WA’ S H I G H E S T Q U A L I T Y S T R E E T P R E S S • T H U R S DAY 1 3 J A N U A R Y 2 0 1 1 • 2 2 0 • F R E E
LIFE IN THE BEAUTIFUL LANE ALOE BLAC
C
LETT OWEN PAL
HEALTH
ZAC front row -
HARY LEVI
INSIDE: ROB ZOMBIE • STANTON WARRIORS • DATSIK • SINS OF THE FATHER ALBANY • BUNBURY • BUSSELTON • DUNSBOROUGH • GERALDTON • MANDURAH • MARGARET RIVER • PERTH
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •3
4 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •5
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FOREWORD LINE AFTER PERTHTIES
IN BRIEF
The Perth Festival has announced their huge list of Beck’s Music Box After Parties and Sundowners for the duration of the Drum Media-presented shows from Saturday 12 February til Sunday 6 March. It’s a long and winding list, so take a big breath as you plan where you’ll be headed after one of the many amazing shows at Beck’s... Opening night sees mix maestro Sampology take over after Roy Ayres, with help from Charlie Bucket; then we NORMAN JAY have Catherine Traicos (Sun 13); DJ Karla Hart (Mon 14); Grand Salvo (pre) and DJ Gemma Pike (post, Wed 16); Stoney Joe (Thur 17); Summer-Shine Dance Party, Dressed As Grrrl and Voltaire Twins (Fri 18); {move} Soundsystem (Sat 19); The Leap Year (pre) and DJ Moogy (post, Sun 20); DJ Agent 85 (Mon 21); DJ Punch Up/Angry & Julia Tone (Tue 22); Rex Monsoon (Wed 23); San Cisco (Thur 24); Lawrence Arabia (pre) and Ghost Drums (post, Fri 25); Norman Jay MBE (Sat 26); Rusty Pinto (pre) and Rusty Pinto Combo & DJ Rockin’ Rhys (post, Sun 27); DJ Karla Hart (Tue 1 Mar); Nikki Dagostino & DJ Adam Trainer (Wed 2); DJKL (Thur 3); Lewis Floyd Henry (pre) and Felicity Groom, Diger Rokwell, Seams and DJ Rok Riley (post, Fri 4); J. Wow & MC Kalaf and DJ Nicholas Keskinidis (Sat 5) and finally DJ Russ Newbury and Mister & Sunbird, Sunday 6 March. After parties start at 10pm and are free. Check perthfestival.com.au for more details.
PIFF! THE MAGIC DRAGON
FRINGE BENEFITS
Blossoming in Perth this year is Fringeworld, and they’ve got a sterling program spanning Friday 4 February to Saturday 26 February focusing around five main elements: Free Opening Night Party, the Spiegeltent Program, the Fringe World Solos Program, Fringe World Freebies and the Fringe World Summit. The opening party features a slew of acts who will also be appearing throughout the program inside the Spiegeltent (listed below). The solo programs will feature performances from Allan Girod (When Harry Met Harry), David Calvitto (The Event, written by John Clancy), Leon Ewing (The Problem With Evil) and Andrea Gibbs (Grow Up). Inside the Spiegeltent you can catch musical and variety performances including Fanny La Rue’s Late Night Treats; Barry Morgan & His World Of Organs; The Wau Wau Sisters’ Last Supper; The Woohoo Revue; Luke & Wyatt: This Way Up; Frisky & Mannish: The College Years; The List Operators; Cirque Appetit; The Darling Buds Of May: Swing Dance Party, Fuppet!; The Freak & The Showgirl; Zack Adams: Love Songs For Future Girl; Magic Matt’s Magic Slam, Piff! The Magic Dragon in Pifftacular 2: Get Rich Or Die Trying; An Evening With Felicity Groom & Friends; Sugar Blue Burlesque – Burly-Q 8 Ballyhoo; The Space Cowboy’s “Mind Bending” and The Spiegeltent Spectacular Variety Show. For the full program and ticket options, head to fringeworld.com.au.
BUTTERFLY BY NIGHT
That man who wisely told us that happiness is just a chemical is heading our way with a new EP. Yes, Darren Hanlon is bringing his witticisms and observations, and undoubtedly a ukulele or two, back to the west. The end of 2010 saw Hanlon touring around the US with the likes of Billy Bragg and Sean Lennon after his I Will Love You At All was released there in September. His Butterfly Bones EP will be released on Friday 18 February, and Hanlon will take in Fly By Night on Saturday 5 March in a Drum Media-presented show. Tickets from the venue.
6 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
Having rocked Perth’s nightclub scene for over ten years, Rise has officially shut its doors. To show your respects, jump on Rise’s Facebook. Rumours abound of a new club, more soon... Media eyeball opener Lady Gaga’s seemingly odd connection to Polaroid is beginning to ‘develop’, the popstar announcing the Polaroid Grey Label - products that includes her GL20 Camera Glasses that will be able to take photos and record video so wearers can capture or upload photos then display the footage on the glasses’ screens. Congrats to good-time makers Boom! Bap! Pow! who have taken out the triple j Unearthed comp to secure themselves a place on the Perth leg of St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival. They’ll be joining the likes of !!!, Beach House, Blonde Redhead, Foals and more at the Perth Cultural Centre on Saturday 12 February. Tickets still available. The next round for Contemporary Music Grants through the Department of Culture & The Arts closes on Friday 4 February. For any music projects planned for after May 1, head to dca. wa.gov.au/funding/grants/ contemporary_music to find out how to apply.
DARREN HANLON
INTO TEMPTATION
THE WAIFS
While it’s just been announced the muchanticipated Kanye West and Jay-Z collaborative album Watch The Throne will be released in the US on March 1, the artist responsible for Kanye’s My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy banned cover art, George Condo, has claimed to The New Yorker that West asked him to specifically create this cover to be controversial enough to likely suffer such a fate. Kanye manufacturing controversy? No way!
Having crafted their career on stages in every city and country town around Australia, and many around the world, The Waifs mark the release of their sixth studio album, Temptation, with a tour to many of their favourite old haunts. Included will be Old Broadwater Farm, Busselton on Saturday 5 March; Castelli Estate, Denmark on Sunday 6; Performing Arts Centre, Mandurah Tuesday 8; Fremantle Arts Centre Wednesday 9 and the Astor Theatre Thursday 10 March. Tickets through Heatseeker, manpac.com.au (Mandurah), liveattheastor.com.au and BOCs (Astor). All shows feature support from Melbourne’s Tinpan Orange, while Big Old Bears support the Denmark, Busselton and FAC shows and Ruby Boots the Astor.
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YOU AM I
YOU AM EVERYWHERE
Legends of Australian music You Am I return to WA for a very special event at Hotel Rottnest on Australia Day, Wednesday 26 January, playing songs from their extensive back catalogue as well as their critically acclaimed new self-titled album. Supporting them will be local triple j faves The Novocaines. 3pm ‘til 6pm, ferry ticket packages through rottnestexpress.com.au, concert-only tickets through Heatseeker, Mills, Planet and Hotel Rottnest. In addition, You Am I play Palandri Winery in Margaret River on Saturday 29 January for the Summer Love Music Festival (supported by The Novocaines, The Joe Kings, Simon Kelly Band and Frankly, with more to be announced). Tickets from the venue, Heatseeker or Main St Surf Margaret River. Tim Rogers also has a very special solo show the night before at Norfolk Basement, limited tickets through BOCs, 78’s, Mills and Planet.
TRUST THIS
Joining musical forces to bring you a night of boogie, funk and house music, discoINCORRECTO! and Move bring one of Manchester’s latest producers to take the dance music world by storm, Trus’me, to The Bird Friday 28 January. In the last few years Trus’me has become a highly in-demand DJ, touring extensively over Europe and the US with a reputation for thoughtful and eclectic sets you can trust. Support comes from Rob Blanford and Ben Taaffe. $5 on the door from 8pm.
RHYTHM AND RHYME
Next week, monthly Move shindig Rhythmatism shifts to Saturday 29 January to welcome a very special guest to The Bird, Detroit’s Wajeed. There’ll be plenty of rhythmic house party vibes but with a special Detroitvia-New York twist with Wajeed’s eclectic selections also taking in hip hop, soul, funk, boogie and techno vibes. Now as renowned a producer as DJ, Wajeed will be joined by the Move family DJs for $10 from 8pm.
BILL THE BUTCHER
With the 2011 touring calendar already filled to the brim, Habitat is very proud to present one of the world’s most in-demand DJs, Butch, in the intimate surrounds of Geisha on Friday 11 February for one very special show. Supported by Flex, Richard Lee, El Dario & Rohan Smith, tickets from Moshtix and geishabar.com.au are $30 plus BF.
HARVEY FRESH
Japan 4 is throwing the doors open Friday 28 January and rolling out the red carpet for one of their fave special guests, Aston Harvey, he of legendary breaks outfit Freestylers. If you missed them at Breakfest last year, now’s your chance to catch up. Support from Fdel, Tee El, Philly Blunt and Wish. $15 or $10 for loyalty members from 10pm.
Set to be playing in Perth this weekendm, the Emmure and Shinto Katana tour has been postponed til mid year. Refunds from points of purchase. Courtney Love is being sued by fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir over a series of allegedly defamatory tweets, in which she claimed Simorangkir was a violent, drug pushing prostitute, unfit to be a parent. Perhaps Love was just accidentally tweeting about herself? Garage rock heroes The Dirtbombs’ new album Party Store will be a collection of covers of Detroit techno songs. No, seriously.
TREASURE FINGERS
BIG NIGHT IN
For those that simply cannot wait (or cannot afford to wait) for the Big Day Out the following day, Tick Tock is throwing a pre party at Villa Saturday 5 February with stellar international guests Treasure Fingers and Pase Rock (Spank Rock), with Sydney’s Van She Tech helping to kick the weekend into full gear. They’ll be supported by local lads Lightsteed and Meow for a night of smooth, grooving disco house tunes courtesy of TF and some bangin’ indie electro from the rest, tickets from Moshtix, Planet and Mills.
Mustang Thursdays 14th JAN
Maybe Dancing Will Help feat. Scenic with guests Bastions Happy Flight, plus DJ's TCee, Friend, Holy Thursday, Sleepyhead and Suburban Leisure. Doors 8pm.
15th JAN
Lock up your daughters, lock up your wives... it's The Fags live with some very special guests. Doors 8pm.
THE LONG STRIDES THURS 13 JANUARY
+ THE MOLTENS + RICHARD LANE (THE STEMS)
the red eyes
(VIC)
THURS 20 JANUARY
Goodnight Tiger THURS 3 FEBRUARY + SPECIAL GUESTS
THE SIMON COX BAND THURS 10 FEB THE JUSTIN WALSH FOLK MACHINE + SPECIAL GUESTS THURS 17 FEB
MustangBar
The
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •7
FOREWORD LINE
music@drumperth.com.au
INJURED NINJA NIKOLA SARCEVIC
LOCAL LOVIN’
There’s some mighty fine happenings going down right now in WA, and we don’t mean patrons helping to water our festival grounds for free… Since 3D has gone the way of the Na’vi since 2009, it’s now time for Ninjavision, hosted by Injured Ninja as they raise funds for their next recording expedition. Their various side projects, guests and exclusive merch will take over the Velvet Lounge. Support from Usurper Of Modern Medicine, The Weapon Is Sound, Dirty Symbiot and Kucka on Sunday 23 January. $5 from 5pm. Locally run record label Waks Traks celebrate their 10th release Sunday 23 January at Wembley Hotel from 3 til 10pm. It features a massive line-up including Mama Says Yes! (live), Micah, Ben Mac, Tom Drummond, Ad-Lustre, Kapitol P, DJ Funkybottoms, Paul Perraz, Doc Spin, Soul Purpose, AB+, T-Mac and S.O.S. Indie revellers Place Of Indigo settle in at The Bakery on Friday 21 January to launch their six-track, self-titled EP that captures the ‘80s art pop and new wave influences. Seams, Arms Like Branches and Deborah James support, along with local artwork from Fox Designs and Rachel Audino. $10/15 on the door with the EP. The Dirty Disco King Tito is back Friday 21 January over two floors of the East End Bar in Fremantle for a special night featuring FKN Midas, TCee, Perthquake DJs, Buda, Azwon, Cooker and Sparklehaus, DJ Beryl (San Cisco) and Lion Kim. The lost fashion and style of 1970s tennis clubs is returning with Punch! at Manhattans, Thursday 20 January from 7 ‘til late. The Brow Horn Orchestra’s Ndorse will be DJing with other guest Hornsters livening it up. Dress in white for cheap drinks – the tighter the shorts, the cheaper the drink. $5 entry. Tell us all about your upcoming launch, tour or news by emailing music@drumperth.com.au.
BIG BONED
BBQ-loving, semi-nihilists Bone are returning to their birthplace louder and tighter than ever before with a one-night-only show at The Bakery, Friday 28 January. Not only will they be sporting a sack of new riffs and a freshly pressed 7-inch, they will also be unveiling Bone panties... $10 or $8 presale from nowbaking.com.au. Support from Astral Travel, Frozen Ocean and These Shipwrecks.
KNIGHTS OF SYDONIA
To conclude their national single tour for Oceans Of Storms, Sydney rockers Sydonia will smash the Amplifier stage Friday 21 January with The Meaning Of, Brutus and Sparring For Shotgun. They then head to Mojo’s on Sunday 23 January, support from Opia, Copious and Arkyan. Catch the boys before they get to work on their album due later this year.
LOVE BEGGING
Beg For Love, the new single from Catherine Traicos, is a beautiful piece of classic pop tinged with melancholy. In addition to her previously announced show at Beck’s Music Box on Sunday 13 February, you can catch her celebrating in solo mode for free at The Maltmarket in Dunsborough on Wednesday 16 and the White Star Hotel, Albany on Sunday 20 with Geoff Scott. She then heads up to the Rosemount Saturday 26 February with Simone & Girlfunkle and Billie Rogers, $10 from 8pm.
SUPPORT THE TRUTH
With US hardcore pioneers (HED)p.e’s Truth Rising Australian Tour fast approaching, some stellar supports have been announced in the form of Sydney’s The HavKnots – a powerful mix of rap, metal, rock and hip hop, who are releasing an EP next week to boot. Local lads The Meaning Of also support the show on Wednesday 2 February at Amplifier.
STRONG UNDERTOW
Having released his debut album Minds Believing in 2010, Sydney’s MC Undertow heads our way to rock WA and indulge in some of our state’s finest hip hop artists. He’s playing the Swan Basement Friday 21
EDITORIAL
Managing Editor Andrew Mast Editor Aarom Wilson Front Row Editor Daniel Crichton-Rouse Fashion Contributor Meghan Hosie
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PHOTOGRAPHERS Elle Borgward, Shane Butler, Beau Davis, Penny Lane, Jacqueline Jane, Cybele Malinowski, Anthony Tran
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Chris Archibald, Marisa Aveling, Paul Barbieri, Aleksia Barron, Steve Bell, Nina Bertok, Jackson Best, Tristan Broomhall, Rob Browne, Rick Bryant, Danica Caccamo, Anthony Carew,
January with Chekid & Cortext, DJ Jamu, Bryte MC, Dazastah and DJ Armee in support, then The Civic on Saturday 22 with the same crew minus Dazastah but plus Escape Artist. $15 from 8pm.
BASS IN YO’ FACE
Baron Of Bass and heaving death metal-infused dubstepper Deathface returns to obliterate Shape on Friday 21 January with his brand new arsenal of dubplates. Preparing to drop his second EP on the Trouble & Bass label, support comes from local bass badmen and PDMA Winners ShockOne and Rekab, along with youngster D.Y.P. $15 before 11pm, $20 thereafter.
FINELY BREWED
Tangled Brew was released in July 2010 by Lloyd Spiegel and he has since enjoyed much success on the Australian Blues/Roots charts. After a long east coast tour, Spiegel finally brings the album to WA with an extensive run of shows beginning at Southerly’s Bar in Dongara, Friday 21 January; Freemasons Hotel, Geraldton Saturday 22; Redcliffe On The Murray Sunday 23; The Charles Hotel Tuesday 24; Mojo’s Thursday 26; Rockingham Hotel Saturday 28; Settler’s Tavern Sunday 29; and the Indi Bar Monday 30 January.
One band who can be proud of their 2010 is Adelaide’s Dexter Jones. They welcomed a new drummer, found their clip on Rage and continued to pack venues around their hometown. The four-piece take in Ya Ya’s on Thursday 20 January with support from The Spitfires; Rocket Room on Friday 21 with Hyte, The Corner and Pigeon; then Albany’s The White Star on Sunday 22 with support from Minute 36, before heading back to Radelaide to finish off another video clip for release in February.
RTROCK QUIZ
The ever-popular RTRfm Quiz is here again, rolling out the brain benders in consummate style on Saturday 29 January at the Charles Hotel. Always a fun night full of music, trivia and laughs, the RTRFM Quiz has become one of the most popular fundraising events on the RTRFM calendar. Live music comes from a local supergroup with some slick DJ action from Diger Rokwell and more, heaps of prizes, a massive raffle and antics galore from MC Peter Barr. Contact RTRFM for bookings or more info on 9260 9200.
HIGH NOONAN
With a new album, a fresh sound, and a new band The Captains, six-time platinum and multiple ARIA-winning recording artist Katie Noonan returned to the spotlight last year thanks to the critically acclaimed LP Emperor’s Box. Catch her Friday 25 February at Kings Park with Dame Kiri Te Kanawa before she embarks on a new musical journey with her trio Elixir. Tickets through Ticketmaster.
NO DISPUTE
After a strong cult following in the lead up to their 2009 Australia Tour, Michigan five-piece La Dispute took Australia by storm with a boundless live energy and an exacting precision. After extensive touring around the globe, they return to Perth with Brisbane’s To The North in tow, playing The Bakery next Saturday 22 January with Eleventh He Reaches London and Leap Year, then the following day at Leederville Sporting Club with Grim Fandango and Surrender. Tickets through Oztix.
If you missed Jamaican reggae legend Nature over the festive period, fear not as he plays a few more WA shows before departing our fair shores. He’ll be bringing more positive vibes to The Railway Hotel, North Fremantle next Friday 21 January and then the following Friday 28 at Settler’s Tavern, Margaret River. He then plays Malt Market Bar on Saturday 29, capping it off with a Fisherman Style show at Mojo’s on Friday 4 February.
EAST MEETS WEST
POLTZER PRIZE
Canadian born American singer/songwriter and all round entertainer Steve Poltz heads west for a run of shows to start the New Year right in Australia. He’s released a new record since the last visit, Dreamhouse, and Poltz is looking forward to showing it off to Manhattan’s Tuesday 18 January; Yo Yo Studios Wednesday 19 and Mojo’s on Thursday 20.
Travis Collins, Cyclone, Marcia Czerniak, Sebastian D’Alonzo, Kitt Di Camillo, Sam Fell, Kim Fisher, Tomas Ford, Shannon Fox, Rueben Hale, Stu Harvey, Simon Holland, Craig Hollywood, Jason Kenny, Angela King, Jo Lettenmaier, Troy Mutton, Gareth Richardson, Ted Schlechte, Megan Smith, Michael Smith, Aimee Somerville, Kate Stephens, Scarlett Stevens, Kristy Symonds, Nic Toupee, Chris Wheeldon, Anthony Williams
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Scandinavian folk rocker and lead singer of punk outfit Millencolin, Nikola Sarcevic will perform an exclusive acoustic set at the Rosemount Hotel, Sunday 6 March. Millencolin of course commanded the respect of the international punk scene from the early ‘90s before Nikola launched his solo career in 2003. As a solo artist, Sarcevic has revealed a more sensitive and introverted side with his adult alternative releases that shift from stark, devotional moments to folk ballads while retaining a strong cohesion. He’ll be joined by old school Perth punk faves Jimmy & Steve from Kerb (coming out of a six year old retirement), Grim Fanbanjo, Adam James (Emperors) and Pat & Dan (The Decline). Tickets available from tomorrow through Oztix, 78s, Mills and Planet.
MOTHER NATURE
DEXTER RULES
The opinions expressed in this
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DEADLINES Editorial Friday 5pm
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The new project from guitarist Kamal Musallam and legendary jazz drummer Billy Cobham, EastMania brings together a group of the world’s top musicians. Creating a unique and innovative musical experience, EastMania is a synergy of Middle Eastern, Oriental and Western music brought together in a jazz fusion setting. Catch them at Astor Theatre Wednesday 9 March, tickets through BOCs.
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WITH INJURED NINJA THE WEDNESDAY SOCIETY PLUS DJS GEMMA PIKE & KATE CHIP
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THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •9
FOREWORD LINE PLAYING TO WIN
OH MERCY
BRYGET CHRISFIELD CHECKS IN WITH ALEX GOW FROM OH MERCY AND DISCOVERS HIS BAND SPENT THEIR RED BULL AUSTRALIAN MUSIC PRIZE AWARD MONEY WISELY.
A
s the Australian Music Prize (AMP) judging panel assembles for a final series of heated discussions to determine who will take home the $30,000 cash prize this year, there is also a decision to be made on who has submitted the Best Debut Album of 2010. Formerly defined as the Red Bull Award for Recognition Of Outstanding Potential, this honour was bestowed upon Oh Mercy last year for their debut longplayer Privileged Woes. The band’s frontman Alex Gow, who is also on the AMP judging panel this year, explains, “The prize money that we won went towards recording our second album, which we did about six months ago in LA, and that’s coming out in about six weeks.” It wasn’t until Gow found out that Oh Mercy’s album had been shortlisted for the AMP that he realised it had been submitted. “Our manager would’ve put it forward,” he says. It was also their manager who placed the phone call bearing the good news. “I was excited,” Gow shares, “but the way in which I was told wasn’t very exciting. My manager just called me and told me that we had [won] and it was a really great surprise… There were so many great releases and there are so many great Australian
10 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
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GIVEAWAYS
bands and I suppose I’ll find out today how they sort through them all.” Gow is in a cab on route to a hotel where the AMP judges are meeting to whittle the submissions down to a shortlist of finalists. Have any of Gow’s peers attempted to bribe him, hoping that his influence will help fast track their band’s album onto the AMP shortlist? “Yeah, Dean [Noble], the drummer from Love Connection, tried to bribe me with nude romance but I didn’t accept,” Gow chuckles before adding, “It was tempting.” Gow describes his experience on the AMP judging panel as “fun”. “I’ve listened to lots of music I wouldn’t have otherwise heard and, as a musician, listening to my peers and people’s whose music I really love – to be listening to the music critically is a strange thing to have to do, but I’ve enjoyed it nonetheless.” It must be weird for Gow, listening to AMP contenders while reflecting that this is the same process his album went through last year. “Yeah, you’re certainly right,” Gow agrees, “and today is gonna be an even stranger experience again. People having this round table discussion, and that
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was my album that they were discussing 12 months ago… so that’ll make me feel proud, I guess.” The winner of this year’s Red Bull Award for Best Debut Album will receive $15,000 in flights and accommodation, which covers travel to Los Angeles plus a week in the Red Bull studio in Santa Monica. “I think we did actually buy a celebratory case of beer,” Gow recalls of how his band spent their prize money, “but everything else went straight into the album fund.” Oh Mercy were also invited to perform at the winner’s event in 2010. “That was fun,” Gow remembers. “It was at the Art Gallery in Sydney at The Rocks. It was a really cool building and it was looking out onto the harbour. It was at the Museum Of Contemporary Art and we played a couple of songs – us and Perry Keyes played.” On how winning the Red Bull Award affected Oh Mercy’s career trajectory, Gow offers, “There were lots of articles [about the band’s win] that ran, and this and that. And it was really good timing, ‘cause the album had been out for a little while and it kind of reminded everybody about it and there was a bit of a surge of interest in the band. It was really helpful like that. “[The Red Bull Award]’s just a great idea and a great concept and we were lucky enough to be part of that last year and it’s helped us make this second album, otherwise it would’ve been quite difficult for us I think. So I’d definitely encourage anyone to put their record forward.” Previous winners of the Red Bull Award include Gotye (who took out the inaugural nod in 2006), Bluejuice and Jack Ladder. We’re still waiting on follow-up albums from these three former recipients, but Oh Mercy have certainly kept the momentum rolling. “I like to move fast like that, I’m writing a lot,” Gow acknowledges. “I try to churn ‘em out quickly.” Oh Mercy’s upcoming album, titled Great Barrier Grief, is scheduled to drop on Friday 4 March and Gow enthuses, “I’m really excited about that. I’ve been sitting on it for a little while and it’ll be great to have it out in the public. Then I suppose we’ll do another couple of tours supporting it and it’ll be good to get back on the road. I think we’ll be working hard again, we’ve had a bit of time off over this last couple of months and I’ve been so bored that it’ll be really great to have an album out. It’ll give us an excuse to tour again.” For a list of the submitted entries and more info head to streetpress.com.au/sixth_annual_amp
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It’s taken Drum Perth a while, but with it being high in our favourite websites the last three years running and The Social Network taking out our favourite film honours in 2010, we thought we better just ‘face’ our addiction headfirst and jump on the ol’ Facebook bandwagon. That’s right, as of two days ago, Drum Perth now has a Facebook page. So come and be our friends… with benefits. Here’s the first: The Decemberists’ last record, Hazards Of Love, ensured that expectations for their new one, The King Is Dead, were sky high. Those who doubted Colin Meloy, be shamed. More rustic, more rural, less operatic, the lead single Down By The Water with guest Gillian Welch is just the tip of this haystack of gems. Because we want you to hear Rox In The Box, Don’t Carry It All and the rest of it as well, we’ve got five copies of the record to giveaway. All you have to do is jump on Facebook, search Drum Perth and “Like” us, just like we “like” The Decemberists. To hear the whole album go to www. themusic.com.au. If you’re looking at d’n’b resumes, you can’t go much better than Andy C’s. Polls and awards thrust him to the upper echelon of the scene and have made him undoubtedly one of the most influential people in dance music. Now he’s dropped his fifth Nightlife mix CD. Andy C heads around Australia and New Zealand with MC GQ and Blokhe4d, the collaborative project between Michael “Vegas” and Jonas “Uman”. They land at Metro City on Tuesday 25 January for the next Heavyweight Soundz instalment. To pick up one of TWO double passes, email giveaways@ drumperth.com.au with “HEAVY C” in the subjectline.
