Brag#600

ISSUE NO. 600 FEBRUARY 18, 2015

FREE Now picked up at over 1,600 places across Sydney and surrounds. thebrag.com

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

THE BRAG'S

FA L L OU T BOY

Pete Wentz traces the band’s early days and looks forward.

THE MANY SHADES OF

JO SÉ GON Z Á L E Z

The softly spoken Swede proves himself a man of simple tastes.

A S YOU L IK E I T

Shakespeare’s comedy is on its way to the Sydney Opera House.

DON AVON F R A NK ENR EI T ER The surfer-turned-songwriter can’t wait to touch down in Oz.

Plus

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BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 3

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rock music news

the BRAG presents

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Tyson Wray and Kelsey Berry

BALKAN BEAT BOX Oxford Art Factory Wednesday March 11

speed date WITH

PAOLO NUTINI Enmore Theatre Tuesday March 31

RUTH MOODY now heading over to New Zealand and Australia! We couldn’t be more excited. I also still tour with The Wailin’ Jennys, with whom I came over to Australia in 2006.

So between the two, I’m almost always on the road. Both bands will take a bit of a break at the end of this year, for some creative time and to think about recording again.

3.

Your Profile We’re a string band and 1. we play folk music, with pop,

who aren’t afraid of getting a little emotionally involved.

Best Gig Ever We had the honour of opening some shows for Mark Knopfler about a year ago, six of which were at the Royal Albert Hall. It was an incredible experience – I was constantly pinching myself. We’re joining him there once again, in a few months, so we’re pretty excited about that.

classical, Celtic, old-time and bluegrass influences. I write the songs and the guys bring their magic. We all sing. We’re looking for people to come on our intimate folk journey with us,

Keeping Busy We’ve been touring pretty 2. much constantly since we

Current Playlist I recently heard Beck’s 4. newest record – it is stunning. I

released These Wilder Things in 2013, playing shows in North America, the UK and Europe, and

saw Nickel Creek on their reunion tour this summer, they were on fire.

Your Ultimate Rider My needs are pretty basic, 5. really. If there is a dressing room,

ACCOUNTS RECEIVABLE: Luke Forrester: accounts@furstmedia.com.au ph - (03) 9428 3600 fax - (03) 9428 3611 Furst Media, 3 Newton Street Richmond Victoria 3121 DEADLINES: Editorial: Friday 12pm (no extensions) Ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions) Fishished Art: No later than 2pm Monday Ad cancellations: Friday 4pm Deadlines are strictly adhered to.

Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045 All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L / Furst Media P/L 2003-2014 DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600 PRINTED BY SPOTPRESS: www.spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 follow us:

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THE BRAG

6 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

Factory Theatre Thursday April 2

G. LOVE & SPECIAL SAUCE The Basement Sunday April 5

THE GIPSY KINGS Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House Tuesday April 7 and Wednesday April 8

JIMMY CLIFF Metro Theatre Thursday April 9

Massachusetts boys A Wilhelm Scream have announced their return to Australia this April and May. No strangers to our shores, with their most recent festival appearances at Soundwave and Hits And Pits, A Wilhelm Scream will play five headline shows during their time Down Under. Their most recent record is 2013’s Partycrasher. A Wilhelm Scream will take over Newtown Social Club on Monday April 27.

PEACE ON EARTH

UK indie rockers Peace have announced a series of sideshows during their time Down Under for Groovin The Moo. The quartet will play shows in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane on top of their appearances at the regional festival. The band’s second album Happy People was released this month. See Peace on Friday May 8 at Oxford Art Factory.

KIDGEERIDGE MUSIC FESTIVAL

COURTNEY HITS THE ROAD

Australia’s voice-of-a-generation-in-waiting, Courtney Barnett, has announced her biggest national tour to date. The tour will follow the release of Sometimes I Sit And Think, And Sometimes I Just Sit, her upcoming debut album set to arrive on Friday March 20. Catch her on Friday May 8 at the Metro Theatre.

The community-run Kidgeeridge Music Festival will return to the South Coast of New South Wales this May at a new venue, Milton Showground. Locked in for this year’s lineup are the likes of You Am I, Mark Seymour and The Undertow, Lior, Adalita, The Audreys, Tim Rogers and Steve Smyth, plus internationals Eugene ‘Hideaway’ Bridges and Miss Quincy. Camping is available at the two-day festival, taking place Friday May 1 and Saturday May 2.

WOMBATS ON THE WATER

The Wombats have announced an exclusive Sydney show in support of their new album, Glitterbug. The Liverpool lads’ fourth record comes out on Friday April 10, and the boys are stopping in Australia for a one-off show as part of Channel [V]’s Island Party series. Previously, The Island has hosted artists such as Hilltop Hoods, Mark Ronson and Ed Sheeran.

The Wombats play on Sydney Harbour on Wednesday February 25. For a shot at tickets, visit vmusic.com.au.

Xxx

EDITORIAL POLICY: The views and opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publisher, editors or staff of the BRAG.

JOHN MAYALL

WILHELM SCREAM

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State Theatre Wednesday April 1 and Tuesday April 2

A

ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar

REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Ian Barr, Prudence Clark, Tom Clift, Keiron Costello, Christie Eliezer, Fergus Halliday, Cameron James, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Mina Kitsos, Emily Meller, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, Kate Robertson, Erin Rooney, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, Krissi Weiss, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young

DAVID GRAY

What: These Wilder Things out now through True North Records With: The Mae Trio Where: Camelot Lounge When: Thursday February 19

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: Tyson Wray ONLINE COORDINATOR: Emily Meller SUB-EDITOR: Emily Meller STAFF WRITERS: Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: Tori Bedingfield, Gloria Brancatisano, Lauren Gill, Nicholas Hartman, Spencer Scott

AWESOME INTERNS: Tori Bedingfield, Lachlan Mackenzie, Spencer Scott, Nicholas Hartman

Enmore Theatre Wednesday April 1

and it has a heater in it, then I’m happy. Although I guess we won’t be needing a heater so much where we are in your part of the world! If we have access to some kind of yummy local/organic fare then I’m over the moon. If there is a bar of fair trade dark chocolate lying around, that’s the icing on the cake. Recently we added a blender to our rider after having the brilliant idea of making smoothies on the road, but we have yet to see one. I think it may be a confusing request for people. I have high hopes for Australia though!

Courtney Barnett

GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Nicholas Hartman, Emily Meller, Spencer Scott gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag. com (dance, hip hop & parties)

GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC

HERBIE HANCOCK + CHICK COREA

Jazz icons Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea are set to unite for a series of Australian and New Zealand dates. This is the first time in 37 years that the two keyboard legends have toured together, after originally performing together in 1978. The pair boasts 34 Grammy Awards between them and more than five decades’ worth of experience onstage. Hancock and Corea play the Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House on Monday June 1.

MAROON 5 DOWN UNDER

Maroon 5 have added two Australian shows to their upcoming world tour. The tour is in support of the band’s fifth album V, which was released midway through last year. Adam Levine and co. will stop in Melbourne and Sydney, bringing Swedish trio Dirty Loops along for their first trip to our shores. Maroon 5 will hit town on Tuesday September 29 for a show at Allphones Arena. Tickets go on sale 2pm Monday February 23.

Backstreet Boys

BACKSTREET’S BACK, ALRIGHT

Brian was the cute one. A.J. was the bad boy. Nick was the dreamboat, Kevin had a goatee, and Howie was that guy who stood at the side trying not to be forgotten. Together, they were the Backstreet Boys, AKA the kings of the ’90s boy bands, and though they kept up appearances through the ’00s, it just wasn’t the same after Kevin left the band. That is, until 2012, when the prodigal son made his return, humming ‘As Long As You Love Me’ as he strode back into the rehearsal room. 2013 marked the group’s 20th anniversary, and now Backstreet’s back with their first Australian tour in almost a decade. They’ll take over Allphones Arena on Saturday May 9, and you can pretend to your friends you won’t be there singing along, if you like, but it won’t make a difference – they’ll know. Everybody knows. Tickets go on sale midday Monday February 23.

thebrag.com

WHEN WE WERE YOUNG

turns

ARIA charts, week commencing April 21, 2003

Singles

A

lmost 12 years ago, way back on Monday April 21, 2003, the very first issue of the BRAG landed on streets across Sydney, Newcastle and beyond.

The new publication grew out of the ashes of Revolver magazine (and the short-lived Evolver), and as with any nostalgia trip, looking back at Issue 1 now is fascinating and cringeworthy in equal measure. Salmonella Dub had the honour of being the BRAG’s first cover story, while a young Sarah Blasko shared with us her thoughts and ambitions after releasing her debut EP. There were album and single reviews for The White Stripes, M. Ward, Mia Dyson and Bruce Springsteen, and unknown acts Neon and Many Machines On Nine were tipped as our hot “breaking bands”. A finger on the pulse of Australian music – more or less.

It’s now 600 issues later, and plenty has changed along the way. The office we once shared with the folks at Big Day Out is long gone, and these days you’ll find the BRAG on the streets each Wednesday and online at thebrag.com. But while we’ve had the occasional facelift, we remain committed to delivering the most comprehensive coverage of the Sydney, Central Coast and Newcastle music and arts scenes, all out of our home in the inner city.

Like you, we can be found in the live music venues around town every weekend and pitching our tent at the big festivals every summer. We get the inside word on upcoming tours and new releases from the artists themselves, be it the international touring acts who’ve appeared on our cover like Kanye West (Issue 227), Arctic Monkeys (295 and 415) and Foo Fighters (587) to all the best up-and-coming locals.

1.

‘In Da Club’

50 Cent

2.

‘All The Things She Said’

t.A.T.u.

3.

‘Lost Without You’

Delta Goodrem

4.

‘All I Have’

Jennifer Lopez feat. LL Cool J

5.

‘True Colours’

Kasey Chambers

Albums 1.

Innocent Eyes

Delta Goodrem

2.

Come Away With Me

Norah Jones

3.

Meteora

Linkin Park

4.

Get Rich Or Die Tryin’

50 Cent

5.

Diamonds On The Inside

Ben Harper

© Australian Recording Industry Association Ltd

BRAG Issue 1, Monday April 21, 2003

Top five films at the Australian box office

Now we’re turning 600, and we couldn’t have made it this far without our loyal readers, as well as the musicians, artists, advertisers, printers, photographers and contributors who’ve supported us for all these years. So from all of us here at Team BRAG, thanks for reading – and see you at the show.

week ending April 21, 2003

Chris Martin Managing Editor, the BRAG

1.

Anger Management

2.

Johnny English

3.

Shanghai Knights

4.

How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days

5.

The Jungle Book 2

SPICE + SUBSONIC SUNSET CRUISE

A C I D PAUL I BAR 25 - DE

MURAT KILIC

B ROHN

S T I L V O R TA L E N T

NO.19

MAR COTIX + MS G

S CHWA

SUBSONIC

BEEF

MANT RA C OLLEC TIV E ROOM W H I T E C AT | A N T I O N E V I C E S PA C E J U N K | A B O U T J A C K

SATURDAY 28 FEB, 2015 | 14:30-20:30 THESPIC EC EL LAR.COM.AU | SUBSONICMUSIC.COM.AU

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 7

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Chris Martin, Gloria Brancatisano and Spencer Scott

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

he said she said WITH

AFRO MOSES

H

ow did your Spirit Of Bob Marley show originally come together?

Ever since Bob Marley died, every year I celebrate his philosophy. He’s one of my idols who has inspired me a lot, apart from my mother and father who were also musicians. I don’t carry any history on my shoulder and when I listen to Bob Marley’s music – even though he had an oppressed childhood – his music is balanced and not bitter. It’s about bringing people together.

This particular show at The Basement is going to be different, because I’m celebrating the spirit of three beautiful, great souls, Lucky Dube, Peter Tosh and Bob Marley.

When did you fi rst come across Bob Marley’s music?

When I was in school, on the radio. One love song.

A number of guests perform with you onstage – what can you tell us about them?

Supporting at The Basement will be Tiana [Canterbury]’s Afrodisiaq Dancers from

The Meanies

South Africa, Brazil and Ethiopia, who are not only teachers, they perform traditional styles to contemporary hip hop. There’s also Samba Roots from Brazil, an amazing upcoming reggae band. Onstage with me is my ten-piece and three-dancer band – without them, I’m nobody.

Will you be performing in character as Bob Marley, or is it a less traditional tribute show in that sense?

Don’t miss it, you have to see it! First of all, I am who I am; I can sometimes feel his presence.

What infl uence has Bob Marley had on music today?

Very positive. Even a child born today will enjoy it. His music is timeless and evergreen.

What: Spirit Of Bob Marley With: Afrodisiaq Dancers, Samba Roots Where: The Basement When: Saturday February 21

Bad//Dreems

FARMER & THE OWL FESTIVAL

Farmer & The Owl Festival is back again this year, returning to Wollongong with a boom lineup of local and international talent. The 2015 edition will feature acts like upcoming rockers Bad//Dreems, American garage band Bass Drum Of Death and those punks who sound like Jacques Dutronc despite the fact they’re singing in English, Birds With Thumbs. That’s not at all, though – DZ Deathrays, The Mess Hall, Jebediah, Cabins, The Cherry Dolls, Drunk Mums and Hockey Dad will be there too, alongside a heap of others. All the cool kids will be grooving at the University of Wollongong on Saturday March 14.

We’ve got two double passes to give away to Farmer & The Owl 2015. To be in the running to win, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us: if Wollongong is often referred to as the ’Gong, what other Australian town should shorten its name, and to what?

Babaganouj

THE MEANIES

Before knuckling down to make their first album in 21 years, The Meanies will be playing a short run of shows this February and March. The tour will see the lads play five dates across Victoria and New South Wales, including their very first Golden Plains. Back in the mid-’90s, The Meanies shared a bill with The Ramones, and on the first stop of their tour things will come full circle when they share the stage with CJ Ramone. Meanwhile, The Meanies will play Newtown Social Club on Friday March 27 with support from Chinese Burns Unit and Hostile Objects.

FBI LIVE LAUNCH

BABAGANOUJ CAN’T STOP

Babaganouj have announced they will be kicking off 2015 with an east coast tour to support their new single ‘Can’t Stop’. 2014 saw Babaganouj tour nationally twice, play each leg of the Blurst Of Times tour as well as support a host of acts such as The Preatures, Smudge, Veruca Salt, The Lemonheads, Northeast Party House and The Creases. This time around, joined by Bearhug and Black Zeros, Babaganouj will stop in at Oxford Art Factory on Saturday April 11.

for the station. Now, a slew of local artists are set to roll in for intimate gigs. Tkay Maidza will launch the venue on Thursday February 19, before hot young thing George Maple plays on Friday February 20 and Cloud Control arrive Wednesday March 4. To register for free tickets to Local Live at FBi, email live@fbiradio.com with your preferred gig, name and date of birth.

xx

Sydney community radio institution FBi Radio has announced the lineup for its inaugural series of Local Live at FBi gigs at the station’s new in-house performance space, FBi Live.

The redevelopment of FBi’s Redfern studios (in conjunction with Jack Daniel’s) to include a live-to-air performance space represents a first

Harts

Fade In Mona Lisa

THE PORKERS GO ALLNITE

BREAKING HARTS

FADE IN MONA LISA

8 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

JONNY TELAFONE

“Post-apocalyptic R&B man-myth” Jonny Telafone will hit the road in March and April.

Telafone’s new tour is in support of his debut album Romeo Must Cry, which was released last week. The record features contributions from members of TV Colours, The Ocean Party, Forces, Danger Beach and Orbits. Telafone will play Golden Age Cinema and Bar on Thursday April 23. thebrag.com

xxxx xx

Psychedelic rockers Fade In Mona Lisa have announced a mini-tour of Sydney in support of their latest single. ‘Green Carnations’ is the latest offering from the Blue Mountains band that’s already caught the eye of triple j Unearthed. Fade In Mona Lisa’s tour takes in three stops around town, with a gig at the Unicorn Hotel on Thursday February 19, Club 77 on Friday February 27 and Brighton Up Bar on Saturday February 28.

To support the release of his new single ‘Breakthrough’, Harts has announced that he will head off on an east coast tour, kicking off at the end of February.

The tour will see the Melbourne guitarist play stages in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, plus a couple of festival slots. Harts’ new single comes off the back of a highly acclaimed Australian tour, which saw him sell out small venues across the country. Later in the year he plans to tour the US and the UK. Harts is also nominated for Best New Talent and Single Of The Year (for ‘When A Man’s A Fool’) at this year’s Rolling Stone Awards. He’ll play Frankie’s Pizza on Thursday February 26.

Allniters and The Porkers will battle it out for supremacy as Manning Bar hosts a double headline bill that will leave punters ska’d for life. Allniters broke through on Australia’s music scene in the 1980s, turning their live shows into one rude, raucous party. Meanwhile The Porkers spearheaded the third wave of ska in the late ’90s. Originally called The Pork Hunts, they toured as part of the 2014 Soundwave festival. Joining them on the night will be two up-and-coming ska acts, The OzSkas and Project Collective Ska. The bands take over Manning Bar on Friday March 6.

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 9

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR

and The Preatures’ singer Isabella Manfredi and guitarist Jack Moffitt. * Police were pelted with bottles as they tried to shut down a rave held in a quarry near Coffs Harbour and attended by 300 people. * Live music venues: Sydney’s Newport Arms is on the market, with some sources suggesting it could go for $50 million … Le Pub Balmain was bought by Tim Condon, who recently got the Roxbury in Glebe … After an outcry, Hawkesbury Council will ensure that one-time top music venue The Jolly Frog will be restored once an application is submitted. * Grammy goss: Brian Johnson used a teleprompter during AC/DC’s opening number …

A hoax tweet claimed Lady Gaga mistook Ed Sheeran for

* Which one-time head of one of Australia’s most powerful music associations, also a long-time label executive and managing director of a topmost indie label, is about to launch a new initiative? * Which exec is straining media friendships by pushing for writeups on his new young romantic interest? * Which music festival, which will be held across various Northern Territory venues, is discussing with authorities a major problem – how to get booze to the performers in a ‘dry’ area? * Flight Facilities were at Studios 301 in Sydney collaborating with Jagwar Ma

HI-FI VENUES TO BE SOLD

The Hi-Fi venues in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney are likely to be sold within four weeks, says administrator Simon Nelson from Melbourne accounting firm Romanis Cant. The three live music rooms went into administration last week after a dispute with a major creditor that could not be resolved. The venues will continue to trade in the meantime and for the “foreseeable future”.

