Sauce - Issue 48, 8-8-07

On the street every second Wednesday

Issue #48 08/08/07 - 21/08/07 Made in Tasmania

ROCK SALT

MIDNIGHT JUGGERNAUTS

We’re The Juggernauts, Bitch!

By Tom Wilson

There’s no stopping Midnight Juggernauts! On a short break after touring internationally, Tom Wilson caught up with Vendetta, a.k.a. Vincent, before bringing their show down to Tassie. It’s a tale of Travolta gone wrong, with giant robots and The Pixies thrown in for good measure…

Hello, Vincent! So where are you at the moment, mate?

I’m back in Melbourne! We’ve been overseas the last month and we just got back yesterday and I’ve only just adjusted back to Australia, so, yeah, it’s good to be home again. It was like, I woke up in the middle of the night last night thinking, “Where the hell am I?” I didn’t recognise my own room. It’s good being able to stay in the one spot without thinking I have to run off to another city tomorrow morning. It’s taking some adjusting but it’s good.

There’s obviously a prominent electronic sound to the Midnight Juggernauts, would you say it’s basically, in its simplest form, a blend of dance music with rock?

Yeah, I suppose. We have a lot of influences… we kind of just merged our favourite flavours, like indie dance [which] can be pretty broad, music that has guitars and drums and people can dance to it as well. Also… a lot of people would know us for the indie dance line, but with the album we wanted to branch out a bit further and we wanted to have… just go down different paths, lots of terrains [with] the new album, different moods and feelings so it’s not just all about the dance floor.

…we just all brought it together to become Midnight Juggernauts… sounds like Voltron or something!…

I found it highly amusing reading the list of influences on your Myspace. You’ve listed both New Order and the grindcore band, Carcass. Since I think that is absolutely fucking awesome, tell me a bit about how the influences differ between the three of you?

Andy, our guitarist, when we were all growing up getting into music for the first time as thirteen year olds, was… really into a lot of that heavier music like Carcass and Slayer and that was all he played on guitar in early High School… kind of that darker edge, and maybe there is a bit of that darker feel to our music as well; probably not as hard and heavy as Carcass… but then we have our pop influences as well, like a lot of David Bowie and a bit of E.L.O. There are a lot of influences that kind of made their way into the record. And our drummer is into a lot of… more percussive stuff as well, and we just all brought it together to become Midnight Juggernauts… sounds like Voltron or something!

When we get together to jam we’ll end up creating some long, spacey, soundtrack tune where it’s more about the mood you create, and somewhere we’ll turn that into a song and put some more poppy structure into place. We’ve always been into atmosphere with music, so maybe [that’s] why we have a lot of soundtrack stuff as well.

I understand that when you guys were playing a show you were kind of inconvenienced by he of the ridiculous dimple, Mr. John Travolta. What was the story there?

(Laughs) Yeah, last month that was, playing in Paris.

That was our first show in Paris on this trip. It was kind of funny. We’d played at this famous restaurant called Maxim’s, a really high-class restaurant in Paris.

We went there to do a sound check and then when the night started, John Travolta turned up and he wanted to have dinner there with his family and… they had this jazz band play. So we had to pack away all our instruments during our sound check and we had to wait until he’d finished his meal and [had] left the restaurant before we could set our instruments up again, but everything had been reset… so the sound check had been null and void after that. All through the gig we were like, “Damn John Travolta ruined our show!” [But] we still got a good response. Afterwards, our drummer, who was a bit annoyed with it all, threw his drumstick into the crowd and hit some guy from Capitol in the head. It was a funny night, and I think he saw the funny side of it as well. But, yeah, we had a few funny experiences like that on the road…

Why is it Scientologists are all weird?

(Laughs) Yeah, we were discussing that afterwards and it’s strange that Scientology has a stigma attached to you if you, like, follow that path [like] high profile celebrities do. But there must be something there, don’t know what it is…

How acceptable do you think classic Travolta dance moves are on the dance floors of today?

A lot of dance floors are in the dark so you can get away with a lot but under lights… I don’t know, it depends how well you can pull them off, I suppose!

You have to practice a lot at home before you take it out in public, I think.

While we’re on the subject, what kinds of moves can we expect from the Juggernauts?

There’s not a lot of discipline [for] dance moves to our music required; lots of jumping around and falling into walls involved. Anyone can play… I’m not the type who studies dance moves, like you have those charts where left foot, right foot goes. I’ve never followed one of those guides before so there’s no rules at one of our shows.

You’re playing two shows down here in August. Have you played in Tasmania before?

Yeah, we had our first show… in April this year for the Southern Roots Festival, and that was fun. It was a good show and afterwards we stayed a week longer just to explore the island, so we… hired a car for a week and went to Wineglass Bay and a few different areas. Yeah, [it’s] a pretty amazing landscape and we had a lot of fun. And also, around Hobart… we met up with Andrew from Wolfmother the next day as well and we went to Peppermint Bay which was shut!

We were really disappointed because we wanted to

have something to eat, but then he went inside and opened the door and I think they recognised him so they brought out [lots of] free food and drink, which was nice of them…

With hair like that it’d be hard not to… …It was handy! But he didn’t come with us for the rest of the trip; we had to fend for ourselves. At Wineglass Bay, the same thing happened. We got there late and all the places were shut and we were trying to find a hotel room, and we were like, “[Will] we have to sleep in the car?” I’ve done that before… actually, I can’t remember what happened; we made it through somehow… yeah, it was a fun trip.

backstage and tried to meet them; he wanted to say hi to his idols. But I was out the front for the whole show. They put on a great show. It’s strange that they have over, like, twenty years of back catalogue to delve into. It was a great show. We saw Daft Punk about two, three weeks ago in London and the same thing happened [where] I just wanted to experience it from the front… because their show is such an audiovisual spectacular you really have to watch from the front. That was crazy. It made us think that when we get a million dollar budget we’ll have to create this huge lighting spectacular. So hopefully on the next tour we’ll get that in place!

What were The Pixies like? They were the ones everyone wanted to meet…

I didn’t get to meet them personally. When I go to see these shows, I rarely watch them from the backstage; I like to see them from the front. Daniel, our drummer, is really into The Pixies so he went

The Midnight Juggernauts smash their way onto Tassie stages at Hobart’s Republic Bar (August 10) and at The James in Launceston (August 11). http://www.midnightjuggernauts.com

PAGE 3

HANNAH

ROCK SALT

Hobart Rockers To Break The Silence

By Tom Wilson

A band who like their palindrome name so much they write it all in capitals – not that there’s anything wrong with that – Hobart’s HANNAH will be breaking a two-month hiatus from playing live by supporting The Lazy’s around the state this month. I spoke to Christopher Coleman about the band’s songwriting dynamic, the advantages of being a threepiece, and playing music for his pet dog.

What first motivated you to take up an instrument? Do you come from musical families?

My family is pretty musical – and violent. It was sort of a do-music-or-get-disowned situation for me. Dad was in the Tasmanian 80’s folk rock legends “Fern Chutney”. Susannah, my sister, got bloody dux of VCA a few years back, and Jonno is just a classy, smooth guy who doesn’t have to try, but just is good at everything. I’m just the striving younger brother, you know. Alister’s mother loves Singstar (might I add, she holds the top score for Like A Virgin by Madonna). Seth’s dad was also a master of brass from memory. I actually wouldn’t put it past Seth’s mum to be an old hand at woodwind instruments.

You guys started back in January last year. How did that come about?

We had been jamming a bit before this, with a different drummer. But we decided to try and do something outside the prac room – see whether other people would like our tunes. We really enjoy just bashing out a catchy tune; making other people enjoy themselves and doing it with a smile. We don’t take ourselves too seriously, i.e. pretending that because we are in a band, we are superior to everyone else. Performers seem to get a lot of unnecessary attention ahead of those who are actually doing really, really positive things. A lot of it seems to stem from that arrogant attitude maybe. I think what I’m getting at is that we don’t have the intention of jumping the “hero” cue just because we play fun songs.

How would you describe the evolution of HANNAH in that time [apart from obviously “getting better”] – as individuals, as a group, and in terms of the music that you make?

As a group, musically, I think there is this subconscious understanding of each other more. For example, Seth brought a new song to us the other day, and the first time we ran through it, we just knew where to head with it – where to emphasise the beat in the groove, when to drop out, how to end etc. I think we have become pretty laid-back about it, and because we love it so much, we work pretty hard in most areas.

[We’re an] exception to the whole rock star persona.

Maybe we should have been more attentive in drama lessons … or watch more Jet. The music is becoming more pleasant, and maybe easier to listen to – the songs are easier to be interpreted, and have a whole

much, but hopefully once Alister finishes his Yoga course at TAFE, we will have a bit more time.

The neighbours are either really appreciative, or really intimidated – whatever it is, it’s great because uninterrupted practices are really nice. It’s usually my pup who gets most frustrated – he doesn’t realise we aren’t Crosby, Stills & Nash!

lot more space. It’s that whole “more is less” deal at the moment with us.

I don’t think anyone outside Seth’s mind will ever know why this band is called HANNAH … he had a vision, a dream, a mission …

What gigs have you guys been playing recently, and which has been a highlight?

For the last two months we haven’t done anything – it was just getting too busy. As Alister always likes to say, “There’s no harm in charging your proverbial batteries.” We have been getting a whole heap of new stuff together, which we will be getting out on this tour with The Lazy’s later this month.

Highlights for me are just any show where the music is dense and solid, but still breathing easily – like, you feed off the audience, and they feed off you

… like chooks with real tasty chook feed. Good analogy?

But to give one highlight, probably Sydney last year for the national GBOB final – not the gig as such, but just being able to truly focus on putting on a good show, and stay in a seedy backpackers together, and play to a whole new audience. Any support slot at Republic is always great too; new punters, and it’s like a fresh start. The Kisschasy and Vasco Era shows were my personal favourites. Just any gig where people are interested to hear other people’s songs and stories, not ones they already know …

How easy is it for you guys to be satisfied with a song at a certain point when writing it? Do you find it hard to consider a song “done”, and not want to work on it anymore? Generally, one of us has a really strong idea of where we want an idea to go. Then it’s taken to the band to be stripped back, and put together. Sometimes it takes months, other times, like, two shots at it, and [then] we know “dag nabbit, that’s it lads”. We can usually just feel when it works for HANNAH – if the songs were played by anyone else, it would probably need more … but I think we understand our personal sound, and we know when to let it slide in the writing side, and then focus on the exxxeeecutiion!!

How often do you guys rehearse, and where? Do you drive the neighbours nuts?

Usually downstairs in my basement – it’s a concrete hell. Because of this break we haven’t been practicing

Though I’m not talking from personal experience, I’ve always thought that playing rock music as a three-piece would feel a little limited, in that the base elements – guitar, bass, drums and vocals – are handled by the bare minimum of people. [Still, it doesn’t seem to bother Muse in the slightest] To what extent would you agree with this? Have you ever considered taking on another member, to add a bit more to your sound?

Yeah, I know what you’re saying Tommy, my man. We did have a second guitarist for a while, which seemed to work – but it often got quite cluttered, and it wasn’t song-and-story anymore. It was a bit congested – it sounded fine, but we like a song to have breath, and it got a bit lost.

Mitch’s visa had also run out … God knows what he is doing now. Lately we have been experimenting with two saxophones, which sounds really sweet – and gives a really new element. I think we pull off the three-piece thing well, possibly in a flukey way, but it doesn’t seem to lack. The three of us hold the HANNAH vibe, and because we all sing as well, we can get some threepart harmony action going that can really fill out the sound when needed.

Lastly, when you came up with the name of the band, did you deliberately choose one that says the same thing spelt backwards?

The whole HANNAH name thing is a bit weird. I don’t think anyone outside Seth’s mind will ever know why this band is called HANNAH. He came up with it one day – he had a vision, a dream, a mission. And because I didn’t have the heart to shatter his dreams and because I love palindromes, I couldn’t resist.

HANNAH play with The Lazy’s at Irish Murphy’s in Hobart on the 15th of August, Devonport’s Spurs Saloon on the 16th, Launceston’s Saloon on the 17th, and both an all ages and licensed show at the Brisbane Hotel in Hobart on the 18th. www.myspace.com/hannahrock05

Th e K i ck s

3-13

Rock Salt

14

Hard Boiled

15

Gig Reviews

16-17

Gig Guide

18

CD Reviews

19-21

Hip Hop

22-25

Bangers & Mash

27

Japanimator / DVD Reviews

28

Travel Bug /Spotlight

29

XTREME Sports / Burnout

30

Street Fashion / Eyeball Kicks

Phone: 03 6331 0701 Advertising: advertising@sauce.net.au Editorial: editorial@sauce.net.au

Editor David Williams

david@sauce.net.au

Sub Editor Tom Wilson

twilson@sauce.net.au

Journalist Chris Rattray crattray@sauce.net.au

Graphic Design Chris Titmus ctitmus@sauce.net.au

Contributors: Shannon Stevens, Emma Dilemma, Nicky Wilson, Chris Rattray, Ryan Farrington, Ian Murtagh, Felix Blackler, Patrick Duke, Nicole Calabria, Steve Tausche, Dave Hernyk, Clara Murray, Carole Whitehead, Ryan Farrington, Patrick Duke, Ange Duke, David Walker, Cassy Hinds, Mathew Labedzki, Zackery Blackstone, Laen Deakin

Deadlines Sauce #49, 22nd Aug - 4th Sept

Ladders is the first album from The Kicks, our very own Hobart-based modern indie/pop/electro rock band.

Climbing high is on the agenda and with a music video on rotation on Rage and some more international exposure, how much longer before The Kicks kick on to ever-dizzying heights? I kicked around with front-lady Zoe Zac for more info…

We know you are The Kicks, but just exactly who are The Kicks and what makes you tick?

ZoeZac Visoiu, Warren Hankey, and Alex Martin (otherwise known as the OUTpsiDER)... we are The Kicks.

The film clip on your website for Cha Cha looks like it was fun to make – walk us through the creation of the clip from concept to reality?

Our first objective was to make a video as classic as possible, so we included a few obvious things like Zac getting changed lots of times, wild psychedelic effects, the notion of pop stars loving themselves, all quite realistically filmed in the lounge room on webcam while the flatmates were having a cup of tea. This was a no-budget film, filmed and edited over two days with little organisation... while somehow being captivated by the idea of the artist becoming the subject, and being honest in representation; not that I’ve ever pashed myself in real life, but I like the notion of [the] electronic medium confusing reality with fantasy.

…Not that I’ve ever pashed myself in real life …

Speaking of filming, your Ladders launch gig is going to be filmed – how do you plan to use the footage from the gig?

Abigail Norman (ex front-person for UK band Madasun) is our new filmmaker. She will be making our next two videos, our actors will be at the launch; we hoped to get some footage of them dancing. If this looks any good we may cut a section of it into our next vid. I ‘spose the rest is for the archive.

DEADLINE: 17th August

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

PAGE 4

By Chris Rattray

ROCK SALT

Contents

An Opportunity For Fashion Slags

What’s the trendiest gear you’d like to see people wearing at the launch gig?

Our crowd is usually fairly rock’n’roll. We just wanted

people to be a little showier than usual. I myself am a sucker for twin-sets and gold jewelry at the moment, maybe mixed up with a bit of political slogan (save the forest, yo!), fluro bikinis, platform boots that plug into the wall... fishnets with big holes in them... this is just an opportunity for the fashion slag set to strut their stuff and be as conventional or unconventional as they want.

We aren’t the fashion police, but the Popolice will be in the building.

What can we expect from the new album and how will it change the landscape of modern indie/pop/electro rock forever?

Off this fifteen-song album you can expect ten original songs, two covers, and three remixes. We hope people enjoy our covers of Don McLean’s Vincent and The Cures’ A Forest. We are hoping our particular mix of Tassie lo-fi with Euro hi-fi (web search the OUTpsiDER for more info) will cut us a groove. As far as changing the landscape of modern indie/pop/electro rock forever... I think that needs to be answered retrospectively. Ask me that in ten years.

This is our first album. We hope people like it. It’s the most accessible thing we’ve done to date... and dancey as!

Where else will you go, what, and who, will you do to get Ladders out there?

Once released, Ladders will be available from our dot com, www.wearethekicks.com. We are self distributing.

Hopefully our album will reach a good record shop near you! We are happy being independent. We have just signed [a] promo deal on one of the songs off the album, Limousine, which is being released in Los Angeles on the 15th of August on 5000 CDs, which are being distro’d for free with indie punk magazine, Skratch Magazine.

Copies of this compilation, the Indie Sampler v.7, which

prides itself in [bringing] cutting-edge indie punk to the world, will be available at [the] Ladders launch party.

We’re quite prepared to do what it takes to get it out there. Touring is on the cards...

What’s the significance, if any, of the album title?

Nothing to do with my stockings... Ladders are designed to get us to higher places right?

How do The Kicks get their kicks?

Well, Waz and Alex both DJ. Zac paints, loves electric guitars, gardening, and is working on a fashion line. We all have kids. Waz loves to travel, Alex loves trance… and his recording studio.

If The Kicks had to pick just one album to listen to for the rest of their days, who would choose what and why?

Alex would pick Killing Jokes’ first album, cause it covers the gamut. Zac can’t decide between Popolice Middle Ground, and DJ Tranterco Streetparty Mix. They both compete for stereo time and are friggen awesome albums. Waz would probably choose some rare disco album, but in reality we’ll probably all end up listening to Ladders.

What’s the best thing and worst thing about being in The Kicks?

The worst thing is having spent six months in the studio on this album. We have not played out much lately. The best thing is we’re about to launch our debut release and we can’t wait for the launch party!

The Kicks play Hobart’s Mobius Nightclub, August 31, 7-10pm with special guests, Melbourne’s Popolic (www.popolice.com), and Pchi. http://www.myspace.com/wearethekicks

THE EMBERS

ROCK SALT

Fanning The Flames of Success

By Chris Rattray

Local Launceston band, The Embers, have just released their debut EP, recorded at Melbourne’s prestigious Woodstock Recording Studio thanks to their win at last year’s National Campus Band competition in Sydney. A product of sheer joy and technical excellence, the four-track release showcases their amazing versatility and verve. I caught up with The Ember’s understandably chuffed lead man, Mick Attard, fresh from playing a stint on local radio…

Hello Mick, how was 7LA? Yeah good, doing a local thing now every Friday, putting on local original acts so it’s pretty cool.

That’s what 7LA does?

Yeah, they just started it.

So you kicked that off did you?

Nah, nah, it’s been going for a couple of weeks.

Leigh Ratcliffe did it, Carl Fidler, Dave Adams and it’s just my turn.

It’s awesome that a commercial station like that is supporting local artists.

It was all a kind of initiative by Leigh Ratcliffe. He started working there and said how about doing this and they took to it, so it gives some people an avenue, or platform to play some tunes.

and check that out.

So you just wait for the people who know their production duties to add their spin to it; how much

So how did they fit your band in there?

I just played one of my solo songs, but we plugged the hell out of the band.

Well you guys won the National Band Campus Competition last year. How has that affected The Embers?

Oh, big time, it’s opened up so many doors for us.

Firstly, we got eight grand’s worth of equipment and Sony contributed about three grand to the recording and we put in another couple of grand to do the recording at Woodstock in Melbourne.

And I saw on the back of the CD cover that Regional Arts also contributed?

Yeah, they helped us out with some of

before! But I guess, just being at a fairly prestigious studio that have done a lot of other good bands there, like John Butler Trio did Sunrise Over Sea there. So they recorded, mixed, and mastered it, and they won awards for that and they’ve also done… Augie March and Tim Rogers and a lot of Bomba stuff. At first it was a little daunting because we were kind of new to it but the guys there were really cool and… walked you through the whole thing. It was a matter of getting in there first and playing live basically. Everyone had their own mixers and headphones and stuff, just to get the drum tracks down. Then when you’re happy with the drum tracks it’s a matter of just coming in and going over your part or creating your part in there, and listening to it and being happy with it, and then there’s a bit of time spent with the mixing down and stuff, a bit of hang time. It’s just cool to hang around a bit with balaclavas in East St. Kilda

the

airfares.

