Brag#669

ISSUE NO. 669 JUNE 29, 2016

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

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

INSIDE This Week

T H E M A N Y C O LO U R S O F

SHIH A D

Celebrating 20 years of their name-making Fish Album.

OH PEP!

The hard workers who leapt from the local scene to the world stage.

T HE V E RONIC A S

Lisa and Jessica Origliasso are keeping things in the family.

L I Z S T R INGE R

How she almost left music behind before recording her fifth album.

RUPAUL'S DR AG R A CE

Bringing laughter to the live stage despite a difficult time for the LGBT scene.

Plus

OR B 28 DAYS & A R E A-7 T HE BENNIE S L IF E BEHIND T HE MERCH DE SK A ND MUCH MOR E

JAKE BUGG

W W W. N I Q U E . C O M . A U

NIQUE.MELBOURNE

@NIQUECLOTHING

SAT 13 AUGUST www.designopenday .com.au

Torrens University Australia, CRICOS 03389E

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 3

rock music news

the BRAG presents

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Rochelle Bevis, James Di Fabrizio and Natalia Morawski

speed date WITH

Metro Theatre Wednesday July 20

THE LOW DOWN RIDERS

THE 1975

around Sydney and hitting the road towards Newcastle very soon.

If you want to know where any of us are at any given time, you can stalk us on Facebook/ Instagram/Twitter (@ lowdownriders).

Best Gig Ever Our first gig at 3.

The Gasoline Pony in

Your Profile The Low Down 1.

Riders sound like a

band that you’d hear in the dive bars of New Orleans, featuring horns that weave a raucous melody over the top of

a rhythm section that chugs seamlessly like a steamboat down the Mississippi. It’s music for drinking and dancing.

Busy The last few 2. Keeping

months have been very busy for us. We recently recorded our fi rst EP in an abandoned car park in Ultimo, which is now available on Bandcamp and iTunes. We’re also playing quite regularly

PETER BJORN AND JOHN

Marrickville was huge! We ended up having more than ten musicians and a tap dancer squeezing onto the stage playing the most raucous New Orleans music while people filled the floor with dancing and great vibes.

So much fun and many tasty local beers were consumed!

Playlist Some independent 4. Current

music from New Orleans – The Deslondes, Shotgun Jazz Band and Tuba Skinny – are on high rotation at the moment.

We’re also loving a lot of what’s happening in the local Sydney scene at the moment – The Button Collective, Andy Golledge Band and The Morrisons are all great bands that bring the vibes.

Your Ultimate Rider A few Young Henrys beers and cloudy ciders, fancy cheeses, crackers and we’re good to go.

5.

What: Stomping On My Heart out now independently Where: The Gasoline Pony When: Friday July 1

Sydney Olympic Park Saturday July 23

AT THE DRIVE-IN

Enmore Theatre Sunday July 24

JAKE BUGG State Theatre Tuesday July 26

SAD GRRRLS FEST Feat: Le Pie, Coda Conduct, Twin Caverns + more Factory Floor Saturday October 8

CLIMB EVERY MOUNTAIN

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ONLINE EDITOR: James Di Fabrizio SUB-EDITOR: Sam Caldwell STAFF WRITERS: Joseph Earp, Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: Rochelle Bevis, Gloria Brancatisano, James Di Fabrizio, Amy Henderson, Anna Wilson ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: D.A. Carter, Katrina Clarke, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Tony Pecotic - (02) 9212 4322 tony@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Furst Media MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr - patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 / 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATOR: Sarah Bryant - gigguide@thebrag.com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties) AWESOME INTERNS: Amy Henderson, Anna Wilson, Natalia Morawski REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Prudence Clark, Tom Clift, Anita Connors, Christie Eliezer, Emily Gibb, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Emily Meller, David Molloy, Annie Murney, Adam Norris, George Nott, Daniel Prior, Tegan Reeves, Natalie Rogers, Erin Rooney, Spencer Scott, Natalie Salvo, Leonardo Silvestrini, Jade Smith, Lucy Watson, Rod Whitfield, Harry Windsor, Tyson Wray, Stephanie Yip, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227

After a six-year absence, Canadian rockers Black Mountain will return to Sydney in 2016. The five-piece makes its return with latest album IV, the product of close collaborations with Sunn O))), Wolves In the Throne Room, Marissa Nadler and producer Randall Dunn. This one-night-only show will harness the fundamentals of ’70s hard rock, laced with fuzz and psychedelia. Climb the Mountain at the Factory Theatre on Monday October 3.

Grouplove

HIGH ON LIFE

The Smith Street Band’s mini-festival I Love Life is coming to Sydney in 2016 after its debut last year.

Co-curated with Poison City Records, the Sydney edition of the festival will be headlined by party boys The Bennies, joined by High Tension, Pity Sex, The Hard Aches and Camp Cope. Also on the bill are Rozwell Kid (making their Australian debut), Cayetana and Creative Adult. After stopping in Sydney, the mini-fest will also expand to Brisbane. I Love Life heads to Manning Bar on Saturday September 17.

GONNA BE YUGE

Bigsound has announced the first instalment of live acts for its 15th anniversary festival, and the list is huge. With a whopping 89 acts ready to descend on Brisbane’s Fortitude Valley this September (and a stack more still to come) Bigsound 2016 is going to be one heck of a celebration. The annual music conference has a reputation as the place for tastemakers and music lovers to get a glimpse of the next big things in the Oz music scene, and a quick glance at the lineup proves just that. With acts including Sampa The Great, Alex Lahey, Wallace, Gabriella Cohen, Tigertown, Tash Sultana, Banff, Tiny Little Houses and Owen Rabbit all taking the stage across the festival’s three days, as well as international visitors including Naations, Fazerdaze, Groeni and Prateek Kuhad, Brisbane doesn’t seem like a bad place to visit this September. Meanwhile, the industry conference is

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

BIG MESSY GROUPLOVE

Indie-pop legends Grouplove have locked in a Sydney show, returning to our shores with tunes from their highly anticipated third album. The LP, Big Mess, is due for release in September and was recorded with Phil Ek (Fleet Foxes, Band Of Horses) in Los Angeles and Seattle. Grouplove will be joined for their shows by singer-songwriter Lisa Mitchell, who has just finished a new album slated for release this year. See it all go down at Oxford Art Factory on Tuesday August 16.

Stephen Cummings

PIG-STYLER, ROCK THE MICROPHONE

Alex Lloyd

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: spotpress.com.au 24 – 26 Lilian Fowler Place, Marrickville NSW 2204 follow us:

@TheBrag

like us:

THE BRAG

4 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

STEPHEN’S COMING ACOUSTIC ALEX

Multi-platinum songwriter Alex Lloyd is back with a new album and a national string of shows to support it.

The upcoming release, Acoustica, will present 12 of Lloyd’s most memorable tracks reinterpreted in an intimate and acoustic format. The tour is set to follow suit, presenting his work with a strippedback band. Lloyd plays The Basement on Friday September 23.

set to feature the likes of Unified’s Jaddan Comerford, Conan O’Brien booker Jim Pitt, film music supervisor Marcy Bulkeley (Independence Day 2, Jurassic World) and Universal Publishing’s Taylor Testa. Bigsound will take over Brisbane from Wednesday September 7 – Friday September 9.

Founding member of The Sports Stephen Cummings will be touring the country with his new album King Of The Rainy Country. The new record is a compilation of slow songs heard only at Cummings’ live shows. His Sydney performance will also feature tracks from his 40-year back catalogue. A final Cummings album, Great Men In Small Rooms, will be available in early 2017. Joining Cummings onstage will be guitarist Shane O’Mara. The tour kicks off in Brisbane and Melbourne before heading to Sydney on Thursday August 11 at The Basement.

PigSty In July, the Hunter Valley festival from the good people behind Dashville Skyline and The Gum Ball festivals, is back for 2016. After selling out in 2014 and 2015, and with a festival bill already including the likes of Shihad, King Tide, Masco Sound System, Justin Ngariki and The Dastardly Bastards, Claire Anne Taylor and Lepers & Crooks, PigSty has now added a final round of names ahead of its 2016 instalment. The Central Coast’s triple j faves Sea Legs join the fracas, as do In Motion, Dashville Progress Society, and comedians Matty B, Marty Bright and Daniel Muggleton. PigSty In July 2016 takes over Dashville in Lower Belford this Saturday July 2.

TURN UP THE VOLUMES

Volumes Festival is back for 2016, and its second instalment will be even bigger than the first. Taking over four venues and several stages around Darlinghurst’s Oxford Square precinct – including Oxford Art Factory, The Cliff Dive, the Burdekin Hotel and Brighton Up Bar – the festival has welcomed more than 80 artists onto its 2016 lineup. Volumes runs across two days and nights, and is set to feature the likes of BV, Dro Carey, Koi Child, Rainbow Chan, Lupa J, Godriguez, Nicholas Allbrook, Slum Sociable, Donny Benet, Mossy, You Beauty, Marcus Whale and many, many more. Tickets are on sale now, so don’t miss out – check out thebrag.com for the full announced lineup. thebrag.com

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 5

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Joseph Earp, Gloria Brancatisano and James Di Fabrizio

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five things WITH

LEWIS ARMSTRONG AND BRENDAN IREDALE FROM PASHA BULKA Inspirations The Music You Make LA: Lyrically, I would say Ian Curtis from After demoing these newest tracks 2.

4.

Joy Division and Jeremy Bolm from Touché over the course of a few months, we honed Amoré. They both put so much into what they’re writing. As a band, I guess we take a lot of things from a variety of music. All of us kinda grew up listening to very different genres and I think that’s what makes us a bit unique; that we look up to everyone from Pianos Become The Teeth to Nick Cave.

3.

Growing Up BI: When I was younger my brother was 1. playing drums, and I wanted to play guitar so we could jam. My parents never actually thought I’d stick with guitar for longer than a week!

Music, Right Here, Right Now Two bands that have really impressed 5. us are Sleep Talk (Adelaide) and Vitals

Their Melbourne show is sold out and Sydney is selling fast, and for good reason: The Kills haven’t visited our shores in five years. The duo are back in support of their latest and fifth album, Ash & Ice, and to inject their energy into Splendour In The Grass. Alison Mosshart and Jamie Hince recently gave the world a second taste of the album with ‘Heart Of A Dog’, after ‘Doing It To Death’ landed as the lead single.

What: ‘Old Antique Store’ from Defeat out now independently

The Kills will rock out at the Enmore Theatre on Tuesday July 26. We’ve got one double pass to give away – to get your hands on it, enter at thebrag.com/freeshit.

(Brisbane), who we have the pleasure of playing with over the next two weeks. Dudes are sick, check them out! If we ever get the chance, we always try and get out to Black Wire Records’ space; great dudes doing great

xxx

Skegss

THE KILLS

The Kills photo by Minivan Photography

Your Band Pasha is made up of five dudes – Lewis (vocals), Brendan (guitar), Tim (guitar), Aaron (bass) and Pat on drums. We all went to the same school and eventually hanging out turned into jamming and just progressed from there. Obviously, musically we have matured since playing breakdowns in year ten [laughs].

We’ve actually had the chance to work with some talented people along the road such as Sam Hodgkins of Kingdom Design, who did the video for ‘My Father Taught Me’ about a year back, and he has also come back for our latest video ‘Old Antique Store’. The guy is a gun with a camera. Would recommend!

in on the sound we were looking for out of our recording process – a sound that Clayton Segelov (Brain Studios, Surry Hills) picked up and absolutely smashed out of the park! He was ready to trial some different techniques and really captured the energy and rawness that people can expect from our live shows. We could not have asked for a better, more understanding recording engineer.

2. Supported by Gypsys Of Pangea and Velvet Elevator, The Jim Mitchells will take to Brighton Up Bar on Friday July 15.

LET’S GO FLY A KITE

ABOUT FACE

Maniac surf/garage/psych rock trio Skegss are set to blow the roof off Newtown Social Club in order to turn heads and attract some attention for their renegade new EP Everyone Is Good At Something. Not only do they have real skills when it comes to naming records (how can you not love that title?), they’re also a renowned and respected live act, one that will leave ears ringing and hearts racing. The lead single from Everyone, ‘My Face’, has already dropped, so start learning the words and you’ll be able to sing along at the gig. It all goes down on Thursday September 1.

Prepare to get funked up. The toast of Melbourne, unhinged funk rockers The Kite Machine, are heading to Sydney with new single in tow. ‘Charlotte’, their latest bristling banger, is sure to delight the band’s myriad of fans, all while attracting new admirers in the process. Best of all, their Sydney show will be free, meaning you can spend all your hard-earned dollars on beers and pizzas to be hoovered up while The Kite Machine do their thing. The trio hit Frankie’s Pizza on Thursday June 30.

Emily Wurramara Canary

OUT OF THE COAL MINE

Melbourne rockers Canary are gearing up for the release of their second album, I Am Lion, and have announced a trio of launch shows for this August and September. With previous singles from the record including ‘Fickle Heart’, ‘Women’s Business’ and ‘Here We Go’ scoring praise from critics and fans alike, the record is shaping up to be a local release you’ll definitely want to wrap your ears around. Canary will play The World Bar on Friday August 12.

TWO FOR THE PRICE OF ONE

Julia Jacklin

Alternative pop powerhouse Ella Hooper is joining forces with up-and-coming singersongwriter Gena Rose Bruce for a national tour. In this series of stripped-back shows, rather than taking the traditional main and support act route, both artists will play their new material together. They’ll be teaming up on electric and acoustic guitar while delivering harmonies throughout, dipping into material both old and new. Catch them at Brighton Up Bar on Saturday August 6.

BABY, WE WERE BORN TO RUN

To celebrate the 4th of July weekend, six of Australia’s finest performers are joining forces to pay tribute to one of America’s greatest: Bruce Springsteen. The show, Born To Run: The Songs Of Springsteen, will take over the Captain Cook Hotel from Friday July 1 – Sunday July 3 with a band including musicians who’ve recorded and performed with Midnight Oil, Models, The Angels, Mental As Anything, Jeff Duff and many more. Bossing it.

FOLLOW THE UNFOLLOWERS

6 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Emily Wurramara will launch her debut EP Black Smoke with a Sydney show next week. The record features six songs in both English and Anindilyakwa, the traditional language of her home on Groote Eylandt in the Northern Territory. Wurramara’s debut single ‘Ngerraberrakernama (Wake Up)’ was released in March and hit the airwaves in every Australian state and territory.

As well as performances at festivals including Gaarma Festival, Island Vibes and Woodford Folk Festival, she has also taken her music to stages across Sweden and France. Wurramara will be at Lazybones Lounge on Saturday July 9.

JULIA’S GETTING COOLER

Although she only played her first interstate show in January this year, Julia Jacklin has gone on to spend the first half of 2016 kicking goals. In keeping with her rise to national and international acclaim, she’s set to play a headline Australian east coast tour in July, before jetting off around the world. As part of her Aussie string of dates, she’ll pop by Sydney on Thursday July 28 at Newtown Social Club. Don’t miss a glimpse of the Sydney scene’s next big thing. xxx

Sydney’s The Jim Mitchells are set to release their second single, ‘You Unfollow Me’, and to celebrate they’ve announced a hometown show.

Their debut single ‘Planet Absorbed’ earned them a legion of fans, and their new effort presents a thumping rhythmic section wrapped in sparkling guitar hooks. Better still, it’s but a taste of their debut EP, Planet Absorbed, which is slated for release on Tuesday August

SMOKE IN YOUR EYES

thebrag.com

OUT 1 july

AVAILABLE ON CD, VINYL AND DIGITAL

FEAT. “BORED TO DEATH”

THURSDAY JUNE 30TH

LEPERS & CROOKS + LAZY COLTS

FRIDAY JULY 1ST

THE VANNS + SPACE MONK

SATURDAY JULY 2ND

V TRIBE

SUNDAY JULY 3RD

KING TIDE + KAVALO

LEVEL 2, 75 THE CORSO, MANLY WWW.HOTELSTEYNE.COM.AU | FACEBOOK/HOTELSTEYNEMANLY | @HOTELSTEYNE

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 7

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR • How will the axing of the Mick Jagger/ Martin Scorsese Vinyl TV series after one season affect talks of an Australian version based on a local music mogul?

• Will a potential venue owner get his deposit back after the deal fell through?

• Will there be an appeal in the ‘Stairway To Heaven’ plagiarism case, which ruled in favour of Led Zeppelin last week? Nope, because the jury was unanimous and the chance of overturning the verdict is zilch.

• Are we in for a Chance The Rapper/Death Cab For Cutie collaboration after they met at Bonnaroo Festival?

• Which major festival is about to make an important announcement tomorrow?

• Congrats to Sydney DJs Alison Wonderland and Anna Lunoe on being the first two solo female spinners in the world to play Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival, drawing 140,000.

• AIR (the Association of Independent Record Labels) returned from Indie Week in New York City and vibed on making new connections and new insights from

the various panels. The conference closed with the fifth A2IM Libera Awards, which saw Courtney Barnett nominated in three categories.

• El-P of the hip hop duo Run The Jewels is pissed that actor Kevin Hart has plans for a movie with that name, about two nothing rappers scheming to rob an eccentric hip hop tycoon.

• Parkway Drive’s fifth studio album Ire has gone gold, and so has Keith Urban’s Ripcord after six weeks.

• Media company oOh! Media has forked out $11.05 million to buy 85 per cent of Junkee Media, whose assets include Inthemix and FasterLouder.

• Former Slipknot drummer Joey Jordison described the way he was booted out of the band three years ago – by email – as “cowardly”. At the time, he had been diagnosed with a rare disease of the nervous system, was unable to play the drums and had to be carried onto the stage.

• Breaking attendance records for a third year in a row, Vivid Sydney drew over 1.7 million visitors in May and June.

• Melbourne’s The Pretty Littles responded

to the Eddie McGuire/Sam Newman/ Caroline Wilson fiasco with the song ‘Sam’s Mob’, to be included on their September album. “It’s about the power some people wield for the wrong reasons,” they said.

“About people defending their right to make other people feel shit.”

• The Hotel Steyne in Manly is closed this week for seven days after selling booze to underage girls. It estimates the closure will cost it $100,000 in lost revenue.

• Five Finger Death Punch guitarist Jason Hook landed a role playing an FBI agent in the upcoming film Z., about the Zodiac killer in 1960s California.

• Nic Healey is 2SER’s new breakfast host, replacing Mitch Byatt who has left radio.

• Sydney artist Mr. G went to Minneapolis to work on a Prince mural on the side of the Chanhassen Cinema, where the late superstar went to see flicks.

• 670 people arrived at dawn for the annual nude swim in the freezing Derwent River at Hobart’s Dark Mofo festival, marking the daybreak after the winter solstice. Mind you, 1,000 earlier signed on, so a few had lastminute cold feet.

releases to info@aussiemusicweekly.com. au. For physical formats, post to Aussie Music Weekly, c/o Community Radio Network, PO Box 564, Alexandria NSW 1435. For further info on sponsorship enquiries and music submissions, contact Jason ‘Noddy’ Velleley on 0418 661 534 or noddy@aussiemusicweekly.com.au.

The Chuck Taylor All Wah

NEW SIGNINGS #1: B WISE @ ELEFANT TRAKS

African-Australian MC B Wise, buzzing with ‘Prince Akeem’ and ‘Lately’, has an EP out in August through his new label Elefant Traks.

He said, “Over the last 12 months, Urthboy [Elefant Traks label manager] and I have built a solid relationship and I’ve always found his insights sincere and inspiring … [Elefant Traks has helped me] create the way I wanted and not be afraid to do things a little different to what’s coming out of the Australian scene at the moment.”

PUMPED UP KICKS

Converse will launch a new trainer with a wah-wah guitar pedal built into its sole. The Chuck Taylor All Wah shoe is wirelessly connected to a wah box, and will work with an amp, or connected to a Mac or iPhone.

AMIN PROPOSES ANNUAL $5M MUSIC FUND

In the lead-up to this weekend’s federal election, the Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN) – which represents the peak state and territory music industry associations of Australia – has come up with a $5 million-a-year proposal called the Contemporary Music Fund. It wants the political parties to endorse it. The fund will be used for AMIN and state associations to deliver national Audience Development Initiatives that increase engagement with Music Australia, fund a Music Education Program and National Skills Forum, establish a music export grant program for showcases and so more music acts can tour regional and remote areas, and a Music Entrepreneurs Internship Program to develop the skills needed to manage music businesses.

PRINCE MUSICAL FOR BROADWAY?

A Prince musical, made up of his hits and hundreds of unreleased songs in his vaults, could stage on Broadway, or even as a Cirque du Soleil show like those for Michael Jackson and The Beatles. Two music executives have been appointed by a Minneapolis court to generate revenue for the estate. They are Prince’s long-time lawyer and manager L. Londell McMillan and music executive Charles Koppelman. Another idea is to turn the iconic singer’s Paisley Park complex into a tourist attraction to bring in millions, like Elvis Presley’s Gracelands estate.

These New South Whales and Melbourne’s The Outdoor Type were signed. Now Miller has brought along five new acts, including Sydney’s Caitlin Park.

AUSSIE MUSIC WEEKLY ON COMMUNITY RADIO

Aussie Music Weekly is a new radio show launching on the Community Radio Network in the first week of July, replacing HomeBrew Radio, which ended after ten years of national syndication to 45 stations. Aussie Music Weekly aims to give exposure to acts that don’t get mainstream airplay. It includes segments like In Focus (interviews, tour and gig info), a monthly artist profile of past and present acts (by Triple H FM’s The Music Almanac presenter Rufus OnFire), and regular in-studio Live Sessions, engineered by Paul McQueen from Songwriters Across Australia. Submit all digital

NEW SIGNINGS #2: HARTS @ DEW PROCESS

Dew Process/Universal Music will release the future works of Melbourne funk, soul and rock virtuoso Harts, currently all over triple j with single ‘Peculiar’. Harts, who once jammed with Prince at Paisley Park, had his career developed for the last seven years by The A&R Department and Offtime Production, who continue to work with him. He’s just returned from a European tour, including a set at Pink Pop.

NEW SIGNINGS #3: WAVE RACER @ BMG

After five months, BMG Australia has signed its fifth act: Sydney electronic artist Wave Racer (AKA Thomas Purcell), to a global publishing agreement. He has played international festivals like Coachella and Ultra, headlined through the US in March and April and had ‘Streamers’ chosen by Bill Gates to be played during his annual letter speech for Microsoft. It was also in an Optus TV campaign last year.

NEW SIGNINGS #4: GABRIELLA COHEN @ DOT DASH/REMOTE CONTROL

Singer-songwriter Gabriella Cohen, who moved to Melbourne from Brisbane late last year, has pushed the right buttons with debut album Full Closure And No Details. It was made with long-time collaborator Kate Dillon (Full Flower Moon Band) and issued through her own label, Dirty Power Studios. A new deal with Dot Dash/Remote Control sees the album now available digitally in Australia and New Zealand, with a full release in North America via New York’s Captured Tracks.

The Musicoz Australian Independent Music Awards are to be held on Wednesday October 26 at the Enmore Theatre, with the afterparty at the Factory Theatre. The awards are looking for unsigned or indie artists of all genres. Submit your songs at musicoz.org by Sunday July 17.

Split: Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock secretly from footballer boyfriend Jordan Kiffin after more than three years, unfollowing him from her Instagram account and no longer wearing his initials on her favourite necklace.

Ill: At The Drive-In had to blow out US shows after singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala lost his voice due to a bad cold.

In Court: Martin Fulton, 18, pleaded guilty to assaulting security guard Michael Rigby at this year’s under-18 Good Life Festival in Perth, as well as trespass for jumping the fence. Rigby was trying to apprehend another fence-jumper when Fulton ran in and repeatedly kicked him in the head. He will be sentenced on Tuesday July 19.

In Court: US rapper Troy Ave, indicted on attempted murder after shooting five shots at a May T.I. concert in New York, which left Ave’s own bodyguard dead.

Died: Bernie Worrell, 72, whose array of keyboard sounds and textures helped define the seminal Parliament-Funkadelic sound. He also played with Talking Heads.

Died: Brian Rading, bassist for ’70s group Five Man Electrical Band (‘Signs’ was number one in Australia for two months), 69, from throat cancer.

Died: NOFX paid tribute to Samuel Pollas, 20, who hit his head on the floor at their Copenhagen club show, complained of dizziness and nausea, went home to sleep and never woke up.

Died: Sam King, founder of London’s Notting Hill Carnival, aged 90. The Jamaican immigrant and one-time aircraft engineer founded the festival and the UK’s first black newspaper in the mid-’60s to promote better race relations.

Died: Wayne Jackson, trumpeter with Memphis Horns, 74, of heart failure. He performed on recordings of 52 number one hits, including songs by Otis Redding, Elvis Presley, Neil Diamond and U2.

Died: ZZ Top manager Bill Ham, 79, cause unknown. He worked at a record label until meeting ZZ Top’s Billy Gibbons backstage at a Doors show in 1967 and built the band up, fighting for US$7 million advances before recording each album.

Died: revered Pakistani singer Amjad Sabri, who sang devotional songs from a centuries-old mystic tradition, aged 45. He was shot in Karachi by two Taliban gunmen who considered his music blasphemous.

