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rock music news welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Andy Huang and Callum Wylie

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speed date WITH

THERESE WATSON FROM ENERATE dance. We’ve started using video projections during our live shows and we’re really excited about their artistic and interactive potential. At gigs we hand out a phone to the crowd. We’ve programmed it using OSC so it acts like a remote control. The audience then picks a clip from 40 videos of us doing ridiculous dances. They use the ‘remote’ and essentially make us dance. And perhaps even make Josh get naked and shake his butt. Keeping Busy The last few months have been 2. all about the video for our latest

What Do You Look For In A Band? 1. Our band is Josh, Ben, Matt and myself. We play acoustic synthpop

with vocals, synths, electronic samples, acoustic guitar, bass and live drums. We like to write fun songs and make the people

single ‘I Think I Love’. We shot in this amazing laundromat in Glebe that happened to be perfectly art directed for what we had in mind. A fortuitous venue find. Josh was our director and the incredible talents of Evan Papageorgiou were behind the camera. Meanwhile, I taught a dance to the extras on Glebe Point Road. We got a few ‘wtf’ looks from people walking by. It was worth it.

We also had Josh’s grandparents as the leads. They had a ball filming their scenes, and hung out watching the rest until we wrapped at 1am. Absolute champions. Next up is to finish recording the tracks for our EP, plan a tour and shoot another clip or two. Probably two. Best Gig Ever One of our best gigs has to 3. be our most recent – The Standard on February 8 with Made In Japan, The Khanz and Tales In Space. A wicked lineup. It started off a little shaky. Ben, our drummer, was frantically finding a park until five minutes before we were set to play. But everything came together. It was such fun. The crowd danced and sang; the sound was great and we thought we played pretty darn well. Good vibes all round. Current Playlist I saw Chvrches at their 4. Laneway sideshow… omgozzle I love them. Josh saw Toro y Moi and

pretty much had the same reaction. We’ve also been listening to Bombay Bicycle Club, Cloud Nothings, Oscar Key Sung, Foxygen, Connan Mockasin and Metronomy. Always Metronomy. Your Ultimate Rider I’ve worked at a lot of music 5. festivals over the years, and seen some pretty insane riders… a juicer to make fresh juice; socks and underwear; bottles of Dom Perignon. I had to take a whole roast chicken to a band right before they went onstage once. But what is crazy is that so much is left over at the end. I just don’t get it. As a band, we’ve bonded over the simpler things in life: beer and killer pythons. But Ben said next gig he wants Baller Shiraz. What: ‘I Think I Love’ video launch Where: Hellen RoseSchauersberger LabOratorium, Surry Hills When: Thursday February 27

BURIED IN VERONA

EDITOR: Chris Martin chris@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 ARTS + ONLINE EDITOR: Hannah Warren hannah@thebrag.com 02 9212 4322 STAFF WRITERS: Alasdair Duncan, Jody Macgregor, Krissi Weiss, Augustus Welby NEWS: Chris Honnery, Andy Huang, Paige Ahearn ART DIRECTOR: Sarah Bryant GRAPHIC DESIGN: Alan Parry PHOTOGRAPHERS: James Ambrose, Liam Cameron, Maria de Vera, Ashley Mar ADVERTISING: Bianca Lockley - 0412 581 669 / (02) 9212 4322 bianca@thebrag.com ADVERTISING: Les White - 0405 581 125 / (02) 9212 4322 les@thebrag.com PUBLISHER: Rob Furst MANAGING DIRECTOR, FURST MEDIA: Patrick Carr patrick@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600, 0402 821 122 DIGITAL DIRECTOR/ADVERTISING: Kris Furst kris@furstmedia.com.au, (03) 9428 3600 GIG & CLUB GUIDE COORDINATORS: Thea Carley, Mina Kitsos, Xiaoran Shi, Andy Huang, Callum Wylie, Paige Ahearn - gigguide@thebrag. com (rock); clubguide@thebrag.com (dance, hip hop & parties)

Buried In Verona have been rattling the eardrums of metal fans worldwide for a few years now, recording three albums since 2008. Having toured extensively both in Australia (Sydney natives, all of them) and overseas with the likes of Whitechapel, Soilwork and The Amity Affliction, the band has buckled down and recorded its fourth fulllength release, Faceless. The album will be released on Friday March 7 via Aussie label UNFD, with Buried In Verona making some signing and festival appearances before their national album tour, which will finish with two gigs (all-ages and 18+) at the Bald Faced Stag on Saturday April 26.

THE ACACIA STRAIN

The Acacia Strain have steadily been releasing music over the last ten years or so, bringing their deathcore to the masses. With recent album Death Is The Only Mortal (2012) charting well in the US, and two subsequent EPs Above/Below and Money For Nothing gaining even more momentum, the band is headed to our shores for an extensive national tour. Support comes from Aversions Crown and Graves. Catch them at the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle on Wednesday April 30, The Lansdowne on Thursday May 1, and Studio Six on Friday May 2.

Russian Circles

RUSSIAN CIRCLES

Heavy instrumentalists Russian Circles are on their way back to Australia in support of their fifth album, Memorial. The Chicago group is all about simplicity: with only guitar, bass and drums, the band crafts an enormous sound that will hammer its way through your brain. If you can handle the heat, get down to Manning Bar on Saturday May 3.

LA DISPUTE

Michigan’s La Dispute have announced they will be touring Australia this June in support of the release of their new album, Rooms Of The House. The tour, which begins in Perth, will feature support on all dates from Balance And Composure. Rooms Of The House will be released on La Dispute’s new label, Better Living, which was started with the idea of encouraging artist collaboration and community support. The record is due in stores Friday March 21. La Dispute play on Wednesday June 18 at the Metro Theatre.

AWESOME INTERNS: Mina Kitsos, Callum Wylie, Xiaoran Shi, Julienne Gilet, Thea Carley, Andy Huang, Paige Ahearn REGULAR CONTRIBUTORS: Nat Amat, Keiron Costello, Marissa Demetriou, Rachel Eddie, Christie Eliezer, Jesse Hayward, Chris Honnery, Cameron James, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Jody Macgregor, Alicia Malone, Adam Norris, Daniel Prior, Amy Theodore, Raf Seneviratne, Leonardo Silvestrini, David Wild, David James Young Please send mail NOT ACCOUNTS direct to this NEW address 100 Albion Street, Surry Hills NSW 2010 ph - (02) 9212 4322 fax - (02) 9319 2227

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Meat Puppets

CHERRYROCK 2014

Melbourne music institution Cherry Bar is bringing its CherryRock festival to Sydney for the first time, with a one-off headline appearance from US rockers Meat Puppets. Traditionally held in Melbourne’s AC/DC Lane, CherryRock014’s Sydney edition will take over the indoor and outdoor stages at the Factory Theatre, presented by the BRAG. Headliners Meat Puppets came together in 1980, and shot to fame when Kurt Cobain invited them to join Nirvana for the now-legendary MTV Unplugged appearance in 1993. The CherryRock014 first lineup announcement also includes Redcoats, Gay Paris, Beastwars, Drunk Mums and more. The festival hits the Factory Theatre on Saturday May 31, and tickets are on sale now.

THE SCIENTISTS ARE BACK

In celebration of their 35th anniversary, punk pioneers The Scientists have announced a national tour. Regarded as one of the most infl uential bands of the late ’70s, the Perth outfi t will make its return in original form with the venerable Kim Salmon at the helm. The Scientists’ infl uence extends right through the genetic line of Aussie punk to this very day, so it’s a welcome return to the stage. Catch them on Friday March 28 at the Factory Theatre. thebrag.com

Meat Puppets photo by Jaime Butler

DEADLINES: Editorial: Thursday 12pm (no extensions) Artwork/ad bookings: Friday 5pm (no extensions). Ad cancellations: Tuesday 4pm Published by Furst Media P/L ACN 1112480045. All content copyrighted to Cartrage P/L/ Furst Media P/L 2003-2013

Melburnian high-fl yers The Paper Kites have had a whirlwind six months since the release of their debut album, States. They toured Australia, then fl ew to the USA and Canada for a sold-out headline tour and support slots with City And Colour. Now they’re back, and bringing their show to the masses with an all-ages national tour of the major cities, beginning in Newcastle and Sydney. See them at the Cambridge Hotel on Thursday May 29 and the Enmore Theatre on Friday May 30.

WITH +

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rock music news

free stuff

welcome to the frontline: what’s goin’ on around town...with Chris Martin, Andy Huang and Callum Wylie

five things WITH

PRETTY SHADY

MICHAEL PAYNTER thoughts from your head, onto paper. It was freeing. Inspirations Elvis Presley, for his 2. complete embodiment of what music entertainment is about and his innovation. John Farnham for his longevity and mastery. Ryan Tedder for his ability to seemly swap between production, writing and performing. Prince because he’s Prince.

The Music You Make I run and own a production 4. company, MSquared Productions,

teach me and my sister four-

part harmony to James Taylor tunes. I guess I learnt from an early age that music was a way of release – to remove your

with the guitarist from my band, Michael DeLorenzis. Together we produce and write songs for a lot of Aussie artists (including Imogen Brough, Masketta Fall, Rachel Costanzo and more) and we’ve also just kick-started

Babaganouj

a management arm. We also produced my album from start to finish. I’m currently on tour playing in the band with Icehouse and also promoting my own solo shows around the country to promote my new album, Weary Stars. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. It’s an interesting time to be a recording artist in the music industry at the moment. With the world very quickly moving into online and digital, the whole game is changing. YouTube is providing a world stage for all artists and the age-old opinion of ‘needing to be signed to a major label’ is not quite as apparent.

Alt-rockers Veludo are recapturing their youth, and inviting us along for the ride. ‘Stay Young’ is the new single from the fourpiece, fronted by Brazilian-born Gab Vargas (brother of Collingwood footballer Harry O’Brien, we’re told). The song’s video clip is set in 1992, but the band is very much in the here and now. Catch Veludo launching their self-titled EP at the Bald Faced Stag on Saturday March 15.

KLP

What: Weary Stars out now independently Where: Brass Monkey / Lizotte’s Dee Why When: Thursday February 20 / Friday February 21 And: Also appearing at Lizotte’s Kincumber on Saturday February 22 and Lizotte’s Newcastle on Sunday February 23

BABAGANOUJ

It ain’t too late for love with Babaganouj. Despite the title of their new single, that is – ‘Too Late For Love’ is due out in March, and the band will tour the east coast to launch it. In true Brisbane style, Babaganouj are a mish-mash of musicians in their spare time from other projects, including Yves Klein Blue, Inland Sea and Go Violets. The power pop project draws on ’70s and ’80s influences, and the new single is produced by Sean Cook (Big Scary, Jeremy Neale). See Babaganouj at World Bar on Friday March 21 (with Chicks Who Love Guns and The Cathys), and Brighton Up Bar on Saturday March 22 (with Bell Weather Department and A.D.K.O.B).

VELUDO

It’s cooler in the shade, and don’t the cool cats behind Pretty Shady know it. The campaign encourages us to “be part of the generation that stops skin cancer, one summer at a time”, with support from ambassadors across the industries of music, fashion, sport and art. Pretty Shady’s musical faces include Gossling and recent Universal signing KLP, who’s been gigging hard around Sydney of late and will soon jet off for SXSW. Thanks to Pretty Shady, the BRAG can get you looking ultra cool ultra fast, and away from those ultraviolet rays. Five prize packs are up for grabs, featuring a Pretty Shady bucket hat, t-shirt and sunnies. For your chance to win, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us what makes you the coolest cat out.

Michael Paynter photo by Nate Hill

Your Band It’s just me, although I have an awesome team around me in Leigh Fisher on drums, Nathan Goble on bass and Michael DeLorenzis on guitar. This album [Weary Stars] I produced and mixed myself. It was a labour of love.

Growing Up I grew up in a really musical 1. house. Mum and Dad used to

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

THE BEST OF BOOM CRASH OPERA

Resurrected Oz rockers Boom Crash Opera have announced a greatest hits album, The Best Things, and will step out on tour to

share it with their fans. ‘Onion Skin’, ‘Hands Up In The Air’ and ‘Her Charity’ feature on the disc, alongside two new songs, ‘I Am’ and ‘You Can’t Stop The Sun’. The Melbourne fi ve-piece will support Jimmy Barnes at A Day On The Green in the Hunter Valley on Saturday March 22, before playing Sydney shows of their own. See Boom Crash Opera at the Factory Theatre on Thursday April 3, Terrey Hills Tavern on Friday April 4, and the Taren Point Hotel on Saturday April 5.

GEORGIA FAIR: ALIVE AND KICKING

Release new single ‘Are We Not Alive’? Check. Announce show dates? Check. Despite a hectic past 12 months, from playing four high-profile showcases at SXSW to recently supporting The Paper Kites and Jae Laffer, there seems to be no stopping Georgia Fair. The folk rock duo has just released a blackand-white, Nick Cave-inspired video clip for their single, ‘Are We Not Alive’, from their latest album Trapped Flame. Alongside this announcement come show dates in Melbourne and Sydney. Georgia Fair will be supporting Meg Mac at The Vanguard on Thursday March 6. Band Of Skulls

ROGER VS. THE MAN

Sally Seltmann

SALLY SELTMANN’S A DREAMER

Magical singer-songwriter Sally Seltmann is launching her latest album, Hey Daydreamer, with a national tour. The local favourite, now based in LA, is returning home to reveal the new record on Friday February 28. ‘Catch Of The Day’ is her current single, but not the only big fish worth hearing when the album’s out. Onstage, Seltmann will be joined by multi-instrumentalist Bree van Reyk and a host of other guests. See Seltmann at Lizotte’s Kincumber on Thursday April 3 and The Vanguard on Friday April 4. Support from Wintercoats.

8 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

Roger works hard for the man. This one time, he took a Flight To Dubai in the middle of the night just to close a business deal. He needed Five Coffees to get through it. Fear not, though – Roger is back on deck, and performing songs from debut album Black Pearl. Joining Roger Vs. The Man are Five Coffees and Flight To Dubai, because, well, he just can’t do it without them. Expect a night of funky jazz, hip hop and horns. It all goes down on Saturday February 22 at The Standard.

BE DISCOVERED AT MARBLE BAR

As battles of the bands go, this one dangles quite the prize: a two-month residency at Sydney’s Marble Bar. The Discovered competition is on again for 2014, with the callout underway for local acts to enter by posting a video to Marble Bar’s Facebook page. The comp is open now, with entries closing on Wednesday March 5. The top five bands will then be announced on Thursday March 20, with the Grand Finale on Wednesday March 26 held to decide the winner of a Wednesday night residency, valued at $10,000. Between Thursday March 6 and Wednesday March 19, vote for your favourite Discovered act at Marble Bar’s Facebook. In the meantime, musos, get filming!

BAND OF SKULLS

Tickets have gone on sale ahead of Southampton rock heavyweights Band Of Skulls’ return to Australia, in celebration of the release of their third LP, Himalayan, due out Friday March 28. Since 2012’s Sweet Sour, the band has toured worldwide, playing support slots for artists such as Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Black Keys, The Dead Weather and Muse, as well as delivering a memorable performance at our own Splendour In The Grass. Band Of Skulls play on Friday June 20 at The Hi-Fi.

thebrag.com

BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14 :: 9

Industrial Strength Music Industry News with Christie Eliezer

THINGS WE HEAR

* Poor figures for the return of Spicks And Specks: it launched with a new panel to 598,000 viewers, but dropped to 442,000 the week after. * John Singleton (Boyz N The Hood) is to direct the longawaited Tupac movie. * Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s panic over young listeners moving to streaming, but about 65.2 million people in the US aged 18 to 34 years listen to traditional radio each week. * Which manager of a rising young act heading to America is having problems with one member over a confidentiality clause he wants the band to sign to stop secrets leaking out to the media when they get famous?

* Passengerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Let Her Goâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; has broken through three million US sales. * The unveiling of a Bon Scott statue in his birthplace of Kirriemuir, Scotland, has been delayed until May 2015 to coincide with the annual Bonfest. * While Bruce Springsteen plays â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Highway To Hellâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; on his current tour, Eddie Vedder on his solo run dedicates â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;I Am Mineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; to Anthony Hurley, the Australian who was among the nine who died in a crush during Pearl Jamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s set at the 2000 Roskilde festival.

ITUNES RADIO ARRIVESâ&#x20AC;Ś

Australia has become the first market outside the US to get Appleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s streaming service, iTunes Radio. It is free and ad-supported, although those who use the iTunes Match cloud music storage service at $34.99 a year get their streaming without ads. It is available across iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, Mac, PC and Apple TV. Consumers get 100 stations curated by Apple and personalised stations based on their tastes, plus premieres and a search engine of hits, mix tracks and alternate choices. There are now 30 digital music services in Australia.

â&#x20AC;ŚWHILE DEEZER CLOSES AUSSIE OFFICE

Deezer closed its Australian office after two years, with Thomas Heymann, who headed up operations in Australia and NZ, leaving the company. All services to Australian customers continue from Singapore and Paris.

WARPED TO SKIP CANBERRA, COFFS

This yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Warped wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t return to Canberra or Coffs Harbour, after low attendances last

* Rose Tattooâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Angry Anderson might be moving to the Hunter Valley so he can take a shot at the state seat of Cessnock as a candidate for the NSW Nationals, the Newcastle Herald said. Anderson last week broke bread over dinner with Nationals Cessnock members. * 12 days before the deadline, sleepmakeswaves reached their target of $25,000 in pre-orders (from 450 fans) to fund their new album. * With so many regional festivals collapsing due to inexperienced promoters, suppliers are starting to demand advance payment while regional councils are looking at promotersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; track records before negotiating with them.

year. Coffs â&#x20AC;&#x153;was an attendance disasterâ&#x20AC;? after drawing 1,800 people, said promoter AJ Maddah. Among other possible changes: starting a week later, a new venue for Sydney, and a possible stop in Byron Bay.

SPLENDOUR DATES 2014

Splendour In The Grass will be held at North Byron Parklands on Friday July 25, Saturday July 26 and Sunday July 27. The natural amphitheatre, trialled at Falls, will this year be incorporated into Splendourâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s site layout.

SHOCK SIGNS NEW EMPIRE

Shock Records has signed Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s New Empire, with their third album In A Breath due on Friday April 18. Their last album Symmetry (2011) debuted in the ARIA Top 40 and made the top four of [V]â&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Oz Artist of the Year contest, while their Top 20 single â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;One Heart/A Million Voicesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was the official theme song for Channel Nineâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coverage of the Summer Olympics in London 2012. The four-piece has toured on Vans Warped and received acclaim via overseas TV, magazines and blogs.

Build Your Music Empire Today E HIFI 1300 THO M.AU

Info here:

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This Week

Coming Soon SOLD OUT

The Coronas (IRL) Sat 22 Feb

Jimmy Eat World Panic At The Disco & Alkaline Trio

Mon 24 Feb: AA

Six60 (NZ) Fri 28 Feb

Robert Glasper Exp & Roy Ayers & Lonnie Liston Smith

Sat 8 Mar

* Rather than making a sequel for the hit musical movie The Sapphires, are its producers looking at extending the story through a TV series? * A pilot is being made for a reality TV series called Clubland, based around Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Baroq House. * The Justin Bieber display at Tussauds waxworks in New York was withdrawn because too many fans were groping and fondling it. * Skinny Puppy are so outraged that their music was used during interrogation in the Guantanamo detention centre that theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve sent the American defence department a bill for US$666,000 in royalties.

