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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBERT 2011 • 9 •
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www.sydneybluesfestival.com.au P H O T O G R A P H : DA N N I N I X
Contents Issue No. 1080 Tuesday 4 October 2011 PLEASE NOTE: All entries for giveaways are now via our Facebook, so head to facebook.com/drummedia for details.
DRUM MEDIA Giveaways – Look to your left for free stuff, silly! 22 The Front Line hits hard with industry fact and conjecture, plus we check in with INXS’ new singer. No, it’s not Bono.
24
Mailbag – your say on what floats your boat or makes the red mist descend, plus Backlash and Frontlash. 26 The News – just like it says, with tours, releases and more.
28
Lanie Lane experiences a rock’n’roll fairy tale.
34
Okkervil River want you to follow them down a deep, twisty dark path. 36
PHRASE
THE NEW PHRASE For his latest and third album, Babylon, Melbourne MC Phrase dropped the samples and took the traditional Australian route, writing his songs from scratch on guitar. The result is his most successful album yet, garnering four-star reviews left, right and centre. Currently touring the album with a full band, Phrase heads into the Transit Bar Thursday 13 October, Level One at Newcastle Leagues Friday 14 and then Oxford Art Factory Saturday 15. We have three double passes to the latter show to give away.
THREE NIGHTS OF WAITS Over three nights – Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – The Vanguard is hosting one of its most ambitious tribute events yet, to the musical genius of Tom Waits. Taking the stage to perform their favourite Waits tracks are The Snowdroppers’ Johnny Wishbone, Mojo Juju, Christa Hughes, Brothers Grim & The Blue Murders’ James Grim, Bridezilla’s Holiday Sidewinder, Graveyard Train’s Nick Finch and Zombie Ghost Train’s Azzy T, and we have five double passes to the Thursday night show to give away.
IT’S THE THING!!! One of the best-loved horror movies of the 1950s was The Thing, a film that John Carpenter revisited in 1982. Now comes a new feature film, directed by Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Joel Edgerton, which serves as a prelude to that classic, and it’s also called The Thing. Winstead plays palaeontologist Kate Lloyd, who has travelled to an isolated research station in Antarctica where a Norwegian scientific team has unearthed what looks very much like a frozen alien lifeform. Little do they know what they’ll face when it thaws out! The Thing hits the nation’s screens Thursday 13 October, but we have four double passes to a preview screening 6.30pm Monday at Event Cinemas on George Street, Sydney.
NOW IT’S GUNS BEHIND THE BAR Sunday afternoon sees the Petersham Bowling Club hosting the annual family-friendly alt.country event that goes by the name Guns Behind The Bar, kicking off 12.30pm and featuring headliners Spurs For Jesus, along with Brisbane’s Halfway and Rattlehand, local heroes The Delivery, Roland K. Smith & The Sinners and, in a solo set, Johnny Took – the best in Australian country, swamp rock, cowpunk and garage twang. We have three double passes to the afternoon to give away.
AN EP FROM AFAR Sydney four-piece From Afar, built around New York City born and bred lead guitarist and songwriter Adrian Grabicki, who did the unheard of – he flew 16,000 kilometres around the planet to start a band – are launching their EP, World’s Going To End, at Candy’s Apartment Friday night on a bill that includes Seek The Silence, Broadway Mile and The Scenic Road. There are two From Afar packs, each with a double pass to the show and a copy of the EP, up for grabs, with winners collecting their EP on the night.
DOOMSDAY AT THE SANDO We’re what? Less than three months away now from what some people believe will be the last year we get on this planet if you believe the predictions based on the Aztec calendar. So what better time to celebrate the third annual Doomsday Festival celebrating the best in sludge, doom metal, heavy stoner and more? And where better than the Sando Saturday 15 October? Performing on the night are, direct from the USA for their very first Australian tour, Cough, along with locals Clagg, Pod People, Summonus, Looking Glass, Daredevil, Mother Mars, The Devil Rides Out and Rituals Of The Oak, and we have three double passes to the show to give away, with the first winner also scoring a merch pack they can collect at the gig. Please note – prizes that are to be collected from the office must be done within four weeks of notification of winning. • 22 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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Booker T Jones thinks there’s something to be gained from the organic meeting of the warm human bodies.
38
Sinden predicts there’s a dubstep rapper on the horizon who will really nail it.
38
The Amity Affliction gets better at doing the same shit.
40
Mono lets the music speak for itself.
40
Playing solo became a perfect thing for Chris Cornell to do.
41
Time flies when you’re Death In Vegas on a break.
41
Hands up who’s been vomited on by their piano teacher? Right, looks like it’s only you then, Cosmo Jarvis.
42
The Trews try to make their influences work and fit together.
42
X wins the Lotto.
42
Even with the loss of a founding member, Dream Theater is taking everything to another level.
42
Black Dice becomes more punk and direct.
47
Repetition is a very strong part of what Heirs do.
47
Dean Wareham plays songs from 1989 that still sound fresh today.
47
Marnie Stern puts herself out there. 47 On The Record reviews new release albums and singles from Ryan Adams, Feist, Zola Jesus and more. 48 Chris Maric gets local with hard rock and metal in The Heavy Shit.
52
Sarah Petchell brings us local and international punk news in Wake The Dead. 53 Adam Curley muses on all things pop culture The Breakdown. 54 Viktor Krum asks you to Get It Together with the latest in hip hop.
54
Dave Drayton gets Young & Restless with all ages goings on. 54 Cyclone gives you urban and R&B news in OG Flavas.
54
Dan Condon features the world of blues and roots with Roots Down.
55
Michael Smith delivers some Blow with jazz and world music news.
55
Go south as you enter Pedro Manoy’s Swamp Shack. 55 Tom Hawking sends us a snapshot of life in the Big Apple with New York Conversation. 56 Robbie Lowe gives you a dose of music that makes him tick with Lowerider’s house, progressive and techno vibes.
56
FRONT ROW This Week In Arts plans your coming week’s calendar; acclaimed Kursk playwright Bryony Lavery confesses to suffering claustrophobia; Shannon Murphy talks Sydney and its role in Griffin Theatre Company’s This Year’s Ashes; Cultural Cringe wraps up the week’s arts news and whispers. 57 Comedian Pablo Francisco prepares to bring his many voices back to Sydney; Lucky tackles the subject of refugees and immigration. 58 Co-artistic director Andrew Upton talks about Sydney Theatre Company’s 2012 season. 59
LIVE It’s all here: gig reviews, tour guide, what’s happening this week, charts, gig guide, club guide, random shit and Quiet Child becomes more epic. 61 Backstage and BTL – your guide to studios, recording, gear, courses and more.
82
The Classies – need a singer/bassist/ drummer/any other service/product you can think of? Your answer is here. And on iflog.com.au. 85
themusic.com.au, Waste Management & New World Artist Present
NATIONAL SPRING TOUR 2011 SPECIAL GUESTS
KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD THE FROWNING CLOUDS (VIC) THE BETTY AIRS (NSW) Friday 7th October Blush, Gosford NSW | Saturday 8th October Hotel Gearin Katoomba, NSW Friday 14th October The Saoon, Traralgon, VIC | Saturday 15th October The Commercial Hotel, South Morang, VIC Friday 21st October Harbord Diggers, Manly, NSW | Thursday 27th October Byron Bay Brewery, Byron Bay, NSW Friday 28th October The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD | Saturday 29th October The Zoo, Brisbane, QLD Friday 4th November The Bended Elbow, Geelong, VIC | Saturday 5th November The Corner Hotel, Melbourne, VIC Friday 11th November The Governor Hindmarsh, Adelaide, SA | Saturday 12th November The Gaelic Club, Sydney, NSW Friday 25th November Kings Beach Tavern, Caloundra, QLD | Saturday 26th November The Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast, QLD Saturday 3rd December L’Attitude 28, Geraldton WA | Sunday 4th December Newport Hotel, Fremantle WA Wednesday 7th December The Boulevard Tavern, Joondalup Perth | Thursday 8th December The Prince Of Wales, Bunbury WA SAT 10th December The Rosemount Hotel North Perth ‘NOT SO SILENT NIGHT’ Xmas Party
Tickets on sale now from www.oztix.com.au
She Prefers Older Men
FREE DOWNLOAD www.britishindia.com.au THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 23 •
front
LINE
NEWS FROM THE INDUSTRY WITH SCOTT FITZSIMONS
ON SCREEN There may have been only 40 guests at its first ever ceremony back in 1992, but the Screen Music Awards have grown to become one of the biggest nights on both the Australian music and film calendars. The 2011 edition was last week announced as taking place at the City Recital Hall Angel Place on Tuesday 14 November. Renowned actor Noni Hazlehurst has been booked as this year’s host, while Cezary Skubiszewski, who won his first Screen Music award back in 2003 for his soundtrack to After The Deluge and more recently picked up a gong in 2009 for Death Defying Acts, has been granted the honour of conducting the live orchestra, which has become an important part of the awards ceremony over the years. Throughout the night, the orchestra will perform selected works up for nomination on the night. The event, which is jointly presented by APRA (Australasian Performing Right Association) and AGSC (Australian Guild of Screen Composers Limited), is a way for the Australian music and film industry to honour those who usually don’t receive much kudos. This year’s event will feature 12 categories; the nominees and eventual winner of ten of those categories will be voted on by a panel of highly respected composers, while two of the awards – those of Most Performed Screen Composer: Australia and Most Performed Screen Composer: Overseas – will be decided through statistical analysis.
JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE IS NEIL BOGART Last week it was announced that Justin Timberlake will play the role of Neil Bogart, the Casablanca Records founder, in an upcoming film that looks at the history of the label and the characters associated with it. The label boasted names including KISS, The Skatt Brothers, electronic music icon Giorgio Moroder, Cher, Parliament, Donna Summer, Village People and even comedian Rodney Dangerfield. With these prospects for characterisation, this film has potential to be very entertaining.
COAL CHAMBER TO REUNITE FOR SOUNDWAVE ‘90s metal band Coal Chamber has announced they will reform to play shows for 2012’s Soundwave festivals. The band met huge success in the late 1990s with one of their albums even featuring a cameo from Ozzy Osbourne. The band was a part of the nu-metal movement, but they were influenced more by goth-rock and dark music rather than the hip hop influence some nu-metal bands were involved in at the time. Coal Chamber separated in 2003 after personal clashes between band members, and lead singer Dez Fafara went on to form another successful metal band, DevilDriver. “Of all the great achievements Coal Chamber made in the past, getting back together after all we’ve been through will be the greatest achievement to date,” Fafara said. “We’ve all grown up and put the personal past behind us now and are moving forward with these few shows in a spirit of friendship through music… You must remember where you came from in order to know where you are going.” It is believed this may be the only chance for audiences to see the band play again – and will be the first time the band has performed in Australia.
NEWS? ANNOUNCEMENTS? TIP-OFFS? RUMOUR AND GOSSIP? SEND THEM THROUGH TO FRONTLINE@STREETPRESS.COM.AU
STARS CLEAN UP DEADLYS
A couple of Australia’s most prominent artists walked away with the top honours at the 17th Annual Deadly Awards at the Sydney Opera House last week, as the sold out ceremony celebrated the contributions of indigenous artists in the fields of music, the arts, sport and community. Pop sensation Jessica Mauboy ran off with her fifth Deadly award, picking up the Female Artist Of The Year gong for the third time. Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu unsurprisingly cleaned up as well, picking up the Male Artist Of The Year award for the third time in the past four years, as well as the award for Album Of The Year for his acclaimed second record Rrkala. Hip hop crew The Last Kinection was also amongst the big winners on the night, snaring two hotly contested awards for Band Of The Year and Single Of The Year for Happy People, which has been picking up healthy airplay nationwide since its release late last year. Country/blues/reggae/ metal outfit Iwantja Band was the recipient of the Most Promising New Talent in Music award, which has previously been awarded to the likes of Busby Marou, Adam James and Yabu Band. Finally, legendary country music singer, songwriter and performer Col Hardy, who has previously been the recipient of the Medal of the Order of Australia and inducted into Australia’s Country Music Hall of Fame, was awarded the prestigious Jimmy Little Award for lifetime achievement in music.
ANGUS & JULIA HIT THE JACKPOT WITH TWILIGHT Among their multiple film/TV syncs, Australian duo Angus & Julia Stone can now add Twilight to their list. Their song Love Will Take You will be track number two on the Twilight soundtrack due out in November and will no doubt be in the bedrooms of thousands of teenagers in America (a market that is not easy to crack). The pair has also synced their music with shows including Skins, Hung, Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, 90210, Pretty Little Liars and Underbelly: Razor. Their latest album, Down The Way, has achieved triple platinum status in Australia and platinum status in France.
WIN A SPOT ON STAGE WITH ROCKWIZ AT HOMEBAKE Street Press Australia in conjunction with the Homebake 2011 – The Classic Edition festival will give two lucky individuals the opportunity to be involved in the RocKwiz Live performance this December. The quiz will be intense, with good music knowledge required (and no time for Googling). “The whole thing moves very, very quickly so my tip is always to listen very carefully and don’t be afraid to hit that buzzer… They’ve only got a short time so they don’t really have a chance to settle in, they have to jump onto it pretty quickly,” co-host Brian Nankervis says of the contestants. “We’ll look after them and show them a good time, but…once that band kicks in and Julia hits the stage, we can’t go easy on anyone.” If you’re up for the challenge you can enter via Street Press Australia’s Summer Festival Guide website.
PEATS RIDGE WILL GO AHEAD DESPITE FINANCIAL TROUBLES This year the Peats Ridge Festival will go ahead as planned, despite the entity that organised the event in previous years being in liquidation. This was due to the 2007 Peats Ridge festival being cancelled during extreme weather conditions, causing a large financial burden that the festival is still working itself away from. Festival Director Matt Grant said in a statement, “Whilst this has been a very difficult period for all concerned, this course of action has provided a way to secure the Festival moving forward, pay off creditors and still put on a great Festival experience for our patrons over the New Year’s period for 2011.” He also confirmed, “Nearly all of our previous suppliers will be working with us to produce
GEOFFREY GURRUMUL YUNUPINGU the Festival this year and I am extremely grateful for the support they have given to us during this time.”
BBQ’ event at CMJ this month in New York, and will showcase in LA in November.
AMAZON’S “KINDLE FIRE” TO COMPETE WITH IPAD
HOPESTREET RECORDINGS NOW FUSE MUSIC’S NEW PARTNER
Online retailer Amazon has released a new tablet computer, the Kindle Fire, which is a cheaper alternative to Apple’s iPad and arrives following the success of Amazon’s Kindle brand of e-readers. The company desires to be technologically advanced in the market; the aforementioned Kindles were the market leader in their particular field. Amazon also beat Google and Apple to be first with their Cloud-based media streaming system. In terms of how their Kindle Fire will compete, the product offers a price that is about USD$300 cheaper than the cheapest iPad 2 currently available, and is also half the weight of an iPad 2. Besides this, though, the product has a smaller screen, fewer apps, less space and fewer features (no camera or microphone and no 3G capability).
SHOCK PARTNERS WITH EARACHE Shock Records has announced a partnership with metal label Earache Records, a company that’s fostered acts such as Napalm Death, Morbid Angel and Deicide. The label is known for contributing to the underground metal scene and having a catalogue that includes some of the world’s heaviest bands. Leigh Gruppetta from Shock said in a statement, “Partnering up with Earache again after all this time made complete sense to us, both parties are pioneers in their respective fields but have adapted well to the fast changing industry landscape to become progressive companies”.
AAM ANNUAL SEMINAR The Association of Artist Managers is about to hold its second annual event titled Your Music, Your Property. The seminar will involve various industry professionals who will discuss the copyright/publishing side of the music industry and will draw on experiences from selling millions in combined record sales. The seminar will also cover ‘Synchronicity’, ‘Majors & Copyright’ and ‘How to Make Your Collection Agencies Work for YOU!’
FRESHLY INKED Sydney’s The Trip has signed a USA/Canada deal with Radikal Records (based in New York). The band has had considerable radio play in the US with their latest single, On The First Time. They have been confirmed to play at the Sounds Australia ‘Aussie
music
• 24 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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Australian label HopeStreet Recordings has chosen Fuse Music as its distributor for its brand of funky music. Fuse Music is no stranger to this style, as it’s already home to labels including Tru Thoughts, Freestyle and Stones Throw, as well as artists like The Bamboos. In 2009, HopeStreet was created by three musicians who wanted to record an old-school sound inspired by the Melbourne scene they were a part of. It now plays host to artists including The Cactus Channel and The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra. Late 2011 and early 2012 will be see the first full length album releases from HopeStreet.
GRANTS NOW AVAILABLE FOR YOUNG PEOPLE MusicNSW’s project Indent will provide two grants funded by Arts NSW to encourage young people to stage all-ages, drug and alcohol free music events across the state. The grants are the Grass Roots Grant ($2,500) and the Event Development Grant ($5,000) – the first of which is aimed at entry-level type events like local band nights, and the latter aimed at those who have already received a Grass Roots grant and wish to expand their event into the professional/local music industry. Indent works specifically with young people to develop skills and provide advice/resources for all ages entertainment. Applications for the grants will close on Friday 11 November and forms/guidelines are available from indent.net.au.
DANANANANAYKROYD PULLS UP STUMPS Glasgow’s Dananananaykroyd have announced they will split up at the conclusion of the upcoming UK tour. The band has released two albums; their most recent (and last) was There Is A Way. The band said, “We all still love each other very much… for a band called Dananananaykroyd we’ve done more than we ever expected or possibly even intended and we’ve enjoyed nearly every step of the way. We’re very keen at the same time to make sure we’re never compromising or giving anything less than 100 per cent and at this juncture of our collective lives, it makes sense to go out with a bang – which is exactly what this tour will be.” Their final 12-date tour will begin in their hometown of Glasgow.
front
NEW SENSATION
THE NEW LEAD SINGER OF INXS HAS BEEN ANNOUNCED. IT’S NOT BONO, DESPITE WHAT SEEMINGLY THE WHOLE INTERNET HAPPENED TO THINK. DAN CONDON CATCHES UP WITH THE BAND’S MAIN SONGWRITER ANDREW FARRIS AND NEW FRONTMAN CIARAN GRIBBIN JUST HOURS AFTER THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THEIR NEW FORMATION.
C
compared to a hell of a lot worse singers than Bono, so I was honoured.”
iaran Gribbin is a Belfast based singer/songwriter who has performed largely as a solo artist, under the name Joe Echo, over the past few years. He’s worked alongside the likes of Paul McCartney, Groove Armada and Snow Patrol, but his biggest claim to fame was co-writing – alongside Paul Oakenfold – a Grammynominated single, Celebration, for Madonna in 2010. Now he’s the lead singer of INXS. Andrew Farris tells The Front Line that INXS were not actually looking for a new singer at any stage, but one just so happened to appear.
The band are playing one single Australian show, as a part of the World Sailing Championships in Perth on 3 December. It’s fitting, as the band have a long history in Western Australia and Farris is excited that Perth is the first Australian city to get a taste of the new INXS. “It hit me the other day, thinking about one of our very first career moves as a band was to play for a year and a half in Western Australia around Perth in the pubs and up in the mining towns and down south in the wheat belt there,” Farris recollects. “And of course for the Farris’ actually growing up in Perth as kids, there’s so much that ran through my mind; I thought, how ironic is this, that we’re going back to our very roots as a family. It’s exciting; first of all that we get to play such a great platform as that and besides, the weather is just to kill for.”
“No, actually, that’s the interesting thing about this. We met through mutual friends and were sitting around one night and there was a guitar being passed around. People were playing Mumford & Sons and some folk songs and then Ciaran played a couple of songs and I started playing and he started singing and I thought, ‘Who’s this?’” Gribbin says that he’s had a number of incredible experiences in his career, but that was the night that changed his life. “I reckon it’s about two years ago coming up next month. I was on tour with Paolo Nutini and I was staying with friends beside Andrew in Sydney. I think it was the best thing that myself and Andrew became friends before we even considered getting involved as writers. It was wonderful that night, it was about three o’clock in the morning and I remember singing Mystify with Andrew playing guitar and everyone was just sitting there in complete silence listening to that beautiful song. It was one of those moments that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. It’s been a slow process getting it all together, the last few months have just been crazy as far as the relationship and the writing and moving forward. It’s just been hectic, but wonderfully hectic.” One song, Tiny Summer, has been released and when asked if it’s any indication as to the rest of the new material the band has been working on, Gribbin says that their unpredictability is one of his favourite things about INXS. “Songs like Suicide Blonde are a million miles away from Never Tear Us Apart and that’s what I’ve always
LINE
Of course filling the shoes of the late great Michael Hutchence is one hell of a job and Gribbin says he’s approaching it with nothing but respect and hopes to receive the same in return. He is fully aware of the job he is stepping into, but concedes he’s not Hutchence – no one is. “Walking out on stage with INXS as the frontman is an unbelievable honour, but I know the legacy left behind by Michael Hutchence and all I can say is, I don’t think anyone on this planet can fill those boots. The man was an amazing singer, he could write amazing songs – really heartfelt lyrics – and he was an icon. All I can hope is that genuine fans of the band can see that I’m giving it one hundred per cent when I’m on that stage and I’m paying tribute to that era of the band and Michael.
CIARAN GRIBBIN loved about the band and that’s where I’ve always been as a songwriter, I like to push myself into different territories. One minute sitting down with Andrew, one day you’ll be writing a folky, ballady thing like Tiny Summer and the next day you could be doing a full out and out obscure dance track, which is amazing. It’s good to be creative like that; who knows what the next INXS song is gonna sound like?”
When Tiny Summer was released, just about everyone thought it was Bono who had taken up lead vocal duties. Gribbin says he was flattered. “I found it quite hilarious to be honest,” he laughs. “Everyone put two and two together and got seventeen. There are some similarities in my voice to Bono, we’re both tenor vocalists and obviously are Irish. He’s an amazing singer so if you’re going to be compared to someone of that stature you could be
“I grew up listening to this guy, I loved him as a singer and I know the enormity of the task that’s ahead of me. I guess I’m a bit freaked out about it, but at the same time I’ve been a long time on the road and I have a lot of experience, I’ve worked with many stars and walked out on big stages – I’m not a kid, I know my own ability and I’m confident I can pull it off. The one thing that’s really calming me is that Andrew and the band can see it in me.”
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HYSTERICAL IS OUT NOW ON V2/COOP
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 25 •
YOUR SAY
LETTERS@DRUMMEDIA.COM.AU
All letters must have author’s correct phone number, name and address to verify identity – not for publication (NFP)
WHAT ARE THE KIDS LISTENING TO? Dear Drum, Sorry, but I forget the name of the letter writer (Drum issue from last week of Sept?) (How about Felix from mailbag #1079 – Ed) Again bringing up the triple j top 100 list? I thought it was over. Yes, I was fairly vocal about the content of that list; not because some of my favourite bands missed out, but because amongst those bands are the heritage of Aussie rock. Yes, these lists are usually compiled by nobodies and the people who take notice of them are usually a worry, but people do still read them and what annoyed me was that so many great acts will not be exposed to many potential new fans. Anyway, whatever, let the kids keep listening to the same pre-fab junk, forced down their throats by the experts (like, radio announcers? Lol). Also, on the techno/rap lyrics issue (from the same letter): no comment, except that those electro, techno, dance acts are so far removed from what we commonly know as music, they should be placed in their own category (i.e. a category not related to music, but maybe computer programming?) Will I make a few enemies? Who cares, someone has to say what a lot of us are thinking, right? Cheers everyone, it’s over now. Rock Nut Newcastle Needed to have the last word, hmm? – Ed
GIMME ‘HEAD Dear Drum, This is my plea to everyone to please stop spreading Radiohead tour rumours every two seconds. You all know that you’re never going to be right about it and yet it happens every goddamn year around the time of big festival announcements like Big Day Out and Splendour. It’s not so much that it gets my hopes up nowadays, because it doesn’t – it just makes me more acutely and painfully aware of the fact that it will probably never happen and that I stupidly missed my chance to see them in 2004. I was around 15 last time they came out
FRONTLASH
and if you asked me to name a song I probably could have sung Creep at you, just like every other person ever, but maybe a year after that I fell heavily into it all and curse myself daily now for not waking up to their brilliance earlier than that. Apparently the band’s recent Glastonbury set was pretty much exclusively made up of King Of Limbs tracks and sure, it’s not the best thing they’ve put out by a long shot, but I’d still marry off my firstborn to be able to see them. Sad times for all. So please, please, have some mercy on my poor soul and stop all this talk. If one day it is true I will be very happy, but as I said, pretty sure it won’t be, given the way Mr Yorke apparently feels about flying over here (bad for the environment, or something… I’m sure Mother Nature is fully supportive of your Australian fans, Thom). Until such a day comes (never), let’s talk about something else so that I don’t have to think about what could have blissfully been. Peta Turramurra Right, well they’re ruled out of Big Day Out. Shall we place bets on them for Splendour 2012? Oh, sorry… Ed (O’Brien? See what I did there…?)
BACKLASH
KANYE
CREDIT CARDS
Alright Yeezy, it’s pretty sweet you’re coming back, but you had ballerinas at Splendour. What will you do for the Big Day Out?
Hands up who’s worried theirs will face a major meltdown in the face of all these awesome tour announcements?
AND JUSTICE FOR ALL
G’N’R
For anyone that caught Justice at Parklife in 2007, it’s been a long wait for the return of their live show in Australia. Field Day teased us last year with a DJ set, but now they’re returning, amps and all - and not only that, we get the world premiere of their new show.
It’s sweet they’re up for a nomination for the Rock’n’Roll Hall Of Fame, but if they do end up getting it, Axl better kiss and make up with the others because we want an original line-up reunion here.
C’EST BON Not quite an extended sunset set like he’ll do at Golden Plains, but Bon Iver at the Opera House will be pretty spesh.
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• 26 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 27 •
NEWS@DRUMMEDIA.COM.AU Due to recording commitments, American Motown legends The Temptations have cancelled their Australian tour, which included an evening at The Basement Circular Quay Tuesday 11 October. Lime Cordiale will be opening for American-born Englishman Cosmo Jarvis when he comes to GoodGod Wednesday 12 October. Coming to town to play the Sydney Showgrounds Saturday 26 November as part of Stereosonic, Swiss melodic techno artist Deetron releases his latest two-CD collection of remixes, Balance 20, Friday 4 November.
THUNDAMENTALS
THUNDA FROM DOWN UNDA
London-based electronic/noise/avant pop/rock expats HTRK return home for the first time in five years to play GoodGod Thursday 24 November, with special guests Melbourne’s Lost Animal and Kirin J. Callinan. Brisbane’s 8 Ball Aitken launches his new single, Hit The Road, Sunday at the Old Fitzroy Hotel in Woolloomooloo. Melbourne/Hobart-based singer/songwriter Adam Cousens and his four-piece band are showcasing their latest single, This Road Ahead, Monday at The Phoenix in Canberra, Wednesday 12 at Low 302 and the Phoenix Theatre in Wollongong Thursday 13 October. Three-piece Electric Empire has a new single, Yes I Will, to launch and they’re doing that Thursday 13 October at Upstairs Beresford, with guests The Danny G Felix Project.
FEARLESS VAMPIRE KILLERS Melbourne four-piece The Fearless Vampire Killers, who release their debut album, Batmania, Friday 14 October, will be taking advantage of being in Sydney in person over two nights opening for Lanie Lane at The Vanguard Friday 4 and Saturday 5 November.
EMPIRES OF THE THOUSANDS
Based around the songwriting team of Clint Boge and Trizo, Thousand Needles In Red has become a force to be reckoned with in the Australian heavy music scene. Having been around only since last year, the group has built a strong following and impressed with its live shows and debut EP, and now there’s an album to add to the collection too. Empires was released mid-September and reached the top five of the Australian Top 10 Rock Albums chart on iTunes the day after it came out, and also charting on the AIR and ARIA charts. Now that the self-produced record is out for the world to embrace, the band will embark on a tour to bring its songs alive, hitting City Diggers Thursday 17 November and The Gaelic Friday 18.
TAKE CHARGE
DO YOU KNOW?
Four-piece art rock band Charge Group is a Sydney favourite, rocking out with guitar, bass, drums and violin. Since touring Europe in 2009, the band members have been busy with other pursuits, working with bands like Palace Of Fire and Firekites. Now they’re back though, taking over the East Coast to launch Run/The Gold Is Gone, their newest single and double A-side EP. Saturday 13 October they hit GoodGod, with Cuba Is Japan and Scissor Lock in tow.
Adelaide indie dance punks Messrs, formerly known as The Touch, have a new single to share. It’s called Everyone Knows and was initially penned in under half an hour, then produced with the help of G.L.O.V.E.S (Cat Call, Cut Copy, Miami Horror). The synth-tastic tune is released Friday, and it was the demo of this song that allowed the band to play the 2011 Great Escape festival in the UK. Find out what the fuss is all about Saturday 26 November, when Messrs head to Sydney and play the Upstairs Beresford.
HARBOUR FRENZY
MUSICAL MEMORIES
There sure are a lot of options popping up for how to spend your NYE – the latest announcement comes courtesy of Falcona and Cargo, who’ve teamed up to present, once again, New Year’s Eve On The Harbour at Cargo Bar and Lounge. This year’s headliner is Architecture In Helsinki, playing live, as well as, from the US, French Horn Rebellion and club sensation Luke Million. The decks will be manned by Yacht Club DJs, Sampology, Sosueme DJs and many more. Tickets are on sale from midday on Monday.
A very unique and special performance is locked in for Wednesday 9 November at The Basement Circular Quay psychedelic UK singer/songwriter Robyn Hitchcock and legendary producer Joe Boyd team up for Live And Direct From 1967. On the night, they’ll combine music and spoken word to revisit tunes and tales from Boyd’s career, which includes working with Pink Floyd, Nick Drake, Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix. Hitchcock will provide the tunes, Boyd will provide the memories – set to be a very special night indeed.
SLUG IT OUT
MYLES MAYO
Local band Only The Sea Slugs is releasing a new mini-album, Street Music, the follow-up to 2009’s Dreamstate EP. They’ve enjoyed strong support from triple j and other industry supporters, and in 2008 won the STICK OUT competition, picking up $100,000 worth of prizes, including some Drum love. This year the band has already released two singles, Big Sky and Moonpark, embarking on plenty of tours, and here comes another one – on their run down the East Coast this month, Only The Sea Slugs hit Spectrum Saturday 22.
REASON
Melbourne five-piece Loon Lake gets the chance to showcase a new single, Bad To Me, and more Saturday 19 November at The Metro when they open for Jebediah.
THE REASON
American soul and R&B crooner Eric Benét is making his first appearance in Australia this month, playing intimate solo showcase shows that will cover his two decade-plus career. In 1996 he released his debut album, True To Myself, and received a Grammy nomination for his next effort, A Day In The Life. His most recent album, Lost In Time, was released last year and its single, Sometimes I Cry, topped the Billboard R&B single chart. Thursday he plays up close and personal at Home.
The new Reason album, Window Of Time, will be released in November on Obese Records, another chapter in the journey that is his two decade-plus long career in Australian hip hop. Featuring the likes of Lazy Grey, Lotek, Suffa and UK artists AJ and Iron Braydz, plus more special guests, the album sees Reason exploring his roots and expanding on them. With special guests AJ, Mass MC and more, Reason joins up with Jedi Mind Tricks at The Factory on Thursday 8 December, also with Outerspace (US).
Melbourne’s Leek & The War Wick Tragedy will head out on tour in November to promote the first single from an upcoming album, expected for a March 2012 release, taking a break from some relentless studio work. 20-year-old Luke Humphries is the brains of the project, citing his influences as The Beatles, Leonard Cohen and Brian Jonestown Massacre, and has received airplay on triple j and independent stations for his work. The Beg & Plead tour hits The Brass Monkey Friday 18 November with The Childs and The View, The Patch Saturday 19 (free show) and an all ages gig at Mars Hill Café Sunday 20, with Dylan Nash, Pat Ortiz and Tara Favell.
OVER AND OUT
• 28 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
Celebrated songwriter Tim Finn will perform songs from across his career when he once again hits the road next month. Recently releasing a new album, The View Is Worth The Climb, the Split Enz founder has been an important musical force in his native New Zealand and Australia for many years. Expect new songs and old, solo and band, when he plays The Playhouse on Thursday 3 November, The Metro Friday 4 and Belmont 16ft Sailing Club Saturday 19.
DOOM AND GLOOM With the Doomsday Festival happening Saturday 15 October at the Sando, featuring American band Cough on Australian shores for the first time, there have also been a bunch of sideshows announced, with Cough headlining and a local lineup at each venue. Sunday 16 they’re back at the Sando with Boonhorse, Arrowhead, Adrift For Days, Birdmouth and Lomera, Wednesday 19 at The Patch with Looking Glass and Stone Ox, and Thursday 20 at The Basement Belconnen with Pod People, I Exist and Looking Glass.
Adelaide singer/songwriter Myles Mayo is hitting the road to introduce himself and his eponymous debut album, released earlier this year, and his new EP, Leave The Party, and does just that Friday 21 October at The Vanguard. The irrepressible Dave Graney brings The Lurid Yellow Mist back up the Hume from Melbourne to play the Camelot Lounge Friday 11 November and the Great Northern Newcastle Saturday 12.
JOIN THE CLIMB
WINTER AGAIN These days Martin Cooke, who founded cult ‘90s group Gaslight Radio, is travelling as Marlon Winterbourne, an enigmatic stage name and distinct persona that makes music Cooke has dubbed “lonely folk”. It’s an intimate affair, with Cooke helming all the instruments himself, and Merry Go Round On The Moon is the whimsical album that the project has created. Friday 21 October, Marlon Winterbourne introduces himself to Sydney audiences for the first time with a free album launch show at Low 302, with special guest Catherine Traicos.
DEAD EXCITED The four dapper gents from Melbourne who call themselves The Dead Leaves when they’re making music together are pretty excited about the release of their upcoming debut album, Cities On The Sea. They recently wowed at the BIGSOUND conference in Brisbane, and now that that’s out of the way their new single, If The Shoe Fits, is the next order of business. It’s a taste of what’s to come when the album hits shelves in November, and you can catch the band in action this week flogging the single and more at the Beach Road Hotel on Wednesday, FBi Social Thursday, Northern Star Friday and Transit Bar Saturday. The Owls will also be playing at FBi Social and Northern Star.
YOU’RE SO VAIN Crayon Fields frontman Geoffrey O’Connor is currently charming his way around the US with cheeky Swedish singer/songwriter Jens Lekman, but when he makes his way back to our shores it’ll be to tour around the release of his debut solo album, Vanity Is Forever. Having already received the nod of approval from indie music bible Pitchfork for the album’s first single, Whatever Leads Me To You, the album is now out for all discerning ears to embrace. With his backing band, he plays a launch show at GoodGod Friday 18 November, where Twerps will also be launching their newie.
DON’T TELL MUM The provocatively named Melbourne roots rockers Puta Madre Brothers (translating to “fuck your mother brothers” – lovely!) have been busy putting down tracks for their upcoming second album full of tunes that blend Mariachi, soul and garage, as well as playing in interesting locations all around Europe. Back on home soil in November, they’ll be previewing their new album and peddling a limited 7” single of the single Para Su Madre, exclusively at the shows. Saturday 5 November is their only Sydney date, where they’ll team up with Wollongong’s Mother & Son to play the Lansdowne.
GRAMOPHONEDZIE IN THE HOUSE
THESE KIDS WEAR CROWNS
Queensland alt. rockers Epidemic… Over are leaving the sunshine state to head down the East Coast over the next couple of months, spreading the word on their newest single, The Stone, released digitally via iTunes and Bandcamp at the end of this month. The single is the first taste of five-track EP, Long Way Home, planned for a February 2012 release, and was recorded and produced by Clint Vincent of Melodyssey. Thursday 3 November they play Valve Bar, Friday 4 SFX at the St James Hotel and Saturday 5 Blush Nightclub.
Hip hoppers Thundamentals are a force to be reckoned with, winning over plenty of music fans with their explosive live performances. They’re also pretty darn massive on record, with their latest album, Foreverlution, hitting shelves six weeks ago and securing them a support slot with Drapht. They’re on that tour right now but after it wraps up they hit the road straightaway on their own terms, officially launching the album. Tickets are on sale Friday for the shows at Hotel Gearin Katoomba Friday 18 November, Cambridge Hotel Newcastle Saturday 19 and Oxford Art Factory Saturday 26.
POP/PUNK CROWN The new kids on the pop/punk block, Canada’s These Kids Wear Crowns have just released their debut album, Jumpstart, and the single of the same name has been burning up airwaves around the world. Catchy tunes will abound when the band heads to Australia for the first time ever next month, playing an all ages show at The Metro on Sunday 6 November. Tickets are on sale Friday at 9am.
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All the way from Serbia, Gramophonedzie is a rising star in the genre of house music, having first caught worldwide attention in 2009 with Why Don’t You. He’s since released a slew of other tracks that have burned up dance floors around the world, as well as remixing the likes of DJ Sneak, Professor Green and Kraak & Smaak. This year’s single, No Sugar, was created collaboratively with Joey Negro and Shea Soul, hitting the top ten on Beatport and Traxsource. Having last visited Australia in November 2010, Gramophonedzie is back for another go next month, playing at the City Hotel Friday 4 November.
STICK OUT YOUR TONGUE The Sextape is the latest release from Aussie hip hop star The Tongue, released for free and covering heavy topics from pregnancy to STDs, homophobia to polygamy. They’re tricky issues to approach and yet he’s done it on this mix tape, collaborating with guests including Bias B, Toe-Fu (The Herd), Nick Lupi (Spit Syndicate) and more. Check it out, and more, at the Kings Cross Hotel on Friday, where The Tongue is performing for free.
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SAM SIMMONS AND THE PRECISE HISTORY OF THINGS WINNER
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BOOK NOW: FACTORYTHEATRE.COM.AU OR 9550 3666 THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 29 •
BACK FROM UNDERGROUND
M A R L E Y
Australian alternative rockers Underground Lovers split unofficially in 2002, and now, almost a decade later, they’ll be reforming once again next month for a couple of super special shows on the back of Wonderful Things: Retrospective, a CD release that covers the band’s tenyear career. Alongside singles like Promenade, Holiday and Your Eyes, the release also includes Losin’ It, which hit the top 20 in the 1994 triple j Hottest 100. The album is available from 4 November, and the band will play The Factory on Friday 18 November. Tickets are on sale Wednesday 12 October.
FESTIVAL NEWS www.thehouseofmarley.com.au
KOOKS
LEAPS AND STRIDES Flying the flag high for the genres of reggae, Afrobeat and hip hop, Sydney’s own The Strides released their second album, Reclamation, earlier this year. That record earned them some serious accolades, among them being named ABC Radio National’s Album of the Week and comparisons to The Cat Empire. It’s only now that they’ve gotten round to touring the new album in its own right, hitting both metropolitan and regional areas over the next two months. Saturday 5 November they’re at the Heritage Hotel, Thursday 17 505, Thursday 24 Shore Club, Friday 25 Great Northern Newcastle and Sunday 27 The Brass Monkey.
JUST DROPPING BY
BON IVER
BIG LINE-UP OUT The drip feed announcing 2012’s Big Day Out festival tour lineup began at 8pm last night, with approximately one act announced every ten minutes until 10pm. This morning, Tom and Alex on triple j had the pleasure of announcing the three major headliners – ’90s grunge giants Soundgarden, hip hop sensation Kanye West and British rockers Kasabian. The lineup also features festival favourites My Chemical Romance, Foster The People and Girl Talk, plus shock rap posse OFWGKTA, Kentucky rockers Cage The Elephant and lo-fi popsters Best Coast. Fans of experimental and electronic will get their fix with Röyksopp and Battles, while punk and hardcore lovers will be glad that The Bronx’s Mariachi El Bronx will make an appearance, as will local favourites Parkway Drive, Frenzal Rhomb and The Getaway Plan. Of course, there’s also the usual Australian crowd in the form of Architecture In Helsinki, Hilltop Hoods, Boy & Bear, The Jezabels and The Living End. A large percentage of these acts have toured Australia in the last 18 months, but several are visiting these shores for the first time.
NEW TUNES IN NEWTOWN Newtown Festival has become a fixture in Sydney’s inner west come springtime, and with 16 acts announced to perform across two stages on Sunday 13 November, this year’s lineup boasts some impressive names. The main stage, located on Federation Road, will see Bec Standridge, Newtown locals Richard Cuthbert & Band, folksters Tin Sparrow, gypsies The Barons Of Tang, Sticky Fingers and hip hop heavyweights Spit Syndicate alongside interstate visitors Gossling (Vic) and Dubmarine (Qld). On the Essential Stage, located on Lennox Street, garage rockers Royal Chant, country storyteller Lachlan Bryan & The Wildes, popsters Slow Down Honey, indie faves Betty Airs, folk acoustic pair Georgia Fair and indie art pop maniacs Aleks & The Ramps will all share the stage with sibling rockers Stonefield and Sydney indie legend Ghostwood.
FIELDS OF GOLD It seems to be the morning of festival announcements, with the first two acts for 2012’s Golden Plains festival now in – indie folk troubadour Bon Iver and psychrock pioneer Roky Erickson, playing his first ever Australian shows. Justin Vernon, AKA Bon Iver, hardly needs any introduction, having risen as one of indie’s hottest stars over the last few years. His last Australian appearance was in 2008, when he wowed around the country with achingly beautiful and intimate performances. On the back of his latest, self-titled album, he’ll be playing a special extended sunset set with his ninepiece band in the beautiful surrounds of the Golden Plains festival. He has also already announced his dates around Australia outside of the festival, playing three nights at the Sydney Opera House Sunday 11 to Tuesday 13 March. Roky Erickson has been active in music
SOUNDGARDEN
ALOE BLACC
since the ’60s, since then releasing almost 25 albums in total, both solo and with the 13th Floor Elevators. His most recent album, 2010’s True Love Cast Out All Evil, saw him backed by fellow Texan and indie favourites Okkervil River. The upcoming festival will also see the introduction of a new wine bar, serving local wines from the afternoon until late (or early, depending on how you look at it). The ballot is now open for your chance to secure tickets, so head to goldenplains.com.au before 10pm on Friday 14 October, follow the prompts and keep your fingers and toes tightly crossed.
CATCH THE FLEET Finally, the sideshows we’ve all been waiting for! The pastoral sounds of Seattle’s Fleet Foxes will also hit Sydney shores come January after the group plays at the Falls Festivals, with two dates announced at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall. Monday 2 and Tuesday 3, experience the band’s new album, Helplessness Blues, live, as well as inevitably a smattering of tracks from their much-loved self-titled debut album. They last played in Sydney in early 2009. Tickets are on sale 9am Tuesday 11 October.
BLACC IS BACK The American soul brother who travels musically as Aloe Blacc has announced that, on top of his Falls Festival and Southbound appearances that both cap off 2011 and kickstart 2012, he’ll be playing headline shows around Australia, with our own Electric Empire and Maya Jupiter in support. Mixing soul and R&B, the singer’s track, I Need A Dollar, has burned up charts worldwide and has been sitting pretty in the Top 20 of the ARIA singles for 14 staggering weeks. Your chance to hear it, and more, live is coming up quickly – he’ll be playing the Enmore Theatre Wednesday 4 January, and tickets are on sale 9am Friday.
BEIRUT TO SYDNEY
STONEFIELD
On the back of new album, The Rip Tide, Zach Condon and friends, who travel collectively as Beirut, have already announced that they’ll be charming crowds at the Falls and Southbound festivals this summer. Now they’ll be hopping on a plane to Sydney to play a very special show at the Sydney Opera House Concert Hall on Thursday 5 January, a perfect way to kick off a new year. Tickets are on sale from 9am Tuesday 11 October.
VERY SUPERSTITIOUS Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions are finally set to visit Sydney after sell-out dates in Melbourne, on the back of their newest album, Future Universe, which Peno has tapped as his best work since the definitive Died Pretty record, Doughboy Hollow. The album is out now, so grab it and have a listen before heading to The Vanguard on Friday 18 November, where the band will be launching it with special guest Loene Carmen doing the support slot.
NO PROBLEMS Hailing from our own fine city of Sydney, five-piece Kobra Kai first came to attention in 2007 when they performed at Parklife, thanks to winning the triple j Unearthed competition. Since then they’ve played at the Big Day Out, Future Music, Stereosonic and more coveted festival slots, also having supported international names including Skrillex and Concord Dawn. The next step for the band is to release a debut album, and that’s just what’s happening on Monday, when the self-titled album hits shelves. They’ve already released a single from that album, Your Problem, which has seen some frantic downloading action online. The Mind On The Ceiling tour is happening throughout November and December, hitting the Woodport Inn Saturday 19 November, Mona Vale Hotel Thursday 24, Cambridge Hotel Friday 2 December, The Patch Friday 9, The Gaelic Saturday 17 and Canberra’s Clubhouse Sunday 18.
KOOKY TUNES With their third and latest album, Junk Of The Heart, just released, British indie popsters The Kooks are bringing their upbeat tunes to Australia in December and January as part of the Falls and Southbound festival lineups. If you’re a bit of a fan and can’t make any of those and are a little bummed about it, don’t be – the band has announced sideshows to happen all around the country in January. They’ve sold out two tours in our fine country previously, so be sure to snap a ticket up Tuesday 11 October for the show at the Hordern Pavilion Friday 6 January.
FLEET FOXES
THE BEARDS
FIVE YEARS OF CHERRY
HAVING A FIELD DAY The New Year’s Day festival Field Day, held at The Domain on the first day of every year, has announced its first lineup of artists on triple j, spearheaded by mighty French electronic duo Justice, playing their upcoming album, Audio, Video, Disco – due out at the end of October – for the first time live anywhere in the world. They’re joined by Crystal Castles, Moby, unstoppable Australian indie artist Gotye, Tiga, Busy P, Metronomy, Skream & Benga, Jack Beats, Yuksek, Spank Rock, Foreign Beggars, Young MC, Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs and 12th Planet.
BEIRUT
www.summerfestivalguide.com.au • 30 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
‘80s rockers Dropbears are back and at it again, teaming up once more for a weekend of throwback shows to celebrate the release of their first album on iTunes. The band achieved a few minor chart hits in their heyday, notably 1984’s Shall We Go, but decided to call it a day in 1986 after rocking out on stage with the likes of U2, The Cure and New Order. Joined by guests Jak Housden (The Whitlams, The Badloves) and Sandi Chick (Rockmelons), Dropbears will play Thursday 10 November at The Brass Monkey, Friday 11 at the Sando and Sunday 12 at Viva-La-Gong festival in Wollongong.
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Black Cherry is turning five, and like any five-year-old would expect, a birthday party is most certainly in order. Saturday 15 October, The Factory says a big HB to the event by throwing a shindig featuring the musical stylings of The Beards, The Rumjacks, The Go-Go Haunters and The Hollywood Hombres, as well as Jungle Rump Rock’n’Roll Karaoke, where you can be the star of the show. There’ll also be plenty of beautiful burlesque performers, as well as DJs Jane Gazzo, Stu (Zombie Ghost Train), Frazer, Rockabilly Rhino vs Wolfman Dan (99.3FM) and the Black Cherry DJs, including Ruby Riot, CeeCee and Nathan Dee. Lauren La Rouge will MC the night. There are prizes for the best dressed and best dancers, so get on your best frocks and dancing shoes!
105 VICTORIA RD MARRICKVILLE
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LOONEY TUNES LIVE!
