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 2 3 A U G U S T 2 0 1 2 • 3 0 2 • F R E E
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www.themusic.com.au
Who says it’s not about the music anymore?
Billy Bragg & Wilco
Jeff The Brotherhood
Mermaid Avenue: The Complete Sessions
Hypnotic Nights
A four-disc set in celebration of centennial year of Woody Guthrie’s birth.
Co-produced by Dan Auerbach (The Black Keys) Single ‘Sixpack’ currently playing on Triple J and communities
Set includes two original ‘Mermaid Avenue’ albums plus a third disc of previously unreleased material from the sessions and the ‘Man in the Sand’ documentary. Billy Bragg’s ‘Ain’t Nobody That Can Sing Like Me’ Australian tour, incorporating Billy’s celebration of the music of Woody Guthrie, happens in October. Go to vivleespresents.com for details.
Punch Brothers Who’s Feeling Young Now? SOLD OUT SHOWS IN MELBOURNE, SYDNEY AND ADELAIDE. The band that T Bone Burnett has called “one of the most incredible bands (America) has ever produced.” “Punch Brothers are a superb cutting-edge band, exploring the outer edges of modern music, who happen to be bluegrass virtuosos.” – BRUCE ELDER, SYDNEY MORNING HERALD.
TOUR AUSTRALIA FOR 2013 BIG DAY OUT ‘Why the hell aren’t you listening to it?’ – STEREOGUM
Chris Robinson Brotherhood Big Moon Ritual DEBUT ALBUM OUT NOW. “… a slim portfolio of long songs which morph between country, rock, soul and the avant-garde, with guitar work redolent of the Dead and Allmans.” 9/10 - UNCUT. “… a compelling trip. Can’t wait for part two.” - RHYTHMS Exclusive Australian edition of new companion album ‘The Magic Door’ – with 3 extra songs - OUT SEPTEMBER 7.
Boogie! Australian Blues, R&B and Heavy Rock from the ‘70S’
Ry Cooder Election Special A wakeup call as the U.S. heads towards its November Presidential Election. Includes “Mutt Romney Blues”, “The Wall Street Part of Town” and “Guantanamo”. “In a recording career that stretches back more than four decades, Cooder has never before made an album as immediate as Election Special… an impassioned screed against the dumbing down of America…” 9/10 - Uncut “Ry has proved equal to the crying need of the times….” ++++ - MOJO
WWW.WARNERMUSIC.COM.AU
WWW.NONESUCH.COM
A TWO-DISC CELEBRATION OF BLUES-BASED OZ SOUNDS OF THE ‘70S. 44 TRACKS: Billy Thorpe & the Aztecs, Chain, Carson, La De Da’s, Madder Lake, Cold Chisel, Daddy Cool, Skyhooks, Rose Tattoo, Lobby Loyde & the Coloured Balls, Max Merritt & the Meteors, Wendy Saddington, Spectrum, the Dingoes, Jo Jo Zep & the Falcons, Sports, Masters Apprentices, Stevie Wright, Buffalo, Blackfeather, Ariel, Kevin Borich Express, Captain Matchbox Whoopee Band and more! Original cover art by Ian McCausland, liner-notes by Jen Jewel Brown.
WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/INDOCHINERECORDINGS
THE DRUM MEDIA • 3
FOREWORD LINE
NEWS FROM THE FRONT
IN BRIEF Southbound tickets are now on sale via southboundfestival.com. au, with a new Teepee Life camping option - an ecofriendly festival experience in a Teepee Village.
SHAPESHIFTER
NEW NATURAL As a presenting partner we’re stoked to announce the return of WA’s choicest music festival, the Natural New Zealand Music Festival, at Red Hill Auditorium Saturday 1 December. The festival looks to be bigger and better than its successful debut last year, with NZ music heavyweights Shapeshifter and Kora headlining the show. Add to that soulstress Ladi6, legendary trio Trinity Roots, hip hop wordsmith David Dallas, producer P-Money, singer/songwriter Maisey Rika, popular Kiwi comic Gish and local act Ben Merito, and you’ve got 10 hours of wicked Kiwi vibes. $99 plus BF via Oztix and redhillgigs.com.au from September 3.
WASHINGTON
WASHING’ IN THE QUARRY Quintessential WA concert series Live At The Quarry returns for a sixth season this November, kicking off Friday 9 with musical comedy genii Tripod delivering laughs and music at the season premiere. Also filling out the first Live At The Quarry announce for 2012 is reining indie-pop princess Washington, Friday 16. Then Friday 30 sees the return to The Quarry of a man who sold out three consecutive nights at the same venue in ‘10/’11 – true blue legend John Williamson. And, for the first time in Perth comes the east coast smash hit, Reminiscing – three Legends of Australian Music in one memorable concert event featuring the unmistakable talents of Glenn Shorrock (Little River Band), Wendy Matthews and Doug Parkinson, Thursday 14 March 2013. Tickets for all shows on sale from Friday 31 August 31 via Ticketmaster.
WWW.YA-YAS.COM.AU THURSDAY 23RD AUGUST
JAKE AND THE COWBOYS
SPOONFUL OF SUGAR AND THE RENZULLO PROJECT DOORS 8PM $5
FRIDAY 24TH AUGUST
FAIM DEBUT FILM CLIP PARTY
SCALPHUNTER AND NEW EROTIC DOORS 8PM $10
SATURDAY 25TH AUGUST
WILL STOKER AND THE EMBERS
SEAMS, THE TAWNY RAJAH AND BENNY MAYHEM DOORS 8PM $10
SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST
DAVEY LANE (YOU AM I)
BRITISH INDIA
INDIAN LOVERS ARE BETTER To mark the release of their new single I Can Make You Love Me, British India are headed our way twice (!). I Can Make You Love Me has become a radio staple already, and now the band unveil the video for it, featuring a lovelorn Minotaur. Presented by SPA, they play an exclusive Perth show Saturday 22 September, before returning on the official tour playing Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Thursday 29 November; Metropolis Fremantle Friday 30; and Capitol Saturday 1 December. Tickets via Oztix, Heatseeker, Moshtix and the usuals.
MONDAY 27TH AUGUST DOORS 7PM FREE
TUESDAY 28TH AUGUST
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The North Midlands Show at Niven Park in Carnamah brings the region together Saturday 15 September, 10am til midnight. Along with entertainment like a Tractor Pull, Museum extension opening, fashion parade, fireworks and more, there will be live music from Felicity Groom, The Seals, Dilip & the Davs, Davey Craddock & The Spectacles and Calectasia. Ticket and camping options via Heatseeker. Guitar legend Slash’s Thursday 30 August Metro City show has sold out, and he’s just announced Rose Tattoo and I Am Giant as supports, while Martika (Thursday 4 October, Metro Freo) welcomes Melbourne’s Kate Alexa to the line-up. Tickets via Moshtix. WAM and APRA|AMCOS are holding the third instalment of the 2012 Music Industry Sundowner Series, Monday 3 September at the Rosemount Hotel from 6-7.30pm, presented by Michael Tucak of Creative|Legal. Register at wam.asn.au. M83 wants you to make the new music video for his track Steve McQueen. For all the details head to ilovem83.com.
The Pennywise Australian Tour is now cancelled due to a back injury sustained by frontman Zoli Teglas. Patrick Wolf’s Fly By Night show Friday 14 September has also been cancelled.
BIG TOMMO’S OPEN MIC VARIETY NIGHT
WEDNESDAY 29TH AUGUST
Drum Media’s up-andcomers night Gignition has a new time, new venue and new vibe heading into spring, now taking place at The Railway Hotel once a month on Sunday arvos from 2 til 6pm. If you’d like to get involved email luke@sweetmate.com.au, and head down this Sunday 26 August to see our first round in the new format featuring Breed, Mirror Mirror, In Orbit, Robo Ant and Masonic Noize.
British-born Aussie DJ Helena is the first female DJ/producer to reach #1 on the ARIA Club Chart with her track Girl From The Sky.
EVAN DANDO AND JULIANA HATFIELD
THE MORNING NIGHT AND DAVEY CRADDOCK & THE SPECTACLES DOORS 6PM $10
WIN A $100 BAR TAB, DRINK SPECIALS AND PIZZA/PINT DEALS. FREE ENTRY 8PM
Local duo Voltaire Twins are one of the 12 music finalists in this year’s Qantas Spirt Of Youth Awards. The eventual winner receives mentorship from Lee Groves and Daniel Johns, a trip to CMJ Music Festival in New York and $5,000 cash.
FINE & DANDO Long time friends and musical collaborators Evan Dando and Juliana Hatfield tour Aus’ this December to deliver, side by side, acoustic versions of their expansive back catalogues, including The Lemonheads, The Blake Babies, solo material and more. In 1986, Hatfield first introduced herself to Evan having watched The Lemonheads, and they went on to form a close friendship and musical bond ever since. Supported by Bambino Koresh, they play the Rosemount Hotel Saturday 22 December. Tickets via Handsome Tours, Moshtix and the usuals, and presented by SPA.
themusic.com.au
Twelve Foot Ninja have launched Project 12, releasing one digital track along and comic every week for 12 in the lead up to the release of their debut album Silent Machine on November 2.
EASTERN BACK WEST After roaring from coast to coast with their heart-bursting live shows earlier this year, The Eastern head back to our shores to tell some tales, scuff their boots and throw it down yet again, having toured with the likes of Justin Townes Earle, Fleetwood Mac, Lil’ Band of Gold and more. They bring their rolling, rambling, spiritraising atmosphere to Clancy’s Fremantle Thursday 27 September and Wave Rock Weekender, Sunday 30.
65DAYSOFSTATIC
STATIC INSTRUMENTS Popular instrumental groups 65Daysofstatic have announced their first ever headline shows down under following the announcement of the release of their back catalogue in Aus’. Recent records The Destruction Of Small Ideas and We Were Exploding Anyway saw the band shift into an electronic-based sound that has seen them compared to peers like Battles and Aphex Twin. Creating a hybrid sound that is truly unique, you can experience it at The Bakery Saturday 5 January. Tickets via Life Is Noise and Now Baking.
LAGWAGON
BACK ON THE WAGON The first band signed to Fat Wreck Chords and the definitive act on the label, Lagwagon were pioneers in creating the now-famous ‘Fat Wreck sound’ with speedy drums, guitar virtuosity and undeniable melodies. They’ve influenced hundreds of thousands of kids, been around the world countless times and redefined themselves over almost 25 years. Joined by special guests The Smith Street Band, they play Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Wednesday 5 December and Rosemount Hotel Thursday 6. Tickets via Heatseeker and Oztix.
DIRTY DAMAJA D. Original Dirty Rotten Scoundrel, aka Brooklyn’s Jeru The Damaja, has nearly 20 years in the music business since, establishing himself as a multitalented artist and businessperson, including being one third of the legendary Gang Starr. His last trip to our shores was with the Beatnuts, and now he shines on his own Thursday 20 September at Amplifier.
BRAGGING RIGHTS Due to overwhelming demand, Billy Bragg will be performing additional shows on his upcoming tour, which sees a special two part show: the first half celebrating Woody Guthrie, and the second exploring Bragg’s own repertoire. In addition to his Friday 2 November Astor Theatre show, he now also returns the following night. Tickets via BOCs. Melbourne’s Jordie Lane now also joins him as special guest. Presented by SPA.
OKA BACK Bringing you more of their electrified didgeridoo, heavy slide guitar, soaring flutes and juju rhythms, OKA return to WA with their new live show from Canada. They play Mojo’s Thursday 13 September; Divers Tavern, Broome Friday 14; Caves House, Yallingup Sunday 16; Indi Bar Wednesday 19; Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Thursday 20; Settlers Tavern, Margaret River Friday 21; White Star Hotel, Albany Saturday 22; and The Railway Hotel Sunday 23. Tickets via okamusic.com.
ARCADE CITY It’s been an incredible run so far this year, and with no signs of slowing down Deep Sea Arcade have been killing it since the release of their debut longplayer Outlands earlier this year. And now the Sydney five-piece release new single Granite City and its accompanying tour. As with recent singles Seen No Right and Steam, Granite City has hooks more infectious than the common cold and is fast becoming a live favourite. They bring good friends The Preatures to play the Rosemount Hotel Friday 23 November. $18 plus BF via Heatseeker/$22 door.
FEEL RUDIMENTAL British electronic outfit Rudimental have definitely arrived since their massive single Feel The Love started smashing the UK charts and has already been doing likewise down this way. The London based four-piece have had their feet firmly planted in the underground music scene for sometime, and they’re bringing their anthemic electronic soul down under for the first time, playing an intimate DJ set at Ambar Thursday 11 October.
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FOREWORD LINE
NEWS FROM THE FRONT
LOCAL LOVIN’
BLASTING YOUTH ISSUES
Grunge-rockers Honeywheeler launch their debut self-titled EP at The Beat Nightclub Friday 7 September, supported by Mezzanine, Zeks & Bend The Sky.
There’s some mighty fine local happenings going down right now in WA, and we don’t just mean calling up RTRFM and pledging your allegiance with a subscription before Radiothon winds up…
A free all ages youth event being held in Kings Square, Fremantle on Sunday 14 October, Soundblast launches the 2012 Music Feedback CD/DVD as part of Mental Health Week October 7-14. Music Feedback aims to reduce mental health-related stigma in young people, and the CD and DVD features tracks/videos from the likes of Missy Higgins, San Cisco, Voltaire Twins and more. Soundblast runs 12 til 4pm, and features Emperors, Rainy Day Women, The Stoops, Morgan Bain, Codie Sundstrom and MC Tomas Ford.
With a national tour in the works and a new album due 2013, bright sparks Beside Lights are preparing to take the Aus’ music scene by storm, starting with C5, upstairs at Metropolis Fremantle, Friday 21 September. Tickets via Oztix and Moshtix from next Thursday. Presented by Drum Media.
DAS BLACK SHEEP
Launching debut EP Disguises, rock-electronicists The Arsonist play Rosemount Hotel Saturday 1 September.
For the first time in Australia hip hop legends Das EFX and Black Sheep will play the Civic Hotel Thursday 27 September. Das EFX rose to popularity in the early ‘90s due to their affiliation with EPMD’s Hit Squad, and their style that combines nonsensical lines with fast-paced ragga-influenced flow, while duo Black Sheep from Queens, New York, were part of the Native Tongues Posse, which included Jungle Brothers, A Tribe Called Quest and De La Soul.
Tracksuit release single Classy Girl Thursday 30 August at The Bird. Axe Girl and Davey Craddock support.
Payday at The Causeway presents Bass101, Thursday 6 September and featuring Q-Bik, Philly Blunt, Buck Naked, Get More, The Barons Red and more. Streaming live to The Backyard Project from 7pm til midnight.
Since supporting Bluejuice at Capitol in April and Kaiser Chiefs at Metro in May, Loon Lake have been eager to return for their own headline tour and now it’s a reality with current single Cherry Lips absolutely smashing radio around the country along with its cracking new video clip. Celebrating the EP on which it resides, Thirty Three, they play Prince Of Wales, Bunbury Friday 14 September and Amplifier Saturday 15. Tickets via Heatseeker and Oztix.
MATCHBOX TWENTY TWELVE
As part of this year’s Perth Fashion Festival (PFF) Brookfield Place hosts Fashionably Loud Friday 21 September, featuring indie-poppers San Cisco performing live whilst models parade looks styled by Zara Bryson from 5pm.
This October sees the return of Matchbox Twenty for the first time since 2008 and following the release of their new album North. They’re joined by friends and Aussie legends INXS, touring with new lead vocalist Ciaran Gribbin and performing their own greatest hits-heavy, hour-long set as they celebrate the 25th anniversary of the release of their classic Kick album. Matchbox Twenty have sold over 30 million records since their 1997 inception, and they play Perth Arena Sunday 11 November. Tickets via livenation.com.au from Friday 31 August.
Break-A-Holics Anonymous is a night devoted to old school breakbeat sounds, and it rocks a vinyl-only edition Friday 28 September, with DJs Marty McFly vs Tone, BAA (Micah, Ben Mac, Fdel), Wish vs Oli and Nyquist Freqs. $15 from 10pm.
BESIDE LIGHTS BETWEEN THE BURIED AND ME Fucked Up, This Is Hell, The Early November, Cerebral Ballzy, Polar Bear Club, Sylosis, Blood On The Dance Floor, The Dear Hunter and Confession. That’s why. Monday 4 March at Claremont Showgrounds. Tickets via soundwavefestival.m.au, Oztix and the usuals from today!
LEADERS AND US North Carolina metal heroes Between The Buried And Me tour in support of their forthcoming seventh album, bringing their decade-strong arsenal of impressive, dynamic speed-meetsprog metal on the new record due October 9, The Parallax II: Future Sequence – the quintet’s most complex, ambitious and accomplished release to date. US instrumental metal act Animals As Leaders support on their debut Aus’ tour, and it hits Amplifier Tuesday 13 November. Tickets via Heatseeker and the usuals from August 30.
M A R L E Y
BUSKY BUSINESS There’s a great opportunity for Perth’s buskers to showcase their talents, with a performance space available at the Coventry Square development in Morley. And Coventry Square have engaged RTRFM to run a series of performance audition heats during September, followed by a final performance at which the top performing busker will win a three month paid contract with the Morley venue. Heat 1 goes down Saturday 1 September, and budding buskers can register by emailing comp@rtrfm.com.au or calling 9260 9200.
FESTIVAL NEWS
OM NOM NOM
www.houseofmarley.com.au
Friday 14 September Ambar gets Stupid Fresh as Canadian genius Nom De Strip pops in for a set featuring a blend of styles from electro to techno, dutch to disco. Success producing tracks has been equalled by success touring, as Nom De Strip continues to be one to watch on the decks; crowds all over the world have embraced his unique sets loaded with exclusives. Supported by DNGRFLD, Philly Blunt and FTW. $20 from 10pm, $15 pre sale via Boomtick.
SLAYER
SOUNDWAVE SLAYERS
GIVEAWAYS
If Soundwave’s first announcement wasn’t big enough, round two confirms SW 2013 as the best heavy music festival this country has known. Why? Slayer, Billy Talent, Gallows, Bullet For My Valentine, Cypress Hill, Bring Me The Horizon, Mindless Self Indulgence, The Amity Affliction, Sick Of It All, The Blackout,
CREDITS
CONTRIBUTORS Scott Aitken, Marisa Aveling, Paul Barbieri, Zoe Barron, Steve Bell, Jackson Best, Tom Birts, Mike Bowring, Tom Bragg, Tristan Broomhall, Rob Browne, Rick Bryant, Michael Caves, Cyclone, Marcia Czerniak, Sebastian DíAlonzo, Kitt Di Camillo, Daniel Cribb, Kosta Lucas, Naomi Dollery, Cameron Duff, Cam Findlay, Tomas Ford, Chantelle Gabriel, Olivia Gardiner, Baron Gutter, Rueben Hale, Simon Holland, Craig Hollywood, Christopher H. James, Jason Kenny, Angela King, Lynn Mc Donnell, Mac McNaughton, Tom OíDonovan, Nic Owen, Simon Rundin, Michael Smith, Andy Snelling, Aimee Somerville, Callum Twigger, Anthony Williams
EDITORIAL
Managing Editor Andrew Mast Editor Aarom Wilson Editor’s Assistant Troy Mutton Front Row Editor Cass Fumi
One of the hottest bands in the world right now is Pond, from little ol’ WA. With their hilarious new vid for Moth Wings now furthering the hype, they’re touring Australia including a date at The Bakery Saturday 15 September. Tickets from nowbaking.com.au, or we have a PRIZE PACK to giveaway including a double pass to the show; a copy of their rather smashing Beards, Wives, Denim album; a Pond t-shirt; and a Pond tote bag. Yezza. The runner-up will also win a double pass to the show. Email giveaways@drumperth.com. au with the subject line “POND MOTH” to win.
MATCHBOX TWENTY
The Speakeasy: Woodstock Edition hits Villa Friday 31 August and features Carl Fox live, plus Indian Summer DJs, The Golden Slums, France China and Metric All Star DJs. $20 from 10pm.
LOONY TUNES
POND
WAAPA contemporary music students present Radio Active at the Subiaco Arts Centre for three nights only at 7.30pm on Thursday 20, Friday 21 and Saturday 22 September – a high energy celebration of chart-toppers throughout music’s history. Tickets via BOCs.
ADVERTISING Sales & Marketing Director Leigh Treweek Sales Executive Matt McMullen
EDITORIAL POLICY
DESIGN & LAYOUT
The opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of the publishers. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder. ©
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ADMINISTRATION Accounts Loretta Carlone
DEADLINES
PHOTOGRAPHERS Elle Borgward, Shane Butler, Graham Clark, Beau Davis, Ebony Frost, Callan Gibson, Cybele Malinowski, Elena Marcon, Drew Mettam, Aaronv2
Editorial Friday 5pm Advertising Bookings Monday 12pm Advertising Artwork Tuesday 12pm Gig Guide Monday 5pm
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TICKETS ON SALE NOW! SIR STEWART BOVELL PARK BUSSELTON FRIDAY 4TH & SATURDAY 5TH JANUARY 2013 3 Available now from moshtix.com.au, moshtix outlets and 1300 GET TIX (438 849). For more info go to www.southboundfestival.com.au
6 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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H O T E L
Friday August 24
Pyromesh + Psyconaut + Tusk + Alazarin Haze (8pm, $10 entry)
Saturday August 25
The Black Jackets + Oak Tree Suite + Bishi Bashi + Saysky (8pm, $8 entry)
Sunday August 26
“Gignition� feat. Mirror Mirror + Breed + In Orbit + Robo Ant + Masonic Noize (2-6pm, $6 entry)
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CLEANING HOUSE “You’d hear all this music from very disparate places in popular culture - but they were coming together and working together because it was good. It was good music. I learnt then that genre isn’t something to define you. It’s something to rail against. It’s not something I want to be part of. I want people to see I’m as into the Deftones as I am Squarepusher as I am Nicki Minaj as I am Blur. “You know, I think we’ve always tried to distance ourselves from other bands. I can remember in 2005, we were supposedly a part of this British Invasion of bands - that we didn’t really know as people or we weren’t really fans of their music. Wherever we went, we always found ourselves lumped in with that group. And I think, to be honest, we’ve always tried to fight against that.” Four doesn’t seem so much a reaction to Bloc Party’s previous album. Bloc Party’s hiatus seems, in retrospect, a reaction to their career, from an industry that forced them to prematurely churn out a third album, to a media more interested in Okereke’s personal life than music (he came out as gay in 2010), to their own inconveniently expansive ambition; Bloc Party’s career has always been complicated.
Bloc Party have returned from the brink of destruction to deliver a raw new album. Matt O’Neill corners vocalist Kele Okereke to get the story behind Four. Cover and story pic by Kane Hibberd. the sound. I remember listening to Alex’s showreel and being very impressed by his restraint and his detail.”
our is a neat album. For all Bloc Party’s sinewy instrumentation and nervous energy, they’ve never been a band of restraint. 2008’s divisive Intimacy threw everything from dubstep breakbeats to choral arrangements at a listener. 2007’s A Weekend In The City was effectively a concept album. Even their 2005 debut, Silent Alarm, was almost overloaded with ideas. Four, though - Four is different.
