DOWNLOAD NOW
# 9 6 • 0 8 . 0 7. 1 5 • S Y D N E Y • F R E E • I N C O R P O R AT I N G
tv
PATRICK TRICK MMALL BRAMMALL
guide
BONDI DI FEAST
music
2015’S TOP ALBUMS SO FAR
tour
KITTY, Y, DAISY & LEWIS
the music | the lifestyle | the fashion | the art | the culture | you
2 • THE MUSIC • 8T 88TH T JULYY 22015 015 01 15
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 3
ON SALE
NOW STORE.THEMUSIC.COM.AU
4 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 5
GET ONLINE THIS WEEK FOR YOUR CHANCE TO
WIN
DVD
PHYSICAL COPIES OF
NEILL BLOMKAMP’S SCI FI FILM CHAPPIE
10/07
ALPINE //PEARLS //OLYMPIA
TEX PERKINS & THE DARK HORSES 31/07 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE (US) 17/07
// SAY HI (US)
FRENZAL RHOMB 01/08 GANG OF YOUTHS // I KNOW LEOPARD 07/08 THE GETAWAY PLAN 10/09
VINYL
PHYSICAL COPIES OF
US FOLKSTERS GOOD OLD WAR’S NEW ALBUM BROKEN INTO BETTER SHAPE ON SWEET, SWEET VINYL. WWW.THEMUSIC.C OM.AU/WIN
6 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 7
CREDITS PUBLISHER
Street Press Australia Pty Ltd
GROUP MANAGING EDITOR Andrew Mast
NATIONAL EDITOR MAGAZINES Mark Neilsen
ARTS EDITOR Hannah Story
EAT/DRINK EDITOR Stephanie Liew
MUSO EDITOR Michael Smith
GIG GUIDE EDITOR Justine Lynch nsw.gigs@themusic.com.au
CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Bryget Chrisfield, Steve Bell
CONTRIBUTORS Adam Wilding, Andrew McDonald, Anthony Carew, Ben Meyer, Ben Preece, Brendan Crabb, Brendan Telford, Cam Findlay, Cameron Cooper, Cameron Warner, Carley Hall, Cate Summers, Chris Familton, Chris Maric, Christopher H James, Cyclone, Daniel Cribb, Danielle O’Donohue, Dave Drayton, Deborah Jackson, Dylan Stewart, Guido Farnell, Guy Davis, Helen Lear, James d’Apice, Kristy Wandmaker, Liz Giuff re, Lukas Murphy, Mac McNaughton, Mark Hebblewhite, Matt MacMaster, Paul Ransom, Rip Nicholson, Ross Clelland, Sam Hilton, Sam Murphy, Sarah Braybrooke, Sarah Petchell, Scott Fitzsimons, Sebastian Skeet, Sevana Ohandjanian, Simon Eales, Tim Finney, Tom Hersey, Tyler McLoughlan, Xavier Rubetzki Noonan
THIS WEEK THINGS TO DO THIS WEEK • 8 JUL - 14 JUL 2015
watch
network
PHOTOGRAPHERS Angela Padovan, Cole Bennetts, Clare Hawley, Cybele Malinowski, Jared Leibowitz, Jodie Downie, Josh Groom, Kane Hibberd, Peter Sharp, Rohan Anderson
ADVERTISING DEPT James Seeney, Georgina Pengelly sales@themusic.com.au
Paul McDermott gets celebrities to rail against their pet hates on Room 101 on SBS from Saturday. First guest: Julia Zemiro.
ART DIRECTOR Brendon Wellwood
ART DEPT Ben Nicol
ADMIN & ACCOUNTS Niall McCabe, Jarrod Kendall, Leanne Simpson accounts@themusic.com.au
DISTRO Anita D’Angelo distro@themusic.com.au
SUBSCRIPTIONS store@themusic.com.au
go
CONTACT US PO Box 2440 Strawberry Hills NSW 2012 Suite 42, 89-97 Jones St Ultimo Phone (02) 9331 7077 info@themusic.com.au www.themusic.com.au
SYDNEY
Unleash your inner Francophone this Friday and Saturday as the BBR (Bleu Blanc Rouge) French World Festival kicks off with a cabaret show by Matthew Garwood, the tattooed tenor.
Newtown Social Club is hosting SXSW Meet ‘n’ Greet this year on Tuesday. Go to catch SXSW veterans, including Mark Berry, Design Director of VML, pictured, sharing secrets.
ELECTROKUTE
GOOD TIMES RECORDS PRESENTS:
“DANGERS” (US)
TUE 7TH 7PM
HARDCORE PUNK SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM “DISPARO” , “SUMERU” , “STAUNCH” , “GRAVES” (NZ), “DEATHFRAMES”
THU 9TH 8PM
BASEMENT
FRI 10TH 8PM
“MOOF DE VAH”
PUNK ROCK SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM “DURRY”, “SKINNY DAVE”, “ELECTRIC LOBSTER”, “NOBLE” AND GUESTS PROMOTORHEAD ENGAGEMENT PARTY PRESENTS:
“MELODY BLACK”
TRUDES AND SHANNON’S PARTY SUPPORTED BY: “ENFIELD”, “GRANNYFIST”, “TERRORENTIAL”
LEVEL ONE
ELEKTROCUTE CLUB NIGHT MONSTER HOSPITAL MEDICAL PARTY WITH DJ’S JENETIC, ALEX B, DANJER, VOODOO
FRI 10TH 9PM
VENOM CLUBNIGHT
ROCK/METAL/ALTERNATIVE CLUB NIGHT FEAT PERFORMANCES BY: “TROLDHAUGEN”, “BEFORE CIADA”, “SARALISSE”, “SIGNS OF ESCAPE”, “AWAKENED”
SAT 11TH 8PM
HAYDEN BUCHANAN
BASEMENT
SUN 12TH 4PM
ACOUSTIC SHOW WITH SUPPORT FROM SABRINA SOARES, DANIELE GELONESE AND SPECIAL GUESTS
COMING UP
Wed 15 July: Rock Show with “The Flenegenrgy”, “Driftwood”, “Vacant Shade”, “Flaccid Mohawk”; Thu 16 July: 8pm Indie Show with “The Organics”, “Thunder Fox”, “Balko”, “Crooked Frames”; Fri 17 July: 8pm Basement: Metal Thrashing productions presents: 33 years of Larry feat performances by “Terrorential”, “Amora”, “Atomesquad”, “Enfield”; 9pm Level One: Post Hardcore Show with “Sealed Our Fate”, “Sparrows”, “A Gentleman’s Agreement”, “Pasha Bulka”, “Billabong Of Blood”, “Caulfield” ; Sat 18 July: 2pm Basement: Hardcore Punk Show with: “Toe To Toe”, “The Blurters”, “Disintegrator”, “Stanley Knife”, “Hostile Objects”, “The Fuck Outs”, “Inebrious Bastard”, “Straight To A Tomb”, “Obat Batuk”, “Playground Of Hate”, “Culture Of Ignorance”, “Two Faced”, “The Scabz”, “Grim”, “Feskit”; 8pm Level One: Grindhead Records presents: Death/Grindcore Show with “Intense Hammer Rage” , “Morbid Anal”, “Infested Entrails”, “Manslaughter”; Sun 19 July: 4pm Basement: Rock Show with “Shatter The Crown”, “Ride For Rain”, “Wolves In Fashion”, “Piperlain”, “Gumleaf Mafia”, “The Right Words”, “Airforce Kid”, “Wicked Envy”, “Napoleonic”
fri 10th july
Sat 5th Sept
the angels
Xavier Rudd & The United Nations
Fri 14th Aug
Wave FM High School Reunion The Absolutely 80s Show featuring Brian Mannix, Sean Kelly, Dale Ryder, Scott Carne & Fred Loneragan
Sat 29th Aug
Jebediah & Special Guests
Wed 23rd Sept
80s Mania Headlining PAUL YOUNG, GO WEST, NIK KERSHAW and CUTTING CREW
Sat 26th Sept
Tumbleweed
www.towradgibeachhotel.com.au 170 Pioneer Road, Towradgi 2518 | 02 42833 588
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 9
news news@themusic.com.au BAD//DREEMS
GRENADIERS
NO HIDING ATTENNN-SHUN!
Adelaide punk three-piece Grenadiers are hitting the road once more, this time under the banner the Grenabeers Tour. Fresh off their support role on the British India tour, you can raise a bevvy to the rock’n’roll soldiers 28 Aug in the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne, 29 Aug at Newtown Social Club in Sydney, 9 & 10 Sep when they take part in BIGSOUND in Brisbane, 11 Sep at The Northern in Byron Bay and 12 Sep at Quiksilver Boardriders in Coolangatta, presented by The Music.
RISE RETURN
TONI TAKES OZ
One of the world’s most politically and socially conscious punk bands, America’s Rise Against are returning to Australia once more for a lightning east coast tour. Last here in Feb/Mar as guests of the Foo Fighters, this visit gives them another chance to showcase their latest album, last year’s The Black Market, which lead single, I Don’t Want To Be Here Anymore, made the 2014 triple j Hottest 100. Catch them 2 Dec at Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne; 4 Dec at the Riverstage in Brisbane; and 5 Dec at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney.
She’s sold more than 66 million albums worldwide, earned seven Grammy Awards, has her own reality TV show and is executive producer on a show titled Tamar & Vince, yet Toni Braxton has never toured Australia – until now. She’s sure to feature tracks from last year’s collaborative album with Babyface, Love, Marriage & Divorce, which debuted at #4 in the Billboard To 200, as well as all her big hits when she plays 11 Sep at Hamer Hall in Melbourne; 13 Sep at the Sydney Opera House; and 14 Sep at QPAC Theatre in Brisbane.
PIRATES AHOY!
WARM EMBRACE
No, this isn’t a final Johnny Depp shoutout as shooting on the next Pirates Of The Caribbean finalises. It’s way bigger – Alestorm are heading back to Australia! The self-styled “True Scottish Pirate Metal” five-piece will be showcasing their latest album, last year’s Sunset On The Golden Age, and all your faves from their back catalogue, and have invited Brisbane six-piece Lagerstein along for the ride (and beer, lots of it!). Catch them if you can 26 Nov at Max Watt’s in Brisbane; 28 Nov in the Manning Bar, Sydney; and 29 Nov at 170 Russell in Melbourne.
Following their upcoming appearance at Splendour, SAFIA are heading out on tour to celebrate the release of their new single, Embracing Me. The national run, which features support act Boo Seeka, stops by Karova Lounge, Ballarat, 20 Aug; Bended Elbow, Geelong, 21 Aug; Corner Hotel, Melbourne, 22 Aug; Uni Bar, Wollongong, 27 Aug; Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, 29 Aug; Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane, 3 Sep; Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, 4 Sep; Factory Theatre, Sydney, 11 Sep (all ages); ANU Bar, Canberra, 12 Sep.
“WHOEVER PLANNED OUT THE #ASKELJAMES TAG HAS OBVIOUSLY NEVER, EVER MET TWITTER.” WE DON’T KNOW WHO’D BE FEELING WORSE, @FIZZYGRRL – JAMES OR THE PR TEAM 10 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
Adelaide four-piece Bad//Dreems finally release their debut album, Dogs At Bay, 21 Aug, and have announced it with a first single, Hiding To Nothing. Also in the works is a national tour, presented by The Music, that will see them play 9 Oct at Oxford Art Factory in Sydney, 16 Oct at Woolly Mammoth in Brisbane, 17 Oct in the Miami Shark Bar at Minimum Wage Club on the Gold Coast, and 24 Oct at Northcote Social Club in Melbourne, all dates including special guests, Sydneysiders Green Buzzard. Proudly presented by The Music.
COMEDY? SPLENDID!
The Splendour Comedy Club is back over the Splendour weekend with four nights of fun courtesy 30 handpicked comedic talents, among them Celia Pacquola, Steen Raskopoulos, Matt Okine, Tommy Little, Gen Fricker and Michael Hing, delivering the funnies over four nights, 23 – 26 Jul, in the dedicated Comedy Tent. And for those up for a little intellectual challenge, The Guardian presents Splendour Forum, with discussion panels, debates, interviews, Q&A sessions, literary salons, scientific talks and more, among the guests speaking are former CIA Director of Counterterrorism operations in Pakistan John Kiriakou, former ACT Attorney-General Bernard Collaery, and ABC’s Q&A host Tony Jones moderating a discussion with Greens co-deputy leader Senator Larissa Waters, Lib MP Wyatt Roy, Human Rights Commissioner Tim Wilson, Guardian columnist Van Badham and spy lawyer the aforementioned Collaery.
POPPIN’ FRESH
With new cut Zodiac K on the market, The Laurels head out on tour with an evolved sound and could likely be previewing a bunch of tracks from their upcoming second album when they head around the east coast with POND frontman Nicholas Allbrook. Mark the calendar, they head to The Curtin, Melbourne, 1 Aug; The Brightside, Brisbane, 6 Aug; Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, 7 Aug; and Uni Bar, Wollongong, 8 Aug.
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 11
news news@themusic.com.au
DEMONS UNLEASHED
MUMFORD & SONS
Melbourne psych-garage rockers The Demon Parade have emerged from their recording cave and are ready to present their new EP Stone Circles to the world. The group will be making their way through the east states, playing shows at Quiksilver Boardriders, Coolangatta, 14 Aug; The Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, 14 Aug; Grand Central Hotel, Brisbane, 15 Aug; Old Manly Boatshed, 21 Aug; The Standard Bowl, Sydney, 22 Aug; Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney, 23 Aug; and Yah Yah’s, Melbourne, 28 Aug.
FIRST ROAR
Sydney four-piece Born Lion are announcing a tour to launch that album and the video accompanying the single, Good Dogs Play Dead. The punk rockers deliver it all live 21 Aug at The Workers Club in Geelong; 22 Aug at The Bendigo Hotel in Melbourne; 29 Aug at the Phoenix Bar in Canberra; 4 Sep at the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle; 12 Sep at The Milk Factory in Brisbane; 2 Oct at The Entrance Leagues Club; 9 Oct at Cherry Bar in Melbourne; 16 Oct at The Loft in Warrnambool.
#TROPVINE
DONE IN SIX SECONDS
The lovechild of Tropfest Australia and Twitter’s short video app, Vine, entries are being invited from around the world for #TROPVINE, the short filmmaking competition with a twist – the films can be no longer that six seconds! Entrants need to make an original Vine film, using this year’s TSI (Tropfest Signature Item) ‘CARD’, and Tweet it to @TROPFEST using the competition hashtags #tropvine and #card. The winner takes home $5,000 in cash, a Nikon 1 V3 Kit with a 10-30mm lens, a year of Spotify premium and a VIP trip to Sydney in December for Tropfest Australia 2015, including Qantas flights to Sydney and accommodation at hip designer hotel QT Sydney. Entries close 31 Jul, finalists screening live at #TROPVINE Festival Night 12 Aug at The X Studio.
12 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
THE SONS RETURN
Mumford & Sons are coming back to visit our shores in November, off the back of their latest and third album, Wilder Mind. Presented by The Music, the tour will take in a show at Riverstage, Brisbane, 7 Nov with Meg Mac and The Vaccines; Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Melbourne, 12 Nov with Future Islands and The Vaccines; and a special Gentlemen Of The Road event at The Domain, Sydney, 14 Nov, which will also feature Jake Bugg in acoustic mode, Future Islands, The Vaccines, The Jungle Giants, Meg Mac and Art Of Sleeping.
A ROBOT HAS KILLED A WORKER IN A VW PLANT IN GERMANY [URL LINK].
TO HER DISCOMFORT, FINANCIAL TIMES JOURNO @SARAHOCONNOR_ SENT TWITTER CRAZY WITH THIS IN THE WAKE OF THE NEW TERMINATOR MOVIE.
READY TO LAUNCH
HOME RUN
BRINGING THE BEAT
DOUBLE DATE
Melbourne alt-country-psych collective Immigrant Union will take their second album Anyway and new single War Is Peace on a national jaunt this August/ September They’ll be making their way to Transit Bar, Canberra, 13 Aug; Lass O’Gowrie, Newcastle, 14 Aug; Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, 15 Aug; The Junkyard, Maitland, 16 Aug; Lefty’s Music Hall, Brisbane, 27 Aug; Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay, 28 Aug; Solbar, Maroochydore, 29 Aug; and ACMI, Melbourne, 4 Sep.
Red Bull Music Academy’s July rendition of their monthly Club Night Series promises to be a cracker, with LA-based beatmaker Nosaj Thing making his way around the country, armed with new album Fated. Aside from his performance at Splendour In The Grass, you can catch him when he performs at Howler, Melbourne, 18 Jul; Woolly Mammoth, Brisbane, 23 Jul; Oxford Art Factory, Sydney, 25 Jul.
He’s just polished off 36 shows across the UK and Europe and now CW Stoneking is finally returning home for a quick dash around his home turf to showcase his latest album, Gon Boogaloo, one last time before he heads off to the US to work on some new projects and record new material. The tour kicks off 30 Oct at Manning Bar, Sydney; then 31 Oct it’s The Triffid in Brisbane 6 Nov in Thornbury Theatre in Melbourne’; and 7 Nov at Corner Hotel.
