Time Off Issue 1604

LAGWAGON

JOE PUG

VIOLENT SOHO

SARAH SILVERMAN

ANDREW MORRIS DAN KELLY THE SELECTER FRONT END LOADER

N O W AVA I L A BL E O N I PA D • 21 N OV E M BE R 2 012 • 16 0 4 • F R E E

www.themusic.com.au th i .au

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“A masterpiece.” – Seattle Times “The band has grown. The music has evolved. But the message of feeling alive despite all odds is more apparent than ever.” – Paste

Performs a greatest hits set followed by The Blue Album from start to finish

BRISBANE

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★★★★

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ADVANCE SCREENINGS THIS FRIDAY, SATURDAY & SUNDAY

IN CINEMAS NOVEMBER 29 5

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GIVEAWAYS You Need, a sparkling romantic comedy from Academy Award-winner Susanne Bier (In A Better World, After The Wedding) about two very different families brought together for a wedding in a beautiful old Italian villa.

Thanks to Madman Entertainment we have ten double passes to a preview on Wednesday 5 December at Palace Barracks at 6.30pm.

In cinemas Thursday 13 December.

Art Of Sleeping’s Like A Thief EP launch shows kick off at The Zoo this Friday night with The Belligerents and Swaying Buildings supporting. We have two double passes up for grabs! Entrants must be 18+.

Acclaimed local singer-songwriter Andrew Morris relocated to the Northern Rivers area of NSW recently, and the laidback vibe of the area has seeped into his wonderful sixth album The Situationist. We have two prize packs to give away featuring a copy of the new album plus a double pass to the album launch at Brisbane Powerhouse this Friday night – open to all ages!

Primal Scream are heading back to Australia this summer and we’ve got five double passes to give away. They play at The Tivoli on Monday 3 December. Entrants must be 18+.

Lagwagon bring their unique So-Cal punk sound to The Hi-Fi next Wednesday 28 November and we have two double passes up for grabs! Entrants must be 18+.

In celebration of Jimi Hendrix’s 70th Birthday, for the first time ever see his unforgettable August 1969 Woodstock concert, newly re-edited and presented uninterrupted and in its original performance sequence. You can catch Jimi Hendrix – Live At Woodstock on the big screen for one night only at Dendy Cinemas Portside Hamilton on Wednesday 28 November at 7pm. We’ve got two double passes to give away.

Hot off the heels of their AFL finals-themed single When Collingwood Choke (which has had 53,000 views on YouTube in three weeks), Melbourne’s genre-bending experimental folk-metal duo Over-Reactor are back into the serious stuff. They’re hitting the road this November/December to launch their new single/film clip for The Throne, the second single from their album Mouth Of The Ghetto.

You can catch them at Crowbar on Thursday 13 December and we’ve got two double passes up for grabs! Entrants must be 18+.

Pierce Brosnan (Mamma Mia!) and Trine Dyrholm (A Royal Affair) star in Love Is All

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ISSUE 1604

W E D N E S D AY 2 1 N O V E M B E R 2 0 1 2

TIME OFF Foreword Line – news, opinions, tours, Backlash, Frontlash Get excited about the 26th annual ARIA Awards Get reacquainted with Violent Soho, Mansfield’s finest For Joe Pug, his tireless time on the road is starting to pay off Lagwagon are sending their back catalogue back at ya Keep on dreaming with Dan Kelly The Selecter continue to push the power of 2 Tone Andrew Morris has turned turmoil into tunes Don’t tell Eddie – Paul Di’anno and Blaze Bayley are coming together Get the latest on Kiwi sound scientists Kora Four years in and it’s time for the unveiling of the Bankrupt Billionaires Some Jerks maintain the rage Melbourne’s Jen Cloher spills a little blood for us Israeli musician Yasmin Levy is connecting the world through music It’s time to take the Paua back Front End Loader – award winners and shit spinners Channel the dark of the Stockholm night with Dark Funeral

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FRONT ROW Check out what’s happening This Week In Arts We chat to Sarah Silverman ahead of her first ever Oz tour Find out about the arts component of Harvest, complete with additional drama Front Row goes Brisbane Film Festival crazy this week Your weekly dose of arts opinion in The Looking Glass and Cultural Cringe

46 46 46 47 47

BACK TO TIME OFF! Get the drum on all the coolest happenings in local music last week, this week and beyond in Live 49 Dan Condon gets the dirt on the blues scene from the Roots Down

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Lochlan Watt gives you brutal metal news in Adamantium Wolf

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24 42

Adam Curley cuts sick with another musical pop culture rant in The Breakdown 52

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Cyclone has the wide urban world covered with some OG Flavas

42

The Living End head up our Muso pullout this week – for musos, by musos 25

CREDITS EDITORIAL Group Managing Editor: Andrew Mast Editor: Steve Bell Contributing Editors: Dan Condon, Benny Doyle Front Row Editor: Cassandra Fumi Interns: Keagan Elder, Sophia De Marco ADVERTISING Advertising Account Executives: Alex Iveson, Corey Herekiuha DESIGN & LAYOUT Cover Design/Designer: Matt Davis ACCOUNTS & ADMINISTRATION Administration: Leanne Simpson CONTRIBUTORS: Time Off: Ben Preece, Dan Condon, Daniel Johnson, Chris Yates, Matt O’Neill, Adam Curley, Lochlan Watt, Carlin Beattie, Tyler McLoughlan, Mitch Knox, Sam Hobson, Rachel Tinney, Tony McMahon, Benny Doyle, Jake Sun, Helen Stringer, Brendan Telford, Rip Nicholson, Cyclone, Amber McCormick, Brad Swob, Siobhain McDonnell, Sky Kirkham,

8 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

On The Record has the latest, greatest and the not so greatest new musical releases 44 Chris Yates spotlights the best (and worst) tracks for the week in Singled Out 44

THURS 22ND NOVV

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Bradley Armstrong, Carley Hall, Eleanor Houghton, Madeleine Laing, Tom Hersey, Jazmine O’Sullivan Front Row: Baz McAlister, Mandy Kohler, Lauren Dillon, Adam Brunes, Matt O’Neill, Mitch Knox, Jessica Mansour, Guy Davis, Rowena Grant-Frost, Danielle O’Donohue, Helen Stringer, Alice Muhling Photography: Stephen Booth, Kane Hibberd, Terry Soo, John Taylor, John Stubbs EDITORIAL POLICY 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. © PUBLISHER: Street Press Australia Pty Ltd Suite 11/354 Brunswick Street Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 POSTAL: Locked Bag 4300 Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 Phone: 07 3252 9666 Email: info@timeoff.com.au PRINTED BY: Rural Press

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FOREWORD LINE

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

HARVEY JOINS THE CAST

IN BRIEF

Exciting news has just landed with Mick Harvey announced as the support act for the highly anticipated Einstürzende Neubauten tour early next year, with the multi-instrumentalist sharing the stage with well-regarded guitarist JP Shilo and Rosie Westbrook. Catch this standout double bill when the pair perform Saturday 23 February at The Tivoli. Tickets available through Handsome Tours.

Proudly presented by Street Press Australia.

Red hot Sydney beat maker Flume has debuted on the ARIA charts in second spot with his eponymous debut record. The only act keeping him from the top spot? One Direction. You bastards.

WORDS CAN’T EXPRESS American rockers Extreme might be best known for their 1991 smash single, More Than Words, however, these genre pushers from Massachusetts were far from one-trick ponies, with album sales in excess of 10 million units. In exciting news for fans, the quartet have just announced they will be touring Australia next year, with help from wildfire guitar virtuoso Ritchie Kotzen, who’ll be bringing some big time riffs from the streets of LA. This all takes place at Eatons Hill Hotel, Thursday 11 April – tickets through Oztix.

CELEBRATE 40 YEARS WITH DRAGON Some bands just seem to encapsulate the sound of their generation, and in the late-‘70s and early‘80s, no one was doing anthemic Antipodean rock better than Dragon. Marc Hunter sung some of the most memorable choruses of that era, including Rain, April Sun in Cuba and Are You Old Enough, and his legacy continues to live on through the band’s music. To celebrate 40 years of, the New Zealanders are playing a national run of headline dates, visiting Brisbane Saturday 25 May at Eatons Hill Hotel. Tickets through Oztix.

DUST OFF THOSE PURPLE SNEAKERS One of the most iconic, endearing and downright talented bands to ever come out of this country, You Am I are an Australian rock’n’roll institution. Since their ARIA-winning days back in the mid-‘90s, the four-piece have continued to deliver the goods across 11 studio albums, and if you haven’t yet seen Tim Rogers in full flight, then you’re missing out on one of life’s great pleasures. Check out the straight-nosed rockers when they play Twin Towns, Tweed Heads Saturday 29 December and Old Museum, Sunday 30. Also, don’t be surprised if this latter line-up gets injected with some hot Brisbane blood soon... Just sayin’.

KEEP ON SAILING

Omar Rodriguez-Lopez, the mind behind prog mentalists The Mars Volta, has labelled Sun 0))) “fucking cry babies” after their very public spat with promoters Heathen Skulls and subsequent tour cancellation following the fallout.

BRING THE NOISE There’s no doubt about it – The Lumineers are taking Americana to the world. The Denver folk band have quickly ascended the food chain with the release of their fantastic self-title debut album, the LP blending colourful, romantic and heartbreaking narratives, laying it out across a diverse bed of instrumentation.

Already in town for Bluesfest celebrations over Easter, the three-piece have just announced an additional headline show for people who can’t make it down to Byron or for those that simply want a second serving. Check out the US trio when they play The Hi-Fi, Saturday 30 March. Get your tickets through Handsome Tours. Proudly presented by Time Off.

A Place To Bury Strangers have delivered some of the most uncompromising noise rock power ever heard, with the seminal New York outfit sighted as one of the most important acts to come out of the Big Apple since the Millennium turn. Now, it’s just been announced that the three-piece will be returning to our shores to give Australian audiences a taste of their latest record Worship. You can hear the dark and heavy sounds of APTBS on Wednesday 23 January, The Zoo, with tickets available now via Oztix for $39.80.

IT’S MAC TIME Lunatic is the latest single from Kid Mac’s independent success, No Man’s Land, the track another entertaining insight into the inner workings of the Sydney MC. After a summer tour of South East Asia, the kid and all his friends are coming back to our neck of the woods, performing a special New Year’s Eve show at Komune, Gold Coast, Monday 31 December, before clocking up some kilometres around the country, returning to play Solbar, Thursday 10 January; The Brewery, Byron Bay, Friday 11 January; and Komune again, January 27.

FRI 23 NOV

D AT SEA

AWAKEN I AM, THE SWEET APES, BURNING BROOKLYN & HOMETOWN HEROES TIX $15 AT THE DOOR FROM 8.00PM

Soundwave and Harvest promoter AJ Maddah has denounced the local scene, saying that “Soundwave is not Australia’s Got Talent” during his recent keynote speech at last week’s Face The Music conference in Melbourne.

Sia has found further chart success in America, with her David Guetta helmed track, She Wolf, finding its way to the top of the Billboard US Dance/ Club Play charts.

In addition to their slot at Call The Cops, Bendigo party monsters Yacht Club DJs will also be performing their own headline show on the GC. In what will be sure to be another night of hell on the streets of Coolangatta, Gaz and Guy will be mashing up massive tunes remorselessly when they throw down some venom at Neverland, Friday 14 December. And make sure you arrive at the venue early on the night as it’s door sales only, people.

GOLD NUGGET FOLK

Hail threatened to derail Sunday’s Harvest festival at the Botanic Gardens, with the entire festival evacuated in minutes to take cover at neighbouring QUT. However, after 45 minutes music resumed, with the skies clearing for headliners Beck and Sigur Rós.

SAT 24 NOV

TATTERED N TORN:

ZUESS BABY, FOREVER THE OPTIMISTS, ANGEL AT THE TABLE, EVER SINCE DARWIN, SMOKING MARTHA, DOUBLE LINED MINORITY PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS TIX $20 AT THE DOOR FROM 8.00PM

Snoop Dogg (or Snoop Lion if you want to journey to the ridiculous side) has publicly stated he is interested in buying shares in the Celtic Football Club.

Snoop was inspired following the team’s 2-1 Champions League victory over Barcelona earlier this year.

SAT 1 DEC

ROME

WIDOW THE SEA PLUS SPECIAL GUESTS TIX $12 AT THE DOOR FROM 8.00PM

THE WHOLE OF THE MOON Ready to deliver a classic set list full of nothing but the hits, founder Mike Scott will be leading Scottish soft rock favourites The Waterboys Down Under in 2013. The band have maintained a incredible level of consistency during their 30-year career and are eager to traverse their entire back catalogue for one special evening. Don’t miss out on The Waterboys’ first ever Australian show when the band perform at The Tivoli, Saturday 19 January. Tickets through Live Nation.

NOTHING TO DO With a whole bunch of guest spots leading up to this release, Melbourne drifter Bored Nothing is stoked to be on the cusp of finally launching his debut record. Touching on a whole range of influences, from shoegaze to sludge, indie to riot grrrl, Fergus ‘BN’ Miller will be taking Brisbane audiences down a long and ultra diverse journey with his buddiescum-bandmates when the gang perform a free show to celebrate the album release, Friday 11 January at Black Bear Lodge. And if you want a second serving, you can also check out Bored Nothing at A & I Hall, Bangalow as part of the Spunk Tones bash on Saturday 12. Tickets for that show are available through Oztix.

Proudly presented by Street Press Australia.

GONNA BE A SCORCHER It might not technically be until autumn before The Red Hot Summer Tour arrives in Queensland, however, with the line-up that’s landing, the stage will still be burning up no doubt. Led by the iconic voice that is Jimmy Barnes, the Chisel frontman will be supported by New Zealand’s Dragon, his running partner Ian Moss, Chocolate Starfish and Baby Animals. The tour winds up at Harrigans Drift Inn, Jacobs Well on Sunday 5 May.

BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB DATE CHANGE Due to unforeseen circumstances outside of the band’s control, British four-piece Bombay Bicycle Club have had to reschedule their scheduled Brisbane headline show, moving the date back from Wednesday 9 January to Thursday 3 January. If that suits you, your ticket is still valid. If not, you can get a refund from your point of purchase.

STREET FIGHTING MAN From the shadows of I Heart Hiroshima, Matt Somers steps out as Rick Fights, the dangerous lone troubadour that tells tales of criminal treachery, escapism and rooted humanity. To experience him launching his new offering Fights, head to The Primitive Room in Spring Hill and get ringside as Somers leads his crew The Lost Fortune for the very first time, Saturday 8 December. Also on the bill are Fig, Martyr Privates, Kitchen’s Floor and Bust.

THE POTBELLEEZ Fri 23 Nov @ Hamilton Hotel

Sat 24 Nov @ Racehorse Hotel Tickets from Ticketmaster

GA N GGAJA N G Sat 24 Nov @ Redland Bay Hotel FREE ENTRY

MENTAL AS A NYTHIN G Sat 24 Nov @ Hamilton Hotel Tickets From Ticketmaster

28 DAYS Sat 1 Dec @ Racehorse Hotel Tickets From Ticketmaster

THE RADIATORS Fri 7 Dec @ Broadbeach Tavern Sat 8 Dec @ Racehorse Hotel

POUR HABIT Fri 7 Dec @ Miami Tavern Shark Bar GI GAHERTZ Sat 8 Dec @ Albany Creek Tavern

10 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

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FOREWORD LINE PURE POTENCY After swiftly collecting the hotly contested New Zealand Music Award for Best Urban/Hip Hop Album, Home Brew are flying back our way, with full band in tow, to squeeze in a few shows to cap off a bumper 2012. Support is coming in the way of Young, Gifted & Broke’s Esther Stephens, a pretty redhead with a powerful set of pipes, with other acts to be announced. See what our Kiwi brethren have to offer when Home Brew and Stephens perform at Coolangatta Hotel on the Gold Coast, Saturday 15 December. Purchase your tickets through Oztix now for $23.50.

ROCK AND ROLL ALL NITE How this amount of ego is going to be managed is anyone’s guess, but Kiss and Motley Crue will be joining forces to tour together with Thin Lizzy and local ladies Diva Demolition in 2013. Whether you’re a member of the Kiss Army, all face paint and platform boots, are down with the dirt served up by LA’s most infamous cock rockers, or simply want to salute the musical memory of the legendary Phil Lynott ,you’re sure to have a hell of night partying. Sex tapes and shithouse reality TV aside, these shows are going to provide some serious entertainment, so don’t miss this monster bill when all four bands play the Brisbane Entertainment Centre, Tuesday 12 March. Tickets available through Ticketek tomorrow, Thursday 22 November.

LET THE GOOD VIBES FLOW After writing solidly for the last six months, Melbourne reggae outfit Bonjah are wrapping their way around the country in preparation for their third record. This is the first chance for fans to hear the results from those sessions, while reconnecting with the four-piece’s rock solid back catalogue. Head along to The Joynt, Thursday 14 February; Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, Friday 15; Solbar, Maroochydore, Saturday 16; and Hotel Brunswick, Brunswick Heads, Sunday 17.

TIME TO SHINE If Carlos Santana had been hanging out in Iraq for the past ten years, then he would sound something like the Gold Coast’s own Tijuana Cartel. A fusion of world music and electronic beats, their performances are a concoction of multi-layered grooves, splashes of Middle Eastern vocals, lilting Moby-esque soundscapes, Flamenco and slide guitar, electronic world beats and live Latin Cuban Percussion. Friday 23 November they play The SoundLounge to celebrate the release of new single Glistening. Tickets are $30+BF and can be bought via soundlounge.com.au.

LIKE FATHER LIKE SON They say he was born with a guitar in one hand and a harmonica in the other. However, one thing is for certain – Arlo Guthrie didn’t fall too far from the tree, that of lauded American songsmith Woody Guthrie. With a legacy looming large, Arlo has still managed to craft a history of his own, and will be walking music lovers through his back catalogue when he tours with his daughter Sarah Lee Guthrie and her husband Johnny Irion. The bearded folkie will be performing Saturday 2 March, Judith Wright Centre; Sunday 3, Star Court Theatre, Lismore; and Tuesday 5, Twin Towns, Tweed Heads. Tickets are priced from $66+BF and can be purchased through the individual venue websites.

NEWS FROM THE FRONT

MAKING PROGRESS

IN BRIEF

It wasn’t too long ago that Perth’s Make Them Suffer released their debut album Neverbloom on Roadrunner Records to rave reviews. Now they are set to take it on the road for an armful of shows to showcase tracks from the album and their previously released EP Lord Of Woe. Joining Make Them Suffer them all the way from Chicago for their first time in Australia is Oceano, emerging from rumours of a breakup and with a stronger line-up than ever. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve lined up an epic lot of support bands for the journey that sees Saviour (WA) and Boris The Blade (VIC) complete the bill and join them at Thriller Saturday 1 December for an 18+ show and Sunday 2 at Eagleby Community Hall for a special all ages event.

Another band has been shed from the 2013 Soundwave line-up, with volatile New York deathcore crew Dr Acula announcing their immediate break up. At this stage no replacement has been announced.

American pop vixen Ke$ha was backstage at Gay Paris’ recent Sydney show, indulging in a casual bit of beard eating.

Thom Yorke thrilled fans last week with a 90 minute DJ set at Sydney’s Goodgod Small Club following Radiohead’s sold-out Tuesday set at Sydney Entertainment Centre.

Brisbane’s Ball Park Music have been announced as one of the four finalists for Channel [V] Oz Artist 2012. The quartet will go up against acts including Delta Goodrem and Seth Sentry.

MILO COMES TO AUSTRALIA LOCKED UP Yes, we know you all cried, ‘Bullshit!’ when Queensland missed out on a Call The Cops party earlier this year. However, the main instigators of that shit show – DZ Deathrays, pictured, Bleeding Knees Club and Yacht Club DJs – want to make it up to us with a hell of a Christmas bash pencilled in for Thursday 13 December at The Rev. The three acts have even called in some extra hands to really set the flares off, with Brisbane gang Velociraptor scheduled to fill out the stage, while Millions, Dune Rats and Gung Ho will all be throwing their hats into the DJ ring. Tickets at $22+BF through Oztix.

WE LIKE TO PARTY

More tickets will be released for Blink-182’s highly anticipated Soundwave sideshow at RNA Showgrounds. If you’re lucky you can snag a ticket this Friday, November 23.

After two acclaimed albums under their Mariachi El Bronx guise, Los Angeles punk heavyweights The Bronx have just announced that they will be returning to the heavier side of life, with The Bronx IV slated in for a Friday 8 February release through Shock.

Melbourne’s Midnight Juggernauts are finishing work on the follow-up to 2010’s The Crystal Axis.

And so do the Vengaboys (and girls) it seems. Only just out here for a nostalgic run of dates earlier this year, the ‘90s cheese pop chart toppers are making the journey back over from their native Netherlands once again to deliver hits like Boom Boom Boom and We’re Going To Ibiza. Indulge in some guilty euro dance pleasure at The Hi-Fi, Friday 18 January, with special guests Twenty 4 Seven. Remember Slave To The Music? Yeah, that was the good gear.

Anyway,who knows, this could become a yearly pilgrimage? After all, we do like to party. Tickets can be purchased through The Hi-Fi website.

TIME TO GET YOUR GROOVE ON

HOPPING MAD Grinspoon continue to power ahead, with 2012’s Black Rabbits marking the band’s seventh consecutive album to chart in the ARIA Top 10. Now to celebrate, the quartet will be hitting the road for a massive run of dates, playing The Tivoli, Friday 15 March; The Big Pineapple Music Festival, Woombye, Saturday 20 April; and Coolangatta Hotel, Sunday 21. Tickets are available this Friday, 23 November, with the national run of dates proudly presented by Street Press Australia.

FRONTLASH

You’d think the NRL would try and make it look like they’re not cheating by depriving Queensland two SOO games next year, but they don’t seem to care what we think. Screw it, we’ll play ‘em anywhere and still take home eight in a row!

Well played to harvest organisers for the way they handled the evacuation, and then got on with proceedings after the storm with minimum fuss or disruption. What could have been a massive debacle became a fun aside, and didn’t spoil a most non-heinous day…

HARVEST DELUGE

SCHOOLIES OUT

It took them almost a decade to really connect on a grand scale with audiences in this country, but after the success of Mutemath’s latest album Odd Soul and its lead single Blood Pressure, there’s no stopping the New Orleans juggernaut.

After blowing crowds away as part of this year’s Groovin’ The Moo festivals, the dirty rock four-piece are returning to Australia in 2013, playing The Hi-Fi, Saturday 23 March. Tickets are available from Monday 26 November and can be purchased through the venue website.

After spending a good part of the year in the UK working with DFA alumni Tim Goldsworthy, World’s End Press are stoked to be announcing a limited run of east coast shows to introduce audiences to their new tracks. Joining them will be upcoming electronic players Collarbones, whose latest record Die Young is one of the most progressive to come out of Australia in 2012. Both bands play Black Bear Lodge, Friday 7 December with local groove evangelists Mitzi along for the ride as support. Purchase your tickets for the show through Moshtix for $20+BF. And if you want a second helping of WEP, the boys will be back up our way Sunday 6 January, opening for UK electro heroes Hot Chip at their Tivoli show.

BACKLASH LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN

JUST CAN’T GET ENOUGH

Remember a few years ago when American legends Descendents arrived in Australia and everyone in the punk community flipped out? Well... it’s happening again! The band have been cited as a massive influence by everyone from Pennywise and NOFX to Blink-182 and Green Day, and their melodic punk hasn’t aged a bit, still sounding as punchy as it did 30 years ago when Milo first went to college.

The punk action doesn’t stop there, however, with fellow American legends Bouncing Souls coming for the trip, and both bands will be joined by Frenzal Rhomb, Bodyjar and local muckers The Disables. Be prepared to get crazy on Wednesday 6 February at Eatons Hill Hotel, with tickets available from Thursday 22 November through Oztix.

NO NUISANCE

We know it sells paper, but could the mainstream media make any more of a drama about schoolies?

The reporting from Bali would have you believe a war is about to break out, let the kids have their fun – the whole thing reeks of hypocrisy…

Incredible that a Magistrate upheld that telling a police officer to ‘fuck off’ isn’t necessarily a public nuisance, in this day and age of political correctness gone mad we’ll take any tiny victory over the nanny state that we can get!

NO FIXING THIS

VYVYAN!

Can you remember another person being pilloried as much after their death as Jimmy Saville? It’s just getting worse and worse every time someone comes forward. It’s just a shame that he couldn’t be made responsible for his horror while he was still with us…

12 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

What a complete bastard!

Adrian Edmonson – best known for playing Vyvyan Basterd in the Young Ones – is coming to town next year with his band The Bad Shepherds. No idea what the music’s like, but it will be great to be in the presence of the most psychotic med student ever!

JONSON STREET BYRON BAY FRI 23 NOV

REDCOATS SAT 24 NOV

TIJUANA CARTEL SUN 25 NOV

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4OURPLAY Thursday 22nd

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Friday 23rd B-Rad 5PM

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Craic’n Sunday 25th Ger Fennelly 12PM

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It’s that time again, when we break out the crystal ball in an attempt to second guess the results of the 26th ARIA Awards. Will they better their average of previous years? Do you agree/disagree warmly/violently? Read on. 360, Missy Higgins and Dougy Mandagi cover and feature pics by Kane Hibberd.

AND THE WINNER IS...UMM...