That’s really nice of them! Can you describe the process of recording the EP over in Melbourne?

How did it differ from how you would have done it in Tasmania, for example?

Well I don’t really know, because I’ve never done it

this new thing and it’s really cool.

Speaking of pieces of magic, you’ve got Michael Woods involved with your band now and he’s quite a magically talented young man. What does he bring to the band in Leo’s absence?

Mick’s, like you said, a very talented individual.

He’s playing trumpet pretty much on every piece, I think. And yeah, just his skill and his ear as well is so good to have on it… it adds to it some more, especially with some of the horn lines and some of the dubby stuff, it’s really cool, yeah. He has some really good lead breaks too, where he just goes off tap.

So how do you feel about the EP? Well, I just feel basically, excited, like, really excited about it. It’s a dream come true! They came last Wednesday; we got a thousand and fifty of them.

… It’s just cool to hang around a bit with balaclavas in East St. Kilda…

of a spin did they add to the final sound?

They had a bit of input. They had some really good ideas on where to focus an instrument on a part.

They stripped it down a little bit, but not much… especially in the mixing part, it was like, “How about we drop this out to really kind of focus on this sound here?” So it was kind of good to have

They’re individually packed in these boxes of

some learned ears on it.

twenty-five all in boxes at my joint…

With that in mind, can you walk us through the construction of an Embers song? I mean, who writes what and how do the arrangements come

And what tracks didn’t make the final cut?

A lot of tracks didn’t make it. We thought let’s get the tracks out there that will make the most impact, especially for an EP. Because this is [how] we want to represent ourselves now; like get it out to radio stations and festivals, something that will help us build our national profile now. Yeah, I mean there are a lot of tracks that aren’t on it but our plan is to make a whole album. We’ll probably be starting towards the end of this year and into the first part of the next. So hopefully we’ll have a whole album by maybe this time next year or towards the end of the year.

about?

Well when we first got together, because we’re just about two years old, we used a lot of the songs I already had [written], originals I’d created and we just built them up, basically. But nowadays we’re writing new tunes and basically we’re in the jamming room out the back of my joint and someone has an idea, it starts really simply, really organic, and we jam on it a few times, have a few laughs and all of a sudden this thing has been created. It’s really cool actually. Sometimes you think you’ve got this simple idea and then everyone puts their little piece of magic on it and it becomes

Don’t know… Mark Vincent, our guitarist has invested a lot of cash in getting some top quality recording gear so we’ll probably be playing around with that, I think, and then, you know, we might have to go someplace else to get the drums done but we want to see if we can… control it ourselves now. We haven’t started yet, but that’s the plan.

I’m assuming you’ll be doing a tour to promote this EP? Yeah, first up we’re just doing Tassie, of course; we’re doing The Republic and The James. After that we’re hopefully trying to secure a spot at the Northcote Social Club in Melbourne and then we’ll see what comes after that, I guess. We haven’t gone all out… it’s taken so much time and effort to get all this ready, you know, like getting the t-shirts and merch and CDs, organising interviews, getting the venues to play in… we’re not savvy to the Melbourne scene yet but we’ve got a lot of friends in bands who play there so we’re kind of trying to learn from them.

On your MySpace page you say that you can’t wait for Leo to come back to complete the “new sound” of The Embers. How will this “new sound” differ from the old sound?

I don’t suppose it will differ that much, but the songs we’re writing now… you know, you’ve been together for two years and you evolve. We know how to listen to each other heaps better now… I just think it will build itself into a bigger and better monster, you know what I mean? But because we’ve been concentrating on just writing new tracks, we’ll probably have four new tracks when we do the EP release, and we’ve also got like, a big, big surprise in there too…

Surprise, surprise! The Embers play Hobart’s The Republic Bar on August 17, and in Launceston at The James on August 18. http://www.theembersonline.com

Do you think you’ll return to Melbourne for that one or stick around Lonnie?

PAGE 5

GUILLAUME SOLOACOUSTIC

W OMEN I N D O CS

Aussie Singer-Songwriters Make America Swoon I can tell you two things about folk-country crossover duo Women In Docs; they tour their arses off, and they don’t half mind a nice glass of red. Yep – the title of their most recent album, Red Wine & Postcards (released in Australia last year) really is that literal. Having just released the album in the US, the Docs – Roz Pappalardo and Chanel Lucas – are wrapping up their American tour and heading south to play around the state at the end of this month. Chanel spoke to me from the road.

So how is the reaction of American audiences to your music different to those back home?

How different are their tastes?

In America, I think they’re really into the singer-songwriter kind of genre, which we fit into pretty well. There’s a real appreciation for songwriters, and the stories they have to tell … Not that there isn’t that in Australia, but it’s a more established genre of music here. So we fit in very easily, and we get a really great response to our music touring the USA, which is why we keep coming back here! [Laughs]

What sets it apart from the album that came before it?

Red Wine & Postcards is … oh, I don’t know. I think every album that you do gets a little more sophisticated, and a little better than the last one. We tried to keep Red Wine & Postcards very close to our live sound. So even though we recorded it in a studio with full production, we still tried to really harness our live sound, and the energy that we have in our live shows.

You probably have never heard of this Frenchborn singer-songwriter, and, honestly, we don’t blame you. In the twelve years or so since he first stepped on Australian land, this is the very first time he’s venturing on our Tasmanian shores. And it’s about time! With over three hundred solo performances under his belt, this original solo performer has built a significant profile in his adoptive home town of Adelaide, and throughout the mainland Eastern States.

“This crazy name of mine is pronounced ‘Giam’”, he explains, “like Liam, but with a ‘G’ like in guitar”.

In the image of his brand new EP Shape Shifter (his third solo release), Guillaume delivers a unique blend of genres and moods when on stage, with his own refreshing perspective on love (good, bad, or weird), scary friends, filthy habits and the Aussie urban and outback cultures. From high-energy to laid-back, heartfelt to downright silly, there’s always a surprise around the corner …

In America, I think they’re really into the singer-songwriter kind of genre … There’s a real appreciation for songwriters …

You’re touring an album at the moment. What can you tell me about this one?

Well we released this album at the end of last year in Australia – it’s called Red Wine & Postcards – and we’ve only just released it here in America in the last month.

ROCK

ROCK SALT

By Tom Wilson

You guys have been together since 1998. In your eyes, what have been some of the biggest changes and trends in the music scene as a whole in that time? And, if at all, how did they affect Women In Docs?

I think, in Australia, there’s been a real emergence of independent artists, who may not necessarily have a record company behind them, or have a lot of industry support behind them, like managers and booking agents. A lot of people are able now, in Australia, to do it themselves. I think there’s also been a real emergence of acoustic-based music, and that’s been really great, I think, for the music scene in Australia. When I first started playing music, most of the touring bands were rock bands, and now, there’s just so much more variety in the touring acts; whether

it be world music or acoustic/folk stuff. There’s a lot more variety alongside the rock these days, I think.

It’s made it a lot easier to get gigs in one way, and in one way it’s made it much more competitive. When we first started, there weren’t very many people playing the type of music that we play – especially not women. But these days, there’s a lot more people around the place; there’s a lot more competition for gigs and festival spots.

Women In Docs play Stage Door The Café in Burnie on the 31st of August, Launceston’s Royal Oak on the 1st of September, and Hobart’s Republic Bar on the 2nd.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

““Art Pop”, “Anti Folk”, “Celtic Metal”, “Comedy Rock”, “Post-Skiffle”, and “Urban Country Punk”, like “cuticles” and “Wankel rotary engine” are all handy terms.

But at the end of the day, I’m really just a guy with an acoustic guitar, a passion for original song-writing, and an uncontrollable distrust of boundaries…” Guillaume jokingly concludes.

As part of his two-month Shape Shifter Tour 07, Guillaume Soloacoustic is performing seven shows in Tasmania in the next two weeks, so check your gig guide, or visit www.myspace.com/gsoloacoustic for details.

The Overvi e w

Ladies And Gentlemen … On The Keyboards … Satan!

ROCK SALT

By Tom Wilson

In any creative endeavour, nothing compares to the feeling of hitting the ground running and feeling proud of what you’re producing – whether it’s putting pen to paper, fingertips to keys, brush to canvas, or pick to guitar strings. Just ask The Overview – currently ensconced behind the double-glazed windows and mixing desks of Red Planet Studios. Ben Cole spoke to me about the band’s current rush of creative synchronicity … and teaching Satan to play the keyboard.

You’re currently recording your new EP in Red Planet Studios. How is this going?

It’s fantastic. Everything is sounding better than we all could have hoped for, and everything we’re doing just seems to run fluently – which, [as] anyone who has recorded before would know, never seems to happen. We did about three takes for each song to get the one we liked, and with four perfectionists, that’s a pretty good score! Our last track Summer Life was done very much on the spot; we had written it a long time ago, but it was a last minute idea to include it on the EP. We played it through four or five times, trying to figure out an arrangement, before choosing to go with the first take. I’m especially proud of how that song came together.

What have been some of the challenges, both creatively and technically, that you’ve had to overcome in the recording process so far?

As I said earlier, we are really impressed with the way things turned out. We are a fussy band when it comes to getting it right, but we prepared ourselves well for this EP, and I feel that it shows. As a young band, our previous recordings were pretty much just us with some mics in our college studio, recording our band live and then just overdubbing some vocals tracks. This time round, we focused more on individual songs as pieces of art, and just went crazy with effects, overdubbing, and certain sound reinforcement to fill our songs with atmosphere and emotion. I think, as a band, our biggest challenge was making something that would never be perfect sound as close to perfection as possible. When it comes to recording, it’s not the same as playing a gig and going, “Oh crap! I fucked that up! Oh well, it’s not like anyone noticed.” When you’re recording, it’s got to be a solid representation of a song you’ve written, and there’s no room for mistakes or taking chances. As bad as it sounds most bands, when they play live, never think about what they’re playing – it’s pretty much the “learn to forget it” attitude which, unfortunately, is prone to mistakes, because, at the end of the day, we’re all human. We finished our tracks last Tuesday, and they were mixed and sent to Melbourne for mastering. The recording took a lot of concentration, but now it’s over, it was all worth it!

What can you tell me about the songs at this point?

PAGE 6

How would you describe each of them?

Each song is to its own. They all seem to have their own personality [and] energy, and are all different, but at the time all have that same little essence that makes them Overview songs. Each song is based on different topics, but they’re all about life, issues and relationships – and when I say “relationships”, I use the term loosely. I don’t just mean boy-meetsgirl-and-at-the-end-of-the-day-they-fall-in-love type of relationships. I just mean relationships between people – not even people that know each other. For example, one of the tracks off the EP, called Good Morning Gravity, is about an individual’s relationship and issues towards the mass media. But all our songs vary – from drug issues to self-esteem, we bring across a lot of meaning in our songs, which I think really adds to the atmosphere of them.

As bad as it sounds most bands, when they play live, never think about what they’re playing …

Do you have a title for the release yet? And when and where do you plan to launch it?

We’re still in the process of naming the EP – seems simple, but when you create something, it takes a while to “label” it because it’s something we’ve all invested our time, effort and emotion in, and in the same respect a couple would carefully name a new born child. It’s not the same extent as having a kid, but we don’t want to rush anything, just in case it doesn’t turn out to be what we think is the right end product. We haven’t yet planned where to launch our EP just yet. Even though the recording is complete, we still have a few more weeks of the mastering and getting our cover art designed and printed, so all our energy is being focused on that right now. But we’ll be booking venues soon.

Earlier this year, your original drummer Will Bibby left the band, and was replaced by Jason Graham.

What kind of changes did this bring about within the band?

Will was a great friend, and we were really lucky to have someone like him to come as far with us from the start as he did. He started this band with us, and we’ll never forget him for that, but in the end he felt that he needed to go elsewhere in his life, and he wasn’t feeling happy playing in the band anymore. His last gig was a great celebration of the two years we had spent together, and it was the first time we had ever got an encore from a crowd, so you could say he went out with a bang. Jason has been a great asset to the band. When he joined the band we had three short practice sessions for him to learn a twelve-song set, and he nailed it. It has taken a bit of time for him to completely settle in, as is always going to be the case when joining an already-established band. We are all progressing a lot together, as both performers and songwriters. His addition can only make The Overview stronger.

You recently had some success at the Battle Of The Bands. What can you tell me about your performance on the night?

We went into that Battle Of The Bands with no expectations, and with a lot of excitement about playing towards a good crowd. It can be tough as a young band to get really good exposure, so that was the plan. To actually win the thing took us completely by surprise. We just went on and had an absolute blast on stage; despite some average sound levels and the death of a bass amp, the show was just fantastic. There were so many talented bands that played. The Tasmusic scene should be proud of what will be coming through over the next few years!

What did you win? And what doors has this opened for The Overview?

We won recording time at the Winter Palace, which we will be utilising over the next couple of months.

At the time of winning, we were already booked into Red Planet Studio, and had our budget worked out, so we didn’t let the gaining of this recording time affect any of our plans. Very soon we will have our own home studio, with some very nice gear, but I’m sure we will make the most of the recording time with Anthony. He has done some good projects, so

we look forward to working with him.

In dramatic news, I’ve read in an online writeup about you guys that Satan is actually hiding under your couch. How have you dealt with this? Is the couch still comfortable to sit on, or do his horns prick you in the bum?

Yeah, it can be tough! We have started to teach him the keyboard, so who knows? Maybe there will be a further addition to the band down the track! www.myspace.com/theoverview

BATRI DER

ROCK SALT

All Aboard The Flying Rodent Express

By Chris Rattray

Melbourne four-piece, Batrider, are due to fly in to Hobart towards the end of this month touring their brand new album, Tara. Get your dead on and start planning your makeup now, because Batrider wants to remember this one…

How do you prepare yourself for a Batrider gig?

Lots of tea, and also Red Bull, and I try to do warm ups for singing too. We usually hang out too, and have van-bar, which involves drinking cheap drinks in the van cause we’re too poor to buy them in bars.

…We’re hoping that all the zombies will come to the Brisbane Hotel …

What can we expect from the Tara album launch

What’s the significance, if any, behind the album

tour?

It’s going to be amazing, we’re playing with all our fave bands in Australia, so the shows should be great. We’re just pleased to be traveling around again! We’re looking forward to Hobart, cause there’s a zombie march the same day as the gig, the 25th August, and we’re hoping that all the zombies will come to the Brisbane Hotel afterwards! Also it’s the Bad Luck Charms last gig, so we’re really pleased to be playing with them. We’re happy to have the album out, we love it, and there is a limited run in-stores as a double CD, with Pink Guitars, Yellow Stars, our acoustic album, as a bonus disc. We’re in love with

title, Tara?

It’s the name of Scarlett O’Hara’s plantation in Gone With the Wind. Tara is the place she returns to at times in her adult life that gives her strength and renews her. It represents her lost youth (stolen by the Civil War) and it is the one thing that lasts in life - land. It is also the name of our drummer, and a lot of the songs on the album were written at a time when she was contemplating leaving, so lots of it was inspired by her.

both of them.

And we found out it’s also the Maori name of the harbour in Wellington, where we lived in New Zealand.

Tell us a little about the formation of the band and how you came to be known as Batrider?

The three girls went to school together in Hamilton, NZ, and we met Sam in Wellington cause he was in another band. We kind of got stuck with the name, but now we’re all resigned to it! It’s been too long, and we’ve become quite attached to it. Also, we never ever managed to think of anything better.

The expressionistic artwork on your website is pretty interesting – to what extent does it represent Batrider as an entity?

I guess it represents us completely, as it’s all done by us, but it’s def something that we have fun with

rather than taking it too seriously, we just play around with different pictures, Julia (our guitarist) and I do, just see where they fit. We like strong images and I like bright colours, whereas Julia does a lot of things in black and white.

What were the events that led up to the amazing cover version of Nirvana’s Nevermind that can be seen on your website?

Ha-ha! That was on our New Zealand tour earlier this year. Lots of wine and Birthglow from Adelaide plus us usually ends up in something stupid or funny happening. Later on that night, at the end of Birthglow’s set, we played that live and about thirty people got up on stage and grabbed all the mics off the drums and sung with us, it was amazing.

How’s the quest going to find relatively attractive boyfriends?

Very well, thank you.

What is the prime motivation for performing your music and to what extent is this cathartic?

It’s pretty much the best thing in the world. It’s the only time my brain actually just switches off and doesn’t think of a million things at once, just… nothing.

Please finish this sentence… if music was not part of my life I would…

Be very dissatisfied with every aspect of my life and always feel like there was something missing that was very important.

Batrider brings their noise to Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel on August 25. http://www.batrider.com

Inaugural DPT Guitar Expo ROCK SALT

By Chris Rattray

Axe-wielding maniacs of Tasmania, rejoice! Your cries have been heard - The inaugural Red Hot Music Guitar Expo is set to become the Agfest of musical instruments. The brainchild of ubershredders, Julian Palmer and Andrew Argent, of Red Hot Cds, the Expo will deliver names, brands, and gear all under the one roof for novices and experts alike.

Julian (J) and Andrew (A) took time out from their duties to jam with me on all things Expo.

At what point did you realise that the world, particularly Devonport, was crying out for a Guitar Expo?

J – I said to Andrew one morning we should organise a state wide Guitar Fight Club competition which is a tournament-style comp with major prizes for the winners.

A – I’d been thinking about getting all my national suppliers together for a guitar expo and it grew from there. Plus, Devonport is the gateway to Tasmania and there are some very talented players/bands/ studios all starting to come to the surface. Nothing like this has been done before in Tasmania and it’s a great opportunity to see the best gear under one roof.

…Nothing like this has been done before in Tasmania and it’s a great opportunity to see the best gear under one roof…

What kinds of people do you see being drawn to this event?

J – Guitar players from beginners to professionals, music fans in general.

A – It’s ideal for someone who is looking for their first guitar, or is adding to their collection, or just [to] rock up and be blown away by the best in the business.

What are some of the names – both brand names and individuals we can expect to see this year?

J – Live performances include internationally recognised ESP guitarist, Brett Garsed (John Farnham, Paul Stanley ‘KISS’ and multi-million selling American band Nelson), Stuart Fraser (Noiseworks, Tommy Emmanuel), Steve Mackey (Line-6 Amps international touring artist) to name a few. Some big

brands include Fender, Gibson, ESP, Ibanez, Maton, Laney Amps, Randall Amps, Line 6, Digitech and Boss. There will be a presence of local Tasmanian guitar makers also showcasing their wares.

Where do you dream of the Guitar Expo going in future years?

A – Somewhere between the Crossroads guitar festival and the Big Day Out. J -- To get Tasmania nationally exposed in the music industry, for young and up-coming guitarists to have an event to inspire [them] and get excited about; the chance to get their hands on the best gear available and for the expo to unearth the next guitar wizard with our Guitar Fight Club competition.

What kind of activities will be available for Expo patrons?

J – Along with amazing live performances, very special clinics will be available on the day with some of the big name players. Live demonstrations of the best gear available in the industry, it’s up close and personal with the dealer - hands-on the gear and [the] chance to meet and greet with the players.

A – Great bargains, great guitars, great brands and great players.

How do you think the Expo will educate the public about guitars, the art of playing, and guitar players themselves?

A – The chance to speak to the professional guitar players, for a young player to participate in the clinics is a great opportunity; talk to the experts about guitar related gear.

If there were one thing you wanted attendees to walk away with from this year’s Expo, what would it be?

J - The feeling of excitement, enthusiasm and [to] pick up a great bargain at the Red Hot Guitar Expo.

A – A truckload of guitars and gear and John Petrucci) blazing away live on stage.

How strong is the Tasmanian guitar-playing community and where does it fit on a national and international stage?

J- Tasmania is like many other states of Australia; we have a ton of undiscovered talent that needs support and industry backing. Currently we have a bunch of players that are recognised on the national stage for either their playing or the music they produce.

Who are some of the greater talents you’d like to attract to future events?

J – Tommy Emmanuel would be high on the list.