PREATURES PUBLISHING GOES TO MUSHROOM

Mushroom Music has secured a publishing deal with The Preatures in Australia. Things have moved quickly for the Sydney band since its second EP Is This How You Feel? and its win last year of the $50,000 Vanda and Young songwriting prize. The Preatures are off soon for dates in the UK and US, which include Coachella and SXSW.

GLASS TOWERS JOINS NEW WORLD ARTISTS

Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Glass Towers have joined the New World Artists agency for touring rep in Australia and NZ. The deal came at the end of a week in which they signed a North American deal with Dine Alone Records, announced their first North American tour and saw the departure of bassist Cameron Holdstock. Their debut album Halcyon Days was a triple j staple, yielding the hits â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Halcyonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; and â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Tonightâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

LITTLE FOX AT HUB

Sydneyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Little Fox has inked with HUB The Label/Inertia, with her debut Warrior EP available digitally on Friday March 28. The video for â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Anniversaryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was conceived by Little Fox during â&#x20AC;&#x153;a turbulent personal timeâ&#x20AC;?, featuring cameos from friends and family and shot at her great-grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s century-old house.

BILLBOARD POWER PLAYERS

Four Aussies have made Billboardâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s inaugural International Power Players List of music execs outside the US. They are Sony Music head Denis Handlin, Mushroom Group chairman Michael Gudinski, Live Nation Australasia president Michael Coppel and former Shock CEO Charles Caldas, now based in London as chief executive of global indie rights body Merlin.

ROCK OVERTAKES POP IN THE UK Alter Bridge (USA) & Living Colour Tue 25 Feb: All Ages

Eagles of Death metal, Rocket From The Crypt & Mutemath

Wed 26 Feb: AA

Bobby Keys & The Suffering Bastards

Melb Ska Orchestra

Mon 24 Mar

Fri 28 Mar

Rock albums have overtaken pop in the UK, according to the Official UK Charts Company. 40% of the 10,000 best-selling albums in 2013 were rock, but the top five sellers were pop, including those by Emeli SandĂŠ and One Direction. Pop led in singles, registering 36.2% to rockâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 21.4%. Gennaro Castaldo of trade body BPI said, â&#x20AC;&#x153;While the appeal of pop remains consistent, the popularity of rock music tends to ebb and flow a little more, reflecting as it does the excitement that can quickly build around new acts as they burst through. With Arctic Monkeys now taking on near-iconic status, and the likes of Jake Bugg and Bastille to name a few connecting with a new generation of fans, rock music looks set to enjoy another wonderfully vibrant period.â&#x20AC;?

INXS BLITZ ARIA CHARTS

Dark Tranquillity (SWE)

Darkside

Kylesa (USA)

Wed 02 Apr

Thu 3 Apr

Monster Magnet (USA) Fri 4 Apr

Sat 29 Mar

Skid Row & Ugly Kid Joe

Jonny Craig (USA) Sat 10 May: All Ages

Sat 27 Sep

Sun 27 Apr

Toxic Holocaust & Skeletonwitch

Children of Bodom

Sat 26 Apr

Fri 9 May

Rebel Souljahz (USA)

Band of Skulls (USA) Fri 20 Jun

The Crimson ProjeKCt Fri 27 Jun

In the wake of their top-rating TV biopic, INXSâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; The Very Best went to number one this week. It is their third album chart-topper after The Swing (1984), Listen Like Thieves (1985) and X (1990). Also back in this week are Kick (#7), Shabooh Shoobah (#41), The Swing (#43) and Listen Like Thieves (#53). Makig its debut at number 17 is INXS Live At Wembley Stadium â&#x20AC;&#x2122;91, a first-time release. It was previously only available on the Live Baby Live movie and DVD.

SOUNDWAVE SPECIAL

Channel [V] will air a one-hour Soundwave special on Saturday March 1 at 2pm, to be shot at the Sydney show. Bert McCracken from The Used is the co-host.

DAN BIDDLE SETS UP TCO ARTISTS

After 15 years at major labels BMG, Universal Music and Sony Music, Dan Biddle has started TCO Artists, a services organisation dedicated to taking care of artistsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; business needs. He will handle management for The McClymonts and Central Coast southern rock-inspired Adam Eckersley Band. Biddle says he watched first-hand the decline of the record business. â&#x20AC;&#x153;I can see that this is an entrepreneursâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; industry right now. Time will show this to be one of the great eras in music business history. I am very positive.â&#x20AC;?

NICOLA RICHES JOINS TMN

Nicola Riches has joined The Music Network as managing editor. She was digital editor of the UKâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Music Week and Record Of The Day. Nathan Jolly remains day-today editor, and Poppy Reid covers news and features.

JON CASIMIR HEAD OF ENTERTAINMENT AT ABC

Award-winning TV writer/producer Jon Casimir is ABC TVâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s new head of entertainment, taking over on Tuesday April 8. The one-time music journo (RAM, Encore, Sydney Morning Herald) is currently an executive producer with Cordell Jigsaw Zapruder.

QUEEN ALBUM FIRST TO HIT 6MIL IN UK

Queenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Greatest Hits (1981) has become the first LP to surpass six million sales in the UK. It leads ABBAâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Gold â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Greatest Hits (5.1m), The Beatlesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Sgt. Pepperâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Lonely Hearts Club Band (5.1m), Adeleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s 21 (4.7m) and Oasisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; (Whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s The Story) Morning Glory? (4.6m). In America, the Queen album has sold eight million units. The two best sellers in the US are Michael Jacksonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Thriller and The Eaglesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Their Greatest Hits (1971-1975) â&#x20AC;&#x201C; each having sold 29 million units.

EASTSIDE GOES STEREO

Eastside Radio (89.7 FM), which has been broadcasting its music, community and arts programs since 1983 in mono, has switched to stereo. Last November, after a freak storm knocked out its antennas, repairs to these allowed the stereo switchover. Visit eastsidefm.org for more.

Lifelines Engaged: Christina Aguilera and Matt Rutler, a production assistant on her 2010 film Burlesque. She was previously married to label exec Jordan Bratman. Sued: dubstep DJ Skrillex by a woman who claims he stage-dived from his booth during a show at the Belasco in Los Angeles in February 2012 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; landing on her and causing her to suffer a stroke. In Court: LA-based ska-punkers Fishbone were ordered to pay US$1.44 million to a woman hurt after singer Angelo Moore stage-dove at a 2010 concert in Philadelphia. In Court: five Michael Jackson fans won the symbolic damages of one euro (A$1.55) each as a French court agreed they had suffered â&#x20AC;&#x153;emotional damageâ&#x20AC;? from the singerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s death. Charged: a Seattle woman with cyber-stalking for allegedly posting 100 death threats via nine different Twitter accounts directed at Soundgarden frontman Chris Cornell and alluding to a rape of his 13-year-old daughter. Suing: Dr. Dre has filed a lawsuit against Death Row Records (which he co-founded) for $3 million in unpaid mechanical royalties. Indicted: ten staffers of the Love Parade techno music festival in Duisberg, Germany, for involuntary manslaughter. Prosecutors say insufficient security saw 21 people die during a panic stampede four years ago in a packed tunnel that was the sole access to the festival. One of the victims, Clancie Ridley, was Australian.

ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER, BUILDING 220, 122 LANG RD, MOORE PARK, SYDNEY

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first time since 2003’s Take A Look In The Mirror. In the early stages of the songwriting process, Shaffer says the band essentially sat down together and began spawning riffs. It reached a point where they had ten or 11 songs and more ideas than they knew what to do with. This was when they enlisted the services of producer Don Gilmore to help harness their ideas.

SHIFTING SANDS • BY JOSH JENNINGS

orn guitarist James Shaffer says making records sober isn’t the kind of stunt he’d necessarily advise other bands to pull, but that’s what his nu metal scarecrows did this time around. And for good reason, he adds. “That’s what worked on this album,” says Shaffer. “For me, I could think a lot clearer and communicate ideas back and forth, which speeds things up. So we weren’t wasting time, which is money – and there’s not much money to make records anymore because not a lot of people buy them.” With the recent release of The Paradigm Shift, Korn are presently experiencing what might be the closest they’ll ever come to a smell-the-roses phase, essentially engendered by previous health scares. The high-octane record is a nervy glimpse into the gates-ofhell headspace which uber-grim singer Jonathan Davis has been struggling to navigate his way out of in recent times – as distinct from all the other times – namely due to a Xanax addiction which superseded a 12-year dalliance with Prozac. It was a Xanax detox that indefinitely reassigned Davis’ consciousness to somewhere in the vicinity of

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the twilight zone and the stress of having a seriously sick child. Its completion spells a brighter chapter for all of the band members, Shaffer says. “We were all so messed up before. We had to have our drink and our drugs and smoke and whatever it was before we would start even recording. We wasted a lot of time but we had a lot of fun and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.” During the latest songwriting phase, the band collaborated in its Bakersfield, California studio to assemble some of the most brutal riffage this side of a metal festival curated by the Bandidos. Unlike 2011’s dubstep-happy The Path Of Totality, Korn toned down the electronic aspect to electro-lite this time around, and peppered the record with the digital bells and whistles retrospectively. “I definitely prefer interacting with the live drums, and somebody actually performing, to anything else,” says Shaffer. “It just feels like there’s two people and not one guy and a machine.” The live approach was further enhanced by guitarist Brian Welch’s return to studio recording for the

“This is somebody that Brian really wanted to work with,” Shaffer says. “I know he made a couple of Linkin Park records and [worked with] Three Days Grace, and some records that aren’t on the top of my list, but I know he makes great records … They’re not my favourite records but they’re great-sounding records and I was open to try this guy.” Historically, Korn haven’t always hit it off with their producers. On 2010’s Korn III: Remember Who You Are, Davis said he was so troubled by his working relationship with producer Ross Robinson (producer of Korn’s first two albums) that he wanted to kill himself. Not this time, however. Shaffer says Gilmore worked with a sense of purpose and direction from the outset. “We were just like, ‘This guy is full on into it. He gets it and he understands it. He understands where we are with Brian coming back to the band and where we see ourselves.’ We wanted to make a record that’s relevant and we wanted to make some songs that are good and that pertain to an album – not just a couple of singles. Because there are so many different personalities in the band, he was really good with delegating and getting people to show up and dealing with our adolescence.” Dealing with his own emotional issues, Davis was absent from the recording of the album until it was time to lay down his vocals. “There was actually a lot of pressure on Jonathan,” says Shaffer, “because once the bulk of the recording of the music was done, everybody was starting to think, ‘We really need to

“WE WERE ALL SO MESSED UP BEFORE. WE HAD TO HAVE OUR DRINK AND OUR DRUGS AND SMOKE AND WHATEVER IT WAS BEFORE WE WOULD START EVEN RECORDING. WE WASTED A LOT OF TIME BUT WE HAD A LOT OF FUN”. get some vocals on here.’ But nobody really knew what was going on with him at that point. He had his own personal stuff going on, so I think there was some pressure at that point. But for three-quarters of the record, it was really relaxed and a lot of fun.” The band’s 11th album, The Paradigm Shift entered the US Billboard 200 at number eight (selling 46,000 copies), topped the US Hard Rock Charts and debuted at seven on the ARIA charts. Whilst The Path Of Totality had signalled the band’s deeper foray into artificial instrumentation, the latest record is largely meat-and-potatoes Korn, and critically regarded as a return to form. However, Korn continue to aspire to evolve. Shaffer says the metamorphosis they’ve been through over 11 albums has been intrinsic to their survival. “I think it’s part of who we are as creative people,” says Shaffer. “We always want to keep going with experimentation. I think the beauty of it is that you can still have that Korn sound, which is the bass, guitar and vocals – those are the three elements we’ll always retain – but I think as creative people we always need to

push ourselves in different directions and step out of our comfort zones. If you don’t step out of your comfort zone and feel a bit squeamish, you’re not really going to make any growth.” This month, Korn touch down in Australia for Soundwave Festival and a string of sideshows. They’ll join forces with horror-metal ghoul Rob Zombie for a co-headline tour. “We toured with him about ten years ago and I remember it being a good time, and then we toured with them a couple of years ago and I remember it was not so fun [laughs]. I don’t know, we played after him and he had all these gags and completely destroyed the stage. As far as I can recall he basically tarred and feathered the stage before we went on, so we had our crew cleaning until it was time to play. It was a real pain in the ass and I think he was doing it on purpose.” Korn have already been playing with Zombie in American arenas on this tour. Behind the scenes, Shaffer says Zombie has been in excellent spirits. “He’s a cool guy. He’s well-spoken, he’s very witty and he’s a lot of fun. I don’t remember him being in the best mood last time, but touring with him this time, he’s had us onstage – we’ve played songs together and sat in the catering room and had a few dinners together with the crew, and everybody got along well. I think it’s just a maturity thing. We’re at a different place in our lives where we’re very grateful we still get to go out and act like fools every night and have fun doing it.” What: The Paradigm Shift out now through Prospect Park/ Caroline With: Rob Zombie Where: Big Top, Luna Park When: Monday February 24 And: Also appearing alongside Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, Megadeth and more at Soundwave Festival, Sydney Olympic Park, Sunday February 23

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Okkervil River Antibiography By Adam Norris

nother interviewer has jumped the queue and shamelessly stolen my allocated time with Will Sheff. I feel like a jerk, because when I call and Will answers I’m now unexpectedly interrupting him in the middle of a question and he sounds guarded and confused. It’s hardly an auspicious start to chatting with one of my favourite songwriters, but when we do finally speak the following day he spends the first few minutes apologising (unnecessarily) for the screw-up. The guardedness is gone, and we go way overtime in talking about music and nostalgia (and people having sex to your songs). Okkervil River’s The Silver Gymnasium is a kind of concept album, a correspondence with Sheff’s own adolescence. The songs are full of vivid imagery and specifi c references. Anytime the past is evoked I wonder at how reliable the recorder is – if, despite our best intentions, we colour our recollections through distance. This would seem especially true of autobiographies, where memory is perhaps the most unreliable of sources.

Given the nature of the new album, I ask Sheff how he feels about performing his earlier work – do songs like ‘A Girl In Port’ from 2007’s The Stage Names still carry the same emotional meaning for him? “You know, I never enjoy listening to my old records. I don’t think any musician really does. Sometimes it’s like looking at an awkward teenage photo of yourself. I’ll rarely listen to them unless I’m trying to remember how a song goes. “A lot of times you can feel like a stranger to your own songs. It’s existed for so long, it’s like you’re not the person who wrote it anymore. The other thing is, I’ve played ‘A Girl In Port’ a thousand times, and yet I don’t even

Neko Case

remember what the recording of it sounds like anymore. Once I played it live so well I remember thinking, ‘I’m never going to improve on that,’ and then that performance is gone forever. So the songs don’t really exist in a fi nal form for me. They’re always able to be redirected or swapped around. I like that.” Before we wrap up we talk for a while about the endurance of certain songs; how unique music is in its ability to associate itself so closely with your impressions of the world. “Music is with you all the time,” says Sheff. “It’s a little universe or melody that you carry around with you that has different context throughout your life. That to me is a real honour. I love that there are people listening to us while they’re packing their kid’s lunch; that there are people who are drunk making up dance routines to our songs. I love that people have sex to our songs or smoke pot to our songs or cook dinner to our songs. That’s one of the great things about making music. You get to be a companion to somebody. You get to be a memory.” What: The Silver Gymnasium out now through Spunk/Caroline With: Ernest Ellis Where: Oxford Art Factory When: Friday February 21

“I’m going to sound like a total dick, but talking about yourself can really suck. It’s just kind of awkward.”

Funny Business By David James Young

or some, Neko Case is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma. On one hand, she presents listeners with harrowing, brazen folk rock that stirs the emotive spectrum into a whirlwind. At the same time, however, you can catch her goofing off on Twitter or as a part of comedy podcasts like Nerdist or Comedy Bang Bang. How important is it to balance the seriously strange and the strangely serious? More than you’d think – at least according to the lady herself. “Earlier in my career, I was kind of worried that people were going to think that I was so dark,” Case says. “I guess the outlet of making music that’s often so dark makes it easier for me to balance that out the rest of the time – ’cause, y’know, I’m actually pretty silly most of the time. Most of the funniest people I have ever known don’t even let that side of them show in public.” She goes on to point to the aforementioned podcast interviews as some of the most enjoyable ones that she has ever done. “I’m going to sound like a total dick,” she prefaces. “But talking about yourself can really suck. It’s just kind of awkward. I mean, I don’t hate it – it’s part of my job, and that’s fine. But it’s when the conversation swerves to something that a) you’re interested in; and b) isn’t about you; it can become the most fun thing ever. You more or less get to say whatever you want. The thing about musicians and comedians is that we’re both very independent. We travel the same. We tour the same. The crossover is really nice. I dunno… most comedians want to be musicians, most musicians want to be comedians. We’re all very in love with each other.” Lately, Case has been doing a lot of talking about herself in relation to her sixth solo album. The Worse Things Get, The Harder I Fight, The Harder I Fight, The More I Love You may be a mouthful, but its contents are easily digestible – her defiant, implicit lyricism and its lush surrounds make for what is potentially her finest album to date. It’s worth noting that many of these songs 14 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

did not begin their lives with Neko behind a guitar or behind a piano – rather, they found her behind a steering wheel. “I think of a lot of melodies while I’m driving,” she says. “I just sing it into my recorder. A lot of songs started that way. It comes when I’m doing the dishes or whatever, too. Sometimes I’ll just be fucking around on the guitar or something. There’s no one way for me when I’m writing songs.” One of the tracks that springs to mind instantly is ‘Nearly Midnight, Honolulu’, the album’s centrepiece and a thoroughly devastating song involving a mother verbally abusing her child at an airport bus stop. It revolves almost entirely around Case’s vocal delivery, and it makes for a bittersweet, heartwrenching listen.

“It’s a verbatim conversation that I witnessed,” she says. “I’m the narrator in the story, and I am the witness in the story. I still think about it – I think about that kid all the time. I wrote the song in the car, and I sang it into the recorder. The melody came to me very quickly. I tried putting music to it, but I eventually came to realise that the version with just the voice was the most honest version I could put out there.” Case will return to Australia in March for the first time in just over four years to perform at WOMADelaide and a series of headlining shows. Before getting back on the road, however, Neko has business to attend to. She confirms that The New Pornographers are working on their first batch of new material since 2010’s Together. “We’ve been recording on and off for the past few months,” she says. “I’ll be going

back again soon. I love playing with those guys.” Asking Case whether she looks forward to her Australian return is probably one of the more obvious questions one could possibly raise. “Are you kidding me?” she responds, half-joking and half-incredulous. “I always save Australia for the last part of major tours. It feels like the dessert after dinner. It is the absolute best place to tour. I’ve got nothing to hide in saying that.” Case’s Sydney stop will see her performing at the Concert Hall in the Opera House. Although it’s a prestigious honour for any act to be able to perform on such a grand, iconic stage, Neko displays a degree of reticence when it comes to that particular date on the tour.

