Drum Media Perth Issue 315

WA’ S H I G H E S T Q U A L I T Y S T R E E T P R E S S • T H U R S DAY 2 2 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2 • 3 1 5 • F R E E

DEVO

INSIDE:

BINSON PORTER RO

N LAGWAGO

B ICYCLE CLU B Y A B M O B

CARL FOX • GARY CLARK JR • DJ YODA • PAUL DI’ANNO & BLAZE BAYLEY www.themusic.com.au

TAKE YOUR CREATIVE MEDIA PASSION FURTHER Qantm College OPEN DAY December 8 – 11am - 3pm openday.qantm.edu.au

We offer specialised industry-focused courses in Graphic Design, Interactive Digital Media, 2D and 3D Animation, Games Design, and Games Programming.

1300 136 933 | Brisbane | Sydney | Melbourne | Perth facebook.com/QantmCollegeAU

3

WITH

AND THE JACK DOEPEL JAZZ QUARTET

FRIDAY 14 DECEMBER THE BAKERY, PERTH Tickets available from www.nowbaking,com.au & from the venue direct

4

PERKSOFAWALLFLOWER.COM.AU

Mature themes, drug use, sexual references and coarse language

ADVANCE SCREENINGS THIS FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

IN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 29 5

ROCKSTAR PRODUCTIONS, BEAT MAGAZINE, X-PRESS, DB MAGAZINE & THE BRAG PRESENTS

o n e o n ly wa s h o w

Sunday 20 January Metropolis Fremantle with special guests Eyefear ( vic ) and Black Majesty ( vic ) tickets from

heatseeker.com.au & oztix.com.au 6

7

FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

IN BRIEF Beat wunderkind Flume has debuted on the ARIA charts in second spot with his eponymous debut record, topped only by One Direction.

DESCENDENTS

THE DESCENDENTS One of the most loved bands of their genre, punk rock legends Descendents are headed back to Australia next year and they’re bringing with them a crosssection of punk rock’s finest in New Jersey’s Bouncing Souls, Aussie hooligans Frenzal Rhomb and perennial Melbourne favourites Bodyjar, back in full swing after a brief hiatus. Descendents captured the hearts of multiple generations of punk fans with their tales of adolescent discontent, and you can refuse to grow up with them Sunday 10 February at Metro City. Tickets via Ticketmaster.

Soundwave and Harvest promoter AJ Maddah has denounced the local scene, saying that “Soundwave is not Australia’s Got Talent” during his recent keynote speech at last week’s Face The Music conference in Melbourne.

Meanwhile New York deathcore crew Dr. Acula have announced their immediate break up, and thus won’t be appearing at next year’s fest.

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the mind behind prog mentalists The Mars Volta, has labelled Sun 0))) “fucking cry babies” after their very public spat with promoters Heathen Skulls and subsequent tour cancellation following the fallout.

American pop vixen Ke$ha was backstage at Gay Paris’ recent Sydney show, indulging in a casual bit of beard eating.

GRINSPOON

WINNERS ARE… Kicking off 2013 playing the Big Day Out shows across the country in January with a special all hits set and just a couple of new tracks thrown in, Grinspoon embark on their national Black Rabbits headline tour in March. Bringing a whole new live show, it will be the longest sets the group have ever played, with a mix of old and new favourites. Presented by Street Press Australia, rock out to Phil Jamieson and co. Friday 5 April at Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; and Capitol Saturday 6. Tickets via grinspoon.com from tomorrow.

Thom Yorke thrilled fans last week with a 90 minute DJ set at Sydney’s Goodgod Small Club following Radiohead’s soldout Tuesday set at Sydney Entertainment Centre.

After two acclaimed albums under their Mariachi El Bronx guise, Los Angeles punk heavyweights The Bronx have just announced that they will be returning to the heavier side of life, with The Bronx IV slated in for a Friday 8 February release through Shock.

Melbourne’s Midnight Juggernauts are finishing work on the follow-up to 2010’s The Crystal Axis.

Swedish EDM duo Cazette will be the first artist to partner with Spotify to launch their career exclusively on the service, utilising the platform to build an audience and grow their fanbase over the long term.

WWW.YA-YAS.COM.AU THURSDAY 22ND NOV

BRETT WINTERFORD JESSICA MORHALL DOORS 8PM/$10

FRIDAY 23RD NOV

THE PAINTED BIRD

RACE TO YOUR FACE AND JAMES HALL DOORS 8PM/$5 SATURDAY 24TH NOV

SASS @ YA YA’S

URTHBOY

SMOKEY SONGS Already announced as joining the Insert To Play New Year’s line-up at Supreme Court Gardens with 360, Hermitude and Drapht, Urthboy will be heading back in March 2013 for the official album tour for his acclaimed 2012 album, Smokey’s Haunt. Joined by support acts One Sixth and Jimblah, and himself by a full live band, the Smokey’s Tour hits Mojos Friday 8 March and Amplifier Saturday 9 for two over-18’s shows. Tickets via Oztix.

DJ’S PUP AND DAN DOORS 8PM/FREE

SUNDAY 25TH NOV (DAY)

YA YA’S JAMMIN BAND COMP GRAND FINAL DOORS 1PM/FREE

MONDAY 26TH NOV

BIG TOMMO’S OPEN MIC VARIETY NIGHT DOORS 7PM/FREE

TUESDAY 27TH NOV

THE MEASURE

THE DARK ROOMS, BURST & BLOOM AND DRY DRY RIVER DOORS 8PM/$5 WEDNESDAY 28TH NOV

CELEBRATOR

LOUIS & THE HONKYTONK, RICH WIDOW AND CALECTASIA DOORS 7PM/$5 CORNER OF JAMES AND LAKE ST NORTHBRIDGE 147 JAMES STREET NORTHBRIDGE 6003

MUTEMATH

MIGHTY MUTE After slaying Australian audiences and critics alike earlier in the year, Mutemath are heading back to road test songs for their next album and continue the love affair that has developed between the band and our country. During their string of sold out shows across the nation, Mutemath stunned with their amazing artistry and incendiary live performances delivering songs from their acclaimed third studio album Odd Soul. They play The Astor Theatre Tuesday 19 March. Tickets via showticketing.com.au from Monday.

8 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

New York based MTV Digital Music Strategist, Amber Horsburgh is teaching a free online Skillshare course on how to build a fan-based community through the DIY success story of Seattle based rapper and Perth Festival-bound Macklemore.

Sign up at skillshare.com.

Joining Tame Impala, Alpine, Hermitude, Ball Park Music and The Rubens, the final J Award nominees for Australian Album of the Year are The Presets (Pacifica); Urthboy (Smokey’s Haunt); Parkway Drive (Atlas); Oh Mercy (Deep Heat); Sarah Blasko (I Awake); Bertie Blackman (Pope Innocent X); and Regular John (Strange Flowers).

Central Institute Of Technology will launch their student radio station Boom Radio November 30. Check boomradio. com.au to tune in.

MIKE SCOTT FROM THE WATERBOYS

WATERSHED MOMENT In their first Australian tour and performing cult classics and greatest hits along with new works from An Appointment With Mr Yeats, The Waterboys are finally headed our way. Frontman Mike Scott has confirmed that the show will be “a killer set of vintage Waterboys” to please their most ardent of fans, spanning their 30-year back catalogue including classics: The Whole Of The Moon, Fisherman’s Blues, A Bang On The Ear and more. Saturday 2 February at Perth Concert Hall.

Tickets via livenation.com.au from next Friday.

THE CAT EMPIRE

CATS ARE BACK Having spent much of 2012 touring overseas, The Cat Empire are home making plenty of noise in the studio, writing and recording their new long player, one that is a return to the original anthemic party sound for the group, whose energy and uniqueness has won over hearts and headphones across the globe. Due in May 2013, they’re introducing it to us a little early, playing Fremantle Arts Centre Sunday 10 March with Flap! And more TBA. Tickets via Heatseeker, Mills, 78’s, Planet, Star and FAC.

TYLER TOUCHÉ

FRENCH TOUCHE Despite being not quite old enough to vote and just old enough to drive a motorbike, Tyler Touché has still managed to dominate club world with his filtered French-touch goodness. His instant classic Baguette is a current triple j favorite, with the rest of his debut EP receiving similar love from fans and critics. The young gun is in town next Friday 30 November to play Get Weird at Geisha, supported by Shazam, Bear Feet, Willy Slade, Clunk, Sleepyhead, Jack Doepel and Lemon Lime & Biddiss.

DUSKY TIL DAWN London based producers Alfie Granger-Howell and Nick Harriman, aka Dusky, make house music that’s inseparable from the genre’s tradition but comes with both a widescreen ambition and a distinctly UK underground edge. Timeless, fresh, both classic and contemporary and unmistakably theirs, Dusky’s comes to Next Hype, Thursday 20 December at Ambar. Supports TBA.

EXTREME

EXTREME RICHIE The ‘90s rock explosion continues, with the announce that Extreme, along with special guest guitar virtuoso Richie Kotzen are headed down under next year, playing Metro City Tuesday 16 April. The group won a legion of fans during the ‘80s and ‘90s selling over ten-million records including hit More Than Words, while LA-based guitar hero Kotzen is cited as one of the world’s best with an axe, his latest release last year’s 24 Hours. Tickets via Oztix from tomorrow.

22nd NOV 201 QUEEN VICTORIA ST NORTH FREMANTLE, WA PH: 08 9335 2725 | WWW.MYSPACE.COM/SWANHOTELFREO

Doors 8pm. Very limited numbers. Will sell out!

FRIDAY 23 NOVEMBER

STOPMOTION + WRONGTOWN + POOL FORTH

PERTH SOUND & FOUND DOUBLE STAGE EVENT

S AT 24 NOV

FEATURING:

DARREN GUTHRIE PARADISE MOTOR INN WAYNEWRIGHT P IS FOR PUMPERNICKEL KITES REMEMBER THE SOUTH WE STAND AS HEROES THE FALL OF MAN

23rd NOV

LOUD NOISES FEATURING:

PARKER AVENUE BLACKJACK GUNS OF AUGUST A MARTYR'S NEW PITCH

MUSTANG THURSDAYS THURSDAYS

Foam SINGLE LAUNCH with guests Mezzanine, Man the Clouds and Hideous Sun Demon.

Doors 8pm. Be early.

24th NOV

KWUQVO [WWV"

SUNDAY 25 NOVEMBER

A very special San Cisco ALBUM PRE LAUNCH with guests Gunns.

INSECT TREATMENT PROGRAM... a mini fest of noise/experimental/ metal with Slaughterhouse 5, Cat Hope, Ourobonic Plague, Memoria & Sam Giles. Doors 6pm.

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 22nd OUR MAN IN BERLIN & LOUIS & THE HONKYTONK & JACOB DIAMOND

A ‘Spinning Top’ Movember benefit..

www.facebook. com/norfolkbas ementlounge

Thursday 22 November

BEX’S OPEN MIC NIGHT

@ RAILWAY HOTEL BEER GARDEN 44 Tydeman Rd, North Fremantle 9335 2732

SUNDAY 25 NOV

Friday 23 November

GIAN

S + OH WHITE MARE + BLA CK IN K

+

DS A O R + RED CE R A E P RILEY

SUPPORTED BY IContact: NTERESTED IN PLAYING? luke@sweetmate.com.au

& DEAD OWLS & CAROLINE J DALE

(CCR TRIBUTE)

Saturday 24 November

GEOR

THE REDUCTORS

PROUD MARY

4-8PM, ENTRY $8

THE

THURSDAY NOVEMBER 29TH

27 HASTINGS ST SCARBOROUGH, WA 6019

PH: (08) 9341 1122 INFO@IOH.COM.AU WWW.INDIANOCEANHOTEL.COM.AU 20% OFF ALL MEALS ORDERED 5 TO 6PM. PLEASE PRESENT AD WHEN ORDERING

BLUE SHADDY Sunday 25 November

ANDREW WINTON Wednesday 28 November

BOSTON & CHEVY

COMING SOON: Thursday December 13th

THE VANS

Thursday December 20th

MEZZANINE & TRIGGER JACKETS

Thursday December 27th

SURE FIRE MIDNIGHTS

COMING SOON

6 DEC BENJALU 14 DEC MILLER CITY SESSIONS FEAT DJ PETE GOODING 23 DEC JEFF MARTIN FRI’S IN DEC VDELLI

FREE ENTRY 46 LAKE ST, NORTHBRIGE 9328 2350 LIVE MUSIC EVERY NIGHT OF THE WEEK ENQUIRIES info@mustangbar.com.au www.mustangbar.com.au 9

FOREWORD LINE SLUMBER PARTY Sleep ∞ Over is the dreamy, eternal sounds of Austin’s Stefanie Franciotti, who quickly gained the attention of the esteemed Night People label with poignant melodies and classic pop song structures. Prepare for an evening of deep sleep dreams and REM hallucinations when she plays Innerspace at Geisha Sunday 3 February, supported

by Kucka and Erasers. Tickets via Moshtix.

BATTLE READY One of this country’s most successful male artists, Guy Sebastian is heading back on the road next March for his Get Along Tour. The former Australian Idol winner plays Crown Theatre Thursday 28 March. Tickets via Ticketek from next Tuesday.

IRISH TWO And Guy Sebastian’s judge rival on Channel 7’s The X Factor Ronan Keating also makes his way around Australia next March, joined by fellow Irishman Brian McFadden, the duo playing Crown Theatre Tuesday 12 March. Tickets via Ticketek from Monday.

AUDIOSOUL Inhibit’s last Villa event of the year hosts a massive double-header featuring lords of the deep and soulful Spectrasoul, celebrating their recent LP Delay No More; and tear-out tech lord Audio, touring his Soulmagnet LP. Supported by Voltron, Defyre, Frantik, Darren D and MCs Bear and Xsessiv, Saturday 15 December is looking epic indeed. $25 plus BF via Moshtix/$30 plus BF second release.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

LOCAL LOVIN’

There’s some fighty mine happenings going down soon in WA, and we don’t just mean starting Christmas shopping now to avoid it later... Wait, we never do that.

Returning from a stint in the USA, WA songstress Grace Woodroofe is playing Mojos Sunday 2 December, supported

by Felicity Groom (trio) and Gunns.

Three-piece desert grunge punk-rock Applebite – The Beggars On Acid launch their CD single Fix Me tonight, Thursday 22 November at The Fly Trap, supported by Foulplay, Midnight Boulevard and The Jephasuns. $16 from 7.30pm.

It’s almost time to launch into summer, and Joe Black Trio would like to help out with some good times at Mojos Thursday 29 November.

They’re joined by Rachel Gorman, Mister & Sunbird and Dilip N The Davs. $10 from 8pm.

The Sure-Fire Midnights are hosting a huge night of rock’n’roll to raise funds for their upcoming Australian Tour at the Civic Backroom Saturday 1 December. How huge? Hells Bells, Ragdoll, Babyjane and Gazman’s Crown Jewels will all also be on hand. $20 from 7.30pm.

Cheryl Lim aka Jade Diary has just released her new album Mermaid, and you can catch her live at the Swan Hotel Saturday 1 December and Clancy’s Mt Pleasant Wednesday 19.

Grab the tinsel, erect the tree, break out the stupid hats, your drunken uncles and dodgy grandparents for A December Dogs Christmas Party Wednesday 5 December at the Rosemount Hotel with Lauren Dixon, Mudlark, Sully and Tim Gordon all getting in the spirit.

GRACE WOODROOFE Indie pop five-piece TV Snow are gearing up in preparation of their debut LP Red being released next year, hitting Ya Ya’s Friday 7 December with Harlequin League, Bishi Bashi and Bedouin Sea. Tuesday 11 December marks the final gig in WA for Gerry Quigley (The Shinkickers) before he heads home to Ireland.

Playing The Charles Hotel with his new band The Nomadic Druids, they also take the night to launch their new CD. Morgan Bain and Whiskey Winter will support Husky when the group hits Mojos Wednesday 12 December and The Bakery Thursday 13.

Showcasing tracks from their debut EP, and for the first time exposing east coast audiences to their world class live show, Coveleski are embarking on a national tour that flies into Ya Ya’s Friday 14 December with Kill Teen Angst, Celebrator and Adam Livingston (Emperors), and Saturday 15 at The Railway Hotel with Manhattan Jinx and Scalphunter.

Robbie Jalapeno and his band The Bureacrats called on some film students from Curtin Uni to roll out the clip for their new single Nosferatu, and they launch it Friday 14 December at North Fremantle Bowls Club.

Electo-pop duo Sun City are taking their latest EP Set Alight around the country before winding up here to play Cuban Club, Tuesday 1 January at The Flying Squadron Yacht Club.

ANDY C

C THE EXECUTION Returning for Heavyweight Soundz at Metro City once again to keep their Australia Day Eve tradition going, drum’n’bass heavyweights Andy C and MC GQ are back at the scene of many, many bass-dropping crimes Friday 25 January. With RAM Records stronger and more diverse than ever, the one they call The Executioner isn’t softening up, in fact… he’s sharpening his axe. Limited $50 early birds are available via Mills, DJ Factory, Atomikarts.com, Perth Clubber and Perthmusic.net. Supports TBA.

BUTLER’S ESTATE After a solo show last weekend, John Butler Trio launch 2013 with a couple of special family concerts in the lush grounds two popular WA wineries – Thursday 3 January at Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River and Friday 4 at Castelli Winery, Denmark. WA songstress Mama Kin will start proceedings at both shows and tickets go on sale from next Monday via the venues, Blue 62 Busselton, Busselton, Dunsborough and Margaret River Visitor’s Centres, Denmark Liquor Store, Heatseeker and johnbutlertrio.com.

BIG VA VA VOOM

SPECTRASOUL

M A R L E Y

ACTION STATION Queens, New York-based Albanian Action Bronson is a former chef who started rapping in 2009.

After dropping the Come Up EP in 2010, Bronson followed up with the critically acclaimed Dr. Lecter, before his amazing Well Done LP. He plays The Bakery Thursday 17 January, supported by Ta-Ku, KnoeFM, Rob Shaker, UpAndUP (Coin & Marksman), Solitary & Bitter Belief (Cloak & Dagger) and Charlie Bucket. Tickets via nowbaking.com.au, Highs & Lows, Moshtix, 78’s, Mills and Planet.

A OKA-Y With a signature sound and an unforgettable live reputation, OKA is a celebration of Australian cultures. They return to WA next year, playing Indi Bar Wednesday 6 February; Mojo’s Thursday 7; White Star Hotel, Albany Friday 8; Settlers Tavern, Margaret River Saturday 9; and the Railway Hotel, Sunday 10. Tickets through okamusic.com.au.

FESTIVAL NEWS www.houseofmarley.com.au

PROMOTERING Southbound Festival’s Promoterotion competition has returned where you have a shot at programming the Southbound playing times on the two main stages.

Head to southboundfestival.com.au/promoterotion to give it a crack, and the winner gets to be an honorary promoter for the weekend (VIP tickets, triple A pass and more). Entries close November 30.

Also bands keen to take part in Stagebound need to be on Sonicbids before the same date, with the live final hitting Ya Ya’s Tuesday 11 December.

DANCING IN THE HAY Themes of redemption and renewal come naturally to Colin Hay, who’s in the midst of a remarkable renaissance. While his voice and visage are still familiar to millions from his tenure as frontman of Men at Work, the last twenty or so years have seen him quietly yet tenaciously redefine himself to new generations of fans. Be taken away when he performs at Bunbury Entertainment Centre Friday 1 February, Regal Theatre Saturday 2 and Mandurah Performing Arts Centre Sunday 3.

MIDNIGHT JAZZ The concept behind Mark Lockett’s Sneaking Out After Midnight was largely inspired by his love for the music of American alto saxophonist and ‘giant of jazz’, Ornette Coleman. Lockett has also drawn upon his extensive time spent studying with New York heavyweight Ari Hoenig. The fusion of these two influences led to his fourth album, and he brings it Wednesday 12 December to the Ellington Jazz Club with Jamie Oehlers.

MAC’S LAND 2012 has been a huge success for Kid Mac with the release of his debut album No Man’s Land, with the first single off the album She Goes Off featuring Mickey Avalon a YouTube hit featuring cameos from Snoop Dogg and Steve Aoki among others.

Kid Mac will embark on a national tour next year, playing Indi Bar Wednesday 16 January; Mojos Thursday 17; Settlers Tavern, Margaret River Friday 18; Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Saturday 19; and Clancy’s Dunsborough Sunday 20. Tickets via Oztix.

KRAFTY KUTS

GIVEAWAYS

BREAKFEST

After last week’s epic local line-up announcement for Breakfest (Wednesday 26 December, Belvoir

CREDITS

MOOVIN’ IN Hard to believe we know, but Groovin’ The Moo festival have announced their 2013 dates, shaking down Hay Park in Bunbury Saturday 11 May. Tickets go on sale from February 5 for $99.90 plus BF, with the line-up due a week before. The fest is also looking for single-sided t-shirt graphic in line with the Homegrown theme, with a swag of prizes on offer. Check gtm.net.au for the deets.

NADEAH

YESDÉAH So Frenchy So Chic returns with a live showcase featuring Australia’s own Nadéah, set to tear up the stage with her unique style of eclectic, personal pop, infused with the wildcat spirit of Brigitte Bardot. This year Nadéah wowed the Adelaide Cabaret Festival and sold out unforgettable shows in Melbourne and Perth, showing the only thing more audacious than her songwriting skill is her unpredictable stage presence. Joined by Fremantle-via-Adelaide songstress Bird To Prey, catch them at Fly By Night Friday 18 January. $35 via flybynight.org.

AWARDS UP

Amphitheatre), we’re getting pretty pumped for some Boxing Day breaks. And now thanks to Boomtick we have two HUGE prize packs to give away that include a blockmount from 2005 and 2006 signed by a heap of the acts playing each including the likes of Krafty Kuts and Freq Nasty, a ticket to the festival and a bunch of other goodies. To win just email giveaways@drumperth. com.au with “BREAKFEST (YEAR)”, indicating which year’s poster you’d love to grab. This is in conjunction with our other comp, where you post a pic of you and your BFF (best festival friend) having a good time on the Drum Perth Facebook stating “Im playing up with (tag your friend) at (tag Breakfest)”. This is to win a chance to play the first three tracks at the Belvoir Amphitheatre to kick off Breakfest! So, what are you waiting for?

The time has come to head to PerthDanceMusicAwards.org to see who made it into the Top 3 for each category this year. The list is too massive to show here, but they have announced Teknoscape as winning Best Website, with James Zabiela taking out Best International Performance (hosted by Habitat). The Awards Ceremony hits The Court Hotel Sunday 2 December – check Drum next week for full coverage in the lead-up.

DISMANTLED APE The Big Ape-man is packing his bags and heads around the country one more time for 2012, this time taking Dismantle along for the ride. Brighton based Will Knighton is regarded as one of the most hotly tipped young producers and DJs to emerge from the UK Bass scene. Blurring the lines between house, dubstep and drum’n’bass, he’s already a favourite with the likes of Skrillex, Diplo, Annie Mac, Mista Jam and Skream. He plays Shape Saturday 8 December. Tickets via bigape.com.au.

CONTRIBUTORS EDITORIAL

Managing Editor Andrew Mast Editor Troy Mutton Front Row Editor Cass Fumi

ADVERTISING Sales & Marketing Director Leigh Treweek Sales Executive Matt McMullen

DESIGN & LAYOUT Matt Davis, Nick Hopkins

ADMINISTRATION Accounts Loretta Carlone

PHOTOGRAPHERS Elle Borgward, Shane Butler, Graham Clark, Beau Davis, Ebony Frost, Callan Gibson, Cybele Malinowski, Elena Marcon, Drew Mettam, Aaronv2

10 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

After recently adding Chow Town and actual metalheads Compressorhead to the Big Day Out 2013 line-up, the festival has now added Lucha VaVOOM – Mexican masked wrestlers performing acrobatic feats in a character-driven style. And in-between matches the finest handpicked burlesque acts from around the world bring the voom. Jack Black reckons it’s “the shit”, and who can argue with that guy? Tickets still $165 via Ticketmaster.

Scott Aitken, Marisa Aveling, Paul Barbieri, Zoe Barron, Steve Bell, Jackson Best, Tom Birts, Mike Bowring, Tom Bragg, Tristan Broomhall, Rob Browne, Rick Bryant, Michael Caves, Cyclone, Marcia Czerniak, Sebastian D’Alonzo, Kitt Di Camillo, Daniel Cribb, Naomi Dollery, Cameron Duff, Cam Findlay, Tomas Ford, Chantelle Gabriel, Olivia Gardiner, Eli Gould, Baron Gutter, Rueben Hale, Ellie Hanratty, Simon Holland, Craig Hollywood, Tess Ingram, Christopher H. James, Jason Kenny, Angela King, Kosta Lucas, Lynn Mc Donnell, Mac McNaughton, Tom O’Donovan, Nic Owen, Simon Rundin, Michael Smith, Andy Snelling, Aimee Somerville, Callum Twigger, Anthony Williams

EDITORIAL POLICY The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder. ©

DEADLINES Editorial Friday 5pm Advertising Bookings Monday 12pm Advertising Artwork Tuesday 12pm Gig Guide Monday 5pm

PUBLISHER Street Press Australia Pty Ltd. 1/205-207 Bulwer St Perth 6000 PO Box 507 Mount Lawley 6929 Phone (08) 9228 9655 General Editorial music@drumperth.com.au Arts/Film Editorial frontrow@drumperth.com.au Club/Dance Editorial mo@drumperth.com.au Gig Guide gigguide@drumperth.com.au Live Editorial live@drumperth.com.au Advertising Sales sales@drumperth.com.au Accounts/Administration accounts@drumperth.com.au Artroom artwork@drumperth.com.au Distribution distro@drumperth.com.au Office hours 9am to 6pm Mon to Fri.

PRINTED BY Rural Press WA

BAND COMP CALL FOR ENTRIES

+ - , - +

THU 22 NOV

SPRING BREAK END OF EXAMS PARTY FRI 23 NOV

INTO THE LIMELITE FINAL SAT 24 NOV

REWIND

OLD SCHOOL HIP HOP FRI 30 NOV

2MANYDJS *** &&" &$ !## ! ' #(

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$10,000 FIRST PRIZE

WA’s biggest band competition THE BIG SPLASH will run annually starting next year. The comp will run across various venues between June 4th and August 10th.

This is a call out to all Western Australian original bands with no record deal, management, booking agent or publishing deal. Your original music

What we need: Band name, contact phone number, online link to your music

!

!

thebigsplash@coolperthnights.com with subject “Big Splash Entrant�.

Entries open December 1st, 2012 and close February 13th, 2013.

live in concert, playing songs from Fisherman’s Blues, including The Whole Of The Moon, This Is the Sea, An Appointment with Mr Yeats and all their very best

the waterboys on their ďŹ rst australian tour

saturday 2nd february concert hall tickets on sale friday 30th november from www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 for

more

information

livenation.com.au 11

AND THE WINNER IS...UMM...

Best Independent Artists both last and this year at that other awards night, the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards, The Jezabels are probably the band most likely to get the gong here.

Who will win? The Jezabels Who should win? The Bamboos BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – RELEASE Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Alpine – A Is For Alpine; Lanie Lane – To The Horses; Matt Corby – Brother; and San Cisco – Awkward This has to be a shoe-in for 360. Then again, Matt Corby has done phenomenally well himself, and Alpine are utterly unique.

Who will win? 360 Who should win? Alpine BEST GROUP Nominees: Boy & Bear – Big Man; Cold Chisel – No Plans; Hilltop Hoods – Drinking From The Sun; The Jezabels – Prisoner; and The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap 2011 was the year of Boy & Bear, and again, Cold Chisel would have to be the sentimental favourite but it’s not going to happen. It’s a race of three.

There’s more to this story

on the iPad

W

BEST DANCE RELEASE Nominees: Havana Brown – When The Lights Go Out; Hermitude – Hyperparadise; Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl feat Georgi Kay – In My Mind; Knife Party – Rage Valley; and Sneaky Sound System – From Here To Anywhere The consensus seems to be that while Hermitude would have the numbers in the local context, both Havana Brown and Knife Party have been scoring massively overseas.

Who will win? Havana Brown

As tribally loyal as Hilltop Hoods’ fans are – no one can deny that 2012 has been 360’s year. Whether that’s enough to guarantee he gets the pointy thingie is up for debate.

Who will win? 360

Nominees: Jessica Mauboy – Gotcha; Kimbra – Vows; Lanie Lane – To The Horse; Missy Higgins – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle; and Washington – Insomnia

Who should win? Buried In Verona/House Vs Hurricane

BEST ROCK ALBUM Nominees: Children Collide – Monument; Cold Chisel – No Plans; Oh Mercy – Deep Heat; The Jezabels – Prisoner; and The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap Chisel still have people coming to gigs but not buying albums; Children Collide have taken a step off the pedal with their third record. Similarly, The Temper Trap didn’t do the figures of their first album, despite it being a far stronger record, and The Jezabels have surprised us all.

Who will win? Cold Chisel

Nominees: Beccy Cole – Songs And Pictures; Catherine Britt – Always Never Enough; McAlister Kemp – Country Proud; The McClymonts – Two Worlds Collide; and Troy Cassar-Daley – Home It has to be between the old favourite Troy Cassar-Daley and the all-grown-up Catherine Britt. She’s aligned herself with local indie icon Tim Rogers, but will that newlyaware contingent be enough to pull her across the line?

Who will win? Troy Cassar-Daley Who should win? Catherine Britt BEST URBAN ALBUM Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Hilltop Hoods – Drinking From The Sun; Katalyst – Deep Impressions; The Bamboos – Medicine Man; and The Herd – Future Shade

Nominees: Angus Stone – Broken Brights; Jeff Lang – Carried In Mind; Lanie Lane – To The Horses; Mia Dyson – The Moment; and Paul Green & The Other Colours – Behind The Stars A strong field of essentially seasoned troopers. Stone alone, while he’s delivered a great album, probably entered the field a little late. Lang, Greene and Dyson are probably truer representations of the category they’re contesting but…

Nominees: Gotye – Making Mirrors; Guy Sebastian – Battle Scars; Jessica Mauboy – Gotcha; Kimbra – Vows; and San Cisco – Awkward The only thing possibly working against Gotye is that his album was released long ago. Guy Sebastian has now overcome the taint of Australian Idol.

As for Jessica Mauboy, the record is lifted from the soundtrack of The Sapphires, anyway.

BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM

Who should win? Kimbra/Missy Higgins BEST MALE ARTIST Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Angus Stone – Broken Brights; Gotye – Making Mirrors; Guy Sebastian – Battle Scars; Keith Urban – For You; and Matt Corby – Into The Flame As good as Keith Urban is, his appearance in this category is more likely to have been influenced by The Voice than his merits musically. Ultimately this has to be a battle royal between 360 and Gotye – rapper versus indie pop.

Who will win? Gotye Who should win? 360 ALBUM OF THE YEAR

Can the ladies pull a rabbit out of the hat and the rug from under the men? Probably not. So again, it’s 360 versus Gotye.

It’s hard to imagine anyone standing a chance against the most popular ‘comeback’ album of the year. Then again, Husky have been kicking some serious goals overseas...

Who should win? The Jezabels

Who will win? Missy Higgins

Who should win? Gotye

Who should win? Missy Higgins/Husky

BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM

BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE

Nominees: Buried In Verona – Notorious; DZ Deathrays – Bloodstreams; Frenzal Rhomb – Smoko At The Pet Food Factory; House Vs Hurricane – Crooked Teeth; and Sleepmakeswaves – ...and so we destroyed everything

Nominees: Dappled Cities – Lake Air; Katie Noonan & Karin Schaupp – Songs Of The Southern Skies; San Cisco – Awkward; The Bamboos – Medicine Man and The Jezabels – Prisoner

FRI NOV 23

Who will win? Missy Higgins

Nominees: Darren Hayes – Secret Codes And Battleships; Husky – Forever So; Josh Pyke – Only Sparrows; Katie Noonan & Karin Schaupp – Songs Of The Southern Skies; and Missy Higgins – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle

Who will win? Gotye

THURS NOV 22

A year ago, Washington seemed to be everywhere, while this year, it’s been Lanie Lane, but do either have the ergot of a resurrected, match-fit Missy Higgins?

And Kimbra of course has that international success.

Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Gotye – Making Mirrors; Missy Higgins – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle; The Jezabels – Prisoner; and The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap

Who should win? Mia Dyson

BEST POP RELEASE

BEST COUNTRY ALBUM

BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM

Who will win? Lanie Lane

Who should win? The Jezabels

Who should win? Hermitude

Sleepmakeswaves is probably the best album in terms of innovative new sounds, but it’s got to be a contest between the hard rock of DZ Deathrays, the defiantly metal Buried In Verona and House Vs Hurricane.

Who will win? DZ Deathrays

Who should win? Hilltop Hoods/The Herd

Who should win? The Temper Trap/Hilltop Hoods BEST FEMALE ARTIST

It’s that time again, when we break out the crystal ball in an attempt to second guess the results of the 26th ARIA Awards. Will they better their average of previous years? Do you agree/disagree warmly/ violently? Read on. 360, Missy Higgins and Dougy Mandagi cover and feature pics by Kane Hibberd. ith a week of ARIA-associated events leading up to the big night at Sydney Entertainment Centre on Thursday 29 November, and with Hilltop Hoods, Jessica Mauboy, 360, The Temper Trap, The Jezabels, Guy Sebastian, Kimbra, Missy Higgins and Taylor Swift all performing. the ARIA Awards are looking like one of the biggest nights yet for Australian music.

