BMA Mag 329 23 Jul 2009

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inside this issue

PARKWAY DRIVE

SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR

YUKSEK

THE WINTER OF THEIR DISCONTENT

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You want it? We got it. And lots of it. Send answers to

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editorial@bmamag.com and we’ll hook you up, no wuzzas.

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1 Anyone for Polo?

Featured in the What’s Hot section in the iTunes store, played at fashion festivals and labelled as visionaries by Beat Magazine, Polo Club have gained much respect in the industry for their new album The 13. Their style is said to be the sound of now, though beamed from a hundred years in the future. Their futuristic sounds are produced by two guys with a longing for originality and a passion for music. Their brilliant blend of glitched-up ghetto-pop, experimental club-rap, and digital boom-bap styles have got everyone talking. To win one of three copies of The 13, tell us what are you looking forward to in the future.

2 Woah Black Bertie!

Bertie Blackman is Australia’s favourite indie darling and she’s coming to Canberra to promote her newest single Thump as well as her latest album, Secrets and Lies. The newest single has the sentimental sound of ‘90s rock, laced with contemporary beats, in a similar vein to Karen O and Beth Ditto of The Gossip.

Bertie will kick off her huge national tour in Tasmania, and will then make her way through cities and metropolitan areas to the capital! Bertie Blackman will be performing at ANU Bar on Saturday August 8. We have two prize packs to give away consisting of a double pass to her Saturday August 8 show at ANU plus a copy of Secrets and Lies. To win tell us your most controversial secret. We won’t tell. Promise.

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3 Last Days

4 Hey Guy!

A legendary rocker that influenced thousands with his music, lyrics and even fashion, Kurt Cobain is greatly missed, though his extraordinary legacy lives on. The latest in the enormous collection of Kobain tributes is the DVD The Last 48 Hours of Kurt Cobain.

A week before he was found dead, Kurt went missing and the world stood still. Now the story of Kurt Cobain’s last week with us has been uncovered through untold testimonies.

The documentary includes interviews with Nirvana band members, friends, and witnesses of his whereabouts during that dreadful week.

The DVD also focuses on his incredible talents, showing the making of the track Drain You, excerpts from Smells Like Teen Spirit, In Bloom, Come As You Are and more. Also featured is the story behind the controversial Nevermind cover and an interview with the star. We have five copies to give away. To win one, tell us how Kurt or Nirvana influenced you.

With a massive list of recording projects with celebrities such as Pink Floyd, Tina Turner and Michael Jackson this bassist has it all sorted out. Guy Pratt has come to share his life journeys with us once again on his stand up comedy show, Breakfast of Idiots, which is spiced up with a little bit of bass. Guy has eagerly decided to step into the spotlight lonesome once again to share all the dirt on the music industry.

His first one man show My Bass And Other Animals received great praise from media across the globe and was described as “pretty bloody hilarious”. To score one of three double passes to his Thursday July 23 show at The Playhouse, simply tell us your favourite joke.

5 Prepare for Battle If you survived the nuclear annihilation by the Cylons or even vaguely know what we’re talking about - you have been chosen to join the powerful warship of Battlestar Galactica.

Part 2 of Season 4 of the sci-fi is up for grabs. Find out what happened after the second war against the Cyclons ended and

follow the dangers the fleet face as they search for the 13th colony, Mother Earth. This TV series has been honoured with numerous awards and nominations in its four season run, so don’t miss out on grabbing the final conclusion to the story. To win one of seven copies, tell us how you would save the humans.

6 Phylla-wha?

Ranging from mellow soft sounds to confronting, solid, rock, Phyllasoma explore the extremes of music, sometimes all on the same track. Consisting of four talented musicians, the band originated in Christchurch where they enjoyed a solid and dedicated fan base in their beloved home town, jamming at festivals and on the country’s biggest rock radio station.

The band recently relocated to Sydney to concentrate on their first full length album, and they’re playing a show at The Holy Grail, Kingston, on Friday August 7. Phyllasoma currently have a single out called Next Time Round which also features the song’s video. To score one of three DVD/single packs, tell us what a Phyllasoma is.

The rock and roll circus that was The Bedroom Philosopher tour rolled into Canberra on July 2. (More of a Cirque Du Soleil type circus… costumes and pretension). Our party of seven, split into two cars, went screaming up Northbourne Avenue doing at least 70 km/h, The Beatles at a sensible volume and my arm holding an empty coffee cup daringly out the window. Nothing we could do could compare to the rebellion of ABC 666. Satan with a cup of tea.

Seeing Canberra for the first time in a while reminded me how squares and circles it is. I went on a rant pretending I was Walter Burley Griffin – it involved a bad European accent and “my father was a box maker and I’ve always loved boxes. I also had a spirograph. I wanted Canberra to have a roundabout on every corner, like cement Connect Four.”

Canberra responded to my humour icily. It was seven degrees and raining when we hit Civic. We checked into the YHA. There were seven of us in an eight bed dorm, so we were awkward about a blind date with our extra friend. He turned out to be a meat and potatos Irish backpacker airing off his feet, telling us he “moight come dern to the univoisitay laytor.”

“Look for the balls!” I screamed to the driver as we winded about the back road labyrinth of the ANU. Sure enough, the big cement balls of the ANU bar appeared. Inside, the atmos was pumping. Fluoro lights.

The patter of evening rain. Three tired students and Tooheys New in general. I activated my expectation lowering and nervous energy dispersing subroutines. I reminded everyone that Kurt Cobain had played on this stage, and how people bashed down the doors to see Nirvana. I had visions of a similar event tonight, with people trying to stop me playing I’m So Post Modern.

Post-gig we went back to the YHA to drop off stuff and make our beds. I sat, perplexed, staring into space with a fitted sheet half on. My band asked me what was wrong. “It’s so boring,” I replied. We strolled next door into the magical parlour of Transit to get loose. Amazingly, there was some kind of electro night on. I remember when Transit used to be Akuna Bar and they did alternative karaoke there. I did Beck’s Sexxlaws, still my karaoke highlight to date. The rest of the group got beers while I ordered soda water because I’m that hard.

I sat on a stool with my mate Josh and did our ‘everyone’s 19 and we’re sitting on stools watching people dance, lucky we know we’re cool or we’d be really shit’ chat. I was feeling a bit restless so I wandered over to play pool. Some dudes already had a coin down and told me so casually. I came back at them with total aggression. I hadn’t drunk or smoked for a few days, self-enforced mood diet, and I was uptight and ready to go these guys. Some cute first year philosophy girls bailed me up in the corner to tell me that I wasn’t actually a philosopher. I argued that I knew who Socrates was and had read some Alain De Boton but they just laughed. They said some stuff and asked me if I preferred red or white onion and it was probably flirting but then I got tired and left. Michael Jackson came on and I did a tribute shimmy.

Back at the YHA we went up to the games room where some supremely dull tourists were watching the tennis. We whispered discreetly and they glared at us with pure hatred. On my way to bed I culture jammed the chalkboard so that ‘Monday: Aussie movies’ said ‘Monday: Ass movies.’ Still got it.

JUSTIN HEAZLEWOOD www.bedroomphilosopher.com Justin performs as The Bedroom Philosopher and writes for Frankie, Jmag and The Big Issue.

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A not for profit organisation # 3 2 9 J U L 2 3 Fax: 02 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne General Manager & Advertising Manager Allan Sko T: 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com Editor Julia Winterflood T: 02 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi T: 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com Sales Executive Danika Nayna T: 0408 657 939 Graphic Design Jenny Freeman Exhibitionist Editor Naomi Milthorpe Film Editor Mark Russell Principle Photographers (The Flashbulb Posse) Andrew Mayo Nick Brightman John Hatfield NEXT ISSUE 330 OUT AUG 6 EDITORIAL DEADLINE JULY 27 ADVERTISING DEADLINE JULY 30 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 bma is independently owned and published.

Opinions expressed in bma are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

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Some came for the beer, some for the music, some for the party, but everyone who turned up to Corinbank ’09 became part of a clean, green celebration that has been recognised for the second year running by the Keep Australia Beautiful Sustainable Cities Awards. Corinbank will grace the Brindabella Mountains again from February 26-28.

More information can be found at www.corinbank.com .

island of emotion World’s Funniest Island is an event like no other. Set on Sydney’s Cockatoo Island over two amazingly hilarious days, this festival of funny stuff features talent from all over the world. “This short, sharp, sensory overload format is perfect for Sydney, the city with attention deficit disorder,” says the festival director. It’s all happening on Saturday October 17 and 18. For more info visit www. worldsfunniestisland.com .

Rockin’ for Africa’s Orphans The next Woden Youthie fundraiser is a great opportunity to rock out to some great bands while at the same time raising money for the African orphanage Emmanuel Kedogo Rescue Centre. The night features Astrochem, Escape Syndrome, Fallsuit Theory, West of the Sun and Fight the Fall. EKRC is not funded by the government and needs your support to feed and shelter children exposed to abuse and criminal activity.

So come along to the Woden Youthie on Friday July 31 and do your bit. Tickets are $7.

you’ve played on the bill over the last 20 years and were keen on reforming for a one-off show. Indyfest is renowned for showcasing local and regional acts and will be part of the Canberra Festival during the Canberra Day long weekend on Monday March 6 2010. Visit www.indyfest.com for details, or phone Bruce on 0400 398 784.

Front and Centre A sizeable swag of entertainment at The Front is coming your way this month. On Thursday July 23 Lakeside Circus will bring their musical expertise in forms such as blues, atonal serialism (?), rock and jazz, from 7.30-10pm. Tix are $5. On Saturday July 25 from 2pm The Kosmos Laboratory will bring us tweaky twisted tunes and progressive minimal house. This is the night The Front becomes a discotheque so bring your dancing shoes. Free! On Wednesday July 23 there’ll be a delightful evening of wonderful men singing their hearts out including Ben Drysdale, Nigel McRae, Aaron Peacy, George and others. 6-11pm, donation appreciated.

V and Y Song Comp

Spunky Splendour

King Costello

If you’re one of the lucky cats who’s making the trip to Byron for Splendour, be sure to catch Spunk Records’ fantastic threesome Holly Throsby, The Middle East and Leader Cheetah. Holly Throsby has just returned from the US and Canada and will be playing tracks from her newest album A Loud Call which Mojo Magazine said “should prove to be Throsby’s breakthrough release”. Leader Cheetah’s debut was also praised by Courier Mail as “the best Australian debut since Augie March’s Sunset Studies”. Catch them at Byron Bay Community Centre the day before Splendour on Friday July 24.

6pm, all ages.

Elvis Costello will be packing up his guitar, songs, stories and once again unleashing an Australian tour this October.

Also tagging along is his new album Secret, Profane and Sugarcane. His Australian concerts will feature songs covering his entire career. Catch Elvis Costello on Wednesday October 14 at The Royal Theatre.

Tickets trough Ticketek.

Sneaker Pimps

Indy Kids, Young and Old

Purple Sneakers are at it again with a bigger lineup than ever, teaming up with Sydney’s club Snatch and Grab to give you a gigantic indie party.

Representing Snatch and Grab are Cunningpants, Ben Lucid

Indyfest is returning for its 20th show next year and is more proud than ever to support up and coming local acts. If your band are interested in performing this is the perfect opportunity, especially if

Expose your inner rock star to the world by entering the Vanda and Young Songwriting Competition. It’s open to all songwriters, from amateur hopefuls, published or unpublished songwriters to professionals. The winners will score a return business class airfare to the US and UK plus five days accommodation, $20,000 cash, songwriter mentorship with iconic US songwriter Paul Williams and more. Entries close Wednesday September 30. For more information visit www. vandayoungsongcomp.com .

ELVIS COSTELLO

Dream Green Team

and Mellow, and on the Purple team are M.I.T, Nick Findlay and special guest Mailer Daemon.

Not to be forgotten are our Canberra superstars Talihina Shan and Will Eat Brains. So come along to the Transit Bar on Friday July 31 at 8pm. You know it’s gonna be huge!

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another

YOU PISSED ME OFF!

thing…

That Sabbath album cover story in full – Krusher?

“The Born Again album sleeve was designed under extraordinary circumstances; basically what had happened was that Sharon and Ozzy had split very acrimoniously from her father’s [Don Arden] management and record label. He subsequently decided that he would wreak his revenge by making Black Sabbath [whom he managed] the best heavy metal band in the world, which, of course, they had been but back then in the early ‘80s they weren’t quite the international megastars that they had been in the ‘70s. His plans included recruiting Deep Purple vocalist Ian Gillan, getting Bill Ward back in on drums and stealing as many of Ozzy’s management team as possible; I was designing Ozzy’s sleeves at the time so I of course got asked to submit some designs. As I didn’t want to lose my gig with the Osbournes I thought the best thing to do would be to put some ridiculous designs down, submit them and then get the beers in with the rejection fee.

“But no, life ain’t that easy. In all I think there were four rough ideas that were given to the management and band to peruse. Anyway one of the ideas was of course ‘the baby’ and the first image of a baby that I found was from the front cover of a 1968 magazine called Mind Alive that my parents had bought me as a child – so in reality I say blame my parents for the whole sorry mess. I then took some black and white photocopies of the image that I overexposed, stuck the horns, nails, fangs into the equation, used the most outrageous colour combination that acid could buy, bastardised a bit of the Olde English typeface and sat back, shook my head and chuckled.

“The story goes that at the meeting Tony Iommi and Geezer Butler were present [the others were absent]. Tony loved it and Geezer looked at it and in his best Brummie accent said, “It’s shit. But it’s fucking great!” Don not only loved it but had already decided that a Born Again baby costume was to be made for a suitable midget who was going to wear it and be part of the now infamous Born Again Tour. So suddenly I find myself having to do the bloody thing. I was also offered a ridiculous amount of money if I could deliver finished artwork for front, back and inner sleeve by a certain date. As the dreaded day drew nearer I kept putting it off until finally the day before it was due I sprang into action with the help of a neighbour, a bottle of Jack Daniels and the filthiest speed that money could buy.

“We bashed the whole thing out in a night, including hand lettering all the lyrics, delivered it the next day whereupon I received my financial reward. But that wasn’t the end of it. When Gillan finally got to see a finished sleeve he hated it with a vengeance [see later issue].

Gillan might have hated it but Max Cavelera (Sepultura, Soulfly) and Glen Benton (Deicide) have both gone on record saying that it is their favourite album sleeve and Kurt Cobain told a story of his mum taking him to Walmart for his birthday and telling him he could pick any album he wanted and she’d buy it for him. He chose Born Again and his mother refused point blank to buy it for the cover alone.

“And that, my friend, is the story of the Black Sabbath Born Again sleeve.” scott adams thirtyyearsofrnr@hotmail.com

Has someone yanked yer chain recently? Well send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and have your sweet vengeance.

And for the love of God, keep it brief! [All entries contain original spellings] To all the people who talk loudly and incessantly in cinemas, shut the fuck up!

What is wrong with you? Can’t remember you’re shopping list? Can’t you hold in your “witty” and “informative” bile till after? (yes I remember you wankers from Manuka cinema watching The Dark Knight- the whole fucking 3 hrs with such nuggets as “Hospitals don’t blow up like that!” NO FUCKING WAY! I bet your girl swooned at the manly knowledge you have gained from blowing up letterboxes!)