Electro-funk duo Mayer Hawthorne and Jake One are heading out on tour this September, celebrating their live project Tuxedo which, over seven years, has only been performed in full band format three times. With their latest self-titled album now up for grabs, the duo will be making their way to Prince Bandroom, Melbourne, 19 Sep; Max Watt’s, Brisbane, 25 Sep; and Jam Gallery, Sydney, 26 Sep.
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 13
local news nsw.news@themusic.com.au
FRONTLASH GAME, SET, THRONE
We love a good conspiracy theory with Game Of Thrones so - spoiler alert - the one doing the rounds that because Kit Harington had long locks while watching Wimbledon, it means Jon Snow may make a return in the TV series is a corker.
HANNIBAL It’s a shame that this only premiered on Aus TV during the week after it was announced it was cancelled in America – it makes us watch the show with a tinge of sadness as opposed to excitement.
DAVE GROHL Rocks out in Washington DC in a “throne”, having to play sitting down for most of the Foo Fighters show after breaking his leg on stage in Sweden last month.
HANNIBAL
BACKLASH NO WAY Q&A
So Tony Abbott has decreed that no frontbencher can appear on Q&A. Now he has no excuses for crying foul on the program for having an anti-Liberal bias as there will be hardly any Liberals on it to defend anything.
DUMB & DUMBER Yes there is the caveat “lies, damned lies and statistics”, but a recent Fairfax Ipsos poll has both Tony Abbott and Bill Shorten having the worst numbers between a Prime Minister and Opposition Leader in, like, forever. No wonder our country’s fucked.
SENIORS’ WEEK Who knew the staying power of Farnesy and ONJ? Their live album sits atop the ARIA album charts this week. Why? Well maybe ask your parents/grandparents that. 14 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
REGIONAL LOVE
Jebediah have extended their 20th Anniversary celebrations to regional areas all over the country. They’ll be playing Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle, 28 Aug; Waves, Wollongong, 29 Aug.
OZ MUSIC WEEK
18 – 22 Nov, Australian Music Week finally returns in the form of a musical celebration and conference running across five days at various venues within Cronulla’s CBD and Esplanade. Panels, masterclasses, celebrity interviews, breakout sessions, workshops and live showcases, details on all of the above will be released shortly.
EYES TO SCREEN
Sydney is hosting the inaugural Alliance Française Classic Film Festival, a celebration of vintage Cinéma Français focusing on a particular talent who has made an indelible contribution to the French film industry. The first such talent is the luminous icon, Catherine Deneuve, the festival screening six of her most acclaimed films including 1964’s The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg (Les Parapluies de Cherbourg). It all happens 3 - 6 Sep.
OUTSIDEIN FOUR
Sydney boutique house/techno/ hip hop/electronica festival, Outsidein takes over Sydney Uni’s Manning House 26 Sep. The first round of acts performing has been announced: Philadelphia’s Bilal, Big K.R.I.T., Devin The Dude, Cosmo’s Midnight, Manchester’s Star Slinger, Vancouver’s Pomo, fellow Canadians Pender Street Steppers, Giovanni, Kucka and Harvey Sutherland.
CELIA PACQUOLA
LAUGHIN’ ALL THE WAY
Just For Laughs Sydney’s first line-up includes Russell Brand, John Bishop, Danny Bhoy, Al Murray, Omid Djalili and Celia Pacquola. The Comedy Channel’s Just For Laughs: The Stand Up Series will feature Ronny Chieng, Cal Wilson, Hannah Gadsby, Joel Creasey and many more. Just For Laughs runs 19–25 Oct at Sydney Opera House, State Theatre and Qantas Credit Union Arena.
THAT’S AICES
The AICE Israeli Film Festival is rolling out a bold line-up of over 30 titles this August. Catch the festival when it hits Palace Verona & Palace Chauvel, 17 – 30 Aug; Palace Electric City, Canberra, 18 – 30 Aug.
ROCKIN’ THE STREETS
The first two acts booked to play the 2016 Street Machine Summernats 7 – 10 Jan at Exhibition Park in Canberra are You Am I and Hoodoo Gurus, with more to be announced.
PARTY AGAINST POVERTY
Kicking off 30 Jul, OXJAM is a month-long music fest designed to raise money and awareness to help fight poverty around the world through a series of fundraising parties. Tear Council, World Champion, Ara Koufax and Worldlife perform live while Set Mo, Motorix and JAWZ put in DJ sets 1 Aug at Oxford Art Factory, while 6 Aug, Noisey have locked in Orion at The Chippendale Hotel. Head to themusic.com.au for more info.
IN THE BAHAMAS
Afie Jurvanen returns to Australia as Bahamas, to tour the country with a full band in support of his new album Bahamas Is Afie. Oxford Art Factory, 2 Oct, with support from Fraser A Gorman; Yours & Owls, Wollongong, 3 Oct; and Dashville Skyline, Maitland, 4 Oct.
SIBLING LOVE
UK siblings Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have annouced Splendour sideshows. At Metro Theatre, 1 Aug, it’ll be Melbourne’s Big Smoke opening for them.
TUMBLEWEED
TUMBLE FOR YA
In 1995, Tumbleweed released their album Galactaphonic. Now, 20 years on, it’s enjoying a strong legacy, the album morphing into SuperGalactaphonic as a reissue this August, with a tour to follow. See it all live when Tumbleweed play Manning Bar, 11 Sep; Rad Bar, Wollongong, 26 Sep.
fri 10th july
Sat 5th Sept
the angels
Xavier Rudd & The United Nations
featuring Brian Mannix, Sean Kelly, Dale Ryder, Scott Carne & Fred Loneragan
The Home of Live Music Since 1973 FRI 10 8JULY SATURDAY JUNE
Fri 14th Aug
Wave FM High School Reunion The Absolutely 80s Show -
www.thebasement.com.au
MIKE MCCLELLAN PLUS SPECIAL GUEST – IMOGEN CLARK
THU 09 JULY
CHEESE AND HOWARD PARK WINE TASTING
FRI 10 JULY
PETULANT FRENZY PLAY ZAPPA!
SAT 11 JULY
THE RUBENS HOOPS GOLDEN TICKET
TUE 14 JULY
JUST ANNOUNCED… WED 29 JULY
GLOBAL SOUNDS:
CHRIS GUDU + TRIO MOKILI
WED 15 JULY
THU 30 JULY
THE COOCH TENT
FRI 17 JULY
VINCE JONES
SAT 18 JULY
COMING UP
Wed 23rd Sept
80s Mania Headlining PAUL YOUNG, GO WEST, NIK KERSHAW and CUTTING CREW
CLAYTON DOLEY’S
BAYOU BILLABONG ALBUM LAUNCH
Sat 29th Aug
Jebediah & Special Guests
Sat 26th Sept
Tumbleweed
INTERNATIONALLY RENOWNED ORGANIST/ KEYBOARD PLAYER CLAYTON DOLEY RELEASES HIS NEW ALBUM, BAYOU BILLABONG ON FRIDAY JULY 10TH. BAYOU BILLABONG CAPTURES THE ESSENCE OF THE NEW ORLEANS BLUES PIANO TRADITION. THE LAUNCH WILL FEATURE AN ALL-STAR 10 PIECE BAND INCLUDING MAHALIA BARNES, JADE MACRAE, JUANITA TIPPINS, MATT KEEGAN, JAMES GREENING, TODD HARDY, MATT MORRISON, ILLYA SZWEC & JAN BANGWA.
LOST HIGHWAY PRESENTS: COUNTRY & INNER WESTERN FT: GREEN MOHAIR SUITS + CAITLIN HARNETT + WILLIAM CRIGHTON GLOBAL SOUNDS: ARABESK + FAT YAHOOZAH
THU 13 AUG
GLOBAL SOUNDS: CUMBIAMUFFIN + KEYIM BA
www.towradgibeachhotel.com.au
FOLLOW US: ON FACEBOOK @ THE BASEMENT & ON TWITTER @ #BASEMENTSYD RESTUARANT OPENS AT 11AM, SERVING FOOD ALL DAY
‘BACK IN TOWN’
170 Pioneer Road, Towradgi 2518 | 02 42833 588
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 15
music
BREAK OUT Sitting down for a drink with High Tension’s Karina Utomo inside a Collingwood pub, Dylan Stewart quickly finds there’s a lot to talk about.
B
efore her beer has even arrived, High Tension’s Karina Utomo is already explaining the concept of the clip for Bully, the title track of their second album. “The underlying theme of the song and the video is about conquering the fear relating to the feminine struggle. It’s about social aggression. Not physical aggression or violence, but about all the negative connotations that come with being female. “Bully is the most powerful track out of anything on the album, so the intention was to execute a powerful video with only women [in it] to create a sense of empowerment without referencing the typical, lame girl power shit.” Before she’s accused of hitching onto the feminism bandwagon, Utomo is quick to clarify: “We are about empowering women or whoever,
a lot of girls and women coming into the scene and giving it a go.” Her hard work is the music industry’s gain. “When we toured with King Parrot earlier in the year we noticed a lot more girls coming to these shows and a lot of younger girls in particular. They made the effort to talk to me and to ask questions like ‘How long did it take you to be able to sing like that?’ which was both humbling and exciting. “There’s a shift happening and there’s this realisation that [performing on stage] is not as scary as they thought it would be. “I get asked the question so many times [Utomo puts on a stuffy, conservative journalist voice] ‘How does it feel
The song What’s Left refers to the Lavender Panthers, a homosexual vigilante troupe who targeted gay-bashers in 1970s San Francisco. Led by the openly gay Reverend Ray Broshears, they were skilled in various combat forms from karate to alleyway brawling. “Ash [Pegram], our guitarist, wanted to base this song about the Lavender Panthers, but in order for me to be able to sing it I had to change some of his lyrics and tie it into stories of my own friends. One of the lines [in What’s Left] references a friend who got mugged and gay-bashed. One of the most tragic parts of the story was that he’d met someone that night and he begged the perpetrator to give him his sim card back because he’d just gotten this guy’s number. “[Gay] relationships are so much harder, life is so much harder; you can’t even get married here for fuck’s sake! It’s fucking brutal.” Utomo has a unique perspective on the area, having been requested to DJ at a number of lesbian parties, “despite the fact that I’m neither a lesbian nor a DJ”. So what makes the playlist? “The hits. When I was younger I used to go and dance at clubs and places like that but there were always creeps or guys trying to buy you drinks. Everybody’s welcome at a lesbian party so there are absolutely no creeps and everyone’s having a great time.”
“IF YOU DON’T HIGHLIGHT BEING A WOMAN AS A HANDICAP, IT’S NOT GOING TO BE A HANDICAP. AT THE END OF THE DAY, IT’S ALL ABOUT THE MUSIC.”
but we’re not about excluding others who aren’t being empowered in the process. “Traditionally the hardcore and metal scene has been very male-dominated and a bit of a boy’s club. But it’s not that the guys want to exclude women; on the contrary, I’ve always felt that even as a young girl going to these hardcore or metal shows I’ve always felt safe and really welcome. So it’s not a criticism, but more an observation of a real lack of female protagonists on the scene. “I’m sure that it’s not just in music; it’s in a lot of big industries. Women don’t consistently have that leading role of having control and power. It’s very, very rare. And when they are in a position of power it’s so much tougher [to hold onto it].” Utomo, in person, looks nothing like the screaming banshee she appears to be on Bully and High Tension’s first record, 2013’s Death Beat. Slight of frame, it’s her physical stature that proved the biggest hurdle of her career, she admits. “One of the main issues, for me personally, was a sense of fear in terms of my size and physical capabilities as a female. “Obviously I needed the strength and ability to be able to learn how to sing the way I do. Only once I learnt how to use my voice this way could I overcome the other fear I had: being a woman and not being taken seriously. I’m sure that this type of fear is what’s stopping 16 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
to be a girl in a maledominated industry?’ all the time. To begin with, if you don’t highlight being a woman as a handicap, it’s not going to be a handicap. At the end of the day, it’s all about the music. If you think the music is cool, sweet. Buy the album, come to the show. If you think the music is shit, then it doesn’t make you sexist or racist or whatever.” It’s a heavy topic, but as the conversation about Bully’s themes continues, it seems High Tension is a band engaged with current affairs and politics. Other tracks across the album cover deep issues like the 1965 Communist purge in Indonesia, ethical and environmental disasters and a group called the Lavender Panthers.
High Tension have made a deliberate decision not to tour as hard and as often as many of their peers. Utomo laughs as she lists the three shows in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne that encompass their entire Bully album tour. With experience on their side from their respective time in other bands such as Young & Restless and The Nation Blue, it’s a conscious choice. “When [bass player] Matt [Weston] and I first talked about starting a band, we basically agreed that there was no point in going through the struggles of being in your first band, playing to no one and having nobody really giving a shit. So we have been wiser. When we do play shows hopefully they’re good ones. We haven’t included a lot of the smaller towns [on this tour] because I think we’ve still got a long way to go to build that interest and justify those extra days on the road. “I really respect and look up to bands like King Parrot who are so relentless in touring. I don’t know how they do it mentally and physically, being in a van with the same people for so long. We’ll never be that band that just tours constantly. We all have lives.” Of course, playing shows sparingly offers more chance to enjoy the camaraderie that comes with being in a band, like fooling around in roller skates before a camera. “I feel like band photos can be so annoying, so you might as well have a LOL while
you’re at it. The shoot with Kane [Hibberd] took a long time, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing because we got some great shots out of it. But [drummer] Damian [Coward] bought the rollerblades and the ones he bought for me were about five sizes too small so my feet were all curled up in there. The guys are doing sick jumps and stuff and I’m just standing there clenching my face. “It’s good that everyone in the band is up for fucked-up shit.” WHAT: Bully (Double Cross/Cooking Vinyl) WHEN & WHERE: 18 Jul, Newtown Social Club
MOVING AROUND Karina Utomo has been settled in Collingwood, Melbourne, for about ten years now. And while her pocket of inner-city paradise is now overflowing with creative friendships – “Tommy from Batpiss lives just up the road, and Slats from King Parrot is around the corner” – family circumstances saw her spend her formative years between Jakarta and Canberra. “I was eight when we first moved to Canberra. My parents saved up for a long time so that my dad could complete his doctorate in demography in Canberra. My mum was a homemaker at the start then thought ‘Fuck this, I’m gonna do my doctorate as well,’ so that’s why we stayed for an extended period.” After returning to Jakarta in her teens, the shock of landing in a repressive environment had drastic implications. “I think I experienced a nervous breakdown when I was a teenager because the way that the education system was set up was so crippling for young minds that were questioning things like religion and gender roles. “I was really paranoid as a teenager that if I stayed there, I’d become narrow-minded and not be able to express myself freely. My mum was experiencing the same struggles, so we both moved back to Canberra.” After about half-a-dozen years in Canberra, the pull of Melbourne was too strong and the rest is history.
music
STEPPIN’ UP With the release of their third LP, Kitty, Daisy & Lewis, continue what was initially an unlikely rise, but is now as natural as day. Lewis Durham speaks with Samuel J Fell.
S
ince the release of their eponymous debut in 2009, the UK’s Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have gone from strength to strength. Initially, this would have seemed unlikely – here were three siblings from Kentish Town in northwest London, near Camden, purveying an old-timey brand of music that drew heavily from country and the blues, with a definite stripped-back ‘50s rock‘n’roll element also thrown in the mix. Not really something to strike too many chords in an era dominated by ‘80s throwback bands, synthesisers in gobsmacking abundance. And yet today, looking back, the trio have sold over a quarter of a million albums, have supported the likes of Coldplay and Mark Ronson, and have taken their music around the globe, including Australia, where they seem to have a strong connection with audiences, something that will be renewed when they head this way for Splendour, along with a slew of sideshows. “Yeah, musically, since the first time we’ve come, we’ve always done pretty well [in Australia],” muses Lewis Durham. “Compared to how we thought we would have done, anyway. I don’t know why that is, really.” Regardless, the group has been embraced internationally. You might not have thought it initially, but their music has proven infectious, fun, something real and earthy amongst the slew of ‘same’ being regurgitated around them. This has been captured to a tee on latest album, their third long-player, aptly titled The Third, released earlier this year. It sees the siblings – Lewis, along with sisters Kitty and Daisy Durham – expand on their original MO, investigating new avenues, a slightly more muscular sound in evidence. This was aided in large part by friend and ex-The Clash guitarist Mick Jones, who helmed production for The Third. “Mick we’ve known for a while, he was a fan of the group. He used to run his own club, and we’d play there, we’d see him at clubs, we had some mutual friends. “We’d actually met with another guy to produce the record… but that didn’t happen and we were just gonna go ahead with it anyway without a producer, but I just asked Mick. I said, ‘Do you want to come and sit in on the record, produce it?’ not all of it, just a few songs. But he ended up just coming around every day with his guitar, just jamming all the songs, and we couldn’t get rid of him.” 18 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
It seems Jones became an honorary Durham during the process. “Yeah, he did really,” Durham says. “We spent about five months rehearsing it three or four times a week, just running through the songs, and then three months in the studio – one month recording it, and then another two months farting around with other stuff. “So yeah, he’d come around every day and make the teas and stuff
“Yeah, it took quite a while to do. We added [in] a sixteen-track too, our last two albums were recorded on eight-track. So it wasn’t ready when Mick came on board, so we were still rehearsing with him at my mum’s house.” The five-month rehearsal period paid off, the band no doubt knowing the 12 tracks on The Third intimately by the time it came to actually committing to tape (literally – Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have never recorded digitally). Great care was then taken in the new studio to faithfully recreate these songs, hence the four-week recording time, the end result the strongest record the trio have produced thus far. “I think the songwriting has changed,” Durham ponders the evolution from their debut and its follow-up, 2011’s Smoking In Heaven. “Not changed maybe, but more added on, like a bolt-on, you know?
