets will be allowed to attend for free, and a very limited amount of tickets will be released.
FROM THE EAST KIM CHURCHILL
GOING THE DISTANCE
World-renowned guitarist and singer/songwriter, Kim Churchill, is set to release his second album, Detail Of Distance, in April. Alongside his Byron Bay Bluesfest and The Gum Ball Festival appearances, he will also be kicking off a national tour in support of the forthcoming release. Microwave Jenny and Benjalu will be supporting. Witness Churchill’s guitar skills and catch him live at Mullumbimby Civic Hall on Thursday 19 April, The Brass Monkey in Cronulla on Thursday 3 May, The Standard in Sydney on Friday 4, The Heritage Hotel in Bulli on Saturday 5 and Sunday 6, and Transit Bar in Canberra on Friday 11.
THE BLACK SEEDS
DIRT & DUST & SEEDS
New Zealand reggae/soul outfit, The Black Seeds, will perform a series of Australian dates this June, following the release of their new studio album on Friday 13 April. Recorded and produced by the band themselves, the album introduces new sounds to the classic Black Seeds recipe. Their epic performance at the 2011 edition of Splendour In The Grass should guarantee eager audiences wen they hit up The Snowy Mountains Of Music festival on Sunday 10 June and The Metro on Saturday 16.
THE PREACHERS
BLITZED IT!
Flannel-clad alternate country band, Blitzen Trapper, have confirmed the support acts for their Australian shows. Sydney rockabilly outfit, The Preachers, will be opening the evening at the Oxford Art Factory on the Thursday 5 April. A promising evening full of energetic rock’n’roll lies ahead.
SELL-OUTS
Groovin’ The Moo in Maitland has officially sold out. Punters have snapped up all the tickets and are set to see local acts like 360, Matt Corby, San Cisco and Ballpark Music as well as internationally touring artists like Adrian Lux, City & Colour, Andrew W.K and The Maccabees. If you’ve missed out, do not fear! If you’re super keen on the Groovin’ The Moo experience, tickets for the Canberra show are still available. 26 • THE DRUM MEDIA
From across the ocean in New Zealand come The Eastern, who will be returning to our shores for a round of shows that will coincide with the Australian launch of their new release, Hope & Wire, which debuted at #@ on the New Zealand Album Charts earlier this month. They’ll be bringing their sweet folk tunes to Grand Junction Hotel in Maitland on Sunday 13 May and Camelot Lounge in Marrackville (with Ruby Boots) on Thursday 17 along with a couple of festival appearances across NSW and Victoria, including the Karuah River Of Music Festival from Friday 18 through Sunday 20 May.
SNOWY MOUNTAINS More acts have been announced for the Perisher Snowy Mountains Music Festival including the festival’s first international act The Black Seeds. Also just announced, Karma Country’s front man Brendan Gallagher, Nicky Bomba’s Bustamento, bluegrass band The Quarry Mountain Dead Rats, Brisbane’s The Mouldy Lovers as well as Fred Smith Band, CJ Shaw and the Blow Ins, Mal Webb, A French Butler Called Smith, Wongawilli, Riogh and The Hussy Hicks. The Super Early Bird Ticket period has been extended until Thursday 29 May, which sees tickets cost just $99 for the entire long weekend. The festival will be held from Friday 8 through Monday 11 June at Perisher Snowy Mountains in NSW.
BEAST HAS RISEN
The ten-legged beast that is Karnivool has arisen from its slumbers and has plans to get a little festival on courtesy the Melodias Frescas Tour, which sees the band hit the highways through June and July. And yes, this means fresh tunes! The band has taken some time off to work on other projects plus some studio time in Perth, putting the bits and pieces of Karnivool’s third album together. To hear some of the band’s newest material, head along to one of their shows. They’ll be playing at The Hi-Fi on Thursday 12 July and Panthers in Newcastle on Saturday 14. They’ll be supported by Redcoats and sleepmakeswaves.
GLASS TOWERS
PARTY WITH A PURPOSE
SUPER ADDITIONS The final additions to Supafest 2012 have been announced. Three-time Grammy Award winner Ludacris will be playing Supafest Sydney and Brisbane, back by popular demand , while T-Pain has also been added to the lineup. He recently topped the Australian charts of course with the Whiz Khalifa/Lily Allen collaboration, 5 O’Clock. Supafest visits Sydney on Sunday 15 April, and the first class ‘Bling Ring’ tickets have already sold out nationally.
THE VERLAINES
MAYDAY MAYDAY
NOT SO GOOD VIBES Last week, Jam Music announced that Good Vibrations Festival will be rested this year, due to unpredictable Australian weather, increased artist booking fees and the shifting live music market. The festival’s CEO, Justin Hemmes, confirmed: “We will not be going ahead with the festival for 2012. We will be in touch in due course regarding plans for 2013...” Given the number of festivals rained out (Playground Weekender, Secret Garden Festival) or plagued by rumours of financial disaster, this might just be a wise move.
MAKE IT IRISH Following The Pogues concert at The Horden, The Gaelic Club will be throwing a wild, whiskeysoaked after-party, just as they do in old Ireland but also providing a stunning sample of all things rock’n’roll – bringing folk, rock, punk, anti-folk, garage and everything else. We’ll be seeing Royal Chant, Get Folked, General Pants & The Privates and more. Since The Gaelic is out of commission for live music, duck next door to where the party’s at. 11pm until late, on Wednesday 11 April.
Get ready because ‘80s Mod-revivalist UK outfit, The Chords, will be headlining this year’s Australian Mods Mayday events! Joining them will be Fremantle’s Hurricane Fighter Plane, Sydney’s Division 4 and The Mayday Dreamers, and Melbourne’s Little Murders and The Messengers will also make appearances over the course of the accompanying visit. In addition, there will be special guest DJs spinning beats in ‘60sflavoured vinyl at all the events. You can catch these acts at the Sydney Winter Meet and Greet at Notes on Friday 4 May, the Sydney Mods Mayday 2012 on Saturday 5, also at Notes, or jump on board the Mods Mayday Harbour Cruise (strictly limited ticket numbers), which leaves Pyrmont Bay Wharf (behind the Maritime Museum) at 12.45pm Sunday 6.
POWERHOUSE POP
Ricki Lee’s powerhouse voice and pop sensibilities have generated fame and fortune... well fame anyway. She’s set to do it all over again with her new single, Do It Like That, which was released last week. Lee took a trip to NYC to craft the track, returning to the same team that put together Can’t Touch It. Ricki Lee will perform both and more at the Upstairs Beresford on Wednesday 30 May.
EASTER DEADLINES
WWW.SUMMERFESTIVALGUIDE.COM.AU
Innovative not-for-profit youth charity organisation, Major Raiser, uses live music as a vehicle for fundraising and connecting young people with causes that matter are presenting their fourth annual event, which will take place at the Beach Road Hotel Saturday 5 May, all profits this time going towards the Music Outlook Foundation, an organisation committed to providing musical instruments to schools in our outback and creating equal rights for Indigenous children to have the same opportunities for cultural expression as mainstream Australians. The lineup includes Mitzi, Glass Towers (pictured), Colour Coding, Conics and Lancelot with more to be announced. Cooper’s Beer will also be providing free beer on the evening to each person who purchases their ticket prior to the day. In addition, Moshtix will be donating $1 from the booking fee of every pre-purchased ticket to Major Raiser.
NZ LEGENDS
New Zealand band, The Verlaines, grace Australian shores again this April, touring their 11th album, Untimely Mediations. The band will be playing two Sydney shows, Red Rattler on Thursday 12 April and Spectrum on Friday 13. The Verlaines have been around since 1981, so don’t miss out on this legendary band who will no doubt play a handful of retrospective hits.
BIRTHDAY NO. CINQUE
Sydney’s greatest and now longest-running indie house-party-in-a-club Sosueme is another year older, and hopefully another year wiser. So get ready for Sosueme’s numero cinque birthday, Beresford-style. This year’s lineup sees Yesyou (live – debut Sydney show), Alison Wonderland, Elizabeth Rose (live), Sosueme DJs, Joyride (DJ set), Brendan Maclean (live), Furnace & The Fundamentals (live), F.R.I.E.N.D/s DJs, Block Ness Monsters and Starjumps grace the birthday event, which will be held on Anzac Day Eve, Tuesday 24 April at Upstairs Beresford.
With Easter looming, you’ll need to be aware of the shortened production deadlines due to the public holidays for the issue of The Drum Meddia that hits the streets Tuesday 10 April. As such, any and all editorial needs to be submitted for consideration for publication by 5pm Tuesday 3 April, while all ad artwork needs to be delivered by 5pm Wednesday 4 April. Only after you’ve made your submissions on time can you go nuts on Easter treats like chocolate eggs and hot cross buns and not before, okay?
themusic.com.au
THE DRUM MEDIA • 27
FOREWORD LINE
NEWS FROM THE FRONT
SWAY
Bic Runga crosses the Tasman in May for an East Coast Australian tour that will follow a couple of shows in the UK and Ireland with her band. Swoon to some of her ‘90s hits and get yourself introduced to her new album, Belle, at Lizotte’s Kincumber Tuesday 8, Lizotte’s Newcastle Wednesday 9, Gordon Theatre in Wollongong Friday 11 and City Recital Hall Angel Place in Sydney Saturday 12.
BIC RUNGA
ENEMIES AND WOLVES Heavy metal band, Our Last Enemy, will be hitting the road in support of their new EP, Wolves Of Perigord. Catch these guys live at The Wall in Sydney on Friday 11 May and The Basement in Canberra on Saturday 26. Another show will take place in Wollongong with the venue yet to be announced. Stay tuned!
HUXWHUKW… WHAT? Over the next few weeks Serious Beak will be hitting up Australia’s three big east coast cities for their unpronounceable Huxwhukw and The Crooked Beak of Heaven Tour. The Sydney-based quartet play an eccentric amalgamation of progressive, psychedelic and polyrhythmic discordant music that is sure to interest fans of Meshuggah, Mastodon, Botch, The Mars Volta and King Crimson. They’ll be touring in support of their debut album, the unpronouncable Huxwhukw. Catch them at The Lansdowne Hotel Saturday 7 April.
SOVIET POP
Internationally acclaimed and ARIA Award-winning outfit, Zulya & The Children Of The Underground, return to Sydney for the first time in two years. Playing songs inspired by Zulya’s Russian and Tatar heritage, the band goes further to touch material that embraces jazz, circus, Mexican music, folk, the European cabaret of the ‘20s and Soviet pop. If you want to hear what that sounds like, head along to Camelot Lounge on Thursday 5 April.
HUMANS IN THE WOODS
This April, Melbourne-based singer/songwriter, Alex Hallahan, will hit the road with his second release, Human Veins, accompanied by his band The Woodland Hunters. The album, mixed by Gurrumul’s producer Craig Pilkington, is Hallahan’s best-received release to date and has earned him a good many admirers. Alex Hallahan and The Woodland Hunters will play a string of headline
tour dates, including the Hotel Gearin in Katoomba on Friday 20 April and Low 302 on Tuesday 24.
OTHERWORLDLY
Melbourne’s most prolific alternative rock band, Bellusira, will be dropping their new single, Culprit, on Friday 6 April, which will coincide with a string of East Coast tour dates. Fans old and new will be able to hear the new single – and the whole album – put through its paces at the band’s album launch on Friday 4 May at The Square.
ALL ABOARD
Following their success at the Stereosonic festival, Jam Xpress have unleashed a brand new jam, Everybody Get Up. They’ll be playing Creamfields Melbourne and have a couple of shows for their NSW fanbase, which means you can catch their dancefloor beats at Cherry Bar in Sydney on Friday 11 May or at King
The New Album Out Now...
Available at:
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www.thedamnedhumans.com 28 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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IN BRIEF Neil Young & Crazy Horse will be releasing their first new album of material in nearly nine years, Americana, Friday 1 June, and this time they’re covering the classic American folk songs, from murder ballads to protest songs. The new album, Life Somewhere Else, from Isidore, the collaboration between Steve Kilbey of the church and Jeffrey Cain, late of Remy Zero, is out now. The new album, Busting Visions, from Canada’s ZEUS is released Friday 30 March, as is the new album, Folila, from Amadou & Mariam, the eponymous debut solo album from Simone Felice, the new album from Dr John, Locked Down, the debut album, Melt, from the Australianled New York-based three-piece Young Magic, the third album, Blueprint, more than 30 years, from Sydney prog rockers Sebastian Hardie, Lightships release their Electric Cables album, and Nothing Is Wrong, from Dawes. Copenhagen-based producer/DJ Kasper Bjorke releases his third album, Fool, appropriately enough on April Fools Day Sunday 1 April. Touring extensively through April/May, New Zealand alt.country six-piece The Eastern, release their double-CD, Hope And Wire, locally Friday 6 April, as is the first new album in 14 years, No Plans, from Cold Chisel, the new album, Mr Impossible, from Black Dice, the debut album, Boys & Girls, from the SxSW barnstorming Alabama Shakes, and the new album, Tomohawk Technique, from Sean Paul. The new album, Sweet Heart Sweet Light, from Spiritualized, hits the racks Friday 13 April, as will the new album, California 37, from the Grammy-winning Train, LA’s Julia Holter releases her new album, Ekstasis, Counting Crowes release their new album, Underwater Sunshine (Or What We Did On Our Summer Vacation), Jason Mraz releases his new album, Love Is A Four Letter Word, and NZ’s The Black Seeds release their new one, Dust And Dirt.
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FRIDAY 30 MARCH
SPECIAL GUEST TABITHA ON VOCALS
GANG OF BROTHERS Straight up dance grooves til late featuring an allstar funk and RnB line-up built around the famed Martinez Brothers.
SATURDAY 31 MARCH
KING TIDE
Rocksteady reggae royalty back in Sydney to test the Blue Beat subwoofers after a West Coast tour, dropping roots rock reggae, ska and soul including upcoming new songs. The Bondi reggae-got-soul sound that’s rocked Womadelaide, Peats Ridge, Sydney Festival Opening Night, Playground Weekender, Woodford, Reggaefest and loads more big stages. Tony Hughes and crew are in top form, riding high on a sea of smiling faces from Byron Bay to Margaret River, and gigs supporting Maxi Priest, UB40, Katchafire, Fat Freddy’s Drop and the Black Seeds. “From out of the fattest, deepest grooves come brooding horns, delay-warped keys and steady, muted slabs of electric guitar” (SMH).
SONIC MAYHEM ORCHESTRA
MONDAY 2 APRIL AND EVERY MONDAY + LATE NIGHT JAM SESSION
Regular Monday night gig and late night jam session, with a spectacular 10-piece band, plus guest vocalists, followed by a free-wheeling jam session, every week. The Sonic Mayhem Orchestra is James Ryan (tenor, baritone, flute), Aaron Michael (flute, soprano, alto, tenor), Paul Cutlan (baritone, bass clarinet, clarinet), Martin Kay (alto, clarinet), Warwick Alder, Simon Ferenci and Dave Panichi (trumpets), Greg Coffin (piano), James Hauptmann (drums), Andrew Atwill (bass). Special guest vocalist is SALLY CAMERON from The Idea of North.
THURSDAY 5 APRIL
JUBILATION
FEATURING JOY YATES & DAVE MACRAE
Special farewell show for Australia’s leading jazz and gospel vocal ensemble, heading off to tour NZ. Plus appearances by Joy Yates, Dave MacRae, Victor Rounds, Moses MacRae and more.
SATURDAY 7 APRIL
CRAIG CALHOUN
Born in the USA and growing up on funk and soul, Craig Calhoun defines the sound of the authentic groove thang. After a massive night here in February Craig brings his “Party on the Dance Floor” back to Blue Beat by popular demand with Greg Coffin on keyboards, Dev Permana on drums and Junichi Shiomi on bass.
THURSDAY 12 APRIL
SAMBOSSA
Celebrating the passion, fire and grace of the music of Brazil. Timeless tracks by the giants of classic Brazilian song... Sergio Mendes, Ivan Lins, Toninho Horta, Joa Bosco, and the greatest of them all, Antonio Carlos Jobim, performed by Bahia’s own Jeanne Bastos with a band led by Jason Bruer.
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EON BEATS - SAT 21 AMBRE HAMMOND & MARCELLO MAIO - THUR 26 DIG PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS... SCOTT, RICK, TIM AND ALEX FROM DIG - FRI 4 MAY FROM MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL, CHRIS POTTER (USA) WITH THE JAZZGROOVE MOTHERSHIP ORCHESTRA (MON 4 JUNE), SAMUEL YIRGA (SAT 9 JUNE) KITCHEN OPEN LATE FRIS AND SATS
DELICIOUS LATE NIGHT TAPAS THE DRUM MEDIA • 29
SUPAFUNKROCKIN’ THE ‘HOOD NEW ORLEANS AND BRASS BANDS
The port city straddling the Mississippi we know today as New Orleans was founded in 1718 by the French, who ceded the colony to Spain in 1763, though it returned to French rule in 1801 and was finally bought from Napoleon in 1803 as part of what became known as the Louisiana Purchase. Hence, from its earliest days the city found itself the crossroads of a variety of cultures and, naturally, the various styles of music that came with them. By the turn of the 20th century, one of the most vibrant of the mixtures that resulted was jazz, which combined brass band marches, French Quadrilles, a loping piano blues form called ragtime and polyphonic improvisation. It earned the name Dixieland courtesy the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, whose Livery Stable Blues, released in 1917, became one of the first 78rpm recordings to sell a million copies. By the mid-1950s, the traditional New Orleans Brass Band movement, which was still steeped in Dixieland and its less commercial variants, was becoming something of a dying art form, more popular overseas in Europe and, oddly enough, in Melbourne, than in its place of birth. It was revived in the late ‘60s by a new generation of kids growing up in New Orleans looking to put something of their own tradition into the contemporary music of the day. This saw the emergence of acts like the Preservation Hall Jazz Band followed by more innovative groups like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Rebirth Brass Band, which injected elements of soul, funk and, occasionally, rock, into the mix. And it wasn’t meant to be museum music either. As the Dirty Dozen’s baritone saxophonist Roger Lewis told this publication on the eve of their last visit to Australia for the Bellingen Global Carnival in October last year, when they started back in the late ‘70s, “We really was playin’ really fast! It’s hard to believe that people were dancin’ at that tempo we was playin’. We still play fast tempos but that was extremely fast. All those tunes on that first CD [1984’s My Feet Can’t Fail Me Now] we were playin’ on the streets of New Orleans and now I understand why people used to tell me you need to have your sweatsuit on and your tennis shoes when you come to a session where the Dirty Dozen is playin’, ‘cause you’re gonna get a real good workout. Man we were the jive – we were sly.”
FRESH OUT OF NEW ORLEANS, TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE ARE BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO THE MUSIC OF THEIR OLD ‘HOOD, AS MICHAEL SMITH DISCOVERS FROM TROY “TROMBONE SHORTY” ANDREWS.
I
f you ever saw that extraordinary television series, Tremé, based on life in the real 6th Ward neighbourhood in New Orleans post-Hurricane Katrina made by the guys behind The Wire, you’ll have seen multi-instrumentalist Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews play himself in the occasional episode. It’s perfect casting since Andrews grew up in the neighbourhood and is steeped in the whole Brass Band ethos that has made it famous courtesy bands like the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, both of whom have visited Australia. Not that Trombone Shorty is a traditionalist, but he certainly started out in that tradition, as a precocious four-year-old, also learning trumpet and drums by the time he began playing in his first band at just six. In a sense, then, though Andrews’ music with his band Orleans Avenue is much more contemporary – supafunkrock as he himself describes it – it was important to include an element of that brass band history in their latest album, For True. “Oh yeah,” Andrews explains, on the line from his home in New Orleans. “Playin’ with Rebirth [Brass Band, who also feature in the TV series] and getting those guys, you know I grew up listenin’ to them, I played a bunch of shows with them and I just wanted to invite them on some music that we were doin’. So basically what I was doin’ on that track, Buckjump, along with 5th Ward Weebie, who is a legendary New Orleans sound trapper, which is a sub genre of hip hop in New Orleans that’s been goin’ on for about twenty-plus years and it’s a big thing just as the brass band music is in New Orleans, that’s important also. So I just wanted see what two different New Orleans strong points of music would sound like with the new sound that we’re creatin’, put all three styles on one track like a gumbo and see what happens.” Like pretty much every other kind of popular contemporary American music, it all pretty much starts in and around New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta, a mix of blues, gospel and jazz – so even the supafunkrock of Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue comes from that same gumbo. “I discovered the funk when I was a kid. I grew up around Cyril Neville and the Neville Brothers and my grandfather Jessie Hill, he was an r’n’b singer back in 30 • THE DRUM MEDIA
the day – he was workin’ with Dr John and Allan Toussaint and all those guys – so I’ve been discovering the funk maybe before anything else. I mean, brass bands are considered to be funky in New Orleans. The Rebirth Brass Band and Dirty Dozen are the ones that changed the sound of New Orleans brass bands and we consider Rebirth to be a funk band, so I was always listenin’ to their music and gettin’ their stuff. I mean my mum was a big fan of James Brown, so the funk has always been around me. “But I’m also a big fan of electric guitar – Nine Inch Nails and Lenny Kravitz, Prince and all those people – so [the supafunkrock] just happened – I don’t when it happened, but it just happened. We’ve been en route to creatin’ this sound for while and it just developed into that. I have no idea.” There are a few other well-known names contributing to For True – the previous album, 2010’s Backatown, their first for a major though actually their third, was exclusively just the band – among them the aforementioned early
“
record, so I just invited them on the record to see if they’d like to contribute. Everyone was really cool and wanted to get on a CD with us and it just worked out easy like that.” One of the highlights of making the new album was the chance to co-write a tune, Encore, with the legendary Lamont Dozier. He was part of a songwriting team with brothers Brian and Edward Holland that composed and produced – for Motown between 1962 and 1968, then freelance until around 1974 – for artists like Martha & The Vandellas, The Supremes, the Four Tops and Marvin Gaye among many. “Oh my God it was a dream come true,” Andrews admits. “You know, he’s a legendary writer and he’s wrote so many number one hits, it was just an honour to be able to collaborate with one of the greatest writers and musicians of all time. A lady from Universal in the United States has been working with his grandson or someone liked that and we had a tune and she just reached out to him and he liked it and he
MY MUM WAS A BIG FAN OF JAMES BROWN, SO THE FUNK HAS ALWAYS BEEN AROUND ME.”
mentor, Lenny Kravitz, who “discovered” Andrews back in 2005 and took him on tour; Kid Rock, bluesman Warren Haynes and English guitar hero Jeff Beck. “I’ve been knowing Lenny for about years now and we’ve been playin’ together and collaboratin’ for a while. He lives in New Orleans sometimes – he has a house here – and he happened to be in town and he invited me to dinner and I told him we were goin’ to the studio and he just invited himself and all of his friends over to the studio to check out something. He wasn’t even plannin’ to play, but I was just lettin’ him hear some music and he jumped on the bass and played and we collaborated and did some things. “All the other musicians I’m big fans of. Jeff Beck I’ve been on tour with him over in the UK and I play with him in New Orleans on the jazz stuff and I just invited him on the record. And I got to meet Kid Rock and we shared the stage with him and Warren I played with at his annual benefit gig and I’m a big fan of everybody that’s on the
wrote some things to it and he sent it back to us.” As it happens, Dozier and a couple of members of Orleans Avenue helped cover the one aspect of his songwriting Andrews feels isn’t his strong point. “I was always writin’ brass bands tunes – it was very easy to do that – and as time went by I was able to develop more writin’ skills as I got into more different types of music, you know. So it’s always been there – probably beginnin’ of junior high school I was always tryin’ to write some things and I just kept it goin’. I’m not good at writin’ lyrics. I can write a good chorus or hook or whatever you wanna call it, but I haven’t really developed writin’ any good lyrics myself, that’s why, on these records for a while, I’m just tryin’ to get in the studio with great lyricists so I can pick up some things and learn from that. “I used to listen to music but I’d never really listen to the words. I used to listen melodies as a kid and just
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listen to music overall and I couldn’t really recite the words back to you if asked me to of any artist, because I was so much into the music and what notes they were choosin’ to put over certain chord changes. So as I started to write more and sing it a bit more, I had to backtrack and learn to listen to words and stories. So it’s somethin’ that’s in development and I just have to just keep surrounding myself with some of the greats and just pick up here and there and learn a few things.” Like Andrews, his band, Orleans Avenue – Mike Ballard on bass, Pete Murano on guitar, Joey Peebles on drums and percussion, Dwayne Williams on percussion, Dan Oestreicher on baritone sax and Tim McFatter on tenor sax – all grew up in New Orleans.
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“I’ve been playing with Mike and Joey in different situations since were kids. I met them at the Satchmo Jazz Summer Camp at New Orleans and we were all really, really young teenagers. And I met some of the rest of the band at the New Orleans Centre for Creative Arts – NOCCA – and we’ve all been playin’ since a while and my saxophone section, I met them through my guitar player. He went to school with my baritone player – the baritone player and I actually played a few shows together with another band back in the day and a few years later he introduced me to my tenor saxophonist that we have now. “I just wanted to put together the best group of young musicians that I thought were good in my class and create a band, ‘cause I was already playin’ around town with my brothers and I was startin’ to get my own and I was hirin’ different musicians every weekend to play, but I just decided when I got to NOCCA that that’s the place where I needed to be and that I can develop with some younger musicians and start developin’ our own sound instead of just playin’ songs that everybody else plays.” WHO: Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue WHAT: For True (Verve/Universal) WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 3 & Wednesday 4 April, The Basement Circular Quay; Thursday 5 & Friday 6, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
THE DRUM MEDIA • 31
ALIVE AND KICKING THE STORY OF STEVE EARLE IS ONE SO FULL OF SOARING HIGHS AND CRUSHING LOWS IT MAKES YOU FEEL LIKE YOU HAVEN’T LIVED AT ALL. BEFORE ANOTHER AUSTRALIAN VISIT, HE TELLS DAN CONDON ABOUT KEEPING BUSY, GETTING OLDER AND WHY HE’LL NEVER RETIRE.
W
e haven’t seen Steve Earle in Australia since late in 2008, when he was touring in support of 2007’s Washington Square Serenade. He mentions he tried to get here on the back of 2009’s Townes, but it wasn’t to be. “The only reason we missed coming on the Townes tour was Treme,” he says from his home in New York City’s Greenwich Village, referencing the HBO drama series in which he stars. “The filming schedule hit right around Byron Bay [Bluesfest] and to make this make sense financially you almost have to have at least one festival.” But he was determined that we wouldn’t miss out on seeing him tour on the back of his excellent T Bone Burnettproduced record of last year, I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, an album he considers one of his finest yet. “I’m really proud of the record,” he chirps. “I didn’t really want to think about how it sounded – I hired T Bone for a reason – I wanted to really concentrate on the writing and I’m really, really proud of this batch of songs. I think they’re, beginning to end, the strongest lyrics I’ve ever written. I worked on them right to the last minute when I walked into the studio and performed them.” In recent times Earle produced Townes as well as Joan Baez’s 2008 record Day After Tomorrow, but says that relinquishing control in this department was by no means a problem for him. “As I’ve gotten older I don’t feel the need to control everything, part of it’s a recovery thing, I’m just not suffering from the delusion that I control much of anything anymore,” he quips. “Art’s kind of an accident, but also, when you’re an artist and you’ve been doing it all your life, you can predict the outcome will be okay when you don’t fuck with it too much. And I think that’s where things go awry, when you become so obsessed with controlling everything that you become someone that second guesses yourself and someone that’s afraid to release something because you didn’t tweak this or that. I’m pretty good at making stuff and letting it go out into the world and then going on to the next thing. It’s just healthier for me.
“I’ve made two records in a row, Townes and Washington Square, which were arrived at pretty solitarily. It was a lot of me in the studio by myself doing a lot of overdubs and working with beats on Washington Square. Townes was just guitar and vocal performances where I just closed my eyes and did it and we added instruments later. That was a great way to make that record because it was a very personal record that was very much about my relationship with Townes [Van Zandt], it’s a very intimate record and it sounds like it. But I was ready to do something where I interacted spontaneously with a room full of musicians and somebody else worried about catching the lightning in the bottle. And T Bone’s good at that,” he finishes with a chuckle. Earle’s something of a creative renaissance man these days, but things almost went very differently for him. Initially a disciple of Townes Van Zandt, a kid kicking around with the likes of Guy Clark and Rodney Crowell, he became a professional songwriter and recording artist in the 1980s and achieved a great deal of success with his first and third records, Guitar Town and Copperhead Road. A long-held addiction to heroin took over though and he ceased writing and recording for a number of years in the early 1990s. After a stint in jail he cleaned up his act and has gone on to be more than prolific – he now lends his creative talents to a huge number of different projects. He’s a novelist, a playwright, an actor, a radio host as well as an active recording and touring musician. His plate is full, but he doesn’t consider himself a workaholic. “I’m a person that does something they love for a living,” he says. “I think vacations and even weekends and certainly retirement are unseemly if you do something that you really love doing. Most people work and it’s a job they work and maybe it’s something they’re proud of or enjoy doing at times, but it’s work. There may be something they really dream of doing so they put aside what they’ve done for a living all their lives and retire and they hope to do something they’ve always dreamed of doing. I do what I’ve always dreamed of doing every day. “I don’t think I’m a workaholic, I watch TV and I go to baseball games and I fish; I do make time for some things
ADRIAN BOHM PRESENTS
that aren’t my job. I do a lot of stuff – I make records I do some acting, I’ve got a radio show, I write in more than one discipline – but I like my job. I have to work, there’s no doubt about it, I don’t have enough money that I can just stop working so a lot of the reason that I work is because I have to, but I’m okay with that.” The different disciplines he practices have a positive impact on the way Earle approaches his other endeavours as well. “As an actor I’ve only ever said words that were written by really great writers like David Simon and Tim Blake Nelson [who wrote] the one feature that I did [2009’s Leaves Of Grass], and you learn, you learn a lot about writing by going out and saying words that were written by really great writers.” As far as the setlists for this upcoming tour go, well, there won’t be any. But Earle promises lengthy shows featuring songs from throughout his career. “I can play a lot of stuff and I’m pretty good at it and it’ll cover a lot of ground. My shows tend to be, at this point, longer than most people in my audience
ADRIAN BOHM PRESENTS
And it seems Earle is looking forward to visiting us the most. “I really like Melbourne, even though there are places in Australia with better weather, there’s just something…” he trails off. “I live in Greenwich Village in New York City and I like places like that and Melbourne is kind of like that in Australia as far as I can tell. I’m a big theatre person and there’s a really vibrant theatre scene there and I like hanging up there. I really like St Kilda.” WHO: Steve Earle WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 4 April, Lizotte’s, Newcastle; Friday 6 & Saturday 7, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm; Sunday 8, The Factory Theatre; Monday 9, The Concourse, Chatswood
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FROM CHAPPELLE’S SHOW
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can stand there in a standing venue so we’ll see what happens. I usually don’t use a setlist for solo shows, it’s one of the luxuries I afford myself is just not to have a structure, I just go out there and see what happens and have a lot of fun.”
ONE SHOLWY ON
– HOWARD STERN
“BREUER IS THE REAL DEAL”
– ROSIE O’DONNELL
HURRY NEXT WEEK!
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 33
DARLING DIVA ANGELIQUE KIDJO HAS CONQUERED THE MUSIC WORLD. SHE TELLS DANIELLE O’DONOHUE ABOUT HER NEXT CHALLENGE.
“
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I KNEW THAT THE MUSIC I WAS MAKING WAS MADE FOR PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD... I THINK IF YOUR DREAM IS NOT BIG ENOUGH IT’S NOT WORTH IT.”
S
ometimes in an interview the wrong question can be asked and suddenly a previously generous and interesting subject can turn icy and aloof. And usually when an interview subject drops a sentence like, “Oh, don’t ask me questions that make me mad,” you know you’re going to be in for a tough time, especially if it’s only the second sentence they’ve uttered. However, African-born singer/songwriter Angelique Kidjo isn’t your average interview subject and, though her voice definitely puts her in the diva category, her demeanour certainly doesn’t. See, Kidjo hasn’t even started answering questions about her long and incredibly illustrious career yet. So far all we’ve managed to talk about is the northern hemisphere winter she’s had to endure since returning from a regular visit to Africa. And the rich and hearty laugh Kidjo gives after adding “Don’t go there, girl” suggests this is a woman that likes a chuckle. Kidjo is on her way to Australia for Bluesfest, but the singer has long been a visitor to our shores. In fact, Kidjo remembers her very first visit here over 20 years ago and the reaction of her parents who were still living in the small West African country of Benin. “My father was still alive and before I leave I call my house and my parents and say I’m going to Australia,” Kidjo explains. “My mother says, ‘What? You’re going to the end of the world?’ but I have to cut the conversation because I was at the airport so my father, when I was gone, showed my mother where Australia was. “When I came back I call and say I’m back home because my mother was like, ‘Come home safe and call us.’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, yeah, yeah,’ because they all were worried for me. I came back and my mum goes, ‘What? Where you went to was so far. Jeez, how do you get there? A plane can take you there?’ I say, ‘Yes mum. I take a plane. I didn’t swim.’ She goes, ‘Man, I knew you were going to be special when you were in my womb. But I didn’t know you were going to go that far.’” And there’s that laugh again. Kidjo grew up in a musical house. Her mother was a member of a theatre troupe that would travel around the country and her influence was hugely felt by a young Kidjo. “I was fortunate to be born in a very poor family but with a huge respect for education and empowering woman. My father would be mad sometimes and as a child I wouldn’t understand. But people would come home and tell him, ‘Why are you doing this? Why are you letting your wife do theatre and travel around all over the place with all those people. You should be the one in charge.’ “And my father would always go, ‘Love is not a jail. If you love someone set the person free. If my wife is happy then you can’t understand how happy I am.’ When you have a father that supports that it gives you wings because you know no man in the world can disrespect you. The respect that your father gives you at home has given you that strength.” Now in her fifties, Kidjo still relies on her family for strength and comfort, but considering how long the singer has been travelling the world as one of the most well respected world musicians out there, she also now has a much larger, extended family. And her dream is always to make that family bigger.
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The list of awards Kidjo has won over the years for both her music and her humanitarian efforts is long and covers everything from Grammys to a United Nations Champions Of The Earth award. Last year UK newspaper The Guardian even named her one of their Top 100 Most Inspiring Women in the World. Kidjo says she knows why people think of her in such a way. “They’re talking about the work I do and the perception they have about the work I do. For me it’s better than if they see me as the most horrible person in the world. But it makes me think it also comes with great responsibility you know. It makes your work even more challenging for yourself because you’ve got to live up to that. It’s just the beginning of the work you’re doing.” Though Kidjo says her work is just beginning, she has already been making a big difference in Benin and the surrounding countries where a charity she founded, the Batonga Foundation, is giving girls in poor or remote communities the chance to get a secondary school education. Kidjo estimates that around 1200 girls in five West African countries are currently helped by the Batonga Foundation and the singer’s January visit home was to meet some of “her girls”.
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TUESDAY 8TH MAY WOLLONGONG: IPAC
“I have to go [to Africa] even more now because of the girls I’m putting through school, to see how things are going. I don’t want them to feel like I’m a kind of a ghost putting them through school. It’s good for me to go there and catch up with them and hear their needs; see how I can respond to those needs. “Those girls are amazing. Talk about big dreams… When they open their mouths my eyes just pop out of my head. I’m like, ‘What?’ Because these girls want to do all this and I look at myself and I’m like, ‘How do I find the money to help you do this?’ One of the girls said to me, ‘In the future I want to be the next President of Benin.’ Just that, huh? And she looked at me, ‘Yeah, just that.’ There’s no better challenge than this.”
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34 • THE DRUM MEDIA
The dream started when Kidjo was a teenager singing in Benin. Initially, she was releasing records and touring only in Africa but then the dream grew. “I thought to myself I’d go everywhere in the world where human beings live. How I am going to get there I didn’t know. How long it was going to take me to get to go to those places I didn’t know, but I knew that the music I was making was made for people around the world. You have to dream. I think if your dream is not big enough it’s not worth it.”
WHO: Angelique Kidjo WHEN & WHERE: Monday 2 April, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall; Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 April, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
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DJANGO DJANGO
debut album out now -Q
-mojo
“the best band you’ll hear in 2012”- the guardian “The weirdest most way-out new band in Britain” – NME
THE DRUM MEDIA • 35
PUNK ROCK WARRIORS FAT WRECK YOUNG GUNS DEAD TO ME AND COBRA SKULLS ARE ABOUT TO POP THEIR AUSTRALIAN TOURING CHERRY. MARK HEBBLEWHITE CORNERED DEAD TO ME’S TYSON “CHICKEN” ANNICHARICO AND COBRA SKULLS’ DEVIN PERALTA TO TALK TOURING TRAVAILS AND THE NEW DARK AGES.
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hile Dead To Me and Cobra Skulls aren’t particularly au fait with Australia, they sure know a lot about each other. The two bands, one from San Francisco (Dead To Me) and the other from Reno, Nevada (Cobra Skulls) have spent countless hours cramped together in the back of shitty touring vans all in the name of bringing punk rock to as many people as is humanly possible. To some the willingness of both bands to undergo severe and continual financial deprivation in order to play any dive that will have them is strange enough. But what’s really creepy about these guys is that even after living in each other’s pockets for long periods of time, they actually all like each other. And they swear they’re not lying.
“Look I know it sounds strange, but the truth is we really all do get along,” laughs Dead To Me’s vocalist/bass player Tyson Annicharico, after being asked to name some of the infuriating habits of the Cobra Skulls crew. “It’s pretty sad I know, but we’ve toured twice with Dead To Me and I think it’s safe to say that both bands are part of a certified bromance,” confirms Cobra Skulls vocalist/bass player Devin Peralta. “I can’t think of anything that annoys me about those guys at all. Perhaps if you really wanted to find something is that when we all get together we tend to party too much and that leaves us all with sore heads.” Come on – surely there’s one person who farts continually in the back of the van? “You’d think so I know,” says Annicharico. “But really the Cobra Skulls guys are just so laidback and easy to get along with that they’re one of our favourite bands to tour with. I’m trying as hard as I can but I can’t think of anything bad at all to say. Sorry no tabloid dramas here.” The bands don’t only benefit from a healthy camaraderie as their joint jaunts are also very good for business. “Although we’re both on Fat Wreck and play punk rock, we do attract slightly different crowds,” Peralta explains. “So when we head out together we tend to draw a pretty diverse crowd. People seem more willing to come out because it’s a chance to see both bands – more bang for your buck.” “It’s the way things are going at the moment,” adds Annicharico. “There’s not a lot of money about and you’ve got to make things easy as possible for people who can’t afford to go to a lot of shows – heading out with these guys means that anyone who comes to the show knows they’re going to see something special: two bands who will play their arses off for them. That’s another reason why we love the Cobra Skulls guys – they have the same ethic as us. When they’re on that stage they give everything; there’s never any half-arsing or taking it easy.”
There’s more to this story on the iPad As well as being on the same label, both bands dropped new albums at the end of last year. Dead To Me’s Moscow Penny Ante was a furious blast of punk rock that abandoned the poppier ska-driven antics of previous album, 2009’s African Elephants. Cobra Skulls’ Agitations was similarly fiery but also betrayed a keen ear for melody a la Tiger Army, Against Me or even classic TSOL. Both albums were hailed by critics and have spurred a renewed interest in the venerable Fat Wreck brand. “Fat Wreck is a great place to be for our band because the owner of the label is part of a touring band himself,” says Peralta, with Annicharico quickly joining him in agreement. “He relates to what we’re doing and isn’t some businessman in a suit that has no idea about the music. He also gives us an artistic freedom that a lot of other labels don’t give their artists. Agitations was our first record for Fat Wreck and it’s no coincidence that it’s the strongest thing we’ve done. I mean we never had a problem with our old labels at all, but on Fat Wreck you just feel that you’re in an environment where you’re free to create the music you want when you want.” “We’ve been able to grow as a band because of that label,” offers Annicharico. “When things are taken care of for you, it’s much easier to go out and play good shows and make interesting records.” Even though both bands enjoy being in the studio, it’s the road that really calls them. Indeed both Annicharico and Peralta share the view that if you can’t make it live, you have no business calling yourself a punk rock band, as he explains. “There are bands out there that get some success quickly and have no idea about grinding it out on the road. But if you want to survive doing this you have to be prepared to start from the bottom up and play wherever you can. “I won’t name names but I’ve seen bands fresh out of the studio who have no idea how to tour and they get out on the road and they’re immediately lost. For one thing, why are you doing this if you don’t want to play in front of people? Also these days there’s a whole generation of kids who grew up downloading music for free. You’re not going to survive if you don’t play live. And I’ll say one thing for punk rock kids, they do go to the shows and support the bands; they like by buying merch, buying tickets. Also a show really lets you connect with the kids in a way that recorded music doesn’t these days. Music you’ve downloaded can be consumed and forgotten instantly. But when you get that kid to your show, they’ll remember the experience and see first hand what the punk rock scene is about – and then hopefully go away and do something to help the scene itself.” Punk rock in America has always been a political force in and of itself. In 2012 America faces a renewed wave of oppression from a Republican party rapidly moving further to the right. For Dead To Me, ensconced in uber-liberal San Francisco, the threat is distant, but for Cobra Skulls, who hail from the battleground state of Nevada, the situation is all too real. So is it hard to be a punk rocker in ‘red’ America? “You know, I’d have to say no,” says Peralta after a lengthy pause. “For the simple fact that being surrounded by ideas and people you don’t agree with gives you more reason to be a punk. It fuels the fire. But more broadly it’s important for all punk rock kids to keep engaged with the issues. I’m really supportive of the Occupy movement, for all its faults. We all know now that one per cent of the population own ninetynine per cent of the wealth – a year ago a lot of people didn’t know that. This is the movement that will keep Obama honest and let him know that people who have supported him expect him to act on his promises.” WHO: Dead To Me and Cobra Skulls WHEN & WHERE: Friday 30 March, ANU Bar, Canberra; Saturday 31, Annandale Hotel; Tuesday 3 April, Yours & Owls, Wollongong; Wednesday 4, Newcastle Leagues; Thursday 5, Central Coast Hotel 36 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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WANNA FREAK OUT FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE THE RELEASE OF LAST YEAR’S KILLER CIRCUITAL LP, AUSTRALIA GETS A TASTE OF KENTUCKY-BRED ROCKERS MY MORNING JACKET. GUITARIST CARL BROEMEL TELLS DAN CONDON ABOUT THE MAGIC OF SPONTANEITY.