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thu 13 october
illy
OKKERVIL RIVER
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with WIth Spit Syndicate, Sietta & special host M-Phazes
DROPKICK MURPHY’S
fri 14 october
THU 20 OCTOBER
feat: THE BEARDS, THE RUMJACKS, GO-GO HAUNTERS, HOLLYWOOD HOMBRES, ROCK KARAOKE & more
+ Hey Rosetta! + Alpine
FRI 28 OCTOBER
UNDERGROUND LOVERS
SUN THESE KIDS WEAR CROWNS 6 NOV ONSALE FRI 7 OCT
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THE RUBY REVUE
ALOE BLACC ONSALE 7 OCT
GENESIS PRES.
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DUB
21 & 23 OCTOBER
confession
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+ RUFIO
THE JEZABELS
sat 15 october
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BE THERE OR BE SQUARE The Square is the newest venue to open in the city, launching this Saturday. It’s located downstairs from the Capitol Square Hotel on the corner of George and Hay streets in Haymarket, and with a capacity of 150, it promises to be an intimate space in which to enjoy live entertainment. The venue is going to run original bands every Friday and Saturday night, and kicking it all off on opening night this weekend are Terry Serio’s Ministry Of Truth, Rose & Wegener and The Diamond Quills.
JUST LIKE MAGIC
NO HARM, NO FOWL
Bubbly electro/indie popsters Guineafowl have become hot property in Australia lately, charming crowds at Splendour In The Grass in July and releasing an EP, Hello Anxiety, to great acclaim from critics and fans alike – pretty impressive, especially considering it all started as frontman Sam Yeldham’s little solo bedroom project. After a quick jaunt around the US, the group returns home for The Lie Is tour, which hits the Great Northern Newcastle Friday 11 November, ANU Bar Saturday 13, The Standard Friday 25 and Yours & Owls Saturday 26.
Having remixed the likes of Lykke Li and Yuksek, there’s not a lot of info floating around about The Magician but his tunes speak for themselves – just like magic, really! (Heh heh heh). He’s now set to head to our shores for the very first time in support of his brand new single, I Don’t Know What To Do (featuring Jeppe), out now on Parisian label Kitsune. House and disco will be the order of the night, as well as, of course, a little bit of magic, with some magic wands there for you to catch mid-set if you’re lucky. Friday 18 November he’ll be at Trinity Bar and Sunday 20 at the Ivy Pool.
PARIS IN TOWN Melbourne singer/songwriter Paris Wells is jetting off around the East Coast over the next two months to support her newest release, Various Small Fires. She’s been holed up in the studio lately, working on her follow-up album which is expected for a mid-2012 release. The No Hard Feelings tour shows are the last on which she’ll perform all the tracks from Various Small Fires before heading over to the UK to win over new crowds. She’s at Beach Road Hotel Thursday 3 November and FBi Social Friday 4.
BANGIN’ BUS Melbourne rhythm and blues nine-piece Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes will head out on tour to celebrate the release of the long-awaited debut album, Baby Caught The Bus. The album’s been two years in the making and was produced by Steve Schram (Little Red, Little Birdy, The Cat Empire). Clairy and her friends take the listener back to a time of old, where doo-wop, soul and dynamic harmonies were the norm, horns buoying the party. The launch in Sydney happens at The Vanguard on Thursday 17 November, where the band will be supported by the equally soulful Kira Puru & The Bruise, The Atom Bombs and Sweet Jelly Roll DJs.
DANCE TO THE SOUND Bristol’s KOAN Sound brings its addictive electronic sounds – a sound that has earned accolades all around the world, from Aphex Twin to Pendulum and Zane Lowe – to Sydney in a couple of weeks. Friday 21 October is the date to mark in your diary, where KOAN Sound will be joined by Guillotine, Saiko, Enochi and Rubio, as well as guest DJs Glovecats, Farj, Paul Fraser, The Unthinkables and DJ Toppsey. The dance floor won’t be still for long with all these guys in the one place.
NYE AT IVY The Ivy has yet another option for your NYE celebrations, teaming up with Ministry of Sound and Experience Entertainment to deliver one heck of a party. The last three years in a row have sold out so you know you’re onto a good thing. This year’s headliner is DJ Erick Morillo, who’s produced platinum-selling records and headlined some of the world’s biggest festivals. He’s joined by French producer and DJ Dimitri From Paris, who’s got plenty of house and disco tricks tucked up his sleeve. Snoop Dogg collaborator Ian Carey rounds out the international lineup, a house DJ who’s headlined gigs in over 50 countries. There are still local acts to be announced, so look sharp and grab a ticket now while they’re still cheaper.
BRIGHT YOUNG THINGS The Bright And Blue is the upcoming EP from Celadore, and to gear up towards that release the Melbourne band has announced a launch tour where they’ll take in capital cities and regional centres around Australia. The band last released the Distance Is A Gun EP in 2010 on Popboomerang Records, and the new recording was made at Red Door Sounds in Melbourne with Luke Postill (Children Collide, Red Riders) and The Living End’s Chris Cheney, in his first production effort. They play Oxford Art Factory Saturday 22 October, Rock Lily Wednesday 16 November, Phoenix Bar Thursday 17 and Yours & Owls Friday 18.
Swedish sleaze metal four-piece Crashdïet will be fronting up to Allans Music + Billy Hyde in Camperdown for an hour’s meet’n’greeting from 5pm Friday 21 October. You’re advised to check into the Allans website to register your intention to come.
Purchase tickets online via HOMEBAKE direct - at www.homebake.com.au or Ph.1300 762 545 - NB: this service is provided by Oztix Australia - www.oztix.com.au
VISIT THE WEBSITES www.homebake.com and www.facebook/homebakefestivalofficial
The Living End, Washington, Jebediah, Sarah Blasko, Architecture In Helsinki, Spiderbait and more take a favourite Wiggles song and give it their own spin on Rewiggled – A Tribute To The Wiggles, out Friday 4 November. Music From The Movie Red Dog features Stevie Wright, Daddy Cool, The Angels and The Dingoes, along with newer acts like The Snowdroppers and Lisa Mitchell, and is out Friday. Also out Friday is the new album, Color The Trees, from Swedish electro popster Firefox AK, the latest album from Joe Henry, Reverie, plus This Is My Blood from The Dirt Drifters. Titled Ceremonials, the second album from Florence + The Machine sees local release Friday 28 October.
• 32 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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The 7th annual
A feast for the senses Chalk art • Food sculpting Opportunities for you to Have a Go!
FREE EVENT
6 -9 Oc t 20 Church 11 Parram St atta O ver 30 a rt compe ists ting.
Visit and follow us online www.chalkurbanart.com Strategic partner:
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@chalkurbanart facebook.com/ chalkurbanartfestival Event organiser:
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 33 •
GIDDY UP!
WITH HER INDIVIDUAL SENSE OF MUSICAL AND VISUAL STYLE, LANIE LANE IS THE GIRL TO WATCH. AND HEAR. SHE, UNLIKE MANY, IS JUST ENJOYING THE RIDE. ROSS CLELLAND, LIKE MANY, IS CHARMED. COVER AND FEATURE PICS BY CYBELE MALINOWSKI.
T
hese days, the smile is ever-present. But you’ve sometimes got to keep track of which Lanie Lane you’re in conversation with from moment to moment. One second, she’s the poised pin-up. The next, a genuinely confident and knowledgeable musician who will quickly correct the impression she’s just taking up a retro pose in her sound. Then the switch is flicked and she’s a kid playing dress-ups, bubbling about being let loose in Wheels & Doll Baby to pick just the right outfit for one of the many photoshoots she’s been the subject of lately. There’s a moment during her session with Drum where she’s sat a little too close to an ant colony. She leaps up, her natural grace lost in a tangle of legs and arms in a frenzied brushing away of insect life. She laughs about it soon after. “Of course I’m having fun. If you take yourself too seriously, you’re bound for death and destruction,” she jokes. “I want to enjoy this – and I am. I’m in it and just going, ‘Wow! How good is this?’ Except maybe when you sit on an ant’s nest.” She happily laughs at herself. Then pauses to inspect a couple of scars and bumps on the knuckles of her nail-polished hands. “Or fall off a mechanical bull.” As you do.
Lane has every right to be enjoying it. A whirlwind year and a bit has seen her go from cult act to collaborating with the likes of Tim Rogers and Clare Bowditch, having Jack White produce a couple of tracks for her and now releasing her debut album, To The Horses. It’s where some country collides with a touch of blues, a smidgen of rockabilly leopard skin, while buying matches from the cigarette waitress at a cabaret nightclub located somewhere between 1950 and 2050. You have to wonder where Lane developed the affection for a look and a music not often discovered by her generation. The answer is considered, but still a little incomplete: “I have been pondering this a lot lately, probably because so many people have asked! The style part is just my own discovery and adapting it to me and now. The music is more of a puzzle that even I’m still trying to piece together.” She even knows when to stop trying to work it out. “I really might not want to know all the mechanics of it, or I might take the mystery and the fun out of it – you can think too much, you know.” It’s similarly been a mixture of luck and design that has seen her already work with some of exactly the right people. A festival appearance Unearthed prize saw her casually meet Tim Rogers before they were paired to share a limo to a red carpet event. Lane takes up the story: “I’m waiting in a hotel lobby and then Tim makes an entrance – in his big velvet showbiz jacket, the big sweeping bow – and announced to the room, ‘M’lady, your chariot awaits!’ So we walk the red carpet, then I called him Tim Freedman. He forgave me for that after about five minutes. We just got on. Then he came and sang on a song of mine at the festival and I sang on one • 34 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
of his. Then we’re singing on each other’s singles” – him providing the Volga Boatman backing chants on her debut, What Do I Do, while she duetted on You Am I’s Trigger Finger, where ‘smouldering’ seemed to be the default descriptor. “But nothing’s calculated, it’s just the people you run into.” Almost as scarily easy were the circumstances that led to her releasing an old-style vinyl single on Jack White’s Third Man Records, with himself as producer. “It was about three emails really. Someone at my management knew someone who worked with him – Ben Swank who runs Third Man with him. He’s into all kinds of music. It wasn’t about working with Jack, it was just, ‘Oh, you might like this girl.’ Just giving Ben something to listen to, but next it’s, ‘I’ve shown it to Jack, he loves it too! And
“
I WANT TO HAVE A LIKE 50-YEAR CAREER, NOT JUST BE HERE FOR THE NEXT FIVE MINUTES. I WANT TO HAVE JACK WHITE COME BACK WHEN I’M 70 AND MAKE A RECORD LIKE HE HAS WITH WANDA JACKSON.”
wants to produce something.’” She’s still smiling. “We’re like, ‘You’re kidding? Wow!’ Next thing, I’m on the plane. It does sound a bit rock’n’roll fairytale sometimes, doesn’t it?” She adds the perfect kicker: “And it’s fun!” Results and learning also came from her more recent tour with Clare Bowditch. “We wrote a song in like an hour and then it’s going to the studio with the just the demo and just telling the band, ‘Do what you do.’ That’s something I think I’ve got from all of these people, just get the moment, get the inspiration down. The same with the You Am I song – I didn’t even hear it all the way through before we went into the studio. Tim had a vague idea of what he wanted and then let me at it. The attitude from him was, ‘Just do what feels right for you and I’ll work around that.’ It’s that kind of trust thing I love.” It’s then you start to work out she’s not just a pretty face and clotheshorse; there is a respect for her own craft.
“I am looking at things differently now. Getting used to new aspects of ‘the job’. Doing two photoshoots, three phone interviews and five face-to-face things in a day. It’s quite full-on,” she admits. But it seems the work ethic’s working. She seizes on the phrase: “The work ethic’s working? Oh, I like that! – I might have to steal it.” You’re welcome. “I’ve done the shoots before. Done a lot of recording before – I’ve got like a hundred other songs and bits – going into a studio was not an alien thing. But To The Horses is the first thing that’s coming out as a body of work. So, as all the other stuff builds up, I feel like I’ve got the right people around me and have trust in what they’re doing – and them in me – as it all builds up and becomes whatever it becomes.” While not as cynical and careerist as seems the default for some musicians these days, there’s some steel in Lanie Lane: “I want to have a like 50-year career, not just be here for the next five minutes. I want to have Jack White come back when I’m 70 and make a record like he has with Wanda Jackson.” The ‘50s rockabilly queen was one of White’s recent resurrection projects. “When you saw her on Letterman or Conan or whatever lately, she is amazing. Wailing and just throwing herself into it. I want to be that in 50 years.” Lane’s still trying to work it all out: “But where all this comes from I don’t know, I really don’t. It’s actually embarrassing when you ask. I’ve really got an awful memory. I’ll know a song, but not when it was recorded – sometimes not even who it is, or how many records they put out. I just know that I like it. I’ve always just listened to everything that comes past. Yeah, there’s things from my folks’ record collection are still in there, but don’t ask me what. But then, I was listening to Nirvana when I was 16 – but I don’t think I’ll have a Nirvana phase.” You come back from America wearing a ratty cardigan and Cons and it’s all over between us, Lanie. “Ha! Don’t worry, I don’t think there’s much chance of that.” There’s a further admission: “I’m honestly not listening to that much at all right now. All this just doesn’t stop, with the record coming out. I just tend to sleep when I get on a plane at the moment.” Some shuteye on the redeye is probably not her preferred mode of transport, anyway. And she can be a bit particular when it intersects with style, even in the abovementioned photo opp. “Oh, I love cars! But the first suggestion was a Mustang convertible – but I don’t think that was really right – and I love that Holden [manager Andy Kelly’s 1969 Kingswood], it’s cool.” WHO Lanie Lane WHAT To The Horses (Ivy League/Liberation) out Friday 14 October WHEN & WHERE Saturday 29 October, Stonefest; Friday 4 and Saturday 5 November, The Vanguard
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WHITE NOISE
A hit and run recording trip to America saw Lanie Lane caught for a time in the creative whirlpool that is Jack White. Besides his obvious work with his three best-known band guises – The White Stripes, The Saboteurs/Raconteurs and The Dead Weather – his list of production credits is getting longer and possibly more idiosyncratic as a range of music catches his attention day to day. “Intense?” Lane ponders. “No, that’s not really the word. We did one of the songs in a single six-hour session. Just very raw. And in the moment. He’s just really focused. Driven, maybe?” The self-confessed control freak in him means he’s at the controls of the bands he also creatively centres, but the list where he has the ‘Producer’ brackets after his name holds some surprises. There are the younger and lesser-known artists where his name adds some cachet and notice. The Von Bondies, The Greenhornes and Soledad Brothers have benefited from his experience and ears. Although Mildred & The Mice or Smoke Fairies... perhaps not so much. But it’s been his encyclopaedic knowledge and sheer love of rock’n’roll history that’s also kicked in and perhaps made his name even more. A record with Irish DJ, publicist and music critic BP Fallon – who made his name in the glam era and bizarrely mimed playing the bass in the film clip to John Lennon’s Instant Karma – became one of the first releases on the vinyl-based Third Man Records, which White cares for with an enthusiast’s eye. Lane joins a critically acclaimed roster of artists who have appeared on the label. Then there are the ‘comeback’ albums for the likes of country royalty Loretta Lynn and septuagenarian rockabilly pocket rocket, Wanda Jackson. Overseeing these projects, he gave these ‘heritage artists’ a new generation of success and respect after years of drifting through the second division showrooms of Vegas and Atlantic City. There have also been some real oddities in the last few years. Although whether you think it stranger he’s done work with late-night host, sometimes Simpsons writer and genuine guitar nut Conan O’Brien, another with political satirist Stephen Colbert, or a recent collaboration with the masked noise of Insane Clown Posse is probably a matter of personal taste.
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INNER EXPLORATIONS
FOR OKKERVIL RIVER’S SIXTH ALBUM I AM VERY FAR, HEAD HONCHO WILL SHEFF WAS PREDOMINANTLY AIMING TO PLEASE HIMSELF, BUT AS HE EXPLAINS TO STEVE BELL, SOMETIMES SUCH MOTIVATIONS ARE EASILY MISINTERPRETED.
T
exan indie wunderkinds Okkervil River have been dazzling discerning music fans with their hyper-literate brand of folk rock for well over a decade now and show no signs of easing their momentum on epic sixth album, I Am Very Far. A break from their recent predilection for treating albums as conceptual treatises, I Am Very Far is at once a brash and discordant-sounding affair, but also eminently listenable thanks to the inherent melodies and plentiful vocal hooks that emanate from frontman and wordsmith Will Sheff, whose songwriting acumen and lyrical dexterity seems to blossom with each release. The new record may be different in tone and feel to earlier efforts – particularly when placed alongside direct predecessor, The Stand Ins (2008) – but according to Sheff this was just part of the ongoing evolution of his muse. “It was conscious and unconscious,” the affable musician offers. “It had been a long while since I’d had a chance to make a record, so it was a lot like getting to start things over again and being really excited about being able to start things all over again and a lot of the passion for recording and making music came flooding back. I loved The Stand Ins and I was happy with it, but I kind of just felt that I’d gone as far as I wanted to go at that particular moment on a kind of ‘accessible rock path’. I felt like I wanted to do something that felt new and different to me and felt exciting to me and that kind of reflected how I felt inside about stuff that was really hard for me to even put my fingers on – certain ideas and images that I’d been carrying around for a huge part of my life.” The last project Okkervil River completed was the True Love Cast Out All Evil album, which found the band collaborating with Texan psychedelic legend Roky Erickson to bring some of his unreleased songs to life, and Sheff believes that this experience was integral in his own shift in songwriting focus. “Yeah, I mean I think that Roky’s kind of ‘openness’ to ideas in his writing and his willingness to let these different instruments play over him was really inspiring to me. A Roky song might veer from being a very sweet love song to being a song of Satan and evil to being a song of Jesus and light and love and family, to being funny or being psychedelic; he’s got this kind of openness to emotions and for his songs changing and for their feel changing. Also there’s this sort of ‘inner world’ that Roky has in his music. And Roky, of course, is a very colourful person and has a very sort of chaotic energy around him and a very colourful inner world. “But really we all have this inner world. It’s common to all of us – not just Roky Erickson – and it’s something that we can all tap into and I wanted to feel like I was able to tap into my own sort of interiority while I was making this record. I wanted the lyrics to feel like I was talking to myself – this inner unprocessed monologue – or the logic of a dream, which doesn’t have to explain itself or justify itself. Sort of this raw experience; that’s kind of what I wanted the scenarios lyrically to come across like.” Sheff has maintained from the outset that he had no overt intention of making I Am Very Far a ‘crossover’ or ‘crowd-pleasing’ effort, yet this hasn’t stopped many pundits from assuming that the album is a grasp for the kind of success recently afforded bands like Arcade Fire. “Of course [reviews like that] perplex me, but I’ve seen so many reviews where I’m perplexed by what they say that it’s not anything new,” Sheff chuckles. “It was actually very much not a ‘crowd-pleasing’ record; it was very driven by my desire to please myself and to make myself proud of what I’d done. [2007 album] The Stage Names was in a sense a crowd-pleasing record – not to say that I was pandering or wasn’t enjoying myself with what I was doing – but it was me kind of going, ‘Can I take my thing that I do and turn it into something that’s outward-focused and tries to lure people in?’ But this was not like that at all. This was just like, ‘I want to rise to this dictate of what I’m feeling in terms of what I want stylistically out of music.’ “That said, I’m a very firm believer in trying to seek out the largest exposure for what you’re doing, especially when that thing is less conventional. You look at an artist like David Lynch – he is very much an iconoclastic artist, but he’s also a very iconoclastic artist who’s always found a very wide audience. I always found that to be a very beautiful model, this idea of trying to potentially alienate but also potentially alter the perception of the largest group of people possible, as opposed to being a strictly underground artist who wants to hide underground, which I think is a great and wonderful tradition, but it’s not something that I connect with as much.” Has Sheff been encouraged by the recent success of bands like The Decemberists and Arcade Fire, who seem to have achieved commercial footholds without compromising their artistic vision? “I think there are certain bands who get to do whatever the hell they want and people really love it regardless. I don’t really think that there’s a formula for how a band like Animal Collective, for example, can get to be quite weird and yet quite popular. I feel like in a way it comes down to luck, which is not to discount talent or anything like that. But that’s the kind of career that I guess everybody wants; you want to be able to do what’s deeply meaningful to you and what really resonates with you and yet for people to have it resonate with them as well and have people follow you no matter how twisty and turny you get with your own work. That’s what I’m trying to do too, to be able to go as far down a deep, twisty dark path as I want to, but have people be willing to try to follow me along the way.”
Available In Stores and Online Now
WHO Okkervil River
CD/LP/LIMITED EDITION DELUXE CD
WHAT I Am Very Far ( Jagjaguwar/Inertia) WHEN & WHERE Tuesday 18 October, Metro Theatre
• 36 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 37 •
ONLY A RIGHT
THE WORLD HAS BEEN HEARING A LOT MORE OF BOOKER T JONES IN THE PAST FEW YEARS AFTER HE BROKE HIS RECORDING DROUGHT IN 2009. THIS YEAR HAS SEEN THE RELEASE OF A NEW RECORD AND, LUCKILY FOR US, ANOTHER TOUR OF AUSTRALIA. DAN CONDON CATCHES UP WITH THE LEGENDARY MUSICIAN.
rock masters the Drive-By Truckers, does Jones feel that working with different established musicians has changed his approach to playing at all? “It has. I think I’ve become quite a bit looser. I was a pretty strict, college trained, music theory educated kind of guy. There was always a right and a wrong for me, but now there’s only a right,” he laughs. He’s also taken to covering some modern songs, with Outkast’s Hey Ya and Gnarls Barkley’s Crazy appearing on the last two records. “I look for the unique and unusual and that’s what I found in Hey Ya and Crazy,” he says of his decisions to try his hand at those songs. “It’s just that melody that you can’t get away from; there’s that melody that you’re just walking around and you can’t get it out of your head.”
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t the risk of flogging a cliché, the music of Booker T Jones requires no introduction. You hear the only organ riff of Green Onions, the cowbell that opens Soul Limbo, the cool groove that brings Time Is Tight to life and you know the songs; they’ve been intrinsic in general popular culture since their release back in the 1960s. But the man Booker T Jones is not the kind of outlandish, larger than life, cocky soul bandleader that many of his contemporaries were. Nor is he the oh-so-slick, smooth kind of cat you’d be scared to leave your girlfriend with. No, Booker T Jones is an unassuming character, a hard worker and a switched on musician and composer. He’s softly spoken but affable, with a certain humility that goes with everything he says. It was a lack of knowledge and a lack of connections that led him to take such an extended respite from the recording business, he says. His last album proper before 2009’s Potato Hole was 1981’s I Want You. “The ups and downs of the business and being disconnected, really, with the way of doing things for a long time,” Jones says down the line from his Los Angeles condo about the reasons it took him so many years to release a new record. But he was keeping busy during that time. “I had to go back to school and learn digital recording,” he says. “I’d been writing the whole time, actually, and I’ve had ideas all the time. But I didn’t have good business connections and record company connections and that kind of thing.”
Even though he has had many hit records himself, he still doesn’t exactly know when he has struck gold himself. “I did get to the point where I was recording a song in the studio and I’d really like it and just want to play it over and over and over again, but I don’t really have that thing where people know that they’ve recorded a hit. I don’t really have that,” he states.
But, even after so many years absent, Jones was sure that he was going to get back out into the world of releasing music at some stage of his career. “I always felt like I would because I’ve always had the ideas and I’ve always had the inclination to record. I’ve always loved and appreciated it and I’m still studying it all the time,” he says. His latest records have been made in recording studios featuring technology so incredibly far removed from his early 1960s beginnings. Jones sees pros and cons in the new technology, particularly when it comes to interacting with fellow musicians. “The hardest thing when I started was getting everybody to the studio at the same time,” he laughs. “Now people can phone each other or contact each other on their computers and co-write or do whatever. “You can possibly work with people who you never see; people that you don’t really know. I know groups of people who exist in different parts of the world and they never see each other, but they’re all a part of the same
group. So I think that’s a disadvantage, I think there’s something to be gained from the organic meeting of the warm human bodies.” His latest record is The Road From Memphis, a record made with the help of a couple of members of The Roots and one of the production gurus from Daptone Records, Gabriel Roth. “I’m really happy with it; there were a lot of surprises and a lot of things I did with it that haven’t done in a long time, but it turned out great and I love it,” Jones says. “I hadn’t recorded in analogue in twenty or thirty years I guess, but I got beautiful machines in the studio and we didn’t have any digital equipment allowed at all. “The recording was analogue, we were all in one room and Gabe was trying to recreate the ‘60s sound that we had at Stax – which he did. We had a nice big fat sound on the bass drum and it was just cool like that. But we mixed it digitally.” With a large list of collaborators on this record (from Sharon Jones to The Roots to Lou Reed and beyond) and 2009’s Potato Hole being recorded with southern
INCREASED VISIBILITY
UK DJ SINDEN FINDS HIMSELF IN L.A. TO BREAK THROUGH MORE INTO THE RAP WORLD AND PREDICTS THE RISE AND RISE OF DUBSTEP. BY CYCLONE.
D
ave “Switch” Taylor’s mate Graeme Sinden doesn’t follow trends. He sets them. Now the Londoner is finally fulfilling a long-held dream to produce US urban acts, just as Taylor is doing. In 2010, aside from remixing Mark Ronson’s Bang Bang Bang, Sinden and Joshua “Hervé” Harvey – aka The Count Of Monte Cristal – dropped the genrebusting Mega Mega Mega, with the album being compared to Basement Jaxx in their heyday. The Count & Sinden grabbed guests such as Katy B, MIA protégé Rye Rye and the grime MC Bashy, plus members of Mystery Jets. There was a push by the BBC and UK dailies for a Mercury nomination, Sinden reveals. “We were really happy with it when it came out.” Coincidentally, the DJ/producer is down with the Jaxx. Not only did Sinden used to be a resident at their Brixton night Inside Out, but he was also their tour DJ. Sinden emerged during the electro house era but, like Taylor, he’s consistently championed regional styles such as Baltimore club – not to forget the British fidget house, of which he was a pioneer. Taylor initially approached Sinden because he wanted to move away from house – Sinden, a studio newbie, was into hip hop, grime and dancehall. As A. Brucker & Sinden, they remixed Lady Sovereign (Random and Hoodie). But, when his work with MIA blew up, Taylor transplanted to Los Angeles and there developed his Dubsided stable. This left Sinden to consolidate his own profile. Still, he also joined Machines Don’t Care with Hervé, Toddla T and Fake Blood among others, a supergroup akin to Armand van Helden’s Mongoloids. The Count & Sinden generated heat with their club singles, especially the Kid Sister-featuring Beeper. Domino pitched them a deal and the Brit concern isn’t typically associated with dance music, being home to Arctic Monkeys, The Kills and Animal Collective, though it has the indietronica Junior Boys and Four Tet, as well as (the AWOL) Bonde Do Role. And so, as Sinden acknowledges, Domino took • 38 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
Jones takes the lead vocal on Down In Memphis. It’s rare to hear him sing, but he puts the song across with such conviction. “I will sing more often,” he affirms. “I didn’t sing very much in The MGs. Those guys wanted to keep the band as an instrumental band. We had pretty good success as an instrumental band and there were lots of other singers around, so I didn’t sing very much then, maybe one or two tracks. But I’m gonna be singing more now, I have a lot to say. That song is autobiographical so it was amazing for me to sing that one. But I’ve always sung, all my life since I was a kid; in the church and the clubs.” Now, if all goes to plan, we will have another Booker T Jones record before too long. “I hope so, I’m just getting started to write again,” he reveals. “I just moved from the Bay Area to LA and I just have a new studio in Santa Monica that I’ve moved into, so I’m just getting set up, so hopefully soon.” WHO Booker T Jones WHEN & WHERE Thursday, Metro Theatre
and working with him, actually. I’m doing a release for Mad Decent – Diplo’s label – and it’s gonna be a straight-up rap release. We’re gonna shoot the video in Alabama in a couple of weeks. It’s like a Sinden solo release, but it’ll feature two rappers called G-Side. So, yeah, [I’m] really looking forward to doing that and then trying to break through more into the rap world. We’ve done a track with Kid Sister again and this guy called Riff Raff who’s signed by Soulja Boy. Out here it’s great ‘cause you have the access to these guys and they’re quite willing to work, so it’s definitely good having visibility over in LA to do it.” Sinden admits to feeling disillusioned with dance in the recent past, eschewing pretence. “I feel like dance music got a bit boring for a while and a bit stagnant, but some people are really bringing the fun back into dance music again.” And Sinden is into his dubstep – last year he launched his label Grizzly with a SBTRKT collab, Midnight Marauder. He’s intrigued by dubstep’s expansion, Kanye West sampling Flux Pavilion on Watch The Throne. “I feel like it’s just getting bigger. I don’t really feel like we’ve even seen the start of it yet.” Sinden is waiting for someone who can conquer the charts globally. “There’s a dubstep rapper on the horizon who will really nail it.”
a “risk” on them. “They just let us get on with it. They were really cool. They didn’t push us towards anything commercial. They just said, ‘Do your thing and whatever happens will be the best thing – just make the music you wanna make.’ That kind of flexibility doesn’t really happen with a lot of major labels. That’s why we signed the deal in the first place.” Lately, The Count & Sinden have unleashed Mega Mega Remix, their album tracks tweaked by obscure names who’ll surely be hot in future – names like the French Canblaster, who’s single-handedly reviving Detroit techno. Also on deck is Dave Nada, the guy who invented moombahton, a collision of reggaeton and Dutch house. The Count & Sinden will cut another album, but Sinden is uncertain when. “We were talking about it the other day. We probably won’t start working on it just yet ‘cause we’ve still got a lot of things to achieve solo-wise – we’re
kinda busy doing our own thing at the moment – but I saw [Harvey] the other day when I was back in the UK and we had a little chat about it. But this time around we won’t take so long with it – I promise!” Mega Mega Mega was an age in coming as the duo couldn’t tie down their cameo acts, necessitating constant “refreshing” of material. Next album, Sinden suggests, they’ll plan ahead and “just bash it out... I think sometimes you get the best results like that.” Sinden has always been ahead of the pack, pre-empting a new era of hybridisation. Back in 2007, pre-Guetta rap, he spoke of mashing up hip hop and house – thug (or crunk) house, then the London ‘It’ genre. Sinden even messed with “trance synth sounds and crazy arpeggios” early on, albeit ironically. He’s presently bringing his flavour to mainstream hip hop. “Right now I’m based in LA for a couple of months. I’ve been living with Switch
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This month Sinden will return to these shores to DJ at Newcastle’s Fat As Butter Festival, his co-headliners including hip hop performers Naughty By Nature and Flo Rida. Expect to hear his hype tune Pull Up Wheel Up. “I’ve got a lot of new music,” Sinden divulges. He has fond, if poignant, memories of Australia. “I was reminiscing yesterday with some friends of mine about the Parklife tour last year – on a sombre note. With [DJ] Mehdi passing away, we dug out some footage of when we all danced on stage with him, when he was playing.” WHO Sinden WHAT Mega Mega Remix (Domino/EMI) WHEN & WHERE Saturday 22 October, Fat As Butter
M ET THE ARTISTS MEET
‘joint-holder ‘j int holder with Brian Bria Eno of the title Cleverest Man in Pop’ THE GUARDIAN Mercury Prize nominee and an nd frontman for British post-punk turned ned pop chart-topper’s SCRITTI POLLITI, TI, Gartside’s music has been Garts een covered by Miles Davis. cov is.
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 39 •
THE LONG ROAD
BRISBANE POST-HARDCORE/ METALCORE CREW THE AMITY AFFLICTION HAVE EXCEEDED ALL OF THEIR INITIAL CAREER ASPIRATIONS, BUT AS FRONTMAN JOEL BIRCH EXPLAINS TO BRENDAN CRABB, THAT DOESN’T MEAN THEY’RE CALLING IT QUITS ANYTIME SOON.
throughout their home country aside, the sextet also has a UK tour with Funeral For A Friend in the pipeline, as well as shows in Germany and a US run with friends Miss May I, Pierce The Veil and letlive happening in coming months. In contrast to the massive, adoring crowds they perform for here though, like many of their local contemporaries they’re essentially starting all over again to win a following in foreign markets. “It’s a lot of hard work again,” Birch admits. “This is our third or fourth time in the UK and we’re playing second or third. It’s back to square one, but we’re happy to do it. It’s a new experience; it’s hard, but it’s not like it’s a tough life, travelling around the world. We lose heaps of money doing them; touring Australia pays for us to tour the world. It’s an expensive risk, but one worth taking.”
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o suggest it’s been a hectic time in the world of Brisbane’s The Amity Affliction since their second album, Youngbloods, was released in June last year would be akin to saying Avatar made a few bucks at the box office. Debuting at #6 on the ARIA Charts and being supported by a wealth of sold-out shows throughout the country, the band has been somewhat taken aback by the extent of their success. “It was wild,” lead vocalist Joel Birch says when asked about it, speaking during a break from band practice. “Definitely unexpected, that’s for sure. The past eighteen months of our band have been chaotic and we have more big news on the horizon, so it’s not slowing down.” Not that they’re under any illusions about being “famous”. In fact, when such a prospect is mentioned, Birch sounds positively horrified. “We’re not trying to be rock stars. It’s kind of pathetic if you are. There’s a lot of people starting bands for the wrong reasons; or the right reasons, but with the wrong attitude.” Did he ever anticipate Australian heavy acts such as themselves, Parkway Drive and I Killed The Prom Queen attaining the level of success they have in recent years? “Hell no, we thought we’d be killing it if we played the Manning Bar to 800, 900 people. Now we’ve played to just over four thousand, which is pretty mental. It doesn’t seem to be slowing down. We don’t have any aims anymore. When we started the band, we had our dreams of what constituted success in our minds. We’ve obliterated that and now it’s impossible to think about. We’re just taking it as it comes; if it stops anytime soon, we’ve had a good run. We’ll just keep making music that we love. At the end of the day, we enjoy our band and what we do.
“It’s pretty hard to comprehend; you can’t really plan for it. I think the bands that have had some success with heavy music in this country have been the ones that weren’t gunning for it. But then there are bands who were gunning for it; they’ve eventually just fucked off and fallen by the wayside. It’s a lot of hard work for us; it’s been a long time of doing this. There’s been a spike in the past eighteen months, but other than that it’s been a long road.” Much of The Amity Affliction’s commercial success can be attributed to their distinctive musical perspective. Sure, other bands have combined blistering metalcore with slick pop/punk hooks before (think A Day To Remember), but arguably no other band in this country has done it quite so effectively. “We’ve been fortunate in that we’ve stuck to one thing,” Birch suggests. “Bands who do that stick out. We’ve just built on everything constantly and haven’t really changed much. It opens up room for improvement and we’ve just been trying to improve on that all the time.” Their connection with
various factions within the heavy music fraternity is also reflected in their own diverse listening habits. “I like everything from indie to rap to hardcore, but I’m very picky when it comes to heavy stuff,” the vocalist explains. “I like a lot of older hardcore and metal. But not American metal, more European stuff; melodic death metal, not the trendy death metal that’s around at the moment. I’m not into that stuff at all.” The level of fan support and adoration shows no signs of ceasing, with shows on the band’s upcoming Fuck The Reaper Tour with UK metalcore mob Asking Alexandria and Gold Coast pop/punkers Skyway selling out left, right and centre. According to Birch, said shows will be their last Australian gigs for “quite a while” and will feature the airing of a few tracks never played live previously. The tour is also taking place to support the deluxe edition of Youngbloods, which features several new tracks and a DVD. The reissue and subsequent trekking
BACK TO THE FUTURE
WITH 2009’S HYMN TO THE IMMORTAL WIND, JAPAN’S MONO STEPPED ABOVE AND BEYOND THE CONFINES OF THEIR GENRE. AHEAD OF THEIR LATEST AUSTRALIAN TOUR, MATT O’NEILL CAUGHT UP WITH FOUNDING GUITARIST TAKAAKIRA GOTO TO DISCUSS THE OCCASIONAL POST-ROCKERS’ STORIED CAREER TO DATE AND THEIR PLANS FOR THE FUTURE.
“I am surprised and humbled every day when I look around,” founding guitarist and main composer Takaakira Goto reflects on the band’s considerable accomplishments – both artistic and professional. “Being able to make music and tour internationally for a living was always just a small dream we had. We always took it one step at a time but never really knew what to expect from a long term perspective.” It’s a dichotomy they’ve managed to span for their entire career to date – albeit often in completely different ways. Debut album, Under The Pipal Tree, released in 2001 through avant-garde legend John Zorn’s Tzadik imprint, saw the band utilising the standard rock quartet lineup • 40 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
WHO The Amity Affliction WHEN & WHERE Saturday, Panthers Newcastle; Sunday, Big Top Luna Park
Their media presence is a tautly governed exercise in minimalism – interviews and images reveal only what is absolutely necessary. “We pretty much handle everything between ourselves and our manager because it’s easier that way. We consult each other for making decisions and work kind of like a family. There have been some challenges over the years, but having the freedom to decide for ourselves is something we don’t want to take for granted. I am happy to talk about our music in interviews if there is someone out there who is able to connect to it and feel affected by it. There isn’t anything in particular I like to discuss in interviews other than to let our listeners know that we have new material coming out and what to expect. We’ve had the most supportive fans over the years and we like to keep them updated with our progress. Other than that, I really hope the music can speak for itself.”
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ono have an interesting relationship with their supposed genre. Discussed almost exclusively in relation to the perpetually controversial terminology of post-rock, the Japanese quartet seem to paradoxically exist comfortably both within the genre’s strictest definitions and within the terms of their own idiosyncratic vocabulary – both post-rock classicists and uniquely innovative musicians in their own right. As defined by Simon Reynolds’ notorious Mojo quote in 1994, post-rock encompasses rock instruments being employed for non-rock purposes. Popularly speaking, post-rock relates to a form of instrumental rock music defined by minimalist melodies, extreme quiet-loud dynamics and lengthy compositions. Mono’s work, over the course of their 12-year career, has consistently satisfied both definitions.
After their next wave of touring there’s the small matter of crafting the follow-up to Youngbloods. The band has already begun working on their new opus and Birch sounds calm but pleased about the new material. “It’s coming along pretty good. We’ve got about five songs written so far; we’ve only had about eight weeks of writing time. Hopefully we’ll have a new album written pretty soon. It’s hard to explain, but it sounds the same as Amity has always sounded; we’re just getting better at what we do. We haven’t changed anything… We haven’t really changed in seven years, we’ve just got better at doing the same shit,” he laughs. “It seems to be working. We’ve never jumped on any trends; we’re not interested in trends at all. There’s nothing worse than that, I think it’s pretty fucking lame. I hate lots of music so I may not be the right person to speak about it,” he chuckles. “But we’re not into that. [After the current bout of touring] a few of us are going to Mexico for a holiday. I’m not sure if we’ll write new stuff while we’re there, but it could be an idyllic setting for it. Then we’ve got another tour, then it’s getting down to the nitty-gritty of writing a new record. We’re aiming to release a new album in June next year. It’s a pretty ambitious goal, but that’s the goal at this stage.”
to explore and sketch out a gorgeous fusion of free noise, contemporary classical and minimalism – Tokyo’s underground sounds welded to the textured beauty emanating from Canada and Scotland at the time. “I’m sure that our culture affects our music subconsciously and perhaps the emotion in our music has something definitely Japanese about it,” Goto explains their inadvertent connection to acts like Mogwai and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. “Interestingly enough, our music was not really embraced in our home country so we ventured overseas and found more fans abroad.” Their most recent record, by contrast, saw the band exploring an entirely different vocabulary. Recorded with a 28-eight piece orchestral ensemble, 2009’s Hymn To The Immortal Wind was not a product of noise and fury so much as a lush and elegiac tribute to the band’s classical and post-classical influences. The band has even taken to occasionally performing in full orchestral mode since its release. “We wanted to include an orchestra for Hymn To The Immortal Wind because that album embodied everything we’ve wanted to pursue emotionally and sonically for many years. The classical instrumentation connected well with the story and
emotion that we were trying to translate. It just all kind of came together. We were a little nervous but we knew it was healthy to take some risks. The songs were written so that they can be played by only two guitars, one bass and drums. The orchestra show is just something we save for special occasions and are hoping to bring to most major cities. Although it’s amazing to work with a chamber orchestra, we are first and foremost a quartet and our live show is just as important to us as our orchestra shows.” It’s that kind of idiosyncrasy and contradiction that actually defines Mono as a band. While superficially an act easily pigeonholed and understood, their career and discography hosts a number of details and dispositions that jar against such lazy categorisation. The aforementioned connection to John Zorn and left-field releases like 2004’s New York Soundtracks remix album suggest an altogether different band than the pristine beauty of albums like Hymn To The Immortal Wind. Indeed, examining the band’s career in greater detail reveals a deeper sense of contradiction than their relationship to their supposed genre. While Mono’s music may be densely layered and beautiful, as individuals the band is tough as nails. Birthed of Tokyo’s fertile DIY community, the band is fiercely independent.
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Through it all, however, there is something that manages to unite the various contradictions and paradoxes in the band’s work: freedom. Throughout both their music and their conduct outside of it, it’s a dominant theme. From the glacial vistas of albums like 2006’s You Are There through to their determination to remain independent, Mono are a band defined by a desperate need to be judged on their own terms. “We’re not very concerned on being judged on our own terms as much as we are concerned with having the freedom to create music on our own terms. The world will categorise and label everyone eventually. As long as we are able to pursue music without limitations, then we consider ourselves very lucky. For the new album, we’re just trying to push our limits and explore places in music that we have not tried before. Hymn To The Immortal Wind had a personal, human atmosphere about it. I think this new album touches on more universal bridges between all of us and tells a story in a very different light. We are finished with the songwriting process and are now in the studio to practice. Our goal is to release the new album in 2012. We just want to keep making music as we are and have the opportunities to share it with others.” WHO Mono WHEN & WHERE Saturday, Manning Bar
MALLEABLE MUSIC
GETTING HIS ROCK BAND FILL FROM RECENTLY REFORMED ‘90S GIANTS SOUNDGARDEN, FRONTMAN CHRIS CORNELL DECIDED TO SHARE HIS SONGBOOK FOR A SOLO ACOUSTIC TOUR. BRENDAN CRABB IS LOOKING CALIFORNIA AND FEELING MINNESOTA.
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econvening ‘90s Seattle hard rock superstars Soundgarden would be enough on the plate for most musicians, but vocalist/guitarist Chris Cornell is currently juggling that much-anticipated reunion with a successful solo acoustic tour. The Grammy-winning, 21 million album-selling, James Bond theme-writing performer’s Songbook tour has already completed a sold-out US run. The intimate shows feature Cornell alone and armed only with an acoustic guitar, performing material from across his illustrious career, including Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple Of The Dog, his solo releases and a few surprise covers. The worldwide tour was spawned after a series of acoustic shows in Los Angeles. Has the level of acceptance surprised him? “I guess what I didn’t realise was what it was going to feel like playing the shows and it took me a couple of shows to kind of figure it out,” Cornell admits during a break from rehearsals. “But at first I was just nervous about the concept of trying to keep people entertained for an hour and a half, with just an acoustic guitar and me singing. Right away it turned into like two and a half hours and became a very different experience than I’ve ever had, where I can be playing for two-plus hours with an audience that doesn’t speak. It’s like you can hear a pin drop. I was pretty knocked over by that and the shows were just really special and exciting. In a way, to me as a solo artist it’s the best form to show up in because I can cover any part of my career and it seems to work great. Then also, being in Soundgarden again, writing songs, recording and touring, the rock side of me is very fulfilled. It wouldn’t make sense for me necessarily to be doing solo tours around going out with a band where it’s
electric and loud. Soundgarden is so much about that aggressive, experimental rock I can’t imagine needing or wanting to do that outside of Soundgarden. So it sort of accidentally became the perfect thing to be doing. “It’s funny because you can actually have a conversation with someone. You’re sitting there on stage and the audience is quiet and if somebody says something, you can hear it and respond. It’s almost like doing stand-up,” he laughs. “There’s an intimacy no matter what; you can’t avoid it. It’s there so if I’m nervous, I’m nervous for about the first thirty seconds and then it goes away and then there’s a connection you have with the audience right away. In the context of a rock band, I’ve always felt like that’s there if you want it and if you’re not in the mood, you can just get behind that sonic wall and there doesn’t necessarily have to be intimacy. It can be more about the visceral rock experience.” No era of Cornell’s extensive career is off-limits at these shows; even the widely panned, electro-pop-infused and Timbaland co-produced 2009 solo effort, Scream, is fair game. In fact, he says incorporating that material
into the Songbook setlist makes for a well-rounded, musically satisfying experience. “Obviously there’s songs that would be silly to try to do on an acoustic guitar; anything that’s really riff-oriented or super aggressive. But you never really know; it’s just a matter of reapproaching the song. I remember when Rick Rubin wanted me to do an arrangement of Rusty Cage for Johnny Cash to record. I thought it was kind of a dumb idea honestly; it didn’t make any sense to me. I probably spent a couple hours trying something and called up and just said, ‘Yeah, I kinda just gave up,’ I didn’t really understand the idea at the time. Then when he did it and I first heard it, suddenly I realised, ‘Oh, it can be anything you want.’ It just sounded like a Johnny Cash song where he’s singing Rusty Cage over it and it works perfect. I learned a big lesson there – music is malleable; it doesn’t have to remain in any specific structure. If you experiment with something, maybe it won’t work but maybe it will and there’s nothing wrong with trying. So you never know.” Rearranging the songs to better translate to the acoustic environment has been rewarding. “Burden In My Hand
WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS…
DEATH IN VEGAS HAVE BEEN ON HIATUS SINCE 2004 – BUT THEY’RE COMING TO AUSTRALIA WITH A NEW ALBUM. MATT O’NEILL CAUGHT UP WITH SOLE PERMANENT MEMBER RICHARD FEARLESS (A.K.A. RICHARD MAGUIRE) TO DISCUSS THE PROJECT’S TRIUMPHANT RETURN WITH TRANS-LOVE ENERGIES.
