Time Off Issue 1586

THE SHINS

THE AFGHAN WHIGS

HOUSE VS HURRICANE

KEITH BARRY

CLAG HOWLER HOUSE OF SHEM NINE SONS OF DAN

N O W AVA I L A BL E O N I PA D • 18 J U LY 2 012 • 15 8 6 • F R E E

www.themusic.com.au .au

TIME OFF • 3

4 • TIME OFF

Secret Sounds presents

Special Guests

EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS plus WILLY

BRIS ONLY*

MASON

Wed-17-Oct BRISBANE RIVERSTAGE* Tickets from ticketmaster.com.au & 136 100

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Pre-Order the new Mumford and Sons album. More details soon at mumfordandsons.com

6 • TIME OFF

Performs a greatest hits set followed by The Blue Album from start to finish

Sunday 13 January Brisbane Entertainment Centre ticketek.com.au or 132 849

ON SALE THURSDAY 26 JULY WEEZER.COM | CHUGGENTERTAINMENT.COM TIME OFF • 7

GIVEAWAYS July at Tribal Theatre. Thanks to Kristian Fletcher we have two double passes to give away! Entrants must be 18+.

Adam Lerner (Joseph GordonLevitt) has a pretty great life—with a talented, sexy artist girlfriend and a great job, the 27-year old seems to have it all. But when Adam begins to suffer agonizing back pain, he discovers that he has a rare and possibly fatal form of cancer. With a massive, malignant tumour growing along his spinal column, his life changes in a heartbeat. Coffee shops give way to chemotherapy clinics, art openings to counselling sessions and plans for the future to strategies for survival. Thanks to Roadshow Entertainment we have five copies of 50/50 on DVD up for grabs!

Celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, Starstruck tells the story of a young woman who wants to become the next big singer with the help of her friends, despite the wishes of her working class family.

Starring Jo Kennedy and featuring the music of The Swingers, Tim Finn and more! Gillian Armstrong’s 1982 Australian cult musical classic is presented by arrangement with the original producer David Elfick and screens from 6.30pm. This will be followed at 8pm by three hours of your favourite 80s music videos on the big screen in Brisbane’s oldest cinema! It’s all happening Friday 27

Angus Stone has just released his second solo album, Broken Brights, and to celebrate we have got some copies to give away! It features the singles Bird on the Buffalo and Broken Brights.

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ISSUE 1586

W E D N E S D AY 1 8 J U LY 2 0 1 2

TIME OFF

FRONT ROW

Foreword Line – news, opinions, tours, Backlash, Frontlash Next week is our first chance to experience Friends; we try and find out what to expect How has the recent personnel change affected House Vs Hurricane?

On the eve of the first The Shins tour in eons, we hear from James Mercer about the band’s new direction We weren’t expecting to see The Afghan Whigs any time soon, but it’s a pleasant surprise Are Howler worth the hype?

Go back in time with Clag Keith Fullerton Whitman gives us the heads up on his forthcoming visit The career of Toni Childs has been a fascinating one The mighty kiwi force that is House Of Shem are back in Brisbane Few bands have been working as hard as Nine Sons Of Dan lately Hunz gives us the lowdown on his new split-release The new Kelly Hogan album sees her shoot higher than ever On The Record has the latest, greatest and the not so greatest new musical releases Chris Yates spotlights the best (and worst) tracks for the week in Singled Out

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IFH?D=MEE: H:" IFH?D=MEE: F>0 )(&. **** LLL#HEG>C<LDD9=DI:A#8DB#6J

30 30 30

BACK TO TIME OFF! Get the drum on all the coolest happenings in local music last week, this week and beyond in Live Dan Condon gets the dirt on the blues scene from the Roots Down Lochlan Watt gives you brutal metal news in Adamantium Wolf 36 Adam Curley cuts sick with another musical pop culture rant in The Breakdown Cyclone has the wide urban world covered with some OG Flavas Our Australian Musician supplement is back! iFlog and you can too

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THURS 19 JULY

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CREDITS

EDITORIAL Group Managing Editor: Andrew Mast Editor: Steve Bell Contributing Editor: Dan Condon Front Row Editor: Cassandra Fumi Interns: Keagan Elder, Sophia De Marco ADVERTISING Advertising Account Executives: James Tidswell, Jo Wallis DESIGN & LAYOUT Cover Design/Designer: Matt Davis ACCOUNTS & ADMINISTRATION Administration: Leanne Simpson Accounts: Marcus Treweek CONTRIBUTORS: Time Off: Ben Preece, Dan Condon, Daniel Johnson, Chris Yates, Matt O’Neill, Adam Curley, Lochlan Watt, Roberta Maguire, Kenada Quinlan, Carlin Beattie, Tyler McLoughlan, Mitch Knox, Sam Hobson, Rachel Tinney, Tony McMahon, Benny Doyle, Lily Luscombe, Jake Sun, Helen Stringer, Brendan Telford, Rip Nicholson, Cyclone, Amber McCormick, Brad Swob, Siobhain 8 • TIME OFF

Check out what’s happening This Week In Arts We chat to GoMA curator Reuben Keehan about Propaganda? and profile Chicago street artist Pose Check out Cultural Cringe and go through The Looking Glass Mentalist Keith Barry gives us a little of his time before we go batshit crazy over The Dark Knight Rises opening this week

themusic.com.au

McDonnell, Sky Kirkham, Bradley Armstrong, Carley Hall Front Row: Baz McAlister, Mandy Kohler, Lauren Dillon, Adam Brunes, Matt O’Neill, Mitch Knox, Jessica Mansour, Guy Davis, Rowena Grant-Frost, Danielle O’Donohue, Helen Stringer, Alice Muhling Photography: Stephen Booth, Kane Hibberd, Terry Soo, John Taylor, John Stubbs EDITORIAL POLICY The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder. © PUBLISHER: Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Suite 11/354 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 POSTAL: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Phone: 07 3252 9666 Email: info@timeoff.com.au Rural Press

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FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

IN BRIEF Australia’s Emily Browning has been cast as the lead character of Eve in the forthcoming film God Help The Girl, which is an adaptation of the musical project of the same name penned by Stuart Murdoch, frontman of Scottish indie darlings Belle & Sebastian.

HAMMERS & ROGERSTEIN

New ABC label imprint FOUR | FOUR have announced that legendary Australian singer/songwriter and performer Tim Rogers has joined their roster for his new album Rogers Sings Rogerstein, due 24 August. It has been almost five years since Rogers last released a solo record, with The Luxury Of Hysteria, and he’ll embark on a pretty massive national tour to celebrate the record from August right through to October.

Joined by special guest Catherine Britt, catch Rogers on Thursday 23 August at the Old Museum; Friday 24 at The Northern, Byron Bay; and Saturday 25 at the Spotted Cow, Toowoomba. Tickets via OzTix.

KINGS OF THE ROAD

Even though they’ve just finished a run of shows King Cannons are heading back out on the road for The Brightest Light Tour. The tour will see the six-piece launch their new single, which is the title track of their debut album, The Brightest Light.

They’ll be bringing with them an incredible line-up that sees All The Young (UK), The Hello Morning (Vic), The Transistors (NZ) and The Strums all joining the Cannons for selected shows. They play Sol Bar, Maroochydore Friday 24 August and Gympie Muster Music Festival Saturday 25 (both without All The Young); before arriving back in Queensland to play BIGSOUND Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 September; Miami Shark Bar, Gold Coast Friday 14 and The Northern, Byron Bay Saturday 15. Tickets via OzTix.

BIG DAY BACK

After a bit of turmoil and brouhaha for last year’s series, Big Day Out has come out all guns blazing for their 2013 edition, going down on Sunday 20 January at the Parklands, Gold Coast. And when we say guns, we mean pretty big ones in the shape of Red Hot Chili Peppers, pictured, playing their only Australian shows, and The Killers, who’ll be bringing a new album along. From there the goodness rolls on, with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Vampire Weekend, Band Of Horses, The Bloody Beetroots (live), Kaskade, Animal Collective, B.o.B, Sleigh Bells, Foals, Alabama Shakes, 360, Crystal Castles, Pretty Lights, OFF!, Grinspoon, Against Me!, Gary Clark Jr, Nicky Romero, Morgan Page, Logo, Every Time I Die, Delta Spirit, Childish Gambino, Me, Hunting Grounds, Jeff The Brotherhood, Death Grips, Adventure Club, Jagwar Ma, House Vs Hurricane, Avalanche City, Toucan, Helena, Nina Las Vegas and Sampology (AV/DJ show). Included in this list are 30 BDO-newcomers, along with a host of Australian debutants. Tickets are $165 or $265 for a Like A Boss ticket, via bigdayout.com from Thursday 19 July. Massive!

Melbourne thrash metal band 4ARM walked off their American tour last week, blaming promoters of The Zombie Apocalypse Tour for “substandard arrangements and communications”.

The promoters told us the band were kicked off the tour.

The rumours are true, Fear Factory are confirmed to tour Australia this September. Armed with their latest album The Industrialist, a new chapter in the band’s career of ideas and extremes, it’s the Fear Factory machine at its most passionate, with every sonic weapon in its arsenal at the fore. Fear Factory have sold more than three million records worldwide: they’ve also been plagued by bitter infighting and have emerged from it all in 2012 with newfound aggression. They play The Hi-Fi on Wednesday 26 September. Tickets via the venue and Moshtix.

Dennis Flemion, founder of the heavily influential 1980s rock band The Frogs, is missing and presumed dead after disappearing on a boating trip last weekend.

COUNTRY GREEN

10 • TIME OFF

Universal Music Group are reportedly planning to sell Virgin Records to sweeten their planned acquisition of EMI Music’s recorded music division.

The xx unveiled a new song, Angels, via Facebook yesterday. It comes from forthcoming album Coexist, due 7 September.

YES FEAR

The popular winery event A Day On The Green continues to showcase a diversity of music with its next concert at Sirromet Wines, Mt Cotton, Sunday 18 November. Multi ARIA Award-winners Kasey Chambers & Shane Nicholson, who release their highly-anticipated second album Wreck & Ruin on 7 September, will headline the day, and they’ll be joined by a stellar line-up including the irrepressible John Williamson, the wonderful Troy Cassar-Daley, shooting star Catherine Britt and the exquisite Felicity Urquhart. For more info and tickets, head to adayonthegreen.com.au.

Byron Bay metalcore legends Parkway Drive have gone straight to number one with the new Home Is For The Heartless tour documentary DVD this week, dislodging One Direction’s Up All Night – The Live Tour.

CHOOSE HAPPY

Clare Bowditch, one of this country’s fave singer/songwriters, has announced details of her new album The Winter I Chose Happiness and a national tour in support of it.

Bowditch recently enjoyed her acting debut on Channel Ten’s Offspring, and with the season ending last week, Bowditch has announced that the album will be led by the single You Make Me Happy, which featured in the show. The single is out now, and the album is released Friday 14 September. You can then catch her live at the Old Museum, Bowen Hills on Friday 11 October. Tickets via OzTix and the venue – www.oldmuseum.org

themusic.com.au

Filmed during their record-breaking 2011 tour, Bliss N Eso are about to release their tour DVD – Running On Air Live. It will be available for purchase and also for online rental as of Friday.

KING SHIHAD

Taking time out from their collective ‘other projects’, Shihad storm north this winter to play two shows.

The first is at The Kings Beach Tavern, Sunshine Coast on Friday 27 July, followed the next day by a main stage performance at Splendour In the Grass, Saturday 28 at Belongil Fields. They’re also celebrating the Australian release of a documentary made about them last year, screening at Splendour on Sunday 29. Take Us To Vegas and Ditchpants join them at Kings Beach, tickets $20+BF via OzTix

FUTURE MUSIC

Baltimore outfit Future Islands have announced that they’ll be heading over to our shores in September this year. The three-piece recently released their third album, On The Water, which tackles heart-wrenching themes of love, loss and memory. Currently touring the US with Passion Pit before heading over to Europe for a series of festival slots, their Australian shows will be their very first in the country, and you can catch them in our part of the lands on Friday 21 September, when they play the Prado Up Late at the Gallery Of Modern Art, tickets via Qtix.

A STONE’S THROW

Angus Stone has announced a national tour on the same day his sophomore, Broken Brights, is released.

The one half of Angus & Julia Stone will play a couple of ‘warm up’ shows prior to the tour, including his Splendour In The Grass appearance next weekend.

Then, come November the singer/songwriter and ARIA Award winner will be hitting all major cities across Australia, including The Northern Hotel, Byron Bay on Wednesday 7 November; The Hi-Fi Friday 9; Coolangatta Hotel Saturday 10; and Lake Kawana Community Centre Sunday 11. Tickets via angusstone.com from August 7.

ADAMSOLO

A musician with some serious credits to his name, Barry Adamson is probably best known for his work out the front of the legendary post-punk band Magazine, one of the most vital bands in that scene of the late-’70s/early-’80s. However there is plenty more on his rock’n’roll resume; he was a part of Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds for four albums and has released a swag of stunning solo material.

Supporting recent album I Will Set You Free, he brings his raved-about solo show to the Beetle Bar, Sunday 16 September. Tickets $25+ BF via venue.

GOOD CHANCE

This August Chance Waters is celebrating his recent success with the Maybe Tomorrow Tour, playing a string of dates to show off his most recent single Maybe Tomorrow. With his YouTube videos soaring into the thousands of views, plus being added to national radio rotation, things are looking pretty sweet for Waters, and he wants to share the love. Friday 24 August you can catch him at X&Y Bar. Tickets $8 via OzTix or $12 door.

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TIME OFF • 11

FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

IN BRIEF TOMORROW TODAY

The debut album from Melbourne MC Seth Sentry, This Was Tomorrrow, will be unleashed on 14 September, and to bring the album to the fans, Sentry has announced a massive national tour.

Bold, atmospheric and almost orchestral, This Was Tomorrow is an ambitious gesture from a humble and creative artist, the album itself released on his own label – High Score Records. Thursday 20 September he plays The Zoo, before heading around the country, then coming back to play The Northern, Byron Bay on Friday 9 November, and Sprung Festival, RNA Showgrounds, on Saturday 10. Tickets via sethsentry.com from 2 August.

FAIR GRILL’D

Grill’d Burgers brings one of Sydney’s hottest young bands to Brisbane for a free gig when Georgia Fair perform at Grill’d Wintergarden Thursday 26 July, at 7.30pm. The free gig will be Georgia Fair’s last performance before they disappear to record a new album. The free gig is the first in a series of live music events at Grill’d Wintergarden, the new concept restaurant and bar that opened in April. They’ll be performing music from their debut album All Through Winter, and each gig features a live performance, followed by an intimate 30-minute Q&A session with the artists.

RAISE THE ROOF

Raise Your Roof For Homeless Youth is a new fundraising campaign being launched by Brisbane Youth Service (BYS) – a communitybased organisation providing new futures for homeless or at-risk young people. BYS will be holding the Raise Your Roof Official Party at The Zoo on Tuesday 14 August. The part feature four of Brisbane’s finest in The Cairos, Millions, Mosman Alder and Argentina, plus guests, prizes and more. To support the cause further/get more info head to raiseyourroof.org.au, or simply get along to OzTix to grab your ticket for just $15.

YOU SHALL FIND

Paul Greene is again proving his reputation as one of this country’s most consistent songwriters with his acclaimed seventh album Behind The Stars, and he’s backing up with the east coast Seek What You’ll Find Tour, celebrating the single of the same name. Greene has been described as a quiet achiever of the scene, but critics have singled him out for his incredible voice, his songwriting, ability and consistency. His love for his art of songwriting will be on display on Thursday 6 September at Dowse Bar, Paddington; and Friday 7 at Woombye Pub with Andrew Morris and Jen Mize. Tickets via the venues.

PROBLEM SOLVERS WANTED

Maria Minerva is Maria Juur, from Tallinn, Estonia, who together with her partner-in-crime Maria Arusoo, was also one-half of the artist duo mariaUNDmaria.

It was during her third year of uni when she got into music-making and quickly became a local lo-fi darling, and her sophomore LP on Not Not Fun and The Integration LP (a collaboration with LA Vampires) are both out this summer. She plays The Judith Wright Centre on Wednesday 29 August, supported by Blank Realm – tickets from the venue.

MORE STEREOS APPEAR

The already massive Stereosonic line-up just got the tiniest bit bigger with the news that Bart B More has been added to the bill. More is one of The Netherlands’ most exciting up-and-coming electronic music talents and his addition to the line-up is far from meaningless; his brand of big room house and electro is going to slay Stereosonic crowds across the nation, no doubt about it. On top of this announcement, there’s also the news that MC Stretch and MC Gunner have been added to the bill, both of these guys have worked with some of the finest names in dance music (many of whom are on the festival lineup for this year) so it’ll be interesting to see where they pop up and how they roll in a live setting. The festival happens at the RNA Showgrounds on Sunday 2 December with tickets available Thursday 2 August.

12 • TIME OFF

Even after a fair amount of opposition from local council, Soundwave Festival Director AJ Maddah announced last week that his festival would be returning to Perth in 2013.

Slipknot frontman Corey Taylor was carried off stage by security after a show in Dallas early last week after passing out during the band’s set. The collapse was reportedly due to heat exhaustion and he has assured fans he is okay.

GOLDEN SUN

CHEAP SEATS

New York virtuoso songstress Regina Spektor heads back to Australia for her first run of headline shows here since 2010’s sold-out tour. The talented troubadour’s latest offering is her much anticipated live album, What We Saw From The Cheap Seats, in which Spektor showcases her wild imagination, vast vocal range and superlative songwriting. Joining Spektor will be New York songwriter Only Son, aka Jack Dishel, who has performed with the likes of Nickel Eye, Stipplicon and The Moldy Peaches to name a few. She plays the Brisbane Convention Centre on Thursday 6 December, tickets via Ticketek from Thursday 26 July.

BLUE CLUB

Gotye’s Making Mirrors bulleted up to the number six spot on the Billboard 200 Album Charts last week, its highest position to date.

Researching The Blues is the new album from Redd Kross, their first in 15 years.

The record, which is to be the band’s seventh, will be out on Friday 10 August via Shock Records.

Sony Music Entertainment Australia have signed a ‘long term’ joint venture record label deal with Wonderlick Entertainment’s Directors Gregg Donovan and Stu MacQueen. The two parties will use the partnership to develop new artists for the local and international markets.

Tame Impala have announced their new album Lonerism is to be released on Friday 5 October through Modular.

If you haven’t been to Coolum on the Sunshine Coast, the place is practically heaven on earth and, frankly, an ideal place to hold a music festival. Clearly the organisers of the Golden Days festival agree and this year they’ve secured another massive line-up, with New Zealand’s Fat Freddy’s Drop heading up the bill.

They’re joined by some of the cream of the Aussie crop, including Josh Pyke, pictured, Something For Kate, Blue King Brown, Deep Sea Arcade, The Medics, Kid Mac, Electric Empire, Dubmarine, Inland Sea, Band Of Frequencies, Stryder and Alys Longmate. Plus there’s surf, skate and BMX components and plenty more over two days at Coolum Sports Complex (Saturday) and Tickle Park (Sunday, free). Tickets/more info via goldendaysfestival. com. Proudly presented by Time Off.

ALWAYS XIU

For many years Jamie Stewart and those collaborators who he surrounds himself with have made Xiu Xiu one of the most critically adored active indie acts. And thankfully Stewart seems to enjoy coming to Australia so we’ve had no shortage of visits from the man and his band over the years. They are on their way back this October celebrating their most recent album Always – a marriage of the band’s electro-pop sensibilities and their harsher, more aggressive post-punk edge. Xiu Xiu play the Brisbane Powerhouse on Thursday 18 October, tickets via the venue. Proudly supported by Street Press Australia.

Sydney indie-dance trio Rufus are hitting the road this August in what will be their biggest national tour to date. To sweeten the deal they’ve also roped in electronic-pop starlet Elizabeth Rose for the national support. On the back of their Blue EP and with a strong run of (often sold-out) dates under their belt from earlier this year, the band are starting to make their presence felt on the triple j and festival circuits. The dates will be the last before the band enter writing mode for their debut album, due next year, so best get along to Oh Hello!, Friday 10 August. Tickets via Moshtix, proudly presented by Street Press Australia.

MONO GENERATOR

Ever-prolific modular drill and base mastermind Keith Fullerton Whitman will be the special guest for the 12th instalment of the MONO performance series, Thursday 19 July at the Institute Of Modern Art, with special guests Dean Roberts and Timothy Tate. With work spanning a myriad labels and three different monikers (Hrvatski, ASCIII, Anonymous), the Cambridge, MA resident returns to Australia for the first time in seven years. Over the past decade he has shape-shifted through the outer reaches of audio, concocting a deeply personal and provocative audio maze.

BEST MADE FROM HOME

SINGING THE BLUE

In what is one of the most anticipated tours in recent history, Weezer are heading to Australia for the first time since 1996. They have released nine records – the first two are considered bona fide indie classics – constantly pack out massive arenas in their native USA and have the kind of cult following that verges on creepy, but for many of us, is unavoidable. Rivers Cuomo’s words cut straight to the heart of teens all around the world, particularly on those first two records, 1994’s Weezer (The Blue Album) and 1996’s Pinkerton, and they’ll be performing the former in its entirety, as well as a selection of their greatest hits from through their lengthy career, when they play Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Sunday 13 January. Tickets via Ticketmaster July 26.

New Zealand’s crazy party animals Home Brew will be bringing the party that accompanies their selftitled debut album to Brisbane. Don’t bother trying to doubt this band’s credentials, their self-titled record released in May of this year was the first hip hop album to debut at number one on the New Zealand charts since Scribe managed that feat with his The Crusader in 2003. Pretty much just as exciting is news of the support act they’ll have while in Brisbane, with Aussie femcee Sky’High supporting following on from the release of her Forever Sky’High debut just recently. You can catch the whole rowdy bunch at Coniston Lane in Brisbane on Sunday 12 August.

BACKLASH

FRONTLASH

People calling for the lifting of protection for great white sharks following yet another tragic death need to get a grip – everyone who goes into the water knows the dangers. The majestic creatures are still in danger of being wiped out, we need to think bigger picture…

After a wait of seemingly forever (not so long for those of us who went on the Caribbean cruise earlier this year) Weezer have announced their first Australian trip since 1996, and fittingly they’ll be playing their debut self-titled album in full! Bring that shit on!

THEIR OCEANS TOO

SAY IT AIN’T SO!

NOT SOON ENOUGH?

INDESTRUCTIBLE

What’s with Egyptian protestors yelling “Monica!” at US Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton, in reference to her husband’s dalliance with Ms Lewinsky. Terrible sledge, the Hill-dog has transcended that tawdry episode ages ago, find something contemporary!

The Rolling Stones celebrated the 50th anniversary of their first ever gig this week, amidst rumours that they’ll be conducting a full-scale tour next year to celebrate. You can’t say that they haven’t played hard, they give hope to hedonists everywhere…

NO F’ING WAY Republicans should agitate to get the Victorian farmer who became the 15th Earl Of Loudoun onto the throne stat, it’ll be the quickest way to end the monarchy here. No way are the god-fearing folk of our fine country going to be ruled from afar by a fucking Collingwood supporter…

HOT DOGMA

THE DC3

themusic.com.au

The DC3 – the current project of former TISM mastermind DC – have a second album in the pipeline, and are raising funds though Pozible. As you’d expect even their pledge prize names (and prizes) are a crack up, check it out and dig deep, their first album was a gem…

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YOU GET WHAT YOU GIVE

HOME IS WHERE(EVER)

Much has been made about Friends being the new buzz act from Brooklyn. Such a title isn’t rare of course; in fact, it seems like these days it gets thrown around at any band sporting a wide-neck shirt or some clear lens Ray-Bans. Disregarding all the hyperbole and increasingly embracing her ever-transient existence, Urbani is ambivalent about the idea that it’s even played any part in the band.

“I don’t think it’s shaped our sound. I know a lot of people keep saying that we sound like a New York band, but I think the only similar things between the band and the city is a conceptual thing, in that we are both extremely diverse. The reason why I moved to New York is because I’ve always had that sense in me. I like constant mixes of all different things; I love diversity, I hate the feeling of any cultural or social segregation and creatively I feel that way too. I don’t think that our sound reflects New York, I think that I produced that sound for the same reason that I moved to New York – it’s always been innately in me.

“Every city is what you make of it. There are a lot of people who live in New York and have fucking boring lives and there are a lot of people who live in smaller cities… like I grew up next to Providence [Rhode Island] and that place is an extremely vibrant city with a lot of artists and a lot of really cool shit. I worship New York, I live there... wait, I don’t even fucking live there anymore, I live on tour now, this is my home. But everybody should just accept that the Earth is their home y’know, treat it right and don’t get too possessive over one particular place because everything can change.”

Wonderfully, it’s not simply a convenient moniker; Friends could very well be your new best, umm, friend. Vocalist Samantha Urbani quickly rubs Benny Doyle up the right way, discussing the band’s spacious debut, pouring her heart out in the presence of ex-lovers and how punk rock and r’n’b are really not that different.

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warm voice is coming through the phone line. It has that comforting tone that you could pull up a couch beneath and unload all your problems to.

The person delivering such affability is Samantha Urbani, frontwoman of Brooklyn quintet Friends. With refrained ease, the 23-year-old and her cohorts have captured the hearts and feet of many, their spacious and immediate debut album, Manifest!, establishing the group as one of the hottest indie-dance acts on the planet. It’s music to make out to, a fact that pleases Urbani no end. “Oh really?” she says, pleasantly surprised. “That’s good. I didn’t really see anybody making out tonight, but there were a lot of people having fun which is rewarding.”

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The singer admits that it was a boisterous show that saw a playful audience in conversation with the band throughout the set. But far from feeling like a jukebox, Urbani was exhilarated by the spontaneity. “Honestly, I’d rather have them [the crowd] heckling us than just weirdly observing us. I want people to react based on how they are feeling; if they don’t like it I want them to honestly react, but if they do like it I want them to show those emotions too. I just don’t want anyone to feel inhibited or scared to exert their feelings. I always go out and try and give it everything I can, but having a good audience definitely empowers me to perform in a more enthusiastic way. It’s just the same as any kind of interpersonal dynamic where you give what you get and you get what you give – it’s just a constant cycle.”

Urbani is on the tour bus somewhere between Bristol and Brussels and, in the background, it sounds like there is a full-scale party going on. The closest this comes to being proven is drummer Oliver Duncan interrupting the singer to provide a full-face sensual rub. Urbani lets out a screech of glee during this and you really get the sense that every member of the Friends experience is having a ball.

The band formed under circumstances unlikely, but undeniably charming. It was the summer of love – well, at least the summer of ’10 – and bedbugs forced Urbani and her posse Lesley Hann (bass), Nikki Shapiro (guitar), Matthew Molnar (keyboard) and skinsman Duncan into the same flat for a week. During this time the group were introduced to music that Urbani had been working on; they jammed, they planned and a week after the event they were debuting their fistful of vibrancy to a small collection of pals and acquaintances. “What 14 • TIME OFF

we were doing from the beginning was just really listening to my demos and then I would say, ‘Let’s work it out,’ and we’d take it from there,” she explains.

Natural and undiluted, this smooth nature is personified in the band’s first release, Manifest! Listening to tracks such as breakthrough single, Friend Crush , or BBC Radio 1 DJ Huw Stephens’ Hottest Record In The World pick, Mind Control, you quickly find that although full of rhythms, layers and textures, there’s a silkiness about it all and a great deal of room to move within the music. It sounds full of life, but without the chaotic nature that goes with living. “That was basically how the songs originally started and we really wanted to keep them that way, minimal, but not lacking in melody or driving rhythms but still leaving that space open.