“HE ENDED UP COMING AROUND EVERY DAY... WE COULDN’T GET RID OF HIM.” like that, and it’s just like, ‘Oh, Mick’s here,’ you know.” Jones was no doubt responsible for the slightly bigger sound, his guitar-playing making an appearance on a few tracks as well. Durham mentioned how long a pre-production process the album went through, which was due in large part to the group’s ‘home’ studio still being under construction in an old Indian restaurant in Camden.
I think the production and the way it was recorded allowed for a different sound. And obviously, working on the sixteen-track, you can layer things up more. So it’s a lot more of a traditional studio album, the way it was recorded in a kind of post-1960s way. “It’s just kind of an evolution really. And we’ve always done that – the first record was literally just us in a back room with a few mics and hit ‘record’, and the second one was, we’d done a few more things, were trying to make it a bit more listener-friendly; and the third one, we’ve just kinda progressed on again.”
WHEN & WHERE: 26 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands; 1 Aug, Metro Theatre
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 19
really lucky actually to get the chances to do comedy – Moody Christmas, Upper Middle Bogan, No Activity was something I just finished shooting for Stan, you know the online service – and then to do this really serious one [Glitch], Ruben Guthrie, yeah, it’s a black comedy but it’s got a really dark heart. I did Power Games a couple of years ago playing Rupert Murdoch, y’know. I’ve been really lucky to bounce between comedy and drama and I really love pushing both ends of it.” Brammall signals a return to the theatre. “It’ll happen, it’ll definitely happen, because theatre is the only place where the actor is truly in control of their performance. It’s the director’s and the editor’s medium.”
tv
UNUSUAL BEHAVIOUR Patrick Brammall charms Hannah Story as he explains his new show Glitch, and his plans for the future.
Y
ou know Patrick Brammall. Maybe not by name, but you know his face: his feature film lead debut was in Ruben Guthrie, Brendan Cowell’s Opening Night film at the Sydney Film Festival this year (in cinemas later this month). He’s played Nina Proudman’s love interest in Offspring (#TeamLeo), a bumbling father in Upper Middle Bogan, and Biff in Belvoir’s production of Death Of A Salesman. He has upcoming roles in streaming service Stan’s first commissioned TV series, No Activity, and the lead, Sgt James Hayes, in ABC’s new drama, Glitch. On the phone Brammall speaks quickly and warmly, anticipating questions and talking to you as if you’re the only person to whom he’s explained his new series. That series is Glitch: a paranormal drama where people begin coming back from the dead, good as new. Hayes is called upon to manage the “impossible situation” – oh, and one of the people who has returned is his wife. “What we try to do in the show is experience what that would actually be like, what it actually looks like for people to go through that, for me to have someone I dearly loved to come back from the dead.” “When I was reading it I couldn’t really put it down,” says Brammall. “I thought, ‘This is a great story, this could be a really really great show.’ Then to be offered the chance to audition for the lead role; he’s got a really difficult dilemma to deal with. As the series goes on, the stakes and the momentum, more and more complications happen. It’s a really, he counts as this sort of everyman, just trying to see what would happen in this impossible situation and I suppose that’s the thing that really appealed to me about it. And also that I got to have a chance to be a cop and have a gun, who doesn’t want that?” How did he prepare for the role? “We did a little bit of training with a cop. I fired a gun and I had time with this lovely guy who’s a cop who told me about what it’s like to be a cop in a country town, y’know? In a country town cops are more than just cops they’re a real part of the community and they take care of
20 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
all sorts of things: not just your usual run-ofthe-mill cop work.” Immediately following the premiere on ABC, the entire six-episode series of Glitch will be available on ABC iview. Brammall says that that watching television on demand suits his lifestyle. “I’m nearly 40, so I’m sort of on the generation right in between those two kind of technologies, I suppose, but it’s more convenient for me to watch stuff when I’ve got time. I don’t work 9 to 5, and I’m constantly travelling from this city to that city, so that suits me much better. I’m very happy for it to be all put onto iView. I don’t know if it’s going to stay on iView for a long time or a short time, but I’m looking forward to it because I’ll get to see the whole series. I’ve only seen the first two eps.” He’s an actor who flits between genres and mediums, from comedy to drama, theatre to film to television. “It’s sort of the dream as an actor that you get to try out your range as an actor. I’ve been really
But in the short term Brammall has plenty of “irons in the fire”. “I shot a pilot for 20th Century Fox and NBC a few months ago called The Strange Calls which was the Australian format, we made it a couple of years ago for ABC, and 20th Century Fox bought the format and made the pilot, we shot it in Vancouver actually with Danny Pudi from Community in the lead role and Daniel Stern playing Barry Crocker’s role and I reprise my own role in it. So I’ll go over to the States to follow up on that and also to see about developing stuff. I’m a writer as well so I’ll be developing lots of my own things in the short term, just getting a chance to sit down with a laptop for a while is something I think I’m actually really looking forward to. “I’ve got a half-hour sitcom that I’m developing with John Leary who’s also in Glitch. And one of those sort of cable-style, HBO-style show that I’m developing with David Field, who I met in The Moodys who’s also in No Activity. And writing stuff alone as well. And developing ideas for a play that I’m developing as well. Just everything really. In this country it’s difficult
“I GOT TO HAVE A CHANCE TO BE A COP AND HAVE A GUN, WHO DOESN’T WANT THAT?”
to just be an actor and wait for the phones to ring if you don’t have work on the go. Some years ago, almost ten years ago now, I wrote a couple of plays with John Leary because we were waiting for work. We thought ‘Well, let’s write ourselves some work,’ so we did a couple of plays at Belvoir, well actually at the Old Fitz and then it mounted at Belvoir. And so that habit has kicked on. I wrote one of the episodes for the second season of Moodys as well. Just trying to put irons in the fire and keep myself busy.”
WHAT: Glitch 8.30pm Thursdays on ABC1
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 21
music
LOVE ON THE ROCKS Alpine get constant “Come to Brazil!” requests via social media, but have only visited vicariously, through their Foolish video clip (‘set’ in Rio), vocalists Phoebe Baker and Lou James tell Bryget Chrisfield.
A
lpine’s two vocalists Lou James and Phoebe Baker have both had radical changes in hair colour since we last met to discuss their debut album, A Is For Alpine: James (from brunette to platinum blonde), Baker (from red to brunette) – different from pictured. Baker admits she’s feeling a little fragile this morning having indulged in, “Enough grasses of wine [laughs]. Grasses of wine? Glasses of wine,” the night prior. Back then, the duo said they had noticed, through social media, that Alpine attracted a large South American following. Have they managed to slot in a tour over there yet? “It’s still a dream,” the pair respond, almost in unison, before James adds, “Every
theatre
message, it’s like, ‘[puts on an accent] Come to Brazil!’ We get that a lot, too.” Baker then shares that Foolish (the first single lifted from the band’s latest Yuck set) “was inspired by a lot of 1960s sort of South American popstars”. “It was kind of like an ode to them,” she explains, “and a friend of ours was laughing ‘cause he always notices all this, ‘Come to Brazil!’ on our social media and he was like, ‘Oh my god, they probably think that you’ve gone to Brazil and didn’t tell them’.” Laughter all ‘round since Alpine’s Foolish video clip is ‘set’ in Rio. Baker reveals, “Someone actually
said to me the other day, ‘Oh, I really love the clip!’ and I was like, ‘Oh great, I got to go to Rio,’ and they were like, ‘Oh really?’ And I was like, ‘No, but it must look that amazing’. I was hanging with crocodiles and flamingos’,” she jests. Upon the suggestion that there’s a recurring theme, relationships, throughout Yuck, Baker responds immediately, “Oh, yeah. We both had break-ups so both of those just got into the music, I s’pose.” “I’d never felt heartbreak and that was the first time I felt it,” James reveals, adding she found her break-up particularly “traumatic” because her mum is “living in England at the moment” so wasn’t around to give her daughter a hug. Baker reckons there’s “also lots of songs about being alone” on Yuck, quickly adding, “But not so much that it’s like, ‘Oh, no! I’m alone at the close of a relationship’… [more like] looking after yourself, so you can go out and do as much for yourself, or as little, as you want to.” She also details there was “lots of thinking about vanity” throughout the songwriting process. “With the band, there’s a lot of focus on image and looking good, and it’s quite exhausting,” Baker offers. “We’re not, you know, we’re not…” James finishes her sentence: “We’re not models.” WHAT: Yuck (Ivy League) WHEN & WHERE: 8 Jul, ANU Bar, Canberra; 9 Jul, Cambridge Hotel; 10 Jul, Uni bar, Wollongong; 11 Jul, Metro Theatre; 26 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands To read the full interview head to theMusic.com.au
MAKING CONNECTIONS Caryl Churchill’s Love And Information uses more than 100 characters and over 50 scenes to create a portrait of modern relationships – Zahra Newman explains the mechanics and her aversion to social media to Dave Drayton.
W
hen Zahra Newman takes the call from The Music it’s the morning of her final week of shows in the Bell Shakespeare production of As You Like It. For the past ten weeks she’s travelled the country displaying Rosalind’s identity-juggling antics and identity-struggling investigation. It’s a skill that will prove useful in her next job as part of the cast of Caryl Churchill’s Love And Information, which starts rehearsals the morning after closing night for As You Like It. Featuring more than 100 characters across 57 scenes in the space of 105 minutes, Love And Information is to be performed by a cast of just seven in the upcoming Malthouse/Sydney theatre Company production directed by Kip Williams. “How do you put this on? was my first question for Kip,” Newman laughs. “There’s no characters, I don’t even think there’s any requirements about how many people should be cast! I was intrigued by it because there is a lot of freedom within the text – there are these rules that you are required to follow, but there’s a lot of freedom within that. You are given a lot of dramaturgical license in terms of how you structure it, what scenes go where, who plays what… It’s exciting to be able to work on something like this because it is going to be an ensemble piece because we have to 22 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
make it together, we have to build the world together, we have to make dramaturgical decisions about what stories we want to tell.” The unifying line of investigation for the work is connection – the way we connect in a modern world. It’s posing questions and challenging the contemporary notion of how we connect and how we love. “I think Tinder is one of the most destructive things to happen to relationships in the modern world. I think it’s a false sense of connection; it leads people down a path of hiding behind a screen, that’s not a scene in the
play but…” Newman’s brief fury fizzling, she reframes her thoughts on Love And Information. “It makes you think about things around how we connect, therefore how we love, how we communicate in a world where we are actually redefining what it is to be a friend, like someone, have a relationship with someone – you know, we’re redefining all these elements of being social. I’m a little bit old school. I’m not on any social media at all, I use my phone to check the weather and the news, you know? And people sometimes perceive that as me being anti-social, or not wanting to connect with people, and actually it’s because I don’t want to not connect with people – that’s why I avoid it. I’d much prefer to have a face-to-face, or what I perceive to be a much more genuine connection.” WHAT: Love And Information WHEN & WHERE: 9 Jul – 15 Aug, Wharf 1 Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 23
film
SCENE CHANGER Writer/director Penelope Spheeris still possesses the same passion and angst she had when she released her seminal documentaries in the ‘80s, but Daniel Cribb discovers changing laws have stunted her creativity.
P
enelope Spheeris not only changed filmmaking with her iconic The Decline Of Western Civilization punk and metal documentaries in the ‘80s, but also left a permanent mark on the scene, so it’s not surprising she’d rather be known for them than her efforts on Wayne’s World. “I think the first one definitely affected the development of MTV,” Spheeris begins from her Laurel Canyon residence. “I did that first one before MTV happened and I always hear, ‘How come you copied the shooting and
MEGADETH LIVE ON STAGE
music
editing feel of the MTV videos?’ And I’m like, ‘Wait a minute... it’s the other way around.’” Though it’s been 34 years since the first Decline film dropped, it’s still an important piece of film history and social commentary, which is why a box-set release of all three is well overdue. “I guess they just struck a nerve, in the same way actually that Wayne’s World struck a nerve. I think they just captured a time where a lot of other filmmakers just weren’t making movies. I was fortunate that I was observant enough to make a movie about subjects that other people weren’t making movies about.”
It’s her passion that makes Spheeris’ work so engaging, but times have changed and even the Decline films would have been “watered down” had they been made today. “As a documentarian, my problem is the privacy laws right now,” she reveals. “I can’t make a documentary film. I would make a film about mental health in the United States right now, because it sucks. Right now, none of the government is supporting it, and people are locked away forever and it’s horrible… can I make a documentary on it? No, because of the privacy laws here. There’s no documentary I would make because I can’t do it.” A large part of her pride in the Decline… films stems from how involved in them she was. Wayne’s World might have been more commercially successful, but that’s not something she’s as connected to. “When we did Wayne’s World, we had no idea that it was going to have the success that it did – none of us did. Mike [Myers] didn’t, Lorne Michaels [producer] didn’t, Paramount didn’t, and nobody knew. It was just kind of a fluke of nature and actually so were the Decline movies. I didn’t know that they would be significant 30 years later. “I get scripts all the time from people, saying, ‘Here’s the new Wayne’s World,’ and I’m like, ‘Send them to Paramount care of Lorne Michaels – it ain’t me.’ If they did it right it would work; there are so many fans out there, but it’s so hard to do something like that right. They wouldn’t hire me, because they wouldn’t hire me for Wayne’s World 2, so screw them.” WHAT: The Decline Of Western Civilization Collection On DVD and Blu-ray
TWO’S COMPANY Their new album in the can, doom/sludge duo Black Cobra are coiled and ready for Australia, drummer Rafa Martinez tells Brendan Crabb.
V
enturing into a new market and playing such extreme music as Black Cobra can be problematic. Especially when there are regional dates littered throughout the itinerary, such as when The Music first caught the US pair a half-decade ago, punishing the eardrums of a modest gathering during a non-capital city show on their maiden Australian trek. It’s a scenario tub-thumper Rafa Martinez is accustomed to. “That’s just part of the game. It doesn’t matter how big of a band you are, there’s always gonna be a night that you play where Motörhead’s going to be playing up the street,” he laughs. “We love playing and you’ve got to do the songs justice, no matter how many people are there. Obviously when there’s the energy of the crowd and they’re going ape, it’s a little different because they have that enthusiasm, they want an encore and are more involved. Then sometimes if there’s not that many people there you try a new song, or try something different.” It’s all inherent in establishing a following, and San Francisco’s doom-laden duo will seek to capitalise on their third jaunt Down Under, accompanied this time by fellow sludgy two-piece, Jucifer, from Georgia, on their inaugural Australian tour. Black Cobra will be roadtesting a song from their newly completed, forthcoming full-length, recorded 24 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
with Jonathan Nuñez of Torche. “Every album we learn something new as far as what we can do, technically. I usually try to write… I don’t limit myself by what I can currently play, so I sometimes write technical things that are challenging or that I can’t play right away, so it forces me to apply myself to the instrument, to take a couple of months to learn new patterns and new beats. After every album tour cycle, after playing the songs a couple of hundred times, I better myself that way. “I couldn’t play on the first album the things that I’m playing right now. I just physically wouldn’t be able to do it… If we start playing
things that sound maybe too similar, then we’re like, ‘Oh, we’ve done that before.’ You’ve gotta keep your identity too. Every band has an identity, and you definitely want to keep that. The guitars, it’s the same tuning, and we use a lot of the same pedals and amps. I’ve added one cymbal in nine years, so it’s not very different from what we started with,” he laughs. The sound is always like that, but you got to keep things interesting and we’re just that kind of band that does stuff like that... We’re a proto-metal band… I’m definitely a purist as far as, like, thrash-metal and ‘80s bands like Exodus, Testament and stuff like that, but there’s new stuff like High on Fire, Mastodon and Gojira that are pushing metal in new directions.” WHEN & WHERE: 11 Jul, Hermann’s Bar; 13 Jul, Newtown Social Club; 14 Jul, The Basement, Canberra
music
IN TUNE
brains and six pairs of eyes to understand all of that. It makes you far too self-conscious to pay any attention.”
For a man described as “arguably Britain’s last great guitar stylist”, Johnny Marr feels he’s only now closer to nailing the perfect tune. The former Smiths guitarist tells Paul Ransom about artistry and long overdue solo albums. guess now that you’ve asked me and I think about it there is no real differentiation between the noise and my life,” says Johnny Marr from his Manchester living room.
“I
stints in Modest Mouse, The Cribs and The The to movie soundtracks and now, finally, solo records.
