ROCK CANDY MAGAZINE #12

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ISSUE 12 • SEPTEMBER 2014 • FREE

SPRING haS SPRUNG!

Richard Avedon Our Man In Berlin Dan Sultan Echo & The Bunnymen Tricky

ETHAN HAWKE

The film that took him 12 years to make

CODY MACKIE Taking the new Kawasaki for a spin on Mad Max turf

DANNY GREEN Boxing gloves off, business suit on

JIMMY

BARNES 30 years solo… an d still screaming

AS NIGHT FOLLOWS DAY Fishing under the stars

THE FAIRMONT GS 351

Giving the GT a run for its money




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EDITOR’S LETTER Spring has sprung, and with it comes better weather and more outdoorsy things-to-do. In this issue of Rock Candy we invite motorcycle stuntman Cody Mackie to play model for a day, dressing him in fine threads and having him zoom around on a Kawasaki on Mad Max turf (yep, the dunes where they shot the original film). Check out the results on pages 70 to 79. We chat to perennial ‘indie’ actor Ethan Hawke about his latest movie Boyhood, which took 12 painstaking years to make (and, yep, you notice the lines on his face changing throughout the movie). Plus we present one-on-one interviews with an army of musos including Jimmy Barnes (this year celebrating three decades of making music solo), Dan Sultan, Echo & The Bunnymen, Tricky, and a host of fresh local acts. To artistry of a different kind, we present a gallery of celebrity portraits by photographer Richard Avedon, whose works are currently on exhibit at the Art Gallery of WA. On the motoring front, we take a fully revived Fairmont GS for a spin, and for something different and leisurely, we try fishing out at sea and under the stars. Stock up on the Claritin and fight off that hay fever; there’s too much to do in the great outdoors this season!

Antonino Tati Editor

Read it online!!! with interactive contents

www.rockcandymagazine.com.au

PUBLISHED BY CANDY CUSTOM MEDIA PTY LTD P.O. Box 444 Northbridge WA 6865 www.candycustommedia.com.au ADVERTISING ENQUIRIES sales@candymedia.com.au EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES editor@candymedia.com.au GENERAL ENQUIRIES info@candymedia.com.au

MANAGING DIRECTOR Cornelius Curtin conny@candymedia.com.au EDITOR Antonino Tati antonino@candymedia.com.au CREATIVE DESIGN Barbara Bertoli design@candymedia.com.au CONTRIBUTORS

Lisa Andrews, Jess Berg, Barbara Bertoli, Chuck Bomba, Marco Fraschetti, Jake D. Frost, Simone Harle, Andrea Manno, Michael Mastess, James Mills, Debbie Russo, Louis van Senden, Samara Wilson

Rock Candy Magazine is published in Western Australia by Candy Custom Media Pty Ltd and distributed free of charge to resource industry workers at various locations around Western Australia. All rights reserved. No material published in Rock Candy may be reproduced in whole or in part without prior written authority. Views expressed in Rock Candy are not necessarily the views of the editor or publisher. Rock Candy takes no responsibility for the accuracy of information included or for submitted content. Submissions grant the publisher the right to publish editorial in full or in part. © 2014 Candy Custom Media.

6 | September 2014

Cover: Jimmy Barnes, celebrating 30 years of making music solo.


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PLAY YOUR OWN GAME


CONTENTS - ISSUE 12 – SEPTEMBER / SPRING HAS SPRUNG!

30

67

REGULARS 10. COMPETITIONS Win copies of House Husbands: Season Three on DVD, and triple-CD sets of Ministry of Sound Anthems: 90s Volume II.

13. THE BITS UP THE FRONT An art exhibition constructed entirely out of Emu Export tinnies, a new game from Sonic The Hedgehog, and an accommodation site tailored specifically for FIFOs.

17. GADGETS & STUFF Jimmy Choo eyewear, Ted Baker accessories, a hybrid tool from Ryobi, and super-cool superhero prints.

21. STICK IT IN YOUR DIARY The Margaret River Gourmet Escape, Missy Higgins live, and the Freo Festival is on again.

22. POP CULTURE

38

Some huge gaming icons will hit the big screen in 2015 including Donkey Kong, Pacman, Centipede and Frogger!

27. HOMEGROWN TALENT Three local acts on a testosterone tip: Husband, Our Man In Berlin, and Boys Boys Boys!

33. GALLERY

42

FEATURES 30. DAN SULTAN The Melbourne-born artist on getting the good Indigenous message across through music.

38. JIMMY BARNES Thirty years solo… and still screaming. Barnesy tells Rock Candy’s Andrea Manno all about keeping his shit together.

42. ETHAN HAWKE The perennial ‘indie’ actor has just come from shooting a movie that took 12 years to make – now that’s arty stuff.

8 | September 2014

48

Richard Avedon’s photography has stood the test of time, not only for its potent subject matter but for its sheer minimalist aesthetic; an exhibition is now on at AGWA.

64. TRAVEL 46. FISHING AT NIGHT

54. ENTERTAINING THE TROOPS

That is, on a boat; out at sea; under the stars. Just you, a mate, and schools of snapper and barra.

Two lovely lasses are taking top-notch entertainment to mining towns far and wide – and we’re not talking mere pub rock bands but everything from burlesque to comedy to, heck, even jazz.

48. THE ‘OTHER’ GREEN MACHINE The 351 Fairmont GS was born out of the early ’70s so as to stitch manufacturers of the in-demand yet expensive-to-keep GT. Today it’s as coveted as its predecessor once was.

52. DANNY GREEN The four-time world-title holder steps out of the ring for a moment to open a brand-spanking new fitness centre. And that’s what we call ‘boxing clever’.

56. TRICKY KID An interview with the original trip-hopper Tricky, aka: Adrian Thaws, who lets rip on the tackiness of Kim Kardashian.

58. DARK SIDE OF THE MOON Echo & The Bunnymen are back with a brilliant new album that blends pop and goth rock beautifully

Fleshing out a two-or-three-day itinerary in Sydney, including catching waves in Manly and exploring contemporary art at the MCA.

66. FOOD + DRINK A killer Mexican cookbook, and a trio of beer buddies getting ready for big business.

70. FASHION Motorcycle stunt champ Cody Mackie takes his new Kawasaki for a spin on them very same sand dunes where they went and gone and made that Mad Max movie.

80. THE FIFO WIFE Deb Russo tells us why she hates Spring. Yep, you read right. She hates it.



Competitions

WIN! COPIES OF HOUSE HUSBANDS: SEASON THREE ON DVD

Along with its superb regular cast (including Gary Sweet, Gyton Grantley and Julia Morris), the third season of House Husbands boasts some sensational guest appearances including those by Rachel Griffiths (Brothers And Sisters), Lincoln Lewis (Underbelly: Razor) and Darren McMullen (The Voice). And here’s more good news: the muchloved franchise has also already been renewed for a fourth season. Over season three, the house hubbies accidentally buy a struggling pub and transform it into a thriving, family-friendly business. They also balance out the gender politics, forming a footy team while also performing at their kids’ ballet recitals, as well as going shopping for crop tops, and having their nude portraits painted. Yep, this is the show where ocker is thrown right out the proverbial window and smashes into the mixed-up, muddled-up here-and-now. ‘House Husbands: Season 3’ is available on DVD from September 18 through Universal Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. Rock Candy has 10 copies on DVD to give away. To try winning one, simply email your name, address and the Subject heading ‘House Husbands’ to competitions@candymedia.com.au by Friday 19 September.

WIN! COPIES OF MINISTRY OF SOUND ANTHEMS: 90S VOLUME II

For a lot of people, the ’90s bring to mind noisy grunge bands, from Soundgarden to Nirvana and every axe-gridin’ outfit in between. For others, it was all about infectious dance music – and the ’90s was a decade in which dance took a decidedly electronic turn. To continue paying tribute to what could be considered ‘the birth of electronica’, Ministry of Sound have unleashed Anthems 90s Volume II which boasts a who-was-who of the decade’s clubscape. Featured are the varied likes of Jamiroquai (Cosmic Girl), Basement Jaxx (Red Alert), Groove Armada (I See You Baby), Moby (Bodyrock), Fatboy Slim (The Rockafeller Skank), Primal Scream (Loaded), Utah Saints (Something Good), The Shamen (Move Any Mountain), and Gat Décor (Passion). Highlights also include Tori Amos’ Professional Widow (blissfully remixed by Armand van Helden) and Moloko’s Sing It Back (which’ll have you doing so in no time). Sixty-two tracks in total, spread over three slick discs. Now that’s great retro value! Courtesy of Ministry of Sound, Rock Candy has 10 triple-disc sets of ‘Anthems: 90s Volume II’ to give away. To try winning, simply email your name, address and the Subject heading ‘Ministry 90s’ to competitions@candymedia.com.au by Friday 19 September.

10 | September 2014


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bits up the front The

GOOGLE DAT!

Introducing a new tidbit that’ll appear in every issue’s Bits Up The Front section. It’s where we key a couple of simple words into Google Search to see what the most popular queries on that subject are. Kicking off with fifo workers, we figured quite a few of you are looking for a new home, thinking about getting divorced, wanting to move to Bali, considering going on strike, and doing your darnedest to dodge taxes. But then, who are we to judge or cast aspersions? Chuck Bomba

DIGITAL RADIO’S POPULARITY ON THE RISE

Digital radio listening is currently at the highest it’s ever been, with figures published in Commercial Radio Australia’s Digital Radio Report for 2014 stating that 2.8 million people now tune in to digital stations each week. The impressive jump is a direct result of the increase of digital radios built in to motor vehicles. In fact, nearly 98,000 new cars had been sold in the past financial year with a DAB+ digital radio already built in, a figure almost double that of last year. For more information visit digitalradioplus.com.au. AT

WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE ONLY GO TO GALLERY OPENINGS FOR THE BOOZE?

Artist pals (and booze buddies, we’re guessing) David Attwood and Jurek Wybraniec have come up with a pretty interesting idea for an art exhibition. They’ve turned the concept of the ‘wizard stick’ drinking game into an installation! For those who’ve not played it, the wizard stick involves polishing off a can of beer, then taping it to the bottom of your next beer, and so on until a snake-like chain starts to take shape. Dubbing their work ‘Green & Gold’, Attwood and Wybraniec had to go around collecting plenty of empty Emu Export cans, but they insist this isn’t just some celebration of the famed Aussie beer brand. In fact it’s quite the opposite. “The recent events around Emu Export and its shift from a WA icon to a beer now brewed in South Australia is used as an analogy to address ideas of shifting identities,” reads their press release. But then it also says that the ‘wizard stick’ is supposed to connote everything from a phallic symbol to a representation of tougher bogan culture, ie: the bigger the stick, the bigger the myth/hero/hangover. We’ll leave that for you to argue with your mate over a couple of beers. Antonino Tati

One of the most recognisable figures in video gaming – Sonic the Hedgehog – will be speeding his way back to fans later this year, with Sega announcing the release of two new releases come November 29: ‘Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric’ and ‘Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal’. Both games star the dapper team of Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and newcomer Sticks – who’ll be banding together to try and defeat both familiar and powerful new nemeses. Expect more actionadventure combat than any Sonic offering before it. Michael Mastess

‘Green & Gold’ is on at the Fremantle Arts Centre till September 20.

For more info visit nintendo.com.au.

SONIC BOOM BOYS

www.rockcandymagazine.com.au | 13


bits up the front The

IT’S AMAZEBALLS WHAT’S MADE IT INTO THE OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY...

Shakespeare would be rolling in his grave. And Virginia Woolf would probably have written a book about the madness of it all. It seems the English language is going to the dogs, judging by this year’s entries into the Oxford English Online Dictionary. While the authority on English language is somewhat slow at adding new, hip diction to its hardcopy edition, it has no hesitation in injecting all manner of buzzwords and bastardised jargon into its online listings. Words and terms that have made it into the OED this year include amazeballs, adorbs (ie: “adorable”), cray (as in “crazy”, just in case you’ve had your head in the sand), listicle, side boob, hot mess (strange, since that one’s been around for decades), binge-watch and acquihire. Even abbreviations popularised via social media have found their place in the English lexicon for good, including the random likes of YOLO and SMH (and yes, we’re shaking our heads at that one, too). The Oxford English Dictionary was first published 150 years ago, and contains some 600,000 words that span the 1000-year-old life of the English language. Every three months it updates existing entries and throws in some new words for good measure. According to the dictionary’s website, new entries are based on the “contributions of an international network of readers who are on the lookout for instances of new words and meanings or other language changes”. These word investigators traipse everything from scientific journals to song lyrics, popular fiction to social networking sites for all that is hot, hip and happening in language and communication. It sounds like an immense and intense task, but totes fun just the same. Antonino Tati

ACCOMMODATION SITE HONES IN ON FIFOS

Most FIFO workers regularly experience travelling ‘between homes’. There’s the donga in your particular region of work – usually fitted out with just enough creature comforts to make it feel like ‘home’ and, if you’re lucky, your home-base in the city where you can chillax away from work obligations, be it with a buddy, partner or family (well some relaxation must be there, even with kids runnin’ about). Landing a quality home in the city, particularly a sharehouse, can be a difficult thing. From the hassle of being interviewed by leaseholders who are eyeing your every move, to worrying about whether you can trust them with your stuff while you’re away at work, the unwanted stress can add up. Now there’s a website tailored totally to FIFOs looking for the perfect home, or even ‘home away from home’. FifoHouseMate is the brainchild of Perth brothers Chris and Daniel Del Borrello, who previously found it difficult to find housemates for their own residences. Chris, for example, says he tried common sites like Gumtree but found that “even sites with strong real estate sections didn’t cater specifically to FIFO needs”. That said, we tested the same ad on both Gumtree and FifoHouseMate – complete with the same rental amount. In fact, our FifoHouseMate ad informed potential housemates that utilities were all included so, really, the latter were going to get a better deal. Still, where we received at least six responses from the Gumtree ad, not one bite came from FifoHouseMate. That said, the site does give users the opportunity to post free ads offering everything from rooms and full houses to storage areas for rent; the budget range is broad; and details are cleanly laid out. Naturally, the site might prove popular with landlords and leaseholders, too, who’ll likely find the idea of a tenant not always being there more appealing (more room to breathe, less wear and tear… you get the picture). Indeed, it’s surprising that such a site hasn’t existed prior. Sure, there have been agencies who have ‘placed’ FIFO workers into appropriate living arrangements for ages, but something like this of a DIY nature hasn’t existed until now. AT Visit fifohousemate.com.au.