Here are our thoughts on this year’s field of contenders.

Who will win? The Jezabels

SAT sat NOV sept 241

Who will win? Gotye Of course, you, dear readers, will be deciding four categories yourselves. Perhaps you’d like to share your thoughts on who will and who should win in those publicly-voted categories.

Just go to themusic.com.au and voice your opinion.

WHAT: The 26th Annual ARIA Awards WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 29 November, Sydney Entertainment Centre

sun NOV 25

wed NOV 28

(VIC)

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EP LAUNCH + Tangled Thoughts + Boys!

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Of Leaving + Sam PerryFace + Race To Your + Sparks Vertigo Doors 8pm. Tickets from

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Rosemount Resident DJs in the Beer Garden Wednesday to Saturday nights FREE ENTRY rosemounthotel.com.au cnr angove & fitzgerald , north perth 12 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

&

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If Devo have oysters on their rider, you better watch out. Bryget Chrisfield discusses listening parties for cats, wowser major labels and uncontrollable urges with the band’s bassist/synth player Gerald Casale. evotees who caught Devo during their last Australian shows in 2008 were left gobsmacked by how relevant their music still sounds. The band formed almost 40 years ago and, although they fill out their matching radiation suits a lot more these days, tracks such as Whip It, Girl U Want and Here To Go still wipe the floor with a lot of the electronic schlock out there now.

Booji Boy made an appearance, there were fluorescent superballs pinging about and mass euphoria was experienced. When asked what some of his favourite memories were from Devo’s last visit Down Under, the band’s bassist/synth player Gerald Casale struggles.“The last visit, well, you know, we had never been there that time of year so it was kind of shocking that it was all damp and cold. Our first tour of Australia was life changing and mind-blowing – we were there in January into February – and it was all incredible. The whole experience was great and the weather was, of course, sunny and hot, and the people were wonderful. We were staying in Kings Cross in the Sebel Townhouse and going out every night to the clubs – it was one big, long party.

We didn’t see any of that action this [most

D

recent] time - maybe they hid it from us.”

Devo’s party-hard reputation must have preceded them.

“Yeah, we had that famous party in Sydney Harbour on a yacht and it got in all the tabloids.” Did it get out of hand?

“Well it did.” Did anyone go overboard?

“Only in how many oysters they ate and how much sex was going on.”

Let’s rewind to 2006 when Disney reached out and suggested Devo re-purpose their songs for a demographic of four to eight year olds.

“And that was truly Devo, ‘cause that was Devo in substance: the fact that they wanted us to do that,” Casale recalls. “They came to us and said, ‘Could you re-purpose all your most-known songs for children?’

And we said, ‘Well, which ones do you want them to be?’

And they picked the songs and then I spent three months casting a band, and I finally found a band of kids between ten and 12 that could really play and sing. We recorded them doing our songs and then I shot video of them playing the songs mixed with all these computer graphics for a DVD. I shot video and at that point they had to – the people at the top, you know, the suits – for the first time they took a look at it, and then

somebody ordered a book of our lyrics ‘cause they hadn’t paid any attention, ever in their whole lives, to Devo lyrics. So then they were looking at the lyrics and they were freaking out! It was so funny.”

Considering some of the racey lyrics tweens sing along with these days (we’re looking at you, Azealia Banks and Rihanna), Disney has some nerve targeting Devo. “I know, and those are hardcore lyrics,” Casale agrees. So which particular lyrics did they find offensive? “Oh, well they said, ‘You can’t say, “It’s a beautiful world for you but not for me,” you can’t say that,’ [laughs]. We go, ‘Well what do we have to say?’ and they go, ‘Well how about, “It’s a beautiful world for you and me too”.

“Uncontrollable Urge, they hated that,” he continues.

“They said that the ‘uncontrollable urge’ was a sex reference and that it was undefined and so people were allowed to think that the urge must be sexual, and that the only way they could put the song out is if we defined the urge as something else. And so we asked them what that would be and they said, ‘Make it about junk food,’ haha.” That’s really gonna help tackle childhood obesity! “You got it!

Well, then you can see where this is going. And then the funniest one was a song called That’s Good.

We have a verse about how life is full of surprises and it says, ‘Life’s a bee without a buzz/It’s going great ‘til you get stung.’ And they said, ‘You better get rid of that whole verse.’ And I said, ‘Whaddaya mean?’ And they go, ‘We know what you’re talking about…’ and it’s as if I had written hip hop lyrics!

They said, ’”Life’s a bee,” means life’s a bitch.

“Life’s a bee without a buzz,” meaning life’s a bitch if you’re not getting high. “It’s going great ‘til you get stung,” means you get away with it until the cops pop ya.’ See? They were really thinking.”

Did they ask the junior band members what they thought the lyrics meant? “They never asked the kids and the kids didn’t think that.” Backtracking a little, three months seems an awful long time spent auditioning to find the right candidates for Devo 2.0. “Yeah,” Casale agrees. “Because I mean you would think, ‘Oh, it’s Hollywood, there’s gonna be so many kids that can sing and play,’ and then you find out it’s not true.”

Devo are set to embark on a Stateside co-headline tour with Blondie, after which they’ll grace our shores for a stint with Simple Minds. “They’re really interesting time warps,” Casale offers. Harking back to when he first became aware of Simple Minds, Casale shares: “I really liked them and then I was shocked to read how much, uh, what’s the lead singer’s name? Jim Kerr. I was shocked to read how much he hated the song that they had in the movie The Breakfast Club, haha, and he kept putting it down in the press – got Hollywood all upset with him. We really liked that song, but then we found out apparently he didn’t write it – a producer wrote that for the movie, and Simple Minds recorded it and it became their biggest hit

[laughs]. But then he went and married Chrissie Hynde. She was such a powerful artist.”

The promotional campaign leading up to Devo’s last album, Something For Everyone (2010), set a new standard in terms of creativity. There were focus-group questionnaires to decide which colour they would change their famous energy dome hats to and interactive online surveys to determine which 12 out of a 16-song selection would make the final tracklisting cut. And then there was the listening party for cats! Casale and co ought to be congratulated. “Thank you, yeah we were having a really good time with that, and we were working with an agency called Mother. Mother was a very cutting-edge agency outta New York City and we had a great, kind of almost tonguein-cheek, Dada campaign going. We actually did a lot more than what anybody ever saw.

“The label, Warner Brothers, they didn’t really support it, they didn’t really like it and they kind of felt they needed to be gatekeepers and stop some of it,” he laughs. “There was a five-part reality series where Mother created a fake agency and then we interacted with fake record label people and fake agency guys that were all actors, and so it was like [This Is] Spinal Tap but it was presented as real. It was satire and they felt it was disrespectful, but it was just hilarious. We made fun of ourselves, the agency made fun of themselves, everybody was an idiot, you know?

That was the whole point. I guess now, at this point, enough time has passed that, just for posterity, somebody should see it. That’s what I think.”

WHO: Devo WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 4 December, A Day On The Green, Kings Park & Botanic Garden

HOPELESSLY DEVOTED

GREEN DAY OUT Alright, so now that you’ve whipped up to speed on what the heck’s been goin’ on with Devo, let’s see what’s been happening with the rest of the cracking line-up gracing the Kings Park & Botanic Gardens Day On The Green stage in a couple of weeks.

SIMPLE MINDS Since coming to prominence in the late‘70s/early-‘80s, Simple Minds have sold more than 60 million albums and battled through numerous personnel changes (although frontman Jim Kerr and guitarist/keyboardist Charlie Burchill have been there since day dot) to become one the UK’s favourite cult bands. They’ve produced a heap of popular albums (both critically and commercially), but of course you know them thanks to The Breakfast Club and that track, Don’t You (Forget About Me).

They’ve continued going strong into the 2000s, releasing five albums including this year’s 5X5 live album and 2009 studio album Graffiti Soul. This tour is a pre-celebration for their 2013-due greatest hits album.

THE CHURCH Seminal Aussie act The Church, like Simple Minds, features two of the original players in Steve Kilbey and Marty WilsonPiper, with fellow original Peter Koppes back after a short hiatus from ’92-’98.

They’ve also fairly consistently released material since forming in 1980, and in 2010 were inducted in the ARIA Hall Of Fame.

That same year they toured America for the Intimate Space 30th Anniversary Tour, which saw them play one song from each album release and perform it in reverse date order.

MODELS Another seminal Australian act, the Sean Kelly and James Freud-led Models also scored an induction into the ARIA Hall Of Fame the same year as The Church.

That time also sadly saw the death of Freud. Unlike the rest of the acts on this Day On The Green, Models have remained relatively cool on the release front since going into hiatus in the late-‘80s.

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TELLING THE TRUTH The man is about his family, politicking on a global scale, putting out good hip hop, but most of all Brother Ali Newman is about truth. Rounding off his US tour, Newman raps with Rip Nicholson on Halloween – no tricks or treats.

’m the truth. I don’t got no tricks involved at all.

Treats are tricks. Pop music is a treat. The job of pop artists is to observe what you want, whether it’s good or not. Whatever’s the popular thing, even if it’s something bad for you, as long as you respond.

What I do is neither of that. I provide the truth.

“I

“Most people have lost that kind of moral responsibility to say and do what’s right. They tell a truth that doesn’t challenge anybody. They tell a part of the truth that makes them safe because it doesn’t make anyone feel uncomfortable. Because in our society, we’re not very good at dealing with problems that we don’t like to hear about ourselves in particular.

So we stay away from things that are dangerous because it turns people against us and challenges people too much. They don’t like that and turn against you. And that is bad for your career.”

Born Jason, Brother Ali Newman’s lyrics are highly potent on politics and he has never shied away from expressing his disdain of his US homeland and the part it plays in world domination. His fifth and latest album, Mourning In America And Dreaming In Color, was released last month and speaks on several home truths, scaring those who dare to ignore. “[The LP] talks about the accurate, honest and mature look in the mirror we need to take and the state of mourning that we’re in and the mourning that we’re caught in,” declares Newman. “From the point of how we imagine our society to be, where everybody is acknowledged, everybody is protected, everybody is welcome – where everybody can contribute. So it’s an inventory of who we are and what we have in common and a sense of what we’ve always been.

It’s also a challenge of who we can be and who we should be and who we’ve told ourselves that we are.”

Newman’s been out of the game for a minute, taking time to reconnect with all that’s most important in his life, making the pilgrimage to Mecca as a devout Muslim. He feels his latest album shows real growth, by making powerful choices with his carefully chosen words. “I’ve said more with less words. I think I’m a lot more focused, more dedicated and [there’s] a definite growth in my writing and presentation in what I’m doing.”

The hiatus has allowed him to re-enter at a timely moment of reawakening within people. “The democratic awakening I am talking about is in activism; people getting together to demand that human dignity be respected and to have a right to live free. I think in the world, especially our Western societies, we see things very shallow. We do that because we’re trying to protect ourselves. We’ve caused a lot of suffering and we continue to cause a lot of suffering in order to have an unfair advantage in the world. We walk into someone’s home and perform genocide on their land, colonise them and put them into situations of racial and class systems.”

Before making his scheduled dates in Australia, Newman assures fans of one thing; “First of all I’m gonna do a good job. And my job is to do a show, without preaching. I didn’t start rapping to say something; I started rapping because I have to rap.

I started making music to make music. And people listen because I’ve earned that relationship. I wanna share what I know with people I know haven’t had WHO: Brother Ali WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, Metro City

16 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

SOMEWHERE IN TIME Both former vocalists for one of heavy metal’s most influential acts, Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley will embark on their first co-headlining tour of Australia. Brendan Crabb talks to the prowler and a man on the edge. aul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley share a unique common ground; both recorded two studio albums with Iron Maiden, albeit in vastly different circumstances. The former fronted the British metal legends on their classic first two records (1980’s Iron Maiden and 1981’s Killers), being at the forefront of their rapid ascent in the late-‘70s/early-‘80s. He was replaced

by Bruce Dickinson, to legions of fans the definitive Maiden vocalist. When The Air Raid Siren departed in 1993 following a decade of dizzying success, Bayley stepped in. Unfortunately this coincided with a lull in their drawing power, although founder/bassist/linchpin Steve Harris reveals in Mick Wall’s authorised biography that the first Bayley-fronted record, 1995’s The X Factor, is one of his favourites. After poorly received follow-up Virtual XI and its troubled tour, Dickinson returned in 1999. Maiden has since experienced significant career resurgence again, playing to packed arenas and headlining major festivals.

Both ex-singers are asked if they envisioned them making such a triumphant return at the turn of the millennium.

“I don’t really listen to ‘em. Of course I hear ‘em here and there, but really can’t say,” Di’Anno comments. “I think they never left the top. Maybe in ticket sales, but I dunno, everything comes and goes, they never really left. They’re just in that icon stage now – legendary. Good on ‘em.”

“Yes, I haven’t had much time to listen to the albums but I never doubted that they would return,” Bayley responds. “(I attribute it to) their hardcore fanbase – they have supported Maiden over many years and are very loyal. There’s also the great songwriting of Steve Harris of course.”

Bayley’s tenure coincided with a general downturn in metal’s popularity. Metallica and Pantera flourished, but otherwise grunge and nu-metal superseded the more traditional styles.

“I didn’t really care,” he emphasises. “If there are ten fans or 10,000, I still try to give the best performance possible. I knew it wasn’t my fault so

P

there was nothing I could do about it, apart from giving the best show. It was a great time for me.”

The question is posed as to whether Bayley felt the Maiden releases he appeared on were unfairly treated by fans and critics, or if he was made a scapegoat for their lesser performance.

“I don’t know,” he mulls. “They were very different to what the fans were used to, so I did expect them to be more critical. I am very proud of these albums and having the chance to work with Steve. It was a difficult time for fans because their favourite singer had left the band, so I understand why they were not happy. I try to go see them when they are touring in the UK, but it’s difficult because I’m also on tour a lot of the times. I stay in touch with Steve and mixed some of the songs from my new album, The King of Metal, in his studio.”

While Bayley has always spoken with fondness about the metal icons, during The History of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days DVD, Di’Anno discusses his tenure with much endearment and admiration for their ongoing drive.

However, he has also criticised the current incarnation, blasting recent recordings and reportedly comparing Harris to Hitler for his (allegedly) tyrannical grip over the band.

“Mate, everyone takes want they want from what I say, usually the bloody wrong way too,” Di’Anno ponders. “Of course I have very deep affection from my times in Maiden; it was the time of (my) life until the end, when it wasn’t something I loved anymore.

But it was becoming huge; it was a real hard decision to quit, or be kicked out, depends who you talk to,” he laughs. “I have nothing but praise for Maiden, they have done a bloody good job, but if any bad stuff people may understand me saying is misunderstood…

Yeah, it’s not my cup of tea, good on ‘em, but not my kind of music, that’s why I left in the first place.”

Regardless of views on their later creative direction, the pair will celebrate the Maiden legacy during their upcoming Australian run. This will mark Di’Anno’s third solo tour of these shores, but Bayley’s first. They will play individual sets solely comprised of Maiden material, before doing a few songs together at the conclusion.

“Wait and see – maybe (we’ll do) The Number Of The Beast or The Trooper,” Di’Anno jokes. “Nah, we’ll close the set each night with something special.”

Di’Anno name-checks Sanctuary (“On an energy level, I always thought it was a bloody good punk song”) and Remember Tomorrow (“I dedicate that to [former drummer] Clive Burr”) as his favourite Maiden

Paul Di’Anno

Blaze Bayley songs to perform live. Bayley lists The Clansman (“It is in my set almost all the time and the fans seem to really love it”) as his track of choice.

Despite their historic connection, the pair has only recently formed a kinship while touring together on-and-off during the past year.

“I knew who he was of course, but we weren’t close friends before,” Bayley explains. “These last few weeks I’ve got to know him better and I find him a very funny man. He’s a good performer and I think it works well to do these shows. We have being doing shows in Eastern Europe and it has gone really well. I would say a big thank you to all the fans in Australia for supporting me, even though I haven’t been able to come over with my solo projects yet. I am hoping that next year, I will be able to come again and perform my own songs.”

Although Bayley also has an acoustic EP as well as further shows with Di’Anno and pre-Maiden outfit Wolfsbane in the pipeline, Di’Anno’s career has a different outlook. He recently announced plans to semi-retire from playing live in 2013, but not before enjoying his first visit to Australia since serving several months’ prison time after being convicted of benefit fraud last year.

“I’ve had a bloody blast (Down Under) the last couple times,” he laughs. “My good buddies Killrazer have always been up to the mark as a band and treated me well. I love it down there. My best memory was going to see my mate Bon Scott in Perth, leaving him some Stone’s ginger wine, a couple of ciggies and then goin’ for fish‘n’chips.”

WHO: Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, The Civic

THE HEART OF IT Porter Robinson is refusing to yield to the almighty dollar’s almightier pull. He tells Cyclone that the maintenance of his artistic integrity is achieved through constant acts of love. ichael Jackson, Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan were all child stars. Porter Robinson could be the DJ equivalent. Indeed, he began cutting dance music at 12. The American was on the verge of becoming a global star while finishing high school, his dad chaperoning him to gigs. In 2011, he scraped into DJ Mag’s Top 100 poll. This year he’s No 40 – with a bullet. (And he’s placed sixth in the DJ Times America’s Best DJ 2012 list.) Yet Robinson, who’s just turned 20, has no stage parents behind him – and, such is his determination, he’s unlikely to unravel.

Nonetheless, the hyper-articulate electro-houser, bound for Stereosonic 2012 (his third Aussie trek!), would make even a seasoned superstar DJ feel insecure.

The Atlanta-born Robinson grew up in the college town of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, where he still lives with his parents when not on the road. It isn’t exactly a dance music hub. “I almost never play here!” he acknowledges with a laugh. He was initially exposed to electronica via video games. Keen to recreate the sounds, Robinson used the Internet to swot up on production techniques, circulating early rudimentary tracks online for feedback. At 15, he officially issued Booming Track on Germany’s YAWA Recordings as Ekowraith.

Robinson caused a bigger splash with 2010’s Say My Name. Remarkably, he was approached to remix Lady Gaga’s The Edge Of Glory. And Skrillex, digging another Robinson revamp, that of Avicii’s Seek Bromance, chose his Spitfire EP as the flagship release on OWSLA. Robinson has learnt much from touring with the dubstep don. ”He’s probably the one who instilled in me this idea that artistic integrity is of the highest priority and just kinda taught me not to pander. He’s yet to do something in his career that he wasn’t fully behind. Despite being insanely popular, you could never call him a sell out because he just does what he enjoys. That is integrity.”

This year, Robinson proffered his most mainstream record in the vocal Language, complete with music video, on Ministry Of Sound. It cracked the UK top ten. He’s working towards an album, having resolved that his recent efforts

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are too “experimental” to be singles. Coincidentally, Robinson’s sound has evolved into something ever more amorphous – an electro, house, trance, dubstep and moombahton stew. He’s the guy who came up with the term ‘complextro’ – for complex electro heavy on textures.

“It always sucks to self-describe – and I don’t want to give people some sort of false expectation,” Robinson says of his upcoming music. “It’s also important to me to let the music speak for itself. I don’t think I should explain it. I mean, I would hope that the music translates. Also, it’s happened to me before that I’ve made these lofty predictions for what I’m gonna do and then I ended up doing something completely else entirely. But I can say that the stuff I am writing right now is a little bit more sentimental and melodic and experimental and focusses more on making you feel things, as opposed to being just purely high energy. I think my last song, Language, was a step in that direction – the focus on that song is emotion.

Even though it’s a high energy song and it’s effective in the clubs and [at] festivals, that was a secondary goal.”

There is no stopping Robinson, who’s scored residencies in Las Vegas, played Coachella and headlined his own tours. But, Gaga remix aside, he isn’t clamouring to produce pop figures (Katy Perry was declined). “My time is so limited,” Robinson says. “It’s really hard for me to make music at all. I’m just gonna focus on what’s inspiring to me.” That said, he “wouldn’t rule it out, ever”.

For all his achievements, Robinson occasionally regrets turning down the chance to attend college – a rite of passage. “I have mixed feelings about it. I got into probably the best university in my state. I worked really, really, really hard in high school and I got great test scores. I spent four years working towards this goal of being admitted to this university and I succeeded and then, over the summer before I was gonna go to school, I saw some success with my music career and I decided to pursue that because it was more important to me. I see so many of my peers who have their degrees that they’ve always wanted and they’re working at fucking Walmart. It’s just a difficult climate out there. I saw an opportunity to realise my dream and so I sprung for it.”

Robinson has missed out on other stuff. He’s too young to have encountered numerous pivotal moments in dance music. Apart from Skrillex, he has supported Tiësto, who was already DJing locally in the early ‘90s; and David Guetta, who was DJing in the ‘80s. Guetta’s first hip hop track dropped in 1990, two years prior to Robinson’s birth.

“I would have liked to have been around and gotten to experience the very, very early French disco house sound, when that was bigger,” Robinson muses. “I even missed

the whole 2008 blog house thing ‘cause I still wasn’t going to clubs or anything – I was just a reclusive North Carolina kid. I also think I would have enjoyed seeing some of the formative years of trance, when Sven Väth was making it happen. There’s a lot of history that I would have loved to have been privy to. But I do think we’re living in one of the greatest times ever for dance music.”

Though Robinson’s bio touts him as an EDM “saviour”, he’s as surprised as anyone by the explosion Stateside – and unsure how to account for it. “To an extent, popular music in America had stagnated somewhat,” he posits. “Hip hop was no longer a novelty and it was sort of running out of steam. There was just a desperate craving for something new. I also think that ‘escapes’ and party-related stuff tend to thrive during economic hardship... But who knows?”

Many US DJs are amped about trap music but, while Robinson has identified “anti-pop elitism” as a pet hate, he abhors the prospect of its being co-opted – as, ironically, was dubstep. “The trap music thing is interesting. I get really excited when a new trend emerges in dance music – the novelty is really fun. I worry with trap music that hype vultures are gonna appropriate it and, instead of trying to make good music, [they’ll] try to make careers out of it. That’s how the hype machine can take itself down. I kinda worry for the music, ‘cause it’s a cool sound and I want it to survive, but it just risks overexposure.

People are so cynical nowadays that, if they hear the same genre name three times in one day, they’ll denounce it because it’s gotten too popular. So I just hope that people are respectful with regard to that sound and don’t try to appropriate it for their own careers. If you’re gonna make that style, make it because you truly love it, and because it’s good, as opposed to trying to capitalise on it.”

WHO: Porter Robinson WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 25 November, Stereosonic, Claremont Showgrounds

BETWEEN BRITAIN AND BOMBAY Bombay Bicycle Club guitarist Jamie McColl talks to Callum Twigger about Tasmanian beaches, the somewhat dire state of British guitar music and paranoid Americans in that country’s deep south (from a gym). hen I called, Jamie McColl was in a gym. A rugby player since schoolboy days, he’d forgotten about our interview. Taking a breather from the workout, McColl is one quarter of Bombay Bicycle Club, an understated Brit-rock four-piece that’s spent the last six years holding the rainy island’s once burgeoning guitar music scene together. “Yeah, I’ve been playing rugby for years. Back in high school, my team went on tour to Australia,” says McColl, BBC’s lead guitarist. The score? “Uh, I think we won four-two” McColl confesses.

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It’s not the first time we have chatted with McColl – back in February, the redhead spoke about the pressures of success. Bombay Bicycle Club entered the spotlight after winning Britain’s ‘Road to V’ competition in 2006, at a time when they were still too young to drink. Headed by the charismatic Jack Steadman, the band found band name inspiration thanks to an English Indian restaurant chain they passed on the way to their first gig of the V competition.

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NONE OF US HAVE CHANGED, PRETTY MUCH. WE’RE STILL FRIENDS, EVERYONE IS STILL HAPPY, WHICH IS QUITE A RARE THING.”

BBC have been touring the planet pretty relentlessly since 2011’s A Different Kind Of Fix, venturing across America no less than three times in a single year. Last May, they performed at Lollapalooza, and apparently had an in-depth encounter with the paranoid Southern Stateside types regular folk seem to love to hate. “We met one guy who thought that if Barack Obama won another four years he’d turn the country into a dictatorship, and lead a Black Panther uprising,” McColl says, laughing.

“The amount of people who think like that is kind of insane, really. And also just kind of casual racist, homophobic and sexist jokes, and you just don’t know what to say,” he adds.

Since their innocuous debut album, I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, the band have kept it together, building on their previous album’s strengths. “I think the most important thing is that none of us have changed, pretty much. We’re still friends, everyone is still happy, which is quite a rare thing I think by the beginning of the fourth album,” McColl explains.

“One of the things that has helped sustain it was not doing too much touring [for] the first couple of albums.

The problem, I think, is when you have indie bands that have a popular first album, which they tour for a couple of years. By the end of that, they’re burnt out, and can’t think of a second. It was good, A Different Kind of Fix – to still have all that left” says McColl.

“Jack, our singer, is going to India to do some writing, a bit randomly,” McColl explains of the band’s songwriting progress. “But at the moment, we’ve got like [a third of] an album, so we’re part of the way there” says McColl. Yet, BBC have managed to work an Australia tour (with Tasmanian beach time) into the formula. “We’re really excited, we had a lot of fun last time. It’ll be nice to get back. I could spend years on the beach in Tasmania,” says McColl.

“All of our albums have been fairly different to one another, but I don’t think that we’re making a particularly radical departure from the previous one. It’ll be more electronic, perhaps like Shuffle,” says McColl, remarking on the blissfully groovy first single lifted from their 2011 third record.

“I say that, but we might turn around and go somewhere else. You never know. Especially when we just released three albums in rapid succession.” It’s a statement validated by the varied sounds the band is renowned for: each of Bombay Bicycle Club’s preceding albums (I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose, Flaws and A Different Kind Of Fix) has its own distinct soundscape, and the band have a penchant for shifting their style, which has earned them praise and at times illinformed criticism. BBC are a young outfit, after all, and their variation between conservative Arctic Monkeys’ Brit rock and a more lucid flirtation with electronic production should be welcome in the moderately tepid British guitar band scene.

On this note, McColl returns to themes he touched on during his previous interview with us: the current, apparently dire, state of independent British guitar music. It’s a valid observation, unless you think Joe Newman singing in a Muppet voice about breezeblocks or evangelical Christians on banjos are cool. “I don’t think it’s particularly an amazing time for British music; there are no bands out there [from Britain] that I like… I think Foals are one of the best bands out there. We had a band supporting us in the US called Vacationer who I really like, and I think people in Australia would really like. The last album I enjoyed was Bon Iver, and if we could collaborate with anybody, it’d be them,” he says.

I ask him the obvious: “Mumford & Sons? Coldplay with banjos, as someone said…” he adds, laughing.

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WHO: Bombay Bicycle Club WHEN & WHERE: Friday 4 and Saturday 5 January, Southbound Festival, Busselton CRICOS Provider Code 00301J CU-HUM-0069/ BRAND CUHU0121B Curtin University is a trademark of Curtin University of Technology

For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 17

BACK ON THE WAGON After a relatively quiet spell, ‘90s So-Cal punk-pop institution Lagwagon have recently re-released their back catalogue and are making a long-overdue return trip to Australia. Daniel Johnson catches up with singer Joey Cape. ince forming in 1990 in Santa Barbara, Lagwagon have had a long and distinguished career. They were the first band signed to NOFX singer “Fat” Mike Burkett’s then-fledgling Fat Wreck Chords label, releasing their first full-length, Duh, in 1992 and following it up with Trashed in 1994, which cemented their reputation as one of the burgeoning punk-pop revival’s brightest lights.

able to master specifically for vinyl and specifically for CD in the case of some of those early records where they were only mastered for one.”

The band released a further five albums between 1995 and 2005, as well as 2008 EP, I Think My Older Brother Used To Listen To Lagwagon, their mostrecent release. Over the past few years, Cape has undertaken the arduous task of going through the vaults to compile expanded reissues of Lagwagon’s first five albums, and when asked why he chose to re-release the back catalogue instead of putting together a ‘best of’, Cape is quick to answer.

“I felt like he was kind of the fact-checker and also the cool-checker. When I would say, ‘I don’t know my man, I don’t know if we can put this outtake out’ or whatever, he was like, ‘C’mon man, it represents you, you’ve just got to go for it, you’ve got to get it all out there. It’s where you were and what you were doing.’ He made me gutsy enough to realise the better way to go was quantity, so people could hear everything we’ve done. We didn’t put everything on there; there were a few things that were just bad,” he laughs. “But we put almost everything on there.

I’m proud of it; I really liked what we did with that.”

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“The reason we did it is because I, personally – and I can also speak for the band here – I’m not a fan of the anthologies or the ‘greatest hits’-type records. They do the job of burying the deep cuts from the early records and in the digital world they create a one-stop place for someone who’s discovering the band to go and just check out only the songs deemed worthy of being on that record, and in doing that they sort of bury the history of the band, and every record has a time stamp, you know? It represents an era and a period of that band’s existence and evolution. If I love a band I cherish all the records, I like to celebrate the different periods of the band. It depends on the mood I’m in and what band it is, whether it be The Ramones or David Bowie.

“This was a really nice way to celebrate the early period of the band when we were really prolific and we had a lot of extra material and also maintaining the integrity of those earlier releases and dealing with the releases that have the most to benefit from such a process. If you were to take an MP3 player and it’s shuffling songs, like when an old punk song comes on you can hardly hear it compared to modern records. So we were able to bring them up to a competitive, more realistic volume in today’s world, but we were also

Cape admits to have had moments of self-doubt when compiling the re-releases, and he credits Fat Wreck Chords label manager and close friend Chad Williams with giving him the confidence to include some of the more rough-hewn material.

Cape – who’s also playing some solo shows in Australia prior to be joined by his bandmates for the tour proper – admits that when Lagwagon started out more than 20 years ago, he didn’t expect the band to still be touring this many years down the track.

“But let me be clear, we don’t make much of a living off of our band anymore,” he admits frankly. “If we tour constantly we make an okay living, but bands like us don’t sell much of any records anymore.

Everybody in the band has another job… my other jobs are the other six bands I play in. But yeah, I never thought we’d be doing it this long. I think the people that are in bands and early on have these ideas like ‘we’re going to be together forever’ are much more unrealistic than we’ve been about it.

I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. I always thought that we were just lucky.

Every time we make a new record, or go out on tour, I still get this weird feeling like, ‘Oh cool, we’re doing this again.’ It’s surprising to me.”

Cape also reveals that after their current touring commitments are over, Lagwagon plan to return to record their first full-length since 2005’s Resolve.

“We do, and it’s been a long time, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t know what the identity of the band was. As a songwriter I sort of take my time and everyone is cool with it because we don’t want to do anything that we’re not proud of, so sometimes we take five years to make a record; it’s just the way it is in this band. I have to wake up one day and say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what we’re supposed to do next’ and then we’ll all start to work together. We’ve got a few tours lined up and when they’re over, towards the end of the year, we’re going to jump into a room together and start hashing it out, see what I have and see if it’s good, see if it’s enough.”

On a more sombre note, one of Cape’s dearest friends, No Use For a Name frontman Tony Sly, died earlier this year. As Cape explains, he was one of the last people to see Sly alive and is still shocked by his friend’s sudden passing.

“I was on tour with him the day before on the east coast in the States and we just wrapped it up

KING CHEER

GOLDEN GIFT

Taking time out from sanding floors, Carl Fox tells Mac McNaughton that a stint in Switzerland snapped him out of his sad-song phase.

Never heard of Gary Clark Jr? Well, you should have. Kristy Wandmaker learns from the man himself just what has made him such an enamoured face of music.

hat was really bizarre!” says Carl Fox, talking of a recent review of his King EP by this writer, which included a reference to Jimmy Tamborello’s electronica. “I totally spun out when I read that ‘cause I did have a really heavy Dntel phase ‘cause I love The Postal Service and I was trying to work out who was mostly behind the parts that I liked – the ‘electronic’ dude or the ‘band’ dude. I think I came to the conclusion I liked a mix of the two. There’s a cool YouTube video where he goes through all his equipment in his studio and that inspired me to buy my drum machine, so I did spin out when I read that review.

Fox is conducting this interview while taking time out from his day job sanding timber floors. His forthcoming tour, in which he will play Perth, Sydney, Melbourne (twice), Brisbane and Adelaide in just nine days is proving to be costly and requires getting his hands dirty. “Obviously, my passion is music but when I run out of money, I do have to work, but then I’m right back onto my beats at home.” While King has the sound of introverted bedroom studio pop music, he’ll be touring with a six-piece band which promises to open up the vibes. “I have so much respect for my band ‘cause if I have any ideas or shortcomings about transporting it into a live format, then there’s trustworthy opinions in the rehearsal room as things change and morph.”

The tour seems a logical step to air the new EP, which has garnered plenty of support across triple j and even UK blog Best In New Music. “King was the first song I finished – I wrote that shortly after a trip to Melbourne after finishing my audio engineering degree. I was so busy and focussed on education and gigging my other record [his 2010 debut, Chunky Rainbows], “by the time I finished my degree and

18 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

Cape says he and his bandmates have discussed the possibility of performing a No Use For a Name song on their Australian tour to pay homage to Sly. “Well, we’ve talked a lot about doing one of his songs with Lagwagon and I think we will.