The question in question is the one about the veritable mountain of accolades he’s accrued since appearing on our radars in 1983 with a band called The Smiths. Not only are The Smiths revered as one of the very few genuinely original bands in rock history but Marr often makes ‘best guitarist’ top tens. His jangly Rickenbacker stylings have not only spawned countless imitators but fuelled a diverse career that’s included everything from
“Maybe I don’t avoid it, I just kinda swim with it,” he says of the hoopla. “I’ve never really known any different, I suppose. I mean, perhaps there is no clear differentiation between all that stuff and a private life.” Nonetheless, Marr admits he stopped paying attention “somewhere in the late ‘90s”. These days, he just stays busy. “People always say ‘don’t read reviews’ but I actually don’t; and in this day and age when you’ve got so much information flying at you all the time you’d need three
music
Now in his 50s, Marr is at last able to employ a once awkward sounding epithet. “I appreciate what the word ‘artist’ means more and more as each year passes because that is what I love. I love creating things; in my case it’s music but also videos now and even the merch. Mine is the life of an artist but I don’t believe you can really be an artist and be entirely media savvy. You become something else then.” So rather than tweaking his public persona, Marr simply treads the path he’s been on since before The Smiths. “Writing a song under four minutes with an interesting title, upbeat loud drums, hooky guitars and kinda catchy vocals is the greatest thing for me.” While every Smiths fan will doubtless point to one song or another as an example of such perfection, unsurprisingly Marr believes he’s now closer. “I feel like with the solo records I’ve got pretty lucky and got kinda close to catching some of that.” Perhaps what’s most striking about Marr’s two recent solo records, The Messenger and Playland, is they took so long to arrive; no less than 26 years after The Smiths split in 1987. “I think I needed to go through a period of just making records and playing on people’s records. That was something I always wanted to do from when I was a boy and, after The Smiths split, that’s what I pursued. I wasn’t hiding out from anything or getting away from my legacy or any of that, I just wanted to be in The The, so that’s what I did.” WHEN & WHERE: 20 Jul, Enmore Theatre; 24 Jul, Splendour In The Grass, North Byron Parklands
GOOD FRIENDS Back in the bracing winter of his home town, Fraser A Gorman chats to Evan Young about his debut solo outing.
H
aving recently returned from the warm weather of his first ever European and North American tours, young Victorian singer-songwriter Fraser A Gorman has experienced a complete climate reversal. To cope with Melbourne’s merciless winter, he sports a stylish band tee/denim jacket combo to warm himself. “It was really great. I had a blast,” Gorman says of the tour. “Each country felt very different. I definitely felt in the UK my music was received better than in America or Europe – I think people in the UK better understand the humour and sarcasm in my songs. They’re all really good places though. I want to play in Japan next.” Gorman, who now performs under his own name after stints with various groups, is back to launch his debut solo LP, Slow Gum, ten songs fusing creative nonfiction narratives with relaxed rock’n’roll melodies. The 23-year-old reveals he’s been sitting on the material for longer than the public might realise. “The record was actually finished about a year-and-a-half ago, and a couple of the songs I wrote maybe four years ago. It was a little bit annoying to hang onto them for so long, but I was busy touring – and I also got signed to a record label in the UK [Marathon Artists]. But I still like the songs, so I’m happy to play them.” With arresting brown curls, impressive instrumental skills and a unique songwriting flair, Gorman shares more than a few characteristics with folk legend Bob 26 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
Dylan. While he’s not overly affected by such comparisons, Gorman admits he’s a little perplexed. “I don’t really think about things too much,” he laughs. “Being labelled as a country and folk musician, the Dylan thing happens a lot, which I’m cool with I guess. I think my music has a vague vibe of that sort, but to me, it just sounds like rock’n’roll.” Gorman’s charming lackadaisical playing style isn’t far removed from that of another young Aussie export: tour buddy, labelmate and good friend Courtney Barnett. He recalls first meeting Barnett back in 2011, and explains the impact she’s had helping him break through as a solo artist.
“Courtney was one of the first musical people I remember meeting when I moved to Melbourne. I met her at [Fitzroy venue] The Old Bar, watching [her former band] Immigrant Union. We bonded over similar music and became mates. When I put out an EP around then she asked whether I wanted it to be put out on Milk! [Records, Barnett’s label]. At that stage it didn’t mean much, but then it turned into something big. I was really lucky to get that exposure. Back when I was younger me and my mates hung out and made bands in Geelong, and when it got a bit small, we all moved up to Melbourne. But after going overseas with Courtney, I realise Melbourne is pretty small too. There’s bigger places to go.”
WHEN & WHERE: 10 Jul, Newtown Social Club
CAN’T FIGHT IT
they’ve now let bygones be bygones and returned with new album Ghost Notes – Veruca Salt’s fifth album, but third with the “classic line-up”.
After one of rock’s messier break-ups – the period apart now referred to in band lore as “the heinous hiatus” – Veruca Salt’s original line-up has reconvened, guitarist/ vocalist Louise Post telling Steve Bell their broken bones have knitted and healed even stronger than before.
C
hicago rockers Veruca Salt burst onto the global scene like a hurricane in the early-‘90s, taking their sonic cues from the grunge and alt-rock explosion that was so all-pervasive at the time. Formed around the core creative partnership of co-frontwomen Louise Post and Nina Gordon the band’s radio-friendly blend of distortion and anthemic alt-pop found them hitting the ground
running frenetically, with both their 1994 debut album, American Thighs, and its runaway single, Seether, proving massive hits all around the world. Yet despite these rampant early wins they struggled to replicate their initial success, and 1997 follow-up, Eight Arms To Hold You, didn’t make anywhere near the same impact as its predecessor. By early-1998 Gordon had quit the band for a solo career, whilst Post kept the Veruca Salt moniker and assembled a completely new line-up to carry on alone. Stunningly,
music
“We weren’t intending on making a new record necessarily, we just got back together and thought that we’d play a couple of reunion shows or something,” Post explains happily. “So Nina and I got together with guitars and played a couple of songs from American Thighs just to start with, and it was such an incredible experience just to hear our voices together again. I think we probably both cried a little bit and wished that we’d sung together a little sooner and not let so much time pass – and then we got back down to work. “We were really chomping at the bit to write new material almost right away. It was like history repeating itself, because when we first met we met on a musical blind date. Someone set us up to play music together, so we never really sat around and chatted aimlessly or just hung out or went to parties – we always had music as the core of our friendship, and the same thing applies this time around.” Post explains that the innate chemistry didn’t even need fuel to reignite. “It turns out that it never even went away,” she smiles. “The same magic that was there before is there now – it’s an incredibly charged atmosphere and creative dynamic between the four of us that seems to have only grown in intensity over time.” WHAT: Ghost Notes (El Camino/Warner) To read full interview head to theMusic.com.au
KEEP IT VARIED
music
Musically, Bristol, UK, and Perth, Australia, aren’t that far apart. It’s all in KOAN Sound, as Jim Bastow tells Cyclone.
I
n the ‘90s ‘the Bristol sound’ – trip hop – was omnipresent with acts like Massive Attack. Roni Size then led a new wave with his drum‘n’bass supergroup Reprazent. Today Bristol is represented by the Perth-bound KOAN Sound – Jim Bastow and Will Weeks – with their post-glitch/bass hybrid. “We currently live together with another producer we’ve collaborated with in the past who goes by the name of Asa,” says Bastow. “Bristol is obviously a big influence on us, both personally and musically. There is a well-documented lineage of music that the city has produced, and growing up in the city meant being exposed to that history – as well as all the current music that was being produced – from a relatively early age. Many of our extended friends are producers or involved in the music scene in some capacity, so it still feels like a good time for the city. Currently the grime sound has been experiencing a rejuvenation across the UK, which is cool to see, since several of our peers here are directly contributing to pushing that sound forward.” KOAN Sound, MySpace kids, circulated their early music while still in school. Initially classified ‘dubstep’, today their output is “more refined” and “varied”. “We haven’t really been attached to any particular music scene or sound for quite a while, which has given us a healthy amount of creative freedom. We don’t really pay attention to genre tags, so hopefully people who are familiar with our
music know that we like to switch it up and experiment.” In 2011 KOAN Sound dropped the Funk Blaster EP, the first of several on Skrillex’s fledgling OWSLA. The pair also scored an unusual commission remixing Ed Sheeran’s breakthrough The A Team – “on a really tight deadline”. Sheeran would tell Radio One’s Zane Lowe he dug it. In May KOAN Sound unleashed the EP Forgotten Myths. “With this record, we wanted to give more of a direct nod to the influence that drum‘n’bass, especially the darker side of the sound, has had – and continues to have – on us. We also wanted to combine some of
our other influences, such as metal-type stuff – à la [Washington prog-metal band] Animals As Leaders – as well as more orchestral and cinematic soundscapes.” KOAN Sound self-released it through Bandcamp “under a ‘pay what you want’ scheme,” explains Bastow, “partly as an experiment, but mainly to give something back to the people who have supported us financially – and non-financially! – over the years. We’re always working on new music and [we] try to maintain a balance between touring and studio time. It has been difficult in the past finding that equilibrium so, after the summer, we have scheduled time off to work on music.” Fresh from a North American tour, they headline mini-fest Major Bass. “Aside from having lots of new music to play, this time we’ll be bringing our good friend and superproducer Culprate with us, so expect lots of material you haven’t heard before.” WHEN & WHERE: 18 Jul, Manning Bar THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 27
music
THE TOP 10 ALBUMS OF THE YEAR SO FAR It’s hard to believe that we’ve already knocked down six full months of 2015 – in fact, some of the albums that made this list last year still ring fresh in our brains – especially considering the sheer number of records that have already made their way across our desks and through our speakers and headphones since the year began.
S
till, among the countless hours of music we have consumed over the past six months, some albums rose above the others to stand out from the pack – some effortlessly, some unexpectedly, some for their sonic revolutions and revelations, some for their significance, and some due to a combination of several or all of the above – and beyond. As such, we’ve done our darnedest to pinpoint the full-lengths from Down Under and abroad that have so far defined 2015 for their own reasons. Of course, by its nature, it’s an imperfect list, and we’re sure you’ll have some mighty strong opinions of your own, but here it goes: The Music’s top ten albums of the year so far…
SHAMIR — RATCHET We know that, of all the entries on this list, 19-year-old Shamir has the potential to be one of the most polarising, if not the most. His hyper-colourful aesthetic, androgynous voice and ultra-eclectic aural influences make the up-and-coming artist something of an unexpected star, but he has nonetheless been knocking down pins pretty much every direction he’s turned since debut EP Northtown, so it can’t have come as that much a surprise when his first full-length Ratchet dropped and knocked our socks off. It’s a versatile, energetic, euphoric, reckless and youthful listen, and carries all the strengths and weaknesses therein, but the fact that it’s so sharply designed to make you feel something – anything – reinforces the album’s conceit that “life is for living and not drifting away to all the mellow fluff that’s currently passing for popular music”. Amen.
In and around the release of her universally acclaimed debut full-length, Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, Barnett has seen her star rise exponentially at home and abroad — from wowing Ellen DeGeneres and smashing SXSW to dominating Aussie and US charts, nailing it on tour and popping up on Channel Seven, Barnett has been simply unbeatable in her upward trajectory since the beginning of the year. And, while the refreshing brand of diary-esque, witty talk-rock found on Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit may not be everyone’s cup of tea, it’s a fool’s errand to try and act like she hasn’t made an indelible impact these past six months. 28 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
Hopefully, putting together album #2 won’t be quite as emotionally trying: Leaupepe has earned that much at least after letting us all in so openly on the band’s debut effort.
PEARLS — PRETEND YOU’RE MINE Pearls’ consistently upward trajectory really began in the dying months of 2014, when they signed with Dot Dash/Remote Control Records ahead of this year’s release of Pretend You’re Mine, but it’s not even close to slowed down, much less stopped, since then. Not only have Pearls so far added the annual Reclink Community Cup to their CV, but they have well and truly asserted themselves as an essential mainstay of the Aussie live scene, their overarching sense of “saccharine glam” and boundless ream of “hooks as sleek as their creators” doing much to inform the band’s live performances. On record, it’s no different: Pretend You’re Mine simply shines as an alt-pop gem made all the more impressive for its status as their very first full-length offering together. And the undeniably communal vibe – found throughout in the shared vocals of their three members – doesn’t hurt.
GRENADIERS — SUMMER
COURTNEY BARNETT — SOMETIMES I SIT AND THINK, AND SOMETIMES I JUST SIT If 2015 doesn’t go down in Aussie music history as The Year Of Courtney Barnett, then we are about to see some seriously unprecedented shit because, let’s face it, Barnett’s has been the 2015 artist to beat so far.
that the band’s first LP has done so well. It is, after all, a simply stunning, incredibly evocative affair, tapping deep into frontman Dave Leaupepe’s personal experience of his four-year relationship with a terminally ill woman to create “some of the most empowering sentiments to be found in modern rock music” that we’ve heard this year.
GANG OF YOUTHS — THE POSITIONS Sydney-bred buzz act Gang Of Youths have already knocked over a national tour this year, and they’ve got an epic regional run of shows on the horizon – but that’s to be expected when you’re a band that has put out a debut album as venerated as The Positions has been since its release. And, in some ways, it’s completely unsurprising
It’s unarguably something of a Golden Age – or perhaps a Renaissance, to avoid accidentally disrespecting the outfits of eras gone by – for Aussie punk, at right at the forefront are Adelaide outfit Grenadiers. The band’s year got off to a cracking start with a triple j feature album spot in January, a top 20 indie charts debut the following month, and a ream of successes in the months since. Summer, Grenadiers’ second album, might come a full five years after their excellent debut, 2010’s Songs The Devil Taught Us, but the band have used the intervening time to their advantage, upping the collaborative nature of the creative process to achieve their newly assured soundscape. That said, Summer wrestles with themes that belie its comical cover and simplistic title, as member Jesse Coulter told The Music: “After about five songs’ lyrics were down, I started to realise there was this theme of alienation and aching to be a part of something while also feeling completely separate from it.” Heavy stuff, but not so much that you won’t enjoy – or, hey, relate to – the songs therein.
no-punches-pulled missive “dripping in raw anger, sadness, love, hate and courage”. What some saw as pretension, others saw a revolution – an audio Book Of Revelations, even – resulting in our reviewer at the time putting in an early call for album of the year.
IN HEARTS WAKE — SKYDANCER In Hearts Wake surprised us all with their unexpected follow-up to 2014’s Earthwalker, so it’s not a fallacy to say that nobody really saw its success coming; at least, before we’d heard it.
While we’re not so assured of the remaining six months of 2015 to pre-emptively give it that title, it’s undeniable that To Pimp A Butterfly gave the hip hop landscape a much-needed shake-up on release, and has far and away been one of the most culturally impactful albums so far this year.
Once Skydancer made its way through our speakers, though, it became plain as day that this was a special album, and it showed in every way, from its triple j feature status to its accompanying video game, massive national tour and top two charts debut. The fact that In Hearts Wake had to contend with the departure of drummer Caleb Burton only heightens the scope of the achievement, which rings out as proof that this band remain as impressive and intimidating as they’ve ever been.
BEN SALTER — THE STARS, MY DESTINATION Queensland-based musician Ben Salter is a rare class of troubadour, one who genuinely seems to emanate creativity at an almost tangible level. In addition to his renowned work with beloved local throwback outfits such as The Gin Club and Giants Of Science, Salter has kept an everpresent eye on his own pursuits, and with The Stars, My Destination, we get to reap the benefits.
SOAK — BEFORE WE FORGOT HOW TO DREAM SOAK, known to her mum as Bridie Monds-Watson, is a rare and wonderful musician, one whose physically diminutive frame belies her considerable presence, a fact made clear by her remarkable emergence as an act to watch less than five years into her professional career. Hailing from Northern Ireland, SOAK became a fixture of our listening repertoire with her dominant debut album, Before We Forgot How To Dream, back in May. Even before its release, though, we were chomping at the bit for some full-length recorded work from the Shovels songwriter, having already been spellbound by the 18-year-old’s mature and polished live performance. Before We Forgot How To Dream is an album that balances minimalism with lush sonic flourishes – not always successfully – but its scope and ambition, not to mention what it suggests for the immediate future of SOAK’s musical journey, more than make it a worthwhile contender among this field of standout releases.
KENDRICK LAMAR — TO PIMP A BUTTERFLY We were gifted To Pimp A Butterfly, from US-based hip hop luminary Kendrick Lamar, a week before it was due back in March, and to be honest we’re super glad we had those extra seven days with this record, the eagerly awaited followup to 2012’s acclaimed good kid, m.A.A.d city. Against the dying soul of mainstream hip hop, Lamar hit us with a shock-and-awe campaign of brutal,
Coming five years after Salter’s previous full-length, his new work is full of personality and introspection – though the artist himself would contest that his latest batch of songs is “less personal” than perhaps we’re used to – permeated, our reviewer says, “with a feeling of unsettled moving on or away”. Also palpable is the sense that Salter is striving for something – emotionally, musically, intellectually – and the realisation that, with this assured release, he must have come excruciatingly close to finding it.
THE REST We couldn’t squeeze in all the records we liked (there are too many!) so here’s another 15 releases we reckon are pretty alright. Alabama Shakes – Sound & Color Alison Wonderland – Run BADBADNOTGOOD & Ghostface Killah – Sour Soul Dollar Bar – Hot Ones Elvis Depressedly – New Alhambra Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell – The Traveling Kind Hiatus Kaiyote – Choose Your Weapon Mark Ronson – Uptown Special Marlon Williams – Marlon Williams Oh Mercy – When We Talk About Love Perry Keyes – Sunnyholt
RUBY BOOTS — SOLITUDE Flame-haired West Australian songstress Ruby Boots, aka Bex Chilcott, has had something of a slow-burn journey to her present place of prominence but, really, following her signing to Lost Highway in January this year, we should’ve seen her meteoric rise coming a long way off. This is especially so considering the undeniable quality of her debut full-length, Solitude, which was heralded with an expansive national tour in May following its April release and arrived as a wholly realised package well informed by several years cutting her teeth on the live circuit (and in our offices) and through a handful of EP and single releases.