With the ARIA Fine Arts and Artisan Award categories already announced, as are this year’s inductees into the ARIA Hall of Fame, and a week of ARIA-associated events leading up to the big night, this year being held in the Sydney Entertainment Centre on Thursday 29 November, the ARIA Awards are looking like one of the biggest nights yet for Australian music. Plus Hilltop Hoods, Jessica Mauboy, 360, The Temper Trap, The Jezabels, Guy Sebastian, Kimbra, Missy Higgins and international guest Taylor Swift will be performing.

The fact that since last year’s awards, we’ve seen six Australian singles and eight Australian albums top the national ARIA charts and that 93 Australian singles, albums and DVDs attain gold, platinum or multi-platinum status, goes to show not just how healthy Australia’s music industry is right now, but also how much more Australians are embracing their own artists. That’s been recognised by making Song Of The Year, Best International Artist, Best Australian Live Act and Best Video publicly-voted categories. So here are our thoughts on this year’s field of contenders.

BEST DANCE RELEASE Nominees: Havana Brown – When The Lights Go Out; Hermitude – Hyperparadise; Ivan Gough & Feenixpawl feat Georgi Kay – In My Mind; Knife Party – Rage Valley; and Sneaky Sound System – From Here To Anywhere The consensus seems to be that while both Havana Brown and Knife Party have been scoring massively overseas, and fans were obviously pleased to see Sneaky Sound System back in contention while In My Mind was a significant club banger, Hermitude would have the numbers in the local context. Even so, the votes were split so evenly that the eventual swing is reflected below.

Who will win? Havana Brown Who should win? Hermitude BEST COUNTRY ALBUM Nominees: Beccy Cole – Songs And Pictures; Catherine Britt – Always Never Enough; McAlister Kemp – Country Proud; The McClymonts – Two Worlds Collide; and Troy Cassar-Daley – Home A strong field, it has to be between the old favourite Troy Cassar-Daley and the all-grown-up Catherine Britt. Quite apart from a very solid album Britt has this year aligned herself with local indie icon Tim Rogers, which has alerted a few of his fans to her charms, but will that newly-aware contingent be enough to pull her across the line?

is down to whether the sales figures for each have been uppermost in the minds of the ARIA voters associated with labels, as against genuine industry fans. While The Bamboos are worthy of nomination, they are, of course, soul funksters rather than an urban act, and then the return of The Herd with such a quality album should count for something.

split between Children Collide and sentimental favourites Cold Chisel, but the incredible number of fans, more than 270,000, who flocked to last year’s ridiculously successful Light The Nitro national tour didn’t follow suit with Chisel’s new album, No Plans. Similarly, The Temper Trap didn’t do the figures of their first album, despite it being a far stronger record. Then again, The Jezabels have surprised us all over the years.

Who will win? Cold Chisel Who should win? The Jezabels BEST POP RELEASE Nominees: Gotye – Making Mirrors; Guy Sebastian – Battle Scars; Jessica Mauboy – Gotcha; Kimbra – Vows; and San Cisco – Awkward The only thing possibly working against Gotye dominating in this category, considering his unprecedented international success, is the fact that his album was, in ARIA terms, released so long ago, at the beginning of the period covered in this year’s nominations. Kimbra’s association with Gotye courtesy the phenomenally successful Somebody That I Used To Know hasn’t done her career any harm either, and she followed it up with an equally successful album of her own, so she has to be a contender. Guy Sebastian has certainly worked hard to overcome the taint of Australian Idol and continues to make solid albums happily received by a loyal fanbase. He’s won plenty of audience-voted and sales-based awards, but he finds the industry-voted one tougher and, up against either Gotye or Kimbra, it’s unlikely he will this year. As for Jessica Mauboy, always popular, this record is, of course, lifted from the soundtrack of the equally popular feature film, The Sapphires, so can it really be credited as a her release per se?

Who will win? Gotye Who should win? Gotye

Who will win? 360

BEST HARD ROCK/HEAVY METAL ALBUM

Who should win? Hilltop Hoods/The Herd

Nominees: Buried In Verona – Notorious; DZ Deathrays – Bloodstreams; Frenzal Rhomb – Smoko At The Pet Food Factory; House Vs Hurricane – Crooked Teeth; and Sleepmakeswaves – ...and so we destroyed everything

BEST ROCK ALBUM Nominees: Children Collide – Monument; Cold Chisel – No Plans; Oh Mercy – Deep Heat; The Jezabels – Prisoner; and The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap There’s an inevitable fuzziness about what is meant by rock these days, at least in terms of the nominees. While Children Collide and Cold Chisel, two generations apart, are categorically rock, the others are rather more dabblers; their indie atmospheric/ pop, or in the case of Oh Mercy, almost funk, nods at rather than embraces the rock. Within the voting community there’s bound to be something of a generational

There was a time this was Cold Chisel’s natural category. Anyway, while Sleepmakeswaves is probably the best album in terms of innovative new sounds, textures and compositions, it’s neither hard rock nor heavy metal, and we’re sure the sentimental favourites are sufficiently gobsmacked to have got this far to care whether they win. It’s got to be a contest between the hard rock DZ Deathrays, the defiantly metal Buried In Verona and House Vs Hurricane. DZ Deathrays are certainly the buzz band at the moment.

Who will win? DZ Deathrays Who should win? Buried In Verona/House Vs Hurricane BEST BLUES & ROOTS ALBUM Nominees: Angus Stone – Broken Brights; Jeff Lang – Carried In Mind; Lanie Lane – To The Horses; Mia Dyson – The Moment; and Paul Green & The Other Colours – Behind The Stars Yet another strong field of essentially seasoned troopers contesting this category, apart from the incredibly hip and stylish Lane, whose face and voice have been everywhere this past year. Stone alone, while he’s delivered a great album, probably entered the field a little late. Lang, Greene and Dyson have been working the roots/blues field long and to a consistently high standard, and are probably truer representations of the category they’re contesting but…

Who will win? Lanie Lane

BEST ADULT CONTEMPORARY ALBUM Nominees: Darren Hayes – Secret Codes And Battleships; Husky – Forever So; Josh Pyke – Only Sparrows; Katie Noonan & Karin Schaupp – Songs Of The Southern Skies; and Missy Higgins – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle It’s hard to imagine anyone standing a chance against the most popular “comeback” album of the year. Then again, Husky have been kicking some serious goals overseas and on a debut album at that, which must count for something. Though of course, Missy Higgins is back in Australia on her own massive national tour after and equally impressive run of dates across North America and she’s got the numbers locally. Hayes had a big tour but he’s relatively forgotten outside of a stalwart fanbase.

Who will win?

Missy Higgins Who should win?

Missy Higgins/Husky BEST INDEPENDENT RELEASE Nominees: Dappled Cities – Lake Air; Katie Noonan & Karin Schaupp – Songs Of The Southern Skies; San Cisco – Awkward; The Bamboos – Medicine Man and The Jezabels – Prisoner Best Independent Artists both last and this year at that other awards night, the Jagermeister Independent Music Awards, The Jezabels are probably the band most likely to get the gong here, though the fact that Dappled Cities released their album just as voting for the ARIAs began could have worked in their favour.

Who will win?

The Jezabels Who should win?

The Bamboos BREAKTHROUGH ARTIST – RELEASE

BEST URBAN ALBUM

Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Alpine – A Is For Alpine; Lanie Lane – To The Horses; Matt Corby – Brother; and San Cisco – Awkward

Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Hilltop Hoods – Drinking From The Sun; Katalyst – Deep Impressions; The Bamboos – Medicine Man; and The Herd – Future Shade

This has to be a shoe-in for 360, aka Matt Colwell, who has gone through the roof this year, particularly live, selling out a

Who will win? Troy Cassar-Daley Who should win? Catherine Britt

As tribally loyal as Hilltop Hoods’ fans are – and for all the power in not only their latest album but also their innovative DVD releases – no one can deny that 2012 has been 360’s year.

Whether that’s enough to guarantee he gets the pointy thingie

Who should win? Mia Dyson

ridiculous number of shows. Then again, Matt Corby has done phenomenally well himself, similarly selling out his indie gigs consistently, having built a career against the odds as an Australian Idol also-ran to prove himself a truly inspired songwriter, singer and performer with a unique style. Alpine are similarly unique.

Who will win? 360 Who should win? Alpine BEST GROUP Nominees: Boy & Bear – Big Man; Cold Chisel – No Plans; Hilltop Hoods – Drinking From The Sun; The Jezabels – Prisoner; and The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap Last year of course was the year of Boy & Bear and this final single only really gets in this year because of its release date. Again, Cold Chisel would have to be the sentimental favourite and if voting was based on the success of a band live in concert last year’s phenomenal Light The Nitro tour, on attendance figures alone, would get them across the line. But that’s not going to happen.

It’s between Hilltop Hoods and The Temper Trap then.

Can a hip hop group finally get up and win Best Group?

It’s the best shot in a long time – the only time even?

Then again, The Jezabels could be the dark horse, coming in on the outside to take the prize. Then again, The Jezabels could split The Temper Trap vote. Hmm. Who will win? The Jezabels Who should win? The Temper Trap/Hilltop Hoods BEST FEMALE ARTIST Nominees: Jessica Mauboy – Gotcha; Kimbra – Vows; Lanie Lane – To The Horse; Missy Higgins – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle; and Washington – Insomnia A year ago Washington seemed to be everywhere, while this year, it’s been Lanie Lane, but do either have the ergot of a resurrected, match-fit Missy Higgins?

Jessica Mauboy meanwhile has the success of The Sapphires movie behind her as well. Kimbra of course has that international success and Gotye connection, but she’s really a Kiwi isn’t she? Not that that’s ever stopped anyone, right Finn brothers? And she won last year, so would be unlikely to get a second nod so soon.

Who will win? Missy Higgins Who should win? Kimbra/Missy Higgins BEST MALE ARTIST Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Angus Stone – Broken Brights; Gotye – Making Mirrors; Guy Sebastian – Battle Scars; Keith Urban – For You; and Matt Corby – Into The Flame Considering For You is the new track on a career retrospective best of, The Story So Far, you’d have to factor in the likelihood that, as good as Keith Urban is, his appearance in this category is more likely to have been influenced by his popular participation as a judge on The Voice than his merits musically and Nicole Kidman’s handbag. Ultimately this has to be a battle royal between 360 and Gotye – rapper versus indie pop.

Who will win? Gotye Who should win? 360 ALBUM OF THE YEAR Nominees: 360 – Falling & Flying; Gotye – Making Mirrors; Missy Higgins – The Ol’ Razzle Dazzle; The Jezabels – Prisoner; and The Temper Trap – The Temper Trap Can the solo woman pull a rabbit out of the hat and the rug from under the men? The case has been made for each of these albums, great albums all, but it’s probably unlikely The Jezabels or The Temper Trap have the numbers despite the outstanding quality of the albums. So again, it’s 360 versus Gotye. Hey, that might make for quite an extraordinary album. And why not?

Who will win? Gotye Who should win?

The Jezabels Of course, you, dear readers, will be deciding four categories yourselves.

Perhaps you’d like to share your thoughts on who will and who should win in those publicly-voted categories. Just go to themusic. com.au and voice your opinion.

WHAT: The 26th Annual ARIA Awards

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WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 29 November, Sydney Entertainment Centre

WITH

AND THE BELLIGERENTS

SUN 9 DEC | ALHAMBRA, BRISBANE | U18 MATINEE SHOW Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix outlets & from the venue direct

SUN 9 DEC | THE REV @ THE CHURCH, BRISBANE | 18+ Tickets available from www.oztix.com.au | 1300 762 545 | All Oztix outlets & from the venue direct

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READY TO EXPLODE Rock maelstrom Violent Soho find themselves back on top after relocating back to Australia, finding renewed focus and passion in the process. Luke Boerdam talks to Brendan Telford about finding their feet once more. ansfield’s finest exports Violent Soho have been on a wild ride since busting out of their bedrooms in a whirlwind of sludgy chords and angst-fuelled abandon some eight years ago. Mates since high school, the four-piece – Luke Boerdam, James Tidswell, Luke Henery and Michael Richards – immediately found a willing audience. Yet after the release of 2008 debut record We Don’t Belong Here and being championed as the second coming of grunge, overseas beckoned and they relocated to the United States.

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Signing to Thurston Moore’s Ecstatic Peace label, Violent Soho suddenly found themselves taking Stateside tours with the likes of Dinosaur Jr, Built To Spill and The Bronx.

It seemed as if their wildest dreams had come true. Yet the highs were matched with some confounding lows – their 2010 self-titled, Gil Norton-produced follow up (which essentially was a reworked version of We Don’t Belong Here with some new tracks littered throughout) received some debilitating reviews, and the commercialisation of their sound found them rubbing shoulders with “luminaries” such as 30 Seconds From Mars. Not sure what it was they wanted, combined with pangs of homesickness, the band swung back to Brisbane.

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“I wouldn’t have done anything differently though [if had the chance],” Boerdam defiantly affirms. “What happened was we had a rare opportunity in front of us to go play and tour in different countries, and to do that they wanted this album, and they wanted it this way. We thought, ‘Okay’, because we had some new songs ready. The only thing I’d change is that I would have lobbied for a whole new album, giving us three months to write before hitting the studio rather than having to re-record seven songs the same way. But most people don’t realise that the first record was like a bandaged album full of demos. We just wanted to get something out there, so what we did was put it all together and sent it off to Lindsay Gravina to get mastered, and that was it! We had something to tour then. We thought we would only make 1000 copies,

but it took us on this whole trajectory to the point where people wanted to throw world-class producers at us to re-record it. That’s the way it was supposed to sound the first time around, I’ll stand by it any time, I think it’s a fucking awesome record; it’s just that the first album built up all this pace and success and a bit of a fanbase.”

Whilst the circumstances may not have been optimal for Violent Soho and their Australian fanbase, who felt like the band were treading water, the time recording in Wales with Norton and touring constantly certainly paid dividends.

“Before getting picked up I could barely string two chords together, so by the time we got to Wales I could play these songs and I could sing a little better,” Boerdam admits. “There was no slow build, which in some ways would have been nice, because we went [from] being a small band to having to do a lot of work. It was amazing though. To be able to play and tour with so many rad bands has strengthened my songwriting and the way I want to approach music. Built To Spill in particular was amazing. I learnt a lot from just watching them, how they craft their music and their live show is something kinda raw, yet it comes across as this layered masterpiece.

It’s not something that can be replicated by anyone. The way they toured was also part of making us want to try harder, not just as a band onstage but all the time. They played shows that were significant to them; they chose bands like Doom Disco from Switzerland to support them because they wanted everyone to hear them. The respect you have for such a band was also how they treated us; there were no boundaries about where you could go backstage – ‘you can’t walk down this corridor, you can’t drink with us’, that kind of deal. It was all inclusive, a really cool approach, and I respect that so much.”

After relocating to Brisbane and taking some time out to reassess, Violent Soho are finally doing things the way they want to. First cab off the rank is double a-side Tinderbox/Neighbour Neighbour, two fullyfleshed beasts of tracks that saw Gravina back on the scene, this time in the producer’s chair.

“I think it’s hard for any band to come back after being thrown in the deep end like we were,” Boerdam states.

“After it all we just wanted to come home, work out

what the fuck we were doing. We went from working with Dean Turner (Magic Dirt) to getting thrown on major label American rock tours and radio promo tours; from playing the Step Inn to playing stadiums. It was like being thrown into a washing machine and spat out the other end. So when we got home we had a break from it all, then [we’d] write some music, take it to Lindsay and record it. Lindsay didn’t hold back either – we thought Gil was tough! Lindsay is a workhorse. He creates an interesting vibe in the studio – it was pretty much ‘get it right or go home’. On the last day the rest of the band had left and I was left to do vocals. I went in there at 9am, my flight was 7am the following morning, and I called the car at 5am. I swear that half of the recording time was spent tuning. He’s a perfectionist, but that’s what we wanted, and the recording came out exactly how we wanted.”

It all feels like a vindication of sorts, as the sold-out run of shows promoting the new 7” and their recent signing to I Oh You attests. The fact that there is so much love for Violent Soho in Australia is what keeps the band centred; they’re the strongest they’ve

ever been and excited about what the future will bring, including a new album done wholly on their own terms.

“When starting out your hometown has more of an idea on where you’re coming from and what you’re trying to do [than other places], but we’ve slogged it out now to the point where no matter where we go now we have a good turnout where everyone goes pretty nuts,” Boerdam laughs. “We’ve been through a lot and it stands to reason that everyone knows what we’re on about. We’ve only been about rocking out; playing the type of music that we enjoy, not being a particular genre or even pleasing people to be honest, and I think that most people get that now. Now we’re just keen to get stuck into it. I have a whole bunch of new songs under my belt and am ready to just get it done. This time around it feels so much more comfortable.”

WHO: Violent Soho WHAT: Tinderbox/Neighbour Neighbour (I Oh You) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Alhambra Lounge

FEELING THE BURN Austin-based troubadour Joe Pug talks to Steve Bell about gaining a toehold in Australia, the dual roles of the singer-songwriter and working out to develop those mental muscles. t’s almost precisely two years since American singer-songwriter Joe Pug made his first foray south to Australian shores, but he liked it here enough – and, most importantly, we reciprocated the feeling for the man and his elegant music enough – that his return voyage this month will mark his fourth time through Australian Customs with guitar case in hand. He’s done the whole gamut of possible gigs while he’s here – headline shows, festivals, opening for acts such as Justin Townes Earle and Wagons, you name it – but something about his sensitive, literate tunes has clearly enamoured Australian audiences in a relatively short space of time.

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“I know, I’ve been down there three more times now since that first visit,” smiles the softly-spoken Pug. “I love coming down there – obviously I’m not a big fan of the flights, but after that’s all said and done I love coming down for sure. I feel my stuff’s really resonating well down there and if I knew why, I’d try and replicate it everywhere else. I feel like every audience I’ve had to build up here in the States and in Europe and the UK where I’ve had to painstakingly claw out every show and every fan, but Australia just seems to work itself.

I wish I knew what it was, because I’d try to make it work the same way in other places, but the response has just been different in Australia to anywhere else.”

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This visit marks the first time since the initial trip that Pug is coming armed with new music – he won us over with his 2010 debut album Messenger and now he’s keen to build on that rapport with his second effort The Great Despiser. “I had a general idea of what I wanted, which is one of the main reasons that we chose to work with Brian Deck,” Pug explains of his initial vision for album number two and working with the producer who’s helmed records for the likes of Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine and Califone. “I always felt that I was good at getting a song written, but never that good at getting it arranged and getting sort of a tapestry to put

16 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

behind it to make it within a certain world. Listening to all of the things that he’s put together, I knew that that was the direction in which I wanted to head and he really helped me decide what that was going to be.”

The Great Despiser – while still clearly Pug’s baby – seems like more of a band effort than his debut, with more textures and relatively complex arrangements meaning that the songs aren’t as reliant on his deft lyrics as in the past. “Absolutely, we just wanted to get to that point where we were firing on more cylinders than one,” he concurs. “The band has been with me for a fair amount of time now, but clearly it’s now more integral to both the songs and the live show in certain ways. But all of the songs were still written on an acoustic guitar, so they can all be brought back to that.”

The album’s title track finds Pug sharing vocal duties with none other than The Hold Steady’s frontman Craig Finn, which Pug puts down to the song being perfect for that distinctive voice. “We finished doing that song and we all realised straight away what a debt that song – and the production of it – owed to The Hold Steady,” he recalls. “I’d met Craig several times on the road in different places and I just got a hold of him and asked him if he’d be at all interested in this idea for the song and he was. I still can’t believe that he actually did it! He’s a great guy and it’s so cool that he would agree to do that.”

The new album’s first single is the beautiful Hymn #76, continuing the titular tradition from Pug’s first EP Nation Of Heat (2008), which contained standout track Hymn #101 as well as a tune titled Hymn #35. “You know, I really think that those three songs are cut from the same cloth – to me they’re different movements of the same song,” Pug reflects. “Those are written the most unconsciously out of all my songs and those are the ones that I really seem to understand the least myself. I just feel that those three songs, when they got finished I had no idea where they came from. In some ways I feel sometimes like I have very little pride in those songs, because I really feel so different from them. I feel completely divorced from them, like I didn’t

have anything to do with them really. It’s bizarre. I wish it happened more than it does, but you try to do a lot of things consciously so that you have the muscles developed to do something unconsciously.

appreciate that difference and that’s why I’m excited to get back into the studio soon – I feel that I have a much better idea now of what makes a session work, as compared to what makes a good show work.

“I generally have to pore over my lyrics a good amount to get things the way that I like them – I find that pretty hard. To me that’s actually the hardest part of the whole process. The best songs arrive fully-formed, but you don’t get those songs without dragging out other songs and just beating a dead horse on songs that will never work. You work on that for about three weeks and if you stay true to it, then eventually another song will slip out in about 30 seconds, you know – and they’re often the keepers.”

“I didn’t really mind the fact that there was a time in this business when some people would write and some people would sing – I think that makes a lot of sense. I happen to like doing both, but I know a lot of people who like to grumble about pop stars not writing their own songs, but to me a pop star shouldn’t write their own songs. It makes sense that someone can communicate with an audience and someone else can be solitary and come up with an idea for a song that helps them do tha. It makes total sense to me that two different people with two different temperaments would do those different jobs.”

In this post-Dylan, post-Beatles world it’s considered imperative for any singer worth their salt to go through such travails whilst writing their own music, as distinct from the early years of popular music when the singer and the songwriter were rarely the same person. “It’s funny that the same person has to do both jobs, because I find that they’re so different from one another,” Pug muses. “I feel like I’m at a point now where I fully

WHO: Joe Pug WHAT: The Great Despiser (Bending Thunder) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, The Waiting Room; Sunday 25, Mullum Music Festival, Mullumbimby

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BACK ON THE WAGON After a relatively quiet spell, ‘90s So-Cal punk-pop institution Lagwagon have recently re-released their back catalogue and are making a long-overdue return trip to Australia. Daniel Johnson catches up with singer Joey Cape. ince forming in 1990 in Santa Barbara, Lagwagon have had a long and distinguished career. They were the first band signed to NOFX singer “Fat” Mike Burkett’s then-fledgling Fat Wreck Chords label, releasing their first full-length, Duh, in 1992 and following it up with Trashed in 1994, which cemented their reputation as one of the burgeoning punk-pop revival’s brightest lights.

able to master specifically for vinyl and specifically for CD in the case of some of those early records where they were only mastered for one.”

The band released a further five albums between 1995 and 2005, as well as 2008 EP, I Think My Older Brother Used To Listen To Lagwagon, their mostrecent release. Over the past few years, Cape has undertaken the arduous task of going through the vaults to compile expanded reissues of Lagwagon’s first five albums, and when asked why he chose to re-release the back catalogue instead of putting together a ‘best of’, Cape is quick to answer.

“I felt like he was kind of the fact-checker and also the cool-checker. When I would say, ‘I don’t know my man, I don’t know if we can put this outtake out’ or whatever, he was like, ‘C’mon man, it represents you, you’ve just got to go for it, you’ve got to get it all out there. It’s where you were and what you were doing.’ He made me gutsy enough to realise the better way to go was quantity, so people could hear everything we’ve done. We didn’t put everything on there; there were a few things that were just bad,” he laughs. “But we put almost everything on there.

I’m proud of it; I really liked what we did with that.”

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“The reason we did it is because I, personally – and I can also speak for the band here – I’m not a fan of the anthologies or the ‘greatest hits’-type records. They do the job of burying the deep cuts from the early records and in the digital world they create a one-stop place for someone who’s discovering the band to go and just check out only the songs deemed worthy of being on that record, and in doing that they sort of bury the history of the band, and every record has a time stamp, you know? It represents an era and a period of that band’s existence and evolution. If I love a band I cherish all the records, I like to celebrate the different periods of the band. It depends on the mood I’m in and what band it is, whether it be The Ramones or David Bowie.

“This was a really nice way to celebrate the early period of the band when we were really prolific and we had a lot of extra material and also maintaining the integrity of those earlier releases and dealing with the releases that have the most to benefit from such a process. If you were to take an MP3 player and it’s shuffling songs, like when an old punk song comes on you can hardly hear it compared to modern records. So we were able to bring them up to a competitive, more realistic volume in today’s world, but we were also

Cape admits to have had moments of self-doubt when compiling the re-releases, and he credits Fat Wreck Chords label manager and close friend Chad Williams with giving him the confidence to include some of the more rough-hewn material.

Cape – who’s also playing some solo shows in Australia prior to be joined by his bandmates for the tour proper – admits that when Lagwagon started out more than 20 years ago, he didn’t expect the band to still be touring this many years down the track.

“But let me be clear, we don’t make much of a living off of our band anymore,” he admits frankly. “If we tour constantly we make an okay living, but bands like us don’t sell much of any records anymore.

Everybody in the band has another job… my other jobs are the other six bands I play in. But yeah, I never thought we’d be doing it this long. I think the people that are in bands and early on have these ideas like ‘we’re going to be together forever’ are much more unrealistic than we’ve been about it.

I’m just waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak. I always thought that we were just lucky.

Every time we make a new record, or go out on tour, I still get this weird feeling like, ‘Oh cool, we’re doing this again.’ It’s surprising to me.”

Cape also reveals that after their current touring commitments are over, Lagwagon plan to return to record their first full-length since 2005’s Resolve.

“We do, and it’s been a long time, mostly due to the fact that I didn’t know what the identity of the band was. As a songwriter I sort of take my time and everyone is cool with it because we don’t want to do anything that we’re not proud of, so sometimes we take five years to make a record; it’s just the way it is in this band. I have to wake up one day and say, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what we’re supposed to do next’ and then we’ll all start to work together. We’ve got a few tours lined up and when they’re over, towards the end of the year, we’re going to jump into a room together and start hashing it out, see what I have and see if it’s good, see if it’s enough.”