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It’s tempting to attribute such idiosyncrasy to the band’s relatively unique set-up. While consistently punctuated by collaboration and often presented in the context of a band, Death In Vegas is effectively the solo project of Richard ‘Richard Fearless’ Maguire. Whereas the majority of his contemporaries were defined by a central creative pairing, Maguire’s work across Death In Vegas’ five studio albums has always been a product of his own individual vision. “I guess, really, it was always just an outlet for me as an artist, a project I could have total control over – artwork, music, everything. From the get-go, it was me and one
Drum can’t allow the conversation to end without an update on Soundgarden, who have just been announced on the 2012 Big Day Out line-up. The past half-decade has seen a plethora of ‘90s rock and metal reunions, some bands making a new record, others avoiding that potential minefield. Cornell is clearly excited about the new Soundgarden offering and isn’t concerned some may view it as potentially detracting from their sizeable legacy. “I didn’t feel that way. I felt right away like it would be something worth trying. The whole concept of us getting back together was surrounded by the attitude that we don’t have to put any kind of expectations on what it is we do; we don’t have to put any pressure on how long it takes. It’s just a situation where we can come together as a band and as long as everybody’s happy and comfortable, we can see what comes out of that. Because we took that approach, we wrote songs really quickly, had a great time and have actually recorded and put songs together faster than we ever did before, with the exception of the indie days when we first started out. It’s great. We did a summer tour in the States and right before we started I got a CD with all of the rough mixes of the songs on it and it was the first time I’d had them all on one CD and actually listened to it. I remember for every Soundgarden record, there was that moment where I would hear all of the songs in rough form together and get a sense of what the feeling of the record was going to be. It’s different, unusual; it’s nothing that anyone’s going to expect.” WHO Chris Cornell WHEN & WHERE Friday, Canberra Theatre; Saturday 22 and Sunday 23 October, Sydney Opera House Concert Hall
college. I’d done it straight since then – writing and producing the music, organising the videos, working on the artwork, doing it all. You know, my world was Death In Vegas. I hadn’t done a lot of other things. I needed a break. I moved to the States, I had my own little studio. For the first time, I really sat down with a guitar and started writing more song-based material. I started another band, worked on production. Time just flew by. I guess when you don’t have a record label or management breathing down your neck, it takes a while to really get your arse in gear and get back into things.” More surprising, however, is what’s followed that hiatus – the recently released fifth album, Trans-Love Energies. It’s the most confounding release Maguire has delivered to date. There are fractured elements of acid-house, folk, krautrock, post-punk, electronica and countless other experiments folded into the record’s idiosyncratic tapestry. In its scope, accomplishment and sheer unpredictability, it could actually be Death In Vegas’ definitive statement to date.
eath In Vegas is a weird little project. There has always been something oddly unique about the band’s work that’s divorced them from any form of simple pigeonholing. The project was birthed of the same mid-‘90s post-rave community as The Chemical Brothers and UNKLE and is similarly devoted to a collision of rock, psychedelia and electronica, but has nevertheless stood apart from both acts and their associated ilk for the better part of 15 years. “The Chemical Brothers and I both came out of the same scene,” founding member Richard Maguire explains. “We DJed together at the same club, Heavenly, for like three and a half years. Even when we were DJing, we were completely different. They were obviously heavily into the whole big beat thing whereas I was always working with Chicago and Detroit kind of techno. So, even when we were supposedly in the same scene, we were still quite different.”
for example, a Soundgarden song that I wrote, doing that acoustically it’s definitely become a different thing. It sounds like a very different song. Then after playing it several times in a row within an acoustic show it kind of changed, just in the context of an acoustic performance. One night I can do it one way and another night I can do it another way; when you’re playing alone where it’s just you and a guitar, you can speed up, slow down, start from the middle of the song and it’s just different. The song can really change night to night.”
engineer. When I started out, I didn’t know how to engineer records so I hooked up with a guy called Steve Hellier. That didn’t work out, though, so I hooked up with a guy called Tim Holmes and he’s been there with me on most of the records. I think if you spoke to those guys, though, they’d all say the same thing – that Death In Vegas is Rich’s band. An engineer will always bring their own stamp to a musician’s work, but all of the ideas do come from me. There’s no set batch of musicians who tour with me. I’ve never done a band recording, so to speak. I’ve only ever brought in people when and where I needed them.” Really, though, Death In Vegas is simply too unpredictable an entity to ever be categorised successfully. On the basis of stylistics alone, the project’s catalogue is chaos. 1997 debut album, Dead Elvis, was a predominantly techno-oriented affair, 1999 follow-up, The Contino Sessions, embraced retro rock, psychedelia and electronica while subsequent records Scorpio Rising and Satan’s Circus (arriving in 2002 and 2004, respectively) refused to conform to any particular genre at all.
“I guess when I started I was still kind of dealing with that whole DJing/remixing world. I really quickly started messing about with guitars, though. I combined that with my other musical love, electronics; drum machines and the like. I guess, at the time, that was quite an identifiable sound but it really was just a set of tools in my head. Depending on what the song was and needed, I’d use electronics or guitars.” Perhaps the ultimate sign of the project’s volatile nature has been Maguire’s activities over the past six years – or, rather, his lack thereof. Following the release of Satan’s Circus in 2004, Death In Vegas effectively vanished. Outside of the occasional remix and a series of experimental rescoring performances, the project was ultimately defunct, Maguire investing more time in sideproject Black Acid than his more celebrated moniker. “I was just working on other things,” Maguire explains. “The truth of matter was I simply needed a break. You know, I’d done Death In Vegas right out the back of college. I actually signed a deal while I was still in
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“I was in the States and, for one reason or another, I decided to move back to England and it just made sense. I actually had a whole bunch of material sitting around – some of it for Black Acid, some of it for other stuff, some of it maybe for Death In Vegas – and I played it all to a friend and he told me it sounded like Death In Vegas and I should just release it all. Personally, I think this album is all over the place. You know, the first track is kind of Syd Barrett, then it goes into space rock and then kind of hits an old house track,” he laughs. “It’s actually been a real relief to finally have it out. Reviews aren’t everything, but it’s been very comforting to have people generally receive this well because I honestly had no idea how it would be attacked when people first heard it. It’s pretty amazing to still have people appreciate your work. You know, I’ve always tried to make records with longevity, but if you’d have told me when I started that I’d be on my fifth album, I never would have believed you. It’s genuinely surprising what a massive chunk of my life it’s taken up.” WHO Death in Vegas WHAT Trans-Love Energies (Portobello/Shock) WHEN & WHERE Sunday 13 November, Harvest THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 41 •
NEW FRONTIERS
AHOY AN’ THAT
CUTTING THEIR LATEST ALBUM WAS A BIT OF A DREAM COME TRUE FOR CANADIAN FOUR-PIECE THE TREWS, BY GETTING TO WORK WITH ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF A BAND THAT INSPIRED THEM, AS MICHAEL SMITH LEARNS FROM COLIN MACDONALD.
THERE’S MUCH MORE TO THE STEPHEN FRY-APPROVED COSMO JARVIS THAN GAY PIRATES, AS MICHAEL SMITH DISCOVERS.
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e might have been born in New Jersey, but 22-year-old independent singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, filmmaker, recording and mixing engineer and producer Cosmo Jarvis is very much the Englishman, having grown up in Devon. And he’s also very much the musician and filmmaker, having been doing both since he was 12 and having dropped out of school at the earliest opportunity to concentrate on doing just that.
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egular visitors to our shores, Canadian band The Trews, the band – guitarist John-Angus MacDonald, brother, singer Colin, cousin, drummer Sean Dalton and school friend, bass player Jack Syperek – are on their third Australian tour. They’re promoting their fourth album, Hope And Ruin, which saw release here locally in the middle of the year. “It was kind of a full circle moment for us,” Colin MacDonald, ensconced in his Australian manager’s place in Cronulla, admits of recording the album in a studio in Kingston, Ontario, run by Gord Sinclair, the bass player from one of Canada’s biggest bands of the ‘90s, The Tragically Hip. “We grew up really liking that band and really respecting the way they went about having a music career and it was really cool to be able to work with Gord Sinclair, pick up on the vibes and write and record some music. “It was one of those things where the opportunity to work with him had never really presented itself before and all really happened by accident; we weren’t really planning it. He just called us in January and said, ‘Look, if you guys need a place to demo songs, you can come into our studio,’ and we said, ‘Sure’. Then he hung out the first week we were there and we just started exchanging ideas and he threw in his two cents and we had five songs done and they were pretty cool and thought we should try and make an album this way. We went out for a few more sessions and the album was done. It wasn’t really planned.” As diverse as always, when The Trews decide to rock out, they seriously rock – just check out People Of The Deer on the album. “Yeah, we’re a bit schizophrenic. It’s because we have, like, four writers in the band. People Of The Deer’s my riff and I’m a wannabe heavy metal guy – I’d love to be in a really heavy band, but everybody’s bringing in different ideas, different slants on music and we somehow try to make it all work and fit together on an album. It can be a bit daunting because you’re asking
the listener to like really groovy jamming stuff, kinda folky stuff and then really blistering heavy rock, you know. But I always liked albums like Led Zeppelin III where you go from Immigrant Song to Tangerine, kind of all over the map.” Over the nearly ten years they’ve been recording, The Trews have chalked up 11 top ten singles in Canada, two of them hitting #1, sold more than 200,000 albums, plus shared the stage with everyone from The Tragically Hip to The Rolling Stones. Inevitably though, as with Australian bands, there comes a time when you’ve toured your own patch so many times... “It’s the first album where people are really starting to take notice and are starting to play the songs outside Canada. We’re getting radio play in the States and in the UK and as a result there have been a lot more touring opportunities. We’re going to the UK straight after this Australian tour and then we’re going to the US, so we’re not going to be playing Canada ‘til next year, so it’s nice to be able to get out and play other places, be a new band again, try to keep getting better as a live band.” WHO The Trews WHAT Hope And Ruin (Code One/MGM) WHEN & WHERE Wednesday 12 October, Great Northern Newcastle; Thursday 13, The Brass Monkey; Friday 14, Old Manly Boatshed; Saturday 15, The Gaelic
IN THE BEGINNING
“I
“Personally I think it’s probably the best X record to date because it’s so off the cuff. People spend millions trying to get a live room sound like that [laughs]. Not that [the official first album, 1978’s] X-Aspirations wasn’t, but I mean, I suppose it’s only that twist of fate that it had been locked away and forgotten about when [guitarist] Ian Krahe passed away, so it could have been X-Aspirations.” Soon after Rose Tattoo hit the charts with a song their original bass player Ian Rilen had written, Bad Boy For Love, Rilen quit, having met a couple of young guitarists, Krahe and Geof Holmes – who were playing in a band called Evil Rumours – and started jamming with them. Holmes moved on, a drummer named Steve Caferio was recruited and in October 1977, Lucas, up in Armidale, received a telegram from Rilen: “Bring voice. Nia.” X was born. Within a few weeks of their first gigs, the singer of another band called Ward 13, “Irish” John Arthur, invited them to his place, set them up in his lounge room and recorded them on his four-track. “This is the definitive X album,” Lucas feels. “There’s something that’s very urgent and vital about it. Songs like Losing, Infamy, Slash Your Wrists – they were just so typical of where our heads were at the time. Hey You, that anthem thing – “Good job, good pay, new car, no way” – it’s so anti everything. We didn’t just sing about it, we lived it. That was our dogma, that was our philosophy; that was everything that we were and we’re • 42 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
An early passion for and brief training in classical piano ended when, as Jarvis tells it, “my piano teacher vomited all over me.” He was replaced by a piano teacher who took him down the Jerry Lee Lewis road until, in high school, he heard a friend playing Lynyrd Skynyrd’s Sweet Home Alabama on the guitar, so switched to that. From there it was bass, ukulele, mandolin and any other instrument that came his way, though he admits he’s “a master of no instruments by any means”. He’s a quintessential dabbler, but for all that, there’s a lot of ukulele, mandolin and banjo on new album Is The World Strange Or Am I Strange? “With the album it was finding a mix that didn’t sway more towards one genre, I guess. I wanted to keep it interesting. One thing that I knew going in [to record] was that it had to have less tracks than the last one, because the last album [2009 double CD Humasyouhitch/Sonofabitch], having so many tracks [18 across the two CDs], that was the major factor for its being a failure in this country – it apparently confused potential audience members because they couldn’t place
it in a box. So this one, I tried to maintain the diversity of subject matter and musical devices but, kind of, in less tracks [laughs]. “When I first started out I was doing a lot of, like, rap/ rock sort of crossover stuff and a lot of people over here hate the fact that I rap – and I guess I can understand why. So I wanted to do some more folk-driven stuff, because I was always doing that sort of stuff anyway. By the time the first record albums and albums’ worth of those kinds of songs, but none of them made it onto the first record because I was trying to dispose of this backlog. Songs like Gay Pirates; it works well live when it’s a simple chord structure and a simple melody.” It was the first single off the latest album, Gay Pirates – and more specifically the video Jarvis created for it – that really finally kicked off his career, with the inimitable Stephen Fry in fact becoming so enamoured of it that he put a link to its video on his Twitter feed. “It’s a really odd thing to be told,” Jarvis, who storyboards and directs all his clips, admits, “that Stephen Fry has tweeted about one of my videos. Me and all the cast and crew, who are close friends of mine, were just amazed that he’d even watched it. But YouTube is the perfect place and the perfect platform to just release stuff quickly.” WHO Cosmo Jarvis WHAT Is The World Strange Or Am I Strange? (Creative Vibes/MGM) WHEN & WHERE Wednesday 12 October, GoodGod
ANOTHER LEVEL
A TAPE LONG THOUGHT LOST IS UNCOVERED AND SUDDENLY, FOR THE FIRST TIME, WE HAVE THE ORIGINAL, QUINTESSENTIAL X AS THEY WERE AT BIRTH, 34 YEARS ON. STEVE LUCAS PONDERS IT ALL WITH MICHAEL SMITH.
t was like winning Lotto,” singer, songwriter, guitarist and sole surviving member of the legendary Sydney band X, Steve Lucas, admits. He’s referring to the recovering of the band’s very first recording, now released as X-Spurts. “Ian [Rilen, X’s late bass player] actually gave it to a solicitor friend of his and said look after it, so he put it in a safe and it stayed there. It was some time after Ian passed away that he brought it out and gave it to [friend and former Rilen manager] Greg Sawers, who then passed it onto me and to Aztec Music. We remixed, remastered and there it was in all its glory.
“Just anything that gets stuck in my head,” is how Jarvis explains his approach to songwriting, “both melody-wise and also subject matter-wise; anything that I feel has enough weight behind it to be interesting for somebody in the form of a song, or anything that I think would be interesting as something that somebody could interpret from a song. So not something that I could live it and I mean it, but something I could present in a more abstract way because good songs are songs that are kind of more abstract that people can put their own meaning to. So both of those are totally different ways but, yeah, anything really.”
so lucky that those tapes managed to find their way to the light.” Even more so, as it turned out, because by the time X finally did get the opportunity to cut that official first album, Ian Krahe had died, an asthmatic attack overwhelming a heroin-addicted body after a gig in Bondi Junction in May 1978. Joining Lucas, who recently and proudly took on the role of an ambassador for Child Wise, Australia’s leading child protection charity, in the 2011 incarnation of X are Ash Meagher, drummer with the band Lucas manages, Dollsquad, plus bass player Rick Student, who “is just someone that jumped up and down, really wanted to do it, practically just stopped short of selling his soul in order to be a part of it. You know, I tried out some old hands, but then I thought, no, no, I’m gonna go with that youthful enthusiasm; that, ‘Give me this gig or I will die.’ You can’t get better than that. “It’s like taking on a couple of apprentices, you know, showing them the ropes. Not that they’re inexperienced but it’s different. When we play together we have a lot of laughs and it’s new and exciting. As they learn the stuff, it takes me back to when we were writing and creating it.” WHO X WHAT X-Spurts (Aztec) WHEN & WHERE Thursday, The Patch; Friday, Sandringham Hotel; Saturday, Grand Junction Hotel
THE DEPARTURE OF LINCHPIN MIKE PORTNOY COULD HAVE ENDED DREAM THEATER’S (AHEM) DREAM FOR GOOD. HOWEVER, FRONTMAN JAMES LABRIE TELLS BRENDAN CRABB THEY’RE NOT PUTTING THE BAND TO SLEEP YET.
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he news in September 2010 that drummer/ co-founder Mike Portnoy had left Dream Theater was surreal. He was so strongly associated with the band’s creative, business and aesthetic aspects (his father even suggested the band’s moniker) that many questioned the veteran US prog-metallers’ decision to soldier on. Speaking to vocalist James LaBrie almost a year later, he makes a positive state of the union address. “We knew that there were going to be the Mike Portnoy diehard fans and they would have a very hard time digesting and accepting this for what it was,” he ponders. “But we also knew that there was no doubt in our minds that we weren’t about to stop. We know that we still love doing what we do, that we still have a lot to prove and that we were capable of keeping the ship sailing. I think it was just a matter of being able to get to the point to be able to write and record the new material, to let the fans hear it, so we can prove that as big of a change as it has been, and for the people that truly believe in Mike Portnoy and his importance in the band, I think once they hear the album will realise that we have kept it going. I think even at a higher level, but a level that I think to any true Dream Theater fan should be accepting.” This publicly aired drama aside, there is the aptly-titled new record A Dramatic Turn Of Events, their eleventh album and the most collaborative Dream Theater release in recent memory. “We wanted to have a little more focus on getting back to our traditional roots. Doing a
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little bit of a nod towards what put us on the map and really getting in touch with that. I think the fact that the four of us [minus new drummer Mike Mangini] were in there and knew how each other worked put us in a very calm and patient environment. I think that it allowed everyone to freely express what they were hearing musically or the ideas they had. [Bassist] John Myung really stepped up much more than he has for quite some time and I stepped up to the plate much more than I had in the past. But it should be duly noted that the two main composers in the band have always been [guitarist] John Petrucci and [keyboardist] Jordan Rudess. I think when the fans hear this album they’re going to know that it still is Dream Theater and it sounds exactly like Dream Theater should sound, because the composers, the guys writing the music, are still there.” LaBrie is hopeful of a return to our shores next year and motivated about an extended bout of touring. “Keeping a band together is like any other relationship and I’ve always stated that being in a rock band is a functional democracy,” he says. “I think that this is the closest thing to a healthy democracy that we have going on here. The band is very spirited at this point; we’re very ecstatic, we’re having fun. On the last tour throughout Europe, I think the fans even witnessed that the band looks like they’re having a great time; it feels like a band in front of me. It feels unified and a lot of people have said that there’s a whole new spirit going on within the band. I think we’ve been fortunate that we haven’t had a lot of member changes throughout the years and we’re exceptionally fortunate to be where we are right now. I think that anyone that will see us live will see that we are taking everything to another level.” WHO Dream Theater WHAT A Dramatic Turn Of Events (Roadrunner)
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LET IT BREATHE
MORE HANDMADE
PROLIFIC INSTRUMENTAL POST-ROCK BAND HEIRS ARE PREPARING TO TOUR AGAIN, HITTING THE ROAD WITH ALCEST AND SPRUIKING A NEW DISC, THEIR THIRD IN AS MANY YEARS. BRENT BALINSKI SPEAKS TO FRONTMAN DAMIAN COWARD ABOUT THEREMINS, SCORPIONS AND SPACE.
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ddiction, jealousy and processing the filth “instrinsic to the human condition”: Heirs don’t pretend to be making feelgood music. They have, happily, found out what it is they think they should be doing – and they’re very good at it. “What we’ve achieved has been absolutely massive in terms of a band that has been around for three years,” says Damian Coward, drummer, programmer and songwriter for Heirs, of the band’s two albums, upcoming three-track 10” and tours of Europe and Japan. “I think what’s happened with Heirs as a band is we’ve stopped trying to achieve what we’d like to achieve and what’s happened is that Heirs has become what it is. “What we’ve managed to achieve is to pull elements from different genres to create our own sound and style. It’s very hard to give us a genre, which has to be a good thing. But it probably won’t make us money [laughs].” Coward and bandmates Brent Stegeman (guitars, synth, programming), Laura Bradfield (bass) and Ian Jackson (guitars, synth) have recruited a theremin player to their cause, Miles Brown. “Heirs and his band The Night Terrors, we both toured Europe actually two years in a row together.” Coward considers Brown’s theremin as something that provides “a melodic resolve” in the absence of a vocalist in the band. The post-rock act draws on industrial, doom and shoegaze elements, as well as early ‘80s goth. The latter becomes especially apparent in the cover of Sisters Of Mercy’s Never Land, one of three tracks on the band’s upcoming 10”, Hunter. The release provides a sneak peek of some of the themes for the band’s upcoming album, its third, following the bleak though critically acclaimed Fowl. “I think the scorpion is basically… Brent [Stegeman], who designs the artwork, had seen a specific idea behind what we are doing for this next release, why we are doing it. Basically what this is going to do is lead into our next album,”
ERIC COPELAND FROM EXPERIMENTAL ACT BLACK DICE TELLS BOB BAKER FISH HOW WITH THE RECORDING OF THEIR NEW ALBUM, THE BAND IS BECOMING MORE PUNK AND HANDS ON.
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Coward explains. “A very brief synopsis: the thing that we’re basing it on at the moment is human jealousy, so we found that the scorpion was a strong metaphor for this – for many reasons – and we’ll definitely elaborate on our whole album that will come out next year.” Heirs is the continuation of a long creative partnership between Coward and Stegeman, who have also played in Widow/Orphan, Love Like... Electrocution and Maps together. The new album continues the band’s love of droning, minimalist, repetitive songs with plenty of space and time to carry the listener off to someplace else. The band heavily emphasises space and repetition within their writing. “We’re [trying to] let the song breathe on its own as opposed to being something that’s cluttered,” explains Coward of Hunter, the ten-inch’s title track. “You’ve basically got the same riff for the same song, until there’s a key change for about fifteen seconds out of the six-and-a-half minutes. So the idea for us is to try and create things where everything becomes slightly hypnotic. Repetition is a very strong part of what we do; always has been and always will be.” Heirs is about to tour here with the similarly hypnotic Alcest, from France. Coward pitches the pairing of his band and the Frenchmen as a darkness vs light affair, with Heirs representing the dark side. “I think we have our lighting set-up as very mono. We’re not using any colours for this tour, our projections are black and white – everything’s going to be quite dark. When Alcest come on it’ll feel like everything’s a bit lighter and more positive and I think that’s definitely going to create an interesting show, for sure.” WHO Heirs WHAT Hunter (Denovali Records) out 31 October WHEN & WHERE Friday 21 October, The Wall
BREAK AWAY
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Stern recently inspired arguably the strongest example of music journalism ever published in a women’s fashion magazine. The shredder opened up to Elle about her struggles in the music industry and its latent sexism. But on the phone today, the mythic New Yorker is engaging – and funny. There’s no bitterness. And Stern is excited about her first Australian tour. As it happens, Stern studied journalism at New York University. “Journalism was very difficult for me,” she discloses. “I wasn’t very good at it, but I have a lot of respect for it.” Astonishingly, she only picked up the guitar at 23, teaching herself to play. “I’d always loved rock’n’roll.” She’d read an article on the riot grrrl band Sleater-Kinney. “Janet Weiss didn’t start playing the drums until she was 21. I thought she was so good. I felt, well, if she can do it, I can do it!” She continued working as a secretary at an ad agency, practising afterhours. “When I started, it was the most basic, folky, strumming, singing-songwriter thing you could imagine – it took just layer after layer after layer of trying to break away from that.” Not learning conventionally meant that Stern developed her own guitar-tapping style. “That somehow worked in my favour.” Stern sent successive demos to Kill Rock Stars. Label boss Slim Moon finally met her – and, impressed by her lack of pretence, proffered a deal. She teamed with Hella drummer Zach Hill on 2007’s In Advance Of The Broken Arm and theirs is an ongoing creative partnership. That debut received rave reviews but alas, coverage in esteemed publications like The New York Times hasn’t
“We’re just finishing recording our new one,” offers Eric Copeland from his home in Brooklyn, “we’re finishing it tomorrow.” Copeland reports that they’d been working on the tunes for almost a year, testing them live and tweaking them before they went into the studio. As a result, it was more about capturing a performance. “It was fast and it sounds good so I’m really stoked. It just seemed to go faster this process; I don’t know why. I’m glad it wasn’t the other way, I’m glad it wasn’t a pain in the arse.” Of course it wouldn’t be Black Dice if there wasn’t a departure from their previous work. “To me it’s a little bit simplified. It’s more like a punk band in some way. I’m sure it’s a very different vocabulary, but I think it’s been played a little more like that. I think its a little bit more hands on, less programmed, even though there’s a lot of programmed stuff. More handmade. “I feel all the ideas are really direct. I’m sick of hearing delay and I’m sick of hearing reverb and I’m sick of hearing moaning and drones. I love all of that stuff, but I don’t want to spend my time making that music now. I guess it’s kind of a reaction to make something that’s more punk and direct.” Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Black Dice is the humanity inherent in their sounds. Aesthetically it sounds electronic, yet it’s approached without the coldness or
precision of most electronic artists. There’s a human element that prevents the perfection. In fact, often it feels like the sounds are careening out of control and the members are doing their utmost to reign them in. “I think we’re gradually becoming more like an electronic band. Each person had their own progression so we’re not really linked in a way. We’re all somewhat independent for the most part. But I think we’ve approached in a band kind of approach where, like, someone would play a rhythm or someone would play a guitar or melody line. “But everybody is doing what we want. Nobody is making anyone do anything. In some ways I feel if one person changes, everyone has to respond to it. Right now it’s a pleasant place to be because it’s been fast and it’s been fun. I’m enjoying it a lot.” It’s a testament to the band’s continuing artistic vision that they’re still discovering new avenues and feeling invigorated by the music, yet it isn’t just the music that is keeping this trio together. “One of them is my brother so it’s kind of a given,” Copeland laughs, “and the other one is basically my brother. To be honest the older I get, the more special our time together becomes. Because everyone has a real life and families, so to me it’s a real pleasant relationship for the most part that involves making music and travelling. But it also involves us hanging out and talking as friends, because I don’t know how much everyone would have that steady relationship otherwise. Like I don’t have many friends that I call every day to hang out. “ WHO Black Dice WHEN & WHERE Friday, Oxford Art Factory
REWIND REVISIT
DESPITE LEARNING GUITAR RELATIVELY LATE IN LIFE, MARNIE STERN, WITH HER UNIQUE STYLE, IS REGARDED AS ONE OF THE MOST PROFICIENT IN THE ART. NOW SHE’S HONING HER SONGWRITING TO BE KNOWN AS MORE THAN “LADY GUITAR PLAYER”. BY CYCLONE.
arnie Stern is a technically brilliant rock guitarist but, beyond that, she’s impossible to classify. Stern’s songs have bluesy themes, yet her music is closer to post-punk (think: Lene Lovich, Sonic Youth and Santigold), Battles’ math rock, or even Crystal Castles’ epic noise. She also has an ironic song called Female Guitar Players Are The New Black on her third (and current) album, Marnie Stern.
rooklyn’s art noise act Black Dice has delighted and terrified audiences for nearly 15 years with strange and beautiful music. They began as noisy experimentalists, though quickly took on a more exploratory approach to their instrumentation, leaving traditional sounds and structures behind to focus on stringing guitar pedals together and bizarre combinations of electronic devices. The results have been hypnotic, referencing everything from Afrobeat to the repetitive rhythms of krautrock. Yet they’re a band that doesn’t like to sit still, their sound and approach continuously evolving. Their last album, Repo, came across like a scattered form of mutant funk. That was two long years ago, so these days anything is possible.
AS THE ‘80S TURNED INTO THE ‘90S, GALAXIE 500 CARVED OUT A CULT NICHE THAT STILL RESONATES. THE KIWI IN NEW YORK THIRD OF THE BAND, DEAN WAREHAM, TELLS MICHAEL SMITH WHY HE’S REVISITING THE LEGACY.
G ‘translated’ into mainstream success, Stern admits – though her core fans are very “loyal”. “It seems like a lot of people who I meet in the music world have heard of me, or know of me, but they just think ‘lady guitar player’... It’s really weird.” Stern is inherently “experimental”, a word that can scare off listeners. “I would have thought that this thing that was different would be the exciting, alluring thing, but I don’t know if it is. People wanna gravitate towards stuff that’s really comfortable to them.” That might change if Kanye West were to sample her, as he did Bon Iver. “Exactly!” Stern laughs. “Yeah! Wooh!” Marnie Stern is a cathartic album, with Stern revealing her vulnerabilities while offering an incisive postfeminist commentary on pop culture. “I think you grow in different periods in different ways. For the first record and the second record, I was really very focused on my guitar-playing – and then I chose to focus on more songwriting. I think I was hiding a little bit. I mean, all the stuff is me really putting myself out there, but the third one I wasn’t doing it as abstractly. The lyrics are very direct and so that was a leap for me, to feel comfortable enough to be able to do that.” The challenge was to “let go” of internalised value systems, or selfcensoring, with Stern worried about sounding “like a whiny teenager in my bedroom”. She’s preparing to cut a fourth outing and things are looking up: in December Stern has been booked to play an All Tomorrow’s Parties UK production curated by Battles, Caribou and Les Savy Fav (she was selected by the latter). In Australia, she’ll be accompanied by a “tight” band. “The music is there, but it’s also really fun. I joke around a lot.” WHO Marnie Stern WHEN & WHERE Thursday, Goodgod
uitarist Dean Wareham, drummer Damon Krukowski and bass player Naomi Yang began playing together as Galaxie 500 when the three were students at Harvard University in 1987. Soon afterwards, a demo they’d made brought them to the attention of producer Mark Kramer, who not only produced all three of the band’s album but often went on the road with them as their live engineer when it suited his schedule. Releasing their debut album, Today, on a small local label, a tour to the UK in 1988 saw them sign to Rough Trade, who released the album that put them on the international indie/alternative map, On Fire. Within a few months after releasing their third album in 1991, This Is Our Music, Wareham walked away from the band and it was all over. He found himself in one of those unenviable positions within a band in which there’s a couple and he split for New York and, after doing some production on a Mercury Rev record, formed a band called Luna, whose bass player Britta Phillips eventually became his wife. Over the past year or so however, Wareham has been performing songs from the Galaxie 500 catalogue with his current band, featuring Phillips and drummer Anthony Lamarca. So the obvious question, on calling him at his Brooklyn, New York City home, was why. “I had a few promoters who kept writing to me saying, ‘Oh, come to Spain and do a show of these songs’, or ‘Come to Atlanta’ and finally I did it in Spain and the band sounded really good and it was exciting and I thought, well, now that I’ve learned an hour’s worth of songs, I might as well take it on tour. And the records were just being re-released, so I thought this would be a good time to do it.” Not long after the band split, Rough Trade went bankrupt and Krukowski and Yang bought the masters at auction, eventually taking them to Rykodisc and reissuing them in 1997. Last year, however, saw the entire catalogue, including the Peel Sessions, bought
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and reissued once more, this time by Domino, with a box set including an extra disc of outtakes. Listening back to the records 20 years on, it’s obvious that for a band based in Boston, Galaxie 500 had a very New York sort of sensibility. “We made music to please ourselves,” Wareham admits. “We weren’t trying to get famous or get rich and we weren’t playing grunge music like everyone else around us was playing. For whatever reason, the records still sound fresh; they don’t sound dated, they don’t sound like everybody else from 1989. The Boston bands around at the time weren’t very interesting other than The Modern Lovers, who were a huge influence on us, plus we sort of liked Mission Of Burma, though we didn’t sound anything like them.” As to the band’s cult status, particularly in the UK and Europe, as Wareham sees it, “It’s easier in the UK ‘cause it’s a smaller country [laughs] and if John Peel starts playing you and Melody Maker and NME start reviewing your records, all of a sudden you’re feeling famous. You’re actually not, but you can pretend that you are. Even so, in the early days we’d go to Chicago and there’d be maybe like forty people come see us. Then we’d go to London and there’d be four hundred people. We couldn’t believe it.” WHO Dean Wareham WHEN & WHERE Wednesday 12 October, Annandale Hotel THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 47 •
WITH ROSS CLELLAND
JOSH PYKE The World Is A Picture Ivy League Sure, it’s unlikely we will ever see Pykeface – when he lets his well-hidden affection for death metal come to the fore – but album #3 has seen the Joshmeister put a bit more natural exuberance into some of his songs, while not losing his innate ability to chattily tell a story while giving you something to tap your foot to. This almost stomps politely as the story of a day in the life unfolds from the first cuppa of the morning onward. He’s really classy – could it be we’re just taking him a bit for granted? We shouldn’t.
COLDPLAY Paradise Parlophone/EMI As a rule, you normally wouldn’t see something of Coldplay’s ‘status’ here in the white on black. But it’s reached the point where some questions need to be asked. Like: Why is this one of the biggest bands in the world? For, other than production values making it all lush and being able to afford a real orchestra and more choral overlays than the average papal mass, what’s the appeal? Slight story of ‘a girl, something, something, something’, and repeat to fade. Polished to a gloss, and utterly soulless – or am I missing something?
BEIRUT Santa Fe Pompeii/Remote Control They remain the slightly geeky boys from the school band surprised that people suddenly aren’t offended by the piano-accordion like they were before Arcade Fire happened. But they’re still in the shirts they’ve tried to iron themselves as Mom is still out at her job at the diner. Head misfit Zach Condon now seems able to talk about things more honestly rather than hiding in the words, and the trumpets blare like a night with Calexico, though there’d probably be less tequila consumed. Awkwardly lovely.
BLINK 182
CHICKENFOOT
DJ SHADOW
Universal
E1 Music/Liberator
Island/Universal
Neighborhoods
Chickenfoot III
After eight long years without them, Travis Barker, Mark Hoppus and Tom DeLonge have made amends. After the success of their 2003 self-titled album, which also marked a new direction and maturity, the band went on an ‘indefinite hiatus’ with all three members branching off to pastures new. Blink 182 has grown up, albeit only a little. Gone are the days when they sang about grandad eating hotdogs and shitting his pants, ramming a dog in the anus (yes, they really did sing about it) and alien abduction. Nowadays their lyrical anecdotes focus on bereavement, bewilderment and loneliness, all apparent throughout the solemn Neighborhoods. Firstly, a major characteristic with modern Blink is the addition of synthesisers and indiscriminate noises that prove to be more of a distraction than a benefit. Likewise is DeLonge’s screechy vocal that features on around 75 per cent of songs. Still, Ghost On The Dance Floor is a strong high tempo opener backed up with the impressive Natives, the latter featuring Hoppus and DeLonge’s vocals and Barker’s frenzied drumming. Up All Night, After Midnight and Heart’s All Gone are all reminiscent of the traditional Blink sound before Fighting The Gravity, MH 4.18.2011 and Even If She Falls reveal a sound more experimental than pop rock. Neighborhoods is an album most won’t like, loathe or probably comprehend. It represents another shift in direction that, while good in places, just doesn’t have the edginess or raw excitement of standout tracks from previous Blink albums. Let’s hope the boys don’t squabble and call it quits again, as Neighborhoods isn’t the legacy to depart on.
The Less You Know, The Better
A supergroup project that got together in the name of fun is probably going to be at its strongest when it sounds like it’s having fun. This is the case on Chickenfoot III, from this collection of super-heavyhitters: Sammy Hagar (vocals), Joe Satriani (guitar), Michael Anthony (bass) and Chad Smith (drums). If you have to ask about who these folks are, then it’s likely you do not have any familiarity at all with music.
Much like Nas and Mos Def’s classic first albums, the success of DJ Shadow’s Entroducing became both a gift and a curse. The album made the Bay Area crate-diggercum-cut‘n’paste king a household name, yet he was doomed to have everything he subsequently produced compared to it. While that proved to be his last album’s downfall, it in some ways helps to shine a positive, slightly nostalgic light on his new one.
III feels a little more like a band than the self-titled debut, which had some spectacular playing but was less cohesive. The strongest songs are the jumpy, funky numbers, such as Up Next, Lighten Up and Big Foot, reminiscent of the legendary blues rock band Montrose (which Hagar was a part of for a while). Big Foot’s rock solid, spacious rhythm section groove is damn near impossible not to nod along to, and Satriani noodles out splendidly for eight bars. It’s a highlight, as is the strangely stirring Three And A Half Letters, which features a mash-up of fan letters sent to Hagar by unemployed, down-on-their-luck fans.
With Shadow’s hyphy flirtations on 2006’s The Outsider now as forgotten as the genre itself, he has returned to some of Endtroducing’s b-boy existentialism, mixed with a myriad of styles so broad it is sometimes hard to keep up with. Yet while bookends Back To Front and Front To Back re-animate Shadow’s turntablistic past and Stay The Course, featuring Talib Kweli and De La Soul’s Pos, flaunts a hip hop purity one wishes he would show more of, rock music has a greater hold on the set. Border Crossing, with it thrashing metal noise, is somewhat pointless while stomping first single, I Gotta Rokk, builds loops of dinosaur guitar into something that threatens to dust off the rotting corpse of big beat. Elsewhere, Enemy Lines and Warning Call fare better, pushing an UNKLE-ish indie feel of greater substance. Examples of beautiful indie-folk-soul abound (I’ve Been Trying, Redeemed) while the frenetic, pummelling Run For Your Life is Chemical Brothers for windmilling pimps. Though legal issues prevented earlier singles I’m Excited and Def Surrounds Us making the final cut, The Less You Know… remains equal parts entertaining, entrancing, perplexing, challenging and infuriating, quite possibly the boxes the shadowy one intended to tick.
Besides ...Letters, the record seems at its weakest when it’s trying to be serious. No Change is an intolerably stupid naming of things that “they” have “lied” about (Castro, Cobain, Jesus, Elvis, the Jews, Japan etc.). It’s very hard to see what the point of the lyrics to this tin-foil-hatted blather is. There are also a couple of Bon Jovi-ish power ballads that add nothing to the listener’s chances of enjoying this album, unless this listener is impressed by clichéd pap that begs you to take a lighter out of your pocket and wave it in the air.
Stuart Evans
Brent Balinski
Darren Collins
FEIST
ICEAGE
KEVIN DEVINE
Universal
Abeano/Remote Control
3Wise/Sony
JENS LEKMAN An Argument With Myself EP Spunk The man who took the perhaps unique musical and cultural journey from Gothenburg to Melbourne still makes wonderfully quizzical pop music. The argument is more a measured philosophical discussion over a backing of purloined muzak strings and puff pastry folded layer-upon-layer. Its almost adolescent dreamings of strolling wistfully while Waiting For Kirsten – the Kirsten in question being Dunst, naturally – is sometimes in Belle & Sebastian’s forever undergraduate emotional landscape. But that’s not a bad thing.
CELADORE The Bright And Blue EP Popboomerang A pop band with all the right names among those they look up to – Finn and Rogers among others – but find an extra bit of dynamics and propulsion by engaging Chris Cheney in his first production job. The instrumental breakdown in the progress of lead track Kinks In Armour has a lot of Living End pause for breath in it, though the harmonies give it an individuality. They have always had talent and known what to do with it, but this could be the making of them. And there should be no complaints about that.
TEXTURE LIKE SUN Bottle Blank Tape Music The appropriation of a Stranglers lyric to name your band naturally shows some taste. That lyric being a heroin reference may or may not have connection to the variety of addictions – liquid, chemical or simply of the heart – that seem to course through the song. The solo strum and groan that opens this didn’t augur well, but then it builds with every line – banjo and even whistle solo adding other voices to the struggle with conscience which could be going on. You are left wanting to know a bit more of it. • 48 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
New Brigade
Metals
It’s been four – that’s “one, two, three, four” – years since Canadian popstress Feist’s breakout numerical hit and accompanying album, The Reminder. She’s joined forces with longtime collaborators Chilly Gonzalez and Mocky to deliver her first offering since. Single, How Come You Never Go There, is a fair indication of the sultry pop balladry that makes up Metals. The album comes into its own however with its more haunting moments. From the beautifully bruised AntiPioneer and beyond things are barer, darker and sparser. Here Feist’s vocals have the intimacy of a whisper, somehow amplified to heighten its impact and retain the ethereal sense of personality in her windswept voice as she sings “Singing sappy songs about what went wrong two years before” or bitingly rebuts “When you comfort me/It doesn’t bring me comfort actually,” in the dirty, campfire-befitting Comfort Me. The rural Cicadas And Gulls shares the same pastoral influence and forlorn folk as the former, perhaps a mark made by the mountainous coastal environment of Big Sur where the album was recorded.
Ok everybody, throw up your hands like you just don’t care! Stop. STOP! You’re caring too much. Eleven pop songs (the intro doesn’t count, it just pushes the running time from a rushed 23 minutes to a rushed 24 minutes) that have been filtered through numerous warehouse spaces, arts hubs and other trendsetting anti-culture HQs. The result is a painfully lo-fi, painfully scrappy ode to The Cure/Joy Division on one hand and Die! Die! Die!/My Disco on the other. Influences from new wave to garage to punk to hardcore are thrown around together with a reckless abandon, breakneck speed and enough imprecision that what comes out can sound initially cathartic, raw or impassioned but rapidly reveals itself to be a patch- and under-worked mess. Total Drench is a minute of out of time drumming with the riff from Boys Don’t Cry tacked on the end. Broken Bone’s opening riff, jarring and stabbed, shows promise but the five or so repetitions of a chorus in a two-minute song soon force you to forget that fact. The rest of the album sounds like your little brother’s band covering the rest of the aforementioned bands.
Between The Concrete And Clouds Once upon a time, New York singer/songwriter Kevin Devine was a shy guy with an acoustic guitar who penned ballads and sang them with quiet conviction. That changed in 2009 when he released Brother’s Blood, the blistering title track of which saw him raise that meek voice to a passionate, earth-shattering scream. His sixth album sees a passage between these two personalities – like Brother’s Blood, the centrepiece here is the guitar-heavy title track, where the singer ruminates on the inner religious struggle with steadfast passion. A similar topic is explored on the string and handclap-laden Awake In The Dirt. He flirts with pop on the meandering Sleepwalking Through My Life and Wait Out The Wreck, the latter one of the most instantly memorable melodies he’s penned, lathered with fresh harmonies. They really are versatile, those vocal chords – 11-17 is shiveringly intimate, the voice alone but for itself layered and minimal accompaniment, echoing eerily and driving its lonely sentiment home as more instruments are slowly introduced. Along with the emotional and vocally focused closer, I Used To Be Someone, it’s the closest he comes to hitting the acoustic element once again, though it’s more haunting than what he’s previously delivered.
Feist takes her time on Metals, moves smoothly and lingers, meaning the songs do too, as a result of her patient approach. Sitting at just under five minutes and early on in the album, Caught A Long Wind is a slowburner – indicative of the album as a whole – where the mood is meticulously established (here the soundscape of a wintry fairytale) and then thoroughly explored. The choruses are beautiful but far from obvious throughout and in this particular stirring instance, just Feist matching a lone straining violin.
Perhaps it would have been less irksome – and more befitting their incredibly hip ways – had the band done a 7”; it would certainly make the bratty, ‘we don’t care about anything and neither should you’ cookie cutter nihilism a little easier to sell. This abrasive ‘punk’ could be better in small doses, as an album’s worth rapidly loses impact. Wait, wait! They’ve done a 7”, but it’s only available in their native Denmark or something. Fucking typical. Pitchfork gave it 8.4 (past tense intentional – represents a ‘finger on the pulse’).
Devine has always held crossover appeal – thanks to his association with bands like Brand New and Manchester Orchestra he’s a firm favourite of the ‘emo’ scene despite little stylistic similarity, his honest songwriting rooted in the folk/indie side of things. This is another rock solid effort from a criminally underrated and diverse storyteller – do yourself a favour and check him out at Harvest in November.
Dave Drayton
Dave Drayton
Giselle Nguyen
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Adams has crafted a cohesive and intimate collection that sinks into your skin, right up to the last whispered note of I Love You But I Don’t Know What To Say. Giselle Nguyen
FACT FILE Length: 11 tracks, 44 minutes. Moods: Poignant, intimate and sincere.
MORTAL SIN
ROOTS MANUVA
Riot!
Big Dada/Inertia
Psychology of Death
DID YOU KNOW
4Everevolution
A few years back it became trendy for a new wave to revive thrash metal’s glory days. Young acts reading from the playbooks of Exodus, Testament, Slayer and early Metallica were suddenly in hot demand, with many not only taking their stylistic cues from their ‘80s idols, but trying to recapture that time period via raw, often analogue production. Meanwhile, many of the genre’s forefathers moved forward, creating some of the best and heaviest music of their careers.
Our host was one of the first non-American voices we heard rapping. Before Dizzee Rascal and The Streets, Rodney stood tall as unapologetic, witty, soulful and English. He wasn’t born fully grown though. Critical acclaim and semi-popularity arrived only when our host was well into his twenties. But for more than a decade he has been one of the voices that has defined Rap From Somewhere Else for us. Sadly, with 4Everevolution it looks like he’ll pass the baton pretty soon, if he hasn’t already.
Veteran Sydney thrashers Mortal Sin are a case in point, having made an album oozing vitality but also illustrating the benefit of experience. Psychology Of Death ignores trends, channelling the youthful energy and vigour of their formative days and marrying it with both considerable songwriting nous they’ve gathered throughout the years and a modern, crushing mix. 2007’s An Absence of Faith was a welcome return, but Psychology… surpasses it in every conceivable way. The opening title track bristles with intensity and an instantly memorable chorus; Mat Maurer’s snarl is even more unforgiving and there’s a tangible death metal feel lurking about. Deny is a vicious condemnation of society, chock-full of blistering riffage and more catchy hooks. Blood Of My Enemies fuses stellar leads with crunching mid-tempo passages, while Kingdom Of Pain exhibits exquisite guitar harmonics. Down In The Pit is essentially their answer to Exodus’ The Toxic Waltz, a somewhat cheesy, yet endearing mosh anthem. Hatred is a fittingly furious final lesson in violence. This is balls to the wall, bang your head, pump your fists, get kicked in the head by a stage diver thrash. And it’s glorious.
Nothing shines here. First Growth, the album’s opener, is anti-climactic. Our host is trapped by a pedestrian beat. He strains at the leash but is eventually subdued. Here We Go Again with our Dizz1 on the boards is next up and is probably the album’s best, a neat, wobbly tidbit with a sweet chorus. Elsewhere it’s all half-hearted semi-songs. Watch Me Dance is irritating. Wha’ Mek is as jarring as you would imagine a mid-album genreflip to Caribbean elevator music would be. Go Champ feels pointless. This is an undemanding and ultimately pedestrian affair. Its highlights are only echoes of our host’s former greatness.
Brendan Crabb
James d’Apice
Clearly Rodney’s best is behind him. He was the voice of a pre-grime Cool Britannia; beans on toast, warm beer and Richard Curtis romantic comedies. 4Eeverevolution sounds like a relic from a bygone era released as it is months after rioters have caused the British to do some of the most serious, deep soul-searching they’ve had to do for a generation. Roots Manuva’s days defining Britain’s urban youth are now well behind him. Whether he’s evolved, or they have, is beside the point.
• Several months ago, Adams released his first official collaboration with wife Mandy Moore, a song called Empty Room, on which she sang backing vocals. The track was included on a special 7” single, with a cover of Alice In Chains’ Nutshell the B-side.
RYAN ADAMS Ashes And Fire PAX AM/Sony
Moody guy, this one. Got hitched to Mandy Moore in 2009 and proclaimed he was quitting music, only to return less than a year later with two albums, the metal-influenced Orion and III/IV, a collection of outtakes from 2007’s Easy Tiger. What a relief, though, that the old Ryan Adams is back – Ashes And Fire is a superb return to form for the erratic alt.country singer/ songwriter, echoing the ghosts of some of his best past work. His vocals take the fore on this record, layered on Do I Wait and emoting alone on the quiet reverie of Come Home before Norah Jones, who also guests on Kindness and Save Me, joins, adding a jazzy flair. Their voices work well together, reminiscent of 2000’s Oh My Sweet Carolina. In fact, a lot about Ashes And Fire has similarities to that year’s album, Heartbreaker, only without the slack-jawed country-meets-garage tunes. The partnership of piano and acoustic guitar is frequent, with a healthy dose of strings offering a pleasant cushion on Rocks and the slightly cheesy Chains Of Love. When he does allow a bit of indulgence with guitar solos, like on the title track, they’re restrained, a change from the likes of Halloweenhead. Though a tune like Lucky Now is typical singer/songwriter fare, Adams makes it his own with that emotionally fulfilling voice.
• Though known as a jazz-pop singer, Ashes And Fire collaborator Norah Jones has had many forays into the alternative, country and indie realms. In 2005 she co-wrote and sang on Dear John with Adams, the song included on his Cardinals album, Jacksonville City Nights. She guested on Belle & Sebastian’s Write About Love in 2010, and has also worked with Okkervil River’s Will Sheff. • Aside from his songwriting duties, keen writer Adams has published two books. Infinity Blues is a collection of free verse and Hello Sunshine includes poetry and short stories written by the musician. Both were published in 2009, and recently Adams has discussed the possibility of releasing a third book, a novel about “a lovable rat”.
