Sauce - Issue 29, 2-8-06

On the street 1st Wed every month

Issue #29 02/08/06 - 05/09/06

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The Alpha Males

Kisschasy Tour

Bass Kleph @ Halo 22/07/06

by Ian Murtagh

Josh Owen Band @ Republic Bar and Café 22/7/06 By Ian Murtagh

It’s 2am, it’s cold and I’ve just come from seeing a band somewhere else so I’m grumpy. The ink from the stamp at the door gets on my shir t, and I get grumpier. I sift my way through the crowd to get a beer and I’m reminded that a ravers favourite place to talk is in the one, tiny doorway leading to the bar, and I’m filthy grumpy. Then Bass Kleph takes the stage, drops a really fat tune and I finally wave the grumpies bye bye and jump up and down to some pretty damn good breaks.

So I show up at the Republic, get a beer and go to hang out in the lair for a smoke while I wait for the main act, only to find that they’re playing three whole sets. That made me cock my eyebrow. I was impressed! And they hadn’t even star ted yet. While there wasn’t a crowd really at all to begin with, Josh said he was just star ting the night off nice and mellow with an acoustic set before turning it up, which was both sweet and nowhere near as mellow as he thinks it is. It was hard to find things that weren’t good about him. The man’s a genius on the six-string rhythm stick.

@ Republic Bar and Café 20/07/06

by Ian Murtagh Three things. First thing?

Fuckin’ loud. Second, the singer guy was wearing a New Kids On The Block tshirt (never good). Third, there were hundreds of screaming girls. This last thing made the other two things not so bad, so I was willing to look past it. Hannah, local only-just-not-underage-rockers, kicked the night off, and I was surprised that the Hobart crowd got into them as much as they did. It’s not a common sight to see a barely known local act get such a response from the crowd, singing along to songs they’d only just been exposed to and girls screaming and whistling. In fact, it’s damn uncommon to see that with an established local act. That said, the crowd was swallowing pretty much everything thrown at them.

Kisschasy took forever to come on, but they played a decent set once they’d taken the stage. Daz (the singer guy) had good rhythm and the songs had fairly good melodies, but it was a little too bubblegum, no meat and spuds. He lost marks from me for the aforementioned shirt, his emo hair and the fact that he’s twenty, but looks fourteen, but aside from the NKOTB, that’s all the rage these days. It’s not my kind of music, I found, but judging from the room, packed with boppers, it must be what all the kids are listening to. They had the rock-star moves down (except the lead guitarist should know better than to stage dive at the Republic… ouch…) and they were warm, though a little patronising in that “you guys probably won’t know this song” kind of way.

I hate it when bands have a “planned” encore, but it was worthwhile this time, as they got their touring buddies Trial Kennedy up onstage for an all-star romp through Tom Petty’s “You Wreck Me”, highlighted by a guy jamming on top of the bins with an un-plugged acoustic guitar, playing like it was electric anyway, and a bit of a wank-off between the two lead guitarists, behind their heads and under each other’s legs. Lots of instrument swapping, and singer Daz showed he had the chops on the drums too. They weren’t magic, but they didn’t suck. @ Sirocco’s 22/07/06 By: Tina Anderson

I had to admire the way he scratched and fekked around with the knobs to make it interesting because he only seemed to do it when it was appropriate or suited the song musically, not just for the hell of it. He did it just enough to make me appreciate it and not enough to make me think he was a wanker, making me think that while he was a good trick mixer, he still left plenty of tricks in the bag. The crowd were huge on him, and it was good to see a visiting DJ that obviously wanted to be there, coz most of the time I’ve seen a visitor at the decks they always seemed to want to be somewhere else. I was pleased to hear him drop some of his original tunes, and he didn’t pussy out and just drop anything. The breaks he played were so damn good. Tired and hung over, I at least had a bounce in my step walking home.

Butterfingers + TZU @ Sirocco’s 15/07/06

by Tina Anderson

The acoustic set over, I headed to the lair again and chatted to friends for a while until I could hear music again. I was massively shocked to come back and find the room near packed full of happy dancing people and Josh’s collective playing some of the most infectious rock, funk, reggae and soul I’d heard at the Republic ever. I just couldn’t get over how good he was on the guitar! While he did chuck in a few crowd-pleasing covers, his own tunes definitely held up much better. His songs are full of hooks, they were easy to sing along to and his voice sounded like honey and gravel. The drummer was hot, the bass player was hot and hey, did I mention the guitar? For anyone who missed this Melbourne band that only charged $7 on the door and played three sets, or missed their FREE show at the Uni, suck eggs! They were bloody sensational. Ha ha!

Midnight Caller + Turbo Deluxe @ Trout 21/07/06 By Ian Murtagh

The Zip Up Casuals @Kings Bar & Nightclub 28/07/06

by Tina Anderson

Kings Bar & Nite Club were suppor ting the local music scene when they presented Devonpor t’s own, The Zip Up Casuals. Doors opened at 10.30pm and there was a good crowd by the time the Zip Ups star ted playing at around 11pm. The night kicked off with “Gone Away” - one of their songs off their self titled EP. Not before long they had people on the dance floor, getting carried away.

The guys played a mixture of new songs, old songs, and cover songs. I loved when they performed another song off their EP, “Would You Break My?” - --- their “emotional” song, as lead singer, Rhys told the crowd.

A few of their cover songs included, “Teenager of the Year”, “Boy’s of Summer” and “Running Away”.

I thought the sound was really good in Kings – it wasn’t too loud or too quiet. Just like baby bear’s porridge, it seemed to be just right. At one time the guys had to wait for a major bitch fight to settle down (What is it with agro girls these days? - Ed), before they star ted playing again - there was the good old fashioned hair-pulling, kicking and scratching, while they wrestled on the ground. One of the chicks had blood all over her face. I was just curious as to what they were fighting about. They got kicked out. The Zip Up Casuals played 3 sets altogether. The breaks between seemed a little long though. During the last set, Rhys’ brother Kayne – formerly of rock group Trenchcoat – stole the microphone and belted out a tune from the dance floor. The crowd’s favourite was an Angels cover, “Am I Ever Gonna See Your Face Again”, because they could sing it back at the band.

It ended up being a pretty good night!

Glenn Moorhouse & Waiter@ Irish Murphy’s (Ltn) 12/07/06

By Hamish Clark

Butterfingers’ last stop on their Aussie tour was to the new Sirocco’s in Burnie.

As I drove past to see if any one had star ted to turn up yet, I said to myself, “Shit! Looks like I’ve underestimated Burnie” – there were people lined up all the way down the road!

Hobart’s Ballpoint got the ball rolling at Sirocco’s in Burnie.

Once I got into the venue there were people everywhere! TZU had already begun their set when I arrived, but from what I saw they were great – people were dancing away on the huge dance floor, having a good time. Butterfingers kicked off with their “Anthem”, then they jumped into “Everybody’s Ugly”, a song taken from their new album, “Deeper You Dig”. The crowd got pumped up even more when they performed, “Yo Mama”.

They seemed to make a good impression with the crowd while playing their punk/rock tunes. They even got the moshpit going, which is always a good thing.

During the break, the crowd gathered closer to the front of the stage; you’d think the main band were coming on by the amount of people there, but Melbourne rock band, Trial Kennedy, were next up on stage. I loved the intensity the lead singer, Tim Morrison, displayed. The look in his eyes and his voice were very powerful. They were great!

One thing I noticed was the great atmosphere – even the security guards were having a great time - especially this one chap, he was seriously getting down to the funky beats, but still being in control of the crowd at all times. At one stage I thought I could smell smoke, someone obviously couldn’t understand the “No Smoking” signs, as we all had to be evacuated moments later because the fire alarm went off ! Not long after we were allowed back in, as it was all okayed by the fire brigade. So the night kept rocking on!

Kisschasy got the crowd fired up with their opening number, Do-Do’s & Whoa-Oh’s – I was quite surprised they didn’t keep that song till later on in the set. Half way through their set it was time to slow it down and so they played a few acoustic tunes, including their recent release, The Shake.

I was very impressed with Butterfingers performance; they were very energetic, enter taining, and best of all they looked happy to be there! Figjam was the stand out favorite for the night as the crowd and band went crazy!

Highlight of the night? Kisschasy invited Trial Kennedy out to perform the last song with them; it was a cover of a Tom Petty song, You Wreck Me. One of the guitarists even climbed up on to the DJ’s box and was rocking out while balancing on the thin ledge. The song was overflowing with the sound of guitars, it was very impressive.

A Cabaret of Toxic Waste @ Batman Fawkner Inn 14/07/06 By Tom Wilson

If you’ve managed to pick up their wicked debut CD, “We All Work At The Shop”, you’ll know that Consumer Productions is doing a pretty good job of marketing Hobar t’s local Indie scene, and probably the best of the bunch is Midnight Caller. A good night at Trout equals jugs of beer, room to play the 8-ball tables and damn fine Hobar t bands, and this gig had all three. I don’t think I’d heard Turbo Deluxe before, but they were a nice warm up, loud enough to have to talk into your friends ears, but not so loud you went out for a break and hid til they finished.

Midnight Caller played a good set, opening with their killer song “Repeater”. Midnight Caller are a hybrid of members from a bunch of different Hobar t bands (or are other bands made up of Midnight Callers?

Hmmm…) but of all of them, I’d have to say I like this band the most. The Cross brothers probably rock the best, with Pat on guitar and Dan on bass, and I’ve always thought Regg y was better on guitar than singing. Stu Campbell’s glue on the drum kit holds them together well, but it’s really the guitar riffs that get me - simple but frikkin’ catchy, and they stick in your head like shit to a blanket.

The crowd wasn’t massive, but the bunch that did show up were there to be rowdy and cheer - a testament to Trout’s patronage and the growing legion of followers MC are getting. Pat’s vocals are getting better every time they play, and while they probably got bigger responses from other shows (how do you beat a show where the crowd chants “Pat Cross! Pat Cross!” at the end??), I noticed this was a par ticularly good Midnight Caller show.

Although it’s a weekly occurrence, I’ve only been to a handful of local original nights held at Irish Murphy’s.

I arrived with a fairly open mind and unbiased opinion on the night’s acts. First up was singer-guitarist, Glenn Moorhouse, leade guitar for The Dead Abigails.

First impressions were that of amazement and appreciation of what appeared to be a “mixed bag” of tracks in terms of style, which really demonstrated a high level of skill, musicianship and arrangement from Glenn. Whilst songs varied from cabaret/lounge influenced tunes to dreamy ballads, they still held together well as a set. Next up were Hobar t’s versatile five-piece Waiter. Watching them fit onto the “cozy” stage I imagined that their performance may have been hindered by room restraints. But this intimate atmosphere worked in their favor whilst they pumped out their blend of rock, roots and pop music. I guess one of the advantages of a group with this many members is that it allows them to really layer their sound if desired, and this performance showcased a solid rhythmical act with nice controlled melodic expression. Each song was perfor med in a tight manner, which impressed me. Front man of the group, Stratos, really captured the audience through his onstage presence and unique vocals. He had a poetic, engaging technique. It may sound a bit romantic, but one could say he was in an emotional “struggle” with the mic. His interaction, you could not say was sensual, but something close. Along with myself, I found many punters were continually tapping their feet and nodding along to the driving pulse and catchy, melodic hooks of Waiter. Nice job!

Exit Wounds, @ Batman Fawkner Inn

By Tom Wilson

Pee Wee Ferris @ Syrup 28/07/06

By Alex Napier @ James Hotel 23/07/06

by Ryan Cooke In recent memory I can’t think of many gigs actually on a Sunday night that have had a decent turn out, but tonight would be different. A sold out James Hotel was to be the host of Kisschasy’s first ever Launceston appearance. Due to a mix up, I arrived just in time to see the last 2 songs from the Dead Abigails, so I’m not going to comment on their performance.

Up next was the major support for the whole tour, Trial Kennedy. I was really looking forward to seeing these guys after reading and hearing good things about them for such a long time, and boy they didn’t disappoint. Their style of, lets say, emo/pop punk was great and was well received by most of the audience, even a few lasses in the crowd sang along to the last few songs even though they were getting funny looks from most of the crowd. After a (longer than I’d expected) break, the headliners graced the stage with a huge cheer from the crowd.

The band kicked off with an intro which I believe was Silverchairs ‘Slave’ but others believe it was a Pantera track, into their biggest hit ‘Do-Do’s & Whoa-Oh’s’ which was a huge surprise, first up (you have to respect them for it). Most of the material that was aired was from their new album ‘United Paper People’, which was the only thing which was a tad disappointing, but their performance and stage presence blew me away. The Kisschasy encore came to an end when the band was joined on stage by Trial Kennedy for an all-star jam of a cover I don’t know. One of the best gigs I have been to all year. Lets hope to see Kisschasy back here real soon. A huge thank you goes out to Macca at the James. You know why…

PAGE 4

Palm This Opening the night was Catfight Sex Toy, a new industrial act from Hobar t. The duo of Spankpaddle bassist Rachel and keyboardist Sam Clarke (AKA sword-swallower Samora Squid) was both enter taining and exciting; their KMFDM-style industrial music and Sam’s unique humour combining to be, in my eyes, the highlight of the night. I can’t wait to see them with a full line-up.

Despite some muddy sound, Separatist added some much-needed brutality to the night’s proceedings, and once again managed to belt out melodic choruses without cheapening their hard edge.

Opening to a booming sound-bite from “Dawn of the Dead”, This Future…Chaos took to the stage.

I’ve always been of two minds with these guys.

They’ve got their stage presence down-pat, but the fluctuating nature of much of their work irritates me; they’ll launch into something cool mid-song, but never seem to stick with it. But then, I’m probably just grumpy that I was sober, so I’ll let them be.

Those who were there will have noticed that I haven’t mentioned half the bands which played. To be honest, most of the night’s music really wasn’t for me. And neither should it be. This was an underage gig; it was their night, not mine, so with that in mind I’ll just shut up about the bands I didn’t like (but only this once).

I never, ever, thought I’d be thanking Egg y for anything, but his effor ts – and those of the Batty – have, no-doubt, re-instilled the faith of concerned parents in all-ages events. With a packed house of pumped kids and five hours of live music, the organisers have proven that underage punters can go out and have a good time in safety without the use of alcohol.

After reviewing Cabaret the night before, I rocked up, back to the venue nice and early, to find myself a comfy chair and sit down for a nice, quiet gig…Well, maybe not quiet.

Another cold night on Hobar t’s waterfront and Syrup was the place to be, with young Mr Ferris driving the decks. To put it bluntly, this man can work a crowd like he has us responding to a remote control. Pee Wee Ferris’s tech-hard-house\trance technique was the flavour on that Friday night and all that attended (that got tickets!) danced like people possessed.

Each track gave more momentum to what was already a chunky hard tech\trance set. Pee Wee’s selection from old-school to new-school mix-up music was outstanding. No matter what generation you were from, this set had all kinds of people, young and old singing and dancing along, and having a ball!

Speakers rumbled, pumped and shook as, from track to track, something different was unleashed on us, and left us wanting more and more. It’s nice to see someone playing with passion still. Some DJ’s have, seemingly, lost their spark for the profession but not this man. Playing with the likes of Carl Cox, Basement Jaxx and Sasha just to name a few, coupled with some massive hits himself (Genesis), Mr Ferris bangs it out with the best. Mr Ferris rang the bells of Hobar t’s clubbing district once again!

When next he comes to town, get in early, or miss out on one of the best.

Opening the night were two bands who I’d watched on that very same stage not twenty-four-hours earlier – Mindset and This Future…Chaos. Playing to a drastically smaller crowd than they had at Cabaret, both bands laid out the empathy in bucket loads. But their music – particularly Mindset’s – just isn’t for me (despite a few cool riffs from TFC). They have their fans, and they’re undeniably tight performers, but they don’t seem to be the kind of bands you’d put on a bill with Zero Degrees Freedom.

Then, the shift came. The wailing in-house punk music shifted to a tranquil classical piece, and my favourite Tasmanian band, Zero Degrees Freedom, took to the stage. Frankly, most of the punk fans in the audience seemed scared of them, but for the rest of us, it was time to get our metal on – the band road-testing a new track while the “Bald Bastard” himself, front-man Simon, tried not to wobble mid-solo (what was going on there?). His playing was very sloppy, and, you know what? I wouldn’t have wanted things any differently – after all, the birthday boy can play however he likes…

Finally, came Exit Wounds, a mainland band I’d heard being compared to an early At The Gates (now The Haunted). The guys flailed around like madmen, and everyone who’d even been near the floor during the other bands returned for a circle pit. I’m not sure why they didn’t impress me that much; it could have just been the sound, or maybe I’d just heard enough metalcore riffs over the last two nights to last me a lifetime. Ah, well…

Th e

Dog

has

been

Remixed

by

Bliss n Eso Tassie hip-hop fans, you should be very, very proud of yourselves.

Those rising stars of rhyme, Bliss N Eso, were so impressed with the reception from their fans in this state that they’ve chosen to launch their remixed edition of “Day of the Dog” in Launceston this September.

SAUCE head honcho Dave Williams – who himself compares BNE’s last Launceston show with seeing Public Enemy, no less – got Bliss on the phone…

So what have you got on today?

We’re actually in the Gold Coast at the moment; we’re remixing our album, and getting ready to put

we don’t work on new stuff for ages, just because we’re busy with touring and stuff. But eventually the buzz just…you can’t avoid it. You just have to come back and write some new stuff; you’re inspired or whatever. So we always keep our paths close, you know what I mean?

What’s the split, in terms of writing? Who does most

It’s unusual for us to do such big tours, full-stop out a limited edition version with a separate disc, and the whole album is remixed by a producer up here called M-Phazes. So I’m just in the studio right now, working on that with him.

I guess that’s the main thing going on in the land of BNE at the moment?

Yeah…almost the main thing. We’ve also got a big tour coming up as well, so we’ve been organising all that – getting all the artwork done. So it’s all systems go in the land of BNE! In terms of producing new material, do you guys constantly write and produce? Or do you go into the studio and bang a lot down? Is it a progressive thing?

It kind of comes in ways. We have times where

of the writing?

Basically the lyrics are done by myself and Eso. We basically write all our own lyrics, then generally collaborate for the choruses and bridges – we write that together. As far as production and beats goes, we have a range of different producers who we work with. The last one was basically a whole bunch of our friends contributing beats. What we do is we get the raw beat off them and then bring it into the studio, lay down lyrics and then produce it further, and work on it from there.

Have you written any new material since putting out “Day Of The Dog”?

Yep, we have. We’ve got a couple of new tracks which are actually going to be on the limited edition.

So what was the last track that you guys wrote?

What’s that track about?

It’s a track called “Worldwide”; it features a French MC called Octa, which we’re pretty excited about, because I don’t think anyone in Australia’s really done any tracks with a French MC. So we were pumped about that.

The track is all about the worldwide hip-hop movement, and how you can be from anywhere in the world, and hip-hop can be a common bond wherever you travel. You’ll find a way to be cool through hip-hop kind of thing. It’s also our take on it, from different perspectives. P Money actually did the beat from New Zealand. So yeah; it’s a banger.

It’s a good track.

It wasn’t too long ago that you guys did a national tour for “Day of the Dog”, and you’re about to go on another – is that unusual for you guys to do such big tours so soon after each other?

It’s unusual for us to do such big tours full-stop.

This is the biggest tour we’ve ever done. It’s been a massive year for us, and basically, the last tour was such a success; we had a lot of buzz generated from that, and immediately had a lot of people asking for more shows. So we thought, “Sweet!” We already had this idea of doing a remix album, so we were like, “Cool – we’ll tie it in with that. We’ll put this remix album out and then we’ll do another, bigger tour, and we’ll go to heaps more places we’ve never even been.

On this one, we’re going to Townsville, Cairns…a lot of regional places.

And the regional spots are often the best, because they get so few…especially hip-hop crews, that when something comes through the kids just come out in force, and the buzz is just awesome.

You’d have to include Tasmania as regional…

Yeah, absolutely. And Tassie…we’ve been to Tassie a few times now, and it’s always been off-the-hook. It’s never really let us down. This time we’re extra excited because we’re going to Burnie as well. We’ve never been there, but we’ve heard a lot of good things.

The remix CD – when do you reckon that might come out?

It’s coming out on the ninth of September, and I think we hit Tassie on that weekend.

The actual ninth is our Launceston gig; that’s going to be a big party, because that’s going to be the official launch for it.

Bliss N Eso play Hobart’s Curly’s Bar on the 7th of September, Sirocco’s in Burnie on the 8th and launch the album in Lonnies nightclub in Launceston on the 9th.

By Dave Williams

A

G r o t e s q u e

G u i d e

T o

Fr o m

Fr e a k s h o w

to

Bliss

N

Eso

Heads of State Mynse DJ Grotesque – otherwise … B r i n g i n g m o r e h i p - h o p known by the slightly less a c t s d o w n t o H o b a r t … interesting moniker of Jason Hoggett – wants more. A member often; performing regularly around Tasmania for last three years. He also ran the ON POINT of Hobart hip-hop collective Heads the MC Battles at Mobius – an event which has since Of State alongside Mdusu, Dameza evolved into Syrup’s “SMACKDOWN” – sharing and Dunn-D, their forthcoming debut hosting duties with Mdusu. While primarily a showcase of battles, it was also another vehicle may be called “Making the Best of they created to showcase local talent.

What We’ve Got”, but it doesn’t there I recognized a need in Hobart for a mean they ever had any intention of “From small independent record label to give the talent settling for it. here a chance to get their material out,” he “Take what you do seriously,” he begins, “and you’ll be taken seriously”. And he is, as the head of S.L.U.T Productions (Support Local Underground Talent.

What – you thought it meant something else?).

Founded four years ago with the aim of bringing more hip-hop acts down to Hobart – and, in turn, raising Hobart’s profile – the company has in the time since brought down such high-profile national acts as Muph & Plutonic, Bias B, DJ Select and numerous others. “As a hip-hop fan myself, I was sick of the lack of shows,” he tells us. Of course, they weren’t his only reasons for starting the business. “…As a DJ I wanted more shows to play at.”

DJing is a craft he knows well, and one he works in

explained, “So I joined up with Tom Butler [Mdusu] and James Walsh [DJ Dameza].” Together they focused on various projects, including the release of the debut album from Mdusu and Dameza, “Sounds From our Town”. Around that time, Heads Of State was formed with Dunn-D, who is also an MC with Unleash The Nugget. In the time since, they’ve supported such high-profile acts as De La Soul and Blackalicious, as well as national stars Bliss N Eso and The Herd.

Heads Of State support The Funkoars at Hobart’s Republic Bar & Café on August 5th, and are touring with The Herd from August 17th to the 19th

By Tom Wilson

You might find him on stage supporting Bliss N Eso as one third of hip-hop crew Altrueism. You might find him at the mixing decks of gigs around Tasmania. You might find him beatboxing outside a pub for drunk guys to freestyle to. An artist with more versatility than a Swiss army knife, Mynse has become well known for his talents as an MC and hip-hop DJ. It’s fitting that he last appeared in SAUCE straddling a cannon – as a live performer, he’s blown us away. These days, to say that a hiphop artist comes “from the streets” is beyond a cliché, but in Mynse’s case, it couldn’t be more accurate – he lives and breathes hip-hop and has travelled the hard road long enough to deserve every success he has had in music, both as part of Altrueism and, more recently, as a solo artist.

And he works hard for it. He’s a common sight behind the mixing decks at gigs around northern Tasmania – working as a sound engineer for everyone from fellow MCs to punk and metal bands.

He’s been creating music since he was thirteen, but it wasn’t until four years later when the seventeen year old scored a pair of Numark decks and a mixer. After spinning records at parties, it was soon clear to him that …He last appeared he wanted to s t r a d d l i n g a c create music, rather than just showcase it as a DJ. With fellow hip-hop enthusiasts Ethic and Azrael, he formed Altrueism, and in the years since they have gone from the opening act of the notorious Freakshow cabaret night to supporting national luminaries Bliss N Eso at their Launceston show. On his own, he’s working on an EP called ‘The Mynstrual Cycle’ which will be out early next year.

in SAUCE a n n o n …

Altrueism is supporting 3to2 on the 17th of August at the Republic Bar.

By Tom Wilson PAGE 5

Nine Artists, One Vision, it’s

The Herd You know a hip-hop act has touched a nerve when their video is even shown on Andrew Denton’s “Enough Rope”. The nine-piece crew created quite a stir with their pertinent cover of Redgum’s “I Was Only 19”, and their album of 2005, “The Sun Never Sets”, won them thousands of new fans. Dave had a word with Richard before they begin their final tour of 2006 in Launceston this month…

For the last couple of years, I’ve got the impression that The Herd have been very careful about not being seen as a very political band. Do you think I’m on the money with that?