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y Morning Jacket’s most recent visit to Australia was with the Big Day Out tour as well as opening for the great Neil Young all across the country. But there was one town on Australia’s east coast that had Carl Broemel and his bandmates besotted. “We took a day and went surfing in Byron Bay and while we were there. Our friends were telling us about the Bluesfest – ‘You guys should come back and do that’ – and I was like, ‘Man, if I can come back here I will do anything!’” Broemel gushes from his adopted home of Nashville. He’s speaking on the eve of the tour which, yes, does include a slot at Byron Bay’s Bluesfest, alongside their own shows and Perth’s West Coast Blues ‘N’ Roots. It was released close to ten months ago, but Broemel is happy to discuss the band’s
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latest record, Circuital, a killer addition to the considerable My Morning Jacket canon that he says was met with great warmth. “It’s always fun to check back in. When you’re making a record you’re so involved in it you almost can’t see what you’re doing. It’s really hard to get any perspective. In hindsight I’m really happy with it; I’m really happy with how we did it and how it turned out and the response we got from people was really positive. The songs seemed to be digested and enjoyed the fastest out of any record we’ve done. The first show we played I looked out and people were singing and acting like they knew what was happening. Either people were stealing the songs and sharing them really fast – quicker than last record – or they like them more. I kinda don’t care either way.” Circuital was Broemel’s third studio record with My Morning Jacket since joining the band in 2005. He says things have certainly changed since his early with them. “We’re all growing together. When Bo [Koster, keyboards] and I were working on Z we were definitely the new guys. Not in a bad way – not like we didn’t participate – but now we all know each other a lot better and we know how to work together better.” The band recorded in a church gymnasium in Louisville, Kentucky, a space Broemel praises for its lack of facilities, allowing the band to get their hands dirty in the studio as they went about the business of playing. He said it was also a decent breeding ground for experimentation – sometimes uncomfortably so. “In a way it was even more spontaneous [than previous records], because we hadn’t really rehearsed the music before we got there. While we were working through the songs for the first time, we’d
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There’s more to this story on the iPad be recording. So a lot of times we’d get a take that everybody loved that was our first try at it and, warts and all, that became the song or the take; whatever you were making up at the time became the part of the song. That was the hardest part of the record. We were all fiddling around and finding stuff and then once in a while we’d hit it together and the song would all of a sudden be done… even if a couple of us weren’t ready for that to happen!” He recalls sheepishly. “On that song Circuital, I was like, ‘Really? Are we done? Are you kidding me? I’m just trying to figure out what to do!’ “That’s what I’m talking about knowing each other better; we all trust each other. Even if in my brain it’s not computing, if three or four of the other guys are computing I know eventually I’m going to understand.” The band is renowned for smashing out sets of epic lengths and it’s not surprising for a My Morning Jacket club show to tick in at over the three-hour mark. “It’s just one of those things that sort of happened,” Broemel explains. “I think we just sort of grew into it. What felt good to us was just a little bit longer or leaving some space in the show for something to get extended and not have to think, ‘Oh man, we have a curfew, we can only play 14 songs’ or whatever.
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“I’m thankful that people are into our show for that long. It takes some serious effort to participate in a concert over two hours long, I know that. When I go see bands, after ninety minutes I’m tired! But I kinda feel like a baseball player – when you go to a baseball game or a cricket game, you’re sitting in the stands and you’re like, ‘Man, this is so long,’ but if you’re in the game it doesn’t seem like it’s very long at all. It goes by pretty fast when we’re in the moment.” Do they relate then to being called a jam band? “Yes and no,” Broemel says. “I don’t think it’s a bad thing to be labelled a jam band at all. I just don’t think we necessarily fit in to what I consider to be a jam band, which is basically are you a lot like the Grateful Dead, Phish and Widespread Panic? I don’t think we are necessarily, but there’s probably elements of it that would appeal to people who like that music. I mean people can describe us that way. It doesn’t hurt my feelings or make me upset, it just kind of doesn’t make sense to me.” When it comes to taking a song from the studio and bringing it to the live stage, the process is an organic one within the My Morning Jacket camp. “We kind of just let it happen; we might work on some segues or something, but usually the songs change on the go. A lot of times the song will end and Jim will keep going and we all look at each other and be like, ‘Okay, we’ll keep on going!’ We just feed off each other and see what happens. It’s so fun to be able to pull off something without talking about it beforehand. That is kind of like the jam band aspect of us. We don’t want to rehearse spontaneity; you wanna be free to fuck up, to have it go wrong in the chance you might catch something cool and unexpected.” Alongside frontman Jim James, Broemel was named one of the “20 New Guitar Gods” by Rolling Stone magazine a few years back. People have certainly taken notice of his talent and he now finds himself employed for session work semi-regularly, which is a challenge he thrives on. “That’s one of my favourite things about being in Nashville; after I moved here it just kind of clicked. I really value that, not only the connection with talented people, but it’s very challenging to be in the studio with people you don’t know very well. Being in the studio with your best friends is really fun and then being in the studio with crazy amazing musicians from Nashville is a good challenge for me. Doing projects it all comes back and kind of re-educates us for the next record or next tour.” WHO: My Morning Jacket WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 3 April, Enmore Theatre; Thursday 5, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
38 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 39
HOW TO MAKE IT IN SLUMERICA OFTEN TOUTED AS RAP’S NEXT BIG THING AND AT OTHER TIMES BOOED FROM THE STAGE, THE FACT IS THAT YELAWOLF’S NOW SEVENYEAR LEGACY IS AT ITS STRONGEST. SIGNED TO EMINEM’S LABEL, THE MUSICIAN GIVES CARLIN BEATTIE THE ‘BAMA STORY SO FAR.
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rom his Alabama residence, Yelawolf (named Michael Wayne Atha, after actors Michael Landon and John Wayne) serves up a gritty slice of verbal American pie. With the same silken rat-tat-tat delivery that has infused his music since 2005, the rapper born and raised in the nation’s south discusses the newest acquisition to his collection of Americana – a menagerie of items, icons and images that inspires and synthesises his sound and work. “I just bought a Harley, man,” Atha opens. “I’d like to take the Harley on tour. I got the bike and I’ve been wanting one for a long time. I want to do my tour here in the States on it. I’ll try to do as much as I can on the bike, so I might have like a crew of Harleys, out driving, going from city to city on a bike. I got an Indian Larry tribute bike, so it’s pretty sick.” Hand-to-mouth, the jester clarifies his Southern drawl with an Indian warble. The bike is one from many of a litany of characters and sayings given life through Yelawolf’s music. Words and sentiments both personified and iconified through his writing, which celebrate the Heart of Dixie: Catfish Billy, Slumerican Shitizen, Chevrolet, NASCAR and Slick Rick E. Bobby among them. Prompted on these passions that drive his creativity, Atha speaks on his musical fixation, specifically with the Chevrolet that appears regularly throughout his back catalogue. “I’ve always been obsessed with Chevrolet and Boxy Chevys and shit,” Atha responds effusively. “The Chevrolet thing, it’s like family. Up to my great-grandparents, all they had was Chevrolets. All-American made… rock’n’roll, man,” he oozes with an effortless cool. “It’s part of American history. It’s Chevys and Fords. You pick your choice. It’s like the choice of beer or whiskey. No, Chevys and Fords is more like beer or O’Doul’s,” the musician laughs before refining his speak. “I like beer!” Continuing, Atha makes it clear that the symbiotic relationship he shares with his music and inspirations is one developed simply through life under the stars and stripes – a pure existence of fact. “I just pull from reality things that inspire me. I don’t really stretch out and write music that’s fantasy. I don’t do fantasy music. It’s based on what I have, or what I’m going through,
or what I’ve been through. I mean, music reflects my life. I really just start with a melody,” he diverges. “A melody: it’ll drive anything. It’ll drive content. It’ll drive the attitude of the song. It starts with the melody. After that it’s kind of like life itself. Music is funny that way – it’ll create itself. Once you start vibing, songs just come.” Typically, the content within Yelawolf’s lyrics and videos depicts a life littered with hardship, social struggle and adversity. Queried on how he confronts the issues that appear both glorified and demonised through his songs, the rapper provides a surprisingly positive analysis of his lifestyle and the issues he faces on an everyday basis. “I don’t have battles right now man, nothing’s really changed in my life. I still work as hard as I did before I had a [record] deal. Everyday is a constant challenge; something new comes up. It’s not like you’re clocking in at the same building, dealing with the same people everyday. You’re dealing with different issues every single day. I’m happy man, I’m happy where I’m at right now.” Slipping into his words with the comfort of a man who knows his place in the world, Atha maintains an optimistic outlook. “If I have fans coming out to shows, that’s all that really matters – that I’m connecting with people. I don’t have to worry about having a career anymore; I can always just go perform. It doesn’t matter what radio does, it doesn’t matter what videos do, it doesn’t matter what anybody says. If I say that I’m doing a show, then my people are coming out, and that makes life a lot easier.” Considering his statement, Atha acknowledges that an encouraging audience response is not always guaranteed. As recently as 2010, in fact, reports of the artist being booed onstage have followed his live performances. With the authority now, however, to have top billing and greater control over his live productions, the performer appears poised to have left that period of his career in the dust. So does he still get booed? “Not in a while man, but you never know,” he laughs before pausing in contemplation. “Shit man… You know what, I’m headlining my shows now, so I’m not opening up any more bro. I mean I will for someone for sure at any point. If the opportunity
comes up and it’s right, I’ll open up for somebody. But the last dude I opened up for was Lil Wayne and that was with Travis Barker and Mix Master Mike – you can’t really do that all the time. The last time I toured with Wiz Khalifa, I had a hard time with him on the stage and I was dreading the third tour. I was like, ‘I don’t want to deal with his fans, man’. Not every night was bad, but I’ve had my nights. I don’t think that as an artist, if you haven’t experienced it, you ain’t really been in it long enough.” As for Yelawolf’s upcoming Australian tour, the Alabama native is blunt in his anticipation. “I don’t know what to expect, to tell you the truth. I’m excited about coming. Obviously I’ve never been to Australia. I don’t know who’s coming to the shows, I don’t know what kind of fanbase is out there, if any, but I’m coming to rock.” With a hint of what’s next in line in his recording trajectory, Atha gives some detail on his upcoming musical pursuit – a project traversing the time between his relative anonymity and now, as a major label signee with Eminem’s Shady Records. “For me personally, there’s an album coming and it’s called My Love Story,” he reveals. “Basically I’m going to
go to Nashville, Tennessee and I’m bringing back my homeboy Malay, who did my project Arena Rap with me and we’re going to fuse everything I’ve done so far with what we were trying to do back then… Because I believe that we were onto something really special, but people weren’t really ready for it. I’m always just aiming to make classics, whatever I do.” Signing off, Yelawolf closes with the confident ambition that listeners know has been behind his music from the beginning. “With Radioactive, I was just getting my feet wet with being on a major label and earning my place and sharing a lot of creative space. Whereas my next album, I’m not going to be sharing that much creative space with anybody, ‘cause I’ve earned the right to do things. We’re gonna do it my way.” WHO: Yelawolf WHAT: Radioactive (Shady/Interscope) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 31 March, Metro Theatre
THE BEST HE CAN BE THE REIGNING KING OF CHICAGO BLUES, BUDDY GUY, MIGHT BE IN HIS MID-70S, BUT HIS SPIRIT AND WORK ETHIC IS STRONGER THAN EVER. HE TALKS ALL THINGS BLUES WITH DAN CONDON.
H
e started as a protégé of the great Muddy Waters, but before long Buddy Guy had established himself as a larger than life figure deserving of his own page in the blues history books. He’s always placed an emphasis on fun with his brand of blues rock, which is an element he still considers vital to this day. “I was brought up in the Baptist church and we didn’t have instruments,” Guy recalls. “My mother and grandmother and all the people around me, the people I was related to would just have fun. They couldn’t stand still; they look like they were enjoying it so much. That’s the way I feel when I play, I’m so happy. If they tell me to sit in a chair – I know BB [King] does it – but I can’t do it! I might jump up and kick the chair off the stage when I feel good. I can’t sit here, man. This is too good to sit down on. I gotta get up and let everybody know how I feel.” He certainly has a lot of energy and at 75 years of age Buddy Guy maintains a fairly hectic performance schedule. When asked how he feels about keeping it up so late in life, Guy just sounds too gracious to ever stop. “It’s sad to say but there’s only a few of us left. Me and BB was talking about that about three weeks ago. We are blessed to still be able to go out and make someone happy with our music. I remember when I wasn’t invited to the parts of the world that I’m talking to you and I was wondering what was wrong. What did I do wrong to not be invited? And then all of a sudden somebody cares or likes you enough to invite you over there and I’m just overjoyed with that.” Last month Guy was part of a group of blues royalty who performed a special concert at the White House in Washington D.C. While this is a man who has clearly done a lot over the years, you get the feeling this performance was something of a crowning achievement. “Well, you know, that’s a dream,” he beams. “To be invited to play in front of the Commander In Chief, man, I don’t have words to explain that. I just hope I don’t make him angry! [I hope I] played the right notes for him! I saw a smile on his face when I asked him to come up and sing Sweet Home Chicago. And he did! 40 • THE DRUM MEDIA
I thought, ‘Oh Buddy, you goin’ down in history now, man. You got the President to sing a blues lyric!’ Also playing were the likes of BB King, Mick Jagger, Jeff Beck and Booker T Jones. But Guy is unimpressed by these names - after all, they’re his peers. “Well all of those guys are my friends, I been knowin’ them. I been close to them before. But I never been that close to the President! To be in the House to play my music was the thrill of a lifetime and that will carry me the rest of my life.” Buddy Guy’s love for Australia is shown through frequent visits over the past decade or so. Though it’s his first visit he recalls immediately when thinking about our country. “I got invited to Australia… I think it was 1972. I had never met Arthur Crudup and that’s where I met him – in Australia – and he was one of my idols because he was one of Elvis Presley’s idols. Those were the good old days. I love the country and I love the people and to keep being invited back by the people down there, it tells me I must have done something right.”
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Even a serious dislike of flying isn’t enough to keep him away. “I never was in love with flying even before 9/11, you know. To fly that far and to be happy to do it, man… I forget all about flying when I get invited to go down there.” Nobody speaks fonder of Buddy Guy than the big guns of British blues. The Rolling Stones adore him, Eric Clapton considers him one of his biggest inspirations and Jeff Beck once said of his playing, “I didn’t know a Strat could sound like that.” What is perhaps less acknowledged is that Buddy Guy credits these white Englishmen with his own success. “Well in the beginning there was no money, we just did it for the love of music. Muddy Waters and I met some of the people who taught Muddy – the late Son House,
Fred McDowell – that’s all they played it for. You made a good looking woman smile, you made all the people who were sitting down dance at the Saturday Night Fish Fry. You go to sleep and wake up one day when the British guys exploded the blues and that’s when the bigger venues started coming. It was just in Louisiana and Chicago playing the same blues club every night. Then it went worldwide and we began to say, ’Well, I don’t have to sleep where it’s raining no more, I can sleep in a room with a cover on it. I can eat a decent meal now because I got paid last night.’” This doesn’t mean Guy wasn’t shocked when he first heard about the British obsession with blues music. “I was in the studio in 1964, Chess Studios, doing a tune called My Time After A While and they brought these four guys and lined them up against the wall; I almost started cursing because I didn’t know what they was doing, I ain’t never seen white guys with long hair like that before. I was like, ‘Who the hell is this and what the hell are they doing in here?’” But, like Hendrix, Guy’s brand of blues was lapped up by the British. “They accepted the music louder, they accepted Jimi Hendrix with the big Marshall
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amps and so on. They didn’t do that here – the Chess people wouldn’t even let us turn those amplifiers up like that,” he admits. “But the British said, ‘Bring it on, if that’s what you got then give it to us.’ Hendrix had to move before he could explore.” What does Buddy Guy have planned for Australian audiences this time around? “I don’t know nothin’ else but Buddy Guy. I know somebody’s gonna be there [who] probably [has] never heard of me and will go away saying, ‘I didn’t like him but I know he gave me everything he had,’ so that’s my plan. I can’t hold back. I’m too happy to be invited down there to say, ‘Well I can’t give it all to you now, I’ll save some.’ I ain’t got nothin’ to save, man. You gonna get everything I got. “My dad and mama used to tell me before they passed away, they’d say, ‘Son, don’t be the best in town. But please be the best until the best come around.’” WHO: Buddy Guy WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 4 April, Enmore Theatre; Friday 6, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
COLLECTIVE MENTALITY “THERE’S SOMETHING TO BE SAID FOR PERSEVERANCE.” THE HERD’S MC OZI BATLA REFLECTS ON A DECADE PLUS CAREER WITH RIP NICHOLSON.
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oing what they have always done is what makes The Herd just as intriguing now as they were in 2001. Their longevity in the scene, perseverance and consistently bringing about change with every record that has made them one of Australia’s most premier live hip hop acts. It’s 2012 and The Herd is acknowledging their unity of over ten years and MC and writer for the collective, Shannon ‘Ozi Batla’ Kennedy highlights this as he explains where The Herd’s long-standing one-headed opinion is at now.
The eight-piece outfit is a segmented octagon of producers, instrumentalists and MCs such as Urthboy, Unkle Ho and Kennedy, who returned after his first solo LP, Wild Colonial to co-write Future Shade and insists that the work is the same in either a group or solo record. “It doesn’t matter what you have done with solo work the hard things are hard and the easy stuff is easy. In some ways it’s a relief to put out a solo record, having total control and when you go back to the collective mentality it’s also a relief that you’ve got someone either side of you to bounce ideas off and inspire you.” Together with many individual talents, they are set to converge on stages across our major cities with – on selected dates – Thundamentals and new Elefant Traks MC, Sky’High, on the A Thousand Lives Tour, aptly named after the track off their latest LP, Future Shade. “That song’s a reflection of our time in the band,” says Kennedy on naming the tour as they did. “That has become a minor theme running throughout the album as well. And it’s also a reflection of our ten/eleven plus years of touring.” The Herd’s agenda has always been one of political awareness over their five studio albums and despite the political maelstrom that invokes such an opposing opinion in the band’s writings, Kennedy explains, new material can sometimes be hard to raise without revisiting subject matter from many of their previous tongue-in-cheek slights at the befuddled balance of power governing this great land. “I don’t know about anyone else but, yeah, sometimes the writing can be hard. And I think the reason is when you have a catalogue behind you, after time it gets hard and you scratch your head to avoid covering the same ground. I think with our focus always on the political theme and in our approach through all our music, with how those in charge are running the country, it’s
never gonna be too hard to keep coming up with new subject matter. And we won’t run out of topics anytime soon with guys like Clive Palmer and Bob Katter running around. Did you hear Clive Palmer’s one today?” Kennedy asks rhetorically of the mining magnate. “The mining tax is basically a conspiracy between the Greens and the CIA to rob him of his wealth. He went on the ABC and said it.” The band’s long-enduring career opened in 2001 when the core artists of indie label Elefant Traks collaborated together to showcase the roster. The Herd released their self-titled LP that same year and spawned an Aussie classic, Scallops. But it was their 2002 followup An Elefant Never Forgets that gave the band their controversial tag with tracks Burn Down The Parliament and 77%, the latter attacking at the heart of Australia’s racist element. The Herd left behind an indelible stamping of political correctness on their outspoken and building controversial reputation. Counting four albums forward (which includes a remix album) and while the politicking stays coming thick and ready, having all the artists falling back into step, away from family, careers and other music commitments was not easy, as Kennedy admits, despite him being the drifter of the bunch.
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“No. No, not at all. For me, I’m the unattached drifter and I’ll do a gig whenever. You know, there’s a whole bunch of kids and jobs and households that have to be left for possibly their only time off and time with the family for a gig every weekend, so it is a big commitment and ToeFu has really been putting in the hard yards recently. He lives in Newcastle and it takes him a good two/two and a half hour drive [to Sydney]. He’s been trekking down for rehearsals and it’s hard to get everyone together. I’m really grateful to my bandmates who do have a lot of other commitments and they’ve stuck with it and at this stage in our careers there are some of my favourite bands that have packed it in. When you have the choice of working nearby and making a lot more money and having a lot more free time it becomes tempting to pack the music
in. So I’m really grateful to them that they’ve stuck with it. There’s something to be said for perseverance.” Last August’s fifth LP shows the band never grows moss as they roll in continuous momentum, seeking higher grounds of musicality. This has given the band a true appreciation in creative currency. Kennedy places the secrets of holding relevance in a youthful and energetic industry down to each of the band’s eclectic upbringing, a worldly bunch of enthusiasts brought together in a melange of homemade hip hop. “The Herd has always been constantly heading in new directions. I think it’s in the nature of who we are and the backgrounds that we come from, musically. It’s just been a constant process. I think the difference with this one perhaps is that it’s like a collective coming together on a compilation of different artists’ tunes while still being part of The Herd. But this brought about such a cohesive approach to our writing.” As all eight descend upon our live scene once again, coinciding with the release of their new EP Better Alive, their shows promise to bring with them all the lights and lustre of some of Australia’s most celebrated hip hop live musicians through a newly developed concept of
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narrative and visual performances. The Herd is very lyricalbased and going live with the more serious-toned and softer-spoken tracks like Shihaba and My Sister’s Palace from Future Shade there is the threat that it disrupts the crowd’s rhythm. “At our last shows we played these in the quieter moments in the set,” says Kennedy of how The Herd handles those sombre moments. “I think when you start getting conscious of the peoples’ reactions you can loose your confidence on stage pretty easily and you can get nervous if you think people aren’t jumping around and dancing then you’ve somehow lost them. But that’s certainly not the case, so we really want to provide some lightness and darkness contrast to the set. And you know, our knees are getting old – we can’t dance around for an hour and a half anymore,” Kennedy quips. WHO: The Herd WHAT: Better Alive (Elefant Traks) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 30 March, Manning Bar; Saturday 31, Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle; Wednesday 4 April, UniBar, Wollongong
THE DRUM MEDIA • 41
SINGLES/EPS WITH ROSS CLELLAND
COLD CHISEL
ON THE RECORD
Everybody Warner
A million bands try comeback records. Most can be filed in the ‘regrettable’ category now known as ‘Thorpe’ – as in Ian, not Billy. But yon Chisel can apparently take a decade, and still come up with something worthy. But is it possible they are now maybe a little less than the sum of their parts? For while Barnesy’s howl is still passionate, Mossy’s guitar chimes, and Walker’s piano rattles grumpily, you feel the cynical sneer of this might be better served by The Don in laconic blues Catfish mode, rather than the Chisel machine.
THE CAIROS Colours Like Features Island/Universal
The Cairos are one of those Australian poprock bands, of a type hopefully eternal. They make songs of muscly bass and drums, guitars that bash melodically into each other, while a bloke yells like he means it. And then it goes to choruses that will stick in your head, as lead single of this, We All Buy Stars, perhaps already has. Even the Wayne Connolly as producer credit seems right. This has a bunch of other workmanlike tunes upon it, which may have spread thin over an album, so we congratulate their restraint as well.
1929INDIAN Women In Cages Independent
And the ‘80s revival ain’t over either. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. 1929Indian have the old synths and drum machines lined up in good order, and Tyler Gibbs has the correct adenoidal edge in the voice that would have got them a gig supporting The Human League. For all its retro charm, it still manages to sound a bit new and with enough tongue in its cheek to be enjoyable on a number of levels. This I shall now do again by playing repeatedly, and dancing in the manner of Stranded in 1986.
THE BLACK SEEDS Pippy Pip
ALEX WINSTON
CHARGE GROUP
LOST IN THE TREES
V2/Co-Operative
Microphone And Loudspeaker/MGM
Epitaph/Warner
Within seconds of the booming opener Fire Ant, there is an immediate understanding of where Alex Winston lies in the realm of popular music; with the likes of Lykke Li, Florence + The Machine and Kate Bush. Sharing producers with the first two artists – Bjorn Yttling and Charlie Hugall respectively – each song on King Con flows with similar dynamic and lush arrangements, and sees Winston utilising her multi-instrumentalist abilities to its peak. At times, the ambitiously layered production – which includes banjo, mandolin, synths, piano, drum loops etc. – along with her striking vocals can be overwhelming and tiring for the listener. The copious amount of energy produced, however, does create an infectious feeling of excitement for most of the listen.
As one of those Australian bands that, sadly, seem more at home abroad (where, perhaps even more concerning, they appear to receive warmer reception), Charge Group’s self-titled second album has been eagerly anticipated since the release of teaser double a-side Run/The Gold Is Gone last year.
The latest effort from North Carolina group is one that takes and embraces the style developed over the band’s first album, while elevating it to a whole new level. Drawing parallels to the Antler’s debut album, Hospice, A Church That Fits Our Needs is punctuated by powerful and melancholic melodies, against the backdrop of rich, dark narratives. The mind behind Lost in the Trees, Ari Picker, wrote the album in the wake of his mother’s death, the darkness of that period emanating throughout the album lyrically and musically. The album cover features a worn photo of Picker’s mother, an artist in her own right, with him stating in an interview that the record aimed to “give her a space to become all the things she didn’t get a chance to be when she was alive.”
King Con
Charge Group
The New Yorker has abandoned her dreamy-folk approach to music as heard on her previous EPs, and has now diverted her style to an edgier pop that bleeds with a sense of purpose and, thankfully, lacks the shiny gloss commercialised pop tends to carry. This is most probably due to the sense of immediacy in addressing certain issues that fascinate the singer; that of everyday con-men, pretenders of the world, cult leaders and sham preachers, as she proclaims “Benny, Benny, Takes my penny, Then he skins me to the bone,” in her ode to Benny Hinn. Strong hooks are a plenty in Winston’s songwriting with the aforementioned Fire Ant’s half-time chorus “Keep on marching, Keep on marching on…” and Velvet Elvis’ sugar-high melody “When I feel your velvet, I can’t help it…” that provoke you to get your bedroom-dance on. Sister Wife reels you in from the beginning with its pounding synth drum intro coupled with Winston’s softer vocal ‘ooing’. A power-driven debut by Winston that will no doubt blow you away.
While the morbid and morose lyrical content present on the band’s debut album remains – the pessimistic refrain of loss “The gold is gone,” in the song of the same name and the probing desperation of questions like “Where is my community?” in Broken Sunlight – it is coupled with music that is comparatively joyous; the unifying lyric-less melodic chant at the end of the former and the playful pizzicato of the violin in the latter, both defying the weight of the lyrical concerns and creating the kind of bittersweet melancholy that permeates the entire album. The Jaguar Complex and Search Party fill the requisite role of bridging the album, just as Pax #1 and #2 signposted Escaping Mankind, and, like those songs, see the band operating entirely instrumentally; the former a minimalist composition that swells with delicate production and has mesmerising effect, the latter a sonic capturing of the anxiety the title suggests. While the album begins to lose pace towards its end – more a comment on the length of tracks like Hearth Of Home and I Saw Leaves Falling Back To Their Branches, and their placement within the arc of the album, than the individual merits of each song – it remains strangely beautiful and celebratory yet dark; head and shoulders above the work of the band’s contemporaries. To make comparisons would be clasping at intangibles and doing a belittling disservice to the pastoral vision of Charge Group. Dave Drayton
A Church That Fits Our Needs
Picker’s falsetto has strengthened since the band’s debut; however, the backing vocals from Emma Nadeau deserve even more praise. The album’s most powerful moments come in the layering of Nadeau’s vocals. This is potent in Red as Nadeau’s soft humming seamlessly moves into a colossal wall of sound, playing against the tormented and beautiful falsetto of Ari Picker. Orchestral arrangements plot lush clusters of piano against soaring strings, with an astounding effect. Even though the band is able to create expansive and confronting soundscapes, they simultaneously are able to maintain the subtlety and reservation that has defined their sound. A Church That Fits Our Needs is easily the best material to come out of the mind of Ari Picker, and it sees Lost in the Trees in fine form. The group have delivered a haunted and emotionally raw album. Jeremy Elphick
Celline Narinli
Remote Control Few words strike fear into my soul like ‘good vibes reggae’. This horror usually doubles when said music comes from this hemisphere rather than somewhere within a 100km radius of Kingston, or even Birmingham. However, this New Zealand collective, by dint of giving this song a breezy South Pacific ska feeling get past the usual ‘woah-yo-yo-yo’ default crappery, add some Asian woody wind-chime to it, and come up with something catchy enough to keep the festival hordes standing around the campfires for lengthy periods.
SUPER BEST FRIENDS Handshake Independent
Having an outraged yell at most things, but then finding it simpler to go home for a couple of beers, Super Best Friends are having a good time being subversive. It’s a trash philosophy they share with their listed heroes such as Frenzal and – particularly – Regurgitator, that offers up songs with titles like No Logo Is A Joke. The band name could even be a ‘Gurge out-take. They lurch across the stage knocking things over until they run out breath. And then they start again. There’s not much not to like.
CHET FAKER Thinking In Textures Opulent/Inertia
OK, it was a little difficult to work out his motives when the first heard of him was the pun-as-name and a cover of Backstreet’s No Diggity. Yes, really. But upon listening there is a curious mix of the electronic and a voice of human soul that can worm its way into your head. Go to Terms And Conditions for an illustration of some of the heart that seems to seep up from the floor and through the USB cable. It is music not identifiably from ‘round these parts, though it is. Its innate class might see the world take to it.
MIIKE SNOW
QUAKERS
SIMONE FELICE
Universal
Stones Throw/Fuse
Warner
Miike Snow’s debut was overflowing with the sort of catchy beats and lyricism that lends itself to hit singles. Returning three years later with Happy To You, the Swedish group fronted by the ever charismatic Andrew Wyatt have succeeded in not only overcoming the infamous second album hump, but have created a pop record that doesn’t sacrifice substance for style.
Look up a nineties hip hop video on YouTube and it will invariably be followed by a string of ‘its-not-as-goodas-it-used-to-be’ whining. Portishead’s Geoff Barrow, 7-Stu-7 and Aussie producer Katalyst not only felt the same way but went and did something about it.
Having finally made it to Australia at the end of last year – his first tour was canned after he was hospitalised with food poisoning, and his second tour cancelled due to emergency heart surgery – Simone Felice follows his visit with the release of his debut solo long-player.
Forming Quakers the trio laid down a stack of beats and then recruited over thirty underground MCs – both well known and obscure – to take it back to the days before rappers went for that David Guetta cash. With a deep love of the Rawkus-Def JuxFondle Em backpack rap of the late ‘90s, Quakers is a 40-plus track set of no-frills beats and rhymes as far removed from the rich-guy swag of Kanye and Jay-Z as it is the day-glo FloRida and Black Eyed Peas.
Much of this eponymous album doesn’t wander far from his previous work with The Felice Brothers and The Duke & The King. For instance, the big chorus of the record’s lead single You And I Belong, which features backing vocals from members of Mumford & Sons, does not sound unlike a slightly more gospelly version of The Felice Brothers’ own Radio Song. Similarly, opener Hey Bobby Ray’s choral dynamic is a mixture of folk and gospel, that is one of the LP’s signatures. Even with such strong choruses, things are kept simple in terms of arrangements, and the simplicity of the songs allow for Felice’s fine wordplay to come to the forefront. It is easy to see how he has become an acclaimed poet and novelist. An example of this is the piano ballad New York Times, which is stunning in its imagery of a “pervert from Jersey” who shoots girls rehearsing in a ballet school. Elsewhere, Courtney Love – all mournful harmonica and haunting vocals – deals with loneliness and recklessness, whilst Charade and album-closer Splendor In The Grass demonstrate the sheer emotion Felice can conjure with an acoustic guitar at his disposal.
Happy To You
Case in point: Devil’s Work. An evocative piano melody leads the show while Wyatt’s sharp narrative leaves ambiguity in lines like “I saw someone who looked like you on the platform at Bondi station, But from a younger era”. As the chorus kicks in the piano drives up a notch, horns form a rousing cloud and the mood is mysteriously uplifting. Whilst their debut focused on recreating the same sound in slightly different variations, Happy To You takes a broader view. Vase allows Wyatt to showcase his falsetto, before it’s drowned in vocoder and staccato piano on Archipelago. There’s a heaviness to Wyatt’s singing, as if every word is laden with a verbose profoundness, perfectly encapsulated on the fast paced Pretender. As he wades from a gentle whisper to a melancholic falsetto to sing “I didn’t want to wake up, But then I felt your touch, Now I notice that I drink too much,” the sinister undertones are obscured by a rushing beat and repetitive refrain. The power of indie-pop in full flight. Other highlights including the Lykke Li cameo on the languid Black Tin Box, and the finale Paddling Out, perfectly placed to make one press replay and keep dancing ‘til your feet are sore. Sevana Ohandjanian
42 • THE DRUM MEDIA
Quakers
That said, the production is rather spectacular, as you would expect from such gifted beatsmiths. Fitta Happier sees Stone Throwers Guilty Simpson and M.E.D come to grips with a monstrously heavy tuba loop, Smoke with Jonwayne is nice and funky while at the other end of the spectrum Belly Of The Beast with Emilio Rojas is noisy, brutal analogue violence. The roll call of MCs is impressive; Dead Prez, Booty Brown of The Pharcyde and Prince Po. A major surprise is Sign Language as breakthrough West Coast soul star Aloe Blacc shows off his seldom-heard rhyming skills, doing a slick job over a wonderfully funky backdrop. Although we almost exclusively hear American male vocals, this is momentarily broken up by fem-cee Lyric Jones and East End rhyming chimneysweep Deed. Intentionally offering nothing for commercial hip hop listeners, Quakers is a super solid album of defiant underground hip hop, something there isn’t enough of these days. Darren Collins
themusic.com.au
Simone Felice
Simone Felice bursts with emotion while remaining delicate and ruminative. The fact that you could remove the italics from that previous sentence and it still make perfect sense sums it up really. Rob Townsend
tech-thrash factor, briefly recalling their Metallicainspired early affairs. Pre-release teaser, Break Those Bones Whose Sinews Gave It Motion (complete with early Fear Factory-esque ambience) is a handy reference point for newbies and the already accustomed alike, its memorably mid-tempo groove pummelling audiences on record, just as it did when road-tested during their recent Australian tour. Like the aural equivalent of an ‘80s Jackie Chan film, Koloss is a demanding listen that leaves you feeling exhausted, even though they’re doing all of the work. However, you’ll also want to go another round as soon as possible.
THE USED
AMADOU & MARIAM
Hopeless/UNFD
Nonesuch/Warner
Back when ‘emo’ was in its infancy, The Used were one of those bands that many secretly liked, but were publicly ashamed to admit. Since then, the eyeliner has washed away and the melodrama has become an embarrassing memory of the past. The Used have ‘grown a pair’ while maintaining the melodies that captured teens worldwide, this time with an earthy rock sensibility, which has made Vulnerable nothing short of an infectious rock record.
Togetherness. Unity. Such simple concepts, but so difficult to get right. Most are resigned to the fact we’ll never have world peace, the divorce rate is enormous… hell, did you hear that Metallica and Lou Reed album? If nothing else, Amadou & Mariam’s Folila ought to be an inspiring example of how, sometimes, we can make it work.
Folila
Brendan Crabb
In the end though, it’s Amadou’s scintillating guitar playing – part Ala Farka Toure, part Hendrix – and the production of Marc-Antoine Moreau that are the real stars of this record. The spirit of collaboration is heartwarming and the music produced is stunning; this is a wonderfully joyous record, so full of heart it makes you wish you could speak their language so as to sing along with every word.
James Dawson
Dan Condon
Koloss Nuclear Blast/Riot! Most artists spawn new genres without ever intending to do so; consider the countless awful acts “inspired” by Mike Patton for one. Sweden’s Meshuggah recently unwittingly birthed the djent style, primarily consisting of bands nabbing their punishing riffs, polyrhythms and atonal solos from a decade or more ago and proclaiming it something fresh. Undeterred, they’ve forged ahead with their forwardthinking metal. 2008’s obZen was about as immediate as Meshuggah’s delivery has been, but after several releases emphasising brutality and technicality over actual songwriting was a revelation. Koloss takes half a dozen spins to properly grasp. Sonically it’s more organic and welcoming, without sacrificing precision or a sound heavier than a sack of hammers. You’ll find numerous twists and turns, light and shade, menace and occasional solace. The doom-laden Behind The Sun is inhumanly tight, while opener, I Am Colossus’ dissonant soundscapes are a chilling recurring theme throughout the record. Do Not Look Down’s pulverising, groovedriven riffage creates a tangible sense of impending destruction. The Hurt That Finds You First cranks up the
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Moods: Brutal, chilling, dark
DID YOU KNOW? Meshuggah formed in 1987 in the college town of Umea, Sweden, and at this time the lineup consisted of Fredrik D Thordendal, Jens Kidman, Johan Sjogran,V Per Sjogren and Jorgen Lindmerk. This line-up changed a number of times over the past 25 years, and the current group including original members Thordendal and Kidman, alongside Tomas Haake, Marten Hagstrom, Dick Lovegren.
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Vulnerable is a diverse record that successfully manages to cross multiple genres without the overall album sounding confused or disjointed. Each song is meticulously constructed, and the production and sequencing is carefully programmed to enhance each track. There is enough theatre, rock and sentimentality here for everyone to get into – sans eyeliner.
MESHUGGAH
LIVE
Length: 10 tracks, 55 minutes
D
The Used paint an aural landscape through the constructive use of melody, song arrangement, intricate instrumentation and some studio trickery to present what can be described as musical theatre – without the flamboyance. For example, first single I Come Alive, comes across sounding like a travelling carnival’s theme song, whilst This Fire features an intricate string arrangement throughout its verses before paving its way into the band-orientated chorus. This is not dissimilar to the quiet/loud dynamic of the grunge era, especially with lead singer’s Bert McCracken’s Cobain vibe. Hands And Faces is a strange track that carries on with the carnival theme and features some slick programming resulting in a mishmash of rock and R&B.
While in a perfectly just world, Amadou & Mariam would have attained the kind of popularity they have purely on the strength of their music and their story. Fact is, they had some high profile help getting there. While popular in their native Mali and France (they speak and sing in French), it wasn’t until world music superstar Manu Chao produced their 2004 release, Dimanche à Bamako, that the wider western world became familiar, and its follow up, Welcome To Mali, featured the likes of Damon Albarn and K’Naan. Here they ramp the guests up further; Santigold slots into Dougou Badia beautifully, TV On The Radio’s Tunde Adebimpe and Kyp Malone stand out a little more – but not disrespectfully – on Wily Kataso, while Bertrand Cantat gives everything on Oh Amadou!, it kinda sounds like he’s going to give himself a hernia (is he the French Jimmy Barnes?).
FACT FILE
VD
Vulnerable
Their mysticism comes from their mathematical execution of odd-cycle time signatures that shifts around common 4/4 time, which has grown to be a signature for the band. The band’s experimentation with style and genre varies with each release to include several heavy metal subgenres including avant-garde metal, experimental metal, math rock etc. Rolling Stone ranked Meshuggah as one of music’s ‘10 Most Important Hard and Heavy Bands’. And in 2004, Alternative Press voted Meshuggah as ‘The #1 Most Important Band In Metal’. In 2006 and 2009, the band was nominated for a Swedish Grammy Award.
THE DRUM MEDIA • 43
NOIR AMERICAN
BACK IN THE SADDLE
SHE MAY NOW LIVE IN THE BIG SMOKE OF BOSTON, BUT EILEN JEWELL IS STILL A COUNTRY GIRL, IF A LITTLE NOIR, AS SHE ADMITS TO MICHAEL SMITH.