There’s not an enormous variety of moods on this album, but like he has done so many times before,
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 49 •
ONLINE MUSICAL WIN WITH DCR
SAVES THE DAY
SNEAKY SOUND SYSTEM
THE-DREAM
3Wise/Sony
Modular
Radio Killa
Daybreak
LANA DEL RAY Hello kids! It’s been a few weeks since you last heard from the good ship Hyper Music, but we’re back – this week at least – and we’ve a couple of rad songs for you to hear. WU LYF, one of our favourite discoveries of the past year, released an incredible album earlier this year, then presented two nights at the Sydney Opera House as part of Vivid LIVE. They’ve just announced a vinyl release of We Bros, as well as posting on their website a song called Go Tell Fire To The Mountain (Reprise). It was supposed to end the album (of the same name), they say, to “trail in after Heavy Pop fades. But we couldn’t figure it right; [it] took ten months of perspective to conclude.” Officially, it’s not available to purchase, but since it’s on their website, and this is 2011, you can find a downloadable copy of it somewhere, which you can then chuck on the end of the ripped copy of the album you have. Reprise is an apt name for the song as it acts as a reprise of the entire album, its mood borrowing from all of the sombre moments of the album, from opening song L Y F to Concrete Gold, as it fades into oblivion amidst a murky mix of mourning organ and strained vocal lament. WU LYF hasn’t made as much of a mark on Australia as they should, but you really must grab their album and plug yourself in. Reprise is a great starting point, too, if you’re one of those people that hates making the wrong decision when thinking of what song to listen to first from a band you’ve yet to experience. It’s moody and raw and impassioned – all the things that make WU LYF great. And if this is the calibre of songs left off the album, things are looking promising for future releases. The We Bros vinyl, meanwhile, is one of those remix releases and boasts two reworkings from WU LYF amigos S. Mohabra and Young Montana. One for collectors or DJs only, we thinks. Hear Reprise and get info on the We Bros EP at worldunite.org. There’s a new fox in town called Lana del Rey, whose super sultry vocals are either the product of a serious addiction to cigarettes or a lot of training. She has a double A-side coming that’s making foreign press go gaga, presumably hoping for another Adele. The first side houses Video Games, and on it Del Rey sounds so much like Chan Marshall/Cat Power it’s unavoidable to listen to without imagining the original indie bad girl to the point of annoyance. Its second single, Blue Jeans, however, is lush. A seriously sexy taste of Americana, there’s still that Cat Power vibe, but there are also echoes of Kate Bush and its trip hop beats and falsetto chorus (“I will love you ’til the end of time”), dripping with post-love exhaustion, will have you getting weak at the knees. (Parts of the song, actually, sound a lot like Trentemøller’s …Even Though You’re With Another Girl, which features the singing voice of one Josephine Phillip.) It’s the sort of song you’d expect to find on a David Lynch or Quentin Tarantino soundtrack – broken nostalgia. (Or, you know, Twilight.) Plus, it has great lyrics such as, “You’re so punk rock, I grew up on hip hop/You fit me better than my favourite sweater”. Trust me, they work. She lists John Waters and Allen Ginsberg in her influences alongside Nina Simone, Nirvana and Britney Spears, and all of these come through in her songs (except, really, for Nirvana – lolwut?). Her videos are exhausted with retro footage (likely, filtered in post-production but hey, it looks good) with oodles of nostalgic footage of an American of a bygone era and trashy Harmony Korine-esque clips, resulting in a video that’s equal parts witch house and surf film without the waves. We await more from Lana del Rey with great anticipation. • 50 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
From Here To Anywhere
New Jersey pop/punk band Saves The Day has left a trail of former band members in its wake along the way to releasing seven albums. In fact, singer Chris Conley is now all that is left of the original band that released their first album, Can’t Slow Down, in 1998. The two albums that followed, Through Being Cool and Stay What You Are, were, and still are to many young bands coming through, seminal albums in the phase of punk and emo that also spawned Jimmy Eat World, The Get Up Kids and New Found Glory.
Sydney dance duo Sneaky Sound System has made a triumphant return with their new album, From Here To Anywhere. From beginning to end the record is filled with magical techno beats and flawless production, all complemented by vocals that are both remarkably powerful and smoother than ever. With this record, Sneaky Sound System prove that they haven’t lost the strength of their own unique sound but also that they are capable of pushing the boundaries of their genre. There really is never a dull moment here.
It’s been ten years since Stay What You Are though and the band has had little impact in the years since. Unfortunately, Daybreak is unlikely to change that. For fans of emo-pop, Conley’s eternally teenage-sounding voice and his knack for writing a snappy, sugary hook can still be found here, but there’s little to recommend listening to Daybreak over an earlier version of the band.
The record’s opener, Friends, gives listeners a taste of the classic yet refined Sneaky Sound System sound with its fast, heavy beat and smooth vocals. Experimental vocals are employed courageously and successfully in We Love, the first of many signs of the pair’s willingness to introduce some variety with this album. As the record progresses, we see that it contains both perfectly constructed dance tracks and hard-hitting pop songs in equal measure, without neglecting to inject some honesty and intensity into its lyricism. The masterful quality of Angus McDonald’s production shines brightest in the lengthy introduction to The Colours. Experimental vocals and lyrical structure make a second appearance in I Need You So and 1984, both of which showcase Sneaky Sound System’s rejuvenated sound. All of the aforementioned elements that make this record so victorious, both for Sneaky Sound System and for pop music in general, are combined in perfect proportion in the album’s penultimate track, I’m Not Leaving. Closer, Lovetown, is uplifting and light-hearted, leaving listeners in no doubt that Sneaky Sound System has returned to pop and dance music stronger and better than ever.
Probably the best song on the album, Let It Go, almost hits the heights that a song like At Your Funeral once reached. Its simplicity and sweetness are thrown into light by the fuzzy guitars and chugging rhythm of the song. Even the refrain, “You know that I love you and I can’t stand living without you,” works in the context of the song, despite the cheesiness behind the sentiment. These days, Saves The Day sounds more like an exercise in nostalgia than a legitimate step forward into the grown-up world that the 31-year-old Conley and many of the band’s original fans now inhabit.
1977
The-Dream didn’t have to put any effort in. He’s got a growing reputation. This is a free album. So, yeah, no effort needed… And no effort was made. For someone who’s been responsible for some of the most exciting pop songs ever penned (has anyone heard that Beyoncé track, Single Ladies?) this is a profound disappointment, a return to the pedestrian RnB The-Dream was destined to save us all from. This Shit Real N_gga, with its strange censorship, could easily be renamed This Shit Real B_ring. An okay chorus is let down by an awful, endless Pharrell verse. And once that’s over we’re implored to “rock out” to a watereddown sample that may impress those easily entertained by drying paint or anyone who has never heard the sound of an electric guitar before. Silly, featuring new Radio Killa artist Casha, is offensively inoffensive. Wedding Crasher is cool, though. Understated plinkplonk, it’s the story of our pathetic, arrogant host as he sits in the dark, alone, drinking Patron while his former flame gets married. It’s a great image. It highlights TheDream’s ability to step outside RnB clichés and embrace the sad, ugly consequences of the life of a self-centered, cash-grabbing pop star. There’s a sense here that we’re watching The-Dream swerve off the road and piss on his legacy. It feels like he’s forgotten that he’s great and is instead embracing mediocrity. It’s his life to lead and it’s up to him to make the music that makes him happy, but this is a real letdown. It’s a free album and Wedding Crasher is comfortably worth the price of admission, but there’s not much else going on here.
Danielle O’Donohue
Lucia Osborne-Crowley
James d’Apice
THE DUKE SPIRIT
TOUCHÉ AMORÉ
ZOLA JESUS
Parting The Sea Between Brightness And Me
Bruiser
Co-Operative On their first two albums, The Duke Spirit built beguiling rock around the passionate vocals of frontwoman Leila Moss. There’s nothing as immediate as either of those albums’ best songs (You Really Wake Up The Love In Me, Bottom Of The Sea) on new album, Bruiser, but like Australia’s own widely popular Jezabels, this band certainly knows what to do with their best asset.
Deathwish/Shock
Conatus
Pod/Inertia
Though the album isn’t perfect, The Duke Spirit’s biggest problem isn’t what’s on this album, it’s that not enough people are going to hear it, especially in Australia.
The calm watery chords of ~ (Tilde) are all that’s between you and all of this fury before the dam breaks. The torrent of ‘on-the-road and in-the-van as the everyday’ imagery is poignant and potent. The aggressive ringing chords throughout offer the full sweep of each string, broadening the expression and stretching the tension. The longest song is under two and a half minutes, the average length 20 seconds less than that. So, the band packs weeks and months of upset, self-imposed isolation, damaged friendships, self-doubt and fear of failure, of the future, of losing everything you hold dear, into a bulging Pandora’s Box. It’s thrilling and utterly terrifying at the same time.
Zola Jesus is one of a number of female singers with strong, rich voices to have emerged in recent years. She shares similar vocal tonalities with the likes of Florence Welch, The Knife’s Karin Dreijer Andersson and Austra’s Katie Stelmanis, yet she stands out as the strongest of the bunch. Following last year’s Stridulum II, Conatus sees the diminutive Russian-American expanding and refining her gothic electronica sound. It is of course her voice that wins hearts and seduces ears when you listen to Nika Roza Danilova’s music. She possesses a mesmerising mix of drama, romance and atmosphere that allows the music to feel acres wide. It really matters little what she sings about for the most part, as Conatus is all about mood. Hikikomori sways and swells with synths and strings driving along, building a tension that is never released. That ability to maintain a taut ambience is central to the success of Conatus. Danilova’s earliest releases were concerned with noisier and artfully obscure music, so it is a triumph of artistic evolution that she has been able to embrace pop and electronic sounds without sacrificing those exploratory facets. Seekir could have sat on dark pop albums by Yazoo, Depeche Mode or Soft Cell with its gentle pulse and immediate melody, while the extravagantly named Lick The Palm Of The Burning Handshake isn’t a million miles from the chart ballads of ‘80s heavyweights like Bonnie Tyler. Skin is Zola Jesus at her most exposed, featuring little more than her voice and a piano, proving that she can create music with emotional impact that doesn’t need smoke and mirrors to flesh it out. In terms of successors to trailblazers like Björk, Zola Jesus is a leading contender.
Danielle O’Donohue
Brad Barrett
Chris Familton
Without Moss out the front it would be much harder to distinguish this band from all the other “we listen to lots of Radiohead and Muse” acts out there, but Moss both smooths out the band’s nerdier rock moments and adds a thoroughly entrancing cinematic edge to everything. This album is dark and moody – a natural extension of Moss’ vocals – and an air of menace hangs over everything, especially when the guitars kick into overdrive, as they do in the middle of Don’t Wait, or Sweet Bitter Sweet. One of the highlights of the album is Villain. Moss’ voice and a whispering piano line introduce the song, before a steady beat drops in with a languid guitar strum. But it’s the chorus that shows this band to full effect. “I’m a villain in love, you’re a villain alone,” sings Moss in her best femme fatale persona. The enigmatic, world-weary and deceptively tough character that Moss inhabits out of the front of this band is a well-known figure in the history of female-fronted bands, but Moss’ skill and conviction pull you in.
The list of bands thanked in the sleeve of this record reads like an atlas of hardcore authority – from Converge, Envy and Thursday to the astonishing sounds of Punch, La Dispute, Pianos Become The Teeth, Trash Talk and Make Do & Mend. It’s fitting because Touché Amoré seems to have travelled, literally and metaphorically, with all of them. In doing so, these five youngsters have pierced through layers of skin, a castiron rib cage and delivered a direct shock to the sluggish masculine heart. An album as inflamed with its emotions, and as violently direct, has not been heard since Glassjaw’s debut. Lyrically, Jeremy Bolm is inspired by the grind of headlights and tarmac, the dark his only welcome to a new place, while his voice leaves no doubt as to the choking desperation he’s screaming about. His yell is unaffected, but he seems sure tearing his throat up will punish his accursed negativity on its way out of his system.
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 51 •
METAL AND HARD ROCK WITH CHRIS MARIC TABERAH
DREAMS COME TRUE Tasmanian metallers Taberah recently released their debut album, The Light Of Which I Dream, and are taking it for a spin this week, hitting Valve on Friday and the Hamilton Station on Saturday. Drummer Tom Brockman sat down for a quick chat.
Why did it take seven years to make a debut album and what was the process leading up to it? When Jonathon B and myself started playing music together back in 2004 we were both young and naive. We were only just in high school. The material we were putting together was like the first tunes for any young bands just starting out; they were practically carbon copies of our influences. It took us nearly three years to develop our sound before we even performed live. As we grew up our writing skills improved and our music evolved to the stage where we were confident to put it on record. We put together a couple of demos and a live EP to try and get our name out there before we even began to think about a full-length. What a lot of people don’t know is that we actually had a crack at recording the record back in 2009 but we weren’t happy with how it was turning out, so we scrapped the whole thing and started fresh. The Light Of Which I Dream as we know it took about 18 months to put together from when we first hit the studio… Looking back, I am quite happy we took the time because there is no way we could have pulled this off back in the day.
How does your brand of metal differ to the sound of other bands in the genre, and how do you bring a more ‘fun’ vibe to it? Our sound is derived from a pretty wide range of influences; we love Queen and have a huge love for AC/DC. Mix this with a healthy dose of Iron Maiden, Motörhead and Firewind worship and you can kind of get an idea of our sound. As far as the “fun” element goes, that is what we are all about. We don’t like the stereotypical gloom and doom heavy metal bands who just seem angry for no reason. We write and play music for enjoyment and to do something we love. We want this to come through in everything we do.
• 52 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
Hey there sports fans… and non sports fans – if you fall into the latter category like me you can enjoy the post-footy silence on Facebook for a few weeks until the cricket starts. I think posting during games has become the modern day version of shouting at the TV. Of course this has absolutely nothing to do with metal but the rest of my ramblings sure do. Alice Cooper kicked arse when he hit town recently and Scott Ian and Rob Caggiano ripped heads off in spectacular fashion at Counter Revolution too. Scott tells me Anthrax will be back here as soon as they can, which will likely be in the first half of next year. He also filled me in on some of the bands who have been locked in for next year’s Soundwave. It will be pretty farken awesome indeed but you’ll have to wait for details. Legendary Whitesnake singer David Coverdale turned 60 last month. The band’s latest album, Forevermore, proves that he still kicks as much arse as he did 40 years ago when he was fronting Deep Purple. David, Alice, Lemmy – nearly all eligible for the pension and still rocking hard. You have no excuse! Murderdolls frontman Wednesday 13 is back with his first solo album in three years called Calling All Corpses. The album sees W13 return to the fun of his first band Frankenstein Drag Queens with catchy verses, tongue in cheek lyrics and strong memorable choruses. The awesome cover artwork was created by D.A. Frizell, who has done albums for Avenged Sevenfold and Sevendust. Every year Halloween gets more commercial and American and I find more creative ways to make the door knocking kids earn their candy, by asking stuff like, “What exactly is All Hallow’s Eve?” or “What were the stories on Treehouse Of Horrors 3?” Guess who eats all the candy? Samhain approaches once again, which means the Samhain Hollows festival will be on again. Samhain Hollows IV has been named All Hallows Bleed and as usual will offer a night of temptation and debauchery for those seeking to engage in the lunacy that it brings. Check out the lineup – Infektion, Hell Itself, Havoc, Unholy Vendetta, Chud, Age Of Menace, Infernal Reign, Herratik, Frostbite, Tensions Arise and Toecutter. Where else would you expect all this to happen? Yup, get thee to the Sando on Saturday 29 October and don’t forget your lantern. Melbourne thrashers Frankenbok are back with a new album they’ve called The End Of All You Know, which is
www.utopia.com.au
you could tell as I’m one of the ‘hoodies’, although the shot of the hand grabbing the barrier belongs to moi. The band’s ‘comeback’ album, Never Dead, has been in the marketplace for a while now and the guys are finally, finally playing in their hometown, for the first time in nearly ten years! Tonight, head down the mountain for the Hometown Throwdown and see them tear apart The Patch at Fairy Meadow along with Nekrofeist and Elite Element.
ANTHRAX their heaviest work to date (although they kind of have to say that to impress teenagers now, don’t they?). To spread the word, they’ve booked a national tour which heads our way over a few days at the end of October and into November. When you buy your copy, check out the artwork, which was hand-painted by Tom Emery, on a 1m x 1m canvas using nothing but his extraordinary imagination, painstakingly creating and incorporating over 1,000 characters into a scene that could only be described as… The End Of All You Know. Another of Melbourne’s finest, Hatchet Dawn has shot a music video for the song, Dark Symmetry, from debut album, Rebirth. It features burlesque performer Miss Nic, a mad Mustang and many of the band’s friends and fans. It was shot in one of Melbourne’s hottest burlesque bars, Red Bennies, by renowned producer Gareth McGilvray from McG. Check it out online and spin yourself out. The guys’ next appearance in Sydney will be at The Wall Friday 18 November.
WEDNESDAY Spend hump day night at the Annandale where five local bands kick off something called the Uptone Entertainment Industry Showcase. For ten bucks you can check out Kill Appeal, who are on first at 8pm, followed by English Avenue and JD Mo, with Hard As Nails and Enter The Ninja rounding out the night.
FRIDAY If you haven’t checked out the video for Blood Lace Black Day, do it! Segression recently teamed up with the awesome production team who made The Tunnel Movie, which has had enormous success. The video has a great concept and a cameo from yours truly, not that
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Meanwhile at The Supper Club, catch the busiest showman in town, Johnathan Devoy, along with Vicious Dickens, Patrick Arnold and Sean Curran for a night of acoustic goodness – hey, it doesn’t have to be banging all the time! Blues rock dudes Children Overboard are up first to set the groove. The groove only costs five bucks to check out too! Local speed/thrash metal merchants Trench Hell, who have been making waves in Europe playing the likes of Denmark’s Metal Magic and Germany’s Headbangers open air festivals, will play a new heavy music club night at Petersham’s Whitehouse Hotel. The Killed By Death heavy metal club will have metal DJs, cheap drinks and a bargain $7 entry fee to see Trench Hell in what could be their last Australian show.
SATURDAY The Bald Faced Stag will be a progger’s wet dream tonight as four bands who like to mess with time signatures and song structures get to show off and impress their girlfriends and of course you, the fans. The night is on to launch Hemina’s momentous debut album, Synthetic, which was mixed and mastered by Tommy Hansen (Redemption, Circus Maximus, Seventh Wonder, Helloween). Joining in on the fun are Queensland’s biggest prog export Arcane, Troldhaugen and the mighty Red Bee. Doors open in 5/7 time at 8pm and tickets are $12. Newcastle’s Hamilton Station Hotel will play host to Tasmanian heavy metallers Taberah, who recently released their debut album, The Light Of Which I Dream, through Mr Dave Balfour’s Metal Evilution label in August. The thrashtastic opus was produced by fellow Tassie denizen Joe Haley, of Psycroptic, which means it sounds awesome. The guys are hitting the road pretty hard and will take in Wollongong, Canberra and Sydney before the year is out. I’ll post the dates as we near them. heavy@drummedia.com.au
PUNK AND HARDCORE WITH SARAH PETCHELL So Soundwave has been doing a bit of a drip feed of the lineup for the 2012 festival. I know they do it with most of their announcements, but with the collapse of Soundwave Revolution it has seemed like the lineup announcements have gone a little bit under the radar. So for all you punk and hardcore fans, this is where the Soundwave 2012 lineup (in the absence of an official announcement, which will hopefully be soon) stands. Quite a few of the acts have come across from the Soundwave Revolution announcement and all have been confirmed via direct quotes from the acts or Soundwave. Anyway, as it stands at the moment Forever The Sickest Kids, The Used, Dashboard Confessional, Hatebreed, The Dangerous Summer, Kvelertak and Four Year Strong have all been confirmed. Add to this my all-time favourite band, The Dillinger Escape Plan and it’s a solid lineup. But the announcement that I’m most intrigued by is the inclusion of Saves The Day. Apparently the band will be playing two sets: a set of their own material and also a set where they play Weezer’s Pinkerton in its entirety. Perhaps this is AJ Maddah’s way of getting a little piece of Weezer onto the bill. Speaking of announcements, it looks like Big Day Out is venturing back into punk and hardcore territory for 2012. Heading out as a part of the festival will be Melbourne’s The Getaway Plan, Frenzal Rhomb and Parkway Drive. Add to that Mariachi El Bronx (along with a few cool non punk/hardcore acts like Girl Talk and Odd Future) and 2012 is shaping up to be one of the best Big Day Out lineups in a really, really long time. It has been such a long time in the works, but Sydney’s Milhouse has finally released a debut EP. The band features members of Lights Out, Animal Shapes and Between The Devil & The Deep. The EP is titled Everything Is Coming Up… and it’s four tracks over eight minutes of what they call “socially inept, awkward pop/punk” and I really dig it! I mean, the tracks tackle such pressing issues as weight loss, robots, internet slang and the back garden; just stories of everyday life. Pair it up with music that could have been written by The Promise Ring or The Get Up Kids and you’re onto something really cool. If you’re curious and want to check it out, hit up the band’s Bandcamp page to download it for free. It looks like La Dispute is the latest band to fall victim to the curse of having their brand new album leaked well before its release date. Last week that release,
LESS THAN JAKE
I’M ON A BOAT Ska punk fans will either be green with envy or internet flight booking-happy to hear that veterans Less Than Jake are performing two of their classic albums, 1996’s Losing Streak and 1998’s Hello Rockview, in their entirety on the Rocks Off Concert Cruise, which takes place over two nights in November. Skanking and chilling on a boat – what could possibly go wrong?
LA DISPUTE Wildfire, was leaked, causing the band to stream their entire album earlier than anticipated. The album is brilliant and has already launched itself into my top five of 2011. When the record, Monolith, by Canadian outfit Sights & Sounds was released a few years back, I remember giving it a flogging. It was a solid album that I was psyched on for a while. Anyway, the band (which features members of Comeback Kid and Figure Four) will be hitting Australia this December for a run of smaller shows, but it could be very cool to see them in a more intimate setting. Frontman Andrew Neufeld said of the tour, “I’ve been coming to Australia for the last seven years with my other band Comeback Kid and to finally come with Sights & Sounds is a dream come true.” Joining them on the road will be the excellent Grenadiers from Adelaide and Melbourne’s Chasing Ghosts. You can catch the tour in and around Sydney on Thursday 8 December at Spectrum, then on Friday 9 at the Cambridge Hotel in Newcastle. Queensland’s Arrest Records has announced the upcoming release of a split 7”, which will see the NSW Central Coast act Mark My Words team up with German outfit Suffer Survive. The split contains two new songs from each band and the vinyl will be available in three colours: blood red (100 copies), blue (100 copies) and black (300 copies). Each will come
with a digital download of the tracks. To celebrate the release, Mark My Words will be undertaking an East Coast tour and, even better, with Italian hardcore act Strength Approach. You can catch them at the Hamilton Station Hotel on Wednesday 16 November, Blush Nightclub on Thursday 24, then at Killer Nightclub Friday 25 and finally an all ages show at Chatswood Youth Centre Saturday 26. Orange County metalcore act The Ghost Inside has unofficially announced that they’re in the process of recording their third album, the follow-up to 2010’s Returners. Nothing is official yet, however the band has confirmed that they are in Ocala, Florida tracking with producer Andrew Wade (A Day To Remember, Burden Of A Day) at The Wade Studio. This will definitely be one of my most anticipated records of 2012. Melbourne hardcore quintet No Way Out announced last week that they would be joining forces with Adelaide’s Pee Records for the release of their new album later this month. The album is titled Dead Ends and it will hit stores on Friday 28 October. Recorded with Sam Johnson at Three Phase Studios, the final result is a record for fans of Bury Your Dead, Day Of Contempt and Most Precious Blood. You can check out the band’s Facebook for tracks.
KEVIN DOES NIRVANA Emo/indie crossover singer/songwriter Kevin Devine, whose new album, Between The Concrete And Clouds, is reviewed in these very pages, has also put out another new release – a cover album of Nirvana’s Nevermind in full. The musician has been known to cover School live, and this full tribute album coincides with the twentieth anniversary of the seminal grunge album. He explained on Twitter, “FYI: we did it for fun. We weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel or ‘improve’ upon perfection. We were trying to play flawless songs well… And pay tribute to a record that in many ways was the skeleton key to each of us playing music in a serious way. That’s all. Have some fun.” The album is available to download free at kevindevine.net.
PREVIEW TONIGHT Sydney pop/punk band Tonight Alive has put up a four-minute album teaser for their upcoming debut album, What Are You So Scared Of? The band debarked to the US earlier this year to record the album with acclaimed producer Mark Trombino (Blink 182, Jimmy Eat World). The album drops 14 October and the band has also posted the video for a single, Let It Land. They will be appearing on the Punk Goes Pop 4 compilation in November, covering Mumford & Sons’ Little Lion Man.
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 53 •
HIP HOP WITH VIKTOR KRUM You know how when women speak about close friends or famous women whose opinions/position/clothes they admire they sometimes refer to them as a “cool chick”, a “sick bitch” or some other would-be derogatory term? It can be a little disarming for the men in the room. There’s an underlying implication that a word that was once oppressive is being reclaimed. There’s also the presumption of a shared experience with the woman who finds herself called a “hectic slut” or whatever. It’s about camaraderie. Part of the joy and power in terms like that is the exclusion and discomfort of men. It’s the explicit creation of a group that we, the ones with the penises, can never penetrate. (Get it? Gross. Sorry.) A few things about this. Firstly, we as men need to acknowledge that we can never understand the power of these words even when they’re used casually. Empathy eludes us at the best of times but when we’re talking about reclaiming some social territory after our ladies suffering millennia of oppression at yours and your male ancestors’ hands you do not and cannot empathise. Remember how teen movies in the late ‘90s had the obligatory characters who were white but emulated black culture? That’s how you’ll sound when you try to tell one of your female mates how cool you think her slang is. Leave it. That means when she starts tuning in to Kween G and Bad Ezzy’s new show on Tuesday evenings on FBi 94.5FM, just listen along. When she’s enjoying the banter and the music and explains how your hosts are a pair of “mad broads”, don’t agree. And don’t disagree. Just keep making dinner, enjoy the mix and know that you will never understand. OK. We done with gender studies? Let’s move on to sex education. (I promise no more “penetrate” jokes. I’m already regretting that other one. Blurgh.) You’ve already headed to thetongue.com.au to download The Tongue’s new release, The Sex Tape. It was a smart move. I’ve particularly noted the anti-homophobia stance The Tongue takes on the tape. I also found some of the online chitchat about it interesting. The Tongue suggested, more or less, that it was the first time an Australian emcee had come to grips with a blight on our scene; the hatred and exclusion endemic in some rap music made in this country. There was a heated response from some. Interestingly, much of the sound and fury was at the suggestion that this was the first anti-
ALL AGES WITH DAVE DRAYTON So, last week there was a last-minute acoustic instore announced at Resist Records with Hellogoodbye and The Swellers playing. It was so last minute I couldn’t squeeze it in here, but it’s great to see another venue (albeit nontraditional) opening their doors and creating a space for young people to enjoy live music. It meant two shows in a week for the store (Make Do & Mend also played!), so keep an eye for any future events. For all the complaining people do about our government (and granted, much of it is warranted), the powers that be occasionally get things right. For example, Arts NSW currently has $65,000 in grants to distribute through Indent to young people (ages 12-25) to help fund live music events. Get an idea together and then check the guidelines and grab an application form at indent.net.au/ grants. This is a great opportunity to bring live music to your local area with a helping hand for the hardest part, covering costs.
THE TONGUE homophobia stance, rather than any objection to the stance itself. For me, I accept that there have been others who have expressed distaste but this is the first song I’ve heard dedicated to it. I say it’s a bit of a watershed. You may disagree. Anyway, you can catch The Tongue live at the FBi Social at the Kings Cross Hotel on Friday 7 October for free. Good deal. “BYO condom,” suggests The Tongue. It’s good advice. Keep it safe, guys, whoever you spend your time with. Relevance is elusive. And it’s often tinged with irony. Sometimes the very thing that made you so fiercely relevant in the first place is the thing that makes you irrelevant later. I say that we are surely watching Tyler, the Creator’s (and, so, arguably OFWGKTA’s) slide into irrelevance pick up speed. Crazy hijinks were part of the initial joy of Tyler. He upset interviewers and was stunningly unapologetic about his content. He made a good video clip one time. He was amazing live. He was young, and a bit foolish, and utterly compelling to watch. “What will I do next?” he seemed to ask us constantly. Well, with the prank release from his alter ego Young Nigga we’re now at the point where we can allow Tyler to drift away into the distance. Making one good song and some OK songs is not enough to create a legacy. And it’s certainly not enough to capture our attention much longer. You guys heard YN yet? getittogether@drummedia.com.au
Things have been heating up for Brisbane post-hardcore lads The Amity Affliction recently. They’re doing a deluxe reissue of the latest album Youngbloods, have signed to Roadrunner worldwide and are about to rock your lucky little socks off when they hit town with their Fuck The Reaper tour this weekend with not one, but two all ages shows on Saturday at Newcastle Panthers and Sunday at the Big Top, Luna Park. Young & Restless got a hold of bass player and vocalist Ahren Stringer for a few questions before the shows. Why did you want to get Asking Alexandria and Skyway on board for the tour? We’re all mates with Skyway – and they’ve been working really hard recently – and thought we’d help them out as much as possible. We’ve toured with Asking Alexandria a couple of times now; they’re all nice guys, and we knew they were itching to come back after Soundwave so there you have it! Youngbloods has been out for a while now. With the deluxe reissue coming out for this tour, how’s the next release shaping up? Well I’ve been writing a whole bunch of songs on my own here in Melbourne (where I live now) and I’m really psyched on what I’ve got so far. Troy has sent a couple of songs to me too and it’s all sounding rad! We’re all keen to go back to New York again for the next album around
POP CULTURE THERAPY WITH ADAM CURLEY There’s a difference between ‘youth’ and ‘adolescence’. Stolen by marketers to sell eye cream and health insurance, ‘youth’ brings to mind rosy-cheeked teens splashing each other in a fountain with their schoolbooks in a neat pile somewhere close by. ‘Adolescence’, on the other hand, brings to mind boys with stinky armpits and girls in oversized private school dresses clutching cling-wrapped bread rolls and tuba cases. Everyone wants to be youthful; no one wants to revert back to adolescence. No, really: no one wants to be an adolescent. Just ask the catalogue of statistics on Australians aged 14-17 compiled by the marketing department of a major teen magazine, which somehow landed in The Breakdown’s hands this week. Of course, they call them ‘youth’ stats. The methods of collection might well be dubious, but in honour of today’s screwed-up kids, this month’s music wrap-up will be interspersed with such comforting information as: 31 per cent of teen girls won’t leave the house without make-up on. 73 per cent of teenage girls and 39 per cent of boys worry about their weight. 80 per cent of teens are concerned about getting a good job in the future. Brisbane’s Tape/Off has been getting a heap of praise since releasing their independent EP, …And Sometimes Gladness, and for very good reason: the five tracks point to a band that knows how to take alt.guitars, yelled vocals and bashed drums to the edge, peaking out mics and almost collapsing their melodies, without ever losing their grip. There’s a bit of Fugazi, a little Mclusky, even a bit of Not From There in their phrasing. Anyway, late reviews aside, the reason for this mention is merely to point out the awesome EP is still available for free download from Tape/Off’s Bandcamp. 32 per cent of teens didn’t use a condom every time they had sex. 44 per cent of teens own a smart phone. 41 per cent of teens participate in Earth Hour. Melbourne’s Nick Huggins has been busy producing albums for Oscar + Martin, Otouto, Hello Satellites and Mick Turner since releasing his own debut solo record in 2007. With a second album on the way, Huggins has unveiled a new single, Iceberg (Two Bright Lakes/ Remote Control), a slowly alarming expanse of bedroom keys and his sunburnt accent. Like a cheeky but moving nod to spoken-word post-punk of yore, the chintzy production is matched perfectly with the lyrics. The • 54 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
MAKE DO AND MEND March/April next year. I can’t wait to get back in the studio! If someone told a teenage you that in a few years your band would be signing to Roadrunner worldwide, how would you react? I’d probably shit my pants and try to suck my own dick! What’s the best show you attended as an u18? Millencolin at the Arena, Brisbane in 2000. So I must’ve been 13. First show I ever went to and it fully blew my mind. Ever since then I wanted to play music for a living. After a few setbacks in Perth you locked in an all ages venue; why do you think it’s important to play A/A shows? I know exactly how frustrating it is to wanna see your favourite band and the only shows near you are 18+. Happened to me all the time growing up. It’s super important for us because a lot of our fans are U18 and without them nothing would be possible! Any advice for young muso’s out there looking to kickstart their band? Obviously never give up! A lot of bands expect everything to be handed to them and just when it isn’t they throw in the towel. If you want something bad enough you have to work your arse off. Or be really lucky! Make friends, contacts, talk to people, write, record and never stop. It took us eight years to get to where we are now so it’s not easy or guaranteed, but anything is possible! allages@drummedia.com.au
URBAN AND R&B NEWS BY CYCLONE While there are bumper hip hop albums out or on the horizon, R&B kids have less to look forward to, Rihanna’s sixth album aside. But Jason Derülo is back with a second album, Future History – his bid for Chris Brown’s empty throne, if not Michael Jackson’s, going by its title.
RAT VS POSSUM album, Five Lights, is out on 17 October. In a four-week period, Australian teens spent $94 million on clothes. 53 per cent have ignored their Facebook friends when they’ve seen them in public. 12 per cent believe it is acceptable to smoke. Two excellent new tracks from Sydney’s Charge Group have surfaced. Run and The Gold Is Gone will appear on a limited-run EP out Friday through Own Records. The EP will also feature remixes by Kim Moyes of The Presets, MYLeS, Seaworthy and CG. Produced by Wayne Connolly, both songs get his sorrow-in-the-desert touch, though Charge Group also owns a large share of that quality – they are, in essence, an alt.rock band with a violin, and a bloody good one. 44 per cent of teens use their mobile phones to play music. 44 per cent visit an online music store once a week. 34 per cent go to a music store less than every six months. 29 per cent turn to music when in need of release. Melbourne’s Rat Vs Possum has released a second album, Let Music And Bodies Unite, successfully figuring out how to shift the live jams of their debut into more a complex production. They still have little interest in studio ‘perfection’ – and the repeated lyric lines and worming nature of their giddy synth-pop is all the better for it – but there’s a playfulness with effects and techniques. It’s surprising to hear AutoTune two tracks in, but the record descends into foggy beats, distortion and haunted guitars soon enough. breakdown@drummedia.com.au
Oddly, Derülo, signed to JR Rotem’s Beluga Heights label, is a bigger star, and household name, in Australia than the US, despite winning Lady GaGa’s early endorsement. Derülo’s ‘romance’ with model Lara Bingle has helped maintain his profile in the popular press down under. Not that Derülo, who’s just celebrated his 22nd birthday, released that hit-laden eponymous debut so long ago – it was only last year. At any rate, he’s since ignited the Australian charts with the escapist Don’t Wanna Go Home, the lead single from Future History. (It’s the album opener, too – never a good sign.) The Fliptones have produced a hit that recycles the melody from Robin S’ Show Me Love, among the ‘90s’ most enduring – and annoying – crossover house anthems (Katy B revived it at Parklife), as well as Harry Belafonte’s Day-O (The Banana Boat Song). Coincidentally, Lil Wayne, or rather Bangladesh, also used Day-O for 6 Foot 7 Foot. The Miami native hasn’t greatly changed his formula on Future History. This R&B answer to Flo Rida offers yet more hi-NRG urban-pop. Future History is possibly clubbier. It could pass as a dance music album, Derülo coming off like a one-man Miami Winter Music Conference party. But he also provides pure radio fodder like the current smash, It Girl, which features acoustic guitar and novelty whistling. Alas, nothing on Future History is as indelibly amazing as 2009’s Imogen Heap-sampling Whatcha Say, Rotem’s best production since Rihanna’s SOS. There are fewer pop hooks overall. Derülo remains attached to AutoTune. He clearly isn’t an innovator, not introducing any credible new elements such as dubsteppy influences. Though Rotem almost exclusively produced Derülo’s debut, he’s just one of many contributors on Future History. Even TheDream pitches in for the R Kelly-ish That’s My Shhh, kinda like an ‘80s Prince ballad remixed by Ryan Tedder. The real problem is that Derülo’s beloved Eurodisco, complete with trancey synth riffs, is increasingly played out. Plus the hooks he does have are borrowed. Last year’s The Sky’s The Limit drew from Irene Cara’s Flashdance… What A Feeling – and Fight For You,
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JASON DERÜLO helmed by RedOne (GaGa), is similarly indebted, this time to Toto’s Africa. DJ Frank E’s Breathing sounds like Enigma – um, who remembers Sadeness (Pt 1)? – at a superclub. The DJ actually samples a Bulgarian choir. Future History ends with Rotem’s token alt. rock number, Dumb, Derülo singing of heartache and inadequacy. And very angsty it is, too – wonder if Bingle inspired it? In the meantime, Derülo guests on Demi Lovato’s comeback, Unbroken. He duets on the over-cooked Together, coproduced by Timbaland, who’s really lost his mojo recently. The troubled Disney star is embracing urban and, at least commercially, it’s paying off. Lovato evokes a mini-Mariah Carey here. Missy Elliott raps on another Timbaland jam, the swaggering All Night Long. Lovato has been performing a cool acoustic version of Lil Wayne’s How To Love, which, sadly, isn’t on Unbroken. It’s way better than doing Jonas Brothers songs, regardless! Hopefully, Rihanna’s next opus will be a step up from Loud, her pinnacle still Rated R. The Bajan starlet was expected to put out a Loud repackage, but has instead cut a whole new LP for November. She’s just aired We Found Love, which UK electro fave Calvin Harris created. It includes the plaintive chorus line “We found love in a hopeless place” – simple but powerful. Word is that Rihanna will have more dubstep flavours on the as-yet-untitled album. And RiRi fans should check out Detroit rock icon Suzi Quatro’s cover of Breakin’ Dishes on her album, In The Spotlight, orchestrated by Can The Can (and Blondie) producer Mike Chapman. It’s fab! ogflavas@drummedia.com.au
TELEPORTATION TOURING BLUES AND ROOTS WITH DAN CONDON The nominees for induction into the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame this year were announced last week and there are some awesome names amongst them. Now I’m not entirely sure how much weight this has with the people who actually decide who gets inducted, but there is a poll on the Hall of Fame’s official website where you can vote for whoever you reckon is the best candidate for this year. As it stands, the blues isn’t faring too well, my friends. In fact, it’s doing pretty badly. To give you an idea, at time of print, the Red Hot Chili Peppers were on 25,320 votes, while the legendary Freddie King – yes, the legendary Texas Cannonball himself – was on a mere 2,533 votes. War, the legendary funk act from Long Beach, California, isn’t faring much better with just 3,721 votes. There are plenty of deserving acts on the list – dare I say, more deserving than the Chili Peppers – so head along to rockhall.com and see whether your vote might just make a difference. I can’t quite believe this. Stevie Wonder is coming back to Australia next month, playing one single show while he is out here, in Sydney to celebrate something to do with the Star City Casino. Doesn’t it seem like such a waste? One of the greatest living performers of our time flying all the way across the world to play this one exclusive show. Oh well, such is life. For any of you who make far, far more money than me, you can catch Stevie Wonder at Star City’s Lyric Theatre on Wednesday 26 October. The cheap seats are only $399 or if you want to shell out for the better ones, you’ll only need to fork out $525. For fuck’s sake.
with electroshock therapy when he was only in his mid-twenties. His mental state has been up and down throughout the intervening decades. The documentary made about his life, You’re Gonna Miss Me, is essential viewing. He’s been playing fairly constantly for over a decade now and, as I’ve said, is finally making it to Australia. The Golden Plains festival happens in Meredith Saturday 10 to Monday 12 March.
ROKY ERICKSON The first part of the lineup for next year’s Golden Plains festival down in Meredith has been announced and if you’re not over the moon with joy that the festival is bringing the incredible Roky Erickson out to Australia for the first time then, well, I don’t know what on earth you could possibly get excited about. Erickson is one of the most influential true living legends of rock’n’roll. As a founding member of the 13th Floor Elevators he was one of the true pioneers of the psychedelic rock genre, though unfortunately he also bore the brunt of the not so pleasant elements of the psychedelic era, being diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and treated
A couple of weeks back the New Orleans scene was in mourning following the death of legendary arranger Wardell Quezergue. Quezergue was known as the “creole Beethoven” and his contributions to a wide range of recordings as a producer, arranger, conductor and band leader have been absolutely massive since the 1940s. He was a massive contributor to the sound of New Orleans rhythm and blues through the ‘50s and ‘60s, responsible for the iconic syncopated horn lines on truly classic tunes like Professor Longhair’s Big Chief, The Dixie Cups’ Iko Iko, King Floyd’s Groove Me, Jean Knight’s Mr. Big Stuff to name just a few. Even Paul Simon, after hearing some of the hits that Quezergue worked on in the ‘70s, enlisted him to help out on There Goes Rhymin’ Simon. He led a fascinating life; I’d recommend checking out the PRX American Routes interview with him from a couple of years back to learn more about him. He passed away on 6 September of complications relating to congestive heart failure and he was 81 years old when he passed. rootsdown@drummedia.com.au
JAZZ/WORLD WITH MICHAEL SMITH Double bassist Barre Phillips, who, in his collaborations with Ornette Coleman, Derek Bailey and Cecil Taylor among others, was one of the pioneers of free improvised music, will be performing in the Sound Lounge Friday night in trio mode with pianist Mike Nock and violinist Jon Rose, and then heads to Cockatoo Island 4pm Saturday to be a part of the What is Music? Festival, now in its 13th year. Also on the bill is a new concept from Jon Rose, The Octopus Project, performed by Robbie Avenaim on his own invention, the S.A.R.P.S., as well as Amanda Stewart, Alex Masso, Finn Ryan, James Maples and Alon Ilsar, an installation work by Melanie Herbert and the subsonic rumblings of Matt Chaumont. Sunday sees What Is Music? move to Middle Head with saxophonist Jim Denley and percussionist Robbie Avenaim in collaboration with US composer, sound artist and instrument maker Kraig Grady, from 4pm. Wednesday sees 505 in Surry Hills host the launch of the debut album, The Blues Of Joy, from Origami, led by alto sax Adam Simmons with Howard Cairns on bass and Anthony Barker on drums, recorded within a week of their first performance and each CD lovingly handpacked by Simmons in an origami cover. Opening the evening is Waratah. The Jazz A Vienne Sydney Festival comes to The Basement Circular Quay Thursday night, with France’s Tricia Evy Trio, Japanese vocalist Charito and locals Emma Hamilton, Atom Quintet, Smoooth Jazz Ensemble and Zooo Superbande.
Guns Behind The Bar is now an annual event on the Sydney alt.country scene and shifts from its beginnings at the Annandale Hotel to the Petersham Bowling Club this coming Sunday from 12.30pm. Billed as a family-friendly event (though not too sure about the title), this year’s cavalcade features the rambunctious Spurs For Jesus, who will both headline the night and open the afternoon with a special stripped-back set for the kids (think The Wiggles meet Johnny Cash). The impressive bill also features Brisbanites The Delivery and Rattlehand, Roland K. Smith & The Sinners and a special solo set from Johnny Took as well as surprise guests and plenty of giveaways during the day – all for the generous door sting of only $20. Kids get in for free but must be accompanied by an adult and need to check their popguns at the bar. It might be stretching it a bit to include the German oomp pah sounds of Oktoberfest in Swamp Shack but the Heathcote Hotel, a venue normally associated with more bluesy artists, is going all out to celebrate the traditional Bavarian festival this coming weekend. Perhaps we can make the connection with the German polka music of South West Texas, which had a strong influence on both Tex Mex and Western Swing. For three days from Friday the hotel is being transformed into a genuine German Beer Hall complete with half litre steins and lashings of kransky, bratwurst and weisswurst. There’ll be music from the Bavarian Boys and The Masters and traditional German dancers. In what promises to be one of the gigs of the year,
drums, performing material from Mcleod’s forthcoming album. Due to public demand, Café Carnivale presents an encore performance of Kooch: Journey Of The Gypsies, celebrating the migration of the Gypsies Saturday at Notes, with Iranian born Davood Tabrizi and his band, The Far Seas, as well as a number of special guests.
TUESDAY ADAM SIMMONS
The Coolerators + James Annesley Quartet – 505
Among the international artists invited to perform at last weekend’s Manly Jazz Festival, American trumpeter Bob Montgomery, whose CV includes stints in orchestras backing artists as diverse as Sammy Davis Jr, Diana Ross, Tony Bennett and Quincy Jones, comes to 505 Thursday night for an intimate performance, the evening opened by the Fran Swinn Trio. Friday night, Melbourne world folk gypsy three-piece Vardos heads up the Hume to launch their new album, Until It’s Time To Go, at Camelot Lounge. Supporting artist Josh Rawiri will also be launching his latest album, Molecular Teleportation. Friday also sees the launch, at Notes, of the pianist and composer-led Parris Mcleod Band, the nine-piece line-up featuring award-winning didgeridoo player Mark Atkins, violinist Clare O’Meara, harmonica player Christian Marsh, guitarist Andrew Toner, New Zealander Marika Hodgson on bass and Gordon Rymeister on
James Valentine Quartet + Lily Dior – Golden Sheaf Atom Quintet + Tricia Evy Trio (FR) – The Mean Fiddler Paul Sun & Monique Lysiak – Jazushi
WEDNESDAY
SATURDAY Tim Bruer Band – Sound Lounge
SATURDAY
WEDNESDAY The Hoo Haas’ chief catalyst and singer/songwriter par excellence Philip Ricketson has promised to keep it real at his now-year-old residency in the Sandringham Hotel, from 8pm.
I had the opportunity to work with a rapper on the track One. Just to see the way Aki Hollaway put down his rap harmony was pretty impressive and meshing his style together with mine was a great learning experience – not to mention a lot of fun.
You clocked up some serious tour miles in support of If You Need Love; is that the plan again for Molecular Teleportation? When I released If You Need Love the touring was non-stop for about 24 months straight. I nearly lost my mind on that first national launch trip – just six weeks but many lonely hours with only my own thoughts, dusty roads and extreme heat. October last year when I had a major car accident near Kin Kin, Queensland – car rolled and flipped taking down a massive tree, my head smashed through the windscreen and every part of the vehicle was crushed. Somehow I came out with nothing but a scratch and I took it as a sign.
KEEP JAZZ GOING Thursday 13 October, SIMA will hold a special fundraising event for new programs to be launched next year. The programs aim to further develop support for Australian jazz musicians and the Australian jazz scene in general. For almost three decades now, SIMA has been an important part of the jazz sector in this country, and the night will raise funds not only to foster new programs, but also to purchase a brand new Gretsch drum kit. Hosted by saxophonist James Valentine, the evening will feature performances from Steve Clisby, Jo Fabro, Jackson Harrison and more, as well as opportunities to purchase goodies and win prizes. It’s all happening in The Sound Lounge from 7pm, and the ticket price includes drinks and canapés.
LATIN BAND COMP
ROCKABILLY/PSYCHOBILLY/ALT.COUNTRY WITH PEDRO MANOY
Zooo Superbande + Emma Hamilton + Charito ( Japan) – Dural Country Club
FRIDAY
Adam Pringle and friends jam the blues at the Sandringham Hotel from 9pm.
Any other highlights from recording the new album?
MONIQUE AND DENI GET DUSTY
FRIDAY Armandito Y Su Trovason – 505
The Flamin’ Beauties play the Crown Hotel in Elizabeth St in the Sydney CBD.
TUESDAY
I was so thrilled for the opportunity to have string compositions arranged specifically for my songs – the effort and length these players go to in their profession within an orchestral group is unreal and I feel blessed to have worked with them.
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THURSDAY La Tarantella – Camelot Lounge
The Musos Club Jam Night hosted by immortals Jim Finn and Al Britton takes over the Carousel Inn Hotel at Rooty Hill.