POND – Man It Feels Like Space Again Purity Ring – Another Eternity Sleater-Kinney – No Cities To Love Twerps – Range Anxiety
The ultimate result is a highlight of the year so far, “the ups and downs of real life encapsulated in song”, all drawn together through deep emotion, a thematic dichotomy of strength and frailty and an inescapable sense of character – and so much more. To read the full article head to theMusic.com.au. THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 29
ALBUM OF THE WEEK
★★★★
album/ep reviews
HIGH TENSION
TUKA
Double Cross/Cooking Vinyl
EMI
Life Death Time Eternal
Bully
Since the beguiling banshee of Young & Restless’ Karina Utomo and her axeman-inarms Ash Pegram joined forces with The Nation Blue’s Matt Weston and Heirs skinsman Damian Coward, the metal maelstrom of High Tension has ratcheted up an endless torrent of aural anxiety and feverish fanaticism. Now onto their second album, Bully, they finally have a concrete document of their visceral viscosity. High Tension kick things off with Bully – a militaristic march, a diseased pulse in the neck, a lurking menace, Utomo’s vocals a low slur as she snarls “I can’t get enough of it…I’ll show you how it’s done (bitch),” before her depraved wail and guttural howl strips the lining from your brain. The song titles – Guillotine, Killed By Life, Hell Repeat, Mass Grave – continue the aural assault. Guillotine is a tightly coiled serrated spring,
tensioned for the next strike. Weston’s desperately frenetic bass opens up Sports, and the intensity and speed is raised tenfold – nothing sportsmanlike here. Killed By Life is a twominute Motorhead blitzkrieg, while Iceman gets even more concentrated, a one-minute meltdown, Slayer self-medicated on meth and mayhem. Adalita joins the fray on Take Control, a five-minute slow-burner that embraces and ridicules success in equal measure, and closer, What’s Left? is a somewhat sedate rocker, but after the relentless barrage that’s come before, even a Bully needs to wind down. Brendan Telford
YEARS & YEARS
30 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
no longer gives way to selfobsession. This is the album of an artist approaching his peak, one who knows his past and knows how he wants to shape his future. Like Ill Tronic, Right By You is also a swoon, but the knowing smirk of five years ago is replaced with a genuine smile. Everything is gripping. My Star is a neat reflective piece. Tuka’s Instagram makes for a neat metaphor. He posts about two things: art, and himself. It’s as if he is consciously working out where he wants his legacy to fit amongst other rappers, sculptors, painters, whatever. After all, life is a gift, death a certainty. Time; eternal. James d’Apice
Liminal Zones
Sonic Masala/Strange Pursuits
Universal
While the band uses electronic instruments, they play them so safely it’s hard to differentiate between the 13 tracks on their debut album, Communion, to the extent that they sound like the latest offering from whichever television star has recently turned their celebrity towards a musical career. Everything is airbrushed into unrecognisable
His 2010 debut opened with the woozy late night swoon of Ill Tronic. “Take an idea and build on it,” he urged us. 2015’s Life Death Time Eternal does just that. Tuka’s suspicion of people in power no longer gives way to paranoia. Self-awareness
★★★½
DAY RAVIES
Communion
British electronic dance trio Years & Years release music that feels like it’s been around forever. This quality doesn’t have to be limited to simply a positive or a negative sentiment; some of the best music borrows ideas from the past that sounds like the future. However, there needs to be a balance in this equation, and the debut album from the British buzz band overbalances to the point of mediocrity: it sounds too much like everything else and not enough like itself.
Tuka’s evolution has been intriguing to watch. It was more than a decade ago that he wandered down from the Blue Mountains and eased into the Sydney scene. While the artists around him were obsessed with sounding As Australian As Possible, Tuka just tried to sound good. His contemporaries embraced a brutally straightforward style. Tuka focused on his melody patterns and his flow. He honed his freestyle skills. He dabbled with a live band. He came to rule the world as a Thundamental. This process allowed him to emerge as a solo artist more or less fully formed.
★★½ radio sheen, it’s hard not to be blinded by its sheer sameness. There’s a broody opening track and a few quieter songs later in the album, but the band still fails to generate any real atmosphere, or establish a coherent set of themes beyond obvious platitudes. It’s pop music in the strictest sense; communion, but only in the broadest way possible. “I want to be bigger than life,” lead singer Olly Alexander sings on Eyes Shut. He has a pleasant voice that’s graced other dance music producers’ hits, but Years & Years will have to do much more if they want to be the kind of band this record implies they are. Roshan Clerke
There are plenty of ‘on-trend’ musical genres doing the rounds in Australia these days: the lo-fi pop of Dick Diver and Twerps, the lyrically driven rock of Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher, the fuzzed-out psychedelia of POND and Tame Impala. In one album, Sydney collective Day Ravies has managed to harness elements of all three sounds and combine them into a cohesive record. No doubt contributing to the hotchpotch of sounds are the sharing by all band members of writing duties, but with each track delivered with focus, this approach doesn’t lessen any song’s appeal. The surf-rock channelled on Skewed is blissful in its sunny disposition, and other highlights – most notably the back-to-back Hickford Whizz and Halfway Up A Hill – prove that Day Ravies have quality songwriting chops. The longer the album
★★★★ goes, the more focus it shows. Whereas Day Ravies’ previous record, 2013’s Tussle, was revered for its gentle nature, Liminal Zones sees the band raise the sonic bar, expanding some of the sounds Tussle explored. It’s this graduation from reserved sound to confident wall-ofsound that is most exciting about the band and their future. There was potential for this album to get away from the band, to slip down a rabbit hole and lose the listener. But Day Ravies hold it together well enough for all the record’s competing sounds to stick together: one of the feelgood stories of the year. Dylan Stewart
album/ep reviews
★★★★
★★★★
★★★
★★★
VERUCA SALT
BARO
BUOY
MT WARNING
Ghost Notes
17/18
Immersion
Petrif ied Heart
El Camino/Warner
teamtrick
October Records
Create/Control
Another day, another ‘90s alternative band reunion album. It’s almost a decade since Veruca Salt’s last longplayer and over two since their breakout, American Thighs, but Ghost Notes sounds as fresh and energised as anything from their Seether days. The combination of Nina Gordon and Louise Post’s angelic voices over fuzzed guitars is as potent as ever and they can still write a killer riff. More than nostalgia, Ghost Notes is Veruca Salt proving age and time don’t have to slow a band down, or soften the edges that made them stand out all those years ago.
Melbourne is fast becoming the #1 city for hip hop, so Baro and 90ಬs RD are making sure all of Australia knows it. With Baroಬs first official release, he’s come out strong, putting his mark straight onto the Australian scene. Itಬs a listen that’ll take you back to the sounds of J Dilla, then put you straight into a soulful track where you can’t help but understand why every note was played and why each lyric was written. For fans of Joey Bada$$ and A$AP Rocky, this puts Baro at the front of the game – and so it should.
Is Sydney singer/producer Buoy the complete package? There’s ample evidence to suggest so on this sweet fourtracker, as she delivers a sensual yet assertive vocal combined with rock-solid sound design. Don’t Want To See You with its floating refrain is arguably the one that rises to the top, with rippling keys, soft pads and vast sub-bass that explores inky black depths of sound like an intrepid submersible. Not quite a knockout punch, but there’s unquestionable talent at play here.
Brad Summers
Christopher H James
MT WARNING is named after the first place on mainland Australia to receive the sunlight each day. The songs on their debut album, released last year, pointed towards an equally poetic future, singer Mikey Bee drawing inspiration from the Australian landscape. The Petrified Heart EP is a much more inwardly focused collection. The instrumentation is sparse and immaculately produced, leaving plenty of room for Bee to fill the space between with his beautifully weary voice. While songs here are increasingly confessional, his lyrics don’t always reach the full feeling of catharsis they seek.
Pete Laurie
Roshan Clerke
MORE REVIEWS
themusic.com.au/music/album-reviews
★★★½
★★★★½
ADRIAN YOUNGE & GHOSTFACE KILLAH
BETWEEN THE BURIED & ME
Twelve Reasons To Die II
Coma Ecliptic
Sony
Metal Blade/Rocket
★★★
CRADLE OF FILTH Hammer Of The Witches Nuclear Blast/Caroline
On the heels of his lauded collab with BadBadNotGood earlier this year, Ghostface Killah’s work ethic and widescreen vision delivers the sequel to acclaimed 2013 project with producer Adrian Younge. Another concept album, Twelve Reasons To Die II combines hypervisual ‘70s crime-sploitation with Younge’s raw instrumental backdrops. RZA narrates the story, while Lyrics Born is amongst an interesting guestlist. An imaginative hip hop album, with lyrical content never superfluous: a welcome alternative.
The epic luminary reverberations of The Coma Machine slip into the subterranean electronic swells of Dim Ignition, although not until after a grand opening, entrancing the listener with the complicated synth line and repeated utterings of the song’s namesake. The band’s seventh release sees the largest departure in sound between records. The interdimensional sensory carnage is enough to shake a continent and the record’s complexity is atmosphericy, dropping you off on the other side. Beethoven would be wrecked listening to this.
After several mediocre releases and a key member departure, Cradle Of Filth have rediscovered their trademark black-metal sound. While this album continues a trend of dropping significantly from the hammed-up synth drivers into several tracks that try and fail at shifting through gothic opera, Right Wing Of The Garden Triptych and Deflowering The Maidenhead, Displeasuring The Goddess set a more comprehensive tone with devastating blast beats, ear-splitting riffs and a Dani Filth performance that balances between death growl and screaming banshee.
Darren Collins
Jonty Czuchwicki
Mark Beresford
Ocean Grove – Black Label Little Sea – With You, Without You August Burns Red – Found In Far Away Places I’lls – Can I Go With You To Go Back To My Country Miguel – Wildheart Vince Staples – Summertime ‘06 Tom West – Oncoming Clouds
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 31
live reviews
STONEFIELD, MAGIC BONES, DESTRENDS
Goodgod Small Club 3 Jul Fresh out of Melbourne, pubrock band Destrends gave us some of their best three-piece action, playing some of their own material, like My Friend, as well as smashing out a mean cover of Yes’s Owner Of A Lonely Heart. Magic Bones really livened the audience up with their punk rock brilliance. The crowd was awestruck by their complementary combination of male and female lead vocals but it was a shame they weren’t louder so that the shouldbe-in-your-face vocals burst
arguably still their best tune. Amy moved to the drums before they smashed out a surprisingly amazing rendition of Black Magic Woman. They treated us with loads of their new stuff that has the edginess true to Stonefield’s style but also shows how the band has grown and progressed. Stonefield ended with Put Your Curse On Me, leaving the punters chanting along with passion. Kassia Aksenov
THE CHURCH Factory Theatre 3 Jul The venue filled swiftly as the mature audience flooded towards the bar to prepare for an exciting night ahead. The support act slot was empty, so the chattering voices and
STONEFIELD @ GOODGOD SMALL CLUB. PIC: RENEE COSTER
out from under the strong instrumental backing. Anytime Anywhere and Danger I Am were played early on as the crowd whipped their heads along appropriately. Halfway through their set three of four band members rotated, swapping their instruments before continuing. There’s a lot more to come from Magic Bones. The four talented Findlay sisters who are Stonefield floated onto the stage to Stevie Nicks’s Edge Of Seventeen, which was a perfect match for their dreamy boho babe style. After the first track the crowd demanded the vocals be turned up. Lead singer Amy Findlay performed the first few songs up front while they had a male session muso at her usual position on drums. Love You Deserve was played in the first half of their set much to the crowd’s delight as it’s 32 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
Each song seemed to blend many genres – country, rock and glittering pop – which shaped an overall nuanced performance, although at times it may have seemed chaotic. Kilbey used stage antics, belting and vibrato to capture the crowd in addition to the dreamy keyboard and guttural guitar in the tune The Disillusionist. Towards the end, The Church revealed a more calm and measured presence. The audience began to take this as a cue to await the much-loved melody of Under The Milky Way. As the peak of the night, it encouraged singalongs, dancing and hugging, everyone in that moment coming together as one.
set. The duo didn’t bring anything particularly original to the stage and, compared to the high energy and brilliant vibe of the other acts, were an unusual choice of warm up for the main act.
Sara Tamim
Hattie O’Donnell
THE CHURCH @ FACTORY THEATRE. PIC: PETE DOVGAN
laughs of the crowd echoed through the venue, creating a sense of anticipation and electricity. Lead vocalist, Steve Kilbey, literally jumped onto stage, introducing himself as “The Church” before ploughing into Almost With You. Although a shaky start vocally, the crowd seemed pleased to hear the familiar melody that could have been a soundtrack to their teenage years. As the set unfolded, Kilbey’s low and gravelly vocals became haunting, sitting almost in contrast to the dense yet shiny guitar-pop and the elements of synth keyboard sprinkled all over their newer tunes. both their vocal and instrumental work in recently released songs seemed explosive, the tempo contrasting in each song, creating a static effect to the vocalist’s word painting.
With an electric presence, big hair and an even bigger sound, Harts was worth the wait. Opening with Angels Walk Below, the funky keys and snare beats lit up the audience and showcased Harts’ mastery of blending elements of heavy rock and upbeat synth. In their first sold out show in Sydney, Harts and his bandmates put on a fantastic show, mixing elements of pop, rock, funk and soul with ease. The intimate space of the Oxford Art Factory was packed out, with the crowd grooving out to this very danceable set. Harts did not disappoint.
HARTS @ OXFORD ART FACTORY. PIC: JOSH GROOM
HARTS, RW GRACE, SMAAL CATS
MORE REVIEWS
themusic.com.au/music/live-reviews
Oxford Art Factory 3 Jul
Northern Beaches band Smaal Cats brought a great energy to OAF on Friday night, layering soulful bass lines with sharp drums and vocals that totally wailed. Playing tracks God’s Eyebrow and Morning Kerfuffle among others, the band’s unfiltered and raw approach to alternativerock reigned. Wrapping up their set with Seagulls Part 1 and 2, Smaal Cats had an infectious energy and presence demonstrative of a band who have been around a lot longer. RW Grace brought a bit of a lull in the night with their electronic
MARLON WILLIAMS @ THE BASEMENT. PIC: PETE DOVGAN
American Football @ Oxford Art Factory Waxahatchee @ Newtown Social Club Jones Jnr @ Newtown Social Club
arts finds himself in a fractured timeline where the past is unfamiliar, partnering up with an unlikely ally in The Guardian (Arnold Schwarzenegger), and finding himself on a mission to reset the future and stop omnipresent operating system Genisys before it goes online. TERMINATOR GENISYS
TERMINATOR GENISYS Film
In cinemas
★★★ ½
The fifth instalment of the Terminator series is a solid one. John Connor ( Jason Clarke), leader of the human resistance in the year 2029, sends his right-hand man Kyle Reese ( Jai Courtney) back to 1984 to protect Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke) and safeguard the future. However, events take an unexpected turn and Reese
Ultimately, the plot line is not as strong as the first two films in the franchise. That said, the script, characters and blatant throwbacks to the first film will capture long-time fans of the series and confirm for casual viewers that Genisys is a stronger film than the third and forth titles. Schwarzenegger is still as robotic as ever, however the plot of this film dictates that he’s had time to develop traits in order to “fit in”, and his attempts to be more human provide plenty of laughs throughout. She mightn’t be as gutsy as Linda Hamilton, but Emilia Clarke puts on a decent performance as the fully trained and aware Sarah Connor, while Jason Clarke is convincing as the strong-minded and determined John Connor. Kane Sutton
KITTY FLANAGAN: SERIOUSLY? Comedy
Roslyn Packer Theatre, Sydney Theatre Company to 18 Jul
★★★ ★
If you’re expecting Kitty Flanagan live to be a longer version of the shouty, slightly cranky lady on the teev, then you’re expecting right. Having said that, she’s more than a female Dave Hughes or less sarcastic Judith Lucy, comparisons that are in the ball park, but don’t do Flanagan, and her contemporaries, justice. There’s the right amount of bogan nerd in Flanagan’s act, as well as some artful swears, but the shtick is at a minimum. Instead, her pacing draws you in (including some of the best placed fart jokes of the Australian stage in a decade – seriously). Building a good, through thread while
also dealing with a strangely persistent (although adoring) heckler, her only real hurdle was in the first few minutes when making fun of the theatre’s name. Formerly Sydney Theatre, yes, don’t know who Roslyn Parker was either, but the audience wasn’t sure if she was the type of broad we were ready to dismiss. By the end no one was any the wiser about the venue (it did seem a bit of a weird match for standup bookended by a couple of funny tunes featuring her muso sister), but the set was worth the puzzle. Tight and original. Liz Giuffre
KITTY FLANAGAN
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 33
BONDI FEAST & 99 SEATS THEATRE PRESENT
WHEN AM I GONNA BE WHAT I’M GONNA BE? CREATED AND PERFORMED BY JULIA PATEY & SCARLETT WATERS
TWO YOUNG WOMEN. TEN YEARS APART. FIGURING IT OUT. SORT OF.