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Walk above the Giants 600 m walk fully Accessible

Experience the excitement of walking through the canopy of the magnificent tingle forest on the 40 m high Tree Top Walk. Explore the Ancient Empire trail and be captivated by the forest, the plants and animals. You can also do the Forest by Night run during school holidays and on request. Educational fun for the whole family.

See views like no other Take the universal access path to the new Wilderness Lookout and be rewarded by expansive vistas over the wilderness, or walk around the base of the granite outcrop along the Caldyanup walk trail and take-in the sounds and smells of the forest. For 360 degree views of the Walpole Wilderness follow in the footsteps of the fire towerman to the summit of Mt Frankland. A site not to be missed!

Ancient Empire is free. Entry prices for Tree Top Walk: Adult $15.00. Child: $7.50, Concession: $10.50, Family: $37.50.

Discover the nature of art Experience peace and contemplation while walking around the Swarbrick art loop which features thought-provoking art pieces like the 39 m long Wilderness Wall of Perceptions. This area is also home to some of Western Australia’s famous old growth Karri trees and provides a majestic backdrop for acclaimed artwork. Keep an open-mind and enjoy the journey! The Walpole Wilderness Discovery Centre is a 450 km drive from Perth to Walpole.

W E S T E R N AU S T R A L I A

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Gadgets & stuff

Gadgets & Stuff CHOO’S A NICE PAIR OF SUNNIES

Following on from the success of the Carrera by Jimmy Choo women’s sunglasses collection last year comes a range of sunnies designed especially for blokes. The Carrera 6000, with its distinctive shaped temples, is available in various finishes including black crocodile and green camouflage print, pictured. The collection marks Jimmy Choo’s first foray into the men’s eyewear category, expanding the label’s existing offering of men’s shoes, bags and smaller leather goods. Available online at MrPorter.com. MM

WHAT’S THE TIME MR WOLF?

If time appears to be racing by you, it might be time to stop and smell the roses. Or at least to pause and ponder the cool images on a clock that tells you that time is passing by. The ‘Mr Wolf’ clock, pictured, tells the time through the use of arty images – a mixture of photographs, collages, classic paintings, computergenerated graphics, even propaganda posters. Designed by creative chappie Lachlan McLaine, each image represents a digit in an interesting, if not somewhat esoteric, way. Sometimes the pics are a bit tricky to ‘get’ at first, but at least it’ll keep you on your toes; balancing left brain / right brain, and all that. Available through platformstore.com.au, RRP $180. AT

A TERRE-FIC SCENT

Terre d’Hermès Eau Tres Fraiche might seem like a mouthful, but you’ll be glad you uttered it on your next fragrance shopping trip. The scent is a blend of citruses including bigarade (that’s bitter orange to you) along with geranium, patchouli and warmer, woodier base tones. Look for the sturdy rectangle bottle, available in an EDT 120ml spray for RRP $115, from David Jones stores nationally and Hermès boutiques in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and the Gold Coast. AT

SMALL SPEAKERS, BIG SOUND

Neatly moulded into spherical form, each speaker in the Harman / Kardon Nova Stereo Streaming System houses a passive radiator within a turbine to boost audio to heart-thumping level. Hidden out of sight but not out of earshot are performance-tuned 2.5” drivers and 1.25” tweeters to ensure a nice balanced sound. And Wi-Fi Bluetooth capability means you can connect the speakers with your stereo, MP3 player, smartphone, tablet or computer, and therefore take them anywhere in this great mobile world or ours. RRP $399. Available at Apple stores or for alternative stockists phone (02) 9700 0111. AM

www.rockcandymagazine.com.au | 17


Gadgets & stuff

Gadgets & Stuff

A HIPPER THAN HIP FLASK

COLOURS OF THE WORLD!

You love to watch world sporting events from the comfort of your own lounge room so why not get even more comfy with a cushion printed with your fave nation’s flag? These ‘Flags of the World’ cushions are available in literally every national design. Simply go to the ‘Design Me My Gift’ website, type in your desired country, even add extra text if desired. Each cushion is made of superior quality suedette (yep, first time we’ve heard of it, but it does sound nice); they’re durable, non-fading, machine-washable, and retain shape well. What more could you want in your lounge décor? AT RRP $35.00 each, available at designmemygift.co.uk.

British designer Ted Baker does two things very well: create quality practical products; and decorate these with quirky illustrations. This stainless steel hip flask is a good example of both, featuring Ted’s popular bicycle print and packaged in a nifty presentation box. Now you can take your tipple wherever you fancy (as they say in Great Britain, don’tcha know). CB Ted Baker Hip Flask - Bike RRP $49.95, arriving Sept 2014. Stockists: until.com.au/stockists, (02) 9119 8700

A HYBRID TOOL FOR THE GARDEN

For 30 years, Ryobi has been an Australian household name, growing with the times, just as our gardens have. Now, the brand is boasting more products with hybrid technology, like the new Ryobi One+ Hybrid Line Trimmer which is fitted with cord and an 18V 1.5 amp-hour lithium battery so that it won’t run out of energy mid-trimming. Because we know how much you love to get the damn job done in one go… AM

Aspire to greater superhero-like status simply by sticking these cool retro metal prints on your wall. Seriously, all you’ve gotta do is stare at them for 10 seconds a day and you will feel fitter, grow stronger, shed kilos, and even score a hot damsel you’ve saved from distress. Oh, bullshit. But they will look cool in your man cave. AT

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RRP $39.95 each, available in Hulk and Superman design from giftsforblokes.com.au.

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October 15-19

Stick it in your diary POP THESE INTO YOUR SOCIAL CALENDAR AND SPRING INTO ACTION ALREADY, WHY DON’TCHA? Compiled by Andrea Manno

November 21-23

HIGGINS PAYS HOMAGE TO HOMEGROWN MUSIC

What with a baby on the way, Missy Higgins’ forthcoming tour is sure to be her last for at least a year, so fans better get in quick for tix since they’re bound to sell like hotcakes. Missy will be performing innovative covers of Australian classics hence the clean-and-simple title of the tour, Oz. Says Missy of her new LP, the tour itself, and a book of essays she’s written to complement the music: “It’s intended to be a real mixed bag of lollies… I listened to thousands of tunes and it didn’t matter when or where they were written, or whether they were well-known; all that mattered was whether I felt I could make them my own.” The WA leg of the tour kicks off in Geraldton on October 15, followed by Perth City (16), Bunbury (18) and finally Mandurah (19). Surprisingly, Broome – the hometown of Missy’s fiancé, playwright Dan Lee – is not on the cards but there have been speculations of a Broome wedding for the couple… For tickets visit missyhiggins.com or ticketmaster.com.au.

October 26 November 9

DID SOMEONE SAY GOURMET?

To most of us in the West, or to any Australian for that matter, the name Margaret River conjures up an array of images to whet the palate. Fine wine? Check. Good food? Tick. And let’s not forget an alternative brew or two! In late November, all this good food and bevvy will be celebrated at the Margaret River Gourmet Escape. Held at Leeuwin Estate Winery, this year’s festival will showcase the talents of many a celebrity chef including Heston Blumenthal (The Fat Duck, UK), Jacques Reymond (Melbourne), Matt Stone (Greenhouse, Perth), George Calombaris (The Press Club, MasterChef Australia) and Massimo Bottura (Osteria Francescana, Italy). Sample dishes aplenty, and also wander through markets that sell everything from coffee and chocolate, to olive oils and fudge. Yum, yum, yum and, we’ll say it once more, yum. For the full festival program and to buy tickets visit gourmetescape.com.au.

from March 9

FOR THE LOVE OF FREO

The annual Fremantle Festival attracts local and international folk alike with what has been revered as one of the most colourful celebrations of arts and culture down under. The event, which is now in its 109th year, runs for 17 days from October 26 to November 9, during which an array of artistry will be showcased including music, cuisine, theatre and the visual arts. It all kicks off with the ‘Blessing of the Fleet’, a ritual initiated by Italian fishermen post-World War II, which pays homage to the development of Fremantle from a port town into the grand city it is today. The festival will culminate in a parade on November 9 complete with vibrant floats and street art aplenty. For more information visit fremantlestory.com.au.

BROOKFIELD PLACE TO BECOME A ROTATING ART-SPACE

Here’s something to get your kids, nephews or nieces into. Brookfield Place, off St Georges Terrace in Perth, is set to become more than just a landmark of heritage buildings, hip bars and cool boutiques. For twelve months straight starting from March 9, 2015, it will play host to the 52 Week Illustration Challenge during which members of the public turn their hand to art to contribute to a different theme per week. Expect everything from selfies and sandcastles to collages and 3D paper-crafting to make its way into this ‘pop-up’ art space of sorts. Kids and adults from around the globe are already getting their works together, with weekly selections being curated by children’s book author Tania McCartney. For more information visit brookfieldplaceperth.com.

www.rockcandymagazine.com.au | 21


Pop Culture

movies

HUGE GAMING ICONS TO HIT THE BIG SCREEN

We all know what happens when you bring a bunch of comic book characters to life in the film world – you end up with a clash of the titans; cases in point: The Avengers or, to a tamer degree, the recent Lego Movie. But what happens when you drag an array of gaming icons into the one big film? Well, you’ll find out next year when Sony Pictures Entertainment releases its highly-anticipated action comedy, Pixels. Classic gaming characters that’ll have starring roles in the heavily animated flick include Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Galaga, Centipede, Frogger, Q*bert and a whole bunch of Space Invaders. The film will star Adam Sandler, Michelle Monaghan, Peter Dinklage and Brian Cox, and is being directed by Chris “I made Home Alone, Harry Potter, Gremlins and The Goonies, thank you very much” Columbus. Naturally, what with the film being inspired by the gaming world, the premise is one of battle, where intergalactic aliens misinterpret video-feeds of classic arcade games as a declaration of war against them, hence begin to attack the earthlings, using these games as models for their various assaults. Too clever by half, really. And sure to be a trip to watch. Antonino Tati ‘Pixels’ will hit cinemas May 14, 2015.

22 | September 2014


music

5 ALBUMS WE LOVE RIGHT NOW… You can download individual tracks erratically online all you want, but for us, you sometimes need to get into an album fully. Track by track, with no bullshit skipping of songs. Here are five LPs on constant rotation on the Rock Candy office stereo (that’s right, a good old-fashioned CD player). Michael Mastess & Antonino Tati

JACK WHITE

Lazaretto (Sony Music) Looking a bit like Trent Reznor in an Elvis suit, ex-White Stripes frontman Jack White sounds otherwise himself on his latest solo offering. Opening track Three Women is at once cliché rock classic (“I got three women, red, blonde and brunette”) and postmod right-here-right-now (“It took a digital photograph to pick which one I like”). The title track is a rumbling rock groove that flirts with Spanish diction but is definitely more Tex than Mex. And elsewhere on the LP, Jack gets folky (Temporary Ground), bluesy (Entitlement), snazzy (Alone In My Home), and of course hippy-esque (I Think I Found The Culprit). All up, but, it’s brilliant.

ECHO & THE BUNNYMEN

Meterorites (Universal Music)

From the original meisters of emo comes a surprisingly bright album. Lead single Lovers On The Run is inflected with those exotic (read: Middle Eastern-inspired) strings that guitarist Will Sergeant gave us previously on The Killing Moon. Holy Moses sounds like Coldplay gone goth (and why not since even Chris Martin himself admitted he’d been influenced by Echo singer Ian McCulloch). Is This A Breakdown is pop rhetoric at its cleverest. Grapes On The Vine is so bluesy-laidback it’s like being drunk-by-audio… All up, this is one of the best comeback records of the year – if we could be so bold to call it a comeback. For full interview with Echo singer Ian McCulloch, turn to page 60.

SPOON

They Want My Soul (Universal Music) Right from the first hits of the drum in opener Rent I Pay, you know you’re in for a rollercoaster ride of fun pop/rock from this Austin-born nu-wave outfit. Indeed sometimes they delve so far into pop territory, it’s hard to believe they’re actually Texan. Highlights on this LP include the vibrant, string-saturated Inside Out, acoustic-meets-electric Knock Knock Knock, and very psychedelic Let Me Be Mine that might even have sat nicely on the Beatles’ Revolver album had it been written way back when.

KASABIAN

48:13 (Sony Music) With its title simply taken from the total time of the record, and its fluorescent artwork and digits on the front sleeve (representing the length of time per song), it’s obvious Kasabian are going for a ‘concept album’ thing here. Though not quite the Beatles’ White Album, this hot pink offering is epic an LP all the same. Starting off with mellow instrumental Shiva, going gangbusters into next track, the Led Zep-like rocker Bumblebee, then traversing across all manner of musical genre from syncopated symphony (Stevie) through ska-inflected pop (Doomsday) to psyche-electronica (Treat), there’s something for everyone on this liquorice all-sorts of an album.