Sir Sko et al, It’s been too much, I need to get this out. At least it’s a bit of a return to brevity from the long-winded ones that have been rather frequent of late: Housemate: this is the Canberra winter so instead of blasting the heater and complaining about the cold, how about you put a jumper on over that t-shirt? You and your spoilt-child like ways really PISS ME OFF.

FROM THE BOSSMAN Miscellaneous Things I’ve Learnt About the Music Industry #4: You never forget your first.

Interview, that is. Mine was Canadian hip-hop DJ turned dutty bass raggamuffin K-Note. Editor Julia Winterflood’s was Richard Grossman, bassist of The Hoodoo Gurus. Ask any journo, and they’ll tell you (though you may have to buy them a drink first).

You never forget because at the time you’re about to pop your interview cherry, you’re absolutely terrified. With trembling fingers you gingerly grip the receiver, biting your bottom lip, hoping dearly that the other person doesn’t think you’re crap.

It’s something one’s been delightfully reminded of when telling our work experience kidz (notice the handsome use of street level ‘z’ there; that’s right – I’m hip, I’m with it) they’ll be interviewing someone. You can smell their terror before being released into the telephonic wild.

After a few years in the industry – some 500 interviews in the bag, a swag of funny stories, a borderline alcohol addiction and bags under your eyes that read ‘International Luggage’ later – you forget the grip of fear that wraps its oily tendrils around your heart before talking to ‘a real person’. But o the adrenaline post interview deadline still exists. It’s one of the best ways to put a smile on your face.

ALLAN “IS THIS MR K-K-K-K-NOTE?” SKO

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WHO: FESTIVAL LOVERS WHAT: DRAGON DREAMING WHEN: SAT OCT 3-5 (LABOUR DAY LONG WEEKEND) WHERE: OUTSIDE CANBERRA

Evoke your senses, launch your imagination and blow your mind! Dragon Dreaming is an opportunity to spend the weekend immersed in live, electronic and acoustic music and mindboggling décor, visuals, and art. We’re also featuring an outdoor cinema, a diverse program of workshops, artistic work and performances, a huge array of stalls and a healing village where you can retreat, relax and regenerate. Come and dance amongst lush forest and you can even camp onsite as well! Tickets are on sale now online and at outlets in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne. Check out www. dragondreaming.net for tickets and more info!

WHO: DYLAN MORAN WHAT: WHAT IT IS SCREENING WHEN: WED JULY 29 WHERE: DENDY AND GREATER UNION, MANUKA

Star and creator of Black Books, Dylan Moran has wowed audiences in Australia and New Zealand with his sell out show What It Is. Moran’s legendary rants have cemented his reputation as one of the foremost comics of his generation. Labelled ‘the Oscar Wild of Comedy’, Moran is known for his absurd observation and unique brand of dry humour. He combines his talents as an actor, writer and performer to incredible effect as a master of comedy. Moran’s hilarious and articulate show was captured live in Hi-Definition. This one show only screening is unpredictable, startling, bizarre, but above all brilliant and hilariously funny. For bookings visit www.cinemalive.com .

WHO: GLOVES WHAT: OH NO DISCO! WHEN: SAT AUG 1 WHERE: BAR 32

Gloves is the solo project of Yama Indra, one half of Damn Arms, and is the one man remixing machine infamous for his ability to turn any track into a disco anthem. He’s wowed fans, peers and punters throughout ‘08, sprinkling his disco dust all over remixes for Cut Copy, Van She, Gamboy/Gamegirl and other bigwigs resulting in being signed to the Bang Gang 12 Inches label. With a rep for bringing the house down it would seem the tastemakers are unanimous that he is the producer to watch in 2009. Gloves will perform at Shakedown/ Bar32’s launch of the Oh No Disco! monthly party, with support from locals Celebrity Sextape, Staky, Nightfight and Strangeways DJs.

WHO: STONEFEST WHAT: Australia’s largest campus music festival WHEN: October 31 (Halloween), 11am to 11pm WHERE: UNIVERSITY OF CANBERRA

Exams are over and a collective weight lifts off uni students’ shoulders as they exit the hall with three words on their lips – “let’s get wasted!” Luckily, good ol’ reliable Stonefest eagerly awaits every student’s end of year; an old friend that never fails to throw one hell of a celebration. This year, Australia’s oldest music festival has been compacted into one day with Frenzal Rhomb, The Living End, Birds of Tokyo, Josh Pyke, Art vs Science and more. As always, remember one thing and one thing only about attending Stonefest… go hard or go home! Tickets available now from ticketek.com.au .

WHO: TIGER LILLIES WHAT: ALT CABARET WHEN: SUN AUG 2 WHERE: THE STREET THEATRE

For the first time the Tiger Lillies are bringing their unique musical style to The Street. The Tiger Lillies never cease to surprise you with their surreal singing style and controversial songs involving prostitution and blasphemy. This strangely humorous three-peice band have toured all over the globe. They’ll be performing songs from their award winning smash Shockheaded Peter, The Gory End and other favourites. Described as ‘a journey into wild emotion which passes right through melodrama and out the other side into bizarre beauty’, the band are unleashing this dark cabaret tour once again to celebrate 20 years of their deviant antics.

WHO: GUY PRATT WHAT: BREKFAST OF IDIOTS WHEN: THURS JULY 23 WHERE: THE PLAYHOUSE

Guy Pratt is coming to Canberra to take us on a hilarious journey through his life, right from the awkward teenage experiences to big shot recording projects from Madonna and Elton John. On his Breakfast of Idiots tour he’ll be armed only with his beloved bass guitar, focussing on his time as a professional bassist which started at the tender age of 19 with legendary Australian band Icehouse.

Not only does Pratt have incredible bass skills, but he also coperformed the vocals on Pink Floyd’s Run Like Hell and Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2). Guy performs at The Playhouse on Thursday July 23. Tix through www.spokenwordaustralia.com.au .

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God Willing katherine quinn

“Sorry, I’m eating toast,” mumbles ESKIMO JOE frontman Kav, with his mouth full of, erm, toast. “Oh that’s so rude, talking with my mouth full!” I don’t mind in the least; however I do eye off my own peanut-buttered breakfast, which is going cold on the kitchen counter. Kav has more of an excuse than I do – calling from Perth, where the band hails from, he had to be up two hours earlier than me!

The distant city of Perth has become known as something of an Australian band breeding ground, with groups such as Little Birdy, The Waifs, John Butler Trio and The Panics calling the West Coast home. Eskimo Joe, however, have truly transcended the Australian music scene: their second album, A Song Is a City, was certified double platinum, and their 2006 album, Black Fingernails, Red Wine, reached four times platinum. This success was followed by extensive international touring and the inspiration for the title of their new album, Inshalla, was gleaned in a coffee shop in Egypt.

Loosely translated, ‘inshalla’ means ‘god willing.’

So what does that say about the album as a whole? “There’s a lot more hope on this record,” Kav tells me. “On our last two records I think I was descending into a winter of my discontent or something, and we tried to write a couple of songs from that old place, but it seemed inauthentic. But happy is a scary place to write from.”

Not sounding cheesy is hard. We didn’t want it to sound like a Ben Lee record

A lot of artists seem to say that and I’m intrigued – why is that?

“For some reason it’s easier to talk about painful things in a public forum. To do it [write from a happy place] and not sound cheesy is hard. We didn’t want it to end up sounding like a Ben Lee record, you know?” Far from ‘god willing,’ to that I say ‘god forbid!’.

There are, however, some darker elements on the album, with parts of their single Foreign Land inspired by Heath Ledger’s untimely death. The band was in New York as part of the G’Day USA promotion at the time Ledger’s body was found, and the line ‘I smell the blood of an Australian’ refers to his death. “Foreign Land is basically about the fact that no one wants to die alone,” says Kav. In light of this, I ask Kav what advice he would give to Aussie bands trying to make it overseas. “I guess just try and have fun together,

and make jokes in a positive way, not a dark, sarcastic way.

The humour you throw back and forth will get you through those dark times.” Kav also says it’s important to keep things in perspective, because “even though you’re big in one country you could be nothing in another.”

In my opinion, however, whether a band has truly ‘made it’ can be gauged by one thing: whether they have a pseudonym. And Eskimo Joe do indeed have one, going by the name The Andy Callison Project when they want to test-drive new material or have a low-key practice in front of a crowd. The only problem being that nowadays most Eskimo Joe fans know exactly who The Andy Callison Project really are (ha, and even more people will once this article is published).

“Yeah, now everybody knows the bloody name!” complains Kav, not sounding at all distressed (and actually alarmingly cheerful for 7am!). “We’ll rock up to a gig and there’ll be a full house, and it’s like ‘I thought it was meant to be a secret gig, man!’”

Of course, Eskimo Joe have been packing out gigs under their official name for many years, playing to around 45,000 people at the Australian leg of Live Earth in 2007, and also performing this year at the Sound Relief concert for victims of the Victorian bushfire crisis and the Queensland floods. I ask him whether he sees charity work and being politically outspoken - Bob Dylanstyle - as duties which arise from being a successful musician and public figure.

“We should do more charity stuff,” he says several times. As for writing about political and current issues, he admits, “I’m personally really bad at it. I don’t write about the outer politics – I find the inner politics way more fascinating. I don’t know if we’re wankers but we don’t really care enough. We’re more focussed on the smaller details, like having our shit together enough to play a gig.” But then he says again, “we should do more charity stuff,” and it’s clear that he does care, even if he doesn’t write about it.

Eskimo Joe are also old favourites of Big Day Out, having played there several times since the band was formed in 1997. I’ll never forget seeing them at Sydney Big Day Out in 2005, wearing khaki wife-beaters and mirrored aviators... let’s just say it was hot, and not only because it was the middle of summer (insert winkyface here). I ask Kav if we can expect more exciting costumes on the upcoming Inshalla tour. “Nah, we’re letting loose a bit more this time around. I think we’ve been around for long enough, we don’t have to rely on gimmicks.” I’m quite disappointed, but then he adds, “hopefully people will still like us.” They may not have costumes, but with a new record as captivating as Inshalla and a back-catalogue of hits spanning 12 years, how could we not?

Eskimo Joe will hit up the ANU Bar on Saturday August 1. Get your tickets through Ticketek.

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ALL AGES What’s up kids? I hope you’re all having a fabulous school holidays!

Not getting into too much trouble, I trust. Moving right into the shows, we’ve got a few action packed months coming up in terms of gigs for us underaged Canberrans, so we’ll get right into it.

Friday July 31 will see Astrochem, Escape Syndrome, Fallsuit Theory, West of the Sun and Fight the Fall come together for a good cause. The event will be raising money for orphans and other people living in poverty in Africa. The orphanage is called the Emmanuel Kedogo Rescue Centre or the EKRC. Children in Africa who live on the streets are vulnerable to all kinds of abuse and criminal activity and have no access to healthcare or education. Admission is only $7, so for such a small price this is your opportunity to help raise money for young people like ourselves living in Nairobi. So get yourselves down to the Woden Youthie, it’s for a good cause after all.

Byron Bay’s Parkway Drive, the USA’s August Burns Red and the UK’s Architects will be smashing their way through the Southern Cross Woden Basketball Stadium on Sunday August 16. Tickets are $33.36 and are already available from Moshtix or Landspeed Records.

Wednesday August 26 will see the world’s most beloved heavy metal entertainer rock his way into the Royal Theatre. That’s right, Alice Cooper is taking to the stage and is bringing his guillotines, electric chairs, fake blood, boa constrictors and baby dolls with him; as well as his trademark theatrical and violent brand of the most shocking heavy metal. Having helped shape the look and sound of classic heavy metal, Alice Cooper is a god amongst fellow metal rockers and fans alike. You won’t want to miss this once in a life time opportunity to see a legend of heavy metal in the flesh.

Deez Nuts is one of the most popular rap-core bands at the moment, and when they join up with such epic bands as Miles Away, Antagonist AD, In Trenches and Blkout! on Tuesday October 6, it’s going to be one of the biggest shows Canberra has seen in ages.

So get on down to the Southern Cross Woden Basketball Stadium because you’ll be kicking yourself if you miss out on this one.

Fresh out of the US, Terror are the determined hardcore loyalists who have earned themselves a reputation as the ‘guardians of old school hardcore.’ These guys are non-stop touring machines and since they formed seven years ago the group has never spent more than a month off the road. Shredding metal-tinged guitars, breakneck drum lines, slick bass lines and their trademark blood curdling vocals are what make Terror one of the most iconic hardcore bands of our time. Hitting Australia for the fourth time, Terror will be joined by fellow American lads Stick to Your Guns and our very own Against.

Bridging the gap between the young and the old by combining nofrills, traditional hardcore and the intensity of the new generation, these guys put on one hell of an intense show. Terror will be smashing up the Tuggers Youth Centre on Friday October 9 and tickets are on sale from Moshtix or Landspeed Records.

I’m out! Catch ya!

LIZ ROWLEY elizabeth_rowley@live.com.au

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LOCALITY Hold on to your butts, punters! The Canberra music scene is going into overdrive this fortnight, what with two album launches, a troupe of gypsies, an evening of chamber music, two surf bands and a shiny new venue on the cards.

First up, Melbourne-based indie pop trio The Basics (featuring Gotye) are currently on tour with Brisbane’s The Boat People, and will be playing in Canberra with our own Hancock Basement. Be at Transit from 9pm on Thursday July 23, and get in early because entry is free.

Friday July 31 will be a huge night at the Woden Youth Centre, with five (yes, five!) local acts on the bill. AstroChem, Fallsuit Theory, West of the Sun, Fight the Fall and Escape Syndrome will be playing from 6pm and entry is just $7.

The Merry Muse in Turner will be hosting two great homegrown events this fortnight. Accomplished practitioners Dr Stovepipe are launching their latest CD on Friday July 24, supported by Den Hanrahan and the Roadsiders. On Friday July 31, Melbourne’s The Woohoo Revue bring their Antique Gypsy Roadshow to town, accompanied by the always alluring Mr Fibby. Both shows kick off at 7:30pm, and tickets are $17 (full), $14 (concession) or $12 (members).

Local punk-and-garage-inspired surf band Space Party is back in town after playing at the Shadoz instrumental music festival in Melbourne last month. We at Locality are always pleased as punch when local acts get national recognition, so well done to these lads!

You can catch the trio on their home turf when they support Sydney surf band The Alohas at The Phoenix on Saturday July 25. The fun starts at 9pm and entry is free.

The Griffyn Ensemble are a chamber group made up of staff, graduates and current students of the ANU School of Music. They’re currently working with emerging composers to produce an album, which the Ensemble will be previewing at The Street Theatre on Thursday July 23. The show starts at 6:30pm and tickets are $25 (standard), $20 (concession) or $5 (Under 18).

The VeeBees are launching their latest album, The VeeBees Live at Summernats, on Saturday July 25 at The Basement. The boys will be joined by Casino Rumblers (NSW), The Rumjacks (NSW) and locals The Toxicmen. The music kicks off at 9pm, entry is $10.

As some of you may recall from the previous issue’s Tidbits page, the new management of The Redgum Café is throwing the doors open to Canberra’s performers. Redgum can fit 200 people, has no noise restrictions and is located on Wollongong Street in Fyshwick.

Noise restrictions have long been an issue for musicians and venues in Canberra, so this is a great opportunity for bands who like to turn their amps up to eleven. To find out more, email redgum@ velocitynet.com.au or call Jeff on 0447 647 266 or 6162 0864.