Maybe a Jimi Hendrix vs. Stevie Ray Vaughan Crossroads showdown.

A – A dream would be The G3 (Joe Satriani, Steve Vai

What do you think the Expo will contribute to Devonport’s profile?

A - To put Devonport on the map; we have some excellent pre-expo shows organised for Friday night and Saturday night - performances in the Mall and the Fourways during the day and Neil Young performing Heart of Gold on the Friday night… well, on the CMax cinema screen that is.

J – As someone who has lived in the southern part of the state for many years I’m constantly surprised at the amount of musicians/bands that are forging their own paths in the way of producing quality product (CDs) and putting on their own gigs DIY style on the North-West Coast. Great support from

David Sykes at TasMusic has helped and having the expo right here in Devonport will only add to the city’s profile like the [recent] Devonport Jazz Festival.

The Red Hot Music Guitar Expo takes place on October 21 at the Devonport High School Concert Hall.

Entry fee – Adults $10, Children (over ten) $5, Family Passes $20 For clinic bookings, please call 03 6424 9816. http://www.guitarexpo.com.au PAGE 7

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PA UL KEL LY

ROCK SALT

Squad Leader In The Hidden Garden Of Stolen Apples

By Chris Rattray In a career spanning over thirty years, it seems there’s no stopping Paul Kelly from the pursuit of music-making (and the theft of fruit). Paul took some time out from stealing apples to chat about the process of making the new album, inspiration, and collaboration …

Paul, what would you do if someone stole your apples?

Go find another tree!

A more secure tree?

A secret tree that no-one knew about.

In a secret garden somewhere …?

Yeah, a hidden garden …

Would this secret garden also have a hidden well of inspiration?

I don’t know! You don’t know until you get there.

It would probably be down in the Huon Valley somewhere.

Very much so, yeah. I’m a fairly basic musician. I play rhythm guitar. I play a bit of piano (not with any great dexterity). I don’t usually have any guitar riffs in my head, or bass lines, so when I take a song to the band, it’s pretty bare-bones – just a few chords and singing.

So the band has a big influence on arrangements.

Especially this record, because we had time; it was done … from May last year through to December, because of everyone’s availability, so we had breaks between the times that we recorded it, so it helped give each song its own character. You can imagine the first song on the album, Feelings of Grief – I just took that in and played it on acoustic guitar. There’s a whole great big sort of sonic landscape all around that song that didn’t come out of my head at all; it came from the other guys.

[Laughs] Your press release mentions that this is a time where the well [of inspiration] for many songwriters dries up. How have you kept your own “well” full?

I just try to keep my ears open. As a writer you do get sick of your own habits; your own patterns. I’ve consciously tried to open up my songwriting, and one way to do that is by working with other people and writing songs together. There’s been more of that going on over the last five to ten years. Having young people in the band, Dan Luscombe and Dan Kelly, and also Peter and Bill, who are closer to my age – [they] are always listening to new music and that group …

I suppose the best way to describe the band is like a “squad” at the moment. It’s not like everyone is available all the time. Obviously Dan Kelly has his own songwriting; his own records and own shows to do. Dan Luscombe who made the record with us, but can’t come on tour with us because he’s with The Drones … So we’re like a squad; Ash Naylor joined earlier this year from a band called Even; Ken, he’s like, early thirties … I hear new music all the time from my children. My son – he’s twenty-six – is a voracious listener of music. He’s got his own radio show here in Melbourne on a community radio station, Triple R. So there’s always a lot of music coming through the house … But my main job is writing. If I haven’t written a song for two months, I feel kind of useless.

I don’t really have any other skills. So that’s the thing I’m mainly interested in. That’s why I keep writing.

How much influence do the other people in the band have when you bring a new song to them – is it a collaborative effort?

If I haven’t written a song for two months I feel kind of useless. I don’t really have any other skills.

Your “squad” …

From the squad, yeah. This “squad” has done a fair bit of songwriting together. Ways and Means, which we did in 2004, has quite a few band co-writes that came out of jamming. There’s the songs I write with Dan Kelly – we write as a duo sometimes … that squad also did music for a TV series, Fireflies; it’s the same band that did Stardust Five, a sort of instrumental record we did last year … This record, I think, built on all that other work that we’ve been doing. It’s helped to make each song stand alone, and give a diverse range to the record.

ONLINE: Paul talks innocence versus experience, and what it means to play without fear … To listen to an mp3 of the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

ARCHI TECTU R E I N H ELS I N KI

How To ... Make An Album Via Video-Link ROCK SALT

By Tom Wilson The punch-you-in-the-eyes colouring of its cover art seems entirely suitable, since Places Like This – the latest album from Melbourne ultra-melodic noisemakers Architecture In Helsinki – ain’t too subtle musically, either. Late last month, before its release, Kellie Sutherland told me what it’s like to write a song with someone who’s on another continent.

So what have you been up to in the last week or so?

I went to California. I spent two nights in a tent cabin next to a river; woke up to deer … face-toface with a doe. Cooked eggs and slow-roasting beetroot with my camping stove; this is my gourmet camping style, and played lots of cards with my friend Jaime. That’s what I did.

And then I drove back to San Francisco, and then I flew back to Sydney on Sunday. [Pause] Thanks for asking! [Laughs] You’ve got the new Architecture In Helsinki album coming out … called Places Like This. That’s coming out at the end of this month, I understand.

Yep, that’s right.

We tried all new ways of doing things. The biggest change was writing the songs What will you be doing for the release?

We’re playing shows nationally … we’re not making it to Tasmania, but we’re playing nationally, and then we’re flying out to Europe and playing six weeks of shows throughout Europe. And then we’ve got a little bit of time off; like, a week or so. Then we fly to the US and do another six weeks of touring out there as well.

And then we kind of finish up in December sometime, after we come back to Australia and play some more shows … We’re just playing a lot, lot, lot of shows in support of the album.

So how long were you guys working on this?

We started in about August last year; we started putting ideas down for new songs. Cameron was living in Brooklyn in New York, and the rest of us, at that time, were living in Melbourne. So we started writing, sending files via the internet, and each of us individually spending time on the songs. Weekly we’d PAGE 10

get together … we’d have a video chat with Cameron, and we’d compile all the files together, and slowly we built the demos of the songs. In November, we did a month of touring, finished up … and did a week of recording in Brooklyn. After one month of playing the shows live, we just wanted to put the songs down, because they felt like they were ready for it, and wanted to kind of do it quickly enough to capture the energy that we’d injected into them after writing them separately and then coming together, and playing them live. [We] just kind of wanted to get that sound as quickly as possible … I’m sorry, it’s a long story, but it’s a broad question! [Laughs] That’s fine.

We went to Sydney and finished the recording just before Christmas, and did some mixing in early January. So from mid-November to mid-January it was recorded, but we were only in the studio for two-and-ahalf weeks/three weeks, I think.

How do you think Places Like This represents kind of a new evolution of the band’s sound? I understand it’s quite different to the previous album, In Case We Die. To what extent would you agree that it’s been an evolution of sorts, and why?

It’s definitely an evolution, and I know that for a fact because we certainly set out for it to be that way. We tried all new ways of doing things. The biggest change was writing the songs over two continents, and the other biggest change was that we had an engineer, and wasn’t using band members to be the engineers of the record. All six of us were there throughout the entire process, so I think that that’s a big change too; we were more of a band, and less of a revolving door collective.

We used a studio rather than doing our recording it in James’ studio (who’s the drummer of the band). And that was a big thing. So if there wasn’t an evolution, we’d be really upset! [Laughs] I think that the album sounds exactly how we wanted it to sound, and I think that we were constantly questioning our approach to it, and tried to make sure that we weren’t repeating ourselves in any way. And so, yeah, it definitely sounds different, and it’s a really good indication of what the band wanted, and what the band sounds like now.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

BA D REL I G I O N

Mapping New Ground PUNK

By Steve Tauschke

The musical landscape may have shifted dramatically since bassist Jay Bentley, inspired by The Germs and Jack Kerouac, helped form Los Angeles punk protagonists Bad Religion in 1980, yet there remains at his core a sense of teenage malcontent that helped shape the groups’ early days.

The 1st Bad Religion Easter Pageant “I might be a little bit more specific about my anger now,” says Bentley on the phone. “I think when I was fourteen I was pretty much pissed at the world, which every fourteen-year-old is, you know? You’re pissed at your parents and you hate your school. And when I was fourteen we hated Jerry Falwell and we hated this organised televangelism and we thought politics was a sham because during the Cold War we were told we could die at any minute. These are probably the things fourteen-year-olds shouldn’t be thinking, you know? I don’t want my kid thinking that every time he gets on an aeroplane something’s going to happen.

… We thought politics was a sham because during the Cold War we were told we could die at any minute.

“But from fourteen to now I understand who I’m mad at and a lot of times I’m mad about the way I react to how that person makes me feel – and that’s a big difference. Particularly in the band when we were young we were writing a lot of things with fingers pointing outwards and now we write with fingers pointed inwards.”

Describing Bad Religion as the best therapy he’s ever had – “I get to go out and scream at the top of my lungs on a nightly basis” – Bentley and band recently delivered their fourteen studio album New Maps of Hell and announced an Australian tour for later this year. Closer to the end of their career than the beginning, the quintet hold no sentimentality towards this or any of their records.

“I don’t know if they become more precious or if you’re just more willing to let go of them,” reasons Bentley. “We just go into the studio and hammer out sixteen or seventeen songs and we listen back to them and we’re all looking at each other saying ‘we like it, then fuck everybody else because it’s what we want to do’. That seems to have worked for us for twenty-five of our twenty-seven years, so why not do that again?”

Contributors?

As with the majority of Bad Religion albums, New Maps of Hell was penned mostly by singer Greg Graffin and guitarist Brett Gurewitz.

“Brett is a romantic prose writer and likes to write in hopeful ways, and Greg is the scientist and writes in ways that are very factual,” says Bentley. “So having the two of them lyrically writing back and forth, that to me is how the records evolve into what they are.

Greg is very particular when he makes his demos, he comes in and says ‘this is what I’ve got’ and so our job is to take it and try to evolve it two or three steps further. With Brett, he’ll come in with a kazoo and half the lyrics and say ‘let’s just make this up as we go along’. But between the two of them it’s healthy competition.”

For our interview Bentley is calling from Pennsylvania mid-way through this year’s Warped tour, the annual punk-rock caravan whose humble origins the bassist recants.

“The first incarnation of what became the Warped tour was something called Bored In The South Bay which was around ’94,” says Bentley. “That wasn’t a travelling event but rather just a big event down in Long Beach, California where (organiser) Kevin (Lyman) put together ten or twelve bands with a bunch of skaters and bikers and so it started from that.”

So how has the festival changed since you first joined up a decade ago?

“When we came out here in 1998 I think we were pretty naïve,” says Bentley, “and I think we thought about making some sort of visual impact. But we got beat down by the weather in about three minutes because we landed in Phoenix and the first show was on blacktop. And Phoenix in the summer at 120 degrees on black top at about 140 degrees, you throw up when you’re playing! So that was the first Warped tour for us and it was not what we thought it was going to be at all.

“Music now is fifty-percent visual, which is kind of weird,” he adds. “It’s no longer as much about music as it is entertainment and how you look and what logo’s on your shirt. And that’s a big change from when I was a kid, because it was a very self-exploratory scenario where you just went into a fantasy world while listening to bands play. I remember the first time I ever saw a Clash video I was so astonished – ‘oh, they’re moving!’.”

New Maps of Hell is out on Epitaph through Shock.

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GUNNERS

ARMS HOTEL

ORIGINAL MUSIC NIGHTS

Friday 24th August

ECLECTIC FOREIGN FILMS + MORE $2 Entry 23 Lawrence St Launceston 6331 3891 PAGE 11

TH E SH I N S

ROCK SALT

Crack-dealing Neighbours ... and Complimentary Calls from Elton John

By Steve Tauschke The Shins have a knack for television sound bites. While admitting their early career advertisement for McDonalds was a judgment error, the Portland, Oregon indie rocker’s sonic appearances on The OC, Sopranos (background music at Maedo’s season four dorm dinner party), One Tree Hill and, more recently, on a Guinness commercial, has certainly broadened their hum-able appeal.

“I really just see it as a way of competing with major labels in exposing people to our music,” says singer-guitarist James Mercer, whose Shins are signed to Seattle label Sub Pop. “But you know we don’t solicit that stuff.”

You’re a New Mexico boy … To what extent did that environment shape you as a musician?

I spent my formative years all over the place. My dad was in the air force, and my elementary years were mostly spent in Germany – middle school was in New Mexico, and high school was in England, where I think I really developed my identity musically.

Then I moved back to New Mexico after that and began playing in bands.

Did that transience lead you to music which often involves a lot of travel?

That’s an interesting theory. I’m not sure if it was that, or maybe it’s some desire to make a strong connection,

I don’t know.

Moving house a lot can be pretty destabilising.

Right, and some of the stress I was under while doing this record was caused while having to move as well. I bought a house next to some crack dealers – real, authentic ghetto crack dealers [Laughs], like you see in the movies about gangs – but living next door to me! It was just kind of rough, and I had to move out of that house because it was getting bad.

Someone was murdered on the street, and these people were blaming me because the cops were coming, although the cops would generally come when I was away on tour.

Has always being in motion influenced your song writing?

Well, lyrically, I seem to concentrate pretty heavily on things that happen in my personal life somehow, and it’s a lot about interactions with friends and people I’m trying to have healthy relationships with. Part of that is my lack of

ability to connect socially with people, because I moved around so much. I spent so much time alone as a kid.

That first year I lived there in the UK, I was fifteen and didn’t have any friends. I mean, there was no social life to speak of at all. I seem to sometimes have a difficult time really feeling a comfortable connection with people.

I believeyour partner’s just had a baby?

Yeah, we’ve had a baby girl here in the last month, and I’m on paternity leave.

Do you worry about balancing performing with fatherhood?

Yeah, I am worried about that. We’re going to do two weeks and then have a couple of days off, and then do two weeks again, so hopefully I’ll be able to hold some small corner of the child’s mind. It’s been easy now, because we’re both home all the time, but it could be a challenge (in the future).

At least you can record at home.

Yeah, on this record I mainly worked upstairs and home recordings are a way for me to get straight how I want to produce the songs. Also, you can spend a lot of time experimenting and coming up with strange noises and things. I can’t imagine just walking straight into a studio and beginning a record that way … Oh Inverted World, for instance, was recorded entirely in my bedroom.

This will be your sixth visit to Australia including one press-only trip … any particularly odd travel stories worth sharing?

The strangest thing that’s happened in the last year would probably be receiving a phone call from Elton John – that was pretty extraordinary. He likes the new record, and was talking about it in an interview, I guess.

Our manager knows his manager, and he gave Elton John my phone number, and so he just called me up and said, “Hey man, I make a point to call people and let them know when I really like what they’re doing.” And so there I was talking to Elton John. It blew me away.

Someone was murdered on the street, and these people were blaming me because the cops were coming …

CHA S I NG GR AV I TY

Dangerous Desert Driving Diary Deliberations #1 ROCK SALT

By The Band Four guys, one van and three days of driving across the Nullabor can be an interesting catalyst for conversation. In between discussions ranging from religion, politics and Family Guy quotes, the topic of name change was again raised.

With our musicality and sound maturing, we felt we needed a name to reflect this.

After compiling a list of over a hundred possibilities, it was with great deliberation and some melancholic twinges that we said goodbye to Elephant Mojo and hello to Chasing Gravity.

With our new name decided, we turned our full attention to the task at hand; a massively comprehensive tour of WA that was to consume us for the next four months.

Our tour schedule made for exhausting reading. Over seventy shows booked, and approximately 30,000kms of driving seemed substantial on paper, but in practice it was truly exhausting. I guess we didn’t factor in fatigue after being plied with copious amounts of free alcohol every night. Hangovers do make those early morning checkout times hard to abide by.

Who would have thought that vast amounts of expendable income, boredom and alcohol would be a dangerous combination?

Starting off in Esperance with its pristine coastline, we didn’t get much time to go surfing (probably lucky, what with our lack of ability) as we had only the one show. The next day’s drive to Kalgoorlie was just one of the many six-hour drives we’d have to make while in WA, but at least we were rewarded with entertainment-starved locals loving the shows.

A quick note to any touring bands; you will notice merchandise sales increase significantly when playing to cashed-up miners. You may also observe the amount of pub brawls skyrocket too, but I’m sure there is no correlation there. Who would have thought that vast amounts of expendable income, boredom and alcohol would be a dangerous combination?

After playing the Kalgoorlie scene for two weeks, we started our way up the coast line. This is PAGE 12

where touring became a paid holiday. Staying and playing in various resorts, we had all our days free to explore and be tourists. Everything was on the agenda, including snorkelling at Ningaloo Reef, sand boarding down the dunes at Kalbarri, and swimming with the dolphins at Monkey Mia. Swimming with the whale sharks would have been amazing too, if the big fish had of made the migration at the time they were supposed to. Unfortunately for us, even though we were in Exmouth during what was supposed to be their “peak season”, none of these giant pieces of uncrumbed flake were to be seen.

With bitterness buried deep inside, we moved on to conquer the Port Headland and Newman areas.

This great expanse of land known as the Pilbara Region is famous for many things. Massive iron ore mines dot the landscape, but seemingly one of their proudest achievements is having the highest rate of STIs of anywhere in Australia, as we couldn’t seem

to play a pub or mine where someone wouldn’t inform us of this. STI-free, we moved on to the sunshine, warm weather and awesome beaches of Broome. Stuck in these trying conditions for four weeks, we met hundreds of new fans from hundreds of different countries. It was good to see our music seemed to cross cultural boundaries effortlessly, although we are still not sure if one young German backpacker was commending or chastising us when she said, “Your music rock hard shit”.

A month has gone since we left the warmth of Broome and now we sit out our final week in Kalgoorlie at our favourite pub The Rock Inn. It is fitting we finish our tour where we started. Just over four months have passed, and during this time we have seen the highs and lows of life touring the Outback. We’ve had our van break down on the way to Australia’s third most remote mine site, and upon returning to it two days later found all our

windows smashed and thousands of dollars worth of equipment stolen. When reporting this to police, we were informed, “At least it wasn’t torched”.

Luckily the positives have easily outweighed the negatives. We’ve befriended fans in Karratha, who took us into their homes, let us set up a temporary jam room and have impromptu paintball gun fights from room to room (bruises still healing). Nick has also managed to hone his chops after becoming addicted to Guitar Hero on the Playstation.

Now filled with anticipation, we prepare for our drive to Sydney, where we will be based for next three months working with producer Phil McKellar (Silverchair, Grinspoon) on our debut album. We’ll keep you posted along the way!

Chasing Gravity www.myspace.com/chasinggravity

S o lver

Musicoz Award Instigates The Insurgency ROCK SALT

By Tom Wilson OK, let’s get it out of the way – you’ve just got your first impression of rock trio Solver from this photo. One has his eyes shut. One looks like he’s singing opera. And one has red hair. But before you call them a bunch of Nigels, take note of the projector screen behind them. That’s right, it’s an awards ceremony – the MusicOz one, I’ll have you know – and they won it, because they’re good. In the time since, they recorded an EP with renowned producer Phil McKellar, and, after returning from Los Angeles, singer/guitarist Morgan Evans spoke to me about the Insurgency.

I understand that you guys got some writing done when you were over in L.A. recently. What can you tell me about what you came up with?

I was set-up with some of the most successful writers in the world for a solid two weeks of sessions. Being relatively new to the co-writing process, it was a really interesting and eye-opening experience. Until only a few months ago I would work on my songs alone before arranging them with the rest of the band. Tom – my brother/bassplayer/singer for Solver – did the same. The songs were often personal, and it meant a lot to me to have written them alone in the studio. Working with these guys opened up a bunch of new dimensions, and also made for a really good time! When creativity starts bouncing around the studio, you can’t help but get excited, and really bond with the people sharing the experience. The songs are what we’d consider “just good rockin’,” and that’s what we like about them!

Is this working towards a full-length release in the near future?