THE MADDEN BROTHERS

Greetings From California (EMI Music)

Something must have happened to Joel and Benji Madden since venturing into talent-show mentoring territory. It’s like they’ve taken leaves out of their own books; finally adopting all the necessary elements for a big crossover record: clean-structured verses, catchy-as choruses, melodic vocals, and arty packaging – all evident on this here LP. What we love most are the retro tinges to a lot of the songs, with Brixton having a late ’50s doo-wop vibe about it, suddenly getting all jangly psychedelic, and single We Are Done sounding like it time-travelled its way straight out of 1969. Keep doing this, boys, and you’ll prove your worth as valid mentors in any talent quest.

www.rockcandymagazine.com.au | 23


Pop Culture

gaming

BRING ON THE APOCALYPSE, BIATCH

Review: ‘The Last Of Us: Remastered’ We’ve all heard futurists predicting the demise of humankind. The Apocalypse is a common threat bandied about, along with theories of our planet soon to be destroyed by aliens, mutants or a killer virus. And of course, there’s the drama of global warming. Films like World War Z, Resident Evil and good ol’ Mad Max present epic end-of-the-world-is-nigh scenarios, as do games like Gears Of War, Metro 2033 and Wasteland. Now there’s a new game on the post-apocalyptic path, one set around 2033, after a virus has obliterated most of the human population and there are only a few survivors: you, the main player, being one of these. The Last Of Us was initially created for PlayStation 3 but has been fully remastered for PS4. It now comes with higher-quality HD graphics to ensure you – as the wayward Joel who has compromised his morals in a plight to remain alive – can transpose yourself into the world where survival of the fittest is the number one priority. Joel has to fight within quarantine zones, tackling pods containing other surviving humans who have adapted in their own ways to endure the desolation. Tasks graduate from simple to complex, an example of this being when Joel has to move a young girl from one quarantine zone to another, which gets more difficult as more mutant humans get in his way. Heck, if it was all too easy, we wouldn’t play it, right? This is a great action game that even makes room for kind familial gesture, which is rare to see in gaming these days. On the aesthetic front, the graphics are so high-def, you occasionally think you’re watching real actors shot on film! Andrea Manno ‘The Last Of Us: Remastered’ is available for PS4.

24 | September 2014


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Homegrown Talent

BOYS II MEN

Rock Candy hones in on three hot new WA acts, each taking on a decidedly masculine moniker. Profiles by Andrea Manno.

LOCAL ACT I: BOYS BOYS BOYS!

What’s the first thought that springs to mind when you hear the name ‘Boys Boys Boys’? Perhaps it’s an image of one-hit-wonder woman Sabrina Salerno splashing about in a pool and letting her bikini top slip just enough to reveal a nip? So 1980s, and such a huge hit for the big-busted babe. Fast forward to 2008 when Lady Gaga brought out a fresh new upbeat song of the same name, and gone were Salerno’s words “Boys boys boys, I’m looking for a good time” with Gaga going, “Boys boys boys, we like boys in cars, who buy us drinks in bars”. Talk about wearing out one simple word! Then, bring us forth to 2014 and Perth is the city with its own Boys Boys Boys! This time, though, it ain’t just a song title but a band name of a sextet of spunky synth-pop musos, namely Koko, Bridget, Jade, Alwyn, Axe and Mike. Their influences? While the band admits that the title does stem from the tacky 1987 hit, they are inspired by acts nestled between Salerno and Gaga. Indeed, it’s ’90s pop culture that influences this group most: Aqua and the Venga Boys, both bands for whom Boys Boys Boys! have even been support acts for. Another idol of this local act is the electronic/rock band Regurgitator who came out with Polyester Girl when Aqua was brandishing Barbie Girl. So while there is no ‘girl’ in the title of their latest single, We Like To Move, four of the six band members are self-confessed “femme fatales”. Says Boys’ singer/synth-player/body-mover, Koko, about the band’s latest single: “I was listening one day to this Brazilian band Cansei de Ser Sexy, and the lyrics to one of their songs kind of inspired me. It’s about dancing and how important it is. The realisation was like, yeah, we should write a song about that, too, and so the song just sort of came out of nowhere.” Thus, such lyrics were born: “Let’s hear it for the boys, let’s hear it for the girls, hey, hey, hey” and “nights go fast, days too slow, shake it for the ones you know”. Like Sabrina and Gaga before them, Boys Boys Boys! know that to ‘keep it simple stupid’ is probably the safest way to pop success. ‘We Like To Move’ is out through Firestarter Music and available on iTunes.

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Homegrown Talent LOCAL ACT II: HUSBAND

It might not take a genius to work out the meaning behind the artist name Husband, but it takes one to create the rhythm and chilled-out vibes Perth muso, Michael Paolino (aka: Husband) brings to his audience. With his latest single Caught, Michael works his Nick Cavelike charm to deliver a ballad that marries a baritone vocal with intimate lyrics such as “see the red dirt, that I know, with open arms she always welcomes me home”. Even blokes online can’t resist the charm, with one ‘noisyandrew’ recently posting on Soundcloud, “There’s some depth in this that puts a lump in my throat.” Laden with soulful blues rhythm and tinged with tambourine Caught even has a bit of a Coldplay vibe to it, while Michael prefers to the comparison to Americana indie rock quintet The National, dubbing his music “southern gothic style”. Even though Husband headed overseas to Los Angeles to record his 10-track debut album (“Rick Parker who’s worked with Black Rebel Motorcycle Club was just too good an opportunity not to work with!”) Michael still calls Perth home and at the moment is more than happy to enjoy playing to local crowds before spreading his wings internationally. So why did this guy go call himself ‘Husband’? “My wife said it would be kind of cool if [the songs] had a consistent idea so she suggested ‘Just call it Husband and keep writing songs about me’. They’re not necessarily about her, but they are about marriage and commitment.” It seems this hubby is well worth holding on to. Husband’s self-titled EP and the single ‘Caught’ are available online through Bandcamp and iTunes.

28 | September 2014


Homegrown Talent

LOCAL ACT III: OUR MAN IN BERLIN

“We were getting back from the venues at two in the morning and then getting up at four-thirty to catch the plane to the next city” is how front-man Haydn Mansell sums up the recent whirlwind tour of he and his Perth-born band, Our Man In Berlin. The five-piece kicked off their long series of gigs with the launch of their latest EP Is It Right at trusty bar, Amplifier, followed by slots in Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne after which, Haydn says, they were “definitely ready for some sleep”. Already selling CDs by the shelf-load in certain European quarters, the group has gained strong industry interest overseas, as well as closer to home in the eastern states. Despite this, Haydn assures us that Our Man In Berlin are likely to still call Perth home for a while yet. The band name stemmed from Haydn’s solo days with a backing band. Then, when a year-and-ahalf ago he met the right kind of people to make the sort of music he wanted to make, he wasted no time in seizing the moment to see Our Man In Berlin evolve into something of its own. And what it is, is a tight-knit five-piece that delivers the cleverest amalgamation of music genres – including electronica, pop, alt-rock and trip-hop. So what’s in the name? “I just really enjoy history documentaries,” tells Haydn, “and I love, particularly, learning about World War II. I was watching a documentary on the History Channel on Nazi Germany and espionage and there was a journalist standing in Berlin at the end of the wall. When they were crossing to him, they said ‘And now crossing to our man in Berlin... and so it stuck.” Just like their catchy tunes will in your head. ‘Is It Right’ is out through Firestarter Music and available on Itunes.

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SULTAN OF SWING

MELBOURNE SINGER-SONGWRITER DAN SULTAN WAS RECENTLY NAMED AMBASSADOR FOR THE ‘GO FOUNDATION’ – WHICH WORKS TO EMPOWER INDIGENOUS CHILDREN VIA BETTER EDUCATION. HERE HE CHATS WITH ROCK CANDY ABOUT GETTING THE GOOD MESSAGE ACROSS THROUGH HIS MUSIC. Story by Andrea Manno

30 | September 2014


K

icking off his latest tour Blackbird with a prequel (and unannounced) show at the Ding Dong Lounge in Melbourne, Dan Sultan is the man to put your ear to the ground for right now. Having recently won the Best Album, Song and Cover Art categories at this year’s National Indigenous Music Awards, Sultan has just wrapped up a two-month tour that spanned the winter months, bringing cheer and good tapping beats to juxtapose those grey skies. No stranger to jumping on board for political takes such as rocking it out at Rock For Recognition – which raises awareness for recognising Indigenous Australians in our Constitution, the Sultan’s new album features songs like Kimberley Calling and It Belongs To Us, music that speaks from the heart about the real roots of our country. While Dan admits he is opinionated about the issues facing Indigenous peoples today, he doesn’t define himself as a political artist per se and indeed sings about a wide scope of ideas he has on life. In fact, the Blackbird album is a collection of songs that he “just wanted to write”. “I wanted the freedom to make the record I just wanted to make,” he tells Rock Candy. “When you’re collaborating with someone, you need to compromise. That’s fine, that’s the nature of it, but at the same time I was ready to do something different and to go on and just make this. It was scary, but I knew I had to do it, and once you take that step in the right direction, everything else lends itself to it.” The bluesy-meets-country-meets rock sounds that emanate throughout the LP run from upbeat numbers like Under Your Skin to more soulful melodies like The Same Man, the latter boasting some wicked banjo-playing. Having recorded the LP with high profile producer Jacquire King (Tom Waits, Kings Of Leon, Of Monsters And Men) Dan admits he “wasn’t really confident about it for a long time” but that grew used to such famed company. Indeed, he got so comfortable recording with King at Blackbird Studios in Nashville, he decided to name the album after the location itself. “I liked the name Blackbird for the album; it’s a tip of the hat to the amazing time I had there.” While he hasn’t toured much overseas, Dan is planning to over the next two years. For now, though, our man has his feet planted firmly in Australian turf. ▪

‘Blackbird’ is out through Liberation/Mushroom.

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Marilyn Monroe, actress, and Arthur Miller, playwright, New York, May 8, 1957. Photograph by Richard Avedon. © The Richard Avedon Foundation.

GALLERY

VERY FAMILIAR FACES… AND A FEW NOT-SO-FAMILIAR M ost famous for his black-and-white portraiture of American artists, activists and celebrities, the works of Richard Avedon have certainly stood the test of time, not only for their potent subject matter but thanks to their sheer minimalist aesthetic. Keeping the focus on the talent themselves, Avedon did away with fancy props and costuming, and instead let the viewer capture a glimpse of the more sincere personality behind the icon. Whether shooting Marilyn Monroe hugging her then-beau, playwright Arthur Miller, looking the happiest she’s ever been, or supermodels Twiggy and Kate Moss in rawer stripped-back guise, Avedon’s ability to posit his sitters into an accessible frame made us – as followers of his work and fans of his subjects – feel far less intimidated and “a little more like them”. From now until November 17, the Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) presents Richard Avedon People, a collection of 80 superb portraits of the who’s who (and indeed who was who) of American culture, with the occasional less-famous thrown in to balance things out. This year also sees the quarter-century celebration of the AGWA Foundation, which has been instrumental in allowing the Gallery to acquire new works for the State, hence there’ll be a feature display of many of these works over the coming months. Two excellent reasons, then, for West Australians, and visitors to our great state, to get on down to Perth Cultural Centre for a gander. Antonino Tati

‘Richard Avedon People’ is on at the Art Gallery of Western Australia until November 17. Admission to the gallery is free although donations are encouraged. For more information visit artgallery.wa.gov.au.

Richard Avedon, photographer, New York, July 23, 1969. Photograph by Richard Avedon. © The Richard Avedon Foundation.

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GALLERY

Twiggy, dress by Roberto Rojas, New York, April 1967. Photograph by Richard Avedon. Š The Richard Avedon Foundation.

34 | September 2014


GALLERY

Bob Dylan, musician, Central Park, New York, February 10, 1965. Photograph by Richard Avedon. Š The Richard Avedon Foundation.

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GALLERY

Kate Moss, New York, April 6, 1996. Photograph by Richard Avedon. Š The Richard Avedon Foundation.

36 | September 2014



COVER FEATURE

38 | September 2014


He’s a screamer from way back – thirty-odd years of screaming in fact – but Jimmy Barnes is still going strong. To celebrate three decades of a solo career since his Cold Chisel days, Jimmy’s gone and delivered an album cleverly titled ‘30:30 Hindsight’ (like 20:20 hindsight, but different, geddit?). On the new LP, Barnesy gets a little help from his friends, duetting with Aussie peers that include Keith Urban, John Farnham, Bernard Fanning, Baby Animals, and even lovely Tina Arena. Looking back, Jimmy’s happy to relay to Rock Candy all those times he’s “ fallen over on stage” but insists he’s gotten it together now and can even perform ‘Rock The Boat’ gigs. Describing himself as hyperactive, “a bloody maniac”, and then some, Jimmy Barnes hopes to keep playing as long as people are still listening and enjoying. Who knows? He might even have another 30 years in him! Interview by Andrea Manno www.rockcandymagazine.com.au | 39


COVER FEATURE

Well, what a career so far! How does it feel to have been delivering music for so many years? Oh, you know, pretty good. I’ve been on the road for 40 years, with Cold Chisel first, then 30 years as a solo performer, and still having an audience and still making records that I think are good. I’m playing with great players and I feel pretty blessed being able to do that. I never really thought about how long a career could last, or planned it, but I’m enjoying it. When did you know or feel that singing is what you wanted to do with your life? I knew that after I joined Cold Chisel. I joined them when I was 16-and-a-half years old, and by the time we made our first record we were quite serious about music. It was us against the world at that point. I just knew what I wanted to do: make music, touch people’s souls, get in there. I knew then it was what I wanted to do for the rest of my life.

the head or I’ll scream. But if I’m comfortable and relaxed, I’ll sing really laid-back. When I perform live, a lot of that is edgy, and when I get in front of an audience, I get nervous. Plus I’m hyperactive. Always good for a show, though, being pumped up. Yeah. But I can also feel insecure; in need of approval. I’m hyperactive. And a bloody maniac. All the great things you need to be in a rock’n’roll band, I tell you! I grew up with your music. In fact, my first cassette tape was Soul Deep. Oh really, there you go. Young thing that you are! Yeah, that was the ’80s; screaming along to you. Oh, and singing along to Daryl Braithwaite’s Horses. A h, t hat’s why you’ve got t he husk y voice, then.