You’re spoiled for choice this fortnight, you lucky, lucky people! Get out there and show the musos some love and drop us a line with your goss for the next issue.

‘Til next time, CATHERINE JAMES locality.bma@hotmail.com

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In this digital age where you can have more meaningful conversations on a keyboard than in front of an actual person and judge how many real friends you have not by who calls you to come out on a Saturday night but rather by how many adds you have on Facebook, a competition like the in the mix Top 50 DJ poll is a confusing prospect. Is it a true

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indication of who is the best in each category or a glorified popularity contest? Probably a little from column A and a little from column B. Every club kid with a pair of shiny headphones and a beatport account seems to be sending through “vote for me” email spam this year. You the people can decide the winners by heading to www.inthemix.com.

au/50/2009 and selecting who your favourite producer, event, festival, DJs and street press dance columnists were for 2009 (psst, you can find my name in the DJ section).

Blatant self-promotion aside, there are a lot of new up and coming events that could also warrant a mention in this year’s competition like +one. The energetic lads bring a dirty rucksack full of breakbeat, hip-hop, dubstep and drum ‘n’ bass to Transit Bar on Friday July 31, the night is hosted by local deck destroyers Shifty Business who comprise two DJs (Dubdeckerbuss and The

Crunch) and MC Harlequin playing on four vinyl turntables, three mixers, two laptops, effects units, synthesizers and a microphone. Guests for the evening include Faux Real, Karton and Fourthstate and the cover charge is a handy $0.

August at Academy saddles up with a plethora of exciting acts taking the stage starting with ‘so hot right now’ MTV lesbian vampire killer Ruby Rose and sidekick Ritty making their first appearance at the disco theatre for a night of chunky girl on girl beats on Saturday August 15. This is sure to be one of those ridiculously busy events so the lovely guys at Friction & Lexington have organised presale tickets so you don’t have to worry about being stuck out on the chilly pavement.

Head to Parliament, Landspeed or online at inthemix for yours at $20 a pop plus booking fee.

Following this, local boys done good Grafton Primary return to the capital on Friday August 14 with band members Joshua (vocals), Benjamin (synths/ keytar) and Robbie (drums) manifesting their magic indie dance show in a rare appearance on the Academy main stage.

Promotional powerhouses Sideproject and TJS combine for a new night simply called Genre Pollution taking off at Mercury Bar on Friday July 31. With a roster of local DJs bulging at the seams like the late John Candy’s slacks, this is not one to miss for fans of speaker shaking drum ‘n’ bass and dubstep. Finally the date for the much anticipated 2009 Foreshore Music Festival has been announced. Saturday November 28 will see the enigmatic event return to the coveted lakeside venue with a lineup that is promised to be even more jaw-dropping than last year’s. Is this even possible? Just wait and see.

August is upon us Canberra, why not take your minds off the debilitating cold by checking out my hot tip for the month – Nari & Milani. These tech tribal masters have been releasing some mouthwatering records lately, perfect for late night dark rooms and sweaty dance floors.

TIM GALVIN tim.galvin@live.com.au

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YUKSEK’LL BREAK YA PETER ROSEWARNE

No one really knows what YUKSEK, also known as Pierre-Alexandre Busson, means when he says “Now I try to walk and talk, I need the extraball, it’s purely physical” in the song Extraball, but no one seems to mind. Mostly because Yuksek has an amazing ability to produce music which spans a multitude of genres.

This depth of appreciation may stem from his music roots, working at a conservatoire as a pianist until the age of 17 and eventuating into a world of electro and production, remixing the work of musicians like Mika, Kaiser Chiefs and Ghostface Killah. This shift in sound may be a result of his non-discriminate love for music.

Yuksek tells me, “I just love music in general. I love pop and rock and electro… It’s really natural for me. I don’t really feel like I need to find a strong connection between these genres. I think that way you have a lot more going on.”

I don’t really feel like a DJ, per se

This may also be why he’s drawn the attention of musicians like Amanda Blank and Chromeo. In seeing his broad but skilful approach to music, Yuksek explains his interactions with Amanda. “Many of those who work on the album are good friends. With Amanda Blank, we toured together in Mexico, we had just met and I really enjoyed her music. She wanted to work with me on my music, so that was when we decided to do something together and developed a friendship.”

Yuksek, however, has delivered more remixes of others’ songs than his own. Yet he humbly reveals, “I try to share my time with other people’s music. I don’t do it as much as I would like to, it’s just that I try to get involved with interesting tracks.” When listening to remixes of songs like Phoenix’s Lisztomania it’s easy to see why his selection is so rewarding.

Despite his enthusiasm for remixing however, Yuksek informs me, “Though I like to work with other people to get their opinions and ideas because I really value their input on how I’m doing things, generally I prefer to work alone so I can really concentrate.”

Yuksek may appear to be a recluse at heart. Particularly when he tells me, “I’m not that much into doing live acts. I mainly do it because I get to present a live show of all the people’s music that I like. And I really like bringing this music to an audience. I don’t really feel like a DJ, per se.” However, going from the comments and feedback of the audience this guy knows how to work a crowd and is clearly drawing from his humble beginnings as a pianist.

Despite the recent release of album, Away From the Sea, Yuksek already reveals that he has been working on music for his next album. It just goes to show that many more nonsensical lines combined with deep beats and melodic pop are yet to come.

Yuksek plays Lot 33 on Sunday July 26. Tickets available at Landspeed Records.

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HYBRID-ISE TIM GALVIN Without wanting to sound like a ‘back in my day’ clubbing dinosaur whose best bar-hopping years are well past them, remember when dance music was made to invigorate the mind and stir the soul rather than providing a loose platform for laptop superstars to have a crack at music television? In those days of absolute dance floor utopia, we were given HYBRID, and now they are back after their performance at the 2008 Warehouse Winter Music Festival to show a whole new generation of music fans what they have sorely been missing.

Their fusion of stirring string-laden breakbeat and tech house has birthed two albums – 2000’s seminal Wide Angle and the 2003 follow up Morning Sci-Fi. The latter surprised many by progressing their already futuristic sounds even further, and now once again it’s time for a new direction.

I like to see the whites of their eyes

“We have loads of new material on the way!” reveals Chris Healings, one half of the duo. “We’re in the studio as we speak working on our fourth album, whittling down the number of tracks and feverishly getting different mixes polished off. We’re in the final stages so it’s not far off completion. [We’re] dead excited… This time we’re working with our live band who’ve been playing with us for years – no guests, just the band as you’d see us live.”

With the ease at which the duo manages to manufacture such a relative symphony of sound that would be as at home under a pulsing strobe light as it would soundtracking a science fiction space battle, it’s no surprise that Chris and the pairing’s other half, Mike Truman, have used their skills to work on different kinds of media over the last few years.

“Our approach to making music has altered because of the diversity of the work we’ve been involved in,” Chris says. “Each style of writing has had some impact on our overall sound. The band material has a more eclectic edge thanks to a lot of the film sound design we do.

They all draw off each other, really. For us it’s all about using the right instrument for the job and making it sound as vibrant as possible.”

Chris explains that he is looking forward to a more intimate club show this time around, following Hybrid’s epic performance in 2003 at Lot 33 which many labelled as the best DJ set of all time. “[I remember] playing for a very, very long time and also some people crying when we played Symphony,” he reminisces. “Last time we loved the Warehouse Festival but what with it being a big warehouse you can’t get close enough to your audience. I like to see the whites of their eyes and be with them as one right down on the dancefloor.

It’s gonna be a killer and I just can’t wait to play some of the new Hybrid album four tracks and see what happens close up.”

Hybrid will play their intimate show at Lot 33 on Saturday August 8.

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T Warwick Baker, Molonglo River, type C photograph, 100cm x 82cm In 2008, from the nation-wide pool of entrants, the NYSPP was deservingly awarded to local Jessica Herrington, and succeeded in instantly catapulting her into artistic recognition. This year, the prize is up for grabs again; open to all two-dimensional and screen-based art forms and ready to launch another young up-and-comer into the limelight!

To assist with judging of the prize this year, the Portrait Gallery called upon former Canberran Stuart Bailey, who now calls Sydney home and is currently a lecturer at the Sydney College of the Arts. I caught up with Stuart as he was finishing up his day of judging at the NPG.

ME, MYSELF AND I yolande norris We are introduced to the concept of self-portraiture from the earliest age, beginning with scrawled efforts consisting of bubblelike bodies with stick arms and legs, proudly positioned alongside our bubble-stick-leg families. Further down the track who can forget slaving over drawings in high school art class, perched self-consciously in front of a mirror and sweating on details like individual freckles and your too-big nose? For most of us, unless our parents frame these hideous sketches of us in our most awkward years, and force us to relive them every time we walk through the living room, we might not make a foray into self portraiture ever again. That is, unless there is a $10,000 sweetener!

Last year, the National Portrait Gallery coughed up that sweetener (with help from the Tallis Foundation and the Association of Australian Decorative and Fine Arts Societies), as the first place prize for the inaugural NATIONAL YOUTH SELF PORTRAIT PRIZE (NYSPP).

The NPG has long been a supporter of young artists. Since 2000, it has hosted Headspace – an annual exhibition of self portraits from students in years 10, 11 and 12. The NYSPP is the next logical step, taking that support to a whole other level by offering not only the generous cash award but valuable exposure to big-name media and art world heavies.

“We just decided on a winner. I won’t say who though,” he laughs.

“We’re going to wait and announce it when the exhibition is launched, and that’s when the winner will find out they’ve won $10,000!”

Now that he is an esteemed judge of art prizes, I challenge Bailey to explain what he thinks defines a self portrait: “My definition would be pretty broad,” he admits. “I can see elements of portraiture in many works that would be considered outside the genre. Really, any image that contains a representation of some personal aspect of the artist would be considered a portrait in my eyes.”

And they’re eyes that have been hard at work, given the difficult task of selecting a shortlist of works to be exhibited from this year’s crop of entries. I’m desperate to know: what were the judges looking for?

‘We were really won over by works that drew you into the artist’s world. Works with a strong concept behind them are engaging, but ultimately it was the works that seamlessly combine imagery, process and concept into a moving experience that really stood out.”

Bailey may have the talk, but he’s also got the walk, being a widely exhibited practicing artist himself. As it so happens he even dabbles in self-portraiture: “Even though my practice is not based in portraiture I like to implicate myself in the issues my work attempts to engage with, so I guess that occasionally involves my likeness popping up in my work.” And in the work of other artists, do any self-portraits by well-known favourites come to mind? “Probably German artist Martin Kippenberger’s painting of himself bruised and bandaged after an attempted robbery, or perhaps a big night out!

Later in his tragically short life he created many unflattering images of himself as an out-of-shape man heading towards middle age.”

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…continued from page 21 The term ‘youth’ is bandied around a lot, but for the purposes of the NYSPP entrants had to be between the ages of 18 and 25. A narrow window, yes, but a time when many up-and-coming artists are beginning to hit their stride. Portraiture prizes seem to be dime a dozen, but I am curious to know: does the way young people approach self-portraiture differ from their more ‘mature’ counterparts?

“I think many young artists are focused on presenting an image of themselves as a whole being that may subconsciously map out the kind of life they are looking forward to,”’ Bailey muses. “Older artists are more likely to engage with the unexpected twists and turns in life that tend to crop up when you’ve been around for a bit longer!”

There is a lot of money to be had in the art world, if you know where to look for it, with prizes for every medium and subject matter. The hard part for artists it seems is simply getting their arses into gear to submit an entry! Being that the NYSPP is taking place in our own backyard, I push Bailey to reveal how the local entries held up against the interstate competition.

“The contribution of young people from the ACT was very strong,” he assures me. “Having said that it would be great to have more involved in the future.” So does he have any advice for young portraitists, who might want to give it a crack next year? ”Well, works that seem to give a real insight into an individual or an aspect of an individual, regardless of the medium, always engage viewers.

You always need to give away something of yourself to create a compelling artwork.”

So, if you missed out on entering the NYSPP this year, don’t delay: start thinking now about an entry for next year’s competition.

Remember – you only have until you’re 25!

The 2009 National Youth Self Portrait Prize launches on July 23 and continues at the National Portrait Gallery until September 13. Get down there to check out the best of what your contemporaries have to offer of themselves.

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ARTISTPROFILE: F i o n a A t ki n

What do you do? Make theatre, mostly by directing.

When did you get into it? Assistant directing Glengarry Glen Ross in 2001; I realised it was a lot of fun when everyone listened to me.

Who or what influences you as an artist? Good storytellers, bold and passionate practitioners (both local and international), often, unfortunately, (the lack of) money.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moment so far?

Sam Shepard’s massive families-in-crisis epic A Lie of the Mind for papermoon in April this year.

What are your plans for the future? Finish my PhD in Drama and achieve international notoriety – whether as a director or the fashionable and universally beloved wife of a despot I don’t mind.

What makes you laugh? Rehearsal rooms full of really tired people; How I Met Your Mother; gin.

What pisses you off? David Koch; insincerity; plastic cutlery.

What’s your opinion of the local scene? I think the amateur/pro-am theatre scene in Canberra is perhaps the greatest rebuttal to the claim that our city has no soul.

What are your upcoming performances/exhibitions? Federico Garcia Lorca’s Blood Wedding for moonlight July 31 to August 8 at the

Kim Buck, Armed and Empty Handed, charcoal on paper, 102 x 50 cm

ANU Arts Centre.

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Contact info: moonlight.anudrama@gmail.com; 0438517745.

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B O T T CUTS LED SHORT POETRY carrington clarke

It seems that every week there is another film festival hitting Canberra, and while in the short film festival category Tropfest currently reigns supreme, there is a rival hunkering down in Canberra this fortnight – the ST KILDA FILM FESTIVAL. This year, the festival takes residence at the amazing Arc Cinema at the National Film and Sound Archive.

The festival whittled around 500 entries down to 100 finalists, including Tropfest Best Comedy winner Being Carl Williams, animated short Chicken of God from comedian Frank Woodley, and The List, written and directed by Joel Edgerton. The festival has now taken a selection of the films on the road around Australia, and one of the films to be shown in Canberra is Shockwaves from local boy Serge Ou. Shockwaves centres on radio host Terry Adair, the host of talkback program Talk Town, who receives a phone call that will change the town forever. The film stars Aussie film stalwart Tony Barry (Australia, Doing Time for Patsy Cline) and local actor Dallas Bland.

I spoke with Serge about the film festival and why Canberrans should get out to support it. Serge is a fan of the format of the St Kilda Film Festival and believes that it is “right up there with the best film festivals of its type in the country.” Serge pointed out that “Canberra is a sophisticated audience that understands film.”

He’s also a fan of short films in general because “in the same period of time that a feature film will run, audiences are able to enjoy a plethora of different opinions and view points from short film directors.”

The most striking aspect of the films being shown is the high production values on display. The films look expensive. There are many famous Australian actors featured. The films offer a variety of view points and aim to make the audience think, laugh and maybe even pull a tear or two. The touring festival will also show winners from the SoundKILDA Music Video Competition - Australia’s only dedicated competition for music videos.

The film festival also allows the audience to catch a glimpse of the makings of a star on the rise. As Serge explains, “short films allow film makers to present themselves to the public. To show who they are and what they want to say. It’s normally short films and music video clips that are a starting point for feature film directors of the future.”