PROMOTIONS AT SONY MUSIC

At Sony Music Entertainment Australia, Wayne Ringrow celebrates his 20th year at the company by being appointed head of Australian artists – a role which includes overseeing the studio. Tim Pithouse, director of marketing and artist development, is now senior director of marketing and artist development. He’ll work with the A&R team to discover and develop new talent and oversee international releases of its Australian roster.

Director of content integration, Dan Nitschke, will now also be responsible for directing

a waiter. In revenge, Ed and Gaga sent around a bullshit tweet of their own claiming he made Gaga get his drinks all night … Beck thanked Capitol Records for his win by delivering a waffle breakfast to staff at its LA headquarters. * First Perth, is Adelaide next? The Adelaide Advertiser reported that in a Twitter blast, Soundwave’s AJ Maddah warned he would drop the city in the future unless “pathetic” 2015 ticket sales picked up “in a big way”. * Oh dear. One Direction tickets were slashed to $50 in some Aussie cities. * Chance The Rapper says he auditioned to play Dr. Dre in N.W.A biopic Straight Outta Compton. * A Kylie Minogue-headlined An Evening At The Races at

advertising and media buying. The Sydneybased Andrew Smith has been given the new title EVP and CFO of Asia-Pacific, overseeing finance and operations for Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Tim Kelly, GM of marketing for Asia-Pacific, has left the company.

THREE NEW PRESENTERS FOR CHANNEL [V]

As part of a major rebrand at Channel [V] Australia – which sees it expand coverage to fashion, lifestyle, travel and sports – it has brought in three new presenters. They are The Used’s frontman Bert McCracken (he was the backstage reporter for [V] at last year’s Soundwave), Melbourne-born model Bambi Northwood-Blyth and DJ Generik (Tyson O’Brien).

KANYE’S STAGE INVASION WAS GRAMMYS’ TOP TWITTER MOMENT

Kanye West was the most mentioned act on

a racecourse in England with Kaiser Chiefs sold out its 22,000 tickets in a record 30 minutes. * Papa John’s Pizzas in the US revealed it had “punished” one of its drivers after he passed over Iggy Azalea’s telephone number to a family member. * Queanbeyan police are investigating someone who broke into live music venue The Royal Hotel at 5:50am one morning and stole cash. * Alice Cooper, opening act on Mötley Crüe’s farewell tour, offered to kill all its members onstage at their last show, on New Year’s Eve in LA. Tommy Lee said, “That would be awesome. I asked him, ‘Can you make three more of those guillotines? Then you could chop off all our heads at the same time!”

Twitter during the Grammys, also triggering the most tweets per minute when he rushed the stage to protest at Beck winning Album of the Year over Beyoncé. Also trending in Twitterland was Madonna’s performance of ‘Living For Love’ and Sam Smith’s final win of the night for Record of the Year.

5 Seconds Of Summer got the most retweets during the awards (22,000) for a tweet that merely said, “GRAMMY’z lol”. On Facebook, 17 million users made 45 million Grammy-related postings. Smith’s Record of the Year win had the most, followed by AC/ DC’s opening, Madonna’s appearance and Prince’s “black lives matter” comment.

ICE OFFERS VENUE, GEAR FOR HIRE

The Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) in Parramatta has a venue with multisized spaces and equipment for hire to meet, perform or work from at affordable rates. Hot desking is available for $20 a day.

Full info is available at ice.org.au.

CITY OF SYDNEY GRANTS AND SPONSORSHIPS

FACEBOOK/THEHIFI TWITTER.COM/HIFI_SYD

E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

INSTAGRAM.COM/THEHIFI

THEHIFI.C

JUST ANNOUNCED

COMING SOON

The first round of the City of Sydney’s twicea-year Cultural Grants and Sponsorships funding program is open. The grants are between $5,000 and $20,000. They’re meant for initiatives that can benefit the community, and are open to venues operating for profit, event promoters, record stores and labels.

As reported earlier, the City also provides dollar-for-dollar grants for music venues that need to undertake acoustic audits. See cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au.

SAMSUNG LAUNCHES MILK MUSIC IN AUSTRALIA

Samsung’s free station-based internet radio service, Milk Music, has launched in Australia to take on Pandora and iTunes Radio. Milk has 200 stations that cover all styles, and includes an ‘Australian’ angle.

FRI 10 APR

MOBB DEEP

SAT 28 FEB

DELTRON 3030

FRI 01 MAY

A$AP FERG

THU 05 MAR

SAT 20 JUN

BLIND GUARDIAN

FRI 27 FEB

FALLING IN REVERSER + ESCAPE THE FATE

THU 12 MAR

DJ SHADOW & ANDY BELL PAUL RUTHERFORD CUT CHEMIST (ERASURE)

AUSSIE EDM WIDENS GLOBAL APPEAL

Australians continue to get global recognition in dance music circles. At next month’s 30th International Dance Music Awards in Miami, nominees include Sia, Iggy Azalea, Knife Party and Peking Duk. Meantime, Michigan’s Electric Forest Festival has Peking Duk, Flume, Alison Wonderland, Miami Horror and Wave Racer on the bill. M4SONIC are among the EDM acts playing 42 dates of the US Vans Warped Tour in June.

PORSCHES DRIVE INTO SWEAT IT OUT

FRI 20 MAR

BONOBO

SAT 18 APR

BLACKSTREET

WED 01 APR ALL AGES

SWITCHFOOT

THU 30 APR

B-BOY WORLD CHAMPIONS TOUR

Sweat It Out Music has signed Sydney duo Porsches. The duo, made up of Carl Fox and Jesse Sewell, emerged last year with the single ‘Horses’, which got triple j and community radio airplay.

NO SLEEP TILL EUROVISION

Petitions for Kylie Minogue and TISM to represent Australia at the Eurovision Song Contest saw TISM shoot off at the starting post, with 10,000 signatures collected within days. Alas, Kylie has only a 100/1 chance according to the bookies at William Hill, the same odds as AC/DC. They give Sia 8/1, Iggy Azalea 9/1, and Chet Faker, 5 Seconds Of Summer and Dannii Minogue 14/1 each.

Delta Goodrem is given a 25/1 chance. Alas, nothing for Alan Fletcher of Neighbours fame, who put his hand up to volunteer.

Lifelines Marrying: R&B singer and X Factor NZ judge Stan Walker and business graduate girlfriend Lou Tyson could be making it official after some bling was noticed on her ring finger, according to NZ media.

Marrying: Mollie McClymont of The McClymonts has revealed she got engaged in December. 18 months earlier, she was looking for a date in Sydney after a break-up and found her now fiancé Aaron Blackburn on dating app Tinder.

Born: a son for Liv Tyler, making Aerosmith’s Steven Tyler a grandfather again.

Injured: Evergreen Terrace had to axe their slot on the Soundwave tour after drummer Brad Moxey, a contractor by trade, fell off a ladder.

Hospitalised: Black Tongue’s Alex Teyen mistook the door of their tour bus for a toilet and fell on the road in Poland, getting face and head injuries.

In Court: Justin Bieber’s lawyer told a US court he didn’t finish five days of community service (for throwing eggs at a neighbour’s house) because he sprained his ankle at a soccer game. The judge told him to finish it off by May. Suing: Taylor Swift’s lawyers are threatening action against Ronnie Cremer, who taught her to play guitar, for buying the domain name ITaughtTaylorSwift.com.

In Court: singer Jon Stevens faces charges of assault after an incident involving his fiancé, Jodhi Meares, at the couple’s Point Piper home.

In Court: UK folkie Roy Harper was found not guilty of indecently assaulting an 11-year-old in the 1970s and 16-year-old in the 1980s.

Banned: Vasilis Moshos, onetime owner of Newcastle’s Silk Hotel, for ten years from running a licensed business, for breach of licence conditions.

In Court: a 19-year-old charged with supplying drugs at the Harbourlife Festival in Sydney where Georgina Bartter, 19, died from an overdose.

Died: Peter Summers, one-time road crew member who set up his own Brisbane firm, My Production Company, to supply production for entertainment venues, at 56, after a battle with cancer.

Died: Joe B. Mauldin of ’50s rock pioneers Buddy Holly and The Crickets, 74.

Died: Steve Strange of ’80s New Romantic band Visage (‘Fade To Grey’), 55, of a heart attack in Egypt.

Died: Australian lighting operator and rigger Deborah Vincent, in Perth, after a two-month battle with cancer.

Died: Danny McCulloch, guitarist with British hitmakers The Animals in the late ’60s, from heart failure, 69.

Died: Sam Andrews, founding member of America’s Big Brother and The Holding Company, 73, ten weeks after a heart attack.

COOKING VINYL AUSTRALIA LAUNCHES ROCK IMPRINT

Cooking Vinyl Australia founders Stu Harvey and Leigh Gruppetta have set up an imprint called Double Cross Records, dedicated to releasing rock and heavy music in Australia from around the world.

The first releases are by Toronto’s Cancer Bats, England’s Gallows and Melbourne’s High Tension.

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THE WAY LESS TRAVELLED

BY AUGUSTUS WELBY

MACY GRAY

there was a four-year wait for an album of fresh originals. So what was the hold-up?

“I didn’t want to do what everybody else was doing,” she says. “It took me a minute to really fi gure out what I wanted to talk about. I hadn’t written anything really exciting for a while. I always write music, but music that you’re proud of or you can’t wait to get out, that’s a lot different. That’s what took a while, but I did ‘Bang Bang’ and after I recorded that I was clear on what I wanted to do.

“I’m defi nitely guilty of going into the studio and making bad records,” she adds. “But this one, it was important to me because there’s so much going on in music and I just didn’t want to be like everybody else. And I didn’t want to try to make a dance record and get all the 14-year-olds involved. I didn’t want to do duets or nothing, so it took a minute to fi gure out something I could do that would stand out and still be cool. I think we did it.”

Lyrically, The Way focuses on what are appropriately deemed ‘adult themes’: the dissolution of a long-term relationship, drug addiction and existential reassessments.

Interestingly, the 45-year-old Gray has basically been an adult for the entire time she’s been in the public eye, yet in the past she was advised against placing adulthood under the microscope. But by this point, she’s not willing to affect a younger perspective.

“I would hate to go through all that I’ve been through and still think like a kid,” she says. “That would be stupid. I know people are pressured to do that – you see a lot of older artists and they’re trying to do dance records and these really stupid hooks that have nothing to do with their lives, and I know they go home and hate it. It’s like when you’re 16 and they say, ‘There’s so much you don’t know’ and ‘You’re not as old as me’ and ‘You’re not an adult.’ But when you’re 40-something, there’s things you don’t really remember about what it’s like to be a kid. I have kids, and some stuff in their life I think is so retarded, but that’s where they’re coming from. It’s just a different perspective. I wouldn’t even know how to begin to do that, really.”

“I’M DEFINITELY GUILTY OF GOING INTO THE STUDIO AND MAKING BAD RECORDS. BUT THIS ONE, IT WAS IMPORTANT TO ME BECAUSE THERE’S SO MUCH GOING ON IN MUSIC AND I JUST DIDN’T WANT TO BE LIKE EVERYBODY ELSE.”

A

moderately successful rock’n’roller once said, “We’re lucky we never had a hit.” It seems like an odd thing to be thankful for, but there is some wisdom to the idea.

Releasing a chart-topping record might seem like the obvious goal for recording artists, but having a massive hit is liable to interfere with the remainder of one’s career. Of course, major success has its upshots – a marvellous sense of achievement, love from all corners of the world and ongoing royalties – but as an artist, the last thing you want to do is repeat yourself.

Whenever a musician brings in big money, it’s only a matter of time before money-minded business folks enter the picture. As far as these parties are concerned – be they record labels, management or radio dons – that earlier success simply must be repeated. This pressure is something that US singer/songwriter Macy Gray knows all too well.

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Since her debut, Gray has released five more albums of original music. The most recent of these is The Way, which came out last October.

While you can’t deny the populist leaning of Gray’s music, she’s never fit into an obvious stylistic category. Beginning with On How Life Is, each of Gray’s records highlights her diverse stylistic impulses.

The singer’s catalogue also includes two covers albums. In late 2012, she paid tribute to Stevie Wonder by covering his album Talking Book in full. Earlier that year came Covered, a collection of Gray’s all-time favourites including Metallica, Radiohead, My Chemical Romance and Arcade Fire. That album went some way to explaining her habitual genre-hopping.

“My curse is that I’m a really big music fan,” she says. “I listen to a lot of different stuff and I’ve been around long enough to see a lot of different kinds of music come out, so I have all these infl uences in my head. It’s not like I go in there and I think I’m above all the other artists. It’s just that I have all this other information in my head, so when I go in the studio it all comes out. And sometimes it comes out a little all over the place and sometimes it comes out great. It just depends.”

Gray’s genre fl uidity is perpetuated by The Way. There are uptempo, rock-inspired tracks like ‘Bang Bang’, soulful sass on ‘Queen Of The Big Hurt’ and catchy pop anthems like ‘The Way’ and ‘Life’. “I think now I’m a better musician,” Gray says.

“I’m a better songwriter, I’m a much better singer. I know what I’m doing a lot more than I used to.”

Gray is a trained musician who claims she can “make music in [her] sleep”. Also, before entering the pop music realm, she studied scriptwriting, so her tools aren’t limited. However, after 2010’s The Sellout

“With whatever you do in life, you still always want to be good at it. You still want to have success, you still want people to call you up and tell you how much they love your record. You need people to get engaged in it so you can make a living. That never, ever, ever goes away.

“In the back of that is [the knowledge] that I’ve done it before so I know I can do it again. I know I have it in me. But the pressure’s always there. Even if you don’t give a shit, you still have the pressure of it.

You need challenges in your life, you need things to work for and you need goals. Or else you’re just going to sit around and get really fat.”

What: The Way out now through Kobalt Where: Lizotte’s Newcastle / Enmore Theatre When: Tuesday March 17 / Thursday March 19 xxx

Gray launched her career back in 1999. Her debut LP On How Life Is and its lead single ‘I Try’ each shifted several million units (the album sold three million copies in the US alone).

16 years later, Gray remains a popular artist,

but the shadow cast by her early commercial success has never receded. “I think for a long time my label was waiting for another ‘I Try’,” she says. “For as long as you make records you always have the same pressure. Especially if you had a taste of proper success – then there’s always that pressure to do it again.

That doesn’t go away. Even if you get older or you get relaxed, you still have to come up with something.”

In spite of her defi ant streak, Gray still can’t completely avoid the pressures to produce another wildly successful release.

Thankfully, the wishes of those outside forces haven’t fi lled her with bitterness.

After all, she knows what she signed up for.

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Peace Get Happy By Augustus Welby put that out before the album was finished. We were still recording when ‘Lost On Me’ was released. We just thought, ‘Let’s just put songs out as we’re recording them and then get the album out at the end of it.’”

Opting to release songs straight after their recording comes with various risks. For starters, it basically precludes any air of mystery surrounding an album, which many artists strive to evoke. Then there’s the potential of putting out something that you’ll later regret. But Peace weren’t particularly worried about such possibilities.

“If you’re making music in a certain way, that’s representing where the band’s at,” Koisser says. “Whether it’s us experimenting with trying to be really polished and funky, or us recording live and as grungy as possible, that’s where the band’s at, so put it out. That’s just being genuine, rather than calculating this plan of how to look your best and how to look like the biggest or the coolest. It’s just being completely honest with the world and with yourselves.”

P

eace: it’s a straightforward band name. Similarly, the UK foursome is a straightforward bunch. But ‘straightforward’ needn’t imply ‘ordinary’. For instance, a world where all individuals are nice to one another and the planet’s resources are shared to the benefit of everybody seems straightforward enough. Yet world peace sounds pretty extraordinary, doesn’t it?

A couple of weeks ago, Peace released their second LP, Happy

People. Anyone paying attention to the UK pop-rockers during the last year would already be familiar with half the album’s material. Starting with ‘World Pleasure’ last March, five singles were released in the lead-up to the album’s release. The motivation behind this was fairly straightforward.

Prior to the release of 2013 debut In Love, Peace inked a deal with Columbia Records. The struggle these days to persuade listeners to purchase music means that major labels are more fastidious with artist signings than ever before. With this in mind, one would suspect the folks at Columbia were in Peace’s ear, directing their creative decisions.

According to Koisser, however, this wasn’t the case.

“There’s no point nowadays feeling traditional about the way to release a record,” says Peace frontman Harry Koisser. “‘World Pleasure’, we

“I thought there was going to be [interference],” he says. “They’re really like, ‘Do what you want.’ Our A&R at the label, he’ll be like, ‘That

lyric doesn’t make any sense to a listener – if you want it to say something, you need to say it more effectively.’ That’s a personal thing between me and him and he’s really good. He’s like the guy who’s holding the flashlight and shines it onto bits of lyrics which he doesn’t think are as effective. But that’s as far as it goes.”

Even though the folks at Columbia weren’t harassing Peace about the material that made it to Happy People, Koisser says the releaseas-you-go strategy was a safeguard against the record potentially being delayed by the label.

“You hear a lot now of records being held back for two years and labels wanting there to be this big plan about it. By releasing singles and putting songs out as you go, they can’t do that, then. If you’ve got half a record pretty much out there, you’ve got no choice. There’d be no point now in holding the album back or trying to make a big marketing plan.

“When we finished ‘World Pleasure’,” he adds, “I sent it to radio DJs on my own email without checking with the label. And it ended up getting played on the radio in England. The label thought it was kind of cool, though.

We were just excited about it. We’d recorded this song and we were like, ‘Well, let’s get it out there.’”

And so it is that all ten songs are now packaged together and available to listeners everywhere.

For an album called Happy People, by a band called Peace, it sounds exactly as you’d expect. Starting with the bubblegum ’60s pop of ‘O You’, on to the throbbing dance funk of ‘Lost On Me’ and the distorted exuberance of ‘I’m A Girl’, the

record’s a work of upbeat and hook-heavy excitement. However, scratching below the surface reveals that Koisser’s lyrics often aren’t so carefree. ‘Gen Strange’ bemoans a world of “general ache and pain”, while ‘I’m A Girl’ points out the alienating nature of the masculine stereotype, and the title track simply questions, “Where did all the happy people go?” “[That’s] what I’m really happy about with this record,” Koisser says. “It was something which started off accidental, but by the third song in it became this thing that I was quite into – sonically representing something but lyrically not. I think it’s a really cool idea, having a song that sounds really happy but the lyrics are really sad. [For example] in ‘World Pleasure’, with the lyrics being about the grittiness and the litter and the more horrid sides to the world, and then the chorus and the music going out into this uplifting section.

