WINTER WONDERLAND
MUSTANG BAR
This Thursday, July 26, catch some original tunes cour tesy of Gun Fever Showcase supported by Will Stoker & The Embers, Stereo Flower and High Horse. As always, DJ James MacArthur will be spinning the decks ‘til late!
The Shed Friday, July 20, 2012 Punters who love a bit of festive cheer packed out The Shed on Friday night for the venue’s fourth annual Christmas Wonderland Weekend. A Christmas in July celebration, the Wonderland Weekend saw party goers hitting snow covered dance floors, while getting down to the latest and greatest Top 40 tunes.
YA YA’S
Katie, John
Photographs by Matt Jelonek
Feel like indulging in some local goodness? This Thursday, July 26, partake in some mulled wine and sweet acoustic tunes at Unplugged. Or else catch Tyto Kings launching their new EP this Saturday, July 28. To win two tickets to the launch, simply email adam@ya-yas.com.au and put ‘Tyto Kings’ in the subject line!
HYDE PARK HOTEL
Ben, Emma Elisa, Ryan, Tiff
This Thursday, July 26, weekly student/indie music night THursty at the Hyde Park Hotel features cover band LIXY. Friday, July 27, blues musician Nathan Gaunt will take to the stage in the afternoon, and at 8pm catch Needles Douglas, Dam Few, Living Dying and more. Saturday, July 28, Broken Royale launch a new video clip with help from Russian Winters, Love Junkies and Zara Huts.
PADDO
Tonight, Wednesday July 25, Paddo POW features The Date, The Red Embers and One Thousand Years. Doors open at 8pm and as usual it’s free entry!
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL
Amy, Tori
Laura, John, Akueanus, Barry
Ahead of this weekend’s run of three sold out Karnivool shows, catch US punk rockers Rosetta at the Rosemount Hotel this Wednesday, July 25, along with special guests Nuclear Summer, Drowning Horse and Lila Chanesar from 8pm. To win a double pass to this show email win@rosemounthotel.com.au with ‘Win’ in the subject line.
RAILWAY HOTEL
Cody, Elyshia
John, Fiona, Cheryl
Friday, July 27, catch Dead Set Radio with special guests A Band On Earth, Ichora and Jessika Alyce Lawrence. Saturday, July 28, it’s a metal feast with Reaping The Railway fe a t u r i n g R e a p e r s R i d d l e , Le f t To D i e , Septillion and Acrimony. Doors 8pm. $10 entry for both shows.
BEAT NIGHTCLUB
Massive weekend in store at Beat kicking off with local rockers FOAM launching their new EP, with support from Hunting Huxley, Puck and Energy Commission. $15 at the door gets you a copy of the EP. Don’t miss out on the X-Press Magazine Golden Ticket Comp which can get you free entry into Beat Nightclub every Friday for the rest of the year (see Comp Thing for details).
COURT HOTEL
The Court Hotels Super Sexy Saturdays are one big club night every Saturday night. Get yourself on the door list with free entry this Saturday by emailing win@xpressmag.com.au with ‘I’m Super Sexy’ in the subject line.
EAST END BAR
Every Thursday night get down to The Prestige, a night of house, funk and electro from 9pm ‘til late! Dance the night away, recline into a chesterfield or soak up the tunes over a delicious cocktail. Entry is free before 10pm and there are student priced drinks all night long. If you’re a night owl and don’t think you’ll make it down before 10pm, we can get you on the door list on Thursdays after 10pm by simply emailing win@xpressmag.com.au with ‘Prestige’ in the subject line.
SAIL & ANCHOR
With $7 Dry Dock pints all week plus $15 lunch specials from Monday to Friday, the Sail & Anchor is where it’s at!
NEWPORT HOTEL
If you’re planning a function or special event look no further than The Newport Hotel’s freshly renovated function rooms. To celebrate the refurb, the generous folks at the Newport are giving away an ultimate function pack to one lucky reader and their friends, with the winner getting to choose from one of the snazzy new rooms in which to host a three hour event, with a $300 bar tab, security hire and VIP drink deals all night. To go into the draw to win this fantastic package email zoe@ thenewport.com with ‘ultimate function’ in the subject line.
Inside YoYo Studios
THE VOLCANICS Perth rock’n’roll stalwarts The Volcanics have been busy of late, holed up in YoYo Studios recording their second full-length album. BEN WATSON paid a visit to the studio and caught up with the record’s producer, Rob Younger; engineer, Ken Watt; and Volcanics’ frontman John Phatouros.
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Surely there’s nothing more valuable than the ability to make one’s living doing the things that one loves. And walking into YoYo Studios, you really get the impression that it is run by guys who do exactly that. It’s a real DIY job, professional and homely, but built by hand by the men who run it, including Ken Watt, who is enthusiastically engineering the upcoming album by The Volcanics. As X-Press enters, Watt is busy fussing over a huge computer monitor display while one of the band hammers away like Jerry Lee Lewis at an upright piano in the studio’s main room. Behind him sits a Hammond organ, an array of electric pianos, and a harpsichord - a real harpsichord. In front is an array of drums, mics and guitar amps. Watt later reveals that the band used eight of these valve amps over the course of recording. Ever polite, Volcanics singer John Phatouros leads us through, past all this, to the tiki garden out back. There we wait. “The only thing we want to say,” Phatouros says quietly, “is how happy we are that Rob came to Perth to work with us on this record, and also that Kenny is working with us. I don’t want to talk about the songs or anything besides: we love what they’re doing.” “John’s modest to a fault,” interrupts Rob Younger in his characteristic, no-nonsense deadpan, before assuring me that the album is a collaborative effort between the artists, the engineer and the band. Younger is best known as the singer for legendary Australian act Radio Birdman, and as
the producer for a string of acts during the ‘80s for Citadel Records and many others. He has flown over from Sydney specifically to produce this album. Both Phatouros and Watt are gigantic fans, but Younger clearly has respect for the younger men and their various talents. “Kenny brings enthusiasm and vitality into every project that he undertakes,” he says with characteristic seriousness. Later, as Watt discusses his ability to use digital recording technology despite his self-described ‘old school’ preference for analogue, Younger is equally as complimentary. “You’ve embraced it very well,” he says. We spend considerable time discussing the pros and cons of recording live-to-tape, as opposed to putting an album together track by track, as The Volcanics have elected to do. Younger is quite critical of the notion of recording live, if it is simply done for the sake of it. “It’s like telling people not to paint in a certain medium, or something like that, because if that’s what I think you’re alluding to, this idea about the live thing being somehow preferable? Usually what happens is that all they want to get is a good live drum take,” he says. Moments later, he reveals that he is learning all the while, and that recording bands ‘live’ is in fact where most of his prior experience lies. The veteran is learning alongside his charges. “Putting a record together in a more piecemeal way? I’m not that experienced in it, actually. So, in a way, this record’s been a bit of an education in that sense. It lets you concentrate on things in a different way.” X-Press – First on the street, Wednesdays