Melbourne’s legendary Baylor Brothers play one of their rare Sydney shows at the Marrickville Bowlling Club Saturday 15 October. The occasion is the launch of their new CD, Songs Down The Line, Andy, Donal and Peter unitong for the first time in Sydney for many years. From traditional old time fiddle tunes to classic brother duet harmonies, through Cajun and hot western swing, they draw on decades of unmatched experience to pull it all together.
What was it like working with the Sydney Symphony for Molecular Teleportation?
The first ever Latin band competition in Australia is launching this month, aiming to find the best Latin-inspired band in the country. The grand prize is $10,000 cash as well as a trip to Cuba, and runners’-up will receive prizes from a pool of $25,000. The Sydney heat takes place Saturday 15 October at the UNSW Roundhouse, with a panel of Latin music industry experts judging performers. The grand finale will be happening Saturday 5 November at the Hordern Pavilion in Sydney. It’s like Australian Idol or The X Factor, just with Latin music and cool, and there are people’s choice prizes too, so your views do count. Get there to support the competitors!
The Idea Of North – The Basement Circular Quay
THURSDAY
BAYLOR BROTHERS
Josh Rawiri blends blues, roots, rock and reggae and is launching his second album, Molecular Teleportation, Thursday lunchtime at Wollongong Uni, Thursday evening at Ryan’s Hotel, Thirroul and Sunday at Camelot Lounge, Marrickville.
The Foreday Riders join with Bridie King at Prince Alfred Park as part of the Eat2TheBeat Festival. Terry Batu is solo at the Mortdale Hotel and Finn teams up with Moonshine at the Raby Tavern from 8pm.
SUNDAY Lucy DeSoto & The Handsome Devils return to the Sandringham Hotel from 4pm to shake their rhythm sticks. Mama Jane’s Blues Band rocks the blues at the Wickham Park Hotel in Islington while the Leanne Paris Band gets soulful at the Pyrmont Bridge Hotel, both shows from around 5pm. From 5.30pm catch the Road Runners’ debut gig at the Town & Country Hotel at St Peters featuring Jonny Gretsch, Gene Maynard and the legendary Doug Dekroo, playing classic rockabilly. The Pigs play the Empire Hotel from 6pm and Sydney Blues Challenge winner Don Hopkins is solo in the Flame Lounge of the Dee Why Hotel from 6.30pm. swampshack@drummedia.com.au
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Deni Hines and Monique Montez team up this week to celebrate the music of one of soul’s greats, Dusty Springfield. Drum caught up with Monique ahead of the shows, Friday at The Brass Monkey and Saturday at The Basement Circular Quay.
Why is it important to celebrate the music of Dusty Springfield? Simply because Dusty was one of the most amazing artists in the history of music! She was called ‘The White Queen of Soul’! She sang songs that changed the world of music over many decades, and continues to today. Being part of the musical, Dusty – The Original Pop Diva, I could feel the love and respect for her music in every single song we performed. The packed audiences went crazy every night. The response was overwhelming and has really shown me the impact Dusty had on us all. So it’s so important to celebrate her music to keep her spirit with us, and listen to the stories and messages she generously gave to us.
How do you put your own unique twist on her music and inject your own personality? Look, I’m definitely not Dusty; we are all individual artists. The unique twist I’ll bring is through my interpretation of her songs, and the connection I share with each piece, still keeping the essence of Dusty in them with her soulful tones. I’ll be wearing her costumes, that heavy panda eye makeup and the famous blonde hairsprayed bob in tribute to her! I always have lot of fun gigging, I’ll inject my personality as I play dress ups and share the life and music of Dusty. THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 55 •
HOUSE, PROGRESSIVE AND TECHNO VIBES WITH ROBBIE LOWE
TALES FROM THE BIG APPLE WITH TOM HAWKING Nashville, Tennessee is a city that’s famous for three reasons. The first, of course, is music — the place is home to the Country Music Hall of Fame, the Ryman Auditorium, the Grand Ole Opry and Jack White’s brand spanking new studio. The second is the fact that it’s home to a full-scale replica of the Parthenon, which exists for reasons that are too strange and lengthy to set out here. The third reason is the fact that Nashville is home to the world’s 17th largest hotel, the adventurouslynamed Gaylord Opryland, which is the subject of this column because a) it’s bizarre and hilarious and b) it seems to embody certain aspects of America that will (hopefully) become clear over the course of the next 600 words or so.
PQM I’ve just crawled in through the front door of my house from an extended weekend in Melbourne. I was there for a few gigs whilst catching up with friends and generally lapping up the Melbourne atmosphere. I think many will agree the trip south is always a good one – Melbourne seems to shine with the amount of cool music scene, bars, shops, restaurants etc. My gigs were great and it all kicked off Friday evening with a guest spot on locals PQM and Phil Watkins’ Kiss FM radio show. This duo definitely made me work hard trying to keep up with their antics on the frequencies. Make sure you tune in if you’re ever in town. (Or online.) The deep progressive/house sound they play is awesome and it’s the perfect way to start the weekend… From the Kiss studio it was straight to Mink Bar in St Kilda for a four-hour set. Bring on the marathon sets; they are always welcomed by me. There’s time to relax and build a set the way it should be. I started playing to relatively chilled crowd before eventually locking them into a more energetic mood, laying down mostly deep and tech-house. One thing about this place is they make
ridiculously-sized good cocktails. And note to self for next time to not guzzle them as things got a bit blurry for a while in the third hour! Saturday night I played at Killing Time. Previous to this all I’d heard was great things about this place so naturally I was eager to check it out. I also happened to be the meat in the sandwich between PQM and Phil. Meaning I was playing after PQM and before Phil. That was cool and so was the party! KT lived up to the hype – loved the intimacy and character of this place. I also dug playing behind the bar next to the drink-serving area, even though it’s a dangerous spot. There is no shortage of drinks on offer in this prime location and the guys working behind the bar did a good job of that. If you’re in town and looking for good beats and friendly atmosphere, make sure you hit up Killing Time. That’s a wrap. I hope you had a cracking long weekend in Sydney. I’ll be back next month with a stack of new music. Peace. lowerider@drummedia.com.au
Entering Gaylord Opryland is like stepping into one of those drawings of buildings that haven’t been built yet. Everything is perfect. It evokes the same existential dread as, say, an airport or a shopping mall, which is hard enough to take when the building’s purpose is mass transit or mass consumerism, but downright terrifying when it’s somewhere you’re supposed to stay (especially as the implication is that you need never leave, y’all!). It’s difficult to explain the scale of the place without relying on non-specific superlatives like “gargantuan”, “enormous” and “really fucking massive”, so let it be said that Gaylord Opryland houses 3,000 hotel rooms along with an indoor river (complete with boat cruises and a waterfall), a 20,000 square foot spa, 600,000 square feet of “flexible meeting space”, a terrifying nightclub, a Jack Daniel’s themed restaurant, an “authentic” Irish pub and a radio station. The complex is set out around three atriums (atria?), which are really huge outdoor areas that are like the unholy product of a theme park getting it on with a corporate campus. Only, they’re not outdoor — everything is under a colossal vaulted glass roof that, as we’re told by the intimidatingly efficient publicist who acts as our guide, involves two acres of glass. Two acres. But, anyway, to the point. Three things occur to NY Conversation as we wander the endless corridors of Gaylord Opryland. The first is that constructing a place this large – with its river and multiple atria and air-conditioning bill that probably equals the GDP of
BY ANCE FORM R E P AL SPECI
• 56 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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a medium-sized African nation – seems to embody a quintessentially American desire to conquer nature, the pioneer spirit subverted into a desire for brute dominance. It recalls Palm Springs, that strange desert enclave of manicured lawns and golf courses — it exists as the embodiment of a Calvinist desire to demonstrate that the world is there to serve us, not vice versa. It must cost a fortune to keep this place running, and its carbon footprint must be colossal, no matter how much its website proclaims its “commitment to sustainability”. A fellow writer asks our host what the place’s annual revenues amount to. Our host responds with a professional smile and no answer. The second thought that occurs is that despite all the corporate genuflecting that has gone on over the course of the last couple of years – since the appetite of American banks to palm off predatory mortgages onto consumers ill able to afford them managed to bring the entire world’s economy to its knees, lest we forget – there apparently remains a colossal industry fuelled by the desire of companies to pay large amounts of money in order to bring all their employees from various parts of the country together at places like this so that they can play mini-golf and drink themselves stupid at Findley’s Irish Pub™, all in the name of ‘team-building’. Conventions are big business. Big, environmentally disastrous, managementally dubious business that shareholders should be questioning, perhaps. But big nonetheless. And the third is that this place represents a homogenised, sanitised, name-tagged view of the world that’s kind of terrifying. It’s like a mini-Dubai, a plastic wonderland. As we cross the river that isn’t a river to walk into a serene English garden that’s neither serene, a garden nor English, we pass a sad-looking group of Vietnam veterans, who are all wearing matching caps and are all presumably here for some sort of reunion. They look old and lost. I pass them and then stop on the bridge and look down at the fish swimming happily in the “river” below. It occurs to me that I feel irrationally sorry for these fish. They’ve never been in a real river. And they don’t even know the difference. More NY Conversation at http://nyconversation.com.
frontrow@drummedia.com.au
THIS WEEK IN
ARTS
TUESDAY 4 Rabbit Proof – annual exhibition that sees practicing visual artists and print media students showing works under the same theme. Over 50 artists and students will be represented in this year’s exhibition, titled Rabbit Proof in celebration of the Year of the Rabbit. Artists and students involved have explored the broad theme in many different ways ranging from ideas of colonialism and the evolution of species to Alice In Wonderland and the Easter bunny. Opposition leader Tony Abbott gets a clever treatment and even Kim Jong Il makes an appearance. Opening night, 6pm. Hardware Gallery, Enmore until 15 October.
WEDNESDAY 5 Antenna International Documentary Festival – with 28 feature documentaries, film competitions with three prizes totalling $10,000, special events and international guests, the event will pay homage to the pursuit of capturing and offering insight into untold human stories. Gathering the best documentaries from around the world, Antenna promises to engage and intrigue audiences from beginning to end. Opening night film: Robert Nugent’s Memoirs Of A Plague at Dendy Opera Quays, 7pm. Antenna screens at Chauvel Cinema and Dendy Opera Quays until 9 October. See antennafestival.org for programme details.
FRIDAY 7 Bloodland – Stephen Page, Artistic Director of Bangarra Dance Theatre and award-winning choreographer, collaborates with writer and actor Wayne Blair on this landmark work. Featuring an Indigenous cast of 12 including established urban actors as well as traditional Yolngu storytellers, the production fuses traditional languages and Pidgin English as well as dance and song to tell the story. Opening night, 8pm. Wharf 1, STC until 13 November. This Year’s Ashes – an hilarious,
touching urban fable of connection and redemption, of moving and moving on; a reluctant romantic comedy about Sydney, grief and cricket. Opening night, 7pm. A Griffin Theatre Company production at SBW Stables Theatre until 19 November.
SUNDAY 9 10,000 Beers – The Panorama Pirates, a football team from Adelaide travel to Sydney to celebrate the end of the rugby season. They let loose with the aim of drinking 10,000 beers in one very wild weekend. From the Friday night pub crawl to the Casino on Saturday and serious drinking on Stupid Sunday, the camaraderie is fierce but the final beer packs a punch. Closing night. Darlinghurst Theatre. And They Called Him Mr Glamour – a black hole of self-loathing dragnetting and paranoia; a pathetically hilarious tale of a man (Gareth Davies), alone on stage, desperately seeking the audience’s attention. The Black Lung Theatre and Whaling Firm are a Melbourne antiinstitution that has never appeared on stage in Sydney. Until now. Final day. Belvoir St Theatre. Off The Page: Poetic Text As Poetic Art: An Exhibition by Richard Tipping – Tipping’s work flows from text. It is the witty relationships he creates and the intellectual observations he makes between text and image that form the very core of his art. Tipping is an expert in words in art. This exhibition and book launch – bringing poetic text into public art – shows a range of the artist’s work from across time, material (eg. steel, neon, plastic) and scale. Final day. Level 1, Customs House Library.
MONDAY 10 Shirley Thompson vs The Aliens – the story of a ‘widgie’ in 1950s Sydney who is visited by aliens from outer space, the film was made by Jim Sharman (Rocky Horror Picture Show) in just three weeks on a budget of only $20,000. Chauvel Cinémathèque at Chauvel Cinema, 6:30pm.
NEWS KINGS CROSS ON DISPLAY FOR PHOTOGRAPHY PRIZE EXHIBITION The life of and lives within Kings Cross are on display as part of the Kings Cross Photography Prize 2011 exhibition, Character of the Cross: People & Place/Past & Present, being held at Level 2 Reception, Mercure Sydney Potts Point Hotel Wednesday 5 October (opening night, 6:30pm) to Monday 24. Come see what makes the famous Sydney suburb the vibrant and mysterious place it is. A free storytelling session with locals, writer Mandy Sayer and playwright Louis Nowra, will take place on location Sunday 16 October from 3pm. More info can be found at kxarts.com.
CHARITY AUCTION AT STILLS GALLERY Stills Gallery, Paddington are hosting a charity auction to raise money for Life Force Cancer Foundation, on Sunday 23 October, 2pm. Twenty artists, including the likes of Polixeni Papapetrou and Ben Ali Ong, Luke Hardy and Mayu Kanamori have donated pieces to be auctioned. The event will also feature music and wine and food and... really, it sounds like a top way to spend an afternoon - and it’s for a good cause. Tickets can be purchased on the door or through lifeforce.org.au. More info about the gallery can be found at stillsgallery.com.au.
C U LT U R A L
SURFACING YOUR FEARS PLAYWRIGHT AND SELF-CONFESSED CLAUSTROPHOBIC BRYONY LAVERY TALKS TO DAVE DRAYTON ABOUT FACING HER FEARS FOR THE WRITING OF SUBMARINE DRAMA, KURSK.
“I
think one of the main things that inspires me is, in my mind, the complete idiocy of making a machine where men can live underwater for thirteen weeks. If you asked me to imagine a worse nightmare I couldn’t,” says British playwright Bryony Lavery. The machine in question is a submarine, and Lavery’s sentiments seem to be slightly off-kilter for someone who has written a play about the Russian submarine Kursk, that went down in 2000 with all its crew. “The thing is, I’m a real scaredy cat anyway, but I realised quite early on in life that if I didn’t do things that I was scared of I’d miss out a lot. My premier research was visiting a submarine. It was destroyer class; it was a nuclear submarine down at the Plymouth. So going on it I thought, ‘Oh my God!’ and the first moment where you step off land and there’s this narrow tube that goes down seemingly into the middle of the water, I didn’t know if I’d be able to do it. But once I got in there I was okay because I knew – unless they did something vile to me – they weren’t going to take off.” The immersive experience, a collaboration with British theatre company Sound & Fury, puts audiences on board a British sub that is spying on the Russians. Alongside the cast they will experience the helplessness of seeing the neighbouring sub go down. “Me and the boys from Sound & Fury, we spent an enormous amount of time trying different ways of doing the story. At one point we were on the Kursk and at one point we weren’t and then that suddenly seemed like a good idea because we could invest in British life
and we had much more information about that, so everything about the inside of a Russian sub would have to be speculative.
the show.
Mayo is the classic angry young man who grew up in a “sewer” and dreams of flying jets and parlaying this skill into a better life. Harrison plays Paula Pokrifki, the factory worker who dreams of becoming a nurse and finding a better life without selling out for it. This role was played by Debra Winger in the film.
“At some point – I don’t know who’s idea it was – we just had this idea of supposing we were ghosting the Kursk and the story was that although these submarines are supposedly capable of doing anything, what they can’t do is save one another,” Lavery explains. “You know, they can pass one another seventy feet away and if somebody’s locked in the submarine they can’t escape – particularly if it’s the Kursk, which has a double shell.” Kursk has since become one of many works Lavery has done that deals with the claustrophobia, a trend that looks set to continue. “I realised I’m always doing plays in enclosed spaces, I certainly have a fear of claustrophobia. I mean, Stockholm is about a very claustrophobic relationship. I’ve just been working on an opera set in the siege of the Russian Theatre. A play I’m working on with Brink, from Adelaide, is about the 7 July bombs, so that’s set down underground in a tube of steel. So, clearly the world wants me to write about claustrophobia even though I suffer from it. “I wish you could do art about really enjoyable things. I’d like to do something where the research would be lying on a sun bed for two weeks, but I never get that research I’m afraid!” WHAT: Kursk WHERE & WHEN Studio, Sydney Opera House Thursday 6 October to Sunday 16
A STORY OF A CITY DIRECTING THIS YEAR’S ASHES, A PLAY ABOUT SYDNEY FOR SYDNEY, IS A CASE OF LIFE INFORMING ART, AS SHANNON MURPHY EXPLAINS TO DAVE DRAYTON.
W
hen Griffin Theatre were booking rehearsal space for the upcoming production of This Year’s Ashes, a new work by playwright Jane Bodie, a few complications led them to a space on Elizabeth St, Surry Hills. In a towering five-storey building known as Hibernian House that is rumoured to be owned by a Sydney lawyer-comephilanthropist, the cast and creative team have found a space in which to breathe life into the script. The interior of the building is a moderately chaotic collection of stairwells, walkways, nooks and crannies, all slathered with street art and slogans and inhabited by the city’s creative caste. As incidental as the location may be – initially no more than a fallback means to an end – director Shannon Murphy says it fits the play and its themes perfectly. “What’s so great is that the rehearsal space would normally probably be a bit too noisy to rehearse a play in, but what’s wonderful is we’re hearing all the sounds of Sydney filtering into our rehearsal room. It really enhances the production,” Murphy admits. With an American mother and an Australian father, Murphy has done her growing up in both countries, with a stint in Hong Kong thrown in. It was only a few years back that she moved to Sydney and has the balanced perspective that comes from Australian blood and a traveller’s eye for what makes the city tick. “It is a piece so much about Sydney, and what it’s like to be in Sydney as an outsider, and the highs and lows of that,” she explains. “It’s about a woman who moves here and at a very early stage after moving here she goes through a very traumatic experience and the way she deals with that is by sleeping with a lot of men. It’s watching her world
implode and how she deals with that psychology. But it’s done in a very humorous way because Jane is a brutally honest and incredibly witty person. So it’s a comedy about grief, and that’s where the wonderful challenge lies. “I’ve moved so many places in my life that for me, five years is actually a long time for me to have been in one place. Jane is Australian, but she has just recently lived in London for quite some time and just come back, so we’re both in a very good position to be dealing with the character.” Comparisons between Murphy and protagonist Ellen are immediately apparent – besides the promiscuity of course – though there were greater desires than such commonalities driving Murphy’s attraction to the script. “For a while I feel like I haven’t been given Australian plays because of [the fact I grew up elsewhere]. In the last five years I’ve really immersed myself in Australian culture because I didn’t want to be limited to international work. I do feel like I have the capacity to direct Australian work.” That in itself is part of a broader goal she has set for herself, a commitment to new and challenging work, “I decided around two years ago that I really wanted to commit myself to new writing and I’d been working with other writers and workshopping things and I feel very fortunate to then have been given a brand new main stage production to work on.” WHAT: This Year’s Ashes WHERE & WHEN: SBW Stables Theatre Friday 7 October to Saturday 19 November
CRINGE
WITH JAMELLE WELLS Esteemed theatre director Neil Armfield parted ways with actor Luke Ford less than a week before the first public performance of Summer Of The Seventeenth Doll for Belvoir. Armfield says Ford, who won an AFI award for his portrayal of an autistic boy in The Black Balloon and starred with Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom, had doubts about his performance during
rehearsals. The actor was cast as Johnnie Dowd, a rival to Roo, one of two sugarcane cutters in Ray Lawler’s classic. He’s been replaced by TJ Power, who appeared in the television series Underbelly. A note about the change of actors was inside theatre programmes, which still had Ford’s picture printed inside. A spokeswoman for Marquee Management, which represents him, said he was “disappointed” to be dropped from
Producers John Frost and Sharleen Cohen have cast their upcoming Sydney production of the musical, An Officer And A Gentleman. It includes Ben Mingay, who has played Tommy DeVito in Jersey Boys, and Amanda Harrison, star of Wicked. Mingay plays Zack Mayo, the role that brought a young Richard Gere to the attention of film audiences around the world.
Bestselling fantasy writer Sara Douglass has died at age 54 from
ovarian cancer. Douglass was the first Australian author signed to the HarperCollins Voyager Fantasy list in 1995. Her book, BattleAxe, sold almost one million copies in Australia alone. She wrote the Axis Trilogy, as well as stand-alone fiction, non-fiction and short stories. Performers at this year’s Light The Night fundraising concert for leukemia research include Paul Capsis and
Queenie van de Zandt. The 31 October concert at City Recital Hall Angel Place is in its seventh year and has so far raised more than $200,000. It’s the legacy of Matthew Rennie, who fought a three-year battle against leukemia, but passed away just before the 2007 concert. His fight inspired his brothers, musical theatre performers Shaun Rennie and Adam Rennie, and friends to create the annual fundraising event. THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 57 •
frontrow@drummedia.com.au
MAN OF MANY VOICES TALENTED COMEDY MIMIC PABLO FRANCISCO TALKS TO BAZ MCALISTER ABOUT BRINGING HIS HIGH-ENERGY PARTY SHOW DOWN UNDER ONE MORE TIME.
a comedy show will just be a huge bummer. “Politics is like one big vicious circle. You have two people who agree on what to do – make everything peaceful – and they’re arguing about some stupid law or squabbling over how the other side is reacting. If there’s one person you don’t want to have sex with, it’s a politician. So I stay away from that – politics always ends up in an argument. I’ll just keep things universal and talk about things that are going on with everyone else, universal things like jealous boyfriends or jealous girlfriends or TV commercials or Hollywood actors. I’ll make fun of things that people put out there.”
“I
t’s like visiting the relatives every time I come down there, it’s like one big party,” Pablo Francisco enthuses down the phone from his LA home. He’s pumped to be coming down to Australia again to do some more shows and this time he’s getting beyond Sydney and Melbourne to say hi to folks in a few more cities – and it’s a fair bet, with his relentless popularity on YouTube, he’ll already have some fans there who’ll be familiar with him and his act. “People see me on the YouTube, and it was that little thing that got me popular. But it works for you and against you at the same time. Sometimes the album sales, they don’t go good in the stores, because I put so much of myself out there on YouTube – but as long as you’re enjoying it and people are liking it, it makes you want to keep on moving forward with your act.” In fact, Francisco says at times, when he’s playing to an overfamiliar audience, the shout-outs for requests – such as his eerily accurate Arnold Schwarzenegger take-off, or his mimicking of the movie trailer voice guy, the late Don LaFontaine – can get a bit overwhelming.
“I feel like the comedy jukebox sometimes,” he says, laughing. “You keep on trying to reinvent yourself, mix it up, do new material, but people sometimes get upset if they don’t get to hear the bits they’re expecting.” Francisco is always expanding his repertoire of actors and celebrities he can ‘do’, but says he has trouble finding distinctive voices in the new generation of Gen Y actors coming up.
“I’m still working on Shia LaBeouf from Transformers,” he says, “but then I do a thing where I do Arnold Schwarzenegger as a baby, or the Danny Glover or the Gary Busey baby. I’ll do the celebrities as babies. But the one voice I can’t quite get is Christopher Walken. Hopefully one of these days I’ll get him down, but it’s so hard.” The one area Pablo tends to steer himself away from is politics. While he can probably do an awesome Obama, he reckons any mention of politics at
L
ucky tells the story of brothers braving seas on boats in search of a better life. An incredibly pertinent story in the current political climate, where terms like ‘boat people’ are bandied about to often crass and careless dehumanising effect, director and set designer Sama Ky Balson, who first encountered the work last year while in New York, believes Lucky will shine new light on the plight of such people and the issue as a whole. “It is an entertaining piece of work, but it also makes you think, and makes you question and makes you feel,” says Balson. “The script isn’t laden with a political agenda but of course the subject is political, especially here and now. These are human stories. People need to be addressing these issues in different ways, and the arts – it’s not like the news or the media where it’s just forcing things down your throat – it’s letting you walk away questioning.” After talking to Balson, one could even argue that she has done more research on the issue than some of the louder voices in the public arena engaged in the discussion. “We did this amazing workshop with • 58 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
refugee community members in Australia on Saturday as part of our research and development for the show,” she explains. “We had three refugee community members joining us; two who had come by boat from Vietnam and one who had come from Sri Lanka during the time of the Tamil Sinhalese War in the 1980s.” The script for Lucky, written by Ferenc Alexander Zavaros, had a lot in common with the experiences shared during the workshop. “There were some very interesting common points; they were very kind and spoke to us openly and we had everybody there telling a story. So not just these people who’d come to Australia as boat refugees and as asylum seekers but also the Australian actors – we have an indigenous cast member and an Australian Caucasian cast member and a Vietnamese-Australian cast member – and the production team who incidentally have diverse backgrounds as well, telling a story about how their ancestors or family came to be in Australia as well. “It was really interesting to see the details that came up in the workshop. Two of the family members talked about their gold bracelets being currency and there’s this reference to gold bracelets in the show itself, the travelling by night to get away in silence so they wouldn’t be shot at. We were so lucky to have people who were so open and willing to share their stories even though they are so personal.” Another activity Balson and co. engaged in to properly comprehend the experience they were portraying was a boat outing.
Francisco is keen to bill this night of comedy as “one big party”, and he’s bringing a few buddies with him to grease the wheels before he gets onstage – Aussie Anthony Salame will be part of the travelling roadshow, as will Pablo’s US import buddies Ashley Fils-Aime and Sean Savoy. Pablo’s been travelling all over the world lately, selling out shows in such far-flung places as Sweden and South Africa, connecting with his YouTube army all over the globe. His manager has even more ideas for him to get further out and do shows in Poland and Nigeria. “They want me to do Lebanon, too,” he says, pausing briefly. “But I’ll have to think about that for a while.” WHO: Pablo Francisco WHERE & WHEN: Enmore Theatre Friday 7 October
NEWS
STARING AT BOATS DIRECTOR SAMA KY BALSON HAS BEEN TAKING HER CAST ON EXCURSIONS IN PREPERATION FOR THEIR PRODUCTION OF LUCKY, AS DAVE DRAYTON DISCOVERS.
THEATRE
ANNANDALE HOTEL’S OFF THE WALLRUS This Saturday 8 October the Annandale Hotel plays host to I Am The Wallrus, an afternoon of live art featuring two teams of local artists battling it out. The teams, consisting of Creon and Ox King vs The Dirt and Samson, will have two hours to express themselves on canvas with the crowd offering the final judgement on who’s the winner. The winning team will then split in two and battle head to head on a theme chosen by the losing team to find an overall winner. There’ll be DJs and free arcade games, too - and free entry. Good time lucky fun!
CHALK IT UP THIS WEEKEND
“I took them out on a boat,” Balson says laughing fiendishly. “They’re really interesting rehearsals, I know! When you’re on a boat, when you’re at sea you’re always counter-balancing. We’re trying to bring that to the stage, we’re trying to tell them, ‘This is what it’s like.’ It’s the difference between watching something and feeling it.” If all comes together it may be the first time audiences will feel (sea)sick from acting that’s too good. WHAT: Lucky WHERE & WHEN: New Theatre Thursday 6 October to Saturday 22
This year’s Chalk Urban Art Festival, now in its seventh year, is part of the Crave Sydney International Food Festival and as such will be based around a food theme, with 30 artists from across the country and globe taking over the sidewalks to create mouthwatering chalkworks. The festival takes place on Church St, Parramatta Thursday 6 October to Sunday 9, and will also share space with the 48 Hour Film Project and Eat2theBeat. Head to chalkurbanart.com for more information.
THE PIRATES ARE COMING TO THE VANGUARD Ahoy, me hearties – there be a ball brewin’. A Cannon Ball, to be specific. Billed as a “Rock’n’roll pirate masque”, The Cannon Ball is a pirate-themed night of rock’n’roll, burlesque, circus and masquerade featuring music
REVIEWS
10,000 BEERS Darlinghurst Theatre Beer one: pre-show warm-up beer (Reschs), South Africa are taking their time against Namibia. Beer two: for consumption during the game (Coopers), four men stand naked on the stage. Beers three to around-about-1200or-so: not consumed by me, but enthusiastically thrown/gulped/ slugged/thrown/vomited/thrown by four men on stage (now clothed) over the next 90 minutes. They’re in Sydney on an end of season footy trip, warding off the demons of a recently botched grand final effort in their hometown of Adelaide by consuming copious amounts of beer. Alex Broun’s script has them tossing dialogue like a rugby ball; quick and often competitive bursts of dialogue exchanged. In many instances a character begins a sentence only to have it intercepted, the effect of which enhances the alpha-male aspect of the testosterone-fuelled show. The men are boisterous, a believably motley crew that would drink their way to oblivion. They perform the roles of all the players on tour (some 20-odd) though in most cases their portrayal of other characters does not go beyond a ‘roll call’ the morning after a night before. When things do develop further though, Anthony Taufu most impressively manages multiple nuanced roles. Beer around-about-1200-or-so-plusone: drink Coopers and consider how show achieved pin-drop silence as a reality collided with the inebriated world the man had occupied. It took a while to get there but packed a mighty punch. Until 9 October DAVE DRAYTON
CONFESSIONS OF A GRINDR ADDICT New Theatre Felix (Gavin Roach) informs us that one of the best things about Grindr is that it is to the point. Sometimes people want to chat, sometimes people begin with a to-the-point ‘want to hook up?’, and sometimes a guy with a profile picture of himself dressed as a cow sends you a message saying ‘Moo!’. Point is
from Bertie Page Clinic, My Dynamite, Contraban and The Ragtag Band, and live burlesque treats from Lena Marlene and Coppelia Jane. So get your swashbuckling outfits together, buy a parrot and cut off one leg to get in the spirit of The Cannon Ball. It’ll be taking The Vanguard to the high seas Saturday 22 October. Shiver ye timbers.
WHAT’S IN THE SYDNEY FESTIVAL PROGRAMME THUS FAR Sydney Festival are keeping quiet over their 2012 programme, but a few shows have been announced – and you might’ve missed them. Firstly, nestled in Belvoir’s 2012 programme are three plays that’ll be featured in the Sydney Festival 2012 programme: the excellent Thyestes, a Hayloft Project piece originally commissioned by Melbourne Malthouse Theatre and directed by Simon Stone that has it all: nudity, strong sex themes and violent references, and lots of bad language. That opens 15 January
people are honest, for better or for worse. The honesty has rubbed off on Felix, a self-confessed Grindr addict, on the evening of a real date. He’s ditched the gay dating app and has finally found a man with a first and last name. While it takes a while for Roach to warm up – initially over-acting an already dramatic character – he soon hits his stride and invokes empathy in an audience with remarkable malleability as a performer. He has us scolding an ex, longingly wanting some genuine company or salivating over a cock so big it has a crease in it, all within a punchy 40 minutes. Season finished DAVE DRAYTON
THE ART AND CRAFT OF APPROACHING YOUR HEAD OF DEPARTMENT TO SUBMIT A REQUEST FOR A RAISE PACT Nathan Harrison’s performance of Georges Perec’s flow chart-following novella of the same name brings the uncertain and ever-questioning second person narration to life. In slightly awkward office gear – a tie that hangs a button high – standing on a small island of carpet, Harrison begins. Elsewhere similar islands are dotted with non-specific office paraphernalia: fish tank, drinks tray, swivel chair. We are told to suppose that nothing is straightforward, and rightly so, for there is nothing left in this story; it exhausts possibility. Harrison appears similarly exhausted, becoming fretful, delirious and condemned by turns as he explores the tentacular story arcs with surprising clarity, removing near-all ‘What-ifs?’. Subtle developments in a repetitive text reward attentive viewers with sharp, dry humour. Season finished DAVE DRAYTON
at CarriageWorks. Also for Belvoir as part of Sydney Festival 2012 will be Raimondo Cortese’s Buried City (opening 6 January Upstairs, Belvoir St Theatre) and Roslyn Oades’ I’m Your Man (opening 12 January Downstairs, Belvoir St Theatre). Sydney Theatre Company are also involved, with the STC/Force Majeure collab Never Did Me Any Harm (opening 8 January, Wharf 1), while Griffin Theatre Co. will present the classic play, The Boys, as part of Sydney Festival, directed by artistic director Sam Strong (opening 6 January, SBW Stables Theatre). In addition, the festival have announced Chunky Move’s Assembly, which is choreographer Gideon Obarzanek’s last piece for the company after an illustrious career, and a return from Meow Meow, with her new show, Little Match Girl. You’d also do well to browse the Falls Festival and BDO lineups for Beck’s Bar hints, too. The full programme will be announced 2 November. Head to sydneyfestival.org. au for more info.
frontrow@drummedia.com.au
A WHOLE LOTTA LOVIN’ bound together by a desire to present an Australian season.
SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY CO-ARTISTIC DIRECTOR ANDREW UPTON PREDICTS SOME CRUCIAL COITAL MOMENTS IN AN AUSTRALIAN-CENTRIC 2012 SEASON LITTERED WITH SHAGGING. AND PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT. BY DAVE DRAYTON.
“T
he cart and the horse are in a different relationship than it might seem,” says Andrew Upton, somewhat cryptically explaining the genesis of Sydney Theatre Company’s 2012 season. Alongside wife and co-artistic director Cate Blanchett, Upton locked in a few key productions before fattening out what looks to be the company’s most Australian-centric season since the duo’s appointment as artistic directors. “It’s interesting; always with a caveat that we don’t set out with a theme in mind and then programme to it, we kind of evolve the works we are interested in and then as more things come into place we use discussion points around the commonalities between the shows to help make final selections,” Upton says. “[A Midsummer Night’s Dream] fell in quite early, and even though it took us a while to completely lock in the deal with Steppenwolf on Sex With Strangers, because it is a brand new play coming out Chicago before it even goes to Broadway, we were talking about it for quite a long time; we were very interested in it. [Strangers] also talked to Les Liaisons
Dangereuse, obviously, which has a lot of shagging, and a lot of thwarted and distorted manipulated relationships. And Pygmalion, which was another one of the key early pieces. They were all about relationships on one level and I suppose the change the people undergo and the cycles that people are part of.” On another level too, a lot of the productions are about shagging. Midsummer, a distinctly Scottish ‘play with songs’, written by director David Grieg in collaboration with Gordon McIntyre (guitarist for Scottish indie band Ballboy), is a two-hander with sex front and centre, as is the aforementioned Sex With Strangers, which will star Jacqueline McKenzie and Ryan Corr. “The shagging thing – terrible word, very Scottish word I suppose; great for Midsummer – that sort of became a thing,” Upton admits. With that in mind, and with a little guidance, Upton predicts some of the most crucial coital moments in the 2012 season. “Crucial coital moments. Ah, look, Midsummer is predicated entirely on a crucial coital moment and it’s right at a crucial post-summer coital vibe. It’s
“I think there is a real build that I’m very proud of and it’s to do with the time it takes for commissions to come to fruition and developments to work. I think there was quite a strong American theme in 2010, quite a strong European presence in 2011, and 2012 is Australian, very strong. If you count the two new adaptations [Ingmar Bergman’s film, Face To Face, adapted for stage by Upton and Simon Stone, and The Histrionic, translated by Tom Wright], which I always do, it’s six. So more than half the season is absolutely new Australian writing tailored for new Australian productions.
in February or March so it’s that time when the year’s beginning and you’ve got to get serious and sensible after, hopefully, having been a bit silly in the silly season.” Next in line on the countdown is a play that has been done to death, but Upton and Blanchett believe that Griffin Theatre Company’s artistic director Sam Strong can give it new life with his direction and a stunning cast that includes Hugo Weaving and Pamela Rabe as the leads. “Les Liaisons Dangereuse absolutely hovers around coital moments in their lives. It is a... I don’t want to call it a sex game, but they give each other a bet. There are stakes on it, on deflowering these various virgins,
and it’s really manipulative, but what’s fabulous is this rather sort of cold fish of a man – and a cynical man – actually falls in love and even though the consequences are tragic in this story it’s a really amazing shift in that character. So that’s a crucial coital moment surely!” Upton says excitedly. “You know, from cynic to love struck idealist? It’s kind of self sacrifice, so that’s a crucial one.” It’s not all rambunctious romps though, Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood, which stars one of the great Australian voices in Jack Thompson, and which Upton will direct, also rates a mention in the coital hitlist. “There are missed moments – beautiful missed moments – in Under
Milk Wood. It’s set in a Welsh village and it was written in the ’50s so it’s a very particular time that it’s of, but it’s resonant. It has that whole Blue Light Disco feel; that feel of your first kiss, or the person at school that you just always wanted to kiss because the village is small. There’s a lot of that missed coital opportunity, there’s a real innocence,” Upton explains before a lightbulb moment that leads to another inclusion. “And then of course Sex With Strangers is a relationship that really should go right because of technology.” From shagging comes themes of relationships, of change – Upton refers to them as ‘echoes’ that occur throughout the programme – that are
“For us there’s a real satisfying sense of fruition. [The Splinter], our work with Hilary [Bell] – because she did an adaption a few years ago now of The Mysteries for us – this play has been workshopped by the residents and then it’s going to come to fruition, which is very exciting. Same with Never Did Me Any Harm, the work with Force Majeure; that’s a brand new Australian work, a very distinctive Australian voice. So I think that is going to be a real presence.” WHAT: STC 2012 season, opening with Never Did Me Any Harm WHERE & WHEN: Wharf 1, Sydney Theatre Wednesday 11 January to Saturday 12 February
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THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 59 •
live@drummedia.com.au ALICE COOPER @ ENMORE THEATRE. PIC: ROD HUNT
NATIONAL
ALICE COOPER
SYNDICATE
Enmore Theatre 26/09/11 Sydney rockers Syndicate have been widely tipped for major things. They displayed likeable stage presence, clearly revelling in the opportunity. Also aired (and gaining this reviewer’s approval) was the leftfield choice of Steelheart’s power ballad, We All Die Young. There’s plenty of fun to be had at an Alice Cooper show – the theatrics are obviously cartoonish but irresistibly entertaining. Snakes, swords, fake blood, spider outfits, mannequins, confetti, impaling of the rock press, “money” handed to the crowd, a giant Frankenstein and the inevitable beheading were part of the grin-inducing spectacle and all crowdpleasers for punters of various ages. Flanked by new Australian guitarist Orianthi Panagaris’ cooler-than-a-polar-bear’s-toenail demeanour, a clear mix and tight band (who understandably were required to add weighty backing vocals to aid the 63 year old frontman), the sold-out room received plenty of hits for their buck during a nearly 100-minute performance. A master at pacing a show and a consummate professional, Cooper peppered more recent material (a cracking Brutal Planet and songs from recently released new album, Welcome 2 My Nightmare) amongst a barrage of classics (School’s Out, the venue-wide singalong Poison, I’m Eighteen, Billion Dollar Babies, Only Women Bleed, No More Mr Nice Guy). Cooper even made said new material more engaging (and amusing) than usual by donning a jacket with “new song” emblazoned on the back, only to quickly remove it to reveal a shirt proclaiming the title of said song was The Rolling Stones-esque I’ll Bite Your Face Off. There were also long absent inclusions (Hey Stoopid, Clones [We’re All]) to satisfy those who had caught him during one of his many visits to our shores in recent years. There’s plenty to be said for giving your fans precisely what they want. While many of the elements of his shows remain similar, Alice Cooper does just that by staying in touch with his inner teenager, because he’s 18 – and he likes it. Brendan Crabb
JACK CARTY: Oct 4 Café Lounge, Oct 5 Yours & Owls, Oct 6 The Front BEN WELLS & THE MIDDLE NAMES: Oct 5 Kings Cross Hotel TRACKSUIT: Oct 5 Cambridge Hotel, Oct 6 Yours & Owls, Oct 7 Lansdowne Hotel, Oct 8 Upstairs Beresford THE FRIDAYS: Oct 5 The Gaelic, Oct 12 Lass O’Gowrie JOSH RAWIRI: Oct 6 Wollongong Uni (lunch), Oct 6 Ryans Hotel, Oct 8 Camelot Lounge JACK LADDER & THE DREAMLANDERS: Oct 6 Brass Monkey, Oct 7 Gallipoli Club, Oct 8 The Patch X: Oct 6 The Patch, Oct 7 Sandringham Hotel, Oct 8 The Junkyard SPY V SPY: Oct 6 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Oct 7 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Oct 9 Lizotte’s Kincumber JUSTINE CLARKE: Oct 6 Canberra Theatre (10am & 2pm), Oct 8 Sydney Opera House Concert Hall (10am, 12pm & 2pm) THE SHAKE UP: Oct 6 World Bar, Oct 7 Dicey Riley’s, Oct 29 Great Northern Newcastle, Nov 4 World Bar THE BON SCOTTS: Oct 6 Transit Bar, Nov 17 Sandringham Hotel, Nov 18 The Junkyard BENI: Oct 7 King Street Hotel BOX ROCKETS: Oct 7 World Bar, Oct 8 Upstairs Beresford QUIET CHILD: Oct 7 Great Northern Newcastle, Oct 8 Lansdowne Hotel, Oct 9 Phoenix Bar DEF WISH CAST: Oct 7 Hotel Gearin, Oct 14 Cambridge Hotel, Oct 27 Annandale Hotel THE DRONES: Oct 7 ANU Bar, Oct 8 Cambridge Hotel, Oct 29 The Metro BRITISH INDIA: Oct 7 Blush Nightclub, Oct 8 Hotel Gearin, Oct 21 Harbord Diggers, Nov 12 The Gaelic TABERAH: Oct 7 Valve Bar, Oct 8 Hamilton Station Hotel, Nov 11 The Patch, Nov 12 The Basement Belconnen, Dec 31 Sandringham Hotel TEETH & TONGUE: Oct 8 GoodGod THE AMITY AFFLICTION: Oct 8 Newcastle Panthers, Oct 9 Big Top MCKISKO: Oct 9 Kings Cross Hotel ADAM COUSENS: Oct 10 Phoenix Bar, Oct 12 Low 302, Oct 13 Phoenix Theatre JOHN FARNHAM: Oct 11 & 12 State Theatre THE JOE KINGS: Oct 11 Beach Road Hotel, Oct 14 Cambridge Hotel, Oct 28 ANU Bar TEX PERKINS & THE DARK HORSES: Oct 12 Lizotte’s Newcastle
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MONO
FEATURE TOUR
Japanese post rockers Mono, who’ve been together for over a decade and have released five albums in that time, are returning to Australian shores and playing Manning Bar on Saturday, supported by the quickly rising local star that is sleepmakeswaves and Brisbane’s No Anchor. The band last played in Australia in December 2009 on the back of their album from that year, which is still their most recent, Hymn To The Immortal Wind.
DOM MARIANI: Oct 12 The Basement Circular Quay FLOATINGME: Oct 12 ANU Bar, Oct 13 Level One, Oct 14 Wollongong Uni Bar, Oct 15 Annandale Hotel ELECTRIC EMPIRE: Oct 13 Upstairs Beresford TEX PERKINS: ALL NIGHT LONG: Oct 13 The Factory FLIGHT FACILITIES: Oct 13 UNSW Roundhouse JOHNNY ROCK & THE LIMITS: Oct 13 Yours & Owls, Oct 14 Spectrum PHRASE: Oct 13 Transit Bar, Oct 14 Level One, Oct 15 Oxford Art Factory BAYONETS FOR LEGS: Oct 13 Ryans Hotel, Oct 19 Rock Lily COLD CHISEL: Oct 13 Newcastle Panthers, Nov 9 & 10 Allphones Arena, Nov 12 Bimbadgen Winery, Nov 13 WIN Entertainment Centre, Nov 15 Sydney Entertainment Centre, Nov 17 AIS Arena KING GIZZARD & THE LIZARD WIZARD: Oct 14 King’s Cross Hotel BIG SCARY: Oct 14 Paddington Uniting Church OH MERCY: Oct 14 Oxford Art Factory ILLY: Oct 14 The Factory PETE MURRAY: Oct 14 The Metro, Oct 15 Waves, Nov 3 Penrith Panthers, Nov 4 Newcastle Panthers, Nov 5 Hornsby RSL, Nov 6 Mingara Recreation Club DRAWN FROM BEES: Oct 15 Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar AMAYA LAUCIRICA: Oct 15 Kings Cross Hotel DANIELLE SPENCER & STEVE BALBI: Oct 15 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Oct 22 Lizotte’s Kincumber, Nov 10 The Vanguard WATUSSI: Oct 15 ANU Bar, Oct 21 & 22 The Basement Circular Quay, Oct 28 Hotel Gearin, Oct 30 Heritage Hotel, Nov 20 Parramatta River Stage ASHTON TREMAIN: Oct 15 The Gaelic, Oct 22 St George Tavern, Oct 28 Avalon RSL, Nov 20 Newport Arms Hotel, Dec 2 Narrabeen Sands Hotel LO!: Oct 16 Yours & Owls, Oct 21 Hermann’s Bar THE JEZABELS: Oct
19 ANU Bar, Oct 20 Wollongong Uni, Oct 21 & 23 Enmore Theatre PHIL JAMIESON: Oct 19 Lizotte’s Kincumber, Oct 21 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Oct 28 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Nov 3 Brass Monkey, Nov 4 Vault 146, Nov 18 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Nov 19 The Vanguard THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT: Oct 19 & 20 Annandale Hotel FUNKOARS: Oct 20 Upstairs Beresford INLAND SEA, THE RESCUE SHIPS, JACKSON MCLAREN: Oct 20 Steyne Hotel, Oct 21 Yours & Owls, Oct 22 Kings Cross Hotel CONFESSION: Oct 20 Unanderra Community Centre, Oct 21 The Factory, Oct 22 Newcastle Panthers, Oct 23 Oasis Youth Centre STEPHANIE BARROS LEES: Oct 20 Grand Junction Hotel, Oct 21 Oxford Art Factory Gallery Bar MARLON WINTERBOURNE*: Oct 21 Low 302 HEIRS: Oct 21 Bald Faced Stag SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR: Oct 21 The Vanguard NEIL MURRAY: Oct 21 Clarendon Guesthouse, Oct 22 Empire Hotel MEGASTICK FANFARE, OH YE DENVER BIRDS: Oct 21 Spectrum, Oct 22 Yours & Owls HUXTON CREEPERS: Oct 21 & 22 Sandringham Hotel DIESEL: Oct 21, 22 & 23 Brass Monkey BABY ANIMALS: Oct 21 & 22 Annandale Hotel, Oct 28 Southern Cross Club THE SNOWDROPPERS: Oct 21 The Patch, Oct 22 Hotel Gearin, Oct 30 The Junkyard, Nov 18 Great Northern Newcastle, Nov 19 Beachcomber Hotel, Dec 9 The Metro LIME CORDIALE: Oct 22 Mona Vale Hotel LEO SAYER: Oct 22
Bankstown Sports Club, Nov 11 Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre, Nov 12 Belmont 16ft Sailing Club CELADORE*: Oct 22 Oxford Art Factory, Nov 16 Rock Lily, Nov 17 Phoenix Bar, Nov 18 Yours & Owls THE CROOKED FIDDLE BAND: Oct 23 White Eagle Polish Club, Nov 4 The Factory, Nov 5 Cambridge Hotel, Nov 12 Katoomba RSL BALL PARK MUSIC: Oct 26 Beach Road Hotel, Oct 27 Caringbah Bizzo’s PAPA VS PRETTY, THE VASCO ERA: Oct 26 ANU Bar, Oct 27 Cambridge Hotel, Oct 28 Manning Bar KATE CEBERANO: Oct 27 The Basement Circular Quay PLUTO JONZE: Oct 27 Oxford Art Factory TRIAL KENNEDY: Oct 27 Blush Nightclub, Oct 28 Oxford Art Factory SAL KIMBER & THE ROLLIN’ WHEEL: Oct 27 Phoenix Bar, Oct 29 Camelot Lounge, Oct 30 Clarendon Guesthouse THE KILLJOYS: Oct 28 Petersham Bowlo JEFF LANG: Oct 28 Waves, Oct 29 Clarendon Guesthouse MANTRA: Oct 28 Level One, Oct 29 Annandale Hotel NEW EMPIRE: Oct 28 The Maram, Oct 29 The Factory RÜFÜS: Oct 28 Upstairs Beresford FOR THIS CAUSE: Oct 29 Tuggeranong Youth Centre EXPERIENCE JIMI HENDRIX feat. DARREN MIDDLETON, STUART FRASER, PETER KOPPES and more: Oct 29 Enmore Theatre BOY & BEAR: Nov 2 Newcastle Panthers, Nov 3 Wollongong Uni, Nov 5 & 6 Enmore Theatre PAUL DEMPSEY: Nov 2 & 3 Annandale Hotel DARREN HAYES: Nov 3 Enmore Theatre PARIS WELLS*: Nov 3 Beach Road Hotel, Nov 4 Kings Cross Hotel EPIDEMIC… OVER*: Nov 3 Valve Bar, Nov 4 St James Hotel, Nov 5 Blush Nightclub THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 61 •
live@drummedia.com.au
CAITLIN PARK
Air theme tune. To take such an awesome, stupid song and to slow it right down and re-contextualise in a kind of Americana folk direction was impressive indeed and brought a big reaction from the busy room.