I love all kinds of music; I love the stuff that is super lush and epic, and is very full, but I feel like Friends really thrives on that openness in a sonic sense and in a philosophical sense; it’s all about that vibe.”

What is also apparent is the strong focus on individual mood, the album working as a piece, but doing so in an unorthodox way. The birdcalls and Afro shakers on Sorry, the levelled synths on Ideas On Ghosts and rich rhythms on Proud/Ashamed. Manifest! houses these

“

that we should have to stick to anything. So when we narrowed it down to which songs were going to fit onto the record, we got left with a little bit of everything, so we thought that we should produce each of them individually and not have to think, ‘Oh shit, does this song match the rest of the songs?’”

Friends were quite prepared to apply the shine on the record themselves, for the sake of continuing to strive solely towards their personal vision.

However, they instead opted to bunker down in Strange Weather studio and stay locally, calling on the help of someone rather close to Urbani.

“Daniel [Schlett] who engineered the record, he’s actually my ex-boyfriend,” she confides. “We were together two years and it’s funny because a few of the breakup songs like Home and A Light, those songs are about him, so it made the process interesting. But he was one of the reasons we got any recognition [in the beginning], because he’s pretty renowned and he let us record in his studio for really cheap, which he never ever does, but because it was after we had broken up he felt that I was doing something that I was really excited about and he wanted to invest in it.

WE DIDN’T SPECIFICALLY ATTEMPT TO MAKE WARM TUNES. WE DIDN’T TRY AND TELEPORT OURSELVES TO A BEACHY LOCATION AT ALL. IF IT CAME OUT SOUNDING THAT WAY IT’S BECAUSE, SONICALLY, WE JUST REALLY LIKE THAT SORT OF INSTRUMENTATION, LIKE THE TROPICAL HAND PERCUSSION AND STUFF.”

unique songs that are linked by the consistent quality of the players performing the tracks, as opposed to a linear sonic similarity. Each song is very much its own entity, which makes it exciting, yet it all still flows very smoothly, which should give it longevity.

No matter where you stand on love, breakups and the etiquette following the event, you cannot deny the strange nature of the recording situation.

However, it wasn’t treated as a platform to air any dirty laundry – well, not that dirty.

“It’s something that we kind of accepted and then wandered on with,” Urbani explains, agreeing with the observation. “As I was writing all these songs by myself and then bringing them to the band to write with me, there was always a thing where we didn’t want to have any boundaries of what genre we are or what sound we are. We don’t feel that we need a kind of formula or

“No,” she cackles at the suggestion, “because I am a super honest person and we talked through everything and we maintained a really close friendship, even when it was really hard, because that is important in the end; if you’re extremely close with somebody you should honour that in whatever way you can in the future. I think people that break up should always

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be friends. But that song, Home, the whole end of it is, ‘You don’t deserve me now,’ so I think he was in a crappy mood that day, he was a bit upset. Then a bunch of the other songs are about guys who I had crushes on or who I ended up hanging out with immediately after we broke up. So it was definitely an interesting dynamic but it was stimulating and that is just my goal in life, to seek stimulation of any kind.”

Ironically, although Manifest! was birthed in the middle of a fierce winter from the belly of one of the most formidable urban sprawls on the planet, the vibe you get from the record is one of tropical laze. It’s music that is destined to soundtrack barbecues, days at the beach and balmy nights with friends and, given the depth in the music here, it should easily make it through our brief winter months to provide us just that. Urbani informs that this was unintentional, attributing such notions to the fun and versatile rhythms that pepper the record.

“We didn’t specifically attempt to make warm tunes.

We didn’t try and teleport ourselves to a beachy location at all. If it came out sounding that way it’s because, sonically, we just really like that sort of instrumentation, like the tropical hand percussion and stuff. Plus we really like African drumming styles, things like that.”

For those looking to make new Friends at Splendour, think super high energy yacht rock and uber-sensual slow jams; expect jumping in the crowd, dancing and people up on shoulders.

Urbani promises a performance as dynamic as the record and the tastes that have spawned it.

“Matt and I always really vibed on classic punk, like The Germs we’re obsessed with, but also like TLC. To me, they’re both similar styles of music though; it always feels connected because they’re both rhythm based.

But I dunno, my taste in music is funny. I can listen to Slayer’s first record, then I can listen to forgotten Mariah Carey album tracks and get the same feeling from both – that sense of complete euphoria and that endorphin rush, crush feeling. But it’s funny, at the beginning I was talking a lot about wanting to sound like super ‘80s pop; I wanted us to sound like The Jets or something that was extremely bubblegum, because as much as I think I’ve got a decent taste in cool, respectable music, I also really love that style of pop and I always have, so I wanted to combine all those things. Cool hey, that’s us.”

WHO: Friends WHAT: Manifest! (Lucky Numbers/Cooperative) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 28 July, Splendour In The Grass, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay

DENTAL AS ANYTHING House Vs. Hurricane nearly collapsed after extensive line-up changes and a shaky debut album. Guitarist and clean vocalist Ryan McLerie tells Lochlan Watt how they’ve now become stronger than ever.

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ormed in 2006, House Vs. Hurricane’s notoriety skyrocketed in 2008 upon the release of their acclaimed Forfeiture EP, and their winning of a national battle of the bands competition by the name of FATE. Combining post-hardcore and metalcore sounds with thick layers of synth, the band had arrived just in time to help lead the Australian wave of a sound that was getting massive internationally. In 2010 the debut album Perspectives was released to mixed reviews, with even some members of the band going public with their disappointment in the final product. The rhythm section had already endured many changes, and 2011 saw keyboardist Joey Fragione and vocalist Chris Dicker both depart, leaving McLerie and fellow guitarist Chris Shaw as the only remaining original members.

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Moving on from this was something that stood to either make or break the group – the end result being the newly-released Crooked Teeth, an album that confidently smashes through the insecurities of moving on with a meaner, leaner, tighter and more urgent sound. While there’s still a synth presence, it has been applied in smaller doses, and Dan Casey of Adelaide’s Nazarite Vow has confidently stepped up to the vocal platform.

“Perspectives didn’t really work out the way we wanted it to, but you know we still had to release it,” says McLerie matter of factly.

“This album, after the end of the touring cycle for the last album when Chris our old singer left, I personally was like, ‘I’m not sure if I still want to do this’. It was a really weird transitional period.

Chris was one of the founding members of the band. We were only going to continue if we could get someone equally as good or better than Chris. When Dan said he was going to come on board, we were all stoked, and it fuelled the fire again to do Crooked Teeth.”

The slick singer tells how things came together at the last minute.

“From when we finished Perspectives it was kind of like a yearand-a-half where we were struggling – we didn’t know what sound we wanted to go for, and everything we were doing we weren’t all stoked on. We kind of only wrote Crooked Teeth in the last six months before we did it, or even less than that I think. Four of the songs that are on the album we wrote less than a month before we left. It kind of all happened really quickly at the end, and it was so much better for that. It just all felt right. I think the pressure of once you book dates and a studio and stuff, you’re kind of like, ‘Okay, well we need to get this done’, and you push a bit harder.”

Headed into writing without members who previously played key roles in the process, where was the band’s headspace at in terms of where they wanted the sound to go?

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“We kind of just...really focused on what kind of songs we wanted to write before we wrote them. We tried to make a conscious effort to make the type of songs that we wanted to write. We didn’t just see what came out and went with it... we thought about it, and tried to push ourselves in the right direction. We kind of had a thing for this album that we just wanted it to be memorable, because we felt that Perspectives was a bit monotone throughout the album, and we wanted to have a bit more dynamic, so we just tried to make sure we incorporated that in the songwriting.”

In terms of the reduction in synth, McLerie comments that, “there’s always going to be people that want you to sound like your old stuff, and we knew that that would happen, and we were fine with it, because overall we were happier. We’re super stoked on the album – it’s my favorite thing that we’ve ever done as a band, by far, so I kind of don’t really care that much.

We’re happy, and the music that we wrote is our band, and we recorded it, and it’s us – so this is House Vs. Hurricane, it doesn’t matter what happened in the past. If you like it, you like it. If you don’t you don’t. We’re not here to try and please everybody or every one of our old fans. We’re just writing stuff that we like.”

House Vs. Hurricane spent six weeks in New Jersey, USA, recording with Machine – a man who has worked on albums by the likes of Lamb Of God, Suicide Silence, Four Year Strong, and of course the smash hit Youngbloods by fellow Australians and former keyboard-toters The Amity Affliction.

“Obviously we’d heard albums he’d done in the past,” McLerie says of their decision. “We’d heard Youngbloods, and the step up...

I think he must have played a pretty crucial role in that album in terms of structuring songs, and having a real producer’s input on it. Like a real producer – someone that actually sits down with the songs and says, ‘I think we could do this here, or put a pre-chorus here’, and just stuff like that. He really helped us a lot in terms of structuring songs. Everything he suggested we were like, ‘Man, why didn’t we think of that?’. It was really interesting having someone’s perspective on the band, who wasn’t in the band, but we still respected really highly. All of his opinions were rad – spot on.”

The album’s artwork is immediately odd – a black and white portrait of an unknown African-American woman is not something one would expect to see on any heavy band’s cover, McLerie giving the opinion that, “a lot of the artwork that bands use, especially in this genre, in this area of music, it’s so stale and everything has been done. We just kind of felt like going somewhere totally different with it, and doing something really out of the box.

“We had our photographer with us the whole time we were in New York, and we had this idea of using portraits throughout the artwork, and using the album title with the crooked teeth and stuff and slapping the big graffiti-esque thing over the top. We were just having lunch at this little vegetarian sandwich thing at Soho, and these girls were sitting next to us, and we were like, ‘Man she has such a crazy, interesting face’. We were talking about them while we were sitting about two meters away, and we were like, ‘Why don’t we just ask them? What’s she going to do, say no, and then we’ll say ‘Oh, that’s cool.’ One of us went up and was like, ‘Hey, we’re in a band from Australia, we’re recording an album, and we were wondering if we could use your portrait for our album’. She was like, ‘Umm... yeah, okay’. She was a bit weirded out, but it was cool.”

WHO: House Vs. Hurricane WHAT: Crooked Teeth (UNFD) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 26 July, Tempo Hotel; Friday 27, Paddington Community Hall (all ages); Sunday 20 January 2013, Big Day Out, Gold Coast Parklands

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SHINS OF MORROW The Shins’ James Mercer tells Nick Argyriou how he lost interest in the band until his collaboration with Danger Mouse in Broken Bells paved the way for an inspired r&b and neo-soul return.

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ine-up changes over a band’s career need not necessarily mean that there is instability within the ranks. While it’s a fact that The Shins’ James Mercer remains the only original member from the Albuquerque, New Mexico-born, now Portland, Oregonbased ensemble after a 15-year run that has spanned four records, he believes modification helps to keep the musical nous circumnavigating at a rate of sonic knots. “The thing I enjoy about it is that you just have these new elements added to your songs and it gives me this new perspective on stuff I’ve worked so hard to put together,” he says of the lifecycle of The Shins.

From the congenial pop of their self-produced 2001 debut Oh, Inverted World through to the Phil Ek engineered 2003 cut, Chutes Too Narrow, the group were major players alongside the likes of Built To Spill and Washington outfits Modest Mouse and Death Cab For Cutie during this time. But since 2003, only two new records have appeared: 2007’s Wincing The Night Away and now, 2012’s Port Of Morrow. While Mercer has been kept busy collaborating with Danger Mouse (AKA Brian Burton) in Broken Bells, has flown past the 40-years-of-age mark and fathered two children, The Shins are still very much on the man’s creative radar, but it was touch-and-go there for a while as to whether Mercer had the drive to continue.

Once touring rounds for Wincing The Night Away had ended in mid-2008, and after The Shins’ threerecord contract had expired with Seattle’s Sub Pop, Mercer admits that he had grave doubts. “I just wasn’t that excited to go back into the studio for The Shins after the Wincing The Night Away tour,” he says. “I did have the feeling that I wanted to do something different but I really didn’t know what until Brian brought up the idea of doing the band with him, but it certainly was a possibility in my mind that I wouldn’t do The Shins again.”

Port Of Morrow is The Shins’ first non-Sub Pop record and is released on Mercer’s own Aural Apothecary label through Columbia Records/Sony. Recorded throughout 2011 in Los Angeles, California and the band’s hometown of Portland, Oregon, this is an album

that traverses electronica textures, big guitars, slowburn harmony-based reverb and falsetto plus industrial musical kinks that have been shaved in during the final mix. It’s a welcome return and quite a left-field approach that’s driven by Mercer’s desire to continue surrounding himself with creative virtuosos. “I come up with the big ideas of the songs and the lyrical structures but it’s really the people around me like Greg [Kurstin, the record’s producer] and the influence I gained from Brian that help to flesh it out and make it cool,” says Mercer.

After the difficulties Mercer experienced when selfproducing Wincing The Night Away, external producers have since been the norm in a more concrete, official capacity. From Joe Chiccarelli, Ek, Burton and now Kurstin, Mercer is more than willing to hand over production pedals for the greater good. “One of the great things about Greg is that he is such a terrific player and pulls out a lot of cool stuff on Port Of Morrow; he’s a big part of the record,” explains Mercer of the esteemed US songwriter/musician/producer who aside from being one half of The Bird & The Bee, has played live with Beck, Yusuf Islam and Flaming Lips as a pianist and multi-instrumentalist while producing/ songwriting with mostly female artists ranging from Peaches to Lily Allen, Kylie Minogue and Sia. That distinctive Mercer propensity for fashioning catchy pop narratives remains with much of Port Of Morrow delivering introspective, windswept porch songs with a twist. Lyrically, Mercer admits that there are a “number of love songs for my wife” found throughout his latest record, including the customary relationship stream of consciousness and also one about Mercer dealing with moving to the US from Germany as a sixth-grader.

And that’s Mercer – always evolving – yet when he entered the studio last January he had no inkling in which direction to take the album. “When I started to write I really didn’t know what I was going to do,” he admits. “I was wondering and debating and knew I had certain songs I wanted to complete and other ones I wasn’t sure on and that debate was going on until I met up with Greg in California for the first time.”

that would later become the penultimate track on the album. In keeping with this high-register croon, the title track of Port Of Morrow is one of many another songs that catch Mercer hitting the soulful notes a la Curtis Mayfield. “I played him the barebones of that early R&B number that would become 40 Mark Strasse; it had bass guitar, acoustic guitar and a scratch vocal track so he took it and went over to an old vintage analogue synthesiser and string emulator and began laying down some paths with it,” says Mercer. Those paths evolved into what Mercer can only describe as “this weird Bowie from the ’70s or Gary Numantype feel” before confessing that this was the stage where his thrill for The Shins came flooding back.

In preparation for that initial Kurstin meeting, Mercer took with him an idea for a surprising R&B number

Appropriating sounds from mid-to-late ’70s German outfits and the high-tech instrumentation that was used at the

time to craft their kosmische resonances, the pair set about pulling influence from Mercer’s alliance with Danger Mouse in Broken Bells and capitalising on Kurstin’s wallto-wall workshop equipment plus the man’s own studio intellect. “Oh yeah, Greg owns a lot of this gear, like music sequencers and synths and luckily he knows how to play them; it all started coming out great,” he beams.

WHO: The Shins WHAT: Port Of Morrow (Aural Apothecary/Sony) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 27 July, Splendour In The Grass, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay

COME SEE ABOUT US We thought they’d never make it, but some 25 years after first playing a note in anger The Afghan Whigs have reformed and are finally coming to Australia. Bassist John Curley tells Steve Bell about why they reneged on the promises to never get the band back together.

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he hyper-literate, soul-specked rock’n’roll of Cincinnati, Ohio outfit The Afghan Whigs made them one of the most lauded bands of the ‘90s alternative explosion. They were beloved by discerning music fans and critics but never quite crossed over into the mainstream enough to make any serious impact, even after they left Sub Pop – their home for two albums before and during the grunge explosion – for the realms of the major labels.

When the band split in 2001, with six albums under their belts, it looked like that might be the last that the world would hear from this groundbreaking act.

Frontman Greg Dulli quickly upgraded his side-project The Twilight Singers to a full-time concern – later also teaming with Mark Lanegan to form The Gutter Twins – and for a long time he was publicly adamant that there would never be an Afghan Whigs revival, even though in 2006 they recorded two new songs for a retrospective compilation that seemed to be about as much as fans could hope for from the band.

This stance always hit Australian fans of the Whigs the hardest, because despite the long tenure of their original incarnation they’d never made it down to this part of the world. Then last December there was a collective holding of breath within those circles when it was announced that The Afghan Whigs would be reforming for ATP events in the UK and America, those shared dreams becoming a reality earlier this year when it was finally announced that they definitely would be coming to Australia for the first time in their career.

“It’s the most fun I’ve ever had playing music, really,” founding bassist John Curley marvels of the band’s second phase. “Back in the day I think I may have in some ways taken it for granted and in other ways taken it too seriously – it’s nice to have a second chance to relive it.”

Fittingly it was Curley teaming up with Dulli once more for some Twilight Singers shows that provided the spark for an Afghan Whigs reunion, even if that wasn’t the 18 • TIME OFF

intention at the time. “I sat in with The Twilight Singers for one song here and one song there when they would come to Cincinnati – not every show when they would come through, but a few. But I think a big step would have been when Greg did his solo tour, which was mostly just him on acoustic guitar and piano. I played six shows with them on that tour – I did Cincinnati and Chicago, then I went out to the west coast and played four shows out there – and that was a really good time too, just relaxed and fun. I guess that really planted the seed for both of us; it just reminded us of how much we enjoyed playing together and that we enjoyed playing these songs and that it could be really fun.”

Once the hurdle of getting the band back together had been overcome, the chemistry that made The Afghan Whigs such an exhilarating prospect came flooding back.

“It did actually. Surprisingly,” Curley shakes his head on reflection. “We talked in November, 2010 and then about a year or so ago I was in California – a friend of mine got married out there – so I came down to LA and spent some time with Greg. That was the first time that we’d really talked about a reunion in any serious terms, where the conversation didn’t immediately turn to, ‘We’ll never do it!’ It was kinda like, ‘Well maybe we should think about this? Maybe we should do it? It’ll be fun playing together.’ Then about six months after that we got together down in New Orleans – Rick [McCollum – guitar] and Greg and I and a drummer – and we ran through some stuff just to try to see if the chemistry was still there. And it was. It was amazing to see how well everybody remembered the songs, how quickly it came back, how fresh they felt; it was cool. I honestly expected us to kinda stumble through them and have to stop and start and relearn parts and everything, but we played about twenty songs that weekend and all but a couple really just went off without a hitch.”

The Afghan Whigs had a completely distinctive sound, a fluid yet distinct tone that evolved

remarkably over their career, but according to Curley, it wasn’t the result of any distinct plan.

considered a masterpiece in some circles – but it wasn’t because of any major falling out either.

“You know, I don’t know – I don’t think we were trying to emulate anybody. I think every kid who picks up a guitar wants to play the songs that they like – and we’d certainly play other people’s songs, but we knew early on that we wanted to write our own stuff.

I think the combination of Greg being sorta new to guitar but having really unique ideas about songs and a pretty vast musical knowledge that he was drawing from even in his early-twenties, then Rick’s totally unique guitar style – he’s self-taught – and then me trying to find some common ground between that.

I dunno, I think we had four unique personalities – and four unique musical personalities – and there were definitely points of reference like soul music and Led Zeppelin, plus The Church was a band that we listened to at the time, and The Replacements.

But there was no particular movement or style of music that you could hang it on. I think maybe the wide breadth of stuff that we liked individually and collectively informed a lot of what we did.”

“It was definitely an amicable split. I don’t think we’d be here otherwise. Greg and I are very close friends – we’re like family really – and we’ve maintained our friendship over the years; we talk regularly. Certainly we split up a bunch of times when it wasn’t amicable, but we got back together all those times,” Curley laughs. “I think it was just time. Personally for me, my wife and I had just had our first child and it was seeming hard for me to be away – I didn’t want to be away on the road when my daughter was learning how to walk and talk and all that stuff. I didn’t really think that that was the kind of parent that I wanted to be. And I think everybody was ready to move on. In retrospect, Greg had done a Twilight Singers record and was writing songs for another one... I dunno, I guess everything is for a reason and that was the right time for us to be done and now is the right time for us to be back.”

When the band split it certainly wasn’t because they’d been victim to the law of diminishing returns – their final album, 1998’s 1965, is

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WHO: The Afghan Whigs WHEN & WHERE: Friday 27 July, Splendour In The Grass, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay

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SOUND YOUTH Jordan Gatesmith doesn’t hate himself, nor does he hate you. In fact, when Benny Doyle connects with the Howler frontman, all he uncovers is that he’s an individual with his head well and truly screwed on.

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welve months ago, few people had heard of the band Howler, and fewer people would have been expecting them to be crisscrossing the world, playing big festival slots and sell-out headline shows.

Gatesmith, the band’s 20-year-old lynchpin, however, is not one of those people. Not that he exactly predicted to be headlining The Garage in London, or heading to Japan for the second time. When you sign to a label like Rough Trade though, things start to happen for you.

cover. It’s this combination of American culture and youthful charisma that the singer thinks has helped establish the band on a global level. “I think it definitely encouraged the attraction,” he agrees. “I will say that we were a little surprised, but by that stage [January] we were fairly used to surprises, just the whole six months before had been a huge surprise for us. But it [the reaction] was definitely a pleasant shock for us and we were glad it was well received.”

Ever since the quintet inked a deal with the iconic London imprint mid-last year, momentum has been building at a steady rate, culminating in the release of their debut album America Give Up in January of this year. With wave-driven guitars duelling, drums keeping square rhythms and a slacker drawl delivering thick slabs of loose-lipped attitude, the band have pulled a slew of comparisons to New York City’s finest, The Strokes. But the 11 tracks of their first release show more than an act in the shadows. They show a confident band with their feet firmly planted, and a frontman with a healthy cynical streak. Understated confidence is the glue that holds America Give Up together, and it’s a virtue Gatesmith isn’t short of himself.

Although track names like Beach Sluts, Free Drunk and Too Much Blood might give off the vibe of allnight keggers and holiday fun, America Give Up is an album born moreso from necessity and locality. “The songs which were taken from the EP,” Gatesmith drawls, “those were written a little earlier than the rest of the album. Those were created during the summer before Howler was put together and they were simply written as songs to go out and busk with around the city. I’d just take my acoustic guitar and I’d go and busk, and they were specifically written so I could make some spare change – I did pretty good actually. So it kinda started there, but then I wanted to explore some different angles, but it’s all definitely been born from growing up in Minneapolis and being a real part of the city in the last few years.”

“For some reason I felt that I’d be at this point at some stage during my life,” he admits, almost downplaying the envious position the band currently find themselves in. “I’ve never wanted to do anything else apart from be a musician and tour, but I set up way more hoops for myself, y’know, to do that and do this, because I felt as though I was always going to make it to this point, I just didn’t realise how fast it was going to be. I started playing rock music when I was about 14 and by the time I was 15 it was decided, Yep, this is what I want to do’.”

There’s more to this story

on the iPad

When most American kids their age are using fake IDs to buy liquor, Gatesmith and his gang of raggedy rockers are enjoying their own rider. While the same kids are bumming Lucky Strike cigarettes on the street corner, Howler are lampooning the logo on their album

It’s also an album that adds yet another notch to the Twin Cities’ musical folklore. Gatesmith talks fondly of the new wave of bands currently breaking out from his hometown scene, conceding that there is an unstated level to uphold. “There’s definitely been a few very influential bands that have come from Minneapolis, especially from the ‘80s,” he says. “I think everyone from the city recognises that, and there is guidelines y’know, as how to act as a band.

Right now, there is a really strong push of young bands in Minneapolis. I hadn’t seen anything big come out of the city in a while but now we have Howler doing our thing, we have Polica which seems to be taking off, especially in the States right now.

There is Night Moves which are signed to Domino [Records], they’re pretty cool. So there is a few bands that are doing it; Elite Gymnastics is another one that’s kinda blowing up too, so there is a whole new scene of bands that are getting out from here.”

It’s been mentioned more than a few times in the press recently that the band are keen to strike while the iron’s hot and put out a sophomore longplayer soon. Gatesmith confirms this, although his blasé nature regarding the idea does suggest that the plan is still being formulated. “We would like to,” he confirms. “There hasn’t been a lot of time, but we have done a few things here and there. I won’t say that it’s a massive amount of songs yet, but there is definitely stuff that we’re working on right now and this summer we do have some time off, so we’ll be in the studio doing some stuff.”

Gatesmith continues, explaining that the band are excited about the possibilities of leaving the nest to try new things. “We have a couple of other places where we will be recording. [Obviously] we’ll do some work in Minneapolis, I’ll be in England doing some recording, and I think we’re going to head to New York and do some work as well – it will just be all over the place.” But as far as delivering a scoop on who will be manning the desk for the record, the American remains tight-lipped. “I actually can’t disclose who it is but yeah, we’re really excited that we’ve got someone cool.”

An excited air underlines Gatesmith’s voice as he discusses the future, but the singer soon pulls it back, his focus firmly on the now. And although he quickly puts the kibosh on hearing any new music, by doing so he makes it clear that Howler are here to stay. “You can’t expect the new songs just because we don’t want to play the new songs just yet,” he dismisses.

“If we start playing the new songs too long before the next album comes out then we will really want to kill ourselves about nine months into our second album tour when we’ve already played those songs thousands of times. We really just want to start fresh on that second album. But [on this tour] we’ll be playing all the America Give Up songs, probably some stuff off our first EP, and maybe we can teach our drummer Brent [Mayes] just what rock’n’roll is.”

WHO: Howler WHAT: America Give Up (Rough Trade/Remote Control) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 27 July, Splendour In The Grass, Belongil Fields, Byron Bay

BANDS THE INDUSTRY THE LOCALS THE BLOG RES THE DJS THE GIGS THE PRODUCERS THE REMIXES THE ARTISTS THE FESTIVALS THE GRO LBUMS THE TOURS THEMUSIC.COM.AU THE FA THE INDUSTRY THE LOCALS THE BLOGS THE E S THE GIGS THE PRODUCERS THE CLUBS THE TISTS THE FESTIVALS THE GROUPIES THE ALBU THE FANS THE BANDS THE INDUSTRY THE LOC S THE ENCORES THE DJS THE GIGS THE PROD LUBS THE REMIXES THE ARTISTS THE FESTIVA PIES THE ALBUMS THE TOURS THE FANS THE 20 • TIME OFF

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TIME OFF • 21

RUNNING AMOK Ahead of launching their Pasted Youth retrospective album, Bek Moore and Rachael Cooke from ‘90s kiddie punk wunderkinds Clag talk to Brendan Telford about confounding audiences, their relevance today and the art of heckling.

W

hilst the wonky Casio, twee subject matter and devil-may-care attitude may not seem that incongruous in today’s musical environment, when Brisbane kiddie-punks Clag – Bek Moore on vocals, Rachael Cooke on guitar and Alison Bolger on bass, with a revolving door of others – formed in the early-‘90s, there was nothing like them, for better or worse. Embracing the use of plush toy props, out-there costumes, unorthodox stances (they weren’t afraid to play an entire set facing away from the audience) and antagonistic banter, Clag straddled genres, stuck the forks up at their dour grunge-laden counterparts, and wrote some of the most underrated punk songs in Australian music. Although the band never broke up, their hiatus has extended as the success of the members’ other bands (such as Minimum Chips, Panel Of Judges and Beaches) took precedence.