F
Critics have already been quick to explain the record’s direction with a variety of theories, most popularly positing it as a reaction to the electronic experimentation of Intimacy. More ambitious critics have drawn a line from Intimacy through the band’s year-long hiatus and Okereke’s equally electronic 2010 solo album, The Boxer, suggesting Bloc Party’s remaining members had become oppressed by Okereke and that Four is his apology.
There’s more to this story
“There’s no validity to that idea at all,” the frontman says in response, his tone seemingly pitched halfway between annoyance and amusement. “Without wanting to talk too much about our internal writing processes, I can categorically state that that was never the case. I certainly don’t see Intimacy as any kind of disaster. I see it as being part of our back catalogue. I see it in the same way as Silent Alarm or Weekend In The City.
on the iPad
It’s tight. Economical. The band’s eclecticism remains - Octopus’s mangled guitar hook, for example, followed by banjo-led melodies in Real Talk - but there’s a sense of liveliness that undercuts even their most ambitious excursions. It’s telling that, in recording the album, the band opted for neither of their previous producers but Alex Newport, a man perhaps best known for his work on Sepultura frontman Max Cavalera’s industrial-metal Nailbomb project.
“I look at it in the same way that I’ll most likely look at Four once this touring cycle as finished - it was part of our journey as a band. When I look back at any of our previous records, I hear things I’d like to have redone. I hear things we didn’t get quite right. You know, I have that trouble with our first album. For a period there, I couldn’t listen to it at all because I just heard all the things that weren’t right about it.
“The only discussion that we had about the musical direction of it was, when we got together at the end of 2010 to discuss what we were going to do with Bloc Party, I said ‘If we’re going to make another Bloc Party record, I think it should be the sound of the four of us in a room together - or as close to that as possible,’” frontman Kele Okereke says of the record. “I think all of our previous records have been quite studio-based records.
“Still, I feel they’re all steps on our journey and I think of them all in the same way. You know, listening back to Intimacy, I still think it has some of our best work on it. It has some of our best songs. I think it has some of my best lyrics. So, really, I actually feel quite fond of that record. I don’t think of it as any kind of disaster or missed opportunity or anything of the sort.”
“You know, from Silent Alarm through to Intimacy, we’ve kind of written our songs and then figured out how to play them live. This one’s quite a bit leaner. In recording it, we knew we didn’t want a producer someone who would craft the album. We wanted more of an engineer - someone who would just document
Speaking to Okereke, one begins to suspect Four is representative of a much larger shift. Bloc Party have always led a surprisingly complicated existence. The slightest remark from Okereke can lead to
THUR AUG 23
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FRI AUG 24
JOE McKEE
any number of controversies and rumours. Most recently, an offhand comment in a triple j interview led fans to believe Four would be the band’s final album. (Not the case, as Okereke later clarified.) “Well, it’s nice to know people are listening,” the vocalist reflects diplomatically of his relationship with the press which, all too recently, also gave rise to the rumour that he had been kicked out of his own band. “It’s nice to know that you can reach people and there are people out there interested in what you do. I’m not going to lie, though - I have always generally been quite suspicious of the media.” Musically, their output has been similarly complex. Given that their initial rise to fame was in no small part predicated on their kinship to classic British postpunk and indie-rock, their sound has showcased an unbelievable scope of influences over the years from elements of grunge, new wave and pop through to aspects of dubstep, garage, grime and hip hop. Four actually seems to reference heavy metal on occasion. “When we started making music together, we were very much bonded by a dislike of what was happening around us at the time. When we started this band, the bands that were popular in the UK were bands like Travis and Starsailor. Real kind of namby-pamby, acoustic singersongwriter bands. We just wanted to make something with a sense of energy. That’s the only thing I remember wanting to do at the time. “In terms of specific sounds, I’m not sure there ever really was one. One of the clubs that we went to that was one of the biggest influences for us and how we think about genre was this club called Trash. Defunct now, sadly. It was quite instrumental for us as a band because you’d go to this club and hear Joy Division mixed with Madonna mixed with Missy Elliot mixed with Nine Inch Nails.
SAT AUG 25
+ Melodie Nelson (NSW) + Benedict Moleta & Miranda Pollard + Josh Fontaine Doors 8pm. Tix from heatseeker.com.au
t 14 Schnitzel $14
“But,” the frontman stresses, “that’s a conversation we would need to have between us - whether we actually want to go through it again. One of the good things I learnt about taking that time out - having six months of not doing anything in particular and just taking time to breathe, is a good thing. It’s very important. You know, none of us need Bloc Party. If we stopped, we’d all be fine. We don’t need to do this. “That actually takes the pressure off, though,” Okereke adds. “I know that, if we do make another record, it will only be because we want to. I just don’t think we’ll know if we want to go through that again until the end of this year.” WHO: Bloc Party WHAT: Four (Frenchkiss)
sun AUG 26
WED AUG 29 student
night free pool
indie djs in the garden
CHEAP DRINKS $14 STEAKS
www. spacesh ip news. com.au
Red Sky + This Other Eden + Foam
Sons of Rico DJs free in the beer garden from 7:30pm
8 • THE DRUM MEDIA
“You know, you start to find it hard to figure out how to have a life outside of what you do for a living. I think we’re all a bit wary of rushing back into that routine, into that rhythm, because it was quite destructive. “Creatively, right now I’ve got no idea what another Bloc Party record would sound like right now - but that’s a good thing. I think that’s a good thing. We’re ready and willing to be inspired and I’m sure that will happen over the next year.”
LIVE BANDS INSIDE
Presented byy
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“I do think about Bloc Party’s future. I do think about it, for sure,” Okereke admits. “But part of the problem that we had at the end of 2009 was that we felt that our lives were simply going from one year-long world tour and then straight into the studio to make a record and then back out into the world to tour that record. You know, you can only do so much of that before the situation starts to feel a little bit toxic.
outside
ENNTRRY $8 $8 - DOOORS RS 8PMM
$10Selected Cocktails
No longer. The band refuse to tour for more than three weeks at a time. In conversation, Okereke is cordial but guarded (see sidebar). While he will not rule out a fifth Bloc Party album, he is similarly circumspect about committing to one. Having spent their career at the mercy of others, Bloc Party seem to have recently become determined to live by their own terms. And that, more so than anything else, is the sound of Four.
$5 entry. Doors 8pm
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A PERFECT CIRCLE THE OFFSPRING PARAMORE SLAYER GARBAGE CYPRESS HILL BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE TOMAHAWK STONE SOUR BRING ME THE HORIZON KYUSS LIVES ANTHRAX SUM 41 DRAGONFORCE ALL TIME LOW FLOGGING MOLLY
GHOST DUFF MCKAGAN’S LOADED BILLY TALENT MOTION CITY SOUNDTRACK MINDLESS SELF INDULGENCE THE AMITY AFFLICTION SICK OF IT ALL KINGDOM OF SORROW FOZZY THE LAWRENCE ARMS SLEEPING WITH SIRENS CANCER BATS THE BLACKOUT GALLOWS MADBALL FUCKED UP VISION OF DISORDER PIERCE THE VEIL PERIPHERY SHAI HULUD OF MICE & MEN THIS IS HELL MISS MAY I DANKO JONES LUCERO WOE, IS ME THE WONDER YEARS POLAR BEAR CLUB WHILE SHE SLEEPS CEREBRAL BALLZY THE EARLY NOVEMBER SUCH GOLD SIX FEET UNDER THE DEAR HUNTER DEAF HAVANA RED FANG VERSUS THE WORLD BLOOD ON THE DANCEFLOOR CONFESSION CHUNK! NO, CAPTAIN CHUNK! SYLOSIS MEMPHIS MAY FIRE CROSSFAITH ...WITH MORE TO BE ANNOUNCED!
THE DRUM MEDIA • 9
MAN ON FIRE
SNOWMAN MELTS McKee touched on why the late Snowman moved to Europe, and now, as that chapter of his life slowly fades in to the history books, we reflect on the band more closely, examining why they called it quits and what they’re up to today. Forming in Perth in 2002, the band released three albums in its existence: Snowman (2006), The Horse, The Rat & The Swan (2009) and Absence (2011). They moved to London in 2008 and then called it a day in 2010, their third album released as a way of providing closure for its members and the eight years spent together. On the split, McKee says, “As a group of four people, we had said all that we wanted to say. I felt like in three albums we’d covered the ground that we wanted to cover and we felt like it was time to move on. We lost the drive as a collective to want to make a forth record. There were a number of reasons. We were living out of each other’s pockets for several years; we lived together in Perth and then we lived together in London, in abject squalor, and, you know, it was a challenge, it was brutal at times and we got sick of each other like any family does. Or like marriage, you know, you get tired of each other. I still love them dearly and we communicate and that now – that’s about eight reasons.” “Ross [DiBlasio] and Olga [Sigurthorsdottir], aka the rhythm section, are married and they moved to Iceland and had a child. Andy [Citawarman, guitar/violin] is a very career-driven person with what he does – designing bridges and motorways whilst ensconced in an ivy-clad university town [he also recently released a solo track of his own], and I had aspirations to make a different kind of record, hence Burning Boy.” wonderful a place it is, is a cultural cul-desac, and unfortunately what that means is that no one outside of Australia gives a shit about what’s going on down here. And that’s not to say that what’s going on down here isn’t any less significant – I think it’s particularly fertile creatively. I think it’s an incredible place and there’s some incredible things happening here, but if you have any desire to push what you do to new audiences, you’ve gotta get out and you’ve got to relocate to somewhere else, I think.
Returning to Australia – the “cultural cul-de-sac” he once called home – late last year, Joe McKee found his childhood hometown in the WA hills burnt to the ground. Daniel Cribb discovers how this incited plans for a debut solo record that provides much needed closure.
I
n February 2011, Joe McKee boards a London Underground train, picks up a newspaper and starts glancing at headlines and skipping through stories. It isn’t long before he finds himself staring at disbelief about news on the WA hills, the place he grew up. “That really struck a chord with me – seeing my childhood home burnt to dust and ash,” McKee recalls stories of The Darling Ranges fires, 35kms south of Perth. “It was the first time I started to get thinking about it again. I started having dreams about it and it just started seeping into my conscious, and it was at the time when Snowman had ended.”
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on the iPad
Without a band to vent his confusing mix of feelings, McKee began going through old notepads and piecing together part of the songs that he had been writing over the years, adding lyrics as he went. Going back over three years of writing he found plenty of material; it just didn’t have direction or purposeful meaning yet. “That was the moment that triggered off the idea to make this album, that triggered off lyrical ideas and I had this overwhelming sense of, almost, confusion of how I felt about all of that. It was this unnameable emotion and the aim for me was to try and communicate it through music rather than trying to communicate it through words. I think that’s music’s role; to transcend language and things like that, you know? 10 • THE DRUM MEDIA
“There’s always this euphoric moment where it’s like, ‘Okay, this is where I need to take this record’ and that kind of helps me define the parameters of the record and helps me articulate what I’m trying to say with the record,” he explains. So, after four years living in London, McKee returned to Australia in October 2011 to see the damage that still remained from four days of fire. “The thing that ties [the record] together is the longing for something that doesn’t really exist anymore and longing for a glorified vision of my childhood in the hills in Australia, and it’s a longing to kind of communicate with that. I suppose the simple fact that I was dislocated from the place I
“
Jezebel, End Of Fashion) was behind the wheel when it came time to track McKee’s debut solo album. With Parkin working close with Snowman in the past – producing 2006’s Snowman and 2009’s The Horse, The Rat & The Swan – he was an obvious choice. “Dave and I speak the same language – he helps me kind of translate what’s going on in my head,” McKee says. “I’ve been [in Australia] for longer than I intended,” he admits. “I’m a bit of a floating nomad. But I kind of like that – that makes me happy. I’m really restless and if I stay in one spot too long I just get miserable. As long as I keep moving I’m happy, so I’m happy to keep bouncing around the world and let music drag me around.”
I CERTAINLY DON’T EXPECT ANY FINANCIAL REWARDS FOR WHAT I DO, WHICH IS KIND OF A SAD TRUTH.”
grew up was enough to give me that feeling, and I think that’s where the songs were born from. It was essentially escaping everything that was going on in my life. When I was up there I tried to transport, or transcend, back to this place which I could never really get back to. But that’s the purpose of these songs, to take me back there.” Although he admits to having ants in his pants, he hung around long enough to finalise the writing side of his album and record it. His choice of producer and the few months spent in WA proves that, while most of his things are in London, his heart is still in Perth. Renowned producer Dave Parkin (Jebediah, Red
The financial constraints of making a living from music can sometimes make it hard to stay in one place for long periods of time. Without constant gigging the money dries up, and playing five nights a week in Perth wouldn’t do much good. “Making the type of music, in Australia, that I make means that I waver between having money and not having money. That’s just the way it is unfortunately… The best way to combat it is to just not expect anything. I certainly don’t expect any financial rewards for what I do, which is kind of a sad truth.” This leads onto the reason Snowman departed Perth and headed for Europe. “Australia, as
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“We’d toured Australia countless times and thought, ‘Well, why play to the same faces over and over?’ Eventually people get bored and we weren’t going to keep doing a victory lap of Australia. So we got to play to new people and keep pushing ourselves creatively, you know; put ourselves in a completely new environment. I’ve maintained that kind of belief throughout whatever I’ve done creatively because you have to push yourself out of your comfort zone, otherwise you end up with the same results and the same kind of sounds.” One listen of Burning Boy and you’ll hear a completely different sound to that of Snowman. While Snowman relied heavily on rhythm, McKee’s solo work is based around melody, which was a first for him but something that had to be done in order to capture the feelings surrounding the loss of his childhood home. So, does listening back to the 10 tracks on his debut solo release provide him with the closure he needed? “It’s funny; I try not to listen to anything that I’ve done,” he admits. “It’s living its own life and doing its own thing and I’m living my life. It’s like having a child, and it’s gone and left the nest.” He did divulge that the process in itself has delivered desired results. “Burning Boy was an internal record – it was an escapist, cathartic record. It’s about creating peace. The second Snowman record was an angry record and a record born from frustration. The last Snowman record was a record born from loss and was about creating some kind of peace and moving on. With Burning Boy, the title’s a reference to burning off land in order to replenish yourself, you know, and I guess it’s about burning off my childhood, burning off that past in order to start again. So it’s about fresh beginnings and starting again with a new, clean slate.” WHO: Joe McKee WHAT: Burning Boy (Dot Dash/Remote Control) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 24 August, Rosemount Hotel
Monster, IMC & Street Press Australia Presents
Split Seconds You’ll Turn Into Me Tour
Saturday 25th August Amplifier, Perth WITH Stillwater Giants, Rainy Day Women AND Warning Birds
Tickets from www.heatseeker.com.au and www.oztix.com.au
Friday 31st August The Standard, Sydney WITH The Griswolds AND Penelope Austin
Tickets from www.moshtix.com.au and www.oztix.com.au
Saturday 8th September Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne WITH Dirt Farmer AND Special Guests
Tickets from www.oztix.com.au
Thursday 13th September BigSound, Brisbane AT Magic City
Tickets from Bigsound.org.au and www.oztix.com.au You’ll Turn Into Me
featuring All You Gotta Do, Top Floor and She Makes Her Own Clothes out Friday August 10 via Quelle Barbe / Inertia
THE DRUM MEDIA • 11
DO IT AGAIN Music icons The Beach Boys have reformed to celebrate 50 years together as a band, and are doing so with both a new album and a world tour. Founding member Mike Love pours over five decades of fantastic (and some not so fun) memories with Steve Bell.
A
bout a week before Christmas, 2011 – after nearly a full year of rumours, denials and speculation – it was announced that US legends The Beach Boys would be reuniting for a world tour to celebrate their 50th anniversary as a band. Despite the obvious milestone, there were a myriad of reasons as to why this came as a surprise to many pundits – primarily the age and varying health of the remaining members (in particular that of genius frontman Brian Wilson, who hadn’t performed a full tour with the band since 1965), plus the fractious relationships between many of them in recent years – but this potential baggage was quickly overridden by the collective goodwill that had accumulated for the band, their enduring body of music and their contribution to popular culture over the past five decades.
Then it was revealed that they’d be making a new album to accompany the tour – the first new Beach Boys material featuring Wilson since the ‘80s – and the seeds for their new album That’s Why God Made The Radio were sown. “It’s pretty remarkable,” founding member and vocalist Mike Love marvels. “When we heard the songs in the studio after we’d sung all of our parts and listened to it all back, it was pretty amazing. A lot of time has passed since we’ve even done anything together recording-wise, but I don’t think anything’s been lost in terms of the ability to harmonise, the ability to sing together, and the ability of Brian to structure those harmonies like only he can. He’s one of the greatest ever at that kind of thing.” According to Love, The Beach Boys didn’t articulate a direction for the new album; they just got in the studio together and let the magic take its course. “I think it’s more the songs dictated [the direction], but I think because of the fact that we’re getting together for the 50th anniversary, there’s an element of us being influenced by the perspective of having spent so many years together as a group,” he reflects. “There’s a song called Isn’t It Time, which is about the fact that good things don’t always have to be in the past, so recreating those good vibrations in other words. Whether we’ve been together physically or not, we’ve been together as a group and in terms of a career and a body of music. One cannot escape or avoid that, nor would one want to. “There’s also elements that sound a little more [1966’s classic] Pet Sounds-ish, and there are elements which sound like something a bit earlier, around the time of [1965 single] California Girls, I’d say. I think there’s kind of a blend of influences on the album.” Apparently The Beach Boys’ indubitable chemistry came flooding back once they reconvened to record, especially with Brian Wilson in the producer’s seat. “Oh yeah, it was amazing when we heard the playback of all of us singing,” Love marvels. “Brian knows intimately our strengths and our voices and where we need to be put in the couple of octaves that we’re dealing with: I’ll sing a bass part, but I’ll also sing a lead, Alan [Jardine] sounds really strong in certain registers, and Bruce [Johnston] can sing ultra-high. So it’s cool – everybody has their strengths and Brian knows exactly where to ask us to fit in vocally within the arrangement of a certain song. It was very natural for us to get together. Nothing was really lost in terms of the techniques, it’s just that the technology has gotten a little more advanced these days than when we used to do things on a four-track recorder.” Love has been touring his version of The Beach Boys around the globe for years, keeping the flame alive, but he concedes that it’s obviously a different live beast with the band’s original line-up back in the fray.
There’s more to this story on the iPad “Yeah, it’s quite a bit different with, say, Alan singing Help Me Rhonda instead of somebody else and Brian singing I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times from Pet Sounds,” he smiles. “I told him before we even stepped foot on a stage, I said, ‘If you do I Just Wasn’t Made For These Times, people are going to cry, including probably me!’ It’s such a dramatic song, it just pulls the empathy out of you and the band sounds great doing it. “We’re doing two hours of music and ending the show in a way that’s pretty incredible, with Good Vibrations, California Girls, Help Me Rhonda, Surfin’ USA, Kokomo, Barbara Ann and Fun, Fun, Fun – it’s hard to beat that ending! We’re extremely conscious of doing the songs that casual fans will appreciate hearing, but we’re also aware that there’s a hardcore fanbase out there who might have favourites as well; it’s a broad spectrum. Some of them mightn’t have been the biggest hits, but they’re either fun or challenging for us to do musically and are highly appreciated by the hardcore fans – we try to blend it all together and make it a really worthwhile experience for everyone.” It’s also a great way to bury a few hatchets, particularly between the cousins Love and Wilson, whose relationship in recent years had been soured by ongoing legal stoushes. Or that’s how it looked from the outside, at any rate. “The reason that some of those perceptions came about was because I was not credited for some of the songs that I wrote, including Help Me Rhonda, California Girls and I Get Around, for three,” Love tells. “I was not included in the writing credits even though I did all of the lyrics in California Girls and significant amounts of lyrics in I Get Around and Help Me Rhonda and a couple of others that I was not credited at all for. That was as a result of my uncle Murry [Wilson – Brian’s father and The Beach Boys’ domineering manager in the ‘60s] not crediting me so he didn’t have to pay me. The only recourse I had was to establish my rights through the legal system, which might look like I had a problem with Brian, but Brian wanted to rectify it, he was just unable to for legal reasons. He actually called me person to person and said, ‘Hey, let’s work this out’ and we tried to do that – but he wasn’t allowed to, so the only recourse I had was the legal recourse. “But I know where he’s coming from, and he knows where I’m coming from, and inter-personally we’ve never had an issue – I don’t think we’ve had any negative blood at all. So we’re able to be onstage together and I get to give him accolades during the show, so everything is very cool. It feels good to get together with everybody and lay aside our individual pursuits in favour of doing something together.” WHO: The Beach Boys WHAT: That’s Why God Made The Radio (Capitol/EMI) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 6 September, Burswood Dome 12 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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BRINGING ILLY BACK Ahead of the release of his “passion project”, new album Bring It Back, Illy tells Cyclone he was able to branch out more to create a different sound.