“I’m trying not to think about the Opera House show,” she confesses. “As a person who’s not from Australia, the Opera House is the first thing that you see in your mind when you think of Australia. It’s so very intimidating, but I’m very excited about it. I’m going to try my very best not to pee my pants onstage. Maybe someone else has done it before me, but I really don’t want to be the first!” Will we witness a night of both broken hearts and burst bladders? Only one way to find out. What: The Worse Things Get… out now through Anti With: Darren Hanlon Where: Sydney Opera House Concert Hall When: Monday March 3 thebrag.com

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“To a certain extent that’s what the record is about,” Sheff explains. “There are a lot of people asking me for details of what it was like when I was a kid, like that’s what I want them to ask. It’s really kind of the opposite. It was more about wanting to write about nostalgia,

about why you’ve kept that painful memory. If I’d written about that in a generic way, it would have been pretty boring. It wouldn’t have been engaging. So the way to relate is to be specifi c, even if it’s so specifi c that people don’t know the streets that I’m mentioning, they didn’t experience anything like the time that I’m talking about. That doesn’t matter. It’s the authenticity of the detail that matters. So I felt like I had to work with the materials of my own biography to talk about these things in the best way that I could, but creating a biography wasn’t the goal in and of itself. If anything that stuff makes me feel a little uncomfortable.”

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Queens Of The Stone Age Right On Time By Augustus Welby

ueens of the Stone Age’s sixth LP, …Like Clockwork, was one of the most anticipated releases of 2013 and the Californian desert rockers certainly didn’t falter under pressure. Packed full of their trademark stomping blues, intertwined with sultry grooves and even some melancholic balladry, the record roused almost unanimous praise from fans and critics. …Like Clockwork is notable for being the first QOTSA record to feature bass player Michael Shuman and guitarist Dean Fertita, both of whom have been touring with the band since shortly after the release of Era Vulgaris in 2007. Ahead of their Australian co-headline tour with Nine Inch Nails, Shuman explains how participating in the songwriting and recording process solidified his personal attachment to the band. “As much as you give yourself to these old songs and the live show, that’s only one half of it. The other half is creating and recording,” he says. “It brought a new light to the band for me. I’d been wanting to write some songs with the band since I started, so to actually finally do it really meant a lot. And it means a lot to me now.” Josh Homme formed Queens of the Stone Age in the late 1990s and since then the band has gone through a giant cast of contributing personnel. The semi-regularity of lineup changes over the years suggests Homme is a dangerously volatile taskmaster. Contrary to this, Shuman reports the band dynamic is far from hierarchical. “We were super close but we got even closer during the making of this record and learned a lot more about each other than I thought we could, because I thought we were already tight bros. Everybody was going through personal stuff while making the record, and then supporting each other to get through the making of the record. Everyone showed their true colours and it showed that we have

“Everybody was going through personal stuff while making the record … [we] didn’t just bail when shit got rough.” supported each other through tough times and didn’t just bail when shit got rough.” The six-year gap between Queens of the Stone Age albums was enough to stir fears that the band had reached its expiry date. Due to the extended interval, when the album eventually arrived it was touted as a comeback release. However, Shuman says there was no internal shutdown. “To us it wasn’t a comeback record. We toured on Era and then we took a year off, then went and did another tour on the first record for a year [celebrating the tenth anniversary of 1998’s self-titled LP]. Maybe it was six years away from putting out records, but not from being a band.” Nevertheless, the band members didn’t exactly keep to themselves in the intervening years. Homme recorded and toured with Dave Grohl and John Paul Jones as Them Crooked Vultures, Fertita teamed up with Jack White and Alison Mosshart for multiple

Dead Weather albums and multiinstrumentalist Troy Van Leeuwen released a record with his new band Sweethead. Shuman hasn’t been twiddling his thumbs either, setting the bass aside to front LA-based baroque-pop outfit Mini Mansions, who’ll release their second album later this year. “Some people like a vacation when they get home, to take some time off and put their feet up. Most of us are not like that,” he says. “Most of us go home and work on other musical projects. That’s what I do non-stop when I’m not with Queens.” There definitely hasn’t been much time to consider putting the feet up in the last 12 months. The band (completed by newest addition, drummer Jon Theodore) actually started touring shortly before …Like Clockwork came out. “It all went so fast because we finished the record and immediately went on the road. We actually were choosing the master as we were on an airplane to

QOTSA’s considerable Australian fan base will finally have its hunger sated when the quintet’s tour with good buddies Nine Inch Nails sweeps the country next month. Schuman looks forward to his third trip Down Under with the band.

go on tour and then the record was out a month later, so it was crazy,” says Shuman. The rapturous reception given to the record means the touring program hasn’t let up. The aberrant nature of tour life is wont to drain musicians and splinter relationships, but Shuman says QOTSA don’t struggle staying sane. “We just hang out together and do whatever we do and have laughs and drinks. That kind of gets us through – just being together, not hating each other.”

“It’s not like any other place – like the middle of the US and you’ve seen it a million times. This is something special; it’s not just a tour, [it’s] also part vacation – a part of the world where we can actually enjoy going out and go out in the sun and just be active.”

Ongoing praise for …Like Clockwork has also helped to keep spirits high. The album debuted at number one in both Australia and the US, picked up three Grammy nominations, and consequently the shows have been bigger than ever. “It was surprising how well received it was, so we were super excited,” Shuman exudes. “The ride really hasn’t stopped and we haven’t slowed down, and it’s been awesome and really gratifying to know that our fans are into what we made.”

What: Like Clockwork out now through Matador/Remote Control With: Nine Inch Nails Where: Qantas Credit Union Arena When: Thursday March 6 and Friday March 7 And: Also appearing at Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Saturday March 8

In Hearts Wake Reach To The Sky By Augustus Welby it wasn’t just about the money. “Money’s 50 per cent of what’s being given to these organisations, but the other 50 per cent of it is raising the awareness. If anything that counts for more than the money itself. It obviously makes a difference knowing that there’s people that are giving a shit.” Striving to generate awareness about concrete human struggles marks a departure from the content of the band’s debut record, Divination. The 2012 concept album interpreted different cards from the Major Arcana Tarot deck (for instance, songs were subtitled with names like ‘Death’, ‘Strength’ and ‘Judgement’). Looking ahead, Taylor says album number two will also be a concept album, taking the sentiments expressed in ‘Skydancer’ as its point of departure.

yron Bay is perhaps chiefly thought of as a hub for laidback hippies and sunbrowned surfers, but in recent years it’s also become a breeding ground for some of the country’s most formidable metalcore music. Following the world-conquering lead of hometown heroes Parkway Drive, Byron five-piece In Hearts Wake are flying the Australian flag on this year’s Soundwave lineup. The youngsters aren’t afraid of the big leagues, and have set

their sights high with latest single ‘Skydancer’. “The lyrics and the imagery are all about reconnecting man with nature,” says lead singer Jake Taylor, on a mission to promote unity with our surroundings. The single is a core component of the philanthropic Skydancer Project. “It was releasing a song for free,” explains Taylor, “but people could pay something for it if they wanted to and they knew that 100 per cent

of their donation would go towards non-profit organisations that helped out indigenous communities across the world.” The project proved quite successful, collecting over $3,000 during October’s fundraising period, which was split evenly between three charities (aiding Native Americans, Kenyans and Indigenous Australians respectively). Taylor is proud of the fundraising results, but says

“I want to take the ‘Skydancer’ bigger-picture aspect to the next level – being more than just about tarot cards or being more than about people working nine-to-five. Talking about the bigger things, which we all definitely see on TV and the newspapers. We still want to have fun, but [also] be a part of the solution and not the problem.” In Hearts Wake’s determination to spread a proactive message shows they uphold the ‘peace, love and understanding’ attitude that permeates their hometown. However, their aggressive metalcore sound seems an odd way

to express it. “You can’t have light without dark,” Taylor says, “and I feel that the metal/hardcore scene has got a lot of darkness – a lot of what people hear as angst, [but there’s] constructive criticism involved. If you were to tell someone to wake up and change their ways of doing something in life, you wouldn’t whisper it to them, you would most probably tell them very loudly and sternly, or shout it. It’s got a powerful feeling to it, the music that we play. To spread messages of awareness and change, it’s a fitting genre that we’ve found that works for us.” The Skydancer Project proves the singer’s stated intention to generate positive change isn’t simply a clever marketing strategy. Similarly, In Hearts Wake uphold a genuinely personal relationship with their audience. “We always push ourselves to be the best role models we can be,” says Taylor. “There’s no onstage persona; we don’t put on our make-up and get onstage. We’re the same people on and off. It’s all about helping people to realise that we are the same people as them.” What: Soundwave Festival 2014 With: Green Day, Avenged Sevenfold, Alice In Chains, Placebo, AFI, Korn and more Where: Sydney Olympic Park When: Sunday February 23 xxx

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Temples Pysch Analysis By Augustus Welby

and founding member Thomas Warmsley points out, it’s not simply an homage. “Our whole process in the studio was experimenting and trying to replicate and renovate sounds that we really liked,” he explains. “Atmospheres from records that we liked; we wanted to do our own version and then take it some place completely new. We consciously wanted the music not to be an exact replica or a pastiche of a ‘retro’ sound.” Temples sprung to attention in late 2012 with the single ‘Shelter Song’. The track illustrates their aim to advance, rather than imitate, the music they love; channelling the likes of Donovan and The Yardbirds while including an atmospheric breadth that positions it firmly in the now. Fittingly, ‘Shelter Song’ opens Sun Structures, which was recorded entirely in vocalist/guitarist James Bagshaw’s home studio.

t only takes a quick glance at UK four-piece Temples to kick-start a time-travelling experience. Syd Barrett curls, tasselled Hendrix outfits and faraway eyes make the group’s psychedelic focus

immediately apparent. And it doesn’t end there. Released earlier this month, the band’s debut LP Sun Structures is an immersive trip through the history of psychedelic guitar music. Yet as bass player

“Production is such an important thing to us,” Warmsley says, “almost as significant to us as songwriting. So it’s something that we had a strong idea of and wanted to maintain control of throughout the process.” Thanks to immediate acclaim for ‘Shelter Song’, and follow-up singles ‘Keep In The Dark’ and ‘Colours To Life’, the band spent

the majority of 2013 on tour with the likes of Suede, Kasabian and The Vaccines. Warmsley explains that album recording sessions took place whenever there was a gap in their demanding gig schedule. “We spent all last year recording the album. Any free day we had we’d be in the studio recording. Sometimes when we were touring we thought, ‘Wow, how are we ever going to finish this in time?’ because of how sparse some of the recording time we had was.” Warmsley and Bagshaw formed the band (initially a studiobased project) in the obscure Northamptonshire town of Kettering. These might read as humble origins, but their aesthetic intentions have never been meek. “I’d probably say from our very first recordings we’ve always had quite a strong idea and vivid sense of direction – what we wanted the record to sound like, or at least what we wanted Temples to sound like as a whole. I think in many ways that idea of having a sound has led the record and hopefully brought it all together as one, even though it was recorded over the course of a year and a half.” Temples aren’t even yet two years old, but attracting an eager following so early on forced the band to grow up very quickly. Sun Structures essentially documents everything they’ve creatively achieved up until this point. “There’s

songs on the record which were written when the band started and there’s songs which were finished a couple of weeks before handing the album over to our label,” Warmsley says. “There’s a real scope of experience on there.” In addition to consistent blog hype and a number of sold-out headline shows towards the end of 2013, Temples’ four pre-album singles caught the attention of British guitar luminaries Johnny Marr and Noel Gallagher. Although the band was deprived of the anonymity that can be beneficial when sculpting and refining a debut record, Warmsley says this didn’t inhibit them – at the time. “The process has been quite natural and we’ve been allowed to figure stuff out and grow in front of everyone. I think there’s an integrity in that; it almost lifts some of the pressure you’d otherwise have. More than anything we were looking forward to people discovering more about us. Maybe the pressure’s on a little more now that the album’s there for everyone to hear.” What: Sun Structures out now through Heavenly Recordings/ [PIAS] With: Deep Sea Arcade Where: Metro Theatre When: Friday May 9

Jeff Beck No Safety Net By Lachlan Kanoniuk

e’s one of the most revered lead guitarists in rock history, going on to forge a steady and formidable reputation as a true virtuoso since his mid-’60s stint with The Yardbirds. Even after half a century of performing, Jeff Beck is still exploring the possibilities of the electric guitar, pursuing a varied array of worldly musical styles – including an upcoming collaboration with Brian Wilson. In the meantime, Beck is returning to Australia for this year’s Bluesfest, and has a new-look band in tow, yet remains an electric guitar traditionalist, unenthusiastic about modern guitar technology. “I don’t want to hear about new gizmos that are safety nets in any way,” says Beck. “[If] you give me an amp and a guitar and I can’t do anything impressive with that, then something’s wrong. Can you imagine Django Reinhardt playing with a wah-wah pedal? Or flanging with a chorus? It’s not necessary. If the melody is good, you’re playing well, and have your craft under control, then I’m not really interested in what’s there that wasn’t invented in the ’50s with the electric guitar. I don’t like the sound of digital records. We had it right, why mess with it?” A generation of music fans would agree. But though they romanticise the glory days of yore, Beck doesn’t look back on his formative years with The Yardbirds with rose-tinted glasses. “I look back with some disdain. I don’t recall too much of it because every day was a nightmare back then. It was so fertile, and you didn’t know which way was up. Look

what happened when Elvis Presley hit the screens in 1956 or whenever it was; the whole world went crazy. Then in the ’60s, it became even crazier as even more people began to realise, ‘Hey, if I get a guitar and make a terrible noise on it, I can be famous!’ And that’s what happened. If you were in LA in ’65 you’d know what I’m talking about. Between ’65 and ’68 there wasn’t anyone who wasn’t potted out of their heads walking along Sunset Boulevard, all having a completely nutty time.” Armed with decades of back catalogue jams, including the eclectic 2010 album Emotion & Commotion, compiling a setlist for the Australian tour is a challenge in itself. “When you have a new album you need to decide how much of it to put in the show before people start looking at each other wondering what they’re thinking, too,” says Beck. “It’s a worry, not wanting to baffle people with new material. But if you don’t leave the old stuff behind you’re going to be stuck with it, so you have to choose a song you have absolute belief in that it will rock the place. But there is no way of testing the stuff. People come with a pre-conceived notion of what you’re going to play, so you don’t want to bombard them with weird music they’ve never heard before. I just hope I make the right choices when I come down there,” he laughs. Following on from a collaborative US tour last year, Beck is set to put the finishing touches on a full-length team-up with Beach Boys legend Wilson. “The album is finished without me, I’ve got all the backing

“[If] you give me an amp and a guitar and I can’t do anything impressive with that, then something’s wrong. Can you imagine Django Reinhardt playing with a wah-wah pedal? Or flanging with a chorus? It’s not necessary.”

tracks done and mixed as close as we can get without the guitar. So I can take that in the car and imagine what I’m going to play. I can play 14 songs in the car without me playing features. There are riffs, but the solo sections are left empty so I can dial into what I want to play, instead of just blindly playing at the time of recording. That’s been my problem, thinking that the live performance is the be-all. But it’s not necessarily so. If you want to really deliver the best solo, you need to think about what you’re doing first. Unless it comes out naturally, that one-off genius. But for me, with the difficult, Eastern-influenced music that we’re playing, I need to have it in my pocket for a couple of weeks before committing to a solo.” The match of Brian Wilson’s impeccable pop acumen with Beck’s at-times aggressive guitar style may seem incongruous on paper, but the fusion of musical minds reaches beyond the sum of its parts. “The texture, the style is predetermined; the melody is just suggested,” Beck explains. “Who knows how Brian’s organisation works – he doesn’t say a lot in the sessions. It’s a bit of a guessing game, but there’s always a map to guide you. It’s not an easy task – you obviously wouldn’t play an aggressive solo over a pretty ballad. There was one track with an aggressive riff, and he explained to his people that he wanted me to be me on it, but it’s still in the making as far as I know.”

What: Byron Bay Bluesfest 2014 With: Jack Johnson, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Elvis Costello & The Imposters, Buddy Guy, Erykah Badu, John Butler Trio and many more Where: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm When: Thursday April 17 – Monday April 21 And: Also appearing with Beth Hart at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall, Monday April 21 xxx

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arts frontline

free stuff head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

arts news...what's goin' on around town...with Hannah Warren

five minutes WITH

LOUISE MONNINGTON

FROM

MURDERDROME

been retired for about a year now. I decided I wanted to play a sport on skates. I found a link to roller derby on the Skate Victoria website and when I saw it was played on quads I was like, ‘Yep, that’s the one. I’ll do that sport.’ I didn’t even know what it was. Within two days I was doing boot camp.

Louise Monnington and Gerry Mahoney

urderDrome has everything you could ask for in a film – a roller derby rivalry, a meat hook wielding demon on skates, and romance. Oh, and some pretty kick-ass local music. Louise Monnington was the roller derby consultant and one of the actors in the first ever roller derby slasher extravaganza, and she took five minutes to tell us all about it. Why roller derby? I trained for three years, bouting for two. I’ve

What’s the Australian roller derby scene like? When I started, girls who weren’t into sport were coming together and having fun learning to skate, bashing the crap out of each other, and getting fit and healthy. I remember after one boot camp session, I looked around at the weird bunch of tattooed and candy haired freaks and thinking, ‘I’ve finally found my friends.’ One of the reasons I retired is because it is becoming more about scoring points playing only your best players rather than just doing your best and giving everyone a go. How did you get involved in MurderDrome? A call for auditions came up on my Facebook newsfeed. After I nailed the audition, I told Daniel about my past in film and TV production and that I was studying screenwriting. I became the liaison between the skaters and Daniel and eventually contributed to the script and producing.

What’s it about? By giving Cherry Skye a necklace as a good luck present, Brad Blunt accidentally awakens the soul of a serial killer on skates Momma Skate, as well as upsetting his ex-girlfriend and captain of the opposing roller derby team, Hell Grazer. Now Cherry and her Alamos team mates Trans Em, Daisy Duke Nuke ‘Em, Thrusty P Elvis and Psychlone are being chased down and picked off by Momma Skate and Hell Grazer’s Dirty Harriets: Clit Eastwards and Princess Bitchface. Skye has to get the necklace back from Hell, the crazy bitch on skates, then send it back to Hell, the pit of fire, before dawn when Momma Skate will take Skye’s soul in place of hers. What’s the highlight of the film? It’s actually really funny. Brad and Squids in their first dialogue scene are hilarious. It was completely ad-libbed. I had the best time working on this film. I think it had a lot to do with Daniel’s generous nature as a director. He isn’t precious and really rolled with the ideas we were throwing at him. What: MurderDrome When: DVD release March 19 More: facebook.com/murd3rdr0m3

to watch for future comedy. For more, head to abc.net.au/tv/freshblood.

Little Secrets I Patricia Casey

DAVE CHAPPELLE DOWN UNDER

Stand-up comedy genius Dave Chappelle is heading to Australia for his first ever tour outside North America, and shows have proved so popular that extra tickets have been released. Chappelle, who has been working in the entertainment industry since he was 14, is best known for his 2003 television series Chappelle’s Show. The Australian leg of his tour includes stops in Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Melbourne and Sydney; he will perform at the Sydney Opera House on Tuesday March 4 and at the State Theatre on Wednesday March 5 and Thursday March 6 but hurry, tickets are almost all sold out.