P-Series DIGITAL PIANOS No Compromises. Yamaha Quality.
Buy a Yamaha P-95B or P-155B Digital Piano and get a BONUS heavy-duty keyboard stand* While stocks last. Valid for purchases BETWEEN 1/1/2011 AND 28/2/2011.
The Yamaha P-95B is the ultimate digital piano for musicians on the go. Features trademark Yamaha sound and natural piano touch along with a high-quality built-in speaker system, all packed into a slim and lightweight design.
Whether you’re practising at home or away, performing solo or in a band, the P-155B digital piano offers professional quality sound with Yamaha’s legendary piano touch. s 88-key Graded Hammer (GH) keyboard
s 88-key Graded Hammer Standard (GHS) keyboard
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s Features in-built metronome and stereo speakers
s Key-off samples, stereo sustain samples and damper resonance
s Lightweight design weighing only 12 kg
s Features standard ¼” variable output jacks
s Includes foot switch for sustain and music rest
s USB to Device port for song storage and playback s Includes sustain pedal and music rest
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IT’S MY LIFE THE EQUINE PERSUASION For those that aren’t up on their animal biology, a foal is a young horse. For those not up on their animal band names, here’s a bunch of band names inspired by our four-legged friends. BAND OF HORSES This Seattle five-piece were originally called Horses back in 2004. Three albums and numerous memberchanges later, they earnt a 2010 Grammy nomination for Best Alternative Album for Infinite Arms. AN HORSE This two-piece indie-pop group from Brisbane have released an EP and LP, supported the likes of Tegan & Sara and Death Cab For Cutie, and their name derives from an grammatical argument over the use of ‘an’ before words starting with ‘H’. Fact. THEY SHOOT HORSES DON’T THEY? This Vancouver band derived their name from the classic book of the same name, and released a couple of albums and an EP before calling it a day in 2008. NEW YOUNG PONY CLUB
FROM SPANISH SAHARAS TO SYDNEY BEACHES, FOALS DRUMMER JACK BEVAN REVEALS THAT HE’S UP FOR A SEA CHANGE WHILST TALKING TO SEVANA OHANDJANIAN. YET PERHAPS THAT’S BECAUSE HE DOESN’T HAVE A CLUE WHERE HE IS ANYWAY.
Not exactly horses, but close enough, this five-piece post-punk/disco enjoyed a heap of success with 2007’s Fantastic Playroom before a lull followed til the release of The Optimist in March last year. CELINE DION Not technically a horse, but…
W
hen Drum manages to get Foals drummer Jack Bevan on the phone he’s happy, well rested and just a touch confused. Asked where he is currently situated his response is, “I’m not really sure – we’re kind of in the middle of nowhere in the middle of France.”
It seems the change from British to Australian time did quite a number on the lads, with more time spent in bed than on the streets. “It was a real shame because we’d been so excited to go to well, basically everywhere. We’d aim to go out around 12 o’clock every day, but we’d just
to play to thousands of people and also the Laneway line-up is probably the best line-up I’ve seen all year, in terms of the kind of music that I like,” says Bevan. “It’s just an incredible festival so I’m really glad that we’re doing that as opposed to something bigger or more corporate.”
The reason behind this geographical confusion is that he is in fact mid-European tour, having conquered the UK, America and Australia earlier in the year. The Oxford five-piece are not big on taking breaks when the tide is in their favour. “I’m sure that there has been a week off at some point, but it doesn’t feel like we’ve had a proper break,” says Bevan. “It’s good. We like being busy and we like not being busy, so we’d rather be completely busy or be off rather than have just a couple of days here and a couple of days there. It’s been a pretty hectic year, but the response has been great so we’ve been enjoying it.”
I THINK WITH ANTIDOTES IT WAS A PREDOMINANTLY YOUNG CROWD, BUT NOW IT FEELS LIKE WE’RE GETTING OLDER PEOPLE, WHICH IS GREAT BECAUSE WE DON’T WANT TO BE SEEN AS A BAND FOR THE CHILDREN. NOT BEING FUNNY OR ANYTHING, BUT IT’S GREAT TO KNOW DIFFERENT AGE GROUPS AND DIFFERENT KINDS OF PEOPLE CAN BE INTO IT.”
A festival set does mean compromising though, with fewer long cuts from Total Life Forever to give way for more songs in a short space of time. “I think when we’ve only got 45 minutes or an hour – usual festival length – you try to cram in all the songs that the crowd seem to like the most,” says Bevan. “When we do our own shows we can play for an hour and a half; we can fit more of the atmospheric, more down tempo tracks.
The response he speaks of is the praise being heaped upon their second release, Total Life Forever – a record that blew all out of the water with its sparse sonic landscapes, a far cry from their staccato pop debut Antidotes. They arrived on our shores for the first time with the most recent Splendour In The Grass and the band couldn’t have been more surprised by the adulation they received. “It was amazing. We came first to Adelaide and we’d literally not been to bed. We flew straight over and played the show the same day, so our body clocks were shit but we were just blown away by the crowd,” says Bevan. “It was one of the best shows I can remember all year to be honest. It was just great. We had no idea what to expect because we’d never been out there before. “The only downside at all was that we were there for such a short time, the jetlag was too bad for us to do anything in the daytime. The audiences were wonderful, it was awesome and Splendour as well.”
12 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
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always fall asleep. I literally didn’t see any of Sydney because I was asleep the whole time,” says Bevan. Lucky for them (and for us considering their previous band tour didn’t make it to Perth) they’ll be returning to play the Laneway Festival circuit along with a couple of sideshows on the east coast, and it’s more than just another gig to Bevan. “It’s always good to be able
“Some of the tracks we really love playing are like 2 Trees and What Remains, but in a festival set you have to hold everyone’s attention because there’s a lot more casual listeners that will just leave if they’re getting bored or whatever. We generally play all the singles from both records and then a couple of the more cerebral tracks.” The shining example of a cerebral track is the undeniably beautiful Spanish Sahara. The centrepiece of their second record, the song is a six-minute opus of spacious percussion and lead singer Yannis Philippakis’ falsetto. Though it’s a sombre yet climaxing, aggressive affair on record, Bevan has found the audience interaction to be unique to the location. “That song gets a different reaction wherever we go,” says Bevan. “At some festivals we played this summer, people were literally sitting down at the beginning which was really nice; it was kind of a respectable thing. And then when the song kicked in they all jumped up.” Foals have seen their fair share of festivals this year, playing to seas of faceless people in numerous countries. However, their largest crowd was last year in a support slot for Britpop legends Blur and Bevan is willing to admit a touch of the nerves when it came to stepping onto the Hyde Park stage. “That was, even
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now, the most people we’ve ever played to. That was 65 000, so to see that many people in front of you watching is terrifying but awesome at the same time,” says Bevan. “But the thing with stage fright and nerves is it’s always the build up to the show, but as soon as you crack into the first song everything goes away and it’s great and especially if you’re getting a good reaction, you just start loving it. And when you’re playing to that many people, it just elevates that sense of enjoyment when it’s going well.” The numbers may have grown from the house parties they used to play in their early days, but Bevan has also noticed a change in the sorts of faces appearing in the crowd at their concerts. “I think we definitely have a more varied fanbase, which is good. I think with Antidotes it was a predominantly young crowd – and there’s nothing wrong with that – but now it feels like we’re getting older people, which is great because we don’t want to be seen as a band for the children. Not being funny or anything, but it’s great to know different age groups and different kinds of people can be into it.” Considering Total Life Forever’s mid-2010 release, one has to wonder whether Foals will be bringing the same show down for round two or if they’ll whip out some new songs. Fans will be pleased to know the latter is more than likely. “Actually we’re coming to Australia in the beginning of January to spend a month of writing and recording, so hopefully by the time that we play we would have recorded quite a lot. We’re looking for somewhere to live in Bondi Beach, so give us a shout if you know of anywhere!” WHO: Foals WHAT: Total Life Forever (Transgressive) WHEN & WHERE: St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival – Saturday 12 February, Perth Cultural Centre, Northbridge
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GOOD THINGS COMING AFTER BEGINNING HIS MUSICAL CAREER AS AN MC, ALOE BLACC MADE THE JUMP TO SINGER/ SONGWRITER AND, AS HE TELLS CYCLONE, IT WAS A DECISION NOT MADE EASY AND WITH LITTLE HELP FROM HIS SURROUNDING FRIENDS AND PEERS.
F
ounded by DJ/producer Peanut Butter Wolf, a.k.a Chris Manak, Stones Throw Records has long been hailed as a hub for ‘true skool’ hip hop, but these days the Californian indie is yielding quality soul music. Its ‘instant vintage’ R’n’B roster is impressive, with acts as diverse as Aloe Blacc, Mayer Hawthorne and DamFunk. A self-styled storyteller, Aloe Blacc, born Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, began as a conscious MC in the outfit Emanon. However, listening to everyone from John Lennon to Donny Hathaway to Joni Mitchell, Dawkins decided that he could express more as a singer/ songwriter. Manak encouraged him. The beatmaker, too, has dabbled with singing – and word is that he actually suggested the late J Dilla have a go (Dilla laughed). Dawkins’ homies were skeptical. “Early on my closest friends in hip hop questioned my singing, but I quickly realised that my audience was growing when I started,” he says. “I didn’t take too much mind of my friends and the hip hop heads around me.”
In 2006, following an eponymous EP, Dawkins dropped his solo debut, Shine Through – a record referencing his Panamanian heritage with its inflections of salsa. Good Things, recorded in New York with the Truth & Soul collective, is his response to the GFC – and a repudiation of his brief corporate career. Nevertheless, it’s not all socially-driven fare. Dawkins delivers a smoky cover of The Velvet Underground’s Femme Fatale, another single. (He previously cut a Spanish version of John Legend’s neo-soul Ordinary People.) “It’s partially social and political, and part personal,” Dawkins says of his sophomore. “A few of the songs are quite intimate and discussing interpersonal relationships, and then the other songs are really discussing social issues, political issues, and economic disparity.” Mainstream hip hoppers have barely acknowledged the recession. Only The Roots ‘keep it real’ on last year’s How I Got Over. Many MCs are still obsessed with blingbling. Others, such as Drake, are preoccupied with the dark side of fame – not something the average listener can relate to. Dawkins believes that hip hop’s conscious voices are simply not being heard. “There are plenty of people trying to do [conscious rap],” he claims. “[But] record executives don’t give a fuck. Record executives wanna put out bullshit music basically for junior high kids. They don’t wanna take the risk of putting out music that matters to adults – because they just wanna go for the quick buck and they don’t wanna lose their jobs. Honestly. I know a few record executives who are guilty of it.” Dawkins has been influenced by progressive philosophers, from the American transcendentalists (and abolitionists) Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau through to the civil rights activist Cornel West and, um, Oprah Winfrey. Recent reads include John Perkins’ Confessions Of An Economic Hit Man. “I find that a really enlightening book,” he says. Dawkins then recommends Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers: The Story Of Success, which examines the social machinations behind any individual’s achievements. And he’s dipped into Naomi Klein’s The Shock Doctrine: The Rise Of Disaster Capitalism – a friend passed it to him. Dawkins rues that US consumers in particular don’t realise how they’re brainwashed – and don’t critique bling rap. Americans are not merely “conditioned to selfmedicate,” but they’re also programmed to consume “material that’s lacking substance.” “It’s almost like fast food – [we’re] just continuously stuffing ourselves with fast food without really looking for quality nourishment,”
Aloe Blacc’s posse was initially circumspect about his desire to switch from MCing to singing. Hip hop may liberally sample R&B, soul and funk, but in the ‘90s the music fought to maintain its own identity. With the surge of hardcore rap, R’n’B was considered soft (and girly). It was because of this that Puff Daddy proved such a divisive figure; he diluted rap with sung hooks. Still, even the Wu-Tang Clan’s very ‘street’ Method Man teamed with Mary J Blige for the crossover (and Grammy-winning) I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By. In the late ‘90s a new breed of MC emerged – one who half-sang, halfrapped. There was Ja Rule with his thug’n’B as well as Nelly. Today sing-song rap is commonplace – cue everyone from Akon to KiD CuDi to Drake. Some MCs have all but abandoned rap for R’n’B. The year before OutKast’s Andre 3000 unleashed The Love Below, Goodie Mob’s Cee Lo Green proffered the equally eccentric soul album Cee Lo Green And His Perfect Imperfections.
Happily, Dawkins is vindicated with his latest album, the message-laden Good Things, praised by media outlets like The Guardian. He has crossed over in Europe, thanks to the lead single I Need A Dollar, and secured a deal with Sony in the UK. “I think I’ve learnt how to be a better songwriter – that’s really what my goal was while I took a hiatus from being an MC and making hip hop music,” Dawkins says. “I also feel like I’ve learned a little bit about focus and direction. I think it’s important in my career to develop some focus so that my audience can have a more concrete idea of who I am as an artist.” Dawkins was born to Panamanian immigrant parents. He spent his early years on US military bases before settling in Orange County, California. Here, Dawkins was the sole black student at Laguna Hills High School – and he flourished. He majored in Psycholinguistics and Communications at the University of Southern California and on graduation worked as a business consultant. When Dawkins was laid off, he determined to pursue music. He emerged in the mid-‘90s as half of Emanon with DJ/producer Exile (Aleksander Manfredi). But, even with Emanon, Dawkins felt the urge to do a Cee Lo Green, slowly recasting himself as a soul cat. He was already singing on The Waiting Room.
RAPPAS TERNT SANGAS
Florida’s T-Pain began as a straight MC in the group Nappy Headz, but blew up with I’m Sprung – and the heavily auto-tuned LP Rappa Ternt Sanga. He dubbed his style “hard’n’B”.
I DIDN’T WANNA W O R K FOR THE MAN ANY MORE. I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO LOSE MY JOB AND I GOT TO START MY OWN BUSINESS, WHICH IS MY MUSIC.”
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he contends. “I think it happens in all of the entertainment.” Dawkins the entrepreneur understands the mechanics – and rationale – of capitalism. “It makes sense – as a business person I can see it clear as day. As an artist, I hate it!” He himself is currently listening to “a lot of psychedelic soul jazz from about 30 or 40 years ago,” citing Gene McDaniels. Ironically, I Need A Dollar, which The Guardian dubbed a “recession soul anthem”, is the theme to HBO’s TV series How To Make It In America. The program, starring KiD CuDi, is produced by the same team as Entourage. Dawkins appreciates having such a conduit for his music, given that he’s not attracting commercial radio spins Stateside. “In the film business, and the television business, you’ve got executives and music supervisors who are doing their jobs – who are valuing good music, talented artists, substance in material... That’s where things are going right. The music supervisors who have all been picking music for this TV show are wonderful. They pick really good music. They contacted several different labels for the theme and my label submitted my song and it got chosen. But almost all of the music they choose for the series is really good.” Has Dawkins watched How To Make It...? “I’ve seen the show,” he affirms. “I think it’s a quite honest depiction of twentysomethings in the cities – in Los Angeles and New York and Detroit, Chicago... It speaks to my life, because the two main characters are disillusioned with the American Dream – or at least with the status-quo. They don’t wanna just go get a job to work for someone
As a member of The Fugees, Lauryn Hill impressed with her mic skills, but it was her singing on Killing Me Softly that allowed the trio to conquer the pop charts. L-Boogie subsequently cut the neo-soul classic The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill.
else and live that kind of American Dream. They want the new American Dream – the entrepreneurial dream. They want to start their own company. That’s pretty much what I did. I didn’t wanna work for the man any more. I was lucky enough to lose my job and I got to start my own business, which is my music.” Over summer Dawkins is returning to Australia to support Good Things – this time accompanied by his band The Grand Scheme. And in 2011 Emanon will reunite for their first album since The Waiting Room six years ago. Dawkins remains close to Manfredi, who collaborated with MC Blu on the memorable Below The Heavens and, like Dawkins, issued a solo joint in 2006. “Exile and I have 30 songs recorded,” Dawkins reveals. “We’re ready to release another album this year – we just need to choose which [songs] will be on the album.” The tentative title? Birds Eye View. Beyond that, Dawkins wants to tell stories in new ways – and possibly act. “I feel like my goal is to tell stories. I like that I’ve been able to tell stories as a musician – a singer – so far, but I wanna do that in front of the camera or maybe behind the camera, maybe by publishing novels... But my strength is telling stories, so I’m gonna find ways.” WHO: Aloe Blacc WHAT: Good Things (Stones Throw) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 5 February, The Bakery, Northbridge
Since Hill, other female MCs have turned to singing – often under industry pressure. Indeed, with femcees rarely enjoying sustained success, it’s a survival strategy. The UK’s Ms Dynamite and Estelle both originated as MCs but are best known as singers, the latter reinventing herself with American Boy. Hip hop fans are increasingly more openminded. Ben Drew, aka Plan B, dreamt of being an R’n’B star – but, unsure of his romantic “bullshit”, changed to post-Eminem rap with joints like Kidz. But last year the Brit reverted to singing for the gritty soul The Defamation Of Strickland Banks – a critical and commercial triumph.
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •15
A HEALTHY GLOW LA NOISE MASTERS HEALTH ARE BROADCASTING THAT THEY’RE READY TO CREATE THEIR DEFINITIVE RECORD. AAROM WILSON INVESTIGATES JUST WHAT ON EARTH THAT COMMENT MEANS.
“W
e surely don’t want people to hate it,” laughs a very friendly and enthusiastic sounding Jake Duzsik of Health. “But, definitely, if it’s not your thing then it’s not your thing.” Indeed Health are one of those bands whose performances aren’t unknown for completely polarizing their audiences’ opinions. Case in point: their show at Beck’s Music Box for the Perth Festival early last year left this very scribe with enough love to feature as my #1 Best International Artist Performances of 2010, while it most likely featured in our Assistant Editor at the time’s worst five. Yet isn’t that what true art is all about? Exploding onto the LA noise scene a few years back, Health’s mix of abrasiveness, ADD-like energy and complex construction of melody was (and still is) quite unlike anything else around. And, although they don’t want people to hate them, they certainly aren’t afraid to create music that punches you square in the nose – and in a way that does lead to some detesting the band. After all, that’s what makes them so spellbindingly fascinating to watch and listen to, even on the occasions they are actually trying to shock people. “It’s really loud, and it’s aggressive, and we sometimes have constructed sets to be like that, I guess. You know, like when we went on tour with Nine Inch Nails we decided to open the set with just like pure absolute noise – just complete white noise – because we knew we were going to be encountering a lot of people who were just like, ‘what the fuck is this shit?!’ – like, ‘where is Trent Reznor? I wanna hear Closer’ and whatever, so we thought it was just better to acknowledge that. So our way of acknowledging that was going ‘well there’s probably going to be some of you who are going to like this and a lot of you who aren’t, so for those of you that are going to yell at us to get off stage, well this is kinda like us going ‘fuck you’. Sometimes you’ve just gotta do that.” Don’t confuse their past actions for their usual modus operandi; as their Music Box set attested to, their shows are normally dexyfuelled explosions of awe where they flip through a tonne of songs with more speed, skill and energy than a 100 metre Olympic sprinter propelled by fireworks. Duzsik reveals that their last tour running was in Mexico, where they recently played three of what he describes as their best shows ever. It’s no surprise given the intensity of Health seems well suited to the nation’s of tequila-soaked craziness. “We have fans there and they were excited that we were actually coming. ‘Cause, you know, especially in terms of what’s going on at the moment in Mexico – in terms of crime being out of control – that people have being staying way, including bands. It’s pretty funny someone told us that Napalm Death cancelled their tour because of safety issues. Which I thought was pretty un-metal.” Napalm Death, zero; Health, one. Health’s 2010 winning margin would be even greater if you consider their tour schedule for last year. Although they released an album featuring primo artists remixing their Get Colour album (including Gold Panda, Crystal Castles and CFCF), their global reign of smashing speakers was so wide it prevented them recording any more than new track USA Boys. After this tour though, Duzsik says they’ll be taking three months off to hit the studios. So what will the evolution of Health sound like? “It’s interesting, obviously we wrote a new single for our remix record and that kinda came out as like a pop song.” A Health pop song anyway. “Well yeah, it’s a weird song, but as far as melodic components and accessibility – it’s one of the most successful we’ve done. The last few we’ve also written have been kind of mellower, epic kinda rock songs.” Good indications of what the next Health album will sound like? “The way that the first album was more atonal and frenetic and schizophrenic and avant-garde, sort of giving away to the second album playing with repetition and melody more, and now there’ll be a similar trend in the third album where we wanna incorporate all those elements. The goal is to have a record that has more sort of singles on it; sort of like more instantly gratifying songs, but with our sound palette. “I think we’re at the point of the band where we’re ready to make our definitive record - that’s what it feels like.” Duzsik drops this bomb with confidence but also care. Alarm bells ring: So are Health planning on unshackling themselves from their youthful energy and maturing as a band – possibly chasing more mainstream ‘pop’ wallets? Well, no – it’s Health, after all… “It’s also just an element of maturing as songwriters and as musicians; always wanting to get better at what we do and still wanting to find crazy sounds that you don’t hear in other albums, but also wanting to construct songs that are emotive and gratifying but still heavy. You know, it’s just a process of discovery; figuring out who you are as a band.
VILLA NIGHTCLUB SATURDAY 22 JANUARY 2010 SUPPORTED BY
JMC, OLI MIND ELECTRIC
Doors Open at 10pm.
Tickets: $27 + BF. Available from: Planet Video, Mills and Moshtix Outlets (1300 GET TIX) and online from www.moshtix.com.au. LIMITED VIP TICKETS: $40. Available exclusively through the Boomtick SHOP www.boomtick.com.au More information: events@boomtick.com.au www.youtube.com/user/BoomtickTV www.facebook.com/kaskade
“It’s not like our band has ever been like ‘Hey, we’re gonna start a garage rock band’ and then from there you’re pretty much set in your structure. It’s been a long process of us figuring out what we do. When we started it’s like ‘okay, every song has to be different and has to be based on a different idea’. Whereas now we’re comfortable referencing ourselves, but also more comfortable with, like – with the third record the vocals will be clearer, more melodic parts. But we don’t want to say... I hate it when bands say ‘this one’s our pop album’. Whenever anyone says that, the album’s a piece of shit.” Of course a Health album is never going to be a ‘pop’ record, which is exactly what makes this concept even more exciting. Duzsik explains that this tour will have a few new songs since last year, and it will be a longer set to keep the Australian fans happy – something which saw them copping some heat. “Yeah, in Australia last time, we particularly got that a lot. We talked to our label out there and we agreed we’ll definitely play at least an hour on this next tour – which we never do that because, um, for me,“ he grimaces, “after an hour I’m fuckin’ bored, even if I absolutely love the band.” WHO: Health WHEN & WHERE: Friday 14 January, The Bakery, Northbridge
16 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
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ZOMBIEWAVE WEREWOLF WOMEN, JESUS FRANKENSTEIN, ALICE COOPER AND CREATIVE CONTROL? TRISTAN BROOMHALL WELCOMES YOU TO THE TWISTED WORLD OF ROB ZOMBIE.