Kings Cross Hotel 22/09/11
Understated, nuanced and utterly captivating, Caitlin Park’s music offers something different to anything else on the Sydney scene at the moment. Simply, she is a breath of fresh air.
TIN SPARROW FLUME
DRUM PRESENTS
LANIE LANE: Nov 4 & 5 The Vanguard THRALL: Nov 4 Bald Faced Stag EMMA LOUISE: Nov 4 GoodGod BACKSLIDERS: Nov 4 Vault 146, Nov 5 Brass Monkey HEROES FOR HIRE: Nov 4 Oasis Youth Centre, Nov 5 The Loft, Nov 6 Bald Faced Stag, Nov 9 Tuggeranong Youth Centre PUTA MADRE BROTHERS*: Nov 5 Lansdowne Hotel LAURA IMBRUGLIA: Nov 5 King’s Cross Hotel FAKER: Nov 5 The Patch, Nov 10 Cambridge Hotel, Nov 11 The Standard GOLD FIELDS: Nov 10 Transit Bar, Nov 11 Oxford Art Factory, Nov 13 Level One 360: Nov 10 Level One, Nov 11 Waves, Nov 12 Annandale Hotel JINJA SAFARI: Nov 11 The Metro, Nov 17 Wollongong Uni GUINEAFOWL*: Nov 11 Great Northern Newcastle, Nov 13 ANU Bar, Nov 25 The Standard, Nov 26 Yours & Owls THOUSAND NEEDLES IN RED*: Nov 17 City Diggers, Nov 18 The Gaelic JEBEDIAH: Nov 19 The Metro GYROSCOPE: Nov 19 The Factory
JACK LADDER & THE DREAMLANDERS: Oct 6 Brass Monkey, Oct 7 Gallipoli Club, Oct 8 The Patch PHRASE: Oct 13 Transit Bar, Oct 14 Level One, Oct 15 Oxford Art Factory ILLY: Oct 14 The Factory THE WOMBATS: Oct 14 Hordern Pavilion OKKERVIL RIVER: Oct 18 The Metro THE JEZABELS: Oct 19 ANU Bar, Oct 20 Wollongong Uni, Oct 21 & 23 Enmore Theatre FUNKOARS: Oct 20 Upstairs Beresford THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH: Oct 20 & 22 The Factory HEIRS: Oct 21 Bald Faced Stag SKIPPING GIRL VINEGAR: Oct 21 The Vanguard MEGASTICK FANFARE, OH YE DENVER BIRDS: Oct 21 Spectrum, Oct 22 Yours & Owls SALMONELLA DUB: Oct 22 The Metro MÚSICA/TUMBALONG: Oct 22 Tumbalong Park FAT AS BUTTER: Oct 22 Camp Shortland THE CROOKED FIDDLE BAND: Oct 23 White Eagle Polish Club, Nov 4 The Factory, Nov 5 Cambridge Hotel, Nov 12 Katoomba RSL PAPA VS PRETTY, THE VASCO ERA: Oct 26 ANU Bar, Oct 27 Cambridge Hotel, Oct 28 Manning Bar FOLK UKE: Oct 26 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Oct 27 Lizotte’s Kincumber, Oct 28 Notes, Nov 7 & 8 Clarendon Guesthouse, Nov 9 Brass Monkey BALL PARK MUSIC: Oct 26 Beach Road Hotel, Oct 27 Caringbah Bizzo’s THE PLANET SMASHERS: Oct 28 Annandale Hotel MANTRA: Oct 28 Level One, Oct 29 Annandale Hotel NEW EMPIRE: Oct 28 The Maram, Oct 29 The Factory SYDNEY BLUES & ROOTS FESTIVAL: Oct 28 – 30 Windsor LANIE LANE: Nov 4 & 5 The Vanguard FAKER: Nov 5 The Patch, Nov 10 Cambridge Hotel, Nov 11 The Standard 360: Nov 10 Level One, Nov 11 Waves, Nov 12 Annandale Hotel GOLD FIELDS: Nov 10 Transit Bar, Nov 11 Oxford Art Factory, Nov 13 Level One JINJA SAFARI: Nov 11 The Metro, Nov 17 Wollongong Uni GUINEAFOWL: Nov 11 Great Northern Newcastle, Nov 13 ANU Bar, Nov 25 The Standard, Nov 26 Yours & Owls CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH: Nov 14 Oxford Art Factory THOUSAND NEEDLES IN RED: Nov 17 City Diggers, Nov 18 The Gaelic JEBEDIAH: Nov 19 The Metro GYROSCOPE: Nov 19 The Factory HOMEBAKE: Dec 3 The Domain MUDHONEY: Dec 6 Manning Bar KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS: Dec 6 Oxford Art Factory FESTIVAL OF THE SUN: Dec 9 & 10 Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park SUMMER RHYTHM: Dec 9 – 11 Goolabri Resort EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY: Dec 11 The Metro PEATS RIDGE: Dec 29 – Jan 1 Glenworth Valley ALOE BLACC: Jan 4 Enmore Theatre THE KOOKS: Jan 6 Hordern Pavilion ARCTIC MONKEYS: Jan 12 Hordern Pavilion JESSIE J: Mar 8 Hordern Pavilion
INTERNATIONAL DESORDEN PUBLICO: Oct 4 ANU Bar, Oct 5 The Basement Circular Quay RENEGADO: Oct 4 ANU Bar, Oct 6 Oxford Art Factory MEAT LOAF: Oct 4 WIN Entertainment Centre, Oct 8 Bimbadgen Winery, Oct 12 Sydney Entertainment Centre THE AMERICAN TEMPTATIONS: Oct 4 & 5 Brass Monkey, Oct 6 Vault 146, Oct 7 Campbelltown RSL, Oct 8 Bankstown Sports Club, Oct 9 Penrith Panthers, Oct 11 The Basement Circular Quay, Oct 12 Newcastle Wests, Oct 13 Burwood RSL, Oct 15 Castle Hill RSL, Oct 16 North Sydney Leagues Club MARNIE STERN: Oct 6 Goodgod BOOKER T. JONES: Oct 6 The Metro CHRIS CORNELL: Oct 7 Canberra Theatre, Oct 22 & 23 Sydney Opera House ROBBEN FORD & THE RENEGADE CREATION: Oct 8 The Factory MONO: Oct 8 Manning Bar TAYLOR DAYNE: Oct 9 Vikings Club, Oct 13 Coogee Bay Hotel, Oct 14 Bankstown Sports Club, Oct 15 Penrith Panthers, Oct 20 Dee Why RSL, Oct 29 Castle Hill RSL, Oct 30 North Sydney Leagues DEAN WAREHAM: Oct 12 Annandale Hotel
COSMO JARVIS: Oct 12 GoodGod THE TREWS: Oct 12 Great Northern Newcastle; Oct 13 Brass Monkey, Oct 14 Old Manly Boatshed, Oct 15 The Gaelic THE WOMBATS: Oct 14 Hordern Pavilion AESOP ROCK & KIMYA DAWSON: Oct 14 Manning Bar JEFF MARTIN: Oct 14 Coogee Diggers, Oct 26 Brass Monkey, Oct 27 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Oct 28 Lizotte’s Dee Why, Oct 30 The Vanguard MARCEL DETTMAN & BEN KLOCK: Oct 15 Chinese Laundry THE BATS: Oct 15 Notes CHICAGO SOUL COLLECTIVE: Oct 15 The Basement Circular Quay KOAN SOUND: Oct 16 Trinity Bar, Oct 21 Fake Club OKKERVIL RIVER: Oct 18 The Metro CRASHDÏET: Oct 20 The Gaelic DROPKICK MURPHYS: Oct 20 Enmore Theatre, Oct 21 Newcastle Panthers THE TALLEST MAN ON EARTH: Oct 20 & 22 The Factory ZAKIR HUSSAIN: Oct 21 Sydney Opera House KOAN SOUND*: Oct 21 Fake Club SALMONELLA DUB: Oct
• 62 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
22 The Metro BACHELORETTE: Oct 22 GoodGod MÚSICA/TUMBALONG feat. BATHS, SBTRKT, GHOSTPOET and more: Oct 22 Tumbalong Park STEELY DAN & STEVE WINWOOD: Oct 22 Bimbadgen Winery, Oct 25 Sydney Entertainment Centre THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA: Oct 24 UNSW Roundhouse FOLK UKE: Oct 26 Lizotte’s Newcastle, Oct 27 Lizotte’s Kincumber, Oct 28 Notes, Nov 7 & 8 Clarendon Guesthouse, Nov 9 Brass Monkey THE PLANET SMASHERS: Oct 28 Annandale Hotel CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH: Nov 14 Oxford Art Factory MUDHONEY: Dec 6 Manning Bar KURT VILE & THE VIOLATORS: Dec 6 Oxford Art Factory EXPLOSIONS IN THE SKY: Dec 11 The Metro ALOE BLACC*: Jan 4 Enmore Theatre THE KOOKS*: Jan 6 Hordern Pavilion ARCTIC MONKEYS: Jan 12 Hordern Pavilion JESSIE J: Mar 8 Hordern Pavilion
FESTIVALS DOOMSDAY: Oct 15 Sandringham Hotel FAT AS BUTTER: Oct 22 Camp Shortland SYDNEY BLUES & ROOTS: Oct 28 – 30 Windsor REWIND: Oct 28 – 30 BlueScope Field STONEFEST: Oct 29 University of Canberra HARVEST: Nov 13 Parramatta Park NEWTOWN FESTIVAL: Nov 13 Camperdown Memorial Rest Park STEREOSONIC: Nov 26 Sydney Showgrounds BREAKOUT: Dec 2 Hordern Pavilion/Byron Kennedy Hall HOMEBAKE: Dec 3 The Domain FESTIVAL OF THE SUN: Dec 9 & 10 Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park SUMMER RHYTHM: Dec 9 – 11 Goolabri Resort PEATS RIDGE: Dec 29 – Jan 1 Glenworth Valley MISSION TO LAUNCH: Dec 31 Weston Park HARBOUR PARTY: Dec 31 Luna Park SHORE THING: Dec 31 Bondi Park ILLAWARRA FOLK FESTIVAL: Jan 12 – 15 Bulli Showground CMC ROCKS THE HUNTER: Mar 16 – 18 Hope Estate
Flume got things moving with dancey electronica built with a laptop and plenty of knob-twiddling. It’s easy to see this youngster carving a niche for himself. Next up, the impressively hirsute Tin Sparrow changed the tone a little with their bouncy, country-tinged folk. The five-piece had an affable, disarming stage presence, while their set was varied and had a good pace to it. The upbeat numbers got feet tapping while, when they slowed things down, they managed to bring an otherwise chatty room to silence. Highlights included Eileen and For You, while the band even managed to squeeze in a surprise chorus of Happy Birthday for lead singer Matt Amery. Lovely stuff. Caitlin Park took to the stage and set about delivering songs from Milk Annual, the album she was there to launch. With one foot firmly in folk, the other in electronica, her songs were intricately and beautifully pieced together using a loop pedal, an acoustic guitar, samples, snippets of dialogue and a drummer. Managing to remain interesting yet accessible to a live audience is a hard thing to achieve, yet she was mesmerising from first song to last. Importantly, she was able to layer her songs while retaining a lo-fi quality. There was nothing messy, nothing superfluous here. Would You Let Me Back In was a fine example of this and also showed just what a good lyricist she is, while Baby Teeth proved that she also has the ability to deliver a catchy vocal hook or two. While measured and intelligent, there was also an impish edge to her, which was best illustrated by the decision to throw in a cover of The Fresh Prince Of Bel
Rob Townsend
EVERY TIME I DIE
THE ACACIA STRAIN THE WORD ALIVE
Manning Bar 26/09/11
Originally supposed to be here as part of Soundwave Revolution, Every Time I Die settled for their own headline tour rather than join the Counter Revolution, presumably to give vocalist Keith Buckley a chance to avoid the unenviable position of performing twice a day – Buckley also sings with heavy rockers The Damned Things. Instead this way, fans got to take advantage of Buckley being in the country and the singer got at least a couple of days off around the shows. The Word Alive had to put up with a muddy mix when they first kicked off, but the sound got better the longer they played. The vocal attack of Tyler Smith was filled out well by guitarist Zack Hansen, while the appearance of a keyboardist onstage in the shape of Dusty Riach was a nice surprise at a metalcore show. There wasn’t a whole lot of subtlety to what the band did, but there was lots of energy and some very impressive synchronised choreography from all the band members at the front of the stage. WIth physically imposing lead singer Vincent Bennett
LEADER CHEETAH
BELLES WILL RING
The Gaelic 24/09/11
Belles Will Ring’s opening set largely consisted of material from their wonderfully titled second album, Crystal Theatre. They’re an excellent unit and, despite their penchant for trippy freak-out jams and overlapping lead guitars, they were airtight, with a fantastic rhythm section that anchored the lovely two-part harmonies and hazy, late afternoon melodies. The harmonies were essential to the tone and to have them a little bit lost for the first few songs was worrying until the desk corrected it. They didn’t over extend themselves with solo gymnastics or empty bombast. They found a comfortable groove within each song and explored the space within them, no more or less. They maintained a very organic feel to everything and the individual character that was produced from their playing was as much a product of their natural feel for their instruments as from the brand and make of each of them. They’re an exciting group with a lot of positive energy that put on a great performance that, in this reviewer’s opinion, outshone the headliner. Adelaide retro rockers Leader Cheetah were playing the last show of their current tour peddling their new album, Lotus Skies, a neat slice of Americaninfluenced alternative country. They were a bit more muted in their appearance, with a shaggy retro aesthetic complete with an abundance of hair. Their sound was less an accentuated folk rock pastiche than a wall-of-sound stadium rock throwback from the late ‘60s. Singer Dan Crannitch even has an uncanny vocal resemblance to Neil Young, with the trademark nasally falsetto and steady vibrato sounding oddly calm amid the noise around it. Their second album featured heavily in the set and boasts stronger material than the first. In particular record openers, Midnight Headlights and Crawling Up A Landslide, sounded fantastic and, despite Crannitch’s insistence the vocals weren’t loud enough, they sounded fine. Their set was polished and highly enjoyable, with some really nice atmospherics courtesy of great songwriting. The band was very happy with the show and so were we. Matt MacMaster
* indicates new or amended listing this week
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LEADER CHEETAH @ THE GAELIC. PIC: MACLAY HERIOT
walking out and saying, “I’m in a bad mood and I’m going to take it out on you,” The Acacia Strain got straight down to a punishing, brutal set. With the rapid fire, gunshot pop of the riffs and the omnipresent rumble of the rhythm section, this band sounded like they were soundtracking half an hour spent in the dungeons of hell. It was music designed to unsettle its audiences, but the Manning Bar crowd was happy to give plenty of love back. Every Time I Die have been regular visitors to our shores over their five-album history and over the years have slowly infused their technically proficient metalcore with a much thicker slice of Southern rock. More recent songs like Wanderlust, The Marvellous Slut and Who Invited The Russian Soldier showed off their more versatile tendencies, while new song, Underwater Bimbos From Outerspace, suggested the band has taken even further some of the subtle changes that made latest album, New Junk Aesthetic, such a thrilling listen. Out the front Buckley was his slinky, showy self, prancing and dancing his way across the stage while keeping a very tight control on his vocal chords, whether singing or giving his vocal shredding scream. Danielle O’Donohue
RINGWORM
MINDSNARE PHANTOMS
Annandale Hotel 24/09/11 Phantoms were the only representatives of Sydney hardcore on this heavy-duty bill and they acquitted themselves admirably with a tight and intense set. Churning out a good chunk of last year’s As Above, So Below, the boys also included promising newer material from their 7” split with I Exist. Definitely an outfit to watch for the future. During Ringworm’s set, their vocalist Human Furnace called Melbourne legends Mindsnare a ‘national treasure’. He was right. In the space of a mere 30 minutes Mindsnare took The Annandale by its collective collar, shook it around and deposited it head first onto a hard concrete floor. Despite a power outage 30 seconds into their first song, the boys never lost a step and by the time that the last strains of The Gallows In Disguise were fading, they’d sealed their reputation as the finest hardcore band in the land. Ringworm never quite managed to reach the impressive heights of Mindsnare, but their razor sharp metallic hardcore was still a thing of (demonic) beauty. By the time the Cleveland powerhouse tore into the one-two punch of Justice Replaced By Revenge and Scars, everyone present was forced to admit that we were witnessing a finely-honed wrecking machine. Spending your life ‘in the van’ as it were must have many downsides for Ringworm, but there’s no denying that this dedication has given them the ability to rip through a flawless set. And so they did, including a particularly nasty airing of The Cage that left the distinct smell of sulphur in the air. Yes, the occult-obsessed Ringworm are probably going to hell. But when they do, it will only once again prove that the devil does indeed have all the best tunes. Mark Hebblewhite
RICHARD IN YOUR MIND
THE LAURELS FISHING
GoodGod 23/09/11
If there was ever doubt about the diversity of our local music, one need only have been at GoodGod on this Friday night. Opening the night was Fishing, an electronic duo specialising in the glitchy, dubstep by way of R‘n’B sound that has become synonymous with some of this year’s best music. They strayed away from the norm, surprising with their seemingly random switches in tempo and mood, keeping what could be very dull appealing instead. The Laurels have become a local live stalwart of late and are surely one of the hardest working bands in town. They took the evening in a different direction, blasting a sobering jolt of noise that had the already packed Danceteria swaying in slow motion. There is no doubt in this reviewer’s mind that Black Cathedral is one of the finest songs released this year and when played live, the band makes it grow from a calm riff into a swirling sound attack. They left our ears and minds expanded in preparation for the main act. Richard In Your Mind is a bundle of fun. They seem to explode live, all cries and jumps of joy and frenetic movement. Tonight was no exception, as the gents were joined by Alyx Dennison of kyü (also featured on their recent release, Sun) and played a wonderfully idiosyncratic set spanning both their albums and EPs. Opening with the psychedelia-drenched Vision,
frontman Richard Cartwright’s nasally voice melded with his fellow bandmates’ to create a rich, inviting mood. The set was full of gems, with the band knowing how to get their crowd jumping, dancing or just standing in awe. It felt like a bunch of friends having a party in the basement, especially once the set prop came to life – that is, the giant sun consisting of wood, copper pipes and what appeared to be Christmas lights, which was switched on and bathed the band in a gaudy multi-colour glow. Yet somehow it made perfect sense; the hand-cobbled look of their set production mirrored the overjoyed exuberance of the band blasting through songs like Maybe When The Sun Comes Down and I Will.
ERNEST ELLIS & THE PANAMAS
NANTES ELIZABETH ROSE
The Gaelic 29/09/11
Local lass Elizabeth Rose stood unassumingly behind an electronic set-up, but when her hands and vocal chords began to work the room was filled with magic. Her strong voice danced over the thick layers of vocal and instrumental samples and loops created beneath her fingertips and, though she sang with the soulful sensibilities of an early noughties R&B pop star, there’s a depth that came alive when she created a huge world of her own right before your eyes. The echoing atmosphere carried on even when her mouth was shut, mesmerising to watch as she gently swayed and her hands swept the equipment. A dissonant post-punk-esque jam with pounding drums and frenzied handclaps started Nantes’ set, with strained yelps and mutters thrown messily over the mix. This was, however, not a sign of things to come, as the rest of the Sydney four-piece’s set covered a wide range of influences and genres. With all four members pitching in on vocals, tunes went from thick, atmospheric jams to poppier numbers underscored by joyful synth. The singer’s voice resembled the low rumble of Interpol’s Paul Banks at times, while at others it simply blended into the busy mix behind it. There was plenty of energy on show from the four lads, even if their sound is a little inconsistent.
A special mention though must be made of SPOD, who managed to look metal whether it was with axe or drumsticks in hand, headbanging with his lustrous hair all the way to the finale of Candelabra Moon Mantra. If anything embodies the Richard In Your Mind spirit, it is that. Sevana Ohandjanian
DUNE RATS
VELOCIRAPTOR BLOODS
So many moods emanated from Ernest Ellis & The Panamas tonight, all carried by the frontman’s powerful voice. The opening instrumental number saw Ellis and his four bandmates intensely focusing on creating an enormous post rock-like sound, slowly easing into the blissful Great Sky, where voices harmonised with ease and the key refrain added a hauntingly beautiful touch. On the back of new album, Kings Canyon, this was Ellis and friends’ first headline show in over a year and they all seem to be much more in their element, with the passion really evident both in Ellis’ voice and demeanour. Older track, Want For Anything, saw the mood shift to a rockier vibe and Save Me proved a grand catalyst for a shuffling mass of bodies pulsing along to its beat. There was room for some jokes, with Ellis making digs at Art Vs Science, but when he sang it was with true conviction – and when the ringing notes of Loveless sounded he was more intimately affecting than ever, closing on an honest note with no need for a contrived encore.
The Gaelic 23/09/11
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to your ‘60s garage pop revival night. Local act Bloods’ Franklins shopping approach had the few gathered tapping their feet and nodding their noggins in unison, despite a primitive approach that’s as much a lack of experience as it is a need to play live and learn the songs later. But it kinda worked and was not uncharming all the way from the song about someone they had never met but wrote a song about to the venomous Best Friend to the cover of the ‘60s Spiderman animated series theme song. It was by no means polished, but it was lots of fun. Brisbane 12-piece Velociraptor did their best to upstage everyone in the room, from the sound engineer who would have had his work cut out trying to figure who the hell the lead guitarist was to the bar staff having to organise a rider. It was clear from the get go these guys could easily fit in with a whole bunch of other Aussie kids who have been brought up on their parents’ collection of ‘60s pop, such as The Frowning Clouds and The Fearless Vampire Killers. Even after the novelty of having 12 people trying to navigate the stage had worn off, tunes such as the momentous Sleep With The Fishes were still ringing in the ears of the modest yet appreciative crowd. Whatever their secret, this band is one of those rare things where too many chefs make a better broth and they are a definite bunch to keep on the radar. Dune Rats were left with a bit of a hole to fill on a stage that looked decidedly empty. However the three-piece kicked things off with a string of tracks that had a sound reminiscent of The Go-Betweens and The Smiths and born in a post ‘80s punk landscape. There was a lot of energy, but the crowd seemed to have dwindled somewhat and this may have affected the playing, which was at times a bit too loose and seemingly not part of the planned live performance. On any other night, songs like Pogo would have been fun, but it was missing a care factor, which again felt like they wanted to be done with it all so they could get off stage. As The Dude once commented, it was a bummer, man. Adam Wilding
ALLEN TOUSSAINT
DIRTY DOZEN BRASS BAND JON CLEARY
Sydney Opera House Concert Hall 28/09/11
You get it good and you get it not so good with a gig – Legends Of New Orleans – like this. Is this a showcase for – and celebration of – the city’s iconic culture, introducing many to a distinct and vibrant art form, or a superficial travesty, allowing the performers such a brief time on stage that they are forced into a fast food version of their enriching and diverse oeuvres? Going by the sold-out nature of the gig and constant standing ovations, those in attendance supported the former viewpoint. Jon Cleary is renowned and respected not so much as an interpreter of New Orleans music, as much as he is part of the cultural furniture – not bad for a transplanted Pom. A rollicking piano player who revels in a tradition made large by Huey Smith, Professor Longhair and Jelly Roll Morton, he has the heart but doesn’t quite convey the soul as emphatically as he does the technique. His voice lacks his piano’s punch, too, whilst the bass and drums are herbs and spices rather than protein of sustenance. Plenty of protein in the seven-strong (long story) Dirty Dozen Brass Band, though. Tuba, tenor and baritone
Giselle Nguyen
ERNEST ELLIS & THE PANAMAS @ THE GAELIC. PIC: MACLAY HERIOT
saxes, two trumpets, guitar and drums. This is a band that won’t die wondering. Terrific go forward. Tight harmonics and incisive lead breaks, all thundering with a pugnacious tempest of sound and not a little style. It’s like controlled chaos at times. Each group member maintains their own narrative within the larger picture, trading lava-like blasts that are profoundly percussive, with the guitar singing around the edges in ‘what more?’ bonus effect. Allen Toussaint, of course, is the only actual ‘legend’ of the night; this legend status being primarily due to his production and writing (i.e. vision/conceptualisation etc) rather than his performing skills, though he is one hell of a piano player. Vocally, he wasn’t up to much and some of the tunes were saccharine to say the least, but the way in which he and his crack band used the New Orleans tradition to create their own sound was something to cherish. Sure, the classics (and these are HIS classics, so not so much the Jon Cleary jukebox approach...) like Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky, Fortune Teller and Working In The Coalmine were flagged, but – invigorated with some mind-bending guitar (Renard Poché) and bass (Roland Guerin) – so did we get a contemporary vision. Craig N Pearce
MOON DUO
FABULOUS DIAMONDS
Oxford Art Factory 30/09/11
Melbourne’s Fabulous Diamonds set the mood of the evening with a set composed around drone and hypnotic repetition. Featuring just drums and keyboards, the duo were in no rush to get anywhere in particular with songs that slowly evolved from metronomic drum patterns into gently pulsing waves of analogue synths, grinding organ, sparsely decorated with vocals from drummer Nisa Venerosa. When she sang the mood
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lightened considerably, bridging that gap between man and machine with a voice that hinted at the doomy tones of Nico while still sounding like a breath of fresh air. They have a fine-tuned sound that is reminiscent of an ambient Suicide or the Velvets if they’d discovered keyboards instead of guitars. Moon Duo is another project of Wooden Shjips guitarist Ripley Johnson and that connection no doubt drew in a few curious punters who have been taken with that band’s take on psychedelic guitar rock. As a duo Johnson and partner Sanae Yamada cut striking figures on stage, Johnson with his white streaked full beard and Yamada behind the keyboards, hair flying and body lost in the sonic waves they were creating. That name Suicide popped up again with Moon Duo more closely related than Fabulous Diamonds. The use of drum machines gave their sound that insistent, Krautrock angle that hammers the rhythm into your brain and locks on for the ride. Before you knew it you were nodding your head to Johnson’s tripped-out guitars that were a mix of desert rock and Grateful Dead retro psychedelia. His playing was a hybrid of solos and repetitive chords that never settled into one or the other, constantly interchanging without deviating from the forward movement of the music. Yamada’s keyboards acted as the driving force behind the music, keeping it grounded and cemented to the beat. The combination of all these elements resulted in songs that felt like they were the ghosts of ‘60s garage rock, warped and infused with ‘70s space rock and exploratory primitive electronica. Seer soared into the stratosphere while Mazes was a summer cruise down the coast with the roof down. Visually they used video and screen projections that enhanced the music to great effect – psychotropic kaleidoscopic mixed with strafing lines and epileptic digital effects to perfectly complement the nature of the music. This was brilliantly executed head music of the highest order that knew the importance of also connecting physically. Chris Familton THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 63 •
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single FOCUS MCKISKO
What’s your favourite part of the song?
Good Grief
I like the drum tapping between the two verses,
What’s the song about?
and when the one-note glockenspiel hammering
The song is about a couple of nights when sleep wasn’t coming easily to me.
comes in later.
Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? It’s from a 7”, just released through El Nino El Nino Records. How long did it take to write/record? The song took a couple of hours to write and about twelve hours, on and off, to record.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Bill Callahan’s America and a Tim Winton book called Breath.
Do you play it differently live?
DRAGON
Live there are only two of us so with this song in
RAWR
particular we have to record sounds on stage to pull it off.
Kiwi rockers Dragon spit fire at Vault 146 on Friday, rocking the stage with three decades’ worth of tunes.
Will you be launching it? Sunday – King’s Cross Hotel
FALCONA
For more info see:
Falcona Fridays have the usual party monkeys playing this week in Devola, Starjumps and the F.R.I.E.N.D/S DJs, as well as Stoney Roads and Jared Reyes, from 8pm at Kit & Kaboodle.
mckisko.com
THEY’RE YOUR TYPE At the Botany View on Sunday, Johnny G & The E-Types are planning to rock out on stage – will you join them?
MUSIC FOR HEP C The HEPConcert to raise awareness of Hepatitis C is hitting up The Gaelic this Sunday with a whole heap of bands and other artists slated to play. It features super FLORENCE jam, comedian Anthony Ackroyd, Denise Hanlon, Beccy Cole, Pat Powell and heaps more from 6pm onwards. Tickets are $25 on the door.
PUDDY TAT Feeling trapped? We Are The Birdcage are about to launch their EP, Little Father Time, and are playing their last show before its release. They hit up the Horus & Deloris Contemporary Art Space this Friday with Sydney band, Missing Children. Doors are at 7.30pm.
SEX TAPE A mix tape, a sex tape, same same. Aussie hip hopper The Tongue is releasing his new album, The Sex Tape, and is heading around on a tour this month in support. He stops by the Kings Cross Hotel on Friday for a free show.
CLASSICS Chinese Laundry this Saturday has a huge lineup of DJs slated to take turns on the turntables. Their Classics night will feature Kid Kenobi, Mark Dynamix, Matt Nugent, John Glover, Simon Caldwell, Robbie Lowe, Matttt and more.
LOWER COAST SKIES
GET LOW Wollongong rockers Lower Coast Skies take to The Wall on Friday in support of Delorean Tide, also joined by Alls Fallow. Entry is $15 on the door.
EMMA HAMILTON
ALL THAT JAZZ Australian jazz songstress Emma Hamilton joins a huge bill of international stars including Charito from Japan, the Tricia Evy Trio from France and more at The Basement Circular Quay on Thursday, showcasing the best of jazzy goodness. • 64 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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S Y D N E Y T H E AT R E C O M PA N Y, A D E L A I D E F E S T I VA L A N D A L L E N S A R T H U R R O B I N S O N I N A S S O C I AT I O N W I T H B A N G A R R A DA N C E T H E AT R E P R E S E N T
concept by
STEPHEN PAGE story by
KATHY BALNGAYNGU MARIKA Stephen Page +
WAYNE BLAIR written by Wayne Blair
SONG, DANCE
+ LANGUAGE
WEAVE TOGETHER to TELL a POWERFUL STORY of
FORBIDDEN LOVE + OPPOSING CLANS
3 OCTOBER â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 13 NOVEMBER 2011 WHARF 1, SYDNEY THEATRE COMPANY BOOKINGS (02) 9250 1777 Director Stephen Page Set Designer Peter England Costume Designer Jennifer Irwin Lighting Designer Damien Cooper Composer/Sound Designer Steve Francis With Kathy Balngayngu Marika, Elaine Crombie, Rarriwuy Hick, Rhimi Johnson Page, Noelene Marika, Djakapurra Munyarryun, David Page, Hunter Page Lochard, Kelton Pell, Tessa Rose, Meyne Wyatt, Ursula Yovich
PRESENTING SPONSOR
sydneytheatre.com.au/bloodland
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THUMPING THE BELLS PETER SPIKER, VOCALIST/GUITARIST AND SONGWRITER FOR ADELAIDE PROGRESSIVE OUTFIT QUIET CHILD, TELLS TONY MCMAHON ALL ABOUT HIS FAVOURITE BANDS AHEAD OF THE BIG LAUNCH OF THE NEW ALBUM, THUMPER.
“I
’m an old-school Smashing Pumpkins fan and always loved their long songs the most. So while I didn’t want to actually rip off the Pumpkins, I was eager to write some songs that were both long in length, yet still not really complicated to get into. Tool’s presence in the local music world around this time made me want to avoid sounding really complex, as I didn’t want Quiet Child to be labelled as Tool rip-offs… which still happened regardless! So, basically the foundational philosophy was to write these long, intricate heavy songs that still sounded like they were cousins of shorter, easier-listening songs, avoiding the density found in popular prog like Tool and Opeth. Does that make sense? Because I’m confused.”
For fans familiar with Quiet Child’s first album, Evening Bell, Spiker says that Thumper is a continuation, although not really. “I guess it’s a continuation, just not an especially intentional one. There’s a bit more excitement in the songs; it’s more ‘epic’ I guess… no doubt to some that just makes it more pretentious? Most importantly, I can confidently say that it’s not an Evening Bell Mark II situation, which was always the main thing to avoid.” And interestingly, the new single, Gaps, according to Spiker, isn’t indicative of the rest of the album at all. “Gaps is actually much, much newer than the rest of the album. Due to its bouncy, friendly feel we decided to quickly record it and add it to Thumper as the lead single. So if it’s indicative of the rest of the album, then it’s a fluke. That being said, we try to make every song sound quite different from the next and I don’t imagine there will ever be a single-type Quiet Child song that sounds like what I think of as typical Quiet Child.”
REACH FO’ THE SKY
Miss throwing down? Head to the Townie this Saturday to warm up the cold spring weather with ‘80s thrashers Throwdown. They’re playing a free show with Frank Rizzo and Rampage.
It’s Rocktober at the Marlborough, supporting the Prostate Cancer Institute, and this week’s lineup of free music starts Thursday with Michael Peter taking some singer/songwriter goodness to the stage. Friday and Saturday, catch your favourite songs covered by Big Way Out and Wayne Pearce & The Big Hitters respectively.
It’s a busy week at the Beach Road Hotel, despite the lack of good weather for beach chills. They’re having The Rumjacks, Tor and Billy Burgess in to play tonight, Kingswood and The Dead Leaves on Wednesday from 8pm, Five Coffees and Empire Rising on Thursday and finally Bon Chat Bon Rat on Friday.
BLINDFOLDED
• 66 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
CAN’T STOP THE EAT Good food and good music – what could be better? The Eat2theBeat Festival is a new annual festival launching in Parramatta and will run over Thursday through to Sunday this week. The Foreday Riders, Kevin Borich Express, Mal Eastick and more will be performing and entry is only $10 a day.
EAT AND MEAT
Make sure you peep The Blindfolds rocking at the Coogee Diggers this Saturday from 8pm! They’re supporting Crowsfeat and The Cleanskins.
As part of the Sydney International Food Festival, Eat And Meet @ Taylor Square will be held this Thursday in the streets of Darlinghurst! The pop-up night market will feature performers Nikki Thorburn at 6pm and Fanny Lumsden at 7.30pm.
FBI SOCIAL BUTTERFLY
YOU’RE THE BOMB
FBi Social this week sure is getting social! With Tigertown, Ben Wells & The Middle Names and Matt Sztyk playing Wednesday, The Dead Leaves, The Owls and Boy & Bear’s Tim Hart Thursday and The Paper Scissors, Guerre, March Of The Real Fly and The Ghosts Saturday, it’s worth popping in sometime/anytime this week.
The spotlight is on up and coming artists on Thursday night at The Roxy Parramatta, with Miss Murphy & The Bombers playing from 8pm.
KILLED BY DEATH
Central Coast singer/songwriter Anabelle Kay joins Ollie Brown, Mardi Pannan and The Firetree at the Sando on Thursday. Entry is $10.
WHEN & WHERE Friday, Great Northern Newcastle; Saturday, Lansdowne Hotel; Sunday Phoenix Bar Canberra
Guns Behind The Bar is coming to the Petersham Bowlo this Sunday and is set to be the rowdiest family swamp and alt.country affair all year! Spurs For Jesus will be headlining but will also play a stripped-back set early on in the day. Brisbane’s Halfway, The Delivery, Rattlehand, Roland K. Smith & The Sinners and Johnny Took are all set to get wild and Western too, so head down from 12.30pm!
BEACH BUM
SING US A SONG
WHAT Thumper (Independent)
LIKE A BOSS
ROCK FOR A CAUSE
ANABELLE KAY
WHO Quiet Child
Boss Bass is pumping into Chinese Laundry this Friday with the heaviest of local dubstep heroes taking the stage. Pop The Hatch, Creeptown, Hydraulix, Kombat and heaps more will play from 10pm.
HOEDOWN THROWDOWN MICHAEL PETER
have YOU heard
If you’d rather headbang to heavy and black metal than trip out to dubstep, head down to Killed By Death heavy metal club this Saturday at the Whitehouse Hotel. DJs will be spinning ‘70s and ‘80s metal classics and Trench Hell will be playing from 11pm. Up the horns! \m/
DUN PROPPA INNIT Def Wish Cast are out on their Dun Proppa single launch tour, which pulls into Hotel Gearin Katoomba this Friday to kick things off.
ON THE DRUM STEREO SLiDE (OST) VARIOUS Hysterical CLAP YOUR HANDS SAY YEAH Twirligig JONTI Unto The Locust MACHINE HEAD The Hunter MASTODON Heritage OPETH Trans-Love Energies DEATH IN VEGAS Velociraptor! KASABIAN The Vasco Era THE VASCO ERA The Great Escape Artist JANE’S ADDICTION
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THE GO-GO HAUNTERS Your music is…? Post punk/horror/surf/voodoo/rock’n’roll!
Which acts inspired you to produce your own music and why? The B52’s – for their glass-shattering vocals, and The Cramps – because Lux was never afraid to dress in heels and little hot pants… Also they’re a bunch of bad arses!
What’s your wildest ambition for your music? To perform and record internationally and to build an actual ‘Hauntsville Mansion’, preferably in Transylvania.
Why should we come and see you? We love putting on a real show; prepare to dance with us, sing along to our originals and a few of our favourite punk covers.
How do you find the Sydney live scene? Last Sydney show we played, an older gent decided he would jump on stage with us and reveal his private parts, so very lively indeed! This didn’t necessarily happen at Black Cherry last time we played but it’s one hell of a wild night so you never know!
What’s your greatest rock’n’roll moment? Supporting Horrorpops at the HiFi Bar in Brisbane – we were stoked to fit our life-size coffin on stage so I could jump out of it during our intro!
For more info see: facebook.com/thegogohaunters
Next available at: Saturday 15 October – Black Cherry @ The Factory
[V] SATURDAY 8AM MUSIC VIDEO CHART
Sexy And I Know It LMFAO Somebody That I Used To Know GOTYE FT. KIMBRA You Make Me Feel COBRA STARSHIP FT. SABI Moves Like Jagger MAROON 5 FT. CHRISTINA AGUILERA
Killer 360 Pumped Up Kicks FOSTER THE PEOPLE Stereo Hearts GYM CLASS HEROES Sweet Dreams THE GRATES Cheers (Drink To That) RIHANNA Cinema BENNY BENASSI FT. GARY GO
live@drummedia.com.au t of Service issued a se depicted on the 92, the US Postal 19 er lar music. Those pu tob po Oc g 8 tin on ra at leb Th ce … s OW mp KN sta U ve DID YO ie Valens, Clyde commemorati Otis Redding, Ritch lly, Ho y dd Bu , ley is Presley, Bill Ha stamps included Elv nah Washington. McPhatter and Di
weaponsOFchoice TIGER & WOODS What tunes never leave your crate/wallet/ hard drive? MELBA MOORE
Love’s Comin’ At Ya EMI (1982) One of the most incredible combinations of beats and bass by the hand of Kashif. Fatness and vocal sweetness which are elements you wanna hear on any dance track. VANITY 6
Nasty Girl Warner Bros (1982) Organic porn music but yet electronic and funky. Perfection from the Prince world of alternative production of his own kind. Sexiness and groove at his best. DREXCIYA
The Journey Home Warp (1995) The impossible but yet possible evolution of funk/ boogie in a futuristic environment. Imagine all you know from those 1982/1985 years in a 2050 context.
Upcoming Release? We can only mention an unofficial T&W stolen from our hard drives and spread out on the net. It’s not delivered by us so we can’t tell you more.
STUDIO 57
SLOW DOWN HONEY
Club Cronulla’s Studio 57 Pro-Jam rages on this Tuesday with a huge number of musicians turning up to jam with the guys in the house band – Al Britton, Tony Ward and Ross Ward. The night kicks off around 8.30pm.
FINN IS IN Jim Finn hosts the Muso’s Club Jam Night on Wednesday and Thursday at the Bald Faced Stag and the Carousel Inn respectively, then plays with the Flamin’ Beauties on Friday at the Crown Hotel. On the weekend he plays as Finn at the Raby Tavern (with Moonshine) and the Bald Rock Hotel.
LOONEY TUNES Meep meep! Wile E. Coyote is nowhere to be seen so The Road Runners are gearing up for their debut gig at the Town & Country Hotel this Sunday. Get down at 5.30pm for some rockabilly lovin’.
ROAD TRIP The good folk from the Adam Cousens Band are packing up their belongings, filling up their petrol tank and revving into gear this week. They’re on the This Road Ahead single launch tour and stop by Phoenix Bar Monday.
OH MY GOSH, IT’S JOSH Having just released his new album, Molecular Teleportation, Josh Rawiri is celebrating with a bunch of gigs this week. He kicks off the run with a lunchtime show at the University of Wollongong on Thursday then an evening show at Ryan’s Hotel. He also hits up Camelot Lounge on Saturday with Declan Kelly, Anatoli Torjinski and more, sharing with Melbourne’s Vardos.
THE PUTBACKS
PUT IT BACK Melbourne funksters The Putbacks have nabbed the support slot for Booker T Jones at The Metro on Thursday, and DJ Toon will be spinning some tracks in between.
UNLUCKY 13 Punk/ska’ers Eager 13 are supporting Kiwi band Black Lick at their Sydney show this Friday at the Town & Country Hotel. Doors are at 7.30pm with No Such Luck opening.
GOOSING AROUND Duck, duck, GOOSED! Get goosed in the nicest possible way at the Illawarra Folk Club this Friday, where the Blue Goose Band, Ireland’s Jennifer Hardy, Duncan Chalmers and Bathurst’s Ann Roxborough will be charming up the crowd. It all starts at 7.30pm.
OLDER MEN British India are just being honest. The boys head out on their She Prefers Older Men tour this week, starting with Blush on Friday and Hotel Gearin on Saturday. Their mates in King Gizzard & The Wizard Lizard, The Frowning Clouds and Betty Airs will be coming out on the road with them.
WHAT MALARKEY! Ryan and Fi of Mr Malarkey are playing a free gig at the Old Manly Boatshed this Wednesday. Get down at 9.30pm!
NOT SO FAST Central Coast quartet Slow Down Honey heads to the Upstairs Beresford on Friday to play with The Ruminaters and Toucan, DJ duties helmed by Lancelot. Doors open 5pm and entry is free all night.
UNDER PRESSURE You know what they say – one man’s trash is another man’s diamonds! The Junkyard Diamonds are playing the Valve Bar this Saturday, with help from Sonic Porno, Collins Class, Neon Heart and Blackie from The Hard Ons.
MOVE INTO IT The Kinetic Jazz Orchestra will be performing at St Luke’s Hall this Thursday with heaps of new compositions as well as works premiered at the Kinetic Jazz Festival earlier this year.
BONA FIDE BAND Melbourne septet The Bon Scotts are set to release their new single, Kids In Counterfeit, and are rolling out on their tour in support this week. They stop by the Transit Bar on Thursday.
HUSH CHILD Rockers Quiet Child are heading to the Great Northern this Friday with Perspektiv, then play the Lansdowne on Saturday with Red Remedy, Thin Air and Cities Of The Red Night. They also head down to the Phoenix Bar on Sunday with special guests.
AVAILABLE NOW FROM www.punkshop.com.aU AND ALL GOOD RETAILERS twitter.com/drummedia
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 67 •
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for the BENEFIT of HEPCONCERT What’s the benefit gig for?
that many more people in their forties and fifties are presenting with advanced liver disease at hospitals across the country.
SPECTACLES
To raise community awareness of hepatitis C, a virus that’s transmitted by blood-to-blood contact and that lies silently for very many years, but that can cause serious liver damage during that time. It’s also a fundraiser for Hepatitis NSW, a health promotion charity working to improve care, treatment and support for people with hepatitis C and also to prevent hep C transmission.
Who else is helping out on the night?
Why do they need the help?
Why is music/art appropriate for this cause?
Public awareness of hepatitis C remains incredibly low. Despite 10,000 new transmissions across Australia each year (90 per cent of these occur when people share needles and other equipment used to inject drugs), there has never been a governmentfunded mass media public awareness campaign to inform the general public. Most people don’t know that cure is achievable through treatment and many people are confused about how hep C is transmitted.
Many musicians have hepatitis C. Many know that fact and many don’t. We aim to get musicians talking among themselves and to us. We encourage ALL people who have ever injected drugs or who might have had a dodgy tattoo or body piercing to get tested and to talk with their doctor.
We are delighted that Support Act, the charity that raises funds for musicians who have fallen on hard times, will be there on the night. The musicians – Beccy Cole, Denise Hanlon, super FLORENCE jam, Supersede, Julia Clarke and more – are the absolute stars of the night; they have all given their talent, time and energy to help a good cause.
When and where can we help out? For more info see:
There are over 217,000 Australians living with chronic or ongoing hepatitis C, with over 80,000 of those people living in NSW. We’ve got to that stage
Call the free and confidential Hepatitis Helpline 1800 803 990 (or 9332 1559 if you are in Sydney) and visit hep.org.au.
SOWING SEEDS
GOING FOR A JOG
Sydney band Self Is A Seed has been holed up recording a new album, but is all set to release the single, Somnambulist, this week at Hermann’s Bar. They’ll be playing with Vangate and The Author.
Tracksuit has stretched, limbered up and now they’re traipsing the East Coast this week! They start with the Cambridge Hotel on Wednesday, Yours & Owls on Thursday, the Lansdowne on Friday with Sativa Sun and Ollie Brown, and finally the Upstairs Beresford on Saturday.
With an epic self-titled EP in hand, Sean O’Neill of Hang On St. Christopher is back in NSW for three solo shows this week. He starts off at The Brass Monkey on Wednesday, Low 302 on Thursday and finally the Roxbury on Friday.
Saturday at the Excelsior Glebe you’ll find the This Is Artcore event, featuring performances from Fiecks Device, Spectacles and The Fires.
HARD AS NAILS
NEED A NAILGUN A SPURT OF ENERGY Thirty-four years later, X are still in the game. Armed with oldies and some new songs too, they launch their ‘lost’ first album, X-Spurts, at The Patch on Thursday with Carrie Phillis & The Downtown 3, the Sando on Friday with Young Docteurs and the Grand Junction Hotel on Saturday.
Hard As Nails are back on the scene after a bout of laryngitis hit their singer, but they’re playing the Uptone Industry Showcase this Wednesday at the Annandale. Up and coming Sydney bands Enter The Ninja, JD MO, English Avenue and Kill Appeal will be getting crazy too.