We’re taking this time to really work on our songs and our direction before recording an EP later this year, using the prizes we got from MusicOZ 2006. We just have to get things perfect first … you know how it is!

We took home “Artists of the Year” and “Best Rock Act” at the 2006 MusicOZ awards. That was an amazing honour.

That comp receives over five thousand entries from all over the country, and to have had someone think that we were worthy of such accolades was really humbling.

How has receiving this kind of accolade affected your plans as a band? What doors have been opened?

It hasn’t affected our plans in the sense that we’re still playing music and would’ve been anyway. But the prize pack is certainly an amazing boost given the nature of our pursuits. Any sort of recording, tuition and promotional support is really helpful. The best thing about winning the competition has been being able to meet and work with the people involved in the competition. They are extremely knowledgeable and well connected, and genuinely interested in helping independent musos make their stuff work.

Morgan and Tom are brothers. How do you think being siblings affects the output of the band? Do they fight much? Because I know I could never be in a creative endeavour with my brothers …

We fight all the time, but we agree on most things about

you changed it to Solver. Why did you decide to do this?

We came up with the name Extortion when we were thirteen and eleven years old. We played heaps of different styles through high school, from heavy rock, punk, punkpop, rap metal and even ska before we really worked out what we wanted to do. It got to the stage where we’d arrive at venues as an unknown act, and the bookers would approach us to make sure we weren’t a metal band – “you know, one of those ones that screams…?” As you know, we’re not! When we were recording the Insurgency EP, we knew we’d out-grown Extortion, and it was time for something that we could take and make our own meaning from. “Solver” it is!

What do you think the title of your EP, Insurgency, says about the band’s intentions at this point?

The idea behind the EP was to get all the people that have supported the band over the years on board at the same time, to try to make some real waves in the industry. It really served its purpose over the summer, when we were touring and having great numbers of people coming to shows in towns we’d never visited before! We’ve sold copies all around the world via the internet, and it has really stepped things up a notch for the band.

Looking back on it now, I see uni as a good way to continue playing music while people think you’re actually doing something!

music, so I guess that’s all that matters. Cookie, the drummer, used to act as a good mediator, but after playing together for over nine years he is just like another brother … the rehearsal room is like Fight Club! Just kidding.

“The first rule of Fight Club is …” Oh, sorry. You guys won the Artist Of The Year award in 2004, but two of you opted to go to uni before pushing forward with the band. Why did you choose to do this? Was it due to a lack of confidence in your qualifications?

When Cookie and I finished high school Tom was still in year ten, so touring was out of the question anyway. We saw uni as a good way to pass the time and continue to educate ourselves. You know, there is a good music scene at Newcastle University anyway. Looking back on it now, I see uni as a good way to continue playing music while people think you’re actually doing something!

You worked on it with Phil McKellar. How much influence did he have over the music you made, and the way you made it?

He’s a great producer and a great guy. He really liked what we were doing, and was very helpful in the pre-production and the recording processes. He had a lot of great arrangement ideas, some of which you hear on the record.

He was also great to have on board – pulling great sounds and getting the best performances from all of us. We’re happy with how the record sounds, as we reflect on our ages and abilities when we made it.

What are your plans once the tour ends?

We have been touring around Australia on and off for the past twelve months, and it has been a great experience and allowed us to improve as players and performers. What we’d really like to do now is continue to demo and fine tune this new batch of tunes, and head back to the U.S. early next year to showcase them. It would be great to play a few gigs over there, and maybe even try to land a spot on a couple of festivals.

Insurgency is out now.

The band was originally called Extortion, but a while ago

The L azys

Lazy Band + Lazy Journo = Lazy Article ROCK SALT

By The Band Tasmanians were introduced to the Lazys early this year as part of the forty-date national Goodbye Mickey Finn tour also featuring Something With Numbers and Melbourne’s The Inches.

“Actually, there was no plan on returning to Tasmania this year, as we have been on the road since March without a break,” said Vocalist Leon Harrison, “we did Tassie then Adelaide.

...they wanna go out, buy a beer and rock out, and that’s what we do best.

Once we got home from Adelaide, we found our web site inundated with requests from Tasmanians to come back, which was very cool, so we put all the pieces together and

made it happen so effectively, we haven’t really had a break in five months yet. But we are excited about returning.

“We have met really great people on the Apple Isle, and I understand why we touched a nerve, because they are not unlike the people we grew up with on the central coast of NSW. They like their music, to be honest and to the point.

They don’t want to be stimulated or have to think about it too hard – they wanna go out, buy a beer and rock out, and that’s what we do best.

The Lazy’s will be promoting their new yet-to-be-titled six-track EP. Supporting The Lazy’s on all shows will be special new friends, local band HANNAH, and Launceston up-and-comers Cruel Like that The Lazy’s play Irish Murphy’s in Hobart on the 15th of August, Devonport’s Spurs Saloon on the 16th, Launceston’s Saloon on the 17th, and an all-ages and licensed show at Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel on the 18th.

PAGE 13

Daat h

HARD BOILED

Catching The Metal World, Hook, Line and Hinderers

By Tom Wilson Samuel L. Jackson once said, “When you make an assumption, you make an ass out of you ... and ‘umption’.” A lot of music writers, myself included, made that embarrassing partnership with “umption” when we first heard the Roadrunner debut from Daath, thinking that a brand of metal this dynamic could only have come from somewhere like Sweden, and certainly not Atlanta. But it’s a misconception guitarist Emil Werstler can sympathise with. While stranded in a mall in Hollywood in the midst of their massive US tour, Emil spoke to me about the “Atlanta Groove”, and how The Hinderers has turned heads in more than one direction.

The album came out in March – which was f*cking fantastic, by the way – what kind of reactions have their been to The Hinderers?

Well, to be one hundred percent honest, a lot of times you predict ... you try to predict things. Especially from ... being in a band; a musician’s standpoint. Your art gets released to the world, and a lot of the time you’ve got a lot of preconceived notions of how people are going to react to it. But it’s kind of obvious that Daath is kind of a new thing. People don’t really know. It’s kind of fifty-fifty – some people really don’t know how to take us, and a lot of people really enjoy it; they really are into it; they feel like it’s something new. A lot of the feedback we’ve been getting from other bands that we just met, or we just played with for the first time, that’s one of the

main things that I hear from people – that we’re really different. Whether we’re their cup of tea or not, they definitely respect us, because we’re definitely a little different. A lot of bands have the Gothenburg sound these days; the In Flames/Maiden sound ... I grew up on those bands for years, and they’re my favourites, but we’re definitely a little different harmonically-speaking, as far as the music goes. A lot of reactions have either been “I like it, I like it, it’s growing on me”, or, you know, “I really like it,” or “I don’t like it at all.” It’s pretty extreme, you know what I mean? I’m definitely happy about that, though.

A term that’s being thrown around your music is “the Atlanta groove”. Tell me – what is the Atlanta groove?

As far as Atlanta, the city that we’re from ... I don’t know. Not a lot of metal bands have really come out

of Atlanta. Mastodon’s from Atlanta ... there’s a few bands from Atlanta ... it’s got a nickname; they call it the “dirty south”, whatever. And a lot of that has to do with the rap music; there’s a lot of groove in the music.

It’s really beat-oriented, you know what I mean? It’s very beat- and groove-oriented.

I think it’s safe to say that we do have the blast beats, and we have a lot of double-bass parts in our music, but, in general, we try to emphasise the groove ... we try to focus on, you know, having a song that has a really straight-ahead groove that makes people want to bob their heads, or bang their heads or whatever, you know?

Because a lot of bands these days ... they’re really extreme, and the bar’s raised so high, that a lot of these bands aren’t really focused on a simple groove, and exploring and emphasising a simple groove to music.

They’re more along the lines of “faster, faster, harder, harder, louder, louder,” that kind of thing.

It’s funny – on my first listen, I actually thought you guys were Swedish or European or something.

We get that all the time! Yeah, we get that even ... especially in the States. Just the other day ... I can’t actually recall where they thought we were from, but most people think that we’re from another country – even here ... I guess it’s just ... the way the music sounds ... it definitely does sound a little different, and I think people relate different sounds with different places, you know what I mean?

To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

The Hinderers is out now.

.... Most people think that we’re from another country ...

S anc t i t y

Touring Along The Roads Of Bloodshed HARD BOILED

By David Williams With a punishing debut album under their belts, Roadrunner’s Sanctity are on the road across the states, bringing their hard-edged sound to the eager ears of American metalheads. A long, long way from his native North Carolina, guitarist Jared spoke to me about driving down the Road To Bloodshed.

Has the tour been interesting in any other way, apart from music? Have you found things along the way that have inspired you?

Well, we get to see a lot of the countryside obviously, which is cool, but mostly just buying shit at truckstops.

… We crashed our bus when we were over in the UK with Trivium …

And what about crashes? Have you seen any carnage on the roads?

No, not this tour … not yet! [Laughs] We had to change a couple of tyres on our van because they were going really bald, and it was getting pretty bad.

But nothing too terrible this tour – not like the last tour!

Really? What happened on the last tour?

We actually did have a crash; we crashed our bus when we were over in the UK with Trivium.

And what were the consequences of that crash?

Well it wasn’t too bad. It was kind of a minor crash; it wasn’t, like, high-speed or anything like that. We just rode with the Trivium guys for a couple of days until our bus came back.

You’ve got the new CD, Road To Bloodshed – this PAGE 14

is where my line of questioning has come from. I thought maybe that you might’ve be on the road with bloodshed, or you might have been inspired by some kind of incident. Where does that title come from?

Well, it is one of the titles; one of the tracks on the album. But when we were trying to come up with an album title, it seemed to actually be also fitting with where we have come from to where we are at this point, in terms of trying to, you know, get ourselves signed and write songs and all that good stuff. That’s kind of where it came from.

What was the hardest part, in terms of putting the new CD out?

Waiting; I’d say the hardest part was waiting, because we actually had all the tracks … the tracks were done about, like, almost six or seven months before the CD even came out. But Roadrunner wanted to … well, we all wanted to make sure that when it came out, it wasn’t going to be overshadowed by anything else. So we were kind of playing the waiting game.

And meanwhile, we were touring for almost a full year before it even came out, so just waiting was really hard, because we really wanted everyone to see what we could do; we really wanted to get the disc out, but we wanted to make sure it was the right time.

What about the easiest part of putting this CD out?

What was the easiest thing?

The easiest thing? Um … I don’t know. I would say “writing songs” – I guess, compared to everything else, writing the songs was kind of easy. At times it was tough … Our touring experience is actually pretty easy; we’ve had a lot of good tours, and have really enjoyed being on the road and playing our music for everybody. Playing live has been really easy for us.

What techniques or little tricks do you have to help you when you hit a block, in terms of writing the songs?

We take a break. Like, when we try to force ourselves, and write too hard … it seems that we start fighting ourselves … When we try to force it, there are times where it feels like nothing’s good enough, or that it just doesn’t fit, or the song doesn’t do what it wants

to on its own. So we usually just take a break for however long – I don’t know, thirty minutes, or even a couple of days – and come back to it, and try and look at it with a fresh perspective.

Road To Bloodshed is out now.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

Mark Dynamix

Whiskey Go Go’s

Expatriate

Night Terrors

SYRUP – 03/08/07

REPUBLIC BAR – 04/08/07

JAMES HOTEL – 287/07

Brisbane Hotel – 04/08/07

“Oh, Mark? Hello Mark. Zis is Germany calling – are you vhere?”

Mark stumbles off his perch and pushes past his mass of accumulated bass and Lonely Planet guides.

“Germany! I was just thinking about you. Let me just put some pants on … *zip* Ah, much better. What’s happening?”

“Mark, it is just vunderful out here in the hinterland, and me and Irma think you should visit. You vill love it here Mark, ve have some great places to party, und very nice beer and let’s not forget our hardcore porn … oh, how you love our porn Mark”. Mark dives on the couch, staring at his much loved porn collection … “You know Germany, I could use with a change; a new perspective … something to take my career to that next level … I think I’ll take up your offer and come for a little German Excursion”. “Oh, an excursion! Now that sounds fun. Will you need to say goodbye first?” Mark stops in front of Ministry Of Ass – The Oral; one of his all-time favourite pornos, and realises he will have to farewell his friends and fans with a final send-off. How can he leave without saying goodbye? Mark hangs up to start his rounds. Loaded with toxic levels of heavy house, fuelled by some funk and party bags of love, Mark makes his way to all his favourite places and gives them a true farewell. Loaded with prospects, a bottle of Absinthe, and his porn collection, Mark walked out into the shadows (cos that’s “arty” like the Germans would do), and into the bright lights of

They were loose, and it was really, really good. A bit like The Cure, and dirty like the Stones, they beautifully executed the simplest but most bloody effective sound, and twisted it on its ear with a country hoedown feel that delighted the jumping-all-over-eachother’s-feet crowd. Showing that spit and polish is for the studio and sweat and pop-offs are what live is all about, they didn’t relent and didn’t appear to care either. You can tell when a band’s been touring shit loads and they’ve had extra time to experiment, because the front guy will change his guitar practically every song for no apparent reason (to us), and tonight’s guitar-counters weren’t disappointed. My favourite guy in the band was this bloke with massive frizzy hair that he was flaying about everywhere, and his job was to hit different things with bells on them and dance! He was great! Like the Roobs, they’re exciting and fun to watch, but yeah, there’s nothing really different going on here sound-wise. As for the country spin, Johnny Cash laid firm foundation stones when he found his rolling steam train sound while this guy’s dad hadn’t yet peeped his mothers knickers, but they knit together so fine as a group that, like the Roobs, they stand out with something special to offer. Matt the front guy’s singing is impassioned and aimless, wandering over broken notes with beautiful care like Adam Duritz, with the same sensitivity to poetic verse; honest, bloody and raw.

Sudden moments of sweet melody get replaced by smashing guitars and their brash brand of rock wakes the smokers up to peep inside. They pounded to a finish but didn’t honour the cries for an encore. I’d definitely watch them again – they really kicked

On a blustery winter’s evening in Launceston, Expatriate turned up the heat.

I’ve been to a few gigs since the Brisbane Hotel re-opened as a music venue, and this was a good chance to check out the Night Terrors, as I had missed them the night before at Coven. First up were Botox, who have had a hiatus for a while. Botox have always seemed, to me, to be two bands in one, but this gig was the most coherent I have heard them play. There are two creative influences there, and they sometimes conflict. Possibly the better acoustics at the Brisbane have helped.

Berlin, knowing he will not be forgotten.

FELIX BLACKLER

arse and left me pumped.

IAN MURTAGH

Kicking off this spectacular gig with the single Only Wanna Love Ya, they continued on with many other songs off the In The Midst Of This album, including the other singles Play A Part, Crazy and The Spaces Between, also with a few other songs from their earlier EPs. When Ben (vocals) got off the stage and sung amongst the crowd – it livened the atmosphere even more. Incredible musicians, being only a four-piece, without seeing them in person, it sounds as if they would be at least five in number, as keyboardist Damien changes frequently from keys to electric guitar, adding to the sound.

It was a concert that can only really be described with words such as “amazing” and “incredible”. For words cannot quite express how terrific this gig was. Adding extra bits and pieces to their already impressive songs, it made the night seem to go all too quickly.

It was the last night of the tour, so expect to be waiting a little while before this band returns to our shores, but definitely catch them when they do. A really awesome gig, and great guys too!

CAROLE WHITEHEAD

The Bad Luck Charms seemed an odd inclusion into this gig. I really like this band, but would not have chosen them as support in this case. It was a good set, but I think they were better the last time two times I saw them. Perhaps I was in the mood for a darker style that I knew Botox and Night Terrors could deliver.

I have seen Night Terrors once before and was impressed, and again they delivered.

The band tends to focus around Miles Brown’s awesome bass guitar and Theremin playing, but you cannot take it away from the other members of the band; entrancing sounds that had the crowd held captive. I was talking to a few people who had never seen a Theremin played before, and they weren’t sure whether it was a piss-take or not. And, to be quite honest, Miles plays it that well that I really can understand where they are coming from. You struggle to believe someone is making that sound by simply waving his hands around in the air.

KEVIN GLEESON

DUK ES OF W I N D S O R

ROCK SALT

Rockin’ Electro-Metros From The Get-Go

By Tom Wilson Electro-rocking alleged metrosexuals Dukes Of Windsor have been busy chaps. Riding high on the success of their collaboration with TV Rock – namely the remix of The Others – the Dukes have been putting in some hard (and sometimes painful) hours in the studio before they head to Tasmania with a brand new single. I spoke to guitarist Oscar about shaving another man’s legs and the lethal potential of Amway salesmen …

Jack tells me you’re a very well-spoken man. Is this true?

Well I think that’s what he’s getting at. I think he’s trying to record some vocals … we’re just in the studio at the moment, recording a couple of tracks. Excuse me, I just squished my finger inside a door, and it’s really hurting me. Just give me a minute; I’m just shaking it out. Oh boy, that hurts!

Ow! Ok, I think it’s alright …

The perils of rock stardom, I tell you what …

Indeed! You know, it’s tough here in the studio.

Fingers squashed in doors … all sorts of crazy shit going down, you know?

The Dukes Of Windsor press shots feature you guys dressed entirely in white. When was the last time you got all dressed up, and why?

Well, I do it sort of regularly. It’s sort of a common occurrence around my family home, actually. We all dress in white for Sunday dinner, and then we have a big game of Twister, and then a spa bath. It’s just something we like to do on the weekend, I suppose. And we don’t get the opportunity to dress in white nearly that often, but it was certainly a great experience for all of us. It brought us all closer together, I think, and I’d recommend it to anyone! But not in the same way that the Ku Klux Klan do …

I just watched the clip of you guys playing at the MTV Awards, and I couldn’t help noticing that Jack in particular is a fairly well-groomed guy, which is uncommon in a lot of rock n roll. To what extent would you agree that having an electro influence affects your fashion sense?

[Laughs] I think that we’re all just vain, really! We don’t want to go for the gritty, dirty, pub rock/ retro rock vibe in both sound and dress sense.

But shit, I don’t know! We just want to look tidy!

[Laughs] Does that make any sense?

Absolutely not.

No, none whatsoever. Good. I’m glad you’re honest.

So is Jack a metrosexual?

Are we metrosexuals? Fuck … Well, everyone’s metrosexual these days, aren’t they? Look, when I was waxing Jack’s legs last night, I asked him, “Do you consider yourself a metrosexual?” And he said to me, “Oh, you know, not really.” I mean, he dyes his hair here and there and all that sort of stuff, and every now and then wears gowns. But he’s a man, you know? Jack’s a man! And Jack really wants to be thought of as that. He wants to be thought of as a man!

You’re a — Metrosexual? I know! Thank you! [Laughs] Well, you’re also a guitarist. Who do you consider,

as far as stage presence and stage antics and rock moves, who do you consider to be the pinnacle of rock ‘n’ roll guitarists, and why?

In terms of moves? Or in terms of actual playing?

Oh hell no! Moves!

Moves are much more important.

Damn right!

Well, there were a lot of amazing movers on the stage. I mean, you’ve even got your cheesy ones, like Eddie Van Halen. I mean, fuck, he’d run around, jump around on the stage, at the same time as playing those ridiculous Van Halen licks …

Not that I want to … not that I even could think of trying to play that. Who else? Angus Young looks like a bit of a spastic on the stage I suppose. He’s pretty good at that. Who else? Who goes off on stage? Jeez …

Yep, I think you will. We have been playing it live lately, so you will hear it.

Alright Oscar, thanks very much for your time.

No stress at all. Where are you based in Tassie?

Are you in Hobart or Launceston?

We’re in a secret underground bunker, surrounded by machine gun nests and Amway salesmen.

I hear that’s quite common. Is that the case?

It’s basically the standard measures of security.

We have the machine gun nests, and if people get past that, Amway salesmen beat them up with bottles of Windex.

You know, that’s why they invented Windex. The US Army actually invented it, just to spray at Germans during World War Two. That was the initial purpose of Windex, I believe.