34 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
SAT 24 JULY | SUN 25 JULY 7PM | THE LITTLE THEATRE BONDI PAVILION
the guide
BONDI FEAST Creeping into winter with a line-up of sustenance stalls and mulled wines comes Bondi Feast, the fringe-style festival celebrating the musical, theatrical and comedic chops of our very own, homegrown talent. Rock Surfers Theatre Co is bringing life back to Bondi Pavilion with over 100 artists in over 50 performances. So, step away from the Netflix and get out of the house. We asked Jordan Cowan a few questions about one of our favourite Bondi Feast productions, Bitch Boxer. Describe your show in a tweet. Chloe has one hour till she step into the ring... Bitch Boxer packs a powerful punch exploring memory, dreams and love against the odds. What f irst stood out to you about this show? The writing is awesome, it’s a really interesting story about a young woman we rarely see on stage: a boxer, a fighter in all aspects of her life. It’s so important we see more women like this on stage: a kick ass play, sweaty, funny and full of heart! As a performer do you have a pre-show ritual? I am a sucker for running lines before shows and boxing routines (for this one). I check my props 100 times – I was a really weird kid I played basketball and use to “bless” my uniform and never wash my socks! But thank god I moved on from that. What do you love about Bondi? Being new to Sydney Bondi is a really exciting place to be – full of funky places to explore. I love it, it has such a fun progressive vibe!! Who else are you excited to see at Bondi Feast? I am really excited to see Zoe Coombs Marr’s Dave, I missed it at the Adelaide Fringe and heard nothing back wonderful things!! Also the 24 Hour Party Playwright is awesome and all the masterclasses... There is so much!! When and where is your show? 14 – 17 Jul, Bondi Pavilion Theatre Website link for more info? someonelikeuproductions. com/current_shows.html Bondi Feast runs 11 – 25 Jul at Bondi Pavilion.
Turn the page for more Bondi Feast deliciousness.
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 35
bondi feast
AND TEN MORE OF OUR TOP PICKS Words Isabella Mifsud.
CALYPSO NIGHTS Meet Barnie Duncan aka Juan Vesuvius, a maraca-shaking, puffy shirt-wearing DJ that will introduce you to a new world of Soca music and ridiculousness, complete with an all in Latin dance party at its close. The Ed Fringe Review called it “hilariously inventive: about as out-of-the-box as you can get”. At Little Theatre, 14 & 15 Jul.
THE 7 STEPS TO MANHOOD You might not be aware of the difficulties the contemporary man faces every day. Sometimes there can be a lot of pressure to be a man. On 22 Jul at Little Theatre, Matt Prest and James Brown present a revolutionary seminar that will help you unleash your inner manhood in seven easy steps. Note: you do not need to pee standing up to attend.
EAT OUR WORDS: STORIES ABOUT FOOD WHILE YOU EAT THE FOOD THE STORY IS ABOUT A mash-up of all things delicious and entertaining, is this immersive, one-night only show that will satisfy your inner foodie, 24 Jul, Seagull Room. A brief history of apples, the pinnacle of the perfect omelette, and a few questionable snacks in between from writers, chefs and artists who share their stories about food, all while you eat. We could nosh on that.
THE EPIC Performance poets Finn O’Branagáin and Scott Sandwich will be telling stories in The Epic at Big Theatre, 23 & 24 Jul. Fresh from a Blue Room Theatre season the friends will take you on a hero’s journey through the ages, illuminating just how powerful storytelling can be. Let the lads have you in thrall even as they traverse topics as diverse as Vin Diesel and Troy (the city, not the man).
36 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
THE BONDI BEER REVIEW Drinking buddies rejoice at the chance to expand your palate and vocabulary – at least for the first hour, after that all bets are off as to how coherent you are. Join local beer connoisseur Ryan McGoldrick and bartender Ryan Madden for an evening dedicated to discovering the finer details in the world of golden, crisp liquid goodness, 22 – 24 Jul, Big Theatre.
THE EPIC. PIC: JAMIE BREEN
DAVE We’ve all encountered one of the many incarnations of Dave, either at a festival, a bus stop or pretty much any journey home after a night out. He’s the obnoxious Aussie bloke just telling it like it is. With Zoe Coombs Marr at the helm, no topic is safe from her grossout gags, absurdist humour and general offensive repertoire. Catch the critically acclaimed Dave 23 – 25 Jul, Little Theatre.
THE BOOK OF KEVIN Kevin’s back! But this time, without the sauce bottle. Featuring a menagerie of characters sporting ties ranging from different shades of red and blue, are the satirists that brought you the Year Of The Abbott and Australia Votes 2013. Join them as they give a voice and much social commentary to one of the most fascinating characters in Australian political history, the mysterious Kevin Rudd: 14 & 15 Jul, Little Theatre.
WHEN AM I GONNA BE WHAT I’M GONNA BE?
THE BOOK OF KEVIN
SPACE CATS A performance as true to its name as can be is Space Cats on 25 Jul, Big Theatre, an intergalactic, feline musical that follows Leike, a lonely mutt whose rocket crashes onto a planet full of sparkling kitty cats. For dedicated Black Milk Clothing lovers and/or anyone that appreciates a good cat meme, this one’s for you.
SHA NA NA NA NA NA King of the Riff, Cameron James will be mixing his creative talents for a uniquely hilarious experience from one of our most acclaimed up-andcoming comedians. James will be integrating an hour of his stand-up with a few funny, dirty rock jams he wrote especially for the occasions. Guaranteed to stick in your head and annoy your co-workers for days, 16 – 18 Jul, Mini Theatre.
WHEN AM I GONNA BE WHAT I’M GONNA BE? Twenty-two-year-old Julia Patey and her 12-year-old BFF Scarlett Waters have created when am I gonna be what I’m gonna be? an autobiographical theatredance-performance about growing up and growing young, and how sometimes, even friends with a tenyear age gap, share the same problems: jobs, haircuts, the tendency to be easily distracted, and not being taken seriously. On 24 & 25 Jul, Little Theatre.
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 37
eat/drink steph@themusic.com.au
FOOD COURTS
HOT SPOT BONDI FEAST
Because sometimes you just want a lot of options in one place.
BATLOW CIDER @ BONDI FEAST Batlow Cider will provide the ultimate finishing touch to the perfect winter's night, with their famous Mulled Cider.
WESTFIELD FOOD COURT. PIC: DAVID MA
Eating World – 25-29 Dixon St, Haymarket People genuinely rave about this place, and with good reason. Among the many stalls there’s Indonesian from Pondok Selera, Hong Kong Kitchen which has been there for 15 years, tasty meat skewers and Chinese omelette crepe wraps (jian bing) from Red Charcoal BBQ, banh mi from Phuong Special Vietnamese, Hainanese chicken rice from Shiok, and possibly Sydney’s best ramen at Gumshara. It’s authentic Asian food heaven. Sussex Centre Food Court – L1, 201 Sussex St, Haymarket There’s often a queue at Ramen Ikkyu and that’s how you know it’s worth waiting for. Likewise with Happy Chef, except it’s the curry laksa that has customers 38 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
lining up for a seat. On a budget? There’s $1 sushi rolls from Ajisai Sushi Bar. Feel like a whole fish? Yummy Thai’s got you covered. And Saigon Pho will satisfy your Vietnamese food cravings. Westfield Food Court aka Food On Five – Pitt St Mall There’s a Din Tai Fung and an Ipuddo in here, and that’s all you need to know. Nah, all the stalls in here are excellent, and there’s heaps of variety: Becasse Bakery, Top Juice, Charlie & Co Burgers, Guzman Y Gomez, Crust Pizza, Ragu Pasta & Wine Bar, Snag Stand and more. Plus, it’s got a pretty snazzy interior, all dark and sleek, that’s miles away from the dingy, junky kinda cafeterias some might think of when they hear the words ‘food court’.
The Bondi Feast is an 11-day festival of theatre, comedy, music and food, from 11–25 Jul. We’re just gonna focus on the food program on this page, for obvious reasons (you can find our festival picks in this issue too, though!). This year’s Bondi Feast Foodie line-up is both delicious and diverse, just how we like it: there’s fresh fusion paellas from Paella Del Mar, beautiful bao from Mr Bao Buns (recent voted one of the top bao places in Sydney), handmade sausages served in soft Portuguse rolls from The Fancy Banger, South East Asian hawker food form Jimmy Liks, sweet and savoury waffles form Madame Waffle, old school Vietnamese BBQ from Eatabella, and Jerusalem dessert from Knafeh. We challenge you to get through it all across the 11 days.
Batlow Cider Co. was formed as a joint collaboration between the Batlow Fruit Co-operative Ltd and Sydneybased brothers Rich & Sam Coombes. Batlow Cider is committed to maintaining its roots by supporting local growers. Every apple that goes into their cider range has been handpicked from within a 30km radius of the Batlow Post Office Box before being crushed locally and fermented to create their cider. The mulled cider recipe that Rich and Sam Coombes carefully crafted includes the bold apple sweetness of the Cloudy apple cider, paired with the kick from the spiced rum and infused with a delicious blend of warming spices. This recipe is the perfect match to the food the festival has to offer: street food, tasty paella and savoury French waffles. Lots of happy tummies in Bondi this winter. Bondi Feast runs from 11–25 Jul.
MR BAO BUNS
FOODIE NEWS
MACCAS BREKKY 24/7 Holy shit. This is BIG. NEWS. McDonald’s are rolling out an all-day breakfast menu, as of now. It’s just starting at Wollongong and Illawarra Maccas restaurants and will be followed by Gold Coast locations from next month. If all goes well, Maccas will look into expanding the all-day brekky menu to other locations in Australia. Just think: no more rushing to a Maccas and bracing the crowds before 10.30am on a weekend. Hotcakes for dessert! And BRINNER.
the guide nsw.live@themusic.com.au
LIVE THIS WEEK
CHART WRAP
LET’S GET MCLEOD
LUCIE GOOSEY
ASTRO SEVEN
Fresh from a national tour with The Superjesus and The Baby Animals, Sarah McLeod will perform a free show at Rock Lily on Thursday as part of their Acoustic Nights series. From 9pm with supports Simon Meli and Joseph Calderazzo.
One of Australia’s most striking contemporary songwriters, Lucie Thorne has created a new album with musical partner, drummer Hamish Stuart. It’s called Everything Sings Tonight and they launch it at Camelot Lounge on Thursday.
Brisbane hip hop crew Astro Travellers are living up to their name, heading south on Friday to launch their debut EP, Seven Metaphors, at Play Bar, and 11 Jul at La De Da, Canberra.
PRETTY NICE
TURNED DOWN VALVE
Pretty City have come up with three brand new tracks, which they liked so much they’ve decided to release as The Triple A-Side. They’re celebrating with a tour, which comes to Frankie’s Pizza, Wednesday; Hamilton Station Hotel, Newcastle, Friday.
It’s a bit of a quieter one on Sunday at Valve Bar, with an acoustic show happening from 5pm featuring Hayden Buchanan with support from Sabrina Soares and Daniele Gelonese.
PENNY FOR YOUR THOUGHTS With just a keyboard and her vocal cords Penny Lane is set to deliver some soulful numbers, maybe some contemporary pop or rock or even modern country, this Friday at Fitzroy Hotel.
HEAVENLY SOUNDS
BLEND IT UP
BURN NOTICE
Aussie legends The Angels are hitting up Waves at Towradgi Beach Hotel on Friday, as part of their A – Z tour, which has been going wild so far. Go back in time with the lads as they delve into their back catalogue.
Cairns based singer-songwriter Eddie Skiba will launch his new album Blend On The Border at The Newsagency on Saturday, in duo mode. Head on down to hear a thoughtful take on alternative rock. Support from special guest Sabrina Soares.
Sydney five-piece Burn Antares launch their new EP, Fur Coat & The Peace Boat, in person Saturday at The Standard Bowl with The Tambourine Girls and Wild Honey.
KIWI FLIES OVER
SOCIAL KINGS
TRANSGLOBAL BLUES
Best known as the OPSHOP frontman, New Zealander Jason Kerrison recently released his debut solo EP, #JKEP1, and is crossing the Tasman to reintroduce himself and the EP in person, Friday for Live’n’Lounging.
North Queenslanders King Social are performing their first show in NSW at Oxford Art Factory on Friday as part of their Big Man tour. They’ll be joined by The Badlands, Tayla Young and DJ Kelly Neville.
When he’s not playing tour sideman to pretty much everyone, organist/keyboards player Clayton Doley creates some pretty impressive music of his own. He launches new solo album Bayou Billabong Friday in The Basement.
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU
NOVA & THE EXPERIENCE
Glastonbury-beating Australian singer-songwriter Chet Faker has long been a presence on the Carlton Dry Independent Music Charts, and now he’s even more so following the #2 debut of his new single, Bend, the highest placing for any fresh entry on both the Albums and Singles charts this week. Faker’s new entry displaces Sia’s Big Girls Cry from its previous spot, now down a rung to #3 — but at 24 weeks in the charts, it’s not like she’s underperforming — while fellow debutantes Nova & The Experience also come out strongly, hitting #4 with Whole Body. A name we haven’t seen for a while on this ladder is veteran act The Superjesus, who find themselves once again making a chart debut with new single The Setting Sun — it’s just outside the top 10, at #11. It’s a much quieter week for new faces in the full-length stakes, with Lior achieving the sole new entry with the tenth-anniversary edition of his excellent album, Autumn Flow, at #15. There’s minimal movement at the pointy end — Sia’s 1000 Forms Of Fear rises a place to #3, Courtney Barnett’s truly excellent Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit is also up one to #4, while Ta-Ku slips two places to accommodate them, with Songs To Make Up To now sitting at #5. The week’s top two contenders remain unchanged, however, with Seth Sentry once again seeing a crowning effort from his well-received new record, Strange New Past, while the ever-evolving Hermitude sit pretty just behind with Dark Night, Sweet Light at #2. THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 39
the guide nsw.live@themusic.com.au
LIVE THIS WEEK
THIS WEEK’S RELEASES… CRADLE OF FILTH Hammer Of The Witches Nuclear Blast/Caroline DAY RAVIES Liminal Zones Sonic Masala/Strange Pursuits HIGH TENSION Bully Double Cross/Cooking Vinyl VERUCA SALT Ghost Notes El Camino/Warner 40 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
PERTH GOLD
WHO’S THE BABE?
SHOOTING HOOPS
Songwriter of the Year in the last Telstra Road To Discovery competition, Perth’s own Helen Shanahan has lifted Across The Sea, from her EP, Finding Gold, and launches it Tuesday in The Newsagency.
Good time dudes from Queensland The Babe Rainbow are heading to Beach Road Hotel on Wednesday to spread their psychedelic vibes and flowing harmonies in new single Secret Enchanted Broccoli Forest and more.
The Rubens are back with new single Hallelujah and a new album that’s very soon to be unveiled, Hoops. To celebrate, the band will perform an intimate show at The Basement on Tuesday.
IT’S SLAMMIN’ TIME
STORM’S A-BREWIN’
NIGHTMARE
Viper Recordings are presenting the Australian edition of their Drum & Bass Slammers 2015, with Matrix & Futurebound, The Prototypes, InsideInfo, Smooth and more playing Saturday at Manning Bar.
Stormcellar will be heading down south this Friday to Beaches Hotel in Thirroul for a night of their own brand of country blues roots and boogie. Expect tunes old and new, with music starting form 8.30pm.
Heavy metal maniacs Elm Street are taking their new three-track EP Heart Racer to stages across the country, stopping by for a high energy show at Bald Faced Stag.
ROYAL ROCKERS
LIKE A ROSE
MAKE IT REYNE
On Sunday at Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, there’ll be a diverse bill of rockers on show. Palace Of The King bring some vintage rock’n’roll alongside the modern funk rock of The Ruckus (formerly Bonez).
This Friday’s edition of LTR ON – only its second installment! – at Oxford Art Factory sees Elizabeth Rose taking to the decks to spin some tunes and get your weekend started right.
James Reyne is set to introduce his new band, The Magnificent Few, and along with it new music at Newtown Social Club on Saturday. See Brett Kingman, John Watson, Andy McIvor and Phil Ceberano in action. Skyscraper Stan supports.
SEA SELLS
HAPPY BDAY NSC!
LOVIN’ LOCALS
Sydney four-piece Little Sea, who started making Waves after supporting 5 Seconds Of Summer, have sold out their Wednesday show but there’s still tickets for Thursday’s all ages show left.
It’s Newtown Social Club’s first birthday! They’re chucking a party on Sunday to celebrate with help from Flower Truck, The Maladies, Good Counsel, Room, Prints and The High Ceilings. Doors at 3pm, free entry.
This Wednesday’s Live & Local at Lizottes Newcastle features Darby, Todd Bourke, James Bennett and Lennie Tranter & The Bagism Revolution. Happy hump day!
FOR MORE HEAD TO THEMUSIC.COM.AU
the guide nsw.live@themusic.com.au
ALBUM FOCUS
ALBUM FOCUS
from Dr Dog and Nathan Sabatino. We were lucky enough to do a couple weeks there. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? I guess just making music with one of my idols. I’ve been a big fan of Dr Dog for years now and it was just amazing to work on our songs with Scott and Nathan.