On a more sombre note, one of Cape’s dearest friends, No Use For a Name frontman Tony Sly, died earlier this year. As Cape explains, he was one of the last people to see Sly alive and is still shocked by his friend’s sudden passing.

“I was on tour with him the day before on the east coast in the States and we just wrapped it up

and I was going to continue on with this friend of mine named Jon Snodgrass to do a few more shows. Tony flew home and he passed away as soon as he got home. He made it home but that’s the day that he died; so I’d literally just dropped him off at the airport, went and played a show in Florida and was at my friend’s house asleep when the phone rang. It’s tremendously tragic.”

Cape says he and his bandmates have discussed the possibility of performing a No Use For a Name song on their Australian tour to pay homage to Sly. “Well, we’ve talked a lot about doing one of his songs with Lagwagon and I think we will.

We’re having a bit of a tough time coming to agreement on which song to do – it’s difficult because we all like the band a lot and everybody has different songs they’d like to play.”

WHO: Lagwagon WHEN & WHERE: Sunday 25 November, Crowbar (Joey Cape solo); Wednesday 28, The Hi-Fi; Thursday 29, Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast

NORTHERN DREAMING Melbourne musician Dan Kelly is back in the solo saddle, and he talks to Steve Bell about missing home, fake romances and boring other people with weather predilections. t’s been a couple of years now since Dan Kelly dropped his acclaimed third album, Dan Kelly’s Dream, and he’s still frantically writing for its followup. Not that you could call the acclaimed musician slack though – he’s been flat out since the album dropped, touring and recording with his uncle Paul, who of late has become increasingly reliant on his nephew as his offsider both live and in the studio.

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Now, finally, there’s been a bit of downtime from their hectic schedules and Dan is making his way up north to the land of his youth, reminding folk in Queensland of his solo skills and working up new songs for his forthcoming record in the process. He’s excited about the material, but also a tad uncertain about the direction that it’s ultimately going to take.

“I sort of worked for a while in a little studio just making up stuff with the band, going for a loose kind of feel,” Kelly tells of his recent output. “We came up with a lot of good stuff there, but I’m not sure if any of it will end up on the record – from there I took those songs and have been playing them solo, finding out a way of playing them like that. They were pretty jammy, but really fun.

“Apart from that I’ve been honing my theme down – I’ve been making it even more succinctly about girls and geography. There’s a lot of romance on this record – I don’t want to give away how much is real, but probably not a lot of it. It’s like an imaginary romance travelogue and it’s half-finished – it’s like I’m halfway through backpacking around the world. An old man backpacking and writing songs as I go – there’s songs about Antarctica and South America, and a lot of songs about the north coast. I seem to have gone back to my youth – there’s one set in Beenleigh and one down in Casino, and then another one set in the hills behind Byron. I’ve just been writing about that area a lot, just because I grew up there.

“Because it’s so shitty down here [in Melbourne] a lot of the time, I’m constantly craving beach and warmth and family, so if I’m getting into a sort of escapist songwriting mode – which is the music I fell in love with, a lot of my songs have that Ray Davies ‘escape from reality’

18 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

theme – then it’s really easy for me to conjure up the north coast, because that’s one of the key spots that I go to in my brain, even if I’m sitting in a really chilly and dusty sharehouse room in Melbourne. Generally a lot of the themes in my songs have me jetting off to somewhere magnificent, and then finding that I can’t escape myself. Or fucking up a relationship. It’s not like I’m Xavier Rudd and I just go there and fucking get on my spirit bird or I’m riding a giant dildo across the night sky – things always get a bit odd. Happy sad.”

Kelly not only grew up in Queensland, but he cut his musical teeth in the Brisbane scene of the early-‘90s playing in hard rock band Nord. “There was a band called Liquid Meat from the Gold Coast, and they were a real Butthole Surfers-type band – they were smart guys, but their themes were meat and psychedelic drugs and weird suburban creepiness,” he recalls. “They had a vibe, and then I joined and added a bit of a wide-eyed ‘I don’t know what’s going on’ teenage vibe. We were all into The Celibate Rifles and Mudhoney and we played a lot in Brisbane, but it was always like first on the bill at Rock Against Work – we were never very big.

It was a bit of a shitfight, but it was fun. There was a lot of wah-wah – it wasn’t like The xx is the best way to describe it. It was the opposite of The xx.

“Once I finished doing that I got into four-tracking a lot but I couldn’t work out how to write my own songs – they were pretty wet. I was really into The Jesus Lizard and all of those really, intense bands that were around then – or even fuzzy ones like Mudhoney – but the songs I was writing were so far away from that. It was really hard for me to merge the two together, and I ended up moving to Melbourne and playing in a country band. Which was odd because I don’t even like country that much. Eventually, I ended up combining my love of punk rock music with more simple, happy-sounding songs. It’s not punk rock, but it’s informed by that vibe – I find normal singer-songwriter stuff really dreary.

“I strive for that human vibe that Jonathan Richman has, and that you probably get from Robert Forster

or Dave McCormack or Stephen Malkmus – the projection of their personality is really powerful. My songs are hanging around in that territory – I like the feeling that you get from their songs and how it’s not a pose. I aspire to the effect that those guys have.”

Of course he has a fairly brilliant familial role model close at hand, but being in the presence of brilliance can sometimes have an adverse effect on the songwriting process.

“I do need to debrief – it’s almost like I need to go to some Cambodian brainwashing bush camp to get all of the Paul Kelly songs out of my head,” Dan laughs. “Because they’re strong songs, and when you’re working on them or playing them live they stick in your head. The lyrics and stories stick in your head, or the phrasing. I’ve certainly learned a lot off him, and I’m sure I’ve stolen a lot off him, but I’ve really gone out of my way to make sure that I don’t sound like a junior Paul Kelly – that would be pretty depressing – we’ve already got one.”

And, while he still has plenty of Kelly family duties on the horizon, we might be seeing a bit more of Kelly Jr in the not-too-distant future.

“After this show I’m going to spend the rest of the summer working on the record, doing a lot of the songs in the more simple style that these shows are using, and then I have the big Paul Kelly and Neil Finn tour – it’s like a family band almost,” he ponders. “And then I’ll put the record out and see what happens. If I can afford it I’d like to spend next winter up in Queensland, just hang out with my folks and play with some people up there.

It’s long overdue; it’s been ten years. If you compare the two winters it’s a dream to go up north, and weather’s fun to write about – I know it’s supposed to be the most boring thing in the world, but I find it fun. Which makes me the most boring guy in the world. Fuck it.”

WHO: Dan Kelly WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, Black Bear Lodge

ON MY RADIO After a wait of 30 years, Australian audiences are finally booked in to skank with The Selecter. Benny Doyle talks to the first rude girl of ska, Pauline Black. ince their formation in Coventry three decades ago, The Selecter’s socially conscious brand of ska has left the streets of England and crossed borders, opening minds and moving feet around the world. Pauline Black explains that when she joined the original Selecter members in 1979, the big attraction to 2 Tone was its versatility, fun and voice, giving the vocalist the ability to touch on prevalent issues affecting British youth.

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“It happened at a time when people in this country – their ears had been starting to open up a little to reggae music, which was coming in from Jamaica,” she recalls. “People like Bob Marley were playing here. The Clash, who were a punk band really, they were picking up on that reggae music, and they began creating a mixture of the two. And of course you had The Police around at that time also, so it was a natural progression for 2 Tone bands that were around at that time to look even further than that. Ska music was a lot more up-tempo – it was dance music really with a punk element. And I think having a very sharp image, but also under the umbrella of a movement, the 2 Tone movement, which had a very definite stand against racism and sexism – it was quite a potent brew really. And not just for people in this country, in Britain, but worldwide, who were maybe looking for something more alternative, but they still wanted something they could dance to and enjoy.”

Not that there was ever any apprehension to re-form The Selecter in 2010 to celebrate the 30-year anniversary of their debut, Too Much Pressure, a decision that appears to be the right one if the current momentum of the band is anything to go by. “It was a joyous occasion because we really only re-formed for one show and that was at the Bloomsbury Ballroom in London,” Black recalls. “We had no idea how that was going to turn out and it was packed up to the rafters. It was really just a present we wanted to give to the fans for supporting us for all the years, but now we think you deserve more.”

WHO: The Selecter WHEN & WHERE: Wednesday 28 November, The Zoo

Cited by No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani as one of her biggest influences, Black’s high-energy performances and radiating charisma fast established her as one of the most iconic voices and faces during the 2 Tone explosion at the turn of the ‘80s.

And although years may have passed since those halcyon days, the frontwoman assures that the prevalence of their message still remains true. “Most of those social issues may have improved, but they’re certainly not gone, which is unfortunate but such is the nature of things,” Black informs. “We’re bang in the middle of what is for most countries a global recession.

Back then, it was just in individual countries and not so much a worldwide thing, so I think that most people understand what we’re trying to say and where we are coming from and that these [issues] are things that need to be addressed and ought to be talked about. If you can discuss those things and still have a bit of fun doing it, then great – I think 2 Tone does that.”

But let’s just make things clear early – this tour isn’t strictly nostalgic. In 2011, The Selecter released Made In Britain, an album that has put Black, her vocal running mate Arthur ‘Gaps’ Hendrickson and the rest of their current incarnation back on the map. “It’s not easy for a band who has a history of over 30 years to come up with new music,” Black tells.

“But we felt very strongly that if we were going to return we needed to do that because being a ‘heritage’ band isn’t the be all and end all, for us anyway. The record has again created an agenda with the things we are saying.”

And with another new 12-track album tentatively pencilled in for release next March, before the band head back over to America, it’s obvious that the creative floodgates have well and truly opened for the band. “As soon as Gaps and I were back on track, and feeling each other again onstage, finding what our sound was, the ideas flowed thick and fast and it [writing] hasn’t been a problem since. I thought we may have had an issue, y’know, especially the tricky second album from the second coming as it were, but it hasn’t been; it’s been an absolute joy, and I feel that when it’s like that you get the most from being in a band.”

Judging by the reaction to recent tour dates in England, where The Selecter has had to put on more shows to meet with demand, Made In Britain has proven to be a great calling card to show fans that the legends aren’t going anywhere – they’re here to stay. “I think we had to make new music really,” Black admits.

“Our band has integrity and the 2 Tone movement has integrity, and I think just resting on one’s laurels is something that didn’t appeal to us. We’re not all toothless and without our marbles – I’m still very passionate about what goes on in the world and passionate about what we can say about those inequities still present. And there’s probably more onus on doing that now as we can look at it with more hindsight than when we were young.”

As well as cutting new records, Black says it’s the wisdom of years behind the band – in a playing sense and in relation to mindset – that has given the group a new lease on life. But as recently as last year there’s been confusion of identity, with two versions of The Selecter doing the rounds: this line-up with Black and Gaps, and one led by Neol Davies, the former chief songwriter who established the band in 1977. However, now that Black has acquired trademark of the band name, she’s looking to distance The Selecter from such trivial clashes, citing the current eight-piece crew as the best she’s ever fronted.

“It’s absolutely brilliant,” she beams. “We’ve been together now as a band for getting on to three years, and I can honestly say that this is the best incarnation that Gaps and I have been involved with. People like our drummer, Winston Marche; I’ve known Winston for the past 23 years – we’re almost like family now. And what people forget is that the first incarnation of the band was only together a year! The band has always taken an invigorating path, but I think for people coming to see us, the constant of myself and Gaps having always been around in one form or another has really anchored the band in very much the same way as say The Beat with Dave Wakeling has done it. You’ve got the voice, you’ve got the songs, and I think that’s what people want.”

For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews • 19

SEA CHANGE Accomplished musician Andrew Morris has bundled all of the recent chaos in his life into stripped-back new album, The Situationist. He tells Steve Bell about quick changes of tack and living in the now. here’s been a lot of turmoil in the world of singer-songwriter Andrew Morris of late – nearly all of it resoundingly positive. He decamped from Brisbane to the relaxed climes of the Northern Rivers of NSW, bought an abandoned old church to renovate into a home, had his first child (a son, Banjo) and resurrected his old record label Soul Arch Recordings to release his sixth solo album, The Situationist. It’s a consummate, albeit stripped-back, collection of songs, and it’s not even the album that he’s been slaving over for the last couple of years.

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“No, I’ve been working on one which I wrote the bulk of when I was in Berlin – so May and June last year,” the laidback Morris explains. “I got back in August and started recording that, because I’d written most of the songs over there or before I’d went, and I’m really happy with it and everything – it’s going to come out – but with all of this stuff happening in my life it feels like now’s not the time. I want to do it properly, and I haven’t quite finished it either, so I just wanted to do something fresher too because I’ve been working on it for so long: engineering it, recording it, producing it, playing on it – it was pretty taxing.

“And I want to do something rootsy because [Morris’ bluegrass outfit] The Wilson Pickers have been on a bit of a hiatus, so I decide to do something fun and acoustic. Also, because I moved down here I’ve been playing lots of smaller cafe gigs or busking gigs at the markets, and I often get asked – because I had five albums – ‘Which one of your CDs sounds most like what you’re playing now?’ and it’s, like, ‘Umm, none of them really!’ I thought I’d just make something that reflected that, so it’s just a record to suit where I’m at really – it’s songs that I’ve had floating around and covers that I’ve been playing in my live set that I’ve never recorded.”

Due to the relatively impromptu nature of The Situationist, Morris roped in some mates from Brisbane folk collective The Gin Club and the whole thing was laid down in a matter of days.

“We recorded it nice and quick – we did it in about a week, not mucking around and just getting it out there.

It was turned around super-quick after I conceived the

20 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

idea – I did have a brief idea about doing it a while back but then I scrapped it and kept working on the Berlininspired record. And to be honest, I had some songs saved up for the Pickers that are on this record – they were fucking around too long, so I went, ‘Bugger it, time to look after me!’” he laughs heartily. “So I grabbed a few of those and the covers and that made up the ten tracks. It all happened pretty quick. I wrote a few songs when I was in Vietnam on holiday, and then I emailed Scotty [Regan], Dan [Mansfield] and Conor [Macdonald] and they were down pretty much the next week and we did the beds of the band tracks in two days, and the rest I just sat around with a mic. It was easy because I play these songs so much anyway, so I just set up a vocal mic and a guitar mic and that was pretty much it. We were all on the same page due to shared experience so it was pretty straightforward.”

As well as The Situationist’s covers – namely Gillian Welch’s Miss Ohio, You Am I’s Heavy Heart and Dylan’s It Takes A Lot To Laugh, It Takes A Train To Cry – Morris also put Banjo Paterson’s poem The Uplift to music, an interesting exercise on many levels.

“I suppose I was looking for material, so I thought that instead of having to write a whole song lyric-wise, maybe I’ll pinch one off Banjo Paterson,” he muses.

“It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do but never really got around to – I’m not one of those people who writes lyrics first and then puts the music to it, it usually all happens at once and generally the lyrics are the last thing for me to finish, so it was fun to go for that approach where I’ve got the lyrics in front of me and then had to write the music. So I just had a look around for some suitable verses from him sat in a suitable song structure, and it’s got some cool lyrics – there’s a pretty cool metaphor to the song I think – so it was a fun thing to do. And I’ve got a co-write with Banjo!”

Morris also revisited one of his own tracks – Lover from 2009’s Needs & Wants album – which allowed him to paint the song in a more relevant light.

“Like I said, people have been asking for records that sound like what I’ve been playing live of late,” he continues, “and obviously, I’ve been playing a lot of

my back catalogue acoustic solo – when a lot of them on the records are produced with a band and horns and whatever – so initially I was going to do a whole record of my old songs but in my solo guise, and that was just one that was a nod to how I reinterpret some of the album songs in a solo setting. It snuck through as an example of how it changes to an acoustic ballad when it was initially a keyboard-driven pop-rock song.”

Even the album’s title – extracted from Tom Hodgkinson’s novel How To Be Free and referring to The Situationists, a European movement and ideology – has relevance to Morris’ recent life change.

“They were basically a bunch of anarchists in the ‘50s who were all about liberating themselves from modern day trappings like phones and bills and supermarkets – shit that I still use, I’ve got a phone and a laptop and a car, I’m not saying go and live in the hills,” Morris tells. “But I think it’s something that’s really important, and I think a lot of people are

really starting to grasp that vibe, especially down here in the Northern Rivers. I just get the shits about big supermarkets advertising their food as, ‘The freshest and the best’, when really it’s just overpriced shit and people just shop there for convenience and get sucked into the whole game. That way of thinking is certainly one that I’m aligned with, even if it’s just in relation to little things that you do in your life. It’s a cool way to live, and it’s fitting now that I run my label and I’m controlling all of the decisions about how I want to present my art – I think the idea really resonates, plus it ties into the way that I made this record.”

WHO: Andrew Morris WHAT: The Situationist (Soul Arch Recordings) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Brisbane Powerhouse; Monday 26, Embassy XO, Sunshine Coast

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21

SOMEWHERE IN TIME

SKY HIGH

Both former vocalists for one of heavy metal’s most influential acts, Iron Maiden, Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley will embark on their first co-headlining tour of Australia. Brendan Crabb talks to the prowler and a man on the edge. aul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley share a unique common ground; both recorded two studio albums with Iron Maiden, albeit in vastly different circumstances. The former fronted the British metal legends on their classic first two records (1980’s Iron Maiden and 1981’s Killers), being at the forefront of their rapid ascent in the late-‘70s/early‘80s. He was replaced by Bruce Dickinson, to legions of fans the definitive Maiden vocalist. When The Air Raid Siren departed in 1993 following a decade of dizzying success, Bayley stepped in. Unfortunately this coincided with a lull in their drawing power, although founder/bassist/linchpin Steve Harris reveals in Mick Wall’s authorised biography that the first Bayley-fronted record, 1995’s The X Factor, is one of his favourites. After poorly received follow-up Virtual XI and its troubled tour, Dickinson returned in 1999. Maiden have since experienced significant career resurgence, again playing to packed arenas and headlining major festivals.

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Both ex-singers are asked if they envisioned them making such a triumphant return at the turn of the millennium? “I don’t really listen to ‘em, of course I hear ‘em here and there, but really can’t say,” Di’Anno comments. “I think they never left the top. Everything comes and goes, they never really left. They’re just in that icon stage now – legendary, good on ‘em.”

“Yes, I haven’t had much time to listen to the albums but I never doubted that they would return,” Bayley responds. “[I attribute it to] their hardcore fanbase – they’ve supported Maiden over many years and are very loyal. There’s also the great songwriting of Steve Harris of course.”

Bayley’s tenure coincided with a general downturn in metal’s popularity. Metallica and Pantera flourished, but otherwise grunge and nu-metal superseded the more traditional styles.

“I didn’t really care,” he emphasises. “If there are ten fans or 10,000, I still try to give the best

After five long years, New Zealand quintet Kora have released their second album, and as vocalist Fran Kora tells Samuel J. Fell, it’s out of this world. ur story begins in outer space, where no man has gone before, where no one can hear you scream.

It’s the eternal emptiness, the vast nothingness, the mind-boggling possibility of such a frontier, that has informed the music on New Zealand quintet Kora’s latest record, Light Years. The sound has been dubbed ‘alien funk’, with guitarist Laughton Kora joking, “Alien funk is anything out of this world electronically.”

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Paul Di’Anno

Blaze Bayley

performance possible. I knew it wasn’t my fault so there was nothing I could do about it, apart from giving the best show. It was a great time for me.”

The question is posed as to whether Bayley felt the Maiden releases he appeared on were unfairly treated by fans and critics, or if he was made a scapegoat for their lesser performance? “I don’t know,” he mulls. “They were very different to what the fans were used to, so I did expect them to be more critical. I am very proud of these albums and having the chance to work with Steve. It was a difficult time for fans because their favourite singer had left the band, so I understand why they were not happy.

I try to go see them when they are touring in the UK, but it’s difficult because I am also on tour a lot of the times.

I stay in touch with Steve and mixed some of the songs from my new album The King Of Metal in his studio.”

While Bayley has always spoken with fondness about the metal icons, during The History Of Iron Maiden Part 1: The Early Days DVD, Di’Anno discusses his tenure with much endearment and admiration for their ongoing drive, but he’s also criticised the current incarnation, reportedly comparing Harris to Hitler for his (allegedly) tyrannical grip over the band.

“Mate, everyone takes want they want from what I say, usually the bloody wrong way too,” Di’Anno ponders. “Of course I have very deep affection from my times in Maiden; it was the time of (my) life until the end, when it wasn’t something I loved anymore. But it was becoming huge; it was a real hard decision to quit, or be kicked out… depends who you talk to.”

WHO: Paul Di’Anno and Blaze Bayley WHEN & WHERE: Monday 26 November, The Hi-Fi

SERIOUS FUNK

Fran Kora laughs about the sonic tag. “I have no idea where that came from,” he chuckles. It doesn’t matter really, because with Light Years, Kora have indeed headed out of this world, exploring new sonic frontiers, breaking down barriers, as has been their wont and their way since forming in the early-‘90s.

This time is quite different though. The band have eschewed guitars, and brought in an arsenal of synthesisers, hence the electronic reference from Laughton. Given the group have always been strongly rooted in reggae, dub, rock and funk – all very guitar-based genres for the most part – it’s an interesting direction in which to go.

“Well, we’ve always had synthesisers,” Fran Kora says. “It was just this time around, it was easier to get the sounds. We couldn’t get these sounds on guitars unless they were distorted… so it was just easier to get those sounds from synthesisers, we could get a bottom end without it sounding [bad].”

The sounds the band have created here are indeed heavily electronic, and they create a big, rich soundscape, one which isn’t harnessed by the surly bonds of genre and style, but which can go in any direction they please. It also seems like the band went in to record Light Years, which comes a good five years after their eponymous debut, with no real plan in mind. The exercise was one of adventure, creating and following until they found something they liked that worked.

“Yeah, that’s right,” concurs Kora. “I mean, every song we turned inside out, you do the full circle, you

What may surprise is what’s happened since.

Bankrupt Billionaires have had a bumper year and it looks only set to continue. They released their selftitled debut EP in January, have performed multiple high-profile sets throughout Brisbane (including acting as support for Chali 2na) and, having released lead single Shut Yo Face in June, are currently putting the finishing touches on their debut album.

“I think those four years were important, in a way. You know, we spent a lot of that time writing material and developing our sound. We wrote something like thirty songs before our first gig,” Timmons explains. “I mean, we’re all doing something a little bit different with this band. [Producers] Sammsonite and DATS are writing for soul, not hip hop. I’m a singer in this band, not a rapper.

“I don’t want to speak for the guys but I don’t think of Bankrupt Billionaires as a side-project for The Optimen anymore. I’m not sure it ever has been,” the vocalist reflects. “We’re all taking it quite seriously and we want to see just how far we can go with it.

That’s why we spent so long working on our sound,

22 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

It’s obvious from his conversation with Time Off that Kora the musician, and indeed, Kora the band, are very happy with how Light Years has turned out, particularly given it’s come so long after its predecessor.

“Yeah, we’re really happy with how it’s turned out, I mean there’s always a bit of pressure with the second album, those second album blues,” he smiles. “[And the reason it comes five years later], it was just the timing in everyone’s lives. Everyone’s got families and there are projects outside of the band as well. And it is like a long time, but it actually feels like yesterday that we released the last record.” Kora are a group who can’t help but go from strength to strength, always testing the sonic boundaries, striving to go further than any band has gone before. And while Kora says they’ll bring the guitars back for their next release, at least in part, in the meantime, the sky is the limit.

WHO: Kora WHAT: Light Years (Inertia) WHERE & WHEN: Sunday 25 November, The Hi-Fi

After a relatively quiet 2012, Some Jerks are signing off the year with a bang. Simon Walker takes Brendan Telford through their new album and plans for world domination.

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“Yeah, we’ve technically been together for around four years. It’s just we only really played our first gig about a year ago,” vocalist Kel Timmons says with a laugh. “The guys kind of started working on stuff back in 2007/2008 and were auditioning vocalists. I put my hand up and we seemed to have a real chemistry. We spent the next couple of years just working on our material and our live show. We didn’t want to rush it, I don’t think.”

“And [this process] was different for each person, actually. I found it quite frustrating… some of the guys took to it easily, but I work inside of the box, [not really] with the electronic side, but once I understood that, it became easier.”

THE JERK STORE CALLED…

Bankrupt Billionaires began as a side project for one of Brisbane’s most respected hip hop outfits. Ahead of their biggest show of the year, vocalist Kel Timmons speaks to Matt O’Neill about taking the group further. he Optimen have never been a prolific outfit.

Responsible for some of Brisbane hip hop’s most remarkable productions and performances, their output has nevertheless been fairly limited over the years. The past decade, for example, has seen only two albums from the crew. With that in mind, it’s perhaps unsurprising to learn that it took two members of the group nearly four years to properly unveil their side project Bankrupt Billionaires.

come back to the beginning again. There were a lot of songs that were really rocky, that had guitars and stuff, but when we pulled them back into the studio, we pared them back and moved towards the synths… and that just suited the whole ‘journey’ of the album.

rascible three-piece Some Jerks have laid low this year, mainly due to band members sojourning to the far flung corners of the globe.

Any preconceived notions of a tempering of energy, however, are about to be quashed by the release of their third album Buddy Rich Made Me Cry, a record that underscores their strengths as a band and the eclectic genres they invariably straddle.

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really. When we released our EP, we knew those were the best songs we had in us, you know?”

The group’s next show is indicative of their ambition.

