Brag#682

ISSUE NO. 682 SEPTEMBER 28, 2016

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

MUSIC, FILM, THEATRE + MORE

BURNING BRIGHT

E R I F A H C T A K Plus

THE PANICS STEVEN WILSON AUSMUTEANTS LACUNA COIL EMILY WURR AMAR A

THE HARD ACHES

JULIA JACKLIN

MAR AT/SADE

On the intersection of music and ecology.

What do you do when the rider runs out?

Her life pre and post ‘Pool Party’.

Theatre’s purpose in a CGI world.

RAISED FIST AND MUCH MORE

RENAE TITCHMARSH

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Meet you in the forest

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BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: .

music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Anna Wilson, Alex Chetverikov and Emily Norton

five things WITH

THOM MOORE FROM WILDHONEY years old and it was 50 cents at a garage sale. A few weeks later I was doing ‘Jailhouse Rock’ at the year four talent show. That was the first time I was motivated to pick up a microphone and have a crack. Ever since I’ve been influenced by so many artists, from people like Brian Wilson and Bob Dylan to bands like The Kinks.

Your Band We play live as a five piece.

3.

The lineup has evolved since I

Growing Up My earliest musical memory 1. would be learning to sing and how to play the piano with my grandmother.

I guess that’s where The Sound Of Music entered my life: she loved the musicals of the ’50s and ’60s. I got

my love and appreciation of melody from her for sure.

Inspirations The first cassette I ever 2. bought was Elvis Presley’s 20

Golden Hits Vol 1. I was about nine

started the whole thing about two years ago. It’s cool because we have so much to work with, in terms of multiple voices and multi-instrumentalists. As our tour van playlist would testify, there’s a variety of tastes among us all, but I think the common thread is a love of guitar bands, old and new. Other

than music itself, everyday life and experience are what shape the songs.

The Music You Make I bring in songs I’m writing: we 4. then work them up and go perform the ones that stick. We’re touring with the Lulu Raes at the moment – their song ‘Burnout’ is great – it's all over Australia. After that we’re heading out again with Brisbane legends The Belligerents. So far we’ve released one EP and two singles, the latest of which is called ‘Spirit’. We recorded it with Jack Moffitt (The Preatures) at his studio in Sydney.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

For a while it seemed like no-one cared about guitar bands. Maybe

Where: Selina’s / Newtown Social Club / Beach Road Hotel / Moonshine Bar, Hotel Steyne When: Thursday October 6 / Saturday October 8 / Wednesday October 19 / Thursday October 20

Cub Sport

MANAGING EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 DEPUTY EDITOR: Joseph Earp ONLINE EDITOR: James Di Fabrizio SUB-EDITOR: Sam Caldwell STAFF WRITERS: Joseph Earp, Adam Norris, Augustus Welby NEWS: Alex Chetverikov, James Di Fabrizio, Anna Wilson

WildHoney photo by Thomas Champion

Modern Baseball

we’re turning a corner again and there’ll be more opportunities for songs to get heard that don’t rely too heavily on production. It seems like there’re a lot of cool groups emerging at the moment: for example, just yesterday I was real impressed by the first single from a Newcastle band called Brightness. A few weeks ago I also saw a Sydney band called Hair Die that were awesome. I think Brighton Up Bar, Oxford Circus, and Newtown Social Club are your best bets in terms of venues to play and see other bands.

ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant PHOTOGRAPHERS: 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: Anna Wilson, Emily Norton, Alex Chetverikov, Angela Antenero REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Prudence Clark, Tom Clift, Anita Connors, Christie Eliezer, Emily Gibb, Tegan Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Sarah Little, 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

BATTER UP

American indie rockers Modern Baseball have announced a show in Sydney at the start of next year. The band were here earlier in 2016 on their first Australian tour and evidently loved playing for us so much they’re returning with special guests Camp Cope for a series of shows. The band is well-known for its enthralling mix of punk textures and pop hooks, and its music is both inviting and energised, making the upcoming tour an exciting proposition indeed. Catch Modern Baseball at the Metro Theatre on Wednesday January 4.

Andrew Bird

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

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Brisbane’s Cub Sport will hit Sydney when they close out 2016 with a sprawling east coast tour. The band have been going from strength to strength since their debut album This Is Our Vice took things to the next level, wowing critics and audiences alike, and expanding on the group’s already not-to-be-ignored fan base. Their latest single, ‘Come On Mess Me Up’ has been receiving radio play across the country and its poppy textures have been singularly well received. The group will play Oxford Art Factory on Friday November 18 and Saturday November 19.

SOUR CHERRIES

Southern-rock saints be praised, Black Stone Cherry are on their way back to us!

Those good ol’ Kentucky boys just didn’t get enough of Australia when they supported Steel Panther back in June, so they’re returning with a full headlining tour this April.

It’s been an amazing year for the group, with the release of their latest record Kentucky fi nally allowing the band to break in to the global mainstream. The 2017 tour will see the group taking on some of the country’s most iconic venues, including Sydney’s Factory Theatre on Friday April 21, so be sure you save the date.

Lianne La Havas

DOGFIGHT

FLIP 'EM THE BIRD

Violin-weilding pop virtuoso Andrew Bird will return to the Opera House next April for an exclusive show, six years on from his last Sydney appearance. The classically trained musician is set to rotate with a four-piece band between whimsical favourites and critically acclaimed works from his 2016 album Are You Serious.

Bird’s last Opera House performance saw the musician perform to a full house, at the time receiving praise enough to propel him to the top of festival bills. Andrew Bird will make his rare appearance on Saturday April 15 at the Sydney Opera House.

Jazz pioneers Snarky Puppy will hit Sydney while in the country for Bluesfest. Picking up a Grammy for Best R&B Performance in 2014 and Best Contemporary Instrumental Album in 2016, their 11th album Culcha Vulcha is a powerful collection of anthemic choruses and stomping melodies. They’ll hit the Enmore Theatre on Monday April 10.

BOW DOWN TO BONNIE

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Bonnie Raitt is coming to Sydney while in the country for Bluesfest. The respected guitarist, singer and accomplished songwriter has forged a path to become an institution in American music. Covering everything from roots to folk, rock and back again, Raitt has been active since the ‘70s picking up illustrious accolades throughout her wide ranging career. She’ll hit the State Theatre on Friday April 7.

HAVING LA HAVAS

English singer-songwriter Lianne La Havas has announced a special solo show. Just announced as the main support on Coldplay’s upcoming Australian stadium dates, and already having opened for the superstars across the UK, Europe and Latin America, La Havas will be ready and raring to wow local audiences in solo mode on her return. The eclectic artist last graced our shores in 2013, playing four lauded Sydney Festival shows, as well as Melbourne and Brisbane headline performances. She’ll hit Oxford Art Factory on Monday December 12.

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Cub Sport photo by Joe Agius

DISTRIBUTION: Wanna get the BRAG? Email distribution@ furstmedia.com.au or phone 03 9428 3600

GO SPORTS!

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BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 7

live & local

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Alexander Chetverikov, Emily Norton and Joseph Earp

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

five things WITH

COLIN JONES FROM COLIN JONES AND THE DELTA REVUE Inspirations As a child I was introduced to a lot of 2.

North American pop and rock’n’roll from the

’50s, ’60s and ’70s. We were from the US so that was the music my father grew up on.

Things like The Temptations, The Ink Spots, Curtis Mayfield, The Eagles. It wasn’t until later that I discovered early Delta Blues through researching Bob Dylan and found a well of amazing music that changed what I thought music was good for. Hearing Blind Willy Johnson’s ‘Dark Was The Night’ was a major turning point.

Growing Up Your Band My parents were traveling preachers so I started The Delta Revue four years 1.

3.

I moved a lot as a child. Music was always ago: the lineup has changed quite a bit over there but it never became a serious interest until much later. My brothers played guitar and piano respectively and so I learned bass. We had a small band of brothers and we played around whichever town we were in at the time. I taught myself guitar at 16 and that was probably the beginning of music for me, as it resonates with me today.

that time, but Stephen Pitts, who acts as a sort of band leader and lead guitarist, has been with me from the inception. We studied music together and he acts as an interpreter for me to the other musicians.

Music You Make We are a grunge blues band with a 4. The

hint of croon. Live, you can expect anything from a solo performance to nine-piece band depending on the venue. Our music is fluid – it’s not a record performed live. We recently recorded with JonBoyRock at Music Feeds Studio in St. Peters. There is a record we are yet to release, but our single ‘Mama Don’t Weep’ was released in July.

Music, Right Here, Right Now I think a vibrant music scene exists.

However due to the government’s continued shift away from supporting the arts, it seems to be forcing both venues and artists into a sort of survival instinct that focuses more on money, which stifles creativity and innovation. Frances Martin is consistently pulling amazing artists from across the country into Cafe Lounge for Folkswagon which we have been a part of, playing a residency, for six months straight.

5.

Who: Colin Jones And The Delta Revue Where: Leadbelly Newtown When: Saturday October 1

ISLAND VIBE

Dub. What is it good for? Bloody everything if you ask us. To that end we are singularly excited about the announcement of the full lineup for Island Vibe festival, one of Australia’s premier celebrations of all things reggae, soul, and yes, dub. The dynamic festival will feature appearances from Soulware, Dub Princess, Dubmarine and many many others, so get excited, yeah?

Mesa Cosa have a lot to smile about right now with the crew turning heads the world over.

Now, the band will be heading out on tour bolstered by the release of their latest single.

‘Stone Bone’ is lifted from the group’s upcoming LP, slated for release early next year. In the meantime, the raucous troublemakers will be bringing their music to the masses with an east coast jaunt, sharpening their teeth before some exciting summer festival slots. They’ll play a secret location as part of Satchfest on Saturday December 3.

Mesa Cosa

xxx Sex On Toast photo by Nathalie Alcarin

MESA COSA ES SU COSA

Sex On Toast

Xxx

To that end, we have one double pass to give away, so if a festival celebrating the happiest tunes around sounds like your deal, head over to thebrag.com/freeshit to enter.

Island Vibe runs from Friday October 28 – Sunday October 30 at the beach on North Stradbroke Island in Queensland.

IF YOU WANT TO VIEW PARADISE

Lost Paradise is pleased to announce the latest and greatest round of local artists to join the already awesome lineup. Being added to the bill are Betty & Oswald, Planet, Majun Bu, Mo’funk, Flowertruck and the vivaciously savvy ten-piece, Sex On Toast. All of these doozy musicians will be joining the likes of Sticky Fingers, Flight Facilities and Harts, plus many, many more. Featuring three days and three stages, Lost Paradise is sure to be an event like no other, filled with all kinds of musical magic. It’ll have you boogying all night long, then getting your yoga on during the day to chill out. Lost Paradise will run from Thursday December 29 - Sunday January 1 in Glenworth Valley.

Tim Freedman

DANCE FOR DALLAS

Dallas Frasca just refuse to take a rest. The group will be heading on an absolutely huge world tour, capping off their home run of the globe with a Sydney show. Following a whopper 2015 which saw the band achieve a Top 30 ARIA charting album and play sold-out shows across Europe, the group are also celebrating ten years of hard work together. It’s all capped off with their latest release, new EP Dirt Buzz. They’ll hit Newtown Social Club on Saturday December 3.

FOR FOX SAKE

BLOW UP THE POKIES Josh Pyke and Bob Evans

Those delightful Aussie troubadours Josh Pyke and Bob Evans are set to embark on a coheadlining tour at the end of this year. Following on from their first successful appearance together, Another Evening With Josh Pyke And Bob Evans will bring a well-honed performance of knockout songs from the two friends to fans across the country. Expect some reminiscent repertoire from two of the country’s finest on Friday December 9 at the Factory Theatre.

FUNKY FRENTON

LA-based wonder D Henry Fenton is heading our way, preparing to play not one but two acoustic shows. The golden-voiced troubadour has previously opened shows for the likes of John Mayer, Lissie and The Corrs, meaning his 8 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

style of soft Americana will be perfect for anyone who can’t get enough gentle tales of heartbreak in their lives. His new single, ‘Promised Land’, is out now. Fenton will perform at the Gasoline Pony on Saturday October 8 and Petersham Bowling Club on Sunday October 9.

Thunder Foxphoto by Noah van der Veer

DOUBLE TROUBLE

The social movement Proudly Pokies Free has announced its campaign launch, to be held next month. The mantra of the group is about reducing harm and addiction caused by the availability of pokies across the country, with their aim to celebrate and promote pokies-free venues in Sydney. The launch of the campaign will include performances by Tim Freedman (The Whitlams), Joyride, WildHoney and Bad Deep DJs, with talks from guest speakers and appearances by secret guests to be announced only at the event. It’s an important event, designed to highlight a singularly important issue. The Proudly Pokies Free Campaign Launch takes place at Oxford Art Factory on Sunday October 23.

The genius of the organisers behind Live At The Sly knows no bounds, as they announce another stellar lineup for next week’s show. Sydney group The Melting Caps, a merger of members from Crossing Red Lines and Flick The Bean, headline with their single launch, bringing a strangely effective mesh of reggae and punk to the night.

Eight-piece locals Angry Little Gods will pump up the volume with a gassy brass section, and Thunder Fox will bring some funky flavour to the stage.

And best of all, this awesomeness is free! Go check out Live At The Sly at the Slyfox, Enmore on Thursday September 29 from 8pm.

Thunder Fox

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Which agent jokingly (?) told this column he wants to put piranha in his office fishbowl to “get in the mood”?

• Is ra e’s film lea e orgi e e released recently “inspired” by his ie album?

• Why was LGBT radio station JOY 94.9’s forced to evacuate the premises due to an email threatening a bomb? Go to o .org.a to hear JOY president e bert and CEO e e o e talk about it.

• Is re e to not only returning to TV to do an o gh o e-style interview show for Nine, but also currently in talks with two major radio networks?

• r ce got paid a tribute by the Minnesota Vikings team, who he was a fan of and wrote ‘Purple And Gold’ for in 2010. For the team’s first game of the season, it got a gospel group to sing ‘Purple Rain’ while the field was lit up in purple.

• In the meantime, the official tribute to

Prince is on Thursday October 13 at the 18,500-capacity Xcel Energy Centre in St Paul, Minnesota, headlined by Stevie Wonder, with Chaka Khan, John Mayer, Christina Aguilera, Tori Kelly, Bilal, Anita Baker, Doug E Fresh, Mint Condition, Judith Hill and Liv Warfield.

• ame m a a’s ‘The Less I Know The Better’ and he a a che ’ ‘Frankie Sinatra’ have had multiple nominations at the UK Music Video Awards, along with those by David Bowie, Beyoncé, Radiohead, Massive Attack, Coldplay, Christine And The Queens and Jamie xx.

• he ame had the studio audience of he We Willia Sho gasping when he went on to explain the line “ he c e three ar a hia Hol that tho ght” on his song ‘Sauce’. When asked if it was h o , he let out a telling sigh. For m it was a “look” before saying a e was a good friend of his. Then finally, he dropped the bombshell the third was ac h a, Rob Kardashian’s pregnant fi ancée.

• Although it played some well-crated classic rock tunes, Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is closing Classic Rock Digital on Saturday October 1, explaining its success was cutting into Triple M’s audience. In the meantime, SCA is is taking the battle to triple j by rebranding 30 regional stations to Triple M in 2017.

• are eto is to star in and produce an arho biopic.

• c a o e, founder of Mighty Management, is leaving Sydney for Adelaide.

• On ABC’s , mm ar e revealed he got death threats and his children were threatened after telling anti-immigration groups like Reclaim Australia to stop using his songs at their rallies.

• Rapper is on a “Fuck o a r m ” tour through the US, during which he gets the audience to come up onstage to destroy a Trump piñata.

• a o e’s ashes were not scattered at the Burning Man festival, his filmmaker son ca o e has said.

listen on

dhenryfentonandtheelizabethans/promised-land

A survey is being conducted to assess the market share of independent music by genre and revenue. The Australian Independent Record Labels Association (AIR) commissioned Deloitte Access Economics to do it. A credible survey will generate interest from government and brands, and result in changes in royalty and income distribution in certain channels such as public spaces (e.g. fitness centres and shopping centres) or digital.

You’re asked to contribute to the survey. Your data will be secure, but if you have questions, contact e ca rah at m rah e o tte. com.a by r a e tember .

The US music industry is heading back into profit after 20 years of decline. New figures from the Recording Industry Association of America found it made over US$1 billion from paid streaming (services like Spotify and Apple Music) in the first six months of 2016.

Paid streaming grew 112% year-on-year, and now accounts for 30% of all music industry revenue. Add to that other forms of streaming like ad-supported listening (YouTube, Vevo) and satellite radio, and the figure rises to 50% of all industry revenue. Recorded music sales grew 8.1% in 2016 year-over-year in the US. As fans move away from buying music to keep permanently, digital downloads from online stores as iTunes fell 17% to $1 billion in the first half.

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Reclaim The Streets and WestCONnex Action Group have teamed up to stage the danceorientated a e e ar e t a in St Peters on Saturday October 1. Thousands are expected to attend to protest the destruction of 14,000 square metres of Sydney Park and hundreds of trees to make way for the WestConnex tollway.

Sony Music Entertainment Australia’s director of A&R at a is relocating to London after being offered a senior A&R manager role at mo o e ’s Syco Music. Handlin has more than proven his worth at the Aussie company.

He signed some of its biggest domestic acts, including Guy Sebastian, Jessica Mauboy, Justice Crew (their 5 x platinum single ‘Que Sera’ became the longest-running ARIA #1 single by an Oz act, spending nine consecutive weeks at top spot in 2014), The Veronicas, Jai Waetford, Samantha Jade and Peking Duk. He also introduced the successful DNA writing and production team to the major.

26 Sales of e ta’s album o ichi a jumped 260% in the week after it won the UK’s Mercury

e Nashville songwriter oh . o erm , 82, whose songs included hits as ‘Tobacco Road’ and ‘Indian Reservation’. e acid house pioneer a a , a co-founder of Chicago house legends Phuture who released the 12-minute groundbreaking single ‘Acid Tracks’ in 1987. Cause of death unknown but he had a stroke in May. e US rapper ha t o (Carlos Walker), 40, a former e t associate, after his car crashed through a motorway barrier on a highway and caught on fire. He had 11 children with 10 mothers.

Prize for most creative album ic Wee reported. It also jumped 46 places to #13 in the charts. Other nominees also had sales go up.

David Bowie’s lac tar was up 98.4%, Michael Kiwanuka’s o e Hate up 79.5%, Radiohead’s oo Sha e ool up 51%, Kano’s a e he a or up 35.9% and The 1975’s i e t Whe o Slee or o re So ea ti l et So a are O t an 13.4%,

In a first of its kind in Australia, the NSW Government has set up a $30,000 Fellowship to support the professional development of artists with a disability. Developed with Accessible Arts, it is open to mid-career or established musicians as well as those in theatre, visual arts, or writing.

Go to art . .go .a .

The inaugural National Live Music Awards has announced the eight venues at which it will take place, and the 11-person board made up of execs from around the country. They include m o of MusicNSW, Bigsound programmer agg e o , Face The Music programmer ar art e, Live Music Office’s am a gham APRA AMCOS’ ea rm to . The Sydney event will be held at he a eme t, and Melbourne’s at he rt .

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At the last ever show of ’s Rock Or Bust’ tour in Philadelphia, g o g grabbed bassist am from his usual position at the back of the stage and dragged him to the front of the catwalk – allowing the crowd to say goodbye to the 66-year-old, who, after dropping hints in July, confirmed he’s leaving after 39 years. “It’s time for me to step out, that’s all,” he said. AC/DC have no plans for the future (obviously taking a break after a long tour) but r a oh o has indicated he may return after testing a new hearing monitor.

e ta e c heat ra r., leader of Louisiana roots band Buckwheat Zydeco, 68, from lung cancer.

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At the national Australian Hotels Association Awards for Excellence, Double Bay’s The Sheaf took Best Entertainment Venue in the country.

“We love entertaining you and we promise to keep it up!” its operators said.