AUSTRALIA WENT A LONG TIME WITHOUT A LUCINDA WILLIAMS SHOW, BUT SHE’S BACK FOR THE SECOND TIME IN THREE YEARS AND TELLS DAN CONDON SHE’LL NEVER TAKE SO LONG TO MAKE A RECORD AGAIN.
S
he may be Boston-based right now, but chasing her music has seen singer/songwriter Eilen Jewell live in a lot of different places. Growing up in Idaho City, Jewell began her musical career busking on the streets of Santa Fe while at college, before lighting out to Los Angeles, then back east to Massachusetts where she recorded her 2005 debut album, Boundary County. All of which is probably why, when it came time to write her latest record, Queen Of The Minor Key, she felt the need to light and set up alone in a tiny cabin in the Idaho Mountains, no running water or electricity, with just her guitar. “I’ve been havin’ a really hard time writing while I’ve been on the road,” Jewell admits, on the line from her current home, “so I have to go to great lengths to get rid of the distractions in my life and the only thing I’ve found that works is go far, far away from everything that I’m used to and find some solitude and I chose the mountains of Idaho ‘cause I’m from Idaho originally. I know that I feel very at home there and I think I need a certain amount of familiarity and comfort with a place in order to feel that I can get some writing done. “Then the songs came quickly. I think that the songs were waiting in the wings at the back of my mind until I had the time and the mental energy to write them down, and each of them come from a slightly different place I think. Some of them are autobiographical – the song Santa Fe is probably the most autobiographical song I’ve ever written – but songs like I Remember You are kind of based on a true feeling but the events in the song are made up in order to kinda symbolise what I’m feeling. And then, some of them are just totally fictionalised [laughs].” The new album sounds a little like film noir meets those quaint radio play mysteries of the ‘30s and ‘40s – it’s very Lynchian in a way. “It’s funny that you mention David Lynch ‘cause his name has come up quite a few times in talking about my music, and I definitely think about Twin
S Peaks all the time and as you know it has a real film noir atmosphere to it. And also, I really love old westerns and I think that there are certain images in old westerns that I’ve seen… and kind of noir-ish Pulp Fiction-type films trickle into my writing because they’re definitely a big part of what inspires me.” Ultimately of course, the core of Jewell’s music is folk-roots Americana. “I’ve just always really liked this kind of music,” she admits. “Ever since I can remember I really liked pretty anything with ‘early’ in front of it – early blues, early rock’n’roll, early jazz and early country – and even as a kid [in the ‘80s], I remember being seven years old and listening to the oldies radio station, which back then was playing a lot of Buddy Holly and The Kinks and Elvis. So I think, as soon as I figured out how to use a radio, I’ve been listening to the stuff I’m listening to now – it’s a whole life of having the same taste in music, pretty much [laughs]. So I think it was kinda natural that if I ever started writing songs, they would be in that style of music that I always felt at home in.” WHO: Eilen Jewell WHAT: Queen Of The Minor Key (Signature Sounds/Fuse) WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 28 and Saturday 31 March, The Vanguard; Thursday 29, Clarendon Guesthouse, Katoomba; Friday 30, Brass Monkey; Sunday 1 April, The Vault; Thursday 5 and Friday 6, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
TALE OF TWO CITIES
“It wasn’t like we were shunned or anything, but when we did come to New York we felt a little bit more at home and felt that people were a little more receptive to what we were playing and seemed pretty excited about it. In San Francisco, there’s a lot going on there, but there’s not too many people involved in the music scene; it’s a bit of a small town in comparison. It’s a beautiful city and people are very creative there, but it’s hard to get outside of that bubble sometimes.” The band – the creative core of which is rounded out by Cox’s songwriting partner and fellow guitarist/ vocalist Jigmae Baer – have just released their second album Better Luck Next Life, a much more full-band affair than its 2010 predecessor Litanies. “It was an organic change if you will,” Cox offers. “When we recorded Litanies it was mostly just Jigmae and I kind of building layers on the record, recording one 44 • THE DRUM MEDIA
Williams reveals we might be in for a special treat. “We try to cover as many different songs from different albums, but right now I’m real excited because I have some new songs. I’ll be able to play some of those maybe when we come out. That’s always fun when there’s new stuff and it’s fresh; you can see what the audience reaction is like.” Last year she released Blessed, another powerful record that showed her knack for relating to people and situations in simple but unique ways had not at all dulled. She said, around the time of the album’s release, that she had a bevy of songs to choose from, even if she was scared of writer’s block. “It seems like I’m writing more when I sit down to write,” she tells Drum. “I have a different kind of process, my mind is always working and I’m always coming up with ideas. I write notes and lines down and everything. Then I get to this point, I sit down and get all that stuff out – that’s what I’m doing right now. It’s
Her stunning 1998 record, Car Wheels On A Gravel Road, was almost six years in the making and her perfectionism alienated her from the aforementioned Morlix and co-producer Steve Earle. Williams hasn’t taken as long to make a record since and by the sounds of things, she’s got people around to make sure she’s keeping active. “Tom [Overby, Williams’ husband] was getting worried. He says, ‘You’re supposed to be writing! That’s what you do!’ And I say, ‘Don’t worry about it, I will. I just have my own way of doing things.’ I used to worry about it because I thought I was going through a long dry spell. Then I started seeing a pattern where I wouldn’t finish anything new, then I’d sit down and write nonstop for ten days and come up with all these songs. I was talking about it one time to my therapist; she said it’s called working on a J Curve. I told Tom, ‘See! I finished three new songs yesterday! I told you!’ He was always on my back – ‘You’ve got to keep writing! You’re on your computer all day!’ But I have six new songs right now and I have a couple more that I wrote before, when I was writing the songs for Blessed. So I’m still good and Tom’s happy so everything’s good.” WHO: Lucinda Williams WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 3 April, State Theatre; Thursday 5 and Saturday 7, Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm
ANY CHANCE TO TOUR AUSTRALIA SUITS SPANISH ROCKERS LOS CHICOS DOWN TO GROUND. AFTER ALL, AS GUITARIST GERARDO URCHAGA TELLS MICHAEL SMITH, THEY LOVE AUSTRALIAN INDIE ROCK.
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“I don’t know, there were a lot of factors,” he muses. “I think people choose to focus on that because we didn’t really necessarily reflect what was being focussed on in San Francisco, from an outsider’s perspective. I definitely felt like we were doing something different to what’s being paid attention to, but I didn’t feel like we weren’t fitting in. The scene there is very welcoming of a lot of different types of music – for instance Thee Oh Sees took us on our first tour and then Ty Segall took us on our second tour and The Fresh & Onlys on our third tour – so it’s a pretty tight knit community.
And then, nothing. Not until 2009 anyway, when she finally made her return to Australian soil. “Unfortunately I got a bad case of fear of flying,” she admits with a nervous laugh. “So, you know… But I’m okay now though. I had to get over that, I had to face my fears. I’ve got to be able to go to Australia and New Zealand and Europe – but that was the reason why there was a big gap.”
kind of hard to figure out how I do what I do; it’s hard to explain. I don’t sit down and write every day. You don’t see me sitting down with my guitar, but I’m still writing.”
ON THE FLY
THEY RECENTLY MADE THE MOVE EAST BACK HOME AND NOW ROYAL BATHS ARE HEADING WAY SOUTH FOR THE FIRST TIME. GUITARIST/VOCALIST JEREMY COX TELLS STEVE BELL ABOUT THEIR ITCHY FEET. oyal Baths’ guitarist Jeremy Cox laughs heartily when asked if the press rumours of them leaving their hometown of San Francisco for the bright lights of New York a few months back were due to them being out of sync with the garage rock that’s so de rigueur in the Californian city. His band’s sound might be a bit darker than the standard San Fran fare and the lyrical matter a tad bleaker, but according to Cox there was a lot more to their relocation than them feeling unloved or under-appreciated.
he’s one of America’s most loved songwriters and has been since releasing her self-titled third album in 1991. It was around this time Williams made her first visit to Australia. “I first started going down there, I think it was in the late-’80s, right after that Rough Trade album came out – the self-titled one,” Williams recalls from her Los Angeles home. “I came down a couple of times just acoustic with just me and my guitar player Gurf Morlix. I think I went over there maybe three times.”
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panish for The Boys, Los Chicos are very much that – the complete rock’n’roll gang, together ten years now, all punky swagger and garage rock energy, with a dash of soul, old school r’n’b, country and power pop thrown in for good measure. That’s as well as, it turns out, a healthy dose of Australian indie rock.
track and then seeing what we wanted to do for the next one. But Better Luck Next Life was recorded after we did three tours – we developed a lot of those songs on tour – and we have a different lineup with a new rhythm section, so it kind of got more intense sounding and I feel like it sounds a lot more like what we sound like live than Litanies does.” However, ask Cox about the band’s influences and another clue about their decision to relocate to NYC emerges. “I think in the beginning we definitely had some bands in mind, but we weren’t trying to emulate anyone,” Cox tells. “We don’t really want to change for the sake of change; we like to do it naturally as it comes to us. But when we were beginning this project it was heavily influenced by the Velvet Underground, which a lot of bands cite as their influence so it’s sort of a vague reference at this point. But also stylistically we were listening to a lot of Delta Blues music – like Skip James and Blind Willie Johnson – and I had been finger-picking a lot in an open-tuning, which I think is why a lot of people refer to us as ‘drone-sounding music’. Also on the other spectrum there’s The Fall and the punk aspect of their music. I feel that it’s necessary in music to push things and be excited about what you’re doing.” WHO: Royal Baths WHAT: Better Luck Next Life (Kanine) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 30 March, Annandale Hotel
“We met in a bus,” a remarkably jovial guitarist Gerardo Urchaga, considering he’s only just got out of bed having arrived in Melbourne at 3.30am and immediately dropping a sleeping pill, explains of the genesis of the band. “My brother [fellow Los Chicos guitarist Antonio] and me had friends in common with the singer and we met in bus and started talking about music and we like a lot of the same bands, like MC5, Radio Birdman – and we wanted a band like that and that’s what happened. One of the first times we met Rafa [vocals], he was on the street playing guitar, he was singing a Neil Young song and we fell in love with each other. “We are really big fans of Australian rock’n’roll – when we are young we are listening to a lot of Australian bands. I remember I saw The Atlantics at a festival in Spain called Wild Weekend some years ago. That’s why it’s so great for us to come to Australia, because last time we were here we met a lot of people from bands that we love and it was great.” They first came to Australia two years ago courtesy the release of a compilation album, 10 Years Of Shakin’ Fat, which was especially compiled for the tour. As it happens, around the same time they were just releasing their then latest album, We Sound Amazing But We Look Like Shit, which includes Australian guitarist John Spittles AKA Johnny Casino of Asteroid B-612 on the track, Wreckin’ Rome, so their European label wasn’t interested in getting involved. “[Off The Hip] wanted to do something for the tour, as here in Australia nobody knew us so the compilation was a good opportunity for Australian people to
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know us. But the songs that we included from our first record we had to record again because we don’t like our first record because of the sound.” As for that most recent album, its title comes courtesy an encounter with an unlikely English fan – Los Chicos has toured the UK ten times to date. “We were playing in a festival in Nottingham in the UK and after the show, an old woman came and she had bought our record in the merchandise stall and loved it and was talking to Rafa and suddenly she said that sentence to him. So at that moment we said we already have the title of our new record [laughs] and we began singing it that same day at the festival with all the English drunks [more laughter] and finally we did the song.” While it seems to suit their fun times approach to rock’n’roll, the band’s name, too, turns out to have been more happenstance than carefully thought out. “It was stupid,” Urtaga admits. “The first time we were practising there was a very big fruit and vegetable shop and in big letters on the wall ‘Los Chicos’ and we say we could have the name Los Chicos and have here a photo with the name [laughs]. At the beginning it was stupid, but finally it was the definitive name.” WHO: Los Chicos WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 31 March, Sandringham Hotel; Sunday 1 April, Cabbage Tree THE DRUM MEDIA • 44
BAND OF BROTHERS
THESE GO TO ELEVEN
TAKING BACK SUNDAY FRONTMAN ADAM LAZZARA TALKS TO DAVE DRAYTON ABOUT GETTING THE GANG BACK TOGETHER AND, ODDLY ENOUGH, YO GABBA GABBA!
FROM CARDINALS TO BLACK WIDOWS, GIN WIGMORE FOUND ALBUM NUMBER TWO REMARKABLY EASY, SHE ADMITS TO MICHAEL SMITH.
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hen, mid last year and 12 years into their career as a band, Taking Back Sunday finally released an eponymous album. That act of self-titling was, far from being the result of a shortage of potential album titles, an act of affirmation. The band’s fifth full-length album, Taking Back Sunday was the first album in nine years to feature the lineup that created their debut full-length and breakthrough record, Tell All Your Friends.
ast time we saw New Zealander Gin Wigmore, she was performing her debut album, Holy Smoke, with Ryan Adams’ The Cardinals, the band with which she’d recorded it. That was more than two years ago and she’s about to release her second album in Australia, Gravel And Wine, which was produced by ex- SouthGang and Marvellous 3 singer, songwriter and guitarist Butch Walker. It meant that, again, rather than a bunch of session musicians, she got to use a band – this time, Walker’s band The Black Widows. But we’re getting ahead of the story a little here. Before making the album, Wigmore had to come up with a new set of songs. That first album had done some serious business for her, particularly in New Zealand where it went four-times platinum and won her five gongs at the 2010 New Zealand Music Awards. She needed some inspiration. “So when I sat there and said, ‘What do I write?’” Wigmore, in Sydney for a quick promo visit, admits, “I thought, ‘Maybe I wanna do a little bluesy record.’ Then the record [company] people said, ‘Gin, you know nothing about the blues,’ and I realised I probably had one blues record and didn’t know fuck all about it. So on the advice of my manager – ‘Go to the Southern states of America, go hang out in Mississippi and Alabama and Clarksdale and do the Blues Trail and go to Memphis and learn about Elvis and do all that stuff.’ So I did that for two months and it got in my blood and the record kind of wrote itself after that trip.” Now suitably inspired, it was a case of finding the right producer, studio and, if she was lucky, a band rather than session musicians to help her record it all. She was lucky – again. “My [A&R] guy at Universal, Michael Taylor, he’d heard this song on True Blood, which was by this artist called Cary Ann Hearst and I became obsessed with this girl who’s this artist out of Atlanta, Georgia. Butch was the producer on that record and so I said to my label, ‘If there’s anything you can do for me, get me to America in front of Butch Walker and I’ll charm him enough to get him to do my next
record.’ I got to LA and as soon as I met Butch it was just… You know those kind of people that you’re just kindred spirits [with], you totally get each other? We got, musically, what we wanted – what I wanted – out of a record and [knew] that he could facilitate that. “From there I had about a year to write the songs, along with writing with Butch and doing this trip down to the south, and then we went into the studio – it took about a month to record in his studio in Santa Monica. And The Black Widows were the perfect choice – a bunch of dirty southern boys, what can go wrong with that? You might get pregnant, but other than that…” she laughs. As for the songs themselves, it soon became obvious to Wigmore that they all had this “kind of dark, spooky kind of essence” to them, “and that fragility”. “The hardest thing was actually taking songs out,” Wigmore admits of the final selection. “I wanted a ten-song record – I’ve got this superstitious thing about having ten songs on an album – and I was, like, ‘Fuck, I can’t put an eleventh song on there,’ but it just made sense to have [last track] Singing In My Soul in that record, so I put it in there and went against all my superstitious nature.” WHO: Gin Wigmore WHAT: Gravel And Wine (Island/Universal) WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 3 April, The Vanguard
“For us it was actually really early on in the writing process we had decided that we were going to self-title the record. With the original members back it’s just kind of where our whole headspace is. It just felt like a real definitive time for us, so what better way to mark that time than with a selftitled record,” explains frontman Adam Lazzara. Following the departure of bassist Matt Rubano and guitarist/vocalist Matthew Fazzi in 2010, Shaun Cooper and John Nolan rejoined the band and brought with them a newfound productivity that resulted in a writing process that was quicker than the band had ever experienced. “We were all just really eager and happy to be writing with one another again and also we’re all really comfortable with our strengths and weaknesses within the band, so I think that makes for a more efficient writing process, just when you can really trust the people that you’re writing with.” While the departure of Cooper and Nolan was originally rife with rumour and speculation – both going on to form Straylight Run with Nolan’s sister – Lazzara says the reunited lineup is stronger than ever, the better for their time apart and functioning well as a family unit. “I’m pretty sure we’re geared up for just a really long honeymoon period,” Lazzara jokes. “In the past, with other lineups and things, it was kind of like if we had any kind of downtime, you couldn’t pay any of us to be in the same room together. But now when we don’t have anything else to do, we’re still hanging out with one another anyways. It makes for a nice time. We’re
just liked a bunch of brothers. We had a little bit of time off around Christmas – just for a hot minute – and then other than that we’ve just been plugging away. We’ve just really been focused on getting this new record to as many people as possible. The cool thing about having the original guys back is that there is no idea that we won’t try. So we’re always writing and there are demos and things kicking around, but as of right now we’re just tour, tour, tour.” Even a recent near-death experience, in which a tree fell on him and shattered his leg, wasn’t enough to keep Lazzara off the road, testament to their commitment to touring. Further on the topic of family, there’s the little tale of the emo rock band featuring on family friendly kids show Yo Gabba Gabba! playing a song titled We All Love Our Pets – complete with an appearance by guitarist Eddie Reyes’ daughter in the video – much to the delight of Lazzara’s son. “It was awesome!” he enthuses. “One of the creators of the show was in that band The Aquabats and everyone who works on the show, they’re all really like-minded people and through that experience we’ve made some great friends. I have a son and Eddie has two kids and they just love the show, so one day we were like, ‘Man, I wonder if we can get on the show?’ And then next thing you know we’re filming a backyard picnic with them. A lot of the other kids there that you see are a lot of the folks that we work with at Warner Brothers; we just called everybody up and said, ‘Just bring the whole family down and have fun!’” WHO: Taking Back Sunday WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 7 April, Big Top Luna Park
WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
WED 11 APR - THE VANGUARD
MON 9 APR - THE FACTORY
FACTORYTHEATRE.COM.AU PH 02 9550 3666 OR TICKETEK.COM.AU PH 132 849 All tickets previously purchased for the Mon 9 Apr show at The Vanguard are valid for the new show at The Factory Theatre
TICKETS ON SALE NOW DEBUT RECORD EARLY IN THE MORNING OUT NOW “Sounds both fresh and as if they’ve been in your head forever…McMorrow’s debut deserves its success.” – Q Magazine “A captivating debut… An arresting journey from emotional trials to aural pleasure.” – Uncut JAMESVMCMORROW.COM
‘CENTRE STAGE’
FILM SHOWCASE
UNDER-18s DANCE PARTY SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE FRIDAY 13 APRIL
MUSEUM OF CONTEMPORARY ART SUNDAY 15 APRIL
SPORTS DAY
smartARTS FESTIVAL
KING GEORGE V RECREATION CENTRE THURSDAY 19 APRIL
BETTY MAKIN YOUTH AWARDS REDFERN TOWN HALL TUESDAY 17 APRIL
PINE STREET CREATIVE ARTS CENTRE 13 – 27 APRIL Plus many other great events. Find out more at cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/YouthWeekInTheCity
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 45
QUEEN OF METAL
Legendary female metal guitar icon and former member of The Runaways, Lita Ford, has confirmed her new album, Living Like A Runaway, will be released Tuesday 19 June in four configurations: a double LP, limited edition CD, standard CD and digital download. Ford explained “This CD is truly a dream come true. It took me one year to write this CD along with producer Gary Hoey and songwriting partner Michael Dan Ehming. We have dumped our hearts and souls into this... Along with a lot of tears, pain, heartache, laughter, ripping out hair, going hungry, losing sleep and a lot of frequent flyer miles! Living Like A Runaway is like being able to walk through fire and coming out the other side unscathed.”
STUDIO SLAM
Nekrofeist, the outspoken Australian groove/thrash metal outfit, whose frontman Dave Tinelt was recently recruited by thrash giants Mortal Sin, have issued a studio update via their Facebook page revealing the title of their soon-to-be-released album as Without Reserve Or Regret. Nekrofeist will be funding the album independently and will be seeking a label when the project is complete. Head along to their Facebook page www.facebook.com/nekrofeist to check out the video.
MAKING A RACKET
The Royal Agricultural Society [RAS] is pushing to bring Big Day Out back to the Claremont Showgrounds after it moved to Victoria Park this year, but Perth’s Claremont Council are seeking legal advice to ban such festivals, according to WA Today. Mayor Jock Barker told the council, who voted unanimously to seek legal advice, that, “despite the best efforts of the staff to work with the RAS, promoters and other authorities the fact remains the impact on Claremont residents is unacceptable and is not getting any better.” The RAS is responsible for arranging the lease for festivals and Barker held them responsible for breaches of sound levels, saying “When they don’t do that, then the promoters just do what they like,” adding that Soundwave in particular had breached them “excessively”, with the paper reporting that the promoters “are facing prosecution as a result... It’s not just about the noise, it’s about the trashing of the town. We all like music, I grew up with rock and roll, but if people behaved themselves, and noise conditions weren’t breached, you wouldn’t hear a peep out of anybody. We get consistently ignored in terms of what we require by Big Day Out and Soundwave.”
THE HEAVY SHIT After waiting for what seemed like aeons for those slow coaches over at Riot! to sort their shit out, Melbourne’s Kings of Modern Thrash, 4Arm, have announced that their new (and third) album, Submission For Liberty, will be available locally via them and will hit the shelves on Friday 13 April. If you caught them smashing up the Stag or Venom on the weekend, you know the band means business!
band did a warm-up show at the Manly Boatshed recently and it was so well received the Manly Fig asked them to come and play at their house. If you’re in the mood to see one of the most outrageous live bands ever to get on stage and crave for a wild show that’ll rock the hell out of you, then you know where to go. The guys have another show in April too – I’ll tell you more later.
Sydney tech-deathsters, and one of my favourite local bands, Ouroboros released their new video clip for Sanctuary last week. It’s quite possibly the best video done by a local band ever! It was directed and edited by Paul Shedlowich of Plint Productions and was inspired by Colin Marks’ Glorification Of A Myth album artwork and the ancient Greek myth of Chronos devouring his children. Check it out online or on Headbangers Ball soonish.
If you find yourself in the Mountains this evening then Sunset Riot are playing at the Gearin in Katoomba. Ah, I love the mountains in autumn…
So after a few shout outs, the members of Heaven got back to me to confirm their tour. See, some people do read my bullshit! The band confirms stuff is happening soon and may or may not feature Mortal Sin and Paul Mario Day’s outfit Crimson Lake. They tell me they are sounding very hard and fast and very much alive after a 30-year rest! sleepmakeswaves have scored the national support for Karnivool’s upcoming Melodias Frescas Tour in July. Stay tuned for more info about that soon, but if you feel the need to gaze into the distance while the band plays on and you missed them support Boris last week, you can catch them tomorrow at the Beach Road Hotel along with Super Florence Jam and Meniscus. It’s another busy week around town so no bitching about being bored okay!
WEDNESDAY In what’s probably one of the last remaining gigs to be had at The Gaelic, Round The Corner, Mr Devoy (as in the one from Melody Black), Dalton Gang and Six White Horses will be playing the room for free. Not Like Horse will be at The Annandale to play stuff from their recent kick-arse effort. Buy a fucking brick while you’re there too! Go on!
SATURDAY
DROWNING THE LIGHT
FRIDAY
Dubbed The Devil’s Arcana and presented by Séance Records The Valve Bar at Tempe is putting it on over two nights from this evening and tomorrow. Featuring 13 bands across the two nights of mayhemic black metal ng bands from both here and NZ, from whence the brothers who run the Valve come, and it promises to be both intimate and foreboding at the same time. Tickets are strictly limited and I urge you to buy a pass for both nights ‘cause it’s gonna sell out. Tix are $40 from either Séance Records at hotmail or from Le Cabinet des Curiosities opposite the Enmore. Friday begins at 6pm and features Drowning The Light, Wardaemonic, Moon, Nontinuum and Tamerlan. Saturday kicks off earlier at 4pm and includes Vassafor, Pestilential Shadows, Spire, Order Of Orias, Erebus Enthroned, Ill Omen, Crowned and Sorathian Dawn. Sydney’s infamous, underground, highest-grossing, unsigned, love ‘em or hate ‘em pub band Dee Minor & The Dischords are back! Like another band further up the page, they are back from the dead after 30 years! They are rumoured to be heading into the studio at some point this year to finish off their long-awaited and three-decadesoverdue second album. To grease the gears, the
WAKE THE DEAD SKINPIN
UNDER THE SKIN
They’re trying to play in as many areas as they can, to live up to their motto ‘Have Band, Will Travel’. But, Skinpin chats to Drum about the difficulties that come with touring, and about how they managed to grab a support slot for one of their favourite international bands in the lead up to their shows Friday at the Lansdowne before supporting The Exploited on Friday 27 April at the Manning Bar. You had some setbacks with drummers when recording your album – is it too early to bring out the Spinal Tap jokes? No, I’d say it’s pretty right on. Did you ever feel like throwing in the towel at any point with the various setbacks? Not totally, but it was very difficult. If anything we were trying to think of other ways of doing the band. Like hiring drummers or only being a recording band. Thankfully we got through it and are a solid unit. You scored the support slot for UK band The Exploited. What are you most excited about touring with these guys? Mainly the fact that these guys were the first punk band I’d ever heard. I still remember my neighbour pressing play on his tape deck and The Exploited just exploded out of the speakers. So opening for them is a massive thrill. How are you going living up to the band motto of ‘Have Band, Will Travel’? How did you come up with this in the first place? Not so great at the moment because we haven’t really been playing anywhere but Sydney, but we do intend to get out and about more. It came about mainly because we’d pretty much travel anywhere to play a show. Also a lot of bands never try to go anywhere but in their home area. We never wanted to be that band. I really like playing to different areas. It’s just a little difficult to organise. 46 • THE DRUM MEDIA
METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC
So Record Store Day is just on the horizon! It’s really not that far away now (Saturday 21 April to be exact), and at the end of this week the official list of releases will be announced, so I should have more information about what you should all be keeping an eye out for in next week’s column as well as what some specialist stores will be doing to celebrate the annual event. In the meantime, one release I do know for certain is Resist Records will be putting out a 7” by I Exist that will be exclusively for this great day. The release will be titled Record/Resist and will be strictly limited to 250 copies. Recorded at vocalist Jake Willoughby’s home studio (named Riff Mountain) Record/Resist features a brand new song that goes by the name Fool For Death, as well as a cover of The Melvins’ Revolve. The release will only be available from a handful of independent record stores around the country on Record Store Day itself. I can’t remember if I mentioned it a few weeks ago or not, so bear with me if I did because it ties in nicely with the Record Store Day mention. Poison City Records are paying tribute to one of Australia’s greatest punk/ indie-rock bands, Melbourne’s Blueline Medic, in the best way they know how: by taking on the task of getting their extended family of bands to release Shuffle & Scrape, a collection of Blueline Medic covers by some of the best bands contemporary Australian punk/indie rock has to offer. Bands ranging from The Nation Blue to A Death In The Family to Jen Buxton to Jamie Hay with The Smith Street Band and back around again to Harmony, The Gifthorse and Paper Arms. The album is set for release this April on limited edition vinyl through Poison City Records, with a special colour version (silver-white moon I believe) available as a limited Record Store Day release only through Poison City Records. If you want to hear a snippet of what the release sounds like, head over to Bombshellzine where they are streaming The Nation Blue’s version of the track Shuffle & Scrape. A massive HAPPY BIRTHDAY has to go out to seminal punk rock outfit, Rancid, who celebrate their 20th year as a band this year. To commemorate this major milestone, Rancid are now streaming their entire back catalogue via their website, www.rancidrancid.com. To top it off, fans of the band (both old and new, no discrimination here) can expect the band to hit the
Well, the new guy absolutely slayed at Venom last week. If you missed it, then head to The Patch in lovely, sunny downtown Fairy Meadow hehehe – where Mortal Sin, who are now fronted by Dave Tinelt of Nekrofeist, will be belting out the trash like it’s 1985. Joining them will be Darker Half, who will showcase a bunch of stuff from their newie, Desensitized, and more thrash from Sydney’s Flaming Wrekage. The night will be opened by the local dudes from District whose rep has been slowly building. All this for the rock bottom price of $12!! Sunset Riot come down from the mountains, drive across the plain and hit The Richmond Inn tonight – good schnitzel there if you’re hungry! Solid Gold Hell is back at the Sly Fox tonight. Guest DJs include Toothless Yella from Glitter, Canyon, The Walk On By DJs and a few more, plus the regular (or is that irregular) Demonika and Cutthroat. Meanwhile at Venom, Breaking Orbit will headline another jam-packed night of noise that also includes Nobody Knew They Were Robots and Branch Arterial, who are up from Melbourne. Not Another Sequel, Just Another Prequel will be ending the night by launching their debut album. One of the most anticipated albums this year will be launched too. Meshuggah’s Koloss is a monster and if you’re lucky you might score a copy. The Mars Volta and Veil Of Maya also have new ones and they too are getting the launch treatment.
PUNK AND HARDCORE WITH SARAH PETCHELL
I EXIST studio to record a new album with Brett Gurewitz at some point this year as well. If you’re new to the band, get streaming and especially check out the albums … And Out Come The Wolves and Life Won’t Wait. Both are absolute punk rock classics!
and Sydney Converge-worship band Fixtures. I strongly recommend getting tickets on pre-sale for this because they won’t last long. This really is a lineup that isn’t to be missed, so see you all down there when doors open at what I’m guessing will be about 8pm.
Newcastle heavy metallic hardcore act, Dropsaw, are officially back in action, having torn audiences to shreds at the Break The Ice Festival in Melbourne a couple of weekends ago. To further cement the fact that they’re back heavier and harder than ever, the five-piece have released a free three-song EP as a download online (check out the band’s Facebook page for the link). Called For The Punters, the EP was recorded in Canberra with Jake Willoughby (of I Exist) at his aforementioned Riff Mountain home studio, and was mixed and mastered by Daniel Castleman (Sworn Enemy, Austrian Death Machine). As I mentioned, the band announced they were breaking up in late 2010, but late last year declared they were writing new material and would play sporadic shows. Welcome back, guys!
Heavy as all heck Californian hardcore act, Xibalba, are heading out to our shores next month for a pretty extensive run of shows. Last week, promoters Broken Hive announced who else would be supporting the band alongside Melbourne’s Warbrain as they tour the country. At The Loft in Newcastle on Saturday 21 April locals The Hollow along with Taken By Force and Blind Sight will be kicking things off. Then on Sunday 22 at the Masonic Hall in Blacktown, Shinto Katana, Aftermath, Legions and Death Toll will be supporting at this all ages show. Then at the 18+ show at The Wall at The Bald Faced Stag, Relentless, Civil War and Fixtures will be opening the show. Finally, at the show in Morgan’s Basement in Canberra, Sydney’s Endless Heights and Canberra’s Frail will be also be on the bill.
Looking for something to do on this coming Easter long weekend? Need to get a fix of the aforementioned Dropsaw? Destroy All Lines and Hot Damn have you covered, with a HUGE show happening on Sunday 8 April at The Exchange Hotel in Darlinghurst (Spectrum, 34B, etc.). The lineup really is massive to the point where I will actually look past how much I hate clubs and actually attend. You not only have Newcastle’s Dropsaw, but Antagonist A.D. from New Zealand are making the trek across the ocean, and these guys will all be joined by Pledge This, the absolutely fantastic Lo!
Sydney outfit, Ashes, will be celebrating the release of their self-titled debut EP this coming Saturday 31 March at the Roxbury Hotel in Glebe. They are the only, I guess, semi-punk sounding band on the bill taking their queues from mid-‘90s Australian rock, with a punk edge (think bands like Ammonia, early Superjesus and you’re probably on the right track…). But the band is great and the show should be a lot of fun. If you’re looking for something to do that night, head on down!
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wakethedead@drummedia.com.au
BUSINESS MUSIC
INVESTING IN CLUB MUSIC WITH PAZ
GHANA GET FUNKY
MusicNSW is pleased to announce Community Membership Numbers, which will allow anyone who signs up to our monthly newsletter access to a wide range of deals, special offers and discounts. To take advantage of special music industry offers, particularly the Virgin Australia baggage deal for musicians, QANTAS’ recent announcement of a similar program, and preferred registration for MusicNSW workshops as part of Vivid Ideas Exchange, all you need to do is sign up to our newsletter and get in touch with us to get your unique Community Member Number.
LOCAL PRODUCE
KONY STYLE PROMO
Business Music received an email this week enquiring if I was interested in paying $100 registration to perform at my local. It was part of the Emerganza Festival, which I initially thought was a Nigerian, lotto, Invisible Children festival scam. They offer some great prizes though, and recording dates with Kony, only they are scheduled for 2013, after the December 21 apocalypse. One of my favourite Soca promo sites, JamtoVibes. com, is feeling the pinch. Where once they were paid by labels to distribute the overwhelming amount of riddems that surface out of the Caribbean, they just sent out a $1000 FundRazr [sic] request via email. I’m a little ‘Kony’ about this one as well. At time of writing, the amazing DJ Bravo Carlton had donated a staggering $10. With a name like Bravo Carlton he is either a patsy or a Bel Aire debutante who should just buy the Caribbean.
VS BATTLES
Dubstep vs. Trance: According to the LA Weekly, DJ Fei Fei received death threats for playing dubstep after Armin Van Burin at the Beyond Wonderland! event
WORDS FROM THE PEAK BODY OF CONTEMPORARY MUSIC IN NSW WITH KIRSTY BROWN
NEW INITIATIVES AT MUSICNSW
Came across a mix/ad for the Easter edition of Afrocity in LDN. Produced by DJ Frenchkiss, it seems the West African pop sounds are merging with UK Funky and is now finding ground with the African immigrant population in the UK. On the evidence of the mix series and tracks, the vocals are a mix of English, Patois, French and any of the nine official languages of Ghana. Fun, not grimey, and the ad suggests being suited and booted, no singlets and thongs.
Lewis CanCut’s Social Mixer EP is out on Venezuelan label Cocobass. The track, Light It Up, is really burning up a few dancefloors and the 3Ball-flavoured Dollamite features another local favourite, Swick. Also found an amazing representation of Oz Moombahton on the recent release from the Top Billin label – with 12 original tracks and five Aussies in the mix. It looks like Too Fresh, Northie, Blaze Trip & Spenda C, The Mane Thing and Edo & Gilsun all hold it up for the green ‘n’ gold.
MUSICNSW
Please contact us on Info@musicnsw.com with your name and email address and we will reply as soon as possible with your unique number.
LEWS CANCUT in San Bernardino, So Cal. Love a purist, unless they are meth’d up steroid abusers with an iPhone. Best comments on her Facebook page: “So many trolls, so little time…” It seems it was trance nerds on a forum listening to the stream rather than the LA massive. Sampling vs. The Law: Received an email titled Call For Papers. Whiteowls, Rizzlas, Ventis? I threw them out years ago. Nah, this was a callout from the academics at The School Of Law, Deakin University. They are conducting a forum about sampling/remixing and current copyright laws, and are asking for ‘papers’ from those interested in contributing. Titled Remix Culture: Collage, Homage and Digital Sampling, it seems interesting, but is most likely a sausage fest of MPC ‘bros’. At the presentation forum they have a few documentary makers and academics, but also the infamous Darren Seltman of The Avalanches. The older I get the more I feel I gotta say something, then I think I’d rather just sample. Controllers vs. CDs: This debate surfaced again at the Store DJ Facebook page. CD kids hating on midicontroller kids. When will they learn that the ultimate battle is for Facebook ‘likes’. Store DJ affiliate DJ Kuya has been mentoring controller parts for a bit now, and anyone who says Kuya can’t DJ or is slipping are trolls; he’s recently been demoing the Tonetable app. I’m waiting on the cloud paywall vs. no paywall debate and it seems vinyl is floating as an obscure gentleman’s debate in a magazine that costs $27.50. WORD.
GET OUT OF THE BEDROOM AND INTO THE BOARDROOM!
MusicNSW is offering five NSW-based start-up music businesses an opportunity to rent our newly installed Hot Desks, located exclusively within the MusicNSW offices at the City of Sydney Oxford St Cultural Quarter. Since relocating to our new office space on Oxford Street, Darlinghurst, MusicNSW has set up five newly furnished hot desks which are available for either short term rental (two weeks minimum) or long term rental (three months maximum at this stage). Our hot desk initiative aims to provide small music businesses within NSW with the fundamental resources they need to either begin or expand the administrational groundwork of their business or projects increasing their industry professionalism and skills, whilst providing them with a fun comfortable working environment supported by the MusicNSW team. The hot desks will be available to successful applicants at a small rate of only $40 per week + GST. This cost will be inclusive of free access to WiFi ADSL2+; free printing, scanning and faxing plus open access to the MusicNSW meeting room. To apply for a hot desk, please submit an expression of interest to the MusicNSW Communications & Administrations Officer on scarlett@musicnsw.com. In your application, please ensure your answers address the following three (3) questions:
themusic.com.au
ADALITA 1. What is your business? 2. How will access to a hot desk benefit your business? 3. How long does your business require a hot desk?
DON’T FORGET! Big Sound Live 2012 is now open for Australian artists to register for the chance to perform in front of some of the most influential figures in the music industry. Taking place in Brisbane Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 September, the two-night music festival showcases artists in front of local, national and international music industry delegates attending the Big Sound Music Industry Conference held Wednesday 12 – Friday 14 September. Song Summit 2012 is open for registrations and the announcements just keep coming about who will be participating in this year’s incredible event. Megan Washington, Adalita, Kav Temperley, Abbe May and Catherine Britt join Neil Finn, Francois Tetaz and many more! Neil Finn will also be presenting an extraordinary documentary called The Sun Came Out. The documentary captures the world-class group of musicians he gathered together for three weeks only in 2009 to record The Sun Came Out charity album for Oxfam. The album featured acts such as The Smiths’ Johnny Marr, Radiohead’s Ed O’Brien and Phil Selway, Glenn Richards, Tim and Liam Finn and Wilco. The documentary captures the amazing creative process behind the making of the album and will surely be a highlight of the already impressive Song Summit 2012 program. MusicNSW will also be hosting a stall throughout the event, so pop by to get advice, resources and to meet the team.
