Drum Media Sydney Issue #1056 by TheMusic.com.au

SYDNEY’S L ARGEST CIRCUL ATING FREE MUSIC PUBLICATION • 19 APRIL 2011 • 1056

LIDE

L CHILDREN CO

” REED Y O B R E P A P “ I EL

ON GEORGE CLINT

SYDNEY • NEWCASTLE • WOLLONGONG • CANBERRA

• FREE

INSIDE • ZZ TOP • TIM ROBBINS & THE ROGUES GALLERY BAND • JAMIE HUTCHINGS • HORRORPOPS www.drummedia.com.au info@drummedia.com.au

VILLAGE SOUNDS AND SECRET SERVICE PRESENT THE 11TH ANNUAL ARTS & MUSIC FESTIVAL

FRIDAY 29, SATURDAY 30, SUNDAY 31 JULY 2011 TICKETS ON SALE 9AM THURSDAY 5 MAY 3 DAYS U ONSITE CAMPING U MULTI STAGES

WOODFORDIA, WOODROW ROAD, WOODFORD QUEENSLAND 1.5 HOURS NORTH OF BRISBANE U ALL AGES & LICENSED COLDPLAY (ONLY AUSTRALIAN SHOW) U KANYE WEST (ONLY AUSTRALIAN SHOW) U JANE’S ADDICTION U THE HIVES U PULP U THE LIVING END THE MARS VOLTA U REGINA SPEKTOR (ONLY 2011 SHOW...ANYWHERE) U BLISS N ESO U PNAU U MOGWAI (ONLY AUSTRALIAN SHOW) U DJ SHADOW U FRIENDLY FIRES GLASVEGAS U THE GRATES U DEVENDRA BANHART AND THE GROGS U MODEST MOUSE U THE MIDDLE EAST U KAISER CHIEFS U JAMES BLAKE U KELE U THE VINES ELBOW U ESKIMO JOE U NOAH AND THE WHALE U CHILDREN COLLIDE U THIEVERY CORPORATION U CUT COPY U ISOBEL CAMPBELL AND MARK LANEGAN BLUEJUICE UÊ THE KILLS U BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEYBEARS (FEATURING THE RELATIVES) U ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI U FOSTER THE PEOPLE THE PANICS U JEBEDIAH U THE VACCINES U GOMEZ U BOY AND BEAR U GOTYE U DOES IT OFFEND YOU, YEAH? U CLOUD CONTROL MONA U SPARKADIA U WARPAINT U MUSCLES (LIVE) U FITZ AND THE TANTRUMS U THE JEZABELS U DRAPHT U BRITISH SEA POWER U TIM & JEAN LEADER CHEETAH U GROUPLOVE U SEEKER LOVER KEEPER U YELLE U KIMBRA U PHRASE U OH MERCY U DANANANANAYKROYD U THE BLACK SEEDS MARQUES TOLIVER U THE HOLIDAYS U GHOUL U LIAM FINN UÊ THE HERD U YOUNG THE GIANT U GUINEAFOWL U HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY JINJA SAFARI U WILD BEASTS U ILLY U CUT OFF YOUR HANDS U GARETH LIDDIARD U ALPINE U WORLD’S END PRESS U MOSMAN ALDER U LANIE LANE PLUS DJ’S THE ASTON SHUFFLE U FLIGHT FACILITIES U D-CUP (WE NO SPEAK AMERICANO) U AJAX (MEGA JAM SET) U HOODRAT & DANGEROUS DAN UÊLIGHT YEAR UÊHOOPS CASSIAN U WAX MOTIF U KATO U TONI TONI LEE U CHARLIE CHUX U TRANTER U TRIPLE J UNEARTHED WINNER AND LOCAL ACTS TO BE ANNOUNCED TICKETS AVAILABLE ONLINE FROM MOSHTIX.COM.AU

VISIT SPLENDOURINTHEGRASS.COM FOR UPDATES

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 3 •

WIN A SCHECTER HELLRAISER SOLO ELECTRIC GUITAR WORTH OVER $1500 SIGNED BY THE BAND. SUPPLIED BY DAN DONEGAN PLAYS SCHECTER.

*TO ENTER, SIMPLY PURCHASE A TICKET TO THE SHOW, THEN REGISTER AT WWW.ACERARENA.COM.AU BEFORE 12PM ON THURSDAY 21 APRIL FOR YOUR CHANCE TO WIN. WINNER WILL BE CONTACTED BY PHONE ON FRIDAY 22 APRIL.

W W W. F R O N T I E R T O U R I N G . C O M • 4 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

W W W. D I S T U R B E D 1 . C O M THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 5 •

NICHE PRODUCTIONS, TRIPLE J, MTV & LIFELOUNGE PROUDLY PRESENT

WITH FULL LIVE BAND SPECIAL GUEST NATIONAL SUPPORT FROM BROOKLYN NYC

THEOPHILUS LONDON LOCAL SUPPORT

SATURDAY 27TH AUGUST ENMORE THEATRE

PRESALE TICKETS – FRI. 22ND APRIL / GENERAL PUBLIC – WED. 27TH APRIL THROUGH ENMORETHEATRE.COM.AU & ALL TICKETEK OUTLETS BIG BOI’S SIR LUCIOUS LEFTFOOT: THE SON OF CHICO DUSTY ALBUM FOR MORE INFO: AVAILABLE ONLINE AND AT ALL NICHEPRODUCTIONS.COM.AU GOOD RECORD STORES BIGBOI.COM

• 6 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

BLUESFEST TOURING PRESENTS RAUL MALO The former lead singer of The Mavericks (‘Dance the Night Away’). Get ready for a Tarantino-esque journey through latin, jazz, blues and rock & roll, driven on with clean guitar and pulsating rhythms. Raul Malo has a voice to die forand a wicked sense of humour – it’s a night not to be missed!!

Sydney: The Basement - Sun 17th April

Tickets: www.thebasement.com.au (02) 9251 2797

Sydney: Lizotte’s, Dee Why - Mon 18th April Tickets: www.lizottes.com.au

MICHELLE SHOCKED A self-styled “Sophisticated Hillbilly”, Michelle Shocked is a world wandering singer/songwriter and guitarist. With 12 albums and 24 years of performance to her credit, Michelle is a storyteller of the highest order. This April, let her engaging tales of the contrasts, toils and successes of life transport you to another time.

Sydney: The Basement - Mon 18th April Tickets: www.thebasement.com.au Dinner/Show Packages: (02) 9251 2797

Sydney: Lizotte’s, Dee Why - Tue 19th April Tickets: www.lizottes.com.au

Sydney: The State Theatre - Sat 23rd April (WITH BUFFY SAINT MARIE) Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

THE DOUBLE BONE-ER TOUR

TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

FISHBONE The young, new ‘King of Brass’ – Shorty took out an unheard of FIVE awards in the ‘Best of The Beat Awards’ in New Orleans – and narrowly missed out in this year’s Grammys. Bono and Lenny Kravitz love him (fair praise indeed!!). LA cult ska-punk band Fishbone – longtime Aussie favourites – share the bill. Dancing shoes, energy drinks, OK… let’s get physical – this night sure will be rockin’!!

Sydney: The Metro - Tue 19th April Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 or www.metrotheatre.com.au (02) 9550 3666

IRMA THOMAS SOUL QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS

Her songs, that voice, this Grammyaward winner will show you why she is one of soul’s finest performers – and long- serving talents. ‘You Can Have My Husband – But Don’t Mess With My Man’, ‘Breakaway’ and so many more… This is a ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ musical experience!

Sydney: The Factory - Thurs 21st April Tickets: www.factorytheatre.com.au or Enmore box office (02) 9550 3666

DEREK TRUCKS AND SUSAN TEDESCHI BAND WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

SPECIAL GUESTS TOOTS & THE MAYTALS WITH LUCIANO AND THE JAH MESSENJAH BAND AND WARRIOR KING AND BONNIE CASEY

Direct from Jamaica – the ultimate reggae party Reggae legend TOOTS & THE MAYTALS (‘Pressure Drop’, ‘54-46’, ‘Monkey Man’) is joined by the Roots Reggae Saviour ‘The Messenjah’ LUCIANO, Reggae leader WARRIOR KING and award-winning newcomer BONNIE CASEY. Gonna be a mixed beats journey through ska, rocksteady, dancehall ragga and reggae. The very best is coming to this Reggae Rising!

Sydney: Enmore Theatre - Sat 23rd April Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 or www.enmoretheatre.com.au (02) 9550 3666

ROBERT RANDOLPH & THE FAMILY BAND

GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC

A modern day guitar god, Derek Trucks reminds us how expressive guitar can be. With his wife, skilled singer Susan Tedeschi in the mix, expect a performance equal parts chemistry and virtuosity. Playing in April, they will be supported by acclaimed funk/ soul guitarist Robert Randolph and his Family Band.

“Ain’t no funk like P-Funk!”. One of the original “brothers from another planet”, George Clinton is the undisputed grandfather of P-Funk and the Purveyor of some of the funkiest music of all time. With his Parliament Funkadelic band in tow, this April, George returns to land the funk mothership and show us how to get down. 26 P-Funk All Stars in a three hour mara-funk-athon!

Sydney: Enmore Theatre - Thurs 21st April Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 or www.enmoretheatre.com.au (02) 9550 3666

LEON RUSSELL WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

LITTLE FEAT

Iconic arranger, producer and genius songwriter, Leon Russell is responsible for many classic songs: ‘A Song For You’ (The Carpenters, Ray Charles), ‘This Masquerade’ (George Benson), ‘Hummingbird’ (BB King) and the classic ‘Delta Lady’ (Joe Cocker) – made particularly famous in Leon’s ‘Mad Dogs & Englishman’ Tour and movie. His latest CD Union, a collaboration with Elton John, has seen a resurgence to fame for this rock legend. See for yourself in April, when he performs here with special guest support from Californian blues/rock cult legends, Little Feat.

Sydney: The Metro - Sun 24th April Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 or www.metrotheatre.com.au (02) 9550 3666

TIM ROBBINS AND THE ROGUES GALLERY BAND

Sydney: The State Theatre - Fri 22nd April Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

Best known for his acting role in The Shawshank Redemption, lesser known is Tim Robbins’ lifelong relationship with music and song-writing. On tour with his six-piece band The Rogues Gallery, he tackles a heady blend of folk, country and rockabilly. In April, come witness the other side of “Andy Dufresne”.

BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE WITH SPECIAL GUESTS

MICHELLE SHOCKED AND KEV CARMODY The foremost Native American performer of our time. Heavily covered by many of music’s greats, Canadian folk singer/songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie has spent a lifetime questioning norms, along the way giving voice to the dispossessed indigenous people of the Americas. In concert, Buffy Sainte-Marie will be joined on stage by Michelle Shocked and Kev Carmody. This kind of lightning rarely strikes twice.

Sydney: The Basement - Thu 28th April Tickets: www.thebasement.com.au Dinner/Show Packages: (02) 9251 2797

Sydney: The State Theatre - Sat 23rd April Tickets: www.ticketmaster.com.au 136 100

WARREN HAYNES

AND HIS ALL-STAR BAND

FUNKY METERS

WITH SPECIAL GUEST

JOE LOUIS WALKER

The “Founding Fathers of Funk” The Funky Meters is the modern day incarnation of The Meters, a benchmark in African-American music. From the late 1960s to today, this trio have moved hips across the planet and have always been the go-to session band in N’Awlins playing with Patti LaBelle, Paul McCartney, The Rolling Stones, Robert Palmer and many more. The Funky Meters bring un-cut funk to us, for one sweaty night only!

Now this IS an ALL STAR BAND: Guest vocalist RUTHIE FOSTER; TERENCE HIGGINS (Nora Jones, Black Crowes, Dr John); RON HOLLOWAY (Allman Bros, Gil Scott-Heron); RON JONSON (Panjea, New Monsoon); DANNY LOUIS (Gov’t Mule, Stockholm Syndrome). Special guest is blues guitar legend JOE LOUIS WALKER.

Sydney: The Metro - Wed 20th April

Sydney: The Factory - Sat 23rd April

Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 or www.metrotheatre.com.au (02) 9550 3666

Tickets: www.factorytheatre.com.au or Enmore box office (02) 9550 3666

TRINITY ROOTS Transcendent at their peak, Trinity Roots live is a spellbinding experience. Titans of the New Zealand music scene of the early 2000s, following a series of phenomenally received summer reunion shows, in April, Trinity Roots will bring their hypnotic blend of roots, psychedelica and soul to our shores for some highly-anticipated shows.

Sydney: The Metro - Fri 29th April

Tickets: www.ticketek.com.au 132 849 or www.metrotheatre.com.au (02) 9550 3666

ALSO APPEARING AT BLUESFEST WWW.BLUESFEST.COM.AU (02) 6685 8310 THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 7 •

• 8 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 9 •

K S WEE W E N GOOD N O N E AS SE

TED BY DIRECBROUGH AL AN

THE 2 ND ANNUAL

CHOPPER’ S BONZA YOU BEWDY G’DAY BIG F ** KIN ANZAC DAY SHOW VIRGIN MOBILE METRO THEATRE

7 PM MONDAY APR 25

As seen on Good News Week, Spicks & Specks, y Festival Gala. Thank God You’re Here and the Melbourne Comedy

Felicity Ward.

VIRGIN MOBILE METRO THEATRE

SAT, APR 30 - SUN, MAY 1 TWO SHOWS ONLY! WINNERS BEST SHOW BARRY AWARD FOR

2010 MELB MELBOURNE BOURNE INTERNAT INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FFESTIVAL

As heard on Nova and their song ‘The Hawk’, the 2010 sell-out musical comedy hit returns!

Honestly. The Story of Captain Entree

The Factory Theatre (Boiler Room)

7:30pm April 28-May 1

THREE SHOWS ONLY

Seymour Centre (Sound Lounge) 7:30PM April 27-30

7DD@>C<H/%'.%'%+.++ lll#hnYcZnXdbZYn[Zhi#Xdb#Vj

• 10 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

a collection of the finest stor ytelling songs of our time

STORYLINES is an album full of classic storytelling songs that take the listener on a journey. Every track is a masterpiece and the album is a must for a generation of music lovers. Featuring:

Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Simon & Garfunkel, Johnny Cash, Van Morrison, Glen Campbell, Al Stewart, Kris Kristofferson and more. ALBUM IN STORES FRIDAY 29th APRIL

They were the days of miracles and wonder, of tales told by troubadours, & lyrics that have endured throughout the years.

And now they’re back. DAMIEN LEITH S T E V E B A L B I (Noiseworks) E V E LY N D U P R A I ELLIOTT WESTON SPENCER JONES N I C K Y K U RTA SAM JOOLE

JEFF DUFF S T E V E B A L B I (Noiseworks) E V E LY N D U P R A I ELLIOTT WESTON SPENCER JONES N I C K Y K U RTA

Perform their versions of storytelling songs by Dylan, Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Cat Stevens, Simon & Garfunkel and many more

under the creative direction of

Joseph Calderazzo

under the creative direction of

Joseph Calderazzo

THE BASEMENT

LAYCOCK ST THEATRE

Strictly Limited Dinner & Show Tickets – Call 9251 2797 General Admission Tickets – moshtix.com.au

Call 4323 3233 or laycockstreettheatre.com

SATURDAY APRIL 30

FRIDAY MAY 6

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 11 •

• 12 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

OUT NOW

‘Fake History’ takes the best bits of everyone from Glassjaw to Deftones and Converge, and this is a phenomenal record that’s worthy of all praise’ Rocksound, 9/10 "KKKK - Believe The Hype!" - Kerrang

THIS MONTH @

1 E N JU E R O F E B G IN H T Y N A E S A H C R PU FOR A CHANCE TO WIN AN $1,800 PRIZE PACK! NOW WITH

AL SO AVAILABLE Unwritten Law “Swan”

First new studio album in more than 6 years from legendary punk group! Features “Starships & Apocalypse”, and “Chicken (Ready to Go, feat Del te Funkee Homosapien)”.

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 13 •

COOGE E FRI APRIL 29

TRIPPLE SHOT OF ROCK

MONKS OF MELLONWAH + THE BLACK HEIST + CROWS FEAT

SAT APRIL 30

PHIL JONES & THE UNKNOWN BLUES WITH FRANK MACIAS & LOS AMIGOS

THURS MAY 5

TONY JOE WHITE

THE ORIGINAL SWAMP ROCKER COMING

SOON!

DEREK WARFIELD & THE YOUNG WOLFE TONES SAT MAY 7 D

DAVE GRANEY + DOG TRUMPET SAT MAY 21 D Band Bookings

info@codeone.net.au - www.codeone.net.au

Tickets & info from www.coogeediggers.com.au

COOGEE DIGGERS 9665 4466 CORNER BYRON & CARR STREETS • 14 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

USE ME.

CHUGG ENTERTAINMENT, ENTERTAINMENT STORE GROUP, LUNATIC ENTERTAINMENT & S2BN PRESENT

FEATUR

DJ LA ING N ROCKCE DIRE FROM CT TH USA E

SATURDAY 4 JUNE & SUNDAY 5 JUNE

SYDNEY OPERA HOUSE ON SALE NOW

TICKETS: WWW.SYDNEYOPERAHOUSE.COM/VIVIDLIVE

www.yogabbagabbalive.com.au

DON’T YOU DARE MISS IT! WEDNESDAY 27 & THURSDAY 28

APRIL

SYDNEY ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE ticketmaster.com.au 1300 883 622

BOB DYLAN ALSO PLAYING WOLLONGONG WITH THE SECRET SISTERS

SATURDAY 23 APRIL bobdylan.com chuggentertainment.com THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 15 •

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 19 •

Contents Issue No. 1056 Tuesday 19 April 2011 All entries must be sent to giveaways@drummedia.com.au and include your full name, address and a contact number. Please note – prizes that are to be collected from the office must be done within four weeks of notification of winning.

AC/DC

AC/DC LIKES DRUM FACEBOOK AC/DC Live At River Plate was shot in December 2009 during the band’s triumphant return to Argentina’s capital, Buenos Aires, where they played to nearly 200,000 over three sold-out concerts during their massive Black Ice world tour. To promote the release, Sony Music is recreating the live experience – well, playing the DVD anyway – at The Metro as part of the worldwide launch in an exclusive invite-only event for music industry, radio, media and a handful of lucky fans/promo winners. That’s where you guys come in. We have ten double passes the event so head to facebook.com/drummedia this week, like us and then look for the giveaways tab for more information.

THEY’RE AGGROLICIOUS Friday they’ll be delivering the dirty reggae to Bluesfest audiences and Monday, LA five-piece The Aggrolites storm into The Gaelic to deliver tunes old and new, the latter specifically from their latest album, Rugged Road. We have two double passes to the show to give away, so email us with The Aggrolites giveaway in the subject line by midday Thursday.

MENTAL FIREWORKS Sydney’s Mind Over Matter, about whom you can read much more in these very pages, is taking their second album, Just Like Fireworks, for a spin around the nation, with a whole new live set and special guests including Coptic Soldier and Johnny Utah. The tour hits town Thursday at Oxford Art Factory and we have two double passes to the show to give away, so email us with Mind Over Matter giveaway in the subject line by 5pm Wednesday and when you get to the gig, you’ll also pick up a signed copy of the CD.

SMART CASUAL FUN Last year saw those unlikely heroes of Smart Casual – Fletcher Jones and Roger David (not their real names) – take to the high seas with an old sea captain, and now they want to tell you all about it in The Story Of Captain Entrée, down at the Sound Lounge in the Seymour Centre Wednesday 27 through Saturday 30 April. Of course, it’s all part of the Sydney Comedy Festival and we have five double passes to the first night to give away, so email us with Smart Casual giveaway in the subject line by midday Thursday.

HONESTLY, IT’S FLICK You’ve seen her on Thank God You’re Here, Spicks And Specks and Good News Week, but the sassy, savagely funny Felicity Ward’s natural habitat is actually stand-up, which is exactly where she’s at Friday 28 April through Sunday 1 May, in the Boiler Room at the Factory Theatre, in her new show, Honestly, again for the Sydney Comedy Festival. We have five double passes to opening night to give away, so email us with Felicity Ward giveaway in the subject line by Wednesday 27 April.

REED ALL ABOUT HIM Though he’ll tell you he just makes great pop, Eli “Paperboy” Reed has brought back a form many thought had faded out in the ‘80s and was only being kept alive by a few veterans and enthusiasts – gloriously old-school soul. Boston-born and bred, Reed is coming to Oxford Art Factory Thursday 28 April, after his two Bluesfest dates, and we have five double passes to the show to give away, each double pass coming with a copy of his new album, Come And Get It! Email us with Paperboy giveaway in the subject line by 5pm Wednesday 27 April.

BLOOD PRESSURE KILLS With her Dead Weather commitments done, Alison Mosshart got back to her other band The Kills full of new ideas and along with co-conspirator Jamie Hince, has put together their fourth album, Blood Pressures. We have four copies of Blood Pressures to give away, so head to facebook.com/drummedia this week, like us and then look for the giveaways tab for more information.

MEET CASS MCCOMBS Californian singer/songwriter Cass McCombs is a man not afraid to explore the darker aspects of life in the 21st century. With his third album for Domino, Wit’s End, actually his fifth-and-a-half album, which sounds kind of cute, he wants to invite you into a world of total feeling. Sound intriguing? We have four copies of Wit’s End to give away, so head to facebook.com/drummedia this week, like us and then look for the giveaways tab for more information.

SEB-A-DOH-DOH-DOH Last Friday saw the reissue of American alternative rockers Sebadoh’s seminal 1994 album, Bakesale, described at the time as “their great act of de-cluttering” and their most focused effort to that point. The reissue comes with a bonus disc that includes all the singles, EPs and rarities from the period, and the good news is we have three copies to give away, so head to facebook.com/drummedia this week, like us and then look for the giveaways tab for more information. • 20 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

twitter.com/drummedia

DRUM MEDIA Giveaways – Look to your left for free stuff, silly! 20 The Front Line hits hard with industry fact and conjecture, plus as industry conference BIGSOUND launches, we chat to some of the speakers and find it is a meeting of minds. 22 Mailbag – your say on what floats your boat or makes the red mist descend, plus Backlash and Frontlash. 24 The News – just like it says, with tours, releases and more. 26 Irma Thomas has lived a lot of the things that she sings about, so you know she can sing it with some degree of conviction. 32 George Clinton embraces the funk. 34 Playing a gig is not really about performance, it’s about the shared experience according to Eli “Paperboy” Reed. He learnt that at church, you know. 36 Billy Gibbons is glad he picked up a guitar when his parents told him not to. Quite a few ZZ Top fans probably agree with this too. 36 Tim Robbins wants his music to be as good as his movies. Having seen The Shawshank Redemption, we’re encouraged by this. 37 There’s nothing rougher than reggae music, according to The Aggrolites. 38 Jethro Tull are living proof of their philosophy there’s no reason why a music career can’t go on forever, in Peter Pan tradition. 38 Little Bushman are not slaves to the three-and-a-half-minute commercial formula – and that’s just the way the psychedelic symphonic blues act likes it. 39 Dale Watson & His Lone Stars are prepared to do anything – song-wise, that is. 39 Heading to Bluesfest? The map and times might help you plan your experience a bit better. 40 Children Collide present a different side to their music. 41 Although originally done due to lack of funds, recording on an old eight track cassette proved a certain charm for Jamie Hutchings. 42 The psychobilly community seems a little bit like a lot of bitches with big hair bitching at each other according to HorrorPops. 42 Wild styles and darker subject matter turns out to be a good mix for Mind Over Matter. 42 Having ADD doesn’t make you a mathcore band, says The Chariot. 43 The reunion of The Feelies is not purely nostalgia, as they wanted to feel vital again. 43 On The Record reviews of new release albums and singles from Explosions In The Sky, The Wombats, Glasvegas and more. 44 Chris Maric gets local with hard rock and metal in The Heavy Shit. 48 Sarah Petchell brings us local and international punk news in Wake The Dead. 49 Adam Curley muses on Romy via an email exchange in The Breakdown. 50 Viktor Krum asks you to Get It Together with the latest in hip hop. 50 Dave Drayton gets Young & Restless with all ages goings on. 50 Tom Hawking sends us a snapshot of life in the Big Apple with New York Conversation. 50 Dan Condon features the world of blues and roots with Roots Down. 51 Michael Smith delivers some Blow with jazz and world music news. 51 Go south as you enter Pedro Manoy’s Swamp Shack. 51

FRONT ROW This Week In Arts lists the events of the week; News looks at the Archibald Prize winner, Australian films at Cannes and a special concert raising funds for Japan; we review Briwyant, Suite Synergy and Daniel Sloss. 52 Puppeteer Nina Conti puts her hands to good use; Simon Pegg and Nick Frost discuss working with aliens and each other; Cultural Cringe wraps up the week’s arts news and whispers. 53 Griffin Theatre Company present the world premiere of Lachlan Philpott’s Silent Disco, directed by Lee Lewis. 54 Shakespeare comes to CarriageWorks by way of As You Like It; Scream 4 is reviewed. 55 Rowan Joffé recreates a 1960s beachside town in Brighton Rock; Made You Look explores the Ai Weiwei case; Brighton Rock, Incendies, and Never Let Me Go are reviewed. 56

LIVE It’s all here: gig reviews, tour guide, what’s happening this week, charts, gig guide, random shit and Underlapper produces an album of two halves. 57 Backstage and BTL – your guide to studios, recording, gear, courses and more. 74 The Classies – need a singer/bassist/ drummer/any other service/product you can think of? Your answer is here. And on iflog.com.au. 77

front

LINE

NEWS? ANNOUNCEMENTS? TIP-OFFS? RUMOUR AND GOSSIP? SEND THEM THROUGH TO FRONTLINE@STREETPRESS.COM.AU

NEWS FROM THE INDUSTRY WITH SCOTT FITZSIMONS

STONEFIELD

STRONG AUS REP AT GLASTONBURY It’s a particularly strong year for Australians on the Glastonbury line-up, as the renowned UK festival has announced at least six local acts on the bill. European regulars Tame Impala and Pendulum will be playing on the main stage, which will also be graced by the likes of U2, Beyoncé, Coldplay and Morrissey. The surprise announcements come from old world troubadour CW Stoneking, young Victorian sibling collective Stonefield, “booty-rockers” METALS and Melbourne’s Afro-jazz nine-piece Black Jesus Experience, who have all garnered themselves a set.

FOO FIGHTERS

FOOS HAVE TOP SPOT, FOR NOW

FELICITY GROOM

AWARDS I: WAMI NOMS Split Seconds and Felicity Groom have led the nominations in the Western Australian Music Industry (WAMi) Awards, scoring six nods each ahead of festival veterans Tame Impala and Birds Of Tokyo. Drum’n’bass DJ ShockOne also received three nominations, including Most Popular Act, which shook things up in a usually band-dominated awards selection. He’ll fight out that top honour with Birds Of Tokyo, Split Seconds and Tame Impala. Most Popular Album features 6’s & 7’s’ Choose The Sentinel Booze, Birds Of Tokyo’s Birds Of Tokyo, Pond’s Frond and Tame Impala’s InnerSpeaker. In the long list of awards, Street Press Australia (publishers of The Drum Media) received three mentions. The Drum Media Perth is up for best magazine and its editor Aarom Wilson has been recognised in the Media Award – Individual and top gong Golden WAMi categories.

AWARDS II: QUEENSLAND REBRAND Brisbane’s Q Music Awards have been rebranded as the Queensland Music Awards this year, with the intent of broadening the scope and relevance of the event. Q Music are still organising the awards though and Executive Office Denise Foley said in a statement, “The Q Song Awards helped highlight the depth of songwriting talent across the State and demonstrate that songs are the heart of our industry. But through this new identity, the Queensland Music Awards will further recognise the broad talent and dedication it takes to be an exceptional performer or make a world class album.” Three new categories have been added to the event, with fans set to decide the winners in Most Popular Female Artist/Male Artist/Band, whilst an industry panel will decide Queensland’s Album Of The Year. Other remaining categories include pop, rock, heavy, blues/roots, country, electronic/dance, urban, jazz, schools (years 6 – 12), folk/singer-songwriter and world. All the genre finalists then go into the Song Of The Year category, previously won by Kate MillerHeidke and Hungry Kids Of Hungry. Entries are now open, as are the applications for the $10,000 Billy Thorpe Scholarship. Both will be announced Tuesday 16 August at the new venue of The Old Museum. • 22• THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

As expected, Foo Fighters have capitalised on their buzz at the moment by topping the ARIA chart with their latest record Wasting Light. They nudged out the ever-climbing Adele, whose record 21 has now spend 12 weeks in the charts without quite scoring the top spot. It will likely do that if there’s a quiet week in the next month, but it will have to deal with a charging Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu whose record Rrakala was released Friday with 22,000 pre-sales. It will chart next week with what is estimated to be around 40,000 sales, almost certainly making it the highest selling local album in Australia this year. Among other debuts in this week’s chart were Ronan Keating’s tribute to Burt Bacharach, When Ronan Met Burt in sixth, which was helped along by the press generated by Keating’s support for embattled X-Factor talent quest winner Altiyan Childs, who Keating had mentored on the show. The two big Australian releases may have eaten into each other’s chances of a top ten debut, with The Middle East’s I Want That You Are Always Happy in at 11 and Architecture In Helsinki’s Moment Bends at 12. Last week’s number one – which scanned approximately 9,300 units – from Drapht, The Life Of Riley, showed staying power by holding onto position four, just ahead of a surging Lady Antebellum Need You Now, plus is the only local release in the top ten at the moment. As far as singles go, the top 30 are still dominated by international releases. The highest Australian act is The Potbellez, who bulleted to 32 this week with From The Music.

NZ’S CONTROVERSIAL COPYRIGHT BILL PASSED New Zealand parliament have passed the controversial file-sharing bill, which has sparked the online protesters into action again. The bill, The Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Bill has been criticised for its harshness and even though the eventual bill is a watered down version of the original, it still contains many of the main concerns. Following a three strike system, copyright holders now have access to the option of taking the offender to a tribunal or court which could result in a fine of up to $15,000 or the cutting off of their internet. The latter is only available in extreme cases and it is unlikely it will ever occur, but the possibility is there. Another main sticking point was the presumption of guilt the bill enacts, as offenders are guilty until proven innocent. Speaking to the NZ Herald, internet and intellectual property expert Rick Shera said that the tribunal issuing the warnings will be “presumed” to be correct, the burden of proof shifted back to the offender. “Up to 30 percent of copyright cases fail because they can’t prove they own the copyright, but they won’t have to prove that now,” he said. Speaking to The Front Line, Music Industry Piracy Investigations General Manager Sabiene Heindl welcomed the bill. “Like many territories worldwide, New Zealand has recognised the devastating impact that illegal file-sharing is having on artists and songwriters and the need for ISPs and content owners to work together to address this issue… We hope that this positive news from New Zealand will further encourage content owners and ISPs in Australia to work together towards an industry led solution to illegal file-sharing.”

JONES’ DELAY BLAMED ON COLLAPSE Bluesfest headliner, 62-year-old Grace Jones was 45 minutes late to her Melbourne show this week, claiming that she had collapsed at the airport due to “high blood pressure.” She added that there was a doctor

in the audience, in case it happened again. However, a spokesperson for Chugg Entertainment, Jones’ tour promoter, denied that she was in poor health. The Front Line was told, “Grace Jones is in great health and put on a spectacular show to a standing ovation,” they said. “There was a delay in opening doors due to soundcheck running overtime, which consequently delayed the time at which Grace took the stage.” Prior to that standing ovation though, fans had heckled support DJ Alex Taylor. They also took to Twitter to ask if Jones would be coming on stage at all. The show, which ran overtime, also suffered technical glitches, with Jones having to give directions to crew at times. Despite the problems, though, Jones has received rave reviews for the gig thanks to her strong voice and good humour.

FRESHLY INKED Sydney based label Stop Start, home to Hungry Kids Of Hungary and Old Man River have announced Pluto Jonze as their latest signing. Jonze, real name Lachlan Nicholson, will be releasing his self-titled debut EP Friday 6 May propelled by the first single Meet Me Under Neon. One half of Savage Garden, the now UK-based Darren Hayes has signed to Mercury Records Australia (distributed through Universal) for his fourth solo album, which is due to be released later this year. Written and recorded with a slew of acclaimed behind-the-scenes songwriters, it features live orchestras recorded in both Sydney and Stockholm. “In the past having my own independent label was a personal milestone,” said Hayes in a statement. “Universal respect my past but believe strongly in my future. Their enthusiasm for my vision coupled with their reputation as market leaders makes me proud to call Universal my new home.”

JB COMMITS TO THE PHYSICAL Australia’s biggest music retail chain JB Hi-Fi have stressed their commitment to physical music amidst reports that they are planning to cut staff in the

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music departments considerably. The company’s CEO and Executive Director Terry Smart assured The Front Line that they’re “absolutely committed to music and the physical product. It’s an important part of every new store, bar one,” he said, citing an instance of market saturation. In the last two years there has been a decrease of floorspace allocated to music departments across JB’s 136 stores, with more given to telecommunications, blu-ray and gaming departments. “That’s just a case of being productive with our floorspace,” said Smart. “We’re still committed to music but the fact is that music doesn’t need the same floorspace that it did four years ago.”

MUSIC VIDEO SWINGERS PARTY The Music Video Mash Up competition is now accepting entries, from both artists and filmmakers. The competition works by pairing up artists and crews who then have 72 hours to create a film clip for it, the winners receiving air time on Video Hits as well as other to-be-announced prizes. Run separately in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney, the films will be screened in Brisbane on Wednesday 6 July at Palace Centro Cinemas, Sydney Thursday 7 at Palace Verona Cinemas and Melbourne Friday 8 at Palace Kino Cinemas. Head to mvmu.com.au to register and for further info.

LABELS FOR SALE AS A WHOLE According to various reports last week regarding the impending sales of major labels EMI and Warner, it seems that Citibank, who are taking care of EMI’s sale, as well as the Warner board, have decided to sell their respective companies as a whole, rather than breaking them down. Bids had reportedly been made for the publishing arms alone. A decision on Warner is due soon as the board are currently looking at bids, while EMI’s may be a while off.

front

THE NEXT SXSW

LAST WEEK BRISBANE MUSIC CONFERENCE BIGSOUND LAUNCHED ITS 2011 PROGRAM. SPEAKERS FROM THE EVENT ANDY KENT, DAMIAN TROTTER AND ANDY KELLY SPOKE TO DAVE DRAYTON.

LINE As testament to the fun nature of the event, Kelly says his speech will be “a bit loose, a bit free form”. “It’s a reaction to the idea that music management is something that is all about monetising digital platforms and how to manage your social media… Often music management is much more about finding someone a bong at 2:30am in Seattle than it is about social media,” Kelly says with a chuckle. The live performance aspect of the conference, BIGSOUND Live, has slowly been snowballing over the past few years. 2010 saw it sell out, with audience numbers at 4,000 across six stages over two nights. This year an even greater focus is being placed on BIGSOUND Live.

ANDY KENT

ith this year marking the tenth anniversary of BIGSOUND, organisers have recruited a mix of international speakers as the conference looks set to truly establish itself on a global scale as a cutting edge meeting of the minds for members of the music industry. Amongst the first announcement of speakers at the event, held in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane from Wednesday 7 – Friday 9 September, are Tony Harlow – the Warner Music boss will deliver the domestic keynote speech – and Poptones and Creation Records founder Alan McGee as the international keynote speaker. Andy Kent, You Am I bassist and founder of boutique touring agency Love Police, Damian Trotter, Managing Director of Sony/ATV Music Publishing Australia and Andy Kelly, co-director of Winterman & Goldstein Management, Ivy League Records and Ivy League Music Publishing are among the others listed in the first announcement of speakers. Both Kent and Trotter are BIGSOUND first-timers and couldn’t be happier to be asked to speak at the conference. “I have been either away or touring over every BIGSOUND, so this is my

DAMIEN TROTTER first, but I know the model that they have and I have lots of feedback… from where I’m standing it looks excellent,” says Kent. “This will be my first time. It’s long overdue, I’ve only heard fantastic things about it,” Trotter affirms. He will be drawing heavily on his experience at Sony in his speech, “I think the industry has changed pretty radically over the past few years and I think that the role of the music publisher has also changed fairly dramatically in that time. [BIGSOUND] is an opportunity to present to people what the various options might be out there for themselves, whether it’s as an independent, through a major system, doing it own their own – just trying to provide a bit of insight into the possible pathways open to people to do things these days.” “I think it’s great that Australia has something like BIGSOUND,” Kent continues, “I think it’s always important for people to get together and talk things over in person and the fact that can they can bring in some interesting people from outside our music industry to throw ideas around and tell

us how their side of the music business is going and what’s working for them on the other side of the world. “I think the music business is ever evolving, particularly now with technology and broadband speeds and social networking. So I think it would be interesting also to hear what people are doing. I’m interested to see what’s going on, if there’s anything I can impart then I will. Essentially it’s a meeting of the minds, it can’t be anything but positive,” says Kent. Even Kelly, who confesses to ordinarily loathing music conferences, is seeing BIGSOUND as an enjoyable experience that is functioning to strengthen the Australian music industry. “I’ve been once, a couple of years ago,” Kelly says of his previous experience. “I really enjoyed it actually. I don’t love music conferences as a rule but – this sounds a little artificial and weird – at BIGSOUND I actually had the complete opposite experience once I got there. I really liked it, I like how it’s all really well contained and it’s a manageable size. It’s not like South By Southwest which is just so out of control. It’s my favourite of that kind of event.”

“In previous years the likes of The Naked And Famous and The Jezabels have played. It’s been a pretty serious springboard for some of those guys, particularly the international contacts that have been down here. I think that in some cases this has been one of those defining moments in some bands’ careers. So whoever’s on there, if they’re given the right sort of spot and perform well it can open up some pretty serious opportunities,” says Trotter. “I think Graham Ashton knows exactly what he is doing and he’s building it really well, so I think from that point of view it’s going to be musically very good too,” Kent says of the live aspect of the conference, mentioning BIGSOUND’s Executive Programmer. “I was in Austin for South By Southwest this year and it was chaos. It was just really quite enormous and quite daunting and there’s just so much going on it just feels like it’s saturated, but essentially [BIGSOUND Live] is a great idea. I think that to be able to dart from one venue to another to see the people and acts that you need to in your business and in growing your relationships and whatnot, it’s a really handy, quick way to do things. And bands can get in front of all of those people over three days; it’s pretty handy for them too. I think the model is really good. And as it grows it is only going to get better.” Whether it is with Australian bias or pride that so many are putting BIGSOUND on a pedestal above SXSW, or in fact due to the undeniable promise the conference shows as it progresses each year, will surely be confirmed in September.

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Dear Drum, So Splendour’s been announced and obviously it’s an amazing line-up. My only beef though is why are Kanye and Coldplay only playing up there? Are they really that pressed for time that they can only play the one show? I can already see how it’s going to go down – Splendour will sell out in quick time as it usually does. Some of us who miss out on tickets will be appeased by sideshows of various artists, but what about those of us who really, really want to see Kanye or Coldplay? We’re going to miss out and it will make me sad (yes, I’m one of those ones who wants to see them – both actually). I know it’s a bit of defeatist attitude as I may end up getting tickets to Splendour, but in all likelihood there’s a good chance I may miss out. I don’t know their schedules either, but if they’re coming in, playing Splendour and jetting out the next day, it almost seems hardly worth it. It’s a long way to come and a lot of effort for one show. If they’re

FRONTLASH

Props to the folks at Repressed for giving customers tote bags with every purchase (and in my case, just because I wanted one) – and props to me for thinking of watching Empire Records when I got home, what a genius idea. Long live the record store and long live Rex Manning. I See Red West Pennant Hills It would have more genius to watch High Fidelity maybe, but, you know, good on you for getting down to the stores and checking stuff out. – Ed

BACKLASH

NO NATION

NO TV TWEETS

Thank god Pauline Hanson was unsuccessful in her bid for an Upper House seat in the NSW Parliament. Even though she’s no longer aligned with One Nation, it felt like we’d go back to the bad old days of 1996. There are still two Christian Democrats in the upper house though, so we’ll have to work on that for next time.

Twitter banned at the Logies? This is what makes the night bearable – all awards nights in fact. Seeing as Catherine Deveny was the main perpetrator of hilarious tweets last year (and quite likely the cause of the ban this year), we like her suggestion in response to the ban that the Logies should “Have a crack team of tweeters at the back like that bloke from Hey Hey who used to do the drawings”.

SHAUN DIVINEY The Short Stack frontman was disappointed with only being labelled “Australia’s most obnoxious he-diva” in a recent Drum review, tweeting that he wanted to be Australia’s “most obnoxious all over diva”. For taking it in good spirits like that, we’ll help him get there. Here’s a tip – start with brown M&Ms.

LIVE COACHELLA Seeing as probably most of us couldn’t make it to the real thing, it was pretty damn awesome to have live streams of some of the sets from Coachella, to get us excited about acts that may be coming soon or maybe have a little cry over seeing acts that we know are probably a long, long way from touring Australia.

GIG ETIQUETTE Once again, we call out for punters to respect each other. Drum attended a gig on the weekend where we were shoved as someone with a camera tried to push past to get closer to the stage. This in itself isn’t a biggie as it tends to happen all the time, but the force of the shove meant we almost fell over. Good manners cost nothing so a little “excuse me” wouldn’t go astray.

POWER OUTAGES Shit can never go down on a quiet week, can it? Always has to happen when a deadline is looming.

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WHY NOT PLAY MORE?

The weekend just past was the first Record Store Day that I’d actively participated in, having only heard about it in the past. It was a really fun day and the spirit in the record stores that I visited – Red Eye, Egg and Repressed – was overwhelmingly positive. The staff all had big smiles on their faces and it was really quite lovely to see people in there with their friends, poring over heaps of vinyl and chatting happily and animatedly while doing it. It reminded me that I should make a more frequent habit of actually going to these stores rather than making it a ‘sometimes’ activity. There’s no feeling quite like rifling through a disorganised stack of records to find that one gem hidden quietly in there, waiting for your excited hands to pull it out and give it a welldeserved spin. Sure beats downloading a torrent too.

Daniel Crichton-Rouse frontrow@drummedia.com.au

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HOW SPLENDID

HELMET Led, as always, by singer, songwriter and guitarist Page Hamilton, seminal American band Helmet is heading back to Australia to reintroduce themselves and their latest album, Seeing Eye Dog, their seventh, in person Friday 24 June in the Manning Bar, Thursday 30 in the ANU Bar, Friday 1 July at Wollongong Unibar and Saturday 2 at Newcastle Leagues.

It’s that time of year again – Splendour In The Grass has announced its 2011 line-up and it’s a corker, featuring some truly unbelievable acts. Happening this year at Woodfordia in Queensland from Friday 29 to Sunday 31 July, the eleventh Splendour festival will host over 80 acts across three stages, also mixing up the set up from last year’s event to include new bars and new spaces. Playing their only Australian shows this year are Coldplay (pictured), Kanye West and Mogwai, as well as Regina Spektor, whose Splendour appearance is her only show anywhere in the world for 2011. Returning after Soundwave 2010, Jane’s Addiction joins the line-up, as well as the recently reformed Pulp. Swedes The Hives and Aussie champions The Living End will also play, as well as prog rockers The Mars Volta, no strangers to our shores. Dubstep newcomer James Blake steps in, as do Modest Mouse, Bloc Party’s Kele and freak folk purveyor Devendra Banhart. Other international names include Glasvegas, Kaiser Chiefs, Noah & The Whale, Elbow, DJ Shadow, Foster The People, Thievery Corporation, Isobel Campbell & Mark Lanegan, The Kills, Black Joe Lewis & The Honeybears, Friendly Fires, The Vaccines and more, while from home we have Bliss N Eso, Pnau, The Grates, The Middle East, The Vines, Eskimo Joe, Children Collide, Cut Copy and more. Tickets go on sale 9am sharp Thursday 5 May and judging from previous years and especially due to this year’s massive line-up, get up way way way earlier than that, sit at your computer and refresh furiously.

The Thursday 26 May Destroy Music concert featuring The Amity Affliction, I Killed The Prom Queen, Deez Nuts and Of Mice And Men at the UNSW Roundhouse has completely sold out, but a second show Friday 27 has been announced for those who might have missed out or want a second serve. Unprecedented Internet pre-sales prompted the addition of a third State Theatre gig from k.d. lang, so the American songstress and her Siss Boom Bang band will now be performing Wednesday 9, Thursday 10 and Wednesday 16 November, as well as Monday 7 at Canberra AIS Arena. Loene Carmen just got an offer she couldn’t refuse – opening for Alabama’s Secret Sisters at the Vanguard Wednesday night. New Empire and The Former Love Pirates will be joining Switchfoot when they head into the Big Top in Luna Park Thursday night. Fishing, a duo who have just released a free digitalonly mix tape titled HOOKZ 2: Fishing In The Colo Wilderness on their website, will be opening for The Go! Team at the Metro Theatre Wednesday 4 May. New York City dance DJ/production brothers duo, Designer Drugs, is heading over for a national tour that kicks off at OneFiveOne in Wollongong Thursday 5 May and returns to Fake Club in Sydney Saturday 7, guaranteed to be pumping out their debut album, Hardcore/Softcore, and more. Chicago DJ James Curd, signed to the influential DFA label though now with Permanent Vacation, which has released his latest, Open Up Your Mind, takes over Adult Disco Saturday 7 May.

FAKING IT

Perth four-piece The Joe Kings picked up the national support spot on the forthcoming album launch tour by Jeff Martin’s band 777, hitting The Gaelic Saturday 7 May.

Brisbane six-piece Cheap Fakes blends reggae and funk with pop and dance to make a sound very much its own. The band independently released its debut album, Stones And Sticks, in 2010, meeting with positive reviews and airplay across some of the country’s most respected radio stations, triple j included. The band has already started preproduction on the follow-up album and will embark on a tour to support both new and old material. Ahead of playing Gum Ball, they play Beach Road Hotel on Thursday 28 April.

The songwriting core of Brisbane’s Halfway, John Busby and Chris Dale, will be back in town Sunday 8 May to open for The Jayhawks’ Mark Olson at the Annandale. When New York City’s Darwin Deez hits the Metro Theatre stage Tuesday 10 May, the stage will have been warmed up for them by Melbourne’s Owl Eyes. Darker Half and Voyager have scored the opening slots on the next visit to Sydney by those Scottish pirate metal ruffians Alestorm, Friday 13 May in the Manning Bar. If you were wondering about OFWGKTA and their “head”, Tyler, The Creator, who will be doing the business Tuesday 31 May, Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 at the already sold-out Livid Festival at Sydney Opera House, you can, one, check out the video for his latest single, Yonkers, and two, keep an eye out midMay for the album, Goblin. Philadelphia pop punks The Wonder Years, who release their new album, Suburbia I’ve Given You All And Now I’m Nothing, Friday 17 June, have been invited to join Parkway Drive on their Mix ‘N’ Mash tour of the nation, so you’ll catch them both at the Hordern Pavilion Friday 20 May, Newcastle Panthers Saturday 21 and Wollongong Entertainment Centre Sunday 22.

NICK & LIESL

LIGHT AS A… Central Coast pals Nick & Liesl, who released a wellreceived EP, Wyong River, in 2008, finally have a debut album. It’s called Feather and was mostly recorded in the pair’s home studio with some of Australia’s top musicians, many of whom have worked with the likes of Paul Kelly and Kasey Chambers. Since forming in 2007, Nick & Liesl have taken their tunes around the world, playing extensively in Europe, as well as establishing a fan base right here in Australia. They play upstairs at The Roxbury Glebe on Friday 13 May, with Ruby For Lucy and Troy Henderson supporting.