NEW SIGNINGS #5: MORNING TV @ HABITAT

NEW SIGNINGS #6: FOUR NEW ACTS @ GOLDEN ROBOT

NEW WORLD EXPANDS TO BRISBANE

8 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Born: a son, Roman, to S Club 7’s Tina Barrett and partner Paul Cashmore.

Sydney newcomers Morning TV are releasing their debut EP on Friday August 5 through Habitat’s new record label. Habitat began as a management company (Big White, Bad// Dreems) before expanding into PR two years ago. Morning TV’s new single ‘Turquoise’ was produced by Tim Fitz from Middle Kids.

MUSICOZ AWARDS IN OCTOBER

Sydney’s New World Artists (NWA) has set up a Brisbane office under manager and booker Dominic Miller. NWA boasts Daniel Johns, Tina Arena, Allday and Northlane as major clients.

Earlier this month, Newcastle garage punks

Lifelines

Gabriella Cohen

Mark Alexander-Erber’s “old-school Aussie rock” label, Golden Robot Records, has struck deals with Rose Tattoo, Steve Kilbey, The Superjesus and Sarah McLeod. The Tatts have a new album out in 2017, plus a live album recorded in 1983. The Superjesus drop an album Love And Violence next month and are slated for a 2017 record as well. Kilbey and McLeod are working on solo releases.

thebrag.com

BORN TO RUN The songs of Springsteen Six of Australia's leading musos have been drawn together by their mutual love of one of rock n roll’s most iconic songwriters, Bruce Springsteen.

Free

y r t En

Fri July 1 (8PM) - Sat July 2 (8PM) Sunday July 3 (5PM) Captain Cook Hotel, 1/162 Flinders St Paddington

www.borntorunshow.com thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 9

COVER STORY

JAKE

BUGG ALONE, NOT LONELY

BY JOSEPH EARP

J

ake Bugg has never pretended to be a talker. A particularly snarky reporter once described the experience of interviewing the young British songwriter as being akin to nagging a grumpy adolescent, and though that’s certainly an exaggeration, Bugg is fairly upfront about how close he keeps his cards to his chest.

He speaks in clipped soundbites, and each of his answers has a precise beginning, middle and end. Even when he’s vague, he’s precisely vague. He only laughs once over the course of his interview with the BRAG – the sound is as charming as it is fleeting.

Otherwise he is all business, talking about his new record On My One with all the humble, ever so slightly detached pride a carpenter might use to describe a door of which they are particularly proud.

“It was fun making the record,” Bugg says. “I spent a lot of time in the studio on my own experimenting.

Just trying things out. It was quite a solitary process, I would say. It was challenging as well … You have those times when you don’t know whether it’s going to come together or whether the songs are good enough. I didn’t know whether it was going to be good till the end, till it was finished. There were times when maybe my confidence was low.”

This is a surprising revelation, for nothing about On My One feels faltering or afraid. Indeed, the critics who have taken umbrage with the album so far have done so because they argue that it’s overconfident. That it’s too broad, too long and too much.

Certainly, it’s a record that switches up styles with alarming speed. It’s a deliberately mixed bag, a cracked

10 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

kaleidoscope full of colour and sound that makes a phrase like ‘genre’ seem hollow and worthless.

“It’s just about the songs for me,” Bugg says. “I don’t really think about genre. I just try and have the song produced with what’s best for the song.

Sometimes if I have written a bluesy song I will write it in a more rock way or strip it down. Just mess around with it in a different way.”

Though he may be undervaluing himself by suggesting he writes songs simply by ‘messing around’, Bugg’s words ring true when he explains that the album’s two oddest tracks were largely improvised.

Lead single ‘Gimme The Love’ and ‘Ain’t No Rhyme’ – a fascinatingly jagged quasi-rap tune – are the least Jake Bugg songs Jake Bugg has ever written.

is conflicted. “Maybe [the songs are] personal?” he ventures. Then: “The songs are very personal. But they’re not all about myself.”

He leaves that negation of terms in the air for a moment, almost threatening not to explain. “I guess you could say the first album was [autobiographical] and the second album sort of [was too], and on this album some songs are, but in a different way. It’s [more] about my personal feelings, which are kind of hard to talk about sometimes.

“Quite a few people go through an experience where someone has very strong feelings for you, but you don’t have the same strong feelings for them,” he says. “You like the person but you don’t feel as strongly about them as they do. It can be kind of hard to get that across to them … without making them feel pretty bad about it.”

Bugg might have transformed from a teenager watching someone get stabbed (as on Jake Bugg’s ‘Seen It All’) into a heartbreaker trying to let a would-be lover know their affections aren’t reciprocated, but he still maintains a connection to his past self through the live experience.

“I’M NOT THE 17-YEAR-OLD WHO WROTE ‘TWO FINGERS’ ANYMORE. IT CAN BE KIND OF DIFFICULT TO SING THOSE SONGS WITH THE SAME CONVICTION, BUT PEOPLE WANT TO HEAR THEM.”

“On this record it was a process of exploration,” he says. “I was just kinda writing. I started with a drum beat and no idea for a song, and just started writing over the top of that. Songs like ‘Gimme The Love’ and ‘Ain’t No Rhyme’ were written [that way]. It gave me the opportunity to create something I didn’t think I would be able to come up with.”

It’s tempting to assume that this experience served as the musical equivalent of automatic writing, the free-form process that experimental poets of the past argued could reveal secrets the author themselves might not be aware of. But on the perceived ‘personal nature’ of the album, Bugg

“The first record was about where I was from, about my life up to that point,” he continues. “On My One has been more of a reflection of the last few years or so, and the feelings within myself. It was a relevant title for this record because I spent so much time on my own. I’m not having the same experience I had in my life when I was making Jake Bugg.”

“I’m not the 17-yearold who wrote ‘Two Fingers’ anymore,” he says. “It can be kind of difficult to sing those songs with the same conviction, but people want to hear them. I’m sure there’s some younger people out there who have a connection to the song. When a few of the audience know the words, it’s like they’re with you. They’re giving you some support.”

It’s true that Bugg hasn’t sung about the hardships or poverty that dominated that first record in a long time. He’s swapped external troubles for internal ones, and the ghetto has been replaced by a blur of grief, glamour and girls. ‘Love, Hope And Misery’, for example, explores the pang of unrequited love, although Bugg reveals the song is about causing that particular pain rather than experiencing it.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, given he has done it for so long and since he was so young, Bugg has all but developed an addiction to performing. “I always wanted to play live when I was younger,” he says.

“I just thought it was cool getting to play your music in front of people and getting to travel the world while you do it. I have done it a lot over the last year. I mean, I’m not like an entertainer in any way. I don’t

talk onstage, I don’t have people clapping their hands or anything like that. I just enjoy playing the songs. I need to do it.”

Entertainer or not, Bugg feeds off the response he gets from his audience – a response he says changes around the world. “In South America they can go a bit crazy, in a good way. Screaming and stuff,” he says. (For a second, it sounds like he’s laughing – but no, it’s just a stifled yawn.) “In Japan, they go silent when I’m playing and they all clap in unison afterwards. They all stop at the same time. And here in Britain there are a lot of pints getting thrown around the room. Maybe there will be in Australia too.”

Whatever response awaits Bugg upon his return to Australia remains to be seen. But it seems that even a negative reaction – one he almost certainly won’t receive – would merely trouble Bugg. It wouldn’t halt him: it doesn’t seem like anything could really stop him from writing music, or from playing it.

“I find it difficult sometimes to talk about how I feel,” he says, and there’s that laugh, finally. Brief, but unmistakably warm. “I generally keep it to myself. But if I can get it through in song, that suits me well.”

What: On My One out now through Virgin/EMI With: Blossoms Where: State Theatre When: Tuesday July 26 And: Also appearing at Splendour In The Grass 2016, North Byron Parklands, Friday July 22 – Sunday July 24

thebrag.com

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 11

Liz Stringer Rebuilding Bridges By Augustus Welby

L

iz Stringer has enjoyed a notable career expansion over the last four years. After releasing her fourth album Warm In The Darkness in early 2012, the Melbourne songwriter toured through Australia, the US, Canada and Germany, leaving fans eager for a follow-up LP. The wait ends this week with the release of All The Bridges. However, Stringer says the growing breadth of her listenership didn’t influence the album’s songwriting. There was a more significant hurdle to jump over first.

“I spent the last couple of years doing a lot of session work, playing in a couple of other bands, not focusing even 50 per cent on my own music,” she says. “[That] was important for me, because I didn’t feel like I had enough output personally.

“I had this bunch of songs, but to be honest I didn’t have any expectations that I would come out of it with an album I really wanted to release. I just felt like it was going to be my rusty pipe album – I just had to get back on the horse and get back in the studio and give it a crack.”

All The Bridges is Stringer’s fifth long-player in a ten-year period, and it’s fair to say it’s been a long time coming. Then again, aside from commercial pressures and external

“I had moments of thinking, ‘Maybe that’s it,’” she admits. “Before that I was always one step ahead of myself – I knew what I wanted to make and I was always excited to get back into the studio, and I was planning a long time in advance for it. And as I say, I just felt like I’d gone off the rails a little bit and I just needed to recalibrate and get back on them, whatever that took.”

As it turned out, it was a trip to Portland that resolved Stringer’s creative uncertainty. She made her way to the Type Foundry Studio to work with producer Adam Selzer, which proved more fruitful than she’d anticipated. “[Going to Portland] totally reinvigorated me creatively,” she says. “It was such a great kick up the arse, and then I went and toured in Canada after that for three months. In this stunning country, meeting all these great people and playing dozens of gigs – it was such a reinvigorating experience. Before that I was just like, ‘Maybe that’s all I’ve got. Maybe I’ll just be a session player.’ But I now realise it was just a little patch, and I’m writing a lot since then.”

Selzer’s career credits include records for M. Ward, The Decemberists, Monsters Of Folk and R.E.M.’s Peter Buck. Some mutual acquaintances pointed Stringer in his direction.

“Mick Thomas recorded with him, and Mick met Adam through Darren Hanlon, who’s another friend of mine,” Stringer says. “Darren’s partner Shelley Short is a great Portland-based songwriter. So Mick suggested it because I was saying to him, ‘I don’t know what to do next. I’m feeling a bit lost.’ He said, ‘Oh, maybe you should go to Portland and do it.’ I didn’t

take it seriously really, and then I thought about it and thought, ‘Actually, that might be exactly what I need to do.’ Then I spoke to Darren and Shelley and they highly recommended him. It turned out to be a really great working relationship. He and I really worked so easily and well together, so I was lucky. “[Selzer]’s a really good musician himself, so he’s very good at being on both sides of the desk. It’s not a deal-breaker, but in my experience it does help to have musicians who are engineers, because they just understand what it’s like.”

Stringer went to the US without her Melbourne bandmates, but she was able to rope in a couple of Portland musicians to serve as her rhythm section. Luke Ydstie (bass) and Ben Nugent (drums) combine with Stringer to give All The Bridges a live, animated feel, moving through Springsteen-like heartland rock songs and plenty of folk- and country-tinged numbers.

“I was so nervous,” she says. “We rehearsed the night before we started tracking and

they’d listened to the demos, they had great ideas and they were really into it and they were really enthusiastic and happy to be there. So it was such a great vibe. As soon as we started playing the first song I had this huge sigh of relief. They were great.”

With a solid team in place, Stringer’s doubts disappeared and All The Bridges was fi nished after just eight days of recording.

“It became apparent very quickly when I was in the studio that it was actually going to be a cohesive album that I would want to release. [When I started] I wasn’t thinking about much at all. I was just like, ‘Let’s just try this, because I need to get back in the ring.’ Luckily it worked, because it’s a long way to go to do that,” she laughs.

What: All The Bridges out Friday July 1 through Vitamin Where: Django Bar When: Friday September 16

Liz Stringer photo by Tajette O’Halloran

“I JUST FELT LIKE I’D GONE OFF THE RAILS A LITTLE BIT AND I JUST NEEDED TO RECALIBRATE AND GET BACK ON THEM, WHATEVER THAT TOOK.”

demands, there’s no need to rush into these things. However, Stringer did begin to worry that the motivation to make another record might never arrive.

The Veronicas Doing It For Themselves By Lachlan Kanoniuk

T

en years is a lifetime in pop music. If we’re being realistic, it’s several lifetimes. In that sense, The Veronicas are pretty much invincible. Pop stars who live by trends tend to stall by trends, and while The Veronicas are not impervious to any musical zeitgeists – even when teaming up with mega-producers such as Max Martin – they have, by and large, either crested those waves or set their own path entirely.

Their current merch range includes jumpers emblazoned with the words “The Veronicas Still Exist?” – a wry piece of self-awareness in tune with many of America’s current pop idols, but the sense of irony is emboldened by their indelible Aussie charm. They’re still just a coupla girls from Brissie.

‘In My Blood’, their new song – a comeback song, if 2014’s self-titled album wasn’t a comeback – shows hints of EDM anthemia, anchored by a sense of intimacy. It’s a divide that The Veronicas have effortlessly bridged since their breakthrough – that knack for massive hooks while still connecting on a personal level.

As we sit in a lobby café along Melbourne’s Yarra River, Lisa and Jess Origliasso generate perpetual energy from each other. It’s beyond the telepathic sense of finishing one another’s sentences, with each passionate response hitting the mark like scripted beats.

12 :: BRAG :: 669: : 29:06:16

Lisa adds, “Lyrically, it does tend to be emotively deeper and darker in a lot of

The Veronicas are versatile in their ability to traverse heartfelt balladry and communal pop shout-alongs, or in the case of ‘In My Blood’, somewhere in between. It’s a versatility that comes from a genuine passion for the power of music and its ability to conjure meaning.

“We hope what people get out of the music is that it moves them in some way,” says Lisa. “Whether it’s a song that someone puts on before a night out, or whether it is their dancefloor anthem, or it is that heartbreak song when they’re going through something – that’s how we use music. Music should be the soundtrack to your life at that very moment, a snapshot of that. That’s the kind of music we try to create.”

Pop stardom is a funny notion – especially so in the relatively small pond of Australia – and The Veronicas have had a front row seat. “We’ve had such iconic pop stars in Australia,” Jess says.

“The first time I actually felt like a pop star was when we were up onstage at the ARIAs with Tina Arena, thinking, ‘We’re onstage with an absolute musical legend,’” Lisa beams. “And she was there inviting us to sing beside her. We were so proud.”

changes since The Veronicas came into existence. But they’ve managed to adapt. “Musically, there isn’t that much difference for us,” says Jess.

“Growing up, our favourite artists were Australian: Kylie Minogue, then Natalie Imbruglia. For us, the social media aspect has been the biggest change.”

“It’s dramatically changed, the industry, I feel,” offers Lisa.

“It has changed,” says Jess, “but musically, you can still put on Kylie Minogue’s ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ and it could be a recent song.

So none of that ages.”

That same sense of timelessness, married with a sense of nu-nostalgia, highlights The Veronicas’ breakthrough and follow-up hits, owing to that sense of always standing their creative ground. “We’ve never really been rewarded musically for being on trend,” Jess says. “When we released [2007 single] ‘Untouched’, it was hard to get it on radio. We had to beg everyone because it didn’t have guitars.”

“I think we’re always gonna carve our own path,” says Lisa. “Because we’re twins, we’re always going to cheer each other on in whatever we cook up, whatever we dream up. If you’re a solo artist, you’re always looking for other people’s opinions. Because we have each other, we can just say, ‘That sounds great,’ and it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks.

Having said that, we’re loving where pop music is at currently.

Jess adds, “We get so immersed in the music that we don’t really think of the public perception of us, to the point where we go out and still get shocked that people will recognise us, or want a photo with us, and we regret wearing our pyjamas to the grocery store.”

“We’re more inspired than ever…” says Lisa, leaving a slight pause for Jess to complete her sentence, in true twin style.

The landscape of the music industry, particularly that of the pop music world, has undergone dramatic

What: ‘In My Blood’ out now through Sony

“…about where you can take pop music.”

thebrag.com

Xxx photo by Xxxx

“MUSIC SHOULD BE THE SOUNDTRACK TO YOUR LIFE AT THAT VERY MOMENT, A SNAPSHOT OF THAT. THAT’S THE KIND OF MUSIC WE TRY TO CREATE.”

“As far as music we’ve been listening to,” begins Jess, “we’ve been listening to a lot of old-school Kylie, Grimes, Ellie Goulding, Tove Lo, and DJs like Peking Duk, Alison Wonderland, Yahtzel. I think that we were trying to create something that had an electronic feel [on ‘In My Blood’]. But the way we write, that comes from personal stories.”

ways – that’s just what we do. That’s who The Veronicas are. But we have been inspired by that kind of music, and it’s been so much fun melding the two together.”

LIVE

AT THE

5

$

TINNIES ALL NIGHT

SLY

5

$

FIREBALL WHISKEYS 7.30 - 9.30PM

Thurs 30 JUNE

FAT YAHOOZAH ON THE STOOP MICK STUART

LIVE AT THE SLY DJs 12AM-3AM 1 9 9 E N M O R E R OA D, E N M O R E

EP OUT NOW

www.marvellmusic.com.au facebook.com/MARVELL.OFFICAL

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 13

Shihad Something’s Fishy By Augustus Welby “We’d just had the death of our initial manager [Gerald Dwyer, who died in early 1996] and then we were thrown into the recording studio within a couple of months after that,” Larkin says. “We lost our balance, so to speak. From our artistic end we all had thoughts on how we should do it. Instead of having someone to tether it and [tell us] where to go, we threw ourselves in the studio. Also our producer, his father had died before we went in. Everyone making the album was really confused.”

Given there was no clear direction at the outset of the Shihad sessions, the album’s personality only became apparent during the recording process.

T

“The band was in a real state of flux. I think that’s what you get with that album,” Larkin says. “In terms of the people in Shihad, we were an inner-city band and we came from the metal scene. And once we toured

Europe and we were paired with a lot of metal festivals and metal bands, we found ourselves not enjoying our environment on a musical level. With some notable exceptions, we didn’t feel a strong kinship with a lot of the bands that were going around at the time. That meant that our music reflected a want to escape that tonality and that slant on things.”

In contrast to Shihad’s first two records – Churn (1993) and Killjoy (1995) – Shihad is more melodic and more concerned with the art of storytelling.

There were manifold reasons for this shift, but Larkin notes one unexpected influence.

“I remember Oasis were really huge at the time and it had blown open the doors in the UK,” he says. “And we were very impressed having

seen them live, when they were just breaking, in Denmark. That affected the songwriting team and the songs started to be much more melodic and not necessarily along the lines of the heavier stuff that we were known for.

“That placed the band in an unusual situation whereby half of the band were like, ‘We need to continue the narrative we’ve set up and the style. I still enjoy heavier stuff.’ And the other half were pulling away from that, wanting to explore more pop music, more colourful stuff.”

Shihad’s creative division was understandable considering Killjoy had put them under the spotlight and made a mark outside their native New Zealand. Meanwhile, their creative resolution became even more muddled when tragedy struck.

There are, however, some Shihad songs that illuminate the band’s confusion around that time. “You had other tracks which were much less focused and really out of kilter, particularly considering where we’d come from on a musical level,” says Larkin. “I think that a lot of fans perceived that the band had come off the boil on an impact level.

That’s certainly a fair assessment.

A mistake we’ll never make again is having a pot budget, because we

literally had a bowl in the control room. Making high-energy rock while stoned actually doesn’t work. It has peaks and troughs, and that’s the beauty of it.”

The Fish Album is distinguished from Shihad’s two subsequent records – The General Electric (1999) and Pacifi er (2002; made during the short-lived stint when they went by the name Pacifier) – which were enhanced by a major label budget and have a bigger, slicker commercial rock sound. By contrast, the self-titled album still possesses an appealing rawness.

“Even in comparison to our first two, [Shihad] was underproduced,” says Larkin. “At times that worked and at times that didn’t, but it will always retain a charm. There’s tracks I hear now and I go, ‘Wow, that’s actually unique. We’ll never sound like that again.’ The whole album was a confused band with no clear agenda and the album’s strengths and weaknesses reside off that fact.

“That process, when you look at it now, was tremendously useful for the long-term career of the band. The General Electric had searing focus as to delivery. It wouldn’t have come together the way it did without the inspiration we undertook on The Fish Album.”

What: PigSty In July 2016 With: King Tide, Sea Legs, Lepers & Crooks, Claire Anne Taylor and more Where: Dashville, Lower Belford When: Saturday July 2 And: Also playing at the Factory Theatre on Friday July 15

Xxx photo by Xxxx

his September marks 20 years since the release of Shihad’s eponymous third LP, commonly known as The Fish Album.

To celebrate, the Kiwi hard rockers have remastered and reissued the album on vinyl, and they’re heading out on a national Australian tour. It’d be an exaggeration to say Shihad still sounds brand new, but the production doesn’t seem dated, allowing the songs to continue to speak loudly. The Fish Album was recorded in Auckland with producer Malcolm Welsford, and drummer Tom Larkin casts his mind back to the recording sessions.

“It’s a bit of a patchwork quilt,” Larkin says. “There’s a couple of things that really come into focus – to this day, one of our biggest songs, kind of our calling card, is the song ‘Home Again’. We explored song stuff that we’d never explored before. So there’s songs like ‘La La Land’, which is a really great lyrical narrative about living in LA. ‘Home Again’ [is also] about living in LA and missing home.

You’re seeing the songwriting side of things really get some focus and attention and actually developing really strongly, particularly on a lyrical level, and moving into themes and stories about life as it happens to us.”

“MAKING HIGH-ENERGY ROCK WHILE STONED ACTUALLY DOESN’T WORK.”

Oh Pep! Two Become One By Augustus Welby

T

he rise of Oh Pep! is illustrative of the opportunities these days for Australian musicians to gain exposure overseas.

It’s not as though the Melbourne duo’s international profile has come easy, nor have they quite conquered the world. But their extensive touring of the Northern Hemisphere in the last 12 months, gaining a raft of positive press at CMJ 2015 and SXSW 2016, is pretty impressive considering their debut album hasn’t even been released.

Founding members Liv Hally and Pepi Emmerichs have been working hard on this project for a number of years, releasing three EPs in the lead-up to their Stadium Cake LP. Since the beginning, they’ve been eager to turn Oh Pep! into more than just a local band.

“I think that our main idea the whole time, even before we had a recording, was that we wanted to have a band that toured internationally,” Hally says. “I guess this is us doing that now.

“It’s funny because we always wanted to be doing this touring, and we are doing it now, but you couldn’t have told me five years ago that this is exactly what it would feel like, and touring would incorporate all these different things. So it’s awesome, but at the same time I wouldn’t have known this is what it would feel like exactly.”

As a band looking for somewhere to grow up, there’s hardly a better place to choose than Melbourne. The city is loaded with talented musicians and stacks of venues catering to all manner of styles. Being surrounded by such large quantities of artists assisted Oh Pep! in distinguishing their songwriting from the multitudes of other folk and alt-country acts, as Emmerichs explains.

14 :: BRAG :: 669: : 29:06:16

Stadium Cake comes out this week, but it’s actually been finished since last August when the pair jumped over to Canada’s Nova Scotia region to work with producer Daniel Ledwell (Jenn Grant, Fortunate Ones). A couple of songs from last year’s Living EP (‘Tea, Milk & Honey’ and ‘The Race’) have survived onto the album, while others were written just prior to the recording process.

“I think we were so keen to see what we could come up with before we went into the studio,” Hally says. “So we just pushed it really hard and then a bunch of songs came – like ‘Doctor Doctor’ was written a few weeks before.”

“And then we ended up cutting a lot of songs when we got to the studio,” Emmerichs adds.

“It was like, ‘We’re going to have to decide what ten songs we’re actually going to record,’ and we had quite a few more than that. You have to choose the songs that really work together, because an album’s different from what we’d done before with the EPs.”

“THERE’S KIND OF A SETTLED FEELING IN THE CHOICES WE MAKE, AND HOW WE MAKE CHOICES.” a settled feeling in the choices we make, and how we make choices. That’s probably just a result of having recorded a couple times before and just growing into the band that we are now.”

More than this, the album expands upon the band’s earlier releases. The folk and country tint is still apparent, but it’s augmented by conspicuous pop hooks, sombre indie rock sounds recalling The National and Arcade Fire, and layers of horns, strings, vocal harmonies, electric guitar and rock drumming.

Apart from Oh Pep!’s ability to draw on their experience, Stadium Cake’s lush, layered sound indicates that some money went into its production. The album is coming out via the respected indie labels Dualtone Records in the US and Barely Dressed in Australia. However, the labels weren’t in the band’s ear during the album’s construction.

“We’ve always listened to heaps of different stuff, so I can’t say influences have changed dramatically,” Hally says. “But I think there’s more comfort in what we like. There’s kind of

“No-one was on board at this stage,” Hally says. “We had a grant – I think it might’ve been the first one we’ve ever got – that helped record the album. But the album was recorded before

anything else had been locked in. Sure, we had management on board and we had a producer, but there wasn’t that much pressure.”