Now, almost 20 years since their inception, a Clag retrospective called Pasted Youth has hit the streets.

“It may seem like it’s come out of nowhere, but it’s actually a project I’ve been working on with Guy Blackman (of Melbourne label Chapter Music) for about two-and-a-half years,” Moore explains.

“The Clag relationship with Guy goes back twenty years, from when I worked at 4ZZZ and he worked at 6RTR in Perth. One of the 4ZZZ presenters moved to Perth and took Clag stuff with him, then we all ended up in Melbourne. It took him fifteen years from that point to come to us about putting something together. Maybe he’s just indulging me!”

With much of the Clag material written when they were in their late-teens, the propensity for mawkish embarrassment at such puerile sentiment as songs about security mall guards and goldfish could be overbearing. Revisiting the music hasn’t been that arduous a task though.

“Everyone asks me this question!” Moore laughs.

“I can understand why though. I remember when I was seventeen and the Buzzcocks came into 4ZZZ for an interview, and they were only in their forties

22 • TIME OFF

but that was ancient to me. Already I was thinking, ‘God, these old bastards are going to get up on stage and play Orgasm Addict and talk about picking up teenage girls; that’s embarrassing. I’m never going to do that.’ There’s something a little twisted about us getting up on stage now and singing about bikes and goldfish, the twee-er end of the Clag spectrum. There are cringeworthy songs, so we left them off the album and off our setlists. It’s actually fun – because we don’t sing about picking up teenagers, it just comes off as a Wiggles-esque childish show that offers the warm and fuzzies, a more nostalgic kind of thing.”

“Our first show was Custard’s first CD launch,” Cooke continues. “It was to a huge crowd. We had been together for two weeks, and we only had five songs. I had to make Alison learn to play bass in two weeks.”

“It’s been a while though. For the Melbourne launch, we practiced every Sunday for six weeks – I had to listen to the CD just to work out some of the chords again,” Cooke chuckles.

“The funny thing is that when we all got together it was so easy and natural,” Moore asserts. “It shocked me that I remembered all the words. They would start playing something and I’d think, ‘Shit, I don’t know this one!’, but then I’d just start singing, it was like muscle memory or something. But above all else it’s about getting back together, having fun, playing some songs, having people come up and have a good time. Clag was always about fun, and about poking fun, at ourselves and at everything else. I think that’s universal, that idea of pissing people off yet having a laugh at yourself at the same time.”

“Dave McCormack joined the band for all of three seconds,” Moore says. “He introduced the keyboard, asked us to play the show. We had spent the past year going to their shows and heckling them, throwing ice at them, and he waited until the night of the show to come up and say that he couldn’t play. I was like ‘What?’

We were scared – we were seventeen, eighteen, it was our first show. He said, ‘I’m playing in Custard, I can’t play with you,’ and it was his ultimate revenge.

But I lived with John Swingle (of The Melniks) and he had heard our songs – they were pretty much his songs that we had rearranged and ripped off anyway.”

Clag have always played with public perceptions, even before they were a band, something that came back to bite them at their first ever show.

“And I think that is how Clag became the band it was.

We learnt to write songs in an hour and heckle the crowd as time filler to finish out our sets,” Cooke adds.

“Rach and I start playing games with Clag when we both went to Queensland Uni,” Moore explains. “We were writing songs, hadn’t played anywhere yet, but we ripped off a Benson & Hedges ad at the time and did some Clag poster runs all around Brisbane. We would hear people at uni looking at these posters and saying, ‘Clag are that new band, I saw them two weeks ago, they’re really great!’ We had a chuckle to ourselves, all these people thought we were an established band…”

The idea of confounding their live audience has been an integral element of the Clag aesthetic since their inception. Finding themselves in a Brisbane scene that was male-oriented and discovering the dirge of grunge, the girls’ penchant for weird costumes, lyrics about inane topics such as chips and gravy, and incessant crowd-baiting ensured that Clag would never fit into the musical wasteland, a fact that Moore says they are very proud of.

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“Half the people we used to abuse in the crowd were our friends – it just added to the show. There were a few touchy times though – we had one gig up at the Sunshine Coast where we had to do a runner from the show, with a guy attached to the front of the car…”

“At that stage we had this purple fluffy drum kit,” Cooke continues. “Bek had an outfit made out of the leftover purple furry material. A friend of ours was videotaping the show and asking the crowd what they thought of the band. One of the guys in the crowd called Bek a ‘fucking Gobbledock Sinead O’Connor’ and said that he had a dog that farts better music than that!”

“We want Clag to be more than just a musical experience,” Moore espouses. “It sounds wanky, but we were probably performance art – we didn’t want to be six people getting on stage, playing music and getting off. We used to go to shows and stand right up the front, Custard or Screamfeeder shows, and heckle them, but it was always fun rather than mean, and if we could do it, we should expect the same.”

WHO: Clag WHAT: Pasted Youth (Chapter Music) WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 22 July, Brisbane Powerhouse

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MUSIC Brisbane Powerhouse and Brispop present

THE RESIDENTS:

NIKKO

Fri 20, 27 Jul, 6pm, Turbine Platform

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SAE EDU Call: 1800

A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO SOUND ENGINEERING, LIVE SOUND PRODUCTION & MIXING

SATURDAYS

MUSIC

Brisbane Powerhouse and Jazz Queensland present

TURBINE JAZZ:

GERARD MCFADDEN TRIO Sat 21 Jul, 5pm, Turbine Platform

SUNDAYS

MUSIC Brisbane Powerhouse and Brispop present

LIVESPARK: SCRAPS, KITCHENS FLOOR, CLAG REUNION TOUR Pictured Clag Reunion Tour

Sun 22 Jul, 3.30pm, Turbine Platform

COMEDY Brisbane Powerhouse presents

LIVEWIRED:

VARIOUS

Join us on Sunday nights for complimentary comedy from Brisbane’s up-and-coming comedians. Past jokers include Josh Thomas and Mel Buttle.

Every Sunday, 6.30pm, Turbine Platform

B R I S B A N E P OW E R H O U S E . O R G TIME OFF • 23

DIGITAL SPIRITUALS

UNIFYING FORCE

Keith Fullerton Whitman is an electronic alchemist like no other.

Brendan Telford speaks with him about the evolution of his music and entwining it with human emotion.

B

oston electronic manipulator Keith Fullerton Whitman has a vast and interesting body of work that veers from harsh sonic IDM manipulations to more expansive realms. Such experimentalism is part of the journey of the road less travelled.

“My outlook when connecting to the world via music is largely positive,” Whitman maintains. “I view working on music as a kind of voyage, a way to break free from the routines and responsibilities of everyday life. It’s pure escapism. This is why I tend to gravitate toward less-popular areas of music. Who wants to take a vacation to Los Angeles or Miami? Jakarta, Morocco, Trondheim – such places make life more interesting and more of a challenge, farther outside any comfort zone.”

Whitman started out at college doing computer music studies, an endeavour that he sees as an revelatory moment in his life.

“That time influenced me utterly and wholly,” he recalls.

“I started very young, making music on computers, even before I picked up an instrument. Every single piece of music I created between the ages of 15 and 35 involved a computer in some way – it’s only the last five years that I’ve really broken free from them.

Whilst much of the process surrounds electronic communication of some sort, the actual spark these days is always a solitary event, usually while standing in front of a computer-free electronic musical instrument.”

Whilst many creative artists use some concept or vision as a starting point, Whitman extrapolates from his unorthodox views through subconscious investigation of the unique.

“These days making music is purely exploratory. Maybe there’s an adherence to a certain perceived formlessness, an avoidance of regular rhythms and meter. This tendency is purely me, in every way. I often change my gait so that I’m not walking at the same pace. I think that would drive me crazy; the same routes, day in, day out.”

That said, Whitman has tackled a wide variety of sonic boundaries, either under his own moniker or as a range of

other projects (most notably Hrvatski), and he’s quick to espouse the beauty of the search for meaning via music.

“Music-making, in its various guises, is a series of acts from which I derive great pleasure,” he tells.

“Ultimately the music I create would be successful in conjuring a wide range of human emotions.

Frustration, anger, yes… but also peace, closure and calm. Sometimes a manic energy is found, at others a soporific calm. The trick is to summon these reactions with a relatively simple tool-set.”

I

At one time, particularly throughout the ‘90s, dance music was often seen as a generic, even archaic movement. Yet like most other genres in musical history, the world keeps on turning.

“Dance music is cyclical,” Whitman asserts. “Personally, I have a great love affair with the American Afro, Latin-Futurist Chicago, Detroit and Miami waves. I was heavily into the post-second summer of love UK stuff through the mid-to-late-‘90s breakcore wave.

After that it became a blur, lots of watering-down of genres, mixing incompatible influences – diluting it, essentially. Occasionally something would pop up, but now that the internet is so accessible to everyone, I don’t think there’ll be much new and unique music coming out. Unless the technology really changes. I’m waiting for the first Google Goggles album myself.”

Whitman is performing as part of MONO, the sound/newmusic performance project curated by local purveyors of global sounds Room40 and the inimitable Lawrence English, someone that Whitman has a great affinity with. “He [English] is one of a kind, that’s for sure.

The MONO program this year looks impeccable, with so many cornerstone artists that most likely wouldn’t come to Australia without his curatorial sensibilities.”

WHO: Keith Fullerton Whitman WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 19 July, MONO @ Institute of Modern Art

SOLE REBELS R

In terms at least of the prospect of a mainstream reggae resurgence, it feels perhaps like the core genre has had its day. Sure, there’s a lively contingent of Jamaican hip hop out there, and there was a terrifying few years where everything started coming up reggaeton, but hybrid reggae isn’t quite the same thing, and much less the music that House Of Shem creates. Old school reggae is still virulent and abundant for those who seek it, but it’s otherwise just benignly unobtrusive for the majority who don’t.

House Of Shem, Perkins’ current band, is fronted by himself and his two sons Te Omeka and Isaiah. Together with the mission of perpetuating the reggae style, keeping his musical vision in the family has also has quite an important function. With Perkins’ sons by his side, House Of Shem’s music can be arranged so that it stays fresh and has great compositional momentum, but, because it’s sown from the same key staples, everything innate to its being pumps with an intensified unity.

Capitalising on their combined skills, the family earlyon formed House Of Shem Productions, which, says Carl, keeps everything centralised and in-house. “[We] offer services such as production for albums, jingles, [and] singles, and [we] can offer the best reggae sound the South Pacific has to offer,” he hums. “With the best reggae multi-instrumentalists in the South Pacific, we can offer true and authentic reggae music for record labels, bands, and artists.”

24 • TIME OFF

t seems a little backward to be embarking upon a tour to say thank you to fans for supporting a music project that is yet to be released, though that is precisely the plan of Toni Childs who kicks off her 26-date Because You’re Beautiful Australian tour this week. The Californian native could have long sustained a touring career based on a back catalogue of hits including Don’t Walk Away and I’ve Got To Go Now, even after a ten-year hiatus on the Hawaiian island of Kauai due to the diagnosis of Graves disease, though Childs is on a mission; 2013 will launch her fifth record Citizens Of The Planet, and its accompanying live production will be her groundbreaking piece de resistance.

“I think we need to start with us first,” says Childs when quizzed upon whether the project is in response to the broader environmental issues of the world.

“When we feel good within ourselves, then we care and we realise the special existence that we have here on the planet. I feel like we kind of need to get there so the other just comes naturally… Citizens Of The Planet is talking on a myriad of levels but the thing that makes it unique I think is not only the music but the wanting to take it out on the road and communicate with a large visual palette, so next year Citizens Of The Planet will tour; it’s like TED talks meets music.

It’s where you have 16 x 30 foot LED flooring, which means I could blow on the floor and it would ripple out like water, or I could kick my feet on it and suddenly you would see all these leaves scatter. And then we have 3D projection mapping… We can look at how a thought fires across a synapse of a brain and how that is mirrored in the universe – and how it’s mirrored in the explosions happening in us. I believe in us – I just feel like Citizens Of The Planet is wanting to take this time to say, ‘Can we all get on the same page?’”

Childs has assembled a team to help fulfil her grand vision, which incorporates crowdfunding as a key capital raising device and method of communicating the project philosophy. As she makes her way around Australia on tour this month, fans willing to pay extra for pre-show breakfast, cocktails or simply a phonecall with Childs will be directly funding the 2013 production.

“By the time this [Because You’re Beautiful] tour ends, we will have raised all the capital needed. We’ve recorded for five-and-a-half months, but now we need to mix and master, so all the funds will have been made to do that so we’ll be able to say 100 percent of this record has been made through the funding of people who love my music…” Childs says proudly.

“So now the next phase that is also a part of this tour is to give people a taste of what Citizens... is going to be with little bits of technology, but then also to be reaching out to possible investors… to invest and embark in a touring company and the whole thing. I’m going independent, absolutely independent; not just sort of independent but completely independent and sometimes I go, ‘Oh my god, we’re really doing this’,” says the inspiring singer through a nervous laugh before continuing defiantly: “but I wanna have this experience…”

WHO: Toni Childs WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 19 July, Lismore Workers Club; Friday 20, Twin Towns, Gold Coast; Saturday 21, QPAC

THE NEXT ROUND

Reggae legend Carl Perkins from New Zealand outfit House Of Shem chats with Sam Hobson about the future of the genre, and the band’s upcoming Australian tour. eggae, in its purest form, is a style perhaps so far now outside of the mainstream that it’s immune to faddism – immune to the silly whims of teenage temperament, and to myopic pop-marketing imperatives. When this notion is put to New Zealand reggae royalty Carl Perkins – formerly of Herbs, Mana and the revered The Twelve Tribes Of Israel – he swiftly interjects with an emphatic Bob Marley quote about reggae being ‘the people’s music!’, and further that he believes it’s a genre that will only ‘grow and grow’ in the public’s consciousness in the years to come.

Toni Childs is on the brink of releasing her most career-defining project – quite a statement for a woman whose uniquely rich vocal tone was one of the most recognisable voices of the ‘90s. The Emmy award winner and new resident of northern New South Wales tells Tyler McLoughlan how her new tour will assist her 2013 vision.

Nine Sons Of Dan began their career with a bang with 2010’s debut Landslide EP. Matt O’Neill catches up with vocalist Jay Bainbridge as the Gold Coast rockers try to maintain their momentum with longawaited follow-up EP The New Kids.

When you think of music that has a strong, underpinning ethos you think foremost of punk music. But reggae too subsists on something more that just sounds. It’s about history, as much as it has associated with it a ‘lifestyle,’ and it has a lineage that’s respected, and revered. This is so fundamental for Perkins, that he insists on sticking to what he loves; he insists that with his reggae music, some things are at their best when they stay the same.

On their most recent album – 2010’s Island Vibration – House Of Shem collaborated with one of the same minds that did Marley & The Wailers, and, to paraphrase Perkins, they together deliberately ‘kept things the same’ as to how they’d sounded on their first album.

To ‘Shem, the music they make is about maintaining rather than ‘progressing’ or ‘moving forward’.

“Island Vibration…it is the same [as how we have done before],” Perkins confirms. “We put the same amount of effort into anything we do. It’s onehundred percent or nothing at all. Quality-wise, it was a step up from our 2009 release Keep Rising, as we used the expertise of Tuff Gongs’ Errol Brown, who has recorded and mixed all the best of reggae music: from Bob Marley to Lauren Hill.”

But their upcoming tour, says Perkins, is not just to promote Island Vibration.

“It’s to promote House Of Shem to the Australian market. We want to reach out to all Australians, [and] not just the Kiwis that are living there.”

So, potential converts, get out there and see for yourself: what is the state of reggae?

WHO: House Of Shem WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 19 July, Kings Beach Tavern, Sunshine Coast; Friday 20, Coolangatta Hotel; Saturday 21, The Zoo

N

ine Sons Of Dan have had something of a baptism of fire. Since the release of their debut EP Landslide in 2010, the Gold Coast rockers have performed at the Big Day Out, supported Good Charlotte, topped the AIR Charts and taken out the coveted national New Artist To Radio award in 2011 – beating out more than 300 other acts to have their single She’s So Fine added to rotation on radio stations around the country.

“Actually, I think that’s given us more confidence than anything else,” vocalist Jay Bainbridge reflects of the band’s immediate success. “You know, it’s kind of given us the go ahead to do what we want to do. I just wrote those songs for the fun of it. There was no ambition or intention to write a hit or be popular or whatever.

So, to have people embrace those songs in such a big way has given us a big boost of confidence.”

Forming at university in 2008, Nine Sons Of Dan didn’t begin with any specific ambitions. Yet, they currently find themselves striving to maintain the considerable momentum of their debut release. With follow-up EP The New Kids, the band have attempted to take each aspect of their sound to another evolutionary level – from songwriting and energy through to production and mastering (even enlisting US producer JR McNeely).

“All we really wanted to do was make music together.

Of course, we all had dreams of making music our life and touring the world but, really, all we had in mind was having fun,” Bainbridge muses of the band’s formation. “We were all just good friends who liked to surf. Music actually kind of came second, originally. We just kind of formed the band for fun.

“When we started to get better at playing music, we kind of thought we should at least try and make a career out of it,” the vocalist laughs. “This EP was almost easier to write because, when we wrote the

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first one, we had no idea what we were doing. With The New Kids, we had proof that we could write songs that people could actually really like, you know?”

That said, the real struggle for the band has yet to truly begin. Nine Sons Of Dan are both strengthened and disadvantaged by their oddly unique sound – highly polished, pop-heavy and heavily indebted to US trends (Bainbridge himself being from California), their sound stands apart from the glut of rising Australian bands. It’s shinier – more earnest and more heartfelt. Bainbridge is aware that his band are outsiders in Australia.

“Yeah, we’ve definitely had a lot of backlash. At first, I took it really personally. We’re just innocent dudes making music. There was never any master plan to write really commercial music and sell heaps of records and take over the pop scene or whatever,” the vocalist reflects. “But, then I saw a video of Dave Grohl doing some joke, and somebody was writing him off.

“I thought to myself; ‘Well, if Dave Grohl – frontman of Foo Fighters, drummer of Nirvana and one of the nicest guys in music – still gets it, I suppose it’s just inevitable’. I haven’t worried about it too much since,” he smiles. “I think the best thing for us to do is just to stay honest about the music we want to make and let our music do the talking for us. I’d like to think we’re just going to keep evolving and get better and better as musicians.”

WHO: Nine Sons Of Dan WHAT: The New Kids EP (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 19 July, The Zoo; Saturday 21, The PA @ Jupiter’s Casino, Gold Coast; Saturday 4 August, The Hive (all ages)

FUN AND GAMES Hunz’s latest release is a score to a videogame – a videogame they actually helped build. Matt O’Neill catches up with Brisbane electronica veteran Hans Van Vliet to learn how Penny Time fits into his unconventional career.

M

ystique tends to hang around Hans Van Vliet.

The mastermind behind amorphous Brisbane solo project/three-piece Hunz, Van Vliet has never fully invested in self-promotion. In the absence of a defined mythos, rumours and legends have gravitated to his career – from the rumblings that he fronted a failed boy band in the ‘90s to a multitude of theories concerning his lack of mainstream success.

“Oh, I don’t interact with that at all,” he laughs in response. “I find it funny that people actually care enough. It’s such a beautiful thing that people would actually argue or even talk about stuff like that because it means they see so much worth in what you do. They see so much potential in what you were doing. They simply feel that potential must eventually amount to a particular definition of success.”

Penny Time will, in all likelihood, simply embellish that mystique. It’s a most unusual release. Or, it would be for any act except Hunz. Their latest EP is actually a score to a musical/skating videogame for iPhone that Van Vliet designed as part of his day gig. Where Hunz‘s previous output has been characterised by melancholic vocal refrains and chilly electronica; Penny Time is breezy, cerebral and instrumental music.

“I run a motion design company and I had a client of mine that was a skateboarding company called Penny. One of my passions is making games, so I spoke to them about making a different experience for their customers and they were really excited by the idea,” Van Vliet says of the project’s origins.

“At the same time, I told them I would really like to do the music for it – just to keep it really tight.

“The game’s really like something like Guitar Hero – where you kind of need to be flowing with the music and, when you’re really in the moment, you’ll realise your pulling off all the tricks,” he

elaborates. “I really wanted to capture that strange zen moment of being completely in the moment, cruising, listening to music and pulling off sick tricks.

Originally, I didn’t think I’d release it as Hunz, but it gradually kind of took shape as that sound.”

In reality, Van Vliet isn’t particularly mysterious. He’s simply a combination of busy and bored. The songwriter actually did make a serious attempt at the music industry in the ‘90s but eventually lost interest. Since then, he’s been content to simply make his music and work with his design company. It’s not that he’s some obscure electro wizard or commercial failure. He’s just not particularly interested in commercial success.

“I actually consider myself to be quite successful at what I do,” he laughs. “I’m so happy. I break even with my music each year and sometimes I even make a little profit. If that overnight success thing happens, I’ll be more than happy to embrace it – but I think every musician knows there are structures and procedures in place that one must interact with for that to actually happen. And I’ve freed myself from a lot of those structures.

“It all comes back to what is success and what isn’t success, really. If you’re not happy, you should try harder as a musician. If you are, you’ve done it. You’ve won,” Van Vliet smiles. “I really enjoy my work and I really enjoy my music. I get to make games and do fun things during the day and then come home at night and make music. Like I said, I consider myself to be quite successful.”

WHO: Hunz WHAT: Penny Time EP (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 20 July, The Judith Wright Centre

GROWING PAIN Kelly Hogan has spent the last decade lending her beautiful voice to other people’s projects, but now it’s her turn to step into the spotlight. She tells Steve Bell about aiming for the stars and making it.

I

f you’ve had even a fleeting interest in the Americana genre over the last decade, there’s a good chance that you’ve heard the beautiful voice of US singer-songwriter Kelly Hogan. You might have heard her on a Neko Case record – or at a Neko Case show, the two are practically inseparable – or perhaps on an album by Drive-By Truckers, The Waco Brothers or Tortoise. She was a mainstay on the Chicago live scene for years and a go-to backing vocalist for Steve Albini, but was always working on other people’s projects.

Finally Hogan decided to release another album of her own, and not one to do things by halves, she assembled an absolutely killer band – featuring the iconic Booker T Jones on keys, soul drumming legend James Gadson and Gabriel Roth (Sharon Jones) on bass – and then got some of the biggest names in the US indie circuit to supply the songs. Simple, really.

“What a relief!” she laughs of finally having I Like To Keep Myself In Pain completed. “It was like I was hatching an ostrich egg. I’ve got turtle metabolism, but we finally got it out there. I haven’t been idle – I’ve been really busy – but what a crazy fantasy camp year. What a crazy project to be involved in.”

It’s not Hogan’s first album – it’s her fourth, in fact – but it is her first in some 11 years. “My last record came out a few weeks after 9/11, and everybody was kinda sitting still, for good reason,” Hogan recalls. “It’s hard to tour when you’re a peanut-level musician anyway. It’s not about whether you’re going to lose money, it’s how much money are you going to lose. I felt bad because I’d do these tours and I couldn’t pay my band what I thought they deserved, so I thought, ‘I’ll stay close to home’. And Chicago is such an incredibly fertile place to play music. You can play every night of the week, and I did – I had all of these different projects and did all of

this different recording. Then playing with Neko, her stuff just took off, so after 2006 we were crazy busy.

“I was really busy but I was exploring, and to be able to make this record I was really glad that I’d been able to do what I didn’t know was research – I was just living my life and just doing as many different types of music projects as I could. Then I had to walk in there on a Monday morning into this amazing legendary studio and play with Booker T Jones! And meet James Gadson and Gabriel Roth and then just count off a song and go for it. It was tough to do that without needing a diaper.”

At the instigation of Andy Kaulkin from AntiRecords, she approached some of America’s best songwriters, and ended up with an album of songs penned by people such as Robyn Hitchcock, M Ward, Vic Chesnutt, The Handsome Family and Stephen Merritt. “He’d been thinking about all of the work I’d done in the last 11 years, and he said, ‘You know what – let’s talk to these people that you’ve worked with and see if they can give something back,’” Hogan marvels. “I didn’t think that they owed me anything, but he told me to call in favours. I begged people to send me a song. Every stage of the project was fraught with terror, but it was like this crazy wave of positive responses. I have way more songs of course than I could fit on the record, so I hope to somehow record everything in some way one day.”

2 DVD set available now in stores and online

WHO: Kelly Hogan WHAT: I Like To Keep Myself In Pain (Anti-/Warner)

themusic.com.au

www.viavision.com.au I *While Stocks Last TIME OFF • 25

SINGLED OUT WITH CHRIS YATES

ON THE RECORD

MATT BANHAM & SUMMER FLAKE Cruisin’ Together

Universal

TAME IMPALA Apocalypse Dreams Modular/Universal Not so much the sound of the apocalypse, but a skewed pop track with subtle melodic twinges that really is a great example of what this band does right. The fact that they continue to grow in popularity despite not playing down to the lowest common denominator and that they constantly try out new ideas is proof your band doesn’t have to sound exactly like The Strokes to get people to like it. Try harder, other bands!

Z-Man

Fat Possum/Co-Operative

San Franciscan chameleon Sonny Smith’s breakup with his girlfriend of ten years has slightly dimmed his upbeat demeanour, but not his nimble songwriting chops. Of course, when things go awry with one’s love life the country oeuvre is where you turn, so Smith has embellished his normal outfit The Sunsets with members of his country band The Fuckaroos, and the result is Longtime Companion, a collection of tunes about love and loss that, despite the inherent sadness surrounding its genesis, still manages to find some solace in life and even a whiff of casual optimism for the future.

Melbourne garage degenerates Bonniwells are back with sophomore effort Sneeze Weed, another scrappy offering of woozy rock that revels in loose delivery and haphazard slackerdom.

A band called Friends with a single called Friend Crush is at risk of being something that cerebral peopleLIVE will love to tell everyone they hate, however Manifest! has more fun in its 12 tracks than those people have in an entire weekend.

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Fittingly there’s liberal dollops of steel guitar throughout, and the pace of the album is largely the requisite two-step shuffle that this country territory demands. Smith’s wearied vocals drip with resignation and regret, but thankfully his penchant for dark humour remains intact. Literal heartbreak echoes through opener I Was Born, while following track Dried Blood lifts the pace but not the pathos. Smith seeks to channel the Man In Black on the slightly puerile Year Of The Cock, while Gram Parsons’ spirit is revived on Rhinestone Sunset, both in content and delivery. Most tellingly Pretend You Love Me, found on last year’s Hit After Hit as a spiky garage ballad, morphs here into a languid, melancholy country jam, showcasing the change of mood perfectly.

Manifest!

Opening with From The Sunn, Marck Dean’s guitar lines and warped solo in the final third are infectious, and backed by Zac Olsen’s driving rhythms it makes for a cracking number that sets the tone for the rest of the album. Things get even more lo-fi with Lazy Daisy, a plaintive garage pop tune that is as sunny as it is slapdash. Elk Beat and Everyone Say Hello are held in check by John Waddell on bass driving forth the cracked nonchalant vocals, the off-key delivery permeating the band’s laissez-faire attitude, whilst Ms Anderson’s sex appeal (despite the titular infatuation being one hundred and four) straddles ‘60s paisley psych pop that barely manages to stay on the rails. The brooding Mongo Pusher and the neo-surf noodling of instrumental Suntan And Freckles revel in their chugging tempo, even as the urgent opening of Crack Man segues into a slow grind psych solo that highlights how unrushed the majority of these rough-hewn gems are.