The demand for tickets has prompted the announcement of a second Acer Arena show for Miley Cyrus, now performing here Sunday 26 and Monday 27 June. Born Elisabeth Maurus, American folk rocker Lissie, who releases her debut album, Catching A Tiger, Friday 29 April, is the very special guest of Washington when she plays the Metro Theatre Thursday 5 May and now also Friday 6, the first show having sold out, along with Deep Sea Arcade. Sydneysiders Siren Lines, who release their new EP late May, have scored themselves the support spot opening for New York City’s As Tall As Lions Sunday at The Wall. Currently rampaging across the US promoting their latest album, No Guts. No Glory, Airbourne head back in June for a quick spin around the country before returning to do a UK tour with Iron Maiden. They take on the Metro Theatre Saturday 11 June. Melbourne songstress Cilla Jane releases her second album, Until Morning Comes Friday 13 May and she comes to the Vanguard to launch it Wednesday 6 July, followed by The Front in Canberra Saturday 9. • 26• THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

THE YEARLINGS

RUN AWAY WITH ME Since meeting at the Tamworth Country Music Festival in 2000, Robyn Chalklen and Chris Parkinson have been making music together as alt.country duo The Yearlings. They released their fourth album, Sweet Runaway, in 2010 and are taking those tunes on the road all around Australia once more, accompanied on drums by BJ Barker, who’s known for playing with Kasey Chambers. They bring Brisbane psych-pop duo Laneway along with them for the gigs, which are happening Sunday 22 May at the Grand Junction Hotel, Thursday 26 at Lizotte’s Kincumber, Friday 27 at the Clarendon Guesthouse, Sunday 29 at The Vanguard and Wednesday 1 June at The Front.

TARANTINO CELEBRATION

ABANDON ALL HOPE

EAST COAST CARNAGE Good news for hardcore fans of all ages – the seven-date East Coast Carnage tour was recently announced, bringing you some of the best in up and coming Australian hardcore music. Adelaide’s Abandon All Hope – who have racked up some seriously impressive support slots over the years – team up with Melbourne’s Trainwreck and Sydney’s own Endless Heights, who will showcase tracks from new release, Prowler, take on the Masonic Hall in Blacktown on Sunday 29 May.

The music of filmmaker Quentin Tarantino will be celebrated at The Vanguard on Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 May, with an eight-piece in-house band playing all the best loved tunes from his films. The band will be joined by some of the finest local singers, including Mikelangelo from The Black Sea Gentlemen, Johnny Wishbone from The Snowdroppers, Azzy T from Zombie Ghost Train and Kira Puru from Kira Puru & The Bruise. There will also be a burlesque performance from Tasia. More is to be announced before the event takes place and there will also be film screenings. The evening is hosted by Jay Katz.

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BEASTIE BOYS

HOT HOT HOT With the new Beastie Boys album, Hot Sauce Committee Part Two, hitting stores on Friday 29 April (led by ace first single, Make Some Noise), Drum has joined forces with EMI for a killer giveaway of some amazing Beasties gear to celebrate its release. Each cover of Drum next week will feature a unique QR code (you know, those weird-lookin’ squares of black-and-white blocks) that, as soon as you scan it with your phone, will let you know whether you’re one of the 50 lucky winners to score some Beasties merch. Prizes include copies of the new album on delicious double vinyl (with bonus 7”), T-shirts, CDs and selections from the Beastie Boys’ back catalogue. Pick up the mag next week and get scanning!

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 27 •

NEWS@DRUMMEDIA.COM.AU

ABOUT GROUP

RED INK

HOW ABOUT THIS The side project of Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor, About Group, has a new album out. It’s called Start And Complete and it’s streaming on themusic.com.au this week. The band also comprises members of This Heat and Spiritualized and the album was recorded in one day at Abbey Road Studios. Taylor penned the songs over the last few years and the rest of About Group only heard most of the piano/vocal demos a few days before recording, so what you hear is very much of the moment. Head to themusic.com.au to check out the 13 tracks on the record.

HIDE AND SEEK Sydney band Bell Weather Department has a new single, Where The Wolves Can’t Find Me, self-mixed and then mastered at Studios 301 by Andrew Edgson – it’s the first time the band has recorded outside of its usual home studio set-up. The quartet describes the track as a “tale of embracing solitude in abandonment” and launches it Friday 13 May at Oxford Art Factory’s Gallery Bar with support from Palms, Hello Vera and Nu Balance DJs.

FRESHLY INKED Melbourne rockers Red Ink have recently released a new single, What My Friends Say, which is making the radio rounds as the band clocks up some big support slots as well as major Australian festivals like Peats Ridge and Playground Weekender. Launching the single, the band heads around the East Coast, stopping in at The Gaelic on Friday 1 July.

ESKIMO JOE

CAPITOL CITY ROCKERS

GET PERSONAL Eskimo Joe have been holed up in the studio putting the last touches on their upcoming new album, which should see release later in the year, but before any of that official stuff happens they’re hitting the road on a very special semi-acoustic tour. It’s called When We Were Kids and sees the band playing tiny intimate venues, perfect for any superfans who want to get up close and personal with songs old and new. Tickets for the show at The Gaelic on Saturday 28 May are available now, only through Eskimo Joe’s website.

HELLO GOODBYE

OUT IN SPACE Electro popster Pluto Jonze, real name Lachlan Nicholson, has just been signed to Sydney label Stop Start, the same guys that take care of Old Man River and Hungry Kids Of Hungary, to name a few. Two years of hard work has resulted in the debut EP for the artist, self-titled, released on Friday 6 May. The EP, which was self-produced alongside Tony Espie (The Avalanches, Cut Copy), features single, Meet You Under Neon, which has been making the rounds of late. Jonze has also supported a number of local and international names, but is heading out on tour as a headliner, starting Friday 29 April at The Gaelic before moving on to play Saturday 28 May at Oxford Art Factory, Wednesday 1 June at Beach Road Hotel and Saturday 4 June at Kings Cross Hotel.

STATE OF MIND Sydney power pop trio New Empire has just wrapped up a national tour with Good Charlotte and plays with Switchfoot this week, but there are headlining shows for the band too, in support of new single, Here In Your Eyes. The single was released a few weeks ago and debuted at #4 on the iTunes rock charts, with a video that’s racked up tens of thousands of views. The band’s second album – which will include the single – is well underway in the studio and slated for an August release. New Empire plays The Lair at The Metro on Saturday 16 July.

ALL YOURS Sydney singer/songwriter Alisa Fedele has a new style, a new band and a new EP. Titled I’m Yours Tonight and produced by Ian Pritchett (The Beautiful Girls, Angus & Julia Stone), the EP will be launched Tuesday 10 May at The Basement Circular Quay with local blues rockers The Money Smokers playing back up. Fedele, who cites Nina Simone, Norah Jones and Nat King Cole as influences on the EP, is about to head over to Europe to conquer musical lands over there for three months so this is your last chance to check her out for a while. • 28 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

DOUBLE TROUBLE Legendary Australian singer/songwriter Paul Kelly and jazz virtuoso Paul Grabowsky have teamed up to create Meet Me In The Middle Of The Air, a show where they will be joined by the Australian Art Orchestra, Vika & Linda Bull and The Choir With No Name. The event has been performed before, but only three times and every show to sold out crowds. The show again delves into Kelly’s back catalogue, fishing out songs like Be Careful What You Pray For and God’s Hotel, which have been rearranged by Grabowsky for the full band, instruments by the orchestra and vocals by the sisters and choir. It’s set to be a really special event that might not happen again, so get in quick to avoid disappointment. Tickets are on sale Monday 2 May for the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Sunday 24 July and Canberra Theatre on Friday 29.

MICHAEL GETS FRANK Grammy Award winning American jazz entertainer Michael Feinstein, who’s also instrumental in the Great American Songbook series, brings songs from his 2008 album, the Grammy-nominated The Sinatra Project, to our shores. The album obviously pays tribute to Old Blue Eyes himself, covering 12 of his best known and loved songs. Feinstein will be accompanied by the Sinatra Big Band when he plays one NSW show only, at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Monday 4 July.

MUSIC AT THE MOVIES

KARNIVOOL

PLUTO JONZE

PAUL KELLY & PAUL GRABOWSKY

Local pop/rockers Capitol are preparing their fourth EP, which they plan to set loose on the world later this year. The band has only been around for a year but has been hard at work creating recordings and clocking up all manner of live shows, having played at some of the city’s best intimate venues. The four-piece will take to the stage at the Annandale Hotel on Thursday 9 June to showcase some of their upcoming material, as well as playing all the good old oldies.

Perth’s Karnivool will play only one Australian tour this year, but it’s a big ‘un. Their last national tour, the New Day tour in June and July 2010, preceded a run of dates abroad for the boys, who toured their album, Sound Awake, in Europe, playing the main stage at the UK’s Sonisphere Festival alongside Slayer and Iron Maiden, before going to the US and Canada and blitzing through a five-week headliner there. On this tour the band will share some new tracks penned on the road and say hello to their homeland for the first (and last) time in 2011. They play Wednesday 15 June at ANU Bar, Thursday 16 at Waves, Friday 17 at Penrith Panthers, Saturday 18 at UNSW Roundhouse and Sunday 19 at Newcastle Panthers.

In cinematic news, there are a couple of things happening at the movies that may appeal to you music-loving types. The first is the Foo Fighters documentary, Foo Fighters: Back And Forth, which hits the big screen for three nights only from Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 April at select Event Cinemas, Greater Union and Birch Carroll & Coyle Cinemas theatres. Screenings will be followed by a filmed performance of the band playing their new album, Wasting Light, from start to finish in 3D. Tickets are $25 and available at the Event Cinemas website or at the box office. The other event is a very rare and special cinema screening of Concert For George, the 2002 George Harrison tribute concert at Royal Albert Hall that included performances from fellow Beatles Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr as well as Eric Clapton, Tom Petty, the Monty Python team and more. It screens for one night only, 6.30pm on Sunday 1 May at the aforementioned outlets. Normal ticket prices apply.

REBUILDING ON ROCK

MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE

Rock And Rebuild is a charity concert that will be headlined by Sir Bob Geldof, he of international fame for political and musical endeavours such as BandAid. He has just released a new album, How To Compose Popular Songs That Will Sell, so those new tunes will be sure to get an outing amongst the older numbers. Closer to home, Jon Stevens and Danielle Spencer will also lend their voices on the night for performances. All of the ticket sale proceeds will be donated to both the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Fund and the Australian Red Cross to aid those who have suffered in tragedies in Australia, Japan and New Zealand. Tickets for the event, which happens Sunday 1 May at the Lyric Theatre, are $150 each and available through Ticketmaster.

SWEET AS

WITH FRIENDS LIKE THESE Metallers Our Last Enemy have enjoyed super success with their recently released debut album, Fallen Empires, which has stormed its way to take out the top spot on the iTunes Metal Chart after only 48 hours of being online, beating out Between The Buried And Me, whose album debuted the same day. The band’s track Crisis, an online bonus from the album’s recording sessions, also reached #6 on the Metal Singles Chart, ahead of Bring Me The Horizon. Definitely impressive. The guys are a few dates down on their Tearing Down The Empire tour, but there’s still one to come in Drum parts on Saturday 30 April at The Wall.

PSYCROPTIC

ONE FOR THE BASTARDS This year’s BastardFest, travelling all around the country and also to New Zealand, comes to Sydney on Saturday 10 September at the Sandringham Hotel. Headlining the event all around the country, Hobart death metallers Psycroptic are making their first full nationwide appearance for over a year. The lineups in each city are filled out by local talent – for us here that means I Exist, Pod People, Bane Of Isildur, Ouroboros and Chaos Divine. There’s still more to be announced and tickets go on sale next Thursday 28 April.

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Australian chamber-pop powerhouse My Friend The Chocolate Cake celebrates 21 years in the business in 2011 by releasing a new album Friday, FIASCO (alternate title Somewhere Between The Sacred And The Bleeding Ordinary), which the three-time ARIA Award-winning band has proudly called a “classic cake mix”. Of course a tour is to follow – it’s called the Stopping All Stations tour and fits its name, slowing down at a number of city and regional areas around the country. Saturday 7 May it stops at the Street Theatre, Friday 3 June sees a show at the Heritage Hotel, Saturday 4 is at The Basement Circular Quay and Sunday 5 Lizotte’s Newcastle gets a go.

GUNS AT THE READY A new night is set to take over the Annandale Hotel on the last Thursday of every month, but has its launch night Saturday 30 April at the same venue. It’s called Gunslinger Nights and the launch will see four bands take the stage. Headliners Kotadama are a pair of brothers who began making music under that name in 2009, having since released their album, Dichotomy, to worldwide acclaim. Central Coast five-piece We Are Grace, locals Lovers Jump Creek and the awesomely named All My Alien Sex Friends, who will be releasing their first EP around the same time as the launch, play in support.

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 29 •

BANDWAGON IS HERE

With new album, Rumble, Shake And Tumble, due for release Friday 6 May, Melbourne band Wagons has finally recorded studio versions of fan favourites like Willie Nelson and spawned two singles, I Blew It and Downlow. They have just returned from SXSW and impressed the big guys over in the USA and these Australian shows will be their first local dates in over a year, as well as their most expansive homeland tour to date. There are three shows in Drum territory: Thursday 23 June at Transit Bar, Friday 24 at Clarendon Guesthouse and Saturday 25 at the Annandale Hotel.

LIVE AND LOUD Melbourne alt-rockers Jericco bring their self-labelled Middle Eastern-inspired tunes to Sydney again, this time with the performance being recorded for an upcoming live album. Punters who show up and write their names down on the door will be credited on the album when it comes out as a part of the recording. Pretty exciting, eh? It happens at The Wall on Saturday 14 May, with Beggars Orchestra, The Wire and Ashes also playing.

CRUEL TO BE KIND From Maine comes hardcore band Cruel Hand, with a relatively fresh 2010 release, Lock And Key (produced by Jay Maas – Defeater, Shipwreck and Carpathian, to name a few credits), to bring to the stage. The band’s last Australian visit was in 2009 and so it is with anticipation that they return, bringing with them tunes that have been compared to those of bands like Madball, Leeway and Suicidal Tendencies. Cruel Hand’s tour buddies are local heroes Phantoms, who released their debut album, As Above, So Below, last year, and followed it with this year’s Bad Romance, a 7” split with I Exist. The tour comes to Hermann’s Bar on Saturday 18 June, Masonic Hall on Sunday 19 and Bar 32 on Wednesday 22. Tickets are on sale Monday 2 May for the Hermann’s Bar show; tickets for the other two shows will be sold on the door only.

GOT THE FEVER Brisbane bluesmen The Blackwater Fever play Bluesfest for the first time this weekend in the lead up to the release of their second album, In Stereo. It drops mid-May and the guys are hopping in the van to follow its release with some serious mileage around the East Coast’s various cities. The dates in relevant areas for us are Thursday 19 May at Otis Bar, Friday 20 at the Lansdowne Hotel with The Preachers and Frank Sultana and Saturday 21 at The Junkyard.

Supported By triple j, Video Hits, SPA, Artist Voice

GYPSY & THE CAT JONA VARK TOUR WITH SPECIAL GUESTS: WIM

They barnstormed their way through town, raised a bunch of money for those hit by recent natural disasters and left us with more mindblowing memories and a new album, Wasting Light. For three nights only, Thursday 28 to Saturday 30 April from 9pm each night, select cinemas are screening exclusively Foo Fighters – Back And Forth, chronicling Foo Fighters’ 16-year history to date, followed by a film of the band performing Wasted Light in its entirety, in 3D. Friday sees the release of Boogie 4 Stu, an album paying tribute to the sixth Rolling Stone, the late pianist Ian Stewart, deemed too ugly by their management to be in the band but an integral part of their first few albums nonetheless. Featured are the Stones in various combinations, PJ Harvey and Jools Holland among others. London-based Cameroonian “Sawa Blues” artist Muntu Valdo releases his latest album, The One And The Many, Friday. Melbourne’s Teeth & Tongue release their second album, Tambourine, Friday. Brisbane duo An Horse releases its new album, Walls, recorded in Canada, Friday 29 April. Justin’s dad Steve Earle releases his first album of original material since 2007, I’ll Never Get Out Of This World Alive, Friday 29 April. Californian singer/songwriter Sara Bareilles releases her latest album, Kaleidoscope Heart, Friday 29 April. Melbourne’s Buchanan releases their debut EP, No Photo, Friday 29 April. We profiled the guys recording it back in October last year and now the new album, Simple Math, from Atlanta, Georgia’s Manchester Orchestra is finally ready for release Friday 6 May. Fronted by Devon’s finest, producer Joseph Mount, who has worked on records for Gorillaz, Roots Manuva and Lykke Li, UK electro-popsters Metronomy release their third album, The English Riviera, Friday 6 May.

THUR MAY 19 - WOLLONGONG UNI BAR, WOLLONGONG TICKETS AVAILABLE THROUGH UNI SHOP (02) 422 18050 OR RED BACK MUSIC (02) 422 96169 OR WWW.BIGTIX.COM.AU OR WWW.OZTIX.COM.AU

FRI MAY 20 - METRO THEATRE, SYDNEY TICKETS AVAILABLE THROUGH THE METRO ON (02) 9550 3666 OR WWW.METROTHEATRE.COM.AU AND WWW.TICKETEK.COM.AU

SAT MAY 21 - CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, NEWCASTLE TICKETS AVAILABLE THROUGH MOSHTIX: 1300 GET TIX (438 849) OR WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU

Some will only know him as that grumpy guy in House, while others might remember him as Stephen Fry’s original comedy sidekick or as that duffer in the various Black Adders, but now actor Hugh Laurie has gathered some impressive musicians and cut his first album, a blues record titled Let Them Talk, out Friday 6 May. Together a decade, it’s only really in recent years New Yorkers Gang Gang Dance have really made the rest of the world take notice. They release their fifth album, Eye Contact, Friday 6 May. Sydney five-piece Megastick Fanfare releases their debut album, Grit Aglow, Friday 6 May. Melbourne’s self-styled “Twisted-Country Southern Rock Stars”, Wagons release their fifth album, Rumble, Shake And Tumble, Friday 6 May. Sydneysider Inga Liljeström releases her new album, Black Crow Jane, recorded in France with a new band and sound, mid-May. Down our way for Bluesfest, Ben Harper releases his tenth album, Give Till It’s Gone, which includes two songs co-written with and featuring Ringo Starr on drums, Friday 13 May.

DEBUT ALBUM “GILGAMESH” INLCUDES THE SINGLES JONA VARK, PIPERS SONG AND TIME TO WANDER

Mercury Prize nominees UK trio Friendly Fires releases its second album, Pala, Friday 13 May. Led by the enigmatic Fyfe Dangerfield, UK four-piece Guillemots releases its third album, Walk The River, Friday 13 May.

• 30 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

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What’s On this Week

Nina Conti

Gabriel Iglesias

Glenn Wool

UT UT DO DO SOL SOL

19 - 20 APRIL FACTORY THEATRE

19 APRIL - 1 MAY OPERA HOUSE 19 - 23 APRIL FACTORY THEATRE

Daniel Sloss

Matt Okine

Evin Donohoe

$18

FIRST WEEK SOLD OUT, NEW SHOW ADDED!

SAT 23 ApriL FACTORY THEATRE 19 - 23 APRIL FACTORY THEATRE

Lou Sanz

22 APRIL ENMORE THEATRE

FESTIVAL

19 - 24 APRIL CORRIDOR

Tommy Dassalo

SYDNEY

$18

21 - 24 APRIL CORRIDOR

21 APRIL - 7 MAY COMEDY STORE

19 - 23 APRIL CORRIDOR

Kids shows on this week

Corridor Club

The Gigalees TUE 19 -THU 21 APRIL

PARADE THEATRE

Kids Comedy Showcase TUE 19 -THU 21 APRIL

19 APRIL - 7 MAY CORRIDOR

23 - 24 APRIL FACTORY THEATRE

PARADE THEATRE

BOOKINGS: SYDNEYCOMEDYFEST.COM.AU OR 9020 6966 THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 31 •

THERE ARE FEW PEOPLE ON THE PLANET WHO WOULD DARE DISPUTE IRMA THOMAS’ POSITION AS THE SOUL QUEEN OF NEW ORLEANS. SHE SPEAKS TO DAN CONDON ABOUT HER CAREER, HER LOVE OF HER HOME CITY AND WHAT SHE WILL BE BRINGING ON HER FIRST EVER VISIT TO AUSTRALIA.

SOUL FROM THE HEART AND

ike so many popular African American artists of the 1960s, the story of Irma Thomas’ musical engagement appears to have begun in a Baptist choir in her home city. But Thomas is insistent that, while it helped, it wasn’t the real beginning. “It wasn’t so much that I started singing in a Baptist choir, I’ve been singing for as long as I’ve been tall enough to stand up and sing,” she chirps from her New Orleans home. “It started in elementary school and of course being in the choir helped, but I can’t remember ever being afraid to sing in front of an audience. In fact I revel in it [laughs]. It’s the one thing I thoroughly enjoy doing and that’s why I’m still doing it.” A mother at the age of 12, Thomas worked predominantly as a waitress until bandleader Tommy Ridgley, who she would occasionally sing with, helped her sign to local New Orleans label Ron. Her first single (You Can Have My Husband But) Don’t Mess with My Man was released in 1960 and it saw the then 19-yearold hit the Billboard R&B charts for the first – and certainly not the last – time. “I never thought you could make a living at it first of all. It was a long time into my life that I realised that you can actually make a living doing this,” she laughs. It has been 51 years since Thomas cut that first single and, a few quiet years aside, she has managed to keep a prominent public profile through recordings and performances over many parts of the world. Her music is enduring; a listen to her early singles certainly recalls a sound that is 50 years old, yet not one that is dated. It’s an almost inexplicable realm that this old style of soul and R&B music exists in, though Thomas has her ideas as to how it maintains its relevance. “When you stick to what you know first of all and when you get a good song and not try to overdo it, you sing it and can tell the story that it’s telling and make it believable even if you don’t believe it,” she offers. “Most of the time I sing songs that I know and I know what I’m talking about, so that’s an advantage over a lot of singers; I’ve lived a lot of the things that I sing about so I can sing it with some degree of conviction. So those kinds of songs will always be around. There’s always gonna be someone at some point in their life that will enjoy that kind of music. That’s why it hangs in there for a long time, because it tells a great story. “There’s some country music songs that I love because they tell great stories and any time you get a body of • 32 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

music that has a great storyline or that gives you a special feeling you’re gonna always love it. Even as you mature, there’s gonna be something about that song that you want to keep in your life for whatever reason. That’s what’s kept my career going since when I started out as a younger singer – those folk who grew up listening to me at that time are still enjoying those same songs into their maturity.” She has an extensive back catalogue, but Thomas says she doesn’t listen to her own music unless it is absolutely necessary. “Only when there’s something I haven’t sung in a while and I’ve forgotten how it goes,” she giggles. “A lot of times someone will ask me [to sing] a song that

can sing it and maybe do a good job, but can you sing it with true conviction and knowledge and really knowing what it is you’re talking about, what it actually feels like to be in that predicament?” While her music has found audiences all around the globe, Irma Thomas remains the Soul Queen of New Orleans. The sound of the city drips from her every phrase on record; Thomas could not have come from anywhere else and one feels that New Orleans would be far poorer without her musical contributions over the years. When asked about her home city, Thomas is full of reverence for the music it has borne.

“

“When you grow up in a city where all of this stuff that they are calling by these different names started and grew from, you know that’s just a wonderful thing to be a part of,” she beams. “R&B started here, rock’n’roll started right here in New Orleans – they didn’t call it rock’n’roll, someone put that name on it, but it started right here in New Orleans. All the major people who were of any calibre or status back in those days recorded here in New Orleans. They came out of this city, so it’s this ambience of having these various cultures and styles of music that intermingle into each other coming out of this city is a different thing altogether.

“I lost a lot of my material, my CDs and what have you, in the floods [from Hurricane Katrina]. Some of them I was able to recover and others aren’t in print any more, so it’s difficult at best to try and find some of that stuff. So I wind up having to really think hard. I’ve called some of my friends and relatives who live away from me and ask if they have a copy and they send it to me and I have to go back and re-learn it.”

“It’s inspiring to folk who come here, the atmosphere of the city and the ambience of the city, it’s inspiring and so they love coming here to record; I guess the good food has a lot to do with it as well,” she chuckles. “That loose combination of things… I guess it just breeds good music. You know, this is all I know, this is all I grew up in and it’s part of me so I never analyse it. I don’t try to dissect it and create something out of what it is – it is what it is and that’s all I know.”

I’ve lived a lot of the things that I sing about so I can sing it with some degree of conviction.

I haven’t done in a long time and I have to put on my thinking cap and say, ‘Okay now, how does that go?’ I wind up having to go back and trying to find the CD.

When she does listen back, she notices the huge difference between her voice then and now. “Oh yeah, my voice is more mature; it doesn’t sound like that little bitty girl that was singing back then,” she laughs. “Of course, maturing does add a lot of emotion. You actually know what you’re singing about and it does make a difference. You know, some things you don’t know when you’re young and you have to experience them in order to sing with conviction about certain phases of life and that’s basically what music is about, is singing songs about phases in a person’s life and adventures or misadventures in a person’s life. “So some of that stuff, unless you’ve experienced it, you

Given this is her first Australian jaunt in her 51 year career, Thomas gives a quick overview of her modus operandi on the live stage. She urges everyone to get requests in any way possible. “I’m gonna be trying to mix up the songs that I do; some of the old and some of the new and if time allows I usually do requests, but I don’t know how much stage time I will have,” she explains. “Often times when I don’t have a lot of stage time I try to give them a mixture of all of the material that I have recorded over the years, which is kinda hard when you’ve been in it as long as I’ve been in it, but hopefully if they can get some notes to me with the songs they would like to hear, I’ll work them into my performances so everybody will be happy.

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“As far as I’m concerned it’s not so much about me as it is my audience enjoying themselves and, coming over for the first time, I do want to be able to sing those songs that I think they would really like to hear and the only way that I know that is if they tell me.” WHO Irma Thomas WHEN & WHERE Thursday, Factory Theatre; Sunday and Monday, Bluesfest

OH, KATRINA

Hurricane Katrina was one of the most devastating natural disasters in the US history, the storm taking the lives of at least 1,836 people and causing a damage bill that has been estimated at USD$90 billion. But to add to this personal devastation was the fear that the rich culture of New Orleans would be washed away with the flood waters. Irma Thomas lost her house, the nightclub she owned with her husband and the majority of her personal effects (she personally apologised to Drum for being unable to offer an exclusive photograph for our cover due to this fact), but was one of the most vocal supporters of the city’s ability to rebuild. “Well I’m back in my house! I had no intention of moving anywhere else,” Thomas laughs when asked how the rebuilding of the city is going. “Even though I had to buy a house in Gonzales, Louisiana until I was able to get back into my New Orleans home, you know, I’m home! I came home.” The HBO series Treme is set in New Orleans three months after the ruinous storm. The show, which is now in its second season, has been the subject of huge critical approbation and Thomas, one of the main New Orleans artists featured on the program, echoes this. “I did a spot, yes I did, on the final episode of the first season,” she recalls. “I played myself and I did Time Is On My Side and I played poker, which I do know how to do; I do know how to play poker! I loved it. It’s the first time a program that was filmed about New Orleans got it right. They got it right.”

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 33 •

FUNK YOU, FUNKENSTEIN

FUNK, PSYCHEDELIA AND EVEN ROCK’N’ROLL WOULD NOT BE THE SAME WITHOUT THE INCREDIBLE INFLUENCE OF GEORGE CLINTON. THE PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC INSTIGATOR TALKS TO DAN CONDON ABOUT WHERE HE’S COMING FROM.

With this new name came a completely new sound heavily influenced by artists like Jimi Hendrix and Sly Stone, a style of funk that retained the tight rhythmic drive of acts like James Brown or Dyke & The Blazers, but with a decidedly psychedelic edge; an otherworldliness that was, well, weird. But weirdness breeds intrigue and this, along with the fact they featured a group of exceptionally proficient musicians, meant the band quickly found a huge base of support. No one had ever heard music quite like this before.

Red Floor Productions & Drum Media presents

“It was a reaction; it was definitely a reaction. It was a reaction to not knowing what to do by the time we got a hit record,” Clinton explains from a studio in Los Angeles where he has just completed a session with the legendary Sly Stone. His voice is shot, but his passion strong. “The music that we liked was all changing, Motown and stuff. You know, the English invasion was happening and if we weren’t paying attention to that then we might have missed the boat. R’n’B was taking a back seat during the British invasion, that’s when the blues and rock’n’roll was taking over.” When Clinton regained permission to use the Parliament name, he decided to make that a completely separate group, less focused and more freewheeling than the guitar-centric Funkadelic. Through the 1970s Clinton and his cohorts worked tirelessly – constantly touring their increasingly freaky live show, releasing a staggering 22 records between the two groups and being heavily involved in countless other recordings from spinoff groups. With such a heavy workload, it’s interesting to know whether Clinton knew just how important this music was going to be in the future: “I knew that was some bad shit!” he chuckles. “We call that the doo doo!”

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Neither Parliament nor Funkadelic really sat comfortably in any particular genre, which added greatly to their appeal. One of Clinton’s most famous quotes was that “it was too black for white folks and too white for black folks”. While this might seem exclusionary to the extreme, one of the overall themes of P-Funk has always been that of open and free-mindedness, evidenced most obviously on the tenth Funkadelic record, 1978’s One Nation Under A Groove and its title track. Clinton has always been an advocate of musical experimentation and crosspollination; there are few bands who could combine the taut jazzy pomp of James Brown with the stoned, wigged-out guitar histrionics of Jimi Hendrix, but it was this open-mindedness that made P-Funk what it was and continues to be. “You’ve just got to embrace the funk. We did psychedelic music with Funkadelic and we got a chance to do some other experimental music with Parliament when Bootsy came along and his Rubber Band and with the James Brown Horns – we were able to do all sorts of things and able to do it in the style of Parliament’s music.” Indeed Clinton didn’t just give us Parliament and Funkadelic, he was the mastermind behind a huge number of great records from acts like Bootsy Collins and Bootsy’s Rubber Band, Bernie Worrell, Eddie Hazel, The Brides Of Funkenstein, The Horny Horns, Parlet, Zapp and more. While Clinton may be getting on, you can bet his passion for music and ear for only the best players remains fully intact and we will bear witness to that this week. For those who are yet to witness it, the Parliament Funkadelic live experience is no less of a psychedelic journey. “I look at it like I am kinda like a traffic cop,” he grins. “Sometimes I let them do what they’re doing and sometimes they follow me.” Clinton goes on to explain that they tend to play some classics for the first hour and a half or so before venturing into the deep psychedelia they’re renowned for, though this isn’t always the case. “There’s no set time when we say we’re gonna do it, it just happens sometimes,” he says of their trademark experimental jams. “We might get lost in one song early at one show and we just let it go and make it a completely psychedelic show, as long as everybody’s committed to it.” Given Clinton has spent over 40 of his 70 years on the road, one would forgive him tiring of the lifestyle and perhaps setting himself up for retirement soon. But it seems the thought of retirement isn’t one that sits well with this funk legend. “No, it’s the lack of touring that gets us in trouble! When I’m on the road I can watch my steps and keep up with myself. When we’re off the road things just move too slow.”

Check out the website for full info on this years event.

www.thegumball.com.au • 34 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

ontemporary music tends to popularly highlight those who follow in the trailblazing footsteps of others far too often. While bands who come in second, third and fourth waves of any given musical style have certainly had the time and the influence to hone the music and tailor it to a wider audience, it is often in the music of the innovators that the true treasures lie, if you’re willing to seek them out. George Clinton is truly one of the innovators. In fact, it is not hyperbolic to suggest this musician is one of the most important figures in the past 40 years of rock’n’roll, such is the resonance of his influence. Before becoming the architect of a whole new movement in music by the name of P-Funk, Clinton cut his teeth in the barber shops of New Jersey in the 1960s where he formed his first group, a doo-wop act by the name of The Parliaments. By 1968 they had grown their hair, started dressing in outlandish attire and were no longer playing doo-wop music. Clinton lost the rights to the name The Parliaments to the record label they were previously on, so renamed the group Funkadelic.

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WHO George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic WHEN & WHERE Sunday, Metro Theatre; Tuesday 26 April, Bluesfest

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 35 •

READ ALL ABOUT IT

HE’S BEEN DESCRIBED AS A PRETERNATURALLY MATURE SOUL BELTER, PRETTY FLY FOR A WHITE BOY, BUT FOR BOSTON-BORN AND RAISED ELI “PAPERBOY” REED, IT’S JUST ABOUT GOOD SONGS. MICHAEL SMITH INVESTIGATES.

“I’m always in the process of writing. I’m always inspired by turns of phrases; I mean this album in particular is more about longevity and fidelity and staying together in a relationship and maintaining it, as opposed to songs about heartbreak or whatever. Explosion for instance, I was just sitting in a laundromat in Germany with my friend Ryan [Spraker], who plays guitar on the album – he’s not in the band any more but we wrote a lot of songs together – and he just said, ‘Let’s write a song called Explosion,’ and we wrote it in about 45 seconds [laughs] – pretty fast!”

“T

here was always soul music around my house,” Reed recalls of the beginnings of his love affair with old-school soul music. “It was the emotional quality of the music that initially turned me on, I suppose. While a lot of my contemporaries came to soul through hip hop and breakbeat and all that nonsense, for me it was really just about the feeling that affected me, especially as a teenager initially. “I started writing songs, in earnest really, when I was in my late teens/early twenties. I mean I wasn’t trying to write in any style; I was trying to write songs that I felt like represented what I was feeling and what I wanted to sound like and all that stuff. I wasn’t trying to go after anything in particular or recreate anything; I was just trying to make my own music and obviously I got better at it as time went on. But it definitely took some time to develop as a writer and develop a style.” Fresh out of high school, aged 18, he took himself down south to Clarksdale, Mississippi, where he was lucky enough to meet up with some veteran musicians he’d only read about or heard on obscure recordings such Terry “Big T” Williams, Sam Carr and Wesley “Junebug” Jefferson. He returned to Boston with a real insight into how these guys worked an audience, as well as his nickname, courtesy of his old habit of wearing his grandfather’s newsboy hat. After a stint at university, Reed immersed himself in the gospel idiom courtesy a former Chess Records artist named Mitty Collier, who’d dropped out of secular soul music for the ministry. “She taught me all about singing and how to kind of work with a song. Playing in church is a very different thing to playing in a club or whatever. It’s not really about performance; it’s about the shared experience. So that was

The album opens with a track called Young Girl, a song originally recorded in late 1967 by a little-known Boston soul singer, Frank Lynch, who died tragically after being shot dead by police just as his career was taking off. “I got to know about the song through the guy, Skippy White, who put out most of if not all the R&B and gospel records around Boston. I found that record at his store and from the first time I heard it I thought it was great.”

something that she really taught me, to make sure that the audience, wherever it is, was involved and wasn’t passive.” “It wasn’t hard to find players because I wasn’t really looking for people who were interested in playing soul music. I was more interested in having musicians who were good and could play all sorts of things. I was trying to avoid clichés as much as possible and I think that, you know, the best way to do it was to get people who were just good and could play whatever fits with the song we’re gonna do.” Before getting signed by major label Capitol to release his new album Come And Get It! Reed independently released two albums – Sings Walkin’ And Talkin’ and Other Smash Hits! and Roll With You, the latter with small Boston-based label Q Division Recordings. “The first album, I wasn’t even really trying to make a record. It was just we cut a whole bunch of songs in one day live and I thought it was pretty good, so I pressed it up and kind on the strength of that put the first band together

and started playing shows. And then the second album was when I really started writing songs and getting more into what I felt is my own style, so it was a natural progression up through Come And Get It! and hopefully will continue through albums to come. “Capitol was inspired by the success we had with Roll With You – especially overseas – and I think that at the time they were going through a restructuring and were looking for new artists. There were actually a few different labels that were interested, but I felt that Capitol was the best one for the job.” The album was produced by bass player-turned-producer Mike Elizondo, whose credits include Eminem, P!nk, Gwen Stefani and Fiona Apple. His background, though, is in hip hop, which you’d think wouldn’t necessarily make him the obvious choice for the job. “I don’t there really was an obvious choice for producer,” Reed admits, “but I felt like he was a good

STILL WAVIN’

IT’S NINE YEARS SINCE ZZ TOP RELEASED A NEW STUDIO ALBUM, BUT DON’T IMAGINE THEY’VE BEEN SITTING AROUND WATCHING THEIR BEARDS GROW. WELL, MAYBE A BIT. HIRSUTE GUITARIST BILLY GIBBONS CHECKS IN WITH HIRSUTE MICHAEL SMITH ON LIFE IN THE BEARD LANE.

“Well I think he’s playing hooky,” Gibbons admits, instantly collapsing into laughter, something that would punctuate the entire conversation. “He was in the studio earlier today and I think he was trying to get out of work, but who wouldn’t?” So there’s the first big bit of news – ZZ Top is finally working on a new album, their first studio album since Mescalero, released back in 2003. “We’re ploughing ahead, as they say. We’ve got about ten tracks goin’ and it looks like it’s makin’ the good ZZ wave. At the moment, we’re all throwing the hat in the ring for the best possible outcome. All we do is we show up and we start playin’ [laughs] and we keep playin’ till it sounds good!” Universally referred to as “That Little Ol’ Band From Texas”, ZZ Top came together when Gibbons, who was playing round Houston in a band called Moving Sidewalks back in 1970, found himself in need of a rhythm section and came across Beard and bass player Dusty Hill working together in a band called • 36 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

In fact, bringing to wider notice some of the forgotten greats of the soul and R&B scene of the ‘60s and ‘70s seems to have become something of a mission for Reed, who last year organised the Brooklyn Soul Festival, featuring the now obscure but respected singers Roscoe Robinson and Otis Clay. “That was something I helped organise initially with a couple of guys in New York who run a night called Dig Deeper and we did two years of the Soul Fest. I’m not sure that it’s going to happen anymore, but it was something I was really glad to be involved in and I’ve been able to work with a lot of people who were really inspirational to me, especially people like Roscoe Robinson and Otis Clay who I can call my friends, which is pretty great.” WHO Eli “Paperboy” Reed WHAT Come And Get It! (Capitol/EMI) WHEN & WHERE Monday & Tuesday 26 April, Bluesfest; Thursday 28, Oxford Art Factory

his Moving Sidewalks days that are included on the four-CD retrospective, Chrome, Smoke And BBQ, which was also released in 2003. “There’s more to come! I’ve just been in touch with one of the big Sidewalks fans and there’s all kinds of crazy stuff back from when we worked with Jimi Hendrix, so get your boots and socks on – it’s gonna be deep [laughs]!” While they may not have been releasing new studio albums, ZZ Top hasn’t let up on the live front, heading out with Aerosmith and their own Necessity Is A Mother tours through 2009, through tours with Tom Petty and playing the annual Crossroads Guitar Festival curated by Eric Clapton last year to this year’s world tour before teaming up with Lynyrd Skynyrd and, in December, a Rock Legends Cruise around the Caribbean.

t was barely an hour before the call was supposed to come through that Drum discovered it would be Billy Gibbons fielding the questions rather than the beardless drummer, Frank Beard, who’d already postponed the conversation a day because “he had a doctor’s appointment”. No problem – after all, the brains behind the beard has always been Gibbons. So, out of politeness, the first question had to be about Beard’s health.

choice and a smart choice. He’s a very talented guy and was able to bring to the table some insight and opinions that differed and complimented my own.

American Blues. It turned out to be a marriage made in rock’n’roll, or more precisely Texas boogie heaven. The template laid down for their less than successful debut, 1971’s ZZ Top’s First Album, remains essentially unchanged – distorted electric guitar, boogie rhythm section, lyrics full of “funny cigarettes” references and sexual innuendo in a sort of Texas version of a Carry On movie. It took three more albums though for them to finally break through and then another seven years before they exploded with the Eliminator album in 1983 and its associated hit singles, Gimme All Your Lovin’ and Legs, went ballistic. Even the trademark beards didn’t appear until 1978. “We figured out early on, we’re not gonna be Bob Dylan,” he laughs again, “and Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf and Jimmy Reed already did it [laughs], so we figured we’d try to be interpreters. We didn’t have to pretend to be originators because it had already been originated! As for the humour, that’s what you get from growin’ up in Texas! “And the rhythm section is where it’s at. If you’ve got a good solid platform, all you have to do then is dive deep in the water. It just requires something grounding to

stand on. It goes back to Memphis Tennessee, the Stax guys, the Willie Mitchell guys, all that Southern stuff – it was solid standing on the rhythm section. Dusty and Frank were sort of a tight team from the get-go, had been together for a number of years and I kinda fell into it and found that platform. They said, ‘Hey, come on, put the gingerbread on top and let’s go for it’. We got together for a jam session and were gonna do a little shuffle which we thought, ‘Okay, three, four minutes and we’ll see if it works,’ and about thirty minutes into it we’re still pumpin’ and we were noddin’, ‘Okay, this feels right – let’s go for it’.” Forty-one years on that shuffle is still serving them well. They’ve sold more than 50 million albums worldwide, were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 by no less than Keith Richards (“Couldn’t have been more perfect,” Gibbons reckons. “That was like, wow, sprinkling of the holy water”), scored six #1 singles and three MTV Video Music Awards. In fact, ZZ Top would have to be one of the bands that helped make MTV, with their saucy run of video clips for Legs and Tush in particular. And if you haven’t already come across it and are curious as to what Gibbons pre-ZZ Top sounded like, he managed to uncover three demos from

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“I don’t know if we know anything else to do,” at which Gibbon breaks up in laughter again. “It’s kinda like what we do. We’re just, like, pressing ahead. I was fortunate enough to have a nice sit down with Eric Clapton revealing the most recent Crossroads [out on DVD] and it’s such a wonderful gathering you’re glad you picked up the six-string just when your parents said, ‘Don’t do that’. Now you can say, ‘Okay, I did that’. [laughs] Everybody’s kinda diggin’ it.” As for his trademark guitar sound, Gibbons once again tips his Stetson to that young Englishman from Ripley in Surrey. “Well, you know Clapton kind of set the stage with the [1966] Blues Breakers record with John Mayall – I’m so honoured just to even mention their names – and of course the sound of that stuff was so moving it pressed us all forward to like, ‘Wow, this is where it’s gonna go – let’s do it.’ It was the overseas quadrant that made it realistic to work this American art form that was about to disappear.” WHO ZZ Top WHEN & WHERE Wednesday, Newcastle Entertainment Centre; Thursday, Bluesfest; Monday, Wollongong Entertainment Centre; Wednesday 27 & Thursday 28 April, Enmore Theatre

IT’S TIME

IT MIGHT BE HIS FIRST ALBUM, BUT OSCAR-WINNING ACTOR AND DIRECTOR TIM ROBBINS IS NO STRANGER TO MAKING MUSIC. IT’S JUST THIS TIME IS THE RIGHT TIME, AS HE TELLS MICHAEL SMITH. Though he’s probably best known for his performances in movies like Bull Durham, The Player, The Shawshank Redemption and Mystic River, as well as writing and directing Dead Man Walking and Bob Roberts, Tim Robbins has already visited Australia once as a musician, participating in last year’s Sydney Festival production of Hal Willner’s pirate-themed Rogue’s Gallery, whose core band became his own for his official debut into the music world, Tim Robbins And The Rogues Gallery Band. “Hal’s just so talented and, you know, one of my favourite albums of all time is that Lost In The Stars, the compilation album he did of Brecht and Weill way back in the eighties. When I met him I was hosting Saturday Night Live for the first time and I just really liked him immediately and got to know him a little more when he was music supervisor on Short Cuts for [director Robert] Altman.

“

I wanted my storytelling and songwriting and performing to be as good as my movies are.”

“I had done kind of a demo on tape by myself with a guitar and I wasn’t thinking of doing anything with it. Then I ran into Hal and he asked me if I was doing any music and I told him about this thing and he said, ‘Let me hear it’. So it really was his energy and his excitement about the songs that made the album happen. After he heard it he said, ‘I have a great band for me and in about a month we’re gonna be doin’ these shows over in the UK and you should come over and do some songs and in between a couple of the shows we’ll have a couple of days off and we’ll go in the studio and see what happens’. So it was really Hal’s insistence that made it happen.” There has been music in Robbins’ life since it began, back in October 1958 when he was born in California to folk musician Gil Robbins, who found fame as a member of The Highwayman with the #1 hit single, Michael, Row The Boat Ashore, which sold a million copies in 1961. Robbins grew up in a home where all the prominent Greenwich Village folk movers and shakers were regular visitors. “I think I wrote my first song when I was something like 18 and I’m sure it was crap – I don’t remember it. But I started getting better at it as I started to write more in my twenties and I think the first decent song I wrote was Dreams, which is on the album, in ‘85. Then I wrote all those songs for Bob Roberts.” Essentially a satirical mockumentary, the 1992 film chronicled the rise of a right wing Senate candidate who also happens to be a singer/songwriter with a penchant for traditional values over youthful rebellion. Robbins played Roberts and performed the songs himself and the film did well enough at the box office for him to have used it as a platform to launch a musical career nearly two decades earlier than he has. However, he recognised that, out of the context of the film, the songs would have created entirely the wrong impression of who he was, not only as a songwriter but also as a person – and certainly didn’t represent his own political thinking – so the soundtrack of Bob Roberts has never been released. “Certainly earlier on I was reluctant to do the actor making an album deal. I feel like if you’re gonna do an album, there should be something that you have to say. Coming from a family of musicians I have a real respect for the process of making a piece of music and when I’d gotten offers to do it in the past, I just thought that there wasn’t enough of a reason to do it; there wasn’t enough of a passion and I didn’t really feel like I had that at the time, in the early ‘90s. “I could sing, I could write music and I have played my songs for years to people and the response I’ve got has been pretty nice, but I didn’t feel that I had something to say – though I feel like I was finally getting around to that – but I was still a little reluctant until Hal encouraged me. I wanted to be good – I wanted my storytelling and songwriting and performing to be as good as my movies are, or my theatre is. I didn’t want to do it just because I could do it.” The stories Robbins tells on the album are diverse, from the sensuous magic and mischievous spiritual otherness of Ireland in Queen Of Dreams and the Jesus story from a very different angle in Book Of Josie, to eulogising Nelson Mandela in Lightning Calls to the harrowing Time To Kill. “Time To Kill is a song I wrote after I met this guy named John in Grand Junction, Colorado, a soldier who was 23-years-old and had already had three tours of Iraq. He came up to me in a bar, asked me if I was Tim Robbins and asked if he could talk to me. I sat down with him for about two and a half hours and he just spilled, told me everything, told me of the weight he was carrying on his shoulders, the guilt he was experiencing every morning when he woke up, something he’d done in Iraq that he felt terrible about, something he couldn’t talk to anybody in town about. I asked him what about the friends he’d gone over there with and he said they were all dead and he didn’t want to disillusion his family. It was a heartbreaking experience, a snapshot of the war that we very rarely see.” So, what did Robbins’ father, who sadly passed away last week of cancer, aged 80, think of his son’s debut album? “He likes his better!” Laughter, cue end of movie, roll credits – fade. WHO Tim Robbins WHAT Tim Robbins And The Rogues Gallery Band (PIAS/ Liberator) WHEN & WHERE Saturday and Monday, Bluesfest; Thursday 28 April, The Basement Circular Quay

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 37 •

AN AGGRO BUNCH

EN ROUTE TO OUR SHORES THIS MONTH TO SPREAD SOME DIRTY REGGAE LOVE, L.A. BAND THE AGGROLITES COMES ACROSS AS SOMETHING OF A MYSTERY, WEARING THE FACE OF PUNK BUT PLAYING THE SOUNDS OF EARLY 1970S REGGAE. SAM HOBSON TALKS THE ORIGINS OF THEIR SOUND AND HOW THEY’RE SO MUCH MORE THAN WHAT THEY SEEM, WITH SINGER AND LEAD GUITARIST JESSE WAGNER.

o most of us – an obstinate and predominantly indie, crowd – The Aggrolites are probably a nonentity. Though they claim strong ties to the punk and hardcore scenes and having just finished touring alongside punk rockers Social Distortion, listening to their music, it’s hard to see exactly which of those round holes they fit even squarely into. And perhaps that’s something of the point. Wagner talks of their power and grunt and yet you watch one of their videos or listen to a track of theirs and you wonder if he’s joking. (“It’s the heaviest, toughest sound I’ve ever heard, man! I don’t think there’s anything rougher than reggae music.”) But perhaps this ‘oomph’ he speaks of is something deeper than that. Perhaps it’s something we on the outside don’t ‘get’. Perhaps their style of skinhead reggae – not as pejorative as that might read, more on that soon – is merely informed by those so-called sistermovements. Maybe it’s an aesthetic and not a sound. Reggae music, to the uninitiated, carries connotations – and while unabashedly ignorant, of course, they’re unfortunately inseparable – of pineapple-flavoured relaxation; of Bob Marley, at its most influential, The Police in the middle ground and then perhaps the delightful ‘reggaeton’ in its most modern incarnation. It’s an oftoverlooked genre, in fewer words. And one, as Wagner points out, The Aggrolites are very historically mindful of. “Reggae is very interesting, all the way from when it started as ska, back in the early sixties. First and foremost, just the fact that this unique music and sound was developed in this Third World country – on this small little speck of an island – and grew worldwide… Just the history of it, the story of it, to how it’s been influential to hip hop music, to punk rock music, to even electronic music and people who do a lot of DJing.