“It is quite cool to have this juxtaposition of the music and the lyrics, because they’re always two different things in my head. It’s quite interesting to do as a writer. It’s something that I’m going to expand on in the future because I’ve never done it before. And I’ve never heard that type of thing before.”

What: Happy People out now through Columbia/Sony Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday May 8 And: Also appearing alongside Hilltop Hoods, Charli XCX, Flight Facilities, The Preatures, You Me At Six and more at Groovin The Moo, Maitland Showground, Saturday May 9

Of Mice & Men Best Laid Plans By Natalie Rogers

I

n an unfortunate twist of fate, Linkin Park were forced to cancel their highly anticipated headline shows in the US this year due to a leg injury sustained by frontman Chester Bennington. As one of the hand-picked supports for The Hunting Party Tour (alongside Rise Against), Of Mice & Men’s Austin Carlile knows firsthand the disappointment and regret that Linkin Park felt when it became apparent Bennington could not continue.

“Life is unpredictable – we can’t always control where life takes us,” Carlile says. “We’ve become really close to all of the guys in the band, they’re a great bunch of guys. When Chester is healed we will be right there with them. I can honestly say there isn’t a band I would back more. When life gives you lemons…” he smiles.

Of Mice & Men have had their fair share of misfortune. Lineup changes, addiction issues and personality clashes had created general unrest within the band for years. However, since the arrival of former Jamie’s Elsewhere lead singer Aaron Pauley on bass and clean vocals, the band has experienced a rebirth. The newfound conviction can be heard within the verses of Restoring Force, Of Mice & Men’s third studio album.

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After years of turbulence in the band, Carlile admits he felt pressure to produce something that was worth the wait. “I’d be lying if I told you it was easy. We’d never recorded with Aaron before and we didn’t know if it was going to work – until one day he asked me to listen to a chorus and verse he said he’d had in his head forever. As a musician, you know when you have a good chorus and verse – the rest is cake. Even still, there was a lot riding on this and Aaron knew it.”

Following the release of 2011’s The Flood, Carlile knew everyone needed a break from recording and touring – the tension was getting to them. It was back in California where he ran into Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda. “We had seen each other around but that was about it,” says Carlile.

“Anyway, we got to talking and had lunch together. I’d mentioned I was working on a new record and he seemed interested, so we went to his car and we listened to these super rough demos. I was doing vocals, even though I felt pretty silly – seriously, I had idolised this guy, now I’m singing to him in his car!” Carlile laughs. “Suddenly he looked at me and said, ‘You would be an idiot not to let me help you with this. I love it!’ He helped bring that song to life and it was that day in the car that started our friendship with Linkin Park.”

That song, based on Pauley’s original ideas, turned out to be ‘Feels Like Forever’, the new record’s lead single and arguably its standout track. “It has become one of my favourite songs,” says Carlile. “I don’t want to sound corny but Aaron bringing that song to the table was the restoring force for our band.”

Now that Restoring Force has been repackaged as a deluxe edition, Full Circle, Of Mice & Men are on their way Down Under this month to share the new material with fans at Soundwave and sideshows. When the rock’n’roll circus hits town, they’ll be rubbing shoulders with some of the world’s premier punk and hardcore acts.

“We have some buddies in the lineup!” Carlile says excitedly. “I love Slipknot and I can’t wait to catch up with the guys from Incubus and Hollywood Undead.

“We’re playing a very healthy 45-minute set, which is perfect for us. We’re not Metallica; we don’t

have any eight-minute songs,” he laughs. “We plan to play half off Restoring Force, lots from The Flood and of course tracks from the re-release. There may even be an acoustic song or two in there – you never know.

“The last time we were in Australia was Soundwave 2013 and we had a lot of fun – maybe a little bit too much. Seriously though, it is such a blessing to be able to make music and travel the world.

Before I started the band I’d never even left the US, and trust me, we’re the biggest bunch of tourists.

We’re the band that does all the clichéd stuff, camera in hand. So

if you see us around, please come say hi.”

What: Soundwave Festival 2015 With: Faith No More, Soundgarden, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Slash and many more Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1 And: Also appearing alongside Atreyu and The Devil Wears Prada at the Factory Theatre on Wednesday February 25 More: Restoring Force: Full Circle out Friday February 27 through Rise/Warner thebrag.com

Xxx photo by xxx

“The making of the new record was such a different experience this time round,” Carlile explains.

“Aaron and I fl ew out to the studio for about two-and-a-half weeks before the rest of the band did. We started working on pre-production and wrote some skeletons of songs. Then together Aaron and I trialled some basslines. Soon our producer [David Bendeth] suggested we

work separately and see what we could come up with.”

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Kim Richey Songs Across The Seas By Adam Norris

S

peaking from beneath the clear blue skies of Nashville, Kim Richey is one endearing lady; rarely have I heard so many uses of the word ‘gosh’ dropped into conversation. For a performer whose popular and critical reputation is hallmarked by the honesty of her songwriting, it comes as no surprise that she is quite humble and forthcoming, pleasantly bemused that people are interested in talking with her in the first place. She has lived and recorded on both sides of the Atlantic, and her relationships with fans both in the US and abroad never ceases to astound her.

“Gosh, audiences are different in some ways, but also kind of the same,” Richey begins. Perhaps as a result of roaming across America for so many years, her accent is slight; born in Ohio, she now sounds like she may have hailed from anywhere at all. “I play a lot in the UK, and the audiences there almost seem to know more about me then I do myself. But of course with the internet, it’s made people so much more alike. We all have the same information forces. It’s making us more of the same. But you know, hearing an audience sing the words – gosh, that never ceases to amaze me, no matter where I go.

Knowing the words or requesting a song, you can’t help but be amazed by that. You know, I wrote a song alone, then recorded it, and somewhere down the way somebody found their way to it. It boggles the mind, really. I’m amazed every time.”

It seems particularly surreal for Richey given the unexpected shape of her career. Many artists will tell you they felt the calling to their field from an early age; singing before a captive family audience, say, or dominating the stage at the school Christmas

carols. While Richey did gain some musical props by performing with Foster & Lloyd in her college days (leading to her first song, a track that lasted all of one minute – “I didn’t want to take up too much space,” she explains), it was not until later in life that success and label interest came knocking.

“Well… I know there are people who say, ‘I saw this performer and I knew I wanted to do this for the rest of my life.’ I never had that. I never, ever imagined it was possible to make a living as a singer, let alone a songwriter; it never even entered my head. I guess maybe because there wasn’t American Idol back then. Now I guess people think they can just do some YouTube videos, and somebody will discover them and they’ll become famous. But back then it had never really occurred to me.

Making a record seemed a kind of magic. I got my degree, travelled around a lot, cooking in a lot of restaurants. Eventually I ended up in Washington State, where I was with my boyfriend who was getting his master’s degree at the time. The deal was, I worked, and when he finished study it was my turn to say where we got to go. I really didn’t have much of an idea of what I wanted to do, since I hadn’t tried my hand at any music since college. But I’d run into Foster & Lloyd who were touring, and they convinced me to come to Nashville pretty much on a lark!” She laughs at the memory.

“I’d never figured I’d stay there or anything would come of it. I didn’t get signed to Mercury until I was 37. So it was a pretty late start. Things are different now. Gosh, I had to get a major label to sign me in order to even make a record. Now you can do that pretty inexpensively and you can

promote it yourself. Play house concerts, small gigs. If you really want to do it and you’re good, you can do it.”

Richey is now eight albums down, and given the vast sweep of songs she has yet to record it is safe money to bet on several more in the near future. The most recent, 2013’s Thorn In My Heart, has been almost universally lauded, and is her highestcharting album to date. It is a beautiful record, strong and thematically sound.

This is particularly interesting, since the songs themselves stretch across the breadth of her career.

“I write a lot, so I have tonnes of songs.

This last record, there are some

songs there that are quite older that I’d almost forgotten about, while there are others that just didn’t gel with earlier records. When you write all the time, you get attached to the newest thing. It’s new so you get excited, and sometimes that means you forget about the old. I still have some songs that I’d like to record that I haven’t had the chance to yet. They’ll all find a place somewhere, one of these days.

“It takes me a while to get a record off the ground. I’d be releasing them all the time if I could just get more organised. I sure have enough songs. But it just seems that songs should kind of fit together in the one group, you know? I’m still making albums, which is kind of old-

fashioned now, I suppose. But I’ll always prefer songs that all work together in some way.”

What: National Folk Festival 2015 With: David Francey, Heartstring Quartet, Baka Beyond, All Our Exes Live In Texas and many more Where: Exhibition Park, Canberra When: Thursday April 2 – Monday April 6 And: Also appearin≠g alongside Sarah Humphreys at Camelot Lounge on Thursday March 5 and Lizotte’s, Kincumber on Friday March 6 More: Thorn In My Heart out now through Yep Roc

Donavon Frankenreiter Chasing The Perfect Wave By Tom Clift great to put one down for a little bit and then you go back to it with a fresh approach.”

Interestingly, it seems the same thing that attracted Frankenreiter to surfing is also what attracts him to music – particularly live performance. “[It’s] the magical feeling of knowing you can never surf out and get that exact wave again,” he explains. “There’s this elusiveness. I think that’s why I became addicted to it, because there’s that element of wanting to get good, and then there’s the element of wanting to find the best waves you can. It’s not always perfect, and it’s forever changing. I think that’s what every surfer loves. They fall in love with not knowing if they’re going to get the best barrel of their life tomorrow or if they’re going to wait ten more years to find that day where it all comes together.

C

alifornia native Donavon Frankenreiter divides his time between two great loves. The first is his music, be it live or laid down in the studio. Since the release of his self-titled debut album just over a decade ago, the famously moustachioed singer-songwriter has earned himself plenty of fans with his folksy, easy-going tunes, embarking on several international tours, including multiple sojourns to Australia.

His second great passion is one he’s had since he was a child, growing up near the beach in Downey, just south of Los Angeles. “I remember at the age of ten, when I got my very first surfboard,” Frankenreiter reminisces.

“I just remember how fast I went. I’ll never forget the sensation of going 16 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

down the face of a wave, fast, and knowing that this piece of equipment was exactly what I’d been looking for. The moment I stood up, I was addicted.”

and fellow surfer-turned-musician Jack Johnson. The record was a success, and Frankenreiter has been splitting his time between the surf and the studio ever since.

From then on, the young Frankenreiter was barely away from the water.

After competing in some amateur junior surfing contests, he officially went pro at the age of 16, aided by a sponsorship deal courtesy of Aussie surfwear company Billabong.

It was around that same time that Frankenreiter picked up his first guitar, and soon thereafter discovered his second great passion. After some time spent jumping between bands, he decided to pursue a solo career.

His first album was released through Brushfire Records, owned by friend

“To me, they both enhance each other,” he says. “There have been some times when music’s come to me while surfing. There have also been times on music tours when I haven’t been expecting to get any good waves, and it ends up being the best day ever.

They both definitely enhance each other, because I love doing both so much that when I’m surfing a lot, while I’m in such a great mood and I love it, I can’t wait to get back to playing music. And also the same thing, when I’m on tour playing music, I can’t wait to get back in the water … I think it’s

“I had the same exact feeling when I picked up the guitar for the first time,” Frankenreiter continues. “It’s never ever the same. I don’t know if it’s the way I think, but things happen in a split second when you play live, and I just love that feeling of not knowing.

I love that sensation of playing live … every night I go onstage, and whether we play the same songs or not, they’re always a little bit different. There’s always that element of, ‘Am I going to break a string? Is it going to be in tune? What’s this crowd going to be like? What’s this PA sound like?’ And I love that.”

Frankenreiter’s latest tour will bring him back to Australia, where he’ll play 18 locations in less than four weeks, including multiple sets at Bluesfest in Byron Bay. Unsurprisingly, his travels will take him past several major surfing hotspots, where he’s hoping he’ll get the chance to catch some waves.

“Australia’s always been that place, especially in the surfing world, where

every surfer has always wanted to get to,” says Frankenreiter. “It’s one of the meccas, being able to catch some of the waves that break in Australia.

“I think the first time I went down I was 13 or 14, for a big huge world juniors amateur surfing contest. So then when I started to go back to play music, I felt comfortable there because I’d been there with the surfing.”

“One of the things I’ll be looking at every day will be where I’m going to be tomorrow, and who I know in that town with an extra board,” he says with a laugh. “Maybe I’ll trade a board for a ticket – that always works out good.”

While the surfing keeps him entertained, Frankenreiter says the biggest downside to the touring is being away from his wife and two sons. “It’s the most difficult thing in my life,” he says. “I try to bring them as much as I possibly can, but when I’m away it’s heartbreaking. It’s just one of those things that I’ve never really been able to figure out, how to make it make sense and how to make it work. They’re always intertwined in everything that I sing about – you’ve got to take the good with the bad.”

Where: Lizotte’s, Dee Why When: Wednesday March 25 and Thursday March 26 And: Headlining the Cambridge Hotel, Newcastle on Friday March 27, the Factory Theatre on Saturday March 28 and the Beachcomber Hotel, Toukley on Sunday March 29 More: Also appearing alongside The Black Keys, Zac Brown Band, Jurassic 5, Lenny Kravitz and many more at Bluesfest, Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm, Thursday April 2 – Monday April 6 thebrag.com

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 17

José González The Stories We Tell By Adam Norris

J

osé González is a rather hesitant, softly spoken man.

It’s unsurprising in a way, since he is the man responsible for some of the most delicate songs to capture global audiences in years. ‘Heartbeats’, ‘Stay Alive’ and his complete reinvention of Kylie Minogue’s ‘Hand On Your Heart’ have secured him a place in that strange pantheon of singersongwriters we’ll most likely listen to on rainy days while staring out the window reeling from a break-up. Speaking from his home in Gothenburg, González is a friendly if distracted fellow, and as our conversation unfurls, his freewheeling attention span emerges as quite an ingrained character trait.

“There is a big kitchen I write in, with a window that looks out into my backyard,” González coughs down the phone. He has just finished breakfast, and by the sounds of it he is in the midst of a winter cold. “But it’s quite empty out there. Sometimes instead I’ll find myself at the front of the house, open the door and just look out onto the street. Watch as everything passes by, watch the day.

Then I have to try and sit back down and try writing. I get distracted and find myself watching YouTube videos instead.”

Speaking with a singer of González’s ilk – one whose lyrics and bittersweet instrumentation give such a strong sense of thoughtfulness and accessibility – you can never anticipate how closely their music will match the person behind it. There is always a mask, but how firmly affixed it is can take time to understand.

Though González takes great and clear pride in his recent work, it is evident he would rather skip the whole publicity wagon altogether.

“When I’ve been writing [new album] Vestiges & Claws, I’ve been informed by the first albums, but I’ve consciously been [finding] inspiration from new areas. Three other songs on the album, ‘Stories We Tell’, ‘What Will’ [and] ‘Afterglow’ are more inspired by Western African guitar playing. Some Latin American influences. And of course there’s Simon & Garfunkel, who I had listened to when I very first started playing acoustic guitar. But what I find myself listening to today is much more, well, electronic.”

He laughs a little sheepishly. They are some wide-ranging influences, and it will be legitimately interesting to see what his long-term fans think of this latest direction (especially given this is the first album which features solely original material).

The reception to his songs is something that González is happy to be removed from, but early reviews of the record have left him chuckling.

“There was one review where the writer kept talking about how the song ‘Leaf Off’ is all about death,” he laughs, “and to me it’s pretty uplifting.

She kept referring to the light mentioned in the song like it was the light at the end of the tunnel, and how I think about death so much. It was pretty gloomy. It was like they thought I’d released my graveyard album. If I had to describe it myself…” he pauses, and suddenly sounds quite uncomfortable. “I would describe it as guitar and vocals. I don’t usually like to talk about myself so much. With interviews, well, I have some shortcuts. I can mention Simon & Garfunkel, that’s usually enough for them. I usually leave it up to other people to describe my music.”

Given he had mentioned Simon & Garfunkel not three minutes earlier, I’m not sure what to make of this revelation. Certainly, you can respect the desire not to force one particular meaning on a song – that is the province of the listener more so than the artist – but turning to other fields of interest meets a similar hesitation.

González studied as a biochemist, and you can’t help but hope there is some bewildering and esoteric connection between this background and his music – how spectacular would it be to learn that ‘Heartbeats’ was composed according to the molecular rhythms of an actual human heart? Sadly, the two disciplines are at quite a remove.

González’s fascination with biochemistry has not waned,

however, and it is a field he still follows, if not to the same level of commitment.

“In the sense of going back to university or reconnecting with study, no. But in the sense of being interested in science in general, the broad range of areas where there is so much happening right now – I guess it’s almost more interesting than ever. [There are] so many things to be excited by, but I don’t have the time to really follow it all.

Too many obligations. I always find myself getting interested in new science, though, before I get distracted and start following some other [matter] instead.”

background, and it is clear that González is hoping to wrap things up.

It has been an unusual, though friendly chat, and before finishing I ask what he does in those rare times he is not recording, writing, touring or collaborating.

“I enjoy hanging out with friends, having a beer, talking. I like running in the forest. When I’m alone and I have a day off, there’s always something I’d like to watch or read.

But mostly a lot of hanging with friends and drinking beer.”

Amen to that.

What: Vestiges & Claws out Friday February 20 through Imperial/Shock

I can now hear voices in the

Mogwai Creatures Of The Night By Adam Norris

B

arry Burns, keyboardist extraordinaire and Mogwai stalwart since 1999’s Come On Die Young, is a sharp and funny guy. I’d be lying, however, if I told you this was immediately apparent; his Scottish brogue takes some unravelling. It is somewhat fitting for a band that has, by design or circumstance, become quite difficult to deconstruct. Not many acts can claim the kind of evolution that characterises Mogwai’s career, although as Burns explains, their electronic development came as something of a surprise.

“It came from luck,” he admits happily.

“We were in New York to do the second album, and went to this studio that had all this gear that we’d never seen before. We wanted to find a way to use it, of course; we were quite young and basically wanted to play with these new toys. That’s really what they were at first, kind of weird toys. It was more a chance opportunity rather than anything else. We didn’t have any money to buy these things ourselves, so we’d just borrow what we could from the studio. Though when we did have the money to buy these things, we started to get quite a keen eye for what was becoming available. But it all began with luck.”