Select Music’s founder te he a e is now booking Gold Coast electronica pop duo a t g , saying, “Josh and Amy are two incredible talents with big futures ahead of them.” Having just wrapped up their first national tour, Lastlings’ schedule includes EMC:PLAY, Beyond The Valley and FOMO. New single ‘Time’ follows ‘You’, which won them a slot in the triple j Unearthed High comp. Formed late last year, their debut EP from January, realit has cracked one-and-a-half million Spotify plays.

a e Brisbane rapper ao oo o , 27, whose latest track ‘No Remorse’ was on YouTube in March, for dealing in ice. Police investigating a major drug dealer caught the rapper buying from him to sell to others. Brisbane Supreme Court handed down a five-year sentence, suspended after 15 months.

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g As I Lay Dying’s m ambe is filing $35 million lawsuit against the San Diego County Sheriff Department for not giving him his prescribed medication before his imprisonment.

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The reason r g e he or o postponed their Melbourne and Adelaide shows until next year was that singer e ’ throat infection caused his throat and face to swell up, along with getting ulcers, rashes and “other not so great problems”.

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t t eber and 18-year-old model Sofia “daughter of Lionel” ch e just days, oh dear, after she gushed about their “special relationship”.

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Meanwhile, Sydney Showgrounds won Best Achievement in Venue Management against Melbourne’s Etihad Stadium, SCG Events and Luna Park Sydney Venues.

or : first son to am ,a month ago, according to media reports.

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For the second time, Bluesfest won Best Regional Event at the Australian Event Awards.

Deni Ute Muster, Blues on Broadbeach Music Festival and The Birdsville Big Red Bash were also nominated. Festival director eter ob e OAM said, “There are great events occurring all over regional Australia. However, it is clear that the Byron area is the regional arts as well as the festival capital of Australia. Event presenters in the region bring tens of millions of dollars, hundreds of jobs and real culture to our area.”

t atbo m and TV’s oe a , after a tumultuous 18-year relationship which included two children. They’ll still be neighbours.

rre te oo o after a loaded firearm was alleged found in a carryon bag during security screening at LAX. As a felon he is not allowed to pack guns.

In addition its a ctober anti-lockout rally, Keep Sydney Open last Friday installed plaques outside 18 venues that closed as a result. They included Hugos, Piano Room and Soho in Kings Cross, Phoenix, 34B, Q Bar, Spectrum and Flinders in Darlinghurst, and The Lansdowne, Club 77 and Goodgod Small Club in the CBD. Each was paired with an act that got its early career boost by the venue, including Flume, Lorde, Flight Facilities, RUFUS, Anna Lunoe, Alison Wonderland, Peking Duk, Art vs Science, The Presets, Nina Las Vegas, Jagwar Ma, The Preatures, Yolanda Be Cool, Hayden James, Bag Raiders, You Am I and Sneaky Sound System.

Candles and flowers were laid at each.

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COVER STORY

KATCHAFIRE BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE

BY JOSEPH EARP

T

he longer you work in the music industry, the more you realise that it is just that – an industry. It’s a constant melange of deadlines missed and met, money exchanging hands and endless, endless itineraries. Just ask Logan Bell, lead singer of Katchafire and the group’s one-time manager. “I’m just sitting here going over a bit of fun admin stuff,” he says, spitting out the word ‘fun’ as though it were a bloodied tooth.

“Just going over a bit of business with the boys. I don’t manage the band [anymore]. I have taken that hat off and handed it over, but I still do find myself doing quite a lot of admin stuff. I’ve been trying to get rid of some of the management jobs, but I don’t think I’ll ever get rid of all of them, you know? I just want to be a muso and play shows. But things fall over if they’re not organised.”

Indeed, throughout his conversation with the BRAG, the sound of Bell’s phone vibrating with text messages is a near constant presence, as the musician multitasks, preventing the Katchafire machine from grinding to a halt.

And a machine it is. Though the group began life as a Bob Marley tribute band way back

12 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

in 2000, it has grown exponentially over the almost two decades since. The band has dropped acclaimed album after acclaimed album, featured in chart-ranking compilations, and has slowly but surely accumulated one of reggae’s most dedicated fan bases. People don’t listen to Katchafire passively – they listen to Katchafire, consuming the music and elevating the band members to the status of legends.

brain and learning.”

Despite Bell’s insatiable desire for musical knowledge, there was one part of the puzzle that didn’t fall into place for quite some time: the fine art of performing live. Bell says he was initially uncomfortable with stepping into the spotlight, no doubt a revelation for Katchafire fans who are used to the charismatic frontperson dashing and dancing about the stage.

Though Bell could never have guessed at the group’s success, he has always been driven to make music, and to hear him talk about playing guitar is to hear a man talk about his very life’s work. “As soon as I had access to a guitar, I got into it,” he says, simply. “I used to gravitate towards any instrument. Dad was in a band when we were quite young, when I was eight or nine, before I think mum told him to get a real job to make some real money.

But that was kind of the first time we were around instruments, being young – through dad.

“I never saw myself as being a frontman when I was young, so I did a performing arts course when I was about 18, 19. It was here in Hamilton, my home town. It was a two-year thing, and it focused on live sound, songwriting, drama and the performance aspects, as well as behind-the-scenes technical stuff. That was really good for me, the drama side of it. It pulled me out of my shell a lot more, and it sort of opened me up for performing in front of people.”

“Then, I think when I was about ten, our school got a couple of nylon-string acoustic guitars and man, that was me straight away.

We could play them at lunchtime when the teachers let us. And that was me every lunchtime, sitting next to someone who could play guitar better than me, just picking their

Aside from the extensive class, Bell also threw himself headlong into another form of craft-honing – that age-old trial by fire known as busking. “Busking is always a good way to really work on your talents,” Bell says. “When you’re busking, people have no obligation to listen to you. Some will – some will be gravitated towards your talents and your music – but some will walk on by. So it’s not

“TO ME, IT’S MORE INTIMATE SHOWS THAT I GET NERVOUS ABOUT RATHER THAN HAVING 10,000 OR 20,000 PEOPLE IN FRONT OF ME. IT’S A BIT MORE NERVE-RACKING THAT WAY.” thebrag.com

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as intimate as performing to an audience.

When you’re doing it with musician friends it helps you get ready for performing by yourself.”

That said, Bell has never completely conquered his nerves. The spectre of stagefright still haunts him, particularly when he has to stand up by himself in front of only a cluster of fans rather than a massive wall of spectators. How does he combat all that self-doubt before he steps onstage then?

“A stiff double of Jameson,” he says with a laugh.

“I guess these days we are a lot more used to it. To me, it’s more intimate shows that I get nervous about rather than having 10,000 or 20,000 people in front of me. It’s a bit more nerve-racking that way. It’s more intimate: you feel like they’re listening more intently. When you’ve got the big shows, there’s a lot of hype and a lot of noise. It’s harder to zone in and focus in on an individual. It’s more like a mass: you’re performing to like a mass of people. You have to block a little bit out of the hype.”

Katchafire are heading out on the road again in less than a fortnight, bringing with them a brand new single, ‘Burn It Down’. It’s a song that took the band some time to refine, and they allowed the creative process to take them in a range of different directions before the tune settled on its final form. “We played with various forms of music,” Bell says.

“It was really interesting with [‘Burn It Down’] – we collaborated with a guy who has been playing keyboards with us internationally.

His name is Stephen Maxwell and he’s from Jamaica. It was really cool to learn a lot of

thebrag.com

these amazing Jamaican techniques. It was just great learning off him.”

The song was assembled ad hoc, while the band were scattered across the globe. “I was sending mixes back to Jamaica while I was in different places in the world,” Bell reveals.

“That’s the style of writing we have to do more and more these days. So I had fun. I hope the people enjoy the latest offering.”

Dead Language

Though nothing has been officially announced yet, Bell reveals that ‘Burn It Down’ is but the tip of the iceberg: the band have a whole bevy of material just sitting in standby, ready to be released out in to the world. Katchafire fans, prepare yourselves – this is going to turn into your year. “We’re really trying to get a lot of our studio work done and some of these projects finished before the end of the year, so definitely look for a barrage of singles coming out in the next couple of months,” Bell reveals with a knowing laugh.

But ultimately, though the musician loves recording and releasing material, for Bell nothing beats getting up onstage, pre-show nerves conquered, loosened up by a double whisky, and ready to meet his adoring fans.

“The most fulfilling part for me is hearing an audience singing a tune a back to you,” he says, his voice softening. “I think that’s probably the most fulfilling part for most musicians – we all get our kicks hearing people sing our songs back to us.” here Max Watts / Rooty Hill RSL he Friday October 14 / Saturday October 15

DEBUT SINGLE OUT NOW

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 1

The Panics Finding Music In Everything By Anna Wilson

The contrast in surroundings between Laffer and this fair interviewer is a point of delight and interest for the indie frontman. On hearing the sounds of Sydney in the background of the call, the singer is inspired. “I’m having a good day: of all the times to be alive, right now, it’s kind of a perk to be able to share in someone’s atmosphere, to hear their world. It’s pretty cool.”

Laffer draws creative strength from the world around him in an unashamedly natural and childlike manner, delighting in the sounds of the world at large. “You get a general feeling over time when you’ve had a life in writing,” he says. “You gain perspectives on situations and atmospheres: that’s when you have fertile periods of making stuff.”

Kids’ Stuff By Joseph Earp

A

s an interviewer, you tend to only encounter dodgy phone lines when speaking to musicians in the very upper echelon of commercial success, bands that you have to dial a phone card to chat to, only to then muddle your way through a conversation plagued by static, muffled responses and a godawful time delay.

Take the poor reception that dogs Julia Jacklin’s call with the BRAG as a sign of her meteoric shot to fame, then. Though the songwriter is Sydney-based, she’s currently on an international tour, travelling from radio sessions to sold-out gigs, cultivating a devoted fan base in the process.

“I don’t know where we are, actually,” Jacklin says. “We’re on a bus, on our way to –” A shriek of static makes her destination indiscernible. But regardless of where she’s heading, one thing is for absolute sure – Jacklin’s tour diary over the last little while has been intense, the kind of schedule that would have even the most road-hardened muso turning green at the gills. Doesn’t it get exhausting touring for months on end?

“It’s only been a month,” Jacklin says.

“It just feels like months. I’m not sure how I keep the energy up on tour.

It’s a mysterious thing. I think I’m just running on a general kind of energy.

I bet when I come home I’ll probably just need a week to recover.”

Over that selfsame month Jacklin has played easily the biggest shows of her career, sharing stages with golden-voiced troubadour Marlon Williams and making appearances at renowned events like Turf, a Canadian festival where, adorably, her set was reviewed by a seven-year-old critic ‘employed’ for a one-off review at Noisey who gave Jacklin a perfect ten out of ten rating.

Given the sheer scale of the shows Jacklin is now playing then, does the spectre of stage fright still haunt her?

“Yeah,” she says. “I still get nervous.

It’s usually just the first song. That’s the one that I’m usually shaking a bit during. But it also kinda depends what kind of show it is. And it can come at really surprising times. Like, I’ll play to huge audiences and I’ll be fine, and

14 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

“ONSTAGE, SOMETIMES YOU’RE TOO FAR IN YOUR OWN MIND, OR YOU’RE STRESSING ABOUT EVERYTHING. OR YOU’VE SEEN LIKE, TWO PEOPLE WALK OUT OF THE GIG, AND THAT FLARES UP YOUR ANXIETY.” then I’ll play to tiny audiences and I’ll get the head spin and I’ll freak out for a moment. I’m a lot better than I was a while ago though. There’s nothing like playing every night for a month to get you over the nerves, for sure.”

Ultimately, the feedback Jacklin has received from her shows so far has been ecstatic – her debut album Don’t Let The Kids Win isn’t even out yet and already fans have the lyrics memorised. Indeed, it’s that kind of reception that gives Jacklin life and allows her to survive her punishing tour schedule – though she admits it’s not always easy to get a sense of.

“It’s kinda what makes you or breaks you – whether or not people are responding well to it and are engaged,” Jacklin says. “That’s what makes a good show for me is that crowd feedback – like if people are loud after every song, I think. But it’s also about whether, for me, if I enjoy myself. Whether or not I’m out of my own head for the majority of the performance. That’s what I walk away with.

“Because you don’t always enjoy yourself onstage all the time – sometimes you’re too far in your own mind, or you’re stressing about everything. Or you’ve seen like, two people walk out of the gig, and that flares up your anxiety.

“Sometimes it is really hard to

tell whether you’ve played well: sometimes you play shows and you think that everybody hates it, and then afterwards you get the best feedback that you’ve ever gotten.”

Though some of the songs that comprise Jacklin’s setlist are yet to be released out into the world in recorded form, she has been honing and playing them for long enough to know them intimately. “I’ve been playing these songs for a while,” she says, “but it feels good to have them in a place now, in Don’t Let The Kids Win. It took a while to find the right band, and have it sound exactly the way that I wanted it to sound.

“I mean, it took maybe a year and a half or two years to write. I wrote a lot of songs over that period of time, and I chose the best ones… I hope, anyway.” She laughs. “It was all recorded about a year ago. But it’s there now. It’s something I’m really proud of.”

And proud she should be – Don’t Let The Kids Win is a singularly powerful work, a mix of taut-wire melodies, accessible yet ever-so-slightly removed from the real lyrics, and Jacklin’s powerful, unabashed voice.

Even on very first listen the record has the pang of the old favourite about it: there is something about the songs that seems to speak to you and you alone.

There’s a good reason for that too.

When Jacklin is asked whether she wrote songs specifically for the purpose of releasing a record, at first, static drowns out her response. But after a moment, her voice clicks in, crystal clear. “I was very much like, ‘I have to make an album before I turn 25’. That was very much my life goal.”

So there you go. Don’t Let The Kids Win isn’t just an album: it’s the sound of a talent doing what they’ve always wanted to do.

Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday December 9 With: Gabriella Cohen And: Don’t Let The Kids Win out Friday October 7 Also: Appearing at Fairgrounds Festival, Friday December 2 – Saturday December 3

“The cool thing about the album in one respect is that by having a few years off, it means the record has got

Though the band are currently experiencing a creative renaissance, it wasn’t that long ago that the members felt as though they were running low on steam, unable to produce much fruitful work. “We had a very busy first decade of our life with the band and then we had periods where we felt maybe we were treading on old ground,” says Laffer.

“We live creative lives and it’s not always about music: some of the guys do art. I’m the same. It’s really about the energy and the time. It’s about when we feel like we have something to say. For me it might be a certain pile of lyrics that comes along and that’s the time to work.

We’ve been really busy at certain times but it’s only from a careerist perspective. Sometimes you veer off but we use our instruments to create when the time is right.”

As Laffer tells it, “veering off” from songwriting and embarking on other endeavours was necessary for the The Panics’ musical well-being and ultimately assisted the fresh, funky new feel of Hole In Your Pocket.

“A painter might not always want to be working on another oil painting, so for me, I spent a couple of years working on stories, working on a book. It’s just a thing that can take up my time. You realise you’re gravitating toward things that aren’t writing songs: you have no choice in the matter but to appease what

Against Me! The Shape Of Punk to Come By David James Young

B

y this stage, anyone who considers themselves even a casual fan of Against Me! knows the band’s story. The group were unsung heroes for years, only cracking the mainstream after some time, weathering cries of “sellout” along the way and eventually fi nding an entirely new audience thanks to the personal journey of their lead singer and fi gurehead, Laura Jane Grace.

Grace was 31 years old when she announced to her bandmates that she was a transgender person and would be spending the rest of her life identifying as a woman – and it’s a moment that has stuck with everyone present in that room.

“In that moment, I’m sure I looked pretty dumbfounded and pretty surprised,” says James Bowman, who has been Against Me!’s guitarist since 2001 and has played on all seven of its studio albums.

“Beyond that, however, my primary concerns were what had to be done in order to keep the band going. I just wanted to help – I’m the kind of person that tries to

“THE SUBJECT MATTER IS A LOT LESS DARK … THAT JUST ENDED UP BEING THE KIND OF RECORD THAT WE AS A BAND WANTED TO MAKE.”

fix everything. We were able to continue doing this, and we’re still here. I count myself so lucky for that. It’s definitely been a growing experience, and I think it’s great.

Life is crazy sometimes, and you’ve just gotta roll with it.”

With the release of 2014’s Transgender Dysphoria Blues, the band – Grace, Bowman, bassist Inge Johansson and drummer Atom Willard – toured the world, appeared on TV and scored some of their highest chart positions and career-best reviews.

They’ve acted on this momentum with Shape Shift With Me, out now.

Consider Shape Shift as an equal and opposite reaction to Transgender – where the latter was a crushing, cathartic diary of anger and confusion, the former is an album that specifically deals with falling in and out of love, albeit one that avoids the trite boy-meets-girl heteronormativite and cisgendered narrative. “This is definitely a snappier record,” says Bowman.

“The subject matter is a lot less dark, and it’s not like we were going through song by song to make sure that was the case. That just ended up being the kind of record that we as a band wanted to make. I don’t know if it was conscientious or not – that’s just how it happened. I’d say that most of our records have ended up with a through-line of sorts. Laura wanted to make a record that was focused on love and relationships – it’s a record about trying to be happy.

Maybe that’s where the upbeat nature of the music comes from: who can say?”

thebrag.com

Against Me! photo by Kara Smarsh

Julia Jacklin

With four years between their last release and the upcoming album Hole In Your Pocket, The Panics are evidently a band that don’t like to rush things. Laffer argues that time to stew on a work is necessary, an important part of a practice that sees the group only turn out work they’re proud of.

“The Panics have had a few years’ break between records and I can feel a far busier period coming along. I have a plan for the next few years in the writing department: write lots, record lots and give it away,” Laffer says with a laugh.

a pretty good energy. It’s relentless the whole time, so it’s exciting to come back firing hard both in terms of purpose and meaning. I’m looking forward to communicating the songs to people. We want to start small: we just want to play to sweaty clubs and I think these songs are going to play pretty easily to that environment. The whole album is really.”

The Panics photo by Ian Laidlaw

A

s the sun shines in Sydney, so the rain pours in Melbourne, and as children play outside in the glorious weather, The Panics’ Jae Laffer is sat at his 200-year-old piano, watching the world through the window as he sips on a coffee, engrossed in creating music on a dreary morning.

your overall sense of well-being requires.”

Laffer is fascinated by the interest others show towards his writing habits, and speaks in tones of amused disbelief when discussing how he crafts songs. “People wanna know how you write stuff. They’re always curious about how it comes about for me. It’s such a loose mysterious thing: most songwriters hardly remember the song coming together. It’s a lifestyle of writing a bit and meditating then suddenly you’re drifting off… You can find yourself talking about it but it never feels quite right.”

To that end, Laffer allows inspiration to lead him rather than the other way around, and particularly while writing Hole In Your Pocket he felt it was important to take the most relaxed attitude possible. That kind of effortlessness has manifested itself powerfully on the record, one that reeks of a kind of unforced ease.

“In some ways it was about avoiding [our] normal struggles. The way we found of making it was to write and record it in the backshed of one our houses. It was all about zero struggle, zero pressure. It was about recording those first takes and being happy with the vocal, not cringing at what we were creating. There really was no part of it that was a struggle.”

Laeffer laughs. “I don’t really tolerate struggle these days. The only time struggle occurs is when people are trying to make hits, with unfair pressure on them. Making noise: there’s no struggle in that.”

Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday October 14 And: Hole In Your Pocket out Friday October 7 through Universal Music Australia

“WE WANT TO START SMALL: WE JUST WANT TO PLAY TO SWEATY CLUBS AND I THINK THESE SONGS ARE GOING TO PLAY PRETTY EASILY TO THAT ENVIRONMENT. THE WHOLE ALBUM IS REALLY.”

The band have released two singles from Shape Shift With Me thus far – the stomping ‘333’ and the ridiculouslycatchy ‘Crash’. The two music videos that have been released for each track could not be more different: ‘333’ stars Orange Is The New Black actress Natasha Lyonne in a surrealist ’60s dream sequence, directed by Say Anything star Ione Skye. ‘Crash’ on the other hand, runs for a single shot and is a delightfully cheap clip in which the band don KISS makeup as they do battle with a completely unexplained alien. If that wasn’t enough, Bowman even throws in a Star Wars homage through a clever concoction for his trusty guitar.