NO STANDING STILL

FOR JETHRO TULL, OR MORE SPECIFICALLY THE MAN IN THE EYE OF THE STORM, SINGER, SONGWRITER AND FLAUTIST IAN ANDERSON, IT WAS “44 YEARS TODAY, THE BAND BEGAN TO PLAY”. HE PONDERS IT ALL WITH MICHAEL SMITH.

It’s an amazing story, how that sound and that culture developed and how it all came from poverty and blood, sweat and tears.” The Aggrolites themselves were quite literally born from within that reggae history, too. They were originally a collective of ‘best ofs’ from various local reggae hybrid groups who’d turned day-players for the chance to record an album with famed reggae icon Derrick Morgan. Though that opportunity unfortunately fell through, their bond did not. Wagner, a man from a number of these bands, explains just what rose from those ashes, explaining that after making that commitment and meeting those of like minds and skill, that “…we just kind of put together our favourite musicians from LA and started The Aggrolites and it ended up being guys from [those] bands like The Vessels and The Rhythm Doctors.” And, rounding things back to that odd, punk veneer, Wagner finally sheds some light. “Oh, definitely skinhead-reggae is the main inspiration for The Aggrolites, as far as what we all had in common.” He’s quick to address the concern that the tag somehow relates to neo-Nazism, explaining it’s merely a hangover from the fashion of ‘70s London, where the punk-heavy reggae scene first took off. “There [were] guys in the group that were punk-rock guys, there were guys in the group that loved Two-Tone and hardcore music and guys in the group that loved American sixties soul music. The main thing that glued us all together – and the main focus – was early reggae, our first love.” WHO The Aggrolites WHEN & WHERE Friday, Bluesfest; Monday, The Gaelic

an Anderson, long since the archetypal country gentleman when not prancing across stages in his guise as frontman of one of the least categorisable bands to come out of the British blues boom of the late 1960s, Jethro Tull, is taking Drum’s call in one of the offices at his Wiltshire residence. It’s bright and early for him – 6.30am – but he’s always been an early to rise, early to bed kind of guy, the antithesis of the rampaging rock’n’roller. “None of us I think, when we were setting out on a musical path back in the sixties, would have really imagined that it was a likely long-term game plan, to be a musician for life. I think we associated the relative short spans of professional activity I suppose from the more showbizzy pop stars of the day – here today and gone tomorrow. We all thought that must be what happens and then you get a proper job. “It dawned on me – and probably most of my peers – after a couple of years of doing it, okay, that there was actually no reason why this can’t go on, in Peter Pan tradition, forever. I mean you can almost remain, at least in spirit and musically, young at heart for all of your musical lifetime. I think that’s borne out of a natural curiosity that we have to see what we can do and even for bands who end playing the same repertoire over and over again, like the B.B. Kings or indeed Keith Richards or The Rolling Stones, there’s nothing really wrong with that so long as you’re reinventing the moment; if you’re reinventing your passion when you get up on stage. But if you’re reinventing your musical curiosity by writing new songs or doing new arrangements or even different arrangements of old tunes, whatever it might be, that in itself is a very self-perpetuating lifestyle to adopt.” Considering their last official new release was 2003’s unlikely The Jethro Tull Christmas Album, you might think that they’ve become one of those aforementioned bands endlessly playing its old repertoire, but when you consider that repertoire can call on some 20 albums,

plus that throughout their career they’ve always approached their performances with the intent of reinterpreting rather than repeating what’s come before, they are very firmly in the other category. Add to that the fact that Anderson and most of the other members of the current line-up each have ongoing and productive solo careers and there’s certainly no resting on laurels. That said of course, when Tull do play, they recognise that it’s the classics from the catalogue – Aqualung, Thick As A Brick, Living In The Past and so on – their audiences come to hear. And why not? UK magazine Guitarist recently ran a Greatest Guitar Solo Of All Time poll among its readers that saw the band’s secondlongest serving member, guitarist Martin Barre’s solo on Aqualung, the title track of the 1971 album that went on to sell more 7 million copies worldwide, come in at #20. He joined the band, which formed mid-1967, in December 1968, replacing original guitarist Chris Abrahams and beating out a guy named Tony Iommi who, it seems, wasn’t quite flexible enough for the gig. “I think with Martin and me, we’ve always been so different as people and we’ve always respected each other’s quirky differences and kept a slight arm’s length from each other, particularly socially. There was a brief period where we lived not too far apart geographically in the late seventies/early eighties, but most of our lives we’ve spent quite a long way, I mean inconveniently long way apart these days – Martin has his home in Canada.” WHO Jethro Tull WHEN & WHERE Monday, Bluesfest; Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 April, State Theatre

G AY N O R C R A W F O R D P R E S E N T S

BOBBY LONG “He breathes a labyrinth of imagery that is so fragile and heartrending – it’s impossible to let go.” Jambase

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bobbylong.info | gaynorcrawford.com | atorecords.com | fusemusic.com.au • 38 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

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PSYCH-OUT!

TRUCKED UP

WARREN MAXWELL OF LITTLE BUSHMAN DESCRIBES HIS BAND’S MUSIC AS PSYCHEDELIC SYMPHONIC BLUES. MICHAEL SMITH CHECKS IN ON WHERE THEY’RE AT.

DALE WATSON, FRONTMAN OF DALE WATSON & HIS LONE STARS, TELLS DOUG WALLEN ABOUT HOW TRUCKING BECAME HIS BIGGEST INSPIRATION.

ike all self-respecting psychedelic symphonic bands, like Procol Harum, The Moody Blues and, at a pinch, Deep Purple, New Zealand four-piece Little Bushman hasn’t wasted time getting invited to perform and record with an orchestra, releasing the result as 2009’s Live In Concert With The New Zealand Symphony Orchestra. “We’d collaborated with John Psathas, who’s a fantastic, world renowned composer/arranger here in Wellington,” says Little Bushman singer, guitarist and keyboards player Warren Maxwell, who explains of the band’s orchestral experience. “He’d composed for the 2004 Athens Olympics and we did a collaboration with him and the Auckland Philharmonia in 2008 I think. Then we thought, ‘Bugger it, why don’t we go for the national orchestra?’ and the conductor, Hamish McKeich, approached them and they jumped at it. Bring on Prague! Or the Sydney Philharmonic – they must be keen to play a little bit of psychedelic symphonic blues!” While those UK bands cited earlier might have done their collaborations back in the day, Little Bushman’s collaboration seems to be part of a contemporary trend with The Church having just done one here, while in New Zealand Salmonella Dub did something with the Christchurch Philharmonic, while Shapeshifter and Dave Dobbyn have also worked under the baton. But of all of them, it’s the music of Little Bushman in all its expansive, widescreen trippy extended workouts that seems the most natural fit. Not that the four-piece is really looking to repeat the experience all that soon – they’ve got a new band album, Te Oranga, to promote. “The good thing with our music is it’s dynamic, we can go right down to a ballad and then take it out to a big Hendrix-type wall of sound. We have the luxury now to write ten-minute songs – we’re not slaves to the three-and-a-half-minute commercial formula – and I love that.” Maxwell also has the luxury of having come out of a couple of New Zealand’s most popular outfits of the past decade, TrinityRoots and, more importantly, Fat

Freddy’s Drop, in which he played sax. Hooking up with brothers Tom and Joe Callwood on bass and lead guitar respectively in 2005, they brought in Rick Cranson on drums to complete Little Bushman and Maxwell put down the saxes to explore the psychedelic rock and soul that turned him on as a kid. Te Oranga is their third studio album and includes a track called Big Man, which they’ve been playing since at least 2009. “We started writing Big Man four years ago actually, just after the ‘terrorist’ raids that the police initiated over here. They brought in this new Terrorist Suppression Act – it was all rubbish,” Maxwell explains dismissively. “They used it, illegally, to initiate a domestic issue. There were basically some very angry people running around in the bush saying really silly things like, ‘I’m going to blow up parliament,’ and ‘I’m gonna kill the Prime Minister,’ and all that stuff. “So Big Man’s been there for a while and gone through all these metamorphoses. It started off as this really kind of angry Bowie-esque track and now it’s gone really dark, swampy Neville Brothers kind of thing. There are a whole lot of influences in there and I think the reason we ended up on this one was I guess just to really emphasise the darkness, the heaviness of the subject matter, of what happened. When it was going through its Hendrix phase I thought it sounded too celebratory. It’s causing a bit of a stir actually because much of the rest of the album is mainly around positive kind of issues. Big Man is the only political-type track on the album.” WHO Little Bushman WHAT Te Oranga (Independent) WHEN & WHERE Thursday, The Gaelic; Sunday and Monday, Bluesfest

t’s time for another visit from Dale Watson, the American country rebel who’s been coming to Australia regularly since he first broke out in the mid1990s. He’d already been performing for a decade and a half then, so by now he’s a true veteran. With more than 20 albums to his name, the Texas songwriter has recorded in Johnny Cash’s cabin studio as well as the iconic Sun Studios, released live records and a Christmas one, plus penned two entire albums of truck-driving anthems. He rose to alt.country fame with his debut, Cheatin’ Heart Attack, and has stayed ruggedly unique ever since. In fact, Watson both self-produced and self-financed last year’s Carryin’ On. That’s because he had a specific vision: a band of vintage Nashville legends organised by steel guitarist Lloyd Green, who has played with Cash, George Jones and The Byrds. Thus came guitarist Pete Wade, pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins, fiddler Glenn Duncan and upright bassist Dennis Crouch, each trailing a staggering CV. So it was a once-in-a-lifetime album that might never have been made otherwise. “I was signed with Hyena Records,” Watson recounts. “When the market crash happened here, they lost their financing. I thought I’d just do it myself. So I did and luckily a label picked it up and I made my money back. But it was a labour of love. If I didn’t get my money back, I’d have been okay with it.” Just prior to Carryin’ On was 2009’s The Truckin’ Sessions Vol. 2, a sequel to the 1998 collection that Watson describes as his most “long-lived” album; as he notes, “It seems to never go out.” His fascination with the almost cult-like trucking lifestyle began as a child, when his country-singing father drove trucks and the CB radio craze was sweeping the States. Once Watson became a touring musician, his newfound travelling suddenly brought everything rushing back. From there came a strong pull to begin writing odes to the workers who crisscross those vast American motorways. “That was part of my memory as a kid, all the movies and the songs. And then on the road as a musician, I realised we’re riding the same roads and have a lot of the same habits, having to be up so late and eating at

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truck stops. Just different cargo.” Trucking songs have long been a staple of country music, as have drinking songs and other examples of larrikin wit that gel well with Watson’s Aussie fans. Watson has penned his fair share, from Tequila, Whiskey And Beer and Oh My to Truckin’ Queen, about a flamboyant cross-dressing trucker. “You can’t take yourself too seriously,” he argues. “Slow, hurtin’ songs you need to purge the sadness, but you also need to lighten up and laugh at yourself.” He cites Johnny Cash’s definition of country music as songs about life, love, death and anything else that someone can experience. “Everything you can think of as a human emotion. You’ve gotta have all that.” That might explain the drastic range of Watson’s work – from happy or funny to lonesome or tragic – but how about his prolific pace? The man has released an album every year or so since the mid-‘90s and he’s constantly on tour. Even as he returns to Australia, he’ll be debuting songs from an upcoming Sun Studios-recorded album that’s in the vein of Johnny Cash’s original backing band The Tennessee Two. “I do write a lot,” he admits. “I write mostly on stage these days, because we play five/six nights a week. I do like to get the songs out. If they sit around, I’ll forget them.” As to whether all his songs are up for grabs live, there’s no question. “We don’t go by a setlist. People’ll holler for stuff from the first album, the third album, our last album. We’re prepared to do anything.” WHO Dale Watson & His Lone Stars WHEN & WHERE Friday, The Wall; Saturday and Sunday, Bluesfest

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 39 •

2011PLAYINGSCHEDULE Start

Thursday 21st April

Friday 22nd April

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Saturday 23rd April

Sunday 24th April

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Monday 25th April

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Tuesday 26th April

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MOJO

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MOJO

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22:00 20:15 18:45 18:15 17:15 16:00

BenHarper&Relentless7 FunkyMeters MichaelFranti&Spearhead ArakwalOpeningCeremony XavierRudd KimChurchill

21:45 19:45 18:15 16:45 15:15 13:45 12:15

GraceJones TootsandtheMaytals FistfulofMercy TromboneShorty&OrleansAvenue XavierRudd C.W.Stoneking Yodelice

22:30 21:00 19:30 18:00 16:30 15:00 13:30 12:00

JohnLegend IndigoGirls Wolfmother ImogenHeap KaseyChambers JeffLang LeahFlanagan UBluesBand

22:30 20:30 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

TheCatEmpire Gurrumul Washington TrinityRoots SaltwaterBand KateMillerͲHeidke ShaneNicholson NgaTae

22:30 20:30 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

ElvisCostello&TheImposters BobDylan WarrenHaynes&HisAllstarBand BuffySainteͲMarie TimRobbins&TheRoguesGalleryBand ClareBowditch MichelleShocked BobbyLong

21:00 19:30 18:00 16:30 15:00 14:00

BobDylan Gurrumul PaulKelly BuffySainteͲMarie Osibisa KimChurchill

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CROSSROADS

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CROSSROADS

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ZZTop LosLobos RuthieFoster CWStoneking NeilMurray

22:30 20:45 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

RodrigoYGabriela BBKing BlindBoysofAlabama/featAaronNe LosLobos RaulMalo EricBibb RuthieFoster HatFitzandCaraRobison

22:30 20:45 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

MichaelFranti&Spearhead DerekTrucks&SusanTedeschiBand RobertRandolph&TheFamilyBand TromboneShorty&OrleansAvenue MavisStaples&HerBand LittleFeat DaleWatson&HisLonestars Wagons

22:30 20:45 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

DerekTrucks&SusanTedeschiBand RobertRandolph&TheFamilyBand BlindBoysofAlabama/featAaronNeville IrmaThomas MavisStaples&HerBand LittleFeat AshGrunwald Wagons

22:30 20:45 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

IrmaThomas JethroTull Osibisa JoeLouisWalker BB&TheBluesShacks SaltwaterBand PeterRowanBluegrassBand HussyHicks

20:15 18:30 17:00 15:30 14:00

GraceJones ElvisCostello&TheImposters LeonRussell TimFinn FrankYamma

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JAMBALAYA

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TootsandtheMaytals Luciano&JahMessenjahBand WarriorKing ErnestRanglin GraceWoodroofe NatColandtheKings

22:15 20:45 20:15 18:45 17:15 15:45 13:00

FunkyMeters Luciano&JahMessenjahBand WarriorKing TheDingoes JackThompson&TheOriginalSinner VictorValdes&TheMarinBrothers RocKwizLive

22:45 21:15 19:45 18:15 16:45 15:30 13:10

MelbourneSkaOrchestra TrinityRoots RaulMalo TimRobbins&TheRoguesGalleryBand NeilMurray JackThompson&theOriginalSinners RocKwizLive

22:45 21:15 19:45 18:15 16:45 15:30 13:10

CeciliaNoel PublicOpinionAfroOrchestra MelbourneSkaOrchestra JeffLang PeterRowanBluegrassBand DaleWatson&HisLonestars RocKwizLive

22:45 21:15 19:45 18:15 16:45 15:30 13:10

LittleBushman PublicOpinionAfroOrchestra Eli"Paperboy"Reed CeciliaNoel BarrenceWhitfield TonyJoeWhite RocKwizLive

20:30 18:45 17:00 15:30 14:00

GeorgeClinton&ParliamentFunkadelic WarrenHaynes&HisAllstarBand JoeLouisWalker TonyJoeWhite TheMadBastards

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JUKE JOINT

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JUKE JOINT

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JUKE JOINT

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JUKE JOINT

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JUKE JOINT

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23:00 21:30 20:00 18:30 17:15 16:00

TheBamboos RayBeadle Yodelice TheHands NgaTae Joewah

22:30 20:30 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

Fishbone TheAggrolites Osibisa ErnestRanglin NeilMurray BobAbbot&TheFabulousGreenMa NgaTae MicrowaveJenny

22:30 20:30 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

TheBamboos BB&TheBluesShacks GraceBarbeAfroKreol PhilJones&TheUnknownBlues BobAbbot&TheFabulousGreenMach TheRedEyes Kingfisha Joewah

22:30 20:30 19:00 17:30 16:00 14:30 13:15 12:00

LittleBushman TheRedEyes CaptainMatchboxWhoopeeBand PhilJones&TheUnknownBlues LisaMiller BuddyKnox AFrenchButlerCalledSmith HussyHicks

22:45 21:15 19:45 18:00 16:30 15:00 13:30 12:15

TheMadBastards LeahFlanagan CaptainMatchboxWhoopeeBand OldSpiceBoys TheSnowdroppers BuddyKnox BobbyAlu BuskersCompetitonWinner

21:15 19:30 18:00 16:30 15:00

Eli"Paperboy"Reed MichelleShocked CollardGreens&Gravy SecretSisters SchoolShowcase

Time

APRA

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APRA

Time

23:15 21:45 20:15 18:45 17:15 16:00

Lowrider Kingfisha TransvaalDiamondSyndicate Bayjah MojoBluesmen SchoolShowcase

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APRA

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APRA

22:45 21:00 19:30 18:00 16:30 15:00 13:30 12:00

BarrenceWhitfield TheSnowdroppers GraceBarbeAfroKreol JacksonFirebird AjakKwai BobbyAlu BobbyLong TheBlackwaterFever

22:30 21:00 19:30 18:00 16:30 15:00 13:30 12:00

ResinDogs AFrenchButlerCalledSmith LisaMiller CollardGreens&Gravy SecretSisters AjakKwai HankGreensBlues MojoBluesmen

CAMPING

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Food Hall

Cloak Room

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Buskers

• 40 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

First Aid

Market Stalls

Disabled Viewing

Food Vendors

Shops

Work Gate wg Information, Lost Property

Toilets: Male/Female Disabled

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CROSSROADS

Programs, Subscriptions, Magazines, Artist Q&A

Water Charity Stalls

wg3

ATM

V.I.P. MEDIA

MOJO

PARKING

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Bars & Drink Tickets

Coffee

LED

ATM

JAMBALAYA AY YA YA

Merch

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Mojo Beer Garden

Artist Q Program&A s

The Mu sic Artist S Shop ignings

Kidz Klub

General Store

CAMPING wg8

JUKE JOINT

APRA

TICKETS

TO PARKING

TO BUS & TAXI & PARKING

APRA RaghuDixit VictorValdes&TheMarinBrothers NatCol&TheKings HankGreen'sBlues LouisKing&TheLiarsKlub TheBlackwaterFever JacksonFirebird MicrowaveJenny

CAMPING

23:15 Lowrider 22:45 21:30 RayBeadle 21:15 19:45 UBluesBand 19:30 18:15 Bayjah 18:00 16:45 LouisKing&TheLiarsKlub 16:30 15:00 TheHands 15:00 13:30 RaghuDixit 13:30 12:00 TransvaalDiamondSyndicate 12:00 (This Schedule was correct at time of printing but is subject to change without notification)

CHAOTIC CUPIDS

CHILDREN COLLIDE BASSIST HEATH CRAWLY TALKS TO DAVE DRAYTON ABOUT THEIR NEW SINGLE, ARROWS, AND TRYING TO STEAL THE LIMELIGHT FROM F1 RACERS.

eath Crawley has been preparing for a whirlwind trip of the country over the Easter weekend in support of Children Collide’s third single from 2010’s Theory Of Everything. It seems it is the album that keeps on giving and Crawley says that this time around the band could really show their diversity. “With the singles from this album we didn’t have an exact idea of the order that we wanted to take. For example when [first single] Jellylegs came out it was more of a ‘Welcome back, here we are again’. It had been a bit of a break since we had released anything to radio. That came out as a re-introduction and that just really took off and then we felt like we needed to follow that in an appropriate way, so we brought My Eagle out.” Crawley is chatty and honest as he continues to explain the selection process behind Arrows. “But the album isn’t all raucous and – what’s the word – rambunctious like those kind of songs tended to be, so we wanted to represent a different side of our music as well and we thought Arrows was definitely the way to go about it. It’s a side of ourselves that we like to show as well. From our live shows I think people get the idea that we’re all grunge and punk and really we’re not, we just kind of write whatever we write and they turn out however they turn out. We like to show all facets of our songwriting and our styles and what we’re into. “Obviously we wouldn’t have brought that track out first. We didn’t want to scare off our original fans who are devoted to our live shows and our more raucous material. Keeping that in mind we also want to represent what we want to represent at all times.” So what do they want to represent then? For Crawley it’s a snapshot of a moment in time, something of equal importance but vastly different to the band’s now infamous live shows. “They’re two completely different things really – one of them is making a time capsule of something that you’re doing at this moment and collecting all the pieces and keeping them as they’re going to be forever, whereas a live show can be a different story every single night using the same sort of ingredients. There’s more of a natural feeling of just expressing yourself, however you’re actually feeling at that very moment. That’s where the energy is and that’s where the communication with the audience is. That’s where a lot of the fun is. With an album you do have to be a little bit more conscious of making it sound good. Not that we’re not doing that live, but you want to make sure that what you put down is something that you can listen back to in a couple of years’ time and be very proud of.” And Crawley is clearly not the only one that’s proud, especially now that Arrows is getting picked up by radio stations. “I’m always receiving phone calls and that kind of thing from mum and various friends from history who are all excited to hear it, so that’s cool,” he admits with a laugh. Working towards their next time capsule, the band have been demoing separately, with singer and guitarist John Mackay and Crawley corresponding via email and

sending one another riffs. “We’re actually just about to start demoing. Johnny’s been coming up with some of his own stuff and I’m coming up with some bass lines here and we’re actually trying a new approach. As well as the old approach of just recording and making up songs in jams and that sort of thing, we’re having a go at a bit of the online thing where we’ll send each other a few ideas here and there and the other person will work on it and then send it back… Through all of these processes each thing will refine itself until we’re finished with a Children Collide song.” What this means for fans is a few unlikely or unexpected gems in the setlist to keep them guessing when the band take to the stage through this month. “We always like to throw in a couple of new songs here and there. There’s a couple of tracks that we would never release as a single that we love to play live. There’s no particular reason either way for that, it’s just that we just don’t feel like they’d make a very good radio song really.” Honing their impressive live show for the Arrows tour, Children Collide have had a couple of slots at big sporting events – most recently the F1 Grand Prix in their hometown of Melbourne – but the feedback hasn’t been as unanimous as that from their regular shows. Discussing the idea that playing sporting events is a yardstick for success for bands, Crawley reveals how the F1 crowds in Melbourne seemed hell-bent on keeping their racing separate from the rock. “That was probably our worst sporting event so far. One week before that we played Clipsal in Adelaide, which is more of a V8 kind of affair. It is a weird place for us to be playing, because we don’t go home and watch the cars every day – it’s not our crowd necessarily. But Clipsal was amazing, the response we got there, it was just like playing at Big Day Out! Our crowd was massive. The V8s were still racing, but everyone came to see us and that kind of thing. The Clipsal was exactly the same as the Big Day Out except with different merch. The crowd was the same people, they just had different hats on. It was weird, quite strange and cool,” he laughs. “The Grand Prix Crowd in Melbourne was somewhat different to that. It wasn’t quite as nice a day as well to be honest. But I think the people at the Grand Prix are very much about watching the Melbourne Grand Prix. It was a little bit less exciting that show, in comparison to the others – we’ve played State of Origin and stuff like that as well in the past. Every time we’re about to do one of things it’s like, ‘Wow! It does feel like a step up’ – definitely commercially. But we just treat it like any other show and you go and you do it and you have your fun.” WHO Children Collide WHAT Arrows (Universal) WHEN & WHERE Thursday, Metro Theatre; Friday 29 July, Splendour In The Grass

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 41 •

OLD SCHOOL TECH POP

NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION, OR SO THEY SAY. FOR JAMIE HUTCHINGS IT RESULTED IN AN ALBUM THAT SOUNDS LIKE NOTHING ELSE ON RADIO YET, AS HE TELLS MICHAEL SMITH, RECALLING HIS EARLY DAYS WITH BLUEBOTTLE KISS.

“Same with the Ned Kelly thing [Ned Kelly Indoors]. It’s not really about Ned Kelly; it’s more about Sidney Nolan’s paintings, about another person that’s long gone but it’s about people like him, they went to war and had been in these horrible, horrible situations that no one should ever go through and then they have to adjust to domestic life. So it’s just bits and pieces of stuff, just where you identify with what people are talking about becomes an interesting thing in terms of having some tangible reference to their personality but also taking it out on another tangent and then representing other things, either personally or for other people.”

he title of the new album from Bluebottle Kiss singer, songwriter and guitarist Jamie Hutchings, his third solo effort, tells the story of its making. Avalon Cassettes is literally that – songs recorded in a little shack in Avalon, for the most part on an old eight-track cassette recorder from the ‘80s, of which only seven tracks were working. The sound of the room is as much an element in the sonic soundscape as any of the instruments played, giving the songs a raw edginess and yet uneasy atmosphere. “Firstly I had absolutely no cash,” Hutchings admits. “The last one [His Imaginary Choir] was a pretty basic set-up and I worked on it a lot, kind of rethought it and sort of put it together piece by piece pretty slowly, so this was different. So I was gonna just try do it at home on a four-track at first and the first song [Invisible Coat] is the song that survived from trying to do it that way. But I met up with an old friend [Chris Colquhoun] who was into multi-track cassette recorders like I am – fourtracks and eight-tracks from the eighties and nineties – and he had a really good one and some good mics and preamps and he was keen to get involved. “So from then on, the next step was finding somewhere to do it. So initially it was all about cost cutting but I do really like those old recorders. I used to always demo all my songs on them – on all the Bluebottle Kiss stuff I would do like a one-man band on them all the time and some of them would sound better than the eventual studio recordings, ‘cause you’re packing so much stuff onto this tiny tape and it gets this really kind of overloaded, naturally compressed sound. So I was kind of keen to get that sound because it’s becoming something that’s lost because those machines, they’re

becoming extinct – you can’t even really get them fixed any more – so I thought this is probably the last chance to do a real proper record using that kind of technology. It’s an appealing, exciting sound to me and it’s also very different stuff today.” That said, Hutchings realises how that might, in some ways, work against the album. “I’ve heard it a tiny bit on the radio and it sounds so different from everything else, which is so clean and recorded digitally, but that’s the kind of sound that I really like, all that sort of everything’s spilling into everything else. Because it wasn’t like a rock album where you’re getting lots of muddy really big subby frequencies, it’s sort of enough that it can be pretty raw and there’s lots of bleed but you can control it enough with mostly acoustic instruments. And because the room isn’t designed for recording, it ends up becoming like an extra instrument.” In fact, a big part of the charm of Avalon Cassettes is that raw, unpolished sound. Not only is it obviously “unproduced” in the contemporary sense, but it’s also

WILD STYLES

Recently partner-in-rhyme Martin ‘Smiles Again’ Brown said in an interview with Drum’s sister publication 3D World that the first LP “ticked the boxes” off on party songs, about-a-girl songs and drinking anthems. Now, swinging back into a full studio release three years after their debut, …Fireworks shows the maturity of a group that’s had the privilege of sharing a touring support slot for Australian champions Bliss N Eso last year, hitting South East Asia and Japan. Lockyer explains that organically this album is a better body of work than the first. “Lyrically, yes, we’ve gotten darker with songs on there, but we’ve got like our own wild styles going on mixed in with songs that relate to certain issues that are going on with the world at the moment. So we try to cover a lot of bases and get a lot of stuff out.” On Hollow Eyes, Lockyer and Smiles rap about the seedy sides of haunts both home and abroad, such as King’s Cross and Thailand’s sex industry. The emotivelydriven track contrasts with the lighter affairs of Mind Over Matter’s catalogue. “Smiles got to see an ugly side firsthand and I was working in the Cross for almost a year. We like the descriptive lyrics so we painted the pictures that we saw and it really helped on those kinda • 42 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

“I often will read about a character or a situation and from then on I don’t worry too much about accuracy; it just sort of sparks something that will represent something else to me. Like, say, [the song] Smoky Dawson, I’d seen some footage of him and I’d read some kind of eulogy in a newspaper and that first of reminded me of the fact that that kind of era of person had a real stoicism to them, but a real cheeriness to them too. They go through awful things but they never complain like we do. “And also I guess it’s a bit of a metaphor for how people that can have a huge impression when they’re alive, the fact is that things fade. It’s like walking into an empty room where you can feel something that’s gone on in

“It’s kind of embarrassing, but as a last ditch thing I put a little note on my MySpace blog just saying I was going to Europe and if anyone wanted to help out. Mostly I got Australians living in England that would suggest I play at this or that place, but nothing that was really of any use. Then this woman just came out of the blue, said that she was a fan and was a booker in the US that put people through Europe regularly and she’d like to help me. It’s one of those weird things that just never happens. So she’s been administering all my European tours and also I don’t have a booker in Australia – I couldn’t find one – so she books shows for me in Australia from America by email.” WHO Jamie Hutchings WHAT Avalon Cassettes (Laughing Outlaw) WHEN & WHERE Saturday, Notes

PATRICIA DAY, THE HEAVILYINKED, DOUBLE BASS-SLINGING VOCALIST FOR THE HORRORPOPS TALKS TO BRENT BALINSKI ABOUT PIGEONHOLE FRUSTRATIONS, PERFORMING AND BARBIE.

On their 2008 mixtape, Free The Wolves, Lockyer admits to similarly having fun recording it. “We definitely worked on it like an album, but we just made it as a mixtape so we didn’t have to take it so seriously as an album. Here we were able to grow and show a dirty mixtape kinda thing”

very human – you can hear everyone involved in the performances there in the room together and the natural interplay that engenders, just as it does live on stage, therefore adding a real authenticity to the recording. That all then brings the emphasis back to the stories Hutchings is telling in the songs.

The past couple of years, Hutchings has taken himself off to Europe to perform and it’s been an interesting exercise in a number of ways, including finding himself a manager. “It was just to be able to get a fresh perspective, to be able to be doing somewhere else. There are a couple of people who are interested in me and like my stuff in France and Italy that put together shows, so I’ve been doing that once a year. So that’s my goal, to try and keep doing that and hopefully maybe expand it a bit. It’s pretty basic when I tour over there, but I really like to play and it’s great – I can play every night.

THE THREE OF US

COVERING A LOT OF BASES, MC WILLOW FROM MIND OVER MATTER SAYS ALTHOUGH THINGS HAVE GOT SERIOUS, THEY AREN’T TOO DARK. BY RIP NICHOLSON.

oing hard in the paint, Sydney’s latest arrival to the top of their game, Mind Over Matter have hit back with new strength on their second album, Just Like Fireworks. Ryan Lockyer, who plays the MC Willow in the pair, dissects the growth and maturity poured into this LP, which in the opinions of many reviews is sitting pretty atop of 2011’s hip hop album released so far. “We’re having fun and it’s still got that young positive outlook on things, but, yes, naturally as you grow through your albums the subjects grow stronger also. Things get more serious, but we try not to let it take us somewhere too dark.”

there before, the residue of that kind of thing, like the ghost of a sort of memory.

t’s been a bit over three years since the world heard from the HorrorPops in the form of a new record. They’re working on that and have an album’s worth of new material ready to get in the can. But before they go through the tedium of the studio (and this band dislikes recording more than most), they want to party, which is where their impending Australian tour comes in. tracks,” Lockyer confides. “Also with the music, we feel that we’ve progressed with a lot more live instrumentals and with really good producers as well, including our own producer DJ Ills. So we’ve really branched out with it and we’re happy with how it’s come out.” Leading the way and shouting from the rooftops, the potential of this album’s staying power is in the first released single, Rappers In Wonderland, as Smiles and Willow bounce effortlessly over a heaving guitar riff in a joint that carries with it an undeniable head-nodding addiction. “When that beat played, me and Smiles just looked at each like, ‘Alright we’ve got one here.’ It was so good to write a rhyme over a beat that came across to us so well,” describes an excited Lockyer, also playing hightempo tracks on tour like The Wonderful Life, which sees the MCs go in over Biffy Clyro’s The Captain. “It was a blast and we’re really looking forward to playing them live. “We really feel that we’ve come into our own right now. I mean we’ve been making music for a while now and learned so much,” explains Lockyer on the constant learning curve. “We’ve taken that on board and we’re happy to see something we’ve worked so hard on get this recognition. Also there have been a lot of setbacks along the way, so with it finally out, it’s great.” WHO Mind Over Matter WHAT Just Like Fireworks (I Forget, Sorry!/Other Tongues) WHEN & WHERE Thursday, Oxford Art Factory

“We’re about to record, so before we went into the studio we wanted to have a good time somewhere on our own, touring,” says Patricia Day, singer and upright bassist for HorrorPops. “The best place to drink is Australia and that’s where we’re going.” Playing and partying are what matters to the punk/ new wave/pop outfit, who are touring as a three-piece, having shed go-go dancers and a guitarist in recent years. “It’s just the three of us. We’ve been just the three of us on stage for a year now. In the beginning people were like, ‘Where the fuck are the dancers?’” Day chuckles. “But then they were like, ‘Oh hey! Those guys can actually play.’” The band started roughly a decade-and-a-half ago, when Denmark natives Day and Kim Nekroman (Day’s husband and bassist/vocalist for psychobilly/punk legends Nekromantix) met each other when Day’s former band Peanut Pump Gun opened for Nekromantix at a German music festival. The two bonded over their love of ‘80s New Wave and other bands and decided to collaborate, also agreeing to swap instruments to help distance themselves from their roles in previous acts. In the next few years they signed to Hellcat, relocated to Los Angeles and completed three albums, often being lumped in as part of the psychobilly genre by some fans. “For some reason the psychobilly community has accepted HorrorPops to some degree, but we don’t know much about the psychobilly community,” says Day, who puts the tag down to the presence of both Nekroman and an upright bass within the band. “To me [the subculture] seems a little bit like a lot of bitches with

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big hair bitching at each other. It’s kind of like living in Texas. Kim and I, who started the band, we come from different backgrounds. Kim’s the one with the psychobilly background and Erik’s [Neidermeier, drums] the one with the metal background and I came from playing in punk bands.” Most reviews of HorrorPops’ latest album, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, are quick to mention the cinematic/ film noir themes running through it, the abundance of ‘80s New Wave influences and the amusing Madness homage in MissFit, but the band can’t help but get pegged as a “psychobilly” act, to Day and co’s annoyance. Also of annoyance has been what Day claims is the unauthorised use of her likeness by Mattel in its range of Hard Rock Café Barbie dolls. The lawsuit filed last year over the Rockabilly Barbie doll is, understandably, not something Day can say much about, but some fans’ reactions have puzzled her. “I’ve got a bunch of things I want to say and at some point I hope people realise that we as a band haven’t made a statement at all about this. What I can say about discussing the case is that what surprises me is that we’ve been met with a bit of a negative attitude from the press and the punk rock websites [who’ve asked], ‘Who the fuck do they think they are?’ I’m really surprised by that because here I am – and the band are – on one of the last independent labels [Epitaph/Hellcat] suing the biggest corporation there is in America. It’s like who the fuck can’t get behind that?’” Indeed. But enough of that, she insists. There’s music be played and partying to look forward to before hitting the studio later in the year. And the band’s last words for its Sydney-dwelling fans? “Come to a show. Come have a drink with us.” WHO HorrorPops WHEN & WHERE Sunday, Factory Theatre

FEELING GOOD

NEXT LEVEL

GLENN MERCER TELLS DOUG WALLEN ABOUT THE PROCESSES BEHIND CREATING THE FEELIES’ FIRST ALBUM IN TWO DECADES.

CHRISTIAN DUDES IN A MATHCORE BAND? NO WONDER THE CHARIOT COP GRIEF ON A REGULAR BASIS. MARK HEBBLEWHITE CHATS TO FRONTMAN JOSH SCOGIN TO SEPARATE FACT FROM FICTION.

he first Feelies album in 20 years starts with a question: “Is it too late to do it again, or should we wait another ten?” That’s one of many lyrics preoccupied with time, but there’s no question that it’s never too late for a band like The Feelies to make a comeback. The hugely influential New Jersey guitar-pop act reformed in 2008 after being offered a support slot by Sonic Youth and the following year the band revisited its classic 1980 debut, Crazy Rhythms, at All Tomorrow’s Parties in New York. Domino reissued that album along with 1986’s The Good Earth the same year and now The Feelies are back with a long-time-coming fifth album, Here Before. That means the reunion was no mere fluke. “That’s one of the first things we talked about,” says Glenn Mercer, who shares songwriting, vocal and guitar duties with Bill Million. “We didn’t want it to be purely nostalgia, though I think nostalgia has its place. We don’t want that to be the whole story. We wanted to feel vital as a band.” Here Before definitely accomplishes that feat, restoring the band’s Good Earth-era line-up as well as its twinguitar jangle, strum and chime. That sound was a key influence for bands like R.E.M. – whose Peter Buck co-produced The Good Earth – and Yo La Tengo, among many others. Electric guitar solos and acoustic rhythm guitar create a driving effect in Feelies songs than can bely the nonchalant, soft-spoken vocals. Were there certain expectations, then, about what a Feelies album in 2011 might sound like? Did the band feel limited at all by that infamous jangle? “There are expectations,” Mercer confesses, “but I think having the opportunity to play with a lot of different people in a lot of different situations helps to not have that happen. I’ve been working on some instrumental stuff recently that’s not typically Feelies at all. Just being able to record at home now allows for exploring a lot of different areas.” In the two decades since the last Feelies album – 1991’s Time For A Witness – Mercer released a solo debut and three records with the band Wake Ooloo. Other members went on to play with Luna, The Golden Palominos and Wild Carnation. During those intervening years and

especially leading up to the Domino reissues, the band’s cult status grew larger by the day. The Feelies were getting name-checked frequently and their legendary first single Fa Ce-La was covered by the English act Eastern Lane for Rough Trade’s 25th anniversary compilation in 2003. As has been the case with many a cult ‘80s and ‘90s band, fans connected online and spread the word to new converts. “We noticed it around the turn of the century,” says Mercer of the upturn in interest. “That’s when Bill and I first talked, having not talked in over 10 years. We had a lot of offers to play shows and reissue records and license songs. Rather than the reissues raising interest in the band, interest in the band allowed the reissues to happen.” The Feelies never toured Australia back in the day, and there are no plans to do so in the future. The band is still a bit too obscure for that sort of thing, it seems, and the members are well entrenched in the obligations of daily life. Only a stretch of east coast US dates are planned at the moment. “It’s kind of hard,” notes Mercer, “to do something like that in our position. That’s the way we’ve always operated. We did some touring [in the ‘80s], but compared to most bands, we didn’t play much.” So while there’s no chance of Aussie fans seeing the band live, it’s comforting to know there’s more new material on the way after this. And at least there shouldn’t be such a long gap until the next album. “Well, hopefully no,” Mercer laughs. WHO The Feelies WHAT Here Before (Popfrenzy)

here’s a lot to dislike about segments of the Christian metalcore movement. Not least is a social agenda somewhere to the right of the Republican party and a formulaic musical approach that’s had its day. Thankfully Douglasville, Georgiabased bruisers The Chariot are nothing like some of their peers. A couple of minutes alone with Josh Scogin, former Norma Jean mainstay and now the creative driving force behind The Chariot confirms this. “We never pushed the ‘Christian thing’ – and I say that as someone who happens to be a Christian. To be honest I don’t even know what ‘Christian’ hardcore even means. It’s all very strange; I mean do people go around calling The Killers ‘Mormon rockers’? Of course they don’t, it’s ridiculous. “As to how we got that tag I can only assume that it was the media who pushed it as an angle. Maybe the fact we were on Solid State for a few records contributed to it as well. At the end of the day we have nothing but respect for other people and their beliefs. And I think this attitude has come back to us in spades. A lot of our fans don’t share our beliefs but they can still get into the music and that’s great. My personal beliefs shouldn’t colour everything we do as a band – and they don’t.” The other tag that seems to chase The Chariot around is ‘mathcore’. Scogin is similarly bemused by the whole proposition. “Does anyone actually know what mathcore is? Look I understand what people mean by the term, but I don’t think it can be applied to what we do. I think we get that tag because we utilise a lot of time changes within our music. But to tell the truth we only do this because we get bored easily. Having ADD doesn’t make you a mathcore band. To me mathcore brings to mind a very premeditated approach to making music. I for one don’t know anything about structures or time signatures when it comes to music and I think you’d have to have a pretty good handle on those types of things to consider yourself a mathcore band.” So if all these other labels don’t fit the bill how would

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Scogin himself describe the tunes churned out by The Chariot? “Oh that’s simple – heavy, fun, punk rock good times. That’s what our music is and what it does.” What The Chariot do offer is powerful hardcore; music that is immediate, heartfelt and sure to please pit monkeys the world over. What’s more this is a band that just keeps getting better, with last year’s Long Live LP the finest yet to bear The Chariot moniker. Scogin is rightly proud. “The new record is a lot more impulsive than our past efforts. If we thought something could be better, we went with it and didn’t second guess ourselves. This approach means that the album is a lot rawer and whimsical in nature and the songs themselves are a lot more entertaining. We also tried to keep everything as live as possible in the studio and I think this brought a real unpredictability to the record that pushed it to that next level.” Aside from the music the band decided on a unique approach to naming not only the record, but also individual songs. “Long Live is all about bringing a positive feel to the record. You can end the statement with whatever you want – whether it be ‘Long Live… The Chariot’ – or anything else really. As for the songs that read like people’s names, well they actually are. What we did was hold a contest open to everyone who supported our band. The five winners of that contest would have songs named after them on the record. We felt that this was a way that we could say thank you to all the people who supported us. It was a way to involve the fans with the project as closely as possible.” WHO The Chariot WHEN & WHERE Saturday, The Gaelic; Wednesday 26, Harp Hotel

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 43 •

WITH ROSS CLELLAND

DANIEL LEE KENDALL Talk The Night Away Redcat Sounds/MGM Young Mr Kendall appears to be squeezing into a nice niche for himself. A lightness of vocal tone somewhere around Bob Evans, coupled with being not quite as grownup as Josh Pyke’s thought processes and a little more approachable than Andy Bull’s slightly skewiff soul/pop sense. Hold Me Now – sadly not the old Thompson Twins tune, or not – has the necessary mix of jaunty and melancholy to make it suitable for the kiddies. Commercial and pretty safe folk-pop, no end in sight for that particular pigeonhole.

OUR ITHACA CREEK The Circle Independent While some element of the somewhat lamented Speedstar has become the rather good Silent Feature Era, another offcut takes its name from what is now more of an industrial drain rather than babbling brook in backwoods Brisbane, and makes music which has some country, some suburban and some glowing old valves to it. It talks at you in an Australian accent, with what could be a Theremin (or not) squelching here and there. Other bit here tends to more Paul Kelly-ish balladry – but that’s hardly a bad thing.

THE GOOD SHIP Good Ship/Bad Ship Autumn Recordings As name suggests, having some sea-shantiness to their folky whimsies. Although, listen too carefully to the sweet-sounding lament of I Can Make Her Laugh and the lyrical concerns are probably a bit closer to MGF than WPA, and certainly NRC. Too many acronyms? Go Google, you interweb-savvy procrastinators. Elsewhere on this they allow bubble and squeaking electro remixes, which further confuse the nautical origins. On evidence of this, they may well write The Good Ship Venus of the 21st century. Really.

CRYSTAL STILTS

D’OPUS AND ROSHAMBO

DESTROYER

Slumberland/Inertia

Inertia

Merge/ Inertia

In Love With Oblivion

Past Times

It’s hard to know which is the more irritating thing about this band: the rank horridness of the production, the steadfastly monotone nature of their songs or the fact that Crystal Stilts is seemingly critically worshipped by every reviewer and not seeing the appeal makes you feel like a clod. Singer and co-founder Brad Hargett has managed to achieve a vocal quality on …Oblivion that suggests an Ian Curtis impersonator singing in a cave, with an audio engineer taping the noises emerging from within with a cheap old Haminex tape recorder. The jam of sound this band emits is a blur of gooey, flabby snare drum, on-again/off-again bits of tambourine, surf-ish organ sounds, jangly, reverb-drenched guitar and those annoying, contrived goth vocals. And this stream of warm garbage is seldom in sync, particularly the tambourine, which creates some of the most disturbingly inept jingling you’ll hear this side of a Hare Krishna being beaten with a pantyhose leg full of 20 cent coins. Shake The Shackles is apparently the lead single from the album and there’s probably a catchy chord progression in there, but it’s hard to make sense of this jumble of badly-recorded noises. It’s all very samey, very dull and very hard to pay attention to any song for its entire duration. What’s there to make you bother? It’s ugly, tuneless, cheap and probably beyond fixing. Even if they spent a skerrick of effort recording or writing these songs or splashed out for instruments that don’t sound like they were found on council clean-up day, this is unappealing, lifeless, sub-amateurish music.