Well superglue was actually developed for Vietnam medics to patch people up …

Is there any truth in that? I’m a gullible person.

No, it is. That’s why superglue sticks best to your fingers, because if someone was blown open – and they of course can’t stitch them when people are shooting at you – they’d just put superglue on them and just go *squeeze*.

Oh, come on, that can’t be true!

Sure is. The Dukes Of Windsor play Sirocco’s in Burnie on the 23rd of August, Hobart’s Republic Bar on the 24th, and Launceston’s James Hotel on the 25th.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

When I was waxing Jack’s legs last night, I asked him, “Do you consider yourself a metrosexual?” And he said to me, “Oh, you know, not really.”

The guys from At The Drive-In had that kind of thing going.

Yeah, I was going to say The Mars Volta. Yeah, I think At The Drive-In, I think, probably moreso than The Mars Volta … The At The Drive-In guys are fucking incredible, and there’s a lesson there to be learned for all of us, and I wish they still existed!

You’re coming down to Tassie. What are your plans after this tour?

Well … we go to Darwin before we go to Tassie, which is going to be cool … We’re recording this single as we speak, actually, so we’ll hopefully be getting that out in the next month or two, once it’s all been mixed and finished up. So getting that our, and then we’ll be heading back on the road, and hopefully coming back down to Tassie again in the next couple of months, and just getting around through all the other capitals. And then, out ultimate aim for the next six months is to be recording the second album, and we’ll hopefully be doing that overseas. That’s what we’re aiming for, I guess. So that’s sort of where we’re heading, so it should be fun.

Will we be hearing this new single at the Tassie shows?

PAGE 15

GIG GUIDE 8th Aug - 21st Aug WEDNESDAY 8TH HOBART Curly’s Bar Dr Fink Irish Murphy’s - Dirty Harry & The Rockets Republic Bar & Café Matt Zarb @ 9PM Syrup Mez + Chilli + Dave Webber @ 10PM LAUNCESTON Archer’s Manor James Blundell + Nik Phillips + Karl Broadie @ 8PM Irish Murphy’s Leigh Ratcliffe + Nathan Wheldon & The Two Timers O’Keefe’s - Follow By The Wayside Saloon - DJ THURSDAY 9TH BURNIE Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Swingtet + Hayden Dare @ 7:30PM HOBART Curly’s Bar Night Shift – Scott Woodhouse + Dave Webber + Samex + D2M + JimK Foreshore Tavern - The Go Set + Mick Thomas Irish Murphy’s Amy Kendall @ 9PM + Invisible Boy @ 10:10PM + Nathan Wheldon & The Two Timers @ 11.30PM

Ben Castles Sat 11th August

Night on the GreenwoodPart 3 Thurs 16th August Fri 17th August

Sat 18th August

The Titz Open Folk Seisiun @4.30pm ea Sunday

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FRIDAY 17TH BURNIE Stage Door the Café Guillaume Solo Acoustic HOBART Brisbane Hotel Fulton Girls Club + Great Earthquake + Aaron John Wallace + Transcriptions Of Organ Music Curly’s Bar - Revival

Hotel SOHO Manhattan feat Nicole Sims @ 6PM

Royal Oak A Night On The Greenwood – Samuel Bester + Mick Attard + Brendan Kearns + Nathan Wheldon & The Two Timers + The Voyeurs

Syrup - La Casa – Gillie + Timo + Discotouch

Royal On George - Live Music @ 10PM

James Hotel Glenn Moorhouse @ James Bar DJ PD @ Reality

FORTH Forth Pub - Guillaume Soloacoustic HOBART Hotel SOHO - Sunday Sessions

Republic Bar & Café Cake Walking Babies @ 9PM

O’Keefe’s - Leigh Radcliffe Royal Oak - Idle Hands Saloon - The Lazy’s + HANNAH SATURDAY 18TH BURNIE Stage Door the Café Wendy Stapleton @ 8:00PM HOBART Brisbane Hotel The Lazy’s + HANNAH @ 3PM (ALL AGES) The Lazy’s + HANNAH + Ejector @ 9PM

LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s - Phil Picasso

Curly’s Bar - Commercial Dance DJs

James Hotel UniNight – Murphy’s Law + DJ

Royal Oak - Open Folk Seisiun

Hotel SOHO Manhattan feat Nicole Sims @ 6PM

DELORAINE Little Theatre NORTHERN ASSAULT – Hallowed Demise + Abyss + Vulgar + Projection Of Aggression @ 7PM DEVONPORT Spurs/Warehouse Dirty Harry and the Rockets + Ace Revolver + Henry Horsefall + Novella HOBART Brisbane Hotel Macromantics (ALL AGES) @ 5PM The Go Set + Mick Thomas + The Boarding Party (18+) @ 9PM

Star Hotel Sexy Lounge With Carl Fidler @ 5PM MARGATE Brookfield Vineyard Dancers Delight with David Carr MONDAY 13TH HOBART Hotel SOHO Industry Night – The Smashers @ 10PM LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s - Phil Picasso TUESDAY 14TH HOBART Republic Bar & Café Guillaume Solo Acoustic @ 9PM LAUNCESTON Albert Hall - John Butler Trio + Josh Pyke Irish Murphy’s - Ben Castles

Halo - Gimme A Break

Lewisham Tavern - The Front + The Sign Republic Bar & Café Elvis Tribute Night – Snapback + Rackoons + The No No’s @ 10PM Syrup - Timo + Gillie + Adam Turner The Loft Tom Hall (Bris) + Scott Cotterall + Matt Warren @ 8PM

City Hall - John Butler Trio + Josh Pyke

Royal On George - Live Music @ 10PM

Hotel SOHO Manhattan feat Nicole Sims @ 6PM

Curly’s Bar - Live Music + DJs

MARGATE Brookfield Vineyard - Grumpy Neighbours

LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s - Zac Lister + Dirty Harry

Youth Arc The Go Set + Mick Thomas (ALL AGES) @ 4PM

O’Keefe’s - Guillaume Solo Acoustic

LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Well Strung

THURSDAY 16TH BURNIE Stage Door the Café Roaring Naughties @ 7:30PM.

James Hotel Leigh Ratcliffe @ James Bar DJ PD @ Reality O’Keefe’s - Matt Zarb Royal Oak - Ben Castles Worker’s Club Outta Lonnie – Black Dollar + Foreign Films + The Emma Dilemma Show + Nathan Wheldon & The Two Timers + Cats For Hands + Blue Cotton + Marcus Wynwood + Nick Warren @ 8PM SWANSEA Bark Mill Tavern James Blundell + Karl Broadie + Nik Phillips SATURDAY 11TH BURNIE Stage Door the Café James Parry @ 7:30PM HOBART Curly’s Bar Commercial Dance DJs Halo Q45 + MC Amy B (Syd)

Saloon - DJ

DEVONPORT Spurs/Warehouse The Lazys (NSW) + HANNAH + Cruel Like That.

HOBART Brisbane Hotel Horsemania + The Vivids + Special Students Curly’s Bar Night Shift – Scott Woodhouse + Dave Webber + Samex + D2M + JimK Irish Murphy’s Cait Vertigan @ 9PM + Samuel Bester @ 10:10PM + The Overview @ 11:30PM Republic Bar & Café - Bridget Pross @ 9PM Syrup Mez + Dave Webber + Chilli @ 8PM LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s - Leigh Ratcliffe James Hotel UniNight – Sgt Green + DJ @ Reality

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James Hotel The Embers @ Reality Cheeky Sound Chaser @ James Bar

Halo - Macromantics + Danielsan (Koolism)

Syrup La Casa – Matt B + DSKO + Discotouch

GUNNERS ARMS

Irish Murphy’s - Murphy’s Law

Curly’s Bar - Revival

Syrup Mez + Chilli + Dave Webber @ 10PM

We are the ONLY Radio Station servicing the entire East Coast and Fingal Valley of Tasmania!

Blenheim Inn - Guillaume Solo Acoustic

O’Keefe’s - DJ Skip

Republic Bar & Café - Eshak @ 9PM

98.5 Bicheno, Swansea, Triabunna and Orford

LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn Andy Murphy + Chris Neobi + Adam Turner

WEDNESDAY 15TH HOBART Brisbane Hotel - Detour

Republic Bar & Café Midnight Juggernaughts + Damn Arms @ 10PM

100.3 Scamander up through the Fingal Valley to Campbell Town

LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s - The Gary Gary’s

LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Nathan Wheldon + Zac Lister + S & M

O’Keefe’s - Matt Zarb

93.7 Pyengana to Beaumaris

Halo Junglettes (Bris) + De la Haye + Angie Summers

Republic Bar & Café The Embers + Zac Lister Band @ 9PM

SUNDAY 12TH BURNIE King Of Burnie Hotel James Blundell + Karl Broadie + Nik Phillips

On Tasmania’s Beautiful East Coast

Royal Oak - Rueben Ellenberger

O’Keefe’s DJ Skip

Syrup - Mez + Dave Webber + Chilli @ 8PM

FRIDAY 10TH BURNIE Maginty’s Irish Bar The Richie Benaud Allstars

Idle Hands

Syrup DFD – DSKO + Adam Turner + Kir

Raincheck Lounge Raincheck Sundays – Joel Imber + Tom Ambroz + Sam Stansall + Luis Higgins

Royal Oak - Nick Warren

Reuben Ellenberger

Republic Bar & Café - Labjacd @ 10PM

Republic Bar & Café James Blundell + Karl Broodie + Nik Phillips @ 9PM

The Lark - Guillaume Solo Acoustic

Fri 10th August

Hotel SOHO Manhattan feat Nicole Sims @ 6PM

O’Keefe’s - Nathan Wheldon

Royal Oak - The Titz

SUNDAY 19TH HOBART Brisbane Hotel Sound Performance With Tom Hall @ 8PM

BURNIE Sirocco’s 69 Mount St. Burnie 6431 3133

Hotel SOHO - Sunday Sessions

Stage Door The Cafe 254 Mount St Upper Burnie 64322600

Republic Bar & Café Couta Blue @ 9PM

HOBART

LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Glenn Moorhouse + Leigh Ratcliffe + DJ

Curly’s Bar 112 Murray St 6234 5112 www.curlysbar.com.au

Hotel SOHO 124 Davey St 6224 9494

Royal Oak - Open Folk Seisiun

Raincheck Lounge 392-394 Elizabeth Street 6234 5975

Star Hotel Sexy Lounge With Carl Fidler @ 5PM

Republic Bar 299 Elizabeth Street 6234 6954 www.republicbar.com

MARGATE Brookfield Vineyard Dancers Delight with David Carr

The Brisbane 3 Brisbane St 6234 4920 thebrisbanehotel@gmail.com

MONDAY 20TH HOBART Hotel SOHO Industry Night – The Smashers @ 10PM Republic Bar & Café - Manic Monday @ 9PM LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Glenn Moorhouse TUESDAY 21ST HOBART Republic Bar & Café Svavar Knutur (Iceland) @ 9PM LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s - Sambo

The Loft 142 Liverpool Street 6231 6552 myspace.com/theloft142 Syrup 1st Floor 39 Salamanca Place 6224 8249

LAUNCESTON Gunners Arms Bar & Bistro 23 Lawrence St Launceston 6331 3891 James Hotel Reality Niteclub / James Bar 122 York St Launceston 6334 7231 www.jameshotel.com.au O’Keefes Hotel 124 George St. 6331 4015 River view Hotel 43 Charles Street 6331 4857 Royal On George 90 George Street 6331 2526 The Royal Oak 14 Brisbane St Launceston 6331 5346 Saloon 191 Charles Street Launceston www.saloon.com.au 6331 7355

SMASHING PUMPKINS Zeitgeist 8/10 OK, first things first.

Smashing Pumpkins – are they still the same? Yes. Do they still hold the same musical power as they’ve had in the past? Yes. Should you buy it? Hell fucking yeah! Is this the start of a new revolution for Smashing Pumpkins? The answer to that is up to you, my friends.

As you may or may not be aware, Zeitgeist is the first release that the Smashing Pumpkins have had in over six years! Some of you old-school SP fans might be wondering whether this is actually going to be worth thirty dollars, or if it’s a last ditch effort to keep the dream alive.

If this is what you think, then you are wrong on both accounts; for me, this album definitely represents every minute of those six or so years we’ve lost.

… For me, this album definitely represents every minute of those six or so years we've lost.

The opening track Doomsday Clock wastes no time letting the punter know who’s boss for the remaining eleven tracks. Blistering drum tracking and epic riffs throughout each song are very much apparent, and complimented perfectly by the unique voice and musicianship of Billy Corgan.

STILL REMAINS The Serpent

To some people, SR may come across as an emo hard rock band, but they don’t display all the characteristics of this genre. The music is dealing with life’s real aspects, covering topics from finding yourself to losing the things that were once parts of you.

This album is mature, and shows the band’s personality through both music and lyrics. You will hear a lot of keyboard and piano incorporated in to their metal sound, giving a Eurometal feeling which can sound similar to that of bands like In Flames or Children of Bodom.

Still Remains are one of those bands that, in my mind, will outlive the three-album life expectancy of most bands, and will have an ongoing legion of fans.

The band definitely has their influences, and has managed to combine both their inspirations and their own sound to make one of the top metal albums for 2007.

DAVID WALKER

You

Now this guy’s got the right idea; years of travelling the world and experiencing different cultures has given Copperpot a unique and well educated hip-hop-based production style. His new album Wyla? is a sonic journey through African and European cultures and sounds, blending dubby drums with tribal instruments, in unusual timing most of the time, along with some guest MC spots from the likes of KRS-One, EdoG, Masta Ace, Braintax and many more.

I really like the way Copperpot creates complex drum patterns, but adds simple bass lines to give the beats a bit of structure for the MCs to roll over – best heard on Blow featuring Psalm One. This is my kind of music; it’s not typical hip-hop, but more like slower, less technical drum ‘n’ bass, including the real feeling of live instruments, and intelligent rappers who are all at the top of their game.

I’d have to say that the best track on the album would be Dem Know featuring KRS-One, which is a great example of a producer bringing out the best in a rapper. If you’re after something to jump around to, this probably isn’t going to be the best option for you, but if you’re in need of some complex, instrumental hip-hop action with multi-cultural flavour, you need to check this out.

RYAN FARRINGTON PAGE 18

The overall sound on the album is very clear cut, and nuances are noticeable, which give you a good chance to critique to your heart’s contempt.

There aren’t a lot of mega effects or piss-farting around; it’s pretty much cut to back to the important ingredients of the band – the instruments!

That’s The Way (Love Is) is a great example of the above comments, and is a current single.

Starz, another personal favourite from the album, really ties together the past and present status of the band.

After saying all these great things about the new SP release, you might be asking yourself, “Is there anything actually bad about it?” The answer is yes.

The first thing you get to see when you open the sleeve is a bunch of trashy pics from our favourite famous jailbird Paris. Sorry fellahs, but I’m going to have to deduct some points for that. I hope it didn’t take SM six years to come up with that idea! Other than that, there is a collection of what seem to be random pictures of weird things filling the rest of the sleeve (I’m sure they have some kind of meaning to someone).

All-in-all, the new album is tops guys. Whether you’re a newcomer to SP or an old-school die hard fan, you will definitely find a spot in your playlist for this album.

MATTHEW LABEDZKI

MADINA LAKE From Them, Through Us, To You

The sophomore effort from the melodic metalcore band is a vicious mixture of eruptions and restrained moments, and the two are balanced perfectly. The strong and hoarse vocal style of T.J. Miller fits just as well as the more dominant clean vocals. The clean vocals fit well in tracks like Sleepless Nights Alone and Undesired Reunion, whereas the more aggressive vocals in The Wax Walls Of An Empty Room and Avalanche show another side of the band that would give your speakers a hernia.

COPPERPOT Wyla? (What’re Lookin’ At?) 9/10

The vocals in particular nearly seem to have their own separate type of personal vibe from the music, which leads me to think that this album might actually hold some deeper meaning for the band, being that the recorded sound represents emotion in every sense of the word, but still holds and portrays that figure of authority that the band are famous for.

You can blame the stunt/ dare reality game show Fear Factor’s “twins special” that rewarded Nathan and Matthew Leone $50,000 – which was used to record the band’s demo. The album was then signed to Roadrunner records. Chicago’s Madina Lake, on their debut album, explore their views on politics, culture, and the obsession of celebrity status through their pop/light emo punk sound (that also has, at moments, underlying references to Christianity). Madina Lake’s name is based on a fictional story that bass player Matthew came up with, of a socialite from the 1950’s era named Adalia, who disappears mysteriously. The themes behind their music are derived from this story.

Produced and mixed by Mark Trombino, who brought you Jimmy Eat World and Blink 182; you can hear his influence on this record, but not in a dominant way. On this album, it doesn’t sound like Madina Lake has found their own sound.

There are some catchy songs to listen to, like In Another Life deals with how you go on through life if it is too late to fulfill your dream.

Morning Sadness deals with how a guy can’t let go of some girl he used to love, and the struggles of living without her each day. From Them, Through Us, To You is nothing innovative, but with a world full of radio rock songs about love’s difficulties, there will always be a fan base for this type of music.

DAVID WALKER

BEASTIE BOYS The Mix-Up 8/10 Here’s another one we’ve all been waiting patiently for; The Beastie Boys’ instrumental album, The Mix-Up – and it’s a killer of an album. The Beasties’ musical roots were in punk and rock in the late 70s before moving to hip-hop in the early 80s, but throughout the later part of their career they’ve been picking up instruments again, and jamming out styles including funk and jazz for their live audiences. So it seems only natural for them to finally complete a full funk/jazz-based album, but who knew they’d do it without lyrics?

The album has a traditional, psychedelic 60s rock vibe to it, with some added lounge jazz and funky guitar licks. There are no obvious hip-hop elements to this album, but there are plenty of funk breakdowns, suave bass lines and old school conga grooves, giving you the idea that this is the kind of music that the Beastie Boys would have wanted to find in record crates in the mid 80s to take home and sample.

My favourite track on the album is Off The Grid, a slow funk jam with a feel reminiscent of early Sid Barratt and 60s carefree culture, matching phasing guitar riffs and strange organ chords. Another great effort from the boys, who have always had their fingers on what is the essence of musical genius.

RYAN FARRINGTON

BLOC PARTY A Weekend in the City 9/10 “I’m sitting on the roof of my house with a shotgun and a six pack of beer…” If that’s not an epic first line, or one that you can’t relate to at some time or another, I don’t know what is! That’s just the start, though, for British band Bloc Party.

With unpredictable tempo changes and catchy guitar riffs, these guys bring a new fresh sound to disco/techno. A Weekend in the City is their third release on Shock Records and has such a well-produced sound, thanks to Tom McFall.

Including Hunting for Witches and The Prayer (made well known from the latest competition on Triple J), this double CD also has a bonus DVD of live performances, showing you the faces behind the sound. The song to look out for though, is Uniform.

YEAH YEAH YEAHS Is Is 8/10 I’ve never been a fan of the whole five-song EP format …

I guess I often feel that you don’t get enough of the band to really enjoy it fully … in saying that, the new release for the Yeah Yeah Yeahs is brimming with such great stuff that you don’t need any more than five songs!

Hailing from New York City, they are often described as a retro-style, heavy rock/punk outfit. With a basic line up of guitar, drums and vocals, this trio have been working on their stuff since 2000.Including hit song Down Boy, this EP shows different shades of colour, and has a real raw and gutsy feel. Karen O blows me away with her edgy and punkesque vocals.

A dig at the youth of today, with what Bloc Party see as their lack of individuality and “masks of cool”, this song really makes you realise the era we live in.

It is matched nicely with Kele’s somewhat haunting and angstdriven vocals. Not to mention the insane-but-clean beats!

She has this ability to go from a real dirty sound to a note that sounds so pure you wouldn’t have thought it could come out of her! The songs were written in 2004, in a supposedly tumultuous time for the band, but have only been recently recorded this year.

My favourite track is Kiss Kiss. It’s upbeat and has great guitar riffs that really compliment the vocals.

This is one album I could not stop playing, or get out of my head for days, and one you definitely have to listen to, whether you are into this sort of genre or not.