M
usical inspiration has seemingly always come easily to Illy (AKA Al Murray), one of Australia’s most compelling MCs. Since the Melburnian premiered with 2009’s Long Story Short, home to the triple j fave Pictures, he’s been on an upward trajectory. Murray crossed over with It Can Wait (certified Gold!) off his ARIA-nominated blockbuster The Chase. Now the Obese Records stalwart is preparing to unleash a third album, Bring It Back. Nevertheless, Murray stresses, it’s not the official follow-up to The Chase, but rather something to placate fans. Incredibly, last summer the industrious rapper experienced a creative block – which, ironically, only ended when he wrote about it in this year’s Top 50 single Heard It All. “I was just finding a lot of the stuff that I was doing had been done,” Murray explains. Still, he maintains that his stalling has been over-dramatised. “It was never a serious thing. It’s been made out like it was this really awful writer’s block, but it was never like that. It was just a little bit of a dry spell in terms of inspiration.” The trick, he realised, is to aim to put a fresh spin on old topics. “Most things have been done before – every sort of idea has in one way or another been done before. Making it new is the way that you spin it. Putting a spin on something can make it be entirely awesome – and a new perspective can give it a completely new life.”
about music – and life – in 2012. He’ll enjoy a holiday in Thailand before embarking on this month’s Bring... album tour. And Illy fans can expect to hear “a handful of tracks from the new album” plus “all the hits” (and possibly some of his ‘Friday Flips’ covers with M-Phazes). Indeed, Murray has no reason to wait for the album’s release to share the material. “We wanna get stuck straight into the next album, so I think this will probably be the only tour we do until early or mid next year – so, yeah, may as well get it all out now.” WHO: Illy WHAT: Bring It Back (Obese) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 31 August, Metropolis Fremantle; Saturday 1 September, Capitol
Murray has just aired another single, Where Ya Been (featuring Pez), the album due next month. (“It’s been finished since April – we’ve been waiting for Obese to give it a release date.”) In the meantime, he’s hitting the road. So what of Bring...? “It’s basically a little bit of a passion project that I’ve wanted to do for a while. It’s a lot more of a traditional Aussie hip hop-sounding album, as opposed to The Chase or any of the stuff that I’ve put out ‘til now. It was a chance to work with a lot of friends within the scene. I usually keep the features and the people I’m working with very close – small circle. I was really able to branch out this time. We’re working on the sequel to The Chase at the moment, but this was more of a passion project, something that’s tied people over, tied myself over as well – because obviously the follow-up to The Chase is gonna require a bit of time to get absolutely perfect.” He specifies of Bring..., “It’s an album in its own right, but it is a very different-sounding one and it’s something that I’ve just wanted to do.” Heard... is “the most stereotypically Illy-sounding track,” and “by far the most pop-influenced,” on an otherwise street (or mixtapey) LP. And, yes, Murray collaborated more with buddies, especially MCs. In fact, he started the album “just mucking around” – the rapper traded tracks with the likes of Funkoars’ Trials over the Internet. “We got a whole bunch together and it was like, ‘Wow, these are different and we should probably release these – they’re good enough to be released.’ So it just came about that way.” It’s all a far cry from Murray’s electro-pop smash It Can Wait with former Australian Idol contestant Owl Eyes (Brooke Addamo). Jan “J-Skub” Skubiszewski, who produced the song, was then also working with Addamo on her cosmic pop. “At that point she hadn’t really been doing that much, she was just starting out, so it was a good springboard for her and it was perfect for us ‘cause she’s a really amazing singer.” Skubiszewski isn’t involved in Bring..., but Murray will “definitely” be hooking up with him again. As it happens, both are sometime members of Melbourne’s Crooked Eye fam, along with Phrase, M-Phazes and the neo-soulster Daniel Merriweather. Merriweather discovered Murray and introduced him to Phrase – and Crooked Eye. Though scattered, they all remain friends. Murray vibes with M-Phazes “non-stop”. The MC would “love” to have Merriweather, currently based in New York, on a track. (“He’s a hard man to get onto.”) Alas, Murray’s original mentor has spoken of retiring from music, disappointed with the response to 2011’s Babylon. “Phrase is obviously taking some time off music – I’m not sure what his deal is,” says Murray. Funnily, Phrase’s manager (and another Crooked Eye affiliate) DJ Flagrant provides cuts on Bring... Australian hip hop has never been as viable but, as Phrase’s story shows, it’s still a struggle. “There’s a lot less of the push that the overseas acts get in terms of commercial radio and TV and everything – there’s a lot more money involved in those sort of acts,” Murray considers. “At the end of the day, there’s only so many people in Australia and there’s a smaller fraction of them buying and supporting local music – or music in general – and then there’s an even smaller fraction of them who are gonna support Aussie hip hop, so it’s really just a maths thing. There’s just not enough people that everyone can be supported all the time – as much as that sucks. I’d love if everyone I came up with, and have been friends with over the years, was able to blow up, but it’s just not possible. The numbers are too small here. That’s not just talking about Phrase, that’s everyone in general. “I think Babylon is one of my favourite albums of last year – it was massively slept-on. But it’s just there’s not a huge amount of wiggle room to make it work and to really take risks – and that was a really risky album. So, yeah, it sucks. But Phrase is hugely talented. If he gets back into the studio, whatever he’s gonna do is gonna be dope, so it’s just whether he can be bothered doing it, I guess,” he laughs ruefully.
PERTH. THE ROSEMOUNT.
Murray is unimpressed by much of today’s mainstream US hip hop – indistinguishable from EDM and governed by a monotonous “formula”. He’s not feeling the Euro beats of Flo Rida and Nicki Minaj. “I definitely think that it’s a really shit trend. It’s not innovative, it’s not new; it’s just following a trend – that’s all it is. It’s purely doing what’s popular at the moment. There’s no lasting quality to music like that.” Murray admires Jay-Z, Kanye West and “even” Lil Wayne for transcending such fashions – they have “integrity”. The rest are “puppets”.
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However, Murray, conducting interviews from Sydney (“my girlfriend lives in Sydney, so I’m up here all the time now”) is generally upbeat
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 13
WORLDS COLLIDE If you purchase a ticket for the signing tent at Soundwave next year to meet your favourite band, you might find yourself standing in line with Pierce The Veil’s Vic Fuentes. Daniel Cribb discovers just how crucial being “little fan girls” was in finding success to call their own.
R
eturning home after a summerlong US jaunt playing the Vans Warped Tour, Pierce The Veil frontman Vic Fuentes barely has time to unpack in his bags before Soundwave promotion kicks in. “Yeah, just got home to my house and I’m going to do some laundry and take a shower,” Fuentes begins from his Californian residence. Why are these minor, seemingly boring details so important? They prove to fans that he’s real. It might sound weird, but Fuentes elaborates, citing recent Warped Tour experiences. “A lot of the times we do signing and kids scream out, ‘You’re real! You’re actually real!’ and we’re like, ‘Yeah, we’re real people.’ It’s crazy, right?” he laughs.
This is the third time they’ve toured with Warped and each stint sees them one-up their last appearance. From playing the smaller stages early on in the day to being one of the festival’s headliners, a lot’s changed. “This year was a really cool lineup. We got to tour with some of the bands that we looked up to as kids – The Used and New Found Glory and Taking Back Sunday – and not just play with them, but become friends with them and hang out with them. We were little fan girls hanging out, so it was pretty awesome,” he admits. It’s being “little fan girls” that has helped them develop into the band they are today. But they’re not staking out tour buses with permanent markers; rather the signatures of their favourite bands appear in their lyrics and seep in through their music. “I think it shapes our band a lot. Since we started playing one of the big things I’ve been a big believer in is I think you should be inspired by the people around you and I definitely get a lot of inspiration from a lot of the bands that we tour with – whether it be their live show, their record, their personalities, the way they think – I think that’s something you should always soak in as a musician. I know my Dad taught me that you need to play with as many musicians as possible because that’s how you’re going to get good, and, you know, I’ve always kind of taken that to heart.” Musical talent runs in the family. From an early age, Vic Fuentes and his brother Mike, who plays drums in Pierce The Veil, were taught their instrument of choice by their father, who specialises in guitar. Although post-hardcore isn’t considered a popular genre in the parental community, Fuentes says his parents constantly keep tabs on the band’s music and success – whether or not it’s to check up on them and make sure the rockstar lifestyle hasn’t consumed them is another thing. “He and my Mum are huge fans, you know, like they’re the sweetest things. Every day they watch the YouTube videos from the shows, because kids always post them, so they kind of get to watch us play as we go.” Come February Mr and Mrs Fuentes will be watching a slew of shaky, distorted iPhone videos of their sons gracing Soundwave stages across Australia, bringing with them new material from their third full-length, Collide With The Sky, and a memorable afternoon for one lucky fan – theMusic.com. au ran a competition for readers, the prize a money-can’t-buy experience that involves hanging out with the band for the afternoon they’re in the winner’s town. The fan will be treated to lunch, a game of pool and a pretty nice merch package. “We just did one in the States where the winner got to go bowling with their favourite bands and stuff and it was really cool. We got to go bowling with this little girl who was a big fan. I couldn’t imagine what that would be like as a kid – I would definitely freak out. It’s cool to be there for our fans and become a little more than just a band, become something tangible to them. “I think from day one that was a big goal of our band. I wanted this band to be as connected to our fans as possible, because I looked up to bands that did that really well – like I thought Thrice did a good job as far as doing little things to make you feel like you know the band a little more. And I think these days with social networking and stuff it’s been pretty amazing how close you can become to your fans, just over the Internet. So yeah, we’re all over that and we do heaps of different things, like video chats and putting ourselves out there online.” Excited to head down to Australia, Pierce The Veil were one of the first bands to make an appearance on the Soundwave POP WOW online chat sessions, giving fans the opportunity to ask them anything and everything. “Honestly, we don’t really have anything like Soundwave. Like there’s no point in time in the States where I could ever play with Metallica,” he laughs. Having toured and made friends some of their childhood heroes during Warped Tour, are there any bands on Soundwave they hope to develop relationships with? “We’ve looked up to Blink-182, you know, I’ve definitely found myself covering their songs in our bedroom back in the day with my brother. Now being able to play with them is pretty cool, I hope we get to run into them and talk to them a little bit.” If their live show has evolved as much as their music did between albums, their appearance at Soundwave will no doubt be a memorable one. Becoming a regular name on the US festival circuit, Pierce The Veil no longer rely on fancy lights or the darkness of a club stage to create a vibe – they’ve stripped their live set down to its bare bones and are all the more accessible and better for it. “With us it’s all about personal goals and trying to blow out of the water the last record, or we’ve gotta make this tour better than any tour we’ve ever done, so we put a lot of weight on ourselves… We’d never release something if it wasn’t the best we could possibly do at that time, so, yeah, we did about a year of writing and three months in the studio, which is way longer than a lot of bands take. We take our time on things. We had a lot of freedom and I think it came out better than the other stuff – I don’t even want to listen to the old stuff.” WHO: Pierce The Veil WHAT: Collide With The Sky (Fearless/Shock) WHEN & WHERE: Monday 4 March, Soundwave Festival, Claremont Showgrounds
14 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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SUNSHINE ON A RAINY DAY Not content singing generic songs about the dole and breakups, Luke Butcher discovers from Wil Wagner of The Smith Street Band that it only takes one album to get the attention of a nation.
N
ot every interview starts with the subject teasing with his fondness for the often monotonous media trial that precedes the release of a highly acclaimed album, but The Smith Street Band frontman Wil Wagner may not be your typical claimant. “I’m happy to talk about how fucking great I am,” jokes the larrikin. Now I don’t want to paint the wrong picture of Wagner, the 22-year old is as humble, forthcoming and irreverent in interview as he is behind a microphone; and as anyone who is familiar with the band will support, he is a particularly enigmatic character. For those uninitiated into the tales of the suburban twenty-something’s that comprise the majority of Wagner’s songs, it may not be too long before you too are converted. The group is one of those acts that penetrate the masses with a sound that is familiar enough despite its originality and engaging enough despite its personal tales. Speaking about the issues confronting those who have escaped their teenage years relatively unscathed and are left facing the world questioning “what now?”, Wagner is candid, “I sort of worry that people put too much influence on making money and their career, and all that kind of stuff. I worry that people aren’t having enough fun.” Wagner elaborates, “I just write what I’m experiencing and what I’m feeling I guess. A lot of the socially conscious stuff just comes from watching the people around me grow up and change. I’m 22 years old now; I’m not quite an adult, but I’m definitely not a teenager anymore. It is kind of a weird place to be in; in-between two worlds and neither of them really accept you.”
some old friends, citing local acts including the perennially underappreciated (and label mates) Grim Fandango, The Decline and Ex-Nuns as great friends of the band. The enthusiastic frontman even goes as far as citing the band’s recent show at 208 as, “maybe even my favourite Smith Street show ever. It always just runs on love and everyone is there to have a good time.” WHO: The Smith Street Band WHAT: Sunshine & Technology(Poison City Records) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 31 August, Rosemount Hotel; Supporting Lagwagon – Wednesday 5 December, Prince Of Wales; Thursday 6, Rosemount Hotel
Speaking of growing up, the band has experienced some significant growth themselves since gestating from Wagner’s solo act into Wil Wagner & The Smith Street Band, and now their current and final moniker. However, Wagner stresses they aren’t just a frontman with a subservient backing band. Despite writing the lyrics, basic chord structures and some of the central riffs, Wagner acknowledges the importance of his band members, particularly this time round with Sunshine & Technology. “With the first one (debut album No One Gets Lost Anymore), I had some solo stuff and then put a band together, so it was kind of them just playing along with what I was doing. But with this album I wrote it all with them in mind; I tried to bring it to them as bare bones as possible. I wanted to make sure we got everyone’s voice on there,” stresses Wagner. “When we first started we were called Wil Wagner & The Smith Street Band as a take on Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band. We never actually released anything in that name, the first 7” was The Smith Street Band, as soon as we started playing it felt like something more, it felt like something bigger than just me and a couple of guys standing behind me.” When propositioned regarding the success the band has achieved and the near palpable hype surrounding the band across the country, an almost embarrassed Wagner takes it all in his stride. “The way I think about it is I’ve put out four EPs and three albums with Smith Street and my other stuff, and there’s been one album that people have liked and everything else no one’s given a shit about. So my sort of thing is we’re never gonna say we’re a cool-guy band now, we’re gonna do cool-guy stuff; it’s all happening now, let’s fucking make the most of it.” With the act firmly planted in the Australian punk scene already, the conscious decision to attack more mainstream audiences was a strategy the band had to consider with Sunshine & Technology. “There was a while when we were talking to a few different labels to really try and figure out what we were trying to do with this album; is this going to be the album that’s going to be bigger?” reflects Wagner. “We sort of fucked around with that for a while, then we all just sat down and figured this isn’t us, we’re not trying to gun for radio play, we’re not trying to get on the big festivals.” A refreshing reflection from Wagner who despite the band sitting on the cusp of greatness, assures Street Press Australia the band still have their feet firmly placed on the ground. “There are people who if we charge five dollars for a show, they’ll just say we’re sell-outs and we’re not punk; it’s pretty frustrating,” Wagner confesses in a somewhat surprised manner. On discussion of the band’s place in the music scene, Wagner seems as adamant as could be possible about what the band has ahead of them, “We don’t listen to the radio, we don’t’ go to the big festivals, there’s no point trying to be some band that you’re not. As soon as we realised that, we decided yeh, we’ve got to do this with Poison City (Records) again.” Referring to the Melbourne based punk label/record store that hosts the band as well as some of the biggest names in the community including Paper Arms, Hoodlum Shouts and A Death In The Family. Having toured the country extensively with his best mates Wagner appears nothing but thankful for what he has experienced and committed to ensure he can keep it going. “We shouldn’t think we’re some sort of important band; we’re just five dudes who don’t have jobs and are trying to play shows. We know where we stand in the music world, we know that we’re very much the bottom of the pile,” the self-deprecating frontman states. Tackling the life of a musician with a particularly strong pair of rose-coloured lenses, Wagner understands what has allowed him to achieve what he has at such a young age. “The only thing that got us to where we are now is just hard work and playing every chance we get. That’s what we’ve got to do, that’s why we started a band in the first place, that’s what we’ll always do.” Heading around the country again and to Perth on the last day of August, the band are looking forward to reacquainting themselves with
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 15
A NEW DOOR
NEON DREAM POP
Frustration seems to be the secret to Wolves At The Door member Ash Hendriks’ impossibly quick creation of her very first Leure album. Callum Twigger talks to the songstress about anger and beatmaking.
One gets the feeling that while we may not be overly familiar with St Lucia, it’s not going to take long before we are. Troy Mutton chats to brains of the operation, Jean-Phillip Grobler, ahead of his Australian debut at Parklife.
D
reamy, summery, shimmering synth-pop… A more perfect sound you could not have at the spring festival that gets the ball rolling, Parklife, and New York’s St Lucia have this in spades. The brainchild of Jean-Phillip Grobler, St Lucia have only come to prominence in the last year or so, kick-started with debut EP Neon Gold. Just about to finish up his debut album, Grobler – who incidentally grew up a choirboy in South Africa – reveals he’s been at it for far longer than 12 months. “Because some of the tracks from the EP are going to be on the album, I’d say I’ve been working on this album for about four years. But we’re talking 11 or 12 tracks out of probably 80 or so songs and countless other ideas from that time. The album is really close, actually, probably about one month away. It’s at a similar point to when you’re tidying up your apartment and in the end you’re left with all these annoying things like a pen and staples and a ball of yarn and some sticker your sister gave you and you have to figure out what to do with them.” As for his writing process, he says, “It’s pretty random actually. I rarely ‘try’ to write something. Normally, an idea will just come into my head, and either I’ll record it on my phone to work on it later… Then over a period of weeks or months I’ll add this or that and gradually it will develop alongside a bunch of other songs which, like I said earlier, will become an album. It’s mainly fun and rewarding, but not without its fair share of torture here and there.” Most importantly, for Grobler, is that St Lucia tackle pop exactly how he wants to, and the producer reveals his love for the genre in all its colourful forms and no matter their production values. “I absolutely love pop music with a high production value (as well as the opposite), like Tears For Fears or Peter Gabriel. Some, however, would argue that those records are over-produced…” he says. “I just like to keep working on something until it makes me feel the way I want it to make me feel. Normally,
that feeling is just there when I start an idea and am excited about it. My litmus test though, is when the end product makes me feel the same way as it did when I came up with the idea, or even better. What interests me about pop the most is that it is so divisive, and so hard to define. It is a lot more difficult to create than what appears in the end. Great pop, I think, is like a beautifully designed piece of modern furniture – deceptively simple.” Obviously starting out as a producer means Grobler has had to transfer St Lucia from the studio into the live arena, and it’s taken some time. “It’s definitely not the easiest process, but it’s become easier the longer we’ve been doing this. I have a five-, sometimes six-piece band of amazing musicians who help me to achieve the sound on the EP. Again, it’s about whether it feels right, and whether we feel like the audience is going to feel as excited by the live performance as they do by the record.” He brings that experience to Parklife, and the producer cites the festival as a turning point for where he knew the project was on to bigger and better things. “Each time we hit a new benchmark of the amount of people we’ve played to, it’s an amazing feeling… Just the whole experience of the project growing is pretty amazing and I often have to pinch myself. I think that booking the Parklife festival was the big one for me. It was incredible to me that just over one year after playing our first show, we’ll be playing a travelling festival in Australia. Unreal!” WHO: St Lucia WHEN & WHERE: Monday 1 October, Parklife, Wellington Square
I
t’s raining when Leure arrives at the back of a leafy, suburban pub to talk about Holland Sky on a gloomy August afternoon. The air is cold and smells of damp moss, and in a voice of similar pitch and timbre to the rain, Ash Hendriks patiently explains the pronunciation of her stage name. “Lee-oo-a”, she repeats for the third time. “Lay-oar”, I mispronounce for the fourth time. She laughs. With James Gates, Hendriks forms guitar-anchored duo Wolves At The Door, but Leure’s very different sounding tunes emerged rather unexpectedly for most on Soundcloud about five months ago. Since then, Hendriks’s solo project has quickly become a hot addition to many experimental and beatsy shows, accumulating love along the way.
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She’s got ardor from triple j; Dom Alessio reckons Leure sounds like Grimes or Fever Ray, but her fingerprints match Lykke Li, and Holland Sky is possibly the most cryptically brilliant LP to come out of WA this year. Laughing, Hendriks tries to swat talk of praise like a small insect. “It seriously came about spontaneously,” Hendriks explains. “Wolves At The Door was getting a lot more rock and roll, which isn’t like what this album is. James went to New York for a while, he had this beat machine on his iPhone, and he was like, ‘You should try this out’.” Hendriks was initially skeptical about moving into electronic production. “I’d tried using drum loops before, and I just didn’t understand how they worked. I didn’t do electronics; I wanted to stick to playing guitar. And then I was fiddling around with a few different programs, I’ve been recording with ProTools for a while, and now I’ve got Ableton and stuff like that, so I got my head around a few kind of programs but I’d never experimented with that kind of sound because it wasn’t Wolves At The Door. And then it just came together.”
Hendriks’ music is unassuming and confessional. Prior to Holland Sky’s release, her Soundcloud consisted of three tracks carved from bone - Tired, Ghost Fire, and Waiting - but these alone sourced her gigs all the way up to opening for Chet Faker. While other bedroom artists (hey Youth Lagoon) exploit lo-fidelity to mask a lack of vocal capability, Hendriks’ voice is the centre of her work; an exposed, beating heart surrounded by scratching and twitching. Holland Sky’s minimalism breaks music down to Hendriks’ voice, and affectations thereof. It’s music drawn from her emotional state over the course of the past year, she explains. “I was going through a weird time at the start of the year. I channeled all of my… I won’t say anger, because I’m not a very angry person, but maybe creative frustration or something? Things weren’t happening, and I put all my effort into music, and started making beats,” Hendriks says with a smile. “And I was like, ‘This is quite enjoyable’. Within two weeks, I had the basis of an album, and songs just kept coming out. I have no idea how. I guess I built them on all these different programs.” A collection of feathers and circles and shapes hang from Ash’s neck, ringing as her hands work with her mouth to explain her music. “Oh, those?” she says, after I point them out. “It’s just some jewelry I designed.” After a little prompting, she elaborates. “I don’t have much experience as a drawer, but I draw them and then I get someone else to make them, and then we sell them online,” Hendriks confesses, as if moonlighting as a jewelry designer while making experimental music is the most natural thing in the world. Leure is as humble and measured as her music. WHO: Leure WHAT: Holland Sky (Inertia) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 24 August, The Bird
SIX DEGREES OF SUCCESS DODGING THE STUDIO Millions have leapt out of the gates at a gallop since forming little over a year ago. Dominic Haddad fills Brendan Telford in on their whirlwind ride.
The Bonniwells’ John Waddell explains to Doug Wallen the importance of recording live and at home.
E
ven by garage standards, The Bonniwells’ new album, Sneeze Weed, is noisy, raggedy and crusted over. But what’d you expect? It was mostly recorded live to four-track in the lounge room of singer-guitarist Marck Dean, keeping things super raw despite some choice melodies peeking through the slacker rumpus.