Likeability is a funny thing. For those who have it, it comes naturally. Those who seek it often have the opposite effect. Luckily for us our Canberran duo’s second effort, Past Times, confirms D’Opus and Roshambo’s status as straightforward guys who are fun to have bumping out your headphones. Action Montage is probably the album’s highlight. The beat is all frenetic energy and sirens. The raps are where they need to be. It’s basically a sonic Lynx ad. Addictive swings and swings; a delightful, intricately made switch-up. My Space with Muph is surprising and neat. Scott Burns’ guest verse on Tell Her No is as enchanting as it is frustrating. A neat story well told, it makes our need for the as yet unreleased follow-up to his debut, Day One, all the more strong. Sadly, album closer, Terrorist Is Us, breaks the spell. It carries with it an engaging discussion but also an unwelcome, distracting echo of Braintax’s The Beast Is Us, from his 2008 album. Past Times is some way from perfect and our hosts’ delivery is not as varied and engaging as it could be (the exception, All I Need, proves the rule), but in a rap landscape full of toxic criminals, self-indulgent drama queens and pop-political self-righteousness it’s refreshing to spend some time with a pair of rappers who are so easy to like.

KAPUTT

Wistful reminisces abound on the new Destroyer album, Kaputt. It is Dan Bejar’s ninth album and it feels like a wave over the shoulder or a long lazy Sunday spent poring over old VHS cassettes. Bejar has created a holistic ‘80s sound for the record, complete with dreamy washes of chorus guitar, horn solos one degree removed from Kenny G and flashbacks to Prefab Sprout and Blue Nile. Ultimately Kaputt transcends any derision of its smooth, synth pop references via its strength of writing, composition and just the right level of quirk in Bejar’s voice and lyrics. He has this weird habit of trying to fit more words than normal into some lines, while at the same time delivering them in a lackadaisical manner. One of the album highlights is Savage Nights At The Opera with its New Order via The Cure bass and guitar riffs. With it Bejar has found a way to merge jazz-pop and the goth/indie sounds of the same period. A guitar solo takes the song to another level not dissimilar to an outtake from The Strokes. Suicide For Kara Walker sounds like a lifeboat adrift at sea with sounds and effects floating in and out of the first two minutes before Bejar drawls lazily over the musical backdrop. Downtown deals in similar sonics but it is much tighter and cleaner; the focus on the bass keeps the song anchored. Kaputt is tied together thematically, sonically and with an abundance of dreamy melancholy that makes it such a wonderfully immersive listen. Bejar has created a delightfully opulent and indulgent album that will haunt you for repeated plays if you let it into your imagination.

Brent Balinski

James d’Apice

Chris Familton

DRAPHT

GLASVEGAS

GORILLAZ

The Ayems/Sony

Sony Music

EMI

MICK HARVEY Famous Last Words Mute/EMI He remains the ultimate power ‘behind-the-throne’ guy, even after giving up the musical director, babysitter, therapist and peacemaker role in The Bad Seeds. His fingerprints are one of the things that make his Polly Jean namesake’s Let England Shake truly great. He has every right to put out under his own name and this rattling, declamatory statement on the world and its ills comes with all the passion and craft you should expect. It swings roughly, then kicks you in the groin. And you find yourself enjoying it.

LOWTIDE Underneath Tonight Departed Sounds In which Melbourne 2011 channels Manchester 1980 and Boston 1990 among other places. The programmed drums that open this could have been lifted from that grey area in a black overcoat between Joy Division and New Order, before the guitars twine round the detached boy/girl vocals giving it an ebb-and-flow and quality of sound belying their indie nature. A kind of music which could very easily take itself too seriously, but avoids that to end up merely good. Apparently we have to wait ‘til 2012 for an album. That’s a shame.

ARPLINE Make It Rain Sandcastle If Melbourne’s Manchester in the above, then this New York thing have headed further down the M62 and come home with a collection of early Orchestral Manoeuvres albums from one of Liverpool’s better op-shops. The synths tinkle and ring, while the words puzzle and consider the human condition in a way that’d make Depeche Mode happy. In that mopey way. It is clever and actually does sound new, even if the technology appears old. The trilling insistence of it seems to guarantee its earworm status for the foreseeable future.

If you think Drapht is a breath of fresh air for a scene you’ve slowly come to appreciate, this album is the confirmation. For folk like you, Drapht’s quick ascension to number one (number one!) on the charts is evidence of excellence. As a rapper, he’s so musical. As a singer, he’s so lyrically complex. There are happy songs like Rapunzel on here. Smile! There are sad songs like Down. Frown. There are interesting songs like R.I.P J.R. Hmmm. If you think Drapht is great, The Life Of Riley proves your point. If you think Drapht is an overrated, overexposed jjj/ Nova sell-out (whatever that is? Does selling out exist any more?) this album proves your point. He’s singing. There’s a terrible skit where some Australian has been paid to put on a terrible rockabilly-meets-‘50s-voiceoverguy accent and tell bad jokes. The discomforting Australia Day-baiting Sing It is on there. Plus we basically heard Air Guitar on the last album. It was about sound guys last time. If you think Drapht is a competent and occasionally exciting rapper who makes one gem per album, then The Life Of Riley proves your point. The Paul The Dan is the gem this time around. The Life Of Riley is the Drapht we’ve grown to know and love/hate/not mind. This is an album that will confirm your preconceptions, whatever they may be.

James d’Apice • 44 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

Euphoric Heartbreak

The Life of Riley

All of the charisma and catharsis in Glasvegas’ music lies within the voice of James Allan. As frontman of the Scottish four-piece, he brays and hollers in almost tuneless arrogance, a thick accent cloaking any discernable lyrics. Accompanied by soaring guitar riffs and reverb bounding off the walls, it’s hard not to get swept up in the anthemic pace. Glasvegas’ debut was an exercise in layering sounds to Jesus & Mary Chain proportions, but they’ve gone stadium rock on Euphoric Heartbreak. At times, like on the hypnotisingly catchy The World Is Yours, Allan’s voice is on the verge of breaking as he yells ‘You don’t need me as much as I need you.’ Yet in attempting to spread his lyrical wings, Allan makes some missteps – take, for example, the two songs where he puts himself in the shoes of a gay man, Stronger Than Dirt (Homosexuality Pt. 2) and I Feel Wrong (Homosexuality Pt. 1); it’s not that it seems inauthentic, it’s just a touch too movie-of-the-week clichéd to be convincing – sometimes it helps that you can’t understand a word he’s saying. The guitars remain as ferocious as ever, chugging under a consistent layer of echoes, now occasionally paired with a shrill synthesiser. The thrusting percussion behind songs like You keep the pace up, as does the somewhat unexpected electronica of Shine Like Stars.

The Fall

Some bands write whilst on tour, some take a studio on the road and record parts of new albums. In the case of Damon Albarn, he makes an album on his iPad whilst on a Gorillaz North American tour and releases it in the same year as the phenomenally successful Plastic Beach. He does a damn good job too. Where last year’s environmental dystopia record was geared to guest appearances, dense soundscapes and a mish-mash of genres, the presumable limitations of technology make The Fall a cohesive meld of compressed synths and sparser melodies, whether edging on the sinister with Phoner To Arizona or the melancholic simplicity of Hillbilly Man. Charting the band’s tour with clever titles, the record paints a unique portrait of life on the road. Small moments are turned into fourminute tunes; Revolving Doors a catchy, sweet highlight with a thumping chorus growing out of a poppy little guitar riff and Amarillo charting the topography of desert roads with Albarn’s inimitable voice brimming with that familiar pathos. Little Plastic Bags touches the saccharine in a way that suggests it wouldn’t be amiss to picture Noodle bopping her head as 2D sings.

Glasvegas has chosen to forgo the darkness of its roots and aims for the arenas with this second record. You’ve got to give them credit for sheer guts and passion, with Allan’s heart always worn firmly on sleeve.

The entire conception of The Fall, with it happening in a turbulent time of travel and mostly created on a handheld computer device makes it all the more impressive. The sounds are textured and rich, especially considering most of the electronic sounds were created with iPad apps. There is no Clint Eastwood or DARE here, but instead there is a cleverly crafted pop record with gems well worth uncovering.

Sevana Ohandjanian

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show even more progress this deep into its career – Explosions remains one of the most intriguing bands in the business, and one of the best. Take Care… is another beautiful, humble work of art worthy of undivided attention. Giselle Nguyen

FACT FILE

SCAR SYMMETRY

SILVERSTEIN

Nuclear Blast/Riot!

The Unseen Empire

Length: Six tracks, 46 minutes. Moods: Energetic, tense and symphonic.

Rescue

Roadrunner

Swedish melodic death metallers Scar Symmetry unintentionally paid former frontman Christian Älvestam an enormous compliment on 2009’s Dark Matter Dimensions. That being that it required two singers – one growler and one crooner – to fill his position. Yet, the band still came up short on the vocal front. Thus, many continue to lament the absence of his powerhouse range and presence. Despite the buzz surrounding them, respectable second album, Pitch Black Progress, aside Scar Symmetry have been somewhat underachievers. Despite the rave reviews, Dark Matter… was rather hollow and uninspired. The positive news is The Unseen Empire is the best effort of their five-album career; even if it really doesn’t offer many challenges to the seasoned listener and the poppy hooks are a tad too sugar-coated. Now on to their second album with the new lineup and minus the blatantly recycled melodies and most of the overt Soilwork-isms of its predecessor, The Unseen Empire’s songwriting is more natural, incorporating proggy touches and a lyrical concept too detailed to outline here. Groovy opener, The Anomaly, bustles with swirling keyboards, sleek harmonies and a memorable chorus; solid overall, if unremarkable. More exciting are the soaring Extinction Mantra and brutal Seers Of The Schaton, the latter’s leads injecting a warmth into an otherwise slickly packaged product. The bipolar vocal interchange sounds most confident on the wonderfully-titled Rise Of The Reptilian Regime, Roberth Karlsson and Lars Palmqvist providing a convincing counterpunch. The melo-death genre may have peaked creatively several years ago, but Scar Symmetry do enough here to suggest it’s not time to put them out to pasture yet.

DID YOU KNOW:

If releases were critiqued solely on the basis of the obvious energy and vigour exhibited within them, Rescue, the fifth record from Canada’s Silverstein would win more kudos than most. As it is, aspects such as songwriting, ingenuity, consistency and production values must be assessed. Although solid, the posthardcore outfit aren’t reinventing the wheel with the first two, but present worthwhile examples of the latter pair of categories. While there’s an absence of surprises, they don’t do too much blatantly wrong either. Rescue is glossy, although well-crafted screamo possessing enough variety for style aficionados. Opener, Medication, is the first of many tracks containing Shane Told’s good cop, bad cop vocals, but he executes convincingly. The sugarcoated pop/punk melodies of Forget Your Heart and Darling Harbour are hits-in-waiting if a tad too obvious and slick. Intervention ups the ante in terms of heavyduty riffage and The Artist is conventional, breakdownridden metallic hardcore. If you can overlook a few teenage diary lyrical excerpts during Texas Mickey there’s tangible chemistry between Told and Bayside’s Anthony Raneri, while closer In Memory Of… covers a wider spectrum of dynamics and subject matter.

• The vinyl box set for Take Care, Take Care, Take Care is split across two LPs and includes a quadruple gatefold 15”x15” poster that can be folded to replicate the vinecovered building depicted on the album’s cover.

Brendan Crabb

Another band to leave a significant impression on these shores via a stint on the Soundwave Festival, Silverstein have been more than solid performers for several albums now. That said, they seem to have been consigned to the middle of the pack – not quite enjoying the same status of superstar peers. Rescue may not take them to that next level, but most of their current fan base will not be jumping ship anytime soon.

EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY

Take Care, Take Care, Take Care Temporary Residence

This Austin instrumental quartet has led the post-rock pack for a while with its epic pieces, the structures of which resemble carefully constructed mini-symphonies, never needing words to convey the most powerful emotions. On its sixth album the band keeps its defining elements as well as stepping outside of those boundaries, making this perhaps its strongest outing yet.

• To celebrate the launch of the album, the band announced the event Taking Care, a special listening party which they have curated to present six artists’ visual interpretations of the six songs on the album. Sadly, the event is not touring and takes place in a Los Angeles cemetery. • The album, recorded with longtime collaborator John Congleton, was recorded on a pecan ranch in West Texas.

The pieces are built around recurring themes, underscored by Chris Hrasky’s spacious drumming. Where, in particular, their last album, 2007’s All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone, focused more on post-rock’s subdued side, here there’s more consistent energy. Even the subtle parts of Last Known Surroundings possess quiet vigour, and its build up is simply sublime. Silence is just as integral as sound, making for a delicious tension on Human Qualities, which manages that edge-of-yourseat grip in a slow and quiet register before exploding into an instrumental climax, and the end of final track, Let Me Back In, is one minute of silent disintegration. The energetic Trembling Hands is as close to conventional as the band has come, both in its significantly shorter length and structure – and are those subtle, wordless vocals? Explosions’ albums work as a whole, so rather than dissecting each individual piece, think of it as a classical symphony, each piece and nuance a movement. It’s astounding that a band so progressive managed to

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 45 •

ONLINE MUSICAL WIN WITH DCR

STOLEN YOUTH Dark Century

Brooklyn MC Santigold has reappeared with a song called Go, a rocking joint with a frantic pulse and guitars, all delivered at breathtaking pace, as if to soundtrack a getaway. (From what? Modern life perhaps.) “People want my power,” she declares at the beginning. It’s a star-studded affair, featuring no less than two members of Yeah Yeah Yeahs – vocalist Karen O and guitarist Nick Zinner – and boasts production from Q-Tip, Switch and Santigold herself. There are hints of cohorts Major Lazer and last year’s buzz band Sleigh Bells in its grimey hip hop/dance/ garage rock hybrid, making a departure from the cleaner electro-infused sound from her “Santogold” days. In an interview with online publication Life + Times (which is currently hosting the song), Santi says of the song, “I talk about guarding what’s mine… Also, this song comments on the era we live in and the new American dream. The dream used to be that if you worked hard, and you were good at what you did, you could pave your own way in America and the sky was the limit. It was based on the idea that there was ‘opportunity for each according to ability or achievement.’ However, things have changed. The new American Dream is to become rich and famous by happenstance – or sex tapes – and to get there with as little work or talent as possible. And as a result, we are suffering – though many of us don’t know it – as quality becomes a notion of the past. We’re ruining art, our planet and our health, all due to our newfound obsession with instant gratification, with the short term quick-fix. So, my song’s about all that in a way.” Can’t wait to hear what comes next. Stream Go at lifeandtimes.com/american-dreaming. From one project involving Nick Zinner to another, New York City four-piece Hunters has a two-track EP up on Bandcamp available for download. It’s thrashy indie rock – the sort of stuff you could imagine Yeah Yeah Yeahs belting out in their early days before they got into synthesisers. Zinner’s on mixing duties here, which probably explains the similarities. Deadbeat’s a sexy, bratty punk track, the sort that you were hearing around 2005 from every band that grew up listening to New York punk but wanted to make it danceable. A simple riff, vocal yelps, messy drums driving the song along, and all the passion of mid-coitus fury. In fact, it wouldn’t have been out of place on that brilliant Yes New York compilation issued at the beginning of last decade. In other words, it’s so 2000s NYC it hurts, which is exactly the sound Hyper Music LOVES. Street Trash is a much more straight up grunge song, more 1990s indie like Pixies, Mudhoney and Sonic Youth joining forces. Don’t be surprised if Sub Pop picks these guys up. Grab the EP (name your price!) from huntersny.bandcamp.com. One band that we thought would certainly crop up on either the Vivid LIVE or Splendour In The Grass bill is Salem, who released one of our favourite albums (and singles) of last year in King Night. Word on the street, though, is that their live show is pretty bad, so that might explain their omission. Still, they would’ve looked great on the same programme as WU LYF and OFWGKTA. Anyway, the drag/witch house/internet buzz band has contributed a remix of Interpol’s Try It On for the sharply dressed NYC group’s Record Store Day 12-inch remix EP. It’s a perfect blend, really; Interpol’s moody post-punk and Salem’s haunted hip hop/exorcism electronica both draw on dark places to take you to dark places. Here, wild cats scream and cars screech, transporting Interpol deep into the darkest recesses of your nightmares, Try It On becoming something like the grand total of Patrick Bateman’s thoughts – a muddled and disturbed and unnervingly sexy mixture of sounds and emotions. It’s a ballsy move from Interpol, their song barely recognisable, but it works and could damn well be the best remix we’ve heard from Salem yet. Get it from NME’s Daily Download blog. • 46 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

THE HEAD AND THE HEART

Slumberland/Inertia

Folk and country-flecked indie music seems to be really carving out a niche market for listeners wary of venturing deep into those traditional genres and who need to be eased in by more contemporary sounds. A band like THATH are the perfect type of group to do just that. On their debut album they roll out effortless comfortable vocal melodies and harmonies through acoustic guitars, piano and violin-tinged songs that immediately sound familiar.

Belong

Clarity/Shock

SANTIGOLD

THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART

It’s been five years since Stolen Youth’s debut full-length, Unconscious In Orthodox, was released, and since then they have added a member and seriously honed their craft. More than ten years playing together has given Stolen Youth a cohesive and self-assured energy, put simply this record is a natural progression for a band that is comfortable and confident with their sound; it is faster, tighter and more technical. Their sound – steeped in thrashy skate punk with melodic hardcore tendencies – while not entirely original (Propaghandi are an apparent influence) it is fantastically executed. Like other albums coming out of Capital Sounds Studios (though recording also took place at Broadcast Studios), most notably the 2010 Coerce Robotosaurus split, the recording sounds as though no tone or sound was mere coincidence; the sludge-ridden bass, shotgun sharp snare and raw guitar tone are captured with a cathartic live energy that is carried onto the vocals. Rarely is such conviction heard in the voices of so many on a release like this. The addition of Jesse Coulter to the band has injected them with some of the best dual-guitar riffs they have released to date. Just A Reminder, Humans (which was released last year on 7” with some b-sides from the album) and Swim To The Sun all have phenomenal riffing, Humans ending with a jaw-clenching, fistpumping tension and release.

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart was 2009’s super-hip indie ‘it’ band, with its lo-fi Belle & Sebastian-esque debut filled with comfortable little odes to the joys of being a teenager, covered in a warm, fuzzy blanket. It felt good and sounded better. Belong takes that and adds a little more polish – the guitars are more focused than they were previously, making more of a marked appearance on the title track and turning into theatrical twinkles on tracks like My Terrible Friend. Where they previously sounded a little shy, the melodies now are strong and the hooks indelible, even when slightly more emotionally raw (Even In Dreams). Though most of the record is quite upbeat, Anne With An E is a little more subdued, benefiting greatly from the delicious vocal layering, drizzled with reverb. Pains’ heart is planted firmly in the misty-eyed walk of nostalgia, thriving on the sweet innocence of its lyrics – vocalist Kip Berman sings “when everyone was doing drugs, we were just doing love” on closer, Strange, and awkwardly mumbles about sex in the simplest terms on the bubbly The Body.

The Head And The Heart Sub Pop / Inertia

The band has pop music at its core and they use various genre signifiers (folk, country, soul) to bend the mood of their songs. The most effective songs are those that follow a less is more approach. Down In The Valley is a slow-building tale of descent into the bottle while Rivers And Roads allows the band’s vocal harmonies to really shine through while singing great lines like ‘I miss your face like hell’. When violinist Charity Rose Thielen steps up to sing a verse on Winter Song you instantly wish she had been given more songs to sing, such is the lovely, quirky grain of her voice. Where THATH lose points is the slickness of their sound. It all feels too perfect and ‘nice’ – even when they are singing about ghosts, failed relationships and addiction. They do convey those themes with the relevant sorrow and emotion but they need to be framed by music that adds to rather than detracts from the weight of the words they are singing.

More than your average meat and veg punk, this is just as aggressive, just as fast, but with an invigorating intelligence and consideration. Only thing left to do is grab a deck and hope you can shred bowls half as well as these guys shred guitars.

This band’s music, like that of Canadian popsters Stars, is a little too twee for people who don’t live for wearing vintage cardigans and riding bicycles with baskets and taking photos on Holga cameras and using the word ‘lovely’. But for those who do – hello, soundtrack to your life! It’s a neat little listen, not so different from the debut besides the added sheen, that will please old fans and perhaps win over some new with its hopeful joyousness. You’ll smile and dance and think that life is pretty darn swell.

Dave Drayton

Giselle Nguyen

Chris Familton

STEVE PARKIN

DRIVE-BY TRUCKERS

THE WOMBATS

Dirt Diamonds/Warner

Liberator Music

Mighty Big Light

Go-Go Boots

In the realm of contemporary Americana THATH are at the lighter/pop-rich end of the spectrum and in that context they have delivered a solid and confident debut album.

The Wombats Proudly Present… This Modern Glitch Warner

If you’re thinking Steve Parkin sounds kinda familiar but you don’t know why, then here are some pointers. You know when Kevin Mitchell, Kav Temperley and Josh Pyke got it together with another guy a while back as Basement Birds? Well, he was the other guy. If you caught them live, however, you would have noticed that far from being filler, Parkin was great value; funny, talented and clearly well-respected by the others in the group. That respect is also well earned on this ‘solo’ effort, one which bears only Parkin’s name but, according to the songwriting and playing credits, seems to have been a bit of an Eskimo Joe love-fest with Parkin taking the lead singer baton off Temperley (but keeping him and the band for backup). The result is selfdescribed as “a pop album with some rock elements”, but given that pop these days means GaGa and young girls singing about days of the week, I think it’s safer to call it something closer to indie pumped-up folk, even, gasp, adult contemporary. By this I don’t mean it’s boring, and there are some lovely moments with the kind of airy space in them that the young people seem scared to allow for (California and I Won’t Be, in particular). At best the ‘pop’ mantle can be given to Hold On, which sounds like pop circa late ‘60s early ‘70s, the kind of pop that Oasis likes to still think they invented but really stole from The Beatles. Derivative, yes, but taken from the best, so well worth the effort. Let’s hear more please.

Coming not so long after their last one – the rollicking Big To-Do – Drive-By Truckers’ sinewy breed of Southern-flavoured bar band storytelling seems to be working near-effortlessly. The balance between main songwriters Patterson Hood and Mike Cooley – with the occasional little broken-hearted scuffed gem from bassist Shonna Tucker – seems to be operating smoothly, with Hood increasingly setting the agenda.

The character studies can still raise a grin. The title track, where the subject is juggling relationships home and away, is typically tut-tutting, but with a slight envy that he seems to be getting away with it. More serious, the self-explanatory Used To Be A Cop could be Springsteen’s rural cousin. Drive-By Truckers do what they do. And here again, they do it well.

It’s never an easy task following up a platinum debut album, but Liverpuddlian indie pop trio The Wombats has more than ably lived up to the task of matching their 2007 effort with an even stronger second showing in …This Modern Glitch. From the opening, creeping electro-pulse of Our Perfect Disease, it’s evident the threesome has expanded its array of aural weaponry, most notably in the form of a heavy focus on the use of synthesisers. The classic, guitar-driven abandon of old is still present, though, with both the opener and succeeding track, Tokyo (Vampires And Wolves), reminding the listener the band members have definitely not forgotten where they came from while forging their new path. Even in their singles, like the aforementioned Tokyo, the relaxed ethereal amble of Jump Into The Fog, the delicate strings of Anti-D or the straight-up party of the impending Techno Fan, they’ve successfully managed to achieve the difficult balance of creating a set of very different songs all linked by a sonic commonality that makes them distinctly Wombats. The pleasantly surprising thing about …This Modern Glitch is it defies the trappings in which so many other bands of the genre get caught – The Wombats at no time mistake ‘pop’ for ‘laziness’. Yes, on the surface, the melodies are catchy, the lyrics easily remembered, the rhythms fundamentally primal: all good cornerstones of run-of-the-mill pop. Yet beneath that, right through to darkly plodding closer, Schumacher The Champagne, the band has obviously spent considerable effort on actually exploring its new sound, filling the songs with nuances and second-listen treats.

Liz Giuffre

Ross Clelland

Mitch Knox

So smoothly, in fact, that they’ve got 14 songs for this longer-than-current-average album with no apparent drop in quality. That said, this is a bit different than the previous. While the elements are within the usual templates – love walking out the door and having too many drinks about it, and wry observations of small-town soap operas and the participants therein – this tends to be more ballad-based, and a little more real and reflective than the cowboy boots kicking at the dust of the last one. Don’t fear, there are still titles and anecdotes like Ray’s Automatic Weapon, or the succinct and descriptive Assholes, but the default setting here is more towards the opening I Do Believe, where Hood’s looking at her with a sincere eye. Or Everybody Needs Love, which has a lot of songwriting forebears like the Johns Prine or Hiatt about it.

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ROTH PHOTO ADVENTURE Here’s a bit of a touching story to kick off your Heavy Shit-reading experience this week. In 1999, David Lee Roth played a show in Austin, Texas. People came. People had fun. One dude captured the whole thing on a disposable camera – and then lost it. Matt Sellars, another gig-goer, found the camera and took it home, forgetting about it until a year later when he found it and got the pictures developed. He made an attempt to find the camera’s owner then, but it was unsuccessful so the whole thing seemed dead and buried until last year, when Sellars came across the photos on his computer again and decided to give it another go – especially now that we’ve got all this newfangled technology to help with these things. It took less than three days, through YouTube and Facebook, to find the camera’s owner, 45-year-old Greg Aulick, who still lives in Austin. Aulick said he was “absolutely friggin’ flabbergasted”. He’s seen the photos on Facebook but hasn’t yet received his possessions back – Sellars is planning to return the photos to him in person at Stubb’s in Austin, where the camera went missing in the first place, and is trying to get David Lee Roth in on it too. See? Metal and the internet – not just good for boobs. While we’re on things Roth, the guy who replaced him in Van Halen, the better singer but poorer performer Sammy Hagar, has been having yet another go at him suggesting Roth hasn’t the “work ethic” to knuckle down and cut a new album with the band that asked him back. Will it happen? Stay tuned.

BASS RACES OUT Danish/French “future fusion metal” band Mnemic has farewelled bassist Tomas “Obeast” Koefoed. Koefoed said in a statement: “Because of my forever-continued dedication to music and metal, it has not been easy to make my decision to leave a great and innovative band like MNEMIC after eight successful years with four releases. Personally, I don’t feel my ambitions are fulfilled in MNEMIC anymore and I wish my brothers and friends in band and crew all the best for the future… This is NOT the end for me in metal and hopefully soon I can announce myself in another ambitious project. I have good people working with me and I have now officially signed up and put myself available as live/touring and studio/session bassist, so see you out there, anywhere, everywhere.” The band, which is currently tracking its fifth album, is seeking a replacement. Think you’re it? Email neurotic@ mnemic.com with your info.

METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC

Check out MTV’s Headbangers Ball tonight. They are premiering the brand new videos for both Buried In Verona and Parkway Drive.

Metal and comedy, two things I love very much. Steve Hughes is a master of both and if you haven’t heard Australia’s most underrated but most hilarious comedian, get along to the Factory Theatre between Wednesday 27 and Saturday 30 April as he has you in stitches while simultaneously realising the conspiracy theories are all true. Steve is Australia’s answer to Bill Hicks and the ex-drummer for Mortal Sin, Slaughterlord and Nazxul is certainly not related to that bloke who the majority of the country thinks is funny simply because he is on TV all the time and therefore must be funny – Dave Hughes. Perth’s Chaos Divine has released its newie, called The Human Connection, and it’s available via iTunes, online shops and JB Hi-Fi stores. Weird how only a few years ago ‘multi-format’ meant CD, LP and cassette… So to the holiday week ahead:

• 48 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

the upcoming A Day To Remember and Underoath tour, as well as the launch for Blackguard’s new album (fans of Bodom will love that one!) and somewhere between all of that, Floating Me will launch their new album too! Meanwhile, over at SFX, they will be holding a Playboy Party and are offering the first 500 people through the door a free moustache (no not a moustache ride you filthy people) and if you wear a bow tie you will get a $5 discount on the entry fee. Central Coast heavyweights Sparrows, featuring Scotte Woods of One Dollar Short on guitar, will be headlining the bill this week, with local support from Secrets In Scale, Thrashed and Starting Sunday. In between the bands, DJs Bzurk, Absynth, Markm, Citylightstam and guests will be playing the best party hits to keep you all happy.

So it is with much thanks to the planning Gods, and the God too I suppose, that Easter and Anzac Day have collided so spectacularly this year that we get a full week off from work. Well, most people do. I work from home so I don’t really care so much as the average Rat Racer. Do non-believers get to celebrate Easter though? All Pagans, Hindus, Muslims and others should be fronting up for work on Friday since nailing a guy to a cross is simply just a cool Slayer lyric rather than something of any significance to their spiritual side. Anyway, like most calendar events of the modern age, the Christians stole them from older religions so it’s all pretty much meaningless in that sense.

It’s great to see when determination pays off for local bands. Our Last Enemy’s debut album, Fallen Empires, hit the number one spot on the iTunes Metal Chart within 48 hours of being made available on there. It landed at #2 straight off the bat and then by lunchtime the same day it had managed to knock Between The Buried And Me off the top spot. If you love the band, and, obviously, lots of you do, be sure to check out the iTunes version of the rekkid as it has a bonus track called Crisis which is only available there. After a couple of dates in Victoria, the band will finish up its massive touring schedule with a Whiplash show at The Wall on Saturday 30 April.

www.utopia.com.au

RESURRECTION SUNDAY

OUR LAST ENEMY THURSDAY

Melody Black’s Jono Devoy is back at the Sando this week for more acoustic goodness and making his solo debut will be Tomi Gray. It’s free and it’s from 8.30pm.

GOOD FRIDAY

Valve Bar has some hard rock going on from 5pm with Thundasteel laying down the law and support from Temtris, Hazmat and Terrorential. For a good old-fashioned rock’n’roll time, head to a place called Lily Rock at Sydney Casino where the Hell City Glamours will be partying with their friends Familia, Smitty & B.Goode and the very awesome Gay Paris. Apparently it’s the only place in Sydney you can drink after 10pm on Good Friday so you need to be there!

EVEN BETTER SATURDAY

Double trouble in the city tonight as the two biggest clubs, Venom and SFX, battle it out for your bourbonsoaked dollar. At the Agincourt Hotel, Venom has Oreana headlining the basement level with their official EP launch and joining them is Western Sydney up and comers Medicine For Robots and also Hearts Like Wolves! They are also hosting the official tour party for

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If your guilty conscious doesn’t see you in church, you can head up to Valve where from 3pm they are hosting a bit of metalcore for their patrons. Life Beyond, Villa Rise, Thoughts Under Fire, Absolution and City Of Ghosts will be all trying to deathstep holes in the floor. Later at the Factory, Denmark demons of rockabilly punk, HorrorPops, will be playing their first show here in five years! Encompassing everything from new wave, punk, surf, ska, rockabilly, metal and goth, the trio’s selfproduced, film-centric third album, Kiss Kiss Kill Kill, is an excellent example of a band not afraid to explore a wide array of styles.

LEST WE FORGET MONDAY

Anzac Day is the one day of the whole lot here that everyone should pay respect to. The others are up for individual preference but we may not be enjoying such freedoms as listening to really fucking loud music and wearing some of the shit we wear if it wasn’t for them. As the sun goes down… The one gig of the day, that I was notified of at least, is the Monsters Of Rock mega show happening at Notes. It will feature a shitload of spandex, hairspray and innuendo, plus a few bands! Virginia Killstyxx, Nobody’s Fool, Devine Electric and the awesome KISS tribute band Gods Of Thunder will all be present and accounted for and ready to rock. If you are too, then be there from 7pm with at least $15. heavy@drummedia.com.au

PUNK AND HARDCORE WITH SARAH PETCHELL say much about it at the moment. Weâ€™re focusing on bringing the new guys up to speed at the moment. Going to start writing in June.â€? The bandâ€™s last release was the brilliant Controller in 2008.

So this is Easter weekend. Please donâ€™t die from gorging on chocolate eggs and chocolate rabbits this weekend, as heading into May there are so many amazing gigs coming up that it would be an absolute shame to miss out on them.

So there have been even more additions to the Soundwave Revolution lineup over the last week, with some really awesome bands added to the bill. These include Unearth, Times Of Grace (thatâ€™s the project of Adam D from Killswitch Engage and Jesse Leach formerly of Killswitch Engage), Funeral For A Friend and D.R.U.G.S. (Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows, a band that features members of Chiodos, Matchbook Romance, Underminded, From First To Last and Story Of The Year). It has also been announced that there will be no sideshows for Soundwave Revolution, so it looks like the only way that youâ€™re going to be able to check out the amazing bands that are on this bill is by heading along to what Iâ€™m presuming is the festival (or whatever else it may be).

One of these shows is, of course, the Destroy Music show that is happening late May, featuring The Amity Affliction, a reformed I Killed The Prom Queen, Deez Nuts and Of Mice & Men. If you missed all the memos telling you how limited the tickets for this show actually were, I can tell you now that the show on Thursday 26 May at the UNSW Roundhouse has sold out. But never fear, a second and final Sydney show has been announced and with tickets now on sale, you need to get in immediately to make sure you donâ€™t miss out. The new show will also be at the UNSW Roundhouse, on Friday 27. Tickets are available through Ticketek. There is only one word for The Get Up Kids and that is AMAZING! So the announcement that theyâ€™re touring in August is one that had me really, really excited! They really are one of punkâ€™s most loved bands, with their endearing hooks and feverish intensity. Tickets are on sale now and available through Ticketek for the show that will be happening at The Metro on Saturday 6 August. Get in quick, because Iâ€™m not sure how long these tickets will be around. Their most recent effort since their return to the punk-leaning world in November 2008 is the studding (!) There Are Rules, which is out now and is definitely worth picking up. The Wonder Years are on tour with Parkway Drive, Bleeding Through, You Me At Six and Confession this May as a part of the Mix n Mash Tour. It was announced last week that their new album, Suburbia Iâ€™ve Given You All And Now Iâ€™m Nothing, will be released on June 17 through Hopeless Records/Shock. This album made the most anticipated albums of 2011 lists for quite a few punk publications and considering that is was produced by Steve Evetts (The Dillinger Escape Plan, Every Time I Die), it can only be assumed that this album will be as good as the band creating it. Perhaps The Wonder Years will even play songs from it during their sets while on tour with Parkway. You can catch them on Friday 20 at the Hordern Pavilion, Saturday 21 at Newcastle Panthers and Sunday 22 at WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong. It looks like three bands are going to be wreaking havoc up and down the East Coast this May and June as a part

Onto this weekâ€™s gig update. The coming of Easter has meant that there is a whole bunch of shows happening this weekend, so it looks like itâ€™s going to be a busy one for all sorts of music fans.

GET UP KIDS of the East Coast Carnage Tour. Adelaideâ€™s Abandon All Hope, Melbourneâ€™s Trainwreck and Sydneyâ€™s Endless Heights are set to hit the road for a seven-date sprint in anticipation of the release of Abandon All Hopeâ€™s second effort, Prowler, this winter. You can catch the tour when it hits town for an all ages show in Sydney on Sunday 29 May at the Masonic Hall in Blacktown. Karl Schubach, vocalist for the Wisconsin-based Misery Signals, lifted the lid recently on the bandâ€™s plans for their upcoming fourth studio album, stating that they will begin writing for it by the middle of the year. This is despite the bandâ€™s recent inactivity given the departure of guitarist Stu Ross and bassist Kyle Johnson last year. Karl wrote on his Twitter page, through various Twitter posts: â€œMS is writing new material in June/ July. Solace record will be finished mixing by the end of the month. Hang tight! Weâ€™re back to full strength. An official announcement should be coming shortly. Canâ€™t

Firstly, Emery takes on the Annandale Hotel on Thursday for their first ever headlining tour. Tickets should still be available through the Annandale website. On Saturday, Oh Sleeper, The Chariot, I Am Villain and City In Crisis play The Gaelic in Sydney. Tickets are still available for this show as well. Iâ€™m really excited about seeing The Chariot at this show, as it will be their first time ever in Australia. If you havenâ€™t checked out their ridiculous fourth album, Long Live, I suggest that you do now in order to prepare yourself for this show. Then on Sunday, HorrorPops take on the Factory Theatre while The Chariot heads up to the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle. And finally a bunch of amazing releases came out last week including Jen Buxtonâ€™s Donâ€™t Change Your Plans, No Devolucion by Thursday (which is an incredible step forward for these guys) and the debut from Californiaâ€™s letlive. called Fake History. Iâ€™ve mentioned these guys before, but if you can imagine a mix of Glassjaw, Deftones and Refused, thatâ€™s a little bit what these guys sound like.

EMERY

EMERYâ€™S FIRST BIG SHOW Southern Carolina rockers Emery pull into the Annandale Hotel this Thursday for their first ever headline show in Sydney. Drum caught up with frontman Toby Morrell.

This is your first headlining tour in Australia. What can audiences expect from an full-length Emery show? We are going to be playing lots of old songs, lots of new songs, and we will be going nuts on stage! What was your approach going in to record We Do What We Want? We wanted to write the heaviest record that Emery had ever done. We wanted to push our limits and see how far we could go. This record is like no other Emery record, but still is everything that Emery is and does well. Whatâ€™s the significance of the title? We have been a band for a while and we know what we want and where we are headed. Also, the lyrical theme of this record deals with people claiming to know what is right and then doing the opposite. There seems to be a whole religion these days of people proclaiming truth to everyone and yet their private lives are the exact opposite, and that starts with Emery as well. Was the shift to a heavier sound on this album intentional? Yes, definitely. We wanted to be as hardcore as we could. There have been some rumours of an acoustic album later in the year. Is there any truth to these? Yes, we have half the record done and as soon as we can get back to the studio and figure out a release with a label we will get it out there.

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 â€˘ 49 â€˘

HIP HOP WITH VIKTOR KRUM Finding the money to record an album can be near impossible and is enough to quell any hopes of creativity for the weak willed. Not Kim Boekbinder though. She was so determined to see her debut album The Impossible Girl realised that she took on a huge pre-order fundraising campaign that helped her reach her target of $20,000. With the album now complete, Boekbinder spreads the word with her energetic live shows. She plays an all ages show at The Red Rattler in Marrickville on Thursday night with Brendan Maclean and Helen Perris in support. Tickets are $15.

Making fun of publicists is like shooting fish in a barrel. It really is. This ridiculous (though – arguably – necessary) industry of people paid to praise their clients and send out press releases continues to churn out the lulz. It’s not an easy job, though. Surely you can’t like all of your clients that much, Mr PR? Can you? The way I see it if you’re paid to like something you have two options: abandon all self-respect and self-worth you once had and be the depressing, irritating guy/gal at the party; or – much more attractive – convince yourself that what you’re saying is true. Tell yourself you like what you’re selling until the half-truth becomes dogma. It’s no easy trick to pull, though. That’s why you pay your PR people well (it’s also why there’s a market for cocaine in this city). Also, sometimes PR people look foolish. So... It’s a tough job. You don’t want to do it. Too much self-respect. I can’t do it. Don’t have the connections. They’re occasionally a lovable lot, though, and I’m not above sending a little sympathy their way. <3’s to you, publicists, for one day the world will be yours. I said sympathy and I stand by that so I’m not going to share with you the first line of a follow up email about the Come Together festival that we received a few days ago. I’ll just say that there is now a competition allowing you to perform at Come Together. You’ll be on the same bill as Drapht, Urthboy, Mantra and a bunch of others. Head to triplejunearthed.com to enter. Go for it and you could “light the mic up like Jay Z.” (Sorry publicists! That quote was too odd to pass up. Who talks like that, anyway? Go have some more cocaine.) That said, budding publicists could do a lot worse than whoever puts the work in at Broken Tooth Entertainment. The recent promo for Ciecmate’s new album Game Over is as neat as the release is highly anticipated. You see, Ciecmate is someone you should have on your listening CV. He should be there alongside all that interesting new stuff your friend blogs about and those classics that you chuck on when there’s nothing new to listen to and you need to delve into things a little deeper. Ciecmate has been a around a while, has made some great beats, has rapped his arse off (no Trials) and is now at the peak of his powers. If you haven’t checked for him before, the time’s arrived. If you have, welcome back. Purpose is your older brother’s favorite Australian battle rapper. Your brother remembers him from when

ALL AGES WITH DAVE DRAYTON

As if to prove the popularity of the acts signed up for the Destroy Music Tour, which comes to town late May, the Sydney show on Thursday 26 at UNSW Roundhouse sold out over a fortnight ago. Don’t sweat it though, the organisers have taken notice and have since added a second Sydney show on Friday 27 at the same venue. If you want to catch The Amity Affliction, the new look I Killed The Prom Queen, Deez Nuts and Of Mice & Men then get to the Ticketek website as fast as humanly possible; the tickets went on sale on Friday and if the other shows are any indication (Melbourne sold out in just five hours!) they won’t last long.

CIECMATE he beat Sydney’s Rapaport to win Revolver at age 12 (or thereabouts). He remembers the Purpose freebies he’s downloaded over the years. He secretly thinks Purp may be the man best placed to take us forward into The World Without Labels. He’s mostly right, of course. Purpose is great. His new mixtape If The City Had A Voice 2 is up for you to download now. Get it, and go tell your brother about it. I tend to know something’s awesome when I don’t know half the artists on bill but the artists I do know are wonderful. It tends to mean that a good, educative night is imminent. On Saturday 7 May head to the Gladstone Hotel and check out some familiar, talented faces like That’s Them, Swarmy, Kerser, Max Gosford and Sky High. Go there and you’ll also get a chance to answer my questions about the identities of Filth Collins, Preacha, Geeflux, Skallion and others. The acts I do know on the bill are all - without exception – grime nerds. So, putting two and two together, I think we have an amazing grime night on our hands. Surely cause for celebration! Brap! (Is that how you say it, grime nerds?) getittogether@drummedia.com.au

For the aspiring classical musicians amongst you, the time has come to pick up your oboe/viola/timpani and get practising. The Australian Youth Orchestra launches applications for its 2012 ensemble on Monday 16 May. Anyone between the ages of 12-30 can apply for a position in this incredibly prestigious ensemble where they will be given the opportunity to work with some of the world’s leading conductors, tutors, industry professionals and musicians. Late last year, American indie rockers As Tall As Lions announced they would be calling it a day, but not with out one final visit to Australia. Joined by Central Coast act Elliot The Bull, who have just released their debut EP, The Sound Of Animals Touring NSW leg kicks off this week with a show at The Wall on Sunday, then on Tuesday 26 April there’s another AA show at Oasis Youth Centre and a final AA show for the Canberrans at the Tuggeranong Alliance Church next Friday 29. The Classic Crime and Chemical Transport tour that has been making its way around the East Coast has yet another all ages show booked in for Monday on the long weekend. It’s an arvo show at Switch Skate Park Port

POP CULTURE THERAPY WITH ADAM CURLEY There are moments when you find yourself reassessing your life. Such as when you find yourself watching four small children pursue four terrified chickens around an arena as 1,000 people cheer and stamp their collective feet.

TB: Yo, Romy. So I was listening to SWV tonight and thinking of you over there in the US touring with MEN, and how, separately, you’re each known for being strong, intelligent and motivated ‘sisters with voices’, yet (of course, because those facts don’t make you the same) your music comes from relatively different places: yours from the ‘personal’ and theirs often from the ‘political’. And I thought, considering women musicians touring together is still fairly uncommon, particularly women in dance- and rap-related genres, it would be great to get an insight into what the tour’s been like for The Breakdown.

Welcome to the world of Dolly Parton’s Dixie Stampede. NY Conversation has managed to cultivate a sideline in travel writing, and while said sideline hasn’t exactly financed down payments on the Ferrari just yet, it has provided the opportunity to travel to fascinating destinations. Like Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, home of the Stampede.

R: Sounds good. You want me to start from here? The tour has been tiring, exciting, fun… all these things and more. You get into a certain rhythm of being. It helps, being on the road, with an amazing, like minded group of people who are so accommodating and sweet… The response has been wow. We’re mainly playing to gay audiences. Some of the best shows have been in little towns like El Paso, Texas. We literally play a show, hang out, watch MEN play, pack up, leave the venue, drive to a motel a couple of hours out of town, get to bed at 3ish, wake up, drive about six hours to the next venue, get there, load in, sound check, get dinner, play the show, coda, repeat.... You feel like a robot. But I love this and this is what I want to be doing. TB: Yeah, it’s funny: as an ‘audience member’ you often hear about the repetition of touring but it’s difficult to comprehend when all you see is the hour of performance – and sometimes you think, “I bet you’re not REALLY excited to be here in El Paso, Texas!” What kind of impact does it have for you on the songs/ messages/feelings about being on stage? Also, do you mean that a tour of gay women feels like it has a large impact in the smaller towns? R: I feel like the songs come to life on stage. I am quite theatrical on stage, so I act out the songs in a way. Actually, I got a huge compliment the other night. A lady came up to me and said, “You know who you remind me of? MARIA CALLAS”!!! You do have to remember that the • 50 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

crowd doesn’t know what your day’s been like or what you’re going through off stage when you get on stage. In a way it’s good to separate that and try ‘perform’, but I’ve tried that and it doesn’t work. Performance is real to me. Who I am on stage threads in with who I am off stage. Right now, I am interested in and coming to understand identity on many levels. Being on tour with MEN has also made me miss incorporating politics into my work. But I guess, right now, I am interested in the politics of self. I feel like playing to small cities, regardless of sexuality, is special… I am amazed by people who have chosen to stay in their small city rather than move to a big one, and who try to make a difference there. It’s a lot harder work. It should be commended. TB: In what way does the audience response change how you view or connect with your own songs, then? R: I definitely feed off a crowd. There is an exchange of energy in performance. Your kinetic movement gets absorbed by them, which creates a response which I then feed off. It becomes a loop, in a way. Music is a conversation, for sure, an exchange of self. Performance has always been cathartic for me; it’s a release, a shedding of self. It transports me into the past. When I’m on stage performing a certain song, it can take me back to the place I was, in my head, and physically, when I wrote the song, when I was experiencing what I would then go and write the song about. There is an unconscious power at work for sure. It’s hard to explain. That’s why sometimes, on stage, I feel naked and exposed. I can feel powerful or powerless too. breakdown@drummedia.com.au

Macquarie, that kicks off at 4pm. Currently doing the rounds with Texans Oh Sleeper on the No Surrender Tour, American mathcore band The Chariot stops into CWA Hall, Orange for an all ages sideshow that is sure to be massive! The reliable Black Wire Records also has a couple of AA shows lined up with Bits Of Shit (VIC), Unity Floors, Never Right and Meat Thump on Friday and Reunion Sacred Ibis (QLD), Teenax and more playing on Saturday night. As a reminder, the enormous Disturbed tour is in Sydney on Monday night at Acer Arena. This is a huge line up for fans of metal with Trivium, As I Lay Dying and locals Forgiven Rival joining the genre heavyweights as they continue to pummel ears with their latest album Asylum. And lastly, something for the diary: Strike Hard Bookings announced the East Coast Carnage tour late last week. On board are Abandon All Hope, from Adelaide, alongside Melbournites Trainwreck and locals Endless Heights. All three are up and comers playing some tight metallic hardcore. The all ages shows are at Flynns Surf Club, Port Macquarie on Saturday 28 May and Masonic Hall, Blacktown on Sunday 29. allages@drummedia.com.au

TALES FROM THE BIG APPLE WITH TOM HAWKING

The following is an edited email exchange between The Breakdown and Melbourne alt.pop-house songstress Romy, who’s just finished up a tour in the US with MEN, the new band of Le Tigre’s JD Samson and Johanna Fateman.