This is definitely a band worth getting into if you like your music a little edgy and with a lot of attitude, and this latest EP is a testament of what they are all about.

CASSY HINDS

CASSY HINDS

DEVILDRIVER The Last Kind Words 6.5/10 One of metal’s respected, and also most maligned personalities, Dez Fafara, is back with a second Devildriver album. Meat-and-potatoes, gothic-tinged heavy metal, The Last Kind Words plays out with a lot of momentum, but, sadly, not much else. It won’t alienate fans of the previous album, but therein lies the problem; in being consistent, it also repeats the faults of the debut.

Fafara’s voice still sounds like he’s been chasing whiskey shots with draino – which I consider a good thing – but on this release, his abrasive roars are dulled by some terminally indistinct guitar work. When he growls “All your hopes and dreams don’t mean shit” in the opening number, the music fails to give such a harsh statement the punch it deserves.

KATE HAVNEVIK Melankon 9/10 Kate Havnevik is a Norwegian musician residing in London, in the pursuit of musical success with the release of her debut album, Melankon. Creating her own record label in the UK, this is the outlet for her music, and she is swiftly moving into the land of artist recognition.

Melankon consists of smooth, liquid melodies, accompanied with the Bratislava Symphony Orchestra and a touch of electronic programming, creating an addictive soundscape for the listener.

Devildriver were recently immortalised on more than one episode of Scrubs as the driving music of choice for the delivery guy (“do you like speed metal?”), and while I don’t drive myself, I bet this album would make wicked burnout music.

Her musical influences are comprised of Jeff Buckley, Beck and Radiohead, which leads her music to feel slightly similar to that of Bjork, yet not so full of sharp melodic sounds – more vocally similar to that of Evanescence and Tori Amos, with a similarly structured sound to Gotye.

For this album she joined up with Guy Sigworth (Madonna/ Bjork) to accompany the production of four songs, and has recently been hooking up with the likes of Moby and Noel Hogan (The Cranberries) for future ongoing projects.

She will be featuring on three albums this year, so listen out for her.

But the worst crime you can commit in music is to be boring.

I personally found Farara’s output in Coal Chamber to be a lot more interesting than that of Devildriver, and a lot more memorable. And isn’t that the point?

TOM WILSON

Melankon is a wondrous, rich production, full of creative vibes from Kate.

I believe she’s going to climb the ranks of alternative female artists. A surprisingly great listen.

ANGE DUKE

HED KANDI The Mix 8/10

ICECREAM HANDS The Good China 6.5/10

Yes, Hed Kandi have another release of the finest cheese in the world. Swiss, Chedder, Jarlsberg, Blue Vein, Brei, Old English, Ricotta – you name it, it’s there. Every mainstream song that’s been released in the past six months is pretty much on this triple compilation CD. Yes, a big dig, I know – but it’s exactly that.

Icecream Hands are a fourpiece from Melbourne, and The Good China is the first full-length album we have seen from them. With a cute sound, somewhat reminding me of – don’t let this put you off – the old Taxiride albums. With mostly gentle songs, this is a great album to put your feet up and relax to.

Hed Kandi is largely based around the happy, uplifting mixes that get the girls’ groove on, hence all the pastels and pictures of tarts on the front cover of the CD.

In the Back of a Stolen Car has all the elements of a great and infectious song, that could easily find itself high in the charts.

It includes some of the hottest tracks at the moments, such as Destination Calabria, The Creeps, Dare Me, Rain Down Love, and the list goes on. It’s forty-two tracks of uplifting house to either warm you up for a big night in the clubs, or just party.

Also, the song for my very own home town, Launceston is an adorable little song that should be on every “Tasmania, Love This Place” ad. This band shows very clearly it can have the catchy hits as well as the relaxed, slower songs. My Mother Was a Dancer gives a great insight into the history of the writer, and gives the record a personal touch.

With big names such as Alex Guadino, Fedde Le Grand, Freemasons, Hoxton Whores, Martin Solveig, Dennis Christopher, Dave Spoon and more, you can’t go wrong with the list of blistering tracks that smash out with groovy basslines, uplifting vocals and every instrument under the sun, backed up with a kick drum to fly throughout the mix.

So, if you’re after some of the biggest tracks out at the moment – similar to Ministry Of Sound compilations but without the big electro influence – this is the CD for you.

This is this winter’s pick of house music tracks that are smashing the charts around the world.

PATRICK DUKE

By the end of the album, it does seem that most of the songs are fairly similar, and this is true. But if listened to more thoroughly, the lyrics are what separates each song so much from the others, and gives depth to the recording.

After many listens, I have decided that this is an album that many people would love to own – it just doesn’t quite have the fame behind it as yet to put it in record stores. But search this band out – you may just find that it’s exactly what you were looking for. With band influences listed as The Beach Boys, The Beatles and Bob Dylan, you can’t go wrong.

CAROLE WHITEHEAD

Dani elsan

Koolism’s Deck Master Charges South

By Ryan Farrington

HIP- HOP

He’s DJ for Aussie hip-hop stalwarts Koolism, and now Danielsan is heading south with Macromantics for a show at Hobart’s Halo. He spoke to me about Koolism’s forthcoming fifth LP, why he thinks its their best work yet, and what he’d play to get Barbara Streisand on the dancefloor.

I hear you have some pretty outrageous rider requirements. What kind of things must DJ Danielsan have?

You heard that I had an outrageous rider?

Well, jeez … I don’t think there’s anything outrageous.

Let me see … if it’s outrageous, it’s just because it’s not as flamboyant as some people get. My personal rider? There might be … because I didn’t write it, there might be some sake; there might be peanut butter and bread! [Laughs] That’d be about it, man!

Aside from the Koolism shows, it’s said that you put on a pretty interesting DJ set. I’m going to give you a list of people, and you have to answer with what song you would play to get them on the dancefloor.

Is that cool?

Ok, alright. Interesting …

Pete Rock?

What would I play to get Pete Rock on the dancefloor?

Bum Bum by Sister Nancy.

Rodney P, Tunksy T, Daddy Skitz, Hau n Danielsan

… I wouldn’t play anything, because I wouldn’t want her on the dancefloor!

Quest Love?

Quest Love? Melting Pot by Booker T & The MG’s.

Barbara Streisand?

Um … let me see … I might play … that’s a tricky one … I wouldn’t play anything, because I wouldn’t want her on the dancefloor! [Laughs] So tell us a little bit about the new Koolism album.

This is your fifth album, yeah?

Yeah, it is … if you look at actual things that we released, then it would be the fifth. Even though we shelved one – there was at least one that was pressed up and released that most people don’t know about, so it’s pretty much the fifth album.

So how long did you work on it?

Well, that’s not so easy to say, too. It’ll be, like, nearly two years since the last one was released … then again, a lot of that time was sort of spent catching up on things … I guess we sort of just let it simmer for a while; ideas and things like that.

And then the past few months, because, in between, we’ve had all sorts of regular life stuff going on – people getting married and those sorts of things – and then just, in the past few months, we’ve been getting together and recording and recording and recording, you know? Getting the ball rolling.

The past two months has just been solid recording, and we’ve got about another month’s worth of recording and stuffing around, and by the end of August I should have the master in my hand. I’m not going to do a long lead time on the release.

I just really want to rush it out there, as opposed to doing a long lead like we usually do. So I’m shooting to have it out here in October.

How do you think it compares to your previous work?

I don’t think any of our previous work compares to it at all.

I can’t even compare it. If you just wanted to measure it on all-round production value and effort and grade of sonic quality and things like that – which I suppose is the only way you can really evaluate it – then it would far outweigh any of the things we’ve done before … It’s totally a matter of taste, but I personally think that, ideas-wise, and in terms of musicality and everything, that it’s our best work.

Danielsan plays with Macromantics at Hobart’s Halo on the 10th of August.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

Got Some News To Share?

Email details to news@sauce.net.au PAGE 19

HIP- HOP

GYM CL A S S H E R O ES

Elastic Pop

By Steve Tauschke

Still riding the barrel wave of hysteria whipped up by last year’s Billboard Top 5 single, the gloriously titled Cupid’s Chokehold, New York City’s indie hip-hop/rock chameleons Gym Class Heroes are now looking to the future. They anticipate their next record to be as challenging on the ears and mind as 2006’s stylistic mish-mash As Cruel As School Children.

“I think whenever we get heavily into some form of music, it finds its way into the songs, not in an obvious way,” reasons drummer Matt McGinley picking away on his other favourite instrument, the guitar, from his home in Geneva, New York.

“On the last album I think our heads were in 80s music the whole time, and I think that came out with this whole throwback vibe to it.

Lately we’ve been listening to a lot of 70s stuff, like early Phil Collins and Foreigner and classic rock. And a lot of funk stuff too like Parliament, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s quite funky. I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Already work-shopping ideas for another album, the quartet are taking a novel approach to their next recording session, slated for later in the year.

“It’s a really cool situation,” enthuses McGinley. “We’re

going on tour with Fall Out Boy in the fall, and their singer Patrick will co-produce some songs for the next record.

He’s bringing out a studio in the back of one of the buses, so it’s perfect.”

Unique for their ability to perform live hip-hop without samples or programmed beats, Gym Class Heroes have spent the past three years on the road, a headspace McGinley admits he’s gradually warming to.

“It’s made me a more calm and patient person,” the percussionist insists. “In addition to being in the band, I’m kind of like room mates with the band too, and it’s definitely been my first experience living with people day in and day out.

Being on the bus everyday – our singer Travis calls it a “moving hallway” – it’s a drastically different lifestyle than what a lot of my peers are doing, but it’s

something I’m used to now.”

Conceived at junior school by jazz-trained McGinley and original guitarist Milo Bonacci, who has since left the band, Gym Class Heroes’ dextrous crosspollination of pop, rap and rock has made them a multi-faceted curiosity in an industry where shelf space demarcation is paramount.

“When I met Travis in ninth grade he loved Nirvana and Rage Against The Machine, but he was also into KRS-One and Wu-Tang Clan and early Black Eyed Peas and underground hip-hop,” says McGinley, who cites Paul Simon’s 50 Ways To Leave Your Lover as his go-to drum lick.

“When he put me onto that stuff I fell in love with it.

Early on we never really had a defining sound, but I think everything took a little bit longer.” www.myspace.com/gymclassheroes

HIP- HOP

KEN HEL L

1st Solo Truck Ride For Hell Ken Hell is probably best known as one half of Melbourne hip hop duo Weapon X & Ken Hell who’s debut album ‘Sneakerpimpin Aint Easy made a significant impact in Australia throughout 2006. Ken Hell is bursting with energy and recognised as a phenomenal performer from his outrageous lyrics to his hilarious stage presence.

Ken Hell began his musical journey as a hip hop and break dancer in the early nineties before dabbling in the art of writing rhymes under the name of Naps.

He began to take rap music seriously after meeting Weapon X and other like-minded MCs and becoming a member of IFA and Battletown crews in the mid nineties. Weapon X and Ken Hell later parted ways with Battletown but maintained the IFA banner and went on to establish themselves as one of the most dynamic hip hop duos in this region.

Part rapping animal and part comedian, Ken Hell is also widely known through his alter-ego Takeiteasy Heezy who’s parody track and video Drive It Like It’s PAGE 20

Hot has enjoyed approximately 300,000 downloads (over 50,000 on Youtube alone).

The Takeiteasy Heezy character has struck a chord with young ethnic males of European and MiddleEastern backgrounds, opening up a whole new audience to Ken Hell’s music.

Truck is the first single by Ken Hell as a solo artist and sees Ken Hell come into his own.

Accompanied by an awesome video clip, Truck shows Ken Hell in all his flamboyant glory. Ken’s lyrics meld perfectly with a Styalz Fuego beat to create a drinking and partying club anthem that is sure to rock any party. Takeiteasy Heezy fans will be glad to know that his new dose of audio hilarity Wogalicious is also featured exclusively on the Truck release.

So in the tradition of Ken Heezy himself, grab a glass of Moose Juice and “Everybody Get Truck!”

Ken Hell plays at Curly’s on Friday, September 14.

Being on the bus everyday – our singer Travis calls it a “moving hallway” … It’s something I’m used to now.

HIP- HOP

L ABJACD

Party For The Planet

By David Williams

…There’s still sh!t happening, regardless of whether the weather’s due to global warming or not…

With a name as improbable as their musical style, nine-piece Latin hip-hip outfit LABJACD are determined to give you a good time, despite being one member short of the required ten members for big band status. However, it only takes one man to play a double bass. And when that double bass is in the capable hands of Julian Langdon, it may be that LABJACD are much more than the sum of their parts.

Thanks for calling back, mate. How are you?

I’m well, how are you?

I’m good. I’m enjoying the sunshine today, how about you?

I’m in Melbourne and it’s been raining for weeks. Not that it’s a problem!

No, it’s good to have the rain, isn’t it…

Yeah, it’s good for the world, good for the soul, I reckon. I love staying home, plugging in my guitar, you know, listening to the rain on my roof…

It always freaks me out a bit when we get to the wintertime and we’ve had no rain and it’s not cold…

Mate, yeah doesn’t it! It freaks me out too! (Laughs).

Don’t ‘spose you saw that stuff on the ABC last night about the global warming scandal versus the global warming proponents?

I caught bits and pieces of it. I listen to Radio National a lot and that discussion, that discourse, seems to be ever-present. Periodically it’s very present on Radio

National. And I find it so distorting. I’m not saying that global warming is or isn’t a conspiracy, but the fact of the matter is that the peripheral issues around global warming are just as serious; like, the energy crisis, the petroleum industry’s rape of the Earth… you know, all those other things are just as much of a problem, and people are crying wolf about whether this global warming is a conspiracy or not! You just think, god, you know? There’s still shit happening, regardless of whether the weather’s due to global warming or not… there’s still so many serious issues affecting our globe you can’t just, you know, push it back into its box and say, “Look, there’s nothing to worry about,” because there’s still so much to worry about!

How do you feel about using the music you guys produce to bring attention to this kind of stuff?

Well that’s such a complicated line to take nowadays.

I don’t mean that, by any means, people in the music industry have to hide their politics, but I’m not sure that “the song” is always the best means to put politics across. And, you know, I don’t mean to sound non-committal about issues but sometimes music can

really… with music there’re two things going on. One, it’s the message and, two, it’s the business of it, you know, trying to maintain a career in the industry… and I don’t know if audiences these days appreciate politics right in the forefront of music, especially in a party band. We play in, essentially, a dance band.

The tradition of dance bands moves from, whatever… salsa bands from New York in the fifties, big bands… that tradition moves all the way up to, kind of, funk bands from the Seventies into what we are today.

So I don’t think that we’re in the traditional line of Bob Dylan. We’re in the traditional line of, you know, Frank Sinatra or the Latino equivalent. So, it’s very difficult.

You’d never find Frank, just for an example, Frank, in one way, was involved in left politics, he was involved in the underworld stuff… he was also involved in all that stuff about artists supporting Afro-American rights, but at no point in his music or on the bandstand in Las Vegas did he say, “Hey all you white folks out there, I just wanna sing a song about African-

American rights and their ability to be equal with all of us,” you know what I mean? So, you’ve always got to be careful with that stuff.

I guess, in that case, it was the music that gave him the credibility to be listened to outside his actual performances where he was dealing with these kinds of issues…

Yeah, you would think so, or you’d hope so. And I think that’s what we have. There’s a few bands around that have managed to be able to weave it into their music, like Blue King Brown, I think they’re wonderful and they’ve succeeded in bringing their issues into their lyrics without coming across like they’re trying to use that as a label or selling point because I would hate to labelled as a band that just picked up some kind of issue and ran with it as some kind of popularity cause. That’s always been a bit sticky for me. I just don’t want to go there.

To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net. au http://www.labjacd.com/

PTY LTD

Brisbane Dance Gigolos Turn The Sex Knob to Eleven ROCK SALT

By Tom Wilson

Creators of music so sexy I suspect they might actually moonlight as gigolos, Brisbane’s Pty Ltd are spreading their brand of smooth, funky groove across the dance world with their second album, Enticer Deluxe. Peter G told me what music he likes best, when “gettin’ nastee”.

Out of curiousity, how do you pronounce the name?

I just think it varies from day to day, week to week. We used to say “P-T-Y L-T-D”, but when people are drunk, they find that hard to understand. So I think “Proprietary Limited” is the way to do it. But that’s still pretty hard for people to pick up as well! [Laughs] Because they go, “What’s ‘Proprietary Limited’?” And then you go, “Well, it’s what you have at the end of companies and organisations,” and they’re like, “Ah…” Do you see your musical exports as a business kind of thing? Or was it just a cool name?

Nah, I just think it’s like all bands. When they start up, they get together and they jam, and then they score a gig somewhere, and they don’t have a name.

So then they’ve got a selection of about three or four – which are mostly lame – and then they end up picking one. So that’s how we ended up with that one!

There was no thought that went into it. But I think Tim, the lead singer, initially thought, “Well, you see a lot of “Pty Ltd” after businesses, so we thought,

“well, let’s try and cash in on that, and use it as a bit of a marketing tool.” When people see the “Pty Ltd” at the end of a business name, they’ll automatically think of us. But it didn’t really work out like that!

I’m going to start with a bit of an eyebrow-raising question. Is funk the ultimate music to f*ck to?

I believe funk music definitely is. Anything with a rhythm; anything with a pulse; anything with a good bass vibe … something a bit repetitive. I’d have to say our music has elements of funk in it, but I think it steers more towards … I’d call it a live house genre, if there’s such a thing. But we’ve actually had emails in the past from people saying “Thanks a lot – I really appreciate it. I put your record on last night with my lady and had a really good time!” [Laughs] It’s pretty funny – I don’t need too many details on that kind of stuff!

Well, just for fun, what would you say are some great artists to shag to?

That we personally get into? Well, for me personally, I dig a lot of old-school funk and soul and RNB

artists – Stevie Wonder and Steely Dan and Herbie Hancock … Miles Davis … all of those pioneering people. They used to make records when they were real records; they used to release them on vinyl. The great artists … there’s so many. Sly & The Family Stone and Funkadelic, and that whole movement in the early seventies … But I have to say, with Tim and Danny in the group, because they’re a couple of years older than me, their musical style tends to drift more towards the early eighties side of things … They’re more towards the cheesy eighties style of things, bless ‘em.

You forgot Marvin Gaye.

I Want You is my favourite Marvin Gaye album. I don’t know if you’ve heard that – it’s a great record. I’ve fucked many times to that one. It’s a real good one.

ONLINE: Peter talks about the latest album, Enticer Deluxe. To listen to the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

Enticer Deluxe is out now.

PAGE 21

A NDY MUR P H Y

Smashing Good Times

by Tom Wilson

Hey Tom, how are you?

BANGERS & MASH

I’m good, mate, how are you?

Not too bad, not too bad.

Where are you at the moment?

I’m in Melbourne.

You’re in Melbourne? My condolences!

Yeah, back in Melbourne. Had a big few weeks so I’ve been all over the shop.

What have you been up to?

I went to the Gold Coast, played a gig there. Played in Byron Bay, then Sydney, and then home today and then to Canberra and then off to the snow tomorrow night. It’s been flat out… loving it!

Expect just a big mish-mash of a lot of different styles, a lot of different tracks, but definitely tracks that will bring the party I understand you put together the latest Onelove release alongside Junior Sanchez and Jason Herd.

What was it like working alongside such fairly esteemed company?

It’s obviously a new experience for me, but it’s been great, it’s been an honour. I’ve just been so excited to do the set and be approached, you know, to actually be asked to do it. I just jumped at the opportunity and I’m loving it!

So what was it like working with Sanchez and Herd?

Well, I’ve only met Junior Sanchez at the moment.

I’ve played two gigs with him. Each of our CDs are different mixes in their own right, so I guess it’s an honour to be on the same compilation as these two big, international DJs.

Melbourne-based Andy Murphy is going places all around the world, and audiences are going nuts for his dextrous deck skills. And now, with a Onelove compilation to his name, he will bring his eclectic brand of party tunes to Launceston next month! Tom Wilson caught Andy in some rare downtime between his professional party-going travels.