I don’t know… I don’t think so, necessarily. Maybe with a track like “77%”, we definitely in a sense made a name for ourselves with pretty outspoken political content.

I remember doing an interview with someone in the band, who was saying that you guys are getting to be known for that, and you had to be careful not to get stuck in that pigeonhole.

In a sense. I think that there’s a lot more kind of depth. I think the most important thing for us, lyrically and musically, to actually be relevant to the people in our generation. There’s a lot of music…a whole heap of music out there which doesn’t have much to say and which doesn’t particularly move people in any way.

It reminds me of that Smiths track, “Hang the DJ”…

(Laughs) Yeah. I don’t know if we’re making any kind of effort [to be political]. I know that we’re known for some pretty outspoken political content, but at the same time, if you listen to “The Sun Never Sets”, it deals with all sorts of stuff; everything from partying and the day after partying…regional towns…and also people who are stuck in war zones, and people who are born into them; also soldiers and whatnot, who find themselves in these extraordinary situations, and how they deal with it. I’d like to think that, lyrically and musically, we make some kind of connection with our audience, and that we’re talking about things that are relevant to everyone. And politics is part of life, you know? At the end of the day. A lot of people say, “Oh, we’re not interested

Publisher / Editor David Williams Graphic Design Simon Hancock shancock@sauceonline.net

Editorial Tom Wilson twilson@sauceonline.net

Contributors: Tina Anderson, Raena Armitage, Ryan Cooke, Laen Deakin, Sam Eddy, Ryan Farrington, Carl Fidler, Jimmy McMacken, Ian Murtagh, Alex Napier, Ingrid Reynolds, Dean Swanton Deadlines Sauce #30 (Sep 06) Adver tising Booking: 30/08/06 Adver tising Ar twork: 31/08/06 Gig Guide: 31/08/06 Editorial: 31/08/06

Address: Po Box 5094, Launceston, Tas, 7250 Phone: 03 6331 0701 Advertising: advertising@sauceonline.net Editorial: editorial@sauceonline.net Opinions expressed in Sauce are not neccesarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

Contents 4 5-13 13 14-15 16-17 18-19 20 21-25 26 Spor t 28 30 PAGE 6

Gig Reviews Hip Hop Travel Bug Bangers Gig Guide Hard Boiled Cd Reviews Rocksalt Games/Xtreme Heatlamp/Ar ts Street Fashion

in politics.” But it affects everyone, really. Maybe people aren’t so forthcoming with their views and their opinions about it, but it definitely affects people. I think it’s good for people to be reminded of some of the things that will potentially affect them.

Politics is everywhere. It’s not just governments; it’s everything and everyone.

Do you see the hip-hop scene still growing in Australia?

Oh, absolutely. It’s been growing for some time; it’s definitely finding its voice in what has been a pretty rock-dominated country in general, and finding bigger audiences and whatnot, which I think is a really positive thing. As I was saying, there are a lot of groups – hip-hop groups in particular – who have actually got something interesting to say; something relevant, that people can relate to. Political or not political, it doesn’t really matter. But there are some really interesting voices out there, and it’s good that there’s now a platform…a bigger platform for Australian hip-hop to get out there.

Has The Herd got any plans for breaking into overseas markets?

Yeah, we’d like to. Playing things independently, it’s hard to keep track of everything when you’re doing tours and putting out your own stuff and also other artists on your label; you’re putting out their records as well.

There’s a lot to keep you busy. It’s definitely something we’d like to do. There’s been little bits of distribution in Spain and Portugal, places like that, but we haven’t really gotten out there and pushed our stuff.

Do you think you will?

Yeah; I’d like to think we would. I think one of the challenges for us as The Herd is that there’s just so many of us. And getting something as simple as getting an invite to a music conference – which has happened before – it comes down to money. It costs a lot of money to move us, basically. So it’s tough in that sense, but I’m sure an opportunity will present itself in the near future.

I guess, after this tour, there might be some time to consider any options that might arise from overseas stuff. But it’s very early days in that regard, anyway.

So you still consider this the “childhood” of the band? Where do you see yourselves? And what’s your long-term goal?

Well it’s hard to tell because there’s so many of us in the group, and everyone’s at different spots.

But I’d like to think we’ve got two or three albums left in us at least. It’s a big task, doing a Herd album.

But it’s definitely very rewarding, and it’s great to be able to work with such a good bunch of people, and have so many different ideas and musical interests and whatnot. Combining those together is always good fun; it’s always good fun for us.

What are some of the other logistical problems you have to deal with when there’s nine of you, in terms of being places and being on the road?

It’s definitely not easy. We don’t actually have a tour manager; we’re self-managed in all the facets of the band and the label. It definitely makes it challenging.

I think we’re getting much better at it. When we’re on tour, everyone sort of takes on a role, whether it be… someone will book the accommodation; someone will book the flights. We’ll work out a basic itinerary and scheduling and all that kind of stuff.

So what’s your role?

In the last year or so, my role’s been organising merch and all that kind of stuff; making sure that when we go to a place like Tasmania or wherever that we’ve got someone who can help us out selling merchandise and that sort of stuff. That’s just one of the extra things I do, I guess.

The Herd play Launceston’s Saloon on the 17th of August, Hobart’s Uni Bar on the 18th and Sirrocco’s on the 19th.

By Dave Williams Illustration by Dean Swanton

On the Eve of a LandScrape

Crytearia

l ov e f l i p p i n g t h r o u g h c r a t e s o f d u s t y records.”

Ta s m a n i a a r t i s t s ov e r s e v e r a l y e a r s , h e self-produced “Create”, a compilation o f h i p - h o p t r a c k s h e ’ d w o r k e d ov e r t w o years.

S i n c e t h e n , h e h a s s t e a d i l y m ove d away from vocal works, focusing on the production of instrumental works; the beginnings of “LandScrape”, an album h e ’s b e e n w o r k i n g o n f o r a l m o s t t w o years.

Th e m u l t i t u d e o f d i f f e r e n t g e n r e s w h i c h inf luence him shine through his recent work; posted on his Myspace page under his production company Cr ytearia C r e a t i o n s . “ I l ov e m u s i c . I l ov e m a k i n g m u s i c ” h e s t a t e s . “ I l ov e m e s s i n g a r o u n d w i t h o l d k e y b o a r d s a n d a u d i o g e a r. I

Okay, blunt statement time.

Hobart’s Ren Rizzolo isn’t typical, and neither are the hip-hop and electronica tracks he creates.

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By Tom Wilson

…Ge …Genres which influence him shin rk… shine through his recent work…

Raised in a family of music enthusiasts, when Crytearia was eleven he heard an album that would be the catalyst for his love of hip-hop. “In 1996 I heard “Licensed to Ill” by The Beastie Boys,” he explains. “There was no turning back”.

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C l e a r l y, i t p r ov e d t o b e m o r e f u n t h a n he expected, and – drawing on a pool of inf luences ranging from new wave to funk, rock to eighties electro – he began producing music.

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PAGE 7

T h e

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Funkoars In the world of rap and hip-hop, a group earning special recognition for the immorality and debauchery of their live performance can only be a good thing. Feminists and concerned parents, lock up your daughters and avert your eyes and ears, because the Funkoars are about to hit Tassie. Dave Williams spoke to Dan AKA Trials…but was it really him?

How did you end up with your moniker?

I honestly can’t even remember, it was so long ago.

I know it came about somewhere in one of those drunken things as a kid hanging out in high school; something happened, and something came across something, and it stuck!

What I’ve read about you has made you out to be one of the most shocking hip-hop acts in Australia.

Hip-hop is pretty raw itself – you guys must be complete deviants!

(Laughs) That’s all it is, man! Because a lot of dudes, they’ll just go on stage, stand there and just kick their rhymes, whereas we like to go up there and actually have fun with it.

The kind of shit you hear on our record – like, we’ll get drunk, fuck up a song, jump off stage halfway through a song to get a case of beer – is true. This shit happens all the time.

The crowd are kind of accustomed to it now; we’ve got kind of a cult following around the place. If people are there in the front row, they’ll know exactly what to expect.

If they’re getting beer poured all over them, or there’re strippers on stage, they know what they came for.

So it started as a nickname before you were even doing hip-hop?

Yeah. All the dudes I hung out with were all graphwriters and stuff, so everyone was doing all their tags, and I was doing really shit tags, and I think that was it! (Laughs)

Is that something that we might be able to look forward to?

Yeah! Always, always! Strippers are always a part of the budget; we always try to factor them in as much as we can, if not for the crowd’s entertainment than just for our own.

Apart from nailing this interview, what’s your main goal for today?

My main goal for today is to successfully walk up to the local pub and have a chicken schnitzel with mushroom sauce. That’ll take all of the day. If mushroom’s not there, I’ll probably go with pepper.

We get to talk to attractive ladies backstage and shit like that.

Keep your expectations low, and you won’t be disappointed.

Exactly! That’s the motto of my entire life! Seriously!

(Laughs) I follow that shit!

I was wondering if you guys all met in a sex shop?

(Laughs) Nah! Sesta was conceived in a sex shop though; I know that for a fact. He’s quite proud of that fact. We all spend a lot of time browsing them together, but nah. We all kind of met around the place; I knew one of the guys from high school.

So what have the Funkoars been doing in the last month?

Procrastinating! Trying not to set up this tour! But having to set it up; having to put a set together. We work better off-the-cuff. We’ve been trying to avoid doing it, but we’ve finally been getting ourselves together and organising all of our sets and our onstage antics and all sorts of shit, so we can go on tour and make a bad name for ourselves again.

PAGE 8

Well, girls attract girls, so…

Whether they’re there to bitch about it, or they’re there to actually enjoy it, it’s wonderful!

Our DJ, who’s quite considerably older than us, used to sneak me in to rap shows when I was sixteen. The other guy I met at a rap show; we were just kicking bullshit out to each other. And he ended up hooking up with some dude’s wife! And I was like, “Man! This dude’s on the level!” And we kind of hung out from there!

You’ve got the new album, “Greatest Hits”. Great title – who’s idea was it?

The same as all the tracks, all the track names, all the lyrics, everything; it all comes from all of us, sitting around, just spawning stupid shit. Just talking endless shit to each other.

We were like, “Ah…we might as well call this one the “Greatest Hits”, ‘cause this is it! It’s going to be all over after this! Interviews are going to put all these hateful spins on us, so fuck it! We’re just going to call us this and go out with a bang!”

You reckon the feminist army is going to overthrow you?

Yeah, sooner or later. We had one interview last week where the dude rang up and was just fucking hammering us, man! He was going, “How do you feel that you’re dumbing down the youth of today?” And we’re like, “Whoa! Relax, man! Chill!” So we’ve had one so far, but only one.

You should’ve said to him, “Mate, have you ever heard of Elvis Presley?”

(Laughs) Pull the Elvis card on him!

But do you know what I mean? It’s exactly the same fucking thing!

Dude, the funniest part is, the joke was on him, because none of us could make the interview, so I let my mate who’s on the album do it and pretend to be us! So it wasn’t even one of the Oars answering the interview – it was just this other dude!

(Laughs) So am I actually talking to Trials?

Yeah, you actually are! This is a legit one! (Laughs) The Funkoars play Hobart’s Republic Bar on August 5th, supported by Crixus and Heads Of State.

By Dave Williams

Strippers are always a part of the budget

Driving Like It’s Hot Straight To Tassie

Ken Hell Through all the variations of genre and style in hip-hop there runs one line that divides it all. Humour. Its presence, or its absence. With his foot planted firmly in the former camp, MC Ken Hell isn’t about to apologise for not taking himself too seriously. On the contrary – he’s going to defend it, as Dave Williams found out when he spoke to the literally quite ill MC ahead of his Tassie shows with Weapon X...

pretty full-on; more than anything else we’ve done.

We did a few weeks of releasing it and it got thirtyfive thousand views, or something.

I just think comedy is such…people just love it, you know? You get people laughing, man, it’s the most powerful thing possible.

I agree with that. I definitely agree one-hundredpercent with that. That’s what I consider one of our strong points – we don’t take ourselves too seriously.

It’s just rap, really.

serious on them. It’s just not the place for it, really.

To what extent do you think other artists – who don’t incorporate much humour into their work – look down on the humourous aspect the music that you guys do as somehow less worthwhile? Do you ever get that impression?

Occasionally you get that impression. I think it’s funny to me. They’re the same kind of people that’ll tell you that rappers bragging about I’m-rich-andI’m-this-and-I’m-that are so vain, and it’s all about ego. And I’m like, “Yeah, it is – but if you’re trying to honestly tell me and tell the rest of the world, “Listen to me; I have a message” – if that’s not the

most vain thing in the world, and the most full-of-shit thing in the world, than I don’t know what is!” For what I do, you just take it for what it is. Other people are more than welcome to do more, and there are other artists who do more who I really get into, but you’ve got to take each different artist for what they are. I’m not going to sit there and take the piss out of someone without any good reason for it.

Ken Hell & Weapon X play Launceston’s James Hotel on Saturday August 26th.

By Dave Williams

Where did the idea for the track come from? Is it to some extent based on personal experience?

(Laughs) Absolutely! There are certain words I can’t say without sounding like a massive wog. Like, “my cousin” – if I don’t try to say it properly, I totally

It took to me ages to figure out that th at “accelerator” doesn’t have a “g” “acc “g ” Would you prefer I call you “Mr. Hell”? Or is “Ken” okay?

Whatever you prefer. I’m not fussy – I’ve been called everything under the sun.

I personally like “Mr Hell”…

“Mr Hell” is great. I’ve had “Ken Hall”, “Ken Hill”…

I’ve had “Kel Hell”… Personally, I love “Kenny Hill”.

Out of you and the Weapon, who’s got the biggest beer belly?

I’d say, at the moment, he does. He doesn’t drink beer. But he’s definitely got more of a belly at the moment. I’ve been going to the gym these last few months, so it’s making being sick extra hard. You know – when you start going to the gym, and then you start getting angry because you can’t go? I’ve got that at the moment. I’ve been there the last four months, and I’ve definitely lost a few. I’m starting to get back in shape.

Do you reckon that now would be the most wellknown that you guys have ever been?

Yeah…I think, just after the “Otherman” clip dropped, we started to get a bit of notoriety. But I think the success of the “Drive It Like It’s Hot” clip has been

sound like the biggest wog ever. What else is there…

“Hugely” – that another one I get picked on a lot for. It took me ages to figure out that “accelerator” doesn’t have a “g”.

(Laughs) I was thinking more if you have personal experience driving hot cars?

Nah, nah. It’s mostly talking about hot cars when you’re a teenager, hanging at the bus stop of the Westfield Shopping Town. That was something I did day in, day out. The character is basically a big group of all my friends growing up, all rolled into one.

For me, the clip celebrates the average Aussie – it doesn’t build you guys up to be some kind of P Diddy wannabes. Was that a real conscious approach to how you were going to create that?

Basically, when I wrote the track, it was just pissfunny; that’s all we were thinking of. We didn’t really think of who we were pushing it towards or anything…

Do you try to build humour into a lot of your work, or do you guys have a serious side?

We do have a serious side. It comes out occasionally… not that much. We’ve also got these mix-tapes; these promotional mix-tapes. And you really can’t be

Pig e o n Chest?

Pigeon Che st? Pigeon-Toed?

P ig e o n-To e d? No, No , it’s

Pigeon John You might know a fair bit about Pigeon John. You might have caught him on his first visit to Australia.

You might be familiar with his beginnings as an MC in LA’s famed Good Life Café, sharing a stage with Jurassic 5 and Kurupt. But, even if

you knew all that, I’ll bet you were still wondering, “What the hell kind of a name is “Pigeon John”?” Well, SAUCE’s Dave Williams was too…

So are you planning on doing a big international tour and maybe coming to Australia following the success of “Higher”?

Yeah – I’m coming to the big O-Z! November twelfth to the twenty-seventh; me and Lyrics Born, so I’m looking forward to that. I came there once as an opening act for Ugly Duckling; that was my first time out there, and that was the bomb. It was beautiful.

I’ve got to ask you about your moniker, your name – “Pigeon John”. Is that because you’re such a soft, gentle guy? Or is it because you’ve got a pigeon chest? Pigeon-toed?

(Laughs) Man, you know what? The chest is probably a little bit true, to be honest. I have a…I have a flat chest! I’ve been working on it for twenty-seven years.

But my real name is John, and how I came about it is, my friend… there’s this artist called Chicken Chest, a dub artist. She [my friend] was playing around one day, and my friend said, “You should be called “Chicken John”.” I was like, “What are you talking about? I need a rap name! I need a good, rap name! So people will take me seriously!”

We were kids, and his mum overheard us talking in the kitchen. She poked her head in, and said, “You don’t look like a chicken! You look more like a pigeon!” We started laughing, and the name stuck!

There seems to be a lot of creative stuff coming out of California. Do you think the creative output of California is because people flock to California?

Or do you think there’s something there that encourages creativity?

Ah…both. Definitely, a lot of people flock to California.

And there’s a lot of California-born people… Well, I’m not going to say that. I was going to say, “More

That’s why I love LA and California.

I guess the other element that charges things forward there is the real love of hedonism; a real love of enjoying oneself.

Definitely. The weather has a lot to do with it.

I’ve seen a lot of parallels to California and Australia when I first went out there.

It really felt the same. And it had the bomb food like California too. It’s kind of weak for me to say, “Oh, the weather puts people in a good mood”, you know? But I think it has a bit to do with it.

Your album, “Pigeon John & The Summertime Pool Party” – that title, for me, is hedonism throughand-through.

(Laughs) Yes…but there’s always the morning after.

But the general vibe of that record is definitely to have a good time and to let your cares fade away.

But there’s a couple of dark gems on that album that I love as well.

Which ones are the “dark gems” that you love?

I like that song “As We Know It”, about an argument between man and God. I love that! And then how it starts at the party, and by the end of the record it’s drawing old; kind of like the feeling that the sun is going down, and now what?

The big “now what?” After we’ve partied, what do we do? Do we do the same thing? Do we listen to the CD again? Or do we throw the CD out the window? What do you do? (Laughs)

You’ve Yo ’ve got a gang of fools just trying to do what they love; most of them are waiters… s… so than New York”. That’s just a little thing to diss New York! (Laughs) I’m not going to do that! But in LA...in this one city, you have thousands of actors trying to do their thing. Then you have thousands of musicians, thousands of directors, thousands of artists, thousands of dancers, thousands of sculptors… It’s just endless! The city is a city that pretty much thrives on art and commerce.

And it’s a dreamy city. I know so many people who are dreamers, who live in California – LA specifically.

If you surround yourself with all dreamers…it’s kind of a good thing, because you’re motivated to give up the façade of, “Man, I have to work so I can eat so I can work so I can eat” mentality. You’ve got a gang of fools just trying to do what they love; most of them are waiters, and they have these gigs to pay the rent.

But at least they’re dreamy.

What’s your relationship with God? Is there a God? Do you have a God? Yeah. I love that guy. I definitely believe and stuff. I try to pursue a relationship kind of thing versus a religious kind of thing.

There’ve been a lot of times…the time that I find almost like communion with God is when I do music.

When it’s me all alone, trying to write songs and write lyrics and all that sort of stuff, it doesn’t feel like it’s just me and a keyboard there. It really feels like a communion. I really love that.

The new album “Pigeon John and the Summertime Pool Party” is out now, and he’s touring Australia in November. Stay tuned for details.

By Dave Williams PAGE 9

Dave Steps Up to Battle with

Che Fu

out there; if you have a problem, and you’re keen to battle, visit me! Hip-hoppers understand what I’m saying?

Are there any artists who have inspired you or motivated you to produce an album in this way?

Oh yeah. Mad Lib – I’ve been just doing my head in with Mad Lib. His kind of beat-making; his approach to sounds in general. I’m really digging him at the moment.

So he was a big influence on this last album of mine… He started some stuff with Danger Mouse; he’s done a lot of stuff them, Dr. Doom. He’s kind of big in the underground hip-hop scene.

The album’s title, “Beneath The Radar”; why was it important to give the CD this title? And what do you see as some of the advantages of being “Beneath the Radar”?

Well, for me, the whole concept of the title “Beneath the Radar”, it was basically touching on a lot of subjects and a lot of styles which a traditional sort of hip-hop-style record wouldn’t normally sound like.

What the title was supposed to mean was that I’m a hip-hop cat who has approached my music in a traditional hip-hop kind of way, but who has tried to get outside the box and try and re-visit other tempos and other styles of music.

Hip-hop, traditionally, is from around eighty-five

New Zealand rappers aren’t known for their violent tendencies.

That said, though, it’s probably not a good idea to go mike-to-mike with Kiwi rhyme-spitter Che Fu. Having carved a name for himself with his dynamic approach to lyricism and beats, he’s making eyebrows rise all over again with his latest LP. SAUCE looked to the southeast and scanned the horizon, but never saw him coming, because Mr Fu likes to come in “Beneath The Radar”…

The new album, “Beneath The Radar” – from my point of view it covers a lot of different genres, like soulful, RnB sort of stuff, hip-hop, reggae. Why such variety?

I think that’s just me, mate… As far as the album, I definitely squashed as many…squeezed as much as I could out of what I get into. Yeah; there’re definitely a lot of styles.

Do you think that’s going to help you or hurt you, in terms of your audience, ticket sales, record sales… Do you think it helps you or hurts you commercially?

Possibly, mate – I think either/or. From a creative point of view, I don’t really take that into account; I just try to sit down and approach each song without any preconceived responsibilities to any fans or any sort of audience out there.

I just put my needs and wants musically first and foremost. Basically, if I like it, I move on with it, and I couldn’t care less what other people thought about me.

I’ve been trapped before where I’ve taken that into account, and I’ve just come out with something that I didn’t like. So first and foremost, I just go with my own musical wants.

The real hip-hop fans are pretty hard on the softer styles of music. I wonder how comfortable they’ll be with hip-hop tracks intermingled between the other stuff.

Yeah, I know what you’re saying, man – even to the point where the hip-hop cats definitely don’t agree with guys who rap and sing; the crossover thing. I’ve definitely taken that into account.

But my whole approach to MCing, and my style of hip-hop, is basically, it feels natural for me to MC and to sing and do what I do. I basically just carry on with that; what I perform and what I do. I couldn’t care less.

But I’m always keen for a battle, you know what I mean? MC to MC, I’m not too perturbed having a battle. As far as the traditional hip-hoppers

PAGE 10

BPM up to about ninety-nine BPM, and it doesn’t really get any faster than that.

So I tried different tempos at different speeds, and just tried to be a little more adventurous in my approach.

All the big names in hip-hop were all there.

That’s kind of what it’s like there; when someone’s trying to come out and do their thing, everyone’s always there to support.

P Money has described you as a “living legend”.

What does that mean to you?

It means that [I’m] an “old dude”. (Laughs) I mean, it’s definitely a humbling thing when I hear that kind of stuff. I do realise that I’ve been doing it for quite some time, and when I hear stuff like that…yeah, it makes me feel warm and fuzzy.

We’re kind of lucky like that.

How close-knit is the hip-hop scene in New Zealand? Is it segmented; north-vs-south etc?

How much do you have to do with each other, especially P Money?

Well, as I mentioned before [the interview], I just came back pretty hungover from this release party last night.

I hear about crews over in the States who have beefs and stuff.

And last night was a pretty good example of what the sort of vibe is like here.

Everyone was out last night supporting this local crew; P Money was out, Scribe was out.

Possibly, a reason for that might be is because there’s not much serious money in this game, at the moment anyway, so there’s no real animosity – from an economic point of view anyway.

And they’re beefing over millions of dollars.

That just doesn’t happen back here. When there’s not much money, there’s probably not as much hate either.

Che Fu’s album “Beneath the Radar” is out now.

By Dave Williams

…Yo have a problem, and you’re …You u’ e keen to battle, visit me!

Spinning the Decks Behind Phrase, it’s

DJ Flagrant In 1998, two DJs formed The Untouchables Crew – a worldwide network of hip-hop MCs and DJs encompassing all aspects of the genre. One of the founding members was Melbourne’s DJ Flagrant, who in the time since has supported no less than the likes of Busta Rhymes, Jurassic 5 and Lyrics Born. About to go on tour with rising underground MC Phrase – heading out as support for Bliss N Eso – he got in touch to tell us about the hip-hop scene deep in the heart of Texas.

Where did it all start?

It started for me when I moved to Nashville of all places. Although Nashville is the country and western capital of the world, it has a very strong underground hip-hop movement. I got taken to a rave where this turntablist called Alejan was performing.