THE DRUM MEDIA • 47
GET IT TOGETHER We’ve spoken a number of times recently about how Obese Records just keep kicking goals. Thundamentals are now huge in the East Coast Ivy League universities. Dialectrix has a reputation in Hollywood. And seven years on, Axis is surely due for recognition as one of the best albums this country has produced. Not satisfied with this, those Obese kids are at it again. They’re gearing up to release Obesecity 2, following up the compilation they released a decade ago called (you guessed it…) Obesecity. It’ll naturally feature a variety of artists; we don’t know who yet, though. Obese got us sitting on them tenterhooks for an artist list. But, what we do know is that you – yes you! – have a chance to be a part of it. We’re normally a little sceptical about band competitions and the like, but the opportunity to have you and your crew chucked on the next Obesecity is one worth chasing. To win one of the two spots available to competition entrants you must be unsigned and submit one fully-mastered track (one track only; submit any more than one and you’re disqualified) in .wav format between the hours of 9am and 9pm on Tuesday 1 May to operations@obeserecords.com. What does ‘mastered’ mean? We don’t really know! We understand it’s the process where you send your song to someone your cousin knows through uni, your cousin’s mate turns the volume up a bit and then down a bit, and then hands your track back to you with a substantial bill for his services. Good deal. Anyway, get writing, rapping, recording and get saving to pay those mastering fees. The JJ DOOM collaboration between DOOM and Jneiro Jarel is coming. We’ve discussed it before: there are no guarantees it will be great, but for those of us of a certain age, Madvillainy, DOOM’s collaboration with Madlib, will be forever ringing in our ears, and for so long as it does the promise of a new DOOM collaboration with a competent producer will always bring a small frisson of excitement with it. Key To The Kuffs is the album title and, noting JJ’s earlier work as Dr Who Dat, we’re really starting to get excited about it. What if it’s perfect, you guys? What if? New Chasm! The single is called The Truth and it features Hau, The Tongue and Dazastah. The album is called This Is How We Never Die and will be with us late in April. Real quick: whatever you think of the new track, we reckon Chasm is one of the best we’ve got (indeed,
BREAKDOWN
HIP HOP WITH VIKTOR KRUM
There’s a great, really eclectic mix of all ages shows on offer this week, and things kick off on Friday with the always reliable (weather permitting of course) and always free Courtyard Sessions at the Seymour Centre. This week Jenny Broke The Window provide the outdoor sounds from 6pm. That same night, orchestral-pop old mate Jack Colwell performs an all ages show with an orchestra, with support from Rainbow Chan, at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music. Entry is $20. On Saturday, Yelawolf play the Metro Theatre supported by Brigga and The Haveknotz for a licensed all ages gig. If you missed out on tickets to the Ball Park Music all ages show at the Factory Theatre on Friday night when they sold out, don’t stress, they’ve got another show, once again supported by Nantes and Cub Scouts, at the same venue on Sunday night. DOOM one of the best we’re ever likely to have). So a new album is cause for fanboy squealing. Eep! You know how Birdman had that thing where he would wear, like, three Rolexes on each arm just to show how rich he was? Yeah, it was brilliant, gross and depressing in equal measure. As a sign of conspicuous wealth, though, it was profound: “I am so rich that I own more stupidly expensive watches than I need. I care so little about what you think that I’m going to wear them all at once, even if it makes me look like a goof.” The issue always hung in the air: six simultaneous Rolex rich is pretty rich. How did it happen? Well, we might have a window into that now with EMI suing Birdman’s label Cash Money Records for unpaid license fees, many of which are in relation to Lil Wayne’s Tha Carter III. How did Birdman get rich? Hanging onto other people’s money is one way of going about it, I guess. One suspects that it’s EMI’s lawyers who will be six Rolex rich before all this is sorted out. Ol’ OFWGKTA. Wolf Gang. Golf Wang. Free Earl et cetera. Wait! What?! Earl’s free! Earl’s free, you guys. Thank goodness. We never quite figured out what happened there: jail or brat camp on a Pacific island. Still: freedom’s better than non-freedom. Welcome back, Earl. Now get back to music. getittogether@drummedia.com.au
POP CULTURE THERAPY WITH ADAM CURLEY
It’s been some months since this column itemised good new releases, perhaps because the year has been slow in throwing up exciting tracks and records thus far. Not so the last month, which has seen a breakout of a) East Coast bands putting out great vinyl, b) great mathrelated music high in the hurricane, and c) excellent lineups in irregular or out-of-the-way venues/spaces to launch them. Melbourne’s The Peep Tempel started out a couple years ago as a two-piece (guitar/vocals and drums) but have expanded with the addition of bass for their debut self-titled album, out through Waterfront Records. It’s been a pretty spectacular development, too: the band is now not only a serrated blade of garage rock but is able to pull some serious jerks and punctuate their crazed moments with heavy rhythm. The dynamic isn’t unlike that of Mclusky (RIP), but The Peep Tempel don’t mind exploding the rhythmic slabs with pure rock’n’roll melodies and fall-apart playing. It’s a truly excellent record from start to finish, out in multiple formats. It can also be streamed in full at thepeeptempel.com. Essentially the project of synth enthusiast Alex Akers, FORCES gained a bit of attention early in 2011 via a support slot for My Disco. Nowadays officially a duo (with Thomas Henderson on “percussion/programming” duties), the outfit recently released a 7” on Melbourne’s Nihilistic Orbs label, run by Shaun South of the band Chrome Dome and many DIY punk events. There isn’t anything ‘slick’ about Idolize or its B-side Safe Flight; it’s a back-room call out to ‘80s kosmische via the kind of electro happening at thrown-together Aus club nights about ten years ago, in a very appealing way. Apparently they’ll next be releasing through Midnight Juggernauts’ Siberia Records. Though they haven’t yet released the 7” it features on, Brisbane five-piece Tiny Migrants have given us a new single, Fishpond Goldmine, following their local support of Atlanta garage kings Black Lips. Taking lessons from Black Lips in giving a gimmicky name to their sound, Tiny Migrants call themselves “space garage pirates”. It fits: the new track is everything that’s good about the spidery surf-garage coming out of Brisbane of late. It can be heard at tinymigrants.bandcamp.com. Mastered by Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Mikey Young, the debut EP from Melbourne’s Citizen Sex – 48 • THE DRUM MEDIA
YOUNG & RESTLESS
Also on Sunday, Chatswood Youth Centre is hosting a huge bill of heavy bands from 1-10pm. It’ll only cost you $10 and you’ll get to see Taken By Force, Endless Heights, Civil War, Vices, Hold Your Own, Make No Mistake, Perspectives, The Takehold, Directions, Final Frontier, Ghosts, Cold Youth and Blind Sight. And finally, some words for those of you out there who fancy yourselves winning wordsmiths. Running until Thursday at Switch Digital Arts Centre in Parramatta is a series of ‘Wordshops’ run by Chicago slam poet Miles Merrill alongside our own MC Trey. The Wordshops will mentor young people to write, collaborate and perform their own poetry, stories, lyrics and monologues, and culminate in the Slamp Party, where teams battle it out to become Parramatta champions, winning the honour of representing Parramatta at the 2012 Writers Festival. Meanwhile in Blacktown, The Line makes its return for 2012, run once again by MCs Kween G and L-Fresh the Lion, with the assistance of DJ KNote. This Saturday, Blacktown PCYC hosts the hip hop workshop where you can work on lyrics with the theme of respect, and even have the opportunity to perform your song live on stage later that night. We lined up Kween G to learn a little more. What can you tell us about The Line? The line is a campaign that aims to develop healthy and respectful relationships amongst young people by using hip hop to get these messages through. The campaign’s priority is to reduce violence against women and young girls and for all communities to know that it
OG FLAVAS
ALL AGES WITH DAVE DRAYTON
KWEEN G AND L-FRESH is unacceptable. The Line is about changing the negative attitudes and behaviours that some young people carry with them to help avoid trouble. Why did you personally want to get involved? I have noticed behaviours in young people particularly in the area I live and felt that there is a lot of respect missing in today’s youth and bullying has increased from personal to social networks. When I first heard about The Line I thought they were just targeting domestic violence against women, which is a key issue. When the youth perspective came around I felt it was my opportunity to share some of my own experiences. What kind of things can people expect to learn during the workshop? L-Fresh and myself have helped to develop a manual using hip hop as a tool via lyrics writing and music production. We will be mentoring and teaching participants about knowing when they have crossed The Line with another person and how to respect that Line. The song theme for the workshop is ‘respect’. What does respect mean to you? Respect is something I give to someone to show that I regard their feelings, rights, culture and traditions. Respect is one of the most important qualities; without it we are nothing. If you can’t respect yourself, you can’t respect others. How is music useful when talking about the issues The Line campaign seeks to address? Music is the best tool to deliver any message, positive or negative. I’m happy that this campaign has chosen hip hop because I have learnt many valuable life lessons from emcess like Dead Prez, KRS ONE and Ras Kass. Creativity is something we all have in us and each one can teach one and share the message. allages@drummedia.com.au
URBAN AND R&B NEWS BY CYCLONE
KiD CuDi has cut a grungey track with Americana producer T Bone Burnett for The Hunger Games: Songs From District 12 And Beyond – singing, not rapping. His The Ruler And The Killer outrocks Lupe Fiasco’s Solar Midnite on The Twilight Saga: New Moon OST – it’s menacing. In fact, the illwave MC has lately introduced a low-key rock side-project, WZRD.
THE PEEP TEMPEL released independently as a limited edition 10” – brought a kick to the last weeks of summer (or the summery first weeks of autumn, really). Led in by firecracker single, Sodapop, which also comes with a hedonistic phone-recorded video, the recording has already visibly multiplied the band’s live audience. They launched the 10” on the rooftop of Melbourne’s Evelyn Hotel last week, their last gig before a three-month European tour. It might be hugely remiss to talk up a release I’ve not yet heard, but there’s a near guarantee that the new 7” from Sydney’s math-leaning indie rock (in the late-‘90s sense) group Intentions, titled Guilt Party, will be worthy of some airtime. The band has been really earning a rep for its gigs the past few years, playing everything from rehearsal spaces to galleries to lounge rooms and bringing emotion back to a genre that has largely shied away from pining vocalists the past decade. The scattershot itinerary for their current tour to launch Guilt Party is up at tohellwithintentions.wordpress.com. In favour of keeping this a list of Australian releases – ie. keeping away from a hyper rant about the new Beach House single – let’s finish with a brief but memorable folk track that has been getting some airplay on Sydney’s FBi the last fortnight: a song called Carried by Sydney’s Mammals, aka young songwriter Guy Brown. If harmony-filled folk is the current everything, Carried is an example of a local act really doing it well (joining fellow Syndeysider Caitlin Park in that regard): it presents no cold woodsy fantasy; there’s no sign of cultural cringe. This is dusty Australian folk, hot and lonely and beautiful. Find it at mammalsmusic. bandcamp.com.
Defining ‘urban’ music has become ever trickier now it’s so mainstream – artists are venturing out into electronica and rock. Even neo-soul acts are challenging genre parameters. Brit Michael Kiwanuka’s sublimely melodic folk-soul is being compared to the music of Bill Withers – and Van Morrison. Together with neo trip hopper Emeli Sandé, the cardie-wearing singer/ songwriter, rumoured to tour Oz mid-year, is among 2012’s most hyped newcomers. He won the BBC Sound Of 2012 poll, chosen by tastemakers, over Frank Ocean. (Last year Jessie J came out on top.) Kiwanuka was born in London, the son of refugees from Idi Amin’s Uganda. As a teen, he was into grunge and Brit-pop, but then Kiwanuka heard a raw outtake of Otis Redding’s (Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay on a Mojo magazine covermount CD – his musical epiphany. The ‘80s kid began to take an interest in rootsy music. It sounded ‘new’ to him. Along the way, Kiwanuka, who’s played guitar in rock bands, enrolled in the Commercial Music Performance course at the University of Westminster. He’d also worked as a sessionist in the grime rap world, but wasn’t feeling the music. Kiwanuka would perform his own acoustica on London’s live circuit, eventually aligning himself with Ben Lovett’s boutique Communion Records – a label identified with nu-folk (Lovett is a member of Mumford & Sons). He aired his first EP early last year. While Kiwanuka has cited the neo-soul D’Angelo (circa Voodoo) as a contemporary favourite, his stirling debut, Home Again, recalls Tony Rich, who enjoyed a mid-’90s hit on LaFace with the R&B-meets-country Nobody Knows. Kiwanuka isn’t Communion’s only ‘R&B’ artist. Last year Marcus Foster premiered with Nameless Path, home to the glorious Shadows Of The City. Inexplicably, his album slipped under the radar... Kiwanuka has chosen The Bees’ frontman Paul Butler as his producer, the pair bunkering down on the Isle of Wight. Home Again might have been recorded back
themusic.com.au
MICHAEL KIWANUKA in the ‘70s, such is its faithfully vintage timbre. The instrumentation is sumptuous, with horns, strings and even sitar. Indeed, Kiwanuka’s folky soul is fuller than Ed Sheeran’s. However, Home Again is an understated record. Kiwanuka rarely deviates from mellow midtempos. And, though his lyrics carry a gospel influence (I Won’t Lie), Kiwanuka is less communal than introspective. The album opens with the magnificent Tell Me A Tale, jazzy R&B psychedelia with flute. The atypically uptempo Bones harks back to Redding’s blues (and Raphael Saadiq’s recent Stone Rollin’) with doo-wop harmonies. Much has been made of Kiwanuka’s antecedents in R&B, but he draws equally from folk (he argues that Withers was a folk, not soul, singer). Throughout Home Again there are inflections of Morrison, who, ironically again, touts himself as a soulster. (The Irishman was dabbling in jazzy psy-soul as early as 1968’s Astral Weeks.) Kiwanuka’s darkest song, Worry Walks Beside Me, comes at the end. Kiwanuka has defended himself against charges of being ‘retro’: “The truth is there was no intention behind any of it,” he says in a press blurb. “There was no intention for my voice to sound old. The songs come out like they do because I like the sound of stuff like that.” His timing is spot-on. Given that Kanye West – a Redding fan too – has successfully collaborated with Bon Iver, alt.R&B kids are, like their indie cousins, clearly prepared to folk out. Certainly, big things are anticipated for Kiwanuka – who, incidentally, has covered Gotye’s Somebody That I Used To Know for Radio 1’s Live Lounge, underscoring his versatility. He’s already toured with another Sound Of... winner, Adele, and Universal are no doubt hoping her fans fully embrace him. ogflavas@drummedia.com.au
ROOTS DOWN
SUPPORT KOKUA BLUES AND ROOTS WITH DAN CONDON
this year’s bill is so deep. You’re looking at major artists walking on stage at one or two o’clock in the afternoon.
Firstly, my commiserations to anyone who can’t make Bluesfest this year, it’s going to be fantastic. But as it is undoubtedly the preeminent blues event in the country (and is delivering many wonderful sideshows to Sydney), I took the opportunity to chat with the festival director Peter Noble about his thoughts on this year’s bill. “We actually had someone real upset call here yesterday and they said they needed us to change the billing of some of the artists because they can’t see all of their shows,” Noble chuckles from his Byron Bay office. “I understand people really want to see the artist, but it’s really tough for us to deliver it in a way that everyone can see their favourite bands.” This year the festival has brought the likes of Crosby, Stills and Nash, Buddy Guy, John Fogerty, Yes, Donovan and Canned Heat to Australia, which has led some people to question if Noble is perhaps shooting for an older demographic. “I know quite early in the piece a number of people were saying ‘have you deliberately booked an older festival this year?’ I said ‘absolutely not, I don’t see it as that.’ I look at acts like My Morning Jacket, James Vincent McMorrow, Dawes and so many more and just think it’s no different to any other year. But people say ‘Well it doesn’t have Franti or Harper on it,’ and I say ‘Yeah, well it’s about time!’ “Maybe we have a lot of bands who maybe haven’t quite broken who have broken in other market – My
“We are a music lovers festival, we’re not much else. We don’t have all sorts of other things happening besides music, because in the end that’s what it’s all about. “I just feel like the mix is working at the moment, it’s the right mix of up and coming talent, jam bands, alt-country or Americana or whatever you want to call and certainly the right mix of the blues, it’s not overdone and it’s not underdone, it’s definitely there as the theme.”
PETER NOBLE Morning Jacket are quite a big band in the US but here…” Noble concedes that people often try and get into his head when they see who has been selected for any given year’s event and says they almost always overcomplicate it. “People often ask if I’m going back to the roots or booking more of the legendary; it’s amazing what people think I’m doing that I don’t realize I’m doing. I mean, I’m a pretty good band booker, that’s what I do well, but there’s no master plan other than putting on great music and making sure we’ve got all the bases covered.” While last year’s bill – featuring the like of Bob Dylan, BB King, Elvis Costello, Grace Jones and many more genuine superstars – might be hard to top, Noble’s goals are just to provide the best cross-section he can. “People asked how we were going to top last year with Bob Dylan etcetera and we haven’t really tried to. But
There are many different types of Bluesfest devotees; those who are just interested in the big name acts, those who feel the blues has been under represented on the lineup since its early days and some who steer clear of any acts of note in general. “There’s guys that wear a proud badge that every year they never venture to the Mojo stage and to the Crossroads stage only once or twice and they say that’s the best Bluesfest, what’s happening on those smaller stages,” Noble admits. “I kinda agree with that to some degree, because there’s so many up and coming artists that play those stages and a year or two later they’re in the big league. There’s an awful lot of those this year that people can catch.” Bluesfest happens at Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm from Thursday 5 – Monday 9 April.
Direct from Budapest, Hungary, six-piece Tükrös play the music of Hungary, Romania and Slovakia, 11.30am at the Union Theatre Hall Lithgow and 7pm in the Mid Mountains Neighbourhood Centre Hall Lawson, Friday, then Camelot Lounge Sunday. American gospel quartet Ernie Haase & Signature Sound are in Australia for the first time and perform in Newcastle Uni’s Great Hall Tuesday 3 April.
FRIDAY
MIKE NOCK
TUESDAY Matt McMahon Trio + Modern Mould – 505 James Valentine Quartet + Elana Stone – Golden Sheaf Gadjo Guitars + Ian Date – Camelot Lounge Shooglenifty – Clarendon Guesthouse
WEDNESDAY Greg Coffin Trio – 505 Elana Stone + Ngaiire – The Newsagency Shooglenifty (Scotland) – The Basement Paul Sun Trio – Jazushi
Sin City is the latest offering from 34B Burlesque and promises a night recalling the laissez faire days of Sydney in the ‘60s when gangsters, local and imported entertainers and the broad bohemian milieu all mixed together in speakeasy-style nightclubs in Kings Cross, Darlinghurst and the CBD. As usual there’s a gargantuan lineup of local and international burlesque talent including Lauren La Rouge, Kelly Anne Doll, Lulu, Baby Blue Bergman, Cherry Lush, The Big Spenders and Maple Rose, along with MC Bobby Goldsworthy and DJ Godfoot. Sin City is appropriately scheduled for Friday 13 April at 34B in the Exchange Hotel in Oxford Street. There’s a lot of excitement and anticipation regarding the combination of Rosie Ledet and Sydney’s own Bridie King at Notes Thursday 5 April. At her recent sell-out album launch at Notes, King handed out a hundred sampler CDs of Ledet’s, such is her enthusiasm in promoting the visit of Louisiana’s #1 female Zydeco star. In Australia for the first time ever
The Jason Bruer Band featuring Kristin Berardi – Sound Lounge Urban Gypsies Quartet – 505 Django 101 – Camelot Lounge Roger Vs The Man + Date Brothers featuring Daniel Weltlinger – The Basement Yuki Kumagai & John Mackie – Well Connected Café Glebe Taikoz & Satsuki Odamura – City Recital Hall Angel Place
SATURDAY Virna Sanzone – 505 Alfio – Lizotte’s Dee Why Mara! & The Martenitsa Choir – Live at the Village Springwood
SUNDAY
THURSDAY
Six Degrees – 12pm Mr Big Stuff Café Maroubra Pat Powell – 1pm Armory Wharf Dan Barnett Big Band - Unity Hall Hotel
Steve Barry/Eamon Dilworth – Colbourne Ave Glebe The Battlefield Band (Scotland) – Notes Enmore
blow@drummedia.com.au
THE SWAMP SHACK Mark Lucas and his long-time band, the Dead Setters, released their album, Putting On The Dog, some months ago as a digital download and have been busy promoting it with gigs around town. The album is Lucas’ fourth with the Dead Setters and sees a return to the Laughing Outlaw family. Like contemporaries such as label-mates Perry Keyes and Jason Walker, Lucas draws heavily on the urban culture and history of his own hometown for the inspiration behind many of his songs. Catch Mark Lucas And The Deadsetters this coming Sunday at the Royal Oak Hotel from 5pm.
APRA is again calling for Blues and Roots release information for analysis in relation to the Blues and Roots Work of the Year for the 2012 APRA Music Awards. This category is determined by broadcast performances on radio and TV as well as digital downloads and streaming. To assist with the collation of data for this category, APRA is calling for details of all new releases within the period of 1 July 2010 to 31 December 2011 that have been broadcast on radio or TV or received digital downloads or streaming. Songwriters should provide the following details: a) album title, b) song title with composer details, and c) date of release. The information can be registered on the APRA website www.apra.com.au/Forms/Blues. All details will need to be provided by Wednesday 11 April. Nominations for the Blues and Roots Work of the Year will be announced in late May with the winner acknowledged at an Awards night on Monday 28 May in Sydney.
KING RECOGNISED JAZZ/WORLD WITH MICHAEL SMITH
Mike Nock and his newest group, Trio Plus! – featuring Brett Hirst on bass and James Waples on drums (the Trio) along with saxophonist Karl Laskowski and trumpeter Ken Allars (Plus!), launch their album, Hear And Now, in the Sound Lounge Saturday night.
Rasa Sayang is an immersive, poetic and affecting work exploring memory and loss. It is a collaboration between director and dancer Tony Yap, composer/musicians Tim Humphrey and Madeleine Flynn, visual artist Naomi Ota and creative collaborator Ben Rogan. The inter-disciplinary performance work draws on traditional Indonesian and Malaysian shamanistic dance, butoh and physical theatre, and will be performed on Thursday and Friday at Blacktown Arts Centre.
WORK OF THE YEAR
roots@drummedia.com.au
BLOW Thursday sees Baecastuff reprise their Mutiny Music, which is based on musical themes from the period around 1830 when the children of the Bounty Mutineers and their Tahitian wives wrote a number of hymns that became the cultural identity of the community and is still performed at gatherings on Pitcairn and Norfolk Island today, at 505 in Surry Hills.
Friday 20 April sees the release of the album from Jack Johnson, Jack Johnson and Friends - Best Of Kokua Festival, featuring 13 tracks from Johnson’s benefit concert for the Kokua Hawaii Foundation, as will proceeds from an intimate seven-date all acoustic tour of the Hawaiian Islands. Highlights of the ecominded music festival album include collaborations with legendary musicians Willie Nelson, Jackson Browne, Eddie Vedder, Ben Harper, Dave Mathews, Ziggy and Damien ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley and many more.
ROCKABILLY/PSYCOBILLY/ALT.COUNTRY WITH PEDRO MANOY
MARK LUCAS AND THE DEAD SETTERS with her band The Zydeco Playboys, Ledet will also play two shows at Byron Bay Bluesfest. Her raunchy performances and explicit lyrics, laced with lots of double entendre might raise a few eyebrows, but her music is an engaging mix of blues, soul and traditional Louisiana styles. It’s great to see this week’s cover artist Trombone Shorty, also here for Bluesfest, has already sold out one Basement show and added another Wednesday 4 April. Think Green Day meets the Dirty Dozen Brass Band.
Herbie Hancock has launched an annual celebration International Jazz Day - as he believes what the world needs is “a little jazz diplomacy”. Since being named UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador in July last year, his first major initiative has been to establish International Jazz Day, to be held Monday 30 April. The inaugural event will see star-studded concerts in Paris, New Orleans and New York, as well as jazz-related events in several dozen countries around the world. As Hancock says, “Jazz has been the voice of freedom for so many countries over the past half century.”
COMPOSER COMMISSION The Melbourne Jazz Fringe is calling for submission for the 2012 Melbourne Jazz Fringe Festival Commission, which provides $1500 to a composer to write an extended work for an ensemble (greater than fivepiece) of his or her choice and also provides rehearsal and performance fees for ensemble players. The commissioned work will be presented by the 2012 Melbourne Jazz Fringe Board Sunday 13 May at Northcote Town Hall. For more information on how to apply, visit www.melbournejazzfringe.com.
WHAT A HERO!
Blues Pirates, Chris Turner & The Cavemen, Finn, Lucy Desoto, Phill Simmons and The Durham Project, The Rockwells and even more at the Bald Faced Stag Hotel. The Musos Club Jam Night moves to the Carousel Inn Hotel at Rooty Hill.
FRIDAY
BLOWN AWAY
Stormcellar deliver their down home swampy sounds at the Jannali Inn and the hard working Steve Edmonds Band get rootsy at Dicey Riley’s in Wollongong. The award-winning Don Hopkins plays the Piano Bar in the Menzies Hotel in the Sydney CBD.
Carrie Underwood’s new album, Blown Away, is due out Friday 4 May. The 2005 American Idol winner and now a multi-award-winning artist has already released the debut single from the album, Good Girl, which was co-written by with Chris DeStefano (Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bolton, David Archuleta) and Ashley Gorley (Trace Adkins, Brad Paisley). The album was produced by Mark Bright, who has produced two of Underwood’s previous albums and seven tracks from her debut, Some Hearts. Since her debut release she has sold over 14 million records in the US alone.
SUNDAY
BLUEGRASS BROTHERS
Blue Venom play the Vineyard Hotel in Windsor while Wards Express launch their brand spanking new EP at the Bald Rock Hotel.
SATURDAY
THURSDAY The Big Rock TV Show has an impressive roster with The
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The evergreen Musos Club Jam Night hosted by Jim Finn & Al Britton takes over the Bald Faced Stag Hotel.
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY
America’s legendary outlaw country music avatar, Willie Nelson, releases his highly-anticipated album, Heroes, Friday 11 May, his first release under his new deal with Legacy. Produced by Buddy Cannon, Heroes features a collection of pop-country songs including covers from the ‘30s and ‘40s and new songs by Nelson, his sons – Lukas Nelson and Micah Nelson (who cover Coldplay’s The Scientist) – and more.
The Steve Edmonds Band move to the Wallarah Hotel in Catherine Hill from 2.30pm while Finn play the Bull & Bush in Baulkham Hills from 3pm. Bryen Willems & The Boogie Boys are back in town playing the Marrickville Bowling Club from 4.30pm. The modestly named Little Blues Festival featuring Moondog Gypsy Blues from Queensland takes over the Toukley Golf Club from 5pm.
WEDNESDAY
Songwriter and performer, Carole King, will receive the BMI Icon Award at the forthcoming 60th annual BMI Pop Awards. Past recipients include Paul Simon, Brian Wilson, James Brown and Kris Kristofferson. The BMI Icon Awards were established in 2002 by Broadcast Music Incorporated to recognise the “unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers.”
themusic.com.au
Three-times Golden Guitar-winning bluegrass act, The Davidson Brothers, are bringing their high-powered acoustic show to Sydney and Canberra for the first time since 2006. Recently wrapping up a tour across Europe and an appearance at the 2010 International Bluegrass Awards in Nashville, the Victorian-based brothers Hamish and Lachlan are playing at The Waratah Hotel on Saturday 31 March. THE DRUM MEDIA • 49
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THIS WEEK IN
ARTS
LES LIASONS DANGEROUS
TUESDAY 27
SATURDAY 31
Jurassic Lounge – the best night out at a museum, like, ever. Up late at Australia Museum, featuring music from Bloods and The Fabergettes, a Sydney Comedy Festival preview with live stand-up from Jen Brister (UK), Francesca Martinez (UK), Markus Birdman (UK), Smart Casual, Cameron Knight and Rhys Nicholson, plus games, live art, board games, exhibitions and more! Australian Museum, from 5:30pm.
dLux – Belvoir and Griffin Theatre Company have been hosting exhibitions that explore the crossover between contemporary art and performance, with a collection showcasing the work of some of the most important Australian artists working in video, film and digital imagery today. Part of Art Month. Closing today, Belvoir St Theatre. Les Liaisons Dangereuses – by Christopher Hampton from the novel by Choderlos de Laclos. An aristocratic salon in a pre-revolutionary France soon escalates into a brutal battleground of sexual politics. Sex and love are the weapons of choice. Stars Hugo Weaving and Pamela Rabe. Preview performance, 8pm. Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company until 9 June. Migration – art is a universal language that can be read, understood and dealt with across borders, cultures and languages. Within this universal reading, what makes the artist a master is his personal “handwriting” with which he deals with fundamental issues of human, social and political existence, beauty and aggression, love and conflict. Presented by ARNDT Berlin. A group show featuring 20 artists. Part of Art Month. Closing Day. ARNDT Berlin Pop Up, Kent St. The New Electric Ballroom – directed by Kate Gaul, written by Enda Walsh, set in a remote fishing village on the West Coast of Ireland, three sisters are haunted by days gone by at The New Electric Ballroom where bodies would move, men crooned, champagne flowed and anything and everything was possible. A lyrical story about longing, broken hearts and the power of storytelling. A Griffin Independent production. Closing night, 7pm. SBW Stable Theatre.
WEDNESDAY 28 Africa United – directed by Debs Paterson, the extraordinary story of three Rwandan kids who walk 3,000 miles to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa, using a World Cup wall chart as their map. As they walk they gather a tribe of broken and brilliant characters who help them negotiate a way through Africa. Chauvel Cinema, 4.35pm. The Comedy Of Errors – Shakespeare’s furiously-paced comedy, staged in a contemporary world and now showing as part of the National Theatre Live series. Two sets of twins separated at birth collide in the same city; Am I on earth, in heaven, or in hell? Sleeping or waking? Mad or well-advised? Lenny Henry plays Antipholus of Syracuse in this comedy of mistaken identity that leads to mayhem and comic gold. Chauvel Cinema, 1pm.
THURSDAY 29 Seen And Heard Film Festival – Month-long short film festival. Screening tonight, Nothing Rhymes With Ngapatiji; Maxwell And Sierra And The Inside Out and Kinky Cousins, with the Bloody Lovely Audrey performing live. Closing Night. Red Rattler, 7pm.
FRIDAY 30 The Great Lie Of The Western World – building on their previous successes, That Old Chestnut and Thirty-Three, Cathode Ray Tube brings audiences a fresh Australian work that combines the familiarity of contemporary inner-city culture with the dynamics of a Greek tragedy. Opening night, 8pm. TAP Gallery until 28 April. SMART CASUAL
50 • THE DRUM MEDIA
ONGOING The Baker’s Dozen – an exhibition from 13 dynamic Australian women, featuring large sculptures and installations amongst signature paintings and smaller studies together presenting an intimate viewing experience. Includes work by Vivienne Binns, Bonita Bub and Debra Dawes. UTS Gallery until 5 April.
RETURN OF THE MAC
“YOU CAN SAY MACBETH UNTIL THE COWS COME HOME!” THE MAN IN THE TITLE ROLE, DAN SPIELMAN, DEFIES SUPERSTITION AND TALKS TO DAVE DRAYTON ABOUT RETURNING TO THE STAGE. No stranger to the stage – he has been seen in the likes of The Seagull at MTC and The Cherry Orchard at STC – Dan Spielman has been surprisingly absent of late. There was an ongoing role in television’s Offspring and, according to Spielman, various other projects unrelated to acting. Coming back to the stage for Bell Shakespeare’s production of Macbeth, Spielman says he is taking a fresh perspective on work, something he’ll certainly need given the task set for him and the rest of the cast by director Peter Evans, who for a long time has sought to collaborate with the actor. “Although I’ve known him for twelve or thirteen years and we have expressed the intention of working together, this is our first outing. This was a surprise, a very large surprise,” Spielman says of landing the lead role. “We hadn’t found the right thing, we’d done a few workshops and bits and pieces together before but we hadn’t found the right project and when he approached me about this last year it was a big surprise and it seemed immediately the most appropriate thing to do; jumping in the deep end together.” Adding to the appeal of working with Evans, and the fortuitousness of the timing, with Spielman re-evaluating his approach to the craft, was Evans’ continued collaboration with Nigel Poulton and their exploration of a physical movement system derived from theories of Russian theatre director Vsevolod Meyerhold, which heavily informed their production of Julius Caesar for Bell last year. “It’s the pinion to the work,” Spielman suggests. “It’s the centrepiece to the rehearsal practice and it involves us spending a good deal of each morning – two or three hours
of each day really – on this exhausting and thrilling physical practice. There’s a combination of a really thorough and intense physical warm-up or workout, which at times just looks like boot camp, with this physical movement system devised from Meyerhold’s ideas and a system called theatrical biomechanics. “A lot of times it feels a bit like, ‘Oh, are we going to get to the play at some stage this week?’” jokes Spielman. “But what that does is it conditions and trains the body to perform movement and tasks in a very dynamic and physically visceral way. It strips us of our ego and petty, supercilious thoughts, simply by virtue of exhaustion and focus and concentration, but it also provides us with a very specific language with which to explore the space of the stage and the language of the play.”
can’t we listen to the ACO whilst having a glass of wine?’” Vänskä jokes. “And you can do that at these licensed venues. It’s a much more informal setting than the concert hall, so it’s not that scary for people to come into it.”
said the Opera House is used 70 per cent more for pop acts than before. So, okay, if all pop musicians are going to the Opera House, then we classical musicians have to go the music venues! Which suits us really well because I personally do prefer playing in smaller venues rather than really big halls. It’s more intimate, you have more connection to the audience.”
With a nuanced physical language shared amongst the cast, the language of the play has come in unadorned and led to a streamlined production of Shakespeare’s shortest tragedy. “There’s very little fat in the play anyway, but what’s happened is it’s been streamlined and intensified further within its structure so that there are fewer and more interesting, or more intense, voices. And what ultimately the production heads toward and focuses on is a kind of psychic space, a descent into agony, both for Lady Macbeth and Macbeth. It’s a kind of psychic focus rather than a more baroque or a more exposed descent into madness. What it culminates in is a disintegrating poem in the mind of this king who’s fallen to pieces.” WHAT: Macbeth WHERE & WHEN: Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House Friday 30 March to Saturday 12 May
UNDERGROUND SATU VÄNSKÄ TELLS DAVE DRAYTON HOW PLAYING THE STANDARD DIFFERS FROM THE CONCERT HALLS THE WORLD CLASS VIOLINIST USUALLY FREQUENTS. When in Sydney the Australian Chamber Orchestra can most commonly be found at the Opera House, or within the grand space of the City Recital Hall at Angel Place. So you can be forgiven for thinking it a little odd that their upcoming show, ACO Underground, is in the comparatively smaller – and, one could argue, inebriated – surrounds of The Standard. But as Satu Vänskä, who will lead the ensemble at the venue, points out, it’s something the players have wanted to do for a while. “For a long time there’s been a wish from some of our concert audiences and also from the players, that we should be playing in a different type of venue – not only in the normal concert hall setting – and also to make a concert that would be more attractive to the people who would be interested in music and classical music but wouldn’t necessarily want to go to a concert,” Vänskä explains. “And also, to have a concert where the ticket prices are radically cheaper than the normal concert hall setting.” Of course, such a desire is not without its hurdles, especially
considering the ACO’s extensive international commitments and regular touring schedule. “There was always the questions; when and how would we do it? And how would we find the time to put it into our schedule? But I think the most important thing was to find the venue. I put my hand up and said, ‘I’ll do this thing, I’m quite happy to do it,’ because I feel quite passionate about it, that we should be playing to wider audiences.” The energy and excitement with which she discusses the upcoming show make this passion all the more obvious. “Then we found The Standard, which is really quite a wonderful venue, and that then inspired the idea that one can programme very different types of things when you have that kind of music club.” Vänskä is referring to an eclectic programme that includes everything from Vivaldi to Radiohead, from Nick Drake to Paganini, to be performed by an amplified ACO and special guest, former Midnight Oil now The Break guitarist Jim Moginie. “And also there’s always been a wish for many people that say, ‘Why
Besides the wine, and more miscellaneous programming opportunities, Vänskä says there was another contributing factor to the all-important selection of venue for this debut ACO Underground outing. “I read a report maybe a month or so ago somewhere, maybe the Sydney Morning Herald, that
WHAT: ACO Underground WHERE & WHEN: The Standard Sunday 1 April
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UNIQUE PORTAITS OF THE EVERYDAY
LIFE AFTER WARTIME SENSING SOMETHING FISHY, ACTOR REBECCA ROCHEFORD DAVIES COULDN’T WAIT TO HIT THE FLOOR AND INVESTIGATE DONALD MARGULIES’ TIME STANDS STILL, SHE TELLS DAVE DRAYTON. “Rehearsals are my favourite part of the whole process, to be honest,” Rebecca Rocheford Davies says earnestly, while, much to her joy, in the thick of rehearsals for Time Stands Still. “I love getting on the floor and bashing it around and there’s lots of really juicy things to work on with this and we’re having a really good time with it. And as an actor doing a piece of work on stage, well, it’s my first love. It reminds me of why I really love acting.” On top of starring in the play, Rocheford Davies is also producing it with her company Fishy Productions, who have exhibited quite a taste for the work of the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Margulies. “Fishy Productions is an actor/writerbased company and we’ve been together for almost ten years now reading material on a fairly regular basis from all over the world; we’ve been reading American stuff, Irish stuff, Australian stuff. I’d gotten hold of this play and we read it at one of our readings and it really grabbed us. We were there for an hour/an hour and a half after just discussing all the characters and it’s themes of the media and relationships. It really grabbed hold of us as people and to me that’s always the mark of a really good piece. “We previously did two productions of Donald Margulies’ play, Dinner With Friends, so I did a bit of research and saw it hadn’t been done in Australia yet and we were able to get the rights and was incredibly happy about that. We wanted to work with Kim Hardwick again, who worked with
us on Dinner With Friends as well so I was just really happy to have that team back together again. But this play is an entirely different animal than Dinner With Friends was. But as we found with Margulies’ writing before, he’s a very clever writer and there’s nothing in there that doesn’t need to be. Everything has got its reason.” Time Stands Still follows photojournalist Sarah (Rocheford Davies) and her partner, a foreign correspondent named James, as an injury caused by a car-bomb forces them to return from abroad to a more normal life. “It’s very topical right now with the way the world is,” says Rocheford Davies, acknowledging the way that wars, even those abroad, are permeating thoughts, actions and choices on personal and national scales at home. “I think we’re evolving into a new world and the war does play a big part in this, but it almost acts as if it’s another character in the play. It’s not a play about war, really, it’s a play about these relationships. “It’s about how they can live outside of the adrenaline-fuelled life they are used to living. They both return home to Brooklyn - she’s a photojournalist and he’s a foreign correspondent - and they have to deal with living with each other and dealing with an ordinary relationship outside of a war zone, which is a completely different thing.” WHAT: Time Stands Still WHERE & WHEN: Darlinghurst Theatre Friday 30 March to Sunday 22 April
NO SUCH THING AS NORMAL BRIT FRANCESCA MARTINEZ IS CURRENTLY DOING A STRING OF SHOWS IN SYDNEY AS PART OF A BEST OF BRITISH SHOWCASE, BEFORE HEADING TO MELBOURNE’S COMEDY FESTIVAL. NICK JARVIS SPEAKS TO THE COMEDIAN. The first thing you’ll notice, seeing Francesca Martinez do her thing live, is that she’s ‘wobbly’. By which we mean she has cerebral palsy, so a slightly slurred voice and random twitches are par for the course. The second thing you’ll notice is that she’s incredibly funny. Most comedians mine their self-indulgent feelings of ‘otherness’ to extract the nuggets of funny – Martinez has had an entire lifetime of being immediately defined as ‘other’ by pretty much everyone in the world, and she spins that comedy advantage into pure gold. (Sample gag: “The school kids near my house love me, they always imitate my walk when I’m going by, and my dad gets furious, he’ll storm up to them and say, ‘NO – you do it like this…”)
Martinez has been writing and performing comedy since 2000 (before which, as a teenager, she starred as the first main disabled character in BBC kids’ drama, Grange Hill). And she debuted on the stand-up scene by winning the Best New Comedian award at Edinburgh – no mean feat. Her latest show, What the F**k is Normal? Reloaded!, is her personal answer to the question, “what do you do when you’re labelled ‘abnormal’ in a world obsessed with normality and fitting in?”, and is the culmination of more than ten years of stand-up craft. “It’s ironic that I’m still labelled a disabled comic,” says Martinez, “because from the first show I ever did I was questioning how we label each other, and in my experience the
HILTON OWEN HELD HIS DEBUT SOLO EXHIBITION AT AGE 17, WHERE ALL WORKS WERE PROMPTLY SNAPPED UP. THE TASMANIAN PAINTER HAS SINCE EXHIBITED SOLO NINE TIMES, AND THIS WEEK HE RETURNS TO FRIENDS OF LEON IN SURRY HILLS. JAKE MILLAR SPEAKS TO THE ARTIST. Being an artist is a tough gig. Hard work is one of the few guarantees and even then it can take years of private toil before your efforts are rewarded with public recognition – if they ever are. At least, that’s how it usually goes. But not for Tasmanian painter Hilton Owen. He was just 17 when he held the first solo exhibition of his work, and as if that weren’t impressive enough, all of the work sold. Yet despite his early start, it has always been Owen’s talent – not his age – that’s on display. This latest exhibition is no different.
on everyday scenes - take Two People On A Couch or Lady Pouring Coffee, for instance - but the surreal, almost dreamlike composition of his paintings creates a fascinating contrast between the mundane and the extraordinary; the real and the imagined.
This collection of 14 new artworks, fittingly titled New Painting 2012, brings Owen to Sydney’s Friends Of Leon Gallery in Surry Hills. “The exhibition is a series of figurative paintings,” Owen explains. “And for this exhibition I have put more of a focus on how I’m painting rather than what or why, but there are ideas and themes about the objects in our everyday lives.”
Each of Owen’s pieces tends to blur the lines between the person and the object, raising questions about the place of everyday objects in our lives and the way we interact with them – or even depend on them. His muted colour palette – an almost antique aesthetic of black and white and washed-out browns – also creates a contrast between modern and the retro.
Indeed, much of Owen’s work draws
“The materials I use are dictated
“I don’t really know where the forms in my works come from but generally my inspiration is spur of the moment,” Owen explains. “For the last few years I’ve also been studying philosophy and I’m sure it has had some impact on my work.”
HILTON OWEN – TWO PEOPLE ON A COUCH
by whatever it is I need to do within the painting. So I use oil paint for the portraits and acrylic for the larger areas of the paintings, and sometimes I use pens and charcoal too.” While other artists have influenced Owen’s work, he mostly takes his cues from the world around him. “I used to look at a lot of other painters but I haven’t really done that for a while, I haven’t felt the need. I’ve always liked Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud, but my other interests outside of painting probably influence my work mostly, such as music, movies and books. “ In terms of his own artistic career, Owen certainly, obviously, got out of the blocks pretty quickly, but for him, being an artist is more of an outlook than an occupation.