What do you think sets a Onelove release apart from other compilations of that kind of sound?

I think it’s a really big mix of a lot of different types of music. It really provides three different CDs, different time slots for the night - the back room CD, the twelve a.m., and then the slide into three a.m. It provides the listener, or the people who buy the CD, with a great selection of music and I think every track on the CD is fantastic.

It’s called Smash Your Stereo. What kind of music would a stereo have to be playing for you to literally want to smash it?

I guess, by the term Smash Your Stereo, they’re sort of inferring that your stereo would be smashing out good music.

Oh, I know, I’m just turning the phrase…

So what sort of music am I not into then?

Yeah, pretty much.

Ah, mate… I like all music in its own right. That’s a bit generous, but… you know. I’m not into country and western or anything like that, but other than that, I get into everything from r’n’b to hip-hop to house to electro… I really do love a big selection of music.

For the uninitiated, what styles would you say you dabble in? You were mentioning house and electro, are they your kind of base sounds?

Yeah, I think I play a big mix up of a lot of music.

I like to call my style, big party tunes… Definitely an eclectic mix of all styles; house, electro, a bit of French house which is coming through now, a bit of indie, just… a big mix of everything. In my set I’ll often play an old tune that’s recognisable by the crowd.

You’re playing in Launceston next month. What can you tell me about the kind of material you’ll be dropping in your set? Will it basically be all off of this release?

This CD is a good indication of the style I’ll play, but I’m always changing my sets and bringing in new music. Expect just a big mish-mash of a lot of different styles, a lot of different tracks, but definitely tracks that will bring the party.

Of all your work as a DJ what stands out as your proudest moment and why? And here’s the catch – you’re not allowed to say “this one” because everyone says that!

This is one of the biggest honours I’ve had as a DJ, so it’s hard! Starting my gig at Onelove, definitely… and playing overseas. I’ve played overseas three times this year, so far - South Korea, Singapore, and Dubai. Just being able to take my DJing overseas was unbelievable.

What kind of reception did you get over there? How different was it to the ones back here?

Just different people, but I think they were all there for the same reason. They were all there to have a good time and to party and I think, despite different cultures etcetera, I think the music, what I played, gave them that party.

To listen to Andy and Tom continue to party, go to www.sauce.net.au http://www.myspace.com/andymurph

TOMMY TRA S H

tRaSHeD In Amsterdam BANGERS & MASH

By David Williams

Ah, I remember Amsterdam ... kind of! Infamous for its state-controlled decriminalised drugs and sex industries, it’s easy to forget about the country’s other attractions and just see it as a paradise for hedonism. Could there, then, be a more appropriate place to find a DJ named Tommy Trash? On the release of a new compilation for Ministry Of Sound, he spoke to me about the music of Amsterdam, and the migration of Aussie DJs to Europe.

So what are you doing there?

Ah … Just doing the usual! [Laughs]

going on, but it’s mainly my own stuff. A change of environment is always good for the creative juices.

What, going there for two days, and you sort of wake up a couple of weeks later and go, “Oh sh*t! What happened?”

Yeah, yeah, pretty much … I shouldn’t really mention that!

Have you been going out much?

[Pause, then mischievous chuckling] Yes …

Look, we haven’t mentioned anything specific, have we?

No! Not at all! [Laughs] With a name like Tommy Trash, and you’re in Amsterdam, there are some things that are going to be read into that, that’s for sure.

Well, they can read into it … as long as there’re no facts in it! [Laughs]

So are you working there as well, or is this just a holiday for you?

Bit of both, actually. I’ve got some new tracks happening over here, which is really exciting. And I’ve done some remixes for some Dutch guys. So, yeah.

[I’m] back in Oz in two weeks.

So you’re DJing or producing over there or what?

Producing.

And who are you working with over there?

I’m just working by myself, but I’m producing a track for a guy called Benjamin Bass … He’s got a pretty big profile over here, and he’s a mate of mine. I’m kind of just doing some stuff for him. And there’s some stuff happening with Nathan, another mate of mine. So yeah – there’s a little bit of stuff

PAGE 22

… There’s a lot more to Amsterdam than just Jumpstyle and Trance …

So is it just trance, trance, and maybe a little more Euro trance? What’s happening in the clubs there?

Not at all. Not at all! You know, in Amsterdam, there’s guys here like Sebastian … Laidback Luke’s here … Nathan’s here. So a lot of house-based [DJs]. Fedde Le Grande’s is just around the corner … There’s a lot of really big house guys from Amsterdam. They love their cheesy trance over here.

Do you know Jumpstyle? [Imitates a bleep melody] It’s like the fastest trance you’ve ever heard. And it’s on the radio over here, right … for starters, that’s problem number one. Problem number two is that nine-year-old kids are into it at school! These film clips for these trance songs! I was in a shop the other day, and on comes one of these really hard, cheesy trance songs. And the filmclip was all these nineteen-year-old kids jumping up and down on some kind of springboard platform!

Wow – that really says a lot about the country, when the whole club scene is getting down to the kids!

Smoke weed and mushrooms at lunch! [Jokes, laughs] No, I don’t know mate. There’s just so much good music over here. I went to one club, ElectroNation … and the guy was just playing the coolest shit … probably shit I wouldn’t be game to play in Oz, because I think I’d probably scare half the kids away. But just really cool stuff. So there’s a lot more to Amsterdam than just Jumpstyle and trance.

How did you get involved with the electro house compilation, that you’ve done one CD of, and the

Stafford Brothers have done the other … that I can’t remember the name of? [Laughs] Electro House Sessions.

will you be able to do it full-time in Europe, without having to work some other job, you know? It’s a bit daunting, but Mark will be fine.

Oh, there you go! Basically, with Ministry Of Sound, you’ve just got to go, “OK, what style is this?” And call it Sessions at the end!

Well, that’s what the UK’s like, isn’t it? House Sessions … Electro Sound Sessions … Funky House Sessions …

Electro House Sessions comes out on the 11th of August. To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

So they just rang you up and asked?

Yeah. I’m doing a lot of work with MOS at the moment – remixes and originals and stuff – and they just said “Look, do you want to do the disc?

This is what it’s called. This is what it’s about.” And I thought, “Yeah, I can do that.” So … yep, I did it!

I was talking with Mark Dynamix the other day, and he’s heading over to Germany to live for a while – he wants to get into the whole minimal thing.

Yeah! That’s a good move, I think … If you want to get into minimal, I just don’t think Oz is the place to do it, because there’s just not enough places to play it, and not enough people who are into it.

Someone’s got to lead the way.

Yeah. Look, I think it’s a really good thing, and probably a lot more guys are going to follow suit as well. Dirty South is spending a lot of time in Europe now … So I think a lot of Aussie guys are making headways overseas, which makes it easier to go and move over there, and actually make a living doing what you’re doing over there.

That’s the scary part of moving overseas – you can do music full-time in Oz, but if you move over there,

BANGERS & MASH

BEXTA

By Hiro Takeshi

Trance’s Leading Lady Brings The Beats To Tassie Oz’s very own trance mixologist, Bexta has been writing and releasing her own music for years. Heading to Hobart’s Syrup at the end of this month, she recently spoke to Hiro Takeshi.

You’ve just finished touring Indonesia. [That’s] Not somewhere usually associated with trance music. How was it?

It was an unreal experience – I played with another trance DJ, Sophie Sugar from the UK, and [an] electro DJ, Jana from the US. There were eleven dates ... some of the gigs had a thousand people, which was surprising. I think some places hadn’t heard trance ever before, but they loved it!

Trance, like a lot of music styles, seems to have its cycles. What do you think about the state of trance in Oz today?

It’s definitely making a resurgence. Australia has been split between electro and hardstyle for a while now. I’ve been pushing the tech trance sound for over a year, even two. I think it’s back, baby!

Australia has been split between electro and hardstyle for a while now. I've been pushing the tech trance sound for over a year, even two. I think it's back, baby!

Starting back in the early nineties, you have been at the forefront of Oz trance for quite some time now. Do you have a secret?

No secrets. I just work my arse off! I’m doing something seven days a week ... normally DJing on the weekends and traveling a lot. In the studio producing, promotions and publicity and gig bookings during the week – it’s a business as well as a hell of a lot of fun.

New tunes that you can’t resist?

I’m loving Marcel Woods, Fred Baker, Bart Claessen, Randy Katana, Mark Schulz and Richard Durand, amongst others who are rocking my world at the moment. I also love the remix that The Delegate and Nick Collings did of my new single One for the Road ... it works every time!

Upcoming projects?

I’m working on Mixology 10 at the moment. My single One for the Road is out soon as a download on mixologydigital.com and iTunes, and on vinyl, on Mixology Digital Records. [I’m] also just lining up the releases for the label for the rest of the year, which include music from tyDi, Patrik Carrera and Steve Black. Plus lining up the Mixology 10 tour that’ll go from October to year’s-end.

Bexta plays Syrup in Hobart on Friday the 31st of August.

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TH E I NV I S I O N A RY

Kicking Ass And Taking Vitamins BANGERS & MASH

By Chris Rattray

Trent Saunders is The Invisionary. It might sound like he is a superhero who can spy on you in the shower, but fear not. This multi-talented master of multimedia is way too busy to worry about your personal hygiene habits. With his first album released and another to come, he has also found time to write and direct a slew of short films (even acting in one with yours truly!). Trent took some time out from being so damn talented to chat with me about what makes The Invisionary tick louder than a suicide bomber in a library.

Last time I saw you, Trent, I was picking your pocket for the Doubloons to DVDs film. What’s been happening since that fateful encounter with Hubert the Pirate?

Never finding my wallet! Ha-ha, no, really. Much has been happening since then, been hard at work in the studio putting the finishing touches on a wide variety of short films, film scores, and my album Dissolved In Narcotics which has been three long years in the making.

What kinds of things can we expect from Darksphere Sessions :001?

Darksphere Sessions is a mix compilation of deep, progressive breaks fused together with samples from powerful films such as American Beauty, A Scanner Darkly, Se7en, Ordinary People, and 2:37 to name a small handful. It’s a little bit like the film/dance music projects UNKLE and 2 Many DJs put out. But the Darksphere mixes will be a lot grittier and a lot meaner.

statement and how do you think that informs you as an artist?

We are Generation Y aren’t we? A track on the album is called this! And yeah, I most definitely have to agree, the media effects us in ways like never before, the evolution of culture and sub-culture has never been so evident, whether it’s for better or worse. The media really has an impact on my work, how much we see, what we need or don’t need to see plays a part in creating a bleak vision of the future.

Got any roles for me in your upcoming films?

Possibly a rotted corpse (if you’re lucky). http://www.myspace.com/theinvisionary

And how about the live show – to what extent will it recreate the album on stage… or is it a totally different beast altogether? Please elaborate…

The live show will detonate in November for the B.L.I.N.G VIP Fest and will feature four or five tracks from the album plus some exclusives written just for the live set, also possibly a remixed assault of a Nine Inch Nails track might pop up as well (I’m working on it). It’s going to be f***ing crazy! Kind of a mixture between a metal concert and a deep melodic DJ set.

Performer-wise it’s still TBC but in the process of getting a drummer, guitarists and vocalists to back up the DJ/P.A. setup.

…We all love a bit of controversy don’t we?…

How are your filmmaking projects coming along – what’s in the pipe?

Just finished a film called Shadow Light with local actors Lily Andrews and Tim O’Halloran. The next big project is a documentary on the gritty world of being homeless. It’s a pretty deep subject and I am going to be pressing for a lot of answers from some high status people! We all love a bit of controversy don’t we?

You’re a multi-talented fellow with skills in several disciplines – what’s your secret?

Having three bottles of Vitamin C tablets a week, Voila! Your talents will multiply within minutes (trust me).

To what extent does your interest in film permeate the music you create and could you have one without the other?

The films I watch and create play a huge role in the music I write. I really couldn’t have one without the other. Both are an inspiring medium to a great degree.

Where did The Invisionary come from… and where is he going?

The Invisionary is a name I came up with about three years ago now after I kept getting sick of overseas artists popping up and using my other band names. I wanted something a bit different that kind of explains the musical boundaries explored.

What sort of gear do you typically use to create the soundscapes you bless our ears with?

Anything and everything! I run around like a madman recording samples of the outside world with my minidisk player and mic, and then sit down in the studio (Either mine or my mate Richard Antel’s) and knock it all together with keyboards (Roland V-synth, Evolution Midi), Logic, Predator synths, Soundtrack Studio Pro and good old Garageband for plugin effects.

Your generation has seemingly been immersed in media – to what extent do you agree with that PAGE 25

BOB SI NCL A I R

Soundz Of Freedom For The Love Generation BANGERS & MASH

By Dave Williams He’s the DJ who brought us Love Generation and had people across the world whistling like crazy, and now, dance music superstar Bob Sinclair is delivering his latest offering, Soundz Of Freedom. He spoke to me while traveling across his native France about the overwhelming nature of celebrity.

How did you celebrate your birthday? Did you have a party this year?

No … I don’t celebrate anything!

Why not?

I want to stay young forever. I’m going to sell my soul to the devil very soon.

OK, and what do you think you’ll be asking for in return?

I will give him … well, my soul, my heart, everything, and I will try to convince other people to do it.

But what do you want from the devil in return?

Ah … to be forever young!

Wonderful! A bit Dorian Gray …

Yeah. For me, it’s more Phantom Of The Paradise from Brian de Palma.

Okay, cool …

Do you know the movie?

I don’t, actually.

Wow, you don’t know that? Brian De Palma did a movie called Phantom Of The Paradise in ’74 … It’s amazing; it’s unbelievable. And I did, like, a cover of this movie in my video shoot of I Feel You, if you know the video; exactly like a cover.

You took the name Bob Sinclair from a character in another movie – Le Magnifique, yeah?

Yeah, exactly, exactly … It seems like this year was really, really amazing for me, in terms of movies and music and everything. ’74 … do you believe in numerology? Do you believe in any type of spirituality?

I don’t know, really. I don’t know, because I never met someone who did numerology with me. But I think some years could be very, very important. And also astrology, and all that kind of thing.

So can you walk around in France? Are you recognised in France as a celebrity?

Yeah, mostly. It’s unbelievable, but all around Europe at the moment … two days ago, at the airport, I had a hundred young guys coming to me to ask me for an autograph and photo; I’d say [I spent] forty-five minutes in all. It’s unbelievable at the moment, and I don’t know why. Maybe because of the video, because the video is really massive here, so DJs are really popular, and my music is really everywhere – on the radio, and all around the TV. So it’s pretty amazing at the moment.

It must be a wonderful feeling, but, at the same time, it must be freaking you out.

It’s really bizarre, because I couldn’t have imagined to have this kind of career as a DJ, and it’s unbelievable that the young people are really fans of what I’m doing.

It’s maybe very accessible for the young generation, so they believe in it, and they want to do it, and they consider me a pop star … I look close to me … very, very close, but I don’t consider myself a pop star … It’s not really me. So it’s really strange.

The new album, Soundz Of Freedom; the first track is Sound Of Freedom, but what is it about these tracks that represent, for you, sounds of freedom?

Um … first of all, it was the title of a track, so it’s always nice to … it’s hard to find a good title. At the same time, for me to be “free”, is to live my passion. And all these sounds are, for me, all my life. I did this album like a DJ mix. A lot of people discovered my music with Love Generation, so I wanted to give them, with half of the album, a lot of tracks that they maybe didn’t know, remixed by older DJs that I like at the moment, like Axwell, Mousse T, Tocadisco – all these guys that I met during my Australian tour, by the way. And the rest is completely new. So Sound Of Freedom, Fireball … all brand new stuff I did last year, from September through to December.

You’ve had great success in Australia, and toured here – where in the world are you most famous? And where have you sold the most number of CDs? And are they the same place?

Seriously, between you and me, Australia has been the highlight of my DJ career up till now, because I did this festival … I did that thing for five years, and I was, this year, the main artist; the main act. So it was very, very, very strange to be alone on stage, and especially for the New Year’s Eve after Basement Jaxx. When I came on stage, it was a big challenge for me to have fifteen thousand people in front of me … So Australia has really been the most amazing country for me for five years. And in France, the success is massive, because I do video, film, TV, radio, and they all know my face.

So I sell, here, like two hundred thousand albums. But around the world … it’s very strong everywhere.

How do you feel that you’ve changed as a producer – either in your technique, or in your approach, from Love Generation to Rock This Party?

I didn’t change anything – my way to work – since fifteen years [ago]. Sometimes I work with samples.

Sometimes I work with musicians, who can do the keyboard with me. I have my melodies and beats … because I do everything myself. It’s not different; it’s just that I’m more efficient in the way to do it. I find the right tools, I find the right melody … I know how to manage a musician in the studio; I know how to speak to them … So it’s more mature, but the way I’m doing it is the same. It’s always an accident. I’m looking for the vibe, and the perfect beat.

I had a hundred young guys coming to me to ask me for an autograph and photo … It’s unbelievable at the moment, and I don’t know why

Can you describe a week in the life of Bob Sinclair, the producer? How many hours a day did you spend the in studio? And then how many hours are you on the radio or DJing? What’s a week like for you?

It’s five days a week in the studio, from nine in the morning until seven or eight in the evening, every day, five days a week. And the Friday night I’m leaving for DJing on Friday, Saturday, and I come back Sunday. So I have only Sunday to write. But it’s really nice. I enjoy it.

Soundz Of Freedom is released August 18th.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

DATA ROCK

BANGERS & MASH

German Dance Music? See What I Care!

By Dave Williams The last time we spoke with German duo Datarock, they were giving us a dose of Computer Camp Love. Now they’ve returned with an EP entitled See What I Care – and, because I care, I spoke to Ket-Ill about embracing different influences, and growing up to a soundtrack by Talking Heads.

So I understand that both you and your partner are big Talking Heads fans. Is that still the case?

That’s correct, yeah.

So tell me – what is your love with Talking Heads?

Well, I can’t speak for Fredrik, but it’s just been one of those bands I’ve been listening to since I was a kid, basically. I think my father took me to that … you know that concert movie that they released, like, twenty years ago or something, called Stop Making Sense?

Yeah.

I think my father took me to that one. I was a kid at the time, obviously, and I just became a fan, and I’ve been collecting their records since. And it was funny, because when I met Fredrick here in Bergen like, ten years ago, we started talking music, and that’s one of the reasons I got to know him; our common taste in music. And I think bands like Talking Heads, Devo, and, to a certain extent The Stone Roses – they were kind of the band we were both really enjoying. I guess you could kind of say that that was the start of Datarock.

I think we talked about a year ago when you released your album. On the Remain In Light album by Talking Heads, there’s a track which talks about a man who, over time, adjusted how he looked – he made his jaw longer, and all these sorts of physical changes.

Reinventing himself … I think, in a way, that’s what you guys have done. You’ve completely reinvented yourselves, from a rock beginning into pop-electro musicians. Would you agree to some extent with that?

Yeah. I mean, in a way, I guess both me and Fredrik PAGE 26

have … When we met, we both had backgrounds from punk rock and metal and hard rock bands, and when we started hanging out, and started making music together, we were basically going to clubs; dance clubs here in Bergen, instead of the rock clubs. I guess there were more interesting things going on at the dance clubs.

Like what?

[Laughs] I won’t answer that! [Laughs] No, but that’s where all our friends went. Most of the music scene in Bergen happened around those clubs … So yeah, when we made the record, we definitely wanted the songs [to be] quite danceable and quite electronic.

But it changes a bit over time, I think. It depends what we’re inspired by when we go in the studio and make songs, because we listen to a lot of different stuff. I mean, sometimes both of us are inspired by some hardcore bands, and we both try to go and make a hard rock song. Then we might want to do a dance song. The new EP that’s about to be released in Australia; the EP called See What I Care – it’s probably more rock-sounding than the album. It’s more Britishinfluenced, I would say; like, Manchester-influenced.

Are you guys playing the guitars on this? Or are you using the computers still?