Helping launch new Brisbane music platform THEpitch at Old Museum with local legends Dubmarine, Bankrupt Billionaires will have their standard seven-piece soul-funk line-up augmented by worldclass lighting, production and Brisbane’s first ever 3D LED performance. In light of such theatrics, it seems almost stubborn to continue to think of Bankrupt Billionaires as a part-time concern.

“It’s going to be so amazing. We’re absolutely stoked to be a part of it,” Timmons gushes. “The idea of it is to build an online music series of live performances and interviews – but very professionally. Kind of like Jools Holland or something like that. All of the people involved are heavyweight lighting and sound guys. You know, the people they get for Riverstage or Brisbane Entertainment Centre. This is like their passion project.

“We always try to make our live shows special. I think that’s always been a very important part of Bankrupt Billionaires. Brisbane is a small town, so whenever we play a gig we try and make it something unique to make it worth it for people to come,” the vocalist says. “But this will really be something else. Even if we weren’t playing, I’d beg people to turn up because it’s such a great initiative. It’s going to be so amazing.”

WHO: Bankrupt Billionaires WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Old Museum; Thursday 27 to Monday 31 December, Woodford Folk Festival, Woodfordia

“I think the album perfectly captures our transition over the past year,” drummer Simon Walker enthuses.

“We recorded the album in January at a time when we had some songs ready and were writing a lot. When we put out that EP we had been playing together for less than six months, which was half of our set really.

Throughout the year things built up and we had the songs [to] where we thought we should get them down and then move on. So now we have a whole load of new songs coming through now that shows an even further transition, how much tighter we are and how we are moving in a really good direction.”

Despite coming out almost a year after the initial recording sessions, Buddy Rich Made Me Cry stands as a testament to a young band honing their skills.

“It’s been a real journey, as we have all come at it from different angles,” Walker insists. “So while the album is fairly eclectic, I think that by album’s end we as a band come across as more focused than if you grabbed a couple of the songs randomly. We used the time to try writing different types of songs, so there are some heavy songs, some soppy songs, some dirty psych-garage tracks and ones that echo that ‘60s all-girl-band style of songwriting. At the end of it all we found some form of direction, we pushed a lot of these different ideas together.”

This experimentation with form has also allowed for more focus on vocals, as main singer Victoria Watson’s voice cuts right through to the front of the mix, and Will O’Brien takes on sole vocal duties on a number of

tracks. All of these elements add to fleshing out what already was an energised sound. “Vick has a great voice, so it makes sense that this became a focus,” Walker states. “Some of the slower songs in particular feature great melodies, and they needed to come to the front and shine. Whereas Will’s voice and vocals coming to the front is more of him gaining confidence over time within that role. It’s a great dynamic that is building within the band, and the harmonies that those two have got grow the more we play together.

We have worked out what works and what doesn’t for us, so the energy there is getting better and better.”

With the launch of the album imminent, Walker is understandably itchy to get back on stage and keep the creative juggernaut rolling while proving that they are not an easily definable band; they have something most punters will wholly enjoy. “We are pretty eclectic, and that shows on the album – Tomorrow’s Sun is a great song, but there is nothing else like it on there, so it sits alone. There are a few other tracks like that, and I think it works. Vick and I come from an older rock’n’roll atmosphere; when we play live most of our songs are twice as fast as they are when we record them. We can be clean, we can be dirty, we can play a quieter, poppy set or we can mix it with Hits and those bands. We can play across different genres and groups, and I think that is a real strength.

At the end of the day, we just want to party.”

WHO: Some Jerks WHAT: Buddy Rich Made Me Cry (Turkeyneck) WHERE & WHEN: Saturday 24 November, Beetle Bar

23

WRITTEN IN BLOOD Touring nationally this month to unveil the first taste of her forthcoming third record, Jen Cloher shares the motivation for a new direction with Tyler McLoughlan.

Israeli singer Yasmin Levy returns to Australia with her modernised take on Ladino music, keeping its heritage alive and breathing new life into music that could have been lost forever if not for the diligent efforts of her father. But as she tells Chris Yates, it hasn’t been done without ruffling some feathers.

ollowing a period of tremendous personal loss documented in a touching Women Of Letters account on the passing of her parents, Jen Cloher has kicked off the next chapter of her career. With a new band and a fresh songwriting approach the Melburnian unveiled Mount Beauty last month, the first single from her forthcoming third record Blood Memory, which moves away from the country-folk style that gained her an ARIA nomination in 2006.

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“I’ve had a few Patti Smith comparisons and a few PJ Harvey comparisons and I think it’s really not so much the song or even the way that we’ve approached the sound… [but] all of those women have a sort of attitude and they’re not trying to be pretty or perfect, and I love that,” says Cloher of the response to Mount Beauty so far. “I got tired of hearing people go: ‘And we were just listening to the beautiful Jen Cloher,’ you know. I got tired of being beautiful and nice, so I really wanted to go for something that was imperfect and you can hear it in the vocal take – I don’t hit some of the notes perfectly, my pronunciation isn’t perfect, my voice sort of crackles over a few of the words in there and that was a rehearsal take so we hadn’t even started recording proper. The engineer just pushed record and that was the first take that we ever did of that song in the studio… When you hear it I say at the beginning, ‘Oh, don’t worry, we’re not recording,’ and then you can hear our drummer swearing – when you listen really closely she fucks up a drum fill and swears… It’s a bit shambolic and cool.”

Cloher has moved away from the acoustic styling of her first two records in favour of exploring electric guitar this time around as a way of broadening her songwriting outcomes. “The whole album I sort of decided to write on electric, mainly to have a different experience because you can kind of get into almost like sense memory stuff… Keith Richards talks about how we go to the same chords or the same ways of playing things; we get this sense memory and I’ve found that by playing electric I just had a

24 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

REWRITING HISTORY

alking from London, Levy has just finished the premiere of her new show which she is bringing to Australia. “It was a really tense time, but really wonderful,” she says of the process of getting all the musicians and the songs together for the opening.

“I have a new album which is called Libertad, and some of the musicians are from here in London, but [also from] Armenia, Germany – all around the world.

So I came here to London to work in the studio for a week – a very intensive week – many hours each day so we could actually have the performance ready. We are very excited we are now heading to Australia.”

T different experience and I kind of tricked myself out of going and doing the same thing,” she admits.

Making her way around the nation to showcase the new single this month, Cloher has gained the feisty rock prowess of Courtney Barnett who both opens the shows and is now a member of her new backing band.

“Our music is very different which is great – I don’t think you come along and go, ‘Oh, that’s too weird, it doesn’t work’ – but it’s really great being around someone whose approach is very different,” Cloher says of Barnett. “And I think in a lot of ways I get very influenced by people in my band if they’ve got a certain style; the last guitarist that we had in [previous backing band] The Endless Sea was a fellow called Michael Hubbard, who now plays in Eagle & The Worm…

Because he was such a great country guitarist I was like, ‘I’ve got to write country songs for this player!’

So in a way [with] Courtney, there’s probably more of that pop-rock influence that’s come into my own work just from playing with her. But she’s fantastic – I think that big things are on the horizon for her and I’m really excited to see triple j embrace a songwriter whose got a bit of attitude, and a bit of grunt. You don’t go: ‘That was the beautiful Courtney Barnett!’” Cloher laughs, of the tag she has worked to move beyond with Mount Beauty.

“I hope she’s gonna revolutionise rock for the kids.”

WHO: Jen Cloher WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 22 November, Black Bear Lodge

She sounds genuinely thrilled with how warmly received the premiere of the show was at the Barbican Centre in York. In fact, whenever she speaks of her fans it’s with a sentimental gratitude that sounds authentic and surprised. She also expresses an incredible admiration for all the performers she gets to work with.

“I always feel that I’m lucky to be a musician, and I have been lucky to work with so many musicians. I have Armenian musicians, musicians from Iran, from Turkey, from Spain, from Israel, from Palestine – really from all over the place! It’s such a joy because they make my life much more beautiful and much more colourful, as well as my music. I really believe they help me make something bigger than myself.”

Levy started her musical career quite late in life, at least by her standards. It wasn’t until her early-20s that the idea of being a musician was something she entertained. Her father, a struggling workman musician, saw the lifestyle as hard and challenging, and wanted a better life for his children.

“My family all became engineers and lawyers and I thought that I was supposed to do the same,” she

reflects. “My dream was to be a vet, the love of my life are animals, but I knew that when I was 22 years old that I was kidding myself and I was born to be a singer.

With all due respect to my father, I need to be myself and be happy and honest with myself. So I decided to listen to my heart and sing, and when I was 24 years old I released my first album and started to live this life.”

Describing Levy’s musical style as traditional is not entirely accurate. Although some of the songs she performs are over 500 years old, having been passed down orally over five centuries, she says she has no interest in merely regurgitating them in order to keep them alive. Instead, her modern take on Ladino music has seen her reach a much wider audience than the traditional songs ever could. It was actually her father who was the first person to transcribe thousands of these songs in the almost lost Ladino language onto paper, preserving them for future generations. She says that not everyone enjoys her interpretations of these songs that have been so painstakingly preserved by her own family.

“I must tell you, I’m not their cup of tea,” she says, of the older generation who still know the music from its roots. “I’m not a traditional, nice, soft singer that you can put on your radio while you cook and talk to your friend. Either people love me or they cannot stand me!” she laughs. “I understand that and I respect that.”

WHO: Yasmin Levy WHAT: Libertad (Adama/World Village) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 22 November, Brisbane Powerhouse; Saturday 24, Lismore Star Court Theatre

ISSUE 03 • NOVEMBER 2012

INSIDE :

DEEP SEA ARCADE AT SOUNDCHECK, GRACE POTTER PREPARES FOR BLUESFEST, FORTUNE FAV OURS KERRI SIMPSON, CRYSTAL THOMA S TAKES A CHANCE

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PRS DAY AT GUITAR FACTORY PARRAMATTA The Guitar Factory in Parramatta is presenting a PRS guitar day Sunday 25 November from 11am to 3pm. Join the Guitar Factory team, Brett Kingman and Peter Peric for a day of Paul Reed Smith guitars appreciation, in which they will have all of their stock proudly displayed along with some very special private stock that will be flown in especially for this event. This is a great opportunity to choose from a large variety of hand-picked, some even extremely limited edition PRS guitars at prices never to be repeated!

Demoing the PRS guitars on the day will be two respected Australian players. Peter Peric is a Sydney-based black/death metal guitarist best known for his work with Nazxul, Rookwood & Infernal Mehtod. He’s toured the globe extensively and shared stages with bands such as Satyricon, Watain, Anathema, Possessed, Dark Tranquility among many. His unorthodox approach to the guitar is a must see for true metal maniacs! Also appearing on the day will be Brett Kingman, one of Australia’s busiest players. Inspired by ‘70s classic and glam-rock guitarists and beginning his professional career at the age of 12, Kingman has become one of Australia’s better known hired guns and has spent time touring and recording with Australian icons such as James Reyne (presently touring), Daryl Braithwaite, Ross Wilson, Renee Geyer, Joe Camilleri, Vika & Linda Bull, Peter Andre, Jenny Morris and dozens of others. Visit www. guitarfactory.com.au/ for more information

CREDITS MUSO. ISSUE 3 - NOVEMBER 2012 PH: 03 9421 4499 FAX: 03 9421 1011 584 Nicholson St Nth Fitzroy 3068 WEBSITE: www.themusic.com.au EDITOR: Greg Phillips greg@streetpress.com.au DISTRIBUTION ENQUIRIES: distribution@streetpress.com.au LAYOUT & DESIGN: Matt Davis IPAD EDITION: Dave Harvey CONTRIBUTORS: Reza Nasseri, Baz Bardoe, Sean Pollard, Christopher Steller, Michael Smith, Marcel Yammouni.

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kane Hibberd Published by Street Press Australia PTY LTD PRINTED BY: Rural Press

GUITARS PLUS TURNS 30

Greek six-piece symphonic metal band Nightfall recorded their new album, Cassiopeia, in four different places, with vocals and keys recorded at Soundflakes Studios and Cyberia in Greece, the drums tracked at Soundlodge studios in Germany, and guitars and bass at Boomcave studios in Nashville, Tennessee.

World’s End Press have been working on their debut album with Tim Goldsworthy (DFA, Mo Wax, The Rapture) at Rockfield Studios in Wales and Massive Attack Studios in Bristol.

San Franciscobased Thao & The Get Down Stay Down recorded their third album, We The Common, with producer John Congleton (St. Vincent, Bill Callahan, The Walkmen) at his Elmwood Recording studios in Dallas.

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In a world of rapid change, it’s great to know that some things remain the same. Chris Voce, proprietor of Guitars Plus in Victoria’s bayside suburb, Sandringham, first served customers from behind his counter in November 1982. Thirty years down the track he’s still there (with his team) doing what he does best. Chris is one of the most knowledgeable retail guys in Australia when it comes to guitars. Chris has been thinking about celebrating the milestone, however claims he’s been too busy to do anything about it. A nice problem to have after 30 years’ service in the local music gear industry. Guitars Plus is well known for its excellent repair department.

It’s not everyone you can trust your cherished guitar with but it’ll be safe and sound in the hands of Guitars Plus. The store also has an excellent reputation for guitar tuition with the likes of Simon Croft teaching. Simon is about to head to Europe at the request of Queen’s Brian May to perform in We Will Rock You. Visit www. guitarsplus.com.au for more information or better still, call into 5 Melrose St Sandringham in Victoria and talk guitars with Chris.

ENGADINE MUSIC DOES COLE CLARK Engadine Music in NSW has been appointed as a specialist store for locally-made guitar brand Cole Clark. Cole Clark produce quality instruments featuring some of our country’s finest tone woods and construction techniques.

All guitars come with an internally-fitted ABS hard-shell case. A D’Addario 3D 3 pack of acoustic strings is included with any Cole Clark purchase. Engadine also offers a free setup adjustment and check three months after purchase. They also offer a 14-day ‘satisfaction guaranteed’ period. The Cole Clark deal runs through until Christmas. Engadine has an extensive range of Christmas giftware lines suitable for all musicians too. As an encouragement for personal shoppers to visit the store, from now until Christmas Engadine is offering guitar string sets for just $4.95, an offer which is not available online. Visit www. engadinemusic.com.au for more information.

n this issue, The Living End look back at a stellar career during their Retrospective Tour while others such as Deep Sea Arcade, who are just starting out on their musical journey, very much look to the future. It was quite inspiring to still see the excitement in the eyes of Chris , Andy and Scott from The Living End as they reminisced about days gone by. Although it didn’t make the final story cut, one of the more interesting discussions was about their worst gig ever.

Scott immediately claimed Bakersfield, California where he feared for his life during set-up as crack addicts roamed the foyer and the venue owner waltzed around with a baseball bat for protection. Chris on the other hand saw it differently. Even though the venue was next door to a prison and the dodgy audience was virtually in his face as he played guitar, he remembers the gig as a triumph because they dug deep and won them over.

They have played every kind of gig possible from weddings to funerals to bikie compounds

Cameron Webb (Motörhead, Danzig, Social Distortion) mixed the new album, Now And Forever, from Swedish glam-metal four-piece Sister Sin. The eponymous debut album by Melbourne six-piece Money For Rope was recorded and mixed by Steven Schram (The Vasco Era, Devastations, Little Red).

Perth psych folk rockers The Morning Night called in The Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Ricky Maymi to produce their debut album, Otis.

Perth-born Melbournebased producer Anna Laverty is currently working on the debut solo album from The Panics frontman Jae Laffer, having recently finished producing an EP for triple j darlings Dirt Farmer.

and are still selling out nearly every gig they play. You gotta admire those guys!

Also in this issue, Kerri Simpson and Crystal Thomas typify the spirit of the indie musician, where life tries its best to get in the way of their art. Paul Noble speaks with pride about the new range of Casio synths. A playful Grace Potter (or pottymouth as I discovered) tells of her excitement to be playing Bluesfest on the same bill as Robert Plant, and we road test a bunch of amazing new products. The common theme running through this issue (or any issue of Muso really) is the enjoyment the artists still get out of their music, whether they’re new to it professionally or have been doing it for years.

You won’t find any jaded rock stars in this title!

GREG PHILLIPS Muso Editor

Gear News

EMAIL FOR CHANCE TO WIN A STERLING MUSIC MAN RAY35 BASS Sterling’s Music Man Ray35 bass body is contoured for playing comfort with a maple neck attached via a solid six-bolt neck joint. Sterling use a swamp ash for the body that’s light weight for percussive lows, subtle mids and expansive highs. Music Man-designed components include three-band active preamp, humbucking pickup and bridge, standard equipment for all Ray series basses. The low B string remains tight and solid along the 34” scale. The tone is all Music Man Sterling by Music Man, gig bag is included.

Valued at $1,395, Muso readers have the chance to WIN one of these basses and entry is simple.

All you need to do is email your contact details and the codeword ‘Muso” to info@cmcmusic. com.au between Nov 19, 2012 and Jan 5, 2013. Winner will be announced on the CMC Music Facebook page on January 10, 2013. www.cmcmusic.com.au

FREE EFFECTS UNITS WITH TC PURCHASES There are some amazing TC Helicon and TC Electronic deals happening for the months of November and December. From TC Helicon for vocalists, purchase any VoiceLive Play, VoiceLive Play GTX, Voicetone Mic Mechanic or VoiceTone Single before December 31 and you get a FREE MP-75 Vocal Performance Microphone. The other deal is from TC Electronic and is for guitarists. Buy any two TC compact pedals and you’ll earn yourself a TC Electronic Spark Booster pedal for FREE. or purchase a BG250 bass combo, BH250, BH500,RH450, RH750 or Blacksmith bass amp and receive a FREE Corona Chorus pedal. www.tcelectonic.com/holiday-rebate

LIMITED AVAILABILITY MUSIC MAN MODELS Music Man have opened order windows for two new releases for November only – ie when the date rolls over to December 1, you’ll be unable to order these models ever again: This year, at the US Arlington Guitar show, Music Man introduced a limited run of Silhouettes with Ash bodies, custom-wound humbuckers (as featured in the Axis and Albert Lee HH models), and Floyd Rose tremolos. A huge success, they decided to offer them to their international distributors. Colours include Black, Trans Purple, Trans Teal, Pacific Blue Burst and Natural These guitars can be ordered with matching or non-matching headstocks and with either rosewood or maple fingerboards. The other limited offer is the Music Man Sledge. www.cmcmusic.com.au

[3]

I

t couldn’t have been more straight forward.

The original idea was to play their debut album in its entirety at a gig or two. But the more the band and management talked, the bigger the concept became. All six albums, all cities and let’s take a swag of support bands along for the ride.

The Living End’s The Retrospective Tour has become one of the most successful Australian tours by a local band, ever. As gig after gig sold out, the band were hunkered down at Melbourne’s Deluxe Studios bringing to life the 80 or so songs from their back catalogue. Again, it would have been much simpler to take one set of standard TLE gear out to nail these songs, but that’s not The Living End’s way. “We want to try to play the albums as true as possible,” said bass player Scott Owen.

Guitarist and TLE main man Chris Cheney agrees.

“When there are 80 songs to learn, we don’t want there to be 80 songs with the same guitar tone for every single tune.” Such fastidiousness comes at a price though. Not only did they have to go back and learn the back catalogue, they also had to try to recall what gear was used on each track. “We’ve been like, ‘I can’t remember what delay that was, put the record on!’ So we’d tweak it and try to match it.”

Chris has dusted down some old guitars for the tour and is keen to give them some stage time to help emulate the original album tones. “I have an old 1962 Double Anniversary Gretsch which is just beautiful. It’s kind of like an old car, when it’s up and running. It’s nice but it takes a little bit to get going and doesn’t really compete that well with my newer Gretschs. I’m dialing in a few little sounds here and there on my effects board but otherwise it is still pretty bare bones.

It’s still a basic rock n roll foundation and not many effects… a lot of delays! Scott is also excited to be hearing Chris rip out some classic Living End riffs. “It’s awesome to hear all of that stuff again,” he said. “Chris is being fucking shy, he’s rather meticulous about his effects and getting them all perfect like they are on the record.”

Their gear has actually changed over the years, as they discovered during rehearsals. “I was looking at a photo of Scott and I and our first drummer playing at the Yarraville Hotel back in about 1993,” recalls Chris. “I had two Fender Twins behind me, a Tube Screamer and a digital delay pedal, which I used to adjust the increments on as I went. Now I have this pedalboard in front of me which basically has a whole lot of buttons on it which are like patches, which then go back through like a brain, which then engages certain pedals and delays and it is very convoluted. Basically, now I am running like a C3PO-like Millenium Falcon pedalboard!

We started out with a direct line in, maybe a delay pedal, Chuck Berry style and it’s kind of gone more U2 as we have gone along. I’m [pretty] strict in getting the delays right. Some of the songs depend on that. My biggest thing is that I can’t remember half the shit that I was playing with on those earlier records. We’ve got an extra guitar player now, Adrian Lombardi, so I not only have to learn what I used to play, but I have to learn the overdubs too. He’ll be like, ‘How are you playing that bit?’

[4]

THE LIVING END

Look back, gear up and go for it! it and I’m like, ‘Dude, I don’t know… I’m just trying to figure out my own bit.’

Adrian has been our touring rhythm guitar player now for almost two years.”

It’s not just Chris and his original guitar tones which needed to be recreated. The same issues befell bassist Scott and to a lesser degree drummer Andy Strachan.

Often it took a flick through photo albums to find clues as to what gear they were using at any given time. “Those old photos that I found, you had three milk crates and you had that cube on top, another little speaker on top of that then a tweeter thing,” Cheney recalls of Scott’s bass rig. “It looked like a little robot. That was like ‘93, ‘94, we were just out of school and you went through a lot of pickups.”

Like most musicians, Scott has always been on the quest for a perfect stage sound but for someone who plays a

The Living End are a third of the way through their massive Retrospective Tour, in which they’re playing all six of their albums to sold out crowds in five cities. They were conducting final rehearsal when Muso’s Greg Phillips caught up with the band. double bass, it’s never been easy. “It always been a major thorn in my side, playing an instrument in a manner it wasn’t supposed to be played,” said Scott.

“Then getting it to be amplified and sound like a quality instrument on a rock‘n’roll stage, is a real mission. I’m always getting closer and closer to what I’m seeing in my mind. It’s hard. It’s not like going into a guitar shop and saying, ‘I’ll have that sound’. It’s something that I have to make up. I went through all these weird and wacky ideas of getting the pickup inside the bass, mounting pickups

inside them in which case you need to cut a hole in the bass to get in there. There’s been one luthier who has tended to my every whim with [the] double bass over all the years I have played, Ben Puglisi, and I appreciate him so much. Even when I have ideas like, ‘Why not cut a hole in this section?

He’s gone, ‘Man, you are going to regret that so much one day… I’ll do it for you just to appease your curiosity but you’re going to fucking regret it, I swear to God.’ A year later I’d bring it in and ask him to patch that hole up but yes, it’s been an endless search.”

For Cheney, the quest for the perfect sound is part and parcel of what being in a rock band is all about. “You’ve got to search for those things because there wasn’t a template for what we were trying to do at that early point,” he said.

“There’s parts of us that wanted to be this but also a modern rock band, not a traditional rockabilly band – we want to be able to play at volume. I’ve got extra struts in my guitars from trying to play at high volume… extra things that I have put into my guitars over the years to try to handle the fact that we’re this rockabilly band that wants to be The Who!” Looking back, Andy Strachan believes he has gone smaller and quieter with his drum kit.

“My drum tech and front of house guys over the years have said to me, ‘You don’t need cymbals that make your eyes bleed’, but that’s what I thought back then,” he said. “On

the Big Day Out stage or whatever, I thought you needed cymbals that were louder then amps. You don’t. That’s what microphones are for, so that’s the only lesson I have really learnt. Other than that, I try to get new drums to sound like vintage drums.

They’re all thin shells, mahogany and maple. It’s a Pearl Masterworks kit. Masterworks is apparently like … whatever you want. Their idea is that they’ll build you whatever you need. To that degree, they’re right on the money and will pretty much do whatever you want. Instead of having 8 ply maple and 3 ply birch, I go for 4 plys of mahogany with maple blue rings and that’s as close as I have found to a vintage drum kit. I try to make them sound as old as possible. The cymbals are a big thing I learnt.

They’re thin and quieter cymbals and actually sound a lot better, especially when you have the vocal mic open, like a Z Custom is just going to bleed all over the stage and ruin the front of house guy’s day. That’s where it all stemmed from, the front of house guy and drum tech saying that it doesn’t have to be that loud. The snare drum either; you can play quietly and let the mics do the work. With the cymbals, Zildjian K Hybrid Crashes is what I have been playing, quite thin but 18s and 19s, 21” sweet ride which is what I have been playing for five or six years now; and a pair of 15” Hybrid hats, K Lights so they are quite thin – way quieter than they used to be. I used to play all Z Customs and A Projections, cymbals which tore your ears apart.”

As the beers chugged down and the memories become more vivid, the guys revelled in stories about how the band has given them the opportunity to meet some of their musical heroes, and how bizarre it has been that some of them such as Richard Clapton, Brad Shepherd, Daryl Braithwaite, and Neil Finn bother to come backstage or even compliment them on their music.

After all these years and a new record breaking tour, it seems The Living End deep down are basically just music fans. “It’s why we’re here,” said Chris.