And what an achievement! Yeah, but I took it from day to day, striving to make better records and be a better singer and keep in touch with the audience. I wanted to pick up on what they wanted. The secret to making music is really being in touch with people that you’re singing to. I could sit and sing to myself, but there’s something about getting in front of an audience - and it’s not showing off - but it’s about that transfer of energy and expectation and drive, and the audience seeing something in you that you don’t even see in yourself. This 30th anniversary is like a celebration of all the work I’ve done with Mushroom and celebrating the audiences who have come along for the ride.

You’ve visited Perth many times throughout your career, even playing at ‘Bikies at Bindoon’. Do you like coming over for those random kind of gigs? I’ve been coming to Perth since 1975. [Pauses to think certainly]. Yeah, I think that was when Cold Chisel first came there. We were playing all the Sunday sessions at the pubs; and performing [during] some pretty wild times. The last time we played at Bindoon, I took a swipe at one of the bikies and they haven’t booked me since! They looked after us well, though. The gigs were always really well-run. They’re wild boys, and we always had a good time playing them. There’s something about fast bikes and fast chicks and fast drinks and just fast things in general that go really well with rock’n’roll.

When you’re alone and singing, do you still scream? Ahhh, sometimes, but then I can also sing like Nat King Cole. [Laughs]. It depends on what kind of mood I’m in. I find that, you know, I tend to sing high anyway. But I grew up listening to Nat King Cole and Ray Charles; that’s what my parents were listening to. Now I walk round the house singing to Nat and you can’t scream to that! My voice is sort of direct, like me. What you see is what you get, and my voice is the same. If I’m angry, you’ll get punched in

And lately you’ve been a fan of performing at ‘A Day On The Green’ events… I think they’re great events. They’ve worked it out so as to give their audiences the best shows possible. If you want to be a mad punter and get up the front and bang your head and get drunk, you can do that, but if you want to sit back on the blankets with your chick and drink champagne and eat caviar, you can do that, too. Of course, if you do that at my show, you might get trampled on. They cater for everybody and they allow them in the same area to do their own

thing. Oh, and they don’t skimp on production, so people get great value of money. Are you looking forward to rocking out on the ‘Rock the Boat’ cruise again this year? When they booked me to do the first one, I was dreading it. Nothing against my fans, but when you’re trapped in a confined space with all these people that just want your autograph all the time, it can feel a bit oppressive. When we did it, though, it was a whole lot of fun. People came up and said ‘hello’ and it was just generally great. When they asked me to come back and do another one, I said ‘yeah’! The things we learnt about delivering a production on a boat, now we can go back and put it together better. For anyone who missed the last one, come along to this one. It’s like you throw your suitcases down and you’re on holiday! How does it feel playing on the boat? Don’t you ever get seasick? Well, the back stage had no windows and we did get a bit nauseous there for a minute. I remember standing on stage a couple of times and nearly falling over. But, you know, after 40 years of performing, I’ve done it that many times before on dry land... [Laughs]. It did remind me of some of my earlier gigs when I was a young fellow! Of course. So, after 30 years of riding solo, how has the experience been getting all your favourite artists to record with you for the 30:30 Hindsight album? There was a lot to choose from, but it was sort of like natural selection. Keith Urban’s an old mate of mine. His first recordings were done in my house before he could afford a studio! He’s a great guitar player, a great singer, and a good bloke. Mark Lizotte [aka: Diesel], he’s my brother-in-law but we don’t get much of a chance to get into the studio together. On a lot of the songs I just wanted to tip my hat to people. It’s a tribute to all the people that helped kick my career along, all the people that inspired me along the way, that I learned things from, and whose company I’ve enjoyed. And then you’re touring, but with different guests than those on the album. Yeah. The Living End are on board. And Nick

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COVER FEATURE

“There’s something about fast bikes and fast chicks and fast drinks and just fast things in general that go really well with rock’n’roll.”

Barker is doing a couple of the shows. People I’ve worked with over the years will pop in and do songs. I’m really looking forward to having the Baby Animals on tour, too. Who came up with the ‘Spinning Wheel’ for changing up the set at each show? I wanted to do 30 songs on the album for the 30th anniversary but the list got too long for a set. So I thought I would get someone to spin the wheel every couple of songs; that way a song gets selected that might be out of my comfort zone. It makes the audience get involved, and pushes me to change the set and not just get stuck and do the same things. Plus, I thought we could get everyone up and be barrel girls! You can’t go wrong with a barrel girl on the set can you? Certainly not! And it’s a great idea to get people involved. So which song will you enjoy kicking off with?

Well, the song I cut with Shihad, Love And Hate. The reason I like it is because it’s a brutal song and ferocious in its intensity , and once we start there, the audience goes: ‘Right, I know what we’re getting’. Or I might start with Lay Down Your Guns which’ll hit the crowd right between the eyes. What do you like to finish with? Well, it depends. Sometimes Working Class Man, sometimes Khe Sanh. Or Goodbye Astrid. But I’m thinking of shaking up the set this time. There’s a lot of good songs on the record that we could finish the gigs with. Maybe Ride The Night Away? Yea h. T he new version; t hat’s rea l ly swinging. Finally, Jimmy, I have to ask: with all the screaming that you’re famous for in your career, you’ve still got a voice akin

to that of three decades ago even. Do you think you’ll still be going at it 30 years from now? I think I’m singing better and higher than back then. I think I’ve learnt to scream better… I’ve become a professional screamer! I can peel the paint off walls. I reckon I’ve honed my craft after 30 years of learning about song-writing, performing and singing. This whole tour and album is a celebration of that - as well as 30 years of learning how to become a human being. I’ve been working hard for that time and hopefully I can still do it for another 30 years. I’ll be doing it as long as people are there watching and if they’re not, I’ll be doing it at home. ▪ ‘30:30 Hindsight’ is out through Liberation/ Mushroom. Jimmy Barnes will be performing in Kings Park with The Living End, Ian Moss, Mahalia Barnes & The Soul Mates on Saturday 22 November. Information and tickets at ticketmaster.com.au.

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“Coming up with this character was something I really enjoyed doing. Really mapping out his whole evolution. Figuring out when he sells the GTO!�

42 | September 2014


FAMILY MAN

Anyone who has raised a child would know that during their formative years, kids do the darnedest things (so much so there’s even been a TV show named after it). Now, a new film called ‘Boyhood’ presents these rites of passage in an innovative and interesting way – having actually been filmed over 12 years. Starring Ellar Coltrane as the ‘boy’ in title, and Ethan Hawke as his dad, the film is family-oriented – funny and heartfelt at once, while it even has some critics uttering the word ‘Oscar’. Ethan Hawke chats here about what it was like to work on a movie over so many years, whether he feels the film has a chance come awards season, and discusses his upcoming film projects. Boyhood is an extremely unique project, don’t you think? What’s strange is the over-use of such vocabulary. So many people say, ‘Oh this is a unique project’. This one actually is a unique project. It was such an experiment, really. If you know [director] Rick [Linklater], it wasn’t a risk. It was really fun. His interest in using time as clay is not new. We did it with the Before series [Before Sunrise/Sunset/Midnight] but by accident. This one, to see the story of a family told using twelve years… it’s never been done before. Never in my life have I done anything that isn’t like something else. And this film is like nothing else. It means you can never go back to watching a film where they use makeup to age characters now… I liken it to… you remember years ago, when they used to have Nazis in movies and they would speak with bad German accents, but in English? And then finally somebody makes a movie where they speak the language and then, all a sudden, what they did before seems ridiculously fake. And I think that’s what Rick just did to [films that skip] time. When Linklater first suggested the idea, did you have doubts? No, to be honest with you. When he told me, I felt sure it would work. I’ve never in my life been presented with so little in the way of a script! Basically, it was around the time my son was born. Rick came to visit and said, ‘I keep having this idea for a movie.’ At first he was worried that my schedule would be too cumbersome to be involved. And I was sure I wanted to be involved. I just had to promise him that I would make myself available. So how did that work out? It’s strange to have it finished now, because over the past decade, every time I was doing a job, before I took it, I’d have to call Rick and say ‘OK, hey I’m thinking about playing Macbeth on Broadway, so is there any way I can shoot my section before previews start?’ I’ve been doing that sort of thing for twelve years.

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Was there any year you couldn’t do? There was never any actual year. There was so much flexibility in the DNA of the idea that it could withstand [co-star] Patricia Arquette doing a TV show. He could always go ‘OK, well, I’ll shoot that scene there.’ He knew the beginning, middle and end of the story of this family, but how it zigged left and zagged right was determined by people’s haircuts – the most random things! How did you feel watching yourself age over twelve years? I said to Rick, the kids grow up and we age. It’s strange… but ultimately it’s beautiful. Ultimately it’s what it is. It’s not Benjamin Button; it’s not some elaborate gimmick. It’s a beautiful way to tell the story of growing up. People are always trying to make these growing up tales and you always have to boil it down to one moment of childhood. Even something brilliant like To Kill A Mockingbird; it’s one moment where she came of age when her father came head-to-head with racism. It’s a beautiful story. It’s just one moment of a childhood that’s defining. Boyhood is just as much about the family, though, than it is about the boy, Mason… I always struggled with the title Boyhood because it’s not really appropriate. It’s a difficult movie to have… It’s told through Ellar’s eyes, but the movie is also about Mason’s sister Samantha [Lorelei Linklater]. Every individual, you think it’s your childhood, but the truth is, we’re all so interconnected with our family. Our childhood can’t be separated from our parents. Who they are, who they marry, the choices they make, have long term reverberations for the children. So yeah, it’s fascinating to watch through the eyes of Mason; you watch his father really change over a decade. Do you think something of your character in Before Sunset – the sort of misguided father – channels into your character in Boyhood? Yeah, in a weird alternate universe! He makes some big lifetime decisions. It’s really the story of a guy who decided to show up as a Dad, and had to put his dreams of being a musician, or being a more maverick-like figure [on hold]… I think you watch him grow up. I think you watch him become a

Ellar Coltrane and Ethan Hawke in a still taken in the 12th year of shooting ‘Boyhood’.

man, this father. In some ways good, and in some ways not. It’s like life – that’s what I like about it. Was it strange to come back to a character once a year? The only part that was strange is that we had it mapped out. From the beginning, we knew what the story of this Dad was going to be. And so it was just mapping it all out. I’ve worked with Rick a lot and his process is very familiar to me and I really enjoy it. And coming up with this character was something I really enjoyed doing. Really mapping out his whole evolution. Figuring out when he sells the GTO! One of the last scenes, it was really fun for us; his old roommate, who he’d been a wannabe musician with, he was still kicking it as a musician. There I was… we bring Mason to see him and there I am in a jacket and tie and a mini-van! And his buddy is still in jeans with a Gibson. In a way it’s a very important thing to show his son. There are these different paths that life can take you and being a father became more important to Mason Snr than being a musician. Or maybe he wasn’t talented enough, or whatever – we don’t know. Did it make you think of your teenage years? Yeah. In a lot of ways, this movie is a collage – of Patricia, and mine and Rick’s experiences as parents, and funneling our memories and feelings as teenagers into Mason

and Samantha, and using what their experiences are right now and turning it into this piece of fiction. As a parent, we all revisit our own childhood, when you watch your kids go through this. Does Boyhood have a chance in the awards season? You know, I really try not to use that as a bar for success. Do I think Richard Linklater deserves to be nominated for Best Director for this movie? Yes. I can’t imagine a world where there are going to be five more serious films made this year. It’s my favourite movie I’ve ever been involved in. You’ve been nominated twice with Linklater for Oscars – for writing the Before films. Was that important to you? The thing about the Oscars is that it’s not the best movie but the best movie that also made money and had a campaign. Any awards in the arts is a dubious honour. I know we don’t have any other criteria of which to name something a success – but you know, lots of wonderful movies are made each year, and rarely – ten years later – the five movies nominated for Best Picture are the same five that people still now think of as the best movies of that year. Take a movie like Dazed And Confused. I thought that was one of the greatest movies of the Nineties when I first saw it. But it didn’t get nominated for an Oscar or win any prizes. Rick has never been a very flashy director that way. For those of us that really love and

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Ethan in a still from ‘Boyhood’ with mini co-stars Lorelei Linklater (director Richard Linklater’s daughter) as Ethan’s on-screen daughter, and Ellar Coltrane as his on-screen son. Confused yet?

admire his work, it drives me bananas that people don’t see how brilliantly directed the Before trilogy is. At least those did get nominated… Even this dialogue is not that interesting to me. He doesn’t do these movies for that kind of recognition. You don’t do Waking Life to get nominated for an Oscar. You don’t do Slacker to get nominated for an Oscar. You don’t make Dazed And Confused to get nominated and you don’t make Boyhood for it! He’s on his own journey with cinema. It’s something he cares really deeply about and I feel the collection of his work is starting to speak for itself and people are starting to notice. Like ‘Wait a second, this guy has slowly been making a lot of great films. They’re all very subtle.’ Do you feel despondent about the awards season then? There is a wonderful Milan Kundera essay about how big businesses have usurped cinema as an art form, in a way that it never was able to do with literature or music. What qualifies now as a well-done art house movie is a well-done Batman movie! And so we’re in a really funny time with that. And that’s what I mean about the Oscars. If movies don’t make enough money, they’re not a player in the awards season. There are lots of brilliant movies but they aren’t commercial players. And therefore they don’t enter that game. For Boyhood, it would be great if it got awards because it would mean it was making money and people were seeing it, and I think people will be really moved and affected by this movie.