I
t was only 12 months ago that local garage pop collective Millions won the coveted triple j Unearthed slot to open the 2011 Splendour In The Grass festival, the last of its kind at the excellent Woodfordia grounds. The quartet have used the experience as a springboard to bigger and better things, incorporating many support slots into their busy schedule and are now preparing to launch their debut EP onto the masses. “It’s been surprising, I don’t think any of us expected it to go anywhere,” Dominic Haddad modestly states. “We started Millions as a bit of fun, so we’ve been lucky to have gotten this far.” Luck has nothing to do with it of course, as the boys have relentlessly plied their trade both in Brisbane and down the east coast, forging a tight group dynamic, a notion that Haddad espouses as being a major contributor to their collective success. “We’ve always worked well together, and we tend to react to each other’s strengths without effort, which is rare. Ted [Tillbrook – guitar] and Campbell [Smith – bass] hadn’t played their instruments for very long; Ted used to be a drummer and Cam used to play the keyboards. But they’re best friends and everything seemed to gel really well together between them, which we kinda fed on. I think that’s why it worked so quickly from the start; they knew their place in the band, which has made everything very easy.” Their Nine Lives Six Degrees EP was recorded six months ago, and it showcases the quartet at that early stage, their exuberance and excitement in playing together shining through. With half the tracks already familiar to their fanbase through favourable airplay, it’s the perfect time to have something tangible that represents the band. “The songs [on the EP] have been in our live set for some time and are very familiar to us and to those who’ve come to see us,” Haddad agrees. “We’ve been writing new material that heads in a slightly different direction, that shows where our songwriting is going, but the EP is really important 16 • THE DRUM MEDIA
for us now. It’s been quite frustrating to be playing so many shows and not have a CD for people to take home. When people are asking for stuff and you have nothing to give them, it becomes a lot harder to retain them as a fan. We’re looking forward to finally having something for people to listen to.” The impending release coincides with Millions signing with Stop Start Music. Haddad acknowledges that timing is key and that the move seemed the best fit for the band. “They really like what we are doing and are aware that we are still progressing as a band. Rob [Giovannoni] has been our booking agent at Select Music and everyone at Stop Start are incredibly positive and understand where we are coming from. It’s been great.” Millions have come into their own at the same time as other Brisbane bands such as Last Dinosaurs and The Cairos, who mine the same creative seam. Haddad feels that rather than create rivalry, it has helped to form some inseparable bonds. “I think that because we are all the same age and we are really good friends with the guys from Last Dinosaurs and Gung Ho, all those guys, we’re likeminded people of the same age at the same time. It’s created this supportive thing where we all help each other out, we all share the same goals and interests, we all like what each other is doing, not just focused on our own thing. It’s a great time to be in a band in Brisbane.” WHO: Millions WHAT: Nine Lives Six Degrees (Stop Start/EMI) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 7 September, Amplifier; Saturday 8, Rottofest, Rottnest Island
“It’s just more fun to record that way,” reckons bassist John Waddell. “We’ve never really liked the studio. It’s always uninspiring and really dry. Nothing like the crackling garage sound of tape and just turning up loud and playing in a living room, as opposed to recording stuff separately in a studio.” The album also echoes the live show, which was important to Waddell: “That’s another thing. I don’t like listening to records of bands [where] you go and see them and they sound completely different. It works for some people, but we definitely didn’t want to be like that.” Rounded out by singer-drummer Zac Olsen, the Melbourne-Geelong trio weren’t confined to just Dean’s house for recording. They tried a few other spots and even went to Sydney to work with Straight Arrows’ prolific Owen Penglis (Royal Headache, Palms). But only two of the 14 songs cut with him wound up on Sneeze Weed; the rest can be heard on the tape, Sunny Brick, and the upcoming four-song 7”, Yesterdaisy, both on Geelong’s Anti Fade label. Speaking of which, there’s another tape on the way, with Sneeze Weed on one side and Sunny Brick on the other. As scrappy as it is, Sneeze Weed marks an evolution from The Bonniwells’ 2010 debut, Unprofitable Servant, simply because it’s 11 original songs, whereas that one was just 20 minutes, including several covers. “We don’t even play covers live anymore,” says Waddell. “That first album was recorded two days after our first-ever show; hence the covers and not having much original material.” Although all three members hail from New Zealand originally, they didn’t meet until they were all hanging around Melbourne. Olsen moved to Australia at age eight, while Waddell and Dean are both from Wellington but didn’t know each other there. They formed The
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Bonniwells around three years ago, after Olsen had filled in as a drummer for Waddell’s previous band, Last Gypsys, and Waddell had started playing bass on some new songs by Dean, also of Bleached. “Zac tagged along one day and started playing drums,” Waddell recalls. “It just worked, from the first little jam.” Dean now plays in Geelong’s Ausmuteants as well, and Olson plays in not just Frowning Clouds but also The Heirophants and what Waddell calls a “politically incorrect surf band” named The Towelheads. If Waddell doesn’t juggle any other bands himself right now, it’s because he’s busy booking the Grace Darling on Smith Street, where he ran the bar for several years. “I might be having some relaxed jams with some of my old bandmates from Last Gypsys, but I don’t know where that will go. It’s just for fun.” Same goes for The Bonniwells, despite an increasingly full dance card that sees them launching Sneeze Weed on successive weekends in Melbourne and Sydney before heading off to Perth for the first time. Their tunes are ramshackle fun in the most enjoyably immediate way, as if nothing could rattle these guys. Check out the amiable I Smiled Yesterday, or the shoutalong Ms Anderson. Crack Man almost sounds like an impromptu jam, burbling along to gangly rhythms. But again, that’s garage for you. And there’s no questioning The Bonniwells’ pedigree, considering they’re named for Sean Bonniwell of the classic California garage band The Music Machine. “We just were really stuck for a name,” Waddell admits, but the reference will appeal to garage fans, even if others might be left scratching their heads. “Lots of Australian people pronounce it Bonnie-wells,” he adds. “People call us the Bonnie Doons by accident. It’s become Australianised.” WHO: The Bonniwells WHAT: Sneeze Weed (Z-Man) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 24 August, Velvet Lounge; Saturday 25, Dada Records; Sunday 26 Mojo’s
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THE DRUM MEDIA • 17
ON THE RECORD OH MERCY
DROWNING HORSE
EMI
Heartless Robot
Dirtybird/Universal
Gosh Deep Heat is a different album. After the acoustic, almost solo singer/songwriter sound of Melbourne band Oh Mercy’s second album Great Barrier Grief, the electrified menagerie of instruments and styles of their third may come as a bit of a surprise – albeit a very good one – for people who have been following the band. Alex Gow is still very much in front, writing, singing and leading, but there’s a whole studio full of musicians all joining in this time. And you can tell everyone’s having fun doing it. The album is all play and experimentation. They’re playing with genres, with all sorts of instrumentation, with vocals, with lyrics. They’re hitting for the complexity and full sound you can achieve with a group of very good, very tight musicians.
Heaviness “isn’t about volume; it’s about riffs,” Drowning Horse’s Brendan McGrath recently let spill in an interview. Staying faithful to the cause, the first notes of Drowning Horse’s debut album comprise an almighty hook that’s heavier than a cloudburst of anvils. Whilst many movers within the drone-doom (or bands that play metal slooowly) genres have chased atmospheric highs by padding their sound with subtle electronics or other exotic elements, Drowning Horse – who feature numerous members with punk backgrounds – have remained faithful to the Spartan rudiments of heavy music, relying on simple ingredients and focused performances. In their world, anything that’s not vital is redundant.
Dirtybird regular Justin Martin has delivered a solid artist debut in Ghettos And Gardens, with the LIVE album’s title a summation of the creative tenet as he switches between sweetened statements of melodic electronica to dirty bass driven grooves.
Inspired by Paul Kelly, Gow has used this album to experiment with ducking out of the first person and writing from different perspectives. Each song’s a story and he’s in none of them. Lyrics are a focus on Deep Heat – they are given texture and depth, as are the vocals bringing them to life. The lines flare out into little vocal flourishes, or ooze thickly out over the layers of instruments; Gow’s guitar and Eliza Lam’s keyboard poke in and out, Steve Berlin’s saxophone spills out over the top, Rohan Sforcina’s percussion hammers out solidly behind.
The decision to enlist American producer James Plotkin has reaped a grim, yet plentiful harvest, as he appears to have garnered an innate understanding of each member’s strengths. Where some doomsters have favoured drum lines full of muddy, indistinctive toms which don’t distract from the waves of downtuned guitar fuzz, the intensity of James Wills’ slamming crash cymbals and kick drum are unchecked. Likewise, Plotkin’s decision to place Kim McConchie’s tortured roar fairly high in the mix pays dividends with its naturally compelling authority. For balance and tension there are quieter moments, but again simplicity is the watchword. The intro to Mountains proves that an eerie, muted riff is equally effective at slowly burning the down fuse as any organ, byzantine chant or electronic doodle.
Ghettos And Gardens
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Opener Hood Rich sets up the sonic dyad as it moves from party vocal drops into a string section that then gives way to broken beats. Don’t Go then continues to develop the auditory crux of the release as it weaves vocal sampling through late night house, D Vcatchy supplemented with a refreshingly original harp sample. Ghettos And Gardens begins with a two minute Daft Punk-inspired intro that shifts into a throbbing dancehall piece of nastiness. This could be seen as both an original outpouring of creativity on the one hand, yet a slightly forced attempt to push the track leftfield on the other. Yet by this time the shifts are expected, welcomed and warming, which only raises the question of where Martin will move next. Ruff Stuff answers this by delivering a subtle yet catchy hook, and is one of the tracks in the middle section that delivers evenly delivered dance production. This shift, which begins with his re-creation of Goldie’s Kemistry and ends with Lezgo VIP, shows Martin to be a songwriter of considerable skill and club hardened experience.
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Meanwhile, Burke Reid’s production is there, holding everything firmly together. Not to say it’s overproduced – just well produced; produced by someone who definitely knows what they’re doing. There is a balance and a flow to this album that establishes it immediately as something not to be fucked with. It is cohesive, it is whole, and you should put it on and settle in for an album that’s leaps and bounds above Oh Mercy’s previous goods.
JUSTIN MARTIN
Drowning Horse
VD
Deep Heat
Drowning Horse has reversed the trend of sacrificing brute power for subtlety, with a pugnacious bastard of a debut. Forget that this band is from Perth this is a genre classic regardless of origin.
Finishing with the mellow yet molecular production of Ladybug, the distinct impression is of an album that has been created from within deep forethought. It also doesn’t tire after repeat listens and, while more garden than ghetto for the most part, gives lovers of multiple genres of electronica something to sink their teeth into.
Christopher H James
Chris Archibald
NEWTON FAULKNER
JJ DOOM
TOBY
Sony
Lex Records/Inertia
Independent
Have you ever imagined your life with background music, just like in the movies? Experienced that glimmering moment of optimism after heartache when you decide to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and pop on those rose-coloured glasses? Newton Faulkner’s latest offering Write It On Your Skin is perfect background music for this scenario. With so much inspiration and positivity to be drawn from this album, it’s almost a musical version of a motivational book.
Around the world, DOOM fans have been pretty excited of late for the release of his new album, Key To The Kuffs, another collab that this time sees the villain team up with alternative hip hop rapper/producer Jneiro Jarel (Dr Who Dat?). While the sound of the new album is slightly different from its predecessors, fans shouldn’t be let down. Some haters always gonna hate, but more lovin’ listeners can expect to find DOOM spitting bars in his classic gruff and witty style that is coupled with the ultra-alternative beats produced by Jarel.
Toby Beard probably isn’t the first name that springs to mind when you think of WA music, but that might be all about to change with the release of live album Coming Home. Having honed her craft on the North American/Canadian circuit, Toby returned to her native Perth for some more gigs that got the Ellington and Fly Trap rocking. Boasting a distinctive, powerful voice and some rousing tunes, Toby is backed up by some seriously classy musicians on this impressive release, one that should lay the platform for really launching her into the Australian market.
Zoe Barron
Write It On Your Skin
The lyrics are powerful, cheerful, and clichéd at times but nevertheless worthy of a slot in you CD collection. Opening with Pulling Teeth, a little pop number with shameless love-song type lyrics, from the get go the album boasts a rhythm and spark which suits the spring season. The second track Soon continues the pop vibe with Brick By Brick, a little on the heavier side of Faulkner’s subject matter but with the same optimistic spin flowing throughout the song. From this point onwards the next few tunes are a little less chirpy but nonetheless seeping with that raw emotion which can be felt in Faulkner’s music. The title track Write It On Your Skin is a notable standout on the release, giving his folk sound a feel good flavour.
Key To The Kuffs
Coming Home
Jarel’s style of production sees the album move into a quasi-twisted realm of complex and distorted electronic hip hop beats that are pretty rad and still seem to work alongside the favoured rapper’s vocals. Listeners of the album will also be pleased to find some very impressive featured artists including Damon Albarn of Blur/Gorillaz, long time Outkast collaborator Kujo Goodie, and Portishead’s very own Beth Gibbons – just wait until you hear the track GMO on which she features; for two artists so different in their genres, you’ll be wishing they work together way more often.
Tracks 11 to 16 prove Newton Faulkner can produce not only one heck of a great studio recorded album, but his acoustic performances hold just as much of that ‘wow factor’ that can be seen right throughout Write It On Your Skin. Not to mention Faulkner casually slips in acoustic versions of his previous hits Dream Catch Me and I Need Something - in case you forgot the pieces of brilliance which brought Newton Faulkner into the limelight.
DOOM wrote and recorded the album while living in the UK, and you can thank that for his use of cockney samples, British pop culture references and the grime vibe that snakes through the collection of tracks. The first track on the album to feature DOOM’s vocals is a fine example of this, particularly considering its title, Guv’nor. Borin’ Convo also has a dope lo-fi grime vibe to it that really stands out and the track Dawg Friendly is just rad, plain and simple. Key To The Kuffs is a fresh and consistent listen that is definitely worth gettin’ locked up with.
Crisply recorded by Jesse Stack, it’s easy to forget this is a live album. This works both ways, though, as the sheer quality of instrumental sound only just compensates for having some of the rougher, live edges polished away. This classy sound is evident on top-notch little opener Don’t Go, one of Toby’s newer tracks, where she simply powers through the vocals on a song that could easily be a studio recording. Second track Catch You follows this up nicely, showcasing local trumpeter Shannon Puig’s (Tijuana Cartel) skills. These come to the fore again later on the more jazzy Welcome Home and reggae-infused Rumpus Room. But in terms of instrumentation, the star here is exceptional violinist Rachael Aquilina who provides several searing solos, most notably on the closer, Breathe. This track, though, showcases the best and worst of Toby’s music as this pumped-up song is let down somewhat by cringe-worthy confessional lyrics like, “smells like sex in here” and “penetrate my mind”. Yet despite some lyrical shortcomings, Toby’s songs have some real class and her voice deserves to be heard.
Aimee Somerville
Olivia Gardner
Paul Barbieri
18 • THE DRUM MEDIA
themusic.com.au
KING SALAMI & THE CUMBERLAND THREE Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers! Off The Hip I don’t know what you would expect while reading the above band name and album title. But yes, King Salami & The Cumberland Three have indeed released an album called Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers! And no, it’s not just a shady metaphor. It is, actually, one of the most fun albums you’ll listen to this year. King Salami et.al. formed a few years ago, and have since been kicking around the London scene, throwing their dirty, rocking funk and punk at any punter worth paying money to see them. Their aim: to party. Their obstacle: nothing. And by gosh, do they pull it off. It’s simple stuff, mind you. The sausage references don’t end at the title; Do The Wurst, the album opener, is a riotous introduction to the band. I Smell A Rat dives into old-school garage before the Mojo Workouts start. Shake It Wild is the epitome of cool, with its stuttered sax flows sitting on top of a grungy riff. All of the songs are damnably self-explanotory: Chicken Back is about the virtues of fried chicken, Pawnee Stomp (arguably the album highlight) is, in fact, a Native American-styled punk stomp, and Watcha Gonna Do Tomorrow indeed asks that very question. Sure, it won’t win awards for the most complex or conceptual album of recent times. One look of King Salami’s wild face on the cover will tell you that. But what you will get from Fourteen Blazin’ Bangers! is a heady mix of what we’re all missing from the ‘60s: blaring carpeted riffs, smooth rhythm and a reason to throw your hip out as they tour Australia. Cam Findlay
VARIOUS ARTISTS
The Sapphires: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack Sony On the face of it, you can go either way with a motion picture soundtrack. One is the route of a sporadic collection of a variety of musical styles that appear in a movie, and the other goes in the direction of this album; a consistent sounding album that could survive autonomously of the movie itself. The Sapphires soundtrack is a self-sufficient 45 minutes of toe tapping, finger clicking, heart-on-sleeve ‘60s soul melodies over 16 tracks with some guest appearances and a few surprises. Jessica Mauboy (a rare thank you and salute to Australian Idol) is the star of the soundtrack, delivering lead vocals to a whopping nine tracks and providing texture with her warm vocal grain. Ngarra Barra Ferra, a traditional Indigenous song in the Yorta Yorta language, makes a welcome, unanticipated appearance amidst recognisable soul melodies, delivering one of the many musical pillars in the album that draw you in. In The Sweet Bye And Bye is another one of these pillars, including a surprising appearance by Darren Percival (another rare salute to reality TV, this time Australia’s The Voice). Not so unexpected, soul classics that embrace the old school - such as I Heard It Through The Grapevine, I’ll Take You There and What A Man - are performed beautifully, and the ‘70s original performance by Creedence Clearwater Revival of Run Through The Jungle makes a welcome appearance. If there’s anything keeping this soundtrack from dominating other chart releases it is the sheer length, but the balance of modern and old makes for a great listen and a more than decent driving album. Lynn Mc Donnell
THE DRUM MEDIA • 19
FRONTROW@DRUMPERTH.COM.AU
THIS WEEK IN
ARTS
A MONSTER IN PARIS
THURSDAY 23 Monsieur Lazhar – from writer/ director Philippe Falardeav. Set in Montreal, a film about a group of schoolchildren coming to terms with the adult world before their time, and the educator who transforms their lives. Part of CinefestOz, Orana Cinemas Busselton, 8.15pm. 100 Bloody Acres – the story of brothers Reg and Lindsay Morgan’s struggling organic blood and bone fertiliser business. The use of dead car crash victims has been a huge boom to business, but it’s been months since their last find. Directors and also brothers Colin and Cameron Cairnes will do a Q&A after the screening at The Laundry. Part of CinefestOz, Orana Cinemas Busselton, 8pm.
FRIDAY 24 The Crucible – Michael Jenn directs Arthur Miller’s classic play about the small village of Salem, Massachusetts. Set in 1692, this is a chilling witch-hunt and portrayal of how religious fundamentalism can take hold of any society. Performed by third-year WAAPA acting students. Opening night, Roundhouse Theatre, 7.30pm until 30 August.
SATURDAY 25 Thrashing Without Looking – a 3am ride through loneliness, frenzy, banality and cliché. An experiential work that combines performance and live cinema, created by the audience, for the audience. Closing day, PICA, 3pm, 5pm, 6.30pm, 8pm.
SUNDAY 26 A Monster in Paris – directed by animator Bibo Bergeron and written by Bibo Bergeron and Stéphane Kazandjian. Set in panic-swept Paris in 1910, the star of The Rare Bird cabaret, Lucille (Vanessa Paradis) develops a friendship with the monster flea Francoeur whose singing voice in English is Sean Lennon. Part of CinefestOz, 1.15pm Orana Cinemas Busselton. Over the Fence Comedy Film Festival – to celebrate its 15th year, a showcase of 15 quirky, comedic short films. Cinema Paradiso, 4pm, festival runs until Saturday 1 September.
MONDAY 27 Regime Magazine – launching its premier issue with a party to celebrate all the creative goodness coming out of William St. The magazine features emerging fiction, poetry, and performance. The Bird, 6pm.
TUESDAY 28 Cheap Lecture and The Cow Piece – an Australian premiere that will open the inaugural MoveMe Dance Festival. Composer Matteo Fargion and dancer Jonathan Burrows continue the journey they begun in their earlier pieces while drawing us ever-outwards into a series of unforeseen images and digressions. The Cow Piece is a translation of John Cage’s Lecture on Nothing. A one-night only performance. presented by STRUT dance, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts, 7.30pm.
