Beat Magazine #1475

ISSUE NO. 1475 MAY 27, 2015

CALENDAR INSIDE

FREE Now picked up at 2,240+ places around Melbourne and Geelong. beat.com.au

EVERY THING MELBOURNE

INSIDE This Week

SPRAY PAINT

Punting on punk.

JAMIE XX

Emanating a kaleidoscope of sounds.

SOUNDKILDA

Watch music videos as they were meant to be seen Âą lo ud and large on the big screen.

BIRDLAND

An examination of the innerworkings of celebrity obsession.

Plus

SURFER BLOOD SHLOHMO DIANA RADAR

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Presented by Arts Centre Melbourne, in collaboration with Artistic Associate Sophia Brous

FESTIVAL OF THE ECSTATIC (((FEATURING))) JOHN CALE: SIGNAL TO NOISE w/ LISA GERRARD + DISCREET+OBLIQUE: THE MUSIC OF BRIAN ENO f t. THE NECKS + JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION + LYDIA LUNCH + ARIEL PINK + ASH RA TEMPEL + HTRK x CHUNKY MOVE + GROUPER x PAUL CLIPSON + GURRUMUL: THE GOSPEL SONGS + MARC RIBOT + KUDA LUMPING + MUCH MORE

ARTS CENTRE MELBOURNE

7-9 AUG 2015

TICKETS ON SALE NOW

artscentremelbourne.com.au/supersense

The project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body

★★★★★ – THE AU REVIEW

★★★★ – HERALD SUN

★★★★ – COURIER MAIL

“The most intimate rock doc ever” – ROLLING STONE

Strong coarse language and drug use

YOURS ON BLU-RAY™ & DVD FROM 4 JUNE Film © 2015 End of Movie, LLC. All Rights Reserved. © 2015 Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Australia Pty Limited. All Rights Reserved.

Sat 30 May 5pm

The Shug MonkeyS

R’n’B, garage, and soul band led by Matty Vehl (the Zhivagos). Expect epic keys and other cool stuff.

Sat 30 May 9pm

ChriS WilSon & band

Harmonica brilliance and banter extraordinaire from this renowned bluesman with his tops band.

Sun 31 May 3.30pm

kerri SiMpSon “Australia’s own blues diva” (SMH) – gutsy, soulful, Joplin-esque blues.

Sun 31 May 5pm

JVg guiTar MeThod

Jon von Goes fronts the goodtime Guitar Method, with Mark Ferrie (Rockwiz Orkestra), Ash Davies & Dale Lindrea. Let the hilarity ensue.

Jxx_background.pdf

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21/05/2015

11:58 am

in this issue

16

hot talk

20

tourinG

22

cosmic Psychos

24

what’s on, soundkilda

26

art oF the city, the comic striP, calendar

27

birdland, semaPhore, Friday FriGht niGht

28

theatre reviews

29

out oF the closet beat eats

30

beats: Jamie XX

31

beats: news & club Guide

32

surFer blood, shlohmo, diana radar

33

sPray Paint, sleePmakeswaves

34

shlohmo page 32

surFer blood page 32

melbourne international JaZZ Festival, lucky seven, shelley seGal

35

core/crunch, riFF raiders

36

music news

41

live

42

album oF the week, sinGles, charts

diana radar page 32

sleePmakeswaves page 33

lucky seven page 34

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HOT TALK THE BIGGEST IN INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS SCHNEIDER KACIREK

DON FERNANDO

CHRIS CORNELL Chris Cornell has announced he will head around the country for a run of solo, acoustic shows this November. The multi-Grammy award winning singer/songwriter has sold more than 30 million records worldwide through his success with Soundgarden, Audioslave and Temple of the Dog. The tour will give fans the chance to see Cornell perform songs from right across his three decade long career, as well as new songs from his forthcoming studio album, in a stripped back, intimate setting.

Chris Cornell will take over The Palais on Friday December 4. Tickets go on sale Monday June 1 through Ticketmaster.

OH MERCY Oh Mercy have announced an album tour to support the release of their album When We Talk About Love. This will mark the first national tour for Oh Mercy since frontman Alex Gow recorded the album, along with the first time the band has toured with the addition of their new keys, viola, drums, bass and occasionally, a second guitarist. Catch Oh Mercy at Howler on Saturday August 22. Tickets on sale from h-w-l-r.com.

HELLYEAH Can we get a hell yeah? Apparently we can. Metal supergroup Hellyeah have announced they’ll return to our shores for their first Australian tour in five years this August. Featuring ex-members of Mudvayne, Pantera, Nothingface, Bloodimple and Uberschall, the guys have released three albums in their eight years together, including 2014’s Blood for Blood. They’ll be sure to get the mosh pit moving when they unleash their intense brand of heavy metal on five Australian cities this winter. Hellyeah will play the Corner Hotel on Saturday August 29. Tickets on sale now through Metropolis Touring.

DAV I D B O W I E SYMPOSIUM ACMI will host a special two-day event exploring the cultural significance of David Bowie. The symposium will bring international scholars together with artists and musicians, including a labyrinthian installation from Tanya Stark. The program features keynote speeches from Dr. Will Booker of Kingston University, founder of The Go-Betweens Robert Forster, and assistant curator of the David Bowie Is exhibition, Dr. Kathryn Johnson.

Talks will range from Bowie’s lyrical techniques to his ground breaking transgressions of sexuality, class and race. The Stardom and Celebrity of David Bowie will be held from Wednesday June 17 - Thursday July 18. For tickets and more information, head to ACMI. BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 16

GREAZEFEST Rev up your engines. The annual GreazeFest Kustom Kulture Festival will rock’n’roll its way back to Melbourne for its second year this August. After the event wraps up its 16th year in Brisbane, the show will make its way down to Melbourne for a weekend full of rockabilly, hot rods, workshops and more. Already announced international artists for this year’s festival include The Go Getters, Will & The Hi-Rollers, Von Hot Rod and Labretta Suede.

They’ll play alongside Australian acts like The Detonators, Rusy Pinto, Keiron McDonald, Miss Teresa and many, many more. Be a part of GreazeFest 2015 from Friday August 7 to Sunday August 9 at Sandown Racecourse. Tickets and more information are available through greazefest.com.

U V B O I • •• •• •• • • •

This Queen’s Birthday long weekend, the generator party heads indoors to Yah Yah’s with Don Fernando. Just back from their run of shows through Europe and England, Don Fernando are ready to give you a taste of their staple, highoctane-fuzz-riff-tastic fury that has been turning heads since releasing latest album Haunted By Humans. The massive lineup also includes Cicidastone, Low Fly Incline, Dr Colossus and Battle Axe Howlers (in their last ever show), so dust off your boots, get in the double denim, and head over to Yah Yah’s to catch this Sunday Stoner Session on Sunday June 7.

German Duo Schneider Kacirek are heading to Australian shores to perform a series of intimate performances around the country this June, with a show scheduled on Thursday June 18 at the John Curtin. Comprised of post-rock stalwart Stefan Schneider and drum and bass expeditionary Sven Kacirek, the pair’s relationship brings a combination of music that isn’t quite club or ambient or African beat music, but a combination of all three. With support slots coming from a wide range of talent, Kharkov and a collaboration from Peter Knight and Joe Talia, the gig is scheduled to be a great night for techno/electronica enthusiasts. Check out johncurtinhotel.wazala.com for more info on the show on Thursday June 18.

JACK CARTY & JORDAN MILLAR Singer/songwriters and ultimate besties Jack Carty and Jordan Millar have announced they’ll hit the road together for a special ‘by request’ tour this winter. After selling out two shows in Sydney in March, the pair decided to take their show around the rest of Australia, selecting intimate venues for their completely audience crafted setlist.

Carty, who released his third studio album Esk six months ago, has been touring extensively playing alongside the likes of Ingrid Michelson and Darren Hanlon. Since releasing his critically acclaimed Advice From Beyonce and The Wheel EP last year, Millar has been spending time work on new music in the studio as well as opening for artists like McBusted and Xavier Rudd. They’ll play The Grace Darling Hotel on Friday August 22. Tickets are on sale through the venue’s website.

GARY ÓG Renowned for being one of Europe’s finest folk artists, Gary Óg is heading to Australian Shores to help celebrate Troubadour Music’s 10th birthday as he plays a show at the Prince Bandroom on Sunday July 5. Taking inspiration from Bob Dylan, Christy Moore and ballads of Irish freedom, his previous act Eire Og became immensely popular across the United Kingdom and most of Western Europe for his gravelly voice and talents on the guitar - his solo work still lives up to these expectations and then some.

Be sure to catch the singer/songwriter when he arrives in July by grabbing your tickets from princebandroom.com.au.

FOX & FOWL Brisbane based indie pop outfit Fox & Fowl have announced a three date east coast tour to showcase their new single Eliza this June, with a Melbourne show penned in at The Grace Darling.

Notorious for exciting live shows, the band almost sold out their debut EP tour last year and are eager to bring their new sound across the country.

While another single is on the way very soon, head down to The Grace Darling on Saturday June 6 and catch them while you can. Head over to thegracedarlinghotel.com.au for more details.

DEF LEPPARD The iconic rock band have locked in a string of arena shows across the country. Credited as defining the ‘80s metal sound that was coming out of Britain, Def Leppard has forever etched a combination of hard riffs and skintight leather pants into popular culture.

They have sold over 100 million records worldwide, spawning hits such as Pour Some Sugar On Me and Love Bites.

Coming along for the ride will be fellow rockers LĪVE and Electric Mary. It all goes down November 18 at Rod Laver Arena. Tickets on sale from June 11 through Ticketek.

Brisbane producer UV Boi • •• • • • • • • • • has locked in a run of dates in support of his new single, LUV. Taken from his forthcoming debut EP, the track expands upon the hip hop influenced sound that has drawn attention from heavy-hitters like Nina Las Vegas and Ryan Hemsworth. UV Boi • •• •• •• • • • • will unleash that sound to the masses when he plays our capital cities and and takes the stage at Splendour in the Grass this winter. He’ll will hit Shebeen on Saturday June 27. Grab tickets from shebeen.com.au.

VOLTAIRE TWINS Electro duo Voltaire Twins are back with their new single, Goodnight Spirit, and a headlining Melbourne show. Fronted by Perth twins Tegan and Jaymes, the pair have been locked away recording their debut album, Milky Waves. Due out in August, it features the production work of Ana Laverty (Cut Copy) and Steven Schram (San Cisco, Little Red). Voltaire Twins will play at The Shadow Electric on Friday June 12.

DAV E G R A N E Y ‘N’ T H E C O R A L S N A K E S Dave Graney ‘n’ The Coral Snakes have announced they will take the stage together for the first time since 1997 for two shows this August. The original four - Dave Graney on vocals with Clare Moore on drums, Rod Hayward on guitar and Robin Casinader on piano - will perform their 1993 album Night of the Wolverine in full, as well as other songs from throughout their career. Dave Graney ‘n’ The Coral Snakes will take the stage at Memo Music Hall on Friday August 7 and Saturday August 8.

Get your tickets from memomusichall.com.au.

F O R A L L T H E L AT E S T, C H E C K O U T B E AT.C O M . A U

BaR WedneSdAyS

Open Mic

Show the boogie man what you’ve got ! free drink to encourage every performer!

tHurSdAy 28 mAy

cOFFin Up WitH mArk GArdner And tooze + bruce fridAy 29 mAy

STeVe LUcAS

Solo Session from 4pm then

GAYLe cAVAnAGH And tHe mixed compAny bAnd SAturdAy 30 mAy

DeRReK BROWeLL tHe boltonS bAnd double tAke SundAy 31 mAy

ciTY SHARpS

WitH neW AGe And GueStS After Work HAppy Hour from 5pm:

$5 drinkS, Wed, tHurS, fri 160 Hoddle St AbbotSford life is noise by arrangement with Artist Voice presents

Saturday 30 May Corner Hotel, Melbourne Tickets $44+BF from lifeisnoise.com, oztix and the venue

HOT TALK

74 JOHNSTON ST FITZROY 9417 4155

theoldbar.com.au

THE BIGGEST IN INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS

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The new punk festival will be bringing the volume, riffs and (you guessed it) shredding, to Melbourne. Headlining the festival will be Born Lion, as they prepare to unleash their latest album Final Words. Joining them will be Captives, Brittle Bones, Rick Dangerous & The Silky Bantons, Grindhouse, HAMMERS, The Working Horse Irons and Pagan. It all goes down on Saturday August 22 at The Bendigo Hotel. Tickets through Oztix.

Friday 29th May

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8.30pM $10

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Monday 1st June

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tuesday 2nd June

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8pM $6

band bookings: bandbookings@theoldbar.com.au

LOON LAKE After a small hiatus due to their vocalist requiring throat surgery - nearly causing an end to the band – Loon Lake are back to their former glory and ready to rip out some high energy sets across the country, with a show scheduled at Ding Dong Lounge on Sunday June 7. The band have received several accolades for their debut Gloamer and are bringing their new sound back to their roots, playing songs they love and slapping a few new tunes around here and there. Be sure to get your tickets from dingdonglounge.com.au when they arrive on Sunday June 7.

FETE DE LA MUSIQUE The French music festival successfully held across five continents and 120 countries each year is back again for 2015’s Fête de la Musique. Founded over 20 years ago, the festival continues to hold a grassroots ethos, and aims to bring communities and people together through their free events, showcasing local artists. This year the celebrations will go over two days in June; Thursday June 18 at St Kilda Library, featuring a range of up and coming musicians as well as two ensembles from the Australian National Academy of Music, and Friday June 19 at the Prince Bandroom, with local legends Vaudeville Smash, Benny Walker, The Reprobettes and Vive la Difference, all hosted by muso Dave Graney. For more information, visit afmelbourne.com.au.

WHITE SUMMER Melbourne rock outfit White Summer are set to release a new single I Know A Place We Can Love on Friday May 22. To celebrate the release, they have announced a national tour to take this new material on the road. But be sure to visit thegasometerhotel.com.au to grab tickets when they play at The Gasometer on Friday June 19.

STONEFIELD Following two years of extensive touring both nationally and internationally, Melbourne rockers Stonefield have come back to town with new single Golden Dream, a taste of what’s to come from their upcoming sophomore album due later this year. The four-piece will be hitting the road once again to promote the single, with a Shadow Electric performance locked in for Friday June 26. For details and more visit stonefield.com.au.

HARRISON STORM After selling out the Evelyn for his EP launch in April, young Melbourne singer/songwriter Harrison Storm is bringing his beautiful song writing and haunting vocals to a one-off show at Shebeen before heading interstate for shows. It’s been a big year for Harrison, starting off busking, now filling rooms and receiving hundreds of thousands plays on Soundcloud, this show is one not to miss. Be sure to get down to Shebeen on Saturday May 30 to catch his intriguing vocals and intricate guitar-work – tickets on sale from ticketscout.com.au.

T H E B E L L R AY S Straight out of Riverside, California, The Bellrays are taking their dirty, heartbreak/soul shake rock‘n’roll to Australian crowds when they arrive in August. Expect a night of ridiculously funky music fusion, unadulterated music fusion in a tour of colossal proportions and ultimate funk when their Rockpocalypse Make Up Tour hits town on Saturday August 15 at Ding Dong Lounge. Get your tickets from oztix.com.au and get funky when one of the best known rock'n'roll bands of the past 20 years shakes Melbourne down.

Sarah Mary Chadwick is bringing her ethereal down tempo tunes to The Gasometer this week to launch her sophomore album 9 Classic Tracks, out now via Rice is Nice. Previously playing with NZ band Batrider, Chadwick released a slew of demos in 2012 before getting picked up for her debut solo LP Eating for Two, and has since been hard at work to follow it up. Sarah Mary Chadwick launches 9 Classic Tracks at the Gasometer this week, with Mad Nana, Shame Brothers, and DJ Geoffrey O’Conner in support. If you want to win a free ticket or two, and I’m sure you do, click on beat.com.au/freeshit.

TRIPLE J BEAT THE DRUM CD Earlier this year, a crowd of 25,000 came out to Sydney’s Domain to watch the highest calibre of Aussie musos celebrate 40 years of triple j. Now, thanks to triple j, you don’t have to sift through grainy iPhone footage on YouTube to catch Bernard Fanning’s Reckless sing-a-long, with this weeks release of Beat The Drum – a 3CD+DVD package featuring the best covers and live performances of the weekend. Vance Joy and Ball Park Music covering Hoodoo Gurus, Daniel Johns covering Nirvana, there’s You Am I, there’s Hilltop Hoods, there’s The Presets – it’s a celebration of the Australian music scene, and sounds pretty fucking awesome.

We’ll be sending three select readers a copy of triple j’s Beat The Drum 3CD+DVD pack, all you have to do is want it bad enough.

You also gotta head to beat.com. au/freeshit.

GOLD FIELDS & KLP The party-starters will come together to present a co-headline tour. It will be the first Australian shows in two years for Gold Fields, whose single Lakeside is slated for release on the eve of the tour. While the Ballarat five-piece has been hard at work in the studio, KLP has been collaborating with the likes of Skrillex and Slumberjack on top of a tour with Young Franco. They’ll take to the stage at Howler on Saturday July 4.

TRIPLE R TO OFFER FREE BROADCASTER TRAINING COURSE

THE SCIENTISTS The all-original lineup of legendary 1970s rock ‘n’ roll outfit The Scientists are re-uniting to play at the Leaps & Bounds Festival this year. This colossal show will feature a swag of music heavyweights, including The Dubrovnics, Rocket Science, Spencer P Jones & The Escape Committee, HITS, The Pink Tiles, The Electric Guitars and Girl Crazy.

It all goes down on Saturday July 18.

Visit leapsandboundsmusicfestival.com for tickets and more info.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 18

Ever fancied yourself as a radio presenter? Melbourne’s independent broadcaster Triple R are offering a free, nine week broadcaster training opportunity to 12 people. With applications open to anyone between aged between 16 - 25, the classes will take place at the Triple R headquarters.

The course will offer guidance on how to produce, prepare and present a radio show, as well as how to operate their studio. At the end of the course, there’ll be an opportunity to submit a demo for a slot on their roster. The course kicks off on Monday July 20. For information on how to apply, head to rrr.org.au to get your submission in before Friday May 29.

T YLER, THE CREATOR The hip hop prodigy has announced Australian tour dates as part of his Cherry Bomb tour. Following this month’s release of his latest album, the rap sensation has arranged a worldwide tour in celebration. Cherry Bomb has already debuted at #13 in Australia following its digital release. Catch the show on Sunday September 6 at The Forum.

Tickets are available from Ticketmaster.

F O R A L L T H E L AT E S T, C H E C K O U T B E AT.C O M . A U

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Interstate stall holders attending. First fair for 2015. A collectors paradise, don’t miss it. Plenty of $2 LPs. It’s a music comfort zone for all ages.

RARITIES, HITS & BARGAINS! Special tours of backstage venue rooms where Bon Scott & more played in 1971.

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TOURING

WHO'S ON TOUR, WHERE AND WHEN

For all the latest tour dates check out beat.com.au

INTERNATIONAL HERBIE HANCOCK & CHICK COREA Hamer Hall May 28 FAZERDAZE The Curtin May 29 HOUSE OF LADOSHA The Curtin May 30 BORIS Corner Hotel May 30 BEN HOWARD Margaret Court Arena June 1 BRIAN KENNEDY The Spotted Mallard June 4 BAD MANNERS Corner Hotel June 4 NATIONAL CELTIC FESTIVAL Portarlington June 5-6 AGAINST ME! Corner Hotel June 6, June 7 EMAROSA Wrangler June 8 YNGWIE MALMSTEEN 170 Russel June 10 TV ON THE RADIO The Forum June 12, June 13 CROOKERS Prince Bandroom June 13 SCHNEIDER KACIREK The Curtin June 18 PALLBEARER Northcote Social Club June 19 MACHINE HEAD 170 Russell June 22 EMMYLOU HARRIS & RODNEY CROWELL Palais Theatre June 25 MARLON WILLIAMS Corner Hotel July 3 WAXAHATCHEE The Toff July 4 SEETHER Forum Theatre July 4 GARY ÓG Prince Bandroom July 5 CHRIS BOTTI Hamer Hall July 5 TWENTY ONE PILOTS Corner Hotel July 5 SHIHAD Corner Hotel July 11 YELLOWCARD Margaret Court Arena July 11 RYAN ADAMS Forum Theatre July 19, July 20 OF MONSTERS AND MEN The Forum July 20 CATFISH AND THE BOTTLEMEN Corner Hotel July 22 JOHNNY MARR The Forum July 22 MS MR 170 Russell July 22 WOLF ALICE Corner Hotel July 23 PETER ROBINSON The Forum July 23 JAY ELECTRONICA Howler July 23 THE KING KHAN AND BBQ SHOW Corner Hotel July 24 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS North Byron Parklands July 24 – 26 PURITY RING 170 Russell July 24 MARMOZETS Ding Dong Lounge July 25 EVERYTHING EVERYTHING & URBAN CONE

The Corner July 25 TIGERS JAW Reverence Hotel July 25, July 26 (AA) BEST COAST Corner Hotel July 26 DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE 170 Russell July 26 AZEALIA BANKS Prince Bandroom July 26 THE VACCINES Corner Hotel July 27 THE DISTRICTS Northcote Social Club July 27 EARL SWEATSHIRT Prince Bandroom July 28 MØ & ELLIPHANT The Corner July 28 BLUR Rod Laver Arena July 28 THE WOMBATS Palais Theatre July 28 MARK RONSON Margaret Court Arena July 29 SHLOHMO Corner Hotel July 30 YEARS & YEARS Max Watt's July 30 KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS 170 Russell August 2 GREAZEFEST Sandown Racecourse August 7 - 9 SUPERSENSE Arts Centre Melbourne August 7 - 9 CHELSEA GRIN Corner Hotel August 14, Wrangler Studios August 15 (AA) THE BELLRAYS Ding Dong Lounge August 15 YOB Max Watt’s August 21 HELLYEAH Corner Hotel August 29 MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER Palais Theatre September 4 POISON CITY WEEKENDER 170 Russell, Public Bar September 4, Corner Hotel, The Old Bar September 5, Reverence Hotel, Corner Hotel September 6 DEATH DEALER The Hi-Fi September 13 CIRCA SURVIVE 170 Russell September 20, September 21 (AA) JOAN BAEZ Arts Centre Hammer Hall September 24 MAROON 5 Rod Laver Arena September 26 THE STORY SO FAR Max Watt's September 11 KISS Rod Laver Arena October 8, October 10 SNOT Corner Hotel October 17 ROBBIE WILLIAMS Rod Laver Arena October 22 SOULFEST Sidney Myer Music Bowl October 25 NEIL DIAMOND Rod Laver Arena October 27 ENGELBERT HUMPERDINCK Palais Theatre October 29 HOZIER Palais Theatre October 30 AT THE GATES Friday October 30 ANATHEMA Corner Hotel October 31 AUDRA MCDONALD Hamer Hall October 31 FLEETWOOD MAC Rod Laver Arena November 2, 4, Mt Dundeed Estate November 7

DEF LEPPARD Rod Laver Arena November 18 UB40 The Forum November 24 EARTHCORE Pyalong, Victoria November 26 – 30 CHRIS CORNELL The Palais December 4 ED SHEERAN AAMI Park December 5 TAYLOR SWIFT AAMI Park December 11 ELTON JOHN Rod Laver Arena December 11, Mt Duneed Estate December 12 NIGHTWISH The Forum Monday January 11

PROUDLy PRESENTS

NATIONAL NEIL FINN Melbourne Recital Centre May 27 BIG WINTER Grace Darling May 29 THE CHERRY DOLLS Shebeen Bandroom May 29 SHE WHO ROCKS TOUR Hi-Fi Bar May 29 COOPERS AFTER DARK Shadow Electric May 29 VOYAGER The Evelyn Hotel May 29 JOELISTICS AND ASTRONOMY CLASS Howler May 29 SHELLEY SEGAL Nortcote Social Club May 30 JEREMY NEALE Ding Dong Lounge May 30 HARMONIC DIVISIONS Grace Darling May 30 HARRISON STORM Shebeen Bandroom May 30 EARTHQUAKE AID: HELP NEPAL Shadow Electric May 31 BIRDS OF TOKYO 170 Russell June 3 HOT DUB TIME MACHINE Hi-Fi Bar June 5 MORNINGTON WINTER JAZZ FESTIVAL Mornington June 5 - 8 FUCK THE FITZROY DOOM SCENE Ding Dong Lounge June 5 NATIONAL CELTIC FESTIVAL Portarlington June 5-8 IN HEARTS WAKE 170 Russell June 5, Arrows June 6 (U18) CERES Corner Hotel June 6, The Tote June 27, The Old Bar July 25 PALE HEADS Gasometer Hotel June 6, Corner Hotel June 7 FOX & FOWL Grace Darling June 6 EMMA DONOVAN & THE PUTBACKS Howler June 7 BEN LEE Northcote Social Club June 7 MY DISCO The Toff June 7 DON FERNANDO Yah Yah’s June 7 LOON LAKE Ding Dong Lounge June 7 CLOWNS The Tote June 12, Karova Lounge June 13, The Barwon Club June 27 SAL KIMBER & THE ROLLIN’ WHEEL The Gasometer June 12 RICHARD IN YOUR MIND Shebeen Bandroom June 12 REMI Northcote Social Club June 12 COSMIC PSYCHOS & DUNE RATS Chelsea Heights Hotel June 12, Max Watt's June 13 DAN CRIBB AND THE ISOLATED Public Bar June 12 WALLAPALOOZA The Espy June 12 DEEZ NUTS Arrows June 12, Corner Hotel June 13 OSCAR KEY SUNG Howler June 13 MIKELANGELO Hawthorn Arts Centre June 15 FETE DE LA MUSIQUE St Kilda Library June 18, Prince Bandroom June 19 WHITE SUMMER The Gasometer June 19 THE AUDREYS The Spotted Mallard June 19 DALLAS FRASCA Howler June 19 BAD//DREEMS The Tote June 19 THE GOBLIN BALL Northcote Town Hall June 20 HERMITUDE 170 Russell June 19 ART VS SCIENCE Howler June 20 RECLINK COMMUNITY CUP Elsternwick Park June 21 TIM ROGERS AND THE BAMBOOS Corner Hotel June 25 THE KITE STRING TANGLE & DUSTIN TEBBUTT 170 Russell June 26 TITLE FIGHT Corner Hotel June 26

JUN

27

JUL

MOJO JUJU Corner Hotel

4

Caravan Music Club

JUL

WOLF ALICE

23

JUL

30

Corner Hotel

yEARS & yEARS Max Watt's

EDDIE PERFECT Melbourne Recital Centre June 26 ***STONEFIELD Shadow Electric June 26 ALPINE The Forum June 27 HARTS Ding Dong Lounge June 27 MOJO JUJU Corner Hotel June 27, Caravan Music Club July 4 DARREN COGGAN The Palms July 3 YOUTH GROUP Northcote Social Club July 3 HOLY SERPENT The Tote July 3, Brunswick Hotel July 19 THE CHURCH 170 Russell July 10 ICE CREAM HANDS The Evelyn Hotel July 11 JARRYD JAMES The Forum July 11 BATPISS Howler July 17 FRASER A. GORMAN Gasometer Hotel July 17 DEAD LETTER CIRCUS Northcote Social Club July 17 BLACK CAB The Corner July 17 LANKS The Workers Club July 18 JIMMY BARNES Palais Theatre July 18 THE SCIENTISTS Corner Hotel July 18 BREWTALITY FEST The Tote, The Bendigo Hotel August 8 TOMMY EMMANUEL Hamer Hall August 15 THE GRATES Corner Hotel August 15 OH MERCY Howler August 22 JACK CARTY & JORDAN MILLAR Grace Darling August 22 SETH SENTRY The Forum September 4 FLIGHT FACILITIES & THE MSO Sidney Myer Music Bowl October 17 MSO BACK TO THE FUTURE LIVE The Plenary November 6, 7 AC/DC Etihad Stadium December 6

RUMOURS: SURFER BLOOD, THE WHO, BON IVER = NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

PROUDLy PRESENTS

Fazerdaze MAy

30

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 20

HARMONIC DIVISIONS Grace Darling

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COSMIC PSyCHOS GET A LOAD OF THESE F UCKWITS

By Augustus Welby

It’s been a regular morning for Ross Knight. The Cosmic Psychos frontman has a reputation synonymous with dirt, destruction and drinking. And he tends to get things started around 5am. “I’ve been driving a bulldozer in a bloody dirty muddy old dam,” Knight says.