“When we were setting up for that ‘Crash’ video, the set designers had all of these props that they had bought at a local toy store,” he explains. “One of those things was a lightsaber. I knew I wanted to use it the second that I saw it – the only challenge was I couldn’t pull it out of nowhere while I was playing guitar. I took the lightsaber apart and wired it onto my guitar neck. Somehow, I was able to turn my guitar into a sci-fi weapon.”

Sadly, Bowman is at pains to reveal you won’t be seeing the saber at any shows soon. “Unfortunately, it’s very hard to actually play guitar when you’ve got that thing strapped on,” he says.

“Miming’s fine, but playing is something else entirely. It also won’t fit inside my guitar case. Maybe I’ll try again: I just need a bit of downtime and a soldering iron.”

Although Grace is the sole constant of the band, having started it on her own as a teenager in the late ’90s, Bowman has served alongside her for 15 years

thebrag.com

and been a part of most of the band’s incarnations. The recent renaissance period Against Me! have gone through is not something that’s lost on him – and nor is it something that he takes for granted. “I’ve been here for a while,” he says.

“When you’re first starting a band, you set out to do what you do really well. You want to do it to the best and biggest of its possibilities. We’ve been lucky to see a bit of growth with every record – and with the last record, the base of people that

listen to this band expanded out in a big way. We not only had all these new people coming to shows and hearing us for the first time, but we also had people that used to listen coming back around and discovering us again. I think it’s awesome – I’ve

been doing this for nearly 20 years now, and the more people that are listening then the more we can keep this thing going and going.”

What: Shape Shift With Me out now through Total Treble

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 15

Ausmuteants Why Would You Say That? By Joseph Earp are usually too easy to need help with writing. Try and play one: it’ll take ya 15 minutes, max.”

The band were formed formed in a similarly ramshackle manner, arising in the midst of Brisbane’s exciting live music scene. “[Our first gig] was at the Waiting Room in Brisbane, 2012,” Robertson says.

“We had two practices.”

Such a lax rehearsal schedule might explain how Robertson finds the time to play in so many acts, though it’s equally possible that his musical heritage means playing live is simply in his blood. “First time I ever played live was either in my dad’s band, belting out ‘Wipeout’, or in my brother’s band playing ‘Paranoid’,” he says. “I was like eight. I killed it. So yep. Natural.”

W

ord jockeys are used to talking trash about musicians, but perhaps not as prepared for the reverse scenario. Critics have got thin skins ya see, so a song like Ausmuteants’ ‘Music Writers’ is a counter-punch those in the media don’t often find themselves on the recieving end of. A spasmodic, twitchy little number, the tune speaks of the discomfort bands feel when they come to be written about by, you know, hacks, and the work has an acerbic, cheese-wire taut wit hiding underneath that funky synth-line.

So, was the song born out of any kind of personal experience? “It isn’t based off a particular incident,” says the band’s Jake Robertson. “I just think it is kind of funny when you can tell that the journalist put in less effort for their slagging piece than the garbage that they are reviewing.

Everybody gets no stars.”

Robertson has admitted in previous interviews to “ly[ing] through his teeth”, so maybe he’s having a laugh when he speaks of the ridiculously quick writing period behind the group’s brilliant new record. “It was

a piece of piss to write Band Of The Future,” Robertson says. “Like two days to write, one day to record and one day to mix master.”

But there also exists the strong chance he’s telling the truth. The group have a grubby DIY crudity all of their own and one can imagine a song like ‘Mr Right’ or ‘Struck By Lightning’ being written quickly, on the fly. It’s unsurprising then that Robertson says the group’s writing style is admirably stripped back. “[We] think of shit and make it rhyme,” he says, simply. “Our songs

That kind of natural ability is prominently displayed when the band perform live: so, often.

Ausmuteants are a heavy-touring outfit, and are relentlessly prolific – they’ve released something every year since 2013, and have played shows in all corners of the country.

Isn’t maintaining that level of output exhausting? “It gets exhausting for anybody around us having Shaun [Connor] talk about Netrunner, Marc [Dean] talk about fashion, Billy [Gardner] talk about food and me talk about comic books,” Robertson says, simply.

Ultimately, Ausmuteants have a very

simple approach to playing gigs, and never overthink the fine art of live performance. “Eh, [crowds] are just people like you and me bud,” he says. “They can dance or they can stand or they can sit or they can leave. Prefer the first two to be honest.”

Ultimately, Robertson is energised by the live scene around him, and has a strong connection to the everburgeoning Australian music circle he finds himself smack bang in the centre of. “[The scene] is great,” he says.

“There are plenty great bands putting out stuff independently. I don’t think the Australian music scene that I identify with is defined by genre and is mostly conscious about gender balance in live music.”

An interview with a band who wrote a song about shitty music writers ending on a positive, upbeat note?

That doesn’t feel right. Luckily, a more satisfying conclusion comes when Robertson is asked to reveal something he’s “never told a music writer before”. The musician’s response is swift. “Nup. Up ya.”

What: Reverse Charges #2 Festival Where: The Bald Faced Stag When: Saturday October 1 And: Band Of The Future out now through Aarght

“OUR SONGS ARE USUALLY TOO EASY TO NEED HELP WITH WRITING. TRY AND PLAY ONE: IT’LL TAKE YA 15 MINUTES, MAX.”

Emily Wurramara Smoke Gets In Your Eyes By Joseph Earp

E

verybody’s gotta start somewhere. Hollywood king David Fincher got his first break shooting commercials and video clips; Don DeLillo had to spend years slaving away as an ad man before he made it as a novelist; and long, long, before she was selling out shows and wowing on the festival circuit, Australia’s own Emily Wurramara was writing little ditties about a fantasy life under the ocean.

“The first song I ever wrote was called ‘Over The Seas’” Wurramara reveals over email, the intense nature of her regional touring ruling out the possibility of a phone interview with the BRAG. “It was a cliché song about missing home and about swimming with dolphins and mermaids. Maybe I’ll revive it one day and finish it.”

Given Wurramara’s responses are typed rather than spoken, it’s hard to decipher whether such a suggestion is a joke or not. Though, mermaids aside, a song about the beauty of the aquatic world would fit well into one of Wurramara’s sets these days. There is a strong ecological focus to the young singer-songwriter’s work, and her tunes often have an ever-so-slightly otherworldly feel to them, a kind of natural power that is both perfectly recognisable, yet distinct from daily experience.

To that end, Wurramara’s debut EP has a kind of magic to it, even if the musician admits that the writing of the piece was far from a natural, seamless process. “Some of the songs were prewritten,” Wurramara says. “But some songs were pretty new, songs like ‘Ngerraberakernama’. It was a process for me to build a foundation with my music, and find my style.”

“I WANTED A HEART-WARMING DYNAMIC – I WANTED THE EP TO TAKE YOU ON A JOURNEY.” 16 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

Though Wurramara has been surrounded by music for her entire life, it took a while before she could find her own feet as a performer. As a young woman, she noticed that while her uncles frequently sang in public,

it was rarer to see female singers – a revelation that prompted her to begin embarking upon her own musical career in earnest. “I started doing music professionally when I was 13,” Wurramara says. “It has taken me seven years to release an EP. I’ve written so many songs, and it was very difficult choosing which ones were to go on the EP.” For Wurramara, it was very important that the EP have its own internal logic, though she was keen never to push the work in a direction that it was not willing to go. “I mean I definitely wanted to create a journey … but I guess it was something that just happened,” Wurramara says. “I wanted a heartwarming dynamic – I wanted the EP to take you on a journey.”

But it wasn’t just the challenge of writing and releasing an EP Wurramara had to contend with – she also found she really had to work at the experience of performing in front of an audience. Though she always felt a strong connection to her own tunes, projecting that connection onto an audience was a different game entirely.

“I was a very nervous, shy and quiet person when I first started,” she says.

“It took me till I was about 16 or 17 for me to start feeling comfortable in my skin and begin working on my stage presence.”

Now however, after years of touring and belting out sets in venues of all capacities, Wurramara delights in performing live. “I find it very natural now,” she says. “I love talking to people and sharing my story. I get nervous hours before, but I talk to everyone and say hello so I familiarise myself with the crowd’s presence and their spirit.” It also helps that Wurramara has her band to give her strength, and often the mere presence of her fellow musicians steels her nerves – though she does always need time to herself too. “Usually me and the band get together to go over the setlist. Then I like to get into my own zone before the

show by clearing my mind and doing breathing exercises.”

Given the legendarily exhausting nature of touring, however, how does Wurramara manage to keep her energy levels up? The answer, she explains, is quite simple. “I don’t drink alcohol when I’m on tour,” she says.

“I always drink water, eat fruit and veggies. And I sleep. In the car I have 15-minute power naps: wherever I can sleep I will. I love touring though. It’s a new adventure every time.”

For some artists, performing live can feel like screaming down a well, and it’s often hard to get direct feedback from the audience. Not so for Wurramara though, who frequently finds the time to chat to her crowds.

“My manager [gets feedback], and usually when I go and say hello to people they congratulate me and my band. I really appreciate their comments and their presence, for them being there. During a set, depending on the song, sometimes I totally forget the audience is there, but other times it’s great to see their responses.”

Ultimately, Wurramara is clearly now a musician who gets as much joy from playing songs as her audience gets from hearing them, and there is something transcendent about her music – for both performer and crowd. “During ‘Black Smoke’, when I sing that song, the lyrics connect with me and I feel like I’m floating: it’s the most amazing experience when everyone sings along. I just want to break down and cry out of joy and happiness.”

What: Bellingen Turtle Fest Where: Belligen Showground When: Friday September 30 – Sunday October 2 With: Mark Seymour, Katie Noonan, The Snowdroppers and more

thebrag.com

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e ee tr i g ot to rea o t ” So begins the opening number and title track to The Hard Aches’ second EP, rea O t. It’s a relatable sentiment for many anxious minds out there, but to be fair, nerves are also something that the Adelaide-based duo of Ben David and Alex Upton have had some trouble keeping in check lately. After all, who wouldn’t freak out at the prospect of undertaking a national tour with one of the fastest-rising rock bands in the country and a hyped UK act, AKA Luca Brasi and Moose Blood respectively? “It was huge,” says Upton, who provides drums and backing vocals in the band.

“Normally, we play to maybe 100 people, and that’s if we’re lucky. On this tour, we were playing to between 600 and 700 people every single night. These shows were just massive. Hell, even the rider was huge – I don’t think I’d ever played a show in my entire life before this tour where there was still beer left at the e of the gig. The Melbourne gig at the Corner was one of our best shows, Adelaide gave us a huge homecoming, Brisbane was a big party night, so was Hobart... There’s just too many highlights to pick from.” rea O t was released just under a month ago through the band’s own Anchorhead Records, following on from the drop of their debut album hero o e in May of 2015. Although this may seem like a relatively quick succession rate – striking while the proverbial iron is hot, if you will – the reality is that the Adelaide-based band are in a constant state of being one step ahead of themselves, due largely to their prolific songwriting nature. “A lot of the songs that ended up on hero o e were actually written around the time that we put out our last EP [Orga ir ort ] back in 2013,” explains Upton.

“By the time that we’d recorded them, they were at least 18-months old and had been a part of the setlist for ages. With rea O t, the songs kind of came together across a period of about nine months or so.

Relatively speaking, it came to us a lot quicker – there was a much faster gestation. It’s been good to get to play so much new stuff and have something fresh in our shows for people who’ve been coming to see us for a while.”

Upton also mentions that there is plenty more where that came from. “There’s about a half-dozen new songs that we’re working on right now,” he adds. “There’s probably about 15 more that Ben has just written on his own too. We’ll probably get to work on all of those after this tour and hopefully have an album ready for next year.”

“I DON’T THINK I’D EVER PLAYED A SHOW IN MY ENTIRE LI E BE ORE THIS TOUR WHERE THERE WAS STILL BEER LE T AT THE END O THE GIG.” The EP was recorded at Birdland Studios in Melbourne, where its creation was overseen by in-house producer Lindsay Gravina. If his name isn’t immediately familiar, the bands with which he’s worked in the past – The Living End, Jebediah and Spiderbait – certainly will be.

“His studio was really nice,” says Upton of working with Gravina. “His equipment was incredible too. It was such a pleasure to use. Lindsay is probably the first proper producer that Ben or I have ever really worked with – he took on a completely different role to what either of us were probably expecting. The experience was really interesting. It gave us a totally new way of thinking about the way that we make music and the way we record it. I feel like the songs on the EP are all the better for that.”

Prior to heading out on a headlining national tour with Melbourne band Foley!, the band have released ‘Gut Full’, the EP’s third single. Its accompanying video was released last week, making it their fifth in a 12-month period. It’s no accident – creating videos has come to be one of the band’s primary passions.

“I think what I love the most about music videos is that, for us, it’s a chance to hang out with a bunch of our mates and do something that’s fun and something that’s creative,” Upton says. “Better yet, if we don’t have any ideas for what we want to do for a song, then we’ve got a whole think tank to work with – that’s how the video for ‘Glad That You’re Gone’ came about, which was a few of my ideas but mostly our mate Kieran, who also directed it.

The video for ‘Loser’ was more or less my brainchild.

It’s probably my favourite video out of the ones that we’ve done so far.”

Each of the band’s videos feature what are ostensibly cameos for the Adelaide music community, with appearances from the likes of singer-songwriter Todd Fogarty and Hyder Seek vocalist Bec Stevens. One sneaky reference, however, came in the clip for ‘Glad That You’re Gone’, where a game of Scrabble is being played and the tiles spell out the phrase “ROADHOUSE SUCKS”, alluding to a local folk-punk outfit that the band are mock-rivals with. “That was defintely Ben’s idea,” laughs Upton. “It’s all good, though – those guys ended up getting a bit of revenge by taking a screenshot of the only moment I’m in the video and them making it their cover photo on Facebook.” here Newtown Social Club he Friday November 4 th Foley!

Also appearing at Yours And Owls festival, Stuart Park, Wollongong, Saturday October 1 – Sunday October 2 with The Coathangers, Bleached and many more ore rea O t out now through Anchorhead / Warner thebrag.com

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Lacuna Coil Goth Giants By Anna Wilson

G

oth’s not dead. Goth’s not even close to dead, thanks in no small part to bands like Lacuna Coil, celebrated mainstays of the genre leading the way forward and paving a path for new bands. Those in the know will be familiar with the Italian gothfathers, a celebrated collective who have been warping innocent minds with some of the darkest and heaviest music around for well over 20 years.

But even if you haven’t encountered the band directly, you’ll surely be aware of them through the incredible influence they have had on the entire goth genre, spawning a thousand imitators in their wake.

The band’s last Antipodean trip culminated in a Soundwave showing some seven years ago, so Andrea Ferro, Lacuna Coil’s male vocalist, sees the band’s upcoming October tour as a perfect time to come back to Australia. “We’ve been wanting to come back,” says Ferro. “We needed something like Soundwave to carry us last time, but now our tour collides well with the release of the record.

It’s been a combination of things [stopping us from coming]. Maybe we weren’t really available, maybe the record wasn’t doing so well. But this, this is the right time.”

The sensuality, passion and fury with which Lacuna Coil master metal onstage has never once wavered over the course of their more than two-decade long career, even if their lineups have. The band are famous for swapping up members – they’re one of those acts that have a little bandmember timeline plonked right towards the end of their Wikipedia page. That said, though

their upcoming tour will feature debut Australian showings for some members, Ferro is adamant this the revolving lineup only enhances the cabaret aspect of their sets.

“We’ve had band members retiring from the music business,” he says.

“Ryan Folden has been with us on drums for eight years, since our old drummer retired. A new guitar player, Diego [Cavallotti] played lead guitars on the album and now we’re trying him on the live shows. In Asia, North America and European festivals: he worked well with us. Hopefully we’ll keep him as a permanent member of the band, but none of us are pushing the relationship: we want to work with him and see how everybody feels before we [incorporate] him fully into the next album.”

Lacuna Coil are a celebrated live act, and though each of the band’s records has been enthusiastically embraced by fans, their real power shines onstage. “When we play, it’s a bit like a party,” Ferro says. “We want people to participate and spend their energy with us. It’s a different energy live – we’ll be debuting a lot of the new songs in Australia.

“It’s very important to offer entertainment, not just be a band that can play their songs. We’ve been playing songs live and we’ve been able to establish a different relationship with our music and our fans. When we go to play places we don’t play so often, there’s a family feel [to] the crowd. We hope that’ll be the same in Australia. It’s like going to see a friend.”

With newest album Delirium, the band stepped up to the plate as producers

and performers, their bassist Marco Coti Zelati taking reins of the record.

“Marco has stepped up as producer,” Ferro says. “Before this experience, he only worked with local bands in Milan: he’d never produced so much thrash as he did with our band.

“It’s been stressful for him, but it’s also been inspiring, and he’s been able to separate himself from being the musician, our friend, and been good at balancing the two roles. This album needed to be produced like this. Someone coming in and giving direction would have killed the mood.

But there’s a lot of pressure for sure.”

Perhaps responding to that pressure, both Ferro and female vocalist Cristina Scabbia altered their working methods. “I’ve been pushing more towards heavy vocals and she’s been pushing more to the high notes,” Ferro explains. “The music required a more extreme, in-your-face approach and more epic high notes. It’s been very important to try this. I’ve used growl vocals in the past but [this time] it’s been good to push myself. It’s been fun to try and express myself differently. We’re learning how to expand with this different approach: it can be a challenge to make it balance [and] flow with older records.”

The creative process behind the album stretched the group not just musically but also on a personal level, with Ferro and Scabbia writing music that reflected the very darkest recesses of their soul. “Delirium is about the horrors that we must face in everyday life by exploring the unknown,” Ferro says, simply. “One day we will hopefully find the cure to [that unknown].

“Delirium is maybe the first album where I struggled to find one song that represented the record or

myself. For me it’s a trip, so I express different things on different songs.

There’s a different atmosphere for

Raised Fist Fuel For Fire By Augustus Welby no active attempt to conform to a recognised sound.

“We look back just to compare, because sometimes we made exact copies of other songs, just with different vocal things,” Hagman says.

“But we don’t write music to stay a certain way or appeal to an audience of some kind, because we’ve had audiences all through our 22 years so it doesn’t matter. We can’t chase them: they come to us. So we write whatever we think is good and creative and fun and giving and then people automatically find their way to us. We play very hard music and my vocals are sometimes annoying, and still we play 20- to 30,000-capacity festivals.”

Lacuna Coi. photo by Steve Prue

“WHEN WE PLAY, IT’S A BIT LIKE A PARTY. WE WANT PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE AND SPEND THEIR ENERGY WITH US.”

S

wedish hardcore outfit Raised Fist emerged with its debut LP Fuel in 1998. The band’s

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sixth LP, last year’s From The North, doesn’t deviate far from the politically-tinged hardcore sound the

band has been well known for, but that’s not to say the group has lost its potency. Frontman Alexander ‘Alle’

Hagman says the band laboured intensely over the construction the record, while admitting there was

“I don’t listen to a lot of punk rock today, or hardcore,” he says. “The new bands, I don’t listen to them at all because I think it’s pretty much just drums and rhythmical build-ups, rather than good music. I don’t want to sound like an old fart saying this, but I think it’s juvenile. It’s easy to write, it’s just mathematical, and you can just get the same BPM going and it’s the same style. That’s something for an uneducated brain to enjoy. To a certain extent everyone can just bang their head to it and it can be good, but if you want to consume that kind of music, I think you have to be

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Raised Fist photo by Richard Kårström

Raised Fist formed in 1993, a time when bands such as Rage Against the Machine and Faith No More were enjoying major international popularity.

While the band’s career was emboldened by the success of the aforementioned acts, Raised Fist has never gained equivalent commercial attention. Meanwhile, Hagman feels zero affinity with the current crop of punk and hardcore musicians.

Steven Wilson Captain’s Calls By David James Young

S

teven Wilson might not pack out arenas or make the kind of music that is inherently accessible, but he’s somehow found himself in the position where he is comfortably able to tour the world. His last three solo albums have all charted within the top 100 of five different countries through Europe, as well as the United States and his native United Kingdom. The man who has been described as a king of progressive rock is currently toward the end of a tour cycle in support of his fourth studio album, Hand. Cannot.

Erase. He speaks highly of his current backing band, a group of performers that have been with him in this lineup for just over a year now, and have managed to click with Wilson as a live performer in a big way.