NO RAIN Fatboy Slim took his beach-doof spectacular to a stadium and had it filmed. Cyclone gets the skinny on the whys and wherefores. Electronic dance music’s natural habitat is the nightclub, rave or festival, but, fresh from his cameo in the London Olympic Games closing ceremony, Brit DJ Fatboy Slim (aka Norman Cook) is bringing his Big Beach Bootique to cinemas. And you’ll be raving in the aisles. Originally the big beat pioneer planned to “document” the fifth of his famous Brighton parties, and first in the seaside resort’s new football stadium, exclusively for
DVD. He shot the second of June’s two spectacles. “It’s not the biggest crowd I’ve ever played to, but it’s the biggest production – all bells and whistles,” Cook says. It was then suggested that his concert film would suit the big screen, amid surging demand for ‘event’ cinema. Cook’s cohorts The Chemical Brothers showed their Don’t Think in 600 theatres internationally. His is going to 800. “But I suspect that next year the Swedes will do it and they’ll be in 2000 screens
suggests ruefully. worldwide,” he suggest Fatboy Slim: Live From The Big Beach Bootique will show on one night only, Friday 31 August, globally. “The idea is that if we get everyone to watch it at once on the same night, we get some kind of vibe like it’s a gig. Obviously, it’s not the sort of film that you’d go to the Tuesday afternoon matinee of,” he laughs. “The idea is to get everybody together at once – they maybe have a few drinks before they go in – and [you get] as close to recreating the show as you can. I suppose it’s the nearest you can get without actually being there.” Cook did have qualms about moving his festival, last held in 2008 on Brighton Beach, to Falmer Stadium
CHEAP LECTURE
CROWD CONTROL In her experimental production Thrashing Without Looking, Lara Thoms takes crowd participation to the next level. Helen Stringer gets all the details. Experiential theatre is always risky. what if the audience, or perhaps more accurately the participants, don’t like the experience being thrust upon them? What if they’re reticent in participating? Thrashing Without Looking, a theatrical, live cinema project from artistled organisation Aphids, is a multi-disciplinary work involving video goggles, champagne and dancing which largely mitigates this potential pitfall by giving participants control, or at least agency, over the experience as 20 • THE DRUM MEDIA
they’re directed through. The show starts with 12 participants; eight are fitted with video goggles, four are left without. Those essentially blindfolded are seeing live footage, albeit selective live footage, of the events taking place around them; the four left with all their senses intact choose how the show progresses. “It’s definitely very experiential,” explains Aphids’ artistic associate and co-creator of Thrashing Without Looking, Lara Thoms. “Once we begin the show, we are recording everything that
happens in the room with a single camera which is also playing back in real time, so you watch a piece of cinema unfold before your eyes, as it’s happening. It’s a combination of performances happening in the space which [are] actually scenes for a cinematic experience. “There is a large range of responses that people have within that technology. And [with] having screens up so close against their eyes, it can generate quite a sense of [transformation] and feeling of being very out of body, while other people find it more natural and are ready for things to happen.” Thoms, who has worked with video goggles and live cinema in her own art, explains that she was drawn to using the technology, usually used for simple playback, in
(or The AMEX). Partygoers could be put off by the prospect of “a cattle shed”. “But,” he says, “it’s such a beautiful stadium.” The AMEX has superior facilities and, crucially, allows for greater crowd control. “It was a lot more relaxed for me ‘cause some of the ones on the beach I was throwing, I was shitting in my pants. There was one where a quarter of a million people turned up. The police were saying to me, ‘People will die tonight.’ They said, ‘It won’t necessarily be your fault, but statistically you’ve got 250,000 drunk people on the streets – people are gonna die.’ Then we did one on New Year’s Day and the weather absolutely pissed down on us and everyone was soaked – not cold, but soaked. I was getting electrocuted. So compared to the ones I’d done on the beach, this one was a stroll in the park.” And The AMEX is a more environmentally sustainable choice. Cook previously had to fork out a small fortune to clean up the shingle beach, post-party. “It took a team of fifty people a week to sift through all the pebbles and get all the muck out of it.” Coincidentally, Cook himself lives on Brighton’s seafront with his wife, media personality Zoë Ball, and their children. Arriving on the South Coast from Surrey as a uni student in the ‘80s, he was already DJing there prior to joining the indie-pop group The Housemartins as bassist. “Of course, while we were taking the broken glass out of the pebbles, we were finding Victorian broken glass and bits from the ‘30s and the ‘40s,” Cook continues. “The beach has never been as clean as it was after we did that!” Might this model citizen have called in Time Team’s archaeologists? “Yeah,” he replies laconically, “it was mainly broken glass.” WHAT: Fatboy Slim: Live From The Big Beach Bootique WHEN & WHERE: In cinemas nationally Friday 31 August a live context. “I thought it would be interesting to put an audience in a performance environment to watch a performance through this mediated screen,” she says. “I think it’s an interesting way of thinking about screen culture more generally and our reliance on technology and the distance and intimacy that that can create. It’s the potential to think about live-ness and performativity and what screen culture can be with this technology, so it works on a number of different layers. It’s a technology that brings those elements together.” While the show is scripted to a degree, with Thoms and her fellow collaborators appearing as performers to ensure the cinema plays out, it’s the four audience members without video goggles who are in control of what kind of show is made. It’s a different show every night with audience reactions being concomitantly varied. “It’s [a] really big cross-range,” says Thoms of responses thus far, “and we’re constantly surprised and that’s why we like it to not feel too comfortable in the performance; it’s always going to feel fresh.” Participatory theatre is notoriously difficult to pull off, audiences sometimes reluctant to be involved in the action, but Thoms assures Thrashing Without Looking is not intimidating theatre. “I think sometimes when people think of participation they think of it as being quite scary,” she says. “But it’s pretty easy; you don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. There are invitations to have a drink with us or have a dance but it’s really up to you how the show pans out.” And with participants in control, she says, the show is a nightly surprise for all involved. WHAT: Thrashing Without Looking WHEN & WHERE: Tonight 6.30pm and 8pm until Saturday 25 August, Main Gallery, PICA
FRONTROW@DRUMPERTH.COM.AU
REVIEWS
C U LT U R A L
MOONRISE KINGDOM FILM
BERNIE
BERNIE FILM There are several good reasons to see this film, the first being the brilliant and uncharacteristically understated performance from Jack Black, who plays opposite screen legend Shirley MacLaine. The second is that it’s a Richard Linklater film. Linklater made his name in the ‘90s with Dazed & Confused, Waking Life and Before Sunrise (followed years later by Before Sunset), and he directed Black in School Of Rock. Bernie is based on an article about the reallife Bernie Tiede, played by Black, and it’s a fascinating story. Bernie is a mortician in Carthage, Texas, and he’s the nicest, most solicitous guy you could meet. A pillar of the community who attends church, supports charities and performs in local theatre productions, he meets the elderly wealthy widow, Marjorie
(MacLaine), when he prepares her dead husband for his funeral. The pair strike up an extremely close friendship and become inseparable. But after a few years of this platonic intimacy (Bernie’s pretty obviously gay), the cranky old cow, Marjorie, finally pushes Bernie to do something drastic. What follows is the ‘truth being stranger than fiction’ part. Matthew McConaughey is at first almost unrecognisable as the sunglasses-wearing DA Danny Buck – a man who starts to suspect Bernie of being a money-hunting shyster even though everyone else won’t hear a word said against him. The characters in the small town are all delightfully offbeat but genuine, and the end result is a triumph, especially for Jack Black, who should be up for a swathe of awards for this role. Vicki Englund In cinemas nationally
While watching Moonrise Kingdom, it’s hard to fathom what a divisive figure writer/director Wes Anderson has become. On some levels, it’s understandable; his films are – at least on the surface – twee, precious, fussily constructed, and beloved by hipsters, and hipsters are bad, or something. And yet, they’re so lovingly made, filled with such a rich spirit of generosity to the people in them, and so keen to share their utopian worlds with an audience, that the idea someone can actively hate them seems faintly absurd. His latest is set in 1965 on an island off the coast New England, and concerns a romance between youngsters Sam and Suzy; the former a boy scout and orphan, who flees his summer camp to meet and run away with Suzy, as per plans made through exchanged letters during their time apart. Meanwhile,
his scoutmaster (Edward Norton) organises a hunt with his fellow scouts. It’s the first of Anderson’s films to deal directly with young love, and a perfect match of subject and sensibilities. It’s also his most Wes Anderson-y film to date; upon the first shot – a gliding lateral pan, inside a heavily decorated and colourful house interior that resembles an oversized diorama – one could easily reflexively cringe at the trumpeting of his signature style. But it’s helpful to remember the words of US critic Kent Jones, from a 2001 review of The Royal Tenenbaums, “at his best, his cinema is built from layer upon layer of selfconsciousness, tottering not by mistake but by design, always on the verge of exposing a quivering emotional core”. Moonrise Kingdom may be built with more of those same layers, but that core is just as omnipresent. It’s pretty goddamn delightful. Ian Barr In cinemas nationally Thursday 30 August
MOONRISE KINGDOM
CRINGE
WITH MARCIA CZERNIAK Sometimes you watch a movie and it resonates with you afterwards, making you think about what you just saw on the big screen and how it relates to you. It can be anything really; from mundane things like, ‘I really liked the dress that character wore in that particular scene’ or, ‘wow, the music in that film was great’. And then you get films that are so powerful that you watch them and it makes you think about things that are a little deeper. About our society, about ourselves and how we connect to things, and what we as a collective country, have learnt throughout history. One such film that does this is The Sapphires. The film took its beginnings from the stage play of the same name, which was written by Tony Briggs and loosely based on the story of his mother and three aunts who formed an Aboriginal all-girl band called The Sapphires in the 1960s. The play was originally performed by the Melbourne Theatre Company in 2004, and one of the films leads, Deborah Mailman, has reprised her role from the stage play. Jump eight years and we are now seeing the release of the big screen version of Briggs’ story. Directed by Wayne Blair and co-written by Briggs and Keith Thompson, the film tells the story of the four females and the journey they take as they travel to Vietnam to perform for the troops over there during the Vietnam War. The story itself is simple in its telling, and the quality of the casting is impeccable. But it’s the themes explored in the telling of the story
that is with you as you walk away. It looks at the Stolen Generation and the Vietnam War without going into too much depth, and explores racism through both the undertones of the film and explicitly in the scenes such as when the girls enter a talent show and end up getting thrown out of the venue. But the story itself is about the opportunity these four Aboriginal women have to realise their dreams, as they achieve amazing things during a time where Aboriginal people had just received the right to be counted in the census. So now, over 40 years later, to look at the depiction of the underlying racial tensions in the film, you would think that as a society we have moved past this. I mean, think of what else happened in the ‘60s and how we have moved on for the better. The Berlin Wall was built in the ‘60s… Would we still expect that to be up and standing? But undoubtedly some things move a little slower, and to go from watching a film which celebrates the beauty of the outback and Aboriginal culture through the story of four talented, strong women, to one of the most disrespectful acts seen on social media is more than disappointing… It is tragic. With many likely to know of the memes in question that took on various forms via different pages that were set up and were said to be started by a Perth teenager, there is no need to feed the creators’ stupidity with going into the details of it – other than to say, grow up. There is enough hatred in our world and social media shouldn’t be used for idiots to communicate their racist crap with other idiots. Rant over.
of Charlie Sheen's Anthony Star Comedy Roast. USA
Jeselnik tim presents Rottofest's Funniest Shorts.
ferguson chris
Set
QLD
millions the
franklin sail medics and many more. Day Tripper passes: $89 (incl. return ferry and day events). for tickets and full line up, visit rottofest.com.au
THE DRUM MEDIA • 21
AUGUST 17–26
22 • THE DRUM MEDIA
THE SPITFIRES BY ELENA MARCON
TOUR GUIDE GIG OF THE WEEK
SPLIT SECONDS ALBUM LAUNCH @ AMPLIFIER
RTRFM RADIOTHON OPENING PARTY THE BIRD, THE BAKERY, PICA, YA YA’S: 18/08/2012 RTRFM’s major fundraiser Radiothon is back once again to help keep the station running, and Saturday evening was the perfect opportunity to witness some of Perth’s best talent, with the Opening Party spread across four venues in Northbridge. Post the acoustic arvo acts, The Bird kicked things off with electronic solo artist Leure, who provided the small but very appreciative early crowd with some haunting, hypnotic vocals mixed in with some minimalistic but very effective beats. Next up, with the audience still small, Davey Craddock & The Monacle delivered a strong set consisting of some powerful and beautiful folk-drenched numbers, which seemed to fit the relaxed atmosphere at this venue perfectly. Dashing over to Ya Ya’s and masters of the rock’n’roll craft The Painkillers supplied the healthy crowd with some raw vocals and trebly guitar tones. With the streets of Northbridge gradually winding up, Pica Bar was exceptionally quiet as DJ Mama Cass hit the decks. As always, her set was full of catchy beats which she delivered in style, but it was a shame that there were only a few punters present to enjoy it. Back over to The Bird, the room was packed as Kit Pop took over the same decks he destroyed the night before at the same venue to mark the end of his Paper Chain label. As expected, the crowd lapped up his high voltage set. Next up, Kučka gave one of the highlight performances of the evening. Laura Jane Lowther’s vocals were captivating and complimented the ambient electronics as well as the heavy bass brilliantly, providing a
beautiful, melancholic darkness for the crowd to be submerged in. To Ya Ya’s again, and recently relocated three-piece punk outfit The Spitfires charged up the loyal crowd with some chaotic but incredibly catchy guitar lines. From there it was off to Pica where Craig Hollywood was showcasing his house beats to an under-appreciative crowd who seemed to treat the tunes like background noise; a shame, as it would have been great music to dance to. Meanwhile at The Bird, as people were still pushing through the doors, Diger Rokwell launched straight into his set. The flawless delivery of his rich and ambient numbers certainly was a highlight of the night, and the audience thankfully used the opportunity (space permitting) to have a bit of a dance. Following Rokwell’s set, Cow Parade Cow were next to grace the stage with one of the most interesting sets of the night. The band delivered their incredibly wacky, summery tunes, which fitted the warm vibe of the venue perfectly. Back to Ya Ya’s once more and The Novocaines had the crowd almost falling over backwards, unleashing an energy-fuelled performance of grungy punk that was most fitting of the headline slot. Finally, Umpire performed as the last act of the evening at The Bakery to the biggest crowd of the night. Their light, breezy indie pop set provided a supreme end to an evening of fantastic performances by WA’s finest. Naomi Dollery & Kane Sutton
FRONTLASH
BACKLASH
Just when you thought he’d lost it, Prince Harry’s partying with J-Lo in Vegas, throwing beach balls at girls with his shirt off and jumping in MGM Grand pool with his jeans on to race Olympians. Can someone please get this dude in the Big Brother house stat?
Let’s hope Pussy Riot’s sentencing gets overturned by a riot of real political upheaval in Russia, and that Putin may one day rot in jail cell with their ‘song’ playing on repeat for a very, very long time.
ADALITA
HARRY & THE BENDERSONS
LAST CHANCE-ATHON
FREE PUSSY
DRUM MEDIA IS PROUD TO PRESENTS SHOWS INCLUDING:
PAUL CAPSIS: OCT 11 Artbar, Art Gallery Of WA MUMFORD & SONS, EDWARD SHARPE & THE MAGNETIC ZEROS, WILLY MASON: OCT 12 & 13 Belvoir Amphitheatre
SPLIT SECONDS: AUG 25 Amplifier
DAPPLED CITIES, JAPE: OCT 14 Amplifier
THE LAURELS: AUG 25 Mojo’s
CLARE BOWDITCH: OCT 20 Astor Theatre
THE MEDICS: SEPT 8 Amplifier
BASTARDFEST: ASTRIAAL, FUCK… I’M DEAD, DESECRATOR and more: OCT 27 Civic Hotel
ROTTOFEST: ANTHONY JESELNIK, TIM FERGUSON, CHRIS FRANKLIN, MEL BUTTLE, DAYNE RATHBONE, NICK CODY, MATT DYKTINSKI, MILLIONS, THE MEDICS, SET SAIL, STILLWATER GIANTS, TOMAS FORD, SONPSILO CIRCUS, SAM PERRY, ANTON FRANC, PATIENT LITTLE SISTER, COW PARADE COW and more: SEP 8 & 9 Rottnest Island XAVIER RUDD: SEP 25 Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie; SEP 26 Esperance Civic Centre; SEP 28 Albany Entertainment Centre; SEP 29 Fremantle Arts Centre; SEP 30 Caves House, Yallingup MYSTERY JETS: SEP 20 Capitol + BESIDE LIGHTS: SEP 21 C5, Metropolis Fremantle + BRITISH INDIA: SEP 22 Amplifier; NOV 29 Prince Of Wales; NOV 30 Metropolis Fremantle; DEC 1 Capitol JULIA STONE: SEP 28 Astor Theatre PARKLIFE: THE PRESETS, JUSTICE, ROBYN, NERO (LIVE), RUSKO, DJ FRESH, BENGA, JACK BEATS, MODESTEP, FLUME, PASSION PIT, TAME IMPALA, CHAIRLIFT, CITIZENS!, ST LUCIA, CHARLI XCX, ALISON WONDERLAND, PLAN B, CHIDDY BANG, LABRINTH, WILEY, HERMITUDE, RIZZLE KICKS, JACQUES LU CONT, PARACHUTE YOUTH, ART DEPARTMENT, LEE FOSS and locals: OCT 1 Wellington Square TZU, SIETTA: OCT 5 Bar 120; OCT 6 Amplifier; OCT 7 Prince Of Wales
THURSTON MOORE: OCT 30 Rosemount Hotel BILLY BRAGG, JORDIE LANE: NOV 2 & 3 The Astor JOSH PYKE: NOV 8 Artbar, Art Gallery Of WA THE BEARDS: NOV 15 Prince Of Wales; NOV 16 Settlers Tavern; NOV 17 Rosemount Hotel; NOV 18 Indi Bar + NATURAL NZ MUSIC FESTIVAL: SHAPESHIFTER, KORA, LADI6, TRINITY ROOTS, MAISEY RIKA, DAVID DALLAS, P-MONEY and more: DEC 1 Red Hill Auditorium + EVAN DANDO & JULIANA HATFIELD, BAMBINO KORESH: DEC 22 Rosemount Hotel SOUTHBOUND: BEACH HOUSE, BEST COAST, BOY & BEAR, COOLIO, THE FLAMING LIPS, SBTRKT, THE VACCINES, BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB, FIRST AID KIT, MAXIMO PARK, MILLIONS, HILLTOP HOODS, TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS, ANGUS STONE, BALL PARK MUSIC, COSMO JARVIS, DJANGO DJANGO, THE HIVES, JINJA SAFARI, LISA MITCHELL, MATT CORBY, SHARON VAN ETTEN, TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB and more TBA: JAN 4 & 5 Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton
ONGOING: GIGNITION: Upcoming band showcases 2-10pm monthly on Sundays at The Railway Hotel CULTURE CLASH & BASS CULTURE: Rotating Thursdays at The Newport Hotel
OCTODANCE
We’re not going to lie, it’s usually an annoying time to listen to the station, but RTRFM’s Radiothon has been sounding pretty damn sweet this year. And even better if you’ve subscribed…
Not content with just getting her gear off and romping about for the cameras, the Octomom’s dropped a dancefloor stink bomb with eight legs of vileness. Then again, at least listening to Sexy Party could be a very useful method of contraception.
CHAIN REACTION
SHIP FILM!
Massive respect to Paper Chain, with the epic queue last Friday just a small indication of how much it sucks Kit Pop’s pulling the pin on one of Australia’s coolest labels. Now’s who’s gonna step up, y’all?!
While the Drum office only just last weekend belatedly got around to celebrating their 300th issue (apologies for our state if you saw us out’n’about), at the time we celebrated with Split Seconds on the front. And more worthy cover stars we could not imagine, the five-piece launching their already critically-adored debut album You’ll Turn Into Me with a Street Press Australia-presented national tour that kicks off where it should, right here in WA. Babies, prostitutes, freak storms, family life and public sex… All those elements and more jostle for space between the grooves of You’ll Turn Into Me, which comes almost two years after triple j big wig Richard Kingsmill’s endorsement at Perth’s One Movement, proclaiming Split Seconds to be his new favourite Perth act. No doubt rocking faves like All You Gotta Do, Bed Down and Top Floor, they’re joined by Stillwater Giants, Rainy Day Women and Warning Birds this Saturday 25 August at Amplifier. Tickets via Heatseeker and Oztix.
The only way Jessica Watson’s story isn’t going to make the most boring film ever is if treats the whole ‘based on a true story’ extremely loosely. We’re thinking a tragicomedy feat. an illegal boat travelling LANIE love triangle between her, John Howard and TonyLANE BY CC HUA Abbott. Ah shit, this ship is sinking noPIC matter what.
THE LAURELS
themusic.com.au
THE DRUM MEDIA • 23
SAIL AWAY
Sydney indie-poppers Set Sail are back in WA, playing a few odd shows around the place before their official shows in a couple of weeks. After surprising the Leederville Loungeroom last week, they play Mustang Bar Thursday 23 August. Check back in the mag for their ensuing dates, which include shows at HQ, Amplifier and C5 in Fremantle.
THE KIDS ARE SINGLE LANE ALL RIGHT
You Am I guitarist and frontman for The Pictures, Davey Lane is bringing his debut solo album to WA this weekend, and Cam Findlay finds out hip hop is definitely on his radar.
T IS FOR TOUR
Since forming, Alpine have supported the likes of Sia, The Jezabels and Matt Corby to name but a few, and have graced festivals across the country. They’re headed west in support of their debut album A Is For Alpine, playing the Newport Thursday 23 August; Prince Of Wales Friday 24; and The Bakery Saturday 25. Supported by our own Georgi Kay, tickets via Oztix and Now Baking.
HETTY BETTY
Born in England and raised in Melbourne, Hetty Kate has been on the scene for only six years but during that time she’s made her presence felt. Having sung in four continents and appeared on no less than eight albums, her pure tone, interesting phrasing and sense of humour has made her a hit with audiences young and old. See her at Ellington Jazz Club Saturday 25 August.
TOUGH BREED
A heavy progressive-rock explosion, Breed are a technically diverse and intricate music collaboration, pieced together with a powerful stage presence and mind blowing lyrical density. With a sound comparable to the likes of Tool, Karnivool and Alice In Chains, the five-piece play Drum’s Gignition Sunday 26 August at the Railway Hotel from 2 til 6pm.
BOOTS HOTEL
After a well-earned winter break, Ruby Boots return as a five-piece saying farewell to their talented strings man Jesse Woodward who has moved on to pursue his own songwriting projects. And before the rest get down to writing the debut ‘Boots album, they play Rosemount Hotel Saturday 25 August, supported by Nevada Pilot, The Love Junkies and Boom! Bap! Pow!.
FREE
SETH SENTRY
ALL-AGES AND YOUTH NEWS WITH SHILPA SRINGAR The all-ages calendar for the upcoming months is filled with truckloads of goodness to de-stress and detox us from everything and anything school related. With the anticipation of Hyperfest, the upcoming AmpFest finale and a few standout local gigs all well and truly in our sights, there’s no reason to call Perth dull anymore. To get you started, the usual dose of hardcore gigs are being held at YMCA HQ in Leederville with some highlights being Afraid Of Heights, Xenobiotic, Mindless and others playing a show on Friday 24 August, locals Vanity, Foxes and South Australian outfit Raccoon City PD performing on Sunday 26 August and Dream On, Dreamer’s all-ages leg of their Homebound tour being held on Sunday 9 September to celebrate the release of their new metalcore album Heartbound. To change things around a bit, HQ is also host to some non-hardcore gigs with Sydney-based folk/ indie-pop trio Set Sail taking the stage on Saturday 1 September with local supports Bastian’s Happy Flight and Rainy Day Women. Tickets can be bought from facebook.com/setsailmusic. On Friday 21 September, HQ is also host to Jack Perejuan’s Number Juan EP Launch. The 18 year-old’s electronic stylings have been all the rage on triple j’s Unearthed charts and tickets are available on moshtix for $10+bf or $16+bf with the inclusion of Perejuan’s new EP. As indie dance band The Voltaire Twins put it on their Facebook events page, “Being underage sucks when you wanna go to gigs.” So to rid us of our misfortune, they are putting on an all-ages EP launch on Sunday 26 August at The Chamber in Melville, before they head over east for the rest of their tour. Supports from 44th Sunset and The Suspects and tickets as cheap as - $5 at the door or $10 with the Twins’ new Apollo EP. The first announcement of HyperFest’s 2012 line-up is an exciting one with Bluejuice, Seth Sentry and Purple Sneaker DJ’s all being confirmed as headliners for this year with a few more locals such as Emperors and The Main Attraction also being announced. Not only does the line-up look exciting, but HyperFest has also announced that they will be relocating from the railway workshops to the bigger and better Midland Oval. The festival is also currently looking out for up and coming dancers, skaters or MC’s who want to show of their talent in various competitions, so if you’re interested fill out the form on the HyperFest website and submit it by Friday 21 September via email to hyperseries@gmail.com. The 12+ festival will be held at Midland oval on Sunday 7 October with tickets available for $25+bf from various outlets. The AmpFest finale is also coming up on Friday 7 September at The Regal Theatre. The competition is set to be a heated one with various high school bands competing for a prize pool of over $15,000. What’s even better is that watching the competition is absolutely free and open to all ages with special guests Brow Horn Orchestra headlining. On another note: new indie pop sensation Asta is one to look out for in the artist spotlight after winning triple j’s Unearthed High for 2012. The singer/songwriter from Asney college in Hobart has been deemed the best high school-aged act of 2012 after beating 860 other entries with her catchy indie electro-pop song My Heart Is On Fire. With plans to release her new EP in the upcoming months, it won’t be surprising if she’s the new name on everyone’s mind.
This tour is yet another notch in your already demanding schedule. How do you find the time to work on so many musical projects at once? Usually there’s a compromise, thankfully around this time of year things are a little quieter. I manage to make time when it’s busy. Usually I’m doing shows ‘round the weekends so usually Monday to Thursday is the time to lock myself in my lil’ home studio and boffin away. It’s a nice way to spend one’s week. Usually by the time the weekend rolls around you’ve had jack of being cooped up at home, so a road trip and a loud messy rock‘n’roll gig with your friends is the perfect release. You’ve got a huge amount of musical collaborations under your belt. What is the impetus for you to work with so many different artists? I’ve still got so much to learn, so why be complacent? There’s new records out there to hear, new folks to meet, new combinations of chords to steal… Last year I collaborated with a ridiculously talented hip hop artist named Phrase. I found that particularly inspiring as it was the first time I’d ever been asked to write something to sing as opposed to add guitar to. It seemed ridiculous to some folks that I was collaborating with a hip hop guy, but it made a lot more sense than you’d think. He loves good rock‘n’roll music, and I love good hip hop stuff. With You Am I, The Pictures and your solo work all going at once, how do you set the line between each? Well, different writers for a start; mine and Tim’s musical tastes are fairly well-aligned, so there
CROSSING PLAINS
Sydney four-piece The Laurels celebrate the release of their debut album Plains by throwing some fuel into the Tarago and hitting the road this next month. They play Mojo’s Saturday 25 August, bringing with them a live show that is fast becoming one of this country’s best. Presented by Street Press Australia, Plains is out now. They’re supported by Shiny Joe Ryan.
are gonna be some similarities in our writing styles, but we certainly don’t sit around all day listening to Tommy and Village Green Preservation Society (as much fun as that is). And there are loads of places where our tastes differ. In any case, we don’t make a concerted effort to keep our projects/styles separate, they kinda write themselves. It used to bother me back in the days of The Pictures when folks would weigh everything we did against You Am I, or I against Tim, but I came to the realisation that folks are always gonna make those kind of lazy comparisons. And anyways, what a great band to be compared to, eh? This being your first solo album, how did the writing and recording process differ from the work you do in You Am I and The Pictures? Going into writing this record, I wanted to kick it up a notch from where I was at in The Pictures. The stuff I wrote for that band was all about trying to sound like The Faces, or Bob Dylan, or Free, obviously The Who, etc. It’s what you do when you’re young I guess, you just wanna get one’s rocks off. The aim with these songs was figuring out what I wanted to sound like, as opposed to who I wanted to sound like (pardon the pun). I know as well as anybody my limitations as a lyricist and a singer, so I wanted to work closely with those areas in particular to make the most I could of them. For example, I would always eschew a sweet melody if I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to pull it off. I haven’t shied away from that side on this record, and if I sing a few bum notes live, then so be it. WHO: Davey Lane WHAT: The Good Born Of Bad Tymes (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 23 August, Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; Friday 24, The Fly Trap; Saturday 25, Governor’s Bar, Rottnest Island; Sunday 26, Ya Ya’s
ROOMY TUNES
Local electronic three-piece Room At The Reservoir are launching their new album, styling in ‘70s psychedelic groove rock, with a slight indie touch that will make your ears happy. Russian Winters, Louis & The Honkytonk and Nosey Parker join them what’s sure to be a cracking affair. $10 from 8pm.