I remember watching him cut up these records that I had never heard before and I remember seeing all these people in the crowd mouthing all the lyrics. I instantly knew that I wanted to do what he was doing and I really wanted to hear more of the music he was playing.

How do you and Phrase work together – what’s the process where beats meet rhymes?

When we are preparing live show remixes etc, I will usually have a conceptual chat with Phrase about what kind of vibe we want, then I will go back on my own, remix the track, bring it back to Phrase and he will give it the “yes” or “no”. As for the “Talk With Force Mixtape” we spent about two weeks on that.

I played Phrase hundreds of different beats and he picked the best ones.

I then sequenced up all the beats for him to match his vocals, then he spent two days in the studio and laid down all his vocals.

mixed everything down.

When I am laying down cuts for a song, I will usually go through thirty or forty records to find the specific words I hear in my head, then I just lay ‘em down with different scratch variations and we just choose the best cuts.

How did you and Phrase get together?

I knew Phrase’s older sister before I knew Phrase and she used to tell me how her younger brother was a “wannabe rapper” ha-ha.

Even though I had never heard his material, I just assumed he was crap because of the way she spoke about him. In late 2003/2004, I started seeing Phrase out at the clubs I was DJing at and he used to keep bailing me up and asking me to do cuts on his record.

I continually told him to give me a demo and I would have a listen but he refused to give me a copy of his work.

This went on for about a year until he called me one day and asked me to come to his studio to check out his stuff and I was so sick of him asking me to do cuts that I agreed to go meet him just so he would quit bugging me.

So I get to the studio, he plays me two tracks and as soon as I heard it I knew that this cat was going to change the game.

I agreed to go meet [Phrase] just so he would quit bugging me

After the gigs in Tassie, what’s next for you?

Well we will be on tour with Bliss N Eso till midNovember so we are going to be pretty flat out.

But by the end of this year I will have a new mixtape out that should get necks snapping and we are shooting to have Phrase’s next album completed by January of 2007, so I will be working to make sure my cuts on that album send all you other DJs back to the drawing board. Mwahahahaha!

DJ Flagrant and Phrase support Bliss N Eso at Hobart’s Curly’s Bar on the 7th of September, Sirocco’s in Burnie on the 8th and Lonnies nightclub in Launceston on the 9th.

By Dave Williams

He brought them back to me as acappella’s and I

Talk ing in Force, Talking Fo r ce , Rhyme Rhym e and

Phrase Mentors; most people have them, even if they don’t know it yet – someone who has taught us or helped us in a way that has enhanced, and maybe even saved, our life. For Phrase, it was a case of the latter. A Melbourne rap artist with a widelyacclaimed debut album “Talk With Force”, he spoke to me about the mentor he owes for his second chance at life…

For me it was my early teens. I didn’t fit in at high school and really went off the rails. I had a pretty heavy drug habit, a lot of my school mates had cut me off and I had left home and had no contact with my family. I really felt that I had no support and no way out. Eventually, I came in contact with a now long-term friend, Jim Stynes, who really helped me find myself and my passion for music. I am now a firm believer that you can achieve whatever it is [that] you put your mind to.

We understand that you’re part of a production outfit called “Crooked Eye”. How’s that going?

It’s been great; we are really busy. The crew consists of myself, J Skoobz and Daniel Merriweather. Dan has just moved overseas, so J and I have a lot on our

…Until a few years ago Triple M radio was still running its “No Rap Crap” campaign…

The messages in “Hold On” are very uplifting and positive. When was a time in your life when you needed to hear that advice?

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– Melbourne’s hottest up-and-coming rapper.

You’ve been quoted as saying that you want to “contribute to the groundwork needed to shift this country’s pessimistic perception of hip hop and anything non rock.” In what ways do you see it as being pessimistic?

I just feel that Australia has been a rock-based country for years, and I think there is also a racist undertone that still exists out here towards black music. I think Oz hip-hop artists are making some good quality music and it doesn’t get the recognition it deserves. I still hear things like, “That’s that whiteboy-want-to-be-black rap music”. Let’s be honest; until a few years ago Triple M radio was still running its “No Rap Crap” campaign. That being said, I made that comment two years ago, and I think the scene, industry and public awareness has come leaps and bounds since then.

What do you think it is about your album that sets it apart from the rest, lyrically and sonically?

We really tried to lift the bar on production, and I think I came hard on some topics that most steer

clear of out here, like drug issues, teen suicide and other things instead of just rapping about beer, fish & chips and football.

What were some of the most significant things that have happened to you in your life which you draw upon as inspiration?

To be honest, anything that reflects the human spirit and tells a tale of success through tragedy. I love to see the beauty in the dark and tough side of life.

At this stage, what is the most important thing in your life, and why?

My family, my friends and my music. I am a workaholic – I was given a second chance at life, and I plan to make the most of it…

Phrase supports Bliss N Eso at Hobart’s Curly’s Bar on the 7th of September, Sirocco’s in Burnie on the 8th and Lonnies nightclub in Launceston on the 9th.

His debut album “Talk With Force” is out now.

By Dave Williams

18 King St Devonpor t - 6424 7851 PAGE 11

The Personal Evolution of

N ’ Fa

In life, change is always certain – it’s just a question of when it happens. For the 1200 Techniques MC, that couldn’t be truer. Stepping out into new territory with his first solo release, he’s changed more than his moniker and his hairstyle, and he spoke to Dave Williams about the album and the path he walked to create it.

F i r s t ly I wa n t e d t o a s k yo u a b o u t t h e shor tening of your moniker from N’Famas to N’fa.

Well N’fa’s actually my bir th name; the name my parents gave me. It means “my father”.

My father’s from Sierra Leone in West Africa, and when my g randfather passed away, which was when I was first bor n, he called me N’fa.

It’s like a reincar nation thing.

I w a s a l w a y s b e i n g c a l l e d “ N ’ Fa re d ” , “N’Famation”…so when I was star ting out with Peril and all them, they used to call me “N’Famas” all the time…

With this album, I’m digging into cer tain par ts of myself that I haven’ t really stepped into and looked at; par t of the element of

But it’s weird – even though I’ve got to a point now where I am fine, I still think about them all a lot. It’s never ending, I guess.

I love that, in one of the tracks off “Cause An Effect”, how you say you “represent the people strug g ling to pay tax, strug gling to eat”. What do you know of that side of life?

Well I didn’ t g row up in a ver y wealthy h o u s e o r a ny t h i n g ; a s i n g l e p a re n t household.

The neighbourhood…[was full of] people just tr ying to get themselves together. They were pretty hard times; mum tr ying to feed myself and my brother…we were pretty big, tr ying to do spor ts… There was just never enough.

There were days where we’d have to stretch things out. My mother was always skinnier; I only realised later that it was because she never really used to eat because she wanted us to eat.

Another thing that stood out for me on the album sleeve was that you thank your “Melbourne Swan View 6056 GGS Crew” for “keeping you sane when you’ve been on the edge of losing your self ”. Can you explain that a little bit?

[They] …all the friends I g rew up with in Per th. “GGS” – all my friends at high school.

I got a scholarship to a private school. I think we all lose ourselves at times, and cer tain

[My mum] never really used to eat eat because she wanted us to eat revealing myself. [It’s] an unveiling – I cut my hair and beard and brought my name back to my name.

This is a more per sonal album for you. A lot of the comments you’ve made on your album sleeve really refer to that. The fir st people you thank on the album are your family, and you say that you “miss them all the time”.

Why do you miss them so much?

Ah…I don’ t know. They’re impor tant to me, you know? Par t of my existence. They all live so far away. Even if I disliked them, I’d probably list them, but I really care about my family; they’re always really suppor tive people.

I’ve been quite blessed in that way. I’ve got a lot of friends who don’ t miss their families at all. But I just do, and I wanted them to know that ever y time they read the album sleeve.

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If you can’ t deal with oneself on your own, you can’ t really deal with anything. If I can take care of that element, I’ll be happier.

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I’m a pretty up-and-down person emotionally; the highs are high, and the lows are really low. Sometimes I do feel a bit dismayed with things within myself.

Some of my friends have just slapped me up about the head the right way sometimes; reminding me that there’s plenty more good things to come, and to just stay positive…

I’m glad they’re still around in my life.

If you believe the ads on TV, some people would say you’ re describing your self as bipolar…

(Laughs) I might be! I’m not extreme, but I think people are becoming more and more tow ards that w ay. There’s so much stress imposed in ways that we’re meant to be for society.

It’s hard to live up to ourselves; our wants and dreams all the time.

So I think it’s all about step-by-step processes and finding fulfilment within oneself, and if my music and some of my stor y can help other youth g rowing up to know that there are other people going through things, and we’re all stepping forward together… So they can feel like they’re a par t of something positive rather than something negative.

N’Fa’s debut solo album “Cause An Effect” is out now.

By Dave Williams

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Now that you’ re doing this by your self, do you feel a bit like it’s “you against the world”?

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friends I’ve had just keep me together.

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Making Chewbacca Scream with

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Unleash The Nugget

pull them to the stairs and we all run up on stage. The crowd erupts.

Soon, there are fists punching the air, feet pounding the earth “We must Rise. We must Rise.”

Nothing like a dog bite scar on your wrist to prove you’ve been in India

So what is the Nugget?

And who is unleashing it?

Well…I’m afraid I can’t help with the first one, but in naming the guilty parties, I can point a few fingers. Hailing from the suburbs of Hobart, the then-six-piece, now nine-piece hip-hop/ rap ensemble had its beginnings at Rosny College four years ago.

Well, so we’ve heard, anyway. When recently interviewed, the band had a different version of events. “We started at a “Star Wars” convention in Ohio, Shanghai!” They told us.

“We were trying to find the modal melodic simplicity of Chewbacca’s screams!”

Hmm… Meanwhile, back on planet Earth, UTN quickly honed their musicianship and birthed their now well-known fusion style of funk, jazz, rock, reggae and Latin.

They were quick to make a dent in the college band scene, even scoring a spot at the 2003 Gone South festival in Launceston. The group soon became known for energetic and tight live performances – featuring two MCs, keys, guitars, live drums and a horn section.

The level of exposure they have enjoyed in the times since, and the broadly positive reactions of Tasmanian audiences, could be attributed in part to the success of live ensembles such as The Cat Empire, which surfaced at around the same time. Their numerous gigs as support act for live hip-hop band True Live no doubt draw more comparisons.

But as far as Unleash The Nugget are concerned, such comparisons can only mean so much. What sets them apart? “We are maybe less “hip-hop”,” they tell us – “[We] focus on our own style, whatever that might be at the time.”

So what the hell is the style now? “We play progressive, trance-inspired hip-hop” they explained.

Clear as mud? Anyhoo, they’ve been keeping themselves busy in recent times, laying down some new tracks and tackling the no doubt difficult tasks required to get all nine members in one spot for rehearsals.

Her voice sweeps the heads of the Manipuri crowd.

Spoke’s didge pounds the night air. I grab Serena’s hand backstage, with a wink.

Nearby are some young musicians and rappers. I

Earlier this year, I spent two months travelling through North East India with a blues band from Byron Bay. Beginning with the Roots Festival in Meghalaya, the band, Aurora Jane, comprising lead singer, Jane Hole, with Ben Karsay on drums, Linden Lester (Bass) and Carla Versitano (back up vocals).

Together with Gavin Spokes on the didgeridoo & film maker Serena Stevenson and myself documenting the tour, the seven of us travelled through Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram & Assam..

Deep into tribal country, seething with political unrest. Each state has its own warrior culture, with its own tongue. The region is particularly difficult to obtain visas for. Only through the music were we granted access via special permits.

Interviews with the press followed as well as TV coverage. Our faces strewn across the Nagaland Post and The Shillong Times like it was Mick Jagger who had rolled into town…

Not to discredit the quality of Jane’s music, a singer/songwriter who has performed throughout Australia, East Timor, India and New Zealand., her rhythm; is an explosive fusion of rock and blues. Throughout the tour we were astounded by the warmth and compassion showed to us by the seldom visited people of the North east. These are some clippings from my journals: Day 1 Arriving in Calcutta. Sepia streets & midnight beggar’s eyes.

2am morning & our group becomes seven, as Jane, Ben & Linden fly in from Mumbai. Serena takes out her camera for the first time and records Spokes, Carla and I greeting them at Kolkata airport. Low lamplight, we taxi through old streets in a white Ambassador, to the hotel of lime green walls and three in a bed.

Day 8

Dimapur. NAGALAND

“Aurora Jane, Australian band playing tonight” Banners are hung across the streets.

Above the heads of rickshaws drivers & newborn

babies lying naked on newspaper, women in shredded saris.

Downtown the sun is warm, the markets filled with a colourful stench of spice and fruit. Dried fish. We wander past the man selling Hessian bags full of spices and bags of suffocating frogs.

Dead puppy heads in buckets. Their jaws pulled back to reveal teeth and skeletal structure. Skin tied, & blood stains on red buckets. A woman sits cross-legged beside a square patch of eggplants. To get a good stuffing ? “You feed the dog rice before the killing.”

She smiles sweetly up at me offering a nod.

A few metres away, some other dog’s lay bound and muzzled. Three helpless heads - bodies wriggling in hessian sacks.

Referred to as, head hunters, the Nagas have had a tumultuous history…

Incredibly proud warrior people, who own their words. At the concert, one Naga sidled up to me with a coffee. “We like you,.” he said. “ You’re our friend.” I smile as he shakes my hand and I go to take the coffee from him. To thank him..

“But if we hate you..” he interrupts … We kill you.”

He hands me the coffee with a smile Day 14 Imphal ( MANIPUR ) Another sound check by sunset on a stage that is even more impressive than the last. The music vibrates out across the stadium, secured by tin fencing and bamboo. Men dance and stomp barefoot in the shadows. Linden’s bass guitar vibrates out across the land and moonlight creeps upon us.

All seven of us are presented on stage with the traditional Manipuri shawls.

We’re overwhelmed by a sea of faces, surrounded by forts and soldiers., where curfew is not a hair past nine pm.

Five songs/ six songs…8.50pm.. the crowd is buzzing/ the soldiers rocking a little on their heels.

Seven songs… Jane turns her voice to the mic, “This is our last song Imphal, it’s called “Rise“ .

“Born unto stolen country, I just don’t feel at home in my skin I’m prizing my eyes open inside this dream.

We must Rise. We must Rise”

The song finishes,.

8.58pm we are being shut down. “One more song!”

The crowd, stomping each word.

“One more song.”

Jane is ushered off stage as the crowd descends and the air turns heavy.. Thick with anticipation, and a little fear.

Some men in the crowd, their blood swirling in motion, wild eyes run through the crowd brandishing bamboo sticks...as soldiers chase them… kicking at fences…

Carla & I are shoved into cars with bullet proof windows. Soldiers barking Manipuri out the windows we are driven back to the hotel, another hotel with parched white walls, some mosquitoes and a guard in the hallway.

Aizawl, MIZORAM Cliffs drop away and the trees grow higher, higher up the mountain as we wind into the sky.

Houses on the side of the road rest on spindly stilts some forty metres in the air. Clouds that button themselves around us like a blouse.

We look out over Bangladesh.

On the racks of the jeep, the wind is wind whipping our faces, driving through tea plantations in Assam..

Dolly Parton yodelling out the window below.

Bumping along, scarves wedged between the steel bars. Grinning like kids.

We arrive in Mizoram, driving into mountains of stars, the road that carves its way around the mountain.

We’re winding down and down, the road teasing us with glimpses. Then back up again, around and around, down, up, down, with the cliff dropping away to reveal a landslide of houses, built into mountains as if a cluster of diamonds. This place smells raw.

We stick our heads out the window, to taste new air, jungle air, to smell tigers in the trees.

Assam The Night. I Realised that everything stinks like an Indian street, even the man’s breath, who asks me about my country. He says, “How you find my country Miss?” as I exhale cigarette smoke from my lips. Breath that smells of mixed spice chai, of pig carcass, of bitumen and pink rubbish piles in the gutter, of sweet perfumed saris.

Of women’s eyes and men’s urinals, baskets of mandarin peel and boys, who shove their old man’s hands in tailored jacket hand-me-downs and that fucking dog that ate my wrist on the last night here.

India I’ll be back to you.

By Ingrid Reynolds

Shine On Sirocco’s!

After many years in Wilmot St, Burnie’s favourite nightclub, Sirocco’s has moved to new, massively-expanded premises, in the old Cinema One premises, in Mount Street..

Many months in the making, the new venue is now one of the showcase venues in Tasmania, with a capacity of around 800.

Mega amounts of “moulah” have been spent, renovating the old building, so we thought you’d like to have a look around. Of course, you’ll only get a true appreciation in the flesh. So, check it out!

About to play another show with True Live, and with their debut full-length in the works, these are certainly busy times for Unleash The Nugget; let’s hope they’ll soon be able to pick the fruits of their labour.

Unleash The Nugget play Hobart’s Republic Bar & Café with Melbourne’s True Live on the 22 nd and 23 rd of September.

By Tom Wilson PAGE 13

Spinning Out With

by putting a more experienced DJ back-to-back with new talent if they play a similar sound. It’s always nice seeing someone tear a dance floor to pieces for the first time… Now I’m working with Scott Woodhouse who is one of Tasmania’s most talented DJs and we are blowin’ up the spot on August the 4th at the Duke.

The Stanton Spin FX

Warriors

You’re moving to Melbourne – why?

Since I was sixteen I have been travelling around the planet buying tunes with breaks and rocking anything I could get my wax on. I have always been well received in Melbourne playing at Revolver and Earthcore, and holding a residency at The Laundry for a year. Before I moved to Tassie I worked for Benetton and cut dresses for Myers and Katies and have been making hats on and off for the last ten years. The lady I make hats and other garments with is Coby Hopwood, who is now managing the lounge/club in Melbourne, She said, “Come get down with some next level action”. It feels like the right time to challenge myself again. I will also be working with MC Rigby which has to be one of the highlights of my DJing career. I have always respected the city for its deep sense of fashion, art, and music.

For aspiring DJs in and around Hobart, the first of September is going to be a sad day. One of the key DJs and event organisers of southern Tasmania, Spinfx, is packing up his records and heading to Melbourne, about to take up a position at Stomp alongside fellow DJ and friend Matt Hoffman. I had a word with him about the infamous Boombox parties, the big move, and where it’s going to take him.

You’ve become known for holding Boombox parties.

What makes a Boombox party different to others?

Boombox was the first nu breaks party in Tassie.

I started playing the sound after a trip to London in 1999. I picked up the movement with releases like “Marine Parade #1” and other seminal nu breaks labels that started around this time. When I first started playing it, people would ask why I was playing my drum-n-bass on the wrong speed.

Since then Hobart has become one of the hottest destinations for breaks DJs around the world.

I organised the first Boombox because the club promoters at the time didn’t think the sound would be well received and there were a heap of young DJs on the street ready to kick it – Gnosis, W Balls, Adam T, Parky etc. Mobius was the perfect place for us to cut our teeth with this eclectic new direction in sound. Boombox went from strength to strength with the help of Joe Hamilton, hosting internationals, turntable-ists, d-n-b DJs and always bringing something new to the table. In its latest incarnation we are rocking Mint at the Duke; still pushing the buck with a Tasmanian urban renaissance that includes breakdancers, live graffiti, turntable-ists, food and keeping it real with the bulk of the night being Tassie’s premier breaks DJs. [We’re] also bringing through new talent on a monthly basis, so drop in your demos; we have a family atmosphere and the older DJs are always happy to have a chat and help out. We have been successful of late

We’ve heard that you’re starting work for Stomp, the distribution company. How did this come about, and what will the job entail?

The job is not completely locked yet; just waiting for a position to come up in the warehouse. One of my best mates Matt Hoffman is an accounts manager and has invited me to come over. In his words – “Let’s tear this city up!” So it’s cool to know the guys at Stomp already. Some of you might remember a party at Mobius called Melbourne vs. Hobart… We smashed them and all the Melbourne DJs were from Stomp. The job will be finding records and CDs to fill orders for record shops in a warehouse with over eighty thousand tunes – fun!

What new opportunities do you think this new posting is going to offer you? What’s your grand plan?

Ah… The grand plan is to incorporate music, fashion and art into a club/festival/gallery, performance art shows, costumes, fashion, vocals, painting, body art, session musicians and turntables bouncing ideas in the urban renaissance. Stay tuned, get turned on and don’t drop out!

How will this new role affect your DJing?

I love playing at Revolver – it’s like a massive Mobius, and as a promoter there is a lot more room for creativity with a much larger population and more experienced artists to bounce ideas off. I will keep the spinfx sound because that’s me and it hasn’t changed since I was fourteen. I will develop and express myself to a larger audience, only playing once a week or once a fortnight so I can put all my energy into a show rather than playing every night on auto pilot. I dig the whole “no skool” thing; just playing good tunes whatever style they are. Me and Matt Hoffman are looking at starting a show called “No Skool”…

You can catch Spinfx during August at Syrup’s Late Night Booty Call on Wednesdays and MESH on Thursdays. He plays his last Tasmanian show for a while at Hobart’s Halo on September the 1st

By Tom Wilson

Touring Artists

DJ Randall (UK)

MPK (Adelaide)

Over Their Dead Bodies

Poxy Music

They have a habit of dressing up like “Miami Vice” characters in photo shoots, and the last press picture they supplied us was a naked woman holding an “I Love Poxymusic” sign over her chest. But you’d be mistaken if you thought the duo of DJ/producers Pocket and Ken Cloud weren’t taking their trade very seriously. Since winning the Best Remix gong at the 2003 ARIAs, they’ve been hailed in many circles as “the kings of remixing”, and with an album due to be completed in a few months, the momentum is picking up quickly.

What have you been up to today?

Hmmm… We’ve just had a meeting with our manager and record label to discuss the plan of action for our next three months.

What have poxymusic been up to in the last month?

We’ve been writing tracks for our forthcoming album for the past eight months. The last month hasn’t been any different. All the while trying to keep our heads above water!

I don’t want question over

You two are hailed as the “kings of remixing”.

What do you think requires more creativity – remixing or producing original tracks? And why do you do what you do?

We are? I’d definitely say producing. Recontextualising someone else’s idea is always easier than coming up with and original one.

What’s the basic process that leads you to remix a track? Who initiates it?

They tend to originate from either a record label commissioning a remix in a style that you fit, or from the artist themself who specifically wants you. In most cases it’s the label.

The two of you do a lot of work independently of each other. What projects are you working on at the moment?

Sameer – I do a lot of production, mix-downs, editing and mastering for others, plus I also have a production company called thunk.com. au that supplies custom audio for commercial purposes; advertising, ringtones, web, etc.

Ken – I tend to concentrate on the Mad Racket parties as well as touring artists such as Jamie Lidell.

But at the moment and for the next while we are pretty much focused on our album which will be completed in three months. This will be out in February of next year and we will then be committed to touring it.

Out of pure curiosity, one of your press photos is a woman holding a sign saying “I Love Poxy Music” over her breasts. To what extent do you think this is a good representation of your sound?

I think it represents our love of boobs well.

What is one artist or genre of music that you’d remix “over your dead body”, so to speak?

Do you mean something that we wouldn’t remix over our dead body? I don’t want to answer this question over my dead body, unless there’re some dollars in it, of course. [I hate it when typos come back to haunt me – Tom] What’s next for you guys?

The album. The album. The album. The album. The album. The album. The album. The album.

Poxymusic play the James Hotel in Launceston on Saturday the 5th of August.

By Dave Williams

to my

answer this dead body…

Underground Freedom for

Mark Dynamix He just can’t get enough of us. Or is it that we can’t get enough of him?

Certainly the latter is true, and I guess the former, ‘cause otherwise he wouldn’t be coming back. This visit sees Mark Dynamix, the Aussie dance music industry icon, return with a trip to the underground and, perhaps, the greatest amount of freedom in his set than we’ve ever seen in Tasmania before.

Embodying the personalised and underground nature of old-school mixtapes, “Mixtape 1” sees Mark sharing his own personal selection of what’s hot right now, showcasing some of the greatest new, upcoming, Australian and International artists.

But wait there’s more, and I’m not talking steak knives, folks! The “Mixtape 1” album is being released with a special bonus disc of Mark Dynamix’s latest single release “Identify Me”. Because while Mark Dynamix continues to be rated as one of Australia’s Top DJs – as he consistently performs in the top #3 of the ITM Top 50 DJ Poll, he is also one of Australia’s top producers.

Previously Mark has toured here on various Ministry of Sound journeys, as part of one MOS CD tour or another, in which MOS has had an obvious hand in the choosing of the tracks of the respective CD, some of which end up in his Tassie set.