“Honestly, you could put the best musicians in the world together and they would just have no chemistry,” Wilson says. “You really have to find a group of musicians that actually gel together, and it takes time. It could take up to 25 shows for a group to really lock in and communicate properly as a unit.”

[each] different song. ‘My Demons’ is a bit more personal to me, but the whole record, it’s the last two or three years of our lives put together in one album. It really is a reflection of events over the last year of my life – my demons.”

Where: Metro Theatre When: Friday October 14 And: Delirium out now through Century Media

By the same token, Wilson simultaneously acknowledges the fleeting nature of his backing band, and he understands that as a musician who performs under his own name he is tied to no group. “I’m no longer duty-bound to write for and play with the same musicians,” he says. “That can be liberating, but it can also be problematic. It cuts both ways, you see. I’m not in a position to pay people a retainer so that they’re always around: I’m not Paul McCartney or anything like that.

I can’t rely on musicians always being available to me. It comes with the territory, as they say.”

Wilson, for the uninitiated, first rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist and primary songwriter of Porcupine Tree, a band that achieved a cult status within England’s metal scene and upheld a solid reputation until its eventual dissolution in 2010. Although Wilson is constantly queried on whether or not he will make like the Blues Brothers and put the band back together, he makes it pretty clear that he’s much more comfortable doing things on his own terms.

“Porcupine Tree started off a solo project, and it was whatever I wanted to do,” he explains. “As it gradually became more of a band, it inevitably became more of a democratic unit. I just felt like that wasn’t for me – truthfully, I’m a control freak and I have to be captain of the ship. That’s difficult for other people within the fold of a band, which led me to conclude that Porcupine Tree was an experiment.

By ending that experiment, I was able to go back to what I feel has always been my true calling, which is to be a solo artist.”

When he’s not on the road, Wilson is not a fan of staying idle. As well as beginning to prepare for his next solo album, he also recently put together an EP entitled 4 1/2, a record that is intended to bridge the gap between his works by compiling some discarded songs from previous album sessions and allowing them to have a moment to be appreciated. “I’m sure I’m not the only one that does this, but when I’m working towards a new record I tend to end up with a surplus of new material to work with,” says Wilson.

“It’s not necessarily about picking the best material, it’s about picking what works best together: particularly when you’re doing

what I do, making albums with a conceptual side to them. With all four of my solo records there were always songs that I am still proud of that didn’t necessarily fit within the tracklisting and thus did not make the cut. With 4 1/2, I was able to put together a collection of what I called my ‘orphans’ – the songs that didn’t fit into the grand concept of my last few records, but songs I wanted to have their moment in the sun.

“I felt it was a good way to mop up, if you will, between the release of Hand. Cannot. Erase. and what will become my fifth album,” he continues. “I believe in this material just as much as I believe in the material on my major projects – the only difference is that they just weren’t able to fit in elsewhere.”

This September will see Wilson and his band performing in Australia for the first time in three years. It will mark Wilson’s fourth visit to our fair shores overall, and he intends to make up for any and all lost time between tours. “The show is completely different now to the last time that myself and my band were playing in Australia,” he says.

“Probably only two or three songs remain in the set from that period.

The production is on a much higher level, and I have two different musicians that are travelling with me from the ones that were with me last time around. Anyone who has seen me play in the past will be getting something really new – and if people haven’t seen me play before, I feel like it’s the best time to come and see the show.”

Where: Metro Theatre When: Saturday October 29 And: Hand. Cannot. Erase. out now through Kscope

“WE PLAY VERY HARD MUSIC AND MY VOCALS ARE SOMETIMES ANNOYING, AND STILL WE PLAY 20TO 30,000-CAPACITY FESTIVALS.” under 20 or even under 15 years of age. Otherwise it can’t be that giving.

That’s my personal view. It doesn’t bring anything to me.

“I think it’s the same with Christmas.

[For children] it’s, ‘I want my presents!

I want my presents!’ [For parents] it’s having a good time with friends and enjoying good food. That’s what it is. And you couldn’t understand why your parents said that because everyone knew presents is what you were waiting for. But now when you’re grown up, you can have a good meal, you like to enjoy the company of good friends and that’s kind of the thing with Christmas. It’s the same with music – I think the hardcore and metal scene today is a lot about presents and not so much about having a really good time with your friends.”

Such a moment seems like an appropriate point to steer Hagman towards conversations about what makes him tick, rather than allowing the chat to become an all-out harangue regarding the moral and aesthetic failings of today’s gratification-hungry youth. Hagman is all to eager to oblige.

“When you listen to Rage Against The Machine they have a very groovy sound, but there’s a core to it, a soul within the lyrics and the music and everything,” he says. “That gives you the fucking nerve. That’s what brings me to the record store, to iTunes, to Spotify or whatever.” 20-odd years after the band’s formation, this blueprint continues to inspire Hagman and his Raised Fist bandmates. That said, they remain open to all sorts of stylistic possibilities. xx

“With Raised Fist, I don’t want it to just be a hard [sounding] thing where

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you throw away the opportunity to write something that you really, really love. Instead we do it like this: when we start the writing process it’s like, ‘Show me what you have and it doesn’t matter what it is’. If it’s pop, it’s pop. If it’s rock, it’s rock. If it’s hard rock, if it’s metal, if it’s hardcore, whatever – put it out there. ‘Does it have a beautiful thing to it? OK, this is good.’

“If you listen to Veil Of Ignorance, for example, you have an instrumental song there at the end, ‘Out’. What kind of music is that? Is it hardcore? Is it metal? Is it pop? Is it rock? That’s why we have our own place amongst all the genres you can find, because we just take the music and then we just put it out there. We can’t even say, ‘What kind of music is this?’ It’s just good.”

One thing’s for sure: Raised Fist have always made very aggressive music, and From The North again conveys a palpable anti-establishment message.

The band will return to Australia this November and December, making it almost two years since From The North came out.

Despite this, time has healed none of the group’s wounds, and we can still expect plenty of genuine vehemence.

“We want our music to be explosive, we want it to have a certain power to it, we want it to be like you go fucking crazy when you listen to it, and when you play it live you blow yourself up.”

Where: Metro Theatre When: Friday December 2 And: From The North out now through Epitaph

“TRUTHFULLY, I’M A CONTROL FREAK AND I HAVE TO BE CAPTAIN OF THE SHIP. THAT’S DIFFICULT FOR OTHER PEOPLE WITHIN THE FOLD OF A BAND.” BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 19

arts in focus

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town... with Alex Chetverikov, Joseph Earp and Emily Norton

five minutes WITH

TANYA EVANSON FROM STORY FEST a 1,000 audience members, 70 performing writers and a bucketload of partners (looking at you Arts NSW).

Is there a guiding philosophy behind Story Fest?

This year our theme is “Lost Language”. In Australia, poetry slams have brought spoken word poetry back from the verge of extinction. We’re showcasing languages that are being wiped out around the world. We’ll have a panel on West Papua and a screening called Language Matters about language revival around the world.

H

ow did Story Fest begin?

It began with one person performing their poetry at a pub in Newtown in 1996.

It then grew into the national Australian Poetry Slam, and now sits comfortably in the Sydney Opera House with over

Is there any event in particular that you are especially excited about?

NSW Poetry Slam Final is always amazing. We reach out to 14 different communities across the state. We have unearthed an 82-year-old poet from Coffs Harbour, a 15-year-old filmmaker from Katoomba and two ABC journos from Byron – husband

and wife. She beat him in the heat by one tenth of a point.

We’ll be at the State Library of NSW with this one on Saturday October 15.

How would you characterise Sydney’s writing scene at the moment?

Thriving. Innovative and bursting.

When great writing is performed powerfully it can go anywhere.

No cast. No crew. No camera.

Just straight from artist to audience.

What do you want people to walk away from Story Fest events thinking/feeling?

Three things: “That was incredible.” “I could do that.”

“Sydney is really just one big urban campfire.”

HELL OR HIGH WATER

Ignore that fairly generic title: Hell Or High Water is already being heralded as one of the films of the year. But perhaps such stellar results are to be expected given the sheer talent of those involved. Not only has the film been penned by the scribe behind Sicario, it stars your friend and mine Jeff Bridges, an unrecognisable Chris Pine and the always exciting Ben Foster. The plot focuses on a divorced dad who begins robbing banks to pay for his family property, so expect lots of brooding looks and tense shoot-outs.

The film is released on Thursday October 27, and to celebrate we have ten in season double passes to giveaway. Head over to thebrag.com/freeshit to enter.

What: Story Fest Where: Various locations around Sydney When: Friday October 14 – Sunday October 16

WRITE YERSELF BETTER Harpoon Harry

THAR SHE BLOWS

Harpoon Harry has poached Hong Kong’s Yardbird restaurant to feature in their Friends Of Harry food series, with Harpoon Harry chef Morgan McGlone and Yardbird co-founder and executive chef Matt Abergel teaming up to create a special a la carte menu for the occasion. A one-off experience set to take place on the Sunday of the Labour Day long weekend, the internationallyrecognized Yardbird izakaya (informal gastro pub) specializes in chicken yakitori skewers, with an emphasis on celebrating and perfecting the core ingredients of charcoal, fire, salt and chicken. Accompanying these delicious treats will be fried wings, along with a number of Abergel’s signature vegetarian dishes such as KFC (Korean fried cauliflower), and rice cakes with furikake seasoning.

Tantalise your tastebuds on Sunday October 2 at Harpoon Harry.

Artspace

Like the idea of writing scripts for movies and television shows? Or just want to improve on your mad screenwriting skills? Well, the Sydney Film School has expanded its short course program to include a brand-new screenwriting course. It’s called, ‘Write A Short Film’ - great name, huh? So, if you have a real interest in screenwriting or have already mustered up some short film ideas, then this is the course for you. You’ll get to experience six weeks of serious creativity guided by Sydney Film School’s Head of Screenwriting and Tropfest and Dendy Award winner, Alicia Walsh. The course runs Wednesday evenings at 6pm - 9pm from Tuesday October 4 - Tuesday November 15.

CHANGING LANES

Recently voted Best Community Event as part of the prestigious national Australian Event Awards 2016, Parramatta will once again host a veritable feast of art, food, music and culture as Parramatta Lanes Festival returns as part of this year’s Good Food Month. Live music, DJs, and cultural talks will be on show, along with exhibitions from local Parramatta Artists Studios, Raffles College Parramatta, University of New England Future Campus. Parramatta Lanes Festival will run from Tuesday October 11 to Friday October 14 from 5pm nightly.

Queenies

Hendrick’s Gin

GIN AND BEAR IT

Hendrick’s Gin, one of the most distinct gins ever created, is inviting gin and cucumber lovers to vote for what they believe to be the most unusual Australian ingredients.

It’s all part of a plan to develop a new, distinctive growing formula to partner with the unique gin flavour of the brand. Running until Friday September 30, the campaign will feature on its Facebook page, where anyone and everyone is invited to pick from three sets of ingredients provided with voters deciding which ingredient they prefer. Seeds will be planted and nurtured with the winning ingredients, with ‘cucumberists’ to monitor their growth and harvest as part of this world-first experience. Let Hendrick’s know what you like in a cucumber by visiting their Facebook page.

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KINGS AND QUEENS

ART P-ARTY

Artspace has announced applications are now open for its One Year Studio Program for 2017, offering artists a free residency from March 2017 to February 2018. A panel comprised of Artspace staff and external judges will select seven artists to feature their projects in a substantial studio space, along with a host of access to curatorial networks, participation in public programs, and an overall connection to the broader art community, both locally and internationally. Applications to take part in the free year-long residency close at midnight AEST on Monday October 31, so you have more than enough time to craft a passionate and perfect response, don’t ya? Submit your application via the Artspace Facebook page.

Queenies has announced this year’s annual stoner dinner, and its set to feature a gut-swelling five courses to put those munchies to bed. Following on from the big success of last year’s successful stoner feast, the night promises such delights as the Hash Brown double down with fried chicken, cheese and hot sauce, the delicatelydescribed McJunkie burger, bacon and caramel popcorn, along with a take on the ‘Create Your Taste’ option. The fivecourse munchie feast rolls out over two nights at The Forresters pub in Surry Hills on Thursday September 29.

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arts in focus

Marat/Sade [THEATRE] The Horror. The Horror. By Joseph Earp

I

t would seem almost perverse to talk about Peter Weiss’ The Persecution And Assassination Of Jean-Paul Marat As Performed By The Inmates Of The Asylum Of Charenton Under The Direction Of The Marquis de Sade (or simply Marat/Sade if you don’t feel like casually dropping that weighty title about the place) without the conversation taking a dark turn.

After all, the play is famously bleak: it’s a blood-splattered work set in an insane asylum, one that features the godfather of fi lth himself, the Marquis de Sade, as a central character. Not exactly the stuff you’ll fi nd yourself chatting vague pleasantries about then.

So, no, it’s not surprising that when Barry French, the director behind New Theatre’s upcoming production of the play, is asked about what drew him to the text, the conversation quickly references an extreme right-wing regime. “I remember seeing the play first when I was a student at drama school, back in the ’80s in South Africa,” French says. “It was done at a theatre called the Market Theatre, and it blew me away. There’s something about this show that is compelling. I don’t know what it is.

“Although perhaps it was that for me, growing up under Apartheid South Africa, the show was talking about the rights of the individual. We had very much of a sense of that at the time. And so what I’m trying to do with the production now is trying to fi nd what that relevance is for younger people today. Can this show get a younger audience? I think it can.”

Marat/Sade directly references the work of both Bertolt Brecht and Antonin Artaud, two pioneering playwrights. Brecht was a deconstructionist, determined to openly display theatrical techniques in a post-modern, bare bones style that has infl uenced everyone from Jean-Luc Godard to True Detective’s Nic Pizzolatto.

Artaud, by contrast, strongly believed in the purging aspect of live performance, and developed the about-as-terrifying-asit-sounds concept of the theatre of cruelty.

For French, these points of reference proved to be something he had to keep very much in mind while staging his new production. “I did quite a bit of thinking about this show before getting to the casting and the directing,” he says. “Back in the ’80s, when we were studying Marat/ Sade, the theatre of cruelty and the whole Brechtian thing was all very strong. But that was all before TV really kicked in.

That was before CGI. “At the time we went and watched the fi rst Superman and saw Superman fl y and it was like, ‘Wow!’ But now that’s commonplace. So in a world where the most spectacular and amazing things happen in front of your eyes, what makes theatre relevant?”

As far as French is concerned, the pulling power of the play lies, perhaps understandably given its subject matter, in horror. “What is the theatre of cruelty today?” he muses. “I think it’s the stuff we’re doing in Manus Island and Nauru.

That is our modern theatre of cruelty. It’s something people regularly identify with.

“The play is set in a mental institution where the people are mentally disturbed,” he continues. “It was set during the French Revolution, and we’re never told how the people were disturbed. But it’s quite possible people retreated into insanity as a ‘healthy response’ to the incredible atrocity they lived through. It’s a rational response. It’s possibly one of the only ways they could protect themselves.

And we’re seeing this ourselves on our doorstep. So for me the whole production started from a question of, ‘What if this production is being set not in an asylum but an asylum centre?’”

This sense of a rational response to an irrational stimulus is refl ected in the text itself: despite the horror that it touches on, there’s a prevailing sense of eerie, stately calm about the work. It features both musical elements (no, seriously) and rigid, high prose, creating an uneasy tension between medium and message. thebrag.com

“WHAT IS THE THEATRE OF CRUELTY TODAY? I THINK IT’S THE STUFF WE’RE DOING IN MANUS ISLAND AND NAURU. THAT IS OUR MODERN THEATRE OF CRUELTY.” Of course, there’s another central tension that dominates the piece too – that being the clash of personalities between de Sade and Jean-Paul Marat, two characters who represent very different aspects of the human condition. “At the centre of the play you have the man who seeks within himself the darkness,” says French.

“That’s de Sade. The real life de Sade did put on these pornographic plays – these disgusting seuxal plays. In a modern context he would probably be a pornographer or something. So you have that played against the fi gure of Marat, who is so obsessed with ideas, the ideas that society can be so much more.”

Ultimately, the work is a shocking, intoxicating look at a society in fl ux – one that, given the post-Trump candidacy world we now fi nd ourselves firmly mired in the centre of, will be particularly relevant.

“In the Middle East we are looking at societies who are in the midst of change and revolutions,” says French. “We see it in Tunisia, for example, and Egypt … and of course most pertinently in Syria, which has become a hotbed for Daesh. And ordinary people in those situations are coming here, and we are torturing them by taking away hope. So what I’ve tried to do with this production – we’ll see if it works or not, I genuinely don’t know – is I’ve tried to apply to the play that specifi c fi lter. We’ll see if it works.”

What: Marat/Sade Where: New Theatre When: Wednesday October 5 – Saturday November 5

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 21

film reviews

arts in focus ■ Film

BLAIR WITCH In cinemas now All good horror films thrive on the tension between the known and the unknown. The power of found footage flicks is about accentuating that divide: about taking a reasonable, overtly ‘filmed’ approach to something utterly unreasonable, applying logic to forces that actively refuse it.

In that way the original The Blair Witch Project is an exercise in how the found footage sub-genre can be manipulated to provide a kind of terror that normal narrative films can barely touch upon. By contrast, Blair Witch, the third film in the series following the disastrous, non-found footage Book Of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, is an exercise in sheer, unadulterated boredom.

■ Film

A BEAUTIFUL PLANET

are laid open like a complex, immeasurable and eclectic book.

In cinemas now

The immense red dominance of the Australian outback reminds us why we’ve hugged the outer rims for so long, while the enduring Andes mountain range and the lushness of the Amazon rainforest evoke an existential wonder. That said, it is the Aurora Borealis that proves particularly mesmerising, and shots of the immense systems of light are enough to make even your hardened tough cousin Joe tear up.

There’s nothing quite so humbling as seeing Earth, the vessel that casually sustains all of life, reduced to a mesmerising mishmash of blue and green.

In collaboration with NASA, IMAX have produced the documentary A Beautiful Planet, a breathtaking exploration of our collective home that zooms right out on Earth, turning our planet into a speck rather than a sphere.

Sure, as far as date night movies go this may not be the most provocative of choices, but if you and your potential lover are eager to learn from some of the most boss humans on and off Earth, this experience will definitely be right up your galaxy.

Shot entirely by astronauts serving their terms on the International Space Station, the film is bolstered in facts and produced by experts. There are no scripts or plot twists or shots of Sandra Bullock floating off into space. We are taken through the experiences of sincere and impassioned professionals, men and women whose every waking moment is dedicated to studying our phenomenal planet.

What is shown through their footage is 47 minutes of incredible beauty, truth and information. Earth’s enthralling ecosystems

What's in our diary...

The film is ostensibly a remake, and writer/director team Simon Barrett and Adam Wingard – who, it should be stressed, have done much better work in the past – so slavishly adhere to the rules and plot of the original that they leave themselves no room to bring anything fresh to the viewing experience.

So you know this story: team of young filmmakers head into the woods, spooky happenings occur, yadda yadda yadda, witch. There are occasional flourishes of creativity, and having two of the characters use old camcorders while the rest

of the cast are equipped with flashy, hands-free devices proves a neat way of calling back to the original while differentiating the characters’ POV. But such tricks are just that, tricks, and prove to be quickly forgotten, drowned out amid a sea of uninspired scares and dull set pieces.

A particularly lengthy scene featuring a drone camera, a tall tree and a whimpering, insufferably annoying heroine grates the most, providing not a single shred of tension.

Worse still, Wingard and Barrett have the gall to open their flick with the terrifying, legendary final scene from the original, and over the course of Blair Witch they try and replicate the galvanising power of that ‘face the wall’ set-piece with ever decreasing levels of success. Eventually they just give up and limply, unironically reshoot it, providing perhaps the least scary climax modern horror cinema has yet seen in the process.

And that, ultimately, is the film’s greatest flaw: it just isn’t scary. It isn’t even vaguely scary. Indeed, you can replicate the experience of watching the film at home if you so wish: just turn off all the lights in your house, whip out a dodgy flash light and get a mate to shout at you as you run up and down a corridor, snivelling. Dreck.