With eight studio albums and 13 EPs to their name now, Mogwai’s time in New York was clearly a watershed moment. Though electronic influences sit at the core of the group these days, it nonetheless took the band members some time to understand just how these technological advancements would impact the style of music they were moving towards. “[2006 single] ‘Friend Of The Night’ was a song when we just started to take on the technology, where we could record demos around the house,” says Burns. “I remember having some program and just sitting with all of the new plugins that I’d got, and it was all 18 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

quite overwhelming. So much to choose from. I remember sitting down with the computer open, trying to work it all out, and thinking, ‘Bah, I’ll just use the piano,’” he laughs. “Even though I slowly added other pieces, a few guitar parts, they were all originally written as piano parts. I do remember, I asked John [Cummings] to tune his guitar ABECEF just to see what he could come up with for it, and that has turned out to be the most annoying tuning.

Whenever we go on tour we now have to take this one guitar that has no other use. But that’s a song that we worked on a lot, just playing it and playing it, and it came together quite naturally. A lot of our songs are like that.”

Mogwai’s most recent EP, Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1., is a testament to just how far their style has progressed. A serve of new and remixed tracks, it again demonstrates their sporadic use of vocals over their otherwise instrumental music – an aspect of writing that turns out to rarely be deliberate, but rather a kind of songwriting Hail Mary play.

“I’d say they’re more of a last resort to save the song from getting thrown in the bin,” says Burns. “If it can’t be improved with a vocal sample or a loop, then the last resort is one of us trying to pull some lyrics out of our arse. It’s good having the internet; we can always send each other MP3s beforehand for an idea of what we’re going to try and do. I do wonder if other bands do it the way that we do, or if we’re strange that way. I’m not really sure. But every record, all our work is really a joint labour of love.”

What: Music Industry 3. Fitness Industry 1. out now through Rock Action Where: Concert Hall, Sydney Opera House When: Monday March 2 thebrag.com

JOHN BUTLER TRIO LEE KERNAGHAN KASEY CHAMBERS SHANNON NOLL ASH GRUNWALD BECCY COLE MENTAL AS ANYTHING THE MCCLYMONTS WENDY MATTHEWS WE TWO THIEVES THE WOLFE BROTHERS THE WOLVERINES AMBER LAWRENCE KEVIN BENNETT AND THE FLOOD THE BOB CORBETT BAND CHELSEA BASHAM GREG CHAMPION CHRISTIE LAMB AND MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!

campfirefestival.com.au BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 19

Fall Out Boy

Crazy In Love By David James Young

A

fter boldly and unexpectedly returning in grand fashion nearly two years ago, Fall Out Boy have barely paused for refl ection. Following the release of their controversial comeback, Save Rock And Roll, the Chicago pop-rockers toured exhaustively in support of it. Just as the dust began to settle in 2014, a new single dropped in the form of the piano-driven anthem ‘Centuries’. If that wasn’t enough, lead vocalist Patrick Stump and guitarist Joe Trohman both became first-time fathers. With three-quarters of the band now dads, it’s safe to say that parenthood has inspired a major shift in how Fall Out Boy perceive themselves as a unit.

They’re certainly not the kids they used to be.

“I think it’s impossible for it not to be a factor,” says bassist, lyricist and father of two, Pete Wentz.

“When you’re a father, you’re instinctively trained to think of someone else before you think of yourself. It’s defi nitely impacted the way we think about touring and that sort of thing. [Wentz’ six-yearold] Bronx comes on tour with us now, he watches us play pretty much every night. In a lot of ways, though, I’m just ‘Dad’ to him. I’m not the guy from Fall Out Boy. He’s basically seeing me at my job, which by now I don’t think he fi nds all that interesting. Everyone grows up, it’s just a part of life.

That’s kind of what’s happening with the band.”

More new tracks ended up dropping like breadcrumbs online, leading up to the announcement and subsequent release of the band’s seventh album, American Beauty/American Psycho. It may borrow its title from two of the most beloved cult hits of turn-ofthe-century cinema, but Wentz explains there is a deeper meaning behind what the band is hoping to achieve with its second post-comeback release.

“When we were growing up in the suburbs of Chicago, it felt like it was a really anticlimactic place to grow up,” he says. “There were all these bands and songs and artists that inspired us, telling us in their own way that we could do this. I think that needs to be happening for kids out there now. I hope there’s something that makes a kid want to pick up a guitar or start a band.

When you’re living out in the middle of nowhere, you don’t necessarily have the blueprint for getting out of there and figuring out what it’s all about. I mean, it could come from anyone. There’s no rhyme or reason, other than ambition, talent and a little bit of luck. We wanted to make songs that would kind of be that shot for people – we wanted to make songs that people could get behind.”

When Save Rock And Roll was released in the summer of 2013, the timing lined up nicely with the tenyear anniversary of the band’s beloved debut, Take This To Your Grave. Fall Out Boy celebrated the milestone by incorporating many of the old songs into their sets and revisiting the house in which the album’s cover photo was taken.

With the release of American Beauty/American Psycho, they have serendipitously found themselves close to the ten-year anniversary of what is widely considered to be their major breakthrough album, From Under The Cork Tree. Wentz looks back on the time of that album’s release as one of confusion and wonder – a time when things that Fall Out Boy are very much accustomed to now seemed foreign and scary.

“It was so strange – we really didn’t know what we were doing,” he says.

“All of a sudden, the band kind of became like this machine – we had a label backing us and we were suddenly touring internationally; the whole thing was just bizarre to us.

We really felt like we didn’t fit the mould of the kind of acts that would

have those things happen to them.

It was the first time we’d gone away from Chicago to make a record. We were so unsure of everything – I mean, there was a point where ‘Sugar, We’re Goin Down’ had a different chorus and we weren’t planning to have it on the record. It would be really cool to do something to commemorate that time – I’m not sure what we’ll do, but we should definitely make that happen.”

Australia is one of the first places the band will visit in support of the new album, joining what is already a blockbuster two-day Soundwave lineup. Even with such a diverse

array of bands on the bill, Wentz and co. are more than aware that they’re bound to stick out – and it’s something they hope will work in their favour.

“We always try and approach festival settings differently. We’re more than aware that there are people that are not necessarily there to see us – maybe, in this case, they’re hanging to see Marilyn Manson, or they wanna see [Judas] Priest or Incubus or whoever else. We’ve got to be open to winning over that kind of crowd. That’s all that we used to do when the band was starting out.

We’d play Warped, Reading and Leeds, things like that – there’s

always people to win over and have on your side. You need them in that environment.”

What: Soundwave Festival 2015 With: Faith No More, Soundgarden, Marilyn Manson, Slipknot, Slash and many more Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Saturday February 28 and Sunday March 1 And: Also appearing at UNSW Roundhouse on Tuesday February 24 More: American Beauty/ American Psycho out now through Island/Universal

The Courtneys The Happiest Band In Canada By Adam Norris so much as a summer band,” Payne laughs. “People always mistake us as being from California, and I guess we do have a song called ‘90210’, but whatever. I know our songs sound very happy and summery, but I think that one of the words I’ve lyrically reused the most has been ‘winter’. I mean, I talk about snow a lot. So I think it’s fun that sonically we come across as a happy, summer band, but that’s not often the topic of the songs at all. Even when we try and write a ‘sad’ song it ends up sounding like, ‘Oh, the beach! Let’s drive with the top down!’”

Payne laughs again. She is a friendly, colourful conversationalist, whose sentences tend to scatter all over the place like a box of overturned cats. Given her exuberance, the bright and cheerful ’90s tone that infuses The Courtneys’ songs isn’t too surprising. It certainly seems more valid than any overriding fondness or nostalgia for the decade that gave us both Pearl Jam and Captain Planet.

T

he Courtneys have had one hell of an unexpected ride.

From casually bashing out an album over the course of a weekend, to finding themselves featured on MTV, Rage, and selling out venues, their trajectory has 20 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

been enviable, to put it mildly. But drummer and vocalist Jen Twynn Payne is not only equally surprised by their success, she comes across as a ridiculously charming, entertaining person as well. The Courtneys’ tone is upbeat, warm

and infectious; a very West Coast sound. Which is only unusual when you realise they hail from the frozen Canadian north.

“To be honest, I have always found it pretty strange that we’re labelled

“Musically I think the three of us are all extremely different in a lot of ways, and that the whole ’90s aesthetic is kind of where we cross over. Other bands that are looking back to earlier music, well, I wonder about that myself. I feel like maybe it’s always that way. I feel like when you’re living in a certain time period, it’s hard for you to tell what’s going on. When we look at the ’80s, it has a specifi c style and a specifi c sound.

“We look at it now and it’s like, yeah, that’s the ’80s. But I feel like when you’re living in it, you can’t tell what is standing out. Maybe it seems like we’re all doing this nostalgia thing, but when I look back at the early 2000s, that has a very specifi c sound and aesthetic.

But when I was in it, I didn’t think that anything was going on at all.”

Shortly The Courtneys will touch down in Australia for their first experience of the Land of Snakes and Sunstroke. Payne can barely believe the road their music has led them down so far, especially when so much of it seems almost divinely arranged.

“Before the album came out [in 2013] we’d be making jokes about things we’d like to do, but it was all very delusional. But now, we’ve started to do all these things! We played this island the other day, and as we were on the ferry going over, our bassist, Sydney, was like, ‘You guys, seriously, if there’s only one more thing that can happen in this band before we die, I really want to make a choreographed dance music video.’ And it’s so ridiculous and so funny, but we’ll totally do something like that now!

I just feel like we keep on coming up with more and more ridiculous things that somehow end up happening.”

What: The Courtneys out now through Bone Soup/Future Popes Where: Frankie’s Pizza When: Thursday March 5

thebrag.com

BRAG’s guide to film, theatre, comedy and art about town

arts in focus

mardi gras film festival celebrating queer cinema also inside:

AS YOU LIKE IT / ARTS NEWS / ARTS GIVEAWAY / REVIEWS thebrag.com

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 21

arts in focus

free stuff

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Chris Martin, Spencer Scott and Nicholas Hartman

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five minutes WITH

MILES HALL the Louvre, the Musée d’Orsay, Centre Georges Pompidou and the National Gallery of London. I ended up spending close to four years in France and began showing my work with a fantastic dealer. It was in Montpellier where I also met my partner Virginie, the mother of my daughter Lila. We then returned to Australia where I took up a teaching position at Queensland College of Art and completed my doctorate. And seven years later we’re all back in Montpellier where I’m working and teaching at the art school.

W

hat can you tell us about your background in painting and art?

My father used to take me out landscape painting when I was a young boy and I remember falling in love with the way marks on a piece of paper created a sense of form in space. The first important drawing for me was on the ceiling of my parents’ Renault 12; I was about four and I took to covering the entire surface with pencil lines!

Painting and drawing was always something I just did, I never really though about becoming an artist until much later on.

After leaving school I went to Queensland College of Art. Midway through the degree I left for Sydney to study at the Julian Ashton Art School. After finishing at art school in Australia I travelled and worked in the UK and Europe for two years – a kind of extended study tour of

Your Badger & Fox Gallery exhibition will be “a comprehensive collection of paintings”. How do you go about selecting works to comprehensively represent your art?

In fact I didn’t select them, the gallery did. Other people have a more objective viewpoint than I. I’m always interested in how my work is received and appreciated by others. Saying this, I think the show covers a large range of work over the last five or so years; it would

give anyone unfamiliar with my practice a decent overview of what I’ve been doing.

Your painting style is minimalist yet colourful. How expressive can colours be in their own right?

Colour by itself is meaningless.

It’s the way one colour responds with another colour, or the manner in which a colour relates to the space around it, that creates significance. As an artist, I’m interested in how our experience of colour can be intensified through exploring substance, surface and scale. Painting is a privileged site of investigation where colour operates as a material, physical phenomenon. For me, I try to evoke both a visual and haptic response from the viewer. My paintings are not images, they are things.

What: Miles Hall: A Comprehensive Collection Of Paintings Where: Badger & Fox Gallery When: Thursday February 19 – Saturday March 14

The Scarborough Hotel’s home for local artistic talent, Matthew Gillett Gallery, is stepping up its program with a new art market, Mercato Arte. After putting out the call for artists, performing artists, poets and stallholders, the room is set to expose the breadth of artistry from the South Coast and beyond – all, of course, situated at the edge of a stunning location. 2015 is shaping up to be an important year for the gallery, with a winter solstice market planned in future alongside the regular eight-week rotating shows.

First up, though, Mercato Arte is taking place on Thursday February 26. We’ve got five double passes to the event – to be in the running for one, visit thebrag.com/ freeshit and tell us your secret talent.

FAIR DAY 2015

Fair Day, the Mardi Gras’ big day out in the sun, is set to take place again this week in Chippendale’s Victoria Park. Fair Day features pop-up food stores with all types of munchies, market stalls with loads of homemade and other wares, and the DoggyWood dog show. There’ll also be prizes up for grabs in talent shows, lookalike competitions and other games.

Picnic blankets are encouraged. Fair Day 2015 is happening on Sunday February 22 in Victoria Park, and entry is free.

GOLDEN AGE CINEMA IN THE DOMAIN

The Golden Age Cinema and Bar will be showcasing classic movies in the peaceful surrounds of The Domain as part of this year’s new Spectrum Now festival. The films have been selected from across different decades, different styles and from around the world –

Old Darlinghurst Gaol

TWILIGHT SESSIONS

oldies like Rebel Without A Cause and Singin’ In The Rain will be on, as well as fun, more recent films like Ghostbusters and The Big Lebowski. The mini-festival of film will end with Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, 2001: A Space Odyssey. The Hollywood Nights program will run from Wednesday March 11 – Sunday March 22. For details and bookings, visit ourgoldenage.com.au.

The National Art School is set to host a program of mid-week soirees called Twilight Sessions. The new Twilight Sessions will include showcases from current artists, along with workshops in drawing, music and photography. To help you enjoy and take in the art, DJ Mike Who will be on hand with some chilled beats, and there’ll be food and drink available from pop-up outlets. On top of that, there’ll be displays of artworks from the current NAS cohort, including an exhibition from Margaret Olley’s Drawing Week. The first Twilight Session will feature the latest solo project from Kiwi artist Bill Culbert. The first of four Twilight Sessions of the year will be held on Wednesday February 25 at the Old Darlinghurst Gaol.

THE PROJECTS SHORT FILM FEST

Ahead of the event itself on Tuesday February 24, organisers have announced the final 11 entries for The Projects Short Film Festival.

Genevieve Clay Smith’s Work Mate, Hannah Bath’s Hunt, Taylor Cook’s After The Deal, Glen Mackay’s There Once Was A Boy Named Geoffrey, Bradley Murnane and Richard Clifford’s Last Stop, Jamie Irvine and Benice Tan’s Screaming Goats, Joshua Goener’s Power State, Andrew Ryan and Rebecca Murphy’s The Florist, Liam Kelly’s Drawn, Ben C Lucas’ Casa Del Suenos and Michael Wayne’s Limbo Rock will compete for first prize at one of Australia’s most exciting young film festivals.

The festival takes place at The Projects in Marrickville.

THE DOCTOR IS COMING

Doctor Who fans across Sydney have been given another reason to celebrate, with the announcement that Matt Smith, Karen Gillan and Alex Kingston are set to appear at The 22 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

Hub Productions’ Whoniverse this year. The Sydney Whoniverse event is part of a national tour, and the 11th Doctor (Smith)’s appearance will be the first time a modern-era Doctor has attended an Australian convention. Joining him is Gillan, who played Amy Pond on the show, and Kingston, who played River Song.

Whoniverse comes to Sydney on Saturday May 9, with the venue yet to be announced.

SYDNEY DANCE COMPANY DOES QUINTETT

Often considered one of the finest contemporary dance works of the 20th century, William Forsythe’s Quintett is coming to Sydney in March. Sydney Dance Company will be the first company in the Southern Hemisphere to present the show, with only seven companies around the world being given permission to host the production. The work is set to renowned UK composer Gavin Bryars’ 1971 composition ‘Jesus’ Blood Never Failed Me Yet’. Quintett will play at Sydney Theatre from Friday March 6 – Saturday March 21.

Monkey… Journey To The West

MORE MONKEY BUSINESS

Monkey… Journey To The West, the live show honouring the ancient Chinese fable made famous by cult TV show Monkey Magic, is set to open at the Sydney Opera House. Featuring acrobatics, songs, puppetry and martial arts, the show tells of the mythology of the Monkey King, who is expelled from heaven and charged with helping a monk in the search for peace in China. The show was created by the Helpmann Award-winning Kim Carpenter, and is co-directed by John Bell. Sydney parkour artists Team9Lives are joining the production to add a blend of physical theatre to the classic tale. Monkey… Journey To The West is showing at the Playhouse, Sydney Opera House from Saturday April 4 – Sunday April 19.

thebrag.com

Fair Day photo by Ann-Marie Calilhanna

Fair Day

MERCATO ARTE

As You Like It

Zahra Newman in As You Like It

[THEATRE] Something In The Air By Adam Norris

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As You Like It photo by Pierre Toussaint

ith opening night fast approaching, time is ticking for Kelly Paterniti and her fellow thespians. As one of Shakespeare’s most popular comedies, the anticipation for As You Like It is running high, made all the more poignant since John Bell’s announcement he will be stepping down at the end of the year from the company he founded, Bell Shakespeare. For an actor like Paterniti – one who craves the tutelage each new production brings to her craft – the opportunity to work alongside such established talents is a dream.

“There’s a special air here, I suppose,” she reflects. “A bit of a responsibility to make the production as good as it can be. But then, Bell Shakespeare standards are always very high.

But to be a part of it, especially before John steps down from the role, is unbelievable. I’ve already learnt a lot just by being in this show and being with these people. You always have to be open to learning, and just never be satisfied with your level of craft. You have to be able to take, to learn and to grow. If you reached a point where you were satisfied and didn’t keep trying to progress, well, I think that would just be very dull. Even the smallest or most unpleasant thing is something that you now know not to do again. There’s always a lesson to take. That’s the charm of the job, I suppose. You never know what the next role will be, and what you’re going to find out.”

Both Paterniti and I have recently seen the Oscar-nominated behind-the-curtain juggernaut, Birdman, and my impressions of

life in the theatre are now coloured with madness, blood and hilarity. It suggests the kind of manic energy befitting a Shakespeare comedy, with its heightened dialogue and madcap plot developments. Though spontaneity is certainly part of the production’s appeal, Paterniti is happy that in this instance, life does not imitate art.

“Thankfully this show has seen nothing as dark as the breakdown in Birdman. Ours is actually an encouraging environment. From my perspective, I just really enjoy a good story with great characters, and I guess that’s the thing with Shakespeare. You’re always guaranteed to get that, regardless of whether the language is your thing, or if you’ve heard it before. You’ll always have a well-structured play where the story just flows. It’s kind of an honour to perform, really. You’ve seen past productions, and then there are all of these modern stories that have directly taken their essence or inspiration from Shakespeare. There’s a familiarity there, but you don’t know exactly how that’s going to be told.