LIKE A POLAROID PICTURE
Sunday – The Gaelic
What’s the current situation like?
HANGING ON
ART TO THE CORE
The Shake Up is mixing things up on their huge 17-date tour, which stops by World Bar this Thursday and Dicey Riley’s on Friday. The lads are on a tour to preview their upcoming second album.
FERRY NICE All aboard! Slowboat To Chinamans: A Ferry Tale Musical. Presented on board an original 1920s ferry embarking on its first journey this Wednesday, for $137, attendees are able to experience the show directed by Ian “Mort” Mortimer along with a canapé dinner and complimentary drink on arrival. The cast features Sheridan Harbridge, Gemma Lark, Sebastian Rideaux and Darryl Wallis.
JUST A MINUTE
ALL OF THE LIGHTS
Sunday evening’s entertainment at the Lansdowne comes to you courtesy of Minute 36, Doc Holliday, Skytrain and Julia Why? from 6pm.
Underlights launch their new single Saturday at the Annandale, with support from Made In Japan, Bachelor Pad and more.
PEABODY
PEABODY WELCOMES EVERYBODY ‘90s power punk champs Peabody step into the Rose of Australia on Friday to launch their new video, supported by special guests.
SE SECOND RELEA
TUMBALONG 01 Tickets on Sale: Tuesday 26th July. First Release: $79 inc. BF. Second Release: $89 inc. BF. VIP: $175 inc. BF. www.moshtix.com.au. www.musicaevents.com • 68 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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THINKING MAKING CONNECTING
ENROL NOW SYDNEY | MELBOURNE | BRISBANE Join us at www.billyblue.edu.au or call 1300 851 245 to find out more Think: Colleges Pty Ltd, ABN 93 050 049 299 trading as Billy Blue College of Design, RTO No. 0269, HEP No. NSW5028, CRICOS Provider Codes: NSW 00246M, QLD 03107J, VIC 03252M.
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 69 •
launches a new CD, The Blues Of Joy, at 505 on Wednesday.
single FOCUS
THE TONGUE BONE’S CONNECTED TO THE…
ep FOCUS
Melbourne’s Teeth & Tongue are back in town to launch their newest single, Vaseline On The Lens, at GoodGod on Saturday.
COFFEE CART
SUPER FLORENCE JAM
JUNKYARD DIAMONDS
Downd
What’s the song about? Not sure, pretty hectic question. It’s about a lot of things; it’s for the listener to work out what they feel when they listen. But mostly it’s about life and not knowing what it’s about and what’s going to happen, I suppose.
FLORENCE JAM ON TOAST super FLORENCE jam are celebrating their 300th show this week! They play the Lansdowne on Thursday and Friday, first with Batterie, Snip Snap Dragon, Phader and Clusterfuck and then with Godswounds, Shanghai and Sex On Toast. The Manning Bar show with Louis London, Rockets, Dan What and Ra Bazaar is the 300th gig and will be filmed for a video clip. Finally they head back to the Lansdowne that night for their single launch.
Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? It’s the first single on our upcoming EP.
How long did it take to write/record? We just jammed a couple of riffs out one day and it came together pretty quick, then the next jam we had Mitch come up with a beautiful bridge riff and we played it live the next day. Recording it took a day.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Life’s ups and downs, just life pretty much.
What’s your favourite part of the song? The bridge for sure, but the chorus is real fun to play.
Do you play it differently live? It depends on the mood and energy of everyone on the night but it’s pretty much the same, I suppose.
For more info see: facebook.com/junkyarddiamonds
ONE OF FIVE Brisbane-based McKisko is launching the first of a series of five 7” releases and pulls into FBi Social this Sunday to celebrate. Playing in duo mode, they’re joined by Emily Ulman and Roller One.
Affable local singer/songwriter Jack Carty is on the road again this week for a run of intimate acoustic shows. He’ll be at Café Lounge for a free show in Surry Hills tonight, Yours & Owls on Wednesday and The Front on Thursday. All shows start at 7pm.
What’s the title of your new EP?
KEEP IT CLEAN
Where Have All The Good Times Gone?
How many releases do you have now?
French electro masters Dirtyphonics are in town this week, hitting World Bar on Wednesday for a night of dirty dancing.
Two EPs and one single.
BACK IN BLACK Brazilian funk and soul is the order of the evening at the Macquarie Hotel on Wednesday night when Black Rio takes the stage. Entry is, of course, free of charge.
How long did it take to write/record? About three months and these are the best of the bunch. It took four days to record.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Definitely pushing the limits: more vocal madness, backwards guitars and more instrumentation. On one of the tracks there’s Rhodes organ and piano, a first for us.
What’s your favourite song on it?
DRONING ON
Changes all the time but I do like Picture Of Love.
The Drones never learn - or so they would have you believe. They’re on their A Thousand Mistakes tour, stopping by the ANU Bar this Friday and the Cambridge Hotel on Saturday. Adalita will be joining them as a special guest.
Definitely doing some horn arrangements on a couple of the new songs and perhaps some strings. We want to keep pushing things along and experimenting.
ALWAYS ALIVE Segression has finally released their comeback album, Never Dead, and a new music video is also on the cards. They’ll be playing at The Patch this Friday with Nekrofeist and Elite Element.
THE FOLD
Will you do anything differently next time?
CRIMZON LAKE
METAL EVILUTION Steel yourself for a night of metal pandemonium as Tasmanian heavy metal band Taberah hit up the Valve Bar this Friday. They’ll be joined by Sabretung and Crimzon Lake from 7.30pm. Taberah also scoot up to the Hamilton Station Hotel on Saturday to play from 9.30pm.
Jazz trio Origami, led by saxophonist Adam Simmons,
• 70 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
TRACKSUIT
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Where are you playing next? Wednesday – Cambridge Hotel Thursday – Yours & Owls Friday – Lansdowne Hotel Saturday – Upstairs Beresford
For more info see: facebook.com/tracksuitrocks
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 71 •
live@drummedia.com.au
HOLY MOLY
have YOU heard
Holy Balm opens for US noise art groups Black Dice and Lucky Dragons at Oxford Art Factory on Friday. Doors at 8pm.
RATTLEHAND
JOIN JOHN
Your music is…? Alt.country rock’n’roll.
Melody Black’s Johnathan Devoy plays solo free of charge in the Sando’s street level bar on Thursday with special guests.
Which acts inspired you to produce your own music and why?
THIS BLOWS
The Band, Gram Parsons, Townes Van Zandt, Hank Williams, Ryan Adams are really just a few of our favourite songwriters who have inspired us with their passion for the craft. We have a deep love of two things in this band: American folk music and rock’n’roll.
What’s your wildest ambition for your music? Working with other great artists/producers is part of our short-term vision. We played a show with Justin Townes Earle earlier this year and it would be terrific to make a record with his production team. We’re also very serious about getting ourselves to America in the next few years. Rattlehand is a pretty determined project so ‘wild dreams’
don’t seem so wild to us perhaps.
and you’ve really got to have great management to help you navigate that terrain.
Why should we come and see you? We got twangin’ Telecasters, blues harp, vocal harmonies, a shufflin’ snare drum and a big ol’ double bass. Plus we like to play the kind of music that can accompany a punter’s enjoyment of a variety of alcoholic beverages including, but not limited to, whiskey and beer. Also, we tend to impress people with our assortment of bearded faces.
How do you find the local live scene? The local live scene in Brisbane is very competitive. However I think that’s true of Australia in general
What’s your greatest rock’n’roll moment? Passing a pipe and shooting the shit with Justin Townes Earle post-show.
For more info see:
Blow launches Endless Night at the Sando on Saturday, with the inimitable Black Label, The Zeros and Richard Poffandi all joining in. Entry is just $10.
SUBTERRANEANS LIVE They’re a regular fixture around the Sydney gigging scene and this week’s no different for The Subterraneans, who bring their rocking jazz fusion tunes to the Macquarie Hotel on Thursday night.
rattlehand.com Next available at:
LAUNCH PAD
Saturday – Phoenix Bar, Canberra
Sunday at the Sando, catch Chris ‘Klondike’ Masuak & The North 40 launching their latest CD, Workhorse, with The Dunhill Blues playing in support. Entry is $20.
Sunday – Petersham Bowls Club
SUPER BANDITS There are two sets of live music happening Friday at the Macquarie Hotel – first, from 8.30pm the bluesy sounds of Superheavyweights will take over the stage and venue, and then from midnight the soulful styles emanating from Leisure Bandits take it deep into the night.
EPIC BATTLE Spy V Spy recently relaunched the band with a new lead singer, none other than singer songwriter Paul Greene, and is now doing a slew of dates to get the rock vibes pumping. They hit up the Lizotte’s venues this weekend, starting with Dee Why on Thursday, Newcastle on Friday and Kincumber on Sunday.
ROKEBY VENUS
FUN FUN FUN The Fridays have decided to call it quits for now and the folk ladies would like you to drop in on their farewell tour. They pull into The Gaelic this Wednesday, from 8pm, with Brisbane’s Rokeby Venus helping out.
sinlge FOCUS
UNDERLIGHTS
Now That You’re In Love What’s the song about? It’s a tune that highlights the trafficking of all the best and worst.
Is this track from a forthcoming/existing release? This is the first release from our debut EP, due for release early 2012.
How long did it take to write/record? The foundation of the song was brought in by Darius, though when we started working in the studio we found the space conducive with knuckling down the arrangement. It’s also where we wrote the final verse of Now That You’re In Love.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? These were the first tracks that had worked with a producer on. Paul McKercher was the perfect solution for us harnessing our sound in the studio and we will be certainly working with him again in the near future!
What’s your favourite part of the song? Personally my favourite part of the song is in the final psych-out where the guitars are spiralling and the groove of the drums are mostly in your chest.
Will you be launching it? Saturday – Annandale Hotel
DVD and Blu Ray Available in Stores Oct 5 *While stocks Last
• 72 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
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For more info see: listn.to/underlights
TRIPLE J PRESENTS
TRIPLE J’S TRIBUTE TO NICK CAVE featuring the talents of
ABBE MAY - BERTIE BLACKMAN - DAN SULTAN - JAKE STONE - KRAM - LANIE LANE - MUSCLES - ADALITA - ALEX BURNETT - URTHBOY* - LISA MITCHELL - JOHNNY MACKAY WEDNESDAY 16 NOVEMBER - ROYAL THEATRE, CANBERRA THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER - ENMORE THEATRE, SYDNEY SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER - PANTHERS, NEWCASTLE*URTHBOY NOT APPEARING tickets from
CANBERRA - TICKETEK.COM.AU
tickets from
SYDNEY - TICKETEK.COM.AU
tickets from
NEWCASTLE - MOSHTIX.COM.AU
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 73 •
have YOU heard
ep FOCUS JACK LADDER
HEMINA Your music is…? Progressive metal.
Which acts inspired you to produce your own music and why? Bands such as Pain Of Salvation, Ayreon, Dream Theater, Opeth etc. Progressive music really speaks out to us and allows us to explore so many different avenues of music without being limited and confined by style.
What’s your wildest ambition for your music? To become one of Australia’s biggest prog metal exports and play regularly in the European scene.
Why should we come and see you? Progressive metal isn’t a genre much represented here, so you’ll see an Australian band can play the genre to a professional standard both enjoyable and memorable, and definitely on par with internationals.
How do you find the local live scene? Nowhere near as consistent as other states in Australia.
What’s your greatest rock’n’roll moment? Shooting members of the band with Nerf guns while still playing the song - always awesome!
For more info see: hemina.com.au.
Next available at: Saturday – The Wall
THE TROBES
DREAM ON Jack Ladder & The Dreamlanders continue their tour this week, hitting The Brass Monkey Wednesday, Gallipoli Club Thursday and The Patch Friday.
GET LOW Reggae and ska fans come together Sunday from 2pm when Low Gear, Mick Quinn, Dirty Sweet, Jekyll & Hyde and more all do their bit to represent the respective genres.
WHERE IS HOME? Step into Africa without even having to leave your backyard on Saturday night, or at least you need travel only as far as the Macquarie Hotel, when the exotic sounds of Afro Nomad wander onto the stage.
HOW PSYCHO Psychobilly! What a fun word to say. And fun tunes to hear, too, as you’ll find out if you nip over to Valve from 7pm on Wednesday, where you’ll find Dead Johnny & The Memphis Gun, Mugger, Georgia V and Art Rush flying the flag high and proud for the genre.
MODEL ME The 2011 MMS Model Search is happening this afternoon at The Metro from 4pm, and it’s the big state final so you know it’ll be exciting, with 50 of the state’s hottest models strutting their stuff. In terms of musical entertainment, you’ll find the likes of Israel Cruz, Elen Levon and Toneshifterz plugging the party beats, along with a whole lot more.
SHH… Blue Mountains five-piece Keep Secrets are bringing their blend of post-punk and Irish folk to the Lewisham Hotel this Friday for a night of jolly tunes and storytelling. 2011 BLU-FM Band comp winners The Trobes, Justice For The Damned and Wishing Fiction will be playing as well.
HOW TO PARTY WHEN YOU’RE BROKE
No Control, named after its lead single.
How many releases do you have now? This makes three. Our debut was the Throwing Stones EP from 2009, with a single last year called Fishes.
How long did it take to write/record?
Bit broke? No worries – head to the Sando’s street level bar on Saturday to catch some live music for free, beginning 4pm with Mick O’Shea and then DJ Kaki from 8pm until late.
We recorded them all over four days in February. (Although Luke sang his vocals for the song No Control in his bedroom a bit after that.) We ended up totally reworking that track and Blue Light Town in the studio, which was fun.
IN THE GARAGE
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making?
Valve gets down and dirty Thursday night with an evening of garage rock, with headliners Call To Color joined by Vasilates, Dirty Youth and Helpful Kitchen Gods.
I was going through a brief and intense obsession with the UK band Suede. I was hearing a lot of ideas that I liked from their first guitarist, Bernard Butler. I don’t think the EP came out sounding anything like Suede though.
FOR THE HARDCORE Get ready to throw down some more Saturday arvo at Valve with Right Mind, Hurt Unit, Deadly Visions, Square One and Wrong Turn all providing some brutal rhythms from the early time of 1pm onwards.
HELL YEAH The hardworking Lucy Desoto & The Handsome Devils return to the street level bar of the Sando on Sunday, playing a free show.
FRI 21+ SAT 22 OCT SANDRINGHAM HOTEL, NEWTOWN W/ THE HEADSTONES +Wolfy & The Bat Cubs Tix: 02 9557 1254 / moshtix.com.au / zombiedogentertainment.com 12 Days To Paris CD re-issue with bonus tracks out now thru Fuse Music
• 74 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
BOX ROCKETS What’s the title of your new EP?
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What’s your favourite song on it? My favourite song is Forget Her. I find it the most moving of everything we’ve done.
Will you be launching it? Friday – World Bar Saturday – Upstairs Beresford
For more info see: facebook.com/boxrockets
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 75 •
live@drummedia.com.au Serio’s Ministry Of Truth, Rose & Wegener and The Diamond Quills.
ep FOCUS
MUSICAL VETERAN With a staggering 25 albums under his belt, the seasoned Jeff Duff returns to The Brass Monkey for the first time in quite a number of years on Saturday, showcasing new album, Fragile Spaceman, and more. Doors open at 7pm.
PARRIS MCLEOD BAND
WHAT A LADY
FELINEDOWN
TOGETHER IN PARIS
What’s the title of your new EP?
With a soulful blend of jazz, funk and more, the piano-led Parris McLeod Band is the main attraction at Notes Friday, joined by Rein Room.
Trap Rebaited, available Friday.
NIKKI THORNBURN
How many releases do you have now? Glen Gattenhof: Although this is the second EP, it is the first with our current writing team of BrodieAnn Wright, Beau Badinski and myself.
How long did it take to write/record? Glen: We wrote as we recorded the EP in our Brisbane home studios, sending mixes down to Dan Sutherland (ex-MM9) over an approximately eight-month period. If we include the mastering in New York by George Marino and the artwork by Stuart Semple, approximately 12 months all up.
Was anything in particular inspiring you during the making? Brodie-Ann Wright: Lyrically I found a lot of inspiration from visual art and books I was reading. I love immersing myself in characters and alternate realities and then writing from those perspectives.
What’s your favourite song on it? Brodie-Ann: I have to pick just one?! It depends on my mood really. If I want to jump and smash around dancing maybe Warpaint or P.R.E.S.S… Or if I want to get the sexy moves out probably Digital Poison is the best.
Will you be launching it? Friday – The Gaelic
For more info see: felinedown.com
• 76 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
NAPTIME Songbird Nikki Thorburn will be stopping by Lizotte’s Dee Why this Wednesday in support of her new single, Eyes Closed.
OUT OF AFRICA Sudanese former child soldier now conscious rapper Emmanuel Jal says hello at The Basement Circular Quay on Friday, joined by a host of DJs, with the doco about his life, Warchild, screening 7.30pm.
WELCOME TO THE ‘60S Hop into a time machine Saturday night with The Bonettes, who’ll take you back to the swinging ‘60s where Motown, soul and doo-wop ruled the roost. They’re at The Vanguard along with The Maladies.
ROLL ON The two fellas calling themselves CarterRollins roll into The Vanguard tonight, bringing with them singer/ songwriter Ashleigh Mannix for an evening of live and lovely music.
HOT AND HEAVY Heavy music gets a look in at The Wall on Saturday, with Hemina, Arcane, Troldhaugen and Red Bee all getting an opportunity to tear up the stage.
BREAKING THE HABIT Rock out on Thursday night at The Gaelic with Pour Habit, Smoke Or Fire, FWTE and Ebolagoldfish, who’ll all be bringing their live and loud sounds to the stage.
PRETTY SHIT From the UK, Shitdisco comes to The Gaelic on Friday night, supported by fellow Brits Age Of Consent as well as Aussies Felinedown and Bitrok.
SATURDAY NIGHT’S ALRIGHT Saturday night at The Gaelic, catch St Leonards, Lissa and more in action.
DOUBLE WHAMMY Venezuela’s Desorden Publico comes to The Basement Circular Quay on Wednesday, playing a midnight show, but before they take the stage the a cappella champions who call themselves The Idea Of North take the stage first at 9pm.
BE THERE OR BE SQUARE The Square is the newest venue to open in the city, launching this Saturday. It’s located downstairs from the Capitol Square Hotel on the corner of George and Hay streets in Haymarket, and with a capacity of 150, it promises to be an intimate space in which to enjoy live entertainment. The venue is going to run live original bands every Friday and Saturday night, and kicking it all off on opening night this weekend are Terry
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Lady about town Sarah McLeod takes some time in her busy schedule to pay The Brass Monkey a visit on Sunday, playing with Nicole Brophy and Andrew Peacock from 7pm.
BEC’S BACK Twenty year old singer/songwriter Bec Sandridge takes her guitar and voice to The Brass Monkey on Wednesday night, offering a chance to get up close and personal with her and her tunes.
GET THIS INDIE-YA It’s a lovely lineup of local indie pop at the Annandale on Thursday, with Sealion, Sleepyhands, We Are Volcanoes and Them Dreamers playing from 7.30pm. Tickets are about $10 on the door.
SEVEN FOR FIVE For just $7 on the door, you can check out five bands at the Annandale on Friday – The Dead Hands, Darkened Seas, Silver Drops, Dirty Surfin’ Bastards and Villainares. Entry from 7.30pm.
SCREAMING SUNDAY The all ages Screaming Sunday at the Annandale kicks off at midday this weekend, featuring Cuervo, The New Electric, Antisocial Society Club, Samsara, Our Last Autumn, Obviously Your Superhero and more. For just $15 and more bands than you can chuck a mosh at, you’re getting a lot of bite for your buck.
ALWAYS CONNECTED Pianist Judy Bailey leads the Jazz Connection Sunday at The Vanguard, guaranteed to get you grooving along.
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 77 •
GIG GUIDE TUE 04
ALL STAR TRIO: Bankstown Sports Club JAZZGROOVE feat…, THE COOLERATORS, JAMES ANNESLEY QUARTET: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills KOGARAH + LIVE feat., DaNIEL HOPKINS, + FRIENDS: Kogarah Hotel MEAT LOAF, THIRSTY MERC: WIN Entertainment Centre NATE BUTLER’S ELITE VOCAL STUDIO SHOWCASE: Lizottes, Kincumber OMG!: Scruffy Murphy’s - City OPEN MIC NIGHT: Great Northern Hotel Newcastle PATAGONIA, CARTER ROLLINS, ASHLEIGH MANNIX: The Vanguard - Newtown PAUL SUN, MONIQUE LYSIAK: Jazsushi Surry Hills PETER HEAD: Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks ROB HENRY: Observer Htl SONGS ON STAGE feat., JUST ADD MUSIC, TINA ALCORACE, HANG FIRE, Laurie McKern, TAVOI, Starr Witness, NARELLE LEWIS, RUSSELL NEAL: Dee Why RSL STEVE TONGE: O’Malleys City STRIP! Feat, EX BNO FROM SCRUFFY’S: The Gaelic - Surry Hills STUDIO 57 PRO-JAM: Club Cronulla - Cronulla THE RUMJACKS, TOR, BILLY BURGESS: Beach Rd Htl (Rex Room) Bondi THE TEMPTATIONS, NATE EVANS: Brass Monkey - Cronulla THEY CALL ME BRUCE: Maloneys Hotel - Sydney ZOLTAN: Coogee Bay Htl, Beach Bar
WED 05
ADAM SIMMONS TRIO, WARATAH: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills ANDY MAMMERS DUO: Maloneys Hotel - Sydney BRYEN WILLEMS: Westmead Tavern DEAD JOHNNY & THE MEMPHIS GUN, MUGGER, GEORGIA V, ART RUSH: Valve Bar - Tempe DEADBEAT & HAZY: Flinders Htl Taylor Square DESORDEN PUBLICO: The Basement (late)
DJ ALEX MITCHELL: Beach Rd Htl (Camera Club) Bondi DJ GREG PERANO: Beach Rd Htl (Public Bar) Bondi DJ MOUSSA: Marlborough Hotel Newtown ESKIMO JOE: Plantation Hotel - Coffs Harbour FBI SOCIAL feat., TIGERTOWN, BEN WELLS & THE MIDDLE NAMES, MATT SZTYK: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross HAZZY BEE, ANDY GOLLEDGE, MICHELE MADDEN, SINEAD BURGESS: Sandringham Hotel, upstairs IN PIECES: Orient Hotel - The Rocks JP DUO: O’Malleys Kings X KINGSWOOD, THE DEAD LEAVES: Beach Rd Htl (Rex Room) Bondi LIVE & LOCAL: Lizottes, Dee Why LIVE & LOCAL: Lizottes, Kincumber LIZOTTES PRESENTS: Lizottes, Newcastle MARK HOPPER: Artichoke Café Manly MATT JONES: Mean Fiddler Hotel, Sub Bar - Rouse Hill MEREWETHER FATS BLUES JAM: Great Northern Hotel Newcastle MIKE BENNETT: Observer Htl OPEN MIC NIGHT: Fitzroy Hotel - Windsor PETER HEAD: Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks POUR HABIT, SMOKE OR FIRE: Waves Nightclub Towradgi SONGS ON STAGE feat., CAROLYN WOODORTH, + GUESTS: Blaxland Tavern - Blaxland SONGS ON STAGE feat., SEAN AND MISS BOW, PAUL B WILDE, GREG CADE, RUSSELL NEAL, + GUESTS: Cat & Fiddle Hotel Balmain SONGS ON STAGE feat., MEN WITH DAY JOBS, REBECCA FIELDING, GAVIN FITZGERALD, ANDREW DENNISTON, + GUESTS: Coach & Horses Hotel, Randwick SONGS ON STAGE feat., BEN WILLIAM, DaNIEL HOPKINS, + GUESTS: Taren Point Hotel - Taren Point THE IDEA OF NORTH: The Basement - Circular Quay THE MUSIC OF TOM WAITS feat, JOHNNY WISHBONE (THE SNOWDROPPERS),
• 78 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
4 - 10 OCTOBER 2011 gigs@drummedia.com.au
MOJO JUJU
GIG OF THE WEEK
Over three nights this week, The Vanguard presents The Music Of Tom Waits, with a bunch of artists interpreting the music of the legend. Johnny Wishbone, Mojo Juju, Christa Hughes, James Grim and more will be playing Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
MOJO JUJU, CHRISTA HUGHES, JAMES GRIM (BROTHERS GRIM), HOLIDAY SIDEWINDER (BRIDEZILLA), NICK FINCH (GRAVEYARD TRAIN), AZZY T (ZOMBIE GHOST TRAIN): The Vanguard - Newtown THE TEMPTATIONS, NATE EVANS: Brass Monkey - Cronulla THE TEMPTATIONS: The Vault - Windsor TRACKSUIT: The Cambridge, Newcastle TRIPLE J UNEARTHED LAUNCH PARTY: Metro Theatre TWO MINDS: Scruffy Murphy’s - City
THU 06
AKMAL: Old Fitzroy Theatre Woolloomooloo ANDREW RUSSELL: Artichoke Café Manly ANDY MAMMERS: Harbord Beach Hotel Harbord BASS DROP DJs: Oxford Art Factory Gallery BATTERIE, PHADER, CLUSTERFUCK, GODINPANTS, SNIP SNAP DRAGON: Lansdowne Hotel Broadway BLUE GOOSE BAND, JENNIFER HARDY, DUNCAN CHALMERS, ANN ROXBOROUGH: City Diggers Wollongong BOB MONTGOMERY, FRAN SWINN TRIO: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills BOOKER T JONES, THE PUTBACKS, TOON: Metro Theatre
CALL TO COLOR, VASILATES, DIRTY YOUTH, HELPFUL KITCHEN GODS: Valve Bar - Tempe CHOCQUIB-TOWN, RENEGADO: Oxford Art Factory FBI SOCIAL feat., THE DEAD LEAVES, THE OWLS, TIM HART (BOY & BEAR): Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross FIVE COFFEES, EMPIRE RISING, MIKE WHO, DJ ABILITY: Beach Rd Htl (Rex Room) Bondi FUNK PARTY, THE DEADBEATS, PSYCHO PUCKO: Wickham Park Htl Islington GLENN WHITEHALL: Sackville Hotel - Rozelle JACK LADDER, GHOUL: Brass Monkey - Cronulla JOSH RAWIRI: Ryan’s Hotel - Thirroul JP: Toxteth Hotel - Glebe KINETIC JAZZ ORCHESTRA, KINETIC POETS: St Luke’s Hall Enmore LJ: Edinburgh Castle Htl MARNIE STERN: Goodgod Small Club - City MATT JONES: O’Malleys City MICHAEL MCGLYNN: Greengate Hotel - Killara MICHAEL PETER: Marlborough Hotel Newtown MISS MURPHY & THE BOMBERS: Roxy Hotel - Parramatta NICKY KURTA: Dee Why Hotel PANORAMA: Scruffy Murphy’s - City PETER HEAD: Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks
PETER JONES, + GUESTS: Excelsior Hotel - Glebe POUR HABIT, SMOKE OR FIRE: The Gaelic - Surry Hills SAM & JAMIE TRIO: Maloneys Hotel - Sydney SARAH MCLEOD: Lizottes, Newcastle SLIDE ALBATROSS: Lizottes, Kincumber SPY VS SPY feat PAUL GREENE: Lizottes, Dee Why STEVE TONGE: Observer Htl TALK OF THE TOWN: Charlestown Bowling Club THE JAZZ FACTORY: Great Northern Hotel Newcastle THE LIVING CHAIR: Bull & Bush - Baulkham Hills THE MUSIC OF TOM WAITS feat, JOHNNY WISHBONE (THE SNOWDROPPERS), MOJO JUJU, CHRISTA HUGHES, JAMES GRIM (BROTHERS GRIM), HOLIDAY SIDEWINDER (BRIDEZILLA), NICK FINCH (GRAVEYARD TRAIN), AZZY T (ZOMBIE GHOST TRAIN): The Vanguard - Newtown THE PANICS, GEORGIA FAIR, AVALANCE CITY: Great Northern Hotel Byron Bay THE TREWS: Byron Bay Brewery Byron Bay TOM GLEESON: Sydney Comedy Store - The Entertainment Quarter TRACKSUITS: Yours and Owls Café, Wollongong TRICIA EVY, CHARITO, EMMA HAMILTON, ZOOO SUPER BAND,
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DAN BARNETT, JOHN MORRISON: The Basement - Circular Quay WATUSSI: Hoey Moey, Coffs Harbour WHITE BROS: Orient Hotel - The Rocks X, CARRIE PHILLIS & THE DOWNTOWN THREE: The Patch - Fairy Meadow ZOLTAN: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar
FRI 07
ADDISON ROAD, FRIEDA’S BOSS: Town Hall Hotel - Newtown AJ LEONARD, BOSKO & HONEY: The Gaelic - 1st Floor AKMAL: Old Fitzroy Theatre Woolloomooloo ANDY MAMMERS & CRASH AVENUE: Moorebank Sports Club ANTHEMS OF OZ: Engadine Tavern ANTON: Oasis on Beamish Hotel Campsie ARMANDITO Y SU TROVASON: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills AUSTRALIAN PLAYED: Asquith Leagues austraLYSIS ELECTROBAND, KINETIC ENERGY THEATRE CO, BILL RISBY TRIO: St Luke’s Hall Enmore BARRY LEEF, PETER NORTHCOTE: Unity Hall Hotel - Balmain BEN FINN DUO: PJ’s Irish Pub Parramatta BENI: King Street Hotel - Newcastle
BERNIE SEGEDIN: Great Southern Hotel Sydney BIG WAY OUT: Marlborough Hotel Newtown BLACK DIAMOND HEARTS: Crows Nest Hotel (late) BLACK DICE, LUCKY DRAGONS, HOLY BALM: Oxford Art Factory BLACK LICK, Eager 13, NO SUCK LUCK: Town & Country, St Peters BON CHAT BON RAT: Beach Rd Htl (Rex Room) Bondi BRITISH INDIA, KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD, THE FROWNING CLOUDS, BETTY AIRS: Blush Nightclub, Gosford CARL FIDLER: Observer Htl - Late COOL CHANGE: Cessnock Supporters Club COVER NOTE: Vineyard Hotel - Vineyard DAMIEN LEITH: Hornsby RSL DAN LAWRENCE: Parramatta RSL DANIEL LISSING DUO: Crows Nest Hotel (early) DARYL BRAITHWAITE, RYAN DALEY: Belmont 16’s, Star Lounge - Belmont DAVE STEVENS: Observer Htl DAVID AGIUS: Collingwood Hotel Liverpool DEEP DUO: Oceans Bar - Coogee DJ ANDERS HITCHCOCK, DJ MIKE SILVER, GUEST DJ’S: Cohibar - Darling Harbour DJ JIMMY CARROLL: Beach Rd Htl (Public Bar) Bondi DJ MATTY ROBERTS: Watershed Htl Darling Harbour DJ TONE: Oatley Hotel DOLLSHAY: Quakers Inn - Quakers Hill DRAGON: The Vault - Windsor EBONY & IVORY: Matraville Hotel - Matraville EMMANUEL JAL, DJ SILVASTONE: The Basement - Circular Quay FALCONIA FRIDAYS feat, Devola, STARJUMPS, F.R.I.E.N.D.S. DJs, STONEY ROADS, JARED REYES: Kit & Kaboodle - Kings Cross FALLON BROTHERS: PJ Gallaghers Drummoyne FAMINAID, SUPER FLORENCE JAM: Manning Bar Syd Uni
FBI SOCIAL feat., THE NOMAD, MAX GOSFORD, BUDSPELLS, FOREIGNDUB DJs: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross FBI SOCIAL feat., AMPERSAND, SUITCASE ROYALE, TIN SPARROW: Kings Cross Htl - Level 2 FLAMIN’ BEAUTIES: Crown Hotel - Sydney FRESHMIX TRIO: Kro Bar, East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction GEN X: Belmore Hotel - Newcastle GEOFF RANA: Grand Hotel - Rockdale HARBOUR MASTERS: Kincumber Hotel - Kincumber, Central Coast HEATH BURDELL: Beach Palace Hotel Coogee HIT SELECTION: Red Cow Inn Penrith HUE WILLIAMS: Avalon RSL INTIMATE LOUNGE MUSIC: Fairfield RSL, Supper Club JACK LADDER, GHOUL: Gallipoli Club - Newcastle JASON NORRIS: Rydges Parramatta JIMMY BEAR: Tall Timbers Hotel - Ourimbah, Central Coast JOHN VELLA: Chatswood RSL JOHN WILLIAMSON: Penrith Panthers, Evan Theatre - Penrith JONNY ROCK: Novotel - Brewery Bar, Olympic Park JUNGLE KINGS: Club Five Dock KEEP SECRETS, TROBES, JUSTICE FOR THE DAMNED, WISHING FICTION: Lewisham Livehouse KEITH ARMITAGE: Macquarie Hotel - Liverpool KILLER feat., MY HOLLOWED FANTASY, RESONANCE, PAST IS PRACTICE, AS ROCKETS FALL: St James Hotel - Sydney KIM CANNAN: Lizottes, Kincumber LA TARANTELLA: Camelot Lounge - Marrickville LJ: Yardhouse - Haymarket MACKA: Courthouse Hotel - Taylor Square MARK TRAVERS: Castle Hill RSL MATT JONES: Massey Park Golf Club, Concord MATT PRICE DUO: Mean Fiddler Hotel Rouse Hill MICHAEL & LUKAS: Kirribilli Hotel - Kirribilli MIKE MATHIESON, CHRIS ALEXANDER: Dooleys - Silverwater MOTIONMOTIVE, DISTORTED SOUND THEORY: Excelsior Hotel - Glebe
011 October 2
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The Coolerators James Annesley Quartet Tuesday 11th October
The Drip Hards The End Tuesday 18th October
The World According to James Phil Stack Trio Tuesday 25th October ARTISTIC DIRECTORS’ PICK NIGHT
The Music of Bernie McGann The Midnight Tea Party
Venue 505 280 Cleveland Street Surry Hills
www.jazzgroove.com “It’s like someone gave them instruments and told them if they keep on playing, one day they’ll be rockstars. And truthfully, they probably will be.” FasterLouder.com
(WA)
WHERE HAVE ALL THE GOOD TIMES GONE? NSW TOUR
SATURDAY 1ST 1ST OCTOBER OCTOBER SATURDAY BUDDHA BAR, BAR, BYRON BYRON BAY BAY THE BREWERY BREWERY -- BUDDHA THE WEDNESDAY 5TH 5TH OCTOBER OCTOBER WEDNESDAY CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, NEWCASTLE CAMBRIDGE HOTEL, NEWCASTLE THURSDAY 6TH 6TH OCTOBER OCTOBER THURSDAY YOURS & & OWLS, OWLS, WOLLONGONG WOLLONGONG YOURS FRIDAY 7TH 7TH OCTOBER OCTOBER FRIDAY LANSDOWNE HOTEL, SYDNEY LANSDOWNE HOTEL, SYDNEY SATURDAY 8TH 8TH OCTOBER OCTOBER SATURDAY BERESFORD HOTEL, HOTEL, SYDNEY SYDNEY BERESFORD www.facebook.com/tracksuitrocks www.myspace.com/tracksuitrocks
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 79 •
GIG GUIDE MUDDY FEET: Pioneer Tavern - Penrith NEILL BOURKE: O’Malleys Kings X NIKKI THORBURN: Artichoke Café Manly NO SECRETS - ANGELS SHOW: Beresfield Bowling Club ONE HIT WONDERS: Campbelltown Catholic Club ORIGINAL SIN - INXS SHOW: Riverstone Memorial Club PABLO FRANCISCO, ANTHONY SALAME: Enmore Theatre PARRIS MACLEOD: Notes Live - Enmore PEABODY, MACHINE MACHINE, MAN & WOMAN: Rose of Australia Hotel Erskineville PETE: The Belvedere Hotel Sydney PETER LONG: Penrith Panthers PETER NORTHCOTE, + FRIENDS: Bridge Hotel - Rozelle POUR HABIT, SMOKE OR FIRE: Cambridge Hotel - Newcastle QUIET CHILD, PIRATE, PERSPEKTIV: Great Northern Hotel Newcastle REAR VIEW - PEARL JAM SHOW: Bull & Bush - Baulkham Hills RESIDENT DJs: Jacksons on George Sydney ROADHOUSE ROCKERS: Belmont 16’s ROB HENRY: Harbord Beach Hotel Harbord SAM & JAMIE DUO: Woolloomooloo Bay Htl SARAH MCLEOD: Old Manly Boatshed SLOW DOWN HONEY, THE RUMINATERS, TOUCAN, DJ LANCELOT: Upstairs Beresford - Beresford Hotel SONGS ON STAGE feat., KATE GOGARTY, + GUESTS: Bowral Hotel - Bowral SONGS ON STAGE feat., BELINDA ROBINSON, KATH COX, ZACHARIAH SAYED, RUSSELL NEAL, + GUESTS: Ryan’s Hotel Thirroul SPY VS SPY feat PAUL GREENE: Lizottes, Newcastle STOLE & THE BLACK TRAIN BAND: Eastside Arts Paddington TABERAH, METAL SABRETUNG, CRIMZON LAKE: Valve Bar - Tempe TERRY BATU: East Hills Htl, East Hills THE AUSTRALIAN PINK SHOW: Scruffy Murphy’s - City
THE DEAD LEAVES, THE OWLS: Northern Star Htl Newcastle THE GREAT ESCAPE: Kingswood Sports Club THE MUSIC OF TOM WAITS feat, JOHNNY WISHBONE (THE SNOWDROPPERS), MOJO JUJU, CHRISTA HUGHES, JAMES GRIM (BROTHERS GRIM), HOLIDAY SIDEWINDER (BRIDEZILLA), NICK FINCH (GRAVEYARD TRAIN), AZZY T (ZOMBIE GHOST TRAIN): The Vanguard - Newtown THE RUMJACKS: Wickham Park Htl Islington THE SHAKE UP: Dicey Riley’s Hotel - Wollongong THE TEMPTATIONS, NATE EVANS: Campbelltown RSL TOM GLEESON: Sydney Comedy Store - The Entertainment Quarter TONE RANGERS: Custom House Bar - City TRACKSUIT: Lansdowne Hotel Broadway TRILOGY, GARY JOHNS: Orient Hotel - The Rocks VENUS: Hillside Hotel - Castle Hill X, CARRIE PHILLIS & THE DOWNTOWN THREE, YOUNG DOCTEURS: Sandringham Htl Upstairs ZAC SLATER: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar ZOLTAN: Town Hall Hotel - Balmain
SAT 08
2 DAYS HITS TRIO: Kro Bar, East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction 2 OF HEARTS: Engadine RSL 2FOLD, JIMMY BEAR: Orient Hotel - The Rocks AKMAL: Old Fitzroy Theatre Woolloomooloo A-LIVE: Engadine Tavern Andy Mammers Trio: Cronulla RSL ANGIE DEAN: Castle Hill RSL - The Terrace ARREBATO ENSEMBLE: 505, 280 Cleveland St Surry Hills BACK TO THE 80’S: Wyong District Rugby League Club BEATNIX: The Cube, Campbelltown BEN FINN: Brewhouse Pub Marayong BLACK DIAMOND HEARTS: Golden Sheaf Hotel Double Bay BLUE MOON QUARTET: Fairfield RSL, Supper Club
• 80 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
4 - 10 OCTOBER 2011 gigs@drummedia.com.au
BOX ROCKETS, COLLECTIVE SOUND SYSTEM, TRACKSUIT, DJ MAGIC HAPPENS: Upstairs Beresford Beresford Hotel BRENDAN DEEHAN: Observer Htl - Early BRIAN’S FAMOUS JAZZ & CHILI CRAB NIGHT: Lizottes, Newcastle BRITISH INDIA, KING GIZZARD AND THE LIZARD WIZARD, THE FROWNING CLOUDS, BETTY AIRS: Hotel Gearin, Katoomba CHERRI BOMB: Scruffy Murphy’s - City CHILI PEPPERS & NIRVANA SHOW: Blacktown RSL CHILOE, KINETIC ENERGRY THEATRE CO, PAUL MCNAMARA TRIO: St Luke’s Hall Enmore CITIES OF THE RED NIGHT, QUIET CHILD, RED REMEDY, THIN AIR: Lansdowne Hotel Broadway COOL CHANGE - LRB SHOW: Maroubra RSL DAMIEN LEITH: Dee Why RSL DAVE WHITE EXPERIENCE, feat. NICKY KURTA: Mean Fiddler Hotel, Woolshed - Rouse Hill DAVID AGIUS: Castle Hill RSL - Courtyard DES GIBSON: Lansvale Hotel - Lansvale DJ GREG PERANO: Beach Rd Htl (Public Bar) Bondi DJ MIKE SILVER, DJ ANDERS HITCHCOCK: Cohibar - Darling Harbour DORA D DUO: Northies Cronulla Htl DOUBLE WHAMMY: Brighton RSL DR ZOOM DUO: Cessnock Supporters Club DRAGON: Lizottes, Kincumber DUSTY THE CONCERT feat, DENI HINES, MONIQUE MONTEZ: The Basement - Circular Quay FBI SOCIAL feat., THE PAPER SCISSORS, GUERRE, MARCH OF THE REAL FLY, THE GHOSTS: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross FBI SOCIAL feat., Youth, DISCO PUNX, Frames: Kings Cross Hotel (Late) FIONA LEIGH-JONES DUO: Harbord Beach Hotel Harbord FUNKWIT: Great Northern Hotel Newcastle GARY JOHNS DUO: Ettamogah Htl
GENERAL PANTS & THE PRIVATES, EDEMA RUH, COULD FOUR, PROPHETS OF IMPENDING DOOM: The Gaelic - 1st Floor GEOFF RANA: Sir Joseph Banks Hotel Botany GOOCH, JOURNEY OF THE GYPSIES: Notes Live - Enmore HEATH BURDELL: PJ Gallaghers Drummoyne HOOK N SLING: King Street Hotel - Newcastle HUE WILLIAMS: Northern Star Htl Newcastle JACK DERWIN: Artichoke Café Manly JACK LADDER, GHOUL: The Patch - Fairy Meadow JAMES MORRISON QUARTET, EMMA PASK: North Sydney Leagues, Cammeray JASON MORRIS: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar JEFF DUFF: Brass Monkey - Cronulla JONNY ROCK: Ettamogah Htl - Afternoon JOSEPH & JAMES TAWADROS, STEVE HUNTER: Red Rattler, Marrickville JOYCE COLLINS: The Belvedere Hotel Sydney KAMAKAZI COWBOYS, DELTA SKELTA: Wickham Park Htl Islington KOTADAMA: Belmore Hotel - Newcastle LIOR: Clarendon Guest House Katoomba LJ: Picton Hotel - Picton MACKA: Bidwell Hotel MAD COW: Macarthur Tavern Campbelltown MAMA JANE’S BLUES BAND: Wickham Park Htl Newcastle MANDI JARRY: Menu 33, Novotel - Rooty Hill MARK WILKINSON: The Treehouse - Byron Bay MATT JONES DUO: Clovelly Hotel - Clovelly MEAT LOAF, CHOIRBOYS: Bimbadgen Estate Pokolbin MICHAEL STEWART, RESIDENT DJs: Jacksons on George Sydney MIKE MATHIESON, CHRIS ALEXANDER: Lakemba Ex-Services Club - Lakemba MINUTE 36, CATHERINE T, CATHERINE TRAICOS & THE STARRY NIGHT: Oxford Art Factory - Gallery MONO, NO ANCHOR: Manning Bar Syd Uni NICKELBACK SHOW: Kiama Leagues
ONE HIT WONDERS: Tracks, Epping Hotel Epping ORIGINAL SIN - INXS SHOW, SWINGSHIFT COLD CHISEL SHOW: Narrabeen RSL PEACHY: Bayview Tavern - Gladesville PEPPERMINT JAM: Bull & Bush - Baulkham Hills PETER HEAD: Harbour View Hotel The Rocks PETER MCWHIRTER: Campbelltown Catholic Club RATTLE & HUM-U2 SHOW: Penrith RSL, Castle Lounge REMIXES: Kingswood Sports Club RIGHT MIND, HURT UNIT, DEADLY VISIONS, SQUARE ONE, WRONG TURN: Valve Bar - Tempe (Afternoon) ROAD CREW: South Hurstville RSL ROB HENRY: Observer Htl - Afternoon ROBBEN FORD & THE RENEGADE CREATION: The Factory Theatre ROCK MONSTERS: Oatley Hotel SAM & JAMIE BAND: Crows Nest Hotel (late) SARAH MCLEOD: Ryan’s Hotel - Thirroul SCOTT DONALDSON: Kirribilli Hotel - Kirribilli SMOKING PONIES, + FRIENDS: Beach Rd Htl (Rex Room) Bondi SONGS ON STAGE feat., NEVILLE K, HANG FIRE, RUSSELL NEAL, + GUESTS: Terrey Hills Tavern Terrey Hills SONIC PORNO, NEON HEART, COLLINS GLASS, JUNKYARD DIAMONDS, BLACKIE (HARD ONS): Valve Bar - Tempe (Early) STAN & ROSCO (FOREDAY RIDERS), LUCIUS BORICH, JON ENGLISH, MAL EASTICK, KEVIN BORICH EXPRESS: Roxy Hotel Parramatta SUMMERLAND KINGS: Tea Gardens Country Club SUVI: North Ryde RSL Club SWING INTO SPRING: Balmain Town Hall TALK IT UP: Beach Palace Hotel Coogee TED NASH: Manly Leagues TEETH & TONGUE, CABINS, THE GOOCH PALMS: Goodgod Small Club - City
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TERRY BATU: Mortdale Hotel - Mortdale TERRY SERIO’S MINISTRY OF TRUTH, ROSE & WEGENER, THE DIAMOND QUILLS, THE SQUARE: Capitol Square Hotel Haymarket THE AMITY AFFLICTION, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, SKYWAY: Newcastle Panthers THE AMITY AFFLICTION, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, SKYWAY: Panthers Newcastle THE DEAD LEAVES: Transit Bar - Canberra ACT THE DRONES, ADALITA: Cambridge Hotel - Newcastle THE GOYLES: Bradbury Inn - Campbelltown THE JUNGLE KINGS: Belmont 16’s THE LEVYMEN: Bay Hotel THE MATCHBOX TWENTY SHOW: Richmond Inn - Richmond THE TEMPTATIONS, NATE EVANS: Bankstown Sports Club THIS IS ARTCORE feat, FEICK’S DEVICE, SPECTACLES, THE FIRES: Excelsior Hotel - Glebe THOMPSON GUNNERS: Carousel Inn Rooty Hill THROWDOWN, RAMPAGE, FRANK RIZZO: Town Hall Hotel - Newtown TIM PRINGLE: Empire Bay Tavern Empire Bay, Central Coast TOM GLEESON: Sydney Comedy Store - The Entertainment Quarter TWITCHO: Toukley RSL - Toukley UNDERLIGHTS, MADE IN JAPAN, THE BACHELOR PAD: Annandale Hotel - Annandale VARDOS, JOSH RAWIRI: Camelot Lounge - Marrickville VELVET HOTEL: Padstow RSL VENUS: Mean Fiddler Hotel Rouse Hill VINCE JONES: Lizottes, Dee Why WAYNE PEARCE & THE BIG HITTERS: Marlborough Hotel Newtown X: Grand Junction Htl Maitland YUKI KUMAGAI, JOHN MACKIE, TONY BURKYS, PAUL FURNISS, BOB GILLESPIE: Penrith RSL ZOLTAN: Revesby Workers
SUN 09
3 WAY SPLIT, ELEVATION - U2 ACOUSTIC:
Orient Hotel - The Rocks 8 BALL AITKEN: Old Fitzroy Hotel - Woolloomooloo AKMAL: Old Fitzroy Theatre Woolloomooloo Andy Mammers Trio: Mean Fiddler Hotel, Sub Bar - Rouse Hill APHRODISIAC INDUSTRY NIGHT: Jacksons on George Sydney BACKBEAT DUO: Belmont 16’s BLUES SUNDAY feat., MARK HOPPER: Artichoke Café Manly BRIAN KING: Campbelltown Catholic Club CAMBO: O’Malleys Kings X CEARA FOX: Kro Bar, East Leagues Club, Bondi Junction DAN SPILLANE: Mean Fiddler Hotel Rouse Hill DAVE WHITE DUO: Northies Cronulla Htl DAVID AGIUS: Harbord Beach Hotel Harbord DJ JAMIN (THE TRIP), THE LIVE COLLECTIVE, + WEEKLY GUESTS: Beach Rd Htl (Camera Club) Bondi DJ SALLY: Beach Rd Htl (Public Bar) Bondi DJ TONE: Oatley Hotel DRIVE feat., PETER NORTHCOTE, PAUL GRAY: Bridge Hotel - Rozelle FBI SOCIAL feat., MCKISKO, EMILY ULMAN, ROLLER ONE: Kings Cross Hotel - Kings Cross GLEN WHITEHALL: Oatley Hotel (afternoon) - Oatley HUE WILLIAMS: Ocean Beach Htl Umina JOHNNY G & THE E TYPES: Botany View Hotel Newtown KERRY GARSIDE: Kincumber Hotel - Kincumber, Central Coast KIRK BURGESS: Waverley Bowling Club LOW GEAR, MICK QUINN, DIRTY SWEET, JEKYLL & HYDE, + GUESTS: Valve Bar - Tempe (Afternoon) MAL BARNES: Campbelltown Catholic Club - Caf‚ Samba MANDI JARRY, WHITE BROS: Ettamogah Hotel - Rouse Hill MATT JONES DUO: Albion Hotel-Parramatta MICK THOMAS, SHACKLETON, VAN WALKER, LIZ STRINGER: Coogee Diggers MIKE BENNETT: Observer Htl
MIKE MATHIESON, CHRIS ALEXANDER: Bankstown Sports Club PAUL SUN TRIO: Organic Food Mkts, Frenchs Forest PETER HEAD TRIO: Harbour View Hotel - The Rocks PETER MCWHIRTER: Penrith RSL, Castle Lounge RECKLESS: Northies Cronulla HtlSport Bar RESIDENT DJs: Mounties Club Mt Pritchard ROAD RUNNERS: Town & Country, St Peters ROB HENRY: Observer Htl - Early ROBIN LEE SINCLAIR: Marrickville Bowling Club SARAH MCLEOD: Brass Monkey - Cronulla SHANE MACKENZIE: Cohibar - Darling Harbour SHIVON: The Belvedere Hotel Sydney SONGS ON STAGE feat., RUSSELL NEAL, + GUESTS: Avalon Beach RSL SPY VS SPY feat PAUL GREENE: Lizottes, Kincumber SYDNEY 1st B’’DAY CELEBRATION feat, GANGGAJANG: Lizottes, Dee Why THE AMITY AFFLICTION, ASKING ALEXANDRIA, SKYWAY: Big Top at Luna Park Milsons Point THE HAVELOCKS: Great Northern Hotel Newcastle THE PIGS: Empire Hotel - Annandale THE TEMPTATIONS, NATE EVANS: Penrith Panthers THE UMBRELLAS, KINETIC ENERGY THEATRE CO, HANNAH JAMES GROUP: St Luke’s Hall Enmore TOM GLEESON: Newcastle City Hall WATUSSI: Beach Hotel - Byron Bay YESHE: Lizottes, Newcastle ZOLTAN: Penrith Panthers - Terrace Bar
MON 10
AKMAL: Old Fitzroy Hotel - Woolloomooloo CAMBO: O’Malleys Kings X FRANK SULTANA: Sandringham Hotel, street level MATT JONES: Observer Htl SONGS ON STAGE feat., RUSSELL NEAL, + GUESTS: Kellys on King - Newtown
THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011 • 81 •
BROUGHT TO YOU BY
BEHIND THE LINES WITH MICHAEL SMITH BTL@STREETPRESS.COM.AU
RECORDING PASSENGER’S NEXT Before singer, songwriter and busker Mike Rosenberg, who travels as Passenger, returned to the UK at the end of May, he recorded his next as yet untitled album at Linear Recording in Leichhardt with the studio’s engineer/producer, Chris Vallejo. “As soon as I met Chris,” Rosenberg explained in late August, on the line from his hometown Brighton in the UK, “when I went and looked at the studio, we got on really well. Chris struck me as the producer equivalent to myself, doing everything on his own. He built that studio by himself, over the years collected gear and I think he’s brilliant and really hard-working and hopefully, collaborating on this record together, we’ll both get something out of it. He’s mixing the record as well. He’s a really, really talented guy. It’s been a long process and quite a weird process, doing whole mixes over Skype. It’s not ideal, but I think we’re getting there.”