Of course with Sonny Smith being Sonny Smith it still comes across as more country-tinged garage pop than true country, but that’s okay: throw on Longtime Companion next time you have trouble of the heart and you’ll be warmed by the fact that you’re not doing it alone.

This is the appeal of Sneeze Weed, the constant battle for the trio to hold these rattling charms aloft whilst a jarring implosion of sound seems never that far off.

Despite the relative brevity of the album, it is clear throughout that Bonniwells revel in the unrehearsed jam, and such sinuous interplay is integral to the success of these tracks. The discordant ramble of closer I Smiled Yesterday exemplifies this, ensuring that nothing is taken to heart, nothing is ever too serious, and everything is going to be alright… just.

★★★★

★★★★

Steve Bell

This album is what would probably happen if New Young Pony Club and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs had a love child that grew up listening to Bow Wow Wow. Their drum beats are from an ‘80s neon jungle party, complete with bird whistles and Tarzan-like oohs and D Vaahs, while Samantha Urbani’s equally fun vocals stop the album from straying into forgettable-guitar-pop territory. A Thing Like This is one of many tracks that sound like they have come straight off a well-used cassette tape, with their refreshingly unashamed pop.

This is the sort of album you could put on when you have friends over on a Saturday night, then chuck on again in the morning to brighten the hangover; it’s just so harmless. The tone darkens in Ruins, but even then it’s dark in a fun, b-grade horror way, and the playat-home chants and claps of Va Fan Gör Du and zingy synths of Mind Control pick the mood back up to a place reminiscent of fly-girls and arcade game sounds.

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I hate the idea of ‘guilty pleasures’ – like you should be ashamed of listening to something you enjoy because it’s not cool or something – but even with this open-mindedness I’m pretty embarrassed about how many times I listened to Brandon Flowers’ solo album. I don’t even know how I got it.

Anyway, Runaways follows the lead of that record, an electronically-stylised Springsteen anthem of amazing pomposity and grandeur that I’m probably gonna listen to many times and then feel all dirty.

Polyvinyl/Lost And Lonesome

FRIENDS

Sneeze Weed

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Runaways

BONNIWELLS

Longtime Companion

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THE KILLERS

LIVE

SONNY & THE SUNSETS

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Matt Banham and Steph Crase used to be in a band together called No Through Road, and they lived in Adelaide. Matt Banham disbanded the, uh, band when he moved to Sydney, but the two have recorded an EP together and it is great. Banham’s sense of humour is in check with a cover of Paula Abdul’s Opposites Attract, and he raps at least as good as that cat. There’s other great covers (like The Magnetic Fields’ Old Fools) but Summer’s (Steph’s) song The Real Thing and Matt’s song 30 Candles are real reminders of how much NTR are missed.

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Independent

With this album, Friends reveal how appropriate their name really is, because like their real-life namesakes, this is an album that gives you a great result without you having to try too hard. If you’re feeling low or wanting to have a good time, this album will come around to your place with a bottle of cheap wine and help itself to your fridge. ★★★½

Eleanor Houghton

Brendan Telford

GOOD HEAVENS It’s Not Easy Being Mean Rice Is Nice Awesome Sydney label Rice Is Nice announced the signing of this new outfit at a massive gig a few weeks back at The Annandale, breathing some much-needed life back into the place. The group features the voice of Sarah Kelly, formerly of the much loved RedSunBand, and the ex-keyboard player from Wolfmother, Chris Ross.

Kelly’s vocals are superb as usual, the guitars are nice and heavy and the hook that acts as a bridge is fantastic. It’s straight-up and devoid of gimmicks, and the band gives Kelly a real opportunity to show off what she does best.

THE BLOODY BEETROOTS Rocksteady Downright Italian hipster electro house maestro(s) The Bloody Beetroots follow-up to Church Of Noise is a high-tempo banger with the typical upbeat aggressiveness that you would expect from the synth-wielding outfit. Alas, as the cult of The Bloody Beetroots extends to become one of these multimedia creative socio-political activist organisations that they claim to be, the music becomes more generic than ever and the things that were really interesting about the early releases have all but dried up. Still, it’s pretty fun if mindless club fodder.

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI Only In My Dreams 4AD/Remote Control With a new album ready to go, Ariel is maintaining his prolific output despite moving from his bedroom four-track recordings to a proper studio with a proper band. Only In My Dreams is ridiculously sugary and sweet – the hippiest flower-powering San Franciscans of the ‘60s would be proud to have this as their theme song. The new album Mature Themes is already shaping up to be another creative success with only a couple of tracks out of the gates so far.

26 • TIME OFF

JOHN MAUS

A Collection Of Rarities & Previously Unreleased Material Domino/EMI The growing fascination with Minnesota’s John Maus is emblematic of the current zeitgeist of washed-out synthesised pop. At its core, Maus’ music is about melodrama and cathartic release. This culminated in the critical success of last year’s We Must Become The Pitiless Censors Of Ourselves, backed by his bizarre self-flagellating live performances. Such tortured passion doesn’t always commit to tape, which dampens some of the impact of the demos inherent on this collection of tracks. Yet it is an interesting sojourn through the history of this engaging yet enigmatic artist.

Arcing over 11 years (from 2010 reworkings to Fish With Broken Dreams, which comes from his earliest demos from 1999) and seemingly void of any thematic or aesthetic connection, these 16 tracks are an abstract listen that nonetheless showcase a propensity for creating superior pop that eludes many of his contemporaries, albeit ones that are oft-buried beneath nervous tics, darkly garish lyrics and copious latherings of quirk.

No Title (Molly) may be his most approachable track from his entire oeuvre, a case study in interweaving hooks and pulse so that there’s no long room for lulls. There are others of this ilk – the immediacy of Bennington and the breezy nuance of The Law come to mind – yet for every classic, there are warped duds such as Lost, true throwaway tracks that should have stayed tucked at the back of the bottom drawer.

PALOMA FAITH

WILDING

Sony

Laughing Outlaw/Inertia

The alternative girl’s chanteuse has been a reigning trend emerging from the UK these past few years, and treading similar waters waded by Amy Winehouse and Florence Welch is Paloma Faith. A self-branded singer and ‘artist’, Faith uses second album Fall To Grace to explore more cinematic territory than 2009’s Do You Want The Truth, Or Something Beautiful? but it’s mostly at the expense of more sincere tracks on offer here.

If Wilding had delivered Bird’s Bread unto Australia’s 1960-70s music scene, it’s highly unlikely anyone would have batted an eyelid; so rich and nostalgic are his references to ’60s British pop music he’s more likely to have garnered unanimous pats on the back all round. But despite this, Wilding’s debut longplayer incorporates the right amount of his penchant for lovelorn lyrics and his take on sunny, vintage pop-rock to make it a delightful standalone listen.

Fall To Grace

Lead single and opener Picking Up The Pieces is a case in point. There’s no doubt the girl’s got a cracking voice, somewhere in between Amy’s selfmutilating drawl and Florence’s forcefully honest warbling, but backed by early-’90s bombastic synth and dancefloor pulse it soon gets a bit silly. 30 Minute Love Affair and When You’re Gone follow this sweeping symphonic build to some grandiose use of string accompaniment, while Blood, Sweat & Tears excites Faith’s fondness for Chaka Khan, imbibing some disco soul into her woman-scorned delivery.

Occasionally the craziness works, like the tango-infused dubstep of Let Your Love Walk In, but when most of these overly employed production elements are swept aside, some real gems are uncovered. It’s when Faith pipes her quite interesting social commentary bereft of studio effect on Black & Blue, and clipped throaty tones in Let Me Down Easy that the barrier crumbles and we’re told a story instead of hearing one glossed over.

Bird’s Bread

With The Boat People’s Robin Waters in the producer’s chair, Wilding skips and laments his way through tracks that straddle various whimsical soundscapes that alternate in sounding like a stroll through strawberry fields and drowning in murky water. From opener I’ll Be There, an upbeat bopper that immediately demonstrates Wilding’s gifted restraint in using raw instrumentation, to the grandiose music hall sounds of tinkly piano and high octave bass in I’ll Love You Until Monday Morning, there’s an overall knowing sense of intent behind all Bird’s Bread’s 12 tracks. Wurlitzer-like keys in Alopecia and the chilling and ponderous chord pattern in Are You Listening? are completely removed from each other and yet the album as a whole simply binds together and works. Although there’s room for embellishment (perhaps more soulful guitar and harmonica breakouts), Wilding has used his players purposely which simply adds to its dignified charm.

A Collection… proves that, like most previously unreleased offerings, there will be prime cuts and there will be offal. Above all else, it proves that Maus is a pop genius – when he so chooses.

The trouble with Fall To Grace is that it relies too heavily on a kind of branding; moments of surprise are too few and far between and the meeker but ultimately more genuine moments are straddled too much by a heavy-handed approach.

★★★½

What is so wondrous about Bird’s Bread is that while the melodic lines and retro instrumentation are indeed memorable, the thing that ensures subsequent listens is the feeling that Wilding has earned our trust; it’s like a personal invite to his big, warm house for a cuppa while suggesting we pull up a bean bag.

★★½

★★★★

Brendan Telford

themusic.com.au

Carley Hall

Carley Hall

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SLEEPY SUN

SERJ TANKIAN

Red Bull/Shock

All Tomorrow’s Parties

Reprise/Warner

Glaswegians Twin Atlantic emerge from the shadow of their 2009 debut album Vivarium with newbie Free, and while diehards will find solace in Sam McTrusty’s brutish vocals and the all-dials-to-11 approach, many perhaps feel a bit like they’ve been bopped in the face by a wiry boy scout. It just lacks some virility.

It’s a difficult obstacle for a band to overcome when an integral member leaves – more so when they offer much of the vocal input. For San Francisco psych rockers Sleepy Sun, the departure of Rachel Fannan has not deterred them, and they’ve since produced third longplayer Spine Hits. Unfortunately for the five-piece, the change has brought about a change in direction, which severely dampens what made them impressive in the first place.

This third solo outing from the System Of A Down frontman is the first part of a four album concept, however, given that the other albums are said to be styled in the ways of jazz, electronica and orchestral suites, this is no doubt the best musical jumping point for most fans of Tankian’s back catalogue.

Free

Gone from Free is the Scot swagger that had Blink182, Smashing Pumpkins, and countrymen Biffy Clyro calling up for tour support, only to be replaced by unvarying structures and a delivery that gets old real quick. There’s no denying the indulgent brash vocals and slabs of chunky riffs in the upbeat Edit Me, and Make A Beast Of Myself, The Ghost Of Eddie and Eight Days thankfully revive the foursome’s penchant for slurred vocals and punchy, offbeat rhythms and fuzzy distortion; this is Twin Atlantic at their best.

Even so, the general output suffers as there are simply not enough hooky lines or memorable anthems to lift the album above being slightly less than ordinary.

McTrusty’s bonny accent is the only distinctive claim and even that starts to grate after a while.

Letting the ship sail with Free is disappointing as there are odd moments where the boys let contrivance go and just let rip. However you won’t find them in Yes, I Was Drunk, or Serious Underground Dance Vibes – here the lyrics, structure and delivery all sound forced and it all gets as silly as the song titles themselves. What’s left is a sense that the individual tracks have been slap-dashed together without any consideration for the whole, resulting in a sound stuck in a quagmire and a largely forgettable record. ★★

Carley Hall

Spine Hits

Harakiri

Things bode well with rolling opener Stivey Pond.

Elsewhere Siouxsie Blaqq proffers the requisite groove, and Creature comes across like early Jane’s Addiction, complete with Bret Constantino channelling Perry Farrell.

Yet Martyr’s Mantra, which goes for the same tack with added percussion, falls flat. It’s surprising that the now all-male line-up with the same aesthetic (Fannan didn’t write) have chosen to pare back these rock mantras in favour of a fuller sound that seems replete of purposeful intent. Yellow End is a conservative rocker that veers on the side of boredom, while Deep War is a middle-of-theroad neo-folk number, something that contemporaries like Black Mountain would have infused with mystery and menace. She Rex works at first, but its punchiness gives way to a structure more akin to second-tier ‘90s Britpop acts than sun-blasted psychedelia.

Spine Hits is the best sounding album Sleepy Sun have produced, but the spit and polish has rubbed out some of the dusty abandon that made previous albums Embrace and Fever so attractive. The absence of Fannan means there is no counterpoint, and their originality has dissipated accordingly. ★★★

Brendan Telford

Covering standard topics such as corporate greed, bloodshed on borders, materialism in society and how we are fucking up the world in general, Tankian is as strange and dada-esque with his verses as he’s ever been. The music that carries his distinct voice is less expected, however, but that’s a good thing.

The instrumentation on Harakiri works in different ways to give the album balance and a broad spectrum of sonic colour. Straight-forward rock moments like Cornucopia and Butterfly pack a direct and forceful punch, while the refrain of songs like Forget Me Knot and Deafening Silence break up the second half of the record nicely, the latter providing a smattering of electronic bursts and what even sounds like a human beat box. But it’s those inane, if somewhat expected, moments, Reality TV and single Figure It Out for example, that really grind after a few spins. On SOAD records, Daron Malakian’s duelling vocals or the rhythm section of Dolmayan and Odadijan would get the tracks over the line, the songs used as fast skits as opposed to real songs. On Harakiri, they are simply annoying.

There’s plenty of panicked vocal brilliance here and a few curious musical turns, but overall, for fans of SOAD and indeed Tankian as an artist, there’s nothing here that’s going to change your life. ★★★

Benny Doyle

VD

TWIN ATLANTIC

PAUL SIMON

Graceland – 25th Anniversary Edition Sony Graceland has already been re-released in recent years with a few of the additional tracks included here but this 25th anniversary reissue is a mustbuy for fans of Simon’s landmark collaboration with South African musicians for the inclusion of the DVD companion peace, Under African Skies, alone.

The album itself more than stands the test of time, from the opening accordion notes of The Boy In The Bubble through the upbeat, optimistic jangle of the title track, You Can Call Me Al and Ladysmith Black Mambazo-accompanied Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes. In addition to demos and alternate takes, there are also early incarnations of All Around The World or The Myth Of Fingerprints, You Can Call Me Al and Crazy Love as well as a 15-minute reminiscence

by Simon called The Story Of Graceland. But it’s the brilliant, almost two-and-a-half-hour documentary film that justifies the purchase price. Helmed by Oscar-nominated documentarian Joe Berlinger (Some Kind Of Monster), the film chronicles Simon’s first trip to South Africa in almost two decades as he reunites with his collaborators from the original Graceland sessions. It’s interspersed with archival studio, concert and news footage, as well as present-day interviews with Simon, Harry Belafonte, Paul McCartney, David Byrne and key anti-apartheid activists.

Despite its inclusion with Graceland, the film doesn’t shy away from some of the more controversial elements of the album’s genesis, including Simon’s breaching of the United Nations’ cultural boycott of South Africa. The DVD also includes the original music videos for the album’s singles, as well as a performance of Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes on Saturday Night Live from 1986. Stunning.

Daniel Johnson

MAKE IT HAPPEN...

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August 4TH 12 – 4PM CNR JANE ST & RIVERSIDE DR, WEST END

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themusic.com.au

TIME OFF • 27

F R O N T R O W @ T I M E O F F. C O M . A U

ARTS

WEDNESDAY 18

SATURDAY 21

The Waiting City – written and directed by Clare McCarthy, shot on the streets of India by cinematographer Denson Baker.

The journey of a woman at a crisis point in her life. A controlling person she is aware that cracks are appearing in her marriage to laidback musician Ben (Joel Edgerton).

Closing Film of the Contemporary Australia: Women in Film Series, GOMA: Cinema 1, 6pm.

He’s Seeing Other People Now – in a place you know. In a time not far away. You are being watched.

They are listening in. The citizens are rioting. The government has imposed a curfew to be set in place tonight. Directed by Melanie Wild and written by Anna McGahan (Underbelly: Razor). Somewhere between George Orwell and Lars Von Trier. Closing Night !MetroArts, 7.30pm.

Nothing Fancy: Judith Lucy – have a laugh with Judith Lucy, no singing, no dancing, just gags about everything from meditation to beards. And maybe some talk of party pies. She’s bringing it back to a woman, a mic and a stage. Opening night, Brisbane Powerhouse, 9pm until 22 July.

THURSDAY 19 The Dark Knight Rises – the Dark Knight legend ends with this film, the final instalment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy. Remember the two previous films prior to seeing how it all ends with The Dark Knight Rises screening at 12.01. Set eight years after Batman took the fall for Two Face’s crimes and became a villain in the eyes of Gotham City. A new dangerous terrorist threat looms over the city, and it is up to Batman to resurface to save those who have branded him an enemy. Dendy Cinemas, 6.15pm – Batman Begins (2005), 9.00pm – The Dark Knight (2008) and The Dark Knight Rises – 12.01am.

THE NOMINEES FOR THE AWGIE AWARDS ARE…

SUNDAY 22 Contemporary Australia: Women – an exhibition that celebrates the diversity, energy and innovation of contemporary female artists.

Featuring more than 70 new works, including painting, sculpture, photography, installation, textiles, video and performance by 33 artists and collectives, a total of 56 visual artists. Curated by Australian producer and critic Margaret Pomeranz. Closing Today, Gallery of Modern Art (GOMA).

ONGOING Pop Remix: Roy Lichtenstein – a name synonymous with the Pop Art movement, his works stands today alongside those of his contemporaries such as Andy Warhol. The artist’s characteristic comic strip, benday dot imagery has entered the collective subconscious as an instantly recognisable graphic aesthetic. Queensland University of Technology, exhibiting until 26 August.

FILM

PROFILE

Five minutes with

POSE

“Full details are being kept secret,” says Pose, mysteriously, “But I will be using my signature style and a few secret ingredients to hand craft the public art installation on behalf of the Australian, family-owned brewer, Coopers Dark Ale in Melbourne next week. Pose is known for his progressive letter style and technical precision. He is one of Chicago’s most prolific and high profile graffiti artists. “It’s my city so I would love to say it’s the best in the world but the world is currently providing some really stiff competition,” says Pose of Chicago. “We have a really rich regional history steeped in hardcore graffiti, but since the ‘90s we have also had one of the harshest anti-graffiti programs in the world. So it’s a really tough scene to thrive in and the ones that do are only that much tougher.” Pose is most definitely one of the ones who is thriving. He has been a graffiti artist for more than twenty years but these days he also spreads himself across a whole lot of other creative platforms including commercial art and fine art. After twenty years in the game, his attitude towards the graff scene is one of respect. “I am over being jaded and living in the past, so I’ve tried to get out of the ‘things were better or realer back in the day’ mentality,” he says. “It’s a new era and history is being made and remade everyday. I’m a big fan of movement and progression so if I adapt that to the current state of graff and street art today I would say it’s incredible. The work people are doing now and things they are pulling off are unreal.” Pose is also currently wrapping up a bunch of commissions, a solo show in conjunction with the Hello Kitty Hello Art book, as well as a two-man show with Revok, which he says “will be epic”. He’s able to balance the huge amount of work he says, due to the blue-collar approach of his upbringing. “I can create and provide all in the same breath, so for me it’s an essential balance. With that said, the past decade has been a serious grind so at the end of this year I will be taking a much needed sabbatical from commercial work to focus more of my time and energy solely towards my fine art and street work.”

Kate Kingsmill

Politically motivated art gets an airing in GOMA exhibition Propaganda?. Curator Reuben Keehan discusses the medium and the message with Paul Andrew.

Gallery Of Modern Art curator Reuben Keehan is fondly recalling a childhood memory – “propaganda” broadcasting before him in lieu of regular children’s television programming. “[It was] cartoons, strangely enough,” he reveals. “As a kid in the early ‘80s I remember Channel 9 screening some ‘50s or ‘60s Cold War-era odes to capitalism, how private control of industry led to wealth for everyone. Maybe they’d gotten mixed up with the Tom & Jerry and Wacky Races tapes, or maybe it was because the Cold War wasn’t quite over yet. I thought they were supposed to be educational until my dad walked in and said, ‘What the hell is this?’

Later I became a big fan of political caricatures in the news – if cartoons could be used for propaganda, they could also be used for satire.”

One of the centrepieces in the survey show of propaganda art is a set of banners by the Indonesian collective Taring Padi. “They are outstanding,” says Keehan.

“Taring Padi having been working in Yogyakarta since the fall of the Suharto regime in 1998. They were quite important organisers during that period.

“The collective is very much focussed on grassroots activities with various minority groups, such

as farmers and the rural poor, and they produce some really vibrant projects in vernacular forms such as street posters, comic books and T-shirts. We’re showing four huge banners that have been produced very cheaply as woodblock prints – a bit of an activist tradition – but they’re also extremely well accomplished, graphically sophisticated and visually captivating.”

So, how do we define “propaganda”?

“It’s a tricky question, actually, as my example of the Cold War cartoons perhaps demonstrates,” Keehan says. “It’s worth noting that the word ‘propaganda’ hasn’t always had negative connotations, that it simply meant spreading a message as far as possible, propagating it.

In that sense it’s no different from what we now call public relations and publicity.”

The exhibition shifts from the most widely accepted definition of propaganda, which is that associated with totalitarian regimes – in this case the Socialist Realist-derived art of North Korea and cultural revolution-era China – to more contemporary takes on the idea. Work featured comes from artists such as the Luo Brothers, who show connections between traditional communist propaganda

and the advertising culture of contemporary China, and Tuan Andrew Nguyen, who shows cola ads, communist posters and wildstyle graffiti jostling for attention in the streets of Vietnam.

You could argue that propaganda is as old as language itself, particularly when words or images are associated with communicating the value of one form of social organisation or another. In that sense, courtly or religious art and even mythical texts could be considered propagandist, at least to some degree. Its use in contemporary politics probably extends back to the European Enlightenment, when ideas of press freedom found various political factions starting their own newspapers and even commissioning artists to design and stage-manage mass spectacles. But just about every form of hegemony has sought legitimacy through art, music, literature and even sport.

“One of the key attributes of propaganda is its tendency to brush over some of the more monstrous aspects of an ideology. Its purpose is to sell the idea, not to unsettle people.“ WHAT: Propaganda?

WHEN & WHERE: Until 21 October, Gallery Of Modern Art

REVIEW

The nominees for this year’s AWGIE awards include writers behind local films such as The Sapphires, The Eye of the Storm, Wish You Were Here and Michael Lucas for his first original feature, Not Suitable for Children (now screening at Nova Cineams). In the stage category playwrights Vanessa Bates (Porn.

Cake- Griffin Theatre), Lally Katz (Neighbourhood Watch- Belvoir) and Lachlan Philpot (Silent Disco – Griffin Theatre /The Arts Centre) have been nominated. The AWGIE Awards will be held at Sydney’s Doltone House on Friday August 24.

Other prizes announced on the night include the major AWGIE award for most outstanding script of 2012.

MARGARET It’s impossible, and unfair, to talk about Kenneth Lonergan’s Margaret, while omitting details of its troubled post-production stage following its 2005 shooting.

In brief: Lonergan wasn’t allowed final cut and the unwieldy epic he intended – focusing on a young NYC woman’s (Anna Paquin) strained quest for culpability and emotional stability after indirectly causing the death of a woman in a bus accident – became lost in the shaping of a more manageable 2.5-hour theatrical version.

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A longer version will eventually surface on home video; in the meantime this cliff-notes version is cause célèbre enough, at the very least for being the kind of dizzyingly ambitious piece of humanist cinema that comes around all too rarely.

It’s never a smooth ride, wilfully placing itself on equal footing with Paquin’s Lisa, and bracingly true to her adolescent hysteria and hopeless desire to salvage some kind of reconciliation with the world orbiting her. The cumulative effect of Margaret’s many loose ends and frayed edges packs a wallop.

Ian Barr In Cinemas Now

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C U LT U R A L

CRINGE

WITH MANDY MCALISTER There’s no getting around it. The soft porn phenomenon that is Fifty Shades Of Grey is everywhere. In need of a holiday read and having heard the title bandied about I picked it up in a bookstore, read the synopsis and promptly put it back down again. The story of a young naive girl who forms a relationship with a dominant older man, even with the promise of kinky sex scenes, is too wishy washy for my liking. So this column is not a review. I’ve reviewed the reviews and decided that my instinct not to purchase this book was spot on. It would probably be easier reading than the book I did take on holiday to Ireland, The Third Policeman by Flann O’Brien. However, I guess you put yourself at risk of a surprise dose of magic realism when you buy a book because one of the characters on Lost was reading it.

So nope, I have nothing to add to the copious amounts of material spontaneously flooding the blogosphere on whether or not the text is anti-feminist, poorly written, or harmless fun. I have zero interest in reading it and therefore any comment on those raging debates going on worldwide, those mass debates (chortle chortle), would be ill-placed. I am, however, quite enjoying the comic discourse surrounding the text and a The Da Vinci Code-style fallout. Just like that book there seems to be quite a few people who have purchased Fifty Shades… without really knowing what they’re getting into.

Besides the everyone-else-is-doingit-so-maybe-I-should-too mentality, the title of the book sounds so

More than a little giddy about seeing The Dark Knight Rises, Sam Hobson talks some gush and guff about blockbuster savant Christopher Nolan.

So, the Dark Knight Rises is at last upon us. What is it about this movie that makes it so special? Why have we waited for so long for a comic book movie, when most of us never read a Batman comic? How on earth did Christopher Nolan make something so patently silly feel to some like the second coming? It’s got nothing to do with comic books, really. Instead, it’s got everything to do with time and place, and the man who knew how to leverage those things into making himself a better filmmaker. Many of us have been utterly captivated by Nolan’s Batman Triology, and I’m here to talk to you about why, at least, I am. So, here goes.

The Dark Knight and Inception sold me on Nolan. Really, it was just Inception, but that film’s very existence, I have the success of The Dark Knight to thank for.Even though all Nolan’s films are strong – and in the case of Memento, great –, they feel an age, an era away from where Nolan is now, and part of the fever of Nolan fandom is knowing that the man grows tremendously with each film outing. On Inception, Nolan finally seemed to harness the war between complexity and emotion, making it into a great moment of catharsis, and the result was like fire in the veins.

All of Nolan’s films, too, have a dense, and heaving muscularity to them. They’re bold in a way that’s 30 • TIME OFF

familiar that it’s easy to gravitate towards. Think about it, there’s 48 Shades Of Brown, A Hazy Shade Of Winter, A Whiter Shade Of Pale, etc.

All are fine examples of things you can openly enjoy on a bus.

I’ve found a couple of stellar examples of shoppers in for a shock in the cosy Irish seaside village of Portballintrae. It’s odd to me that Fifty Shades… has been dubbed “mummy porn” since women, including mums, have always read porn under the guise of romance novels and the term “mummy porn” implies the involvement of a wet nurse. Additionally, Fifty Shades… is trending so vehemently that that it has transcended boundaries of age and taste and now lies in wait on my mother-in-law’s iPad for her to get to the red room. A lovely churchgoing woman, she’s admitted that she may be out of her depth with this one. Probably not more so than my husband’s 70-year-old aunt, who delightfully announced, “Oh, I’ve got Fifty Shades Of Grey on the Kindle!”. Her last longtime companion, her cat Strauss, sadly died on her a few years back. I’m not convinced that Christian Grey is a suitable substitute but I am absolutely pumped to hear Aunty Dot’s critique. I might encourage her to do a podcast.