“It’s gotta be why we’re here: a) because we are patient, b) because we are ambitious motherfuckers and c) because we are music lovers. We still get along. We have been through everything a band could possibly go through. We’ve been through drug issues, girlfriend issues, issues where I don’t want to see you or be around you, musical direction issues. We’ve been through everything like that and we are still around. A lot of bands don’t have that patience. We’ve always felt that we can go on and do something a little better.” Andy’s eyes light up too and chips in. “There was a moment a couple of weeks ago and we were playing How Do We Know and it felt fantastic. The whole rehearsal went for about five hours playing together and going, ‘Yeah, that was fine’. Then there was this magic moment where, even after all this time… we have played that song a thousand times but it just felt so exciting and so good. That’s what it is all about… those moments.” “It’s not about the accolades or how many payers or much merch we sold,” Chris says in summary. “It’s really about, ‘Shit that felt good when we played’. You hope that never leaves you.” www.thelivingend.com

Deep Sea Arcade laid Outlands on us this year, an album full of dreamlike ‘60s-influenced pop rock gems. Sean Pollard caught up with the band at soundcheck in Melbourne during their recent national tour.

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olling into the Corner to begin yet another nationwide jaunt, Sydney psych pop outfit Deep Sea Arcade have been riding a huge wave of success since the release of their debut album, Outlands, earlier this year. Almost five years of recording time and experimentation has paid off for these boys as Outlands seems to have spawned more singles than your average Rihanna album. Tracks like Girls, Seen No Right, Steam and the latest offering, Granite City, have seen

pretty much all of the first record, especially See No Right. I’ve also got a Juno 60 but because I don’t tour with that; it’s mapped across the keyboard as well. There’s also a Roland Jupiter and a Hammond through a Leslie speaker in stereo. I also sampled stuff off vinyl records. I have this old sampling module at home that you can do really good pitch shifting with, so I use that all the time as well.”

So, to get down to brass tacks, McKenzie has attempted to take a small universe of instruments and sounds on the road with Deep Sea Arcade – and is succeeding due to the versatility of his MPC-1000 set up.

When teamed up with a MIDI keyboard, this enables Deep Sea Arcade to faithfully replicate the psychedelic washes and pumped up guitar hooks of Outlands without having to lug weighty keyboards all over the country. www.facebook.com/deepseaarcade

Outlandish riffs this four-piece garner more than a cult following as they pick up festival slots and sell out venues all over the country.

Their sound is rooted in the experimental pop of the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, but also harks back to a time when Oasis, Stone Roses and The Happy Mondays ruled the world and Manchester was the thriving epicentre of a jangly guitar-based pop scene. One look at frontman Nic McKenzie on stage gives this influence away as he struts about, points at the audience and delivers a note-perfect tribute to his Hacienda-loving forefathers. Deep Sea Arcade are no mere rip-off though, and it’s the sheer strength of their songwriting combined with a loving attention to detail when it comes to equipment and recording techniques that has led to their burgeoning success.

We find singer Nic McKenzie out front of The Corner on what has become a rainy Friday afternoon in Melbourne. While the rest of the band busy themselves with the vagaries of postsoundcheck life (setting up the merch desk, checking the door list, eating parmagiana) McKenzie is more than happy to explain the various gear and techniques Deep Sea Arcade use on stage and in the studio to create their sound. He’s certainly qualified as, as he explains, the bulk of Outlands was created in collaboration with bassist Nick Weaver as the rest of the band dropped in and out of various studios as needed. Far from a control freak, it’s clear that McKenzie has a singular vision about where he feels the band’s sound should go and what kind of equipment they need to replicate their sound on stage, especially when it comes to the most crucial element of any pop band - the guitars.

“Jimmy uses a 2002 Les Paul and runs it mainly through a Marshall Reflector Reverb,” McKenzie explains with a little help from his new guitarist, over his shoulder. “He also uses a pretty simple DS-1 Boss Distortion pedal, which is pretty much the same setup that I play through when I’m at home so it’s easy for him to replicate the sounds I normally get. On top of this he also has a Jekyll and Hyde Overdrive pedal as well as a Soviet Small Stone Phaser and a DD-20.”

As a live outfit, Deep Sea Arcade’s twin-guitar attack is a little different to most bands, predominantly due to lead guitarist Simon Relf ’s use of a 12-string guitar. Often perceived as a notoriously unreliable instrument live, especially when it comes to tuning and consistency of tone, Relf has honed his use of the 12-string down to an art. The guitar itself is an Eastwood Classic 12. Often unfairly written off as a secondary copy of the old Gretsch 12-string guitars, it generally features two EW-Retro Humbucker pickups to recreate a classic twangy ‘60s sound and, in the live arena, can prove to be a versatile and great sounding tool. Relf normally runs the Classic 12 (as well as his standard Fender Telecaster) through a Fender Stage 100 amplifier which, as he tells it, “has this beautiful sound and is really reliable but it’s broken for the first time in five years. So I’m playing through a Blues Junior tonight.

I normally tour with a DeVille because you can never really hire those stage 100s through any backline companies or anything. Those Blues Junior’s are pretty nice though.”

McKenzie himself is a bit of an audiophile and really perks up when quizzed on the small keyboard-based rig he employs onstage and in the studio. Rather than relying on a Nord or any other standard keys setup, McKenzie uses a MIDI keyboard to control an Akai MPC-1000 into which he’s plugged in a galaxy of samples picked up from studio to studio, record to record or even instrument to instrument. “I’ve got about twenty or thirty keyboards mapped onto it. Every time I go to a studio I’ll map something onto it. I’ve got mellotrons, strings, violins, flutes, choir, brass, so if I’m in the studio or even on stage I can just dial through. I’ve also got about six different types of Casiotone mapped across it. We were in a bunch of different studios and every time we’d go in and track stuff at Megaphon (a famous Sydney studio based in St Peters that has witnessed the likes of Midnight Oil, The Cruel Sea and more recently The Jezebels through its doors) and Carlos was tracking on drums and it was taking ages – I’d just go in, look around and sample all their keyboards.”

It’s not just keyboards that McKenzie has dialled into this setup though, and closer inspection reveals he’s been extremely creative with the way he’s put his rig together. “I’ve also sampled guitar sounds and mapped them across. I’ve got that thing where you play out a tremolo thing... like (sings Pulp Fiction theme tune)... I don’t know what it’s called,” he laughs. “I tracked that all across every key so I can play that chord and it sounds like a Hammond Dulcimer - but it’s actually guitars. That sound is on

[5]

Crystal Thomas has released her second album, A Chance In Hell, and chats with Greg Phillips about its origins, the recording process and the future.

BEN BUNTING CRYSTAL’S LIVE GUITARIST “My live set up for Crystal is a Fender Jag through a 1968 (Australian-made) Wasp amp head. I just use a Boss delay pedal and an ‘80s Boss dual overdrive. My own style is a bit looser and unhinged than the CD. I decided to play more off Crystal’s voice and her vocal melody rather than follow the notes or structure on the CD.”

I

t was an Arts Victoria grant in 2009 that allowed Crystal Thomas to record her second album, A Chance In Hell. “The plan was to hunker down and write fifteen songs as quickly as I could, without rushing them so much that the quality was compromised,” she explains. Her first album, Crystal Thomas and The Flowers of Evil, was recorded in spasms over a three-year period, a

Taking her chances production practice she wanted to avoid this time around. “I set aside five weeks to write fifteen or as many songs as I could. With the first album, I was working at a call centre and had saved $150 to get the engineer out to Matt Walker’s studio.

I’d record two drum tracks, pack down, go back to the call centre, save up for another few weeks, get the engineer out and so on. This time around I wanted more of a raw thing, coming from a place of emotion rather than any particular precision feel.”

Crystal also wanted her second album to be more of a collaborative effort. She assembled some respected Melbourne players - Spencer P Jones, Matt Walker, Matt Green, Tim McCormack and Phil Collings - to both write and record with. She even had lyrical contributions from her mother and grandfather. For an album possessing so much raw rock emotion, loud, swaggering guitar sounds and sometimes sordid subject matter, the method in which Crystal wrote the songs was comparatively conservative.

“As loose as my writing style may appear, my roots are firmly placed in my admin past. I had appointments set up with Spencer, Matt Walker, Greeny and Tim, who I wrote with. All my lyric

ideas were typed up, in folders and labelled.

I’d be there with my pen and paper and folders going, okay, I’m ready to rock now! It was hilarious. I very much research and plan songs like it is a day job. I have drafts of my lyrics saved on my computer and I write them independently of the music.”

The songs on the album are quite diverse in style, which isn’t surprising considering the different writing collaborations, but

also the style in which Crystal sings from track to track is varied.

I wondered who her vocal influences were and who she borrows from. “Yeah, there are probably different personas of me on the album,” she suggests.

“I guess it depends on the song but Spencer converted me to Amy Winehouse. I was never really a fan but then again, I’d never paid much attention to her.

So I guess the song I Could Die Right Now is kind of a tribute;

obviously this was before she died. The song itself is actually about addiction, not to drugs or alcohol.

The lyrics are shrouded in metaphors to do with drug and alcohol addiction but it is actually exploring the idea that you can be addicted to a person. Also that you can be addicted to music or chasing the dream and that it can be just as much of a rollercoaster ride with euphoric highs and devastating lows and scrounging together a gig. It plays out the same way.”

An artist’s second album is often referred to as the ‘difficult’ one, and for good reason. For Crystal though, it wasn’t an issue. “I had a pretty tangible set of emotions to work off. Some pretty traumatic things had just happened. Life was my muse. I guess the second album was written primarily from experiences which happened during that year. There were still some of the old themes filtering back through. I am very much in the vein of confessional lyricists. I guess it’s dark because I am trying to write music which is cathartic. When I first listened to Nick Cave’s The

I

t’s a pretty good life here in Australia for the music fan. With so much amazing and varied talent to choose from, we’re incredibly lucky.

For the artists themselves … not so much. Our lack of population generally means the majority of acts don’t get anywhere near the recognition or financial rewards they deserve. Melbourne-based singersongwriter Kerri Simpson is one of those artists. She’s often dubbed a blues singer, but her discography

Simpson plays guitar too and owns an impressive sunburst tone Epiphone

A fortunate life The new album is the second in a trilogy of recordings (the Knockin’ At The Backdoor series), made possible by a grant she received from Brunswick’s Thirty Mill studios. The generous grant allowed Kerri to record up to 50 songs, from which she then grouped tracks into either the country-flavoured Maybe By Midnight album, the new blues/rootstinged Fortune Favoured Me or the yet to be complied jazz and gospel-style record. For Fortune Favoured Me, Kerri called on a bunch of guitar-slinging guests to stamp their personality on a track or two.

Contributions came from Geoff Achison, Shannon Bourne, Matt Walker, Jeff Lang and Charles Jenkins, some of Australia’s finest musicians. “Each song was a bit of an essence of each guitar player involved,” Kerri explains. “Not necessarily about their nature or character, just trying to capture a little bit of the ambience of the artist. Geoff Achison’s song is about

[6]

Crystal, who has just completed a diploma of professional writing and editing, chose to record the album with her band in performance mode as opposed to doing separate vocal takes.

It started almost as an acoustic blues thing.”

Howl features an intense scream-like vocal, so I wondered if the emotion may have come as a result of a bad day at Kerri’s day job as a librarian. “Ha, no. I was sort of thinking about the Marianne Faithful song, Why’d Ya Do it. I was thinking about the intensity of the vocal.

By the time we got into the studio Langy just ramped it up and I had to match that intensity.”

Melbourne-based blues diva Kerri Simpson releases the second album of her Knockin At The Backdoor trilogy and speaks to Muso’s Greg Phillips.

proves she’s much more than that, having dabbled in many genres. She can sure as shit belt out a tune, that much is certain, and when she ventures into a New Orleans-style voodoo vibe, Kerri can scare the pants off you too. I offer track 3, Howl, off her new album, Fortune Favoured Me, as evidence.

Good Son on cassette when I was fifteen, it transported me to this alternative world. It was such an amazing experience to feel. I was at a girls’ school and it was all a bit nice and boring. So I put on this cassette and was transported to this dark and dangerous world. I wanted to do for others what that cassette had done for me.”

being out on the road and missing his beloved partner. With Pirates Are a Girl’s Best Friend, I was sitting around with band members Dean Addison (bass) and Ben Grayson (keyboards), talking about the Caribbean and Cuba and different rhythms.”

Matt Walker shone his fretted light on the track Silver’s Last Stand.

“He came and put all those beautiful ambient guitar lines down, so it was really just a matter of running a vocal and not doing too much

to it. All the guys put down a lot of tracks and we could edit what we wanted and leave bits in or take them out. With Howl, Jeff Lang’s track, there was much more layering and editing and manipulating of sounds. Matt’s track is untouched and Jeff ’s we played with a lot more. With Geoff Achison, he put down several guitar parts and we turned the song around after he had left. Geoff did it in one groove and Colin and I turned it into another.”

Shannon Bourne played on three tracks and co-wrote Insatiable with Simpson. Bourne’s dirty fuzz tones compliment Simpson’s dark, soulful vocal perfectly on this track. “We both share a great love of very dark heavy music and sounds,” Kerri says of her musical relationship with Bourne.

“He knew the vibe I was going for … the spooky, haunting psychological thriller. Shannon and I have known each other for a long time and we can play off each other and match each other’s moods in terms of feel and intonation. He gets where I’m coming from and I tend to explain things more in imagery and sound rather than technically.”

The brief Simpson gave the guitarists was quite basic: come in, jam with her band and do something roots-based. There was rarely a rehearsal before the record button was pushed. The state a song begun in wasn’t necessarily how it turned out. “Jeff Lang’s track started off as a Delta blues thing and ended as Howl, which is the most full-on track on the album.

SHANNON BOURNE’S GUITAR TRACKS

“For these recordings I did Kerri’s album (Insatiable and Mr. Wolf), I used my 1962 Champagne Sparkle Gretsch and my Ulbrick Arena 50 head with a single 1x12 speaker box.

For the fuzz tones I used a ZVEX Fuzz Factory with a little delay. The clean tone on Mr. Wolf was just my Gretsch straight into the Ulbrick. ” - Shannon Bourne

However, she wasn’t in the same room as the band when tape rolled, the vocal booth which Matt Walker had set up at his home studio being in his toilet.

“It was very reverb drenched. It had a concrete floor and wooden walls. Matt’s studio had recently been refurbished so the toilet was the vocal booth.

It actually had a little glass window. We set up some curtains and various bits and pieces.

At one point I wanted to get all atmospheric and set up a whole bunch of tea lights.

Everyone freaked out and came running saying you can’t have tea lights next to cloth and electrics. I just wanted a vibe. I had to either sing in the dark or with the toilet light on. It is important that the album represents an emotion or experience.

“The first album was melancholy and pretty and poetic. The second was, I dunno, sexy, angry, playful.

I’m not sure what the emotion will be for the next one but Ben (Bunting, her stage guitarist) and I were talking about it being more narrative driven.” www.offthehip.com.au www.crystalthomas. com.au

Sheraton guitar as well as an Ovation 12 string.

“When I first started playing on stage, I got a 12-string because it filled out the sound a bit and hid the fact that I couldn’t play solos.

When I started playing with great bands, I just needed something to play rhythm on.”

Kerri doesn’t own any microphones but in the studio used an AKGC12. She was also thrilled to be the first guinea pig to test the studio’s new desk. “At Thirty Mill they just installed a new Neve desk, Custom series 75. Neve made it to Colin Wynne and Mark Opitz’s specs. It’s like a world first they’re trying out for Neve, which is pretty exciting, we got to finish the mixing on that.

“I’m not big on technique. I just love anything that is heartfelt. Australian artists, I love Chris Wilson. In full flight nobody goes near him.

Any blues or soul singer, he can match. There’s a myriad of female vocalists I work with …

Nichaud Fitzgibbon, Kylie Auldist, Monique Brumby and Rebecca Barnard who are all incredible.” www.kerrisimpson.com

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Nord Stage keyboard. then you have all your PCM based stuff as well, all the gig-ready stuff, piano, strings, brass sounds, as well as all your percussive stuff, drum kits, electronic kits, ethnic kits, everything you would expect to find on a pro keyboard.

Casio’s Paul Noble chats to Muso about the new XWP1, XWG1 and how they both figure in his own music making.

I

t’s kind of a badge of honour for musicians. You align yourself to a particular instrument brand and find yourself defending it as a Holden fan would against a Ford fiend. Paul Noble has been a professional musician for around 25 years. He has played some big gigs with John Farnham and Pseudo Echo, to name just a couple, and by day is a product education specialist for a keyboard company. His chosen brand, the one he believes in, is Casio. It’s

Noble synth the eighties the company which came to prominence in the ‘80s for producing hi-tech family keyboards. The same family keyboards which are showing up so often today on the latest hipster’s albums. More recently however, Casio has belied it’s dinky keyboard image and put some serious time, effort and money into the development of performance grade synthesisers. The result of their toil is the recent release of two powerful and affordable instruments, the XWP1 and XW G1, and indeed, these are pioneering times for Casio.

Speaking to Casio’s Paul Noble, you get the impression he has some pride in working with these synths, can chat at length about them and more importantly, speak in truth about them. Not that anything pre-dating the XWP1 or XWG1 was not talkworthy, it’s just that there seems to be a genuine buzz around the company for this gear.

Paul’s association with Casio goes back a long way.

His first ever synth purchase was another brand, an Ensoniq ESQ1, quite a hi tech buy first up.

Then soon after, he acquired a Casio CZ1000, the famous 80s model … he’d caught the Casio bug.

With such an ingrained perception of what their keyboards are known for, it was a tough ask for Casio’s development team to come up with something

[8]

the pro players would stand up and take notice of. Paul believes they’ve got things right with the new synths and hopes people open their eyes and ears to give them a go.

“I would say that people are going to be quite surprised when they experience these things because that isn’t traditionally Casio’s reputation,” he said.

“Especially when you look at the package you get with these synths and you consider the fact that they are both under a thousand dollars, you would expect them to be sub-

pro market product, as I did to be honest.

However, to play them, I honestly believe they would cut it anywhere on any stage. They are absolutely brilliant.”

Paul loves the ‘80s sounds these keys have to offer and uses them to the max when he can. Noble’s current music projects include Gener8tor, an originals band and also Gold Chisel, a Cold Chisel tribute act. “I am a classic ‘80s Muso,” Paul said of his influences, and he finds it easy to emulate those sounds with these new Casio releases.

“I love all the Polysynths… that typical sawtooth type sound or anything clavinet-like. So I’ll get a clavinet sound and you can add up to 200 DSP effects to any sound onboard and you can multi layer the DSPs too. You can layer up to six at a time.”

It’s not only the ‘80s sounds on the XWP1 and XWG1 which Paul is impressed with. “The versatility is huge and also the ease of use is outstanding,” he said. “There are some classic, big fat 80s analogue sounds as well as having all the modern day digital samples on them too.,” he tells.

“There are two models, the XWP1 which is what we call the Performance synth. For real players, guys who are quite skilled who want great sounds, the P1 is the go. It features multiple sound engines which I think would appeal to any pro musician. You have a six oscillator, monophonic analogue synth. Then you have a Hex layer polyphonic synth which allows you to lay up to 6 different patches at one time and mix and control each individually. You have a drawbar organ sound engine, with nine drawbar organ sliders, as well as fast and slow Leslie, percussive effects, all the stuff that you might see on something like a

“It also gives you features like the step sequencer, which allows you to put grooves together really quickly and easily. It has a phrase sequencer, which you can sequence a phrase into and then loop.

You can key assign, so you can trigger it to play in any key by simply touching a piano keyboard. You can use that or any sound in conjunction with the onboard arpeggiator.

It’s a powerful instrument and you have realtime control over everything, your envelopes, frequency cut off, and decay.”

Noble is equally excited about the XWG1. “With the groove synth. We probably see a bit of an integration into the DJ market. The way I use this synth is in integration with things like the iPad, iPhone, computers. It actually has a rubber pad on the side of it

where you can sit your iPad or iPhone. The big feature with that model is the sampler. It has the ability to take ten samples internally, without adding extra memory which you can do easily by adding a SD card, they take up to 32 gig. So it can store up to ten samples at full quality, each up to 19 seconds long.

“What you hear go in is exactly what you hear come out. With your computer, you can sample a drum loop, then you can add through the sampler, some realtime parts which you might play in yourself… then record in some vocals. You get this great integration between your audio parts with your live keyboard performance.”

It’s rumoured that there will be a special edition gold version of Casio’s new synths landing in limited number prior to Christmas and don’t be surprised to see new releases soon.

Casio is committed to the new direction they have taken.

As for Paul, try to catch him at a Cold Chisel gig at a club near you soon. www.soundtechnology. com.au

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a moment occasionally to freak out, but for the most part I just like to create slide tones.”

After three invites from the Bluesfest promoter, Grace Potter finally gets to bring her band to Australia for the Easter festival next year.

Greg Phillips reports.

Grace is somewhat of a gear nerd and has kept most of the instruments she has played during her career, with some of them now a little more road weary than others.

“The first guitar I ever bought was a (Gibson) J45 from the 1930s, which I don’t take out on the road anymore,” she explained. “Then later I got an ES125 which is a smaller body cutaway semi hollow body Gibson that has some intonation problems so I keep that at home. It sounds great for recording.

Has a great old Sun Studio sound to it.”

G

race Potter and The Nocturnals have been invited to play Bluesfest three years running, yet due to their busy dance card, could never tweak their schedule enough to make it down. At next year’s event, Australian audiences will finally get to experience their show. There are many reasons why Bluesfest crowds should devour this band. Firstly, because in the great tradition

Potter gold for Bluesfest of rock touring bands, they’ve been at it solid for ten years, came out of America’s roots music festival circuit and are as rockin’ tight as they come.

Secondly, it’s Grace herself who has such wonderful stage presence. As for her image, she may give the impression she’s off to a cocktail party, often wearing high heels and a tightly fitting mini skirt, but she’s also usually armed with a Gibson Flying V (her own signature model) slung over her shoulder or ripping licks from behind a Hammond B3.

“I think it’s a good trick to play on people,” said Grace. “They see this little Barbie doll come on stage or whatever I may look like on any given day, but then we kick in and it can be surprising for people to hear the noises that I can make.”

The noises she refers to have been compared to iconic female vocalists such as Janis Joplin.

However, it’s the male rock singers which have had more impact on Grace’s vocal style.

“I admire Robert Plant,” she said. “I’m very excited that he’ll be at the Byron Bay music festival. He was a huge influence on me. When I was just learning how to tour, most of my influences were men. Freddie

King, Steve Winwood ... for his organ playing and his singing. The Allman Brothers... a major influence was Ozzie Osbourne... AC/ DC was a big one for me. I felt more affinity to the sexual energy of the men on stage than the more timid phrasing of women. It’s not that I don’t love women vocalists and I think there are some great ones, but there are not that many great female rock singers.”

Potter is equally adept at both guitar and organ, and was chuffed when Gibson guitars acknowledged her musical prowess with her own signature model Flying V. “I have been a huge fan of the Flying V ever since I first picked one up,” she said of the honour. “It’s mostly to do with the weight distribution. I think part of the influence is, even though I love to play the guitar, I love to dance. I love

movement and certain guitars are too weight-centric, especially Les Pauls. It felt too heavy all in one place, almost like a pendulum. With the Flying V, if I set it down it kind of stands on its own. I can really flail around and I’m not going to kill myself with it.”

In the early days of the band, Potter ran her guitar through a ‘71 Gibson Goldtone, but years of stage abuse has relegated that amp to the studio. She now runs her Flying V through a Fender Vibrolux. “I like the Vibrolux a lot, it has a good dimension to it,” she said. “When I run it through some reverb, it really creates Black Beauty (Neil’s famous Les Paul guitar), Neil Young crunchy tones that I like. I have two amazing guitar players, Scott and Matty. When it comes to solos or creating beautiful textures, I’m just there as meat and potatoes. I like to think of myself as very rock-steady rhythm guitarist. I certainly like playing the slide and a lot of open tunings. I’ll take

It’s no surprise that Grace’s gear exists in differing states of health. A photo is brought to her attention which depicts her standing in heels on a beautiful old Hammond organ. “At least it was mine!” she exclaims.

“When I first started playing the B3 I broke a lot of keys. I have really strong hands and am really muscular with the way I play. I got it from Billy Preston and his style of organ playing. I’d break a key every night. I was very frustrated that day, I remember the

show and the photo.

It doesn’t happen all the time but you’re right, it was a sad night for that keyboard.”

Among her collection of instruments at home, Grace also owns a ‘56 Hammond A100, two B3s and a 1972 Hammond Porta B, which her band bought for her as a 21st birthday present.

More than anything, Potter is proud of the many hours her band has played and takes a dim view of artists who don’t experience that same collaborative joy on stage. “It pisses me off when I meet musicians who are talented but don’t have that joy of camaraderie with other people, sharing music... people who have worked hard and can really appreciate what it takes to get to this place.

Scotty and Matty and I have been together ten years now. To be able to say that I did it with these people, it’s a rich part of the rock’n’roll blanket. I’m very happy to have my family with me as part of it.”

Grace Potter & The Nocturnals play Bluesfest, Easter weekend 2013 www.bluesfest.com.au

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“I tried coated strings like everyone else; I didn’t like them. Cleartone are so bright and responsive, I forgot they were coated. Bend them in good health.”

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lvarez guitars is one of the biggest guitar brands in the USA, having been at it for over 45 years.

The company has a strong affiliation with master luthier Kazuo Yairi who, at 80, still oversees their daily operations in Japan.

The Alvarez AD60 CE is part of their Artist series, offering a truckload of features and exceptional value for money with each model. This particular guitar is a full-size gloss-finished cutaway dreadnought fitted with a B-Band Sys 650 preamp. The specs are rather impressive: a lovely warm sitka spruce top, chocolatey mahogany back and sides and a dark, tight grained rosewood fingerboard and a bi-level rosewood bridge designed to maximize sustain. A dovetail neck joint sets the neck to the body, increasing sustain and the note transfer, with notes jumping out into you. Alvarez consider this guitar their best value for money to date, the quality of materials, construction and

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Alvarez AD60

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craftsmanship normally unseen at this price.