CHAZ BONO HITS SYDNEY FOR MARDI GRAS

LITTLE SECRETS

Artist Patricia Casey has taken a swing at photography from a whole different level. She has printed her beautiful, thoughtful photos of young people on cotton, and hand-stitched images from nature over them with coloured and glittering thread. Her Little Secrets exhibition, held at the NG Art Gallery in Chippendale, is part of Art Month Sydney 2014, and runs from Tuesday March 4 to Saturday March 22. For teaser images and exhibition details, check out ngart.com.au.

JULIAN CLARY BRINGS ‘POSITION VACANT’ TO AUS

Back by popular demand, self-proclaimed ‘Lord of the Mince’ Julian Clary will return for his 8th Australian tour in April with a new show Position Vacant: Apply Within. Currently touring the UK, this has become one of Julian’s most successful shows to date. Following a Celebrity Big Brother win, fans have flocked to see the flamboyant star delivering his brand of outrageous, no-holds barred comedy. Single punters will want to try their luck at the show – every evening Julian welcomes a selection of eligible bachelors onto the stage to win his hand in marriage. As well as stand up, he has also appeared on TV, radio and the dust jacket on his books. Clary performs on Tuesday April

Lucy Durack and Jemma Rix in Wicked

22 at the State Theatre. Tickets are available through Ticketmaster and Sydney Comedy Fest.

HA BLOODY HA

Fresh Blood, an initiative to find the next generation of comedy performers and producers have commissioned 25 projects this year. The successful 25 projects each receive a budget of $10,000 to produce three, 2-5 minute short form comedy sketches. 25 projects out of the nearly 500 applications are to be commissioned – one more than the 24 projects originally sought, because it was just too damn hard to choose. They range from puppetry and animation to absurdist sketch and the funny folk behind them are the people

International LGBTQI icon Chaz Bono will join Lieutenant Colonel Cate McGregor OAM in a special Mardi Gras Queer Thinking event, Gender Trailblazers, on Wednesday February 26 at Seymour Centre. Chaz Bono – better known as the little girl Chastity on the Sonny and Cher Show in the 1970s – started campaigning for equality and social justice as a lesbian in the 1990s and began living as a man in 2009. Lt. Col. Cate McGregor OAM decided to live as a woman in 2012 in the face of personal attacks and with the support of the Australian Army she continued her military career. For more details head to mardigras. org.au.

If you thought your family was weird, check out We Are What We Are, the new thriller about a family that seems wholesome and benevolent, but behind closed doors are living according to ancient customs. As tragedy strikes, daughters Iris and Rose are forced to assume responsibilities that extend beyond those of a typical family. The BRAG has 10 DVD copies of We Are What We Are (out on Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD February 19) to give away. To put your Dad’s awful jokes into perspective, just head to thebrag.com/ freeshit and tell us the weirdest thing your family does. We promise we won’t judge you.

SEXY TIMES! SYDNEY THEATRE! WIN!

Courtney Act, the most beautiful man in the world, is bringing women to their feet and men to their knees at the Sydney Theatre on Tuesday February 25. She’ll be airing all the dirty laundry of her sex life; sharing anecdotes about the angry text from that straight boy’s girlfriend, the twins in Montreal and the US Marine, to name a few. This is life on the gender divide – how the journey through masculinity and femininity manifests with boys like her. To win one of two double passes, go to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us the name of your opposite gender alter ego.

a Venice Golden Lion contender are among those to be featured at The Big Picture Film Festival in Sydney this March. Titles for the festival include The Missing Picture, nominated for a Best Foreign Language Film Academy Award, and Half Of A Yellow Sun starring Best Actor Oscar nominee, Chiwetel Ejiofor. The Big Picture Film Festival confronts the biggest social justice issues of our time and inspires audiences to take a stand against social inequality. Many of this years films will be accompanied by Q&A panel discussions and special social action plans. The festival runs from Wednesday March 19 to Thursday March 27 and schedules and tickets are available from thebigpicture.org.au.

AN APPLE A DAY

The Apple Store on George Street is offering a range of educational events over February and March, including How to Start Your Own Creative Business; Grad Talks: How I Got Started in Digital Media; Meet the Developers: Halfbrick Studios; Meet the Innovator: The Whole Pantry; DJing on iPad with Pioneer Workshop; DJing on iPad with Pioneer Demonstration; Introduction to the Sydney Startup Community; Grad Talks: How I Got Started in Visual Communications; Meet the Developer: Procreate; Innovation Lab: Web Development Immersive; and Masterclass: Designing for the Mobile World. All of these events are totally free, but you must register in advance at apple.com/au/Sydney.

HE SCOT TALENT

Kevin Bridges is Scotland’s favourite stand up comic and he is touring Australia for the first time in March and April with shows in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Since his first open mic spot in 2004 he has continued to amuse crowds around the world with his observational, cutting edge comedy and his silly accent, and he’ll be performing at Enmore Theatre on Tuesday April 22 as part of Sydney Comedy Fest. Tickets are available through sydneycomedyfest.com.au or ticketek.com.au.

BIG PICTURE FILM FESTIVAL An Oscar nominated film, an Oscar nominated actor, a Sundance Film Festival winner and

Puppet Up!

PUPPET UP!

If you loved Sesame Street and you want to keep your childhood nostalgia intact, this show may not be for you. Melbourne International Comedy Festival is bringing Henson Alternative’s Puppet Up! Uncensored to the Playhouse at Sydney Opera House from Tuesday April 1 to Sunday April 6 and you’ll never be able to look at Bert and Ernie the same way again. For times and bookings, check sydneyoperahouse.com.

thebrag.com

Wicked photo by Jeff Busby

WICKED PROVES ‘POPULAR’, SYDNEY SEASON ANNOUNCED

Award winning musical Wicked faced such demand for the Melbourne season that new tickets were released, and it will be flying into Sydney’s Capitol Theatre from Saturday September 20, with tickets on sale on Monday March 17. Lucy Durack and Jemma Rix are back in their starring roles as Glinda and Elphaba, in the show which has been called the defining musical of the decade. The Australian cast is currently performing in Manila, where they have broken all box office records with sold out shows across the season. Check dates and get your tickets from wickedthemusical.com.au.

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#music atthehouse

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Twelfth Night photo by Takaya Honda

Twelfth Night [THEATRE] A Bit Political By Adam Norris

Tamlyn Henderson & Ben Hall in Falsettos

Falsettos

James Lugton, Tyran Parke, Michael Pigott in Twelfth Night

[THEATRE] We Are Not Normal By Tegan Jones

“W

hat is normal?”

This three-word quote is a simple, yet quintessential, summation of the musical masterpiece that is Falsettos. The Tony Awardwinning show, directed by Stephen Colyer, is a story about familial relationships, set against the backdrop of the early ‘80s AIDS epidemic. Father and husband Marvin has recently left his wife for a younger man and struggles to maintain a ‘tight knit’ family between himself, his lover, his ex-wife and his son. If things weren’t already messy enough, a relationship develops between Marvin’s psychiatrist and his former spouse. With complicated relationships like that, it’s little wonder that this musical is being referred to as the original Modern Family.

The Eternity Playhouse Theatre in Darlinghurst is the perfect location for Falsettos. The intimacy of the performance space makes the audience feel like they are right there in the kitchen with the family. The single pianist is even incorporated into the home-like setting, with the piano itself being encased in a frame-like fashion on the wall. The musician offers an unspoken invitation to the audience pre-show with his refreshingly everyday antics; knitting a scarf that would make Tom Baker proud, and taking the time to water a solitary pot plant. Before a single song is sung, the set already feels like home. Depending on your own family life, this feeling may have been either negated or confirmed when the actors began singing the first song ‘Four Jews in a Room Bitching’.

Considering that many channels of the mainstream media depict Mardi Gras as little more than a one-night alcohol soaked celebration, shows such as this are imperative to the month long festival. Hall agrees, stating, “That is only one element of that culture.” The actor goes on to say that the most important element of the show is love, regardless of sexual orientation: “Love, is love, is love. No matter which way you look at it, that’s just what it is. It’s not politics; it’s not anything else. It’s about that person’s own journey and his own life.” Despite the heavy hitting issues that are explored in the show, it certainly isn’t all doom and gloom. Important themes are permeated with humour and a variety of quirky dance numbers; everything from classic Hollywood to ‘80s Jazzercise. Hall is certainly correct when he explains, “Instead of trying to be realistic, Stephen took the craziness and just ran with it.” Theatre junkies who love shows that think outside the box (literally, in this case) will thoroughly enjoy Falsettos. The entire cast is captivating from beginning to end, each giving performances worthy of a standing ovation. What: Falsettos When: Friday February 7 – Sunday March 16 Where: Darlinghurst Theatre, Eternity Playhouse More: mardigras.org.au

Sport For Jove is an award-winning repertory theatre that, since 2009, has already staged more Shakespeare than you can shake a stick at. It’s safe to say at this point that Wild Dog Will (as Shakespeare likely did not prefer to be called) has forever entrenched himself at the forefront of Western literature, but with his plays being performed with such regularity, the difficulties in staging a fresh production must be rather significant. “It’s certainly a fun challenge,” Damien admits. “I think it’s critical in any production to instill some original concepts. When you really turn a classic play on its head there’s the worry that you might be throwing the baby out with the bathwater, but it can produce a wonderful effect in an audience who thinks they know exactly what to expect. You have to stay true to what the play is trying to do, but you at least try to open a few new doors.” I have seen firsthand the bristling protectiveness of certain audiences towards Shakespeare, where any deviation from original dialogue or plot is met with undisguised disdain. Conversely, many productions have become lost in wellintentioned but baffling reimagining (a version of Othello where the characters were depicted as birds springs to mind). The line between is remarkably fine. “There’s a need to not overestimate an audience’s knowledge of the play by bringing a production that is so different, so out of shape that there’s nothing familiar for them to latch onto. And that seems to happen a little bit in this country, I feel. Certain productions assume a degree of

knowledge of Shakespeare just as they will assume a degree of boredom in the plays. There’s some need to try and turn them into something better than they are. People often ask, is Shakespeare still relevant? And of course he’s still relevant! He talks about what it means to be a father, a daughter, a lover, a sister, a brother, a king. His plays address really fundamental, eternal ideas.” One of the more timely ideas addressed in this production is the plight of asylum seekers, a character type that appears throughout Shakespeare more often than you would think. Great comedy is often laced with an edge of political commentary (just think of Monty Python), and Twelfth Night is no exception. “Twelfth Night is obviously a very famous play that’s been done many times, part of what you might call his shipwreck stories. It’s actually quite a political production in a way, with the current asylum seeker debate. Shakespeare clearly had a lot of empathy for such people, he wrote several beautiful passages about what it is to wash up, seeking asylum. In every one of these shipwrecks stories you have someone being terribly lost. Families who are ripped apart. What he does in each of those stories is to produce a miracle that by the end has been able to bring these people back together. It’s particularly interesting in Twelfth Night. It’s set in a land where they live in quite an affluent culture, they spend their time concerned with celebrity and very Western problems, and into it washes this distraught pair of twins who have lost everything; their father, each other. It really struck me as a play that reminds us of Australia’s current asylum situation, so there’s a slight political element that exists there now. It’s almost like Shakespeare dared to tap a couple of these poor souls and show us a little of their lives, their story, and it’s quite close to this country today.” What: Twelfth Night When: Wednesday March 5 - Sunday March 8 Where: Riverside Theatre, Paramatta More: riversideparramatta.com.au

Desperate Houseboys [THEATRE] Very Good Looking By Kate Robertson

esperate Houseboys is a new live show by the American comedy duo Jeffrey Self and Cole Escola – best known for their viral videos as the VGL (Very Good Looking) Gay Boys. Created specifically for the 2014 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, it imagines the hilarious antics of the pair after they accidentally end up in Australia. Self spoke to The BRAG about TV, live shows, YouTube and how eagerly he’s anticipating his first visit to Australia (“making out with really attractive Australian boys would be my number one goal in my trip”, he quips). Xx

“The show is about the two of us waking up from a crazy night, not knowing where we are and retracing our steps to figure out that we’re in Sydney, Australia, and deciding to try and stay so that we can pull a reverse Cate Blanchett and become famous in Australia for our exotic American sensibility”, explains Self. “The show is very much the same aesthetic as the YouTube videos – it’s just an hour long live show”. VGL Gay Boys arose after Self and Escola met through mutual friends, though these videos were a spontaneous offshoot of their original work together. “One day we sat down to try and write a play or something, and we tried to write this terrible, terrible script about Britney 22 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

Spears – we were really obsessed with her public meltdown”, Self revealed. “We started making YouTube videos while we were doing that and it took on its own little life. The reason we started doing that was to amuse ourselves, to distract ourselves from getting anything else done, and they had a little following and we went with it…It happened randomly and organically, we didn’t try to do a viral video – it was before viral was such a common thing – people were making YouTube videos, for sure, but there wasn’t anything to go and copy”. The VGL Gay Boys caught the attention of the cable Logo, who aired their sketch comedy series Jeffrey & Cole Casserole from 2009 to 2010. So, what inspires the duo? “I love when our sketches are based on something that’s actually happening and we take it beyond the reality of what it actually is”, says Self. “We both grew up loving the character actresses of the ’80s and ’90s, like Lily Tomlin, Bette Midler, Shelley Long and Shelley Duvall, and so even if it’s just from a fan boy point of view, we really try to bring the zing of ’70s, ’80s and early ’90s comedy to what we do. In our minds we’re always in Outrageous Fortunes, with Bette Midler and Shelley Long.” He also singles out the filmmaker John Waters as a strong influence. “What’s great about the John Waters

movies is he’s sort of like ‘here’s the reality, enjoy!’ – he gets to make the rules. I think that’s what we strive to do in what we make – to create a little world which is Jeffrey and Cole’s version of the world – and by Jeffrey and Cole I mean the versions of ourselves we play, and not being weird and talking about ourselves in the third person.” Desperate Houseboys follows a run of live shows in New York and Los Angeles, where Self and Escola reunited after several years working on their own acting and writing projects. Self advises that the Sydney

audience can “expect a really bizarre, funny, moderately sexy good time. Our shows, we always describe them as like a sitcom, like 1960s, ‘70s buddy sitcoms, like Laverne and Shirley on acid – it’s a really insane view of the world in a pretty traditional format of a sitcom.” What: Desperate Houseboys When: Tuesday February 18 – Friday February 28 Where: Reginald Theatre, Seymour Centre More: seymourcentre.com thebrag.com

Falsettos photo by Helen White

Actor Ben Hall, who plays the character of Whizzer, describes Falsettos as a “hilarious show” about “incredibly dysfunctional relationships.” The minimalistic stage and purposeful shortage of props seems to highlight this idea. The characters and their relationships are the focus of the show. They’re so in depth that one seems to forget that Whizzer is miming getting undressed, Marvin is pretending to climb under an invisible blanket while Trina moves a large wooden box with no help from stagehands. This approach is refreshing, forces versatility and seems to fit perfectly with the accompanying self-deprecating humour of the show.

The ‘80s may be well and truly in the past, but that in no way negates the family oriented theme of Falsettos. In fact, one could argue that the show’s relevance has been reinvented due to the current political and social environment surrounding issues of gay marriage and same sex child rearing. This idea is particularly prevalent through the character of Jason, Marvin and Trina’s son. According to Hall, Jason is “...the most normal, healthy person in the entire show. The least neurotic; the smartest and most understanding.”

ust in time for Shakespeare’s 450th birthday (who is looking pretty good for someone who hit their quadricentennial without even breaking a sweat), theatre company Sport For Jove will be staging Twelfth Night at Parramatta’s Riverside Theatre. We speak with director Damien Ryan about the Great Bard’s enduring appeal, and the timeliness of the production in Australia’s current political land- and seascape.

Film Reviews Hits and misses on the silver screen around town

■ Theatre

PINBALL

A BOY & A BEAN

Until February 28 at TAP Gallery

February 19-22, Joan Sutherland Centre

Faran Martin in Pinball

Pinball is a sprawling narrative revolving around one premise – a divorced couple fighting over custody of their son. Although seemingly simple, it’s the multitude of contributing factors that make this story highly relevant in its production as part of the 2014 Mardi Gras Festival. It’s the early 1980s. After the bra burnings of the late '60s, women’s rights remain a divisive issue. Entangled in the feminist ‘debate’ are the concepts of divorce and same-sex relationships. Theenie (Karoline O'Sullivan) is a young mother. Divorced and currently in a romantic relationship with another woman, she finds herself at odds with those who’d prefer she remained a dutiful mother and obedient wife. Challenging not only the father of her child but also her family, a bigoted judge and centuries of tradition, she is forced to fight to be a part of her son’s life. Theenie’s opposition is unwavering in her persistent hope that wisdom, dignity, tolerance and love will shine through. The two-hour running time of this performance is a little overblown, especially when considering the time the story strands take to meaningfully overlap. Nonetheless the cast are extremely competent in their mostly multiple roles. Among the standouts are Theenie’s new girlfriend Axis, played here with wit and empathy by Emma Louise. Also impressive is John Michael Burdon, jumping between five characters with chameleon-like ability, skillfully accentuating the unique, physical comedy of each role (with a little help from the fashion of the day).

Pinball is a solid, entertaining effort that serves as a reminder of the fundamental changes in human freedoms over the years while also highlighting the continued existence of this intolerance. Lee Hutchison

Emerging Sydney artist Nick Atkins’ A Boy & A Bean highlights the importance of seeing through what society deems a suitable relationship, knowing that marriage isn’t the pinnacle of love, and understanding the importance of legislative equality in today’s world. A well-written and performed play, this one-man narrative fits the bill for this year’s Mardi Gras Festival fabulously. We follow the story of Jack and David, both believably played by Atkins, who find each other – and what at least one of them thinks is love – in an Erskineville café. It's narrated the whole way through by a mysteriously camp creature (also Atkins) known only as “the Giant’s first wife”. Over the course of 10 or so years, this 60-minute performance takes us through the ups and downs of samesex social normative expectations, the dark side of which is represented by the oppressive “giant” that hides in shadows and feeds off sadness, and is counteracted by his now free wife who teaches Jack that words are clunky and humans are stupid. Almost impeccably delivered, Atkins’ script is superb. It’s original, it’s funny throughout and when it needs to, it certainly gets you thinking. There are also some awesome little nods to our modern day lives, including an iPhone text message conversation projected onto a screen disguised as a back wall, as well as a hilarious mention of our preoccupation with checking in and liking all sorts of random bollocks on social media. There is a heavy political undertone that, arguably, could be completely scrapped and still leave this an interesting and vibrant celebration of love regardless of your sexuality. However, if you don’t mind a bit of LGBTI empowerment with your Mardi Gras Festival, you’ll come away feeling proud of your brothers and sisters. Which, let’s be honest, can’t be all bad.