Twitter is also a more interesting place for the Fifty Shades… sensation. Thanks @LewisPilley for this pearl, “Apparently this is the wettest July on record… I blame 50 Shades Of Grey”. Piss funny but absolutely unprintable, the entries on the Facebook page 50 Shades Of Glasgow are gloriously crude.

Even if I were inclined to read Fifty Shades Of Grey, I’m a tad busy reading #50shadesofgrey.

MIND FREAK

to have knowledge of. I’ll research, and find secret CIA brainwashing techniques, stuff someone like me is not supposed to get their hands on.

I’ve just dedicated my life to it…you know?” Whether you’re a sceptic or not, his extensive practice and what Barry does clearly shows.

The upcoming tour Brain Hacker is Barry’s first time visting Australia.

The show is “a mixture of hypnosis, mindreading, magic, comedy, profanity, and nudity.” (Nudity ? ) “It’s about me hacking into people’s brains,” he continues.

“I’m planting thoughts in people’s minds, extracting thoughts, and really influencing [them]. Really, I try and relate what I do to a safe, or computer. In other words, our brains our exactly like [these things]. Take the safe analogy, some safes are quite easy to hack into, and some safes are complex, and can be really difficult to break into. So, point is, you have to be a really good cracker. Some safes malfunction, and you can’t crack into them at all. It doesn’t really matter whether you believe it or not,” he says to skeptics on stage. “I’m going to hack into your mind anyway. I quite like the change of a skeptic from that moment in time to the end of a routine where their brain is completely busted.”

On the eve of his first-ever Australian tour, Mentalist, Keith Barry talks to Sam Hobson about brain hacking and how he’s going to read the skeptics minds.

Keith Barry reads minds – hacks them, as he claims – through a process of interpreting a person’s body language, and translating the psychology of their responses into a yes-no truth. With these carefully honed skills – or at least the illusion of them – he’s built quite a hefty performing career out of what he does. “When I mixed all those different areas together,” Barry recalls, “I [started] to [consider] myself a student of human behaviour patterns. By reading people’s body language, their eye movements, the subtle changes in their facial expressions – everything down to the changes in blood pressure, it appears I can hack into people’s minds, where in reality what I’m actually doing, is using the five known senses to create the illusion of a sixth sense.”

WHAT: Keith Barry Primarily, one wonders, and seeing what Barry is capable of, why isn’t this a skill that more of us haven’t stumbled upon? Surely, if we all had the abilities Barry does, then we’d be rich. “When you try to hypnotise people you’ll fail, hundreds and hundreds of times. But you can try and figure out if somebody’s lying by looking at the carotid artery in their neck, or maybe their pupil

BATSHIT CRAZY meticulous, but not brazen, not even completely self-assured. There’s a powerful sense of humility to the sprawling stories he tells; everything and everyone is fallible, and I think audiences really appreciate that.

But I also think the real reason we all love Nolan so much, is that he’s the originator. Nolan’s films, tap into a currency that’s immediately identifiable with; The Dark Knight was about abject terror-causing, of purposeless anarchy at a time when people needed a vengeance fable.

Heath Ledgar’s The Joker was a lament to senseless violence, as the villian Bane in the Dark Knight Rises, in contrast seems like a protest Nolan’s trademark ‘gritty’ approach to superhero films validated geek culture in the mainstream and made rabid, on-the-sleeve fandom a popular and acceptable mode of appreciating popular art in modern culture. To flip that back around, this new spate of Superhero movies – the run of Marvel adaptations – couldn’t have been so successful

in their return to their cartoony roots without the validation of gritty Bats. And what makes him the ultimate populist director, is that he integrates all of these things – complexity, muscularity, emotion, philosophy. Nolan has a way of tapping into topicality, and making a film feel relevant and vital without us really grasping that level of its

dilation. Most people will give up after the first or second time. But me, the more I failed, the more determined I became and the more I studied. Even now I study when I have downtime – when I’m at home anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day, every day. I’ll study anything about the physiology and neurology of the brain, down to stuff that I’m not even supposed

THE LOOKING

WHEN & WHERE: Thursday August 16, The Tivoli

GLASS

WITH HELEN STRINGER

narrative immediately. Like he’s made of himself, Nolan has a great sense for building something heroic; for making man into myth. Nolan made pop-heroism tragic, and lonely, and existential.

WHAT: The Dark Knight Rises WHEN & WHERE: In Cinemas Nationally Thursday 19 July

There are circumstances under which the internet undoubtedly becomes a tool for evil and an instrument of psychological torture; break-ups, exam periods and every day between and including Monday and Sunday, for instance. When you’re spending your days glued to Facebook waiting for status updates while instagramming your breakfast and searching for the perfect meme to plaster on your timeline it might be time to admit that you have a problem. I have. I’m six days internet-clean and am now campaigning for Analogue August, a month devoted to overcoming the vicious cycle of interweb addiction.

To help others take steps to turn off the wireless I’ve compiled a list of everyday internet occurrences that we’d all be better people for not having to endure.

Cats. Think about how many anthropomorphised cats you’ve seen in your internet travels: cats wearing clothes, cats not wearing clothes, cats looking angry, cats looking happy. Think of just how many times you’ve read the nonsensical words “LOL cat”.

Frankly, if I see one more felinerelated meme I will lose what’s left of my mind; seeing one cat wearing a hat is surely enough. LOL cats: let it go, internet, let it go.

Motivational updates. There are few things more irksome than daily Facebook updates attempting to make you feel like shit for not dancing like nobody’s watching, catching the elusive happiness butterfly, or realising that it’s never too late to be what you might have been. Is that so? Well, I really wanted to be a teen singing sensation so I ask you this: where’s my fucking time machine?

Celeb gossip. Despite knowing that Kimbo was only married to Kris Humphries for 72 days and that Beyoncé disapproves of Jay-Z’s BFF dating a reality TV star I have never heard Kim Kardashian’s voice. In fact, I’ve never even seen her move. I’ve seen photos of her moving but actual animation? No. The moral is that if you know the daily movements of R-Pattz and K-Stew, Bieber and Selena (Jelena, anyone?), and have read the fabricated details of TomKat’s bitter battle for Suri it’s safe to say that you’ve left the healthy range of the voyeurism spectrum and are heading straight for stalker city.

Facestalking. It’s a well-known fact that break-ups turn you into a cyber-stalker of criminal proportions.

But there’s really no good reason you should subject yourself to the torture of knowing every single event your previously better half is attending which you haven’t been invited to. No good can come of spending your days eating icecream straight from the tub while you sit in front of the computer poring over pictures of girls or guys you’ve never seen before who are now popping up in profile pictures like noxious binary lantana.

We’d be wise to remember that nobody updates their profile with photos of themselves in their pyjamas weeping while eating three-day-old fried chicken at three o’clock in the afternoon. Deactivate the Facebook and reacquaint yourself with the real world; your sanity will thank you later.

MR. MAPS Member answering/role: Chris Perren – guitar

How long have you been together?

The band has been around since early 2008, and the current lineup has been together for a bit over a year now.

How did you all meet?

Within the convoluted web that is the Brisbane music scene. I met Andrew through the early Hangar days in 2007, and we got to know Jac through that scene as well – I was a huge fan of his band Re:Enactment long before he joined Maps. I met Briony through QUT years ago, but later learned that she and Jac had lived in the same house once… another testament to the weirdly insular nature of this city. And our friend Matt O’Neill introduced us to Mitch, who slotted in perfectly.

You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo?

Ooh, good question… Probably Flying Lotus or something electronic like that. Anything too similar to us will be contentious.

Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams figure or some kind of Metallica monster?

Well we seem to always choose nerdy and esoteric over poppy and lucrative, so perhaps Hank. Instrumental music is something that will always struggle to gain mass appeal, so Mr. Maps does seem a labour of love at times. But in a way that’s what keeps it satisfying for us.

Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)?

we all inevitably turn on each other and become total outcasts.

When I was a young ’un I was a huge fan of Taxi and Every Man & His Llama – I was a sucker for killer musicianship. More recently though, Ponyloaf, The Rational Academy, Hunz, Skinny Jean, and To The North have probably all influenced what we do. When you have a sort of community of people all going to see each other’s bands, it seems inevitable that you’ll take bits and pieces of inspiration from each other.

If your band had to play a team sport instead of being musicians which sport would it be and why would you be triumphant?

What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make?

I’m not sure that Brisbane really has a “sound”, and if it does I don’t think Mr. Maps would exemplify it very well. But as I mentioned above, I think it’s mainly in the cross-pollination of ideas between the other bands and musicians that surround you. The Hangar scene was pretty instrumental in our development. We’ve been really lucky to be part of such a supportive community – it makes it easier to forget about money or success and just have a great time playing music together. So in that sense our immediate scene has played a bigger part than the city itself. However, I think Brisbane’s relatively small population and non-committal attitude toward gig attendance (or paying for music in general) does prevent you from taking it all too seriously, which is a good thing.

What reality TV show would you enter as a band and why?

Big Brother, because it’s basically hanging out for three months in a lush house with free food. Plus you could just ignore the other housemates and it wouldn’t matter at all until

Basketball, no question. We would be impenetrable. Our offense would be Andrew, because he can dunk without jumping, and Jac, because he is spry and quick. Defense would be Briony on distraction duty with Mitch agitating the opposition by endlessly complaining about having to engage in physical activity. And I would... co-ordinate.

What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term?

We’re about to release a split 7” with Hunz. It’s gonna be a little clear vinyl disc, with beautiful artwork by Hunz and a single from each band on either side. It’ll come with a digital download and some bonus tracks as well, for those who prefer the iPod listening experience. We launch it at The Judith Wright Centre on Friday. We’ve also got a Melbourne trip coming in August, as well as an instore at Tym Guitars on Saturday 11 August. And after that, Jac heads overseas, which will leave a big question as to what we do next. But we do plan to keep the show rolling in some form.

Mr. Maps launch the Hunz/Mr. Maps split-7” (Lofly) at The Judith Wright Centre on Friday 20 July and play Tym Guitars on Saturday 11 August (all ages).

Photo by TERRY SOO.

TOUR GUIDE FEATURE TOUR

TIM FREEDMAN

SATURDAY 21 JULY, OLD MUSEUM Even in these humid climes it gets chilly at this time of year, and there’s nothing better than an intimate fireside gathering with friends, sharing a yarn over a nice strong drink. Well, it could be better if there was an iconic Australian music figure leading the discussion, which is why it’s so cool that ex-Whitlam Tim Freedman is conducting the Fireside Chat Winter Solo Tour, which winds its way to Brisbane this week. Experience Freedman in the gorgeous Old Museum building, tinkling on the grand piano and holding court between his vast catalogue of songs, keeping nothing back as he shares his experiences and viewpoints on many pertinent areas of today’s society, possibly over a snifter of something expensive. If this sounds like your cuppa tea (or brandy) then head along to the Old Museum this Saturday night – doors are at 8pm sharp!

TIME OFF PRESENTS OF MONSTERS & MEN: The Zoo Jul 18 LONG PLAYER SESSIONS: Brisbane Powerhouse Jul 21 and Aug 18 THE MEDICS: QACI Aug 4, The Northern Oct 5 RUFUS: Oh Hello Aug 10 PASSENGER: The Hi-Fi Aug 16 THE LAURELS: Beetle Bar Aug 17 THE JUNGLE GIANTS: Elsewhere Aug 17, The Zoo Aug 18 XAVIER RUDD: Rumours Aug 29, The Tivoli Aug 30, LKCC Aug 31, Coolangatta Hotel Sep 1, Byron YAC Sep 2 RED DEER FEST 2012: Samford Sep 1 BIGSOUND 2012: Fortitude Valley Sep 12-14 JULIA STONE: Spiegeltent Sep 19 and 20, Byron Community Centre Sep 21 TIM & ERIC AWESOME SHOW: The Tivoli Oct 4 CLARE BOWDITCH: Old Museum Oct 11 BASTARDFEST: The Hi-Fi Oct 13 MUMFORD & SONS: Brisbane Riverstage Oct 17, Gold Coast Convention Centre Oct 31 XIU XIU: Brisbane Powerhouse Nov 18 GOLDEN DAYS FESTIVAL: Coolum Beach Nov 17-18

INTERNATIONAL

OF MONSTERS & MEN: The Zoo Jul 18 KEITH FULLERTON WHITMAN: IMA Jul 19 BLOC PARTY: The Zoo Jul 27 SHIHAD: Kings Beach Tavern Jul 27 ED SHEERAN: QPAC Jul 31 TIM BARRY: Sun Distortion Aug 3 MARK GARDENER: The Hi-Fi Aug 3 BILLY TALENT: The Hi-Fi Aug 9 NASUM: The Hi-Fi Aug 17 COLD BLANK: Electric Playground Aug 17 OPOSSOM, WHITE ARROWS: The Hi-Fi Aug 18 SLASH: Brisbane Riverstage Aug 23 CHRIS LAKE: Family Aug 24 PENNYWISE, THE MENZINGERS, SHARKS: Coolangatta Hotel Aug 23, Eatons Hill Hotel Aug 24 THE BEACH BOYS: BEC Aug 28 PITBULL, TAIO CRUZ: BEC Aug 29 APOCOLYPTICA: The Hi-Fi Aug 30 KATCHAFIRE: The Hi-Fi Aug 31, Kings Beach Tavern Sep 6, Caloundra RSL Sep 7 THE REMBRANDTS: The Tivoli Sep 1 CARTEL: Crowbar Sep 5, Surfers Paradise Beer Garden Sep 6 THE BRAND NEW HEAVIES: The Hi-Fi Sep 6 PATRICK WOLF: The Tivoli Sep 7 EARTH: The Zoo Sep 9 32 • TIME OFF

RUFUS WAINWRIGHT: QPAC Sep 12 INGRID MICHAELSON: Spiegeltent Sep 12 SUBHUMANS: Prince Of Wales Sep 13 RIVAL SCHOOLS: The Zoo Sep 14 JONAH MATRANGA’S ONELINEDARWING: Crowbar Sep 15 BARRY ADAMSON: Beetle Bar Sep 16 MACY GRAY: Jupiters Casino Sep 19, QPAC Sep 20 HANSON: The Hi-Fi Sep 20 ENTER SHIKARI: Eatons Hill Hotel Sep 20 EIFFEL 65, N-TRANCE: The Hi-Fi Sep 21 FUTURE ISLANDS: GoMA Sep 21 WHEATUS: The Hi-Fi Sep 23 AMERICA: Twin Towns Sep 15 FEAR FACTORY: The Hi-Fi Sep 26 JAMES MORRISON: Eatons Hill Hotel Sep 28 ULCERATE: Beetle Bar Sep 30 DEFEATER, BLACKLISTED: Mount Gravatt PCYC Sep 30, Byron Bay YAC Oct 1, The Zoo Oct 2 JOE BONAMASSA: QPAC Oct 3 STEEL PANTHER: Eatons Hill Hotel Oct 4 TIM & ERIC: The Tivoli Oct 4 RUSSIAN CIRCLES, EAGLE TWIN: The Zoo Oct 5 CANNIBAL CORPSE: The Hi-Fi Oct 8 MARTIKA: The Hi-Fi Oct 10 EVERCLEAR: Coolangatta Hotel Oct 10, Hi-Fi Oct 11 TORTOISE: The Zoo Oct 12 GOMEZ: Coolangatta Hotel Oct 13, The Tivoli Oct 14 GRAILS: The Zoo Oct 17 MUMFORD & SONS: Brisbane Riverstage Oct 17, Gold Coast Convention Centre Oct 31 XIU XIU: Brisbane Powerhouse Oct 18 HOT CHELLE RAE: BCEC Oct 23 SUNN O))), PELICAN: The Tivoli Oct 24 WEDNESDAY 13: The Zoo Oct 25 THE BLACK KEYS: BEC Oct 26 AT THE GATES: The Hi-Fi Oct 31 RADIOHEAD: BEC Nov 9 BEN HARPER: BCEC Nov 9 RICK ASTLEY: Twin Towns Nov 16, Ipswich Civic Hall Nov 17, The Tivoli Nov 18 RON POPE: Old Museum Nov 18 COLDPLAY: Suncorp Stadium Nov 21 DARK FUNERAL: The Hi-Fi Nov 23 GEORGE MICHAEL: BEC Nov 27 REGINA SPEKTOR: BCEC Dec 6 SIMPLE MINDS, DEVO: Sirromet Wines Dec 9 WEEZER: BEC Jan 13

NATIONAL

KARNIVOOL: The Northern Jul 19, The Tivoli Jul 20, Coolangatta Hotel Jul 21, The Hi-Fi Jul 22 TIM FREEDMAN: Old Museum Jul 21, SoundLounge Sep 21 HOUSE VS HURRICANE: Tempo Hotel Jul 26 GEORGIA FAIR: Grill’d Wintergarden Jul 26 ILLY: Tomba’s Aug 9, The Zoo Aug 10, The Northern Aug 11 TOMMY EMMANUEL: QPAC Aug 9 THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS: Coolum Civic Centre Aug 10, The Tivoli Aug 11

EMMA LOUISE @ BLACK BEAR LODGE PIC BY MINO PERIC

EMMA LOUISE, ARGENTINA, STEVE GRADY BLACK BEAR LODGE: 11/07/12

Following the last minute withdrawal of Tom Iansek from Big Scary in his Dads guise, local lad Steve Grady acts as the late mail, warming the seat more than ably with his rustic and raw odes. Opening with Blue River, Grady’s voice majestically fills the long room, his delivery reminiscent of a young James Taylor, but with a slightly more complicated soul.

There is just something homely and instantly likeable about the Brisbane troubadour, and his echo through the Lodge is a pleasure to hold an early ear to.

Unassuming four-piece Argentina waste no time in grabbing the attention of the swelling crowd, their refreshing hits of bold indie pop breaking up the evening nicely. With the drum kit tucked snugly in the back corner behind bassist Lauren Moore, the centre stage is given to Alex Ritchie, the voice and soul behind the Argentina moniker. He darts between the microphone and skins with focused intent, adding extra percussive rhythms within his high-end vocals. It’s a compelling set – hypnotic and full of emotion – and the wistful closing tracks of Bad Kids and Chalk Outlines round out the slot gorgeously.

Then just to cap off a night of precocious young talent, Emma Louise wows the sold-out crowd, getting bums off the ground early, even if she does have to politely ask them to do so. Immediately, her harmonising with kindred spirit Hannah Shepherd is captivating, while Daniel Ogilvie’s drumming directs not only the tempo, but also the intensity within each track, allowing Louise’s songs to show various shades of drama and fragility. Lanky multi-instrumentalist Graham Ritchie is also vital to the makeup of the set, his synth work adding layers to latest single Boy and Cages also, the latter another exciting new number that under a current of electronic triggers and keys recalls Bjork’s Hyperballad. Louise, meanwhile, humbly occupies the middle, leading by example as opposed to attitude. And what the diminutive singer lacks in stature, she certainly makes up for in sound. Without any visible strain, her voice engulfs the whole space. And with constant banter in between songs, she immediately makes the room feel smaller and more intimate than it already is; it’s almost like watching a good friend as opposed to one of the country’s most exciting young musical prospects.

The set has been so fantastic, in fact, that you almost forget she still hasn’t dropped her ace card Jungle.

And yes, when she does, it still sounds as vital and unique as ever. But now, as she grows as a songwriter, it’s simply a part of the Queenslander’s impressive live arsenal as opposed to the main drawcard.

Benny Doyle

themusic.com.au

DEAD OF WINTER FESTIVAL 2012 JUBILEE HOTEL: 14/07/12

For yet another year the Jubilee Hotel is overtaken by the vast maelstrom of metal, rock, and punk that is the Dead Of Winter Festival. Eager to get the most out of the long day, the punters pack into the venue and excite the five stages into a state of fevered liveliness by the early afternoon.

Out on the 4ZZZ Stage Midnight Creepers get their zombie-hillbilly-punk game on and reflect the flavours of the day with a generous dose of corpse paint and fake blood. Back at the main stage the fashion may be toned down but the riffs are turned up as Death Valley Nights provide a loud lesson in rock’n’roll.

And meanwhile upstairs the Time Off Stage lays it on heavy with a cluster of furious sets by the likes of In Death, D-Nine, and Dead Letter Opener.

As the night arrives the beer keeps flowing fast and the moshpit madness reaches new heights. The darkness truly descends as local metal legends Astriaal put on a sinister display, with offerings from their latest record Anatomy Of The Infinite reminding everybody just how good Brissie music can be. Segression bring on the nostalgia trip and take us back to their heyday with the weighty Fifth Of The Fifth and a good selection from their classic era. Area 7 send the metal-heads running but for others they keep the good times coming as they run through an infectious set of their fruity blend of ska punk. The Dreamkillers are yet another celebration of the past, but newbies such as Verbal Violence prove they’ve still got some fight in them.

For their first show in Brisbane since 2008, I Nation really deliver the goods, and make many regret their prolonged absence with an electrifying half hour of music that sees a couple of guest vocalists overly eager to join in and make the most of the long-awaited set.

After over 12 hours of musical mayhem, the festival comes to a close and sends the rambunctious crowd into the streets to terrorise the unsuspecting Valley public. The sense of community is amazingly strong in Brisbane’s heavy music scene, and it is only through the strength of this vibrant collectivity that such a festival is possible. Once again The Dead Of Winter Festival is a raging success, but more importantly it is a grand testament to the communal spirit of heavy music.

Jake Sun

VAGRANT: TALKSHOW BOY, SCRAPS, FEET TEETH THE WAITING ROOM: 12/07/12

To say the weather tonight is shit would be an understatement of epic proportions. Trudging through the mud and then up and into The Waiting Room is

a sign of welcome relief (not just because it’s dry) as a number of patrons have embraced the rain to see the Brisbane debut of New Weird Australia’s Vagrant series, as curated by Andrew Tuttle.

Feet Teeth kick off early but definitely don’t disappoint, delivering a high-end set of music that is probably better described as compositions rather than songs. The band’s soaring improvised trumpet mixed in with complex loops, adventurous drums and other odds and ends really pulls you into the their universe as you watch closely what they are going to do with the next instalment of their captivating performance.

Performing (temporarily) without her shimmering wig, Laura Hill – aka Scraps – busts out a wide variety of vintage synth-driven pop drawing from Greatest Shits and her latest album, Golden Scraps. The melodies are simply enthralling with that casio-esque auto-chord sound resonating throughout and inferring to all and sundry that Scraps is indeed the queen of the technique. A new song is thrown into the mix that contains a bit of a hip hop drum beat underneath a more recognisable Scraps sound, which wraps up another great set of vintage electro-pop nirvana.

Going back upstairs from the break, the proceedings carry a very different vibe as Talkshow Boy commences his set. Whether or not it is a matter of “getting it”, what’s on show seems to divide the crowd as half dance and others leave as the Keith! Party star wanders aimlessly (naturally, shirtless) around the room “rapping” underneath occasionally interesting “beats” that unfortunately in a live setting comprise the man pressing play for the next track. Lyrically it is good to hear a variety of topics broached within each song, but all in all it does feel like a bit of a waste of time for all involved. The impression that the young Adrian Trajstman gives off feels like he’s an aspiring avant garde version of Mickey Avalon or a fanboy version of Andrew WK. Clearly there’s some form of a market for this sort of thing, but if you are one of the ones who doesn’t “get it” it does make you wonder whom exactly this market is for.

With the first of two nights of Vagrant wrapping up it’s good to see the number of people that have pushed through the harsh weather conditions and come out in support of a great idea that showcases some of the many great but lesserknown musical talents within our country.

Bradley Armstrong

THE GOOD SHIP, STORMCHASERS, THE BON SCOTTS THE ZOO: 14/07/12

Judging by the array of naughty and nautical merchandise up for grabs – underwear, sailor hats – it’s obvious tonight’s fare will be anything but dull. As punters start trickling in early, The Zoo begins to resemble something of a holding pen for extras on a Tim Burton seafaring venture.

Melbourne seven-piece The Bon Scotts squeeze themselves onstage and kick off with Remember from their latest album. Singer and guitarist Robert Zimmerman maintains a tight reign on their loud folk-pop, which could get unwieldy, but Who Is The Gentleman? and Here Comes The Summer show off the group’s ability for keeping mandolins, euphos, guitars and accordions tight, with Stefani Germanott’s cello poignantly underlining all.

Zimmerman’s commanding vocals are wonderfully rich on We Like War, and with just the odd balance issue they near the end with Let’s Do What The Catholics Do, inducing a member from the headline act to crash the stage in priest attire.

Tonight is all about big ensembles, and local funkrock eight-piece Storm Chasers are no exception, but the usual sound issues of an outfit this size bring chaos. Lead vocalist Katherine Sheppard is simply drowned out in Raw Bacon by the stomping melodic lines and horn embellishments. The bassheavy mix continues its onslaught as Sheppard and singer-guitarist Michael Gill battle through Take A Sip and The Storm. It’s truly a shame as there is all evidence these guys kill it on a regular basis with reggae sass and dirty blues bursting out of saxophones, ukuleles, harmonicas and brass. These ease off on With The Lights On, allowing Sheppard and Gill to duet this sweet, vulnerable lyric.

When stormy sounds roll through the dark space the now larger crowd rushes to the front for Brisbane buccaneers The Good Ship. Regular touring and tonight’s album launch has gifted the eight-piece troupe with a following who know to expect a night of saucy jokes and dirty, accordion-ridden sea shanties awash with western, folk, and cabaret flourishes. Singer, guitarist and co-captain John Meyer channels Nick Cave and gets the mutiny going with many a ‘hey!’ for opener A Harbour Fair. Although favouring mostly material off new album O’ Exquisite Corpse, the guys and gals’ crude version of On The Good Ship Venus and co-captain singer and banjo-plucker Brett Harris’ hilarious What I’m Trying To Say go down a treat. Guitar noodler Bury Me remains one of the band’s finest.

Lead single Seven Seas is rollicking fun, followed by set closer, a cover of Boney M’s Rasputin.

Then the scurvy dogs bound back onstage with their support acts for a messy finale of fun and frivolity as they tackle a cacophonous mash-up of all manner of pop greats, including Sir Mix-a-Lot’s Baby Got Back.

Carley Hall

THE CAIROS, THE PREACHERS ALHAMBRA LOUNGE: 15/07/12

The Valley, seemingly, doesn’t age. It can be the Peter Pan of places, and in the darkest of ways. While you age, and grow weary of it, it doesn’t, and each night it indiscriminately sheds the skin of yester for a new one; a scaly, reptilian tiling of fresh, impossibly younger bodies.

Tonight, youths are staggering everywhere; short skirts, pumped-up kicks, high drama.

But the Alhambra Lounge is an oasis from that.

It draws perhaps the youngest crowd of almost anywhere in the Valley, and yet it’s also got one of the friendliest atmospheres. Coming in from the din outside – the alley near the door is staggered with a chorus of barely legal girls, arms locked around their shoulders in rows across the pavement like a drunken foosball line – seems like a revelation.

Before long, a deep, obliterating bass line seethes out from the small stage at our front, and the crowd whoops and cheers in a way that sounds both excited and scared. A taut, mod-rock beat prances The Preachers’ first track into being; a song marked by the wondrous unison of bass and drums. The male of their two singers has a voice that, to hear it for the first time, raises the hair on your arms. His performance is something truly primal and heartfelt – it sounds like the lyrics are made from the very grit of his soul. Their tracks are each tremendously composed: layered and lengthy, they shift and breathe like living things. The music is brimming with ideas, with each new phrase a tangent from the last, everything a gear-change, and somehow nothing jarring, or out of place.