ROMY

AS TALL AS LIONS

In terms of sheer cultural strangeness, the Stampede is hard to beat. Who’d ever have thought a hokey retelling of Civil War history – featuring horse-riding stunts, “indoor pyrotechnics” and a gargantuan meal for every attendee – would pack out a 1,000-seat arena every night for 24 years? The arena is housed in a large building that looks like a super-sized theme restaurant. When you first enter, you’re ushered into a well-lit hall where everyone is sitting at long tables, watching a bluegrass band play novelty covers like YMCA and Smoke On The Water. Waitresses are happy to serve you soft drinks (no booze here) in a “FREE Souvenir Boot Mug”!

spirit. The Native Americans are not heard from again. Meanwhile, harsh reality for vegetarians intrudes in the form of the menu. Or, more accurately, the lack thereof – there’s only one “supper” to be had here, and it’s Dolly’s famous rotisserie chicken. Everyone gets one each. One. Entire. Chicken. Plus baked potato, vegetable soup, corn, a home-made biscuit and some pork. The website does make vague allusions to a vegetarian option if you phone in advance. No one seems to have done so. As the horses go round and feet are stamped, NY Conversation starts counting. There’s about 12 people per row between each aisle, by five rows, by eight aisles… That’s about 480 people on each side of the arena. Which means about 960 people in total, plus a few at the back… Say 1,000 all up. So according to such rough estimates, about 8,760,000 chickens have been basted with Dolly’s special seasoning and roasted over the course of the Dixie Stampede’s lifetime. And this is one of three venues. And sometimes they do several shows a night. I start to feel slightly ill.

Once the band finishes you migrate into the main arena, divided along some imaginary Mason-Dixon line that bisects the arena into either North or South, and are encouraged to boo at your new enemies on the other side of the sandy performance area. Then the lights dim and a rough history of the Civil War starts to unfold, accompanied by stunts featuring animals and riders dressed in mock military uniforms.

Back in the arena, it’s audience participation time. And so we arrive at the chicken race, where four children are encouraged to chase their assigned chicken to the other end of the arena. What it must be like to be one of those chickens – pursued by something several orders of magnitude larger than you around an unfamiliar environment that smells like the roasted remains of a thousand of your own species – doesn’t really bear thinking about. But it appears that NY Conversation is the only one doing any such thinking. Everyone else cheers raucously. The chickens are followed by a pig race, more horse-related stunts and then a final points tally. Tonight, the North wins. Yay! The slaves are freed!

The stunts are undeniably impressive – one girl manages to ride two horses simultaneously, one foot on each saddle, smiling happily at the crowd as both horses fly at breakneck pace around the arena. The history is less palatable – slavery isn’t mentioned at all, an omission that would be more surprising if you hadn’t noticed that the audience here is 99.9% white. Native Americans are dealt with via a strange dance scene, which features day-glo paint and a woman dressed as a bird, before “harsh reality intrudes” and the first white settlers arrive, looking merry and full of pioneering

Finally, there’s an appearance by Dolly herself – on video. On a giant screen, Video Dolly explains that the lesson the Civil War taught her is that there are no borders, no North and South – because we’re all of us… Human beings? Born equal? No! American! As Video Dolly breaks into Color Me Red, White And Blue, proclaiming the virtues of a country that stands for freedom and justice for everyone (except chickens), NY Conversation slips quietly toward the bathroom. Something – either the patriotism or the chicken – is making me feel a little queasy.

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LONG WINTER BLUES AND ROOTS WITH DAN CONDON For the 21st instalment of the Darling Harbour Jazz & Blues Festival, the organisers wanted to make sure they had yet another stellar bill assembled and I’m pleased to say that once again they have come to the table with a diverse range of jazz and blues action that will excite a whole bunch of music lovers in this city. Ron Carter Trio, Tuba Skinny, Topsy Chapman, Sirens Big Band, James Morrison, Emma Pask, Tina Harrod, Topology, Misinterprotato, Jeff Duff & The Prophets, the catholics, Ten Part Invention, Katie Noonan, George Golla, Vince Jones, Mike Bukovsky’s Wanderlust, Monica Trapaga, Carl Riseley, Jeff Duff, Topsy Chapman, Simon Bartlett, Ed Wilson, Frank Bennett & Evelyn Duprai, John Morrison Big Band, Kurt Rosenwinkel Standards Trio, Buddy Knox Blues Band, Mojo Juju, Electric Empire, Dereb The Ambassador and Jim Penell Duo are the artists who make up this year’s program over a series of events that happen in and around the Darling Harbour area from Friday 10 through to Monday 13 June. The team at the Gum Ball Festival are there for you to make sure that you get the most out of this glorious time of the year with a killer bill of blues and roots music. KORA, CW Stoneking & His Primitive Horn Orchestra, The Vasco Era, The Bamboos, Space Invadas, Resin Dogs, Custom Kings, Chase The Sun, Bonjah, Ngariki, Lanie Lane, Claude Hay, Eagle & The Worm, Papa Vs Pretty, The Wildes, Dirty York, Cheap Fakes and Zoe K will all line up at the Dashville, which is in Belford two-and-a-half hours north of Sydney

the city of Sydney is positively packed with sideshows over the next couple of weeks, so you will be able to catch many of the incredible artists on the bill without straying too far. Here are a few sideshows happening this week.

TUESDAY

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue, Fishbone – The Metro

WEDNESDAY

Funky Meters – The Metro

JAMES MORRISON

Michelle Shocked – Lizotte’s Newcastle

in the Hunter Valley on Friday 29 and Saturday 30 April. Tickets are available from OzTix and thegumball.com.au for just $130 which includes camping! Frank Macias cut his teeth in the Texas blues scene years ago but these days he calls Sydney home, not that that has meant he has toned down his passion for the blues. Currently in rehearsal for his upcoming gigs in support of Phil Jones & The Unknown Blues, Macais’ current pet project is the Underground City Blues Jam, which he hosts every second Sunday at the Manhattan Lounge. The inner-city venue has been set up perfectly for a high calibre blues jam, with a PA, drum kit, bass rig and even a baby grand piano! The next of these is on Sunday, followed by one of Sunday 8 May. There’s no cover charge so get along whether you feel like playing or just checking out some great local talent. Okay people, it is Bluesfest week. Luckily for those not fortunate enough to be making the trip up to Tyagarah,

THURSDAY

Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band, Robert Randolph & The Family Band – Enmore Theatre Irma Thomas – Factory Theatre

FRIDAY

Leon Russell, Little Feat – State Theatre

SATURDAY

Buffy Sainte-Marie, Michelle Shocked, Kev Carmody – State Theatre Warren Haynes, Joe Louis Walker – Factory Theatre

SUNDAY

George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic – The Metro

MONDAY

Blind Boys Of Alabama – Opera House rootsdown@drummedia.com.au

London-based folk singer Bobby Long is performing at Bluesfest Drum caught up with him before his sideshows on Thursday at Lizotte’s Kincumber and Wednesday 27 April at The Vanguard.

This is your first album following a series of EPs. How did your creative process differ for a commercially released full-length? This was my first one where it was through a record label and actually released, so it was much more of a bigger deal and much more thought out and obviously I was recording with a band and with a producer. Your music appeared in Twilight, gaining you much more mainstream exposure. How has this affected you and the music you write? A friend of mine [Robert Pattinson] liked the song that was written and decided he wanted to perform it and record it and he did and he did a great job and it got put in this film and I was merely a writer… It was a foot in the door for me and I’m thankful, but I never ever play that song, ever. Your record is called A Winter Tale. It’s getting colder here in Australia. Do you have any tips on how to survive the frosty season? I’ve never lived in a place with a lot of sunshine! I’ve always felt the most important thing for me, writing and stuff, is just changing environments, whether that’s from being on tour or being in different places, and the seasons bring that element of change on a fairly kind of monthly basis. It’s funny, in winter you crave spring, in summer you crave autumn, and I like that – it’s just exciting. I don’t know what I would do if it was completely sunny all the time or completely winter all the time – it would probably drive me insane.

BEST OF BRAZIL JAZZ/WORLD WITH MICHAEL SMITH Anna Salleh’s Bossa Boots – Cru54 Bar, Surry Hills

Herbie Hancock & His Band have sold out their first Sydney Opera House Concert Hall performance Sunday 1 May but there are still some tickets available for their second, Monday 2. Keyboardist Greg Phillinganes has had to drop out of the tour and will not be replaced, but when you consider the band features James Genus on bass, Trevor Lawrence Jr on drums and vocalist Kristina Train, there’s more than enough firepower hitting the stage. Brazilian contemporary artist Fernanda Takai performs at an All For Japan benefit concert in the Playhouse Theatre, Canberra, tonight before taking to The Basement Circular Quay, on Wednesday, supported both nights by Bandaluzia’s Damian Wright. Part of the are proceeds going to the Red Cross.

THURSDAY

Gai Bryant Quintet – Colbourne Ave, Glebe Los Monos – 505 Jason Bruer Duo – MosCafé Anna Salleh’s Bossa Boots – Cru54 Bar

FRIDAY 22

HERBIE HANCOCK

Freefall Duo – Jazushi

Nicholas has joined the ABC Jazz team on digital radio in a two-hour program Fridays from 2pm, the first to be specifically commissioned for the channel.

Cameron Jones – Vivo Café, City

SATURDAY

Susan Gai Dowling – Jazushi

The Danny G Felix Project launches its Latin/jazzsoaked eponymous independent debut album at The Basement Circular Quay Thursday night, supported by The Leisure Bandits.

Both 505 and Sound Lounge will be closed over Easter.

Taking a night off from his other job while here in Australia – he’s mixing for Naturally Seven on their current tour – American James Caran performs at El Rocco Wednesday night. Opening the evening are Dave Anderson and Jasmine.

James Valentine Quartet + Brendan Gallagher – Golden Sheaf

Thursday night Camelot hosts one of Italy’s most celebrated combos, Ricardo Tessi & Banditaliana, drawing their inspiration for traditional Tuscan music and contemporary jazz.

Juliet Pang & Didi Mudigdo – Jazushi

MONDAY

Melburnian jazz writer and broadcaster Jessica

TUESDAY Kim Lawson Trio + Tim Rollinson Trio – 505

John Mackie & Yuki Kumagai – Well Connected Café, Glebe Paul Sun Trio – Larrikin’s Café, Walsh Bay

SUNDAY

John Harkin – Jazushi

Yuki Kumagai/John Mackie Jazz Band – Cronulla RSL

WEDNESDAY

The Swinging Blades – Marrickville Bowling Club

Carl Morgan Quintet – 505

The Unity Hall Jazz Band – Unity Hall Hotel, Balmain

John Hardaker Direction with Rebecca Barrett – Kudu Lounge

The Monday Night Jazz Orchestra – Bald Faced Stag blow@drummedia.com.au

ROCKABILLY/PSYCHOBILLY/ALT.COUNTRY WITH PEDRO MANOY One of the great joys of visiting New Orleans, pre Hurricane Katrina, was a night out at Irma Thomas’ own club and bar, The Lions Den. Situated adjacent to a bail bonds shop and right across from the New Orleans gaol, the tiny club was a long way from the tourist precinct of the French Quarter but packed with atmosphere and tradition. On arrival you were invited to help yourself to a generous serving of Irma’s red beans and rice before the show started in a room that seated no more than about 30 people. Irma and her band performed an entire set, playing all her hits, to an audience that often came from all over the world. Sadly when the hurricane hit in 2005, the club was all but destroyed and has yet to reopen as a live music venue. Irma, on the other hand, continues to perform at festivals throughout the world and the great news is that she will play in Australia for the very first time at both the Byron Bluesfest over the long weekend and the Factory Theatre in Sydney this Thursday. There are excellent reports from the recent Apollo Bar Festival about the performance of the Peter Rowan Bluegrass Band highlighted in this column last week, and fans will be delighted to learn that an extra show has been added to the band’s Sydney itinerary, tonight at the Cat & Fiddle in Balmain. It’s always great to see the music community rally to help somebody in need. Last month a fire destroyed the Tanja home of Rod and Myra Niemeier, a couple well known for their community service on the South Coast of NSW. Rod was particularly admired for his tireless

toured both the UK and Japan last year, the band is heading our way and you can catch them at a special evening instore at Mojo Music on Thursday 28 April.

TUESDAY

The rising star of the New Orleans music scene Trombone Shorty and his band Orleans Avenue plays The Metro along with LA’s Fishbone as part of a feast of Bluesfest sideshows.

Perth’s Rocket To Memphis has just released its third album, Jungle Juice, which was recorded in New York with Heavy Trash guru Matt Verta-Ray at the controls. Combining rockabilly, ‘60s garage, swamp and mambo, the band is renowned for its raw, jungle-like sound and the explosive vocals of singer Betty Bombshell. Having

Brazil is so big and culturally diverse that it is almost impossible to make music with only one influence. My Japanese background (third generation from my father’s side) is not that strong when it comes to music. I do love a Japanese band called Pizzicato Five, a great icon of the Shibuya-kei movement in the ‘90s. This particular band is a very strong influence to my band, Pato Fu.

What made you want to broach so many different genres in your music, and how do you pull them all together? I love pop music! We can get the best of pop in bossa nova, rock, electronica, samba... And I tried to represent my preferences as a listener of a wide range of Brazilian songs and also great international artists. My voice is the line that wraps all of them together along with some very special arrangements.

How do you plan to pay tribute to your idols – Chico Buarque, Zé Kéti, Roberto & Erasmo Carlos, James Taylor and Annie Lennox – at your show? By performing these songs from all over Brazil and also from some international pop background is to support the idea that music sounds better whenever it’s mixed up with different ingredients. We don’t need to be pure at all when it comes to music!

KIM’S MISSION IMPOSSIBLE Kim Boekbinder – who recently released her crowdfunded debut The Impossible Girl – spoke to Drum in the lead up to Thursday’s performance at The Red Rattler.

What’s the difference between writing songs for a solo act vs writing songs for a band? I’ve grown as a songwriter in the past two years since the band stopped playing... I’m really excited about what I play now, and I’m even more excited about what I’m going to write next.

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

Does that model for funding put pressure on in the studio? My producer, Sean Slade, was very conscious of the fan funding and he always wanted to make sure that the people who pre-ordered the album were going to be happy.

Adam Pringle Band plays the Opera Bar at Circular Quay from 8.30pm.

work as a volunteer MC at many of the East Coast’s major music festivals including Batemans Bay, Narooma and Thredbo. This coming Sunday, the blues and roots music community is getting together to stage the Burnin’ Down The House Blues Festival with artists such as Lloyd Speigel, Stevie Paige, Finn, Michelle Van der Meer, Ross Ward, Corey Legge, The Hawks and many more. The venue is the Tathra Hotel and this special Easter Sunday festival kicks off at 2pm with raffles, auctions and fun for all the family. All proceeds will go towards Rod and Myra rebuilding their lives.

How have your two distinctly different backgrounds (Brazil/Japan) influenced your music?

Fan-funding seems like risky business. Were you confident you’d get enough money to record? $20,000 seemed so daunting at first, but it’s what I needed and I just kept up my faith in my fans, and they in turn kept up their faith in me. It was a wonderfully positive feedback loop.

WEDNESDAY

ROCKET TO MEMPHIS

In the lead up to her performance tonight at the Playhouse Theatre and Wednesday at The Basement Circular Quay, Drum caught up with South American songstress and Pato Fu frontwoman Fernanda Takai.

It’s a difficult choice to make between Irma Thomas at the Factory and Derek Trucks & Susan Tedeschi Band with Robert Randolph & The Family Band at the Enmore Theatre. Leon Russell and Little Feat play the State Theatre.

SATURDAY

Warren Haynes Allstars, featuring Ruthie Foster and Joe Louis Walker Blues Band, plays the Factory.

SUNDAY

Lucy Desoto & The Handsome Devils play the Bald Faced Stag from 4.30pm. swampshack@drummedia.com.au

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Slade has produced some huge acts. Did you learn any tricks of the trade working with him? I’ve never worked with a producer before so it was a very different experience for me. Sean loves music and knows a lot about recording, different techniques and the history of it, how different instruments sound in a different context and how to make the most of what is available. I learned a lot about listening, about keeping recordings simple to let the song really breathe, and that good food is really important in the studio. THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 51 •

frontrow@drumperth.com.au

THIS WEEK IN TUESDAY 19

ARTS

Sydney Comedy Festival – shows today: Matt O’Kine: Being Black N Chicken N Shit, at Factory Theatre (7:30pm, until Saturday 23); Evin Donohue: International Homewrecker, at Corridor, Newtown (8:15pm, until Sunday 24); Glenn Wool: No Lands Man, at Factory Theatre (9pm, until Saturday 23); Gabriel Iglesias: The Fluffy Shop Tour (9:30pm, until Wednesday 20); Tommy Dassalo: Buckwild (9:30pm, until Saturday 23); Nina Conti: Talk To The Hand at Sydney Opera House (various times, until Sunday 1 May – no shows Friday 22 April and Tuesday 26). See sydneycomedyfest.com.au for more information.

THURSDAY 21 Sydney Comedy Festival – shows today: Lou Sanz: Please Don’t Use My Flanel For That: A Memoir, at Corridor, Newtown (7pm, until Sunday 24); Comedy Store Showcase at The Comedy Store (8:30pm, every Thursday to Saturday during the festival). Shows finishing today: Gigalees: Crazy Circus Show at Parade Studio, Parade Theatres (10:30am); Kids Comedy Showcase at Parade Studio, Parade Theatres (12pm). See sydneycomedyfest.com. au for more information.

FRIDAY 22 Silent Disco – Griffin Theatre Company’s second main stage production of the year, the world premiere of Lachlan Philpott’s 2009 Griffin Award-winning play. Synopsis: “In a world of absent mothers and missing fathers, Mrs Petchell battles to keep another year of students out of the ranks of the vanished. The Outsiders in on the syllabus again,

but instead of Socs and Greasers, this is the world of Speds and Bitches – fuelled by Red Bull and powered by iPods.” Co-produced with HotHouse Theatre and atyp. Preview tonight, 7pm. Previews until Tuesday 26. Opening night Thursday 28 April. SBW Stables Theatre until 4 June. Sydney Comedy Festival – shows today: Gabriel Iglesias: The Fluffy Shop Tour at Enmore Theatre (8pm). See sydneycomedyfest.com.au for more information.

SATURDAY 23 Sydney Comedy Festival – shows today: I Heart Bromance, at Factory Theatre (10:30pm, until Sunday 24); Daniel Sloss: My Generation, at Yalumba Wine Bar, Enmore Theatre (7:30pm). See sydneycomedyfest. com.au for more information.

MONDAY 25 Sydney Comedy Festival – shows today: Mikey Mileos: They’re Just Words, at Corridor, Newtown (6:15pm); Heath Franklin’s Chopper: The Second Annual Chopper Bonza You Bewdy G’Day Big F**Ken Anzac Day Show, at Metro Theatre (7pm); Daniel Moore: ADDHD (Attention Deficit Disorder, In High Definition), at Corridor, Newtown (7:15pm); Anil Desai: Hey, Impressions Guy, at Factory Theatre (7:30pm, until Wednesday 27); Make-A-Wish Charity Showcase at The Comedy Store (8:30pm); Stephen K Amos: The Best Medicine (8:45pm, and Tuesday 26, 8pm); Pedigree Syndicate, at Corridor, Newtown (9:30pm, until Saturday 30); Yo Mama Contest, at Factory Theatre (10:30pm). See sydneycomedyfest.com.au for more information.

ARCHIBALD PRIZE WINNER

MARGARET OLLEY PORTRAIT WINS ARCHIBALD The 2011 Archibald Prize has been won by Ben Quilty for his portrait of fellow painter Margaret Olley. “She’s such an inspiration,” Quilty told the Art Gallery of NSW. “She was a feminist ahead of her time. She’s vigorously passionate about social and political issues, as well as art, and is enormously compassionate. Margaret has such an infectious attitude to both life and death. Recently, I was amazed at how many new works she had on the go. She said to me, ‘I’m like an old tree dying and setting forth flowers

GABRIEL IGLESIAS

DANCE THEATRE BRIWYANT Bay 20 at CarriageWorks There’s a lot going on here: dance, sure, but also video projection, spoken word, theatrical scenes between the characters, a specifically commissioned score and transformation of a technique in painting to a mode of storytelling. And it’s not as though the dance isn’t absorbing: a mix of traditional Indigenous and contemporary styles, the five performers on the stage Van Hout’s made out of floor mats and playing cards and a couple of screens are animals one moment, hunters the next and painters the next after that. The performance moves through transformations of time, too, beginning with a Dreaming story of the marriage of the goannas and the ducks and their conflict over water sources, and fighting over the man who draws the outline getting • 52 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

Ozon (Swimming Pool). Yeah, heavy name-dropping, but there’s no denying that it appears Leigh has crafted a remarkable film and looks set for a very bright future indeed. Sleeping Beauty’s official synopsis: “Death-haunted, quietly reckless, Lucy is a young university student who takes a job as a Sleeping Beauty. In the Sleeping Beauty Chamber old men seek an erotic experience that requires Lucy’s absolute submission. This unsettling task starts to bleed into Lucy’s daily life and she develops an increasing need to know what happens to her when she is asleep.” Following its world premiere at Cannes the film will open nationally in Australia on 23 June through Transmission Films/Paramount. The second film is Ivan ‘Dreamland’ Sen’s Toomelah, which screens Un Certain Regard, a parallel programme to the Competition, dedicated to films expressing original ideas. Its synopsis: “The film is set entirely in the remote Indigenous community of Toomelah, located on the NSW, QLD border. It was created as a mission during the 1930s, bringing together Gamilaroi and Bigambal people from the surrounding area. The story centres on Daniel, a small ten year old boy who dreams of being a gangster. He is kicked out of school and befriends a local gang leader, until a rival gangster arrives back from jail to reclaim his turf. A showdown ensues and Daniel is caught in the middle, leaving him with a choice to make about his uncertain future.” Cannes runs Wednesday 11 May to Sunday 22. Head to festival-cannes.com for further information.

REVIEW all the credit for paintings in which a woman has made all the dots about an hour later into show time but thousands and thousands of years in the story. What links the vignettes together is the sense pervading them all of an essential conflict in human desires and of order in animality, of the order that belongs to the animal and the ancestral spirits but the work that’s required to come into contact with these. As a Wiradjuri woman who has danced in Indigenous and non-Indigenous works across Australia and overseas, Van Hout brings a passionate discipline and search for relevance and continuity into her choreography, and a close relationship with the performers (and between them) is evident in the piece alongside the density of its construction. Season finished BETHANY SMALL

as fast as it can, while it still can.’ I thought that was such a powerful metaphor.” Quilty’s was chosen over 797 other entries. Also announced were the winners of the Wynne and Sulman prizes, with Richard Goodwin’s Co-isolated slave winning the former and Peter Smeeth’s The artist’s fate, a particularly dark winner of the latter. All three are on diplay now as part of the Archibald, Wynne & Sulman Prizes 2011 exhibition at AGNSW, running until 26 June.

CANNES SELECTS TWO AUSTRALIAN FILMS Two Australian films have been officially selected to screen at

REVIEW

SUITE SYNERGY Lyric Theatre, Star City Renowned Australian choreographer Graeme Murphy has always been an innovator. The Sydney debut of his new company melded dance, live music and dazzling staging in a fusion of exciting ideas. Some set pieces worked better than others, but when every element clicked into place the result was nothing short of breathtaking. The company-danced pieces that closed the first half and then the show, Free Radicals and A Doll’s House Story, showed Mod Company at their best. Both pieces were a thrilling way to bring down the curtain on their halves. But in the first half in particular there were moments when the dancers looked nervous and a little unsteady on their feet, and several of the set pieces threatened to slow the momentum. But of the more intimate

works, Kalman Warhaft and Teagan Lowe performed a beautiful routine without losing contact with each other and musical director Michael Askill drummed an entire routine using the percussive instruments attached to Rhys Kosakowski’s body who, in turn, tap danced out his own beat. Eastern influences were apparent throughout. The Japanese-style drumming that propelled much of the music was a masterstroke. The percussive heavy, live music really enhanced the connection between dancer and soundtrack to the benefit of the audience. Suite Synergy is, without a doubt, a post-So You Think You Can Dance creation, relying a little too much on clowning and laughs to draw the novice dance viewer in, but there were still moments of brilliance for the audience members who were looking forward to a work that was more challenging. Season finished DANIELLE O’DONOHUE

the upcoming 64th Cannes Film Festival. Sleeping Beauty, the debut film from author Julia Leigh (The Hunter, 1999), has the honour of being screened in Competition alongside films from such auteurs as Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother), the Dardenne brothers (L’enfant), Terrence Malick (The Thin Red Line), Nanni Moretti (The Son’s Room), Paolo Sorrentino (Il Divo) and Lars von Trier (Dancer In The Dark). The film’s trailer is a masterful work in itself, stylistically and thematically drawing comparison to Stanley Kubrick (Eyes Wide Shut), Pier Paolo Pasolini (Salò), Catherine Breillat (Romance) and François

COMEDY

ACO, TAIKOZ AND SAWAI KOTO RAISE MONEY FOR JAPAN Members of the Australian Chamber Orchestra, TaikOz and Sawai Koto Ensemble are putting on a special concert to raise funds for the Red Cross Japan Earthquake and Tsunami relief. A Concert For Japan will be held at Verbrugghen Hall, Sydney Conservatorium of Music Wednesday 4 May, 8pm, and feature pieces by Sawai, Bach, Onikenbai, Brahms and more. Book tickets through cityrecitalhall.com.

REVIEW

DANIEL SLOSS: MY GENERATION Yalumba Wine Bar at Enmore Theatre Following up a show called Teenage Kicks with one called My Generation might seem like Daniel Sloss is making a bit of a point of the fact that he’s young. That does come up in jokes about how he can do some things (“Like jump!”) older comedians can’t but their brags about sleeping with women half their age don’t go so well when you’re 20, but more as a ‘this is something about me’ rather than the ‘this is the thing about me.’ It is about him, though: while he went for a fair bit of audience engagement and a bit of local colour in his hour-long set in the end, the show is very much about him. Him and his family, him and his girlfriend, him and his comparative dislike of music festivals.

It’s fairly old-school observational-style comedy with a lot of material coming from re-enactments of things he’s found funny and/or traumatic, and he’s a lively and endearing mimic whose affection for the subjects close to him – a precocious NASA employee/ mass murderer of a ten-yearold brother, a slow-moving grandmother, his mum and dad, the much-maligned girlfriend – is both evident and frequently attested to the point where you could develop a dangerous drinking game around how often he says “I love him/her to bits.” His themes are a bit broad-brush: men are like this! Women are like that! There’re lots of stabbings in Glasgow! But he’s quite charming, the kind of person you’d definitely want to have a drink with even though he’s get carded EVERYWHERE. Season finished BETHANY SMALL

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THE HAND THAT

MOCKS... FROM HATING PUPPETS TO VISITING THEIR GRAVES, VENTRILOQUEST AND COMEDIAN NINA CONTI TALKS TO DAVE DRAYTON.

When Nina Conti first answers the phone in her Melbourne hotel room she sounds slightly older than one would expect and more soft-spoken; perhaps doing the voice of Nana, one of the puppets she takes on stage with her. That is, of course, before I am informed that this is in fact Conti’s mother on the phone, Nana to the six-year-old and newborn son Conti has brought on tour. “I’m frightened of flying on my own now that I have children,” Conti admits later, now awake and assuring me that it was in fact her mum, before outlining her humorously selfish plans for a crash,

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the way I was talking to this thing – as if it had an intelligence and could reply – that amused me.” Her love of ventriloquism grew from there, nurtured by Campbell, who left much of his collection to Conti when he passed away. “Two of the puppets that are in the show are inherited from my teacher when he died. That’s weird, getting bereaved puppets arriving. And then they didn’t know who they had been and had to find out who they were going to be from now on.” Despite her early trepidation, Conti is now so committed to her craft that she recently found herself travelling to America with the orphaned puppets left to her in the will. Conti documented the trip, making a film about taking the puppets to a puppet mausoleum in Kentucky, USA, called Vent Haven. “It’s a very surreal and poignant place, slightly frightening. They just sit and looked skyward, silent forever more. They’ve got pictures of their masters on their laps, so you know who they came from.

“I think if we all go down together then that’s okay. It’s just if one of us does – that’s not good.” Along with her kids and mother, Conti has also brought the veritable family of puppets that she brings to life in her show over from her native UK. A few years ago, Conti never would have dreamed of being in this situation. Her unique comedy style is something she credits to esteemed British actor and director Ken Campbell, who bought her a teachyourself-ventriloquism kit when Conti was a “normal actress” at the

Royal Shakespeare Company. “It was a mischievous gift. He was a real maverick and he just sort of spied that I’d be good at that and bought me that, which is so weird because I didn’t even like ventriloquism and didn’t even know what it was really. “So I fooled around with it and filmed myself trying it out and when I watched this little film that I’d made it looked like there were two people in the room. I mean my lips were moving then – I wasn’t adept – but the beginnings were there, it didn’t look like I expected to. It was

REVIEW

“Some of them survived a shipwreck in the 1700s, because they bobbed to the top, they were more buoyant than the guys,” she adds with a laugh. What to expect then, if the next plane this worldtraversing comedic ventriloquist boards goes down as she so morbidly suggested in a jet-lagged haze before? There’ll be a “softlyspoken, passive aggressive owl”, a psychic Nanny and a potty-mouthed monkey bobbing on the surface, for once not interrupting Conti. WHAT: Nina Conti: Talk To The Hand WHERE & WHEN: The Playhouse, Sydney Opera House until 1 May

C U LT U R A L

CRINGE

WITH JAMELLE WELLS Following its acclaimed European tour of Spirit, Bangarra Dance Theatre returns home this month to develop Belong, which features two new works; ID by artistic director Stephen Page and About by choreographer Elma Kris. Belong has its world premiere in Brisbane in July, before moving to Sydney for a five-week season and a national tour. The two works trace Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and experiences. With ID, Page draws on his personal experience of observing contemporary Indigenous people living in big cities. A macabre portrait of celebrity chef Matt Moran smiling and holding a knife in a butcher’s shop has won the Packing Room Award in the Archibald Prize. It’s by his friend, Melbourne artist Vincent Fantauzzo. The artist won the Archibald’s People’s Choice Prize in 2008 and 2009, for his portraits of actor Heath Ledger and actor Brandon Walters, who played the Aboriginal boy Nullah in Baz Luhrmann’s truly awful movie, Australia. Screen Australia is investing $2 million in nine new documentaries. They include Anatomy Series 3, which will explore art, sex and the body, and Running To America, which follows four Indigenous Australians competing in the famous New York Marathon. Another documentary to get some of the funding is Jack The Ripper: Prime Suspect, which looks at how modern science might finally hold the key to cracking the case of the most infamous serial killer in history.

GUY DAVIS GEEKS OUT WITH BRITISH ACTORS SIMON PEGG AND NICK FROST, WHO ARE TOGETHER AGAIN IN THE SCI-FI ROAD TRIP COMEDY, PAUL.

A TOUCH OF

JUST GO WITH IT Someone really should tell Jennifer Aniston that quantity doesn’t equal quality. It’s hard to fathom why she feels the need to star in so many lame comedies. It can’t be the money, so maybe it’s simply insecurity that if she disappears from the screen for a few months, she might stop being offered the roles. Not that Just Go With It is so bad compared to some of the stuff she’s been in. Based on the actually funny 1969 movie, Cactus Flower (itself based on a play), the story’s humour has a single premise – lies. Adam Sandler plays plastic surgeon Danny, who devises an elaborate lie so he can be with the much younger girl of his dreams (Brooklyn Decker). His loyal assistant Katherine (Aniston)

agrees to pretend to be his future ex-wife and before you know it, she, her kids, Palmer, Danny and Danny’s cousin – who’s pretending to be Katherine’s future husband – are off to Hawaii for a holiday. There, the lies become more elaborate to keep covering up the original lie and you wonder if Danny has ever thought about how he’s going to come clean. Okay, there are a few chuckles and there’s no denying Aniston has always been great in comedic roles if they’re well written, but what Nicole Kidman is doing in the mix in a relatively small and thankless part is puzzling. Sandler is Sandler so you know what you’re paying for there. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now VICKI ENGLUND

(PEGG AND) FROST

Paul originated with screenwriters, stars and long-time chums Simon Pegg and Nick Frost taking the piss, really. Sitting in a soggy English backyard while rain delayed the filming of their much-loved zombie rom-com Shaun Of The Dead, the duo’s producer Nira Park suggested that next time they might want to come up with a story set in a location where the weather wouldn’t play havoc with the shooting schedule.

Quick as you like, Pegg reeled off a location (the desert), a storyline (two British guys find an alien and help him get home) and a central character (“Oh, and the alien’s name is Paul, because he’s so very normal,” smiles Pegg). Then he whipped up a quick sketch of said alien...flipping the bird, no less.

Seven years later, with Pegg and Frost’s other frequent collaborator, director Edgar Wright, off making Scott Pilgrim vs The World, the two lads decided to bring together a cast of geek-friendly icons (everyone from Arrested Development’s Jason Bateman to Alien’s Sigourney Weaver), a respected director (Greg Mottola of Superbad and Adventureland fame) and a CGI extra-terrestrial with the unmistakable voice of Seth Rogen to create Paul, a road-movie comedy that also serves as a tribute to the movies loved by Pegg and Frost. While Paul may at first glance seem like the kind of project just right for Wright, Pegg believes the movie is better suited to Mottola, whose career has combined low-key indie pictures and mainstream comedies.

“While Shaun Of The Dead was something Edgar and I developed together and Hot Fuzz was Edgar’s thing, where I came along for the ride, Paul was always mine and Nick’s thing,” says Pegg. “It was something Nick and I had together, away from Edgar. I don’t think his style really suited this film – we needed it to have a less fantastic, more laid-back style. If the film had been stylistically intricate, Paul himself would have looked less amazing. One of our pitches was [Mottola’s debut feature] ‘Daytrippers with an alien’. And then when we saw Superbad, it became a one-choice situation. He turned what could have been just a profane screwball comedy into something quite lovely by the restrained approach he took.” Pegg and Frost are known as quite the team, having collaborated on Spaced,

In case anyone cares, Sydney sisters Sammy and Bella Jakubiak have been named the winners of Seven’s My Kitchen Rules. They apparently cooked a five-course Mediterraneaninspired menu to beat Melbourne housemates Kane Lillywhite and Lee Chan. No doubt we’ll have to put up with them on radio and television morning programmes for the next year. The Jakubiaks tell us they gave up their jobs in fashion to take part in the competition. Actor Matthew Newton has had charges of breaching an AVO taken out by his ex-girlfriend Rachael Taylor dropped. Newton’s lawyer Chris Murphy has told a Sydney court his client has post-traumatic stress disorder, social phobia and has spent more than two months in a mental health clinic. He said Newton also has panic attacks and is manic-depressive. Magistrate Antony Townsden dismissed the charges after hearing Newton is being treated with “mind-affecting drugs”. Newton said nothing when addressed by the magistrate. His mother Patti was also in court. A Canadian filmmaker has been convicted of murdering a man in a scene matching the script of his own horror movie and committed in the same place the movie was shot. Mark Twitchell has been jailed for life for the 2008 stabbing death of Johnny Altinger, whose body was found in a sewer. Prosecutors said 31-year-old Twitchell posed as a woman on an internet dating site and tricked his victim into going to a rented garage outside of Edmonton. The filmmaker was apparently a fan of the serial killer television show, Dexter.

Shaun, Fuzz and the upcoming Peter Jackson-Steven Spielberg adaptation of Tintin as well as Paul, but they have also worked separately. One has to wonder if they ever surprise each other when they reunite after a long absence (it was three years between Hot Fuzz and Paul) and how their creative relationship develops as a result. “Part of the reason our friendship is so long-lived is that I am constantly surprised by Simon, even though I know every atom in his form,” says Frost. “There will always be something he does, even when it’s just us hanging out, that makes me go ‘Oh, that’s fucking great.’” Says Pegg, “I actually notice Nick more watching him in something like The Boat That Rocked than when we’re working together...” “That’s because you stifle me!” mockwails Frost. “When we’re acting together, we play off each other and our performances are dependant – we use the chemistry we have,” continues Pegg. “But I love watching Nick’s work as an audience member. I’m like his biggest fan. His work makes me laugh like I don’t know him but at the same time I’m really proud because I do know him.” “I think we’re quite aware as performers and writers that the ‘bromance’ shit is only going to last so long,” adds Frost. “And I think Paul is the starting point of us evolving towards what we’ll do for the next ten years, fifteen years or however long our working relationship goes on. We can’t be those characters forever. You have to evolve to survive or people will get bored. And I’d hate that to happen.” WHAT: Paul WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 53 •

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THE SOUND OF

SILENCE

DIRECTOR LEE LEWIS TELLS DAVE DRAYTON ABOUT PUTTING SYDNEY ON A STAGE FOR THE GRIFFIN THEATRE COMPANY PREMIERE OF SILENT DISCO.

Each year Griffin Theatre Company awards $10,000 and the accompanying prestige to â€˜an outstanding new Australian play or performance textâ€™. In 2009 Sydney playwright Lachlan Philpott received the accolade for Silent

Disco, a script that had already grabbed the attention of director Lee Lewis. Though, as she points out, interest doesnâ€™t always equate to involvement, there were moments where it looked as though she wouldnâ€™t get to stage it.

â€œIt sometimes does take quite a while to get a play to the stage â€“ I think I would have been quite happy to have the play go up last year but itâ€™s just the nature of programming in Sydney, there are not that many slots for new works in the city,â€? she explains.

SHORT MUSIC COURSES FOR ADULTS AT THE CON

â€œWe had already programmed 2010 by the time the Griffin Award was announced, which meant that we were looking at 2011 and then of course we had a change in artistic director and Lachlan and I went â€Õh well, you never knowâ€™ because often artistic directors come in and go, â€Õh no, I donâ€™t like that,â€™ which is fair enough. So there was a little bit of a question mark over [Silent Disco] for a little while and then Sam came in and said he loved the play and I breathed a huge sigh of relief and went â€Õh great!â€™ You fall in love with a play and if youâ€™re lucky enough you get to do it. Often you fall in love with a play along with 15 other people and they get to do it.â€? Philpottâ€™s unique voice and way with language was what won over judges â€“ they praised the scriptâ€™s â€˜incendiary language and defiant theatricalityâ€™ â€“ and Lewis alike. â€œI love the way Lachlan uses language in past and present and future tense and moves us around in a story, from something happening in the past to something happening right now. He moves the story around in a very fluid way, kind of like the story in front of you is an object you can pick up and turn around and look at from a lot of different angles. So he tries to do something very different with text to a very traditional linear narrative. Thereâ€™s still a very straightforward story that sits underneath it but the way he asks you to hear that story is very surprising. Because he grew up in the theatre he has a very robust working knowledge of whatâ€™s possible on stage and heâ€™s experimenting with that as opposed to being a younger writer trying to figure out how to write a play. He

knows how to write a conventional play, what heâ€™s trying to do is actually write something quite unseen. He is a great believer in stories still, which is a nice thing in a writer.â€? Lewisâ€™ attraction to the work is not entirely unsurprising; after years abroad studying and working in America, she has been steadfast in her vocal support of a truly local theatre culture since returning to her native Sydney. There is a respect and yearning for more work by Australian playwrights and Silent Disco delivers. â€œItâ€™s a real pleasure working on a local story. In Sydney itâ€™s kind of funny, weâ€™re supposed to be like this national city and international city, so we take on work from all over the place and different cities, and writers from different cities, and all that sort of stuff. Itâ€™s actually really nice to be working on a play that is just so unashamedly local,â€? she reiterates emphatically. â€œItâ€™s really about what it is to live in Sydney. And what sort of energy that takes and how a relationship to the city is actually â€“ unlike a relationship to Brisbane or a relationship to Melbourne or something like that â€“ itâ€™s a very particular thing. Itâ€™s so nice to be doing something so unashamedly Sydney.â€? So what is this illusive â€˜Sydneyâ€™, that which has earned enough lore to be spoken about as if in reverence and has seen a rising melancholic and romantic representation in the arts, thanks to the likes of writers Gail Jones and Delia Falconer. â€œGrowing up in Sydney â€“ it takes a certain amount of energy to walk out the door every day, youâ€™ve got to gear up. Twenty years ago that might not have been the case, but now youâ€™ve really

gotta get up and get yourself out the door and itâ€™s a little bit of a battle with public transport and with all of the things that we know are wrong with the city. But youâ€™re still here and you gotta get your shit together, really. And there is a lot of pressure to do that. â€œI think as a teenager in the city you are kind of aware that there is nowhere else to go from here. Itâ€™s not like you grew up in a little country town and you can run away to Sydney and spend a few years grappling with that. Youâ€™ve already hit the ground running, you know where everything is, you donâ€™t have any excuses. I find working here â€“ when Iâ€™m working on a play especially â€“ I look at the city and I look at theatre in Australia and I go, well you know what? It doesnâ€™t get any better than this. This is it. Thatâ€™s both challenging and exciting â€“ and a little bit frightening. But in Sydney you are in the middle of that.â€? â€˜Thatâ€™; Sydneyâ€™s pool of fresh talent, being well represented with a cast of young actors â€“ Silent Disco is a co-production with Australian Theatre For Young People and HotHouse Theatre â€“ that includes recent The Brothers Size star Meyne Wyatt alongside Sophie Henser as the storyâ€™s central teenage lovers. They represent the youth of Sydney today says Lewis. â€œTheyâ€™re city literate, theyâ€™re theatre literate, theyâ€™re being pushed by their schools in good ways. I find them quite amazing, really urban and competent.â€? WHAT: Silent Disco WHERE & WHEN: SBW Stables Theatre Friday 22 April to Saturday 4 June

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AS YOU LIKE IT,

REVISITED BETHANY SMALL TALKS TO KATE GAUL, DIRECTOR OF SIREN THEATRE CO.’S INVENTIVE PRODUCTION OF SHAKESPEARE’S AS YOU LIKE IT.

A Shakespeare play with gender confusion and young couples who end up happy and quasi-historical locations? Yes, As You Like It is one of those, and it has copped a bit of a bad rap in a lot of Shakespeare criticism, with lots of claims along the lines of the title being his way of saying that he’s just going along with what people want on this one. But it has its defenders, too, and Kate Gaul is strongly on the side of these, agreeing with the ‘but it’s a lot of fun’ argument that people who heard that thing about Shakespeare being

popular in Elizabethan times always bring out, but also approaching As You Like It as “the most metatheatrical of Shakespeare’s plays,” by design of the author. “Yes, it’s set in a ‘magical forest’,” she says, “but that represents a whole level of deliberate artifice; it’s echoed in the ways the characters switch identities and the fact that they all leave it in the end…” Which they all do, all except a nobleman called Jacques, who is usually prefaced by the adjective ‘melancholy’ and is as good an

indictment as any of complete dedication to imagination and contemplation. He’s the overt philosopher of the play, but his dogma doesn’t really hold as the lovers and even the politicians get their acts together and get moral resolutions throughout the course of the play. All the characters have done something wrong, and they learn their lesson in the Forest of Arden and wind up happy in what is admittedly a fairly close to mechanical plot, which Gaul sees as “very deliberate… It points to the

purposes of what we imagine and is constantly aware that it is theatre.” Her idea of why the plot’s so smooth aside, it’s actually hard to imagine any element of a play under Gaul’s direction (and production, actually: it isn’t just the actors playing multiple parts here) getting away from her. Towards the putting on the show end of a production a lot of directors get a bit nervy, but Gaul, who is also the producer, has a no-nonsense calm that bespeaks a great deal of preparation both for this play and leading up to it. Years as the artistic director of Siren Theatre and two Shakespeare plays (Twelfth Night and Richard III) with the company and they’ve pretty clearly found some kind of a comfort zone with each other, although the kind that makes for experiment rather than settling down. “I wanted to really bring back the magic,” Gaul says of this once popular but currently a little unfashionable play in her deep and slightly amused tone, and one of the ways she’s done that is very literal: “There’s a deus ex machina in the play, basically the definition of one. It’s the God of Marriage, Hymen, and he just literally comes in and fixes everything up and all the characters are all okay – and a lot of productions have made that character into a human, said, ‘Oh, it’s better not to have the gods and magic,’ but, I really want that magic, the self-awareness of that. Oh, and I’ve made the god into a woman.” WHAT: As You Like It WHERE & WHEN: Bay 20 at CarriageWorks Friday 22 April to Saturday 7 May

FILM

REVIEW

SCREAM 4 It’s been 11 years since everyone instantly forgot the third instalment in the largely annoying meta-horror Scream series. But now, Wes Craven and co. are bringing that shit back to you! Yes, you, Generation Facebook-YouTube-Skype-Twitter#rebeccablack-#charliesheen! You, tech-obsessed, self-obsessed, self-recording, celeb-mongering whores! But mostly, Scream 4 has the self-cannibalising state of recent horror cinema in its crosshairs: a well-deserved target, which the film misses by being as equally feeble and tired. After a cute film-within-a-film-withina-film intro, in which stock characters complain about various horror movie clichés – including those of the Scream series, wink wink – we’re introduced to the old players and some newbies. Neve Campbell continues to perpetually squint in disbelief at the news of another series of murders among her small town of Woodsboro and the ensuing

media shitstorm. David Arquette and Courtney Cox also dutifully reprise their roles, as cop and star reporter respectively. Elsewhere, a fresh new batch of teens await their fates and keep in step with the shifting conventions of the genre (‘the unexpected is the new cliché’, etc.) in an effort to stay alive. Scream 4, more so than its predecessors, is a film for those who have discovered the term ‘postmodern’ for the first time and feel a buzz of intellect upon seeing the concept in practice. There are some witty moments, but it is largely self-referential/reflexive/aware in the most thuddingly obvious and dull ways. When Community’s Alison Brie appears to steal her every scene, it invites an unflattering comparison to that brilliant TV series; a reminder that you can be ‘meta’ without being a twat about it. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now IAN BARR

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 55 •

frontrow@drumperth.com.au

I WAS A TEENAGE

GANGSTER

FILMMAKER ROWAN JOFFÉ TALKS TO IAN BARR ABOUT CONTEMPORISING THE MUCHLOVED BRITISH CLASSIC, BRIGHTON ROCK, WHICH STARS CONTROL’S SAM RILEY AS A YOUNG GANGSTER.