How it will come to life with new eyes, new perspectives. I think in the end that’s why people still like it. It’s why I still like it.”

Though Paterniti did her research early on – revisiting past adaptations, seeking out odd interpretations – she has also been strict in not carrying those infl uences with her to the stage. That approach seems very much a part of her craft, and she speaks strongly of the lessons she has already learned.

“It’s nice to have an idea of how it’s been

done, but you don’t want to bring any preconceived notions of how it should be, or subconsciously start copying something.

Also, watching some of the older, femalebased comedies, like you fi nd in Fellini, just to get a feel for that kind of world. I think it’s important, as long as you don’t start trying to emulate what you’ve seen. It also helps by

getting you excited about it. It gets you excited to play.”

What: As You Like It Where: Playhouse, Sydney Opera House When: Saturday February 21 – Saturday March 28

Mardi Gras Film Festival [FILM] The Colours Of The Rainbow By Annie Murney

The BRAG’s Best Of The Fest SKIN DEEP

Saturday February 28, 7:30pm Shot in and around Newtown, Skin Deep is the debut feature from Australian filmmaker Jonnie Leahy. This will be the Australian premiere of the story of troubled university student Caitlin and straight-laced Leah, two strangers lost in their respective brushes with heartbreak and mortality. They’re thrown together by circumstance and occasionally clash but ultimately find a connection, opening up and facing the problems they try so hard to hide.

STORIES OF OUR LIVES

Wednesday March 4, 6:30pm Stories Of Our Lives is a collection of five nuanced vignettes that paint a compelling picture of queer experience in Kenya. While the film has not been screened in Kenya due to the country’s classification laws, it has received worldwide recognition for its confronting and candid insight. Made on a budget of $15,000, the film is as much statement as storytelling, tapping into our universal desire to belong and be free against a backdrop of sadness and struggle.

Tru Love

C

ome Saturday March 7, lashings of glitter and confetti will rain down on Oxford Street during the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Parade, probably the best-known event during the annual Mardi Gras Festival. However, if the constant stream of summer parties is starting to wear you down, take some time to recuperate in a cool cinema with the 22nd Mardi Gras Film Festival, which will showcase the best of queer cinema.

Festival director Paul Struthers has carefully curated an international spread of must-see films. “There are a lot of films that will appeal not just to the LGBTQI community, but a wider audience as well,” he says. “I think what’s also important is making sure there are things that young people can come to. For people coming out in their early-to-mid-20s, it’s important that they see themselves represented onscreen.”

This is the second year Struthers has taken the reins after putting on the smaller Queer Screen Festival.

Stepping up to a bigger platform, the Mardi Gras offered the opportunity to program a bigger range of films.

Packed with comedies, coming-of-age dramas, thrillers and documentaries, this year’s list honours the different experiences of a diverse community.

“There’s A Girl At My Door,” says Struthers, rattling through some of the highlights. “It’s a Korean thriller which won a standing ovation at Cannes. thebrag.com

“Another important film we’re screening is from Kenya, called Stories Of Our Lives. It was created by a group called the Nest Collective, who have gathered together hundreds of LGBTQI stories and turned them into five short films.”

The festival’s opening night, Thursday February 19, will feature the critically acclaimed Swiss film, The Circle. A compelling docudrama, it retraces the birth of the provocative gay magazine of the same name and its founders.

On a lighter note, Do I Sound Gay? is about a young man who confronts his anxiety about the way he sounds. “It opened at the New York Documentary Festival and was selected for the Toronto Film Festival,” explains Struthers. “And it’s got interviews with George Takei, Dan Savage and David Sedaris – it’s very funny.”

In recent years, there has been a nostalgic trend in queer cinema and understandably so. Part of this looking back excavates a dark history of discrimination and reclaims the heroes that fought back. One example is She’s Beautiful When She’s Angry, which revolves around a group of prominent lesbian activists who began campaigning for gender equality during the late ’60s. And on Monday March 2, there will be a tenth anniversary screening of Ang Lee’s tender masterpiece, Brokeback Mountain.

The selection of films also reflects contemporary human rights abuses

suffered by the LGBTQI community.

“There are a slew of films being released from Russia, highlighting the plight of our Russian brothers and sisters,” says Struthers. In particular, Stand is an edgy film that follows the violent repercussions of a possible hate crime. By screening these kinds of films, there is an attempt to foster a sense of international solidarity within the queer community. “You have to screen courageous filmmakers,” says Struthers. “Especially in somewhere like Sydney, where I can walk down the street holding my boyfriend’s hand.

We still have some way to come, but compared to many other countries we’re very lucky.”

There has long been a relationship between queer cinema and arthouse, a consequence of censorship and conservative values. These days, many more high-calibre queer films are reaching wider audiences. “The quality is astounding, and it’s not just LGBTQI people that are consuming these films,” says Struthers. “Films like The Circle and Stranger By The Lake have had phenomenal success. So it’s important for people to recognise that queer cinema isn’t just about being gay, it’s about quality as well.”

What: Mardi Gras Film Festival 2015 When: Thursday February 19 – Thursday March 5 Where: Event Cinemas, George Street

BFFS

Sunday March 1, 7pm and Friday March 27, 7pm BFFs is a dramedy about two friends who are gifted a weekend away to a couples’ retreat, only they’re neither gay nor a couple. The retreat tests their relationship and has them questioning whether there’s something between them that they’ve been denying for years. Having screened at over 30 film festivals and won Audience Awards at three, BFFs is a warm, smart film that turns the buddy comedy genre on its head.

MALA MALA

Monday March 2, 6:30pm Mala Mala is a colourful and heartfelt documentary that follows nine transidentifying individuals and their forays into the trans community of Puerto Rico. The film features LGTBQI advocates, business owners, sex workers and a group of drag performers in a story of self-discovery and activism that highlights the binaries between personal acceptance and solidarity. The cinematography elegantly contrasts the often-dark personal experience of the subjects with the beauty of their candy-coloured stage personas, taking you through the emotional paces before the upbeat finale.

LYLE

Friday February 20, 9pm Gaby Hoffmann of Girls and Transparent fame stars in the film billed as a lesbian Rosemary’s Baby. We meet Leah (Hoffmann) and June (Ingrid Jungermann) as they move into their dream home in Brooklyn with their toddler Lyle and another baby on the way. Suspicion and the supernatural combine until something happens to Lyle and Leah starts to unravel. Unsure of who to trust, Leah’s behaviour becomes manic as she struggles to determine what’s real, and her descent builds to the film’s shocking climax.

Lachlan Mackenzie Mala Mala

BFFs

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 23

Film & Theatre Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen and bareboards around town

■ Film

COCK

ROSEWATER

Playing at the Old Fitzroy Theatre until Friday March 6

In cinemas Thursday February 19

The Old Fitz Theatre has had a revamp of late under new management, Red Line Productions. The second play of Red Line’s inaugural season is Mike Bartlett’s Cock, and they’ve pulled no punches in selecting this as one of their opening productions.

Matt Minto and Michael Whalley in Cock The play is ultimately a feat of performance, with a full cast firing on all cylinders. Whalley is excellent as John, while Matt Minto offers the perfect dichotomy to John’s confusion while showing a maze of his own insecurities.

Brian Meegan gets special mention having come to the cast at the last minute, a week after coming offstage in Ensemble Theatre’s Absent Friends, and playing the father role with a perfect mix of patriarch and contemporary dad. The approach to props and sets (i.e. there are none) as well as nudity puts the full focus on the dialogue, with the audience asked to use its imagination and all actors in complete focus throughout. Despite the subject matter this is a darkly funny play, full of quick wit on the modern relationship, whatever the definition.

John (Michael Whalley) is stuck in a tired relationship with a loving but pedantic partner. Unhappy and on a break, he has an affair with a woman – his first experience of the opposite sex. Now confused and full of guilt, he is stuck in a twister of insecurities while surrounded by two people who fight to claim his love as their own. John decides the three shall meet over dinner, where all literal hell breaks loose.

Julian Ramundi

■ Theatre

BLOOD BROTHERS Playing at Hayes Theatre Co until Sunday March 15 Mrs. Johnstone is a single mum with seven children at home and twins on the way. Mrs. Lyons, her employer and a wealthy housewife who yearns for a child, cons Mrs. Johnstone into giving one of the twins to her. As the years pass, the boys coincidentally meet and obliviously become fast friends.

This comes much to the fear of their mothers, who make numerous attempts to extinguish the relationship, even going as far as moving away. As the boys grow, their difference in class upbringing shows, as one wrestles with poverty and the other heads towards modest success.

The fi lm’s smart and snappy dialogue is rich with

Impeccably utilised, many of the nine cast members play multiple characters throughout. Michael Cormick is solidly sinister as the narrator, adding a smoothness to the character who bears most of the melodrama. Bobby Fox and Blake Bowden are delightful as young Mickey and Edward respectively, both going on to fill their roles excellently as grown-ups in Act Two. Helen Dallimore is the glue, however, as Mrs. Johnstone, taking the audience through a range of emotions and grit while still letting us fall in love with her wit and charm.

The sets are sufficiently bleak and make creative use of the space, while the lighting perhaps adds a little too much to the melodrama. Act Two might be a little too rushed, covering over a decade in quick time, but thanks to its spectacular acting this is a solid show for the avid fan of musicals.

However, where this show knocks the audience out is its cast, which holds the play together spectacularly well.

Julian Ramundi

See www.thebrag.com for more arts reviews

Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

Morgan Shimeld: Sculpture Until Saturday March 7, Defiance Gallery Morgan Shimeld is a Sydney-based sculptural artist who uses compression and prismatic forms to explore interrelation and connections.

His works range from solid casts to fragile frames and carefully contoured pieces. Shimeld also employs a vast array of materials, from domestic stainless steel to bronze, concrete, nitrate and various found objects. His calculated and precise sculptures urge the viewer to comprehend existential notions of space by assaulting the eye with a barrage of incongruous geometry. Shimeld’s exhibition, simply entitled Sculpture, will run until Saturday March 7 at the Defiance Gallery, Newtown.

24 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

personality and goes a long way to elevating Bernal’s performance, which shines through not just in the fi lm’s direst moments but also its lighter ones. Impressively, Rosewater also restrains itself from demonising Mazi’s interrogator (Kim Bodnia) and paints him as a sympathetic human being rather than a sadist devoid of compassion or ambition.

The rest of the casting is similarly accomplished, with Haluk Bilginer’s presence as Mazi’s father adding a lot to the fi lm.

Rosewater is a strong first outing for Stewart as a director and strikes a great balance between treating its subject matter with the proper respect and capturing Mazi’s plight as a prisoner in what feels like a world gone mad.

It’s a film that cleverly weaves personal and political drama together in an impressive way – and perhaps most importantly, never loses track of the human qualities that shape it.

Fergus Halliday

Blake Bowden and Bobby Fox in Blood Brothers

Written in 1983, and set across a period from the ’60s through the ’70s, Blood Brothers is a musical very much of its time. The synth-laden rock score comes off a little thin after 32 years, and with no memorable numbers, the high melodrama and use of a narrator can make some parts even a little laughable. The ending is also laid right out for the audience in scene one, which doesn’t leave much room for surprise or suspense throughout.

Morgan Shimeld, Isle Of Hearts

The greatest strength of Jon Stewart’s debut as a director is its ability to place you in Mazi’s shoes. You feel his joy at the prospects of being a father, his utter shock and confusion at his arrest and his foreboding sense of trepidation as his Iranian friends let him into their world. The fi lm depicts a powerful portrait of Iran’s national identity at the time, cleverly embedding itself in history through the use of real footage and news coverage of Iran’s 2009 election. Though Stewart’s creative approach to conveying social media is a mixed bag at times, it’s refreshing to see him tackle this aspect of Mazi’s story nonetheless.

Gael Garcia Bernal in Rosewater

For more information visit defiancegallery.com.

education profile WITH

JMC ACADEMY: SONGWRITING

S

ongwriting is no easy skill, but it could be the avenue to fame and fortune – or, perhaps more importantly, your chance to take your innermost creative thoughts and express them in a positive way. JMC Academy Sydney’s new songwriting course can help you do just that. We asked JMC all about it.

What makes JMC’s songwriting course different?

Songwriters hold a vital place in the musical marketplace, even amongst the competing agendas of contemporary rock, indie and teen pop. The field of songwriting has grown exponentially over the past few years, providing a promotional launching pad (as well as a potentially lucrative income stream) for songwriters. This course will explore the fundamental songwriting techniques and uncover the essential tools for writing music that will appeal specifically to music supervisors, music publishers, record labels and producers, across any number of different genres.

Songwriting is a skill that is rarely taught and whether you’re a relative beginner or an experienced songwriter, you’ll learn how to brainstorm ideas, overcome writer’s block, and express yourself more effectively in words and music. Combining technical principles with pure creative expression, this handson course will help you

find your voice, sharpen your craft, and create songs which listeners will appreciate and remember.

As technology continues to evolve in the music industry, it is also important to be technically savvy with industry-standard computer software to further your career as a songwriter in today’s digital age. The curriculum will enhance your knowledge of the latest digital score-writing programs like Sibelius and refine your recording skills when recording in Avid Pro Tools. This course also offers invaluable one-on-one weekly tutorial sessions with an experienced professional tutor and your instrument of choice in the Instrument Studies program.

Where can this degree take me?

With the tools you acquire

in this degree, you will be able to make the most of your passion and talent, become a more competent musician and be confident in having a successful career in the music industry as a consummate artist.

Essentially, work may be found as a performing songwriter, lyricist, freelance songwriter, composer, resident/in-house writer, advertising creative (jingle writer), music producer, music publisher or music teacher.

What are the enrolment dates?

February, June and September. Open Day is on Saturday May 2 – register online at jmcacademy.edu.au.

What: JMC Academy, Ultimo More: jmcacademy.edu. au

thebrag.com

Blood Brothers photo by Kurt Sneddon

The play takes on the adult-age sexual awakening from a different angle, not only with a gay man exploring a potential hetero relationship, but also in raising the questions of normality and sexual orientation in a contemporary age. Society may expect certain heteronormative activity in relationships. However, these aren’t John’s norms, so the confusion and shame when he strays to the ‘other side’ are real for him.

A dramatic retelling of the imprisonment of journalist Maziar Bahari (Gael Garcia Bernal), Rosewater sets out to tear down the social and cultural boundaries that often deter Western audiences from truly grasping and empathising with the plights of those living in places where the crime of bearing witness still bears a heavy toll.

Cock photo by Tim Levy

■ Theatre

bread&thread Food & Fashion News...with Nicholas Hartman and Chris Martin

MEXICAN WEDNESDAYS

BREWNIQUE

Beer lovers unite: there’s a brand new event in town, the puntastically titled Brewnique. A collaboration between sister establishments, the Keg & Brew and the Dove & Olive, Brewnique is aligned with the national Craft Beer Rising program that celebrates locally brewed beer. Both the KB and the DO will raise a glass to the most-loved beverage in the world, not only featuring new and unique brews from the local brewery Yullis, but also turning out beer-themed menus. The Keg & Brew will offer tasty items like a smoked pilsner salmon fillet and an amber ale pork chop with brown rice, charred corn and amber ale gravy. The Dove & Olive will offer beer butter muscles and a Pacific ale bean salad with vegetables, hazelnuts and beans, flavoured with a beer vinaigrette. Brewnique takes place on Saturday February 28.

Worthy & Spruce

WORTHY & SPRUCE

Keg & Brew

TACO TRUCK THURSDAYS

This is sure to get you taco’n. Crane Bar is introducing its Taco Truck Thursdays this Thursday February 19 – and these will be no ordinary, off-the-shelf Mexican-style tacos, either. In line with the in-house specialty, try the Japanese fusionstyle tacos in beef, chicken, tuna and ocean trout varieties. Unfortunately

there’ll be no sushi fusion tacos, but that idea is sure to be on head chef Taichi Ito’s ‘to do’ list. The tacos will be served in little toy trucks, hence the name. Time to get truckin’.

$10 MENU AT THE ’DALE

The recently revamped Annandale Hotel has launched a scrumptious new $10 lunch menu. The famous

rock’n’roll venue on Parramatta Road has made a move into some delicious menu items over recent months, and the $10 selection has about ten options to choose from, ranging from a lamb shoulder toasted sandwich to a roasted carrot salad and the traditional steak. Now that’s a good excuse for a long lunch.

Nothing says ‘classy gentleman’ like a wellgroomed countenance, and in that department, Worthy & Spruce have you (or your signifi cant other) covered. The Sydney-based outfi t promotes high-quality grooming for men with a range of products from beard balms to face cleansers, all the while standing up for a good cause, thanks to an ongoing partnership with White Ribbon Australia. $10 from the sale of each White Ribbon Ultimate Beardcare Toolkit goes directly to the charity, which aims to stop violence against women.

Explore the range at worthyandspruce.com.

DRINKS INDUSTRY SHOW 2015

The Drinks Industry Show is to be held this year at the Sydney Exhibition Centre at Glebe Island on Monday August 17 and Tuesday August 18. The tradeonly event will feature the best from all the delicious alcohols of the world – white wine, red wine, port, vodka, rum, whisky, bourbon, brandy, tequila and the various styles of beer – as well the latest trends in mixology and other beverage-related disciplines. The show will also be a fantastic opportunity for attendees to connect with various people at all levels of the industry.

For more information, visit drinksindustryshow.com.au.

MARCH INTO MERIVALE

March Into Merivale is back with a month-long festival of food and drink from Monday February 23 – Sunday March 29. There’s a tasty range of events, such as the launch party at Ivy on Wednesday February 25, which will feature stalls by chefs from some of Sydney’s best restaurants; Coogee Foreshore Festival, a gastronomic marketplace at Coogee Pavilion on Sunday March 15; and events across the Merivale venues for every evening like Monday Detox, Tuesday Date Night, Wednesday Showcase Events, Savoir-Faire Thursday, Friday Surprise, Saturday Party and Sunday Brunch. For full details, venues and bookings, visit marchintomerivale.com.au.

Dinner In The Dark

DINNER IN THE DARK

Dinner In The Dark is the latest craze from Lime&Tonic, and it’s a mystery dinner in more ways than one. Not only will you be blindfolded to taste a three-course meal made up of a fine chef’s signature dishes, the location is made secret and attendees will be given maps and clues only 24 hours before the actual event to help find the restaurant.