The Cairos, who play promptly after, seem to cause a wash on the floor. Like something spilt, people run to the stage, meeting together in the dint at the front with a visible bump. Luna kicks off the evening, a song devoted to a gleeful, hypnotic,

and skittering dynamic. It’s a single-minded track, but very deliberately so: it’s a pleasant mood-plateau, a palette cleanser. From that, they shade into a balmy crooner, an effectively familiar song in the vein of slick-haired ‘60s dream-pop.

Seasons Of Snow follows that, boasting a taut perpetuation of indie-rock’s (hopefully) fading calypso trend. The vocals, however, are woefully underappreciated in the swallowing throng of everything that’s culminating to make tonight’s noise. The Cairos are a tight band, and they’re vibrant and colourful live, but things tonight just seemed a little rote. Perhaps it’s the shadow cast by The Preachers, although it feels a little disrespectful to say that, however ultimately true.

Take A Look At These Walls follows that, their pop sensibility in full-swing, before Self Control from their new EP begins to wind down their set.

Sam Hobson

KNXWLEDGE, TOTAL STRANGER, SAUCE

ALLONEWORD: 13/07/12 Things are kicking off very late at Alloneword tonight. It’s already scheduled to start a little late, with opening act Sauce listed at 10pm, but by the time that rolls around there’s still a band from the previous event playing and the promoters haven’t set the entry up yet. When the other band is finally packed up, Sauce drops a very nice set; full of chilled, jazzy, beats and melodies that make for a pleasant way to ease into the evening. He’s stuck behind a small desk, to the side of the bar, in a very long, narrow room, so there’s no chance for any presence or performance, but the sound quality is impeccable throughout the venue and the music is great.

Due to the earlier delay it’s almost midnight by the time the second act, Total Stranger, begins.

Contrasting with the other artists tonight, this two-piece plays their music live, with vocals, bass and beats performed and merging with backing tracks. There is again a very jazzy sound to the set, fed through a modern electronic vision; wandering bass-lines squelch and throb, brushed drum samples skitter and lovely clean vocals are layered and looped back. The performance is skilful, almost CD quality (a couple of major missteps aside), and the basic sound is good, but without anything particularly threatening to the music and no significant differences between most songs (which already tend to drag on a little too long), it does begin to blur into largely pleasant background music.

Knxwledge finally takes to the desk at around 1am and is instantly engaging. His mixture of instrumental hip hop and down-tempo electro melds effortlessly and grabs the attention of everyone left in the bar. Starting off with his own tracks, he chops and changes between pieces at a break-neck speed. It’s impressive that the frequent transitions are almost always smooth. Some ideas are left behind before they can really develop, but for the most part Knxwledge manages a gradual build in mood and intensity that eventually drags people away from the wall and gets them dancing in the limited space. As the set progresses, he moves away from his original stuff and begins to drop a bunch of other artists’ work into the mix. It’s more a live remix session than a DJ set though, as Knxwledge continues to swiftly cut between tracks and play with envelops and filters to keep everything feeling fresh. It’s a great set, with a strong party vibe, but the time delays and the restrictions of the venue’s shape keep it from ever gaining the atmosphere that it deserves.

TOUR GUIDE SNAKADAKTAL: The Hi-Fi Aug 10 SOPHIE KOH: Brisbane Powerhouse Aug 12 ALPINE: The Northern Aug 16, The Zoo Aug 17, Coolangatta Hotel Aug 18 THE LAURELS: Beetle Bar Aug 17 LOON LAKE: Alhambra Aug 17, SolBar Aug 18 IOWA: X&Y Bar Aug 17, Tym Guitars (afternoon) & The Waiting Room Aug 18 JINJA SAFARI: The Hi-Fi Aug 18 CHILDREN COLLIDE: Spotted Cow Aug 23, The Zoo Aug 24, The Northern Aug 26 TIM ROGERS: Old Museum Aug 23, The Northern Aug 24, Spotted Cow Aug 25 DAVE GRANEY & THE MISTLY: Starcourt Theatre, Lismore Aug 23, Miami Tavern Aug 24, Beetle Bar Aug 25, SolBar Aug 26 BODYJAR: The Hi-Fi Aug 24 CHANCE WATERS: X&Y Bar Aug 24 KING CANNONS: SolBar Aug 24, Shark Bar Sep 15, The Northern Sep 15 GRINSPOON, SPIDERBAIT, THE MISSION IN MOTION: Eatons Hill Hotel Aug 25 KATE MILLER-HEIDKE: The Hi-Fi Aug 25, 26 XAVIER RUDD: Rumours Aug 29, The Tivoli Aug 30, Lake Kawana Community Centre Aug 31, Coolangatta Hotel Sep 1, YAC, Byron Bay Sep 2 DREAM ON DREAMER: Tempo Aug 30, Paddington Community Hall Aug 31 LANIE LANE: The Spotted Cow Aug 30, SoundLounge Aug 31, Bangalow A&I Hall Sep 1, Spiegeltent Sep 27 1927: The Tivoli Sep 1 PAUL GREENE: Dowse Bar Sep 6, Woombye Pub Sep 7 PSEUDO ECHO: Eatons Hill Hotel Sep 7, Coolangatta Hotel Sep 8 RICKI-LEE: Family Sep 9 CHET FAKER: GoMA Sep 15 JULIA STONE: Spiegeltent Sep 19, 20, Byron Bay Community Centre Sep 21 SETH SENTRY: The Zoo Sep 20, The Northern Nov 8 OH MERCY: The Zoo Sep 21, Joe’s Waterhole Sep 22 REGURGITATOR: The Northern Sep 26, The Hi-Fi Sep 28 THE AMITY AFFLICTION: The Tivoli Sep 25 – 27 CLARE BOWDITCH: Old Museum Oct 11, A&I Hall Bangalow Oct 12FRENZAL RHOMB: Spotted Cow Oct 19, The Hi-Fi Oct 20 KARISE EDEN: St John’s Cathedral Oct 23 ICEHOUSE: Alexandra Hills Hotel Oct 26, Eatons Hill Hotel Oct 27 ANGUS STONE: The Northern Nov 7, The Hi-Fi Nov 9, Coolangatta Hotel Nov 10, Lake Kawana Community Centre Nov 11 KASEY CHAMBERS, SHANE NICHOLSON, JOHN WILLIAMSON, TROY CASSARDALEY, CATHERINE BRITT, FELICITY URQUHART: Sirromet Wines Nov 18 THE LIVING END: The Zoo Dec 1 – 7

FESTIVALS

SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS: Belongil Fields Jul 27 – 29 GREAZEFEST: Rocklea Showgrounds Aug 3 – 5 RED DEER FESTIVAL: Mt Samson Sep 1 BIGSOUND: Fortitude Valley Sep 12 - 14 PARKLIFE: Botanic Gardens Sep 29 BASTARDFEST: The Hi-Fi Oct 13 WHIPLASH: The Hi-Fi Oct 21 ISLAND VIBE: Point Look Out Oct 26 – 28

Sky Kirkham

themusic.com.au

TIME OFF • 33

ROOTS DOWN

OG FLAVAS

ADAMANTIUM WOLF

BLUES ‘N’ ROOTS WITH DAN CONDON ROOTSDOWN@TIMEOFF.COM.AU

URBAN AND R&B NEWS BY CYCLONE

METAL, HARDCORE AND PUNK WITH LOCHLAN WATT

JERRY DOUGLAS I’ve found myself so goddamn busy lately that I haven’t had a chance to listen to enough new music, which is just plain weird for me. I’ve made a concerted effort though to sit down with a couple of new records so that I can write something in this little box about them for you to read.

First up I gave the new record from Jerry Douglas a crack, it’s called Traveler and it has just been released on eOne through Shock. For those unfamiliar with his work, Douglas is renowned as one of the premier Dobro guitarists on the planet, an active session musician who has apparently played on over 1600 records in his career with everyone from Ray Charles to Elvis Costello to Johnny Mathis. He is also a gun record producer and a vital member of Alison Krauss & Union Station, one of the most revered bluegrassleaning bands kicking around these days.

It takes less than ten seconds to remember just how damn good a guitarist this guy is and while his voice doesn’t quite have the amount of grit that some of us might like, his production is so lively and his playing so powerful that it honestly doesn’t really matter. Being who he is, Douglas has managed to put together a pretty impressive list of collaborators too. Something You Got sees Eric Clapton give one on his better vocal performances in a while, while Krauss & Union Station make Frozen Fields as gorgeous as they make just about everything they touch.

Probably the song most people will be interested in though is the Paul Simon classic, The Boxer.

As well as Douglas, it features Simon himself and the entire Mumford & Sons crew all having a go. I don’t like Marcus Mumford’s voice, so it was pretty much fucked for me right from the beginning, and that big singalong chorus just sounds a little bit too contrived; it doesn’t scare me the way I feel their approach tries to and, frankly, the way it should. But Traveler is a ripper of a record and gets my resolute stamp of approval.

The second album I dedicated some time to this week was the new, and long-awaited, record from the legendary Bobby Womack. Womack has always been kind of all over the place as far as the styles his adopts; gospel, doo-wop, funk, country – hell, he even wrote The Rolling Stones’ first ever hit – and this new record, The Bravest Man In The Universe, sees him go even further out than he ever has.

I approached the record with trepidation. While it was produced by the excellent Richard Russell (he did Gil Scott-Heron’s incredible I’m New Here) and Blur/Gorillaz mastermind Damon Albarn, I’d heard a couple of tracks and they threw me. Hard.

But I figured I owed these three guys a proper listen and I’m glad I made the effort. This is an album, a full body of work, and it needs to be appreciated as such. These songs when isolated from each other do not work nearly as effectively as The Bravest Man In The Universe works as a whole. The glitch production is futuristic and rustic all at the same time and it’s the perfect backdrop to Womack’s voice, which also seems glossy at times and all scuffed up at others.

I’ll be honest, I thought Lana Del Rey ruined the album’s Dayglo Reflection when I heard it initially, but it’s a fair counterpoint to Womack’s voice, if an unremarkable performance in itself (seriously, how do people rave about this woman?).

You’ll need to keep your mind well and truly open if you’re a traditionalist who wants to give this album a crack; the production is a long, long way from anywhere Womack or his contemporaries have really ever been before. It’s definitely worth it though, thanks mainly to his incredible voice and some off-the-wall production ideas that have worked. Honestly, listening to the final song, Jubilee (Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around), I can’t help but wonder if Womack and co have opened the gates for a whole new breed of blues artists to follow.

34 • TIME OFF

FLO RIDA

2 Live Crew’s Fresh Kid Ice. He was spotted by Jodeci’s DeVante Swing, who’d discovered Timbaland, Missy Elliott and Ginuwine, and moved to Los Angeles. But no record deal eventuated. Dillard’s fortunes changed when, back in Miami, he signed to Poe Boy Entertainment.

He’d circulate the street joint Birthday, with Rick Ross.

Australians have long adopted performers from elsewhere. ABBA might as well have been Australian.

We’ve poached successive New Zealand acts, like Split Enz. And we’re loyal to US urban veterans – notably Naughty By Nature. Kelly Rowland’s profile is bigger here than the US, where she’s still seen as Beyoncé’s understudy. Other honorary Aussies? Pitbull, Jason Derülo and Flo Rida.

Dillard’s debut, Mail..., generated hits other than Low (the best Timbaland’s Elevator), yet many suspected that he’d be a one album wonder. But then Dillard surprised us all, returning in 2009 with Right Round (featuring then newcomer Ke$ha) off ROOTS. The song sampled Dead Or Alive’s ‘80s hi-NRG You Spin Me Round (Like A Record) – camp for a rapper! He’d subsequently team with David Guetta on Club Can’t Handle Me.

Flo, AKA Tramar Dillard, has scored 2012’s second biggest Australian single so far in Wild Ones, which features onetime acid jazzer Sia Furler and co-production by Axwell (Swedish House Mafia), with Whistle, courtesy of DJ Frank E, No. 4. Both songs reappear on Dillard’s fourth album, also called Wild Ones, together with 2011’s multi-platinum Good Feeling – a Dr Luke affair that, by sampling Etta James, sounds like an old Fatboy Slim big beat thumper.

Dillard, an ex-business student, is not a charismatic MC. His interviews are rote. But he has the tunes. The Miami native broke out in 2007 with the mega Low (featuring T-Pain) off Mail On Sunday. Low smashed digital sales records.

Miami was an urban hotspot even in the ‘80s, bass (or booty) music, stemming from electro, among the first regional genres. The ultra ‘nasty’ – and controversial – 2 Live Crew put bass on the global map. There were poppy booty hits, too, like Whoomp! (There It Is), actually from Atlanta’s Tag Team – it was one of 1993’s biggest records. Miami bass influenced the breaks movement – and was fetishised by dance scene hipsters, chiefly James Lavelle. And, of course, bass crept into crunk. Alas, Dillard is not into reviving Miami bass, but rather reproducing the Euro-dance heard during Miami’s Winter Music Conference.

Though as a teen Dillard formed a hip hop group, the GroundHoggz, his initial break was to act as hypeman for

From the outset, Dillard, an internationalist, favoured the Australian market, touring behind Mail... He graced Jessica Mauboy’s Running Back as well as Cody Simpson’s iYiYi. This April Dillard released an exclusive Australian EP, Good Feeling, a sorta mini ‘greatest hits’. The gimmicky Whistle, an anomaly on Wild Ones with its rock bent, was premiered on Australian radio. Dillard was a Logies guest.

Wild Ones represents no departure for Dillard, with yet more post-crunk club bangers. Let It Roll is hyper piano house, again an Axwell co-production.

Dillard’s latest Australian single, In My Mind (Part 2), is a “reinterpretation” of the club hit of the same title by TV Rock’s Ivan Gough and Melbourne DJ duo Feenixpawl featuring Perth indie singer Georgi Kay. Like Good Feeling, there’s a dubstep breakdown on Run – masterminded by LMFAO’s buddy Goonrock (RedFoo plays hypeman) and borrowing from Bryan Adams’ retro rock Run To You. Incidentally, Goonrock co-produced Party Rock Anthem, which apparently Dillard declined (albeit in another incarnation). Jennifer Lopez brings her sugary, if insubstantial, vocals to Sweet Spot – ‘90s house. Lil Wayne, guest on American Superstar off Mail..., pops up on Let It Roll Part 2. Unfortunately, it’s all very ‘electro-hop for malls’, even the supposedly emotive I Cry. The really cool kids will shun Dillard for emerging Miami MC/producer SpaceGhostPurrp with his take on chopped and screwed. Miami horror, indeed...

THE BREAKDOWN POP CULTURE THERAPY WITH ADAM CURLEY track off their debut 7”, Bulls Eye, is slack-jawed smack-rock done perfectly. The guitars layer up then split apart in trebly quivers, the drums stay half a step behind, and Bermuda drones on in her beautifully flat voice about who knows what behind it all. A clip for the track can be found at ripsocietyrecords.tumblr.com.

FABULOUS DIAMONDS Winter in Australia often means an unfurling of releases aimed at the northern summer: light things, things made for festival stages and general outdoor tomfoolery. The radio is full of the stuff. So it’s lucky that a handful of local acts have taken it upon themselves to balance the pep with some darker – some of it downright maudlin – tracks.

Because winter should be spent wallowing in a puddle of self-pity and drum machines.

Since The Devastations quietly called it a day following their incredibly sexy 2007 record Yes, U, we’ve not heard anything much from the band’s members. That’s all changed this month with the introduction to Standish/Carlyon, formed by twothirds of The Devastations, Conrad Standish and Tom Carlyon. The duo have signed to Melbourne alt.pop label Chapter Records and sent around one track, a warm wave of guitars and synths titled Critics Multiply. With a bassline made for hips and a subdued disco vocal melody that worms its way into the hippocampus, this is more than The Devastations minus their drummer, though it isn’t too far removed either. The duo’s Soundcloud – soundcloud.com/ standishcarlyon – has them based in London, but they’re currently in the middle of a month-long Tuesday night residency at the Toff in Melbourne for those who can and will. An album is due later this year.

Angie Bermuda has made herself one of the most essential guitarists on Sydney’s garage scene with her roles in Circle Pit, Straight Arrows and the underrated Southern Comfort, but it’s her new project with RIP Society label founder Nic Warnock, Ruined Fortune, that will likely draw the most widespread attention. If that’s not due to RIP’s tentacle-reach into the States these days, then it will simply be because the title

Known to wear their criticisms as badges of honour, Melbourne’s Fabulous Diamonds have announced that their third album will be called Commercial Music (out in August on Chapter Records), no doubt a dig at the purpose-built songs from their peers soundtracking cars and hygiene products as well as a statement to say, ‘We know what we’re not.’

That or it’s a tongue-in-cheek attempt to get some car brands on board. Either way, the first track released last week, Lothario, sounds more like the theme to a pixelated druid swinging a staff through a multiplatform battle. The beats plod along under curdling synth effects while Nisa Venerosa and Jarrod Zlatic chant out echoed and indiscernible lyrics and simple organ rhythms come and go. It can be heard at soundcloud.com/chaptermusic.

Keeping in Melbourne, Children Of The Wave have released the first track from their forthcoming second album, The Electric Sounds Of Faraway Choirs, which Sensory Projects will release in September. It isn’t half obvious that one-half of the duo, Mark Rayner, spends some of his time writing about music: that title goes a long way to describing what they’re doing with the first track from the record, I Defy You. It’s a slow-building of clattering percussion and long-note keys that morph into choir-like vocals late in the track.

Where Children Of The Wave were called all sorts of variations on “weird” with their debut, the musical landscape has changed enough to make them now one of the best in an ever-expanding genre – it’s still pretty weird, but it’s some of the best weird out there. Listen to the track at soundcloud.com/ sensory1, and while you’re there, check out a couple of tracks from the debut self-titled album from New War, which I wrote about last week, and the brilliant latest single from Melbourne new-age club kids Love Connection, You Don’t Need Muscles To Get Love.

themusic.com.au

AT THE GATES At The Gates are touring Australia. That’s right – the Swedish band that defined melodic death metal after releasing Slaughter of The Soul in 1995 shortly before breaking up, is actually coming down under for a short run of reunion shows. The tour kicks off on 31 October at The Hi-Fi in Brisbane, 1 November at The Metro in Sydney, 2 November at Billboard in Melbourne, and 3 November at Capitol in Perth.

Chances are if you’ve made it this far you’ve already been exposed to the line-up for 2013’s Big Day Out. In case you didn’t, OFF!, Every Time I Die and House Vs Hurricane are playing. There’s literally nothing else to appeal to most metal, hardcore and punk fans, unless you’re still hanging onto the days when you liked the Red Hot Chilli Peppers.

Melbourne deathgrinders A Million Dead Birds Laughing will launch their second full-length album on 27 July. Entitled Xen, the highly dynamic release shows the band pushing the limits of the style they became known for with last year’s Force Fed Enlightenment. You can hear some tracks, as well as pre-order a physical or digital copy, over at amdbl.bandcamp.com.

More bands have been announced for Bastardfest – The Archivist, Inhailed, IDYLLS and Magnertron will join the already monstrous line-up at The Hi-Fi on 13 October. Just for a recap, this includes Blood Duster, Astriaal, Fuck... I’m Dead, Aversions Crown, Disentomb, I Exist, King Parrot, Hellbringer, Defamer, Daemon Foetal Harvest, Signal The Firing Squad, Mongrel’s Cross, Shellfin, The Matador, Shifting The Paradigm, Moth, and a special guest headliner that is yet to be announced.

Melbourne’s slick unit Dream On Dreamer will tour throughout August and September with a bunch of bands in tow – Like Moths To Flame from the USA, Byron Bay’s In Hearts Wake and Sydney’s Hand of Mercy. Catch them at the Tempo Hotel on 30 August and the Paddington Community Hall on 31 August.

In other In Hearts Wake news, the metalcore band has announced a deal with UNFD who will release their debut album Divination on 31 August. The release was recorded and mixed in the USA by Josh Schroeder, and will reportedly feature guest vocals from Legend’s Chad Ruhlig.

Midnight Funeral will launch pre-orders and details for the 12” edition of Confession’s The Long Way Home this week. Check it out at midnightfuneral.limitedpressing.com.

Melbourne thrash metal group 4Arm have dropped off their US tour and made a bit of a deal about it, smearing the tour’s promoters Nemesis Records in the process. When a band’s first international show is supporting Metallica at Download Festival in the UK, your standards would be set pretty high, and hence forth their main complaint came with a photo of a humble shed, saying that it was a photo “of an actual venue at which the band were expected to perform”, adding that the whole tour was “a poorly organised and misinformed operation”. Deprivation, a fellow Australian band from Orange who remain on the tour, shot back at 4Arm to say that the rumours about the tour “are completely false”, going on to verify the fact that the venue has in the past been good enough for legendary metal bands like All Shall Perish, Six Feet Under, Dying Fetus and more. Touring overseas is a privilege no matter the conditions – 4Arm should probably harden up and drop the rockstar vibes if they ever get a second chance on US soil.

GIGS OF THE WEEK:

Thursday: Skyway, Deadlights, Sunsets – X&Y Bar. Friday: Alarum, Shifting The Paradigm, Conspiracy, Messiam, Beckon The Dead – Crowbar. Karnivool, Redcoats, Sleepmakeswaves – The Tivoli.

Saturday: Greenstreet, Octanic, Katabasis, Red Bee, Amicable Treason, Therein – Crowbar.

Edforce 1 (Iron Maiden), The Pantera Show From Hell (Pantera), Blizzard of Oz (Ozzy Osbourne) – The Hi-Fi. Casino Rumblers, Nudist Colonies of The World, Vomit Bullets – Prince of Wales Hotel.

AERIALS

DAN AND HANNAH ACFIELD

NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE

ARE YOU LOCAL? BRISBANE SINGLES AND EPS

BY CHRIS YATES CHRIS@TIMEOFF.COM.AU

Few acts have a sound that encapsulates their name better than Northeast Party House. Benny Doyle talks about the good times with Sean Kenihan.

SILVER SIRCUS

Come Back As You (Independent) The airy pop of Silver Sircus’ Come Back As You benefits greatly from the additional producers that the group have enlisted to treat it. Lawrence English’s remix is a droning amble which amplifies these atmospheric elements of the song to eventually reveal its simple melody line. Scanner takes to the track like a trip hop producer, with some trippy dub elements. Martin MacDonald – aka Son Of Sea – replays large sections of the song to the point where it is almost a cover version. The B-side Sleepwalker shows that Silver Sircus don’t mind letting themselves get swept up in the ambience with a 12-minute stretching and sprawling soundscape.

CHARLIE MAYFAIR

Fall In Time (Independent) Waste Me is the lead track on Fall In Time and the frantic drums counterpointed by the big vocals are only the start of the contradictions that the five-piece piece together on their debut EP. Two different vocalists take the lead and the songs follow their respective directions. While the band create a big sound patched together with a multitude of instruments and ideas, the songs themselves dictate the production and instrumental flourishes, which change dramatically and often without warning. Matt Redlich’s production layers are deep and complex, keeping up with the band’s shifting sonic arguments easily.

THE JUNGLE GIANTS

She’s A Riot (Create Control/Dew Process/Universal) The handclaps push along the party vibe on She’s A Riot, while the band jangle and bounce along with the same level of enthusiasm. There’s a British indie pop vibe to the track matched with an unmistakable Brisbane sunniness while the guitars are all American jangle. You’ve Got Something suggests a darker rumble beneath the surface which the band could delve into a little bit deeper, but it does teeter on the verge of being overdramatic. Way Back When gets into the big tumbling tom drum sound that is defining so much Brisbane pop at the moment.

THE NINJAS

Boogie On It (Independent) Amazing as it may be that there hasn’t been a band called The Ninjas before, it seems to be the case.

Dirty rock’n’roll is more than adequately covered here, with strong doses of flange on the guitar giving me an excuse to use the word ‘flange’ legitimately.

The band already well and truly spreading their good name around town for the song’s release, it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the country starts to get excited from catching these guys ply their dumb rock loud and in their appreciative faces.

Post-rock three-piece Aerials have recently busted their east coast cherry with their first major tour. Vocalist/ bassist Jackson Walkden-Brown talks to Tony McMahon about this and the band’s new single, Silhouettes.

Given they’re two of the shining lights of the Australian music scene, it was inevitable that siblings Dan And Hannah Acfield were going to join forces. Tony McMahon discusses with them their new single, After You/Sorry I’ve Taken So Long.

“Silhouettes was the first track we wrote when we started jamming late last year.

Hard to say whether it’s a good reflection of our other material, but we were definitely really proud of it and decided pretty early on that it’d be our first release. The video, directed by a good mate of ours, got great exposure online when we dropped it and was played on Rage for about five weeks in a row, which was really exciting for us.

The launch for the track in late March, in which we shared the stage with our good friends from Greenthief, got over 400 payers in the door… it was a massive party!”

For those familiar with both of the Acfields’ separate styles, the duo explains that this project is something else again.

“I think we’re more focused on the style we’re aiming for with the duo project,” says Hannah. “It’s definitely different, simpler instrumentation with lots of lovely harmonies.

It’s been fun and rewarding exploring this style together and mixing up the instruments we play. Traditionally we’re both used to playing acoustic guitar but we’ve mixed it up a bit.

We’ve been taking turns on acoustic and electric, it’s been interesting and enjoyable being able to branch out and try new things.”

So, how’s the tour been going so far?

Really well, according to WalkdenBrown, if only it wasn’t for those pesky Melbourne record shops.

“Stylistically, I think that we can be quite similar, but there are differences,” says Dan. “For instance, I think that Hannah is a bit more folky, almost country at times. Hannah’s tunes also tend to be more simple and chordal based, whereas mine I think tend to have more complex facets to them at times. Hannah’s influence has probably rubbed off in that way – the songs that we’ve been coming up with for this project tend to be simplified, but in a good way.”

“The tour has been so much fun! The shows down south were really good and we made lots of new friends. Apart from blowing 90% of our tour budget on vinyl in the vortex that is Melbourne record stores, everything has run pretty smoothly so far.

We’re going to be touring our backsides off for the foreseeable future so it has been really nice to just get the ball rolling and start this new phase of our lives.”

Every interview needs a trashy question, and the sibling rivalry one kind of asks itself.

“I have more Facebook likes,” Hannah points out. “Not that anybody’s counting… I’m kidding of course!”

Renowned for channelling post-rock bliss, Walkden-Brown says this is something that came naturally to Aerials.

“Before I learnt to play guitar,” says Dan. “Hannah would get me to sing Alex Lloyd’s Lucky Star and she would play guitar and sing. That’s pretty much where it started. There was no rivalry; it was something nice that we shared.

I’d like to think that it’s pretty similar today.”

“We all have very similar musical tastes, so this has made the songwriting process pretty easy so far. We love the emotive reaction that post-rock brings, but also share a passion for big rock riffs and synth hooks. The band that most people referenced when they heard Silhouettes was Depeche Mode, which wasn’t expected… but didn’t bother us one bit.”

WHAT: After You/Sorry I’ve Taken So Long (Independent)

WHAT: Silhouettes (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 21 July, X&Y Bar

WHEN & WHERE: Friday 20 July, The Loft, Gold Coast; Saturday 21 Sol Bar, Maroochydore; Sunday 22, Dowse Bar

themusic.com.au

For the past year or so, a fantastically bouncy sound has been coming from down Melbourne way. It’s one made up of gooey bass lines, funky guitars, thrusting rhythms, all covered with velvetlike vocals that go from smooth to shout in a second. Frankly, if you can’t get your dance on to Victorian sextet Northeast Party House then you don’t have a pulse. The band are heading our way on the back of new single Pascal Cavalier, the first taste of their anticipated debut record.