Sweet Charity ■ Theatre

SWEET CHARITY Until March 9 at Hayes Theatre One of the truisms of musical theatre is that it’s big. Big emotions, big outfits, a chorus line three-deep and stars belting out anthems to the bleachers. So what happens when you take a Broadway musical, directed by Bob Fosse on stage as well as on screen, and plonk it in a venue that makes Belvoir look like the Colosseum? The Hayes Theatre Co. has taken over the old, and tiny Darlinghurst Theatre, and are billing it as the new home for musical theatre and cabaret in Sydney. Spearheaded by production companies, directors and producers, they’ve opened with Sweet Charity, the Neil

Simon/Cy Coleman/Fosse retooling of Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria as dance-hall extravaganza. Fellini’s heroine is a prostitute. Her titular counterpart in the musical works at a dance hall in New York City in the 1960’s. Charity dances with men for a price, and the question of what else she might do is left deliberately vague. So the role isn’t a completely sanitised version of the more degraded original; there’s still plenty of meat on the bone for an actress, and in Verity HuntBallard, the ex-Mary Poppins, this production has hit pay dirt. Hunt-Ballard sings and dances like a pro, but her comic ability is virtuoso. Her timing is so good it’s invisible; she’s a riot precisely because her line readings are so unpredictable. I’ve never seen the movie version with Shirley MacLaine, but Hunt-Ballard might give even her pause.

Just as impressive is Martin Crewes, who plays the two main male roles, as well as a third minor one. As the Italian movie star Charity runs into, Crewes has great fun riffing on the smooth Mastroianni-type. It looks effortless, which only makes his transformation into Oscar, the sweet suitor with anxiety issues, all the starker. It’s a plum of a role, and Crewes eats it alive. The intimacy of the space works wonders too, especially in the show’s most emotional moments. The actors can play the small stuff. The prodigious Dean Bryant has come up with a show that’s both spectacular and intimate at the same time. As an opening salvo, this space could scarcely have found a better showcase. Harry Windsor

Giveaway What's been on our TV screens this week enter: thebrag.com/freeshit

S AY W EA IV G

Shockingly prejudiced remarks taken from real-life custody cases of the time are cleverly interwoven into the script. Such comments are made all the more disturbing when considered alongside the fact that they were made only 30 years ago.

Nick Atkins in A Boy & A Bean

Broadway Idiot

Jack Smith

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Arts Exposed What's in our diary...

ArgyleXchange Opening Party 2014 ArgyleXchange Courtyard, 12-20 Argyle Street, The Rocks Wednesday February 19 The ArgyleXchange Festival is here from Monday February 17 to Monday March 31 for more than a month of food, good times, and unforgettable experiences. Wednesday February 19 is the big opening party so come along, grab your complimentary drink on arrival and have a taste of all four of the ArgyleXchange kitchens; Saké, The Cut, Ananas and The Argyle. Tunes are courtesy of Nina Las Vegas, KLP (live) and LaVida and there are heaps of giveaways and prizes to be won. Tickets are $20 + bf, and you can buy them and check out the full list of events at argyleXchange.com.au. thebrag.com

MUSICAL! IDIOT! WIN! From punk rock mosh pits and sold-out stadiums to red curtains and the bareboards, Broadway Idiot follows Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong as he works with Broadway veterans to turn his mega-hit album, American Idiot, into a Broadway musical. Because, realistically, everything is better as a musical. The film goes behind the scenes with Billie Joe and Michael Mayer and provides insider access to Billie’s personal transformation from rock star to Broadway star. Which is not at all what I expected from the panda-eyed muso. It was included in the Official Selection at both SXSW Film Festival and BFI LONDON Film Festival and has had some pretty great reviews.

It’s released on DVD and digitally on Wednesday February 19 in Australia, but here at BRAG HQ we have five copies of the DVD for you to get your sticky paws on. Just head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us which other musician you want to see turned into a musical. Bonus points if you give your musical a great name.

WIN!

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Album Reviews

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

ALBUM OF THE WEEK MARISSA NADLER July Bella Union/[PIAS]

Here’s one for the downtrodden Xxxx romantics.

There are a few surprising musical flourishes on this outing; the synth in ‘Dead City Emily’, the orchestral flourishes and blues guitar of ‘Was It A Dream’, the dual guitar in ‘Holiday In’. But for the most part, the star of the show is

Warpaint photo by Mia Kirby

Boston’s Marissa Nadler is an example of an artist who has no bad albums – no small feat seven records into a career. If you love one of her quality collections of introspective folk, you’ll love them all. Her new album, July, continues the streak.

Nadler’s voice, with good reason. Her voice is incredibly striking and inherently sad. I’m sure that even if she were recounting the best day of her life, it would still sound like a loved one had just passed. Couple this with her evermournful lyrics, and there’s not much in the way of levity. A small sample: “If you don’t make it now, you’re never going to make it”; “Maybe it’s the weather / But I’ve got nothing in my heart”. Not exactly a party-starter, but for those with a heavy heart, Marissa Nadler and July will ease the pain. Leonardo Silvestrini

THE HOLIDAYS

TEMPLES

BROKEN BELLS

YOU ME AT SIX

ACTRESS

Sydney outfit The Holidays never quite rose to the lofty heights that many – including themselves, possibly – had expected they would. Now, post-Post Paradise, the textured calypso is not so much there anymore and in its place is a fuller, more stoic sound that Kevin Mitchell and Jebediah would be fans of.

In the face of some heady hype ever since woozy debut single ‘Shelter Song’ first appeared in late 2012, UK neo-psych quartet Temples have taken their time putting out a debut long-player. The result is a work that has feet planted firmly in the past and the present.

The at-first unusual collaboration between James Mercer of The Shins and artist/producer Brian Burton, AKA Danger Mouse, is hard not to appreciate – if not love – on this, their second album.

An increased touring schedule and overcoming a near-break up culminated in the release of 2011’s Sinners Never Sleep, which beefed up You Me At Six’s sound and proved the band was more than just another pop-rock act. Three years later and the group’s latest release, Cavalier Youth, has failed to capitalise on the growth and power of its predecessor. While all the vital You Me At Six elements are present – pop sensibilities, edgy rock, and their knack for crafting a great ballad – they have been executed in a way that feels too formulaic, lacking any real kick-in-the-pants memorable moments and stopping the band from making the leap from good to great. The album isn’t without its highlights – first two singles ‘Lived A Lie’ and ‘Fresh Start Fever’ and the catchy ‘Love Me Like You Used To’ bullseye the target – but for the most part, Cavalier Youth is mediocre. While Sinners Never Sleep was full of risks, Cavalier Youth feels a lot safer, playing on what the band does well but without any real boldness. The result is a catchy and easily digestible album, yet not the standout record we were waiting for.

Sweaty, sleepless and surly, sometimes in summer you just need something fresh and sweet to sip on. Ghettoville is not that palatecleanser. It is dark, relentlessly repetitive, and could well be designed with the express purpose of pissing off such feeble-minded music fans as myself. The mood is set by the album opener ‘Forgiven’, and the uneasy feeling the album gives, like it’s the soundtrack to a ferry ride down the Styx, barely abates over the course of 70 minutes. ‘Forgiven’ consists of two chords and one bar of drum beat that loop for seven minutes while a subway train thunders somewhere beneath. Wonder how track two finishes? Listen to the first bar, repeat it in your head and fade out. Track three? Repeat – and there are few exceptions to this rule across the 16 songs. The uniformly dreary tone brings to mind Burial’s Untrue, but even in the depths of that record’s darkness there is always something beautiful to hold on to.

Real Feel Liberation

Album highlight ‘Tongue Talk’ is a triumphant pop anthem that will worm its way onto the road trip playlists of everyone who hears it, bringing to mind the ’90s brilliance that was Len’s ‘Steal My Sunshine’. ‘Simple Pleasures’ is a standout, with vocalist Simon Jones’ affable falsetto cruising alongside the arpeggios that juxtapose nicely against the syncopated marching band beat. The album is very cleanly produced, but at times the amalgamation of organic sounds with synthetic ones is a little jarring (the bongos-versusblippy Korg notes in ‘Outsiders’ doesn’t quite work). The Holidays’ first effort Post Paradise seemed like an aptly named album for an aptly named band. Real Feel does not quite have the conceptual cohesion of their debut.

Sun Structures Heavenly/[PIAS]

The aforementioned ‘Shelter Song’ opens proceedings with a burst of mid-’60s Californian jangle before the title track takes things into a dronier, darker direction. Throughout Sun Structures there are hints of the same sonic territory currently being trodden by the likes of Toy and Tame Impala (‘Mesmerise’ could quite easily pass for the latter). The main point of difference for Temples is that their reverence for the sounds of the ’60s is far more out in the open. Tracks like ‘The Golden Throne’ and ‘Move With The Season’ are seeped in the luscious pastoral psychedelia of bands like Traffic and early Yes, while ‘The Guesser’ evokes the haunting autumnal shimmer of The Zombies.

However, it seems much more like an album they wanted to make rather than one they felt obliged to make.

The syrupy sweet melodies that radiate out of the speakers are what make Sun Structures more than just an homage and an ideal soundtrack to the dying days of summer.

Raf Seneviratne

Michael Hartt

After The Disco Columbia/Sony

It’s a record clutching post-disco straws, but providing relief from the more dance-oriented tracks are songs like ‘Leave It Alone’, which emits a certain loneliness that actually feels like the comedown after the school disco – when everyone’s waiting to be picked up, and the DJ plays to a dancefloor filled only with deflated spirits and lost loves. ET-like synths throughout ‘Holding On For Life’ balance out Mercer’s Bee Gees-inclining falsetto, and the electro syncopations in leading track ‘Perfect World’ are a not-toodistracting background to a pleasant melody and Mercer’s infallible vocals. The aeronautic romance of the twopart short film that accompanies this album is worth a YouTube visit, if only to help appreciate the sonic lushness of After The Disco. Broken Bells make galactic soundscapes seem musical and distinct on a record combining the genius of Mercer and Burton into one, big space odyssey. Katie Davern

INDIE ALBUM OF THE WEEK “Now look at the dirt on my toes and tell me I’m less of a man for leaving you.” This is the kind of tone you can expect from Hayden Calnin’s sophomore EP Oh, Hunter. Dark. Cold. Distant. Yet embraces you fully. At just five songs long, Oh, Hunter connects a personal emotion with you and immediately fills you with an unbearable sense that you are about to lose it.

HAYDEN CALNIN Oh, Hunter Create/Control

24 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

Opener ‘Coward’ makes that feeling known straight away, providing a gentle and muted beat before bursting free, filling the world for a few seconds and then retreating to the woods, drums calling out from the shadows. This

tone is pervasive through the EP. ‘I Corrupt’ strays somewhat, with Calnin stretching his vocals to cover both high and low falsettos, creating something similar to Volcano Choir, however it doesn’t work too well from him. ‘Not Good For Me’ is the strongest song and feels as though Calnin has been influenced, however slightly, from his support slots for Oliver Tank, taking the sparse guitar and electronic sounds in an entirely different direction. Calnin has created a powerful and beautiful EP, a sound akin to the blanket you hide beneath on a bleak and rainy day.

Cavalier Youth Cooking Vinyl

Ghettoville Werkdiscs/Inertia

There is evidence of growth and a handful of impressive tracks but overall Cavalier Youth isn’t a memorable release.

Ghettoville’s palette is more consistently dark, and it might take holding out until winter before I can try again to wallow in the cold, muddy waters of this record and find some mutant beauty that has survived the apocalypse.

Gloria Brancatisano

Patrick O’Brien

OFFICE MIXTAPE

And here are the albums that have helped BRAG HQ get through the week... MELODY GARDOT - My One And Only Thrill WASHINGTON - Insomnia KENDRICK LAMAR - Good Kid, m.A.A.d City

BERLIN WALLFLOWER - Demos BASTILLE - Covers

Daniel Prior

thebrag.com

live reviews

What we've been out to see...

ACHOO! BLESS YOU, ALL OUR EXES LIVE IN TEXAS, VIDEO SET Brighton Up Bar Thursday February 13

On its own Galentine’s Day, Brighton Up Bar delivered a stellar local lineup of (mostly) ladies. The three gals of Video Set (formerly Salta) played a mix of old and new, hinting at what we can expect from their upcoming EP. ‘Tiger’ was all clear harmonies that recalled First Aid Kit, but with lyrics and an electric bass that kept things a little more gritty. A stripped-back cover of Fiona Apple’s ‘Extraordinary Machine’ was a highlight, as was new track ‘Big Red Sun’. ‘Dixie folk’ group All Our Exes Live In Texas (“We each have five ex-husbands that we’ve left behind in Texas”) took the stage with an acoustic guitar, a mandolin, a ukulele and a piano accordion. The band was chatty and joking around and it seemed they were having a great time – or at least, better than the last time they played together at the Tamworth Country Music Festival. “Tamworth is musical hell,” they said, which was countered with “Tamworth is everything hell!” The set also included a live demonstration of the latest instrument (invented by Elana Stone) during ‘Hawaiian Nose Guitar’, and the very catchy ‘Hotel Yorba’ that showed off the band’s four-part harmonies while the crowd clapped along enthusiastically. By the time Achoo! Bless You took the stage, Brighton Up felt like the lounge room of a mate’s house party – there was cheering, stomping and beer bottles lifted in salute as Ash Steel and Ross James Tipper arrived. Their chemistry and conversational harmonies were sweetly complementary, with Steel flitting from glockenspiel to ukulele and harmonica while Tipper held things together on guitar. The expanded band joined them for ‘Before We Say Goodbye’, then the duo slowed things down with ballad ‘The City’ and their “saddest” song, the mournful ‘Your Hand In Mine’. After a sweet cover of Rilo Kiley’s ‘Silver Lining’ the stomping and raucous singing along was back for ‘The Necessary Space’ before descending to crazy-dancing levels for new single ‘Wild Eyes’, which combined tambourine, fiddle and more boy-girl harmonies, making for a fun and memorable end to the night. Natalie Amat

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VERA PHOTOGRAPHER :: MARIA DE

JULIA HOLTER, DUCKTAILS, CAITLIN PARK The Standard Wednesday January 12

In the minutes before Julia Holter took the stage, the lights dimmed, the background music faded and all present knew too well that a regular Wednesday night at The Standard was soon to become an entrancing evening. Opening for Holter was the humble and delightful Sydney folktronic singer-songwriter Caitlin Park. Standing alone with only a loop pedal, drum pad and an acoustic guitar for comfort, Park’s falsetto shimmered through the air. The set encompassed minimal organic arrangements sliding into tracks ‘Baby Teeth’ and ‘Tic Tac Language’ along with new song ‘Hunt For The Young’. Despite a small turnout to begin with, the timid ambience of the room made for a more intimate atmosphere; the absorbing accuracy of Park’s rich voice reverberating throughout each punter. Real Estate’s Matt Mondanile, also known by the moniker Ducktails, continued to warm and invigorate the crowd, performing a flowing fusion of dreamy, spaced-out pop tunes with serious style and ease. Whilst his brilliance shines through his recorded material, the live performance Mondanile offers is relaxed yet amiable and, if you’re given the opportunity, should undeniably be experienced. 10:40pm rolled around and as the otherwise darkened auditorium began to swell, the crowd was drawn to the stage wherein Julia Holter walked unassumingly into the spotlight behind her keyboard, and was joined by her foursome of musical comrades. Opening with ‘In The Same Room’, together they launched into an hour of melancholy cinematic soundscapes, making abundant live use of instrumentation to communicate the heartfelt and contemplative music to those there to listen. With each track thoughtfully constructed, their fluid meld of classical, jazz, rock and theatre influences were apparent most in ‘Horns Surrounding Me’, ‘In The Green Wild’ and ‘Hello Stranger’, accentuated by driven cello plucks, violin and saxophone. Considering the low-key intimacy of the venue, amid charming banter, there lay a certain level of attentiveness and appreciation from an older crowd. There was no encore performance, but upon Holter’s humble stage departure her listeners were left warm and content before heading outside to a chilly night of rain. Kiera Thanos

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ed kowalczyk

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up all night out all week . . .

world’s end press

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11:02:14 :: Enmore Theatre :: 118-132 Enmore Rd Newtown 9550 3666

mtns

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13:02:14 :: Oxford Art Factory :: 38-46 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9332 3711

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the dark hawks

sunday sabbath sessions

13:02:14 :: The Captain Cook Hotel :: 162 Flinders St Paddington 9360 4327 26 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

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14:02:14 :: Brighton Up Bar :: 1/77 Oxford St Darlinghurst 9361 3379

16:02:14 :: Frankie’s Pizza :: 50 Hunter St Sydney OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MARIA DE VERA ::

S :: JAMES AMBROSE :: LIAM CAM

ERON :: ASHLEY MAR ::

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live review

up all night out all week . . .

What we've been out to see...

OLIVER TANK, OSCAR KEY SUNG, BREE TRANTER Metro Theatre Saturday February 15 On a rainy night the day after Valentine’s, Oliver Tank’s Slow Motion Music EP launch at the Metro was full of dreamy, ambient soundscapes and melancholic lyrics that had a youthful crowd swooning. Bree Tranter, former member of indiefolksters The Middle East, opened proceedings with a synth-heavy set in which the empty room actually accentuated her haunting and vulnerable energy. ‘Wounded Love’, the lead single from last year’s EP Jaws, was the highlight with its M83-like grandeur. 2013 was a breakout year for Melbourne’s Oscar Key Sung, with support sets for Ghostpoet and international airplay, and it saw him become a prominent presence in the Sydney electronic live scene. Unfortunately, the Melburnian’s ’90s R&B production-meets-reclusive bedroom stylings took a while to warm up tonight. Starting with downbeat, ambient songs, Oscar picked up the crowd’s interest when he dropped his dancefloor-friendly material including ‘It’s Coming’ and latest track ‘Holograms’. Cue awkwardly nifty dance

moves from the producer. Though this wasn’t his strongest set (it was his third show in three nights), there was enough to suggest 2014 will be another big year. Appearing onstage to the iconic opening bars of James Blake’s ‘Limit To Your Love’, Oliver Tank granted his fervent fan base its wish as ‘Time Slows Down When You Walk Into the Room’ kick-started the postValentine’s comedown. Armed with an electric guitar, ‘Help You Breathe’ and the lead single from his debut EP, ‘Dreams’, both went down a treat, while Tranter re-emerged to help out on ‘Stay’. Though Tank’s music is simple, it has a hypnotic feel best exemplified on the outstanding track from his recent EP, ‘Different Speed’, featuring Ta-Ku’s suitably chilled atmospheric production. There was also a cover of another Sydneysider, Dustin Tebbutt’s ‘The Breach’ – but always the crowd-pleaser, Tank closed with unexpected covers of Snoop Dogg and Pharrell’s ‘Beautiful’ and ‘Drop It Like It’s Hot’. Needless to say, the crowd lapped it up and grooved in approval as a night of wistful and dreamy ambience ended in a joyous dance. Larry Lai

austra

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14:02:14 :: The Standard :: 3/383 Bourke St Darlinghurst 9660 7953 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MARIA DE VERA ::

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send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com

pick of the week Green Day

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23 Sydney Olympic Park

Soundwave Green Day + Avenged Sevenfold + Alice In Chains + Korn + Placebo + Alter Bridge + Newsted + Biffy Clyro + Asking Alexandria + Clutch + More 11am. $184.65. WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Lionel Cole Imperial Hotel, Paddington. 8pm. free. Los Gringos Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $10. Mingus Amongst Us Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Dolly Parton Qantas Credit Union Arena, Darling Harbour. 7:30pm. $100. Mark Travers Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free. Pulp Kitchen And Folk Club - feat: Live Rotating Folk Bands Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery Sackville Hotel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Andy Mammers Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. 28 :: BRAG :: 550 : 19:02:14

Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7:30pm. free. Michael Paynter + Imogen Brough Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $28.60. Redlight Ruby O’Malley’s Hotel, Kings Cross. 9:30pm. free. Repeater - feat: Insonitus + Monrobot Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. $10. Sarah Paton Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. The Chosen Few Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free. Tom White Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 6pm. free.

Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. 6:30pm. $99.70. Cara Kavanagh And Mark Oats Duo O’Malley’s Hotel, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Clive Hay Mounties, Mt Pritchard. 7pm. free. Gary Johns Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 7:30pm. free. Gogarty Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $10. Greg Agar Summer Hill Hotel, Summer Hill. 7:30pm. free. Hitseekers Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney. 10pm. free.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK

Live Music Thursdays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Peach Montgomery Forest Lodge Hotel, Forest Lodge. 7:30pm. free. Songsonstage - feat: Andrew Denniston + Duncan Kamakana + Guests

Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 7:30pm. free. The Gin Club Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 9pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

10 O’Clock Rock Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 10pm. free. Alex Hopkins (Open Mic Night) Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 7:30pm. free. Angela Locke Bexley North Hotel, Bexley North. 6:30pm. free. Appleonia + Eleanor Dunlop + Heartswin + Magic Steven FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Daniel Mallari Revesby Workers Club, Revesby. 12pm. free. Dave White Duo Maloney’s Hotel, Sydney. 9:30pm. free. Greg Byrne Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free. Hitseekers Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10pm. free. Jamie Lindsay Dee Why Hotel, Dee Why. 7pm. free. Klay The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. free. Kurt Williams Peakhurst Inn, Peakhurst. 7:30pm. free. Matt Price

Anna Salleh: Brazil & Beyond Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $27.50. Cole Soul And Emotion feat: Lionel Cole The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Jazz Degustation - feat: Bar’El The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 7pm. $55. Live Latin Summer Sessions - feat: Malo Malo Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction. 7pm. $7. The Subterraneans Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $11.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 21 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Martha Marlo + Jess Pollard Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. free. The Strides Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction. 7:30pm. $12. Tricia Evy Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $27.50.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Bandsonstage - feat: Star Witness + The Padres + Sugar Bowl Ruby L’otel, Rozelle. 8pm. free. Craig Laird Windsor Leagues Club, Windsor South. 9:15pm. free. Greg Lines Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale. 7pm. free. Jammin With Songsonstage - feat: Stuart Jammin Earlwood Hotel, Earlwood. 7:30pm. free. JJ Duo Club Windang, Windang. 7:30pm. free. Live Music Fridays Bar100, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Marty Stewart General Gordon Hotel, Sydenham. 7pm. free. Panama Duo Courthouse Hotel, Darlinghurst. 10pm. free.

Brighton Up Bar, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $5. Ben Bennett Chatswood RSL, Chatswood. 5pm. free. Ben Finn Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free. Carl Fidler Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Courtyard Sessions - feat: Bears With Guns Seymour Centre, Chippendale. 6pm. free. Dave Phillips Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free. Dave White Duo Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 8pm. free. East Coast Band Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 10:30pm. free. Elevate (Duo) Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 5pm. free. Er Among Ether - feat: Last Credit + Bort + Three Kings Down Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 8pm. $10. Evie Dean The Grand Hotel, Rockdale. 5:30pm. free. Greg Agar Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 6pm. free. Greg Agar Kings Cross Hotel, Kings Cross. 11:30pm. free. Greta Mob + The Holy Soul + Darren Cross Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $15. Happy Hippies East Hills Hotel, East Hills. 7:15pm. free. Hatch World Bar, Kings Cross. 10pm. $5. Heath Burdell Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Hooray For Everything Kurnell Recreation Club, Kurnell. 7:30pm. free. James Englund Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 9pm. free. Jason Singh The Basement, Circular Quay. 7pm. $40. Jeff Duff + Ebony Black Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $19. Jess Dunbar Novotel, Darling Harbour. 5:30pm. free. Jimmy Barnes + The Dead Daisies Taronga Zoo, Sydney. 7:30pm. $66. John Field Duo Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 9pm. free. Jonathon Jones Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Klay Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9pm. free. Live Music At The Royal The Royal, Leichhardt. 9:30pm. free. Los Hombres Del Diablo + Last Trip

Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 8:30pm. free. Luke Robinson Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 10:30pm. free. Matt Jones Brewhouse Marayong, Kings Park. 8pm. free. Matt Jones Duo Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 6pm. free. Matt Jones Trio Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 10:30pm. free. Matt Price Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 9pm. free. Michael Mcglynn New Brighton Hotel, Manly. 10pm. free. Mother’s Cake Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 7pm. free. Natasha Kavanagh Mona Vale Hotel, Mona Vale. 5:30pm. free. Okkervil River + Ernest Ellis Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $52. Rad-A-Rama Garage Party - feat: Palms + Drunk Mums + Bad//Dreems + The Hollow Bones + The Stiffys + Lunatics On Pogosticks Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Rapture North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 7:30pm. free. Reckless Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free. Rhythm Or Bust Vineyard Hotel, Vineyard. 9pm. free. Rock Solid Padstow RSL Club, Padstow. 7:30pm. free. Ryan Thomas Parramatta RSL Club, Parramatta. 5pm. free. Skyzthelimit Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 8pm. free. The Lonely Boys Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain. 9pm. free. Tim Shaw Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free. V.I.P. Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free. Wildcatz Towradgi Beach Hotel, Towradgi. 9pm. free. You Beauty Album Launch feat: Angie Tokyo Sing Song, Newtown. 10pm. free. Zoltan Adria, Sydney. 5pm. free. Zoltan PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 9pm. free.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC Brendan Clarke Quartet feat: James Muller

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. Am 2 Pm Hillside Hotel, Castle Hill. 8pm. free. Art & Music Explosion feat: Raindrop + Sindy Sin + Mike Watt + Gypsys Of Pangea + Glass Skies + Grand Oyster Palace

The John Steel Singers

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g g guide g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com Foundry616, Ultimo. 8:30pm. $21.50. Emma Pask Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $31. Yuki Kumagi - feat: John Mackie Well Co. Cafe And Wine Bar, Leichhardt. 11am. free.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Amber Lawrence & Jason Owen Katoomba RSL, Katoomba. 8pm. $25. Ben Gumbleton (Benjalu) Openair Cinema, Bondi Beach. 7:15pm. $17. Craig Laird The Belvedere Hotel, Sydney. 8:45pm. free. GJ Donovan Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. JJ Duo Pittwater RSL, Mona Vale. 7pm. free. Josh Pyke Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $35. Live Music Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Paul Hayward & Friends Town & Country Hotel, St Peters. 4pm. free. Russell Nelson Hotel Pennant Hills, Pennant Hills. 10pm. free. Souled Out Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Alex Hopkins Sir Joseph Banks Hotel, Botany. 7pm. free. Am 2 Pm Club Central Menai, Menai. 8:30pm. free. As You Were Carousel Inn Hotel, Rooty Hill. 8pm. free. Benn Gunn Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 9pm. free. Black Diamond Hearts Rock Lily, Pyrmont. 9:30pm. free. Bounce Macarthur Tavern, Campbelltown. 9pm. free. Cara Kavanagh + Mark Oats Duo PJ Gallagher’s, Leichhardt. 9pm. free. Dave White Duo Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 9:30pm. free. Dom Turner & The Backsliders Botany View Hotel, Newtown. 7pm. free. Endless Summer Beach Party Campbelltown Catholic Club, Campbelltown. 9:30pm. free. Fun Machine Spectrum, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $12. Greg Agar Australian Hotel And Brewery, Rouse Hill. 10pm. free. Heath Burdell Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 7pm. free. Hooray For Everything North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 7:30pm. free. James Englund Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 9pm. free. Jamie Lindsay Duo The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 6pm. free. Jess Dunbar Crows Nest Hotel, Crows Nest. 7pm. free. Joe Echo PJ Gallagher’s, Moore Park. 7:30pm. free. Joey And The Boy Campsie RSL, Campsie. 7pm. free. John Field Duo

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Greystanes Inn, Greystanes Inn. 8pm. free. The John Steel Singers + Jeremy Neale Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 7:30pm. $12. Kate Oakley Abbotts Hotel, Waterloo. 8pm. free. Luke Dixon Castle Hill RSL, Castle Hill. 9pm. free. Matt Price Duo Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 8:30pm. free. Metallica Show The Bradbury, Bradbury. 8:30pm. free. Michael Saracino Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 3:30pm. free. Muddy Feet Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 10pm. free. Nicky Kurta Duo Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 10pm. free. Party Central R.G. McGees, Richmond. 9pm. free. Pat Drummond Back To School Party Kirribilli Hotel, Milsons Point. 11:30pm. free. Pretty Rosca Jam Gallery, Bondi Junction. 7:30pm. $7. Rapture Sutherland United Services Club, Sutherland. 7:30pm. free. Red Beard + Cuervo + A Gentleman’s Agreement + Lint Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 8:30pm. free. Rock Solid Duo Mittagong RSL, Mittagong. 8pm. free. Roger Vs. The Man + Five Coffees + Flight To Dubai + Aaron Lyon The Standard, Surry Hills. 7pm. $10. Ryan Thomas General Gordon Hotel, Sydenham. 7pm. free. Ryan Thomas The Lucky Australian Hotel, St Marys. 2pm. free. Sons Of Mercury Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 10pm. free. Tangled Up In Bob - A Tribute To Dylan Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $20. The Coronas The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $45.50. The Exes Coogee Bay Hotel, Coogee. 9pm. free. The Lonely Boys The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney. 8:30pm. free. Two Minds The Mercantile Hotel, Sydney. 3pm. free. Uberfest Sydney 2014 - feat: Euryale + The MisMade + Caught Out + Severance + Wornaway + Another Avenue + Now Or Never + Cold Man Browne + Dave Wells + Josh Annand + Many More Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 2pm. $22. Wildcatz Ivanhoe Hotel, Manly. 10pm. free. Yum Penrith Gaels, Kingswood. 7pm. free. Zoltan Stacks Taverna, Sydney. 6pm. free.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23 JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Vtribe Moonshine Cider & Rum Bar, Manly. 7:30pm. free.

ACOUSTIC/ COUNTRY/BLUES/ FOLK

Chill Out Sundays Scubar, Sydney. 7:30pm. free. Fuchsia II + Hazy Bee Petersham Bowling Club, Petersham. 5pm. $10. Intimate Sessions Paragon Hotel, Sydney. 6pm. free. Joshua James + Lakyn The Vanguard, Newtown. 6:30pm. $23.80. Live Music Sundays Bar100, The Rocks. 1pm. free. Marty Stewart Western Suburbs Leagues Club, Leumeah. 12pm. free. Sunday Blues And Roots The White Horse, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. U2 Elevation Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. White Bros Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. Willy’s Blues (A Tribute To Willy Dixon) - feat: The Violent Loves Bald Faced Stag, Leichhardt. 7pm. $20.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alex Hopkins Mill Hill Hotel, Bondi Junction. 3pm. free. Colene Crawford + Dayle Hutchin + Hue Williams Hardys Bay Club, Hardys Bay. 3pm. free. Craig Thommo Ambarvale Tavern, Ambarvale. 2pm. free. Electric Sundays - feat: Royal Chant + Love Parade + The Reservations + Robert F Cranny Town Hall Hotel, Balmain. 5pm. free. Elevation U2 Acoustic Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 4:30pm. free. Eugene Hideaway Bridges + Johnny Cass Brass Monkey, Cronulla. 7pm. $22. Frankie’s Technicolour Psych-Night - feat: StepPanther + Spirit Valley + The Walking Who + The Tsars + Archers + The Grand Rapids + The Dead Heads + Ghost Talk Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 8pm. free. Greg Agar North Sydney Leagues Club, Cammeray. 5pm. free. Jess Dunbar Manly Skiff Sailing Club, Manly. 4pm. free. Klay Waverley Bowling Club, Waverley. 3pm. free. Malachite Method - feat: Total Addiction + Magnus + The Ivory Drips Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 5pm. $10. Mark Travers Ettamogah Hotel, Kelly Ridge. 1pm. free. Matt Jones Band Three Wise Monkeys, Sydney. 10pm. free. Matt Jones Diddly-Dee The Mean Fiddler, Rouse Hill. 1:30pm. free. Nicky Kurta Duo Woolloomooloo Bay Hotel, Woolloomooloo. 3pm. free. Soundwave 2014 - feat: Green Day + Avenged Sevenfold + Alice In Chains + Korn + Placebo + Alter Bridge + Newsted + Biffy Clyro + Asking Alexandria + Clutch + More Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush. 11am. $184.65. Steve Tonge Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 8:30pm. free. The Chosen Few Northies Cronulla Hotel, Cronulla. 6pm. free.

wed

thu

Feb

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

fri

21 Feb

sat

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(9:30PM - 1:30AM)

SATURDAY AFTERNOON

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

Feb

sun

23 Feb

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

mon

24 Feb

(9:00PM - 12:00AM)

(4:30PM - 7:30PM)

(8:30PM - 12:00AM)

tue

25 Feb

(9:30PM - 12:30AM)

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g g guide gig g

send your listings to : gigguide@thebrag.com The Dead Daisies + Jackson Firebird Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $33.80. The Koffi Boys Harbord Beach Hotel, Harbord. 5pm. free. Three Wise Men Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 4pm. free. Wizz Cats Campsie RSL, Campsie. 2pm. free.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 24 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Steve Twitchin Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Big Swing Band Tattersalls Hotel Penrith, Penrith. 7:30pm. free. Latin & Jazz Jam Open Mic Night World Bar, Kings Cross. 7pm. free. Mambo Mondays Bar100, The Rocks. 5:30pm. free. Motown Mondays - feat: Soulgroove The White Horse, Surry Hills. 8pm. free. Reggae Monday

Civic Underground, Sydney. 10pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS Biffy Clyro Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $53.90. Frankie’s World Famous House Band Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 9pm. free. Pennywise + Less Than Jake + Bowling For Soup + Zebrahead Manning Bar, Camperdown. 7:30pm. $56.75. Placebo Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $74.20. Rob Zombie + Korn + Mushroomhead Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7:30pm. $77.60. Underground Tuesdays feat: Declan Kelly + Zana Rose + Slippery Gypseas + Christopher Nance 34 Degrees South, Bondi Beach. 8:30pm. free.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25 ACOUSTIC, COUNTRY, BLUES & FOLK Nick Kingwell Orient Hotel, The Rocks. 9:30pm. free.

JAZZ, SOUL, FUNK, LATIN & WORLD MUSIC

Jazzgroove - feat: Great Waitress + Captain Kirkwood Foundry616, Ultimo. 8pm. $16.50. Rumba Motel Salsa - feat: DJ Willie Sabor + Friends The Establishment, Sydney. 6pm. free.

INDIE, ROCK, POP, METAL, PUNK & COVERS

Alice In Chains + Down + Walking Papers Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $74.20. Alter Bridge + Living Colour The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $67.10. Avenged Sevenfold + Five Finger Death Punch + Asking Alexandria Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7pm. $67.95. Greg Agar Scruffy Murphy’s Hotel, Sydney. 7pm. free. Him + Nostalghia + The Defiled Metro Theatre, Sydney. 6:30pm. $67.30. Rob Henry Observer Hotel, The Rocks. 5pm. free. Volbeat + Filter + Hacktivist Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7:30pm. $42.50.

gig picks

up all night out all week...

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19

MONDAY FEBRUARY 24

Bruce Springsteen And The E Street Band Allphones Arena, Sydney Olympic Park. 6:30pm. $99.70.

Biffy Clyro Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 7:30pm. $53.90. Pennywise + Less Than Jake + Bowling For Soup + Zebrahead Manning Bar, Camperdown. 7:30pm. $56.75. Placebo Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $74.20. Rob Zombie + Korn + Mushroomhead Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7:30pm. $77.60.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 21 Okkervil River + Ernest Ellis Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $52. Rad-A-Rama Garage Party - feat: Palms + Drunk Mums + Bad//Dreems + The Hollow Bones + The Stiffys + Lunatics On Pogosticks Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 Emma Pask Venue 505, Surry Hills. 8:30pm. $31. Josh Pyke Factory Theatre, Marrickville. 8pm. $35. The John Steel Singers + Jeremy Neale Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 7:30pm. $12. Roger Vs. The Man + Five Coffees + Flight To Dubai + Aaron Lyon The Standard, Surry Hills. 7pm. $10. The Coronas The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $45.50.

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25 Alice In Chains + Down + Walking Papers Enmore Theatre, Newtown. 7:30pm. $74.20. Alter Bridge + Living Colour The Hi-Fi, Moore Park. 8pm. $67.10. Avenged Sevenfold + Five Finger Death Punch + Asking Alexandria Big Top Sydney (Luna Park), Milsons Point. 7pm. $67.95. Him + Nostalghia + The Defiled Metro Theatre, Sydney. 6:30pm. $67.30. Volbeat + Filter + Hacktivist Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 7:30pm. $42.50.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23 Frankie’s Technicolour Psych-Night feat: Step-Panther + Spirit Valley + The Walking Who + The Tsars + Archers + The Grand Rapids + The Dead Heads + Ghost Talk Frankie’s Pizza, Sydney. 8pm. Free. The Dead Daisies + Jackson Firebird Oxford Art Factory, Darlinghurst. 8pm. $33.80.

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Bruce Springsteen

thebrag.com

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brag beats

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

dance music news club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

five things WITH

Dizzee Rascal

KANYE TO TOUR IN MAY

Can we get a ‘Yeeeeezay!’? Yes, yes we can. Kanye West is bringing his live show back to Australia for the first time in two years. The scowling, selfstyled demigod rapper got plenty of tongues wagging – no surprises there – with his sixth studio LP, Yeezus, released last year. It’s been ten years this month since Kanye’s debut The College Dropout put him on the road to stardom, or immortality, or whatever messianic powers he has these days. Joining Kanye on his Australian dates will be Pusha T. See them at the Qantas Credit Union Arena on Saturday May 10. Tickets are on sale Monday February 24 at 10am through Ticketek.

LEOMEO

Kanye West

Growing Up I grew up surrounded 1. by music as my parents worked in the industry. My father was a singer and a drummer, while my mother was a backing vocalist, both of them for live bands in my then home Vietnam. And their ’60s and ’70s style rubbed off on me; the likes of Barry White, Donna Summer and Tina Turner were huge childhood favourites of mine. Inspirations The big infl uences 2. came in my teens – bands like Culture Club, Depeche Mode, The Cure and The Police directing my musical tastes, while the first concert I went to was to see George Michael. However, the single biggest musical infl uence on me has been Michael Jackson – scores of his songs are among my favourites both to listen to and to remix.