Instead of just force-fed the latest Captain America or whatever it is… Next, you’re in Alejandro Amenábar’s Regression; what can you say about it? It’s basically a thriller. It’s with Emma Watson and David Thewlis. It’s an exposé on a true story of some hysteria surrounding some arrests that were made in the Eighties around a satanic cult. You’re the detective? Exactly. I play Humphrey Bogart! And you’ve also shot Andrew Niccol’s Good Kill. What’s that about? It’s about the drone pilots. It’s a really brilliant script. Andrew did a bunch of research and has made a story about these pilots that used to be flying F-16s Iraq and now they sit in a Winnebago, drinking a Diet Coke, picking up their kids from school, while they assassinate people via satellite. It almost feels like science fiction but it’s not. Fascinating. How has the indie landscape changed since you made Before Sunrise? It’s really changed. We thought it was tough in the ’90s because it wasn’t as good as the ’70s, but now I realise that the ’90s was a wonderful period. What has changed? It’s just dramas. Even what qualifies as an independent film now, it’s a zombie movie or whatever. A lot of the films that I enjoyed making the most, 10 or 15 years ago, would be so difficult to get made right now. A movie like Gattaca – which I did with Andrew Niccol – would never get made right now.

Before The Devil Knows You’re Dead would be really hard to get made right now. It’s just got harder and harder and harder. For everyone. Why don’t you think Gattaca could get made now? Well Gattaca was made with a studio. Good Kill – everybody has to forfeit their salaries and we make it as cheaply as possible. We had to cobble together the money to make Good Kill much in the way we did for Before Midnight. It’s interesting. Before Sunrise was made with a studio; Gattaca was made with a studio. Now these kinds of movies have to be put together with independently wealthy people, or however you can, by hook or by crook, get these things financed. But it also means the artists don’t get paid – usually. You’ve never been tempted to do the odd Marvel movie to pay the bills? Well I tried to work in genre movies instead. What I enjoy about them is that I grew up on them. A good genre movie has a great punk rock feeling to it. I always liked early John Carpenter films. My first movie [Explorers] was with Joe Dante, who’d done The Howling. My mentorship was in Roger Corman genre movies. What you can do with a genre movie is similar to what you can do with a comic. It’s hard to make movies that people want to see. As much as I love Before Midnight, it’s not a physically lucrative project. More people saw Captain America in a tiny town in Montana in one weekend than saw Before Midnight. ▪ ‘BOYHOOD’ IS IN CINEMAS SEPTEMBER 4.

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(Anti-clockwise from top:) Fishing at night can be ver y produc tive: Sam with a nice haul; night-time f ishing can reap rewards as big as day-time, like this huge healthy snapper caught by Mat t; Sam with a nice red for the table.

FISHING

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FISHING

AS NIGHT FOLLOWS DAY

AS SPRING SETS IN, SO THE NIGHTS GET LONGER, AND WHAT BETTER WAY TO SPEND A GLORIOUS EVENING UNDER THE STARS THAN FISHING OUT AT SEA? ROCK CANDY’S MARCO FRASCHETTI WRITES ON A NEW TREND FOR FANS OF A GOOD OL’ PASTTIME… PHOTOGRAPHY BY LOUIS VAN SENDEN

A

s the lights go out, the monsters come out to play. When the stars align and the fish get feisty, locations that fish poorly under a beating sun can turn into a nocturnal Jurassic playground. The thrill of a hook-up with ensuing chaos; frantic head torches creating light-saber battles in the sky. The hint of colour as a ray of light catches a glint of scales. Hauling a big fish into the boat as grins widen and smiles give way to laughter. The excitement of fishing at night adds a new dimension to your average fishing trip, and you’re more than likely to come home with a few quality fish for the table. TARGET SPECIES Some of Western Australia’s most prized target species hunt more actively during the dusk and dark periods and will put on spectacular feeding displays if you’re lucky enough to be in the right spot at the right time. Mulloway are a great example of species that will find a hole to rest in during the day and come out at night to hunt. While a lucky cast might land on a resting school and snag a fish, the odds sway in your favour at night when they head out on patrol. Before heading out, plan the target species in the area to be fished. Some of the best night species include tailor, pink snapper, flathead, mangrove jacks, trevallies, barramundi and mulloway. BAITS AND LURES Many of the lures that work during the day will also work to catch fish at night. Audible lures will work better in the dark but as long as there is some moonlight, fish will be able to find the lures. Trying a range of lures that target different depths will help you determine what lure will fish best for particular species. If the fish are active on the surface try poppers, or if fishing in deeper water go for a scented soft plastic. Fishing with bait is a great way to target fish for the table. Day-time baits are even more effective at night and will attract fish from further afield. SPOTTING THE GROUND When spotting the ground before dusk find a good area and set up camp for the night. Shifting anchor in the dark can prove frustrating, unproductive and dangerous. Congregation zones like reef edges, ledges, sand lines and gutters will give you good clues on where to drop the pick. Getting the anchor in the right spot so that the boat will sit on top of the productive area requires consideration of current and wind, but will often come down to trial and error. Keeping tabs on where you find those small unwanted bait-stealing fish during the day will give you a good idea of where to start

at night. These little fish provide a perfect food source for the bigger predatory fish that might not be hunting during the day. In a nutshell: find the prey and you’ll find the predator. It can take a bit of exploration, and the more time you spend searching, the more spots you will have up your sleeve that fish well in a variety of conditions. SAFETY AT NIGHT Finding a spot before dusk and setting the anchor away from hazards ensures that you can fish into the night safely. Positioning an anchor correctly is critical, so be sure to give breaking reefs a wide berth otherwise a change of wind or current could spell disaster. Plenty of light is essential, and a spare set of batteries could save your life. Head torches are great for hands-free fishing, but ensure a handheld torch is also on standby. Make sure all your safety gear is in date and checked before you head out, and that your navigational lights are visible. Keep all safety gear in readily accessible places and take a mental picture of where it all is so that in the worst possible scenario (eg: your boat sinking in complete darkness) you know exactly where it is and can access it within a matter of seconds. And one more thing: drive with great caution at night and keep a close eye out for other vessels. As the light fades, the visual senses dull and the sounds and smells of the ocean engulf. The sound of a fish busting up the surface resonates across a starlit ocean. At night the ocean buzzes and every rock and roll of its motion seeps into your senses. That feeling of insignificance takes hold as evidence of civilisation fades into the distance. In seconds that become minutes and hours, jokes roll on, fish hit the deck, and the bonding continues. For a moment in time, being out on the ocean with a couple of mates takes away all the worries and stress of life. Night fishing? It’s pretty much the ultimate escape. ▪ www.rockcandymagazine.com.au | 47


MOTORING

THE ‘OTHER’ GREEN MACHINE

FELICE TATI IS THE PROUD OWNER OF A SLICK FAIRMONT GS 351, THE CAR BORN OUT OF THE EARLY ’70S SO AS TO STITCH MANUFACTURERS OF THE IN-DEMAND YET EXPENSIVE-TO-KEEP GT. YEP, OWNERS OF A GS COULD ENJOY THE SPEED AND SPUNK OF A SIMILAR VEHICLE BUT WITHOUT THE STEEP STICKER PRICE AND SCARY INSURANCE PREMIUMS. Story by Antonino Tati / Photography by Barbara Bertoli

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MOTORING

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MOTORING

G

rowing up in a typically ’70s environment, North Perthraised Felice Tati thrived on a pop cultural diet of kitsch TV (Happy Days, The Dukes Of Hazzard), easy pastimes (lots of pinball), and rock music aplenty (KISS, AC/DC, in fact any band in uppercase letters that allowed him to bash away freely at his own drum kit). Always a bit of a radical, Felice would sneak away early on the occasional school day to go for drives with older friends who’d already earned their licenses and who’d busy themselves burning rubber on tarmac in just about every suburban Perth neighbourhood. It wouldn’t be unusual for a Hungry Jacks carpark in Yokine, for example, to be flooded on a Friday night with a sea of hotted-up autos: a host of muscle cars that included Monaros, GTRs, Chrysler Chargers, even spruced-up FJs. Indeed, it was a hotted-up Holden that Felice first had his eye on. “When I was a kid, 14 or 15, I was more of a Holden fan, but as I got older I got more and more into Fords, particularly the first GT XA that I bought,” he says. “After a while, though, you want something different. So I sold the GT and fell instantly in love with a GS 351 that a friend owned.” It took a while for Felice to get his mate, Johnny F, to part with the vehicle – a beautifully resuscitated Ford XY Fairmont GS 351. “Johnny was hesitant to sell it to me at first – it’s that beautiful a car – but I offered him an amount he couldn’t refuse,” Felice laughs in retrospect. It’s no surprise the previous owner didn’t want to sell the vehicle. Original Ford Fairmonts in GS guise are difficult to come by in good nick. Often they’ve rusted too much to even salvage the bodies of; then there’s the difficulty of finding all the original parts to rebuild one. But when you do find one, and have a professional machinist put all the important bits back into it and polish it up, you’ve got a real collector’s item on your hands. T he ca r look s a genuine gem, complete with jewel green paintwork, slick GS striping and original badgework, while its interior is like brand new – the seats fully upholstered in saddle trim and the dashboard wellstocked – but, as we all know, it’s what goes on deep inside that really counts. When Felice goes to start up the auto’s engine, you’d expect it to greet you with a general bit of ‘hey-there-I’mretro’ rumbling, but instead the 351’s V8 roars like a tiger on heat. Heads in

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THE SPECS

1971 Ford XY Fairmont GS 351 K Code ENGINE 393 Stroker Cleveland TRANSMISSION Auto Turbo 400 DIFF 9-inch SUSPENSION Bil Stein POWER “Fast!” COLOUR Jewel Green DECORATION GS stripes, decals and original badge-work

the street turn to see where the jet-like sound is emanating from, surprised themselves that such a pretty vehicle can exude such a noise. “What I love about this car,” smiles Felice, “is the speed of it.” He stops to pat the bonnet. “But what I really love is that old traditional V8 sound. And the fact that it’s a steel car and not a plastic one!” Indeed, from its front bumper to its tail lights, everything on this muscle machine is genuine. And we’d have to agree, retro rarely looked and sounded so good. ▪ Photographed at G&A Ferro Rosemount Service Station, North Perth.


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PROFILE

BOXING CLEVER

FOUR-TIME WORLD-TITLE HOLDER DANNY GREEN STEPS OUT OF THE RING FOR A MOMENT TO OPEN A BRAND-SPANKING NEW FITNESS CENTRE – THE GREEN ZONE – WHICH HE INSISTS IS “LIKE NOTHING ELSE”. Story by Jake D. Frost

W

e all know Danny Green as a champion boxer, Australian ambassador, humanitarian and all-round top guy. Now The Green Machine has entered the business realm after recently opening up a gym. But ‘Green Zone Fitness’, as it’s called, isn’t your typical boxing gym; rather a super-workout centre with a difference. Stepping out of the ring (for now), likable legend Danny hasn’t shifted too far from his trade, telling Rock Candy in an exclusive interview, “I’ve been in impeccable physical condition for the last 20 years of my life so it’s a natural progression to move into the [fitness] industry.” It’s obvious that the passion, integrity and work ethic embodied as a four-time world-title holder has extended to his business commitments as well. “I’ve pretty much lived down here since the gym’s opened up, and was involved hands-on with the whole thing from finding the site, to fitting it out, to everything else,” he tells with great pride. “It’s been a long process, but I’m finally wrapped to have it up and running.” At 41 years of age and as busy as he’s ever been, Danny is still relishing every moment, adding, “Every hour that I’m here at the gym goes by very quickly ’cause it doesn’t seem like a job to me.” Some might expect a gym opened by a tough, gritty boxer to be as equally rough and raw – an intimidating, sweat-stained, testosterone-filled pit where men are made or broken. “ I ’ve t r a i ne d i n s ome pr e t t y h a rd gyms, from over in Miami and East LA, to Moscow and China,” Danny tells about his personal experiences. But Mr Green - the entrepreneur - has taken a refreshing approach and gone in the opposite direction with Green Zone. This instead is a stylish, state-of-the-art fitness centre that welcomes everyone and then amazes all who walk through its doors. “This is really different,” beams the Green Machine. “It’s something no other gym has got. Everyone that sees the joint goes, ‘Holy hell, this place is amazing’.” The spacious premises boast multiple rooms, all decked out with the latest equipment. Danny kicks the list off: “It’s got an enormous cardio area, a huge free-weights section, a massive boxing-fitness-circuit room, big cross-fit studio, even Fitness On Demand.” That latter aspect is one of the groundbreaking elements in the Green Zone fitness

52 | September 2014

camp. These are hi-tech, virtual-reality workouts where you can choose your on-screen training program from an extensive digital library. And of course they’ve got an array of classes with real people too. A team of friendly, highly-trained professionals running the show like clockwork, catering for all types of members. “This, first and foremost, is a gym for everyone in the community,” Danny states with conviction. “We’ve got 12-year-olds training here with their parents; we’ve got 70-year-olds training; we’ve got under-weight; over-weight; men and women… People from all walks of life.” Located just south of the Perth CBD, in

Warwick Grove Shopping Centre, Danny’s new business venture is certainly keeping him on his toes. With an overload of work, an enterprise like this is the kind of thing you’d usually tackle in retirement. So could this truly mean we will never see the Green Machine back in the ring? “When you own your own gym, you tend to train a bit more, actually,” the champ reveals. “I’m still in pretty good nick, and I’ve got the eye in… But, hey, I’ve learnt to never say never.” ▪ The Green Zone is situated at Warwick Grove Shopping Centre, corner of Beach and Erindale Roads, Warwick. Enquiries on 0427 456 633.