“I started exhibiting paintings fairly young and I had been visually creative as a kid, but I don’t think there was a specific time that I became an artist – I’ve always seen it as more of a state of mind.” In any case, with so much achieved in such a short time, the future must surely be looking pretty bright. “You never really know what’s going to happen,” Owen admits. “But I’m looking forward to travelling in the later part of the year, setting up some more shows and working hard.” WHAT: Hilton Owen: New Paintings 2012 WHERE & WHEN: Friends Of Leon Gallery Thursday 29 March to Sunday 15 April
IN DEMAND PHOTOGRAPHY A SITE-SPECIFIC WORK BY GERMAN ARTIST THOMAS DEMAND, IN A FASCINATING MARTIN PLACE HOTEL, IS THE LATEST KALDOR PUBLIC ART PROJECT. JOHN KALDOR SPEAKS TO JAKE MILLAR ABOUT THE ARTIST, AND THE IMPORTANCE OF EXHIBITING AWAY FROM “WHITE SPACES”. Photographs rarely tell the truth. Not the whole truth anyway. And it’s something German conceptual artist Thomas Demand knows all too well. His photographs of reconstructed scenes push the illusion of photography even further and form the basis of the 25th instalment of the acclaimed Kaldor Public Art Projects. Viewing Demand’s fascinating images it’s hard to tell the real from the imitation – if your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you, the artist probably is. Don’t miss it. “He’s one of the world’s most important contemporary artists and he has a great international reputation,” explains art patron John Kaldor, the brains behind the Kaldor Public Art Projects. In fact, Kaldor not only admires Demand’s work but has been an avid collector, and three of Demand’s pieces were among the $30m haul Kaldor recently donated to the Art Gallery of NSW. Demand is renowned for his full-scale recreations of scenes, created entirely from paper and card, and then photographs. The result is an image
of an imitation of reality; a fact only revealed by the tiniest hints left behind – a paper fold here, a crease there.
only normality there is, is difference. So these labels that try and separate people I find divisive, and in the end it just makes us all feel that there’s a secret club that we’re all trying very hard to fit into, when actually that club doesn’t exist. A real revelatory moment was when I realised that I’d never met a normal person before.” Being wobbly has other, more tangible benefits, like, “Getting out of housework! My brother always says ‘You got exactly the right level of cerebral palsy to get out of all the housework!’ He’s very jealous. My disability is a great cover for my
laziness!”
Titled The Dailies, this project sees Demand apply this technique to snapshots from everyday life – fleeting moments that caught his attention. It may sound straightforward, but this project has been several years in the making. “We brought him to Australia about three years ago to look at sites for the project,” Kaldor recalls. “We showed him empty warehouses, art deco theatres and even a housing commission complex.” Though Demand wasn’t quite convinced. Then, while walking through the Sydney CBD, he spotted the Commercial Travellers’ Association building, an intriguing, mushroomshaped complex that sits overlooking Martin Place. Immediately he knew it was the location he wanted. The building’s fourth floor is home to a small, circular hotel and it’s here that the project takes place. On the wall of
For Martinez, comedy is about more than gags - it’s also an opportunity to challenge people’s views. “I think comedy is a unique art form in that it allows you to cut through the chit chat and to just address difficult topics, but in a really light-hearted way. I’m interested in questioning accepted ideas in all areas because I think it’s so important not to just accept the views that society and those in power hand down to you. “I think all art should aspire to say something of value, so I want to
each of its 15 compact rooms, Demand has installed one of his Dailies – often relating to something in or around the room itself. It’s a fascinating space but it’s also, quite frankly, a little bit odd. Like being in a David Lynch film. An effect compounded by the fact that each of the pod-like rooms is, architecturally speaking, a mirror of the previous one. But Demand was right; if ever there was a place that lends itself to the project, it’s surely this. It’s the first time Demand has worked in a public space, and Kaldor says his projects are a valuable opportunity to see art outside of gallery walls. “Artists like Thomas show all over the world in the so-called white box, and whether it’s in London, New York, Shanghai or Sydney, in the end they’re just white spaces. So by finding interesting locations, it grounds the project into an Australian setting so that it becomes part of our artistic history.”
There will also be a series of ‘Parlour’ events taking place, where visitors can view The Dailies after hours and take part in activities and modelmaking workshops, and enjoy films, discussions and talks. Oh, and cocktails. Thanks to Demand’s impressive contacts, this project also includes collaborations with Miuccia Prada (yes, that Prada – a friend of the artist, no less), who has created a unique room scent for the occasion, and American writer Louis Begley (the author of About Schmidt) has also contributed a short story. It’s fascinating. It’s free. It’s not to be missed. WHAT: Kaldor Public Art Project 25: Thomas Demand: The Dailies WHERE & WHEN: CTA Club, Martin Place until 22 April
believe that everything I say on stage is the best it can be. I think having an audience’s attention is a huge privilege so I want to leave them with something beyond laughter that they can take home with them. I think that the power to choose what to think is the only real power we have, so I’m passionate about questioning how we view the world around us.” WHO: Francesca Martinez WHAT: Best Of British showcase WHERE & WHEN: The Comedy Store, Moore Park until 30 March THE DRUM MEDIA • 51
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C U LT U R A L
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WITH JAMELLE WELLS Production started this week on The Shire, a reality sho based at Sutherland. Network Ten commissioned the series, which will follow the lives of what it says is a ‘unique sub-culture’ in Australia. But Sutherland Mayor Carol Provan, who used to flog Danoz Direct products on daytime television and is now a marriage celebrant, has lobbied against the series. A YouTube video, which has now been removed, suggested it could portray the area’s young single residents in a ‘raunchy’ way. Australia’s first reality television series, Sylvania Waters, was filmed in the area in 1992 fir the ABC. Broadcaster Alan Jones tells us he’s off to Melbourne to continue playing former US president Franklin D Roosevelt in the musical, Annie. Jones was cast by producer John Frost. Annie opens for a three-month season in Melbourne’s Regent Theatre in May.
his other characters, Les Patterson, has become a celebrity chef and that Dame Edna will be discussing her spiritual journey. The funeral for former Aussie game show host Ian Turpie was packed last week at Lane Cove in Sydney’s north-west. The 68 year old former host of The New Price Is Right was remembered by showbiz friends, wife of 44 years Jan, children Michelle, Sacha and Joshua, and grandchildren. A portrait of actor John Wood by Raelene Sharp has won this year’s Packing Room Prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales. The winner is picked by staff who hang the entries for the annual Archibald portrait prize. Sharp’s work is titled A
Strength Of Character. Channel Ten’s highly promoted Young Talent Time has been pulled from its prime-time Sunday timeslot this week. The show, hosted by Johnny Young 24 years ago, was reinvented this year with Rob Mills hosting. It’s been moved from the Sunday night 6.30pm timeslot to 7pm Fridays to make way for The Biggest Loser. YTT had over a million viewers when it was relaunched but has struggled for ratings since. Masterpieces By Picasso attracted more people to the Art Gallery of New South Wales than ever before, breaking a record set in 1988. We’re told more than 339,000 tickets were sold for the exhibition. The number of visitors is rivalled only by the Gold Of The Pharaohs exhibition, which attracted 323,300 people in 1988. RAELENE SHARP – A STRENGTH OF CHARACTER
Members of Canberra rock band TONK have received compensation from Fox after one of their songs were used twice on American television series, How I Met Your Mother, without permission. The band says another group played their song Golden Girl. The band has an agent in the US who markets their music to studios for movies, television shows and ads. The creator of Dame Edna Everage, Barry Humphries is about to embark on a goodbye tour. The 78 year old has says his Australian tour, Eat Pray Laugh!, which kicks off in Canberra in June, will be his “fond farewell”. He recently told the media one of
HAVE FRIENDS AND VISIT THEM AT NIGHT AUSTRALIAN TOUR 2012
“SMRTS IS THE SOUND OF WORLD MUSIC DYING AT THE HANDS OF GARAGE ROCK”
FRI 9 MARCH // LANSDOWNE HOTEL SAT 10 MARCH // THE TOWNIE SUN 11 MARCH // BLACK WIRE RECORDS HAVE FRIENDS AND VISIT THEM AT NIGHT OUT NOW ON VINYL LP AND DIGITAL DOWNLOAD THROUGH HEARTLESS ROBOT PRODUCTIONS
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MADE YOU
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WITH BETHANY SMALL Hey you guys. So, I am dying of Art Month. Thus, in the spirit of Heaps Innovation And Not Burnout At All, No Way, here is a selection from my live-tweet of the Emerging In The Arts: Achieving Acclaim In Australia Today talk with Kate Mitchell, Adam Norton and Adam Geczy from last Thursday. This is, like, totally a real-time Borges’ mapmakers witty insight into mediated experientiality and shit, I swear. And the reverse chronological order makes it all the more legit on account of how, vide Sonic Youth, Confusion Is Sex. – AG: most ppl he talks to take 10yrs to rly prprly become an artist, “which is as long as it takes to become a specialist surgeon” #emergeAMS – AN: documentation is crucial -- AG: make sure your shows ramify as far as possible #emergeAMS – AG: you’ll meet curators & writers at openings, & you CAN invite these ppl to yr shows. (Don’t do it genetically though.) #emergeAMS [meant to read ‘generically’] – AG: show galleries that you’re professional & can follow through. In a show, do a catalogue, ask galleries if they can help getting a review – KM: “People WILL criticise you” -- you need to be certain about what you put out in public sphere & keep confidence #emergeAMS” – AN: do put yr self out there, but be rational & selective -- don’t kill yrself entering prizes if you might not fit/ connect #emergeAMS – AG: read arts writers for business as well as interest. Can get you an intro, a meeting, a person on your side #emergeAMS
– AG: develop techniques where you begin to get to know people. Subscribe to art mags, get yrself feeling like you’re part of the art world – AG: make grant apps & attending opening part of yr job even if you don’t like or are frightened by them #emergeAMS – AG: “There’re a lot of tenacious bad artists who’ve made it.” #emergeAMS Points for a Beckett ref, but he did slightly misquote :( – AN: “Do stuff with other people; in 10yrs time they’ll have proper jobs.” artists, curators, etc #emergeAMS – AN: group show: all have fanbases, brings different ppl to shows. “That’s a good plan: organise shows with more famous people!” #emergeAMS – AN: popularity of warehouse shows in LDN - great, but below commercial radar #emergeAMS – AN: replicated warehouse format in ‘Big Painting’ show at Fraser Studios (hi @queenststudio) #emergeAMS
– AN: “I’ve done this ‘emerging’ thing a couple of times now...” Good to get away from art school - teach format of history of art #emergeAMS – AG: studio immersion isn’t necessarily the ideal. “Artists have always spruiked.” #emergeAMS – AG: making art is like a relationship, within you & outside you. Many people break up with their art at the 10yr mark #emergeAMS – AG: on art students being trained vocationally to be an artist, but there isn’t a straight-up career trajectory. #emergeAMS – KM convinced by post-COFA being an ESL ‘edutainer’ in Japan that she did, yeah defs, want to be an artist. #emergeAMS – How to get from art school to ‘doing art’? #emergeAMS – Front-row dorkout @artspace_ sydney for Emerging in the Arts, with Kate Mitchell, Adam Norton & Adam Geczy. #emergeAMS http:// pic.twitter.com/kN1KmmWD Is it April yet?
TOUR GUIDE FEATURE TOUR
THE BON SCOTTS
Melbourne septet The Bon Scotts are releasing a 2-for-1 single and touring once again. The band will be hitting the road to celebrate the release of their double A side Let’s Do What The Catholics Do/ Here Comes Summer. Playing a unique brand of folk pop full of sarcastic rebellion, sweet melodies and resonant catch cries, they’re playing Thursday 29 March at Old Manly Boatshed, Friday 30 at The Vanguard, Saturday 31 at the Grand Junction Hotel Maitland and Sunday 1 April at the Brass Monkey.
DRUM PRESENTS
DIRTY THREE @ SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE. PIC: LINDA HELLER-SALVADOR
DIRTY THREE
SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE CONCERT HALL 21/03/12 It’s been seven years since Warren Ellis, Mick Turner and Jim White (aka Dirty Three) have been able to play new material to their adoring fans in Australia. The fact we were treated to snippets of stunning new album Toward The Low Sun in such an auspicious venue seems fitting for a band that has so radically captured the beauty and tempestuousness of the Australian landscape.
Turner seemed rooted to the spot, standing side-on to the audience directing his attention to the flurry of flailing arms that was drummer Jim White. Because Ellis was the charismatic focal point, it would’ve been easy to miss White’s intensity behind the kit, but oftentimes the speed and dexterity of White’s work was the starting point for the constantly building visceral punch that this music was able to project.
But there were also moments to reminisce. A band with a 20-year career can’t help but look back occasionally. Older songs like Everything’s Fucked, Sue’s Last Ride and Some Summers They Drop Like Flies reminded the audience of how the trio have evolved over the years. This time there was even a keyboard onstage for violin player Ellis to sometimes sit down at. But as Dirty Three regulars would know, Ellis was never able to stay still for too long. Ellis has always been the whirling dervish at the centre of the band’s live show and on this occasion he yelped and howled, played his instrument lying facing the drum kit, kicked his leg out in the air to punctuate particularly emotive moments and stalked around with his massive beard flying. In contrast, guitarist Mick
It was a relief in between the music to be able to laugh at Ellis’ poetic musings. He riffed on topics as ludicrous and diverse as a love child between Bono and Gina Rinehart opening a Harry’s Café de Wheels to sell pie floaters, Justin Bieber’s hair killing the ozone and by extension polar bears, playing pinball on cheap amphetamines and telling the audience, “this pub closes at 11pm”. There is no band in the world quite like the Dirty Three. Theirs was a stunning dynamic to watch – these three musicians, each with such different approaches to music, coming together to create something so unique and breathtaking in its intensity.
THE BON SCOTTS: Mar 29 Manly Boat Shed, Mar 30 The Vanguard, Mar 31 Grand Junction Hotel, Apr 1 Brass Monkey DEAD TO ME, COBRA SKULLS: Mar 30 ANU Bar, Mar 31 Annandale Hotel, Apr 3 Yours & Owls, Apr 4 Newcastle Leagues Club, Apr 5 Central Coast Hotel JOHN HIATT: Apr 3 The Metro TROMBONE SHORTY: Apr 3 & 4 The Basement Circular Quay BUDDY GUY: Apr 4 Enmore Theatre BLUESFEST: Apr 5 – 9 Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm BLITZEN TRAPPER: Apr 5 Oxford Art Factory GREAT BIG SEA: Apr 5 The Basement KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD: Apr 5 The Factory YANN TIERSEN: Apr 5 The Metro FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS: Apr 7 Factory Theatre ALABAMA 3: Apr 7 Manning Bar SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM: Apr 7 The Hi-Fi ZIGGY MARLEY: Apr 8 The Metro DAVID BROMBERG BAND: Apr 9 The Basement Circular Quay BLEEDING KNEES CLUB: Apr 11 Beach Road Hotel, Apr 12 Transit Bar, Apr 13 Oxford Art Factory, Apr 14 (day) The Factory Floor, Apr 14 (eve) The Patch SEASICK STEVE: Apr 12 The Metro THE BEARDS: Apr 18 Great Northern Newcastle, Apr 19 ANU Bar, Apr 20 Manning Bar JAY & SILENT BOB: Apr 20 & 23 Enmore Theatre PASSENGER: Apr 21 Factory Theatre LAST DINOSAURS: Apr 21 Oxford Art Factory, Apr 22 Transit Bar, Apr 29 Oxford Art Factory DIG IT UP!: Apr 22 Enmore Theatre, Notes Live, The Green Room, Sly Fox SYDNEY COMEDY FESTIVAL: Apr 24 – May 12 various venues THE GUM BALL: Apr 27 & 28 Dashville BIG SCARY: Apr 27 Oxford Art Factory GOSSLING: Apr 27 Clarendon Guesthouse; Apr 28 The Basement Circular Quay, Apr 29 Brass Monkey FU MANCHU: May 3 The Hi-Fi KIM CHURCHILL: May 3 Brass Monkey, May 4 The Standard, May 5 & 6 Heritage Hotel, May 11 Transit Bar MOUNT KIMBIE: May 4 The Hi-Fi BIC RUNGA: May 8 Lizotte’s Central Coast, May 9 Lizotte’s Newcastle, May 11 Gordon Theatre, May 12 City Recital Hall Angel Place ANDREW WK: May 10 The Standard THE MACCABEES: May 10 Metro Theatre PUBLIC ENEMY: May 11 The Metro GROOVIN’ THE MOO: May 12 Maitland Showground, May 13 University Of Canberra DEAD LETTER CIRCUS: May 23 The Patch, May 24 Zierholtz @ UC, May 25 The Hi-Fi, May 26 Entrance Leagues Club, May 27 Cambridge Hotel
Danielle O’Donohue
themusic.com.au
TIM RIPPER OWENS: May 24 Cambridge Hotel, May 25 The Basement Canberra, May 26 The Hi-Fi, May 27 The Patch BOY & BEAR: May 30 State Theatre, May 31 Newcastle Uni, Jun 1 ANU Bar, Jun 2 Waves, Jun 17 Entrance Leagues Club YOUNG GUNS: May 31 The Hi-Fi COME TOGETHER: Jun 9 Big Top Luna Park
NATIONAL
JACK LADDER: Mar 27 Brass Monkey, Mar 28 Clarendon Guesthouse, Mar 31 Chino’s BALL PARK MUSIC: Mar 28 Bar On The Hill, Mar 29 Uni Bar Wollongong, Mar 30 The Factory, Mar 31 Transit Bar, Apr 1 The Factory LOVERS JUMP CREEK: Mar 29 Beach Rd Hotel TIN CAN RADIO*: Mar 29 Beach Road Hotel, Mar 30 FBi Social, Mar 31 Oxford Art Factory THE BON SCOTTS: Mar 29 Manly Boat Shed, Mar 30 The Vanguard, Mar 31 Grand Junction Hotel, Apr 1 Brass Monkey RICK PRICE: Mar 29 Lizotte’s Kincumber, Mar 30 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Apr 1 Lizotte’s Newcastle THE HERD: Mar 30 Manning Bar, Mar 31 Cambridge Hotel MINX: Mar 30 La La Land, Apr 13 King Street Hotel STICKY FINGERS: Mar 30 Upstairs Beresford SUPER BEST FRIENDS: Mar 30 King’s Cross Hotel, Apr 26 Transit Bar Canberra THE FUNKOARS: Mar 30 Tradies Club, Mar 31 Entrance Leagues Club, May 5 Annandale Hotel TIMOTHY NELSON & THE INFIDELS: Mar 30 The Vanguard TUMBLEWEED: Mar 30 Wollongong UniBar, Apr 13 Newcastle Leagues, Apr 14 Annandale Hotel ALISON WONDERLAND: Mar 31 Oxford Art Factory, Apr 14 Trinity Bar Canberra, Apr 20 King St Newcastle ELEN LEVON: Mar 31 Establishment, May 18 Mean Fiddler AUDREY AULD: Apr 1 Clarendon Guest House THE NEARLY BROTHERS: Apr 4 & 5 The Vanguard BEN SALTER & JOE MCKEE: Apr 4 Yours & Owls, Apr 6 Front Gallery, Apr 7 Petersham Bowling Club GIN WIGMORE: Apr 4 The Vanguard JAREK*: Apr 4 Phoenix Club, Apr 5 The Patch, Apr 7 Bald Faced Stag, Apr 8 Annandale Hotel CARAVANA SUN: Apr 5 The Rhythm Hut, Apr 6 Great Northern Hotel Newcastle, Apr 28 Beach Road Hotel DANGEROUS!: Apr 5 Gee Whiz, Apr 7 Northern Star Newcastle WOLF & CUB: Apr 5 Goodgod BAG RAIDERS: Apr 5 Australian Hotel, Apr 5 OneFiveOne, Apr 6 The Criterion Hunter Valley, Apr 13 Trinity Bar Canberra, Apr 15 The Ivy EMMA RUSSACK: Apr 6 King’s Cross Hotel, Apr 7 Chino’s, Apr 8 Yours & Owls RON S PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS: Apr 7 The Vanguard DEEZ NUTS: Apr 7 Annandale Hotel, Apr 9 Oasis Youth Centre THE DRUM MEDIA • 53
KRYSTLE WARREN @ THE VANGUARD. PIC: MACLAY HERIOT
TOUR GUIDE SERIOUS BEAK*: Apr 7 Lansdowne Hotel SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM: Apr 7 The Hi-Fi TWISTED AFFECTION: Apr 11 Loft Youth Centre, Apr 12 Hot Damn, Apr 13 The Lair, Apr 14 Spectrum, Apr 18 ANU Bar GREENTHIEF: Apr 11 Cambridge Hotel, Apr 12 Yours & Owls, Apr 13 The Basement Canberra, Apr 14 The Square BLEEDING KNEES CLUB: Apr 11 Beach Road Hotel, Apr 12 Transit Bar, Apr 13 Oxford Art Factory, Apr 14 (day) The Factory Floor, Apr 14 (eve) The Patch BLUEJUICE: Apr 12 Waves, Apr 13 The Metro SET SAIL: Apr 12 Grand Junction Hotel JOHN BUTLER: Apr 12 Civic Theatre Newcastle, Apr 13 Canberra Theatre Centre, Apr 27 & 28 The Metro EMMY BRYCE, KATE VIGO: Apr 12 Clarendon Guesthouse, Apr 13 El Rocco’s N’FA JONES*: Apr 12 Factory Floor, Apr 13 Cambridge Side Bar OCEANICS: Apr 12 Lansdowne Hotel, Apr 13 World Bar, Apr 14 Oxford Art Factory UNDERLIGHTS: Apr 12 Cambridge Sidebar, Apr 13 The Standard, Apr 14 Yours & Owls HIS MERRY MEN: Apr 13 Eastern Lounge, Apr 14 Macquarie Hotel, Apr 15 Lansdowne Hotel MY DISCO: Apr 13 Goodgod SIDETRACKED FIASCO: Apr 13 Town Hall Hotel, Apr 21 Holy Grail, Apr 27 Dice’s Irish Pub, Apr 29 Old Manly Boatshed THE GOOD SHIPS: Apr 13 The Vanguard THE MCCLYMONTS: Apr 13 Belmont 16ft Sailing Club, Apr 14 Castle Hill RSL THE BEARDS: Apr 18 Great Northern Newcastle, Apr 19 ANU Bar, Apr 20 Manning Bar PASSENGER: Apr 21 Factory Theatre LAST DINOSAURS*: Apr 21 Oxford Art Factory, Apr 22 Transit Bar, Apr 29 Oxford Art Factory BIG SCARY: Apr 27 Oxford Art Factory GOSSLING: Apr 27 Clarendon Guesthouse; Apr 28 The Basement Circular Quay, Apr 29 Brass Monkey KIM CHURCHILL*: May 3 Brass Monkey Cronulla, May 4 The Standard, May 5 & 6 Heritage Hotel, May 11 Transit Bar DEAD LETTER CIRCUS: May 23 The Patch, May 24 Zierholtz @ UC, May 25 The Hi-Fi, May 26 Entrance Leagues Club, May 27 Cambridge Hotel BOY & BEAR: May 30 State Theatre, May 31 Newcastle Uni, Jun 1 ANU Bar, Jun 2 Waves, Jun 17 Entrance Leagues Club
INTERNATIONAL
KRYSTLE WARREN: Mar 27 The Basement Circular Quay, Mar 28 Street Theatre SHOOGLENIFTY: Mar 27 Clarendon Guesthouse, Mar 28 The Basement Circular Quay, Mar 29 Great Northern Newcastle DURAN DURAN: Mar 27 Sydney Entertainment Centre, Mar 31 Tempus Two Winery Hunter Valley TIM MCGRAW & FAITH HILL: Mar 27 Allphones Arena G3: Mar 27 Royal Theatre, Mar 29 Newcastle Panthers, Mar 30 Hordern Pavilion EVANESCENCE: Mar 28 Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Mar 29 Sydney Entertainment Centre JOHN COOPER CLARKE: Mar 28 Brass Monkey, Mar 29 The Basement Circular Quay BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB: Mar 28 Oxford Art Factory, Mar 29 The Metro EILEN JEWELL: Mar 28 The Vanguard, Mar 29 Clarendon Guesthouse, Mar 30 Brass Monkey, Mar 31 The Vanguard, Apr 1 The Vault NICK LOWE: Mar 29 Sydney Opera House Concert Hall HOWIE DAY*: Mar 30 The Standard THE ROYAL BATHS: Mar 30 Annandale Hotel BRAIN SETZER’S ROCKABILLY RIOT: Mar 30 Enmore Theatre, Apr 5 Newcastle Panthers DEAD TO ME, COBRA SKULLS: Mar 30 ANU Bar, Mar 31 Annandale Hotel, Apr 3 Yours & Owls, Apr 4 Newcastle Leagues Club, Apr 5 Central Coast Hotel EFDEMIN: Mar 30 One22 GARDEN PARTY feat. THE FREESTYLERS, MARTEN HORGER, BOY 8 BIT: Mar 31 Ivy Bar YELAWOLF: Mar 31 The Metro MANIK: Mar 31 One22 LOS CHICOS: Mar 31 Sandringham Hotel, Apr 1 Cabbage Tree Hotel BOY 8-BIT: Mar 31 Ivy 54 • THE DRUM MEDIA
MOSH BEN ARI: Apr 1 Oxford Art Factory ANGELIQUE KIDJO: Apr 2 Sydney Opera House Concert Hall MY MORNING JACKET: Apr 3 Enmore Theatre LUCINDA WILLIAMS: Apr 3 State Theatre JOHN FOGERTY: Apr 3 Sydney Entertainment Centre JOHN HIATT: Apr 3 The Metro TROMBONE SHORTY: Apr 3 & 4 The Basement Circular Quay JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE: Apr 4 Factory Theatre STEVE EARLE: Apr 4 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Apr 8 Factory Theatre, Apr 9 Concourse Chatswood BUDDY GUY: Apr 4 Enmore Theatre BLITZEN TRAPPER: Apr 5 Oxford Art Factory GREAT BIG SEA: Apr 5 The Basement Circular Quay KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD: Apr 5 The Factory YANN TIERSEN: Apr 5 The Metro MARTIN BUTTRICH: Apr 5 Civic Underground EARTH WIND & FIRE: Apr 5 Hordern Pavilion KRS-ONE: Apr 5 Enmore Theatre, Apr 13 Southern Cross Entertainment Centre ROSIE LEDET: Apr 5 Notes ICED EARTH: Apr 5 The Hi-Fi NEW FOUND GLORY: Apr 7 Big Top Luna Park SUBLIME WITH ROME: Apr 7 UNSW Roundhouse THE SPECIALS: Apr 7 Enmore Theatre ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA: Apr 7 Metro Theatre, Apr 8 Newcastle Panthers VEIL OF MAYA: Apr 7 SFX JACQUES GREENE: Apr 7 Oxford Art Factory VUSI MAHLASELA: Apr 7 The Basement Circular Quay FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS: Apr 7 Factory Theatre ALABAMA 3: Apr 7 Manning Bar BASS DRUM OF DEATH: Apr 7 FBi Social SEAL: Apr 8 Royal Theatre, Apr 19 Sydney Entertainment Centre ZIGGY MARLEY: Apr 8 The Metro DAVID BROMBERG BAND: Apr 9 The Basement Circular Quay STIMMING*: Apr 9 Abercrombie Hotel TONY BENNETT: Apr 9, 11 & 12 Sydney Opera House JAMES VINCENT MCMORROW: Apr 9 & 11 The Vanguard SETH LAKEMAN: Apr 10 The Vanguard THE POGUES: Apr 11 Hordern Pavilion SEASICK STEVE: Apr 12 The Metro THE VERLAINES*: Apr 12 Red Rattler, Apr 13 Spectrum MACEO PARKER: Apr 13 & 14 The Basement Circular Quay YES: Apr 13 State Theatre THE WEDDING PRESENT: Apr 13 Annandale Hotel ONE DIRECTION: Apr 13 Hordern Pavilion COSMIC GATE: Apr 14 The Metro PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT: Apr 14 Enmore Theatre AMON AMARTH: Apr 14 The Hi-Fi FU MANCHU: May 3 The Hi-Fi BIC RUNGA*: May 8 Lizotte’s Central Coast, May 9 Lizotte’s Newcastle, May 11 Gordon Theatre, May 12 City Recital Hall Angel Place ANDREW WK: May 10 The Standard THE MACCABEES: May 10 Metro Theatre PUBLIC ENEMY: May 11 The Metro
FESTIVALS BLUESFEST: Apr 5 – 9 Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm SHOREFEST: Apr 14 St Leonard’s Park DIG IT UP!: Apr 22 Enmore Theatre, Notes Live, The Green Room, Sly Fox THE GUM BALL: Apr 27 & 28 Dashville NEWTONS NATION: Apr 27 – 29 Mt Panorama GROOVIN’ THE MOO: May 12 Maitland Showground, May 13 University Of Canberra VIVID LIVE: May 25 – Jun 3 Sydney Opera House SNOWY MOUNTAINS OF MUSIC*: Jun 8 – 11 Perisher Snowy Mountains DARLING HARBOUR JAZZ & BLUES FESTIVAL: Jun 9 – 11 Darling Harbour COME TOGETHER: Jun 9 Big Top Luna Park SYDNEY BLUES & ROOTS FESTIVAL: Oct 25 – 28 Windsor * indicates new or amended listing this week
have made a killing and those with puffy shirts and gold-frogged jackets were resplendent. Georgie Girl & Her Poussez Posse hit the stage and they cranked out a set with slurred licks, undulating hips and a delicious cover of Addicted To Love with less slink and heavier bass. These girls don’t mess about between numbers, but set ‘em up and knock ‘em out in quick succession. A definite highlight was show closer When Was The Last Time You Had Sex, a rollicking bollocking delivered by a pin-up come to life, writ large. Adam Ant & The Good, The Mad & The Lovely Posse took the stage to howling, thunderous applause and cranked out a show that mixed the big hits Ant Music – dedicated to Molly Meldrum – Goody Two-Shoes and Stand And Deliver in with the raucous punk stuff so beloved by fans, like Physical (You’re So), Whip In My Valise and Beat My Guest. The house was split between the sold-out dress circle and the packed front of stage, with empty space behind. Not that this deterred him from putting on a show worthy of his glory days with his sense of timing and the old moves very much intact. Georgie Girl returned to the stage several times, in each appearance in a different outfit, each more revealing than the last until she performed the two encores in her leopard print underwear, with the first encore featuring an anecdote about bumping into Marc Bolan in a London record shop before a great Get It On cover. “This is a song that got me in a lot of trouble; what’s new? When I wrote it we all thought we knew who killed JFK. Must have been a bloody good shot,” he said wryly before launching into Catholic Day.
KRYSTLE WARREN, PIERS TWOMEY THE VANGUARD 23/03/12
The night started later than expected with a couple of technical glitches and what seemed perhaps to be an elongated eating period, as the clinking and clanking glasses and plates went well past the time support Piers Twomey was expected to take the stage. When the local singer/songwriter and accompaniment did, the earthy indie pop (with Twomey and sweet female vocals from Joy Howard) was well received but unfortunately didn’t quite demand the attention it deserved. Partly it was the delay and partly anticipation for the total command we knew headliner Krystle Warren would have and supporting her was always going to be a tough ask. Indeed, when Krystle Warren bounded onstage she owned the place. A physically unassuming figure, she began with the slow and sweet Love You that built from a basic serenade to include a cute jazzy break. Unlike earlier, you could hear a pin drop (or wine bottle top pop) throughout and it’s a command Warren kept, deservedly. The rest of the set was a collection of banter and more jazz meets pop meets soul tunes, allowing those in the room with no prior knowledge to be blown away, while the devoted happily heard their faves peppered with stories of Warren’s relative nervousness about flying (“it’s sad to have someone go… and cavity searches are scary”) and some terrible, but knowingly so, “doctor doctor” jokes. Never taking herself too seriously, Warren sat during her particularly solemn I Worry Less because “she’s a serious singer/songwriter”, while bouncing around for other “more fun tunes”, peppering her own work with breakout lines from standards like The Look Of Love and A-Tisket, A-Tasket for good measure. She also included a tune with words composed by William Blake (who she happily called “Billy”), called The Clod And The Pebble that combined an old school ornateness with a perfectly paced melody. The soaring vocals and offbeat lyrics of Year End Issue (“All I need is trousers, socks and underwear”) and Arizona, proved, as Warren warned, that, “I can’t do half-arsed emotion”. For her encore we were given a choice of Nick Drake or The Beatles and as the latter won, Eleanor Rigby was delivered off mic – and divine. Liz Giuffre
ADAM ANT & THE GOOD, THE MAD & THE LOVELY POSSE, GEORGIE GIRL & HER POUSSEZ POSSE ENMORE THEATRE 23/03/12
It was fairly easy to spot fans making their way to the Enmore, purveyors of zinc cream must
themusic.com.au
Those feeling old should take heart from the fact that Prince Charming himself is 57 and still disports himself with a verve and aplomb that the decades have not diminished. Just don’t call him a ‘New Romantic’. Fiona Cameron
BORIS, LAURA, SLEEPMAKESWAVES METRO THEATRE 22/03/12
Sleepmakeswaves echo elements of bands like Decoder Ring and Mogwai and they produced a soft/ heavy sound that was prog-rock and atmospheric. Despite a loyal following, their set didn’t feel quite in the same calibre as the headliners, partly due to the absence of a number of their slower songs that err on the ambient scale of rock. That said, there is still some room to improve and perhaps expand on the slower soundscapes that didn’t quite get a run on the night. Laura, in the same vein as the other two bands they were sandwiched between, relied heavily on guitars and effects, employing what looked to be a 1950s switchboard along with heavy guitars, to create noise that was 12 parts drone and nine parts reverberating vocals. Again, an encouraging audience helped the band as they meandered through track after track of dreary melody and skewed rhythms, however it sounded like a few parts skipped a beat and it was hard to tell whether this was done on purpose or not. Boris were welcomed by the reduced capacity crowd at the Metro and much time on the night was dedicated less to conversing with the audience (apart from a spectacular “Hello Sydney!” halfway through their set) and more transfixed with building their own wall of sound, apparently more popular in the west than their home country of Japan. Much of their appeal stems from their willingness to continually experiment with sound and their stripped back approach in creating noise has a unique way of fiddling with your insides, but being accessible enough in some aspects to not have to concentrate too much. With this on full display on the night, song after song was met with enthusiasm and applause and, as much as it’s a novelty, it was extra special to watch lead vocalist, bass player and guitarist Takeshi crucify his double-neck custom dual bass and six-string headstockless axe. The band’s take on everything cool about punk, thrash, post rock and metal was delivered with what can be described as a clash of cultures and the band’s interpretation of the aforementioned genres was and is a refreshing interpretation, showcasing a band still at the height of its powers. The night however ended on an awkward note (where they appeared to have no concept of licensing hours) and it clearly wasn’t the band’s fault for not returning to the stage for an encore, despite the persistence from the crowd. Adam Wilding
crop being waved down the front was only a little more mystifying than the dude playing helicopter with his t-shirt. “There are some people here very obsessed with everyone taking their clothes off. I’m not going near you,” said Mackay.
With Herb Pederson playing acoustic guitar and Chris Hillman swapping between his acoustic and a lovely looking mandolin, the pair worked their way through their collective musical history, playing songs they made famous with The Byrds, Flying Burrito Brothers, The Dillards and the Desert Rose Band and dropping in a couple of songs made famous by their friends including Emmylou Harris’ first hit single, the Louvin Brothers’ song If I Could Only Win Your Love.
But it certainly didn’t deter his forays down to the crash barrier, or a huge singalong on Farewell Rocketship. Jelly Legs and Fire Engine wound up the show, as Mackay’s stated dislike of orchestrated encores put paid to that. Judging by the reaction, no one minded.
While Hillman was a crack mandolin player – the epic solo of Byrds’ classic Eight Miles High was jawdroppingly good – it was the way the pair wove their voices around the classic Americana melodies that made this a truly special night. The chorus of Sin City, the return of Mr Tambourine Man’s country-esque jangle, Pederson’s sparse but beautiful Close The Door Lightly – there were many highlights to the set.
Fiona Cameron
BUTTERFLY BOUCHER, HOT SPOKE!, MORGAN JOANEL THE VANGUARD 24/03/12
Easing the post-dinner crowd into the night at The Vanguard was hippy chick Morgan Joanel with a mixture of original acoustic pop numbers and a strangely chosen Rihanna track thrown in for good measure. Accompanied only by an acoustic guitar and loop pedal, Joanel achieved an impressive depth of sound and some clever harmonies for a one-woman-show. CHILDREN COLLIDE @ THE METRO. PIC: JOSH GROOM.
CHILDREN COLLIDE, DEEP SEA ARCADE, PALMS METRO THEATRE 24/03/12
Unlike just about every other Children Collide show played in Sydney, there were a decent scattering of eager punters but nothing like the usual throng. Once inside, the auditoria’s curtained off back end made it was clear it was going to be a more intimate show than anticipated. The nice floppy-haired indie boys Palms got things off with their take on tightly presented ‘60s-infused jangly guitar pop. They like to mix things up in terms of pace and beat, but hang on to the same guitar elements throughout, which adds a repetitive element to it all. The synchronised bobbing was entertaining; they got a few big cheers from the sparsely peopled room and closed out with a number that went to town with big thumping drums. Deep Sea Arcade certainly gave their new album a good showing with their set, taking us into the surf tunes territory that calls to mind the very early Beach Boys, coupled big atmospheric soundscapes. It might sound an odd combination but it’s one that gets the boys in the audience shaking their arses and plastering on the big cheesy grins. Children Collide’s set kicked off with Chosen Armies and the familiar rabble-rousing good times began; the last it seems we will share with this incarnation of the band, considering the imminent departure of drummer Ryan Caesar. The set mixed crowd favourites Skeleton Dance, My Eagle and Loveless with the new like Cherries and erupted in a blaze of feedback and epilepsy-inducing lighting on We Live In Fear. “Someone’s written you a love letter Ryan and they spelled your last name right,” said frontman Johnny Mackay as he caught a package tossed on stage. Meanwhile the significance of the riding
Not on the advertised line-up but a great addition was folk/country quartet Hot Spoke!, lifting the tempo up a notch with tracks from their forthcoming EP. Singer Vanessa Jade’s soothing yet powerful voice has an uncanny resemblance to American darling Jewel, however her stage presence could have done with an injection of energy, leaving enthusiastic bass player Huntly Gordon to steal the show. Choosing to perform solo with the addition of just a few samples on some tracks, Butterfly Boucher owned the stage, grabbing the audience’s attention throughout with her funny banter and striking vocals. Openers Life Is Short and For The Love Of Love from her first two albums were an instant hit, followed by new track The Weather that showed a definite change in artistic direction towards a more individual sound, thanks to her newfound independence from her previous record labels. A succession of flawlessly played tracks from all three albums followed, memorably an acoustic version of Another White Dash, the heartfelt Warning Bell and finishing with the first single from her self-titled new album, the energetic 5678! No encore followed to the disappointment of fans, but Boucher did take the time to stick around and chat to her dedicated followers. It was a nice feelgood gig for a long-awaited homecoming for the now Nashville based, Adelaide born artist. Helen Lear
CHRIS HILLMAN & HERB PEDERSON, BRENT PARLANE NOTES 25/03/12
On Sunday night in a small club in Newtown, Chris Hillman and another country rock hit-maker Herb Pederson took a leisurely stroll through their past and put on a show that deserved a much larger audience. Brent Parlane was the support and you could hear the influence of the headliners in his gentle acoustic songwriting. The pleasant set really started to pack some punch before Parlane wrapped things up.
The only thing that could’ve made this night even more magical was more stories about the songs. The pair has such a history in that ‘60s alt.country/ folk rock scene, the few times Hillman or Pederson talked about a song’s origins it felt like a real insight into such an influential world, but then again, more talking would have left less time for the music. Hillman suggested it had been 30 odd years since either musician had been in Australia. Maybe they need to start planning a new tour and this time make the set twice as long – time for stories and for those incredible voices to be raised up in song. Danielle O’Donohue
JAMES WALSH, SARAH MCLEOD THE STANDARD 24/03/12
Sarah McLeod is that mixture of rock pig, total fan and complete dag in equal measure. Tonight, all were on display as she scrambled onstage late apparently having slept through soundcheck and most of the show’s prep, quickly tuning and checking her levels while the room was being warmed by a chatty, if not particularly tough crowd. After some gentle persuading, half the room moved forward to sit and stand down in front and although the Saturday night chatter of The Beautiful People up the back was clearly distracting her (she used a mixture of school teacher instruction and headmistress guilt to try and shut them up), she ploughed on. She played a mixture of old Superjesus tunes, new stuff from her all girl project Screaming Bikini (who sound like they’ve got some awesome rock tunes to come) and some solo stuff. Unexpected but well done was the cover of Jay Z’s Empire State Of Mind to end – that McLeod girl is fearless and you have to love that, even if you think the leather pants are naff. Taking the stage with only a minimum of changeover fuss was James Walsh, his floppy hair and gorgeous face sticking out above the crowd. Although the chatter remained (thankfully at a slightly lower volume), his set, like McLeod’s, really deserved more attention that it received. A combination of old songs (all the way back to Starsailor’s first album, with the gorgeous Poor Misguided Fool) to flash forward to tracks that are literally only a little while old (We Could Try, complete with a strange, but appealing Casio-like recorded accompaniment), Walsh kept up the spirits and held the room with good melodies and that voice. Yes, that high, airy, but somehow also grounded voice. Of course he also pulled out Four To The Floor (the tune that really made it for them), complete with a minor tech glitch as the song went from acoustic to part dance tribute (more Casio goodness).