Joseph Earp

Aside from the film’s beauty, A Beautiful Planet also serves as a desperately needed reminder for conservation. The rate of deforestation and decay is clearly shown from space, and there is a strong message of environmental protection threaded throughout the film. Scenes of melting ice, pollution enveloping whole cities and deforestation devastating islands are all there for the naked eye to see.

Yes, this film has a ‘message’, but it never lectures or shoves its theme down its audience’s throat. Rather, it displays the evidence without comment, making a simple, open-and-shut case with the help of some stunning cinematography work. The Earth is fragile. The need for sustainability is pressing. Let’s not screw this one up.

Amy Henderson

Arts Exposed

Retro Screenings At Golden Age Golden Age Cinema And Bar, most days a week Those folks over at the Golden Age Cinema do have impeccable taste, huh? The collection of cinephiles that run the joint curate spruik some of the best films around, and their slightly-leftof-centre take on programming means you won’t see the same rehashed old classics that every joint in town sees fit to screen ten times a year (we’re looking at you, 2001: A Space Odyssey).

No, instead the cinema screens the likes of Pan’s Labyrinth and Tehran Taxi, exceptional, sometimes overlooked classics that are deserving of the big screen treatment. How can you not love that?

This Saturday October 1, Only Lovers Left Alive and A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night screen back to back. For other film listings, head to ourgoldenage.com.au.

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thebrag.com

o t & about eer

h matter

th rca

a b rt

Going Commando And Lesbian Werewolves There are only a few things in this life that feel as liberating as going commando. I recommend it for anybody. I worry that there are people afraid to let it all hang out, to feel the breeze, so to speak.

On the subject of going commando, actually, I’m sitting here reflecting on the night my life suddenly veered into gaytopia, courtesy of my urban hero, the man who roams Market Street in a toga.

You should really see him as he stumbles about the place, junk flying around willynilly. I’d see him every day on my way home from work. He was, surprisingly enough, the one who urged me to explore queer nightlife, to find my queer family and to understand queer culture.

wed

His name was Freddo, “like the frog”.

He had a soul patch that looked like those stubby black knuckles you find growing out of rotting potatoes. Freddo immediately launched into what sounded like his internal masturbation monologue.

He said lesbians were drawn to him and wanted me to tell him why that was the case, as they called themselves lesbians yet couldn’t seem to take his dick out of their mouths long enough to explain this curious phenomenon.

He detailed a story about a lesbian couple at a party who led him into a room, tied him to the bed, and proceeded to go down on him tag-team style in a frenzied lust.

“Animalistic”, he called it. He then made some comparisons between that and werewolf lore.

Some years ago after an unbearable work party, I was sitting in the gutter with my fingers down my throat, looking pretty.

Toga man was wandering around nearby.

I looked up for a second and saw a pale, wrinkled and totally hairless ball-sack swinging merrily towards me. Toga man, bless you for lifting me from my own personal spew kingdom. He stopped and said, “Are you OK, honey?”

“It could be just that they crave it once a month, or when the moon is full or something,” he explained. “It could have something to do with the blood.” When he said this, it wasn’t as though he was questioning the behavior: it was more as if he were narrating a documentary. “So if they do this, what does this mean?”

Discovering that he was gay made me feel an instant camaraderie with him.

We shared a cigarette. He told me he was on his way to Stonewall. I told him I’d never been to a gay bar before. Or any queer space, for that matter. He looked at me like I had two heads. As I watched him walk down the street to meet his boyfriend, I felt impressed by his confi dence. As a baby queer, I had none of it.

“No.” he said, seemingly deflated by my response. Eventually, trying to salvage the conversation, he moved on to a lengthy discussion about the state of his vegetable garden.

I hopped in a cab and really mulled it over.

I knew nothing of Sydney’s queer scene and wanted to change that. I lamented on how face-meltingly boring my night was at the hetero hop and wondered what magical wonders awaited me beyond the straight world. My thoughts were interrupted by my driver abruptly asking me if I was a lesbian. It was jarring: he hadn’t even said hello.

28 Sep

As much as I thought Freddo lived in a deluded fantasy world and was also a gigantic wanker, I felt a little sorry for him. I also felt a little sorry for me. I was sitting in a cab having this unbelievable conversation. I’d never felt so alien in my life, never felt so far removed from the things that make up who I am. Freddo’s insane speech had highlighted a painful reminder of difference I’d never been able to articulate before.

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

29 Sep

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

fri

30 Sep (10:00PM - 1:40AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

sat

sun

01

5:45PM  8:45PM

Oct

mon

3:30PM  6:30PM

02 Oct

(10:00PM - 1:15AM)

03

“Um, that they are bisexual?”

thu

(10:00PM - 1:40AM)

Q

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(8:30PM - 11:30PM)

tue

04

Oct

(8:30PM - 11:30PM)

Oct

EVERY SATURDAY

Party DJs GROUND FLOOR - AFTER BANDS

Talking to toga man and Freddo in the same night ultimately became this bizarre catalyst for my foray into queer culture.

I’ve not looked back, nor worn underwear, since.

this week…

ro tereogamo ter are excited announce the third to a birthday of Vogeuy Bear on r a e tember . Get on down to the e att er in Marrickville to ccelebrate queer music.

Germany’s ro mer has Germ flown out to play some tunes especially for you. tune Also on r a e tember , he r c a ho returns to the m er a retur ote in Erskineville from 9pm. Come and

ra a

thebrag.com

tch

mer

enjoy the classic show that cemented drag performance in Australian history. The production will be starring the one and only ra a tch, so you’ll for sure be in good hands, promise.

On a ctober 2, the c ergro is hosting Club Exile’s Labour Day Weekend, a male-only event. Dress code isn’t strict but encourages fetish wear. Expect lots of flesh and lots of dancing.

c

ergro

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 2

BARS BRAG

A Work In Progress 50 King St, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Mon – Fri noon-2am; Sat 5pm-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 – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu 10am-1.30am; Fri 10am-3am; Sat noon1.30am Assembly 488 Kent St, Sydney CBD (02) 9283 8808 Mon – Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight The Australian Heritage Hotel 100 Cumberland St, The Rocks (02) 9247 2229 Mon – Sun 10.30am-midnight Bar Eleven Lvl 11, 161 Sussex St,

Sydney CBD (02) 9290 4712 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 Bar Basement, 27-33 Goulburn St, Sydney CBD (02) 8970 5813 Mon – Thu 5pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight The Baxter Inn Basement 152-156 Clarence St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-1am Beta Bar First Floor, 238 Castlereagh St, CBD (02) 8599 8970 Wed – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri midday-midnight; Sat 5pm-midnight Bulletin Place First Floor, 10-14 Bulletin Place, Circular Quay Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thurs – Sat 4pm-1am; Sun 4-10pm Burrow Bar De Mestre Place, Sydney

0450 466 674 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight The Captain’s Balcony 46 Erskine St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 3526 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 5pm-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 (02) 9299 3769 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight El Camino Cantina 18 Argyle St, The Rocks Mon – Thu noonmidnight; Fri – Sat noon-3am; Sun 11.30am-midnight Frankie’s Pizza 50 Hunter St, Sydney CBD Sun – Thu 4pm-3am; Fri noon-3am Gilt Lounge 49 Market St, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 0000 Mon – Fri 5pm-2am; Sun 5pm-midnight 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 Sun – Fri noon-9pm Grandma’s Basement 275 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9264 3004 Mon – Fri 3pm-midnight; Sat 5pm-1am 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 – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri noon1am; Sat 4pm-1am Hacienda Sydney 61 Macquarie St, Sydney CBD (02) 9256 4000 Mon – Sun noon-late Harpoon Harry 40-44 Wentworth Ave, Sydney CBD (02) 8262 8800

bar

OF

SELINA’S AT COOGEE BAY HOTEL

bar

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

Mon – Sat 11.30am-3am; Sun 11am-midnight Kittyhawk 16 Phillip Ln, Sydney CBD Mon – Thu 3pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 3pm-2am The Lobo Plantation Basement Lot 1, 209 Clarence St, Sydney CBD 0415 554 908 Mon – Thu, Sat 4pm-midnight; Fri 2pm-midnight The Local Bar 161 Castlereagh St, Sydney CBD (02) 9953 0027 Mon – Wed 7.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 7.30am-11pm The Loft (UTS) 15 Broadway, Sydney (behind 2SER) (02) 9514 1149 Mon – Fri 2-11pm Mojo Record Bar Basement 73 York St, Sydney CBD (02) 9262 4999 Mon – Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu 4pm-1am; Fri – Sat 4pm-1am The Morrison 225 George St, Sydney CBD (02) 9247 6744 Mon – Wed 7.30am-11pm; Thu 7.30am-midnight; Fri 7.30am-2am; Sat 11.30am-2am The Palisade 35 Bettington St, Millers Point 9018 0123 Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat – Sun 11am-midnight Mr Tipply’s 347 Kent St, Sydney CBD

E W ADDRESS: 253 COOGEE BAY RD, COOGEE PHONE NUMBER: 9665 0000 WEBSITE: COOGEEBAYHOTEL.COM.AU OPENING HOURS: SELINA’S: THURSDAYS FROM 8PM – 12AM. COOGEE BAY: MONDAY -THURSDAY, 7AM – 3AM, FRIDAY AND SATURDAY 7AM – 6AM, SUNDAY 7AM – 12AM

Tell us about your bar: Selina’s is renowned as one of the best live music venues in Sydney, and it has the legacy of the highest calibre of bands gracing the stage across the decades, including INXS, Midnight Oil, Nirvana, Rose Tattoo, Cold Chisel, The Divinyls, Crowded House and more. The room can hold almost 2,000 people in its full capacity, but for our Thursday night live series we’ve made it more intimate, like an underground

24 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

basement, for around 250 people.

What’s on the menu? We’ve got beers on draft and in tinnies, plus an epic spread of ciders, wines, and of course a stack of Jack Daniels.

Care for a drink? Our signature drink for this legendary venue would have to be a jack and coke – it’s straight up rock’n’roll.

E

Sounds? Thursday nights feature a mix of the best indie rock and folk acts around from the lively lasses of Rackett, to the shoegaze goodness of The Laurels and upbeat garage of The Ruminaters.

Highlights: It’s free entry, and the room still smells like teen spirit.

The bill comes to: Grab a beer and burger from the Brasserie for only $20 from 5pm.

(02) 9299 4877 Mon – Thu 11.30am-10pm; Fri 11.30am-midnight; Sat 10pm-4am Palmer & Co. Abercrombie Ln, Sydney CBD (02) 9240 3000 Sun – Weds 5pm-3am; Thu 3pm-3am; Fri noon3am; Sat 4pm-3am 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 PS40 40 King St, Sydney CBD Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Ramblin’ Rascal Tavern 199 Elizabeth 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 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 4.30pm-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 Tuxedo Bar 195 Gloucester St, The Rocks Mon – Fri noon-7pm Uncle Ming’s 55 York St, Sydney CBD Mon – Fri noon-midnight; Sat 4pm-midnight York Lane 56 Clarence St, Sydney CBD (02) 9299 1676 Mon – Wed 6.30am-10pm; Thu – Fri 6am-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 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 Big Poppa’s 96 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Mon – Sun 5pm-3am Black Penny 648 Bourke St, Surry Hills (02) 9319 5061 Mon – Sat 7am-midnight; Sun 7am-10pm 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 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 Wed 6-11pm; Thu – Sat 6pm-1am; Sun 5-10pm The Cliff Dive 16-18 Oxford Square, Darlinghurst Fri – Sat 6pm-late The Commons 32 Burton St, Darlinghurst (02) 9358 1487 Tue – Wed 6pm-midnight; Thu – Fri noon-late; Sat – Sun 8:30am-late 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-midnight Della Hyde 34 Oxford St, Darlinghurst Thu – Sat 5pm-late Eau-De-Vie 229 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst 0422 263 226 Sun – Fri 6pm-1am; Sat

6pm-midnight The Forresters 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Mon – Wed noonmidnight; Thu – Sat noon-1am; Sun noon10pm 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 Tue – Sun noon-midnight Golden Age Cinema & Bar 80 Commonwealth St, Surry Hills (02) 9211 1556 Wed – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 2:30pm-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 Hinky Dinks 185 Darlinghurst Rd, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6379 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 2-11pm Hollywood Hotel 2 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9281 2765 Mon – Wed 10am-midnight; Thu – Sat 10am-3am The Horse 381 Crown St, Surry Hills 1300 976 683 Mon – Thu noonmidnight; Fri 11.30am-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Jangling Jack’s Bar & Grill 175 Victoria St, Potts Point Tue – Wed 4-11pm, Thu – Sat 4-1am, Sun noon11pm Hustle & Flow Bar 3/105 Regent St, Redfern (02) 8964 93932 Tue – Thu 6pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 2pm-midnight Li’l Darlin Darlinghurst 235 Victoria St, Darlinghurst (02) 8084 6100 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight Li’l Darlin Surry Hills 420 Elizabeth St, Surry Hills (02) 9698 5488 Mon – Fri noon-11pm; Sat 4pm-midnight LL Wine and Dine 42 Llankelly Place Potts Point (02) 9356 8393 Mon – Thu 5pm-11pm; Fri – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 11am-10pm The Local Taphouse 122 Flinders St, Darlinghurst (02) 9360 0088 Mon – Sun noon-9:30pm Love, Tilly Devine 91 Crown Ln, Darlinghurst (02) 9326 9297 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm 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 4pm-midnight; Thu – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm thebrag.com

Moya’s Juniper Lounge 101 Regent St, Redfern 0431 113 394 Tue – Sat 4pm-11pm; Sun midday-10pm The Noble Hops 125 Redfern St, Redfern 0431 113 394 Mon – Fri 4pm -midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3pm-10pm The Norfolk 305 Cleveland St, Surry Hills (02) 9699 3177 Mon – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-10pm Old Growler 218 William St, Woolloomooloo 0458 627 266 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight The Oxford Circus 231 Oxford St, Darlinghurst 0457 353 384 Wed – Sat 7pm-3am The Owl House 97 Crown St, Darlinghurst 0401 273 080 Mon – Sat 5pm-late; Sun 5-10pm Peekaboo 120 Bourke St, Woolloomooloo 0403 747 788 Tue – Thu 4pm-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight Play Bar 72 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 0885 Tue – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri 4pm-midnight; 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 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4:30pm-midnight; Sun 4pm-midnight The Print Room 11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Thu – Fri noon-midnight; Sun – Wed noon-10pm Queenie’s Upstairs 336 Riley St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 3035 Tue – Thu 6pm-late, Fri noon-3pm & 6pm-late; Sat 6pm-late Riley St Garage 55 Riley St, Woolloomooloo (02) 9326 9055 Mon – Sat noon-midnight Roosevelt 32 Orwell St, Potts Point (02) 8696 1787 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Rosie Campbell’s 320 Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9356 4653 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sun 11am-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 Mon – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu – Fri 5pm-3am; Sat – Sun 6pm-3am Surly’s 182 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 3705 Mon – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-10pm Sweethearts Rooftop 33/37 Darlinghurst Rd, Potts Point (02) 9368 7333 thebrag.com

Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sun noon-midnight 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 9am-10pm; Tue – Fri 9am-midnight; Sat 10am-midnight; Sun 10am-10pm Tio’s Cerveceria 4-14 Foster St, Surry Hills (02) 9368 1955 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight Tipple Bar 28 Chalmers St, Surry Hills (02) 9212 0006 Mon midday-10pm; Tue –Sat midday-midnight Vasco 421 Cleveland St, Redfern 0406 775 436 Mon – Sat 5pm-midnight The Village Inn 9-11 Glenmore Rd, Paddington (02) 9331 0911 Mon – Sun noon-late The Wild Rover 75 Campbell St, Surry Hills (02) 9280 2235 Mon – Sat 4pm-midnight The Winery 285A Crown St, Surry Hills (02) 9331 0833 Mon – Sun noon-midnight

Anchor Bar 8 Campbell Pde, Bondi (02) 8084 3145 Mon – Fri 5pm-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 – Fri 11am-1am; Sat 10am-1am; Sun 10am-10pm Bondi Hardware 39 Hall St, Bondi (02) 9365 7176 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri noon-midnight; Sat 9am-midnight; Sun 9am-8pm The Bucket List Shop 1, Bondi Pavilion, Queen Elizabeth Drive (02) 9365 4122 Mon – Tue 11am-5pm; Wed – Sun 11am-midnight The Corner House 281 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 8020 6698 Tue – Sat 5pm-midnight; Sun 1pm-10pm Fat Ruperts 249 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 1033 Tue – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 2pm-midnight Jam Gallery 195 Oxford St, Bondi Junction (02) 9389 2485 Tue 4pm-midnight; Wed – Sat 4pm-3am The Phoenix Hotel 1 Moncur St, Woollahra (02) 9363 2608 Tue – Wed 4-11pm; Thu – Fri 11.30am-1am; Sat 8am-11pm; Sun 8am-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 110 Spring St, Bondi Junction (02) 9389 2485 Tue – Sat 5pm-3am Stuffed Beaver 271 Bondi Rd, Bondi (02) 9130 3002 Mon – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-10pm

Bar-racuda 105 Enmore Rd, Newtown (02) 9519 1121 Mon – Sat 6pm-midnight Batch Brewing Company 44 Sydenham Rd, Marrickville (02) 9550 5432 Mon – Sun 10am-8pm Bauhaus West 163 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8068 9917 Wed – Thu 5-11pm; Fri 4-11pm; Sat 2-10pm; Sun midday-10pm 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 Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm 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 – Fri 10am-late; Sat 9am-late Corridor 153A King St, Newtown 0405 671 002 Mon 5pm-midnight; Tue 4pm-midnight; Wed – Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm Cottage Bar & Kitchen 342 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8084 8185 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Different Drummer 185 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9552 3406 Mon 4.30-11pm; Tue – Wed 4.30pm-1am; Thu – Sat 4.30pm-2am; Sun 4.30am-midnight Doris & Beryl’s Bridge Club and Tea House 530 King St, Newtown Mon – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat – Sun 3.30pm-midnight Earl’s Juke Joint 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 Grifter Brewing Co. 1/391-397 Enmore Rd, Marrickville (02) 9550 5742 Thu 4-9pm; Fri – Sat noon-9pm; Sun noon-7pm The Hideaway Bar 156 Enmore Rd, Enmore (02) 8021 8451 Tue– Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat 4pm-1am Hive Bar 93 Erskineville Rd, Erskineville (02) 9519 1376 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 Kingston Public Bar & Kitchen 62-64 King St, Newtown (02) 8084 4140 Mon – Fri 4pm-midnight; Sat noon-midnight; Sun noon-10pm Knox Street Bar Cnr Knox & Shepherd St, Chippendale (02) 8970 6443 Tue – Thu 4-10pm; Fri – Sat 4pm-midnight; Sun 5-10pm Kuleto’s 157 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 6369 Mon – Sat 4pm-late; Thu – Sat 4pm-3am Leadbelly 42 King St, Newtown (02) 9557 9409 Sun – Thur 4pm-midnight; Fri-Sat 4pm-1am 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 noonmidnight; Sun 4pm-10pm Newtown Social Club 387 King St, Newtown (02) 9550 3974 Mon – Thu 4pm-midnight; Fri – Sat noon-2am; Sun noon10pm The Oxford Tavern 1 New Canterbury Rd, Petersham (02) 8019 9351 Mon – Thu noonmidnight; Fri – Sat noon3am; Sun noon-10pm Lord Raglan 12 Henderson Rd, Alexandria (02) 9699 4767

Mon – Sat noonmidnight; Sun noon-10pm The Record Crate 34 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9660 1075 Mon – Thu 5pm-midnight; Sat 2pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm 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 – Fri 7am-11pm; Sat 7am-10pm; Sun 7am-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 Mon – Thu 6pm-11pm; Fri 6pm-midnight; Sat noon3pm & 6pm-midnight Timbah 375 Glebe Point Rd, Glebe (02) 9571 7005 Tue – Thu 4-10pm; Fri 4-11pm; Sat 3pm-11pm; Sun 4pm-8pm Vernon’s Bar L2. One Penny Red, 2 Moonbie St. Summer Hill

(02) 9797 8118 Mon – Sun 4pm-11:30pm Wayward Brewing Co. 1 Gehrig Ln, Annandale (02) 7903 2445 Thu – Sat 2-10pm; Sun noon-8pm Websters Bar 323 King St, Newtown (02) 9519 1511 Mon – Sat 10am-4am; Sun 10am-midnight Wilhelmina’s 332 Darling St, Balmain (02) 8068 8762 Wed – Fri 5-11pm; Sat – Sun 8am-11pm The Workers Lvl 1, 292 Darling St, Balmain (02) 9555 8410 Fri – Sat 5pm-3am; Sun 2pm-midnight Young Henrys D & E, 76 Wilford St, Newtown (02) 9519 0048 Mon – Sat 10am-7pm; Sun noon-7pm Zigi’s Wine And Cheese Bar 86 Abercrombie St, Chippendale (02) 9699 4222 Tue 4pm-10pm; Wed 4pm-midnight; Thu – Sat 3pm-midnight

Crooked Tailor 250 Old Northern Road, Castle Hill (02) 9899 3167 Mon – Sun 4pm-midnight Daniel San 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 – Wed 5-11pm; Thu 5-11.30pm; Fri noon11.30pm; Sat noon-11pm; Sun noon-10pm The Foxtrot 28 Falcon St, Crows Nest Tue – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu 5pm-1am; Fri 4pm-2am; Sat 5pm-2am; Sun 4-10pm 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, Sydney Rd Plaza, Manly (02) 9977 2009 Tue – Fri 5pm-midnight; Sat 3pm-midnight; Sun 3-10pm 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 noon-midnight; Sun noon- 10pm Jah Bar Shop 9, 9-15 Central Ave,

Your bar’s not here? Email: chris@thebrag.com

Manly (02) 9977 4449 Tue 5pm-midnight; Wed-Fri noon-midnight; Sat 8am-midnight; Sun 9am-midnight Manly Wine 8-13 South Steyne, Manly (02) 8966 9000 Mon – Sun 6.30am-late Miami Cuba 47 North Steyne, Manly 0487 713 350 Mon – Sun 8am-4pm Moonshine Lvl 2, Hotel Steyne, 75 The Corso, Manly (02) 9977 4977 Mon – Thu 9am-3pm; Fri – Sat 9am-2am; Sun 9am-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 – Wed 5pm-midnight; Thu 5pm-1am; Sat noon-2am; Sun noon-midnight The Stoned Crow 39 Willoughby Rd, Crows Nest (02) 9439 5477 Mon – Sat noon-late; Sun 11.30am-10pm The Treehouse Hotel 60 Miller St, North Sydney (02) 8458 8980 Mon – Fri 7am-midnight; Sat 2pm-midnight

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 25

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK TOM STEPHENS

tunes are full of pleasures that sometimes only reveal themselves on third or fourth listen.