PROFILE

ENTERTAINING THE TROOPS Big Sky Entertainment are a FIFO-friendly company set up by two clever Perth gals, Rebecca Davis and Michelle Fornasier. Their mission: to entertain the hard-working men and women in WA’s mining regions by putting on the best darn gigs and coolest charity get-togethers. Story by Simone Harle / Photography by Barbara Bertoli

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he idea of ‘entertaining the troops’ isn’t a new one. Vera Lynn sang for WWI soldiers; Marilyn woo-ed the troops in South Korea; the Sapphires went to Vietnam; heck, even Kylie and Roy & HG have been to East Timor. For the troops, these experiences provided breaks from routine, stress and boredom, as well as the opportunity to reconnect with the world they left behind. The same could be said for our miners. The long stints away from family and friends, the special occasions missed, all contribute to a trickled-down effect culminating in the broken spirit of the great Australian regional worker. Enter Rebecca Davis and Michelle Fornasier, directors of Big Sky Entertainment, a Western Australian agency providing local and international entertainment to boost the morale of the mining industry. Five years on, from inkling to now, Dav is expla i ns t he thought behind the Big Sky idea. “We had the concept for a while before we launched formally to the industry,” she tells Rock Candy. “We knew that, first and foremost, we wanted

54 | September 2014


to take quality entertainment to the mine sites, and there was an obvious gap in the market.” Of course it’s not all been fun and games. Taking a band or entertainer to the mines was never going to be easy. Indeed it’s a logistical nightmare freighting a PA to the middle of nowhere for one night. Not to mention the fact many musicians are notoriously self-indulgent of booze, f un and r ule-brea king – all that is frowned upon by big mining companies. So being on the books at Big Sky Entertainment is a whole new ball game. Davis explains how they access the right people for the right job. “When we set up the agency, we really wanted quality professionals, so we made it our aim that we would only take on people who are at the top of their game and in their field. We interview them first, go and see them perform, and get an idea of who they are so that we can develop a professional relationship with them.” With such a broad age demographic to consider, the list of performers in the Big Sky camp reads like a Festival of Perth bill. Comedians, burlesque performers, jazz singers and of course the larrikins’ favourite musical tipple, ‘the pub rock band’. But as the Big Sky girls explain, our miners are becoming quite the art-world connoisseurs. “ It ’s r e a l l y i n t e r e s t i n g because f ive yea rs ago t he demand was very much about the ‘rock covers band’ and we sent up heaps of those, but now it’s so much more diverse. We’re get t i ng request s for R&B, f unk and reggae acts, and a lot of comedy. We’ve even had requests for Mexican dancers – and we’ve delivered on this. Really, it’s anything and everything right now.” Now, you could be forgiven

for believing the phrase ‘Work Hard, Play Hard’ was coined by the Aussie Tradie; it’s almost as Australian as ‘fair dinkum mate’, or a heckler in the crowd at a Kevin ‘Bloody’ Wilson gig. Make your mates laugh, make fun of yourself (and others, of course), and generally behave like the larrikins we are historically predisposed to be. But si nce it is genera l ly agreed that the mining industry is comparable to the military – what with its endless rules, regulations and professional boundaries – the assimilation of the great Aussie larrikin into the regimental pits of mining hasn’t always been an easy feat; the two are polar opposites and not so compatible, yet ironically co-dependant on each other for success. Try as you might to indulge a normal weekend feeling, it’s just not the same hitting the sack at 9pm after a couple of 3.5’s; and a 04:45 alarm on a Sunday morning. Do that for 14 days straight and see if you aren’t crying out for ‘normal’. While a solution has always been there, the willingness of m i n i ng ser v ice compa n ies to upscale from a Health & Lifestyle Coach running a pool comp on a Saturday night to engaging high-profile entertainers to the camps, it’s been a slow burn. Ultimately, though, demand has led to supply. “We’ve been out to sites and talked to the guys and girls, who are pretty clear that they need entertainment; they need that relief. And if we can brighten their week with something fun and happy, perhaps even decrease drinking, then that makes everything worthwhile.” In such a compet it ive market, many resource companies running the camps have now begun to include entertainment options in their list of services, naturally giving them the edge. Now, thanks to Big Sky and more of those open-minded suits doing the ‘overseeing’, you’re more likely to see an awesome band playing right there in your wet mess, where once upon a time such gigs were reserved for the bigger towns only. ▪ For information, visit bigskyentertainment.com.au.

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MUSIC

Interview by Antonino Tati

DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Echo & The Bunnymen enjoyed quite the cult following throughout most of the 1980s. And they were content sitting out there on the margins. Sure, an impressive enough number of their singles and albums made it into the UK top ten, but elsewhere in the world they were considered “one of those kooky/arty bands” that drifted somewhere left-of-centre along with the likes of Siouxsie & The Banshees, early Depeche Mode, and The Smiths. In 2001 they enjoyed somewhat of a resurgence when their song The Killing Moon appeared on the ‘Donnie Darko’ soundtrack; scoring a new legion of Bunnymen fans. The song appears in the original opening sequence of the film but was strangely replaced by INXS’s Never Tear Us Apart in the director’s cut 10 years later; which is odd, since the original inclusion fits well with the Bunnyman character in the movie. Lead singer Ian McCulloch founded his band with guitarist Will Seargent and bassist Les Pattinson in 1978. The trio would be supplemented on stage by a drum machine, allegedly named ‘Echo’. Other than this miniature myth, none of the Bunnymen have revealed the real meaning behind their name. Suffice to say, having delivered 12 studio LPs to date, including the newly released Meteorites, the Bunnymen’s unique brand of music has predominantly fallen somewhere between melancholic balladry and gothic rock. In fact, they’d have been dubbed ‘emo’ ages ago if someone had been clever enough to coin the term earlier. But the new album is an altogether different beast. While there are a couple of sulky standards on Meteorites, for the most part the record is ‘up’ and optimistic, and not for mere ironic intent. Ian himself has been through a lot of shit in life, including divorce and depression, but he recently experienced a breakthrough moment which lead to his outlook becoming more positive; less bleak. Here he talks to Rock Candy about coming out of depressive states and influencing one of today’s major music acts, Coldplay. 56 | September 2014


MUSIC

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MUSIC

Hi Ian. I believe it’s around midnight in London now? Yep, a quarter past midnight. Yo u’ve g o t t a w atc h t h at ‘Killing Moon’ then… Bad joke, I know. Ha ha! But it’s too cloudy to see it tonight. It’s been raining. Weather aside, kudos on a great new LP in the form of Meteorites; I’ve got to say it’s one of your best records yet. Thank you. Yeah, it’s kind of alright when an album turns out like you want it to. Even though I say it a lot about new albums, I do think this is our best in terms of being a complete record; with no kind of ‘in-jokes’ or light relief thrown in. I think I might have been guilty of that in the past. Echo & The Bunnymen came to prominence in the early ’80s, but amid a lot of new r om a nt ic a nd p o p mu sic dished out by other bands. Indeed, you guys stood out as very dark; you in particular as the brooding lead singer. That probably came from my childhood. It wasn’t a terribly dark childhood but it was one where I had to live with a dad who was a compulsive gambler. And I never would say that to be negative towards him; he’s still me hero. But he had certain problems, and when you’re compulsive – whether it’s gambling or drinking or drugs or whatever – it kind of becomes the fabric of your life. Even small life becomes big when there’s a web of problems. So I think that affected me. There was a

sadness there that, even though I didn’t really know it when I was 19, I was trying to deal with it through my song-writing. How did you see your band compared to other musicians on the charts then? To be honest I never saw any relationship between us and the pop world other than the fact that I looked like a pop star. I actually felt more affinity with the likes of artists who were big when we started out [in the late ’70s]; artists like David Bowie and the Velvet Underground. I kind of felt we were part of that lineage. I always understood that the pop world needed your more commercial Spandau Ballet and Duran Duran elements, and that’s fair enough. Still, where most of our singles weren’t your standard pop, they had enough melody to maybe show people that this could be better pop or rock music than the mass appeal stuff. I think that’s why we’ve always had a big cult following with what we do. There’s a lot more music out today where pop is tinged with a certain sadness. One band that springs to mind is Coldplay, who admitted being majorly influenced by Echo & The Bunnymen. In fact, not a lot of people know this but you were a mentor for their album A Rush Of Cold Blood To The Head. Yeah, and I should have gotten a percentage of that album! [Laughs]. I’d have my own island by now. I wasn’t aware that I was a mentor [at the time] but

obviously Chris [Martin, lead singer of Coldplay] has said so since. I just happened to be around near the studio when they were recording the album. More than anything, I’d pop in now and then just to make them laugh. I thought Chris was very serious when it came to the recording process, so I would go in there and do impressions of Bowie, or even of Chris himself. Can you hear your influence in Coldplay’s music? Kind of, but more the ‘guitar’ things, if anything. I think Chris has got his own unique voice but supposedly somewhere down the line I influenced some of it. But I can’t really say, ‘Oh yeah, that reminds me of me’. I can see a similarity where Chris is always trying to create a kind of atmosphere with his voice. And a little similarity with their wordplay. I think he’s written some unbelievable songs. I remember seeing them in London. I’d turned up and I’d had a few bevvies. He’d done a take of a song and was saying ‘This is shite’, but I thought it was brilliant – there was only one lyric I didn’t like; that I thought was a bit corny. One other time he’d just written Clocks and he played me a bit, and I remember saying, “This song is going to be a total life-changer for you; it’ll take you to a whole new level”. Indeed it saw them crossing over to an even bigger audience. Now, you mentioned something about having had a few ‘bev vies’ then. I’m wondering, does drinking or

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drug-taking ever inf luence your song-writing? Oh yes, definitely. Sometimes for good, and sometimes for bad, but they’ve definitely influenced some songs. What stuff in particular? Hallucinogens, like those the Beatles took? I was never into hallucinogens, or I definitely would have done something stupid like overdosed or thrown myself out of a window. But I’d take the proper stuff – South American powder. You know, cocaine. That and drink; any drink. I can out-drink Australia, I think. Or I could have, since it was in the past. I was more into taking insular kinds of drugs… Could you wait a moment? I’ve got to open the door. My taxi driver friend has just brought me some ciggies…

[Returns to the phone; we get back to music talk]. On the new album there’s a song called Is T his A Breakdown, where you sing that lyric a couple of times, and then say, “I don’t think so, I don’t think so, I don’t so, I know”. It’s i nteresti ng, because you answer your own rhetorical question. It’s weird because when I was demo-ing the song I was happy with just the question, ‘Is this a breakdown?’ and I wasn’t expecting to sing afterwards, ‘I don’t think so, I know’. It was only as I was singing it in the studio that it came out of nowhere. And then I realised, ooh, I’ve just dealt with something there. Even just for meself, I think I’ve actually faced something.

H a d yo u b een t h r o u g h a breakdown? I went through a ver y long depression, and it was doing this album that helped me come through it, to be honest. I was in a bad way. I mean, I’ve had bad things happen in and out of my life, but this one hung around for so long that I didn’t know… Well, I thought I couldn’t get myself out of it. What do you think was the underlying reason for your d e p r e s s io n? D i d it h av e anything to do with your divorce? Oh no, that was a long time ago. It was just… I’m prone to melancholy, and I used to quite like it… But when melancholy turns into just gloom and real depression, it’s something entirely different. It’s hard, really, to know how to get out of it; where to start. You

kind of know how to start – you have to try and involve yourself or get enthused by life, even when you’re not particularly willing to do what you have to do. It just becomes like a cage. But I’ve definitely climbed out of that dark place now. Well you should be in a good place now; one reason being the release of this excellent new record. That’s brilliant; fantastic. Well, Ian, that was our 15 minutes. We should probably wrap it up because I can hear an operator trying to interrupt the call… Okey dokes. And thank you. Hopefully we’ll be in Australia to play live some time in the next nine months. ▪ ‘Meteorites’ is out through 429 Records and available on iTunes.

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T R I CKY K I D INTERVIEW BY ANTONINO TATI

S P E A K T O T R I P - H O P P I O N E E R T R I C K Y, A K A : A D R I A N T H AW S , F O R A N Y L E N G T H O F T I M E A N D YO U R E A L I S E H E’ S J U S T A G E E Z E R . A V ERY G IF T ED G EE ZER , MIND YO U. T HE B R I T IS H N AT I V E MUS T S UR ELY B E O NE O F T HE M OS T S UBV ER S I V E A R T IS T S O F T HE PA S T T WO DEC ADES, AND HA S MANAGED TO SONIC ALLY GO AG AINST THE GR AIN WITH E VERY NE W RECORD RELE A SE (COUNT 11 ALBUMS SO FAR). AS SOON AS HE DELIVERED HIS DEBUT LP MAXINQUAYE, THE UK MUSIC MEDIA CROWNED HIM ‘THE PRINCE OF TRIP-HOP’, BUT TRICKY ALWAYS MANAGED TO TRANSCEND THAT LABEL WHICH HE THOROUGHLY DESPISED FROM THE OUTSET. RATHER, HE’S VIRTUALLY CREATED A GENRE UNTO HIMSELF. THE FACT IS TRICKY IS LIKE NO OTHER. HE EVEN HAD TO DISTANCE HIMSELF FROM MASSIVE TRIP-HOPPERS MASSIVE ATTACK SO AS TO GET ON AND DO HIS OWN THING. TRICKY IS UNPREDICTABLE AND HE DOESN’T LIKE TO COMPROMISE. THAT’S WHY, THROUGH YEARS OF BEING CHAINED TO A LABEL THAT WAS MORE “GUITAR” LIKE, HE STILL MANAGED TO DELIVER EERIE, GRITTY, EVEN QUEER GROOVES THAT MAY HAVE BEEN MORE SUITED TO SLASHER MOVIES. NOW HE’S OUT ON HIS OWN, WORKING UNDER HIS OWN LABEL, FALSE IDOLS, AND HAS JUST RELEASED HIS NEW LP, THE SELF-TITLED ADRIAN THAWS. HERE, HE CHATS ABOUT PSEUDO HEROES, CONSPIRACY THEORIES, NIGHTCLUB BRAWLS, THE IRONY OF HIP-HOP, AND THE INANITY THAT IS KIM KARDASHIAN.