Dietary requirements can be catered for and a vegetarian option will also be offered. For tickets and more information – as much as they’ll give you, anyway – visit limeandtonic.com.

Haymarket’s Palace Hotel has introduced a veritable Mexican fi esta on Wednesday nights. The centrepiece of these so-called Mexican Wednesdays is the Ghost Pepper Chilli Chicken Wing Challenge. For those who haven’t encountered it, ghost pepper (AKA bhut jolokia) was considered the hottest chilli in the world in 2007, but has since been superseded twice. In relative terms, it’s 900 times hotter than Tabasco sauce. Take the challenge, if you’re game, with a little help from the $5.50 Coronas and $9 cocktails.

March Into Merivale

MIAMI CUBA

restaurant/bar profile

47 NORTH STEYNE, MANLY TUE-THU 8AM-10PM; FRI-SAT 8AM-1AM; SUNDAY 8AM-4PM ham, potato and cheese, served with our chipotle BBQ mayonnaise.

The main course: Well, our Nighthawk Cheesy B (cheeseburger) is pretty wellknown for a reason but the El Cubano is the standout. Slow-roasted then pulled pork with smoked ham, American cheese, smoky pickle and chipotle BBQ mayonnaise served with our super crunchy house-cut fries.

Who’s the cook/bartender? Alistair Fogg, founder of The Nighthawk Diner.

Eye candy: The design was done by Alistair Fogg and Hannah Darling.

Flavours: We serve American and American-Cuban cuisine – what you would expect to fi nd in a diner in Florida.

Room for dessert: Can’t go past the Donut Sundae – fresh cinnamon donut with peanut butter chocolate ice-cream, chocolate fudge sauce and peanut brittle.

It’s Yankee-sized!

Make us drool: Apart from the stunning

location, we do American-Cuban inspired food without compromise. Having spent a lot of time in Florida and the Caribbean, Alistair has a good grasp on food from that region and has produced a menu that has not been bastardised but complements the local

environment.

The bill comes to: For three courses and a cocktail, approximately $50.

Website: miamicubamanly.com

xxxx

Something to start with: A classic Cuban appetiser is ham croquettes – crunchy golden fi ngers fi lled with smoked

Care for a drink? We have a long list of craft beers from both Australia and the Americas as well as a well-priced and noncommercial wine list. Our favourite cocktail is The Cuban Missile Crisis, which is a slightly sweet, slightly sour rum delight!

Perfect for the beachside location.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 25

Album Reviews What's been crossing our ears this week...

ALBUM OF THE WEEK FATHER JOHN MISTY

has a nostalgic feel to it. It’s equal parts Pet Sounds and OK Computer. It’s comforting, but also a little bit weird.

Josh Tillman is dead, and in his place we now have Father John Misty. I Love You, Honeybear is a High Fidelity-inspired realisation for a 30-something man about love and relationships. Since his last album, Tillman got married, and this album is a reflection of that – it’s a slightly surreal and dark look at love, wrapped up in beautiful baroque-pop productions.

An inspiring and captivating album that draws you in and keeps you coming back.

Tillman’s voice is warm and inviting, allowing him to switch from cynicism to optimism with ease. His songs are based in indie folk, but the lavish and layered instrumentation provides a soundtrack that

STEVE EARLE AND THE DUKES

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

Steve Earle’s 16th solo album, Terraplane, is an affair a tad over half an hour long, firmly rooted in Americana. There’s talk of Tennessee, a vagrant love life and a good dose of harmonicas all over this largely bluesy/hillbilly record.

At other times, there are hints of saloon piano, a mandolin and a fiddle. Indeed, the album crisscrosses all over the vagaries of American music – blues, country, Western, bluegrass, folk – and back again.

Public Service Broadcasting’s new album is based on themes of space exploration and scientific advancement popularised in the modern zeitgeist. While it lacks the energy and variety of their debut, its appeal lies in the coherent message of hope that is woven throughout.

Terraplane New West/Warner

Terraplane comes across as a rather serious affair, and indeed Earle recorded this album shortly after breaking up with wife Allison Moorer, his sixth (!). Unlike Earle’s heart, this album doesn’t do much wandering, rarely ever getting close to upbeat or exciting – the opener, ‘Baby Baby Baby (Baby)’ is the only exception.

If you like sad, traditional American music and/or nostalgia, I’d recommend Terraplane. ‘Better Off Alone’ deals heavily in misery while ‘Acquainted With The Wind’ and ‘Baby’s Just As Mean As Me’ are lathered in olden-day Americana.

But if you’re in need of cheering up, try watching the cricket instead.

Nicholas Hartman

The Race For Space Test Card/Inertia

It is an optimism that is characteristic of the retro-futurist rockers, who embed dialogue from old British Film Institute footage into their own compositions. The difference is that now there is a bittersweetness as they reflect on the history of space travel. They create moving soundscapes to echo the anxiety and anticipation of initial space flight.

This allows them to capitalise on their sample-heavy style. The nervous build of trance song ‘Sputnik’ is complemented by similarly anxious news reports, which makes the payoff in the funk celebration of ‘Gagarin’ much more rewarding. They emulate the delight felt internationally when the Russian cosmonaut of the same name became the first man in space and remind us of the attraction of interstellar journeys.

There are captivating moments across this album; the soaring strings on the titular track, the electronicinspired ‘True Affection’, and Tillman singing “Let’s put a baby in the oven / Wouldn’t I make the ideal husband?” as noise builds up around him before he bursts out in an overdriven and jagged guitar solo.

Even the packaging for the album has been carefully crafted, including pop-up-book-style artwork, and a ‘listening guide’ for the songs, which is both selfdeprecating and darkly humorous. This is a fine record that deserves to be bought physically.

Spencer Scott

THE DISTRICTS A Flourish & A Spoil Pod/Inertia

A Flourish & A Spoil comes to us from a Pennsylvanian band whose oldest member is 21 years old, which may strike fear into old-school rock purists as a sign that the millennials are taking over – but luckily The Districts hit you with a series of indie rock tunes faster than you can say, “Back in my day…”.

This record is a straight-up standard rock album; guitars, drums, bass and vocals are all that are used, and all that are needed.

‘Young Blood’ is an eight-minute epic that explores all the avenues of The Districts’ sound, with cool indie rock foundations, big builds and catchy lines. The songs are a little dirty in a very polished way. Indeed, this band has all the style, but might be lacking in the substance.

The dynamics of the record change with the two softer tracks that come in at key times. ‘Suburban Smell’ marvels in its imperfections, becoming a fragile and intimate track that is one of the highlights of the album. The closer, ‘6AM’, is one of the most distorted acoustic tracks you will ever hear.

Modern Streets Ninja Tune/Inertia

Damian Cowell’s Disco Machine Independent/Bandcamp Damian Cowell’s Disco Machine can be roughly compared to a hamburger bed. If you embrace the novelty you will absolutely love it. If not, you’ll be asking why the hell anyone would ever want to sleep beneath a giant slice of fabric cheese.

Former TISM drummer and vocalist Cowell leads a seven-piece that makes exactly the kind of music that comes to mind when you think of ‘disco’. The instrumentation never journeys too far into something you haven’t heard before, which is for the best as it lets you focus on the incisive and idiotic brilliance of Cowell’s lyrics (“The medium’s the message / And the message is shit” from ‘Groovy Toilet’ is one highlight).

He’s carved out a unique slice of satirical and dorky Australiana here, sampling vocals from the likes of Lee Lin Chin, Shaun Micallef and John Safran. It’s a gimmick for sure, but Cowell makes it work and his utter joy in creating the album is palpable throughout.

Unlike science fiction authors who depict the future to tell their stories, PSB recount narratives from our past. But like great science fiction, this album reminds us of why we reach for the stars.

A Flourish & A Spoil is a solid album, but little more. It’s built on great indie rock moments, but is spoiled by a onedimensional presentation.

James Ross

Spencer Scott

Lachlan Mackenzie

Humans like continuity. It feels safe.

If you can tell where something is coming from, odds are you can tell where it’s going to go. For over a decade, London’s boundless beatmaker Steve Spacek has been busy making the past sound like the future.

that far exceeds all imaginative possibilities. It’s archaeology of London’s musical past, touching on everything from new wave to postpunk, DnB and dubstep in a deep, moody melting pot, and stamped with an Apple logo and Spacek’s eccentric lyrics and soulful voice.

A chronic collaborator – everyone from J Dilla to Mark Pritchard has brushed shoulders with him – Spacek’s latest project is all about translating familiar styles into new and foreign sounds and contexts. Modern Streets was created largely through iPhone and iPod apps, and dictated by an ethos of ‘first take is best’.

This breadth of vision and experimentation is the best and worst thing about this record.

Pursuing a formula for timeless originality is always risky, and as an album, it warbles off down a number of different paths, rendering the whole thing a bit confusing and precarious – kind of like the future. But if this is what it sounds like, it’s gonna be good.

The result is a spontaneous and eclectic record, driven by broken beats and a sonic palette 26 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

DAMIAN COWELL’S DISCO MACHINE

Disco Machine isn’t the kind of album you’ll be showing all your friends – unless they’re TISM fans, then they’ll love it – but Cowell has perfected the art of making exactly the kind of music he wants to make. It’s fun, selfaware and a complete piss-take.

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK

BEAT SPACEK

Father John Misty photo by Emma Tillman

I Love You, Honeybear Sub Pop/Inertia

THE SIDEKICKS

Runners In The Nerved World Epitaph/Warner Runners In The Nerved World is the first album Ohio’s The Sidekicks have released since their signing to the well-known label, Epitaph.

For a band who’ve been around since the late ’90s, The Sidekicks have managed to stay away from mainstream success. Which is surprising; their laidback indiepunk sound would have made them a perfect candidate for a one-hit wonder in the early 2000’s.

They sound like the lovechild of The Shins and Fastball.

It’s not a lack of talent keeping them from mainstream attention; there just isn’t enough ‘unique’ about them to really separate them from the crowd. Runners In The Nerved World is good; the majority of the songs are fine, a couple are better, but none are bad.

‘Everything In Twos’, ‘The Kid Who Broke His Wrist’ and ‘Blissfield, MI’ all stand out, but the rest of the songs get hard to differentiate.

Not in a bad way, necessarily – it makes for excellent background music.

This is the kind of album that might grow on you over time. It’s good, just not very special.

Cassie Hedger

OFFICE MIXTAPE And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week...

NEHRUVIANDOOM - Nehruviandoom FOO FIGHTERS - There Is Nothing Left To Lose DRAKE - If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late

VARIOUS - Inner City Sound YO LA TENGO - Extra Painful

Nic Liney thebrag.com

snap sn ap

live review

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

THE SMITH STREET BAND, PUP, GREAT CYNICS, APART FROM THIS Metro Theatre Friday February 13

The Smith Street Band filled out the Metro Theatre on what was their first night of two in Sydney; a show that marked not only their biggest ever Sydney gig, but the halfway point of their massive 24-date tour.

The punters were still filtering in for the first two acts, talking amongst themselves and mulling around the merch desk. Opening the show was Melbourne’s Apart From This, who played a strong set of ’90s grunge tunes reminiscent of The Smashing Pumpkins or, more recently, Violent Soho.

Great Cynics won over more than a few fans with some jangly pop tunes, as well as an infectious positivity.

The crowd started to pick up when Pup took the stage. The Canadian four-piece resembles a ravenous Rottweiler more than a puppy, coming out of the gate with a noisy and intense set that didn’t let up the entire time they were onstage. They had a good portion of the crowd singing along as they thrashed around while still playing some technically proficient punk tunes.

When they finally took the stage for their set, frontman Wil Wagner took a moment to recognise the special energy that was in the room, before launching into ‘Something I Can Hold In My Hands’. At times it was hard to hear Wagner sing, as the entire crowd was drowning him out by singing every word. The band blazed through multiple tracks from new album Throw Me In The River, as well as playing the recent protest single ‘Wipe That ShitEating Grin Off Your Punchable Face’ to a huge reaction. Musically, the Melburnians proved tighter than they have ever been, playing a mix of songs across all their releases, and only ever stopping briefly before jumping into another handful of tracks.

The band departed momentarily before returning for an encore of ‘Sigourney Weaver’ and ‘I Love Life’. There was a stage invasion as all the support acts took the stage to dance and sing, ending the show on a high note as fans piled out onto the streets. The Smith Street Band are capable of cultivating such a sense of community, it’s hard not to get caught up in it.

Spencer Scott

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

queer screen presents the

frankie’s

PICS :: AM

The cheers for The Smith Street Band began while they were onstage setting up.

15:02:15 :: Frankie’s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St

nd

FEB19 MAR 5 LILTING

SUN 22 FEB 6PM Ben Whishaw, who made a name for himself as a romantic soul in films like Brideshead Revisited, Bright Star and The Tempest, delivers a stellar lead performance as Richard, a young man grieving the untimely passing of his boyfriend.

MALA MALA

MON 2 MAR 6:30PM This film is a wonderful, colourful celebration of the trans community in Puerto Rico. Funny, tender, and raw, it features a diverse group of subjects who all have amazing stories to tell. Keep an eye out for RuPaul’s Drag Race’s April Carrión!

MIXED SHORTS 1

TUE 24 FEB 6:30PM Mixed Shorts 1, containing the best of lesbian, gay and trans short films, is back and bigger than ever! Our muchloved collection returns over two unique sessions of clever comedies, quality dramas, and entertaining documentaries from all over the world.

SHE’S BEAUTIFUL WHEN SHE’S ANGRY TUE 3 MAR 6:30PM

Chronicling events of the brilliant women who founded the modern women’s movement from 1966 to 1971. The film delves into the complexities of how women’s identities were acknowledged within the movement, including lesbian rights on the women’s agenda.

QUEERSCREEN.ORG.AU thebrag.com

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 27

live reviews What we've been out to see...

THE ANTLERS, HAYDEN CALNIN Oxford Art Factory Friday February 13

Beloved albums can be an albatross for a band, stopping them from playing the new material they’re more interested in. Hence, most gigs are a compromise between what the audience wants to hear and what the band wants to play. The best gigs find an equilibrium between the two. In the case of The Antlers’ appearance at Oxford Art Factory, they were playing solely for themselves, and the audience members’ enjoyment hinged entirely on how much they liked the latest album, Familiars; the band played the whole record, in order, only broken up by four old songs.

Melbourne’s Hayden Calnin opened the show, and with his reverb-soaked guitar and evocative voice, he was the ideal support.

He doesn’t offer much in terms of diversity – mostly indie-folk played with just guitar and vocals, occasionally backed by skeletal beats – but he delivers his songs with full conviction, and the rapturous applause from the crowd was well earned.

It’s easy to see why The Antlers are so insistent on performing the Familiars material live. Removed from the dreampop studio sheen, the New Yorkers’ songs truly come alive in a concert setting. Pete

SPOON, DEEP SEA ARCADE, HOCKEY DAD Metro Theatre Saturday February 14

Hockey Dad are all Vegemite cheeks and bopping limbs; their exuberance and chutzpah proved to be a wise choice to kick off the evening. Newbie ‘Can’t Have It’ has all the makings of another endless-summer jam, while ‘I Need A Woman’ and ‘Seaweed’ concluded the set with a bang. In a word: ‘irrepressible’. Party on.

A major shift in members could have sunk Deep Sea Arcade, but instead it’s lent them a new lease on life. Vocalist Nic Mckenzie and guitarist Nick Weaver led their new recruits through tried-and-true singles (‘Girls’, ‘Steam’, ‘Lonely In Your Arms’) as well as fresh material that suggested the band is venturing more into the psychedelic, wilder side of the musical spectrum.

wed

thu

18

19

Feb

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

Feb

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

A hapless roadie brought Spoon onstage with a hilariously goofy introductory spiel (“All the way from America… my favourite band, Spoons!”). The quintet in question emerged from the shadows and shifted gears directly into ‘Rent I Pay’. The bar was set, and Spoon made a point of clearing it with every track that followed.

Silberman delivers his songs flanked by two keyboardists/trumpeters who, with the aid of a multitude of loop pedals, create an immediate ambience that Silberman consistently cuts through with his soaring voice, one of the best of his generation.

But even the biggest fans of Familiars can see that the album lacks variety. That works for the record; it gives it consistency. Live, however, 90 minutes of the same kind of material starts to bring diminishing returns.

What thrilled at the start of the set (the looped trumpet lines, the ambient noise, Silberman’s vocal reach) started to dull by the end.

Some bands make a name for themselves by being uncompromising. They do what they do, and you’re either with them or you’re not.

The Antlers aren’t the type of band that can afford to be uncompromising. Their music is obsessed over, creating special individual meaning for everyone who listens. The sooner they take this into account live, the better.

By the end of the set, individual members of the crowd could’ve been in one of two minds – either enthralled and now convinced that Familiars is a masterpiece that the rest of the world didn’t understand, or mildly disappointed from watching a brilliant band squander its talents.

Leonardo Silvestrini

It’s certainly a trope that those going to see established veteran acts have zero interest in new material. Not the case here – in fact, choice cuts from They Want My Soul were the most warmly received of the evening. ‘Do You’ grew stronger live, carving into its precise beat and warm keyboards with aplomb. Another standout moment was ‘Inside Out’, a rare guitarless track that allowed for Britt Daniel to prowl the outer reaches of the stage with his wireless microphone, ending up on top of an amp.

Expanding out to a fi ve-piece since their previous visit has allowed for Spoon’s arrangements to be comfortably fl eshed out. Whether it’s three guitars or two keyboards – or even, at one point, three maraca players – it works exceptionally well.

For the encore, the band pulled out a surprise cover of ‘Memory Lane’ by the dearly missed Eddy Current Suppression Ring, followed by a one-two of their 2007 singles, ‘You Got Yr. Cherry Bomb’ and ‘The Underdog’. On Valentine’s Day of all days, all the love in the room was directed squarely at Spoon – and for completely valid reasons.

David James Young

fri

20 Feb

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

sat

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

21

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sun

22

Feb

Feb

(9:30PM - 1:15AM)

mon

23 Feb

28 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

tue

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

24 Feb

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

MIKELANGELO PLAYS CAVE, WAITS AND COHEN The Vanguard Saturday February 14

An evening celebrating three of the world’s favourite songwriters – Nick Cave, Tom Waits and Leonard Cohen – sounded like a dream scenario, and with velvet-voiced Mikelangelo taking the reins it was like a gig divinely arranged.

Maybe my expectations got the better of me. Maybe the incredible delay to a show with no supports sabotaged my enthusiasm – a 7:30pm start became eight, became eight-thirty, became nine.