“So it’s all good from up here. I’m pining for a beer when I knock off tonight, that’s for sure.” Knight’s Aussie brogue and bulky bassplaying have been at the forefront of every Cosmic Psychos release since the band formed in 1982. The trio’s ninth album, Cum the Raw Prawn, lands on Friday June 5, which makes it four years since their last effort, Glorious Barsteds. It’s a somewhat lengthy delay, but Knight’s bulldozing obligations aren’t to blame. In fact, his day job has always been a creative aid.

“I’ll think of something sitting on the bulldozer and go, ‘That sounds like a bit of a song’,” he says. “It’s the monotonous drone of the engine and then to keep yourself awake, you start thinking of tunes. If I’m lucky enough to remember it, I’ll get home and plug the bass in and play it. Then that just gets shelved for whenever we record. But for every one I remember, I reckon I’ve forgotten about a million. Some of them I reckon were great. I could’ve been a squillionaire and been living next to Paul McCartney.”

Who knows, perhaps Cum the Raw Prawn is the one that’ll skyrocket Cosmic Psychos into the pop stratosphere. While not exactly McCartney-esque, the record contains a stack of memorable tunes. Take for instance Toothbrush, with its charming chorus hook, “You was kissing him/ He was kissing me arse/ And I’m washing me arse with ya tooth brush.” Then there’s the record’s lead single, Better, Not Bitter, which revolves around the repeated catchcry, “Fucken bullshit maaaaaaate.”

Truth told, Cum the Raw Prawn is by no means a departure for the Cosmic Psychos. The band’s been pumping out a similar concoction of lyrical vulgarity and instrumental ferocity since day one. However, interest in the Psychos resurged in recent years, thanks to the 2013 documentary film Blokes You Can Trust. But it’s not as though they intentionally crafted Cum the Raw Prawn as a showcase of their stylistic hallmarks.

“It’s funny how it just happens that way, but I guess that’s the way I think and it’s the way I get a bit of shit of me liver,” Knight says. “There’s no real pre-planning involved. Especially this album, it just happened. I had a few ideas that’d been rolling around in my head for a couple of years, but most of it was written on the spot.”

The album recording sessions went down in Knight’s farmhouse earlier this year. The finished product flaunts a tough, ballsy sound, which belies the nature of the recording arrangement. “The drums were set up in the lounge room and me and Macka [ John McKeering, guitar] stood there off from the drums a little bit. We had the two amps in my sons’ rooms and the control room was in my bedroom and we did the vocals in the laundry.”

When it comes the nuts and bolts of this makeshift studio, Knight remains almost entirely ignorant. “I think it was into a computer,” he says. “All I know is that I sing into a microphone which has a lead on it that goes into a whiz-bang box with a few dials on it.

Matt Weston, our manager, who did the doco, made a little film clip of the making of the album. That’ll give you a fair idea.”

As mentioned, Weston’s documentary sparked a revival in the Cosmic Psychos’ popularity. However, as depicted in the film, the band’s irreverent and uniquely Australian punk rock has been an influential force for decades. In addition to making fans and friends out of grunge linchpins like Eddie Vedder and Mark BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 22

Arm, Cosmic Psychos continue to embark on regular European tours. Though, such far-reaching respect won’t silence the band’s naysayers.

“As long as we’re playing, there’s going to be people who just think we’re a bunch of potty-mouthed pricks,” Knight says. “And you know what? That’s fine. There’s certainly a spot in there for a band every now and again to pull rock’n’roll out of its own arsehole. People just get carried away and take it all a bit too seriously.”

You could argue that pissing people off is better than making no impact at all. Also, it’s quite healthy to let yourself simply enjoy something and not worry about whether it’s an optimally meaningful use of time.

Either way, Cosmic Psychos’ vocal opponents haven’t impinged upon the band’s fearless attitude.

“AS lONG AS WE’rE PlAyING, THErE’S GOING TO BE PEOPlE WHO jUST THINk WE’rE A BUNCH Of POTTyMOUTHED PrICkS...AND yOU kNOW WHAT? THAT’S fINE. THErE’S CErTAINly A SPOT IN THErE fOr A BAND EvEry NOW AND AGAIN TO PUll rOCk’N’rOll OUT Of ITS OWN ArSEHOlE. PEOPlE jUST GET CArrIED AWAy AND TAkE IT All A BIT TOO SErIOUSly.” “We played in front of 45,000 people when Pearl Jam first came to Australia,” Knight says, “and there was 45,000 people booing us. We had a ball. They were cranky, it was great. We’re almost an anti-band. We just do it because it’s a bit of fun, and if it pisses people off, well that’s fine. And if people like us, well that’s good too, come and have a beer with us.”

To coincide with the release of Cum the Raw Prawn, Cosmic Psychos are heading out on a massive coheadline tour with Brisbane pop punk trio Dune Rats. Over the last couple of years, Dunies have been a non-stop touring machine, subsequently amassing a considerable global fanbase. In spite of the major age discrepancy, Knight feels a certain affinity with the Brissy lads.

“Their attitude just seems like, ‘What the hell, we’re here to have a good time and we’ll drag a few people along with us’,” he says. “It’ll be quite funny. It’s going to be a collective age group of about 750 years with the

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Psychos and 75 years for the Dune Rats. But hopefully we all get along fine.”

Thanks to a filth-ridden public image and lyrics that frequently glorify marijuana, Dune Rats have copped a hammering for being dumb, foul-mouthed and unintellectual. Essentially, it’s the same sort of abuse that’s been thrown at Knight and co. since the early ‘80s.

“We got shit-canned very early on,” he says. “Even pre-Psychos, when we morphed out of Spring Plains, people hated us. I thought, ‘Well, you can if you like, but this is all we know how to do.’ Since that point in time, as a musician I haven’t fucking changed either. I couldn’t do anything else except play one chord and one string. And I still can’t.

“Most of the people that shit-can bands anyway are just people that don’t play themselves,” he adds. “Put it this way, there was people shit-canning the band 30 years ago. Well, they’re probably not music critics anymore. But guess what? I still get to stay up after midnight and drink free beer.”

There’s something strangely admirable about Knight’s unwavering approach to songwriting and performance.

In a similar respect, his relish of a cold one has never come under serious doubt.

“I’m a bit of a wuss now. I drink the low carb stuff, because I can drink more of it,” he says. “But look, I still love me European beers. The main reason we still head over to Europe at the drop of a hat is to get over there for the beer. Any beer’s a good beer really, as long as it’s cold.”

The widely held image of Cosmic Psychos as a pack of rhapsodical boozehounds brings with it an expectation that they’ll create havoc wherever they roam. This could easily become a thorn in the band’s backside.

That is, if it weren’t so apt.

“Look, OK, we might’ve kept a few venue owners up and done a few all-nighters over the years, but it’s not because we try,” Knight says. “It’s just, if you’ve got a party that’s going fucking great, well you don’t want to go home, so you stay up.

“We tend to start early in the day now,” he continues.

“Getting up in the morning, going and having a couple of cold crisp beautiful German lagers with breakfast, a few beers during the day, a few beers when you get to the venue, and then another few beers when you’re playing, and a few beers when you’ve finished and few beers when you get back to the hotel, that’s basically what we do day-in day-out. We’re not running around with our pants around our ankles. Well… not anymore.”

COSMIC PSYCHOS new album Cum the Raw Prawn lands on Friday June 5. They’re teaming up with Dune Rats to play at the Chelsea Heights Hotel on Friday June 12 and Max Watt’s on Saturday June 13.

This Week:

With Tyson Wray. Got thoughts, news, gossip, complaints or cat photos? Email tyson@beat.com.au or send by carrier pigeon before Friday 12pm.

Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer

SoundKILDA PBS’ Glitter & Doom and Mallard Movies are presenting a special screening of Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer tonight, Wednesday May 27 at The Spotted Mallard in Brunswick. Three young women face seven years in a Russian prison for a satirical performance in a Moscow cathedral. But who is really on trial in a case that has gripped the nation and the world beyond, three young artists or the society they live in? Dinner served from 7pm, introduction from Jennifer Kingwell (Glitter & Doom) at 8.15pm and screening starts at 8.30pm. Free entry ± bookings are essential.

RSVP to samanda@spottedmallard.com, with your time of arrival, number of people in your party and whether you’ll be eating before the screening.

Arts House will host the world premiere of an immersive new work by composer Kate Neal this week. Semaphore is a multimedia exploration of signalling, communication and miscommunication. It features three dancers and eight musicians, as well as Morse code, pennants, lights and binary code. Semaphore will run from Wednesday May 27 to Sunday May 31 at Arts House.

Award-winning musical Anything Goes is scheduled to dock in Melbourne this week. The classic comedy captures the story of two unlikely pairs aboard a ship as it travels from New York to London. The show has captivated millions and picked up numerous awards, including three Tonys during its time on Broadway.

Anything Goes will run at Princess Theatre from Wednesday May 27.

pick of the week

The Hitchcock spy thriller North By Northwest, first released in 1959, will hit the stage for the first time ever when it makes its world premiere. Cutting edge technology will be used to translate the film to the stage, including the infamous crop duster chase scene. Directed by MTC legend Simon Phillips (The Importance of Being Earnest, The Drowsy Chaperone, Hamlet, Richard III), the play will feature Matt Day and Amber McMahon in leading roles. North

By Northwest will run from Monday June 1 ± Saturday July 4 at the Arts Centre Melbourne.

Courtney Barnett - Pedestrian at Best

By Liza Dezfouli You might not know her name but you’ve seen her work. Natasha Pincus is the brains behind the music video of Gotye’s Somebody That I Used to Know. Over 630 million YouTube views and 50 international awards later, Pincus is taking a break from her work in music video and short film to be a judge in SoundKILDA, the music video component of the St Kilda Film Festival. “SoundKILDA is the only music video award around,” she tells Beat. “With SoundKILDA, the video makers, who are often working for nothing, get to see their work in the big screen environment, presented theatrically, with the sound pumping out. Music videos have reached an age of technical excellence. There’s so much good music being made. The music video is an ephemeral interlude. We’ve had over 100 entries, and the ones being screened are eligible for awards, some through audience vote.”

Pincus was a short filmmaker (her short film Love’s Labour received a Dendy Award nomination for Best Short Drama at the Sydney Film Festival in 2007) before moving into music video. She has worked with Paul Kelly (her work with Kelly on God Told Me To won an IF award back in 2007) Powderfinger, Sarah Blasko and Missy Higgins as well as, of course, Gotye. Pincus is the founder of a production company, starkravingproductions, which sets out to achieve ‘the creation of unique and important films that tell universal, moving stories’. If recent achievements are anything to go by, she’s fulfilling that promise to the world. Her first full-length feature film, Fell, a drama directed by Kasimir Burgess and starring Matt Nable, Daniel Henshall and Jacqueline McKenzie will be screened in this year’s Melbourne International Film Festival. Two more of her feature films are currently in production.

Has Pincus noticed any trends among the music videos this year? “No particular things come to mind, but it was a while ago since I judged them.

You see commonalities, you might notice current aesthetic trends but you don’t remark on them; any comparisons to be made are superficial. We look for bold and interesting work. They’re interesting things, music videos; you can turn them around in a month.

They have their own rules. The cycles go faster and faster, a brainstorming breakthrough moment bubbles up but by the time the videos are released they’re reactive.”

As a judge, what does Pincus look for in a music

video? “We look at how the video is related to story, that it’s not sitting outside the song, that it’s sympathetic to the music, that its core to the idea,” she answers. “Is the music driving the video or is the video driving the music? You see videos where there’s no obvious integration between the sonic element and the visual landscape. We pay attention to how we experience the music more fully with video than with

“With SoundKILDA, the video makers, who are often working for nothing, get to see their work in the big screen environment, presented theatrically, with the sound pumping out. Music videos have reached an age of technical excellence. There’s so much good music being made. The music video is an ephemeral interlude.” what the song can achieve on its own. We look for something that has a bold application to a song at the beginning but isn’t purely sensational. It isn’t a cheap medium and there are often budgetary limitations, so

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we look to see if a film maker has put their money in the right place. We look at sensitivity to craft; we look to see that a concept has been realized for the screen.

We’re looking at where the more edgy, innovative ones are coming from.”

Pincus has been a participant in every SoundKILDA competition since 2008. For the moment work on several feature film projects have taken her away from making music videos. “I was a participant in SoundKILDA every year,” she notes. “It’s a happy accident that I’m not a participant this year and so can judge the entries. I miss making music videos but it’s always good to have a break even from something you love. I’ve pushed the medium and myself as much as I could. I love video, but I want to have a lifetime career. Music video is a very good adjunct but you have to be careful you don’t make it your sole practice, it’s not sustainable for your whole life; maybe it was 20 or 30 years ago, but it’s very industry driven now.”

SoundKILDA will take place on Thursday May 28 at St Kilda Town Hall and will be hosted by Dylan Lewis.

tHE COMIC StRIP RUSSELL BRAND

For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au

Hamlet

The Astor Theatre

Having undergone essential maintenance and repairs, now under the management of Palace Cinemas, Melbourne’s most iconic cinema will return in triumphant style next month. Under Palace’s custodianship The Astor will continue operating as a single-screen, 1,150 seat auditoria, with its well-regarded programming of both new release and classic films intact and showing on 35 and 70mm prints as well as 2K and 4K digital projection. The first calendar is a carefully curated selection of classic and new release films, and sees the return of long-standing favourites. Showing at 7.30pm each Wednesday night, the double features kick off with Get Carter and Point Blank on June 10; The Goonies and Beetlejuice on June 17; and a trip through bat country with Fear And Loathing In Las Vegas and Repo Man to round out June. Time-honoured Astor staples Poltergeist, Aliens, Baraka and Hamlet are all back for screenings on 70mm, while Martin Scorsese’s Mean Streets and the brilliant Ken Russell film The Devils will be shown on rare 35mm prints sourced by new manager, Zak Hepburn. Gillian Armstrong’s Women He’s Undressed will receive its Melbourne premiere as part of a gala event to reopen the theatre. Women He’s Undressed takes an intimate look at the life of three-time Academy Award winning Australian costume designer, Orry-Kelly. Kelly’s design credits include; Hollywood’s biggest studios, most memorable stars, and hit films such as Casablanca, Some Like it Hot, Oklahoma! and An American in Paris.

There’s a copy of the calendar in the centre of this very magazine you’re holding, so pull it out and whack it on your fridge door.

If Not Bones, Then Stones Heide Museum of Modern Art have announced they will showcase Melbourne artist Naomi Eller’s clay sculptures in If not bones, then stones, opening this June. If not bones, then stones is the latest in an ongoing series of artist project exhibitions in the Kerry Gardner & Andrew Myer Project Gallery. The exhibition will present a new body of work that sees a shift in Eller’s formerly figurative practice towards the production of organic forms either found, adapted or handmade that have been tinkered with and pieced together. If not bones, then stones by Naomi Eller will open at Heide Museum of Modern Art on Saturday June 6.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

One of Shakespeare’s greatest tragedies, Hamlet, will come to Arts Centre Melbourne for a short season by Bell Shakespeare this July. Off the back of directing the critically acclaimed Green Room and Sydney Theatre Award winning Henry V for Bell Shakespeare in 2014, Damien Ryan will deliver a new production of the classic story. Hamlet, having to deal with the sudden death of his father and shocked when his mother quickly remarries his uncle, is a mass of contradictions and a modern anti-hero. He is at once vulgar, a misogynist and cruel while being overwhelmed by insecurities and indecision. Challenging how fragile our ideals of family, love, community, loyalty, faithfulness and the courage to act can be. Hamlet opens at Arts Centre Melbourne on Wednesday July 15.

The Falling ACMI have announced they will screen Carol Morley’s 2014 film The Falling next onth. The haunting drama, starring Maisie Williams (Arya, Game of Thrones), charts the outbreak of mass hysteria at an all-girls school in 1960s Britain. Williams stars as Lydia, a whip-smart and angst-ridden teenager who lives in a cramped hairdressing salon with her brother Kenneth ( Joe Cole), and emotionally comatose mother (Maxine Peake). To overcome the boredom and oppression of school and their teenage lives, Lydia and best friend Abbie (Florence Pugh) engage in a series of secret rituals. However, when their bond is broken, Lydia’s world spirals into chaos and strange things start to happen. The Falling will screen at ACMI from Monday June 29 until Sunday July 26.

Cuckoo Written by Jane Miller and directed by Alice Bishop, 15 Minutes From Anywhere presents a new and dark comedy to premiere in July. As part of Miller’s work for her Master of Writing for Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts in 2014, Cuckoo is described as a comedy with a dramatic twist that contains riddles, mysteries and even some Lego. Cuckoo will premiere at fortyfivedownstairs from Wednesday July 8 till Sunday July 26.

Bodytorque Up Late

by Mike Bartlett

The Australian Ballet have announced new popup performances will run after selected ballet shows. Bodytorque Up Late showcases the best up-andcoming talent in ballet choreography. Select artists of The Australian Ballet are given the opportunity to create world premiere ballets performed by the company’s best dancers. Seen as the next wave of ballet and movement, Bodytorque will continue to evolve with four unique pop-up performances after selected shows of The Dream and 20:21 in Melbourne. The next popup performance will be held on Sunday June 12. To see Bodytorque Up Late in 2015, be sure to secure a ticket to the performances from australianballet.com.au.

“Bartlett exhilaratingly combines the domestic and the epic” - The Guardian ★★★★

Coming Up The Dream

Thursday June 4 - Saturday June 13 Arts Centre Melbourne, State Theatre

Love, Love, Love

Friday June 5 - Saturday July 4 Red Stitch Actors Theatre

Birdland

Saturday June 6 - Saturday June 27 Southbank Theatre, The Sumner

Retro Futurismus

Wednesday June 10 - Sunday June 28 fortyfivedownstairs

Love and Information

Friday June 12 - Saturday July 4 Malthouse Theatre

But Wait... There’s More

Wednesday June 17 - Sunday July 12 Circus Oz Big Top, Birrarung Marr

AUSTRALIAN PREMIERE June 2nd - July 4th

Redstitch.net #LoveLoveLove

Melbourne Cabaret Festival Thursday June 18 - Sunday June 28 Various Venues

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One of the biggest comedians in the world will return to Australian shores later this year. Having first shot to fame when he was seen in the Judd Apatow produced comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall, over the course of his career Brand has starred in Arthur, Get Him To The Greek and Rock Of Ages, written many books including The New York Times best-seller My Booky Wook: A Memoir of Sex, and recently posted the 300th episode of his YouTube web series called The Trews. He’ll hit Rod Laver Arena on Saturday October 17.

JOEL CREASEY After his sold out MICF run, Joel Creasey will have Melbourne laughing once again when he performs this winter. Known as the Acid Tongue Prince, Creasey entered the world of comedy when he was 15 and has been making rooms roar ever since. Aside from hosting the 2015 MICF Gala, Creasey has also performed in London, Hong Kong and New York, where he opened for the late Joan Rivers. He’ll take to the stage on Saturday June 13 at The Yarraville Club.

KEVIN SMItH An Evening With Kevin Smith will showcase the Clerks star telling stories and interacting with fans, alongside his long time accomplice Jason Mewes. The pair will reprise their cult roles as Jay and Silent Bob for a one act show entitled Jay and Silent Bob Get Old. The latter half of the evening will comprise of a Q&A session, in which Smith will share his knowledge as a screen writer, actor, director and comic book author. Clerks won the Filmmakers Trophy at the Sundance Film Festival after its release in 1994. Since then, Smith has gone on to act in and direct films such as Mallrats, Chasing Amy, Dogma, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back and Clerks 2. An Evening With Kevin Smith will take place at The Palais on Monday September 21.

PORtLAND HOtEL COMEDY Fiona O’Loughlin headlines Portland Hotel Comedy this Thursday. She’s the queen of Australian comedy and has just finished a huge run of MICF shows. Every Thursday is packed at Portland Hotel Comedy, making it truly the biggest independent comedy room in Australia, so get down early to get a good seat. It’s all happening this Thursday May 28 at 8.30pm, at Portland Hotel Comedy, 127 Russell Street (upstairs), CBD, all for only $12.

COMEDY At SPLEEN Mondays at Comedy at Spleen continue to pack out, and it’ll be full yet again this Monday with Geraldine Hickey hosting, plus guests like Jonathan Schuster, Simon Taylor, Cam Marshall, Elizabeth Davie and more. It’s on this Monday June 1, at 41 Bourke Street, CBD, at 8.30pm.

It’s free to get in, but they appreciate a good gold coin donation at the door.

tHE MOULIN BEIGE Come on down to the warmest comedy room in town and prepare to have your winter socks knocked right off. This month The Moulin Beige is packed with juicy comedy punch, the risks are ridiculous and the surprises are super sized.

Curly comic accordionist Liz Skitch is back as MC, while winner of 2015 Green Room award for Best Cabaret Artist Geraldine Quinn will be raising the roof, award-winning physical comic WOMANZ aka Tessa Waters will be shaking her booty, circus super star Simon Wright will be performing death-defying sexy stunts and lock your doors Northcote because The Moulin Beige is about to unleash a dozen crazy new comic characters out of Cecil St Studio onto the stage. It goes down at The Wesley Anne on Tuesday June 2.

COMEDY At tHE WILDE On Tuesday nights at The Wilde some of Melbourne’s best young comedians join with ‘signup on the night’ open mic acts for one of the loosest nights in town. Jack Druce joins Rose Callaghan and more this week for another big, fun night of comedy. It’s on this Tuesday June 2 and it’s totally free.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 26

For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au

Birdland

By Myf Clark In a world where Kim Kardashian and Kanye West are worshipped and a world where we are obsessed with celebrity breakdowns, Melbourne Theatre Company’s upcoming production of Birdland could not be more well-timed. Written by award-winning British playwright Simon Stephens as an examination of fame, fortune and decadent disregard in a celebrity obsessed world, this Australian premiere introduces us to Paul, a damaged rock star idol whose fame and fortune is at an all time high. Taking on this demanding role is Mark Leonard Winter in what is his MTC debut. When speaking with Winter, he expresses a great passion for this character, no matter how unlikeable he may appear to others.

“Basically the story is about Paul and how the richer he gets and the more famous he becomes, the more he spirals off the face of the world and becomes detached from the real world. It’s about investigating the

capitalist system and our emphasis on money and the value of things” explains Winter.

One thing that Winter finds fascinating about the show is what we, as a society, value. He notes that it

Semaphore

By Liza Dezfouli “No-one learns Morse code anymore,” says composer Kate Neal, creator of Semaphore, ‘a sonic and visual multi-media experience’ coming up in the Arts House’s Autumn Program. In this work sound, dance and visuals combine to pay homage to systems of communication long obsolete, used mostly during wartime. “These are dying languages,” Neal notes. “There’s a change of guard, so we are honouring these old languages.” Morse code, devised by Samuel Morse in the mid-1800s, used ‘dots and dashes’ in a series of clicks to telegraph long distance messages; the same method could be used with a light source, a spotlight, or a torch, or a lighthouse. And once upon a time, if you were a girl guide or a scout, you would have been taught to communicate visually over distances by semaphore, using different poses with two flags to form letters.

Friday Fright Night

The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence)

By Liza Dezfouli Melbourne horror fans can put a big black x next to every Friday night in their diaries as starting on June 26th there will be regular Friday screenings of cult horror films. Presented

by Monster Fest, Friday Fright Night in Melbourne will take place in Hawthorn at the new Lido cinema complex, Monster Fest’s new home.

Beat has a chat to Neil Foley, Festival Director, about this regular new opportunity to be scared witless.

“We’re starting doing screenings at Friday Fright Night leading up to Monster Fest in late November,” he says.

“We’ve formed a partnership with Lido which is now the home of Monster Fest. It’s a brand new complex with eight screens including a rooftop cinema, 4K projectors; it’s owned by the people who own the Classic

in Elsternwick and the Cameo in Belgrave. For Friday Fright Night we’ve selected a bunch of classics, as well as including new release films that might have found their way to the big screen. We’ve been looking around for films that might not be getting theatrical releases.”

The screenings at the Lido will involve locally made films and films from overseas, a gore-fest of genre films including rare cult films, locally made films,

is interesting to see how success and wealth equate to artistic output, especially when looking at cases like the Kardashians and Kanye West. “I find it fascinating how obsessed we are with celebrity and the notion of celebrity. In the case of Paul, the guy is losing his mind and at one point in the show states that ‘I don’t know who I am anymore. Other people know me and they tell me who I am’. Paul has ceased to exist as a private entity and is now for public consumption.”

For Winter, Birdland is a massive undertaking, especially when playing such a tricky character. “I feel very nervous that a lot of the audience for a lot of the show will potentially really dislike him because he does display his wealth so much and he lets it define him.

Certainly it’s a very complex character to relate to and I’m very conscious of people coming along and going ‘Oh you’re a rich rock star who treats people badly ± well fuck off then, why would we want to spend time with you?’ But then you realise that there is a lot of that in the world and people want to be around that.”

Winter also points out our obsession with seeing people spiraling out of control. “We want to watch car crashes and we want to watch the people with drug and alcohol problems like Miley Cyrus and Lindsay Lohan.

We love that they are getting fatter and that they are having affairs and it is really interesting thinking about it in that way. In this respect, the audience is implicated in Paul’s breakdown somehow.”

When it came to researching the role and getting into Paul’s state of mind, Winter turned to The Rolling Stones and Radiohead for inspiration. For Winter, it began with him having a closer look into the lives of

the Stones, especially Keith Richards. “Keith was a good touchstone in terms of how he felt like he could get away with anything. It was a good place to start with in terms of exploring the lavishness of their life and how loose they were ± it was a way to understand the eccentricities of their lives.” Winter also notes the influence that Thom Yorke of Radiohead has played a part in his character development. “When you look at the endless touring, the endless playing of stadiums and the endless getting asked the same questions by different journalists in different cities, you can see how Yorke could cripple under the pressure of that and why he wouldn’t want to talk about it.” According to Winter, Radiohead is the perfect template of the relationship that Paul shares with his band mate Johnny.