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B O T TTHE LED WALK LINE NAOMI P OMILTHORPE ETRY

What is the role of the painting – is it just to hang on the wall?” asks Canberra painter Linzie Ellis. “[Then] it becomes an art-object rather than a painting,” Ellis has recently graduated from the School of Art and, with fellow painter Shakira Longmore, sat down to talk to Exhibitionist about their show at the Canberra Contemporary Art Space in Manuka, SECOND IN LINE. Ellis and Longmore have teamed up with fellow graduate painters Sarah Faline and Rose Allen to create Second In Line specifically for the Manuka gallery space.

“The actual themes of our work aren’t collaborative,” says Longmore, “but we do collaborate in terms of support and feedback. That support is really important.” Ellis and Longmore both explore painting through abstract “design… rather than representational” work, says Longmore, while Allen and Faline both paint from photographs in order to explore the images of popular culture.

But the painters all share an interest in “different ways of applying paint,” says Longmore.

The painters eagerly discuss the meaning of art over coffee at The Street Theatre. “Who are you making your art for, and what do you want it to say?” asks Longmore. “For me the viewer is very important,” says Ellis. “I want other people to take something from it.

I’m not just making it for myself.”

“You want that engagement, you want discussion,” agrees Longmore. “To stimulate a response, to shock them.”

The exhibition has allowed Ellis and Longmore to hone their skills and to work creatively for a common goal. These young women both possess amazing passion for their work, work which – in the absence of the eternally-yearned-for-yet-elusive studio space, or even simply “a quiet space where you can think about art”, as Longmore puts it – they conduct in garages and living rooms. “That’s the struggle at the moment,” says Ellis.

And if the end product is then simply bought to be hung on a wall as mere decoration, then certain questions need to be asked. “It comes down to: why do you do it?” says Ellis. For Longmore, the process of creating a painting is the important part, trying to work “intuitively”, developing new techniques of laying down the paint, while Ellis enjoys the sheer grit of “making something”. Both painters relish the opportunity to create work for an established exhibition space like CCAS, which has “a community,” “We’ve realised how important that is, that there is a place for emerging artists,” says Ellis.

So get out of the freezing Canberra cold and support some fine young Australian film makers.

Longmore chimes in, echoing the dream of every emerging artist: “A place for art, and about art.”

The St Kilda Film Festival screens at ARC Cinema at the NFSA, McCoy Circuit Acton, on Thursday July 30 at 7pm and Saturday August 1 at 2pm. Tix $10/$8 at the door.

Second In Line opens at CCAS Manuka, Furneaux Street, on Thursday July 30 at 6pm, and runs til August 9. The gallery is open Wed – Sun, 11am til 5pm.

Entry is free.

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Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire @ National Gallery of Victoria Until October 4 Salvador Dali: Liquid Desire at the National Gallery of Victoria in Melbourne is so good it’s almost worth a trip from Canberra just to see it. For the dedicated art lover or Dali fan, do not miss the chance to see Australia’s first comprehensive retrospective of the life and work of this creative genius.

Featuring jewellery, cinema, fashion and Salvador DALÍ Spanish 1904–89, worked in United States 1940–48 Soft self-portrait with grilled bacon 1941 Oil on canvas 61.0 x 51.0 cm Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, Figueres © Salvador Dalí, Fundació Gala-Salvador Dalí, VISCOPY, 2009 photography as well as paintings, drawings ands etchings most of us will be more familiar with, the exhibition gives an incredibly varied account of an artist who breaches the confines of traditional art forms. For those who have never quite ‘got’ what surreal images represent, the exhibition supplies the explanations many need to fully grasp the depth, symbolism and psychological (Freudian) intensity of Dali’s unique juxtaposition of malformed images. Suddenly these foreign landscapes and the inner psyche or subconscious they often depict can align.

The exhibition is incredibly well curated. The introductory images (filmed by the NGV) of Dali’s home town, Cadaquez, a landscape which profoundly influenced his art, aid understanding of the proceeding works. The attention to this kind of detail, coupled with the always fascinating journey from a young artist (Dali’s earliest painting in the exhibition dates from the age of 13) to a fully-formed legend allows an unusually deep understanding of not only Dali’s art, but the wide-ranging intellectual and philosophical discourses in which he was personally interested. Sex, time, science, impotency, love and the subconscious provide ongoing themes. A highlight was the two cinematic pieces, one of them a collaboration between Dali and Walt Disney which was only completed (by proxy) in 2002, well after the death of both men, called Destino.

The exhibition is expensive, at over $20 a pop for adults, but well worth it for its length; I recommend putting aside a whole afternoon to enjoy it without becoming overloaded and desensitised. Avid fans may note the absence of certain famous works, but this is no loss to the exhibition and actually allows a more comprehensive understanding of Dali’s art. Seeing Dali’s incredible genesis from a traditionally trained artist into the father of surrealism only proves to viewers the epic genius required to revolutionise art in this way. His concern for the subconscious also allows a revealing picture of his own psyche, leaving him as a disturbed yet brilliant man, and an even more disturbing and brilliant artist. sarah winter

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UNINHIBITED The middle of the year brings many things that, paradoxically, indicate ends: the bitter chill wind of winter (and if I learned nothing else from Northrop Frye it is that winter is the symbolic death of the world); Christmas in July (the last time - promise - Uninhibited will drink egg nog during the day); and the end of the financial year and its concomitant sales, cueing excitement from Uninhibited as we trip from shop to shop, lured by shoes and crockery in neat rows, followed by disappointment/shopper’s remorse as we realise that shoes, like cheerleaders, are always more attractive in groups and that we’ve just spent the last of our hard-earned dole money on clogs.

So in the spirit of beginnings, middles, and ends, Uninhibited is taking stock of the last six months in the heady N.C. theatre world, and giving out our first ever End of the Middle of the Year Awards.

The More Tear-Jerking Than the Season Finale of Grey’s Anatomy But Instead of Being Mawkish and Lame, Was Awesome Award: The Seed (Company B) Kate Mulvaney-penned play about the effect of war across three generations. Beautiful writing was carried over by powerful performances from Mulvaney, Pip Miller and Ralph Cotterill, and nuanced direction from former Canberran Iain Sinclair.

The More Disappointing Than The End of Gossip Girl Award: The Alchemist (Bell Shakespeare) Bell’s treatment of Ben Jonson’s scathing satire of Jacobean society unfortunately induced more yawns than laughs. The best part was the awesome set, literalising the Swiftian mirror, and the amount that I got to wank on ‘knowledgably’ (read: self-importantly) about satire.

The Fanning-Barrymore-Osmont Awesomely Promising, Hopefully Won’t Get Addicted to Diet Pills Award: Freshly Ground Theatre Freshly Ground’s second ever show, Every Base Covered, gave plenty of yucks and lots of fun with a very no-frills attitude. While the staging and production values left a lot to the imagination, this season of shorts barrelled along powered by writer Sam Floyd’s vital wit.

The Shoulda Stayed At Home To Shave My Eyeballs Award: Amy’s View (Canberra Repertory) I’m not sure how, but with this production Rep managed the impossible: to make David Hare boring.

The Star “Thought It’d Be Shit But It Was Actually Great” Trek Award: Steel Magnolias (Blackbird Productions) Robert Harling’s strong, funny script was supported by a cast of Fine Aussie Ladies, including knockout hilarious performances from grand dames Geraldine Turner and Jennifer Hagan.

NAOMI MILTHORPE exhibitionist@bmamag.com

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ENTRAPMENT NAOMI MILTHORPE Corille Fraser is a Canberra Repertory stalwart. Her next directing gig for Rep is DEATHRAP by Ira Levin, playing at Theatre 3 this fortnight.

EX: What happens in the play? Who is involved in the action?

CF: I can’t give too much of that away! The situation is that a writer of murder plays who has not had a real success in 18 years, is in the midst of a complete writer’s block when a student’s script arrives through the post. It is a brilliant thriller, ‘highly commercial’ and he is sorely tempted.

The story of Deathtrap is what he does about it. There is a cast of five: the writer, his wife, the student, his solicitor and a strange neighbour.

EX: Deathtrap has been described as ‘comedy/murder mystery/thriller’.

How do you walk the line between these three quite different genres?

CF: [Ira] Levin has done most of that! My aim has been to keep the balance he has built in. I have read about some versions that have gone overboard on one or other aspect, trying to make it all comedy or all scream and gore.

EX: What are the challenges you face as a director of this blend of theatrical genres?

CF: Bringing all the bits together and stopping some of them getting out of hand. A major concern is to keep the cast members alive and injury-free. No production is ever a one-person job and this one has an unusual lot of unfamiliar challenges. So the first and most important thing I did was assemble the best possible team. Russell Brown and Hazel Taylor have acquired or manufactured some extraordinary props and were assisted graphically by Don Fraser. Anne Kay has designed a functional but imaginative set based on the idea of a deathtrap.

EX: What sort of design aesthetic have you used with this production?

CF: The idea of a trap, which is easy to get into but, once in, almost impossible to escape. Every effort to do so just draws you further in.

The design must be functional, but should have an ambience of threat.

Hence the idea of the Venus Flytrap which appear on the poster and flyer and which Anne has echoed in her set design.

EX: Have you enjoyed working with the cast?

CF: Hugely. They are a healthy mix of familiar Rep actors and some more often seen on other stages around town. Old hands Ian Croker and Helen Vaughan-Roberts are joined by James O’Connell, Kerrie Roberts and Pat Gallagher. They have all had to learn some new and quite unusual skills. So have I. Canberra Repertory presents Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, directed by Corille Fraser, at Theatre 3, Thursday July 23 to Saturday August 15 @ 8pm. Matinee performances 2pm Saturday 1, 8 and 15 August, twilight performances 2 and 9 August @ 4pm. Tix $35/$27. Call 6257 1950 for info and bookings.

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b i t PA RT S WHO: Doctor Stovepipe WHAT: Hip Tonic CD launch WHEN: Friday July 24 8pm WHERE: Polish White Eagle Club I could never sell local gypsy-swing band Doctor Stovepipe as well as they can sell themselves: “Famed throughout the Empire and the Americas, the Indies and the Orient, Stovepipe’s Cureall will remedy dyspepsia, neuralgia and feminine hysteria. It banishes fatigue and offers relief to ruptured men. Purveyors of Medicinal Euphony, Doctor Stovepipe’s 51st Mounted Rhythm Brigade comprises Dr. Jim Sharrock, Dr. Pablo Shopen and Dr. Edward Radclyffe. All guaranteed qualified and of Gentlemanly composure, they employ the latest hygienic methods in Guitar, Banjo, Fiddle and Double Bass and practice proven techniques in Harmonising Minstrelsy.” O yes.

WHO: Min Mae, plus Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders WHAT: Medicinal Sunday WHEN: Sunday July 27 7pm WHERE: The Front Gallery and Café, Lyneham On Sunday local tableauxeuse Min Mae will fill The Front Gallery space with The Medicine Tent, a construction of hospital sheets which will house interactive therapeutic live art performances and installations. Meanwhile, Melbournian Brothers Grim and The Blue Murders will give punters a shot of Delta-blues-flavoured morphine to ease the troubled soul. $10 at the door.

WHO: ANU Drama Honours students WHAT: Measure for Measure and Looking for Godot WHEN: July and August WHERE: ANU Arts Centre Drama Lab The last ANU Drama Honours shows for the year are Shakespeare’s classic problem play Measure for Measure, directed by Siobhan Slocombe, and Looking for Godot, a meditation on man and nature directed by Lucy Watson. The quality of the drama honours productions this year has been astounding so if you’re looking for cheap, good theatre head down to the ‘NU. Measure for Measure plays July 23 – 25 and Looking for Godot shows August 6 to 8.

WHO: Funny chaps WHAT: Canberra Comedy WHEN: From now ‘til December WHERE: All over the place!

Whoever said the Can wasn’t a funny place? Canberra Comedy presents local and touring comedians, all for your viewing pleasure, with a schedule lasting until the end of the year. Civic Pub hosts featured comedians on the first Wednesday of every month, while The Front Gallery and Café has monthly open mic nights. Down in Tuggers, meanwhile, Canberra Comedy is holding comedy writing workshops facilitated by local funny man Jay Sullivan. The cost for four workshops is $40 – just call 6293 1443 to register.

WHO: Quantum Leap WHAT: Select Option WHEN: Wednesday 29 July – Saturday, 1 August @ 7pm, and Saturday 1 August @ 2pm WHERE: The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre “Select Option looks at choice and consequence, with the unique ideas of each dancer contributing to a collaborative work with the choreographers.” The dancers are talented youngsters from Canberra and the ACT Region, while the choreographers are such bigwigs as Marko Panzic from So You Think You Can Dance and the Sydney Dance Company’s Reed Luplau. Local production company Bearcage will create a video set which envelops the action. Tix $22/$18. Call Canberra Ticketing on 6275 2700 for info and bookings.

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WHO: Peter Wilkins and you!

WHAT: Little Red Riding Hood Adult Theatre Workshop WHEN: Saturday August 1, 10am – 4.30pm WHERE: National Museum of Australia Local theatre practitioner and Exhibitionist’s personal favourite C-Times reviewer Peter Wilkins is running a workshop exploring the multiple stories behind the NMA’s Little Red Riding Hood quilt, embroidered by Olga Basylewycz at a Displaced Persons Camp in Germany in 1945/6. Bookings are essential – call 6208 5021. The workshop costs $40, or $20 for students or friends of the museum.

D’OH… WOO HOO!

THAT’S BEACHIN’!

JESSICA CONWAY

NATASHA WEBSTER

Melbourne’s WOO HOO REVUE transports you to a different culture, chase, feast and festival, every track. Their sound is instrumental gypsy music, “played very fast and very crazy so it sounds big and beautiful,” according to drummer, Ben Charnley. “A lot of tunes come from eastern Europe and from different gypsy and European cultures,” he explains. “We are a very theatrical band.” And from all reports a “theatrical band” may be a slight understatement – the stage is set to don wares from tutus to tuxedos and two toned shoes.

Wearing handmade leis cleverly crafted by their worshipping fans are surf rock group THE ALOHAS. This Sydney-based band is unique with its instrumental surf music harking back to the sounds of the ‘60s with slightly more bang and cheesy jokes. Their most recent album, Get Leid With... The Alohas, is very fast paced but they manage to get through it all gaining inspiration from The Atlantics and Dead Kennedys. “Once we get excited, we start playing pretty fast,” explains Ray Sjaniti, the band’s guitarist. “I think we mostly operate on beer energy, a fair amount of it.”

Ben explains the allure of this music is due to its old origins but its new place in the modern world; “people have been playing rock music for 50-60 years and it is the same for people playing jazz, but with gypsy music it can be a contradiction. Some of these tunes have been around for hundreds of years, but gypsy music has only filtered into western culture in the last ten. Because of that it is uncharted territory, it gives us a chance to take this kind of music and do something totally new with it.”

Some are really poetic and some are stupid shit

Their music will take listeners on journeys to circuses and silent movies without ever uttering a word. Though words are far from necessary, “the music is so detailed; it is as if the melody is the lyrics,” Ben notes.