As those that follow him online are aware, Walsh also loves a good cover and these were given an airing tonight including bits and pieces of The Stones’ You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Here Comes The Sun by the Fab Four and a completely unexpected, but quite fabulous croony, sexy duet to end, as McLeod and Walsh shared the stage for a piano/guitar boy girl serenade to Accadacca’s You Shook Me All Night Long. Part tribute to his touring audiences, part nod to just an awesome tune, it would have been naff in the hands of less talented souls, but here it was a fine addition indeed. Walsh promised to make it back again with the band sometime soon, so get your Chisel requests ready for next time. Liz Giuffre
KYLIE MINOGUE
BIG TOP, LUNA PARK 20/03/12 With no support, no dancing boys, no hydraulics and no fancy costumes, Kylie Minogue embarked tonight on a ‘just because she could’ mini tour. Called the Anti Tour, it was a proud collection of B-Sides, rarities and otherwise ‘anti big show’ tunes. It allowed the hardest of hardcore to out themselves, but also offered a real in for those of us who may have given up on her when she dropped that Jason bloke, turned the stage show up to 11 and became a Baby Madonna. But, with respect, Minogue has followed a line Madge pioneered – surrounding herself with great songwriters who helped her hone her skill. The set began with Magnetic Electric from her tenth album X, then Minogue along with a small four-piece band and three backing vocalists took us up and down the career superhighway, crashing between decades and songwriting collaborations with ease. The ‘80s pop cheese (and commercial gold) of the Stock, Aitken, Waterman years were marked with those distinctive keyboard riffs that somehow remain superglued to blue eye shadow and big curly perms, but the tunes still had their original plastic charm. In particular Made In Heaven (the original B-Side to 1988’s Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi single) and I’m Over Dreaming (Over You) (the B-side to Better The Devil You Know) were highlights. We’ll forgive her for sneaking in an actual single there too, such as Got To Be Certain (from her very first album – and this writer’s very first one, too. Every single line was STILL inexplicably in my head). Beyond this, Minogue pushed forward to the ‘90s and noughties, with some great tunes co-written by some other industry greats as she – and they – moved upwards and onwards. With Steve Anderson (a super producer/composer who Minogue also thanked for being in the audience) she wrote Bittersweet Goodbye, plus with the fabulous Disco Down each song got a good airing and great reception tonight despite having been overshadowed at the time (they featured on Light Years – you know, that one Spinning Around was on in 2000). Another highlight and gear change was the Calvin Harris/Jake Shears collaboration Too Much, originally from last album Aphrodite and an absolute cracker that got all hands in the air and downstairs bits moving (choose your own adventure there – boogie and sexy combined)! Tonight was worth it to see what absolute quality is still in the back pocket after the feathers, glitter and “Na Na Na”s are set aside. Liz Giuffre
HAVE YOU BOOKED YOUR SPACE FOR
YOUTH WEEK 2012?
APRIL 13TH – 22TH
THERE HAS NEVER BEEN A BETTER TIME TO BRAND YOUR BUSINESS WITH THE YOUTH OF AUSTRALIA. CALL JAMES FOR MORE INFORMATION
PH: (02) 9331 7077 ON THE STREET - 10/03/2012
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 55
FOLK ME
UNEXPECTED SINGING
Returning from their weekend at the Yackandanda Folk Festival, the boys are all folked up and ready to play for you. Itching to get back to their roots of blues and boogie, Stormcellar are performing at Jannali Inn this Saturday. Give them a warm welcome back and beat the folk out of them!
INDIAN DREAMING
The five-piece from the East Coast of Australia, 1929Indian are ready to unleash their first single, Women In Cages. Lifted from their highly anticipated debut EP, The Dreaming, the single is an energetic first offering from a unique band with an echo of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;80s experimental pop. Catch them live this Saturday at FBi Social.
60S DANCE PARTY
Twist and shout your way into Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s favourite â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;60s dance party and help them celebrate as they age into the terrible twos! The usual birthday tricks will be out with balloons, lolly bags, cheap drinks and lots and lots of dancing. The DJs will take you back to the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;60s with favourites from Davy Jones and The Monkees among many at Darlinghurstâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Spectrum this Friday.
WE LOVE GUNS
Having spent their summer invading airwaves both here and overseas, Sydney punk rock idiots, Chicks Who Love Guns are coming to tear up GoodGod Small Club. Their latest EP, Stutter, kicked 2012 off with a bang touring along the East Coast with The Cairos and performing at Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Big Day Out. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve ripped apart every stage that has come their way and this Friday will be no different. Check them out as the boys cause some trouble with help from The Upskirts and Sweet Teeth.
THE BON SCOTTS HAVE EMBARKED ON THEIR LATEST EAST COAST TOUR OF AUSTRALIA, PLAYING THE OLD MANLY BOATSHED ON THURSDAY 29 MARCH, THE VANGUARD FRIDAY 30, THE GRAND JUNCTION HOTEL IN MAITLAND SATURDAY 31 AND THE BRASS MONKEY CRONULLA SUNDAY 1 APRIL. HEREâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S A SNEAK PEEK AT WHAT THEYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE BEEN UP TO SINCE STARTING THE TOUR.
180 BALL PARK
Demand is through the roof to see Ball Park Music as second shows are being announced to accommodate the fans. Their 180 Degree Tour has seen the band shred every stage theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve played so far and fans canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t seem to get enough. Catch one of this weekâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s shows as they steam through Wollongongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Uni Bar on Thursday, Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Factory on Friday, Canberraâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Transit Bar Saturday and the Factory again Sunday.
Stoked to launch their new EP, Five Lanes, this Friday is Wards Xpress. It has been nine long years since guitarist and vocalist Ross Ward released his last album, making this launch one to remember. Head down to The Blad Rock Hotel and join them in this special night.
Location Two, 5pm: Venue, The Joynt. Load in, set up. We finally have time for food, booze and to get dressed for the show. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s raining heavily and the band is worried, but by show time, lots of people appear! Thanks Street Press, thanks QLD Paper, thanks music blog! Band play well, crowd danced well, super drunk heckler doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t super drunk heckle well. Show over, but exhausted + sweaty + gross = sexy. Band pickup another band called The Good Ship. The rest of the night will never be spoken of again.
MO JAZZ SOUL Multi-Grammy award-winning singer, songwriter and guitarist Keb Mo is touring Australia with his band for the first time this Easter, and plans to tear down the Sydney Opera House open Monday. His voice is rich, distinctive and smoky and he spins emotive and passionate stories, captivating audiences wherever he goes. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss out on a soul, jazz and r&b experience of a lifetime.
SUNSHINE COAST, SATURDAY 25 FEBRUARY TOUR START!
Think Mumford and Sons with electric guitars and fun beats, and Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s folk pop band Castlecomer should come to mind. The boys are releasing their long awaited EP, Dannyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Den, this Friday at Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gaelic, which may just be one of the last gigs to be held there ever! This Youtube sensation promise to make you jizz yourself because they are just that good live, so prove them right and make a mess of/on yourself.
RED TROJAN HORSE Message Sticks Indigenous Forum is back again this year, presenting several remarkable Indigenous acts for you. First up, Casey Donovanâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s tribute to Mama Cass of the Mamas and the Papas will be performed in The Studio of the Opera House on both Tuesday and Wednesday. Saturday night will feature Archie Roach, Shane Howard and Neil Murray, three songwriting legends, presenting three decadesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; worth of their art. Sunday night will close the festival with The Black Arm Band featuring Dan Sultan, Shellie Morris, Archie Roach and Tim Rogers just to name a few.
Location One, 3pm: Radio Station, 4ZZZ. Interview. Drunk. Everyone decides that they want to be on the radio and cram into the room. The hosts are lovely, we get on well off the air. On air everything changes, cute girl host asks questions, singer decides to be flirty by being awkward and difficult. Band holds laughter in. Bassist looses it. Horns breaks sexual orientation PC barrier then breaks race PC barrier for good measure (we should point out that he is actually a gay, black man).
FIVE LANES XPRESS
JIZZ IN DANNYâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S DEN
MESSAGE STICKS
In fact, they recorded thanks and looped it so they didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to bother more than once.
Since emerging from the underground in 2010, Red Fire Red has been tearing through Sydney, igniting a much needed spark within the cityâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s live music scene. Their music is bold and original, their shows exhilarating and full of energy. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t miss the dark horses of the Aussie music scene this Friday at Glebeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Roxbury.
WWJD? Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Bon Scotts are releasing a 2-for-1 single and are hitting the road once again to celebrate the release of double A-side, Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Do What The Catholics Do/Here Comes Summer. Catch their Sydney shows at Manlyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Boat Shed on Thursday, The Vanguard on Friday and Cronullaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Brass Monkey on Sunday.
Drummer has tendonitis in his shoulder! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a better start than last time when the singer had a dislocated jaw and a concussion. Also, drummer has somehow pulled a muscle in his hipâ&#x20AC;Ś we suspect an auto-fellatio attempt. It turns out that horns can actually auto-fellate and will try to demonstrate after a few drinks. At least yoga is good for something.
BRISBANE, FRIDAY 24 FEBRUARY
Band is travelling for the first time with new members including an accordionist, horns and keyboardist. Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to know each other well by the end of the trip, very well. Flying seven â&#x20AC;&#x201C; we left our cellist behind â&#x20AC;&#x201C; to Brisbane with all our gear makes us all feel like rock stars. Paying for seven to fly to Brisbane makes us worry weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re running out of money. Anyway, it is raining torrentially as we land; fortunately we still have dry gear, but in wet cases. After we get our rent-o-van, we play a real life game of wet tetris, with people and gear. Drummer has to drive â&#x20AC;&#x201C; heâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the only one over 25 with a licence. Singer lost his wallet (with licence) one week prior. Drummer is pissed that he canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t drink. Band make sure to thank drummer intermittently throughout entire Queensland trip.
W NE ION IT D E
Wake up, insert coffee drip and drive to Maroochydore, which is a ghost town with a really sweet venue, Solbar. Nice and easy set-up and soundcheck. Drummer is happy â&#x20AC;&#x201C; he has a drum riser and can see more than bums. Time for dress-up, food and drink routine. Local bistro has the â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;party starterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; deal, a meal and three vodkas or cocktails for $15. Endless party -starting jokes ensue. Bassist chokes on horrible cocktail. Someone orders a bucket of prawns; everyone worries for their health. Showtime and ghost town turns into partyville. The Good Ship play first and try to steal the show. They do a damn good job. The only way for the band to deal with this problem is to sit in the band room and drink free beer. Our performance starts with guys lining up the front of the stage in black T-shirts getting ready. We worry that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re AC/DC fanatics. Turns out they learned all the words to our songs and sang along the whole show. This was unexpected. Emergency stop halfway through the setâ&#x20AC;Ś a girl from the crowd is pashing the accordionist on stage. Band needs to re-evaluate status as being defined as folk. The Good Ship â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;spontaneouslyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; joined us on stage for the final two songs; random girls just spontaneously join us on stage. Having 20 people on stage partying hard is fun, having 20 people on stage and 250 people in a packed room screaming â&#x20AC;&#x153;Letâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s do what the Catholics do: HAVE SEX AND BABIESâ&#x20AC;? is a life-changing event. If only all our shows were like this.
% !
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DECEMBER
2011 #47
Order your copy of AMID now! VISIT WWW.THEMUSIC.COM.AU/STORE 56 â&#x20AC;˘ THE DRUM MEDIA
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I LOVE RETRO! TRIPLE FEATURE
JOHN CLEESE
CLASSICS
1. A FISH CALLED WANDA 2. MONTY PYTHONS LIFE OF BRIAN 3. MONTY PYTHON & THE HOLY GRAIL
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THIS LONG WEEKEND ONLY $20 SUNDAY APRIL 8 AT 7PM 380 MILITARY ROAD, CREMORNE BOOK ONLINE WWW.ORPHEUM.COM.AU
sydney opera house presents The Black Arm Band Company.
27 March – 1 April, 2012
Tri Nations Women’s Business.
Icons.
tri nations women’s business.
icons.
dirtsong.
Saturday 31 March
Sunday 1 April
Thursday 29 March
8.15pm. $25*
7pm. From $49*
8.15pm. $25*
Three song-writing legends, born to share the stage. Three classic songs that rocked the Australian music scene. Shane Howard, Neil Murray and Archie Roach take to the intimate Studio stage for one night only.
A musical journey through Australia’s heartland by The Black Arm Band Company, featuring Dan Sultan, Archie Roach and special guest Tim Rogers.
Leading divas unite in an intimate gathering of stories, chants and song. Featuring Denise Bolduc, Emma Donovan, Gail Maurice, Ursula Yovich, Moana and Trina Maniapoto.
Come join the gathering and celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and culture.
Opens this week. Free events daily.
Media Partners Message Sticks is supported by the NSW Government through Arts NSW.
sydneyoperahouse.com/messagesticks *Transaction fee of $5-$8.50 applies to all boookings except Insiders.
THE DRUM MEDIA • 57
VIDEO CLIP FOCUS
ZE COOL KATS
Who directed the video clip? Bodie J Smith What’s the concept behind the clip? We’re hanging out as cowboys in the desert, playing ten-pin bowling with longneck bottles, when Xavier (drums) cheats by rolling a spare and shooting the last bottle down to make it seem like he got a strike. Basically from that point on, all hell breaks loose and the whole band ends up killing each other, only to wake up in a room, bloodied up and playing our instruments. How long did it take to make? One day for the desert scene and half a day for the band shots. Where did you film it? The desert part was at Kurnell sand dunes in Sydney’s south and the band part was shot at a friend’s warehouse in the inner west. Who filmed it and how’d they film it? Bodie J Smith, Kael Leak and John Silver – three buddies of ours helped film. All on one camera, I don’t know what kind. A deceptive gadget that looked like a regular film camera but wasn’t. What’s your favourite part of the clip? The scene where I, Cass (vocals), kill Mitch (bass) with a bowling ball. It was actually a condom full of fake blood that I smashed and not his real, pretty face. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Probably just the fact that a) we got to play cowboys/use fake blood etc., and b) the director is a mate of ours from high school, so nobody had any reservations in terms of throwing ideas out, over-acting or being ridiculous. Will you be launching it? It’s out! Jump on YouTube and type in Chicks Who Love Guns! And then come to GoodGod on Friday 30 March for the official launch. For more info see: www.facebook.com/chickswholoveguns
ALL NIGHT CLASS Join in for a chicken-lickin’ finger-pickin’ good time show with Through A Glass, Darkly on Friday. The band recently completely a mini-tour and are getting ready for an ambitious all-night show at The Excelsior Hotel in Glebe. This is your chance to see the band in a special night split into three sets, showcasing their early acoustic material and easing you into the new. Joined by several special guests, this night will be one long night to remember.
LONDON KLEZMER CALLING Europe’s top Klezmer players, The London Klezmer Quartet, will be performing a heady mix of traditional and original melodies at Wollongong’s Conservatorium of Music this Thursday. The quartet have also organised a special workshop at 4pm before the performance, inviting all musicians to experience and learn.
EARTH HOUR UNPLUGGED Starting out as Melbourne’s best kept secret, The Hello Morning is now exposed having released their selftitled album to rave reviews in February. This cool rock and roll sextet is playing a one night only acoustic set at the Marble Bar this Saturday in celebration of Earth Hour. Acoustic by candlelight will leave you pledging to take shorter showers and turning off your AC as Earth Hour Unplugged has never sounded sexier.
INTHE FALCONA The Falcona Agency is proud to bring on board the Inthemix DJs duo. Catch the boys this Friday at Kings Cross’ Kit & Kaboodle or Saturday at Oxford Art Factory. 58 • THE DRUM MEDIA
SKINNED BY PINS
ROLLMEWEED
NO MORE CHARLIE FOR YOU
The incredible Southern rap talent signed by Eminem to his Shady Records, Yelawolf is coming to Australia. His debut album, Radioactive, of late last year is a perfect word used by him to describe where he is going. With a life story that could easily audition for the most interesting man in the world title, Yelawolf wraps his experiences poetically and is performing for you at Sydney’s Metro Theatre this Saturday.
Catch the new powerful force in the Australian music scene, Zoe K and The Shadow Katz, a welcome dose of old school substance and style. Zoe K’s voice is remarkable and she uses it to pay tribute to the bygone greats of jazz and blues. Oh, and there’s a new album hot off the press. Catch them this Thursday at Newtown’s Vanguard.
URBAN GYPSY MYTHS
CHICKS WHO LOVE GUNS LEFT IN THE GUTTER
RADIOACTIVE
Sydney’s own Urban Gypsies Quartet is playing a beautiful and sophisticated mix of original and fusion guitar compositions at Surry Hill’s Venue 505, all exciting improvisations and originality. The collective creative writing skills and innovative sounds of the Urban Gypsies set them in a class of their own and they want to prove it to you this Friday.
WHAT A BASTARD An exciting new Melbourne band has hit the scene, capturing all the joy and heartbreak of the 1950s and ‘60s with their own contemporary flip. La Bastard is a four-piece that has built a reputation for an explosive and interactive live show that can include pillow fights, break-dancing and playing on the bar. But let the band speak for themselves at Newtown’s Sandringham Hotel this Saturday.
HARD ROCK Hard Rock Café is presenting 2-Stroke Live Music Night this Saturday for beer, new music and even scooter lovers. Headlining this event is The Pop Guns whose quirky and unique performances will strum you back to the ‘60s and ‘70s. International guests punk poet John Cooper Clarke, known as one of the leading voices of punk and youth culture, and DJ Joey Jo Jo Jnr tag along making this night unmissable.
QUEENS ROYAL CROWN
Wollongong stoner rock legends Tumbleweed are back with their own new breed of weed rock. Playing at Wollongong’s Uni Bar this Friday, the band will be unleashing new songs that will feature on their forthcoming album as well as some of their old favourites.
THE BBC
Travelling all the way from Norf London, Bombay Bicycle Club are down under to show off their accents - and their music. Stepping up in the fan base stakes after opening up for Elbow has lead them to headline their own tour here. This will be their first but definitely not their last visit, kicking off at The Oxford Art Factory tomorrow, Wedesday night, and The Metro Thursday.
62’S A CHARM
Enduring musician, master songwriter, band leadercome-solo-artist and producer, Nick Lowe has captivated audiences all over the world over his 40 years of performing. His devoted fans fell in love with him all over again when he released his first studio album in four years, The Old Magic. Lowe will is currently touring Australia and graces the stage of Sydney’s Opera House this Thursday.
HAVE YOU HEARD
Sydney’s rhythm-driven, noisy guitar three-piece Skinpin are kicking off their second round of shows in Sydney to capitalise on the success of the first. If you missed out the first time or want to relive the experience, head down to The Lansdowne Hotel in Darlington this Friday for free entertainment. Doctor Fungi, Rockethead and Barnzy will join the band for a night of rock‘n’roll.
Mad Charlie will be playing their final Sydney show this Friday at The Square in Haymarket before they turn their focus on recording their next release. The band will be performing alongside The Angry Darts, Black Aces and Jd Mo. Come by and farewell the boys before they hibernate and get creative.
ASHES TEST
Sydney locals Ashes are launching their debut self-titled EP this Saturday at Glebe’s Roxbury Hotel. Ashes have been described as five guys who were brought together through their love of big riffs and hooky melodies. Personally handpicked by the band, the supporting crew include The Last Cavalry, The Watt Riot and Sweet Edge and they’ll all be joining in to keep the party vibes going all night lone.
FEELING ANGRY?
If you’re feeling dire and really need to destroy something, road-trip it out to the Penrith Hotel this Saturday night to help The Blackened Beneath completely destroy the Battle Of The Bands competition that’s being cooked up over there
SINGLE FOCUS
Since the release of their debut album, Servitude, late last year, Queensland’s Aversions Crown have been nothing if not a bunch of busy boys. These young heavy music visionaries have been given a positive response nationally and internationally. Catch the boys on their No Salvation Tour at CWA Hall Orange on Friday and SFX Sydney on Saturday.
INFIDELS IN FLIGHT Perth five-piece Timothy Nelson & The Infidels are going to give it all they’ve got to show Australia their full force in flight. This tour comes off the back of a mammoth 2011 on the release of their debut long-player, receiving airplay across national radio and taking out the West Australian music -ndustry’s ‘Song of the Year’ grand prize. Watch them perform this Friday at Newtown’s Vanguard.
CAPTAIN COLWELL Sydneysider, classically trained composer turned alt-pop musician, Jack Colwell is speeding it up with his second single, Captains Melody. Lifted off his debut album, Picture Window, due to be released in May, is expected to be just as dramatic and confronting as his performances. Catch Jack and his Owlchestra on Friday at the Conservatorium of Music.
HANGOVER TRAIL PT.2 The Funkoars hit back last year after a 12-month hiatus to deliver their new album, The Quickening. Their album launch tour saw them leave a trail of hangovers in 18 cities across Australia and they’re back to do it all over again. This time they are taking Law and Order’s Vincent D’Onofrio with them and bringing it all to Bateau Bay’s Entrance Leagues Club on Saturday.
NOT ANOTHER SEQUEL, JUST ANOTHER PREQUEL Your music is…? Metalcore/heavy rock Which acts inspired you to produce your own music and why? We take influence from the likes of Killswitch Engage, Affiance, Tenacious D, Power Demon, Mercyful Fate, Metallica, S.O.A.D, F.A.T.A and Dio. In 2008 we set out to create something that was different, so we pulled together a sound that was familiar but different and it has seemed to work quite well for us. What’s your wildest ambition for your music? Having a huge fanbase that supports everything we do."Getting some major airplay locally and internationally and also turning every song we create into a ringtone so we can sell them to people at odd hours of the night. Why should we come and see you? We aren’t your normal metalcore act. NASJAP put on a metalcore show with a twist. There will be breakdowns, songs to do with Highlander to Bill And Ted... and even a cover of the ‘90s dance hit, What Is Love. The crowd is always going to be entertained and maybe even have a few laughs.
THE ROYAL LIFE
How do you find the local live scene? The scene is quite awesome at the moment, though there is a lack of venues in Sydney. We have noticed a huge amount of support from other bands and promoters, and so it’s great to see members of the scene helping the scene.
Coming from sunny San Francisco and now based in the busy city of New York, The Royal Baths are rolling down to Australia. Heavy on guitars rather than organs, drones rather than jams, their stage show is creepy, eerie and sexy. Watch them light up the stage this Friday at The Annandale Hotel and listen out for the new songs off their latest record, Better Luck Next Life.
What’s your greatest rock’n’roll moment? Walking out on stage as the support to ‘80s metal act Power Demon. Also, the band getting their own line of guitar picks and drumsticks.
ALISON IN SYDNEY Alison Wonderland welcomes you to the Wonderland tour, coming to Sydney’s Oxford Art Factory this Saturday, but be warned, it is one hot act to catch, supported by a plethora of amazing indie/rock/dance acts including English Avenue, Joyride Flight and Edens March, as well as DJs Frames, inthemix DJs and F.R.I.E.N.D/S DJs.
For more info see: facebook.com/NASJAP Next available at: Sydney album launch shows will be on Saturday 31 March at The Venom Nightclub and Saturday 28 April 28 at The Valve in Tempe.
themusic.com.au
JACK COLWELL & THE OWLS CAPTAIN’S MELODY What’s the song about? The song is about falling in love but realising too late once the opportunity is passed, so the character in the song has to think of a melody to bring the person he loves back to them, but the resolution is unclear. It may also be set on the sea in a beautiful pea green boat Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? Yes! Picture Window, to be released on Tuesday 22 May *trumpet fanfare*. How long did it take to write/record? It was written originally as more of a pop song with beats called Paper Boat, shelved, then brought out again as a folk pop affair and recorded at Studio Ripple along with the rest of Picture Window in a very busy week. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I fell in love! But realised it too late once the opportunity had passed. So I wrote four separate melodies to bring the person back… I’m still taking applications for hot dates. What’s your favourite part of the song? I like the chorus - who doesn’t love a “la la la”? And I think the flute and cello parts really make it! Who releases a radio single with flute and cello in it these days, anyway?! (Jack Colwell, That’s Who!... Oh, and Florence!) Do you play it differently live? We will be! It’s been arranged for chamber ensemble by Miles Horler for a special one-off event with Rainbow Chan, complete with PHAT BASSOON! Will you be launching it? Yes, at CHAOS – A fundraiser at the Conservatorium Of Music with Rainbow Chan. We’ll be having our songs arranged for orchestra by Hayden Woolf and Miles Horler. So that’s on Friday 30 March and is an all ages show. For more info see: jackcolwelltheowls.bandcamp.com
STUDY INVESTIGATING MENTAL HEALTH AND SUBSTANCE USE -
PARTICIPANTS NEEDED Are you between 12 & 30 years of age and interested in participating in a study investigating cognitive and psychosocial functioning in young people?
The University of Sydney is currently conducting a study which will involve meeting with one of our research psychologists for an interview and a neuropsychological assessment. For this assessment you will be asked to complete pen and paper and computergenerated tests. You will also be required to have an MRI brain scan which will measure aspects of your brain structure and function. The study will take about 4 hours and you will receive reimbursement for your time. If you are interested in participating in the study please contact Juliette Tobias-Webb on 93510719 or juliette.tobias-webb@sydney.edu.au Alternatively, you can contact Manreena Kaur on 93510932. THE DRUM MEDIA â&#x20AC;˘ 59
DISTRACTED DANCE
Every night next week, Form Dance Projects will present Supermodern: Dance of Distraction — a frenetic, fast-paced ballet about the rapid change of the modern age. Here’s the kicker though: the score was crafted by Jai Payne, lead singer of The Paper Scissors, Timothy Constable, creator of ambient electronica for Triple J and FBi, and Nick Wales, the founding member of ARIA Award-winning artists CODA. Bringing ballet into the 21st century, this piece seems unmissable. Catch it at the Riverside Theatres Parramatta.
GET MANIK
GET PREPARED
FEELING ANGRY? If you’re feeling dire and really need to destroy something, road-trip it out to the Penrith Hotel this Saturday night to help The Blackened Beneath completely destroy the Battle Of The Bands competition that’s being cooked up over there
NYC native MANIK will hit up One22 this Saturday night, supported by Sam Roberts, Matt Weir and Garth Linton. He’s becoming known as House music’s hottest producer, creating tracks with long-term, artful appeal and not just a dance floor flavour of the month. Stuff working the next day, get down there.
BIGGER IS BETTER
RAISED STANDARDS
JUMPING FOR JOY
This Thursday at the Bald Faced Stag Hotel in Leichhardt, SWAA presents Big Rock Acts, a combination of artists with the big, indomitable sounds of Finn, Lucy Desoto, The Rockwells, Cletis Carr and The Blues Pirates.
The pre-apocalyptic 2012 streets of Surry Hills are pressing in, so escape to the Standard, a now certified Neighbourhood Watch Safe House. Drop in this Saturday night to treat your ears to Made In Japan, Boats Of Berlin and DJ Kristy Lee. Such aural gifts are rare in this dangerous age, so be there.
This Saturday at the Upstairs Beresford, multiinstrumentalist, muliti-genre artist Joyride is debuting his brand new live show. Once an active member of Spit Syndicate, and famous for his work with Horrorshow, Illy and Tongue, this show promises to show us everything that’s right with the Australian hip hop scene.
DOWN IN THE BASEMENT
LET HIM IN
This Friday night at The Basement, you’ll be able to catch Roger Vs. The Man, The Date Brothers and Daniel Weltlinger. With Roger Lock, celebrated session musician working in Vienna and Tokyo, Irish jazz guitar giant and his brother Ian and Nigel Date, and French-Hungarian-Israeli violinist/composer Daniel Weltlinger, this promises to be a night of some of the world’s best playing glorious music.
SINGLE FOCUS
INDIE POLISH
Kit and Kaboodle’s typical Friday night party will be kicked into overdrive this weekend, what with it being your chance to pre-party for Creamfields with Cassian, Hansom, Kirsty Lee, Hobophonics, and Isbjorn.
Wednesday, boy outside will be hitting up FBi Social at the Kings Cross Hotel to fill your ears with music that “goes down smooth and sweet like a late night Baileys”, a heady mix of alternate country and blues, with a splash of pop. Be there lunchtime and catch Charge Group in a 40-minute sneak preview of the dynamic music they’ve been working on recently.
SINGLE FOCUS
TWO YEARS IN THE MAKING, THE DEBUT ALBUM FROM PERTH’S TIMOTHY NELSON & THE INFIDELS SOUNDS A WHOLE LOT MORE THAN THE INDIE BUDGET WOULD SUGGEST. MICHAEL SMITH ASKS HOW HE DID IT. It obviously doesn’t hurt that singer/songwriter Timothy Nelson is a multi-instrumentalist, as well as the co-producer of the debut album, I Know This Now, the Perth resident released last year with his band The Infidels. Then again, so determined was Nelson and co-producer James Newhouse to make the album not sound like a low budget indie release that they did all they could to ensure that happened, even if it meant taking two years to record. Take for example the album track that won Nelson last year’s West Australian Music Industry Song of the Year Grand Prize, Speak The Truth In Love. “My original demo had fake synthesised strings on it,” he laughs dismissively. “It had a charming quality but it was… When me and James were kind of knuckling down and recording every night, we had this commitment to sort of make everything as real as possible. If we wanted a harpsichord, we tracked down a real harpsichord as opposed to just using a sample, so things like that, trying to use as much analogue process as possible ‘cause the records we were listening to while we were making the album were all, like, Beatles records or Bob Dylan
EP FOCUS STU LARSEN SAN FRANCISCO What’s the song about? Finding myself on the West Coast of America after being surrounded by snow in the UK, Europe and NYC for two months, renting a car and heading north from Los Angeles to San Francisco, enjoying the Californian coastline and the sunshine! Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? The track was released on iTunes recently, peaking at number two on the Australian Singer/Songwriter Chart. It will be part of an EP to be released in the next year. How long did it take to write/record? The song came out very quickly. Whilst a different song was being mixed I sat on the floor in the next room and wrote San Francisco. I then recorded it in a little studio in Yokohama, Japan with my good friend Natsuki Kurai on harmonica. We did three live takes and kept the third. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The constant moving around, never being in the one place for more than a week, the beautiful drive up the coast of California, the loss of love, Simon & Garfunkel on the radio, freedom. What’s your favourite part of the song? The last note Natsuki plays, the way he slides into it, gets me every time. I also love the truth in the line “I won’t know where I’m going ‘til I get there”. Do you play it differently live? It does vary from time to time yes. I sing a few more bits if Natsuki is not playing and we extend the song if he is. I just feel it each time. Will you be launching it? Natsuki and I are about to tour in Australia. The Sydney show is on Thursday 29 March at the Vanguard, Newtown. For more info see: www.stularsen.com or www. natsukinoblog.jugem.jp 60 • THE DRUM MEDIA
records, where the sounds had a lot to do with how organic the instrumentation was. So when it came time to redo that song it was a no brainer to get a string section. It just meant more money really – we just saved our pennies and got it.” Which is pretty much the modus operandi across the whole album. He’d pulled The Infidels together after a few years of gigging around Perth as a solo singer/ songwriter so determined he was to get away from that sort of sound. Meanwhile back at the album… “It was a case of picking songs that would work together on an album because I like the idea of you should be able to listen to something from the start to the finish and it all works together rather than just throw your latest favourite song on.” WHO: Timothy Nelson & The Infidels WHAT: I Know This Now (Green Media/MGM) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 29 March, Lansdowne Hotel; Friday 30, The Vanguard
EP FOCUS
MILDLIFE ARRIVING SOON What’s the song about? We were more about capturing a certain vibe/character with this one rather than a literal meaning. If I had to answer, I’d say the song explores a retrospective future utopia with a haunting twist.
OUR LAST ENEMY WOLVES OF PERIGORD
Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? The track is one of two songs on a single we just recently released.
What’s the title of your new EP? Wolves Of Perigord How many releases do you have now? Three. Our first EP, …Is Death, and our fulllength, Fallen Empires, we recorded in LA with Christian Olde Wolbers from Fear Factory.
How long did it take to write/record? We were playing around with certain parts, like that synth pattern that carries through it, for a while. But I’d say the song properly came together in about two weeks. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? We were getting into a lot of old producers and composers like Delia Derbyshire and Joe Meek, who were doing some incredible things with electronics and experimental production techniques in the ‘50s and ‘60s – way ahead of their time. The character and tone of some of their recordings are just mind-blowing. What’s your favourite part of the song? Adam recently bought a 1970s monophonic synth. It comes in halfway through as a new bass line, really opens up the song and takes it in a new direction.
How long did it take to write/record? It took a little over six months to write and record. We did some at our home studio inbetween tours and the rest at The Brain Studios in Surry Hills. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The excitement of writing with new members. Since our debut album we’ve had a lineup change and sometimes that in itself can add to the inspiration. It’s always interesting to see what direction things can take. What’s your favourite song on it? That’s a hard one! But if we had to choose one, most likely Internus Diablos Verni because it’s the most fun to play and gives me the urge to wanna punch someone in the face. Stand back!!!
Do you play it differently live? We often try to make subtle changes to it here and there to keep it fresh for both us and the crowd, but I guess, for the most part, it stays pretty true to the recording.
Will you do anything differently next time? Have more time and money! Those are two things you can never have enough of in the studio.
Will you be launching it? We recently launched it at the Grace Darling with awesome support from Circular Keys and Baba-X.
Will you be launching it? We have a launch tour booked spanning QLD to SA over March to May. The Sydney show will be at The Wall Friday 11 May.