“We’re really happy with the way the song panned out and it definitely has its place on the album,” the synth player says, “but it’s not a track to base the whole sound of the record off. We really felt this song needed to be released given how much our fans enjoy it live. And given the amount of new music we’re writing now there was a definite risk that if we didn’t release Pascal now that it would get buried, and we didn’t want that to happen.”

For those getting along to dance with the guys, Kenihan has kindly passed on some good-time tips.

“For me, a great party starts with three elements: great friends, some nice mood lighting and good beats,” he informs. “A Northeast party isn’t so different in that respect – we just ramp the volume up a bit to get people involved.

The thing is, if you lose one of those elements the show never works quite as well, so we try to bring all three. Once people come see us, most questions about our name and our music are usually resolved – you learn pretty quickly what we’re about. Just come get loose.”

WHAT: Pascal Cavalier (Stop Start) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 21 July, Alhambra Lounge

ON TIME OFF STEREO The Sparrow LAWRENCE ARABIA Love’s Shadow TOBY MARTIN Man Of Colours (reissue) ICEHOUSE Unsound MISSION OF BURMA Researching The Blues REDD KROSS Grande Rock THE HELLACOPTERS OFF! OFF! Traveler JERRY DOUGLAS The Bravest Man In The Universe BOBBY WOMACK Life Is Good NAS

TIME OFF • 35

RACE OF THE HARRIDAN

BRISBANE BOUND

“The last EP had some songs on it that were written before I joined the band. So there was a much larger spread of time from when the first song was written to the last. This time round, all the songs were written in a three-month window, and there’s a bit more continuity of energy and intent behind them.”

ROTH’s launch show is a double-barrelled deal, with The Arachnids launching their EP as well.

Time Off has a really good feeling about this show, and Duncan shares our enthusiasm.

“It’s going to be a great show. We have four bands playing on the night that all have a different take on rock‘n’roll. The Arachnids are a great band with a big sound, sharing the stage with them is really exciting. The Royal Artillery need no introduction, anyone that has been in the Brisbane scene for five minutes has seen Zed unleash on his Strat. They won’t disappoint. But most of all I’m hanging for the openers, The Johnny Mustards. We’ve done a heap of shows with them, and they blow us away every time. Seeing them alone is worth the entry fee.”

WHAT: The Boozy Rogue (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 20 July, Beetle Bar

36 • TIME OFF

Has anything exciting been happening in your world of late?

I had my first pedicure last week. It was rather invasive but you should see my feet… they look fucking great!

Karnivool play The Northern, Byron Bay on Thursday 19 July, The Tivoli on Friday 20 and Sunday 22 July and Coolangatta Hotel on Saturday 21.

Todd Duncan, drummer with local rock‘n’rollers Race Of The Harridan, is almost as excited as Tony McMahon about the launch of his band’s new EP, The Boozy Rogue.

From Where Hits Are Born was ROTH’s debut record, and Duncan says that The Boozy Rouge is something of a departure.

Well, we’re playing some new pieces this tour and Drew’s beard is better than ever.

ALARUM ALARM KARNIVOOL Name Of Act: Karnivool Member/role: Ian Kenny – lead singer Home ground: Perth (I’m living in Melbourne and the other guys live in Perth).

Describe your live music/performance style as succinctly as possible.

We play a kind of progressive style and I sing like a girl and dance like a weirdo.

Is this your first foray to Brisbane?

If not, how many times have you performed in our midst?

I think we’ve played Brisbane ten times or more.

Please relate your impressions of performing in our fair city.

We’ve always had great shows in Brisbane. The Tivoli is one of the best venues in the country.

What can we expect different this time around?

It’s about to get heavy as Melbourne four-piece thrash band Alarum have announced a couple of Queensland shows. Promoting their new album Natural Causes and the video for single Non-Linear Parallels, the prog/ thrashers have announced they will be playing a couple of shows on our shores before jetting off to Holland to play at ProgPower Europe in October. Playing at Surfers Paradise Beergarden on Thursday 19 July with support acts Shifting Paradigm, 4deadin5seconds and Karulean as part of Thrash Thursdays, they will also be playing at Brisbane’s Crowbar on Friday 20 July, with Shifting Paradigm, Conspiracy, Assassin and Beckon The Dead in support.

TO THE RESCUE Sydney band The Rescue Ships have just released their new single City Life – this folky, rather sombre single perfectly encapsulates what it is like to live in a city while looking for love. It is not all doom and gloom, however, as Elana Stone’s harmonious, quirky voice is sure to bring a smile to all you loveseeking city dwellers. As if the excitement of a new single is not enough, The Rescue Ships will also be releasing an album later this year – it’s due in October. In the meantime, celebrating the release of City Life, Rescue Ships will be touring the east coast over July and August, and will be playing Black Bear Lodge on Thursday 26 July.

themusic.com.au

LONG PLAYER SESSIONS RATTLEHAND Album: You Am I – Hourly Daily (1996) Why did you choose this album?

Josh Shelton: “We chose this album because it represents a totally different subgenre of rock‘n’roll to what Rattlehand normally play. We wanted a challenge and we felt we could arrange the songs in an interesting fashion right off the cuff so the idea of reworking this ‘teenage favourite’ seemed like a rewarding endeavour.”

When did you first hear this album?

“First heard this album in high school, I was given a copy of Hi-Fi Way to listen to by a particularly cool music teacher and then I went and purchased their (up to that date) three-record catalogue and Hourly Daily was my instant favourite.”

Does playing this album in its entirety present any specific challenges?

“We had to change the key of almost all of the songs, as Tim [Rogers] and I do not share similar vocal registers, and resisting the urge to do reverse windmill rock moves on every song has also been difficult.”

Album synopsis: After the critical success of their first two albums Sound As Ever (1993) and Hi-Fi Way (1995) Sydney’s You Am I were well and truly on a roll by the time they sat down to produce their next offering. Released in 1996 Hourly, Daily is arguably the band’s most focussed and consistent record. Led by wry songwriter Tim Rogers, the album sees him cast his eye across the stuff of everyday life with tracks like Mr Milk, Good Mornin’ and Soldiers becoming instant classics.

Rattlehand cover You Am I’s Hourly Daily as part of the Long Player Sessions at Brisbane Powerhouse on Saturday 21 July.

THE SLUTS OF WONG

LAUNCHING PAD

There are many layers to this album, especially with the keyboards and choir on it, but everything you hear on the album is also replicated live.

If anything it is actually harder to capture the feel of our live performance on an album.”

What have you got lined up for the launch?

“The album was successfully launched in Adelaide on 30 June to a capacity crowd and we now head off around Australia launching it. We will be launching in Brisbane when Metal Of Honour presents Warpath on Saturday 21 July at the Crowbar, Fortitude Valley.”

Introducing the Sluts Of Wong, the genrebending, good-time, hustling party boys… um, girls. Benny Doyle speaks to Gerard Glynn about the transformation.

“Unsurprisingly, it took very little beer or coaxing to get all of us enthusiastically dressing in female clothing the first time,” bass player Glynn candidly confesses. “We were, as a whole, positively tumid with anticipation at the opportunity to do it again. To do it right this time.”

You probably know them as Lords Of Wong, the devilish Brisbane rockers that have been spewing rhythm and blues all over stages across the city.

But in a coup for the Sonic Masala crew, the band are donning their Sunday best, giving punters an androgynous experience at the ‘S’ themed bash. But who will be the most beautiful? Glynn is diplomatic.

“I truly believe in the beauty of each and every person,” he says. “Some people, however, are more ‘get-able’ than others. I’ll leave my personal opinion aside, and suggest instead that you consider us a banquet of man-flesh, squeezed into ill-fitting ladies’ clothing and smeared in cheap make-up.”

Their last show before they run to the hills and record album number two, the band and Glynn in particular have plenty to toast and are looking forward to letting it all hang out, literally and figuratively.

WHEN & WHERE: Friday 20 July, Sonic Masala S Party @ The Waiting Room

Octanic release their self-titled debut album at Crowbar on Saturday 21 July.

OCTANIC Album Name: Octanic Label: Independent Where does this release sit in your discography?

Andrew Ballie (keys): “This is our first fulllength album release and our only previous studio recording was an EP titled Industry.”

How do you compare it to your previous studio work?

“This album is worlds apart from our first EP release in terms of both production quality and heaviness. We maintained our epic feel and focused carefully on mixing the orchestral, synth and metal elements in a way that is melodic yet still aggressive, both in sound and in the nature of the songs themselves. The band has grown a lot since recording the EP and this time we have written more complex songs, making the album more interesting.”

Is it reflective of your live show or have you used the studio to enhance the material?

“We have the attitude that anything recorded in the studio should be able to be replicated live and so we feel we have achieved this.

SHAKE IT UP Brisbane punk rockers The City Shake Up are set to tour all around the country promoting their new single Too Frightened To Offend. The first single from their forthcoming debut album – set for release later this year – is a “social commentary on the hypocritical protest nature of Generation Y”. TCSU’s guitarist, Cam Ayling, says, “We’re all too happy to throw a Facebook like to a cause, but when it comes to doing something about it we fall short”. TCSU are coming to shake up the Gold Coast and Brisbane with their raucous and raw sound, playing at the Prince Albert Bar at Jupiter’s Casino with Nine Sons Of Dan on Saturday 21 July, which is free entry and the Tempo Hotel with The Takedown on Saturday 8 September, also free entry.

POWER DUO Brother/sister duo, Dan And Hannah Acfield, have put aside their sibling rivalry to make some sweet, beautiful music. They will be embarking on this music project of theirs with the release of two singles and a tour in July/August. The inaugural double A-side release, After You/Sorry I’ve Taken So Long, will be launched via a couple of shows at The Loft in Chevron Island on Friday 20 July, Sol Bar in Maroochydore on Saturday 21 and Dowse Bar in Paddington on Sunday 22.

themusic.com.au

GOT SOUL

Perth-based Shameem is to tour our eastern shores for the very first time, sharing her soulful voice and lively band, spreading a little funk across Australia.

Turning heads in the industry since her self-titled debut – she’s been dubbed “Australia’s answer to Alicia Keys” and has performed with music heavyweights Ronan Keating and Belinda Carlisle – she is certainly making a name for herself. Shameem has also been invited to play at this year’s NXNE Festival in Toronto, making it to the global stage. Her unique fusion of ‘90s R&B/soul/jazz and ‘70s funk makes for an infectious sound, which can be heard in Strawberry, the featured single from her debut record which has been released with a new video clip. Shameem and her band will be touring around Australia over the next month, coming to Brisbane Jazz Club on Saturday 28 July; tickets are $20.

WHO’S GONNA SAVE US? Phantoms have risen from their graves once more, with the release of their new single S.O.S, the follow-up to their acclaimed debut record As Above, So Below. Being “Sydney’s most exciting hardcore band,” this release will most certainly send a shiver down the spines of their fans. S.O.S will be launched on Monday 23 August through Sydney independent label Broken Hives Records and will available in a physical 7” or digital format. Phantoms will also be touring with US hardcore band, Harm’s Way, as they make their way around Australia in July/August. Catch them if you dare on Thursday 2 August at Snitch, Brisbane (18+) and Friday 3 August at Expressive Grounds, Gold Coast (all ages).

TIME OFF • 37

THE OTCHKIES

HAVE YOU HEARD

Angus Russell may not always make sense, but as Benny Doyle discovers, the sound of The Otchkies certainly does.

Brisbane quintet The Otchkies make you long for the swinging ‘60s. Their sound is far removed from the sort or fare typically getting served up at today’s monster music festivals, a fact that Russell seems to enjoy.

“You know they are kook!” Russell laughs. “Your pocket wrangles and them jangle danglin’ coin purses are a precious bit o’ yourself, and especially to us bohemians. But if you think steady about the price of milk or even brown onion baggies and you compare all that to your waver in the cosmos, like us, ‘the crystal children’, and [after] seeing a psychedelic trip turn sour the money seems to make less sense that it didn’t before.”

Right… Formed following a tea-soaked night in Sri Lanka, the electric jug virtuoso informs that the band have been, as he puts it, “deliciously busy”, working on new material which they are eager to air on stage.

So if you indeed are too poor for Splendour then worry no more, find your inner flower child with the lads from The Otchkies. Russell finishes by succinctly stating the ingredients for an amazing day in the sun.

“Eat fruit. Wear headdresses. Watch Cannon. Save some drips of the sweet red Lambrusco sack hidden in your trousers for Running Guns. [And] be glad you’re not listening to Aussie hip hop at Splendour.”

WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 28 July, Too Poor for Splendour @ Davies Park

38 • TIME OFF

THE STONEHAVENS How did you get together?

Sean Gallagher (drums): “Me and the neighbour started jamming a while back with Jamie on bass and me on drums. When we put the word out chasing a guitarist, a chick from an old band of mine contacted me to say her partner Tony was keen to have a go. Then Jamie made the move to vox because his best mate’s brother Michael was a kicking keen bass player looking for band, and the rest is history!”

Sum up your musical sound in four words.

“Thigh slappin’, toe tappin’.”

If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be?

“Led Zeppelin.”

You’re being sent into space, you can’t take an iPod and there’s only room to bring one album – which would it be?

“Kasabian – West Ryder Pauper Lunatic Asylum.”

Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date?

“Playing at The Chelsea before it was turned into a strip club.”

Why should people come and see your band?

“We’re really nice guys and there’s at least a 78% chance you will have a rocking time.”

The Stonehavens play Fat Louies on Saturday 21 July.

RED RIGHT HANDS Melbourne band Red Ink’s euphoria hasn’t quite worn off following their recent return from their first UK tour (where they played at The Great Escape Festival), with the release of their new single Euphoria. As the first taste of what’s to come with their soon-to-be-released EP – The Colour of Age – Red Ink have made the “carefully crafted pop gem” that is Euphoria available to download free from iTunes, Spotify and SoundCloud. If you wish to catch the sound of the “soaring, melodic guitars, intricate bass lines and rolling drums” of their debut record Catching A Killer, wrap your ears around Euphoria and preview what else to expect from The Colour of Age at Cobra Kai at Oh Hello, Brisbane Thursday 6 September.

SUB-CONSCIENCE Fortitude Valley will once again be the home of Queensland’s alternative music scene, playing host to Conscience on Friday July 27 at the X&Y Bar. Conscience is an event that will showcase three of Brisbane’s finest underground artists: kicking off with all-female hip hop duo Indigo Rising, with their down-tempo dub beats to get things started; Resistor, whose debut Digital Chemistry was number one on Beatport’s breaks list, will then take to the stage; and lastly knockout experimental band Triptaphene will bring their fusion of electro, acoustic and organic sounds to the floor, blending genres, making for something truly wild and revolutionary. Doors open at 8pm, free entry.

NEVER ENDING Sydney pop-rockers The Never Ever are set to play at Brisbane’s Old Museum on Saturday 21 July. Riding on the success of their 2010 debut EP Dancefloors And Dinosaurs, and having recently supported Simple Plan, We The Kings, Rufio and The Wonder Years, The Never Ever have released their brand new EP Breathe. Later this year the Sydney five-piece is also set to support US band, Yellowcard. Bringing their new material over, The Never Ever are excited to be back in our state. “Brisbane has always been really special to us. It always ends up being the favourite show on every tour. We love playing there and we can’t wait to get back to so many energetic kids,” says guitarist Bradlee Smith. Catch them at the Old Museum; an all ages event ticket costs $15.

themusic.com.au

MOST VILE Having recently released their EP Vile Horizons to rave reviews and a packed Rosemount Hotel in Perth, Mezzanine are set to embark on their first national tour. On the live front Mezzanine are as raucous as they are mesmerising. The band will take in nine dates on their tour as they showcase their unique brand of turbulent and emotionally vibrant indie rock to the nation.

They are making their way to Brisbane while on their travels and you can see them dropping

by Ric’s Bar on Sunday 29 July. As always at Ric’s entry is completely free of charge.

WHITE RHINO LIVES ON Beats, art and digital mind massaging event White Rhino celebrates its fourth birthday on Saturday 21 July at the Valley’s BarSoma.

Pulling in Toronto-based Basic Soul Unit, who keeps “his eyes to the past and his ears to the future,” with his blend of Detroit-style futurism and deep atmospherics; you can be assured a mix of synth-driven disco, and blends of jazz as he effortlessly moves between techno and house. Supported by Lone Pariah, Rikki Newton, Adam Swain, Walrii and Percy Miracles it is guaranteed to be a big night. Entry is a mere $10.

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TIME OFF â&#x20AC;¢ 39

WED 18 Daniel Dow, Miki Manikus, Wayne Bluhdom The Manhattan Club James Johnston Victory Hotel Josh Lovegrove, Simon Thomas, Sally Anne, Georga Rose Chalk Hotel Kelsey Giarola Combo Limes Hotel Locky Irish Murphy’s Brisbane Mark Sheils Bank Lounge Bar Mark Sheils Royal George Of Monster And Men, The Falls The Zoo The Bowery Hot Five With Mal Wood The Bowery The Brodie Graham Band, The Wind Up Dolls The Tempo Hotel Tim Steward, Seja The Hideaway Woody Elephant & Wheelbarrow

THU 19 Alarum, Shifting The Paradigm, 4deadin5seconds, Kaerulean Surfers Paradise Beer Garden Ballad Boy Loving Hut Cameras Alhambra Lounge Chester Victory Hotel Beer Garden Chopper & Hammer Goodna RSL Chris Sheehy Band, Left Lane Band The Tempo Hotel Donnelle Brooks GPO Hotel Dunes, The Recalcitrants The Beetle Bar House Of Shem, DJ Sito Kings Beach Tavern I Can’t Believe It’s Not The Satellites The Bowery Jabba Irish Murphy’s Brisbane Keith Fullerton Whitman, Dean Roberts, TImothy Tate Ima Legless Overlander Hotel Lissy Stanto Band The Loft, Chevron Island Lucas Stone Northern Star Hotel Mace Fibber Magee’s, Toowoomba Mark Sheils Boardwalk Tavern Nine Sons Of Dan, Awaken I Am, Burning Brooklyn, We Were Giants The Zoo Nock Trovas Chalk Hotel Open Mic Night Stones Corner Hotel PJ Hooker Mon Komo Lounge Bar Pluto Jonze, Tokyo Denmark Sweden, Tim Fitz Black Bear Lodge Rhythm Of Melanesia Event Feat. Gerogia Corowa, Jagarizzar, Jamie Lee, Niuna K Brisbane Powerhouse Sam Cahill, Chris Miller Elsewhere Something Whiskey, Manic Radiation, Cartoon Physics, Cover Charge The Music Kafe Steve Cummins Club Helensvale Stewart Fairhurst Broadbeach Tavern Tyson & Rob Royal Exchange Hotel

FRI 20 Buré Godwin, Luke Foskey The Limes Hotel About Time Lock’n’Load West End Alarum, Shifting The Paradigm, Conspiracy, Messiam, Beckon The Dead Crowbar - Brisbane

40 • TIME OFF

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Berst, Chris Todd Irish Murphy’s Brisbane Bezerker New Bands Night Berserker Tavern Blind Dog Donnie, Crooked Grin, Matt Vankan The Music Kafe Breaking Hart Benton Upfront Club Maleny Chester Fibber Magee’s, Toowoomba Chopper & Hammer Palace Hotel -Woody Point Chris Talbot, Jetstream, Jung Hearts, Hammo, Mitch Green Chalk Hotel Dallas Frasca, The Twine, Rick Steward Soundlounge Currumbin Dave Bentley Ecco Bar And Bistro Donnelle Brooks Bon Amici Café Toowoomba Dose, Adrian Keys Elephant & Wheelbarrow Grand Atlantic, The Doses, The Vampers, The Plastic Fangs, The M-Humm The Zoo Hayley Warner, Diana Anaid, Dan England Greenbank Rsl House Of Shem, DJ Sito Coolangatta Hotel Ingrid James, Julian Jones Duo Urban Hotel Joey Mojo, Paul Dluxx Shuffle Nightclub Just The Ticket Paradise Point Bowls Club Karnivool The Tivoli Krisp Neverland Mark Sheils Commercial Hotel Michael Pine Rivers Bowls Club Out Of Abingdon Diana Plaza Hotel Paper Kites Alhambra Lounge Pirates Alive, Blaue Reiter Elsewhere PJ Hooker Cannon Hill Tavern Powerplay Nudgee Beach Hotel Richard Waterson Queenslander Goondawindi Rock At The Jock Jockey Club Hotel Gympie Rockaoke Springwood Hotel Rushmore Duo Hamilton Hotel Sally Whitwell Brisbane Powerhouse Sarenda Wharf Tavern Serendipity Mon Komo Lounge Bar Sharny Russell, George Golla & Lauren Lucille Brisbane Jazz ClUb Sluts Of Wong, Sleepwalks, Strangers & Smoke The Waiting Room Solar Rush Captain Cook Tavern Tall Poppy Stadium Bar & Grill The Arachnids, Race Of The Harridan, The Royales, The Johnny Mustards The Beetle Bar The Belligerents, Pigeon Sol Bar, Maroochydore The Big Duo, The Local Residents The Tempo Hotel The Fairlanes Gladstone Reef Hotel The Febs Cbx The Lazy Valentines Coolum Beach Hotel The Ninjas Black Bear Lodge The Resonators Newmarket Hotel Tom Foolery Alderley Brewery Bar Tom Piper The Met Toni Childs Twin Towns Turner, Dan And Hannah Acfield, Nige, Jordan Lawrence The Loft, Chevron Island Val Kilmer’s House Party Bowler Bar

Venus Envy Broadbeach Tavern

SAT 21 Aerials, Lovers Jump Creek, Sorry Socrates X & Y Bar Andrew Tait Duo Mon Komo Lounge Bar Aussie Gold Club Helensvale Back To The Wall The Village Theatre Basic Soul Unit Barsoma Berst, Ger Fennelly Irish Murphy’s Brisbane Brooke Bilston The Royal Gympie Hotel Casino Rumblers, Nudist Colonies Of The World, Order 66, Le Murd, Vomit Bullets Prince Of Wales Hotel Cassian, Giv Elsewhere Cheap Fakes The Woombye Pub Chris Ramsay Hamilton Hotel Classen Brothers Pine Rivers Bowls Club Dave Ritter Band Fibber Magee’s, Toowoomba De Jah Dan Dah, Alla Spina, Heroine Chic, Stormy High The Beetle Bar Don Walker Tank Arts Centre, Cairns Elen Levon, Karma, Murray Brown, Jovito, Mystro, Silent Disco Electric Playground Fletcher, Ms Jackson Neverland Holland, I Am Apollo, Eliza Jane The Loft, Chevron Island House Of Shem, One Dread The Zoo Jack Flash, The Mouldy Lovers, The Strums The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba James Coolangatta Sands Hotel, Front Bar James Johnston Coolangatta Hotel Joey Mojo, Jacob Ulliana, Jean Luc, The Dirty Drop Outs, Komes Shuffle Nightclub John Wilkinson North Leagues And Service Club Marialy Pacheco Brisbane Jazz Club Mark Sheils Crown Hotel LuTwyche Nicky Convine Kenmore Tavern Nikko Tym Guitars Northeast Party House, The Belligerents, Fairchild Republic Alhambra Lounge Octanic Crowbar - Brisbane Piano Bar With Steven Michael & Sarah Coolangatta Sands Hotel Powerplay Newmarket Hotel Prospects, Black River Automatics The Music Kafe Replay Fitzy’s Waterford Revfest: Tribute Night The Hi-Fi Richard Waterson Queenslander Goondawindi Rushmore Sugarland Tavern, Bundaberg Scott Dean Brook Hotel Sojourn Wavell Heights Bowls Club Sunny Dread Locknload West End Terry Chapman The Music Kafe (Afternoon) The Darren J Ray Trio Redlands Sporting Club The Fairlanes Gladstone Reef Hotel The Local Residents, Phil G, Matthew Ough, Andrew Daniels Chalk Hotel The Milkmen, Wasabi The Tempo Hotel The Never Ever The Old Museum - Brisbane Tim Freedman Old Qld Museum

Toni Childs Qpac Tonite Only Platinum Nightclub Venus Envy Wharf Tavern

SUN 22 Andrew Kennedy Mon Komo Lounge Bar Casey Fogg Royal Exchange Hotel CC The Cat, Julia Rose, Katia The JoYnt Chris Ramsay Fibber Magee’s, Toowoomba Cleveland Past Masters Brisbane Jazz Club Dan And Hannah Acfield, Turner Dowse Bar Darren Scott Mon Komo Seabrae Bar Dave Ritter Fibber Magee’s (Afternoon), Toowoomba Deon Powter Robina Tavern George Ferguson, Kimberley Davis Lauxes On The Park Restaurant - Broadbeach Ironside, Helical Sun, Space Rocket, Weazal Mustang Bar Istanbul Gypsy Groove, Colango Lazy The Music Kafe Karma Duo Blue Pacific Hotel Mark Chomyn, Booster, Oli Frost, Woodie, Atarri Tonite Chalk Hotel Moomoopapa The Tempo Hotel Nicky Convine Bayswater Hotel Owie Southern Hotel Toowoomba Paul Clarke Noosa Reef Hotel Paul Desmond Pine Rivers Bowls Club Robbie James The Lost City Roy Morris Paradise Point Bowls Club Russel Hinton Club Helensvale Scramjet, Martin Party Elephant & Wheelbarrow Stormy Weather Locknload West End Sugar Cane Slim The Music Kafe (Afternoon) The Resonators Breakfast Creek Hotel The Satellites The BoWery Up The River Jazz Band Story Bridge Hotel Venus Envy Victory Hotel Beer Garden Wasabi, Ger Fennelly Irish Murphy’s Brisbane

MON 23 Bowler Bar DJs The Tempo Hotel B-Rad Irish Murphy’s Brisbane Funky Monkey Jam The Music Kafe Mark Sheils Elephant & Wheelbarrow Raw Connection Broadbeach Bowls Club

TUE 24 Blind Dog Donnie, Familiar Heads, Black Light Band, Jamie-Lee Fox The Music Kafe Gonzales 3 The Bowery Hailey Calvert New Farm Bowls Club Hill60, Tumbleweeds AttacK, Pyre & Ice The Tempo Hotel Mark Sheils Samford Valley Hotel Paul Young Trio Locknload West End Woody Lives Here Irish Murphy’s Brisbane

FR E TTE D

E DI TI O N

FEROCIOUS FRENCH FRETWORK

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rog-metal explorers Gojira have really found their niche in the hard rock world. The French four-piece were in Australia earlier in the year creating a buzz at Soundwave and have just released a new and critically acclaimed album, L’Enfant Sauvage. Reza Nasseri spoke with main man Joe Duplantier about his guitar set-up and sound.

Gojira have a reputation for assaulting the senses both live and on record, and having had the chance to see you earlier this year playing with Mastodon, I can attest to this.

One of the things that really grabbed me about your sound was how clear and focused the guitar tones were.

Can you give us the low-down on your live rig, and how it differs to what you use in the studio?

Well, it’s pretty simple. I just use a guitar and an amp. The thing I take everywhere with me is my 5150 III head, which is a heavy guitar amp. I take the 5150 III on the plane, play it at every show, use it in the studio and even have it on my bunk in the tour bus.

So what guitars are you using and what effects have you got going on?