For Winter, a highlight of the rehearsal process has been working with the creative team in an open, fun and collaborative environment. As he explains that it has been quite a tricky creative process due to Stephen’s sparse script and lack of stage directions, Winter notes that that the team has really worked as a creative force together to bring the script to life. “Leticia has been great at putting together a team who want to make an immersive, creative and kick-arse experience. The show is really quite a departure in some way for MTC to be tackling material like this. If we, as artists, sit on the fence, we’re fucked and it really needs to be a process of people wanting to take this as far as we can.”

Beat asks Neal where the inspiration for Semaphore came from. “I learnt sign language when I was quite young,” she answers. I had a deaf friend and I enjoyed communicating with her. It was such a great game ± having a secret language,” she answers. “My dad was a signalman in WWII. He didn’t talk about Morse code but he remembered it in his sleep. He would tap on the table at dinner ± subconsciously. I liked the idea of a strange language hidden in his subconscious ± the integrity of that language endured over all those years after he last used it; it led me to explore it further. But Semaphore is not a piece about my father. These are the genesis of the ideas.”

The work, all in code form itself, uses sound, light, choreography and imagery, including animation, plus interviews from war veterans, to deeply immerse audiences in a world of communication. Three dancers and eight musicians synchronize in a complex coordinated choreography of bodies, music and illumination.

Neal and director Laura Sheedy have been careful to only use the source codes in creating the piece. “We’re really honouring and maintaining the integrity of these languages, and the place they’ve come from,” she explains. “We’re using absolute language with its integrity intact. We’re very careful about staying true to them. We’ve not abstracted anything for art because ‘I’m an artist,’ we don’t change it cos it might suit the music better or anything like that. We can keep this integrity and bring it into the artistic process. We use different art forms, they don’t all come from the same place but we bring them together, connecting art forms

and in the here and now, where they are translated into Morse. We’re entwining different art forms but the work comes from within the material, the different elements of the piece are generated from the same source. We don’t have to think about how they collaborate. Artistically, semaphore and Morse code are simple forms. You can relax into the beauty of simple form, make it beautiful. It’s been exciting to pull it all together. And the (semaphore) flags themselves make beautiful noises when they move,” she adds. This purity of form, Neal says, brings with it a relaxation of another kind. “We have had such a clear context. We don’t have to make it up! Semaphore hasn’t been difficult to work on; it hasn’t felt self-indulgent at all. There’s never been an issue of ‘what’s it all about?’ ‘Is this useful?’”

Communicating in code isn’t restricted to formal systems, notes Neal. “We all signal to each other, we are constantly communicating hidden meanings, the outstretched arm, the raised eyebrow… We are all communicating underneath our words, and it’s always fascinating.” Some of the actual composition in Semaphore uses movement rather than musical notation, Neal adds. “Instead of writing in a note, I might write in a gesture: the musicians will have a movement: they might move their heads in unison, or they might walk on every 16th note in very tightly executed steps. Audiences see movement and the gestures look like they have a sound. It’s a sound world where we have notes as movements.”

and the occasional world premiere. The opening of Friday Fright Night is The Human Centipede III (Final Sequence), accompanied by the star of Parts 2 and 3, UK actor Laurence R Harvey, who will be participating in post-screening Q&As and signings and so forth. His presence will set the tone as Friday Fright Night plans to have special guests in attendance, if not in person then via Skype hook-ups.

The screenings will involve feature films rather than shorts although Foley reckons there’s a possibility shorts could feature in future screenings. “We might look at doing some short stuff; maybe screen a short before the main feature. We’re trying to get as many films screened back to back as we can.” Friday Fright Night program details are under wraps at present but will be announced shortly. The films are selected by a curatorial team headed by Ben Hellwig (‘a massive cinephile’ says Foley) who promises an ‘all out celebration of cinematic depravity.’ The team is constantly sourcing different films, old and new, well-known and rare genre films.

So what sort of films catch Foley’s eye? “Stuff that is fresh, original with a great story line,” he answers.

“Something that is scary and creepy and produces a strong reaction in the audience. We’re after stuff that moves audiences. It’s the area of cinema where the most interesting films are being made at present.

Friday Fright Night gives us a vehicle in Australia to show these films you might not get a chance to see otherwise.” Has Foley noticed any trends amongst the horror films being made lately? “Not really. Horror is a mixed bag. There’s always the difference between big budget stuff and low-budget stuff, and there’s

no shortage of low budget stuff.” Can he name any favourites? “I’ve got broad tastes; I like all kinds of cinema, not just a particular type. I like good stories, I like films which are engaging, compelling, with wellcrafted visual story-telling ± I’m always looking for compelling stories. Story is character and character is story. You can’t have a good story without it being intrinsically linked to character: the story is the journey of the character. A story is a series of events but story and character is the same thing.”

Foley emphasises that the night will offer horror aficionados a chance to see films they won’t get elsewhere. “We want to give those films a theatrical release in Australia,” he continues. “Punters will be able to see the latest greatest and rarest genre films.”

There’s no mystery in the enduring appeal of horror films according to Foley. He compares watching a horror film as an adult to the childhood experience of a scary fairground ride. “You like being scared to death as a kid and it’s the same when you’re an adult.

People love getting into the cinema and having the wits scared out of them while knowing they’re safe. Seeing things through the experiences of someone else is always appealing. Horror films deal with the universal fear of the unknown, fears we can’t compartmentalise, experiences we don’t have a way to rationalise. It brings us right back to the cave stories ± it’s about things we don’t understand, that don’t fit into the natural order of things.”

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

Birdland will run from Saturday June 6 to Saturday June 27 at the Southbank Theatre, The Sumner.

Semaphore will run from Wednesday May 27 to Sunday May 31 at Arts House.

Friday Fright Night will launch on Friday June 26 at Lido Cinemas, Hawthorn.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 27

For more arts news, reviews and interviews visit beat.com.au

Film Review: Woman In Gold

Theatre Review:

The Living Museum of Erotic Women Photo by Angle Leggas

In the pursuit of truth and justice, Woman In Gold fails to deliver where so many others have torn out our hearts and broken our tear ducts. It feels as though director Simon Curtis was shooting for the determination and righteousness of such classics as To Kill A Mockingbird, Mr. Smith Goes To Washington and A Time To Kill, but was wrangled back by a Hollywood safety net. The result? A flat, mediocre and otherwise passionless fight.

It comes as even more of a disappointment when you realise just how much potential the film held.

Its cast is well seasoned, with Helen Mirren and Ryan Reynolds at the helm. And its story is pure, having been based on the true life battle of Maria Altmann (Mirren), a woman who fled Austria during the Nazi reign and who, decades later, is undertaking a lengthy quest to be reunited with the stolen portrait of her aunt (The Woman In Gold).

What follows reads like your typical Hollywood script: Altmann enlists the help of a young whippersnapper lawyer, Randol Schoenberg (Reynolds), to oversee her case. And, as a sort of perfect kismet, he too has ties to the Holocaust and Austria, being the grandson of one of its most famous composers.

Determination settles in, as does the disappointment of setbacks, but at each turn there isn’t enough to make the audience root for the underdog. Mirren focuses too heavily on delivering a quirky character, so that times of defeat leave the audience deflated instead of tenacious. Reynolds is much the same,

his character lacking the gusto and conviction of a man seeking the justice his client deserves, and we inevitably begin to stop caring about the result.

Ironically, it’s Altmann’s backstory that takes centre stage and tugs at our emotions. Riddled with pain and beauty, it’s a chillingly beautiful montage of the days she spent with her aunt, the magic and joy of her wedding, the sadness and guilt of leaving her parents, and the fear and terror of the Nazis as she fled to safety. Now that would have been a story to break our tear ducts.

BY STEPHANIE YIP

Accidentally walking in on Catherine the Great using shadow puppets to discuss ‘swamp donkeys’ and phallic obsession is one experience I’d never have dreamed of, and yet it is just a hint of what lies waiting within The Living Museum of Erotic Women.

The brainchild of Willow J Conway, the museum seeks to capture the image, essence and history of famous – and infamous – women of erotic and sensual lore. The second iteration of The Living Museum, having premiered last year through the Bottoms Up! Burlesque school in conjunction with Tied Together, the experience has been tweaked and updated to take advantage of the unique layout of the building and spaces.

Staged over five levels (including inside a repurposed Melbourne tram), museum goers are encouraged to slowly wander through every nook, cranny, and intricately framed stage, courtesy of the brilliant set designer Tim Burgin. As with all museums and galleries, look but don’t touch. Those who break this simple rule will be dealt with by the Egyptian God Set – at least according to Isis, our master of ceremonies for the second program. The same cannot be said of the exhibits who move freely and interact with any and all observers. Beware of Messalina – she collects hats and scarves.

From Joan of Arc and witches to Frida Kahlo and

Busby Berkley musical numbers, the spectrum of femininity and nature of eroticism is explored, experienced, and at time confronted. My personal favourite, The Venus of Urbino, is comparable only to a painting in the National Gallery coming to life and giving a personalized tour.

The whole experience is broken down into two programs, each with its own unique array of exhibits and host, ensuring that no two experiences will be the same. The labour of love is evident in every aspect of The Living Museum, and special thanks must be given to Bernie Clifford and the hard working people of Bernzerk Productions along with cast and crew for making the experience possible. The extraordinary efforts and phenomenal attention to detail for costumes and make-up, by Laura Malia Pearse and Alejandrina de la Rose respectively, also deserve special mention. In using bodies as canvases, collaborating with performers and returning to source material, they must be commended for bringing these women and their eras to life. A must see for lovers of burlesque and all cinephile, theatre and historically erotically inclined individuals.

BY MATT CAMERON-ROGERS

BERNZERK PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS

An immersive, experiential theatre event that explodes into a celebration of the erotic woman!

12 MAY to 7 JUNE END TO END BUILDING REAR OF 48 EASEY STREET, COLLINGWOOD (ENTRY VIA BUDD ST.) TICKETS: www.ticketek.com.au AND www.livingmuseumoew.com.au

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 28

Out Of The ClOset

News Bites.

Queer happenings around town with Anna Whitelaw.

Denis the Menace

Hospitality innovator, founder of Woodstock Café and St Edmonds, Adam Wilkinson is set to launch his newest venture, Denis the Menace in Cremorne.

Having sourced a long-searched for warehouse, Wilkinson has worked closely with eco-architect Simon Cookes of Duckbuild Architecture to up-cycle the building with an indoor forest included, and bringing together sustainable design and operations, with good food, coffee and service, delivered with the trademark playfulness of Wilkinson. Charlie Goldsmith has collaborated with Simon Neale to create a menu that pleases both the healthy and the hungry.

Watch this space for updates.

Woody.P On Saturday, the Republic of Ireland became the first country in the world to vote in favour of marriage equality, by popular vote. 1,000s of Irish ex-pats - both gay and straight - returned home by plane, train and automobile to register their yes vote, as part of an online campaign #hometovote. Some caught the tube from London and Paris which was full of rainbow coloured Irish marriage equality campaigners, some flew from Berlin and as far away as Abu Dhabi and Bangkok. Many of those who couldn’t return home asked their loved ones to vote in their stead, asking for people to #BeMyYes. In the end, in an electorate of just 3 million - less than the population of Melbourne - a huge turnout saw the referendum on same sex marriage pass in a landslide.

It was a historic moment not just for the conservative, staunchly Catholic Republic, but also for the rest of the world as it demonstrated given the opportunity most people will vote in favour of equality. Same sex

marriage is now legal in literally dozens of countries not just Ireland, but the UK, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa, Uruguay, Argentina, Mexico, Canada, Portugal, Spain, France, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Germany and many more. Next month, it will most likely also be legal in all 50 states of the US if the Supreme Court hands down the landmark decision it is widely anticipated to.

So the question remains if even a country like Ireland where religion and tradition are still held up as such core values can march towards progress of gay rights, what on earth is still holding Australia back?

If you want the answer, look no further than the gutless wonders in our federal parliament. For his part, Tony Abbott refuses to contemplate a referendum or allow a conscious vote, because he is too busy ripping $100 million out of Australia Council and stopping mums from getting paid maternity leave. Meanwhile, the ALP is still under the thumb of the Shoppies Union.

OP

DIRTY PRETTY THEATRE AND NEON FESTIVAL OF INDEPENDENT THEATRE PRESENT:

EN

S

IN

TW

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EE

Woody.P is an exciting new addition to Melbourne’s most dynamic food precinct, Flinders Lane. This joint just opened and is already set to make a splash, as it will offer a fun, relaxed social destination that caters for all tastes. Head Chef Clinton Camillieri will be serving a Mediterranean and Italian style menu that is focused on only using the best produce, and will be backed up with a pretty serious drinks menu. The cocktails are being developed around an aperitivo style of drinking culture, showcasing the best aperitifs from home and abroad. Also worth noting is that that interiors have been designed by Eades and Bergman, who are the creative force behind Kong, Taxi Kitchen, Mr Miyagi and The Meatball and Wine Bar. This place is seriously stunning and Woody.P is set to establish a cult following with Melburnians and travellers alike.

The Roast Collection

The Roast Collection is on in June and if you can’t make it home for Sunday dinner, here are some hot tips on where to get your feed. Mister Bianco at 285

KS

“an irreverent and anarchic dance-theatre production”

Lonely THE

Wolf

(OR AN INCOMPLETE GUIDE FOR THE UNADVANCED SOUL)

11-21 JUNE 2015

TUES-SAT 7.30PM SUN 4PM SOUTHBANK THEATRE THE LAWLER ALL TICKETS $25 - BOOK NOW: MTC.COM.AU * THIS PRODUCTION CONTAINS NUDITY, COARSE LANGUAGE, DRUG REFERENCES, GUNSHOT & EXPLOSION SOUND EFFECTS, SMOKING AND THEMES REGARDING SUICIDE DEPRE AND DEPRESSION.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 29

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

High Street, Kew will be offering a ‘Broast’ for its Roast Collection events this month. The special item will be slow braised and roasted Sher Wagyu shank’s and they sound pretty fucking delish to me. The shanks will be served with seasonal vegies and paired with a glass of fancy Chalmers Nero D’avola for $45. Estelle Bistro is going classic with a roast special, serving up three courses plus a glass of wine for just $50 every Sunday in June. Each roast highlights outstanding Victorian produce such as Western Plains Pork and Milawa chicken. Get your feed at 243 High Street in Northcote. Last up is the Grosvenor Hotel in St Kilda East, and they have a one day special where they will be serving up a terrific three course meal on Sunday June 7 for $65. This one is pretty special as you get a hearty pea and ham soup followed by a pork roast with all the trimmings and a devilishly good sticky date pudding with butterscotch sauce to finish. Bring six or more mates and receive a free bottle of wine.

Glamp Cocktail Bar

Take a walk on the wild side with a drink from Melbourne’s newest watering hole, Glamp Cocktail Bar. Owned and operated by the same husband and wife duo that run polēpolē Bar & Kitchen, the new cocktail bar was born of out inspiration from the duo’s travels throughout East Africa. The only bar in Melbourne with a dedicated African-inspired cocktail offering, Glamp’s menu is the work of acclaimed mixologist Ben Hehir, who includes distinct African flavours like ginger, banana, marula fruit, rooibos and other regional teas in his signature drinks. Guests can enjoy these drinks while taking in Glamp’s impressive African-themed interior. Glamp will also host fundraising initiatives that contribute directly to not-for-profit organisations like YGAP, which supports social entrepreneurs in Africa and Women for Women in Africa which supports Kibera, Africa’s largest slum. Glamp Cocktail Bar is located at Level 2, 267 Little Collins St. Got a taste for juicy grub goss? Let me know!

Tegan@beat.com.au

Jamie xx words / augustus welby

The recent announcement of In Colour, the debut solo LP from Jamie xx, stirred anxiety in the hearts of diehard fans of The xx. Were the relationships among the group members in a state of decline? Did this mean that the producer/percussionist – also known as Jamie Smith – was exiting the trio?

Thankfully, these worries were soon alleviated, first by In Colour’s lead single Loud Places, which features the unmistakable vocals of The xx’s Romy Madley-Croft, and then the full album tracklist, which finds xx co-vocalist Oliver Sim taking the lead on ‘Stranger In A Room’.

While Smith confirms the band members are still the closest of friends, his solo debut was bound to eventuate sooner or later. “Pretty much since making the first xx album I’ve been working on this music,” he says. “The way that I ended up joining The xx is because I was making the backing beats on CD for them to play along to in bars and pubs – I wasn’t going to be onstage – but I was making my own stuff on the side at the same time.”

Smith’s production and drum programming has been an integral feature of The xx’s two incredibly well received LPs, 2009’s xx and 2012’s Coexist.

However, while the band’s recorded work leans towards an organic indie pop aesthetic, In Colour is indebted to classic UK electronic music. In this respect, ‘Loud Places’ and ‘Stranger In A Room’ are something of a revelation, exhibiting a complementary unity between Smith’s electronic production and his bandmates’ vocals.

“At the same time I was making my album, we were making the third xx record,” he says. “What my album has allowed us to do is work a little differently to the way we worked on the last two albums, and be a bit more open to the process in which we work and the sounds that might come out in the end. This next xx album has the potential to be a hybrid of my album

30

and an xx album.”

In Colour features heavy use of samples, masterful programming and instrumental tidbits, plus Young Thug and Popcaan show up to add rhymes and melodies to the late-album party rejuvenator I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times). Throughout, Smith steers clear of obvious hooks and song structures, and instead employs a minimalist touch that allows major impact to stem from small textural embellishments. It’s plain to see that In Colour is the result of countless hours of studio labour. “[I’ve been working on this music] without the intention of it becoming an album,” Smith says. “I needed to tell myself in the end that it was going to be an album, because that was the only way I was going to finish with this music and stop fiddling.”

While a lot of In Colour was produced in isolation, Smith wasn’t fiercely independent when it came to getting the record finished. “I still needed the help that Romy and Oliver can give,” he says. “Because we know each other so well, I needed them just to listen to it. Even just to sit next to somebody who you trust and listen to the album in its entirety, you don’t even need them to say anything because you can pick out all the parts that you are cringing at.”

The prospect of a Jamie xx solo LP has loomed ever since the release of We’re New Here in 2011. We’re New Here – a remix album of Gil ScottHeron’s I’m New Here – not only drew attention to Smith’s underground electronic panache, but it grabbed him a fan base in his own right. The record’s positive impact, though, also had certain side effects.

“I ended up DJing a lot, doing the circuit every Thursday till Sunday, being exhausted, and that actually hindered my creativity. I was really happy it

electronic - urban - club life

was well received, but I was almost not even aware of it because I was just working really hard and not doing what I love, not actually making music.

“Maybe after it was all over, then the fact that it was well received helped me.

But I think it was more just growing up and getting the confidence. Like any other person going from 17 to 26, I’ve just become more confident in myself.”

Hefty workload aside, Smith’s extensive DJing commitments weren’t totally counterproductive. In fact, In Colour is structured to reflect the nature of his DJ sets.

“My favourite set to see is when somebody can surprise you and take something in a completely different direction,” he says. “Because the album is quite varied, I needed to find a way to do that, but for it to still sound like a coherent body of work.”

The remainder of 2015 will involve plenty of touring behind the record, as well as finalising the third xx album. Oh, and Smith’s also scoring a ballet adaptation of the Jonathan Safran Foer novel Tree Of Codes, to be presented at the Manchester International Festival in July. It’s a pretty impressive outlook, and it far exceeds what Smith anticipated while making the first xx album.

“I didn’t even think about the prospect of it actually being on a record, in a record store,” he says. “I just thought about putting all of this music that we had into a computer or something. I never thought that far ahead.”

In Colour is out Friday May 29 through Young Turks/Remote Control.

SURFER BLOOD

FLIPPING CANCER THE BIRD

By Natalie Rogers

“I was dripping sweat today,” laughs Surfer Blood front man John Paul Pitts. “Releasing a new album is always very nerve-racking for us. I get butterflies and sometimes I forget to breathe, then my voice breaks like a teenager.” 1000 Palms, Surfer Blood’s third LP, dropped earlier this month, and for Pitts it’s not a moment too soon. “For me, this is a very personal record,” he says. “We made it over the course of a few months and have been waiting very patiently for it to come out. I guess we felt like we had something to prove.”

After a disappointing experience with Warner Records during the making of 2013’s Pythons, Surfer Blood decided to go back to their roots and readopt the DIY ethos they had when they were first starting out.

“Making a record is not some big secret that only special or elite people know how to do,” Pitts says. “For us it’s always been a matter of trial and error – figuring out what works by experimenting. The four of us spend a lot of time goofing off or just sitting around riffing on an idea. The trick is to record everything and always be nice to people, because you never know when you might need to call in a favour.”

The kindness of friends and family played a crucial role in the making of 1000 Palms. “We recorded most of this album in an attic that was on top of a doctor’s studio,” Pitts says, “and we also took over our drummer Tyler [Schwarz]’s parents’ house while they were out of town.

We felt totally in control, but at the same time we felt really free.”

Now that Surfer Blood have three studio albums under their belt, Pitts says they’re often approached by aspiring musicians looking for advice on how to get noticed or signed to a label. “All I can say is trust your instincts and sometimes mistakes are cool. A lot of my favourite bands are very sloppy both live and on their records. I find that charming most of the time; I believe making mistakes can be extremely charming and you can only get better.

Just give it a go.”

1000 Palms lead single – the adventurous, crescendoing I Can’t Explain – comes coupled with a quirky video clip filmed in the band’s home town of West Palm Beach, Florida. “We shot the clip at a nightclub in Florida that we’ve all been going to since we were kids,” Pitts says, “since we were too young to get in there. We were very sneaky – we were bad kids, we should not have been doing that. But all these years later, I think we’re doing okay.

“Anyway,” he continues, “we were so happy that a lot

of our friends showed up and dressed the part. We ran around like chickens with our heads cut off, but it was so much fun and we’re exceedingly grateful to everyone who helped us out with the making of it.”

Conspicuously absent from the clip is lead guitarist and founding member Thomas Fekete. While Fekete’s guitar work features on 1000 Palms, a few months ago he was diagnosed with sarcoma, a rare form of cancer. Then just weeks out from the album’s release, Fekete found out the cancer had spread to his lungs and spine, preventing him from touring and promoting the album. Unable to make a living and with medical bills piling up, Fekete and Surfer Blood have turned to the money-raising website GoFundMe for help.

“Unfortunately Thomas’ condition has become more complicated now, so we had to do something,” Pitts says.

“People have been so generous and super helpful. We put on a benefit show in New York City recently and all the bands played for free. Everyone has been unbelievable.”

Surfer Blood recently posted a photo to their official Facebook page, which shows Fekete smiling after a session of chemotherapy with the caption “FUCK

CANCER”. The fan reaction has been impressive.

“A lot of people have memories of meeting Thomas on tour and love to share stories,” Pitts says. “The past six years have honestly been a bit of a blur so it’s nice to be reminded of the good times. It’s really been an emotional rollercoaster ride.”

One unanimous highlight in Surfer Blood’s short career is opening for the Pixies during their Doolittle Lost Cities tour in 2011. And the happy story has an Australian connection. “We’ve been to Australia and New Zealand twice now and it was during one of those trips I met the Pixies at New Zealand airport,” Pitts says. “I was obsessed with them in high school and I still am. After that meeting they asked us to go on tour with them, I couldn’t believe it. So I have fond memories of Australia and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we can organise something for a little later in the year. When this side of the world is frozen over, that sounds like a good time to head to Australia.”

identity, which embraces kitsch ‘90s iconography and bad graphic design, is nearly as renowned as their beats. The Wedidit logo is a tombstone with a smiley face on it, and it’s become a popular tattoo amongst hardcore fans. Business is good, but they don’t like taking things too seriously, as underlined by the unofficial mantra, “Professionally unprofessional since 1990.”

“My main focus for most of my life was graphic design, painting and visual art,” says Laufer. “But then music started taking over and the only time I had to do my visual art was through Wedidit. So I was just creating my own cover art and whatever the fuck I needed for the Shlohmo stuff. But then also logo design. Now, me and Nick work in constant collaboration on all the Wedidit clothing. It’s been a passion of ours for a while to run an all-encompassing brand.”

As for brand expansion, a lifelong, dedicated skateboarder, Laufer’s keen to incorporate skate merchandising in the future too. “That’s one of my only tattoos at this point,” he confesses, “a little skateboard on my knee.”

Things are looking pretty rosy for the talented young producer right now, but he wouldn’t be where he is if he didn’t have such a knack for selecting the best and brightest artists to collaborate with, produce and remix. Indeed, Shlohmo

has earned his taste-making status by maintaining a certain standard, and he’s not afraid to point out what he does and does not like. Unfortunately for a lot of contemporary producers, they fall into the latter category.

“If it’s not perfect dance music or perfect hip hop or whatever, or it’s not completely crazy shit that I’ve never heard before, then it’s not worth my fucking time,” Laufer says. “People ask me all the time who my favourite producer is and I genuinely don’t know what to say, because I don’t listen to that kind of music anymore. Maybe my taste has just changed. Like, if it’s not exactly within the confines of what it’s supposed to be, or completely different to anything I’ve ever heard, I don’t care about it for some reason.”

What advice does Laufer have for aspiring producers, then?

“Don’t do it,” he jokes, before adding, “Either do it to say something, or don’t do it at all.”

SURFER BLOOD’S new album 1000 Palms is out now through Spunk Records.

SHLOHMO

INTO THE ABYSS

By Jack Pilven

The best musicians keep us guessing. Just when we think we’ve got them sussed out, they throw down another stylistic curveball. 25-year-old Henry Laufer, aka Shlohmo, exemplifies this dictum. Over the course of 2014, Laufer collaborated with crooner Jeremih on the sultry No More EP, produced one of the highlights on Banks’ debut album Goddess, and still found time for countless remixes. Another slinky R&B-inspired release seemed like the obvious next step.

Instead, the Los Angeles producer has returned with his darkest solo album so far.

Released in April, Shlohmo’s second LP Dark Red is deeply hypnotising. Largely devoid of vocals, the record’s propelled by layers of murky synths, skittering drums and eerie melodies. While partially inspired by horror movies, Dark Red was also driven by some harrowing real life events.

“I guess you could say it was a very trying time in my life,” Laufer says. “There was a lot of family shit, funerals, fucking hospitals and whatever going on. Nothing that I’d want to go too in depth on, but I think it was inevitable that it all came through in the making [of the album]. But at the same time I’ve always been drawn to the darker side of art making, or whatever the fuck you want to call it.”

The thematic darkness was amply supported by Laufer’s eclectic musical influences. “Some of my favourite stuff ever is Sleep,” he says. “Obviously, the album Dopesmoker has been a huge influence on everything I’ve ever done. Electric Wizard, another stoner metal band, too. And Burzum’s more cold melodic shit is my favourite. Like the weird synth shit that he made in prison, it’s so fucking dark in how not dark it is. It’s creepy serial killer music. At the same time, I’m always

listening to Memphis horrorcore, like Tommy Wright III, Hypnotize Minds – basically all the real slow rap that’s recorded to tape. That’s like my favourite shit.”