Visually, this instrument looks solid and smart with a darker coloured top, unique bridge design, cool pickguard and authentic abalone and mother of pearl inlaid on the headstock, rosette and even on the tips of the bridge pins. A cool cream pinstripe binds on the top to the body and a smooth satin cream binding surrounds the back and sides.

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I started by plugging in my Shure Beta 58 and sending the XLR out to my mixing desk, threw on a pair on phones and jumped in for a quick taste of the presets. Immediately levels, compression and EQ sounded right. The reverbs and delays offered in the first group of settings sounded stunning, with the “Cathedral” preset displaying a nice long tail, perfect for a solo performance or ballad. These tones were so great I jumped on over to YouTube for a quick karaoke session to see how they‘d sit in a mix. After having blown my lungs out after a few songs, I noticed that this unit is essentially a Swiss army knife for vocalists, a real quick fix that can work both live and in the studio, and perfect for adding multiple layers to a mix.

The “Ensemble” setting provided a good doubled/chorused tone, but it was the “Double Voice”, “Four Voice” and “Unison” patches that were truly outstanding. The “Four Voice” uses harmony doubling in conjunction with a short delay to create four separate voices, and I love this sort of effect live as it really makes the vocal stick out of a mix.

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Harmony and Pitch Correct both sounded fantastic, but harmony processing lacks a key input (from say an acoustic guitar or keyboard), so complex pitch shifting based around different chords and multiple keys is a lot harder to coordinate, but if you’re using the harmony for simple songs, you’ll be happy. The effect tracks beautifully and the inclusion of the “Gender” function changes the formant in your voice so your harmonies sound like a different person singing - brilliant!

Pitch correct is a lot of fun too. Not only do you get to use it as a contemporary effect, but also for very subtle, natural pitching, making you sound better than you really are (very important for me).

Roland VT-12 Vocal Trainer

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he Roland VT-12 vocal trainer is a wonderful tool to develop your singing voice. This handy device comes with a built-in tuner and metronome to aid pitch and timing, as well as 12 warm-up tracks and 186 exercise tracks to turn you into a seasoned veteran. You also have the ability to record tracks via the “Record In” mini jack, as well as evaluating your performance afterwards with the “Review” function.

Also bundled in is Vocal Workouts for the Contemporary Singer by Anne Peckham from the Berklee College of Music, acting as a comprehensive guide for the unit, well laid out and easy to understand.

I tested the VT-12 with a pair of headphones using the in-built mic to see how well it detected pitch. The mic is very sensitive, showing all the little slides and vibratos surrounding notes you sing. Hitting the “Pitch” button starts you off with an A, and the “b” and “#” keys

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.ROLANDCORP.COM.AU

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raise or lower pitch respectively. Hitting the “Metronome” button engages a click track that’s either changed manually or tapped to a specific tempo. The warm-up exercises have you doing a whole bunch of fun things like buzzing noises and “ooh’s” and “ahh’s” over full backings with real instruments. What’s especially cool is there’s no compression on the voice so you can hear how the singing teacher projects and alters his/her voice to hit certain notes. Each exercise is followed by a backing track so you can practice without the teacher. After you’ve finishing singing, you can analyse your performance with the “Review” button as every exercise automatically records your vocals.

After you’ve warmed up it’s time to get into real workouts. Workouts are divided into separate categories for voice type, vocal experience, harmony singing and the famous 50 Concone Opus 9 lessons for medium classical voice. The basic workouts for Low and High Voices are the same, except elevating to different pitches depending on voice type. The exercises have you performing different styles like Rock, Latin, Gospel, Jazz and minor scales, and are a lot of fun, making practice enjoyable and effective.

Often you’re just singing phrases, going up by half steps to work on extending your range, checking the note display to for key, or singing in harmony with the teacher, which is especially enjoyable. Advanced workouts are obviously a lot harder, featuring trills that are more intricate and runs, with wider steps between notes. Nevertheless, remember, practice makes perfect so don’t be disappointed if you don’t nail these straight off the bat. Harmony practice is so awesome, as voices are separated in each headphone, so you can isolate either the top or bottom harmony and learn how to pitch against another voice. Finally, there are the 50 Concone Opus 9 lessons for the medium voice. These exercises are even fun if you’re not into classical music, and you can invent opera gibberish like me if your feeling a bit loose on a Friday night. These lessons are world-renowned and will undoubtedly call out to your inner “Bocelli”. The Roland VT-12 is a great tool for any sort of vocalist, and comes with a great book, and superb audio tracks.

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.ROLANDCORP.COM.AU

he Boss VE-5 is a cool little multi-effects processor that’s simple to use and a lot of fun. It’s essentially a plug in and play unit with 30 well thought-out presets, onboard looper and built-in mic. You can overwrite the presets and access an additional 20 banks for up to 50 patches, with the ability to save three “Favourite Sounds” for fast recall on the fly.

This guitar feels great, as a lovely cutaway provides easy access to higher frets and the silky smooth neck allows you to glide up and down effortlessly. String tension is strong, allowing you to slam the strings with a heavier pick for massive projection and a strong mid-heavy voice. Tuning is an absolute joy as the bone nut and bridge eliminate snags and further add to the tone, the chrome machineheads roll smoothly and the onboard tuner (on the B-Band) is awesome, changing from blue to bright green when the string is in tune. Out of the box, this guitar was almost perfectly in tune, only a couple of cents short of A440. The sound was strong and focused with clear tops and bottoms, with the AD60 sounding a bit bigger than your average dreadnought, producing a solid bass and natural hi-fi tone that’s perfect for recording. Action was at a medium height allowing notes to ring clearly, but making it difficult to play fast single note runs, but finger-picking yielded a smoother tone.

Electronics-wise the B-Band SYS 650 is an absolute gem of a pickup, featuring an onboard tuner, controls for Bass, Middle and Treble as well as a midrange notch that scoops out annoying feedback at 330Hz. Ther AST and UST pickups (above saddle transducer/under saddle transducer) sound completely different to each other. The AST sounds very natural highlighting the lower mids, whereas the UST highlights upper mids and presence. You can achieve a killer tone just by blending the two sounds together, without going near the EQ. The Alvarez AD60CE is a professional instrument worthy of high-quality recordings, stadium-sized gigs or your own personal enjoyment. It’s the perfect instrument if you’re at the stage where you want to start gigging or you’re a seasoned pro and open to the idea of using a mid-priced instrument.

Boss VE-5 Vocal Performer

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Rock Tips Liquid Callus Formula REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.PROMUSICAUSTRALIA.COM

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ne of the age-old dilemmas with learning the guitar (or any stringed instrument) is the initial pain associated with fretting down strings, especially when you’re just starting out and playing a guitar with old rusty strings and an action a mile high. Previous solutions have involved the use of ointment (and by ointment I mean alcohol), glues, bandages, turning your amp up way too loud and not caring, the use of fake finger tips like Tony Iommi (who of course had to because of an industrial accident) or simply not caring, full stop. If you are however quick to give up on this fine instrument because of fingertip pain you may need some help … you may need some (enter booming voice) “Rock Tips” (pun intended).

I’d honestly have to say the whole idea of liquid calluses had me worried at first. It had me thinking of a science experiment where you actually grow the callous like a carrot or potato in water, and I was afraid I’d end up like that guy in Stephen King’s Creepshow where the guy turns into a plant. Cast your fears aside; this stuff is a great alternative to solutions of the past, working much better than band aids, or household glues like superglue which are really hard to get off and completely desensitize your fingers. Trust me, once you’ve become immune to the smell, it actually works amazingly well (help me I’m turning into a late night TV commercial announcer!). That’s because Rock Tips claim this product has been developed from a medical adhesive for the skin. The solution takes about a minute to dry and comes off with soap and water.

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You can select from Soft, Hard, Electric 1, Electric 2 and Robot functions, with the latter snapping everything to a single selected note. I was a real fan of combining the pitch correct and harmony together, using the pitch correct with a specific key and turning the gender back to deepen my shrill Anglo-Saxon voice, while adding the harmony for a unison effect for the sort of “Auto-tune” that saturates the airwaves.

Other outstanding presets were “Radio”, for a band-pass radio/ telephone effect, “Heavy Scream”, which pitches down a high scream for a brutal death metal, “Space Lounge” for a flanged robot effect, and “Opera Queen” instantly turns you into a soprano. The onboard mic was okay, though if anything a little honky, and the looper killer, perfect for beat-boxing and adding multiple layers with ease. As a whole, the Boss VE-5 is a superb tool for vocalists wanting to get started with using effects; so much under the hood at this price!

I pulled the bottle out of the pack and slowly applied the solution to my fingertips and flesh underneath the nails. The smell of liquid is just horrible and may have hallucinogenic properties (no sniffing kids), but I soldiered on into the unknown, on my quest for the perfect callus. The solution dries like clear nail polish in about a minute, then you can start playing. At first, the feeling is a little strange; you lose sensitivity but can still feel the strings. After a little while you adjust very well and begin to realise that even everyday guitar playing actually causes a little bit of pain and stress on your fingertips (even with calluses). One coating wasn’t

enough for me, so I applied another layer.

At this point in time I’ve recently returned from a month-long holiday overseas having barely touched a guitar in all that time (except for a couple of impromptu performances with an Asian cover band), so my calluses are pretty soft right now. The Rock Tips formula gave me the feeling of old stubborn fingertips from hours of steelstring acoustic guitar playing, so you get a definite edge when it comes to endurance.

The experience is quite enjoyable, so I decided to cover the fingertips on my right hand as well for a bit of fingerstlye. The formula definitely works better on your fretting hand because a lot more surface area is required on your picking hand, so you’ll have to really baste your fingers to get the best results. Just about anyone can benefit from the Rock Tips solution, even seasoned professionals who get cracked, dry skin.

So if you’re suffering from pain, here’s a tip, get “Rock Tips”.

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5

Novation Mini Nova REVIEWER: BAZ BARDOE INFO: WWW.INNOVATIVEMUSIC.COM.AU

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wo things immediately stand out about Novation’s new MiniNova. Firstly it has some similarities to Korg’s classic MicroKorg, which enjoys a prominent position in my studio.

And the second is that it looks brilliant, and this impression just escalates when you fire it up and all those lights come on. It has a very cool futureretro kind of look, with controls that are obviously durable – this is a synth that will beg to be let out of the studio once in a while.

Below the editing section at the top right, where a combination of knobs and sliders allows you to adjust 24 parameters for each patch, there’s a section with eight pads. These can be used to write arpeggio patterns, skip between favourite patches or make adjustments to patches, depending which mode is selected. It’s a clever and tactile way of approaching a few useful performance attributes. Overall the layout is logical and extremely well thought out.

My review unit didn’t have an instruction manual and that wasn’t a problem. If you’ve used a synth before you’ll get the hang of it quickly and there’s plenty of material online at the Novation site. The preset sounds can be navigated alphabetically or numerically, and as mentioned are divided into broad genres. One of these options – ‘classic synth’ – is apt because that is what springs to mind when I play this compact beast. There’s a huge range of ‘classic’ sounds, from biting ‘acid’ squeals to stabs and huge pads. The filter sweeps are seamlessly even, and once you get the arpeggiator going you don’t want it to stop. Sonically it’s every bit as good as it looks – a real pleasure to play and the ergonomics are fantastic. Some companies set the bar high.

Novation are one of those. Their kit is always top notch and I’m pleased to say the MiniNova continues in that tradition. Editing software and all the necessary in/out connections means this great synth can integrate with a computer-based system, or standalone. It ticks all the boxes for me.

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Next in line is the Tokai ES 148, part of their Vintage Series manufactured in Japan.

The 148 is a take on Gibson’s classic ES 335 and Epiphone Casino, both extremely popular semi hollowbody guitars renowned for their unique tone and response. The body consists of an arched maple top, back and sides, onepiece mahogany set neck and rosewood fingerboard. The ES 148’s semi-hollow body design heavily borrows from a 335,

The feel is so soft in my hands; it needs to be played lightly for some jazz lovin’ or maybe with a dollop of drive for some blues. I know many guitarists love the smokiness you get from a 335, so you can really drive your amp or pedal, just don’t expect a tight, slamming bass response for ‘80s-era thrash metal. A hearty D profile (think Les Paul Standard) shapes the neck and the body contours beautifully for sitting down or standing up; it’s a pleasure to play in all positions. A medium action and decent string tension (feels like a set of 10s) removes any sort of fret buzz and makes notes sustain nice and long. Tokai’s setup department have done a bang-on job, making sure you clean up your playing so every note is more intentional and focused, and the Kluson-style tuners actually feel better than the real thing, a bit tighter and less sensitive than Gibsons. Clean tones are exceptionally pleasant. You can really hear the top end sparkle mixed with the long, sweet sustain. In this respect, it sounds just like a 335 should, and marries beautifully with a Fender-style amp for clean warmth. Gain also works well for different styles, adding a bit of overdrive on a clean sound for some blues, a little bit of amp drive for some classic rock breakup, or some fuzz for Eric Johnsonstyle leads and Queens of the Stone Age mud.

The semi hollow body design ensures that notes naturally sustain, so not a lot of drive is required.

REVIEWER: CHRIS STELLER INFO: WWW.CMI.COM.AU

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Functionality is what you’d expect in this price range, with the 7” colour ‘TouchView’ display as your GUI, making parameter access easy. A new menu in the top left of the screen allows you to jump around to the different functions and return with ease.

Krome uses EDS-X, another of those awesome KORG acronyms that can leave you guessing for a long time. It’s loaded with nearly 4GB of sounds: Kronos-derived full-length, unlooped piano and drum sounds; electric pianos with eight-level velocity switching; 640 programs and 288 combinations, plus 32 drum kits out of the box, with more memory slots for your own sound creations. It also has 256 GM2 programs and 9 GM2 drum kits, making standard MIDI file playback a breeze. All of the bread and butter capabilities are there: Four types of filter routing, two multi-mode filters per oscillator, plenty of useful effects, EQ for each program or song track, and great drum sounds, with a pattern assigned to each program for instant inspiration/jamming fun.

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The on-board sequencer features 16 MIDI tracks plus a master track, plenty of memory and templates for easy setup. The Cue Lists, with up to 99 steps in a list, are a great way to set up jukebox-style playback or assemble a different version of your song.

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Tokai ES 148

with a strip of solid wood running down the middle with hollow wings added for that unmistakable tone and response. Two PAF Vintage MK2 pickups (made in Japan) sound like the real deal, warm and thick with an open voicing, and the LS VB bridge, in conjunction with the SSG6 Trapeze Tailpiece, borrows from the Casino providing different sustain, tension and overtones to a stock 335. It’s fair to say this guitar is a real piece of eye candy, delivered in a stunning “Sunburst” (in reality Tobacco-burst) finish that shows off the flamed maple top and creates depth with multiple coats of nitrocellulose, like an old American hot rod. The back is just as nice, with a lovely dark shadowing where the neck meets the headstock and body as well as a teardrop sunburst outline on the body’s back.

Krome Music Workstation from KORG

he newest workstation from KORG continues the Japanese company’s determination to provide more features for the working musician’s dollar. Krome is the next model in line from the successful M50 and also utilises many features introduced last year by its up-market sibling, the Kronos. Krome comes in three models, of course: the 61- and 73-key workstations feature a semi-weighted (synth-style) keyboard, while the 88-key model is weighted, utilising KORG’s NH keyboard, which is graded in weight from low to high notes. The look is simple and efficient. On the back are stereo outputs, inputs for pedals and USB connection to your computer, plus an SD Card slot for data storage.

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REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.JADEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

lot of us musicians (including myself ) feel drawn to the timelessness of classic instruments, that iconic Stratocaster snap, fat Les Paul crunch, twangin’ Telecaster jangle and Rickenbacker chime.

What’s even better is that one company does them all and has been doing them a long time. Tokai are the masters of reverse engineering, bringing you uncanny copies of the originals as I found out previously when reviewing their “Love Rock”, (Les Paul style) model a while back.

[14]

5

like ‘resonance’, ‘attack’ and so forth. The sound engine is supposedly the same as its big brother the Ultra Nova, and the MiniNova certainly packs some punch. The sound quality is just excellent. It has 18-voice polyphony, three oscillators, 14 conventional wave shapes, 36 wavetables and 20 digital waveforms; 14 filter types, six envelope generators, up to five effects per patch, a versatile arpeggiator, a vocoder and vocal effects processing. With the option of audio-in so you can run an external sound source through its signal processing and a 37-key keyboard, it offers tremendous value in a very compact and stylish package.

The layout is clear and easy to understand, without a reliance on all those hidden menus some synths suffer from. Like the Micro Korg it has a ‘genre knob’ which helps navigate the generous 256 presets, though the inclusion of a ‘dubstep’ option may date quickly.

This knob is near the centre with the LED display to the left and a large filter knob to the right, with four more knobs and six banks of parameters, so you can adjust all the usual suspects

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This review was done on the 61-key model, so you’ll have to judge the weighted 88-key for yourself. Krome’s main piano sample had me wanting to actually play piano because of its quality, which is amazing in this price range. As a matter of fact, the Krome piano sample is probably bigger than the entire ROM block in most of the competition’s offerings. The GUI is easy and the layout is efficient, the sequencer works well and there’s a downloadable editor (standalone or VST/ AU plug-in), and the little blue LED in the ‘R’ on the back of the unit is cute. The mini-jack headphone output is a bit annoying (why?), but everything works well and the video manual is a very easy to understand guide to using the features of Krome, presented by product specialist, Steve McNally. Krome is a serious contender for your hard-earned!

Simon and Patrick Woodland Pro Spruce guitar REVIEW: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.DYNAMICMUSIC.COM.AU

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There’s also a comprehensive pattern generator, drum tracks and polyphonic arpeggiators for helping with instant inspiration when you’re stuck for ideas.

hen I first heard I’d be reviewing a Simon and Patrick guitar I immediately thought of Simon and Garfunkel’s The Sounds Of Silence, tumbleweeds rolling along barren landscapes and seagulls soaring over cliffs.

What I really should have pictured was the craft of Robert Godin, the innovator behind his own brand of unique instruments as well as Art & Lutherie and Seagull guitars. While the Art & Lutherie guitars are aimed at the entry level/ intermediate market, Simon and Patrick are a step up, appealing to the intermediate/professional player. All production takes place in Canada, so expect quality North American spruce, fine Quebecan craftsmanship and a proven track record.

Under the spotlight today we have the Simon and Patrick Woodland Pro Spruce is a simple, wellput together acoustic that’ll spark some interest.

This guitar has its charms because it doesn’t go overboard with the bling. It’s both tasteful and classy, with a selection of eye-catching woods that are still a little modest, a soft creamy spruce top with a tightly uniform grain, elegant mahogany back and sides that’s wonderfully speckled and flamed, and an animal-striped mahogany headstock shaped like a lovely old Martin. The rosewood bridge and fingerboard has a fine grain and is so soft and dark it almost feels like ebony, and there’s even a cool centre strip on the back of the body for something extra.

Simon and Patrick go to great lengths to tell you they only use the finest materials. Every guitar comes with “a select pressure-tested top” for the highest levels of stiffness and rigidity ensuring maximum harmonic vibration.

The body is a little bit smaller on this guitar than your average at about 51cm long and 12.5cm deep (at the base), so it’s very comfortable and not bulky in any way. The most immediately striking aspect however is the toothpick-thin neck that feels more like an electric guitar. The 24.84” neck and 16” fingerboard make it a delight to play and the soft rosewood and super-slim frets makes holding down notes very comfortable and resistance free. The

action is low, really low for an acoustic, so you can shred it up or play bar chords with the greatest of ease. A Tusq nut and saddle are fitted for snag-free string travel and maximum note transfer and sustain, and the custom 14:1 machine heads sit high taking a bit more string than your average tuner as well as maintaining perfect tuning stability. The review model came without a pickup, but you can also get this guitar with a B-Band AT-3 preamp.

Tone-wise, this guitar sounds pretty good.

The sound is fairly balanced, with a mild top end, rich midrange and a relatively loose bass that carries the note out for a while.

One would have to understand that this is a smaller acoustic so it won’t project as loudly or have as much bottom end thud as your average dreadnaught or jumbo.

If you’re an electric guitarist who likes small C-shaped necks, low actions and smaller string spacing you’d love this guitar.

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Griffin Technology Studio Connect, Guitar Connect and Midi Connect REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.GALACTICMUSIC.COM.AU

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riffin Technology is a company devoted to providing accessories, cases, headphones and odds and ends for all portable Apple and Android products. For a guy that does a lot of reviews, it’s always interesting to see how innovation renders a different approach to creating music, and how companies involved with technology, like Apple, end up being an essential part of this industry.

Today I’m looking at three products from Griffin Technology: the Studio Connect, Guitar Connect Pro and Midi Connect. All three devices are designed for use with iPad, iPhone or iPod Touch.

First up, the Studio Connect is an iPad dock and audio interface that charges your iPad and sends and receives both audio and MIDI to and fro. The idea of having this kind of setup lets you have your own little recording studio for use anywhere. Even the Gorillaz recorded their last album, The Fall, completely on an iPad. The Studio Connect features MIDI in and

Griffin Technology makes it easier and more affordable to get your own little recording studio happening than ever before. Now ideas won’t get lost when you’re on tour when you set up a little recording studio in your hotel room.

REVIEWER: REZA NASSERI INFO: WWW.JADEAUSTRALIA.COM.AU

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I plugged my Gibson Les Paul into the Guitar Connect Pro and went into Amplitube Slash, which is a real tone monster of an app. I had a killer tone in no time with nothing other than a guitar, Guitar Connect Pro and iPhone. The unit performed flawlessly with minimal latency, and I can’t wait for someone to rock up to a gig one day with nothing other than an iPhone, and blow away the guy with a $5000 Mesa rig.

Finally the MIDI connect is a great little way to get MIDI into and out of an iPad, iPhone or iPod touch. This is a very simple way of triggering sounds via a MIDI controller and worked perfectly with Garageband in the same was Studio Connect did, but with just MIDI in and out this time. I used my MIDI keyboard to access a whole library of pianos, keyboards, synthesisers and drums with the touch of a key.

Timberidge TRBC-4ST Acoustic Bass

he Jade-inspired range of Timberidge guitars have been kicking goals recently, and because I’ve had my hands on the adorable Mini 4 Acoustic and Series 1 Dreadnought, I can personally attest to this. These guys are all about quality with their Australian-designed instruments at a fraction of the cost of their international counterparts.

out, a ¼” mono audio input, a 1/8” stereo input, an RCA output and a headphone output. I tested this unit using Garageband on the iPad 2, which is a great app filled with virtual instruments and amp emulators and effects. I plugged in my guitar and MIDI keyboard so I now had full access to all the program had to offer. In no time I was writing a song with a great Fender Twin emulation, delicate acoustic pianos, drums and nice fat DI’d bass. I could even plug in a dynamic mic and work on vocals, but was perfect with my quick composition so far. All I had in terms of gear was an iPad 2, electric guitar, MIDI keyboard, headphones and Studio Connect, all of which could be easily transported and set up anywhere.

Next, I tested the Guitar Connect Pro, which transforms your analogue guitar signal into a completely digital one. The device is extremely simple with a ¼” input and a level control for input sensitivity. Also, the Guitar Connect Pro can be used with an iPhone as well as an iPad, whereas the Studio Connect is only compatible with iPad.

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I now have the pleasure of reviewing the Timberidge TRBC-4ST, a full-sized acoustic bass, a concept that first reared its head in my consciousness during the MTV Unplugged years. I’ve always thought a double bass to be more practical, but in reality most bassists don’t know how to play the double bass (including myself ), and some enjoy the unique tone an acoustic bass offers. The TRBC-4ST features a warm solid cedar top (for a darker tone) and gorgeous mahogany back and sides for visual and audible pleasure. A Tusq nut and saddle ensure flawless tone, sustain and tuning in conjunction with four gold diecast tuners and a set of D’Addario EXP Phosphor Bronze strings. Plugged in, a B-Band A3T preamp, pickup and tuner amplify and shape the sound.

Out of the box, this instrument looks impressive.

There’s a lovely compromise between a unique body shape, rich blend of woods and subtle, classy design.

Standout features include the gorgeous warm grain in the cedar, smoky animal stripe on the back and sides, and the tanned neck-join and the raw grain on the back of the neck. In my hands a satin finish is always a personal favourite (usually the gloss is first to go when making mods), and this bass feels fantastic. The neck profile is great and plays just as well as any acoustic guitar or electric bass, and the shape of the body seems to mould into you also for great comfort. The action is low to medium with some fret buzz when you really slam into the strings and the string tension fairly loose so it’s nice for fingerstyle, thumb attack, bending and overall dynamics. Unplugged she sounds great, with a lot more projection and depth than I thought would be possible. The tone is nice and versatile when you dig in with you fingers, from a slow, warm attack at the neck to a hard, fast note when you move closer to the bridge. Using a pick was also effective and will sit nicely if you’re jamming with an acoustic guitarist

or with a little group.

The tone in general is very bright thanks to the fresh set of EXPs, and a loose tension and low action make it less desirable for popping and slapping. Without an amp there’s enough depth and projection for solo players and medium volume jams, but anything more will require juice. The B-Band AT3 is simple and sounds fantastic.