I
t’s been 25 years since Rob Zombie, then studying art and design in New York City, formed White Zombie around a dark vision of a horror filled, b-grade movie world. Since then he’s been nothing short of a creative powerhouse, succeeding as an artist, musician, director, writer and anything else he daubs violently with his goresoaked brush. He’s an imposing figure and I’m wracking my mind to recall his last tour, drawing a blank except for a recollection of a tour circa Astro Creep 2000 in 1995, so I settle on stating he hasn’t toured Australia heavily in the past. “Heavily toured would be the understatement of the world,” replies Zombie. “I’ve been to Australia once, and I don’t exactly remember when, but there’s an easy way to check – the day we played in Australia was the day the verdict in the OJ Simpson trial came out. I remember sitting in the hotel room and watching that, whatever day that was, whatever year that was. I haven’t been back since.” He may have neglected touring Australia in the years since releasing that eponymous album, but fans of Zombie’s have not been left wanting for more albums since he finished with White Zombie in 1998. His solo venture erupted that year with Hellbilly Deluxe..., two more albums in the following decade, and that brings us to last year and Hellbilly Deluxe 2: Noble Jackals, Penny Dreadfuls & The Systematic Dehumanization Of Cool. After delays releasing Hellbilly Deluxe 2... while he completed commitments to his film, Halloween II, the album finally reached fans in February 2010. Around the same period long-time drummer Tommy Clufetos departed and Zombie enlisted Joey Jordison (Slipknot , Murderdolls), and with a new lineup there was a re-issuing of the album in September.
I STARTED GETTING INTO ALICE COOPER AND KISS WHEN I WAS IN LIKE SECOND GRADE. SO ALL THE GROUNDWORK FOR MY BRAIN WAS ALREADY LAID BY THEN.”
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“It’s pretty simple really. Roadrunner [Records] is really big on putting out these deluxe editions of records and they came to us and asked,” explains Zombie. “So I said ‘sure.’ But what I didn’t want to do is just stick on a pile of leftover songs, or remixes, live stuff. So what we did, when we had a little time off during the tour, we went into the studio with Joey on drums, who didn’t play on the rest of the record, and we recorded three new songs, re-sequenced the record and put on a live video of me and Alice Cooper doing School’s Out, and also a tour documentary that we shot when we did the Alice Cooper tour. We redid the whole package, redid everything; if we were gonna bother making a special edition, I wanted to make sure it was special!” Touring the U.S. on the same bill as Alice Cooper isn’t that unusual and he’s spent a bit of time on the road with the legend this year. “We’ve done two tours this year. We did one about six months ago maybe, the Gruesome Twosome tour with Alice, and that was phenomenal, we had a blast. And just a couple of months ago we did a tour called Halloween Hootenanny, with me and Alice again, so we’ve spent a lot of time together on tour this year.” As for Australian touring, he’ll have co-headline billing with Iron Maiden at this year’s mammoth Soundwave Festival. Has the aesthetic innovations and art that the NWOBHM heavyweights brought to heavy music influenced him in the past? “The impression was already set way before then. Alice Cooper was something that was pressed into me from back when I was a little kid. I mean, I started getting into Alice Cooper and Kiss when I was in like second grade, in the early, early ‘70s. So all the groundwork for my brain was already laid by then, Iron Maiden – they came much later.” Like Cooper, Kiss and Maiden, Rob Zombie’s known for producing some spectacular sleeve art and the stand-out factor with Zombie is it’s either his artwork, or he’s controlled the art direction intimately. “I think it’s very, very important. I’ve always spent a lot time with the album packaging, even though each year that goes by it seems to be a dying art. I like the idea, I still kind of live in a time when you’d buy a record and open it up and it’s really exciting. That’s why I find digital downloads such a bore.” That bespoke and personal approach to his art definitely flows into the video clips. “I haven’t worked with anybody ever. I’ve directed all the videos since the first White Zombie videos, back in ‘92,” he enthuses. The creative process that births songs like Werewolf Women Of The SS and Jesus Frankenstein is one of the more intriguing facets of the Rob Zombie picture, so I ask if he has something like a little black book of twisted ideas he jots into. “I never write lyrics in advance. It always works the same sort of way, we always go into the studio with no music at all and we write pretty fast, over the course of a day. Sometimes we write and record the whole song in the one day,” explains Zombie. “For the most part, as soon as I start hearing any kind of music I’ll start picturing images in my mind. That’s how I’ll start writing lyrics, it just kind of comes to me, you know, when you hear music your mind just goes crazy, it’s easy. When I’m just sitting there with a blank piece of paper and no music, I find it virtually impossible to write lyrics.” With a festival dominating billing, Australian fans are hoping for something magical on stage to accompany a killer performance, but Rob’s a bit tentative about the staging details. “I’m not really sure at this point. Before we go to Australia we’ll be in England, and we’re shipping our entire show to England. We’re just trying to figure out the logistics of getting it from England to Australia fast enough. Our shows in England are all headlining shows by ourselves, but in Australia it’s a festival, so sometimes the logistics of having so many bands, you just can’t do your whole show. We’re trying to work it out.” WHO: Rob Zombie WHEN & WHERE: Soundwave – Monday 7 March, Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean
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THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 • 17
STRINGS ATTACHED CANADIAN STRING COMPOSER EXTRAORDINAIRE OWEN PALLETT, A.K.A FINAL FANTASY, TALKS TO BRYGET CHRISFIELD ABOUT LIVING WITH THREE PIANOS, POSSIBLY ILLEGALY, PRACTISING AS A RELAXATION TOOL AND TRAUMATIC ORCHESTRA DIRECTORS.
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escribing his “weird apartment” in Toronto, Owen Pallett (née Final Fantasy) confesses, “It’s kinda like a converted loft. It’s actually – I think it’s illegal [laughs], I don’t think we’re meant to be living here. I’ve got three pianos in the place so it’s got enough room for all my stuff.” And the acoustics? “Oh, they’re terrible. I don’t actually do any recording, I just sometimes do tracking, the demos, and writing and stuff.” It was a much more compact instrument on which Pallett commenced his musical studies. “I started playing [violin] very young… when I was three,” he recalls. “And I played it really actively as a pre-teen and then ‘round about when I was 13 or 14 year’s old I started to grow a little disenchanted with it, which was less a problem with the instrument and more just that I had – well, I was playing in the symphony and I had a bad experience from there. So, you know, I started to focus more on piano and guitar and other things and I only really came back to [violin] in my early 20s when I went to college.” These days, Pallett admits, “For the last while I’ve actually gone back to learning, just studies and stuff like that. Actually trying to pick up where I left off instead of trying to play stuff that’s out of my range.” It may be due to an obsession with Shine, the film based on the life of David Helfgott, but studying a classical instrument at virtuoso level seems to demand some form of internal struggle. “No,” Pallett disagrees outright. “To be honest with you it’s just a really beautiful experience, but I think the issue is: sometimes if you have, like, imagine if you have a bad teacher or a bad experience with fellow musicians – that’s one thing. But there’s nothing I enjoy more than practising, I love it. I try and do it every day. I mean, I don’t try and do it every day, I do it every day – any time I need to relax.” Back to Pallett’s aforementioned “bad experience”, which lead to him neglecting his chosen instrument for a spell. Does he think the symphony’s orchestral director was giving him tough love? “Um, I don’t know,” he considers. “I think he was actually just abusive [laughs]… The thing is, I didn’t grow up in Toronto and so I wasn’t studying in the big schools or with really good teachers. I mean, my teacher was wonderful in my town, but when I came I felt very much an outsider because, in the symphony, I was playing with a lot of students who were actually studying with the orchestral director and I felt very much, like, ostracised just because I felt he was picking on me. The thing is, since I’ve moved to Toronto and remain friends with all these people who I used to play in symphony with, I’ve found as an adult that actually everyone was rather traumatised by him. I’m not even sure whether he’s alive or dead now but he was a very, very dark person.” Although Pallett has been singing since he was a youngster, it’s on his A Swedish Love Story EP – a continuation of Heartland, which was the first record he released under his own name – that he finally feels “… confident about [his] vocal delivery.
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“But I’m not trying to make apologies for it, because most of my favourite records are made by crap singers, you know?” he laughs. “I was just at the Domino offices and I got the Orange Juice compilation and it’s so amazing, but nobody could really say that Edwyn Collins is a brilliant singer, you know what I mean?” It’s all about conveying emotion. “There’s so much emotion,” he gushes. “And such a wonderful delivery and I really just love it so much. And, I mean, there’s a lot of music by really brilliant singers that I really love but I feel as if – actually, I have this kind of pet theory that at least floats my boat, which is that it’s actually easier to make music and sing if you’re not a good singer. If you are a good singer then you can have tendencies towards vanity and you have tendencies towards trying to make songs that will maybe take advantage of your abilities as a vocalist. “It’s something that I try to kick against with my violin playing because I don’t want to have any sort of virtuosic moments where I’m just, you know, flying away with crazy double stops and stuff like that. I try and kind of keep it in check and try and create something that’s more interesting than hearing training or talent.” As well as working on his own material, Pallett has composed string arrangements for a plethora of artists including Arcade Fire, Beirut and Fucked Up. “I’ve actually worked on I think about 30 records now,” he estimates, “and sometimes I’m just going in and playing a fiddle solo on a country tune and other times I’m doing orchestrations for the entire record and then going in and producing and conducting the session myself.” On the dynamic of working with pre-existing material upon the band’s request, Pallett opines, “I actually really like it when I work as an arranger. I try and put on a mask a little bit, try and conceal my artistic intention and really think like a member of the band, or think like the songwriter, and I concentrate most on the favourite recordings of the person who made them. “And it’s actually more difficult to enter into a collaborative relationship when the record hasn’t been recorded yet and you’re trying to write songs for demos and stuff like that because then you have to represent yourself and put yourself into it.” Has Pallett ever arrived listened to the material and then thought the songwriter is trying to add strings to mask a weakness in the song structure? “Are you looking for some dirt?” Pallett chuckles. “Well a good example actually would be the Grizzly Bear record, Yellow House, ‘cause Ed [Droste] from the band had sent me I think six tracks of the nine or ten tracks on that album and was asking for strings on all of them. And I spent a lot of time listening to those tracks and I thought, ‘There’s really one song on this entire record that actually needs it – everything is so complete.’ And I ended up tracking strings on two tracks and one of them was Marla, which they used, and the other one was Little Brother, which they didn’t. It wasn’t because they were looking for some CPR on this record, because the record was already so damn good that the strings would’ve just like cluttered it.”
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WHO: Owen Pallett WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 22 January, Fly By Night, Fremantle 18 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
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RUBBERNECKING OVER 23 YEARS OF IMPROVISATION, THE NECKS HAVE MADE THEIR MARK AND, AS JASON KENNY DISCOVERS, EVEN BRIAN ENO IS TAKING NOTICE.
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he Necks are surely one of the more diverse groups this country has produced. Between them – pianist Chris Abraham, drummer Tony Buck and bassist Lloyd Swanton – they cover different continents, all with different projects on top of the improvised jazz of The Necks, meaning plenty of touring in 2010. “We did North America, Australia, we did another gig with Brian Eno this time at the Brighton Festival, and then a month later doing a full tour there [in the UK] which included a season of Foodcourt – the show we do with back-to-back theatre,” Swanton describes. “Between our own shows and the back-to-back thing and the series with Brian Eno, it’s challenging. We still do essentially what we do. Probably Brian’s thing pushes us furthest away from our essential concept because there’s many other musicians involved and we’re stopping and starting and not playing that one hour carpet that we tend to do. Still he got us in to do what we do, and we can see that he respects that and that’s what he wants so that’s what we give him.” To be invited to be part of a Brian Eno-curated festival is one thing; but to be invited to be part of a performance project that he’s running is something else. “Last year when he curated the Luminous Festival at the Opera House the final event was three 90-minute concerts in the one day, a thing called Pure Scenius which is a coinage of his which refers to the way mass movements occur like the way it’s not usually an individual who comes up with a bright idea, it’s a group. So it’s a scene.”
WE WOULD NEVER GO OUT ON STAGE AND SAY, YOU DO THIS AND I’LL DO THAT AND WE’LL SEE WHERE IT GETS US… WE GET ON STAGE, WE DON’T KNOW WHO’S GOING TO START.”
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The three 90-minute concerts, with half an hour break in between, pooled the talents of Eno himself, The Necks, guitarist Leo Abrahams and pianist Jon Hopkins who Eno collaborates with on his latest releases, with Karl Hyde from Underworld on vocals and spoken word. When Eno curated the Brighton Festival, he decided to restage the concerts and invited the trio to be part of it again. “It’s a definite feather in our cap but the really fantastic thing is that he’s great to work with. You can see why he’s such a successful collaborator because he’s so humble and so focused on getting the best out of the people he’s working with.” The three members of The Necks all have their separate projects – Abrahams notably has several projects running and spends most of his time in Berlin with his projects. Swanton admits that with his radio show, and as a member of the Alistair Spencer Trio and Phil Slater’s Quartet and his group The Catholics, he’s the Neck still most entrenched in traditional jazz. “The variety is quite stimulating,” Swanton says. “It’s pretty clear what The Necks is and we all have our own ideas on what’s likely to work and what isn’t. Having said that, we’re all moving forward as creative musicians. We’re all still surprising each other and delighting each other on stage when we get back together. I can’t really put it into words but I can very clearly grasp the evolution of the three of us as individual musicians over the 23 odd years we’ve been together.” Their shows start with one of the group generally playing a simple line, to which everyone adds their own part as the piece builds over the hour or so. The pieces are pure improvisation. “We would never go out on stage and say, you do this and I’ll do that and we’ll see where it gets us. Even though that’s a valid form of improvising, by setting a few guidelines, we don’t do that. That’s the essential part – we get on stage, we don’t know who’s going to start.” The approach is the same when the group head into the studio, and another studio release is planned for 2011. “It was nerve racking when we first did it in public,” Swanton says. “It was nerve racking when we had about a year off. It was nerve racking when we first did it overseas. But in each of those instances we found within ten or fifteen minutes that the system is more or less indestructible so we just keep reaching higher with it.” The nature of the pieces, as they grow and develop during the performance, mean that no piece is ever the same. It is not uncommon for audience members to experience some spiritual epiphany. “I like to think that one of the nice things about our band is that there are many levels on which people can enter the music,” Swanton says. “You can listen very mechanically and think, we’ll he’s just added a note to that pattern, how’s he going to respond to that and really look at the nuts and bolts. That’s what we sort of do as the creators of the music, we have to take care of the nuts and bolts at times. You can be in a state of total distraction on the verge of some spiritual epiphany and everything between. And you can have a range of those experiences in the one piece.” One recording that drew the group much attention was their soundtrack for The Boys in 1998. Although Abrahams has contributed to soundtracks including The Tender Hook, The Necks have had little more to do with them. Sometimes it came down to scheduling conflicts, but it’s also down to the nature of their music. “A lot of people describe our music as cinematic. I can see what they mean but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the music automatically transfers to any piece of cinema. A work of cinema has hits own parameters dramatically and visually and in so many ways and what we do musically on our own has its own inner logic that has to be followed.” Perhaps the solution is for the film to be written around the music, instead of the other way? “Maybe that’s the way to go,” Swanton says. “I’d be delighted to talk to filmmakers who want to take a piece of our music and make a film around it rather than the other way around.” WHO: The Necks WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 26 & Thursday 27 January, The Bakery, Northbridge.
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THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 • 19
THE NATURE OF VEGAS
SAILING AWAY
WITH A NEW BASE OF OPERATIONS IN THE USA, POP VETERANS HUMAN NATURE RETURNED TO AUSTRALIA WITH THEIR LATEST STUDIO ALBUM – A TRIBUTE TO THE SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF THEIR NEW HOME. ANDREW TIERNEY SPEAKS TO KITT DI CAMILLO ABOUT FLIPPING THE SCRIPT IN LAS VEGAS.
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ith over seven million album sales to their name in a career spanning eight studio albums, Human Nature have made an art form out of defying expectations. From their humble beginnings as a doo-wop quartet and the breakthrough hit of debut album Telling Everybody, to the boy band years of the late ‘90s and their career resurgence with the recent Motown records, the four high school friends continue to surprise with their sheer persistence and longevity. After more than two decades together the outfit have now reached another career high – a two year residency at the prestigious Imperial Palace Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas performing their Motown-based show presented by the legendary Smokey Robinson. Both a celebration of the band’s new life and a continuation of their previous three Motown inspired LPs, the band’s new album Vegas: Songs From Sin City is an uplifting selection of tracks that pay homage to the city they now call home. As experienced and professional an act as they are though, the bright lights and debauchery of Sin City still seem an odd fit for the clean cut boys from Bankstown, NSW. According to band member Andrew Tierney though, the move to Vegas was as much of a surprise to the group themselves as it was to their long time Australian fans. “We’re four white Aussies doing American music,” he explains. “Obviously we love it and we feel we do it with integrity, but we just wondered how American audiences would take that. So initially we were kind of thinking, yeah what an amazing idea, but you know, as if that’s ever going to happen. Things just started to fall into place and it kind of kept moving that way.” Speaking the morning after their recent show in Kings Park with the WA Symphony Orchestra, Tierney appears both proud and genuinely humbled by their
YOUNG CANADIAN DJ/PRODUCER DATSIK BLASTED FROM DUBSTEP NEWBIE TO HYPE PRODUCER IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE WITH HIS BOOMING MECHANICAL PRODUCTIONS. THE SELFDESCRIBED SOUND GEEK IS SO FRESH HE EVEN EXPERIMENTED BY DROPPING ENYA’S SAIL AWAY IN ONE OF HIS SETS. DAVID KNIGHT FINDS OUT WHY, AND WHERE HE’S HEADED. overwhelming success in the Nevada city. The Imperial Palace’s 653 seat showroom has appropriately been renamed The Human Nature Theatre, while the city’s Mayor Oscar Goodman even announced a Human Nature Day. “It was kinda bizarre,” laughs Tierney, “Everything they do in Vegas is bigger and better than anywhere, so declaring a day Human Nature Day is just par for the course over there. The day was actually admittedly the day we signed our new two year deal with the casino, so it was kind of a big celebration. But yeah, May 11 2010 was officially Human Nature Day in Las Vegas. It was pretty funny.” Friendship is the dominant theme that comes across in much of what Tierney says. The group have stayed close mates since their school days, and have seen the band change from a group of young pop stars to well respected Australian veterans. Their first ARIA win in 2006 after fifteen nominations is still a highlight for Tierney, vindication after two decades in an industry that always appeared reluctant to give them their dues. “I guess you kind of fight against a little bit of cynicism every now and again because we’re pop and kind of unashamedly so,” he explains. “In Australia it’s very much the rock band [culture] and maybe we’re kind of an odd taste here. But I think the hard work and the touring and just constantly sticking to our guns we’ve had that respect in the industry and in the media. And the Vegas story has been such a great one for us and I guess it keeps adding to the different belief in us. It’s nice to come home and feel that.” WHO: Human Nature WHAT: Vegas: Songs From Sin City (Sony)
ORIGINAL SINNERS
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The honesty in local recordings that comes from bands doing what they know best often results in truly original recordings and the laborious process makes work like Sins’ shine. “I pretty much took care of everything myself, except for the photography. We didn’t want to do something way over the top, we wanted to stick to the self-titled sort of theme throughout the whole thing,” explains Corica. “Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin’s, that’s an easy example, Doors, all those kind of bands had self-titled debut albums and we wanted to kind of follow that theme, not to try and put us in that sort of category, but it’s just what we’re fans of, it’s a homage to that sort of thing.” A recent change settled the line-up and brought vocalist Jack into the band. “A year and a half ago now,” says Corica. “Our previous vocalist, Mick, he was from Dethlahem, another local band. He took a job offshore, so it didn’t work out. When Jack joined us, he was referred to us from other mates in other bands. His brother’s actually Cain, from Malignant Monster and The Amenta, it runs in the family I think – he’s got just 20 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
This looks to be the only misstep in Datsik’s booming career. Under the Rottun Recordings banner he has blasted out immensely popular and huge sounding mechanical-edged dubstep or robo-step tracks, including once having five of the top 10 selling dubstep tracks on the Beatport dubstep chart at the same time – not bad for a producer who dropped his first release in 2009. The former hip hop head was converted to the ‘step after vibing on it at a festival in his native British Columbia. “It was pretty much an instant conversion. I love hip hop and I was doing it for some time but it wasn’t exactly doing it for me as much anymore after I heard dubstep on a proper system. Basically the production quality, the cool sound design and the ability to step outside of my comfort zone and try something crazy was enough to convert me.” Soon after the conversion, Datisk hooked up with fellow Canadian and Rottun boss Excision with the Swagga, before Boom and Calypso became genre classics and the rest, as the say, is history. “It’s interesting working with Jeff [Excision] because we approach things from two different angles. A lot of the time we will have something that sounds super heavy metal-ish and I will step in and kind of make it more hip hoppy or give it some bounce or vice-versa. It’s a cool way to approach
projects and it makes us both more skilled, as we learn things from each other all the time. He definitely helped out when I was starting by giving me a lot of important tips when it came to mix downs. In my opinion, that was the most important thing I learned from him.” Datsik’s technical prowess could see him termed the Noisia of dubstep with his mechanical productions that sound like they were smashed together by huge machines on a heavy duty production line. “I’ve always been kind of a geek when it comes to cool sounds and I’ve always loved robots and mechanics and stuff. I really was just kind of experimenting with it and when I started I realised it hadn’t really been done before, so I just kind of rolled with it. Of course I also take a lot of influence from hip hop and some from metal but really dubstep is all about experimenting and trying new things. I think that’s why I am so passionate about it!” Datsik hasn’t forgotten his hip hop roots. Hip hop will influence his new ‘drumstep’ productions that will involve hip hop MCs. “At the moment I’ve been obsessed with this new kind of sub genre that seems to be emerging – ‘drumstep’. It’s basically half-time d’n’b with a super upbeat kind of feel. I approach it more from the dubstep and hip hop side of things, so for me it’s basically spedup dubstep, which keeps people on their feet and on the dancefloor. We are working with some big vocalists and MCs at the moment... Can’t really say much more at this point but it should be big.” WHO: Datsik WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 13 January, Shape, East Perth
THE NEXT WEAPON
PERTH’S POTENT METAL SCENE BREEDS SOME UNHOLY TALENTS AND SINS OF THE FATHER HAVE HONED THEIR DARK CRAFT, CULMINATING IN THEIR DEBUT LP. TRISTAN BROOMHALL CATCHES UP WITH GUITARIST MATT CORICA AHEAD OF THE QUINTET’S LAUNCH THIS WEEKEND. ith heavy stoner vibes, rolling waves of riffage and vocals that range the tortured depths of the human condition, Sins Of The Father expansive spanning of the metal spectrum places them firmly in any number of camps. With a few years and a truckload of gigs under their belts, the debut album’s an honest embodiment of where the band’s been and where their travelling. According to guitarist Matt Corica, that was always the group’s intention. “Self-titled is supposed to be representational of our strengths, being a first album, we’re not going to do something conceptual from the get-go – we just want to lay a bit of a foundation first and give people an idea of what to expect.”
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ell, it was very late at night/early in the morning and I was blasting through some deeper tunes,” explains Datsik, real name Troy Beetles, on dropping the new age coma-inducing track. “I mixed it with another tune with a super heavy sub bass, so it didn’t really seem out of place [laughs]. But yeah, definitely weird still. I don’t know what I was thinking.”