Shlohmo is coming to Australia in July for Splendour in the Grass, plus a string of headline shows where he’ll be supported by fellow producers from the Wedidit collective, Purple (Luis Dourado), D33J (Djavan Santos) and Nick Melons (Nick Meledandri). D33J also handles guitar and synth duties in Shlohmo’s live band, which is rounded out

by New York percussionist Bill DeLelles.

“There’s a basic melodic structure to follow but it’s kind of, not necessarily a fucking jam band or anything like that, but it’s pretty loose,” says Laufer on recreating Dark Red live.

“But at the same time, Bill is very on point. He’s replicating almost identically the drum program that’s on the record.”

When Laufer’s not making music, he’s making art for Wedidit; the music and lifestyle brand he co-founded in high school. Wedidit may have started as a joke, but it’s grown to encompass a clothing line and record label, which is home to the likes of RL Grime. The collective’s visual

SHLOHMO will play at the Corner Hotel on Thursday July 30. He’s also appearing at Splendour in the Grass 2015 alongside Flight Facilities, Tame Impala, Peking Duck, Earl Sweatshirt and more, July 24 till July 26 at North Byron Parklands. Dark Red is out now via True Panther Sounds/ Wedidit.

DIANA RADAR

MORE THAN A WOMAN

By Augustus Welby

Take a tour through Melbourne’s pub venues on any given night of the week and you’ll soon be convinced that garage rock is the prevailing movement of the time. This city’s packed with bands comprising somewhat grubby individuals recklessly thrashing guitars and paying no mind to precision. While this isn’t necessarily a criticism, the thriving garage rock scene is somewhat lacking when it comes to dynamics. Occasionally you’ll hear a melody that’s worth taking home, but for the most part, it’s about making a rowdy display of freedom over a four to the floor drumbeat.

Budding Melbourne trio Diana Radar have spent the early months of the year establishing themselves alongside their many loud guitar-wielding contemporaries. Brash and unvarnished is the band’s chosen aesthetic, but they’ve made a few decisions to distinguish themselves from the pack.

“A big thing that I wanted to do is have a real quiet/ loud aspect,” says frontman Rory Trobbiani. “We call it beautiful/ ugly. It’s going from sweet, simple, catchy melodies and then a real smack-in-the-face drop. We wrote a lot of songs to be played live, in the sense that we draw people in at the start of our songs with a quiet melody and then make it really obvious where we want them to rock out.

“There’s a big influence from Eddy Current Suppression BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 32

Ring,” he continues. “When I was pretty young I heard them and was very interested in that real raw Aussie feel. I like the untainted aspect of Melbourne music – not having to change it to fit a certain audience and not having to make it too perfect. I like the mistakes and hiccups in the process of writing songs.”

Diana Radar formed in mid-2014 and spent a solid six months labouring away in the jam room, building a sizable repertoire. In March, the band released their debut self-titled EP, and in a subtle instance of defiance, they’ve refrained from making the release available online. ”We’ve been selling EPs at gigs and stuff,” Trobbiani says. “I’m putting a lot of emphasis into making a few clips and getting them up online and leaking the EP

that way, rather than just chucking it online for free.

But I still consider us a live band. There’s definitely an element of energy that we present live that I think people enjoy.”

The first Diana Radar film clip isn’t due until next month, but the band have already aligned themselves with a distinct visual aesthetic. Trobbiani takes charge of the band’s visual representation, which is rooted in multi-layered photographic art, and conveys a sense of suburban mystery.

“We want to build an image around where we live, which is the north part of Melbourne,” he says. “I started getting sick of just seeing black and white photos of bands and just seeing photos of the band. I’m interested in involving the neighbourhood and involving friends and showing where we live. I wanted it to be a little bit mysterious, but it’s got a dreamy aspect, and I think it does tie in with the music.

“I mainly wanted to involve other people aside from the band,” he adds. “There’s a few photos of my girlfriend,

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there’s photos of some of our mates, parents and then just photos of the area in general. I wanted to not just make it about the band.”

This Wednesday May 27, Diana Radar will wrap up their month-long Wednesday night residency at the Public Bar North Melbourne. They’ll spend the next few months engrossed in creative exploration, as well as further asserting themselves as a live entity.

“We’re pretty content with people sitting back, having a few beers and banging their head against the wall to our tunes,” Trobbiani says. “We are happy with how we’re progressing at the moment, but the aim is to eventually start with some smaller tours, then hopefully get some bigger supports and go up the coast.”

Catch DIANA RADAR this Wednesday May 27 at the Public Bar North Melbourne, with support from Dead Dingo and Chelsea Bleach. They’re also playing at the John Curtin Hotel on Sunday June 21.

SPRAy PAINT PUNTING ON PUNK

By Augustus Welby Last year, Austin trio Spray Paint played 87 shows, hitting 66 cities across 12 different countries. Unwearied, the band are headed down for an Australian tour this June, which coincides with the release of their latest LP Punters On A Barge. On top of the heavy touring commitments, Spray Paint are an exceptionally busy creative unit. Punters On A Barge is their fourth record in the space of two years. Beat speaks with guitarist and co-vocalist Cory Plump, who gives us some insight into the band’s staggering productivity.

“Deadlines and the desire to travel are what make us tick,” he says. “I’m not a particularly wealthy man and I have a desire to travel to all corners of the globe.

Touring allows us to see the world and get drunk in the best bars in the world on the cheap. Also, it’s fucking punk rock, there is absolutely no reason to continually edit/ mix the songs. This type of music needs a sense of urgency. If a song doesn’t work, then move on.”

This is Spray Paint’s first trip Down Under, but they’re not coming in totally blind. Punters On A Barge will see a local release thanks to Melbourne’s underground punk label Homeless Records. Over the last couple of years, Spray Paint have established connections with a couple of other acts on the Homeless roster, Deaf Wish and Cuntz.

“We met label head Richie in Memphis, Tennessee at Gonerfest in 2013,” Plump says. “Cuntz were also playing that year and we all just hung out and got very drunk. We then played again together in our hometown of Austin, Texas. We stayed in touch and here we are.”

The sonic quality of Punters On A Barge is a step up from Spray Paint’s previous release; last September’s Clean Blood, Regular Acid. This is explained by a slight tweak in the band’s recording approach. “The same guy recorded both of them,” Plump says. “However [with] Punters we recorded the skeletons of the tracks in two days. If someone didn’t have a chorus part then we would just not play. Then we took the recordings into our practise space and just layered stuff and got weird with it.

“I should mention that we don’t really know how to work Pro Tools that well and early on I personally erased ten hours of work,” he laughs. “It was a bad night. Mikey Young [Total Control, Eddy Current Suppression Ring] mastered it and I have no idea how he made it sound so good. He is a genius.”

Aside from the occasional flourish of keyboards, bass and percussion, Punters On A Barge doesn’t deviate far from the band’s minimalist, drums, two guitars and three vocals setup. Like previous Spray Paint releases, plenty of tracks on Punters On A Barge revolve around a repetitive drum rhythm and minor guitar and vocal permutations.

“We focus on not over thinking things,” Plump says.

“Pretty much every song we’ve ever written comes out of a jam. It comes to us quick and in flashes. We are usually not sober, but we record everything and sift through the garbage later. Sometimes we start with drums, for sure. Our drummer Chris is an excellent guitar player as well. We all write, and sometimes I’ll have a drum suggestion ± usually less cymbals ± but, you know, sometimes someone will make up a little guitar part and we’ll see where it goes.”

The fact that Spray Paint don’t have a bass player could be considered a restriction, but it opens the way for some crafty, and often percussive, dual guitar work.

That said, the band’s minimalist configuration isn’t the realisation of a grand artistic vision.

“We were all in another band with a few other folks and we just stayed late after practise one night and a few songs happened,” Plump explains. “We recorded them, not planning on making a new band. [But] I like the space the drums get with no low end in the way. Also we tune our guitars pretty low.”

The majority of Spray Paint songs are distinguished by the band’s intriguing lyrics, delivered in a speaksing manner that recalls the likes of Thurston Moore, Black Francis and Mark E Smith. The lyrical content is generally somewhat abstract, more concerned with evoking a sensation than unfurling a narrative or emotional confession.

“We take lyrics very seriously,” Plump says, “but we try

to not be obvious about what we are saying. It is all about how the words look written down and how it makes you feel. It is a picture of some very ugly and nasty things this world has to offer.”

Considering the amount of time spent writing, recording, travelling and sitting in front of a computer dealing with managerial stuff, you’d think Spray Paint was a full time commitment. But ± goodness knows how ± the trio also hold down day jobs. However, their fortunes are currently on an upward slant.

“We are enjoying a certain amount of success,” Plump says, “but we have logged in many many hours of touring with other bands for the past ten years. I’m

happy that we are doing semi-decent after not doing particularly well for a long time. It makes us appreciate it very much.”

be writing, recording or touring), you just want to be in the other one. Although the touring cycle has been inspiring and eventful, Wicks-Green admits he wishes he had some time back home with the band. He daydreams of the band’s plan to escape to a beach house on the coast to write another album, jamming out riffs and sitting down to noodle on the guitar.

“That’s one of the best things you can do with a guitar.

That’s when magical things happen,” he says. “[Our next album] will probably turn out to be quite heavy again. I want to bring back the crushing guitar.”

But until then, Sleepmakeswaves have some big shows left on the final leg of their tour. Wicks-Green puts it quite simply: while touring overseas can be incredibly exciting, Australia is home, and it’s where they love playing most.

And after all the time Sleepmakeswaves have spent

overseas, playing their final show for a while must come as some relief. “It’s going to be freaking awesome,” says Wicks-Green.

See SPRAY PAINT on Saturday June 27 at the John Curtin Bandroom and on Sunday June 28 at the Barwon Club, Geelong. Punters On A Barge is out June 1 via Homeless Records.

SLEEPMAKESWAVES THE END OF THE MAP

By Erin Rooney If pictures tell a thousand words, then the post-rock melodies of Sydney band Sleepmakeswaves must tell a million. Without lyrics in the tracks to tell a story, the band find other ways to effectively draw in listeners and evoke intense emotions during live shows, says guitarist Otto Wicks-Green.

“The first thing for us is dynamic. We work with a great sound engineer who knows our songs very well, and knows that it’s not just about creating a sound that pummels people through an hour and a half. It’s a journey. There’s this gradual rise, then this explosion, then it all just falls away again.”

Tugging between influences as wide as electronic and metal, Sleepmakeswaves’ purely instrumental tunes are designed to soothe, energise and inspire reflection.

And leading up to the final shows of their international album tour for Love Of Cartography, Sleepmakeswaves have quite literally been on a journey themselves since the album was first released.

Wicks-Green started off as just a fan of Sleepmakeswaves, watching their shows at the old Hopetoun Hotel in Surry Hills. But his reputation as a guitarist, built up partly through performing covers on YouTube, earned him a recommendation and eventually a place in the band. And it’s an experience Wicks-Green says he’s been incredibly grateful for since joining the group soon after his 20th birthday.

“What drew me to this project was that it was very genuine.” he says. “It’s very emotional and very intense.

The live shows were intense, the chord progressions were beautiful and it was that sweeping prettiness with this heaviness that I loved.”

Though previously his background was in playing and listening to thrash metal, Wicks-Green soon adjusted from identifying as a ‘metal fan’ to more generally a ‘music fan’, expanding his taste and occasionally bringing back some of his metal influences into the band’s songwriting process.

“In the song Great Northern, there’s this two-part guitar harmony duel thing ± that’s totally thrash metal. I love sneaking that kind of incongruous stuff into this postrock framework; it makes me really happy.”

Sleepmakeswaves have changed the musical path they’ve been on from the very beginning, too. Their latest album, Love Of Cartography, was borne of a love of travel and, for Wicks-Green, of maps. Instead of a requiem-esque record like their earlier albums, their mission was to make the new release more optimistic and accessible. Listening to Love Of Cartography, this idea of a journey makes a lot of sense ± the music escalates, rises and falls, before completing with Your Time Will Come Again.

The album was funded by a Pozible campaign, and the fans had such faith in the band to make a great record that the campaign exceeded the target.

“I think it’s actually a more organic, natural and intuitive way of raising money for albums now,” says Wicks-Green. “Especially in this kind of punk rock, DIY theme we’re in, where everyone supports each other and that’s the whole vibe. So I find the whole thing really positive, even though you wake up some mornings and you’re just frantically trying to do the calculations.”

Incredibly, the album has now taken Sleepmakeswaves across 22 countries for 55 shows. Their tour diary so far consists of a euphoric performance in Shanghai, where they didn’t expect to fill the huge Mao Livehouse but had plenty of dancers and crowd-surfers come support them, and a show on a boat in Budapest, played in a packed room underwater.

Like anything, a long tour can often be too much of a good thing. But luckily, Wicks-Green sees light in all of the energy and exhaustion they’ve gone through.

“Being on tour is kinda like being in a long-term relationship ± you have your ups and downs, but at the end of the day you love them.”

Life in a band, he adds, is often like going through the seasons ± whichever stage you’re in (whether it

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Catch SLEEPMAKESWAVES when they perform at Max Watt’s on Friday June 12, with This Will Destroy You and Gay Paris coming along for the ride.

Their latest album, Love of Cartography is out now through Birds Robe Records.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 33

MElBOUrNE I N T E r N AT I O N A l J A Z Z F E S T I vA l

GET UP WITH IT

By Tom Clift

“I’ve said this before,” says Michael Tortoni, “but I think jazz is the most important art form of the 21st century. And it’s more than just playing it. It’s a lifestyle. It tends to reflect historic events and trends, fashion and politics, absorbing everything in its path.

For me, it’s a very current and forward-looking music.”

Tortoni is the artistic director of the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, responsible for securing the more-than-300 musicians that’ll descend upon Melbourne for the 11 day event this June. With more than 67 international guests, hailing from such varied locations as the US, Norway, India and Cameroon, plus exclusive collaborations with the likes of the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra, this year’s program is one of the strongest in the festival’s history.

“Chick Corea and Herbie Hancock are absolute pioneers,” says Tortoni, when asked about his personal programming coups. “They’re absolute jazz royalty, so obviously we’re excited about having them in the program.”

The legendary duo will open the festival on Thursday May 28, with a second show on Tuesday June 2.

Unsurprisingly, both concerts have already sold out.

A couple of other program highlights are American drummer Eric Harland, described by Tortoni as, “probably my favourite drummer in the world,” and a duo performance from Italian pianist Stefano Bollani and Brazilian bandolim player Hamilton de Holanda.

“I saw them on stage, and an hour just disappeared,” Tortoni says. “I was just mesmerised by them. If there’s one concert I would recommend people go to, it’s that one.”

In terms of local talent, Tortoni points to the Allan Browne Quintet, Andrea Keller Quartet, James Muller Trio and The Harry James Angus Band. He’s also particularly proud of getting the MSO involved.

“I’ve been trying to collaborate with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra for over a decade,” he says. “It’s a very difficult thing to do, because they plan two

years out.” Over back-to-back nights at Hamer Hall this weekend, the MSO will accompany American vocalist Kurt Elling, a partnership that Tortoni calls, “a synergistic meeting of two incredible musical worlds.”

Jazz buffs will also be attracted to the Explorations in Jazz series, which comprises acts intent on pushing the boundaries of the genre. “The Bad Plus from the US is an incredible trio,” says Tortoni. “They often take pop tunes and twist them and bend them and do interesting things with them.”

Another Explorations in Jazz standout is the collaboration between Monash Art Ensemble and the Young Wagilak Group from Arnhem Land.

Titled Nyilipidgi, the festival’s official program says the collaboration will blend “the musical heritage of Australia’s first people with contemporary composition and improvisation,” and shine a light on “the reconciliatory power of music.”

Clearly, Melbourne International Jazz Festival isn’t just for dyed-in-the-wool jazz purists. “Jazz is a very broad term, and can include so many different styles, from the avant-garde to the highly accessible,” says Tortoni.

“Over the past few years, I’ve been targeting the

festival to embrace those broad boundaries. Of course we have some hardcore avant-garde performances, but we’ve also got things like the Cat Empire, which appeals to a much different crowd. So if you go through the program, I think just about anyone could find something they’d like. Jazz is a great genre to be involved with, and I think the more people who are exposed to it, the better.”

Ultimately, Tortoni intends for the festival to be embraced with an open mind. “I just encourage everybody to go out and explore and try something different,” he says, “even if you don’t know exactly what it’s going to be. They might find they’re pleasantly surprised by what they come across. Everything that we’ve programmed we think is more than worthy, so it’s worth taking a chance.”

the dancefloor isn’t off limits. “Look, couples do end up hooking-up and then we play their wedding,” Horn says, “but, you know, swing attracts a really nice crowd, mixed ages as well. That is great and the band is mixed ages. I mean, we go from the youngest in the band at 23-24 and then the bass player is 60.”

Caputo might be old enough to be on the pension, but he’s by no means a bore. “He’s a bit of dark horse,” Horn says. “We don’t know much about him. It’s just hilarious, because we have these gigs around town where we play with other old Adelaide musos and they come up and are like ‘eh PC’ and all these other nicknames. And we have no idea of the context because he tells us nothing about his past.”

Horn says this with real warmth, before revealing Caputo’s most peculiar nickname. “One that popped

up recently was ‘cabin boy’, and we still haven’t got the story behind that nickname, because he plays his cards pretty close to his chest. But we’re sure it’s a great story.”

Lucky Seven are headed to The LuWow this Friday and Saturday night. Seeing as though they’ve held down a residency for more than ten years in Adelaide, these shows promise to be something special. “We have played at LuWow a couple of times,” says Horn.

“We played at the owner’s venue in WA as well, called Devilles. They just know what they’re doing when creating that vibe.”

band when she was 11 years old. “I definitely feel like [saying something] is important to me,” she says. “It’s not necessarily in every song that I write. But I do like music ± and have always been inspired and influenced by music ± that is motivating to me. So, [I like music that’s] not just about sharing the way you see the world, but also creating the world that you want to see by provoking discussion and change in thought and reflection that makes people possibly think or act differently or rethink the way they’ve acted.”

But that’s not to say that her new EP is solely devoted to gender politics. The other five songs touch on everything from going to the movies to divorce ± the latter of which is not something that Segal has actually experienced. “Usually I write from experience but this is about putting myself in someone else’s situation,” she says.

Musically the album fits somewhere in between her usual folk-pop aesthetic and her 2013 collaborative jazz album Little March, which was produced by Adam Levy; guitarist for the likes of Norah Jones and Tracy Chapman. “This year is about incorporating a bit more of the jazz element,” she says. “So it’s like jazzy folk.”

As per her usual rollout of a new album, Segal performed a “jazz interpretation” of the new album on April 18 at Melbourne’s Paris Cat. She’s gearing up for a proper launch show at the Northcote Social Club on May 30, before embarking on a three-month US tour later in the year.

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL JAZZ FESTIVAL runs from Thursday May 28 till Sunday June 7 with individual events, big and small, held all around Melbourne. Visit melbournejazz.com for the full program.

lUCky SEvEN

SWING FOR THE CRIME

By Dan Watt

Adelaide’s Lucky Seven are high quality vendors of live swing music. On stage, the septet offer an experience so fulfilling that you’ll forget about wanting to get drunk and find a root. Well, at least until after their set finishes. The savvy collective ± consisting of Richard Horn (baritone sax/ vocals), Jason Mallia (trumpet/ vocals), Benny Badamson (drums/ vocals), Dean Barcello (guitar/ vocals), PC Caputo (bass), Giovanni Clemente (tenor sax) and musical arranger and multi-instrumentalist Matteo Kaesler ± celebrate a time when mastering your instrument was cool and male sexuality wasn’t defined by a gym membership.

“We started out playing your Dean Martin and Louis Jordan ± the jump stuff,” says Horn, “and then we went on and dabbled with Sinatra and The Rat Pack. But now we have gone down the road of the old swing, jump and R&B.” When Horn says ‘jump’, he’s referring to the upbeat blues music that evolved out of big band swing in the 1940s. Jump is often thought of as the direct precursor to Elvis’ main-room rock’n’roll bangers. It’s the sort of music that, if we weren’t all so unhealthy, could bring back Lindy Hop dancing ± the style of partner dancing where females are spun and lifted like figures skaters.

“What we play is swing, but it has a bit more attitude,”

says Horn, “a bit more crack on the snare drum.”

Interestingly, Horn and Mallia originally connected in the late-‘90s, thanks to a shared interest in ska music.

The pair would soon distance themselves from the local scene by embracing swing music. “At the time and still to this day, pretty much, there was no one in Adelaide doing it,” he says, “but we loved it, we were both like, ‘This swing music is amazing.’ We liked the beat and we loved the dancing that went with it. But also the lifestyle; the cars, the suits and the hats.”

Lucky Seven’s live shows transcend the regular sleaze of the bar scene by giving punters stimulation beyond booze and picking-up. Though, finding a partner on

LUCKY SEVEN are playing The LuWow on Friday May 29 and Saturday May 30. Their latest album Hire A Small Plane is out now.

SHEllEy SEGAl

BEAUTIFUL FOLK

By Isabelle Oderberg

Thanks to bands like First Aid Kit and Mumford and Sons, acoustic folk music has enjoyed a commercial resurgence in the 21st century. Local songwriter Shelley Segal, who’s gearing up to release her new EP Strange Feeling, is one of a newer breed of Melbourne folk acts mixing traditional sounds with jazz and pop for a unique and broadly appealing result.

Folk music has strong historical ties with social movements and political discourse, and Strange Feeling’s first single Sidelined fits that framework nicely. It’s a poppier offering that details Segal’s experience with a lover who wanted her to change her appearance. The song includes lyrics such as, “I have the wrong body even though I have the right mind,” “You want a skinny lover and that’s fine,” and “If you’re not beautiful you’ll be sidelined,” all of which underline the human habit to judge people purely based on their exterior.

“After that [experience], I reflected on that and I thought about aesthetic expectations put on you by society and the people around you,” Segal says. “It’s what’s inside that counts.”

Segal’s perseverance through unpleasant personal events often informs her songwriting. For instance, the 2012 protest record An Atheist Album was penned after she threw off her Jewish upbringing and embraced a BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 34

world without religion. “I went travelling and I became atheist and that was a really significant thing for me,” she says.

Given her dismissal of religion, it’s rather ironic that Ben Harper should be one of Segal’s primary musical influences. “I find that kind of songwriting very motivating,” she says, “even though a lot of the time his motivation comes from his belief in God, which is not necessarily the way I see things. But I still find that kind of songwriting really powerful.”

Segal also draws inspiration from the likes of Ani DiFranco and Alanis Morissette, whose example resonates closer with her own beliefs. “Before that the only things I’d listen to were Mariah Carey and I remember thinking ‘Oh my god, you can say something’.”

The potency of this revelation makes sense considering Segal started performing in her father’s Jewish wedding

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See SHELLEY SEGAL at the Northcote Social Club on Saturday May 30. The new EP Strange Feeling is out now via True Music.

I don’t mean to alarm you, but did you know that Ignite are releasing a new album this year? They’ve reunited with Century Media and will release their new album before the end of the year. It’s the band’s first since the flawless Our Darkest Days dropped way back in 2006, and it’ll see the return of Zoli Teglas who was rather uncerimoniously dumped from frontman duties in Pennywise when a back injury meant he couldn’t tour with the band. Not amazing treatment considering the man provided vocals on one of Pennywise’s best albums in 20 years.

them playing tunes from Great Mistakes, which came out this month.

Classic punk rock band Good Riddance are headed back to Australia following the release of their first studio album in almost a decade. Peace In Our Time came out via Fat Wreck Chords last month and now the band are returning for their first official headline tour since 2004. See them at the Corner Hotel on August 7.

Tickets are available now.

Sydney’s Controlled have a split 7” coming up and they’re celebrating with a show at the Bendigo Hotel on June 13, supported by Ill Natured. Soak in the local punk rock.

In rad combo news, members of Direct Hit! and Galactic Cannibal have joined forces to form a new band called Eradicator. They’re going to release a 10” in October and they currently have a self-titled track streaming online, so go on, listen to it.

Up-and-comers Tired Lion have announced their first ever headline tour. The Perth band will launch EP number two Figurine before they hit the road. You can see them at teeny Melbourne venue Shebeen on July 25.

Brisbane melodic punk band Stepson are touring nationally in July in support of their new EP Echoes In An Empty Room. They’ve mixed their supports up a bit and will be joined by Fresh Nelson, Mindshank and Vitals at various stages throughout the tour. The Melbourne shows go down at the Bendigo Hotel on July 2 and Lilydale Bridge Builders (AA) on July 3, both with Fresh Nelson.

In case you were considering making the pilgrimage, The Fest has added a stack of very rad bands to it ’s 2015 lineup including Title Fight, Modern Life Is War, Masked Intruder, Bigwig and War On Women.

Yikes. Time to check the frequent fliers.

CORE GIG GUIDE ThURsDay May 28:

• Athenas Wake, Epimethus, Earthender at Next

FRIDay May 29: Against Me! Against Me! are back in the country this week after a lengthy hiatus. You’d be an idiot to miss out on these massive headline shows. The Corner Hotel show on Saturday June 6 with Ceres has sold out, but make sure you choof along to the Sunday night show where Pale Heads are lending support. Guaranteed to be an incredible performance.

Blueline Medic and Fear Like Us have scheduled in a short run of shows next month, the first of which will take place at The Reverence Hotel in Footscray on Friday June 5. Have/Hold, Employment and The Revenants will lend their support. This will rule.

If you were still unsure whether to buy tickets to see Title Fight next month, the addition of Paper Arms to the national tour might give you the push you need. They’re currently in Europe performing for their sizeable Euro-fanbase. This is your first chance to see

• Voyager, Klone, Branch Arterial, Glass Empire at the Evelyn Hotel • The Shadow League, Admiral Ackbar’s Dishonourable Discharge, The Dead City Lights, Jud Campbell, The Berkeley Hunts at Old Bar • Agent 37, The Ramshackle Army, The Shorts, Northwood at Karova Lounge

saTURDay May 30:

• Boris, White Walls, Hotel Wrecking City Traders at Corner Hotel • Prepared Like A Bride, Earth Project, Along Shorelines at Bang • The Electric Guitars, Tankerville, Steve Miller Band, Wet Meal, Swim Team at The Old Bar

sUnDay May 31:

• Defeater, Bane at the Corner Hotel • Andrew Swift, Jamie Hay, Darren Gibson, Ben Bunting at The Reverence Hotel • Dream In Colour Kidz, Plotz, The Creeping Bam at The Bendigo

DON FERNANDO RETURN

This Queen’s Birthday Long Weekend the party heads indoors to Yah Yah’s. Don Fernando are back from their run of shows through Europe and the UK and want to give you a taste of high octane rifftastic fur y. Don Fernando’s new album Haunted By Humans has been turning many heads through the UK, Europe, USA and Australia. The massive line up has Cicadastone, Low Fly Incline, Dr Colossus and Battle Axe Howlers. It’s the final ever show for Battle Axe Howlers, so dust off your boots, get in the double denim, and head over to Yah Yah’s to catch the Sunday Stoner Session on June 7. Doors are at 8pm, $10 entry.