Maybe it was the gorgeous but awkward layout of The Vanguard; who knows. But I left considerably underwhelmed.

Taking the stage with accordion and seductively sly grin, Mikelangelo opened with Cohen’s ‘I’m Your Man’. It was a fitting intro that saw the theatricality of his stage presence loosed onto an appreciative, sold-out room. His vocals sounded surprisingly shaky though, and while I initially chalked this to a voice still warming up, there were several times throughout the night where he would slide suddenly off key and seem hesitant with his delivery. From the opener we segued into a delicate guitar rendition of Cave’s ‘Into My Arms’, followed by the splendid shambles

of Waits’ ‘Way Down In The Hole’. These three numbers served a striking distinction that carried across the entire night; each songwriter’s voice is so assured, so very distinct, and Mikelangelo did a tremendous job of showcasing this. His voice has a deep and quiet menace, conjuring images of gathering storms and midnight drunks with splendid alacrity.

However, there was simply too little energy to the performance. The cosily coupled crowd (it was Valentine’s Day, after all) was hardly fitting for a stage-quaking set, but I never felt that Mikelangelo was giving more than his minimum effort.

Standing atop a dinner table with the audience clapping to keep the beat for an a capella ‘Hang On St. Christopher’ was an entertaining exception, and there were some pleasant surprises, like Cave’s ‘Sad Waters’. Mikelangelo’s audience banter was warm and sincere, and the observations on why certain songs have moved him were an interesting insight. But he never really made these songs his own, and so few ever found their wings.

By the end I felt certain that there was a stronger show in there somewhere, and Mikelangelo may yet be the one to see it realised. But on Saturday evening, the magic just wasn’t there.

Adam Norris thebrag.com

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Leah Flanagan + Mick Daley The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: CJ Fairleight + Guests Olympic Hotel, Paddington.

7:30pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bin Juice Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm.

Free.

DZ Deathrays + Miami Horror DJs + The Belligerents + Skeggs Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

Evie Dean Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

8pm. Free.

Fat Bubba’s Chicken Wednesdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. Free.

Guy Sebastian + Fatai Qantas Credit Union Arena, Darling Harbour. 7:30pm. $91.65.

Hinds + Special Guests Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. $18.

Perfume Genius Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.20.

Tinashe Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $49.90.

Vibrations At Valve - feat: Band Competition Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Friends With Benefits feat: Michael Wheatley + Charlotte Kerr Foundry616, Ultimo. 7:30pm. $20.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Clay Vetter Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 4:30pm. Free.

Guy Pearce + Darren Middleton + Krista Polvere Lizotte’s, Newcastle. 7pm. $55.

Ruth Moody + The Mae Trio Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7pm. $27.70.

Songsonstage - feat: Phil Gray + Guests Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale.

7:30pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: Mick Hambly + Chris Brookes + Guests Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm.

Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

A-Team Duo Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 9pm. Free.

Ann Vriend Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7pm. Free.

Black Diamond Hearts Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

10pm. Free.

Bloods Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 7:30pm. Free.

Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. Free.

thebrag.com

Chinese Calligrapher Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free.

Chinese Dragon Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm. Free.

Dee Donovan Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. Free.

Elena B Williams + Non Profit The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $5.

Extension Chord Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm.

Free.

Fallon Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. Free.

Franky Valentyn Emu Sports Club, Leonay.

5:30pm. Free.

Glenn Esmond Fortune Of War, The Rocks.

7pm. Free.

God Of Wealth Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free.

Greg Agar Duo Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

Grooveworks - feat: God Of Wealth Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. Free.

Jamie Lindsay Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 8pm. Free.

Jess Dunbar Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. Free.

JJ Duo Brighton RSL, Brighton Le Sands. 7:30pm. Free.

Kim Churchill Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7:30pm. $15.

Peter Hook & The Light Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $70.70.

Rebecca Hayes Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. Free.

Slow Turismo + Tully On Tully Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst.

8pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: Lucy B + Tulane + The Thirtyeight Special + Tommy Pickett + Monica + Zero Fret Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. Free.

Steve Tonge Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

7pm. Free.

Ted Nash Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 7:30pm. Free.

The Late Night Soda Social Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

5pm. Free.

The Widowbirds Golden Sheaf Hotel, Double Bay. 8pm. Free.

Vanderaa + Wolves In Fashion + Taking Berlin + Montres Jura Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Victoria Avenue Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney.

9:30pm. Free.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Late Summer Sizzle - feat: Edwina Blush + Trevor Brown + Ruby Boukabou The Basement, Circular Quay.

8:30pm. $30.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Angus & Julia Stone + Cloud Control + Little May + Jarryd James Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

6pm. $91.70.

Guy Pearce + Darren Middleton + Krista Polvere Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

6pm. $45.

Songjam - feat: Stuart Jammin + Guests Rosehill Hotel, Clyde. 7:30pm.

Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

100% Rawstyle Party Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. Free.

Alex Hopkins Wenty Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. Free.

Aleyce Simmonds Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

5pm. Free.

AM 2 PM Club Central, Hurstville.

9:30pm. Free.

Andy Mammers + Noel Macdonald Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill.

6:30pm. Free.

Angelena Locke Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 9:30pm. Free.

Armchair Travellers Duo Dooleys, Silverwater. 6pm.

Free.

Backlash Penrith Gaels, Kingswood.

8pm. Free.

Bandsonstage - feat: Sinsonnix + Planet Lilu + Emerald Scar Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm.

Free.

Bowles Bros The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm. Free.

Cambo Parramatta RSL, Parramatta.

5pm. Free.

Carleo & Adkins Emu Sports Club, Leonay.

7:30pm. Free.

Cath & Him Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 10pm. Free.

Courtyard Sessions - feat: Chook Race Seymour Centre, Chippendale. 6pm. Free.

Dave White + Black Diamond Hearts Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. Free.

DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. Free.

Dogsy’s Gig - feat: Avo + The Blurters + Rukus + Bloody Ripper + The Fuck Outs Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Drew Mcalister PJ Gallagher’s, Enfield. 9pm.

Free.

Endless Summer Beach Party Western Suburbs Leagues Club, Leumeah. 9:30pm. Free.

FBi Local Live - feat: George Maple FBi Live, Alexandria. 5:30pm.

Free.

Franky Valentyn Allstars Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free.

Greg Agar Duo Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

8pm. Free.

Heath Burdell Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 8pm. Free.

Holiday Sidewinder Waywards, Newtown. 8pm.

Free.

James Englund Massey Park Golf Club, Concord. 7pm. Free.

Jellybean Jam Colonial Hotel, Werrington.

8:30pm. Free.

Jimmy Bear Quakers Inn, Quakers Hill.

8pm. Free.

JJ Duo St George Leagues Club, Kogarah. 9pm. Free.

Jody Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. Free.

Jody & The Executive Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

7:30pm. Free.

John Vella Duo Crown Hotel, Camden. 8pm.

Free.

pick of the week Angus & Julia Stone

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20 Sydney Opera House

Angus & Julia Stone + Cloud Control + Little May + Jarryd James 6pm. $91.70.

King Of The North + The Owls + The Lockhearts Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15.

Kris Mcintyre Ettamogah Hotel, Rouse Hill.

3:45pm. Free.

Kris Mcintyre Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. Free.

LJ Chatswood RSL, Chatswood.

5pm. Free.

Mandi Jarry PJ Gallagher’s Whisky Bar, Jacksons On George, Sydney.

5:30pm. Free.

Maples Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. $10.

Marty Stewart Hills District Bowling Club, Baulkham Hills. 8:30pm. Free.

Max Power Padstow RSL Club, Padstow.

7pm. Free.

Meri Amber Marrickville Ritz Hotel, Marrickville. 8pm. Free.

Michael & Lucas Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point.

8pm. Free.

Muddy Feet Vikings Sports Club, Dundas Valley. 7pm. Free.

Mum - feat: Phfat + Owen Rabbit + Laprats + Harley Young & The Haymakers The World Bar, Kings Cross.

9pm. $10.

Nicky Kurta Duo Town Hall Hotel, Sydney.

8:30pm. Free.

Owen Rabbit + March Of The Real Fly + Harley Young & The Haymakers + Dr Goddard + Laprats + Phfat

The World Bar, Kings Cross.

8pm. $15.

Pop Fiction Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Rachel Fahim Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale.

6pm. Free.

Rapture Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale.

8pm. Free.

Rebecca Moore Kareela Golf Club, Kareela.

6:30pm. Free.

Reels On Fire PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt.

10pm. Free.

Rob Eastwood Yardarm Taphouse, Manly.

7:30pm. Free.

Rob Henry South Hurstville RSL Club, South Hurstville. 8pm. Free.

Ryan Thomas Coogee Legion Ex-services Club, 7:30pm. Free.

Seattle Sound Bull & Bush Hotel, Baulkham Hills. 10pm. Free.

Shane Flew Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

6pm. Free.

Soft Kitty Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard.

9:30pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: CJ Fairleight + Guests Lewisham Hotel, Lewisham.

8:30pm. $15.

Steve Crocker Rose Bay Hotel, Rose Bay. 8pm. Free.

Steve Tonge Duo Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 7:30pm. Free.

Ted Nash Fortune Of War, The Rocks.

8pm. Free.

Terrorential - feat: John Doe + Black Reign + No More Faith Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

The Beautiful Girls + Caravãna Sun Taronga Zoo, Mosman. 7pm. $69.

The Loaded Six Strings Overlander Hotel, Cambridge Park. 7pm. Free.

The Sugarcanes + The Venusians + Hannahband + Maricopa Wells + Love Parade Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

7pm. $10.

The Tribe Marlborough Hotel, Newtown.

11pm. Free.

The Veronicas Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7:30pm. $79.90.

Tim Conlon Family Inn Hotel, Rydalmere.

7:30pm. Free.

Victoria Avenue Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 5pm.

Free.

Zoltan Adria Restaurant, Darling Harbour. 5pm. Free.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS AJ Hotel Pennant Hills, Pennant

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 29

gig picks

g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Hills. 10pm. Free.

Angelena Locke Rose Bay Hotel, Rose Bay. 8pm. Free.

Atolla Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. Free.

Beatnix - Beatles Show Oatley Hotel, Oatley. 8pm.

Free.

Benn Gunn Yardarm Taphouse, Manly.

7:30pm. Free.

Big Rich Riverwood Inn, Riverwood.

8pm. Free.

Blake Tailor Henry Lawson Club, Werrington. 7:30pm. Free.

Bounce PJ Gallagher’s, Parramatta.

9:30pm. Free.

Cath & Him Crossroads Hotel, Casula.

1pm. Free.

Dirty Deeds - The AC/DC Show Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm. Free.

Elevate Kareela Golf Club, Kareela.

8pm. Free.

Endless Summer Beach Party Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8:30pm. Free.

Gang Of Youths + Food Court Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. $12.

Glenn Esmond Cronulla RSL, Cronulla. 4pm.

Free.

Go Go Fish + Harley Young & The Haymakers + Dr Goddard World Bar, Kings Cross.

8:30pm. Free.

Iron Bark Rock Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill.

8pm. Free.

J Mascis + Adalita

Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

8pm. $45.70.

John Vella Yardarm Taphouse, Manly.

2:30pm. Free.

Katy Perry + P!Nk & Lady Gaga Tributes Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown. 8pm. Free.

Kurt Williams Marrickville Ritz Hotel, Marrickville. 8pm. Free.

Lindsey Stirling Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

8pm. $70.

Megan Washington + Montaigne + Greg Chiapello Metro Theatre, Sydney. 9pm. $34.36.

Melody Rhymes Panthers, Penrith. 8pm. Free.

Cyndustry + Our Last Enemy + Grim Demise + Acid Nymph + Cyndustry Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

Outlier Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. Free.

Reckless Town Hall Hotel, Balmain.

9:30pm. Free.

Red Alert Kelly’s On King, Newtown.

9:30pm. Free.

Rob Eastwood Epping Club, Epping. 7pm.

Free.

Steve Crocker Fortune Of War, The Rocks.

3pm. Free.

Swing And Blues Penrith RSL, Penrith. 2pm.

Free.

The Bamboos Taronga Zoo, Mosman. 7pm. $70.95.

The Budos Band Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.90.

The Gooch Palms + Straight Arrows

up all night out all week...

Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $15.

The Kamis Penrith RSL, Penrith. 9pm.

Free.

The Sugarcanes + Maricopa Wells + Run Squirrel + Adeline Pines The Lass O’Gowrie Hotel, Wickham. 8:30pm. Free.

VIP South Hurstville RSL Club, South Hurstville. 9pm. Free.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Jack Bloak Mistrel Show - feat: Russell Neal + Jack Bloak Jug Scullers + Lawrence Osborn + Veronica Wagner Old Fitzroy Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 6:30pm. Free.

Peach’s Sunday Jam - feat: Peach Montgomery & Guests Garry Owen Hotel, Rozelle.

3pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin + Tamara Tamburic + Guests Harlequin Inn, Pyrmont. 3pm.

Free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Azadoota Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7:30pm. $20.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK &

COVERS

3 Wise Men + Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks.

2pm. Free.

AM 2 PM Henry Lawson Club, Werrington. 1pm. Free.

Andy Mammers Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 4pm. Free.

Ange Ettalong Bowling Club, Ettalong. 2pm. Free.

Brothers Of Matt Huskisson Hotel, Huskisson.

4pm. Free.

Chris Connelly Ramsgate RSL, Sans Souci.

2pm. Free.

David Agius Family Inn Hotel, Rydalmere. 2pm. Free.

Elevation U2 Acoustic Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

4:30pm. Free.

Georgia White Plough & Harrow, Camden.

3pm. Free.

GK Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown. 2pm. Free.

Glenn Esmond Riverstone Sportsmans Hotel, Riverstone. 1pm.

Free.

Greg Agar Le Pub, Sydney. 3pm. Free.

Gypsy + Gypsy + Pizza Gutt + Electric Lobster + Second Nation + Dissolutes Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 1pm. $10.

Krishna Jones Pritchards Hotel, Mount Pritchard. 1pm. Free.

Kurt Williams The Mill Hotel, Milperra.

12pm. Free.

Mark Travers Ettamogah Hotel, Rouse Hill. 1pm. Free.

Matt Jones Duo Commodore Hotel, Mcmahon Point. 2pm. Free.

McBusted Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $61.60.

Melody Rhymes Panthers, Penrith. 3:30pm.

Free.

Nicky Kurta Summer Hills Hotel, Summer Hill. 3pm. Free.

Pete Hunt Waverley Bowling Club, Waverley. 3pm. Free.

Reckless Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. Free.

Rick Robertson Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 12:30pm. Free.

The Byron Daniele Trio Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill.

3pm. Free.

UK Anthems Orient Hotel, The Rocks.

8:30pm. Free.

Vanessa Heinitz Yardarm Taphouse, Manly.

2:30pm. Free.

Vicky Turner Band Time & Tide Hotel, Dee Why. 2pm. Free.

Victoria Avenue New Brighton Hotel, Manly.

5pm. Free.

Zeahorse Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

6pm. Free.

Zoltan St George Rowing Club, Wolli Creek. 1pm. Free.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 23 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Mineral Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $47.10.

DZ Deathrays

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18 DZ Deathrays + Miami Horror DJs + The Belligerents + Skeggs Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

Perfume Genius Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $49.20.

Tinashe Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $49.90.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 Kim Churchill Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7:30pm. $15.

Peter Hook & The Light Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $70.70.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20 FBi Local Live - Feat: George Maple FBi Live, Alexandria. 5:30pm. Free.

The Beautiful Girls + Caravãna Sun Taronga Zoo, Mosman. 7pm. $69.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 J Mascis + Adalita Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $45.70.

Megan Washington + Montaigne + Greg Chiapello Metro Theatre, Sydney. 9pm. $34.36.

The Bamboos Taronga Zoo, Mosman. 7pm. $70.95.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24 Judas Priest + Dragonforce Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 6:30pm. $101.90.

Slash + Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators + Steel Panther Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 6:15pm. $126.52.

Slash + Miles Kennedy & The Conspirators

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Shivon Coelho Mr Falcon’s, Glebe. 8pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Fall Out Boy + Twin Atlantic + Emily’s Army 30 :: BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15

UNSW Roundhouse, Kensington. 6:30pm. $69.94.

Judas Priest + Dragonforce Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

6:30pm. $101.90.

Slash + Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators + Steel Panther Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park.

6:15pm. $126.52.

Triumphant Tuesdays - feat: Dave Eastgate Karaoke Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney.

8:30pm. Free.

Zed + John Kaldor + Broden Tadros Mr Falcon’s, Glebe. 7:30pm.

Free. thebrag.com

brag beats

BRAG’s guide to dance, hip hop and club culture

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Martin, Tyson Wray and Spencer Scott

five things WITH

NOAH SLEE

Paul Mac

MARDI GRAS PARTY 2015

Joe and Kevin Jonas’ brother Nick Jonas will join the likes of Jessica Mauboy and others in partying at the hottest event in town, the Mardi Gras Party, next month. Jake Shears, vocalist of Scissor Sisters, will also be joining the fun, as will drag superstars Courtney Act and Destiny Haz Arrived. Upcoming popster Betty Who will be also be performing. All these acts will be joining the previously announced slew of DJs – a list that includes names like Paul Mac, David Morales, Bent Collective, Wayne G and the suggestively named DJ Grind. The Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras Party is happening after the Parade on Saturday March 7 at the Playbill Venues and Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park.

Growing Up Your Crew Growing up, there My creative crew right 1.

3. was a great deal of music in now is Kitschkrieg. We’re all

moments of mellowness/ intimacy and also hype.

my upbringing from family cultural groups, the family band, church choirs, as well as from my eight siblings who had really diverse taste in music. I also have memories of when my dad would wake us all up for school with a funk vinyl or a ’70s ballad. I feel very grateful for all these creative influences from all over the joint!

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

I’d say that the music and

2.

Inspirations Robert Nesta Marley has had the biggest influence on me – not so much musically now but when I was young I was really drawn to his writing. I remember stealing the Tuff Gong compilation, which was a five-CD package, from my brother’s room.

currently based in Berlin and my collaborations with this crew include connecting with photographers, producers, artists and just like-minded folk. I think it’s important to stay connected to people who keep you creative and inspired.

The Music You Make And Play 4.

My style is future soul electronica. In the live show I play my originals but I try to add as many live elements to it as possible so it doesn’t feel like someone just playing the track with me singing on top of it. I will be playing with effects, looping, samples and vocal dynamics. Like most musicians I try to create a journey for the audience with

TRIFO + MIND ELECTRIC

Marquee is hosting a mean double header this Saturday February 21, with Trifo and Mind Electric the latest attractions on the Summer Series bill. Melbourne youngster Trifo is winning plenty of fans with his big room house and electro soundscapes, having mashed up SCNDL to the max with his ‘All Night Gypsy’ track (check it on YouTube), while Mind Electric comes our way all the way from Western Australia, where he signed to Vicious Recordings way back in 2006.

the scene I’m connected to is cutting-edge. There are new cats popping up all the time so that keeps it exciting and refreshing.