“It was more just the pressure from ourselves,” Emmerichs continues. “We’d been making these EPs and preparing to record an album for a while at that stage, and then we found our producer and there was this big push of, ‘Oh, what other songs can we come up with?’ That was really our own pressure.”

“We wanted to make the best debut album we can,” says Hally. “You only do it once.”

What: Stadium Cake out Friday July 1 through Barely Dressed/Remote Control

thebrag.com

Xxx photo by Xxxx

“I think Melbourne has such an incredible scene and the more that we’re away, [the more] I come to realise how lucky we are in Melbourne,” she says. “There’s this great culture of everyone playing in a band and everyone playing shows and [playing] original music, and there’s so many great songwriters.

“Having so much going on all the time is really great when you’re building a band up, because you have to somehow shine through everything else that’s going on by doing your own thing. And playing lots – we did a lot of shows in Melbourne two or three years ago, basically every week, maybe more than once a week. That really built us up and got us used to performing, and everything else started to happen after that. I feel proud to be part of the Melbourne scene and I feel like we’re a good product of it.”

calling all creators. it’s your time.

OPEN DAY SAT 06 AUG I 11AM - 3PM SYDNEY CAMPUS LEVEL 1, 11 - 17 YORK STREET, SYDNEY With world-class facilities, leading teachers and the latest tools, SAE can turn your passion into an exciting career.

CRICOS: 00312F RTO: 0273

DEGREE, DIPLOMA & CERTIFICATE COURSES IN:

thebrag.com

Register now sae.edu.au/events Course enquiries call 1800 SAE EDU Brisbane | Byron Bay | Sydney | Melbourne | Adelaide | Perth BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 15

28 Days & Area-7 Rolling The Dice By Natalie Rogers tours with Bodyjar, Frenzal Rhomb and all those kind of bands that are the new vintage, but Area-7 is the only band we haven’t been on the road with in years.”

Something that sets this tour apart from the rest is that the set times are literally decided by a roll of the dice. “This tour will be great because we’re not sure who will headlining on each night, hence the name,” Stevens says. “You’ll notice on the promo posters that the names swap around. That was done quite deliberately. We will simply roll the dice on the night and see who goes on first.”

28 Days

W

hen 28 Days and Area-7 announced they would be doing a run of dual headline shows up the east coast throughout June and July, we grabbed the chance to speak with two founding members of the veteran Aussie bands. As it turns out, it was also a chance for two great mates to catch up on old times.

“We enjoyed our glory days around the same time as the 28 Days guys, and we did a lot of tours together early in the piece,” says Area-7 frontman John ‘Stevo’ Stevens. “We’ve been mates for a long time, like a lot of Melbournebased bands. Everybody sort of knows each other.”

16 :: BRAG :: 669: : 29:06:16

“We all get along really well,” agrees 28 Days bass player Damian Gardiner. “At the start of last year when Area-7 were playing at Soundwave, they did a secret show and I was speaking to Stevo then about this tour. So it has been a year and a bit in the making.”

“We talked about doing almost like a mini-Warped Tour sort of thing,” says Stevens, “where we’d get a few of the bands that did Warped back in the day to come together and play some shows. Unfortunately it’s not always possible to do that, so we thought at the very least let’s put two of the bands together and then pick up some local supports for each city.

And that’s what we’ve done, and it’s something we’re very excited about.”

“I THINK THE MUSIC SCENE IS REALLY IN A SAD STATE AT THE MOMENT. I HATE TO EVER THINK IT WOULD DIE.” The Roll The Dice tour arrives at The Bald Faced Stag on Saturday July 23. “We’ve been dying to put these shows on,” says Gardiner. “We’ve been waiting so long to go on tour with Area-7, because we’ve done

Fans are also being treated to a hand-picked support band, unique to their city. “We really wanted to support local bands and give them a chance to play in front of a room full of new people,” says Gardiner.

“We always love to support younger bands. Some approach us at shows and we steer them in the right direction. We’ve got age and years of experience, so that’s something we’ve always done and will continue doing, I hope. Frenzal Rhomb gave us a hand up back in the day, so we’ve got to pay it forward.”

“I have a lot of love for the up-andcomers,” Stevens adds, “and I have a lot of hope that they’ll get to do some of the things that we got to do, because any band that’s playing live and doing it, I absolutely respect.”

Despite ruling the live music scene in the late ’90s and early 2000s, Stevens and Gardiner both sympathise with aspiring Aussie musicians today. Dwindling numbers of music venues, the growth of streaming services and ongoing fierce competition have left cracks in a once-thriving industry.

“I’m a bit older than most of the guys in the band these days,” Stevens says. “I was around in the ’80s and I remember that I was in bands that were playing four or five nights a week to full houses right across the state, and that just doesn’t happen these days. I think the music scene is really in a sad state at the moment. I hate to ever think it would die.”

Regardless of the health of the live scene, Gardiner says Sydney’s Roll The Dice show will be all killer, no filler. “We’ve got very cool, loyal fans, and we want to keep them happy and give them what they want. We’ve never had a problem with playing our hits. We will definitely play ‘Say What?’, ‘Kool’, ‘Goodbye’, ‘Sucker’, ‘Rip It Up’ and ‘What’s The Deal?’.”

“It’s going to be hits and memories for us too,” Stevens says. “We’re not trying to get a new record deal or anything like that, so it’s just fun for us.”

“Yeah, both bands don’t take ourselves too seriously,” adds Gardiner. “A lot of people who grew up with our music are married now with kids, so it’s a good excuse to get out of the house, let your hair down and have a bit of fun – and remember how it used to be back in the early 2000s.”

“We never made a lot of money out of the music thing. We sold a lot of records and someone made a lot of money, but it wasn’t us,” Stevens laughs. “But that’s alright. I mean, you never join a band to make a lot of money anyway, right? Especially a seven- or eight-piece band, that’s for sure. It’s always been a labour of love for us, not to make a pocketful Where: The Bald Faced Stag When: Saturday July 23

thebrag.com

Orb Born Under A Bad Sign By Patrick Emery

The Bennies TEN WAYS TO PASS THE TIME ON THE ROAD

A

s any musician knows, touring can be a lonely activity. Away from the bright lights of the stage, life on the road often involves long journeys and endless afternoons of killing time before soundcheck. Melbourne punks The Bennies know how to brighten up even the most bland of tour buses, so they’ve shared with us their ten best tips to pass the time between gigs, whether it’s in a train, plane or automobile.

Take off your shoes This one can be achieved on nearly 1. all forms of transport. Instant relaxation,

improved REM sleep, and if you’ve got an annoying neighbour you can always break out the foot cheese to secure a little more legroom.

I

n Enid Blyton’s Five Get Into A Fix, the intrepid and somewhat pious children of the story are dispatched to the Welsh countryside, where they fall into an adventure involving grumpy criminal types exploiting the valuable mineral reserves hidden under a local mountain. I had hoped that ‘Iron Mountain’, the first track on Geelong band Orb’s debut album, Birth, was inspired by the Famous Five’s mystery-solving activities.

However, the origin is far more mundane.

“I was actually in Centrelink at the time and there was a stack of boxes,” says guitarist and vocalist Zak Olsen, “and on all the boxes was written ‘iron mountain’. I didn’t know what was in the boxes, but it just sounded cool at the time, and a good song name.”

With The Frowning Clouds in a semipermanent hiatus, Olsen and fellow Clouds members Daff Gravolin (guitar/bass) and Jamie Harmer (drums) revived their teenage interest in Black Sabbath and Blue Öyster Cult, augmented with less familiar heavy rock bands such as Diamond Head and Megadeth, and Orb were born.

see it live it’s relatively the same as you’ll hear it on the record.”

When Orb get immersed in some serious riffing – such as on the 16-minute ‘Electric Blanket’ – images come to mind of stoned kids in their bedroom nodding their heads to the grooving licks, or lying in a forest searching for spiritual awakening. “I’d like to say it’s best to listen to the record while driving,” Olsen says.

“But you can listen to it however you like – we don’t condone anything.”

While the band name – by dictionary definition a sphere, but also a lesser-known Marvel comic character and a regular object of knowledge in sci-fi and fantasy literature – doesn’t betray any significant meaning, the band members’ interest in science fiction can be discerned in Orb’s music and lyrics.

“I suppose the science fiction influence is in the synthesizers – synthesizers always tend to have a bit of a science fiction vibe about them,” Olsen says. “And it’s definitely in the lyrics. We all read lots of sci-fi, and that always makes interesting topics to sing about.

And a lot of the sci-fi books relate to social issues these days, and it can be quite uncanny how much they do.

Basically, it just makes something good to sing about.”

“I’D LIKE TO SAY IT’S BEST TO LISTEN TO THE RECORD WHILE DRIVING. BUT YOU CAN LISTEN TO IT HOWEVER YOU LIKE – WE DON’T CONDONE ANYTHING.”

“[Orb] just came about out of convenience because the three of us lived so close together at the time, and also none of us were working at the time so we’d spend most of our time doing that,” Olsen says. “We wanted to do something that was different for us to do, that we weren’t used to, which was playing in different tunings, just trying to make longer songs.”

The original idea for Orb was centred on doom rock, tempered with a sense of humour and irony that would take the edge off any selfindulgence that might inadvertently arise. “We thought it would be funny, or at least for us,” Olsen says.

But Birth is much more than a heavy doom rock record, with moments of psychedelia, prog rock and the occasional foray into pop. “I guess it’s gone on from where we started, so it’s not strictly doom anymore, and I don’t think it would stay that way anyway,” says Olsen. “Having said that, we still enjoy playing the heavier things with different tunings and lots of fuzz. Maybe it’s not necessarily doom, but a bit faster, a bit groovier now, a bit more groove-based.”

Having started out jamming on riffs, Olsen and co. quickly moved to writing songs with a notional structure. “The tracks on the album are definitely written as songs. When we started we wanted to have a big jam aspect to the band and do a lot of improvising live.

But for one reason or another we don’t let ourselves do that, and we always end up adding structure. I don’t know what that is. The album is jammy in some parts but it is pretty much well thought-out, and if you come and thebrag.com

The song titles are in keeping with the sci-fi context: ‘Iron Mountain’, ‘New Moon’, ‘Electric Blanket’, ‘Reflection’. “Sometimes we think of song names and names that would sound cool and we’ll have a list of unused song names,” Olsen says. “When we’re rehearsing we’ll have a certain riff, and the riff might have a sort of fantasy vibe to it – for God knows what reason – so we’ll attach one of those names to it. I guess the music influences the lyrics, and vice versa. Mainly I just try and do what’s easy for me to sing live. I like to keep the melodies simple, at the moment anyway.”

Wear headphones These can prevent a mental 2. breakdown and are handy for all modes of

transport. There is nothing more sobering than a baby crying on a plane, people talking incessantly about Game Of Thrones in a van or the prospect of no ciggies or beers on a train. Plug in your headphones, pick a favourite tune and ignore the stark, bleak reality that the post-party travel day can bring.

Roll stuff Not everyone is hip to 3. you smoking weed or ciggies

or whatever inside a van, train or plane, but this doesn’t mean you can’t be prepared.

It means, be prepared to kill time and roll up some effin’ joints.

The van is a mental spot to hone the art of twisting up the five-finger death joint, the crossbow, the tulip, the reach around. Which brings us to getting stoned.

Wait to use the bathroom Coffees, Cokes, waters, beers 6. and more beers are all rad, but at some

point they need to change form and be returned to the toilet. Needing to use the bathroom can be a meditation – it can take you outside yourself into another dimension; it can provide entertainment to fellow band members. Pissing in a bottle can help break up the waiting game (this is usually reserved for the van as it can be frowned upon on planes and trains).

Meditate Similar to the trying to read 7. a book, most meditation is easily

achieved on the first day of travelling on tour when the mind is supple and fresh. After the first day of trying to meditate, it’s far easier to achieve inner peace.

TOURING SURVIVAL GUIDE

Get stoned Weed was built for travelling at 4. high speed inside confined spaces. If you

combine getting stoned with taking off your shoes, wearing headphones and playing the latest trendy music, you have yourself a little disco for one. Edibles are extremely handy in transit – it’s way easier to embrace allocated seating when you are unable to move.

Try to read a book Most literature is easily conquered on 5. the first day of tour, before the first hangover.

After that, trying to read a book seems to take forever, induces motion sickness and makes you feel like you’re becoming dumber. That being said, if you’re one of the lucky ones who can push through the duress, books are a sweet way to kill time and ignore reality.

Start a conversation with a stranger 8.

This sometimes can’t be

avoided, especially on the plane or a train. In a good situation, the person next to you owns a brewery or a winery or even a pharmacy and invites you to a private tasting/party. They might even grow a little weed. If the stranger is a bad person (not chilled), you can always take off your shoes, apply headphones and/or try to read a book.

Stop to see a local tourist attractions 9.

In a country as vast as Australia there

is absolutely no shortage of shit to see or look forward to seeing. Here’s a few time-killers that also have bathrooms and are hugely entertaining: the Giant Koala, the Big Banana, the submarine that’s out of the water, the Giant Earthworm, the Big Pineapple, the Big Lobster, the Big Lamb.

Continue partying No need to fl ex the brain on this 10. one. In fact, the less you analyse this technique the more successful it will be.

The Bennies’ massive Australian tour rolls into the Factory Theatre on Saturday July 9. They also headline I Love Life at Manning Bar on Saturday September 17. Their album Wisdom Machine is out now through Poison City.

The title of the album suggests Orb will evolve in the future, possibly to adolescence and even adulthood. “There was a cassette that came out before that was called Womb,” Olsen explains. “This album is Birth, and we were going to continue the theme but I think maybe we might have grown out of that. There will be a song on the next album called ‘Childhood Ends’, so I guess that ties in with it maybe.”

Maybe if they’re still playing in 30 years’ time, Orb could release an album called Cantankerous. “I think we’re nearly there already,” Olsen jokes. “We’re like three old men in conversation.”

What: Birth out Friday July 1 through Flightless/Remote Control

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 17

Courses on offer: Short courses, diplomas, advanced diplomas, BA (Screen), graduate certificates and Master of Arts.

What makes us different: AFTRS is consistently rated as one of the top international film schools in the world by The Hollywood Reporter, the only Australian higher educational institution to make this list. At AFTRS you’ll be taught up-tothe-minute skills, using state-of-theart facilities and gear, meet likeminded creatives and build influential industry networks. Students graduate from AFTRS industryready, with the skills and knowledge

N

ow that those winter winds are blowing through Sydney, maybe the time has come to embrace the change.

If you’re looking for a new start, fresh inspiration or a different career entirely, Sydney’s specialist education institutions and courses have you covered. Whether it’s in music, the arts, filmmaking, design, acting, teaching or anything else in the creative spheres, we asked the best education providers around town to share their plans for your future.

JMC ACADEMY [CREATIVE INDUSTRIES] Courses on offer: JMC Academy offers eight different courses on offer for training in the creative industries. Each degree is six trimesters, totalling two years of study. Each course is based on or includes many components of practical studies, and theory-based subjects as well. Courses offered at JMC Academy include audio engineering and sound production, contemporary music performance, entertainment business management, animation, game development, film and television, digital design and songwriting.

Each trimester consists of four subjects and contains practical sessions, including one-on-one sessions with our lecturers, as well as lectures with designated classes.

There are four classes a week for students spread out through the working week.

What makes us different: At JMC Academy, we offer a concept called integration, whereby all courses at one point during the degree work on a project with students from other courses.

For example, students in music performance, audio, film and TV and entertainment business will collaborate on a music video project together, each student taking on real-world industry roles for the project. These integration projects are all supported by JMC Academy.

Take the next step: All lecturers are working industry professionals in their respective fields, and if students do well in their course, lecturers will help them with internships, work experience, or in getting a full-time job. We strive to make sure that students

Award course entry is based on merit selection rather than ATAR.

Who are the teachers?

AFTRS tutors are industry professionals. They’ll show you how to tell a story and how to move and inspire your audience.

Enrolment dates: The 2017 intake for BA (Screen) opens mid-July 2016, closely followed by intake for the other 2017 award courses.

Take the next step: AFTRS graduates include Jane Campion (Top Of The Lake), Ivan Sen (Goldstone), Kriv Stenders (Red Dog), Warwick Thornton (Samson And Delilah) and Jocelyn Moorhouse (The Dressmaker).

Open Day: Saturday September 10

What else you need to know:

EDUCATION SPECIAL

NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF DRAMATIC ART

are aware to take any opportunity they can to further their own career and development. We have even provided all students completely free access to Artshub, where industry professional jobs are listed regularly.

In the music industry, a big part of helping your career to progress is to network and make connections.

All students should know the basics of how to network and interact with like-minded people in your industry; it benefits all parties. A lot of the time it definitely is who you know, not what you know, and it’s also great that these students are the future pioneers of the creative industries, so they are essentially making connections and networking at the beginning of their career. Students also can make connections to other industry professionals through their teachers and lecturers.

What else you need to know: We regularly hold performance nights at the Jam Gallery, and this year in Sydney we are hosting Prism Sound’s Mic to Monitor Event (Wednesday August 10).

We recently introduced a songwriting diploma and degree at JMC, a course we brought in due to the changing music industry and the need for spectacular songwriters.

Enrolment dates: Providing prospective students have met the entry requirements, they must then complete an application form for entry into a vocational, diploma or bachelor degree course.

This can be done right now online at jmcacademy.edu.au. Alternatively you can apply in person at your nearest JMC Academy campus.

Address: 561 Harris St, Ultimo Phone: (02) 8241 8899 Website: jmcacademy.edu.au

Address: Building 130, The Entertainment Quarter, Moore Park Phone: 1300 13 14 61 / (02) 9805 6444 Email: studentinfo@aftrs.edu.au Website: aftrs.edu.au

T H E B R AG ’ S M I D -Y E A R

Courses on offer: The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is Australia’s leading centre for education and training in the performing arts. For those wanting to start a career in the creative arts, we offer full-time accredited bachelor courses in acting, costume, design for performance, properties and objects (props), staging, and technical theatre and stage management; and masters courses in cultural leadership, design for performance, directing, voice and writing for performance. We also offer vocational diploma courses in musical theatre, live production and technical services, specialist make-up services, and stage and screen performance.

MIAMI AD SCHOOL

What makes us different: At the heart of NIDA’s success is our emphasis on balancing academic and practical study. Whilst all our students receive a strong theoretical grounding for their area of study, we also make sure they have many opportunities to put that knowledge into practice. NIDA students have the chance to work on full-scale theatre works, musical productions and film projects.

[ADVERTISING] Courses on offer: Miami Ad School offers courses in art direction portfolio (two years); copywriting portfolio (two years); campaign planning (three-month boot camp); social media (threemonth boot camp); improv/stand-up (ten weeks); storytelling (ten weeks); and experimental photography (ten weeks).

What makes us different: Miami Ad School is the top advertising college in the word (according to the leading global Gunn Report). Our students get international experience with internship offers from advertising agencies all over the world, and can study at any of our 14 overseas schools – all part of the portfolio course. Our school is in the former home of an advertising agency in Surry Hills, with all facilities: Wi-Fi, chill room, kitchen et cetera.

Classes are held in themed rooms – Bondi, Golf Room, Club House, Tool Shed – with ten students on average, allowing regular one-onone feedback with teachers. All classes are watched over by school dog Arnie.

Who are the teachers?

Our teachers are all senior creatives working in leading advertising agencies.

Take the next step: Our graduates get jobs as junior creatives or planners in advertising agencies. They tend to get snapped up quickly because of their professional standard portfolios.

What else you need to know: Our courses are taught in the evenings, 6pm to 9pm. At the

18 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

to work in the fast-changing screen and broadcast industries.

moment we have some limited places available in the courses: - Improv/stand-up with Marty Wilson - Storywriting with Simon Veksner Entrance into the Boot camps and portfolio courses is through a selective admission process. See miamiadschool.com/admissions.

Enrolment dates: Improv/stand-up course starts July 11; storywriting course starts July 7; experimental photography course starts October 4; social media boot camp starts October 3; art direction course starts October 3; copywriting course starts October 3; campaign planning boot camp starts January 3.

Open Day: Students are welcome to come in for a chat with the Head of School, Helga Diamond, and also sit in on a class. Email helga@miamiadschool. com.

Address: Level 5, 2-12 Foveaux St, Surry Hills Phone: 0406 754 745 Email: helga@miamiadschool.com Website: miamiadschool.com/ advertising-school/sydney

The NIDA campus in Sydney is an award-winning facility tailored to performing arts training. In addition to the new NIDA Graduate School – a designated purpose-built facility for graduate students – students have access to theatres, rehearsal rooms, multimedia and CAD studios, a sound stage, a lighting studio, fully equipped production workshops and the latest in audiovisual facilities.

Who are the teachers?

The NIDA teaching staff bring a wealth of professional experience and expertise as well as invaluable industry contacts, providing students with access to the skills and knowledge required to build a career in their chosen field.

Practising artist and NIDA’s deputy director and head of design for performance, Michael Scott-Mitchell, is a great example. In addition to designing the world-renowned Sydney 2000 Olympic cauldron, last year he worked on Broadway’s Doctor Zhivago, and more recently, completed his 35th show for the Sydney Theatre Company.

Take the next step: As NIDA has been welcoming students since 1958, we are proud of our alumni’s success, including the likes of Cate Blanchett, Baz Luhrmann, Catherine Martin, Joel Jackson and Sarah Snook, among many others.

thebrag.com

AFTRS photo by Stephen Godfrey

AUSTRALIAN FILM TELEVISION AND RADIO SCHOOL

■ EDUCATION SPECIAL

CIT Y EAST COMMUNIT Y COLLEGE [SHORT COURSES] Courses on offer: Something for everyone, from acting for camera to writing about sex.

What makes us different: City East Community College is your local, not-for-profit adult education provider. We offer an unrivalled diversity of subjects and our mission is to keep it as accessible as possible, in a supportive and social atmosphere. Whether you are interested in arts, languages, cooking, business or health and fitness, we have something to help build your skills while you have fun.

If you live in Sydney’s east or the inner city, our courses are on your doorstep. If you live elsewhere, come and join us.

Who are the teachers?

Our teachers are passionate, committed, experienced and love to >NIDA cont.

Other success stories include the likes of design graduate Deborah Riley, who is the current production designer of international cult sensation, Game Of Thrones. 2015 technical design and stage management graduate Sally Withnell not only had the opportunity to complete a secondment in New York earlier this year, she is now the production manager at Sydney’s iconic Belvoir St Theatre, and directing graduate Kip Williams is currently the co-resident director at Sydney Theatre Company as well as continuing his association with NIDA through teaching directing subjects.

What else you need to know: Applications for the 2017 intake open

share their knowledge. Our diverse courses attract people with arts, education and industry backgrounds.

You can be sure that when you enrol in a cookery, a business or a blacksmithing course, you are being introduced to a new world of learning by experts in their field.

Take the next step: Many people use our short, informative courses as stepping stones to build a portfolio for uni art course entry, to start a small business or to add to their CV. Notable achievements from our graduates include: our standup comedy students have told jokes on SBS TV; our filmmaking students have seen their work on the Correspondents Report; and a former student of our typing course is the Prime Minister (as we go to press).

Blending). You’d be surprised where your new skills can lead you.

What else you need to know: We add new courses right up to our print deadline (and after). Our 22 new courses this term include Build Your Own Brand, Pinterest for Business and Tea Appreciation (and

Enrolment dates: We are enrolling now and continuously throughout the year. We have just posted our latest batch of exciting courses. Go to cityeastcc.com.au to browse.

Address: Courses are located at schools and community facilities throughout Sydney’s east and inner city. Our learning centre and central office is at 98 Bondi Rd, Bondi Junction.

Phone: (02) 9387 7400 Email: info@cityeastcc.com.au Website: cityeastcc.com.au

Wednesday July 1 and close Friday September 30 for NIDA’s vocational diploma, bachelor and masters courses, with all eligible applicants offered an interview/audition. NIDA short courses, including audition preparation classes, are offered through NIDA Open year-round and accommodate all ages and skilllevels.

Open Day: Potential applicants can watch the 2016 NIDA Open Day stream online at apply.nida.edu.au.

Address: 215 Anzac Pde, Kensington Phone: (02) 9697 7600 Email: info@nida.edu.au Website: nida.edu.au

Choose from hundreds of great courses at local campuses.

For complete details and to enrol go to:

www.cityeastcc.com.au 9387 7400

Enrol Now

free

AME P

ENGLIS COURSEH S

ARTS · BUSINESS · COMPUTING + GRAPHIC DESIGN · ENGLISH · HEALTH + FITNESS · LANGUAGES + COMMUNICATION LIFESTYLE · SUSTAINABILITY a not-for-profit community organisation

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 19

■ EDUCATION SPECIAL

AUSTRALIAN INSTITUTE OF MUSIC [MUSIC/AUDIO] Courses on offer: We currently offer courses in contemporary performance (for voice, guitar, bass, keyboard, drums, saxophone, trumpet, et cetera), composition and music production, entertainment and arts management, and audio engineering.

What makes us different: There are several advantages in studying at AIM. Our state-of-theart facility is located on Foveaux Street, Surry Hills, and just across the road from Central Station. We have students travelling as far as Newcastle and the South Coast by train.