It’s basically live instruments – guitar, bass, drums and vocals. So it’s definitely more of a rock EP. So that’s something that just happened this time. God knows what the next record will be like! [Laughs] Datarock tour the mainland in September.

To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

When we met, we both had backgrounds from punk rock and metal and hard rock bands …

JAPANESE CULTURE SCHLOCK

truly grotesque real-life freeloaders, most of ‘em uglier than those imaginary extraterrestrial terrors from old sci-fi movies. Move over, Alien and Predator.

THE TOKYO PARASITE MUSEUM

Mmm … sushi …

This is the only museum in the world where you can see three hundred varieties of parasites lumped together in specimen jars, and the notes make you aware that many of them are naturally ingested with … food.

And while the show’s look may be reminiscent of Blade Runner, there’s a deliberate emphasis on a softer undertone. “Roy’s living room is more inspired by Friends or Full House,” laughed the director. “Everybody gathers there to talk and interact.”

ANDREZ BERGEN

It’s enough to put you off the delights of sushi. Well, almost, anyway.

JAPANANIME & MADMAN OVERVIEW REINCARNATION Japanese horror cinema has had a resounding impact upon its Western sibling, starting out with Hideo Nakata’s Ring, then carried through in Takashi Shimizu‘s Ju-on (The Grudge). The fact is that these films are insanely creepy, and put Hollywood chill to shame.

Situated not all that far from Meguro Station, in Tokyo, is an unforgettable rejoinder to the snack food we all like to consume on a daily basis.

The Tokyo Parasite Museum is a trendy dating locale for young Japanese couples (we kid you not), and right near its entrance you get the gist of the theme: there’s a Godzilla-sized specimen of a tapeworm, ten meters (thirty feet) in length, that was extracted from some poor fool in Yokohama.

Established by a group of university professors whose niche is the study of said parasites, the museum showcases some repelling, mammoth and fascinating other microscopic exhibits – revealing a collective of

more character and give the series more of a human drama angle,” he said. “The relationship between Roy and Solty is a little different from relationships in other anime, because it’s this father-daughter type. Roy starts out as a hard-boiled character, but then Solty breaks down this persona to a gentler one.”

Hitting stores in Australia in mid August, thanks to Madman, is Shimizu’s more recent offering, Rinne (Reincarnation, 2005), which is credited as the third chapter in the J-Horror Theater series. It nicks the tagline from The Mummy – “Death is only the beginning” – and relates the tale of an actress, Nagisa Sugiura (Yuka), who starts to relive the events of a terrifying hotel killing spree executed decades before, ironically just as she’s cast in a movie recreation of those same events.

While not quite Ju-on, this is eerie, occasionally shocking, and suitably creepy stuff, and the music – by Japanimator favorite, Kenji Kawai (Ring, Ghost in the Shell) – is superb.

DEATH OF A PRESIDENT - DVD Review

SOLTY REI VOL. 1 Roy is haunted by a tragic memory he can’t forget.

One girl (Solty), who can’t even remember what happened the day before yesterday. And many, many giant mecha, unleashed to destroy them both …

Yep, you guessed it – Solty Rei is another chunk of that essential Japanese export, anime, and Madman is unleashing this flagship series from studio Gonzo (also responsible for Last Exile and Afro Samurai) that hit TVs last year in Japan.

A combination mystery-thriller, noir, hard-boiled action romp, and wistful family piece from director Yoshimasa Hiraike (Burst Angel), it also boasts character designs by video game auteur Shuzilow.H.A. (aka Shujirou Hamakawa), and mecha concepts blueprinted by Kenichi Sonoda and Range Murata. “The entire cast and crew were great,” gushed director Hiraike last year in an interview we did together.

Yet while the show boasts a massive action quotient, that wasn’t Hiraike’s sole purpose. “I wanted to add

Years after the assassination of George W. Bush, an investigative documentary team interviews those most closely associated with the event. The subject matter of this fictional documentary is fascinating as is the cinematic trickery employed to recreate the shooting of the President.

That’s the first thirty minutes of the film – genuinely taut and tense, and tragic in the truest sense of the word. The Bush depicted in this film is almost fatherly and the reverence with which his surviving staffers remembers him makes the actual shooting fairly shocking, because you’re, and I use the word hesitantly, liking the bumbling ol’ retard by this point.

However, the idea ends up being more compelling than the sometimes ponderous on-screen autopsy of the night and the ensuing investigation.

This is not a Michael Moore anti-Bush polemic, more a special extended episode of Four Corners.

On the streets of Chicago, protestors clash with police as the President delivers a personable address to his admirers, safe inside the comfortable surroundings of a hotel.

This is both, ultimately, the strength and weakness of Death of a President.The film does an admirable job of presenting a plausible sequence of events in the aftermath of the shooting.

The contrast between ideologies couldn’t be clearer and the sense of danger is enhanced in light of earlier events depicted, where the same protestors halted the President’s motorcade.

Dick Cheney assumes the Presidency and passes Patriot Act III, and a Syrian national, Jamal Zikri, is quickly identified and vilified as the assassin on the most threadbare of evidence, drawing disturbing parallels with the Haneef case in recent weeks in our own media.

The brewing civic dissent doesn’t stop the President from greeting his admirers at the rope-line afterwards, and it is here that he meets his downfall in a particularly well-shot scene combining archival footage and CGI. ROCK THE BELLS - DVD Review Apart from bringing together acts such as Dilated Peoples, Supernatural, Chali 2na, the Rock The Bells one-day festival in 2004 was host to a historical moment in hip-hop; the reunion of all nine members of the Wu-Tang Clan.

Hopscotch Entertainment bring us the documentary of Rock the Bells 2004, including some of the last events in the life of Ol’ Dirty Bastard. The film also shows us the moments of the festival where promoter Chang Weisberg and his team of security lose their grip on the inpatient, patrons-to-be at the gate towards the end of the night, and angry teenage fans breach the front gates of the venue to catch a glimpse of what was to be the last performance of their all-time favourite hip-hop crew.

There are interviews with most members of the Wu, along with other performers such as controversial rapper Sage Francis and the comedic freestyle king Supernatural. Filmmakers take us from start to finish of the festival, giving us a truly uncut, insider scope of the entire event, and showing us exactly why WuTang hadn’t reunited prior to this event. Watching this really gives you a different perspective on how events like this are really run, and the issues involved behind the scenes.

RYAN FARRINGTON

Had I seen this film a few months prior I might even have been surprised at this turn of events.

What did surprise me was that the film does not dwell too long on the increased dissolution of civil liberties brought about by the President’s death, but that the investigation continues down the “whodunnit?” path.

This results in a fairly dull third act, replete with the requisite “ah-HA!” twist that, though thematically integral, lacks the dramatic punch of the first thirty minutes.

Despite this climactic misfire, the film manages to get under the skin.

Every interviewee is earnestly believable as they recount the parts they played before and after the fateful event and, if nothing else, the filmmaker’s sheer balls at having the moxy to depict the on-screen assassination of one of the most controversial world-leaders of our times deserves applause, despite how you may personally feel about Bush’s tenure as President.

Death of a President serves as a modern-day parable preached from a smoking gun on the tenth floor. The message is bang on target – better the devil you know, and be satisfied with the freedom you have today.

CHRIS RATTRAY DANNY BHOY – LIVE AT THE SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE - DVD Review I was extremely lucky to trot along to a performance

by Scottish comedian, Danny Bhoy, this year in Tassie.

I didn’t know much about him, but I had a friend who was obsessed and took me along to the show.

I was definitely not disappointed, quickly becoming completely absorbed in gales of leg-slapping laughter, tears streaming down my face, cheeks literally aching from grinning. It takes a darn good comedian to tickle my fancy, making ninety minutes seem more like three, and Danny delivered wonderfully, not missing a beat.

For those of you not lucky enough to have caught Danny on tour, or those who did and want to see it again and again, Danny has released a DVD, to commemorate his massive tour of Australia. This was recorded at the Sydney Opera House gig, and much of the featured humour is unique to his Australian shows, as he comments on his experiences during the tour and observations made during his travels around the country. From falling off the same stage in Ballarat as Humphrey B. Bear, to his observations on last call at an Aussie pub, there is so much here to relate to and you won’t be able to help laugh ‘til you cry. Six months amongst us has allowed Danny to delve into our culture, touring small towns with relative anonymity, observing us at our best, worst, and strangest.

ELOISE GURR PAGE 27

TRAVEL BUG

JASE’S JAUNT Two years ago, like so many young Australians before me, and so many after me, I had decided that I wanted to go live and work in the UK. Just like every course-changing decision we’ve all made at some point, this one would once again signal the start of me changing everything I didn’t like about my life for the better.

If I had of known two years ago that all the things I would change upon moving to the UK would not happen, I probably never would have bought the ticket, and that would have been quite a shame.

I didn’t give up cigarettes. I didn’t party less and exercise more – quite the opposite in fact. I didn’t start reading less fiction and more non-fiction. I didn’t eat healthier, and I certainly didn’t learn to dance.

Having taken that hard left at the last turning point, I had noticed a change of scenery – and temperature range. Frustratingly, though, I was still, like most others, the same slightly interesting, and generally self-interested being that Douglas Adams described in The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy as “mostly harmless”.

Six months after getting on a plane to London, I still felt a disappointment when I thought of the new things that I wanted from my move overseas. I saw that very few of the boxes had been ticked. Some had been completely crossed out. Truth is, though, I didn’t really care. I didn’t have time to care. I was having fun enjoying most of the things I’d planned to avoid.

It doesn’t take long living in the UK to forget that excitement and anticipation of the big plane trip.

Everyone speaks your language, if you get sick you can go to the doctor for free, you can drink the tap water, and every store will accept the plastic in your wallet. It just becomes like life, only elsewhere. It’s normality with a different post-code.

The sense of adventure quickly fades. The curiosity is fast fulfilled, and you realise all the good intentions that come with a definitive moment still end as victims of daily indulgence. So I was wondering, what is the point?

Then I started traveling solo outside the English zone.

Not traveling with hands clutching a map and camera – I was getting involved. Taking opportunities. Always accepting invitations. I met too many people far too different to remember; went to famous places I’d only seen on Google images or in books. I discovered that language doesn’t have to be a barrier, and that a smile speaks sentences.

All this time I could have been working hard. I could have been paying off a mortgage. I could have been doing some DIY to increase my capital value.

There’s just not time in the day to do all the fun things, as well as all the things we should. Something’s gotta give. In today’s world of expensive marketing textbooks, the things we are forced to desire are increasing exponentially every day. But nobody seems able to remind us exactly what it is we should value.

This is the ballad of generation X & Y. I will probably end up thirty years old with no money, no mortgage, no poorly installed down-lighting, and no career. So the question begs … is it worth it?

Definitely. To quote 18th century poet Thomas Mordaunt: “One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name”

If you’ve got an open mind and a sense of adventure, you can make new friends without past. Be spontaneous, because you’re not supposed to care.

Take opportunities only because they are there.

When you know you will only be in this fortunate circumstance for a definitive short period of time, you can feel free to experience some crazy shit you’ll never be able to fully share because no one else was there.

Want to know what to value? Don’t listen to your high school careers advisor; don’t read the real estate guide or the “Money” pages. Get off your arse and work it out yourself. Swap your responsibilities for opportunity. Trade your pay cheque for a plane ticket, your cupboards for a bag, your bathroom for an even smaller bag, and your shiny shoes for some dirty comfortable ones. Find a desert, chew on unknown food, make a life-long friend for a day, and have a long conversation with someone who doesn’t speak your language. It’s simple. Remember to take an open mind and a sense of adventure. Leave your pride at the door, and start crowding those valuable hours.

Swap your responsibilities for opportunity.

Trade your pay cheque for a plane ticket, your cupboards for a bag, your bathroom for an even smaller bag, and your shiny shoes for some dirty comfortable ones.

SPOTLIGHT

GET YOUR ASS KICKED THIS IS NOT ART PROFESSIONALLY WARMING UP FOR 2007 LEAFCUTTER JOHN Mudlark Theatre is proud to present visiting guest artist Kyle Rowling - the head of the Sydney Stage Combat School and fight choreographer for nationally and internationally recognised companies and films. Kyle has trained and worked with such actors as Christopher Lee (Star Wars II & III), Angelina Jolie (Wanted, 2008) and Eric Bana (Troy).

Kyle will be conducting a one-off workshop on Stage Fighting this Saturday the 11th of August from 9am-3pm at the Launceston College Drama Studio.

This is a rare opportunity to work with someone of Kyle’s calibre and a fantastic professional development opportunity for actors and directors. Please visit Mudlark’s website to download a registration form or contact Carrie McLean by phone (0405 760 444) or email (carrie@mudlarktheatre. com.au) for more information.

Plans for Australia’s premier festival of independent, emerging and experimental art are on the boil. Over the October long weekend, Newcastle will embrace an influx of energy and innovation as This Is Not Art returns with an exciting and extremely diverse line-up. This year’s festival features a heady blend of emerging and established artists, writers and performers. Audiences from across the country will amass to argue, perform, network, skill-share and dance through this five day creative bender. (Photo: Alex Davies).

“This is a really interesting program” commented Festival Coordinator, Marni Jackson. “There is plenty of hands-on interactive play time, the embers of some heated discussion around cash vs. integrity in the arts, and little satellite events which are happening in the cracks of the festival program and festival venues. The schedule is looking tighter than ever – we can’t wait for it to kick off.”

Festival directors are currently locking down the program details, due for release in August. The program of over one-hundred-and-eighty free events encompasses the National Young Writers’ Festival, Electrofringe, Sound Summit and Critical Animals.

With so much going on, there is plenty to talk about. Major themes emerging from the program include interactivity and brand new technologies, money and integrity in arts practice, DIY sounds and publishing, and ethics and accessibility in

PAGE 28

BY JASON RICHARDS

arts and electronic music. Events include, but are not limited to: performances, workshops, interdisciplinary panel discussions, readings, live broadcasts, performances, exhibitions, interactive spaces, gigs, a book launch during afternoon tea in an op-shop, and the biggest showcase of small and independent press in Australia.

BOARD OF INFLIGHT – EXHIBITION AT ARTS ALIVE ART-SPACE

Leafcutter JohnOther highlights include: - A one-of-a-kind launch party from record label/ empire Modular.

- Innovative American emcee/producer Aloe Blacc from the Stones Throw label.

- Award-winning works from the 10th Japan Media Arts Festival’s Art, Entertainment, Animation and Manga Divisions.

- A blazing new series of youth-focused events, catering for our freshest, rawest talent – covering writing, music, sound and performance.

- Multi-award-winning graphic novelist Shaun Tan facilitates a free illustration Master class and speaks about his latest work, The Arrival.

- Parisian artist Sebastien Roux will give a presentation on his work at the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique (IRCAM), Paris.

- Panel discussions in defence of obscure postgraduate research in areas as diverse as sociology, literature and medicine.

- A program of mobile projections, transforming spaces around Newcastle each night of the festival with site-specific projected light works.

The full program will be available from 1st August, online at www.thisisnotart.org This Is Not Art runs 27th September – 1st October

INFLIGHT is a Hobart-based artist collective with a national reputation for contemporary arts projects.

This exhibition showcases the work of board members – including Scot Cotterell, Jamin, Megan Keating, Alicia King, Kevin Leong, James Newitt, Cath Robinson, Bec Stevens, Mat Ward, and Carolyn Wigston.

Work is in a variety of media, including painting, installation, sound installation, new media, and sculpture. This exhibition, which was recently shown in Sydney, is the first exhibition by INFLIGHT in Launceston, as part of an ongoing exchange arrangement with Arts Alive.

The exhibition is now open to the public, and will continue until Saturday the 18th.

Arts Alive Art-Space 178a Charles Street Launceston

X-TREME SPORTS

SKI VS SNOWBOARD, WHO RULES THE RAIL?

OR

The 2007 Planet X Winter Games will bear witness to two of the best freeride skiers versus two of the best snowboarders as they go headto-head on the rails at the Perisher Blue terrain park on the 10th of August. For the first time, the winner of this contest will be judged by the general public with a quest to end the long standing feud over which sport dominates this area; snowboarding or skiing?

The best run from each of the four pro athletes, freeride skiers Christian Sirianni (Melbourne) and USA Superstar Chris Benchetler versus snowboarding freestyle kings Ryan Tiene (Port Macquarie) and Max Cookes (Melbourne), will be edited into thirty-second MPEGs and placed online at www.planetx.com.au on Saturday the 12th of August.

The Braun CruZer3 Rail Jam videos will also be featured on Planet X TV on Channel Nine with the viewers sent to the website to vote for their favourite rider and which sport they thought had the stand-out performance.

Voting closes on September 30th, and the

winner will be announced online.

The winner of the contest will score $1000.

Voters must sign up for a free membership to the Planet X Newsletter, and they can only vote once.

The feud between freestyle skiers and snowboarders has been in existence since the early 90s, when snowboarding first took over the snow sports arena and pushed ski aside to become the only perceived “cool” winter sport, comparable to the age-old argument between skateboarding versus rollerblading, or even surfing versus bodyboarding.

Recently there has been a huge resurgence of skiers in the action sports world, with the increasing amount of Rail Jams and freestyle competitions. But can it sustain its position as acceptably cool among the masses of Australian snow enthusiasts?

The Planet X Winter Games also hosts two other new events including a world first quarter-pipe tow-in using a high-powered winch system, and a back country huck-andchuck.

This year sees a carefully selected field of only twelve elite athletes, six for each

sport. The final line-up is to be announced soon.

Once again, several musical acts will perform at the Station Resort in Jindabyne on Saturday August 11th, to celebrate the return of the Planet X Winter Games, including prog punk act Mammal.

The Planet X Winter Games will be broadcast on WIN TV (commencing August 26th 2007 at 1.30pm), Fuel TV, Fox Sports and TVNZ. www.planetx.com.au

David Hernyk’s 1996 Honda Accord Exi BURN OUT

Engine: 2.2L v6, Pod Filter, Spor ts exhaust.

Exterior: Full body kit, smoked tail lights, clear

Do you want to thank anyone?

Yeah – cheers to Bruno Carossi Bodyworks. They looked after me. Oh, and David from SAUCE for letting me do these ar ticles for him!

side markers.

ICE: JVC KD-LHX555 EXRAD head unit, Pioneer front splits, rear 6x9, JL Audio 10 inch sub and power amp.

Rolling Smooth: Lowered suspension, 18inch chrome BSA Motorspor ts rims, wrapped in GT Radial Rubber.

What do you do?

I work at the James Hotel behind the bar. I also write these ar ticles!

Why did you choose the Honda?

After spending heaps on my 180SX, I sold it, and brought a cruisin’ car.

Any plans?

I just got it tuned up and the whole front-end re-sprayed. So no [laughs] I don’t think so.

PAGE 29

Street Fashion

ELLA 23

DANNY 18

MISSY 20

JOSH 26

What’s your favourite artist and why?

What’s your favourite artist and why?

What’s your favourite artist and why?

What’s your favourite artist and why?

Silverstein – ‘cause they’re sick!

Bullet For My Valentine – because I like their music!

Hello Goodbye – because they’re rad!

Disturbed – They’re always on motorbike vids.

What drink can someone buy to impress you?

What drink can someone buy to impress you?

Goon!

Jack Daniels.

What can you do to change the world?

What can you do to change the world?

I dunno!

Stop trying to blow everyone up.

What’s your favourite item of clothing to wear out?

What’s your favourite item of clothing to wear out?

Sunglases.

Anything!

What drink can someone buy to impress you?

Sex On The Beach cocktail.

What can you do to change the world?

Join Pinkie & The Brain!

What’s your favourite item of clothing to wear out?

T-shirt.

Boxers, briefs, or G? Briefs.

PAGE 30

What drink can someone buy to impress you?

Frozen Coke.

What can you do to change the world?

Be part of the Environmental Club.

What’s your favourite item of clothing to wear out?

Hoodies!

Boxers, briefs, or G?

Boxers, briefs, or G?

Briefs.

All at once!

Boxers, briefs, or G? Boxers.