‘Any Less Of A Man’, for example, has a kind of stately grace about it, and it never insists, only suggests.

In the post-fact world we now reside in, it feels hard to approach anything with real sincerity, much less sing in a voice free from irony. For that reason, Tom Stephens’ What Lies In The Difference proves to be an exceptional record in all senses of the word: as a debut album it is startlingly self-contained and assured, but as a passionate, strikingly pure record, it stands apart from the crowd.

Better still, nothing about the record is hesitant, or implies that Stephens is anything less than a fully-realised singer-songwriter.

What Lies In The Difference isn’t a musical CV, but instead has a thrilling, slow-burning power all of its own.

What Lies In The Difference Independent

A local Sydney songwriter wows with a powerfully realised debut record.

Songs are admirably workmanlike – Stephens has a gimmick-free aesthetic that means his

What Lies In The Difference has its eyes open wide and its head clear. It demands your attention.

Joseph Earp

BANKS & STEELZ

REMI

MATT BERRY

BANKS

NOTS

The Banks & Steelz story began five years ago, when Paul Banks of Interpol fame and the Wu Tang Clan’s head honcho RZA cut a demo together in between chess-playing sessions. While the unlikely duo had never planned on releasing a fulllength album, fate had different plans.

It’s been just over two years since Remi’s debut LP Raw x Infi nity dropped, and in that time things have gone gangbusters for both the man himself and his partner in crime Sensible J. Unsurprisingly then, Divas & Demons has been one of the most highly anticipated records of 2016.

Oh boy, where to start with this pile of shit? My assumption was that Matt Berry’s music was going to be an extended joke, an element of his acting work, laughs and side-splitters aplenty. Unfortunately, you’ll quickly realise The Small Hours isn’t a joke.

Which begs the question, can a comedian do serious music?

Almost two years to the day since Banks dropped her debut album Goddess, a brand new chapter has revealed itself within the 28-year-old Californian’s young career.

Memphis four-piece Nots continue to make off-kilter music with a frenetic energy that moves from unrelenting to unsettling on Cosmetic, their second full-length album.

The album is punctuated by Sensible J’s stripped-down music production, flowing lyrics, and a host of collaborations with some of this country’s brightest up-andcomers in both the hip hop and soul scenes.

Berry is incredibly hilarious. His roles in The Mighty Boosh, IT Crowd, Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, Snuff Box and Toast Of London are A-grade comedy performances, underpinned by his uniquely boisterous and deadpan demeanour.

The Altar boasts 12 tracks that encompass balladry, contemporary hip-hop and tenacious EDM, all the while staying true to the flowing narrative style of lyricism that earned her a fan base.

The title track feels reminiscent of Clockcleaner or Pissed Jeans as it lurches along; the band are deranged, wide-eyed and perched at the ready to move from the shadows to attack with feline-like precision.

The introspective subject matter traces the rise of Remi’s star, while life, identity, being young and fucking up are the topics at the heart of Divas & Demons, delivered with a real lyrical honesty. There’s no sugar coating and no fluff.

But The Smalls Hours is not satirical comedy – unless Berry’s so deep in the joke that he doesn’t know if he’s joking anymore, like a confused undercover cop. His psych/folk/jazz offal is something you might find in an op shop’s vinyl collection, next to a stack of Kamhal and Engelbert Humperdinck records. It lacks substance, feels outdated, but most of all, is just plain boring. It’s like elevator music had sex with hold music in a waiting room.

Juxtaposition is rife, with Banks’ vulnerability showcased in piano-led ballad ‘To The Hilt’, while current buzzsingle ‘Fuck With Myself’ contains sensual deliverance.

There is still plenty of melody within the noise on Cosmetic. ‘Inherently Low’ has all the makings of a new-wave number, but a sped-up tempo paired with group vocals and the whole affair being swathed in a mass of sinister sound effects keeps it pointedly un-pop, ensuring that the band maintain their bleak and antagonistic outlook.

Anything But Words Warner Bros.

Banks’ shoegaze-y riffs and resigned indie rock vocal stylings sound at odds with RZA’s street-smart demeanour at first, but as the album rolls on, the method in the madness becomes evident. The trick here is to pull out all stops and enjoy the album without analysing its discrete constituents.

The pair seize the opportunity to experiment with fresh ideas while being careful not to become another rock/rap mashup cliche. To that end, RZA keeps things authentic with his raw flow, and doesn’t adjust his style much in order to fit with the album’s often experimental sound.

Wielding their impressive respective talents both as performers and producers, the duo have arrived at a great mix of sounds on this album.

Ultimately, Banks & Steels have taken something that’s been done to death and recreated it in a refreshing way. That’s what makes this collaboration work and this album a solid debut.

Dimitri Zrazhevski

Divas & Demons House Of Beige

That said, there is a bit of a departure from the raw energy on Remi’s 2014 debut. Divas & Demons is flush with slower, R&B and soul elements, and proves a little less in your face.

A very impressive follow up album, Divas showcases why Remi and Sensible J have become such an important duo on the Australian music scene.

Eben Rojter

The Small Hours Acid Jazz

Even if you try to put all of your previous conceptions of Matt Berry out of your head, the record still doesn’t improve. If you want your music to be taken seriously, especially acid jazz, you’d better wear a mask. Then again, maybe he is joking, and the joke’s on me.

Lee Spencer-Michaelsen

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK When Shining Bird released their debut album Leisure Coast in 2013, they stunned with their pure and expansive Australiana sound.

Their follow-up album Black Opal continues in the same vein, but with new levels of energy and confidence.

SHINING BIRD Black Opal Spunk Records

26 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

Opener ‘I Can Run’ immediately makes apparent the musical influence of the late ’80s and early ’90s, though Shining Bird combine this with the signature vastness of their music, something so clearly inspired by the vastness of Australia itself.

The album is built for the Australian roadtrip. Singles ‘Helluva Lot’ and ‘Rivermouth’ straddle the line between outstandingly beautiful

songs of Australia’s natural landscapes and a song Tourism NSW might have commissioned, but somehow the band keep it from becoming too cheesy.

Every song on the album is a joyful listen, with the only exception being ‘Buried’, which feels like a B-side when stacked against the rest of the album, though it’s still an enjoyable song in it’s own right.

While containing more energy than their debut, Black Opal doesn’t lose the slow and calm sound the band created: it simply gives it more focus and direction.

Shining Bird have found their way, and the result is a true gem.

The Altar EMI Music

Cosmetic Goner

There are times where the spirit of her previous album shines through, such as with the warming softness of ‘Lovesick’. The track’s climbing beat and minimal soundscape allow you to bask in her words of admission and the acknowledgement of her feelings.

But for those moments, there is a Top 40 edge to the majority of this record.

‘Judas’ feels way too much up The Weeknd’s alley, and the production on ‘Trainwreck’ sounds like a cast-off from any one of the world’s current all-girl pop groups.

Closer ‘Entertain Me’ starts off as a slow, moody burn but quickly escalates into a writhing beast.

Natalie Hoffmann sneers with contempt as the synth swirls, the guitars rip and reel in a psychedelic fashion and the bass and drums keep the epic number from completely catapulting off into the ether.

Banks and her glorious lyrical dissection is still there, just encased inside a shinier, radiofriendly exterior. Somehow it just doesn’t seem as genuine.

On their second offering Nots has continued to solidify its characteristic sound whilst suitably extending on the band’s brand of weirdo anxiety-driven punk.

Chelsea Deeley

Krystal Maynard

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

TLC - CrazySexyCool YES - Fragile JET - Get Born

LOW - Long Division DNA - A Taste Of DNA

Daniel Prior thebrag.com

snap sn ap

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

thebrag.com/snaps

Metro Theatre Wednesday September 21

“Sydney, where’s the fucking body bags?” asked Stories some 30 minutes after opening the evening’s proceedings with a mixture of melodic hardcore and a two-part motivational monologue about following your dreams. A solid set to be sure.

But quite quickly the audience found themselves deep in the Queen’s country, as Milton Keynes five-piece Hacktivist tore the stage a new one with flawless lyrical flow and monstrous breakdowns. Their set was less love song dedications and more political, frequently proving poignant.

‘Taken’ was dedicated to lead screamer Marvin’s two grandfathers as well as the late Architects guitarist Tom Searle, Enter Shikari’s own Rou Reynolds joining the band on vocal duties.

There was also room for a huge and unabashed fuck you given to current British Prime Minister Theresa May in the form of ‘Elevate’.

Shikari and we control pitch and rhythms to manipulate emotions.”

From the ominous monologues that cut between songs, the frantic dancing of Reynolds, bassist Chris Batten descending into the middle of a rotating circle pit while still shredding bass, microphones hanging from the rafters, ladders being swung around onstage, guitarist Rory Clewlow’s banter and even drummer Rob Rolfe’s cheeky “#ROLFY” t-shirt, all the elements combined to make an incredible set.

Classics ‘Solidarity’ and ‘Sorry You’re Not A Winner’ proved to be a jolting start to the set. ‘Mothership’ and ‘Destabilise’ sent the crowd into frantic jostling, while slower number ‘Constellation’ provided the most passionate sing along of the night. The crowd’s jubilation was no more apparent than following track ‘The One True Colour’, when Reynolds revealed that at one point the band couldn’t even hear their own earpieces over the singing of their audience.

“This isn’t a complaint,” he clarified. “I appreciate your lung capacity and your volume.”

With a metal makeover of the ‘Ye and Jay classic ‘Niggas In Paris’ planted right in the middle of the set, causing the first impassioned circle pit of the night, it was not surprising that the boys left the crowd screaming for an encore.

Finishing the encore with an ‘Anaesthetist’ remix and the rousing ‘The Appeal II’, the band left the crowd sweaty and battered but full of hope.

“This is the last tour of the Mindsweep era,” says Reynolds. “We’re off to make the best album of our lives. We’ll see you soon.” We’re counting on it lads.

“Greetings carbon-based life forms,” said Rou Reynolds. “We are Enter

Chelsea Deeley

vera blue

PICS :: AM

ENTER SHIKARI, HACKTIVIST, STORIES

up all night out all week . . .

PHOTOGRAPHER :: ASHLEY MAR

thebrag.com

apocalyptica

PICS :: KC

25:09:16 :: Newtown Social Club :: 387 King St Newtown 9550 3974

23:09:16 :: Metro Theatre :: 624 George St Sydney 9550 3666 BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 27

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

pick of the week

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Manning Bar

The Sonics

+ The Crusaders + The Pink Fits 8pm. $63.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Gregory Porter The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $85.

Japanese Jazz Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8pm. $20.

The Fever Pitch feat: Special Guests The Hideaway Bar, Enmore. 8pm. Free.

The Groovemeisters Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $20.

The Roots & Riddim Club - feat: Errol Renaud Trio + King Keith Play Bar, Surry Hills.

8:30pm. Free.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29

The Sonics

FRIDAY S E P TE M BER 3 0

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28

Paddington. 9pm.

Free.

Wailing Wednesdays feat: Live Reggae Acoustic Rosie Campbell's, Surry Hills. 7pm.

Free.

Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 8pm. Free.

Willy Wagtails + Bleeding Gums Murphy The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Bill Hunt Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 7:30pm.

Free.

Chorizo Slim & The Boogie Blues Band + Michegan Waters The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm.

Free.

Michael Dimarco Sappho Books, Cafe And Bar, Sydney.

7pm. Free.

The Squeezebox Trio Mr Falcon's, Glebe.

7pm. Free.

Tim Walker

Adam Gorecki Duo Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.

Into It. Over It. + Zzzounds Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $35.

Joanna Capetanakis Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 6:30pm. Free.

Rum And Ale V Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Why We Run + Lxy Dazy And Era Kin Captain Cook Hotel,

Gregory Porter In Conversation Play Bar, Surry Hills.

7pm. Free.

John Maddox Co Sappho Books, Cafe And Bar, Sydney.

7pm. Free.

Katherine Vavahea & Friends + OlatunDJi + Sahar Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $10.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Coast & Ocean + Azza D + Zepha + Ali Morgan Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8:30pm. $10.

Dastedly + Matt Gold + Pascoe + Balko + More Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Joe Echo Duo Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. Free.

Leadbelly Thursdays - feat: Bad Pony + Jacob Moore Leadbelly, Newtown.

8pm. Free.

Lionel Robinson Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 6:30pm. Free.

Live Band Karaoke Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 9pm. Free.

Matt Gold + Pascoe & Balko Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $10.

Michael Franti + Spearhead Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $73.30.

Oneworld Royal Hotel, Bondi.

9pm. Free.

Rackett Selina's, Coogee.

8:30pm. Free.

Richie Sambora + Orianthi + Sarah Mcleod Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $99.90.

Sons Of The East Oxford Art Factory,

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Darlinghurst. 8pm. $17.90.

Totally Unicorn Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7:30pm. $18.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Anthony Charlton Australian Arms Hotel, Penrith.

8:30pm. Free.

Aussa Nova + Tristan Alaba + Maira Cortez & DJ Logfire The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 7pm. $7.

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

Free.

Danza Productions - feat: Lord Of The Strings The Sound Lounge, Sydney. 8:30pm. $25.

Harbourview Hulabaloo Harbourview Hotel, The Rocks. 7pm.

Free.

Jacinta Laws Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor. 6:30pm.

Free.

Michigan Water Mr Falcon's, Glebe.

8pm. Free.

The Idea Of North Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7pm. $35.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Jazz In The Kirk Cafe - feat: Licorice Allsorts + The Zenith New Orleans Jazz Band The Kirk, Manly.

7:30pm. $22.50.

John & Yuki + Richard’s Gypsy Stalkers Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Glebe.

8pm. Free.

Marsala Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $28.

Salsa Kingz Revesby Workers Club, Revesby.

8:30pm. Free.

Soul Tattoo Optus Centre, Macquarie Park. 4pm.

Free.

Blake Tailor Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 10pm. Free.

Cambo The Oriental Hotel, Springwood. 8pm.

Free.

Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender - feat: Brian Cadd + Henry Wagons & The Only Children + The Brothers Comatose + The Wilson Pickers + William Crighton + Melody Pool + The Eastern + Raised

By Eagles + Jordie Lane + Spookyland + Charles Jenkins + Davey Craddock & The Spectacles + Skyscraper Stan And The Commission Flats + Irish Mythen + Andy Golledge Band + James Thomson & The Strange Pilgrims + Leah Flanagan + Dashville Progress Society + Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids + Jason Walker + Tracy Mcneil & The Goodlife + William John Jr. + Lyle Dennis Express + Magpie Diaries Dashville, Lower Belford. 10am. $180.

Joe Bonamassa + Sinead Burgess Sydney Opera House, Sydney.

7:15pm. $99.

Reverend Horton Heat Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $68.

Stephanie Lea Manly Leagues Club, Brookvale. 9:30pm.

Free.

The Wilson Pickers + Katie Brianna + Katie Brianna Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $15.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Acid King + Isaiah Mitchell With Seedy Jeezus + Los Honbres Del Diablo Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $53.50.

Alex Lahey

Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $12.

Ashtray Boy + Lobsterman The Record Crate, Glebe. 8pm. Free.

Ball Park Music + The Creases + Sahara Beck Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $55.90.

Chase The Sun Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $23.

Clever Little Secretaries Penrith RSL, Penrith.

9pm. Free.

Dmy Band The Bunker, Coogee.

8pm. Free.

Down Thunder Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor. 8pm. Free.

Eggplant Jackson, Gavin Scott & Andrew Paskin + Eggplant Jackson + Gavin Scott & Andrew Paskin Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 8pm.

Free.

Fridays - feat: New Horizons Band + M7 & DJ Marty Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 7pm. Free.

Harry Coulson The Old Growler, Woolloomoolo. 8pm.

Free.

Larissa Mckay Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 6:30pm. Free.

Mutilate Presents Hcd - feat: Splinter Cell + Toon & Raziel + Ivor + Mistortion + Sc@R + Scatterlie + Assailant + Lockjaw Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 9pm.

Free.

Next Wave Youth Concert - feat: Hey Geronimo + Black Iguana + Marvell + Knowing Ivy Manly Beach, Sydney. 5:30pm.

Free.

Outlier Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 10pm. Free.

Paul Mason Trio Mr Falcon's, Glebe.

7:30pm. Free.

Rare Finds #20 - feat: Left + Elizabeth Rose + Spit Syndicate + San Frans + Ivy + Martin Novosel + Dappled Cities Oaf Gallery, Sydney.

8pm. Free.

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

Red Bull Sound Select Presents

(The Return To Musicianship) - feat: Donny Benet + Broadway + Sounds + Klue Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 8pm. $3.

Rockin' The 70s feat: The Classic Kings Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 7:30pm. $25.

Skyscraper Stan And The Commission Flats Leadbelly, Newtown.

4pm. Free.

The Sonics + The Crusaders + The Pink Fits Manning Bar, Camperdown. 7pm. $63.

Thunderstruck AC/ DC Show Colonial Hotel, Werrington. 9pm.

Free.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Cath & Him Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 9pm. Free.

Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender - feat: Brian Cadd + Henry Wagons & The Only Children + The Brothers Comatose + The Wilson Pickers + William Crighton + Melody Pool + The Eastern + Raised

By Eagles + Jordie Lane + Spookyland + Charles Jenkins + Davey Craddock & The Spectacles + Skyscraper Stan And The Commission Flats + Irish Mythen + Andy Golledge Band + James Thomson & The Strange Pilgrims + Leah Flanagan + Dashville Progress Society + Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids + Jason Walker + Tracy Mcneil & The Goodlife + William John Jr. + Lyle Dennis Express + Magpie Diaries Dashville, Lower Belford. 10am. $130.