WHILST THE REST OF ENGLAND GROUND TO A HALT IN THE MIDST OF BLIZZARDS, UK BREAKBEAT CHAMPIONS STANTON WARRIORS WERE GOING FULL THROTTLE ON THEIR NEW AND LONGOVERDUE FULL-LENGTH ALBUM. NINA BERTOK IS TOLD THE RESULTS ARE GONNA BE WELL WORTH IT. as brutal voice, different styles of metal, but he blended in perfectly.” After a few attempts at getting something down and out of the studio the group had success at Depth Studios, finding opportunities to explore different ideas on the fly. “We started on this album around September, 2009. We had all the songs pretty much done and we’d been playing them since we started 2007, but being in the studio opens you up to quite a bit of experimenting. With one song, that’s kind of just an acoustic number, like in the vein of Planet Caravan sort of thing, that was all just kind of improvised on the spot. We got about six of us in this tiny little room that we ended up sound-proofing, putting up wooden panels and making it sound really cool. We all just crammed in there and jammed out this song, that made it on there.” At eleven tracks there’s certainly a variety of ideas on the disc, but also an overall aesthetic that ties everything in succinctly, and Corica looks towards the end of the disc for one of the best moments. “For myself, the last track on there, Black Cat, I wrote that song and had lyrics for it beforehand, but when we got our new singer, he kind of added another theme to it. That’s one my favourites musically, but the theme to it, I wasn’t too keen on it, but I have to let the others in the band have a bit of freedom as well. It’s just different tuning to the rest of the album, we’re massive fans of Mastodon and Baroness, all the prog sort of stuff, and that song’s in that vein, drop-A tuning and all.” WHO: Sins Of The Father WHAT: Sins Of The Father (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 14 January, Amplifier Bar, Perth
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e’re always keen to work with people who aren’t big yet, but who are getting there,” says Dominic Butler, one half of UK breakbeat champs Stanton Warriors. “We figure if we get them involved in what we do, it’s always good for us as well when they do become big one day. I suppose it’s a process of discovery in some ways, even though I don’t like to think of it that way. “Another cool thing is that you actually get to learn something new from these guys. But a good example is The Streets who we worked with back in 2000. At that time he was just getting airplay on pirate radio, and look at him now. I do like to think that we played some part in that, however little it may have been. The great thing is that you can get some really cool underground artists who are established in the underground but not many people have heard of them otherwise.” It’s not just the undiscovered gems that Stanton Warriors are keen to unearth. For Butler and fellow production partner Mark Yardley it’s becoming just as common to collaborate with mega stars like M.I.A. and the Black Eyed Peas. In fact, being cooped up in the duo’s studio over the past winter also led to some unexpected remixes, which Butler claims are always handy as additional B-sides if not future radio hits. “We managed to do about five remixes for M.I.A, the Black Eyed Peas and Kele [Okereke] from the Bloc Party. It’s always good to do some remixes on the side when you can because it just means you have some extra tracks in the box for your DJ set. You also never know if the track might end up on radio eventually. But it’s the album that we’ve been working on forever now. It’s good in a sense that we’ve taken our time because we couldn’t possibly have more confidence in all 30 of the tracks that we’ve done.”
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So far, the majority of them have got the crowd’s seal of approval, Butler is happy to say. He also adds the key is to remember your audience rather than solely focus on what you want to put out there. “There are a lot of stubborn producers out there who insist on sticking to the traditional format of an album,” explains Butler. “You’ve got to wake up! Some people might approach an album by listening to it as a whole, but that’s pretty rare these days. There is a whole new generation – the iPod kids – who don’t listen to albums anymore! They just don’t, okay? They listen to tracks now, which means that as an artist it’s your responsibility to create 10 tracks that can stand on their own. Not many club guys can make albums. Some guys should just stick to singles, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.” Fear not however, Butler assures Stanton Warriors aren’t about to turn completely mainstream just yet. No sir, it seems they learned their lesson well back in 2002. “We had some big problems in the past with people trying to change us up,” recalls Butler. “About eight years ago we signed a massive money deal with Universal. You know how it goes, though, there’s always a catch, isn’t there? They just kept trying to change whatever we made and they wanted this and that and they were like ‘electro clash is cool’ and we were like ‘fucking what?’ What we came up with in the end – well they didn’t want to put our music out so we ended up leaving. “Turns out those same tracks that we wanted to make but couldn’t at the time actually became very successful tunes.” WHO: Stanton Warriors WHEN & WHERE: Tuesday 25 January, Villa, East Perth
MANHATTANS Tuesday 18th January YO YO STUDIO Wednesday 19th January MOJOS BAR Thursday 20th January TICKETS ONSALE NOW THROUGH HEATSEEKER.COM.AU THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •21
cd reviews
ON THE RECORD
CD OF THE WEEK
FREEBASS
KILLING JOKE
KISSES
Hacienda Records
Spinefarm/Universal
Pod/Inertia
It’s A Beautiful Life, the long awaited debut album form Manchurian supergroup Freebass, may be the inherent symbol of their demise, with announcements of breakups and online spats killing the project before its full realisation. The first two indie tracks It’s Not Too Late and The Only Ones Alone are well crafted pop songs with a forced feel where hit value rather than producing tracks of substance appear to be the order of the day.
Killing Joke are back with their first full length studio album in almost four years and from the very first track Absolute Dissent’s lyrical conceptualisation is delivered by Jaz Coleman with a brutal yet flawed honesty. Much of the subject matter is contemporary and cerebral, dealing with everything from genetically modified food to stock market crashes, yet much of it comes across as slightly clichéd. The Great Cull, which Coleman begins with “Thomas Malthus Eugenics are alive and kicking/ Nutrients and vitamins extract from edible goods,” is a perfect example of the overwrought nature of the lyrical content. The first three tracks leads to this clichéd feel with the riffs lacking clean rhythmic structures and the production at times muddy and rushed.
The cover of Kisses’ debut album proclaims this Los Angeles duo to be tantamount to the result of The Whitest Boy Alive jamming with Belle & Sebastian or New Order, and it’s actually a fairly neat description. Unfortunately, the progeny of this imagined coupling is a rather vapid young thing, glowing with surface appeal but lacking substance. The current musical climate is at their back, however, and while the low-fi, breezy pop saturating the market is starting to reach critical mass, The Heart Of The Nightlife won’t be its first casualty.
It’s A Beautiful Life
However after this banality the album then becomes fat and funky when the World Won’t Wait hits the Eustachian tubes. This track is one of the numerous highlights of the middle section of the album with crisp drums, inspired basslines layered effortlessly over wellcrafted lyrics. Guitar sounds ala New Order’s Crystal era to reggae-inspired bottom end continue to impress on Killswitch Pt 141, Stalingrad and Secrets & Lies – three tracks that remind, but don’t derive from, The Smiths and The Stone Roses. However It’s A Beautiful Life then strays back into seemingly weak track selection by a stellar line-up of musicians who are capable of delivering so much more. Tracks such as Sister Surrender and I’m A Believer leave you wanting more of the sweet middle section.
Absolute Dissent
The Heart Of The Nightlife
However with the old school brutality of the first quarter of the album, the nu-metal of European Super State is backed up by more modern riffery with This World Hell dragging Absolute Dissent kicking and screaming into the modern age. These add a much-needed diversity to the tracks and show the group still willing to explore new sonic ideas.
Opening track Kisses is pleasant enough, its synthesised lines gliding together as singer Jesse Kivel implores you to, “... keep your heart strong/and live long/and give kisses when you can.” Pretty basic stuff, really, but he’s not the first to ruminate on love so simply. Such is the similarity of the tracks that they can only be measured on the potency of their melodies, and on that basis Bermuda is at the head of the pack. Again, Kivel’s voice wafts over innocuous beats in what is, to all intents and purposes, a replica of the song that preceded it. In much the same manner as Erlend Øye, his vocal delivery suffers from an idiosyncratic, unwavering sameness that is almost a hindrance – it’s good, but not great, and so distinct that you can barely tell one track from the next.
With simmering tension as its underlying watermark, it’s an album that misses the target in many ways yet contains enough gems to be a worthy addition to any collection. If for nothing more it’s an important album due to the pedigree of the contributing musicians who deserve the plaudits for their indelible influence on the modern music.
The Raven King is the act’s tribute to now passed bass player and founding member Paul Raven. It is a slower heartfelt moment and one that displays some of the albums best lyrics. While not perfect in any sense of the word, Absolute Dissent does touch some rare moments of former glory and will delight the diehard fans who have waited patiently for a new album. It also has to be said that the album cover displaying a mobile phone tower crucifix is both powerful and thought provoking – much like the band is at their best points.
CHRIS ARCHIBALD
CHRIS ARCHIBALD
RICK BRYANT
THE BEES
THE DAMNED THINGS
THIEVERY CORPORATION
Fiction/Universal
Island Def Jam/Universal
Isle of Wight six piece The Bees are one of the more unassuming bands on the planet, and unfortunately I can’t see their fourth release Every Step’s A Yes really changing that. These guys have had some decent hits, like 2004’s Chicken Payback which was used on several TV commercials in the UK. But, where the album that song came from, Free The Bees, was brimming with life and vitality with its mainly ‘60s-style rock, this one is a quieter effort that’s mostly content to meander along and only flies on a few occasions.
What do you get when you mix two parts of Anthrax, two unsoured parts of Fall Out Boy and the iconic vocals of Every Time I Die’s Keith Buckley? Exactly what you’d expect – a damn fine collection of classic, heavy rock tracks. The Damned Things aren’t just a mash up of everything you love about all three bands but something brilliant in their own right. Whilst the band has received attention through their past endeavours, it won’t take them any further.
Every Step’s A Yes
That this album is a more acoustic effort probably isn’t too surprising considering Queen Bee Paul Butler has spent lots of time in a Peruvian rainforest lately, while also hanging with Devendra Banhart. The first three songs are pretty promising though. I Really Need Love is a boppy, acoustic opener while the slow-burning Winter Rose combines psychedelic folk with a Caribbean groove. Silver Line is more introspective and has a nice melody to it, but from there most of the tracks are pretty unremarkable. They may have some nice sections to them, but on the whole they’re plodding acoustic numbers. The exception is final track and album highlight Gaia, which sprints to the finish line with its latin feel and mariachi horns. This song really leaves you wanting more and shows what good songwriters The Bees can be. The problem is that for the most part, they don’t show this here. It’s a real shame for this could have been a big opportunity to raise the profile of a very talented group. Instead, I think it leaves The Bees at a crossroads. PAUL BARBIERI 22 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
Ironiclast
Opening track Handbook For The Recently Deceased is an absolute perfect choice to kick off the album. Featuring Buckley’s brilliant rock vocals, dirty punk guitars and a heart-pumping beat it thrusts everything in your face before slowing and allowing you a chance to digest your thoughts. Title track Ironiclast and We’ve Got A Situation Here, push and pull their way through thick guitars and gravel screams until they becomes punchy rock. While the pairing of three bands from seemingly very different genres may seem unusual, the end product makes you wonder why it took so long to happen. Pure rock is left in the hands of ‘80s bands, with the rest unable to stop themselves from falling down the poppunk/emo realm, but The Damned Things are bringing it back, with a hint of anguish, a cup of kick arse guitar solos and a shit load of talent. Though it may not knock you off your feet, each song is a great mix of all that rock offers and so damn catchy it’s impossible to stop. The only hope is that, unlike so many supergroups gone before them, they actually take this album out on the road and all the way to Australia. KATE STEPHENS
This opening stab by Kisses is a noble effort, but their intent is far too obvious. With time they may seek to take a sonically deeper path, but should they choose not to, you’d have to suspect their next release would not survive on its strength alone.
It Takes A Thief: The Best Of Thievery Corporation ESL Music/Shock
After achieving a solid base of success in their first 15 years, Thievery Corporation have returned with a ubiquitous ‘best of’ compilation. It is an easy listen in the deeper sense, giving a summation of the effortless musicality of this still somewhat under-heralded duo. Beginning with the dub-infused Amerimacka, the release is well thought out in its track choice with slower, more ethereal selections leading to more up-tempo tracks toward the middle. Chosen specifically by the artists, the builds are DJ rather than marketing inspired.
SHACKLETON Fabric 55 Fabric/EMI
Whilst bass pioneers the globe over have been forging new directions in dubstep, often toward lighter, funkier pastures, those first attracted to the genre by its uncompromising attitude and low growling subs, should flock to Shackleton’s latest opus like demonic hoodrat minions to salute their new mystikal master. The latest instalment in the esteemed mix series of London uber-club Fabric features the Lancashire ripper splicing nothing other than his own recordings; from early salvos to new, specially prepared cuts. The final product is a seamless, deftly constructed bass opera, where the detailed preparations and subtle sonic tweaks contribute to what feels like a single 70-minute act. Shackleton sources dubstep’s street-tough demeanour and with a rare talent for earworm rhythms, guides it into more sinister territory. Never mind the intense, low growling subs, whose notes ooze indistinguishably into each another. Never mind the devotional chanting that rises up where you least expect. It’s the revamping of dubsteps’s skeletal, kick-snare beats with a spellbinding network of tribal drums that threatens to transport the listener into the midst of some occult ceremony. Whilst this music may be a shade too complex to work on most dancefloors, no doubt there’s an extremist cult somewhere deliriously devouring this. Driven by his own formidable vision, Shackleton has not so much outdone the competition as made voodoo dolls of it. CHRISTOPHER H JAMES
TWIN SHADOW Forget
4AD/Inertia Dominican-born Brooklynite George Lewis Jr, a.k.a Twin Shadow, makes for an intriguing mix of contradictions. Forget, his maiden album, rakes over numerous lovelorn confessions and despite impossible odds, remains rather optimistic. Loaded with tender lyrical musings, when performed live his songs are injected with high energy, transforming them into confident, outwardly focused music, yet they remain unable to lose that inexplicably lonely feeling.
All That We Perceive begins the march into more uptempo yet still lounge-driven fair and provides some of the crispest beats on the album. Followed up by the laid back house of Air Batucada it quickly becomes evident that during their career Rob Garza and Eric Hilton have rarely been just a valium-induced one trick pony.
Perhaps due to some occasionally blurry production, Lewis has been lumped in with the chill wave movement, a tag seemingly no band wants to claim. The overall wooziness, that typifies many less inspired examples of the genre, is avoided through a lively rhythm track, featuring sporadic salsa, compressed ‘80s drum sounds and the odd overdriven guitar solo. The most idiosyncratic feature though may well be Lewis’ voice, which elongates vowel sounds into a faintly mopey croon. He comes across as a slightly less sun shy Morrissey, with a touch of open-shirted sexiness. Lyrically though, they’re poles apart – Lewis ladles out an unpredictable mix of quixotic, slightly Duran Duranesque imagery, such as castles in the snow and driving with eyes closed, that flirts with the boundaries of pretentiousness but just about stays enjoyable.
This release highlights the best of Thievery Corporation in a definitive way yet will also gain more familiarity with its easy sonic palette providing a soothing backdrop to stressed urban lives. Its cadence is one that will sit well behind many a chilled day at home, or be found within the walls of your favourite café.
Painstakingly developed in Lewis’ apartment – ‘bedroom disco’ may be a more apt label. An intimate bedroom disco can be pretty darned exciting given the right mix of people. Regardless of whichever classification applies, Twin Shadow’s clear, well-orchestrated vision has enough individuality to stand apart from the crowd.
CHRIS ARCHIBALD
CHRISTOPHER H JAMES
Lebanese Blonde continues the slow burning trend, highlighting the duo’s Middle Eastern influences. This is one of the many tracks that have been infused into the media consciousness. The act takes pride in offering their music for many a soundtrack and TV show. It’s a smart move and one that instils familiarity with their catalogue even if not consciously aware of the creator of the tracks.
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THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •23
WAKS TRA K
CULAR CTA PE
LEASE SUN E R DA TH YS 0 1 S
MAMA SAYS YES! (Live) MICAH · BEN MAC · TOM DRUMMOND · AD-LUSTRE KAPITOL P · DJ FUNKYBOTTOMS · PAUL PERRAZ · DOC SPIN SOUL PURPOSE · AB+ · T-MAC & S.O.S.
Sunday 23rd Jan 3pm -10pm Free entry! Wembley Hotel · 344 Cambridge Street Wembley A Mama Says Yes!
Waks Traks Records has reached its seminal 10th release.
B WAKS010 Masterpiece > Tom Drummond RMx - 126 bpm Must Appease > Ad-Lustre RMx - 120 bpm
BAK WAKS REMIXES VOL. 1
Harder > Philly Blunt RMx - 120 bpm BACKBEAT > BREAKBEAT JUNKIE Vs. DJP RMX - 116 bpm
Di str ibu
ted
www.myspace.com/wakstraks www.myspace.com/mamasaysyes wakstraks@hotmail.com .uk .co r s by K udos R reco ecords › www.kudos
This supa-special release features remixes of classic Waks Traks tunes by Perth’s finest beat-brokers including; Philly Blunt, Tom Drummond and Ad-Lustre, and a special remix from UK duo Breakbeat Junkie Vs. DJP.
This will be a cracking slice of beats & breaks, disco, soul and funk, with all the fun of a Sunday session in two great zones in the Wembley Hotel.
TM
24 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
LIVE
13 - 19 JANUARY 2011 live@drumperth.com.au
FEATURE REVIEW
GIG OF THE WEEK :
CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: INTERPOL, THE NATIONAL, THE RAPTURE, LADYHAWKE. PICS: BEAU DAVIS
THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION
THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION @ ROSEMOUNT HOTEL We all remember back in the days of Recovery (and that guy who used to be cool but isn’t so much anymore) when The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion tore the ABC studios to pieces, in the process doing everything bar literally tearing the roof off with a smashing rendition of 2Kindsa Love that ended up being Flavor. While there’s no 100 per cent guarantee he’ll do exactly the same at the Rosemount tonight when they rock Perth for the first time in donkeys years, you can definitely count on blues-inspired rock of the highest order from Spencer and his cohorts. Support comes from Felicity Groom, who Spencer hand-picked himself to be joined by a bunch of quality local musicians who he also selected. The man knows rock’n’roll, and if you even want to pretend you do too, there’s only one place you need to be tonight and that’s of course at this special Drum Media-supported event. The group have recently begun re-issuing some of their quintessential albums; maybe track some of those down first to refresh for a barnstorming night of blues-rock explosions. Doors open 8pm.
FRONTLASH
BACKLASH
HYDEY GETS PUNKED
HELLO YEAR ONE
Not that we condone breaking and entering, but punkass props to the ‘safety pin brigade’ that ‘snuck’ into the still-being-renovated Hydey and saw ‘Brown’ play a set to mark one year since the Hydey closed its doors. Who said anarchy was dead?
If you thought the 11/1/11 date was about as interesting as the film/abomination Year One, be warned we’ve now got less than 10 months until we hit 11/11/11. Yep, it’s the year to avoid those loco 1,111 Spirit Guardian and Book Of Revelation prophesying folk.
LOCALLY SPUN You know there are some mighty fine things happening in Perth when a showcase (and not even a launch) of local produce sells out The Bakery. Well done to the team behind the mighty fine Spinning Top/ Acres Xmas Party.
BEARDYMANNED Not only did we get to see the craziest act of this summer once, we got to see Beardyman twice, and even got ourselves a song made in our, er, honour (who cares if it was an arachnoid-fuelled diss!).
SUMMA FLOODS While the flood that a certain ladette created at Summadayze was disturbing, the horrific situation in Queensland washes these memories away easily. Our thoughts are with all those affected by the devastation.
POLEDANCING Why is there always at least one idiot that thinks climbing tent poles or staging scaffolding is a good idea? Keep it at the strip clubs buddies – that’s where you belong, vocationally.
SOUTHBOUND
DRUM MEDIA PRESENTS :
SIR STEWART BOVELL PARK, BUSSELTON 1-3/01/11
SATURDAY
THE BOOKS THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: JAN 13 Rosemount MOS DEF: JAN 15 Metro City OWEN PALLETT: JAN 22 Fly By Night CAT POWER: JAN 24 (sold-out) & 25 The Quarry MARK SEYMOUR & JAMES REYNE: JAN 27 (sold-out), 28 (sold out), 29 & 30 The Quarry PERTH FESTIVAL BECK’S MUSIC BOX including MARTHA WAINRIGHT, CARIBOU
AND FOURTET, ROY AYERS, OS MUTANTES, JACK DEJOHNETTE, OMAR SOULEYMAN, BEST COAST, SWERVEDRIVER, TUNNG. THE MODELS, THE BOOKS, WILDBIRDS & PEACEDRUMS, AMIINA, JOANNA NEWSOM and more: FEB 12 to MAR 6 The Esplanade MAYER HAWTHORNE & THE COUNTY: FEB 16 The Bakery DOVES: FEB 21 Metropolis Fremantle + MARGARET RIVER
SHORT FILM FESTIVAL: FEB 26 & 27; MAR 26 & 27 Colonial Brewery
THE SUBS and more TBA: MAR 6 Arena Joondalup
+ DARREN HANLON: MAR 5 Fly By Night
KE$HA: MAR 7 Challenge Stadium
FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL: CHEMICAL BROTHERS, PENDULUM, DIZZEE RASCAL, MGMT, MARK RONSON & THE BUSINESS INTL, KE$HA, THE PRESETS, LEFTFIELD, RICHIE HAWTIN, SVEN VATH, SANDER VAN DOORN, STEVE AOKI, ZANE LOWE, JAMES HOLROYD, ETIENNE DE CRECY, DON DIABLO,
WAVVES: MAR 11 The Bakery DISTURBED: APR 20 Burswood Dome KYUSS: MAY 11 Capitol ONGOING: GIGNITION: Upcoming band showcases 5-9pm each Sunday at Swan Basement (Returning this Sunday 16 January)
With the New Year’s Day kick off time, the hot, dry fields of Sir Stewart Bovell Park weren’t exactly bustling to kick off proceedings for Southbound 2011, but that’s not to say there wasn’t a steady of influx of people ready to get down at the festival or secure a decent camping strip. Local up’n’coming rock acts The Growl and The Ghost Hotel played to the early arrivals with strong rock sets that suggest these bands may find themselves later on in the day come future festivals. Psych rockers Young Revelry then pulled out all stops in order to deliver a searing set laden with effects pedals and experimental freak-outs. However, it was Angus & Julia Stone’s performance, conveniently in the shade of the Paper Stage, that managed to draw the growing crowd out from their tents, and big sing-a-longs for crowd favourites like Just A Boy and And The Boys signalled the spiritual start of the festival and this duo’s future dominance of Australian summers. As the sun dipped and a smoke haze lifted, Ladyhawke took to the stage in front of a large audience keen to dance the night away. Pip Brown looked every bit the rock chick in all black and tats as she stomped through a set filled with popular tracks from her debut LP including Dusk Til Dawn, Paris Is Burning
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and crowd-pleasing set closer My Delirium. Those looking to really get their boogie on found themselves at a packed-out Scissors Stage rocking out to the princes of party mash-ups, Yacht Club DJs, providing the perfect balance between the bogan rock of Metallica and newer pop hits like Cee Lo Green’s Fuck You. Keeping the vibe going was the now back-in-the-spotlight Muscles, and some of us we were wishing he’d stayed in his bedroom sulking about record labels. Obviously having partied too hard the night before he barely held it together for a shambolic rendition of latest hit Girls Go Crazy. And when it’s just over an entirely reproduced backing track, it’s simply unforgiveable. Fortunately an escape was available in uber-cool New Yorkers Interpol, now sans Chuck D on the bass. While he did look cool, the group as a whole feel no worse off without him. Any fears their stern, post-punk sound mightn’t have come across as very engaging in such an easy-going atmosphere quickly dissipated. Cracking renditions of newer tracks like Barricade along with older favourites such as PDA and Slow Hands made for a top end to day one, with that familiar bass-riff of Evil and the stomping Not Even Jail sending most back to their tents with a big grin. continued pg.26 THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 • 25
LIVE
13 - 19 JANUARY 2011 live@drumperth.com.au
INFIDELITY
FE ATURE REVIE W CONTINUED SUNDAY Day two saw an influx of people along with even hotter temperatures – a fact that ended up helping out The Brow Horn Orchestra in the Paper Stage tent, with everyone cramming to get out of the sun, and then deciding to stay for the fun beats on offer. Same can be said for Boy & Bear, although it certainly felt as though most were waiting for their triple j fave and Crowded House cover Fall At Your Feet. Following on from them were The Jezabels, who’s introspective yet energetic blend of indie-rock and post-punk made for an emotive performance that definitely tagged them as ones to watch in 2011. Washington then took to the Rock stage during the hottest part of the day, belting out an impromptu cover of The Divinyl’s I Touch Myself that managed to coax even the most fried punters out of the shade for a boogie. Following that, Townsville’s folk rockers The Middle East provided a spellbinding set that included harmonious renditions of The Darker Side and Blood. Back in the blazing sun of the main stage, Cold War Kids battled on and drew a brave crowd for what amounted to a rather lacklustre set. Reports of their engaging and energetic shows in a smaller setting seemed lost in the blazing sun, and whether it was the heat or the expansive main stage, they just lacked that oomph we’ve come to expect during tracks like Hospital Beds and set closer We Used To Vacation. Those that still had the energy to press on were treated to a rollicking performance from Melbourne’s Children Collide, who put on an intense, riff-filled ride after a stellar 2010. The Bedroom Philosopher provided a little comedy to the Scissors Stage, but it can be difficult to stand in 35 plus degree heat listening to someone crack a few jokes and bust out a fairly limp acoustic version of Northcote (So Hungover). Bliss N Eso proved to be the perfect tonic for a main stage slowly being draped in shade – their DJ, cool visuals and plenty of crowd-baiting call-and-response gimmicks picked up the mood immediately for a big crowd, and for many it really kicked the day into full gear. The Beautiful Girls kept the good vibes going in the Paper tent with a cover of Phil Collins’ In The Air Tonight along with older favourites like Thought About You and Persicopes reminding everyone how much they loved the rockreggae maestros. Meanwhile back on the Rock Stage, Birds Of Tokyo cemented their status as Perth rock royalty with the biggest crowd of the day, all eating out of Ian Kenny’s hand on latest hit Plans. Any concerns the sometimes rather depressing The National might kill the mood were quickly dispelled as their evening show proved to be a clear festival highlight for many. Vocalist Matt Berninger crooned his way through heart rending versions of Mistaken For Strangers and Slow Show, even stepping into the crowd to share a moment with an audience who responded particularly well to tracks off latest LP like Bloodbuzz Ohio and Anyone’s Ghost. The band wrapped things up with an incredibly powerful rendition of Mr. November – their performance leaving a tangible buzz in the air and setting a new standard for the acts that followed. Unfortunately one of the most hyped acts of the festival, Public Enemy, failed to live up to said benchmark, and the fact they started half an hour late (purportedly due to the disappearance of Flavor Flav’s giant clock chain), left more than a few punters a little ticked off. Most forgave them though; the hardcore hip hoppers out there lapping up the chance to see one of their most beloved acts belt out hits like Bring The Noise. Another old-school beloved rocking out nearby were none other than Joan Jett & The Blackhearts, who opened with Bad Reputation and never really let up from there. The crowd started small but increased thanks to hits like Cherrybomb and Jett’s effortless, eternal rock-chick attitude. Once again the dancers among us sought out the Scissors Stage, first up for some Latin-inspired beats courtesy of the Tijuana Cartel and their beats-bongos-acoustic guitar making for some serious drops and grooving beats. It was then over to Internet sensation and beatboxing genius Beardyman. Basically just constructing entire songs out of his own beatboxing and sampling, with vocal loops and all kinds of electronic wizardry one could not even begin to comprehend, the bearded one provided a set of dirty beats to behold, with drum’n’bass, dubstep, electro, breaks and all things under the sun culminating in an entirely self-produced version of New Order’s Blue Monday and even a Public Enemy song.