Because we also have a campus in Melbourne, students can easily transfer from Sydney (and vice versa) and pick up their study where they left off. Many students have enjoyed studying in two cities to broaden their experience.

Who are the teachers?

Our staff are second to none

and are all current industry professionals working at the top of the industry around the country and internationally. We have their qualifications and professional achievements listed on our website.

life in the music industry and we consider adaptation to these shifts (including regular revision and updating of course content) as vital to ensuring positive outcomes for students.

Take the next step: To make sure students are ready to seek out opportunities once they’ve graduated, we maintain our competence and compliance policy, which includes regular revision of course content, employment of staff who have relevant academic qualifications and who engage in current industry practice, delivery of hands-on practical classes supported by relevant theoretical application, and by offering many masterclasses with industry professionals who can help guide and reassure students what it’s like in the ‘real world’ of the music industry.

What else you need to know: Our academic calendar operates on a trimesterly system, where we have three 13-week trimesters (as opposed to the traditional two 13-week semester system) so that students can finish a bachelor degree in two years of full-time study. Students can, however, reduce the study load and complete the degree over a longer period if they wish. We are very flexible in this regard. We also have intakes three times a year (January, May and September) so students are not limited to only starting at the beginning of the year.

Keeping up with industry: Because all of our staff are currently employed in the industry as professionals, they have their finger on the pulse and are able to adapt quickly and easily to social shifts. This is a standard part of

T H E B R AG ’ S M I D -Y E A R

EDUCATION SPECIAL

SAE INSTITUTE [AUDIO] Courses on offer: SAE offers a two-year bachelor of audio degree along with diploma courses in studio production, electronic music production and live sound at six campuses across Australia. Our diplomas and part-time Certificate III of Music (Electronic Music) provide pathways into the degree program.

SAE students gain practical skills within their first few weeks on campus, have the opportunity to work closely with peers in other creative disciplines throughout their studies, enjoy small class sizes and get access to professional-standard technology from day one.

SAE degree students graduate with a professional online presence and an extensive portfolio that can be shared with prospective employers.

They are equipped with the technical and soft skills needed to succeed in diverse audio careers – from studio, post production, live sound or mastering engineer to music producer, radio broadcast producer or sound location recorder. Our courses are responsive to the dynamic needs of employers, and our programs are developed in collaboration with industry to ensure the best student experience and graduate outcomes.

Open Day: Saturday August 6 Address: 1-55 Foveaux St, Surry Hills Phone: (02) 9219 5444 Email: enquiries@aim.edu.au Website: aim.edu.au

Our audio degree kicks off with foundational skills development, followed by interdisciplinary projects, media and cultural studies, and culminates in a major portfolio project. Our degree programs also incorporate an 80-hour compulsory internship component, where students get the opportunity to put their audio skills to the test in real-world environments under the supervision of highly experienced industry professionals and qualified staff.

Full-contact classes are supplemented with plenty of individual studio time throughout the course.

We also supplement our classroom teaching with a comprehensive program of guest lectures and masterclasses that connect students with industry leaders and provide valuable insights into launching and sustaining an audio career.

What makes us different: At SAE, our accredited fast-tracked degrees mean you can be ready to embark on your audio career in just two years. Each degree program is broken into three stages and delivered over three trimesters per year.

Typically, a full-time degree or diploma student can expect to engage in their course for a minimum of 36 hours per week. Classes consist of formal lectures, guided tutorials, lab sessions and practical studio workshops.

At SAE, we’re all about giving students extensive access to professional-standard facilities and equipment to support their studies and major projects, including Neve, SSL and Audient desks as well as Pro Tools, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live and other audio software tools.

a learning environment where students can experiment and investigate their expressive potential as visual communicators. In 2015, Billy Blue teamed up with Torrens University Australia, which is part of Laureate International Universities, connecting students with over 80 institutions worldwide. The Media Design School at Torrens University Australia will be launching courses in game art and game programming in 2017. Come to our next Open Day to find out more.

Take the next step: Billy Blue has launched the careers of thousands of design graduates.

Some are running their own studios, freelancing or working for top creative agencies such as Interbrand, DDB and MC Saatchi, and brands like Camilla, Volley and Zanerobe.

Take the next step: SAE has developed a global alumni network that strives to connect graduates with industry, and to engage

successful alumni in mentoring future students. In Perth, for example, our audio graduate Matt Gio is now hosting SAE students at his recording studio, RADA Studios, for internships and masterclasses. We host regular SAE alumni events around the country, and this year, in an effort to leverage our global industry connections, SAE Australia is running a competition that will see one of our graduates attending the annual global alumni convention in Germany.

Enrolment dates: SAE has three intakes per year: February, June and September.

Short courses and certificates courses may have different intake timings – contact us for further information.

Open Day: SAE is throwing open the doors to the Byron Bay, Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne and Perth campuses on Saturday August 6 from 11am till 3pm.

Address: Level 1, 11-17 York St, Sydney Phone: (02) 8241 5200 Email: sydney@sae.edu Website: sae.edu.au

BILLY BLUE COLLEGE OF DESIGN [DESIGN] Courses on offer: Diplomas of interior design and decoration, graphic design, design, and digital media design. Bachelor degrees in communication design, branded fashion design, interior design (commercial), interior design (residential), digital media (3D design and animation), digital media (interaction design), digital media (film and video design), branded environments, and bachelor of business with bachelor of design.

We also offer a master’s degree in design, and a Graduate Certificate of UX and web design.

What makes us different: Billy Blue is an iconic, inspirational space where ideas flourish. We are known to train graduates who push boundaries and challenge conventions (and that’s before breakfast). As a leading design college for almost 30 years and with purpose-built design facilities in Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne, we pride ourselves on providing

20 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Who are the teachers?

Students are coached by industry practitioners and academics to understand the rigour required to

fold personal ideals and expression into professional demands of the field. Many work in creative studios or have their own freelancing businesses, bringing current industry know-how into the classrooms.

What else you need to know: All our courses run on flexible timetables. Study full-time, part-time or get started with one subject.

Enrolment dates: Billy Blue has three intakes per year,

in February, June and September.

We are taking applications now for the upcoming intake on Monday September 19. FEE-HELP is available to Australian citizens.

Open Day: Saturday August 13, 10am-2pm Address: 46-52 Mountain St, Ultimo Phone: 1300 851 245 Email: info@billyblue.edu.au Website: billyblue.edu.au

thebrag.com

#1 FILM SCHOOL IN AUSTRALIA

ENROLMENTS OPEN MID JULY

OPEN DAY 2016 SATURDAY 10 SEPTEMBER

aftrs.edu.au thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 21

arts in focus

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town... with Natalia Morawski and Gloria Brancatisano

five minutes WITH

SHAUN RENNIE, DIRECTOR OF YOU’RE A GOOD MAN, CHARLIE BROWN anything else, the production needs to honour Charles Schulz’s work. His canon of work is our first and last reference point. He wrote the Peanuts every single day for 50 years, so there is a vast amount of material for inspiration and answers. I’ve tried to get out of the way and let his characters and his observations lead the way.

Certain stories from our childhood never really leave us. Are you hoping to inspire nostalgia in the audience?

Without a doubt. For those that remember the cartoons obviously, but also for anyone that has dealt with feelings on loneliness, unrequited love and flying kites. It’s all stuff that everyone can relate to.

How will the musical appeal to younger audiences of the current generation, who might not be as familiar with the Peanuts as the rest of us?

The characters are so endearing – and funny! The show moves very quickly, and is constantly engaging. There was The Peanuts Movie released this past Christmas and there does

seem to be a universal, timeless love of these characters. How can you not love Snoopy?

How challenging has it been for the cast to bring these characters to life?

I always knew that this show would sink or swim on the casting of the show. I needed to find six comedic actors that had the essence of Schulz’s creations. I am thrilled with our cast – all of them are hilarious and each of them naturally possesses the right qualities for the roles they play.

What: You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown Where: Hayes Theatre Co. When: Tuesday July 5 – Saturday July 30

The Legend Of Tarzan

THE LEGEND OF TARZAN

Don’t be fooled into thinking The Legend Of Tarzan is a live-action recreation of Disney’s Tarzan. The film kicks off where the original left us, reimagining Tarzan (Alexander Skarsgård) as a trade emissary of the parliament in Congo, with his wife Jane (Margot Robbie) at his side.

But Tarzan is unaware that he is a pawn in a high-stakes game of greed and revenge, masterminded by the Belgian Captain Léon Rom (Christoph Waltz). Will Tarzan be able to rise above it all and be king of the jungle once more?

The Legend Of Tarzan plays in cinemas from Thursday July 7, and we’ve got ten in-season double passes to give away. Be in the running at thebrag.com/freeshit.

Xxx photo by Xxxx

Annette Kellerman

Horses In The Sky

Xxx photo by xxxx

H

ow daunting is it to bring the classic characters of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown to the stage?

I have most definitely felt a responsibility to get it right.

I’ve always known that before

What makes Clark Gesner’s musical adaptation a special one for you?

I think that Gesner’s score is the perfect companion to Schulz’s characters. The score is bright and fun with jazz references, but also a deep sense of longing and beautiful melancholy at times. The show is essentially a series of vignettes, or comic strip scenes, that add up to show

a day in the life of Charlie Brown.

THE MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID

Australia’s Million Dollar Mermaid will celebrate Annette Kellerman, a homegrown pioneer of health, sport and female empowerment around the world. Kellerman pioneered competitive swimming for women, fashioned one of the first full-body swimsuits in the world, starred in American silent films and was one of the first Australians to crack the Hollywood industry with her mermaid characters. She then went on to publish some of the first selfhelp nutritional books. The Million Dollar Mermaid exhibition will showcase Kellerman’s personal collection of costumes, photos, memorabilia and film footage. Highlights include various styles of her one-piece swimsuits, stage outfits and a spectacular costume from the Hollywood biopic in which Esther Williams portrayed Kellerman. The exhibition will be on display from Wednesday August 10 at the Powerhouse Museum.

HORSES ON THE CHARGE

The Sydney Opera House will host the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company’s Horses In The Sky. The leading Israeli dance group is set to premiere its new work Down Under, delivering a distinctive style of dance with gritty, exuberant and raw movements accompanied by an eclectic soundtrack that features Björk, Ólafur Arnalds and Tim Hecker. Kibbutz was founded in 1973 by Yehudit Arnon, who at Auschwitz had been punished by Nazi soldiers for refusing to dance for them at Christmas. Horses In The Sky runs at the Drama Theatre, Sydney Opera House from Wednesday August 31 – Saturday September 3.

BROKEN BUT UNBOWED

Darlinghurst Theatre Company’s next play, Broken, is a winner of the Victorian Premier’s Award for literature, one of the most soughtafter awards in Australia. The Darwin-based writer Mary Anne Butler won both the drama and literature prizes this year, and now Darlinghurst Theatre Company is producing its Sydney premiere and first staging outside of the Northern Territory. Broken is a story of resilience and hope, opening with a near fatal car crash on an isolated road in the Central Desert. The play will be directed by Shannon Murphy and will feature performances from Ivan Donato, Sarah Enright and Rarriwuy Hick. The season runs from Friday July 29 – Sunday August 28 at the Eternity Playhouse.

THE BEAT GENERATION

22 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

PARLEZ-VOUS PHOTOGRAPHY

The regulars at Comedy(ish) will be joining forces for a one-off gala event in the big room at Giant Dwarf on Friday July 15. With a lineup including Zoe Coombs Marr, Rhys Nicholson, Geraldine Hickey, Becky Lucas and many more, the gala event comes after the recent run of Comedy(ish) new material nights.

The gala is designed for these comedians to crack their best jokes from the recent comedy festivals one last time before they must bunker down and write new material.

Then, on Monday July 18 and Monday July 25, Comedy(ish) returns to its intimate form, pushing comedians to try out new gags.

APRIL IN SEPTEMBER

April Macie will make her Australian debut for a string of performances this September.

Macie travels the world collecting stories and experiences she can translate into sidesplittingly funny and relatable tales, drawing on everything from her various jobs as a telemarketer, clown’s assistant and Hooters waitress to the ex she discovered was renting out their shared home for porn shoots. Having already performed her irreverent, dirty humour across 23 countries, her first Australian tour will take Macie to stages in Sydney and Melbourne.

See her at the Comedy Store on Friday September 23 and Saturday September 24.

Parlez-Vous Absinthe?

Local artist Nancy Trieu presents her photographic collections The Making Of An Empress and ParlezVous Absinthe? at the Barometer Gallery in Paddington this week.

The exhibition delves into the ideas of complex human emotions in relation to the social condition. In Trieu’s words, “The Making Of An Empress inspects the need to be comfortable in oneself, as this is the key to commanding the confidence to captivate the attention of an entire group of people with just a single look or small gesture … By contrast, Parlez-Vous Absinthe? showcases the duality present in all humans – the need to have two separate images in life, one for public viewing, the other intensely private and significantly more honest, yet reserved only for a select few.” The exhibition continues until Sunday July 3.

Horses In The Sky photo by Eyal Hirsh

A celebration of spoken poetry, jazz and nonchalance is coming to Sydney as part of NAS Nights. The National Art School presents NAS Nights: The Beat Generation on Thursday July 14, embracing the style, music, spontaneous creativity and nonconformist ideologies that defi ned bohemian subculture in the 1950s and 1960s. The night is themed around the current exhibition Ann Thomson & Contemporaries and will be accompanied by a talk from curator Judith Blackall and Thomson herself. The exhibition celebrates the heady times at East Sydney Tech in the late ’50s and early ’60s, an era that produced some of Australia’s best artists including Godfrey Miller, John Passmore,

John Olsen, Vivienne Binns, Elisabeth Cummings and Martin Sharp. Also appearing on the night is Chicago spoken-word poet Miles Merrill, who will be performing poetry inspired by the beat poets Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.

COMEDY(ISH) GALA

thebrag.com

arts in focus

RuPaul’s Drag Race [PERFORMANCE] Live Under The Big Top By Caitlin Haddad

I

t’s a rare day off between shows for Jinkx Monsoon.

“I think we’re just going out for dinner and then sitting in our rooms crying!” she jokes.

Monsoon and her drag sisters have been dominating the globe on the RuPaul’s Drag Race tour, Battle Of The Seasons, sashaying and shantaying across international stages with their witty and zealous drag personas.

In 2013, Monsoon was the season fi ve winner of RuPaul’s Drag

Race, an American reality series that searches for the nation’s next drag star. Mentored and hosted by the iconic ’80s drag superstar RuPaul, it now has eight seasons under its belt and has paved the careers of some of today’s most popular drag performers. Monsoon – a narcoleptic and theatre graduate – is best known for her zany, heavily Broadway-infl uenced character who combines a cocktail of mannerisms from Bette Midler, Lucille Ball and the mother-anddaughter duo from Grey Gardens.

“I love when women are super hyperfeminine,” says Monsoon, “but also very kind of crude and in-your-face and they use their femininity as a tool and as a weapon. I always loved it when someone is just a gorgeous woman with the foulest mouth.”

Carrying her wicked combination to the stage, Monsoon is one of several stars bringing the Battle Of The Seasons tour to Australia for the first time. “It’s very exciting because this is one of our highest-produced, highestcurated shows where we really get

to bring the best of our talents and abilities forward,” she says.

Described broadly as a ‘drag vaudeville’ show, the tour features a hilarious drag-off between past season winners and favourites including Violet Chachki, Alaska Thunderfuck 5000, Adore and Sharon Needles. Even if you’ve never seen the television show, Monsoon says no context is needed – audience members need only bring their enthusiasm.

“I was actually talking to someone last night – a couple of people won tickets to our show and had never seen Drag Race,” she says. “They were just fans of drag queens and they were just fans of drag shows.

So they had no context of who we all were or anything like that, and then they told me at the end that it was one of the most amazing drag shows they’d ever seen. We bring so many other production elements that wouldn’t even fit into your average gay bar, so it’s not just a drag show – it’s like a drag rock concert.”

The tour has proved to be a unifying experience for this year’s performers, as they recently took to the stage on the same night of the Orlando shooting. “Not one of us was feeling like getting into make-up and going out onstage and being clowns and trying to make people laugh,” Monsoon says. “We were all very… it was so heavy on all of us.

“Every girl on the tour had someone they knew at the club that was hurt, or close to being hurt, or who had passed away. A lot of us were friends with someone whose name was the first name released when they started listing the casualties.”

“Every girl on the tour had someone they knew at the [Orlando] club that was hurt, or close to being hurt, or who had passed away.”

That wasn’t the first time the tour intersected with politics, with the girls also confronting North Carolina’s controversial ‘bathroom bill’ that excludes trans people from entering bathrooms that aren’t assigned to their birth gender.

“We will always stand up and continue to fight, and that’s what our community has always done,” says Monsoon. “As drag queen celebrities with this huge platform, with this huge fan base, it is our privilege and responsibility to be a beacon of hope and continue to bring love and joy and laughter.

“We’re all doing our best to use our voice to motivate the community that continues to unify, that continues to speak up, that continues to fight for what we know is just and right in this country and in this world.”

What: RuPaul’s Drag Race: Battle Of The Seasons Where: Big Top Sydney, Luna Park When: Saturday July 2

David Icke [LITERATURE] The View From The Other Side By Bel Ryan

D

avid Icke is a man whose name is often accompanied by controversy. Once a professional footballer, then a sports commentator, Icke now focuses his energies on lifting the veil of perceived common knowledge. After spending a quarter of a century researching and writing in excess of 20 publications, the British conspiracy theorist and speaker is coming to Australia as part of his Worldwide Wake Up Tour.

“Once you start to research or uncover something and you have preconceived ideas or places that you won’t go, or things you won’t talk about, you’re not going to get very far,” he says.

your peers, parents, people around you start to either ridicule, dismiss or condemn, or think you’re strange,” he says. “Because they’ve downloaded the version of normal, and you’re challenging it.”

In Icke’s view, even alternative media only paws tentatively at the surface of contrasting perceptions. “My way of doing things is to start off with the premise that anything is possible.”

Some of Icke’s ideas have been met with extreme hostility and condemnation. Perhaps most notorious has been his concept of reptilian humanoids forming a secret and totalitarian society that has already exerted its influence on major governments around the world. Icke has also developed a theory that the Moon is an artificial construction designed to help enslave the human race. These might be far-fetched ideas, but Icke stands by them.

It can be a lot to swallow, but Icke says his theories are based in evidence.

“I’m not ruling out anything, so long as it can justify itself by evidence and accumulation of facts,” he insists. “I not only look at what’s happening in the world and why on the level we can see, but at what’s happening behind that – what’s in the hidden and what produces the events that we see.”

It follows that, according to Icke, society’s biggest obstacle to enlightenment is its lack of perception.

“We see an absolutely laughably tiny range of frequency, which we can perceive as a visual world. The entirety of what mainstream science says exists in this universe is matter and energy we cannot see. Is it more credible there are endless forms of life that don’t look like humans, that exist outside of the fraction we can see? Or is it more credible that humans as we know them on this one little tiny planet in this great infinity are the only form of what we call intelligent life?”

“What I’ve been doing for the past 26 years is communicating information, having researched it, that people won’t get in the mainstream media,” says Icke. “I set out my journey to find out what was going on in the world.

What was going on behind world events, and behind the direction the world was taking.”

A crucial part of this has been delving into research with what Icke says is an open mind.

“My way of doing things is to start off with the premise that anything is possible.” thebrag.com

Icke is acutely aware that not all his theories are readily accepted by the mainstream. “When I’m talking about the non-human manipulation of human society, people have a bigger problem with that than about the whole world being manipulated in terms of secret societies and political cartels,” he argues.

“When you look at a lifetime, you see that it’s actually a lifetime of perception programming. And it’s perception programming within a tiny, pea-sized range of possibility.

Children come out of the womb and immediately are influenced in terms of their perceptions of everything by their parents.”

Icke proposes that this ‘perception program’ is perpetuated at all levels of education through to the workforce, in what he sees as a never-ending download of perceived norms dictated by the state. “If you start to question this version of normal, immediately

In the recent debate over Britain’s membership of the European Union, Icke drew the ire of UK Prime Minister David Cameron. (“I felt no hesitation responding to a political puppet, and I never will,” says Icke.) However, the issues Icke addresses stretch beyond his home continent. “If I come into any country, the same things are happening,” he says. “I follow the news in Australia and I’m shaking my head. What’s happening there is happening in Britain, in the United States, in France.”

However, it’s not all bad news. The main goal of Icke’s Worldwide Wake Up tour is not to impose a sense of impending dread, or even to convince every audience member to subscribe to his theories, but simply to encourage people to see their world differently. “People shouldn’t think that they’re coming along to hear doom and gloom. The whole day ends in a tremendously positive way, in terms of what we can do about this and

how we can change it. What people must realise is that one of the great solutions to what is happening is to know what is happening.

“I’m not a teacher,” he concludes. “I am a researcher who communicates information for people to make of what they choose. I’m not going around standing on a stage saying, ‘I’ve got all the answers, you must

believe me.’ I’m saying, ‘Here is 26 years of full-time research, and all the evidence unfolding to show that it’s true.’ The world doesn’t need anyone else to stand up and say that – we’re drowning in those people. That’s how we got into this mess.”

Where: Sydney Town Hall When: Saturday July 16 BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 23

film reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen around town

■ Film

■ Film

■ Film

In cinemas now

In cinemas now

In cinemas Thursday June 30

Picture this: a frat house, jocks everywhere. Hard-drinking, hard-partying, womanising young men – and almost every one of them completely lovable. Everybody Wants Some!! portrays the kind of good-natured college athletes that have been missing from our screens – and our culture – for a long time, and they could not be more welcome.

“If you’re gonna tell a story, come with some attitude, man.”

The Wait is a film by Piero Messina loosely inspired by two Luigi Pirandello plays. In Messina’s interpretation, Juliette Binoche plays Anna, mother to Giuseppe, and Lou de Laâge plays Jeanne, Giuseppe’s lover.

O-Week! It’s 1980, and Jake (Blake Jenner) is about to kick off his freshman year at college. At high school, he was a hotshot baseball pitcher, but to his dorm full of brand new teammates, he’s just fresh meat. Teammate status here is earned.

During a period of silence and inactivity, Miles is festering in isolation, barely picking up his trumpet. When a presumptuous journalist, Dave Brill (Ewan McGregor), arrives to write the story that will herald Davis’ comeback, it sparks a series of events that sees the pair thrust into confrontation with record labels, criminal elements, and the weight of Miles’ legacy.

EVERYBODY WANTS SOME!!

So our hero, beginning at the bottom rung, is set to unite a team divided, prove himself, win the girl and overcome the better-funded reigning champions, right? Hell no! This is a Richard Linklater film! These guys are gonna hang out and talk about stuff!

There’s no need for the binary conflicts that sports films tend to establish, as every last one of Jake’s new teammates is competitive in all aspects of life. Whether it be baseball, ping-pong, bong rips, knuckles or picking up, they all play to win. Battle as they might, the team develops a speedy camaraderie that reads as wholly genuine, even when engaging in dumb-as-hell hazing rituals.

They’re boofheads, no doubt, and they do spend much of their time talking about girls – but for all that, there’s a remarkable lack of sexism at play. Even Finnegan (Glen Powell), with his array of carefully crafted pick-up lines, is a charmer. It’s surprisingly refreshing for such an overwhelmingly male movie. The women here are not exploited – Beverly (Zoey Deutch) is given voice, passion and agency, not just camera time.

As a ‘spiritual successor’ to Dazed And Confused, Everybody Wants Some!! delivers. Linklater’s nostalgia is infectious, leading us back to those heady days of stoned philosophical conversation, absurd costume parties and music obsession. Jake, as cipher for Linklater himself, embraces every newcomer and their quirks just like the director. He’s equally comfortable in a mosh pit, on the diamond and in the disco – the hardest part in watching is not being able to join in yourself.

THE WAIT

That’s the opening statement from a film in which Don Cheadle writes, directs, produces and stars as Miles Davis. You could say the man practises what he preaches.

Wish he’d thought of a better title while he was at it.

Much like the modal jazz for which Davis is known, Cheadle’s story is freewheeling and wild. The biography dives back and forth between three different periods of time with refreshing nonchalance, always keeping firmly focused on the man and his music.

It’s doubtlessly a vehicle for Cheadle’s formidable talents – he excels in all roles, but as Davis, he glowers with remarkable malice. This is Miles the gangster more than Miles the muso – a drug-addled, gun-toting pugilist who flaunts his reputation the way a bent cop flaunts his badge. What impresses most is that the Davis estate signed off on the film despite its often degradingly honest representations of the man behind the myth.

The lens is framed around Davis and his relationships with two key figures: Brill, an easy role for McGregor; and his estranged wife and muse, Frances Taylor (Emayatzy Corinealdi). As musician and reporter build rapport across the film, they develop an ease in each other’s presence, which sadly is not afforded to Corinealdi – her role is more set dressing than character. Fortunately, the actress brings power and sincerity to the short time she has on screen; her aura permeates the film.

When embracing chaos, the freeform structure is at its peak. Car chases, gunfights and drunken brawls emerging wholly unexpected keep the tempo up. There’s always a new jazz aesthetic to introduce and keep us grounded in Davis’ world, including compositions by the overachieving Cheadle himself. Is that him playing the trumpet in that scene? Goddamn, yes it is.