This guy is an individual and has always explored the rich chasms of jungle for a journey from the subtle right through to the extreme. He might not favour the immediate and obvious anthems, but his sophisticated fusion of hard, rolling beats and deep, heavy bass-lines are just as sure to move the floor. His legendary mixing skills play a part in this. The art of mixing, to him, isn’t just playing one record after another, even if they are the freshest dub-plates and test-presses. He also realises the importance of programming a set, equating it to a story. Like the plot of a complex thriller, Randall sets the tone early, builds up to climaxes and plays with our expectations. “I try and move up and down in stages,” he explains.

“It’s really hard to try and keep them going up and up and up, until you’re hitting some really angry, angry tune. It’s easier and more satisfying than trying to hurt them every five seconds.” Some might say his sound has got “darker”, in recent times - that he inhabits that overlap between ‘jump-up’ jungle and “darkside” drum & bass. But, he’s always had broad tastes and, as long as those beats are running, there’s easily enough room in his set to contrast a wide range of flavas. This will be his first time playing in Tasmania.

Randall plays Hobart’s Halo on Wednesday the 30th of August.

PAGE 14

Not an uncommon visitor to our shores, returning to Tasmania, MPK has been hailed as Adelaide’s leading Drum and Bass DJ. In South Australia, and on interstate gigs, he’s said to play to over two thousand people a week.

He has performed in Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra and New Zealand and has released tracks on Underground Pressings.

He is the Enchanted Crew’s main man and acted as tour promoter for the world’s leading DJs and producers, including Grooverider and DJ Lee, to name just a couple.

It’s been said he has single handedly forged the massive drum n bass following in Adelaide and has been a huge influence at a national level.

He is also renowned for presenting one of Adelaide’s most popular radio shows - “Rollers”.

MPK plays Hobart’s Halo on Saturday the 19th of August

But we are in for a treat, this time, with this upcoming visit. This tour is on the back of the “Mixtape 1” CD release, which has seen Mark given the greatest freedom in compiling the CD by Ministry of Sound, and so gives us an insight into the personal tastes of this human dynamo. That’s the theme of this CD release, and, I’m anticipating, the pattern for his upcoming set.

“Mixtape 1” is just the beginning of an exciting new compilation series for Ministry of Sound, embodying the personalised and underground nature of old-school mix tapes. And it speaks volumes for Mark Dynamix’s ability and the level of admiration he enjoys from throughout the Australian dance music scene, and especially at Ministry of Sound, that he’s been chosen as the pioneer of this development. This compilation sees Mark sharing his own personal selection of what’s hot right now, showcasing some of the greatest new and upcoming Australian and international artists.

And it’s just the beginning. Whilst the launch edition, “Mixtape 1”, is compiled by Mark Dynamix, future releases will be mixed by more of Australia’s finest DJs, which I’m sure will be a liberating experience, as they get back to their mixtape “roots”, whilst enjoying the freedom of expression and inspiration from their favourite current tracks.

Dynamix was given free reign to put together this CD of cutting-edge house, electro and tech. And just like his earliest days, don’t expect the mainroom or commercial hits on this one. It’s a strictly underground affair, with Dynamix able to showcase his style and sound, free of restrictions.

And if you’re low on cash, saving for a ticket to his gig, or just enjoy a freebie (who doesn’t?) Jump on your neighbour’s computer with internet access, listen to a preview of Mark’s Mixtape at www. inthemix.com.au/competitions and you could win one of ten signed copies.

Mark plays his regular Tassie haunt, Hobart’s Syrup, on Friday, 25th of August on the national Mixtape Tour.

By Dave Williams

Time To “Push Up” From the Night Before with

Skool Of Thought Maybe theclimate social over Maybe it’s it’s the social overclimate there. Maybe it’s just the nature of the just artiststhe themselves.

Or of there.

Maybe it’s nature maybe they can just drink beer faster because it’s the artists themselves.

Or maybe warm. Whatever the reason for it, we at SAUCE theyremember can just beerto an faster can’t the lastdrink time we spoke English DJ who wasn’t nursing aWhatever bad hangover.the because it’s warm.

The driving force behind two record labels – one of reason for it, we at SAUCE can’t

remember the last time we spoke to an English DJ who wasn’t nursing a bad DJ hangover.

His name comes from a porn flick. His new album is called “Vibrator”.

You’dbehind be forgiven for The driving force two record thinking interviewing DJ labels – that one of which put UK out the Meat Katie would be a fairly simple, dancefloor monster “Push Up” by shallow affair. You’d also wrong. the Freestylers – and an be esteemed As Dave Williams found out when DJ in his own right, this producer he spoke with him, even making a wasn’toff immune fromlove the can dreaded living a job you still morning-after as Dave Williams have its pains. He’s heading to our openedinhis textbooks on to the learn at the shores September back of Skool ofrelease, Thought.but, as you’ll read, his new there’s one thing he wishes he had You Poms party hard man; every time I do an more time interview withfor. someone in England, they’re recovering from a hangover!

How longWell wasthat’s the whole this (Laughs) kind ofprocess what weofdoputting for a living, “Vibrator” CD together? so I can’t complain about it.

name for a DJ… Yeah, I know. It’s a bit silly, isn’t it? Where it comes from… It was going to be “Nu School of Thought”; more of a play on the nu school breaks thing. I wanted something to reflect the genre of music I was pushing. But I guess the whole nu school side of things…people decided it wasn’t the title [they wanted] – they just wanted it as “breaks” or “break beats”. I was actually sitting in an interview with Krafty Kuts a few years ago, and someone turned around and said, “What’s your school of thought when you sit down to write a record?” I thought, “That’s quite an interesting term”. It kind of worked with the whole school thing that was going on.

that in a couple of years time we would have records in the pop charts and the records sung on “Australian Idol”. The overall success that it had…it was amazing, really, and it’s given us inspiration to take the label further.

As a DJ, what do you reckon makes you special?

What’s your forte?

Um…I think the fact that we have the record label where we’ve carved out our own sound, and that we have spent years developing a type of break beat that will be equally as light by the head as the people partying on the dance floor. So we have lots of new, upfront material that you wouldn’t be able to hear other DJs playing. And I think punters probably like to see people who are genuinely involved; not just a DJ, but someone who’s actually genuinely involved in creating what they listen to.

Now you’re going to release your debut artist album in October. Is that right?

Yeah, well…I think it might have to go back a little bit, purely ‘cause of the fuss created by the Krafty Kuts and Freestylers albums. As soon as theirs have calmed down a little bit, hopefully mine will be out before the end of the year.

You’re going for that primal and intellectual response – the heart and the head…

Absolutely, yeah. I think we were more primal than intellectual, really. When we first started the label,

I a accidentally became a record label manager r Ah…maybe eight months.

Apart from drinking water and downing a couple of That’s quick, really… packs pretty of paracetamol, have you got any plans for Yeah.

Well thing is, when I’m working on one the rest of the today? single thing…

I’m not very can’tlabel concentrate Yeah. I’m on my way intogood…I the record where I on lotsmost of different things, so on this spend of my days.

Just working hardparticular on Krafty album, every track – that was allWe’re I did.shooting I’d go in two on Kuts and Freestylers albums.

Monday, andweek I wouldn’t work anything else quite until videos this for their newonsingles.

That’s I’d finished that interesting; onetrack. of the more interesting sides of running a record label.

It works out a lot quicker as a process, to be honest.

Which label is that? Is that Against The Grain or SuperCharged?

I’ve worked are withcoming loads out of different ideas Bothalways those albums on Against The floating around, butand withrun this particular Grain; I sort of own both of them. album it came together a lot quicker, because I was a lot more focused onbe doing it. That’s all I worked on.

You must loaded…

(Laughs) I wish I was, mate. I seem to make a lot Would you for describe as a fun experience? of money other it people!

It doesn’t always come Yeah!

Definitely I by, loveand writing back. But we still–get we domusic. what weI’m love,still so really…I get excited going into the studio every it’s all good. single day. I love it. And I love working with people; when I work with other –artists, They’re “Skool Of Thought” that’s collaborating. a pretty intellectual normally friends, so we have a good time; it’s very

there wasn’t much of a breaks scene at all anyway.

When you first started working with Krafty, how was your relationship then, compared to how it is now? Do you guys go to the toilet in front of each other now?

(Laughs) Yeah, pretty much! We’re best mates, and we probably know the ugly side of each other; we can definitely crack a good fart in front of each other and not feel embarrassed. We’re really good mates, on a friendship level as well as a business level. We pretty much hit it off straight away; Krafty’s one of those types of people who’ll be open and friendly with anyone anyway, so from day one we’ve got along like a house on fire, really.

Then you signed up Freestylers, and “Push Up” went through the roof – if I can use that cliché. I think I deserve one cliché per interview. What did that success mean to you, other than shitloads of cash, coke and hookers?

(Laughs) It was a really proud time actually. When we started the label, we had absolutely no idea

So who’s more talented – you, or the Freestylers?

I’d have to say the Freestylers, wouldn’t I? (Laughs) Oh, what a suck!

Nah, they’re clever guys actually. They really know how to put a tune together.

How come it’s taking you this long to put out your own thing?

Well this is one of the downsides of running a record label; you have to put everyone else’s before you. I really am just spending all my hours on Krafty Kuts and Freestylers at the moment, and making sure that their projects go off with a bang, and making sure they’re happy, and the artwork’s right, and the videos are good…it’s a really, really timely process.

So at the end of the day, there’s often little or no hours left to get in the studio. It’s just a case of; when I do get time, I can do it. It’s difficult, but it’s a decision I made when I accidentally became a record label manager.

I’ve been told that you’ve been doing a bit of work on this album with Ed Solo. Is that right?

Yeah. The actual album is going to be Ed Solo and Skool of Thought.

Working so closely together…if you with so closely with someone for long enough, eventually you’re going to have arguments. I was wondering if things have ever come to a full-scale brawl…

Nah, not at all! Ed is probably the most passive person in the world; the only frustration we have with him is getting him out of bed. We’ve nicknamed him “Bed Solo”. So you know, we’ve got to keep him awake; I don’t think he stays awake long enough to hold down an argument! (Laughs) Skool Of Thought plays Hobart’s Halo on Saturday the 12th of August.

By Dave Williams

THE VOICE OF 1200 TECHNIQUES IS BACK...

THE DEBUT SOLO ALBUM - OUT NOW! featuring guests:

Roots Manuva, The Deceptikonz, DJ Peril & Mr Yoshiaki (Black Eyed Peas) includes the singles:

‘Cause An Effect’ & ‘Seduction Is Evil (She’s Hot)’

PAGE 15

GIG GUIDE BROUGHT TO YOU BY MISSING LINK ENTERTAINMENT

GIG Guide 02/08/06 - 05/09/06 AUGUST WEDNESDAY 2ND 1 HOBART Lark Distillery Couta Blues Republic Bar & Café ELEPHANT MOJO Supp. Bordello $3 cover 9pm Syrup Upstairs 10pm: LATE NIGHT BOOTY CALL – Resident DJ’s Spinfx, Dave Webber Trout Ked Of Ray Brower, The Third Ending, Lady Crimson The Vic “John Craig” – John Harwood & Craig Smith 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Nathan Weldon The Progression James Hotel Cheap ass Wednesday Dj Joycie (Decks) Vs Dj Randall (Drums) Saloon Uni Night - Band: Ethel the Frog THURSDAY 3RD 1 BURNIE Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Trio, featuring Fred Bradshaw from Hobart on alto sax, 8.00pm, $5 cover charge.

1 HOBART

Duke of Wellington Boombox Lark Distillery Coyote Serenade Republic Bar & Café Custom Kings supp the humans ,the nonos $2/$10 conc 10pm Syrup Downstairs 9pm: KO – Resident DJ’ Mez ‘Laying down the Chunks “O” Funk’ Downstairs 11pm: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan Upstairs 11pm: BREAKEVEN with Local DJs Adam Turner + Mez & WBalls Trout Metallica Tribute

Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Alphanumeric James Hotel James bar Glenn Moorehouse Reality Elephant Mojo (Syd) Modus Dj MacD Dj Nikko O’Keefe’s Roundabout Royal Oak Mick Josephson in the bar

Club Hotel ELEPHANT MOJO Supp. Bordello

Syrup MESH – Hobart’s oldest club night, breaks/drum+bass with resident DJs SpinFX and guests.

Stage Door the Café The Carnabys play The Beatles, Rolling Stones & more, 7.00pm., $5 cover charge.

Irish Murphy’s Dean Stevenson James Hotel UniNight Funkin Unbelievable Dj Nikko O’Keefe’s ELEPHANT MOJO Supp. Bordello Royal Oak Mark Vincent in the bar

Sirocco’s Party night with DJ Cola Stage Door the Café Jerome Hillier, Launceston crooner, 7.00pm., $5 cover charge.

1 DEVONPORT King’s Bar 3 Weeks Late 1 HOBART

PAGE 16

Royal Oak Kate Meehan Duo (in the Boatshed) Saloon Loft: Rebalanced – The Pharma psy Show & Friends SUNDAY 6TH 1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café Bob Evans (Jebadiah) + Band plus Bertie Blackman $15 cover 8:30pm

O’Keefe’s DJ Tim MONDAY 7TH 1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café Katie 8:30pm The Vic Who Killed Kenny Oscar 10pm 1 LAUNCESTON

1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Dave Adams – CD Launch

Republic Bar & Café The Fauves plus The New Black $15 cover 9pm Syrup MESH – Hobart’s oldest club night, breaks/ drum+bass with resident DJsSpinFX and guests.

Trout Apostles Of M, ROMP The Vic Shaun and Luc 10pm 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Student & Backpacker Night, live music Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Leigh Ratcliffe James Hotel UniNight 3Sum Dj Nikko Royal Oak Samual Bester in the bar Saloon Des Peres

TUESDAY 8TH

Stage Door the Café Music O’ Farrell 7:00pm $5 cover charge.

1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café Blue Flies 9pm

Batman Fawkner Inn S.I.N. Hospitality Night $3 Basics all night. Mark Stinson

The Vic John Harwood 4pm.

Forgetful Jones

Lark Distillery Holy Thursday

Sirocco’s Party night with DJ Cola

Duke of Wellington THE COVEN

Trout The Pharaohs, Red Rival ($10)

1 HOBART

James Hotel HO

1 LAUNCESTON

Syrup Downstairs 10.30pm: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Rolly &T.H.C Upstairs 11pm: THE BEEZ NEEZ presents – house, electro & breaks, with resident DJ’s Gillie & Adam Turner, + Kir & Corney

Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Trio, featuring Ross Challender from Launceston on saxophones. 8.00pm, $5 cover charge.

1 BURNIE

1 HOBART

Republic Bar & Café FUNKOARS Supp. Crixus, Heads of State $17 10pm

1 BURNIE

FRIDAY 11TH

Spurs/Warehouse Dr Fink

Lark Distillery One Step Back

THURSDAY 10TH

Irish Murphy’s Leigh Ratcliffe

The Vic Jeremy Matcham Luc Ellis 8pm

1 DEVONPORT

FRIDAY 4TH 1 BURNIE

O’Keefe’s DJ Skip

Irish Murphy’s Leo Mark Vincent Ben Castles Breakwater

Republic Bar & Café Kate Meehan $3 cover 9pm

Batman Fawkner Inn Student & Backpacker Night, live music, Dj Earl

James Hotel Reality Custom Kings (Melb) The Embers Pound 4 Pound Presents Poxy Music (Live)

1 LAUNCESTON

1 BURNIE

1 LAUNCESTON

For more info and band bookings for any occasion call Missing Link Entertainment, Booking Agents, Promoters, Artist Management. 6234 7755, 237-245 Elizabeth St, Hobart

1 LAUNCESTON

Lark Distillery Holy Thursday

The Vic Shaun and Luc 10pm

ENTERTAINMENT

The Vic Crickey

SATURDAY 5TH

Trout The Infected (EP Launch), Lady Crimson.

Pat Marshall

This month Missing Link Entertainment presents … The Audreys, The Blackwater Fever, The Humanz, Daryl Brathwaite , The Radiators and Evanrange C o m i n g s o o n , t h e b i g g e s t b a n d c o m p e ve r ! C a t e g o r i e s f o r O r i g i n a l b a n d s , s o l o s a n d a g u i t a r s h re d d i n g c o m p !

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Irish Murphy’s Ben Castles WEDNESDAY 9TH 1 HOBART Lark Distillery Couta Blues Republic Bar & Café The Humans + Modus &hammerhead 9pm Syrup Upstairs 10pm: LATE NIGHT BOOTY CALL – Resident DJ’s Spinfx, Dave Webber The Vic “John Craig” – John Harwood & Craig Smith 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Samuel Bester The Embers James Hotel Cheap ass Wednesday Dj Joycie (Decks) Vs Dj Randall (Drums) Saloon Uni Night - Band: Alpha Numeric

1 DEVONPORT King’s Bar Loony Tunes 1 HOBART Lark Distillery Coyote Serenade Lewisham Tavern Des Peres Republic Bar & Café The Fauves plus The New Black $15 cover 10pm Syrup Downstairs 9pm: KO – Resident DJ’ Mez ‘Laying down the Chunks “O” Funk’ Downstairs 11pm: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan Upstairs 11pm: LaCasa “Sexy Vocal House” with residents MattB & Gillie Trout Music v Physics (Melb), Crytearia. Tempest The Vic Detour 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Auto Pilot (Irish folk band) James Hotel Reality Dj MacD Dj Nikko O’Keefe’s Brett Boxall

Royal Oak Leo & Mick in the bar Saloon TRUTH CORRODED, ZERO DEGREES FREEDOM, ABACINATE, NOSCE TIEPSUM Wills Music The Dead Abigails CD/DVD launch Noon kick-off SATURDAY 12TH

O’Keefe’s DJ Tim MONDAY 14TH 1 HOBART The Vic Who Killed Kenny Oscar 10pm 1 LAUNCESTON

1 BURNIE

Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl

Sirocco’s Donut & Dj Paul

Irish Murphy’s Leo

Stage Door the Café Hot Strings, contemporary singerguitarist from Burnie, 7.00pm., $5 cover charge.

James Hotel HO

1 DEVONPORT

Republic Bar & Café Joe Piere 9pm

Spurs/Warehouse Ethel The Frog 1 HOBART Halo Skool of Thought (UK) $15 presale / $20 on the door Lark Distillery Hot String Band Republic Bar & Café Sugartrain $2 cover 10pm

TUESDAY 15TH 1 HOBART

The Vic Jeremy Matcham Luc Ellis 8pm 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn S.I.N. Hospitality Night $3 Basics all night. Mark Stinson Irish Murphy’s Allan Ray WEDNESDAY 16TH

Syrup Downstairs10.30pm: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Rolly and Naughts Upstairs 11pm: Dirty Fking Dancing – the best of house, electro & breaks with resident DJ’s Gillie & Adam Turner+ Kir & Corney.

Trout Truth Corroded (Adelaide), ZDF, Ice Eater The Vic John Harwood 4pm.

John Craig 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Student & Backpacker Night, live music Dj Earl The Fauves The New Black Irish Murphy’s Breakwater James Hotel James Bar Glenn Moorhouse Reality Dj MacD Dj Nikko

1 HOBART Lark Distillery Couta Blues Republic Bar & Café Branded Left Handed 9pm Syrup Upstairs 10pm till late: LATE NIGHT BOOTY CALL with DJ’s Spinfx, Dave Webber.

The Vic “John Craig” – John Harwood & Craig Smith 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s The Sign (Hobart) Daniel Townsend James Hotel Cheap ass Wednesday Dj Joycie (Decks) Vs Dj Randall (Drums) Saloon Uni Night - Band: Ethel the Frog

1 BURNIE

Royal Oak Ben Castles in the bar SUNDAY 13TH

1 DEVONPORT

1 BURNIE

Spurs/Warehouse TasMusic Rock Challenge

Stage Door the Café Shindig No 8, Tribute to Mal Greenop, featuring Brendan Munro, Chris Lynch, Robbie Elliott & Ben Tome, 5.00pm., $5 cover charge.

Batman Fawkner Inn Student & Backpacker Night, live music Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Ben Castles James Hotel UniNight Dj Nikko Saloon The Herd FRIDAY 18TH 1 BURNIE Sirocco’s Party night with DJ Cola Stage Door the Café Music O’ Farrell 7:00pm $5 cover charge.

1 DEVONPORT King’s Bar Alphanumeric 1 HOBART Duke of Wellington The Herd afterparty feat DJ Prince V (from the Herd) Lark Distillery Coyote Serenade Republic Bar & Café Kara Grainger + Band $10/8conc.

10pm Syrup Downstairs 8pm: KO – Resident DJ’ MEZ ‘Laying down the Chunks “O” Funk’ Downstairs 11pm: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan.

Upstairs 11pm:” La Casa” Sexy Vocal House with Matt B& DJG Trout The Roobs, Evening Dolls The Vic Oscar UTAS The Herd 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Breakwater James Hotel James bar Glenn Moorhouse Reality Dj MacD Dj Nikko

THURSDAY 17TH

Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Trio, featuring James Maddock from Hobart on tenor sax and vocals, 8.00pm, $5 cover charge.

O’Keefe’s DJ Skip

1 LAUNCESTON

1 HOBART Lark Distillery Holy Thursday

O’Keefe’s Roundabout Royal Oak S & M in the bar SATURDAY 19TH 1 BURNIE Sirocco’s The Herd The Rodgers & Dj Paul Stage Door the Café Neil Gibson, folk and bluesman, 7.00pm, $5 cover charge.

1 DEVONPORT

Republic Bar & Café 3 to 2 $10 cover 9pm

Spurs/Warehouse Sexual Chocolate

Duke of Wellington Dub reggae night

1 LAUNCESTON

Syrup MESH with resident DJ’s SpinFX, Plastique & guests

Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl

Trout Social Theorist

Irish Murphy’s Daniel Townsend Leigh Ratcliffe Voodoo Lounge The velvet Lounge

The Vic “John Craig” – John Harwood & Craig Smith

1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café Sundy Side Up 8:30pm

1 HOBART

Halo MPK (Adelaide) $8 on the door Lark Distillery Live @ Lark Republic Bar & Café Psycroptic supp Ruins

$10 cover 10pm Syrup Downstairs 10.30pm: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Naughts and T.H.C. Upstairs 11pm: DIRTY F’KING DANCING – house, electro & breaks with resident DJ’s Gillie & Adam Turner +Modal & DSKO Trout Mutiny, Ragged Anns, James Brook ($10/$8) The Vic John Harwood 4pm.

New Age Hippies

Syrup Upstairs 10pm till late: LATE NIGHT BOOTY CALL with DJ’s Spinfx, Dave Webber.

Trout Roadkill The Vic “John Craig” – John Harwood & Craig Smith 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Mick Attard Nathan Weldon and the two timers James Hotel Van Dieman & Friends 9pm $5 Dj Joycie (Decks) Vs Dj Randall (Drums)

Theatre Royal TRIPOD in “SelfSaucing” 7:30pm

Saloon Uni Night - Band: Alpha Numeric

1 LAUNCESTON

THURSDAY 24TH

Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl

1 BURNIE

Irish Murphy’s Well Strung James Hotel TasMusic Showcase DJ Mac D DJ Nikko O’Keefe’s DJ Skip Royal Oak The Stoics in the bar SUNDAY 20TH

Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Trio, featuring Doug Sheehan from Devonport on trumpet, 8.00pm, $5 cover charge.

1 HOBART Lark Distillery Holy Thursday Republic Bar & Café Eshak + Jane African music $5 cover 9pm

1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café Kara Grainger + Band $10/8conc.

9pm 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Phil Picasso Nathan Weldon Colour Blind (the return) Alphanumeric trio O’Keefe’s DJ Tim

Syrup MESH – Hobart’s oldest club night, breaks/ drum+bass with DJ’s SpinFX and Guests The Vic Shaun and Luc 10pm 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Student & Backpacker Night, live music Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Neil Gibson

MONDAY 21ST 1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café 3 Bands. Hana, Lucy & Eva 8:30pm

James Hotel UniNight Funkin Unbelievable Dj Nikko FRIDAY 25TH 1 BURNIE

The Vic Who Killed Kenny Oscar 10pm

Sirocco’s Party night with DJ Cola

1 LAUNCESTON

Stage Door the Café Music O’ Farrell 7:00pm $5 cover charge.