We’re having a bit of a tough time coming to agreement on which song to do – it’s difficult because we all like the band a lot and everybody has different songs they’d like to play.”

WHO: Lagwagon WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 5 December, Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; Thursday 6, Rosemount

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“I’ve always been into things with amazing production like Radiohead and Björk. I love working out what makes it cool and why it’s so amazing. Often you just don’t have a clue, you have to power down and say ‘well done’ ‘cause you just have no idea.”

eet Gary Clark Jr. No, not that guy from accounts. Gary Clark Jr, the man being hailed as the second coming of Jimi Hendrix.

The man awarded the Golden Corndog award for performing in more major North American music festivals in 2012 than any other musician on the planet. The man who will soon release his major label debut, Blak And Blu for your listening pleasure.

Still not sure who the heck I’m talking about? Take a seat and let me tell you more about him.

and I was going to continue on with this friend of mine named Jon Snodgrass to do a few more shows. Tony flew home and he passed away as soon as he got home. He made it home but that’s the day that he died; so I’d literally just dropped him off at the airport, went and played a show in Florida and was at my friend’s house asleep when the phone rang. It’s tremendously tragic.”

started writing again, I had enough songs to make an album. But then I decided to make an EP just using my favourites.” So with such a large hot pot of songs still to choose from, surely another longplayer shouldn’t be too far away? Surprisingly not, it would seem.

“I have no idea what’s next. I do have a backlog of music but my personality is that if I don’t get it out within a certain amount of time, I’d rather move on and keep everything fresh. Some of this stuff may get put on Soundcloud or something though.”

His current exploration of bucolic poppin’ beats appears to have been birthed from two distinctly different musical chapters. On the one hand, there’s the influences of his high school classical guitar training which rebelliously saw him migrate “into Nirvana, The Offspring, even Pantera, Mudvayne and heavy stuff.

Just shitty bands… I always had a mellow side and I was writing this absolutely depressing pop because with my acoustic guitar I had these very, very sad songs. Then I moved to Switzerland for a year [in 2008] and met these amazing people who were DJs and into clubbing and music to them was fun and all about being upbeat and I made a conscious decision to train myself to write songs that reflected my personality a bit more. And the cheese was quite nice!”

WHO: Carl Fox WHAT: King (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 29 November, The Bird

At the age of seventeen, the Mayor of Austin, Texas, one of the greatest music cities in the world, proclaimed an entire day in his honour. He is one of very few people who can realistically claim to be a prodigy, both from birth and as a result of his parents’ influence. “I grew up listening early on Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, The Temptations,” he begins.

“All soul records. I remember just kinda relaxing and putting them on and dancing around and singing a bit, just having a good time. Those are my earliest memories of music, that’s what got me into it.”

Before last month’s release of Blak And Blu, Clark Jr had managed to generate a groundswell of hype pretty much from performances alone. Now, with a record to promote, the horizon looks golden for the 28 year-old.

“It’s an open, honest expression of what I’ve wanted to do musically,” he says. “[I played it for] my friends here in Austin. There were a couple of surprises, but they were digging it, and I was loving them when they weren’t digging it – it was cool. I’m [probably] most proud of [the tracks] Blak And Blu and Next Door Neighbour Blues. They’re very different, but I’m equally passionate about them just for what they are.”

Another album highlight is the cover If You Love Me Like You Say/Third Stone From The Sun, with Clark Jr taking ownership of the iconic Hendrix riff.

The comparisons to guitar hero are primarily for his musicianship, but the feeling and blues simplicity of his songwriting also nods to the great one, as does his

methods of creation. “I don’t really have a process,” Clarke Jr mulls. “Sometimes I wish I did; it would make it a lot easier. There’s a bunch of scattered thoughts going on in my brain that I’ll sit down and play on my guitar or drums or whatever instrument. Just play around and kind of experiment with things and start throwing them around. Sometimes things that I think are okay come out and sometimes it doesn’t work so well. It’s just part of the whole process.”

Thankfully, producer and collaborator extraordinaire Mike Elizondo was able to get that process on tape.

Elizondo seems a perfect match for Clark Jr, having worked with artists as diverse as Dr. Dre, Mastadon, Fiona Apple and Regina Spektor. “We were talking about who would be good to work with and his name came up. I checked him out and we got in a room together and started talking about music and our influences and we have a lot in common.”

Oh, and he can act, too. Clark Jr starred in the 2007 movie Honeydripper alongside superstar Danny Glover.

He plays the saviour of a failing blues club and gets to share his amazing guitar talents. “I loved doing it, but I’m loving playing music, so this is my main focus. I wouldn’t mind doing it again if the opportunity came up.” Prodigy, mutli instrumentalist, actor, and completely unburdened by it all. Gary Clark Jr seems to somehow understand and accept that he has a gift that others want him to share, and he’s more than happy to do so. “I’m a music lover, and love to play music.”

WHO: Gary Clark Jr WHAT: Black And Blu (Warner) WHEN & WHERE: Monday 28 January, Big Day Out, Claremont Showgrounds

FACE THE TRUTH

JFK MSTRKRFT In 2011, Canada’s Jesse F Keeler, AKA JFK, hit Parklife with both MSTRKRFT and the reformed rock outfit Death From Above 1979 (DFA1979). Now he’s back to DJ solo at Stereosonic 2012 – and bringing fresh dance tunes. Intrigued? So is Cyclone.

Armed only with a lightsabreshaped pencil, Tom Birts wades through a planet of destroyed vinyl and record sleeves to talk to cut‘n’paste Jedi Duncan Beiny – aka DJ Yoda. Read on you must. ou’d have to be living on a cave in a galaxy far, far away to have missed Duncan Beiny, better known throughout the cosmos as DJ Yoda. Making his name mixing goofy samples with underground hip hop, he dropped the Jewbonics mixtape way back in 1998 but truly bounced on to the scene, like the Animaniacs bursting through the Warner Brothers logo, with 2001’s How To Cut And Paste Mixtape Vol. 1. Since then he’s toured the world, picked up a DMC Award (and latterly a place on the DMC DJ World Finals judging panel), scored regular writing spots with IDJ Magazine and Hip Hop Connection and shared a bill with Steve Martin and Chris Rock.

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on the iPad

All this hard work hasn’t affected his sense of humour or his work ethic, though. Yoda has a new album out this year, his second studio effort but somewhere in double figures if you count his prolific cuttin’ and pastin’. Chop Suey is, “a level up in terms of production value and effort” says the London-based artist. “It’s taken me a very long time to put this album together, but the good thing about that is I’ve ended up with something I’m very happy with. I’ve collaborated with a different vocalist on every track. I took a step back and tried to make the album represent my taste in music – I wanted it to sound like one of my DJ sets – in other words, steeped in hip hop, but much bigger than that in a way.” Anyone who’s seen a DJ Yoda live set will know what he means.

I loved in the ‘90s, hence M.O.P. and Greg Nice, and then the up-and-coming artists who I respect now like Afrikan Boy, Action Bronson and Man Like Me.” A musical stew to anyone’s taste. Yoda’s mixtapes, albums and DJ sets have always had a healthy sense of fun and humour about them, but if you’ve read this far you’ll have realised he’s just as much a ‘serious’ artist, “a careful balance to strike. “I want my stuff to be fun and funny, but not just stupid!”

You can check out what passes for his serious side in the video for new single Idiot, featuring Man Like Me. Depending on your take, it’s a cautionary tale, or, “a comment on a certain kind of people acting a certain kind of way. If you watch the video I think that explains the kind of person better than I ever could.”

2012 is a bumper year for fans of the Beiny man. Not only is Chop Suey available this month, but Yoda will be crossing the tropics in December to wish Perth a Happy Christmas in person. When asked about what we can expect from his Breakfest set, the usually gregarious DJ plays his records close to his chest.

“The music I play constantly evolves according to what I’m into,” he mulls. “I play a lot of trap and moombahton stuff now, but I go through phases of what I like”. Are there any tunes in the box guaranteed to get people on their feet? “That’s a trade secret!

As usual, expect the unexpected, although I can guarantee some stuff from my new album Chop Suey.”

In selecting collaborators, Yoda stuck with that signature mix of the whimsical, the credible and the incredible.

WHO: DJ Yoda

“I tried to think about the music I loved as a kid – hence Boy George, Kid Creole and Michael Winslow from Police Academy!” he laughs. “Then the hip hop

WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 26 December, Breakfest, Belvoir Amphitheatre, Upper Swan

WHAT: Chop Suey (Get Involved Records)

s it happens, the dance punk has been working on his own project for the past three years. The news will surprise those who anticipated a third MSTRKRFT album, with Keeler and cohort Al-P (Alex Puodziukas) freely offering the singles Beards Again and Back In The USSA last year. “Well, I guess in about the end of 2009, early 2010, I had a whole mess of ideas of things that I wanted to try to do that didn’t really fit with MSTRKRFT and I needed to see them through,” Keeler explains. Indeed, he’d dabbled in his home studio.

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on YouTube and it was labelled ‘produced by David Guetta.’ That was like, ‘Ah, fuck!’ I was so frustrated.”

Keeler isn’t abandoning MSTRKRFT – or, for that matter, DFA1979. There could yet be another album for the indie legends, despite their historic creative conflicts.

Laughs Keeler, “I don’t wanna start talking about it, but I was at band practice today – I’ll let you know that.

So that’s as ‘on the record’ as I can get about that.”

The sometimes stockbroker first met international kudos as the bassist in Toronto’s thrash disco combo DFA1979 alongside vocalist/drummer Sebastien Grainger. In 2004 they dropped a cult debut, You’re A Woman, I’m A Machine, only to announce their apparently sudden split after a remix set. In the interim, Keeler, a Chicago house head, conceived MSTRKRFT with Puodziukas, DFA1979’s producer. Their 2006 album, The Looks, taking in Easy Love, was widely compared to Daft Punk.

More ambitious was MSTRKRFT’s follow-up, Fist Of God, with big-name urban guests like Kanye West’s soul protégé John Legend on the popular Heartbreaker.

Keeler’s ventures opened the way for a new wave of buzzworthy Canadian acts, from Crystal Castles (who’ve sampled DFA1979) to the illwave Drake and The Weeknd to Montreal’s Grimes. Yet the DJ/producer doesn’t identify himself as belonging to any ‘scene’. “I am completely the wrong person to ask about it because at home I’ve always been on the outside. I live in the city of Toronto, but I live in, like, the Queens of Toronto, the East Side of Toronto, in a really old neighbourhood that’s never been gentrified. I just keep to myself. I have a family and I just like to make music and I stay in my neighbourhood... I never feel like I’m a part of anything here. I’ve spent time in all types of different places. I would prefer to just be like, I don’t wanna say ‘lone wolf’ ‘cause it’s so horrible (laughs), but I just try to exist on my own... If my girlfriend and kids would be okay with me living in the woods, I totally would.”

Keeler did briefly pursue pop production. (MSTRKRFT remixed Katy Perry’s California Gurls.) “In 2010, for almost a year, I’d moved to Los Angeles and I was doing that. I worked with a lotta different people on a lotta different records. It was a real challenge for me ‘cause I’d never really done that before. In the end, after a long time of doing it, I felt like it wasn’t for me. I really like remixing because it’s still for me. I can be selfish for the benefit of everyone musically. But, in terms of just being a producer in the back, that’s still an elusive thing – ‘cause I’d like to do it, but I don’t know if I can detach myself enough to really do it. That said, I have a tonne of unreleased stuff... Actually, it was really funny – there’s one track that I produced for rapper Eve [that] got leaked

WHO: JFK (MSTRKRFT) WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 25 November, Stereosonic, Claremont Showground

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featuring JANE TYRRELL and live band

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For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 19

SINGLES/EPS WITH MARCIA CZERNIAK

ON THE RECORD

DAUGHTER Smother

4AD/Remote Control

THE GRISWOLDS Heart Of A Lion EP Independent/MGM Growing up in the ‘80s, whenever I hear the name The Griswolds I can’t help get a flash of Chevy Chase and his wacky family. But listening to the Heart Of A Lion EP, that image is quickly knocked out of the water. This five-piece has been receiving a heap of attention lately and rightly so – they make music that is infectiously good. While the EP features their hit single Mississippi that was released earlier in the year, it is title track, Heart Of A Lion, that’s definitely the standout. Reeling you in with its catchy vocals – don’t be surprised to be singing those “oh oh ohs” to yourself long after hearing it.

Mercury/Universal

Inertia

As the dark, synthy electronics wash in to Beach, opening San Cisco’s self-titled debut album, you immediately realise these aren’t the same infinitely smiling kids you’ve hummed along to with past hits Golden Revolver and Awkward. Considering the foursome has spent the past year or so touring internationally, playing showcases like CMJ, being signed by Albert Productions and Fat Possum Records/RCA/Columbia Records, setting up their own label, scoring seventh place in the triple j Hottest 100 and various other experiences that have seen them taking their music more seriously than ever, it’s not surprising their sound has matured.

Bertie Blackman illustrates the kaleidoscope of her childhood in new album, Pope Innocent X. Blackman has created a darker record than her preceding album, Secrets And Lies, perhaps a result of producer François Tétaz’s influence.

If you’ve been on the hunt for that perfect playlist for your sunny afternoons, look no further – City Riots LIVE have you covered. After spending more time on the road than off, the Adelaide indie rockers have really come into their own; they know what their fans want and they’re offering it up in spades.

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Watched over by drummer/vocalist Scarlett Stevens’ father Phil (Jarrah Records, John Butler, The Waifs, Little Birdy), San Cisco have surrounded themselves with enough industry stalwarts to warn them of the dangers of being pigeonholed, and to help instil a heap of relevant knowledge and skills. Yet even with industrial cotton wool to protect and nurture their obvious talents, any album met with high expectations is going to have to do a lot to defy the tall poppy whipper-snippers, no matter the status of the act. Good news is this delivers on the hype, and then some.

From the more downbeat and darker tracks like Beach, Mission Failed and recent single/ear-worm Wild Things, to the familiar, upbeat, whistle-worthy standout Cisco-pop of Fred Astaire, No Friends, Lyall and Stella, vox gem Jordi Davieson and his cohort’s superbly catchy album is stacked with more diverse treats than a lolly shop. Sure, some of the lyrics might be a little immature, but this album is impressive enough to make most Australian indie-pop artists over the age of 25 deserve to feel embarrassed.

Aarom Wilson

Sea Of Bright Lights

Tétaz (Goyte, Kimbra), who Blackman describes as the “Willy Wonka of music”, has supported Blackman in her step away from the sexual and gritty façade present on her previous album. Instead, she has made each song, as she describes, “a separate and different journey…”, each reflecting her memories on the diverse events which made up her childhood. This variable construction, however, limits the fluency of the album and therefore blindsides some admirable tracks on the record.

Opener, Turn, kicks things off on a great note, the heavy bass paired with breathy vocals sounds so powerful and carries over nicely into Catch The Sun. As if the song title wasn’t enough of a giveaway, this D Vtrack will be your go-to for summer road trips, the combination of Ricky Kradolfer and Matthew Edge’s vocals with the jangly guitar riff is strangely calming and you’ll find yourself coasting along with the melody.

An epitome of the latter is the track Stella, where gentle strings are intertwined with breathy angelic harmonies, creating a beautiful and whimsical atmosphere.

The emotionally heavy Shadow Chasers has similar eminence, as Blackman sings of her relationship with her father, the artist Charles Blackman: “We are the shadow chasers… the fiends of the night that won’t leave me alone”. In a recent interview, Blackman explained how during the writing of this song she found parallels between her father’s art work and her own. “He lived in his shadows and there has always been a bit of darkness to what I do,” she said.

Heavy, distorted drum beats and surging tambourine jingles resonate on this track, creating a menacing atmosphere. Blackman’s insightful reflection highlights the importance of remaining connected to the desolate and creative mindspace stemming from our childhood imaginations. Even if you don’t quite remember how, Pope Innocent X is Bertie Blackman’s guide to getting back there.

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It has been nearly three years since Local Natives released their debut album Gorilla Manor, which was packed with goodness. So in the drought of any new material one couldn’t help but wonder, what would their second album sound like? Well, if single Breakers is anything to go by, it should be pretty awesome. Retaining their dream-like indiepop harmonies along with their ability to implement multiple facets in their songs, Breakers is a damn good teaser for what we should be hearing from their new album Hummingbird. Hurry on up January.

Island City Records/MGM

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CITY RIOTS

Pope Innocent X

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Breakers

BERTIE BLACKMAN

San Cisco

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LIVE

SAN CISCO

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For the last few years, London band Daughter have reeled us in with their EPs His Young Heart and The Wild Youth, both equally amazing.

And now their new single Smother is just as awe-inspiring. With lyrics that have an epic melancholy to them, Smother is captivating in its sadness of love lost. The three-piece has created a song where listeners can easily get lost in Elena Tonra’s delicate vocals, enveloped in their sorrow. A song that is so poignant and hauntingly beautiful, it almost hurts to listen to it.

Right from the get-go the percussion and synth on In This Space make this track a winner, but as soon as that voice starts calling out “Wait for me”, it just gets even better. It’s one of those tracks where you can already imagine how great it’ll be live. Sucker Punch is another standout, even if the lyrics are a little simple; it’s inoffensively catchy, and the Beach Boys riff thrown in for effect is a welcome surprise.

Pirates is an apt choice for the penultimate track, as Ricky breathes, “Please let me down, slowly” over jangly guitars; it’s a soothing comedown, with rolling synths to break the fall as you near the album’s close. Sea Of Bright Lights has really proven what these four Adelaide boys are capable of; they’ve fine-tuned their sound and the result is a hook-laden, melodious album that’s pretty damn impressive.

Katherine Edmonds

Tanya Bunter

BAND OF SKULLS

You’re Not Pretty But You Got It Goin’ On Pias Recordings/Liberator Music With a song title like You’re Not Pretty But You Got It Goin’ On, how can you not want to listen to Band Of Skulls’ new single? This riff-laden song oozes rock’n’roll and has the typical Band Of Skulls sound. For those that enjoyed their track Sweet Sour from earlier in the year, chances are you will be taken with this one as well. If you didn’t, then Band Of Skulls probably isn’t for you.

SUGARPUSS

Falling Outta Love Independent Hot on the heels of winning WA Song Of The Year in the ‘Love’ category, local band Sugarpuss have released their award-winning song, Falling Outta Love, as their debut single. Previously a four-piece and now most recently a five-piece, the band has everything going for them right now. This love-laden song will have you humming how falling out of love is so much fun well after its 2.25 minutes playtime.

RED INK

Empty Town Independent The new single Empty Town from Red Ink is a far cry from previously released tracks like Audrey and Battlescars, which were incredibly pop-driven. With the change of direction, the band has seemed to mellow a little bit from the happy-go-lucky tunes and has put a lot more focus on the lyrical soul of their songwriting…

Which depending on your preferences, could make this single go either way for you.

MUSE

REDCOATS

VITALIC

Warner

Island/Universal

PIAS/Liberator

Now that we’ve lived with the Teignmouth trio’s sixth album for a little while, those who wanted to hate it have blindly hated it. But what of those of us who have actually listened properly? Their last, The Resistance, was rightly derided for being bloated and largely unlistenable, but there was hope that it was only a temporary foray up the higher reaches of their own colons. But first single and “Official song of the Olympics”, Survival, really was the sound of Matt Bellamy trying to win a gold medal for heaving out the biggest musical dump.

When Redcoats released their EP last year, the Melbourne band had all those who have cut their hair or foregone the allure of growing a nice set of mutton chops envious. Now, kids are raiding their parents’ drawers for long-forgotten bell bottoms and paisley shirts, preparing for the onslaught of the psych-rock beast that is the self-titled debut by Redcoats. And if you weren’t round in the ‘70s for rock greats Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin or Black Sabbath, then Redcoats are the next best alternative.

While most of the lauded techno-crats and other ‘real’ dance music fans have fled screaming from the EDM tsunami, sobbing at the perceived heart of what was dance culture being ripped from its once healthy young chest, one acclaimed producer who has charged towards it arms aloft (and possibly legs akimbo) is Frenchman Pascal ‘Vitalic’ Arbez. One possible response might be to mount the barricades with those angry placards, raise the flaming pitchforks and scream ‘SELL OUT’. The other could be to reassess this muchdismissed genre, especially given the influence early Vitalic records may have had on EDM’s mid-range compressing, violatingly loud sound dynamics.

The 2nd Law

Sometimes they even get catchy, delivering disco-rock sing-alongs, Gossip-style in Panic Station, or indulging Bond-theme fantasies in opener, Supremacy. Then with Madness, Bellamy delivers his most impassioned vocals since Sing For Absolution. It’s almost enough to forgive the Resistance indulgences and celebrate the return of the band being great once again. But the sincerity is not followed through and while the rest of The 2nd Law belongs to the instrumental superpowers of Matt, Chris and Dom, Bellamy’s lyrics and vocals are the let down. His heart’s just not in it. Explorers even sounds like a note-for-note remake of Invincible.

There is light at the end of the tunnel. The final act sees Chris Wolstenholme take the mic for Save Me and Liquid State, the former exhibiting a tender falsetto that crumbles hearts, the latter a balls-out rocker. They sound like an all-new band and it’s exciting to hear these two new sides of the towering guitarist. This may well be the key to album number seven being the return to grandeur that we all know Muse are capable of.

Mac McNaughton

20 • For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews

Redcoats

With a musical pedigree that is part stoner rock sans imagery, part classic rock except with more substance and all parts rifforama, Redcoats have compiled a short and sharp ten-track album that is nothing short of mindblowing. Opening track Raven, based around a blues riff, sets the tapestry for the Redcoats sound: tight, intense and timeless. Death Of Ecstasy follows suit, while Mr Young is more introspective, featuring some subtle-yetfancy guitar work. But it’s on current single Evergreen where the band are really at home; a blues-influenced shuffle interspersed with a plethora of fuzzed-out riffs.

Album closer Mean Money broods delicately before embarking on a freefall Floyd-improvised middle section that puts the band’s delay pedals to good use and is also heavily influenced by The Doors’ instrumental jams.

Redcoats have harnessed a timeless sound, without sounding generic or ‘borrowing’ from their influences. This is an album that will ensure the band’s ascent into Australia’s mass consciousness before the rest of the world will undoubtedly follow. A simply stunning rock’n’roll debut.

James Dawson

Rave Age

It’s been a decade since Vitalic made his breakthrough with the Poney EP, launching his signature ‘undulating synthesisers getting chainsawed’ sound. Familiar abrasive sound tactics are deployed again here; this time with EDM’s unexpected breakdowns and violent pitch shifts. The final results vary from exhilarating to uncomfortably bad – often during the same song. Poorly judged cyber-punk vocals get the better of the bristling riffs in Rave Kids and Stamina, while supercharged bass lines, such as those underpinning Next I’m Ready and No More Sleep, are spoilt by gimmicky elements that are, well, a bit silly, to be 100 per cent honest.

The good news though is that with this ADD-friendly format, any individual part that you don’t like will soon be dumped and forgotten as the track moves elsewhere.

Some will find it frustrating, but Rave Age could spark a dialogue between dance music’s supposed illuminati and the hitherto irredeemable EDM urchins.

Christopher H James

ISSUE 03 • NOVEMBER 2012

INSIDE :

DEEP SEA ARCADE AT SOUNDCHECK, GRACE POTTER PREPARES FOR BLUESFEST, FORTUNE FAV OURS KERRI SIMPSON, CRYSTAL THOMA S TAKES A CHANCE

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PRS DAY AT GUITAR FACTORY PARRAMATTA The Guitar Factory in Parramatta is presenting a PRS guitar day Sunday 25 November from 11am to 3pm. Join the Guitar Factory team, Brett Kingman and Peter Peric for a day of Paul Reed Smith guitars appreciation, in which they will have all of their stock proudly displayed along with some very special private stock that will be flown in especially for this event. This is a great opportunity to choose from a large variety of hand-picked, some even extremely limited edition PRS guitars at prices never to be repeated!

Demoing the PRS guitars on the day will be two respected Australian players. Peter Peric is a Sydney-based black/death metal guitarist best known for his work with Nazxul, Rookwood & Infernal Mehtod. He’s toured the globe extensively and shared stages with bands such as Satyricon, Watain, Anathema, Possessed, Dark Tranquility among many. His unorthodox approach to the guitar is a must see for true metal maniacs! Also appearing on the day will be Brett Kingman, one of Australia’s busiest players. Inspired by ‘70s classic and glam-rock guitarists and beginning his professional career at the age of 12, Kingman has become one of Australia’s better known hired guns and has spent time touring and recording with Australian icons such as James Reyne (presently touring), Daryl Braithwaite, Ross Wilson, Renee Geyer, Joe Camilleri, Vika & Linda Bull, Peter Andre, Jenny Morris and dozens of others. Visit www. guitarfactory.com.au/ for more information

CREDITS MUSO. ISSUE 3 - NOVEMBER 2012 PH: 03 9421 4499 FAX: 03 9421 1011 584 Nicholson St Nth Fitzroy 3068 WEBSITE: www.themusic.com.au EDITOR: Greg Phillips greg@streetpress.com.au DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES: distribution@streetpress.com.au LAYOUT & DESIGN: Matt Davis IPAD EDITION: Dave Harvey CONTRIBUTORS: Reza Nasseri, Baz Bardoe, Sean Pollard, Christopher Steller, Michael Smith, Marcel Yammouni.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kane Hibberd Published by Street Press Australia PTY LTD PRINTED BY: Rural Press

GUITARS PLUS TURNS 30

Greek six-piece symphonic metal band Nightfall recorded their new album, Cassiopeia, in four different places, with vocals and keys recorded at Soundflakes Studios and Cyberia in Greece, the drums tracked at Soundlodge studios in Germany, and guitars and bass at Boomcave studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

World’s End Press have been working on their debut album with Tim Goldsworthy (DFA, Mo Wax, The Rapture) at Rockfield Studios in Wales and Massive Attack Studios in Bristol.

San Franciscobased Thao & The Get Down Stay Down recorded their third album, We The Common, with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Bill Callahan, The Walkmen) at his Elmwood Recording studios in Dallas.

I

In a world of rapid change, it’s great to know that some things remain the same. Chris Voce, proprietor of Guitars Plus in Victoria’s bayside suburb, Sandringham, first served customers from behind his counter in November 1982. Thirty years down the track he’s still there (with his team) doing what he does best. Chris is one of the most knowledgeable retail guys in Australia when it comes to guitars. Chris has been thinking about celebrating the milestone, however claims he’s been too busy to do anything about it. A nice problem to have after 30 years’ service in the local music gear industry. Guitars Plus is well known for its excellent repair department.

It’s not everyone you can trust your cherished guitar with but it’ll be safe and sound in the hands of Guitars Plus. The store also has an excellent reputation for guitar tuition with the likes of Simon Croft teaching. Simon is about to head to Europe at the request of Queen’s Brian May to perform in We Will Rock You. Visit www. guitarsplus.com.au for more information or better still, call into 5 Melrose St Sandringham in Victoria and talk guitars with Chris.

ENGADINE MUSIC DOES COLE CLARK Engadine Music in NSW has been appointed as a specialist store for locally-made guitar brand Cole Clark. Cole Clark produce quality instruments featuring some of our country’s finest tone woods and construction techniques.

All guitars come with an internally-fitted ABS hard-shell case. A D’Addario 3D 3 pack of acoustic strings is included with any Cole Clark purchase. Engadine also offers a free setup adjustment and check three months after purchase. They also offer a 14-day ‘satisfaction guaranteed’ period. The Cole Clark deal runs through until Christmas. Engadine has an extensive range of Christmas giftware lines suitable for all musicians too. As an encouragement for personal shoppers to visit the store, from now until Christmas Engadine is offering guitar string sets for just $4.95, an offer which is not available online. Visit www. engadinemusic.com.au for more information.

n this issue, The Living End look back at a stellar career during their Retrospective Tour while others such as Deep Sea Arcade, who are just starting out on their musical journey, very much look to the future. It was quite inspiring to still see the excitement in the eyes of Chris , Andy and Scott from The Living End as they reminisced about days gone by. Although it didn’t make the final story cut, one of the more interesting discussions was about their worst gig ever.

Scott immediately claimed Bakersfield, California where he feared for his life during set-up as crack addicts roamed the foyer and the venue owner waltzed around with a baseball bat for protection. Chris on the other hand saw it differently. Even though the venue was next door to a prison and the dodgy audience was virtually in his face as he played guitar, he remembers the gig as a triumph because they dug deep and won them over.

They have played every kind of gig possible from weddings to funerals to bikie compounds

Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Danzig, Social Distortion) mixed the new album, Now And Forever, from Swedish glam-metal four-piece Sister Sin. The eponymous debut album by Melbourne six-piece Money For Rope was recorded and mixed by Steven Schram (The Vasco Era, Devastations, Little Red).

Perth psych folk rockers The Morning Night called in The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Ricky Maymi to produce their debut album, Otis.

Perth-born Melbournebased producer Anna Laverty is currently working on the debut solo album from The Panics frontman Jae Laffer, having recently finished producing an EP for triple j darlings Dirt Farmer.

and are still selling out nearly every gig they play. You gotta admire those guys!

Also in this issue, Kerri Simpson and Crystal Thomas typify the spirit of the indie musician, where life tries its best to get in the way of their art. Paul Noble speaks with pride about the new range of Casio synths. A playful Grace Potter (or pottymouth as I discovered) tells of her excitement to be playing Bluesfest on the same bill as Robert Plant, and we road test a bunch of amazing new products. The common theme running through this issue (or any issue of Muso really) is the enjoyment the artists still get out of their music, whether they’re new to it professionally or have been doing it for years.

You won’t find any jaded rock stars in this title!

GREG PHILLIPS Muso Editor

Gear News

EMAIL FOR CHANCE TO WIN A STERLING MUSIC MAN RAY35 BASS Sterling’s Music Man Ray35 bass body is contoured for playing comfort with a maple neck attached via a solid six-bolt neck joint. Sterling use a swamp ash for the body that’s light weight for percussive lows, subtle mids and expansive highs. Music Man-designed components include three-band active preamp, humbucking pickup and bridge, standard equipment for all Ray series basses. The low B string remains tight and solid along the 34” scale. The tone is all Music Man Sterling by Music Man, gig bag is included.

Valued at $1,395, Muso readers have the chance to WIN one of these basses and entry is simple.

All you need to do is email your contact details and the codeword ‘Muso” to info@cmcmusic. com.au between Nov 19, 2012 and Jan 5, 2013. Winner will be announced on the CMC Music Facebook page on January 10, 2013. www.cmcmusic.com.au

FREE EFFECTS UNITS WITH TC PURCHASES There are some amazing TC Helicon and TC Electronic deals happening for the months of November and December. From TC Helicon for vocalists, purchase any VoiceLive Play, VoiceLive Play GTX, Voicetone Mic Mechanic or VoiceTone Single before December 31 and you get a FREE MP-75 Vocal Performance Microphone. The other deal is from TC Electronic and is for guitarists. Buy any two TC compact pedals and you’ll earn yourself a TC Electronic Spark Booster pedal for FREE. or purchase a BG250 bass combo, BH250, BH500,RH450, RH750 or Blacksmith bass amp and receive a FREE Corona Chorus pedal. www.tcelectonic.com/holiday-rebate

LIMITED AVAILABILITY MUSIC MAN MODELS Music Man have opened order windows for two new releases for November only – ie when the date rolls over to December 1, you’ll be unable to order these models ever again: This year, at the US Arlington Guitar show, Music Man introduced a limited run of Silhouettes with Ash bodies, custom-wound humbuckers (as featured in the Axis and Albert Lee HH models), and Floyd Rose tremolos. A huge success, they decided to offer them to their international distributors. Colours include Black, Trans Purple, Trans Teal, Pacific Blue Burst and Natural These guitars can be ordered with matching or non-matching headstocks and with either rosewood or maple fingerboards. The other limited offer is the Music Man Sledge. www.cmcmusic.com.au

[3]

I

t couldn’t have been more straight forward.

The original idea was to play their debut album in its entirety at a gig or two. But the more the band and management talked, the bigger the concept became. All six albums, all cities and let’s take a swag of support bands along for the ride.

The Living End’s The Retrospective Tour has become one of the most successful Australian tours by a local band, ever. As gig after gig sold out, the band were hunkered down at Melbourne’s Deluxe Studios bringing to life the 80 or so songs from their back catalogue. Again, it would have been much simpler to take one set of standard TLE gear out to nail these songs, but that’s not The Living End’s way. “We want to try to play the albums as true as possible,” said bass player Scott Owen.

Guitarist and TLE main man Chris Cheney agrees.

“When there are 80 songs to learn, we don’t want there to be 80 songs with the same guitar tone for every single tune.” Such fastidiousness comes at a price though. Not only did they have to go back and learn the back catalogue, they also had to try to recall what gear was used on each track. “We’ve been like, ‘I can’t remember what delay that was, put the record on!’ So we’d tweak it and try to match it.”