That said, there’s something unsatisfying to the conclusion.

Davis’ immortality overlooks his brutality to Taylor, and the coda lacks consequence for the violent antics of the film’s climax. Most biopics suffer from this same symptom: they are crippled by devotion to the mythos of their subject.

Boys can be boys without being bastards. This is the culture to emulate: inclusive, competitive, boisterous and free. Get some – there’s plenty to go around.

Reflecting the soul of the music in the film’s construction, Cheadle surpasses expectations with a thrilling take on a genre great, overflowing with attitude.

David Molloy

David Molloy

Jeanne and the audience are waiting for Giuseppe to arrive, hopefully in time for Easter. Jeanne can’t get Giuseppe on the phone. Is he mad at her? Is it because of what happened last summer? Why is his mother acting so strangely?

At the beginning of the film, we meet a grieving Anna, before Jeanne appears unexpectedly. Suddenly Giuseppe is on his way, although Jeanne still can’t get him on the phone. The rest of the film is dedicated to capturing the countryside, lakes, young Sicilian boys, and lingering shots fetishising Jeanne’s body and elevating the scenery to the pages of a glossy coffee table book.

It’s the sort of film where these shots and beautiful vistas flesh out the minimalist plot of a slow-moving story. Messina is a disciple of Paolo Sorrentino (The Great Beauty), and just like Sorrentino, Messina has elevated every shot to the realm of high art.

Leonard Cohen’s ‘Waiting For The Miracle’ completely inhabits a dancing scene between Jeanne and two young Sicilian lads she meets on the lake. “I’ve been waiting night and day / I didn’t see the time, I waited half my life away,” Cohen croons, as Messina expertly conveys the vibrancy and excitement of youth and burgeoning sexuality; an antidote to the bleakness of the plot.

The story isn’t focused on reaching a resolution, but is instead occupied with creating a visual world built on grief, betrayal and loneliness, spliced with rare scenes of human connection and fun.

Sarah Little

art on this day 1613 Shakespeare's Globe Theatre burns down

JUNE

29

1888 First (known) recording of classical music made, Handel's Israel In Egypt on wax cylinder 2012 Actress Katie Holmes (33) divorces American film actor and producer Tom Cruise (50), allegedly due to disagreement about their religious beliefs and the raising of their daughter Suri

arts exposed What's in our diary...

Frida Kahlo And Diego Rivera Art Gallery of New South Wales, until Sunday October 9 For us Aussies, this a rare opportunity to see masterpieces by the two leading figures of Mexican 20th century art. Frida Kahlo And Diego Rivera: From The Jacques And Natasha Gelman Collection presents 40 artworks including outstanding self-portrait paintings and drawings by Frida Kahlo, and major examples of Diego Rivera’s canvas paintings. Joining the exhibition are around 50 photographs by artists such as Edward Weston, Lola Alvarez Bravo and Frida’s father Guillermo Kahlo – a great opportunity to get insight into the artists’ worlds and relationships.

Diego On My Mind (Self-portrait As Tehuana), Tehuana), 1943

24 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Tickets are $18. For more info, visit artgallery.nsw.gov.au.

thebrag.com

Diego On My Mind by Frida Kahlo (c) Banco de Mexico Diego Rivera Frida Kahlo Museums Trust, Mexico DF

Deep down, there’s politics to it – the setting is preReaganite and the mood is non-partisan. But that’s not why we’re here – this is a one-weekend stand, beautifully inconsequential, warm enough to work its way into your heart. And the thumping ’80s soundtrack never stops satisfying.

MILES AHEAD

bread&thread Food & Fashion News... with Natalia Morawski

The Hot Wing Challenge

Italian Wine & Food Festival

ITALIAN WINE & FOOD FESTIVAL

HOT DANG, THEY’RE HOT WINGS

What’s more American than an eating competition? Nothing, nothing at all. The Dog Hotel, Keg & Brew and the Dove & Olive are each hosting American hot buffalo wing eating competitions for Independence Day. Entrants will get 1.5 kilos of wings plus a pint of America’s favourite craft beer, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale. The winner at each pub will receive a $50 voucher to spend at any of the participating venues. For those not so brave (or foolish), a red, white and blue menu has been curated featuring ribs, a pulled beef brisket roll (Keg & Brew) and a Southern fried shrimp po’ boy (Dove & Olive, The Dog). Competition entry is $20. The Keg & Brew and The Dog will celebrate on Saturday July 2, and the Dove & Olive on Sunday July 3.

The Reservoir

RESERVOIR REVAMPED

Surry Hills’ bustling Reservoir Street precinct has a new location for evening dining. The Reservoir, a Mediterraneanfocused favourite for the café and lunch crowd, is now open for dinner from 5:30pm, Tuesday through Saturday.

Head chef Sunny Sidana is bringing a local twist to traditional Cypriot and Greek dishes, themselves inspired by the family food of The Reservoir’s owners. Hearty wintertime offerings feature prominently on the menu, including ttavas (a traditional Cypriot dish), kefalograviera (pan-fried Greek cheese) and lemonato (slow-cooked beef veal with potatoes in lemon sauce). Visit thereservoir.com. au to see more.

Dolphin Hotel

The fourth edition of Sydney’s Italian Wine & Food Festival will feature appearances from top chefs like Giovanni Pilu, Nino Zoccali and Gabriele Taddeucci, plus food from Otto, Popolo, Apertico, Mantecato, Capriccio and Osteria Russo & Russo. All of them are influential names on the Sydney dining scene, while visitors can also explore a fresh food market to stock up on salami, cheese, pasta, gelato and other Italian specialities. For the winos, the festival will offer tastings from 200 of Italy’s finest wines. Wine masterclasses will be hosted by journalist Mike Bennie and sommelier Matt Dunne (Aria). Talk about la dolce vita. The festival is on Sunday August 21 at Sydney Town Hall. Tickets start from $55 at italianwinefoodfestival. com.au. on from Wednesday September 7 – Sunday September 11. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased at aaada.org.au.

MISS PEACHES DOES INDEPENDENCE DAY Just because we’re not Americans does not mean we can’t celebrate Independence Day – it ain’t called independence day for nothing!

The people at Miss Peaches completely agree, because they’re throwing a party on Saturday July 2. They’ll be frying things American-style including the Patriot Dog, a candied yam and blackbean burger and Freedom Chilli Fries. Plus, there’ll be US-inspired cocktails and drinks like the Old Glory, Star

Spangled Banner and Apple Pie shooters. Entertainment comes from Ross Tipper and Pat Capocci. For more info check out misspeaches.com.au.

BASTILLE DAY AT THE ARGYLE

2016 marks six years of Alliance Française putting on its Bastille Day celebration at The Argyle.

It’s a night of all things French: French music, can-can, drinks, food… shall we go on? The event is on Thursday July 14 and tickets are $15, which includes one complimentary drink. French crêpes, cheese and saucisson will be available throughout the night. Find out more at bastilledaysydney. com.au.

IT’S A PINOT PALOOZA

Pinot Palooza, Australia’s largest annual pinot noir and music festival, is turning five this year and is celebrating with its biggest event yet. The festival will combine the love for that favourite grape, pinot noir, with food from some of Australia’s most celebrated chefs and great music. Sydneysiders will be able to feast on dishes from Bodega, Belles Hot Chicken and Yarra Valley Dairy. For $60 you’ll be able to try some of the world’s best wines at cost price, with a sommelier guiding you through each glass. The Sydney stop is on Saturday October 9 at Carriageworks. For tickets and info visit pinotpalooza.com.au.

Dolphin Hotel photo by Jason Loucas

SYDNEY ANTIQUES & ART FAIR THE DOLPHIN’S DINING ROOM

The Dining Room at Maurice Terzini’s Dolphin Hotel in Surry Hills is now open. The new restaurant offers modern Italo-Australian food, showcasing local produce and high-quality ingredients for affordable prices. The hero dish is light, hand-stretched pizza inspired by the traditions of Rome and Northern Italy. Other highlights include whole market fish and gnocchi with braised lamb neck. The wine list has been created with James Hird (2015 Sommelier of the Year) and drinks are designed by Lenny Opai (Icebergs Dining Room and Bar/ Bayswater Brasserie). The Dining Room is open Wednesday to Sunday from 5pm.

For reservations, visit dolphinhotel.com.au.

thebrag.com

Whether you’re a seasoned collector or a sucker for antiques, head down to the Kensington Room at Royal Randwick this September for a treasure trove of international and local antiques and art. The Sydney Antiques & Art Fair will play host to over 35 of the top dealers across the country, including The Antique Guild, Greene & Greene and Simpson’s Antiques, with vendors offering art, furniture, jewellery, silver and other treasures dating back to the 15th to 20th centuries – and will all be available for purchase. The fair is

Nique

NIQUE WAREHOUSE SALE

Fans of the minimal should head down to the Nique Sydney Warehouse Sale, where you can score 80 per cent off current and past season stock, $50 denim, and scour racks priced as little as $10. It’s also a one-off chance to grab clothes with minor faults at half price, as well as samples. The sale is at 74 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills from Thursday June 30 – Saturday July 2.

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 25

BARS BRAG

A Work In Progress 50 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri noon-2am Ash St Cellar 1 Ash St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri 8.30am-11pm The Attic 275 Pitt St, Sydney CBD (02) 9284 1200 Mon – Fri 11am-1am; Saturday 5pm-1am Assembly 488 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9283 8808 Mon – Tue 5-11pm; Wed – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight

The Australian Heritage Hotel 100 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 2229 Mon – Sun 10.30am-midnight Balcony Bar 46 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 3526 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight BAR100 100 George St, The Rocks (02) 8070 9311 Mon – Thu noon-late; Fri – Sat noon-3am; Sun noon-10pm Bar Eleven Lvl 11, 161 Sussex St, Sydney CBD (02) 9290 4000 Mon – Thu 4-9pm; Fri – Sat 4-11pm

The Barber Shop 89 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 9699 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight Basement 33 Basement, 27-33 Goulburn St, Sydney CBD (02) 8970 5813 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight The Baxter Inn Basement 152-156 Clarence St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-1am Bulletin Place First Floor, 10-14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thurs – Sat 4pm-1am Burrow Bar De Mestre Place, Sydney 0450 466 674 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight

deVine 32 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 6906 Mon – Fri 11.30am-11.30pm; Sat 5.30-11.30pm Easy Eight 152 - 156 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 3769 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight El Camino Cantina 18 Argyle St, The Rocks Sun – Thu 11.30am– midnight Fri – Sat 11.30am-3am Frankie’s Pizza 50 Hunter St, Sydney CBD Mon – Fri noon-3am; Sat – Sun 4pm-3am Gilt Lounge 49 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 0000 Wed – Sat 5pm-late

ADDRESS: 71 BEACH RD, BONDI BEACH PHONE NUMBER: (02) 9130 7247 WEBSITE: BEACHROADBONDI.COM.AU / THEVALLEYBONDI.COM.AU OPENING HOURS: MON – SUN, 11AM-1AM

Tell us about your bar: The Beach Road Bondi is a Sydney institution. Thriving in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney is an iconic band room, thriving saloon bar, two restaurants (BL Burgers have taken over the second restaurant), familyfriendly beer garden and a newly refurbished cocktail bar, The Valley.

The Valley is the home of live music and entertainment in Bondi and is your free weekly music destination.

What’s on the menu?

Have you heard BL Burgers have now taken over the kitchen in The Valley? Open Wednesday – Sunday from 5pm, you can get a delicious burger from their menu and enjoy it with one of our speciality cocktails.

Burgers not your thing? Our full menu offers a huge range of food from salads to a hearty steak downstairs, and is open seven days lunch to dinner.

Care for a drink?

There are some great options from our cocktail list but if we had to pick one it would be the BRRP (Beach Road Rum Punch) made with passion fruit, citrus, pineapple, orange and a healthy dose of Pampero Blanco. Summer in a glass (or the reminder of summer) – ’nuff said.

Sounds: If you’re up for a midweek dance or just want to keep it for the weekend, The Valley Bondi has everything

bar bar

OF

BEACH ROAD HOTEL & THE VALLEY BONDI

TH

EK

B R A G ’ S G U I D E T O S Y D N E Y ’ S B E S T WAT E R I N G H O L E S

The Glenmore 96 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 4794 Mon – Thu, Sun 11am-midnight; Fri – Sat 11am-1am Grain Bar 199 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9250 3118 Mon – Sun noon-1am Grandma’s Basement 275 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 3004 Mon – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 5pm-late The Fox Hole 68A Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 4369 Mon 7am-3pm; Tue – Fri 7am-late The Grasshopper 1 Temperance Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9947 9025 Mon – Thurs & Sat 4pm-late; Fri noon-late Harpoon Harry 40-44 Wentworth Ave, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 8800 Mon – Sun 11.30am-3am The Lobo Plantation Basement Lot 1, 209

E E W

you need. Wednesday night is our weekly party Sosueme, and with a 99 per cent genre-free philosophy, you can catch both international and local talent, bands and DJs alike. Keeping it to the weekend is our Saturday party Yours with all the dance party and hip hop jams you can think of across two rooms. Or if it’s just a few recovery drinks on a Sunday afternoon in the backyard with one of our resident DJs, it’s all on offer – and the best thing is it’s always free!

Highlights: Bondi’s iconic music venue The Beach Road Bondi and The Valley Bondi is your one-stop shop, covering everything from sports to live music across the seven days a week. Offering constant free live entertainment over our weekly parties and good times, you can find something to suit you each night of the week. Check out The Valley website for all upcoming events.

The bill comes to: Blame Canada BL Burger $15 and signature cocktail BRRP $17 = $32.

26 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Clarence St, Sydney CBD 0415 554 908 Mon – Thu, Sat 4pm-midnight; Fri 2pm-midnight The Loft (UTS) 15 Broadway, Sydney (behind 2SER) (02) 9514 1149 Mon – Wed 2pm-10pm; Thurs – Fri 2pm-late Mojo Record Bar Basement 73 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4999 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu 4pm-1am; Fri 3pm-1am; Sat 4pm-1am The Morrison 225 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9247 6744 Mon – Wed 11.30am-midnight; Thu 11.30am-1am; Fri – Sat 11.30am-2am; Sun 11.30am-10pm The Palisade 35 Bettington St, Millers Point 9018 0123 Tue – Fri noon-2.30pm & 6pm-9.30pm; Sat 6pm-9.30pm Mr Tipply’s 347 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 4877 Mon – Sat 10am-late Palmer & Co. Abercrombie Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Wed 5pm-late; Thu – Fri 3pm-late; Sat – Sun 5pm-late Papa Gede’s Bar Laneway at the end of 348 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 5671 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Plan B Small Club 53-55 Liverpool St, Sydney CBD Wed 5pm-11pm; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri 5pm-3am; Sat 6pm-3am Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern Basement, 60 Park St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Rockpool Bar & Grill 66 Hunter St, Sydney CBD (02) 8078 1900 Mon – Sat noon-3pm, 6-11pm The Rook Level 7, 56-58 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 2505 Mon, Sat 4pm-midnight; Tue – Fri noon-midnight The SG 32 York St, Sydney CBD 0402 813 035 Tues – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Shirt Bar 7 Sussex Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 8068 8222 Mon –Wed 8am-8pm; Thu – Fri 8am-10pm Since I Left You 338 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4986 Mon – Wed 5pm-10pm; Thu – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight Small Bar 48 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0782 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Smoking Panda 5-7 Park St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 4618 Mon – Sat 4pm-late Stitch Bar 61 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9279 0380 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri noon-2am; Sat 4pm-2am The Swinging Cat 44 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 3696 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight

Tapa Vino 6 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay (02) 9247 3221 Mon – Fri noon-11.30pm Uncle Ming’s 55 York St, Sydney CBD Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight York Lane 56 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 1676 Mon – Wed 6.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 6.30pm-midnight; Sat 6pm-midnight

121BC 4/50 Holt St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 1582 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight Absinthe Salon 87 Albion St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 6632 Wed – Sat 4-10pm Arcadia Liquors 7 Cope St, Redfern (02) 8068 4470 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Bar Cleveland Cnr Bourke & Cleveland St, Redfern (02) 9698 1908 Mon – Thu 10am-2am; Fri – Sat 10am-4am Bar H 80 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 1980 Mon – Sat 6pm-11.30; Sun 11am-3pm Bellini Lounge 2 Kellett St, Potts Point (02) 9331 0058 Thu – Sun 6pm-late The Bells Hotel 1 Bourke St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9357 3765 Mon – Sun 10am-1am The Beresford 354 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 8313 5000 Mon – Sun noon-1am Black Penny 648 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9319 5061 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Busby 55 Riley St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9326 9055 Wed – Sat 3pm-midnight Butter Bar 6 Hunt St, Surry Hills (02) 8283 9146 Mon – Thu 11:30am-10pm; Fri – Sat 11:30am-11:30pm Button Bar 65 Foveaux St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1544 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Café Lounge 277 Goulburn St, Surry Hills (02) 9016 3951 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sunday 4-10pm Casoni Italian Bar & Eatery 371-373 Bourke St, Darlinghurst Tue – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5pm-10pm Central Tavern 42-50 Chalmers St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3814 Mon – Sat 10am-2am; Sun 10am-10pm Ching-a-Lings 1/133 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 3333 Tue – Wed 6pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 5pm-10pm The Cliff Dive 16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst

Fri – Sat 6pm-late The Commons 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 1487 Tue – Wed 6pm-late; Thu – Fri 12pm-late; Sat – Sun 8:30am-late The Darlie Laundromatic 304 Palmer St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sat 5pm-11pm Darlo Bar 306 Liverpool St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 3672 Mon – Sun 10am-midnight Darlo Country Club Level 1, 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9380 4279 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-2am Dead Ringer 413 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3560 Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Della Hyde 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Thu – Sun 4pm-late Eau-De-Vie 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst 0422 263 226 Mon – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 6pm-midnight The Forresters 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noon1am; Sun noon-10pm Gardel’s Bar 358 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 8399 1440 Tue – Sat 6pm-midnight Gazebo 2 Elizabeth Bay Rd, Elizabeth Bay (02) 8070 2424 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat – Sun noon-midnight Golden Age Cinema & Bar 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1556 Mon - Sun 3pm-midnight Goros 84-86 Mary St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 0214 Mon – Wed 11:30am-midnight; Thu 11:30am-1am: Fri 11:30am-3am; Sat 4pm-3am The Hazy Rose 1/83 Stanley St, Darlinghurst (02) 9357 5036 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Hello Sailor 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9332 2442 Tue – Sun 6pm-3am Hinky Dinks 185 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6379 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 1-10pm Hollywood Hotel 2 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9281 2765 Mon – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu – Sat 10am-3am Jangling Jack’s Bar & Grill Bar & Grill 175 Victoria St, Potts Point Tue – Wed 4-11pm, Thu – Sat 4-1am, Sun noon11pm Hustle & Flow Bar 105 Regent St, Redfern (02) 9310 5593 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight Li’l Darlin Darlinghurst 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6100 Mon – Sun 5pm-late thebrag.com

thebrag.com

Mon – Thu 5pm-late; Fri 5pm-3am; Sat – Sun 6pm-3am Surly’s 182 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3705 Tue – Sun noon-midnight Sweethearts Rooftop 33/37 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point (02) 9368 7333 Mon – Thu 4-11.30pm; Fri – Sun noon-11.30pm This Must Be The Place 239 Oxford St, Darlinghurst (02) 9331 8063 Mon – Sun 3pm-midnight The Tilbury Hotel 12-18 Nicholson St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9368 1955 Mon – Fri 9am-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm Tio’s Cerveceria 12-18 Nicholson St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9368 1955 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 2-10pm Vasco 421 Cleveland St, Redfern 0406 775 436 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight The Village Inn 9-11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Mon – Sun 12pm-late The White Horse Hotel 381-385 Crown Street, Surry Hills 1300 976 683 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Wild Rover 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 2235 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Winery 285A Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 0833 Mon – Sun noon-midnight

Anchor Bar 8 Campbell Pde, Bondi (02) 8084 3145 Tue – Fri 4.30pm-late; Sat – Sun 12.30pm-late Bat Country 32 St Pauls St, Randwick (@ The Spot) (02) 9398 6694 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm Beach Road Hotel 71 Beach Rd, Bondi Beach (02) 9130 7247 Mon – Sat noon-1am; Sun 11am-10pm Bondi Hardware 39 Hall St, Bondi (02) 9365 7176 Mon – Wed 4pm-late; Fri noon-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-10pm The Bucket List Shop 1, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive (02) 9365 4122 Mon – Tue 11am-5pm; Wed – Sun 11am-late The Corner House 281 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 8020 6698 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm Fat Ruperts 249 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 1033 Tue – Fri 6pm-late; Sat – Sun 2pm-late The Hill Bar/Eatery Cnr Campbell Pde & Hastings Pde, North Bondi (02)9130 2200 BAR Mon – Fri 4pm-late, Sat – Sun 12pm till late Mr Moustache 75-79 Hall St, Bondi Beach

(02) 9300 8892 Mon – Fri 5pm-11pm; Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon10pm The Phoenix Hotel 1 Moncur St, Woollahra 0413 688 546 Wed – Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri – Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon-10pm The Robin Hood Hotel 203 Bronte Rd, Waverley (02) 9389 3477 Mon - Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-10pm Speakeasy 83 Curlewis St, Bondi (02) 9130 2020 Mon – Sat 5pm-11pm; Sat – Sun 4pm-10pm Spring Street Social (and Jam Gallery) Underground 195 Oxford St, Bondi Junction (02) 9389 2485 Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed – Sat 5pm-3am Stuffed Beaver 271 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 3002 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

The Angry Pirate 125 Redfern St Redfern (02) 9698 9140 Tue – Thur 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 3pm-midnight Arco 3 Little Queen Street, Chippendale (02) 9318 0815 Tue – Sat 5pm-9.30pm Bar-racuda 105 Enmore Rd, Newtown (02) 9519 1121 Mon – Sat 6pm-midnight Bauhaus West 163 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8068 9917 Wed – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 11am-midnight The Bearded Tit 183 Regent St, Redfern (02) 8283 4082 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon - midnight; Sun noon - 10pm Blacksheep 256 King St, Newtown (02) 8033 3455 Mon – Fri 4pm-11pm; Sat 2pm-11pm; Sun 2pm-10pm Bloodwood 416 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 7699 Tue – Wed 6pm-late; Thu – Sun 5pm-late Calaveras 324 King St, Newtown 0451 541 712 Wed – Sat 6pm-midnight Cornerstone Bar & Food 245 Wilson St, Eveleigh (02) 8571 9004 Sun – Wed 10am-5pm; Thu – Sat 10am-late Corridor 153A King St, Newtown 0405 671 002 Tue – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 1pm-10pm Cottage Bar & Kitchen 342 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8084 8185 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Different Drummer 185 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9552 3406 Mon – Sat 4.30pm-1am Doris & Beryl’s Bridge Club and Tea House 530 King St, Newtown Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 5.30pm-midnight Earl’s Juke Joint 407 King St, Newtown Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight;

Sun 4-10pm Forest Lodge Hotel 117 Arundel St, Forest Lodge (02) 9660 1872 Mon – Sat 11am-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Freda’s 109 Regent St, Chippendale (02) 8971 7336 Tues – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm The Gasoline Pony 115 Marrickville Rd, Marrickville 0401 002 333 Tue – Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri – Sat 3-11.30pm; Sun 3-9.30pm The Hideaway Bar 156 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8021 8451 Tue– Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-1am Hive Bar 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville (02) 9519 9911 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 11am-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm Kelly’s On King 285 King St, Newtown (02) 9565 2288 Mon – Fri 10am-2.30am; Sat 10am-3.30am; Sun 11am-11.30pm Knox Street Bar Cnr Knox & Shepherd St, Chippendale (02) 8970 6443 Tue – Thu 4-10pm, Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight Kuleto’s 157 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 6369 Mon – Sat 4pm-late; Thu – Sat 4pm-3am The Little Guy 87 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 8084 0758 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 1pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm Mary’s 6 Mary St, Newtown (02) 4995 9550 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm The Midnight Special 44 Enmore Road, Newtown (02) 9516 2345 Tues – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5pm-10pm Miss Peaches 201 Missenden Rd, Newtown (02) 9557 7280 Wed – Sun 5pm-midnight Mr Falcon’s 92 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9029 6626 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm Newtown Social Club 387 King St, Newtown (02) 9550 3974 Mon 9am-6pm; Tues – Fri 9am-8pm; Sat 10am-8pm The Oxford Tavern 1 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham (02) 8019 9351 Mon – Thu noon-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-3pm; Sun noon-10pm Lord Raglan 12 Henderson Rd, Alexandria (02) 9699 4767 Mon – Sun noon-3pm, 5pm-9pm Raven’s Eye 127 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 6429 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 11.30am-midnight; Sun 11:30am-10pm The Record Crate 34 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9660 1075 Tue – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm

game on Gaming news and reviews with Adam Guetti

JULY

New Releases

As we inch closer and closer to the chaotic holiday release schedule, July’s video game offerings are actually impressively varied, providing a little something for everybody.