Woo Hoo Revue use all of their musical capabilities, often combining original gypsy tracks and “arranging the shit out of it” to add their own material, so much so that it is usually unrecognisable from its original context. The members all have a gypsy history (and are slightly nomadic), though some have played with TZU and Gotye. Woo Hoo Revue now dominates all members’ musical workings due to the consistently hectic touring and recording schedule. This is the fourth time that they have been in the ACT this year.

I have always wondered when songs have no lyrics, how do you come up with a name? Ben laughingly explains this one for me; “Sometimes there will be a funny little joke we have in the band, one track from the last album was called Last Drinks because it sounds pretty drunk and ragged, like the end of a night. Some are really poetic and some are stupid shit.”

All six members of Woo Hoo Revue had experienced recording an album, which made their first and latest LP, Dear Animals, pretty easy to lay down. However, easy does not translate to swift. “We took our time so we could play these parts really convincingly and tightly with a sense of excitement,” Ben says. “It is not like a grunge band where you can record it in two days – it took us three months to bring it together.”

The unique sounding tunes are not new as the band has been around for ten years. Over that period of time they have firmly solidified as a band and have developed their own style by sticking to a purely instrumental sound. When asked about the possibility of throwing a vocalist into the mix, Ray was not fond of the idea. “Everybody always brings it up and it will take away the uniqueness,” he says. “I’d rather keep it a novelty.”

We mostly operate on a fair amount of beer energy

The Get Leid With... album is a blast if you like your surf guitars tough and the creative title is also sure to catch your attention. “The other guitar player’s sister out of nowhere just said ‘haha, wouldn’t it be funny if you called it that!’ and we went ‘okay... sold.’ It was just a silly comment and we took it seriously,” Ray laughs.

The album title is not the only thing that came from a cheesy joke. Being an instrumental band, The Alohas can’t draw inspiration for song titles from lyrics. “That’s one good thing about the instrumental thing – it doesn’t really matter what you call the tune but sometimes it can sort of reflect the style of the song,” Ray says. “Other times it’s mostly just bad puns. The most obvious one could be about arguably the most famous surf guitar player, Dick Dale, and we have a tune called Dale’s Dick.”

Due to release another album in early 2010, Ray eagerly stated that the new album will come with a tougher sound. “The tunes are going to be quite similar but the recording of the sound will be a little tougher [and have] a bit more impact. So we’re different in that way, there’s probably a bit more fast and furious moments in there.”

The band’s unique ‘60s garage punk style, played on beloved vintage equipment with a hint of surf twang, makes for a hip shaking and hair raising good time. “We had one guy get The Alohas’ number plate on his car – that’s pretty cool,” Ray says. “There’s a chick that used to bring handmade leis for us and of course there’s the thousands of girls that come along and, you know, worship us.”

The Alohas are playing a free gig at the Phoenix on Saturday July 25.

Woo Hoo Revue are going to be “smashing through gypsy tunes at a billion milers per hour” in what promises to be a glam and sweaty performance at The Merry Muse on Friday July 31. Friends Mr. Fibby will join them on stage. Tickets are available at the door.

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METALISE Big international death metal tours in Australia used to be the thing of many a Canberra thrashers’ pipe dream, but these days it’s like we can’t club them away like so many rotten zombies. Mike Amott in particular seems to enjoy the flight and he’s back again in November with Arch Enemy. Now while many will leap at another Arch Enemy show in Australia, this tour also brings out New York’s super strangulation squad Suffocation too. With their sixth studio album Blood Oath (with requisite Jon Zig artwork) due to hit stores around the time this goes to press, Suffo will be bringing the fresh remains to The Roundhouse in Sydney on Friday November 6 and that show is licensed all ages. Also appearing is Californian Century Media act The Winds of Plague who will be touring their new album The Great Stone War. Black Cobra are a two-piece LA band featuring Jason Landrian of Cavity and drummer Rafael Martinez, former bass player for Man’s Ruin act Acid King. The band are about to release their third album Chronomega on US uber doom label Southern Lord. Why am I telling you this? Because they’re playing the ANU Bar on Tuesday October 6! Also playing will be Blarke Bayer and Black Widow (featuring Robert from Grey Datura’s). Whack that one in your gig diary.

Alice Cooper in Canberra on Wednesday August 26 should be awesome. The grandest granddaddy of all things shock and roll has forgotten more about stagecraft and putting on a killer show than most bands will ever know. The Royal Theatre is an appropriate venue for Mr Cooper to deliver the classics just like the record with a stage production that makes Mayhem’s pig on a stick look like a thumb in a matchbox with some cotton wool and tomato sauce.

Head along.

Brisbane stoner rockers Rollerball have leapt from the shadows to bless us with a blast of warm sunshine state riffage at The Basement on Saturday August 29 with Looking Glass. It’s been some time since the guys came down to town so prepare for a huge night of big riffs.

Aforementioned in the last edition of Metallise was the Canberra leg of the Doomsday fest. Due to logistical hitches, the Canberra show is now in an abridged format due to a change in venue to The Basement in Belconnen. The lineup now consists of Pod People, Looking Glass, Agonhymn (VIC), Clagg (VIC), Summonus (NSW) and Space Bong (SA). That is on Saturday August 8 for a mere 15 bucks.

Don’t forget to send your gigs and info to doomtildeath@hotmail. com to get your show in BMA as soon as you book it!

JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com NP: The Silence of Heaven – YOB – The Great Cessation

30

ELIZABETH ROWLEY PARKWAY DRIVE are fast becoming one of Australia’s most beloved metal-core bands; since the 2007 release of their second album, Horizons, the band have shot straight to the top, with legions of devoted fans all over the world. And I was lucky enough to have a chat with Parkway frontman, Winston McCall.

Australia is not widely known overseas for our metal exports, but Parkway Drive are a taste of our best. With the upcoming release of their DVD, these non-stop touring machines will hit the road once again to bring us a taste of their intricate riffs, bone-crushing beats and bloodcurdling screams.

I broke my back halfway through the set. I don’t know if anyone noticed

Parkway Drive have well and truly made their mark on the metal-core map, having moshed their way from Byron Bay to take over the world. “[The crowds are] really, really good, especially in Europe… it’s kind of like Australia was three years ago,” explains McCall. “It just seems to grow every time we go back, it’s really cool.”

And although the band love taking the show overseas, there’s no place like home. “It’s just insane, no matter how crazy crowds get overseas, you come back and you play and you go ‘oh my god!’”

The band are influenced by a huge range of artists. McCall says his biggest inspiration is “absolutely everything. Bad Religion’s my all time favourite band; punk rock bands to start with and these days I gain inspiration from everywhere – Nick Cave, The Killers, Social Distortion, Kanye West... everything.”

For McCall, the music and the message have always been simple – “treat everyone the same way that you’d like to be treated. We live in this amazing world and if you want to see the one thing that’s wrong with it, it’s the way that humans treat their surroundings and the people that live in them. The biggest difference that can be made in the world always starts with one person.”

On the subject of the DVD set for release on August 7 McCall says “there’s a hell of a lot of footage on there from all over the world, it’s a pretty mixed affair.” He’s pretty passionate when it comes to his favourite song, Boneyards. “Ever since we wrote it, it pretty much captured everything I liked about the band and everything I like about our type of music.” Last time the lads were in Canberra, Winston had an unfortunate incident where “I pretty much almost broke my back halfway through the set. I felt all the muscles tear from one side to the other and just collapsed and had to spend the rest of the set holding my back and standing still. I don’t know if anyone noticed.”

Parkway Drive will hopefully avoid serious injury when they take the stage on Sunday August 16 at the Southern Cross Woden Basketball Stadium, along with August Burns Red (US) and Architects (UK).

Tickets through Moshtix.

ALL KILLER, NO PHYLLA

THE EYES HAVE IT

SHAILLA VAN RAAD

naomi frost

Two years ago, the members of PHYLLASOMA made the plucky decision to extract themselves from New Zealand and fall into the arms of Australia’s largest city, across the Tasman. “We were too influenced in New Zealand because we mostly played covers,” explains frontman Aaron Rose. “We isolated ourselves from the rest of the world which was also detrimental to our writing, so we decided to come to Sydney.”

On a fine Thursday afternoon I spoke to Josh Stuart, vocalist of the ever-rising Melbourne band BEHIND CRIMSON EYES, just as he was preparing to wind down from a long day’s work. He was surely planning to conserve his valuable energy for their upcoming tour, which is to be their first since the loss of two band members, who left during the making of their brand new and extremely different self-titled album. Seeking a different experience on their upcoming tour, unfortunately for some fans the band has chosen to make the big switch from all-ages gigs to what will be mainly 18+ events.

In addition to their relocation, the members of Phyllasoma have also gone through a reinvention. The two core members, Aaron Rose (vocals and guitar) and Apera Uriarau (bass), have enjoyed an eight and a half year musical relationship after having met at the Polytechnic on New Zealand’s South Island. Aaron was joined by Apera after having started the first incarnation of Phyllasoma and very recently the two younger members, Kiel Rasmussen (drums) and Daniel Walton (guitar) have created an interesting dynamic in the group. “We’re quite an eclectic age group. I’m 32 and our drummer, Kiel, for example, is 22,” reveals Rose. “Our music therefore has very different influences. There have been many different band members over the years, but this combination now seems to be working really well. We’re all really excited to be together because we’re a relatively new band; this music that we’re creating is a totally new thing. We’ve created music that we didn’t expect to produce. Everything is an added bonus.”

We were too influenced in New Zealand

The band’s name is an allusion to the larval stages of spiny, slipper and coral lobsters and very aptly describes the momentum of this alternative rock band that seems to just recently be finding their feet.

“Because we were a covers band for years, it seems like now writing our own stuff is just part of the natural progression,” Rose says. “It was a nice surprise when we moved with our two younger members because it was a make or break decision. Fortunately we began to really trust each other and wrote some really good music. The younger guys grew up away from New Zealand and that, I think, had a really positive influence on the band.”

Phyllasoma’s sound is very distinctive and echoes the post-grunge of a bygone era with an alternative progressive rock twist. The band are currently playing a small tour and visiting Canberra in August.

“We’re in a good position now to tour. We’ve played together a lot as a band and we have a pretty solid stage show,” Rose says with an air of confidence. Phyllasoma should be regarded in Australia as an asset gained and welcomed with open arms; judging from their samples they have many interesting ideas and already plan to put them into final production. “This time next year, we hope to have made an album,” Rose offers. “At the moment we’re involved in the pre-production of our demos. We’re trying to get ourselves out there as much as possible. Sydney is an interesting scene. Over the last few months there has been a strong progressive rock movement in Sydney.”

Phyllasoma play a free gig on Friday August 7 at 9 pm at the Holy Grail in Kingston.

These days we appeal to an older audience

The unfortunate and sudden loss of guitarist Kevin Orr and drummer Cameron Gilmour occurred during the writing process of the band’s new album.

As the first album involving the entire band as writers, their ‘creative differences’ all collided. “In the writing process, we all compromised to try and make everyone happy, but in the end just left two people unhappy and some of us partly happy,” admits Stuart. “I think it was a bit of a compromised process, and I think next time it won’t be.

The process left two people not knowing what they wanted to do, not enjoying being in the band and that’s why the two guys left.”

Stuart seems surprisingly optimistic and even excited about touring without Kevin and Cameron for the first time “We are excited,” he claims. “It is the first tour without them and that’s cool, man. They have moved on and so have we.”

Despite the thousands of underage fans that Behind Crimson Eyes have accumulated over the years, they are confident and determined to extend their fanbase to an entirely new level. “The purpose of this tour is to play to an older crowd and gain more overage fans,” says Stuart. “There was a time when Behind Crimson Eyes was strictly an underage band, but things have definitely changed and these days we appeal to an older audience.” Although luckily for the many underage Behind Crimson Eyes fans out there, Stuart reassures that later in the year the band will be touring once again, giving underage fans a chance to experience the magic of their new album.

“On the road, I enjoy some peace and quiet. I guess when I’m on tour all I have to worry about is performing each night, which is easy enough considering its what I love most,” says Stuart. Keen to tour and have some drinks with their overage fans, Behind Crimson Eyes will be performing at the ANU Bar on Thursday July 23. “Canberra has always been a great place to play,” Stuart assures. “I think it’ll just be a fun rock show and somewhere to just hang out and drink and listen to fun music.”

Catch Behind Crimson Eyes at the ANU Bar on Thursday July 23. Tickets through Ticketek.

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Skipping All Through The Night

HIDDEN JEN

peter rosewarne

CATHERINE WOODS

In the inner suburbs of Melbourne stands a neon sign of a girl with a skipping rope. If this girl, fondly known as Little Audrey, could speak, oh the history she could share. This sign, when lit at night, shows Little Audrey skipping. But over the years the skipping girl (who once stood above a vinegar factory) has deteriorated and is in desperate need of restoration. This sign provided Mark Lang and his bandmates the name of their collective, SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR.

JEN CLOHER is a brave woman. Despite its title, her latest album Hidden Hands has rejected obscurity in favour of honest, revealing and confessional lyrics. Fans of her previous albums, including the ARIA nominated Dead Wood Falls, may be surprised by the change in focus, but certainly not disappointed.

Skipping Girl Vinegar’s humble beginnings included recording in bedrooms, kitchens, lounge rooms and other household locations.

Sometime after, though, these songs caught the recognition of an internationally reputable mix engineer. Mark informs me their music “started to get a bit of attention while we were getting to the mixing stages, which included famous mix engineer, Adrian Bushby, who has worked with musicians like Ben Kweller and The Foo Fighters. We had randomly sent out emails with mp3s and Adrian really liked [single] One Chance and was keen to mix it. Later we were working with Greg Calibi and Brad Jones… It was bizarre having these big guys working on this little band’s record and doing it because they love the music.”

We’re interested in the longevity of our band’s future

It can be said that the reason it took some years to complete the album and get their name out there is a result of the decision to go indie, rather than sign on with a major label (despite numerous offers).

Mark explains, “We might be more famous going through a major label but it doesn’t really mean anything at the end of the day. If it takes a while for us to build our fanbase then it’s not just hype-driven. We’re also more interested in the longevity of our band’s future. This [indie] approach requires you to have some control of your own destiny and helps you discover what you can and can’t do. We were very lucky that we got an opportunity to release our works as an independent band with some backers.”

After explaining my disappointment in missing them at the last Falls Festival, Mark relates, “The shame was that we missed Fleet Foxes because we were at a festival in Sydney at the time! We missed all these shows we wanted to see because of the timing of our touring.”

I, for one, am remiss as to why these things can’t be organised so the performers can see one another! Fortunately Skipping Girl Vinegar are currently on their biggest national tour yet, following the release of their debut album. Mark adds, “We really want to tour for those who have heard the record but may not have yet seen us live.” Indeed the reception is likely to be bigger now that people are starting to hear who Skipping Girl Vinegar are. And following the news that Little Audrey has been listed as a heritage site and is due to be restored, surely the destiny of SKG is likely to be just as bright.

Skipping Girl Vinegar perform at the Front Gallery on Thursday August 6 supported by Julia and The Deep Sea Sirens. Tickets through Ticketek.

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Following a hectic and exciting schedule of tours, both supporting big-name acts and headlining events herself Australia-wide, Cloher found herself in an extraordinarily contrasting situation. Back in New Zealand, she had to come to terms with her mother’s Alzheimer’s.

Though harrowing, it inspired the opening track Mother’s Desk, in which Cloher asserts her belief in destiny and fate: “We can only go where we’re meant to go. Hidden hands will help us along.”