Chris has dusted down some old guitars for the tour and is keen to give them some stage time to help emulate the original album tones. “I have an old 1962 Double Anniversary Gretsch which is just beautiful. It’s kind of like an old car, when it’s up and running. It’s nice but it takes a little bit to get going and doesn’t really compete that well with my newer Gretschs. I’m dialing in a few little sounds here and there on my effects board but otherwise it is still pretty bare bones.

It’s still a basic rock n roll foundation and not many effects… a lot of delays! Scott is also excited to be hearing Chris rip out some classic Living End riffs. “It’s awesome to hear all of that stuff again,” he said. “Chris is being fucking shy, he’s rather meticulous about his effects and getting them all perfect like they are on the record.”

Their gear has actually changed over the years, as they discovered during rehearsals. “I was looking at a photo of Scott and I and our first drummer playing at the Yarraville Hotel back in about 1993,” recalls Chris. “I had two Fender Twins behind me, a Tube Screamer and a digital delay pedal, which I used to adjust the increments on as I went. Now I have this pedalboard in front of me which basically has a whole lot of buttons on it which are like patches, which then go back through like a brain, which then engages certain pedals and delays and it is very convoluted. Basically, now I am running like a C3PO-like Millenium Falcon pedalboard!

We started out with a direct line in, maybe a delay pedal, Chuck Berry style and it’s kind of gone more U2 as we have gone along. I’m [pretty] strict in getting the delays right. Some of the songs depend on that. My biggest thing is that I can’t remember half the shit that I was playing with on those earlier records. We’ve got an extra guitar player now, Adrian Lombardi, so I not only have to learn what I used to play, but I have to learn the overdubs too. He’ll be like, ‘How are you playing that bit?’

[4]

THE LIVING END

Look back, gear up and go for it! it and I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t know… I’m just trying to figure out my own bit.’

Adrian has been our touring rhythm guitar player now for almost two years.”

It’s not just Chris and his original guitar tones which needed to be recreated. The same issues befell bassist Scott and to a lesser degree drummer Andy Strachan.

Often it took a flick through photo albums to find clues as to what gear they were using at any given time. “Those old photos that I found, you had three milk crates and you had that cube on top, another little speaker on top of that then a tweeter thing,” Cheney recalls of Scott’s bass rig. “It looked like a little robot. That was like ‘93, ‘94, we were just out of school and you went through a lot of pickups.”

Like most musicians, Scott has always been on the quest for a perfect stage sound but for someone who plays a

The Living End are a third of the way through their massive Retrospective Tour, in which they’re playing all six of their albums to sold out crowds in five cities. They were conducting final rehearsal when Muso’s Greg Phillips caught up with the band. double bass, it’s never been easy. “It always been a major thorn in my side, playing an instrument in a manner it wasn’t supposed to be played,” said Scott.

“Then getting it to be amplified and sound like a quality instrument on a rock‘n’roll stage, is a real mission. I’m always getting closer and closer to what I’m seeing in my mind. It’s hard. It’s not like going into a guitar shop and saying, ‘I’ll have that sound’. It’s something that I have to make up. I went through all these weird and wacky ideas of getting the pickup inside the bass, mounting pickups

inside them in which case you need to cut a hole in the bass to get in there. There’s been one luthier who has tended to my every whim with [the] double bass over all the years I have played, Ben Puglisi, and I appreciate him so much. Even when I have ideas like, ‘Why not cut a hole in this section?

He’s gone, ‘Man, you are going to regret that so much one day… I’ll do it for you just to appease your curiosity but you’re going to fucking regret it, I swear to God.’ A year later I’d bring it in and ask him to patch that hole up but yes, it’s been an endless search.”

For Cheney, the quest for the perfect sound is part and parcel of what being in a rock band is all about. “You’ve got to search for those things because there wasn’t a template for what we were trying to do at that early point,” he said.

“There’s parts of us that wanted to be this but also a modern rock band, not a traditional rockabilly band – we want to be able to play at volume. I’ve got extra struts in my guitars from trying to play at high volume… extra things that I have put into my guitars over the years to try to handle the fact that we’re this rockabilly band that wants to be The Who!” Looking back, Andy Strachan believes he has gone smaller and quieter with his drum kit.

“My drum tech and front of house guys over the years have said to me, ‘You don’t need cymbals that make your eyes bleed’, but that’s what I thought back then,” he said. “On

the Big Day Out stage or whatever, I thought you needed cymbals that were louder then amps. You don’t. That’s what microphones are for, so that’s the only lesson I have really learnt. Other than that, I try to get new drums to sound like vintage drums.

They’re all thin shells, mahogany and maple. It’s a Pearl Masterworks kit. Masterworks is apparently like … whatever you want. Their idea is that they’ll build you whatever you need. To that degree, they’re right on the money and will pretty much do whatever you want. Instead of having 8 ply maple and 3 ply birch, I go for 4 plys of mahogany with maple blue rings and that’s as close as I have found to a vintage drum kit. I try to make them sound as old as possible. The cymbals are a big thing I learnt.

They’re thin and quieter cymbals and actually sound a lot better, especially when you have the vocal mic open, like a Z Custom is just going to bleed all over the stage and ruin the front of house guy’s day. That’s where it all stemmed from, the front of house guy and drum tech saying that it doesn’t have to be that loud. The snare drum either; you can play quietly and let the mics do the work. With the cymbals, Zildjian K Hybrid Crashes is what I have been playing, quite thin but 18s and 19s, 21” sweet ride which is what I have been playing for five or six years now; and a pair of 15” Hybrid hats, K Lights so they are quite thin – way quieter than they used to be. I used to play all Z Customs and A Projections, cymbals which tore your ears apart.”

As the beers chugged down and the memories become more vivid, the guys revelled in stories about how the band has given them the opportunity to meet some of their musical heroes, and how bizarre it has been that some of them such as Richard Clapton, Brad Shepherd, Daryl Braithwaite, and Neil Finn bother to come backstage or even compliment them on their music.

After all these years and a new record breaking tour, it seems The Living End deep down are basically just music fans. “It’s why we’re here,” said Chris.

“It’s gotta be why we’re here: a) because we are patient, b) because we are ambitious motherfuckers and c) because we are music lovers. We still get along. We have been through everything a band could possibly go through. We’ve been through drug issues, girlfriend issues, issues where I don’t want to see you or be around you, musical direction issues. We’ve been through everything like that and we are still around. A lot of bands don’t have that patience. We’ve always felt that we can go on and do something a little better.” Andy’s eyes light up too and chips in. “There was a moment a couple of weeks ago and we were playing How Do We Know and it felt fantastic. The whole rehearsal went for about five hours playing together and going, ‘Yeah, that was fine’. Then there was this magic moment where, even after all this time… we have played that song a thousand times but it just felt so exciting and so good. That’s what it is all about… those moments.” “It’s not about the accolades or how many payers or much merch we sold,” Chris says in summary. “It’s really about, ‘Shit that felt good when we played’. You hope that never leaves you.” www.thelivingend.com

Deep Sea Arcade laid Outlands on us this year, an album full of dreamlike ‘60s-influenced pop rock gems. Sean Pollard caught up with the band at soundcheck in Melbourne during their recent national tour.

R

olling into the Corner to begin yet another nationwide jaunt, Sydney psych pop outfit Deep Sea Arcade have been riding a huge wave of success since the release of their debut album, Outlands, earlier this year. Almost five years of recording time and experimentation has paid off for these boys as Outlands seems to have spawned more singles than your average Rihanna album. Tracks like Girls, Seen No Right, Steam and the latest offering, Granite City, have seen

pretty much all of the first record, especially See No Right. I’ve also got a Juno 60 but because I don’t tour with that; it’s mapped across the keyboard as well. There’s also a Roland Jupiter and a Hammond through a Leslie speaker in stereo. I also sampled stuff off vinyl records. I have this old sampling module at home that you can do really good pitch shifting with, so I use that all the time as well.”

So, to get down to brass tacks, McKenzie has attempted to take a small universe of instruments and sounds on the road with Deep Sea Arcade – and is succeeding due to the versatility of his MPC-1000 set up.

When teamed up with a MIDI keyboard, this enables Deep Sea Arcade to faithfully replicate the psychedelic washes and pumped up guitar hooks of Outlands without having to lug weighty keyboards all over the country. www.facebook.com/deepseaarcade

Outlandish riffs this four-piece garner more than a cult following as they pick up festival slots and sell out venues all over the country.

Their sound is rooted in the experimental pop of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, but also harks back to a time when Oasis, Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays ruled the world and Manchester was the thriving epicentre of a jangly guitar-based pop scene. One look at frontman Nic McKenzie on stage gives this influence away as he struts about, points at the audience and delivers a note-perfect tribute to his Hacienda-loving forefathers. Deep Sea Arcade are no mere rip-off though, and it’s the sheer strength of their songwriting combined with a loving attention to detail when it comes to equipment and recording techniques that has led to their burgeoning success.

We find singer Nic McKenzie out front of The Corner on what has become a rainy Friday afternoon in Melbourne. While the rest of the band busy themselves with the vagaries of postsoundcheck life (setting up the merch desk, checking the door list, eating parmagiana) McKenzie is more than happy to explain the various gear and techniques Deep Sea Arcade use on stage and in the studio to create their sound. He’s certainly qualified as, as he explains, the bulk of Outlands was created in collaboration with bassist Nick Weaver as the rest of the band dropped in and out of various studios as needed. Far from a control freak, it’s clear that McKenzie has a singular vision about where he feels the band’s sound should go and what kind of equipment they need to replicate their sound on stage, especially when it comes to the most crucial element of any pop band - the guitars.

“Jimmy uses a 2002 Les Paul and runs it mainly through a Marshall Reflector Reverb,” McKenzie explains with a little help from his new guitarist, over his shoulder. “He also uses a pretty simple DS-1 Boss Distortion pedal, which is pretty much the same setup that I play through when I’m at home so it’s easy for him to replicate the sounds I normally get. On top of this he also has a Jekyll and Hyde Overdrive pedal as well as a Soviet Small Stone Phaser and a DD-20.”

As a live outfit, Deep Sea Arcade’s twin-guitar attack is a little different to most bands, predominantly due to lead guitarist Simon Relf ’s use of a 12-string guitar. Often perceived as a notoriously unreliable instrument live, especially when it comes to tuning and consistency of tone, Relf has honed his use of the 12-string down to an art. The guitar itself is an Eastwood Classic 12. Often unfairly written off as a secondary copy of the old Gretsch 12-string guitars, it generally features two EW-Retro Humbucker pickups to recreate a classic twangy ‘60s sound and, in the live arena, can prove to be a versatile and great sounding tool. Relf normally runs the Classic 12 (as well as his standard Fender Telecaster) through a Fender Stage 100 amplifier which, as he tells it, “has this beautiful sound and is really reliable but it’s broken for the first time in five years. So I’m playing through a Blues Junior tonight.

I normally tour with a DeVille because you can never really hire those stage 100s through any backline companies or anything. Those Blues Junior’s are pretty nice though.”

McKenzie himself is a bit of an audiophile and really perks up when quizzed on the small keyboard-based rig he employs onstage and in the studio. Rather than relying on a Nord or any other standard keys setup, McKenzie uses a MIDI keyboard to control an Akai MPC-1000 into which he’s plugged in a galaxy of samples picked up from studio to studio, record to record or even instrument to instrument. “I’ve got about twenty or thirty keyboards mapped onto it. Every time I go to a studio I’ll map something onto it. I’ve got mellotrons, strings, violins, flutes, choir, brass, so if I’m in the studio or even on stage I can just dial through. I’ve also got about six different types of Casiotone mapped across it. We were in a bunch of different studios and every time we’d go in and track stuff at Megaphon (a famous Sydney studio based in St Peters that has witnessed the likes of Midnight Oil, The Cruel Sea and more recently The Jezebels through its doors) and Carlos was tracking on drums and it was taking ages – I’d just go in, look around and sample all their keyboards.”

It’s not just keyboards that McKenzie has dialled into this setup though, and closer inspection reveals he’s been extremely creative with the way he’s put his rig together. “I’ve also sampled guitar sounds and mapped them across. I’ve got that thing where you play out a tremolo thing... like (sings Pulp Fiction theme tune)... I don’t know what it’s called,” he laughs. “I tracked that all across every key so I can play that chord and it sounds like a Hammond Dulcimer - but it’s actually guitars. That sound is on

[5]

Crystal Thomas has released her second album, A Chance In Hell, and chats with Greg Phillips about its origins, the recording process and the future.

BEN BUNTING CRYSTAL’S LIVE GUITARIST “My live set up for Crystal is a Fender Jag through a 1968 (Australian-made) Wasp amp head. I just use a Boss delay pedal and an ‘80s Boss dual overdrive. My own style is a bit looser and unhinged than the CD. I decided to play more off Crystal’s voice and her vocal melody rather than follow the notes or structure on the CD.”

I

t was an Arts Victoria grant in 2009 that allowed Crystal Thomas to record her second album, A Chance In Hell. “The plan was to hunker down and write fifteen songs as quickly as I could, without rushing them so much that the quality was compromised,” she explains. Her first album, Crystal Thomas and The Flowers of Evil, was recorded in spasms over a three-year period, a

Taking her chances production practice she wanted to avoid this time around. “I set aside five weeks to write fifteen or as many songs as I could. With the first album, I was working at a call centre and had saved $150 to get the engineer out to Matt Walker’s studio.

I’d record two drum tracks, pack down, go back to the call centre, save up for another few weeks, get the engineer out and so on. This time around I wanted more of a raw thing, coming from a place of emotion rather than any particular precision feel.”

Crystal also wanted her second album to be more of a collaborative effort. She assembled some respected Melbourne players - Spencer P Jones, Matt Walker, Matt Green, Tim McCormack and Phil Collings - to both write and record with. She even had lyrical contributions from her mother and grandfather. For an album possessing so much raw rock emotion, loud, swaggering guitar sounds and sometimes sordid subject matter, the method in which Crystal wrote the songs was comparatively conservative.

“As loose as my writing style may appear, my roots are firmly placed in my admin past. I had appointments set up with Spencer, Matt Walker, Greeny and Tim, who I wrote with. All my lyric

ideas were typed up, in folders and labelled.

I’d be there with my pen and paper and folders going, okay, I’m ready to rock now! It was hilarious. I very much research and plan songs like it is a day job. I have drafts of my lyrics saved on my computer and I write them independently of the music.”

The songs on the album are quite diverse in style, which isn’t surprising considering the different writing collaborations, but

also the style in which Crystal sings from track to track is varied.

I wondered who her vocal influences were and who she borrows from. “Yeah, there are probably different personas of me on the album,” she suggests.

“I guess it depends on the song but Spencer converted me to Amy Winehouse. I was never really a fan but then again, I’d never paid much attention to her.

So I guess the song I Could Die Right Now is kind of a tribute;

obviously this was before she died. The song itself is actually about addiction, not to drugs or alcohol.

The lyrics are shrouded in metaphors to do with drug and alcohol addiction but it is actually exploring the idea that you can be addicted to a person. Also that you can be addicted to music or chasing the dream and that it can be just as much of a rollercoaster ride with euphoric highs and devastating lows and scrounging together a gig. It plays out the same way.”

An artist’s second album is often referred to as the ‘difficult’ one, and for good reason. For Crystal though, it wasn’t an issue. “I had a pretty tangible set of emotions to work off. Some pretty traumatic things had just happened. Life was my muse. I guess the second album was written primarily from experiences which happened during that year. There were still some of the old themes filtering back through. I am very much in the vein of confessional lyricists. I guess it’s dark because I am trying to write music which is cathartic. When I first listened to Nick Cave’s The

I

t’s a pretty good life here in Australia for the music fan. With so much amazing and varied talent to choose from, we’re incredibly lucky.

For the artists themselves … not so much. Our lack of population generally means the majority of acts don’t get anywhere near the recognition or financial rewards they deserve. Melbourne-based singersongwriter Kerri Simpson is one of those artists. She’s often dubbed a blues singer, but her discography

Simpson plays guitar too and owns an impressive sunburst tone Epiphone

A fortunate life The new album is the second in a trilogy of recordings (the Knockin’ At The Backdoor series), made possible by a grant she received from Brunswick’s Thirty Mill studios. The generous grant allowed Kerri to record up to 50 songs, from which she then grouped tracks into either the country-flavoured Maybe By Midnight album, the new blues/rootstinged Fortune Favoured Me or the yet to be complied jazz and gospel-style record. For Fortune Favoured Me, Kerri called on a bunch of guitar-slinging guests to stamp their personality on a track or two.

Contributions came from Geoff Achison, Shannon Bourne, Matt Walker, Jeff Lang and Charles Jenkins, some of Australia’s finest musicians. “Each song was a bit of an essence of each guitar player involved,” Kerri explains. “Not necessarily about their nature or character, just trying to capture a little bit of the ambience of the artist. Geoff Achison’s song is about

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Crystal, who has just completed a diploma of professional writing and editing, chose to record the album with her band in performance mode as opposed to doing separate vocal takes.

It started almost as an acoustic blues thing.”

Howl features an intense scream-like vocal, so I wondered if the emotion may have come as a result of a bad day at Kerri’s day job as a librarian. “Ha, no. I was sort of thinking about the Marianne Faithful song, Why’d Ya Do it. I was thinking about the intensity of the vocal.

By the time we got into the studio Langy just ramped it up and I had to match that intensity.”

Melbourne-based blues diva Kerri Simpson releases the second album of her Knockin At The Backdoor trilogy and speaks to Muso’s Greg Phillips.

proves she’s much more than that, having dabbled in many genres. She can sure as shit belt out a tune, that much is certain, and when she ventures into a New Orleans-style voodoo vibe, Kerri can scare the pants off you too. I offer track 3, Howl, off her new album, Fortune Favoured Me, as evidence.

Good Son on cassette when I was fifteen, it transported me to this alternative world. It was such an amazing experience to feel. I was at a girls’ school and it was all a bit nice and boring. So I put on this cassette and was transported to this dark and dangerous world. I wanted to do for others what that cassette had done for me.”

being out on the road and missing his beloved partner. With Pirates Are a Girl’s Best Friend, I was sitting around with band members Dean Addison (bass) and Ben Grayson (keyboards), talking about the Caribbean and Cuba and different rhythms.”

Matt Walker shone his fretted light on the track Silver’s Last Stand.

“He came and put all those beautiful ambient guitar lines down, so it was really just a matter of running a vocal and not doing too much

to it. All the guys put down a lot of tracks and we could edit what we wanted and leave bits in or take them out. With Howl, Jeff Lang’s track, there was much more layering and editing and manipulating of sounds. Matt’s track is untouched and Jeff ’s we played with a lot more. With Geoff Achison, he put down several guitar parts and we turned the song around after he had left. Geoff did it in one groove and Colin and I turned it into another.”

Shannon Bourne played on three tracks and co-wrote Insatiable with Simpson. Bourne’s dirty fuzz tones compliment Simpson’s dark, soulful vocal perfectly on this track. “We both share a great love of very dark heavy music and sounds,” Kerri says of her musical relationship with Bourne.

“He knew the vibe I was going for … the spooky, haunting psychological thriller. Shannon and I have known each other for a long time and we can play off each other and match each other’s moods in terms of feel and intonation. He gets where I’m coming from and I tend to explain things more in imagery and sound rather than technically.”

The brief Simpson gave the guitarists was quite basic: come in, jam with her band and do something roots-based. There was rarely a rehearsal before the record button was pushed. The state a song begun in wasn’t necessarily how it turned out. “Jeff Lang’s track started off as a Delta blues thing and ended as Howl, which is the most full-on track on the album.

SHANNON BOURNE’S GUITAR TRACKS

“For these recordings I did Kerri’s album (Insatiable and Mr. Wolf), I used my 1962 Champagne Sparkle Gretsch and my Ulbrick Arena 50 head with a single 1x12 speaker box.

For the fuzz tones I used a ZVEX Fuzz Factory with a little delay. The clean tone on Mr. Wolf was just my Gretsch straight into the Ulbrick. ” - Shannon Bourne

However, she wasn’t in the same room as the band when tape rolled, the vocal booth which Matt Walker had set up at his home studio being in his toilet.

“It was very reverb drenched. It had a concrete floor and wooden walls. Matt’s studio had recently been refurbished so the toilet was the vocal booth.

It actually had a little glass window. We set up some curtains and various bits and pieces.

At one point I wanted to get all atmospheric and set up a whole bunch of tea lights.

Everyone freaked out and came running saying you can’t have tea lights next to cloth and electrics. I just wanted a vibe. I had to either sing in the dark or with the toilet light on. It is important that the album represents an emotion or experience.

“The first album was melancholy and pretty and poetic. The second was, I dunno, sexy, angry, playful.

I’m not sure what the emotion will be for the next one but Ben (Bunting, her stage guitarist) and I were talking about it being more narrative driven.” www.offthehip.com.au www.crystalthomas. com.au

Sheraton guitar as well as an Ovation 12 string.

“When I first started playing on stage, I got a 12-string because it filled out the sound a bit and hid the fact that I couldn’t play solos.

When I started playing with great bands, I just needed something to play rhythm on.”

Kerri doesn’t own any microphones but in the studio used an AKGC12. She was also thrilled to be the first guinea pig to test the studio’s new desk. “At Thirty Mill they just installed a new Neve desk, Custom series 75. Neve made it to Colin Wynne and Mark Opitz’s specs. It’s like a world first they’re trying out for Neve, which is pretty exciting, we got to finish the mixing on that.

“I’m not big on technique. I just love anything that is heartfelt. Australian artists, I love Chris Wilson. In full flight nobody goes near him.

Any blues or soul singer, he can match. There’s a myriad of female vocalists I work with …

Nichaud Fitzgibbon, Kylie Auldist, Monique Brumby and Rebecca Barnard who are all incredible.” www.kerrisimpson.com

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Nord Stage keyboard. then you have all your PCM based stuff as well, all the gig-ready stuff, piano, strings, brass sounds, as well as all your percussive stuff, drum kits, electronic kits, ethnic kits, everything you would expect to find on a pro keyboard.

Casio’s Paul Noble chats to Muso about the new XWP1, XWG1 and how they both figure in his own music making.

I

t’s kind of a badge of honour for musicians. You align yourself to a particular instrument brand and find yourself defending it as a Holden fan would against a Ford fiend. Paul Noble has been a professional musician for around 25 years. He has played some big gigs with John Farnham and Pseudo Echo, to name just a couple, and by day is a product education specialist for a keyboard company. His chosen brand, the one he believes in, is Casio. It’s

Noble synth the eighties the company which came to prominence in the ‘80s for producing hi-tech family keyboards. The same family keyboards which are showing up so often today on the latest hipster’s albums. More recently however, Casio has belied it’s dinky keyboard image and put some serious time, effort and money into the development of performance grade synthesisers. The result of their toil is the recent release of two powerful and affordable instruments, the XWP1 and XW G1, and indeed, these are pioneering times for Casio.

Speaking to Casio’s Paul Noble, you get the impression he has some pride in working with these synths, can chat at length about them and more importantly, speak in truth about them. Not that anything pre-dating the XWP1 or XWG1 was not talkworthy, it’s just that there seems to be a genuine buzz around the company for this gear.

Paul’s association with Casio goes back a long way.

His first ever synth purchase was another brand, an Ensoniq ESQ1, quite a hi tech buy first up.

Then soon after, he acquired a Casio CZ1000, the famous 80s model … he’d caught the Casio bug.

With such an ingrained perception of what their keyboards are known for, it was a tough ask for Casio’s development team to come up with something

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the pro players would stand up and take notice of. Paul believes they’ve got things right with the new synths and hopes people open their eyes and ears to give them a go.

“I would say that people are going to be quite surprised when they experience these things because that isn’t traditionally Casio’s reputation,” he said.

“Especially when you look at the package you get with these synths and you consider the fact that they are both under a thousand dollars, you would expect them to be sub-

pro market product, as I did to be honest.

However, to play them, I honestly believe they would cut it anywhere on any stage. They are absolutely brilliant.”

Paul loves the ‘80s sounds these keys have to offer and uses them to the max when he can. Noble’s current music projects include Gener8tor, an originals band and also Gold Chisel, a Cold Chisel tribute act. “I am a classic ‘80s Muso,” Paul said of his influences, and he finds it easy to emulate those sounds with these new Casio releases.

“I love all the Polysynths… that typical sawtooth type sound or anything clavinet-like. So I’ll get a clavinet sound and you can add up to 200 DSP effects to any sound onboard and you can multi layer the DSPs too. You can layer up to six at a time.”

It’s not only the ‘80s sounds on the XWP1 and XWG1 which Paul is impressed with. “The versatility is huge and also the ease of use is outstanding,” he said. “There are some classic, big fat 80s analogue sounds as well as having all the modern day digital samples on them too.,” he tells.

“There are two models, the XWP1 which is what we call the Performance synth. For real players, guys who are quite skilled who want great sounds, the P1 is the go. It features multiple sound engines which I think would appeal to any pro musician. You have a six oscillator, monophonic analogue synth. Then you have a Hex layer polyphonic synth which allows you to lay up to 6 different patches at one time and mix and control each individually. You have a drawbar organ sound engine, with nine drawbar organ sliders, as well as fast and slow Leslie, percussive effects, all the stuff that you might see on something like a

“It also gives you features like the step sequencer, which allows you to put grooves together really quickly and easily. It has a phrase sequencer, which you can sequence a phrase into and then loop.

You can key assign, so you can trigger it to play in any key by simply touching a piano keyboard. You can use that or any sound in conjunction with the onboard arpeggiator.

It’s a powerful instrument and you have realtime control over everything, your envelopes, frequency cut off, and decay.”

Noble is equally excited about the XWG1. “With the groove synth. We probably see a bit of an integration into the DJ market. The way I use this synth is in integration with things like the iPad, iPhone, computers. It actually has a rubber pad on the side of it

where you can sit your iPad or iPhone. The big feature with that model is the sampler. It has the ability to take ten samples internally, without adding extra memory which you can do easily by adding a SD card, they take up to 32 gig. So it can store up to ten samples at full quality, each up to 19 seconds long.

“What you hear go in is exactly what you hear come out. With your computer, you can sample a drum loop, then you can add through the sampler, some realtime parts which you might play in yourself… then record in some vocals. You get this great integration between your audio parts with your live keyboard performance.”

It’s rumoured that there will be a special edition gold version of Casio’s new synths landing in limited number prior to Christmas and don’t be surprised to see new releases soon.

Casio is committed to the new direction they have taken.

As for Paul, try to catch him at a Cold Chisel gig at a club near you soon. www.soundtechnology. com.au

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a moment occasionally to freak out, but for the most part I just like to create slide tones.”

After three invites from the Bluesfest promoter, Grace Potter finally gets to bring her band to Australia for the Easter festival next year.

Greg Phillips reports.

Grace is somewhat of a gear nerd and has kept most of the instruments she has played during her career, with some of them now a little more road weary than others.

“The first guitar I ever bought was a (Gibson) J45 from the 1930s, which I don’t take out on the road anymore,” she explained. “Then later I got an ES125 which is a smaller body cutaway semi hollow body Gibson that has some intonation problems so I keep that at home. It sounds great for recording.

Has a great old Sun Studio sound to it.”

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race Potter and The Nocturnals have been invited to play Bluesfest three years running, yet due to their busy dance card, could never tweak their schedule enough to make it down. At next year’s event, Australian audiences will finally get to experience their show. There are many reasons why Bluesfest crowds should devour this band. Firstly, because in the great tradition

Potter gold for Bluesfest of rock touring bands, they’ve been at it solid for ten years, came out of America’s roots music festival circuit and are as rockin’ tight as they come.

Secondly, it’s Grace herself who has such wonderful stage presence. As for her image, she may give the impression she’s off to a cocktail party, often wearing high heels and a tightly fitting mini skirt, but she’s also usually armed with a Gibson Flying V (her own signature model) slung over her shoulder or ripping licks from behind a Hammond B3.

“I think it’s a good trick to play on people,” said Grace. “They see this little Barbie doll come on stage or whatever I may look like on any given day, but then we kick in and it can be surprising for people to hear the noises that I can make.”

The noises she refers to have been compared to iconic female vocalists such as Janis Joplin.

However, it’s the male rock singers which have had more impact on Grace’s vocal style.

“I admire Robert Plant,” she said. “I’m very excited that he’ll be at the Byron Bay music festival. He was a huge influence on me. When I was just learning how to tour, most of my influences were men. Freddie

King, Steve Winwood ... for his organ playing and his singing. The Allman Brothers... a major influence was Ozzie Osbourne... AC/ DC was a big one for me. I felt more affinity to the sexual energy of the men on stage than the more timid phrasing of women. It’s not that I don’t love women vocalists and I think there are some great ones, but there are not that many great female rock singers.”

Potter is equally adept at both guitar and organ, and was chuffed when Gibson guitars acknowledged her musical prowess with her own signature model Flying V. “I have been a huge fan of the Flying V ever since I first picked one up,” she said of the honour. “It’s mostly to do with the weight distribution. I think part of the influence is, even though I love to play the guitar, I love to dance. I love

movement and certain guitars are too weight-centric, especially Les Pauls. It felt too heavy all in one place, almost like a pendulum. With the Flying V, if I set it down it kind of stands on its own. I can really flail around and I’m not going to kill myself with it.”

In the early days of the band, Potter ran her guitar through a ‘71 Gibson Goldtone, but years of stage abuse has relegated that amp to the studio. She now runs her Flying V through a Fender Vibrolux. “I like the Vibrolux a lot, it has a good dimension to it,” she said. “When I run it through some reverb, it really creates Black Beauty (Neil’s famous Les Paul guitar), Neil Young crunchy tones that I like. I have two amazing guitar players, Scott and Matty. When it comes to solos or creating beautiful textures, I’m just there as meat and potatoes. I like to think of myself as very rock-steady rhythm guitarist. I certainly like playing the slide and a lot of open tunings. I’ll take

It’s no surprise that Grace’s gear exists in differing states of health. A photo is brought to her attention which depicts her standing in heels on a beautiful old Hammond organ. “At least it was mine!” she exclaims.

“When I first started playing the B3 I broke a lot of keys. I have really strong hands and am really muscular with the way I play. I got it from Billy Preston and his style of organ playing. I’d break a key every night. I was very frustrated that day, I remember the

show and the photo.

It doesn’t happen all the time but you’re right, it was a sad night for that keyboard.”

Among her collection of instruments at home, Grace also owns a ‘56 Hammond A100, two B3s and a 1972 Hammond Porta B, which her band bought for her as a 21st birthday present.

More than anything, Potter is proud of the many hours her band has played and takes a dim view of artists who don’t experience that same collaborative joy on stage. “It pisses me off when I meet musicians who are talented but don’t have that joy of camaraderie with other people, sharing music... people who have worked hard and can really appreciate what it takes to get to this place.

Scotty and Matty and I have been together ten years now. To be able to say that I did it with these people, it’s a rich part of the rock’n’roll blanket. I’m very happy to have my family with me as part of it.”

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals play Bluesfest, Easter weekend 2013 www.bluesfest.com.au

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[11]

“I tried coated strings like everyone else; I didn’t like them. Cleartone are so bright and responsive, I forgot they were coated. Bend them in good health.”

-Tommy Emmanuel Guitar Virtuoso

Hate Coated Strings? We know why...

Coa Coated strings you’ve played in the past use tone killing layers of material. The coating gets in between the winds and inhibit vibration.

Instead, Cleartone feature the thinnest coating in the industry. At one micron, they feel and sound like traditional strings but with Ins the th added benefit of 3-5X string life. In fact Cleartone’s were tested to be up to 36% louder than the leading coated string brand according to an independent sound lab. For more information visit www.dynamicmusic.com.au a

[12]

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A

lvarez guitars is one of the biggest guitar brands in the USA, having been at it for over 45 years.

The company has a strong affiliation with master luthier Kazuo Yairi who, at 80, still oversees their daily operations in Japan.

The Alvarez AD60 CE is part of their Artist series, offering a truckload of features and exceptional value for money with each model. This particular guitar is a full-size gloss-finished cutaway dreadnought fitted with a B-Band Sys 650 preamp. The specs are rather impressive: a lovely warm sitka spruce top, chocolatey mahogany back and sides and a dark, tight grained rosewood fingerboard and a bi-level rosewood bridge designed to maximize sustain. A dovetail neck joint sets the neck to the body, increasing sustain and the note transfer, with notes jumping out into you. Alvarez consider this guitar their best value for money to date, the quality of materials, construction and

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Alvarez AD60

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: SALES@DADDARIO.COM.AU

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craftsmanship normally unseen at this price.

Visually, this instrument looks solid and smart with a darker coloured top, unique bridge design, cool pickguard and authentic abalone and mother of pearl inlaid on the headstock, rosette and even on the tips of the bridge pins. A cool cream pinstripe binds on the top to the body and a smooth satin cream binding surrounds the back and sides.

T

I started by plugging in my Shure Beta 58 and sending the XLR out to my mixing desk, threw on a pair on phones and jumped in for a quick taste of the presets. Immediately levels, compression and EQ sounded right. The reverbs and delays offered in the first group of settings sounded stunning, with the “Cathedral” preset displaying a nice long tail, perfect for a solo performance or ballad. These tones were so great I jumped on over to YouTube for a quick karaoke session to see how they‘d sit in a mix. After having blown my lungs out after a few songs, I noticed that this unit is essentially a Swiss army knife for vocalists, a real quick fix that can work both live and in the studio, and perfect for adding multiple layers to a mix.