If not quite as perverse as, say, Aki Kaurismäki taking on Crime And Punishment as his debut feature, screenwriter and director Rowan Joffé (son of Roland, director of The Killing Fields and The Mission) was adamant he wanted to adapt Graham Greene’s beloved novel Brighton Rock for his big-screen debut. Joffé was well aware of the risk in adapting a novel of such clout, which has the additional baggage of a beloved 1947 film adaptation starring Richard Attenborough. “It’s a moronic choice as a directorial debut,” he plainly admits. “You’re inevitably going

FILM

to get a smack on the bum from critics who are absolutely determined not to like the film, whatever its merits are.” Regarding certain fuddy-duddies in the UK press, Joffé pulls no punches. “We were actually reviewed by a bloke in the Daily Telegraph who criticised the movie without ever having gone to see it. That’s the kind of hatred this kind of project can produce in critics, because they see the original movie as a piece of British cinema history, and they’re obviously very sceptical about my motives and my handling – and with all due respect to [critics], I spent three years of my life on this

movie, and I did it out of passion for Greene’s work.” It was that simple passion for the story that fuelled the project, rather than any attempt at postmodern revisionism. “I read the book for the first time in many years since I read it as a teenager at school – I fell in love with the characters of Pinkie and Rose. It occurred to me that the original movie, which was made in 1947, while cherished by my generation and older, younger generations probably never will, and I decided that the book was ripe for another adaptation.” Nonetheless, Joffé refused to be

slavishly faithful to the source and moved the action from the 1930s to the mods-and-rockers era of the ’60s for practical reasons. “We wanted to make the movie seem [as] contemporary as possible, but it doesn’t actually work as a contemporary story, because there’s a level of innocence required by the central character Rose, which doesn’t really exist sadly in today’s generation and the media being what it is”. The portrayal of Rose – played by up-and-comer Andrea Riseborough as a late replacement for Carey Mulligan (“unfortunately, she runs off to do Wall Street 2,” Joffé laments), was what the director identified as the 1947 film’s major shortcoming. “I think the original movie was made in a period when society’s view of women was pretty patronising, and I think that the Rose in the original movie is handled in a very demeaning and patronising fashion.” To Joffé, she was, “a heroine of almost saint-like and tragic proportions… That’s precisely why Greene, who was also a Catholic, was interested in her.” The most important piece of casting was for Pinkie, the menacing hoodlum who courts Rose to keep her from reporting a gang-related murder committed by him. Originally played by Richard Attenborough in the 1947 film, Joffé was dead-set on Sam Riley, best known for his uncanny take on Ian Curtis in Control. “There’s a lot of boyish English actors around, but they do not necessarily have that kind of old-fashioned, edgy, cinematic sexiness to them… and at the same time there’s a kind of vulnerability to Sam. And he’s got to be beautiful: he’s described in the book as a ‘Fallen Angel’”. Joffé jokingly adds, “and Richard Attenborough is many things, but I wouldn’t describe him as beautiful”. WHAT: Brighton Rock WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now

MADE YOU

LOOK

WITH BETHANY SMALL “Ai Weiwei will be judged by history, but he will pay a price for his special choice.” This is not a great thing to see published by the Chinese state-run Global Times newspaper after the said Ai Weiwei and his studio partner Wan Tao have been detained by Chinese authorities on 3 April and his whereabouts are still unknown. One gets the feeling that they’re not talking about the pressures of fame, like inane interviews and the probability that lots of art school kids will bug him about internships because he is “so totally famous and conceptual but also, like, socially responsible and really IN the world”. No, it seems more likely that the state is probably thinking something more along the lines of that time they shut down his blog and hit him in the head hard enough to cause an operation-requiring cerebral haemorrhage (2009), or when they put him under house arrest (2010), or when they demolished his studio (January this year). Yeah, he’s not their favourite person. He’s internationally respected, well-connected and certainly not shy in his research into an alleged corruption scandal to do with the construction of schools that would have been a contributing factor to the extent of the student casualties in the Sichuan earthquake disaster and his claims that the studio they said he didn’t have permission for and later demolished was actually commissioned by them and the pictures he’s put up as a critique of censorship. Naked iconic artist doing a star jump with a stuffed toy of a made-up animal

whose name just happens to be a homophone of an apparently particularly foul Chinese curse? Yup, he put that all over the internet. Anyhow that is totally a coincidence though, you guys! The Chinese government has detained him in relation to an investigation for suspected economic crimes, and maybe bigamy, and for the distribution of pornography. Nothing to do with the activism! So yeah, the fact that he’s pretty widely known to have had a child with one lady and later on married another one? They’re probably just confused on that one. And the fact that his wife legally runs the business side of Ai Weiwei as an art entity? Not relevant. The pornography thing? Well, it really depends on who gets hot about jumping artists with plush toys, which I’m sure is some people, but even then it’s not actually an indecent image. And that thing about him being recently asked to join a high profile nonCommunist Party advisory group, the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference? That’s just a coincidence too. And they have no idea why so many of the biggest and most important media outlets in the world keep covering this story, like, don’t the New York Times and the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal and the New Yorker and the Huffington Post and those TED kids and on ArtInfo (big if you like that sort of thing, okay?) have proper news to talk about? And why on Earth did a group of his supporters plan a worldwide sit-in for 17 April? WEIRD.

REVIEW

BRIGHTON ROCK Full disclosure: I’m unfamiliar with Graham Greene’s 1938 novel, Brighton Rock, and its well-regarded 1947 film adaptation. Conversely, this perhaps makes me an ideal audience member for its latest incarnation, moved from 1930s to ’60s Britain, and the directorial debut for the American screenwriter Rowan Joffé. It recovers from a shaky start to become a fairly compelling and stylish portrayal of romantic projection and self-delusion, as gangster Pinkie (Sam Riley) courts innocent waitress Rose (Andrea Riseborough) so she doesn’t testify against him for a recent murder, the latter believing his love is for real. “I’m bad and you’re good – we’re made for each other!” is the film’s biggest groaner of a line, but there is a grain of truth to it. Neither Pinkie nor Rose are terribly appealing or interesting characters on their own, • 56 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

but as soon as they meet, it’s easy to see why Rose keeps convincing herself (and others) into thinking there’s something beneath his blank exterior. Sam Riley, still carrying the fragile aura of his Ian Curtis rendition from Control, initially seems like an ill fit as Pinkie, a hard-arsed street hoodlum (you half expect him to have a seizure at any moment). But he grows on you and his stoic demeanour eventually becomes hypnotic in a ‘when’s he gonna break’ way. Being unfamiliar with the original text, it’s hard to know who to give credit for with the film’s chief virtues – including its haunting final scene. Still, there’s enough good here that it succeeds as both a ‘read the book!’ tribute and a satisfying piece of cinema in its own right. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now IAN BARR

INCENDIES It’s only a few moments into Incendies that you know you’re in good hands. Scored to the plaintive strums of Radiohead’s You And Whose Army, we see a group of Arabic child soldiers gathered in a room having their heads shaved. As the accompanying song reaches its crescendo, we zoom into the quietly enraged face of one of the boys. It’s a haunting overture for this uncommonly thrilling melodrama, which centres on the journey of two siblings who travel to wartorn Lebanon, as per their recently deceased mother’s last wish, for them to uncover their true familial identities. Writer/director Denis Villeneuve has adapted the screenplay from a stage play of the same name and the film has the distinction of being one of the least stagey theatrical adaptations in recent memory – there’s strikingly little expository dialogue and a

focus on indelible, tactile imagery to drive the story. The film is blatantly contrived in places – especially its final twist – but the emotions it brings, for characters and viewers alike, are never less than deeply felt and complex. A late scene between brother and sister in a swimming pool is astonishing in its vulnerability and testament to Villenueve’s attention to quiet moments as well as dramatic fireworks (of which there are plenty). Admittedly, the very real backdrop of a war-ravaged Middle East risks becoming a trivialised abstraction amidst the personal story that unfolds. But ultimately, Incendies asks you to go with your gut and is as dramatically juicy as any film in recent memory, as well as a deserving Oscar nominee in the often wonky Best Foreign Language Film category. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas from 21 April IAN BARR

NEVER LET ME GO The wonderful thing about Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel Never Let Me Go is that it draws you in even though you don’t really know what’s going on until you’re well into it. Then the reveal is chilling. Film is a different beast, and with the seemingly unbreakable formula that the first turning point must occur by the 30-minute mark, audiences for this adaptation are filled in much earlier. The novel really divided people and the film will no doubt also cause debate. Like Ishiguro’s other work, The Remains Of The Day, the characters can frustrate with their unwillingness to act to get out of highly unsatisfactory situations. Oscar nominees Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley and the future SpiderMan Andrew Garfield are all superb

as the grownup main characters. As children at a country boarding school in the 1970s, their idyllic but isolated lives are shattered after a teacher tells them exactly what their purpose is. Fast-forward to them as young adults and the story continues to be sadly disquieting. The film moves too slowly at times but picks up for a moving conclusion. But like the novel, Alex Garland’s screenplay is never sentimental. That’s probably what makes it all the more heartbreaking. It’s also for grownups, unlike many cinema releases these days – so if you’re an adult sick of lame Hollywood fare, you should support it at the box office. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now VICKI ENGLUND

live@drummedia.com.au FRANK TURNER @ ANNANDALE HTL. PIC: JOSH GROOM

NATIONAL

FRANK TURNER

JEN BUXTON

Annandale Hotel 15/04/11 Though it’s only his second time to Australia, British folk-punk artist Frank Turner is already getting used to sold out signs in front of the venues he plays in. Part of last year’s Revival Tour led by the folk-punk revivalist himself, Chuck Ragan, Turner sold out the Annandale Hotel all on his own this time – no band, no big name tour mates, just a man and a guitar and support from Like…Alaska’s Jen Buxton. Though the front half of the crowd backed Buxton right from the beginning, there was plenty of talking down the back during the early part of her set. Looking a little lost on stage without a band surrounding her, Buxton seemed a little too timid to stamp her heartfelt acoustic set on the whole room. As the songs got more dynamic towards the end though, the crowd seemed to respond in kind, clapping along and getting more involved. Frank Turner, however, didn’t need to encourage anyone to get involved. Turner’s gigs have become giant singalongs, with the fans just as eager to shout out the words as the man standing at the microphone and he clearly wouldn’t have it any other way. Fairly early into the set, Turner lost his guitar amplification and rather than dilly dally around for 15 minutes getting frustrated at the sound guy and his techie, Turner had bit of a laugh with the crowd and then sang one of the set highlights a cappella, a stunning old English style folk ballad English Curse about a blacksmith named John who got his revenge on King William and his son Rufus The Red. Though there was a lot of fun to be had in the big, foot-stomping, fist-pumping anthems like The Road and Photosynthesis, the harder-hitting moments were when Turner got serious and delivered the slower, sombre heart-stoppers. New song, jokingly dubbed Rod Stewart, was a love song to a life that could’ve been had Turner been born a sailor in earlier days, and Turner also got Buxton back up onstage to drop a stunning cover of the Ryan Adams classic Oh My Sweet Carolina. This show was honest, raw and most definitely live. If the guitar drama wasn’t proof enough, a couple of forgotten lines and the jokes that corrected them confirmed why live music is so much more exciting than listening to the album. Danielle O’Donohue

THE HOLIDAYS: Apr 20 Beach Road Hotel, Apr 21 Mona Vale Hotel, Apr 23 Transit Bar BRITISH INDIA: Apr 21 Entrance Leagues Club, May 12 Fitzroy Hotel, May 13 Cambridge Hotel, May 14 Hornsby RSL, Apr 2 ANU Bar GRINSPOON: Apr 21 Rooty Hill RSL, Apr 22 Hornsby RSL, Apr 23 Roxy Theatre, Apr 24 Waves, Apr 25 Newcastle Panthers CHILDREN COLLIDE: Apr 21 The Metro MIND OVER MATTER: Apr 21 Oxford Art Factory BALL PARK MUSIC, GUINEAFOWL: Apr 23 & 24 Kings Cross Hotel, Apr 25 Brass Monkey STRANGE TALK: Apr 27 Harp Hotel, Apr 28 GoodGod, Apr 29 CBD Hotel Newcastle, Apr 30 Beachcomber Hotel TIN CAN RADIO: Apr 27 Cambridge Hotel CHEAP FAKES*: Apr 28 Beach Road Hotel MY ESCAPADE: Apr 28 The Wall, May 27 The Basement Canberra FLOATINGME: Apr 28 Level One, Apr 29 Annandale Hotel, Apr 30 Wollongong City Diggers FRENZAL RHOMB: Apr 28 Bar On The Hill, Apr 30 Wollongong Uni, May 1 Annandale Hotel THE MCCLYMONTS: Apr 28 Mingara Recreation Club, Apr 29 Civic Theatre Newcastle, May 20 Hornsby RSL, May 22 North Sydney Leagues THE AMENTA: Apr 29 Club LED, Apr 30 The Gaelic LOWTIDE: Apr 29 Petersham Bowling Club, Apr 30 Black Wire Records PLUTO JONZE*: Apr 29 The Gaelic, May 28 Oxford Art Factory, Jun 1 Beach Road Hotel, Jun 4 Kings Cross Hotel THE BELLIGERENTS: Apr 30 Great Northern Newcastle OPEN PIÑATA: Apr 30 The Sly Fox BLEEDING KNEES CLUB: Apr 30 Kings Cross Hotel TIM & JEAN: Apr 30 Oxford Art Factory THE NEVER EVER: May 1 Annandale Hotel, May 14 Woden Youth Centre THE LITTLE STEVIES: May 5 ANU Bar, May 6 Great Northern Hotel, May 7 The Vanguard, May 8 Brass Monkey DRAPHT: May 5 Carrington Hotel, May 6 Wollongong Uni WASHINGTON: May 5 & 6 The Metro SEGRESSION: May 6 Annandale Hotel, May 7 The Maram THE TRIP: May 6 Old Manly Boatshed, May 14 Transit Bar, May 20 Fitzroy Hotel, May 21 Park Hotel HOLLY THROSBY: May 6 Brass Monkey, May 7 Annandale Hotel THREE’S COMPANY

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DISTURBED

FEATURE TOUR

DISTURBED

One of the biggest shows in heavy music for the year so far is set to hit the stage this week. The Music As A Weapon Tour is headlined by metal heavyweights Disturbed, flogging their 2010 album Asylum, flanked by Florida metallers Trivium and California’s As I Lay Dying, as well as Melbourne post-hardcore fivepiece Forgiven Rival. All four pull into Acer Arena on Monday, continuing on to play Newcastle Entertainment Centre on Thursday.

feat. SCOTT SPARK, TASH PARKER, THE RESCUE SHIPS: May 7 Spectrum PIKELET: May 7 Kings Cross Hotel MY FRIEND THE CHOCOLATE CAKE*: May 7 Street Theatre, Jun 3 Heritage Hotel, Jun 4 The Basement Circular Quay, Jun 5 Lizotte’s Newcastle NICK & LIESL*: May 12 Phoenix Bar Canberra, May 13 Roxbury, May 14 Rhythm Hut, May 18 Lizotte’s Newcastle, May 20 Clarendon OVER-REACTOR: May 12 Harp Hotel, May 14 Caringbah Bizzo’s, May 19 Bar On The Hill, May 20 Northern Star SIERRA FIN: May 12 Notes EMMA DEAN: May 12 Clarendon Guesthouse, May 14 The Basement Circular Quay GAY PARIS: May 12 The Patch, May 19 Phoenix Canberra, May 20 Great Northern Newcastle, May 21 The Vanguard THE CAT EMPIRE: May 12 Annandale Hotel, May 13 The Metro, May 14 Enmore Theatre, May 15 The Basement Circular Quay CUT COPY: May 12 Enmore Theatre, May 29 Sydney Opera House Concert Hall BIG BRITISH SOUND feat. BALL PARK MUSIC, STRANGE TALK, BOY IN A BOX: May 12 The Gaelic BLUE KING BROWN: May 12 ANU Bar, May 13 Waves, May 14 Newcastle Panthers, Jun 4 The Metro BOTANICS: May 12 The Vanguard, May 27 Grand Junction Hotel, Jun 2 Beach Road Hotel, Jun 3 Old Manly Boatshed FRONT END LOADER: May 13 The Patch, May 14 Caringbah Bizzo’s, May 26 Mona Vale Hotel, May 27 Annandale Hotel, May 28 The Junkyard, May 29 Great Northern Newcastle JERICCO*: May 14 The Wall KASEY CHAMBERS & SHANE NICHOLSON: May 14 Katoomba RSL MIKE NOGA*: May 17 Brass Monkey, May 18 Notes, May 19 Clarendon Guesthouse DAVE GRANEY & THE LURID YELLOW MIST:

May 19 Notes, May 20 Vault 146, May 21 Coogee Diggers, May 22 The Clarendon, May 26 Lizotte’s Dee Why, May 27 Lizotte’s Kincumber, May 28 Lizotte’s Newcastle GYPSY & THE CAT: May 19 Wollongong Uni, May 20 The Metro, May 21 Cambridge Hotel TRIAL KENNEDY: May 19 Wollongong City Diggers, May 20 Cambridge Hotel, May 21 Annandale Hotel THE BLACKWATER FEVER*: May 19 Otis Bar, May 20 Lansdowne Hotel, May 21 Junkyard Hotel HUNGRY KIDS OF HUNGARY: May 20 ANU Bar, May 21 The Metro THE BAMBOOS: May 20 Manning Bar DIRECTIONS IN GROOVE: May 20 The Basement Circular Quay PARKWAY DRIVE: May 20 Hordern Pavilion, May 21 Newcastle Panthers, May 22 WIN Entertainment Centre ALEX LLOYD & THE PIGRAM BROTHERS: May 20 & 21 Notes THE GOOD SHIP: May 20 Great Northern Newcastle, May 21 The Vanguard THE YEARLINGS*: May 22 Grand Junction Hotel, May 26 Lizotte’s Kincumber, May 27 Clarendon Guesthouse, May 29 The Vanguard, Jun 1 The Front PEGZ: May 25 ANU Bar, May 26 Harp Hotel, May 27 Cambridge Hotel, May 28 Annandale Hotel AMY MEREDITH: May 25 Wollongong Uni, May 26 Level One, May 27 The Metro, Jun 10 ANU Refectory THE AMITY AFFLICTION*: May 26 & 27 UNSW Roundhouse

INTERNATIONAL MICHELLE SHOCKED: Apr 19 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Apr 20 Lizotte’s Newcastle TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE: Apr 19 The Metro FERNANDA TAKAI:

Apr 19 Playhouse Theatre Canberra, Apr 20 The Basement Circular Quay ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS: Apr 19 State Theatre GRACE JONES: Apr 19 Enmore Theatre ZZ TOP: Apr 20 Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Apr 25 Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Apr 27 & 28 Enmore Theatre MARTHA TILSTON: Apr 20 Brass Monkey RODRIGO Y GABRIELA: Apr 20 Enmore Theatre THE FELICE BROTHERS: Apr 20 Annandale Hotel THE FUNKY METERS: Apr 20 The Metro THE SECRET SISTERS: Apr 20 The Vanguard ANTHONY B, CE’CILE: Apr 21 Manning Bar LITTLE BUSHMAN: Apr 21 The Gaelic SWITCHFOOT: Apr 21 Big Top Luna Park IMOGEN HEAP: Apr 21 State Theatre IRMA THOMAS: Apr 21 The Factory DEREK TRUCKS & SUSAN TEDESCHI BAND: Apr 21 Enmore Theatre BONE THUGS-NHARMONY: Apr 21 Waves, Apr 23 Blacktown Olympic Park, Apr 24 Oxford Art Factory BOBBY LONG: Apr 21 Lizotte’s Kincumber, Apr 27 The Vanguard LEON RUSSELL: Apr 22 State Theatre OH SLEEPER, THE CHARIOT: Apr 23 The Gaelic, Apr 26 Harp Hotel BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: Apr 23 State Theatre WARREN HAYNES: Apr 23 The Factory TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Apr 23 Enmore Theatre BOB DYLAN: Apr 23 WIN Entertainment Centre, Apr 27 & 28 Sydney Entertainment Centre MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD: Apr 24 Enmore Theatre SHIT ROBOT: Apr 24 Greenwood Hotel GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC: Apr 24 The Metro HORRORPOPS: Apr 24 The Factory JOHN LEGEND: Apr 24 & 25 State Theatre MARK FARINA: Apr 25 Ivy THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 57 •

live@drummedia.com.au

ADALITA

AMAYA LAUCIRICA CAITLIN PARK

THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA, AARON NEVILLE, MAVIS STAPLES: Apr 25 & 26 Sydney Opera House Concert Hall DISTURBED: Apr 25 Acer Arena, Apr 28 Newcastle Entertainment Centre THE AGGROLITES: Apr 25 The Gaelic JETHRO TULL: Apr 26 & 27 State Theatre CHRIS BROWN: Apr 26 Acer Arena YELLOWFEVER: Apr 27 Croatian Club, Apr 28 Red Rattler, Apr 29 Otis Bar INDIGO GIRLS: Apr 27 Canberra Theatre, Apr 28 State Theatre TIM ROBBINS & THE ROGUES GALLERY BAND: Apr 28 The Basement Circular Quay ERIC BIBB: Apr 28 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Apr 29 Blackheath Community Hall, May 3 Lizotte’s Kincumber, May 4 Lizotte’s Newcastle JUSTIN BIEBER: Apr 28 & 29 Acer Arena TONY JOE WHITE: Apr 28 Hurlstone Park RSL, Apr 29 The Basement Circular Quay, Apr 30 Lizotte’s Dee Why, May 1 Lizotte’s Newcastle, May 4 Clarendon Guesthouse, May 5 Coogee Diggers, May 6 Waves HUGH CORNWELL: Apr 28 ANU Bar, May 4 Cambridge Hotel, May 5 Manning Bar ELI PAPERBOY REED: Apr 28 Oxford Art Factory SKRILLEX: Apr 29 Oxford Art Factory JOSEPH ARTHUR: Apr 29 The Vanguard NATURALLY 7: Apr 29 State Theatre TRINITY ROOTS: Apr 29 The Metro ESCAPE THE FATE: Apr 30 UNSW Roundhouse QUIET RIOT: Apr 30 ANU Bar, May 8 The Metro SIR BOB GELDOF*: May 1 Lyric Theatre HERBIE HANCOCK: May 1 & 2 Sydney Opera House DEREK WARFIELD & THE YOUNG WOLFE TONES: May 3 Clarendon Guesthouse, May 7 Coogee Diggers, May 8 Notes GRUFF RHYS: May 3 Excelsior Surry Hills THE GO! TEAM: May 4 The Metro KATY PERRY: May 4 Sydney Entertainment Centre, May 13 Newcastle Entertainment Centre, May 14 Sydney Entertainment Centre DEREB THE AMBASSADOR: May 4 Macquarie Hotel DATAROCK: May 5 Oxford Art Factory MURS & 9TH WONDER: May 5 The Gaelic MAROON 5: May 6 Acer Arena SAMPOLOGY: May 6 Oxford Art Factory AGAINST ME!: May 6 ANU Bar, May 7 The Metro, May 8 Cambridge

Sandringham Hotel 16/04/11

Newtown’s Sandringham Hotel was home to a sold out chick-fest on the coldest night of the year so far. Upstairs in the band room, however, it was nice and toasty.

THE WOMBATS

DRUM PRESENTS

MICHELLE SHOCKED: Apr 19 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Apr 20 Lizotte’s Newcastle TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE: Apr 19 The Metro ZZ TOP: Apr 20 Newcastle Entertainment Centre, Apr 25 Wollongong Entertainment Centre, Apr 27 & 28 Enmore Theatre THE FUNKY METERS: Apr 20 The Metro THE HOLIDAYS: Apr 20 Beach Road Hotel, Apr 21 Mona Vale Hotel, Apr 23 Transit Bar BLUESFEST: Apr 21 – 25 Tyagarah CHILDREN COLLIDE: Apr 21 The Metro IRMA THOMAS: Apr 21 The Factory DEREK TRUCKS & SUSAN TEDESCHI BAND: Apr 21 Enmore Theatre LEON RUSSELL: Apr 22 State Theatre OH SLEEPER, THE CHARIOT: Apr 23 The Gaelic, Apr 26 Harp Hotel TOOTS & THE MAYTALS: Apr 23 Enmore Theatre WARREN HAYNES: Apr 23 The Factory BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: Apr 23 State Theatre INNER WEST FESTIVAL: Apr 23 & 24 Sandringham Hotel GEORGE CLINTON & PARLIAMENT FUNKADELIC: Apr 24 The Metro DISTURBED: Apr 25 Acer Arena, Apr 28 Newcastle Entertainment Centre THE AGGROLITES: Apr 25 The Gaelic HUGH CORNWELL: Apr 28 ANU Bar, May 4 Cambridge Hotel, May 5 Manning Bar TIM ROBBINS & THE ROGUES GALLERY BAND: Apr 28 The Basement Circular Quay ELI PAPERBOY REED: Apr 28 Oxford Art Factory TRINITY ROOTS: Apr 29 The Metro DATAROCK: May 5 Oxford Art Factory HOUSE OF PAIN: May 6 Manning Bar AA: May 6 Red Rattler KYUSS LIVES: May 7 Big Top Luna Park GROOVIN’ THE MOO: May 7 Maitland Showground, May 8 University Of Canberra PASSENGER: May 7 Oxford Art Factory THE WOMBATS: May 9 Enmore Theatre DARWIN DEEZ: May 10 The Metro BLUE KING BROWN: May 12 ANU Bar, May 13 Waves, May 14 Newcastle Panthers, Jun 4 The Metro TRIAL KENNEDY: May 19 Wollongong City Diggers, May 20 Cambridge Hotel, May 21 Annandale Hotel PEGZ: May 25 ANU Bar, May 26 Harp Hotel, May 27 Cambridge Hotel, May 28 Annandale Hotel BLISS N ESO: May 27 & 28 Hordern Pavilion BOY & BEAR: May 31 Newcastle Uni, Jun 1 Wollongong Uni, Jun 2 & 3 The Metro THE MIDDLE EAST: Jun 17 The Metro, Jun 19 Cambridge Hotel WAGONS: Jun 23 Transit Bar, Jun 24 Clarendon Guesthouse, Jun 25 Annandale Hotel RED INK: Jul 1 The Gaelic ART VS SCIENCE: Jul 8 Enmore Theatre MIAMI HORROR: Jul 16 The Metro

Hotel HOUSE OF PAIN: May 6 Manning Bar AA: May 6 Red Rattler LULO REINHARDT: May 6 Grand Hotel, May 7 Clarendon Guesthouse, May 8 Kantara House, May 11 Lizotte’s Dee Why, May 12 The Basement Circular Quay JEFF MARTIN 777: May 7 The Gaelic PASSENGER: May 7 Oxford Art Factory KYUSS LIVES: May 7 Big Top Luna Park MARK OLSON: May 7 Great Northern Newcastle, May 8 Annandale Hotel, May 10 Brass Monkey, May 11 Clarendon Guesthouse THE DRUMS: May 9 The Metro UNKLE: May 9 Sydney Opera House Concert Hall THE WOMBATS: May 9 Enmore Theatre DARWIN DEEZ: May 10 The Metro HARMONIC GENERATOR: May 11 Sandringham Hotel BEN FOLDS: May 11 Royal Theatre, May 13 &

• 58 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

14 State Theatre GARY NUMAN: May 13 Enmore Theatre ALESTORM: May 13 Manning Bar A DAY TO REMEMBER: May 13 & 14 Big Top Luna Park SUICIDAL TENDENCIES: May 14 The Metro JAMES BLUNT: May 16 & 17 State Theatre, May 18 Royal Theatre LISSIE: May 17 Oxford Art Factory MONDO GENERATOR: May 17 Sandringham Hotel JOE BONAMASSA: May 18 Civic Theatre Newcastle, May 20 Enmore Theatre JOHN GRANT: May 20 The Vanguard PIGEON JOHN: May 20 Tone PROPAGANDHI: May 24 ANU Bar, May 25 Newcastle Uni, May 26 The Metro, May 27 Wollongong Uni

FESTIVALS BLUESFEST: Apr 21 – 26 Tyagarah

NATIONAL FOLK: Apr 21 – 25 Exhibition Park Canberra GUM BALL: Apr 29 & 30 Belford CREAMFIELDS: Apr 30 Showring & Hordern Pavilion GROOVIN’ THE MOO: May 7 Maitland Showground, May 8 University Of Canberra DARLING HARBOUR JAZZ AND BLUES: Jun 10 – 13 Darling Harbour PERISHER SNOWY MOUNTAINS OF MUSIC: Jun 10 – 13 Perisher Valley COME TOGETHER: Jun 11 Big Top Luna Park SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS*: Jul 29 – 31 Woodfordia BASTARDFEST*: Sep 10 Sandringham Hotel WOLLOMBI MUSIC: Sep 17 Hunter Valley SYDNEY BLUES & ROOTS: Oct 28 – 30 Windsor * indicates new or amended listing this week Check with agencies for booking fees.

closeness. Relying on the power of her vocal chords and the themes she sings about – loss, desire and passion restrained – Adalita turned out a set that was stripped back and intense. New song I Want Your Love is classic Adalita, being direct, honest and a little bit confronting. She ended the set with the single The Repairer, which really is in a league of its own and its stripped back production stands up rather well live. It was a cut above the rest of the set which was solid, but the other songs lacked the majesty of this one. Francesca Palazzolo

Caitlin Park warmed up the room with her soulful voice, temperate guitar and earthy arrangements. Her presence on stage was unassuming; wearing a brown outfit and glasses, she looked like she just stepped out of the library and onto the stage. Not being able to hear the lyrics very well, Park apologised for her voice as it turned out she was nursing a bad head-cold. The addition of percussion to the performance was a welcome change in tempo to a set that was starting to stagnate – always a danger when doing the solo acoustic thing. She ended with Warriors With Wild Hearts, which sounded more polished. Amaya Laucirica in contrast had the backing of a full band including violinist, and said instrument made for an atmospheric set. Laucirica is petite, her breathy voice blending in with the dreamy instrumentation, but the overall effect however was kind of bland. By the third song in she picked up a guitar and at least she was moving around a bit more. Like the performer, the songs are pretty, but unfortunately not that engaging. Adalita casually walked onstage oozing effortless rock-chic glamour and the sold out crowd broke into spontaneous applause before she had even strummed a chord. Adalita has always been able to express a certain vulnerable strength as her voice depicts both distance and the discomfit of

KIMBRA

YEO NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE

Oxford Art Factory 13/04/11

With a venue change from GoodGod to a sold out show at Oxford Art Factory, eager fans settled in early for Northeast Party House. The lead guitarist’s leopard tights promised for a performance full of personality and charisma. Ripping into their very UK-indie flavoured set, Bloc Party was a definite influence to their sound. It would have been great to see the five-piece perform on a larger stage, as the small stage restricted their excessive movements. This was shortly corrected as vocalist Zach Hamilton-Reeves dived off stage to dance freely with his tambourine. Melbourne-based artist Yeo is not your ordinary pop artist. His set covered a number of genres from funk to indie rock to tropical pop, giving way to some interesting musical perks and surprises. Then out came the keytar, the instrument that defines the revival of synth pop, which was at the very heart of this act. His backing band at times resembled an awkward ‘80s prom band, yet all were very skilful musicians. Evidently enjoying themselves on stage, their humble personalities and genuine love for their music really shone through. Curtains were closed. The lights and smoke were ready. And out came Kimbra, the sassy modern-day Nina Simone. She was like a current of electricity, striking at every single corner of the room. Her soulful and smoky voice effortlessly reached the extremes of her register. Animated with her performance, she engaged with the crowd like no other, whilst also busting out incredible jazz moves. Her body sang and reacted to the punchy rhythms of her music. What a diva! At times she sang into two microphones, looping her luscious vocal rhythms layer upon layer. Settle Down saw her collage this with some fierce handclapping, which spiralled into a magnificent build up of rhythms. She proved that she not only owns an incredible voice, but has the creativity to skilfully play with her vocal capabilities. Her announcement “It’s time for the heartbreak song” gave some breathing space for punters to sit back and enjoy the sheer beauty of her voice, this time in its most vulnerable state. This mood continued as she ripped her heart out through the Nina Simone cover Plain Gold Ring. Also busting out a Michael Jackson cover, she showed us exactly where in the scheme of her musical identity she fits. Bringing a modern edge to the worn sounds of soul and funk, this pop star ain’t settling down any time soon. Celline Narinli

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ADALITA @ SANDRINGHAM HOTEL PIC: JOSH GROOM

MARTHA TILSTON

ANABELLE KAY

Cat & Fiddle 14/04/11

The Central Coast’s enigmatic own folk singer Anabelle Kay stepped confidently and definitively out of the shadows of Alela Diane and Karen Dalton, sowing goosebumps and cultivating fascination. Her high, quixotic voice inhabits an ether of wonder and hope, whilst her guitar playing conjures white witch spells with gentle intelligence and careful craft. Whilst still new on the scene, Kay has a very, very fine self-titled CD to her credit, one that features a full band rather than the minimal elegant and estimable banjo and ukulele of Adam Williams that featured tonight. There is a powerful visionary narrative clearly apparent in both the recorded and live versions of Kay. Don’t wait. Don’t vacillate. Don’t tarry. Hunt her down. Bookending her profoundly melodious performance, the inspirational British folk mistress Martha Tilston illustrated her bravura capability with solo a cappella showcases. Of course, the voice is at the centre of folk music, as we traditionally think of the term, more than most other musical genres. It is a window to the soul. Clearly, Tilston is one of the good ones. Her voice soars mountain high and glides through the peaks, carrying us along on her eagle’s wings. The clarity of her tone evokes crystal clear images and fortifies emotions of hope and happiness amongst weary urban souls. Night Rambling, Artificial and Good World were amongst the older tunes that, predictably, compelled. Tilston has the knack of creating melodies that brand themselves into your brain. Their powerful emotional resonance, giving true meaning to the adjective heartfelt, does the rest. Having said that, some of the newer tunes didn’t quite flick the switch as much. But when you possess a warm, humorous and humble personality like Tilston – and that incredible voice – it’s hard to do too much wrong. This is not folk of a winsome, filigreed variety. There is muscle in both the singing and guitar playing, the latter being perhaps an underestimated artistic asset. Tilston gets inside the tunes. They are both her garments and her secrets. Additionally, her interest in exploring and augmenting secrets of folk’s heritage marks her as an innovator who uses tradition with respectful effect. It’s an intoxicating amalgam. Craig N Pearce

THE LAZYS

L.U.S.T LOVERS JUMP CREEK

Sandringham Hotel 14/04/11

It was to be blistering night of rock’n’roll at the

live@drummedia.com.au Sando, with none other than the role of lead guitarist starring. Opening act Lovers Jump Creek set the scene early on with an impressive line-up of jagged and progressive edged rock tunes that quickly had the crowd interested. Playing what was without a doubt the most original material of the night, they didn’t let the small early evening crowd deter them from putting on a show. Guitarist Sam Thomlinson smiled his way through most of the set, playing leads that, while not as technically spectacular as what was to follow, showed a tastefulness that was the backbone of their performance, never letting their staccato riffs and odd time signatures get in the way of amazing songwriting. L.U.S.T. swaggered confidently to the stage and proceeded to pummel the audience with their brand of ego-driven glam metal. No one could ever accuse them of reinventing the wheel, but at the same time you get the feeling that they simply don’t care. They took to the stage as if it belonged to them and whilst they were playing one would be forgiven for mistaking them for the headlining act. Once again continuing the theme of amazing rock guitarists, the highlight of the band was Ronnie Simmons, who never once missed a beat or a note while shredding his way through some blistering rock riffs. The true headlining act of the evening, The Lazys, quickly dispelled any doubt that it was indeed their night. With a sound that left nowhere in the room for delicate ears to hide, they bombastically smashed their amazingly written and performed rock songs into the audience’s collective conscience. Refreshingly, while still having fun on stage, the lyrical content of their songs contained actual depth and vision, matching the same qualities that were to be found in their performance. A dual drumming tuning interlude and lead guitarist Mat Morris performing an incredibly well defined solo from atop a crowd member’s shoulders topped off the night with both novelty and talent. The Lazys prove, beyond a shadow of even the most cynical and jaded doubt, that Australian rock’n’roll is indeed not dead, but flourishing in pubs everywhere. All one need do is have the enthusiasm to go looking for it and bands like The Lazys will do the rest.

SEEKAE

whiffs of Radiohead’s In Rainbows – for a band with only two EPs to its name that’s a hell of a hefty bit of praise, but not a word of exaggeration.

GHOUL BARDEYA

Manning Bar 16/04/11 Though Bardeya’s set took place behind a deck in the middle of the room, looking at the stage one could be forgiven for mistakenly thinking the Sydney DJ/producer was somewhere in the mist – rainbow smoke lunged forward, complementing his varied sounds. His engaging set ranged from ambient electronica to more experimental tracks, sampling all manner of vocals and snatching flutes and other unconventional sounds, all underscored by a heavy buzz. Ghoul was a three-piece tonight, the parts of traveling bassist Pavle Vizintin replaced by a laptop. The band has received a big boost in profile this year with the release of its latest mini album Dunks, and put forth an absorbing and intoxicating set. Ivan Vizintin’s voice underlay every track and drummer Andrew Hannaford’s focused beats drove it all forward. Though Vizintin’s equipment wasn’t quite cooperating, he pushed on and the set shot through a range of moods, with a highlight in older track Swimming Pool. They also aired a new song that had

YOUNG REVELRY

World Bar 15/04/11

In the Labyrinthine vault that is World Bar, it was a refreshing treat to hear so many shades of indie rock competing with the usual DJ manoeuvrings of King’s Cross. Kicking off festivities was resident duo Big Dumb Kid, who blended poppy, electro riffs with rap and live drums. Live keys would have fleshed out their sound nicely, with a third band member seeming a necessary addition to allow frontman Breogan Lage to focus on his vocals. Despite a muffled mic (an issue that unfortunately persisted throughout the night), Lage did well to combine synth ornamentation to his laptop backing tracks. Heading upstairs to catch the end of Louis London’s set saw this reviewer wishing she’d seen the whole thing. Like a raucous house party, the room was close to bursting and whether due to the softer furnishings or better equipment, the sound was much more balanced. Their catchy blend of gypsy rock, funk and ska was so full of energy that dancing was essential. Back downstairs Melbourne’s Royston Vasie delivered a solid set with a psychedelic flavour. They alternated thrashing drums and screaming vocals, with melodic riffs and trippy guitar effects and, while their sound became a little predictable after the first few songs, their energetic delivery pulled it off. Tin Can Radio was polished, engaging and an absolute highlight from start to finish. Despite obvious influence from the likes of Two Door Cinema Club, their sound was unique. The mix of infectious dance beats, punchy vocals and a splash of live brass were completely contrasted with awesome dubstep breakdowns. They had the dancefloor pulsating but also mastered the epic outro that had your spine tingling. Their live show was an exciting delivery of their new LP Chase The Sun, Hold The Night, with single Skeletons excellently showcasing their style. The room had emptied out a little for headliners Young Revelry, but this was no dampener and didn’t stop them from delivering a tight and driving set. A different flavour of indie, their rock was more grunge and garage, with distortion, dissonance and relentless bass, but surprisingly melodic vocals. Closer Reckless Minds succeeded in filling the dancefloor with throbbing bodies and was the culmination of an excellent display of new crop acts. Alex Hardy

Giselle Nguyen

STARTING SUNDAY What’s the title of your new EP and where did it come from? The EP is self-titled. It’s quite a step in a new direction for us, so we thought starting with a clean slate would be appropriate.

How many releases do you have now? We’ve now released two EPs.

How long did it take to write/record? The writing process involved quite a bit of time in rehearsal studios, as well as trying new ideas out on the road. So that part of creating this EP actually took quite a while, around six months. The recording process was a lot quicker and once we started demoing in the studio, we had a finished product within about two months.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? We recorded the EP up in this studio in the mountains around Melbourne, where we all located ourselves for a few weeks. Getting out of the city studios and back amongst nature I think gave us the room to experiment with the tracks and find the right feel for each song.

What’s your favourite song on it? This changes weekly; there are songs that really stand out to me when we’re playing live and songs that still continue to grow on me with each listen.

Will you do anything differently next time? SEEKAE @ MANNING BAR. PIC: LINDA HELLER-SALVADOR

Chris de Peau

TIN CAN RADIO ROYSTON VASIE LOUIS LONDON BIG DUMB KID

By now the air was thick with three things – excitement, the delicate smell of miss Mary Jane and a smoke machine. The first was unsurprising, as Seekae was launching their fantastic new album, +Dome; the second was also unsurprising for obvious reasons; the third set off a fire alarm that pervaded most of the set in a most irritating fashion. +Dome has really broadened Seekae’s horizons and their sets now swing between insanely energetic highs and beautiful, ambient lows that you can’t help but get lost in. The material that is not so much ‘laptop’ works best in a live setting, with Alex Cameron’s fiercely attentive drumming and the occasional melodica; the massive Gnor was a highlight in that sense. It was all a long, stunning daze, harking back to older material too with the ethereal Void and snatching up bits of ambient soul with closeyour-eyes-and-feel-it tracks like Reset Head and +Dome. Encoring with a powerful rendition of the beat-heavy Centaur, this band was worth standing through half an hour of wailing fire alarm sirens for. A fantastic set that showcased all the sides of music Seekae has touched and perfected, tonight was in general a great testament to the ever-strengthening Sydney scene.

ep FOCUS

ERIC BIBB

THE WOLVES

RUTHIE FOSTER BLACKBIRDS

Enmore Theatre 15/04/11

Bottom of the bill, but no by no means lacking in soul or talent, Byron Bay’s Blackbirds greet a filling Enmore Theatre with a subtle, light reggae vibe. The shared vocals between the male and female vocalist offer some telling harmonies, which balanced over a cutesy ukulele offers just enough sunshine to keep the audience engaged. There is absolutely no air of support as Ruthie Foster steps onto the stage, as the crowd seems elated just by very her presence and as she begins to sing, their appreciation becomes understandable. She is truly a gift. Her voice is purely rooted in the gospel of America’s flagrant south and every ounce of emotion from her frame gets behind her beautiful numbers and transcendental covers. Soaring from the aching ballad Another Rain Song to the soul-sister vibe of Travelin’ Shoes, there seems to be little this woman’s incredible vocals can’t conquer. Eric Bibb seems to have strolled straight from some dusty saloon on the Mississippi delta and onto the stage. Facing such a large and attentive crowd, the room feels empty until Bibb greets us, his voice rich, welcoming and strong. His baritone growl is fiery and focused straight off the bat and pulling out the blues classic Goin’ Down Slow, Bibb demonstrates he can switch from straight folk ballads like he opened with to dirty blues with ease. Bibb is effortless in his coolness, exercising such control over both his acoustic guitar and his booming, soulful voice, which oozes slow and purposefully like its stylistic Mississippi origin. Most of his tunes ponder on days gone by, some, like the ode to the tragedy of the 1926 Mississippi floods Flood Water stirring utter sadness, while others, Needed Time, evoke a clap and singalong gospel moments from the audience. Bibb is complemented by the modest but devastatingly on-point lead guitarist Staffan Astner, who adds sultry licks to ballads, catapulting the sentiments of the more mournful numbers to emotional heights. The encore saw Bibb joined finally onstage by Foster and the pair let any hint of restraint fly out of the window as they unleashed the true capabilities of their astonishing ranges on For You – a song that Bibb admits he wrote for Foster before they’d even met. Touching, endearing and unforgettable, Bibb and Foster are a true testament to the beauty of the blues.

ANNABELLE KAY

UK’s Martha Tilston has just released her newest record, Lucy And The Wolves, and now she’s headed into The Brass Monkey on Wednesday to continue her run of shows with Cronulla singer/songwriter Anabelle Kay. The show starts at 7pm.

The recording process was really relaxed and comfortable and the time we allowed ourselves to create, re-create and develop the songs gave us a record that we are all really proud of, so I can’t really think of anything we’d change at all.

Will you be launching it? Saturday – SFX @ St James Hotel

For more info see: myspace.com/startingsunday

SYDNEY ROLLER DERBY LEAGUE TASTE TEST

BITCHY N SCRATCHY #555

WHAT A SHOCKER Ahead of the Bluesfest weekend, US singer/songwriter Michelle Shocked plays Lizotte’s Dee Why tonight and Lizotte’s Newcastle tomorrow, then the Clarendon in Katoomba Thursday (sold out) and Friday.

MAYHEM It’s rock and roll mayhem at the Sando on Monday, with The Prehistorics, Rack ‘N’ Ruin, The Bloody Kids and 400KW all playing with the only requirement that you bring yourself and $12.

TEAM: D’VIANTS What’s the soundtrack to your championship win? American Made Music To Strip By – Rob Zombie What’s the soundtrack to a heartbreaking loss? Broken – NIN What song’s in your head when you have to pick yourself up after a big hit?

SUSIE HURLEY & HER MAJESTY

GLEBE GOODNESS The Excelsior in Glebe this week has a bundle of musical goodness for you to eat up, with three sets on Thursday – Beck Fielding at 7:30pm, His & Her Majesty at 8:30pm and Susie Hurley & The Hurricanes at 9:30pm. The Dunhill Blues play on Saturday, and also play Sunday at the Sando on the street level bar with Thundabox.

Just One Fix – Ministry What’s your favourite skate-out song? Intro of Phat Planet – Leftfield, mashed with whatever gets the team psyched up. What injuries have you sustained? Both ankles, both knees. Ligament sprains. Not all at the same time though! Next bout: Saturday 7 May, Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre vs Screaming Assault Sirens.

Nolan Giles

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 59 •

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single FOCUS

taste TEST IMOGEN HEAP The best record I stole from my folks’ collection was…

DARK SHADOWS

Blame / Written In The Snow What’s the song about? Blame is a little less straightforward than the title suggests… A mix of regret, sorrow and bracing one’s self for what lies ahead. Written In The Snow is about following your heart, taking chances and embracing the moment that is.

Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? It will be released as a double-sided single, Blame / Written In The Snow, on limited 7” white vinyl including digital download codes.

How long did it take to write/record? Blame has been floating around for a bit and is a collaboration with a friend of ours, Eli Harris from Sydney band The Double Crosses. Written In the Snow is really fresh and just came together after making a lot of racket in rehearsal over the last few weeks…

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? A trip to a fortune teller and cranking out some riffs whilst jamming.

I don’t remember ever putting records on! They listened to the radio... Mum either BBC Radio 3 or 4 and Dad seemed to only listen to the cricket scores! But... we had a lot of sheet music. I liked playing Debussy. I did steal a Fleetwood Mac cassette from my brother – Tango In The Night. The first record I bought with my own money was… Bad – Michael Jackson or Bobby Brown’s My Prerogative (from a petrol station late night, midway on a very long journey up to Scotland with my parents). The record I put on when I’m really miserable is…

Your music is…

I don’t know what would be surprising because I don’t know what you expect me to listen to? I have Britney’s Toxic? The last thing I bought/downloaded was…

The record I put on when I bring someone home is…

Imogen Heap plays the State Theatre on Thursday and Bluesfest on Saturday.

Urban fusion, combining urban soul with acoustic jazz, Afro-Cuban rhythms and hip hop electricity.

Which acts inspired you to produce your own music and why? Roy Hargrove’s RH Factor, Quincy Jones of the ‘70s and ‘80s and Chaka Khan brought jazz complexity into the pop charts. Their music was the essence of their place and time.

What’s your wildest ambition for your music? It seems quite reasonable to expect to tour the world with the full 30-piece lineup, including a stop at Carnegie Hall.

Why should we come and see you?

CUT MY RUG

It’s fun playing the guitar part against the drums in the breakdown of the middle section.

LIQUOR BLUES

Do you play it differently live?

Blame it on the a-a-a-alcohol at the Stockton RSL this Sunday at 4pm, where Stormcellar will be bringing their usual blend of boogie, roots and blues, along with a few of their older jams from their first album, Whiskey Talkin’.

Thursday 5 May – Manning Bar

The most surprising record in my collection is…

I don’t tend to listen to music when I’m miserable. I play the piano, go for a quiet walk or get someone to take me out dancing for the night.

What’s your favourite part of the song?

Will you be launching it?

THE DANNY G FELIX PROJECT

Eskmo – Eskmo: I followed the thread from a song called Cloudlight. Baths – Cerulean: Found from a thread on Spotify. The last album someone sent me I really like is Beardyman – Mummy I Done A Album.

Wednesday night at the Sando sees The Rug Cutters, The Cam Nacson Band and Erik The Red take the stage, $5 entry.

Being a three-piece, we work out live arrangements that paint a similar picture to the recorded version. We make use of synths and keys on our recordings that we don’t play live as yet but that may not be too far around the corner…

In what sense? Like a man? Or a friend? Or my mum? I play often Gonzales – Solo Piano, or The Knife – Silent Shout.

IT TAKES TWO Acoustic duo and buddies Kat Ferguson & Chaminda

Samaraweera take their tunes to The Wall on Saturday, with Angelena Locke, Untapped and Noel & Dan opening the night from around 7:30pm.