2016

First up on Friday July 8 is the return of Carmageddon’s memorable take on vehicular destruction with Carmageddon: Max Damage. It’ll smash its way onto both Xbox One and PS4.

Jump ahead to Tuesday July 12, though, and you’ll find Ghostbusters. The new film might have fans worried, but this XBO, PS4 and PC title takes place after those events and packs in a two-to-four-player co-op campaign.

Leadheads and adrenaline junkies, on the other hand, should certainly get revved up for MX Vs. ATV Supercross Encore, which races onto store shelves for Xbox One on Friday July 15.

One for the artistic kids out there is Disney Art Academy for 3DS. It’ll provide helpful advice on how to create famous Disney and Pixar characters, from Mickey to Olaf and everything in between. It’s out Saturday July 16. Also out for 3DS that day is Monster Hunter Generations. With new combat styles and hundreds of quests to work through, this is the perfect opportunity to see what all the fuss is about.

Wrapping things up on Wednesday July 27 is the collection we all knew was coming: Batman: Return To Arkham. The bundle will package better-looking versions of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City for PS4 and Xbox One, but will act as an exclusive for EB Games.

With great power...

E3 2016 TOP STORIES

Li’l Darlin Surry Hills 420 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills (02) 9698 5488 Mon – Fri noon-late; Sat 4pm-late LL Wine and Dine 42 Llankelly Place Potts Point (02) 9356 8393 Mon – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat noon-late; Sun 11am-10pm The Local Taphouse 122 Flinders St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 0088 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-11pm Love, Tilly Devine 91 Crown Ln, Darlinghurst (02) 9326 9297 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Low 302 302 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9368 1548 Mon – Sun 6pm-2am Mr Fox 557 Crown St, Surry Hills 0410 470 250 Tue – Wed 5pm-late; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm The Norfolk 305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 3177 Mon – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Old Growler 218 William St, Woolloomooloo 0422 911 650 Tue – Sat 5pm - midnight The Oxford Circus 231 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 0457 353 384 Wed – Sun 7pm - late The Passage 231A Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 6116 Mon – Sat 5pm-late Peekaboo 120 Bourke St, Woolloomooloo 0403 747 788 Mon – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm – 12am Play Bar 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 0885 Tues – Sat 5pm-midnight Pocket Bar 13 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9380 7002 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Powder Keg 7 Kellett St, Potts Point (02) 8354 0980 Wed – Thu 6pm-late; Fri 1pm-2.30am; Sat – Sun 6pm-late The Print Room 11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Thu – Fri 5pm-late; Sat – Sun noon-late Queenie’s Upstairs 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Tue – Sat 6pm-late & Fri noon-3pm Roosevelt 32 Orwell St, Potts Point (02) 8696 1787 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Rosie Campbell’s 320 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 8356 9120 Mon 5pm-midnight: Tue – Sun 4pm-midnight Shady Pines Saloon Shop 4, 256 Crown St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Soda Factory 16 Wentworth Ave, Surry Hills (02) 8096 9120

Think your Xbox One isn’t powerful enough? Well then, stay tuned for Project Scorpio – the new member of the Xbox family set to release during 2017’s holiday period. The Scorpio hardware will sport a better GPU capable of handling 4K resolution gaming at 60 Hz, and will possess six teraflops of computing power. Meanwhile, Sony announced its own updated PS4, codenamed the Neo. While the company wasn’t as forthcoming with details, it’s assumed that the Neo can also handle 4K gaming and will be better suited for VR. Both companies have assured players that should you not upgrade, all future games will still be playable on your current system.

Slimming down

Scorpio wasn’t the only console announcement this E3, with Microsoft also finally unveiling its slimmed-down Xbox One, titled the Xbox One S. The device features a sleek white finish and is 40 per cent smaller than the current model, doing away with the bulky external power supply. Functionality wise, the S will be capable of handling 4K Ultra HD video support and HDR capabilities for both gaming and video. The 2TB Xbox One S will retail for $549 in Australia sometime in August.

Crash is back!

In exciting news for old-school gamers, Sony has announced that Crash Bandicoot will return. During its E3 press conference, the company revealed that Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, and Crash Bandicoot: Warped will all be remastered for PS4.

Review: Mirror’s Edge Catalyst (PS4, XBO, PC)

T

o call the original Mirror’s Edge niche is an understatement. After all, it was a firstperson, parkour-focused experiment that had you running along rooftops with so much speed that motion sickness was almost a back-of-the-box bullet point. Still, its uniqueness was enough to quickly cement it as a cult classic.

The fact that Mirror’s Edge Catalyst even exists eight years later is nothing short of a video game miracle. Yet here we are, and while the formula still hasn’t quite reached its potential, DICE has made a lot of improvements bound to put a smile back on your face.

Unsurprisingly, Catalyst once again focuses on the series’ heroine, Faith, who lives off the grid as part of a group of free runners who prefer sticking to the skyline – namely because they’re a bunch of outlaws-for-hire capable of making speedy deliveries or conducting burglaries for the right price.

As the reboot opens, Faith is released from prison after a few years behind bars, but quickly finds herself returning to her nefarious roots and clashing with the authorities. If you think that sounds rather uninspired, that’s because a lot of it honestly is. In fact, narrative is actually Catalyst’s weakest element, merely existing to serve one purpose: to send you back to the streets and leaping off skyscrapers. Luckily though, the blistering pace of the original Mirror’s Edge remains not only firmly intact, but improved. Due to the inclusion of a more open world to run around in, you’re free to experiment with the paths you take, which is an absolute delight.

On the other end of the spectrum, combat once again has its ups and downs. Guns, for example, have thankfully been given the boot in an attempt to avoid slowdown; yet handto-hand combat has been given greater attention in its place, resulting in similar levels of frustration. Having a fluid run stopped dead in its tracks to exchange blows with an enemy is disappointing and a little repetitive. The missions that have you taking down soldiers without stopping your breakneck momentum fare much better, but are less frequent.

For all of its smaller flaws, though, Mirror’s Edge Catalyst is still a deeply satisfying experience that replicates much of what made the original game so memorable. Long-time fans should be happy at the chance to see Faith again, but newcomers may want to stock up on paper bags, just in case.

Adam Guetti

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 27

out & about Queer(ish) matters with Lucy Watson

Sydney’s rally for marriage equality

Y

marriage equality. Other polls put that number higher. Yet the government can frame the counting in a way to ensure it fails. Seeing as official party policy is against marriage equality, it wouldn’t be surprising if it did this.

If elected, the Labor Party is promising to bring a parliamentary vote on the issue within 100 days of being elected. It sounds nice, and is a real reason to vote that way. But there’s one catch: Labor hasn’t ‘bound’ on the issue yet, and won’t until 2019, which means Labor MPs will be free to vote with their conscience, rather than with the party policy (which is pro-marriage equality).

If, for example, the Liberals chose to count the plebiscite votes electorate by electorate, it would almost certainly fail. It would also mean that places like Newtown, where there is a high concentration of LGBT people (and thus where the people it actually affects live), would have the same amount of sway on the vote as, say, the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, which I deliberately moved away from because of how hetero it was, or Frenchs Forest, where last year the SMH ran a story on the only gay couple listed in that suburb on the census.

The Liberals are currently still officially against marriage equality, but some prominent MPs within the party support it and are pushing for a conscience vote (Malcolm Turnbull, Julie Bishop and Chris Pyne are a few supporters). If the ALP wins, it’s quite possible that the Liberals will keep their stance against marriage equality, effectively ensuring the parliamentary vote will fail, as a way to gain leverage for future elections.

If the Liberals win the election, their promised plebiscite will go ahead, possibly before the year is even out. There are so many things wrong with this.

Firstly, there are effectively no rules around plebiscites. Apart from the 1977 vote over a new national anthem, we haven’t had one in a century (and that was about conscription during World War One). This means the Liberals can run it however they like. They can word the question in a really awkward way to make the ballot confusing, they can tip the favour of the vote by counting it differently, and they don’t even need to legislate on the outcome.

Polling this way takes the result even further out of the hands of LGBT people, and into mainstream Australia’s. Let me make this clear: the plebiscite, no matter how it’s counted, is essentially a vote where straight Australia gets to decide the future of gay Australia. Is that fair? Malcolm seems to think so.

Alberts Bar 100 Mount St, North Sydney (02) 9955 9097 Mon – Wed 11.30am-10pm; Thu 11.30am-11pm; Fri 11.30am-midnight Crooked Tailor 250 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill (02) 9899 3167 Tue – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 11am-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm Daniel San Manly 55 North Steyne, Manly (02) 9977 6963 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Friday – Saturday noon–2am; Sunday noon-midnight Firefly 24 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 0193 Mon – Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri 4-11.30pm; Sat noon11pm; Sun noon-10pm The Foxtrot 28 Falcon St, Crows Nest Tue – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri – Sat 5pm-2am; Sun 4pm-10pm The Hayberry Bar & Diner 97 Willoughby Road, Crows Nest (02) 8084 0816 Tue – Thu 4pm-midnight;

Fri & Sat noon-midnight Sun noon-10pm Hemingway’s 48 North Steyne, Manly (02) 9976 3030 Mon – Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 8am-10pm The Hold Shop 4, 9-15 Central Ave (02) 9977 2009 Tue – Sun 4pm-midnight Honey Rider 230 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 8880 Tue – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-10pm InSitu 1/18 Sydney Rd, Manly (02) 9977 0669 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-10pm The Hunter 5 Myahgah Rd, Mosman 0409 100 339 Mon – Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-10pm Jah Bar Shop 7, 9-15 Central Ave, Manly (02) 9977 4449 Mon – Fri 4pm-late; Sat 9am-late; Sun 9am-10pm The Local Bar 6/8 Young Ln, Neutral Bay (02) 9953 0027 Tue – Fri noon-late; Sat – Sun 8am-late Los Vida 419 Pacific Hwy, Crows Nest (02) 9439 8323 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Sat 11.30am-midnight; Sun 11.30am-10pm Manly Wine 8-13 South Steyne, Manly (02) 8966 9000 Mon – Sun 6.30am-late

Your bar’s not here? Email: chris@thebragcom

The Mayor 400 Military Rd, Cremorne (02) 8969 6060 Tue – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 8am-midnight Miami Cuba 47 North Steyne, Manly 0487 713 350 Tue – Thu 8am-10pm; Fri – Sat 8am-1am; Sunday 8am-4pm Moonshine Lvl 2, Hotel Steyne, 75 The Corso, Manly (02) 9977 4977 Thu 5pm-2am; Fri 1pm-2am; Sat noon-2am; Sun noon-midnight The Pickled Possum 254 Military Rd, Neutral Bay (02) 9909 2091 Thu – Sat 9pm-1am SoCal 1 Young St, Neutral Bay (02) 9904 5691 Mon – Tue 4pm-late: Wed – Thu noon-1am; Fri – Sat noon- 2am; Sun noon-midnight The Stoned Crow 39 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest (02) 9439 5477 Mon – Sun noon-late The Treehouse Hotel 60 Miller St, North Sydney (02) 8458 8980 Mon – Fri 7am-late; Sat 2pm-late Wilcox Cammeray 463 Miller St, Cammeray (02) 9460 0807 Tue – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 2pm-11pm; Sun 2pm-10pm

All of this is without even considering campaigning. If there’s a plebiscite, there will be both ‘for’ and ‘against’ campaigns.

There will be billboards urging people to treat LGBT people as second-class citizens. And the worst thing is that these billboards won’t be in Newtown or Darlinghurst. They’ll be in Mount Druitt, Port Macquarie, Albury, Wagga Wagga – they’ll be in places where queer kids are growing up in isolation, having already been told via the Safe Schools debate that they deserve to be bullied, and now they’ll be told they don’t deserve the right to a relationship under the law.

Cory Bernardi has called the plebiscite a “glorified opinion poll”, and he’s kind of right. Turnbull appears to promise he’ll legislate on the outcome, but we’ve all seen how weak the PM can be at the hands of his conservative backbenchers.

The LGBT people in Newtown and Darlinghurst are resilient: we have our community around us to fight back. But those people in less friendly areas don’t have that community. They’ll be isolated among a sea of anti-marriage-equality campaigns.

It’s unclear how the plebiscite will be counted. A simple count would indicate that, according to ABC’s Vote Compass, 56 per cent of Australians support

If you care about the rights or sanity of LGBT people at all, please, put the Liberals last on your ballot paper this weekend.

this week…

Webster’s Bar 323 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 1511 Mon – Sat 10am-4am; Sun 10am-12am Zigi’s Wine And Cheese Bar 86 Abercrombie St, Chippendale (02) 9699 4222 Tue 4pm-10pm; Wed – Sat 2pm-late

If you don’t have an election party to get to, head to Unicorns at The Red Rattler on Saturday July 2. It’s always a good time, filled with nudity, body paint and glitter, as well as Brendan Maclean, Astrix Little, Gay Cliché, Amsen, Hoax Trinket and a bunch of performers doing contortion, aerial dancing, burlesque and cabaret. Don’t miss it!

Brendan Maclean

28 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

thebrag.com

Sydney rally for marriage equality photo by Richard Potts/Flickr

ou might have heard there’s an election this weekend (if you haven’t heard, congratulations).

And shaping up to be one of the big election issues is marriage equality.

The Royal 156 Norton St, Leichhardt (02) 9569 2638 Mon – Thu 10am-1am; Fri – Sat 10am-3am; Sun 10am-midnight Secret Garden Bar 134a Enmore Rd, Enmore 0403 621 585 Mon – Tue 7am-5pm; Wed – Sun 7am-11pm Soho In Balmain 358 Darling St, Balmain 0407 525 208 Tue – Sun 5pm-11pm Staves Brewery 4-8 Grose Street, Glebe (02) 9280 4555 Thu 4-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 4-10pm Temperance Society 122 Smith St, Summer Hill (02) 8068 5680 Mon – Thu 4pm-11pm; Fri – Sat: noon-midnight; Sun: noon-10pm Thievery 91 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 8283 1329 Tue – Thu 6pm-11pm; Fri 6pm-midnight.

Sat 11pm-3pm & 6pm-midnight Timbah 375 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9571 7005 Tue – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri noon-11pm; Sat 3pm-11pm; Sun 4pm-8pm Wilhelmina’s 332 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8068 8762 Tues – Fri 5pm - late; Sat – Sun 8am - late The Workers Lvl 1, 292 Darling St, Balmain (02) 9555 8410 Thu – Sat 5pm-3am; Sun 2pm-late

THE UNSUNG HEROES WHO MAKE THE MUSIC INDUSTRY GO ROUND

BY JOSEPH EARP

Life Behind E The Merch Desk

verybody loves merch. From the humble band T-shirt to the distinctly more outrageous items musical acts have tried to palm off in the past (we’re looking at you, KISS), buying merch directly from artists unlocks something in us. It’s a way for creator and consumer to communicate – a transaction that allows fans to support the band they love while simultaneously broadcasting that love to the rest of the world.

But what of the merch sellers who stand in the middle, acting as conduit between bands and their audiences?

In order to get a sneak peek behind the curtain, we reached out to a couple of these unsung heroes who make the industry go round. Ever wondered what life is like behind that merch desk? Read on and wonder no more.

Meaghan Weiley

Rebekah Duke

Freelance Merch Seller How did you start selling merch?

By accident – it probably started as a favour for friends’ bands. I used to work in music retail so it was pretty easy.

Do you work any other jobs and/or study as well? How do you juggle selling merch with other pursuits?

I run my own arts consultancy business, work a couple of other music-related jobs, and just finished studying parttime. It’s good to keep busy but you don’t always get much sleep, especially as many merch gigs finish late into the evening. It just takes good time management.

What is it about merch that people love?

T-shirts especially are still sort of tribal – you see a stranger wearing the shirt of a band you like and there’s that almost imperceptible nod of recognition as you pass.

Plus everyone loves a souvenir.

Do you own or wear much merch yourself?

I used to work in a record store where we sold stupid amounts of band merch and I got thoroughly sick of band shirts, so I stopped wearing them for many years. I started buying shirts again at local gigs a few years back, so I’m hooked once more. I’m a bit of a fan of handmade and unusual merch, along with practical stuff like tote bags, tea towels and stubby holders.

What is the best part of selling merch on tour? What’s the worst?

The best: watching how stoked people are to be seeing a band they really love, and helping make extra income for the musicians because they often get paid fuck-all for their music. The worst: counting in 20 boxes of merch on a tight deadline before a show, and trying to pack up and balance the takings at 1am. Also anyone who asks, “Is this shirt true to size?”

Has music always been a big part of your life?

Ridiculously so – I dropped out of high school because of my love of music. I have been working in something musicrelated ever since.

Meaghan Weiley Merch Seller At Milk! Records How did you get involved with Milk! Records?

I was just about halfway through my third year at uni, and I was looking to undertake another internship. I’d written for music publications in the past, but ultimately I wanted to work for a record label. I remember sending out what felt like a million emails to prospective employers, and luckily enough Milk! responded. I remember meeting Jen Cloher (and CEO cat Bubbles) for the fi rst time and everything just felt right. I also sat in this chair – ‘the strange wooden chair nobody sits on’. Everyone sits in that chair the fi rst time they’re at Milk! I reckon it’s there on purpose.

Milk! Records CEO Bubbles especially via the merch desk. People are hilarious. I had a girl come up to me at the show in Wollongong that made a bet with her dad that I was Courtney’s sister. Weird, but a little cool.

What is your best tour-based memory?

All those great vodka cranberrys Bones made me. No-one makes ’em the way Bonesy does.

Had you been a fan of the label before you started working with them?

In short – not really. I’d listened to Jen before and really dug her music; there was something so honest about it that drew me in. I saw Courtney Barnett play for the first time three or so years ago when I’d first moved to Melbourne – I think it was when she’d just put out A Sea Of Split Peas. There were about ten of us watching. The next time I saw her was at a sold-out show at the Palais here in Melbourne a couple months ago. To be able to observe that from two completely different perspectives – both as a punter and as a friend/employee – was pretty surreal.

What is it about merch that people love?

There’s something exciting about buying merch at a show.

Merchandise provides that link between a fan and an artist, even if they don’t come into contact directly. Merch Courtney Barnett can carry a lot of sentiment – there can be a lot of memories attached to a show, and in that sense a T-shirt can be very special to someone.

Do you own and/or wear much Milk! merch yourself?

Half of my wardrobe is probably Milk! merch – I’m not even kidding. I’m really proud of the label. I love wearing the shirts because it’s something I appreciate, and it feels nice to represent them. The best part is when you’re out somewhere and someone recognises the design – even stranger when they recognise you!

What is the best part of selling merch on tour? What’s the worst?

The worst part is the pack up at the end of the day. Especially on this past tour where there were six bands and hundreds of shirts.

On the other hand, the best part are the friendships you develop with the people you meet –

You can head to milkrecords.com.au to fulfil all your merch-based needs.

Alternatively, you can save up your pennies for the next tour and say hi to Meaghan.

Just remember, she’s not Courtney’s sister.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 29

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK BROODS

Conscious Capitol/Universal

The New Zealand-born duo Broods keep going from strength to strength, with only two years passing since their first studio album, Evergreen. Their new effort, Conscious, is a big step forward, boasting the upbeat emotion of their signature synth beats and melodic vocals from Georgia Nott.

Georgia and Caleb Nott take themselves to the brink of stardom with their second effort.

BAND OF HORSES Why Are You OK Interscope/Universal Band Of Horses’ music has always been in the right place at the wrong time. The place: cruising highways, staring down sunsets, dreaming of California. The time: here and now.

If Ben Bridwell and co. were writing songs like ‘No One’s Gonna Love You’, ‘The Funeral’ and even ‘Knock Knock’ (from the maligned Mirage Rock) a few decades ago, they’d be standard-setters of the genre. Being of the 21st century, however, has relegated them to dweeb territory – a group of geewhiz stargazers with all the heart but none of the staying power.

Shacking up with uncool cats like Grandaddy’s Jason Lytle (here producing) and Dinosaur Jr.’s J Mascis (guesting on highlight ‘In A Drawer’) is bold enough unto itself, but Why Are You OK succeeds primarily on account of its acceptance of Band Of Horses’ strengths, and not budging from their dorky choirboy harmonies, nor their love of layered, sun-kissed guitar.

They’re not here to change the game – in fact, the only revolution Band Of Horses care about is the one at 33 1/3 per minute. Still, Why Are You OK will ensure that – at least for now – you’ll remember the horse with no name.

We hit the ground running with ‘Free’, an incredibly catchy song that seems set to launch Broods into the mainstream.

This might have something to do with the fact this album was produced by long-term collaborator Joel Little, who’s worked with recent pop sensations like Lorde, Ellie Goulding and Jarryd James.

‘We Had Everything’ is a breezy summer tune, while ‘Are You Home’ starts slow but breaks out into a cheesy ’80s-inspired pop beat. The vocals really shine on ‘Heartlines’, a track co-written by Lorde, and the mixed tempos echo similar-sounding bands like Chvrches and The Naked And Famous.

‘Freak Of Nature’ features the Swedish pop singer Tove Lo, and it’s a heavier ballad about embracing and overcoming personal demons. Meanwhile, the piano backing behind ‘All Of Your Glory’ is a nice touch, making it one of the best songs on the record.

‘Couldn’t Believe’ and ‘Full Blown Love’ pick up the pace again, and the album rounds out nicely with the title track, ‘Conscious’, which ends things on a high.

Chris Bright

BLINK-182

SWANS

DIESEL

BRIGHTLY

California BMG/Liberator

The Glowing Man Mute / Create/Control

Americana Liberation

One For Sorrow, Two For Joy Label Pink

You could easily liken the energy and potty humour of Blink-182’s new album California with their 1999 release Enema Of The State. This comeback record’s anthemic poppunk attitude is rife with reminiscent lyrics, catchy melodies and downright silliness.

Towards the beginning of John Berger’s seminal work of criticism Ways Of Seeing, the writer presents a comparatively subtle Van Gogh painting of a crow standing in a field. Turn over the page, and there’s Berger’s shocking addendum – it was the last artwork Van Gogh painted before he killed himself.

It’s easy to write off a covers album, but Diesel has proven many times during his career that he has an incredible ability to pull off the impossible and make any song his own. Americana shows respect for the original versions while cleverly Diesel-fying them.

Like M&M’s through popcorn or fries dipped in ice-cream, electronic musician Brightly’s latest LP One For Sorrow,Two For Joy is a peculiar clashing of musical flavours that will either charm or alarm you. Perhaps both. Reverberating with dewy chords, blustery synths and dreamy delay, it’s unsurprising to learn that this third crowd-funded release from the London-based Aussie Charlie Gleason saw him lay down tracks in an isolated Norwegian cabin one bitter winter. What is surprising is Gleason’s voice – a banal baritone – slicing through the cool, vast soundscape like a 747.

The addition of Alkaline Trio’s Matt Skiba to the band (in the absence of Tom DeLonge) doesn’t inhibit traditional Blink in any way – rather, he invokes the band’s mantra and in tracks like ‘Left Alone’ proves his worth as co-vocalist, latching on to the fraternal antics of Mark Hoppus and Travis Barker.

However, by the middle of the album, the novelty has grown dull and the subject matter of the lyrics becomes samey – it’s all wistful memories of their hometowns and the shenanigans of misspent youth, which at times, sounds more tragic than humorous for a group of 40-somethings. With Skiba on board, there was potential to achieve some kind of musical breakthrough that could still adhere to Blink we know and love, but it just doesn’t happen.

Ultimately, this is an album of conflict. While it circles back to the fast-paced punk roots of days gone by with sparks of excellence, it leaves even dedicated fans wishing Blink would just stay away from tainting their legacy.

Context affects art. You can’t see Van Gogh’s field without thinking about death. By that same token, it’s hard to talk about Swans’ The Glowing Man without mentioning the sexual assault allegations made against the band’s leader Michael Gira by US singer Larkin Grimm – allegations that hang over this album like storm clouds As a long-term obsessive Swans fan, would I like this album more if I tried to ignore such allegations?

Undoubtedly. But when the record itself references sexual abuse, as on ‘When Will I Return?’, it’s impossible to listen to it passively.

No Swans album has ever been a pleasurable listen. But The Glowing Man isn’t the apocalypse of To Be Kind. It’s a yelp rather than a bellow – an underwhelming, difficult listen, and the strangest possible note the current Swans lineup could go out on.

Is it bad? No. But nor is it enjoyable, or well-constructed, or even particularly listenable. It’s just a footnote in a terrible story of alleged abuse.

It takes a brave musician to tackle Springsteen’s ‘Born To Run’, for instance, but Diesel does it well. The arrangement on ‘Ring Of Fire’ is a great example of taking a classic, stripping it back and rebuilding it around one of the world’s most famous melodies.

The reworking of Joni Mitchell’s ‘The Circle Game’ is one of the album’s most special moments. Its beautiful melody remains fully intact, yet fleshed out with rich instrumentation.

It shows off Diesel’s delicate vocals together with lush backing voices that further highlight how much this song must mean to him.

The record celebrates Diesel’s diversity, whether playing with darkness (‘Angel From Montgomery’), lightness (‘Scarlet Ribbons’), balladry (‘Fire And Rain’), rockabilly (‘Rave On’) or straight-up jamming (‘Born On The Bayou’).

