free stuff
welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town... with Alex Chetverikov, James Di Fabrizio and Joseph Earp
five things WITH
get a lot of inspiration from my many dear friends and comrades who are out there weaving their mighty sounds around the country. This could be a very long list, but here’s today’s tip of the iceberg: Liz Stringer, Lost Ragas, Jimmy Dowling, The Yearlings, JoJo Smith, Shane Howard, Suzannah Espie...
Your Band I still play a lot of solo 3. shows, but my more usual lineup is a duet with drums. Hamish Stuart has become my regular wingman, but there’s a selection of other very fine drummers that I love working with too. For this
Medicine Voice
year’s Majors Creek Festival, I’ll be reuniting with the excellent Jay McMahon, who I first worked with back in the mid-2000s when I moved to the Bega Valley. I sure am looking forward to making music with brother Jay again. The Music You Make It lands somewhere on the 4. lyrical folk/rock’n’roll spectrum,
I guess. I love the condensed, poetic nature of song form, and I love the stretchy spaciousness, and the harmonic freedom of a band that’s just one electric guitar and drums. My most recent album Everything Sings Tonight is predominately a duet record with Hamish Stuart which we recorded the guts out of in a little studio in Berlin over just two days. Right Here, Right Now 5. Music,
GOOD ON GOLDEN
HOLY TEMPLES BATMAN!
Skate-rock legends Holy Serpent have just released their new album Temples on US label RidingEasy, and now they’re celebrating with a free show down at Frankie’s Pizza. The Melbourne-based outfit take cues from sludge, skate punk and stoner rock, with influences ranging across early Soundgarden, Saint Vitus and Kyuss. Indeed, Temples sees them take a heavier direction musically, with album closer ‘Sativan Harvest’ emphasizing this fresh sonic direction with 12 minutes of droning peaks and troughs, culminating in a gradual violin fade-
What: Majors Creek Festival Where: Majors Creek When: Friday November 11 – Sunday November 13
That Michael Franti is a bit of a legend, huh? The man is a musical institution, a powerhouse who has been churning out acclaimed record after acclaimed record, all with the help of his backing band Spearhead. His newest release, Soulrocker, has been heralded by critics worldwide as one of his best works, full of the anthemic tunes that he has based his career on. We have two copies of the record to give away. To enter, just hit us up at thebrag. com/freeshit and one of ’em might well be yours.
NOTHIN’ DIFFERENT
Tom Stephens has announced a free Sydney show, hot off the back of the release of his debut album What Lies In The Difference. The record is about as self-assured as one can expect from a debut release, filled with a circumspect sense of maturity and restrained sleight of songwriting that reveals its nuances upon every single listen. Indeed, some pretty hip street press chose it as album of the week, so that’s gotta tell you something, right? You can catch Stephens playing his free show down at Oxford Circus on Saturday October 15. Tom Stephens
out. They hit Frankie’s on Sunday October 16, supported by Lord Sword and Way Of The Wolf.
BRUSH UP ON YER ANATOMY
Anatomy Class are one of Sydney’s most promising rising acts, combining as they do elements of ’90s indie rock with a sense of crushing ’Strayan bravery that is entirely their own. In short, they’re the kind of band perfectly suited for both fevered moshin’ and quieter introspection, meaning the group’s upcoming
show at the Oxford Art Factory on Saturday November 26 is an exciting prospect not be missed, particularly given it will be the launch of their new record, the hotly anticipated Tell Me What You See. Don’t miss it!
Youngblood
WHAT’S ON FOR WOTTON?
Jack T Wotton and The Wünderz have spent some time on the circuit now: these boys aren’t exactly fresh faced anymore, and that experience has translated itself into an assured live sound. Indeed, they’ve just churned out a new single, the impeccably titled ‘The Böy’ (check out that accent!) which has dropped via Dinosaur City Records. The group will be showing off the new tunage at an exclusive show at Leadbelly, Newtown’s hippest new joint. Catch it all go down on Friday October 14, with support provided by Body Type and Daiso.
Medicine Voice photo by Jessica Chapnik Kahn
Let’s be real: those folks at the Golden Age Cinema have all-round impeccable taste. Not only do they know exactly how to program excellent movies, they also hand-pick some of Sydney’s most astounding rising acts to play sets in the beautiful confines of their cinema. On Thursday November 3 they will host a set by Medicine Voice, the new project from acclaimed singersongwriter Sar Friedman. The music mixes the acoustic and the electronic, resulting in a beautiful mishmash of verse-chorus-verse accessibility and strange, blissed-out soundscapes.
I reckon the music scene in Australia is in great shape at the moment: there’s a lot of great music being made, we’ve got really vibrant community radio across the country, and there’s a lot of folks hungry for live music. I do a lot of regional touring, and I’m especially heartened by the enthusiasm and diversity of audiences in smaller towns and localities. I’m also really heartened by the overwhelming sense of camaraderie and community that exists among my fellow touring musos. It can be a pretty marginal life in some respects of course, but it sure is rich in a myriad of ways.
Michael Franti and Spearhead photo credit Chelsea Klette Xxx Tom xxx Stephens photo by Scarlett McKee
Inspirations There’s so much great music 2. being made in Australia, and i
books, art, records, ideas and music-loving parents. My dad’s a poet, and my mum’s a DJ on the local community radio station, so it’s no surprise that language
MICHAEL FRANTI
LUCIE THORNE
and music have remained such enduring loves of mine.
Growing Up I’m very lucky to have 1. grown up in a house filled with
head to: thebrag.com/freeshit
Lucie Thorne photo by Heike Qualitz
live & local
Jack T Wotton
BLOOD FOR WATER
BIG THINGS FOR BREE
Following the great success of her album Another Night On Earth, released in June, along with its subsequent singles ‘More Sex And Love’, ‘Tuesday Fresh Cuts’ and ‘Your Rhythm’, multi-instrumentalist and all-round talent Bree Tranter has announced a new tour to take place across the east coast. Tranter, who has been a pivotal member of Australian groups including The Middle East and Matt Corby’s band, will invest her hypnotic blend of dreampop-meets-downtempo with the upbeat jazzy verve of her accompanying live band. She will perform at Oxford Circus on Thursday November 24, with Alby and “special guests” supporting.
6 :: BRAG :: 684 :: 12:10:16
Jack T Wotton photo by Oscar Colman
Bree Tranter
Nothing beats a bit of retrofuturism. After all, there’s something so intoxicating about seeing the past mashed up with the sleek and the fresh, creating a stunning combination of recognisable textures and alien elements. That’s exactly the kind of territory Vancouver-based artist Youngblood mines with both flair and skill. The dream-popper has touches of both Lana Del Rey-esque balladry in her music and strange, electro layers. We’ll be real with you: she could well be your new favourite artist. Find out for yourself when she hits Leadbelly on Sunday November 6.
thebrag.com