HORSING AROUND
The vinyl-only, self-titled, debut double LP from Drowning Horse is launched at The Bakery Friday 24 August, supported by Grief Contrast, Ourobonic Plague and DJ Craig McElhinney. $10 plus BF via Life Is Noise and the usuals. The album contains over an hour of soulcrushing drones and relentless rhythms. Bring ear plugs.
SHINY SHALLOWS
A collection of great majesty and ethereal wonder, headed by one of the best voices in Perth, The Shallows are a band that can feature, at any given time, up to 11 members, and they are a true sight to behold/hear. Supported by Shiny & The Big Boy and Jacob Diamond, see them in action Saturday 25 August at Clancy’s Fremantle from 9pm.
ON THE WALL
Metalcore outfit Mirror Mirror will be rocking The Railway Hotel Sunday 26 August as part of Drum’s Gignition, a night showcasing up-and-coming acts. Formed earlier this year in the hallways of Leederville’s CMIT TAFE, Mirror Mirror bring pant-dropping riffs, braunhooking choruses and face-melting guitar solos.
AFRICA DIVINE
While the band is hard at work writing material for their next album, Chaos Divine recently paid tribute to one of their most cherished musical influences by recording a beefed-up studio version of Toto classic Africa. You can bless the rains down in Africa along with God and the band Friday 24 August at Amplifier.
THIS WEEK’S ISSUE NOW LIVE 24 • THE DRUM MEDIA
themusic.com.au
INNER EARS
DRUM TANNER
Nationally recognised musicians Paul Tanner and Louise Devenish direct the first major public Percussion festival in WA, at the Callaway Music Auditorium, UWA, 7.30pm Wednesday 29 August. Turanewmusic. com for more info. Masterworks from the percussion and piano repertoire come together in this extraordinary performance featuring some of WA’s finest musicians.
Sundays are telling a different story in Perth as Geisha Nightclub’s quadraphonic soundsystem is being used for the raw sound that is niche styles of live music. Sunday 26 August the good times continue as Cybernaut Records presents Sprawl, Dave, Hey Hurricane and Neutral Native, plus Unknown Treasures DJs. $10 from 8pm.
FAT FUNDS After so much fun at their Mojo’s fundraiser, Fat Shan Music are doing it again Sunday 26 August. Featuring lovely tunes from Amanda Merdzan, The Big Old Bears, BlackMilk, The Dianas, Jacob Teague, Mulder, Our Man In Berlin, Sam Perry, Sean O’Neill and The Silent World, Shan and co. take over The Bird. $10 from 2pm.
HEALTHY LUNGS
Mandurah scumpunx The Lungs release their second LP Friday 24 August at the Rocket Room, supported by The Homicides, SSA, Lucille and The Shakeys. Formed in 2006, The Lungs have had a gradual and turbulent rise – a handful of drummers, a dozen or so guitarists, broken bones and a whole lot of Jack Daniels has shaped this rock’n’roll train wreck in the best way.
RETURN OF THE GROWL
Local garage rock tour de force The Growl are back on the live stage this weekend, and Drum catches up with Cam Avery to get footy finals predictions and talk recently working with The Horrors.
now; Marc Early is playing upright bass, Jelly has new electronic stuff on one of the drum kits, Clint is back on guitar, James is on keys/Ableton, and I’m freaking out ‘cause I just have to sing now. If anyone wants to teach me some sexy Beyonce dance moves, I’d be forever grateful. How has it been drumming around the world as part of the Pond experience? Loooonnnngg… But really fun. I love playing drums, it’s my preferred instrument, and the Ponds are some of my closest friends. I was just grateful for the opportunity. Why did you decide to bring in electronic artist and The Chemist member James Ireland? Just needed a more permanent keys man, or is the electronic focus of the rest of the line-up also a clue as to a change in direction for The Growl? There’s a few electronically produced sounds on the new album and also samples that have been recorded and effected with analog outboard gear, but to try and reproduce these new sounds live became more and more difficult, so James has taken the reigns of playing the piano parts and also playing live samples which we recorded on the album. With all The Growl’s members so busy, how difficult is it getting to commit time to The Growl? It’s still fine, it takes priority over Gunns and Allbrook/ Avery, we just have to communicate and plan a lot more. Jodie and Sparkles have been given the painstaking, mind-muddling job of trying schedule things around Tame, Pond, Allbrook/Avery, Growl, Flick… etcetera, and they do an incredible job. What else is happening for the band? Just lots and lots of rehearsing – it’s a six-piece band
Meet the WA Roller Derby back at Kingsway Indoor Stadium one last time this home season where the girls get out the forensic kits to find out who really deserves the Grand Final win this year. It’s a whodunnit of derby proportions as the Electric Screams take on Sonic Doom in Law & Slaughter: Rolling With Intent. $13/$7 for kids from 6pm, Saturday 25 August.
SONGS RENDERED
FRIDAY ART Friday nights at the Art Gallery Of WA will feature an array of cultural delights from 5.30pm as part of the Artbar series. The fun Friday times continue August 24, where you can enjoy the Manhattan Bar, the Picasso To Warhol exhibition, a Literary Links tour and a live performance from the TLC. picassotowarhol.artgallery.wa.gov.au for tickets.
CRIMINAL INTENT
Any Allbrook/Avery news, or other collabs on the boil? Yeah, Nick and I did a new Allbrook/ Avery album in London. It was a live album recorded with Josh, Rhys, Joe and Tom from The Horrors and Jason from Spectrum, so I’ve gotta mix it and put out the second Allbrook/Avery album before we know what to do with this one. Hopefully a tour with that line-up – lovely dudes. The Growl appears to be comprised largely of Fremantle Dockers fans, how do you rate their chances for the rest of the season? Finals!! I hope it’s a derby first round final (Dockers 8th V Weagles 5th) – we’ll crush them, as long as Fyfe-dog doesn’t hurt himself. Why should people come to the show this weekend? New band, new songs, Usurper, Cow Parade, Leure… sexy Beyonce dance moves. WHO: The Growl WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 25 August, Fly By Night
The Triffids’ Jill Birt has branched out with her first solo record, Render & Prosper, and she draws the parallels – and differences – between it and her old band with Cam Findlay.
The Triffids as a band were always fuelled by the surroundings they found themselves in. Has Render & Prosper emulated that idea? While it might be true that the Triffids as a band were fuelled by the surroundings we found ourselves in, I would say this was more to do with the people than the place; we were a band of young musicians, aiming high. The band was an entity that existed in a kind of no man’s land, and for that we relied heavily on each other. R & P in contrast is the product of a mature adult, a family person, a mother, a person with a day job, an income and a permanent place to live, and in this sense the influences for R & P were quite different. The use of the word ‘fuelled’ does not seem quite the right fit for my new work. It has come about in a mellow, self-assured and more measured way, and concerns very every day matters. Certainly, my local surrounds of Fremantle have informed the songs on R & P, either through quietly setting the scenes or by offering me a language that felt honest; something tangible and real to cling to. But really, the songs could have come from anywhere. It’s been 23 years since The Black Swan was released. How did you go about getting into the rhythm of writing and recording again? There was no grand plan to record an album; it just came about because of a chance meeting and new friendships that were formed. It was recorded in the recording studio of a friend, slowly, in an organic way when time permitted and inspiration flowed. The songs had been written over a long period of time previously, mostly in the bedroom on an old acoustic guitar. They were written more as a muse than anything else and that they should have ever seen the light of day as a recording still amazes me. R & P is the result of friendships and the enjoyment of getting together to make music. Do you feel your new music is a complete step away from the old Triffids songs, or an extension? In some respects my new music feels like a new thing. It is a very low-key recording, recorded without expectation or plan to release it initially. But things grew. With the R & P material both Alsy Macdonald and myself have been enjoying playing different instruments to those we played in The Triffids. Both playing the guitar, and stepping out as the front person, the singer, is a new role for me. From this perspective,
themusic.com.au
it has certainly felt like a new thing, and like any new thing, it has been driven by that energy that new things bring. However, we do come at it with a sense of knowing. We seem to know when to play and when not to. And I’m not sure that this is necessarily the result of evolving musical ability but rather a sense of wisdom that comes with age. For the most part there is a sense of spaciousness that defines the new music. In the absence of Dave McComb, The Triffids’ main songwriter, the new music is clearly a step away. However, as all remaining members of the band have contributed to Render And Prosper in some way or other, it is difficult to not hear familiar touchstones. Where are the most interesting places your own work has taken you to, or most noteworthy responses? Over the last couple of years we have been playing the occasional gig around Perth, as well as three brief tours interstate. Funnily enough, playing our new music has taken us to both Dunsborough and Donnelly River to play, trebling the number of country WA gigs I have ever played. Back in the 1980s playing country gigs in WA (particularly for original music) was almost unheard of. Your band consists of some more than familiar friends and fellows. Tell us about its formation and what we can expect for your launch. As outlined above my band, came about because of a series of almost accidental recording sessions. These sessions occurred due to some persistent but polite pestering from a then-rather young Adrian Hoffmann (from Perth band The Morning Night), who we met when he sang Bad Timing with The Triffids’ at the Perth Festival, February 2009. After this event fellow Perth-based former Triffids Alsy Macdonald, Martyn Casey and myself became friends with Adrian and his father Shaun, and soon found ourselves getting together and playing music. These are the people who later recorded and played on R & P, and who now make up my band when they are available. The launch will see us joined on stage by Martyn Casey, who is not always available due to his commitments with The Bad Seeds and Grinderman. Whilst the addition of his bass to our music measurably adds a depth and fullness to our sound, the event will still be a small and intimate affair. Richard Lane (The Stems) and Davey Lane (You Am I) will also both perform solo sets. Fly By Night’s The Fly Trap is a great little room with a special atmosphere of its own, and we are hoping the launch will capture some of that. WHO: Jill Birt WHAT: Render & Prosper (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 24 August, The Fly Trap
THE DRUM MEDIA • 25
CREEPY COLLECTIVE
The Jugular Collective returns to its home at The Fly Trap Thursday 23 August, featuring headliners Salamander and their warmly oozing, hypnotically lush swamp hysteria. In addition there’s psychedelic shoe-gazers Silver Hills, freak folkers Sprawl, the terrifyingly cute Chimp, violin-wielding Rachel Charles and story-teller Gibson. $5 from 8pm.
FORMIDABLE CHOOK
After a cracking launch for their debut single Industrial Chook last night at Mojo’s, big band Ensemble Formidable keep the good times rolling Sunday 26 August at Indi Bar, supported by Minky G & Rosco and Charlie Mgee. The single will be available to buy, and to check out their homemade video hunt it down YouTube.
Three of the world’s top drummers are in town soon for the DRUMscene Live clinic and performance, and your very own Drum catches up with two of them – Dave Weckl and Dom Famularo – for two very interesting points of view. Can you try to pick out a few select highlights that have really stuck with you over the years? DW: Well, starting with getting into the high school jazz band before I was in high school was a major step in my inspiration and preparation. Getting into the jazz band in college (Bridgeport CT, 1979), forming groups in those days, then eventually getting noticed by Peter Erksine in one of those bands (Nite Sprite), and subsequently getting the gig with French Toast (later the Michele Camilo Band) was the first ‘big’ break in NYC (1982). From there I got the Simon & Garfunkel tour in 1983, then got the gig with the newly formed band from Chick Corea, called The Elektric Band in 1985… Forming my own band after the birth of my daughter Claire in 1997 was a huge move as well.
Perth Jazz Society’s Young Lions series continues showcasing some of Perth’s up-and-coming jazz talents Wednesday 29 August. This week Sean Little and the Rhys Smith Quartet take to the PICA Bar Stage, and the former has a set of new original jazz works plus firebreathers heating things up, along with Rhys Smith covering Lennon and McCartney. $12/$10 for members from 8pm.
LOUNGEROOM LAUGHS
Hosted by local cabaret crazy showman Tomas Ford each Thursday night, the Leederville Loungeroom showcases the best of Perth’s live music and open mic performers. Think variety night meets pizza and booze specials galore and free entry, and you’re getting there. Thursday 23 August sees live sets from Odette Mercy Trio, Rumskull and Natalie Mae from 7pm.
The North Fremantle Bowls Club hosts a state soccer team benefit gig Saturday 25 August for the upcoming under-12’s tour to Darwin. Playing live will be Shangara Jive along with some special guests, kicking off at 4pm ‘til 10.30. Entry $5 for kids, $10 for adults with African food on offer and good times aplenty.
DAVE WECKL AND DOM FAMULARO You both started drumming at a very early age, what got you into beating the skins in the first place? Dave Weckl: Both my parents loved music and my father played piano for a hobby. I actually wanted to play guitar first at age seven, but soon changed to drums. My neighbours – three brothers – had a band, and the youngest being close to my age, was the drummer. He showed me some basic things, and not too long after my parents thought it better to get me a cheap set of drums than continue to bang up my mom’s pan and pot lids. Dom Famularo: Like many people in the mid‘60s, I heard The Beatles and was inspired to play music! My brothers played guitar and bass guitar, so I was drawn to drums. I also saw Fred Astaire dance and play drums in some movies and that really was inspiring.
Theatrical punk-rockers FAIM are filming their debut film clip and you’re invited to join Friday 24 August at Ya Ya’s. Wear something colourful, and also enjoy supports Scalphunter and New Erotic. $10 from 8pm. FAIM’s melodies have been stuck in heads since Dork was released, and now they’ve got some new songs, and want everyone to pitch in to make this the greatest party caught on tape.
DF: I have enjoyed most when I play concerts with my three children in their local school band to the local community! Each Australia’s Ultimate Drummer Weekend I perform is special. The finale was at AUDW with Tommy Igoe, Thomas Lang and myself, where both Tommy and Thomas threw about 500 sticks at me for an ending! You’ve both also been heavily involved in drum classes and clinics like the DrumScene Live tour, what are the main things you hope participants get out of it? DW: To go away being inspired, and hopefully take some information away that will help them find their own way a little easier. DF: I always hope to inspire people to play music and enjoy the power of music. Use your talent to empower others. Embrace education to make yourself better and the most important… have fun with music! Having been in the game so long, what keeps you excited about drumming?
Do you feel starting young is really important when it comes to the art of drumming?
FAIM MONSTER
Rocking five-piece Arkayan play the Rosemount Hotel Thursday 23 August in aid of launching there latest single Take This Soul – available for free download via the group’s bandcamp. The Jephasuns, Cypher and Welcome To Loco join the line-up and a shiny new pineapple will be given to anybody who actually comes dressed as a pineapple. $5 from 8pm.
DW: I think so. I think if you are taught correctly, and have a little bit of natural adaptability to most things (I was into and pretty good at sports too), it helps to build the necessary solid foundation when young. DF: I have been teaching for over 41 years and any age to start is fun to feel the passion and enjoy music! Young is great, mid-age is great and older age is great… Bring it on anytime! What are some other factors those keen to get started need to consider? DW: It depends on the desired level of ability and success one wants to achieve. If you’re serious about wanting to do it as a career, one has to be willing to practice a great deal and sacrifice quite a lot of other activities. Searching out and studying with GOOD teachers is very important. DF: First, playing drums is so much fun…remember that! Second, the more you learn, the more fun you achieve! Third, playing music with friends is the best way to enjoy people and share your talent!
DW: I enjoy seeing players that inspire me, it always gives me ideas to try different things within my own approach… I still get excited and inspired from the recordings I listened to when I was young, it reminds me of what got me going in the first place. I intend to play the instrument for as long as I can, as long as I can play it the way I want to. DF: I am 59 years young on August 26, so I will celebrate in Australia this year. My teachers played in their late ‘80s and kept going ‘til they passed. Meeting so many young and talented players and being a little part of their life in drumming keeps my flame lit for my passion to continue! God willing, I hope to play, inspire, learn and continue ‘til I am called to meet my maker. At that point I will meet my Mom again in heaven and she will inspire me again to keep playing music.
2-6PM, ENTR
@ RAILWAY HOTEL 44 Tydeman Street, North Perth, ph 9335 2732
26 • THE DRUM MEDIA
GRACE BARBE
CONTEMPORARY MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS WITH KRIS DIMITROFF.
SOTY JUDGING UNDERWAY
WAM Song Of The Year judging is underway and nominees will be announced on Monday 3 September. There were over 1,000 entries this year, which is a terrific result for the competition. Category judges include Shoeb Ahmab (Hello Square Recordings, Canberra), Chloe Goodyear (Woodford Folk Festival), Alexandre Grauer (Qwartz Electronic Music Awards, France), Clive Hodson (Perfect Pitch Publishing), Peter Knight (2012 Jazz Bell Awards winning jazz trumpeter and composer) and Hau Latukefu (Hip Hop Show, triple j). Song Of The Year is an annual, original WA songwriting competition, offering over $30,000 in prizes. Head to wam.asn.au/songoftheyear for more.
AGWA NIGHTS
WAM is delighted to announce a unique collaboration with the Art Gallery Of Western Australia (AGWA), which will bring some of WA’s best music acts to AGWA every Friday in spring. Starting September 7 with a performance from Grace Barbé Kreol (acoustic), ticket holders also get a chance to attend a Literary Links tour of the Picasso To Warhol exhibition and enjoy a drink at AGWA’s pop-up bar.
P.U.L.P AT WAM
Sorry, it’s not Jarvis Cocker, but we promise it will be equally intelligent. On Tuesday 4 September, Michael Tucak from Creative Legal will run the Pop. Up.Legal.Practice at the WAM office in Northbridge to provide music law advice to people in the music industry. From 12pm, free 30-minute sessions will be available to current WAM Members, with longer sessions available by appointment. Contact WAM on 9227 7962 for more information.
EXPRESS BLUES
Following the Perth Blues Club Annual General Meeting 2012 Tuesday 28 August at the Charles Hotel, members will be treated to a performance from two of the best powerhouse blues bands this city has to offer in John Meyer’s Blues Express, along with Lindsey Wells’ impressive band Awesome Wells.
COWBOYS UNPLUGGED
Ya Ya’s plays host to this intimate storytelling session Thursday 23 August with Jake & The Cowboys like you have never seen them before, unplugged and loving it. Joining them on stage are the quirky folk sounds of Spoonful of Sugar and The Renzullo Project. $5 from 8pm, cheap drinks and sweet tunes.
Lastly, without the drummer… DW: …the heart, soul and passion of the music is less defined and exciting. DF: …is like without a heart! The drummer will pump life into the band with every stroke and crash. Thomas Lang also joins them for DRUMscene Live, Friday 31 August at Methodist Ladies College.
SUNDAY 26 AUGY $6UST SUPPORTED BY
WAM UPDATE
DRUM TIME
LITTLE LIONS MEN
JIVE VIBES
SOUL TO TAKE
BREED
IN ORBIT
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ROBO ANT MASONIC NOIZE IContact: NTERESTED IN PLAYING? luke@sweetmate.com.au
FEEDBACK OWL EYES BY OLIVIA GARDNER
OWL EYES, WOLVES AT THE DOOR ARTBAR, ART GALLERY OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: 16/08/12
ArtBar is a ridiculously cool series that takes place inside AGWA for a couple of nights a year. In its fourth season and now running consecutively with the Picasso To Warhol exhibition, this year the people of AGWA may have just outdone themselves in awesomeness, if last Thursday night was anything to go by. Upon entering the venue guests were met with an epic setup in the gallery foyer, including the stage, beautiful coloured lighting, sculpture and, of course, the bar – and one that not only serves alcoholic beverages but also street vendor-inspired food like New York hotdogs. A pretty apt choice of food considering that a quick walk up the spiral staircase in the centre of the room leads you to one of the most exciting exhibitions to ever make it to WA; a collection of works by modern masters sent all the way from MoMA in NYC, and open during the evening for guests of the event to peruse. Meanwhile, back downstairs the musical entertainment of the evening commenced with Wolves At The Door.
THE BEAUTIFUL GIRLS
beams and into the woodgrain. And so it goes/ And so it goes. And so they went. Farewell and adieu to you, The Beautiful Girls.
Couples, veterans and solo pilots packed Fly By Night in Freo for the last chance to see Mat McHugh’s The Beautiful Girls. After ten years and one final 26-stop tour of the country, The Girls will dissolve and McHugh will go to work on other projects. It’s been a fun ride for the fans, and no doubt for the various band members who have helped him transform his thoughts and lyrics into music and some of the defining moments of this decade’s Aussie blues and roots journey.