Americana is a classy tribute to the songs that have shaped the artist Diesel has become, and there is a whole lot of love to go around.

Anna Wilson

Joseph Earp

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK There can’t be many songs about the identity crisis of a small horse. “Look at my hair, see how I run,” sings guest vocalist and former Nouvelle Vague singer Mélanie Pain on the second track of Coda’s new album.

“Am I a pony? Or a baby giraffe?”

Golden Times Silent Recordings

30 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

It’s here where Gleason’s lyrics – these mini-montages of heartbreak – prove most captivating. Like breath in the winter air, they are fragile and linger only briefly.

Jennifer Hoddinett

David James Young

CODA

“Got cum on my cheeks but I swear I believe in true love,” he croons in single ‘Rugby’. This is but a taste of the delightful disruption at play in these 11 tracks, where polished production, soothing ambience and minimalist beats engage in a tug of war with roughened vocals, gritty realism and skittering electronics.

You’ll get mired in the clutter at times (probably between the curious guitar shredding of ‘Lost’ and the jabbing ’00s synths of ‘Bury Us In Fruit Jars’), but surface again during the subdued ballads, like ‘I Will Never Let You Go’.

Whatever creature Pain really is, there’s no doubt that Golden Times is a strange animal. It is Coda’s first release in a decade, and the first time they’ve utilised vocalists. That in itself is akin to a tiger growing wings, and the effect is not unlike encountering one.

The opening title track sneaks up on you, its eerie acoustic strings and dreamy whispered vocals courtesy of Royce Doherty making way for

a woozy electro synth hook. ‘7am’, another Doherty number, makes you think it’s falling asleep before it leaps, clawing out with flurries of Eastern strings and wails.

The classically trained Coda channel the likes of Portishead, Goldfrapp and Serge Gainsbourg, drawing on anything that grabs their ears. From downbeat beginnings, it all ends on the edgy jazz of ‘You Won Me Over’ featuring Jane Tyrrell, and the pure pop of ‘Summer Pop’.

Karen Waters

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

DAVID BOWIE - Never Let Me Down CHVRCHES - Every Open Eye BLACK STONE CHERRY - Kentucky

BEST COAST - California Nights HOT CHIP - Why Make Sense?

It’s intricate, interesting, bold and beautiful. Golden Times isn’t a pony but a galloping unicorn.

George Nott thebrag.com

snap sn ap

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

thebrag.com/snaps

up all night out all week . . .

THE PAPER KITES, I KNOW LEOPARD, LUKE THOMPSON Enmore Theatre Thursday June 23

It takes a certain kind of performer to make a venue as grand as the Enmore feel like an intimate get-together. New Zealand expat Luke Thompson is one such musician; a gentle, kindly figure, quietly cooing over sparse electric guitar.

He eases the gathering audience into the night’s proceedings with charm and quaint storytelling, his words resonating off the walls with clarity thanks to the respectful silence awarded him. With loud and disrespectful crowds having ruined quiet shows at the Enmore in the past (April’s Daughter show immediately springs to mind), this comes as a very welcome change.

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride. I Know Leopard have had a run of great

support slots, affording them the chance to play huge venues to audiences that would be impossible to draw on their own. That’s just the thing: for all the times they’ve caught the bouquet, it’s hard to imagine them progressing to their name appearing on the marquee. Primarily, this has to do with their own music rather than lack of work ethic. Their harmony-laden indie-pop is pleasant enough, all floating keyboard reverb and heavens-high vocals, but there’s simply not enough to properly hook yourself on.

With the release of Twelvefour, The Paper Kites watched the sun go down on their indie-folk stylings, giving in to the nightlife of slick retro-pop to surprisingly great results. Nearly a year on, the band has chosen to farewell Twelvefour with a twist – a show entitled Midnight, in which the musicians perform as the soundtrack to silent projections, following four separate apartment windows through

the quiet mystery of the late evening. It allows some of Twelvefour’s more quiet, refined moments to shine under a new light – ‘Turns Within Me, Turns Without Me’ sees its rich harmonies sink in, while ‘Too Late’ syncs up with an intense two-person dance routine as seen through one of the windows.

Vocalist Sam Bentley lets us know he isn’t going to be talking very much throughout the show. He doesn’t need to – the actions of The Paper Kites speak far louder, anyway. Whether they’re performing in complete darkness (something probably not seen here since that Ryan Adams gig) or embracing the light fantastic via ‘Electric Indigo’ or ‘Revelator Eyes’, there’s something quite special about how this show is curated and executed. Much like the album they’ve been supporting, Midnight is a risk worth taking.

David James Young

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

THE RUBENS, SLUM SOCIABLE, MANSIONAIR, ALI BARTER

Kicking off the night was triple j Unearthed winner Ali Barter. The Melbourne-based singer-songwriter injected some seriously fun Stevie Nicks vibes while oscillating between surf-pop and electro-grunge. The riff reverberations of ‘Far Away’ were pure joy.

Anyone who remained unsure of just how big a deal The Rubens have become only needed to see the throng of hands before the blues-swaggering five-piece took to the stage on Friday. In an electric atmosphere of fever pitch excitement, the Hordern was awash with the Hoops symbol as taken from the cover of the band’s second album (or the international ‘OK’ sign for the uninitiated). Such a simple gesture was surprisingly rousing.

Indie-electronic explorers Slum Sociable were up next. This was jazzed-up trip hop with some impressive tambourine sway by vocalist Miller Upchurch. Mansionair then breezed in with their dreamy beats. It was a mesmerising set from start to finish, including the synthpop gem ‘Speak Easy’, YouTube hit ‘Hold Me Down’ and their elegant cover of Future Islands’ ‘Seasons’.

Jack Froggatt’s soft falsetto truly is a thing of beauty.

Hordern Pavilion Friday June 24

The Rubens opened with frontman Sam Margin centre stage, framed by a single spotlight. Crooning a cappella the first verse of ‘The Day You Went Away’, he was soon joined by fellow bandmates and a blindingly bright light show. What followed was a rip-roaring rock gig of old: the band had no time for politeness or banter, ferociously and fervently belting out thumper after thumper with few pauses.

‘Hold Me Back’ saw Margin ditch the guitar, loosen up and use more of the stage. ‘My Gun’ brought out Seth Sentry, who chimed in with his version of ‘99 Problems’. Barter also joined Margin in duet for ‘Paddy’. And while their voices

didn’t particularly complement each other, the only real misstep was their awkward cover of Adele’s ‘Hello’. Rockier in this case did not mean better, or even on par.

Of course, the song that brought the house down was that wee number, ‘Hoops’, which topped this year’s triple j’s Hottest 100. Phones were whipped out and set to ‘record’ as soon as the first few beats were knocked out on the drums. Margin went crowd-surfi ng on a blow-up raft to a bandmate rapping The Waitresses’ ‘I Know What Boys Like’.

Bonkers but a blast.

Anita Connors

live@the sly

PICS :: DC

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

23:06:16 :: Slyfox :: 199 Enmore Rd Enmore 9557 2917 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER

thebrag.com

:: S :: ASHLEY MAR :: D.A. CARTER

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 31

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

KYARY PAMYU PAMYU Big Top Sydney Friday June 24

For your consideration: pop music as the ultimate form of escapism. On this particular Friday, most people living in the outside world have been shrouded by a cloud of negativity and uncertainty – everything from Brexit to Fall Out Boy’s song for the Ghostbusters movie has people downright pissed. Venture out to the mile-wide smile leading into Luna Park, however, and you’ll see something different entirely. We’re not just talking the stilt-walkers or the various rides about the place. Down the way, up the other end of the park where the Big Top resides, is a world of people locked into their own private universe. A world of blinding colour, friendly monsters, cute fashion and hyper-surrealistic characters.

A world that, as the security guards report, some of these creatures have been inhabiting since before the park even opened today. The line snakes its way out to the dock – it’s a mix of pandemonium and pure, unadulterated joy.

The cause? The artist known in Romaji Japanese as Kyary Pamyu Pamyu. It was two years ago that the sprightly starlet caused a similar stir over at

UNSW Roundhouse – a moment made even funnier by the fact that venue is a space normally inhabited by gaunt, self-serious heavy bands – and the intervening years have only seen the young woman born Kiriko Takemura grow even more powerful in the westward-expanding J-pop scene.

From the minute the lights go out and the lady of the hour – flagged by four wildly energetic backup dancers and a DJ in some sort of plant-like morphsuit – emerges in a shimmering aura, there’s no escaping. Then again, absolutely no-one in this room is worried about that – this is exactly where they want to be.

For the next 90 minutes, all they will see, hear and feel is all on KPP’s watch. She leads clap-alongs and choreographed hand movements, and takes in every last rapturous applause with poise and grace.

This is a show that is chiselled down and refined to the very last movement, and it’s enthralling for young and old – quite literally, too, as children dance alongside the big kids with exuberance. Politics?

They can wait. There are fashion monsters to chase and pon-pons to way-way-way. Don’t get it? Perhaps you never will.

David James Young

THE JUNGLE GIANTS, THE LULU RAES, GIDEON BENSEN, MACHINE AGE Metro Theatre Saturday June 25

After triggering the fire alarms during a recent Brisbane show, The Jungle Giants were surprised by a different commotion during Saturday’s sold-out Metro Theatre performance – that of an exceptionally rabid crowd. As leading man Sam Hales succinctly put it, “Sydney, you are fucking insane tonight!”

It’s a badge of honour, fellow Sydneysiders. These Brisbane indie rockers know their audiences, having just returned Down Under from extensive overseas touring to promote their second LP, Speakerzoid. For their Sydney fans, it seems distance really did make the collective heart grow fonder – or perhaps less respectfully restrained.

The evening’s fervour begun brewing early, with kudos to a strong cast of homegrown supports. Solo composer Machine Age got things simmering with his mechanical mishmash of chugging riffs, soaring vocals and industrial beats. Ex-Preatures vocalist and guitarist Gideon Bensen upped the ante, embodying ’80s swagger with tight jeans and an even tighter setlist, complete with space-agey sounds, saxophone solos and more yelping than a barefoot dash across the car park in summer.

Anticipation reached boiling point when goodtime goofballs The Lulu Raes had the crowd sweating to match their bouncing Britpop-esque tunes.

brandy

The frontman had no chance to catch his breath. The Jungle Giants hurtled through a pithy set of new and old favorites embellished with trashcan endings (‘Mr Polite’), raucous keyboard jams (‘Creepy Cool’), peppy flute solos (‘Lemon Myrtle’), and rallying a capella moments (‘Kooky Eyes’).

Hales patrolled the stage like a zealous coach: “Hands up!” “Everyone squat down!” “Jump as high as you fucking can!” The activity culminated in closer ‘I Am What You Want Me To Be’ as Hales dived into the masses, attempting to crowd-surf (or ‘crowd sink’, rather. Turns out mosh pits of teens aren’t particularly helpful for buoyancy).

This was the evening’s only bellyflop moment. The Jungle Giants have worked their arses off to deliver a mature sound with the youthful verve, and their fans love it. Their Sydney show only proved they are reaping and relishing the rewards.

Jennifer Hoddinett

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

PICS :: AM

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

When the notes of The Jungle Giants’ ‘What Do You Think’ finally resounded, the audience was a shaken Coke bottle ready to blow. Cue the chorus, and kaboom, the mosh liquidised into an undulating mass of boogieing bodies. The momentum continued into ‘Anywhere Else’, where Hales’ falsetto finale was engulfed by the responding roar of the crowd. “Holy shit,” he puffed. “You guys are amazing.”

20:06:16 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666 32 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

thebrag.com

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

WEDNESDAY JUNE 29 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Guantanamera - feat: DJs Av El Cubano + Don Rivera + Guest DJs + Monthly Live Bands Barrio Cellar, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

Jammy Jam Jam Blacksmith Bar, Surry Hills. 7pm.

Free.

Octave Inc Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $10.

Shine For Kids Fundraiser - feat: Christa Hughes + Danielle Cormack + Grace Knight + Debbie Spillane + Mel Buttle + Jeff Duff + Virginia Lillye + Peter Northcote The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $64.

The Consouls Play Bar, Surry Hills.

8pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Crooked Frames + Cold Vulture + Bradley Ownes &

The Florins + Just Breathe + The Spectrum Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Live At The Horse - feat: Elk & Mammoth + Alby The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm.

Free.

Muso’s Club Jam Night Ruby L’otel, Rozelle.

7:30pm. Free.

Sugar Jam Open Mic Night Sugarmill, Kings Cross. 8pm. Free.

The Ramblers Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt.

7:30pm. Free.

Tom Trelawney Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Cath & Him Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm.

Free.

Live Music @ Manning Manning Bar, Camperdown. 3pm.

Free.

Manouche Wednesday - feat: Gadjo Guitars Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

The Villebillies + Colin Lillie The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $5.

THURSDAY JUNE 30 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Cath & Him Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 7:30pm.

Free.

Fat Yahoozah + On The Stoop + Mick Stuart + Live At The Sly DJs Slyfox, Enmore.

7:30pm. Free.

Ginger’s Jam - feat: Various Bands Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 7:30pm.

Free.

Harbourview Hulabaloo - feat: Zack Martin + Cosmic Red + Kenneth D’Aran Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks. 7pm. Free.

Live Music @ Manning Manning Bar, Camperdown. 3pm.

Free.

Mark N The Blues Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

8:30pm. Free.

Timothy Bowen + Jorja Carroll Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $17.35.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Blues Jam The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm.

$6.30.

Gin + Jazz Busby, Woolloomooloo.

6pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bandviews Sessions - feat: The Ramblers Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt.

7:30pm. Free.

Bears With Guns + Liam Gale And The Ponytails + Pirra Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 9pm. Free.

Ears Have Ears Live #4 - feat: Alaska Orchestra + Rainbow Chan FBi Live, Alexandria.

9pm. Free.

Greg Hooper + Dee Donavon Penrith RSL, Penrith.

11am. $8.

Katherine Vavahea + Eunice + Elaine Crombie + Jackson Lucia Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $10.

Lazy Colts Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm.

Free.

Marcus Holden + Friendzy The Temperance Society, Summer Hill.

7pm. Free.

Muso’s Club Jam Night Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. Free.

No Refunds Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 8pm.

Free.

Paul Winn Duo Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.

Roadhouse Rockabilly Night Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown. 7pm. Free.

Roland Storm Penrith RSL, Penrith.

11am. $8.

Royal Tennyson + Oscar Dowling + Andrew Samuel Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $11.50.

The Weeping Willows + Sam Newton + Cameron Milford The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $10.

Thomston + Glades + Leure Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $15.

Tracy McNeil And The GoodLife Union Hotel, Newtown.

8pm. Free.

Vander + Heart Of Mind + Running Over Rooftops + Bj And Joel Allen + Leah Wilkie Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

FRIDAY JULY 1 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Benn Gunn Figtree Hotel, Figtree.

9:30pm. Free.

Evie Dean Club Liverpool, Liverpool. 5:30pm.

Free.

Handle With Care The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $24.30.

Joe Moore + Stephanie Grace Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7:30pm. $30.

Live Music @ Manning Manning Bar, Camperdown. 3pm.

Free.

Low Down Riders The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

Matt Toms 99 On York, Sydney.

5:30pm. Free.

Mister Ott + Merry Widows + The Guilty Three + Steve Robinson Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $15.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Alice Ivy + Froyo + Ross Henry Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $11.50.

Chris Gudu & Afro Pamoja Django Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $20.

Suite Az Fridays + DJ Troy T The Arthouse, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Trax Return - feat: Murda One + Chris White + Foreign Dub + Jah Tung + Akul + Micapam + Slice + D Tech Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

thebrag.com

pick of the week

SATURDAY JULY 2

The Beards

Metro Theatre

The Beards + Gay Paris

7:30pm. $33.90.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

After Party Band Revesby Workers Club, Revesby.

8:30pm. Free.

Alfredo Malabello The Push Bar, The Rocks. 7pm. Free.

Aver + The Dirty Earth + The Dark Clouds Sweaty Betty’s Bar, Miranda. 7pm. $13.

Banquet - feat: Golden Vessel The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.

Blake Tailor Duo Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 8pm. Free.

Born To Run: The Songs Of Springsteen + The Willing Ponies Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8:30pm.

Free.

Bv + Chanel The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale.

8pm. $15.

Cover Me Crazy Penrith RSL, Penrith.

9pm. Free.

Dave Debs Lord Raglan Hotel, Alexandria. 7pm. Free.

Deaf To All But Metal Presents - feat: July Monthly Clubnight + Metal Quiz + Black Metal Twister + Burlesque Dancers Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $5.

Ironbark Rock Colonial Hotel, Werrington. 8:30pm.

Free.

Jimmy Bear The Henry Sports Club, Werrington County. 7:30pm. Free.

Jimmy Mann Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown.

6pm. Free.

John Vella Clovelly Hotel, Clovelly.

4:30pm. Free.

Michael Fryar Chatswood RSL, Chatswood. 5pm. Free.

Michael Fryar Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard. 9:30pm.

Free.

Paper Hearts The Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 8pm. Free.

Reckless Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 10pm. Free.

Steve Crocker Hunters Hill Hotel, Hunters Hill. 4:30pm.

Free.

Ted Nash Duo Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 11:55pm.

Free.

The Angels Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 7:30pm. $45.

The Delta Riggs + The Pretty Littles + I Oh You DJs Imperial Hotel, Erskineville. 8pm. $26.

The Dirty Earth + Aver + The Dark Cloud Sweaty Betty’s Bar, Miranda. 7pm. $10.

Todd McKenney Sings Peter Allen Penrith Panthers, Penrith. 7:30pm. $58.15.

Urban Guerillas + Hardon Colliders + Steph Miller Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham.

7:30pm. $10.

Whelan & Gover Fortune Of War, The Rocks. 8pm. Free.

SATURDAY JULY 2 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Divas Of Motown, Soul & Disco Canterbury Bankstown Leagues Club,

Belmore. 7:30pm. $12.

Frank Bennett The Basement, Circular Quay. 7:30pm. $34.50.

Jalapeno Deluxe Revesby Workers Club, Revesby.

8:30pm. Free.

The Beatlab + DJ Adverse + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills.

6pm. Free.

Wu Man + Riley Lee Art Gallery Of New South Wales, Sydney.

3pm. $45.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Baddies + Eager 13 + Punk And Ska DJs Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville.

7:30pm. $10.

Benj Axwell Hunters Hill Hotel, Hunters Hill. 5pm.

Free.

Big Radio Dynamite Penrith RSL, Penrith.

9pm. Free.

Born To Run: The Songs Of Springsteen + The Willing Ponies Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8:30pm.

Free.

Brighton Up Bar’s 4th Birthday - feat: Joseph Liddy & The Skeleton Horse + Wild Honey + West Thebarton Brothel Party + Loose Tooth + Hunch + DJs Money For Nothing + Soundly Sounds Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 7pm.

Free.

Chase The Sun Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $15.

Dog The Duke Paddo RSL, Paddington. 8pm. Free.

Doug Parkinson

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 33

g g guide g

picks up all night out all week...

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com The Concourse, Chatswood. 8pm. Free.

Falling Joys + The Hummingbirds Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7:30pm. $30.

Geoff Davies The Push Bar, The Rocks. 7:30pm. Free.

Glenn Esmond Fortune Of War, The Rocks. 3pm. Free.

Glenn Esmond Duo Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 11:55pm.

Free.

In Stereo The Lair @ Metro Theatre, Sydney.

4:45pm. $44.50.

Independence Day Party - feat: Ross Tipper + Pat Capocci + DJ King Opp Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown. 6pm. Free.

Leroy Lee Red Cow Inn, Penrith.

3pm. Free.

Merry Widows Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm.

Free.

Peter Northcote’s Drive - feat: Simon Meli Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $34.70.

Pigsty In July 2016 - feat: Shihad + King Tide + Lepers & Crooks + Justin Ngariki & The Darstardly Bastards + Sea Legs + Claire Anne Taylor + Dashville Progress Society + In Motion + Masco Sound System

Dashville, Lower Belford. 10:30am. $48.

Purity + Sail On! Sail On! The Record Crate, Glebe. 2pm. $5.

Rob Eastwood Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown.

6pm. Free.

Ryan Enright Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 5:45pm. Free.

Spit Roasting Bibbers The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 7:30pm. Free.

Studio 529 Panania Hotel, Panania. 8:30pm. Free.

The Beards + Gay Paris Metro Theatre, Sydney.

8:30pm. $33.90.

The Chosen Few Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 10pm. Free.

The Elton Jack Show Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm.

Free.

The Fossicks + Chase The Sun Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst. 7pm.

Free.

The Mad Hatters Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. Free.

Valve Bar Election Day Charity Extravaganza! - feat: Chris Duke & The Royals + Wasters + Batfoot! + Ravellers + Ivan Drago + BDSM + 51 Percent + Josh Arentz + Tim Hampshire + Laura Mardon + Yvette Vials + Spencer Scott + Andy Mac + Angus

And Julia Stoned + Antonia Susan + Nothing Rhymes With David Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 2pm. $15.

Xs.If Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7:30pm. Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Angelena Locke Panania Diggers, Panania. 8pm. Free.

Bob Gillespie Penrith RSL, Penrith.

2pm. Free.

Cath & Him Crossroads Hotel, Casula. 8:30pm. Free.

Live On The Golden Stage - feat: Aiden D Cooney Golden Age Cinema, Surry Hills. 8pm. Free.

Los Romeos Oxidados The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 3pm. $7.

The Ramalamas The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

SUNDAY JULY 3 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Angelena Locke Crown Hotel, Surry

Hills. 6pm. Free.

Evie Dean Mosman Rowers Club, Mosman. 3pm. Free.

From Street To Stage Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.

Miss Peaches Hootenanny Bluegrass Sundays Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown. 8pm. Free.

Satellite V Shady Pines, Darlinghurst. 6pm.

Free.

The New Savages Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown. 7pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Adrian Joseph Commodore Hotel, Mcmahon Point. 2pm.

Free.

Benj Axwell Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown. 2pm.

Free.

Born To Run: The Songs Of Springsteen + The Willing Ponies Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 4pm. Free.

Cosmic Kettle & The Flying Saucerers + Sound Concern Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $12.25.

Duncan Graham & His Co-Accused + Terry Serio The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 5pm. $7.

Gary Johns Trio

Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free.

Glenn Esmond Fortune Of War, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

LJ The Mill Hotel, Milperra. 12pm. Free.

Lonesome Train Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. Free.

Matt Lyon Penrith Panthers, Penrith. 2pm. Free.

Michael Fryar The Rivo Hotel, Riverstone. 4pm. Free.

Spectrum Fest - feat: Double Chamber + Vodvile + Dionysis + Breaking Point + Amortise + Grim Demise + Shatter The Crown Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 4pm. $10.

Steve Crocker Wentworth Hotel, Homebush West. 2pm.

Free.

Sunday Social - feat: The Ambassadors Bridge Hotel, Rozelle.

3pm. Free.

Ted Nash Fortune Of War, The Rocks. 1pm. Free.

Tracy McNeil And The GoodLife Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville.

4:30pm. Free.

Yours Truly + Forever Ends Here + Vlado + We Take The Night + Set In Motion Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 1pm. $15.

MONDAY JULY 4 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

wed

thu

29

30

June

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

June

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

01 July (10:00PM - 1:40AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

5:45PM  8:45PM

sat

sun

02

03

July

July

(8:30PM - 12:00AM

(10:00PM - 1:15AM)

mon

4:30PM  7:30PM

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

04 July

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

John Maddox Duo Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Live & Original @ The Corridor Corridor Bar, Newtown. 7pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: Russell Neal Kelly’s On King, Newtown. 7:30pm.

Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

tue

05 July

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

34 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Latin & Jazz Open Mic Night The World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. Free.

Sonic Mayhem Orchestra Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. Free.

The Monday Jam feat: The New Ojezz House Band + Local DJs The Basement, Circular Quay. 8pm. $5.

Dan Spillane Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.

Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Gravemind + A Night In Texas + Iconoclast + To The Grave + Absolution +

Born To Run

WEDNESDAY JUNE 29

DJs Imperial Hotel, Erskineville.

8pm. $26.

Shine For Kids Fundraiser - Feat: Christa Hughes + Danielle Cormack + Grace Knight + Debbie Spillane + Mel Buttle + Jeff Duff + Virginia Lillye + Peter Northcote The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $64.

Urban Guerillas + Hardon Colliders + Steph Miller Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 7:30pm. $10.

The Villebillies + Colin Lillie The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $5.

THURSDAY JUNE 30 Bears With Guns + Liam Gale And The Ponytails + Pirra Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 9pm. Free.

Ears Have Ears Live #4 Feat: Alaska Orchestra + Rainbow Chan FBi Live, Alexandria. 9pm.

Free.

Fat Yahoozah + On The Stoop + Mick Stuart + Live At The Sly DJs Slyfox, Enmore. 7:30pm.

Free.

Thomston + Glades + Leure Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 7pm. $15.

Tracy McNeil And The GoodLife Union Hotel, Newtown. 8pm.

Free.

SATURDAY JULY 2 Brighton Up Bar’s 4th Birthday - Feat: Joseph Liddy & The Skeleton Horse + Wild Honey + West Thebarton Brothel Party + Loose Tooth + Hunch + DJs Money For Nothing + Soundly Sounds Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst.