Evie Dean Club Central Menai, Menai. 9pm. Free.

five things WITH

LUKE SINCLAIR FROM RAISED BY EAGLES

Growing Up Dad used to organise these 1. backyard sing alongs with his

mates and all their kids. They’d stand around playing guitar kind of badly, but trading all these great old country standards. He listened to a lot of ’70s commercial country records: that’s the stuff that got me into country music. I took a lot of side roads on my way to the kind of music we make now. But it’s all ended up here with Raised

By Eagles. It’s a great band to be in.

Inspirations It’s passé to say this now but 2.

Dylan has inspired me endlessly.

His phrasing, which is obviously

28 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

much less talked about than his writing, is genius.

Your Band I put the band together in 3.

2013 when my previous band

The Idle Hoes was winding up. I still had plenty of songs to record so I just asked the boys if they’d be keen. I knew them all from playing with other bands around Melbourne. As soon as we started playing together I could tell we were on to something good. We all play from a similar place in the heart, so we get what the songs are trying to do and we take them there without too much talking about it. It’s a very natural process.

The Music You Make Our last release was 4. recorded at Tender Trap Studios

with Roger Bergodaz. Roger is a great drummer but also plays bass with our favourite band, the Lost Ragas, so it was a sweet deal. He was great to work with and we got it all done in fi ve days, which we’re really proud of.

Music, Right Here, Right Now 5.

The music scene is a strange and

beautiful place. It’s all in flux at the moment and everyone is trying to figure out how they can still make a buck. Publishing is your best bet as an artist because fuck knows you won’t be making much from

record sales. Playing festivals and selling merch at shows will be your cash cow. Work your ass off, tour whenever you can, find the money to get it done, and don’t be too proud to play the industry game when you need to.

Who: Raised By Eagles, The Re-Mains, Jimmy Dowling, Adam Young Where: Marrickville Bowling Club When: Friday September 30 thebrag.com

g g guide gig g send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Irish Mythen Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $30.

King Curly + AccaPony Chair The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 3pm.

Free.

Paul Hayward & His Sidekicks The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 1:45pm. $5.

Russell Neal + guests Orange Grove Hotel, Lilyfield. 7pm. Free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Black Bird Hum Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 4pm. Free.

Cass Greaves Old Manly Boatshed, Manly. 7pm. Free.

Di Bird Red Hot & Blue Penrith RSL, Penrith.

2pm. Free.

Gary Johns & Sydney Funk Collective Trio Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor. 8pm. Free.

Hoppin' Mad Jazz Band Ivanhoe Hotel, Manly.

5:30pm. Free.

Jason Thornton Trio Manly Skiff Sailing Club, Manly. 3pm.

Free.

Manly Jazz 2016 feat: Carl Lockett Blues Explosion + Michael Griffin And Dale Barlow + Admiral’s Own New Orleans Band + Flip Jazz Quartet Manly Beach, Sydney. 12:30pm.

Free.

Mister Ott Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $15.

Nic Jeffries 'Funk & Soul Review' + Admiral’s Own Big Band + Hetty Kate & John Harkins Trio + Bob Barnard & Friends Manly Beach, Sydney. 1:30pm.

Free.

Paul Sun + John Mackie + Paul Sun + John Mackie Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Glebe.

8pm. Free.

Queen Porter Stomp + Josh Hindmarsh Trio + The Tropiquarte + Cass Greaves Manly Beach, Sydney. 12pm. Free.

The Aston Martini’s Trio Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 1:30pm. Free.

The Marvin Gaye Experience The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $55.

Virginia Lilly Band Old Manly Boatshed, Manly. 10pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Adams Exul + Tamerlan Empire + Greytomb & Necrostalgia Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

Big Scary Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $30.

Bleached Newtown Social Club, Newtown. 8pm. $30.

Brad Johns Plough & Harrow, Camden. 8pm. Free.

Chastity Belt Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $25.

Clive Hay Penrith Panthers, Penrith. 5pm. Free.

Colin Jones And The Delta Revue Leadbelly, Newtown.

4pm. Free.

Deadspace + Adams Exul + Tamerlan Empire + Greytomb + Necrostalgia Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 8pm. $15.

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

Jimmy Bear Orient Hotel, The

Rocks. 10pm. Free.

John Rowles Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 8pm.

Free.

Kyle Gaspari Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 6:30pm. Free.

Oneworld Engadine Tavern, Engadine. 8pm. Free.

Paul Hayward And His Sidekicks The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 3pm.

Free.

Reverse Charges Ft. Tralala Blip + Tralala Blip + Ausmuteants + Exek + Orion + Pleasure Symbols.

Sexdrive + Sex Touritst The Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 5pm. $20.

Skinpin, Stone Age, Uncanny Decoy, Fit Bird & Curb Crawl + Skinpin + Stone Age + Uncanny Decoy + Fit Bird & Curb Crawl Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 3pm. $10.

The Matchbox Tribute Show The Home Tavern, Wagga. 9:30pm. Free.

Tina Turner Show Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm.

Free.

Tonebender Mk.Iii feat: The Belafontes + Imperial Broads + Matilda Abraham + Wolf Cola + Manners + Sleepy + Fish Guts + Matilda Stephanie + Brendon Moon The Record Crate, Glebe. 1pm. $21.89.

Vaudeville Smash & Papaya Tree Captain Cook Hotel, Paddington. 9pm.

Free.

Whispering Jack Show (A Tribute To The Music Of John Farnham) Canterbury Bankstown Leagues Club, Belmore.

7:30pm. $12.

Xparte Revesby Workers Club, Revesby.

8:30pm. Free.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2 INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Durry + Skinpin + Stone Age + Uncanny Decoy + Fit Bird + Curb Craw + Special Guests Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 3pm. $10.

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

Gavin Bowles Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor. 1pm. Free.

Gypsy & The Cat Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

5:30pm. $33.

John Kennedy The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 5pm. $7.

Josh Rennie-Hynes Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $10.

Lonesome Train Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 2pm. Free.

Mister Picnic + Mary Rapp + Dewey The Gasoline Pony, Marrickville. 5pm.

Free.

Paper Hearts Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 1pm. Free.

Peter Hunt Duo Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 10pm. Free.

Pink Chevy’s Penrith RSL, Penrith.

2pm. Free.

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

Safia Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $45.

Van Larkin Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 4:25pm. $10.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Dan Barnett Big Band Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 4pm. Free.

Ella Freestone Ivanhoe Hotel, Manly.

3pm. Free.

Jason Thornton Trio Manly Skiff Sailing Club, Manly. 3pm.

Free.

Manly Jazz 2016 feat: Anita Spring & The Soul Doctors + The Vampires Ft Ben Hauptmann + The Brassholes + Frances Madden & Band Manly Beach, Sydney. 12:30pm.

Free.

Manly Jazz Director’s Choice Concert - feat: Odyssey: Darren Percival & Bill Risby + Manly Jazz All Stars & Special Guests Star Of The Sea Theatre, Manly.

7:45pm. $50.

Paul Derricott Trio Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 1:30pm. Free.

Sunshine Sunday Sound System feat: DJ’s Bossman + Prince Vince + Guests Rosie Campbell's, Surry Hills. 4pm.

Free.

The Aston Martini’s Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 4pm. Free.

The Crowd Pleasers + Brad Johns And Kimi Tupea Old Manly Boatshed, Manly. 10pm. Free.

The Escalators Old Manly Boatshed, Manly. 7pm. Free.

The Escalators + The Specialists + Pyscho Zydeco Manly Beach, Sydney. 1:30pm.

Free.

The Marvin Gaye Experience + Doug Williams + Cheyenne Cavanagh + Frachesca Appolis + Kimi Tupaea The Basement, Circular Quay.

7:30pm. $55.

The Strides + Nsw Police Band + Geoff Bull Finer Cuts + Bowie Unzipped Manly Beach, Sydney. 1:30pm.

Free.

ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Blake Tailor Penrith Panthers, Penrith. 3:30pm.

Free.

Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender - feat: Brian Cadd + Henry Wagons & The Only Children + The Brothers Comatose + The Wilson Pickers + William Crighton + Melody Pool + The Eastern + Raised

By Eagles + Jordie Lane + Spookyland + Charles Jenkins + Davey Craddock & The Spectacles + Skyscraper Stan And The Commission Flats + Irish Mythen + Andy Golledge Band + James Thomson & The Strange Pilgrims + Leah Flanagan + Dashville Progress Society + Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids + Jason Walker + Tracy Mcneil & The Goodlife + William John Jr. + Lyle Dennis Express + Magpie Diaries Dashville, Lower Belford. 10am. $130.

Evie Dean Wallacia Hotel, Wallacia. 1pm. Free.

Heath Burdell Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 3pm. Free.

Jed Zarb Jamison Hotel, Penrith. 1pm. Free.

Total Country Sundays - feat: Babylou Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 2:30pm.

Free.

MONDAY OCTOBER 3 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Live & Original @ The Corridor Corridor Bar, Newtown. 7pm. Free.

The Sweet Jelly Rolls Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 4pm. Free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Black Mountain - feat: Snakehips + Mxxwll + Polographia + Luen Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $42.

Done N Dusted Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. Free.

Frankie's World Famous House Band Frankie's Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Gary Johns Trio Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free.

Matt Thomson Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 6:30pm. Free.

The Monday Jam The Basement, Circular Quay.

8:30pm. $6.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Arabesk + Urban Gypsies + The Pocket Trio Manly Beach, Sydney.

1:55pm. Free.

Black Bird Hum Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 1:30pm. Free.

Hoppin' Mad Jazz Band Ivanhoe Hotel, Manly.

4:30pm. Free.

Louise Perryman And Guests + Northern Beaches Symphonic Wind

Ensemble + Andrew Speight + Dan Barnett Big Band + Finnland Ft. Darren Percival Manly Beach, Sydney.

12pm. Free.

Manly Jazz 2016 feat: Blue Rhythm Band + Local Primary School Bands + Veneno & C Major + Groove Alliance Ft. Neilson Gough + Michel Benebig Hammond Organ Group (New Caledonia) Manly Beach, Sydney.

10am. Free.

Sonic Mayhem Orchestra Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 4:30pm. $15.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 4 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

That Red Head Lazybones Lounge, Marrickville. 8:30pm. $10.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

5 Seconds Of Summer Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7pm. $99.90.

Co-Pilot Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. Free.

Ian Blakeney Dee Why RSL, Dee Why. 6:30pm. Free.

Karaoke Party Rooty Hill RSL Club, Rooty Hill. 7:30pm.

Free.

Live Rock & Roll Karaoke Frankie's Pizza, Sydney. 4pm. Free.

Pup + Oslow Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $40.

gig picks up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28 Into It. Over It. + Zzzounds Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $35.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29

Pup photo by Vanessa Heins Photography

Leadbelly Thursdays - feat: Bad Pony + Jacob Moore Leadbelly, Newtown. 8pm. Free.

Michael Franti + Spearhead Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm.

Free.

Rackett Selina’s, Coogee. 8:30pm. Free.

Richie Sambora + Orianthi + Sarah Mcleod Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $99.90.

Sons Of The East

thebrag.com

Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $17.90.

Dashville, Lower Belford. 10am. $180.

The Idea Of North Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.

7pm. $35.

Harry Coulson The Old Growler, Woolloomoolo.

8pm. Free.

Totally Unicorn Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

7:30pm. $18.

Rare Finds #20 - Feat: Left + Elizabeth Rose + Spit Syndicate + San Frans + Ivy + Martin Novosel + Dappled Cities Oaf Gallery, Sydney. 8pm. Free.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 Alex Lahey Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $12.

Ball Park Music + The Creases + Sahara Beck Enmore Theatre, Newtown.

7:30pm. $55.90.

Dashville Skyline Cosmic Country Weekender - feat: Brian Cadd + Henry Wagons & The Only Children + The Brothers Comatose and many, many more

Reverend Horton Heat Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $68.

SATURDAY OCTOBER 1 Big Scary Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $30.

Bleached Newtown Social Club, Newtown.

8pm. $30.

Chastity Belt Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

9pm. $25.

TUESDAY OCTOBER 4

Colin Jones And The Delta Revue Leadbelly, Newtown. 4pm. Free.

5 Seconds Of Summer Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park.

7pm. $99.90.

Manly Jazz 2016 - feat: Carl Lockett Blues Explosion + Michael Griffin And Dale Barlow + Admiral’s Own New Orleans Band + Flip Jazz Quartet Manly Beach, Sydney. 12:30pm.

Free.

Pup + Oslow Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst.

8pm. $40.

Pup

Safia Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 8pm. $45.

MONDAY OCTOBER 3 Black Mountain - Feat: Snakehips + MXXWLL + Polographia + Luen Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $42.

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 :: 29

brag beats

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

on the pulse club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Alex Chetverikov, Joseph Earp and Emily Norton

WITH

Silhouette d’Amour by Tim Souter

on the record

Nelly

Tkay Maidza

SILHOUETTE D’AMOUR

THE NELL TOLLS FOR THEE

The one and only Nelly will be hitting Sydney for a headline show. Heading down for the sold out R&B Fridays Live show, Nelly will be extending his quality time Down Under for a career-spanning set. The artist will be bringing all his hits with him, including ‘Party People’, ‘Hot In Here’, ‘Here Comes The Boom’ and a whole lot more. One thing’s for sure, it’s definitely getting hot in here. Catch Nelly at the Metro Theatre on Thursday November 17.

TKAY’S OKAY

Tkay Maidza’s energetic and boisterous live shows are the stuff of legend, so it’s no small wonder the rising rapper has dropped a clip complete with lots of onstage shots of the hip hop extraordinaire dropping rhymes and blowing minds. The track accompanying the video, ‘Carry On’, is the first single off Maidza’s forthcoming debut album, Tkay, set for release on Friday October 28. She’ll be playing tunes from the record at the launch, scheduled for Thursday November 10 at Metro Theatre, so you have lots of time to get yerself excited, don’tcha?

SOUNDS ELECTRIC Growing Up: As I child I was constantly surrounded by music: my grandparents played instruments and my mum always had music playing in the house. That really shaped me into who I am today. My mum was definitely the biggest influence in my musical tastes: I was raised in a primarily goth household. When I was young my mum would dance me around the house to bands like Iron Maiden, Bowie, Sex Pistols and even the Spice Girls.

Inspirations: I have many ideas and inspirations, and

I believe music is the perfect device to convey them. I want to show people how I see the world and I feel music is something universal that everyone can enjoy.

Your Crew: Music has been a big part of my life, so as a result ‘my crew’ is quite a grey area. I found my way into the club scene through a friend of mine at the time who was afraid to venture out alone.

So together we both learnt how to DJ. I found a passion for it and I love it to death.

The Music You Make And Play: That would

heavily depend on the event and the crowd.

This October I’ll be at Bubble Pop in Melbourne and Neko Nation in Sydney and Brisbane, where I will be busting out everyone’s favourite K-Pop and J-Pop tracks. Then, closer to Halloween I’ll be back in Melbourne for Haxan, where I’ll be mostly focusing on the gothic and metal subculture. After that I’ll be back DJing my favourite video game and pop culture remixes.

What: Neko Nation When: Saturday October 1 Where: Manning Bar

Chairlift

Last year’s sold-out boutique music festival Electric Gardens has announced its return to the idyllic Centennial Park surrounds, and is set to take place on the Australia Day weekend. With Erick Morillo, James Zabiela, John Digweed, Fatboy Slim, Nick Warren and Hernan Cattaneo having featured at the festival, its 2017 incarnation looks set for even bigger things, with its first eagerly-awaited artist announcement just around the corner. Electric Gardens Festival 2017 will take place on Saturday January 28 from midday.

Secret Garden has announced its return in 2017, meaning that the 48hour disco in the forest at Brownlow Hill Farm will return in February with its usually epic celebration of flamboyance created by an army of over 100 whimsical creatives. As is tradition, the extensive lineup of DJs and eclectic bands won’t be revealed until the sell-out of tickets,

but if past events are anything to go by, the lineup is bound to have you shimmying and shaking until the wee hours amidst an ocean of dazzling and colourful costumes and dancers. It all goes down on Friday February 24 Saturday February 25. General tickets for Secret Garden 2017 are on sale at 9am on Thursday September 29.

‘SCOOZE ME

Fresh from dropping a fiery track with hip hop legend Ghostface Killah, Ivan Ooze is hitting the road.

Ooze (AKA Ben Townsend) forged a relationship with Ghostface and the Wu Tang Clan after supporting them on their acclaimed national tour.

The newly launched single ‘Bills’ is the culmination of that relationship, arriving as a taste of the rapper’s hotly anticipated EP. Catch him at Plan B Small Club on Saturday November 19.

GIVE US A LIFT

Lauded Brooklynites Chairlift will be returning to Australian shores once again before the year’s end. After capturing the hearts of many with their breakout track ‘Bruises’, the duo moved on to crank out a slew of well received tracks that cemented their status as ones to watch.

With three albums under their belt, their latest release Moth has been heralded as one of their finest yet.

It’s all happening at the Metro Theatre on Sunday December 4.

30 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

IS IT SECRET? IS IT SAFE?

Mary J. Blige

BLIGE HAS THE BLUES

Bluesfest continues to go from strength to strength, adding more artists to its heaving 2017 bill, chief amongst them R&B superstar Mary J. Blige. Blige, of course, is well known for dropping a whole slew of bangers over the course of a varied career that has seen her climb the charts, tour the world and cultivate one of the fiercest fan bases around. Of course, being Bluesfest, there’s a whole lot more to come too. Bluesfest 2017 will go down from Thursday April 13 Monday April 17, just north of Bryon Bay.

thebrag.com

Antwon Big Things Coming By Benjamin Potter

“I DON’T KNOW HOW MUCH I CAN GIVE AWAY ABOUT THE NEW ALBUM BECAUSE I DON’T REALLY LIKE TO EXPLAIN WHAT A SOUND SOUNDS LIKE, BUT IT’S MY BEST WORK YET AND I’M REALLY EXCITED.” scene while still collaborating with underground legends like Clipping and Lil Ugly Mane.

“I don’t think I incorporate the punk style as much. It’s more through, like, the tradition,” Antwon says. “I mean, that’s what I grew up with, so it had a huge impact on me musically. But I make aggressive music, so I guess yeah, it’s just like the spirit living on through a new musical medium.”

A

that bring a whole new breed of aggressiveness with their experimental production and thought processes that are way outside any box.

As the old saying goes, too many cooks spoil the broth, and after becoming fed up with the lack of direction and focus that mired his work with former bandmates, Antwon decided that it was time to make the switch to hip hop and have more creative control over his art.

But while the days of g-funk are well and truly gone, hip hop is broadening its sound, and giving birth to artists

Enter Antwon, the Californian rapper that used to play in hardcore punk bands way before he ever even thought about showing off his mic skills. As drastic as the change was, Antwon says he never forgets his musical roots, and he embodies both the spirit and tradition of the punk

“I just didn’t really want to play in a band anymore,” he says. “The people I surrounded myself with at that time weren’t really on the same page as me. Music to me is really important, and I just wanted to figure out how to do music all the time and just live off a little bit, you know?

mong stubborn hip hop heads, there seems to be a growing consensus that the genre has gone soft. Constant radio saturation and heavy incorporation of R&B hooks are the basis for such an argument, with sultry, radio-ready tunes sending fans screaming for the glory days of the underground.

“Those people all had jobs that were more important to them than making music, so to cut out the middle man, I stopped doing stuff with bands and did it all by myself. And it’s not like I have full creative control – I still work with a lot of producers. But if it’s like, less people together, I just find that my creative flow is a lot better.”

Nonetheless, having fame comes with tiresome comparisons, especially within the hip hop scene.

From his inception, Antwon’s flow has been compared to arguably the greatest rapper of all time, The Notorious BIG. While some may consider it a massive compliment, Antwon sees it as nothing more than an annoyance that takes away from the artist he is really trying to be.

“I get compared to Biggie all the time because of my flow, but I feel like it’s not a real opinion,” he says. “It kind of just puts me into this box as an artist. He doesn’t even have that many albums, and I don’t really see him as one of my biggest influences.

I guess it’s just an opinion, but I feel like it’s a lazy comparison, you know?

I like rap that’s fucking hard as hell with real crazy production, and Biggie never really had that. When everyone hears the new shit I’ve been doing, I don’t think that opinion is going to be around much longer.”