To hear and see many of the most amazing singers and musicians in Australia doing what they do best in an intimate setting.

GET YOUR FUNK ON

How do you find the local live scene?

One of the most sampled acts ever, having been used in modern music by the likes of Queen Latifah and LL Cool J, the music of The Funky Meters has a legacy of its own. They groove their way to The Metro on Wednesday night.

ALL STAR Visiting all the way from Alabama, USA, Dale Watson & His Lone Stars bring their brand of hootin’, tootin’ country to The Wall on Friday. It kicks off 8pm and will set you back $35.

A small scene of great quality artists that’s getting better and better, and growing in community.

What’s your greatest rock’n’roll moment? That’s not really for the world to know, but I can tell you that it involved too many Cuba Libres, three Triad girlfriends, a phoney Italian accent and a 5-star hotel room in Asia. For more info see: facebook.com/pages/The-Danny-G-FelixProject/140128642724697 thedannygfelixproject.com

For more info see:

Next available at:

thedarkshadows.com.au

Thursday – The Basement Circular Quay

facebook.com/thedarkshadowsoffcial

Tuesday 10 May – 505

SYDNEY ROLLER DERBY LEAGUE TASTE TEST

DIZZY BORDEN #45

HARRIET WHISKEY CLUB

YOUNG REVELRY

OFF TO LONDON

HEAD ON COLLISION Melbourne rockers Children Collide are hitting up The Metro this Thursday night. The trio, which has enjoyed success over the last few years, released its most recent album, Theory Of Everything, in 2010. Joining on the night will be fellow Aussie up and comers Red Riders and Young Revelry.

TEAM: SCREAMING ASSAULT SIRENS What’s the soundtrack to your championship win? Because I’m Awesome – The Dollyrots What’s the soundtrack to a heartbreaking loss? You Can’t Always Get What You Want – The Rolling Stones What song’s in your head when you have to pick yourself up after a big hit? One Way Or Another – Blondie What’s your favourite skate-out song? Phenomena – Yeah Yeah Yeahs Injuries: Multiple concussions. Next bout: Saturday 7 May, Sydney Olympic Park Sports Centre vs D’viants • 60 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

FOUND AGAIN

LEADING UP TO THEIR SHOW RECREATING THEIR 2001 ALBUM, LONG LOST, ON EASTER SUNDAY AT THE ANNANDALE HOTEL, DRUM ASKED LAZY SUSAN’S PAUL ANDREWS TO EXPLAIN WHY THEY’RE REVISITING THEIR DEBUT ALBUM AND PERFORMING IT IN ITS ENTIRETY AND WHETHER THEIR PERSPECTIVE HAS CHANGED ON THE ALBUM IN THE INTERVENING YEARS.

e really didn’t have any grand plans to revisit Long Lost or anything. While I know a lot of bands are doing the whole ‘Let’s play our classic album live’ thing these days, it’s not like we were trying to jump on the bandwagon. The idea hatched when we were talking about how we could do something different to our usual show. The idea of playing Long Lost in its entirety actually started as a joke in the rehearsal room but then, when we gave

New local six-piece Louis London, hard at work on the first EP, headlines The Gaelic on Wednesday’s regular The Study, with fellow newcomers Harriet Whiskey Club, only a few gigs deep into their live playing career, in support. Louis London also plays the Bands For Babes fundraiser on Thursday at the Excelsior Surry Hills, with The Khanz and Edens March from 7:30pm.

FIREBIRD

HORRORPOP CULTURE The trio dripping glam, HorrorPops, are hitting up the Factory Theatre this Sunday. They’ll be supported by Firebird and Dark Shadows.

it some serious thought, it didn’t sound so far-fetched after all. We’re not the most historically focused band. When we were promoting our fourth album, Places That Made Us, last year we realised that we were telling everyone we’d been together for a decade when it was actually 12 years... We’d kinda lost a couple of years at the beginning. So it snuck up on us that it was the ten-year anniversary of the release of Long Lost. When we realised, the timing made it an even better idea and from that moment on we had to do it. In terms of perspective on the album I think that’s changed massively. Simply because we’re not the same people, we have a lot more music and life experience – for better and for worse. We approached Long Lost like most bands I think approach their debut albums – with lots of ideas, enthusiasm and high hopes and not much more than that.

weren’t using the CDs for drink coasters. I’m sure I was incredibly tense and sensitive about people liking it at the time, but when they did, I was just overjoyed. When I look back on it now I can’t even remember writing half the songs and a part of me even thinks, ‘How did you do that?’

Similarly, you can’t feel the same way about a record ten years after you made it. I think at the time we were just incredibly relieved and happy that people liked it and

I guess because it was a success I associate Long Lost with purely good feelings, happy feelings. If it had bombed maybe I’d have a different outlook on it.

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THE CHASER GUYS, SPECIAL GUESTS & TUNES BY JACK SHIT

21 Apr

DJs KIMB GALCERAN UNDERLAPPER (album launch) CLEPTOCLECTICS vs SCISSOR LOCK STUPID CANON EDWIN MONTGOMERY week

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GUINEAFOWL & BALL PARK MUSIC saturday

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8pm $12 + bf from Oztix

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 61 •

live@drummedia.com.au FBI’S FAVOURITE NEW AUSSIE TRACKS My Blood Those Six Skeletons Fox Fur Morning

OSCAR + MARTIN UNDERLAPPER GUERRE

Piggy Bank SAMPOLOGY FT. SPOEK MATHAMBO & GNUCCI BANANA

See You Hurry I Don’t Wanna Go

WIM ANDRAS FOX FT. SUI ZHEN

This Is What Yo Mama Said (Fishing Remix) CLOUD CONTROL

Clicks SLEEPWALKS Another Summer JENNY BROKE THE WINDOW Meet You Under Neon PLUTO JONZE

ARIA TOP 10 AUSTRALIAN SINGLES From The Music

THE POTBELLEEZ

What Happened To Us JESSICA MAUBOY FEAT. JAY SEAN

Friday To Sunday JUSTICE CREW Who’s That Girl GUY SEBASTIAN FEAT. EVE She’s Like A Comet JEBEDIAH Rapunzel DRAPHT Wild At Heart BIRDS OF TOKYO Heartbreak Made Me A Killer SHORT STACK Plans BIRDS OF TOKYO Contact High ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI

SOUND OF THE UNDERGROUND

GREG STONE OF SYDNEY ELECTRONIC SIX-PIECE UNDERLAPPER TALKS GISELLE NGUYEN THROUGH THE NEW ALBUM, SOFTLY HARBOURED.

recording, so we had a way that we played them live and then wanted to flesh the sound out more on the actual recording, so we’ll pretty much just go back to how we used to play it… Outside of that show we’ll probably just get other instruments to play those lines, I think.”

lot of it, well probably half of it anyway, was written while we were touring the previous album, so I guess that stuff on the album tends to sound more like our live shows,” guitarist, bassist, synth player, pianist and vocalist (phew!) Greg Stone says of the making of Underlapper’s eclectic third album. “Then when we actually finally went in to record those tracks, we started writing the rest of the album and then those last lot of tracks tend to be more electronic based, I guess more similar to what we were doing on the older albums. So I think there was definitely a distinct two halves in the album itself.”

The band’s own constantly changing personal musical preferences play a huge part in influencing their music – while their first album, 2005’s What Came Forth From The Sea, was an “experimental hip hop” affair, its follow-up, 2007’s Red Spring, was “that more folktronic post rock type thing”, closer to Underlapper’s current sound. “We’re definitely not the sort of band that has a definite style or sound, so I think influences is probably just the biggest change for us and what we’re into at the time, really.”

“A

The diverse arrangements of Softly Harboured feature guest vocals from members of Parades and now defunct a cappella group Kaya, a choir section on one track and strings by cellist Peter Hollo, who will join the band on stage at the upcoming album launch. For future performances, though, Stone says the group will go back to basics. “The songs were sort of pre-written before the

The band members are involved in various side projects – notably, guitarist and vocalist Morgan McKellar formerly helmed a project called Morning Stalker, which Stone says was instrumental in shaping Softly Harboured’s direction. “It was definitely more of an ambient guitar loop-based thing and he definitely brought that sound to this new album… So I think you’re always sort of bringing your own personal influences into the actual sound of Underlapper.”

WHO Underlapper WHAT Softly Harboured (Feral Media/ hellosQuare) WHEN & WHERE Thursday, Kings Cross Hotel

ARIA TOP 10 AUSTRALIAN ALBUMS The Life Of Riley DRAPHT I Want That You Are Always Happy THE MIDDLE EAST Moment Bends ARCHITECTURE IN HELSINKI Get Closer KEITH URBAN Birds Of Tokyo BIRDS OF TOKYO The Great Impression SPARKADIA The Very Very Best Of Crowded House CROWDED HOUSE

InnerSpeaker TAME IMPALA Temptation THE WAIFS Songs From The South Volume 1 And 2 PAUL KELLY

ep FOCUS

ASTROSPHERE

EXCELSIOR EXCELLENCE This week there’s plenty on at the Excelsior Surry Hills, starting tonight with Astrosphere, Frozzengoodness, Jade, Paris & Dale, Chloe Harrison and Tara Lawrence playing from 8pm, $10 entry. Wednesday kicks off at 8pm too, same entry fee, with Fables, Jo Meares & The Honeyriders and Eirwen Skye gracing the stage. Thursday’s Bands For Babes benefit, mentioned elsewhere in this section, features Louis London, The Khanz and Edens March. Saturday is Minus House, Gods Of Rapture, Vangate and Ramshackle from 8pm, $10 entry.

STICKY FINGERS

BAD FRIDAY It’s Friday (did you just sing that in your head? Shame on you!) and it’s Bad Friday time at the Annandale, featuring two stages and starring Sticky Fingers, Underlights, The Future Prehistoric, Made In Japan, Flight and more, and all-day free arcade games on top of that. Doors are at 11am and tickets are $15.

FULL OF GRACE

MIND AT LARGE What’s the title of your new EP and where did it come from? It’s self-titled, but the band name comes from a book by Aldous Huxley called The Doors Of Perception. The concept of mind at large is an important approach to how we create music as a band.

How many releases do you have now? Just this EP and two compilations. One from Los Angeles, Riot On Sunset X, and the other from home town Wollongong, Helter Smelter Vol 1.

How long did it take to write/record? Took about two years! It was recorded at numerous home studios and every single part of the EP had the input of friends. Unfortunately this also added to the time constraints, hence the blow-out in getting it completed.

Legendary Jamaican-American singer Grace Jones makes her way back to Australia this week, taking over the Enmore Theatre tonight ahead of the Bluesfest weekend. She last toured in 2009, headlining the Sydney Festival First Night.

ARE YOU SERIOUS Actor by day musician by night, or is it the other way around? Either way, Terry Serio – frontman of Terry Serio & The Ministry Of Truth – will be playing the muso Thursday at Petersham Bowling Club, with Medicated Youth and The Thing-Os joining.

MINTY FRESH Michael Franti & Spearhead have been making music for the last 17 years, most recently releasing their seventh album, The Sound Of Sunshine, last year. No stranger to our shores, the band plays the Enmore Theatre on Sunday.

CE’CILE

JAMAICAN ME BLUSH Jamaica’s finest reggae and dancehall exports Anthony B and Ce’cile are heading to Manning Bar this Thursday to get the dub party started. Tickets are available from Oztix for $57.

ight Say,

ased Some M ril 1995, Oasis rele Ap 24 on at Th … DID YOU KNOW their first UK #1.

GIDDY UP Head to the Sando on Thursday night with $10 to catch Sicaria, Not Like Horse, Fringo and Delarbarker in action.

TOOT TOOT Reggae masters Toots & The Maytals bring their many years of experience to the Enmore Theatre on Friday, with Luciano & The Jah Messenger Band coming along to play too.

DOOM & GLOOM There have been too many natural disasters to deal with lately so My Sydney Riot and the Annandale are presenting the Japan, Queensland and Christchurch Red Cross Appeal benefit show. Featuring Goons of Doom, The Bungalows, Royal Chant, The Go Roll Your Bones and

more, the show starts at 6pm this Saturday. There’s also a Red Cross Red Hearts art exhibition to compliment the show. The suggested donation entry fee is a mere $5.

ANZAC AT THE ANNANDALE Don’t know how to celebrate Anzac Day? Head to the Annandale to see Spurs For Jesus and Handsome Young Strangers and eat Pub Cha from midday onwards this Monday!

EVERY SORT All Sorts Music Festival brings you music of… well, all sorts really Saturday at Tone, with Thoughts Under Fire, 10k Free Men, Young Cardinals and more doing their thang.

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? The friendships forged and the learning experience of how important pre-production is. Our writing style and approach to song development and production has definitely been given a good shake up.

DEVINE ELECTRIC

What’s your favourite song on it? Second track, Mothercry.

Will you do anything differently next time? Pre-production, pre-production, pre-production... Definitely having a more organised “plan of attack”.

Will you be launching it? Friday 29 April – Cabbage Tree Hotel

For more info see: mindatlarge.com.au • 62 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

DISTRAKT

DIG THE ROCK

DRIPPING WET This Thursday at Valve Bar marks the day for the Dripping Wet Dance Party. It features young Aussie electronic producer Simon Worthington, aka Distrakt, whose tunes have landed him a deal with French label Boxon Records. He plays along with Pete Swear, Fritzle, Rustymugs, Scratch N Sniff, Dave Mosa and more.

Anzac Day at Notes is all about the hard rock, headlined by KISS tribute band Gods Of Thunder – so you can expect to hear loads of familiar tunes to whip your hair back and forth to. Also playing are Devine Electric, Nobody’s Fool and Virginia Killstyxx. The night screams to a start at 7pm, with $15 entry to get in – and the next day, Easter Tuesday, is a public holiday so you can spend that nursing your hangover.

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THE WALK ON BY

DON’T WALK ON BY The Walk On By is launching its debut fulllength album, the 12” LP, Euro Trash, at the Lansdowne this Thursday, with support from the raucous Psychonanny & The Baby Shakers and Trent Marden of The Holy Soul. Doors kick open at 8pm and entry is free.

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 63 •

ep FOCUS

taste TEST THE SECRET SISTERS The best record I stole from my folks’ collection was…

DJ KRAZY KON

Laura: Heart Like A Wheel – Linda Ronstadt.

KILL APPEAL What’s the title of your new EP and where did it come from? Visitation. It came about from our interest in aliens and UFOs.

How many releases do you have now?

Lydia: In My Younger Days – our dad was in a bluegrass band in his teens, called The Next In Line, and this was their first record. It makes me happy to listen to him as a kid, because even though they were really young, they were so talented. The first record I bought with my own money was…

GREECE IN SYDNEY Laura: The Everly Brothers’ Greatest Hits. Lydia: Mission Bell – Amos Lee. The most surprising record in my collection is…

This is our first proper EP but we’ve been making demos since 2007.

Laura: The Four Seasons… Not sure what the album was called.

How long did it take to write/record?

Lydia: When the Pawn... – Fiona Apple.

We wrote a few of the songs late last year and a few earlier this year, but the whole recording process was done in two days so considering that, we’re very happy with how it turned out.

The record I put on when I’m really miserable is…

Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making?

Lydia: Anything by Neil Young.

Upcoming shows:

Just the thought that our songs were coming to life and also that Stuart Fraser from Noiseworks had recorded in this studio before, he’s a great guitarist.

The record I put on when I bring friends home is…

Wednesday, The Vanguard; Monday 25 & Tuesday 26 April, Bluesfest

Laura: ‘Til The Sun Turns Black – Ray LaMontagne.

What’s your favourite song on it?

Laura: The very first Hanson record… I was OBSESSED with them. I used to listen to their music and cry. Lydia: Black Joe & The Honey Bears.

WARDS WITH FRIENDS

We all have different favourites, but Diamond Python is the standout track and the audience favourite.

The Muso’s Club Jam will be held as usual at the Bald Faced Stag this Wednesday and at the Carousel Hotel on Thursday, featuring Ross Ward, Al Britton and Jim Finn. Open to all, it starts at 7.30pm. And if you’re heading down the deep south coast, The Burnin’ Down The House Blues Fest will also take place at the Tathra Hotel this Sunday at 2pm, with Ross Ward, Finn, The Hawks, Corey Legge, Lloyd Speigel, Stevie Paige and Michelle Van der Meer, to raise funds for their mate in need.

Will you do anything differently next time? Next time we will sound even better!

Will you be launching it? Sunday – The Annandale

For more info: Find us on Facebook.

SO AGGRO

LEANNE PARIS

OFF TO PARIS At the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel this week, Leanne Paris brings her tunes to the stage from 5pm on Sunday and Anzac Day – Monday for those who didn’t get that – has live music from 5pm, as well as a T-shirt giveaway, free pool and a free jukebox.

MAC ATTACK As always, there’s a bunch of stuff happening – free of charge – at the Macquarie Hotel this week, beginning with World Music Wednesday, Arabesk doing the honours. Thursday night at 8:30pm, Merenia & The Way takes the stage playing jazzy soul tunes, followed by Reyes De La Onda from midnight. No show on Friday – too busy eating Easter eggs – but Saturday is in full swing, with La Tarantela and The Sunchasers playing surf rock, Spaghetti Western and ‘60s pop so swing on by, entry’s free.

Steve Edmonds Band will be playing three shows this week, starting with the Empire Hotel on Thursday from 7.30pm, then Hendrix and Heroes at The Brass Monkey on Saturday from 9pm and finally the Kent Hotel on Sunday from 8.30pm.

MELT OFF This week, Melt Bar has a bunch of cool indie bands lined up with Wayphaser, Fox, Berkeley, The Zebs and Hugh Jass all playing on Thursday from 8pm onwards. Entry is $10.

DON’T MIND ME Mind Over Matter and Coptic Soldier are heading into Oxford Art Factory this Thursday, with support from Jonny Utah, Drakezilla and Vince Vega.

BLUES GET FRANK

BONEHEADS The legendary Bone Thugs N Harmony’s Krayzie Bone and Wish Bone are heading into Oxford Art Factory this Sunday with some special guests to rock the house. The show starts at 8pm.

INFINITY AND BEYOND Caringbah Bizzo’s hosts My Birthday on Saturday, featuring Sydney duo Light Year as well as Sideways Fridays DJs, Lewi McKirdy, Roof, Minor Delay and Brad Wiseman. Set to be a good night with good beats and all, so come on down and celebrate the long weekend.

TRIPLE THREAT

FRANK MACIAS KRAYZIE BONE

LIGHT YEAR

Los Angeles’ The Aggrolites are scooting around on their Aussie tour this week with their Sydney stop at The Gaelic on Monday. They’ll play with Backy Skank, The Rumjacks, Madonna (no, not that one) and Steppin’ Razor.

Clash’s Joe oup to cancel a 21 April 1982, The ed for three weeks, forcing the gr on at Th … OW DID YOU KN Strummer vanish ng it in Paris. tually found roughi tour. He was even

• 64 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

Every year since 2004, a Greece CD has been released to celebrate the Greek Australian presence. No different this year, with Greece 2011 upon us, launching Monday at The Basement Circular Quay. It’s all in the hands of DJ Krazy Kon, a Greek Australian known the world over who is joined on the night by fellow DJs Adonis, Dimi K and Arty Groove, as well as a live Greek band with singers Nikitas Ellenis, Jessica Demertzis and Christos Evripidou. Doors open at 9:30pm.

Texas-bred, Sydney-based bluesman Frank Macias hosts the Underground City Blues Jam every second weekend in the Manhattan Lounge, with a special set-up perfect for anyone who wants to hop up on stage and kick out the jams on the various instruments available. Come along to play or watch on Sunday – it’s free of charge.

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SUSANNA CARMAN

HERE COMES THE CIRCUS US-raised, Byron Bay-based songstress Susanna Carman has just released her second album, Circus Girl, with influences ranging from Paul Simon to Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen. She brings her tunes, new and old, to Petersham Bowling Club on Wednesday, playing from 8pm for $15.

RODRIGO Y GABRIELA

TWO’S COMPANY Mexican guitar duo Rodrigo y Gabriela has become a firm favourite on these shores, visiting often to play spellbinding songs, both originals and uniquely rendered covers. They’re back this week, playing the Enmore Theatre on Wednesday night with English singer/songwriter Bobby Long providing opening tunes.

"CR TR EA AN TIV SP ITY OR TS US "

CREATIVITY MOVES

LIVE MUSIC

CARRIAGEWORKS

PEOPLE . CULTURE . COMMUNITY Creativity is for everyone. Itt is is nott exclusive. e exc There is no club or secret code to crack. No obscure puzzle to decipher or genetic pre-disposition to wish for. If you are human, you are creative. Being d human equips us with everything we need to feel, to express, to relate, to understand, to imagine and to create. Creativity is integral to human existence. Our lives are our creative act. Get making! Housed in the old Eveleigh Rail Yards, the CarriageWorks site has been a place of movement, since its earliest days. Today, CarriageWorks is home to artistic exploration, creative collaboration, individual expression and collective experience. CarriageWorks exists to open up new opportunities to bring creativity, in all its forms, to as many people as possible. We invite you to make CarriageWorks yours, and share the experience with us.

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UNPLUGGED + UNCOMPLICATED IS PRODUCED BY CARRIAGEWORKS + OCCURS ON THE LAST SATURDAY OF EVERY MONTH

carriageworks.com.au | facebook.com/carriageworks | twitter.com/carriageworks | carriageworks.tumblr.com

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 65 •

live@drummedia.com.au

FILFREA

MICHAEL PETER

OZI BATLA

GIG OF THE WEEK

GO WEST

The winner of the first Inner West Fest band comp has finally emerged, and it’s Blue Mountains singer/songwriter Thom Crawford, who beat out four contenders during the final heat last week to claim his spot on the lineup, along with another singer/songwriter, Leanne Russo. The festival happens this weekend at the Sando. Saturday sees Russo joining Ozi Batla, Sketch The Rhyme, Reverse Polarities, Tuka, Vegas Aces, True Vibe Nation, Seven, Milan, Nikita, Ellesquire, Hyjak, Dirt Box Kings, Grouse, Herb, Optimistic & Illuminosity, Electric Elements Crew and Last Credit, while Sunday, Crawford joins The Hard-Ons, Zeahorse, The Green Mohair Suits, Hy-Test, Fait Accompli, Hailer, Bek-Jean Stewart, Only The Sea Slugs, Bayonets For Legs, Animal Shapes, Andy Golledge, Easy Company, Nick Van Breda, Frank Sultana, Dora Maar and Dali’s Angels. Music starts at 1:30pm both days and tickets are going fast so get in quick if you want to get along this weekend.

GNARLY MARLY

A FRIEND IN NEED

There are a few things happening at the Marlborough Hotel this week. As is standard for Wednesday, DJ Moussa spins tracks from 11pm tomorrow night for the students, while Thursday’s acoustic night is this week helmed by Michael Peter from 8:30pm. Day off on Good Friday and then right back into it Saturday, with live cover tunes happening from 10:30pm courtesy of Party Central - no cover charge either.

Beat poet Filfrea is in a spot of trouble, having lost his income due to the recent disasters in far north Queensland, and has put together a show with some mates to entertain you and get out of the rut. He’ll be fronting his old band The Bolders, with appearances also from The Hoo Haas, Frank Bennett, Tug Dumbly and Benito Di Fonzo, among others. It happens tonight at the Sando from 8pm, with a $15 cover charge.

ORIGIN OF JANKEN

ORIGINAL FUNK GRUNGE Having released their debut five-track EP, Incendia, last year, Central Coast “funk grunge” quartet Origin Of Janken takes the good stuff to the Lewisham Hotel on Saturday. Playing support are Heavy As Fox and The Dirty Grotto. The night kicks off at 8pm and entry is $10.

WATT OF IT Wollongong’s The Watt Riot will be playing a couple of shows this week with Bigdust and Indian Mynah, beginning with the Headlands Hotel this Friday with local psychedelics Ye Luddites. On Saturday, they hit up the Lansdowne with rabid post punk kids Corpus. Both shows start at 8pm and the Saturday show is free.

GOOD GOD, LANIE! With a name that’s unforgettable, Lanie Lane is bringing full band accompaniment to her first headline show at Goodgod this Thursday at 8pm. Playing with her will be Tin Sparrow and GGSC DJ Count Doyle. Head down at 8pm.

FUNK ATTACK The Brass Monkey is getting funky this Thursday with Professor Groove & The Booty Affair getting down for a “funk attack.” Joining them at 7pm will be The Quixotics.

BLACK LABEL

BLACKOUT

IAN MOSS

A ROLLING STONE… Iconic Aussie singer/songwriter Ian Moss, best known as a member of Cold Chisel, plays The Vanguard on Thursday and Friday, showcasing songs from his latest album, Soul On West 53rd.

Feisty homegrown hard rock five-piece Black Label, which has played in support of some of Australia’s best-loved bands in the genre, takes to The Wall on Thursday with Thug, Overdrive and Tryfire. Doors swing open at 8pm and $12 will do the trick. Then ask ‘em about Blood Money.

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• 66• THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

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THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 67 •

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WEST BY INNER WEST

fter the success of the inaugural Inner West Festival last year, the event is returning and has doubled in size. Held across two days this weekend, the Saturday boasts some of the best hip hop and dance acts in Sydney, headlined by Ozi Battla, while the Sunday sees The Hard-Ons headling a huge bill of rock, punk and indie bands. All in all there are more than 30 acts! Drum caught up with Zeahorse frontman Morgan Anthony, Phil Oar from Hailer, singer/songwriter Bek-Jean Stewart, Bayonets For Legs’ Damien Cullen and Chris Burke from Animal Shapes to find out more about the inner west.

CLARK THE DELROYS ZEAHORSE

Historically speaking, there were blue collar workers, then fixie-riding hipsters – who will inherit the Inner West next?

GOOD THURSDAY

BJS: Tell me who the bands are again. H: Well. We have shared the stage with Milan, that was a lot of fun. Would love to get down on some sort of soulful vibe; collaborating with a scintillating performer like her could push us into a new sphere of artistic clarity.

Zeahorse: Neo Hippies. Bek-Jean Stewart: Who else but the people with wad fulls of money. Hailer: Dual income earners, young professionals, middle-class people raising the rental price up and forcing the students and artists to relocate a bit further west.

BFL: I’d go with an up and coming guy named LC-Beats. He does some crazy beat box tunes and plays a wicked didgeridoo.

At the Rose of Australia this week, The Delroys, Erskineville’s finest, bring their take on reggae to the stage on Thursday from 9pm. Being that it is Good Friday eve, expect a ripper from the boys.

HIGH TIDE When you combine roots, pop, hip hop and reggae, you get King Tide. The outfit will hit up The Brass Monkey this Sunday at 7pm to infect you with their high energy reggae.

Bayonets For Legs: The inter-galactic race of Zork people. They travel the distant galaxies in the search of feasting on the brains of latte-sipping, poetry-reciting, sock-less hipsters…

AS: ‘Herb’. Everyone wins.

Animal Shapes: Alpaca-riding yuppies who, like the alpacas, will be the only ones to survive the 2012 apocalypse due to the bizarre radiation/fire/alien resistance qualities of both alpaca fur and tossed sweaters.

Z: Cooper’s Green, ‘cause Zeahorse love the green. H: Sando Lager. We are good value, full-bodied and will leave your mouth tingling.

Guineafowl and Ball Park Music have banded together for the Super Commuter Tour this month and it pulls into the Kings Cross Hotel on Saturday and Sunday, and then The Brass Monkey on Monday. Joining them will be Tin Sparrow.

Seems anyone that’s anyone has experienced something crazy/weird/kinky go down in Newtown Cemetery. Any tales to regale us with?

BFL: Reschs Original Pilsner – Australian, old school, a little bitter, but always worth it.

THE UNKNOWN BLUES

AS: Tiger. It’s wheat-free. We also like to cater to those with wussy insides.

They were playing blues in the 1960s but took a few decades off to do other things. Now Phil Jones & The Unknown Blues are back to play at Notes this Thursday. They’ll be playing with Frank Macias and Los Amigos, and the show starts at 7pm.

Which of the Sando’s tap beers best represents your music and why? BJS: A dark ale. Why? Because they’re in the darkness…

Z: A zombie vampire orgy with a boom box playing Murder In The Graveyard by Screaming Lord Sutch. BJS: Doggy doo doo on my shoe shoe.

NO EGGS

H: Well there was this one time on peyote, New Year’s Eve a few years back, having a Dennis Hopper moment, listening to The Birds’ I Wasn’t Born To Follow, coming to the realisation that fear is illusory.

The Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar is having an Easter Thursday showcase this week with Evil J & Saint Cecilia, Rainbow Chan, Patrick James, Elle Kennard and Macnaught all playing from 8pm onwards.

BFL: I’m scared of the dark, so cemeteries don’t help…. AS: One New Year’s Eve I jumped someone’s fence to have a festive frolic on their trampoline directly behind the cemetery. You know the one. Anyway, the frolicking was exactly as enjoyable as I had predicted… Until the owner of said trampoline came out with his dog and chased me relentlessly around its perimeter. But we soon tired and it inevitably became a Mexican standoff – with seemingly ridiculous stakes. Me on one side of the stretched black canvas. Its grizzly bearded owner on the other (who, by the way, could not be reasoned/pleaded with). I waited for a window (which came when my ever helpful friend howled with laughter from his perch on the safe side of the fence), then – in what can only be described as my finest gymnastic hour – I lunged onto the centre of the trampoline and catapulted myself back over the fence in a single awkward bound. Which act would you pick from the lineup of the day you are not performing on to collaborate with and why? Z: Sketch the Rhyme. I think they are a really creative bunch; we would go together like bangers and mash.

LONG COMMUTE

EMPIRE STATE

SETTING THE TONE UK electronic musician Clark performs a live set at Tone on Friday, along with Ikonika, Hijack Sound and local supports Harmonic 313, Sub Bass Snarl, Victim, Semper Fi and Portrait. The event kicks off at 2pm and will go well into the eve.

Nachtmahr from Austria, our very own Shiv-R and the US of A’s Cervello Elettronico all gracing the stage. Tickets are available from Oztix.

SOME TIME OFF The Holidays are ironically hard at work touring and are playing a number of shows this week. They start with the Beach Road Hotel on Wednesday, the Mona Vale Hotel on Thursday and Transit Bar on Saturday.

GRIN AND BEAR IT Rockers Grinspoon are playing a handful of gigs over Easter, beginning with the Rooty Hill RSL on Thursday and then moving on to Hornsby RSL on Friday, the Roxy Theatre on Saturday, Waves on Sunday and Newcastle Panthers on Monday.

INTO THE BUSH New Zealand group Little Bushman, ahead of Bluesfest on the weekend, skip on down to The Gaelic to play some tunes with The Widowbirds joining the ride. The band is led by Warren Maxwell of TrinityRoots and formerly Fat Freddy’s Drop.

Hailing from the state of New York, indie/alternative dudes The Felice Brothers have finally decided to grace Australian shores. They’ll be joined at the Annandale Hotel this Wednesday by Nashville songbird Caitlin Rose. The show starts at 8pm.

WORLD UNITE It’s an extravaganza from all over the world at the Sando this Friday, with Grendel from the Netherlands,

MICK HART

THOUGHTS UNDER FIRE

HAVE HART

Your music is…?

Just one show happening at Vault 146 this week, with beloved Australian singer/songwriter Mick Hart taking on the venue Thursday to showcase some beautiful tunes from across his career.

Pop/Hardcore/Synth.

Which acts inspired you to produce your own music and why? Asking Alexandria, A Day To Remember, Escape The Fate, I See Stars, Parkway Drive, Architects, The Ocean The Sky.

What’s your wildest ambition for your music?

DIESEL

FUELLING THE FIRE

music

festival volunteers The Red Cross save-a-mate (SAM) program is now looking for volunteers for the 2011/12 music festival season. www.redcross.org.au/sam

• 68 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

SAM is a health promotion initiative that aims to educate people on safe partying. Festivals we have attended include: • Good Vibrations • Future Music • Stereosonic • DEFQON.1 • Creamfields

You must be: • Over 18 years old • Fun, friendly and love talking to people • Have an interest in alcohol and drug education • Willing to attend four training sessions

Volunteers are required to assist festival goers by delivering key health messages, distributing resources and supporting chill-out space visitors in a non-judgemental way.

You will receive: • Free entry into festivals (before and after shifts) • Extensive training • Senior First Aid Certificate

APPLY NOW! For an application pack e-mail nswsam@redcross.org.au Applications close 5pm Tuesday 10th May 2011

CRISIS CARE COMMITMENT

Legendary Australian axeman Diesel, birth name Mark Lizotte, has played both solo and as a collaborator with countless musicians over the years, among them his brother-in-law Jimmy Barnes. He’s also won five ARIA Awards in his time. He brings his tunes to Lizotte’s Dee Why on Wednesday and Thursday, and then Lizotte’s Kincumber on Saturday and Sunday, with Joe Smith and Carmen Smith in support respectively.

GET YOUR SHIT IN ATTN: Local bands! If you have a gig or release in the pipeline that you want to promote, send the details, blurb (no longer than 100 words) and pic (no bigger than 1MB, NO SMALLER THAN 200 DPI and in .JPG or .PDF format) to live@drummedia.com.au. Get in quick, it’s fuckin’ FREE!

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To be able to see the world and share a stage with our favourite bands.

Why should we come and see you? We fill a spot in the scene that’s not really covered by other bands of the genre and there’s always so much energy at our shows.

How do you find the local live scene? The local scene in Sydney is pretty good, though there is a lack of regular all ages shows.

What’s your greatest rock’n’roll moment? A few weeks back when we were playing at the Annandale and Karl, our guitarist, jumped onto the bar twice during the set going crazy and managed not to spill any of the beers both times.

For more info see: facebook.com/pages/Thoughts-UnderFire/114877631866031 myspace.com/thoughtsunderfire

Next available at: Sunday – Valve Bar

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 69 •

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19 - 24 APRIL 2011

TUE 19 WED 20

ADAM PRINGLE BAND: Sandringham Htl downstairs ARMIN VAN BUUREN, MENNO DE JONG, ALEX M.O.R.P.H., ALY, FILA SHOGUN, TYDI: Acer Arena Homebush ASTROSPHERE, FROZZENGOODNESS, JADE, PARIS & DALE, CHLOE HARRISON, TARA LAWRENCE: Excelsior Surry Hills CHRIS DRUMMOND: Commercial Club, Albury ELITE VOCAL STUDIO STUDENT SHOWCASE: Lizottes, Kincumber ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS: State Theatre FERNANDA TAKAI, GRAHAM RANFT, DAMIAN WRIGHT: Playhouse Theatre ACT FILFREA & THE BOLDERS, FRANK BENNET, TUG DUMBLY & THE HELLSONG GOSPEL CHOIR, THE HOO HAAS: Sandringham Htl GRACE JONES: Enmore Theatre JAZZGROOVE feat…, KIM LAWSON, TIM ROLLINSON TRIO: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills JOHN HARKINS: Jazsushi Surry Hills KID FINLEY: The Gaff, Darlinghurst MEN WITH DAY JOBS, JEFF STANLEY, Ben Osmo, Laurie McKern, THOM LITTLE, PHOEBE EVE, JESSE DE ROOY, CAROLYN CRYSDALE, RUSSELL NEAL: Dee Why RSL MICHELLE SHOCKED: Lizottes, Dee Why MYME, GEE WIZZ, + HEAPS MORE!: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe OMG!: Scruffy Murphys OPEN MIC NIGHT: The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle PETER HEAD: Harbourview Htl PETER JONES, UNDER THE PURPLE TREE, + GUESTS: Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick PETER ROWAN: Cat & Fiddle RICK STEIN TRIVIA: The Gaelic TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE, FISHBONE: Metro Theatre XAVIER RUDD, IZINTABA: Waves Nightclub Towradgi

ANNA SALLEH’S BOSSA BOOTS: Cru54 Bar & Kitchen ARABESK: Macquarie Htl Surry Hills BERNIE HAYES: Sandringham Htl downstairs CAM NACSON & BAND, ERIK THE RED: Sandringham Htl CARA KAVANAGH DUO: O’Malleys Kings X CARL MORGAN QUINTET: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills DAVE SEASIDE: Artichoke Café Manly DIESEL: Lizottes, Dee Why FABELS, JO MEARES AND THE HONEYRIDERS, EIRWEN SKYE: Excelsior Surry Hills FERNANDA TAKAI, DAMIAN WRIGHT: The Basement FUNKY METERS: Metro Theatre GAVIN FITZGERALD, CAROLYN CRYSDALE, + GUESTS: Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick HEESCO VS SONNY, + DJ’s: Oxford Art Factory, Live Art Space JACQUES RENAY: Belmont 16ft Sailing Club L.H.I, HORSE BOLTED, PAWN MAGZ, ANTICS DJS: Cambridge Htl Newcastle LESLIE SPEAKER, TEMPEST RELEASED: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe LIVE AND LOCAL: Lizottes, Kincumber LOUIS LONDON, HARRIET WISHKEY CLUB: The Gaelic MALACHY MILLIGAN, CAROLYN WOODORTH, + GUESTS: Blaxland Tavern MARK LUCAS, SASANA CARMEN: Petersham Bowling Club MARTHA TILSTON (UK), Anabelle Kay: Brass Monkey ME: Northern Star Htl Newcastle MICHELLE SHOCKED: Lizottes, Newcastle MISS GRAY, RUSSELL NEAL, + GUESTS: Kogarah Hotel MUSOS CLUB JAM NIGHT: Bald Faced Stag OPEN MIC: Fitzroy Htl Windsor OPEN MIC NIGHT: Down Under Bistro, Woolloomooloo PETER HEAD: Harbourview Htl PETER ROWAN, ALAN CASWELL: Clarendon Guest House

• 70 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

LEON RUSSELL: FRIDAY 22, STATE THEATRE POLKADOT & MOONBEAM: Jazsushi Surry Hills RAOUL GRAF, DANIEL COATES, ROSS BRUZZESE, + GUESTS: Taren Point Htl REPLIKA: Scruffy Murphys ROB WILSON: Hexham Bowling Club RODRIGO Y GABRIELA, BOBBY LONG: Enmore Theatre SECRET SISTERS: The Vanguard THE CONTINENTAL BLUES PARTY: The Rose Hotel THE FELICE BROTHERS, CAITLIN ROSE: Annandale Htl THE HOLIDAYS, GOLD FIELDS: Beach Rd Htl Bondi TRIVIA: Riverwood Inn Trivia To A Tee with The Doctor: Muree Golf Club Twisted Trivia: Wallsend Sporties XAVIER RUDD, IZINTABA: Panthers Newcastle ZZ TOP, ROSE TATTOO, THE POOR: Newcastle Ent Centre

THU 21

031 ROCK SHOW: Bombaderry Htl ADAM RENNIE: Rag & Famish Nth Syd ANDREW RUSSELL: Artichoke Café Manly Andy Mammers Trio: Castle Hill Tavern ANNA SALLEH’S BOSSA BOOTS: Cru54 Bar & Kitchen ANTHEMS ACOUSTIC: Orient Htl

ANTHONY B & CE’CILE, ADMIRAL KILOSH, JAMROCK DJS, UJAHMAA SOUNDSYSTEM: Manning Bar Syd Uni BANDITALIANA, RICCARDO TESI: Camelot BECK FIELDING, HIS & HER MAJESTY, SUSIE HURLEY & THE HURRICANES: Excelsior Glebe BLACK LABEL, THUG, + HEAPS MORE!: Bald Faced Stag BOBBY LONG: Lizottes, Kincumber BONE THUGS N HARMONY: Waves Nightclub Towradgi BOOGIE MONSTER, DISKORIOT, BEATBOY: Candys Apartment BRITISH INDIA, BOY IN A BOX, CITY RIOTS: The Entrance Leagues CHILDREN COLLIDE, RED RIDERS, YOUNG REVELRY: Metro Theatre CLASSIC CRIME, THE JAZZ FACTORY: The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle COMEDY TRIVIA: Exchange Htl Newcastle CRAIG GILES: Dubbo RSL DAVID AGIUS: Harbord Beach Htl DIESEL: Lizottes, Dee Why DISTRAKT, PETE SWEAT, RUSTY MUG, SCRATCH N SNIFF, DAVE MOSA, FRITZLE, + HEAPS MORE!: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe EMERY, + GUESTS: Annandale Htl ETCHYSKETCH, DJ SONIC: Belmore Htl Newcastle EVIL J, SAINT CECILIA,

RAINBOW CHAN, PATRICK JAMES, ELLE KENNARD, MACNAUGHT: Oxford Art Factory, Gallery FALCONA DJ’S: Kit & kaboodle, Kings Cross FUNK PARTY, THE DEADBEATS, PSYCHO PUCKO: Wickham Park Htl Islington FUNKTION: Bull & Bush GARY JOHNS TRIO: Kirribilli Htl GLENN WHITEHALL: Edinburgh Castle Htl GRINSPOON, Strangers: Rooty Hill RSL IAN CAREY: King St Htl Newcastle IAN MOSS, JESS CHALKER: The Vanguard IMOGEN HEAP: State Theatre IRMA THOMAS: Factory Theatre JIMMY BARNES, NOISEWORKS: Panthers Newcastle JOHNATHAN DEVOY: Sandringham Htl downstairs KAYLA ANNE, MAKAYIE FOODEY: Wyong RSL KIM BOEKBINDER, BRENDAN MACLEAN, HELEN PERRIS: The Red Rattler LITTLE BUSHMAN, THE WIDOW-BIRDS: The Gaelic LOS MONOS: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills LOUIS LONDON, THE KHANZ, EDENS MARCH: Excelsior Surry Hills LUKE KOTERAS:

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Campbelltown Catholic Club MAI-ANH, HELMUT UHLMANN, + GUESTS: Pennant Hills Inn MANDI JARRY DUO, BLACK DIAMOND HEART CLUB: Crows Nest Htl MARTIN MULHOLLAND: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar MATT PRICE: Castle Hill RSL MERENIA & THE WAY, REYES DE LA ONDA: Macquarie Htl Surry Hills MICHAEL MCGLYNN: Greengate Htl MICHAEL PETER: Marlborough Htl MIND OVER MATTER, COPTIC SOLDIER, JOHNNY UTAH, DRAKEZILLA, VINCE VEGA: Oxford Art Factory, Live Art Space MOHA!, THE BLACK MOTH: ANU Bar ACT MUSOS CLUB JAM NIGHT: Carousel Inn Rooty Hill NATE ARMSBERRY: Lizottes, Newcastle NOLIVER FIG: Down Under Bistro, Woolloomooloo POWDERFINGER SHOW: Heathcote Hotel PROFESSOR GROOVE & THE BOOTY AFFAIR: Brass Monkey RAOUL GRAF: Northern Star Htl Newcastle RIC HERBERT: Woollahra Htl RON ASHTON: Guildford Leagues SAM & JAMIE TRIO: Maloney’s Hotel SARAH PATON: O’Malleys Kings X

SICARIA, NOT LIKE HORSE, FRINGO, DELABARKER: Sandringham Htl STEVE EDMONDS BAND: Empire Htl STEVE TONGE, CAMBO: Observer Htl SWITCHFOOT: Big Top Luna Park TALK OF THE TOWN: Wallsend Sporties TERRY SERIO & THE MINISTRY OF TRUTH, The Thing O’s, SIMON DAY: Petersham Bowling Club THE DANNY G FELIX PROJECT, THE LEISURE BROTHERS: The Basement THE DELLROYS: Rose of Australia THE HOLIDAYS, GOLD FIELDS: The Attic @ Mona Vale Htl THE SUSPECTS: Marble Bar Hilton Htl THE WALK ON BYS, PSYCHONANNY & THE BABYSHAKERS, TRENT MARDEN, + DJ’s: Landsdowne Hotel WAYPHASER FOX, BERKELEY, The Zebs, HUGH JASS: Melt Bar Kings X WILDCATZ: Scruffy Murphys ZOLTAN: PJ Gallaghers Drummoyne

FRI 22

AFTER PARTY BAND: Canterbury Hurlstone Park RSL ANDY MAMMERS: Parramatta RSL AT THE HOP: Belmont 16ft Sailing Club BIG SHOTS DEULLING PIANO SHOW: Club Five Dock BRIAN GILLETTE: Guildford Leagues BRITISH INDIA, BOY IN A BOX, CITY RIOTS: Panthers Port Macquarie Club CC DUO: Matraville Htl CHRIS ARNOTT: Artichoke Café Manly CODE RED: Kent Htl Hamilton DARREN JOHNSTONE: Fitzroy Htl Windsor DEBORAH SINCLAIR: Cessnock Supporters Club DIALECTRIX: The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle DJ MATT, SCOTTY SAX: Bankstown Sports Club DJ TONE:

Oatley Hotel DONT FORGET THE DRUMMER: Western Leagues, Leumeah FREEFALL: Jazsushi Surry Hills GRINSPOON, Strangers: Hornsby RSL GTS: CLUB RIVERS IAN BLAKENEY: Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club IAN MOSS, JESS CHALKER: The Vanguard INTIMATE LOUNGE MUSIC: Fairfield RSL, Supper Club JOHNNY PAGE: Freeway Htl JOSH MCIVOR: Mean Fiddler Htl KEL-ANNE BRANDT: Kingswood Sports Club LEON RUSSELL, LITTLE FEAT: State Theatre LISA HUNT: Ballina RSL LOS GARBOS & THE TRASHMEN: Yamba Bowling Club MARK TRAVERS: Castle Hill RSL MICHELLE SHOCKED: Clarendon Guest House NIGHT OWL: Down Under Bistro, Woolloomooloo NOISEWORKS: Evans Theatre Penrith Panthers PARTY CENTRAL: Penrith RSL, Castle Lounge PETE HUNT: Panthers North Richmond PETER HEAD: Harbourview Htl RADIO BANDITS: Kro Bar, East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction RED HOT NUMBERS: Engadine RSL SCRATCH: Club Singleton SKYSCRAPER: Hillside Htl Castle Hill STICKY FINGERS, UNDERLIGHTS, MADE IN JAPAN, + HEAPS MORE!: Annandale Htl SYMBOLS, THE LOST FRIDAYS: Buddha Bar, Byron Bay TERRY LEONARD: Dubbo RSL THE CONTINENTAL BLUES PARTY: Barcelos, Naremburn THE CRUISERS: Cardiff RSL THE POD BROTHERS: Jewells Tavern, Jewells, Central Coast THE WATT RIOT, INDIAN MYNAH, BUGDUST, YE LUDDITES: Headlands Hotel Austinmer THIEVES, YOUNG ROMANTICS, NIK YORKE: Landsdowne Hotel

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 71 •

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19 - 24 APRIL 2011 THUNDA STEEL, TEMTRIS, HAZMAT, TERRORENTIAL: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe TIME WARP - THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW: Diggers at The Entrance TROY KEMP: Queens Wharf Brewery Newcastle