Tom Birts
FLY BY NIGHT: 17/08/12
A local favourite, these guys had a great performance, particularly considering it was their first gig with a new bassist. Lead singer Ash Hendriks rocked a ruby red guitar that was indicative of the band’s sultry style and suited the evening down to a tee. It was only a short set, but it was enough to affirm that there couldn’t have been a better choice of support for the lady that took the stage shortly after, Owl Eyes. There’s a reason why this singer has been gaining so much popularity of late, and she definitely demonstrated this during the evening. Owl Eyes sung beautifully and her stage presence was vivid and intoxicating, not to mention that she was doing some pretty cool choreography with her arms. The Victorian group’s performance was well polished and the sound in the venue was more than adequate. They performed a mix of songs off of their new EP as well as several pretty wow-ish covers, including the popular cover of Pumped Up Kicks by Foster The People and an equally rad mash up of Gorillaz and Kelis. Both of the bands were met with much applause from the sell-out audience and the evening wrapped up relatively early, which was rather nice for a school night. Olivia Gardner
The band were half an hour late to the stage - as if we didn’t already know, this was their party. After opener, My Mind Is An Echo Chamber, from 2010’s Spooks, McHugh took the mic to let us know he’d had “a shitty day”. But before we could worry that he was pooping his own party, he was inciting the crowd to hector the hapless rhythm guitarist. He’d apparently indulged in hallucinogens pre show, and things were starting to get a bit Fear And Loathing... Then it was into their cover of UB40’s Bring Me Your Cup. And there were a lot of covers, the best of which was Tenor Saw’s Ring The Alarm with harmonising from bassist Paulie Bromley and a solid skank on the skins from Bruce Braybrooke. The biggest cheers though were for anything from Ziggurats, and when I Thought About You fired up, we knew we’d miss them. You have to wonder about McHugh’s recent flip of the bird to Big Day Out. Is it the place for a band that are part social justiceers, part pub supergroup? That’s not a criticism, nor a limitation - it’s just in the DNA. But Fly By Night was certainly the perfect venue for what The Beautiful Girls are selling. As an encore and a swan song, could there be any other? La Mar worked its way from the vocal crowd’s vocal chords up, around the
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TRANSIT, COLOUR THE SKY, THE MILKSHAKE STRATEGY, MONUMENTS AMPLIFIER BAR: 16/08/12
There was a large line at Amps and a sense of enthusiasm gripped the crowd before the doors had even opened. Local hardcore/pop-punk outfit Monuments were up first and they were easily the best of the support bands. They put on an energetic and tight performance which saw the debut of new guitarist Steve Cutri, who adds a heavier sound to their music. Next up were The Milkshake Strategy. Albeit putting on an exciting performance, their style of music seemed a bit past its used by date. However this did not deter a group of young followers who were singing and moshing along to every word, with this being the band’s final show. Colour The Sky then took the stage and played to what was the smallest and most unresponsive crowd of the night. Regardless, they still played an aggressive set. The band’s unique style of indie rock and their passion for playing live really deserved a larger crowd. Anticipation and restlessness grew before headliners Transit finally took the stage to play most of the tracks from Listen And Forgive with an exciting and enthusiastic stage presence. They also rattled off crowd favourites Stay Home, Please Head North and even threw in a cover of Millencolin’s No Cigar. They finished the set with Skipping Stone, where lead singer Joe Boynton declared, “This is a song about love,” which resulted in two punters making out, much to the amusement of the band. This wrapped up a solid performance for one of the United States’ more promising pop punk bands. Eli Gould
THE DRUM MEDIA • 27
23 AUGUST
2012
FLOORED HILLTOP HOODS, HORRORSHOW, BRIGGS
PAUL MASTER
fuck what sex, sexuality, race, or religion you are. We are one people under one music!” Everyone was invited to raise their index rather than middle fingers in the air and the experience was as breathtaking as when later the room glowed with everyone’s lighters. They performed a frenetic Twista fast reworked Still Standing and a short cover of Fat Boy Slim’s Praise You. The unforgettable night closed with a crowd-pleasing game: take off one piece of clothing and swing it in the air. A superlative concert.
HILLTOP HOODS BY CALLAN GIBSON
CHALLENGE STADIUM: 17/08/12 Perth Aussie hip hop lovers who missed the Hilltop Hoods’ Speaking In Tongues show at Challenge Stadium on Friday missed a solid, superb, and spectacular show. Opening the night’s proceedings and strutting on stage in a Lakers’ Number 24 Kobe Bryant jersey, indigenous star MC Briggs started the night by artfully synchronising every start and dramatic pause for each song perfectly with DJ Jaytee. Encouraging a pulsing sea of audience members’ hands to rise and fall, the energy back and forth between the artist and his audience was excellent. The proud rapper from rural Victoria, whose lyrics about small-town culture are as funny as they are authentic – “Don’t know who your dad is? Everyone else does!” – had the audience participating from the start. “What’s that sound?” Briggs asked, “Click, clack, pow!” the audience shouted. Unfortunately, Sydney hip hop duo Horrorshow were a bit of a downer after Briggs. Less interactive, they were so mellow that their beats, awash in self-indulgent soundscapes, were muffled and weak. Pyrotechnic rockets shot from the stage as Australian hip hop legends Hilltop Hoods aka MC Pressure, Suffa, and DJ Debris began the
Jake Dennis
TEMPLAR SOUNDSYSTEM
THE BIRD: 16/08/12 A Thursday night at the Bird started as all Thursday nights at the Bird ought to: with eats from the bar’s resident chef, Bobby von Baker. Lining our stomach with show with their underdog anthem Good For Nothing. The audience went nuts. One young man ripped his shirt apart in excitement but perhaps the testosterone was too high that night because two idiots brawling let Perth down and brought the show to a halt. “Stop that shit right now,” Suffa commanded them from the stage. “If you want to fight at a Hilltop Hoods show, get the fuck out!” The audience cheered and the timewasters were dragged away. Despite this, and
other less conspicuous fights, there was plenty of love in the room. One primary school-aged boy in a Nike shirt was held up on his father’s shoulders for a night he will never forget. Chase That Feeling, The Hard Road, The Nosebleed Section… all the classics were there. Before beginning Speaking In Tongues, a song that champions a multicultural globallyconnected community, they proclaimed: “We do not give a
egg-yolk confection (tastes like liquid cake) and beef roll for an outrageously affordable $10, we headed in for a cider and the main event: Sydney’s Aiden Bennison aka Templar Sound System: entrepreneur, label owner and DJ, but not necessarily in that order. For the first hour past eight, the Bird’s dancefloor was vacant as the look behind Clive Palmer’s eyes, and Ben Taaffe’s tightly stitched underground beatwork poured onto bleak emptiness like a thunderstorm over the Nullabor. Woefully, everybody must have been at home playing Xbox or something, because the gig was pretty dead. This sucked. Hoping some life would flush into the Bird and give the Sydneysider future garage DJ/producer a hearty welcome, we summoned a crowd with our minds. Picking up our psychic summoning through iPhones, iPads, and aluminum hats, a collection of dapper beatheads
About to embark on a national tour supporting their new Apollo EP, Jaymes from Voltaire Twins gives us the story behind their new video. The Story: We’ve worked with Ben Young a few times now. The first time was on our Animalia video, released late last year. Since then we’ve all become close friends and our relationship has kind of shifted from clients/director to friends/collaborators. This is the first video we’ve done where we were all really good friends and felt comfortable enough to do something a bit more challenging and out of character, so we sat 28 • THE DRUM MEDIA
at the Scotto one night and threw treatment ideas around and told dirty stories about our experiences until we came up with the idea of a tribal orgy, where everyone was covered in body paint pretty much getting it on. When we shot it, it was a really beautiful experience. Everyone was really open-minded and trusting and they threw themselves into it. We had all these people who didn’t know each other, hardly wearing any clothes, getting very intimate with people they didn’t know, including us. It was the most fun shoot I’ve ever been part of, and I really feel like it’s a testament to everyone who participated that the resulting video
The ‘60s was the heyday of the girl group; The Supremes, from Detroit (‘Hitsville USA’), a symbolic crossover triumph for the Civil Rights movement. Yet, when commemorating Motown’s 50th anniversary in 2009, Mojo named Martha & The Vandellas’ Dancing In The Street as its greatest song. Ouch.
is very beautiful, confronting and erotic without being exploitational or inappropriate. Your fave three clips of all time: DyE – Fantasy Tyler, The Creator – Yonkers The Horrors – Sheena Is A Parasite Fave local clip: Tame Impala – Solitude Is Bliss WHO: Voltaire Twins WHAT: Apollo (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 24 August, The Norfolk Basement; Sunday 26, The Chamber
Callum Twigger
profile in theatre, plans another gospel album in 2013.
JESSICA MAUBOY
There has been much buzz surrounding the feel-good movie The Sapphires – an adaptation of a stage musical, itself inspired by a real ‘60s Aboriginal girl group. Jessica Mauboy stars. The Sapphires is the Aussie version of Dreamgirls, also a musical, then film, loosely based on The Supremes.
VOLTAIRE TWINS
Templar Soundsystem drew deep from the breadth of his label’s vibe, running through Future Garage’s greasy bass/beat interface. There was definitely some of 19 yearold prodigy Dro Carey in there somewhere, mixed up alongside Hensen and Rebound. Healthy stuff. The crowd, finally maxed at hustling point, was hooked. Bennison topped off after a little over an hour on the decks, leaving the Bird with an aftertaste as liquid-cake sweet as Von Baker’s confection. Come back soon, good sir, and hopefully you’ll be rewarded with a larger crowd.
OG FLAVAS
VIDEO GAMES
VOLTAIRE TWINS
started to drift in for Clunk, which is the nom de plume of ICSSC’s crime-fighting superhero Daniel Dalton (like Bruce Banner or Peter Parker, his name has villainbusting double alliteration). By the end of a warped post-dubstep onslaught, everybody was ready for the knight Templar himself.
Girl groups are synonymous with drama. Amy Winehouse loved ‘60s girl groups (and the beehives), their influence permeating Back To Black. More than The Supremes’ dramatically romantic soul-pop, Winehouse was surely into the ‘bad girl’ Ronettes, fronted by Veronica “Ronnie” Bennett – whose future husband, producer Phil Spector, moulded them. Winehouse reinvented The Ronettes’ Be My Baby as B Boy Baby with ex-Sugababe Mutya Buena. The ‘90s saw a huge girl-group revival, led by the new jill swing
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En Vogue (mind, producers Denzil Foster and Thomas McElroy put the Cali outfit together). Recall SWV, Xscape or Mariah Carey’s protégés Allure? How about Britain’s Eternal? Most fell apart, like The Supremes before them. Dawn Robinson quit En Vogue to pursue an ill-fated solo career with Dr Dre’s Aftermath Records, only to rejoin, then leave again... Atlanta’s mega TLC, on LaFace, were more hip hop, Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes the ‘crazy’ rapper. Dramarama! Destiny’s Child reigned supreme into the 2000s. Unlike others, they endured successive (scandalous) line-up changes. After the controversial exits of LeToya Luckett and LaTavia Roberson, who next conceived the long forgotten Anjel, Destiny’s Child aired the brazen Survivor. In the same way that The Supremes launched Ross’s solo run (she farewelled them with Someday We’ll Be Together), Destiny’s Child did Knowles’. The Houston combo dissolved in 2006, destiny fulfilled. The now iconic Knowles last released 4. She still covets that Oscar-winning movie role. Kelly Rowland, 2011’s Here I Am floundering, is a judge on Australia’s Everybody Dance Now. Michelle Williams, who’s forged an impressive
Even more than Destiny’s Child, Sugababes have courted drama. The Brits, rocked by endless departures, presented an album subversively called Catfights And Spotlights. Currently, not one founding member remains. Nevertheless, original ‘Babes Buena, Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy have announced that they’re back with a new vehicle – Mutya Keisha Siobhan. The trio have been working with Emeli Sandé as well as Shaznay Lewis of All Saints, another doomed girl group, best remembered for Never Ever – and are cooler than the Spice Girls. (Lewis has likewise co-written Black Heart for new girl group contenders Stooshe.) But, if Destiny’s Child ever had a British counterpart, it was the two-step Mis-Teeq. The Beyoncéish Alesha Dixon is today a popular UK media personality. Girl groups don’t always implode. Often they just fade away. Xscape’s Kandi Burruss, who’d pen hits for TLC, Destiny’s Child and P!nk, proffered 2000’s promising Hey Kandi, then vanished, eventually resurfacing in The Real Housewives Of Atlanta. Some ‘90s groups have re-formed to tour, trading on nostalgia. Post-SWV, the charismatic Cheryl “Coko” Clemons dropped Hot Coko. It under-performed and so she switched to gospel. But to return to The Sapphires. The film has a choice soundtrack. In fact, it’s a defacto Mauboy album, albeit with mostly classic soul covers. There’s also Mauboy’s rendition of Linda Lyndell’s What A Man – remodelled as a posse-cut by En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa in 1993. Mauboy co-wrote the single Gotcha (with The Potbelleez’ Ilan Kidron!). And, ironically, she herself once briefly sang in a girl group: Young Divas.
TRASH TALK MARISA AVELING TRAWLS THROUGH ALL THE TRASHY MUSIC GOSSIP SO YOU DON’T HAVE TO. The three members of Russian political punk band Pussy Riot have each been sentenced to two years in jail, following an anti-Putin prank at a Russian Orthodox cathedral last February. The presiding judge convicted Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, 23, Maria Alekhina, 24 and Yekaterina Samutsevich, 29, of hooliganism motivated by religious hatred. All three members appeared unsurprised by their sentence, with ringleader Tolokonnikova also commenting, “I do not believe in this court. There is no court. It is an illusion.� Support for Pussy Riot has been seen across the globe, with artists including Madonna, original riot grrrl Kathleen Hanna, Patti Smith, Yoko Ono, Sir Paul McCartney and many more publically expressing their outrage in regards to the case. If you listen closely to Megadeth, you’ll realise that they – or at least their frontman – are kind of insane. It’s not the band’s lyrics that betray them though, but Dave Mustaine’s onstage banter. At a recent concert in Singapore, the former Metallica guitarist blamed Obama for the recent Aurora Batman massacre in addition to the slaying of six people at a Sikh temple in Wisconsin at the hands of a former soldier with ties to the
HOT SHOT
PUSSY RIOT
white power movement. As Rolling Stone reported, Mustaine told the crowd: “My president is trying to pass a gun ban, so he’s staging all of these murders.� One of the Aurora victims Carli Richards shot back at Mustaine and spoke to TMZ in response, defending Obama by saying “It’s obviously kind of absurd and people who make up conspiracies just want attention.� In confusing yet unsurprising news, Drake and Chris Brown are being sued for the NYC club fracas that took place earlier this year. It is alleged that the two parties and respective entourages became embroiled in a fight that had something to do with Rihanna, which resulted in trash-talking, bottle throwing and a few severe injuries. Entertainment Enterprises Ltd. is suing both Drake and Brown for $16 million USD – the funny thing, though, is that the company
does not include any owners of Greenhouse and WiP, the joint clubs where the fight occurred. As NY Post explains, it’s more of a trademark deal where Enterprise owns the rights to the Greenhouse name outside of New York, and has suffered financially from the bad publicity incurred from the incident. Neither Drake nor Brown have been charged in relation to the fight, and both deny any wrongdoing. US metal band Baroness has suffered a terrible accident in Bath, England when their tour bus plunged thirty feet over a viaduct. Nine people were hospitalised following the crash, which took place in the early hours of Wednesday morning UK time last week. At the time of writing, five of those individuals remain in hospital, including including guitarist/vocalist John Baizley (suffering a broken arm and leg)
and drummer Allen Blickle, and bassist Matt Maggioni, who both have fractured vertebrae. The bus driver is also in a critical condition. Misuse of songs by political campaigns isn’t new, and the latest faux pas was committed by Mitt Romney, who used a track by Silversun Pickups without asking. The LA band sent the Republican presidential candidate a cease and desist for using their track Panic Button, which the Romney camp later said was played inadvertently during the set up of an event before the politician arrived. “We don’t like people going behind our backs, using our music without asking, and we don’t like the Romney campaign,� Silversun Pickups’ lead singer Brian Aubert said in a statement.
PAPER CHAIN (R.I.P.) IS DEAD - KIT POP AND CREW @ THE BIRD BY BRAD SERLS
BIG APE @ SHAPE
FRAT HOUSE FRIDAYS @ METROPOLIS FREMANTLE
PAPER CHAIN IS DEAD @ THE BIRD
SATURDAY @ AMPLIFIER & CAPITOL
SATURDAY @ METROPOLIS FREMANTLE
WEDNESDAY @ THE NEWPORT
BEZWUN, MARTY MCFLY, MARKO PAULO
FRIDAY 24 AUG
DNGRFLD, PHILLY BLUNT, FTW
themusic.com.au
FRIDAY 14 SEPT
THE DRUM MEDIA • 29
23 AUGUST - 29 AUGUST
2012
THURSDAY 23/8 AOKI TAKAMASA @ THE BIRD
DANCEFLOOR OF THE WEEK
In his first ever Australian show, Japan’s Aoki Takamasa creates sounds based mainly on computer/ software. James Ireland, Kynan Tan vs. Ben Santostefano and Clunk support. $10 from 8pm.
THE PHARCYDE @ CAPITOL To celebrate 20 years in the game, The Pharcyde bring their original, idiosyncratic style of hip hop with a special audio/visual show, supported by Computer Jay and DJ Vickone. Tickets via Oztix.
Pitbull’s tour DJ, DJ Chino kicks on at Eve after the show at the Dome. Doors 9pm, $10 after 10.
R’N’R KARAOKE @ DEVILLES
THE AVENUE DJ Feedz and Fiveo gets you ready for the weekend.
THE CRAFTSMAN Roger Smart gets pumped for the weekend with commercial chart toppers and classic party anthems.
THE PRESTIGE @ EAST END BAR Enjoy house, funk and electro mash ups at The Prestige, with Az-T and more.
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Sons Of Rico DJs takes over the decks outside.
CLAREMONT DJs Fiveo and James Thorne rock the beats.
FRIDAY 24/8 THE EMPRESSIONS
The reggae club plays host to special guests DJ Dredfull, DJ Cutnice, Zimbo and H-Mut, plus The Empressions, Mumma Trees and Sista Che. Free from 8pm. TOO FRESH
With his current album Planet Pit going great guns, Mr Worldwide’s achieved back-to-back hits with tracks such as On The Floor with Jennifer Lopez, I Like It with Enrique Iglesias and DJ Got Us Fallin’ In Love with Usher. Love him or hate him, Pitbull knows how to take over the charts, and he’s joined by a cast of equal dancefloor dominators this Thursday 23 August. Superstar Brit Taio Cruz brings his own current album TY.O, Aussie DJ femme fatale Havana Brown brings her Crave compilation series (and exceptional looks); and Timomatic releases his debut self-titled album tomorrow, so you could be the first to hear it. If it’s a cheese-fuelled urban-pop-dance extravaganza to end them all that you’re after, Tickitek can sort you out.
THE LICK @ SHAPE
King Salami & His Cumberland Three, London’s newest R&Bpunk sensations are making fun times where ever they go, and this is their Aus’ debut.
The Lick returns to Shape with more bangin’ bass music. $15 from 10pm.
PLANET BOLLYWOOD @ METRO CITY Groove to the sexiest Bollywood and Bhangra tunes spun by Mixtabishi, Denny, Brown Majik, B-Star, ElectroSim, Rajit, DJ Modi and Dholi Gugz. $25 via Moshtix and Curtin Uni. Seeing as she’s in town supporting Pitbull, Havana Brown lays down her a mix of R&B, urban and electro-house at Eve. Free ‘til 10pm, $20 after.
LEURE ALBUM LAUNCH @ THE BIRD
Brothers Jesse (Kid Kenobi) and Myles (Hugga Thugg), AKA Too Fresh bring the jungle, d’n’b, rave, breakbeat, garage, house, reggae, techno, funk and more, supported by Bezwun, Marty McFly and Marko Paulo. $20 from 10pm.
FHF @ METRO FREO Death Disco DJs rock bangin’ indiedance, plus red cups, cheerleaders and college-themed craziness.
AMPLIFIER/CAPITOL Jamie Mac spins indie/alt classics from midnight at Amps, while Caps satisfies your ‘90s desires with DJs from 11pm.
SOVEREIGN ARMS Dylan Hammond fires up with dancefloor destroyers ‘til late.
THE AVENUE The Friday night party rocks till the sun comes up with JMC.
CLAREMONT
VOLTAIRE TWINS @ NORFOLK BASEMENT
SATURDAY 25/8
Timomatic releases his self-titled debut album today and fans can see him perform tracks from 4pm in the outdoor piazza.
EXTREME AGGRESSION @ ROCKET ROOM DJ Mel spins high-voltage rock and metal from midnight.
UNDERGROUND PARTY @ HONEY LOUNGE Underground house, deep disco entertainment - euphoric audio for ladies and gentlemen of the elegantclubbing generation from 9pm. The sounds of Tee EL, DNGRFLD, Philly Blunt, Ben Mac and MR eD bang into your mind at the home of the underground. $12 before midnight, $15 thereafter.
DEATH DISCO/PURE POP @ CAPITOL/AMPLIFIER Indie-dance bangers from Death Disco DJs, DJ Ryan spinning ‘80s classics upstairs and Eddie Electric indie/classics from midnight in Amps.
METRO FREO DJs DTuck, Darren Briais and Wazz keep the party tunes rolling in the big house.
The electronic solo project of Ash Hendriks (Wolves At The Door), Leure’s debut album Holland Sky is launched with James Ireland and The Bosons in support.
TIMOMATIC @ WESTFIELD WHITFORD CITY
Electrified returns with Placebo, Okylicious, King Owl, Damien Blaze, Darkstrom, Clint Scott vs Gerry Arden, Rinski, Steil, Beni C, Station, Illusiv, G-Force, Reaktor, MCs Whiskey and Slap & Tickle and more. Free til 10pm, $10 after.
JAPAN 4 @ AMBAR
KING SALAMI @ DEVILLES
Before they nick over east to launch new EP Apollo, Voltaire Twins play Norfolk Basement with Carl Fox and San Cisco’s Jordi Davieson. $10, $15 with EP.
TOO FRESH @ AMBAR
ELECTRIFIED @ GILKISONS
PITBULL & FRIENDS @ BURSWOOD DOME
HAVANA BROWN @ EVE
HIGHER FYAH @ BAR ORIENT
Pasha lays down the funk as the sun goes down then Dale Ingvarson fires up for the start of the weekend.
MOS SESSIONS @ VILLA
Ministry Of Sound return with their ninth installment of Sessions, featuring big name DJs Tom Piper and Timmy Trumpet, joined by locals Chiari, Ace Basik and Jackness.
MAIKO @ GEISHA DJs Nooch, Rob Sharp, Luke P, Jason Vicente and Carlos Drake, plus Jack Doepel on saxophone bring all things deep, disco, funky and tech. Doors 11pm, $10 before 12.30am, $15 after.
NEW GEN D’N’B @ DUSK A bangin’ night of d’n’b with Greg Packer, Skinny, Fusion, Skeem, Motion and Onze B2B Matty D, plus MCs Xsessiv, Pugz and Moondogg. $10 from 9pm.
THE AVENUE Dale Ingvarson bring the funk, hip hop, house, breaks and everything in between.
THE WEMBLEY Once again Lokie Shaw fires up the Saturday night soundtrack.
THE CRAFTSMAN Tammy Stevens delivers the music for the masses in Cannington’s fave night spot.
THE CLAREMONT JVR and Fiveo unleash crazy party.
DEVILLES PAD Rocket To Memphis swamp-rock the dance party, plus DJs Josh and Islander Ash, GoGo and more. Doors 6pm, $10 after 8.
SUNDAY 26/8 MARIA MINERVA
MARIA MINERVA @ MAYLANDS YACHT CLUB Young Estonian songstress Maria Minerva appears in Perth for the first time on the banks of the Swan River, with special guests Mei Saraswati, Leure and DJs Rok Riley and Jo Lettenmaier. Tickets via Oztix.
30 • THE DRUM MEDIA
VOLTAIRE TWINS @ THE CHAMBER
UPCOMINGS
Before they nick over east to launch new EP Apollo, Voltaire Twins play an all-ages show at The Chamber in Melville. $5, $10 with EP.