Irish Murphy’s Nathan Weldon

1 DEVONPORT

James Hotel HO

King’s Bar Roundabout

TUESDAY 22ND

1 HOBART

1 HOBART

Lark Distillery Coyote Serenade

Republic Bar & Café G.B Balding 9pm The Vic Jeremy Matcham Luc Ellis 8pm 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn S.I.N. Hospitality Night $3 Basics all night. Mark Stinson Irish Murphy’s Leigh Ratcliffe

Republic Bar & Café Red Eyes $12 cover 10pm Syrup Downstairs 9pm: KO with Resident DJ MEZ ‘Laying down the Chunks “O” Funk’ Downstairs 11 pm: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan.

Upstairs 11pm: Ministry Of Sound Presnts Mark Dynamix mixed tape Tour + Local DJs Gillie&Adam Turner

WEDNESDAY 23RD 1 HOBART Lark Distillery Couta Blues Republic Bar & Café Son Del Sur (Cuban Salsa) $3 cover 9pm

Trout The Scientist of Modern Music, Palm This The Vic Dr Fink 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn STAND DEFIANT ALBUM TOUR

All Ages Show Doors @ 5pm Kids In Sandbox Woof Woof Mindset Stand Defiant 18+ Doors @ 9pm Woof Woof Halfmast Mindset Stand Defiant Irish Murphy’s Funken Unbelieveable

Hobart Jazz Festival (all day) 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Leo Leigh Ratcliffe Ben Castles The Velvet Lounge O’Keefe’s DJ Tim MONDAY 28TH

James Hotel James bar Carl Fidler Reality Dj MacD Dj Nikko

1 HOBART The Vic Who Killed Kenny Oscar 10pm

O’Keefe’s Brett Boxall

1 LAUNCESTON

Royal Oak Mark Vincent in the bar

Irish Murphy’s Ben Castles

SATURDAY 26TH

James Hotel HO

1 BURNIE Sirocco’s Funkin Unbelievable & Dj Paul Stage Door the Café Alan James at the grand, 7.30pm., $5 cover charge.

1 DEVONPORT Spurs/Warehouse Donut 1 HOBART Duke of Wellington Psysessions

TUESDAY 29TH 1 HOBART Republic Bar & Café Joe Piere 9pm The Vic Jeremy Matcham Luc Ellis 8pm 1 LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn S.I.N. Hospitality Night $3 Basics all night. Mark Stinson

Batman Fawkner Inn Student & Backpacker Night, live music Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Late Night Access (Melbourne touring act) Rob Sawyer Band James Hotel UniNight Sgt Green Dj Nikko O’Keefe’s Acoustic SEPTEMBER FRIDAY 1ST

Sirocco’s Party night with DJ Cola 1 HOBART Halo SpinFX Lark Distillery Coyote Serenade The Vic Oscar 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s The Velvet Lounge James Hotel James Bar Glenn Moorhouse Reality Dj MacD Dj Nikko O’Keefe’s Roundabout

Irish Murphy’s Allan Ray WEDNESDAY 30TH

Saloon Eskimo Joe

Lark Distillery Back Porch Boys

1 HOBART

SATURDAY 2ND

Halo Randall (UK) $10 on the door

1 HOBART

Syrup Downstairs 10.30pm: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Naughts & T.H.C Upstairs 11pm: DIRTY F’KING DANCING presents - house, electro & breaks with resident DJ’s Gillie & Adam Turner + Modal & DSKO Trout Disconnect Records Birthday Show Your Demise Ballpoint The Scandal Stand Defiant 8.30pm The Vic John Harwood 4pm.

Detour 1 LAUNCESTON Arts Alive The Wilderness Society Benefit Gig Nellie DeGrassi and others 5pm onwards – entry by donation Batman Fawkner Inn Dj Earl Irish Murphy’s Jukebox James Hotel James Bar Glenn Moorhouse Reality Weapon X + Ken Hell O’Keefe’s DJ Skip Royal Oak Leo & Mick in the bar

Lark Distillery Couta Blues Republic Bar & Café Blue Healers 9pm Syrup Upstairs 10pm till late: LATE NIGHT BOOTY CALL with RESIDENT DJ’s Spinfx!, Dave Webber.

The Vic “John Craig” – John Harwood & Craig Smith 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Carl Fidler Modus James Hotel Cheap ass Wednesday Dj Joycie (Decks) Vs Dj Randall (Drums) Saloon Uni Night - Band: Ethel the Frog

Lark Distillery Live @ Lark Trout Kevin Blechdom, Lucas Abela, Naked On The Vague, Justice Yeldham The Vic John Harwood 4pm.

Forgetful Jones 1 LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Breakwater James Hotel James Bar Jeano Reality Klaus Heavy Weight Hill (Pound 4 Pound) Dj MacD Dj Nikko O’Keefe’s DJ Skip SUNDAY 3RD 1 LAUNCESTON

1 BURNIE

Irish Murphy’s Phil Picasso Leigh Ratcliffe Colourblind The Progression O’Keefe’s DJ Tim

1 HOBART

MONDAY 4TH

Lark Distillery Holy Thursday

1 HOBART

Republic Bar & Café Sean Hayes (U.S.A.)plus Lloyed Spiegel 9pm

1 HOBART

Syrup MESH – Hobart’s oldest club night, breaks/ drum+bass with DJ’s SpinFX and Guests

Republic Bar & Café Hot August Jazz festival 1pm to 12pm

The Vic Shaun and Luc 10pm

Trout Hot August Jazz – North

1 LAUNCESTON

SUNDAY 27TH

Duke of Wellington THE COVEN

THURSDAY 31ST

Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Trio, featuring Paul Martin from Cygnet on alto and baritone sax, 8.00pm, $5 cover charge.

Burnie Sirocco's Bar & Nightc lub 69 Mount St Bur nie 6431 3133 Sta ge Door The Cafe 254 Mount St Upper Bur nie 64322600

1 BURNIE

Halo Klaus “Heavyweight” Hill (Syd) $8 on the door

Republic Bar & Café Red Eyes $12 cover 10pm

Venue Guide

The Vic Who Killed Kenny Oscar 10pm 1 LAUNCESTON James Hotel HO

Devonport Spurs/Warehouse 18 Kings St Devonpor t 6424 7851 Kings Bar & Nitec lub 25 King St Devonpor t 6423 3488

Hobart Halo 37a Elizabeth St Mall Hobar t 6234 6669 Republic Bar 299 Elizabeth St Nor th Hobar t 6234 6954 www.republicbar.com Syrup 1st Floor 39 Salamanca Place Hobar t 6224 8249 syrupclub@bigpond.com The Lark Distillery 14 Davey Street Hobart 03 6231 9088 www.larkdistillery.com.au The Victoria Tavern (The Vic) 30 Murray St Hobart 6223 3424 Trout 381 Elizabeth St North Hobart 03 6236 9777 Uni Bar - Hobar t Campus 1 Churchill Ave Sandy Bay 03 6226 2495 www.tuu.com.au

Launceston Irish Murphy’s 211 Brisbane St Launceston 6331 4440 James Hotel Reality Nitec lub James Bar 122 York St Launceston 6334 7231 www.jameshotel.com.au info@jameshotel.com.au

O’Keefes 124 George St Launceston 6331 4015 Saloon 191 Charles Street Launceston www.saloon.com.au hotel@saloon.com.au 6331 7355 The Batty The Batman Fawkner Inn 35 Cameron St Launceston 6331 7222

TUESDAY 5TH 1 HOBART The Vic Jeremy Matcham Luc Ellis 8pm

To list your gig in the Gig Guide, email details to gigguide@sauceonline.net PAGE 17

Hitting The Road to Their Own Destruction , it’s

Stand Defiant Stand Defiant front-man Mischa Calcagno is a talented bugger. Aside from his role in one of Tasmania’s most energetic and well-traveled punk bands – not to mention being one of those few people who look cool in a baseball cap – he’s also a linchpin of the state’s punk scene through his position at Disconnect Records. Ahead of the launch of SD’s new EP, “Our Own Destruction” at Hobart’s Trout, he took some time out to answer my stupid questions…

You’ve supported some pretty high-profile international acts, notably Strung Out and Lagwagon.

What do you think you took away from playing with these bands?

Those bands are some of the reasons we play the music we play; we’ve always had a deep respect and admiration for all those guys and to be able to share the stage with them was awesome. It was also great to be able to talk about music; theirs, ours, bands we liked etc., and just have a laugh. Jesse from Lagwagon was so hammered he was just hugging everyone; they’ve been touring a long time and it’s really good to see they are open to new environments and new people. They love it here!

Jesse from Lagwagon was so hammered h e w a s j u s t h u g g i n g e v e r y o n e What have you been up to today?

Mastering the new EP at Red Planet this morning and most of the afternoon. About to hit the photocopier so we’ve got some flyers for the weekend. Also trying to decide which pub will be best suited to tonight’s endeavors of beer and such.

What has Stand Defiant been up to in the last month?

We’ve only played twice in last month. The EP comes out August 21st so we didn’t want to play too many shows before then. Other than that, we’ve been spending heaps of time at Disconnect HQ working through layout and artwork with each other.

Mischa and Reece are also doing merch designs and finalising the national tour in September – seven dates confirmed, two left to sort out...

PAGE 18

Stand Defiant are certainly a well-known presence in the live music scene – what has been the most memorable show you’ve ever played, and why?

There’s been so many for a lot of different reasons. A lot of awesome nights at the Trout with the Scandal, Ballpoint, TGATSO and Chicken Hawk Down spring to mind, MS Fest as well, the Batty for always looking after us, the first few Irish shows were all amazing.

We love touring and playing shows so they’re all memorable in their own way; opening for Strung Out and Lagwagon is obviously way up there.

You work with Disconnect Records – what has the label been up to recently?

Lots of hard work and late nights. I feel privileged to work with the people I do – they have great commitment and determination to make this scene

work. We’ve been building something here for two years now and we want to see that continue for ten more. We have a lot of releases in the works, obviously our new EP “Our Own Destruction”, The Scandal’s debut full-length after that, Ballpoints full length as well as some releases by new bands and some exciting tours later this year and in the New Year.

two years old at midnight on Saturday night/Sunday morning, so come have a beer and help celebrate!

Dave even got a late license, so stick around after the show and have and listen to some tunes, like Propagandhi, Mindsnare, NOFX, Parkway Drive, Strung Out, Away From Now, Rise Against, Stolen Youth, etc!

Where do you see punk music in Tasmania now, compared to five years ago?

It is certainly in a far healthier state than it was five years ago; sell-out shows for Strung Out, Against Me! and Parkway Drive, massive turn outs for Lagwagon and No Use, tours from highly respected bands like Mindsnare, The Nation Blue, My Disco… the list goes on. These are all great indications that things are picking up steam with every passing year.

There are so many more bands playing punk and hardcore than when we started playing shows about three or four years ago, and that is fucking inspiring. It’s pretty simple really; as long as people get out and support the local live scene it will flourish. The bands here are as good as, if not better than their mainland counterparts, so there is no reason why things cannot get even better from here.

What’s next for you guys?

Basically we’re on the road most of September in support of the EP. We’re doing three shows in SA, NSW and VIC and the three in Tasmania I already mentioned. All the mainland dates are with Stolen

Now we’re going to give you the opportunity to plug something that you like. Anything at all…

We‘re doing a national tour to promote our new EP “Our Own Destruction” starting on the 25th of August at the Batty for an all ages show in the early evening, which we’re really stoked about, then an 18+ at night.

We’re then heading back home to the Trout for a night I’m fucking stoked about. As well as being our CD launch and having The Scandal, Ballpoint and Your Demise on the bill with us, Disconnect Records turns

Youth which is great as we get to hang with our friends and play show every night – can’t really ask for much more than that. We’ll be doing a show in Tassie over October and then hit the mainland again in the New Year.

Stand Defiant begin their national tour at Launceston’s Batman Fawkner on the 25th of August (all ages and licensed) and Hobart’s Trout on the 26th

By Tom Wilson

Sweet Fitness Tips From

Stone Sour It’s a simple formula in the music world. Talent and exposure brings success. Success brings wealth.

Wealth brings temptation, and excess. And it can go horribly, horribly wrong – a fact all too clearly demonstrated by the number of rock

I think he’s more in line of the heavier stuff; that’s more of what he comes from, as far as being a player, where Joel [Ekman] is more the mainstream, radio-rock approach.

Those are the two things that really stick out. Roy is really schooled in metal, whereas Joel wasn’t. But each one of them is a great player, and has contributed to the band…unfortunately, we had to make the decision of the drummer change.

Is there any ill-feeling there, do you think?

I’ve talked to him briefly. I would like to think not, but he has to understand. We had the conversation; it was just present that a change needed to happen, for the best interests of the group.

I’ve heard that you used to run five miles a day during recording. Is this true?

For the most part, yes. I’m an early riser; I get up really early.

And we wouldn’t go into the studio until noon, and I would be up at, like, seven or eight.

[So] Just to clear my mind. I kind of stressed myself out, I guess, in some aspects.

star headstones casting shadows in the music world. Three years ago, Stone Sour and Slipknot front-man Corey Taylor tried to throw himself off the eighth floor of a hotel in LA. The detoxification that followed – both for Taylor and the rest of Stone Sour – has left its mark on their new LP, “Come What(ever) May”.

The band is rebuilding mentally and physically, as I found out when I spoke to guitarist Josh Rand.

You’ve changed drummers between this album and your debut. What do you think Roy Mayorga brings to the table that your previous drummer didn’t?

I had been away from it for three years, and to come back into this lifestyle, the routine just kind of freaked me out.

Plus I just missed home; I have a family and kids, and I was just trying to swallow all this at once. “Here – you’ve got to write this great record!

Here – you’ve got to do it in California! Here – be away from your family for two months!” I kind of psyched myself out. To get by, what helped me was to exercise.

I had also just given up smoking too; that was another reason I wanted to run – I wanted to clean that stuff out of my lungs! (Laughs) How ironic – just as you said that, I was rolling a cigarette…

I’m not a preacher; to each his own. But for myself, for a time, I just felt that I needed to quit. And as I said, I wanted to clear not only my mind, but cleanse my body somewhat. So I kind of put it through hell every morning! (laughs) The Henry Rollins method…

Yeah. So not only did I run, but I also lifted weights.

Do you think that affected the speed at which you can play guitar? Does being in good physical shape affect guitar playing?

Not physically. If you go run ten miles a day, it’s not going to make you play any faster or anything. But I think from the mental state; just from feeling good, period. Not only in guitar playing; I think whatever you do. When your body feels healthy and you feel good, in mental shape and physical shape, whatever you do is probably going to come across a lot better. But once again, I’m not preaching to anybody… …But it’s something to check out if you’re in a rut.

Yeah. I’m not into Zen or any of that stuff; I got to the point where I was sick of being tired and feeling like I have no energy. Once I gave up smoking and cleared that out, I just felt better; my days seemed like they went better. That’s just my point of view on it.

The title of the album – “Come What(ever) May” – where did that come from?

Well, the idea of the album title…we sat down to think of a title, and we wanted to…the title was going to be based around the word “life”, and several weeks in, with all the stuff that was going on, and some of the personal issues that some of us had going on, one day…I don’t even remember who brought the title up. It was basically just “Come What(ever) May”; whatever obstacles are thrown our way, we’re going to overcome it. That’s how it all came about.

You’ve got some guests on the album, both from The Wallflowers and from Godsmack. Gee, there’s a pair! (Laughs) Well that just tells you how diverse and how eclectic a band we are. Both players are amazing; we’re so lucky that both bands came in to do that. Let’s start with Shannon Larkin on “30/30-150”; the story being that was, Roy had played the drums for the record, but made obligations with Sepultura to play for a month with them. So we kind of run out of time for drum tracks for that song as we were wrapping up the recording, and someone needed to play drums for it. We knew it was a great song; it had to be on the record. Shannon’s a phenomenal drummer, and the call was made for him to come in, and just by chance his schedule had opened up. At that time he was only an hour’s flight from where we were, and he came in and did the drums in like three hours, never hearing the song. With Rami; we had met Rami earlier, because Nick who produced the record is really good friends with him. We knew we had a piano track, and so, when it came time, at the end of the recording process, we knew that no one in the band could play piano the way it needed to be played. He was the obvious choice.

And it was one of my fondest memories of recording this record – watching him play piano, and recording, as Corey is yelling out the chord changes to him. It was amazing.

By Tom Wilson

B r u tal

Me tal

To r t u r e

Fr o m

Abacinate In medieval times, to “abacinate” was to blind someone by holding a red hot poker over their eyes. Imagine the same thing being done to your ears, and you’re somewhat close to the experience of hearing this band live, as I did at Launceston’s Commercial Hotel some months ago. About to launch their death metal assault on Launceston’s Saloon this month, I spoke to frontman Warwick about emo dickheads, Tassie metal, and why society is going to the dogs…

What have you been up to today?

Well I’ve been mopping the engine room floor of the spirit of Tasmania 3 in fifty-degree heat, so I’m a bit lighter right now.

What has Abacinate been up to in the last month?

Finishing our eight-track demo CD; [we] played a gig in Hobart with Zero Degrees Freedom and Separatist, which was cool, but not much of a turnout – they all went to someone’s party after Separatist’s set.

The literal definition of “abacinate” is to blind someone with a red hot poker. Do you think your band name reflects your style?

Good to see you did your research Tommy; most dictionaries don’t have it so that’s why I chose it.

Seriously. When I started the band, I had to come up with a name quickly; I remember Jeff Hanneman from Slayer mentioning what it meant, so I thought it sounded cool. I just wish it meant something else but people seem to think it sounds metal, which has got to be good.

Byron Stroud from SYL said in an interview that “to play this kind of music, you’ve definitely got to have some hate”. In what ways do you think this is true in Abacinate?

Yes, I think you do – but it’s important not to suffer from angry young man syndrome and just hating the world. If that’s the case there’s something deeper going on. For the lyrics in Abacinate we talk about just how society is going to the dogs. And, human nature being what it is, it’s not going to change.

We are living in the age of self, the self-righteous, self-serving and the self-centered. Just look at TV – if someone questions another person’s choice of lifestyle, the response is, “As long as you’re happy”.

Ivan Milat liked killing tourists; that made him happy.

What I’m saying is, this is where it starts and it doesn’t get any better.

What releases do you have in the pipeline?

Our first demo, hopefully on Life Fluid Productions.

Don’t know exactly when, though.

which are excellent – but for it to sound authentic he would need a drummer like Derrick Roddy, or Tony Laurino. Good luck finding a drummer like that in Tassie.

I’ve noticed that, for the most part, metal-heads can be a very picky bunch. Do you think that this attitude is helping or hindering the progress of Tasmanian metal?

At the moment Tassie metal has never been stronger.

The gig at the Polish Club in Hobart earlier this year is testament to that. But yes, you’re right; there’re a lot of people saying such and such a band isn’t really metal or whatever. It’s a form of metal eugenics which in some cases I think is justified. But you can’t deny there are bands getting around the Tassie scene that are trying to cash in on the metal tag. I know one band claiming they’re death metal-influenced when I know for a fact that their drummer can’t blast beat or do anything remotely extreme. Yet they still persist in telling everyone that they are metal heads

Hard Boiled - In August

By Ryan Cooke I know I’ve been talking up I Killed the Prom Queen for the past few months but by the time you have this issue in your hands, their album “Music for the Recently Deceased” will finally be in stores. Expect to see the band in Tassie for three shows late October with Melbourne’s Carpathian. Dates are as follows: 20th MASONIC HALL, HOBART, AA 21st BATMAN FAWKNER INN, LAUNCESTON, AA (ARVO) 21st BATMAN FAWKNER INN, LAUNCESTON, 18+ (NIGHT) Three bands that have changed the course of metal: Killswitch Engage, Lamb Of God and Unearth will tour together this October in what promises to be one of the great tours of the year for the worshipper of extreme music! Killswitch Engage were last seen here on the Taste of Chaos bill, minus guitarist Adam D. This time the star guitarist will take his place on stage to deliver their murderous, adrenaline-fueled songs. Here are the dates: Tue 17th Arena Brisbane licensed all ages Wed 18th Big Top Luna Park Sydney licensed all ages Thu 19th Palace Melbourne 18+ Fri 20th Capitol Perth 18+ (Killswitch Engage and Unearth only) Sat 21st Capitol Perth Under 18’s 4-7pm (Killswitch Engage and Unearth only) This August, Mourning Tide will deliver their highly anticipated debut full-length entitled “Trash ‘N’ Burn”. “Trash ‘N’ Burn” is an explosive album. A collaboration of brutal glamour and sleazy rock.

Still very much the ferocious and intense melodic metal sound of their self titled EP, a strong element of their current music is reminiscent of early-eighties rock ‘n’ roll sweeping through in the form of wailing guitar solos and dirty rock vocals.

Atreyu’s last visit to Australia was a string of sold out shows from a band at the forefront of their game. Atreyu come out swinging with their new album “A Death-Grip On Yesterday”. Joining Atreyu in Australia this September are Alaskan metal outfit 36 Crazyfists, who have recently unleashed “Rest Inside the Flames”. It doesn’t end there – prog metal newcomers 3 and Melbourne’s rising stars Carpathian complete the bill. Tickets went on sale Thursday 27th July.

Currently spinning: I Killed the Prom Queen – “Music for the Recently Deceased” Funkoars – “The Greatest Hits” Slayer – “Christ Illusion” The Dead Walk! – “We Prowl The Streets” Embodiment 12.14 – “Elements Of This Man Made Man”

at heart; they just like wearing emo fashions because girls like guys that look like chicks. Playing the style of metal we do does not win any female fans, but if a Misha Barten-type wants to see me in tight black jeans, eyeliner and an Atreyu t-shirt, I’ll do it.

What’s next for you guys?

A show with Truth Corroded, Zero Degrees Freedom and Nosce Tiepsum at the Saloon on the 11th of August; the release of our demo; doing a show late this year in Devonport, fingers crossed. But [we’re] finding hard to get a venue, as places in the north-west are pretty narrow-minded towards metal.

And an interstate show with the boys from Intense Hammer Rage which has been on the cards for quite some time.

Metal heads, if you have plans for the 11th of this month, cancel them. Abacinate play Launceston’s Saloon with Truth Corroded, Zero Degrees Freedom and Nosce Tiepsum.

… he just like wearing emo fashions because …They au e g i r l s l i ke g u y s t h a t l o o k l i ke c h i c k s …

What projects did each of you work on before forming Abacinate?

David Maher, the lead guitarist, was in a Devonport metal band called Forced Entry. Jim Hooper our drummer was in The Nameless Ones in Launnie, and also currently plays in Nosce Tiepsum and Three Victims. Andrew Serisier our bassist played in a Newstead College metal band [Black Messiah; I doubt the Christian Group have forgotten – Tom] and this is the only band I’ve been in.

What kind of process do you have for writing material? What comes first?

A concept for a song; whether it should be fast or mid-paced. Then just piecing all the riffs together, which make or break a song.

By Tom Wilson

Why do you think metal bands always insist on writing their name in spiky letters?

Well we don’t, because it’s been done to death, hasn’t it? I don’t know – you see it on old eighties thrash metal vinyls. It looks cool, but it has got a little clichéd I suppose. Whoever came up with the Morbid Angel logo deserves a gold medal.

I understand that at least one of you is also working on a side-project. Can you tell us anything about that?

Andrew has these death metal songs he’s shown me,

PAGE 19

Branded Left Handed

The Sleepy Jackson

You’ve Got A Bad Hip, You Shouldn’t Be Dancing

By Ryan Cooke

Personality (One Was A Spider One Was A Bird)

By Carl Fidler “Personality…” is the second album release for The Sleepy Jackson and it is huge! They’ve gone to a lot of trouble for this recording and their efforts shine through. Each track is masterfully arranged with massive production, a full orchestra and a wall of harmonies. This could explain the long-winded title.

The songs are stylistically cool with many references to great songwriters. John Lennon, George Harrison, David Bowie and Bryan Ferry are few of the names that spring to mind. Often overshadowed by the instant pop appeal of his sister’s band Little Birdy, Luke Steele is probably the better songwriter. His songs are not as accessible but they’re certainly worth the effort. There is a definite journey to his works as he glides past obvious commercial progressions.

Every song is a sweet exploration through sonic bliss! The first two tracks “You Needed More” and “Devil Was in My Yard” are the stand-out tracks for me but they’re all a pleasure to listen to. There’s a bit of a Bee Gee’s disco throw back on “Play A Little Bit More for Love”; it’s amusing but still filled to the brim with substance. “Personality…” won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but that’s what I like about The Sleepy Jackson – if you can be bothered with the journey you’ll be pleasantly rewarded.

The Fauves Nervous Flashlights

By Carl Fidler

This is the eighth album and eighteenth year for the group who earned the badge of “Australia’s most successful unsuccessful band!” The Fauves are a good solid rock band from Mornington Peninsula.