sun. Nationals Cloud Control continued their rise with an early set enticing many out into the sun for hits like Gold Canary and Nothing In The Water, while ex-Perthies The Chemist played to a slightly larger crowd that were no doubt enticed by the group’s rising reputation – and expectations were most certainly met by way of a blazing set that was laden with tasty melodies and well placed experimentation. The Rock Stage’s crowd really began to swell by the time Brooklyn noise-poppers Sleigh Bells hit the stage with high expectations. Disappointingly, it seemed the insane energy of their recordings simply didn’t translate to the stage, where only the opener of Tell ‘Em really incited punters to get moving. The show was basically their entire debut album played as backing tracks with some guitar licks and vocal work thrown on top, which became even worse when guitarist Derek Miller left the stage on several occasions, leaving us with an admittedly very cool-looking/sounding Alexis Krauss trying to drum up enthusiasm. All was made up for later on however, with the folk tales of one of Australia’s most sterling singer/ songwriters, Paul Kelly, soundtracking the latter half of the afternoon. Even though a large majority of the crowd were of a slightly younger vintage, it didn’t stop most from taking in Kelly’s stunning performance with the utmost sincerity. Alongside the buzz acts of the festival, Kelly and his band provided a stirring toast to the enduring power of Australian music. French guitarpopsters Jamaica had a fairly disappointing crowd inside the Paper tent, but they bashed out a fun set featuring most of their tracks from their debut LP and plenty of big guitar solos. Over on the Scissors stage Melbourne’s World’s End Press rocked out an incredibly groovy disco-punk set, while Peaches gave Southbound a taste of some punk-electronica of her own. Donning a gigantic outfit of boobs, she threw down a typically dirty electro DJ set with some vocal work on her own tracks and live dancers to boot. Tame Impala then graced the mainstage for a well-suited sundown slot, which also highlighted that this band perhaps has a way to go before they’ve actually earn such a festival spot. Their hazy and protracted psych rock, replete with virtually no audience interaction, came across as a little self indulgent for those of us not so psychologically affected by the heat, and they also just felt a little dwarfed by such a large stage where other bands had owned it over the past couple of days. To be fair, they are still such a young band, and perhaps Expectations were a little high given the stellar year the Perth lads have had. A band we haven’t heard much new material from in recent years are The Rapture, but the Paper tent was still packed to the brim for dance-punk tunes like Whoo! Alright – Yeah... Uh Huh, Get Myself Into It and cowbellladen opener Don Go Do It. Frontman Luke Jenner was energetic as ever, running into the crowd, getting up on speakers and even deciding to lie down for a period mid song. Finale No Sex For Ben capped another stellar set from the group – it’s clear they’ve found a new energy since parting with former bassist Matty Saffer. Keeping the dance-punk theme going were main stage closing act Klaxons who provided a typically energetic set with little fuss, newer tracks like Echoes and Twin Flames slotting like a glove beside older favourites Atlantis To Interzone and It’s Not Over Yet. It was then over to A-Trak to keep the dance party going and Southbound lost it’s collective shit for Barbra Streisand, as they did again for his patented, self-indulgent but admittedly quite awesome chop-up of Daft Punk’s Robot Rock. The final song was unfortunately interrupted thanks by a clown who thought it would be fun to scale the middle pole and ended up quite a few broken bones worse because of it, but Cassius’ I <3 U So could not be stopped, and had many hugging and celebrating an exhausting and thoroughly enjoyable few days. Sure the sun was out in full force, getting down there on New Years Day was a struggle and crowds may have been a little down from last year, but the quality of the event cannot be questioned. Let’s hope support continues for a three-day festival that truly is WA’s answer to Splendour In The Grass. JACKSON BEST & TROY MUTTON
26 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
WATT-AGE Jeff Martin’s guitar tech, Ken Watt, is emerging from the shadows and stepping into the spot light at the Indi Bar this Saturday 15 January. He’ll be supporting The Volcanics for a night of smooth rock’n’roll tunes. Starts at 8 with The Wishers also in support.
FADS With a debut album ready to drop and a Big Day Out playing spot confirmed The Fags are loving 2011 already. They headline the Norfolk Basement this Saturday 15 January with special guests Sugarpuss and the debut of The Loose Lips featuring members of The Beasts of Bourbon, Abbe May and The Fags! A fine night indeed, The Fags promise to keep it gay.
WRITHING IN SERVITUDE
KARMA FX
KARMA CHAMELEON This Friday 14 January Karma fx launch their Destined Illusions EP. Possessing grunge and hard rock tunes Karma Fx will have you rocking all night long as they get the ball rolling for a massive 2011. Support from rocking local heroes Project Mayhem, Thursday’s Page, Aztech Suns and Blackwater Station.
After playing their first EP launch last Friday alternative heavy-rockers Writhe head to the Prince Of Wales in Bunbury to celebrate their new EP Servility with fans in the southwest. The EP is a comment on the world being slaves to the system in a monetary society, and to prove their point will be giving the EP away and only charging $5 entry to pay for the other bands, Pigeon, Applebite and Beggars On Acid.
SPECIAL BREWE
SUNSHINE ON YOUR BROW
JOINT VENTURE
Well and truly back from Spain and deep in mixdown mode for their soon-to-be-released album Red Alert, The Sunshine Brothers are bringing their dub/reggae/ ska stylings to the secret beer garden out the back of the Railway Hotel in North Fremantle, every Sunday in January and February. This Sunday 16 January sees them joined by brothers in arms The Brow Horn Orchestra, it’s $10 from 6 ‘til 10pm.
They’ve pulled the washboard, kazoo, harmoicas, uke and other assorted instruments from Santa’s sack and now Jook Joint Band are set to bring some frivolity to the South Beach Hotel in South Fremantle Saturday 15 January. They’ll be joined by good friend John Lundemo. 8 ‘til 10.30 pm.
HAVIN’ A BLAST Perth’s seventh fave punk rock group The Decline are releasing a limited edition CD featuring B-sides that didn’t make the album, I’m Not Gonna Lie To You. They join The Summerlovin’ Tour, with The F.A.I.M! Project and No Mistake. Friday 14 January they play Prince Of Wales with Silver Lizard and Mattress Security (8pm), Saturday 15 they’re at the Stirling Club in Albany with Smoke ‘Em (6.30pm) and Sunday 16 January they rock the Albany Skate Park for an ALLAGES show starting at 1pm.
2010 AURAL EXPLOSIONS JON SPENCER OF THE EXPLODING BLUES VARIETY GIVES DRUM MEDIA HIS TOP FIVE TRACKS OF 2010 AHEAD OF THE GROUP’S SHOW TONIGHT. THE BLACK ANGELS Phosphene Dream (Blue Horizon): Great hard punk-psych rock from Texas. Steeped in good old influences but done really well, not some boring retro trip. SWANS My Father Will Guide Me Up A Rope To The Sky (Young God): Michael Gira brings back one of my favourite bands ever and it doesn’t suck! Super heavy and very deep. MOSTLY GHOSTLY More Horror For Halloween (Ace): Totally fantastic compilation of rockin’ spooky novelty songs. Boo! J G THIRLWELL Manorexia: The Mesopelagic Waters (Tzadik): Mr Foetus serves up an album of intense and unsettling instrumental music scored for strings, percussion, and piano. CHAIN & THE GANG Music’s Not For Everyone (K): I have to admit that I have yet to actually listen to this record but their first album was so good I am sure this one will also kill in a super psychedelic funky way. Brought to you by two genuine American geniuses: Ian Svenonius and Calvin Johnson.
MONDAY The third day again began with a selection of performances from local bands, all of which had managed to generate a fair share of buzz throughout the previous year. Pond were first up on the main stage, delivering a noisy, psychedelic set to a large crowd for the hot, early time. The Scotch Of Saint James brought their grungy rock stylings to a healthy crowd of supporters also enjoying a break from the
With its beginnings in Melbourne and a reputation for delivering buzz bands on their way up, Jim Beam Bootleg is expanding its reach to ensure more aspiring artists get noticed. Kicking off the inaugural West Coast event will be Timothy Nelson & The Infidels on Saturday 15 January at Manhattan’s. Tickets through Heatseeker, Mills, Planet and Moshtix.
WHO: The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 13 January, Rosemount Hotel, North Perth JOAN JETT>PIC: BEAU DAVIS
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Fresh from supporting Gyroscope in Albany late last year Homebrewe will be rocking the Indi Bar Friday 14 January in preparation of a US tour later in the year. It’ll be an epic night of high energy rock’n’roll with support from Sam Carmody, Dylan Ollivierre & The TNs and Place Of Indigo. $10 from 8pm.
TRACKSUIT PANTS After a massive 2010 which culminated in some big New Years Eve shows Tracksuit are ready to get the 2011 ball rolling with a final show at the Prince Of Wales Bunbury tonight before they head east in the middle of February.
MOONWALKERS After forming in early 2010, young four-piece The Moon Rakers have been slowly but surely creating music with a fun and energetic vibe. They’ve recorded a couple of tracks since forming and are also in the process of recording some more, and you can get a taste of their sound this Sunday 16 January at 2011’s first edition of Drum Media’s Gignition series at the Swan Basement in North Fremantle, $5 from 5pm.
SHAPING PUNK 2fast4love release their 31-track local punk rock compilation The Shape Of Perth To Come with two launch parties. The first is at Oh Snap!, Black Betty’s on Thursday 13 January with The Creeps, The Reptilians and The Proletariate, the second in the Civic Hotel Backroom with The Lungs, The Chainsaw Hookers, Battle Truk, The Bible Bashers and Blazin’ Entrails on Friday 14 January. Get down early for a free copy of the comp.
SHORT SHORTS Manhattan’s in Vic Park is offering everything you need for a cracking summers day this Sunday 16 January with good music, good films and of course, good beer. Playing at this edition of Shorts will be Apricot Rail, Bad Houses, Bamodi, Craig MacElhinney, Erasers, Frozen Ocean, Ghostdrums, The Gulls, Karbourters, Forrest, Lil’ Leonie Lionheart, Little Ships, The Milky Magnets and These Shipwrecks along with some international and local short film screenings. Entry is $11 (wearing shorts) or $18 (not wearing shorts). It all kicks off at 2pm.
NOT-SO-BEARDED LADY One of Perth’s first ladies of blues’n’roots Toby Beard will be at Mueller Park Subiaco, Sunday 16 October as part of the sunset@subi series. Her charismatic style and passion for all things roots, combined with exceptional musicianship will keep you enthralled from the start to finish, which is 5 ‘til 7pm. Head to subiaco. wa.gov.au for more information regarding this series of free concerts. You can also catch her at Clancy’s Fish Pub Saturday 15 January; Indi Bar Saturday 22 and Ashfield Reserve, Guildford, on Wednesday 26 January (Australia Day).
LIVE
13 - 19 JANUARY 2011 live@drumperth.com.au
NOT SO PLANE JANE
FEEDBACK
Playing the E Shed Harbour Stage this Sunday 16 January from 1pm will be Jane Germain & Ian Simpson. They’ll be playing a mix of songs from their latest album, Lonesome Road, lots of blues, bluegrass, country blues and much more. Ian will also have copies of his new album, The Banjo – Misunderstood, Maligned Magic!
end. Should Built To Spill return, no doubt most in the crowd will be back for more.
PATHOGEN FAREWELL Capitol/Amplifier, Perth 02/01/11
RICK BRYANT
It is fitting that a band such as Pathogen should sign off supported by the very legacy that they have passionately contributed to building over the last fifteen years. The double-stager on Sunday night showcased who’s who of the young and emerging talent with Befallen, Mhorgl and Vesper’s Descent thrashing out their latest offerings in style as the crowd stampeded through the connecting passageway between venues. Acclaimed local lads Chaos Divine blasted out of the blocks destroying even the loftiest expectations and showing that 2011 is a year they plan to launch their carefully tended plans for world domination. Malignant Monster backed-up the chaotic sentiments with a hellfire performance, torching the Amps sound system with their trademark wrath. Queensland outfit Dead Letter Opener were lost in translation as the crowd hungered for the headline act and once the all-star Pathogen line-up wandered on, the reputation that preceded the individuals was no match for the blazing performance when united under a common banner. Falling somewhere between a funeral and a wake, the air was thick with a sad and sentimental energy. Founding member Aiden Barton was at his lampshadesmashing best in an emotional goodbye to a dominant part of his life for fifteen years. The scene has lost a father but gained twenty bastard sons in their wake – what more could you ask from a life well lived? Hail Pathogen, see you in Hades. SIMON HOLLAND
BUILT TO SPILL
Rosemount Hotel, North Perth 04/01/11 It was crowd sweaty with merriment and muggy heat that filled the Rosemount Hotel in anticipation of the performance from one of indie rock’s most revered and time-honoured acts. Comprised of players who have anchored the local scene for more than a decade, Umpire spit forth their high-paced melodies to the delight of a substantial crowd. The question mark for this group only ever hangs on its ability to engage the audience, but tonight they suffered no such problems and held attention superbly. After a break that was refreshing for its brevity, Built To Spill began with little ceremony and set off with the wonderful Traces, a track that evidences all those features that characterise the bulk of the band’s work – earnest lyrics delivered over enmeshed guitars which, though ostensibly equal, are weighted heavily in favour of Doug Martsch. Still, he makes the tracks his own with sonically-charged guitar solos and a voice that somehow spews forth from beneath a beardy mess; on record, Martsch’s vocals almost get lost, but here they were given room to move and were richly powerful. After a frenetic start, the bass-driven opening of Else cleaned things up and hit hard when its oscillating guitar lines illuminated the spaces between verses. In the purest sense of the expression, Built To Spill, and particularly Martsch, let their music do the talking. An encore beginning with Car was finished predictably, and perfectly, with Carry The Zero. It was a tremendous moment, the band’s signature track stretched and pulled to its very limits as Martsch ran effortlessly over his guitar before its barnstorming
ADAM HALL & THE VELVET PLAYBOYS
MICHAEL SWANN & THE FOX FANTASY
Mustang Bar, Northbridge 07/01/11
FANTASTIC MR FOX
Walking into the Mustang Bar at 7pm, one might not expect to see a couple of hundred people filling the room with some swing-dancing pandemonium, but that is precisely what was experienced on this occasion. The setting may as well have been the diner straight out of Happy Days, with a particularly dapper bunch being entertained with some big-band swing courtesy of Adam Hall & The Velvet Playboys. While the silky-voiced frontman kept the crowd entertained with one hell of a pair of lungs (think a less nostalgic Buble) for the entirety of the two 75-minute swing, jazz and rhythm-and-blues sets, the razor-sharp band exhibited some exceptional musicianship, with a particularly stirring piano solo a standout. Tonight this band was untouchable and had the crowd eating out of their hands, in the process transporting them back to a time when hair was worn high, with only the pants worn higher. Shining the venue in a new and much more appropriate light and leading an audience with a truly diverse level of ages, fashions and boogeying expertise (with some particularly astounding dancing on display), the dance circle remained active for the entirety of the night’s entertainment. And the band and night’s festivities appeared to be received with a level of enthusiasm and genuine interaction that any touring act would give their left arm for, the band successfully overcoming the arduous challenge of doing justice to the greats whilst irrefutably entertaining a very full room of people. Moving overseas for a while, the locals will be well missed. LUKE BUTCHER
DYLAN OLLIVIERRE & THE TNS Mojo’s, North Fremantle 08/01/11 For the other half of Perth that weren’t dancing up a storm at Summadayze it’s fairly certain to say there were a fair chunk spending the evening at Mojo’s for Dylan Ollivierre & The TNs’ debut album launch. Kicking off the evening Art In Algebra gave the bar a taste of what their fans like to call “Ross-pop”. Some easy to dance to tunes got the crowd amped as dedicated fans heated up the d-floor for the night of local talent that lay ahead. Rachel & Henry Climb A Hill were next to treat us to some indie-folk sounds with a female vocalist fronting the three-piece, introducing a nice touch of girl power into the mix. A Beggar’s Second fronted up, ladies jeans and all, to perform a solid set of songs from their recently released album. With an amazing amount of Perth kids packing the venue out, Dylan Ollivierre & The TNs began their set, many of their fans already knowing the lyrics to their title track Lighthouse, along with Temper and Weight going off. A well-received rendition of Sam Sparro’s Black & Gold and George Michael’s Faith really was the icing on the cake. Ending the evening by inviting their fans on stage for the last song, to say these local lads know how to put on a good show would be one heck of an understatement. AIMEE SOMERVILLE
As a part of their new single launch Michael Swann & The Fox Fantasy will showcase their tunes this Friday 14 January at the Rocket Room with alternative pop rockers Seams in support. Joining them on the night will be Art In Algebra and new kids on the block DAVE. 8pm til 11.30 before Hard’N’Fast takes over with resident DJs and Side FX.
UNDERGROUND BUNNYMEN 2010 was a busy year for local duo That Velvet Echo, and they’ll be keeping the ball rolling into 2011 with a bunch of shows in the second half of January. They’re bringing their ambient indie-acoustic tunes to the Swan Lounge tonight, then the X-Wray Café Saturday 15 January with Craig Sinclair; Redcliffe On The Murray Sunday 16; Settler’s Tavern Thursday 20; Kulcha Fremantle Friday 21; Fremantle Arts Market Saturday 22; Denmark Art Markets Sunday 23; Gilberts Winery Saturday 29 and Ravenswood Hotel Sunday 30 January.
AZTECH GOLD This Saturday 15 January the Aztech Suns headline the Rocket Room stage to present their long-awaited EP from 8pm. Support comes from rockers Valhalla Nights and Still Frame Mind, with EPs and other merchandise for sale. Entry is only $10.
DOG’S LIFE Sunday 16 January will see the Swan Lounge host an evening of acoustic tunes traversing the Peruvian foothills to the deep south of WA. Multi-instrumentalists The Whistling Dogs will bring their ‘muy interesante’ blend of Andean folk and tragi-comic tales bound to infuse you with wanderlust. Bunbury-bred ragamuffin Caroline J. Dale will also be knocking out a set of sparkling folk-rock with support coming from quirky alt-country songbird Mel S. Hall (Sir Thomas, The Bluebirds) and the amazing Aaron Bradbrook. Entry $5, doors open 6pm.
Saturday 15 January at The Bakery, Acres presents The Buddy System – a night of new local bands and collaborations, featuring some of our favourite artists alongside some new friends. Nick Allbrook (POND, Mink Mussel Creek, Tame Impala) joins garage forces with Cameron Avery (The Growl, Horny Pony) for a grubby new ass-shaker, Allbrook, Avery & Co. along with Lloyd Stowe (The Silents) and Clint Oliver (The Growl). Joining this sound collective will be Amber Fresh (Rabbit Island), Pentagram Fullblood (Craigh McElhinney) and Bastian’s Happy Flight, with DJs Kiosk Par Cour and Douche Unit manning the decks. $8 tickets from nowbaking.com.au
CLERKS Elder statesemen of the Perth country/blues/rock scene Kevin Smith & The Seven Storey Jumpers rock the Norfolk Basement this Saturday 15 January to launch their new CD from 8pm.
In April Benedict Moleta will be returning to the studio to record his group’s sixth album, and to test out some of their new tunes they play The Den Civic Hotel Friday 14 January with Kill Teen Angst, Bill Darby and Sean O’Neill. It’ll be a diverse night of rock in its various forms so get down from 8pm, entry $10.
HONEY BEES Pioneers of the alt-country sound in Australia, The Honeys perform tracks from their latest album Star Baby at Fremantle Art Centre’s Free Courtyard Music series this Sunday 16 January from 2pm. Featuring the warm vocals of Andrea Croft, it’ll be another wonderful afternoon in the sun and breezy sounds of the FAC.
PYRAMID ROCK
HOT SHOT - THEE OH SEES @ ROSEMOUNT HOTEL BY GRAHAM CLARK
This Sunday 16 January The Maddog Central play their first gig of 2011 – the first of many throughout the year to rock the Perth music scene to its very core. The MDC are about good ol’ fashion fun and Sunday will be no different, especially as it marks the birthday of their lead singer, it’s definitely going to be another big one at the Swan Basement, North Fremantle.
GHOST SHIP After completing an awesome 2010 and rocking Southbound over the festive period, The Ghost Hotel are back down south Friday 14 January at Settler’s Tavern with Emperors frontman Adam James, entry is free. They’ll be at The Bird with Capital City and Grim Fanbanjo the following night, entry $10.
BELIEVE THE HYTE Hailing from Perth’s south the ‘Power trio from Freo’, Hyte will be rocking City Beach Surf Shop this Saturday 15 January. Originally branded as groove rock, they’re now a fully charged hard-rock experience with psychedelic flavour. Their set kicks off at 3.30pm.
DARLING BUDS OF JAN The brain child of a girl who listened to heavy music, but composed pop tunes, The Darlings three talented musicians with differing influences and backgrounds plus Ms Angle Darling. The resulting music combines elements of pop, rock, punk, metal, and blues to create a sound that is quintessentially their own. See them at Gignition this Sunday 16 January at Swan Basement from 5pm, $5.
BIG DAY LOCAL SPOTLIGHT
BUDDY GUYS
EGGS MOLETA
HOT SHOT
MAD DOGS
To celebrate an awesome 2010 and also in tribute to a loyal fan who sadly passed recently, Pyramid Of The Coyote are playing The Railway Hotel Friday 14 January. They’re ready to get 2011 rolling with a new bass player in tow, and they’ve invited Stone Circle and Diamond Eye, who have released and are about to release a new album respectively.