For more info see: www.mildlife.com.au
For more info see: facebook.com/ourlastenemy
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SUPER BEST FRIENDS HANDSHAKE How many releases do you have now? Two that we like. How long did it take to write/record? A year of tossing around the songs, changing stuff, doing dodgy demos and slightly less dodgy demos. Then we knocked it out in four days with producer Paul “Woody” Annison at Red Door Sounds in Melbourne. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Woody’s relentless Canberra-bashing got us fired up to record the songs, then we’d relax with some Red Dead Redemption on the studio’s PS3. What’s your favourite song on it? It’s a toss up between the new single, No Logo Is A Joke, and track number four, The Bleachers. They’re fun to play live, but The Bleachers’ lyrics are just that little bit more scathing. Will you do anything differently next time? We’d like to do an album, but then again an EP of our stuff is probably enough for any sane set of ears. Will you be launching it? Sydney launch is Friday 30 March at the FBi Social Rabbit Hole Masquerade Ball, Kings X Hotel – we’re on early at 9pm. For more info see: facebook.com/superbestfriends or superbestfriends.com.au
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TUE 27 ADAM PRINGLE: Sandringham Htl downstairs BRENDAN JACQUET: Manning Bar, Sydney Uni - Camperdown BRYEN WILLEMS: Belrose Bowling Club DAN LAWRENCE: Observer Hotel - The Rocks EMILY BARKER: Lizottes Sydney - Dee Why HUE WILLIAMS: Jack’s Bar & Grill - Erina JACK LADDER, TINY RUINS (NZ): Brass Monkey - Cronulla KINETIC METHOD TRIO: Opera Bar - Circular Quay KRYSTLE WARREN, PIERS TWOMEY: The Basement - Circular Quay LONDON KLEZMER QUARTET: Sydney Jewish Museum MATT MCMAHON TRIO, MODERN MOULD: 505 - Surry Hills MICKEY PYE: Novotel Brewery Bar, Olympic Park OMG!: Scruffy Murphys - Sydney PETER HEAD TRIO: The Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks RUSSELL NEAL, BEN OSMO, PHOEBE EVE, STARR WITNESS, JAKE BENNETT, P&A: Dee Why RSL THE DALTONG GANGS LAST RAID: Gaelic Club THEY CALL ME BRUCE: Maloneys Hotel - Sydney TIM MCGRAW, FAITH HILL, ELI YOUNG BAND: Allphones Arena - Homebush WED 28 ANGRY DARTS, MAD CHARLIE, BLACK ACES, JD MO: The Square - Haymarket BALL PARK MUSIC, NANTES, CUB SCOUTS: Bar on the Hill Newcastle Uni BIG WAY OUT: 3 Wise Monkeys - Sydney BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst FBi SOCIAL feat. BOYS OUTSIDE, FAITH LEE, LITTLE BASTARD: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross BUDAHA NIGHTS, SWEET TEETH, DOC HOLIDAY, GENTLEMEN & VAGABONDS: Yours and Owls - Wollongong CHARGE GROUP: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross DAN HOPKINS: Taren Point Hotel - Taren Point DAN SPILLANE: Coogee Bay Hotel - Beach Bar DARREN BENNETT, HENRY FRASER, BLACK DIAMOND, OLIVER GOSS: Cat & Fiddle Hotel - Balmain DARREN HEINRICH TRIO, SIMON REIF: 505 - Surry Hills DAVE WHITE DUO: Maloneys Hotel - Sydney DJ PAULEY: Marlborough Hotel - Newtown EILEN JEWELL: The Vanguard - Newtown
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FLYTE: The Orient Hotel, The Rocks FRAT HOUSE, WOLF & THE GANG: Landsdowne Hotel - Darlinghurst GEMMA: Observer Hotel - The Rocks GOODNIGHT DYNAMITE: O’Malleys Hotel - Kings Cross GREG BYRNE: Mean Fiddler Hotel - Rouse Hill GREG SITA, SIMON PAPARO, JAIME BAQUIRAN: Cookies Lounge and Bar North Strathfield HELMUT UHLMANN, THE CRYING TREE, SPIKE THOMSON, MOOREA VITTIGLIO, JAMES SEYMOUR: UTS Loft Bar, UTS - Broadway HOLLY WHO.: Annandale Hotel - Annandale JAMIE LINDSAY: Northies - Cronulla JEZ LOWE, THE WHEEZE & SUCK BAND: Notes Live - Enmore JOHN COOPER CLARKE, JOHNNY GREEN: Brass Monkey - Cronulla KINGSTON FLAVA: The Valve - Tempe MANDI JARRY TRIO: Summer Hill Hotel - Summer Hill OUTLIER: Scruffy Murphys - Sydney PAUL SUN: Jazushi - Surry Hills PETER HEAD TRIO: The Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks Prinnie: Opera Bar - Circular Quay RICHIE CUTHBERT, FABERGETTES: The Red Rattler - Marrickville ROSIES SCHOOL OF ROCK: Great Northern Hotel - Newcastle RUSSELL NEAL, ANITA LENZO, MISS GRAY, OLIVIA JEAN, TIM HUMPHRIES, DON CHRISTOPHER: Evening Star Hotel - Surry Hills SHOOGLENIFTY: The Basement - Circular Quay SLEEPMAKESWAVES, SUPER FLORENCE JAM, MENISCUS: Beach Road Hotel - Bondi TAOS, JOHN CHESHER, GAVIN FITZGERALD, MAI-ANH, SENANI: Coach & Horses Hotel - Randwick THE THINGOS: Sandringham Htl downstairs THE WALK ON BY, SOUTH DEVINE, THE CHRONICS: Sandringham Hotel - Newtown WOLF & THE GANG: Lansdowne Hotel - Broadway
THU 29 ADELE & GLENN, THE 49 GOOD BYES: Green Room Lounge - Enmore ANDREW DENNISTON, PAUL B WILDE, CASSIE JUDYCHAIR, NICK DOMENICOS: Kogarah Hotel - Kogarah BAECASTUFF: 505 - Surry Hills
BALL PARK MUSIC, NANTES, CUB SCOUTS: UniBar, Wollongong BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB: Metro Theatre - Sydney CAMBQ: Observer Hotel - The Rocks CLOSURE IN MOSCOW, STRANGERS, EPIDEMIC OVER: Great Northern Hotel - Byron Bay DAN SPILLANE: Dee Why Hotel - Dee Why DAVE MCMASTER: Campbelltown Catholic Club DAVE WHITE: The Orient Hotel, The Rocks ELEVATE: Scruffy Murphys - Sydney ELLE HARRIS: Opera Bar - Circular Quay EVANESCENCE, BLAQK AUDIO: Sydney Entertainment Centre FBi SOCIAL feat. OLLO: FBI Social, Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross HELMUT UHLMANN, SIMON MARRABLE, PAULY VELLA, JOSUE VILCHES: Mars Hill Café - Parramatta JEREMY ROSE TRIO: The Spice Cellar - Sydney JOHN COOPER CLARKE: The Basement - Circular Quay JONATHAN DEVOY: Sandringham Htl downstairs KRISHNA JONES: Marlborough Hotel - Newtown LARYKAN, POKECT THE RUBY, ALEX HORDER: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst LINDA WOOD, RUSSELL NEAL, MAI-ANH, COLIN PASFIELD: Earlwood Htl LONDON KLEZMER QUARTET: Wollongong Conservatorium of Music LOVERS JUMP CREEK: Beach Rd Htl Bondi LYALL MOLONEY, ASHLEIGH MANNIS: Yours and Owls Wollongong MADELEINE FLYNN, TIM HUMPHREY, RASA SAYANG: Blacktown Arts Centre MARTY from RECKLESS: Coogee Bay Hotel - Beach Bar MAX: Red Lion Hotel - Rozelle MICHAEL MCGLYNN: Greengate Htl NICK LOWE: Concert Hall, Syd Opera House NIKELANGELO: The Phoenix Pub Canberra, ACT PAT DRUMMOND: Pioneer Tavern - Penrith PETE: Gymea Bay Hotel PETER HEAD TRIO: The Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks RICHARD IN YOUR MIND: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross ROSIE, ALISON AVRON, JENNA MURPHY: Camelot Lounge - Marrickville SAM & JAMIE TRIO: Maloneys Hotel - Sydney SARAH MCLEOD, ANGEL AWAKE: Brass Monkey - Cronulla
SEX IN COLUMBIA, MANNEQUINS, LET ME DOWN JUNGLEMAN, OYSTERZ, THE LAUGHING LEAVES: Annandale Hotel - Annandale SPACE TICKET, WITCH FIGHT, THE BERKSHIRE HUNTING CLUB, 400 KW monsters: Sandringham Hotel - Newtown STEVE CLISBY: Macquarie Htl - City STEVE TONGE, FIONA LEIGH: Harbord Beach Hotel - Harbord STU LARSEN, NATSUKI KURAI, CANDICE CASAGRANDE, WE ARE THE BIRD CAGE: The Vanguard Newtown THE BATTLEFIELD BAND: Notes Live - Enmore THE BON SCOTTS: Old Manly Boatshed - Manly TIMOTHY NELSON & THE INFIDELS: Lansdowne Hotel - Broadway TOM TRELAWNY: R.G McGees - Richmond VIENNA CIRCUS: Gaelic Club WELLINGTON INTERNATIONAL UKULELE ORCHESTRA: Oxford Art Factory - Gallery Bar ZOLTAN: Northies Cronulla Htl- Sports Bar
FRI 30 AM 2 PM: Padstow RSL ANNE-SOPHIE MUTTER, SYDNEY SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA: Concert Hall, Syd Opera House ARMCHAIR TRAVELLERS DUO: The Kyle Bay - Kyle Bay AVERSIONS CROWN, BORIS THE BLADE: CWA Hall - Orange BALL PARK MUSIC, NANTES, CUB SCOUTS: The Factory Theatre BEN FINN: PJ Gallaghers - Drummoyne BERNIE HAYES, TOM MORGAN: Rose of Australia Hotel - Erskineville BIG ERLE, THE BUTCHER BOYS, RYAN HOGAN, ZOE ELLIOT: Yours and Owls - Wollongong BIG WAY OUT: 3 Wise Monkeys - Sydney BLACK DIAMOND HEARTS: Rock Lily - The Star Casino - Pyrmont BLUE VENOM: Vineyard Hotel - Vineyard BRIAN SETZER’S ROCKABILLY RIOT, LANIE LANE: Enmore Theatre - Enmore BUNCHA FUNKERS: Orana Hotel - Blacksmiths CASTLECOMER: Gaelic Club - Surry Hills CHICKS WHO LOVE GUNS, THE UPSKIRTS, SWEET TEETH: Good God Small Club - Sydney DAN LAWRENCE: Parramatta RSL - Parramatta DAVID AGIUS DUO: Hillside Hotel - Castle Hill
DEE MINOR & THE DISCHORDS, DARREN COGGAN, NEIL SEMMLER, BUCKET TIME: Manly Fig Diana Rouvas, CONFECTION: Opera Bar - Circular Quay DJANGO 101: Camelot Lounge - Marrickville DOCTOR FUNGI, SKINPIN, ROCKETHEAD, BARNZY: Landsdowne Hotel - Darlinghurst DROWNING THE LIGHT, WARDAEMONIC, MOON, CORVUS: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe EBONY & IVORY: Crown Hotel - Sydney EILEN JEWELL, FELICITY URQUHART: Brass Monkey - Cronulla FALCONA DJ’S, KK: Kit & Kaboodle - Kings Cross FALLON BROTHERS: Stacks Taverna Darling Harbour FBi SOCIAL feat. ONLY THE SEA SLUGS, TIN CAN RADIO, LOUIS LONDON, SUPER BEST FRIENDS: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross FIONA LEIGH JONES: Harbord Beach Hotel - Harbord FRANCESCA DE VALENCE, MORGANA LE FAY: El Rocco - Kings Cross G WIZARD: Lone Pine Tavern - Rooty Hill G3, JOE SATRIANI, STEVE VAL, STEVE LUKATHER: Hordern Pavilion - Moore Park GANG OF BROTHERS: Blue Beat - Double Bay GARVAIS KOFFI, THE AFRICAN DIASPORA: Notes Live - Enmore GTS: Hornsby RSL HAYLEY SALES: Bankstown Hotel - Bankstown HEATH BURDELL: Northies Cronulla Htl- Sports Bar HEAVY YEN PROJECT, LEROY LEE, ENERATE: Lewisham Hotel - Lewisham HITSEEKERS: Parramatta Leagues - Firehouse HOORAY FOR EVERYTHING: Corrimal RSL - Corrimal HOWIE DAY (US): The Standard, Darlinghurst HUE WILLIAMS: Tea Gardens Hotel - Bondi Junction HYPE DUO: Courthouse Hotel - Darlinghurst JACK COLWELL & THE OWLS, RAINBOW CHAN: Sydney Conservatorium of Music JAMES FITZG: Shelbourne Hotel - Sydney JASON BRUER BAND: Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre - Chippendale JASON NORRIS: Novotel, Brewery Bar - Olympic Park, Homebush JENNY BROKE THE WINDOW, PANAMA, MA, SURES: Courtyard Bar, Seymour Centre - Chippendale JOHN CLEESE: State Theatre - Sydney JP DUO: Mean Fiddler Hotel - Rouse Hill
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KEEP THE FAITH - BON JOVI SHOW: Heathcote Hotel - Heathcote KILLERS SHOW: Scruffy Murphys - Sydney KRISHNA JONES: Royal Oak Hotel - Parramatta LOOSE BAZOOKA: Warners at the Bay LUKE DIXON: Narrabeen Sands - Narrabeen MADELEINE FLYNN, TIM HUMPHREY, RASA SAYANG: Blacktown Arts Centre MATT JONES: Panthers, Terrace Bar - Penrith MATT TOMS: Richmond Inn - Richmond MICHAEL MCGLYNN, ZOLTAN: Castle Hill RSL - Castle Hill MICHAEL PETER: Bar Petite - Newcastle MONKEY WRENCH - FOO FIGHTERS SHOW: Bull & Bush - Baulkham Hills MUM DJ’S: The World Bar - Kings Cross NATALIE CARBONI: Campbelltown Catholic Club NEILL BOURKE: O’Malleys Hotel - Kings Cross NICKY KURTA DUO, WILDCATZ: Crows Nest Htl NIK FISH, JUMPING JACK, PEE WEE FERRIS, AMBER SAVAGE, ANDREW JAMES, THOMAS KNIGHT, NICK ARBOR, DJ ANGE, NATHAN CRYPTIC: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst NORTHERN COMPOSURE BAND COMPETITION FINAL: YoYos Youth Centre - Frenchs Forest NOVA TONE: Pittwater RSL - Mona Vale OVERREACTOR: Bald Faced Stag - Leichhardt PANAMA, MA, SURES, JASON BRUER BAND: The Sound Lounge Seymour Centre PANORAMA: Marlborough Hotel - Newtown PAPA PILKO & THE BIN RATS, RUFFLEFETHER, THE VALE OF AH: Sandringham Hotel - Newtown PEZ: The Hi-Fi POSTAL: Penrith Gaels - Kingswood RAPTURE: Customs House Bar - Circular Quay REBECCA ROCHEFORD DAVIES: Darlinghurst Theatre Co. RED FIRE RED, NEO TOKIO, THE HUNGRY MILE: Roxbury Hotel - Glebe RICK PRICE, TAMARA STEWART: Lizottes Sydney - Dee Why ROB HENRY, CARL FIDLER: Observer Hotel - The Rocks ROB HENRY: Town Hall Hotel - Balmain ROCKING HORSE, BABY DOLLS, THE WALKING WHO, THE PENNYS: Heritage Hotel - Bulli
ROGER VS THE MAN, DATE BROTHERS, DANIEL WETLINGER: The Basement Circular Quay RUSSELL NEAL: Everglades Country Club - Woy Woy SAM & JAMIE TRIO: Kirribilli Hotel - Kirribilli SHANE FLEW, TIM WEDDE: Dee Why RSL SKINPIN, DOCTOR FUNGI, ROCKETHEAD, BARNZY: Lansdowne Hotel - Broadway SONNY SORIANO: Oasis on Beamish Hotel - Campsie STICKY FINGERS, KINGSWOOD, GINGER & DRUM, PHDJ: Upstairs Beresford - Surry Hills STRANGE TALK DJs: Cherry, The Star - Pyrmont SUPER BEST FRIENDS: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross TAIKOZ: City Recital Hall - Sydney THE ANGRY DARTS, MAD CHARLIE, BLACK ACES, JD MO: The Square, Hay Street Haymarket THE BEATELS: Kirribilli Club THE BON SCOTTS, TIMOTHY NELSON & THE INFIDELS: The Vanguard - Newtown THE CAPITOLS: Club Five Dock - Five Dock THE CROFTS: Western Suburbs Leagues Club, New Lambton THE FOO FIGHTERS SHOW: Wentworthville Leagues THE GOOD STUFF: Scruffy Murphys THE HEADLINERS: Overlander Hotel Cambridge Park THE HERD, THUNDAMENTALS: Manning Bar, Sydney Uni - Camperdown THE POD BROTHERS: Club Rivers - Riverwood THE ROYAL BATHS, SUPER WILD HORSES: Annandale Hotel - Annandale THESE NEW SOUTH WHALES, THE BOGEY LOWENSTEINS: Oxford Art Factory, Gallery Bar Darlinghurst TIM PRINGLE: Great Southern Hotel - Sydney TOM T TRIO: Coogee Bay Hotel - Beach Bar TOM UGLY, MYTH & TROPICS, GHOST OF YORK, THE FAULTS, SOME CITIES, THE CADRES, THE BEDLAMS, SMOKING PONIES: Blush Nightclub, Gosford TRILOGY: Ivanhoe Hotel - Manly URBAN GYPSIED: 505 - Surry Hills VENUS DUO: Cronulla RSL - Cronulla WARDS XPRESS: Bald Rock Hotel - Rozelle WITH SKIES BELOW, ABSENCE OF KIN: Mars Hill Café - Parramatta YUKI KUMAGAI & JOHN MACKIE: Well Connected Café/Wine Bar - Glebe
SAT 31 ALFIO: Lizottes Sydney - Dee Why ALISON WONDERLAND: Oxford Art Factory ALISON WONDERLAND, EDENS MARCH, FLIGHT ENGLISH AVENUE, Frames: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst AM 2 PM: Ingleburn RSL - Ingleburn ARMCHAIR TRAVELLERS DUO: 3 Swallows Hotel - Bankstown ASH, THE WATT RIOT, SWEET EDGE, THE LAST CAVALRY: The Roxbury Hotel - Glebe AVERSIONS CROWN, BORIS THE BLADE: SFX Nightclub - Sydney BANG SHANG A LANG: Cronulla RSL - Cronulla BIG WAY OUT: Blue Cattledog Hotel - St Clair BOY 8-BIT, THE FREESTYLERS, MARTEN HORGER, THE ONLY, DOCTOR WEREWOLF, THE MANE THING, PEKING DUK, A-TONEX, DETEKTIVES: Ivy, Sydney CASH ONLY - JOHNNY CASH TRIBUTE SHOW: Brass Monkey - Cronulla CHERRIBOMB: Scruffy Murphys - Sydney COBRA SKULLS, DEAD TO ME, GAY PARIS, TOTALLY UNICORN, LAMEXCUSE, THE GUN RUNNERS: Annandale Hotel - Annandale COUGAR DUO: Riverwood Inn CRAIG THOMMO: Pennant Hills Hotel DAN SPILLANE, GREG AGAR: Mean Fiddler Hotel - Rouse Hill DANIEL NICHOLAS: Bar Petite - Newcastle DAVE TICE, MARK EVANS: Sandringham Htl downstairs DAVID NEALE, PLAYMATE, MR BELEVEDERE, ISBJORN, DEVOLA., PAT WARD, HANDSOM, KRISTY LEE: Kit & Kaboodle - Kings Cross DJ CHEEKY: Gymea Bay Hotel - Gymea DJ FRESH, MESSY MC, A-TONEZ, CHEAP LETTUS, LA TECH, LANCELOT, BROWN BEAR, RENNIE, MURRAY LAKE: Chinese Laundry - Sydney DOOBIES EAGLES WEST COAST ROCK, THE BARRY LEEF BAND, KIMI TUPAEA: The Basement Circular Quay DOORS ALIVE: Bull & Bush - Baulkham Hills EILEN JEWELL: The Vanguard - Newtown FALLON BROTHERS: Harbord Beach Hotel - Harbord
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FBi SOCIAL feat. 1929INDIAN: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross FEMME DA FUNK: Marlborough Hotel - Newtown GLITTER CANYON (DJ SET), THE WALK ON BY, DEMONIKA, CUTTHROAT: Sly Fox Hotel - Enmore GRAND PLAN, THE CRUEL KIND: Lewisham Hotel - Lewisham GTS: Penrith Gaels - Kingswood HAYLEY SALES DUO: Parramatta Leagues - Firehouse HEATH BURDELL: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel - Botany HITSEEKERS: PJ’s Irish Pub - Parramatta IGNITION: R.G. McGees - Richmond JACK LADDER: Chino’s Bar - Newcastle JASON NORRIS: Brewhouse - Marayong JAZZ NOUVEAU: Fairfield RSL JEFF DUFF, SOUL PATROL: Opera Bar - Circular Quay JOYRIDE, TIGERTOWN, FORMER LOVE, F.R.I.E.N.D.S feat: Upstairs Beresford - Surry Hills KERRIE GARSIDE, DARREN BENNETT, BLACK DIAMOND: Ettalong Beach Hotel KING TIDE: Blue Beat - Double Bay KITTENS: Spectrum - Darlinghurst LA BASTARD, LOS CHICOS, JOHNNY & BENNY, THE ESCAPES: Sandringham Hotel - Newtown LE BROND: The Spice Cellar - Sydney LUKE DIXON, POP FICTION: Castle Hill RSL - Castle Hill LUKE KOTERAS: Western Suburbs Leagues Club MACKA: Courthouse Hotel - Darlinghurst MACSON: Coogee Bay Hotel - Beach Bar
64 • THE DRUM MEDIA
MADE IN JAPAN, BOATS OF BERLIN, MILDLIFE: The Standard - Surry Hills MARSHALL OKELL: Gearins Htl Katoomba MATT JONES: Northies Cronulla Htl- Sports Bar MATT JONES: PJ Gallaghers - Drummoyne MICHAEL MCGLYNN: Kirribilli Hotel - Kirribilli MIKE NOCK TRIO: Sound Lounge, Seymour Centre - Chippendale MJM, DREW MERCER: Shelbourne Hotel - Sydney MYSTERY GUEST: The Belvedere Hotel - Sydney ONE HIT WONDERS: Helensburgh Workers OPEN MIC NIGHT: Yours and Owls - Wollongong OSCAR + MARTIN, THE BELLIGERENTS, MC GAFF-E, NAKAGIN: GoodGod Small Club - Sydney OSCAR MULERO: Gaelic Club - Surry Hills PETER HEAD TRIO: Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks PLEASURE & PAIN THE DIVINYLS SHOW: Blacktown RSL Club - Blacktown PURPLE COWS: Orana Hotel - Blacksmiths RACHEL LANG: Novotel Rooty Hill RAPTURE: Parramatta RSL - Parramatta ROB EASTWOOD: Campbelltown Catholic Club ROCK MONSTER: Beaches Hotel - Thirroul ROSS NOBLE: Civic Theatre - Newcastle RUSSELL NEAL, MAI-ANH, MISS GRAY, JUST ADD MUSIC, HARMONICA, KYLE DESSENT: Belrose Bowling Club SMITTY B GOODE, PIRATE ATELLITES: The Phoenix Pub Canberra, ACT SOULED OUT: Caringbah Bizzos STEVE EDMONDS BAND: Dicey Riley’s Hotel - Wollongong
GIG OF THE WEEK
CHOPFEST IV
Fat Wreck Chords labelmates San Francisco’s Dead To Me (pictured) and Nevada’s Cobra Skulls will be teaming up for their only Sydney appearance as part of Chopfest IV at the Annandale Hotel on Saturday 31 March. There is a heap of local talent on the bill too, including Gay Paris, Totally Unicorn and the resurrected Lamexcuse. Also making an appearance will be Melbourne’s The Gun Runners, Milhouse, Batfoot! and Homeward Bound. Plus for the duration of the event, Billy Demos will be busting out acoustic sets of all your favourite ‘90s punk songs in the Annandale Hotel beer garden.
STEVE TONGE, DAVE STEVENS: Observer Hotel - The Rocks STORMCELLAR: Jannali Inn SURPRISE PARTY: Wentworth Leagues Club THE GOOD STUFF: Unity Hall Hotel - Balmain THE HELLO MORNING: Marble Bar Hilton Htl THE JIMMY BAZIL PROJECT, ADELINE PINES, BRAD VINCENT: Great Northern Hotel - Newcastle THE JUNGLE KINGS: Warners at the Bay THE LAUGHING LEAVES, THE FAULTS, THE SHADY EXPEDITION: Bald Faced Stag - Leichhardt
THE LONELY BOYS, PANORAMA DUO: Mercantile Hotel - The Rocks THE MATCHBOX TRIBUTE SHOW: Picton Hotel - Picton THE STRAY ROOTS: Overlander Hotel Cambridge Park THIRD TIME LUCKY: Kingswood Sports Club - Kingswood TIGERWIDOW, GLITTERCANYON, DAMPVAMP, SPACE TICKET: Lansdowne Hotel - Broadway TIN CAN RADIO, A COLD NOVEMBER, INSPIRED INSOMNIAC: Oxford Art Factory, Gallery Bar - Darlinghurst TOUCHWOOD: Smithfield RSL Club - Smithfield
TRILOGY: Orient Hotel - The Rocks UNDER THE PURPLE TREE, MAI-ANH, ALEXIS SELLIES: Terrey Hills Tavern - Terrey Hills VASSAFOR, PESTILENTIAL SHADOWS, ORDER OF ORIAS, SPIRE: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe (Afternoon) VIP: St George Leagues - Kogarah VIRNA SANZONE: 505 - Surry Hills WILDCATZ: South Hurstville RSL YACHT CLUB DJS: Great Northern Hotel - Byron Bay YALK IT UP: Crows Nest Htl YELAWOLF, BRIGGA, THE HAVEKNOTZ: Metro Theatre - Sydney
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YUKI KUMAGAI & JOHN MACKIE: Well Connected Café/Wine Bar - Glebe ZOLTAN, BEN FINN DUO: Ettamogah Hotel - Rouse Hill
SUN 01 50 MILLION BEERS: Sandringham Htl downstairs ACO UNDERGROUND, JIM MOGINIE: The Standard - Surry Hills ANTOINE: O’Malleys Hotel - Kings Cross AUDREY AULD, FAITH LEE: Clarendon Guest House - Katoomba AVERSIONS CROWN, BORIS THE BLADE: Unanderra Community Centre - Wollongong
BALL PARK MUSIC, NANTES, CUB SCOUTS: Factory Theatre - Enmore BIG BEN DUO: Gymea Bay Hotel - Gymea CAMBO, ROB HENRY, MIKE BENNETT: Observer Hotel - The Rocks CHRIS DUKE & THE ROYALS, THE GUN RUNNERS, DIVIDERS: Sandringham Hotel - Newtown CHRISTIE LAMB: Campbelltown Catholic Club CRAIG THOMMO: Oscars Hotel - Pyrmont DAVE WHITE DUO: Northies, Northies Bar - Cronulla DAVID AGIUS DUO, MATT JONES: Ettamogah Hotel - Rouse Hill DISPARO, TAKEN BY FORCE, POSTAL, NO SUCH LUCK: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe (Afternoon) EILEN JEWELL: The Vault - Windsor FINN BAND: Bull & Bush - Baulkham Hills FREAKS IN LOVE: 505 - Surry Hills JOHN CLEESE: State Theatre - Sydney JOHN LEIGH CALDER: White Horse Hotel - Surrey Hills MARK HOPPER: Artichoke Gallery Café - Manly MARK LUCAS & THE DEAD SETTERS: The Royal Oak Htl, Newcastle MARTY SIMPSON: Coogee Bay Hotel - Beach Bar MICHAEL PETER: The Belvedere Hotel - Sydney MOSH BEN ARI: Oxford Art Factory PACKWOOD, KATIE WIGHTON, BENNIE JAMES, THE FALLS, HANNAH CROFTS: Yours and Owls - Wollongong PANA DUO: Bar Petite - Newcastle PAUL SUN: Organic Food Mkts, Frenchs Forest PETER HEAD TRIO: Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks
POSTCARDS: Northies Cronulla Htl- Sports Bar RECKLESS DUO: Mean Fiddler Hotel - Rouse Hill RUSSELL NEAL, BRETT GEDGE, LYRIC ON PODIUM: Salisbury Hotel - Stanmore RUSSELL NELSON: Parramatta Leagues - Firehouse SATELLITE V, BRYEN WILLEMS: Marrickville Bowling Club STEPHANIE JANSEN: Kirribilli Hotel - Kirribilli STEVE EDMONDS BAND: Catherine Hill Bay Pub Catherine Hill Bay THE ARREBATO ENSEMBLE: Camelot Lounge - Marrickville THE BON SCOTTS, BONES ATLAS: Brass Monkey - Cronulla THE SUBTERRANEANS, JAMES MULLER, BEN HAUPTMANN: Town Hall Hotel - Newtown TOM GREEN: Enmore Theatre - Enmore
MON 02 ANGELIQUE KIDJO, KEB MO: Concert Hall, Syd Opera House DANIEL LAWRENCE: Observer Hotel - The Rocks HITSEEKERS: 3 Wise Monkeys - Sydney JAMES MULLER TRIO: 505 - Surry Hills JOHN CLEESE: State Theatre - Sydney JUMARI: Campbelltown Catholic Club RUSSELL NEAL, MASSIMO PRESTI, SENANI, TIM HUMPHRIES: Kellys on King - Newtown SONIC MAYHEM ORCHESTRA: Blue Beat - Double Bay THE JEWELTONES, BRUCE BONGERS, GRAHAM HEALY, EMMA SWIFT, BEN LIDDICOAT: Camelia Grove Hotel - Alexandria TOM T DUO: Opera Bar - Circular Quay
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RØDEWORKS: RØDE DESIGN STUDIO
Last week saw Røde microphones officially open its new international dedicated design studio, Rødeworks, in Surry Hills. Peter Cooper, who for 15 years was the director of the product design studio Construct, which has been acquired by Røde microphones, now heads up design and new product development for Røde and sister company Event. Speaking at the launch, Cooper described the new facility as “a multidisciplinary design studio, with graphic design, web design, industrial design, mechanical engineering and electronics engineering within the team.” On hand to launch the new facility were Røde’s owners Peter and Lou Freedman, and Ian Murray, the Executive Director of the Australian Institute of Export. Among the extraordinary array of mics on show on the night were the latest additions to the range, the VideoMic HD, a high-fidelity precision RF bias shotgun mic with integrated digital recording, designed for use with DSLR and large-sensor video cameras, and the Stereo VideoMic Pro, launched early last year, which provides a high quality stereo option for videographers and is ideal for recording music and the atmospheric ambience essential in building a realistic audio scene. And like all Røde mics, they’re manufactured right here in Australia. For details on all Røde and Event products, call (02) 9648 5855 or check in to the Røde website.
301 SYNTH STUDIO
Studios 301 in Sydney have just opened MS4, a re-kitted suite within their mastering building that comes complete with all manner of synthesisers, drum machines and outboard gear. Among the goodies available are a Roland Jupiter 4 and Jupiter 6, a DSI Poly Evolver, a Korg Delta, a Roland Juno 106, a Moog Little Phatty, an Octave Kitten, a Korg MS-20, a Roland SH-2, some Kawai K5000s, a Peavey Paradox, an Akai MPC60 MkII, a Roland Space Echo, a UA LA-610, some DBX 160s, a TC M5000, a Neve 8816 summing mixer, an RMEbased 16 I/O Logic, Pro Tools and Ableton computer system and a stack of pedals and other toys. The room costs $350+GST per day, so to book, call (02) 9698 5888 or email adam@studios301.com.
SOUND BYTES
Damon Albarn and Richard Russel co-produced the first album of original material, The Bravest Man In The Universe, from soul veteran Bobby Womack in nearly 20 years, recorded at Albarn’s Studio 13 in west London and the Manhattan Centre in New York over three months at the end of last year. Recent visitors to Studios 301 in Sydney include KRS-One, who called on engineer Simon Cohen to record and mix a track that was then mastered by Leon Zervos, and George Michael, who worked on some tracks in Studio 2 with engineer Simon Todkill. American troublemakers Gossip recorded their forthcoming album, A Joyful Noise, at Xenomania, the Kent, UK studio owned by the album’s producer Brian Higgins (Kylie Minogue, Pet Shop Boys, Cher), and KBC Studios in Portland, Oregon. British progressive metal six-piece Threshold have been recording their ninth album, March Of Progress, at Thin Ice Studios with producers Karl Groom and Richard West, with additional production at Eightspace Studio. Ballarat band Hunting Grounds, who were triple j Unearthed High winners as Howl, have been recording their debut album in Red Door Sounds in Melbourne with producer Paul “Woody” Annison. Gin Wigmore headed to Santa Monica, California, to record her new album, Gravel & Wine, with producer Butch Walker (Hot Hot Heat, Pete Yorn, P!nk, The Academy Is…) and engineer Claudius Mittendorfer (Glasvegas, Interpol, Ash, Arctic Monkeys). In a little side street in Leichhardt just opposite the Bald Faced Stag lies a converted container that goes by the name Goose Studios, which is where the drums on the new album, Cold Light Of Day, from Sydney three-piece Oscar were recorded, all other noises captured in various bedrooms in Sydney’s inner west, the lot then mixed by Goose’s owner/operator Pete Doherty and mastered by Michael Lynch at Shoehorse Studios, also as it happens in Leichhardt. Michael Lynch also mastered the debut album, For The Faint Of Heart, from Sydney three-piece Open, at Sound Heaven in Sydney, though it was recorded in two other studios in Sydney – Honeybaby Sound and The Cock & Shovel Soundbooth, as well as Broadcast Studios in Adelaide – with Jak Housden of The Whitlams producing all but four tracks, which were produced by the band, and mixing it. btl@streetpress.com.au
A MONSTER-PACKING GIRLFRIEND MAKES A TERRIBLE IMPRESSION IN THE LATEST CLIP FROM THE CAIROS, REPORTS WARWICK GOODMAN FROM THE VIDEO SHOOT.
T
he sun is shining on a well-manicured front lawn in the affluent inner-east of Melbourne. This charming Edwardian home is not what one would typically expect as the set of a video shoot by a group of indie-rock scalliwags from Brisbane, but the white truck in the drive indicates that this is the right place. Through the open front door an abundance of lights and cameras is evident, and leads are snaking through the entire house. In the back courtyard it appears that a party is happening. It is lunch time on set: there’s a generous spread of salads, meats and cakes and a large cast and crew is enjoying themselves. Someone is turning three-dozen foil-wrapped potatoes on a barbecue. It’s all in the name of The Cairos, a young band who recently signed to Island Records and are now filming the video for their soon to be released single, Shame. For them, today is a surreal introduction to the world of big label video shoots. “They’re hired actors,” says singer and guitarist Alistar Richardson of the cast, “everyone’s doing their thing.” “It’s weird as hell,” admits lead guitarist Alfio Alivuzza, “especially since when it’s our turn, we just don’t know what we’re doing.” Drummer BC Michaels adds, “And we’ve got such lame hair.” They have been lounging in the home library, the shelves of which are filled almost exclusively by cook books (“They must be chefs,” says Michaels of the owners) for much of the day. They are dressed as caterers – they’ve been given hairstyles in keeping with the refined aesthetic of the shoot. “We’re meant to be like Dawson’s Creek I think,” says Richardson. “It’s like the ‘90s thing going on.” When asked about the day’s progress, Schafer begins, “Well, we haven’t actually done anything yet.” They all give a chuckle, then Richardson adds, “I keep hearing, ‘Action!’ and ‘Take!’ and all kinds of stuff.” “And screaming!” Alivuzza interjects. Richardson reflects, “They were doing lots of screams just before, and it woke us up from our sleep.” Let it be understood that The Cairos came down from Brisbane on a plane this morning, have had a long day already and, as they’ve said, are yet to begin filming their part. Richardson starts up, “We walked in off the plane and there’s all this fake roast dinner on the table. I got so hungry. I just wanted to eat it all.” “It’s not fake.” Schafer clarifies. “It looked so good,” argues Richardson, “I just had to tell myself it was fake because I couldn’t eat it.”
Alivuzzu is presently lying flat on the ground with his head on a pillow, pondering, “Our job is to wash up the dishes after the party I think, or be in the background pretending to prepare food.” “In the very background,” suggests Schafer. They laugh aloud at the thought. Alivuzza continues, “It’s kind of good not being the main focus though. In the videos we’ve done before we’ve always been the main focus, but today…” He is suddenly cut off by Richardson getting out of his seat to exclaim, “They’re totally having a sparkler party outside! There’s cakes and sparklers.” In the courtyard just outside the window the crew are singing Happy Birthday. “Not everyone knew the name,” chuckles BC, “happy birthday dear, ‘daaah.’” Once the sparklers are out, Michaels explains the mystery of why the Brisbane band is shooting the video here in Melbourne: “The production company is from Melbourne, and we’re playing a gig here tonight, so it’s pretty easy actually.” The setting for the film clip is an idyllic suburban dinner party where a well-to-do family is meeting their son’s new girlfriend for the first time. The director, Prad Senanayake, shouts many things in a booming voice, “Let’s stand by, here we go, background action!” and his crew react with certainty. Lead actress Saara Lamberg, playing the role of the girlfriend, is originally from Finland and has been in Underbelly. This girlfriend has a terrible secret – her Shame – and it exists as a nightmarish little monster inside her handbag. The monster was made with love from silicone and acrylics over the course of a week by special effects
sculptor Russell Sharp. Sharp, who has recently worked on the upcoming blockbuster film, The Hobbit, has been working in special effects for 16 years. “I started off drawing, but I really like horror movies, so I just put the two together,” he explains. His creation for today has a scrunched face, deformed arms, a sharp long claw and brilliantly lifelike eyes. It looks quite harmless when it is resting, but when Sharp picks it up and chomps its mouth up and down, it is terrifying. The creature makes a striking contrast with the picturesque dinner scene, and when that little devil crawls out of his handbag to meet the party in all his glory, well, things are bound to get messy. It is now well after lunch and the boys are getting their makeup done in the back of the sun-filled kitchen. There are four makeup women, one for each Cairo, all perched on tall stools among racks of costume clothing and tables of colourful cosmetics. One of them explains that Richardson is wearing a “tinted moisturiser” today. “This is the fun part,” Richardson admits while getting his face made up. Once finished, they are ready to take up their posts in the dining room before the camera rolls. The Cairos’ Shame clip is released Monday 2 April. They support Bluejuice at Waves in Wollongong on Thursday 12 April and at an all-ages show at the Metro on Friday 13.
ENGINEER PROFILE
JOSH TELFORD
What areas of engineering do you specialise in? Studio recording. What is your favourite kind of project to work on? I love recording a three or four-piece band that record live until they nail a take all together. There is definitely something special about a band that arrives well rehearsed and enjoy tracking live together. The end result always feels more musical. Are there any pieces of gear that you couldn’t get by without? My UAD card and The Grove Studios’ Neve 1064 mic pres. What song/album can we listen to to get the best idea of your work? Nat Col and The Kings. What do you like to see from an artist or band in the studio? Good work ethic, creativity and willingness to try different ideas. The one common element I have noticed among successful bands is the respect they all have for each other’s new ideas. Are you currently working for a studio or are you freelancing? Currently senior engineer/mix engineer for The Grove Studios Do you have any advice for young or inexperienced artists who are heading into a recording studio? Practice and preparation. The quality of
your studio experience is determined by the amount of preparation you put in. What notable acts/projects have you worked with/on? Silverchair, Eskimo Joe, Butterfly Effect, Short Stack, Nat Col and The Kings, Kisschasy and Amy Meredith. Do you have any words of wisdom for those wanting to become an audio engineer? Persistence and practice. You never
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know which job will be the breakthrough you need. You’re only as good as the last album you’ve worked on. Where are you based? The Grove Studios Contact details: info@thegrovestudios.com or www. thegrovestudios.com or (02) 4362 3299 THE DRUM MEDIA • 65
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ROD HUNT PHOTOGRAPHY Experienced and widely published photographer specialising in live music and event photography and promotional photography for musicians, performers and artists. High quality, creative photos at affordable rates. Email rod@rodhunt.com.au or call 0415 326 721 www.rodhunt. com.au iFlogID: 17954
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RECORDING STUDIOS AFFORDABLE SYDNEY PRODUCER Sydney-based producer with multiple industry contacts and experience in both band recordings and electronic/ midi sampling. Affordable rates for radio-ready recordings. I’m aware that you’re looking for the best result for the lowest investment, give me a call to discuss your requirements. Let me help you bring your musical vision to life!Call or email Joe Sharratt for enquiries:0416 321 209 sharratt.j@gmail.com iFlogID: 17616 Having your songs produced, mixed & mastered to Radio Release Quality is easier, cheaper and way more fun than you probably think!!! studio@musicentourage.com www. musicentourage.com iFlogID: 17739 RECORDING AN ALBUM IS SIMPLE! We’ll help write the songs, provide the musos, then produce, mix & master a full Radio Release quality album & THEN HELP YOU SELL IT! studio@musicentourage.com www.musicentourage.com iFlogID: 17745 RECORDING STUDIO $30ph iFlogID: 17084 Recording Studio, Parramatta, $30hr casual rate. No kits! Singers, songwriters, instrumentalists for acoustic, world, classical genres specialist. 25+yrs exp, multi instrumentalist, arranger, composer, producer. Ph: 02 98905578, 7 days. iFlogID: 15152 Recording Studio, Parramatta, $30hr casual rate. No kits! Singers, songwriters, instrumentalists for acoustic, world, classical genres specialist. 25+yrs exp, multi instrumentalist, arranger, composer, producer. Ph: 02 98905578, 7 days. iFlogID: 15160
From Robert Johnson to Eric Clapton. tel. John 0431953178 iFlogID: 17749
CREATIVE GUITAR TUITION
Want to be a recording artist but haven’t got the songs? Let us help you write a song, then have it produced, mixed & mastered to Radio Release Quality studio@musicentourage.com www.musicentourage.com iFlogID: 17743 Want to be a recording artist? We’re looking for singers/songwriters for recording & development. Contact studio@musicentourage. com or 02 4013 1977 iFlogID: 14616 Want to know what it takes to record a song? Book in an obligation free Q&A session in our recording studio at Five Dock. Visit www. musicentourage.com or email hookmeup@ musicentourage.com iFlogID: 14478 You’ll never regret recording your songs... but we garuntee you’ll ALWAYS regret not doing it! ***Every song Produced, Mixed & Mastered to Radio Release Quality*** studio@musicentourage.com www.musicentourage.com iFlogID: 17747
REHEARSAL ROOMS SWEETLEAF REHEARSAL STUDIO MTDRUITT open 7 days, 3 rooms, aircon, food & beverages, Flat lug, Parking, PA & Lighting Hire Call - 9832-8890 iFlogID: 17546
REPAIRS
PHOTOGRAPHY
POSTERS Look professional with your own band website. Get noticed. Get more fans. Get signed. Get famous. We messed up and allocated far too much server space for 2012. So, for a limited time Musowebs.com is offering you a free band website. What you’ll get is a brilliantly unique, fullscreen, smooth, jawdroppingly good-looking website. It’s built with busy musicians in mind. So it’s easy, simple and you NEVER have to update it. EVER! Your new website will automatically load data from your Bandcamp, Soundcloud, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube etc. So all you have to focus on is creating great music. Join the loads of other happy bands already using musowebs. HURRY! There are strictly limited spots available. For more Info visit: www. musowebs.com
For as low as $100, you get a professional sound/pa mixer system with operator for the evening. Suitable for weddings, pub/ clubs band gigs, private parties etc. Infovision@yayabings.com.au. Contact Chris 0419272196 iFlogID: 15173
MANAGEMENT FOR SALE
With the best value & most receptive mastering service in the business we exist to serve you, and your music. > Your music will pass delicately through the finest valve & solid state outboard equipment on earth, under the microscope of a world-class monitoring system & acoustic environment, and importantly will be... > Utilising a skilled engineer working with numerous Indie and Major Record Labels, including EMI Music, Silverback Records and Liquid US, with credits from major artists such as FAKER, The Art, Papa Vs Pretty, Melody Black & ex members of The Sex Pistols, Blondie, The Cult & The Ramones. > Our pricing is fixed & includes the provision of a Master Red-Book CD, Master DDP DVD, Master Reference CD and a high resolution project archive. > Plus, you are more than welcome to attend the mastering session! > Song - $80 / EP - $320 / Album - $600 > Contact us at; info@the-butler.com /or/ 0403 435 686 /or/ www.thebutler.com
SEAN CAREY - PRODUCER
BRAND NEW GEAR
THE BUTLER MASTERING...
FENDER PINK PAISLEY STRAT.
FEMALE SINGER WANTED
iFlogID:
Audio Mastering, mixing, recording. CD-R music & data duplication, cover artwork, colour disc printing, online global distribution. Full studio package deal for EP or full album projects. Enquiries ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15162
PA / AUDIO / ENGINEERING
DJ AVAILABLE- ANYTIME www.djzokithefab.com -0416306340 for any dj service club or home or birthday call anytime-GET A REAL DJ NOT MP3 PLAYER OR CRAPPY DOWNLOAD.......VINYL DJ ROCKS iFlogID: 16089
ENTERTAINMENT
SUPER BOLD HEADING 13500
Audio Mastering, mixing, recording. CD-R music & data duplication, cover artwork, colour disc printing, online global distribution. Full studio package deal for EP or full album projects. Enquiries ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15156
GUITAR REPAIRS AND SETUPS Professional Guitar Tech and Luthier. Clients have played with Jimmy Barnes, Guy Sebastian, Human Nature, Short Stack, Moving Pictures etc.All repair work and setups. Call Timo 9484 4374 iFlogID: 17628
TUITION ACCOMPLISHER SINGING TEACHER Northern beaches area. Ex cabaret, session, studio singer, music producer. Toured with Shirley Bassey and Perry Como. Totally experienced. Free assessment. Beginners and all ages. Peter Flanagan 9905 8742, 0414860118 iFlogID: 16861
DRUMMER, LESSONS Drum Lessons avaliable in Gladesville Teach all Levels,ages & experience.16 years experience. I studied at The Billy Hydes Drumcraft ,Obtained Dipolma in Drummming Mob: 0402 663 469 Michael iFlogID: 17025
5 STRING BANJO TUITION Up-Picking (Pete Seeger Style) and 3 Finger Picking (Scruggs Style).tel. John 0431953178 iFlogID: 17753
ALT COUNTRY/ PUNK/BLUES/ FOLK!