The “Ensemble” setting provided a good doubled/chorused tone, but it was the “Double Voice”, “Four Voice” and “Unison” patches that were truly outstanding. The “Four Voice” uses harmony doubling in conjunction with a short delay to create four separate voices, and I love this sort of effect live as it really makes the vocal stick out of a mix.

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Harmony and Pitch Correct both sounded fantastic, but harmony processing lacks a key input (from say an acoustic guitar or keyboard), so complex pitch shifting based around different chords and multiple keys is a lot harder to coordinate, but if you’re using the harmony for simple songs, you’ll be happy. The effect tracks beautifully and the inclusion of the “Gender” function changes the formant in your voice so your harmonies sound like a different person singing - brilliant!

Pitch correct is a lot of fun too. Not only do you get to use it as a contemporary effect, but also for very subtle, natural pitching, making you sound better than you really are (very important for me).

Roland VT-12 Vocal Trainer

T

he Roland VT-12 vocal trainer is a wonderful tool to develop your singing voice. This handy device comes with a built-in tuner and metronome to aid pitch and timing, as well as 12 warm-up tracks and 186 exercise tracks to turn you into a seasoned veteran. You also have the ability to record tracks via the “Record In” mini jack, as well as evaluating your performance afterwards with the “Review” function.

Also bundled in is Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer by Anne Peckham from the Berklee College of Music, acting as a comprehensive guide for the unit, well laid out and easy to understand.

I tested the VT-12 with a pair of headphones using the in-built mic to see how well it detected pitch. The mic is very sensitive, showing all the little slides and vibratos surrounding notes you sing. Hitting the “Pitch” button starts you off with an A, and the “b” and “#” keys

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.ROLANDCORP.COM.AU

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raise or lower pitch respectively. Hitting the “Metronome” button engages a click track that’s either changed manually or tapped to a specific tempo. The warm-up exercises have you doing a whole bunch of fun things like buzzing noises and “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” over full backings with real instruments. What’s especially cool is there’s no compression on the voice so you can hear how the singing teacher projects and alters his/her voice to hit certain notes. Each exercise is followed by a backing track so you can practice without the teacher. After you’ve finishing singing, you can analyse your performance with the “Review” button as every exercise automatically records your vocals.

After you’ve warmed up it’s time to get into real workouts. Workouts are divided into separate categories for voice type, vocal experience, harmony singing and the famous 50 Concone Opus 9 lessons for medium classical voice. The basic workouts for Low and High Voices are the same, except elevating to different pitches depending on voice type. The exercises have you performing different styles like Rock, Latin, Gospel, Jazz and minor scales, and are a lot of fun, making practice enjoyable and effective.

Often you’re just singing phrases, going up by half steps to work on extending your range, checking the note display to for key, or singing in harmony with the teacher, which is especially enjoyable. Advanced workouts are obviously a lot harder, featuring trills that are more intricate and runs, with wider steps between notes. Nevertheless, remember, practice makes perfect so don’t be disappointed if you don’t nail these straight off the bat. Harmony practice is so awesome, as voices are separated in each headphone, so you can isolate either the top or bottom harmony and learn how to pitch against another voice. Finally, there are the 50 Concone Opus 9 lessons for the medium voice. These exercises are even fun if you’re not into classical music, and you can invent opera gibberish like me if your feeling a bit loose on a Friday night. These lessons are world-renowned and will undoubtedly call out to your inner “Bocelli”. The Roland VT-12 is a great tool for any sort of vocalist, and comes with a great book, and superb audio tracks.

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.ROLANDCORP.COM.AU

he Boss VE-5 is a cool little multi-effects processor that’s simple to use and a lot of fun. It’s essentially a plug in and play unit with 30 well thought-out presets, onboard looper and built-in mic. You can overwrite the presets and access an additional 20 banks for up to 50 patches, with the ability to save three “Favourite Sounds” for fast recall on the fly.

This guitar feels great, as a lovely cutaway provides easy access to higher frets and the silky smooth neck allows you to glide up and down effortlessly. String tension is strong, allowing you to slam the strings with a heavier pick for massive projection and a strong mid-heavy voice. Tuning is an absolute joy as the bone nut and bridge eliminate snags and further add to the tone, the chrome machineheads roll smoothly and the onboard tuner (on the B-Band) is awesome, changing from blue to bright green when the string is in tune. Out of the box, this guitar was almost perfectly in tune, only a couple of cents short of A440. The sound was strong and focused with clear tops and bottoms, with the AD60 sounding a bit bigger than your average dreadnought, producing a solid bass and natural hi-fi tone that’s perfect for recording. Action was at a medium height allowing notes to ring clearly, but making it difficult to play fast single note runs, but finger-picking yielded a smoother tone.

Electronics-wise the B-Band SYS 650 is an absolute gem of a pickup, featuring an onboard tuner, controls for Bass, Middle and Treble as well as a midrange notch that scoops out annoying feedback at 330Hz. Ther AST and UST pickups (above saddle transducer/under saddle transducer) sound completely different to each other. The AST sounds very natural highlighting the lower mids, whereas the UST highlights upper mids and presence. You can achieve a killer tone just by blending the two sounds together, without going near the EQ. The Alvarez AD60CE is a professional instrument worthy of high-quality recordings, stadium-sized gigs or your own personal enjoyment. It’s the perfect instrument if you’re at the stage where you want to start gigging or you’re a seasoned pro and open to the idea of using a mid-priced instrument.

Boss VE-5 Vocal Performer

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4

Rock Tips Liquid Callus Formula REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.PROMUSICAUSTRALIA.COM

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ne of the age-old dilemmas with learning the guitar (or any stringed instrument) is the initial pain associated with fretting down strings, especially when you’re just starting out and playing a guitar with old rusty strings and an action a mile high. Previous solutions have involved the use of ointment (and by ointment I mean alcohol), glues, bandages, turning your amp up way too loud and not caring, the use of fake finger tips like Tony Iommi (who of course had to because of an industrial accident) or simply not caring, full stop. If you are however quick to give up on this fine instrument because of fingertip pain you may need some help … you may need some (enter booming voice) “Rock Tips” (pun intended).

I’d honestly have to say the whole idea of liquid calluses had me worried at first. It had me thinking of a science experiment where you actually grow the callous like a carrot or potato in water, and I was afraid I’d end up like that guy in Stephen King’s Creepshow where the guy turns into a plant. Cast your fears aside; this stuff is a great alternative to solutions of the past, working much better than band aids, or household glues like superglue which are really hard to get off and completely desensitize your fingers. Trust me, once you’ve become immune to the smell, it actually works amazingly well (help me I’m turning into a late night TV commercial announcer!). That’s because Rock Tips claim this product has been developed from a medical adhesive for the skin. The solution takes about a minute to dry and comes off with soap and water.

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You can select from Soft, Hard, Electric 1, Electric 2 and Robot functions, with the latter snapping everything to a single selected note. I was a real fan of combining the pitch correct and harmony together, using the pitch correct with a specific key and turning the gender back to deepen my shrill Anglo-Saxon voice, while adding the harmony for a unison effect for the sort of “Auto-tune” that saturates the airwaves.

Other outstanding presets were “Radio”, for a band-pass radio/ telephone effect, “Heavy Scream”, which pitches down a high scream for a brutal death metal, “Space Lounge” for a flanged robot effect, and “Opera Queen” instantly turns you into a soprano. The onboard mic was okay, though if anything a little honky, and the looper killer, perfect for beat-boxing and adding multiple layers with ease. As a whole, the Boss VE-5 is a superb tool for vocalists wanting to get started with using effects; so much under the hood at this price!

I pulled the bottle out of the pack and slowly applied the solution to my fingertips and flesh underneath the nails. The smell of liquid is just horrible and may have hallucinogenic properties (no sniffing kids), but I soldiered on into the unknown, on my quest for the perfect callus. The solution dries like clear nail polish in about a minute, then you can start playing. At first, the feeling is a little strange; you lose sensitivity but can still feel the strings. After a little while you adjust very well and begin to realise that even everyday guitar playing actually causes a little bit of pain and stress on your fingertips (even with calluses). One coating wasn’t

enough for me, so I applied another layer.

At this point in time I’ve recently returned from a month-long holiday overseas having barely touched a guitar in all that time (except for a couple of impromptu performances with an Asian cover band), so my calluses are pretty soft right now. The Rock Tips formula gave me the feeling of old stubborn fingertips from hours of steelstring acoustic guitar playing, so you get a definite edge when it comes to endurance.

The experience is quite enjoyable, so I decided to cover the fingertips on my right hand as well for a bit of fingerstlye. The formula definitely works better on your fretting hand because a lot more surface area is required on your picking hand, so you’ll have to really baste your fingers to get the best results. Just about anyone can benefit from the Rock Tips solution, even seasoned professionals who get cracked, dry skin.

So if you’re suffering from pain, here’s a tip, get “Rock Tips”.

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Novation Mini Nova REVIEWER: BAZ BARDOE INFO: WWW.INNOVATIVEMUSIC.COM.AU

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wo things immediately stand out about Novation’s new MiniNova. Firstly it has some similarities to Korg’s classic MicroKorg, which enjoys a prominent position in my studio.

And the second is that it looks brilliant, and this impression just escalates when you fire it up and all those lights come on. It has a very cool futureretro kind of look, with controls that are obviously durable – this is a synth that will beg to be let out of the studio once in a while.

Below the editing section at the top right, where a combination of knobs and sliders allows you to adjust 24 parameters for each patch, there’s a section with eight pads. These can be used to write arpeggio patterns, skip between favourite patches or make adjustments to patches, depending which mode is selected. It’s a clever and tactile way of approaching a few useful performance attributes. Overall the layout is logical and extremely well thought out.

My review unit didn’t have an instruction manual and that wasn’t a problem. If you’ve used a synth before you’ll get the hang of it quickly and there’s plenty of material online at the Novation site. The preset sounds can be navigated alphabetically or numerically, and as mentioned are divided into broad genres. One of these options – ‘classic synth’ – is apt because that is what springs to mind when I play this compact beast. There’s a huge range of ‘classic’ sounds, from biting ‘acid’ squeals to stabs and huge pads. The filter sweeps are seamlessly even, and once you get the arpeggiator going you don’t want it to stop. Sonically it’s every bit as good as it looks – a real pleasure to play and the ergonomics are fantastic. Some companies set the bar high.

Novation are one of those. Their kit is always top notch and I’m pleased to say the MiniNova continues in that tradition. Editing software and all the necessary in/out connections means this great synth can integrate with a computer-based system, or standalone. It ticks all the boxes for me.

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Next in line is the Tokai ES 148, part of their Vintage Series manufactured in Japan.

The 148 is a take on Gibson’s classic ES 335 and Epiphone Casino, both extremely popular semi hollowbody guitars renowned for their unique tone and response. The body consists of an arched maple top, back and sides, onepiece mahogany set neck and rosewood fingerboard. The ES 148’s semi-hollow body design heavily borrows from a 335,

The feel is so soft in my hands; it needs to be played lightly for some jazz lovin’ or maybe with a dollop of drive for some blues. I know many guitarists love the smokiness you get from a 335, so you can really drive your amp or pedal, just don’t expect a tight, slamming bass response for ‘80s-era thrash metal. A hearty D profile (think Les Paul Standard) shapes the neck and the body contours beautifully for sitting down or standing up; it’s a pleasure to play in all positions. A medium action and decent string tension (feels like a set of 10s) removes any sort of fret buzz and makes notes sustain nice and long. Tokai’s setup department have done a bang-on job, making sure you clean up your playing so every note is more intentional and focused, and the Kluson-style tuners actually feel better than the real thing, a bit tighter and less sensitive than Gibsons. Clean tones are exceptionally pleasant. You can really hear the top end sparkle mixed with the long, sweet sustain. In this respect, it sounds just like a 335 should, and marries beautifully with a Fender-style amp for clean warmth. Gain also works well for different styles, adding a bit of overdrive on a clean sound for some blues, a little bit of amp drive for some classic rock breakup, or some fuzz for Eric Johnsonstyle leads and Queens of the Stone Age mud.

The semi hollow body design ensures that notes naturally sustain, so not a lot of drive is required.

REVIEWER: CHRIS STELLER INFO: WWW.CMI.COM.AU

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Functionality is what you’d expect in this price range, with the 7” colour ‘TouchView’ display as your GUI, making parameter access easy. A new menu in the top left of the screen allows you to jump around to the different functions and return with ease.

Krome uses EDS-X, another of those awesome KORG acronyms that can leave you guessing for a long time. It’s loaded with nearly 4GB of sounds: Kronos-derived full-length, unlooped piano and drum sounds; electric pianos with eight-level velocity switching; 640 programs and 288 combinations, plus 32 drum kits out of the box, with more memory slots for your own sound creations. It also has 256 GM2 programs and 9 GM2 drum kits, making standard MIDI file playback a breeze. All of the bread and butter capabilities are there: Four types of filter routing, two multi-mode filters per oscillator, plenty of useful effects, EQ for each program or song track, and great drum sounds, with a pattern assigned to each program for instant inspiration/jamming fun.

6

The on-board sequencer features 16 MIDI tracks plus a master track, plenty of memory and templates for easy setup. The Cue Lists, with up to 99 steps in a list, are a great way to set up jukebox-style playback or assemble a different version of your song.

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Tokai ES 148

with a strip of solid wood running down the middle with hollow wings added for that unmistakable tone and response. Two PAF Vintage MK2 pickups (made in Japan) sound like the real deal, warm and thick with an open voicing, and the LS VB bridge, in conjunction with the SSG6 Trapeze Tailpiece, borrows from the Casino providing different sustain, tension and overtones to a stock 335. It’s fair to say this guitar is a real piece of eye candy, delivered in a stunning “Sunburst” (in reality Tobacco-burst) finish that shows off the flamed maple top and creates depth with multiple coats of nitrocellulose, like an old American hot rod. The back is just as nice, with a lovely dark shadowing where the neck meets the headstock and body as well as a teardrop sunburst outline on the body’s back.

Krome Music Workstation from KORG

he newest workstation from KORG continues the Japanese company’s determination to provide more features for the working musician’s dollar. Krome is the next model in line from the successful M50 and also utilises many features introduced last year by its up-market sibling, the Kronos. Krome comes in three models, of course: the 61- and 73-key workstations feature a semi-weighted (synth-style) keyboard, while the 88-key model is weighted, utilising KORG’s NH keyboard, which is graded in weight from low to high notes. The look is simple and efficient. On the back are stereo outputs, inputs for pedals and USB connection to your computer, plus an SD Card slot for data storage.

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REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.JADEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

lot of us musicians (including myself ) feel drawn to the timelessness of classic instruments, that iconic Stratocaster snap, fat Les Paul crunch, twangin’ Telecaster jangle and Rickenbacker chime.

What’s even better is that one company does them all and has been doing them a long time. Tokai are the masters of reverse engineering, bringing you uncanny copies of the originals as I found out previously when reviewing their “Love Rock”, (Les Paul style) model a while back.

[14]

5

like ‘resonance’, ‘attack’ and so forth. The sound engine is supposedly the same as its big brother the Ultra Nova, and the MiniNova certainly packs some punch. The sound quality is just excellent. It has 18-voice polyphony, three oscillators, 14 conventional wave shapes, 36 wavetables and 20 digital waveforms; 14 filter types, six envelope generators, up to five effects per patch, a versatile arpeggiator, a vocoder and vocal effects processing. With the option of audio-in so you can run an external sound source through its signal processing and a 37-key keyboard, it offers tremendous value in a very compact and stylish package.

The layout is clear and easy to understand, without a reliance on all those hidden menus some synths suffer from. Like the Micro Korg it has a ‘genre knob’ which helps navigate the generous 256 presets, though the inclusion of a ‘dubstep’ option may date quickly.

This knob is near the centre with the LED display to the left and a large filter knob to the right, with four more knobs and six banks of parameters, so you can adjust all the usual suspects

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This review was done on the 61-key model, so you’ll have to judge the weighted 88-key for yourself. Krome’s main piano sample had me wanting to actually play piano because of its quality, which is amazing in this price range. As a matter of fact, the Krome piano sample is probably bigger than the entire ROM block in most of the competition’s offerings. The GUI is easy and the layout is efficient, the sequencer works well and there’s a downloadable editor (standalone or VST/ AU plug-in), and the little blue LED in the ‘R’ on the back of the unit is cute. The mini-jack headphone output is a bit annoying (why?), but everything works well and the video manual is a very easy to understand guide to using the features of Krome, presented by product specialist, Steve McNally. Krome is a serious contender for your hard-earned!

Simon and Patrick Woodland Pro Spruce guitar REVIEW: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.DYNAMICMUSIC.COM.AU

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There’s also a comprehensive pattern generator, drum tracks and polyphonic arpeggiators for helping with instant inspiration when you’re stuck for ideas.

hen I first heard I’d be reviewing a Simon and Patrick guitar I immediately thought of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sounds Of Silence, tumbleweeds rolling along barren landscapes and seagulls soaring over cliffs.

What I really should have pictured was the craft of Robert Godin, the innovator behind his own brand of unique instruments as well as Art & Lutherie and Seagull guitars. While the Art & Lutherie guitars are aimed at the entry level/ intermediate market, Simon and Patrick are a step up, appealing to the intermediate/professional player. All production takes place in Canada, so expect quality North American spruce, fine Quebecan craftsmanship and a proven track record.

Under the spotlight today we have the Simon and Patrick Woodland Pro Spruce is a simple, wellput together acoustic that’ll spark some interest.

This guitar has its charms because it doesn’t go overboard with the bling. It’s both tasteful and classy, with a selection of eye-catching woods that are still a little modest, a soft creamy spruce top with a tightly uniform grain, elegant mahogany back and sides that’s wonderfully speckled and flamed, and an animal-striped mahogany headstock shaped like a lovely old Martin. The rosewood bridge and fingerboard has a fine grain and is so soft and dark it almost feels like ebony, and there’s even a cool centre strip on the back of the body for something extra.

Simon and Patrick go to great lengths to tell you they only use the finest materials. Every guitar comes with “a select pressure-tested top” for the highest levels of stiffness and rigidity ensuring maximum harmonic vibration.

The body is a little bit smaller on this guitar than your average at about 51cm long and 12.5cm deep (at the base), so it’s very comfortable and not bulky in any way. The most immediately striking aspect however is the toothpick-thin neck that feels more like an electric guitar. The 24.84” neck and 16” fingerboard make it a delight to play and the soft rosewood and super-slim frets makes holding down notes very comfortable and resistance free. The

action is low, really low for an acoustic, so you can shred it up or play bar chords with the greatest of ease. A Tusq nut and saddle are fitted for snag-free string travel and maximum note transfer and sustain, and the custom 14:1 machine heads sit high taking a bit more string than your average tuner as well as maintaining perfect tuning stability. The review model came without a pickup, but you can also get this guitar with a B-Band AT-3 preamp.

Tone-wise, this guitar sounds pretty good.

The sound is fairly balanced, with a mild top end, rich midrange and a relatively loose bass that carries the note out for a while.

One would have to understand that this is a smaller acoustic so it won’t project as loudly or have as much bottom end thud as your average dreadnaught or jumbo.

If you’re an electric guitarist who likes small C-shaped necks, low actions and smaller string spacing you’d love this guitar.

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Griffin Technology Studio Connect, Guitar Connect and Midi Connect REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.GALACTICMUSIC.COM.AU

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riffin Technology is a company devoted to providing accessories, cases, headphones and odds and ends for all portable Apple and Android products. For a guy that does a lot of reviews, it’s always interesting to see how innovation renders a different approach to creating music, and how companies involved with technology, like Apple, end up being an essential part of this industry.

Today I’m looking at three products from Griffin Technology: the Studio Connect, Guitar Connect Pro and Midi Connect. All three devices are designed for use with iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

First up, the Studio Connect is an iPad dock and audio interface that charges your iPad and sends and receives both audio and MIDI to and fro. The idea of having this kind of setup lets you have your own little recording studio for use anywhere. Even the Gorillaz recorded their last album, The Fall, completely on an iPad. The Studio Connect features MIDI in and

Griffin Technology makes it easier and more affordable to get your own little recording studio happening than ever before. Now ideas won’t get lost when you’re on tour when you set up a little recording studio in your hotel room.

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.JADEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

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I plugged my Gibson Les Paul into the Guitar Connect Pro and went into Amplitube Slash, which is a real tone monster of an app. I had a killer tone in no time with nothing other than a guitar, Guitar Connect Pro and iPhone. The unit performed flawlessly with minimal latency, and I can’t wait for someone to rock up to a gig one day with nothing other than an iPhone, and blow away the guy with a $5000 Mesa rig.

Finally the MIDI connect is a great little way to get MIDI into and out of an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. This is a very simple way of triggering sounds via a MIDI controller and worked perfectly with Garageband in the same was Studio Connect did, but with just MIDI in and out this time. I used my MIDI keyboard to access a whole library of pianos, keyboards, synthesisers and drums with the touch of a key.

Timberidge TRBC-4ST Acoustic Bass

he Jade-inspired range of Timberidge guitars have been kicking goals recently, and because I’ve had my hands on the adorable Mini 4 Acoustic and Series 1 Dreadnought, I can personally attest to this. These guys are all about quality with their Australian-designed instruments at a fraction of the cost of their international counterparts.

out, a Ÿ� mono audio input, a 1/8� stereo input, an RCA output and a headphone output. I tested this unit using Garageband on the iPad 2, which is a great app filled with virtual instruments and amp emulators and effects. I plugged in my guitar and MIDI keyboard so I now had full access to all the program had to offer. In no time I was writing a song with a great Fender Twin emulation, delicate acoustic pianos, drums and nice fat DI’d bass. I could even plug in a dynamic mic and work on vocals, but was perfect with my quick composition so far. All I had in terms of gear was an iPad 2, electric guitar, MIDI keyboard, headphones and Studio Connect, all of which could be easily transported and set up anywhere.

Next, I tested the Guitar Connect Pro, which transforms your analogue guitar signal into a completely digital one. The device is extremely simple with a Ÿ� input and a level control for input sensitivity. Also, the Guitar Connect Pro can be used with an iPhone as well as an iPad, whereas the Studio Connect is only compatible with iPad.

10

10

I now have the pleasure of reviewing the Timberidge TRBC-4ST, a full-sized acoustic bass, a concept that first reared its head in my consciousness during the MTV Unplugged years. I’ve always thought a double bass to be more practical, but in reality most bassists don’t know how to play the double bass (including myself ), and some enjoy the unique tone an acoustic bass offers. The TRBC-4ST features a warm solid cedar top (for a darker tone) and gorgeous mahogany back and sides for visual and audible pleasure. A Tusq nut and saddle ensure flawless tone, sustain and tuning in conjunction with four gold diecast tuners and a set of D’Addario EXP Phosphor Bronze strings. Plugged in, a B-Band A3T preamp, pickup and tuner amplify and shape the sound.

Out of the box, this instrument looks impressive.

There’s a lovely compromise between a unique body shape, rich blend of woods and subtle, classy design.

Standout features include the gorgeous warm grain in the cedar, smoky animal stripe on the back and sides, and the tanned neck-join and the raw grain on the back of the neck. In my hands a satin finish is always a personal favourite (usually the gloss is first to go when making mods), and this bass feels fantastic. The neck profile is great and plays just as well as any acoustic guitar or electric bass, and the shape of the body seems to mould into you also for great comfort. The action is low to medium with some fret buzz when you really slam into the strings and the string tension fairly loose so it’s nice for fingerstyle, thumb attack, bending and overall dynamics. Unplugged she sounds great, with a lot more projection and depth than I thought would be possible. The tone is nice and versatile when you dig in with you fingers, from a slow, warm attack at the neck to a hard, fast note when you move closer to the bridge. Using a pick was also effective and will sit nicely if you’re jamming with an acoustic guitarist

or with a little group.

The tone in general is very bright thanks to the fresh set of EXPs, and a loose tension and low action make it less desirable for popping and slapping. Without an amp there’s enough depth and projection for solo players and medium volume jams, but anything more will require juice. The B-Band AT3 is simple and sounds fantastic.

This bass really translates well plugged in, and would sound fantastic in place of an electric bass when played with a band. The amplified tone is really broad along the whole tonal spectrum with the added brightness you’d expect from an acoustic instrument. The EQ on the preamp is vital for emulating different electric tones. Rolling back the mids, treble and presence for a good slap tone and pumping the mids will really glue the bass to the mix.

I especially liked the inclusion of an XLR input so you can go straight to a rehearsal or a gig with just your bass. The Timberidge TRBC-4ST is such a versatile, well thought out instrument.

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37

FRONTROW@DRUMPERTH.COM.AU

THIS WEEK IN

ARTS The Goonies – a film directed

by Richard Donnerone; this is one for the goonie in all of us. Rooftop Movies, 8pm.

SUNDAY 25 NEITHER OF US ARE HOLDING ON TO EACH OTHER BY ANYA BROCK

ARTS NEWS Perth Artist Wins International Art Awards – Perth artist Anya Brock is one of two Australian winners for the global creative project, ORGNL.TV. The ORINGL. TV project called on creative talents across the world to submit videos showcasing their original projects across the art, fashion and music fields. Both winners are being flown to NYC next month to collaborate with Aussie street artist Jeremyville on an original piece.

Enter The Dragon – Bruce Lee’s final film. The master of martial arts finds himself in the middle of a kitsch and convoluted plot, a Shaolin competition on a mysterious island with more twists and turns than a kung-fu dance competition. Rooftop Movies, 8pm.

MONDAY 26 Half Nelson – a film starring the always sexy Ryan Gosling; in this 2003 flick he plays a drug-addled high school teacher, directed by Ryan Fleck. Rooftop Movies, 8pm.

FRIDAY 23

Writing Workshop With Campbell Jefferys – awardwinning Australian author and journalist Campbell Jefferys is the current writer-in-residence at the Fellowship of Australian Writers WA. He will run this workshop about how the object can inspire and influence the direction of a story. Mattie Furphy House, 10am.

Swedish purveyor of stories unusual and earthly, Malik Bendjelloul takes Anthony Carew through the legend of the enigmatic and elusive musician that frames his new feature, Searching For Sugarman.

Malik Bendjelloul calls himself a storyteller, but he’s just as much a collector of stories. For years, the 35-year-old filmmaker worked for Swedish television while travelling the globe, collecting small tales and bizarre anecdotes, including the truelife tales that would end up being turned into Hollywood concoctions The Terminal and The Men Who Stare At Goats. Bendjelloul would

AGWA Nights – Timothy Nelson & the Infidels take to the stage, who were the winners of the 2011 WAM Song of the Year. See some artwork up late as part of the MoMA exhibition. AGWA, Literary Links tour at 6pm and the live performance at 7pm.

Puberty Blues – the original 1982 film directed by Bruce Beresford about two teenage surf chicks from the southern suburbs of Sydney. Rooftop Movies, 8pm.

SATURDAY 24

OBSCURE SUGAR

turn these stories into TV segments he approached as six-minute short films, but was always hoping he’d, one day, find the story he’d want to make into a feature. Then, in 2006, in South Africa, he struck gold, when a Cape Town record store owner told him the legend of Sixto Rodriguez, an obscure folkie singer-songwriter from the early ’70s who disappeared into oblivion in his hometown of

Detroit, yet became a countercultural figure – and anti-apartheid touchstone – in ’80s South Africa.

“It was the best story I’d ever heard in my whole life,” Bendjelloul says.

“I got completely obsessed with telling this story. I’m a storyteller, that’s what I do. So, this one felt like the big one... It sounded like it was a script. Like a writer had a good day and came up with this amazing idea.

But maybe it wouldn’t have been a good script, because it would’ve been too unbelievable for someone to make this up. Like everything is just a bit too much. But when it’s a true story, you don’t pick it apart, you don’t complain, you just say: ‘Wow! That actually happened!’”

Somehow – popular myth traces it back, perhaps, to one song on one mixed tape brought back from America – Rodriguez’s two obscure, forgotten, Nick Drake-sih LPs found their way from America to South Africa. There, their tales of anti-establishment rebellion struck a profound chord with local listeners. “They talk about him in the same breath as The Beatles and The Stones,” Bendjelloul explains.

“Rodriguez everywhere else in the world is for people in record stores.

In South Africa, it’s people on the street, it’s everyone.” Of course, whilst he became famous in a far-off country, Rodriguez never knew; somewhere between an isolated, state-controlled country and a reclusive songwriter living without a telephone, the news got lost on the

THE WAYANS BROTHERS

UPCOMING IN ARTS The Wayans Brothers – comedians, producers, writers and siblings, Shawn and Marlon Wayans will tour Australia for the first time in May. They’re known for Scary Movie 1 and 2, White Chicks and In Living Color. Tickets on sale Wednesday 28 November, 9am.

REACHING OUT

Artists Curtis Taylor and Lily Hibberd discuss with Olivia Gardner their collaborative work, The Phone Booth Project, in the Freo Arts Centre’s current exhibition We Don’t Need A Map.

MOVIE GIVEAWAY We have ten double passes to the Rooftop Movies to giveaway for the current season which runs from Monday 19 November to Sunday 16 December. Films in season four include, Submarine, The Science of Sleep, Puberty Blues, Badlands, Deep Throat and The Graduate. To enter email giveaways@drumperth.com.au with the subject line Rooftop Movies.

Curtis Taylor and Lily Hibberd are artists from very different backgrounds. The two have come together to co-create The Phone Booth Project, currently on display amidst a plethora of talented Martumili artists at the Fremantle Arts Centre. “‘Martu’ means our people, ‘Mili’ means belongs to,” explains Martu native Curtis Taylor.

The Martu country extends over a large amount of space across the western desert and although there is a great deal of distance between the various townships, a strong sense of family and community prevails.

Amidst the sprawling desert landscape and its stark isolation stands the unlikely Telstra phone booth. “This is a really interesting tool in the desert for keeping people in touch with each other and it’s quite bizarre in so many ways that it’s used differently. It’s totally different to the city, in the way that we use phones. That, for us, was a really great concept to begin with,” says Melbourne artist Lily Hibberd on the topic of their project.

From opposite sides of Australia and with unique artistic expertise and personal heritage, the union of Taylor and Hibberd for The Phone

Booth Project is reminiscent of the installation itself, which features video interviews from Martu people to represent a sense of the community and their ability to connect through the phone booth despite the expansive landscape.

“One of our first jobs was actually to go and rip out the phone both,” says Hibberd, gesturing to the rusted old phone booth that stands in the middle of their installation.

“That was one from a town that is no longer being lived in… it was fun, we didn’t really know each other. We’d met twice.”

Together the artists developed

way. So, “tragically and horribly”, did the royalties. In South Africa, Rodriguez became a myth; the lack of biographical information leading to tall tales, including an urban legend that he died after setting fire to himself on stage. “For them, he was a dead man,” Bendjelloul says.

“They were never looking to see if he’s dead or alive, they’re only trying to find out how he did die.”

When a South African journalist eventually went digging for the facts of Rodriguez’s demise in the late-’90s, they discovered that, shockingly, he was very much alive, and that he’d spent the years working in demolition, and even served as a local politician. He was brought back to South Africa for a hero’s welcome, and eventually Rodriguez returned to touring, coming to Australia in 2007 and 2010. Now, Rodriguez plays after Searching For Sugarman, the film Bendjelloul made about his story.

“He plays songs in the cinema, and people go crazy for him,” the filmmaker beams. “After they’ve seen this movie for 82 minutes, they love him. They’re singing, dancing, crying. They’ve been insane reactions that we’ve had so far.”

WHAT: Searching For Sugarman WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 25 November to Sunday 9 December, Part of the Lottery West Film Festival, Somerville and Joonadlup Pines..

a sense of the community and formed a story from the interviews that they conducted with the Martu people. “This is really their work,” says Hibberd, “we’ve just put it into a narrative.”

“It’s interesting,” continues Taylor, “a lot of Martu ring in to the phone booths searching for people, for family… Martu know where people are in the desert but using the phone booths they can know whether they’d be in town or down in Perth for an operation or, you know, in the next community.”

“And this was also very like one of the stories we were told, that the elders would use fire just like they use a phone now,” adds Hibberd.

“In bushman days, a lot of Martu would use waru or fire to signal people or talk to people; ask them for an invitation to their country, if they can hunt on their lands or they can come and meet them,” explains Taylor.

The installation tells a story of the community and connectivity of the Martu people, exploring the vibrancy of the Martu culture and offering a glimpse into the colourful landscape of the western desert. They hope to engage the audience with scenes of a lifestyle that few of us would have had the opportunity to experience.

WHAT: We Don’t Need a Map: A Martu Experience Of The Western Desert WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 18 January, Fremantle Arts Centre.

REVIEWS SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN FILM It’s rare to find a documentary that puts your faith back in mankind whilst both warming and breaking your heart. However, like the protagonist, this film is a unique find. The documentary tells the story of Rodriguez: “one of the greatest ‘70s folk-rock musicians you’ve never heard.”

Music experts hold Rodriguez’s music in the same esteem as

Bob Dylan and Neil Young. This may seem far-fetched but as the movie opens with one of Rodriguez’s haunting songs, you too will be asking, “Why has no one heard of this guy?”