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Your new single Nicotine Love is hooky from the get-go. How do you think fans will take to the sound, compared to their having heard more of a darker, downtempo style in the past? To be honest, I don’t care what people think. Some people may like it; some people may not. It’s like YouTube, where I see ‘dislikes’ on videos by some amazing artists like Public Enemy or Kate Bush. The people who put the dislikes should look at themselves and ask what have they created. Critics don’t create; they critique. And I’m pretty sure if they had ten life times they could never create anything close to what Public Enemy or Kate Bush have.

With regards to Mykki Blanco, what is the main thing he/she brings to the Tricky stable and ethos? Mykki is making some real hip-hop right now, gay or not. Mykki sounds tougher than a lot of straight or so-called ‘gangster’ rappers. Mykki’s a true talent. What’s a key track on the album for you? Sundown – because I think it’s the best vocals I ever done. Singer, songwriter, producer, actor – you’re a man of many talents. You’ve even crossed over to film, appearing in big f licks like Face/Off and The Fifth Element. Are you still involved in movies? I’m actually loving directing right now, and I’ve just made a short film. For me, being behind the camera is better than being in front of the camera. I just love watching people, you know?

I’m guessing you’ve had some ‘dislikes’ of your own work, then? You know, I do this thing called Tricky’s Choice on Facebook. Kinda like DJ-ing on FB. I recently posted a house tune, then someone commented saying “Wow, Tricky likes house music”. I think this is one of the problems we have as people; because we think and feel a certain way, we think others think and feel the same way. How would this person know what I like or don’t like? They’ve never met me. I like all kinds of music and I can make all kinds of music. Just because I don’t [normally] choose to do it, doesn’t mean I can’t or don’t like it. A message to that Facebook commenter: don’t try to think for me; you don’t know me.

A bit of a voyeur, are you? Yeah, yeah, definitely. I can take a coffee someplace and just sit and watch people. I can’t do that; just sit in a coffee shop and watch people without feeling odd about it… Oh, I can sit there for hours and hours, and just be the observer. It’s like I’m the weirdo. Do you find people do strange things? Well, when people realise I’m watching them, they change their behaviour. Some people get a little paranoid, and some start acting a little too cool. Particularly if somebody knows who I am, and I happen to be looking at them, or they’re having some sort of interaction with me; they’ll try to act cooler. People are strange, but I do like people.

The new album’s title takes your real name. Does this mean the content within is you revealing more of yourself? Or do each of your records unleash a bit of the Tricky Kid? As you’d know, ‘thaws’ means melts, as in when ice thaws. So this album could mean Adrian Melts. It’s just a statement using my birth name. I liked the record instantly. Some of your LPs of a few years ago took some getting used to, but this one has the listener easily hooked. How would you say it compares to your previous output? I think this album is more my thing. The albums I made on Domino Records [his previous label] weren’t necessarily my kind of vibe. I was thinking too much before. I knew Domino needed a certain number of records [under contract] but they’re more of a ‘guitar’ label, if you know what I mean? I was thinking more like a businessman, and not artistically, and it just got way too much. Now things are more... natural. You’d agree, then, that it’s better for an artist to put out the music they want to, and not what’s forced on them? Exactly. I don’t like to think too much about it, but now I’m on natural instinct – like when I was doing my earlier stuff. Adrian Thaws is your 11th album, which is an impressive feat for one guy. Are you glad you’ve been able to work with so 62 | September 2014

many collaborators across all your records? I feel really lucky to have worked with a variety of artists. And I feel lucky to still be making music after so long. It’s not about having big record sales or making money; it’s about being able to continue doing what you love. And I love making music. I notice a lot of fresh female vocalists appear on the new album, including British grime MC Bella Gotti and transgender American artist Mykki Blanco. I’m wondering if your collaborations with these artists comes about organically, or is there a kind of ‘Tricky Audition Series’ artists must go through? Nah, I meet people and if they have a good vibe, I record with them. Some people meet new people and they might go for a beer or to a club or for food. I go straight into the studio. I eat ’cause I have to. I drink to get drunk. I socialise in the studio.

The short film you’ve made, is it documentary-style, or is there dialogue and acting? Dialogue and acting. The film’s about a girl who thinks she’s a video director, but she’s not. She does videos in her head, but really she’s a killer; an assassin. It’s very interesting, but it’s not big-budget. Very raw; very rough. Your music videos are often raw. Gritty even. When you were initially making videos like that, it was all fairly new and deconstructive. But these days, with everyone having a camera in their pocket, that kind of cinema verité is everywhere online… Yeah, it’s massive. I think everything just got so over-produced and videos started costing so much money – though they didn’t necessarily [help] sell records – so it didn’t make sense to keep spending on them. Now anyone can make and post a video with no budget. Getting back to the music, you of course were part of the Massive Attack collective. Do you still like to associate


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“SOME PEOPLE MEET NEW PEOPLE AND THEY MIGHT GO FOR A BEER OR TO A CLUB OR FOR FOOD. I GO STRAIGHT INTO THE STUDIO. I EAT ’CAUSE I HAVE TO. I DRINK TO GET DRUNK. I SOCIALISE IN THE STUDIO.” yourself with the band - because I know there were some waves between you? I haven’t got a problem with them, but we were never friends. We’re from totally different worlds. When I left the band, I didn’t have contact with them, not so much because we had problems but because they’re simply not my friends. My friends are very different to Massive Attack. We were just people in the same band together. I was in court for two years, right, looking at a prison sentence, but luckily enough I didn’t go. Huh? What was the potential prison sentence for? A brawl. Just kids in a club, having a fight. Nothing really serious. And when I took the stand, it was obvious [the other party] were lying. So the people who took me to court, also got me out of court, because there were just so many lies. Anyway, I had real friends come to visit me in court; and I’ve had real friends come to visit me in hospital; but none of Massive Attack would ever come visit and I wouldn’t expect them to come… It just wasn’t that kind of relationship, you know? You were not only a rapper with the group, but co-authored a lot of the songs, including Daydreaming, Karmacoma and even the title track of the first album, Blue Lines. Not all fans might have realised that. I suppose it all got lost in the shuffle, but I was producing for them, writing for them, and rapping for them. Even writing for their other vocalists. 3D [aka: Robert Del Naja] didn’t want me to leave Massive Attack and I think that’s where some of the friction came from. I didn’t really want to stay. To me it was just work. I was just paying the rent. Do you think there was some clash of ego there, too, since Massive were this respected collective, working with protégés, and then you veered off and starting having protégés of your own? It was a bit of an ego thing. Daddy G [Grant Marshall] did say a couple of things along the lines of, “Ooh, who do you think you are?” He said something in the press about me once. Kind of a snide remark, but not too much, because he won’t go there. Your previous album was called False Idols, and so is your record label. What’s

behind the name for you? The title False Idols is more about the celebrity culture we’re in. I don’t think we need more celebrities; we need more humanity. To me, celebrity culture means nothing, and does nothing. The new celebrities are not really helping the world in any way or form. You can like someone else’s music, but to live through someone else’s life, that’s not realistic. Or to sit in front of the TV all day and night; you’re better off spending time with your family. Just go and do stuff! Being famous, and even being rich, doesn’t make you happy. I know famous and rich people who are some of the most unhappy and some of the worst people I’ve met, and I don’t know if that’s healthy. Do you agree celebrity is becoming more and more detached from actual talent? There are celebrities who I don’t actually know what they do. I’ve never heard any music or seen any acting from them, but they’re famous. I couldn’t tell you what they do, and I don’t know how people can be selling books and appearing on TV shows when they haven’t done anything. You could almost call it ‘Kim Kardashian Syndrome’… Yeah, and why would anybody be interested in Kim Kardashian? It bewilders me. Who is she and what does she do? It’s totally senseless. There used to be people, like Bobby Kennedy and Malcolm X, who said and did big things. But now… it’s ridiculous. O h , b u t n o w K i m’s m a r r ie d t o Kanye West… We live in a celebrity culture. People used to become well-known because of their talent. Now, simply being known is more important. TV reality shows and the dumbing down of people is part of the plan of the powers that be. We’re easy to control if we’re numb and dumb. But basically Kim and her boyfriend are just celebs and, to me, they’re not at all important. Surely there are some artists and audiences who refuse to be dumbed down… Oh sure. There are people out there who ain’t gonna fall for it. There are clever people around, but it seems like there’s less and less. Now, most pop stars sing about their money and their success. I mean, someone like Jay-Z is a talented guy but it bewilders

me that he can have a career for so long, always talking about a privileged lifestyle... I’ve heard songs from him that I think are wicked, but I’d appreciate and respect him much more as an artist if he was talking about something. And he’s in a position where he could be helping a lot of people with his point of view. Basically, I think we need artists more like Bob Marley and John Lennon; people who used to say something, who used to care. But the bigger an icon and the more enlightened they make the masses, surely that could lead to getting into trouble… Think of the conspiracy theories about Lennon: was he assassinated by a madman or inadvertently by the government? It’s that whole thing that if you open your mouth too much and cause too much of a revolution, you might get a gun to your head… Totally, and that’s been going on since the Roman Empire [well, maybe not the gun bit]; there’s always been a way of taming people, you know. They use the word ‘conspiracy’ because they want to make it look like it’s not serious. If I was as famous as Bob Marley or John Lennon and I keep saying the things I say, I think it could be dangerous for me. The only thing that keeps me safe is that I’m not this big artist. Everybody knew who Bob Marley was, and John Lennon, and if you get that famous, pushing for change is dangerous. Where I am right now, it’s almost like, this guy just being a bit of a rebel, but he hasn’t got the masses behind him. On that subject about having the masses, or a public to express truth and opinion to, we have this massive platform – the Internet – and yet it’s not being used to full potential. Don’t you think it’s a pity many people don’t have anything really important to say online? Yeah, it’s kind of sad. Especially getting back to that subject of pop stars just talking about money or how many girls they can get. I don’t listen to radio or watch TV now because it’s depressing and gives you no hope. But there are some people out there with something to say… ▪ -----------------------------------------------------Tricky’s new album ‘Adrian Thaws’ is out through False Idols, an imprint of !K7 Records.

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SYDNEY OR BUST I’m proudly Perth-born-and-bred but I have lived out a good chunk of my adult life in Sydney (count: 17 years). Over a decade-and-a-half of hard-partying, relentless clubbing, PR-schmoozing, and other shenanigans too risqué to reference here (suffice to say, enough time was spent down in the Cross).

I moved back to Perth in 2011, mainly to be closer to family and ol’ friends, but I do occasionally take a trip east to see what Sin City is up to. My most recent visit was in August and for the first time, I’ve got to say, I really enjoyed it; soaking everything in as though I were a tourist for the first time. And not one night was spent clubbing! Here are a few suggestions for you, from someone who’s truly ‘been there’ and ‘done that’ in every quarter of Sydney. These ought to round out a two-or-threeday itinerary nicely for you. Antonino Tati

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LEARN TO SURF

Like most individual sports, surfing is an activity that can intimidate a novice. Watching a pro like Kelly Slater ride tall waves, or indeed, get creamed by them, can make a beginner feel nervous. So it was with trepidation that I accepted an invitation for beginner lessons at the Manly Surf School. It must be said, though, once the school’s empathic instructors put me through the motions, and once they had me kitted out in a trusty wetsuit with soft board, it was awesome taking the plunge. Starting off with some basic yoga stretches along the Manly shore, the ocean’s waves act as a nice meditative backdrop. Indeed, there are surfers who get really into the “at one with nature” thing and often you’ll hear them talking about “shaking hands with the ocean”. When you’re out there between waves, you do build a kind of relationship with the sea – and I’m not being a wanker here. Personally, I had the soundtrack of Chariots Of Fire churning ’round my head, while sussing the waves to sense the official go-ahead once a suitable one came along (that being a modest-sized one for my beginner level of practice). For those yet to enjoy the surfing experience, here’s the gist of it… You make your way into a safe part of the ocean (eg: toward a sandbank where waves are breaking not too constantly). Avoid walking or paddling into a rift between sandbanks as you risk getting caught in it, and believe me, you don’t want to fight the ocean. Carrying your board on your strong side (for most people this means the right-hand side), push down the back of the board to battle the froth of any previous waves. Once you see a wave you think you can take on, turn your board around so that its tip faces the shore, then slide up onto the board with your hands flat down nestled into your underarms (“like a chicken’s wing” as our instructor put it) and have your toes just touching the water at the tail-end. When you sense your board moving along with the wave, bring your best leg forward and under you, then lift the other leg up – et voila! – you should be balancing on top of the wave. Even a short ride with good balance is an excellent sensation. The better you get, the more you can then manoeuvre through waves, but as they say at the start of any sport: baby steps… It’s good to be thrown into the deep end for your first lesson, so to speak, where the waves are constant and often changing in size. This is a good challenging start because when you do get a smoother patch of water and a decent-sized wave, you’ll feel more confident that you can take it on. I’m not saying that after three lessons you’ll be surfing like Slater, but I will say that leaving your inhibitions behind when hitting those waves, and simply going with the flow (trust your instinct) is a great starting rule. Who knows, you might get hooked enough to want to put a surfboard and wetsuit on top of your Christmas wish-list. Manly Surf School offers beginners lessons which include loan of a wetsuit and board. Bookings on (02) 9977 6977 or visit manlysurfschool.com.