HEAVEN MEETS HELL @ MUSICLAND

from Ticketek. VIP packages including opportunities to meet the band will be available.

SHE WHO ROCKS TOUR

The Baby Animals play two shows at Max Watt’s this weekend, joined by The Superjesus and local supports on the She Who Rocks Tour. The callout for supports was made earlier in the year with bands from across the country encouraged to apply for a support slot using the GiggedIn platform. It culminated in 250 bands joining and generating in excess of 22,000 votes from fans. Catch them with Tequila Mockingbyrd on Friday May 29 and Aimee Francis on Saturday May 30.

Saturday June 6 will see the first Heaven Meets Hell show at Musicland in Fawkner, with one of Australia’s best metal bands Black Majesty and new melodic heavy rockers The Radio Sun. Both bands will release new albums in the coming months – Black Majesty’s sixth album Cross Of Thorns comes out in July via Pride & Joy Music and The Radio Sun’s second album Heaven Or Heartbreak lands in September on Melodic Rock Records. Fans of classic heavy metal and heavy rock should come together for what promises to be a great night of Australian music. Doors open at 8pm.

PALE HEADS ALBUM, TOUR

Drawn together from the darkest burrows of Melbourne’s underground music scene, have disregarded all formalities, launching straight into their debut album after only a handful of rabid performances.

Featuring Tom Lyngcoln (Harmony/ The Nation Blue), Thom Sloane (Batpiss), Rui Periera (ex The Drones, Right!) and Xiao Zhong (Pairs, Bang! Bang!

Aids!), Pale Heads blast unhinged, dark Australian punk-rock. Their debut album Headless is out on May 29 through Poison City Records. To celebrate, they’re launching it with a few shows in June. Catch them at the Gasometer on Saturday June 6 with The Spinning Rooms, Steve Miller Band and Slab Knackers, then at the Corner Hotel with Against Me! on June 7.

DEF LEPPARD AUSTRALIAN TOUR

The mighty Def Leppard return to Australia in November for shows in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth with support from Live (featuring new vocalist Chris Shinn) and Electric Mary. Def Leppard guitarist Phil Collen says the band’s new album is in the final stages; recording is finished and all the post-recording stuff is being done over the next few months. There’s no solid release date yet but Collen says the band doesn’t plan to play any of the new material live until the album is out. We’ll be among the first in the world to hear it when the band plays at Rod Laver Arena on November 18. Tickets go on sale on Thursday June 11

Chris Cornell

CHRIS CORNELL ANNOUNCES 2015 SOLO ACOUSTIC TOUR DATES

Multi-Grammy award winner, Golden Globenominated, Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell has announced solo acoustic dates for NovemberDecember 2015. The tour will give fans the chance to see Cornell in an unplugged, up close and personal setting, performing songs drawn from throughout his entire career, as well as new songs from his highly anticipated forthcoming studio album, Higher Truth (scheduled for a September release). Tickets go on sale at 10am, Monday June 1, but My Live Nation members can secure tickets first during the exclusive pre-sale, which begins Thursday May 28 at midday.

Cornell plays the Palais Theatre on Friday December 4.

RIFF RaIDERs

Bringing Back The riff By aUGUsTUs WElBy

This Saturday night, Melbourne four-piece Riff Raiders will transform Yah Yahs into a hall of classic riff worship. The band’s repertoire unearths lesser-known tracks from a range of riff experts, including Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin and Cheap Trick, plus recent riff proponents The White Stripes and Muse. Riff Raiders’ lead guitarist Marty Powell explains the motives behind this novel-natured tribute act.

“Hard rock can be generalised to not have a lot of dynamics and groove, but there’s actually a lot out there that is [dynamic],” he says. “So they’re the sort of songs we’re trying to capture. There’s a lot of good riff based music that’s been done that doesn’t always get played live, even by the bands themselves. Everyone knows the Thin Lizzy song The Boys Are Back In Town, but they’ve got heaps of other killer songs too that haven’t been overplayed. So we pull a few of those out.”

In a certain respect, good riffs are both a blessing and a curse. When you’ve got a strong, memorable riff, finding an equally effective vocal melody or chorus hook can be particularly difficult. The likes of Wolfmother or Audioslave come to mind as acts who’ve suffered in this regard. But a Riff Raiders gig puts the spotlight on bands who’ve employed riffs in the context of quality songwriting.

“I think [riffs] should come and go,” Powell says. “They can be the hook – exactly that. There’s famous bands that have absolutely got that right. A more recent example would definitely be Muse and probably The White Stripes.”

When it comes to the secrets of a great riff, there are

no definitive answers. Riffs don’t have to be tricky to be effective. In fact, some of rock music’s most timeless killer riffs are rooted in simplicity (think You Really Got Me or Roadhouse Blues). But on the other hand, a painfully difficult riff can also be stunning.

“You don’t always have to be a brilliant guitar player,” Powell agrees. “Someone like Jack White, he’s obviously exciting and when I hear him you just want to pick up a guitar and play. But then you have guys like Jimmy Page or Ritchie Blackmore. They have a lot more technique, but they can pull it back and have really catchy simple riffs and then absolutely slam through major hammer-on guitar solos when they’re needed.”

While riffs have always figured prominently in rock music, the 1970s was the apex of riff-centric songwriting. Accordingly, the majority of the Riff Raiders setlist is focused on the ‘70s, but they do take a look at riff evolution through the eras.

“We do the Yardbirds and Pretty Things and an Australian band called Zoot,” Powell says. “They’re ‘60s riffs, which is a bit of a different approach. In the noughties, we’re looking around at bands like White Stripes, Muse and The Darkness. But once again, not

the obvious songs.”

When you think of enduring riffs, not many from the last decade spring to mind. A band like The Darkness are a lot of fun, but their whole shtick relies on aping an earlier style. Thus the question looms, is there hope for the birth of brand new dazzling rock riffs?

“I think the more rock music you’ve absorbed, you do see it starting to eat itself,” Powell says. “Some people have said to me, ‘Why aren’t you writing your own stuff ?’ I thought, well it ’s not a bad thing to look back and see this massive catalogue that’s there. People

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go and watch jazz bands and orchestras that haven’t written what they’re playing and people enjoy that.

That’s the idea with this band.

“We’re getting quite good reactions,” he adds. “People saying, ‘I didn’t know they had songs like that,’ and they go off and find it for themselves, which is really good.

We do 90 minutes sometimes and people still ask for more.”

RIFF RAIDERS are bringing the riff back at Yah Yahs on Saturday May 30.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 35

MUSIC NEWS

Q&A

YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE

For all the latest news check out beat.com.au WEDNESDAY MAY 27

R E S T I N P I E C E S D E AT H F E S T:

the summery vibes from influences including the Jungle Giants and Loon Lake. Joining them at The Bendigo Hotel on Wednesday May 27 are Three hundred Celsius, Kate Bart and Sophie Officer. $6 entry and the doors will open at 8pm.

Hadal Maw

If you could no longer be a musician, what other occupation do you see yourself in?

Probably a tattoo artist or producer.

Do your dreams ever influence your music?

Sometimes. Most of the time it’s passion and love for music If you could have anyone review your record or gig, who would it be?

Jason Keyser from Origin.

Would you rather be able to play any instrument in the world naturally but be unable to write creative lyrics, or write the most beautiful lyrics in the world but be unable to play any instrument?

Definitely play any instrument in the world naturally. A beautiful song does not necessarily need lyrics, but instruments are needed to make beautiful songs if there are beautiful lyrics.

How do you prepare for a show? Any weird routines?

I usually do some warm ups and meditations like Snoop Dogg in Korn’s Twisted Transistor music video.

Which rock star do you think you could keep up with in regards to partying, (alive or deceased)?

Probably Mitch Lucker (Suicide Silence).

in the hours supporting Alicia Keys and John Legend on tour, and played Soulfest alongside D’Angelo and Angie Stone. This month, Ngaiire has given fans a snippet of her upcoming second album with new single Once, co-written with Megan Washington, and has announced a special preview show this Wednesday May 27 at Howler, where she’s set to show off new material. Doors open 7.30pm, tickets are $12.30+BF from the venue.

THURSDAY MAY 28

ATLAS

DIANA RADAR

THE PUBLIC BAR

Diana Radar and their new-wave, oldskool, garage-infested rock are gracing The Public Bar this Wednesday night for their last Wednesday’s in May residency performance. The three piece from Melbourne’s North have been gaining momentum and air-play with the launch of their debut self-titled EP that features their recent single Cubic Zirconia. Tonight, these juvenile delinquency graduates will be blasting through the walls with noisy mates Dead Dingo and Chelsea Bleach. Be there for a rollicking good time when the doors open at 7.30pm – entry is $6.

REST IN PIECES DEATH FEST goes down at the Workers Club on Saturday May 30, featuring Hadal Maw, Daemon Pyre, Anient and stacks more. Doors open at 4pm, $20 entry.

RAD NAVAJO

THE BENDIGO HOTEL

Rad Navajo, the five-piece hailing from central Victoria, aim to bring

T H E R E T R E AT

Exquisite indie pop quartet Atlas will be hitting up the Retreat Hotel on Wednesday May 27. This captivating four-piece have glitter-bombed their way onto stages across Melbourne since their formation last year, constantly surprising crowds with their uplifting melancholy.

Boasting an array of impeccable melodic harmonies and catchy hooks drenched in harmony and sadness, this understated group delves into the deepest of Australian songwriting tradition, playing your heartstrings like an orchestra. It all kicks off at 8.30pm and entry is free.

NGAIIRE HOWLER

Breaking away from her past as an Australian Idol contestant, Sydney-sider Ngaiire (pronounced Ny-Ree) has put

JACK EVAN JOHNSON T H E R E T R E AT H O T E L

MINTON’S PLAYHOUSE SESSIONS THE B.EAST

Minton’s Playhouse is famous for its role in the development of modern jazz, where its jam sessions in the early 1940s played a part in pioneering the early stages of bebop.The B.east joined forces with Robert Simone and Aleister James Campbell to create an event that would occur once a month, bringing you an array of brilliant musicians who carry the old vibes of Minton’s Playhouse in jam style format. Get down to The B.east this Thursday May 28 and see what this free

COMING UP THURSDAY 4 JUNE

WEDNESDAY 27TH MAY

PBS 106.7FM’S GLITTER & DOOM AND MALLARD MOVIES

PussY RioT:

A Punk PRAYeR

8.30pm - Free entry

THURSDAY 28TH MAY

WilloW + DiReWolf + TOM DOCKRAY

bRiAn kenneDY (IRL) + MiCk MCHugH TiCkeTs $40+bf FRIDAY 6 JUNE

subliMe songs of sCienCe, MeTAPHYsiCs AnD eCologY TiCkeTs $15+bf

7.45pm - Free entry

FRIDAY 29TH MAY

TobiAs HengevelD + JAMES KENYON

$8 Pints

DebuT AlbuM lAunCH

kiTCHen

8.30pm - Free entry

SATURDAY 30TH MAY

THe fuRbeloWs $15 entry - 8:30pm

SUNDAY 31sT MAY

AnDReW nolTe oRCHesTRA

perForming 2 x sets From 4.30pm - Free entry tHen

sPenCeR P Jones

& THe esCAPe CoMMiTTee 8pm - Free entry

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 36

jam has to offer, or even take the stage yourself if you consider yourself a bit of a jazz master. Open from 8pm onwards.

HAPPY HouR

Of Craft Beer 4pm-6pm Daily

HOURS -

neW AuTuMn Menu Tues-Fri 4pm till you’re full Sat & Sun 2pm till you’re full

TiCkeTs

For ticket sales visit www.spottedmallard.com

314 sYDneY RD bRunsWiCk

WATCH INTERVIEWS, CHATS & AWKWARD SILENCES... BEAT.COM.AU/TV

Hailing from the glitter and grime of Las Vegas, American songwriter and award-winning journalist Jack Evan Johnson is both a classic Americana storyteller and defiant rock and roller.

After touring extensively in the United States, Johnson, who was born in Australia, has returned for a series of performances in support of his acclaimed new album Self Made Man. The Attractor Beams will be supporting on the night, bringing cynical garagerock sounds to The Retreat Hotel as they debut new material from their upcoming album. Head down to The Retreat Hotel from 8.30pm for a steadfast night of free rock.

MUSIC NEWS

Q&A

YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE

For all the latest news check out beat.com.au to dirty south to new jack swing to R&B to soul, funk and disco influenced beats, No Money No Problems has everything you could want and more. Encompassing live beat performances, DJs, b boying, and karaoke, No Money No Problems is guaranteed good vibes all night long.

This week features Tom Showtime performing live. Come early for the performances, stay late for the dance floor, this Thursday May 28 at Boney from 10pm. Entry is free.

SEAN MCMAHON & THE MOONMEN THE POST OFFICE HOTEL

While Sean McMahon’s last album was described as a “journey through heartfelt alt-country that beautifully conveys a singer/songwriters love affair with the American songbook and a 1930’s Kay guitar”, his new project Sean McMahon & The MoonMen sees him return to the land of electric guitars. Embracing a more eclectic blend of blues, country, folk and roots, Sean McMahon delivers exceptional songs rich in melody and drenched in poetic narrative. Catch Sean McMahon & The MoonMen this Thursday May 28 at The Post Office Hotel from 8pm.

NAT ALLISON

NO MONEY NO PROBLEMS BONEY

No Money No Problems is a new weekly hip hop party at Boney with a twist - each week a different crew will take over the venue and provide their unique spin on the genre to bring you the finest in hip hop. From boom bap

FRIDAY MAY 29

RITA SATCH

PRINCE CELLAR BAR

Soulful songstress Rita Satch is gracing the Prince Cellar Bar this Friday May 29, playing a show to launch her brand new single We Could Have All That before she heads overseas for her UK tour – this being the last time you can catch her before she heads off. Strap yourself in for a night of mo-town pop melodies this Friday when the doors open at 7.30pm. Entry is $18.

RANDOM SUBJECTS

W H O L E L O T TA L O V E

Fresh back from tour, playing guitar for the Queen of rock’n’roll Suzi Quatro, Nat Allison is set to rock Whole Lotta Love with her pitch-perfect scream, stage strutting antics and guitar showboating. Having played over 5000 live gigs, opening for big names such as Jimmy Barnes, The Screaming Jets and The Motels, get ready for a high energy, guitar heavy performance with powerful vocals and pitch bending solos to match. This Thursday May 28, catch Nat Allison from 8pm at Whole Lotta Love. Entry is free.

fuzzgaze of Luna Ghost completes the line and ensures the swagger. Doors from 8.30pm, tickets are $8.

THE BENDIGO HOTEL

MINISTRY OF PLENTY THE WORKERS CLUB

Ministry of Plenty are stoked to celebrate the release of their debut EP Assertions, with a launch at The Workers Club. The eccentric Melbourne fourpiece are striving to create music which channels garage psychedelia, alt-rock and shoegaze through an experimental pop mindset. In doing so, they make songs that while diverse, have an undeniably unique sound. Be sure to catch them for their launch party at The Workers Club this Thursday May 28 – you’ll snag a physical copy of the Assertions EP with your $10 entry fee when the doors open at 7pm. Support on the night comes from Habits, Hideous Towns and Card Houses.

BLOODHOUNDS ON MY TRAIL

THE JOHN CURTIN

Bloodhounds On My Trail play The John Curtin on Thursday May 28 with support from Luna Ghost & Crimsonettes. Six months on from releasing their critically acclaimed debut offering Escape EP, Bloodhounds On My Trail return to the Curtin with their aerodrone shoegaze sounds being complimented by the wonderfully crafted tones of Crimsonettes. The psych

Come kick it with Random Subjects at Bendigo Hotel in Collingwood.

Supported by friends TWINSPEAK, SilverStakes and new comers Amberfield, it’s sure to be a great evening of rock. Random Subjects’ have recently finished up printing and pressing their EP in beautiful technicolour and will be available for purchase on the night – be sure to catch them at The Bendigo Hotel on Friday May 29. Tickets are $12 when the doors open at 8pm.

JOELISTICS + ASTRONOMY CLASS HOWLER

Labelmates Joelistics and Astronomy Class are coming together for a double bill performance, playing select tracks from their acclaimed albums Blue Volume and Mekong Delta Sunrise respectively. Astronomy Class’ genre mix up of dub, soul, and nowadays, '50s

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Poison Fish

Define your genre in five words or less: Dirty, messy, grungy and loud.

How long have you been gigging and writing?

We have been gigging and writing together for nearly five years.

What has been your favourite gig you’ve played to date?

Our latest EP launch at Cherry Bar or when we played the Moss Pit charity show at The Evelyn Hotel last year.

Which band would you most like to have a battle/ showdown with?

The Stooges, Batpiss and/or Beethoven.

What inspires or has influenced your music the most?

The Nation Blue, Nirvana and Charles Bukowski.

What do you think a band has to do these days to succeed?

Not take our advice.

Do you have any record releases to date? What?

Where can I get it?

We have two EPs that can be bought at any of our shows; Hide Your Shame With Noise and Donkeys Don’t Die Young.

Why should everyone come and see your band?

The sound is loud, the show is chaotic, the hangover’s horrendous and the experience is splendid.

POISON FISH are playing at The Brunswick Hotel on Saturday May 30 to raise funds to record and release their debut album.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 37

Q&A

MUSIC NEWS

YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE

For all the latest news check out beat.com.au expect an evening with all the energy and enthusiasm from the heydays of the Beatles, Chuck Berry, Little Richard and so much more. The band is kicking off a show on Friday May 29 from 8.30pm at The Reverence Hotel’s front bar. Free entry.

comforting show at The John Curtin this Friday May 29 – so head down from 8.30pm when the doors open. Tickets are $8 on the door only.

DR INVISIABLO

Garage punk minimalists Kit Convict & Thee Terrible Two are set to release their debut album Watch Your Skull on 12” vinyl in late May, having collected accolades and airplay across the US, Europe and Australia since its digital release last year with reviews likening the band’s bare bone sound to Billy Childish, Kid Congo and The Gories. The release show for the album goes down at The Tote on Friday May 29, with supports from Midnight Woolf, The Shabbab and The Reprobettes. Doors open at 8.30pm – entry is $10.

PUBLIC BAR

60 SECONDS WITH…

The Toss

So then, what’s the band name and what do you ‘do’ in the band?

The Toss is the band name. We’re a high-powered punt rock three piece, featuring guitar, drums and bass. Chris is on bass, Paddy is on drums and Tony is on guitar. We share vocals.

What do you reckon people will say you sound like?

Australia’s finest yob punt rock.

If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuff, who would it be and why?

Link Wray – just so we could meet the man.

What can a punter expect from your live show?

A hip’n’shoulder in your face. It’s a show where you don’t know the words but you wish you did. You’ll go home singing, “Couldn’t give a fuck mate”, “kick it to me” and “you’re out on your arse.”

What’ve you got to sell CD-wise?

We’ll have some CDs for sale. The first three albums have sold out, but we have some of the last album.

The fifth album comes out in September.

When’s the gig and with who?

The Brunswick Hotel on Friday May 29 with MeGraines, Interceptors and Amonal.

Anything else to add?

Its our first time playing in Melbourne so we are looking forward to catching up with people and having a good show on the night. Should be a beauty.

Check out THE TOSS at The Brunswick Hotel on Friday May 29. and '60s Cambodian rock should fit together perfectly with Joelistics’ spoken word pieces and conscientious hip hop, and with special guests Srey Channthy (The Cambodian Space Project) and Vida Sunshyne, this is an unmissable. Doors open 8pm, tickets are $25+BF available from the venue.

THE TOSS

THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL

The Toss have left their home town of Adelaide for a booze filled cruise to Melbourne, and are bringing their pub rock to the rockiest of pubs The Brunswick Hotel this Friday May 29. The Toss started off after a couple of pints at the local, and seven years on haven’t stopped moving, with four albums and three EPs already under their belts. They’ll be bringing it to The Brunny this Friday, along with The Me-Graines, Amonal and The Interceptors. Catch it from 8pm.

Loud Melbourne rockers Dr Invisiablo are finally getting back together for a one-off, special show at The Public Bar on Friday night with one hell of a lineup. Joining them will be Batpiss (celebrating their latest album), Wicked City, Bodies, Legends Of Motorsport, Angry Mules, The Council, Spidergoat Canyon and Hard Rubbish. Doors open 6.30pm with only $10 entry. Come along to smash some food, drink some booze, and watch some top bands.

KIT CONVICT & THEE TERRIBLE TWO THE TOTE

NEAGLEFEST

THE LOMOND HOTEL

UP UP AWAY THE B.EAST

Up Up Away are the middle point between the past and the future; combining the old-school Funk sounds of the '60s with the laid back, futuristic sounds of the Neo-Soul movement.

The band’s tasty hooks, fat grooves and cleverly crafted lyrics ooze originality, whilst gracefully referencing vintage sounds from the golden era of soul.

They’ll be playing a show with soulful groovers The Do Yo Thangs this Friday May 29 at The B.East, so get down for some funk, soul and snacks if that tickles your fancy. Entry is free, doors open at 9pm.

ROLLING STONES BLACK & BLUE REVIVAL TRIBUTE

T H E F LY I N G S AU C E R C L U B

In celebration of the Rolling Stones’ Black & Blue, a star-studded local band featuring Nick Barker, Ashley Davies, Shane O’Mara, Bruce Haymes, Justin Garner and Grant Cummerford is set to perform the platinum record in full at The Flying Saucer Club on Friday May 29. A show for all the diehard Stones fans out there, the band will also perform a set of other classics to tantalise those musical taste buds. It will be a night to get a little nostalgic, and appreciate the greatness that is Black & Blue. Tickets are $25 on the door. Doors open at 6pm.

musical back bone. They set about crafting such a band; a true blue, fire breathing, chest beating, riff n roll band.

Developing their sound, and earning a reputation, they built a line-up capable of delivering a powerhouse rock’n’roll show as they draw influence from the Aussie greats such as AC/DC, Rose Tattoo, Billy Thorpe and The Aztecs and many more. Be sure to catch them when the doors open from 8pm. Entry is $13.

One of Melbournes’ favourite live music venues The Lomond Hotel celebrates its 30th Anniversary for licensees the Neagle family this week by chucking on three back-to-back nights of free performances over the weekend. This Friday May 29 sees Suzannah Espie & The Last Word play from 8.30pm, followed Dan Warner and his friends.

Three Kings and The Hornets hit the stage Saturday night, and ending things on Sunday are The Gusset Rustlers, The Band Who Knew Too Much, Ken Maher and Tony Hargreaves. Check out the venue's website for set times and more details.

SATURDAY MAY 30

ARAKEYE

THE BENDIGO HOTEL

Saturday May 30 at The Bendigo Hotel will host Arakeye, a Melbourne rock band at their peak. Arakeye’s unique and musically versatile live show aims to compel the listener to question their beliefs on environmental issues, truth, social change and acceptance. Also, some would say more importantly, they’ll make you bang your head vigorously. Doors open from 8pm, entry is $10. Support on the night comes from acts The Soulenikoes, LUNG and Thugonaut.

HARMONIC DIVISIONS T H E GRACE DARLI NG

Electro-dream pop trio Togetherapart are hosting the superb Harmonic Divisions this Saturday May 30 at the Grace Darling. This mini festival is set to showcase Melbourne’s diverse musical landscape with each quarterly event. For their inaugural event at the Grace Darling, Togetherapart will be playing alongside Dear Plastic, Bayou, Fazerdaze (NZ) Luna Ghost, Oolluu, Nonagon and synth duo Kakariko, who will be launching their new single on the night. Harmonic Divisions launches at the Grace Darling on Saturday May 30. Get down and get dreamy.

ANDREW STRONG

PRINCE BANDROOM

Performing songs from the infamous cult film The Commitments, Andrew Strong will be performing live at the Prince Bandroom this Saturday May 30 after reforming with his band to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the movie. After playing to 24,000 people over four shows in Dublin’s O2 arena, you’d want to be sure you catch this world class act while you still can.

Tickets cost $55.

GOATPISS GASOLINE

THE POST OFFICE HOTEL

Van Walker joins forces with NSW guitar prodigy Hank Elwood and Dave Watkins to become Goatpiss Gasoline, the bastard brothers of such acts as Three Kings and Chris Russell’s Chicken Walk; Houserockin electrified blues boogie with no bass and plenty of piss and vinegar. Combining the irresistible killer slide of Elmore James and down home toothless boogie of Jimmy Reed, Goatpiss Gasoline are natural good time musos who flirt with wine stained shirts and understand simplicity is a virtue. Be there this Saturday May 30 at The Post Office Hotel as they sink some bevs and belt out some bangers from 9.30pm. Entry is free.

RIFF RAIDERS YA H YA H ' S

A big night ahead at Yah Yah's as Riff Raiders take the stage. The Riff Raiders play not so well-known songs by well-known hard rock bands with one simple rule for their set - each song must contain a killer riff. Supporting on the night will be The Bits and The Small Victories as the doors open from 8pm. Entry will cost you $7, but you’ll receive a free Jager shot with your entry fee. Get down to Yah Yah's to catch Riff Raiders on Saturday May 30.

POISON FISH

THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL

Much loved locals Poison Fish will be hitting The Brunny this Saturday May 30 again, raising some recording funds doing what they do best by putting on a killer live show. Packing the lineup full of grunge-y, punk-y noise are Three Quarter Beast, Sordid Ordeal and Pigtails all having a go at the stage.

Check this out, Saturday May 30 at The Brunswick Hotel. Bands go on from 9pm, and entry stays free all night.

LOST WEEKEND BONEY

BIG WINTER

T H E GRACE DARLI NG

Melbourne band Big Winter launch their EP Small Things this week. Recorded all about town in a variety of interesting places such as empty office buildings and in kitchens – the band pulled favors by borrowing vintage 1970s pianos and calling in some friends that play along with the Australian Ballet to perform strings on the EP. See it all come to life on Friday May 29 at The Grace Darling. Supports from Mike Waters, Rose Wintergreen and Playwrite. Tickets $12 pre sale or $15 at the doors when they open at 8.30pm.

JUKE BOX RACKET

THE REVERENCE HOTEL

Juke Box Racket are a three-piece rock'n'roll act – a bunch of folks in their 20s playing songs from the '50s and '60s. Slapping their own stamp on all the classics, BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 38

FAZERDAZE

THE JOHN CURTIN

Coming out of New Zealand, home of such excellent things as Flight of the Conchords, Lord of the Rings, Kiwi Birds and The Haka, the bedroom recording project of Amelia Murray, Fazerdaze is bedroom pop at it’s bedroomiest. Since the release of her debut self-titled EP in late 2014, Fazerdaze has sparked the interest of cult New Zealand label Flying Nun, while US site Wild Honey Pie named her an artist to watch in 2015. Now’s your chance to catch the intimate, tender and versatile pop in an equally

TOOZE & BRUCE

THE REVERENCE HOTEL

Melbourne’s latest folk pop duo, Tooze & Bruce are charming followers everywhere they go, capturing sounds from the '60s folk pop era whilst adding a modern-day touch of their own. Their startling harmonies and memorable pop melodies are a glimpse into the past.