The film explores this premise while following two devoted fans from South Africa. While a relative unknown in his home country of the USA, Rodriguez was “bigger than Elvis” in Apartheid South Africa.

The intrigue surrounding Rodriguez saw many of his fans believing he set fire to himself during a show,

38 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

burning to death. The two fans go on a mission determined to uncover the truth behind their hero. Just when you think this story can’t get any more incredible it will hook you in with more surprises. Be prepared to have your cynicism challenged.

You’ll leave with a desperate urge to seek out Rodriguez’s albums.

Melissa Coci Screening Sunday 25 November to Sunday 9 December, part of the Lottery West Film Festival, Somerville and Joonadlup Pines.

SEARCHING FOR SUGAR MAN

FRONTROW@DRUMPERTH.COM.AU

THIS WEEK IN

COMEDY

ART

C U LT U R A L

S TA R T E R

With the mercury rising and the silly season soon to be upon us, the end of the year not only signifies corny Christmas carols and Christmas parties, it is also the start of the festival season. And what better festival do we have in Perth than the Perth Festival! With the 2013 program recently announced, it is time to get in early and secure your place for that special show you just can’t miss out on, and this year, choices abound.

Five minutes with

LOTTERYWEST FESTIVAL FILMS PROGRAMMER MADELINE BATES

JANELLE KOENIG “It’s impossible to be unhappy in a poncho!” Noel Fielding

THURSDAY 22 Comedy Lounge – Dtand-up comics Jacques Barrett, John Robertson, Mike G and Janelle Koenig will entertain us. The Charles Hotel, doors at 7pm.

SATURDAY 24

MONDAY 26 Wide Open Mic – an open mic night open to anyone who is game to spontaneously perform in front of a live audience. This takes balls. To secure a gig, email brunooliverbooth@gmail. com. Mojos Bar, doors at 5pm.

TUESDAY 27

Little Comedy Lounge – Sydney comedian Jacques Barrett, Janelle Koenig , Emma Zammit and John Robertson will stand up for a night of laughs. Little Creatures, doors at 8pm.

Shapiro Tuesdays – a night of experimentation and comedy chaos for first-time comedians who are encouraged to just give it a go. Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den, doors at 8pm.

The Big HOO-HAA! – an improvised comedy show, see two teams take the stage to battle in a competition of wit, humour and mime skills. Lazy Susan’s Comedy Den, doors at 8pm.

Laugh Resort Comedy Club – a weekly stand-up comedy room held at Rosie O’ Grady’s Northbridge each Wednesday night. This week’s line-up is Mike G, Adam Peter Scott and Chris Beddin. Rosie O’Grady’s Northbridge, doors at 8pm

WEDNESDAY 28

First up can we get a bit of background on yourself? I don’t have that direct a career path.

I trained in anthropology and visual anthropology but worked at a independent cinema while a student. Like many people, I’ve been captivated by the cinema experience from a young age and my professional life. I then got a job at the Edinburgh International Film Festival and ventured forth from there.

Can you take us through a bit of the process in selecting the line-up for an event like this?

I scour the international circuit, research what’s premiering where, gauge critical and audience reactions as well as which films are winning awards.

Which films are you most proud of securing and looking forward to on the program? There are many, but I’m particularly excited about the opening film at Somerville, Searching For Sugar Man, which is an inspiring and uplifting story about the overlooked but brilliant musician, Rodriguez. I’m also really pleased we have James Marsh’s (Man On Wire, Project Nim) new feature, Shadow Dancer – a tense and gripping thriller about the Northern Ireland Conflict. And one of our biggest critical hits in the program is Amour by the mighty Michael Haneke. Deeply moving, elegant and like an arrow to the heart,

CRINGE

Amour won this year’s Cannes Palme d’Or and it’s unforgettable.

And what are some of the more obscure films you think will surprise people? Tabu and Blancanieves are both black-andwhite homages to early-20th century cinema. One’s Portuguese, the other’s Spanish, and they’re both beautiful, stylish, funny and unique. Two other films I think should be sleeper hits this season and should definitely not fall under the radar are Sister, which won the Silver Bear at the Berlin International Film Festival – a poetic view of life on the margins; and The Loneliest Planet, by American Director, Julia Loktev: two backpackers, engaged to be married, roaming around rural Georgia face an unexpectedly life-changing encounter.

Unusual and excellent stuff.

WHAT: Lotterywest Festival Films WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 25 November to Saturday 14 April, Somerville Auditorium

From theatre to dance to circus to classical music to contemporary music to visual arts and much, much more, Perth Festival has delivered another stellar program. In his second year as artistic director, Jonathan Holloway and his staff have put together a diverse line-up with a load of free shows, so you don’t have any excuse not to take part.

With the opening event of feathers being all anyone could talk about this year, it was always going to be interesting seeing if 2013’s opener could top that. All eyes are sure to be set on the Lotterywest Festival Spectacular, Bombs Per Minute, from France’s Les Commandos Percu. As the sun sets, Langley Park will become alight with explosives, percussion and drumming, swapping clouds of feathers for eruptions of flames.

The new addition of Chevron as the International Excellence Partner sees the newly named Chevron Festival Gardens arrive in 2013 and the contemporary music line-up is, putting it simply, pretty amazing.

While everyone will probably have a different must-see band, there is no denying that the addition of Godspeed You! Black Emperor is

going to be one of the highlights of the festival. Hurry on up 11 February!

Theatre shows abound and the event on everyone’s lips is The Threepenny Opera, and no wonder, it is probably one of the top ten events in the program. This is the first time the Berliner Ensemble has performed in Australia and our first taste is this iconic piece of theatre.

Belgium’s Circus Ronaldo bring us La Cucina Dell’Arte, which should be pretty hilarious. Russell Square will host the vintage big-top tent with audiences entertained with their unique circus show.

For anyone that loves HBO shows as much as I do (Game Of Thrones and Boardwalk Empire to name but two) the Perth Writers Festival is putting on Out Of The Box. Looking at television drama writing and the art of storytelling, this session will feature a range of TV writers, directors and producers who are yet to be announced. But they have announced one guest and that is Henry McGee, president of HBO Home Entertainment. I wonder if he can spill any Game Of Thrones secrets… or maybe pack Jon Snow in his suitcase?

And then of course there are the Lotterywest Festival Films, which start this coming weekend.

With so many exciting films it is worth a separate column in itself so stay tuned on that one! Until then, heed this advice – look over the program and start planning, because you don’t want to be one of those people who complained this year about missing Teatro de los Sentidos’ Oraculos. Because I can tell you now, you missed out on something amazing there.

To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags • 39

GRACE WOODROOFE SUN DECWITH2 SPECIAL MOJOS GUESTS 6PM START TICKETS AT DOOR

DILIP N THE DAVS MISTER AND SUNBIRD RACHEL GORMAN

THURSDAY 29TH NOVEMBER MOJOS $10 from 8pm “Trash your school uniform” dress-up theme! www.joeblacktrio.com

NORFOLK BASEMENT FREMANTLE 40

PREFUSE 73

BY BRAD SERLS

TOUR GUIDE GIG OF THE WEEK

POUR HABIT

POUR HABIT @ ROSEMOUNT HOTEL If you believe ancient history, the god-fearing and everything Hollywood tells you then December 2012 is the earth’s grand finale, but if there is one thing we know, it’s when we go down we’re going down partying.

And there is no better band to do that with than California’s Pour Habit. The party crew from Long Beach are no strangers to the long flights and drives that are Australian tours and the guys will be headlining their own run of dates to spread the Gospel Of Good Times next week. Joining them on the junket are Adelaide’s party-punk outfit Hightime, who released Ishi Prende in 2011 through Pee Records and, as a result, have set the bar for the rest of Australia’s releases from here on out. Catch them both, along with Chainsaw Hookers and 10 Past 6 Wednesday 28 November at Rosemount hotel. Tickets are $29+BF via OzTix and Heatseeker.

PREFUSE 73 TEEBS, MEI SARASWATI, {MOVE} DJS, ARMS IN MOTION 17/11/12: THE BAKERY

There was a very healthy turnout at The Bakery for this occasion of innovative hip hop, evidenced no more clearly than at the bar where lines five or six people deep gave rise to seemingly interminable waits for a drink. Thankfully, the soundtracks provided by local acts such as Arms In Motion, {MOVE} DJs and Mei Saraswati – ranging from soulful grooves to textural, intricate pieces – made such delays bearable. Saraswati was especially engaging, her thoughtful set combining Eastern influences and steady beats with vocals that are no mere afterthought – hers is a voice that has depth and warmth in spades and brings a refreshing human touch to what can be an inaccessible art.

As musical producer, visual artist and skateboarder, there’s plenty of evidence on paper of the skill and talent of Teebs, otherwise known as Mtendere Mandowa, and at the end of his set tonight there was substantial aural proof as well. Beats were laid down and gently built upon with layers of atmospheric tones and, occasionally, deep bass lines. As he sought confirmation from punters in the back half of the room that the sound levels were on the money, he refused to sit on any track for too long and instead displayed a wonderful knack

FRONTLASH KIDS DONE GOOD

ADALITA WA young guns San Cisco have backed up a couple of promising years with a cracker debut album. Top shelf!

for letting songs evolve and morph into one another.

Jazzy elements mixed into the arrangements resulted in some of the more compelling moments of his set and produced a whole that was easy to get lost in.

With almost a decade elapsing between his last visit and tonight’s well-overdue show, numbers burgeoned inside with the crowd keen to take in the glitchy hip hop that Guillermo Scott Herren, or Prefuse 73, has made his own. After a swift changeover, Herren took to the stage and began a set that was heavier in terms of the beats dropped but just as cerebrally absorbing.

Sadly though, it never really reached critical mass, that point where you’ve no other option but to succumb entirely to the music at hand. There were ebbs and flows that were well constructed, but the sweaty heights that were reached at the Inglewood Hotel all those years ago, due largely to its modest size, weren’t quite replicated tonight. At set’s end, tonight’s two main men joined forces for some combined mixing to cap an evening that may not have met lofty expectations, but was still immensely rewarding.

Rick Bryant

BACKLASH

SARAH BLASKO & WASO: FEB 23 Kings Park & Botanic Garden

BRITISH INDIA, KINGSWOOD: NOV 29 Prince Of Wales; NOV 30 Metropolis Fremantle; DEC 1 Capitol

FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL: THE PRODIGY, THE STONE ROSES, BLOC PARTY, DIZZEE RASCAL, AZEALIA BANKS, RITA ORA, PSY, BOYS NOIZE (LIVE), HARDWELL, THE TEMPER TRAP, FUN, MADEON, ELLIE GOULDING, STEVE AOKI, GYPSY & THE CAT, RUDIMENTAL, KILL THE NOIZE, FEED ME (LIVE), ZEDS DEAD, ZANE LOWE, NERVO, BORGORE, THE STAFFORD BROTHERS, TIMMY TRUMPET, TENZIN, SVEN VATH, RICHIE HAWTIN, RICARDO VILLALOBOS, SETH TROXLER, MAGDA, COSMIC GATE FEAT. EMMA HEWITT, W&W, ANDY MOOR, SUPER 8 & TAB, BEN GOLD and more: MAR 3 Arena Joondalup

NATURAL NZ MUSIC FESTIVAL: SHAPESHIFTER, KORA, LADI6, TRINITY ROOTS, MAISEY RIKA, DAVID DALLAS, P-MONEY and more: DEC 1 Red Hill Auditorium PRIMAL SCREAM: DEC 11 Astor Theatre EVIL EDDIE: DEC 13 Amplifier; DEC 14 C5; DEC 15 Prince Of Wales JEFF MARTIN: DEC 21 Clancy’s Dunsborough; DEC 22 Mojo’s; DEC 23 Indi Bar EVAN DANDO & JULIANA HATFIELD, BAMBINO KORESH: DEC 22 Rosemount Hotel BREAKFEST: KRAFTY KUTS, A SKILLS, DJ YODA, LADY WAKS, THE NEXTMEN, JAGUAR SKILLS, SPECIMEN A, PYRAMID, MARTEN HØRGER, HIGH CONTRAST, CAMO & KROOKED, SPY, MC WREC: DEC 26 Belvoir Amphitheatre SOUTHBOUND: BEACH HOUSE, BEST COAST, BOY & BEAR, COOLIO, THE FLAMING LIPS, SBTRKT, THE VACCINES, BOMBAY BICYCLE

DINOSAUR JR., JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION, MOON DUO: MAR 12 Astor Theatre GRINSPOON: APR 5 Prince Of Wales; APR 6 Capitol

ONGOING: GIGNITION: Upcoming band showcases 2-10pm monthly on Sundays at The Railway Hotel CULTURE CLASH & BASS CULTURE: Rotating Thursdays at The Newport Hotel

We’re not sure what’s worse, the schoolies or the yearly media beat-up over schoolies.

Okay, it’s probably the schoolies.

SNAKES ON A BUS

Beaufort Street Festival, you’re going to need a bigger boat if this keeps up. Congrats on an epic day.

The racist Australians on a bus video is as depressing as it is infuriating.

The final Twilight movie actually has two things going for it: it’s the final Twilight movie, and the epic end fight is the most batshit crazy fight scene we’ve seen in years.

BLAZE BAYLEY & PAUL DI’ANNO: NOV 24 Civic Hotel

THE BEARDS, THE SNOWDROPPERS, GAY PARIS: NOV 15 Prince Of Wales; NOV 16 Settlers Tavern; NOV 17 Rosemount Hotel; NOV 18 Indi Bar

BALI HIGH

FESTIVAL FUN

TWI-HARD WITH A VENGEANCE

BALL PARK MUSIC: NOV 16 Prince Of Wales; NOV 17 Capitol

CLUB, FIRST AID KIT, MAXIMO PARK, MILLIONS, HILLTOP HOODS, TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS, ANGUS STONE, BALL PARK MUSIC, COSMO JARVIS, DJANGO DJANGO, THE HIVES, JINJA SAFARI, LISA MITCHELL, MATT CORBY, SHARON VAN ETTEN, TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB, BERTIE BLACKMAN, DJ NU-MARK TOY SET, THE JUNGLE GIANTS, LOON LAKE, OH MERCY, RODRIGO & GABRIELA, SAN CISCO and more TBA: JAN 4 & 5 Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton

DRUM MEDIA IS PROUD TO PRESENT SHOWS INCLUDING:

PARIS PLEASE With her latest Lil Wayne-featuring ‘song’ Last Night (I Wanna Bang You), we’re actually starting to hope Paris Hilton is actually really smart and totally fucking with everyone.

TRINITY ROOTS (NATURAL NZ MUSIC FESTIVAL)

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 41

SINGLE STORY

GIGWHITETION

A brand new project hailing from Perth, Oh White Mare have spent their formative days writing songs tucked away in an old attic, blending a unique mix of alt.rock, punk and folk. The group are currently partway through recording their debut record with Andy Lawson at Debaser Studios, aiming for an official release in early 2013. Get a preview Sunday 25 November at Drum’s Gignition, 4-8pm at The Railway Hotel.

Releasing their latest single Total Body Disruption this weekend, FOAM’s Joel Martin gives us the story of the track.

This song was built around the fat, ascending riff that it keeps looping back to. It’s simple as all hell, but for the longest time I wasn’t sure where to take it. About the same time it was written, the woman who lived across the hall from me seemingly disappeared. Her front door was wide open behind a locked fly screen, and it stayed in exactly that position for several weeks. Anyway, she came back after a while and it was no big deal. But by that point I’d jumped to the conclusion that she was dead, so I wrote a song about her. More specifically, I wrote a song about her ghost sticking around and visiting me. It’s complete fiction.

The b-side to this single is called Mellow Fellow.

It’s somewhat softer for the most part, but it gives a broader scope to what people can expect from our new EP. We’ll be dropping some other b-sides online as well, comprised of the material we’ve put down in sessions here and there this past year. For our launch we’ve got some truly brutal supports. Hideous Sun Demon, Man The Clouds and Mezzanine are all gonna be there, and they’re all gonna be killer. After all that we’ll get this EP out early next year, and with any luck there’ll be plenty of opportunities for you all to come get sweaty with us before then.

WHO: Foam WHAT: Total Body Disruption (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Norfolk Basement

WINTER BELIEVER After a successful October residency in Sydney, folk singer-songwriter Brett Winterford will play as headline act at Ya Ya’s Thursday 22 November to promote the second single, Hey Make Believer, taken from his debut solo project The Greenthumb EP, a result of Winterford travelling around Europe and the US finding inspiration.

PAINT IT BIRD

Although quiet on the live front lately, The Painted Bird are taking a break from working on their debut EP (due 2013) with a show at Ya Ya’s Friday 23 November. It’ll be their first headline show in five months, and they’ve invited quality local groups Race To Your Face and James Hall to support.

GIGNIRILEY

Gifted songwriter-singer and guitarist Riley Pearce has an incredible ability to connect with the audience with his strong, rich voice and crisp guitar skills.

Riley is currently working on the title track of his debut EP, and hopes the single will be available mid-December. Hear it Sunday 25 November when he plays Gignition, 4-8pm at The Railway Hotel.

The Blues’N’Roots Club at Mojos Wednesday 28 November hosts a special evening featuring That Velvet Echo and Bryan Rice-Dalton. That Velvet Echo will open the evening with a duo performance from Gabrielle Harter and Scott Nicholas in their first live show since returning to WA after a European venture. $5 from 8pm.

LOOSE AFFAIR Incase you hadn’t heard, the ‘90s are back in a big way and so are pelvis-grinding desert rock outfit Loose Unit. After a long hiatus the trio are set to play the best of their previous releases plus new single Is It Alright, with a show at Amplifier Saturday 24 November featuring fellow Perth rockers The Siren Tower, Will Stoker & The Embers and RISE. $12 from 8pm.

PLACE OF COLOUR

Local indie-rock four-piece Place Of Indigo have spent the last six months writing their upcoming EP and maintaining a regular presence on the local scene alongside national and international acts. They launch their new single Kaleidoscope at The Bird tonight, Thursday 22 November, supported by Lilt and Patient Little Sister. $8 door.

SOUTH EMPERORS

Rockin’ rollers Emperors take a drive down the freeway for a rare Mandurah show when they hit Players Bar this Friday 23 November along with special guests Sons Of Saviour. Tickets are $12 at the door and the action starts from 10pm. In other news, Emperors have been announced on the massive bill for Southbound Festival on Friday 4 January!

BLACK MATT

After a smashing 2012, folk-rocking bluesman Matt Cal returns home from his most recent WA tour and to celebrate he reunites with his band The Black Heart Sun, old friends The Renzullo Project and new friends Tane Tarrant & The Long March this Friday 23 November at the Charles Hotel. $10 door, with Matt Cal & The Black Heart Sun onstage at 9pm.

MO’ ROCKS

LANTANA RETURN After only performing two shows before their debut Red EP launch at the Rosemount Hotel in March and saying farewell to the previous drummer, Lantana are proud to announce the new secret weapon on drums – Ryan Dillon.

Catch the comeback gig Friday 23 November from 8pm at the Rocket Room, supporting Evergone’s EP launch with Mercurial and Animal.

42 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

MORGAN BAIN – MORGAN BAIN History in brief... I’ve been playing guitar and songwriting for around ten years now and have been singing all my life. I launched my debut EP, Another Day, in October 2011 and this new self-titled EP will be my second release. I supported Cold Chisel at Sandalford in April this year, which was an amazing experience for me.

I’ve been gigging around WA for the past two-and-a-half years mainly solo but earlier in the year I teamed up with an awesome musician, Callum Kramer, on drums, and use a beefy sub-line amongst my pedals to create a real band dynamic. We’ve just played Parklife Perth and Blues At Bridgetown Festival and had an awesome time.

Describe your sound... My sound is blues and roots mainly but crosses into pop/rock and soul too. Influences have been Ben Harper, John Butler, Xavier Rudd, Matt Corby, The Black Keys and The Rolling Stones.

BLUES VELVET

GIGNINKTION

Up-and-coming act The Georgians are a genre-mixing trio bordering on all areas of rock from alternative to outright walls of noise. Together for under a year they’re continually creating new songs that are better than the last, and will be looking to bring out an EP in 2013 with all new material. Catch them Sunday 25 November at Drum’s Gignition at The Railway Hotel, 4-8pm.

INSECT ROCK

Tura New Music’s 25th Anniversary Celebrations are in full swing tonight, Thursday 22 November, when Ensemble Offspring take over Hackett Hall Gallery at the WA Museum from 7.30pm. It features works written especially for Ensemble Offspring members

by James Humberstone, Marcus Whale and Matthew Shlomowitz, plus versions of Stockhausen’s classic Tierkreis (Zodiac), Thierry de Mey’s Musique de Table and Larry Polansky’s Ensembles Of Note.

Having just released their new single Undone – local trio Opia are flying high with no signs of slowing down. To keep things rolling for the rest of 2012, the band team up with Melbourne’s Bellusira for two shows, Friday 23 November at The Beat Nightclub and Sunday 25 at the Newport Hotel for the video launch for Undone.

This Other Eden, Redsky and Copious support.

GIGGEORGIAN

EP FOCUS

TURA’S OFFSPRING

OPIA’S UNDONE

Having sucker punched crowds through gigs around Perth for more than three years, Black Ink have forged classic, yesteryear pub-rock blended with a dirty, yet soulful grunge sound. They’ve garnered a loyal fanbase and stand out reputation for ballsy performances packed full of growl and swagger.

Experience it Sunday 25 November at Drum Media’s Gignition series, 4-8pm at The Railway Hotel.

Following their epic first birthday party at The Bakery, Cybernaut Records presents Innerspace at Geisha Sunday 25 November and featuring Axe Girl, Kill Teen Angst, Lucille and Two Pound Pocket Rocket.

Luke Dux and Johnny Ajax will be playing your favourite awesome tunes through the night. $10 from 8pm, mention a band’s name for half-price entry.

A new mini-festival that kicks off Saturday 24 November at the Norfolk Basement, Insect Treatment Program brings a focus on heavy, avant garde and experimental music. It will be an intimate affair and hopefully the start of an annual promoter-free event.

From 6pm and for $10, catch Sam Gilles, Memoria, Ourobonic Plague, Cat Hope and Slaughterhouse 5.

FOAM

Total Body Disruption is the single off our upcoming second EP Run Kon Koma, which we recorded with Corey Marriott at Ampersonic Studios, back in familiar territory after our first release Sarpa Salpa. We went into the studio this time hoping to come out with something more savage, while also keeping the production as raw as possible. A lot of time was spent chasing tones and building sounds before we even hit record, and when we did we played together and without the trusty click. You can actually hear us slowing down a little in this particular track. We are very much a garage band and capturing the energy and feel of our live sound was paramount.

I think this track is a good example of that.

INNERSPAXE GIRL

The Quarry Amphitheatre will be taken over by Motown On The Rocks on Friday 23 November. This huge funk/soul event will feature Stratosfunk reliving the American soul hits with a dynamic performances all about sharing their love of soul music – the clothes, dance moves and energy. And they’re supported by kindred spirits The Houstons. Tickets via Ticketmaster.

DARK BLACK METAL

Formed in 1993, Swedish black metallers Dark Funeral are a force to be reckoned with, and one that’s returning to Australian shores to terrorise the bejeezus out of everyone, playing Amplifier on Sunday 25 November. The terror is fuelled by our own locals Naetu and Wardaemonic supporting. Tickets via metropolistouring.com.

Tell us about the EP… The new self-titled EP has five tracks. The single on the EP is a track called I Think I’ve Got You, which just won an award in the WAM Song Of The Year, so that was awesome. The songs are all a bit different from each other to show diversity in my songwriting. I’m really excited about it and looking forward to its release.

Recording process… The whole thing was a highlight and was so much fun. I recorded tracks one, two and four with producer/ engineer Joel Quartermain (Eskimo Joe) at Wastelands Studio and tracks three and five with producer/engineer Rob Agostini at Soundbaker Studios. Both producers are amazingly talented and I was really lucky to record with them. It was mixed by Andy Lawson at Debaser Studio and mastered

by Leon Zervos at Studio 301 in NSW. Collaborations? Joel Quartermain stepped in on the record, playing bass and piano and Tony Bourke (Eskimo Joe) helped out with piano for track two. I had some awesome sessional musicians like Roy Martinez (bass) for a track and also Matt Bell (bass) and Elliott Smith (drums) too.

Callum Kramer played drums on four of the tracks and also brought some awesome musical ideas to the table.

Tell us about the launch… The launch will be at The Rosemount Hotel on Saturday 1 December and I’m really excited about it. I’ve got some amazing special guests, Bedouin Sea, Spoonful Of Sugar and Stillwater Giants, so it’s going to be one hell of a show. There are some surprises planned and that’s all I’m saying.

What’s on the horizon? Hopefully lots of airplay for the EP and we’ve got plans for an eastern states tour and there’s some festival announcements for 2013 as well as some big shows. Keep an eye out on my website – morganbain.com.au – or on Facebook.

WHO: Morgan Bain WHAT: Morgan Bain (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 1 December, Rosemount Hotel; Thursday 13, Husky support, The Bakery

LAUNCH PAD

RECORD SPACE

SINGLE STORY

Ahead of the first birthday celebrations for Cybernaut Records this weekend, Hayley-Jane Ayres looks back on the past year with Drum.

POLLY MEDLEN BAND WITH POLLY MEDLEN (VOCALS/GUITAR) Give a brief rundown of the history of your act from day one to now: I originally started out as a solo artist from the country but then followed life and music to the city, collected the band in pieces and we have been playing together for two years now.

Tell us about your release: The EP is called Hotel Loves. There are five tracks, and the first single Banged Up is a love song “gone wrong”; it’s about screwing up and wearing the scars to prove it.

How did you go about recording it? We recorded with Andy Lawson from Debaser Studios and recruited Lee Jones for guitar and pedal steel on the recording.

Tell us about your launch party: Our EP launch will be at Mojos tomorrow night, with support from Rachel Gorman (Rachel & Henry Climb A Hill) and country synth cats Stoney Joe. What’s next for your act? We are off to Quindanning for a hometown album launch and then hopefully get busy on the live circuit, and hit up some regional areas with the new EP. WHO: Polly Medlen Band WHAT: Hotel Loves (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Mojos

LOVELY LAITH Sunday 25 November, Mojos hosts a special afternoon event called Laith’s Love Inn, featuring Tomas Ford (acoustic), Axe & Ness, The Lunettes, Claire Nina Norelli, Yaegar & Pauline and DJ Tyranny playing chilled classic tracks in the beer garden. Music, bloody marys, affordable drinks and free BBQ from 1-4pm, before Caravana Sun hit the bar that night with Jake & The Cowboys and Joel Barker.

OUR MUSTANG MAN Original Music Night at The Mustang Bar continues Thursday 22 November, this week welcoming indie-folk group Our Man In Berlin. Singersongwriter Haydn Mansell and lead guitarist/ backing vocalist Trevor Shotam are joined by talented pianist/vocalist Justin Martins, Matt Parker on bass and drummer Andrea Mancini. DJ James MacArthur supports with guests ‘til late.

STEREOFLOWER Releasing their latest single The Barstools this weekend, Stereoflower’s Alex Elbery gives us the story behind the track.

THE EMPTY CUP Congratulations on Cybernaut Records’ first birthday! What goals did you want to achieve with Cybernaut, and have you completed some of them so far?

We wanted to do what made record labels relevant, what old school labels used to do: identify awesome bands, facilitate the production of their records without interference and, most importantly, get them out touring! It’s been a great year, we’ve completed three national tours, released and promoted a swag of West Australian recordings and now to cap the year off, we have our industry sampler coming out.

Can you give us a bit of behind the scenes info about Cybernaut?

Our main focus this year was researching and working out ways to help develop income streams for WA artists. Given the unique geographical obstacles, it’s really important that bands plan ahead and set goals. We’ve also ventured into related fields as a way to generate funds for tours and recordings. Basically, we are doing whatever it takes to get bands out and about.

What’s been some of the difficulties you’ve faced over the past year?

Surprisingly, our biggest hurdle was actually finding bands who believed we were legit. A lot of bands we originally approached for funding tended to ask, ‘Where’s the catch?’ and the truth is there wasn’t and has never been one.

A big part of our work ethic is transparency.

We can imagine it’s not a huge moneymaking exercise for you. What do you get out of running Cybernaut?

We all get to work in, and support, an industry we love. While the work doesn’t pay big money, the reward comes in a philosophical sense.

Which acts do you look after, and how do you go about selecting acts for the label?

We book many shows around Perth for a great number of local artists, while also specifically looking after The Floors, The Empty Cup and Tyto Kings on a full-time basis. Cybernaut is not a genre-specific label, and the staff come from varying tastes so we generally believe

in selecting good music in general, and since Cybernaut has a large focus on touring, any band we work with must have a good live show.

Having reached the first b’day, what’s the plan for year two and beyond?

We’ve got a DVD and single launch coming up from The Floors, an Empty Cup release, Tyto Kings’ first national tour, as well as many more national and possibly international tours.

We’ll also be releasing another sampler.

You’re celebrating year one with a special show – what’s happening?

We’ve got FEYEK, better known as Chris from Fat Shans, DJing for us, and then we have performance sets from The Floors, The Empty Cup, Puck, Mudlark and Tyto Kings.

How has the Fat Shans record store helped Cybernaut out over the past year?

Cybernaut Records believes that distro should start small. If we have an artist who doesn’t sell a ton of records online, we’re not going to encourage them to sign a distro deal nationally. We’re very DIY with all our distro and very selective. Stores such as Fat Shan’s support our sales hugely.

We find it extremely important to establish and maintain good working relationships with other industry businesses locally and nationally to create mutually beneficial relationships.

Do you have any advice for people thinking about starting up their own local record label?

The music industry is driven by the blood, sweat and tears of the insanely passionate.

It is really important to have an introspective moment before plunging in and decide if it is passion that is driving you; if it is not, the monetary rewards will be so small that you’ll quickly run out of steam. Secondly, decide if your contribution will be beneficial. If you’re confident you have something to offer, go for it!

WHAT: Cybernaut Records First Birthday WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, The Bakery

The Barstools is kind of my favourite song that I’ve written to date. I remember coming up with the opening line, “I would play to the barstools if it should come to that,” at the Hydey one night in what must have been sometime in 2009/10.

Stereoflower had just released their first record and we were still battling it out big time in the live scene (like we still kind of are) and at the time my good friend and sort of Stereoflower’s shepherd, Joe Bludge, was booking a lot of gigs for us and I think he kind of dug that the Hydey was going to be a good (if not the only) place for us. So we played there a lot. And we really loved it.

Anyway, on this particular night it was dead quiet, as it often could be, and it was during a time when my parents were adjusting to not have to legally accompany me to Stereoflower gigs anymore on account of I’d recently come of age.

But being the enthusiastic and encouraging folk they are, my mum felt it quite necessary to check up on the gig’s progress. So I got a message from her asking if there were many people (I believe at the time there was pretty much just the four band members standing in the room), and I replied that there was in fact nobody. She wrote back asking if we were still gonna play, to which I replied that we would play to the barstools if it came to that.

I just thought that was kind of a cool mantra for performers. So when I wrote the rest of the lyrics I was trying to keep with that idea of just doing whatever it is you gotta do regardless of whether or not anybody really cares that you’re doing it.

And I think it’s usually when you go about things in life with that mindset that you achieve the most positive stuff. So I went and recorded it at my home studio and took it to the band and they helped me turn it into something way better as they usually do. So when it came time to do our next two albums, which we recorded in one go with the guru Alan Brey, it was pretty clear that this song was our best foot to put forward.

WHO: Stereoflower WHAT: The Barstools (Walking Horse) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, The Velvet Lounge

For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news • 43

WAM UPDATE

LAUNCH PAD

CONTEMPORARY MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS WITH AAROM WILSON.

CELEBRATING THROUGH SUMMER After the success of our involvement with the Plug Into Perth show to open Perth Arena, WAM has now teamed up with Celebrate WA for an all-new series. With thousands rolling through the doors for their all-local show in and around the Perth Concert Hall in June this year, Celebrate WA has announced their Sounds Of Summer series of free community events happening Sunday 25 November at Calista Oval, Kwinana and Sunday 2 December at Sandy Beach Reserve, Bassendean from midday til 5pm, supported by the WA Government and local councils. Activities like face painting, a silent disco, bouncy castle, jumbo games, Gamagalah and beasties will entertain the kids, while WAM has stocked the shows full of local acts for the big kids; Kwinana Sounds Of Summer featuring Codie Sundstrom, Grace Barbé, Stoney Joe, Daramad, Husband, The Autumn Isles, Simone & Girlfunkle, Stillwater Giants and Boys Boys Boys!; Bassendean featuring Morgan Bain, The Shallows, Polly Medlen Band, The Big Old Bears, Davey Craddock & The Spectacles, Simon Kelly & The Bamboos, Timothy Nelson & The Infidels, Rainy Day Women, Odette Mercy & Her Soul Atomics and Boom! Bap! Pow!

LAST SUNDOWNER Please note: if you’re a WAM Member then you only have a few days left to register to get free entry to the upcoming Music Industry Sundowner Series. On Monday 26 November at the Rosemount Hotel from 6 til 7.30pm, WAM and APRA|AMCOS have joined forces for this last Sundowner for 2012, focusing on giving you the tools and tricks of the trades to most effectively get your original recordings played on community radio stations across Australia.