Your Crew Choosing to pursue a career in DJing and production was driven by both Danny Tenaglia and Peter Rauhofer, who I discovered while visiting the US when I was 22 years old. Seeing them

Sven Vath

play and the music they produced is why I do what I do today. My music career takes me right across the world to play alongside many of the circuit’s biggest names. The Music You Make Much of my podcast 4. production is drawn from my live sets following club nights, events or festival appearances, the genre content dependent on the style of sound dictated by each gig, ranging from house music to techno and pretty much everything in between. However, the main thrust of my music production is remixing singles, for example, from Depeche Mode through Madonna and, naturally, Michael Jackson – all these stemming from my teenage years of musical influence. But I have a discography of my own singles too; highlight house music hits including ‘The Sound Of C’, ‘The Bomb’ and ‘Give Me Luv’. These along with many of my current remix projects are sure to make their way into my set at some point. Music, Right Here, Right Now 5. I think the clubbing scene

currently demands a lot from us DJs because the audiences expect to hear all sorts of sounds, so the fact that I am not known [for] or stick to one particular genre helps me not only find work more easily but allows me to share my music right across the scene from gay to straight and back again. For me, having that flexible approach overcomes what is a tough working environment for many DJs at the moment, so those stuck in a single style of sound tend to struggle more. Plus, I can count myself lucky to have extremely strong promotional contacts both locally here in Paris, and internationally, that offer me plenty of good opportunities, although many of my contemporaries are not so fortunate – this is perhaps their biggest single obstacle. What: Mardi Gras Party 2014 With: Yo! M.A.F.I.A, Tina Arena, Derrick Carter, Courtney Act, Dan Murphy and more Where: Hordern Pavilion When: Saturday March 1

WAY OUT WEST BOAT PARTY

Nick Warren and his Way Out West partner Jody Wisternoff will team up to play a daytime boat party aboard the Bella Vista on Saturday April 12, with the cruise set to run from midday until 5pm. Starting as a tour DJ with Massive Attack, Warren moved onto a residency at the renowned club Cream, establishing himself as one of the most sought-after DJs in the game. He’s released commercial compilations for the celebrated Global Underground, Balance and Back To Mine series, while he also works as A&R for Hope Recordings. Meanwhile Wisternoff has remained a formidable DJ since reaching the finals of the DMC World DJ Championship at the age of 13, though he didn’t gravitate towards dance music initially. “It was all about hip hop – house didn’t really appeal to me,” he admitted recently, recalling, “My dad was friends with The Wild Bunch, who went on to be Massive Attack, and I remember him taking me to their place and Dom Thrupp [remixer and producer for Björk and Depeche Mode] played me this type of music in about 1985 and he said, ‘This is house music, it’s gonna be massive’ and I just thought it was awful!” How taste changes and matures with age, eh? $55 presale tickets are available online, with locals Lancelot, Robbie Lowe, Dave Stuart and Garth Linton all set to also spin.

DIZZEE RASCAL SIDESHOW

East London Mercury Prize winner Dizzee Rascal is returning to Australia as part of the lineup for the roaming rural festival Groovin The Moo, and has now announced an additional series of solo headline shows that includes a performance at the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday May 7. Since emerging all guns blazing (metaphorically speaking) with his debut album Boy In Da Corner, Dizzee has entrenched himself at the forefront of the pop cultural milieu, collaborating with Florence and the Machine for the hit ‘You Got The Dirtee Love’ and performing at the opening ceremony of the 2012 London Olympics, all the while bombarding the charts with a succession of platinum-status releases. Last year, Dizzee released his fifth album, the imaginatively-titled The Fifth, which featured collaborations with troubled Ibiza titan Erick Morillo, RedOne, Calvin Harris and the one and only Robbie ‘Angels’ Williams, who provided vocals on ‘Going Crazy’.

SVEN VATH, DUBFIRE, MJC & GUY GERBER

Future Music will continue its tradition of hosting a Sven Vath-fronted party the night before its festival on Friday March 7 at the Metro Theatre. This year, the charismatic German techno colossus will be joined by fellow nightclub heavyweights Dubfi re, Maya Jane Coles and Guy Gerber. Ever the showman, the Cocoon main man’s prior appearances in Sydney at Home, Future Music Festival and in corresponding appearances at the same venue are noteworthy for the fl agrant disregard for decorum that the Omen Club’s founding father has made his defi ning trait. Turning to the other players, Turkish producer Dubfire will arrive Down Under following the news that his popular duo Deep Dish will be reforming later in the year, while Maya Jane Coles has quickly risen to the pointy end of the club echelon since first coming to widespread attention with the ’90s indebted, organ-utilising house of the What They Say EP. Rounding off the headliners, Gerber is a vaunted Israeli DJ and producer with a Fabric mix under his belt, and will be delivering a live set. For those wanting to kickstart their Future Music Festival a night early, this triple-bill is difficult to ignore – presale tickets are currently available.

32 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

dance music news

free stuff

club, dance and hip hop in brief... with Chris Honnery

head to: thebrag.com/freeshit

he said she said WITH

KERRY WALLACE Wallace has launched the popular weekly S.A.S.H party with Matt Weir. Having recently relocated S.A.S.H to the Flyover venue in the Sydney CBD, Wallace and Weir will appear this weekend at the Ivy’s Leased Summer Series party, featuring headliner Marcel Dettmann and Detroit Swindle. Did you grow up in a musical household? My sister’s a singer, Mum and my aunty played piano – as did I, at one stage – and my dad had a big record collection. I guess it all rubbed off in its own way. Who was your biggest musical inspiration? I’m not going to tell the typical Michael Jackson story, because The Beach Boys ruled!

ydney DJ and promoter Kerry Wallace crafted his reputation S overseas, hosting parties and playing sets in the world’s finest nightspots. As well as hosting a regular radio show on UK pirate

Marcel Dettmann

station House FM, Wallace whiled away summers in Ibiza, taking residence at acclaimed clubs Es Vive, Savanna Beach Club, Es Paradis and the Itaca Roof Terrace. Since returning home,

Your Paved Way touring and events company with Matt Weir has been getting busier and busier. It must be an exciting time for you. The S.A.S.H family is ever growing, especially with our new venue, and our newly formed Leased crew/ parties are pumping too. Oh! We have a Leased party this Saturday

with Marcel Dettmann and Detroit Swindle, you should come! You still give yourself the time to get behind the decks. What kind of sets should we expect from you on your upcoming dates? Most people in Sydney know I like to keep things as deep as possible, but for the next Leased party things will be getting a bit more techno with Dettmann. Sydney’s music scene is under the political spotlight at the moment – what do you make of its current health? The scene is good here now in Sydney, but unfortunately that’s about to be spoiled by politicians who know nothing about nothing. It’s sad but true. What: Leased Summer Series With: Marcel Dettmann, Detroit Swindle, Defined By Rhythm, EK Collective, Mantra Collective, Steven Sullivan and more Where: Ivy When: Saturday February 22 And: S.A.S.H runs every Sunday at Flyover

Joey Negro

LEASED: SUMMER SERIES

This Saturday February 22, the Ivy hands over its door keys to another bunch of merry folk as part of the Leased Summer Series. This time around, Berghain club resident Marcel Dettmann leads the line; the Berlin techno exponent celebrated for his allconquering DJ sets, plus productions on his own MDR label and remixes for the likes of Fever Ray, Junior Boys and Modeselektor. Also on the bill this weekend are Detroit Swindle, Defined By Rhythm, EK Collective, Mantra Collective and a host of other locals. We’ve got two double passes to the big day – for your chance to win, head to thebrag.com/freeshit and tell us what location you’d lease for a day, if you could throw a party anywhere on earth.

Shapeshifter

SHAPESHIFTER

New Zealand troupe Shapeshifter will perform at Sydney University’s Manning Bar on Saturday March 22. The Kiwi veterans retain a reputation for putting on a pulsating live show, which was captured by Shapeshifter Live, recorded at Christchurch Town Hall. Shapeshifter released their fifth studio album, Delta, last year, which was recorded between Berlin and Wellington and was mixed by fellow NZ drum and bass producers The Upbeats. Support will be provided by one of the Netherlands’ foremost drum and bass exports, Black Sun Empire, who have six full-length LPs and appearances at the Glastonbury Festival under their belts, while local acts Foreign Dub, NCrypt vs Commit, Highly Dubious, Mad Cow and Sakura will warm up the dancefloor. Given Shapeshifter’s track record of selling out Sydney shows, you’d be ill-advised to delay procuring your $55 ticket from manningbar.com.

SPACE IS THE PLACE FT KUTMAH

JOEY NEGRO

Seminal disco and house proponent Dave Lee, best known for his output as Joey Negro, will DJ at The Goldfish on Friday February 28. The Englishman has also released under the guises Jakatta and Raven Maize over the course of his career, sampling everyone from Queen and Cassius to Thomas Newman’s American Beauty soundtrack throughout his litany of dancefloor hits. Lee’s discography comprises his albums as Joey Negro And Sunburst Band, compilations for Defected and the Nite:Life series along with remixes of Blaze, Ben Westbeech and Australia’s own Empire Of The Sun. It is also a little-known fact that Lee produced pop boy band Take That’s version of ‘Relight My Fire’ featuring 1960s singer Lulu. Local DJs Liam Sampras, Matt Cahill and Phil Toke will all be spinning as well, with first release tickets available online for $10.

Space is the Place returns to Goodgod Small Club on Saturday March 1 for a bash headlined by Los Angeles native Kutmah, who will be touring Australia for the first time. Kutmah holds down a show on London’s NTS Radio, and has furthered his reputation as an accomplished selector through his sets for Fabric and Boiler Room and shows alongside the likes of The Gaslamp Killer, Flying Lotus, Gonjasufi and Dabrye. “I start slow, play some bugged-out shit, some trippy beats, some banging beats, some hip hop, some freaky dancefloor shit and then slow at the end again,” Kutmah once said of his DJ sets. It remains to be seen if he adheres to this approach on his first appearance before Sydney dancers. Doors open at 11pm, with the cast of support DJs comprising The Jazz Diaries DJs, Jitwam and Casey and the Space is the Place DJs, Sofie and Prize.

MAX COOPER

Genetics research student turned dance music producer Max Cooper will release his debut album Human next month. The UK producer has released a plethora of EPs and remixed the likes of Dominik Eulberg, Agoria and Sasha over the years, but has somewhat surprisingly

held off from blending his evocative melodies – which oscillate between blissed-out vibes and profound melancholia – on an LP. Finally allowed the spaciousness of a full album, Cooper’s debut outing will likely establish him alongside the likes of Jon Hopkins, Sasha and Pantha du Prince as the pre-eminent exponents of crafting soundscapes that are at once dancefloor-friendly and heavily cerebral.

SPICE BLACK FT NU

Calling all high rollers/Jordan Belfort types: The first Spice Black of the year is slotted for Sunday March 2 at Icebergs. Berlin-based Peruvian artist Nu will headline the party, which is themed ‘An Inca trail with Nu’ – think exotic, South American vibes. Nu has remixed the likes of Dirty Doering and Raz Ohara, and previously ventured to Australia at the end 2012, when he played a memorable back-to-back set with Acid Pauli at the Subsonic Music Festival. Nu will once again be playing at a site of immense natural beauty overlooking Bondi Beach for this “exclusive VIP event for Spice members” which will be limited to 150 people. Tickets are $200 – stay with us here – which includes Icebergs’ catering during the evening and complimentary premium drinks between 4pm and 6pm, as well as free entry to the afterparty at the Spice Cellar. The event commences at 4pm and runs through till 10pm.

DAMIANO VON ERCKERT

Promising German producer Damiano Von Erckert will DJ at One22 (at 122 Pitt Street) this Saturday February 22. Von Erckert’s DJ sets traverse house, techno, disco, soul and funk soundscapes, infl uences that imbued his debut album Love Based Music, which was released last year on Von Erckert’s own Ava record label, and attracted the attention of tastemakers such as Four Tet. Von Erckert will be joined by San Soda, a Red Bull Music Academy graduate who was picked up by DJ Red’s We Play House label, along with local lads the Parkside DJs and Death Strobe Records founder Andy Webb. $20 presale tickets are available online.

SODA FACTORY BIRTHDAY

This Saturday February 22, Surry Hills venue the Soda Factory celebrates its first birthday, with Grandmaster Flash playing a free DJ set to mark the milestone. The lauded hip hop pioneer has a strong Sydney following, having played regular shows Down Under during the course of his lengthy career, and will surely pull a sizeable crowd at this weekend. The Soda Factory will also host a live performance from The Syphons on Friday February 21, with doors opening on both nights at 5pm. BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14 :: 33

Detroit Swindle All Boxed Out By Augustus Welby

merging house music outfit Detroit Swindle is actually the project of two Amsterdam locals, Lars Dales and Maarten Smeets. Wearing this appellation means Dales and Smeets are often either mistaken for Detroit natives, or spurned by the Motor City’s proud citizens as imposters. The fact their name includes the word ‘swindle’ should be enough to allay confusion on either side, but they can’t deny Detroit’s rich music history has had a big influence on them. “The most important reason for choosing Detroit in our moniker is our love for Motown, Dilla and everything in between,” Dales says. All misperceptions aside, Detroit Swindle’s music has certainly been causing a stir over the past few years. Debut single ‘Jick Rames’ dropped in 2011 and immediately displayed the duo’s affection for hip hop, soul and funk, all laid within house music foundations. “We wanted to show in an early stage that we’re trying our best to keep expanding our knowledge and skills as producers in different genres,” says Dales. “We’ll always be house producers, but we’ll try

[to see] how far we can stretch that concept.” Indeed, the duo’s assorted releases (which have come out on such notable labels as Tsuba and UK producer Huxley’s Saints & Sonnets imprint) haven’t been cookie-cutter house music by any means. Smeets elaborates on the motivation not to settle with just one genre. “Even though we started off with this project for fun, we did both have the urge to make something that was true to ourselves, something original. Now we are way more conscious about what we want to make than when we started. We constantly try to start tracks with a different vibe than our signature sound – but it always turns into a classic Detroit Swindle cut, for some reason,” he laughs. Detroit Swindle’s first full-length release Boxed Out will be unleashed next month on Berlinbased label Dirt Crew Recordings. Unsurprisingly, the record is a somewhat amorphous affair. Smeets explains the specific aims they took into album production.

“We made a clear choice in the start to make this an album for the dancefl oor that makes for a good listen as well, rather than the other way around,” he says. “Some tracks for the start of the night, some deeper tracks to set the mood, some party tracks to really get the party going and some bangers to top it off. And for the really good parties we’ve added a few ‘one-more-tune’ kind of tracks as well that pay homage to the parties we always liked to have.” Boxed Out unveils some new facets of the Detroit Swindle universe. For instance, US neosoul artist Mayer Hawthorne adds vocals to the track ‘64 Ways’. Dales outlines the genesis of the song. “The moment we talked about a possible collaboration this track immediately popped into mind. Mayer loved it right from the start and also had some ideas for the vocal. Funnily enough, it took him just one day to write the lyrics and after that it took almost half a year before the three of us were at the same spot at the same time to actually record it.”

Kim Ann Foxman

Although other Detroit Swindle tracks feature sampled vocals, Smeets and Dales hadn’t worked in the studio with a singer prior to ‘64 Ways’, so they granted Hawthorne plenty of freedom in developing the song’s vocal content. “We had no clue what we were doing since it was our first time working with a proper vocalist,” Dales admits. “We just appointed him executive producer on the track!”

What: Leased Summer Series With: Marcel Dettmann, Defined By Rhythm, EK Collective, Mantra Collective, Steven Sullivan, Matt Weir, Kerry Wallace, U-Khan, Pharley Where: Ivy When: Saturday February 22 And: Boxed Out is out Monday March 24 through Dirt Crew Recordings

Mark Henning Living The Life By Alasdair Duncan

Foxy Lady By Augustus Welby autopilot at the Mardi Gras Party. “I think it’s really important to feel things in the moment, feel the crowd,” she says. “It all depends on the vibe in the moment. There is no way to plan that. Planning to me doesn’t work well and it’s very one-sided. Plus, it’s not as fun.” Foxman’s malleable approach to DJing – staying alert to the mood of the gathered partygoers – is likely to make the night an extra special experience. She explains that she isn’t afraid to experiment during her sets either. “I do all my mixing live. It’s not done for me by syncing a computer. I’d personally be bored just pressing a button. Sure, the computer makes a perfect mix, but it all sounds and feels so linear and so sterile. I enjoy the thrill of working to keep it tight. It keeps it fun that way.” Foxman’s willingness to work constantly throughout her sets is mirrored in her attitude to studio work. On top of her formidable touring itinerary, she has intermittently released solo singles over the past few years. Soulful house gems such as ‘Creature’ and ‘Return It’ have listeners begging for a full-length album, but they may have to wait a while. “I’ll release an album when I’m happy with the story as a whole,” she says. “I have plenty of work but there is no rush. I may take those songs I’ve done and release them as singles instead. I also have another new project I’m working on as well. For me it’s about making as much as I can, having plenty to choose from and when I feel the story is right then I’ll present it.”

big feature of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras festival every year is the post-parade Mardi Gras Party. As is the norm, this year the eager fun gluttons celebrating sexual, sensual and individual freedom will be entertained by some of the best party DJs in the biz. One of the headliners, New York dance musician and former Hercules and Love Affair member Kim Ann Foxman, is anticipating an ecstatic event.

A quick scan over Foxman’s credentials proves she is the perfect woman to preside over the dancefloor on the night. The New Yorker performs all over the world year-round, recently selling out shows in electronic music hotspots Germany and Chicago. Foxman emphasises she certainly won’t be running on

34 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

With such a broad repertoire of styles to choose from, Foxman is destined to cause a sweaty scene in Sydney this year. And even though her gig schedule rarely allows any time for rest, she’s very excited about the trip Down Under. “I love Australia. I’m looking forward to seeing the beach, eating out, enjoying time with friends. I’ll also be celebrating my birthday – yay!” What: Mardi Gras Party 2014 With: Yo! M.A.F.I.A, Tina Arena, Derrick Carter, Courtney Act, Leomeo, Dan Murphy and more Where: Hordern Pavilion When: Saturday March 1

You’re based in Berlin, is that right? It has a reputation as an exciting and vital place for electronic musicians – is that still the case? I think so, yes – more and more artists seem to move here each year. And as everyone knows, some of the most famous clubs in the world are based here. But I’m not really the best person to ask – due to family commitments and a busy gig schedule I don’t get out that much these days! It’s certainly networking heaven for those musicians who want to meet other like-minded artists.

I’m curious to ask, as someone who both produces and DJs, do you see yourself affiliated more with one ‘side’ than the other, or are they both equally important? To me they are both equally important. Without decent productions, getting gigs is very hard. On the other hand, I have to be a decent DJ otherwise my gigs would equally dry up! You quit a city job to pursue music full-time – what’s the full story there? Was that an easy decision to make, and how has it paid off? It certainly wasn’t an easy decision. It took a long time to get my head ’round it. I was a management consultant specialising in finance and I.T. for six years after university, in an area called business intelligence. At the same time I was producing and DJing as a hobby, but eventually I decided to give it a go full-time. Moving to Berlin at this point helped as it took some of the pressure off, money-wise. It’s much cheaper to live here now, compared with the UK. For the first few years it was a struggle, but it has paid off now I’d say. I still don’t earn anywhere near what I used to but I don’t regret the career move one bit. Do you have any new releases coming out in the next little while, anything we can look forward to? Yes, in April the second release on my own new label Swing Recordings will be out, featuring two new tracks of mine. After that, the next EP will be out on Soma Records in June. This one is under a new name and is more techno-based – me and my TR-909. Watch this space. Soma is one of those iconic and well-loved dance music labels, and you’ve been associated with them for a while now – what is it like to work with them? It’s great. They are super professional to work with and always fun to hang out with. I’m very lucky to be part of the family. Just in general, I’m keen to ask about some of the new music you’ve been listening to lately – are there any labels or artists or tracks you’re really getting into? Three of my current favourites would be ‘B-BBottle’ by Romansoff, on Raw Tools, ‘Acid Snow Fall’ by Marquis Hawkes, on Dixon Avenue, and Breaker 1 2’s ‘2’, on Forbidden Planet. You’re heading to Australia very soon for some shows – what can we expect from you at the Spice Cellar? I’ll be playing some good old-fashioned house and techno. My sets are strictly ‘no cheese’! With: Michelle Owen, Dean Relf, Murat Kilic, Robbie Lowe Where: Spice Cellar When: Saturday February 22 thebrag.com

Mark Henning photo by Crystal Mafi a

“For me the crowd is everything and I do thrive so much off the vibe,” she says. “I’m really excited to play the Sydney Mardi Gras because I know that crowd is going to be going wild.”