Antwon’s latest EP Double Ecstasy is a five track dark exploitation of the his inner mind, and focuses on the downside of the party atmosphere that most rappers would normally brag about. Having earned praise from critics and the online community for its experimental production and its distance from hip hop stereotypes, Antwon claims that the EP is only a taste of what’s to come, and his new material is definitely his favourite work yet.

“That EP and the way it was received was fucking tight,” he says. “We recorded it a while back, and just kind of stuck to the songs that fit right together. I was working with a lot of different producers, but I feel like it’s just kind of a trailer to the movie.

“I don’t know how much I can give away about the new album because I don’t really like to explain what a sound sounds like, but it’s my best work yet and I’m really excited,” he continues.

“Shit’s gonna hit hard as hell when it eventually comes out. I promise y’all.”

Luckily for Australians, they won’t have to wait too long at all. Antwon will be playing a string of shows around the country next month, and word is he will be showcasing new material on what will be his first time in our fair land, as well as churning out cult tracks that made the internet stand up and take notice.

“Yo, Australia’s sick,” he says. “I’m gonna drink those Victoria Bitters, and I’m coming with my man Andy.

I don’t know what I’m about to do, but shit will get crazy, I know that much. I want people to come wild out with me because I’ve heard so much about how crazy y’all motherfuckers are over there, so don’t let me down!”

Where: Beach Road Hotel / Chippendale Hotel When: Wednesday October 5 / Thursday October 6 And: Yours And Owls festival, Saturday October 1 – Sunday October 2, with The Coathangers, Bleached, The Sonics and many more

Indian Summer You’ve Got A Friend By Anna Wilson

F

or Chevy Long and Gabe Gleeson, the DJ collective better known as Indian Summer, the rest of the year is going to be exceptionally busy, and their debut appearance at next month’s MoVement Sydney is part of a massive national tour for the electronic duo. When reminded that last year’s MoVement drew roughly 7,000 people to venues across town, Long’s voice cracks when mentioning the figure. “7,000 people?

Really? Jesus, we should have been told that, we had no idea!”

Gleeson chimes in to reassure his friend. “I guess we’ll just try and do our thing and hope it translates.

We’ve never done the event before but we’ve played the Metro, and this show with Nicole Millar and Moonbase Commander, good friends of ours, should be a lot of fun.”

Indian Summer will return to Sydney with an arsenal of tantalising new music, writing and production having been their primary focus in recent years, and Gleeson couldn’t be more excited to resume live shows. “We’ve been away working on music the last two years,” says Gleeson. “We’re really looking forward to getting back on the road and the swing of touring like before we went to America: that was when we decided to write a more substantial body of music, taking our time working on our craft.

on each single. It’s a different approach but it’s eased us, in many senses, into a much better system.”

But even with more time taken to focus on the new material, a pensive Long says he often wonders where their ideas come from, calling it “a strange place”.

“At one point we were writing club music in our bedrooms. Dance music is more about sound than songwriting elements and we made the decision to pull back and work on our craft, saying, ‘Let’s try and be like our friends’, which has been an interesting process.”

“There’s a thousand different ways our stuff comes together,” adds Gleeson. “I wish we could say there’s a definitive way it comes to us but there’s not: we’re just doing our thing.”

It is important to Long and Gleeson that fans in the venues on the rest of their tour don’t lose out on an electrifying set, though the pair feel there’s still plenty of room for them to evolve as performers. “I think in our shows up until this point, we haven’t ever been the type of performers who necessarily reinvent the wheel or completely change direction,” says Long.

“There’s always been a fair amount of energy and hustle in what we’ve done – Chevy and I love touring but it’s been so great for our work to take a step back and get a bit of breathing space.”

“Our craft is like a slowly evolving beast and we like it that way: for the moment anyway,” he adds. “There might be a point in the next year and a half where we change direction, but, for the most part, we love being DJs. It’s something we’ve been doing together since we were 18, so for the moment, that’s what we love and that’s what we’ll keep on doing.”

Long agrees with his partner. “The beauty of having an extended writing period was we don’t have pressure

“It’s something I think about a lot actually,’ Gleeson adds. “How different people and different

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places socialise and enjoy music is interesting – different cities, different vibes.” Of course, the impact of the lockout laws on Sydney’s club scene hasn’t gone unnoticed by the Melbourne pair.

“Sydney was a completely different place before the lockout, it really has changed the nature of how clubs and punters socialise and how they operate,” says Gleeson.

“Sydney can be a lot less pretentious than Melbourne, so as much as Sydney people complain how bad their nightlife is, it’s definitely got its positives and there’s a lot of people who work very hard to put on events and shows – there’s no place on earth I would rather live

than Melbourne, but there’s less big room EDM stuff going on down here and I think people are a lot more discerning.”

Friends since they were 14 and partners in music from 18, the duo don’t have to look far for some confidence and reassurance if nerves set in before a show. So do Long and Gleeson feel their music gets more of a lift that solo DJs might not have?

“I don’t know if there’s a correlation between the amounts of people there are in the production or DJ world,” Long says.

“Any more than two probably isn’t necessary but as for production,

there’s a lot to be said for this system of trust. Knowing there’s this other person who can give you constructive criticism, helping you achieve, is really nice.”

Gleeson agrees. “It’s nice to DJ solo every now and again, but it’s nice to have a friend there and to travel: you’re never really bored. I don’t know what it’d be like to always be on the road without Chevy.”

What: Indian Summer as part of V MoVement Sydney Where: The Lair, Metro Theatre When: Sunday October 23 And: Nicole Millar, Moonbase Commander

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:08:16 :: 31

club guide g

club picks p up all night out all week...

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

club pick of the week A$AP Ferg

Ears Play Bar, Surry Hills.

8pm. $11.90.

Yeezus Vs Beyoncé Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 1 CLUB NIGHTS

FRIDAY S E P T E M BER 3 0

Metro Theatre

A$ap Ferg 8pm. $71.26 WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28 HIP HOP & R&B Travis Scott Metro Theatre, Sydney. 7:30pm. $69.90.

CLUB NIGHTS Sosueme Presents Beach Road’s 24th Birthday - feat: Joyride (DJ Set) + Nicky Night Time + DJ Samrai + The Ocean Party + Jennifer Jennifer + Krissy Jaman + 90’s Rave Silent Disco Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

The Wall - feat: Midas.Gold The World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. Free.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29 CLUB NIGHTS

CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Atomic - feat: Jamie Lloyd + Prize + Long John Saliva + Love’s Disciple + JMS Tatler, Darlinghurst.

9pm. Free.

DJ Richard Matosa St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park. 8pm.

Free.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

Fatback - feat: DJs Adverse + Juzzlikedat + Caratgold + Amity + Makoto + Cman + Edseven + Vj Spook Plan B Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. Free.

Feel Good Fridays Bar100, The Rocks.

5pm. Free.

Freeform Only Launch - feat: Haze + Skoob + Heretic + Inoxia + Focus Valve Bar, Agincourt Hotel, Ultimo. 10pm. $10.

Heavenly - feat: Cop Envy + Ben Fester & Preacha + Chanel + Adrian E Slyfox, Enmore. 9pm. $11.

James Rietdijk Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor. 11pm. Free.

Loco Friday - feat: DJs On Rotation The Slip Inn, Sydney.

5pm. Free.

32 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

Old Skool Fridays - feat: DJs On Rotation St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park. 8pm.

Free.

Pelvis Records 001 + Mall Grab + Pelvis 77, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $25.

Peoples Club Weekly - feat: Lucy Cliche + Sonderr + Slamb + David Bangma + U-Khan + Daniel Lupica + Jemma Cole B2b Natalia Goodbar, Paddington.

8pm. $15.

Prescription Soca Reggae Dancehall Spring Bash - feat: DJ Kizito Marley + DJ Fasmwa + Deejay Koolbreeze Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 11pm. $11.50.

Scubar Fridays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney. 8pm.

Free.

Voguey Bear 3rd Birthday - feat: Prosumer + Stereogamous + More Red Rattler, Marrickville. 9pm.

Free.

HIP HOP & R&B

A$Ap Ferg Metro Theatre, Sydney. 8pm. $71.26.

Fridays Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm.

Free.

House Shoes + Mohi + DJs Diola + Benny Hinn + All

Made In Paris

Adore Delano

HIP HOP & R&B

A$AP Ferg Marquee, Pyrmont.

10pm. $26.60.

Five Coffees Mr Falcon's, Glebe.

8:30pm. Free.

Hydrofunk Family & Friends - feat: Tigermoth + Calski + Katch + Benny Hinn Play Bar, Surry Hills.

6pm. Free.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2 CLUB NIGHTS

Apollo The Party Metro Theatre, Sydney. 2pm. $80.20.

Cavalry + Ainslie Wills + Terra Lightfoot + Jr Green And Olivia Sebastianelli Fitzroy Hotel, Windsor.

6pm. Free.

Dilf Party - feat: DJ’s Chip & Alex Taylor The Shift Bar, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $44.

DJ The Groove Merchant Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 6pm. Free.

DJ Tim Densley (DJ Ta$K) St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park.

8pm. Free.

Drag Fest 2016 feat: Adore Delano + Duo Raw + Detox + Tammie Brown + April Carrion + Manila Luzon + Candice Box + Polly Petrie + Charisma Belle + Decoda Secret + Penny Clifford + Hannah Conda + Vybe Max Watt's, Moore Park. 9pm. $40.

Escapism The Motorik Spring Festival - feat: Bicep + Mall Grab + Francis Xavier + Seven Be Calm X Stephane 1993 + Nite Fleit + Andy Garvey + Mclean And Mai + The Motorik Vibe Counsellors UTS Underground, Ultimo. 3pm. $43.

Freak Flag Kiki - feat: Donatachi + Camille + Teachesofpeaches + Bobby Gray Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $10.

Genesis White 2016 - feat: Paul Van Dyk + John O'Callaghan + Myon + Rank 1 + Shane 54 + Genix B2b Sunny Lax + Audrey Gallagher Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7pm. $114.70.

Reign Sydney - feat: Def Rok + Sefu + DJ Delicious + Helena Ellis + Regz + Mike Hyper + Felixx + Just1 + Skinny Cruise Bar, Sydney.

8:30pm. $23.50.

SUNDAY OCTOBER 2

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28 Sosueme Presents Beach Road’s 24th Birthday - feat: Joyride + Nicky Night Time + DJ Samrai + The Ocean Party + Jennifer Jennifer + Krissy Jaman + ’90S Rave Silent Disco Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

Travis Scott Metro Theatre, Sydney.

7:30pm. $69.90.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30 Pelvis Records 001 – feat: Mall Grab + Pelvis 77, Darlinghurst. 9pm. $25.

Dilf Party - feat: Djs Chip And Alex Taylor The Shift Bar, Darlinghurst.

10pm. $44.

Drag Fest 2016 - feat: Adore Delano + Duo Raw + Detox + Tammie Brown And More Max Watt’s, Moore Park.

9pm. $40.

Escapism The Motorik Spring Festival - feat: Bicep + Mall Grab + Francis Xavier + Seven Be Calm + Nite Fleit + Andy Garvey + Mclean And Mai + The Motorik Vibe Counsellors Uts Underground, Ultimo.

3pm. $43.

Genesis White 2016 - feat: Paul Van Dyk + John O’Callaghan + Myon + Rank 1 + Shane 54 + Genix B2B Sunny Lax + Audrey Gallagher Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. 7pm. $114.70.

Something Else - feat: Reboot + Made In Paris + Aaron Robins + Persian Rug + Circa87 DJs + Lylac Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst.

10pm. $15.

Voguey Bear 3rd Birthday - feat: Prosumer + Stereogamous Red Rattler, Marrickville.

9pm. Free.

Saturday October 1 [ I N S E R T ] - feat: Patricia + Jahiliyya Fields + Inhalants + Andy Garvey + Hot Wavs + Davi Bangma + Jemma Cole Secret Location, Sydney.

9pm. $44.

Nite Fleit Prosumer

Sin Sundays The Argyle, The Rocks. 7pm. Free.

Somatik And Alex Mac Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 4pm. Free.

Vaudevillia - feat: Mic Conway’s National Junk Band + Rosalita Ole + Glenn Wood

Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6:30pm. $20.

Will Sparks Marquee, Pyrmont.

10pm. $31.80.

MONDAY OCTOBER 3

CLUB NIGHTS DJ Jeremy Dotch Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 6pm. Free.

Yes! - feat: DJ Grind + Dom De Sousa + Mason Andrews + Johny Blue Boy + Dan Murphy Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 12pm. $19.

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Made In Paris photo by Jared Leibowitz

Dashville’s Ramblin' Nights - feat: The Brothers Comatose + Davey Craddock & The Spectacles DJango Bar @ Camelot Lounge, Marrickville. 6pm. $32.

Femme Fetale The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Grmm The Chippendale Hotel, Chippendale.

8pm. $13.30.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30

Argyle Saturdays feat: Tass + Tap-Tap + Minx + Crazy Caz The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. Free.

Barney Cools, Cools’ Club DJs, Midnight Mickey Kojak + Barney Cools + Cools’ Club DJs + Midnight Mickey Kojak Manly Wharf Hotel, Manly. 6pm. Free.

Bill Patrick + Masomenos feat: Bill Patrick + Masomenos + Gabby + Systrum + Mantra Collective + Marcotix + Amháin + Venda + Tyson Bruun + B&H Smooth + Marley Sherma Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 2pm. $35.

DJ Jeremy Dotch Hotel Steyne Manly, Manly. 6pm. Free.

DJ Koby Mandic Rooty Hill Rsl Club, Rooty Hill. 8:30pm.

Free.

El Loco Later - feat: DJs On Rotation Excelsior Hotel, Surry Hills. 9pm. Free.

Listen Out - feat: Anderson .Paak + The Free Nationals + A$Ap Ferg + Baauer + Claptone Immortal + Cosmo’s Midnight + Gorgon City DJ Set + Jauz + Joy. + Ldru + Ngaiire + Rufus + Stormzy + Sui Zhen DJ Set + Tash Sultana + Tchami + Willow Beats + Yung Lean Centennial Park, Centennial Park. 1pm. $130.

My Place Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Bar100, The Rocks.

8pm. Free.

Pacha - feat: Special International Guest Ivy Bar/lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $38.

Pump Up The Jam - feat: DJ Wy-C + Jagged + Steve Zappa Peachtree Hotel, Penrith. 7pm. $11.80.

Sangria Latin Saturdays - feat: A-Gee Ortiz + Willie V St Johns Park Bowling Club, St Johns Park.

9pm. Free.

Scubar Saturdays - feat: DJs On Rotation Scubar, Sydney.

8:30pm. Free.

Something Else feat: Reboot + Made In Paris + Aaron Robins + Persian Rug + Circa87 DJs + Lylac Burdekin Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. $15.

Stoney Roads & Pilerats Listen Out After-Party (Unofficial) - feat: Stoney Roads DJs + Pilerats DJs + Surprise Guests

Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction. 9pm. $16.67. [ I N S E R T ] - feat: Patricia + Jahiliyya Fields + Inhalants + Andy Garvey + Hot Wavs + Davi Bangma + Jemma Cole Secret Location, Sydney. 9pm. $44.

Off The ecor a ce a

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oooomumma. Need a pickme-up mix/video to get you through the day? Head to be at.t to watch all nine hours of ar o playing the final-ever party of his 15-year residency at Space Ibiza, Music Is Revolution.

Two things to take away from it: (1) Cox is forever one of the best all-rounder DJs in the game.

(2) Space Ibiza has one hell of a smoke machine. For those playing at home, of the hundreds of tracks, his final selection was ‘Someday’ by CeCe Rogers followed by ten seconds of “The End” by The Doors. Legend.

Some more great viewing: Red Bull Music Academy Daily has produced a documentary following Chicago’s infamous Disco Demolition Night, featuring interviews with those behind

o

the racially charged incident. A very compelling watch – head to a .re b m caca em . com. For the gear heads, in a video uploaded to his Facebook, e o ce t speaks about his favourite pieces of hardware.

Finally, the video for o e ’s new track o (taken from his upcoming debut album S ort on XL Recording) is just a compilation of people trying to crack a watermelon with their heads. Music is weird sometimes.

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Bron is locked and loaded for an Australian tour next March.

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Best releases this week: IT’S HERE. The second full-length from co a aar, Sire (on Other People), has finally landed.

I’m two listens in as I type this and oh my it’s good. For those who love a bit of a soul and jazz touch to their dance music, you can’t go past the latest compilation ere ergro re e t ea t (Spacetalk Records). Straight up perfect listening as we begin to enter the warmer seasons.

Otherwise I’d suggest spending some time with he areta er’s er here at the o i e (History Always Favours The Winners), c and ro e he ot ater (Stroboscopic Artefacts), ’ ro atter to etail (Subtext) and e ’s ali (Lobster Theremin).

ra .com or co tact me

a carr er

geo .

t me o

SATUR A VE ER SU A VE ER

th

Cruise Bar

SATUR A VE ER

ort omea Cruise Bar th

et r o o ar o e a o rc o e more Del Rio, Wisemans Ferry

arce ettma Chinese Laundry

SU A T ER

Tour rumours: ooooh what’s a girl to do? at ma amaha AKA Bas

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SU A

TBA

Ol’ mate th is returning to our shores. One of the finest contemporary selectors in the game, he’s best known as the label head of Lobster Theremin and Mörk, and he also runs the Find Me In The Dark night at London’s Corsica Studios. Expect a night of all-killer, no bullshit

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tech-house filler. He’s coming for ho t areho e on r a ctober 1 . ar

SU A VE ER

FRI A SE TE ER

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a omer TBA

SATUR A T ER

e e a r Civic Underground

ac ma ter Greenwood Hotel

SU A T ER

WE ES A VE ER

SATUR A T ER

FRI A E E ER SU A E E ER

ach e r m Civic Underground

o e o tem Cruise Bar

ree e et Greenwood Hotel

T URS A VE ER Oxford Art Factory

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b o c c e t a ee cratch err a ro e or o h e more Riverwood Downs Mountain Valley Resort

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Enrol Now Choose from hundreds of great courses at local venues.

Go to: www.cityeastcc.com.au for complete details and to enrol.

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

BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16 ::

snap

VIEW FULL GALLERIES AT

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up all night out all week . . .

PICS :: AM

S.A.S.H. By Night

jai wolf

PICS :: AM

25:09:16 :: Home Nightclub :: 101 Wheat Road

22:09:16 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

five things WITH Growing Up Elle: I always remember 1. waking up on a Saturday morning

to find my dad laying on the lounge blasting Pink Floyd in the living room. I grew up in a household that was full of old-school music.

Adin: My folks were never musos but they loved music and had great taste. I always sang around the house for fun and so did my parents: they both have good voices.

ELLE KRESS AND ADIN MILO FROM VAST HILL

David Bowie, Brian Wilson and Michael Jackson are my favourite musicians. They write genius melodies.

Adin: The Beatles for sure. I love Bowie, Pink Floyd, The Doors, and I really love Electric Light Orchestra.

The first time I listened to an album was when my dad got the Beatles’ 1 album. I was ten years old. I was home alone, and I blasted that album as high as it could go, sat back and listened.

Inspirations Elle: My favourite band is The 2.

Band Beatles. Obviously. Paul McCartney, Elle: We started going out five 3. Your 34 :: BRAG :: 682 :: 28:09:16

years ago and have been playing music together ever since. We began a ’60s style pop band called The Electric Vogues with Allyson Montenegro before we really got into electronic music.

The Music You Make Elle: Our music is a mesh 4. of ’80s pop/sythwave mixed with

elements of ’60s music. Current artists we really love are Electric Youth, Timecop1983, Empire Of The Sun and Lana Del Rey, just to name a few. We record at home in our studio with a collection of our combined gear.

Music, Right Here, Right Now Elle: We love going out, finding 5. a random venue with live music and

checking it out. Artists we’ve met lately have been so nice, welcoming, and encouraging. We actually went to an amazing gig last month: Froyo at the Gallery Bar in the Oxford Art Factory. They killed it! It was one of the best gigs we’ve been to in ages.

It was really inspiring: it lit a fire under us to really get on our A-game when it comes to doing shows next year.

What: ‘Calling Out’ and ‘Apollo’ out now independently

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