I believe that there are enough opportunities to create what you want and for there to be a crowd who will appreciate your music no matter how niche it is thanks to the internet. Right now the internet allows independent musicians to freely express and be heard, which is a special and beautiful thing.

of the most exclusive and influential clubs around. The party takes over the rooftop at the Bristol Arms Hotel on Sunday March 1.

DIE ANTWOORD SIDESHOW

South African spooks Die Antwoord have locked in a headline show to accompany their appearance at Future Music Festival. Ninja, Yo-Landi Vi$$er and DJ Hi-Tek will return to Australian shores following the release of their 2014 album Donker Mag (Afrikaans for ‘Dark Force’), which reached number 11 on the Australian ARIA charts, number one on the Billboard Dance Charts and number four on the Billboard Indie Charts in the US. Catch ’em on Thursday March 5 at the Metro Theatre.

KISS MY TIGERLILY

The much-anticipated new production by Tigerlily and The Squared Division, Kiss My Tigerlily, debuts at Ivy this Saturday February 21 for Pacha Sydney. The show is the result of collaboration between the rainbow-haired local DJ and Pacha’s new designers/creative directors The Squared Division, who promise a fantasy world of laser cats, unicorns, mermaids and ‘sextronauts’. We’re not sure what those last characters might look like either, but there’s only one way to find out. A cast of locals will warm the decks for liftoff, including Dave Winnel, DJ Moto, Danny Lang, Chris Arnott, Mo’Funk, Sushi, Jace Disgrace, Just 1, Heke, Here’s Trouble, Lavida, Mike Hyper and Stu Turner.

With: Duan & Only Where: Play Bar When: Saturday February 21

SECRETSUNDAZE IN SYDNEY

London’s infamous daytime party Secretsundaze has announced that it will be stopping in Sydney at the start of next month as part of a world tour. Secretsundaze has established itself as one of Europe’s most distinct voices in underground EDM. Since opening the event in 2002, resident DJs Giles Smith and James Priestley have started a record label and toured the world playing some

WE ARE NOT WORTHY

One of the original Dirtybirds himself, Worthy, is bringing his party beats Down Under this month. Nigh on ten years after co-founding the legendary Dirtybird day parties alongside Claude VonStroke and the Martin brothers Justin and Christian, and releasing his debut track ‘Irst Te’ on the Dirtybird label, the New Yorker has indeed proved himself, erm, worthy of his standing as one of the finest underground bass acts in the US. Having established his own imprint, Anabatic Records, to indulge his more experimental side, Worthy is rolling across the country from Perth to finish up at Beach Haus on Saturday February 28.

Tkay Maidza

MTV SUMMER OF MUSIC

Worthy

MTV has announced the lineup for its annual MTV Summer Of Music event, to take place in Sydney this Wednesday February 18. Lolo BX, Olympic Ayres, Jawz, Tkay Maidza, Yolanda Be Cool and DCup will all do their thang at this year’s event, again being held at Sydney Town Hall. Each of these upcoming local acts are stirring a lot of buzz in Australian music circles: Lolo BX and Jawz have won the eye of triple j; Olympic Ayres has been receiving a fair amount of airplay on MTV; Maidza has cracked the Hottest 100 this year with her song ‘Switch Lanes’ and has appeared at Laneway; and both Yolanda Be Cool and DCup made some serious waves in America and Europe with their single ‘We No Speak Americano’. For more information on the show, visit mtv.com.au.

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Off The Record Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray

Tama Sumo

T

he House Of Mince and Velvet Hammer are once again joining forces for the return of Lovecult 2000, and the lineup is heavy. This time around, dancers can experience the queer extravaganza by Tama Sumo, of Ostgut and Panorama fame, alongside fellow international Jason Kendig of Honey Soundsystem – not to mention some first-class locals, including Ben Drayton, Seymour Butz and Hip Hop Hoe. It all goes down on Saturday March 7 at the Metro Theatre.

Touch Sensitive Secret Ingredients By Augustus Welby

T

he creation of electronic music has always been affiliated with loners. The process of tirelessly tinkering with instrument sounds, effects boards and EQs and applying them to lengthy pieces of music is best suited to those comfortable with solitude. However, Michael Di Francesco, the mastermind behind house/disco project Touch Sensitive, doesn’t seem to fi t this category. The Sydney local is an affable chap, not to mention handsome, and onstage he’s a cannon of charisma. Nevertheless, Touch Sensitive is a one-man enterprise, and this insularity does pose certain challenges.

“It’s hard to regulate the stuff and be your own barometer,” says Di Francesco. “When you’re working with yourself, there’s no-one pushing and pulling you, there’s no-one saying, ‘That’s done, let’s move on.’ So if you’re not careful you end up going round and round in circles.”

Touch Sensitive’s first single ‘Body Stop’ came out way back in 2004, but Di Francesco’s real breakthrough came a few years later as one-quarter of indie-electro outfi t Van She. He stayed with the band until 2012’s Idea Of Happiness LP and has since contributed to recordings from Flight Facilities and George Maple. So while Touch Sensitive is a solo project, Di Francesco’s got a gang of wily comrades to fall back on.

“My manager and the people at the label, who are also my friends, they’re honest with me,” he says. “So if they don’t think something’s good they’ll tell me, but most of the time if I don’t think something’s good I won’t send it to them anyway.”

Judging from Touch Sensitive’s latest single ‘Teen Idols’, the method appears to be working. ‘Teen Idols’ is something of a diversion from the producer’s previous releases, which have been fairly luxurious house music offerings. It’s a high-energy jam, centred on layers of interweaving wordless vocals, which evokes a calypso beach party vibe. Rather than signifying a new direction for Touch Sensitive, however, it was simply needed for the live set.

“When I play live, I just play all of my own stuff and I felt like a lot of it was just too slow,” Di Francesco says. “Because it’s not like half-time trap, the slowness is a bit ploddy. [‘Teen Idols’] was me making something that I thought would be fun to play live. I love house music and I love faster stuff, but I love the slow stuff too.”

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The live show has influenced the direction of Touch Sensitive’s new EP as well. “I’m really conscious that they’re not all love-making songs,” says Di Francesco. “There needs to be maybe one or two dancing songs. So you’ve got one side [that’s] the party side and the other side’s the romance side.”

The biggest bromance in Australian electronic music between Drew Carmody and Max Armata – together Carmada – have announced their biggest tour to date. After slaying both Listen Out and Stereosonic last year, the duo show no

One of the co-founders of the infamous Dirtybird day parties, Worthy, has announced an Australian tour. Best buds with the likes of Claude VonStroke alongside Justin and Christian Martin, he also runs the Anabatic Records imprint and creates a meticulous blend of break beats, techno booty bass and house. His track ‘So Delicious’ is already one of the highlights of 2015. Catch him on Saturday February 28 at Beach Haus.

Tour rumour: a little birdie has told me that fans of Ry X and Frank Wiedemann’s joint venture Howling can expect a visit later this year.

Best releases this week: bloody Samuel Kerridge has knocked it out of the park with his full-length Always Offended Never Ashamed – guaranteed, you’ll be seeing it on all the best-of lists at the end of the year. Other highlights include Session Victim’s See You When You Get There (on Delusions Of Grandeur), The Hangout Project’s Sword Of Light (Out To Lunch) and Rezzett’s Live (The Trilogy Tapes).

Like many in his field, Di Francesco is a certified synth nerd. The forthcoming EP gains distinctive character thanks to the implementation of a particular synthesiser. “It’s amazing,” he says.

“I’ve used that on quite a lot of it. I wanted to make it sound like it was a band playing the record – so that’s your guitarist, that’s your keyboard player, that’s your bass player. By keeping the instrumentation the same, I’ve kept it uniform throughout. Most of the stuff that I’ve done, they’re all different from each other, but you can still tell it’s me. I think it’s important to always be doing something different, but with this EP I’m trying to make it so it’s got a similar vibe throughout.”

So what is this magic synth? We’ll just have to wait and see. “I don’t really want to say. The thing is, it isn’t anything that’s crazy exotic. It’s not some high-end, really rare, boutique thing.

I have those, but sometimes they’re no fun because you’ve been hearing them on record for 30 years. The thing that I’ve used went out of fashion a little while ago, so it’s a good time for it to come back.”

Di Francesco remains tight-lipped for now, but once the EP’s out, all will happily be revealed.

“A lot of people will know straight away, ‘That’s that,’” he says. “Then there’ll be some people that won’t know and there’ll be lots of people that actually don’t care either.”

More than just possessiveness over a piece of electronic equipment, Di Francesco’s use of a less-than-popular tool underlines his disinclination to cohere with current trends.

“I try to be really conscious of that,” he says.

“The sound of now becomes the sound of yesterday. Using all of the same sample tracks and all the same preset libraries and all the same synths, that’s why all of the EDM stuff sounds the same. If you want to do different stuff, you have to play with some settings, you have to tweak some knobs. If you’re just using presets and sample packs, you’re limited to whatever you’ve been given or whatever you’ve collected.”

What: Mountain Sounds Festival 2015 With: DZ Deathrays, Safia, Kilter, The Griswolds, The Kite String Tangle and more Where: Mount Penang Parklands When: Saturday February 21

Samuel Kerridge

RECOMMENDED SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 Detroit Swindle Chinese Laundry

DJ Tennis Greenwood Hotel

Burdekin Hotel

Metro Theatre

Tornado Wallace Oxford Art Factory

Suzanne Kraft Imperial Hotel

SUNDAY MARCH 1

SATURDAY MARCH 21

DJ John Collins Imperial Hotel

Marcellus Pittman, Giles Smith, James Priestley Bristol Arms

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22

FRIDAY MARCH 6

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 28

SATURDAY MARCH 7

Joachim Spieth, Dave Mayer

Lovecult 2000: Tama Sumo

Moodymann National Art School

wAFF Pontoon

Theo Parrish Oxford Art Factory

Carl Cox Greenwood Hotel

Dixon, Âme AGWA Yacht Club

SATURDAY APRIL 11 Developer Sly Fox Hotel

SATURDAY APRIL 18 James Zabiela Chinese Laundry

FRIDAY MAY 29 Carmada Oxford Art Factory

Got any tip-offs, hate mail, praise or cat photos?

Email hey@tysonwray.com or contact me via carrier pigeon. thebrag.com

Xxxx

Presently, Di Francesco is putting the finishing touches on a new EP, slated for release this year. “There’s one [track] finished and then there’s a reprise of that, then there’s two other ones with the instrumentals finished, I’m just waiting for the vocals to come back,” he says.

“Then there’s maybe one other one that I want to put on there, but it has to fit.”

One of the biggest names in house and techno, James Zabiela, has locked in an Australian return. He runs the revered Born Electric label (through which he has released music by Hot Chip, Midland, FaltyDL, Cloud Boat and Tin Man, just to name a few) and has just celebrated his 12th season as a resident at the global institution We Love… Space. Catch the living legend at Chinese Laundry on Saturday April 18.

signs of slowing down, and Kilter will be joining them on tour. Catch ’em on Friday May 29 at Oxford Art Factory.

club guide g

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send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

up all night out all week...

club pick of the week Moodymann

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20 Bassic - feat: Snails + Nu:Tone + Spenda C + Autoclaws + Chenzo + Lennon + Ellagator + Mr Pink + Kyphosis + Von Audio Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

8pm. $27.70.

Hayden James + Mickey Kojak Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.70.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 Detroit Swindle + Shiba San + Marks & Oz +

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 National N ti l Art School

Summer Dance Moodymann + More

2pm. $48.95.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 18 CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 9pm.

Free.

MTV Summer Of Music feat: Lolo BX + Olympic Ayres + Jawz + Tkay Maidza + Yolanda Be Cool + DCup Sydney Town Hall, Sydney.

5:30pm. Free.

The Wall The World Bar, Kings Cross.

9pm. $5.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 19 HIP HOP & R&B

FBi Local Live - feat: Tkay Maidza FBi Live, Alexandria. 5:30pm.

Free.

CLUB NIGHTS

Crate Digger Thursdays Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm.

Free.

Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

5pm. Free.

The World Bar Thursdays The World Bar, Kings Cross.

9pm. Free.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 20 HIP HOP & R&B

Hustler Fridays - feat: MC Shaba Hustle & Flow, Redfern. 7pm.

Free.

OC + DJ Boogie Blind + Rodney P + Brad Strut Civic Underground, Sydney.

9pm. $64.40.

CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays - feat: thebrag.com

Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm.

Free.

Bassic - feat: Snails + Nu:Tone + Spenda C + Autoclaws + Chenzo + Lennon + Ellagator + Mr Pink + Kyphosis + Von Audio Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

8pm. $27.70.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. Free.

Eurovisions - feat: Eurovisions Residents + Steele Bonus + Long John Salvia Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 11pm. $10.

Factory Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

7pm. Free.

Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm.

Free.

G-Wizard Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $18.40.

Hayden James + Mickey Kojak Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $18.70.

Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm.

Free.

The Thrillseekers + Reorder Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 10pm. $20.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 21 CLUB NIGHTS

Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests The World Bar, Kings Cross.

8pm. $10.

David Mayer + Yokoo + Antoine Vice + Whitecat + Space Junk + Aboutjack The Spice Cellar, Sydney.

9pm. $15.

Detroit Swindle + Shiba San + Marks & Oz + Friendless +

Gg Magree + DJ CB-U + DJ Just 1 + Jac Frier + Kings Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $27.70.

DJ John Collins + Francis Inferno Orchestra + Kali + Charades DJs The Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 10pm. $20.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills.

10pm. Free.

Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. Free.

Magda + DJ Tennis Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 2pm. $88.

Noah Slee + Duan & Only Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. $15.

Nukewood + Social Hooliganz + Royaal + Venuto + Rees Hellmers + DJ Iko + DJ Seiz + J Reyes + Nick Arbor + Simon Lovell Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. Free.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Tigerlily + Dave Winnel + DJ Moto + Danny Lang + Chris Arnott + Mo’Funk + Sushi + Jace Disgrace + Just 1 + Heke + Here’s Trouble + Lavida + Mike Hyper + Stu Turner Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $38.

Red Bull Music Academy feat: J-Rocc + Mike Who + DJ Naiki Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

9:45pm. Free.

Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Something Else Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst.

9pm. $20.

The House Of Who - feat: Rotating DJs + Levins + The House Of Who + Nacho Pop + Kato’s Wig Shop Goodgod Small Club, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Trifo + Mind Electric Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

Venom - feat: Our Last Enemy + Grim Demise + Acid Nymph + Cyndustry Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 HIP HOP & R&B

One Day Sundays Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

1pm. $10.

CLUB NIGHTS

Future Classic X Museum Of Contemporary Art Summer Series - feat: Redhino + Touch Sensitve Museum Of Contemporary Art, The Rocks. 5pm. $47.50.

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney.

Friendless + GG Magree + DJ CB-U + DJ Just 1 + Jac Frier + Kings Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $27.70.

Noah Slee + Duan & Only Play Bar, Surry Hills. 6pm. $15.

Pacha Sydney - feat: Tigerlily + Dave Winnel + Dj Moto + Danny Lang + Chris Arnott + Mo’funk + Sushi + Jace Disgrace + Just 1 + Heke + Here’s Trouble + Lavida + Mike Hyper + Stu Turner Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney.

6:30pm. $38.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 22 Redinho + Touch Sensitive Museum Of Contemporary Art, The Rocks. 5pm. $47.45.

S.A.S.H Sundays Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10.

Redinho

Trifo + Mind Electric Marquee, Pyrmont. 10pm. $28.60.

8pm. Free.

Redinho + Touch Sensitive Museum Of Contemporary Art, The Rocks. 5pm. $47.45.

Reggae Sundays Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 5pm. Free.

S.A.S.H Sundays Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 2pm. $10.

Summer Dance - feat: Moodymann National Art School, Darlinghurst. 2pm. $48.95.

Sunday Sessions - feat: Cadell + Tom Kelly + Ocky Goldfish, Kings Cross. 4pm.

Free.

Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm.

Free.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 23 CLUB NIGHTS

Mashup Monday - feat: Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney. 8pm.

Free.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 24 CLUB NIGHTS

Chu The World Bar, Kings Cross.

9pm. Free.

BRAG :: 600 :: 18:02:15 :: 33

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live reviews What we've been out to see...

Hordern Pavilion Friday February 13 With a renewed sense of confidence, Nick Murphy didn’t just take to the stage as Chet Faker – he commanded it. As someone who built his name (itself a reference to jazz icon Chet Baker) on live performance, his shift from underground gigs to a sold-out Hordern personified the tension between indie credibility and mainstream success. It also begged the question – what has Faker sacrificed in order to grow?

Having just cleaned up at the ARIAs and taken the top spot of triple j’s Hottest 100, a reasonable answer could be, “Who cares?”

Clearly, whatever Murphy is producing has a solid audience, and judging by the Hordern crowd it’s as diverse as it is fanatic.

From the second he walked on wearing (inexplicably, given the heat) a beanie and white tee, the energy was near tipping point.

Recreating the sense of intimacy on which he built his live reputation was always going to be a challenge. But decisions like playing ‘Talk Is Cheap’ solo on the keys and doing a cover of Van Morrison’s ‘Moondance’ sent a clear message – there would be no pandering to what the crowd thought it wanted. It paid off.

While not entirely consistent, Faker’s first and only full-length LP was clearly written to be translated live. After a dip through the first half, highlights included ‘Blush’ and ‘Love And Feeling’, thanks to the assistance of a skilled guitarist and drummer who barely broke a sweat. It was engineered, of course, so that Murphy took on the brunt of the work, still eager to prove that electronic artists require the same skill level as any musician if they’re doing it right.

It was when Murphy revisited his viral hit ‘No Diggity’ that the difference between 2011 and now was highlighted. Where he once complained about people whipping out their phones to record a show rather than experience it, now he demanded that all “streaming devices” be put away.

Probably for the first time in half a decade, the Hordern was free from their cold light.

Whether it’s his recent success that’s made everyone pay attention is irrelevant.

Good or bad, it seems like Chet Faker has earned the respect of fans while still making a genuine effort to maintain his integrity – whether as a supporting artist at a tiny club or his own consecutively soldout shows.

Emily Meller

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Villains. Heroes.

Wrestling. Cross dressing.

And love at first sight.

What’s not to love about As You Like It?

21 FEB – 28 MAR

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