SASKWATCH Answered by: Liam McGorry Album title? Sorry I Let It Come Between Us Where did the title of your new album come from? It’s named after the song of the same name on the record. It’s really a song that typifies the album and is one we’re really proud of, hence naming the album after it. How many releases do you have now? This is our third album.
and recording it at the same time. Normally we have all the songs then record. I don’t know which one works better. Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Nah just the normal stuff: dicks, chicks, sik rims ‘n’ hot chips.
Album title? Gospel
What’s your favourite song on it? I think Back Paddock Blues. We did the whole thing completely live, vocals too. Had the words for ages too.
Where did the title of your new album come from? Hmmm, probably from the themes. I wanted to call it Generally Speaking Religion Fucked Everything but I got democracied to the curb.
Will you do anything differently next time? I’ll probably just get a new trio in. Better talk to JBT about how to best manage that. Obviously his transition was seamless and that’s what I’m after.
How many releases do you have now? This is our fourth. We have one EP, two mini albums (an uncomfortable duration) and one album.
When and where is your launch/next gig? 10 Jul, Factory Theatre.
THE PRETTY LITTLES Answered by: Jack Parsons
What’s your favourite song on it? Probably Your Drug or Down The Stairs. Will you do anything differently next time? We might do the next one ourselves I think. That’s something we’ve never really done. When and where is your launch/next gig? 31 Oct, Enmore Theatre.
How long did it take to write/ record? It was written and demoed over a few months then we flew to Philadelphia to record with Scott McMicken
Website link for more info? facebook.com/theprettylittles
How long did it take to write/ record? All up probably six months because we were writing
SINGLE FOCUS
EP FOCUS
Some of it’s in the final mix and some of it we’re recording. We’re collaborating, writing, recording...
LIME CORDIALE Answered by: Oliver Leimbach Single title? Feel Alright What’s the song about? Temptation. How long can you keep making yourself feel alright the way you are? Unable to be yourself without substances. How long did it take to write/ record? We originally wrote the song as an indie-rock tune in 2013. We played it live like that until we hit the studio. It was Louis’ idea to start to give it a bit more groove. Is this track from a forthcoming release/existing release? We’ve got heaps of new material.
What was inspiring you during the song’s writing and recording? Our producer, Jean-Paul Fung, built a Spotify playlist of our references throughout the recording process: Unknown Mortal Orchestra, The Roots, The Preatures, Charles Bradley, Tame Impala, The Strokes... and some embarrassing pop too. We’ll like this song if we like... Knocking stuff off tables, grooving on tables, jumping off tables to knock things off other tables.
S U P P O R T I N G
Answered by: Drew Schapper EP title? Triple A-side single: Melt, Running Around, Second Hand Clothes How many releases do you have now? Seven.
Do you play it differently live? It’s more spontaneous, our band members change around every show, strings break, people jump on stage, get naked... When and where is your launch/next gig? 11 Jul & 1 Aug, Metro Theatre.
PRETTY CITY
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? We were playing live a lot, and we really wanted to capture the live energy in the recording. We’d also been on tour and really wanted to transpose that experience into our recordings.
love in music: big, epic and explosive, but still groovy. We’ll like this EP if we like... The Stone Roses, The Music, The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Pink Floyd, Cream, Tame Impala, Flyying Colours. When and where is your launch/ next gig? 8 Jul, Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice; 9 Jul, Marlborough Hotel; 10 Jul, Hamilton Station Hotel. Website link for more info? prettycityband.com
What’s your favourite song on it? My favourite song is Melt. It’s everything I I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S THE I CMUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 41
opinion MODERATELY HIGHBROW VISUAL ART WANK AND THEATRE FOYERS WITH DAVE DRAYTON In which, for the umpteenth time, we ask what’s in a name, and provide an umpteenth answer to the question Will put on Juliet’s lips. John Barton Wolgamot was a little known poet perhaps better known for running a movie house, the Little Carnegie, in New York. Nevertheless, in 1943, Richard R. Smith in New York published a book by Wolgamot, In Sara Haardt Were Men and Women. This was followed in 1944 with In Sara, Mencken, Christ and Beethoven there were men and women, a self-published development of the text that would be discovered by Keith Waldrop (who would go on to found Burning Deck Press with his wife Rosemarie) in a second-hand bookstore in Danville, Illinois, in 1957. The two similarly titled books (and an incomplete planned third that would have completed the trilogy, Beacons Of Ancestorship) largely consist of variations on one sentence, loaded with names, and formally structured around Beethoven’s Sinfonia Eroica. In fact, all that distinguishes each instalment of the trilogy from the others is the title, title page and size of the margins. And I bring up this triptych of oddonyms so as to better frame Wolgamot’s answer (one I’ll borrow as my umpteenth) to the question what’s in a name? “…as rhythm is the basis of all things, names are the basis of rhythm.”
THE HEAVY SHIT
OG FLAVAS
METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC
URBAN AND R&B NEWS WITH CYCLONE
JUDAS PRIEST
It was hard to miss the decision in America recently to overturn the ruling on gay marriage. There are still some remnants of rainbow profiles on Facebook. As I said in my own post about it, when more than a few people got jack of seeing the colours and said there are plenty of other issues that demand our attention, the world is full of horrible things more often than not so why can’t we let people be happy for once, especially if they are celebrating equality? Our own destructive nature is reflected back at us moreso in the lyrics of metal songs than in any other genre. Alas, to reference that great movie, The Crow, it can’t rain all the time. Metal fans for the most part are a tolerant bunch, a lot of us having spent our youth being on the fringe of mainstream society anyway so being ostracised for being different is nothing new. No one batted an eyelid when Rob Halford of Judas Priest came out or when Buddy Nielsen from hardcore band Senses Fail announced he was queer though had no sexual preference. Accepting people for themselves is what it’s about and the fact the US Supreme Court has recognised that there should be no restrictions on that is definitely a step in the right direction. Our country needs to follow suit to shake off this bullshit bigotry that’s seeped in big time over the last few years – shock, horror, my column got all political! Speaking of opinions, they’re always going to rub some people the wrong way – that’s why they are called opinions. One such opinion that frequently rubs people the wrong way
42 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015
was Mastodon’s Brent Hinds, who, in the current issue of US Guitar Player magazine was quoted as saying, “I never really liked heavy metal in the first place” when asked his thoughts on his band being lumped in with other metal bands. Hinds is from Alabama, where he grew up playing country, surf rock and rockabilly. It wasn’t until he met the other guys in the band (who were metal heads) that he was really exposed to it. This confession seemed to really upset a lot of the band’s fans. It’s like finding out that AC/DC’s Angus Young doesn’t listen to anything made beyond the mid 1960s or that Motorhead’s Lemmy likes Little Richard and blues legends. Both facts are true. It really doesn’t matter what Hinds listens to off camera as it were. He and his band deliver the goods on stage and that’s all that matters. Yeah, I know he could’ve been more tactful and said something like he listens to other things when not on stage but the guy has a strong opinion and also in the same interview said he hates doing interviews ‘cause he says the same thing over and over – gotta understand and appreciate that. I’ve organised promo schedules for bands where they’ve done 40 interviews over the course of two or three days. I bet they get sick of talking about the same things again and again. For once I’d like to read an interview with Mustaine about his martial arts for example instead of the endless questions like “what about Nick and Marty coming back” or “so… Metallica”. Give it a rest! heavyshit@themusic.com.au
There are two buzz new R&B albums out, both priorities for Sony – and they couldn’t be more different. The first is from Leon Bridges, the Texan retrosoulster who evokes Sam Cooke, Otis Redding and Benjamin Booker. His debut, Coming Home, has cracked ARIA’s Top 10. Then we have that avant singer/guitarist/producer/sex symbol Miguel Pimentel’s third foray, Wildheart. The Californian was formulating illwave simultaneously with Frank Ocean and The Weeknd but hasn’t always been acknowledged. He followed 2010’s below-radar All I Want Is You with yet another sleeper in Kaleidoscope Dream – although this bedded the slinky, Marvin Gaye-inspired hit Adorn that eventually won him a Grammy. In 2013 Pimentel performed intimate acoustic industry showcases here. Meanwhile, he cameoed on Mariah Carey’s mega #Beautiful. Recently, Pimentel duetted “virtually” with Rod Stewart on A$AP Rocky’s eccentric Mark Ronson-helmed Everyday. Wildheart has already percolated a cult single in the addictive electro’n’B Coffee (a naughty version has Wale). Pimentel further develops his post-Prince fusion of R&B, hip hop and rock, while exploring issues of identity (he’s half-AfricanAmerican, half-Mexican), belonging and, yup, sex. Drake cut a quasi-referential, or figurative, song in Wu-Tang Forever and Pimentel has one titled NWA, featuring Tha Dogg Pound’s Kurupt. Best is the trip hop FLESH – imagine a more soulful Radiohead. Auspiciously, Pimentel will headline October’s epic Soulfest 2015.
MIGUEL
the guide nsw.gigguide@themusic.com.au
THE MUSIC PRESENTS
WED 08
Alister Spence + Casey Golden Trio: 505, Surry Hills Alpine + Darts + Olympia: ANU Bar, Canberra Musos Club Jam Night: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt SOSUEME feat. The Babe Rainbow: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach Mitch Anderson & His Organic Orchestra: Coopers Hotel, Newtown Rose Carleo: Denman Hotel, Thredbo The Vultures + Pretty City: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney Buoy + Jack Grace + Spirit Faces: Goodgod Small Club, Sydney
YOURS & OWLS MUSIC & ARTS FESTIVAL WEEKENDER FT BAHAMAS AND MORE: 2 & 3 OCT STUART PARK NORTH WOLLONGONG HOWQUA: 8 Jul Front Gallery, 9 Jul Stag & Hunter, 10 Jul RAD Bar, 11 Jul Hibernian House
...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead: 14 Aug Manning Bar
High Tension: 18 Jul Newtown Social Club
Vintage & Custom Drum Expo: 16 Aug Factory Theatre
Everything Everything: 23 Jul Metro Theatre
Timberwolf: 21 Aug Newtown Social Club
Ben Salter: 24 Jul Factory Floor, 25 Jul Front Gallery Canberra
Whole Lotta Love: 28 & 29 Aug Laycock Street Theatre, 5 Sep State Theatre
Blur: 25 Jul Qantas Credit Union Arena
Live & Local feat. Darby + Todd Bourke + James Bennett + Lennie Tranter & the Bagism Revelatiion: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton Gin Wigmore + Timberwolf: Newtown Social Club, Newtown Songwriting Society of Australia Showcase feat. John Chesher + Pete Scully + Gavin Fitzgerald + Russell Neal + Paul McGowan: Old Fitzroy Hotel, Woolloomooloo Adz & Cookie: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Oh Mercy: 28 Aug Oxford Art Factory, 29 Cambridge Hotel Newcastle
Little Sea: Oxford Art Factory (All Ages Show), Darlinghurst
The Vaccines: 28 Jul Metro Theatre
Volumes 2015: 29 Aug Oxford Art Factory, The Cliff Dive, Brighton Up Bar
The Districts: 28 Jul Newtown Social Club
Grenadiers: 29 Aug Newtown Social Club
Good Counsel + My Little Underground: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong
Kitty, Daisy & Lewis: 1 Aug Metro Theatre
An Evening With Kevin Smith: 18 Sep State Theatre
Rubber Soul Revolver: 7 & 8 Aug Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
Yours & Owls Music & Arts Festival Weekender: 2 & 3 Oct Stuart Park North Wollongong
The BellRays: 8 Aug Small Ballroom Newcastle, 9 Newtown Social Club
BAD//DREEMS: 9 Oct Oxford Art Factory
Kegan DeBoheme + Nick Murray + Ben Camden: The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Laura Marling: 20 Oct Enmore Theatre
Open Mic Night: The Vanguard, Newtown
Gentlemen Of The Road: 14 Nov The Domain
Seth Sentry + Dylan Joel + Ivan Ooze: Thredbo Village, Thredbo
The Wombats: 27 Jul Hordern Pavilion
The Cactus Channel: 13 Aug The Phoneix Canberra, 14 Station Bar Katoomba, 15 Newtown Social Club
The Rocking Byrds: Rock Lily, Pyrmont HOWQUA + Alex & Joel: The Front Cafe & Gallery, Lyneham
THU 09
Steve Barry Trio + Hieronymus Trio: 505, Surry Hills
Trivia: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach James Reyne + Skyscraper Stan: Brass Monkey, Cronulla Alpine + Darts + Olympia: Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle West Lucie Thorne + Hamish Stuart + Chris Abrahams: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
LAURA MARLING: 20 OCT ENMORE THEATRE
The Vultures + Delphine Geoff + Phantastic Ferniture + Crossing Red Lines + Wash: Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington Musos Club Jam Night: Carousel Inn, Rooty Hill The World Famous Comedy Store Showcase: Comedy Store, Moore Park Songwriter Showcase: Coogee Diggers, Coogee Rose Carleo: Denman Hotel, Thredbo
FRI 10
Marlene Cummins & The Blues Experience: 505, Surry Hills Elm Street + Rampage + Under Night’s Cover + The Dirty Headbangers: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt
Chris Stretton: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks
The Filth feat. Various Artists: Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach
Kim & Leanne: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
Stormcellar: Beaches Hotel, Thirroul
Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal + Chris Brookes: Garry Owen Hotel, Rozelle
Too Many Guitars Band: Blacktown Workers Club ( Jack McNamara Lounge), Blacktown
Aston Martinis: Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay The Babe Rainbow: Hotel Steyne (Moonshine Rum & Cider Bar), Manly
Carb on Carb + Hannah Band + Ted Danson With Wolves: Blackwire Records, Annandale
Stackhat: Knox Street Bar, Chippendale
James Reyne + Starboard Cannons: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Steady Eddy + Alan Glover: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Satellite V: Camden RSL, Camden
The Dominos: Marble Bar, Sydney
Jesse Younan Tribute Show: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Music Sessions with Zack Martin + Tremolo Please: Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville
Kylie Fisher: Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown
Suze Demarchi + Fanny Lumsden: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Caspa + Pop the Hatch + Glove Cats: Chinese Laundry, Sydney
The Beatvilles: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Chloe: Collector Hotel, Parramatta
Little Sea: Oxford Art Factory (All Ages Show), Darlinghurst
Christie Lamb: Colonial Hotel, Werrington
Twin Caverns + Blueberry Circuit + Silva Pals: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
The World Famous Comedy Store Showcase: Comedy Store, Moore Park
Drawcard + The Acid Monkeys + Kaleidoscope: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong
Rhys Nicholson: Comedy Store, Moore Park
Sarah McLeod + Joseph Calderazzo + Simon Meli: Rock Lily, Pyrmont Hot Damn! feat. Semper Fi + A Night In Texas + Failure + Ghosts of Pandora: Spectrum, Darlinghurst Jasmin Jones: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale Mike McClellan + Imogen Clark: The Basement, Sydney AIM Jam Night: The Gaelic, Surry Hills Carb on Carb + Hannah Band + Sweater Season + Oxen: The Phoenix, Canberra Josue + Lana Rita: The Vanguard, Newtown Yellowcard + Mayday Parade + Born Lion: UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington
Tim Rogers: Canberra Theatre (The Playhouse), Canberra
S U P P O R T I N G
Sydney Reclink Community Cup Fundraiser feat. The Maladies + Good Counsel: Vic On The Park, Marrickville
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
Mick Fryar: Chatswood RSL, Chatswood
Soulganic: Coogee Diggers, Coogee Glenn Esmond: Crown Hotel, Sydney Ceres + The Pretty Littles + Sincerely Grizzly: Factory Theatre (Factory Floor), Marrickville Penny Lane: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor Rick Fensom: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks Black Vanilla: Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Pretty City: Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington Andy Pulzar + Mandi Jarry: Jacksons on George (PJ’s Irish Whiskey Bar), Sydney Caramel Bear: Jacksons on George (Temple Bar), Sydney Lucie Thorne + Hamish Stuart: Kindlehill School Hall, Wentworth Falls