INTRODUCING ENMORE AUDIO Situated in Liberty Street in the suburb that gives it its name, Enmore Audio is a two-room recording, mixing and production facility that was designed by veteran engineer/producer John Sayers and owned and operated by Radi Safi. Safi suggests that the facility is “best suited to working with solo artists looking to develop material to a professional level and bands who may have done a heap of home or project studio recording and would like to bring their work up to the next level.” As such, Safi can offer clients help in producing and fleshing out ideas to a point where they’re commercially ready to press, present to radio and so on. Mastering services are also available on a case-by-case basis. For more information, call (02) 9519 4866 or email radi@enmoreaudio.com.
GLORIES OF THE SCORE 6.30pm Monday 10 October, the Australian Film Television & Radio School (AFTRS) Theatre 1 is hosting an evening titled Glories Of The Score, which will take attendees through the journey of the composer from first thought to final mix, providing an insight into the process of transformation of an idea into reality and the way a music score takes shape, presented in a case study of six projects. AFTRS Screen Music graduates playing their music live and screening extracts from finished scores on the night include Caitlin Yeo (Bomb Harvest, Juicy, All My Friends Are Leaving Brisbane), Basil Hogios (Romulus My Father, A Love Story, Andy X), Angela Little (Australia [additional music], The Clinic), Benjamin Speed (The Cat Piano, The Snowman, The Inquisition) and Studio Ripple (Angus O’Sullivan, Dan Baker, Gerry Green – as orchestrators Tomorrow When The War Began, How to Train Your Dragon, South Solitary). Introducing the evening is the Head of Screen Music at AFTRS, Martin Armiger. Inevitably bookings are essential as numbers are limited, so for further information, call (02) 9805 6687 and email rsvp@agsc.org.au.
SOUND BYTES Originally recorded and mixed a couple of years ago at home in Campbell Street in Balmain, singer/songwriter Deborah Dicembre was lucky enough to meet mastering engineer John Van Nest (Green Day, Sheryl Crow) during a recent US tour, who took her forthcoming album, The Ballad Of Malcolm Campbell (titled Soul Songs for US release), into Resonate Studios in LA to master. Sydney five-piece Blow recorded their album, Endless Night, at Damien Gerard’s in Balmain. The debut album, Batmania, from Melbourne fourpiece The Fearless Vampire Killers was produced by Lars Stalfors (The Mars Volta) and engineered by Michael Badger. Perth four-piece Hang On St. Christopher recorded their self-titled debut EP at Yo-Yo Studios in their hometown, owned by The Sleepy Jackson’s Malcolm Clark, with producer Jay Cortez (End Of Fashion). Sydney band Marlow recorded their debut single, I Can Breathe, at Electric Sun Studios with producer Stephen Knight, Forrester Savell taking care of mixing and mastering at Sing Sing Studios in Melbourne. Brisbane all-girl four-piece Feathers, who specialise in limited edition vinyl and tape-only releases, took just three hours to record, live, their second album, Hunter’s Moon, in an empty 100-year-old cinema. That cinema was the Old Dendy Theatre on George St, Brisbane, in its Tribal Theatre incarnation, with Dan Callaghan recording, Scul Hazzards’ Steven Smith mixing and Eddy Current Suppression Ring’s Mikey Young mastering the tracks. • 82 • THE DRUM MEDIA 4 OCTOBER 2011
ONE-MAN BAND
ENGLISH MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST MAX MCELLIGOTT, WHO TRAVELS AS WOLF GANG, HAS CUT A PRETTY REMARKABLE DEBUT ALBUM IN SUEGO FAULTS. HE TALKS ABOUT ITS MAKING WITH MICHAEL SMITH.
I
t turns out that the debut album McElligott has released, Suego Faults, could have been an entirely different creature had his first attempt to record it worked out, as he explains on the line from London. “I was in London just over two years ago now trying to find somebody to work with that had a sound that really struck a chord with me, and I was working with various people and I started on what I thought at that time would be maybe an album. I’d got maybe four or five songs down the way and enjoying it and I suddenly had a total change of heart and realised I wanted to do something quite different. So it’s taken a long time for it to be finally done but I’m glad that I took my time and got it right.” McElligott, who got what’s become his working and band name Wolf Gang from his sister, was one of those precocious youngsters who seems to have been able to master a host of instruments and been writing and recording songs for years. The original demos for the album were recorded in his North London flat using a “ripped” version of Cubase. “The stuff I was doing at home I was really happy with but they were very rough and I’m under no illusions about my production skills. I think I have all the relevant ideas but I just needed someone to come on board who could really help lift it a little bit, someone with all the experience of, well, Dave Fridmann basically. It’s still a coproduction, so I was still very much hands-on with how everything was sounding.” Fridmann was a founding member of and bass player with Mercury Rev until 1993, when he decided to
he’d taken to the garage and given it a new life as some weird type compressor thing. The whole place was just quite magical.” While piano was McElligott’s first instrument, he played drums for six years in a band he formed at school that he describes as “a typical sweaty bunch of boys playing covers of Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix tunes in our bedrooms.” From there he picked up bass, guitar, various synthesisers and assorted percussion instruments, all of which meant that by the time he started recording Suego Faults, he was able to do most of it himself.
concentrate on production, and has coproduced all that band’s releases as well as albums for The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Weezer, Sparklehorse, Sleater-Kinney, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah and our own Ammonia, in his upstate New York recording facility Tarbox Road Studios, at the heart of which are an Otari Concept Elite 40x24 console with Total Recall Eagle Automation, 40 channels of dynamics, 80 inputs, and a Neve 24-input 5104 console, along with an Otari MTR-90 II 24-track, Otari RADAR 24-track digital recorder and Digidesign ProTools HD Accel system. “After I’d stopped working in London,” McElligott continues, “I just sort of mentioned to my label that I would love to work with someone like Dave, whose work I love, and they sent him a song and he phoned me up, said he really liked it and invited me over to his studio in New York and we just got on really, really well. We worked very, very quickly and effortlessly together. It was a massive lucky break for me to be able to work with him. “Tarbox was like being in a sweet shop in a big forest in the middle of nowhere, and I went over four or five times over the course of a year. There was amazing gear everywhere and lots of Flaming Lips memorabilia, all their old guitars, just all this amazing vintage equipment – vintage drumkits, vintage amps and guitars, all this mad type of compressor stuff that I really don’t know what it’s made of or what it does, but he’s kind of a mad scientist, Dave Fridmann, and a lot of it he’d just made himself. So, an old ‘60s radio that
“If it was a piano-led song I’d start with the piano, then hop on the drumkit, put the drums to the piano, then hop on the bass and then kind of flesh it out with synths and then finally I’d slip into the vocal booth and start layering up the harmonies and all that kind of stuff and then put the lead vocal down. So it was always just basically me flitting around from one end of the live room to the other; that’s how I’ve always worked really, in my bedroom on Cubase, building it up like that. I think it was kind of novel for Dave because he usually works with bands; he usually gets them in the room together, records that live sound and then works from there, so it was kind of fun for both of us really.” In the press release for Suego Fault, McElligott suggests that Fridmann would “record bits of music and make them more 3D by at times utilising the spaces, and at others minimising the silence and pushing everything to the limit.” I wondered what he meant by “more 3D”. “His use of compressors and things like that, they just really flesh out the sound. I’m not sure what he does in the mix but there is something that he does that creates the spaces and it really kind of beefs up the basses and just the use of the amps on the bass and on the guitars… He captures a very impressive drum sound as well, and playing on a nice vintage Ludwig kit… So all of these things just put together, along with his advising on arrangements and what isn’t necessary kind of created the album, definitely made it more 3D than I could have done.” Suego Faults by Wolf Gang is out now on Warner.
MONONEST CREATIVE SUITE
Syd Green – Producer
What’s the studio setup you have there equipment-wise? Protools 9 with an Allen & Heath desk, outboard gear such as Avalon, Summit and TLA, and an array of valve and ribbon microphones. In particular I am using the whole Audio-Technica range of condenser and ribbon microphones. Any tips for artists entering a studio for the first time? An open mind! As a first timer I think the hardest thing to do is stay in time. Some musicians are so used to playing on their own they don’t understand the complexity of following a multitrack machine. It takes practice to slave along with playback. Which notable artists have worked at the studio? Most of the artists I work with are all independent. Nick Rheinberger (ABC Radio), Nicole Brophy (KateMiller Hiedke), Mike McCarthy, Ray Beadle, Quixotics, Dominique Fraissard… Check website for full discography.
overdubs & mixing. We have recorded plenty of singer/ songwriters here including drums. When recording full bands I generally outsource other studios and/or in some cases go on location, such as to remote farm houses etc… On a recent project of The Quixotics we recorded in the Southern Highlands. It was a producer’s creative extravanza!
Who do you have on staff and what’s their background in the industry?
We’re an impoverished indie band – do you offer any deals for acts in our situation?
Just me and my wife (who whips up awesome feeds to nourish our creative guests. Check my website for bio and credentials.
My rates are very competitive and tailored to suit most independents’ budgets.
Analogue vs digital – discuss.
Do you have any in-house instruments at the studio acts can use, or is it totally BYO?
This discussion has been going on way too long. These days both mediums and hardware have their own characteristics that a recording artist can use to fulfil their vision. Why compete with one another? Use both! More importantly – great song = quality.
Vintage and modern drums, valve guitar and bass amps, percussion, piano and acoustic guitars!
Is the studio capable of holding a full band at once for recording?
Drive south of Sydney for two hours through rolling green hills that meet the sea. Park and rock! If you surf, there are amazing waves ten minutes’ drive away for a quick early session.
MonoNest is a boutique studio mostly used for vocal
What’s the access to the studio like with regards to parking, flat load, etc?
twitter.com/drummedia
Working in the studio can be arduous and we’ll need a break – what are the amenities in the local area? If it’s arduous then you’re doing something wrong. Recording should be fun and creative – here’s a little scenario from a session last week with Mike McCarthy. 7:00am – pack surf boards in car – drive ten minutes to amazing surf beach (we are the only people on the beach) – surf – breakfast by 9am and starting recording – nothing was arduous that day... MonoNest is a stunning escape from the city and only five minutes from picturesque Huskisson with funky seaside cafes and restaurants. It’s a peaceful and quiet space to focus on your creative project! What are your contact details? www.sydgreen.com.au syd@sydgreen.com.au www.facebook.com/mononest 0401 599 427
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Recording Studio, Parramatta, $30hr casual rate. No kits! Singers, songwriters, instrumentalists for acoustic, world, classical genres specialist. 25+yrs exp, multi instrumentalist, arranger, composer, producer. Ph: 02 98905578, 7 days. iFlogID: 15160
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GET SHOT Get shot by John Snelson – music photographer. That’s me - I’m from Liverpool - brought up on rock ‘n roll and chips. You’ve possibly seen me at festivals around Australia, big arenas, theatres, clubs and pubs – no dive too deep, no face too famous, no festival too far. I’ve photographed some big notes like BB King, The Angels, Grace Jones, Phil Emmanuel, Jethro Tull, Kevin Borich, ZZ Top, Wendy Matthews, The Vines - but you don’t have to be famous to get shot by me – in fact most of my work is with lesser known bands so if you’ve got it, I can shoot it. I will photograph your next gig or event, no cost, no charge, no catch if it’s in the Sydney Metro area - and perhaps elsewhere – worth a chat ?With pictures then available online, you get to choose the image you want. You get some free publicity.Get Shot Visit me online at www.johnsnelson.com.au iFlogID: 15530
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Contact me for your free chapter of my book “ Chord Voicing for Composers, Arrangers, Songwriters and Pianists”. The complete guide to advance harmony. jdmuspub@gmail.com iFlogID: 15062
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REPAIRS
AMPLIFIER REPAIRS Service & repairs to all Brands of Guitar ,Bass ,PA’s & Mixers,120 volt to 240Volt conversions,Vintage amp Restorations. Servicing Sydney,Wollongong,South Coast & Southern Highlands,Courier service to & from our workshop available at reasonable cost,All work Guaranteed. Ph Joe at Amptek on 02 4228006or visit our website www.amptek.com.au iFlogID: 15650
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TUITION
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With experienced and fully qualified tutor. Who has 20 years of studio and live performance. Most styles including Rock, Pop and Jazz. Learn to play your favourite songs, practical theory, improvisation, proper technique, etc. etc. Beginners to advanced are welcome. In the convenience of your own home. Good results guaranteed. Phone Oles on 0407413143 or email olesguitarlessons@ yahoo.com iFlogID: 15580
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Guitar tuition customised to the individual-all levels-beginners to professionals. Blues, rock, theory, equipment & tone my specialties. 39 years professional experience in tuition, gigging, recording, production, songwriting, arrangements, & consistent improvement. Central suburban Sydney location. Limited vacancies. Phone: 0407 461 093 - Email: mal@maleastick.com iFlogID: 15035
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Learn The Drums - Have fun and discover your rhythm. I’ve created a step by step program for you on learning how to play the drums, go to www.chrismccaig.com/learnthe-drums iFlogID: 14503 Music tuition, classical / flamenco guitar, celtic harp, theory & harmony, arranging. 9am - 9pm, 7 days. Parramatta area. $40 hr, $30 half hr. Mature & patient. Harps for hire. Ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15158
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EXPERIENCED SOUND GUY WANTED for REGULAR FRIDAY and SATURDAY NITE WORK at NEW CITY ORGINAL VENUE. jacksongigs@gmail.com - 02 9456 3124
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FOR SALE
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needed- -guitarist -drummer -bass playerg’day im trying to start a post hardcore band like, a day to remember/ parkway drive looking for members anywhere between sydney and the central coast 0434249005 iFlogID: 15721
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Specialising in Band Photography. 100% Guaranteed Fixed Price. No Hidden Fees. Studio / Location Shoot, Live Gigs, Posters, CD Covers Unlimited Hi-Res Images on a DiscFull Info: www.gusmunozphotography. com email: guspo1@netspace.net.au Mobile: 0415617346 iFlogID: 15547
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Petersham/ Sydney. Real guitar for committed students. Attentive, one on one guitar lessons in a fully equipped music studio. Learn Jazz, Rock, Blues, Contemporary , Funk, Latin , Gypsy, Folk and other popular styles. Learn at a pace and in a direction you want to go. Beginners to advanced, all aspects of guitar are supported. Incorporate a practical approach, using rhythm, harmony, melody and improvisation. Learn theory and all about scales and modes and how to apply them effectively. Learn songs and practice techniques. Ear training, song writing, composition and sight reading. Learn all about chords, arpeggios, substitutions, synonyms and inversions. Alternate tunings, slide guitar, finger style, chord melody and world music. Study your favourite players and learn how to develop your own sound. Comfortable, air-conditioned studio with huge resource library and comprehensive digital recording available to those wanting to demo. Days and evenings, Monday to Thursday and Saturday day. Ask about special introductory offer and gift vouchers. Contact Craig Corcoran: 0430344334 (02)95726702 creativeguitar@hotmail.com www.creativeguitar.com.au iFlogID: 15250
Singing Lessons That >>>>>>>>>>ROCK<<<<<<<<<< Your voice has the ability to sing at the Audioslave/ Muse/ Aretha/ Yeah-Yeah-Yeahs level because of Design. Increase your range and sing with effortless power by learning to sing the right technique from the very first lesson. Microphone technique, recording techniques, songwriting how to start a band Newtown 0405-044-513 iFlogID: 15685
SINGING LESSONS Voice science is out there to help improve your singing quickly. One on one lessons in hi tech multi award winning studio with fully qualified singing and performance expert. First assessment FREE. Beginners and professionals. I will help you find your voice. www.avic.com.au studio - 9588 2184 mob - 0414 453 066 Stephen Baker MRA iFlogID: 15629
Cubase and Nuendo tuition $25/hr Darlinghurst area. Ph. 0416117743. iFlogID: 15735
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OTHER We are a friendly jazz band playing music to any style for romantic situations, weddings, anniversaries, small cozy clubs - very affordable. contact Chris 0419 272 196 ventura@ yayabings.com.au iFlogID: 15177
MUSICIANS WANTED BANDS Singing lessons in a positive environment with a highly experienced and professional singer/songwriter. Lessons tailored to suit individual needs. Also beginners guitar. www. realvoice.net.au for more details. Inner West, Rosanna 0431 157 622. iFlogID: 15348
VIDEO / PRODUCTION D7 STUDIO MUSIC VID FROM $250 music vid $250. Live gig edits, multiple angles, from $150 or 1 live track from $80. All shot in full HD. d7studio@iinet.net.au ph:0404716770 iFlogID: 13368 Kontrol Productions is a highly professional production company that specializes in the production of music video’s. We ensure that our products are of the highest industry standards. For enquiries www.kontrolproductions.com iFlogID: 13827
MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION
Bass and Lead guitar player needed for a new agency backed Rock Covers show based in Sydney.Profesional gear, transport and attitude a must.Gigs waiting.contact Roger after 5pm.0404044808 iFlogID: 15515 Bassplayer looking to start post-punk revival band w/monotone vocals. Influences: Interpol, JoyDivision, TheNational, TheDoors, NickCave, FrankSinatra, TheCure, TheDodos, BobDylan, TheSmiths, TheStrokes, BlocParty, KingsofLeon, TwinShadow, SonicYouth, BrianJonestownMassacre, BlackRebelMotorcycleClub, DeadWeather. ThomYork, shadowplay.sydney@gmail.com iFlogID: 15391
DRUMMER FOR THUNDERSTRUCK THUNDERSTRUCK The AC/DC Show requires a hard rocking DRUMMER. Good timing is a must we are looking for an immediate starter please ring 0435939772 or email patgeezer@ hotmail.com ring pat iFlogID: 15618
BASSIST FOR BLUES / ROOTS BAND to join Hammond / Piano / Harp, Guitarist & Drummer (all experienced musicians currently playing in other bands) rehearsing in South West Sydney. Playing reasonably obscure covers and will move towards 50:50 with originals. Age range ~35 to ~50’s. e-mail: lefty_blues@optusnet. com.au iFlogID: 15640
HEAVY BASS PLAYER WANTED ! New original band currently jamming & writing set requires bass player &/or singer. Influences are metal, hardcore, punk, breakdown groove mix. Based around Manly & Neutral Bay. Have myspace jam songs to hear. Contact Jake 0402539280 iFlogID: 15492
ONLY THE SEA SLUGS seeking reliable, keen Bass Player for established Sydney band. Debut Album due to be released October, tour confirmed. We currently occupy a warehouse for storage/rehearsals. Must have own transport & own equipment. Call/ SMS SASHA on 0409579688 anytime. Facebook/onlytheseaslugs iFlogID: 15355
DRUMMER WANTED
Creating professional music videos to help you boost exposure and broadcast your song via YouTube, Facebook and TV. We can scale any production to meet both your needs and your budget so visit us at www.popfilms.com. au or email paul@popfilms.com.au or call 0412 222 111 iFlogID: 15774 MUSIC VIDEOS offer a great way to gain exposure. Immersion Imagery has worked with a variety or artists and strives to offer quality & creative Music Videos. Visit www. immersionimagery.com email info@immersionimagery.com iFlogID: 13825
MUSICIANS AVAILABLE BASS PLAYER Bassplayer looking to start post-punk revival band w/monotone vocals. Influences: Interpol, JoyDivision, TheNational, TheDoors, NickCave, FrankSinatra, TheCure, TheDodos, BobDylan, TheSmiths, TheStrokes, BlocParty, KingsofLeon, TwinShadow, SonicYouth, BrianJonestownMassacre, BlackRebelMotorcycleClub, DeadWeather. ThomYork, shadowplay.sydney@gmail.com iFlogID: 15401
DRUMMER A1 PRO DRUMMER AVAILABLE for freelance gigs, tours etc. Extensive touring experience, gret time/tempo/groove, great drum gear and pro attitude. Sydney based but will travel. More info, ph 0419760940. www.mikehague.com iFlogID: 13230 EXPERIENCE MALE DRUMMER Seeks working covers band/ fill in work 60’s to 80’s looking for easy going people with a positive outlook. Age group 35 plus NO DRUGS ph Mark 0422 173 728 96628330 iFlogID: 15725 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: 13285 TOP INTERNATIONAL DRUMMER available, great backing vocals, harmonica player and percussionist. Gigs, tours and recording always desired. www.reubenalexander.net iFlogID: 14261
GUITARIST 18 year old guitar player looking to form Rock N’ Roll band. Influences: Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, Led Zeppelin, New York Dolls. Preferably in South. Call Tom on 0401722767. iFlogID: 13358 30 years old. Live in Hornsby .Been playing for 7 years. Rhythm guitar. No band experience but a good player. American metal influence (Lamb of god, Chimaira, Machine head etc). Good gear and sound. Line 6 amp and quad, DBX compressor, 2 x Jackson guitars. I also play a 12 string Maton, open tuning, celtic style. Good at fast rhythm metal patterns. Not good at soloing, not interested in learning either. Keen to jojn an existing band with a good drummer and good soloist or start one up. 0421088105. iFlogID: 15682 Guitarist Looking for originals rock band. 30 Years old with good gear and transport. Located near the city. Looking for something serious with dedicated Musicians. Contact Steve 0433825402 iFlogID: 15680 Syd based Guitarist, 24, have heaps of gear... looking to start jamming with others who are interested in taking it seriously.... Influences, bb king, gaslight anthem, springsteen... Call Grant, 0416511409 iFlogID: 15130
we are looking for an experienced drummer who is confident in various time sigs we play covers and some originals. covers range from , sound garden , tool , the police , u2 , roxy music, and many others .we rehearse weekly at wetherill park studio ,must have transport , call 0404175410 for an audition .NO TIME WASTERS, NO TIME WASTERS,read carefully NO TIME WASTERS iFlogID: 15636 Funk band looking for keyboardist in Sydney for jam to serious, for more details contact us on rhyseaquilina@gmail.com iFlogID: 14726 Seeking rythm guitarest for cambelltown rock band. age 25 to 45. playing classic rock and originals. Gigging as soon as your ready. Professional attitude needed. contact Will 0419 614 313 iFlogID: 15484
SINGER /VOCALIST we are looking for an experienced front man/ woman who is very versatile and confident to be out front , we play a vast variety of covers and some originals , we rehearse weekly at wetherill park studios, some of the bands we cover range from ,soundgarden ,tool , the cure , the police , u2, the smiths, inxs, depeche mode and many others , for an audition call 0404175410 after 2pm and please NO TIME WASTERS iFlogID: 15634 Sydney based melodic metal band seeks drummer & male vocalist to complete line up. Rough/clean vocals preferred. Drummer able to play to click preferred. Further details contact Adam 0432584411. iFlogID: 15329 Untalented Libertines/BlocParty/SexPistols inspired singer/songwriter/guitarist seeks bandmates who are also inspired by these bands, willing to practice, prefer making originals rather than covers & who are easygoing. Inner West/Sydney, How bout it? iFlogID: 13790
BASS PLAYER Bass guitarist wanted for a Sydney based Hard Rock/Metal band. Must be between 25-32 years old, committed to rehearsing and gigging and have great gear. Influences include, Metallica, Pantera, Sepultura, AC/DC etc. Please contact Morris on 0419 687 549 iFlogID: 15598
BASS PLAYER WANTED Bass Player aged 20-30 wanted for Hard rock/ alternative band rehearsing weekly- fortnightly in the city. Creative input encouraged. If interested please contact 0403513251 iFlogID: 15486
BASS PLAYER WANTED bass player wanted for metal/rock band. M/F, band ready to gig. check us out on youtube under aegirace and if interested ring Greg 0435360226 iFlogID: 15299
BASS PLAYER WANTED for original funk/pop band influences from Prince to RHCP, Stevie Wonder to Matchbox 20 Contact Robbie on 0400 177 221 iFlogID: 15582
SWING BLUES BASS PLAYER WANTED. Are you passionate about the Blues gigs or no gigs? We are 50+ experienced singer and Drummer/Guitarist based in Penrith. Pam 043 279 0076 iFlogID: 15228
Two pieces of sh-musicians need a bass player. Waiting to record & get started. Sounds like Tumbleweed, Custard, Magic Dirt. Rehearsing at Marrickville. Call Poncho 0414184301 iFlogID: 15419
DJ Looking for a cool DJ to work with in forming a killer club act with live drums/percussion. Call Al on 0400 909 633 drumpercuss@ hotmail.com iFlogID: 14052
DRUMMER 3pce dynamic rock band existing drummer going overseas permanently demos available think ginger baker/moon/bonham must have transport/reliability gigs booked phil 0402069500 no timewasters please iFlogID: 15552 aggressive solid drummer needed for band. have material written and demos recorded. rehearse in the wollonong area, keen to gig asap. age/sex/skill level not important. contact 0403508102 for demos iFlogID: 14021 Bassplayer looking to start post-punk revival band w/monotone vocals. Influences: Interpol, JoyDivision, TheNational,TheDoors, NickCave, FrankSinatra, TheCure, TheDodos, BobDylan, TheSmiths, TheStrokes, BlocParty, KingsofLeon, TwinShadow, SonicYouth, BrianJonestownMassacre, BlackRebelMotorcycleClub, DeadWeather. ThomYork, shadowplay.sydney@gmail.com iFlogID: 15397
DRUMMER WANTED Drummer Wanted for heavy metal band, m/f, check us out on youtube under aegirace, think Neil Peart, Keith Moon, phone Greg 0451978039. iFlogID: 14937
DRUMMER OR AN ARRANGER? I need a drummer and an arranger to work with me on recording/creating covers and originals. In return for your services I offer my studio and compositional/engineering ability, trading 1 hour of my time for 1 hour of your time. If you wish to pay me with currency rather than services, I only accept Bitcoin [BTC]. Please contact me to chat in more detail on 0412 111 935 or michael@ urbanfirebeats.com - any day between 9am and 9pm. iFlogID: 15510 Drummer required for Low Gear. Sydney 7 piece Reggae Soul and Ska band. JUst starting to gig, working towards paying gigs for Xmas. Please contact jon@low-gear.com if interesting! iFlogID: 15459 DRUMMER Required for pop-rock Band/ Show with Album on iTunes. Paid performances booked. Reliable Musician with good gear, positive attitude and professional experience. Mosman area. Phone: 9969 1179. iFlogID: 15524
DRUMMER WANTED BASS PLAYER WITH VOCALS WANTED Sydney based, agency backed, working cover band is in need of a bass player with decent vocal ability. Applicant must be easy going, reliable, professional, have good gear, own transport and able to fit into a friendly working dynamic. Best suited age range would be late 20s to early 40s. Please feel free to call. Set lists available on request. Auditions open immediately. Ronnie 0422 004 260 iFlogID: 15719
for original funk/pop band influences from Prince to RHCP, Stevie Wonder to Matchbox 20. Contact Robbie on 0400 177 221 iFlogID: 15584 Energetic drummer needed to form a progressive heavy rock band in Bondi area. Are you serious, determined and able to drive the rhythm section whilst still keeping a groove? Call:0414399413. iFlogID: 14934 looking for an involved drummer who wants to be a part of a BAND (no big-heads, gloryseekers) influences: sonic youth, pavement, modest mouse, MBV, fleetwood mac, elliot smith (call/message 0432930850) iFlogID: 15750
PUNK ROCK DRUMMER NEEDED A strong drummer is required to play Punk Rock/ Grunge inspired originals. Songs ready to record & gigs waiting. Big drums a preference, transport required. Sydney/ Newtown : Call 0406727076 iFlogID: 15596 SWING BLUES DRUMMER WANTED: Must be passionate gigs or no gigs. We are highly experienced 50+ Singer and Guitarist based in Penrith Pam 043 279 0076 iFlogID: 15226 WHO ARE YOU? Are you a reliable Metal Head into Conspiracies who plays Drums or Guitar? CONTROL NEEDS YOU...Contact: 0423 350 259 iFlogID: 15071
GUITARIST 18 year old guitar player looking for another guitar player. Influences: GN’R, Aerosmith, Zeppelin, New York Dolls. Preferrably someone in the south (Shire). Call Tom on 0401722767 iFlogID: 13407 3pce rockband needs replacement guitarist styles= garymoore/slash/vhalen gear/ transport essential bvox highly valued, plenty of room for expression, no timewasters/wannabe’s age/gender immaterial phil 0402069500 iFlogID: 15717 Bassplayer looking to start post-punk revival band w/monotone vocals. Influences: Interpol, JoyDivision, TheNational,TheDoors, NickCave, FrankSinatra, TheCure, TheDodos, BobDylan, TheSmiths, TheStrokes, BlocParty, KingsofLeon, TwinShadow, SonicYouth, BrianJonestownMassacre, BlackRebelMotorcycleClub, DeadWeather. ThomYork, shadowplay.sydney@gmail.com iFlogID: 15393
CREATIVE GUITARIST NEEDED! To complete lineup. We’re based in inner Sydney, we’re into metal, rock, funk, punk you name it. Influences Mike Patten, RATM, Incubus, Pumpkins, Peppers, QOTSA, Grohl, NIN, Karnivool, SOAD, Metallica, Sabbath, Cartoon, Primus, Nirvana, Radiohead, Hendrix, Zepplin, The list never ends. So if your interested in jamming We’re looking for someone who can write as well as play. Must be dedicated, experienced,have transport and be Pref. 20-35. Eddie -0403103906, Benny- 0423511750 iFlogID: 15590
GUITARIST NEEDED ORIGINAL BAND
Original pop/.rock band THE JEFFERSON need LEAD Guitarist. Sounds of U2 - Snowpatrol - 30 secs to mars, must be creative,no shredders!Sydney Based Call Geoff 0439902898 www.sonicbids.com/thejefferson www.myspace.com/thejeffersonband iFlogID: 15499 Guitarist wanted for working Sydney party/ dance/rock band Party Central. 25 to 45, good gear and transport, available Fridays and Saturdays. fb www.facebook.com/partycentralband. Email Viv on hmpent@ozemail. com.au for more info iFlogID: 15662
SWING BLUES PLAYER WANTED. Duke Robillard, T-Bone, Kandy Kane Style Willing to commit gigs or no gigs. We are 50+ experienced Singer Guitarist/Drummer Penrith based. Pam 043 279 0076 iFlogID: 15248
KEYBOARD Bassplayer looking to start post-punk revival band w/monotone vocals. Influences: Interpol, JoyDivision, TheNational,TheDoors, NickCave, FrankSinatra, TheCure, TheDodos, BobDylan, TheSmiths, TheStrokes, BlocParty, KingsofLeon, TwinShadow, SonicYouth, BrianJonestownMassacre, BlackRebelMotorcycleClub, DeadWeather. ThomYork, shadowplay.sydney@gmail.com iFlogID: 15399
Dead In Motion needs a keyboard player! Metal, visual kei, Disturbed, GazettE, Evanescence etc. Preparing to gig and record EP. Age 18-25, intermediate+. Contact Dead_In_ Motion@hotmail.com
Four Piece Hard Rock band from Sydney’s South West are looking for lead guitarist to complete line up. Album recorded and shows are waiting. Must have good gear, own transport and positive attitude. Experience not essential but preferred. Age group; Early to late Twenty’s, MALE or FEMALE. If interested, please message Matt 0408 489 484 or visit www.facebook.com/ruingloria
Guitarist Wanted for Black/Death Metal Band. Live gigs and possible touring in the not too distant future. Influences include Satyricon (Rebel Extravaganza era), Deathspell Omega, Ved Buens Ende, Oracle of the Void, Akercocke, Drudkh. Must have own gear and transport. Must be a highly competent player and able to contribute to writing material. Contact: info@theshepherdscouncil. com iFlogID: 15779 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: 13432
iFlogID: 13088
Guitarist / backing vocalist looking for lead vocalist / guitarist to start an acoustic duo with, male or female. iFlogID: 15532
GUNS N ROSES LOOKING FOR AXL
iFlogID: 14311
iFlogID: 14566
OTHER
AUDITIONS OPEN!!! Calling all Singers & Bass Players. Auditions open for sydney based band. Email or call for audition details. No audio tracks or demos required. You can provide a brief bio but its not a requirement.Ryan - 0402 915 399 gasentertainment@hotmail.com & Rob - 0420 390 372 alienguitarsecrets@gmail.com iFlogID: 15691
PRODUCTION I need an arranger to work with me on recording/creating covers and originals. In return for your services I offer my studio and compositional/engineering ability, trading 1 hour of my time for 1 hour of your time. If you wish to pay me with currency rather than services, I only accept Bitcoin [BTC]. Please contact me to chat in more detail on 0412 111 935 or michael@urbanfirebeats. com - any day between 9am and 9pm. iFlogID: 15512
SINGER Attractive Female Backing Vocalist required for a pop-rock Band/Show with Album on iTunes. Paid performances booked. Reliable Singer with a melodic voice and professional experience. Mosman area. Phone: 9969 iFlogID: 15526 Bassplayer looking to start post-punk revival band w/monotone vocals. Influences: Interpol, JoyDivision, TheNational,TheDoors, NickCave, FrankSinatra, TheCure, TheDodos, BobDylan, TheSmiths, TheStrokes, BlocParty, KingsofLeon, TwinShadow, SonicYouth, BrianJonestownMassacre, BlackRebelMotorcycleClub, DeadWeather. ThomYork, shadowplay.sydney@gmail.com iFlogID: 15395
COVERSBAND NEEDS FEMALE SINGER Established and agent backed COVERSBAND required a female lead vocalist. We are a 5 piece band playing modern pop, funk and some retro covers, with 1-3 gigs a month paying $ 150. We are looking for a dedicated, experienced vocalist, aged between 18 - 40 and with own transport. Please send a brief bio and picture to brotherbooth@gmail.com
Drummer, bassist and guitarist looking for versatile vocalist; influences ranging from Queen to RATM, RHCP and Metallica. Inner West Sydney. 16-24 (preferably). Email me: st_jimmy_greenday94@hotmail.com . Cheers iFlogID: 15425
FEMALE SINGER REQUIRED Female Singer wanted for Original Alternative Band, no previous experience required, All ages welcomed, please contact James 0415 099 306 iFlogID: 15708
FEMALE SINGER WITH AN X FACTOR Looking 4 female singer with Fire!! Music In question is a cross pollination of Killing Heidi /MGMT/ linkin park / Alabama / Evanescence. Have a listen to a sample: www.myspace.com/145449187 Looking for you the singer to team up with me to co-write some wicked tracks. I am a one man Willy Wonka so there wont be any band politics!! If you think you got it- step up and let’s make some ear candy. email :delphinium76@hotmail.com iFlogID: 15746
SINGER/SONGWRITER WANTED! Blue mountains stoner rock band Bones and All are looking for a powerful and energetic lead vocalist/song writer. We’re looking for someone aged in their early 20’s, male or female, who is dedicated to music. We play mostly originals, though we do throw in a few covers here and there. If this sounds like your thing, and you can dedicate yourself to rehearsal once, if not twice a week, then call Kurtis on 0424947101.
Sydney based Guns N Roses Tribute is looking for Axl Rose. If you’ve got what it takes to be the front man for one of the worlds greatest rock bands, in one of Australias premier Tributes contact james@thelaunchsquad. com.au Gigs are waiting. www.liesndestruction.com iFlogID: 15757
MALE FRONTMAN-THE LAST APOLLO Male frontman/long term creative partner wanted for The Last Apollo, 21-30 for songwriting, recording and gigs. This is an existing band/project with some previous work recorded and plenty more material to work on! Only career minded musicians need apply, no time wasters!!! Must have live and studio experience, great vocal range. Some guitar ability preferable but not essential. I have recording gear and good industry contacts and this could be a great opportunity for the right person who is prepared to put in the hard work. Head to www.myspace.com/ lastapollo to hear previous work (2008) and if you like what you hear, please apply. Mitch 0451 957 772 -Syd Metro iFlogID: 14890
Male or female vocalist/lyricist needed to complete bass, drums + guitar. 20 - 30yo. Must have own PA and good stage presence. 70’s + 80’s rock, none of this new age downtuned rubbish. Will rehearse weekly in Wetherill Park area. Contact 0405 005 130 or 0415 970 079 (look, it’s palindromic... nearly) iFlogID: 15559
iFlogID: 15752
VOCALIST WANTED!!!
iFlogID: 15494
Want to be a successful recording artist? We’ll help you write a song produce, mix & master it then help you pitch it Email: studio@ musicentourage.com call: 02 4013 1977 iFlogID: 14472
SONG WRITER Written a song you want to share with the world? RECORD IT NOW with our professional music production team! Demos or full releases! Visit www.musicentourage.com.au or email hookmeup@musicentourage.com iFlogID: 14474
SERVICES GRAPHIC DESIGN Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY - from $299 including Hosting and email addresses! Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au. iFlogID: 15450 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY- from $399 including UNLIMITED pages, Logos, Hosting and 5xemail addresses and much more! Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au iFlogID: 13864
SINGER FOR FOLK/PUNK/ ROCK BAND Hi. We are four guys making some original stuff based on punk, folk, rock and beyoooond. After a fontperson to write, yell and sing to our stuff. Got shitty demo’s, rehearsal space and the good times. Hit me up for a demo, rogersiltala@gmail.com 0414 481 697 iFlogID: 15767
SINGER FOR R.E.M. TRIBUTE SHOW Revealed:The Australian R.E.M. tribute show is auditioning for a new lead vocalist. We want a committed singer who can bring the character of Michael Stipe to life in a show spanning the bands entire career. If this is you, call Guppy:0408213650 or email: revealed.remtributeband@gmail.com iFlogID: 15676
SINGER WANTED FOR SYDNEY GRUNGE BAND. Less than 24 years old please. influences: Silverchair, Nirvana, AIC, Sabbath etc Contact Daniel on 0403 885 433 for more info and demos. iFlogID: 13145
Singer wanted to front Hard Rock band from Sydney’s West. Age between 16 to 20 would be best suited. Influenced largely by Motley Crue. Email: sr_2848@hotmail.com iFlogID: 13615
SINGER WANTED Vocalist required for established working covers duo performing 1 to 2 gigs most weekends.Call Andy 0412 751 061 iFlogID: 15608
iFlogID: 15438
WEBSITESS BUILT FOR $195 You send us the pictures and the content we build you a site! Easy!. For $199 we do static sites, and we HOST IT FOR ONE YEAR FOR FREE. Check out www.indieavenues.com iFlogID: 15658
TATTOO Monstrosity Dreadlocks, Sydney. Dreads and maintenance special: All service $30 per hour. Professional, guaranteed service. Kings Cross. Call 0421356410 iFlogID: 13613
TUITION FREE TURNTABLES That’ right. get a free pair of Ministry of Sound Turntables when u book into our Nov 19th, 2011 Turntable Workshop course. More info at www.djbootcamp.com.au or call 95472578 iFlogID: 15790
GUITAR LESSONS BEGINNER to ADVANCED INNER CITY NEWTOWN guarantied guitar playing in days not years all styles HendrixZeppelin etc. Music CD’s teaching tools supplied. Teaching guitar 10years + 0405044-513 iFlogID: 13975
MUSIC TUITION- Guitar, Bass, Drums, 5 String Banjo. Catering for all ages, private one on one lessons. Rock, Blues, Country, Jazz, Slide, Finger Picking. Sutherland Shire. Contact Terry- 0402 993 268 iFlogID: 15166
P&O DJ CRUISE
iFlogID: 15367
iFlogID: 13646
Studio, live, candid or location shots with an experienced band photographer. Gigs, promos, album covers, artwork. Affordable prices, professional quality. 25% off for unsigned bands! Mobile: 0479060317 Email: admin@mattgphotography.com.au Web: www.mattgphotography.com.au
P&O and DJ Bootcamp present, 8 day, 3 island professional DJ Cruise # 2. Nov 26th, 2012. Book early and save. www.djbootcamp.com.au iFlogID: 15754
MARK LANEGAN inspired singer wanted for LOUD, NOISY dirty rock’n’roll. We don’t sound like the “screaming trees” but want that vocal style. Call: 0439653489 between 12-4pm.
Rhythm guitarist seeking to join or form Blues/Rock covers band in the Penrith district. Contact Paul on 0402 746 733 or 4774 0085
PROFESSIONAL BAND PHOTOGRAPHY
iFlogID: 15731
Male singer wanted for blues / southern rock band based hawkesbury area. Covers from Black Crowes, Skynyrd, Stones, ZZ Top , Bad Co . Own transport & be reliable. Scott 0416256471 Col 0412613456
iFlogID: 15429
Need to promote your restaurant, club and make it the place to go? Contact us now, because providing good entertainment is a personal skill. Chris 0419 272 196 ventura@ yayabings.com.au iFlogID: 15175
Very strong Professional female singer (18-30) with cover band experience - for Corporate Party Covers Band based in Sydney, agency backed with plenty of work! Send Bio/photo/mp3/video to info@techwebdevelopers.com
New band currently jamming & writing a set. Influences are metal, hardcore, punk, groove mix. Music could suit anything from Faith No More/SOAD to Terror/Hatebreed/Pantera/Down but open to ideas. Have myspace songs for listening. Also want bass player if you know anyone. Contact Jake 0402539280
iFlogID: 15786
Increasingly desperate band seeks keyboardist. Chocolate bribes on offer. dragonlugia@hotmail.com
iFlogID: 15744
METAL GUITARIST WANTED
iFlogID: 15625
GOSPEL SINGERS WANTED for non-denominational music ministry to record triple-CD in Perth. World-class, passionate and devotional vocalists sought. View www.THE001Music. com for details. Jesus is KIng! Reverend Eslam. God Bless You!
Dead In Motion seeks a keyboard player. Style is metal, visual kei, heavy rock, Disturbed, GazettE, Evanescence etc. Preparing to gig and record EP. Age 18-25, intermediate+ skills. Contact Dead_In_Motion@ hotmail.com
iFlogID: 15604
LEAD GUITARIST WANTED!!!
Female textural vox wanted for ambient/ rock act touring across sydney, for music look up www.reverbnation.com/ thenetofbeing www.youtube.com/ thenetofbeing ph 0401056876
SINGING LESSONS MODERN VOCAL Graphic Design for the music industry. Work to your budget and needs for your next logo, flyer, album art or merch design. Contact design@dillonashcroft.com or head to dillonashcroft.com iFlogID: 15606
Limited Edition mens tees and hoodies with a sense of humour. All hand-screened and numbered. monstrositystore.com iFlogID: 13611
Need a Design for your latest CD or Flyer for Print and/or Media? Get in contact with Ryan at RAD Studios. We can help with all your Graphic Design Needs www.facebook.com/radstudios iFlogID: 15781
POSTERS & FLYERS Full Colour Band Posters @ Amazing Prices 100 A4 full colour on Gloss = $40 100 A3 full colour on Plain = $50 100 A3 full colour on Gloss = $80 Go to www.blackstar.com.au for a full price list iFlogID: 14957
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