Join our all star panel made of Chris Johnson (Manager, AMRAP), Adam Trainer (Music Director, RTRFM) and Glenn Dyson (Manager, Prime Cuts Music, pictured) as they spill the beans on this topic and much more. Entry is free for WAM members who register before 10am the morning of, Monday 26 November, or $5 on the door/non members. Visit alturl. com/hb3fz to register or for more info.

RUN DCA 2013 is fast approaching and there are some exciting funding opportunities for young artists/ arts workers and organisations geared towards creating great work for young people, including those involving music projects. Department Of Culture & The Arts (DCA)’s next round closes on 22 February 2013 for activity to commence after 1 July 2013. One such opportunity is The International Scholarship for those 29 years or younger, including musicians wanting to study at accredited institutions offering training not available in Australia. Email youngpeople@dca.wa.gov.au for more details regarding this and other grants for young people in the arts or check the dca.wa.gov.au.

LAZY SUNDAYS

Fremantle Art Centre’s Courtyard Music returns to Sundays from 2pm next month with a stellar line up of free music continuing this weekend, Ensemble Formidable. From then there’s a short break, before The Seals (December 16); Matt Styles Quartet (December 23); and finally Davey Craddock & The Spectacles (December 30) round out 2012. Check fac.org.au for all the details.

EVERGONE WITH MIKE SUKYS (VOCALS/GUITAR/ HARMONICA/PERCUSSION) THE SHALLOWS WITH ADAM TATANA (VOCALS/GUITAR)

Give a brief rundown of the history of your act from day one to now: I had a bunch of songs laying around for years not being used. I showed Paul (bass) one night and for the next six months he slowly twisted my arm into starting another band. I guess it was a mixture of Paul, Absinthe and myself that got Evergone started.

Tell us about your release: It’s a selftitled EP with four tracks. It’s pretty much a glimpse of our debut album which will be released early next year.

How did you go about recording it? We were lucky enough to be introduced to Andy Lawson at Debaser. We did it in bits and pieces over a year and are very happy with the finished product. Andy was great to work with, we had a ball. Drank a lot of coffee and ate a lot of lamb rolls and Yorkshire puddings.

Tell us about your launch party: The launch is at the Rocket Room. Joining us will be Mercurial, who after eight years on the scene are calling it a day, Animal and Lantana.

What’s next for your act? Promote the EP through summer in the lead up to our album launch. We’re just excited to show people what we’ve been up to!

WHO: Evergone

CLANCY’S FISHER PUB After three huge shows at the Blues At Bridgetown festival, country-blues, rockers Tom Fisher & The Layabouts return to their favourite haunt at Clancy’s Fremantle for a show this Friday 23 November. With the new EP in the mastering stages and some rave reviews from Bridgetown things are traveling well for the Freo lads. Free entry, support from blues gun Jay Howie.

GREEK TREATS Friday 23 November sees Kulcha host Greek To The Bone, a kaleidoscope of Hellenic Classics featuring accomplished musician Stefanos Livanos playing a myriad Greek musical genres on the bouzouki, a stringed instrument of Greek origins and member of the lute family. The night will include classics such as Zorba The Greek and Never On A Sunday and traditional greek folk dancing.

WHAT: Evergone (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Rocket Room

The Western Australian Music Industry Association (WAM) strives to support, advocate and nurture WA talent of all types. Visit wam.asn.au for more info.

Band history in brief? The band started as an expansion of floating ideas I had which was to incorporate a sense of lushness found in chamber orchestras and to multi-layer this sound with various instrumentation.

Myself and Craig Childs (guitar) started the band and recorded demos and then sent them to respected local musicians in the hopes of forming a large collective.

Since the conception, The Shallows have released an EP (Nostalgia Ain’t What It Used To Be) and a single in 2011 to favourable local media reviews. Band members are from prolific backgrounds including rock, experimental, classical and folk.

Describe your sound. Chamber pop.

Influenced by Sigur Rós, Mu’m, Spiritualized, Broken Social Scene, Efterklang, Grizzly Bear.

Tell us about the album. The album is called Step Into: The Shallows. The title of the album is meant to reflect an introduction to the band, but also to retain the sense of a self-titled release. The album has eight tracks which range from three minutes to seven. The band has attempted to push a more electronic feel, incorporating glitch beats/samples and vocoder, which has been alien territory up until now.

Recording process. Due to the breadth of the band the album took six months to finish. Recording engineer/producer James Newhouse worked magic on the album and in a way became an extra band member. His ideas and openness to experimentation became an essential part of the album’s sound. One of the most exciting recording sessions was when Stuart James (Sound Field Studios) recorded the 11-piece string ensemble for Swept Into The Dark. The players who recorded on the track either played for WAYO or WASO, and the sound that resulted was beautifully soaring. It felt quite like watching an intimate mini orchestra play.

ARCADE CITY It’s been an incredible run so far this year, and with no signs of slowing down Deep Sea Arcade have been killing it since the release of their debut longplayer Outlands earlier this year. And now the Sydney five-piece release new single Granite City, and bringing bring good friends The Preatures, play the Rosemount Hotel Friday 23 November. $18 plus BF via Heatseeker/$22 door.

Collaborations? The Shallows collaborated with members from the above-mentioned orchestras and local band members including Brian Kruger (The Empty Cup), recorded sessions with Lewis Ryan (The Typhoons) and Stuart James (Sound Field Studio), as well as collaborating with seasoned engineer/producer James Newhouse.

UNEARTHING FESTY TALENTS

2013 is the Big Day Out’s 21st year in existence, and top notch acts from around the globe have RSVP’d for the summer festival.

To get your own band on the bill – supporting the likes of Red Hot Chili Peppers, Vampire Weekend, Foals and Yeah Yeah Yeahs on Monday 28 January at Claremont Showgrounds – Triple J Unearthed are looking for a band from each state to join the BDO. Just be sure you’ve uploaded tracks on the site before Sunday 2 December, 10pm. Also note that your last chance to win the Triple J Unearthed comp to get your band a paid spot on the Southbound line-up – featuring Django Django, The Hives, Hot Chip, The Flaming Lips, Two Door Cinema Club and more 4-5 January at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton – is Sunday 25 November, 10pm. Get cracking!

ALBUM FOCUS

MARTEA PARTY Following a successful Australian and Canadian tour with The Tea Party, Jeff Martin will top the year off by touring solo. Martin plays Friends Restaurant Thursday 22 November, before coming back to WA Friday 21 December to play Clancy’s Dunsborough; Saturday 22 Mojo’s; and Sunday 23 Indi Bar.

DARA DIVERSITY Drawing on diverse cultural and musical backgrounds, Daramad explore the confluence between the music of the Middle East and improvised jazz. Central to their sound are two lutes, the Turkish baglama and Arabic oud. Together, with an array of wind textures and complex time signatures, the instruments underscore the unique Daramad tone. They release their debut CD at Kulcha, Saturday 24 November.

44 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

MOUSTACHE RIDE Movember is upon us, and to celebrate Perth deathcore demons Make Them Suffer are getting their mo’s sweaty and playing two special Perth gigs before following Dream On Dreamer around the country. Joining them will be SoCal extremists In Fear & Faith and fellow Perthians Saviour. They play The Academy at Amplifier Thursday 22 November and YMCA HQ Friday 23 (all-ages). Tickets via Moshtix.

Tell us about the launch. The launch is taking place at The Bakery with special guests Anton Franc, Runner and Rainy Day Women.

Expect to hear new sounds that The Shallows have not incorporated into live sets before.

What’s on the horizon? A follow up to the launch – The Shallows will be headed down south with local bands; Our Man In Berlin and Louis & The Honky Tonk to showcase a dual launch. Beyond this time, The Shallows are currently in the process of preparing preproduction material for their next release, which should happen early next year.

WHO: The Shallows WHAT: Step Into: The Shallows (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 30 November, The Bakery

THIS FRIDAY

45

FEEDBACK With drummer Daniel Hanson laying down his instantly recognisable solid rock beat and Cromack, now down a few glasses of red wine and doing his best Jarvis Coker impersonation, the band gave an electrifying delivery of Surrender before leaving the stage, only to return shortly after with blistering encore performances of It’s Nice to Be Alive and What’s On Your Mind.

Cromack shouted out to the audience “Thanks for making this a fucking awesome show!” before shooting down his last glass of red wine and launching himself straight into the audience to crowd surf out the end of their set, all but ensuring their popularity in the recorded form is enhanced by a blistering live show.

Scott Aitken

WASHINGTON, BEN WITT

THE QUARRY AMPHITHEATRE: 16/11/12

BALL PARK MUSIC PIC BY MAX FAIRCLOUGH

BALL PARK MUSIC, VOLTAIRE TWINS, RAINY DAY WOMEN 17/11/12: CAPITOL

Kicking things off with their new track Naked In The Sun, local four-piece Rainy Day Women treated the gathering Capitol crowd to their infectious blend of garage rock and sweet pop harmonies. The latest single from their upcoming Friends EP, Runaway, got a great live treatment, as did WAM 2012 Song Of The Year Sleigh Bed. As the crowd began to swell, indie-electronic fourpiece Voltaire Twins got the crowd on their feet with the driving synth-pop of set opener Solaris.

Despite suffering from a broken toe, drummer Matt Giovannangelo managed to deliver some stand out playing on singles Animalia and Young Adult.

Shortly after, Brisbane five-piece Ball Park Music were greeted with an ecstatic response from the now packed-out venue. With full-force and gusto, frontman Sam Cromack and the band launched into Fence Sitter before segueing directly into Sad Rude Future Dude, with the adoring audience singing along to every word. During Harbour Of Lame Ducks, Cromack asked “Do you want to hear a fucking guitar solo?” An overwhelming cheer came from the audience, with Cromack and guitarist Dean Hanson proceeding to trade blistering harmonised solos together, making for one of the many highlights of the night. “We’re going to take you back to 1963,” Cromack announced, launching into their rendition of December, 1963 (Oh, What A Night) by the Four Seasons, demonstrating what it might have been like if Ball Park Music had chosen a career as a covers band.

It is impossible not to enjoy the picturesque outdoor setting of The Quarry. Now into its sixth season of critically acclaimed shows, the amphitheatre has firmly established itself as one of WA’s premiere music venues, and continues to attract stars both international and Australian-owned. Opening proceedings as the sun set around him, local musician Ben Witt impressed from the very opening notes of a short solo set. Frontman for indie rockers The Chemist, Witt’s guitar playing was the highlight, mixing squalls of feedback among delicate chiming.

A genuine talent and a welcome start to the night.

BEAUFORT STREET FESTIVAL BEAUFORT STREET, MT LAWLEY: 17/11/12

En route past the family friendly castle-building at Cardboard City – one of the many awesome installations at this year’s Beaufort Street Festival, Bastian’s Happy Flight greeted the early afternoon crowd with an early workmanlike performance that ignored the sun in the eyes to kick itself into disco gear. Successfully drawing punters to the dancefloor by the first song, one of many that make people want to boogie, irrespective of the time of day or the angle of the rays. Leaving audience members clambering for copies of your debut EP is always a tick of approval. A vast array of people stuck around for The Voltaire Twins who kicked-off with what must be said was a pretty underwhelming start. Not the type of band that is ever going to ooze charisma, the four-piece gave it a good crack, although it did appear some members were a little under-theweather and perhaps holding back in preparation for their Ball Park Music support later that night.

With their disco drums carrying the band, the group was unfortunately exposed by a lack of dynamic, as their synths were lost in the Mt Lawley air.

Having supported Rufus Wainwright on the WA leg of his Australian tour only a few months ago, Megan Washington was clearly happy to be back in Perth again. With the sun down and a starlight ceiling in its place, the Melbourne-based songstress walked onstage to cheers and applause from the sold out audience. Resplendent in a black dress and a crown of flowers and armed with only her keyboard for much of the show, the singer’s two-and-a-half hour set mixed crowd favourites The Hardest Part and Underground with an extensive selection of covers by the likes of Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen, with a particularly entertaining rendition of Salt-N-Pepa’s Shoop thrown in for good measure. Her tendency for rambling between-song banter occasionally began to grate, but her vocals more than made up for it, taking centre stage throughout, most notably on her emotional interpretation of the Rowland S. Howard classic, Shivers.

Moving on to attempt to catch The Seals, this scribe was faced with another intimidating line (a regular occurrence, but sign of the success of the event).

Listening in from outside the gate, the bluegrass shenanigans of the band sounded in fine form, as were Junkadelic who worked among the crowd with their high-energy makeshift funk. Passing barbie dolls and lemons hung eerily off the street-side trees as a keen punter tore through some numbers on a public piano, the journey to the most northern stage proved a winner. The ever-evolving Cow Parade Cow’s afro art-pop was as enjoyable and sloppy as ever, treating the ‘all-ages’ stage to a percussion feast that had everyone from families of four to hipsters and more grooving on the street. Walking back down the Beau’ to catch psych riff-masters Sonpsilo Circus was a regrettable decision thanks to the inebriate of a frontman and his futile, slurred attempts at ‘performing’. Not indicative of the rest of the band who were in fine form, they really could of used a fourth band member that goes by the name sobriety.

Split into two halves by a fifteen-minute interval, the set was punctuated by appearances from support act Witt and a string quartet, adding flourishes to Washington’s lovelorn tales. A request for the upbeat pop of her radio favourite single Sunday Best was quickly shut down, and her more danceable outlets generally ignored in favour of a few revealing new songs. The setting lent itself to a classier atmosphere, aided by the addition of strings and the venue’s always underrated sound quality.

The audio was crystal clear throughout, and the lighting as impeccable as always. The night ended with another cover, an a cappella rendering of Paul Kelly’s Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air. With Washington alone on the microphone and the audience in total silence, her delicate vocal turn provided a fitting finale and an emphatic final reminder of the artist’s undeniable gift.

Fortunately, The Chemist had arrived to close out the festival with aplomb. The quartet has that special something about them –with masterful songwriting and exquisite performances, the group a class above many acts receiving regular national rotation. With a stompy blues pulse beating throughout the act, frontman Ben Witt’s tales and tones rose above the swirling organ and beating grooves of a stunning closing set and a fitting end to a cracking Beaufort Street Festival. This review only tackles a tiny percentage of the almost immeasurable amount of quality music, arts, culture, fashion, food and more that was on display – we’d probably need the entire magazine to really do justice to the biggest Beaufort Street Festival yet. But it’s fair to say the event proved an almost unqualified success.

Kitt Di Camillo

Luke Butcher

FREE

HERE COMES THE SUN

Sydney band Caravãna Sun blending natural soulful lyrics with bouncing “gypsy ska” grooves, and they’ve introduced even the most conservative crowds to the dancefloor. Their new single The Bottle is set for release on November 22, and to celebrate, the band is setting out on extensive tour which hits Mojos Sunday 25 November; Indi Bar Thursday 29; The Cidery, Bridgetown Friday 30; Settlers Tavern, Margaret River Saturday 1 & Sunday 2 December; and the White Star Hotel, Albany Friday 7.

SINGLE STORY

THE LONG LOST BROTHERS Releasing their latest single Errors this weekend, The Long Lost Brothers’ Andrew Ryan gives us the story behind the track.

Put simply; so many people in rock give themselves the needle and the damage done and then use that self-inflicted, and in turn nonexperience, as some kind of experiential initiation that accounts for their presumed leader role.

Hurting yourself deliberately does not mean you have a story to tell. To digress momentarily, Ween’s Quebec album has this tune Tried & True.

It has this descending scale between a few simple chords. It just sizzles so cool and we agreed that a tune that doesn’t reach out of the speakers and that instead allows the lives of all the different people to lean in or reach in toward the speakers would be a great thing to give the world.

Nobody told Kurt Cobain to take smack nor Amy Winehouse to sign up for being tragic by having to deny her rightful place in rehab. We don’t wanna make ourselves dirty just to tell you all about it.

We’re launching it at The Bakery tomorrow night where we’ll be joined by exceptional local acts Runner, Blackmilk and The Flower Drums.

WHO: The Long Lost Brothers WHAT: Errors (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, The Bakery

THIS WEEK’S ISSUE NOW LIVE 46 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

47

22 NOVEMBER

2012

BREAKFEST BEAT

FLOORED

PAUL MASTER

WITH D-FUNK

BEN SIMS, ALLSTATE, DEVO, PUFF V JDUBS

How long have you been on the scene? I’ve been part of the global breaks scene for years! I released my first record (yes vinyl) on Westway Records in 2005 and launched my first label Upstart Music in 2008. I’ve only been living in Australia for three years though as I moved to Sydney from the UK in 2009. In UK I was running one of the UK’s largest breaks, electro and eclectic beats night, Break da House, that ran for five years in a town called Bournemouth.

Since then I’ve gone on to release music on loads of labels like Ghetto Funk, Sunday Best, Manmade, Dusted Breaks and more.

AMBAR: 16/11/12

Thing you’re most looking forward to? Playing to a massive crowd of breaks heads! As for other acts, I’m a big fan of The Nextmen so I’m looking forward to checking them out. Also seeing Specimen A, their tunes are so on point. I’m looking forward to hearing their new material.

me, but because I run Grits N me Gravy with Phil I always feel super welcome every time I’ve played in Perth. In fact I’d say it’d definitely be one of my favourite cities to play in the world! You guys have got such a great scene, you should all give yourselves double hi-fives.

Any regular nights that you play? I’m one of the residents for Regrooved Australia and have been working with them pretty much since I arrived in Australia. Regrooved has parties running in Byron Bay, Brisbane, Sydney, Rockhampton, Hobart and Jindabyne so I get about all over the place! We also hold parties at World Bar in Sydney for Grits N Gravy, the funk based label I co-run with Perth’s Philly Blunt.

International act that you envy and why? Anyone that’s played at Burning Man! Seriously though, it takes lots of time, hard work and making good music to get to the point when you’re accepted overseas. It doesn’t just happen overnight, well for most of us anyway. Year’s of work goes in behind the scenes and it’s great to see our music being shared around the globe, especially in countries that have got a young scene.

Your sound? Kind of hard to put it into one genre, but I guess you’d call it funk-inspired breaks.

A mixture of tempos and genres.

Recently I’ve been making and releasing lots of mid-tempo music that some called ghetto funk.

But the DJ set takes in loads of genres and mixes things up a lot.

Funniest reaction by someone during a set? It’s a little bit odd when people sit down during your set. A few times I’ve played the whole dancefloor sits or ducks down and then randomly jumps back up at the same time! I think it’s something that started in South America then spread to Europe. It’s meant as a massive compliment but it’s odd the first time it happens!

Best thing about a home crowd?

It’s not really a home crowd for

If you could have lunch with any act at Breakfest who would it be? Definitely Martin Hørger. That guy does a mean BBQ! He is so much fun and a really respected artist amongst all the other DJs. I’m looking forward to partying with him for sure.

What’s next? I’ve been overseas for about a third of this year so lots of studio time is planned over the Australian summer until next year’s tours.

I’ve got loads of music that will be coming out on various labels and also given away for free.

I’ve just started work on my first album which is going to keep me very busy. I’ll be touring Canada again early next year as well as a tour in UK/Europe in June next year where I’ll be playing Space in Ibiza again. Then heading back to USA for Burning Man. WHO: D-Funk WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 26 December, Breakfest, Belvoir Amphitheatre, Upper Swan

HOT LOCAL GIG SPOTLIGHT KABARET THURSDAYS WITH STRATOSFUNK

What does your gig offer that others don’t? Sequins.

Time, as ever, moved fast with all the sonic fun and Ben Sims stepped up to the booth. Oh my.

Whattaset. What a set. This was ferocious, pummelling, relentless techno of the most hip-shaking, leg-wobbling kind. It was an all-out assault. For two-and-a-half hours Sims rendered the rabble to grateful subservience with flawlessly mixed and balanced skills. Waves upon

2. Reload SEBASTIAN INGROSSO & TOMMY TRASH 3. Every Day ERIC PRYDZ 4. Serenghetto DANNY T (Original/ Denzal Park/Ray Antonelli Mix)

What made you o pick this venue? en e?

We were approached by Big Sky Entertainment to work with Malt Supper Club in creating this new and exciting Thursday night – Kabaret Thursdays. You have to come down if you haven’t been there yet, it’s a pretty cool venue.

You could find a cosy nook and chill out with one of their classic cocktails or burn up the dancefloor.

What’s next for your band? We’re currently working on an extended line-up (yes, the band’s getting bigger and bigger) – three-part backing vocals, three-piece horn section, dancers, we even have a percussionist in mind! We have an

48 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

Etta James sho e’re show that we’re currently writing and on top of that we’re really excited to be talking to some international booking companies from Singapore, Malaysia and China to organise tours in 2013.

Keep up to date at stratosunk. com or find us on all the social networks! Our Instagram account is great for more sequins than you can handle and filthy hot men holding horns.

WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 22 November, 13 & 27 December, Malt Supper Club; Friday 23 November, Motown On The Rocks, Quarry Amphitheatre

Jeremy Carson

SANTIGOLD, CRAZY P THE BAKERY: 14/11/12

Crazy P, formerly known as Crazy Penis, was the perfect opening act to accompany Santigold. Their contagious energy and buoyant beats secured a positive mood amongst the audience – this is always handy for a midweek gig, when many are restricted by the impending promise of work. Vocalist Danielle Moore, unforgettable in a canary yellow dress that kept falling down and Anna Wintour haircut, hypnotised us with her rhythmic movement and aroused laughter from the crowd when she said: “I need some more titty tape!”

The length of time between the two acts felt painfully long and by the time Santigold appeared everyone’s patience had almost entirely diminished. Fortunately, her appearance was powerful enough to cure the anticlimactic wait. Everyone electrified, the crowd rushed inside immediately, many abandoning their drinks, and

condensing into a sweaty mass that spilled out into the courtyard. Those who weren’t fortunate enough to act quickly were pushed to the outskirts, unable to see anything through the thrashing bodies.

It was surprising yet ironic that she chose to open with the hits from her first album Santogold that originally captured our attention back in 2008, such as Lights Out and Les Artistes.

It was tactful and it seized hold of everyone’s attention from the first moment. Her two back-up dancers were a highlight, their coordinated movements and flamboyant costumes creating the effect of a live MTV video clip. Framed by a chrome backdrop, Santigold – or Santi White – was dressed in a big fur coat despite the steaming room, validating everyone’s thoughts when she said, “Tonight, I know what [my dancers] mean when they say the sweat drops into their eyes and they can’t see.”

During Creator, she began pulling her fans onto the stage and members of the audience rushed forward from all angles in the vain hope of making the selection. Meanwhile, her dancers disappeared for a costume change.

The set unfolded almost in order of chronology, ending with the most recently released singles from her latest album Master Of My Make-Believe. There are several Santigold songs that are frustratingly impossible for the ungifted or the untrained to sing along to, such as Anne and Big Mouth, and yet Santigold skimmed with apparent ease over the lowest and highest of notes.

Some artists disappoint when they perform live when compared to their records, but Santigold only exceeds all expectation.

Sarah Scaife

ARIA TOP 10 CLUB CHART 1. Don’t You Worry Child SWEDISH HOUSE MAFIA (Tom Staar & Kryder/Promise Land/Joris Voorn Mix)

Who’s playing your event and who should punters be most excited about seeing? Stratosfunk, a nine-piece high energy soul band – with so many charismatic, sparkling (literally sparkling), talented, amazing people on stage at one time. That’s nine reasons to come to one of our shows.

What gave you the idea/theme for this show? Our stage show has come together from immersing ourselves in the ‘60s soul sounds.

We dig up original recordings by artists like Otis Redding and early Ike and Tina Turner, we watch live Sam and Dave and Lee Dorsey clips online, we research the clothing, hair styles, make up…

It’s become a little addictive!

We basically spend a lot of time sending each other emails saying ‘This is amazing!’ and sharing our inspiration, and we try to work those things into our performances.

In the past 12 months alone, The Likes of You have been responsible for bringing luminary artists such as Matthew Dear, Derrick May and Octave One to our humble yet passionate scene. The wherewithal required to achieve this in our bass music-obsessed city reflects well on their ability and taste. It’s worth noting that although a number of massive names in techno routinely visit Perth on the festival circuit, the music demands the setting it was borne from – spaces that are dark, loud and intimate. This is a demand that The Likes Of You has filled well. With its compact underground layout and superb soundsystem, Ambar is as ideal a venue for a legend like Ben Sims that Perth can provide. True to form, on arrival for Devo’s opening set the club was sparsely populated.

The set was nuanced and smartly shied away from the driving techno expected later in the night with broken beat time signatures and dubby bass rhythms punctuating the close. In the blink of an eye the club was jam-packed and following warm-up Allstate responded by racheting up the tempo and darkening the tone. The young DJ has made an impression with a reportedly memorable warm-up set for Octave One a couple of months ago, and displayed consistency in form with a measured selection.

waves of concussive percussion burst from the speakers, with fragments of melodic colour intermittently easing the pressure and bringing funky flavour to the industrial cacophony. As expected from an underground icon, the tune selection was cutting edge and a tough gig for even the most savvy of chin-strokers. Of an entire set of standouts a cranking remix of Green Velvet’s Flash and Ben Sims’ own track The Parade, off his excellent Air Rage EP released earlier this year, gave rise to hands-in-the-air moments. Sims was given a rapturous applause as he handed over to closers Puff V JDubs, who continued the riotous pace into the earliest hours of the morning. One of the year’s best nights in techno or otherwise.

5. Boogie Down PABLO CALAMARI & DCUP FEAT. VELICIOUS (Diamond Lights/Alex Mac/Tenzin/ Oh Snap!!/Antoine Vice Mix) 6. Sweet Nothing CALVIN HARRIS FEAT. FLORENCE WELCH (Tiesto/ Burns/Qulinez/Dirtyloud Mix) 7. Years ALESSO FEAT. MATTHEW KOMA 8. Can’t Kill The Party TOM PIPER – MICKY SLIM & MAJESTIC (Denzal Park/Dave Spoon/Extended Mix) 9. Party Bass BOMBS AWAY (Calvertron/Krunk!/Uberjakd/ Tenzin/Apocalypto Mix) 10. Sunrise (Won’t Get Lost) THE ASTON SHUFFLE VS. TOMMY TRASH (Tommy Trash Mix)

CALVIN HARRIS: PLAYING STEREOSONIC THIS SUNDAY

GIVEAWAYS

DJ BOOTH INDIAN SUMMER DJS

forget. It makes it so much worse when it’s in front of such a large group of people.

From: Melbourne, Australia How did you get your DJ name? The track by the band Beat Happening, Indian Summer.

My cousin gave me a Rough Trade compilation of ‘80s pop tracks when I was in high school and it was on there.

What you play... Dark, sleezy, slowed-up club tracks for cute girls to get weird to.

What residencies do you have and crews do you belong to? We’ve done residencies across Australia but we’re kind of taking a break from that stuff at the moment to focus on production and touring.

Career highlight: Would probably have to be playing Down The Rabbit Hole Festival in Perth earlier this year; it was one of the most amazing experiences ever – looking forward to playing Wonderland with Pnau, Bag Raiders and Flume on NYD over there!

First set, and what was most memorable for you? I think it was at some pub in Brunswick (Melbourne) – I told the promoter I knew how the gear worked (I lied)…

That was definitely also the most memorable because of how many things went wrong during the set.

All time favourite 12”? It sounds wussy as but my friend gave me Belle & Sebastian’s If You’re Feeling Sinister on 12” for my birthday last year. I don’t really listen to or collect a lot of vinyl but this is one of my favourite albums of all time.

Fave DJs and why? I love watching 2011 Major Lazer clips online, but

Funniest record you’ve ever played out? UB40 – Can’t Help Falling In Love (Wheel Wells ‘GloveArm’ Remix).

Worst bootleg ever? Some of the ones I made at the start of my career are pretty horrible – they’re probably still on MySpace or something. basically anyone who takes their game further than just playing tracks and turns their DJ sets into an exciting spectacle is alright with me.

Fave producers and why? At the moment I’m really loving Justin Martin. He’s someone who’s been around for a while but has this way of making all of his music sounds really subtly distinct.

Best set by an Australian DJ and why? We did a show with What So Not in Geelong a little while ago, I have to say they’re probably my favourite Australian DJ act at the moment. They can play their own stuff from start to finish and the crowd eats it up.

Best set by a Perth DJ you’ve seen? Luke Whelan kills it non stop.

I hear he gets a lot of girls too.

Funniest thing that’s happened to you when DJing? A girl threw a drink at me once ‘cause I wouldn’t play Calvin Harris…

She got chased out of the club.

Weirdest thing you’ve seen in a nightclub? My friend Harrison Kennedy’s blonde wizard beard (Perth punters will know what I’m talking about).

I dance like a… Energizer Bunny.

I play records like a… white girl.

In 2020 music will be…

Free, hopefully.

In 2020 you plan to be… 30 and retired. I’ll be the Rotary club sausage man outside Bunnings Warehouse.

What do you like most about your hometown’s dance/urban scenes? Melbourne has got some super talented producers and bands.

There’s always so much positive creative energy going around and there’s no where else in the world I would rather be based.

Best all time gig? We did a show last week in Brisbane at The Bowler Bar which was absolutely phenomenal – the turnout and crowd response was crazy. It feels like the shows are getting better and better all the time. I’m super excited to get back over to Perth and get weird with all of my WA friends again.

Worst trainwreck you’ve made?

I had too many beers at Splendour In The Grass last year and my set was fairly good considering; however, there was one awful trainwreck moment that I will never

Spend more on music than you earn? I feel awful I don’t spend as much on music as I should – I downloaded Flume’s album the other day and that was the first record I bought off iTunes in ages.

In real life you: Sit at home with my TinTin shirt collection and make music all day.

Production releases: Delirious (2012), Hundred Grammer (2012), and Haunted (2012), all on Wax Waves.

Next big thing to look out for you? We’re doing Falls Festival on New Year’s Day then jetting over to WA for Wonderland the same day. I’m going to be a tired boy January 2.

More info? waxwaves. com/haunted.

What should people expect from you when you tour here?

Lot’s of crowdsurfing, confetti, dancing and non-stop weirdness.

NEXT GIGS IN PERTH: Thursday 22 November, Speakeasy, Villa; Tuesday 1 January, Wonderland NYD, Belvoir Amphitheatre, Upper Swan

THE ONLY

MINISTRY OF SOUND ANNUAL @ VILLA Ministry Of Sound’s epic The Annual Tour returns to Villa Friday 14 December, so we’re here to help you prepare your dancing shoes and equip your ears as two of Australia’s most in-demand DJs Tom Piper and The Only take the stage. Celebrating the release of Ministry Of Sound’s The Annual 2013 - a double CD compilation mixed to audible perfection by both of these artists, bringing the biggest EDM tracks in what has been one of the largest years in dance music. DJ, producer, radio host, record label guy, man, myth, legend, fresh-maker...Tom Piper has established himself as a force to be reckoned with; while formidalbe duo The Only’s debut single The Only F*cking Rave Party went to number one on the Australian Independent Music Chart, and latest single Drag Me Down is going gangbusters. Supported by Chiari, Ace Basik, Jackness and Slappin’ Plastic, you can buy tickets for the show via Moshtix, or we have a DOUBLE PASS & CD pack to giveaway. Simply email giveaways@drumperth. com.au with “ANNUAL RAVE” in the header for your chance to win.

NINA LAS VEGAS @ METROPOLIS FREMANTLE

SATURDAY @ METROPOLIS FREMANTLE

WEDNESDAY @ NEWPORT HOTEL

SATURDAY @ AMPLIFIER CAPITOL

THE SWITCH @ SHAPE

ZIA (THE DANDY WARHOLS) @ GEISHA

MICAH BEN MAC WISH WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

F R IDAY 3 0 NO V E MBE R

DNGRFLD•PHILLY BLUNT•MICAH SATURDAY 1 DECEMBER • AMBAR DOOR SALES: $10 BEFORE MIDNIGHT | $20 THEREAFTER

DOOR SALES: $15. PRESALES FROM THE BOOMTICK SHOP

BOOMTICK.COM.AU

FACEBOOK.COM/AMBARNITECLUB // FACEBOOK.COM/KIDKENOBIOFFICIAL // FACEBOOK.COM/KLUBKIDS To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags • 49

22 NOV - 28 NOV

2012

THURS 22/11

DANCEFLOOR OF THE WEEK

ALEXANDER NUT

EMPIRE BAR Fiveo brings the funky Friday night beats.

THE CARINE

Jon Ee brings the funk, hip hop, house, breaks and everything in between.

Az-T brings the noise to kickstart the weekend.

THE WEMBLEY

EXTREME AGGRESSION @ ROCKET ROOM DJ Cain spins high-voltage rock and metal from midnight.

FLOATING POINTS, ALEXANDER NUT, FATIMA @ AMBAR It’s a very special night of dancefloor debauchery with Sam ‘Floating Points’ Shepherd, Alexander Nut, and ‘Queen’ Fatima combining their talents.

INDIAN SUMMER DJS

SPRING BREAK @ VILLA The Indian Summer DJs are back with the release of their debut EP Haunted, and are helping celebrate the end of exams with a silent disco, wet t-shirt comp, sausage sizzle and more. Tickets via Moshtix and the usuals, beachwear encouraged.