They use a blend of catchy hooks and childlike observational commentary. There is nothing shocking or life-altering on this album – “Nervous Flashlights” is just a collection of fine Fauves tunes.

The first single “I’ll Work When I’m Dead” carries their usual cruise-y rock vibe with slick harmonies and Andrew Cox’s dark humour – “I’ve got unfinished business in bed/Fuck you I’ll work when I’m dead/ I’m sorry Mr Howard/I promise I’ll work when I’m dead.” The comedy continues with track three, “I’m Jim Fix And I’m Dead Now”, where Cox compares the famous jogger – who died of a heart attack at fifty-two – to Yul Brynner, who drank, smoked and womanised ‘till the ripe ol’ age of seventy.

Since mid-2004 when Disconnect Records came onto the scene in Tassie, there has been an explosion of new punk bands and CDs coming out of Hobart.

Newest being one from Branded Left Handed entitled “You’ve Got a Bad Hip, You Shouldn’t be Dancing”. The EP starts off with the silly track “Safety Doesn’t Take a Holiday”, which takes a page directly out of the Blink 182 handbook.

Pop-punk has always meant to be basic and fun and this CD is certainly all those things. Personally, I thought the standout tracks were “The Red Tracksuit” and “Taken”.

I know this style of music isn’t for everyone, and it seems to get a tad bit boring after a few listens, but this is a CD which doesn’t – well, not for me. I recommend any fans of punk in general check out this local germ.

Rise Against The Sufferer and the Witness

By Ryan Cooke

Rewind back to January last year, and I was at the Melbourne Big Day Out witnessing one of the most insane performances I had ever seen from a little-known US punk band named Rise Against.

The performance and audience got so much out of hand, the organizers turned off the PA to settle people down.

A year-and-a-half later, the band is back with their 3rd album entitled ‘The Suffer and the Witness’.

Rise Against’s second album for Geffen picks up where “Siren Song” left off, with thirteen tracks of hard-nosed punk with a focus on melody, crunchy hooks, and shout-along choruses.

Youth Group Casino Twilight Dogs

By Carl Fidler

Youth Group are currently famous for their cover of “Forever Young”, which first appeared on TV’s “The O.C.” during that “crucial scene” (?). I had to get that out of the way early... They formed in Sydney around ‘98 and “Casino Twilight Dogs” is their third album.

From the opening track “Catching And Killing”, you get the feeling these guys have planted their roots firmly in the poppy seed wash of indie rock. The guitars and Toby Martin’s vocal delivery instantly reminded of my ol’ favourites – early Stone Roses, Ride and a hint of Suede.

I was even more chuffed when I realised an old friend from uni – and the guy who introduced me to all those bands – plays double bass on track two!

(We had a band together called The Crumpets!)

From there, the wash fades out to a kind of Tim Freedman and country thing and it lost me. It picked up again for me at track ten, “The Destruction Of Laurel Canyon”, probably due to the return of the Roses’ vibe, but not enough to stop me wondering how the album would compare to the final track “Forever Young”.

It didn’t really. Martin’s songwriting isn’t as strong and there isn’t the same depth in the production.

Youth Group went old school on “Casino Twilight Dogs”, opting to record on tape where possible, but I don’t think it did them justice and it muddied the mix.

PAGE 20

Funkoars

Summer Sessions

By Patrick Duke

Greatest Hits

By Ryan Farrington

If you’re into Miguel Migs, Bargrooves, Kaskade and anything with a happy warm fuzzy feeling through your beats, this triple pack CD is a definitely uplifting album that can put any sour puss in a more enlightened mood. You can tell it’s warming up on the other side of the planet with DJs Groove Junkies, Chuck Love and DJ Fluid.

The first CD kicks off with Groove Junkies, and groove junkies they definitely are with funky guitar riffs, smooth vocals, jumping piano rolls, broad brass and swinging drumbeats. It definitely gets your toe tapping and your body moving. My definite pick of the CD is track eight; FSB featuring Diane Carter “Dr Feelgood” (GJ’s Rockin’ Dub).

The second CD with Chuck Love (AKA Charlie Erickson) manages to cram funk, soul, slightly deep bass hooks and an overall energetic groove through the whole mix. It seems to grow on me every time I listen to his mix. Favourite track is his own track “Livin’ At Night” (Jimpster Remix ).

Finally the third CD. This mix is definitely the more elusive mix, maybe the pick of the bunch in my opinion. With a harder feel compared to the other CDs, it has a cheekier groove. Track ten is my pick of the bunch – Lee Mortimer’s “A Typical Number”.

Overall this compilation seems to ripen more with every listen. A must have for this year’s bubbly beats. This CD gets 8 ½ Dirty Stinky Little Monkeys out of 10.

Slip’n’Slide

The ode to old-school hardcore comes later on with “Bricks”, a loud, biting song with a chorus that matches the brash guitar attack.

Describe from Kickin’ Music; “We take the sound from funky summer-y house through [to] the commercial end of the electro-house, and then all the way across banging disco grooves and sign off with some of the biggest, hardest-hitting hands-inthe-air club anthems of today and tomorrow,” which pretty much sums it up well. Every listen of this CD once again seems to get better, especially the second half of the mix.

Helmet Monochrome

By Tom Wilson

They were one of the most influential rock bands of the early nineties; their sound epitomising the climate of the era so distinctly they appeared on the soundtrack of “GTA: San Andreas” for just that reason.

I’ve loved them since I first started listening to music, so there was no way in hell I was going to let any of the “plebs” (contributors) get their hands on it.

Now I’m all for creative evolution in musicians, but some bands should never change. “Monochrome” is still the same brand of pounding, lo-fi rock that Helmet pioneered, and is as simplistic as the colour scheme of the title.

On the heavier tracks, Paige Hamilton’s pessimistic, snarly bark has lost none of its conviction; not “lyrics” as much as “blunt statements”. And his melodies – particularly on the title track – call back to “Unsung” from all those years ago. “Brand New” and “Gone” are gut-shaking in their impact; maelstroms of Helmet’s signature sound of quasipunk, grunge riffage and screaming feedback.

As an album, it flows well; the angrier, heavier numbers cleanly interspersed with the more melodic tracks.

And some of Hamilton’s darker lyrics are downright scary: “I spent three dollars on these non-slip garden gloves, so I can bury you without blistering”.

And “410” – yes, named after the shotgun – sounds like a homicidal ex-boyfriend’s internal dialogue.

Granted, these days they don’t sound as groundbreaking as they once did, but they influenced almost every hard rock band in music today. To listen to Helmet is to go back to the source.

Climaxing in a cacophonic, incoherent blast of solos and feedback, as if closing a stadium show, the album ends with the sound of a plug being pulled from its socket. Raw and abrupt, it’s a blunt ending to a measured, purposeful release.

8/10

After their slept-on (but well-respected) 2002 release “Who’s Your Step Daddy?” The Funkoars have spent four years touring and displaying that cringe-worthy honesty they’ve become known for.

Some bangers on this album like “C.O.T.Y” show us that Funkoars have no problems explaining how little they think of themselves, let alone anyone else.

On a simple level, the Funkoars could just be seen as sleazy, bogan rap (best demonstrated in the humorous banger, “Masterpiece”), but the hidden genius in a lot of their tracks leads you to realise that it isn’t that basic.I usually try to steer clear of naming title tracks as the best on a CD but for this one, I’d have to say my favourite track is indeed “The Greatest Hit” which incorporates hilarious lyrics with heart-racing strings.

“The Greatest Hit” is jam-packed with funky Rhodes scores, dramatic trumpet loops, and speakercracking drum hits making many a beat-maker question their own production.

If you’re keen on witty, punch-line party rap that doesn’t even pretend to take itself seriously, then you’ll definitely enjoy this album.

Plan B Slip’n’Slide have released their second edition to the “Wicked Weekend”. This CD has some great punchy electro bass lines like you would experience on a Saturday night, with a blend of nice house music which graduates to a harder sound towards the last few tracks.

Great music and great song writing but I feel the album doesn’t have the staying power as the band’s previous releases had. Something on this album to keep everyone from the punk elitists to the pop-punk fans happy.

If I had to describe this album in two words, I’d say “disturbingly humorous”, but I’ve got two-hundred-and-fifty words, so here goes.

This loudmouth, four-man funk force (that share “Certified Wise Crew” status with names such as After Hours, Terra Firma, and a name that you might know, Hilltop Hoods) have yet again brought an unbelievably hyped release that will most definitely rival any Aussie hiphop release this year.

Wicked Weekend Vol. 2

By Patrick Duke

Unlike “Siren Song”, opener “State of the Union” is the loudest, angriest, most bare-bones hardcore on the album (perhaps an attempt to show that the band hadn’t softened their attack on a major label).

“TSATW” opens with the less acerbic, and all around more mediocre “Chamber the Cartridge”.

Even though the lyrics are mostly amusing and slightly daggy, the music holds depth and substance.

It’s an interesting combination that draws you in, until you realise what Cox is actually saying. “I Am Not Approachable” is a good example of this.

He basically takes the piss out of fans, support bands and charities: “When I did that benefit show/ My heart was not in it/ It hurt to see the money I raised go to someone less deserving than me.” It’s all in good fun, but the music makes it somewhat believable.

OM

The top track of the CD would have to be Soul Buddha’s “Waterfalls” (Playmaker’s Klicks Mix); a nice rolling deep bass-driven song with some nice guitar hooks. If you want a quirky, funny song check out TRACKER05’s “Mad On Her” – very mainstream electro, with a Nintendo feel towards the riffs and synths that are used.

Overall I have thoroughly enjoyed this CD with its differential movements throughout the mix, from dainty to electro then finishing a little harder as if it were a Saturday night mix.

I’m throwing 8 ½ politically incorrect monkeys out of 10.

Self Titled

By Ryan Farrington When you think of a death-rapper, you might think of some thirty-five-year-old guy who thinks he’s a kingpin; he’s sick of the world because he got dumped when he was fourteen and he hasn’t found another woman since. Oh and whenever he describes something nasty that he pretends he’s done, he does so carefully.

Plan B is only twenty-three and he puts those rappers to shame, with his incredibly heavy lyrics and tragically beautiful guitar riffs. This four track EP is the most inspiring release I’ve heard in a long time. Ben Drew tells us stories of the gruesome underworld of London with a slightly worrying realism that sends shivers down your spine at the same time as it gives you something to think about.

The fact that these tales might not be completely true, or at least something that he’s actually experienced, doesn’t take anything away from Plan B’s music overall. In the track “Dead and Buried”, Ben describes first-person views of three characters on the low-end of society, and sings a beautiful chorus that would lower the heads of any successful vocalist.

You can’t help but feel for this guy and/or the characters he portrays. “Kidz” is an extremely violent theory of how and why Plan B thinks the world for street-kids is so harsh, and how these youths might not think or necessarily care that what they do affects anyone else. A heart-breaking release, worth a lot more than the small change you’ll pay for it.

Citizen Kane Adult Section

By Patrick Duke

Mr. Lif Do you like to sip a latte, act suave, sit in a yuppie café and talk shit? This album is the perfect background setting for just that. With its smooth jazzy/blues mindset throughout the album, it’s a definite slow groove album that makes you want to stick a big fat cigar in your mouth while sitting in a hazy, sophisticated bar.

DJ Citizen Kane has been a fixture on the New York music scene since 1990. Currently he is the Saturday night resident at APT in NYC. Kane has played numerous gigs worldwide from small clubs to large venues. He has been featured on countless mix and radio shows.Citizen Kane certainly does throw around his mix from the soul sound to the disco, yet captivates with a very abstract blend of tracks; the album definitely endures a very funky Motown feel with a hint of electronic sensations splashed throughout a mix. If you’re a DJ that loves scratching it would definitely come in handy, with its slower beats that groove with many organic instruments such as guitars, brass and more. It’s obvious that the music has been dug very deep out of back alley record stores, with mega-rare songs featuring artists as diverse as Max Berlin, Tony Orlando, Nick Chacona, and David Astri.

I’d be interested to watch a set from this guy live; it definitely would be interesting as to what record would be spinning after the next.

Overall its rating is 7 syphilis infested monkeys out of 10

Mo’ Mega

By Ryan Farrington Ah! Mr Lif! That wheezy-voiced political rapper from Boston brings us the entertaining “Mo’ Mega” album, with a bunch of interesting tracks to break your brain with. I’m pretty new to Mr Lif’s music, but for the past six months or so, his deep-thinking, paranoid tales of conspiracy and corruption have been bleeding from my speakers constantly. This release features the likes of Aesop Rock, ELP, Akrobatik, Blueprint, Nick Toth, Murs… Even Californian producer Edan graces this album! I really enjoy the way Lif expands on ideas that other people have had; maybe once or twice in a passing train of thought, but have never taken the time to explore them. In the track “Collapse”, Lif says, “I wanna be home making records, now I’m in the studio and all I wanna do is be home”.

The track “Murz Iz My Manager” is a funky little jam produced by Edan, where Lif and Murs explore the humorous concept of Murs being Lif’s manager.

The overall production on “Mo’ Mega” is tactically sloppy and pretty snappy, and it really works with what Mr Lif has to express (best heard on “Take, Hold, Fire” featuring Aesop Rock and EL-P). It’s good to hear that thought-provoking hip-hop is still seeping through the market and reaching Australia in a time where commercial gangsta/crunk rap is dominating the world of music.

Landing Their First Punch on the Music Scene

Pharaohs In the December of 2004, three blowing three grand in one day, and young guys played their first gig in who in the band is the smelliest. an Adelaide backyard. Their second So what have you been up to today? gig was at a local pub.

I’m doing the ar twork for the album; we’ve got However, their third gig was at the Adelaide Big Day Out the following year. I repeat; their third gig was the BDO. They’re called Pharaohs, and I spoke to bassist Joel Amos about their forthcoming debut long-player,

an album coming out in about two months.

I’m with everyone doing the ar twork, but I guess I’m doing the main bit. So I’ve been working on that all morning and most of the afternoon.

What have Pharaohs been up to in the last month?

The last month has been, literally, no shows… we played with The Hard-Ons; that was the

only show. We did all the tracking for the album, all the recording. And we’ve been producing it and things like that.

What can you tell us about the album so far?

It’s definitely a very different direction… We’ve done an EP, a seven-inch and a cassette tape as well, and it’s one song off the EP, both songs off the seven-inch and both songs off the tape, plus four brand new ones. It’s fairly… if you listen to the first EP, it’s a big change of direction from that – it’s definitely a lot more crafted, and it’s slowed down a lot more. The melodies are a lot stronger. It’s more mature, which is the obvious thing anyway, because it’s been more than a year and a half since the last time we did something like this.

We’ve heard that when you’re not playing in the band, you’re the one who does the paperwork. Is that true?

Ah…we’ve got a manager now which handles most of that. But yeah, I was definitely the administration side for the first year and a half of the band, definitely.

So you’re the brainy one.

(Laughs) Not necessarily the brainy one, but the one who was willing to do it, more than anything.

an even percentage of our debt! Literally, the day the cheque got cleared, it was gone! We didn’t have anything new or fun as a result of it!

That’s an anti-climax.

Yeah. We’re pretty strict on keeping everything amongst us. Whilst we had offers to get some money and stuff like that, it’s probably better that we’re doing things this way at this stage. Especially with the album coming out, which we literally own one-hundred-percent of, and that sor t of thing. Hopefully people will buy the record. That’ll make it all wor thwhile.

What did winning the award mean to you guys as a band?

Well, it was interesting for us. You look at what APRA is; it’s a bunch of musicians, really. Dan definitely falls into the category of musician, but I definitely don’t think I do. It was weird that a band like us won it.

It was sor t of being accepted by people who we didn’t think would genuinely have a lot of interest in us. We’re still an indie band, and we’ve still got punk roots. So it was just kind of, “Whoa! These people like our band!”

We ’re pre tty s tric t o n ke e pin g e ve ry t hing a m o ng s t u s .

Sorry, that was just a really low attempt by me to get you to dish some shit out on your bandmates.

Yeah, I know! I was about to, but then I thought I’d better not!

Who’s the smelliest?

The smelliest? The youngest one – the other Joel!

You guys were awarded the Emily Burrows Award last year, and you netted no less than a $3000 prize.

Yep. We got $3000. We’d just done a seveninch, just before we were awarded that. At that stage, I was fifteen-hundred dollars in debt. Dan, the other guitarist, was about two grand in debt because of the band. And Joel, the drummer, was about five hundred bucks in debt, I think. And we just used it to pay off

The Misunderstanding Of

AFI Despite an army of fans, US rock band AFI are surely one of the most misunderstood bands in the business. Led by the enigmatic and somewhat-androgynous singer Davey Havok, the band (comprising of Jade Pugent on guitar, Hunter on bass, and Adam Carson drums) exploded from the underground circuit in 2003, where they had built a militia of hardcore rock fans with five independent albums, and launched an assault onto the mainstream with their last album “Sing The Sorrow” via the multinational Interscope label. Without skipping a beat, and holding onto most of their original subversive fans, they took the industry by storm, picking up awards and accolades along the way.

With their new album “Decemberunderground”, AFI return in 2006 with an album (their seventh) that further challenges the misconceptions about them as a band, delivering a strong collection of throbbing, cult-ish rock that dabbles with synth-pop touches and a dark and impressively layered sound design. We recently caught up with the not-so-dark and not-so-subversive – and in fact, rather nice and charmingly friendly – Davey and Adam from AFI to talk about the band’s new album.

Recorded following the successful international tour for “Sing The Sorrow”, AFI spent a year working on the new album, coming up with an initial 80100 song ideas, of which they extracted parts and ideas for a short-list of material to further explore in the studio. Under the watchful eye of Jerry Finn (who credits include previous AFI material, Green Day, Blink 182) the band came up with a strong collection of songs, under the beguiling album title “Decemberunderground”. ““Decemberunderground” speaks to a time and a place, and a culture that exists in that time

and place; it’s a mood of coldness that carries through the whole record. That feeling of cold and detachment can be felt throughout,” Davey explains, without revealing too much about the artistic concept. “Sometimes Jade gets inspired and writes down song titles, and it’s actually a piece of a greater song title that I extracted and suggested would be good for an album title, and everyone else agreed.”

The new album follows on from the success of the band’s major-label debut three years back. I asked Davey what he thought the pact with a major label allowed the band to do creatively at that point, and what the resulting success with “Sing The Sorrow” allowed them to do this time around with this new album.

“The major difference for us was that we were able to do what we wanted to do for the first time, and we were able to do so much more artistically because we had so much more behind us. We got the time to spend on the record to get it where we wanted to, and up until “Decemberunderground” that was definitely the work we were most proud of.

“Our international movements weren’t as strong as it seems to be now with the release of “Decemberunderground” – but it was definitely far stronger than any release before ‘Sing The Sorrow’.

We were able to go to Australia which was fantastic, and we got to play to people who knew every word from every song spanning from 1995 to 2003, at that point.”

Leading the charge for this next chapter for AFI is the excellent new single “Miss Murder” (which is even more striking than their earlier “Girls Not Grey” single), which marches along confidently with

a twisted glam-rock swagger, and a sexy synth-style pout.

“I really like it,” says Adam of the single. “It’s a little interesting because it has this little shuffle feel to it and it has layers of electronics, which is sort of a newer thing for us. Davey and Jade are friends with Ronan Harris from VNV Nation and he helped out with some of the electronics. At one point we thought the track would be stronger if it had this kind of pulsing dance vibe to it – V&V Nation are

You’re about to play in Tassie. Have you ever been here before?

No one in the band has ever been there before.

What have you heard about the place?

Well I’ve actually heard nothing but good things. I like wine; I’m pretty psyched on the whole alcohol side of Tasmania. Outside of that…I had a friend in one of the forests down there, and I’ve got a photo of him standing next to the biggest tree I’ve ever seen on ear th. Those would be the two things I know about Tasmania; lots of booze and big trees!

I’m not sure if either of them are correct!

Pharaohs play Hobart’s Trout on August 5 th

By Tom Wilson

say in contact with them. We like to create special contests for them, exclusive merchandise, invite them to the sound-checks and stuff like that – this was just another opportunity to let them be on the record, since they come to the shows and buy our records and support us.”

Finally, I asked the guys to tell us what they thought was the biggest misconception regarding AFI. Davey smiles and then starts to answer,

I think t nk a lot of people pick an identity for the e band ba d based on only ten percent of the overall picture ctu pretty impressive when it comes down to that fouron-the-floor electronic bass music, so he kinda did some stuff, and Jade did some stuff… it was just a matter of working out what complimented the core part of the rock song.”

Whilst Davey never really discusses the lyrical inspiration behind his songs he does reluctantly say that it “speaks of mystique, and the rise and fall of figures of adoration”. The single is accompanied by an arresting video, creatively directed and executed

by Mark Webb (who they’ve worked with previously), and has been released in two different versions for audiences. It’s also interesting to note that the single also features chanting from the band’s group of devoted fans, who are known as The Despair Faction. “Adam came up with the idea in the first place,” explains Davey, “but it was very natural for us because we have so many great fans and we like to

“That’s hard because people seem to have so many misconceptions about the band! I don’t know what the biggest one is – I guess it’s when they try and push us into some genre, but there’s not a single one that’s the big genre for us. I think it’s when people try and categorise us as something where it really shows up; trying to categorise us as a punk band, a hardcore band, a gothic band…”

“Some girl asked me last night where my make-up was, says Adam, “so I told her I don’t wear makeup, and she was like, “You’re AFI and you wear make-up, right?”, and I had to tell her no, I don’t.

Maybe in the past I have, or maybe sometime in the future I will, so all I could say was “…shut up”,” he laughs.

“We’ve always had a dark aesthetic – there was a time I did wear make-up. Dave obviously does, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with what AFI are about. I guess it’s the nature of rock ‘n roll – and I’m not upset by this – whereby a passive fan, or someone who doesn’t listen to the band at all, only really has the visual of the band as being the singer. I guess it therefore makes sense that they base their opinion of what the band is about around the only icon they see. I think a lot of people pick an identity for the band based on only ten percent of the overall picture, or the one song they hear on the radio. With any band – not just us – there’s a lot more to it.

“We’re pretty multi-faceted as people, and we’re pretty multi-faceted as a band,” picks up Davey, “but I think it’s human nature in a way to try and categorise, define, and segment things in a certain way, which inevitably leads to the misconceptions about AFI as a band. Journalists love to say things about us like, “hardcore-baby”, “sweetheart”, “beauty-dark”, “monster-punkers” or whatever.”

“Maybe we’re just full of ourselves, ponders Adam.

“Maybe we are “baby-dark, monster-punk rockers”, and we’re just the last to know!”

AFI’s new album “Decemberunderground” is out now.

By Sasha Perera

PAGE 21

Getting The “Best Of”

Chris Isaak In the course of Chris Isaak’s career, he has released nine extraordinary albums, twelve singles, been nominated for two Grammy awards, acted in several motion pictures and starred in his own critically acclaimed TV series. His legendary shows with his longtime band Silvertone have entertained tens of thousands of people for over two decades. Even his hair has its own fan club. And yet, this highly praised herald platinumselling artist has never released a greatest hits album.

Hard to believe, no? Well, unlike some artists who roll out a greatest hits package after, say, their second album, Isaak waited until he actually had enough hits to legitimately describe the collection as such.

“Shouldn’t a greatest hits collection after two records be called “Greatest Hit”?” Isaak asks.

“I guess I’ve just always been too busy making records. Plus, it takes a while before you really want to compile everything. But after going through all the songs to make the Best Of, I feel like we have good stuff.”

Good stuff. That’s typical Isaak self-deprecation – it’s much more than good stuff. Best Of Chris Isaak – the CD and accompanying DVD, which features eighteen video clips by such esteemed directors as Gus Van Sant, Bruce Weber, Herb Ritts, Mary Lambert and Jean-Baptiste Mondino – take listeners on a gratifying musical journey

through the Stockton, California native’s twodecade career, showcasing his stellar songwriting; smooth, dusky baritone (and tender falsetto that will alert your dog); and effortless brand of stylish retro-cool.

walk-in closet in the hallway, so I went in, shut the door, and sat down underneath the coats. There was a guitar leaning against the wall in the back. I started tuning it up and wrote “Somebody’s Crying”.”

The album displays Isaak’s many different musical personas: the rockabilly rebel (“Dancin’”, “Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing”, “Speak Of The Devil”), the brokenhearted crooner (“Wicked Game”, “Somebody’s Crying”), and the breezy acoustic storyteller (“San Francisco Days”, “Two Hearts”).