I wanted the artwork to feature owls because they are my power animal!

The beautiful artwork on the album cover illustrates the themes of mystery, but also the vibrancy and playfulness within the package. “Catherine Brickman, the artist, had a really beautiful, vibrant approach,” Cloher explains. “Even though it dealt with big, big feelings like sorrow and grief, there was also a lot of hope, light and celebration.”

The owls featured in the artwork, Cloher reveals, are mopoke owls, native to New Zealand. “I wanted the artwork to feature owls because they are my power animal! The mopoke owls represent this unseen, creative force.”

Cloher has clearly done a lot of philosophising and is refreshingly candid about the creative block she felt after the exhausting schedule of 2007. Hidden Hands was the result of forcing herself to sit down and write. “The answer was in there,” she says. “There were rewards and gifts if I kept at it, and creativity is a calling, not necessarily a chosen profession. It’s a calling and you have to honour it.”

Following a meeting with the Dalai Lama, after the One Earth concert in Sydney, Cloher blogged: “Our inner world reflects our outer world. Find peace within and we contribute to peace on a global level.” For Cloher, it may be just as accurate to surmise that her music reflects her inner world.

Revealing the source of the album title, Cloher is keen to tell the story. “It’s something that I borrowed,” she admits. “This idea from a mythologist called Joseph Campbell. He’s no longer alive but he is considered one of the foremost authorities on mythology and religion, and he inspired George Lucas’ Star Wars trilogy in the ‘80s. He basically has a saying – follow your bliss, you’ll be met by a thousand unseen helping hands. Hidden hands helped me to write the album and get through this challenging period of my life.”

If not your bliss, follow your ears and don’t miss one of 2009’s most impressive album releases – Cloher’s intriguing Hidden Hands.

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BLACKBOX

TV land is inundated with good news this week (and it’s not often Blackbox gets to say that). The folks at Nine launched their new digital channel this week and for once Canberra will get it at the same time as the rest of the civilised world. At least if you have a HD setup. In a WIN news advertorial on Friday night they let slip that from early August Go! will be available on channel 80, the current HD channel but not on the second non-HD channel until October. It may be worthwhile upgrading to HD though – WIN has suddenly realised that people under 40 have plenty of cash to spend – cue advertisers and a move of ‘youth-oriented programming’ to Go! The schedule will be interesting – they are coordinating the programming on different nights - reality on Tuesday, sci fi on Wednesday and girl’s night in on Thursdays.

Fans of The Wire who’ve spent oodles of cash and time searching for the DVDs will now be spoilt for choice. Other shows slated to rear their head on Go! are Gossip Girl, The Hills, Fringe, Terminator – Sarah Connor Chronicles, Weeds, Survivor, The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares, CSI, Seinfeld and Curb Your Enthusiasm. Not sure there’ll be much point tuning into the regular channel.

The other big news is that the much-heralded Diablo Cody-penned drama series United States of Tara (ABC1, Wed Jul 29, 9.30pm) hits screens next week. Toni Collette as the multi-personalitied Tara takes viewers on a wild ride. Over the past 20 years writers have shied away from taking on this type of material but Cody, like the writers of Big Love, has hit the right strategy. United States of Tara uses dissociative personality disorder as a device rather than a subject. This is a family sitcom; the everyday life of a family - it’s just that Tara’s disorder makes the stories more interesting.

The 40th anniversary of the moon landing, an event which should have had us living in moon colonies and getting around with jetpacks by now, is permeating the telly schedule at every turn. One of the most interesting ways is Mythbusters: Moon landing hoax (SBS, Sat Jul 25, 7.30pm) where the team put the conspiracy theories to the test.

The time-honoured tradition of encore screenings has started once again with shows such as Airways (Prime, Tue, 7.30pm, Fri, 11.45pm, Sat, 8pm) and the 7pm Project (SCTEN, Mon-Fri, 7pm, 3.30pm) filling every available gap.

New shows include a new season of East of Everything (ABC1, Sat Jul 25, 7.30pm), Love Lies Bleeding (ABC1, Fri Jul 31, 9.40pm) a two part thriller starring Martin Kemp, Gavin & Stacey (Prime, Tue, 9.30pm) award-winning British sitcom set in Wale and Essex not to be confused with Ned & Stacey, a US sitcom from the mid ‘90s, Agent Moura (SBS1, Thu Jul 23, 8.30pm) about the Russian noblewoman who became a British spy, and Sin City Law (ABC2, Wed Aug 5, 8.30pm) which takes a 360 degree view of real Nevada cases.

Shows winding up include Being Human (ABC1, Fri Jul 24, 9.20pm), Spooks (ABC1, Mon Aug 3, 9.35pm) and the last ever eps of Lipstick Jungle (Prime, Tue Jul 28, 11.30pm) and Prison Break (Prime, Wed Jul 29, 11.30pm).

This week’s shows to avoid – Australia’s Perfect Couple (WIN, Wed, 7.30pm) – who cares, Dance Your Ass Off (WIN, Tue, 7.30pm) worse than the American Biggest Loser and True Beauty (Prime, Thu, 9.30pm) US makeover show hosted by Vanessa Minnillo of trashmag fame.

TRACY HEFFERNAN tracyheffernan@bigpond.com

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the word

on games Difficulty levels, what a bunch of bastards. They can make or break a game depending on your choice, so as a reviewer it’s key to choose the right one. I’m a hard man myself. If you’re not going to challenge yourself, then what’s the point? You might as well do an art degree instead. On the other hand though, make it too difficult and you run the risk strangling the game. Killzone 2 provides a prime example of this, however this issue’s game, Ghostbusters: The Video Game, also has its own bouts of strangle-hard-itis (that sounds misleading).

Ghostbusters: The Video Game Developer: Terminal Reality Publisher: Atari Hours: 5-10

Upon discovering that Ghostbusters 3 is slated for 2012, my initial cynicism that this game was a pre-emptive cash-in subsided.

Sure, it’s still a cash-in (albeit a delayed one), however what this game really represents is a chance for the creators to get their Ghostbusting mojo flowing before the cool come to the party. As a fortunate consequence, it possesses one of those all so rare things in gaming – a storyline. So it’s mostly just a rehash of the films, but at least they’re working with some top quality material. However, it doesn’t flow like a film. Being forced to stand idly around whilst Bill Murray delivers another zinger about a fat chick gets old fast.

The pace is helped by a distinct lack of any large load times; that is, until you die, at which point you’re rewarded with a lengthy wait. When the game is finally done showing you the same loading video for the umpteenth time, you’re then often forced to replay through the same, not-so-funny-the-second-time dialogue before you actually get back into the action. Whilst we’re on the topic of dying, you’ll be doing it a lot if you choose to play this game on hard. Surprisingly enough, when you’re chucked into an open space and made to perform some three-step ghost capturing procedure on half a dozen ghosts, most of whom are behind you, whilst simultaneously trying to dodge career-ending debris, vent your continually overheating proton pack and resuscitate your mentally challenged allies, you’ll probably find yourself buying the farm quite frequently at times. Now, I’m not adverse to dying in a game, it’s just that thanks to the aforementioned issues, it doesn’t take long before you’re wanting to punch someone square in the face.

The gameplay isn’t much to talk of either. In general, it’s repetitive and pretty lacklustre. As a result, you probably won’t be coming back to this game for that reason, however if you’re a Ghostbusters fan, you probably will for the story. Sure, it’s not exactly A-grade, but hearing the original cast again definitely gives this game some charm.

TORBEN SKO

35

the word

on albums

album of the week mos def the ecstatic [downtown] Thrusting one’s opinions upon the great unwashed is the one of the main reasons alcoholsoaked journos such as myself get into this heady game. So with this in mind I implore you with great joy to spring to your nearest music emporium and pur-chase a copy of the suitably titled The Ecstatic.

It’s Def’s best album since his genre-bending debut Black On Both Sides thanks to the poetics and earnest delivery layered over globetrotting production from Madlib, Oh No and Mr. Flash.

Hairy-knuckled folk who spend too much time in dark rooms listening to music will recognise a lot of these beats already; Oh No rejigs some samples from Dr. No’s Oxperiment to launch the album with the charged guitar riffs of Supermagic, Madlib serves up a reheated-butstill-tasty India flavour with tracks from the Beat Konducta in India series, and Life in Marvelous Times recycles Ed Banger label Mr. Flash’s Champions. But the tracks, and the whole album, come alive with Mos’ energy and deft lyrical flow layered over the top. This will be in my albums of the year. Make sure it’s in yours.

ALLAN SKO

bertie blackman secrets and lies [Forum5/MGM] Five years on from her first album, Bertie Blackman has finally managed to break the mainstream market and fill our airwaves with this modernised new album. Still showcasing her signature voice and song writing beautifully, the album is less quirky than her previous work, with an element of pop complimenting Bertie’s folk style. There are plenty of catchy sing-alongs and an inclusion of electronic elements such as in Thump, yet you’ll still find a small presence of cool kooky tunes like My White Owl. She’s stepped out with an album that should please old and new fans and transfer easily to live performances, although those who have followed her career may slightly grieve for odd little Bertie’s forgotten style.

DANIKA NAYNA

polo club The 13 [amphead] Polo Club’s inventive electro-rap has spawned an attractive side to a genre I’ve previously scorned. Their experimental mix of rap with overlapping sound takes, heavy use of electro distortion and sampling combine to deliver an enticing new creation. The duo has a good ear for quality retro tunes and lyrics, with the funky beat from Janis Ian’s Fly Too High appearing in Witness the Feeling and words from Bohemian Rhapsody used in Shouldn’t Let Him Out. The poppy Million $, with its chorus delivered in chipmunk pitch, is a CD highlight, conveying the message that money can’t buy happiness. It’s a gas maze of assorted rhythms and effects, which even includes castanets!

RORY MCCARTNEY

36

super moth black rainbow eating us [spunk] If you like Air but can’t quite handle the highly dependable clatter of Super Furry Animals, then Super Moth Black Rainbow could be your 19th favourite band. There’s an easy-going, vocoded laziness wafting across this album that could be uncharitably compared to a nauseating chill out compilation CD but the Moths pull up just on the right side of predictability.

Just. Iron Lemonade teases with an ever-present threat to explode and Gold Splatter would be more at home on DJ Shadow’s Diminishing Returns psychedelic mix tape. But in the end Eating Us sounds happy enough to merely exist.

Apparently that’s sufficient these days.

JUSTIN HOOK

temper trap conditions [liberator] The Temper Trap are clearly serious about their music and are here to stay.

What makes Conditions work is the confidence that is projected in every song. The pulsating drum beats and commanding guitars create unity in every track, with a clear understanding and appreciation for each and every instrument used. This shines through brilliantly on tracks Rest and Fader and show their diversity. Dougy Mandagi’s vocals glisten over every song, but it can come off as slightly repitious. There are far more hits than misses and the future is promising for this four-piece.

KATY HALL

singled out

with Dave Ruby Howe

Black Eyed Peas I Gotta Feeling [UMA] Most Black Eyed Peas songs are pointless enough, but here they manage to out-do themselves.

What a piece of disposable trash. It’s not even catchy.

Seriously, it’s just plain bad. And dudes can’t spell properly either.

f.l.y party time (surf party) [island] As sceptical as I was about three-piece rap group Fast Life Yungstaz doing some twisted beach thug hybrid, I’ve got to say this is just genius. These dudes have sun-drenched production and summer-loving lyrics and they’ve also got the balls to revive the words ‘gnarly’ and ‘cowabunga’. I love it. Surf-rap is here.

florence + the machine rabbit heart (raise it up) [uma] While everyone is fussing over La Roux and Little Boots for UK popstar worship, people are missing the glory of Florence + The Machine. One of the best songs off of one of the year’s best LPs, Rabbit Heart is a musical odyssey. Cascading percussion, euphoric vocals and motherfucking harps fuse together for something as uplifting as it is enigmatic and strange. We probably won’t remember Little Boots in a few years time, but this is just the beginning of Florence + The Machine’s ascent to stardom.

the word on dvds

flight of the conchords SEASON two Overall, the second series from the lovable kiwi duo has been somewhat disappointing after the consistent brilliance of the first, although it is peppered with some of their best work to date. Their initial wit and genius seems muted here – where in season one they reeled off hit after hit of didactic musical comedy genius (Inner City Life!

Business Time! Bowie! The list goes on!) here we’re not provided the same knowing glow. The story threads mirror this, which are haphazard rather than well plotted tales, and the ‘struggling artists’ gag begins to wane for the first time. Should they have adopted the same sly stroke as Ricky Gervais with Extras – where he seamlessly progressed the series from being the hapless acting extra to the hapless series writer – a wealth of new material would be available for the highly likable and obviously talented Brett and Germaine. As it is, a lot of the early parts of this series feel like treading old ground with worn shoes.

But it’s not a completely humourless outing. Us Aussies get an excellent ribbing in a few episodes as arrogant, mocking types. Sugar Lumps is a sly wink to the Black Eyed Peas, a wonderful parody of the Timbaland style ‘slammin club joints’ so prevalent in pop these days, and one of their best to date. And episode six with the pair competing over the same girl is consistently hilarious, with the R Kelly/Usher mocking track Same Girl ranking as a favourite.

Come season three, I believe we’ll see the lads come into top form again. As the old music adage goes, you have your entire life to come up with your first album, and six months to come up with your second, and with such a strong first series, a stumble here is understandable.

But revel in the joy that is episode six, and with it the hope of more sharp writing, and gemstone songs to come.

ALLAN SKO

true blood season one Out of nowhere and taking almost everyone by surprise, True Blood has become the breakout hit HBO have been pining for since Tony Soprano whimpered off our screens.

Season Two which has just started in the US is regularly pulling in over 10 million viewers per episode and this first instalment DVD is moving units at a rate equalling the commercial/creative nexus that was The Sopranos. Timing surely has much to do with it.

Look around the multiplex and the mega book store and you’ll find all the evidence you need – fangs are back big time. But with its soupy Southern setting and languid air of deviant sex, hillbilly histrionics and extreme violence True Blood is more Flannery O’Connor than Stephanie Meyer. Series creator Alan Ball (Six Feet Under) can take most of the credit for this. A native Southerner, Ball explicitly wanted to avoid the Southern clichés – rednecks, the confederate flag, yee-haw! etc.

Instead the focus in True Blood is character development and multi layered storytelling that largely wears its metaphors explicitly on its sleeve, albeit with a sly wink and devilish guffaw. In this alternate reality, humans live side by side with the fanged ones. But it seems not everyone is entirely happy with vampires in their midst, despite the vampire ‘race’ being a semi-accepted section of mainstream society after those wily Japanese scientists developed synthetic blood thereby allowing all the vamps to live upstairs in relative harmony. True Blood is a sumptuous treat on every level with Anna Paquin as the all-hearing jailbait Sookie Stackhouse deserving of specific praise. Alan Ball describes True Blood as popcorn TV which is something of disservice, because underneath it all is a noir-ish drama/thriller with comedy and social satire weaving through it with effortless grace.

JUSTIN HOOK

bigger, stronger, faster In America in the ‘80s everything was BIGGER. Greed was good, life was cheap and ‘roided up athletes (Hulk Hogan, Marion Jones etc) and film stars (Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone etc) were the order of the day. Growing up in this environment, documentarian Christopher Bell and his two brothers felt a dire need to keep up with the mass populace and started working out and then injecting steroids.