I don’t use any effects. I play a Jackson SLS guitar as my main guitar live, which is very tight, light and has a fast response. The profile of the neck is very comfortable and so is the spacing between the strings. I also use Gibson Flying Vs, and I really fell in love with Gibson guitars when I was growing up because they had such a great midrange and a warm sound to them. When it comes to picks

FOR THIS AUSTRALIAN MUSICIAN FEATURE WE DECIDED TO EXPLORE THE WORLD OF FRETTED INSTRUMENTS … GUITARS, BASSES, UKES, MANDOLINS ETC. INSIDE, WE SPEAK TO THE ARTISTS, THE MANUFACTURERS AND RETAILERS INVOLVED IN THIS SECTION OF THE GEAR INDUSTRY AND SHOW YOU SOME OF THE AMAZING PRODUCTS AVAILABLE. IN OUR MAIN FEATURE REZA NASSERI SPEAKS TO VOCALIST AND GUITARIST JOE DUPLANTIER FROM METAL BAND OF THE MOMENT, GOJIRA. and strings I have no idea what I use (the internet does however. Joe uses Dunlop .88 picks, but the verdict is ‘out’ on strings so far).

I’ve also seen you using a Telecaster on some live clips and in studio footage. It also sounds like there is a cool Telecaster part at the end of the fi rst track, “Explosia” from the new album, “L’Enfant Sauvage”.

That’s right there is, and we didn’t even need to EQ that guitar part because it sat so well. I really love the sound of Telecasters. I always have, and even though they aren’t necessarily a metal guitar, I have found a place to use them like a voice in this band. The Telecaster is probably the only guitar, that when I hear it, I know exactly what it is straightaway. They have such a bright sound to them, but at the same time, it’s so full and sweet.

Joe, even though you said you don’t use any effects, I found a forum on the internet that says you use a Boss TU-2 (tuner) and NS-2 (noise suppressor) in your live rig.

Actually, it’s a TU-3 (Joe states in a comical, condescending voice). You know what, some guitar tech I met on tour actually pointed out that the TU-3 is either a little bit sharp or flat compared to the TU-2, and at first I didn’t believe it, but when we tested them both the TU-3 was different to the TU-2.

What about pickups Joe? You know what? When I was on tour with Metallica recently, which was an amazing experience, James Hetfield asked me exactly the same question. When I told him that I used SEYMOOR DOONCAN (Seymour Duncan in thick French accent) (JB in the bridge and ’59 in the neck) and didn’t really know or care about anything else, he said he used to be the same, until further down the track he began to get more curious about how everything worked including his pickups. James also gave me a box of these new passive/active pickups that he has developed with EMG, so I was pretty amazed with such a kind gesture.

Joe, can you talk us through the songwriting process in Gojira? Do you tend to write a lot of the material on your own, or do you collaborate with the rest of the band?

Most of the stuff we have done in the past is mainly a collaboration between Mario (Joe’s brother on drums) and myself, and it was pretty much the same thing for this album. We’ve started to develop an amazing connection where after about an hour we both stop at the same time, and we really don’t even need to talk about anything. It’s really interesting.

Sometimes Christian (guitars) likes to add some riffs here and there and although he might not write many riffs, when he does they sound so killer. I’m always bugging him to write more riffs, but he seems content with the amount he does.

Your sound seems to be moving towards a more melodic direction both musically and vocally with each album.

What has inspired this direction?

We’re heading in that melodic direction because it just feels so good you know. I’m a huge fan of Radiohead and Portishead and all these bands that are very emotional, and sometimes me and the guitar player (Christian), and the bass player (Jean-Michel), and Mario are really attracted to those heartbreaking melodies that are not cheesy. We love things that are very melancholic and deep, but we also want to keep the crazy, strange rhythmical patterns. We’ll see how things go, but I can tell that the next album will be full of melodies, much more than in the past, because we are growing up, having different aspirations, we’re less angry, but I don’t think that’s a bad thing, I think it’s a good thing.

When you were growing up and developing as a guitarist what sort of things were you trying to achieve?

(Joe pauses for a second) Um….. being tight (laughs).

YES! I don’t really consider myself to be a real guitar player. I see guitarists and know how they behave, and what they have in their eyes is very similar all the time. You know they’re crazy about guitar, and strings and notes, and solos and all that, and I’m not like that at all. I’m more like a producer.

I produce songs, and I grab a guitar because I have to, although what I do is to try to be as tight as possible and find the right note. Not too many notes, but the right ones to create an emotion . I would love to create a song with just one guitar with four or five notes in total, and with a clean sound. That to me that would be a masterpiece, you know what I mean? To hit the right notes at the right moment and find a good balance.

In closing, can we talk about some of your favourite guitars and guitar players?

Pic by: Elsie Roymans (gig-Oix.com)

themusic.com.au

Yes sure. I was a huge James Hetfield fan growing up and I loved the ESP Explorer that he used on the “…And Justice For All” and “Black Album” records. I’m into solid, heavy guitars that look like a fucking spaceship (laughs). When growing up I was more attracted to traditional guitars, like the ‘Tele’, Les Paul and Flying V. Jimi Hendrix had something that was really, really striking, and I was a fan of Dire Straits when I was like 12 or 13. I loved how Mark Knoffler used to play with his fingers and that soft, subtle touch of the string was so amazing, and the sound on their big hit “Money For Nothing”, there is this sound (Joe begins singing the riff) with distortion and I was like, “What the fuck is that sound?” www.gojira-music.com TIME OFF • 41

A LITTLE FRETTED WISDOM

MANUFACTURER: ANDY ALLEN (MATON) Andy Allen is Maton’s longtime master luthier.

Who better then to ask about fretted instruments than someone who knows them inside out.

Of all the components which go into making a guitar, which is the most crucial with regards to achieving a great sound?

The obvious answer would be the spruce top and how it is braced, but no one part alone is crucial to the sound. It really is the sum of the parts: what the neck is the neck made of, what has been used in the back and sides, how was the fingerboard constructed, etc.

Best piece of guitar maintenance advice?

Service your guitar regularly to ensure any minor changes don’t become major problems and keep your guitar in a stable environment. Even though our timber is seasoned and our guitars are manufactured in a stable environment, all guitars (Maton or otherwise) can be affected by extreme changes in humidity. So keep you guitar out of hot car boots, away from damp corners. One of the reasons professional musicians take a guitar tech on the road is to ensure the necessary adjustments are made to counter the effects humidity can have on the action height, playability etc.

What’s your view on why achieving a great acoustic sound live has proven so diffi cult for so many players?

It’s a very difficult thing to get right. It has a lot to do with the right pickup for that particular guitar. It also depends on the venue, (size, shape) But the AP5 is widely recognised as the best in the business. When finding your sound, start with your preamp set flat.

From there you can pull out the bits you don’t want and lift the ones you do. Of course it also depends on who else is in your band because the dynamics change, as does the role of the acoustic guitar generally.

If you’re playing a solo show, a good trick is to listen to the guitar in the room acoustically, then slowly lift the volume on it and listen for the changes in your tone once the speakers take over. Then you can EQ your sound using the comparison between the two.

However, be mindful the room can change when there are people in front of the speakers and filling the room.

We know a good acoustic guitar sounds better with age, but why?

I feel it has to do with the subtle changes in the strength and flexibility (from vibration) of the wood used and the glues and finished hardening over time. Guitars definitely open up the more they’re played; they can also loose their mojo as well if they’re not played for a long period of time. www.maton.com.au

42 • TIME OFF

ARTIST: JOHNNY MACKAY (CHILDREN COLLIDE)

RETAILER: KOSMIC SOUND (WA)

Children Collide’s Johnny Mackay took time off from the band’s upcoming Monument tour preparations to offer his fretted perspective.

Last time we spoke you were playing a Jag, but were in the process of setting up a Teisco Spectrum 5 and a ‘65 Gibson Firebird 3 to give them a go.

Which guitar won out and is currently your main guitar and why?

Well, neither of them really. I use them both in Electric Smile Band, but not CC. I’m writing this from New York and I came over here guitar-less, so currently my main guitar is a ‘60 Guild T-100 that I picked up on 1st Avenue. I also bought a Wurlitzer electric 12-string in Brooklyn that I have been having fun with. I didn’t even know Wurlitzer made guitars.

How do you have the action set .. high, low ... and what kind of strings (and gauge) are you using?

Reasonably low and usually 10-52. I don’t really mind on brands. I was using my mate’s brand, Deathwish for a while. They seem pretty good.

We know you as a fuzz freak but do you enjoy playing acoustic guitar?

What sort do you own?

Yeah, I love playing acoustic. I have a bunch of songs written on acoustic that I don’t know what to do with. I own a couple of crappy little nylons that are good for lying on my bed and mindlessly strumming.

I also own an old Maton. I do plan on getting a really nice acoustic one of these days, growing three beards and setting up in a cave in the mountains with only bull-ants and wild elk as my friends.

At Kosmic Sound in WA , they’re asked a lot of questions about fretted instruments by the folks.

Fortunately they have knowledgeable and amiable staff like ‘techspert’ Gary Cox (pictured) to assist.

Best piece of fretted instrument advice you can offer?

Always keep instruments away from extreme heat. Keeping it for too long in a car, even on seemingly mild days, can cause major problems.

Also, change your strings regularly to keep your instrument sounding its best and to avoid problems with rusty strings on the frets, bridge etc.

Tell us about your Chaturangui.

What is it? What’s it made of and where did you get it?

It’s a 22-stringed indian slide guitar but made from Tazzie black wood and made by an amazing Luthier from Melbourne called Tim Kill.

What kind of strings does it use?

Don’t always go for the absolute cheapest.

Unless you’re on a strict budget, it’s always best to spend just a little more to get something that will play easier, sound better and last longer.

Do your research. When buying online make sure it’s from a reputable, authorised dealer and that you can communicate with them easily via email or, even better, a toll-free phone number.

(And don’t forget to investigate the warranty situation if you go down the online path - AM)

I use just regular steel strings on it

How do you know what strings are best suited to your instrument?

Children Collide begin The Monument tour in August. www.childrencollide.com

www.kosmic.com.au

Hmmmnn, maybe if mid-song my guitar suddenly became self-aware and entered me through one of my fingernails, then proceeded to eat me alive from the inside.

With his array of guitars, yidakis (didgeridoos), stomp box and percussion, Xavier Rudd, will soon be hitting the road on his SPIRIT BIRD Australian Tour, beginning August 22 in Cairns. AM asked Xavier a few pre-tour fretted instrument questions.

Advice when purchasing a fi rst guitar?

Make sure you’re using the right type of string for your instrument (nylon, steel, electric etc).

Whatever you do, don’t use steel acoustic strings on a nylon string guitar! String gauge is purely a personal choice. You might want light strings for easier bending on an electric or heavier steel acoustic string for more volume and a bigger sound. You’ll probably want heavier strings for drop tuning to retain decent string tension. A rough guide for beginners: Electric: Try D’Addario EXL120 or Ernie Ball Super Slinkys (9-42); Steel acoustic: Try D’Addario EJ16 (12-53); Nylon: Try D’Addario J27; Drop Tuning: Try Ernie Ball Not Even Slinky (12-56)

Worst on-stage guitar nightmare?

ARTIST: XAVIER RUDD

themusic.com.au

Fingers and thumb or pick?

Fingers and thumb

What’s your main acoustic guitar and why is that your choice?

What are the strings on it?

D’addario sponsors me with strings so I use their bronze strings on everything. I have several Weissenborns made from various timbers and my regular 6- and 12-string acoustics are Cole Clark, the Cole Clarks seem to be really consistent in different live situations and have a rich acoustic tone too.

What other fretted instruments do you use on stage now?

I use various Weissenborns of different shapes and sizes from tear drop to Baritone, 6- and 12-string acoustics and the Chaturangui… that’s it for now.

D.I. or acoustic amp?

No acoustic amps! D.I. as well as a Matchless 4/12 and a Diesel 4/12 amp setup. I run Seymour Duncan magnetic pickups in my sound holes, which go to amps and the Piezo to the PA www.xavierrudd.com

REVIEW: TIMBERIDGE TR MINI 4-SERIES wned and presided over in Melbourne, Australia, Timberidge guitars have been distributing quality instruments since 1994.

While the design and spec decisions are made here however, production is carried out overseas.

O

some heavy strings. In fact, this really helped project the notes that seemingly sustained for days. The tone of the instrument is a little ‘boxier’ than a normalsized steel string, with a touch of banjo or resonator, perfect for country, roots and old blues musings.

I had the opportunity to road test one of their new products, the Timberidge 4-Series Mini Acoustic and found it impressive. There was something adorable about this Timberidge 4-Series model when I first pulled it out of its padded bag. Adorned in lovely flamed woods, this guitar looks like it should be hanging on the wall of an old English cottage. While the concept of a traveller’s guitar is not a new one, the idea has certainly become more popular in recent years with a greater range than ever before.

Some quality woods have been incorporated, like the solid cedar top, solid mahogany back and sides, and a rosewood bridge and fingerboard. In addition, while on the subject of the bridge, this is what really helps define the sound of this instrument. An interesting design has been utilised that raises the saddle and lowers the bridge pins (in a similar way to a tune-omatic bridge on an electric) to create more tension when anchoring the string into the top. The result is much the same as on a Les Paul - big sustain, which is especially enjoyable with the small body, as interesting harmonics tend to jump out more.

This was the first Timberidge guitar I have ever played, so I was intrigued to find out what they could deliver, both visually and sonically. Off the bat, the TR Mini was a lot of fun to play, and I wasn’t at all put off by the fact I had to battle a reasonably high action and

PRODUCT

TIMBERIDGE TR MINI 4-SERIES SMALL BODY ACOUSTIC

REVIEWER

REZA NASSERI

INFO

WWW.JADEAUSTRALIA. COM.AU

TOMMY EMMANUEL ‘LIVE AND ACOUSTIC’ TOUR Tommy Emmanuel is your quintessential troubadour. He travels the globe playing to soldout audiences most nights of the year. Fresh from sellout concerts in Russia, Italy, Germany, Canada and the US, Tommy Emmanuel - The Guitar Wizard of Oz – is touring Australia and NZ this August. Two-time Grammy nominee Emmanuel is one of Australia’s most respected musicians with a professional career spanning five decades.

He was named ‘Best Acoustic Guitarist of 2010’ by the prestigious ‘Guitar Player Magazine’ and counts legendary guitarists Eric Clapton and Steve Vai among his admirers. Last here for his 50th Anniversary tour with his brother Phil, which was another sell-out to rave reviews, Emmanuel is back for his first solo tour since 2009.

Plugged in, the sound goes from boxy to big when you EQ the tone with the B-Band A3T preamp.

The preamp has a four-band EQ consisting of bass, middle, treble and presence as well as an onboard tuner and volume control. The amplified tone of this instrument was a lot brighter than its acoustic voice (which is often always the case with Piezo pickups) and the combination of Lo-Z XLR and Hi-Z jack connections makes it more versatile for live shows, so it can connect directly into a PA without a DI, directly into an acoustic amp, or both.

Special U.S. guest, Frank Vignola is widely regarded as a monster player and composer, and has played with everyone from Les Paul and Madonna to Donald Fagen and the Boston Pops.

This will be Frank’s first visit to Australia.

TOMMY EMMANUEL ‘LIVE AND ACOUSTIC’ TOUR DATES Sun August 5 - Adelaide International Guitar Festival – Adelaide Festival Theatre SA Monday August 6 - Sydney Opera House NSW Thursday August 9 - QPAC Concert Hall Brisbane QLD Friday August 10 - Jupiters Theatre Gold Coast QLD Saturday August 11 - Hamer Hall Arts Centre Melbourne VIC Sunday August 12 - Perth Concert Hall WA

The Timberidge TR 4-Mini is a great little guitar at a great price that would suit players that are either fans of traveller guitars … are actually genuine travellers, or even people with small hands (I know so many girls that struggle to play a full-sized guitar). Timberidge have quite a range of instruments now, from regular-shaped guitars to parlour and ukuleles. A visit to their website will tell you more. www.timberidgeguitars.com.au or www.jadeaustralia.com.au

The first guitar you keep for life In 1982 Robert Godin and a few friends produced the first Seagull guitars, taking the essential components of the finest hand crafted guitars and building those features into guitars priced within the reach of everyone.

Guitar tops are the most crucial element of tone so the Seagull S6 has one piece of solid Cedar. Not merely sounding great the first time you play it, the S6 will improve as the solid timber ages, offering richer sound and wider dynamic range.

The S6 is finished in genuine lacquer which protects the wood without impeding vibration or the wood’s capacity to improve with time unlike thicker polyester finishes.

$

The tapered headstock provides straight string pull, minimising neck twisting and tuning issues.

579

Seagull use local fallen timber so your conscience is clear.

The award winning Seagull S6 Original is still made by hand in the village of La Patrie, Canada.

Two year warranty when purchased from Godin Direct or authorised Australian dealers.

godindirect.com.au

Different. Better. themusic.com.au

TIME OFF • 43

BEHIND THE LINES WITH MICHAEL SMITH

MATON ROADSHOW For an hour-and-a-half from 7pm on Wednesday 25 July, Allans Music + Billy Hyde Level 1, Queen Adelaide Building, Queen Street Mall, will be hosting an evening with Maton Guitars Custom Shop luthier Andy Allen, profiled elsewhere in these pages, who will not only fill you in on the history of the iconic Australian guitar but also the way he goes about making custom Maton guitars, from timber selection to construction and finish, and maybe even The Tea Party’s Jeff Martin’s 12- and six-string twin-neck acoustic.

As always, while the event is free, space is limited so it’s best to go to the Allans website and register your intention to attend. The still proudly Australian-owned, Melbourne-based and family-run Maton has been making guitars since 1946.

CHECK OUT TYM’S BIX BOX Proudly manufactured in Brisbane, the Tym Tone Boost is described by its proud maker as a simple but very effective one transistor subtle to high gain boost that can push any valve amp into saturation. It also has a very usable single transistor active tone control and the foot switch takes you from a type of treble/mid boost to full linear boost. But why read about it when you can try one out at Tym Guitars, Winn St, Fortitude Valley?

Oh, and there are a stack of other pedals worth investigating while you’re there.

KEMPER PROFILING AMP MUSIC MAN GAME CHANGER GUITARS AND BASSES Guitar and bass players alike can now unlock their instrument’s tonal possibilities with this patent-pending pickup switching system.

Combining any order of pickup coils in series, parallel or in or out of phase gives you access to the most extensive library of never-before-heard tones. Amazingly, with the Game Changer you can achieve over 250,000 pickup combinations without manually rewiring anything! True to form, the audio signal is never digitised or modelled in any way, providing a transparent analogue signal path for the absolute purist. In conjunction with The Game Changer website, you can create, save and share your tonal selections with the world!

COOPERSTAND-PRO INSTRUMENT STANDS

In addition, The Game Changer can be fully integrated with any programmable guitar rig via its enhanced MIDI implementation, which allows for MIDI program change or controller information to be sent to The Game Changer from the guitar rig, or from The Game Changer to the guitar rig. Based on Music Man’s award-winning Reflex guitar and bass, the Game Changer guitar is available in HH or HSH configuration with hard-tail or vintage tremolo bridge, and with or without Piezo bridge. The Game Changer bass is available in HH configuration.

Nashville-based manufacturer Daniel Cooper has introduced a new instrument stand he’s dubbed the Cooperstand. Cooperstand is designed for the musician in search of a professional stand that securely supports acoustic or electric guitar, bass, banjo or mandolin. Cooperstand has full size, function, compatibility, flexibility, portability, good looks and versatility in one very small package.

Cooperstand offers convenience in that it opens and closes with one hand and weighs only 16 ounces.

So compact, it fits in the headstock of a guitar case or any 4” x 9” x 1-1/2” area. The Cooperstand features non-slip neoprene padding that protects your instrument and holds it in place. There are no exposed sharp edges that could damage your instrument, while its durable, lightweight, flexible design easily absorbs impact. For more information visit the Australian distributor’s website.

www.cmcmusic.com.au

www.jacarandamusic.com.au

The new Kemper Profiling Amplifier enables you to do what guitar players have been waiting to do forever: capture the soul of all their amps (and a whole bunch of others) inside one lunchbox-sized amplifier. So, how does it work? Kemper use cutting-edge digital technology to capture the sonic DNA of virtually any guitar amp. The resulting Profiles are as alive, vivid and dynamic as the original amps. Imagine you’ve used some sweet-sounding, well-maintained vintage tube amps in your last studio session. With the Kemper Profiling Amplifier, there’s no need to leave those sounds behind anymore. Simply create your own Profiles from these amps and take them with you to use anywhere you like. Variations with alternative amp settings can be created and even the cabinet of a profiled combo amp can be exchanged at any time. Dozens of pro-grade onboard effects and stomp boxes can be used to spice up the Profiles. We even give you Profiles of many exceptional signature amps. The Kemper Profiling Amplifier offers four independent stomp effects slots, which can host a full arsenal of stomp box effects, including painstakingly modelled famous overdrive and distortion stomp boxes, compressor, reverb, several delays and LoFi algorithms, as well as a beautiful rotary speaker emulation. This amp makes it easy for you to share your personal library with other users. It already holds a vast number of rigs. Sharing a profile or rig is as easy as sending an e-mail. The amp consists of professional studio level inputs and outputs, multiple ground lifts, external effect loop, independent direct- and monitor outputs, digital I/O, foot pedal and MIDI support, USB for backups and updates. www.innovativemusic.com.au

BCC40230_270612_TO

Looking for a space to showcase your creativity?

Become a weekend stallholder at the Valley Markets.

Site fees starting from $20.* Email valleymarkets@brisbane.qld.gov.au or contact (07) 3403 3740. *Sunday price for a 2m x 1m area.

44 • TIME OFF

themusic.com.au

SEAGULL ARTIST PEPPINO SIGNATURE Peppino D’Agostino is known for his beautiful, understated melodies, as well as the explosive rhythms that he drums, taps and beats out of his guitar. Add to that a repertoire that requires a different tuning on almost every song and you have a man who demands a lot from his guitar. The Seagull Artist Peppino Signature CW QII delivers.

And now Godin Direct have added it to their everexpanding line of Robert Godin’s amazing instruments, which include Godin brands Seagull, Art & Lutherie, La Patrie, Richmond and, of course, Godin.

The Peppino Signature is handmade in Canada and features a Select Pressure Tested solid spruce top with solid rosewood back and sides attached to a mahogany set neck and ebony fretboard featuring an extra-wide nut width of 1.9”, as specified by Peppino, providing more generous string spacing for fingerstyle players. The Quantum II Electronics are a hybrid system combining an exceptionally responsive saddle transducer and high-quality electret microphone in a simple, but very effective, configuration.

Comes complete with the amazing Deluxe TRIC case which offers unparalleled protection against bumps, climate and back pain. www.godindirect.com.au

SIGMA GUITARS

FAITH GUITARS ANNOUNCE ‘NAKED’ MODELS

FKM – Faith Naked Mercury Parlour – RRP $649

After a long absence, acoustic guitar fans will be pleased to hear SIGMA Acoustic Guitars are again available in Australia. SIGMA Guitars were launched in 1970 and sold in over 30 countries around the world. The first SIGMA guitars, made in Japan, are still highly sought after instruments and are rarely seen in the second-hand market today. Last year, wellknown German guitar distributor, AMI Gmbh in Munich, acquired the rights to the SIGMA name.

AMI Gmbh have a long and highly regarded reputation for developing successful and widely appreciated guitar products, and have made these great, traditionally-styled guitars available again with some exciting new additions. The new range feature all solid sitka spruce tops and mahogany or rosewood back and sides. There are straight acoustics in dreadnought and 000, dreadnought and 000 cutaways with electronics, and some highly sought after finger-picking models with wider fingerboards. A range of all mahogany guitars has been added to the lineup along with acoustic basses and some high-quality classical guitars. Later this year, well-priced SIGMA Travel Guitars will enter the Australian market. SIGMA Guitars are now available through an expanding network of guitar stores in all capital cities and some regional areas.

www.ambertech.com.au

www.jacarandamusic.com.au

Faith Guitars are pleased to announce the imminent release of their new Faith Naked guitars series. These stripped-back, Naked instruments have been designed to offer the very essence of a Faith Guitar at a price that everyone can afford.

“The simple vision behind the Naked series was to make Faith guitars accessible to more people yet without compromising what a Faith guitar is at its core; namely a handcrafted, all-solid, incredibly resonant acoustic instrument,” explains Faith Guitars brand manager Alex Mew. Each Faith Naked consists of a solid Engelmann spruce top and solid mahogany back and sides, a two-stage satin finish all over, a rosewood fingerboard, bridge and headplate; chrome-plated machineheads and a 2mm abalone soundhole rosette. The Electro Cutaway FKV Venus model features the same Shadow PerformerTuner preamp and Nanoflex pickup found on the regular models.

FKV – Faith Naked Venus (Cut/Elec) – RRP $799 FKN – Faith Naked Neptune Baby Jumbo – RRP $699

GODIN CORE SERIES GUITARS Godin’s new ‘rock machines’, the Core series guitars, feature all mahogany bodies with maple tops, and a mahogany set-neck design featuring an Ergocut rosewood fingerboard. It offers massive tone and endless sustain while the Ergocut shaping technique provides an extremely comfortable feel.

The Graphtech ResoMax Harmonic Bridge System is designed to maximise harmonic content and richness in every note and that means these guitars start with a fantastic unplugged sound, which is the key to getting a great electric sound.

There are three models based around your choice of pickups; CORE HB with Godin Nitro Humbuckers, CORE EMG with EMG 81/85 active humbuckers and CORE P90 with Seymour Duncan P90 pickups. Each comes with a comprehensive tonal palette due to its classic pickup switching arrangement. And just to add more options, each model comes in a range of cool semi-gloss finishes.

If you’re looking for a big-sounding guitar with North American build quality at reasonable prices, check out a Godin Core. www.godindirect.com.au

ENTS

PRES Y L D U O R P

themusic.com.au

TIME OFF • 45

EMPLOYMENT

VOLUNTEER

OTHER

Award-winning Experienced, Qualified Music Producer:

ADMINISTRATION

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FOR SALE AMPS

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VOX AMP AC30/6TB

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email jthornley@yahoo.com iFlogID: 18792

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DUPLICATION/ MASTERING

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Short run also available.

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PHOTOGRAPHY

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Infovision@yayabings.com.au.

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DRUMMER

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TOP INTERNATIONAL DRUMMER available.

SINGER

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also

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SONG WRITER Songwriter - If you want to rhyme I’ve got the time. Jingles, songs, you can’t go wrong. If you’ve got the music, I’ll make it the number 1 pick. Tommy-0434021675. iFlogID: 17078

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Contact RemmosK@gmail.com iFlogID: 18849

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WANTED OTHER

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OTHER Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively from $299 including Hosting, Shopping Cart and 5 email addresses!

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Wanted! Your love and support for our hip hop collaboration for suicide prevention. Help us break down the taboos and barriers. Share the message ‘it’s ok to talk about suicide’. Releasing digital mixtape early September to co-incide with World Suicide Prevention Day and RU OK Day. Visit: facebook.com/ TheSuicideWatchVolume1 Web: crazybandplans.com/ SWV1 iFlogID: 19155

Share your skills with the global community

VOLUNTEER OVERSEAS.

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re' ster to attend at www.AYAD.com.au

The AYAD Program, part of the Australian Volunteers for International Development, is fully funded by the Australian Government, AusAID and managed by Austraining International.