OUTBREAK @ ROSEMOUNT HOTEL

SAT 24/11 YLEM

Nine-piece high-energy band Stratosfunk hit Malt Supper Club. $10 from 8pm.

FACE @ VELVET LOUNGE A night of tasty beats, liquid grooves and new frontiers curated

by Usurper Of Modern Medicine, who DJ along with Ylem, Mei Seraswati and Higher Education live. Free form 8.30pm.

END OF EXAMS @ EAST END BAR It’s an End Of Exams Silent Disco/Shorts Party featuring DJs Sirco, Dale, Janoek, Prestige DJs and more. $10 from 9pm.

One of the nation’s biggest dance festivals, Stereosonic arrives this weekend with its typically massive line-up on Sunday 25 November at Claremont Showgrounds. And we’re not kidding when we say the line-up is seriously huge: Tiësto; Gesaffelstein (pictured); Dillon Francis; Destructo; Calvin Harris; Avicii; Example; Carl Cox; Major Lazer; Laidback Luke; Martin Solveig; Strange Talk; Chuckie; JFK MSTRKFT; Mr Oizo; Dash Berlin; Infected Mushroom; Markus Schulz; Sander Van Doorn; Aly & Fila; Simon Patterson; Marlo; Loco Dice; Adam Beyer; Joris Voorn; Porter Robinson; Bass Nectar; Tommy Trash; Brodinski; Zedd; Foreign Beggars; Diplo; Flux Pavillion; Excision; Caspa; Datsik; Kaz James; Treasure Fingers; Alvin Risk; Bart B More; MC Stretch; MC Gunner and Feenixpawl! And that’s not even mentioning the epic line-up of locals opening some stages and rocking the Silent Disco over three channels. Tickets via Ticketmaster.

FRIDAY 23/11 GINA TURNER

GINA TURNER @ THE SHED Gina Turner of Pacha NYC will bring the hustle and bustle of The Big Apple to The Shed. Facebook.com/ MillerBeerANZ for full details.

ESKMO

R’N’R KARAOKE @ DEVILLES A great night out with your vocal chords every Thursday, Free entry from 6pm.

INSTITUTION @ CLAREMONT

Syrup is hosting another night of party beats with Kit Pop, Rekab & DYP, Starks, Hollywood, Itoje and Everyteen dropping tunez from midnight. $10 door.

Every now and then you stumble across a sound that is so distinctive and unique, that you cant help but fall in love with it. Kollektiv Turmstrasse fit that category, and they play Honey Lounge supported

by Aarin Fraser and James Francis. Tickets via Moshtix.

SPANK VAMPIRE BALL @ SHAPE Brighton’s Club Spank comes to Perth with The Goddess Gabrielle performing live with Spank residents Tintin and Stu V working the fetishthemed rooms. No outfit, no entry. $35 plus BF via shapebar.com.au.

THE ARSONIST @ THE BIRD ESKMO @ GEISHA San Francisco-based producer Eskmo brings his multi-genre compositions live to Geisha as part of Next Hype with Kit Pop, Dr Space and Ylem & Bolsty in support.

Tickets via eventbrite.com.au.

A-TONEZ

Live electro-rock group The Arsonist play The Bird, with guests The Bosons and Rachael Dease.

WAYJO PLAYS MAMBO @ DEVILLES PAD

The newest compilation series from Onelove, The Bass Explosion CD dishes out the biggest bassrumbling EDM tunes on the planet.

A-Tonez and The Mane Thing with JS, Tapeheads and Philly Blunt supporting bring it west. $15 door or presale via Boomtick.

Launching the Words Showcase compilation CD, The Community hosts Ylem (also launching his Disk.151 album), Mathas, FG, Wisdom Tooth, DVS, Empty and ASAP with Arms In Motion. $15 door. Tripl M.U.M launches his solo project Desert Steve, so it’s a triple launch, with all albums yours with that $15.

PETE GOODING @ LEEDERVILLE HOTEL Tonight Pete Gooding injects summer Ibiza vibes into the Leederville Hotel.

TEENGIRL FANTASY @ GILKISONS All that psychedelic USA/ Amsterdam house duo Teengirl Fantasy ask of their audiences is that they party. Simple. Respond favourably when they play Gilkisons with Cosmo Gets, Everyteen, Clunk, Andrew Sinclair, Ben T and Nik Ridikulas supporting.

BROTHER ALI, SEAN PRICE @ METRO CITY Two of the most supreme lyricists in all that is underground and edgy in hip hop hit Metro City.

YUNG WARRIORS @ PRINCE OF WALES

HIGHER FYAH @ BAR ORIENT

Ru Kasu, Richard Lee, special guest Paul Johnson (UK) and El Dario bump out some funky 4/4 beats til dawn. $8 before 12.30am, $12 after.

Barry Simpson and the local guest DJs bring you the sound of Motown, northern soul, R&B and modern soul for $10 from 8pm.

AMPLIFIER/CAPITOL Jamie Mac spins indie/alt from 12pm at Amps, while Caps satisfies your ‘90s desires from 11pm.

FHF @ METRO FREO

ELEMENT @ GEISHA

HABIT@ @ BOULEVARD TAVERN The Hart Trio play live early before DJ Andyy takes over ‘til late.

DEATH DISCO/PURE POP @ CAPITOL/AMPLIFIER

Jon Ee gets you ready for the weekend.

THE AVENUE

DEVILLES PAD

THE GENEROUS SQUIRE

YUNG WARRIORS @ AMPLIFIER

The Friday night party rocks ‘til the sun comes up with Little Nicky.

Australia’s fastest rising indigenous hip hop outfit, Yung Warriors have just announced their second single, Prey For Better Days, from their sophomore album Standing Strong.

A national tour in support of the new track hits Amplifier tonight!

CLAREMONT

James Nutley rocks ‘On Tap’ house music all night long.

Jon Ee lays down the funk and fires up for the start of the weekend.

SOVEREIGN ARMS

50 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

This summer will see the installation of The Tropical Discotheque at The Fremantle Arts Centre, a monthly night of Afrobeat, Reggae, Latin and all things tropical, kicking off with Grace Barbé, launching her brand new single Tou Lannwit, supported by Shangara Jive, with DJs Charlie Bucket and Chopper Crucial. $25 door.

THE AVENUE Az-T rounds up your Sunday Sesh.

BACKYARD DISCO @ THE AVIARY Smooth Sunday beats free from 4pm on the rooftop, with the Backyard Project DJs, streamed live to The Backyard Project.

WED 28/11 JAY GARNER

JAY GARNER @ METROPOLIS FREMANTLE Keeping the 20th Anniversary celebrations going, Geordie Shore’s Jay Garner arrives for a midweek party and DJ set. Tickets via Moshtix.

HASHTAG @ EAST END BAR EDM, house and mash-up beats all night.

WUB WUB @ BOULEVARD TAVERN DJs and MCs mixing up the best dubstep, drum’n’bass, electro and general bass music free from 7pm.

UPCOMINGS

Rocket To Memphis bring their snakey dance rhythms, plus DJs Lady Carla and a special guest, GoGo and more from 6pm. $10 after 7.

Angel fires up with dancefloor destroyers ‘til late.

TROPICAL DISCOTHEQUE @ FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE

METRO FREO

SOVEREIGN ARMS

THE AVENUE

SUNDAY 25/11

STUDENT NIGHT @ ROSEMOUNT

Funky hip hop jams each Thursday.

YUNG WARRIORS

Two Rooms, DJs that can beat match, jungle juice, party and costumed craziness everywhere. $15 entry.

Indie-dance bangers from Death Disco DJs, DJ Ryan spinning ‘80s classics upstairs and Eddie Electric indie/classics from midnight in Amps.

BODEGA @ DEFECTORS

Roger Smart gets pumped for the weekend with commercial chart toppers and classic party anthems.

Angel bangs out the pub and club anthems.

The sounds of DNGRFLD, Tee EL, Oli, Marty McFly and Marko Paulo bang into your mind at the home of the underground. $12 before midnight, $15 thereafter.

DJs Roger Smart, Ben Carter and Wazz keep the party tunes rolling in the big house.

THE CRAFTSMAN

THE CORNERSTONE

JAPAN 4 @ AMBAR

Yung Warriors celebrate new single Prey For Better Days, from their sophomore album Standing Strong.

MOTOWN & SOUL @ FLY BY NIGHT A-TONEZ, THE MANE THING @ AMBAR

COMMUNITY WORDS SHOWCASE

Frat House Fridays and the Death Disco DJs rock bangin’ indiedance, plus red cups, cheerleaders and college-themed craziness.

DJs Bryn Jones and Jimmy Thorne rock the beats.

DJ Shortz delivers the music for the masses in Cannington’s fave night spot.

BIG APE @ SHAPE

The WA Youth Jazz Orchestra bring a night of Mambo tunes, plus Mondo Inferno DJs, GoGo action and more. Doors 6pm, $10 after 8.

Featuring Simba, Ray, Rasta Mick, The Empressions, Mumma Trees and Sista Che. Free from 7pm.

Tonight is the launch of Boulevard Tav’s new weekly Old Skool R&B night.

The Mills Culture Clash crew take over the front room with all the broken beat bootyshaking you can handle.

SYRUP @ IRWIN ST LANEWAY

KOLLEKTIV TURMSTRASSE @ HONEY LOUNGE

THURZ 151 @ BOULEVARD TAVERN

CULTURE CLASH @ NEWPORT

THE CRAFTSMAN

Kickstart play live cover tunes and DJ Perry spins rock, metal and punk post-midnight.

STEREOSONIC @ CLAREMONT SHOWGROUNDS

UPSIDE @ GEISHA A new weekly Thursday night, student-based party with good vibes and better beats from Fendi, Muv, Yon Jovi and Robot Skream rocking electro, nu-disco, d’n’b, hip hop, party anthems and more.

Once again Lokie Shaw fires up the Saturday night soundtrack.

ROCKET ROOM

Live d’n’b outfit Freqshow are joined

by Primps Of Sound and DJ Jazza feat. MC Gamma from 8pm, with the Sons Of Rico DJs in the beer garden.

KABARET THURSDAYS @ MALT SUPPER CLUB

THE AVENUE

It’s a Rewind hosted by Rockwell, with retro hits from the ‘80s and ‘90s.

DJ Anton Maz brings you postpunk, indie-pop and rock goodies outside in the beer garden for free.

2MANYDJS @ VILLA

For over ten years now, 2ManyDJs have reigned as the undisputed kings of electro. At the centre of 2ManyDJs are the Dewaele brothers, who you may recognise as the brothers that formed electrorock band Soulwax. Head down to Villa Friday 30 November and see the brothers that changed the face of dance mix compilations forever. Supported by Blend, Audageous and Metric DJs. Ticket $35 plus BF via Moshtix.

UPCOMINGS FLOATING POINTS, ALEXANDER NUT, FATIMA: NOV 22 Ambar INDIAN SUMMER DJS: NOV 22 Villa; JAN 1 Wonderland, Belvoir Ampitheatre MILLER CITY SESSIONS: GINA TURNER: NOV 23 The Shed; DEC 7 Newport Hotel NEXT HYPE: ESKMO: NOV 23 Geisha BASS EXPLOSION: A-TONEZ, THE MANE THING: NOV 23 Ambar YUNG WARRIORS: NOV 23 Amplifier; NOV 24 Prince Of Wales KOLLEKTIV TURMSTRASSE: NOV 23 Honey Lounge + BROTHER ALI, SEAN PRICE: NOV 24 Metro City MILLER CITY SESSIONS: PETE GOODING: NOV 24 Leederville Hotel; DEC 14 Indian Ocean Hotel STEREOSONIC: TIESTO, GESAFFELSTEIN, DILLON FRANCIS, DESTRUCT, CALVIN HARRIS, AVICII, EXAMPLE, CARL COX, MAJOR LAZER, LAIDBACK LUKE, MARTIN SOLVEIG, CHUCKIE, JFK MSTRKFT, MR OIZO, DASH BERLIN, INFECTED MUSHROOM, MARKUS SCHULZ, SANDER VAN DOORN, ALY & FILA, SIMON PATTERSON, MARLO, LOCO DICE, ADAM BEYER, JORIS VOORN, PORTER ROBINSON, BASSNECTAR, TOMMY TRASH, BRODINSKI, ZEDD, FOREIGN BEGGARS, DIPLO, FLUX PAVILLION, EXCISION, CASPA, DATSIK, KAZ JAMES, TREASURE FINGERS, ALVIN RISK, FEENIXPAWL, BART B MORE, MC STRETCH, MC GUNNER, STRANGE TALK and locals: NOV 25 Claremont Showgrounds + GET WEIRD: TYLER TOUCHÉ: NOV 30 Geisha ADANA TWINS, DR DRU: NOV 30 Honey Lounge 2MANYDJS: NOV 30 Villa THE POTBELLEEZ: NOV 30 Prince Of Wales; DEC 1 Metropolis Fremantle BROOKE EVERS: DEC 1 Eve Nightclub KID KENOBI: DEC 1 Ambar NATURAL NZ MUSIC FESTIVAL: SHAPESHIFTER, KORA, LADI6, TRINITY ROOTS, MAISEY RIKA, DAVID DALLAS, P-MONEY and more: DEC 1 Red Hill Auditorium EPROM: DEC 1 The Bakery PERTH DANCE MUSIC AWARDS: DEC 2 Court Hotel SETS ON THE BEACH: MARK FARINA, MIAMI HORROR DJS, THE KNOCKS, TODD TERJE and more: DEC 2 Scarborough Beach Amphitheatre PARKER: DEC 6 Flying Scotsman JENNIFER LOPEZ: DEC 6 Perth Arena KASTLE: DEC 7 Geisha Bar OLIE BASSWEIGHT: DEC 7 The Bird XKORE: DEC 7 Shape + DISMANTLE: DEC 8 Shape NICKI MINAJ, TYGA: DEC 8 Perth Arena MITZI: DEC 8 The Bakery HABITAT GARDEN PARTY: NICK WARREN, SEBASTIEN LEGER, CHUCK LOVE: DEC 9 Court Hotel EVIL EDDIE: DEC 13 Amplifier; DEC 14 C5; DEC 15 Prince Of Wales Hotel MOS THE ANNUAL: TOM PIPER, THE ONLY: DEC 14 Villa + SPECTRASOUL, AUDIO: DEC 15 Villa

51

THU 22 The Academy Amplifier Bar Howie Morgan Belgian Beer Cafe Open Mic Night, Rob Walker Brighton Hopsin, Dizzy Wright, + more Civic Hotel, Back Room DJ Bryn Jones, James Thorne Claremont Hotel Courtney Murphy Como Hotel Hi-NRG Crown Perth, Groove Bar Rock n Roll Karaoke Devilles Pad Open Mic Night Dunsborough Tavern Applebite Beggars On Acid, FoulPLAY, Midnight Boulevard, + more Fly By Night Fremantle Jeff Martin Friends Restaurant Chris Murphy High Wycombe Hotel Bex’s Open Mic Night Indi Bar James Wilson Lucky Shag Stratosfunk Malt Supper Club - Mt Lawley Datura, Steve Tallis, The Deep River Collective, DJ Lofo, + more Mojos Nth Fremantle Our Man In Berlin, Louis and the Honkytonk, Jacob Diamond Mustang Bar Culture Clash Newport Hotel San Cisco Norfolk Basement Freqshow, Pimps of Sound, DJ Sistym, + more Rosemount Hotel Sons of Rico DJs Rosemount Hotel, Beer Garden Clayton Bolger Rosie O’Gradys Fremantle Neil Colliss Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge Jane Germaine & Ian Simpson Settlers Tavern Margaret River David Fyffe Sovereign Arms Place Of Indigo, Lilt, Patient Little sister The Bird Jen de Ness The Boat Cliff Lynton The Ellington Jazz Club One Trick Phonies The Gate Bar and Bistro, Success Off the Record Universal Bar Two Plus One Woodvale Tavern Jazzy Jack X-Wray Cafe Brett Winterford, Jessica Morhall Ya Ya’s

FRI 23 Yung Warriors Amplifier Bar Anderson Bally’s Bar Mike Nayar Balmoral Simba, DJ Ray, The Empressions, Mumma Trees, sista che, + more Bar Orient - Fremantle Courtney Murphy Beau Rivage One Trick Phonies Belmont Tavern Ryan Dillon Bentley Hotel

DJ Andyy, Hart Trio Blvd Tavern - Joondalup Jamie Powers Brook Bar & Bistro Better Days Brooklands Tavern Chasing Calee Chase Bar & Bistro Empires Laid Waste, Forstora, Tusk, Severtone, Alizarin Haze Civic Hotel, Den Zukhuta Clancys - Canning Bridge Tom Fisher and the Layabouts, Jay Howie Clancys - Fremantle Rhys Smith Trio Clancys City Beach Jon Ee Claremont Hotel West Australian Youth Jazz Orchestra, + more Devilles Pad Spectacles Dunsborough Tavern Kickstart Dusk Lounge Bar Sugarfield Edz Sports Bar 1 Ron Gurr Flinders Park Hall Motown & Soul Night Fly By Night Fremantle Eskmo Geisha Bar Greg Carter Greenwood Hotel Ali Towers Herdsman Lake Tavern Kollektiv Turmstrasse Honey Lounge Leederville Them Sharks, Burn Habit, Mitchell Friend Hyde Park Hotel Proud Mary Indi Bar Greek To The Bone Kulcha DJ Grizzly, Slickenside, Melee Lakers Tavern Andy Pearce Last Drop Tavern Cargo Beat Lesmurdie Club James Wilson M On The Point Polly Medlen, Rachel Gorman, Stoney Joe Mojos Nth Fremantle Captn K, Simmo T Mojos Nth Fremantle (afternoon) Soul Corporation Moon & Sixpence The Mopokes Moondyne Joes, Fremantle Party Rockers Newport Hotel Foam, Mezzanine, Man The Clouds, Hideous Sun Demon Norfolk Basement The Coburn Sound, Skylab North Fremantle Bowls Club Jonny Taylor Prince of Wales Bunbury Got Sharks?, BORC, 2nd Great Dying, Pending The Silence Railway Hotel Evergone, Mercurial, Animal, Lantana Rocket Room Extreme Aggression:, DJ Cain Rocket Room (Late) Deep Sea Arcade, Sons of Rico, 44th Sunset Rosemount Hotel The Mojos Sail & Anchor Almost Famous Saint Boom! Bap! Pow! Settlers Tavern Margaret River Spank Shape

Pool Forth, Wrongtown, Stop Motion Swan Lounge Chris Gibbs Swinging Pig Greg Carter Swinging Pig (Arvo) The Arsonist, The Bosons, Rachael Dease The Bird Christian Thompson, DJ Vicktor, James Ess, George Green The Brass Monkey Soothe feat. Amanda Dee, Ben Vanderwal The Ellington Jazz Club Dirty Scoundrels The Principal Gina Turner The Shed Nightmoves Universal Bar Stereo Flower, Rabbit Island, The Whores, Dust Velvet Lounge The Whiskey Pocket, The New Beast, Leon Ewing X-Wray Cafe The Painted Bird, Race To Your Face, James Hall Ya Ya’s Dream On Dreamer, Make Them Suffer, In Fear and Faith, Saviour YMCA HQ

SAT 24 Loose Unit Amplifier Bar Pop Candy Balmoral Proud Mary Blvd Tavern - Joondalup The Mojos Brighton Chris Gibbs Brooklands Tavern Paul Dianno, Blaze Bayley, Psychonaut, Silent Knight Civic Hotel, Back Room Mirror Mirror, Our Fallen Legacy, Take It or Leave It, A Nameless Fear Civic Hotel, Den Jonny Taylor Clancys - Canning Bridge Jordan McRobbie Clancys - Fremantle The Crux Clancys City Beach DJ Dan Claremont Hotel Rocket to Memphis, Lady Carla, + more Devilles Pad Passionworks Gosnells Hotel Sugarfield Herdsman Lake Tavern Meg Mac and the Squeeze Hyde Park Hotel Blue Shaddy Indi Bar Andrew Winton Kalamunda Htl Hot Suga Kardinya Tavern Daramad Kulcha Pete Gooding Leederville Hotel Rhythm 22 M On The Point Diger Rockwell, Felicity Groom, Mathas, + more Mojos Nth Fremantle Kizzy Newport Hotel (afternoon) Slaughterhouse 5, Cat Hope, Ourobonic Plague, Memoria, + more Norfolk Basement Purple Haze Osborne Park Bowling Club Overload Peel Ale House Dizzy Miss Lizzy Publican Bar

52 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

Electrophobia Quarie Bar & Bistro Empty Pocket, Roxatus, Alteria Motive, Kelly McMahen Railway Hotel Kickstart, DJ Mel Rocket Room (Late) Omar Rodriguez Lopez Group, Tangled Thoughts of Leaving, Race To Your Face Rosemount Hotel Abbasalutely Rottnest Hotel Better Days Sail & Anchor Zarm Settlers Tavern Margaret River Big Ape Shape David Sofield Steve’s Bar Darren Guthrie, Paradise Motor-Inn, WayneWright, P Is For Pumpernickel, Kites, + more Swan Basement Tandem Swinging Pig Greg Carter Swinging Pig (Arvo) The Growl, Hamjam, Doctopus The Bird Elise Lynelle, Jade Crompton The Ellington Jazz Club Dirty Scoundrels The Gate Bar and Bistro, Success Soul Corporation Universal Bar Dick Tracy DJ Set X-Wray Cafe DJ Pup & Dan Ya Ya’s

SUN 25 Dark Funeral Amplifier Bar Chasing Calee Balmoral Dove Balmoral (afternoon) Sea Level Blvd Tavern - Joondalup Open Mic, Annabelle, + Guests Blvd Tavern (afternoon) - Joondalup Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scout Carine Glades Tavern The Zydecats Clancys - Fremantle Sunday Driver, DJ Double Dee Claremont Hotel Open Mic Fly By Night Fremantle Grace Barbe Fremantle Arts Centre Ensemble Formidible Fremantle Arts Centre Courtyard Andrew Winton Indi Bar Swing Set Kulcha Caravana Sun, Jake & The Cowboys, Joel Barker Mojos Nth Fremantle Tomas Ford, Axe & Ness, The Lunettes, Claire Nina Norelli, + more Mojos Nth Fremantle (afternoon) Tandem Mundaring Hotel, Sculpture Park Southern Cross Murphys Mandurah Opia, Bellusira, Copious, ‘Birth of Pornography’ Newport Hotel (afternoon) The Georgians, Oh White Mare, Black Ink, Red Roads, Riley Pearce Railway Hotel Minnie Marks Settlers Tavern Margaret River (afternoon)

Parker Avenue, Blackjack, Guns of August, + more Swan Basement Trinadad & Tabasco, Wisdom 2th, The Weapon Is Sound The Bird Masina Miller The Ellington Jazz Club Better Days, Greg Carter The Gate Bar and Bistro, Success Retrofit Universal Bar The Charisma Brothers, Click Brown Fox X-Wray Cafe Jammin Band Comp Ya Ya’s (afternoon)

MON 26 Courtney Murphy, Chris Murphy Crown Perth, Groove Bar Open Mic, Bruno Booth Mojos Nth Fremantle James Wilson The Brass Monkey Chamber Jam The Ellington Jazz Club Johnnie Walker & The Rock Bottoms X-Wray Cafe Big Thommo’s Open Mic Variety Night Ya Ya’s

TUE 27 Something Savoy Blvd Tavern - Joondalup Ten Foot Pole, Burning Fiction, Faim, Blindspot Civic Hotel, Den Courtney Murphy Crown Perth, Meridian Room Ben Merito Lucky Shag Flip Top, Hyte, Sexy Robot, The Cinnamon Collective Mojos Nth Fremantle Jonny Taylor Murphys Mandurah Barefaced Stories The Bird Togo The Ellington Jazz Club The Tom Tale Jazz Quartet X-Wray Cafe The Measure, The Dark Rooms, Burst & Bloom, Dry Dry River Ya Ya’s

WED 28 5 Shots Crown Perth, Groove Bar Bernadine Greenwood Hotel Boston & Chevy Indi Bar Howie Morgan Lucky Shag That Velvet Echo, Bryan Rice-Dalton, The Justin Walshe Folk Machine Mojos Nth Fremantle Jon Madd, Pippa Drysdale, + more Paddo Pour Habit, Hightime, Chainsaw Hookers, 10 Past 6 Rosemount Hotel DJ Anton Maz Rosemount Hotel, Beer Garden Sugar Blue Burlesque The Brass Monkey John Bentley The Ellington Jazz Club Lil’ Jim, Pippa Lester X-Wray Cafe Celebrator, Louis and the Honkytonk, Rich Widow, Calectasia Ya Ya’s

TOUR GUIDE

BENJALU BRETT WINTERFORD: NOV 22 Ya Yas IN FEAR & FAITH: NOV 22 Amplifier; NOV 23 HQ (AA) DEEP SEA ARCADE, THE PREATURES: NOV 23 Rosemount Hotel THE SELECTER: NOV 24 Astor Theatre BLAZE BAYLEY & PAUL DI’ANNO: NOV 24 Civic Hotel THE WIGGLES: NOV 24 & 25 Perth Arena CARAVANA SUN: NOV 25 Mojo’s; NOV 29 Indi Bar; NOV 30 The Cidery, Bridgetown; DEC 1-2 Settlers Tavern; DEC 7 White Star Hotel DARK FUNERAL: NOV 25 Amplifier POUR HABIT, HIGHTIME: NOV 28 Rosemount Hotel BRITISH INDIA, KINGSWOOD: NOV 29 Prince Of Wales; NOV 30 Metropolis Fremantle; DEC 1 Capitol THE SAINTS: NOV 30 Fly By Night LIVE AT THE QUARRY: JOHN WILLIAMSON: NOV 30 & DEC 1 Quarry Amphitheatre REECE MASTIN, JUSTICE CREW, THE JANOSKIANS: DEC 1 Perth Arena NATURAL NZ MUSIC FESTIVAL: SHAPESHIFTER, KORA, LADI6, TRINITY ROOTS, MAISEY RIKA and more: DEC 1 Red Hill Auditorium CLASS OF ’60: LITTLE PATTIE, DIANA ROSS, LESLEY GORE, PETULA CLARK, DUSTY SPRINGFIELD: DEC 1 Burswood Theatre JUSTINE CLARKE: DEC 1 The Astor Theatre (10am/12pm/2pm) RUSSELL BRAND: DEC 2 Perth Arena A DAY ON THE GREEN: SIMPLE MINDS, DEVO, THE CHURCH, THE MODELS: DEC 4 Kings Park and Botanic Garden REEL BIG FISH, GOLDFINGER, ZEBRAHEAD: DEC 5 Metro City LAGWAGON, THE SMITH STREET BAND: DEC 5 Prince Of Wales; DEC 6 Rosemount Hotel SHANNON NOLL: DEC 6 Friends Restaurant; DEC 7 Charles Hotel; DEC 9 Icon Restaurant JENNIFER LOPEZ: DEC 6 Perth Arena BENJALU: DEC 6 Indi Bar; DEC 7 Clancy’s Fremantle; DEC 8 The Bird; DEC 9 Clancy’s Dunsborough THE BLACKEYED SUSANS: DEC 7 Rosemount; DEC 8 Mojo’s MOUTHGUARD: DEC 7 The Rocket Room; DEC 8 The Den

DARK FUNERAL MITZI: DEC 8 The Bakery MISSY HIGGINS, KATE MILLER-HEIDKE: DEC 8 & 9 Fremantle Arts Centre VAZ, DEAD: DEC 9 Mojos SHANE NICHOLSON: DEC 10 Fremantle Arts Centre PRIMAL SCREAM: DEC 11 Astor Theatre MARK LOCKETT: DEC 12 Ellington Jazz Club MANHATTAN JINX: DEC 12 Prince Of Wales; DEC 14 Rocket Room; DEC 15 Railway Hotel HUSKY: DEC 12 Mojos; DEC 13 The Bakery SAN CISCO, THE PREATURES: DEC 14 The Bakery BIG JAY MCNEELY: DEC 14 Fremantle Arts Centre PUNKTURED: MANHATTAN JINX and more: DEC 14 Rocket Room APES: DEC 14 Norfolk Basement; DEC 15 Rosemount ABBE MAY: DEC 15 Prince Of Wales; DEC 21 The Bakery RAISE THE FLAG: DEC 14 Charles Hotel; DEC 15 Boulevard Tavern; DEC 16 Ravenswood Hotel NOT SO SILENT NIGHT: KIM SALMON, APES, THE PREATURES: DEC 15 Rosemount Hotel TAME IMPALA: DEC 15 Fremantle Arts Centre DARREN HANLON: DEC 19 Mojos SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, UNWRITTEN LAW, THE DUDESONS: DEC 19 Metropolis Fremantle PARKWAY DRIVE, I KILLED THE PROM QUEEN, NORTHLANE, SURVIVAL: DEC 19 Challenge Stadium REGINA SPEKTOR: DEC 19 Belvoir Amphitheatre JEFF MARTIN: DEC 20 Fremantle Arts Centre; DEC 21 Clancy’s Dunsborough; DEC 22 Mojos; DEC 23 Indi Bar EVAN DANDO & JULIANA HATFIELD, BAMBINO KORESH: DEC 22 Rosemount Hotel SHARON JONES & THE DAP KINGS, LOS CORONAS: JAN 1 Fremantle Arts Centre + JOHN BUTLER TRIO: JAN 3 Leeuwin Estate, Margaret River; JAN 4 Castelli Winery, Denmark SOUTHBOUND: BEACH HOUSE, BEST COAST, BOY & BEAR, THE FLAMING LIPS, THE VACCINES, BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB, FIRST AID KIT, MAXIMO PARK, MILLIONS, ANGUS STONE, BALL PARK MUSIC, COSMO JARVIS, DJANGO DJANGO, THE HIVES, TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB and more: JAN 4 & 5 Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton

65DAYSOFSTATIC: JAN 5 The Bakery BOYS OF SUMMER: DEEZ NUTS, COMEBACK KID, FOR THE FALLEN DREAMS, HAND OF MERCY: JAN 9 Amplifier; JAN 10 YMCA HQ SANDI THOM: JAN 10 Fly By Night MARDUK, ORDER OF ORIAS: JAN 10 Amplifier + NADÉAH: JAN 18 Fly By Night THE VENGABOYS: JAN 19 Metropolis Fremantle NIGHTWISH, EYEFEAR, BLACK MAJESTY: JAN 20 Metropolis Fremantle ESG: JAN 20 The Bakery ALESTORM: JAN 22 Amplifier WOODS: JAN 23 Bakery WEEZER, BALL PARK MUSIC, CLOUD CONTROL: JAN 23 Perth Arena TWELVE FOOT NINJA: JAN 24 Prince Of Wales; JAN 25 Amplifier; JAN 26 Mojos YANNI: JAN 27 Perth Arena JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD: JAN 27 Mojos BIG DAY OUT: RED HOT CHILLI PEPPERS, THE KILLERS, YEAH YEAH YEAHS, VAMPIRE WEEKEND, BAND OF HORSES, ANIMAL COLLECTIVE, SLEIGH BELLS, FOALS, ALABAMA SHAKES, OFF!, GRINSPOON, AGAINST ME!, GARY CLARK JR, NICKY ROMERO, MORGAN PAGE, LOGO, EVERY TIME I DIE, DELTA SPIRIT, CHILDISH GAMBINO, ME, HUNTING GROUNDS, JEFF THE BROTHERHOOD, DEATH GRIPS, ADVENTURE CLUB, JAGWAR MA, HOUSE VS HURRICANE, AVALANCHE and more: JAN 28 Claremont Showgrounds COLIN HAY: FEB 1 Bunbury Ent. Centre; FEB 2 Regal Theatre; FEB 3 Mandurah P.A Centre + THE WATERBOYS: FEB 2 Perth Concert Hall THEE OH SEES: FEB 2 The Bakery + SLEEP ∞ OVER: FEB 3 Geisha AN EVENING ON THE GREEN: ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS, SUNNYBOYS, JO JO ZEP & THE FALCONS: FEB 6 Kings Park & Botanic Gardens PERTH FESTIVAL: CAT POWER, FATHER JOHN MISTY, GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR, JENS LEKMAN, and more: FEB 8-MAR 2 Chevron Festival Gardens, Perth Cultural Centre, Concert Hall

X-WRAY

•

Food •

7

Coffee

•

days

till

Thursday 22/11 • “The Jazz Hole” Friday 23/11 • The New Beast / Leon Saturday

24/11

late

Jazzy Jack in (free from 7pm) Whiskey Pocket / The Ewing ($5 from 8pm)

•

Sunday 25/11 • / Click Brown

Sound

DJ

The Fox

Dick

Tracy

Charisma Brothers (free from 4pm)

Monday 26/11 • Johnnie Walker and The Rock Bottoms (100% genuine sticking it to the man) Tuesday Jazz

27/11 Quartet

Wednesday

28/11

Lot 4 • • 9430

3 9399

•

The

Tom from

(free •

Lil’ 13 •

Jim

/

Pippa

Tale 7pm) Lester

Essex St Fremantle xwraymusic@gmail.com

53

EMPLOYMENT

FILM & STAGE

ADMINISTRATION

PRODUCTION

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