PITBULL, TAIO CRUZ, TIMOMATIC, HAVANA BROWN: AUG 23 Burswood Dome DJ CHINO: AUG 23 Eve TOO FRESH: AUG 24 Ambar DJ HAVANA BROWN: AUG 24 Eve TOM PIPER, TIMMY TRUMPET: AUG 25 Villa THE PHARCYDE, COMPUTER JAY, DJ VICKONE: AUG 25 Capitol LIQUID STRANGER: AUG 31 Shape ILLY, CHASM SOUNDSYSTEM, SKRYPTCHA, M-PHAZES: AUG 31 Metropolis Fremantle; SEP 1 Capitol FRED EVERYTHING: SEP 1 Geisha GRAMPS MORGAN: SEP 2 The Bakery URTHBOY, THE LAST KINECTION: SEP 7 Rosemount Hotel JOHN 00 FLEMING: SEP 8 Metro City STEFFI: SEP 8 Honey Lounge TRIPLE J HOUSE PARTY: NINA LAS VEGAS, FLUME, BENI, WHAT SO NOT, DEACON ROSE: SEP 8 Capitol DRUMSOUND & BASSLINE SMITH, HAMILTON, OPTIC & BTK: SEP 8 Villa + NOM DE STRIP: SEP 14 Ambar RYAN HEMSWORTH: SEP 14 Secret Venue ROGER SHAH: SEP 14 Shape FRITZ KALKBRENNER: SEP 15 Geisha BIG APE CIRCUS RECORDS TOUR: DOCTOR P, COOKIE MONSTA, FUNTCASE, SLUM DOGZ, KRAFTY MC: SEP 19 Villa + JERU THE DAMAJA: SEP 20 Amplifier FRICTION, MC LINGUISTICS: SEP 22 Villa BLAZE TRIPP: SEP 22 Ambar LUKE FAIR: SEP 22 Geisha OCTAVE ONE: SEP 22 The Bakery SOLA ROSA: SEP 26 Indi Bar; SEP 28 Clancy’s Dunsborough; SEP 29 Amplifier; SEP 30 Wave Rock Weekender + DAS EFX, BLACK SHEEP: SEP 27 Civic Hotel FAR EAST MOVEMENT: SEP 28 Eve Nightclub EIFFEL 65, N-TRANCE, MR.95: SEP 28 Metropolis Fremantle SIX60: SEP 29 Metro City WINTER WONDERLAND: RUBY ROSE, GRANT SMILLIE and more: SEP 30 The Atrium FERRY CORSTON, SHOGUN: SEP 30 Villa PARKLIFE: THE PRESETS, JUSTICE, ROBYN, NERO (LIVE), RUSKO, DJ FRESH, BENGA, JACK BEATS, MODESTEP, FLUME, PASSION PIT, TAME IMPALA, CHAIRLIFT, CITIZENS!, ST LUCIA, CHARLI XCX, ALISON WONDERLAND, PLAN B, CHIDDY BANG, LABRINTH, WILEY, HERMITUDE, RIZZLE KICKS, JACQUES LU CONT, PARACHUTE YOUTH, ART DEPARTMENT, LEE FOSS and locals: OCT 1 Wellington Square SETH SENTRY: OCT 4 Stuidio 145; OCT 5 Prince Of Wales; OCT 6 Rosemount Hotel; OCT 7 Norfolk Basement TZU, SIETTA: OCT 5 Bar 120; OCT 6 Amplifier; OCT 7 Prince Of Wales PAUL OAKENFOLD: OCT 6 Villa HYPERFEST: BLUEJUICE, SETH SENTRY, PURPLE SNEAKERS DJS, GREY GHOST and more: OCT 7 Midland Oval
THE AVENUE
DJ CHINO @ EVE
A great night out with your vocal chords every Thursday, Free entry from 6pm.
THE PHARCYDE
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Az-T rounds up your Sunday Sesh.
WEDNESDAY 29/8 THE BIRD
Party DJs to warm the loins, ears, eyes, feet and hips. Free from 8pm.
STUDENT NIGHT @ ROSEMOUNT Cowboys & Indie Kids brings you post-punk, indie-pop and rock goodies outside in the beer garden for free.
BEAUFORT BOP @ DEFECTORS A swingin’ night this week features Tom O’Halloran Trio boppin’ the live jazz and DJ Anton Maz spinning blues, soul, funk and more, free from 8pm.
ROULETTE @ VELVET LOUNGE Weekly bass music at the Velvet Lounge, free entry from 8pm.
BLANK WEDNESDAYS @ SHAPE Blank Wednesdays fire up downstairs with free pizza all night, drink specials, half-price student entry, sweet DJs and party tunes.
LMW @ CONNECTIONS Lesbian Mud Wrestling with tunes from Connections DJs all night. Free entry from 10pm.
UPCOMINGS
LIQUID STRANGER @ SHAPE Traveling the uncharted terrains of sound is ‘the most dangerous man in dubstep’, Sweden’s Liquid Stranger. His creative output spans a wide range of electronic music in all of its colours and shades. Always pushing the sonic boundaries and merging genres, the multi-talented producer has established himself as the epitome of trans-national dubstep. Supported by Killafoe, Zanetic, J Switch and Jaydee Fordee, he shows Shape what it’s all ‘bout Friday 31 August. $25 plus BF via Moshtix.
PARKLIFE TOUR @ AMBAR To whet your Parklife appetites (featuring the likes of Passion Pit, Justice, Nero and many more), the Parklife Perth Road Trip fires up at Ambar Friday 31 August, featuring 2012 P-Life local stars Sun City DJs, Audageous, Zeke & Kit Pop, Dr Space, Gran Calavera and Killafoe. $15 from 10pm.
GRAMPS MORGAN @ THE BAKERY Perth reggae lovers could do worse than mark Sunday 2 September in their diary, because that’s the day reggae royalty Gramps Morgan brings good vibes to The Bakery for brand new event, Reggae Rising. A member of the legendary Morgan Heritage Band, he’s joined by General Justice, The Empressions, Super Bros, H-Mut, DJ Ray, Ras Mwas and more in a spectacular Sunday sesh revealing some of the best reggae and dancehall sounds the world has to offer. $35 plus BF via Now Baking, $40 door.
JOHN 00 FLEMING @ METRO CITY Symphony is taking over Seven Deadly Sins (Indulgence edition) Saturday 8 September, adding to the mix not just some of Perth’s best DJs, but also the epic John 00 Fleming at Metro City. ‘J00F’ has achieved international success in a career spanning over 20 years, with over 10 million album sales and 30 produced mix compilations. $20 door before midnight, $25 after.
THE DRUM MEDIA • 31
THU 23 Courtney Murphy Como Hotel Rock’N’Roll Karaoke Devilles Pad George Garzone Ellington Jazz Club Jugular Open Night Fly By Night Fremantle Chris Murphy High Wycombe Hotel UXY Hyde Park Hotel James Wilson Lucky Shag Datura, Custom Royal, Sugarpuss Mojos Nth Fremantle Set Sail, Husband Mustang Bar Alpine, Georgi Kay Newport Hotel Mister & Sunbird, Nevada Pilot, Charlie Jones Norfolk Basement Dr Bogus Paddy Hannan’s, Burswood Arkayan, Cypher, Welcome To Loco, The Jephasuns, Sons Of Rico DJs Rosemount Hotel Clayton Bolger Rosie O’Gradys Fremantle Bill Chidgzey Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge (afternoon) Fenton Wilde Sovereign Arms Fliptop + Special Guests Swan Lounge Aoki Takamasa, James Ireland, Kynan Tan The Bird Jen de Ness The Boat Howie Morgan The Brass Monkey Daniel Gassin Quartet The Ellington Jazz Club One Trick Phonies The Gate Bar and Bistro, Success The Healys The Shed Off the Record Universal Bar Two Plus One Woodvale Tavern
FRI 24 Pop Candy 7th Avenue Bar Chaos Divine Amplifier Bar Mod Squad, Tip Top Sound Bailey Bar & Bistro Drowning Horse, Ourobonic Plague, Grief Contest Bakery Northbridge Anderson Bally’s Bar The Mojos Balmoral
32 • THE DRUM MEDIA
Mr Grevis Bar 120 Electrophobia Belmont Htl Karin Page Bentley Hotel Everlong Black Bettys Nat Ripepi Broken Hill Hotel Jamie Powers Brook Bar & Bistro Midnight Rambler Burswood Meridian Room Bluebottles Captain Stirling Slack Alice Castle Hotel York Chasing Calee Chase Bar & Bistro Pasha Claremont Hotel Trevor Jalla Como Hotel King Salami & The Cumberland Three, The High Learys, Jumpin Josh Devilles Pad Qynn Dunsborough Tavern Danny Martin - Late Night Grooves, James Flynn, TLC Organ Trio Ellington Jazz Club Jill Birt, Alsy Macdonald, Davey Lane, Richard Lane Fly By Night Fremantle Cargo Beat Greenwood Hotel Sugarfield Herdsman Lake Tavern The Damien Cripps Band High Road Htl Riverton The Date, The Red Embers, Ultrasound, Graphic Fiction Heroes Hyde Park Hotel Subject to Change, Stone Bleeder, Paltiva Kalamunda Htl Bellysamba! Kulcha The Organ Grinders Legends Bar Jonny Taylor M On The Point The Trigger Jackets, Witches, Dead Owls, Powder For Pigeons Mojos Nth Fremantle The Shinkickers Mount Helena Tav Cheeky Monkeys, Harry Deluxe Mustang Bar Party Rockers Newport Hotel Voltaire Twins, Carl Fox, Jordi Davieson Norfolk Basement Three Corner Jack, Blue Gene, Milhouse, Everlong, Flyte Paramount Nightclub Chris Murphy Pink Duck Lounge The Flying Piranhas Princess Road Tavern
Gotham City Quarie Bar & Bistro Pyromesh, Psyconaut, Tusk, Alazarin Haze Railway Hotel The Lungs, The Homicides, SSA, Lucille, The Shakeys Rocket Room Joe McKee, Melodie Nelson, Benedict Moleta, Miranda Pollard, Josh Fontaine Rosemount Hotel Howie Morgan Sail & Anchor Childs Play Sail & Anchor The Mopokes Seaview Htl Sth Fremantle Freo Grasshopers Settlers Tavern Better Days Swinging Pig Leure, James Ireland, The Bosons The Bird Deuce The Boat Adrian Wilson The Brass Monkey Prescient, Storm The Shores, Bend The Sky, Armada Vale The Den Matt Milford The Eastern Dove The Principal Kickstart The Shed Nightmoves Universal Bar Bonniwells, smRts, Frozen Ocean, The Crooks Velvet Lounge Dr Bogus Woodvale Tavern Faim, Scalphunter, New Erotic Ya Ya’s
SAT 25 Split Seconds, Stillwater Giants, Rainy Day Women, Warning Birds Amplifier Bar Dr Bogus, Tip Top Sound Bailey Bar & Bistro Alpine, Georgi Kay Bakery Northbridge Dove Bally’s Bar The Recliners Balmoral Flyte Bar 120 J Babies Black Bettys The Blackbirds Boathouse Tavern John & Shaun Sandosham Burswood Lobby Lounge Pop Candy Burswood Meridian Room Hi-NRG Burswood Prize Draw Stage Capitol Christian Parkinson Captain Stirling Jonny Taylor Caves House Dead Set Radio, Midnight Boulevard, Red Sky, Nevsky Prospekt Civic Hotel, Back Room Fiveo Claremont Hotel Rocket to Memphis Devilles Pad Timeout Elephant & Wheelbarrow Empire, Hetty Kate, Saffron Sharp Trio Ellington Jazz Club The Growl, Usurper Of Modern Medicine, Leure, Cow Parade Cow Fly By Night Fremantle Losing Julia High Road Htl Riverton Sickly Sweet, Xenon, Humm Hyde Park Hotel Midnight Rambler Lakers Tavern Steve Hepple Leopold Htl Bicton The Laurels, GUM, Shiny Joe Ryan Mojos Nth Fremantle
Milhouse, The Continentals Mustang Bar Kizzy (arvo), Gravity Newport Hotel The Flower Drums, Sean O’Neill, PUCK, Antelope, Slums Norfolk Basement Shangara Jive North Fremantle Bowls Club Overload Peel Ale House Electrophobia Quarie Bar & Bistro The Black Jackets, Oak Tree Suite, Bishi Bashi, SaySky Railway Hotel Kickstart Rocket Room Ruby Boots, Boom! Bap! Pow!, The Love Junkies, Nevada Pilot Rosemount Hotel Blue Gene Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge The Kickstarts, Cobey Mills Sail & Anchor Mooditj Brothers Settlers Tavern Elk Bell, The Wine Dark Sea, Daisy Clover, Ralway Bell, Keegan Ross Swan Lounge Rock-A-Fellas (Arvo), Greg Carter Swinging Pig Room At The Reservoir, Russian Winters, Louis & The Honkytonk, Nosey Parker The Bird The Organ Grinders The Boat Dirty Scoundrels The Gate Bar and Bistro, Success The Healys, Renogade The Shed Soul Corporation Universal Bar Mod Squad Woodvale Tavern Will Stoker & The Embers, Seams, The Tawny Rajah, Benny Mayhem Ya Ya’s
SUN 26 Good Karma 7th Avenue Bar Greg Carter Bally’s Bar Courtney Murphy Burswood Meridian Room Bluebottles Carine Glades Tavern The Shinkickers Carlise Htl Jonny Taylor Caves House Sunday Driver Claremont Hotel Gina Williams Ellington Jazz Club Cross Eyed Cats Fly By Night Fremantle Innerspace: Sprawl, Dave, Hey Hurricane, Neutral Native Geisha Bar Bonniwells, The Shakeys, Hurricane Fighter Plane, The High Learys Mojos Nth Fremantle Blokes In Coats, Cangkang Ferigala Mojos Nth Fremantle Afternoon Hills Blues Club Mt Helena Tavern Peter Busher & The Lone Rangers Mustang Bar Tim Nelson (Arvo), Helta Skelta, Worst Possible Outcome Newport Hotel Gignition: Mirror Mirror, Breed, In Orbit, Robo-Ant, Masonic Noize Railway Hotel
Jonathan Dempsey Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge (afternoon) One Trick Phonies Sail & Anchor Howie Morgan Project Saint Ivan Ribic Sovereign Arms Amanda Merdzan, The Big Old Bears, Blackmilk, The Dianas The Bird Retrofit Universal Bar Damien Cripps Victoria Park Hotel The Charisma Brothers Xwray Café Davey Lane, The Morning Night, Davey Craddock and the Spectacles Ya Ya’s
MON 27 Chamber Jam Ellington Jazz Club Wide Open Mic, Bruno Oliver Booth Mojos Nth Fremantle Marco & The Ally Cats Mustang Bar James Wilson The Brass Monkey Plastic Max & The Token Gestures The Deen Open Mic Night Ya Ya’s
TUE 28 Courtney Murphy Burswood Meridian Room The Groovesmiths Ensemble Ellington Jazz Club Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School Fly By Night Fremantle Leighton Keepa Lucky Shag Cult Of Addiction, Zeks, Bishi Bashi, Crooked Cats, White Oak & Stuyvesant Mojos Nth Fremantle Jonny Taylor Murphys Mandurah Danza Loca Salsa Night Mustang Bar Simon Kelly Paddo Barefaced Stories The Bird
WED 29 Dr Sketchy’s Anti Art School Bakery Northbridge Andrew Winton Balmoral Sarah Ramsey Quintet Ellington Jazz Club Fenton Wilde Hale Rd Tavern Howie Morgan Lucky Shag Mitch Becker Trio, Justin Walshe, Tracey Barnett Mojos Nth Fremantle Axe & Ness, Elk Bell, Nat Ripepi Moon Café Blue Gene Mustang Bar Dove, Bruno, Kizzy Paddo 5 Shots Paddy Hannan’s, Burswood David Fyffe Rosie O’Gradys Northbridge Sugar Blue Burlesque The Brass Monkey Courtney Murphy The Brown Fox Paul Burgess Ya Ya’s
themusic.com.au
TOUR GUIDE ALPINE SET SAIL: AUG 23 Mustang Bar ALPINE: AUG 23 Newport Hotel; AUG 24 Prince Of Wales; AUG 25 The Bakery DAVEY LANE (YOU AM I): AUG 23 Prince Of Wales; AUG 24 The Fly Trap; AUG 25 Governer’s Bar, Rottnest; AUG 26 Ya Ya’s
SLASH THE MEDICS: SEP 8 Amplifier; SEP 9 Rottnest Island ROTTOFEST: MILLIONS, THE MEDICS and more: SEP 8 & 9 Rottnest Island BARRY ADAMSON: SEP 9 Fly By Night DREAM ON DREAMER: SEPT 9 YMCA HQ (2pm); SEP 9 Amplifier
JOE MCKEE: AUG 24 Rosemount Hotel
JONAH MATRANGA’S ONLINEDRAWING: SEP 12 Amplifier; SEP 14 C5
KING SALAMI & HIS CUMBERLAND THREE: AUG 24 Devilles Pad
AMERICA, RICK PRICE: SEP 12 Perth Concert Hall
BONNIWELLS: AUG 24 Velvet Lounge; AUG 25 Dada Records; AUG 26 Mojos SPLIT SECONDS: AUG 25 Amplifier PSEUDO ECHO: AUG 25 Charles Hotel THE LAURELS: AUG 25 Mojo’s KEITH BARRY: AUG 25 Octagon Theatre RICKI-LEE: AUG 26 Whitford City Westfield (11.30am), Carousel Westfield (3.30pm) MARIA MINERVA: AUG 26 Maylands Yacht Club SLASH, MYLES KENNEDY & THE CONSPIRATORS, ROSE TATTOO, I AM GIANT: AUG 30 Metro City DRUMSCENE LIVE (WORKSHOP): DAVE WECKL, THOMAS LANG, DOM FAMULARO: AUG 31 Method Ladies’ College THE SMITH STREET BAND: AUG 31 Rosemount Hotel TIM HART (BOY & BEAR): AUG 31 Ellington Jazz Club; SEP 1 Newport Hotel PSYCROPTIC: AUG 31 Amplifier; SEP 1 Eliot St Bar, Bunbury; SEP 2 Newport Hotel DEEPBLUE: SEP 1 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre THE ENGLISH BEAT: SEP 1 Astor Theatre PRITA GREALY: SEP 1 Clancy’s Fremantle; SEP 13 Ellington Jazz Club; SEP 15 Indi Bar GOLDEN FUR: SEP 3 PICA Bar HOWARD JONES: SEP 5 Astor Theatre JOSE FELICIANO: SEP 5 Regal Theatre THE BEACH BOYS: SEP 6 Burswood Dome MILLIONS: SEP 7 Amplifier; SEP 8 Rottnest Island
SUBHUMANS: SEP 12 Amplifier + OKA: SEP 13 Mojo’s; SEP 14 Divers Tavern; SEP 16 Caves House; SEP 19 Indi Bar; SEP 20 Prince Of Wales; SEP 21 Settlers Tavern; SEP 22 White Star Hotel; SEP 23 Railway Hotel + LOON LAKE: SEP 14 Prince Of Wales; SEP 15 Amplifier KATCHAFIRE: SEP 14 Astor Theatre; SEP 15 Settlers Tavern; SEP 16 The Prince Of Wales SARAH MCLEOD: SEP 15 Ellington Jazz Club RICHARD CLAPTON: SEP 15 Astor Theatre EARTH, MARGINS: SEP 15 Rosemount Hotel HISTORY II MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE: KENNY WIZZ: SEP 15 Perth Concert Hall RUFUS WAINRIGHT, KRYSTLE WARREN, WASHINGTON: SEP 19 Riverside Theatre MNOZIL BRASS: SEP 19 Perth Concert Hall MYSTERY JETS: SEP 20 Capitol WHEATUS, NOVA & THE EXPERIENCE: SEP 20 Metropolis Fremantle + BRITISH INDIA: SEP 22 Amplifier; NOV 29 Prince Of Wales; NOV 30 Metropolis Fremantle; DEC 1 Capitol NEWTON FAULKNER: SEP 22 Fly By Night GYROSCOPE: SEP 22 Rosemount Hotel HANSON, MATT WERTZ: SEP 22 Metropolis Fremantle XAVIER RUDD: SEP 25 Goldfields Arts Centre, Kalgoorlie; SEP 26 Esperance Civic Centre; SEP 28 Albany Entertainment Centre; SEP 29 Fremantle Arts Centre; SEP 30 Caves House, Yallingup
REZUME and more: SEP 8 Civic Den
SOLA ROSA: SEP 26 Indi Bar; SEP 28 Clancy’s Dunsborough; SEP 29 Amplifier; SEP 30 Wave Rock Weekender
DAMIEN LEITH: SEP 8 Astor Theatre
+ EMMA HAMILTON: SEP 27 Ellington Jazz Club
HIGH WOLF: SEP 27 PICA Bar + THE EASTERN: SEP 27 Clancy’s Fremantle; SEP 30 Wave Rock Weekender KATIE NOONAN, KARIN SCHAUPP: SEP 27 Albany Entertainment Centre; SEP 28 Winthrop Hall; SEP 29 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre STICKY FINGERS: SEP 27 Indi Bar; SEP 28 Settlers Tavern; SEP 29 Prince Of Wales; SEP 30 White Star TIM ROGERS, CATHERINE BRITT: SEP 27 Clancy’s Dunsborough; SEP 28 Fly By Night; SEP 29 Rosemount Hotel; SEP 30 Wave Rock Weekender + SLEEPMAKESWAVES: SEP 28 The Bakery JULIA STONE: SEP 28 Astor Theatre STEPHEN MALKMUS & THE JICKS: SEPT 28 Rosemount Hotel ONE DIRECTION: SEP 28 & 29 Perth Arena SHIHAD: SEP 28 Amplifier; SEP 29 Wave Rock Weekender; SEP 30 Mojo’s + SASKWATCH: SEP 29 Wave Rock Weekender FEAR FACTORY: SEP 30 Capitol RUSSIAN CIRCLES, EAGLE TWIN: SEP 30 The Bakery PARKLIFE: THE PRESETS; ROBYN; PASSION PIT, TAME IMPALA and more: OCT 1 Wellington Square JOE BONOMASSA: OCT 1 Perth Concert Hall NEKROMANTIX: OCT 2 Rosemount Hotel DEFEATER, BLACKLISTED: OCT 3 Amplifier; OCT 4 YMCA HQ MARTIKA, KATE ELEXA: OCT 4 Metropolis Fremantle OH MERCY, MILLIONS: OCT 4 Settlers Tavern; OCT 5 Norfolk Basement; OCT 6 The Bakery THE RUBENS: OCT 5 Capitol; OCT 6 Prince Of Wales; OCT 7 Newport Hotel PETER COOMBE: OCT 7 Fly By Night HYPERFEST: BLUEJUICE and more: OCT 7 Midland Oval REGURGITATOR, SENYAWA, HEDGEHOG: OCT 7 Astor Theatre THE AMITY AFFLICTION, THE GHOST INSIDE, ARCHITECTS, BURIED IN VERONA: OCT 7 & 8 Metropolis Fremantle
THE BONNIWELLS (Vic.)
with: The Shakeys | Hurricane Fighter Plane | The High Learys
MOJO’s SUNDAY 26 AUGUST
THE DRUM MEDIA • 33
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34 • THE DRUM MEDIA
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