Bell ensures this movie takes a brave turn in turning the camera on his own life and possible addiction to steroids. I say “possible” as this film explores all facets of steroids and points out quite plainly that there may be no bad guy. It all depends on your perspective.

Interviewing key players in this ‘industry’ and reminiscing about key moments in American culture, Bigger Stronger Faster gives you a picture of a nation crumbling under the influence of a needle and the contents of a syringe.

In addition to not casting any villains, this film also doesn’t make any judgements on the possible use and abuse of steroids. The film looks beyond the steroid issue and asks if things like Tiger Woods having corrective eye surgery to improve his vision to 20/15 should be looked down upon in the same way.

Bigger Stronger Faster doesn’t pretend to have any answers but throws up some extremely pertinent questions and more cinema should do this.

GEOFF SETTY

37

the word

on films

WITH MARK RUSSELL

Potter’s back! The adaptation of the second last book -The Half-Blood Prince - has...ahem... cast a spell over our screens and our wallets. In addition, Warner Bros have decided they could never capture the scope of the last book in one film so have decided to cover it in two.

Their decision had nothing to do with the phenomenal amount of money an extra film would supply them with. As we draw closer to the final drip being squeezed from this cash cow, a few questions crop up: can they maintain the hype?

Will they do the final book justice? And is it ok to find Hermione hot yet? Only time and society will tell.

quote of the issue

“What’s the next big celebrity charity?

Darfur’s the hot one now, what’s Darfive?”

Sacha Baron Cohen Bruno

38

harry potter and the half-blood prince Yes, it’s that time once more – time to whip out your wands and hop aboard the Hogwart’s Express for another fantastical adventure with Harry and the gang. Harry Potter and the HalfBlood Prince, based on the sixth book in the beloved series, is full of humour, hormones, horror and heartache. There’s teen romance, tears, and plenty of wacky wizardry. Each film gets darker as we head towards the final battle, and this instalment is much more mature in tone – saucy innuendo, flirty glances, and a few dark scenes that are sure to haunt a kiddie or two.

Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) spend much of the film sorting through the confusion of their tumultuous love lives, while rising factions of Death Eaters wreak havoc over the globe and mysterious events unfold at Hogwarts.

The acting from all three leads has thankfully improved, and Half-Blood Prince is generously littered with wonderful comedic moments. The final scenes are likely to induce some tears though, and the ending leaves one hopelessly yearning for the final films. Unlike the other Harry Potter films, Half-Blood Prince will probably be too confusing for anyone unfamiliar with the world of witches and wizards – it is less a stand-alone film and more an elaboration on characters and events, and a continuation of the big, epic battle between good and evil.

All in all, I loved this. The light moments are sassy and sweet, the dark moments ominous and heartbreaking. Simply Harry Potter perfection.

MEGAN McKEOUGH

bruno

the choir

Having dazzled, shocked and confused us with Borat, Sacha Baron Cohen gives us another culturally-awkward character in gay Austrian fashionista Bruno.

Bruno’s greatest desire is to be world famous, so he heads to the celebrity Mecca - Hollywood.

This documentary follows the lives of two inmates (Coleman Mgogodlo and Jabulani Shabangu) who live in a maximum security prison in South Africa. Singing is a rare lifeline for these men whose world is filled with rapists, murderers and thieves. We watch as Jabulani is lifted from this scary existence and comes under the watchful eye of choir master Coleman. The initial few minutes of The Choir are a little difficult to grasp.

Gritty re-enactment scenes and stylised direction make it hard to be sure you’re actually watching a documentary. The sequences where the choir sing further this sense as they are very choreographed and have a grainy, guerrilla-MTV feeling.

The men themselves also present some problems. Prior to us meeting him, Jabulani was clearly on the path to becoming a career criminal, and he keeps his cards very close to his chest.

He constantly spouts easy words, rarely straying from what he knows people want to hear. It is only in the very last few scenes of the film that we see even real emotion from him. A disjointed structure further hinders proceedings.

The power and emotion still peeks through though. These men are coming from a world that regularly kicks them in the teeth, yet they still manage to sing. Technically, this is a weak cinema offering. The filmmakers have tried too hard to force a three-act structure on the events leading up to a choir competition. Luckily, as with those who make it out of this life, the subject matter refuses to be overwhelmed by external influences.

Unfortunately, it’s possible this film heralds the end of Cohen’s success in this format.

He follows the same routine as in Borat: using an extreme personality to highlight the inability of backward Americans to grasp irony, and expose their inner prejudices. Some of this works – his conversations with ‘gay-conversion’ ministers, and his interviews with parents willing to whore their children out for fame, are suitably shocking.

But overall, there’s little here that will really astound.

As always, Cohen himself is magnetic to watch. His immersion in the role is complete.

He takes on Bruno’s every mannerism and stereotype, reacting to those around him with perfect consistency to character.

He’s talented and funny, even if his technique doesn’t always come off.

The storyline is a large part of the problem. He shifts the focus massively a few times with little success at keeping our interest.

It also doesn’t help that Bruno is a much less likeable character than Borat. He loves himself too much – an emotion we don’t share. At only 83 minutes long, this film should be all killer no filler, but it’s far from it.

MARK RUSSELL

mARK RUSSELL

39

the word

on gigs

Augie March / Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe ANU BAR Saturday July 18 Unlikely stars, Victoria’s Augie March have never been a band to take the well-trodden path, so it’s perhaps oddly fitting that they choose arguably their commercial peak to announce an ‘extended hiatus.’ That old chestnut. But before they scurry off to their respective side projects, the five-piece have embarked on a retrospective tour to mark the end of this chapter.

On supporting duties are Gareth Liddiard and Dan Luscombe from The Drones. Rather than lurching and leering across the stage, tonight Liddiard is shackled to a stool with an acoustic on his knee.

And while Luscombe occasionally rises from his seated position to strap on an electric and stomp on an overdrive pedal, it’s all fairly polite and restrained – which is not exactly what you want from this pair. The faithful no doubt enjoy hearing a few favourites in a different context, but there really is no substitute for The Drones in full, electrified, flight. One for the fans.

By contrast, the headliners announce themselves with a dambusting triple guitar onslaught; the opening track from their much-loved 2000 debut Sunset Studies, The Hole in Your Roof, is transformed into a fixture-rattling crescendo of noise. That first LP dominates the setlist tonight, though Augie March give all of their four albums a look-in, evidentially just as excited as their audience at the prospect of trawling through the back-catalogue. Eschewing singles in favour of dusting off obscurities, this is decidedly a show for the fans.

Three-piece horn section The Arnold Horns also join Augie March for a good deal of the set and lend the likes of Just Passing Through and There’s Something at the Bottom of the Black Pool a muscular soul revue punch.

At the behest of one enthusiastic audience member in the front row, they even take a couple of minutes onstage to confirm correct chord progressions between themselves before ploughing through Century Son from their first release, 1998 EP Thanks for the Memes.

Despite the band’s insistence they can barely remember the song, it still sounds sharp. “I’m not sure if I’d have stuck around if all the songs sounded like that,” jokes keyboardist/accordionist Keiran Box as the band exchange rolled eyes and chuckles at the folly of their youth.

For much of their 13 years Augie March were an unwieldy live proposition – which, it has to be said, was part of their charm. As they themselves admit, on any given night they’d either be ‘off’ or ‘on.’ Minor technical or human error would often rankle famously perfectionist frontman Glenn Richards, which in turn could derail a show entirely. Back in the day a bung chord or a bit of feedback would have caused the band to grind to a halt, but these days they simply shrug off such minor annoyances and soldier on.

Which is why it’s a shame the band are taking a lengthy breather, as Augie March are certainly ‘on’ tonight.

PETER KRBAVAC

40

41

GIG GUIDE July 23 - July 25 thursday july 23 Arts Puccini’s Madame Butterfly

A new production from Oz Opera directed by John Bell. Bookings: 6257 2700. ‘Til July 25.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

National Youth Self Portrait Prize

It seeks to encourage youth to embrace self portraiture’s expressive possibilities.

‘Til Sept 13.

Art Prints

Printed textiles by Megan Jackson.

Until Aug 7.

BELCONNEN GALLERY

Deathtrap

theatre 3, repertory lane

Dance Trash Thursdays

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Message Sticks Indigenous Film Festival (15+)

Live

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

J-Noir: Film Noir From Japan I, The Executioner (1968, 18+).

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Bardungel: The Youngest One An exhibition of new ochre paintings from Gija artists established and emerging. ‘Til Aug 2.

CHAPMAN GALLERY

Custom Made

Five gleaming handbuilt Harley Davidsons are presented in the ‘gallery come showroom’. Until Aug 8.

CRAFT ACT

Salvatore Zofrea: Days of Summer

A travelling exhibition of Zofrea’s woodcut print suite, mad up of 109 carved blocks of wood. Free. ‘Til Aug 16.

ANU DRILL HALL GALLERY

The End of 2008

Exhibition by Alex Asch. Until Aug 15.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Terminus

By Geoff Fahquar-Still. Until August 15.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Road Kings

Exhibition by Dan Wallwork. Until Aug 15.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE GORMAN HOUSE

Sparkle and Shine

Exhibition by Tiffany Cole, Jess Herrington, Shellaine Godbold, and Belinda Toll. Until July 26.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

42

DJs at Parlour

CORROBOREE PARK COMMUNITY HALL

PARLOUR WINE ROOM

Classes every Thursday from 6.308.30pm, except every second Thursday of the month.

Directed by Corille Fraser. How far will someone go to have a hit play? Bookings: 6257 1950. www. canberrarep.org.au. Until August 15.

$2 drinks ‘til 2am and discounted cocktails. With DJs Adam and Esscue.

The best in new Indigenous Australian filmmaking. All sessions free.

Capoeira Angola Classes

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

The Basics

They’re back, baby, with support from those beautiful boys The Boat People.

Free as ushe.

TRANSIT BAR

Lakeside Circus

Chaos with occasional glimpses of beauty. $5.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Behind Crimson Eyes

With Twelve Foot Ninja and Forgivan Rival. Tix thourgh Ticketek.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Charles Chatain

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Something Different

friday july 24

BAR 32

Greenfaces: Gary Eck

Live The Veebees Album Launch

Dance

With Casino Rumblers, Rumjacks and Toxicmen.

Frankie Madrid Madness

Chambers

They tell us he’s world famous.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Strangeways

Super happy fun party times.

TRANSIT BAR

THE BASEMENT

Launch their new EP.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Mary Coughlan Tix $30/$35.

WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

Kosmos Laboratory

Live Global Battle of the Bands THE BASEMENT

Dr Stovepipe CD Launch With support from Hanrahan.

WHITE EAGLE POLISH CLUB

Charles Chatain

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

After Work Jazz From 5 to 8pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Rev

Canberra’s weekly alternative club night with two levels of DJs playing rock/ indie/dance/punk/pop BAR 32, SYDNEY BUILDING, CIVIC

saturday july 25

Uni Night Thursdays

Over studying and just wanna party!?

We’ve got your Thursday night covered.

Happy hour all night!

Whether you like your wine sweet, dry, fruity or unwooded, the DJs will be in tune with the flavour.

Tweaky twisted tunes, progressive minimal house. Free.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Hardluck Final Show

With Eye Gouge, Eat A Brick and Johnny United. $10.

BAR 32

Ray Mann 3 Entry free...

TRANSIT BAR

Melodies From Heaven

Presented by the Strange Weather Gospel Choir. Tix through Ticketek.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

The Alohas and Space Party

High-energy instrumental sounds and jungle rhythms fuelled by ‘60s garage punk and surf twang.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Oscar

Arts

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Arc: Style Wars (1984, 18+)

Something Different

The original hip-hop doco, set on the streets of New York in 1984.

Workshop Series: Zine

Jumptown Swing six-week course beings today. info@jumptown.org .

Dance

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Shunji Masterclass

DAY PLAY

Guy Pratt

Mixin’ up and audible feast, so you better be hungry.

Gorman House Markets

Shakedown!

Burley Griffin Antique Centre

Watch amateur comedians battle it out for the biggest laughs.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

West Coast Swing

SPACE DANCE STUDIO, CIVIC

On his Breakfast of Idiots tour. Tix www. spokenwordaustralia.com .

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Open up your pipes and murder the classics for your chance to win big.

Indi! Alt! Dance! Electro! Don’t miss it. 5 clams only! www.myspace.com/ iloveshakedown .

Carry On Karaoke

Helena

Transit Carry-On Karaoke TRANSIT BAR

PJ O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Karaoke With Grant

PJ O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

BAR 32

With supports Ashley Feraude and Tori Mac, plus Michael O’Rourke in the Candy Bar. ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

Examine how mass media, advertising and the internet impact upon the sense of self. $20.

GORMAN HOUSE

KINGSTON FORESHORE

GIG GUIDE July 26 - July 31 Chuse Jazz Tuesdays

sunday july 26

(TRINITY) BAR, DICKSON

Four of A Kind: The Noonan Family Show

Dance Yuksek

The French master plays an intimate show, with supports Mikah Freeman, Vance Musgrove and more.

Featuring Katie Noonan, Tyrone Noonan and their parents Brian and Maggie Noonan. They’ll be accompanied by musicians from the ANU School of Music.

Four of A Kind: The Noonan Family Show

Featuring Katie Noonan, Tyrone Noonan and their parents Brian and Maggie Noonan. They’ll be accompanied by musicians from the ANU School of Music. arc cinema, national film and sound archive

Live Shoe Levy

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Something Different Uni Night Thursdays

arc cinema, national film and sound archive

Something Different

Over studying and just wanna party!?

We’ve got your Thursday night covered.

Happy hour all night!

Something Different

$5 Night @ Transit

Greenfaces: Jimeoin

From 5-9pm.

Transit Carry-On Karaoke

TRANSIT BAR

Trident

TRANSIT BAR

LOT 33

Live Sunday Sessions: Dos Locos

Open up your pipes and murder the classics for your chance to win big.

ALL BAR NUN

They successfully blend compositions

by Madonna, Jimi Hendrix and Joe Zawinul.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Sunday Sessions

With Ben Drysdale, Beth Monzo and Lyndell Tutty.

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Mid-winter Celebration of Piano Classics

Colleen Rae-Gerrard performs works

by Mozart, Haydn, Schubert, Beethoven and Chopin.

Karaoke

Cash prizes and 2 for 1 basic spirits and tap beer. DJ Peter Dorree from 11pm – 5am with FREE pool.

Fame Trivia

THE DURHAM, KINGSTON

Karaoke Night

From 7:30-10:30pm

PJ O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Pot Belly Trivia

HOLY GRAIL KINGSTON

POT BELLY BAR, BELCONNEN

Experience the driving rhythms of the Pacific Islands. Bookings essential: 6208 5021

Arts

wednesday july 29 Arts World-class dance production. Tix through the venue. Until August 1.

THE PLAYHOUSE

monday july 27

Second In Line

Paintings by Shakira Longmore, Linzie Ellis, Faline and Rose Allen. Until August 9.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ARTS SPACE - MANUKA

Select Option

St Kilda Travelling Film Festival See some of Oz’s top 100 short films.

With an introduction by the Festival Director Paul Harris.

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

Live

Watch amateur comedians battle it out for the biggest laughs.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Transit Carry-On Karaoke

Open up your pipes and murder the classics for your chance to win big.