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REALISE ORGANIC FOOD AIN’T NECESSARILY EX-Y

Perth eateries really ought to take a leaf out of some excellent cafés that have cropped up in Sydney. Like O Café in Surry Hills (also one in the city, and one in Bondi Junction) which offers up all-organic produce without the hefty price tag. I enjoyed a delicious Lamb Kofta on gluten-free flat bread with tomato chutney, Spanish onion, Greek yoghurt and coriander for just $17.50 – which turned out to be a satisfying meal in itself. The same thing in Perth would cost 50% more, I’m sure. The staff at O are fab-friendly, too, with one in particular grabbing a copy of Rock Candy from me and reading it avidly throughout her lunch break. Good girl. O Café is located 487 Crown Street, Surry Hills. For addresses in Hunter Connection, City and Bondi Junction visit organicproduce.com.au.


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RELISH AUTHENTIC CHINESE IN POSTMODERN SURROUNDS

I’ll admit it; the night before my lunch date reservation at China Republic, where I’d be dining with two Sydney gal pals, I’d painted the town fairly red. Just as the hangover set in on that Sunday morning, I was having second thoughts about how ‘great’ lunch would be. But scrap those fuzzy thoughts. Upon entry to this expansive restaurant, my hangover all but disappeared instantly. The lighting is so subdued, it felt like I was at the sober beginning of the night before, and, rather than possessing the expected din you get at the usual yum cha restaurants on a Sunday morning, the atmosphere at China Republic was calm, with patrons talking at practically whisper level. Tables are spaced nicely apart, too, meaning if we ever got loud ourselves, our voices wouldn’t clash with other parties’ conversations. The décor is warm and rustic – the restaurant decked out in traditional Chinese sculpture, while a four-metre tall terracotta warrior greets you at the front door. Indeed, you can see every cent of the seven million dollars invested in putting this restaurant together. A well-heeled waitress took our drinks order within seconds of us sitting down, and I promised myself that I’d have just one glass from their extensive wine list – with the Matua Sauv Blanc recommended since it would go well with various spicy dishes. On the subject of good food, China Republic prides itself on presenting traditional-style Chinese cuisine with a contemporary twist. We ordered a couple of your more ‘common’ dishes to share for starters – sharing being the obvious option. I mean, who comes to a Chinese restaurant and doesn’t like to sample a bit of a lot? The Crispy Spicy Calamari ($26.00), Signature Spicy Beef Spring Rolls ($13.80) and Vegetarian Dumplings ($9.80) provided a good range of tastes for our various palettes. For mains, we insisted on partaking in the ritual of making our own Peking Duck pancakes ($88 for a full duck, which feeds three to four people). The duck itself arrived fully deboned and thinly sliced, its delicate crispy skin only just clinging to the succulent dark meat. And how’s this for a variety of condiments to roll into our paper-thin pastry: sweet soybean paste, Spanish onion, Chinese mustard, garlic paste, pickled cucumber, and even white sugar (I don’t know where these boutique Chinese restaurants get this particular sugar from, but I want a barrel of it in my kitchen pantry). Also as part of our mains, we ordered Sichuan-style Braised Pork Belly stirfried with Garlic Shoots and Dried Chilli ($26.00). It was so delish, I asked to take the remainder home. While the chilli took a bit of getting used to (there was a lot of it), small spoonfuls of vegetarian fried rice helped cool things down. Dessert was forsaken, for the sizes of dishes here are bigger than we figured they’d be, hence we didn’t have room for the sweeter stuff. Suffice to say, the food, ambience and décor of China Republic all add up to one great Asian dining experience, and we’ll be back again to try the dozens of other tempting dishes on offer. China Republic is located on the upper level of World Square Shopping Centre, 680 George Street, Sydney. Bookings on (02) 8081 0888.

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SCORE A COFFEE & BAGEL FOR LESS THAN SEVEN BUCKS

Basically a hole-in-the-wall café, Coffee Tea and Me is great for popping into for a quick lunch or brunch (if you can find a spot to sit) or for brekky on the go. The coffee is very good and their ‘Israeli’ sesame-seed-crusted bagels the thinnest, most delicious I’ve tried. Fillings include tomato, basil and cheese ($5.90 plus $1 extra for coffee), roast beef and avocado ($6.90 + $1) and Persian egg and greens (pictured, $7.90 + $1). A tiny, tiny spot on the café map, but the food and coffee here are well worth squishing in for! Coffee Tea and Me is situated 87c Macleay Street, Potts Point. For addresses in Redfern and Marrickville visit coffeeteaandme.com.au.

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DELVE INTO CONTEMPORARY ART

For the first time, the Museum of Contemporary Art in The Rocks has an entire floor dedicated permanently to presenting pieces from its own collection. Enjoy the works of more than 130 Australian artists in the MCA Collection: Volume One, which pretty much represents the breadth of Australian contemporary art over the past two decades. Highlights include Shaun Gladwell’s Apology To Roadkill, a video and stills series inspired by rustic Aussie cinema (think: Mad Max), and Stephen Birch’s Untitled, a polyurethane statue of Spiderman staring blankly at some weird, hairy-headed thing on a wall. Entry to ‘MCA Collection: Volume One’ is free. Visit mca.com.au for more information. (Pictured) Shaun Gladwell, ‘Apologies 1 – 6’ (video still), 20072009, single-channel video, sound, Museum of Contemporary Art, donated through the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program by Andrew and Cathy Cameron, 2011, image courtesy the artist and Museum of Contemporary Art Australia © the artist.

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FOOD

RECIPE: ANCHO, LENTIL & PLANTAIN BURRITOS Ingredients:

KILLER MEXICAN

Forget all you think you know about Mexican food. Burritos that fill you up half-way through eating them? Nachos that begin to taste same-ol’ after the ninth chip? And boring old tequila slammers. Leave those foods to punters with the munchies who wouldn’t know taste if it whacked them over the head. For a more authentic array of Mexican cooking, pick up and have a flip through new cookbook Death By Burrito by Shay Ola. Shay is responsible for running one of the coolest eateries in England, indeed called ‘Death By Burrito’, where they serve gourmet versions of staple Mexican dishes but oh-so much more: from ceviches to chimichangas to churros. In his first cookbook, Shay outlines the essential ingredients of Mexican cuisine, providing recipes to make your own salsas and moles from scratch, describing more chillies than you knew existed, and all the while nicely balancing savoury dishes with sweeter ones. Beautifully bound in what feels like faux red leather and stamped in gold leaf, this trusty tome lends new light on Mexican street food – indeed, it catapults it to gourmet standards. Antonino Tati ‘Death By Burrito’ is published by Hachette Australia, RRP $35.00.

150g green lentils 2 dried ancho chillies 100ml tomato purée 20g caster sugar 500ml water 2 bay leaves 25g fresh coriander 4 tablespoons sunflower oil 2 ripe plantains, peeled and cut into diagonal slices 1 onion, sliced 2 garlic gloves, minced Baby Gem lettuce leaves Salt and pepper to taste Pomegranate seeds (optional) Method: Put the lentils and bay leaves into a pan with the water and cook for half an hour or until just tender. Drain and set aside. Toast the ancho chillies, soak them in boiling water for 20 mins, then drain (but put aside some of that chilli water for later). Put the deseeded anchos into a blender with the tomato purée, sugar and coriander and blitz until smooth. Add a little of the reserved chilli water and blend again to a thick consistency. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium. Add the plantain slices and cook for 3-4 minutes each side or until golden brown. When cooked, remove the plantain and drain on kitchen paper. Using the same pan, reduce heat to medium-low and sauté the onion. Add the garlic, Baby Gem leaves, and some salt and pepper. Cook until the lettuce leaves wilt. Add the lentils and plantain to the pan and heat through. Meanwhile, warm the tortillas in a dry frying pan for 20 seconds on each side. Fill the warm tortillas with the lentil mixture, add plantain slices, top with chilli salsa, sprinkle over some pomegranate seeds (optional), then roll into burritos. Muy delicioso! Note: You can purchase ancho chillies, plantains and Baby Gem lettuce at quality intercontinental grocery stores (eg: try the supermarkets along William Street, Northbridge).

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FOOD

BEER BUDDIES GET READY FOR BIG BUSINESS

F

act: over a million Australians have switched their choice of beer from mainstream brands to boutique brews. One new company that is taking advantage of all this artisanal beer drinking is BeerBud.com.au – a new online store that presents and sells the best of Australia’s craft brews. Now, you’d think punters would have bottle shops for that, yes? Not necessarily. Despite the growth in popularity of craft beers, the better brands have been largely unavailable in bottlos. Indeed, only 3.3% of the $6.7 billion annual beer market in Australia is craft beer (statistic: IBIS World) while the number of adults consuming craft beer in an average month has increased to more than one million. So, back to those BeerBud boys. Three

buddies – Andy Williamson, Alex Gale and Mark Woollcott – said they started the company out of frustration of not being able to find a decent brew at their local store come Friday arvo drinks. And the few boutique brands that were available were far too pricey. Their aim was to provide a medium which would help local breweries market and distribute their beers more widely while providing consumers with a greater range (currently over 100 varieties), expert advice, and online members’ benefits that include bulk specials and discounts. “Basically, we’re on a mission to help Au st ra l ia n s d r i n k bet ter beer,” says co-founder Andy. “The traditional mainstream brewers are the first to admit that they’ve purposely designed their beers to be

bland and flavourless in order to ensure mass appeal. Fortunately there are now hundreds of Australian craft breweries creating a diverse range of styles and flavours; just like you’ve come to expect from wine or coffee.” Williamson, Gale and Woollcott have each had successful careers in finance, where they advised some of the biggest digital businesses including Seek, Carsales, iProperty and Open Universities. Something tells us they’re onto a winner with this beer-loving business venture of theirs. With or without them fancy economic backgrounds. ▪ Antonino Tati Check out the broad selection of beers and sound advice at BeerBud.com.au. Pictured: Beerbud founders Alex Gale, Andy Williamson and Mark Woollcott.

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Sweater by Witchery Man. Pants by H&M. Shoes by River Island. Watch by George Jensen.

70 | September 2014


EASY RIDER Photography James Mills (jamesmills.com.au) Styling Samara Wilson (samarawilson.com) Hair + Makeup Jess Berg (jessberg.com) Rider/Model Cody Mackie (CM33 and Mactrack) Special thanks to Kawasaki for the loan of the motorcycle Shot on ‘Mad Max’ territory at Kurnell, NSW.

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Suit by Witchery Man. Shirt by Marcs. Vest by Scotch & Soda. Sunglasses by Alexander Wang.

72 | September 2014


Blazer by Zara. Shirt by Scotch & Soda. Pants by Hugo Boss.

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74 | September 2014


Shirt by Marcs. Singlet by Bonds. Pants and shoes by River Island. Watch by George Jensen.

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Blazer by Scotch & Soda. Shirt and jeans by Witchery Man. Shoes by Etnies.

76 | September 2014


T-shirt by Witchery Man. Watch by George Jensen.

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78 | September 2014


Suit and shoes by River Island. T-shirt by Scotch & Soda. Sunglasses by Alexander Wang. Watch by George Jensen.

DIRECTORY Alexander Wang alexanderwang.com Etnies etnies.com George Jensen georgejensen.com/au Marcs marcs.com.au River Island au.riverisland.com Scotch & Soda scotch-soda.com.au Witchery Man witchery.com.au/shop/man 1800 033 465

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The Fifo Wife

’TIS THE SEASON TO BE… AGITATED

Debbie Russo | bio Debbie Russo has been a regular columnist for Rock Candy since the mag’s launch in 2012. Deb tells it how it is, from the other side of the FIFO fence, as one of those perennially waiting for a partner to return home, only for him to go back to work just weeks later, leaving the matriarch holding the kids and looking after house and home. I f t h e re’s a s ub j e c t yo u’d like to see Deb write about, send your suggestions to info@candymedia.com.au.

I

t might seem strange for me to say this but of all seasons, Spring is my least favourite. I know it’s supposed to be all cutesy animals being born, new flowers sprouting, and bright pastels coming into fashion. And I know that the days are longer and that Summer is on its way. But it’s these very things that really rub me up the wrong way. In fact Spring is very wrong for me. There are a few good reasons why people don’t name their children Spring but might do so Autumn, Winter or Summer. Anyway, here’s my list of gripes against new season…

01.

To me, Spring equals hay-fever, and let’s just say pollen and I do not mix. Simple as that. For seven weeks of the year I look like I’m doing the continuous ‘ugly cry’. I even scare small children. I have enough body and facial issues without Spring and its feverish hay in the air!

02

Not only do flowers ‘spring’ up during this season, but so too do all kinds of bugs. Nothing like a shower of f lying ants in your dinner as the first explosion of eggs hatch, eh? Or as mozzies swarm for your lights of an evening attacking you before you even get to your door. Every year I find myself muttering, “I’ve really got to get some screens for these 120-year-old windows and doors.” Oh, but do I?

80 | September 2014

03.

The weather goes nuts. It doesn’t know whether it’s hot or cold. Spring is like Summer, only with PMS.

04.

Fashion changes in Spring might mean brighter colours, but they also translate to less material. Skirts get shorter, but I prefer my black leggings. They hide the evidence of all that comfort food consumed throughout Winter. Layers and the ‘colour’ black are my good friends. Layers confuse people as to where my waist begins and my scarf actually ends. I get asked when I’m “expecting” a lot less in Winter, which always makes conversations less awkward.

05.

Some say it’s a good thing that the days seem longer or at least brighter (hence the illusion of more hours in the day). But this is my biggest gripe about Spring, especially since as a parent it’s all-hell trying to get a kid to bed at 7.30pm while it’s bright-as-all outside. Hello block-out curtains! At least during Spring do I get to look forward to Summer. Meanwhile I’ll have to make do with stocking up on sunscreen, joining a gym, buying more block-out curtains, and investing in a crapload of Claritin. When I’m all equipped… things might just be fine. Might.


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