This bass really translates well plugged in, and would sound fantastic in place of an electric bass when played with a band. The amplified tone is really broad along the whole tonal spectrum with the added brightness you’d expect from an acoustic instrument. The EQ on the preamp is vital for emulating different electric tones. Rolling back the mids, treble and presence for a good slap tone and pumping the mids will really glue the bass to the mix.

I especially liked the inclusion of an XLR input so you can go straight to a rehearsal or a gig with just your bass. The Timberidge TRBC-4ST is such a versatile, well thought out instrument.

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41

FEEL THE PAUA

BLACK FROM THE DEAD

Expanding from a four- to an eight-piece has transformed Paua from a mere reggae band to a unit sharing musical blood, as frontman Jay informs Benny Doyle.

Swedish blackened blasphemers Dark Funeral are headed our way, just in time to bring some cold, frostbitten extremity to our warmer months. Brendan Crabb bows to guitarist Lord Ahriman.

ithout a doubt, we consider ourselves family now,” Jay confirms when probed about his feelings towards Paua, the New Zealand-cum-Brisbane reggae group he fronts. “We’re around each other so much and there’s so many of us, it’s another arm of our own family. What can I say? We’re a pretty tight crew.”

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And it’s that personal cohesion – that trust – which comes through in the music of the band. With the songwriting roots of reggae relatively concrete, it’s these critical elements that help Paua stand out from their peers. The octet are just about to release the single Time Heals, the first taste off their as-yet untitled second release that’s pencilled in for early-2013. Jay opens up about the lyrical content of the track. “To me, the song is just about hope, really – Time Heals, y’know.

Basically, everyone goes through their bad trots in life, but time heals and things get better. That’s the moral of the story, really. There’s always hope. As bad as things look, like, you may not be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but there’s always hope. Don’t give up.”

A simple message – words to live by. Listening to Jay speak there is no question that the man is genuine, much like the music that’s created around his verses.

“At the end of the day, it’s reggae. But it’s our form of reggae – we call it ‘Paua reggae’,” he states. “But it’s just from the heart, man. I’ve always said that there’s not too much thought put into our sound, we just get in there and jam it out, then whatever comes out comes out; it’s very organic. But in saying that, the songwriting has probably matured a little since the last [record]. Actually, I don’t even know if matured is the right word. We’ve just opened up since the last [record], just to experiences and what’s happened through the past couple of years. But like I said, we don’t think about it too much, we just make music. It’s real,” he concludes with a chuckle.

lack metal isn’t always renowned for its subtlety and Dark Funeral guitarist Lord Ahriman (real name Micke Svanberg) doesn’t hesitate when asked what Australian audiences can expect when the Swedes return to these parts. “I think they’re gonna be a little surprised on the whole energy of the show that we have nowadays,” he boasts. “It’s a stronger machine than ever and they will see that. It’s going to be probably the most intense show they ever will witness.

I can’t think of a more intense thing than going to a Dark Funeral show at the moment. We’re coming with a stronger energy and we’re going to blast your face off.”

B proud of, most notably former touchstones now peers Katchafire, the iconic Hamilton, NZ collective.

Jay admits, though, that the band still have the best experience saved until last. “We’re going back to New Zealand for the Exodus Festival,” he excitedly informs.

“It’s this huge party that’s happening over there and we’re the only act coming in from overseas for that so we’re really looking forward to it. We’re just honoured to be a part of it. It’s the biggest… With reggae part of the staple of being from New Zealand, for us to be invited from over here is a massive buzz for us.”

And all this wouldn’t be possible without Jay’s musical brothers and sister sharing in the vision that he had for the group. The music was already inside the man; it was simply a matter of building a solid structure on the early foundations set by the original four band members.

“From early on I knew I wanted to have particular instruments, like I wanted keys, horns – I’ve always had it in my mind what I wanted to get to,” Jay says. “So for me it was just a natural progression, and then finding the right people, not only that fit into our sound but that fit in as people too… now we’ve got that. We’ve been really lucky that we found the right musicians with the right personality. Now it’s just Paua reggae, man.”

WHO: Paua WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, Dub Day Afternoon, Jubilee Hotel

This year has been a big one for Paua, with the band’s continual sound development leading to some solid supports that Jay admits the crew are incredibly

The axeman explains this confidence is symptomatic of their current incarnation’s greater dedication. He’s the only member still standing since their 1993 inception and they will return with several new charges from their inaugural trek to our shores a few years ago.

Recent recruits include vocalist Nachtgarm, who replaced longtime frontman Emperor Magus Caligula last year. “We played some shows over the summer and people are really stunned. It’s just a stronger machine than ever. You can see that from the stage; things really are working out much better nowadays.

Everybody’s more focused in the new line-up and of course that gives results onstage eventually.”

Lord Ahriman reveals that Dark Funeral is slowly working on the follow-up to 2009’s Angelus Exuro pro Eternus. Their current plan is to release a single in early 2013, followed by a full-length. “We are still writing and I wish I had more time to write,” he sighs.

“But the last couple of months, there’s just too much happening. We have three other tours coming up and there’s loads of stuff to take care of; it takes up every moment of my day. I curse myself every day: ‘Fuck, I wish I had more time to really dig deep into the music’.

“But this morning I started setting up my new laptop that I’m going to bring for the US tour. I’m going to install all the studio programs and everything, so

hopefully I can set up a small home studio on the tour bus. I usually just lock myself up in a basement and focus entirely on it. As long as I can record ideas, then work on them more properly when we return from the tour, that’s all right. It’s too early to say at the moment, but from the stuff I’ve written so far, there’s lots of new things going on within the music, and more rhythmic parts that I’m trying to bring in. It sounds Dark Funeral, but still very refreshing I think.”

The guitarist says the band have plenty of activities in the pipeline for their 20th anniversary, planning for which has led to periods of reflection on their roots and the music that so deeply inspires them.

“I’m always interested to listen to lots of new bands, but I don’t really have time for it. I was asked to be a DJ on a new metal club opening up. I was like, ‘Okay, if I’m going to do this, it’s only going to be, like, late-‘80s, early-‘90s extreme metal.’

So I started listening to some old records that I hadn’t listened to in a long time and I thought that things were so much better before,” he laughs.

“It’s always, the first record you experience that you really fucking like, that record is going to be really difficult for that band or any other band to break it. It always turns out all the records that you really liked a lot in the past, when you go back to them it’s like, ‘Wow, this is still fucking great’.”

WHO: Dark Funeral WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 22 November, The Hi Fi

SORRY DAY weird thing happened at last year’s ARIA Awards – Australia’s self-proclaimed “least popular, relatively well-known band” Front End Loader took home the ARIA for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album for their sixth long-player, Ritardando. Not only did the Sydney quartet not think they were going to win, they didn’t even bother turning up, leaving their friend Lindsay ‘The Doctor’ McDougall to accept on their behalf, delivering a speech concluding with the immortal phrase, “...let us never speak of this again”.

A

“Honestly, the ARIA was a really not very funny joke,” deadpans Loader frontman Bow Campbell. “It’s nice to be recognised I suppose, but when we first heard that we were nominated we laughed. Basically we were completely cynical about the whole thing – none of us have any idea how the ARIAs work, how we got nominated, how anything happened – and with

us being cynical cranky old bastards it was eventually our womenfolk who said, ‘C’mon, we should probably go – we can at least frock up and walk the red carpet and offend some people’. So I emailed ARIA and said, ‘We’ve been nominated, what’s the deal with going to the award ceremony?’ and I got a very polite letter back saying, ‘Tickets are $495 per person, normally your label would pay for that’. We don’t have a label, and if I’m going to spend a thousand bucks on a night out with me and the missus, it’s not going to be at the ARIAs. In fact, if I’m going to spend a thousand bucks on me and the missus we probably wouldn’t leave the house, we’d probably just order some shit and have some fun at home.

Honestly, it’s made no difference to us at all in any way.”

continues, discussing the band’s recent brew Fresh Six. “There’s a microbrewery in Sydney that makes interesting and different brews, and the guy who runs it is a music fan and had the idea to make some collaborative beers, and he asked if we were interested and we said, ‘What do you fucking reckon?’. We sat down and talked about how you get the vibe and ethos of Front End Loader into a beer; it was perhaps the best conversation that I’ve ever had in my life. He said, ‘I think it should be tight and pretty punchy, and it should be strong obviously’, which was our main brief really. And he said, ‘It should be fairly bitter, and I know you guys are fond of tequila onstage so we should include some dark agave syrup in the beer’, which is the magic cactus that they make tequila from, and that in turn raised the alcohol content. I was feeling a bit of trepidation about how it would turn out, but once I tried one my fears were allayed. I’m happy to report that it was delicious, and perhaps the pinnacle of our career.”

They’re hard men to impress, Front End Loader, unless of course you’re speaking their language. “Making a beer for us was far more impressive than the ARIA,” Campbell

Tying in with their beer, Front End Loader even decided to release some new music, with Fresh Six also being the name of their new EP. “[The song] Fresh Six is sort of

about running out of beer, but it’s also about dead fathers and Rugby League,” Campbell tells. “It didn’t quite come out right when we originally recorded it, so we went in and re-recorded some guitars, and serendipity prevailed and we were thinking, ‘Well we should do something with these songs’, so it gave birth to a beer and an EP.” WHO: Front End Loader WHAT: Fresh Six (Weeping Anus/MGM) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Beetle Bar

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42 • For more interviews go to themusic.com.au/interviews

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Front End Loader are far too jaded to be impressed by a pointy statue, but they’re pumped about their new brew, as frontman Bow Campbell vents to Steve Bell.

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THE SUNDAY AGE

EMPIRE

SUNDAY TIMES

SUNDAY MAIL ADELAIDE

Coarse language, sexual references and drug references

NOW SHOWING

SCREENING AT SCHONELL CINEMA FROM THURSDAY 43

SINGLED OUT WITH CHRIS YATES

ON THE RECORD

HOT CHIP Don’t Deny Your Heart Domino/EMI

There’s not a lot of hooks going on in B3 – its mostly just over-achieving rock opera without anything to sink your teeth into. The heavy emphasis on synthesisers does not follow on to I Know You Want To Stop, which is much more focused around a heavy guitar riff, but it still doesn’t try hard to stick in your head, with the mathematical arrangement serving to confuse more than anything else. The Extra is minimal and poppy, but the lyrical concept of being an extra in the movie of his life has been done elsewhere better (ie. Shady Lane by Pavement).

OLLY MURS Troublemaker (feat. Flo Rida) Sony Sony see no irony in talking up the virtues of Olly Murs by saying he’s the only X Factor contestant to achieve more sales of his second album than his debut. While it’s a nice wrap for Olly, its pretty much a blight on every other artist from X Factor that they have released, and proves the short-sightedness of the whole pop side of ‘the industry’ these days. The song is an unimaginative funk pop debacle that is made even less authentic with the inclusion of a rap by Flo Rida that makes Ludacris’ most phoned in sixteen sound like Rakim in comparison.

Friends

Independent

Spunk/Co-Operative

Baggy Trousers/MGM

No Anchor, despite the brutal flaying of the vocal chords, bass amps and the listener’s central nervous system, has always balanced the bile with the banal, the viscera with frivolity. Titles such as Gatton Bohemia and The Night of My Second Car Crash are testament to the band’s sense of humour, even if it seems buried beneath the sonic gnashing of teeth.

Real Pain Supernova, anyone? You do the math. Yet on The Golden Bridge this deceptive balancing act is taken to a whole new level, eschewing some of their more tried and true methods yet never straying far from the menace or the mirth that the band hold so dear.

If there’s one thing that’s immediately evident on the debut solo outing from Death Cab For Cutie’s Benjamin Gibbard, it’s the incredibly eclectic nature of the material covered almost from the outset. The opening 50 second a cappella Shepherd’s Bush Lullaby was recorded on an iPhone much like a barbershop quartet might, instantly bookmarking proceedings to be somewhat different to Gibbard’s day job or brilliant electronic side-project The Postal Service. The subsequent trio of tracks – Dream Song, first single Teardrop Windows and Bigger Than Love – certainly could’ve appeared on any one of Death Cab’s last four records, with their radio-ready hooks and steady approach – they might be predictable, somewhat, but in the best possible way.

Brighton’s colourful seafront has given rise to acts such as The Kooks, Bat For Lashes and Blood Red LIVE Shoes to name a few; even Nick Cave shares an affinity with the bohemian board-walked town.

Characterised by sunny reggae the aforementioned acts are not, but fellow Brightonians on the rise Will And The People most certainly are and their brand of vibrant, dirty, sultry, party-making Caribbean sass is infectiously enjoyable on their latest, Friends.

FTB is a self-deprecating purge, a prologue that sees the band flipping the bird at everything, including themselves (Fuck the home recording enthusiasts/Fuck the woodcutting drummers/Fuck No Anchor). For an album that effectively embraces the absurdity of metal, double-bass bands and the raging middle age, while tearing up their playbook at the same time, this is the perfect mission statement of what is to come. Slack Sabbath inhabits a world where The Austerity Program channels Osbourne et al; Woodman plays out more like a modern psych droner, stretched thin and smoked out, an aggressive drift into the unknown; whilst Anna is the blackest of pop tunes, no matter what Ian Rogers’ impassioned howls may suggest. Electricity’s esotericism and faux-elegant meanderings drift into Pink Floyd territory, via Steven Wilson histrionics – the perfect encapsulation of artistry and absurdity.

There are enough lyrical and aural touchstones on tracks such as Loose Gravel and Oh Kill to keep from alienating the traditionalists, but The Golden Bridge takes No Anchor into uncharted terrain, and doesn’t give a fuck if you join in. ★★★★½

Brendan Telford

It’s the kind of all-inclusive party pop on opener Holiday VDthat instantly puts the four-piece’s second offering

D

D

VD

But then you have songs that could be deemed oddities, things like Something’s Rattling (Cowpoke) with a mariachi band called Trio Ellas, or Broken Yolk In Western Sky which features his familiar voice with a distinct country twang. Duncan, Where Have You Gone is a mid-album highlight with a stunning, multiple-layered harmony (all by Gibbard himself) and a gritty guitar solo. The closing I’m Building A Fire is also moving; with its lone acoustic guitar it’s treated much like I’ll Follow You Into The Dark and just could be his Mull of Kintyre sans the bagpipes and bombast.

in favour. It doesn’t travel much outside the reggae/ ska spectrum but with some eastern gypsy guitar folk thrown in amongst blitzing keys and Will Rendle’s slightly nasally vocal line, it doesn’t really matter.

Lyrically and sonically it’s mostly upbeat, with Rendle’s most pressing concern being who he can get to “come to the back of the room” on the teasing Fire, but there’s some thoughtful, textural moments to make it more veritable than your average chilled-out house offering.

The suggestive Sensimilla is earnest and rendered multifaceted by its almost debaucherous accordion piping, before upping the vibe with frantic horns and staggered, rhythmic harmonies in 10000 Times Before.

D

Vertigo/Universal

WILL AND THE PEOPLE

Former Lives

VD

B3 EP

BENJAMIN GIBBARD

The Golden Bridge

VD

PLACEBO

NO ANCHOR LIVE

D

Without flashy gimmicks or any undeserving hype, Hot Chip have gone from being darlings of underground indie dance-land to being a major drawcard on the festival circuit and generally muscling their way into the wider consciousness of edgy pop. In a different era, they would have been genuine pop stars, and this danceable, contagious pop track would have been a massive hit and they probably would have their own jet with HOT CHIP written on it, but its not the ‘80s anymore so that ain’t gonna happen. Best thing we can hope for is that they will continue to push their tunes into different, interesting directions.

If anything, Former Lives feels like one for fans. As a compilation of sorts using the best of his vault from the last ten years or so, it feels more of a cleanse for Gibbard than it does a cohesive piece. Nonetheless, it’s a neat glance further into the mind of a truly remarkable songwriter and a rewarding one at that.

Despite a heavy bent for reggae, which may make some people reach for a sharp razor after a few tracks, it’s as fresh and enjoyable as summer’s best house party. A walking bassline works its wonders on the massively chilled and kinda cute Yellow about a yellow-toothed bogeyman, and it’s highlights like these that make this an album to please most everyone, even if it runs just a couple of tracks too many.

★★★½

★★★½

Ben Preece

Carley Hall

PRINCE RAMA So Destroyed EMI

BORED NOTHING

DREAMTIME

THE DARK HORSES

So Destroyed is the first track from Brooklyn duo Prince Rama’s concept album Top 10 Hits Of The End Of The World, where they take on the personalities of ten fictional bands and compile their tracks for a preapocalyptic party playlist. So Destroyed is awesome lo-fi experimental electro weirdness produced by Tim Koh from Ariel Pink’s band, and the aesthetic is similar to some of Pink’s early work. The track itself is like a Tom Tom Club freakout – plenty of melody but with a sharp edge. The end of the world now seems like something to look forward to, despite all that Mad Max shit that’s gonna probably (definitely) happen.

Bored Nothing

Sun

Everyone’s Alone

Spunk/Co-Operative

Independent

Dark Horse/Inertia

Melbourne bedroom artist Fergus Miller is Bored Nothing and his self-titled debut long-player is a collection of tracks from his cassette releases dating back to 2010, plus a smattering of new tunes. Despite this ad hoc genesis and the inherent limitations of the four-track set-up that he favours, Bored Nothing hangs together beautifully as a collection and proves to be a fine introduction to this precocious talent.

It seemed for a time that psych rock had become extinct in the Brisbane music scene, pushed further and further to the corners until it became a distant memory. Someone forgot to tell Dreamtime, a trio that unabashedly mine the depths of drone psychedelia that acolytes of late-’60s acid washouts get the withdrawal shakes over. Following quickly on the heels of last year’s self-titled debut, Sun more than lives up to its predecessor’s promise.

Shit For Brains opens proceedings with gentle, intricate, country-tinged indie rock; a dreamy swathe of gauze that meanders purposefully to its inevitable conclusion.

Following track Popcorn is relatively jarring with flourishes of percussion and more abrasive guitar, but the vocals remain soft and passionate. Indeed it’s Miller’s voice that draws the obvious comparisons of his project to Elliott Smith, although this is more due to their similar vocal timbre rather than any shared life outlook (although soft acoustic numbers like Get Out Of Here and Charlie’s Creek blur that distinction). Musically, for the most part, it’s more akin to ‘90s acts such as Sebadoh or The American Analog Set, yet retains its own distinctive flavour, especially when Miller lets go such as in the hook-riddled chorus to Just Another Maniac.

Opening with ‘single’ Centre Of Mind, a song that could have been found on the cutting-room floor of a Black Angels session (minus the ethereal female backing vocals), Sun lays it on thick and refuses to veer from the chosen path. The droning beauty that is Baphomet benefits from vocalist Zac Anderson’s vocal depth, skittish percussion and squalling guitar augmented by throat music-inspired mantras before the feverish dirge breaks through. The Road takes us on a more languid yet no less insistent sojourn, before the organ and tribal drums break down the ephemeral instrumental Equivalence. The title track creeps forward with husky intent before taking off into the stratosphere, a visceral explosion that the trio handle with dexterity and flair.

Brujeria feels like a backing track from the score of El Topo, and closer Art Of Invisibility throws it all together in a seductive spiral of destruction, all 13 minutes of it.

After waiting eight years to release new material with last year’s austere self-titled record, Tex Perkins and his Dark Horses have wasted no time returning to the fray. Immediately there are some noted differences on Everyone’s Alone, the most notable being the omission of Perkins’ name from their moniker. Yet this speaks volumes, as Everyone’s Alone proves to be a more rounded effort, infused with many personalities and voices to create a stronger – at times more rambunctious – whole.

TOBY MARTIN Nylex Nights Ivy League It would have been hard to pull out tracks from ex-Youth Group singer Toby Martin’s solo album as singles on account of the record having such a fluid flow and all the songs fitting nicely together to form a very insightful narrative into his brain. It’s an album of observations, and one of the songs that best sums that up is Nylex Nights, an aural landscape of the late night drunkenness in Melbourne when the best part of the night is long behind and the sad stragglers are still looking for something that they will never find. Sounds depressing, but it’s really not.

Lyrically the tone is predominantly weary and resigned, but this is offset by sporadic uplifting moments (Darcy, Echo Room, the surf stomp of Let Down), which add welcome diversity to the journey. Throughout the record Miller proves that you can work in the lo-fi realm without sacrificing ambition and attention to detail and ultimately his overriding laidback slacker charm makes Bored Nothing a diverse record that easily holds the attention for the duration. Excellent debut. ★★★★

44 • For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews

Steve Bell

Don’t be fooled though – although most tracks are formed around elongated jams within the practice room, Dreamtime are a tightly-coiled unit – Anderson would be left anchorless if not for Cat Maddin’s sonorous voice and pinpoint basslines, both driving the groove forward and hammering it to the spot, and some cataclysmic drumming from Tara Wardrop.

Sun should ignite a psych rock movement. ★★★★½

Brendan Telford

That’s not to say that Perkins isn’t capable of these things on his own, or that the Dark Horses haven’t let their hair down in the past. In fact, the ambling opener Uneasy Feeling plays like the warmly familiar band of old (that will always be difficult to shake due to Perkins’ iconic drawl).

It is a beautiful track and there are touches throughout, from Murray Paterson’s iconic guitar lines, to Gus Agars’ robust drumming and Charlie Owens’ lap-steel, which strangely appear more fleshed out, more there, than ever before. This holistic approach becomes more apparent as the album progresses – the two instrumental codas Open Ended, Dark Ride (Dawn) and Dark Ride (Dusk) are effusive counterpoints to the country-inflected fare here, permeating a shuffling eloquence that lends a shadowed gravitas to the proceedings. New addition James Cruickshank (The Cruel Sea) adds another string to the bow on electric piano and especially his backing vocals on Stay (Where You Are), whilst Joel Silbersher’s idiosyncratic guitar playing adds a concrete spine.

Perkins himself seems more relaxed than ever, offering plaintive, even rugged turns of phrase when delivering tales of lament, woe, regret and, as always, hope.

While this is their second album since their return, Everyone’s Alone is the true vindication for the wait. ★★★★

Brendan Telford

MONEY FOR ROPE

LISA MITCHELL

KENDRICK LAMAR

H.I.M.

Money For Rope

Bless This Mess

good kid, m.A.A.d city

XX: Two Decades Of Love Metal

Thornbury

Warner

Interscope/Universal

RCA/Sony

Money For Rope take their name from John Lennon’s political protest track Gimme Some Truth, but unlike the song, the sextet’s songwriting is much more straightforward. Love, loss, two chords, with a dabble in soul and a back section that’s heavy and tight. Sweet and simple.

It’s strange times when former reality television talent show rejects can shake off the cringes and forge solid careers of their own, foregoing the local RSL Friday night line-ups and assorted other ‘special guest’ appearances. The few that have escaped the clutches of B-grade fame are unearthing a sound of their own, and no doubt the most successful one to do so is the elfin-faced and sugar-breathed Lisa Mitchell. To use these kinds of descriptions of Mitchell leads to all sorts of dismissive thoughts surrounding Bless This Mess, but it shouldn’t; it’s simply a further foray into her fablelike way of seeing the world. It’s part of her branding, and as before with her debut, it works wonders here.

You’ve only got to flick through the inner sleeve of good kid, m.A.A.d city to realise that Kendrick Lamar has a story to tell. Hell, the spine of the record even says “a short film by”. But it’s a CD – whaaaaat?!

‘So Ville Valo and his Finnish crew have really been kicking for 20 years?’, you ask, your voice slightly incredulous. Yes, in fact, they’ve been kicking for 20 years. Even though you probably stopped listening to their over-dramatic Euro-goth-rock after you graduated high school, H.I.M. have continued going from strength to strength, never tinkering too much with a formula of angst, goth-approved imagery (tears, blood, funerals, etc.) and hints of optimism.

And there are some tidy melodies on tracks like You’ll Be Gone and Since I Left, generally mixing in nicely with some Hammond (but don’t mention the D-band!).

While the lead single Misery Lane and opening track Common Man bare the fingerprints of producer Steven Schram, with echoes of downbeat Little Red tracks like Witchdoctor. That’s the thing with this album – it seems much lighter in tone than the raucous live shows the boys have been putting on relentlessly for the last three years.

It’s a good thing, as it gives the songs a greater intricacy, more substance and some killer licks that would sit alongside Beck as easily as they would Foo Fighters.

The only downside is the loss of some of their defining characteristics. You need to turn the balance way off to really get the amazing bass lines and true effect of the double drums. There’s only a hint of the Datsun-style energy and raw rock that they bring on stage in Ten Times and Sail Past Your House, while their funky party groove shines only in glimpses during Hang Em High.

It maybe a little harsh, but the album feels as though it’s compressed their energy and vibe into a capsule aimed at the digestive system of mainstream radio. It’s a decent record, it truly is, but they are so much better. ★★★

Kristy Wandmaker

Opening track, Providence, has spatial, piano-hall magic and sweetly submissive melodic lines showcasing Mitchell at her best. Her vocal skips along a lyric that insists acceptance and reassurance, kicking off her overarching theme in fine form. These simple and sweet moments here and in The Land Beyond The Front Door offer one side of the album’s charm, the more layered, rock-driven tracks where she gives a bit more grunt and less fluff. The lead singles are responsible for most of the ballsy moments, Spiritus and the title track, ridden with jagged guitars and a more natural vocal delivery, sounding less like they might be blown away by a puff of air.