TRANSIT BAR

Carry On Karaoke PJ O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Karaoke With Grant

PJ O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

Capoeira Angola Classes

Classes every Thursday from 6.308.30pm, except every second Thursday of the month.

CORROBOREE PARK COMMUNITY HALL

thursday july 30

PJ O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Pedestrian Orchestra

Fame Trivia

Trivia Night

Come and have a fiddle.

PARLOUR WINE ROOM

18 PEDDAR STREET, O’CONNOR

PHOENIX BAR, CIVIC

Trivia Night

Irish Jam Session

Taste the entire Parlour tapas and dessert menu accompanied by wines of the region. Book early.

Trivia Night

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Something Different

NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AUSTRALIA

A Mid Winter Night’s Feast

All singing all dancing all welcoming acoustic open mic night. See facebook for more info.

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Island Rhythms Drumming Workshop

2 pizzas and a pint $15 all day.

BAR 32

friday july 31 Arts Blood Wedding

Presented by moonlight. Until Aug 8. $15/$10. Bookings: 0438 517 745.

ANU ARTS CENTRE

Friday Night Feast

Relax in the Gordon Darling Hall, enjoy a drink, listen to music and savour Vanity Fair Portraits.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Reflex

Exhibition curated by Geoff FarquharStill. Until August 16. Opening at 6pm.

Dance

Los Chavos

Dance

m16 artspace

Hospitality Night

THE PHOENIX PUB

Wednesday Lunchtime Live

Trash Thursdays

Dance

Featuring Univibes DJs.

$2 entry. Refreshments $1.

TRANSIT BAR

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

Gentlemen Sing

A delightful evening of wonderful men singing their hearts out. Donation appreciated.

tuesday july 28

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Live

$2 drinks ‘til 2am and discounted cocktails. With DJs Adam and Esscue.

inthemix Top 50 Party

D’Opus

LOT 33

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

D’Opus & Roshambo’s new LP coming soon!

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Univibes

Featuring Dave Stuart.

Donna Peet

Du Jour Restaurant presents their third musical offering, flautist Donna Peet.

Bookings: 6162 4588.

DU JOUR RESTAURANT

OUT aug 6

TRANSIT BAR

With Mighty Fools (Holland) and Funktrust DJs. $20 on the door.

Jemist

He of the silky smooth skin.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Rev

Canberra’s weekly alt club night with two levels of DJs playing rock/indie/ dance/punk/pop. $5 BAR 32

foreshore

bag raiders regular john

dappled cities lost valentinos

dukes of windsor and more!

43

GIG GUIDE July 31 - Aug 05 Purple Sneakers

They’re at it again with a bigger lineup than ever, teaming up with Sydney’s club Snatch and Grab.

TRANSIT BAR

Live

Plus live sax by Dan Bray, and DJ Just 1, Sean Kelly and Staky.

DJ Bricksta

The local Canberran DJ is turning 18 and ready to rock the spot! Entry free.

TRANSIT BAR

Scaramouche

With special guests.

THE BASEMENT

Astrochem Fundraiser

With Escape Syndrome, Fallsuit Theory, West of the Sun and Fight the Fall. $7.

WODEN YOUTH CENTRE

Alliance Française Jazz Night The third in the 2009 series of the ever popular Jazz Nights. $15/$12.

Bookings: 6247 5027.

ALLIANCE FRANÇAISE

The Woohoo Review

They’re the most exciting gypsy band in the country! With support from Mr Fibby.

THE MERRY MUSE

Gloves

With Celebrity Sex Tape vs. Staky, Nightfight and Strangeways DJs. $5 before 11, $7 after.

BAR 32

Chrome

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Live Muevete

Poetry Slam

A Streetlight Song

Bountiful emotion, passion and heckling. Get there early for a good seat. $3.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFE

Homo High

Dress in theme for FREE entry and the chance to win great prizes. With DJ Peter Dorree and more.

CUBE NIGHTCLUB

Stigmata

POT BELLY BAR, BELCONNEN

Live

Trivia Night

From 5-9pm.

ALL BAR NUN

Little Sister

Something Different Irish Jam Session

Come and have a fiddle.

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Silver Sundays Film Forum First Sunday of every month.

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

Arts Elling

Based on the cult Norwegian film of the same name. Until August 8. canberratheatrecentre.com.au .

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Live Presented by Canberra Musicians Club.

THE PHOENIX PUB

Lip Synch Championships ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

TRANSIT BAR

$5 Night @ Transit

Hospitality Mondays

2 pizzas and a pint $15 all day.

TRANSIT BAR

On ther Inshalla tour. Tix through Ticketek.

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

TRANSIT BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Get your work mates together after a massive weekend and come to Mooseheads where your hospitality moosecard gives your the best deals in town. It’s your very own staffies party.

With DJs Rawson playing the music you need for a Monday night.$3 for any mixed drink or RTD. $5 special cocktails. $6 Red Bull and Vodka.

MOOSEHEADS PUB

tuesday august 4

Vanity Fair Lecture Series

Consider how fashion magazines have shaped photographic portraiture.

Followed by a fashion shoot.

Live Hilltop Hoods

DAY PLAY

ANU BAR AND REFECTORY

Gorman House Markets

(TRINITY) BAR, DICKSON

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wednesday august 5

Hospitality Night

Nathan Frost

Ashley Feraude

HOLY GRAIL, KINGSTON

Captain, My Captain monday august 3

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

BAR 32

Trivia Night

THE HUSH LOUNGE, PHILLIP

Dance

Indi! Alt! Dance! Electro! Don’t miss it. 5 clams only! www.myspace.com/ iloveshakedown .

PJ O’REILLY’S, TUGGERANONG

Featuring Univibes DJs.

Something Different

Shakedown!

Pot Belly Trivia

Eskimo Joe

THE BASEMENT

ARC CINEMA, NATIONAL FILM & SOUND ARCHIVE

KNIGHTSBRIDGE PENTHOUSE

THE DURHAM, KINGSTON

Something Different

Curious Fate

m16 foyer gallery

From 7:30-10:30pm

Dance

St Kilda Travelling Film Festival

An exhibition of new work by the CAW Thursday Group. Until Aug 16.

Fame Trivia

With The Vaine and Nobody Knew Robots.

Arts

Kalos

THE STREET THEATRE

THE PHOENIX PUB

Featuring Shifty Business. A new concept from The Crunch / Dubdeckerbuss / Harlequinn MC Entry free.

See some of Oz’s top 100 short films.

The godfathers of the alt-cabaret movement return. Bookings 4247 1223 or visit www.thestreet.org .

THE PHOENIX PUB

+One saturday august 1

PHOENIX BAR, CIVIC

Trivia Night

With Freyas Rain.

Something Different

KING O’MALLEY’S, CIVIC

Tiger Lillies

Candy Cube

DJs Peter Dorree and Matt Chavasse.

Open up your pipes and murder the classics for your chance to win big.

TRANSIT BAR

Sunday Sessions: Timbuktwo

HOLY GRAIL, CIVIC

Transit Carry-On Karaoke

Arts

DJs Salem, Stealth.Elf and metaVirus with Sydney’s favourite synthpop/ futurepop DJ Miss Pink.

A spectacular event that will move your mind, body and soul, it’s set to be the biggest Latin event of 2009, featuring Sydney’s best live nine-piece band Latin Kaos. $25 pre/$30 on the door.

The Remnants

sunday august 2

ACADEMY NIGHTCLUB

GORMAN HOUSE

Burley Griffin Antique Centre KINGSTON FORESHORE

Too bad brother boy, it’s sold out.

Chuse Jazz Tuesdays Something Different Trivia Night

THE PHOENIX PUB

Pedestrian Orchestra

All singing all dancing all welcoming acoustic open mic night. See facebook for more info.

18 PEDDAR STREET, O’CONNOR

Fame Trivia

PJ O’REILLY’S, CIVIC

Karaoke Night

HOLY GRAIL KINGSTON

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FIRST CONTACT

photo: jeremy mann

SIDE A: BMA DJ profile

DJ FOURTHSTATE Where did your DJ name come from? Look it up! Many cool meanings and mystery come into the name and I thought it would be different from the norm which pretty much all sums up how I play.

Group Members: Alex Braknys.

Describe your sound: A unique blend of driving progressive, techno, tech-house, breaks, dubstep, tech funk, deep house and minimal sounds. Anything I find to be top quality, forward thinking, head-caving bangers really.

Who are your influences musical or otherwise? I’d have to say that The Prodigy started everything for me back in ‘94 and everything has evolved from there. Now I have way too many influences to name.

What’s the weirdest experience you’ve had whilst performing? I’ve had a few occasions where some really zoned out people are deep into the groove and look nothing less than a zombie in motion; it’s quite weird.

What’s your biggest achievement/proudest moments so far? Playing at Stonefest’s 40th anniversary last year, Warehouse at the AIS, a few occasions at Sydney’s Chinese Laundry and my EP being released!

What are your plans for the future? Keep writing tunes, educating dance floors and most of all having fun!

What makes you laugh? After-party conduct and Sucker Punch on YouTube.

What pisses you off? The clueless.

What’s your opinion of the local scene? A great tight knit local scene, whose members are at the best of times are up for absolutely rocking out harder than other scenes, though randomly quiet at other times.

Upcoming gigs: +One feat. Shifty Business, Karton, Faux Real & Myself at Transit Bar on Friday July 31.

Ministry Of Sound: Trance Nation tour feat. TyDi at Academy on Friday August 28.

Contact info: braknys@hotmail.com, facebook.com/fourthstate

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Aaron Peacey Aaron 0410 381 306 Adam Hole Adam 0421 023 226 Afternoon Shift Adam 0402 055 314 After Close Scotty 0412 742 682, afterclose@hotmail.com Alcove Mark 0410 112 522 Alice 0423 100 792 Allies ACT (Oxfam Group) alliesact@hotmail.com/ myspace.com/alliesact Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410 308 288 Amplif5’d Classic rock covers band Joy 0407 200 428, joybarac-heath@hotmail.com Annie & the Armadillos Annie 6161 1078/0422 076 313 The Ashburys Dan Craddock 0419 626 903 Aria Stone, sax & flute, singer/ songwriter (guitar) Aria 0411 803 343 Australian Songwriters Association (Keiran Roberts) 6231 0433 Arythmia: Ben 0423 408 767/ arythmiamusic@gmail.com Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422 733 974, www.backbeatdrivers.com Big Boss Groove Andrew 0404 455 834, www.bigbossgroove.com.au Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows - bookings@birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438 351 007 Blister Bug Stu 0408 617 791 Bridge Between, The Rachel 0412 598 138, thebridgebetween.com.au Bruce Stage mgr/consultant 6254 9857 Caution Horses Nigel 0417 211 580 Chris Harland Blues Band 0418 490 640 chrisharlandbluesband@yahoo.com.au Clear Vision Films rehearsals/film clips/stunts - 0438 647 281 wcoulton.clearvisionfilms.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415 087 833/colebennetts@gmail.com Cris Clucas Cris 6262 5652 Crooked Dave 0421 508 467 Danny V Danny 6238 1673/0413 502 428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402 845 132 D’Opus & Roshambo hifidelitystyles@yahoo.com DJs Madrid and Gordon 0417 433 971 DJ Latino Rogelio 0401 274 208 DJ Moises (RnB/Latin) 0402 497 835 or moises_lopez@hotmail DNA Vic 0408 477 020 Drumassault Kate 0414 236 323 Easy Mode Daz 0404 156 482, easymodeband@gmail.com Entity Chris 0412 027 894 Epic Flagon band@epicflagon.com Fighting Mongooses, The Adam 0402 055 314 Final Warning Brendan 0422 809 552 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410 381 306/ Lachlan 0400 038 388 4dead Peter 0401 006 551 Freeloaders, The Steve 0412 653 597 Friend or Enemy 6238 0083, www.myspace.com/friendorenemy Funk Shui Dave 0407 974 476 Gareth Hailey DJ & Electronica 0414 215 885 GiLF Kelly 0410 588 747, gilf.mail@gmail.com HalfPast Chris 0412 115 594 Hancock Basement Tom 6257 5375, hancockbasement@hotmail.com Happy Hour Wendy 0406 375 096 Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com Hitherto Paul 0408 425 636 Infra Retina Kyle 0437 137 775/Michael 0425 890 023/www.infra-retina.com In The Flesh Scott 0410 475 703 Inside the Exterior Nathan 0401 072 650 Itchy Triggers Andrew 0401 588 884

Jacqui Seczawa 0428 428 722 JDY Clothing 0405 648 288/ www.jdyclothing.com Jenn Pacor singer/songwriter avail. for originals & covers, 0405 618 630 Jim Boots 0417 211 580 Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408 287 672, paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au Karismakatz DJ Gosper 0411 065 189/ dj@karismakatz.com Kayo Marbilus myspace.com/kayomarbilus Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417 025 792 Little Smoke Sam 0411 112 075 Los Chavos Andy 0401 572 150 los.chavos@yahoo.com.au Manilla Green Herms 0404 848 462, contactus@manillagreen.com, Mario Brujo Gordon world/latin/ reggae/percussionist and DJ. 0405 820 895 Martin Bailey Audio Engineer 0423 566 093 Mercury Switch Lab Studios mercuryswitch@internode.on.net Missing Zero Hadrian Brand 0424 721 907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Moots aspwinch@grapevine.com.au Huck 0419 630 721 MuShu Jack 0414 292 567, mushu_band@hotmail.com MyOnus myonusmusic@hotmail.com/ www.myspace.com/myonus No Retreat Simon 0411 155 680 Ocean Moses Nigel 0417 211 580 OneWayFare Chris 0418 496 448 Painted Hearts, The Peter 6248 6027 Phathom Chris 0422 888 700 The Pigs The Colonel 0422 412 752 Polka Pigs Ian 6231 5974 Premier Audio Simon 0412 331 876, premier_audio@hotmail.com Redletter Ben 0421 414 472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404 178 996/6162 1527 Rhythm Party, The Ross 0416 010 680 Roger Bone Band Andy 0413 483 758 Rob Mac Project, The Melinda 0400 405 537 Rug, The Jol 0417 273 041 Samsara Samahdi 0431 083 776 Sansutra J-Ma 0403 476 350 Simone Penkethman (Simone & The Soothsayers, Singing Teacher) 6230 4828 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401 588 884 Solid Gold Peter 0421 131 887/ solid.gold@live.com.au Super Best Friends Matt 0438 228 748 Surrender Jordan 0439 907 853 Switch 3 Mick 0410 698 479 System Addict Jamie 0418 398 556 Taboo Bamboo Greg 0439 990 455 The Morning After (covers band) Anthony 0402 500 843/ myspace.com/themorningaftercovers Tiger Bones & The Ferabul-Zers Danny feralbul@aapt.net.au Tim James Lucia 6282 3740, LUCIAMURDOCH@hotmail.com Top Shelf Colin 0408 631 514 Transmission Nowhere Emilie 0421 953 519/myspace.com/ transmissionnowhere Udo 0412 086 158 Undersided, The Baz 0408 468 041 Using Three Words Dan 0416 123 020, usingthreewords@hotmail.com Voodoo Doll Mark 0428 650 549 William Blakely Will 0414 910 014 Zero Degrees and Falling Louis 0423 918 793 Zwish 0411 022 907

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