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JAY MARRIOTT, GUITARIST FROM THE NOVOCAINES, GIVES US THE SCOOP PREBIG DAY OUT PERFORMANCE Act’s biggest strengths? We write high energy rock music which can been compared to the grunge and alternative scene of the ‘90s. Which act on the BDO 2011 bill has been the biggest influence on you? I’d say The Vines would be the biggest influence on me personally. The way Craig plays the guitar and writes melodies is amazing. The Vines are played a lot and drawn on for influence when we are writing. If you could collaborate with anyone on the 2011 BDO line-up, who would it be? James Murphy from LCD Soundsystem would be a real highlight. We all appreciate great pop hooks and he’s got them coming out of his ears. Biggest Day Out? Last year was definitely the biggest for us, it was the first time we had been invited to play at BDO and to see bands like Passion Pit, The Horrors and Rise Against from side of stage was great. What’s your tip to help recover from a Big Night Out? Don’t eat too many of the hot dogs from the stand that doesn’t have a queue… Biggest highlight from a previous BDO? The Darkness in ’04 – amazing. I was 17 at the time and I was pretty infatuated with Permission To Land, so seeing them in all their cock-rock glory was fantastic. Is it going to be a big year? We have had a great 2010 supporting Them Crooked Vultures and Jebediah on their national tour, and 2011 looks set to be bigger again with a few shows with You Am I, an American tour for SxSW and industry showcases in New York and LA in March. Our debut album will be out in late 2011. THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 • 27
13 JANUARY
2011
FLOORED SUMMADAYZE @ THE ESPLANADE
PICS: BEAU DAVIS
ARMIN VAN BUUREN
MIAMI HORROR
08/01/11 Arriving to Summadayze’s spiritual home of The Esplanade & Supreme Court Gardens it was a little sad to see the venue had been chopped in half for its last ever show on the city foreshore before redevelopments begin – this show now confined to just The Esplanade. Nevertheless eager punters sauntered their way in on another blistering Perth afternoon in time to catch some electro-infused breakbeat courtesy of Perth broken beat stalwarts Philly Blunt and Micah, who battled manfully in the sun of the smaller Filthy Gorgeous stage. Some sought refuge from the rays in the big top Future Music stage where Naik provided some of his originally produced instrumental hip/trip hop, which included the hypnotic grooves of Who Are You. Although the crowd was lacking so early in the day, Naik delivered a seamless DJ set which got those in attendance nodding their heads. Over at the Main Stage, another local talent was proving a hit with the early crowd: Junior. One of the most impressive DJs of the day, he mixed an almost flawless set which included incredible scratching and tracks such as Pon De Floor and Like A G6. The Stafford Brothers then arrested
control of the Future tent and were in their usual lively and uplifting form. It would not be a Staffords’ set if Sweet Disposition did not appear, and sure enough it came out towards the end before the Red Hot Chilli Peppers’ Otherside. Back out in the Main field and the crowd began filling up quite nicely as Boys Noize banged out a somewhat safer set than the German electro/ tech maestro’s usual ones. BN kept the bass heavy (where the speakers would allow), and pandered to the crowd a little with some Michael Jackson and an AC/DC riff chop-up. After being almost 30 minutes late for his set and with no apology, the UK’s favourite new son Tinie
Tempah hit the Main Stage and battled some serious sound issues for the first few songs; Tinie’s mic was so low that you could hardly hear a word coming out of his mouth. The crowd hardly seemed to notice though, and when he dropped Frisky, the day was well and truly kicked into overdrive. Miami Horror in the mean time were playing to a healthy crowd of their own, rocking the Future tent with mostly tracks from debut LP Illumination and a Grafton Primary cover they really need to give the boot. Lead vocalist/ guitarist Josh Moriarty’s antics on stage also get a little tiresome when you consider the music was predominately made by the man on keys to his right. The swelling main
BREAKFEST @ BELVOIR AMPHITHEATRE BY JAMES GIFFORD
CLUB PARADISO @ SALT ON THE BEACH
PICKLES Your style? Bass music – dubstep, garage, funky future business. WHAT DID YOU HAVE FOR BREAKY TODAY? Toast spread with sundried tomato dip – a healthy alternative to my usual peanut butter. WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU USE? For DJing I use CDJs and for production just my laptop. I own some hardware though haven’t put it to much use… yet. YOUR FIRST OFFICIAL DJ SET? Cassette in 2007 at Bar Open – one of the earliest indie electro nights in Perth. I was using mostly vinyl and almost ran out of tunes to play and had to get a mate to find the next DJ and send him up to take over. WHAT DO YOU DO IN REAL LIFE? I’m a botanist – I typically spend weekdays in remote bushland identifying plants. WHAT SCHOOL DID YOU GO TO AND WHO’S THE MOST FAMOUS PERSON TO COME OUT OF IT? I went to school in Mandurah. My year nine “girlfriend” went on to throw javelins for Australia. IF YOU COULD PICK ANYONE IN THE WORLD TO BE YOUR BESTIE, WHO’D IT BE? Percy L. Spencer,
the man responsible for inventing the microwave oven – together we would invent the reverse microwave – icy cold beer in seconds… We’d be rich! THE BEST TRACK THAT NEVER FAILS ON THE DANCEFLOOR? My answer to this would change on a weekly basis but at the moment I’m loving Egyptrixx’ Hexagon Ya and Instra:mental’s Forbidden. MUSICAL INSPIRATIONS? Musically I’m from a rock‘n’roll background, though have always had pretty diverse tastes – anything from Nick Cave to Dr Dre. In terms of electronic music I like anyone who’s using sounds that are different to the norm. Dudes like Starkey, Deadboy, Joy Orbison, Komonazmuk and Headhunter. WHAT DO YOUR FOLKS THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU DO: Not sure about my folks but my Oma once told me she would make a better DJ than me. FAVE SET YOU’VE EVER PLAYED? The nights I’ve put on myself were highlights – it’s awesome to look around a room and see a bunch of people having a good time to good tunes and know you put it together. Supporting internationals like Kutz,
PHOTO BY ELLE BORGWARD Jakes, Eprom and Untold has also been awesome. WHAT CREWS/NIGHTS DO YOU BELONG TO/PUT ON? I run Night Class at The Bird and Evidence at the Velvet Lounge alongside designer Pasan Chandraweera (Turbo Mountain Design). These nights aim to push the sounds of local guys and provide top notch tunes with zero damage to your hip pocket. The ICSSC, Deadweight, WattHz and Knowledge Music are all friends. ANY RELEASES OUT, OR IN THE PIPELINE? Constantly working on my own stuff – check soundcloud. com/musicbypickles. BEST PLACE IN PERTH TO: A) ROCK OUT: Belvoir. B) CHILL OUT: Kings Park. C) PASS OUT: The beach. D) PICK UP AND GET OUT: I met my lovely lady at an end of semester Uni party so I guess those are pretty good for that. GIGS YOU HAVE COMING UP? Don’t Sleep ft. Roof Light (UK) – Thursday 13 January, The Bird, Northbridge; Night Class 3.0 – Thursday 20 January, The Bird, Northbridge
FLOORED BAKED NEW YEARS @ THE BAKERY 31/12/10 New Years Eve is always a highly anticipated evening and usually it falls flat on what you expect. You lose your friends, spend too much money, watch someone else kiss the person you wanted to, and generally forget that it is New Years. When The Bakery announced their line-up for New Years 2010, anticipation was high and in every sense it delivered in a way that made forgetting it was New Years mean very little. Declan kicked things off in the main room, playing an eclectic mix of down tempo, dub-based tracks providing a wonderful soundtrack to the building crowd. In the side
room some of Perth’s finest, Rok Riley, Ben M and Kit Pop, provided their own soundtrack to a now packed crowd, all cramming for the best possible place to have a dance. Back in the main room Lorna Jackson, who was a sudden and quick replacement for the injured Hudson Mohawke, took things to the dangerous world of heavy dub step. Harmonic 313 took over the decks and set about bringing in the New Year. Mark Pritchard is deeply based in the area of futurist music, music that was definitely fitting for the end of the first decade of the 21st century. His countdown also led the launch of what may just be the show of the year and we were only a minute into it. Flying Lotus took to the stage with a high level of anticipation, and from the outset he delivered. Opening
with a few tracks with just him and his computer it was when his band jumped on stage that something out of this world happened. Deep, heavy bass underpinned Fly Lo’s glitchy, eccentric melodies overlaid an extremely rich sound. It was however the speed, the skill and the pure talent of his drummer that really grabbed this reviewer’s attention and gaze upon the stage. Matching Flying Lotus’s electronic beats with his own speed was something to behold. An amazing set, an amazing sound, an amazing glimpse into the world in front of us. To close out the night, Gaslamp Killer perhaps surpassed the live band with a DJ set to match anything live. Many people say, ‘I can DJ, it’s easy.’ Well no one can DJ (or provide stage theatrics) like this man. His passion, his talent and his musically ability and sentiment are beyond reproach. 2010 is done, bring on 2011. CHRIS WHEELDON
N*E*R*D
stage crowd meant that two of the cooler artists of the day, Breakbot and Aeroplane, struggled to find crowds on the smaller stages for their groovy nu-disco beats. Particularly for Aeroplane out in the sun, the crowd was rather lackluster and his attitude was accordingly disinterested ‘til he dropped some MJ that brought some over for a feel-good boogie. On the Main Stage hip hop/rock stalwarts N*E*R*D drew a massive crowd response, chanting lyrics to Sacred Temple, MCs Pharrell Williams and Shay Haley inciting the crowd to scream “say yeah” with deafening clarity. Next Williams encouraged crowd surfers promising they will not get kicked out, before inviting several females on stage to seek sanctuary from the carnage. Through all the theatrics and sound issues, the highlights of the set came with the infectious beats of Backseat Love and big crowd responses for She Wants to Move, Everyone Nose, and their newest hit Hypnotize U. Some line-up confusion also meant Breakbot was strangely listed for a two-hour set, while compatriot Yuksek had completely vanished – a sour note for many of his fans eager to catch one of his excellent DJ sets. In his place were two admittedly very attractive ladies, Nervo, who proceeded to drop a big party set filled with plenty of cheesy goodness
like Basement Jaxx’ Where’s Your Head At? Maybe not the replacement most were hoping for, it possibly also meant the big dirty bird himself Claude VonStroke finally enticed a large slathering of punters out onto the Filthy Gorgeous Stage for his patented driving minimal tech beats. Vocal Chords from his latest album went down a treat, along with a little breather featuring some slowed down hip hop. Electro-funk duo Chromeo enticed a bigger crowd back in the Future tent and smashed out an engaging and fun set, complete with sexy-legged keyboards. The receptive punters went off to songs which included Needy Girl and Fancy Footwork, along with newer tracks like Night By Night and Don’t Turn The Lights On. On the main stage it was time for the main events to begin, first up Armin van Buuren. Welcomed with a massive cheer, he responded with his typically engaging, boyish energy. His sometimes predictable, but ever-reliable euphoric haze grasped the Esplanade. Picks of the set came with a remix of Cosmic Gate’s Exploration Of Space and This Light Between Us from Mirage, along with the impressive LCD displays around his raised DJ platform. For those more inclined for the smaller scale, Erol Alkan smashed out an expectedly cracking set of techy electro numbers, dropping some Tame Impala early as is becoming de rigueur for touring DJs in Perth. Unfortunately it all got a bit monotonous towards the end, although Boys Noize did join him onstage with some hard liquor and glow stick throwing. PVT seemed like an odd choice for the Summadayze crowd and it proved to be the case with the lads’ angular, dark electronica sounds going down well for the small, yet loyal group of followers. Riva Starr followed them and the change in tempo to bouncy tech-house was welcomed – many who had decided to leave
CHROMEO
FLOORED BREAKFEST @ BELVOIR AMPHITHEATRE
the festival early found themselves drawn like moths to a lightbulb to the Italian’s infectious energy. Of similar energy yet in the live vein, Art Vs. Science hit the Future tent and the boys did not disappoint in typically electro-rocking style. Starting early with classics New World Order and Friend In The Field, by the time they came to doing Magic Fountain the crowd were in a frenzy of excitement. Over on the main stage crowds were drawn by David Guetta’s impressive stage set-up, and began in familiar territory with Love Takes Over. It was obviously very Guettaesque, including an admittedly cool remix of Mr Blink’s Gecko before he stunned all in attendance with giant laser duelling robots midway through the set. Even if Guetta’s set didn’t float your boat (and let’s be honest, his cheesy electro/ house/pop can get on the nose), the lightshow was simply amazing. Although attendance was obviously a little down this year, the quality of acts on offer couldn’t be questioned (though too many had visited these shores recently to get too excited about). Perhaps with the forced move to a new venue next year, Summadayze will take the opportunity to get revamped and rejuvenated. REUBEN HALE, ROB BROWNE & TROY MUTTON
26/12/10 The 10th Anniversary kicked off for all but the bravest in the late arvo, the amphitheatre beginning to fill for Kid Kenobi and MC Sureshock. As the DJ cranked House Of Pain’s Jump Around, people soon forgot about staying in their shaded possies and jumped around. They also introduced us to the rather hyperactive Breakfest mascot, plus an angry Santa. Sticking to their dirty image, there were no limits when it came to profane entertainment for Miami hip hop group 2 Live Crew. Pouring a bottle of water over the crowd and sharing a dubious cigarette with the audience were ploys that worked well to take away from how much their music and essence has dated (and actually become quite offensive). Their set turned into a grope-fest as random girls jumped up on stage with them for a dance-off to Dance Like A Ho and Pop That Pussy. Nuff said. A quick sneak off to local act Ben Mac gave this reviewer hope for the day, filling the top stage with remixes of Hit The Road Jack and Ou Est Le Swimming Pool’s Dance The Way I Feel, pumping the crowd up more than the international acts that preceded him. Back in the main arena though, and Cuban Brothers were backing up their initial crowd breakdance-gathering skills with some more crazy capers, an inspired move to break the day up (no pun intended). Rico Tubbs and Atomic Hooligan then took the musical reigns, a seemingly odd union that saw Hooligan holding his own with the new talent amidst a fidget and
PAUL MASTER
BEARDYMAN
very future-fuelled set. Due to the sauna-like state of the Silent Disco round this time, it didn’t seem to get the attention it deserved. Later in the day though, highlights were provided by Grantley Hyde and Angry Buda, a battle which Angry won on the back of producing some fine John Travolta dance moves from playing a remix of Bee Gees Stayin’ Alive. Opening his set with his own one-man live version of Pharoahe Monch’s Simon Says, it was clear Beardyman was going to be a Breakfest highlight. With not a gap to be seen in the packed amphitheatre, he made sure everyone “liked the fuckin’ beat,” as the sun set and the screens on stage were put to good use. Being inspired by a certain dread-locked ‘photographer’ from this very mag, he whipped up a tune to lyrics about dangerous spiders and beautiful girls, getting the comic reaction it deserved. Bringing in beats like those from A-Ha’s Take On Me, his beat boxing and live looping was flawlessly entertaining. After a slightly disappointing last visit from the legends, seamless mixing and unreal scratch work made for a rather rad Freestylers set this time round. Their own Cracks was an early highlight that showed their own productions are still top notch, and Push Up and Fasten
FINAL SUPERFLY @ SAPPHIRE BAR
ORIGIN @ BELVOIR AMPHITHEATRE
WEEKEND @ MINT
NYE @ CONNECTIONS
SUMMADAYZE @ THE ESPLANADE
WEEKENDS @ LIMELITE
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2 LIVE CREW. PICS AAROM WILSON
Your Seatbelts were a few faves that got the pit in the mood and ready for Plump DJs. Playing their remix of Strode by Deadmau5 and Swoon by Chemical Brothers, and sampling Brap by Bart B More all the way through their set, it felt as though Plumps’ entire set was a huge build up to that one song that seemed to be an anthem of the day for both Plump DJs and Freestylers. Plumps did pump out perhaps one of the more traditionally breakbeat-oriented sets of the day, though an ‘old-skool’ set it wasn’t. Nor was FreQ Nasty’s extremely dubstep-heavy set, one that saw those magic locks swinging. While the breakbeat component might have been rather slim, the style variations over the course of the day showed why Breakfest keeps winning awards; the line-ups keep reflecting the evolution of breaks, and combines this forward-thinking programming with the energy only Belvoir and a loved-up crowd can provide. Here’s to ten more. DANICA CACCAMO
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 • 29
13 - 19 JANUARY
2011 THURSDAY 13/1
DANCEFLOOR OF THE WEEK
DATSIK @ SHAPE Canadian DJ/producer Datsik has been taking the dubstep scene by storm, blowing up dancefloors around the globe with his original style of hip hop and future-tech bangers. In 2009, Datsik had over seven number one releases on Beatport, and vinyl sales through the roof on many other sites. 8pm ‘til 12.30am with support from Killafoe & J. Nitrous, Vishnu and Dr Space.
R’N’R KARAOKE @ DEVILLES Jon Madd’s Rock’n’roll Karaoke with DJs and you, singing for free – one hell of a night for your vocal cords.
RETRO THURSDAYS @ EVE Retro priced drinks and retro tunes with DJ Tony Allen.
CULTURE CLASH @ NEWPORT
We’ve had some pretty amazing hip hop acts visit our shores over the past 12 months and it gets even better this Saturday 15 January with Mos Def donning the stage at Metro City for his first shows in the country since 2006. His ‘The Ecstatic Tour’ will also be his first-ever headline Australian tour, celebrating his cracking 2009 LP The Ecstatic. Amazingly the man has been around for almost twenty years and after being kept relatively busy with his burgeoning acting career over the last year few years, he’s taking some time out to get back to what he does best. The Ecstatic recently earned a Grammy Award Nomination for Best Rap Album, so it’s fairly safe to say Mos Def is a man at the top of his powers, making this Drum Media-presented event a must-see for all the hip hoppers out there. Tickets still available through Moshtix. As we said we’ve been pretty spoilt for choice, especially over the festive season with the likes of Public Enemy and Arrested Development, so let’s keep that festive spirit going into summer for as long as we can.
Assassin, DJ Low from Malaysia and last but certainly not least Ekko & Sidetrack. Upstairs at Shape from 11pm ($10), $15 after.
PLEASUREDOME @ ROSEMOUNT
POWDER ROOM @ DEVILLES PAD
The local crown prince of electro showmanship Tomas Ford spins tunes and general craziness in the garden. Free from 8pm.
The Powder Room Summer Season Soiree comes to Devilles for a night of Fashion and Pin Up style plus the dancefloor grooves of Boom! Bap! Pow! live on stage. The Mondo Inferno DJs spin vintage vinyl ‘til late and of course there’s ‘60s a-gogo from Les Sataniques. Doors 5pm, $10 after 8pm.
PROPS BOX
Mono crew will be inducing them with their new Friday night residency at Defectors from 8pm ‘til late. General good times spun by Anton & Andrei Maz, DJack, Burmuda Rockers and Maz 1. Free entry.
FRIDAYS @ TIGER LILS Paul Malone spins electro beats, plus tech house from DJ Joby with Alex K on the bongos. Free entry.
FRIDAYS @ AMPLIFIER Jamie Mac has all your indie needs covered from midnight ‘til late.
DORCIA @ THE LIBRARY TIMMY TRUMPET
Banging electro tunes courtesy of your fortnightly Friday residents Dorcia, with Jus Haus?, Time Travel Agent, Yon Jovi, Deadvents, Mickey Juice and Arrigold keeping things moving ‘til late.
SUGA ‘N’ SPICE @ EVE LIMIELITE @ METRO FREO The recent Into the Limelite Competition unearthed a swag of talented up’n’coming DJs and the club night is putting them back behind the decks for another round of nu skool beats. Finalists Vandan, Props Box and Spitfire will show Metros Freo what they’ve got. Support from JS and Mel B, $10 from 9.30pm.
TIMMY TRUMPET @ TOUCAN The man with the horn will be rocking Mandurah to it’s dancehardened core with a big show honing his set in preparation for his massive shows with Eminem in the Phillipines. DJs Misschief and Samuel Spencer support, $15 on the door from 9pm.
R&B, urban and hip hop from DJs Don Migi, Skooby and guests. Entry $5/10/15 from 9pm.
After a massive festive season Resort keep the good times rolling with a special show at Manhattan’s in Vic Park tonight. They’ll be joined by disco popsters Bastian’s Happy Flight, with Craig Hollywood on the decks filling the gaps. $10 from 8pm.
HUSSLE HUSSLE @ MOJO’S MDWH @ NORFOLK BASEMENT To kick off 2011 the Perthquake crew will invite all their friends down who helped make monthly Friday nights at the Norfolk so much fun in 2010. Featuring sets on the night from Scenic, FKN Midas, Sleepy Head, Tcee, Friend, Holy Thursday and Suburban Leisure, it all begins at 8pm for $5. BIG BUD
After a four-month hiatus Freo indie four-piece The Witness return to one of their favourite haunts with a slew of excellent supports to keep your shoes shuffling. They’ll be joined by Moondog J, The Sluts Of The Underground, the Aztec Priesthood DJs and Candice Rochelle. 8pm ‘til 1am, $10.
PLUSH @ GEISHA Broken down, dirty underground with Franki, Oli and Malone. $5 before 12.30am, $10 after and cheap drink before midnight.
BABY BEATS @ SHAPE
BIG BUD @ SHAPE This edition of Elite Beatz sees the UK’s own Big Bud keeping the international d’n’b flavours flowing into 2011, with support from Qbik & Seeka MC, Greg Packer & MC 30 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
The Baby Beats crew are back in 2011, outing this city’s freshest and finest female talent on the decks. Tonight features sets from Carla, Amanda Power, Sistym and Tash on the female front, along with a special guest appearance from My Creature, who has a special surprise in store. Downstairs, free entry from 10pm.
BACK TO MONO @ DEFECTORS After curing the hangover blues for the past 12 months the Back To
SEANY B @ NEWPORT
Indie dance and disco banging from the best in such a biz – Death Disco DJs, plus DJ Ryan spinning ‘80s indie classics upstairs. $10 entry fee.
Electro house singer and MC Seany B will be smashing the Newport to pieces tonight. Best known for writing and performing Flaunt It with TV Rock, he’s received two ARIA awards and spent the most time in the Top 10 of the Australian charts in history. Catch Seany and his husky voice for this special midweek performance.
Eve’s DJs spin your fave dance and urban anthems. $15/10/5 from 9pm.
SATURDAYS @ TIGER LILS DJs Adam Kelly and Charlie Bucket drop house, funk, soul, breaks and beyond. Free entry.
POP LIFE@ MINT House, electro, dance, retro, R&B and Top 40 from DJ Darren Briais. Free before midnight for Pop Life, $5 before 12am, $10 thereafter.
RHYTHM & DANCE @ METRO CITY DJs Angry Buda, Madman, Slick and Matty S bring you the tunes to get you moving every Saturday at Metro City.
TW!ST @ YA YA’S Agent 85 and his rag-tag bunch of rattle ‘n’ roll DJs have been busy diggin’ up records all winter long and are ready to knock your socks off with their boss sound biscuits. Soul, rhythm & blues, Motown, surf, garage punk, rockabilly, doo wop, boogaloo…music from times before, sure to get you young ones polishin’ the floor! He’ll be joined by Manc Mark, free 8-9pm, $5 thereafter.
WING IT @ METRO FREO
DJ Matty J struts his stuff from 10pm. $10 before midnight.
Now that summer is in full swing, Metro Freo have a new mid-week party bringing nothing but quality beats and Perth’s finest DJs each and every Wednesday. House, funk, disco, electro, indie, tech, breaks, mashups and bootlegs pump through the speakers with cocktails flowing all night.
TOO DAMN GLAM @ SAPPHIRE
ILOVEVINYL @ MBH
Too Damn Glam is a fresh and funky night bringing you the sexiest commercial and funky house around with DJs Johnny Zimber, Frankie Button and guests.
The Mullaloo Beach Hotel’s new weekly night caters to all your indie needs. Think Bloc Party, The Smiths, Interpol, Passion Pit, Iggy Pop and massive amounts of rockin’ tunes (and cheap drinks) in between. 7-10pm.
SATURDAY @ TOUCAN DJ Samuel Spencer reminds us how to party from 10pm with nothing but good times laid down. $10 from 10pm.
SATURDAY @ PLAYERS BAR
ROCKET FUEL @ ROCKET ROOM DJ Brett Rowe, Kickstart and Stillfire rock the panel van ‘til 4am.