Get down to The Reverence Hotel on Saturday May 30 when the show starts at 9pm, entry is $5. Supports on the night come from the mesmerising James Teague, and the quirky style of Aarti who will be opening the show.

Losing a weekend is set to become a weekly reality at Boney with an outlandish selection of Melbourne’s most notorious disco deviants and party legendaries set to play host to a steady flow of international movers and shakers.The new weekly club night will begin every Saturday with CC:Disco and friends at the controls, turning tropical flavours into delectable diva anthems in the seductive suite, all before Andee Frost takes charge with a typically debaucherous after hour soundtrack deep into the early hours.

Get ready to make disco weekends a reality this Saturday May 30 at Boney.

Entry will set you back $15+BF when the doors open at 10pm.

THE BLACK ACES CHERRY BAR

Hailing from country Victoria, Black Aces had a longing to hear the kind of music that had once forged Australia’s

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PHIL PARA

PRINCE PUBLIC BAR

Iconic Melbourne muso Phil Para’s Saturday night performances are changing venue. After a record breaking 30 years of playing at The Espy, Phil Para’s keeping it in St Kilda, heading just down the road to the Prince Public Bar where he’ll continue to do what he loves, playing high energy blues rock every Saturday night. Catch him perform this week from 6pm with free entry.

MUSIC NEWS

Q&A

YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE

For all the latest news check out beat.com.au debut into society with Electric Guitars, Tankerville, SMB, Wet Meal and Swim Team all getting in on the action. 8pm $10.

TOM DOCKRAY THE B.EAST

Arguably the greatest old-time picker from Tasmania via Brunswick in the world is bringing his blues stylings to The B.east. Tom Dockray has spent much time touring across the Pacific, touring his spiritual home in the American deep south. Now that he’s back home he’s been mesmerising crowds with his swagger, syrupy vocal, and picking aesthetic of a true purist. Be sure to catch him at The B.East when he plays on Saturday May 30. Music starts from 9pm onwards. Entry is free.

TANKERVILLE OLD BAR

Tankerville play their debut show this Saturday night at The Old Bar. Made up of three boozehounds from Graveyard Train, Cherrywood and Bodies, they play fast, loud punk rock and have assembled one hell of a lineup for their

We’re talking Olivia Newton John, Powerfinger, INXS and many more, pulled apart and reimagined with the backing of steel guitars, accordions and alt-country vocals. They’ve also got Red Symons playing in the lineup in what appears to be an ironic supporting twist to the Australian cultural smorgasbord the show is already boasting. Get down to The Flying Saucer Club on Saturday May 30 for the show – tickets are $25 at the doors when they open at 8pm.

PEARLS

THE TOTE

Pearls, hot off their sell-out album launch last month, headline what is sure to be an unforgettable night of wild rock. A mind-blowing lineup from heavy boogie through drone psych, psych pop and glam rock, be sure to catch them when they play a quad headlining banger of a show with Sundays & Cybelle ( Japan), Scattered Purgatory (Taiwan) and Power as it’s all stitched together with DJ sets from Psychedelic Coven and guests. Hit The Tote on Saturday May 30 for this wicked psych-out set. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $12.

THE PIGS

F LY I N G S AU C E R C L U B

Everyone’s pretty keen on classic Australian pop songs, so The Pigs formed to take 13 Aussie classics and serve them up with a side of their distinctive flavour of bluegrass and folk.

which have gained a following by both hip hop and indie lovers alike. It goes down at The John Curtin on Saturday May 30. Tickets will set you back $27, doors open at 8.30pm.

JEZ MEAD

SOUND CITY

Jez Mead is the definition of a troubadour. Whether he is tucked away on a festival lineup, popping up on the odd blues and roots compilation or appearing at the country pub that you just happen to drive through on your way interstate, he’s become an everlasting, ever reliable folk journeyman. After a four-year hiatus from his solo shows to concentrate on reconnecting with his love of the trumpet, the guitarist extraordinaire returns for a night at Sound City on Saturday May 30 where he will explore both of these musical landscapes. Found out what all the fuss is about, doors open 8.30pm, with $13.50 tickets from stickytickets.com. au.

CASA DE REBOCO BELLEVILLE

HOUSE OF LADOSHA JOHN CURTIN HOTEL

Dosha Devastation and Cunty Crawford will transform The Curtin into the House of Ladosha when they hit the stage for an exclusive Vivid sideshow. The New York-based artistic collective will visit Melbourne on the back of tracks like Rollin’ and BMF,

Casa de Reboco is a cultural project created to help share, present and connect Brazilians and Melburnians with a night full of Brazilian food, music and dance, and they’re throwing their Brazilian Forró Party this Saturday May 30 at Belleville. Kicking things off with a dance lesson, making sure everyone knows what they’ll be doing for the rest of the night, Maria Mulambo then takes to the stage for a two hour set, followed

by DJ Seu Antonio bringing it into the wee hours of the morning. Doors open 8.30pm, with free entry all night long.

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

ALEX LASHLIE OF

Closet Straights

Define your genre in five words or less: If-Nickleback-Were-Better (sorry Adam) How long have you been gigging and writing?

Adam, Luc and I have been writing and playing live since year nine or something. Etta has been writing and playing punk music since she was in The Gingers way-back-when, and Jeff… well Jeff was born with a left handed Stratocaster in his grip.

What has been your favourite gig you’ve played to date?

We played a few shows with a rad country band from G-Troit called Murdena. At a couple of these shows the crowd of wild kids from the bush were all topless and crowd surfing and stuff.

What inspires or has influenced your music the most?

I am inspired by watching my friends live through various experiences, good or bad, and reflecting on the journey as a whole.

What do you think a band has to do these days to succeed?

I think you need to come across as if the good shit just slides right out of you – all you do is relax and catch it in a bag.

Do you have any record releases to date? What?

Where can I get it?

We released an EP in 2012 and a 7” double A-side single in 2014, which are both available for free download on our BandCamp.

Catch CLOSET STRAIGHTS launching their new single ZADIE at The Workers Club on Friday May 29 with support from Bobby Brave and Big Smoke.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 39

Q&A

MUSIC NEWS

YOUR COMPREHENSIVE LOCAL GUIDE

For all the latest news check out beat.com.au SUNDAY MAY 31

THE COUNT WITH …

Seri Vida

Ten bands everyone should know about: Can, The Shangri Las, The Guilts, Gossip, The Beatles, Tool, The Pretenders, Nirvana, The Temptations, Pixies.

Nine food items that you need to make a kickarse dinner party: Is wine a food? Caprese salad, garlic fried kangkong, salty spiced calamari, rice, cheese, bread, quince paste and different kind of cheese.

Eight possessions that define you: My guitar, my diary, a chain necklace given to me by my grandfather, my tarot deck, my GP army boots, black eye pencil, my leather jacket and my hard back copy of Faust, which I’ve never read and may never read.

Seven favourite movies/TV shows that go on your mix-tape: The Princess Bride, Rocky Horror Picture Show, Cry Baby, Orange is the New Black, Broad City, The Borgias and Death Becomes Her. Six bad habits you can’t escape: Good looking soft studs, playing tripletown on my phone, watching Real Housewives of Melbourne, getting two custard stuffed donuts at Big Lou’s, snoozing in the morning and staying up late on weeknights.

Five people who inspire you: Caterina Sforza, Lee Lin Chin, Iris Apfel, Merrill Beth Nisker/ Peaches and Polly Jean Harvey Four things that turn you on: Hot summer nights, tattoos, confidence and killer dance moves.

Three goals for your music: Make another music video, play in the Meredith supernatural amphitheatre and have a dance move named after one of my songs.

Two live gigs you’ll never forget and why: Leonard Cohen – because I love so many of his songs, I practically sobbed through the whole second set. Peaches – she has such incredible energy on stage and she had about eight costume changes which all consisted of stripping off layers of lycra.

One day left before the apocalypse and you…: Party all night with my loved ones and dance my heart out then head for the hills as the sun rises.

See SERI VIDA on Friday MAY 29 at Ding Dong Lounge launching their new album The Wait.

ELWOOD BLUES CLUB PRINCE CELLAR BAR

Get down to Prince Cellar Bar this Sunday May 31 for a night of blues to wrap up your weekend. The Elwood Blues Club is in full jam, featuring a special guest each week as they receive the backing of the legendary Elwood Blues Club All Stars. If you’re to see the south’s longest running weekly blues event, head to Cellar Bar from 5pm onwards for a free show.

AMBER ISLES

THE WORKERS CLUB

TERRY MCCARTHY

T H E R E T R E AT H O T E L

Stories of high fun and romance, of relationship ups and downs, songs about his musical heroes, McCarthy creates his own unique mythology which demands repeated listenings. Backed by his crack three-piece band The Special and the sweet harmonies of Gen Fitzgerald and Flora Smith from Flash Company, this will be a great single launch opening the door on what promises to be a quality full length album later this year. Experience the warmth, wit and tenderness of one of Melbourne’s most underrated songwriters as he hits The Retreat Hotel for a deliciously free show. Doors open from 7.30pm

The gorgeously stylised post-rockers Amber Isles release their first record since forming to adapt a solo concept album live. With an emphasis on the live duo vibe of street sets played on Bourke Street Mall, the new record showcases solo material as interpreted by the band with extra fare and glimpses towards the first full band album set for release late 2015. Be sure to catch them for the launch when it happens on Sunday May 31 at The Workers Club. Doors open at 7pm, tickets are $10 on the door.

This Sunday marks the end of a residency for Andrew Swift as he wraps up a month long showcase for his new single, Sound The Alarm. The fire faced songwriter will bring an assortment of singer songwriters to help him finish up on this calm Sunday afternoon, as the doors open from 3pm onwards. Entry is free.

The incredibly noisy rock group are hitting Cherry Bar this Sunday May 31 for a set sure to cause your Otorhinolaryngologist no end of grief as they scramble to fix your hearing.

Put together fuzzed out, bleeding guitars smothered with feedback and drowned out with smashing drums and you’ll get a rough picture of the night ahead. Be sure to catch them on Sunday May 31 when they launch their single Zombitches. Doors are open from 9pm onwards – entry costs $13.

SARAH MCLEOD

W H O L E L O T TA L O V E

Coming into Melbourne with her band The Superjesus for the She Who Rocks tour, Sarah McLeod is taking some time out of her obviously busy schedule for a stripped down solo acoustic show this Sunday afternoon at Whole Lotta Love.

Supporting her for the gig is Virtue front woman Elly Lanza. Tickets for this are strictly limited, grab them for $20+BF from OzTix.

YA H YA H S

BONEY

And just like that, June kicks in with absolute craziness. Every Monday night at Boney from 10pm T-Rek plays basically whatever he wants but not necessarily aimed at the dance floor. Sleazy late night rock ’n’ roll, all forms of pre 1980s blues, toe tapping kraut rock excursions, dirt computer guitar histrionics and dubbed out desert space jams are only some of the musical offerings to sooth your weekend brain and set you up for the week ahead.

10pm-3am every Monday night and the kitchen stays open till midnight. Free entry.

Cherry Jam is an event run by Cherry Bar every Monday where you get the chance to play at one of Melbourne’s best known rock venues to an unsuspecting crowd -Cherry Bar supplies the backline while their expert soundie does the rest of the work. Bring your guitar, leads and sticks down for an open air jam unlike any other from 6.30pm to 11.30pm – entry is free. Email red@cherrybar.com. au if you and your mates want a timeslot on the immortal stage.

TUESDAY JUNE 2

BIRDS OF TOKYO

Wednesday June 3 170 Russell

ROSCOE JAMES IRWIN

Wednesday June 3 The John Curtin

BRIAN KENNEDY

Thursday June 4 The Spotted Mallard

SARAH MARY CHADWICK

Thursday June 4 The Gasometer Hotel

THE KITE STRING TANGLE & DUSTIN TEBBUTT

Friday June 5 170 Russell

TEN YEARS OF STONE LOVE

Friday June 5 The Tote

FUCK THE FITZROY DOOM SCENE

Friday June 5 Ding Dong Lounge

FOX & FOWL

Saturday June 6 Grace Darling Hotel

KUCKA

Saturday June 6 Hugs & Kisses

CHARLIE MARSHALL

Saturday June 6 The Spotted Mallard

LOON LAKE

Sunday June 7 Ding Dong Lounge

WALLAPALOOZA

Friday June 12 The Espy Hotel

VOLTAIRE TWINS

Friday June 12 The Shadow Electric

IMMIGRANT UNION

Saturday June 13 Kelvin Club

CROOKERS

DEBORAH CONWAY AND WILLY ZYGIER

MIA WRAY

REBECCA BARNARD

REVEL IN CHAOS

MADDAWG MONDAYS WITH T-REK

LOOKING FORWARD

Saturday June 13 The Prince Bandroom

T H E R E T R E AT H O T E L

THE POST OFFICE HOTEL

Rebecca Barnard, long time Stephen Cummings collaborator and front woman of '90s indie outfit Rebecca’s Empire, has locked in a solo show going down this Sunday May 31 at The Post Office Hotel. If you like some sophisticated contemporary pop with a bit of a country twinge, this is the gig for you. Rebecca Barnard plays two sets from 4.30pm, entry is free.

MONDAY JUNE 1

CHERRY BAR

PUBLIC BAR

The free Sunday series Minimum Wage, presented by Psychadelic Coven and dettol forever, has moved and now calls The Public Bar its home. The series presents kick arse artists for free (mighty appealing to those on minimum wage) and starting things off for the inaugural Public Bar sesh are Scattered Purgatory (Taiwan), Sundays & Cybele ( Japan) and Council of Elders. Head down from 4pm for some great tunes and cheap drinks.

Melbourne based alternatives Gateway to the Sky are re-entering the local music scene with a low key gig at The Brunswick Hotel this Sunday May 31, headlining their original rock beats with support from folk punk duo The Berkeley Hunts, and the indie pop stylings of Des Chio. Auditory pleasures will be had. Get down there early, music kicks off at 8pm with free entry.

CHERRY JAM

MINIMUM WAGE

Formed in mid-2014, RIC are a three piece rock band that give a little nod to BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 40

ANDREW SWIFT

THE REVERENCE HOTEL

GATEWAY TO THE SKY

CHERRY BAR

EMAIL A PIC AND SHORT BLURB TO music@beat.com.au

for a lovely free show to help wind down your weekend.

THE BRUNSWICK HOTEL

KILL DIRTY YOUTH

WANT YOUR GIG LISTED IN MUSIC NEWS?

a classic '90s indie sound. Think about the days of The Lemonheads, Pixies, Sonic Youth and Nirvana – maybe the nights staying up watching music videos on Rage - and you’d swear you might be somewhere around there. Be sure to catch some strangely familiar sounds from these guys when they hit Yah Yah's on Sunday May 31 when the doors open from 7pm. Entry is free.

LOOSE TOOTH

THE JOHN CURTIN

A triple bill at The John Curtin this Sunday May 31, featuring a nice mix of slacker pop, garage pop, and a little bit of electronica to boot on this deliciously free bill for this installment of New Lease Sundays. With local acts Loose Tooth, Teamwork and Lux Ovarye’s Weird Time playing a wide variety of warm tunes from 4pm onwards, head down to the front bar at The John Curtin

Raised on the Sunshine Coast, singer/ songwriter Mia Wray sings with soul and passion, creating a unique sound that compels you to listen. There’s tension and controlled power within her song writing and performances infusing soft melodic tunes with a subtle soulful sound. Mia started 2015 with a bang performing five killer sets at the Woodford Folk Festival and is now following up on that by working towards her second EP. Be sure to catch her at The Retreat Hotel this Tuesday June 2 when the doors open at 7.30pm. Entry is free, as always.

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Saturday June 13 Memo Music Hall

THE AUDREYS

Friday June 19 The Spotted Mallard

WHITE SUMMER

Friday June 19 The Gasometer Hotel

DARTS

Saturday June 20 Shadow Electric

FOOD COURT

Friday June 26 The Gasometer Hotel

ALBUM OF THE WEEK JAMIE xx In Colour

SINGLES

Stranger In A Room, which is almost completely driven by the ebbs and flow of his vocal line. The icy guitars that accent the melody are a throwback 2011’s We’re New Here; Smith’s seminal remix album of spoken word legend Gil Scott Heron.

There’s little to fault about In Colour. The musicality is so strong that the album could well evade the tendency for exceedingly trendy albums to date within two to three years of their release.

BY DAN WATT

BY LACHLAN

FFS

Johnny Delusional (EMI) So this team-up from Franz Ferdinand and Sparks has come out of nowhere, with all-in full band collabs not exactly as prevalent within the rock realm. But this works, and it’s pretty great. Johnny Delusional is a glorious pomp romp, the opulent chorus being the best thing Franz Ferdinand have done in *checks release date of their second LP* ten years? FFS, I’m getting old.

TIME FOR DREAMS

My Operator (Independent) Time For Dreams sees Harmony vocalist Amanda Roff team up with Tom Carlyon, crafting hazy washes of demented retro-pop. My Operator is entrancing in its restraint, sparkling in the darkness conjured up by gnarled, swirling guitar and drum machine echoes.

I’m not entirely sold on the hype yet (hype = more than two mates saying “you gotta check out Time For Dreams”), but I reckon I’m one live show away from getting drawn in.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 42

MIKAL CRONIN 8. Table for Two SUPERSTAR 9. Down Time TOTALLY MILD

1. Sines CD/LP JAKOB 2. Unchain The Wolves LP DESTROYER 666 3. Degenerate LP EXTORTION 4. Promo ‘15 tape CONTAMINATED 5. Powers That B 2CD DEATH GRIPS 6. Electricity CD CLAIRE BIRCHALL

LUV (Independent) This is ridiculously huge, with rising (well, already risen) BNE producer UV boi ‫يجسفنب قوف‬ indulging in every blown out whim, going to town on a Lex Luger sample pack along with a trademark iPhone notification sting. The vocal from Fionn Richards feels a little pointless, but it’s a huge tune nonetheless, even if it finds itself entrenched in a slightly expired trend.

Moves (Independent) This is like a dozen songs fucked into one, and I’m here for it. It’s difficult to grasp, jack-knifing into selfparody territory with some full-on ridiculous samples, but it pushes barriers along the way. And hey, we could always do with more boundary pushers in the world of bedroom producers.

7. Queens of Punk 7” THE UV RACE MCIII

COLLECTORS CORNER MISSING LINK TOP TEN

UV boi‫ يجسفنب قوف‬FEAT. FIONN RICHARDS & BRASSTRACKS

ALTA

1. Quarters KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD 2. Anyway IMMIGRANT UNION 3. Pulsating Time Fibre PRIMITIVE MOTION 4. Simple Songs JIM O’ROURKE 5. Dark Bird is Home THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH 6. Loin des Hommes NICK CAVE and WARREN ELLIS

ORCHESTRA

Golden Dream (Illusive) Stonefield’s corporate shit-rock has evolved into something decent here on Golden Dream, finding space and doing something with it. It’s a slow burner, riding on waves of guitar and organ lushness. This is what Wolfmother should’ve evolved into. Shit, if Stonefield have half an hour’s worth of similar tracks, bung ‘em on as AC/DC support later in the year.

Waiting For Love (Universal) Some focus group fuckers have cooked up the idea that it’s the right time for a track that lists the days of the week again (what was the last track to do it? Craig David?) So here we have EDM golden bro Avicii with a soggy re-tread of Wake Me Up. Lacking the genre mash inventiveness (if you’d call it that), this is just a bore-zo banger.

1. Look Closer SAUN AND STARR 2. Monterey MILK CARTON KIDS 3. The Traveling Kind EMMYLOU HARRIS & RODNEY CROWELL 4. Quarters KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD 5. The Randy Anderson THE RANDY ANDERSON 6. Time Here Is Up THE IVORY ELEPHANT 7. Everything Sings Tonight LUCIE THORNE 8. Grievances ROLO TOMASSI 9. MCIII MIKAL CRONIN 10. Before We Forgot How To Dream SOAK

10. Multi-Love UNKNOWN MORTAL

STONEFIELD

AVICII

PBS TOP TEN

RECORD PARADISE TOP TEN

For all the latest singles check out beat.com.au Can someone let Bevo know I’m ready to have a crack in the ruck? Cheers.

HEARTLAND RECORDS TOP TEN

1. Musique de film Imagine LP THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE 2. Self Titled LP JARBOE & HELEN MONEY 3. Hemispheres LP RUSH 4. Tyranny LP JULIAN CASABLACAS + THE VOIDZ 5. Duets-Reworking The Catalogue 2LP VAN MORRISON 6. Royal Albert Hall 3LP/DVD EELS 7. Live at Max Kansas City Vol 1&2 2LP JOHNNY THUNDERS 8. What’s Next To The Moon LP - MARK KOZELEK (SUN KIL MOON) 9. Live At The Opera 3LP – SATYRICON 10. Queen Forever 4LP/12” BOX SET QUEEN

(Young Turks/ Remote Control)

In Colour is an amazing album. This speckled musical jewel finds the sweet spot between Jamie Smith’s work as arguably the world’s coolest DJ and his work as a member and producer for The xx.

On track two, Sleep Sound, it sounds like Smith has cherry-picked the best parts of the underground club world and distilled them into four minutes. It’s a deeply tonal song, featuring marimba and kettle drum sounds, as well as heavily phased vocals. It’s supported by a deep down-tempo break-beat, which is peppered with sprawling drum fills. While Sleep Sound is essentially underground, In Colour’s lead single Loud Places (featuring The xx vocalist Romy Madley-Croft) is a stunning celebration of pop sensibilities. A cheeky cowbell, or half full jar of water, tinkers over the top of deep piano chords as Croft’s breathy voice intones the phrases of the verse. The melancholy aesthetic then gives way to a seriously uplifting chorus; Madley-Croft’s voice fades as a choir of male tenors takes the lead, contending, “I have never reached such heights / I feel music in your eyes / I have never reached such heights.”

The xx’s other vocalist, the richly casual Oliver Sim, makes an appearance on the brooding electro-ballad

TOP TENS:

7. Satanic Blood CD VON 8. Check ‘Em Before You Wreck ‘Em CD/LP ADMIRAL SIR CLOUDSELEY SHOVELL 9. In A Dutch Haze CD EARTHLESS WITH HEAVY BLANKET 10. Everybody Loves Sausages CD MELVINS

SINGLE OF THE WEEK JAMIE xx FEAT. YOUNG THUG & POPCAAN

I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times) (Young Turks/ Remote Control) Our first solid tune of the year contender sees Jamie xx craft a fancy-free sample-heavy groove, with Young Thug effortlessly contributing showstealing verses (“I wanna ride in the pussy like a stroller”) and proving he’s still one of the most exciting rappers on the planet (Dej Loaf and Fetty Wap are also up there). It’s a track that rewards repeat listens, which is just as well, as it’ll probably take over speakers and airwaves much like Caribou’s Can’t Do Without You did last year ± maybe even more-so.

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BEAT’S TOP TEN PSYCHO SONGS 1. Psycho Therapy RAMONES 2. Psycho Killer TALKING HEADS 3. Psycho Holiday PANTERA 4. Psycho ELVIS COSTELLO & THE ATTRACTIONS 5. Motorpsycho Nightmare BOB DYLAN 6. Psycho BEASTS OF BOURBON 7. Psycho Daises THE YARDBIRDS 8. Psycho Mafia THE FALL 9. Psycho Structures PARQUET COURTS 10. American Psycho THE MISFITS

ALBUMS New music in review this week - For more reviews go to beat.com.au/reviews

METZ

DAN CRIBB & THE ISOLATED

II

9 Classic Tracks

As We Drift Apart

(Sub Pop/ Inertia)

(Rice is Nice)

(Pee Records) METZ, a three piece noise-rock band from Toronto, Canada, have graced us with a second offering, II. The opener, Acetate, leaves little to the imagination; an on-beat riffy bassline follows punchy drums, while scratchy guitars echo in the background of the verse, before falling back in with the other instruments for the chorus. The vocals are 100 per cent, Johnny Rotten-inspired classic punk, screamed with no remorse, but also somewhat distant, as if layered on top of the sound, rather than part of it.

As the next couple of tracks roll out, the sound doesn’t develop or evolve in any significant way. Though, this isn’t to say that the album stagnates.

This is a band who very clearly know their sound; they ease you in with the opener, and then go full-hog from there out, heavy and energetic, but never truly diverting from formula.

Four tracks in we get the interlude Zzyzx. This momentary breather is a godsend, because straight after we’re thrown into the record’s strongest track, IOU. This could very easily be an early-QOTSA track, a no holds barred symphony to the destruction of instruments. It doesn’t slow down much from there. Track after track, II remains in your face. You can see where it’s coming from, you see where it’s going, but nothing lingers for too long. As a result, it’s never stale, for something new, yet oddly similar, is never far off.

Although the individual tracks could leave you pining for some variety, the record is a testament to METZ’s musical abilities and faith in their own sound.

Earlier in the year, Perth muso Dan Cribb announced his departure from punk act The Decline. Focusing on more singer/songwriter-type material, he has assembled a backing band and released As We Drift Apart into the world.

Comparing this release to his last uncovers a massive graduation in sound.

Whereas his debut EP The Memories Last relied on acoustic-driven tracks and more intimate instrumentation, As We Drift Apart sees Cribb take full advantage of his backing band The Isolated, turning these songs into fullon ‘90s punk rock tunes. Some of the erstwhile personal touch is lost in the translation, but the melodies are still there and perhaps even brought to fruition. The whole album is reminiscent of punk bands who are focused on melody, such as Lagwagon, Alkaline Trio and Blink-182.

Cribb’s vocals are definitely the highlight ± they have a tone that conveys energy and emotion. This is especially true on Fall Apart; when he sings, “I know I can see it’s not easy/ It’s killing you/ It’s killing me,” the conviction is clear. Kisschasy frontman Darren Cordeux lends his voice to Let’s Move To New York, which is one of the album’s shining moments. Cribb has taken the sound on his debut EP to the next level, making everything bigger in the process.

SPENCER SCOTT

SARAH MARY CHADWICK

The hubris implicit in the title of Sarah Mary Chadwick’s new album is misleading. Chadwick isn’t suggesting that the album will find its way alongside the likes of Neil Young’s Harvest, Marianne Faithful’s Broken English or George Harrison’s All Things Must Pass. Rather, the classic aspect of Chadwick’s record appears to be the subject matter of the songs. Chadwick is raking over the coals of emotional dramas we’ve all been through, the scars of which can be felt at the drop of a name, the sighting of a photograph or the recollection of a moment.

The album’s stripped back musical style ± just Chadwick, an electric piano and a few well-chosen effects ± reflects the bleeding raw content of her lyrics. Self-worth is trampled under foot (Am I Worth It), psychological trauma is repeated like a bad dream (Same Old Fires), emotional progress is halted in its tracks and pushed back into its place (I’m Back Where I Was), and hesitation and surrender become the only form of resistance (Ask Wait, Lying Down).