As for what to expect from this new material she’s working on, Foxman says her stylistic palette isn’t limited. “I don’t like to confine myself to one thing or pigeonhole myself in any way. I can make songs that have a more chill, sing-along [vibe], and at the other end of the spectrum make songs or remixes that are banging moody acid vibes. I like to keep it open and, at the same time, honest.”

he UK’s Mark Henning, these days based in Berlin, is one of the finest beat-makers around. On the eve of his Australian tour, we caught up on his current musical crushes and the state of techno in his adopted city.

Deep Impressions

Cassy

Dance And Electronica with Chris Honnery

Queen Catherine By Marissa Demetriou

atherine Britton, perhaps better known in the music scene as Cassy, is relishing the fact she has had an extra few days in Tokyo to soak up the city and enjoy shifting down into “chill mode”. The English-born, Austrian-raised former theatre student and actress found her way into the world of electronic music lending her vocals to a track for Auto Repeat, ‘What Turned Itself’. A venture into DJing soon followed, and Cassy found herself producing tracks with the likes of Luciano and Mathew Jonson. “I realised if I don’t want to do acting, then maybe I can so something with music, or with singing because that was always my interest anyway. So I tried to fi nd my way into what I wanted to be, and that happened to be music and DJing,” she says, although she doesn’t believe the progression was particularly serendipitous. “[It probably wasn’t] a coincidence. I don’t believe anything in life is really a coincidence, but it was helping me lead to what I’m doing now.” With residencies at some of the most revered nights and venues in the world – Berlin’s Panorama Bar, Ibiza’s DC10 and New York’s Output, to rattle off a few – Cassy has made a distinctive mark in the world of house and techno, blending elements of the old and the new with effortless panache. Then there’s the tour schedule that sees her playing to chinstrokers and trainspotters one night and festival crowds the next – although there is a defi nite answer for what is in store for Cassy in 2014. “To make lots of music, to concentrate on making music, especially starting now,” she says, before explaining her next moves will take her everywhere between South America, Europe and the US for a trail of shows. The idea of bouncing between continents while trying to concentrate on music-making may be difficult to imagine for most, but travel is something Cassy has integrated into the creative process. “Travel helps me keep my mind fresh and my attitude fresh. It’s such a privilege that if I’ve had two crap gigs in a row, I wouldn’t get down, because look at my life: I get to do what I love, and I get to see the world. I love being on planes and trains, actually. I like being in between places, it just calms me – I think I’m really lucky,” she laughs. When it comes to making music, Cassy’s previous releases have come via prestigious labels such as Perlon and Cocoon – and then there was her wildly successful mix for the Fabric series last year. Cassy also happens to be the founder of her own eponymous label, instigated in 2006 as a vehicle to release

“When you DJ vinyl it challenges you more, it makes you look out. In the moment, you’re just far more sensitive to certain things that you’re not when you just play fi les.”

– by Cassy’s own admission – music her way.

Moritz von Oswald

“I only did the label because I was doing tracks back then that I couldn’t give to anyone to release, because people thought they were too strange or weird. I would just release them myself, so I don’t have to answer to anyone but myself,” she laughs. Since the early days, however, her processes have evolved. “[Nowadays] I prepare with a sound engineer, or by myself or I go into the studio with other people, so it’s more of a – let’s say, more mature way of working, more elaborate way of working. I don’t know what’s going to happen with Cassy – it could turn into something else, I guess.” It’s impossible to think of Cassy without the vinyl format springing to mind; she’s mastered the art form that is gradually becoming a rarity in the digital age. While she accepts the inevitable change and progression technology has brought to dance music, Cassy thinks spinning vinyl pushes her creatively. “When I hear [DJs] play just vinyl, I just notice that they play far better – and the same goes for me, the sets are always more interesting. I don’t want to characterise it into something that sounds better or makes the people [playing it] better. It’s just when you DJ vinyl it challenges you more, it makes you look out. In the moment, you’re just far more sensitive to certain things that you’re not when you just play fi les.” When it comes to the issue of the lack of females in electronic music, Cassy blames the gender imbalance on old-fashioned stigmas. “There’s just not more female DJs because a lot of women are scared of the technical [side],” she reckons. “Or still scared of machines, or of turning knobs. When you go to school, you just know that guys are good at maths, and the girls are good at painting or arts or something. Obviously our society has changed since the 1900s, but … it will still take a while for women to be brave. [But] there are still a lot of female DJs out there.” The promoters could be doing more to help as well, says Cassy. “There’s a lot of promoters that book women, and then there’s a lot of promoters that are scared of women. A lot of men have ego problems, and issues with women still, when it comes to professional attitudes.” Not if Cassy can help it, though. With: AGWA Yacht Club 020 With: Mario Basanov, Gabby, Sam Arelleno, Alan Thomas, Co-Op, Sam Roberts Where: The Starship, King Street Wharf When: Saturday February 22

o celebrate six years of touring and events, Picnic will host one of the most infl uential and respected fi gures in the club milieu, Berlin’s Moritz von Oswald, at its birthday party on Saturday March 15. Von Oswald has remained one of the most innovative fi gures in electronic music since getting his start in the early ’80s as a percussionist for Thomas Felhmann’s new wave band, Palais Schaumbur. If we were to take a Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure-style time travel excursion and return to Berlin when the wall had just been torn down and the Iron Curtain lifted, readers might be disappointed that much of the music of the time and place was decidedly saccharine and naff – call it ‘cheesy’ if you like. But von Oswald helped change this, and was one of the first Europeans to pioneer a form of dance minimalism built upon an exploration of the possibilities of repetition, both as a form of change and a mechanism to allow the music to speak for itself. “I fi nd rest in loops,” a philosophical von Oswald refl ected when explaining his musical ethos. “I would extend this even beyond techno music: I also like loops in human relationships. I like the daily business. I like repetition. I accept everydayness.”

Together with Mark Ernestus, von Oswald established a distinct niche in the club realm through his productions as Basic Channel, Maurizio and Rhythm & Sound, which would shape the minimal and dub techno oeuvres, while his early collaborations alongside Juan Atkins on Tresor Records forged the now fabled Berlin-Detroit axis. In recent years von Oswald has ventured well beyond the genres he helped create, remixing the likes of Tony Allen, Ravel and Mussorgsky and forming the Moritz von Oswald Trio alongside Deep Impressions favourite Sasu Ripatti (who also produces under such monikers as Luomo, Usitalo and Vladislav Delay) and renowned experimentalist Max Loderbauer. He also linked up with Norwegian future jazz trumpeter/ composer Nils Petter Molvær on an album entitled 1/1 that dropped at the end of last year and reunited with Atkins earlier in 2013 on Borderland, an album comprised of an improvised series of long jams that was one of the best releases of the year. “Music is always about development. It’s as easy as that,” von Oswald affirmed when discussing his recording sessions with Atkins. “You pay respect to another musician when you choose to collaborate with him or her. It’s because you’re interested in the way the other person plays their instrument and because you’re curious

LOOKING DEEPER SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 Damiano von Erckert One22

SATURDAY MARCH 8 4our ft DJ Mareena Warehouse Party

SATURDAY MARCH 15 Moritz von Oswald The Burdekin

IF? Records presents 88uw and Krenzlin Warehouse venue where the collaboration will lead you. It’s about freedom – the freedom of reaction.” In the nightclub environ, that reaction fl ows and extends from the performers to the dancefl oor. There is no excuse for fans of music of all varieties not to see von Oswald perform at The Burdekin, where he will be supported by a lengthy local lineup headed by Simon Caldwell. That very same night, IF? Records is hosting a warehouse party across town. Though this may initially appear to be an unfortunate clash with the above event, there’s also the possibility of combining both parties and ending your night with some rollicking techno courtesy of Tresor residents 88uw and Krenzlin. Since its establishment in the late ’80s, Tresor – which linguists will tell you is German for ‘safe’ or ‘vault’ – has remained a staple in Berlin clubbing folklore. A veritable techno dungeon, the club has reopened in several locations across Berlin over the past few decades, and is currently located in a renovated three-level power plant in the Mitte region of the city where DJs like 88uw and Krenzlin throw down dark, booming techno. Tresor’s standing at the zenith of the techno pyramid is reflected in the Tresor Record label’s back catalogue, which includes cuts from techno powerhouses like Robert Hood, Jeff Mills, Blake Baxter and Juan Atkins. Uncompromising in both its commitment to techno and quality, you can expect the Tresor resident DJs to deliver the kind of unflinching techno that is rarely heard in clubs in this part of the world. More details are available through the IF? Records Facebook page.

Deep Impressions: electronica manifesto and occasional club brand. Contact through deep.impressions@yahoo.com thebrag.com

BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14 :: 35

club guide g send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

Eminem

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 ANZ Stadium

Rapture 2014 Eminem + Kendrick Lamar + J. Cole + 360 + Action Bronson 4pm. $69. WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19 HIP HOP & R&B

The Wall - feat: Resident DJs World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $5.

CLUB NIGHTS

DJ Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free. House Party Scubar, Sydney. 8pm. free. Snapback Turns 1 - feat: KLP + Astrix + Fingertips + DJ Lou Lou + Cat Lyf Newtown Hotel, Newtown. 10pm. free. The Supper Club - feat: Resident DJs Kit & Kaboodle, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Wave Racer + The Coachmen + A.D.K.O.B Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Whip It Wednesdays - feat: Various DJs Whaat Club, Kings Cross. 9pm. free. xxx

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20

HIP HOP & R&B

$5 Everything Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free. Broken Bones Party - feat: Cabins + The Walking Who 36 :: BRAG :: 550 : 19:02:14

+ The Essential Stix Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8:30pm. free. DJ Yoda - Live AV Show Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 7pm. $41.95. Goldfish And Friends - feat: Regular Rotating Residents Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. Loopy - feat: Drty Csh + Daschwood + Generous Greed + Guest DJs The Backroom, Sydney. 10pm. $12. Pool Club Thursdays - feat: Resident DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 5pm. free. The World Bar Thursdays World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free.

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 21 CLUB NIGHTS

Argyle Fridays - feat: Resident DJs The Argyle, The Rocks. 6pm. free. Crane Fridays - feat: Brendan Clay + Ty + Ron Maran + 64 Collective + Yenga Crane Bar Restaurant, Potts Point. 6pm. free. DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. DJ S Huskisson Hotel, Huskisson. 8pm. free. Factory Fridays - feat:

CLUB NIGHTS

Ableton Liveschool (Input) - feat: Touch Sensitive (Michael Di Francesco) + Oscar Key Sung (Oscar + Martin) + Thomas McAlister (Alba/Canyons) + Michael Kucyk (Modular A&R + Mushroom) FBi Social, Kings Cross. 12:30pm. $35. Bowl-A-Rama After Party Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. free. Cakes - feat: 4 Rooms Of Live Music + DJs And International Guests. World Bar, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Dabs - feat: Andrew Wowk + Vertigo + Vibrasoul + Steve P + Slice + Xsetra + Fabs + Juzlo + Sakura + Highly Dubious Gladstone Hotel, Chippendale. 9pm. free. DJ Marty Wentworthville Leagues Club, Wentworthville. 9pm. free. Elâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Circo - feat: Resident Circus Act Performers Slide Lounge, Darlinghurst. 7pm. $109. FBi Hands Up! - feat: DJ Clockwerk + Special Friends With Benefits FBi Social, Kings Cross. 11:30pm. free. Goodgod Hai-Life Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. free. Grandmaster Flash Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Kobra Kai + Platinum Pen + Drastik N Thyodore FBi Social, Kings Cross. 8pm. $10. Leased Summer Series -

feat: Marcel Dettmann + Detroit Swindle + Defined By Rhythm + EK Collective + Mantra Collective + More Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 12pm. $25. Love 70s Pool Party feat: Mr. Glass + Graham Mandroules Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 6:30pm. $30. Mark Henning - feat: Michelle Owen + Morgan + Dean Relf + Murat Kilic + Robbie Lowe The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $20. Marlo At Marquee Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 10pm. $25. Masif Saturdays Space, Sydney. 10pm. $25. My Place Saturdays Bar100, The Rocks. 8pm. free. OM Unit Civic Underground, Sydney. 10pm. $25. Shapeshifter + Black Sun Empire Manning Bar, Camperdown. 10pm. $55. Sienna Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs The Establishment, Sydney. 9pm. free. Soda Saturdays - feat: Resident DJs Playing Disco And Funk Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free.

Marco Polo - feat: Various DJs Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 1pm. $15. Martini Club And Friends feat: Ocky + Tom Kelly Goldfish, Kings Cross. 10pm. free. S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Two Secret Guests + Jake Hough + Matt Weir + Kerry Wallace + Daniel Dalton + Kali Flyover Bar, Sydney. 12pm. $10. Soul Of Sydney DiscoFunk Block Party - feat: Terrence Parker + Soul Of Sydney DJs + Simon Caldwell + Phil Toke + Phil Hudson + Michael Zac + Eadie Ramia Secret Funk Oasis, Sydney. 1pm. $10. Sundays In The City - feat: Various DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 12pm. free.

MONDAY FEBRUARY 24 CLUB NIGHTS

Crab Racing Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free. DJ Mattia Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23

TUESDAY FEBRUARY 25

CLUB NIGHTS

La Fiesta - feat: Samantha Fox + Agee Ortiz + Av El Cubano + Resident DJ Willie Sabor The Establishment, Sydney. 8pm. free.

Chu World Bar, Kings Cross. 9pm. free. DJ Robin Goldfish, Kings Cross. 11pm. free.

send your listings to : clubguide@thebrag.com

Resident DJs Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. free. Frisky Fridays Scubar, Sydney. 5pm. free. Infamous Saturdays - feat: Live DJs Scubar, Sydney. 7pm. free. J. Cole At Marquee Marquee At The Star, Pyrmont. 10pm. $15. Loco Friday - feat: Various Live Bands And DJs The Slip Inn, Sydney. 5pm. free. Love And Guts - feat: GG Magree Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 6pm. free. Rad-A-Rama Garage Party 2014 - feat: Palms Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 6pm. free. Soft&Slow w/Pink Lloyd feat: James Cripps The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15. The Elements Of Tech & Bass - feat: The Bassix + Celsius + Forestsound + Thierry D + Juzlo + Highly Dubious + Polar Agincourt Hotel, Sydney. 9pm. free. Yo Grito! Goodgod Small Club, Sydney. 9pm. free.

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 HIP HOP & R&B

Rapture 2014 - feat: Eminem + Kendrick Lamar + J. Cole +

Oscar Key Sung

SATURDAY FEBRUARY 22 Ableton Liveschool (Input) - feat: Touch Sensitive (Michael Di Francesco) + Oscar Key Sung (Oscar + Martin) + Thomas Mcalister (Alba/Canyons) + Michael Kucyk (Modular A&R + Mushroom) FBi Social, Kings Cross. 12:30pm. $35. Grandmaster Flash Soda Factory, Surry Hills. 5pm. Free. Leased Summer Series - feat: Marcel Dettmann + Detroit Swindle + Defined By Rhythm + EK Collective + Mantra Collective + More Ivy Bar/Lounge, Sydney. 12pm. $25. Shapeshifter + Black Sun Empire Manning Bar, Camperdown. 10pm. $55.

WEDNESDAY FEBRUARY 19

SUNDAY FEBRUARY 23

Wave Racer + The Coachmen + A.D.K.O.B Beach Road Hotel, Bondi Beach. 8pm. Free.

S.A.S.H Sundays - feat: Two Secret Guests + Jake Hough + Matt Weir + Kerry Wallace + Daniel Dalton + Kali Flyover Bar, Sydney. 12pm. $10. Soul Of Sydney Disco-Funk Block Party - feat: Terrence Parker + Soul Of Sydney Djs + Simon Caldwell + Phil Toke + Phil Hudson + Michael Zac + Eadie Ramia Secret Funk Oasis, Sydney. 1pm. $10.

THURSDAY FEBRUARY 20 DJ Yoda - Live AV Show Upstairs Beresford, Surry Hills. 7pm. $41.95.

Mark Henning

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 21 Soft&Slow W/Pink Lloyd - feat: James Cripps The Spice Cellar, Sydney. 10pm. $15.

thebrag.com

Xxx

club pick of the week

360 + Action Bronson ANZ Stadium, Sydney Olympic Park. 4pm. $69.

snap

borgore’s wild out valentines

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

party profile

soul of sydney block party It’s called: Soul of Sydney Block Party feat. Terrence Parker. It sounds like: Afternoon feel-good funk, soul, disco and beyond.

remi

PICS :: LC

15:02:14 :: The Ivy :: 1/330 George St Sydney 9254 8100

14:02:14 :: Goodgod Small Club :: 53-55 Liverpool St Chinatown 8084 0587

Acts: Terrence Parker (Detroit) – rare discofunk set; Simon Caldwell (Mad Racket); Frenzie (Groove Therapy – 2SER); Soul of Sydney DJs; Phil Toke. Three songs you’ll hear on the night: James Brown – ‘Sex Machine’ Frankie Knuckles – ‘Your Love’ War – ‘Galaxy’ And one you definitely won’t: Rolf Harris – ‘Tie Me Kangaroo Down Sport’ Sell it to us: Soul of Sydney Block Party – it’s a funk music, live street art, soul train and B-Boy secret Sunday afternoon of showcases! Featuring music by Detroit’s gospel godfather, DJ and produ cer Terrence Parker with local support from Simon Caldwell (Mad Racket) and Soul of Sydney DJs. The bit we’ll remember in the AM: The Soul Train! Crowd specs: 18+ Wallet damage: $10-15 Where: Secret Indoor/Outdoor Oasis

sonny fodera

PICS :: AM

When: Sunday February 23, 1-10pm.

15:02:14 :: The Spice Cellar :: 58 Elizabeth St Sydney 9223 5585 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MARIA DE VERA ::

thebrag.com

ERON S :: JAMES AMBROSE :: LIAM CAM

:: ASHLEY MAR ::

BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14 :: 37

snap

s.a.s.h sundays

PICS :: AM

up all night out all week . . .

defected in the house

PICS :: AM

16:02:14 :: Flyover Bar :: 275 Kent St Sydney 9262 1988

PICS :: AM

djemba djemba

sampology

14:02:14 :: Chinese Laundry :: 111 Sussex St Sydney 8295 9999

38 :: BRAG :: 550 :: 19:02:14

PICS :: JA

15:12:13 :: The Ivy :: 1/330 George St Sydney 9254 8100

12:02:14 :: Beach Road Hotel :: 71 Beach Rd Bondi Beach 9130 7247 OUR LOVELY PHOTOGRAPHER MARIA DE VERA ::

ERON S :: JAMES AMBROSE :: LIAM CAM

:: ASHLEY MAR ::

thebrag.com

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