7pm. Free.

Chase The Sun Oxford Circus, Darlinghurst.

7pm. $15.

Falling Joys + The Hummingbirds Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7:30pm. $30.

Independence Day Party - Feat: Ross Tipper + Pat Capocci + DJ King Opp Miss Peaches Soul Food Kitchen, Newtown. 6pm. Free.

Pigsty In July 2016 - Feat: Shihad + King Tide + Lepers & Crooks + Justin Ngariki & The Darstardly Bastards + Sea Legs + Claire Anne Taylor + Dashville Progress Society + In Motion + Masco Sound System Dashville, Lower Belford.

10:30am. $48.

SUNDAY JULY 3

FRIDAY JULY 1

Satellite V Shady Pines, Darlinghurst. 6pm.

Free.

Born To Run: The Songs Of Springsteen + The Willing Ponies Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8:30pm. Free.

Cosmic Kettle & The Flying Saucerers + Sound Concern Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $12.25.

Joe Moore + Stephanie Grace Brass Monkey, Cronulla.

7:30pm. $30.

Duncan Graham & His CoAccused + Terry Serio The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville.

5pm. $7.

Low Down Riders The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

Yours Truly + Forever Ends Here + Vlado + We Take The Night + Set In Motion Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 1pm. $15.

The Delta Riggs + The Pretty Littles + I Oh You

Initiate Jericho + Our Anchored Hearts + Totalotarian Bald Faced Stag Hotel, Leichhardt. 4pm. $20.

TUESDAY JULY 5 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Co Pilot Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.

Live Rock & Roll Karaoke

Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

Olly Friend Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8pm.

Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Bucket Lounge Presents – Live & Originals Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Live & Original @ Mr Falcon’s - feat: Stefan Milenkovic + Lola Sola + Spines Mr Falcon’s, Glebe.

7:30pm. Free.

Live Music @ Manning Manning Bar, Camperdown. 3pm.

Free.

Ruby Tuesday feat: Russell Neal + Heidi Toluzzi Ruby L’otel, Rozelle.

7:30pm. Free.

Songsonstage feat: Ingrid Mae Gladstone Hotel, Dulwich Hill.

7:30pm. Free.

Songsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin Kelly’s On King, Newtown. 8pm.

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 and James Di Fabrizio

five things WITH

ANNA

EARTHCORE IN THE PARK

PIRUPA POPS IN

Earthcore, the outdoor dance festival that takes place each year in regional Victoria, is bringing its seed to Sydney for a one-off ‘friendly day doof’ this November. As part of the Earthcore In The Park program, which will also see the party extend to Perth, some of the festival’s biggest names will make their way to a to-be-announced location 30 kilometres to Sydney’s west. Leading the lineup are techno selector Ambivalent, psytrance act Bliss, tech house don Boris Brejcha and trance man Sean Tyas. The rest of the bill features Ann Clue, Bryan Kearney, Coming Soon, Groove Delight, John 00 Fleming, Morten Granau, Vini Vici, Vitalic and more to be announced. Earthcore In The Park will visit Sydney’s west on Saturday November 26.

One of the leading lights on the Italian tech house scene, Pirupa, is bringing his sweet beats to Australia for a fly-by-night tour this July. On Sunday July 24, the ‘Party Non Stop’ hitmaker will play his only two shows Down Under: first at Melbourne’s Revolver during the day, then at Home Nightclub for S.A.S.H By Night.

Pirupa’s reputation for excellence has seen him handle official remixes for Jamiroquai and BBC 1’s Pete Tong, while he’s also been kept busy with the advancement of his own label, Nonstop.

Now this is an Italian lifestyle we can get behind.

LISTEN OUT LINEUP

Now in its fourth year, dance music festival Listen Out is back with a hand-picked selection of artists for 2016.

Taking to the stage for this year will be the likes of A$AP Ferg, Anderson .Paak and The Free Nationals, Baauer, Claptone, Cosmo’s Midnight, Gorgon City

Pirupa

(DJ set), Jauz, Joy., LDRU, Ngaiire, RÜFÜS in their last Australian shows for this year, Stormzy, Sui Zhen (DJ set), Tash Sultana, Willow Beats and Yung Lean. It all goes down Saturday October 1 at Centennial Park.

MY PRECIOUS

This weekend’s edition of Cargo Bar’s latest Saturday night party, Precious Cargo, boasts another strong lineup.

Presented in conjunction with those fun-loving people

at Red Bull, Precious Cargo launched two weeks ago with international headliner Nicky Night Time. Now, dancefloor revellers are looking forward to a lineup of Kormak, Fingers and Danny Simms, taking over the harbourside location on Saturday July 2.

UPPING THE ANTE

1.

Growing Up My father was also a DJ and a club owner; I have a strong memory of going with him record shopping when I was just ten years old. We used to stay the entire day listening to all kinds of music in the stores, trying to find good records.

When I was 14 I started going to his club and I fell in love with underground music.

Inspirations When I started, my 2. biggest inspiration was

DJ Marky. His technique and the atmosphere he creates was magical. When I saw him DJing for the first time I knew I wanted to do the same. Then later I discovered Laurent Garnier, Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson. Kraftwerk, who are also a big influence for me – they are the real pioneers of our sound and without them the music we listen to today wouldn’t exist.

Your Crew I got into music 3. ’cause of my dad. He told

me to try to be a DJ after I was complaining about the resident DJ at his club.

Once I started, everything made sense in my life – I found something that I loved and wanted to be for the rest of my life. I was only 15 years old at the time. I am 31 today and I’ve never worked with anything else besides music – I had some difficult times with no gigs, with no labels wanting to sign my music, no money and a lot of frustration, but I never gave up. When you

thebrag.com

It’ll be a mix of old-school and new-school, but without doubt all things hip hop, when the Ante Up night takes root at Play Bar this Friday July 1. From the ’90s to now, and rhymes to grime, the triple threat of White Girls, Dewis and Krystel Diola will get Surry Hills pumping for a good time. White Girls, separately known as Kas3One and xTrilliams, have tunes from a new EP to share, while Diola and Dewis will each bring their smooth sets to an enthusiastic crowd. Represent.

love what you do it is easier to deal with these things. For the last three years I have been working with a good agent/manager and we have accomplished some nice things – she takes care of my stuff when I am touring and making music.

The Music You Make and Play 4.

I play and produce techno and techno house. I like to do it sometimes more percussive, more peak time tracks, and sometimes more melodic and trippy; I think it gives more dynamics to the set, to create a nice journey for the audience. Right now I am playing most of my own tracks but I also play other producers’ tracks that I really like, like Wehbba, Maceo Plex, Pig&Dan and Trevino.

TRIPLE THE FUN

Boy oh boy, does Chinese Laundry have it in for you this weekend. Not one, not two, but three high-velocity spinners are coming to the decks this Saturday July 2, including a couple of special international guests. Dirtybird gal J. Phlip tops the list, the San Franciscan on a mission to deliver a fun-loving yet mind-blowing set. Germany’s Sharam Jey will be there too, plus Jüan Du Sol, whom local audiences will recognise from his work with none other than RÜFÜS.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

I’ve been on the scene for

16 years and every day I discover some amazing new music and producers – I never get bored. Techno is in the spotlight right now in underground music so I am enjoying this current moment. Some acts that have blown my mind recently are Caribou and Bon Iver.

What: Futurism: The Motorik 5th Birthday Festival With: Mark Pritchard, Motorik Vibe Council, Stereogamous, Groove Terminator and more Where: Secret location When: Saturday July 2

SLICE IT, DICE IT

Mashd N Kutcher

PACHA GETS MASHD

Mashd N Kutcher might be two of Australia’s best examples of musicians who took the traditional training of their youth and turned themselves into a wicked electronic act. Once a drummer and a pianist, these lads formed a duo in 2013, and from the start they made it a mission to develop not only their production and DJing skills, but also the scope of their live show. InTheMix voted them Australia’s number one DJ duo last year, and they’ll bring the double down to Ivy for Pacha this Saturday July 2.

Marquee Sydney is getting a hefty slice of EDM this weekend in the form of Slice N Dice. These mysterious masked DJs from down in Melbourne have already shared the stage with the likes of Deadmau5, Hardwell and Avicii, thanks to their residency at the touring GoodLife festival, and they’ve extended themselves to other events like Tomorrowland and Ultra Music Festival to boot.

They’ll fi ll the dancefl oor at The Star this Friday July 8.

BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 35

club guide g

club picks p up all night out all week...

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

club pick of the week THURSDAY JUNE 3 0

What So Not

Enmore Theatre

What So Not + A-Trak

HIP HOP & R&B

7:30pm. $51.89.

HIP HOP & R&B

WEDNESDAY JUNE 29 HIP HOP & R&B

Solid Gold - feat: Fleximama + Ma$E & $Ean’Don + Cache One Freda’s, Chippendale.

7pm. Free.

CLUB NIGHTS Birdcage - feat: Various DJs Slyfox, Enmore. 9pm.

Free.

SBW - feat: Jonski Babysham + Resident DJs Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Sosueme - feat: A.D.K.O.B + Dena Amy + Owen Rabbit + Bobby Gray + Haans Job + Krissy Jaman Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

The Wall The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.

THURSDAY JUNE 30 CLUB NIGHTS Bookclub - feat: Basenji (DJ Set) + Space Junk Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 9pm. xxx

9pm. $60.20.

Trax Return - feat: Murda One + Chris White + Foreign Dub + Jah Tung + Akul + Micapam + Slice + Dtech Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Welcome To Of Leisure - feat: Young Franco + GRMM + Tyler Touché + Muto + Of Leisure DJs + Special Guests Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville.

8pm. Free.

Welove - feat: Ron Costa + Nick Reverse + Anya + Mantra Collective + Space Junk + Dan Zina + Roberto Carrano + Jackson Winter + Lee Novell + Mitchell Fowler + Jason Rascal + Matt Guy + Shepz + Methodix + Alec Sander + Gonzo + Surkess + Kamorta Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $15.

Zannon Marquee, Pyrmont.

10pm. $13.40.

Free.

Crate Diggers Thursday - feat: DJ Dave Cowan + DJ Kudo + Greg Williams Play Bar, Surry Hills.

6pm. Free.

Femme Fetale The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

House Keeping - feat: DJ Conor Boylan + Guests Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Thandi Phoenix + Shantan Wantan Ichiban Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 7:30pm. Free.

Toho Nights - feat: Jay Katz + Special Guests Goros, Surry Hills.

8pm. Free.

What So Not + A-Trak Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $51.89.

FRIDAY JULY 1 CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Bassic - feat: Zeke Beats + Blackjack + Goldbrix + Ebony + Squeef + Bluegrass Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $17.70.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

36 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

Factory Fridays feat: Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. Free.

Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks.

5pm. Free.

Friday Frothers - feat: DJ Babysham + Guests Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Fridays At Zeta Zeta Bar, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Harbour Club Fridays The Watershed Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. Free.

Harry Potter Party Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 9pm. $42.79.

Imaginary DJ Crew - feat: Baron Castle + Francis Xavier + Michelle Owen 77, Darlinghurst. 8pm.

Free.

Loco Friday - feat: DJs On Rotation The Slip Inn, Sydney.

5pm. Free.

Matthias Meyer + Made In Paris + Handsdown + Leighboy + Ron Maran + Jozef Conor Slyfox, Enmore. 10pm. $33.

Memo Fridays - feat: Resident DJs Cargo Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. Free.

Scubar Fridays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney. 8pm.

Free.

Snails + Enschway + Mego + Blanke + Deckhead + Propaganda Metro Theatre, Sydney.

Ante Up - feat: White Girls + Dewis + Krystel Diola Play Bar, Surry Hills.

6pm. Free.

DJ Brenny B-Sides Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 8pm. Free.

SATURDAY JULY 2 DJs Husky And Murray Lake Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 6pm. Free.

CLUB NIGHTS

A Party For The People - feat: Gabby B2B Shamus + Matt Weir B2B Robbie Lowe + Lebrond B2B Shaun Bro + Jackson Winter Oxford Hotel, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $15.

Argyle Saturdays feat: Tass + Tap-Tap + Minx + Crazy Caz The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Clique Sydney Cruise Bar, Sydney.

8:30pm. $20.

DJ Matt Ellis AKA Matty O Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm.

Free.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

Father Weekly Grand Launch - feat: Myrne + Hatch + Luude + Holly Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm. $10.

Frat Saturdays - feat: Danny Simms + Jayowens Side Bar, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

Halfway Crooks Atl Edition - feat: DJ Leon Smith + Levins + Captain Franco Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. $11.

Harry Potter Party Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 9pm.

$42.79.

It’s Time - feat: Marcus King + DJ Salami + Date Night DJs Freda’s, Chippendale.

6pm. Free.

Kings Cross Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 5pm.

Free.

Lndry - feat: J.Phlip + Juan Du Sol + Sharam Jey + Groove Terminator + Made In Paris + U-Khan + Elijah Scadden + Crux + King Lee + Fingers + DJ Just 1 Chinese Laundry, Sydney. 9pm. $22.90.

Masif Saturdays feat: Hard Driver + Phrantic + Fanatics Space, Sydney. 7pm. $33.70.

Motorik Futurism 5th Birthday - feat: Anna + Mark Pritchard + Motorik Vibe Council + Human Movement + Groove Terminator + Stereogamous + Made In Paris + Wordlife + Mclean & Mai Secret Location, Sydney. 3pm. $27.50.

My Place Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Bar100, The Rocks.

8pm. Free.

Pacha - feat: Mashd N Kutcher Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $38.

Precious Cargo - feat: Kormak + Fingers + Danny Simms Cargo Lounge, Sydney. 10pm. $10.

Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs + Special Guests Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. $10.

Scubar Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney.

8:30pm. Free.

Soda Saturdays Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 6pm. Free.

Something Else feat: Dubspeeka + Kiko + Ben Nott & Dan Bayton + Scruby & Aron Chiarella + James Petrou + Wonky Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $16.50.

Spice X Monos feat: Ant J Steep + Rodean + Brosnan Perera + Tezzel + Special Guest Barrio Cellar, Sydney.

9pm. $11.

The Shafterparty feat: Willam + Special Guests The Shift Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $25.

SUNDAY JULY 3 HIP HOP & R&B

One Day Sundays feat: Joyride + Adit + Lupi + Ziggy + Flex Mami + Jayteehazard + Radge Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 1pm. $25.

CLUB NIGHTS Beresford Sundays - feat: DJs On Rotation

+ Jason Rascal + Matt Guy + Shepz + Methodix + Alec Sander + Gonzo + Surkess + Kamorta Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst.

10pm. $15.

SATURDAY JULY 2

Thandi Phoenix

WEDNESDAY JUNE 29 Sosueme - Feat: A.D.K.O.B + Dena Amy + Owen Rabbit + Bobby Gray + Haans Job + Krissy Jaman Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

THURSDAY JUNE 30 Bookclub - Feat: Basenji (DJ Set) + Space Junk Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Thandi Phoenix + Shantan Wantan Ichiban Soda Factory, Surry Hills.

7:30pm. Free.

FRIDAY JULY 1 Bassic - Feat: Zeke Beats + Blackjack + Goldbrix + Ebony + Squeef + Bluegrass Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $17.70.

Halfway Crooks Atl Edition - Feat: DJ Leon Smith + Levins + Captain Franco Plan B Small Club, Sydney.

9pm. $11.

Lndry - Feat: J.Phlip + Juan Du Sol + Sharam Jey + Groove Terminator + Made In Paris + U-Khan + Elijah Scadden + Crux + King Lee + Fingers + DJ Just 1 Chinese Laundry, Sydney.

9pm. $22.90.

Motorik Futurism 5th Birthday - Feat: Anna + Mark Pritchard + Motorik Vibe Council + Human Movement + Groove Terminator + Stereogamous + Made In Paris + Wordlife + Mclean & Mai Secret Location, Sydney. 3pm. $27.50.

Something Else - Feat: Dubspeeka + Kiko + Ben Nott & Dan Bayton + Scruby & Aron Chiarella + James Petrou + Wonky Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst.

10pm. $16.50.

Harry Potter Party Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 9pm. $42.79.

Spice X Monos - Feat: Ant J Steep + Rodean + Brosnan Perera + Tezzel + Special Guest Barrio Cellar, Sydney. 9pm. $11.

Imaginary DJ Crew - Feat: Baron Castle + Francis Xavier + Michelle Owen 77, Darlinghurst. 8pm. Free.

The Shafterparty - Feat: Willam + Special Guests The Shift Bar, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $25.

Matthias Meyer + Made In Paris + Handsdown + Leighboy + Ron Maran + Jozef Conor Slyfox, Enmore. 10pm. $33.

SUNDAY JULY 3

Snails + Enschway + Mego + Blanke + Deckhead + Propaganda Metro Theatre, Sydney. 9pm. $60.20.

One Day Sundays - Feat: Joyride + Adit + Lupi + Ziggy + Flex Mami + Jayteehazard + Radge Factory Theatre, Marrickville.

1pm. $25.

Welcome To Of Leisure Feat: Young Franco + Grmm + Tyler Touché + Muto + Of Leisure DJs + Special Guests Marrickville Bowling Club, Marrickville. 8pm. Free.

S.A.S.H By Day - Feat: Mo’funk + Kali + Kyle Burchill & Matt Guy + Tom Ackroyd Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 2pm. $15.

Welove - Feat: Ron Costa + Nick Reverse + Anya + Mantra Collective + Space Junk + Dan Zina + Roberto Carrano + Jackson Winter + Lee Novell + Mitchell Fowler

S.A.S.H By Night - Feat: Alexkid + Wehbba + Kasier Waldon + Dan Zina + Casting Out + Chien D’our + Matt Weir + Kerry Wallace Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $15.

The Beresford Hotel, Surry Hills. 12pm.

Free.

DJs Somatik + Husky Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 4pm. Free.

Picnic Social Tatler, Darlinghurst.

4pm. Free.

S.A.S.H By Day Feat: Mo’Funk + Kali + Kyle Burchill & Matt Guy + Tom Ackroyd Greenwood Hotel, North Sydney. 2pm. $15.

S.A.S.H By Night - Feat: Alexkid + Wehbba + Kasier Waldon + Dan Zina + Casting Out + Chien

D’Our + Matt Weir + Kerry Wallace Home Nightclub, Darling Harbour. 9pm. $15.

Sin Sundays The Argyle, The Rocks. 7pm. Free.

MONDAY JULY 4 CLUB NIGHTS

I Love Mondays Side Bar, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Lost In The Zoo feat: Open Decks 9 To 11 + Anthony Elia + Anya B2B Surkess

B2B Nick Reverse + Kazi Zoo Project, Potts Point. 9pm. Free.

TUESDAY JULY 5 CLUB NIGHTS

Coyote Tuesdays The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. $10.

Side Bar Tuesdays feat: Black Diamond Hearts Side Bar, Sydney.

9pm. Free.

Terrible Tuesdays Slyfox, Enmore. 5pm.

Free. thebrag.com

Mo'Funk K a li Kyle Burchill & Matt Guy Tom Ackroyd Greenwood Hotel 2pm to 10pm

Alexkid Wehbba Kasier Waldon Dan Zina Casting out Chien d'Ours Matt Weir Kerry Wallace

www.sash.n net.a au

HOME Nightclub 9pm till 4am

DRINK SPECIAL

10 COCKTAILS $

10PM-12AM FRI & SAT NIGHTS 199 ENMORE ROAD thebrag.com

(DJ SET)

W W W. S LY F O X . S Y D N E Y BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16 :: 37

snap

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

thebrag.com/snaps

up all night out all week . . .

Off The Record Dance and Electronica with Tyson Wray xx

W

e’re neck-deep in the European summer, which means almost no electronic acts want to even consider coming to Australia due to our godawful weather and the fact that they can make ten times the cash over there (but really who knows after Brexit?). Even if they did fancy coming Down Under, the promoters that have the contacts are too busy focusing on their food-based venues now, as seems to be the natural order these days. These may be dark times, but the pulled pork is on point.

Except I hate pork. Strapping in, braving the cold and slaying house parties is the modus operandi for the next few months.

Thankfully, there are still one or two good tours to look forward to (plus a load of shit ones for the people that can’t feel the cold because they’re jacked up on meth and love hardstyle/abusing innocent people on the Nightrider home). At least the release schedule seems optimistic.

Let’s ball.

RECOMMENDED Ron Costa

FRIDAY JULY 1

Subjected TBA

Ron Costa Burdekin Hotel

FRIDAY DECEMBER 2 – SUNDAY DECEMBER 4

Matthias Meyer Slyfox

SATURDAY JULY 16

Dense & Pika Chinese Laundry

SATURDAY JULY 23

Delano Smith Café Del Mar

Subjected Bitta techno to lighten the mood? I mean dark, brooding techno. Oh. The Berlinbased enigma Subjected is coming our way. This dude kinda scares the shit out of me. Founder of the Vault Series label, he’s also scored releases on the likes of Affin, Eternal Drive Recordings and Prosthetic Pressings. The #38 Sleaze podcast still does my head in.

Can’t sleep, clown’ll eat me. Flanked

by Adrian Bell, Magda Bytnerowicz, Sebastian Bayne, Gav Whalan and Jordan Peters, it’s going down on Saturday July 23. Venue TBA.

PICS :: AM

s.a.s.h by day

Duke Dumont has just announced another return to Australia, so if you’re into bullshit wannabe tech house for the plastic fantastic crowd, then head to his Facebook for the details as I don’t have enough inches to waste them here.

Fun fact: when he was in Australia for Listen Out a few years ago he slid into the DMs of a friend of mine trying to get her to come to his hotel for “fun”. – xoxo Gossip Wray

26:06:16 :: Greenwood Hotel :: 36 Blue Street North Sydney 9964 9477

seen my cultural appropriation pants?

That said, my sister who doesn’t talk to me anymore liked it on Facebook so maybe I’m just the wrong demographic.

Tour rumours: ol’ mate Nina Kraviz has already locked in her return to Australia.

Details coming soon.

Best releases this week: well, defi nitely not the Ryan Elliott Fabric mix. Wake me up when it’s over. Snoozefest. I’m feeling lukewarm about Kane Ikin’s Modern Pressure (on Type) and Luigi Tozzi’s Deep Blue: Volume 2 (Hypnus).

It’s really been one of those weeks when you just want to go back and listen to Prince Of Denmark’s Live At Planet Uterus recording and drift off.

Duke Dumont

Speaking of Listen Out. The lineup suuuucks. If your biggest pull to the electronic crowd is motherfucking Claptone then you know you’re in deep trouble. That said, everyone who thought the festival might land Chance The Rapper deserves to be disappointed.

A$AP Ferg and Yung Lean instead?

Cool, those guys are on the cutting edge of relevancy. Let me go and #rapsquat in 2012 before I get ready. Has anyone

It’s called: Jägermeister Winter Chalet Partie s It sounds like: A winter wonderland of mixed DJ beats till late.

Sell it to us: Winter-themed, Alpine-esque atmos phere featuring a Jägermeister pop-up bar with exclusive Jäger drinks specials – Mulled Spice Apple Mule and Jägermeister Spice. The ultimate after-work drinks spot to warm up and party on.

The bit we’ll remember in the AM: Jägermeiste

r ski shots!

Crowd specs: A crowd ready to loosen the tie and get their winter groove on.

Wallet damage: Depends how much Jäger meister you can handle!

Drink specials range from $9 for Spiced Jäger shots to $12 for a delicious Mulled Spice Apple Mule. Line the stomach first by getting down early and taking advantage of our $1 chicken wings during happy hour.

Claptone

Where: Munich Brauhaus The Rocks, Cnr Playfa ir & Argyle St, The Rocks When: Every Friday in June and July from 5pm

38 :: BRAG :: 669 :: 29:06:16

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

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

Claptone photo by Sabrina Feige

party profile

jägermeister winter chalet parties

Subsonic Music Festival: Lee Scratch Perry, Mad Professor, Josh Wink, Ben UFO + more Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort

15 ARTISTS - 3 HUGE WEEKENDS

WEEK 1

WEEK 2

WEEK 3

JULY 8-9

JULY 15-16

JULY 22-23

YOLANDA BE COOL GLOVER

TENZIN HELENA LEGEND

TOM BUDIN BROOKLYN

DOORS FREE BEFORE 8PM THEARGYLEROCKS.COM 18 ARGYLE STREET THE ROCKS

ALL STOCK MUST GO!!

BRAG CDS 2016 - 275 x 385.indd 1

30/05/2016 9:33 AM

ANNANDALE 55 Parramatta Rd

CLOSING DOWN

SALE

% 20-80 OFF RRP

ELECTRIC GUITARS • ACCOUSTIC GUITARS AMPLIFIERS • ACCESSORIES

! !

R E F F O ! !

D E N S U A F E R S R U E F F E O E K L B A N MA O S A E R O N

E 2016 N U J h 0t ENDS 3

DEALS NEVER TO BE REPEATED!!

The RRP is the recommended retail price as set by the Australian distributor of the product. While stocks last, some stocks are limited.

Products pictured are for illustration purposes only. Gallins reserves the right to determine what constitutes a reasonable offer and may reject or accept any offers at their discretion p

p p

y

g

y

j

p

y