SAT 23

031 ROCK SHOW: Scruffy Murphys 3 STRIPE AVE: Oatley Hotel AARON HOOD & THE FIRE KINGS: Murray’s Brewery ALADDIN ROYAAL, MATT FERREIRA, JAMES SPY, + HEAPS MORE!: Home Nightclub ALL STAR DUO: Bankstown Sports Club ANDY MAMMERS: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar ARMPIT STENCH, ROB JENNINGS, CHRIS LEGO: Oxford Hotel BENJAMIN BENOLID: Down Under Bistro, Woolloomooloo BLACK DIAMOND HEART CLUB: Golden Sheaf BLUE VENOM: Engadine Tavern BOB DYLAN: WIN Entertainment Centre BOBBY LONG: The Vanguard BROADWAY MILE, WE SPEAK BAHANA, HAWK BROOKYN: CBD Htl Newcastle BROWN SUGAR: Marble Bar Hilton Htl BUDDY SAINTEMARIE, MICHELLE SHOCKED: State Theatre CAMBO: Novotel - Brewery Bar, Olympic Park CHRIS TURNER & THE CAVEMEN: Bald Rock Htl Rozelle CLUB KOOKY: Manning Bar Syd Uni COUGAR DUO: Hills District Bowling Club CREEDENCE & BEYOND: Diggers at The Entrance CROWDIES SHOW: Mingara Rec Club DAN BEAZLEY: The Mark Hotel DAN MURPHY, JOHAN KHOURY, MARK ALSOP: Phoenix Bar, Exchange Htl DAVID AGIUS: Penrith Panthers DES GIBSON: Lansvale Htl DIALECTRIX: Hotel Gearin, Katoomba DIESEL: Lizottes, Kincumber DIRTY LOVE: Warners at the Bay DJ FOOEY: Queens Wharf Brewery Newcastle DOC HALLIDAY: The Belvedere Htl DOUG PARKINSON: Lizottes, Newcastle

DOWN THUNDER: Carousel Inn Rooty Hill EMILY ACOUSTIC DUO: Club Coffs, Coffs Harbour ENDLESS SUMMER BEACH PARTY: Macarthur Tavern Campbelltown FINN: Wolumla Htl FLOYD VINCENT: Beaches Htl Thirroul FUNPUPPET: East Leagues FUNPUPPET: Kro Bar, East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction GEORGIES PLAYGROUND, DJ SONIC: Belmore Htl Newcastle GRAND THEFT AUDIO: Bay Hotel GRINSPOON, Strangers: The Roxy Parramatta GUINEAFOWL, BALL PARK MUSIC, TIN SPARROW: Kings Cross Htl HAT TRICK, NATALIE CONWAY: Northies Cronulla Htl HEATH BURDELL: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel HILL STREET DJ: Hurstville RSL Club HIP NOT HOP: Western Leagues, Leumeah INCOGNITO: Exchange Htl Newcastle INNER WEST FESTIVAL, Sketch The Rhyme, REVERSE POLARITIES, TUKA, TRUE VIBE NATION, + HEAPS MORE!: Sandringham Htl JAMES LEIGH DUO: Ballina RSL JAMIE HUTCHINGS: Notes, Newtown JAPAN, QLD & CHRISTCHURCH RED CROSS APPEAL, GOONS OF DOOM, THE BUNGALOWS, ROYAL CHANT, THE GO ROLL YOUR BONES, + HEAPS MORE!: Annandale Htl JAZZ EXPRESS, PEACHY: Penrith RSL, Castle Lounge JAZZ NOUVEAU: Fairfield RSL, Supper Club JIMMY BARNES, NOISEWORKS, THIRSTY MERC: Bateau Bay Htl JIVE BOMBERS: Illawarra Master Builders Club JOE CASALE: Guildford Leagues JOHN MORRISON’S SWING CITY, CARL RISELEY: Lizottes, Dee Why KEITH ARMITAGE: Castle Hill RSL KERRY O’KEEFE: Yass Soldiers Club LA TARANTULA, THE SUN CHASERS: Macquarie Htl Surry Hills LUKE DIXON: Woolloomooloo Bay Htl MANDI JARRY DUO: Ettamogah Htl MARK DA COSTA AND THE BLACK LIST: Crows Nest Htl MARTIN MULHOLLAND: Mean Fiddler Htl MATT PRICE: Woolwich Peir Hotel MERRYWEATHER, DEADLY VISIONS, CIVIL WAR, GUTTER STOMP, BRIDGES, + HEAPS MORE!: Valve Bar and Venue,

THE HOLIDAYS: WEDNESDAY 20, BEACH RD HTL, THURSDAy 21, THE ATTIC, FRIDAY 22, TRANSIT BAR Tempe MILLENNIUM BUG: R.G.McGees, Richmond MILLENNIUM BUG: RG McGees MINUS HOUSE, GODS OF RAPTURE, VANGATE, RAMSHACKLE: Excelsior Surry Hills MONANNLISA WILDE, HANDSONICART N BARN, THOUGHTS UNDER FIRE, YOUNG CARDINALS, DYAN TAI, 10K FREE MEN, SPACE TICKET, SONIC IGLOO WITH MONII: Tone, Sydney MONSIEUR CAMEMBERT: Camelot MY BIRTHDAY, LIGHT YEAR, POLOGRAPHIA DJS, SIDEWAYS FRIDAYS: Caringbah Bizzos NADIA FRIED: Ryde Eastwood Leagues Club NATIVOS SOUL: Artichoke Café Manly NEXT BEST THING: Seven Hills RSL NICKY KURTA: Novotel Rooty Hill NORTHLANE: Axis Youth Centre, Queenbeyan OAKS & LENNOX, JAYTEE, ULES, D STEADY, + HEAPS MORE!: Fannys Newcastle OH SLEEPER, THE CHARIOT: The Gaelic OUR HOUSE: King St Htl Newcastle PAUL SUN, ALEX COMPTON, MONIQUE LYSIAK: Fitzroy Gardens, Macleay Street Kings Cross PAUL SUN TRIO: LARRIKINS CAFÉ & LOUNGE PETER HEAD: Harbourview Htl REBECCA JOHNSON BAND: Earlwood Bardwell Park RSL Rebel Rousers: Cardiff RSL ROB HENRY, GEOFF RANA: Observer Htl ROBERT BABAICZ: Chinese Laundry

Rolling Stoned: Penrith Htl RON HENRY: Maloney’s Hotel RUBBER BUILT: Kent Htl Hamilton SAM & JAMIE BAND: Mean Fiddler Htl, Woolshed SARAH PATON: Brewhouse Pub Marayong SHIRAZ DUO: The Entrance Sails Stage SIMON: Marlborough Htl SOMATIK, NOEL BOOGIE, NOODLES, MEEM, + HEAPS MORE!: The Loft STEVE EDMONDS HENDRIX AND HEROES TRIBUTE: Brass Monkey STEVE TONGE: PJ Gallaghers Drummoyne SUSAN GAI DOWLING DUO: Jazsushi Surry Hills TALL POP SYNDROME: Bull & Bush TERRY LEONARD: Dubbo RSL TEZZA & THE TWIST TOPS: Gosford RSL THE BANDITS: Mounties Club Mt Pritchard The Brutal Poodles, ENOLA FALL: Oxford Art Factory, Gallery THE DOORS EXPERIENCE: Matraville RSL THE DUNHILL BLUES: Excelsior Glebe THE HOLIDAYS, GOLD FIELDS: Transit Bar ACT THE J-21’S: Windsor Castle Htl Newcastle THE JUNGLE KINGS: Belmont 16ft Sailing Club THE RATTLE: Cessnock Supporters Club THE ROAD CREW: Coogee Bay Htl THE WATT RIOT, CORPUS, BUGDUST, INDIAN MYNAH: Landsdowne Hotel THE WAVES: Harbord Beach Htl TONE RANGERS: Kingswood Sports Club TOOTS & THE MAYTALS, LUCIANO & THE JAH MESSENJAH BAND, WARRIOR KING,

BONNIE CASEY: Enmore Theatre TRANZPHAT, ARROWHEAD, MODERN ERROR, TEAL: Fitzroy Htl Windsor TRASHBAGS POSSE DJs: Oxford Art Factory, Live Art Space ULTIMATE BILLY JOEL: Blacktown RSL UNDER WOOD MAYNE: The Great Northern Hotel, Newcastle VALHALLA: Blackbutt Htl New Lambton VELVET HOTEL: Brighton RSL WARREN HAYS & HIS ALL STAR BAND, JOE LOUIS WALKER: The Factory Theatre YUKI & JOHN MACKIE: Well Connected Cafe Glebe ZIGGY BY REQUEST: Sawtell RSL ZOMG! KITTENS!, TEEZ, DISCO VOLANTE, THE KID, PRETTY YOUNG THINGS, + HEAPS MORE!: Candys Apartment

SUN 24

2 WAY SPLIT: Orient Htl ACCA DACQUIRIS: Bankstown Sports Club ACE: Brighton RSL ANDREW GRANT, RYAN CROSSON, AUDIOJACK, + HEAPS MORE!: Greenwood Htl Nth Sydney ANNIE O’DEE & THE HOT SHOTS, NICKO & FRIENDS: Wickham Park Htl Islington ANTHONY HUGHES: Oatley Hotel ANTOINE: O’Malleys Kings X AS TALL AS LIONS, ELLIOT THE BULL: Panthers North Richmond BEN FINN BAND: Del Rio Resort Wisemans Ferry BILLY & I: Mean Fiddler Htl

JOSEPH ARTHUR

“... he trances, and the voice, the meaning, becomes bigger than him... It touches something very deep and universal.” 1I',%)0 78I4), 0% 8imes PRESENTED BY

*6-(%=%46-08,):%2+9%6(

&33/ 23; thevanguard.com.au or 02 9550 3666 | josepharthur.com | gaynorcrawford.com • 72 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

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BLACKBEAT DUO: Belmont 16ft Sailing Club BLUES SUNDAYS: Artichoke Café Manly BRITISH INDIA, BOY IN A BOX, CITY RIOTS: Great Northern Byron Bay BRUCE LEE, PATSAN: Queens Wharf Brewery Newcastle CAMBO: Harbord Beach Htl CATFISH SOUP: Murray’s Brewery CHRIS TURNER & THE CAVEMEN: Towradgi Beach Htl COUGAR DUO: Royal Exchange Htl Windsor DAVE WHITE DUO: Northies Cronulla Htl DAVID AGIUS: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar DIESEL: Lizottes, Kincumber FINN, ROSS WARD, THE HAWKS, MICHELLE VAN DER MEER, Lloyd Spiegel, STEVIE PAGE, COREY LEGGE, STEVE GARRY, RON IND: Tathra Htl GAIL PAGE, IRIE KNIGHTS: Beaches Htl Thirroul GEORGE CLINTON PARLIAMENT/FUNKADELIC: Metro Theatre GLEN CAMPBELL: Hurstville RSL Club GORILLAS IN CAHOOTS: Fitzroy Htl Windsor GRINSPOON, Strangers: Waves Nightclub Towradgi GUINEAFOWL, BALL PARK MUSIC, LIME CORDIALE: Kings Cross Htl HORRORPOPS, THE DARK SHADOWS, FIREBIRD: The Factory Theatre IGNITION: Scruffy Murphys INNER WEST FESTIVAL, HARD-ONS, ZEAHORSE, GREEN MOHAIR SUITS, FAIT ACCOMPLI, + HEAPS MORE!: Sandringham Htl JAMIE: Diggers at The Entrance JIVE BOMBERS: Kro Bar, East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction JO FABRO: Woollahra Htl JO KALOU: The Entrance Sails Stage

JOHN LEGEND, LOWRIDER: State Theatre KING TIDE: Brass Monkey KRAZIE BONE, WISH BONE: Oxford Art Factory, Live Art Space LANGE THEORY: Beach Palace Htl Coogee LIFE BEYOND, VILLA RISE, THOUGHTS UNDER FIRE, ABSOLUTION, CITY OF GHOSTS: Valve Bar and Venue, Tempe LJ: Waverley Bowling Club LOVE THAT HAT: The Mark Hotel LUKE DIXON: Maloney’s Hotel MAI-ANH, JASON MATTS, HELMUT UHLMANN: CLUB TOTEM, BALGOWLAH MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD, KIM CHURCHILL, RAV THOMAS: Enmore Theatre MISSION JONES: The Belvedere Htl NICKY KURTA: Woolloomooloo Bay Htl OCMA: Dubbo RSL ONE HIT WONDERS: Penrith RSL, Castle Lounge PETE HUNT: Collaroy Beach Hotel PETER MCWHIRTER: Campbelltown Catholic Club PETER NORTHCOTE, PAUL GRAY, SARINA JENNINGS: Bridge Htl Rozelle PHILL SIMMONS: Campbelltown Catholic Club - Caf‚ Samba ROB HENRY, MIKE BENNETT: Observer Htl SCREAMING SUNDAY: Annandale Htl SEATTLE SOUND: Mean Fiddler Htl, Woolshed STEVE EDMONDS BAND: Kent Htl Hamilton STORMCELLAR: Stockton RSL SUSAN GAI DOWLING, ROBBERS DOGS JAZZ BAND: Fortune of War THE CHARIOT: Cambridge Htl Newcastle THE COBBLESTONES: Ballina RSL THE REVEK: Marble Bar Hilton Htl THE WHITE BROS, MATT PRICE: Ettamogah Htl THUNDABOX, THE DUNHILL BLUES: Sandringham Htl downstairs TONE RANGERS: Mounties Club Mt Pritchard TONGUE IN MOOWHO, SOHDA, KNOCKED UP NOISE, TABOO, WIZZFIZZKIDS, + HEAPS MORE!: Candys Apartment VAN THE MAN - VAN MORISSON SHOW: St George Leagues WE HAD PARTIES: The Gaelic

YUKI & JOHN MACKIE, TONY BURKYS, ALAN GILBERT, RICHARD BOOTH: Cronulla RSL

MON 25

2UP, AL MCFARLAND, + GUESTS: Excelsior Surry Hills 2UP, AUSTRALIAN PLAYED, GREG LEE, JELLYBEAN JAM: Penrith RSL, Castle Lounge 3 WAY SPLIT: Collaroy Beach Hotel BENN GUNN: Chatswood RSL DAN BEAZLEY: Cessnock Supporters Club DAVE WHITE, LUKE DIXON: Kirribilli Htl DAVID AGIUS: Summer Hill Htl GARY JOHNS: Greengate Htl GLENN WHITEHALL: Robin Hood Htl HANDPICKED, CHRIS OLEARY (2 UP): Mean Fiddler Htl HEART BEAT: Tone, Sydney MAMA JANE’S BLUES BAND: Seven Seas Hotel, Carrington MANDI JARRY TRIO: Woolloomooloo Bay Htl MARTY MULHOLLAND DUO, BEN FINN: Ettamogah Htl MATT SEABERG, POWDERFINGER SHOW, ELEVATION-U2 SHOW: South Hurstville RSL ME N IM: Hurstville RSL Club MICKEY PYE: Parramatta RSL MISS GRAY, MISSING CHILDREN, MAI-ANH, CHRIS BROOKES, HELMUT UHLMANN, + GUESTS: Kells Kitchen and Bar, Darlinghurst NEXT BEST THING: Royal Exchange Htl Windsor NOISEWORKS: South Sydney Juniors NOVA TONE: Campbelltown Catholic Club PETE: Marlborough Htl SEATTLE SOUND: Blacktown RSL SPURS FOR JESUS, HANDSOME YOUNG STRANGERS: Annandale Htl STEVE TONGE, ROB HENRY, CAMBO: Observer Htl THE AGGROLITES: The Gaelic THE CONTINENTAL BLUES PARTY: Penrith Panthers THE DEEP DUO: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar THIRD WATCH: Scruffy Murphys TONE RANGERS: Sackville Htl Rozelle TWO’S COMPANY: Kareela Golf Club VENUS, BILLY & I: Maloney’s Hotel WHITE BROS: Quakers Inn

THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011 • 73 •

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BEHIND THE LINES WITH MICHAEL SMITH BTL@STREETPRESS.COM.AU

ONLINE SOUND STUDIO A collaboration between four respected audio engineers – Craig Porteils, Cameron Giles-Webb, Paul Stephanidis and Colin Simkins – and managed by Simon Brock, Online Sound Studio is a new online music mixing and mastering service based in Melbourne but accessible anywhere in the world. Recognising that the explosion in home recording technology has made recording in a studio far less important than it once was, Online Sound Studio aims to provide that all important element in the process often out of reach to independent artists – professional mixing and mastering of their work in a professional studio. In fact, in order to give a few indie acts a chance to “taste and try”, they’re giving away four mixing and mastering packages. To enter, simply go to onlinesoundstudio.com and upload a rough mix of your best track by Saturday 30 April. They’ll put together a shortlist of their favourite entries and post them on their Facebook page by Monday 9 May and then let the public vote and the four winning acts get their track fully mixed and mastered.

FENDER RESURRECTS THE VILLAGER While the electric set like the guys in The Byrds were following John Lennon’s lead and arming themselves with Rickenbacker 12-string guitars, back in 1965 any self-respecting musician in America’s acoustic folk/ singer/songwriter set was jumping on the Fender Villager acoustic 12-string with its distinctive “hockey stick” headstock. Well, Fender has decided it’s time to bring back the Villager with a few contemporary modifications, among them scalloped X bracing and a dual-action truss rod along with a Fishman Isys III pickup/preamp system. The newbie also comes with a new set of Fender Duratone coated strings, now standard issue for all Fender acoustic guitars. Check your local stockists.

301 SYDNEY EXPANDING Based at 18 Mitchell Rd, Alexandria, Studios 301 is expanding, with the addition of a new Studio 6 space, currently under construction. It will feature a spacious, naturally-lit control room with a booth for recording vocals as well as amplifiers. Meanwhile Studio 2, which features a 72-channel SSL 9000k console, has added to its already extensive collection of outboard gear, including two Chandler Germanium preamps, three API 512c preamps, two Universal Audio Solo 610 preamps and two Vintech X73 preamp/EQs, as well as a dbx 376 channel strip and a Joe Meek Twin Q stereo channel strip. Joining the Studio 301 crew is Simon Cohen, previously of East St Studios where he’s worked with Wanya Morris, Jessica Mauboy, Horrorshow and Urthboy among others. For bookings and details call (02) 9698 5888 or check into their website.

SOUND BYTES The Living End spent most of March up at Studios 301 Byron Bay recording a new album. Due out mid-May, Moby’s self-produced new album, Destroyed, was recorded using vintage analogue gear and mixed by Ken Thomas (David Bowie, Queen, Sigur Rós) on a 1972 Neve desk from Abbey Road Studios. Nice to see some bands still have the sort of budget to cover recording in exotic locations – well, some exotic locations. The second album from UK three-piece Friendly Fires, Pala, was variously recorded over 12 months in London, St. Albans, Rye on the Sussex coast, Yvetot in France and New York City, with the band coproducing with Paul Epworth (Bloc Party, Florence + The Machine). Canadian prog veterans Rush are back in the studio and committed to record no song under 20 minutes, and the album they’re coproducing with Nick Raskulinecz is a concept album to boot – Clockwork Angels. Expect it early next year. The “new” eponymous album from Pete Yorn was actually recorded back in 2008 in Salem with Frank Black producing, well before his horrendous collaboration album with Scarlett Johansson, Break Up. Brisbane duo An Horse went off to Vancouver, Canada last summer to record its new album, Walls, with producer Howard Redekopp (The New Pornographers, Tegan & Sara). Sydney’s Our Last Enemy spent three months living in Los Angeles where they recorded their latest album, Fallen Empires, with renowned industrial metal producer Christian Olde Wolbers. Fellow Brisbanites sleepwalks recorded their debut album, The Milk Has Gone Sour, out this week, with Steve Albini (Nirvana, PJ Harvey, Pixies) at his Electrical Audio studios in Chicago, Albini’s former Shellac bandmate Bob Weston then mastering. • 74 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

TIME FOR RIFFS

HEADING BACK TO THE SAME STUDIO FOR ALBUM NUMBER TWO, STONER-SLUDGE-HARDCORE CANBERRA BOYS I EXIST FOUND THAT IN THIS INSTANCE, TIME AND THREE GUITARISTS WERE ON THEIR SIDE, AS SCOTT FITZSIMONS DISCOVERS FROM GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER AARON OSBOURNE.

he future of Australian hardcore lies with bands like I Exist. The Canberra seven-piece, although that’s somewhat revolving, takes influence from a wide range of muses. They’re unique while still considering themselves a hardcore band and are serious about what they do. After releasing their debut album I: A Turn For The Worse on Common Bond Records last year, the band returned to Melbourne’s Goatsound Studios, where that release was recorded, for their Resist Records follow up. When Drum calls, they’ve spent nearly two weeks in the studio and are now in the process of putting the “finishing touches” onto the record. “I guess it’s just happened like that,” Osbourne says. “You always want to have enough time to do different stuff with it, but I guess we just happened to get the basic stuff down pretty quickly.” And with that ‘basic stuff’ of guitars, basses and drums down, it allowed the band to “muck around to do different things that we maybe didn’t get to do when we wrote them… Maybe changing the way some parts were played and then re-doing them and then adding more guitars or layering some vocals and that sort of stuff.” It was an easy decision for the band to return to the same place for record number two – which doesn’t have a name yet – given the successes of …Worse. That record was essentially self-produced, with a little help from studio staff, but this time the band opted to fly in prolific producer Billy Anderson. It wasn’t that

much of a financial strain either, as a good run of gigs and merchandise sales offset a bit of the costs, while having the ability to split seven ways also helps. “It’s not that big a deal,” Osbourne says of flying Anderson out. “Basically it’s just bringing a different perspective in and he’s recorded most of my favourite albums.” Anderson has engineered over 100 releases, including cuts from Fantomas, Eyehategod, Melvins and Sick Of It All. “When you get the knowledge of recording techniques and music and stuff behind you, it can really help make what you’re doing better than it could have otherwise been.” When we speak, Osbourne’s happy at how the foundation of the record is sounding. “We’re a hardcore band and we play in the hardcore scene and I love hardcore, but for the most part all the music I listen to is mainly stoner rock and sludge metal stuff, so that’s where we draw the other influences from, I guess. If you compare this one to the last one it’s a natural progression, still with those influences but just emphasising it differently, I suppose.” Perhaps surprisingly, the art of getting six people (one of the band’s guitarists can’t always commit to being away from home for long stretches because of family and other matters) in a studio together and working cohesively towards one goal hasn’t proved too difficult. “Most of us have been here the whole time; it’s been a pretty collaborative effort I have to say. Myself and the drummer [Simon Murphy] wrote most of the songs, but when it comes to recording and doing all the bits, everyone’s got the same amount… I value everyone’s

The motto that Tama gave their new product the Speed Cobra double pedal really does say it all: “Extreme velocity, serious power”.

The Speed Cobra Double Pedal is not too much unlike its older sibling the Iron Cobra, but at the same time not too alike either. The first difference you notice between the Speed Cobras and the Iron Cobras is that the Speed Cobras feature ‘long boards’, even longer than the Demon Drive long boards. The long boards are designed to increase the speed of the response and, at the same time, require less effort to use. They are incredibly smooth due to the new kinds of bearings Tama has used inside them, the same ones used throughout the aerospace industry. The first thought that comes to mind upon using the Speed Cobras is “Wow – I didn’t know my feet could do that!” They also feature new pyramid shaped-beaters that give much more attack, but you’re not stuck with them if you don’t like them for whatever reason as they are fully adjustable to offer you a wide striking surface on the flat side of the beater too. The ‘Cobra Coils’ are also now adjustable. They can be adjusted forwards and backwards, allowing you to fine tune the pedals to exactly how you want them. Another noticeable difference is that the face of the boards are smooth – Tama says that it’s to reduce friction which in turn will improve control. The new recessed set up of the chain drive really speeds things up with plenty of attack and really light action. You feel so in control of every action you take because they come with such deliberate power and force.

Their approach to equipment has remained the same. With so many instruments being fed into the one melting pot, it’s hard to strive for a select sound. Rather you’ve got to go with what’s effective at the time. “Last time we sort of just used whatever we had with us at the time, this time we sort of mucked around with a bunch of different guitars and amps and stuff. It’s not so much that, it’s more what makes it sound good. It’s not a particular thing, you go with what works.” One of the songs will be familiar to fans as it’s a re-working of Mammoth Falls, a track that appeared on their recent split with Sydney riff-mongers Phantoms. “We still like it a lot and we love playing it so we figured we’d put it on here too,” says Osbourne. And given that this will make two albums in two years, there’ll be some similar threads. “I’m pretty sure I wrote one of the songs for this album when we were in Melbourne for the last album. I don’t know, that’s the way the band’s always worked. We write songs most of the time and then if we use them for something we use them, if we don’t we don’t. But usually when I write songs they’re to go towards something.” But that’s not to say improvements haven’t been made. “Personally I’d say it’s a very large step. This is the first time we’ve actually really utilised the fact that we’ve got three guitarists and Jake [Willoughby] had a lot of time to spend working out the stuff he wanted to do vocal wise, but he’s really stepped it up a lot there. And I guess recording with Billy from America has really made the whole thing sound quite a lot bigger than the last one.”

I Exist’s new record is due out mid-year through Resist Records.

The only possible downside, if you could even call it one, is that it is controlled by a ribbon controller, though many people actually find that to be the coolest part of all. If precision is what you’re looking for in terms of pitch then it’s safe to say that a stylus would be a wise investment.

TAMA SPEED COBRA DOUBLE PEDALS The manufacturing of the Tama Speed Cobra did take a while but when you get your hands, or rather feet, onto these pedals you won’t hold anything against Tama for taking their time. These pedals are fantastic – they’re very consistent and visually appealing too.

opinion as much as each other with how the songs sound.” Without that seventh member in the studio, they’ve been lucky to avoid a three-three stalemate in making decisions. “We’ve never come across that point as yet. Everyone’s kind of agreed with everything for the last two years or whatever,” he laughs. “I don’t know, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it I guess, but for now it’s working the way it is.”

TAMA SPEED COBRA DOUBLE PEDALS The Speed Cobra Double Pedal reinforces Tama’s already strong reputation, further strengthening the foundations of a company known as one of the greats in the drumming industry. Eric Leishman Distributed by Australis Music.

KORG MONOTRON At the best of times it’s hard to find an analogue synthesiser that won’t leave your wallet empty, so luckily for us not only is Korg producing one at a price similar to that of the average PlayStation game, they’ve also managed to squeeze it all into a pocket-sized, neatlooking casing in the Monotron.

Simplicity is the key with the Monotron, but not all of its uses are “switch-on and touch” as you would expect from its appearance. Underneath its hard plastic skin lives the same analogue filter that featured in the classic MS-10 and MS-20 synthesisers from the late 1970s, which you can run an external audio source through. Within seconds your mind goes into tangents of what you can achieve with drum underlays, bass tracks etc. To all of our modding friends, you will be happy to know that the Monotron can be expanded beyond your wildest beliefs. The circuit board is clearly labelled and it will only take a single Google search to find something easy or incredibly technical. Despite the fact that it runs on two AAA batteries and isn’t much bigger than an iPhone, in true Korg fashion the Monotron is versatile and above all rewarding. Keep an eye out for the bigger and more technical Monotribe coming soon. Ryan Mortimer Supplied by Mortstar; distributed by MusicLink Australia.

Sporting a VCO (Voltage-Controlled Oscillator), a VCF (Voltage-Controlled Filter) and a LFO (Low Frequency Oscillator) with a LED visual indicator all controlled by an intuitive layout, this little synth is ready to inspire your creative mind. It’s important to know that the LFO can be switched to modulate both the filter cut-off and the pitch. Upon first use you may believe this is nothing but a toy, probably due to the inbuilt speaker – however, the line out gives you assurance that the Monotron sounds great. It also comes in handy for playing around in a busy place where you may not want to disturb those around you.

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• 76 • THE DRUM MEDIA 19 APRIL 2011

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PA SOUND SET UP FOR CLUBS,PUBS AND SPECIAL FUNCTIONS.RELIABLE ,COURTEOUS OPERATOR. GOOD GEAR ,REASONABLE RATES PHONE JOHN ON 041 8221680 OR 80040439

DRUM TUITION LUCIUS BORICH

Fingerstyle guitar, open tunings, slide, improvisation, blues, folk, celtic styles, music theory, ear training, singing, vocal harmonies, banjo and mandolin. All styles from Doc Watson and Mississippi John Hurt to Eric Clapton and Robert Johnson. Beginners are welcome. www.acousticfingerpicking.com www.rosestudios.com.au tel. 0431953178 iFlogID: 12333

PIANO: BLUES, ROOTS & POPULAR

Your voice has the ability to sing at the Audioslave/ Muse/ Aretha/ YeahYeahYeahs level because of Design. Pick any singer you like and you can sing as good using this relaxed technique. Microphonerecording-songwriting-techniques Beginners to advanced Newtown 0405-044-513 iFlogID: 12731

Studio Skills for Singers & Rappers. Do you want to do a recording, but have no studio experience? Do you get into the studio and feel uncomfortable, can’t seem to get a good performance? 1 hour weekly sessions. cityofninegates.com/studioskills cityofninegates@gmail.com iFlogID: 12320

TEACHER TO THE STARS STEVE OSTROW VOCAL COACH who started the careers of Bette Midler, Barry Manilow, Peter Allan, and countless others now accepting limited amount of private students all styles pop, classical, beginners welcome. Call me on 0408461868

Professional mature-age Drummer/ Vocals/reads/back acts/shows - all styles including jazz - available for casual work. phone:(02) 9807-3137 eMail: nadipa1@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 12371

GUITARIST Guitarist looking for a band/covers gigs i have all my own professional gear, transport and flexible in styles. I am very committed and not one to give in on an idea to pursue. Shane Greig 0408732177 iFlogID: 12713

OTHER Acoustic duo available! Covers and/ or originals. Harmonising Male/ female duo mixing it up between guitars + keyboard. We have a great PA: 2x Mackie SRM450V2 speakers, 2x Shure Beta 58 Microphones, 1x Yamaha MG-166CX Mixer + leads, stands etc. myspace.com/aprilskyproductions 0433 946 982.

iFlogID: 11667

Spaces available now. Specialized tuition from Don Hopkins (Big Wheel, Captain Matchbox). Teaching piano since 1985. Individual sessions. Improvisation, piano technique, theory. Songwriting skills. Beginners to advanced. Get to where you want to be. donhopkins@me.com 0425201870 iFlogID: 12377

iFlogID: 11968

For a limited time. Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au

iFlogID: 12100

NOT AVAILABLE FOR FREE ADS. CL

BASS PLAYER FOR 3 PIECE

Professional sax / flute player available. Can read and improvise. Jazz/ funk/rock/pop/afrobeat/reggae/dj etc. Call Mike 0420435760.

newtown based 3 piece needs bass player think early YOU AM I, POSIES,NIRVANA and BOWIE Wally 0415 158 668

SINGER

Bass player required for Iron Maiden cover show. Must have own equipment & transport. If interested please email warpath6666@gmail. com

iFlogID: 12312

Death metal vocalist Form/jam/ join band. influences: Suffocation naplam death Beheaded Beneath the massacre Call KIeran0414583970

iFlogID: 12788

Female vocalist available for band or duo/trio work around north shore or northern beaches. Chicago trained, I sing jazz/pop/rock. Looking for regular gigs, prefer over 30’s :-) Call Rosie on 0404 127 686. iFlogID: 12404

SONG WRITER CAN I WRITE, RECORD AND PRODUCE A NEW SONG EACH WEEK... FOR THE NEXT 6 MONTHS? youtube. com/helmutuhlmann - Well i’m trying to do it whilst keeping them original, unique and experimenting around with different genres! youtube.com/helmutuhlmann iFlogID: 12102

MUSICIANS WANTED

iFlogID: 12824

iFlogID: 12790

Driven, Alternative style rock bass player wanted. Join full-time drummer and guitarist.Complete recording/s and perform new material. Write and arrange. Authentic gear and tones. Acoustic, electric and heavy tunes. 25-35. Call Anthony on 0425250492 for more info. iFlogID: 12239

Hard Edged Southern Rock “Bass Guitarist” NEEDED NOW! Skynyrd/ Blackfoot/Crowes,CCR etc. Band ready to go. Don’t be shy - “0433 904 419”. NOW! iFlogID: 12322

Inner-west band needs a bass player. Influences: Sonic Youth, The Cure, Children Collide, Die Die Die, The Fall, Yo La Tengo, Pavement. Must have own gear & transport. Call or text 0413943738 iFlogID: 12347

BASS PLAYER Alternative and Rock Style Bass Player Wanted to join drummer/ percussionist and bluesy guitarist in Sydney. Complete recording project/s and perform new material. Pro working gear. Authentic tones. Acoustic, electric and heavy tunes. 25-35. Call Anthony on 0425250492 for more info. iFlogID: 12672

IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE BRISBANE AUDITIONS! This is what Brisbane has been waiting for. All interested Maiden heros Submit your Maiden recording/s or youtube links to OneEdForce@gmail.com Categories include bass, guitars, drums

iFlogID: 12753

Metal bass player wanted. 5-string or B-tuning. Influences include Disturbed, Evanescence, the GazettE, and more. Currently writing original material. Preferred age 18-25, at least intermediate playing level. Practice near Central Station, Thursday afternoons. Contact dragonlugia@hotmail.com for more info and demos. iFlogID: 12679

Middle aged amateurs wanted 4 new band. One night a week just for fun. Blues, contemporary and originals. No demo’s, just a little enthusiasm. Email Stuart on cguscroll9@ gmail.com

iFlogID: 12806

NOT AVAILABLE FOR FREE ADS. CL Commited Drummer seeks Bass player!!!! to form/jam on a weekly basis! infl, Maiden,deep purple,etc.. age open, if interested in jamming/ forming band please, call Davo on 0420 463 161. iFlogID: 12272

OZ Music Central - Join while we are setting it up. GET IN WHILE ITS NEW ! LOGON and Register its FREE www.ozmusiccentral.com.au

iFlogID: 12264

tnob prog rock act looking for bass player and lead guitarist,inluences, chimaira,isis,tool,soad,deftones,la cuna coil www.reverbnation,.com/ thenetofbeing call 0401056876 iFlogID: 12660

Western Sydney Band working on Originals and Covers seeking Bass Player 14-18 years old. Must have own equipment and be available for rehearsals weekly in Penrith area. Gigs ready to go. For more info and audition please call Tanya on 0438137609

iFlogID: 12567

www.myspace.com/tierraoutlaws Looking for a talented, creative and dedicated bass player to complete the lineup. Please send an email with your details (e.g. name, age, experience, fav bands etc.) to: browneye_023@yahoo.com.au First trial is Wednesday 30 March 6pm-10pm iFlogID: 12237

DRUMMER COUNTRY ROCK/BLUES DRUMMER WANTED who is familiar with this style of music, originals and covers. Rehearsals at Botany Tuesday nights. Paid gigs waiting. Check the music out on www.myspace. com/merilynsteeleband Email your interest and experience to; alteregoprom@gmail.com or call on 0403.869.364 iFlogID: 12693

Drummer needed for original Rock band ‘Alexi’. Must be reliable and professional. For more info check us out at www.myspace.com/alexitheband. To apply please email us at chantellalexi@iinet.net.au iFlogID: 12306

Drummer Required 4 piece Funk/ RNB band. Rehearse Inner city 0412231544

iFlogID: 12774

Drummer wanted for metal band in sydney/ most members from hills district. in style of Born of Osiris, Meshuggah, Parkway Drive etc. Please contact on facebook page: http://www.facebook. com/home.php#!/pages/Armorial/126162910766430 iFlogID: 12770

Drummer wanted for Sydney pop rock band, The Sculptures. You are 23-27 years old, focused and energetic, with own transport. Past band experience is preferred. Rehearsals 1-2 times a week in the inner west area. Contact: emailus@thesculptures.net and visit www.thesculptures.net

iFlogID: 12816

IRON MAIDEN TRIBUTE BRISBANE AUDITIONS This is what Brisbane has been waiting for. All interested Maiden heros Submit your Maiden recording/s or youtube links to OneEdForce@gmail.com Categories include bass, guitars, drums

iFlogID: 12755

lead guitarist & bass player looking for a drummer to start orig/cover hard rock band. double kick would be an advantage.easy going & able to jam in campbelltown area 1-2 times a week own gear/trans inf:ted nugent,ukj,crowes,etc.

iFlogID: 12798

Middle aged amateurs wanted 4 new band. One night a week just for fun. Blues, contemporary and originals. No demo’s, just a little enthusiasm. Email Stuart on cguscroll9@ gmail.com

iFlogID: 12804

Parramatta-based band is looking for a drummer who is steady, empathetic and groovy. We play both originals and covers, and we like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Steely Dan, Frank Zappa, Ween, King Crimson and more. Our Myspace page www.myspace.com/thefez_band iFlogID: 12335

wanted -DRUMMER ON THE CENTRAL COAST TO FORM A BAND.1830. influences- marilyn manson,nir vana,placebo,deathstars,old school punk and metal. UP FOR A JAM? contact amber at- blue_vampyre@ hotmail.com .or samantha atbitch_ass_mo_fo24@hotmail.com iFlogID: 12704

We are looking for a drummer to join our original/covers band. Our genre is Blues/Soul/Rock. We have paid gigs booked in. You will just need transport to get to and from weekly rehearsal and be able to provide drum kit.

iFlogID: 12242

GUITARIST 2 Shots Classic Rock Band need a dedicated lead/rhythm/slide guitarist. We have agent backing and gigs till Dec. Rehearse Wed @ Hornsby NMC. Must have gear and transport and be able to gig twice a weekend. Andrew 0418699846 iFlogID: 12666

Guitarist required for Iron Maiden cover show. Must have own equipment & transport. If interested please email warpath6666@gmail. com

iFlogID: 12794

iFlogID: 12757

LEAD GUITARIST WANTED

REBORN seeks guitarist for Blues Rock/Hard Rock covers. Led Zep, Deep Purple, Jimi Hendrix, Black Crowes... We are easygoing but committed, skilled, experienced and reliable. If you match the above call now: 0408865400 (John) iFlogID: 12648

KEYBOARD COVERS BAND NEED KEYS / SYNTH Well established Sydney covers band playing current pop/rock/funk. We are a Agent backed band, all paid gigs, 4-6 gigs a month. Aged between 18-35, with own gear and transport. Please send details to brotherbooth@gmail.com iFlogID: 12717

COVERSBAND REQUIRE A KEYBOARDIST Busy Sydney covers band playing current pop/rock/funk. We are a Agent backed band, all paid gigs, 4-6 gigs a month. Aged between 18-35, with own gear and transport. Please send details to brotherbooth@gmail.com iFlogID: 12715

Metal keys player wanted. Influences include Disturbed, Evanescence, Nightwish, Within Temptation, the GazettE, and more. Currently writing original material. Preferred age 18-25, at least intermediate playing level. Practice near Central Station, Thursday afternoons. Contact dragonlugia@hotmail.com for more info and demos. iFlogID: 12681

Well established Sydney based Pop / Rock covers band requires experienced keyboardist. Paid gigs, agent backed band. Must have own transport, and be between the ages 18-35. Please send bio to brotherbooth@gmail.com iFlogID: 12251

Well established Sydney based Pop / Rock COVERS BAND requires experienced keyboardist. Paid gigs, agent backed band. Must have own transport, and be between the ages 18-35. Please send bio to brotherbooth@gmail.com iFlogID: 12253

OTHER 26yo Bassplayer/singer/songwriter seeking guitarists, keyboards, drummer for restructuring of band “Structures Fall”.Male and female welcome. Lots of songs written and also looking to collaborate...gigs waiting! Based in eastern suburbs. Indie/folk/rock/pop. Contact Roo 0401 497 917 or andrew@guardianproductions.com iFlogID: 12341

Gig Launch, Australia’s first online music booking agency, needs a radio ad! Applications now being taken. Prizes awarded to winning advertisement. Head over to Gig Launch - www.giglaunch.com.au to find out more.

A Talented, Reasonably experienced singer is needed for Sydney based alternative metal band. Age 20-35. Check us out at www.myspace. com/gentleenemies We rehearse in Marrickville. We’re friendly but serious musicians. Please send us a sample of your vocal work to gentleenemies@gmail.com iFlogID: 12781

Australian Katy Perry Tribute, Require a lead vocalist. Agent backed, gigs booked and waiting. Please email bio to rob4004@ gmail.com iFlogID: 12408

Death metal vocalist Form/jam/ join/ band . Influences: Suffocation napalm death beneath the massacre beheaded Kieran-0414583970 iFlogID: 12786

JAZZ SINGERS WORKSHOP - UNIQUE IN SYDNEY Sing with backing band - instruction offered More than a jam session or open mike night Style: JAZZ STANDARDS Locale: WEST RYDE Director: DAVID MILLMAN Contact by EMAIL OR PHONE (9807 8866) iFlogID: 12383

LEGENDS OF ROCK & SOUL - TINA! The all new ‘LEGENDS of ROCK & SOUL’ needs Tina Turner! Agency backed, launching late July, this new show has the goods. Do you have Tina’s looks, legs, moves and voice? Can you sing harmony backing for the other feature artists? If yes then be in touch. We are a super professional, all grown up concept show that runs like a clock, works good gigs and has loads of fun. We need the right Tina Turner to round out our 8 piece line up. This is a full blown concept show, so no ego’s, diva’s or primadonna’s need apply. If this sounds like you, email StevieP on: smplakotaris@bigpond.com iFlogID: 12658

LOOKING FOR JOE COCKER If you look, sound and can move like middle aged Joe I need to hear from you. Now. Rehearsels Central Coast. Call Roy 0418 428406 iFlogID: 12390

Male or female rocker needed for northen beaches rock/metal band. Influences include Alice in Chains, Skid Row, Iron Maiden, Entombed, Katatonia, The Devin Townsend Project and many more. Txt 0410 455 562 for more info and demo.

VOODOO NEEDELS SINGER WANTED Sydney based guitarist and drummer need singer/songwriter to join project/band Must be able to contribute melody,lyric and song ideas to complete 13 songs...and willingness to perform material live. Songs arranged and written....basically need killer melodies. Please contact Patrice 0421741665 or Alex 0420423219 for more details and demos. myspace.com/voodooneedels iFlogID: 12642

Western Sydney Band working on Originals and Covers is seeking a Singer 14-18 years old (preferably male). Must be available for rehearsals weekly in Penrith area. For more info and audition please call Tanya on 0438137609 iFlogID: 12569

SERVICES GRAPHIC DESIGN Band Posters Want professional looking band posters? Contact 1200design and get great posters and/or cd covers for prices aimed at musicians. E-mail: nicole.a.reece@ gmail.com iFlogID: 12406

OTHER EARPLUGS FOR MUSICIANS Protect your hearing with custom moulded earplugs designed to reduce the level of sound without adversely affecting the frequency response of the music. Choose between 10,15 and 25dB attenuation. Fitted by professional audiologist, by appointment only. Ph 9387 3599 iFlogID: 11697

Man & Van available for small loads, removals etc. For rough quote phone Ken 97590970 iFlogID: 12324

TUITION BASS GUITAR TUITION....FOR BEGINNERS...ONLY $30/hour

iFlogID: 12784

iFlogID: 12779

DJ Turntable workshops. Are u prepared for the new MP3 Laws? The DJ Bootcamps Turntable workshops will help u get a plan B together. No laptops. No software. Just skills. Register at www.djbootcamp.com. au for June workshops

Male Singer/Songwriter wanted for established Hills Band. We have major label supports, Festival slots. Anticipated Ep ready to be recorded. Think Birds of tokyo, Thrice, Muse. Aged 18-28. Needs to be committed. Call Ryan 0411372744. Email sammut_88@hotmail.com

Drum Lessons at The Drum Lounge Sydney. Private, all levels. Record your drum monitor mix to CD. Pro gear including dw drums. $20 per 30 minute sessions. 10% off April only offer. call Anthony now on 0425250492 for more info.

iFlogID: 12216

iFlogID: 12670

iFlogID: 12294

iFlogID: 12351

My own philosophy for I am the

NOT AVAILABLE FOR FREE Whichever Owl ADS. CL 19 year old guitarist looking to form creative rock band, seeking singer, drummer, bassist, 2nd guitarist. Must be keen to write originals and play live asap. If interested please contact me at samheidke@hotmail. com Lead Guitarist Wanted for Pop/ Rock Covers and Original Gigs for a Sydney Based Rhythm Guitarist/ Singer/ Songwriter. Acoustic to begin with, full band to follow. Have a look at www.chrisreadmusic.com. au for an idea of my voice/ genre style etc. Song-writing ability and backing vocals are a huge advantage. Please send your interest and bio to; enquiry@chrisreadmusic. com.au iFlogID: 12580

Middle aged amateurs wanted 4 new band. One night a week just for fun. Blues, contemporary and originals. No demo’s, just a little enthusiasm. Email Stuart on cguscroll9@ gmail.com

iFlogID: 12802

NOEL GALLAGHER required for SYDNEY based OASIS cover band. Must have good gear, transport and band experience. Lead ability not essential. Good vocals. Call karl 0415 877 918 iFlogID: 12822

iFlogID: 12359

PLAY JAZZ Musicians wanted: especially WIND PLAYERS Style:JAZZ STANDARDS Locale: WEST RYDE Director: DAVID MILLMAN Contact by EMAIL OR PHONE (9807 8866)

iFlogID: 12381

Young unsigned bands wanted for new venue in Woolloomooloo/Kings Cross. we want to help YOU get a start in the industry. Email dave. downunderbistro@gmail.com or drop into 218 William st, speak to Dave. iFlogID: 12402

SINGER 2 Shots Classic Rock Band need a dedicated Vocalist Mid/high range. We have agent backing and gigs till Dec. Rehearse Wed @ Hornsby. Must have gear and transport and be able to gig twice a weekend. Andrew 0418699846 www.2shots.com

SALSA! SWING! TANGO! CHA CHA!

iFlogID: 12279

pHader are a psychadelic / atmospheric / electronica / rock duo. So far we’ve been gigging and recording as 90% instrumental, but now we’re looking for a singer / lyricist / front person. Age 30+. john@swimmingpoolrecords.com 0405770079 phader.bandcamp.com iFlogID: 12286

ROCK CHICK WANTED A Sydney rock/pop cover band require a dynamic, versatile frontman/vocalist. Preferred age between 25 - 40, must be experienced, own transport and can commit to late night rehearsals, weekly. Please provide a sample of your voice. All the guy’s are easy going, have professional attitudes and enjoy making music sound great. Contact: Kev 0401465318 k.w.saliba@gmail.com

EL PASO LATIN AMERICAN DANCE STUDIO is a premier full time studio specialising in all styles of Latin American Dance & Ballroom. Located in Annandale, EL PASO has a warm and inviting atmosphere, catering for all ages and levels from absolute beginners to performance level. With over 30 years experience as a professional dance teacher and performer, Maestro Carlos and his lovely side kick Carla would love to welcome you into their ornate and fully equipped dance studio. Casual $20. First lesson FREE with purchase of 6 week course $100. Private lessons/ Wedding Couples/ Choreography/ Performance also available by appointment. carlos@ elpaso.net.au OR carla@elpaso.net. au www.elpaso.net.au 02 9560 8540 iFlogID: 12284

iFlogID: 12710

SINGER WANTED - ASAP

SHARE ACCOMMODATION

Experienced Progressive Heavy Groove Band seeks, Strong Heavy/ Melodic Vocalist. Think Sevendust, Tool, Karnivool etc. READY TO PLAY!!! Call Simon - 0413210550

share accomodation with married couple. croydon park. $150 week... for serious single male or female..

iFlogID: 12818

AVAILABLE

iFlogID: 12668

For a limited time. Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au

iFlogID: 12685

TheMusic.com.au

Published on Apr 18, 2011

Drum Media Sydney Issue #1056

Drum Media is a Sydney icon. The people behind Drum virtually invented what has come to be known as street press. For over 15 years, Drum ha...

Drum Media Sydney Issue #1056

Published on Apr 18, 2011

Drum Media is a Sydney icon. The people behind Drum virtually invented what has come to be known as street press. For over 15 years, Drum ha...

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