It includes two brand new songs, the elegant “King Without A Castle” and the break-up exhortation “Let’s Have A Party,” as well as two covers: Cheap Trick’s power-pop anthem “I Want You To Want Me”, a live favorite previously unavailable on any of his CDs (“It’s kind of fun to do something a little different for me,” Isaak says), an inspired version of his hero Roy Orbison’s classic lovelorn ballad “Only The Lonely”, and a stirring never-beforeheard acoustic version of “Forever Blue”.

Then there’s the swaggering, bluesy rocker “Baby Did A Bad, Bad Thing” (also from “Forever Blue”), which can be heard in Stanley Kubrick’s 1999 film “Eyes Wide Shut” starring Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman.

The director asked Kidman what music she wanted to rehearse the movie’s striptease scene to. “Nicole had been listening to the track and brought it in to run through for her rehearsal,” Isaak recalls. “Stanley said, “I love it”, and put it in the film. I owe Nicole Kidman a full body massage.”

“What a sweet guy Roy was,” Isaak says. “We opened for him one time and after the show I said to him, “I don’t know if I write hits or not”, and he said, “You write hits, you just don’t know it.” It was exactly what I needed to hear at the time to keep me going for another year.”

So what were Isaak’s criteria for a song’s inclusion on the album? “I wanted it to be a record that people want to listen to over and over,” Isaak says. “I tried to pick songs that people request most when we play live, and then make sure it was balanced between slow and fast tunes.”

While reviewing tracks, some going back to the mid-eighties, Isaak says what struck him most was how lucky he has been to have the people

I owe o Nicole Kidman a full body massage age That was before noted director David Lynch used “Wicked Game” – a spare, moody ballad from Isaak’s third album, “Heart-Shaped World” – in the film “Wild At Heart” [“This here’s a snake-skin jacket…” – Tom]. The song went Top Ten in 1991, and the video – a steamy Herb Ritts-directed clip featuring the singer rolling around on the beach with a topless Helena Christensen – made Isaak a star. “‘Wicked Game’ really put us out there,” he says. “We were on the road at the time, and got to ditch our van and get into a bus. For the first time in years, we got some sleep!”

Another significant hit included on Best Of is the south-of-the-border-flavored ballad “Somebody’s Crying” from 1995’s “Forever Blue” (both the single and album were nominated for Grammy awards in 1996). “I wrote that song in a closet,” Isaak says.

“I had just broken up with someone and hadn’t been out of the house much. A friend of mine was having a party and as soon as I arrived I realised I didn’t want to be there. The house had this big

Pulling Back the Curtains to Unveil

Razorlight The U.K. June, 2006. There are some worried faces amongst staff at Universal Music. In about a month’s time the company will release the hotly anticipated sophomore album from rockers Razorlight… but frontman Johnny is still in the studio mixing tracks, and no title for the project has been decided upon by the British indie-rockers.

Drummer Andy is on the promotion trail today, as “perfectionist” Johnny (who seems to court controversy in most interviews) is still in the studio mixing the album (obviously he wasn’t given a definite deadline, with the album release approaching fast!).

I begin by asking the affable Andy about the rumours of the band’s demise after the constant touring they had to do to support their first album – particularly after their US tour.

“Well, I mean, being in any band is difficult,” he responds tactically. “It’s a bit of a cliché that people go on about all the time, but you spend more time with those three or four blokes than you do with your girlfriend or with your family – it’s kind of unnatural in that sense. Of course there are tensions and relationships are strained… you try to avoid tension and hold things together, but sometimes it does get very stressful. The time we had in America was actually a great time – it was our first tour on our own out there; we were doing really well. We were scheduled to do “The Late Show”, but basically Johnny’s voice just went. We had a particular nasty night in Denver when his voice was just completely gone, and I think he’d had enough by then, and so…,” he pauses before picking up again, “I think it’s

the same with a lot of bands. When we came back to the UK we had to move some big shows, and so that’s where a lot of the “split” stuff came about.

“It never really got to “split” point really; it’s the same as anything, whatever job you might have – there’s definitely times when you come away and you think, “Right, that’s it, I’ve had enough,”, but for it to actually get to splitting-up point it would’ve had to have been a lot worse. I don’t know – maybe the next eighteen months of touring will be relatively stress-free, but I’m sure there’ll be times when all of us, or one of us, feels that way.”

It’s been reported that Johnny and Andy sat down to work on an actual blueprint for this new album on paper, although Andy quickly points out, it was a far more casual situation – more like a conversation than it was a plan of attack.

“There was a paper bag – when we were in America on a tour with Muse – that we had, in this coffeeshop, and we were writing down what we had. We just wanted to see whether it looked like an album. I wonder where that bag is actually,” he wonders out aloud, “Because it would be really interesting to see how far we strayed from those ideas. I think however we moved away from what we had written down – there’s probably a couple of songs we wrote down on that paper bag that have turned into something and made it onto this album,” he shrugs.

he works with around him, such as producer Erik Jacobsen (“Who taught me everything I know about making records, but not everything he knows”), longtime engineer Mark Needham, and his Silvertone bandmates; drummer Kenney Dale Johnson, bassist Rowland Salley, and guitarist Hershel Yatovitz, who have been with Isaak for years. “People see my picture on the album covers and think, “Chris goes into a room and he makes an album.” But I go into a room and make it with these guys, who’ve been supportive, and have good ideas and good energy.”

And to what does he attribute the longevity of his career? “You know, I’ve never tried to jump on a trend, and I’ve never had to jump off of one,” he says. “I try to do what feels right for each song. So I never have to go, ‘Well, no more disco for me.’”

Chris Isaak plays the Tolosa Park Amphitheatre as part of A Day On The Green, on Sunday November 12th

By Chrissie Camp

even Paul Simon, but more often than not it sounds like music that has been inspired by Talking Heads and even U2, much to the pleasure of their record company, no doubt. Whilst at times you long to hear it get a bit dirty and raw in the mix again like that of their peers Dirty Pretty Things, producer Chris Thomas (Sex Pistols, Roxy Music) has worked with the band to develop a new sound that certainly makes their ambitions clear.

“You’re totally right in thinking that, but I don’t think it was intentionally so. This album has been quite a collaborative effort between the band, and the approaches to the songs are maybe different to the way the first album came about. We wanted it to be… I don’t wanna say slicker, but we wanted it to be more about the individual songs.

“As Johnny was saying, it’s gone from Patti Smyth to Blondie, and from Television to Talking Heads on this record. Talking Heads is a big influence, as is U2.

U2 are a consistent band and that’s quite inspiring.

I mean, the reference point we want to get to is that Razorlight sounds like Razorlight, and I think we’re on the way to doing that. It does sound like some of the bands you’ve mentioned, but I think it also has its own sound. I think once people give it a few listens, it will become clearer about where we were trying to go.”

Razorlight’s self-titled second album is out now.

The range of influences on “Razorlight” is surprising; at times you hear references to The Police, and

By Sasha Perera

AU GU ST G i g s F R I

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p H a r a o h s R i va l ( $ 1 0 )

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3 8 1 E LI Z A B E T H ST RE E T, N O RT H H O BA RT PH : 6 2 3 6 9 7 7 7 PAGE 22

To m G r a b s a P o k e r a n d S t o k e s U p

The Embers

Tom Gets Served A Mystery Cocktail by

Des Peres

sometimes, being doubtful can be a good thing?

That’s exactly what it means. I guess it plays on the word “Ace” which is such an Australian term reflecting that everything is golden, while there is always this underlying, lingering feeling of doubt. Whether that be self-doubt, doubts in our nation, whatever. It also plays on the meanings of success and failure, and maybe that failure is OK and is actually sometimes a really good thing.

When you meet someone at a party and they ask what you do, what do you tell them?

Personally, I tell them that I’m a musician and a composer, I also write music for a number of other groups as well as for theatre, dance and film. I think it’s a different story with Little Tom, our guitar player. He says that he is an astronaut in the hope it will make him a little more popular, but it hasn’t worked so far.

What are some of the strengths of combining hip-

One of the first interviews I ever did for this magazine was nine months ago, with a then-unknown folk sextet called The Embers. Since then, they’ve become one of Tasmania’s most unique musical endeavours; playing both the Falls Festival and MS Fest and managing to blow more than one headlining act off the stage. For the sake of sheer job satisfaction, I’ve been shamelessly plugging them for months, and I finally got guitarist Mick back for a follow-up yarn about playing festivals and musical evolution.

What have you been up to today?

Well I am currently at work, isolating amoeba from Atlantic salmon gills, and I’ve been on the dog and bone and internet organising a gig with The Custom Kings at The James. They gave us a call yesterday and asked us to do a support slot for them in August, so we’re stoked.

What have The Embers been doing in the last month?

We did some shows with South Australian band Ill-Starred Captain around Launceston which was cool fun, and we have been rehearsing, writing and polishing up new material.

The Embers’ sound is clearly the result of many, many different musical influences. Have those influences changed much since the group formed?

What artists currently interest you?

Well,I think that your core influences are always with you. However, you pick up new sounds along the way, which get thrown into the mix of your musical tastes.

Personally, I have been getting into dub a bit lately.

I have always loved reggae, but the electronic and drum-and-bass sounds in dub just take it to a whole new place for me. Here is what The Embers have been listening to lately: Kings Of Leon, Tom Petty, Howling Bells, The Red Eyes, The Samples, Kevin Johansen & The Nada.

As well as playing indoors, you’ve also appeared at outdoor events, including MS Fest and the Falls Festival. Which do you think The Embers are most suited to?

I think we are suited to both, but if you had your choice you would play at festivals all the time, ‘cause they are so much fun. The two situations are two totally different environments. The pub and club environment is so in-your-face, especially with a six-piece band – you are usually playing stacked on top of each other and the response is direct and passionate and you have that feeling that anything random can happen. Whereas, at the Falls Festival and MS Fest, we had so much room to move and you get a better view. Festivals are ‘the shit’ ‘cause they have a great vibe; we played last on the second stage on the first day at Falls and it was a magical experience; the sun was going down and our friends and plenty of people were there grooving away. What more could you ask for? Another good thing about festivals is that the sound companies really look

after your sound which is a godsend for a multiinstrumental sextet.

What plans do you have to get an EP out? We’re getting very, very impatient…

Well the wait is nearly over. We are planning to record with Simon Holmes (Simo) at Big Shed Studios in St Helens mid-September. It will be a four-track taster demo that will represent us and help us get more gigs, festival dates and radio play. Then, when we have more time and money we will record a full-length album.

As individual musicians, you also do sets in venues around Launceston. Aside from the fact that it helps put food on the table, do you think working outside The Embers has a positive or negative effect on the band?

I think it has a positive effect as you are always playing and entertaining and you use those skills in the band situation. Playing solo sets is also a good testing ground to play and develop new songs.

To what extent do you believe The Embers’ sound has evolved through the band’s lifespan?

Well, we aren’t even a year old yet, and our sound is constantly changing. I think we have had some time now to embrace each others’ styles and arrange them in a way [that’s] best for a piece of music. It is very exciting, because, I think, in an Embers set, thirteen different instruments are played and that’s not including vocals. We have also been buying and using better quality equipment, which helps heaps in getting the sound that you are after. One of the other factors in our sound evolution is doing live gigs and, with that experience, building an atmospheric set.

When Des Peres released their debut hop and electronica? album “Preserved” two years ago, the band Some of the strengths are; it gets you away from the limitations each genre places on itself. The most was quickly shoved onto the podium and creative music is the type that isn’t limited by these labelled as one of the most original groups boundaries, but is free to move wherever it needs to to ever come out of Melbourne. A sonic go. It gives you the opportunity to create new sounds and new styles, which I think as a band we are really blancmange of hip-hop, jazz and electronica, committed to doing. More so than on our first album, the five-piece have just unleashed their we are trying to say whatever it is we want to say as follow-up, “Ace Doubt”, and I felt …They …They’re French…which means they utterly compelled are q quite rude and like delicacies… s… to harass them, ahead of their a band. We’re wanting to make a statement that is Tasmanian visit. original, exciting and represents the artists we are, We’ve heard that part of your live show is “a singing DJ who also blended cocktails”. So what does he make, and who ends up drinking them?

It is a she and she still makes them, and to find out what was in them you’ll have to come to the show.

It’s always something different depending on what customs hasn’t discovered in our bags. That’s Luva DJ who does that – the wildest girl in rock. It’s the audience or band who ends up drinking them.

You played the Live en Auit Festival in France.

What are the crowds like over there? How are they different your audiences back home?

Well, they’re French for one, which means they are quite rude and like delicacies. No, really, the crowds were great – very big and really into their music. Really up for dancing and partying, well into the next day.

What is the meaning behind the title of your second album, “Ace Doubt”? Is it to say that,

free of genre-specific limitations.

Your local press hailed you guys as “one of the most exciting and original groups to emerge from Melbourne in years”. What do you think it is about your sound that would get this kind of reaction?

I think our sound is incredibly original. I don’t know of any other band in Australia who is doing what we are. But that comment was also a reflection of our stage show. Whenever we play, we attempt to make it the biggest thing possible and that has involved a lot of madness in the past – a lot of nakedness and strange, large props.

Des Peres plays the Lewisham Tavern on Friday August 11th. “Ace Doubt” is out now.

By Tom Wilson

As we mentioned, you played at MS Fest back in March. What did you take away from that experience? We heard things got a little dramatic backstage.

The MS Fest was a great day. It was so good to see that a major festival had returned to Launceston and that it was so well supported by the local people. We had to pinch ourselves; we were playing on a sunny day on a huge stage through a massive PA in our home town. We all had backstage passes and we got to meet and hang out with Melbourne band True Live who we really dig, until it all came crashing down as we were all kicked out of backstage because the Rogue Traders had arrived.

What’s next for you guys?

I think the most important thing is getting our recording done and then getting it out there to the people. We have a couple of shows this month which will be ace fun, as usual, and we will be practising our arses off, getting it all tighter than a fish’s bum.

The Embers are playing two shows in Launceston this month; the James Hotel on the 5th of August with The Custom Kings, and at Irish Murphy’s on the 9th.

By Tom Wilson

Giveaways & Free Pizza!

Mondays

Thursdays Live Music

World Famous UNI + BACKPACKER NIGHT

Shaurn and Luc

Featuring ‘Who Killed Kenny’ & ‘Oscar’ Kicking off at 10pm

$8 Beer Jugs & $10 Spirit jugs between 8.30 & 10.30

$1.50 Basic Spirits, House Wine + Basic Tap Beer

Friday & Saturdays

Cover charge 9 - 12 $5 for uni students & backpackers $7 for everyone else

Live music kicking off at 10pm each night

Tuesday

Acoustic Winter Warmers

Every Tuesday night from 8-10pm “Jeremy Matcham and Luc Ellis” from 8! $8 Beer Jugs & $10 Spirit jugs between 8.30 & 10.30

Wednesdays Home to Acoustic Duo

JohnCraig 10pmOnwards

Feat . John Harwood & Craig Smith

$8 Beer Jugs & $10 Spirit jugs between 8.30 & 10.30

from 10pm

Free entry to The Vics traffic light party happy hour!!!!

2 for 1 drinks when the traffic light is green!!

Friday Night 6-7pm Girls Cocktail hour 2 for 1 cocktails

Saturday Arvo John Harwood Live & Acoustic From 4pm

THE VICTORIA TAVERN 30 Murray St Hobart, 03 6223 3424 PAGE 23

B r o k e n W i n g s H a v e H e a l e d Fo r

you going to do an album together? When? When?

When?”

Nelly Furtado

There I was – about a year into recording this album – and I was still really digging about for the sound; I was working with a bunch of different artists and producers – everybody from Scott Storch to Pharrell (Williams), and Track & Field who worked on my first two albums.

Finally someone suggested I record with Timbaland, and they put up some stuff he’d been working on and I realised he was on the same wavelength as me.

He was listening to rock artists – he was listening to System Of A Down, Queens Of The Stoneage, Bloc Party, and heavier stuff. I flew down to Miami, and the first day together was like a lover you haven’t seen for years – it was instant love again, but it was like musical love, if you know what I mean. Literally the room was so intense with energy that night – we were jammin’ on “Maneater”, in fact – that smoke came out of the speaker, and a flame shot out!!!

“Timbaland really brings out the best in artists; he brings out this inner primal thing, and he really becomes the music he makes.

It’s not so much the remix of the year, but it’s the revamp of the year; Nelly Furtado has shaken off her hippy pop image and reinvented herself as an urban-pop diva, echoing the game-plan of Gwen Stefani, much to the glee of her record company.

next door to Canada, in America – Interscope Records were launching the successful solo career of Gwen Stefani with an eighties-influenced, urban-pop twist.

The “Hollaback Girl” was an international smash, and so the blueprint was formed. Step forward Nelly Furtado and album number three; whilst Gwen’s away (with new baby), the bird’s back to play. With “Loose”, Nelly Furtado and her team have channeled the spirit of Gwen, and made an album which is sure to be one of the biggest successes of the year.

When this young Canadian chanteuse debuted internationally in 2001 with her folky-pop hit “I’m Like A Bird” and album “Whoa! Nelly”, her quirky style and sound were immediately embraced, although truth be told, she wasn’t an artist that particularly screamed “longevity”, even though she did win a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance for “I’m Like A Bird”.

Already the first single in the US, titled “Promiscuous” has reached the top three, whilst in the UK their first single “Maneater” debuted at number one on the charts. It’s a two-prong attack which highlights the fact that Nelly Furtado’s record company isn’t taking any chances.

Interestingly enough, her follow-up album “Folklore” (released in 2003, just after the birth of her daughter) was actually a very notable collection of material that blended together her pop style with aspects of her Portuguese heritage, resulting in a truly impressive album.

Alas the album flopped commercially, failing to connect with audiences, and Nelly Furtado flew limply away like a one-winged bird on migration for a long winter.

Meanwhile in a land far, far, away – actually it was

To be fair to Nelly, this urban reinvention isn’t actually as contrived as many might think it is.

Producer Timbaland had remixed Nelly’s single “Turn Off The Lights” in 2001, and featured her on a remix of Missy Elliott’s “Get Your Freak On” and his production of rapper Ms Jade’s “Ching Ching Ching”.

Her relationship with Tim is based on their love of music in all its forms. Together, Tim has found his pop-muse, and Nelly has got her groove back.

“When we were in the studio together for this album, we’d jam night after night for fun in the studio,” says the attractive and overly-excitable Nelly. “We’ve always had this connection and chemistry, and people would always bother us and say, “When are

A n t i c i p a t i o n & Po l i t i c a l I n t r i g u e Fr o m

Tv On The Radio Recorded over the best par t of three months, front-man Tunde Adebimpe, explains that TV on the Radio then spent about half of month going back and tweaking things in final mixing. It’s resulted in a fuller sound than their impressive debut “Desperate Youth, Bloodthirsty Babes”, with the indispensable crafter of sounds, Dave Sitek, going crazy in the studio. “He definitely locked himself up in the lab and sanded ever ything down and polished ever ything,” Tunde agrees. “It felt like he definitely went extra on it, and it felt like as a band too we spent so much time on the road after “Desperate Youth...” that when it came time to write the next record we were ready to make something, after all that time of not being able to write on the road.”

With a bevy of ideas brewing throughout the course of their two years between releases, Tunde once again shared primar y songwriting duties with fellow vocalist Kyp Malone. “We’ll usually write the lyrics for the song that we bring into the band; I think there’s one song on here that we both wrote lyrics collaboratively,” Tunde explains.

TV on the Radio’s second album, “Return to Cookie Mountain”, has had its release delayed several times as the group from Brooklyn tweaked it to make sure it was to the point where they were happy with it. It’s absolutely worth the wait: the album will undoubtedly feature highly, come end-of-year highlights.

PAGE 24

When it came time to making the record, Tunde explains that he scoured through a series of four-track recordings he’d experimented with, seeing if there was something really good in there. “And generally there’s not anything,” he says self-deprecatingly, “so I’ll star t again and tr y to add more melodies, and usually the thing that will happen is that I’ll find something that I’m working on lyrically and that will dictate…that will find a home on some melody that I wrote a while ago. Or sometimes the songs just come out of nowhere all at once, and you’ll make a special effor t not to answer your phone or do anything until you can get home and record it before it evaporates into thin air.”

It’s interesting that Tunde indicates that the

“This whole album – it’s like ping-pong. I can’t say I didn’t listen to what was on the radio and not feel what was going on and react to it. The pop business is like ping-pong – one artist throws something at you, and you throw it right back to them, and it goes backwards and forwards.

“I was inspired by another artist named M.I.A. who came out with “Galang”, and when I saw her video I was like, “Wait a second!” Because I used to be funky. That night I saw the “Galang” video, I got my mojo back and I wrote a song called “Let My Hair Down”, and for the beat I channeled my inner-50 Cent – it was complete freestyle!”

Whilst the urban-infusion of Nelly seems to be the focus right now, “Loose” also features a number of tracks that revisits her quirkier pop side, such as the track “All Good Things”.

The song was originally co-written by Coldplay’s Chris Martin and recorded as a duet, but due to politics the track had to be rerecorded sans Martin. Was Nelly disappointed that this high-profile collaboration didn’t make it to the album?

I’ve only seen that in him and Missy Elliott – this primal rhythmic knowledge. To me, I just loved it and I went all the way with it. I decided that Tim was the man and this album had to be done with him; ten out of the twelve tracks on this album are Timbaland tracks.”

“Tim brings out the primal in the artists he works with, and a brilliant example of that was when I invited Chris Martin to the studio with us because he was dying to meet Timbaland, and Tim was also dying to meet Chris.

Aside from the urban stamp on “Loose”, there’s also

It was a match made in heaven; he arrived and it

St p forward Step f Nelly…whilst Gwen [Stefani]’s fan ’s away…the bird’s back to play… a definite nod to the eighties, with sonic references to acts like Blondie, Prince, Madonna and Eurythmics (in fact in the studio, Nelly often called Tim “Dave”, and in return he called her “Annie”.)

was magical. Something about Timbaland brought out the inner-James Brown in Chris Martin. We had so much fun in the studio together – Tim kept calling him “Coldplay”, which was very funny!

“Timbaland and I were in the studio and we were wondering about all the focus on the corny side of the eighties – what about the really cool side like the Eurythmics? Annie and Dave and their mysterious, spooky, keyboard-pop, and bands like the Talking Heads, and Robert Palmer and his dancers – the kind of surreal side of the eighties.

“Anyway what happened was that we started jamming and wrote this wonderful idea and part of this hook that went, “Why do all good things come to an end?”

And then we created a loop out of the jam, which then became a song. We finished the chorus, I wrote the verses, but what we kept of him (Chris) was his voice in the loop, so it was like the ghost of Chris was on the track.

It was kind of graphic, bold and exciting. Bands like The Police and Blondie were kind of evocative, sexy and in your face. “Maneater” to us is kind of like what the Eurythmics would’ve done if they came out in 2006.”

Whilst Nelly is agreeable to the fact that the Gwen Stefani comparisons come to light with this new project – incidentally, she’s always been a big fan of Gwen Stefani and No Doubt – she says that her new music is a reflection of a number of different artists such as Kylie Minogue, and Britney Spears who, as she says, all make “couture pop-songs”.

“Anyway at the last minute Chris’ label didn’t want his voice on it because it didn’t really sound like the Chris Martin of Coldplay, which is understandable, I guess. It happens all the time in the business – the red-tape gets in the way.

I was sad for about a day and then I realised it was really about that night, not abut the finished product.

Even when I’m finger-painting with my daughter I try for it to be about the process, and not about the finished product.”

“Loose” is out now.

songs are based off melody; from an outsider looking in, TV on the Radio seem like a band who write from a rhythmic platfor m more than a necessarily melodic one. “Usually it’s something that just gets stuck; it can be more rhythmic or more percussive,” he states. “The record is really a result of things that come out of nowhere and end up on the record.”

TV on the Radio have also gained reputation as a socio-politically aw are band; after Hurricane Katrina devastated areas of the United States, the band release the track “Drunk Dr y Emperor” online. “I don’t feel a par ticular pressure to be more political than I am,” Tunde shrugs. “That being said,

By Sasha Perera

I also don’t understand how someone can live, especially in this countr y right now, and not be effected or upset by any of the major political events of the last five years.

It’s so obvious and it’s so absolutely in ever yone’s face, and the responsibility that I feel to myself and to my bandmates and to my friends is that if you see bullshit you should call it out, par ticularly if it’s some of the most ridiculous bullshit in the world and it’s making you wonder about the reality of there actually being a future that you’d enjoy living in.”

TV on the Radio’s new album “Return to Cookie Mountain” is out now.