To listen to 9 Classic Tracks is to bear witness to an inner pain that’s graphic in its intensity. On I’m Like an Apple With No Skin Chadwick exposes herself for the world to see; Until the Grave suggests it’s all coming to a head; and by the time the album finishes with Rain It Down On Me, you’re emotionally drained, but strangely cleansed. Sometimes the most painful experiences make the strongest musical statements.

PATRICK EMERY

HOWL GRIFFITHS

TIMBERWOLF

STONEAGE HEARTS

Flux

(Create Control)

IN HEARTS WAKE

Skydancer

(UNFD/Rise)

Hung Up (On You) (Off the Hip)

Timberwolf is the moniker for Christopher Panousakis’ modern folk project, whose combination of ‘60s blues riffs with soaring pop melodies has been turning heads since its inception in 2013.

Recorded and co-produced by Mark Myers of The Middle East, Flux sounds gorgeous throughout. Drenched in reverberating guitars and atmospheric vocals, the EP is consistently lush and euphonic. Panousakis’ vocals sit at the forefront, delivering the songs with a winning combination of husky and silky tones. His voice is a standout, and even in its quieter moments, the stadium-sized arrangements don’t overshadow it.

It Burns is a highlight, distilling the EP down to what Timberwolf does best. Beginning with ambient banjos, the song builds up with powerful, festival ready hooks before taking an unexpected turn into a cathartic Grateful Dead style coda. While Panousakis is patently crafting music for larger audiences, he retains a welcome sense of originality within his arrangements.

At times, his penchant for surreal lyrics can get the better of him. The chorus of Whiskey Jar is full of mysterious imagery, but doesn’t reveal enough to maintain allure on further listens. He’s at his most lyrically effective when approaching his subject directly; exemplified on the tender Stranded, where he admits fault to a love gone wrong with moving simplicity.

Flux showcases an artist who has started to cultivate a comfortable sound of his own. Once Timberwolf really settles in, there’ll be nothing stopping him from finding the success he deserves.

JAMES DI FABRIZIO

The cover of Hung Up (On You) features an old wall-mounted rotary dial phone. It’s symbolic of an era when the utility of telecommunications was devoid of narcissistic obsession ± could you imagine tediously working the rotary dial, getting through to your desired calling destination and providing an update on the latest banal development in your life?

The album art is symbolically resonant; Hung Up (On You) takes you back to the time you when you traded mainstream radio’s MOR pop rock for the glistening power-pop of The Raspberries, Big Star, Someloves, Orange Humble Pie Band and ± importantly for the latest incarnation of The Stoneage Hearts ± R ed Kross.

It’s there from the start on Train at 8, recalling REM’s Driver 8 with a Stems-inflection and a mischievous wink. Sky High Heels is all shimmering elegance, Is She is The Who’s I Can’t Explain transposed to the antipodean suburbs and First Kiss is love in the backseat of your first car with The Trilobites on the tape deck. I Thought That Time is the moment in your dreams you never want to end, Motor Away is all brash attitude and youthful bravado, and wherever Menai Hotel is, it’s a damn good place to visit.

On Trying to Wash Away Some Of My Past, you’re caught between pondering the regret of the song’s title and the desire to clasp the track’s chunky riff to your heart and never let it go. If I’m Ready found its way to the inscription in a Valentine’s Day card, it’d surely be a recipe for everlasting love. I Couldn’t Change is the perennial defence when things don’t work out, and Can I Go Home says goodbye with a sneer, a smirk and a smile. It’s been a long time since we last heard from Stoneage Hearts, but listening to this record, it feels they’ve never been gone.

In Hearts Wake planted clues to Skydancer’s existence under the CD trays of their previous album, last year’s Earthwalker. But until now, the back-to-back releases’ simultaneous recording was all hushed up. Skydancer’s release took fans by surprise, providing suspended disbelief from an all-out promo assault. Cynicism aside, Skydancer far surpasses the sum of its double-concept-album parts.

Distinguishing yourself in the hardcore scene is harder than separating pre-mixed bourbon and Coke. Recorded at the same time as Earthwalker, Skydancer awakens a latent protector spirit; vicious when threatened yet gentle in repose. The title track’s mosh-ready fierceness is a case in point.

Compared to Earthwalker, Skywalker loads up on sheer tonnage. Badlands spirits us away on massed voices and plunging, earthshaking riffs, while Insomnia’s hunger chews up bitumen, unleashing growled fury and highflying clean vocals.

In Hearts Wake are undeniably a guitar lover’s hardcore band. Oblivion impresses with top-shelf noodling, a potent stake raiser in the often stuffed-crust hardcore scene. When paired with the atmospherics grown like forests around cities of thunder on Erase (which features Hacktivist MCs Ben Marvin and J Hurley) it’s enough to win prog fans over. Even the radio-tempered Wildfire scarcely feels overwrought. These thick hearted tunes hold their own.

Skydancer is a blazing record, confirming In Hearts Wake’s much vaunted potential has come into bloom. On the conclusion to the Byron boys’ double-album journey, they return with an ultimate hardcore boon.

TOM VALCANIS

PATRICK EMERY

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BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 43

GIG GUIDE

WHAT'S ON AROUND MELBOURNE THIS WEEK

For all the latest gigs check out beat.com.au

WEDNESDAY MAY 27 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Hotel, Richmond. 7:30pm. $26.50.

• the claire birchall band + the electric

guitars + ali e Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $7.00.

• aidan chu Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm.

• fitzroyalty - feat: philemon +sean

• dizzy’s big band - feat: peter hearne Dizzy’s

• jack evan johnson + the attractor beams +

• julien wilson ‘b for chicken’ Bennetts Lane Jazz

• love migrate + sunbeam sound machine +

• bopstretch Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14.00.

Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $18.00.

• let’s sell the horse, let’s sell the house

just to dance - feat: andrea keeble + suzanna simpson + dan witton + helen mountfort + judy gunson Melbourne Recital

kirkwood Little & Olver, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.

michael waugh Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm.

crepes Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• mainstage band wars heat 6 - feat: old

Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $17.50.

street + kopious + bounty hunters + the gunn show + mellow rage + natas + mick pealing Musicland, Fawkner. 5:30pm. $10.00.

• masco sound system + cinema 6 + shrimpwitch + big league Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

$81.90.

• ministry of plenty + habits + hideous

Centre, Southbank. 2:00pm & 6:00pm. $38.00.

• merle street jazz band Ruby’s Music Room, • neil finn Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 8:00pm.

• recital night - feat: monash university

jazz ensemble Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $15.00.

• starr-schulz & friends - feat: paul van

ross + ari wenig Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.

• stellafauna + trick dog syndicate + humans as animals Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $10.00.

• the randy anderson + jade macrae + gary

$8.00.

towns + card houses Workers Club, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. $7.00.

• morth + kenaniah-1522 + hollow ground

• nat allison Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.

• next - feat: athenas wake + epimetheus +

earthender Colonial Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm.

$15.00.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

• pablo naranjo Great Britain Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm.

• forest falls + ben whiting + bears Workers Club, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. $8.00.

• kickass karaoke competition Sooki Lounge,

+ brooklyn queens The Shadow Electric, Abbotsford.

7:00pm. $7.00.

• odd souls + we are but citizens + bailey

jones + eddy dillon Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick.

8:00pm.

• power + masses + no class Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy.

8:00pm.

• royalty noise + wet lips + nafasi + midflite Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

Belgrave. 8:00pm.

• sarah mccleod + mic skeletonBaha Tacos &

birdhouse + lace & whiskey Bar Open, Fitzroy.

• sean mcmahon & the moonmen Post Office

• little miss remembering + plymouth + 8:00pm.

• ngaiire + sarah belkner Howler, Brunswick.

7:30pm. $12.30.

• northside jam collective 24 Moons, Northcote.

8:00pm.

• oolluu + itsokman + the marquis +

lasseter’s reef Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm.

• rad navajo + three hundred celcius + kate bart + sophie officer Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood.

8:00pm. $6.00.

• rebecca & billy’s sing-a-long St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 7:00pm. $15.00.

Tapas Bar, Rye. 8:00pm. $15.00.

Hotel, Coburg. 8:00pm.

• soul in the basement - feat: the shackmen

+ vince peach + pierre baroni Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $10.00.

• the bellrays & supersuckers Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong. 8:00pm. $45.00.

• the way + wildcraft Public Bar, North Melbourne.

Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm. $6.00.

• vowel movement + sleepy dreamers + the

darjeelings Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm.

Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 8:30pm. $99.00.

• christian leotta Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 6:00pm. $38.00.

• coffin up + mark gardner + tooze & bruce Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:30pm. $5.00.

• josh seymour band + baker’s digest + gun

• gumbo club - feat: pugsley buzzard Ding

barrel straights Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $7.00.

• iris dement + pieta brown Thornbury Theatre,

• muddy’s blues roulette Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• open mic Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.

• open mic Yacht Club Hotel, Williamstown. 7:30pm.

• open mic Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 8:00pm.

• open mic night Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm.

• soundtrack youth concert 2015 - feat:

various artists Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 7:30pm. $17.00.

• spencer p jones & charlie marshall Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 8:00pm.

• the brunswick hotel’s open mic Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm.

• wine, whiskey, women - feat: samara cullen

+ shani wakefield Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.

8:00pm.

THURSDAY MAY 28

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • andrew riggo Customs House Hotel, Williamstown.

8:00pm.

• andy the kid + lung + myyth + the iron eye Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm.

• bloodhounds on my trail + the

crimsonettes + luna ghost John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. $8.00.

• british india + grenadiers + tired lion Corner

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 44

• the grid Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.

+ tigerfunk + lewis cancut Lucky Coq, Windsor.

Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm.

Thornbury. 8:00pm. $60.00.

• james sherlock trio Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy.

9:30pm.

• jazz thursdays - feat: john montesante

quintet + yvette johansson The Commune, East

Melbourne. 6:00pm.

9:00pm. $10.00.

• traditional irish music session Drunken Poet,

• timbalero thursdays La Di Da, Melbourne Cbd.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • backstage blues night - feat: justin yap

band + the shake shack boogie house band + dj barry maxwell Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm.

• donna iverson Open Studio, Northcote. 6:00pm.

• jessica moussi + khristian mizzi Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.

• nick anderson Carters Bar, Northcote. 8:00pm.

Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• polyxeni - feat: jenny theologidis & wayne

simmons Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm.

• recital night - feat: monash university

jazz ensemble Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $15.00.

• snow white & other grimm tales - feat:

opera scholars australia Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 7:30pm. $25.00.

• steinway d piano series Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm. $12.50.

gennaux + simon o’neil + david hardy + roger clark + rory clark Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $30.00.

• up up away + the do yo thangs The B.east, Brunswick East. 9:00pm.

• vardos Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm. $10.00.

• walter smith iii quintet Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm. $39.00.

• rugcutters Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 7:30pm.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

• open mic nite Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 7:30pm.

• the writers block #3 - feat: helen begley

+ carl pannuzzo + jody galvin + brendan bonsak + lauren lee williams + frank james Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 7:30pm.

8:00pm.

• wilding + em malley + oscar lush + shark

alarm Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.

• willowy + direwolf + tom dockray Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 7:45pm.

FRIDAY MAY 29

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • acrobat - feat: david chong & nathan

slater Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 6:30pm. $65.00.

• alinta & the jazz emperors + string

quartet Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $30.00.

• dana czarski & nicolai sanadze Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm.

• daveys fridays - feat: disco dave thornton Daveys Bar & Restaurant, Frankston. 9:00pm. $10.00.

• finishing school Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 9:30pm.

• gian slater & maya Bennetts Lane Jazz Club,

various artists The B.east, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.

• morbidly o’beat + elk & mammoth + crayon king + jade alice 24 Moons, Northcote. 8:00pm. $12.00.

• paul grabowsky new trio Uptown Jazz Cafe,

West Melbourne. 6:00pm.

• tribute to blue note - feat: christophe

• what the funk fridays Purple Emerald, Northcote.

• kickin’ the b at 303 - feat: kim kelaart trio 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.

7:30pm. $20.00.

• open mic Station 59, Richmond. 8:00pm.

• gayle cavanagh & the mixed company band

• minton’s playhouse sessions - feat:

11:00pm. $15.00.

• the pacific belles Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.

• jonathan & wendy wade Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $10.00.

Abbottsford. 4:00pm.

7:00pm.

• voix d’or Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 8:00pm.

• seedy jeezus + i am duckeye + the black

• diana radar + dead dingo + chelsea bleach

• the good egg thursdays - feat: henry who

7:30pm. $73.91.

• the wombats Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne.

• chick corea & herbie hancock Hamer Hall (arts

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK

• steve lucas solo session Mr Boogie Man Bar,

Cbd. 7:30pm & 10:00pm. $50.00.

• tingy celestino Yacht Club Hotel, Williamstown.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

alleys Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $5.00.

• the cat empire Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne

7:30pm. $8.00.

• rum & records - feat: joey elbows The Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

Presented by synthgazers Togetherapart and the most reputable street press magazine around (Beat, obv), new mini-festival Harmonic Divisions launches this weekend with a massively stacked eight artist lineup. Get ready for this: Togetherapart, Dear Plastic, Bayou, Luna Ghost, Kakariko, Nonagon and Oolluu are all set to play at the launch, with special guests Fazerdaze (NZ) and visuals from Abre Ojos. Saturday May 30. 5.30pm. Grace Darling. Harmonic Divisions.

+ prophetess Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.

pinto with hannah cameron & career advice Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• the rookies The Rooks Return, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• tom fryer band + project 11 303, Northcote.

• atlas + star gunn Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.

HARMONIC DIVISIONS

$10.00.

• njoy + foxy + moron kuceli + jimi kritzler

8:00pm.

GIG OF THE WEEK!

Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:30pm. $15.00.

Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $25.00.

• jeremy woolhouse’s silverbeat quintet Boite Surrey Music Cafe, 8:00pm. $18.00.

• joelistics & astronomy class + srey

channthy + vida sunshyne Howler, Brunswick.

8:00pm. $28.00.

• lucky seven The Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.

• manins & gould with sam evans Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 7:00pm. $45.00.

• neil finn Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 8:00pm. $81.90.

9:00pm.

• admiral ackbar’s dishonourable discharge

+ shadow league + dead city lights + jud campbell + the berkeley hunts Old Bar, Fitzroy.

8:30pm. $10.00.

• agent 37 + the ramshackle army + the

shorts + northwood Karova Lounge, Ballarat.

8:30pm. $6.00.

• aj bassett & the hounds Black Hatt, Geelong.

9:30pm.

• big winter + playwrite + mike waters +

patches Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm.

$15.00.

• british india + grenadiers + tired lion 170 Russell, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm.

• broozer + grudge! + bog + spider goat

canyon Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 7:00pm. $5.00.

• cash savage & the last drinks + eaten by

dogs + palm springs Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood.

8:00pm. $15.00.

• chris wilson Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 5:00pm.

• church + world at a glance + nose blood

catharsis + sick machine + celiac Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 7:30pm. $6.00.

• closet straights + big smoke + bobbybrave Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12.00.

• conchilla + ghost towns of the midwest Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm.

• dj kez Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm.

• einsteins toyboys + cranked Musicland, Fawkner.

7:30pm. $10.00.

• elvis is in the building Big Huey’s Diner, South Melbourne. 8:00pm.

• fazerdaze + cool sounds + kinder John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:30pm. $8.00.

• friday night live - feat: single income &

eastwood revine Pier Live, Frankston. 8:00pm. $5.00.

• get serious Carters Bar, Northcote. 9:00pm.

• hey hey it’s friday - feat: astro boys Royal Hotel, Essendon. 10:00pm.

• rebecca mendoza Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.

• hot wings + my old dutch Retreat Hotel, Brunswick.

• richard bona quintet Arts Centre, Melbourne.

• juke box racket Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:30pm.

9:30pm. $25.00.

6:30pm & 9:00pm. $30.00.

• sam keevers quintet plays the music of

bernie mcgann + paper tiger Uptown Jazz Cafe,

Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

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9:30pm.

• kingston crown + the hypnotic + b-two + no

name nath + d’fro Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:00pm.

• kit convict & thee terrible two + midnight

woolf + the shabbab + the reprobettes Tote

Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.

• la danse macabre - feat: brunswick

massive resident djs Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy.

9:00pm.

• middle street Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 8:00pm.

• no dramas Customs House Hotel, Williamstown. 9:30pm.

• otious + cassettes for kids Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• powerstryde Little & Olver, Fitzroy. 10:00pm. $20.00.

• random subjects + twinspeak +

silverstakes + amberfield Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm.

• rolling stones black & blue revival - feat:

nick barker + ashley davies + shane o’mara + bruce haymes + justin garner + grant cummerford Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 8:00pm.

$23.00.

• seri vida Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $12.00.

• she who rocks - feat: baby animals & the

superjesus Max Watt’s, Melbourne. 7:00pm. $46.00.

• sleazy listening - feat: arks + richard

kelly + hysteric + k.hoop Toff In Town, Melbourne

Cbd. 6:00pm.

• sons of zion Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 9:00pm. $45.00.

• spidergoat canyon + bodies + batpiss +

legends of motorsport + dr invisiablo + wicked city + the council + hard rubbish + angry mules Public Bar, North Melbourne. 6:30pm. $10.00.

• spook the banshee + the stabbing trade

+ mojo pin + skymoth Tote Hotel, Collingwood.

8:00pm. $10.00.

VOYAGER

If you’re Australian and a fan of progressive metal, stop reading because you’ve already got tickets to this.

After dropping their album V last year, and getting top ten nods from almost every metal-centric publication around, Australia’s premier metal act Voyager has left their hometown of Perth to embark on their Seasons of Age tour, and they’ve got a show locked in at The Evelyn this Friday May 29. Just remember, this is your last chance to catch Voyager before they head over to the states later this year.

oath of damnation + hordes of the black cross + contaminated Reverence Hotel, Footscray.

6:00pm. $15.00.

• andrew strong Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $55.00.

• arakeye + the soulenikoes + lung &

thugonaut Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $10.00.

• bang - feat: prepared like a bride + earth

project + along shorelines Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $25.00.

• sub & the backbones The Loft, Warrnambool.

• boris Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:30pm. $44.00.

• the cherry dolls + the demon parade + sh

• byo vinyl night The Fox Hotel (south Melbourne),

8:00pm.

riff Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $9.00.

• the fabulous marty fripp Nosh @ Newport, Newport. 7:00pm.

• the martel corporation + scrimshaw four

+ mya wallace Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• the tarantinos + ghost gang + king wolf + dj max crawdaddy Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13.00.

• the toss + the me-graines + amonal + the

interceptors Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.

• tonedeaf presents... - feat: various artists Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $13.00.

• trans paranoia + the sleepless + horace

bones + crowbait 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• voyager + klone + branch arterial + glass empire Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $20.00.

• watts on presents - feat: various artists Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 8:00pm.

• we all want to Northcote Social Club, Northcote.

8:30pm. $12.00.

• zerafina zara & the alleged associates Smokehouse 101, Maidstone. 7:00pm.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • alleged associates Smokehouse 101, Maidstone.

8:00pm.

• bandaoke Pier Live, Frankston. 9:00pm.

• bloom Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $17.50.

• dan warner & friends Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 11:00pm.

• dandenong ranges ukulele festival - feat:

tomoki sato + paul jonson + lucy wise + alex burns + aj leonard & jenny rowlands + matthew fagan + sarah carroll + amie brulee + royal dukuleles + miss wattle & phuc + ufo + black orchid stringband + kalulu + jam tarts trio + emerald primary school ukulele orchestra + ukuleleland with matthew fagan & friends Burrinja Cafe, Upwey. 12:00pm. $70.00.

• humdinger blues bar - feat: ian collard Humdinger, Frankston . 7:00pm.

• jules sheldon Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:30pm.

• spencer p jones Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 5:30pm.

• suzannah espie & the last word Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:30pm.

• the gun barrel straights Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 8:30pm.

• the hornets Catfish, Fitzroy. 9:00pm.

• time lapse Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm.

• tobias hengeveld + james kenyon Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 8:30pm.

SATURDAY MAY 30

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • abominator + destruktor + desecrator +

• british india Workers Club (geelong), Geelong. 8:00pm.

BRITISH INDIA

When I was in high school, my friend used to brag that his older brother was friends with one of the dudes from British India, and I thought it was the coolest shit ever. I used to go to his house and we’d play Halo while listening to Guillotine.

Good times. This week should be a whole lot better though, with British India playing at The Corner on Thursday May 28, then again at 170 Russell on Friday May 29. If you don’t have tickets already, sorry, they’re all sold out.

Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $22.00.

• white bleaches Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 8:30pm.

• wire bird + hunting season + the sweets +

brunga’s band Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• xylouris ensemble Post Office Hotel, Coburg.

4:00pm.

• y.e.t.i., king evil + y.e.t.i. + king evil The Loft, Warrnambool. 8:00pm.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • andrew nolte & his orchestra Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $25.00.

• conchilla Open Studio, Northcote. 5:00pm.

South Melbourne. 7:30pm.

• derek browell + double take + the boltons

Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.

• dj ethan mclaren Prince Public Bar, St Kilda . 8:00pm.

• chelsea wilson + birdshit brothers Retreat • death bells Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 2:00am. $7.00.

• divine ascension Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong.

8:00pm. $12.00.

• elasticalpaca + tom stevenson band +

chuck & dec mckinnon & the knockabouts Black Hatt, Geelong. 9:30pm.

• electric guitars + tankerville + smb + wet

meal + swim team Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• goatpiss gasoline Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 9:30pm.

• harmonic divisions #1 - feat: dear plastic

+ bayou + luna ghost + karakio + fazerdaze + togetherapart + nonagon + oolluu Grace

Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 5:30pm. $12.00.

• jaya + fritzwicky + matt rad + nam +

obliveus Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:00pm.

• juke box racket Victoria Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. 9:00pm.

• karaoke with zoe Customs House Hotel, Williamstown. 9:00pm.

• kattimoni + mayfield Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• lady blades Gem Bar, Collingwood. 8:00pm.

band Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 8:00pm. $10.00.

Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• saturdays r covered - feat: radio star Royal Hotel (essendon), Essendon. 10:00pm.

• hetty kate quintet Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 6:00pm & 8:00pm.

• jeremy neale Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne Cbd.

Ballarat. 8:30pm. $10.00.

• the mismade + claws & organs + falconio +

bonnie mercer Public Bar, North Melbourne. 8:30pm.

$10.00.

• the vibraphone orkestra + rebellious bird Sooki Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm.

• underground lovers + crimsonettes

8:30pm. $12.00.

$15.00.

• the pigs Flying Saucer Club, Elsternwick. 8:00pm. $20.00.

• the shug monkeys Union Hotel (brunswick),

Room, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $17.50.

Southbank. 7:00pm. $25.00.

• lucky seven The Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.

• papa chango Open Studio, Northcote. 8:30pm.

• slow grind fever #25 - feat: richie 1250 +

mohair slim + pierre baroni + miss goldie Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 10:00pm. $8.00.

• steve magnusson quartet Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 9:30pm.

• stoneflower trio Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 7:00pm. $30.00. $30.00.

$30.00.

11:00pm. $15.00.

• version part iv - feat: sekkleman + ranking

yoni + rebel bass + col mustard + lq + subz 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• we may never meet again (the music of amy

winehouse) - feat: movement 9 Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $25.00.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • ben salter The Eastern, Ballarat East. 4:00pm.

• blue eyes cry Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:30pm.

• brunny saturday arvo session - feat: shane

diiorio band Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.

• cassette Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm.

• dandenong ranges ukulele festival - feat:

belle Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13.00.

Abbotsford. 3:00pm.

• kurt elling Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne),

superjesus Max Watt’s, Melbourne. 7:00pm. $46.00.

• tenderloins + the scouts Labour In Vain, Fitzroy.

• the cherry dolls + tiny giants Karova Lounge,

party - feat: various artists Yarra Hotel,

9:00pm. $10.00.

• chris wilson & band Union Hotel (brunswick),

• the black aces + the ugly kings + memphis

Ocean Grove. 8:00pm. $15.00.

• pop boomerang 100th release launch

• jon & wendy wade + the insiders Ruby’s Music

• she who rocks - feat: baby animals & the

7:00pm.

Kilda. 8:00pm. $35.00.

• phil manning Piping Hot Chicken & Burger Grill,

• for the love of tap Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 4:00pm.

• the grid Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd.

maw + daemon pyre + anient + flesh of the earth + brutonomy + false prophet + sarspell + behold the defiant + massacre of innocence Workers Club, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. $5.00.

• riff raiders + the bits + the small victories

3:00pm.

• my friend the chocolate cake St Kilda Memo, St

• the hornets Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 11:00pm.

Cbd. 9:30pm. $25.00.

• poison fish + three quarter beast + sordid

• rest in pieces death fest - feat: hadal

8:00pm. $23.00.

• kraken folk session Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.

• fem belling quintet Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne

• the glass moon Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm.

Collingwood. 8:00pm. $12.00.

bruce Shebeen, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $15.00.

• kevin borich express Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh.

• the furbelows Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 8:30pm.

Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm & 10:00pm. $49.00.

• orb + whipper + barbituates Tote Hotel,

ordeal + pigtails Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm.

• psychedelic coven presents a 4 headed banger - feat: pearls + sundays & cybele + scattered purgatory + power Tote Hotel,

2:00pm.

• harrison storm + amistat + gena rose

• eric harland voyager Bennetts Lane Jazz Club,

• the bad plus Malthouse Theatre, Southbank. 7:00pm.

Collingwood. 7:00pm.

9:00pm.

• georgia maq + jerome knappett Old Bar, Fitzroy.

• shelley segal Northcote Social Club, Northcote.

• new age + dirty rats + jumpbox Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East. 8:00pm. $10.00.

• drunken poachers Drunken Poet, West Melbourne.

Brunswick. 9:00pm.

tomoki sato + paul jonson + lucy wise + alex burns + aj leonard & jenny rowlands + matthew fagan + sarah carroll + amie brulee + royal dukuleles + miss wattle & phuc + ufo + black orchid stringband + kalulu + jam tarts trio + emerald primary school ukulele orchestra + ukuleleland with matthew fagan & friends Burrinja Cafe, Upwey. 12:00pm. $70.00.

• deep creek + ian archibald Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $10.00.

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 45

GIG GUIDE

WHAT'S ON AROUND MELBOURNE THIS WEEK

THE PUSH PRESENT

ACCESS ALL AGES

For all the latest gigs check out beat.com.au Brunswick. 5:00pm.

• thomas hugh & shannon bourne Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.

• three kings Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:30pm.

• tom dockray + baby blue The B.east, Brunswick East. 9:00pm.

• tooze & bruce, aarti + tooze & bruce + aarti Reverence Hotel, Footscray. 8:30pm. $5.00.

• vic old time jam session - feat: craig

woodward + warren rough & friends Victoria Hotel (brunswick), Brunswick. 5:00pm.

SUNDAY MAY 31

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • acrobat - feat: david chong & nathan

slater Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 5:30pm. $65.00.

• and...action! - feat: flinders quartet Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank. 2:30pm. $40.00.

• band of fun! Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.

• city sharps + new age Mr Boogie Man Bar, Abbottsford. 7:00pm. $5.00.

• easy now - feat: agent 86 + tom showtime +

dj maars Penny Black, Brunswick. 5:00pm.

• eric harland voyager Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm & 10:00pm. $49.00.

• estee big band Penny Black, Brunswick. 5:00pm.

• janet ross-fahy Milanos Tavern, Brighton. 1:30pm.