Now I’ve got you’re attention, would you like to get guitar or steel tuition in any of the above styles? Learn from someone who knows & plays this music. Lead/rhythm, learn what you want straight up.Low on theory, high on pulling a great sound & playing style! Call Jeff 0412518070. iFlogID: 17662
Petersham/ Sydney. Real guitar for committed students. Attentive, one on one guitar lessons in a fully equipped music studio. Learn Jazz, Rock, Blues, Contemporary , Funk, Latin , Gypsy, Folk and other popular styles. Learn at a pace and in a direction you want to go. Beginners to advanced, all aspects of guitar are supported. Incorporate a practical approach, using rhythm, harmony, melody and improvisation. Learn theory and all about scales and modes and how to apply them effectively. Learn songs and practice techniques. Ear training, song writing, composition and sight reading. Learn all about chords, arpeggios, substitutions, synonyms and inversions. Alternate tunings, slide guitar, finger style, chord melody and world music. Study your favourite players and learn how to develop your own sound. Comfortable, air-conditioned studio with huge resource library and comprehensive digital recording available to those wanting to demo. Days and evenings, Monday to Thursday and Saturday day. Ask about special introductory offer and gift vouchers. Contact Craig Corcoran: 0430344334 creative-guitar@hotmail.com www. creativeguitar.com.au iFlogID: 17819
DRUM LESSONS Learn to play all styles with drummer/musician of 20+ years experience. Beginners welcome! Josh 0439470651 Paddington iFlogID: 17900 DRUM TUITION. Drum Tuition in Stanmore with a Billy Hyde trained teacher. Dip Ed, Dip Drums. All levels and all styles taught. Beginner Welcome! Call Lee 0403307796. www. lee-carey.com iFlogID: 15519 Eastern Suburbs guitar/ukulele/bass/slide lessons with APRA award winning composer. Highly experienced, great references, unique individually designed lessons from Vaucluse studio. Learn to play exactly what YOU want to play! www.matttoms.com iFlogID: 16690
GET ‘EM TO THE GIG
Tired of trying to pack a drum kit and a couple of amps in the back of your mate’s Camry? We can provide you with all your transport needs, anywhere in Sydney, any night of the week, for gigs, concerts, house parties, anything!. Our rates are fair and negotiable. Give us a call on 0401 461 524 iFlogID: 17934
GUITAR LESSONS NEWTOWN
ATTENTION: MUSIC CREATORS Contact me for your free chapter of my book “ Chord Voicing for Composers, Arrangers, Songwriters and Pianists”. The complete guide to advance harmony. jdmuspub@ gmail.com iFlogID: 16950 BASS TUITION Qualified and experienced bass teacher, offering private tuition according to your needs and goals.Beginners to advanced students. Wide range of styles including Jazz, Rock, Funk, Latin. http://www.marcosgil.info/tuition.htm iFlogID: 17668 Beginners to Advanced Easy and Effective Singing lessong workshops include -Vocal scales - pitch and breathing excercises -singing and learning songs of choice -performance techniques -songwriting iFlogID: 16430
>>>>-GUITAR-LESSONS-<<<< Beginners-to-Advanced. Learn the JimiHendrix Led-Zeppelin Level of guitar playing, or just strum chords to sing songs. 1xFREE lesson-appraisal Beginners you are most welcome. Acoustic-Electric-Classical Guitar all styles. 0405-044-513. iFlogID: 17936
GUITAR TUITION BY MAL EASTICK Enrolling new students now for 2012. Tuition customised - beginners to professionals. Blues, rock, tone & theory my specialties. 39 years professional experience, national concert touring level, 4 Gold & 2 Platinum albums. Central suburban Sydney location. M: 0407 461 093 - E: mal@maleastick.com iFlogID: 15035
GUITAR TUITION Fingerstyle guitar, open tunings, slide, flat picking, improvisation,rock, country, blues, folk, celtic styles, music theory, arranging, ear training, singing, banjo and mandolin. www.acousticfingerpicking.com PHONE JOHN: 0431953178 iFlogID: 17757
For a limited time. Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au
GUITAR.BASS & UKULELE. Current professional performer and teacher for 30 years. Learn Chords, Scales/Modes, Arpeggios, Music Theory & Ear training. Learn your favourite guitarists songs and tunes. 0422 838 924 iFlogID: 17619
K-POP STAR AUSTRALIA
Learn to sing, dance and perform like a K-POP Star either professionally or just for fun! A FREE CONSULTATION SESSION 765 Pacific Hway Chatswood http://www.facebook.com/Kpopstaraustralia 0416-211-891 (Ivan SI) kpopstaraustralia@gmail.com iFlogID: 17805
LAP STEEL & GUITAR LESSONS Lap steel guitar/Dobro/Slide open tunings & standard guitar tuition by experienced live & recording musician. Let me get you playing great lap steel & slide quickly in any style. Beginner pedal steel lessons also available. Inner west location with relaxed & patient teacher. Phone Jeff 0412518070 iFlogID: 17659
Learn The Drums - Have fun and discover your rhythm. I’ve created a step by step program for you on learning how to play the drums, go to www. chrismccaig.com/learn-the-drums iFlogID: 14503
VOCAL TUITION for students having problems with pitch, placement and breathing. tel. John 0431953178 iFlogID: 17755 VocalHub - Sing like no one is listening! Singing lessons for vocal technique and care, audition tips and repertoire in a encouraging and supportive environment. Visit: http:// www.vocalhub.com.au iFlogID: 17102 Wanted left handed electric guitar teacher Parramatta area, Contact John at... rodt1114@yahoo.com iFlogID: 16308
VIDEO / PRODUCTION D7 STUDIO MUSIC VID FROM $250 music vid $250. Live gig edits, multi angles, fr $125 a set, 1 live track $100. All shot in full HD. d7studio@iinet.net.au 0404716770 iFlogID: 13368 Independant Music Producer available for Singers and Songwriters. Have you got a song in your head? Real guitars, bass,drums, piano plus much more Greg 0425 210 742 iFlogID: 17100
Kontrol Productions is a highly professional production company that specializes in the production of music video’s. We ensure that our products are of the highest industry standards. For enquiries www.kontrolproductions.com iFlogID: 13827
MITCH FARMER
Paramount Guitar Tuition. Learn to play the guitar. Or learn to compose &/or improvise on guitar. Most importantly, learn at your own pace, no pressure! Classical & other styles. 0402 630 243 www. pgtonline.net pgtonline@hotmail.com Parramatta area iFlogID: 15320
PIANO: BLUES, ROOTS & POPULAR
Specialised tuition from Don Hopkins, 2nd place win, International Blues Challenge, Memphis, 2012. Improvisation, piano technique, theory. Songwriting skills. Individual sessions. Beginners to advanced. Get to where you want to be. Spaces available now. 0425201870 donhopkins@me.com iFlogID: 17606 PICKS AND STICKS STUDIO. Private Guitar lessons from an experienced teacher. All levels, All ages, All styles. Improvising, Theory, Song Writing, Technique Seven Hills, Sydney. Call Dave 0410 963 972 or email davemormul@hotmail.com iFlogID: 16948
SINGING LESSONS THAT >>ROCK<<
SINGING LESSONS Voice science is out there to help improve your singing quickly. One on one lessons in hi tech multi award winning studio with fully qualified singing and performance expert. First assessment FREE. Beginners and professionals. I will help you find your voice. www.avic.com.au studio - 9588 2184 mob - 0414 453 066 Stephen Baker MRA iFlogID: 16954
SLIDE GUITAR TUITION All styles from Duane Allman and Ben Harper to Blind Willie Johnson and Son House. www. acousticfingerpicking.com tel. John 0431953178 iFlogID: 17759
iFlogID: 17324
Professional drummer/percussionist/vibraphonist available for performances/recording. Toured with international acts such as Dianna Krall, David Campbell and Patrizio Buanne. Have huge range of instruments including vibraphone. More info at www. davekemp.info iFlogID: 17317
Professional mature-age Drummer/Vocals/ reads/back acts/shows - all styles including jazz - available for casual work.phone:(02) 9807-3137 eMail: nadipa1@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 13285 Professional mature-age Drummer/Vocals/ reads/back acts/shows - all styles including jazz - available for casual work. phone:(02) 9807-3137 eMail: nadipa1@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 16562 Professional mature-age Drummer/Vocals/ reads/back acts/shows - all styles including jazz - available for casual work. phone:(02) 9807-3137 Mob:0413-931-897 eMail: nadipa1@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 17160
Sydney Session Drummer, 26-yo, Available to work with Pro Bands in Prog or Punk, also DJ’s or MC’s in House or Hip Hop. Productive and Reliable, SMS or VoiceMail: 0425820547 - matt iFlogID: 17869
Music video production, live event filming, EPK’s, pro photography and more. Great rates for indi artists. Call Paul on 0412 222 111 or email paul@popfilms.com.au or visit www. popfilms.com.au iFlogID: 17273
MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTIONS
Professional & affordable photo & video productions,industry experienced team. Make your stunning looking,1080p HD music video,enjoy the process. Check us out on web or contact Dave 0280185520 info@musicvideoproductions.com.au Yours,creative MVP Team iFlogID: 17768 MUSIC VIDEOS offer a great way to gain exposure. Immersion Imagery has worked with a variety or artists and strives to offer quality & creative Music Videos. Visit www. immersionimagery.com email info@immersionimagery.com iFlogID: 13825
MUSICIANS AVAILABLE BASS PLAYER 20 something bass player to start band and jam- with view to originals. Inner West area. Midnight Oil, Joy Division, Ben Harper. hartley_jd@hotmail.com iFlogID: 17785 Electric & upright bass. Good gear. Comfortable in most styles. Experience performing live and in the studio. Check out my website if you wanna hear more. http://www.wix.com/ steelechabau/steelechabau iFlogID: 16159
Your voice has the ability to sing at the Audioslave/Muse/Aretha/ Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs level because of Design. Increase your rangesing with effortless power- learn to sing the right technique. Microphone technique, recording techniques, songwriting Newtown 0405-044-513 iFlogID: 17938
Experienced Soul / Reggae / R’N’B / Blues / Funk / Rock drummer (36yo) available for work preferably in Northern Beaches. Call Michael 0402 549 423
SYDNEY DRUMMER
Drum Tuition.Professional all round live/ studio drummer with 28 yrs experience. All styles and topics covered.Beginners to Advanced levels welcome. Please call Mitch for rates/times available m.0418267852 e.mitch@mitchfarmer.com iFlogID: 17528 Music tuition, classical / flamenco guitar, celtic harp, theory & harmony, arranging. 9am - 9pm, 7 days. Parramatta area. $40 hr, $30 half hr. Mature & patient. Harps for hire. Ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15158
DRUMMER A1 PRO DRUMMER AVAILABLE for freelance gigs, tours etc. Extensive touring experience, gret time/tempo/groove, great drum gear and pro attitude. Sydney based but will travel. More info, ph 0419760940. www.mikehague.com iFlogID: 13230
Professional Bass Player available for session work, gigs, functions, tours, casual or permanent work. Flexible rates. Pro gear, pro attitude, extra reliable and easy going. Check my site for more info. www.marcosgil.info iFlogID: 17909
DJ DJ AVAILABLE Dubstep to Drum&bass willing & able to adapt to your event. Low hourly rates. Everything negotiable. Easygoing, flexible entertainment. Call for a quote today. KN!VZ Entertainment Group Ph:0415680575 iFlogID: 16661
DJ AVAILABLE DJ for all occasions - Parties, Formals, Weddings. House, Electro, Dance, Hardstyle, Dubstep, R’n’B and Hip Hop. Latest Pioneers equipment and great Lighting Effects. Call Jake’DJ Splice’ 0423255668 or inbox - www. facebook.com/#!/pages/Dj-Splice iFlogID: 17801
TOP INTERNATIONAL DRUMMER available. Great backing vocals, harmonica player and percussionist. Gigs, tours, recording. Private lessons/mentoring also available. www.reubenalexander.net iFlogID: 14261
GUITARIST 18 year old guitar player looking to form Rock N’ Roll band. Influences: Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, New York Dolls. Preferably in South. Call Tom on 0401722767. iFlogID: 13358
ORIGINAL GUITARIST ORIGINAL ‘ROCK’ GUITARIST ABE LOOKING TO JOIN/FORM A ALL ORIGINAL SUCCESSFUL SYDNEY BAND. (20-35). A PEP UP FROM ‘HELL’ RATED HIS MUSIC MAINSTREAM. I DISCRIBE ABE AS A ‘LYRICAL GENIUS’ WITH ‘KILLA’ MILLION $ RIFFS INCL ‘ROCK ANTHYM ‘CAUGHT BY HER EYES’. ORIGINAL ‘HARD ROCK’ INSPIRED BY SLASH, METALLICA, AC-DC ETC... CALL ABE 0405808941 & GET READY TO BECOME A’ ROCK STAR’. iFlogID: 17930
Drummer requires cover band &/or the setup of a cover band. Simple popular dance songs, etc. Muso’s who catch on quick needed. Regular work the aim, with favourable outcomes. Phone 0403 063 922 or text Drew - experienced drummer. iFlogID: 17772
FREE RECORDING Audio students seeking bands to record & mix in a professional studio. Located in Sydney CBD. Must be able to play to a click track. Text 0433442255 iFlogID: 16983
GUITARIST ELECTRIC / ACOUSTIC Electric and acoustic lead guitarist wanted for a Sydney original folk/rock band. Must be able to sing backing vocals. Wanted for album recording in May and live gigs. Touring in July. Contact Kate - 0433 376 485 iFlogID: 17917
KEYBOARDS AND/OR GUITARIST Established, creative bass/ drums seeking guitar/ keys for a new jazz project. If you’re a composer/ collaborator with an ear for something different, you aren’t afraid to push boundaries, you’re ambitious, pro-active and musically sensitive. We like listening to Metheny, Hancock, Zawinul etc, and are interested in exploring original music. If it’s important we are both over 50 and we have the enthusiasm of youth. Our locale is around North Ryde/ Brooklyn but will travel of course. Please contact Harry 0410032121 and I can fill you in with more details. iFlogID: 17919
For original metal band based in east subs/ inner west. Guitar/Bass influences: Megadeth, Testament, Pantera, Metallica, Arch Enemy, Exodus. Vocal influences: Stone Sour, Disturbed, Godsmack. Must have good gear and transport. Must like beer...Call after 7pm 0427886407 or leave a message. iFlogID: 17861 Pro singer wanted for established 5 piece band Newcastle band Newcastle area. Covers , originals hard rock,blues,pop,rocknroll exp band gigged with Angels,paid gigs booked Peter 4984 4731 iFlogID: 17882
SINGER REQUIRED Sydney band requires experienced Singer to make a 5pc for Rock Covers 60s-current. Must be a confident lead singer, comfortable performing on stage and able to sing harmonies. Call Steve 0413 739 967 iFlogID: 17911
Untalented Libertines/BlocParty/SexPistols inspired singer/songwriter/guitarist seeks bandmates who are also inspired by these bands, willing to practice, prefer making originals rather than covers & who are easygoing. Inner West/Sydney, How bout it? iFlogID: 13790
VOCALIST WITH ENERGY
Dedicated and devoted singer looking looking to join an originals or cover band. Ability to sing various styles, jazz, blues and rock. I have my own transport. Influences Funk, Soul and Rock. Call Julie on 0419606657 iFlogID: 17871
MUSICIANS WANTED BANDS
Modern Rock/Metal band with influences such as reggae, blues, require VOCALIST. Members are early 20’s with totally professional approach and long term career objectives. Gender optional. Vision and openminded approach for future projects is essential. Enthusiasm will be appreciated. This band is managed. Contact details including phone number with your application please. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= dUAAExXTs7E&feature=youtu.be Call: 0425256347 iFlogID: 17884
A DRUMMER WANTED In Wollondilly Area for original/cover Band for gigs starting in spring. Must have transport and be older than 25. Call Mat on 0412787776 iFlogID: 17811
ATTENTION ALL CHICK ROCKERS Auditions for bass players, drummers, guitarists. If you love L7, Hole, Bikini Kill, Magic Dirt, Steel Panther, heavy hard fast rock ‘n’ roll this is the band for you. Looking to tour with well-known USA band at end of year. Serious musicians only. Please call Mel 0401 017 275. iFlogID: 17577 CANBERRA Band Members Wanted. Drums, Bass, Vocals for hard rock originals. Please send emais to stuntmoose@gmail.com for info and demo. iFlogID: 17712 Central coast band seeking a drummer for a four piece hard rock band needs to be over 18 and needs own gear for more information contact rhyseaquilina@gmail.com iFlogID: 16510
DOWNING, TIPTON, HILL, TRAVIS wanted. musicians interested in a one-off tribute to JUDAS PRIEST. need 2 x guitarists (established guitar duos would be preferable but open to all guitarists), bass player and drummer. 1hr setlist already laid out. painkiller included. date for show not set but probably in July. email me at dmin741@ gmail.com iFlogID: 17904
Established Sydney band need Bass Player ASAP. Tours booked, new EP recorded. Looking for good attitude, own gear & transport, keen to tour. Age 20-30. Please contact Sash on 0409579688 anytime iFlogID: 17057
FOLKY BASS PLAYER WANTED We are a Sydney based all acoustic five six piece folk band seeking a fun loving bass player to fill in on some gigs that our other bass player is unable to do. We do not currently have a permanent bass player so if so desired, there is the possibility to be a full time member. We prefer double bass but will settle for acoustic bass. We sound a bit like The Middle East, The Paper Kites, Angus Stone & Bon Iver. Email thatryancollings@ gmail.com or phone or text 0400407907 iFlogID: 17813
LOOKING FOR A BASS PLAYER!
young guitar player looking to start metal, punk band. influences include metallica, ozzy, black sabbath megadeth, trivium, bullet, anthrax, slayer slipknot and many many more. email space1996@hotmail.com if interested iFlogID: 17027
BASS PLAYER
BASS PLAYER - NORTHERN BEACHES
Do you live on Sydney’s Northern Beaches? We are looking for a bass player interested in joining a mature age rock band. Recently formed, we focus on rock classics from the 1970’s through to the present day. Please call Jon on - 0409 994 420 iFlogID: 17863
Bass Player for 1/2 rock covers, 1/2 ac/ dc show. we have awesome Bon, Angus & Phil looking for the others. or just to play covers till malcolm turns up. our studio’s in sutherland shire.call or txt Mick 0420 317537 or micko@y7mail.com iFlogID: 17894
SOLID PUNK ROCK DRUMMER WANTED If you like Pennywise, Suicidal Tendancies and Frenzal Rhomb you’ll have a blast playing with us! Rehearsal at Keynote Studio Homebush. Call Jay anytime on 0411-759-862. Now f@*k off c¥*t! iFlogID: 17948 Sydney band needs fun, passionate and creative drummer with own transport and gear. Established band who have been gigging regularly, with FBi Radio and Drum Media support. We have our own warehouse space for regular recording and rehearsing. Unique sound but with influences from QOTSA, Radiohead, Foo Fighters + many more. Check out www.TaylorKingMusic.com for sample music and details. Phone: 0415 608 779 iFlogID: 17604 Sydney based melodic metal band seek experienced drummer to complete line up. Own kit and transport essential. For more information or to express interest please contact Rachel 0402722010. iFlogID: 17372 Western Sydney based heavy metal band MAELSTROM seeking committed, brutal drummer. Set written and waiting. Influences include: Pantera, Lamb Of God, Machine Head. Call/msg Adam: 0449588960. iFlogID: 17791 Yo Fuckers! Royal Ace needs a new drummer, were an established rock band wanting you to come bang shit. Check us out and shoot us a message facebook.com/royalaceband PEACE! iFlogID: 17858
Blake Pardey is a songwriter based in Sydney. Looking for a Bass Player to play some live gigs. Originals and covers. Check out my music at www.ReverbNation.com/ BlakePardey and let me know if you are interested. Blake 0405 313 774 iFlogID: 17867 Mature player required west/southwest to play jazz based blues. Think Robben Ford/ Jeff Beck/SRV. Must be competent and have great gear. Don’t call if you can’t cut it. call 0425 267881 iFlogID: 17688 METAL BASS PLAYER NEEDED FOR SOON TO BE WORKING SOUTH-SYDNEY BAND!! MUST BE EXPERIENCED AND DEDICATED, NO TIME WASTERS INFLUENCES INCLUDE LAMB OF GOD, METALLICA, SEPULTURA, SLIPKNOT, CALL MATT 0401728868 iFlogID: 17487
DRUMMER 14-17 year old drummer wanted for new metal band, Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Misfits hard rock/thrash metal, has own gear, dedicated and not a time waster. iFlogID: 16384
band playing original material seeks drummer. influences - replacements, pixies, prince, wu tang. write to neilyoungponyclub@gmail. com iFlogID: 17902 CENTRAL/COAST. NEWLY FORMING ROCK/ COVERS/ORIGINAL/BAND.require DRUMMER TO COMPLETE LINE UP.. Must Have Recent BAND EXPERIENCE,. Be COMMITTED PROFESSIONAL & MOTIVATED. NO TIME/WASTERS or HOT SHOTS. Email. Previous/BAND/ EXPERIENCE/AGE/YOUR/SUBURB/EQUIPMENT/etc to . grantgupwell@ bigpond.com iFlogID: 17839
Bon Jovi The Show requires a guitarist that believes he is Richie Sambora. Desired Guitarist MUST be fluent in blues, slide, shred, acoustic guitar, and be a strong singer, most importantly a BON JOVI FAN. If this sounds like you please call Brett 0408 285 440. Must have own transport,”No time wasters’. Check us out @ bonjovitheshow.com.au or Facebook. iFlogID: 17532
COVERBAND NEEDS GUITARIST We are a well established Sydney based coverband, playing most styles of modern & classic pop,funk & rock. Average of 3-5 paid gigs a month. We required a experienced guitarist with vocal abilities. You will require your own transport & equipment, and must be available most weekends. Aged between 18 - 35 yrs. Please send your details, including a photo to brotherbooth@gmail.com iFlogID: 17887 Female guitarist/backup singer required for accompaniment of a lead singer for an upcoming performance at a food and wine festival in Sydney’s inner west. iFlogID: 17717 GUITARIST AND BASS PLAYER WANTED.Guitarist and Bass player required. Penrith Area .Mature Age.Regular social rehearsals. Music style ranging from 60’s pop to Swing Blues. 043 279 0076
THE ALICE COOPER SHOW
experienced energetic drummer wanted for sydney 3 piece. age 20-30. influences: ramones, queen, nirvana, brian-jonestownmassacre, beatles etc.100% commitment needed as we wanna get proper busy. call dee 0431317613 iFlogID: 17876
GRUNGE BLUES NOISE Singer/Guitarist needs a Drummer and Bassist to start a new band. Grungy 90s Blues Noise - Mudhoney Melvins Dead Weather. Call Nat 0406727076 Inner Sydney Based.
KEYBOARD PLAYER Keyboard player experienced preferably with vocals wanted for established gospel band, band rehearsing on Saturdays Liverpool Sydney, styles, funk,rock,smooth jazz,must have a passion to serve the Lord iFlogID: 17776 Sydney based Funk band who plays originals and covers seeks a keyboardist. Needs good gear and own transport. Contact rhyseaquilina@gmail.com. iFlogID: 17281
SINGER Attractive Female Backing Vocalist Wanted for a pop-rock Band/Show with Album on iTunes. Paid performances. A professional, reliable Singer, melodic voice required. Phone Geoff at Extraordinary Entertainment: 99691179 (Mosman). iFlogID: 17787
CAN YOU SING?!!
NEEDS A GUITARIST! fast learner, 30 songs. shows start May 26th. singing ability a must. own gear/transport. no time wasters 0421274718 or ozalicecoopershow@gmail.com iFlogID: 17698 Versatile guitarist to play rythm and lead in working band playing swing, blues and rnr. Some jazz knowledge favoured. vatm. com.au iFlogID: 17942
The Cleftomaniacs (pun intended!), the enthusiastic 25-member a cappella choir who brought you the most recent Sydney A Cappella Festival, invite new members, especially those lovely tenor & bass blokes. Eclectic repertoire from Sting to gospel to classical polyphony and we love to gig! Rehearsals school term Thursday evenings in Waterloo. Contact Catherine 02 9388 7010 / 0414 517 010 / flittie@iinet.net.au iFlogID: 17690
CLASSIC ROCK SINGER WANTED Classic rock singer wanted for working covers band, paid gigs waiting, call 0423 964 164. iFlogID: 17680 Energetic and charismatic singer wanted to front a newly founded hard rock band with a groove. Must have easy access to Bondi 2-3 times a week. Preferred age:18-26. Call Jonno-0412362425. iFlogID: 17483 GOSPEL SINGERS WANTED for non-denominational music ministry to record triple-CD in Perth. World-class, passionate and devotional vocalists sought. View www.THE001Music. com for details. Jesus is KIng! Reverend Eslam. God Bless You! iFlogID: 13088
GOSPEL SINGERS Gospel singers experienced, to do lead vocals & harmonies for established gospel band based in south west sydney, styles include blues,R/ nb,rock,funk,contemporary, must be commited christian,willing to rehearse, & have a passion to serve the Lord. Email llabnes@hotmail.com iFlogID: 17550
Singer Wanted for original rock/funk band in sydney. Excuse the cockyness but this is the opportunity you have all been waiting for. We have the songs and potential to go wherever we want. We are looking for a powerful, diverse and open minded male singer in their twenties who is ready to go all in and make it. We also have some demos we can show you. Contact me on coates2082@gmail.com or msg 0408696162. iFlogID: 17848 Pro singer wanted for established 5 piece band Newcastle band. covers and originals. Hardrock,blues.pop,rocknroll. Exp band gigged with Angels 2 booking agents paid gigs booked. Peter 4984 4731 iFlogID: 17692
KEYBOARD
Singer wanted for Sydney based alt rock band. To hear demos and for more info contact Rob on 0421851708 or Chris on 0410010134. iFlogID: 17856
COVERBAND NEEDS KEYBOARDIST
SINGER WANTED FOR SYDNEY GRUNGE BAND.
We are a well established Sydney based coverband, playing most styles of modern & classic pop,funk & rock. Average of 3-5 paid gigs a month. We required a experienced Keyboardist. You will require your own transport & equipment, and must be available most weekends. Aged between 18 - 35 yrs. Please send your details, including a photo to brotherbooth@gmail.com iFlogID: 17889
SERVICES BEAUTY SERVICES CUSTOM MADE MUSICIAN PLUGS Musician Plugs come in four different filter choices to reduce the volume of loud music to a safer level. They will not distort the tonality of the music, rather simply reduce the volume ‘equally’ across all tones.Fitted by a qualified hearing professional we have a number of locations throughout Sydney as well as in the CBD. To make an appointment call 9223 0225. iFlogID: 17016
Fully Qualified & 8yrs Experience, Thai Massage $49/hr or Sensual Balinese Aroma $69/hr. In/Out calls, Male/Female Welcome. www.takecaremassage.com.au - By Anson 0433646338 iFlogID: 17428
GRAPHIC DESIGN FULL COLOUR BAND GIG POSTERS @ AMAZING PRICES 100 A4 full colour on Gloss = $40 100 A3 full colour on Plain = $50 100 A3 full colour on Gloss = $80 100 SRA3(32 x 45cm) full colour on Gloss = $80 WWW.BLACKSTAR.COM.AU iFlogID: 16754 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY - from $299 including Hosting and email addresses! Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au. iFlogID: 15450 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY- from $399 including UNLIMITED pages, Logos, Hosting and 5xemail addresses and much more! Contact info@bizwebsites.com. au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au iFlogID: 13864
MALE SINGER WANTED
iFlogID: 17642
iFlogID: 17556
KEYBOARD PLAYER WANTED Alternative rock band with it’s own recording studio from the northern beaches is looking for a keyboard player. Having your own gear ie sampler/keyboard and the ability to play bass/guitar would be an advantage but not necessary. Contact: firebrandproductions@ hotmail.com iFlogID: 17789
iFlogID: 17569
guitarist for 1/2 rock covers, 1/2 ac/dc show. we have awesome Bon, Angus & Phil looking for the others. our studio’s in sutherland shire.call or txt Mick 0420 317537 or micko@y7mail.com iFlogID: 17896
DRUMMER NEEDED!
experienced energetic drummer wanted for sydney 3 piece. age 20-30. influences: ramones, queen, nirvana, BrianJonestownMassacre, beatles etc.100% commitment needed as we wanna get proper busy. call dee 0431317613
iFlogID: 17944
BON JOVI THE SHOW
Sydney’s most successful U2 covers band requires a drummer. They need to be experienced (especially with a click track), reliable, have own quality equipmernt & reliable transport, prepared to work regularly. Contact Adam 0414188275
Experienced drummer with a commitment to practice and regular rehearsals required for Melbourne-based alternative rock band. Influences QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Nirvana… www.myspace.com/mollydredd 0411 372 469 iFlogID: 16936
Keyboard player required for working band playing swing, blues and r’n’r. Jazz experience favoured. vatm.com.au
GUITARIST 18 year old guitar player looking for another guitar player. Influences: GN’R, Aerosmith, Zeppelin, New York Dolls. Preferrably someone in the south (Shire). Call Tom on 0401722767 iFlogID: 13407
aggressive solid drummer needed for band. have material written and demos recorded. rehearse in the wollonong area, keen to gig asap. age/sex/skill level not important. contact 0403508102 for demos iFlogID: 14021
We are a friendly jazz band playing music to any style for romantic situations, weddings, anniversaries, small cozy clubs - very affordable. contact Chris 0419 272 196 ventura@ yayabings.com.au iFlogID: 15177
FEMALE SINGER
BASSIST needed for experimental DUB project. New genre and sound being created. Require OPEN minded, politically raged Bassist. Asian Dub Foundation influence. www.soundcloud.com/yesterdays-cub (preview Demo) contact: lion_of_tomorrow@ hotmail.com iFlogID: 17446
METAL DRUMMER WANTED
OTHER
SINGER
Bass Player wanted for Lure Distortion Playing Originals ages 18-25 Own transport and Gear Influences include White Stripes, Raconteurs, Smashing Pumpkins Nirvana Looking to Gig Located on Northern Beaches Contact Chris at cs_bowyer@hotmail.com iFlogID: 17677
Less than 24 years old please. influences: Silverchair, Nirvana, AIC, Sabbath etc Contact Daniel on 0403 885 433 for more info and demos. iFlogID: 13145
iFlogID: 17826
For a limited time. Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au
Limited Edition mens tees and hoodies with a sense of humour. All hand-screened and numbered. monstrositystore.com iFlogID: 13611
OTHER EARPLUGS FOR MUSICIANS Protect your hearing with custom moulded earplugs designed to reduce the level of sound without adversely affecting the frequency response of the music. Choose between 10,15 and 25dB attenuation. Fitted by professional audiologist, by appointment only. Ph 9387 3599 iFlogID: 15216 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY - from $299 including Hosting and email addresses! Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au. iFlogID: 15454 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY- from $399 including UNLIMITED pages, Hosting and 5xemail addresses and much more! Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www. bizwebsites.com.au. iFlogID: 13862
GOOD WITH YOUR HANDS? Good with your hands? Private massage job available $50/hr no experience necessary (sorry no dudes) anyway send your number and maybe a photo to partyfun@live.com iFlogID: 16750 If you want to use DRUGS, that’s your business If you want to STOP, we can help. Narcotics Anonymous 9519 6200 www. na.org.au iFlogID: 16217 Need to promote your restaurant, club and make it the place to go? Contact us now, because providing good entertainment is a personal skill. Chris 0419 272 196 ventura@ yayabings.com.au iFlogID: 15175
TUITION SINGING, BASS, GUITAR, DRUMS
The School of Rock offers tuition in singing, bass guitar, electric guitar, drums and song writing techniques. Our instructors have years of experience showing young musicians how to play and take that talent onto the stage. For more information visit our website at www.schoolofrockinnerwest.com. au or www.zenstudios.com.au. Ph: 9550 3977 iFlogID: 17764
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LIGHTSHIPS IS LED BY TEENAGE FANCLUB’S, AND SOMETIMES THE PASTELS’, GERARD LOVE. JOINED BY BANDMATES AND BOB KILDEA (BELLE & SEBASTIAN), LIGHTSHIPS DELIVER AN ALBUM OF TENDER YET INVIGORATING SONGS.
THIS BRIGHTON DUO AIMED TO COMBINE THEIR PUNK ROOTS WITH A FLEETWOOD MAC AESTHETIC. WITH THE HELP OF PRODUCER MIKE CROSSEY (ARCTIC MONKEYS, FOALS), THEY HAVE EXCEEDED EXPECTATIONS.
OUT MARCH 30 ON DOMINO
OUT MARCH 30 ON V2 THROUGH CO-OPERATIVE MUSIC
HOODLUM SHOUTS’ YOUNG MAN OLD MAN DEBUT LONG-PLAYER FROM CANBERRA’S MUCH-HERALDED BROODING ROCKERS – PRODUCED BY MATT VOIGT (DIRTY THREE, THE NATION BLUE).
OUT MARCH 28 ON POISON CITY RECORDS THROUGH HELLOSQUARE
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THEMUSIC.COM.AU 70 • THE DRUM MEDIA
& GIBSON ACOUSTICS
J-45 STANDARD VS RRP $4699
W
NE
$2999 $299
RRP $899
$16999 $1
RRP $2399
RRP $299 RR
$6999 $699
RRP $999
HUMMINGBIRD CLASSIC MODERN CLASSI
THUNDERBIRD BASS IV VINTAGE SUNBURST
$629
RRP $799
CUT CUUT LP JUNIOR OR SINGLE AW OR VSS
EXPLORER MELODY MAKER SB
$32999 $329
EP BASSES AND SGS
EXPLORER 1958 EB
SG STANDARD NB
SONGWRITER DELUX DELUXE STUDIO EC AN S RRP $4699 699
EPIPHONE ELECTRICS ELECTRIC
GIBSON ELECTRICS
BASS VIOLA VS
$1999
RRP $699
LP STANDARD HS
FLYING V 11968 FADED WC W
$3499 $349
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RRP $209
Solid Mahogany body
LES PAUL STUDIO AW W
VINTAGE SG G-400 FADED WORN BROWN
GREAT EPIPHONE DEALS
AJ-100 NA or VS
NIGHTHAWK STUDIO
$1199
$299 RRP $599 $419
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EPIPHONE AJ SERIES
NEW!
DARK BACK GOLD TOP RRP $1599
$1199
RRP RP $1699
$499
SG G-310 VW
RRP $999
RRP $4999
$ $549
DR-220S NA
$159
RRP $369
AJ-220S NA or VS
NEW
P
KU W/ PIC
$259
LES PAUL UKULELE*
Coil-tapped burstbuckers RRP $2399 NEW
$16999
RRP $369
Available in Goldtop, Silverburst and Pelham Blue
LP TRADITIONAL 1960 ZEBRA GOLD TOP
OP ID T SOLPICKUP &
$259
RRP $199
$1399
MANDOLIN MM-50E PROFESSIONALL
AJ-220SCE NA
RRP $2199
$2399 LP STUDIO WC RRP $1899 $1399 RRP $3499
$349 AJ-100CE NA RRP $299 $219 RRP $499
$1399
RRP $1 $1,199 199
*COMES IN VINTAGE SUNBURST AND HERITAGE CHERRY
$800 OFF RRP! EPIPHONE CASES EPIPH
AJ / DREAD CASE LES PAUL CASE
EPIPHONE PRODUCT
RRP
GIGBAG ELECTRIC ................. NEW A/B PEDAL BK ....................... E-GT820-EB TUNER ............... EIC201 INST. CABLE ..............
NOW
$29 $79 $26 $15
$19 $49 $15 $9
GIBSON PUMP POLISH
ID SOL DS ALLE WOO N O T
EPIPHONE MASTERBILT DR-500 MCE
GIBSON LOGO FITTED CAP RRP $40 R
SG G-400 CASE
RRP $1199
$30 30
$849
EP DR-90T PLAYER PACK NA EPIPHONE COFFEEHOUSE MUG
335 CASE
RRP $10
RRP $169
$99
$6
RRP $10
$8849 $849
NEW
$5
EEPIPHONE DISTORTION PEDAL RRP $79
$49
GIBSON LOGO T-SHIRT GI RRP $40
$30
GIBSON LOGO BEANIE G RRP $30
RRP $329
$23 23
$229
EPIPHONE PR-4E PLAYERPACK RRP $429
$299
TO
PS ELL E
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PARTICIPATING DEALERS Big Music Byron Music Gallin's Musicianâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Pro Shop Icon Music Logan's Pianos Mall Music
85 Alexander St, Crows Nest 144 Jonson Street, Byron Bay 55 Parrama a Rd, Annandale 3 Chatham Rd, West Ryde 250 Burwood Rd, Burwood Shop 430, Warringah Mall, Brookvale
02 8622 6555 02 6685 7333 02 9517 1901 02 9809 6700 02 9744 2400 02 9905 6966
Music Solu ons Warners Bay Muso's Corner Sie 's Music World Turramurra Music Dream Music
Shop 5, 305 Hillsborough Rd, Warners Bay 1 Na onal Park Street, Newcastle Shop T2 Westpoint, Blacktown 1267 Paci c Hwy, Turramurra 610 Canterbury Rd, Belmore
02 4954 8889 02 4929 2829 02 9621 1981 02 9449 8487 02 9787 4177
THE RRP IS THE RECOMMENDED RETAIL PRICE SET BY THE AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR OF THE PRODUCT AND MAY NOT HAVE NECESSARILY BEEN SOLD AT THIS PRICE POINT IN THE PAST OR SOLD IN THE FUTURE. ALL PRICES WERE CURRENT AT THE TIME OF PRINTING MARCH 2012. WE CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR PRICE RISES OR REDUCTIONS AFTER THIS DATE. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO CORRECT ANY MISPRINTS. STOCK SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY. SOME STOCKS ARE LIMITED.
BIGGEST
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PRODUCT NAME
BEHRINGER PB600 PEDAL BOARD BEHRINGER XV AMP FLOOR FX UNIT BOSS BAPC15 EARPHONES/GUITAR CABLE SET BOSS CEB3 BASS CHORUS BOSS CH1 COMPACT SUPER CHORUS BOSS DS2 TURBO DISTORTION BOSS GT10 GUITAR EFFECTS PROCESSOR BOSS LMB3 BASS LIMITER/ENHANCER BOSS MD2 MEGA DISTORTION BOSS RT20 ROTARY SOUND PROCESSOR ELECTRO-HARMONIX STEEL LEATHER EPIPHONE A/B PEDAL BK EPIPHONE BASS THUNDERBIRD IV LTD EB EPIPHONE BROADWAY NA EPIPHONE DOVE LTD EBONY EPIPHONE DR-90S PLAYER PACK NA EPIPHONE EMPEROR REGENT AS EPIPHONE EXPLORER KORINA 1958 KO EPIPHONE FUTURA PROPHECY EX EMG BKCH EPIPHONE LES PAUL TRIBUTE 09 FC EPIPHONE LES PAUL TRIBUTE 09 TB EPIPHONE LES PAUL CUSTOM + NA LTD EPIPHONE LES PAUL CUSTOM LTD P-90 EB EPIPHONE LES PAUL NIGHTFALL GUITAR EB LTD EPIPHONE LES PAUL STANDARD LTD MET LIGHTBL EPIPHONE LES PAUL ULTRA II MIDNIGHT EBONY EPIPHONE MARCUS HENDERSON APPARITION EPIPHONE MASTERBILT DR-500P NS EPIPHONE SG G-400 CUSTOM AI EPIPHONE SST CLASSIC 1.75 EPIPHONE WILDKAT AN W/BIGSBY EPIPHONE WILSHIRE PRO LTD PBLUE FILTER DIRECT INJECTION BOX DI
RRP
SALE
149 129 59 125 119 119 599 119 119 299 169 79 799 1299 499 349 1299 999 999 1099 1099 1199 1199 999 999 1199 1599 1099 799 699 999 599
99 79 39 69 79 69 499 69 79 199 49 39 399 599 249 199 649 399 449 549 549 499 499 399 399 499 499 499 399 349 399 299 29
PRODUCT NAME
RRP
FISHMAN AURA ACOUSTIC PROCESSOR 899 GIBSON 1957 SOUTHERN JUMBO SPECIAL 5899 GIBSON FLYING V TRIBAL V 3299 GIBSON J-185 EC MAPLE (MC) AN 5399 GIBSON LES PAUL MELODY MAKER RAW EB 999 GIBSON SG SPECIAL SWAMPASH 1999 GIBSON SJ-200 (MC) AN 5999 JIM DUNLOP Q ZONE 249 KORG KOAX3A ACOUSTIC EFFECTS UNIT 179 KRAMER D-1 BASS BLACK/RED OR PEARL/WHITE 849 KRAMER NITEV SB 529 529 KRAMER VANGUARD S-440S RED METALLIC LEGACY ST1 ELEC GTR PACK 129.99 ORANGE CRUSH PIX 12W COMBO 149 ORANGE TINY TERROR HARDWIRED VALVE HEAD 1499 PLANET WAVES CT11 STROBE PEDAL TUNER 179 ROLAND GUITAR SYNTHESIZER (INCL.GK3) 1049 ROLAND MICRO BR DIGITAL RECORDER 349 ROLAND PM30 PERSONAL MONITOR 999 TRACE TA-300 ACOUSTIC AMP 3299 TRACE ELLIOT 1048H 4X10 BASS CAB 1999 TRACE ELLIOT 1015H 2X10 1X15 BASS CAB 1799 TRACE TA-200 ACOUSTIC AMP 2799 TRACE TA-100 ACOUSTIC AMP 2399 TRACE ELLIOT AH-600-7 BASS HEAD 2499 TRACE ELLIOT AH-600-12 BASS HEAD 2799 HIWATT TUBE DISTORTION PEDAL 215 VOX AC4TV HEAD & V112TV CAB 600 VOX BIGBADWAH JOE SATRIANI DUAL WAH 299 VOX JAMVOX MONITOR+SOFTWARE 299 VOX V412BK 4 X 12” CABINET 699 YAMAHA STAGEPAS250M 250W PORTABLE PA 999 YAMAHA MW10C USB Mixer 449
SALE
299 2499 1499 2499 499 999 2999 99 99 399 299 299 79 89 799 79 699 249 599 1599 999 899 1499 1299 1299 1399 129 399 199 149 299 629 299
EPIPHONE LES PAUL JUNIOR EPIPHONE CASES ASSORTED COLOURS
RRP : $329 RRP : $299
SALE : $179
GIBSON STRINGS
EPIPHONE CUTAWA CUTAWAY ACOUSTIC WITH WI PICKUP & ACCESSORIES
SALE : $229
$8 A SET!
ANNANDALE 55 PARRAMATTA ROAD
(02) 9517 1901 HOURS: MON-FRI 10:00am - 5:30pm* *THUR 10:00AM - 6:00pm SAT 10:00am - 4:30pm