Grabbing His Acoustic and Heading to Tassie, it’s

Ro b S a w y e r From the first moments after picking up an old beat-up guitar from Cash Converters at the age of fourteen, Rob Sawyer knew that he had found his calling.

Jump just three shor t years ahead and Ro b w i n s t h e f i r s t o f a s l e w o f a w a r d s a n d a c c o l a d e s b y w i n n i n g t h e Fr a n k s t o n International Guitar Fe s t i v a l Yo u n g G u i t a r i s t o f t h e Ye a r a w a r d a f t e r h a v i n g just tur ned seventeen. Fur ther awards c a m e a t f e s t i v a l s a l l ov e r t h e c o u n t r y as he was often crowned Yo u n g Pe r f o r m e r o f t h e Ye a r.

H i s m u s i c s p e a k s f o r i t s e l f, and has gar nered him a reputation as a reliable l i v e p e r f o r m e r. R a c k i n g u p more than three hundred and eighty shows in three years, from cafés to f e s t i v a l m a i n s t a g e s , Ro b ’s show has become a wordof-mouth groundswell.

Despite doing national suppor ts for the likes of C a r u s a n d t h e Tr u e B e l i e v e r s

a n d D o n ov a n Fr a n k e n r e i t e r, n o t to mention touring solo across E u r o p e e a r l i e r t h i s y e a r, h e s t i l l found the time to record his debut album - with a lot of patience, skilful scheduling and a lot of favours.

M ov i n g t o G e e l o n g f r o m h i s h o m e t o w n o f Fr a n k s t o n , h e b u i l t a home studio, leading to months of sporadic late night recording s e s s i o n s . Th e a l b u m w a s f i n a l l y mixed when he retur ned from E u r o p e.

A s i s a l w a y s t h e c a s e w i t h Ro b S a w y e r, t o u r i n g i s g o i n g t o b e a huge par t of his plans to spread the w o r d a b o u t t h e n e w a l b u m . Re v i s i t i n g countless towns and cities across Australia, in all states and territories, y o u ’ r e s u r e t o f i n d Ro b o n s t a g e , standing a couple of feet taller in a r o o m f u l l o f d a n c i n g d e v o t e e s . Ro b will find his way to you.

Th e Ro b S aw ye r B a n d p l ay s I r i s h M u r p h y ’s i n L a u n c e s t o n o n T h u r s d a y t h e 3 1 st o f A u g u s t .

By Tom Wilson

PAGE 25

Shinobido – The Way Of The Ninja PS2 “Be extremely subtle, even to the point of formlessness.

Be extremely mysterious, even to the point of soundlessness. Thereby you can be the director of the opponent’s fate.”

– Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” The winds of war are blowing hot through the land of Utakata. Three warlords are poised to pit their forces in a mighty battle to determine who will rule. Ichijo, the reluctant leader; Akame, as boastful as his coffers are deep; and Sadame, her cult of personality slowly poisoning the land. All need help to bring their schemes to fruition. While they meticulously gather their forces, these three powerful architects of destruction make use of mercenary ninjas to assassinate, pilfer, kidnap, and make covert deliveries in a delicate competition of espionage. As the excellent “Shinobido: The Way of the Ninja” opens, it is into this world that the amnesic ninja, Crow – the last of the Asuka Ninja Clan – finds himself, both literally and metaphorically. And it may just be that Crow’s actions will tip the balance of power in favour of one of these warlords…

This action adventure title from Spike! Entertainment crept up me just like the titular ninja. However, with little fanfare and no hype, “Shinobido” has quickly grown to be an every night gaming compulsion.

On the surface, you’d be forgiven for dismissing it outright. Graphically, it looks more like a first-gen PS2 title with jagged edges and low-res texturing the order of the day. You’ll meet the same character models time and time again, whether it be Ichijo’s men complaining about their duty roster, or skittish young women going about their business in one of

the several towns – there’s not much variation. But after only a few hours of play you’ll see the world of Utakata open up and the depth of gameplay on offer here will pull you in, threatening marathon all-night sessions if you’re not careful. This is the genius of “Shinobido”.

stealth kills) or future dealings with the warlord you’re working against could become very difficult.

Crow – the somewhat emo-ninja (check out that haircut!) whose fate you will guide throughout the game – wakes up beside a peaceful river. A strange glowing crystal reveals partial memories, and after a meeting with rival warlords Ichijo and Sadame, who both seem surprised to discover he’s alive, he discovers that locating other crystals will provide him with more clues as to his identity and former life.

However, he must rely on the warlords, as they rely on him, for information regarding the location of the missing crystals. As he waits, each warlord will offer Crow various missions to undertake for monetary reward, and to help crush their opponents.

It is the balance of action/stealth-oriented gameplay and the political machinations they serve which lends “Shinobido” its compelling allure. Fans of games like “Metal Gear Solid” or “Splinter Cell” will be familiar with the stealth aspects of “Shinobido”, where sneaking around is frequently a better option than direct confrontation. Quite often, enemy forces will quickly outnumber Crow if he’s detected, and it’s a much better option to flee than try and slaughter them all. However, Crow is not a lightweight when it comes to killing. He has many moves at his disposal, as well as a large arsenal of items with which to knock out, confuse, and befuddle his foes. I’m a great fan of the “Sushi of Confusion” which, when eaten by a foe (or Crow! Be careful!) makes them run around like madmen, bumping into things and falling over.

The missions are the real meat of the game and range in difficulty from the simplest “kill everything that moves” mission to the most difficult “poison my opponent’s grain supply without being spotted.” They are all open-ended, and your goals can be achieved in a variety of ways. Due to the nature of espionage, you will frequently find yourself working against each warlord, despite your personal allegiances, and it’s entirely up to you to choose for whom you will offer aid at any given point in time. Successful completion of missions gains you the respect of the warlord who gave you the job, but if you botch it you’ll lose their favour. Similarly, you must be careful to not be spotted on a mission (or at least silence any tattletales quickly and quietly with any number of special

Jimmy McMacken’s

This brings us to the excellent physics of the game.

Dead bodies respond to gravity, falling from cliffs or down slopes like broken dolls. Everything has weight.

Most objects found in the game can be moved, broken or collected for your own personal store as, between missions, you’ll retire to your secret ninja garden where the warlords will send you messages and missions; you can read up on the news and check on each warlord’s preparations for war, or you can buy or sell objects found in your travels. You can also send gifts to the warlords, which is a great way to curry their favour as you simultaneously work against them. Each warlord likes different things though. For example, Sadame is quite fond of fungi, particularly the “phallic” variety…

Other highlights of the night were the stencil art by the crew from “Die laughing” who did a great job to make the place look pretty and the antics of Seb Young, who did a great job to make the place not look pretty.

SK8 Wrap-up

Thanks must go to the security – Ben Dixon and Steve Donaldson – who kept all the grommies in tow, Mischa from Disconnect Records who took control of the sound all night and the sponsors Globe, Kewday and Stussy who provided the prizes for the skating.

Seems like it was the month for skate shop owners to celebrate their birthdays as I also celebrated, my 30th in Hobart. This was a first of its kind in TAS with a house party with four bands and a skate comp.

There are plans for a massive new park in Burnie.

Apparently there is a lot of money behind this one and the plans look good. By all reports this park should be finished by the New Year, so keep an eye out for this one.

Local metal band Taberah were the first cab of the rank and got the party started.

Congrats to Laif Johanasen and Lewis Carney who were finalists in skateboard.com’s video competition “A Day in the Life” judged by the one and only Jamie Thomas.

Definitely a hit with some of the older skaters who thought they were in a time warp, skating along to the sounds of Iron Maiden.

Fellow ramp and house owner Duncan Ewington’s band The No Nos were up next. These guys never disappoint, and Duncan and lead singer Edo were certainly in their element with a skate ramp at the opposite end of the stage. Then it was time for some skating.

A rowdy party is definitely an interesting place for a skate comp, with boards, beers and bodies flying everywhere. This didn’t stop the boys (and probably enhanced) tearing the ramp apart.

The ramp is three feet high with a six-foot extension and a seven-foot extension, and it’s these extensions that separated the men from the boys (or the sane from the insane).

Party, party, party was the call in skateboarding this month (if it’s not every month).

Launceston didn’t know what hit it when Dan Beach, Sean Connoly and Stewie Morton came back to TAS from Melbourne for Stewie’s and Julian Rodman’s (owner of McGavin’s Skate Shop) combined 20th and 21st birthday party. By all reports it was a raucous affair with the boys (especially Timmy) in fine form as usual.

PAGE 26

Paul Chan (360 melons), Pom (360 backside ollies) and Azza (a man among men) were consistent all night, but when the big prizes were up for grabs it was time to step up to the extensions. Tom Field ripped all night and pulled a blunt fakie when it counted to be one of the top three.

Anthony “Strawbs” Broadberry also got amongst the prizes with an impressive bag of tricks and a backside boneless-to-tail on the extension.

Kieran McKenzie rounded out the top three, showing no regard for his (or anybody else’s) safety, smashing himself all night and finding time to smash the coping with backside feebles and smiths on the big extension.

And then it was back to the mosh pit, where local punk legends Stand Defiant and Ballpoint rocked on to the wee hours of the morning.

In what is definitely a growing trend in Tassie, there was another DVD premiere this month.

Every set of missions is generated according to your prior actions. This makes for a constantly unpredictable and surprising experience. As the game progresses, rival ninja clans will start paying you attention, such as the Mosu Clan, a posse of beautiful, but deadly female ninjas – supermodels with shurikens. Some will ally themselves with the warlords and pop up during missions, so watch out or you’ll find yourself on the wrong end of a katana more often than not.

The game comes complete with a level editor so you can design fiendish challenges for your friends, and you can even customise your ninja garden to your specifications, placing spike traps and gifts from warlords, like Shinto Gates and rivers, around the place to help defend if from frequent incursions by local barbarians.

“Shinobido” is a challenge you will return to time and time again, as you explore the multiple consequences to your actions and how it affects the fate of Utakata.

Crafted with great subtlety and intelligence, its customisable features and action/consequence gameplay will entertain for many hours. Don’t rent it, don’t play-test it, just set aside a month or three to immerse yourself in Crow’s plight and buy “Shinobido” immediately. It’s a smart, fun adventure for the thoughtful gamer that rewards with action and intrigue at every turn. Now, to find some more fungi for Sadame…

4.5 shuriken mushrooms out of 5.

By Chris Rattray

Hobart and Launceston on the 28th of July.

This was a much anticipated DVD and did not disappoint at all. Check it out.

Unfortunately there is always an injury to report, and this month it’s Aarron Lister from Launnie who copped the worst of it with a fractured ankle.

I mentioned earlier that Tom Field was one of the winners of the best trick comp and it is this form that has seen him be included as the newest member to the hottest skate team in the state, at Jimmy’s Skate and Street.

A couple of Tassie’s pioneering street skaters, Jo Hamilton and Nick Paice, have been spotted back on-board lately.

Keep an eye out for these two if they stay on-board.

And Hobart’s absolute living legend Tyrus Mason has also been seen ripping it up. (Is this true, old man?)

So, that was that in a cold and wet month; the weather may have stopped some from skating but stopped no one from partying.

Black Labels “Back in Black” premiered in both

There are plans for a massive new park in Burnie

12 T S U G U A T U O D C / D V D ’S AROMA FOSTER’S MUSIC WILLS MOJO RED HOT CD PLAYING LIVE

@

WILLS, AUGUST 12TH

@ NOON

The Bedroom Philosopher’s

S e c o n d

I

[stage

and

I remember when the Internet first hit in 1995. Its arrival wasn’t a cataclysmic overnight technological revolution, more of a quiet rumour circulated by some of the I.B.M. hyper geeks – eventually announced matter of factly by our Info Tech teacher Mr Badcock. In the early days the Internet was treated like the good china at your Nan and Pop’s house – you were allowed to use it, but only under supervision, and for a strictly limited amount of time. One of my first research exercises was compiling a Beck fanzine, consisting of pages found through Alta Vista – remember Alta Vista? The Beta of search engines – I’m sure it was powered by a team of computer nerds peddling bicycles and juggling encyclopaedias somewhere in Chicago.

Telnet was the other fascination – an MS-Dos style chat room facilitator where nerds tried very hard to talk about not much in the hope of being promoted by other nerds, in turn giving them the power to promote/ demote younger, less experienced nerds. Gosh it was addictive. I think my user name was ‘crumpet,’ and I have a strong recollection of telling bad jokes and being demoted down to peasant level. You know there’s something seriously wrong when even in a virtual world you are the social outcast.

I eventually outgrew the vacuous superficiality of the chat room mentality, and focussed on tapping the Internet for its more substantial, constructive juices; such as poorly written biographies and post-feminist photographic art. Eleven years on, and just when I thought Googling my own name was the worst, most narcissistic and shallow of my e-vices, along comes Myspace.

For those of you who are currently blissfully unaware, please be warned that reading any further may render you vulnerable to the bright lights and pseudocompetitiveness of this ‘virtual community’ come online personality casino. Myspace is a social network which currently hosts over 80 million users worldwide.

Apart from plain old civilians, users also include bands, artists, comedians, clubs and organisations. Basically, it acts as your own personal website, and allows you to upload a photo and information about yourself without knowing any HTML code. You can then personalise the look and feel of your page through some easily downloadable programs.

Once you’ve activated your ‘space,’ just like in life, it’s in your best interest to find some friends. Everyone’s Myspace page gives you the option of ‘adding them as a friend,’ in turn, that person then has the choice to add/ reject you - just like in life. Once you’ve accumulated a few pals, you then have the luxury of choosing your ‘Top 8’ friends - just like in life. Everyone from Willie Nelson to Goldfrapp have their own Myspace pages, and you can add them as friends - just like in life, providing they oblige, which they usually do - just like in life. The reality of Beck sitting in front of his computer all day seems a little outlandish to swallow, but I bet even his minions are groundbreaking trailblazers.

I

out

like

head-butted

dove]

this

I

There are many words that could be used to describe the man on the right in this photo of ARIA-winning musical comedy troupe Tripod. We’ll just use his name. It’s Yon. Actually, it’s Simon Hall. But we like “Yon” better. We spoke to him about killing gigs and headbutting audience members. It was funny.

Read it.

So apart from absolutely nailing this interview, what’s your major goal for today?

(Laughs) We’re doing some shows in August in Melbourne, and we’re going to do three covers of a particular artist each week. So the goal for today is to decide what they are.

How long has Tripod been together?

Ah…about ten years now.

Please add me as a friend. I promise I’ll say yes.

(The authors gallant salivation leaves a myriad of rainbow stars on the screen) www.bedroomphilosopher.com www.myspace.com/thebedroomphilosopher

By Jusin Heazlewood PAGE 28

awesome.

Who are those people who you think are awesome?

I think Greg Fleet’s one. Daniel Kitson’s one.

It seems like the only way is up for you guys down here…

Yeah.

This is going to be Tripod’s first full-length show in Tassie. Did you guys have a bit of trouble finding us on the map?

(Laughs) Do you want to hear the truth? Our producer was scared of Tasmania for a long time because we lost a lot of money there, so it took a lot of convincing to get them to do a Tripod show there. They were burned once there really badly.

The name of the show is “Tripod; Self-Saucing” – was that named after our magazine?

Is your magazine called that?

was

diving girl…it

into

a

really

pool… hurt…

Just tell them that this is “The New Tasmania”.

It’s a brave new world!

Actually, the last time we were in Tasmania, the gig didn’t go that well. We were playing at The Theatre Royal, and we’d just been to the Cadburys factory that day. We were in the middle of the set, and it was going really well, and then Scott goes, “We went to the Cadburys factory today; that was fun. I’ve never seen such a combination of sweets and human misery!” (Laughs) The audience didn’t like that.

We’re called SAUCE. Oh. I guess not, then.

(Laughs) Yes! Yes it is! Because we knew that we were coming there!

You thought you’d better make a big impact, considering history. [Wasn’t he just talking about his last big impact? – Tom] Yeah – try to win them back!

I take it there’s a lot of self-deprecating humour in the show, then?

Yeah; that’s what a lot of our stuff is about, really. Songs about embarrassing things that have happened to us.

Word spread pretty quickly, then.

Well it’s not often that you can actually kill a gig if it’s going well. Even if you have a few hiccups or whatever, you can usually get it back, but we didn’t get it back.

Tripod will be head-butting…I mean playing at Hobart’s Theatre Royal on Saturday the 19th of August.

By Dave Williams

craft and creativity – maybe in essence reflecting more about the works surrounding him.

Hobart’s 1st Extreme Sport Film Festival

And when you started, how much did you suck?

(Laughs) Well that’s a matter of opinion… I know that when we watched stuff, even a few years after we started off, I find it pretty cringe-worthy.

I reckon the bit that sucks the most is the onstage banter that we used to do. Musically…we were just singing other people’s songs when we started, so the songs were great; we were doing David Bowie songs or whatever.

So it was actually your original material that sucked…

Well we didn’t have much original material then; we only had one or two songs.

There are so many different styles of comedy; even in musical comedy. What form of comedy makes you piss your pants?

Well…let’s see…I guess there’s no particular form. Sketch comedy, when it’s really good.

But it can be really shit. I think in every form, there’s some really good stuff and some really shit stuff. I think that stand-up comedy can be a really contrived idiom. But I think that some people make it feel…not. Being on stage with a microphone, acting like you’re having a conversation with people, but you’re not…it’s a very strange arena. But some people make it

Mr Nobody and Peter Wolfgang Gabriel (review)

Some other tokenistic Myspace behavious includes:

In conclusion, Myspace is awfully good for indie-artists, as you can upload your own songs for a potentially massive and eclectic audience, and make yourself easily contactable to hypothetical/fictional industry personnel. Apart from this, it could be deemed as nothing more than novelty cyber-fluff synthesising the degrading social mind-set of teenagerdom with all the intellectual depth of an online personality quiz. But I dare you to have Sarah Blasko accept you as a friend and not surrender yourself to the spiritual hot-sauce of the Myspace empire.

F o r

If this is the full-length show, was that previous show cut short?

Nah. We were doing the Melbourne Comedy Festival thing; the Comedy Roadshow. It was part of that. I think we’ve done a uni gig there…that was a bit disastrous too. I don’t know why they always happen in Hobart!

But I was really tired, because I’d just been overseas; I had jetlag. Someone yelled out “Do a stage dive!” I’d never done one before, and I’d never actually studied how you do it. I just dove out horizontally. Most people jump up, and then land – I just dove out like I was diving into a pool…and I head-butted this poor girl…it really hurt…hurt me a bit too. I think I was just a bit tired and was open to suggestion.

poor

Borrowing from the Blogging world, Myspace also allows you to leave comments on other people’s pages.

Often a good ice breaker is ‘hey what’s up? I’m so bored.

School really sucks.’

The hyper-contrived angled photo.

Overwhelmingly ‘busy’ use of background patterns and colours, like an excited Nan doing a desktop publishing course at TAFE. Self-promotion Nazis, zapping out e-flyers like a virus in tight denim.

The dizzying blend of blatantly self-aware time wasting and Pavlovian soul salivation when you receive friends request and messages.

L u c k y ?

Tripod

Struth Be Told

MYSPACE AND ME

T i m e

Mayor Ivan Dean, about to open the Fifty Tree exhibition, is beaten by the crack of party poppers popping and the thump of a pumpkin.

A small laugh by those wearing suits and important by stature, almost nervous in body language, as Ivan Dean, bemused with a smile, states he can’t top that. In front of him, a man wearing a surfboard suit and a pair of oversized Chickenfeed glasses stands dead center, as the crowd three steps back are afraid to engage with the strange beast. Something odd is happening in Launceston. Another man, Peter Wolfgang Gabriel – the same man thrown off the stage at the last Freakshow dressed as Satan – tormented the conservative mindset of the audience, who couldn’t grasp what, in essence, could be labeled a fluxus performance (maybe if he juggled he would have been more appreciated – so much for freedom of speech) of insults and rants, walked less gracefully dressed as a tree.

This reflected a more kindergarten approach to

There must be something in the water, or just some crazy drug flooding our market, as two formerly conservative artists – one an awardwinning landscape photographer, the other a selling and skilled surrealist painter – and former darlings of the Launceston University turn their backs on the more conservative approach. The exhibition scene is riddled with pretence and formalities – I slap your back if you slap mine approach – as The Examiner bars all letters criticising such events, sparking a mini witch hunt around the school for an anonymous letter.

It seems these establishments have joined forces and are above criticism. In reality, the university provides at least a space for these ideas to be expressed.

This wasn’t the first time we had seen the surfboard bag, as “Mr. Nobody”. A short film by Ivan Stringer and part of Damian Quillam’s new media art space, plays in the background the copyrighted take of a Cure song, as Mr. Nobody wanders around aimlessly trying to make it somewhere in the art world, but finds nothing and no support. It is, though, a strange beast indeed when you start to get accepted for these behaviors; how easy it is for people to become used to you. Once anti-establishment in attitude, you become so easily sucked up and become just another part of the establishment you’re fighting against; another colourful backdrop to the ideals that run the place. On another level, these two artists are daring to try a different approach – one that is part performance, breaking down the barriers between audience and performer, as Peter Wolfgang Gabriel AKA Josh Foley claims he is dead, and stabs a teddy bear at his book/art opening. [It’s] a tourist gallery that become more based around an event. This is in essence what these two artists are about – their only problem is to keep their ideas away from mere sideshow attractions.

By Samuel Eddy

Big-Air and Bruises

Hobart’s first extreme sport short film festival, The Ragdoll Short Film Festival, is being held on the 21st September 2006 at UTAS, Hobart. It should be great night and includes many attractions such as extreme sports stalls (to facilitate an easy exchange of information between experienced people to novices), Ragdoll models, cheap beers, prizes and giveaways. The major lucky door prize is a tandem skydive package valued at $520 compliments of Island Skydivers. The Skydive give away includes an introductory lesson from your tandem master, a tandem skydive, a CD full of digital shots and an edited DVD capturing all the excitement and thrills of your jump.

There are also great prizes for the category winners.

This year’s categories and awards will be given for the following: Best Extreme Sports Film: Presented by Captain Ozone, Best Bike Film: Presented by Cyclingo, Best Board Film: Presented by Jimmy’s Skate & Street, Best Crash Film: Presented by Island Surf School, Crowd Favourite: Presented by Ragdoll Models

Get all your friends involved and help support Tasmanian talent. To get involved simply film your original extreme sports footage, edit it, and submit it. It’s that easy, at least for the film-maker. Perhaps a little harder for those being filmed!

For more info, go to www.ragdollfilmfestival.com.

Female Models Wanted

Music Music Comedy Sensations

For Nude/Art Photography Paid Work

Contact Grant Wise 0402 442 936

in

‘‘Seriously, Seriously, if you have never heard of tripod, you are missing out on one of the country’s best comedy outfits’ The Adelaide Advertiser

ART FORUM A r t i s t

R u n

I n i t i a t i v e s

WANT TO SET UP AN ARTIST-RUN SPACE BUT DON’T KNOW WHERE TO START? THE ART FORUM ON ARTIST RUN INIATIVES WILL PROVIDE YOU WITH SOME GREAT TIPS ON HOW TO GET STARTED: MAKING CONTACTS, FINDING A SUITABLE EXHIBITION SPACE, MEMBERSHIPS AND RUNNING EXHIBITION PROGRAMS.

Friday 04.08.2006 10am – 4pm Guest Speakers: James Newitt (Inflight ARI), Lucy Kenneth (Director Tas Regional Arts), Angela Barrington (Kentish Working Art Space), Scot Cotterell (Inflight ARI), Justy Phillips (Inflight ARI), Jamin (Inflight ARI), Anthony Johnson (Inflight ARI), Ralf Hartel (Arts Alive ARI), Karlee Foster (Arts Alive ARI).

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exhibition of works from INFLIGHT (ARI) opens at 6pm

45-47 Stewart Street Devonport p. 0364248296 e. artgallery@dcc.tas.gov.au

YOUNG WRITERS GET MENTORED! Applications are now open to young writers for Express Media’s 2006 National Mentorship Program The program will pair four young writers with four established writers for a six-month period from October 2006 to March 2007

ONE NIGHT ONLY!

THEATRE ROYAL

This is an excellent opportunity to develop your writing in the following fields:• Novel writing with Shalini Akhil • Poetry, fiction or comics with Adam Ford • Playwriting with Lally Katz • Journalism or short fiction with Anna Krien

7.30PM

For more information go to www.expressmedia.org.au Applications close Thursday 31 August

Express Media: creating literary and media opportunities for young artists

www.3pod.com.au

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