• kurt elling Hamer Hall (arts Centre Melbourne), Southbank. 2:00pm. $25.00.

• musical theatre open mic night Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $12.50.

• my friend the chocolate cake Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 3:00pm.

• nadav Yacht Club Hotel, Williamstown. 1:00pm.

• nicolas ospina trio + juan andres ospina

trio Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. charles bukowski in verse and song Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd.

• play the piano drunk¼ 3:00pm. $12.50.

• sunday soultrain - feat: phil para Daveys Bar & Restaurant, Frankston. 2:30pm.

• the grid Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 11:00pm. $15.00.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • airway lanes Inkerman Hotel, Balaclava. 4:00pm.

• amber isles + danika smith + monique

shelford Workers Club, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. $7.00.

• battlefronts - feat: lachie and the victorian youth symphony orchestra Coburg Town Hall, Coburg. 2:30pm. $20.00.

• beersoaked sundays - feat: beloved elk +

dear plastic + glaciers Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm.

$6.00.

• caravana sun + the kite machine + gena

rose bruce Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm. $15.00.

• cherry blues - feat: sweet felecia & the

honeytones + dj max crawdaddy Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 3:00pm. $5.00.

• child + daggers mid flight + mytth +

holy serpent + dj chris pearson Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 2:00pm. $12.00.

• chris wilson St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 3:00pm. $15.00.

des chio Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm.

• jam at musicland sundays - feat: jameoke Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm.

• kill dirty youth + zombitches + cosmic

kahuna + black alleys vs kdy Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm.

• king wolf + animal shaman blues Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 5:00pm.

• large no 12’s Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• lisa edwards & michael christian Big Huey’s Diner, South Melbourne. 4:00pm.

• loose tooth + team work + lux ovarye’s +

weird time John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 4:00pm.

• matt borg trio Catfish, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• minimum wage - feat: sunday & cybelle + scattered purgatory + council of elders Public Bar, North Melbourne. 3:00pm.

• revel in chaos + james mccann & the new

vindictives + fast handsome Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy.

9:00pm.

• sounds of songlines Bella Union Bar, Carlton.

4:30pm.

• sugar fed leopards + modesty + richie 1250

& the brides of christ + the vibraphonic orkestra Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 3:30pm. $10.00.

• the mcqueens + the winter suns + demi louise Toff In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm. $7.00.

• the sensational hurricanes + dj buddy love Workers Club, Fitzroy. 1:00pm. $5.00.

• wedge tail records battle of the bands - feat: living earth sound sessions + satellites & stereos + its ok man + strangers in town + paper hearts + snark + once were lost Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $10.00.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • all day fritz Open Studio, Northcote. 5:00pm. $5.00.

• andrew swift + jamie hay & liam white +

darren gibson + ben bunting Reverence Hotel,

Footscray. 3:00pm.

• autumnfolks - feat: 8 foot felix + danika

smith + daniel pinkerton + karl cossar + ministry of plenty Scratch Warehouse, North Melbourne. 11:00am. $10.00.

• bakersfield glee club Gem Bar, Collingwood.

8:00pm.

• bugger monday sundays - feat: andrew

nolte & his orchestra Spotted Mallard, Brunswick.

4:30pm.

• crosshaven Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 4:00pm.

• dandenong ranges ukulele festival - feat:

tomoki sato + paul jonson + lucy wise + alex burns + aj leonard & jenny rowlands + matthew fagan + sarah carroll + amie brulee + royal dukuleles + miss wattle & phuc + ufo + black orchid stringband + kalulu + jam tarts trio + emerald primary school ukulele orchestra + ukuleleland with matthew fagan & friends Burrinja Cafe, Upwey. 12:00pm. $70.00.

• flying engine stringband Fancy Hank’s Bbq Joint, Melbourne. 12:00pm.

• defeater + bane Corner Hotel, Richmond. 7:30pm.

• ivan zar Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.

• dream in colour kidz + plotz + the creeping

• jvg guitar method Union Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm.

$40.00.

bam Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 6:00pm.

• erik parker & the chapters + the beautiful chains + trash fairys Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

• ezra lee and the havoc band Beav’s Bar, Geelong.

8:00pm. $15.00.

• justin yap band Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 4:00pm.

Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 9:00pm.

• kerri simpson Union Hotel, Brunswick. 3:30pm.

• malcolm hill & this is the show + peter

finlay 303, Northcote. 3:30pm.

• michelle gardiner Customs House Hotel, • miss whiskey Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 6:30pm.

• oxygen college artist development

program - feat: jordan bailey Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 6:00pm.

• rebecca barnard Post Office Hotel, Coburg. 4:30pm.

BEAT MAGAZINE PAGE 46

HOUSE OF LADOSHA

The emergence of New York’s queer rap has been the musical story of the decade, breaking through off the backs of powerhouses like Mykki Blanco and Zebra Katz, but Brooklyn collective House of LaDosha also had a big hand in it. The collective, which has over twenty members of varying commitment, became a safe harbor for the mostly fashion design students to bound music ideas around in. Now, House of LaDosha are one of the most controversial live shows around, and they’re performing this Saturday May 30 at the Curtin. Get there, have a great time, and watch the ensuing media frenzy unfold.

Lucky Coq, Windsor. 4:00pm.

• terry mccarthy + the warner brothers Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.

• the cash cows Ascot Vale Hotel, Ascot Vale. 8:00pm.

• the f100s Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North. 4:00pm.

• the gusset rustlers & the band who knew

too much Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 5:30pm.

• the prayer babies Royal Oak Hotel, Fitzroy North.

4:00pm.

• the rusty terminals Carters Bar, Northcote. 5:00pm.

• the shotgun wedding + james kenyon

music Yarra Hotel, Abbotsford. 8:00pm.

• tooze & bruce sunday residency Tago Mago, Thornbury. 7:00pm.

MONDAY JUN 1

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • allan brown quintet Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. $30.00.

• dana czarski & nicolai sanadze Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 6:00pm.

• julian lage trio Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $39.00.

• monday night jazz party - feat: various

artists St Kilda Memo, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $15.00.

• the grid Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 11:00pm. $15.00.

• tim pledger 303, Northcote. 8:00pm.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS • cherry jam Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.

• huntsman Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm. $6.00.

• mundane mondays - feat: various artists Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5.00.

• t-rek Boney, Melbourne Cbd. 10:00pm.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK • ben howard Margaret Court Arena, Melbourne. 7:30pm. $70.86.

• monday night cajun dance party - feat: the

johnny can’t dance cajun band Victoria Hotel,

Brunswick. 8:00pm.

• the mutual appreciation society - feat: ben

mitchell & fiona lee maynard Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.

TUESDAY JUN 2

• ken maher + al wright & tony hargreaves

Williamstown. 3:00pm.

WAnTed BAndS/ACTS WAnTed for Espy Shows. Shoot an email through to mark@gunnmusic.com.au for more details MISSInG Key 5. I’ve checked the monkeys mouth, the toilet bowl, the foam pit AND the car. Nuthin’. If found please contact JSherry@amazing.com.au. I’m locked out.

WITH JESS ZANON

• gateway to the sky + the berkeley hunts +

• animal hands Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.

Kilda . 8:00pm.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC • artur dutkiewicz trio Bennetts Lane Jazz Club,

ALL AGES TIMETABLE WedneSdAy MAy 27

• Under the Radar - Youth Short Film Competition (screening) at St Kilda Town Hall, 99a Carlisle St, St Kilda. 6-7.30pm, Free, AA. SATURdAy MAy 29

• Jarrow w/ Biddlewood, 130, Snowy Nasdaq at Dancing Dog, 42 Albert Street, Footscray, 7:30, Free, https://www.facebook.com/ jarrowmusic, AA.

• paul hogan Powell Hotel, Footscray. 10:30am. $5.00.

6:00pm.

• sarah maclaine Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $25.00.

• the grid Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 11:00pm. $15.00.

Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $39.00.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK

$12.50.

• girls on key Open Studio, Northcote. 8:00pm.

Centre, Southbank. 7:30pm. $129.00.

• mia wray + dave oh Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm.

• duo ras dashen Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne

Ferntree Gully Hotel, Ferntree Gully. 2:00pm.

If you like writing and have seen an impressive show or listened to a rad album lately, why not submit it into The Push and we’ll publish it online?

It’s a great way to hone your writing skills and gain some exposure, and we love receiving them. Send us your words to push@thepush.com.au

• peter voglis Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd.

brett franke + tim hulsman Prince Public Bar, St

• spencer p jones & the escape committee

• sunday sessions - feat: various artists

Vinyl Splinters are a garage/ surf four-piece from Western Melbourne who have been gigging for just over a year, they even held a residency at The Tote last October. On June 4 their debut EP Cheeky is set to drop on Bandcamp and it’s going to be something special. You can hear the first single from the EP, a sweet sea-side track called Splash, on Soundcloud. Keep an eye on them at www. facebook.com/vinylsplinters

• taste of indie tuesday - feat: rick hart +

• chick corea & herbie hancock Melbourne Recital

• sunday sessions - feat: various artists

Triple j Unearthed have been mighty generous once again this year and they’re giving one Australian band the chance to win an opening slot at Splendour in the Grass. The prize consists of being flown into Byron Bay, put up in guest camping for the weekend, and opening the whole festival on the amphitheatre main stage. Groovy, right? If you already have a track or two up on Unearthed, you’re already in the running. If you don’t, be sure to put something up by June 14. Head to www.triplejunearthed.com for further details.

• milonga Bella Union Bar, Carlton. 8:00pm.

• luna ghost Public Bar, North Melbourne. 7:30pm. $6.00.

• sarah mcleod Whole Lotta Love, Brunswick East.

Spotted Mallard, Brunswick. 8:00pm.

Our feature artist this month is The Bean Project, a unique acoustic folk/jazz duo who won last year’s top prize in the state-wide FReeZA Push Start Battle of the Bands, beating over 300 bands in the process and taking home a sweet prize pack valued at more than $11 000. The Push speak to them about their upcoming debut EP, their influences, inspiration, touring and their journey competing in Battle of the Bands. If you jump on Soundcloud you can also listen to a few of their tunes.

• coyote divide Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $6.00.

• bebop duo Ruby’s Music Room, Melbourne Cbd. 8:30pm.

8:00pm. $20.00.

There may not be many FReeZA events this week but that’s probably because most committees are busy preparing for the first FReeZA Push Start Battle of the Bands heats. A few are even onto their second heat. If you make your way to www.thepush. com.au there’s a complete list of heats across all areas of Victoria. There you can also find details on the guidelines and application process if you‘re a musician interested in entering the competition.

But be quick because many committees have finalised their competing bands.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

• rockabilly sundays Prince Public Bar, St Kilda .

8:00pm.

If you’ve ever wanted to get music industry and event management training for FREE, check out the Push FReeZA Summits, which are happening around Victoria during the midyear holidays.

These training sessions are a terrific opportunity to improve your knowledge of event management issues, as well as participate in hands-on workshops, network and hear firsthand from music industry experts. They’re happening in Traralgon on June 30, Ballarat on July 7 and Fitzroy on July 9. Register online at www.thepush.com.au. Full program will be released soon.

Cbd. 7:00pm & 9:30pm. $39.00.

• irish session Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:00pm.

• joe lovano Melbourne Recital Centre, Southbank.

6:00pm. $25.00.

WATCH INTERVIEWS, CHATS & AWKWARD SILENCES... BEAT.COM.AU/TV

• klub muk 303, Northcote. 7:30pm.

• wrokdown - feat: colleen hewett Musicland, Fawkner. 7:30pm. $5.00.

WEDNESDAY 27TH 7PM

MELLOW DIAS THUMP FEAT.

CAZEAUX O.S.L.O & GEEZY THURSDAY 28TH 7PM

?

Wed 27th May

WINE, WHISKEY, WOMEN 8pm: Samara Cullen 9pm: Shani Wakefield Thurs 28th May

FRIDAY 29TH 7PM

AFREEEKA

8pm: 9pm:

FEAT.

MANCHILD FUTURE ROOTS CHRIS BONATO SATURDAY 30TH 7PM

PETTY EXCUSE FEAT.

LOUIS MCCOY PAURIC FREEMAN SIR-LOIN SUNDAY 31ST 6PM - 1AM

ZEKT COLLECTIVE FEAT. SOME BOYZ + FRIENDS

Jessica Moussi Khristian Mizzi Fri 29th May

6pm: Traditional 8:30pm:

Irish Session

Jules Sheldon Sat 30th May

Drunken Poachers 4pm: Crosshaven 6.30pm:Miss Whiskey W E E K lY T r I V I a

9pm:

Sun 31st May

Tuesdays

The Drunken Poet, 65 Peel Street (directly opposite Queen Vic Market), Phone: 03 9348 9797. www.thedrunkenpoet.com.au

PA HIRE Comprehensive PA systems delivered, set up and operated with crew. Compact, easy, sound systems you can pickup and assemble yourself.Components such as microphones, speakers and effects are also available separately. Lights also available.

For details phone Mark Barry on 03 9889 1999 or 0419 993 966

www.bssound.com.au bssound@bigpond.com

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KINDRED STUDIOS

IN YARRAVILLE

Co-Working & Creative Office Studios Short and long-term leases available Base your digital media, recording or other creative business out of Kindred Studios.

Call 9689 9859 to make an enquiry.

kindredstudios.com.au

03 9687 0233

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP

With Christie Eliezer * Stuff for this column to be emailed to <celiezer@netspace.net.au> by Friday 5pm

AUSSIE RADIO, MAGS, MORE ENGAGING ON FACEBOOK THAN BANDS

CONRAD BROWNE LEAVING JOY

Radio remains the Australian sector that engages most with Facebook users, says a first quarter 2015 Facebook Performance Report from The Online Circle.

It measured the fanbase of a business and the extent to which the business engaged with them. Joan Warner of Commercial Radio Australia said social media helped the sector “interact … and continue to lead the field in building lasting, deep relationships with audiences.”

Radio scored three times higher than runner-up, newspapers and magazines. Musicians and bands were at number six, ahead of sports.

Conrad Browne is stepping down as GM of LGBTIQ radio station JOY 94.9 FM at the end of June. He has been 10 years with the station, playing an essential role in its rise, starting as a volunteer, then working in sponsorship and production. He has been GM for the last three years. Browne said, “JOY means so much to me and has been more then just a job for the last ten years; it’s been a place that has helped me learn and grow in so many ways and allowed me the opportunity to be a part of such a dynamic organisation that is truly one of a kind.” JOY is looking through Australia and internationally for a replacement.

MUSIC BIZ SAFE FROM AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL CUTS

COMMUNITY TV FIGHTS FOR SURVIVAL

DANCE AGENCIES SOAPBOX, 360, MERGE

THINGS WE HEAR

The axe began wielding at the Australia Council after the Federal Budget slashed its apportion for 2015-16 to $184.5 million. Thankfully, the Contemporary Touring Initiative and Contemporary Music Touring Program will continue, as well as Playing Australia. Among the arts programs axed is ArtsStart, which helped recent arts graduates set up businesses. Rallies and petitions have followed cuts by the Australian Government.

In a prelude to an expansion into the Asian and US markets, the Ministry of Sound’s Sydney-based booking, management and tour agency Soapbox Artists and Melbourne’s 360 Agency have merged.

They now represent some of Australia’s biggest DJs and producers including Timmy Trumpet, Uberjak’d, MaRLo, Havana Brown, Savage, Stafford Brothers, Bombs Away, Ruby Rose, Kronic, The Faders and SCNDL. Soapbox Artists GM Trent Grimes and 360 Agency MD Pete Sofo will jointly run Soapbox Artists.

TAYLOR SWIFT’S VIDEO BREAKS VEVO VIEW RECORD

Taylor Swift’s Bad Blood video broke a Vevo record by getting 20.1 million views in 24 hours. The old record was set in August by Nikki Minaj’s Anaconda, with 19.6 million. Swift, who had eight wins in last week’s Billboard awards, has had five billion video views in total. Eleven of her videos had 100 million views each.

GLOBAL EDM MARKET NOW WORTH $6.9 BILLION

The global electronic dance music market grew 12% from last year to be worth US$6.9 billion, according to International Music Summit’s 2015 Business Report released last week. North America accounts for $2 billion, the Asia Pacific (of which Australia is the largest market) is $1 billion. Further growth in the EDM scene is expected with the movie We Are Your Friends starring Zac Efron, which is due for overseas release in August, and Simon Cowell’s Ultimate DJ TV show (see below).

COWELL’S ‘ULTIMATE DJ’ SHOW FOR 2016

Simon Cowell’s Ultimate DJ TV show (the X-Factor for the EDM set) will launch in the second quarter of 2016. Some electronic music figures like Fatboy Slim hate the idea. But Cowell has teamed up with Ultra Music founder Patrick Moxey and the winner gets a record deal with Ultra Records and Sony Music and a headline slot at a major EDM festival. DJ Steve Aoki will reportedly act as a judge. Moxey says the TV show will effectively break new DJs globally.

GIZZFEST SELLING OUT

The King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard-curated Gizzfest has been a success. The first three shows at Melbourne’s Corner Hotel were sold out, as is the Saturday May 30 Sydney show at the Factory Theatre.

A second Sydney show and Brisbane also looks like heading for a full house. It winds up in hometown Geelong on Sunday June 7.

Last September, the Australian Government cut the access of community TV beyond the end of 2015, suggesting it offer its services online. After meeting experts, Channel 31 is saying it can’t meet the deadline and may not survive as a result. On June 1, it kicks off a ‘Week of Action’ as it meets with the Dept. of Communications for a final meeting to delay the deadline.

…AND PIERCE BROTHERS

Melbourne’s Pierce Brothers posted on Facebook they’ve signed to The Agency Group for US and Canada. “We’re stoked to have such an impressive roster and team backing us as we tackle the next frontier of our careers,” said the siblings. Currently on a 50-date world tour, they did a stint at Canadian Music Week, then straight to the UK’s Great Escape and woke at 5am to drive to Amsterdam for London Calling.

HUSKY RELOCATING TO BERLIN

• Which singer has a crowdfunding drive to get her teeth fixed in Thailand?

Melbourne’s Husky are relocating to Berlin for the rest of 2015 while they tour behind the overseas release of their second album, Ruckers Hill. The album’s out in Europe through Embassy of Music and Nevado in America, to which they signed recently. They are currently touring Europe (I’m Not Coming Back just hit #55 on the German radio chart) and during their Berlin stay, they’ll write their third album. Frontman Husky Gawenda flits back to Oz in August to partake in a run of tribute shows to The Beatles’ Rubber Soul and Revolver albums, alongside Fergus Linacre, Jordie Lane and Marlon Williams.

• Which musician was doing an interview at his home when men turned up at the door to repossess his car?

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• Which band, doing a live radio interview in Queensland, got roped into doing an impromptu ukulele version of The Lion Sleeps Tonight when a studio malfunction left only the mics going on air?

• Scammers are ringing up musicians saying they’ve scored an Australia Council grant and wanting their bank details.

• Accountant company Venn Milner, the liquidators of Music Events Holdings, who ran Future Music and Summadayze, have asked more time to recover the money. There’s almost $3 million owed to 52 suppliers and $200,000 to former employees. They imply assets were transferred out before Music Events went down in September 2013 and suggested they might take some former directors and company officers to court to recover the money. The intellectual copyright of the two festivals were sold to Michael Gudinski, who has no connection whatsoever with the liquidation matters.

• DC Comics are trying to block a request by Rihanna to trademark the word Robyn (the singer’s first name) for an online magazine. DC says it’s too close to the character Robin (Batman’s buddy), invented in 1940.

• Just before the Motley Crue/ Alice Cooper Adelaide show, Tommy Lee went off with 15 of his entourage to buy sneakers at a Nike store in Rundle Mall, Nikki Sixx to Frontyard Tattoo in Mt Barker to do ink on its customers, while Cooper headed to the Grange Golf Club for a round (The Advertiser).

• Phil Manning & Ben Roger’s band Asylum and Ezra Lee & The Havoc Band play a fund raiser for Sharon Manning for medical bills (and to celebrate her 70th) on Sunday July 5 at Clare Castle Hotel, Port Melbourne.

• Death took three Victorian music community figures: Gippsland radio identity Jim Woods, the voice of 3TR and one time Manager at SH Swan Hill; Bendigo’s Peter Ellis, multi-instrumentalist with the Emu Creek Bush Band and Wedderburn Old Timers Band, was awarded an OAM medal for his collection and preservation of Australian folk history and bush music; prolific Port Fairy volunteer Ray Stokie, worked with the Port Fairy Folk Festival and long time member of the Moyneyana Festival committee.

• Ballarat’s Her Majesty’s Theatre badly needs renovating. In the latest Council budget, $1.12 million is allocated to upgrade the seats, which are the same as the originals from 1830 and “newer” ones in the 1940s.

• Cloud Control are having problems with their next album. Bassist Jeremy Kelshaw already left and now they’re getting booted out of their Redfern makeshift studio, because the derelict building is being demolished. In recent storms, chunks of plaster fell off the ceiling and water gushed everywhere. They’re asking fans to lend them their living room until they find something.

• Vance Joy’s Riptide has gone double platinum in

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the US for 2 million sales and Sheppard’s Geronimo certified platinum in the US for sales of 1 million.

Meg Mac went to America this year just to play SXSW in Austin Texas. But after rave reviews (including Buzzfeed declaring her the act most to watch out for), she got offered the Clean Bandit tour, signed

by Lyor Cohen’s 300 Entertainment and courted by multiple publishers from the US and UK. Now she’s opening for D’Angelo & The Vanguard on a 13 date US tour ( June 7 to 29). “I feel like I get surprised by something almost everyday,” Mac said. She premiered new material (some with producer M-Phazes) during Groovin’ The Moo and returns after the D’Angelo dates for Splendour In The Grass.

FUNDRAISER FOR CUBA/ JAMAICA/AUSSIE ALBUM, DOCO

A fundraiser is being held on Friday May 29 at Alia Dance Bar (83 Smith St Fitzroy) for a first-of-a-kind album and documentary project called Havana Meets Kingston. Melbourne-based reggae, dancehall and hip hop producer and keyboardist Mista Savona ( Jake Savona) is going to Havana in June to make a record with Jamaican, Cuban and Australian musicians.

Already confirmed for the sessions, to begin June 9, are Sly and Robbie, Leroy Sibbles (Heptones), Bongo Herman, Changuito, Randy Valentine, Barbarito Torres (Buena Vista Social Club), Ernest Ranglin and Prince Alla. The original album will be sung in Spanish, English and Jamaican Patois.

Joining them are filmmakers Rick Merek (Move, Eat, Learn) and Lauren Rosa Beck, who’ll make a documentary about a project that taps into three diverse nations. The fundraiser night has DJs and live bands until 4am with Unsoundbwoy + Yaw Faso, My Zuluflow, Maracatu Estrela Do Mar, Bight and DJ Art. A Kickstarter crowd funding campaign is also active.

AGENCY GROUP SIGNS HOWQUA FOR NORTH AMERICA

Melbourne singer songwriter HOWQUA impressed with the brutally honest soul-baring of last year’s Naked EP, especially on My Mindset and Her. At his Canadian Music Week debut at The Sound Gallery he was so impressive that Toronto booking agent Adam Kreeft immediately signed him to The Agency Group for North America. He is expected to return there for dates later in the year after shows in Australia.

Recently, in a lead-up story to his appearance at Vivid Sydney, APRA asked British producer Steve Lillywhite if any Australian artists were catching his eye at the moment. The six-time Grammy winner behind albums by the Stones, U2, Talking Heads and Simple Minds said HOWQUA “is one to watch… his new single Fishing for Gold is great.”

MANSIONAIR SIGN TO LIBERATION, MUSHROOM MUSIC

Sydney indie-electronic trio Mansionair signed a record deal with Liberation Music and a publishing deal with Mushroom Music. Mansionair formed in January 2014 and debut single Hold Me Down got ten million views on YouTube, two million+ plays on Soundcloud and peaked at number on Hype Machine. This year they played in US, at SXSW and club dates in New York, as well as a sold-out Australian tour. In addition, the Sydney trio have inked a deal with Glassnote Records

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LIFELINES Hospitalised: surgery to remove nodules and a cyst on her vocal chords has put Kasey Chambers out of action for two months.

Ill: Yes founding bassist Chris Squire diagnosed with Acute Erythroid Leukemia. He’ll sit out their upcoming North American tour with Toto.

Well: Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson is now cancer-free after treatment following a cancerous tumour at the back of his tongue last Christmas.

Jailed: Rusty Edward Sellner, 22, for two years after breaking into Miley Cyrus’ house in LA and stealing some of her items.

In Court: two security guards at Brownstock festival in Essex, UK, on charges of kidnapping. They found Australian 32-year-old Paul Wickerson stumbling around high on LSD, coke and K. Instead of looking after him, they handcuffed and took him four miles away “for fun” to see if he could make it back.

The disorientated Wickerson was killed after being hit by four cars.

In Court: Ugandan pop singer Panadol wa Basajja faces ten years’ jail for contravening the country’s new strict “anti-porn” laws by dancing in her underwear in the music video for her song Ensolo Yange.

Sued: DJ Steve Aoki by a fan at a San Diego show who says she broke her neck and ankle when he jumped into the crowd riding his plastic raft.

Cleared: a Las Vegas cop who took Guns N’ Roses guitarist DJ Ashba on a free helicopter ride in 2013 so he could propose to his girlfriend is cleared by a police board.

It said Captain David O’Leary shouldn’t have been demoted.

Died: Bruce Lundvall, 79, former CEO of Blue Note Records (he signed Natalie Cole and Richard Marx), from Parkinson’s disease.

Died: The Posies’ drummer Darius Minwalla, 39, cause unknown.

Died: Louis Johnson of US soul-funk band Brothers Johnson, 80.

for North America, the UK and Europe, joining Mumford & Sons, CHVRCHES, The Temper Trap and Phoenix. They are managed by Danny Rogers and Campbell McNeill at Lunatic Entertainment.

NEW VINYL RECORD LABEL IN VICTORIA

Ben Russell, former manager of Warrnambool’s The Loft, has launched a vinyl-only singles label Silver Ball Records. It won’t be signing acts, but it will release singles and EPs from Warrnambool acts on vinyl to boost their profile. The first release is from Blue Heat, then Red Eagle & Crossfire Hurricane, Blackwood Jack and a Warnambool compilation.

IBIS HOTELS REACH FOR MUSICIANS

Economy hotel chain Ibis has entered the Australian music industry, teaming-up with music streaming service Deezer. It has set up an interactive music platform and booking portal ibis PLAY where it features local acts, news, playlists and gig info. Touring musicians who book through the Paint It Red package get special room rates, from $109 per night, until August 19.

DEAKIN UNI LAUNCHES SPOTIFY PLAYLIST

Deakin University’s social media team unveiled its first foray into the streaming generation with a Spotify playlist aimed at students. The 120-strong list includes everything from The Wombats, Tame Impala, Oh Mercy, British India, Andy Bull, Cold War Kids, Passion Pit, San Cisco and Bastille to lesser known acts Dancing Heals, Nick Mulvey, Cameras, Pluto Jonze, Holy Holy, Vancouver Sleep Clinic and Ernest Ellis. The first playlist picks mellower tracks as students are in study mode for exams. But they’ll amp it up in coming weeks.

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