M U S I C
the guide nsw.gigguide@themusic.com.au Hype Duo: Kings Park Tavern, Kings Park Neilson Gough + Dale Barlow: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton
Clayton Doley + Mahalia Barnes + Jade MacRae: The Basement, Sydney
La Revolution: City Recital Hall, Sydney
Cath & Him: The Crest Hotel, Sylvania
The World Famous Comedy Store Showcase: Comedy Store, Moore Park
Ted Nash: Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale
John Vella: The Forbes Hotel, Sydney
Rhys Nicholson: Comedy Store (7pm), Moore Park
DJ Sam Wall: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly
Bears With Guns + The Button Collective + Jon Cotten + Dominic Youdan: The Gaelic (Upstairs), Surry Hills
Urban Guerrillas: Corrimal Hotel, Corrimal
Dirty Cash: Marble Bar, Sydney Tenzin: Marquee, Pyrmont Lj: Marrickville Ritz Hotel, Marrickville
Peasant Moon + Brielle Davis + Telegraph Tower: The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Jarryd James + R.W. Grace + Bree Tranter: Metro Theatre, Sydney
DJ Tim Partridge: The Hive Bar, Erskineville
Fraser A Gorman + Big White + Julia Jacklin: Newtown Social Club, Newtown The Headliners: North Ryde RSL, North Ryde Natnoiz: Oatley Hotel, Oatley Red Gazelle: Old Manly Boatshed, Manly Reckless + Russell Nelson: Orient Hotel, The Rocks Brad Johns: Oriental Hotel, Springwood King Social: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst LTR ON feat. Elizabeth Rose + Luen + DJ Glenn Be Trippin: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Matt Black & The Phat Cats: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith Astro Travellers: Play Bar, Surry Hills Darren Johnstone: Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill HOWQUA + Rob Taylor + Skyscraper Stan: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong Swingshift - Cold Chisel Show: Riverstone Memorial Club, Riverstone Soul Nights with Mindi Jackson Duo + DJ D-Flat + DJ Kitsch 78: Rock Lily, Pyrmont Kitty Flanagan: Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay SIMA feat.Warwick Alder: Seymour Centre (Sound Lounge), Darlington Our Man In Berlin: Spectrum, Darlinghurst Nerdlinger + Drawcard + Rick Dangerous & the Silkie Bantams: Studio Six, Sutherland
Kate Lush: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle Ginger & Tonic: The Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst Blues Brothers Rebooted: The Vanguard, Newtown Max Power: The Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard Ryan Enright: Town Hall Hotel, Balmain The Angels: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Waves), Towradgi Soundproofed: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi
Lazy Eye: Corrimal RSL, Corrimal Loaded Six Strings: Crown Hotel, Sydney The Angels: Dee Why RSL, Dee Why MMRS feat. Endless Heights + Ill Natured + Rooftops: Exchange Hotel, Darlinghurst Drew McAlister: Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor Glenn Esmond: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks FKATwigs Dance Tribute Set with Bad Ezzy + Laprats + Baby Face Thrilla: Goodgod Small Club, Sydney Picture Perfect: Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle Carl Barron: Griffith Regional Theatre, Griffith
GIG OF THE WEEK HOWQUA: 8 JUL FRONT GALLERY, 9 JUL STAG & HUNTER, 10 JUL RAD BAR, 11 JUL HIBERNIAN HOUSE
Alpine + Pearls + Olympia: Uni Bar, Wollongong
Black Cobra + Jucifer + Dead + TTTDC + Child + Yanomamo: Hermanns Bar, Darlington
Elektrokute: Monster Hospital Medical Party: Valve Bar (Level One), Ultimo
HOWQUA + Rob Taylor + Dylan Wright: Hibernian House, Surry Hills
Steve Edmonds: Warilla Bowls & Recreation Club, Barrack Heights
Iron Curtis: Imperial Hotel (Spice Cellar), Erskineville
Viper: Drum & Bass Slammers feat. Matrix & Futurebound + The Prototypes + Insideinfo + Smooth + Royalston + The Bassix: Manning Bar, Camperdown
Matty O: Jacksons on George (Temple Bar), Sydney
Alphamama: Marble Bar, Sydney
Andy Pulzar: Jacksons on George (PJ’s Irish Whiskey Bar), Sydney
Glenn Esmond: Marlborough Hotel, Newtown
Steve Edmonds Band: Warilla Hotel, Warilla Arj Barker: Wests Illawarra Leagues Club, Unanderra LWKY + PHDJ + Baldwins + Astrix Little: World Bar, Potts Point
SAT 11
Keyim Ba: 505, Surry Hills Arj Barker: Anita’s Theatre, Thirroul
Russell Hull: Kemps Creek Sports Club, Cecil Park Gemma Glendenning: Kings Park Tavern, Kings Park Cristoph: Kit & Kaboodle, Potts Point Astro Travellers: La De Da, Belconnen
Steve Edmonds: Beaches Hotel, Thirroul
The Overtones + New Trends + Scorpion Tailor: Lansdowne Hotel, Chippendale
Carb on Carb + Sweater Season + Bare Grillz + Beast & Flood: Beatdisc Records, Parramatta
Fat Yahooza + La Tarentella: LazyBones Lounge, Marrickville
Chris Drummond: Blacktown Workers Club ( Jack McNamara Lounge), Blacktown
The Babe Rainbow: Sweaty Betty’s, Miranda
Van The Man - A Tribute To Van Morrison: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Benn Gunn: Tahmoor Inn, Tahmoor
Monsieur Camembert: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
That Red Head: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale
The Mad Hatters: Carousel Inn, Rooty Hill
Seth Sentry + Dylan Joel + Ivan Ooze: The Area Hotel, Griffith
Bag Raiders + Mike Metro + A-Tonez: Chinese Laundry, Sydney
The Dirty Eights + Ginkinta + Red Gazelle + Lohans + Plus Mando: Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham Raglan Road: Lithgow Workers, Lithgow The Mighty Reapers: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton Dragon: Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown Skyscraper: Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale
S U P P O R T I N G
SCNDL + Reece Low: Marquee, Pyrmont Alpine + Darts + Olympia: Metro Theatre, Sydney Lime Cordiale: Metro Theatre (The Lair), Sydney Blues Brothers Rebooted: Mounties, Mt Pritchard James Reyne + The Magnificent Few: Newtown Social Club, Newtown V.I.P. + Melody Rhymes: Orient Hotel, The Rocks Father feat. Stooki Sound: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst
The Boombap Sessions #3 feat. Dj Cost + DJ Platterpush: Play Bar, Surry Hills Evie Dean: Plough & Harrow, Camden Lucie Thorne + Hamish Stuart: Polish White Eagle Club, Turner Step-Panther + Kaleidoscope + Jon Dory + Will Chittick: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong Peace Train - The Cat Stevens Story: Revesby Workers (Whitlam Theatre), Revesby Endless Summer Beach Party: Revesby Workers (Infinity Lounge), Revesby Akmal: Rooty Hill RSL, Rooty Hill Kitty Flanagan: Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay SIMA feat. Hannah James Trio: Seymour Centre (Sound Lounge), Darlington Jackie Brown Jr: Spring Street Social, Bondi Junction
Huon Kind: Oxford Art Factory (Gallery Bar), Darlinghurst
Salsa Cafe feat. Musica Linda + DJ Jamie: St Stephens Church, Newtown
Rock Chix: Penrith Hotel, Penrith
The Lazys + Cubans In Whistler + The Aviators: Sweaty Betty’s, Miranda
Jellybean Jam: Penrith RSL (Castle Lounge), Penrith Raglan Road: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham Darren Johnstone: Picton Bowling Club, Picton Jared Baca: Picton Hotel, Picton
I N D E P E N D E N T
Drawcard + Rick Dangerous + Nerdlinger: Tattersalls Hotel, Penrith Righteous Voodoo: The Annandale Hotel, Annandale Petulant Frenzy Play Frank Zappa: The Basement, Sydney
A U S S I E
M U S I C
the guide nsw.gigguide@themusic.com.au Ted Nash: The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney
Masha’s Legacy: Camelot Lounge, Marrickville
Horse Hunter + Yil + Spermaids + Housewives + Fattura Della Morte + God K + more: The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale
Long Play: Camelot Lounge (Django Bar), Marrickville Steve Edmonds: Catherine Hill Bay Pub, Catherine Hill Bay
Cambo: The Crest Hotel, Sylvania
Swingshift - Cold Chisel Show: Cronulla Leagues Club, Woolooware
King Curly: The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville
Chris Stretton: Fortune of War Hotel, The Rocks
Pacha feat. The Aston Shuffle + Generik: The Ivy, Sydney
Julia Messenger Quintet: Foundry 616, Sydney
Aubrey & Purton: The Merton Hotel, Rozelle
Ruckus + Palace Of The King + Them Bruins: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
Eddie Skiba: The Newsagency, Marrickville Original Sin - INXS Show + Swingshift - Cold Chisel Show: The Oaks Hotel, Albion Park Rail Funhouse feat. DJ Jimmy Dee + DJ Justin Scott: The Oxford Hotel (Oxford Bar), Darlinghurst Therapy with DJ Dan Slater + DJ Jim Jam: The Oxford Hotel (Underground Bar), Darlinghurst Burn Antares + The Tambourine Girls + Wild Honey: The Standard Bowl, Darlinghurst Sound City: Town Hall Hotel, Balmain Dizz1: Transit Bar, Canberra Venom Nightclub feat. Troldhaugen + Before Ciada + Saralisse: Valve Bar, Ultimo Jed Zarb: Wallacia Hotel, Wallacia Yuki Kumagai & John Mackie: Well Connected Cafe, Glebe
SUN 12 Hunter Wild Duo: Alfie & Herry Restaurant, Glebe Spirals + Lupa J + SUIIX + Trip Fontaine: Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt Tim Rogers + Rin McArdle: Brass Monkey, Cronulla
Glenn Esmond: Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay Jed Rowe + Alison Ferrier: Grand Junction Hotel (The Junkyard), Maitland Urban Guerrillas: Hamilton Station Hotel, Islington Songs On Stage feat. Russell Neal + Perikles: Harlequin Inn, Pyrmont Kurt Williams: Kings Park Tavern, Kings Park Greg Nunan + The General Jacksons: Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham Local Harvest - A Tribute To Neil Young: Lizottes Newcastle, Lambton Benn Gunn: Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown Duan & Only + DJ Somatik + DJ Alex Mac: Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly William Crighton: Midnight Special, Newtown Sydney Comedy Festival Showcase: Milton Theatre, Milton DJ Alter Ego + Desperate Houseblokes: Oatley Hotel, Oatley Gary Johns Trio + The White Bros: Orient Hotel, The Rocks Evie Dean: Penrith Panthers (Squires Bar), Penrith
#1 DADS: 14 JUL OXFORD ART FACTORY
Raglan Road: Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham
MON 13
Mick Fryar: Picton Hotel, Picton
Jazz Jam Sessions: 505, Surry Hills
Werombi Rain: Plough & Harrow, Camden
Frankie’s World Famous House Band: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
ViperLove + Blindeye + Punchdagger + Pariah + Hatecrime: Rad Bar (formerly Yours & Owls), Wollongong
Black Cobra + Jucifer + Dead + Nunchukka Superfly: Newtown Social Club, Newtown
Katherine Vavahea + Rosanna Mendez + Justine Wahlin + Original Sin: Mr Falcon’s, Glebe Co Pilot: Orient Hotel, The Rocks #1 Dads: Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst Karaoke: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
Suite Az + DJ Nino Brown: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
They Call Me Bruce: Orient Hotel, The Rocks
Black Cobra + Jucifer + Dead + Looking Glass: The Basement, Belconnen
Kitty Flanagan: Roslyn Packer Theatre, Walsh Bay
Showcase Night: Rock Lily, Pyrmont
The Rubens: The Basement, Sydney
Sunday Courtyard Sessions feat. Jay Katz: The Annandale Hotel (3pm), Annandale
The Monday Jam: The Oxford Hotel (Gingers), Darlinghurst
Bill Kacir: The Mill Hotel, Milperra
TUE 14
Julia Messenger: The Vanguard, Newtown
Old School Funk & Groove Night: 505, Surry Hills
Seth Sentry + Dylan Joel + Ivan Ooze: Thredbo Village, Thredbo
Open Mic Night with Champagne Jam: Dundas Sports Club, Dundas
Rebecca Johnson Band: Towradgi Beach Hotel (Sports Bar), Towradgi
Rock n Roll Karaoke: Frankie’s Pizza By The Slice, Sydney
Hayden Buchanan + Sabrina Soares + Daniele Gelonese: Valve Bar (Basement), Ultimo
S U P P O R T I N G
That Old Black Magic: The Songs of Johnny Mercer with Janet Seidel Trio: Glen Street Theatre, Belrose
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
backstage/classies nsw.gigguide@themusic.com.au MUSIC
GENERAL TUITION
AC/DC ANGELS BASS PLAYER
GUITAR LESSONS 1XFREE LESSON
Thunderstruck/ Shadow Boxer are premier showbands booked by a very reputable Agent looking for an experienced player with good gear, transport, committed to 1 band and most of all able to fit in. We do a good amount of gigs per year locally and out of Sydney.Please contact Patrick 0435939772 or patgeezer@hotmail. com please check our website www. thunderstrucklive.com.au
$50 GUITAR AND BASS SETUPS June special! $50 for guitar and bass setups (normally $80 and extra for Floyd Rose & 12string). Just like us on facebook to recieve the special price - www.facebook.com/ shireguitarworkshop
DUPLICATION CD DUPLICATION JUNE SPECIAL WWW.InteGuitar.com 0431-797-414 NEWTOWN Ad ID: 1-14542
TEACHER TO THE STARS!
Ad ID: 1-14592
AUDIO EQUIPMENT & AMP REPAIR Has your amplifier got the blues, in not a good way? Let Sonictronics service your equipment with professional care. Guitar amps, valve & solid state restorations & servicing, FX pedals, Mixing desks, PA equipment & beyond! Ad ID: 1-14601
GRAPHIC DESIGN WWW.BLACKSTAR.COM.AU
*Make more progress in fewer lessons to save money *Have fun & enjoy the process *Learn from a highly trained, experienced teacher with a lot of patience Call Luke now for a FREE lesson on 0434 634 871 Ad ID: 1-14578
Ad ID: 1-14588
REPAIRS
PARRAMATTA GUITAR LESSONS
Steve Ostrow, New York voice teacher and vocal coach who discovered and nurtured the careers of Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Peter Allen, Stevie Wonder and countless others now Sydney City based and welcoming students on all levels; beginners, advanced and performers; Rock, Pop, Classical etc. For availability call on 0408461868. For a free e-copy of my book ‘On Becoming a Singer. A Guide To How’ email me on sostrow@bigpond.net.au. Lessons include the entire scope of singing... voice production, musicianship, interpretation, performance skills etc. I look forward to hearing from you. Ad ID: 1-14438
100 copies including 4page(single fold) booklet and double sided rear inlay $300. Call Brett at SoundEdit Services on 0418232797 www. soundedit.com.au Ad ID: 1-14580
SHARED OFFICE SPACE FOR RENT FROM $150 PW Looking for people within the Arts and Entertainment industry with either a business or looking to start a business that is in need of a newly renovated and clean office space. Space already has one tenant who is a songwriter, producer and musicians. The space is within a Recording and Rehearsal Studio, located in the Homebush Area. Ideal for graphic designers, booking agents, Entertainment managers, photographers, video and production, Event planers etc Rent is from $150 Per week. www.arthurstreetstudios.com
We are also offering a discount on our recording studio for all lease holders. Your price will be $50ph including an engineer if required. You will also have access to all our recording instrumentation. ie drums, bass’s, guitars, amps etc. These rooms are perfect for bands, artists in multiple bands, producers working on multiple projects, writing, rehearsing, recording, performing regularly and want a room that can double as storage to avoid lugging gear too and from a studio, a HQ to be based out of or a place to have an editing and production suit. Our staffed opening hours are 10am - Midnight. Monday - Saturday ( subject to change). For outside hours you will be provided clearance to use the studio space under the terms and conditions of the Arthur Street Studios lease agreement. Please do not hesitate to give us a call to find out more or answer any questions you may have. AD ID: 14612
SINGING LESSONS FROM PROFESSIONAL SINGER
WANTED: PROFESSIONAL VOCALIST/FRONTMAN WANTED FOR CORPORATE\ VARIETY ROCK Professional Male Vocalist⁄frontman wanted for corporate⁄variety Rock Show Must have experience. Session singers welcome to apply although we would prefer someone to join the show. We are currently writing the show and will have more info soon. We are located in Wollongong but expect most work to be in Sydney or touring east coast Ad ID: 14610
BASS PLAYER WANTED Can you lay down a rumbling bass line that thunders and rolls like a hurricane? If you dig chugging, riffing, rock n roll and you’re partial to stoner rock and the blues, give Raff a call on 0411 433 350. Must have excellent gear and reliable transport. Rehearsals inner-west. New album coming soon. Last release here for your reference:http://thedirtyearth. bandcamp.com/album/autonomic
Singing Lessons for Begginers, Intermediate and Advanced students who want to excel with their voice. Currently teaching over 30 students on Sydney’s North Shore at various levels. Lessons from an active performer who has shared the stage with some major touring artists. Lessons located at either Hornsby or Gordon.
Ad ID: 14613
Ad: 14609
AD ID: 14611
STUDIO ROOMS FOR LEASE two rooms Available for lease. $250 each per week for a 6 or 12 month lease. Includes PA, 3 x microphones, 3 x stands, 3 x mic leads, Air Conditioner, Room Key and security monitoring. Rooms have great PA’s, newly cleaned carpets and are a great size.
SINGING LESSONS THAT >>>ROCK<< Gig Posters & Flyers 100 A4 Gloss = $40 100 A3 / SRA3 Gloss = $80 100 A3 Matt = $50 Check out our full range at www.blackstar.com.au call 9264 4776 BLACKSTAR DESIGN 104 Bathurst Street Sydney Ad ID: 1-14449
Free Lesson competitive pricing Teaching & performing 10yrs+ I have worked with many successful musicians both here and OS WWW. InteGuitar.com © Copyright InteGuitar 16th January-1999 Newtown.0431797-414 Ad ID: 1-14544
S U P P O R T I N G
I N D E P E N D E N T
A U S S I E
M U S I C
THE MUSIC 8TH JULY 2015 • 47
48 • THE MUSIC • 8TH JULY 2015