FORE @ DEFECTORS Fore welcomes back crowd favourites Nina Van Dyke, Katesy, Vinae and Rohan Smith, who will be rolling out the beats. From 9pm.
BEAT MASH @ BAR OPEN (DOWN) Fresh off winning the 2010 PDMA for Best Regular Weeknight, the d’n’b madness continues with a fresh line-up to make you wish the weekends could be as fun as this. Free from 8pm ‘til 10pm, $5 thereafter.
STUDENT NIGHT @ ROSEMOUNT
SUNDAY 16/1
WILLY MORALES
LOFT @ GEISHA
RESORT @ MANHATTAN’S SCENIC
DEATH DISCO @ CAPITOL
SATURDAYS @ EVE
MOS DEF @ METRO CITY
JUICY TOUR @ METRO CITY Global electro house label Juicy have finished cleaning up at Ibiza and are turning their sights to Australia for a big night featuring four of America’s biggest DJs – Willie Morales, David Solano, Tony Puccio and Sebastian Morxx will feature on a night with all the bells and whistles – think light shows, 3D visuals and most importantly big room electro house. Support from Flex, Sirius B, Cody and DJ Jewel.
Superstar DJ… here we go! Come down and support your friends as they lock and load their version of the Loft and vie for the coveted title of Superstar DJ and all the fanfare, admiration, sex, drugs, booze and groupies that come along with it. 8pm ‘til midnight, Monday be damned.
GET WET @ ROSEMOUNT Get Wet returns for more chillaxing Sunday afternoon beats from 5pm with residents dishing out dubstep, hip hop and drum’n’bass, all for free.
WEDNESDAY 19/1 DJ MARKY
CLUB RETRO @ MINT Chris McPhee and guests unleash ‘80s/‘90s party hits and retro classics each Friday at Club Retro. Free before 10pm or $10/5 thereafter.
Every Friday The Hideout takes over to bring you the best in hip hop DJs, producers, live MCs and vocalists free from 8pm.
SATURDAY 15/1 LUCID DREAMING @ VELVET LOUNGE The Lucid Dreaming crew are back for a bigger and better 2011 with their first show of the year. Entry
DJ Shannon Fox brings you postpunk, indie-pop, rock and electro goodies in the courtyard. Free entry.
DJ MARKY @ SHAPE To celebrate the release of Brazilian d’n’b king Marky’s Fabric 55 he’ll be rocking Shape for another banging midweek party to see you through to the weekend. Marky’s enthusiasm is unbridled and even after two decades of smashing dancefloors around the globe DJ Marky never fails to impress, especially with Stamina MC by his side. Support from Muller, Qbik and Sardi, tickets available from shapebar.com.au.
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+ ROOF LIGHT – Jan 13 @ The Bird DATSIK – Jan 13 @ Shape + JUICY TOUR: WILLIE MORALES, DAVID SOLANO, TONY PUCCIO, PEDRO M: Jan 14 @ Metro City MOS DEF – Jan 15 @ Metro City THE RED EYES – Jan 20 @ Mustang Bar; Jan 21 @ Settlers Tavern; Jan 22 @ Prince Of Wales; Jan 23 @ Indi Bar; Jan 26 @ Raggamuffin, Fremantle Oval MALENTE – Jan 21 @ Metropolis Fremantle + DEATHFACE – Jan 21 @ Shape RADIO SLAVE, SOS THE COLLECTIVE – Jan 21 @ Ambar + MC UNDERTOW – Jan 21 @ Swan Basement; Jan 22 @ The Civic Hotel + NATURE – Jan 21 @ Railway Hotel; Jan 28 @ Settlers Tavern; Jan 29 @ Malt Market Bar; Feb 4 @ Mojo’s KASKADE – Jan 22 @ Villa STANTON WARRIORS – Jan 25 @ Villa + HEAVYWEIGHT SOUNDZ: ANDY C, MC GQ, BLOKHE4D – Jan 25 @ Metro City HOUSEMEISTER, DJEDJOTRONIC – Jan 25 @ Ambar RAGGAMUFFIN: MARY J. BLIGE, JIMMY CLIFF, MAXI PRIEST, SEAN PAUL, THE ORIGINAL WAILERS, KY-MANI MARLEY, THE BLACK SEEDS and THE RED EYES – Jan 26 @ Fremantle Oval STANTON WARRIORS – Jan 26 @ Villa LAIDBACK LUKE, ZOE BADWI – Jan 26 @ Salt On The Beach UMAN – Jan 26 @ Loaded Dice Boat Party + ASTON HARVEY (FREESTYLERS) – Jan 28 @ Ambar + TRUS’ME – Jan 28 @ The Bird + WAJEED – Jan 29 @ The Bird
FEBRUARY
UPCOMING TOURS & EVENTS RADIO SLAVE, SOS COLLECTIVE @ AMBAR After three years and 39 international DJs, techno stalwarts Democracy have announced their last ever show for Perth at Ambar, Friday 21 January. Helping bid farewell will some of the world’s most prolific DJ/producers, Radio Slave and SOS The Collective. They’ll help the brand celebrate a bold and influential few years of pushing tech-house-electronica sounds and helping to shape this city’s growing love of techno.
MALENTE @ METRO FREO
THE HIDEOUT @ LEEDERVILLE (DOWN)
UPCOMINGS JANUARY
Eddie Electric spins indie classics and alternative sounds. $10 from midnight.
This week Culture Clash sees the Mills DJs hitting the decks from 9pm ‘til midnight. Free entry.
FRIDAY 14/1
SEANY B
PURE POP @ AMPLIFIER
ROOF LIGHT @ THE BIRD UK bass badman Roof Light hits up The Bird for another free show courtesy of the Don’t Sleep peeps. He’s a prolific producer in the realms of forward thinking bass/dubstep tunes so head to The Bird early to avoid disappointment. Support from Pickles, Clunk, Boy Prince and Vishnu.
is free although there will be an optional donation box, with tunes provided by Matt & Oli, Harry Webb, Richard Lee, Kid Deep and Carl Drake with VJ Martino keeping the crazy visuals coming.
Limelite sets the standard of 2011 with a visit from remix master Malente on Friday 21 January at Metropolis Fremantle. He’s earned his stripes as one of the world’s most cutting edge producers by staying true to his words, “If you don’t adapt, you die – evolution.” The last decade has seen Malente releasing albums spanning genres from crankin’ electro to breaks to bouncing tech-house, all the while straying far from his ‘70s organic funk roots and dabbling with disco, fidget and house. Local support from Zelimir, JS and Slickenside. $20 or $15 before 11pm on guestlist.
+ BIG NIGHT OUT: TREASURE FINGERS, PASE ROCK, VAN SHE TECH – Feb 5 @ Villa BIG DAY OUT: BLOODY BEETROOTS DEATH CREW 77, LUPE FIASCO, M.I.A, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, BOOKA SHADE (DJ SET), DIE ANTWOORD, VITALIC, CSS, PLAN B, RATATAT, BLISS N ESO, PNAU, KID KENOBI & MC SHURESHOCK, SAMPOLOGY, and more – Feb 6 @ Claremont Showgrounds RATATAT – Feb 7 @ Capitol + BUTCH – Feb 11 @ Geisha DE LA SOUL, PRINCE PAUL – Feb 12 Metro City ROY AYERS – Feb 12 @ Beck’s Music Box TRICKY – Feb 14 @ Capitol MAYER HAWTHORNE – Feb 16 @ The Bakery + LADY WAKS – Feb 18 @ Ambar CARIBOU, FOUR TET – Feb 19 @ Beck’s Music Box GOOD VIBRATIONS: FAITHLESS, PHOENIX, SASHA, NAS & DAMIAN MARLEY, THE TINGS TINGS, KELIS, LUDACRIS, ERYKAH BADU, FRIENDLY FIRES, MIIKE SNOW, FAKE BLOOD, RUSKO, KOOLISM, KILL THE NOISE, FENECH-SOLER, and more – Feb 20 @ Claremont Showgrounds
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •31
gigguide@drumperth.com.au
GIG GUIDE THU 13
FRI 14
Ben Pettit Belgian Beer Cafe
Midnight Rambler 7th Avenue Bar
Howie Bennys
Sins Of Our Father Amplifier Bar
Celebrations Karaoke Brooklands
Health, Injured Ninja, The Wednesday Society, Gemma Pike Bakery Northbridge
Wrighteous Clancys Canning Bridge Jon Madd’s Rock’n Roll Karaoke Devilles Pad Gun Shy Romeos Elephant & Wheelbarrow Trent White Ellington Jazz Club Nathan Gaunt FUSE Bar Bex’s Open Mic Night Indi Bar Rhys Wood JB O’Reilly’s Double Trouble Kalbarri Hotel
Copy Cat Bally’s Bar Faces Bennys J Babies Black Bettys Abstar Carine Glades Tavern Sergio Charles Htl Tip Top Sound, DJ Al Como Htl Boom! Bap! Pow! Devilles Pad
Chris Murphy Kingsley Tavern
Full Circle, Adam Kelly, Cee Double Lucky, Leederville
Courtney Murphy Kingsway Tavern
Redstar Dusk Lounge Bar
Steve Hepple Legends Bar
Annie Neil Ellington Jazz Club
Riki, Roger Smart Leopold Htl Bicton
Amanda Dee Enex100 Podium Level
James Wilson Lucky Shag
J2B Jazz Esplanade Htl Fremantle
The Cult Of Addiction, Pins & Ladles, Blue Lucy Manhattan’s
Sonic Ess Bar
Matt Gresham Mojos Nth Fremantle The Fix Moon Cafe Goodnight Tiger, DJ James MacArthur Mustang Bar
Tom Haran Fenians Pub Vdelli Indi Bar The Healys JB O’Reilly’s Michael Power Last Drop Tavern
Ben Merito Paddingtion Ale House
Bumpy Johnson Left Bank
Dr Bogus Paddy Hannan’s, Burswood
Neil Collis Leisure Inn
Samuel Spencer Players Bar Mandurah Kapitol P Queens Tavern, Highgate Jon Spencer Blues Explosion, Felicity Groom Rosemount Htl
James Wilson Leopold Htl Bicton Mayhem Maguires Subiaco Resort, Bastian’s Happy Flight Manhattan’s Aaron Spiers Trio Merriwa Tavern
Clayton Bolger Rosie O’Gradys Fremantle
Chris McPhee Mint Nightclub
Bill Chidgzey Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge
The Witness, Moondog J, The Sluts Of The Underground, Aztec Presit Hood Mojos Nth Fremantle
Niki Rose Rubix, Perth Heddy Haze Settlers Tavern Margaret River Chris Martin Sheraton Htl David Fyffe Sovereign Arms Greg Carter Springs Tavern Coronal Sky, That Velvet Echo, Salt Licked, Elk Bell, Ichora Swan Lounge
Full Circle Mt Henry Dizzy Miss Lizzy Murphys Mandurah Harry Deluxe, Swing DJ, Cheeky Monkeys with DJ James MacArthur Mustang Bar Everlong Newport Htl Blue Gene Paddy Hannan’s, Burswood
Lewis The Burrendah
Mayhem Paddy Maguires
Sambalicious The Deen
Flyte Paramount Nightclub
Open Mic Night The Den Better Days The Gate Bar and Bistro, Success Off the Record Universal Bar The Healys Woodvale Tavern
The Damien Cripps Band Players Bar Mandurah Pyramid Of The Coyote, Stone Circle, Diamond Eye Railway Htl John Waters Regal Theatre Subiaco
Jack Dopel Quartet X-Wray Cafe
Michael Swann & The Fox Fantasy Rocket Room
Astral Travel Ya Ya’s
The Karma Fx, Project Mayhem, Thursday’s
32 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
13 - 19 JANUARY 2011
UPCOMING TOURS
LA DISPUTE @ LEEDERVILLE SPORTING CLUB & BAKERY
Page, Blackwater Station, Aztech Suns Rosemount Htl The Ghost Hotel Settlers Tavern Margaret River Double Trouble Shark Bay Htl Billy & The Broken Lines Springs Tavern Paltiva, Seer Cya, Skinflint, 26 Parallel Swan Basement Rubber Band, The Red Triangle, Skinflint, Higgs Boson Swan Lounge The Magnificent 7 The Boat Keith McDonald The Burrendah Kill Teen Angst, Benedict Moleta, Sean O’niel, Bill Darby The Den Chris Murphy The Principle Micro Brewery Kickstart The Shed Miss Chief Toucan Club Nightmoves Universal Bar Ivan Ribic, Tip Top Sound, Dj Melvin Victoria Park Htl Dr Bogus Woodvale Tavern The Likely Lads Ya Ya’s
SAT 15 Allbrook, Avery & Co., Pentagram Fullblood, Rabbit Island, Bastian’s Happy Flight Bakery Northbridge Glen Davies Bally’s Bar Flyte Bar 120 Chris Murphy Belgian Beer Cafe Soothe Bennys Redstar Black Bettys
Fags Norfolk Basement
Festivus Merriwa Tavern
Passionworks Paddy Maguires
Wizard Sleeve, Bulls & Bears, Paulo Gonzalez, Von Leon Mojos Nth Fremantle
Amanda Power Queens Htl, Mt Lawley Latch Key Kids, The Clock Strikes, Montage Of Jesus Railway Htl John Waters Regal Theatre Subiaco Turning Tides, Against The Tide, Adrift, Paradise In Exile Rosemount Htl Blue Gene Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge Dylan Ollieverre & The TNs Settlers Tavern Margaret River Chris Martin Sheraton Htl Jook Joint Band South Beach Hotel Tip Top Sound, DJ Red Springs Tavern Blackjack, Smokin’ Aces, 12 Inch Shifter, Ozmonaut Swan Basement Buffalo Everything, Shimmergloom, Valley Of Gwangi Swan Lounge Billy & The Broken Lines, Renegade The Boat Booty Juice The Deen Acoustic Inc The Principle Micro Brewery Daren Reid & The Soul City Groove The Whale & Ale Soul Corporation Universal Bar The Shinkickers Woodbridge Htl Lush Woodvale Tavern That Velvet Echo, Craig Sinclair X-Wray Cafe
SUN 16
Tip Top Sound, DJ Al Como Htl
Mia & Good Company 7th Avenue Bar
Johnny Nandez Hammond Explosion Devilles Pad
Emmure Amplifier Bar
Saxon, Sardi Double Lucky, Leederville J2B Jazz Esplanade Htl Fremantle Twisted Cowboy JB O’Reilly’s Greg Carter Leopold Htl Bicton Timothy Nelson & The Infidels, Goodnight Tiger, Antonio Paul Manhattan’s Hundred Acre Wood, Chris Gibbs Trio, Stillfire, Boston & Chevy Mojos Nth Fremantle Blaze Moon & Sixpence Aaron Woolley Mt Henry Mayhem Murphys Mandurah The Rusty Pinto Combo with Rockabilly DJ, The Damien Cripps Band with DJ James MacArthur Mustang Bar Gravity Newport Htl Kevin Smith & The 7 Storey Jumpers, The
Greg Carter Bally’s Bar Damien Cripps Belmont Tavern Zydecats Clancys Acoustic Inc Como Htl Quiver Divers Tavern, Broome
Cherry Acoustic Moon & Sixpence Peter Busher & The Lone Rangers, DJ Rockin Rhys Mustang Bar The Joe Kings Newport Htl The Sunshine Brothers, The Brow Horn Orchestra Railway Htl That Velvet Echo Redcliffe On Murray Open Mic Night with Turin Robinson Rosemount Htl Ivan Ribic Sovereign Arms Steve Hepple Springs Tavern Bill Chidgzey Stamford Arms Astro Pig, The Darlings Swan Basement Kevin Conway, Chris Murphy The Boat Scott Jones, Tony Allen The Clink Billy Neal The Cut Golf Course Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scout The Principle Micro Brewery Huge The Shed Retrofit Universal Bar Darryn Vernon Arms Tavern Neil Collis Victoria Park Htl Damien Cripps Wanneroo Reckless Kelly Woodvale Tavern
MON 17 Wide Open Mic Mojos Nth Fremantle The Continentals Mustang Bar Gang Of Three Paddingtion Ale House Plastic Max & The Token Gestures The Deen The Healys, Blue Hornet The Shed
TUE 18 Steve Poltz Manhattan’s
Masina Miller Ellington Jazz Club
Alma Desnuda, Mark Hweitt Mojos Nth Fremantle
J2B Jazz Esplanade
Danza Loca Salsa Mustang Bar
The Honeys Fremantle Arts Centre Courtyard
Chris Martin Sheraton Htl
Helix Jazz Trio FUSE Bar Flyte High Road Htl Riverton Glen Davies Duo High Wycombe Hotel The Volcanics Indi Bar The Nightingale Jazz Trio L’atitude 28 Bar Nat Ripepi Leisure Inn Apricot Rail, Bad Houses, Bamodi, Craig MacElhiney, Erasers Manhattan’s
Stu Orchard X-Wray Cafe
WED 19 Rich Widow, Art In Algebra, Jessica Kill Manhattan’s
CHRISTINE ANU @ SUPREME COURT GARDENS THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: JAN 13 Rosemount HEALTH: JAN 14 The Bakery + EMMURE: JAN 16 Amplifier Bar (TOUR POSTPONED) + STEVE POLTZ: JAN 18 Manhattan’s; JAN 19 Yo Yo Studios; JAN 20 Mojo’s + DEXTER JONES: JAN 20 Ya Ya’s; JAN 21 Rocket Room; JAN 22 White Star Hotel Albany + SYDONIA: JAN 21 Amplifier; JAN 23 Mojo’s + LLOYD SPIEGEL: JAN 21 Southerly’s Bar Dongara; JAN 22 Freemanson’s Hotel Geraldton; JAN 23 Redcliffe On Murray; JAN 24 The Charles Hotel; JAN 26 Mojo’s; JAN 28 Rockingham Hotel; JAN 20 Settler’s Tavern; JAN 30 Indi Bar OWEN PALLETT, JESSICA SAYS: JAN 22 Fly By Night + STING, MARK SHOLTEZ: JAN 22 Sandalford Wines Swan Valley + LA DISPUTE, TO THE NORTH: JAN 22 The Bakery DON WALKER: JAN 22 Quindanning Tavern, JAN 23 Fremantle Arts Centre THE THING!: MON 24 The Bakery CAT POWER: JAN 24 & JAN 25 The Quarry WIRE: JAN 25 The Bakery RAGGAMUFFIN: MARY J. BLIGE, JIMMY CLIFF, MAXI PRIEST, SEAN PAUL, THE ORIGINAL WAILERS, KY-MANI MARLEY, THE BLACK SEEDS and THE RED EYES: JAN 26 Fremantle Oval + CHRISTINE ANU, PHILADELPHIA GRAND JURY: JAN 26 Supreme Court Gardens + YOU AM I: JAN 26 Hotel Rottnest; JAN 29 Palandri Winery THE NECKS: JAN 26 & 27 The Bakery MARK SEYMOUR & JAMES REYNE: JAN 27, 28, 29 & 30 The Quarry + TIM ROGERS: JAN 28 Norfolk Basement + BONE: JAN 28 The Bakery PAUL DEMPSEY: JAN 28 Fly By Night
Heddy Fraze, Matt Cal & The Black Heart Sun, Joe Taylor, Big Big Sky Mojos Nth Fremantle
KENNY ROGERS, TROY CASSER-DALEY, BECCY COLE: JAN 29 Lake Karrinyup Country Club
Hootenanny, Antonio Paul Rosemount Htl
+ (HED)P.E, THE HAVKNOTS: FEB 2 Amplifier
Elk Bell, Holly Glory, Hi Hello, Sprawl, Zeks Swan Lounge
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INXS, TRAIN, BABY
ANIMALS: FEB 3 Kings Park
CARIBOU: FEB 19 Beck’s Music Box
SUFJAN STEVENS: FEB 3 & 4 Regal Theatre
KASEY CHAMBERS: FEB 19 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, FEB 20 Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre, FEB 22 Albany Entertainment Centre, FEB 24 Esperance Civic Centre, FEB 25 Goldfield Arts Centre, FEB 26 Elmars In The Valley, FEB 27 Queens Park Theatre
AMANDA PALMER: FEB 4 Fly By Night THE GETAWAY PLAN, TONIGHT ALIVE, SECRETS IN SCALE: FEB 9 Capitol RETURN TO FOREVER: FEB 9 Riverside Theatre DON MCLEAN: FEB 9 Burswood Theatre BIG DAY OUT: TOOL, RAMMSTEIN, IGGY & THE STOOGES, BLOODY BEETROOTS DEATH CREW 77, LUPE FIASCO, GRINDERMAN, PRIMAL SCREAM, DEFTONES, THE BLACK KEYS, ANDREW WK, THE JIM JONES REVUE, EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, LCD SOUNDSYSTEM, BOOKA SHADE, M.I.A, DIE ANTWOORD, VITALIC, CSS, PLAN B, RATATAT, THE JOHN BUTLER TRIO, WOLFMOTHER, AIRBOURNE, BIRDS OF TOKYO, KIDS OF 88, THE NAKED & FAMOUS, PNAU, KID KENOBI & MC SHURESHOCK, SAMPOLOGY, BLUE KING BROWN, WILL STYLES, LITTLE RED, GYPSY & THE CAT, LOWRIDER, THE VINES, THE GREENHORNES, SIA and more TBA: FEB 6 Claremont Showgrounds ST JEROME’S LANEWAY FESTIVAL: !!! (CHK CHK CHK), THE ANTLERS, ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFFITI, BEACH HOUSE, BEAR IN HEAVEN, BLONDE REDHEAD, CLOUD CONTROL, CUT COPY, DEERHUNTER, FOALS, GOTYE, THE HOLIDAYS, HOLY FUCK, JENNY & JOHNNY, LES SAVY FAV, LOCAL NATIVES, MENOMENA, PVT, YEASAYER, and more: FEB 12 Perth Cultural Centre ROY AYERS: FEB 12 Beck’s Music Box + CATHERINE TRAICOS: FEB 13 Beck’s Music Box; FEB 16 Maltmarket Dunsborough; FEB 20 White Star Hotel Albany; FEB 26 Rosemount THE UNTHANKS: FEB 13 Beck’s Music Box URSULA YOVICH: FEB 14 Beck’s Music Box GWILYM SIMCOCK TRIO: FEB 15 Beck’s Music Box THE BOOKS: FEB 16 Beck’s Music Box
AN EVENING ON THE GREEN: JOE COCKER, DIESEL, GEORGE THOROGOOD, THE DINGOES: FEB 20 Sir Mitchell Park SWERVEDRIVER: FEB 20 Beck’s Music Box GOOD VIBRATIONS: FAITHLESS, PHOENIX, SASHA, NAS & DAMIAN MARLEY, THE TINGS TINGS, FRIENDLY FIRES, MIIKE SNOW, KOOLISM, FENECHSOLER, FAT FREDDYS DROP and more: FEB 20 Claremont Showgrounds JUNGLE BOOGIE: KOOL & THE GANG, DJ NORMAN JAY: FEB 20 Perth Zoo DOVES: FEB 21 Metropolis Fremantle MARTHA WAINWRIGHT: FEB 21 & 22 Beck’s Music Box TUNNG: FEB 24 Beck’s Music Box + KATIE NOONAN: FEB 25 Kings Park THE BATS: FEB 25 Beck’s Music Box DAME KIRI TE KANAWA, KATIE NOONAN: FEB 25 Kings Park IMELDA MAY: FEB 27 Beck’s Music Box JACK DE JOHNETTE: FEB 28 Beck’s Music Box ARCHIE ROACH: MAR 1 Beck’s Music Box CECILIA BARTOLI: MAR 2 Perth Concert Hall JOANNA NEWSOM: MAR 2 Beck’s Music Box WILD BIRDS & PEACEDRUMS, AMIINA: MAR 3 Beck’s Music Box BEST COAST: MAR 4 Beck’s Music Box OLD MAN RIVER, PASSENGER, DANIEL LEE KENDALL: MAR 4 Amplifier, MAR 5 Mojo’s, MAR 6 Nannup Festival MICHAEL BUBLE: MAR 4 & 5 Sandalford Wines Swan Valley, MAR 6 Sandalford Wines Margaret River
LLOYD COLE: FEB 17 Beck’s Music Box
NANNUP FESTIVAL: THE PIGRAM BROTHERS, CLARE BOWDITCH, PASSENGERand more: MAR 4-7, Nannup.
TAYLOR MAC: FEB 18 & 23 Beck’s Music Box
OMAR SOULEYMAN: MAR 5 Beck’s Music Box
MAYER HAWTHORNE: FEB 16 The Bakery
THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •33
EMPLOYMENT SELF-EMPLOYMENT Beat and Synth Programmers needed for hot chart music production. Think Katy Perry, Kesha, Rihanna. Submit online CV and demo reel. Lots of work and fantastic opportunities for the right people. Must be very experienced and strictly adhere to timelines. iFlogID: 10371
FOR SALE
boats, international gigs, compilation CD’s, song contests, all available for submission at www.giglaunch.com. au ! We cater for both promoters and artists. Go Aussie, Go Gig Launch! iFlogID: 10450
HIRE SERVICES Paris by Night band are your number 1 choice when it comes to professional wedding and corporate entertainment in Melbourne. This band will leave your guests talking! iFlogID: 10413
duced backing tracks that ‘load & play’ in any General MIDI device. 24/7 Instant Download. Go: www. hittrax.com.au
deal! Phone Will: 0413 772 911 iFlogID: 10502
DRUMMER
iFlogID: 10399
www.ozjam.com.au is free to join, and with over 4500 members its fast becoming the largest online music community in Australia! If your looking to join or form a band, find a band member, or get exposure check Ozjam out today! iFlogID: 10587
MUSICIANS AVAILABLE
Drummer needed with Backing Vocal ability, availability, good equipment, we are a polished originals Pop/Punk/Rock band based in Brisbane with gigs booked & recorded music out there, the band has been up & running for 8 months, if interested hit us up. iFlogID: 10437
GUITARIST
MANAGEMENT AMPS P.A AMP. 1800 watt split mono “CARVER” USA made with BOSE controller.rack mount style in case. will run 2 by 4 “W” bins.very powerfull.VGC.cost over $2500 sell $750. Ph.0428744963 Cooroy. iFlogID: 10225
BASS PLAYER MINSTREL MANAGEMENT We are currently taking submissions from artists looking to release in 2011. Check out our website www.minstrelmanagement.com or contact info@minstrelmanagement.com for more information. iFlogID: 10573
KEYBOARDS
OTHER
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THE DECEMBERISTS NEW ALBUM THE KING IS DEAD STREAMING NOW
The Decemberists’ last album Hazards Of Love ensured that expectations for their latest release The King Is Dead were sky high. Those who doubted Colin Meloy, be shamed. More rustic, more rural, less operatic, the lead single Down By The Water, with guest Gillian Welch, is just the tip of this haystack of gems. Because we want you to hear Rox In The Box, Don’t Carry It All and the rest of it as well, we are offering an exclusive pre-release stream. To listen head to themusic.com.au.
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LAUNCHING 2011 THE KING IS DEAD by THE DECEMBERISTS is on sale Friday 14 January. THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 •35
frontrow@drumperth.com.au
LETTING THE HAIR DOWN GUY DAVIS TALKS TO CHUCK STAR ZACHARY LEVI ABOUT TANGLED, DISNEY’S TAKE ON THE RAPUNZEL STORY. comedy makeover of the Rapunzel fairy tale, Levi could barely contain his happiness at being part of Disney’s 50th animated movie.
W
hen it comes to animated movies, you can’t always believe your ears. After all, one of the wonders of making a bigscreen cartoon is that the character appearing on the screen doesn’t have to resemble the performer providing their voice. There are times, though, when character and actor are pretty much peas in a pod. Take the sometimes dashing, sometimes smarmy but generally good-hearted Flynn Rider, the roguish hero of the new animated Disney musical Tangled. He’s a strapping, handsome chap with a winning smile and a slightly selfdeprecating streak. Now take Zachary Levi, the actor who gives Flynn his speaking and singing voice. While he’s best known for playing the heroic but nerdy Chuck Bartkowski on the popular TV series Chuck, Levi in real life is... well, a handsome, strapping chap with a winning smile and a slightly self-deprecating streak. In Australia recently with co-star Mandy Moore to promote Tangled, an utterly charming musical-romance-
THIS WEEK IN
After all, the man is a self-confessed “Dis-nerd”. “Being part of this was a dream come true to begin with, growing up loving all things Disney and dreaming of being a voice in a Disney animated musical,” he said. “Then you get to fly halfway around the world to talk about it!” Levi beat out some 300 other actors to voice the role of Flynn, a charming thief who crosses paths with Rapunzel, a princess kidnapped at birth by an evil witch and kept locked away in a tower. Helping her escape, the two embark on an adventure that involves song, swordplay, the coolest cartoon horse ever and, naturally, a touch of true love. Given the sparkling chemistry Levi and Moore share, it’s surprising to learn that the two spent very little time working together during the year-long process of recording their dialogue and songs. “Before this press tour, we’d worked
ARTS
THURSDAY 13 Reins – multimedia exhibition pairing visual artist Matt Doust and musician Will Stoker, combining painting, music, video projection, and performance. Opening Night, 7pm. Free Range Gallery until 19 January.
SATURDAY 15 An Introduction To Erotica – from Red Rabbit Collective and Propel Youth Arts WA comes this two-hour seminar exploring one of the most arousing genres of art. Co-facilitator Dosh Luckwell will run through gender, erotic performance, porn/erotic distinction, and will be followed by live readings of erotic fiction and a discussion. Blue Room Theatre, 1pm. Free entry.
SUNDAY 16
A videogame buff, Levi had spent a day or two putting words into the mouths of characters in games like Halo: Reach and Fallout: New Vegas prior to taking on his Tangled job. But nothing could have prepared him for the process of bringing Flynn to life using only his voice. “Every six weeks or so, I’d go in for a recording session that would last five hours or so,” he said. “It’s very odd because you’re by yourself in the booth – you’ve got the directors, the writer and the technicians on the other side of the glass – and you’re not performing with anyone. I mean,
FILM
I thought given the nature of some of the scenes Mandy and I have together that we’d be together for at least some of them. But they’ve done it this way for a while so they clearly know what they’re doing!” And while he’s performed in amateur musical-theatre productions, Tangled was also the first time in his professional career that Levi has been asked to sing. “I’ve sung my whole life, done a lot of amateur musical theatre, so I know I can do it but the real test is whether people will actually pay you to do it,” he laughed. Consider that test passed, because the Levi-Moore duet I See the Light has been nominated for a Golden Globe, and there’s already talk of a Oscar nod...which would mean the pair would probably perform the song live at the Academy Awards ceremony. “That’s a possibility,” he admits with a smile. “One I don’t wanna think about too much!” WHAT: Tangled WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now
REVIEWS
Life During Wartime – last chance to catch Todd Solonsz’s latest film, a pseudo-sequel to the director’s breakthrough hit, Happiness. Joondalup Pines.
MONDAY 17 The Refuge – film by François Ozon (Swimming Pool, 8 Women) dealing with an ex-heroin addict who escapes to a rural retreat, only to form a bond with her late-partner’s brother. Screening at part of Lotterywest Festival Films. Opening night. Somerville Auditorium until 23 January.
WEDNESDAY 19 Black Market Cabaret – burlesque and cabaret event hosted by Fanny La Rue. Run by Sugar Blue Burlesque. The Bakery, 8pm.
7 UP
RITA HAYWORTH
MEMORABLE “MOLLS”: THE GRAND DAMES OF AMERICAN FILM NOIR By John Eagle 1. Joan Bennet in Scarlet Street (1946) 2. Ann Savage in Detour (1945) 3. Rita Hayworth in The Lady From Shanghai (1948) 4. Ava Gardner in The Killers (1946) 5. Lana Turner in The Postman Always Rings Twice (2003) 6. Peggy Cummins in Gun Crazy (1949) 7. Jean Simmons in Angel Face (1952) 36 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
together for a total of two days – we did our duet and that was it,” laughed Levi. “So the tour is the most time we’ve spent together. And she’s a sweetheart, man, and a consummate professional. You can actually learn a lot about someone doing a press tour with them because it’s a very interesting process – you get the same questions over and over, and some people could get a raging attitude because of that. But from day one, she’s been incredibly kind and incredibly generous.”
SOMEWHERE
SOMEWHERE Sofia Coppola’s Somewhere begins with an image that emblemises the film’s strengths and weaknesses right off the bat. For roughly a minute, we’re presented with a static shot observing a segment of a racing circuit, occupied by a Ferrari zooming in and out of frame. It’s an image that’s both strange and bold in its duration, as well as thuddingly obvious as a metaphor for its central character’s stasis. Likewise, Coppola’s film alternates between grace and crassness throughout, unfortunately edging more toward the latter. Stephen Dorff plays Johnny Marco, owner of the aforementioned Ferrari and a vacuous party boy actor, seen spending much of his time moping about LA’s Chateau Marmont hotel, picking up loose women, and doing press junkets for movies that look like real Stephen Dorff projects. Immediate comparisons will be made with Bill Murray’s burnout actor from Lost In Translation, and when Elle Fanning arrives on the scene as Dorff’s estranged daughter Cleo, Somewhere evokes the tentative connection that Murray and Scarlett Johansson made in the prior film. In that light, Somewhere might be its spiritual prequel, albeit one that no one asked for.
TANGLED
For all that formal risks that Coppola takes, Somewhere is ultimately undone by straying outside the ‘less is more’ parameters she sets up. As soon as you’re on the film’s patient, uninflected wavelength, there’s misjudged gags involving Johnny being served by a naked male masseuse, or falling asleep during cunnilingis to snap you out. And the final bids for emotional catharsis feel awfully strained compared to what’s come before. Finally, that Ferrari going in circles seems less a metaphor for Johnny’s stasis that Coppola’s own. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now IAN BARR
TANGLED Once upon a time, long, long ago, when computer-generated animation was in its infancy, hair was a huge problem for animators. Try as they might, they just couldn’t get individual strands of hair to behave properly. Fast forward to 2011, and Disney’s Tangled could indeed stand up as a celebration of the sole fact that they finally got it spot-on. Thankfully, it has heaps more to stand on than that. Tangled is a retelling of the Rapunzel fairytale, with Mandy Moore voicing the big-eyed, pert-nosed petite
UNSTOPPABLE
princess in the tower. Abducted and imprisoned by her ‘mother’ (a real presence with echoes of Ursula from The Little Mermaid, superbly voiced by theatre actress Donna Murphy) she wants to get out and see the world – and when flamboyant ruffian Flynn Rider (Zachary Levi from TV’s Chuck) climbs her tower on the run, she seizes the opportunity to, erm, let her heir down a little. Tangled is stupendous fun from start to finish, with a nice, meaty story and a script that respects the genre and never goes for cheap laughs. Moore makes for a spunky, feisty, memorable heroine and every shot in the film looks gorgeous, echoing the traditional hand-drawn feel of the Disney films of old. This is reportedly the second most expensive movie ever made, at $260 million – and it looks every cent. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now BAZ McALISTER
UNSTOPPABLE Tony Scott is a director who could film a man eating crisps for two hours and somehow, make it edge-of-theseat exciting. First, add a bombastic score. Get plenty of shaky, stop-go shots of crisp crumbs falling from the dude’s lips. Amp up the decibel
level of his munching. Throw in about thirty screeching, wailing cop cars and make sure you have at least three helicopters doing borderline dangerous shit in every shot. Call it something masculine and punchy, like Crunch. Box office gold. Unstoppable is everything Tony Scott does well. The scene is the grimy trainyards and wooded sidings of working man’s Pennsylvania: Denzel Washington is a disgruntled but capable veteran train-driver, Chris Pine a young upstart distracted by a failing marriage – and on their first day on the job together, someone lets a freight train loaded with combustible chemicals run away without brakes, headed for derailment in a thriving town. Of course it’s our heroes (and their attendant B-plots) to the rescue – and while all they do is get in another loco and power down the straight track in pursuit, Scott’s visual style and pacing makes this ten times as exciting as many car chases. Great support comes from level-headed Rosario Dawson in the train control room, and Kevin Dunn as an odious company exec more concerned with losing money than lives. A rail-y engaging thriller. WHERE & WHEN: Screening in cinemas now BAZ McALISTER
frontrow@drumperth.com.au
ANTHONY CAREW TALKS TO FILMMAKER TODD SOLONDZ ABOUT HIS LATEST FILM EXPLORING OFT-IGNORED AND REPRESSED ISSUES, LIFE DURING WARTIME.
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t’s not exactly like being on the other end of the line with Philip Seymour Hoffman’s creepy, sweaty, phone-sex pest in 1998’s hilarious Happiness, but a conversation with Todd Solondz is plenty awkward. Possessed with a prime New Jersey Jew accent and speaking with the foghorn volume and tin-eared pitch of David Lynch’s Gordon Cole character in Twin Peaks, the 51-year-old filmmaker offers an unnerving conversational partner. Whilst his films have been a succession of nasty satires skewering the ugliness of modern America – refusing to dodge from oft-skirted-around subjects like paedophile hysteria, anti-abortion crusading, sexual violence, selfdelusion, and cycles of abuse – in conversation Solondz is cryptic, if not downright elusive. “You always just try to find something fresh that can excite you,” Solondz blares, when asked about those subjects he’s tackled across a career that, with the forthcoming Dark Horse, now stands seven films long. “Why do I write about any subject? Why do I write about any particular character? Things just occur to you, and you explore them, and you see what things can be had from all of it.” When stirred, the waters of disclosure only get muddier. More vague. Like, what things? Why does he settle upon those specific things? “Things that feel fresh,” says Solondz. “As long as you’re going to places you haven’t quite been, and getting to things you haven’t quite gotten to, it’s always going to feel fresh.” How do you know what’s fresh? Is it difficult to find freshness? “You don’t know.” Solondz counters, continuing a conversational slide into strange semantics. “You never really know. That’s what you’re trying to discover. It’s like a puzzle that you have to suss out. No one thing is ever difficult; it’s the all of it. You try and figure it out piece-by-piece. It’s all difficult.” When does he figure things out? When did he know that Life During Wartime, his sixth film – the picture currently screening in Australia – was going to be about suburban Zionism, the war on terror, the scars of childhoods, middle-aged sibling rivalries, and the social stigma of paedophilia?
C U LT U R A L
“Whenever you write, you’re always writing somewhat in the dark,” Solondz says. “You’re always groping, hoping you can find your way to the end of it all. I never know how things are going to work out in the end. That’s what makes it interesting. As much as it can be frustrating, that’s the process of writing, for me: it’s one of discovery. I never know when I’ll discover what I discover, or what it’ll be. I’m always surprised when I figure something out. And I’m always pleased when I make it to the end.” Life During Wartime marks an 11-years-on pseudo-sequel to 1998’s Happiness, the notorious picture that still, to this day, stands as Solondz’s best. The relationship to the first film is both exact and tenuous; it at once a continuation of a story and an obliteration thereof. Employing a trick he first used in 2004’s so-so Palindromes – which cast ten different actors of a range of ages, genders, and ethnicities into its continuous lead role – Solondz completely re-cast every role in the ‘next chapter’ with, at times, radical differences; Hoffman’s sweaty, ruddy presence replaced by the scarred visage of The Wire’s Michael K Williams, for example. In spite of the fact that references to his breakout feature, 1995’s Welcome To The Dollhouse, have popped out throughout his bodyof-work, and that his characters all seem to inhabit the same suburban New Jersey milieu, Solondz claims that they don’t live on, or persist in his mind. That the disconnect between one film and the next had, prior to Life During Wartime, always been complete. “I don’t ever think about things once they’re finished. It’s done, you move on. But, in this case, I suppose they had returned,” says Solondz. “I really had thought when I made [Happiness] that I’d never want to revisit these characters. But, ten years go by, and it just happened. I don’t know why. I never really know why I do what I do. But, after arriving at the opening, I liked what I’d written, and I thought that maybe there was more to mine here.” Despite the fact that the movie biz supposedly loves sequels, Solondz found it difficult to find financing for the picture, and production “came
A DAY IN THE
LIFE together and fell apart several times” over the five-year period postPalindromes. Despite the fact that Happiness’s own original distributor refused to release the film, Solondz says that the subjects he explores have nothing to do with difficulties in getting them made. “I don’t think any financiers care about content at all,” Solondz says. “The bottom line is only whether your movies are profitable or if they’re not. If your movies are profitable, it makes things easier in terms of securing financing. Welcome To The Dollhouse was profitable, which made it much easier for Happiness to get made. No one was concerned about the content of Happiness when that film was profitable. But when Palindromes was not profitable, that made it much more difficult for Life During Wartime to get made.”
A greater revelation would be that Solondz sees himself as much a businessman as auteur. He cares not about critical reception or popular misconception, just bums-on-seats. “My main concern is, to be honest with you, economics,” says Solondz. “That there’s an audience to watch these movies, that can subsidise the making of more films. Whether or not it’s understood in the way I intended it to – whether it’s received ‘properly’, so to speak – that doesn’t matter. If the movies are engaging, then they’re functioning. If they’re not, then they’re not. Sometimes it’s scarier to be understood than misunderstood.”
with the need to even use trained dancers in the roles, instead bringing local comedic actors Allan Girod (all 202cm of him) and Shane Adamczak on board.
Kings Park Botanic Gardens): The eternally adored Shakespeare play, which has suffered through many a reworking and rebooting, is returned to its more classical roots for the latest season of this cultural institution. The tragedy benefits from a cast featuring a host of intriguing youngsters, as well as a number of Perth’s comedic greats who relish the chance to flex their dramatic chops, including Sam Longley and Glenn Hall.
GIVEAWAY! There are plenty of names that spring to mind when you mention classic British comedy troupes – Monty Python, Fry & Laurie, The Mighty Boosh, Dudley Moore and Peter Cook, et al. – but perhaps the most famous is The Goodies, A.K.A. Bill Oddie, Tim Brooke-Taylor, and Graeme Garden. If anything their TV series of the same name has the greatest intro theme ever, and their slapstick’n’surreal satire humour made them some of the most recognisible names in the UK. The new BBC collection, The Goodies: …At Last …Back For More, Again! brings together eight of their finest episodes, involving the likes of rescuing kidnapped musicians, defending Camelot against town planners, and creating ‘honest advertising’, and is complimented by a 36-page booklet with lots of archived goodness. We’ve got five copies of the DVD to giveaway. For your chance to win one email giveaways@drumperth.com.au with “GOODY GOODIES” in the subject line.
WHAT: Life During Wartime WHERE & WHEN: Joondalup Pines for Lotterywest Festival Films until Sunday 16 January
CRINGE
WITH ALEKSIA BARRON
offerings this weekend.
Perth appears to be one of the few Australian cities enjoying the luxury of a summery summer right now, and it seems like a good moment to make hay while the sun shines (and shines, and shines). Outdoor events in Sydney and Melbourne are currently subjected to almost routine cancellations, but Perth’s balmy evenings remain perfect for those wishing to partake in some outdoor entertainment. By now, you’ve probably seen most of the better Boxing Day film releases (The King’s Speech remains my pick of the bunch) and there’s nothing on TV (or the internet, thanks to the fact that even Americans don’t get much new programming over the silly season). There are, however, a number of delightful outdoor events taking place, so pack up your picnic blanket and a bottle of your finest and head to one of these fine
The Rocky Horror Picture Show (tonight, Moonlight Cinema, Kings Park): Fans of this cult classic wait all year for these precious summer screenings. This is not a film designed to be enjoyed in respectful silence – instead, it’s best when heckled according to fine tradition by folk wearing fabulous costumes. If fishnets and corsetry is a bit beyond you, at least equip yourself with a piece of toast, a water pistol, a newspaper and a deck of cards, and follow the lead of the more experienced attendees. Cinderella (Wednesday 19 January to Saturday 22, Quarry Amphitheatre): Anyone who’s ever experienced a decent ballet production of Cinderella knows that the two dudes playing the ugly stepsisters are always, always, always the highlight. The Perth City Ballet’s new production keeps up this fine tradition by doing away
Life During Wartime (until 16 January, Joondalup Pines): I know how it is. Last week, you were probably really busy. You meant to get down to the Somerville to see Life During Wartime, really you did, but you just had so much going on. Well, perhaps you should take advantage of the reprieve offered by its continued season up in Joondalup. I know it’s a trek, but this is Todd Solondz’s breathily awaited continuation of the characters from Happiness. It took out the Best Screenplay award at the Venice Film Festival and features a stunning performance from the inimitable Allison Janney. Please, please see it before it closes on Sunday. Romeo And Juliet (until 5 February,
Anyone spending their summer away from Perth can’t help but feel nostalgic for those perfect Perth summer nights. There’s almost nothing as perfect as relaxing in front of a film, ballet or play with a glass of perfectly chilled wine and a few choice snacks. Sitting under the air-con in your underpants is all well and good, but this weekend might be a good opportunity to enjoy the very best that summer has to offer. THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011 • 37
frontrow@drumperth.com.au
DAVE HUGHES COMES TO PERTH The man that is Dave Hughes – as now most famously seen on The 7PM Project – is coming to Perth for two nights in February, bringing that famous humour of his that’s drier than cheap chardonnay. Having just become a father and having just released a new DVD we’re sure the reflections on fatherhood and fame will come thick and fast. You can catch Hughes at the Astor Theatre Friday 11 February and Saturday 12. Head to bocsticketing.com.au for tickets.
DAVE HUGHES
REIN DOWN ON ME A MUSICIAN AND A PAINTER WALK INTO A STUDIO AND... CREATE AN INTRIGUING NEW MULTI-MEDIA EXHIBITION. WILL STOKER AND MATT DOUST SPOKE TO ALEKSIA BARRON ABOUT THEIR NEW COLLABORATION, REINS.
C
ollaborations and friendships between artists have fuelled the fires of creative development for centuries. Now, in the early days of 2011, two of Perth’s leading creatives are joining forces to present the exhibition Reins at the Free Range Gallery. Matt Doust is a highly-regarded visual artist who works primarily in the highly technical field of oil painting, while Will Stoker is the well-known frontman of beloved Perth band Will Stoker & The Embers. “We’ve admired each other’s work and we thought it would be a good idea to collaborate on a joint show combining my side of things – music – and his side of things – painting and projections and whatnot,” explains Stoker. Doust agrees, adding, “Because Will’s a musician and I’m a visual artist, I just felt like we were on similar wavelengths. It’s only naturally to want to merge the two and hopefully create something that is a mixture of the visual and the aural.” The result of their collaboration is Reins, a multimedia exploration of control and its fractious relationship with the human mind. “A lot of it
is based on personal experience – how you’ve slept last night and the dream you’ve had,” says Stoker. “The brainwaves you have over a night’s sleep can actually really affect how you feel and how your day pans out. It kind of expanded from there.” The results of the expansion of these ideas encompass a series of new oil paintings by Doust, inspired by watching Stoker perform in the studio; two projection installations, featuring visuals by Doust and soundtracks from Stoker; and live performance, which will feature prominently on the exhibition’s opening night. By drawing people into the enclosure of the Free Range Gallery space, Doust and Stoker hope to create a highly sensory experience for their audience. The creation of this body of work has been a new and exciting experience for both artists. Oil painter Doust has taken particular joy in the direction that the work has taken. “It’s more of an immediate release working with music, rather than my normal practice,” he enthuses. “This has allowed me to paint a lot more quickly and release the shackles of my traditional
R ! R FIRST EVE U O T AN
A I L A R T S U A
v Genius” o r p m I y d e “Com ntrol” “Out of Co “Hysterical”
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38 • THE DRUM MEDIA 13 JANUARY 2011
technique. I think it’s a very refreshing thing for me, personally.” Of particular interest to the pair has been the difference in how they go through their creative process – something that they find very humourous, in a certain way. “In effect, I annoy the shit out of Matt,” laughs Stoker. “He’s always putting all this effort and hours into his painting, and then I just roll up and... start singing and jamming on the piano and record it and I’m done.” Doust is laughing as well, but has to agree. “My work takes so long to do, and then Will comes in and magically creates some sort of beautiful, dreamy music within an hour, and then he whinges about how tired he is from it!” However, Doust readily admits that it’s the differences between their crafts that has set this experience apart from the norm. “It’s really difficult as a visual artist – you’re away in the shadows, painting in isolation, and you only get to have a show every so often. It takes so long to build a body of work. With music, you create something and you show it over and over again – you get to express it more often. It was exciting for me to collaborate with a person who is exposed so much more than I am.” WHAT: Reins WHERE & WHEN: Free Range Gallery tonight (Opening Night) until 19 January