Anyway... the young Californian isn’t spruiking shit. As with a lot of great hip hop albums, good kid, m.A.A.d city plays out like a motion picture. It’s a snapshot into the life of Lamar and how his Compton home pulls him in directions both positive and negative – the challenges he faces and the decisions he makes. After a grateful prayer opens the record, the 25-year-old is soon lamenting, “I am a sinner, whose probably going to sin again,” on Bitch Don’t Kill My Vibe, before he indeed does, getting wrapped up in all kinds of gangbanging activities. It’s through this middle section that you get an insight into the conflicts of a young man’s mind. It’s honest and colourful, his verses concise and smart, while the production is spacious, thoughtful and cinematic, flowing smooth like individual scenes in an enthralling movie. There are moments where Lamar is drowning in the good times, like on club jam Swimming Pools (Drank), but it’s clear that he’s rooted in the real world, the MC verbally painting scenes from the ghetto while simultaneously hinting that, yes, there is a way out.

There are other highlights on offer; So Much To Say channels a bit of old-school piano ballad chord movements a la Carole King, and the shoegazey ten-minute closer, I Know You’re Somewhere, provides some more interesting depth. Overall, a brave step in a far more mature direction.

After listening to this sophomore release, it’s clear that Jay-Z and Kanye should be watching their throne, because if the Compton kid continues on this trajectory, it’s a mere formality that he’ll soon find himself at the top of the food chain.

★★★

★★★★

Carley Hall

Benny Doyle

XX: Two Decades Of Love Metal captures how successful H.I.M. have been at writing adolescent rock’n’roll for all those years. Most bands who write music targeted to young audiences sound totally contrived by the time most of their members reach their late-20s, but the tracks here taken from H.I.M.’s last studio effort Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice show that Valo and his cohort have managed to retain a feeling of relevance and honesty.

Previously unreleased track, opener Strange World, further proves that H.I.M. are in no danger of growing up. These guys are still hitting the same powering guitar riffs, wellplaced keyboard flourishes and super-bombastic choruses that simultaneously make you want to dance and cry.

It would have been nice to hear XX veer away from the studio records/hits, the Venus Doom and Razorblade Romance records get the biggest workout here. Especially when some of the remixes and covers the band recorded as part of their Uneasy Listening records are so good – their cover of Turbonegro’s Rendezvous With Anus is absolutely essential H.I.M., as is their glammy reworking of Bad Brains’ Sailin’ On – but XX is still an excellent snapshot of the career of these goth rock Peter Pans.

Tom Hersey

Drawing

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 45

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THIS WEEK IN

ARTS

SILVER FOX

Miss Bala

WEDNESDAY 21 Children Of War – a new piece of theatre from The Danger Ensemble, written by Chris Beckey, it tells the untold stories of the children born during the Trojan War. La Boite Indie, 7.30pm until Saturday 1 December.

Miss Bala – a film about a 23 year old, Laura Guerrero, who dreams of being crowned a local beauty queen. Set against the pitiless backdrop of an arid Mexican drug trade and warzone, directed by Gerardo Naranjo. Part of BIFF, Palace Barracks Cinema, 9pm.

THURSDAY 22 Moonrise Kingdom – a screening of one of the year’s most delightful and tender films about young love from Wes Anderson. This is the story of a summer in 1965 and two 12 year olds, who are very much in love and run away together into the wilderness. Ben & Jerry’s Openair Cinemas, 8.30pm.

FRIDAY 23 Ten Failed Doomsday Prophecies… And The End Of The World – a collaboration between Indonesian performance artist/political activist Iwan Wijono, performer Eloise Maree, sound designer Daniel Huey and video designer Lucie McIntosh.

This is an imagining of the

not-too-distant future achieved by looking into the past. Judith Wright Centre: Shopfront, 6pm.

God Bless America – a film directed by actor/comedian/ filmmaker Bobcat Goldthwait that attacks America’s stupidity, bigotry and reality TV bottom-feeders. “Last night I saw a woman throw a used tampon at another woman. What’s the point of being a civilisation if we have forgotten how to be civil.”

Part of BIFF, Tribal Theatre, 7.30pm.

RAWawards – the first ever RAWawards hosted outside of the United States. This is an independent arts company for artists, by artists. Hosted by Frankie Vandellous, The Arena, 7pm.

SATURDAY 24 Sun State Roller Girls Grand Final – five players from each team on the track at once. This is a violent, fast sport. The Grand final will see Bout One: Vandals Vs Furies in the battle for third and fourth and Bout Two: Defiants Vs Riots fighting it out to be 2012 champions. Beenleigh Arena, 5pm.

SUNDAY 25 Freedom In Action – a workshop run by Greg Holdaway, who teaches the Alexander Technique principles to explore the potential for freedom in action. !Metro Arts, 9.30am.

UPCOMING IN ARTS The Wayans Brothers – comedians, producers, writers and siblings Shawn and Marlon Wayans will tour Australia for the first time in May. They’re known for Scary Movie 1 and 2, White Chicks and In Living Color. Tickets on sale 9am Wednesday 21 November.

GAMERS AND MUSO’S A WICKED GIVEAWAY We have a Gibson guitar, cord and a copy of the game Rocksmith™ to giveaway. This is the first and only game that lets you plug any real guitar into your Xbox 360®, PlayStation®3 system or PC, enabling you to learn to play guitar and bass or just develop your skills while gaming. It like a treadmill for guitarists and with summer just around the corner, never

partner, talk-show host Jimmy Kimmel. (He replied with his own video, ‘I’m Fucking Ben Affleck’.)

underestimated the importance of a beach body or strumming skills.

To enter head to themusic.com.au

46 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

It won’t be long now before Sarah Silverman has infiltrated pretty much every area of popular culture, writes Guy Davis.

If you haven’t jumped aboard her bandwagon already, now would be an opportune time to do so, especially given the multi-talented comedian, actor and author is coming to Australia on her first stand-up tour, performing one show in Sydney and Melbourne.

Of course, you’re a person of surpassing taste and refinement, so you’re already aware Silverman is pretty fucking funny, whether she’s on stage, on screen (starring in her hilarious TV series The Sarah Silverman Program, or making guest appearances on the likes of Mr Show with Bob and David, Bob’s Burgers and Louie, just to name a few) or on the page (as evinced by her recent memoir, The Bedwetter: Stories of Courage, Redemption and Pee). And then there’s the legendary viral video ‘I’m Fucking Matt Damon’, in which she enlisted the Bourne Identity star for a good-natured stab at her former

But as of late, Silverman has been expanding her repertoire, taking on a supporting role in Sarah Polley’s acclaimed drama Take This Waltz, and, perhaps more shockingly, lending her voice to the big-screen Disney cartoon Wreck-It Ralph, in which she plays a anime-inspired video game character with the awesome name of Vanellope von Schweetz. “I connect to Vanellope so much,” says Silverman. “She takes the thing that holds her back in life and makes it her superpower.

I love that.” (To learn more, check out Wreck-It Ralph when it opens in cinemas Boxing Day. Seriously, do. It’s really good.)

“I have such different fans depending on what they know me from,” she adds. “There are the people that know me from stand-up and internet videos, people who know me from my show, people who know me from [the TV series] Monk and family-friendly stuff, kids’ shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and of course Wreck-It Ralph, so it’s a very eclectic and [an] often random sampling of people.”

But while she is increasingly known for a variety of different roles and projects, stand-up remains one of her great loves.

“I love stand up,” she says. “It’s scary and raw and in the moment, and you can only be as good as the crowd you’re talking to.”

There’s sometimes a political edge to Silverman’s material – she

released hilarious video shorts about the voting process prior to the American presidential elections both this year and in 2008 – but she admits that the bulk of her material will focus on “social issues, social politics and also just straight-up silliness”.

Oh, and the TV series Lost, with which she has a teeny bit of an obsession. “I watched every episode of every season and I just loved it and that love has bled into shows I’ve done,” she says.

“I always seem to write a Lost reference somewhere in the shows I’ve done since it’s been on.”

Something else audiences can expect from a Sarah Silverman show? Swearing. Let’s face it, the lady has a reputation for slanging a few choice four-letter words about. (One article described her as ‘cuss-prone’.) But she’s not simply deploying profanity for profanity’s sake. “I think swearing has to be a specific choice to be funny,” she says. “Not peppered in an attempt to show irreverence – that never works – but a choice of words. Even if that choice is pure gratuitousness. Is that a word?” (It is.) Overall, however, audiences should prop themselves for a “loosey-goosey” night of comedy that’s “just me and a mic and you,” says Silverman. “Also, the brilliant Todd Barry and Australia’s own Wil Anderson! Woo-hoo!”

WHAT: Sarah Silverman’s new film Wreck It Ralph WHEN & WHERE: In cineams December 26..

REVIEW HARVEST ARTS FESTIVAL At the risk of glorifying alcohol consumption and appropriating a tagline, it really is so much more civilised to be able to go to a festival without being caged in a pen and forced to build makeshift beer bongs from mid-strength pre-mixes while pressed up against sweaty, flag-bearing, SouthernCross-tattooed punters every time you want to exercise your age-given right to enjoy a mildly alcoholic beverage. (No offence to sweaty, flag-bearing festivalgoers with Southern Cross tattoos.)

Adding to the general sense of civil goodwill is that Harvest doesn’t merely pay lip service to the arts with a few tired installations and graffiti demonstrations but devotes entire stages to sideshow antics, albeit that Brisbane gets a slightly scaled-back piece of the arts-related action.

The day starts soggy – a portent of things to come – but inside Le Boudoir the crowd is warm and the MC industrious enough to entice punters under the tent with some swift and impressive crowd-related visual trickery. The League Of Sideshow Superstars put on a hilarious show involving graphic descriptions of the internal workings of sword swallowing – apparently you must gain control

over some reflexive muscle in the oesophagus, hold the sword in place and then release at will, just in case you were thinking of giving up your day job – and the irresistible Lilikoi Kaos does marvellous things with hula hoops. Many, many hula hoops.

Outside on the Cherrypicker Stage, Ice Cream Factory have set up shop and spend the day entertaining recuperating, moderately buzzed attendees with near-constant circus performers. The aforementioned Lilikoi Kaos makes a few appearances, which, incidentally, prove an effective way of telling the time if your watch, phone or sundial were rendered useless by the intermittent saturation.

Out and about Riverstage has been well-adorned with art, the swinging glitter heart being a favourite because, let’s face it, everybody likes shiny things. Live performers pop up with unexpected spontaneity, which is inexplicably surprising considering one such procession includes a giant unicorn, performers beautifully doused in feathers and Queen Mab blowing glitter into faces. It’s difficult to think of activities more surreal than riding a bath-tub pulled by fairies whilst flocked in gold dust and surrounded by human-birds. A highly recommended experience, if you’re ever given the opportunity.

At approximately the time this writer battles a schnitzel-burger line

Briefs

and plans to make her way back to Le Boudoir, the sky blackens and we’re calmly but emphatically told to stop what we’re doing and evacuate the festival entirely.

Thankfully, this shortens the schnitzel line dramatically. Credit to the organisers, who simply open up all the gates – such a civilised way to avoid injury – and let people flock to whatever coverage they can find while wind, hail, thunder and lightning put

on a show impressive enough to threaten outdoing the other acts.

Unfortunately, this makes it difficult to work out who’s performing next, and we catch only the end of the next Boudoir set after the stormrelated confusion. No doubt the full show is wonderful; the rest of the day, storm included, certainly is.

Helen Stringer Sunday 18 November, City Botanic Gardens

F R O N T R O W @ T I M E O F F. C O M . A U

SAM HOBSON

REVIEWS BIFF

THE SWEENEY BIFF 2012 OPENING NIGHT FILM It’s hard to really consider much of The Sweeney in any critical sense.

It’s slick, fleeting, soulless stuff, and an altogether unsuccessful pick for BIFF 2012’s opening night film.

A remake of the ‘70s cop show of the same name, The Sweeney tells the tale of an elite but roguish team of cops. Living in abject luxury, they’re given nuance by being unshaven and by the fact they’re under internal investigation. Some of them are sleeping with each other, one of them is noncommittally bent, some of them are grizzled Ray Winstone or ‘pretty boy’ Plan B and the rest are nameless, without any real characterisation.

360 360 feels like the kind of film that fell out of style after American Beauty; a film that didn’t learn any lessons from Babel or 2004’s Crash, either. It’s exactly what

Once this group of faceless comrades have adequately jostled together in an introductory series of police things, a ‘bad guy’ presence rears its head. The film fails particularly here, because we’re never told why he’s bad, or what the ‘bad history’ is between he and Winston’s character. A red herring then flops around on the screen for the movie’s sagging, confusing middle-section, and then we’re back to the dull revelation that it was the bad guy all along.

The film’s attempts at establishing a roguish rapport between the characters is mildly successful; Plan B’s not in any way awful and Ray Winstone’s typically underutilised, though ultimately to blame for elevating this film to our attention.

There are action scenes that trickle through the requisite machinations to make sure we get enough guns with our cars, glass smashing and market stalls getting turned over. The film flirts briefly with a ‘renegade cop’ storyline, but decides quickly to drop it. There’s a prison stint for one of the main characters that serves no real threat and, in all, The Sweeney is a big, messy slathering of shorthand with nothing behind its glean. you’d expect from its ‘intersecting storyline’ premise, and, while it comes from a place of promise and boasts a truly great monologue from a refreshingly un-camp Anthony Hopkins, it’s ultimately a hollow and outdated affair.

Raising fleeting questions about the nature of love, sex and monogamy, 360 attempts – as these films do – to paint a broader picture of our interconnectedness, hoping to milk catharsis and understanding from the shared existential agony of it all.

And though it does that ably enough, it’s largely without anything new to say. It wastes actors like Ben Foster, Jude Law and Rachel Weisz at the feet of a script that wants to play from subtleties that simply aren’t there.

HEAVEN’S GATE Cimino’s new (or restored) cut of his 1980 revisionist western Heaven’s Gate is a triumph. Critically flattened on its release for being pompous and bloated, the film is still both of those things, but not in any measure that hurts it. Instead, Heaven’s Gate is a movie that should be lauded for its ambition; for its beauty too, and its scope.

As a revisionist western, Heaven’s Gate can hold it with the best. It’s complex, but it’s also bold and broad-shouldered. It’s epic, and runs rich with textures of struggle and authenticity deep-rooted in its story. It’s sweeping, and still manages the small moments. The film’s at times impossibly pretty;

THE ABCS OF DEATH An anthology film devised by infamous genre-film historian Ant

C U LT U R A L WITH MANDY MCALISTER

GOD BLESS AMERICA God Bless America is going to be the easiest film you’ve ever fallen for.

Everything you’ve ever complained about on Facebook, everything you’ve ever hated about everyone else’s supreme inconsiderateness, and all those rants you’ve enjoyed about the general decline of things since the introduction of reality TV, are shot and killed in God Bless America. That’s the film.

And God, is it a good one. Director Bobcat Goldthwait has finally come into his full stride and here flexes

AMERICAN MARY American Mary has flashes of great things. Following the ridiculous story of pretty surgeon-in-training who, after an unfortunate experience with

his tremendous ability to conjure honey-soaked moments of small, cinematic gold, wringing blackness and catharsis from the pits and exquisite pains of abject loser-dom.

And it wouldn’t work hadn’t Goldthwait such a tight leash on the film’s dark misanthropy. Just when you fear the movie is at odds with itself, it looks right at the camera, winks and dove-tails just when it needs to head into a smart and cunning mea culpa.

Screening Friday 23 November Tribal Theatre, 7pm and Saturday 24 November, Palace Centro, 6.30pm. a professor, turns to stripping, and doing on-the-fly body-mod surgeries for punishment (!) at the whim of body-mod enthusiasts.

American Mary is a film without proper focus and only really exists to very lightly veil its foaming obsession with bigging up the body-mod community.

But those flashes – they’re almost worth it. There’s a real inventiveness to the film’s gore, and while the acting’s disastrously B-grade, the unforgivably careless script and the film grindingly loses its momentum after 40 minutes. It does, however, feature a woman whose ruined her face to look like Betty Boop.

Screening Sunday 25 November Tribal Theatre, 2pm.

RUST & BONE

its every frame cloudy and hazed in dark frontier-dreaming. It’s a magnificent achievement, even if it’s not perfect. It’s a little bit of Peckinpah, and a lot like the moody, elegiac mood of Cimino’s previous effort, The Deer Hunter.

Timpson, The ABCs Of Death sees 26 horror directors each tackle a letter of the alphabet, each of those letters describing a mode or theme of an on-screen death.

D is for dogfight. F is for fart. T is for toilet. M… is for miscarriage.

Unlike most horror anthology films, the ratio of good shorts to bad is surprisingly weighted in favour of the former. Watch a dog maul a man in perhaps the most glorious slo-mo you’ll ever see. Witness a stripping nazi furry attempt an execution by hydro-electric fusion. There’s gore, child-killing, nudity and monsters.

Everything you could possibly want.

Screening Sunday 25 November Tribal Theatre, 8.30pm

CRINGE

Rust & Bone is a tough and enormous film. It’s hard to digest, and just as hard to shake, afterwards. Following the story of a brutish, alpha-boar, out-of-work boxer and his relationship with a woman who loses her legs in a killer whale accident, Rust & Bone is a film that, while never teetering into being completely overwrought about its central drama, is nonetheless affected by the inherent ‘ohmygod’-ness of that setup.

But, despite that, it’s also deftly beautiful. It’s so incredibly focused and precise in its depictions of the agonies of its two characters, that its story is at once affronting and completely heartbreaking. It’s also

desperately romantic, but achingly bleak about it. Tragic, without simple redemption. All those incomplete sentences of things. See it, be affected by it, suffer afterwards.

Screening Saturday 24 November Palace Centro Cinema, 2pm. captivating mix of homely and incisive naturalism with straight, easy comedy. But this isn’t by any means a classic Loach film. It’s a solid movie, but a mild one in the greater scope of the man’s oeuvre.

THE ANGEL’S SHARE Like a lot of great Ken Loach, The Angel’s Share balances a

Following the rehabilitation of a man imprisoned for a violent crime, The Angel’s Share begins as many of the director’s films do; building towards a slow devastation, annotating society’s unwillingness to accept changed men. But instead of following this through, the film hits the height of its emotional complexities early, and from that point onwards, seems happy to patter through a (nonetheless) enjoyable romp about a whiskey heist.

Have you noticed that it’s that time of year when anytime you ask someone what the date is they give the answer with a sigh and say, “Where did the year go?”.

The Christmas decorations are going up, and soon once again the likes of Mariah Carey will be waiting on fat royalty cheques as the rest of us give in to the black magic of Christmas tunes and bounce along to seasonal songs.

Time goes fast and I can hardly believe we’re already a week into the Brisbane International Film Festival. This is Christmas for avid cinefiles and there are still a lot of presents to unwrap. Waking up and scanning the daily BIFF newsletter gives the same giddy feeling of a kid hunting for presents in a parent’s wardrobe. If you’re unsure what to see at BIFF, here’s a few picks to get you thinking.

Great Expectations has been adapted for film at least five times since the 1940s, but it’s only fitting that on the bicentenary of Charles Dickens’ birth, director Mike Newell (Four Weddings & A Funeral) breathes new life into this epic tale of love, treachery and impressionable young people.

If your experience of the story is limited to the soft but passable 1998 version starring Gwyneth Paltrow and Ethan Hawke, consider seeing this an exercise in contrast and comparison as Newell’s offers the indulgences of an 1800s period piece. Great Expectations will screen at BIFF this Friday.

With a catalogue displaying genius, Christopher Nolan has become the director that can do no wrong.

THE LOOKING

The Batman trilogy has enthralled a generation of fans and set Nolan apart from the pack. The success of Inception showed that Nolan doesn’t need the Bat to be controversial and as far back as Momento, he was giving audiences more than they bargained for. This enviable bio started with Following, a black and white film made for $6000 using Nolan’s parents’ house as the primary location. The story centres on an aspiring writer whose habit of following strangers in the bid to gather material upsets his quiet life when he decides to follow the wrong guy. Following is showing this Thursday and Sunday.

If you’re looking for something a lot left of centre, BIFF has many, many offerings. Spaghetti westerns galore, kung fu classics, docos on every make and model of humanity.

If gothic horror is your bag consider seeing American Mary.

Mary is a poor surgical intern who earns an extra buck by practicing body modification by night. As the surgeries become more extreme, Mary’s own motives become increasingly sinister. Every now and again it’s interesting to check your levels. How delicate are my sensibilities? What makes me uncomfortable? What’s my filmic version of consuming too much fairy floss and coke at the fair and immediately jumping on the octopus ride? For me, American Mary is probably going to one of those films. The second, and last screening of American Mary shows this Sunday.

Happy BIFF film fans! If you uncover a BIFF gem, share the love with a tweet to @ mandymmcalister.

GLASS

WITH HELEN STRINGER SPOLIER ALERT After years of mocking meditation as Eastern-appropriated, esoterically spiritual bullshit, I’ve given up the resistance and taken up daily focusing on my awareness and getting in touch with my objective observer. In sending out love and kindness to the world, I realised that I need also extend a compassionate hand to those who’ve most catalysed my fury over the years.

May they be peaceful and content.

The LNP: I now recognise that in this harsh economic climate, nepotism is perfectly justified. Had I children who were vulnerable to my own policies of systematically dismantling the public service, I too would employ them in high-level positions they’re not qualified to fulfil.

Ensuring the financial well-being of your progeny is not nepotistic corruption – it’s good parenting.

I respect Can-do’s efforts to convince us of the openness of his government while his ministers are being forced to resign for partaking in some low-level corruption. We should not be cynical of his promise to make public edited versions of ministerial diaries. I completely believe that the parts of these diaries edited out will not include, “I used the parliamentary paper-shredder today and it was, as always, very helpful in sifting through selection criteria until only my son’s/daughter’s/son’s best friend’s remained. I’m always surprised at the efficacy of this method in objectively choosing the most suitable candidate for the three public service jobs that still exist.”

The Socialist Alliance: I can see

now that I should not capitulate to the overwhelming sensation that I’m being irresistibly provoked by public and vocal condemnations of Israel’s “killing sprees” emanating from angry activists in the Queen Street Mall.

It’s only now that I fully realise that arguments between parties holding fast to diametrically opposed positions are completely futile. It’s not necessary for me to respond to illuminating pontificating about Hamas’s right to meet Israeli aggression with military parity by pointing out that by this logic Israel should be allowed to fire Iranian rockets into Palestine arbitrarily. I understand my opinion is unpopular among, well, pretty much everyone, but especially alternative political movements and I fully respect the right to hold contrary beliefs.

Stephenie Meyer (and the entire cast of Twilight): For the past half-decade I’ve clung to the certainty that the Twilight saga dangerously promotes the type of relationship used in public service campaigns against domestic abuse and that the saga is so poorly written that reading the tomes actually decreases literacy. I’ve called Bella insipid and mocked Captain Sparklepants for his twinkling skin, but no more. I recognise that Mrs Meyer’s immense wealth is the product of female empowerment, not the proceeds of thinly veiled Mormon-moralising.

Moreover, I can accept that if I was offered over $10 million, I too would roll around in glitter glue, pretend to be a 150-year-old virgin vampire and act like a vampire-human-hybrid baby tearing itself out of the womb and promptly falling in love with a teenage werewolf that is not more than a little bit fucked up. Peace be with you all.

For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 47

FREE PROGRAM THIS WEEK...

FRIDAYS

MUSIC Brisbane Powerhouse and Brispop present

THE RESIDENTS:

WOMEN IN DOCS Fri 23, 30 Nov, 6pm, Turbine Platform Pictured Women in Docs

December: Sue Ray

SATURDAYS

MUSIC

Brisbane Powerhouse and QUT Creative Industries present

POPALICIOUS

MICHELLE XEN

Sat 24 Nov, 5pm, Turbine Platform

SUNDAYS

MUSIC Brisbane Powerhouse and Brispop present

LIVESPARK:

ROSE WINTERGREEN, JULIA ROSE Sun 25 Nov, 3.30pm, Turbine Platform Pictured Rose Wintergreen

COMEDY Brisbane Powerhouse presents

LIVEWIRED:

VARIOUS

Join us on Sunday nights for complimentary comedy from Brisbane’s up-and-coming comedians. Past jokers include Josh Thomas and Mel Buttle.

Every Sunday, 6.30pm, Turbine Platform

B R I S B A N E P OW E R H O U S E . O R G 48

THE GOOD SHIP Member answering/role:

Captain Daz, one of the, err, captains of The Good Ship

How long have you been together?

I’m proud to announce that 2013 will be our sesquicentennial.

How did you all meet?

We all share the same father but didn’t know until we met at his funeral. The fact that we all love porno, folk, country, rock songs about prostitutes, drinking, murder and life at sea is just sheer coincidence.

You’re on tour in the van – which band or artist is going to keep the most people happy if we throw them on the stereo?

Either O’ Exquisite Corpse or Avast! Wretched Sea by The Good Ship. I hear that band is going places.

Would you rather be a busted broke-but-revered Hank Williams figure or some kind of Metallica monster?

Definitely some kind of Metallica monster. I would love nothing more than to have pimply teen guitarists learn to shred to our song 6000 Cocks.

Which Brisbane bands before you have been an inspiration (musically or otherwise)?

The Moggill Country Women’s Association Auxiliary String Band were a massive influence when we first started. They would sometimes play for three days straight if you kept up the tea and biscuits. And the guy that plays the steel drums out front of the casino. Even though he reported us to the council for busking too close to him one time we still love him.

What part do you think Brisbane plays in the music you make?

We are very influenced by the political environment we are immersed in at any particular time. Under the previous Labor state government we mainly wrote songs about health payroll systems and un-mandated state asset sales. Now under the Coalition state government we tend to write more about the slash-and-burn policy toward public service employment and

the benefits of building more coal fired power stations in an increasingly warming climate. I guess we are very typical of most bands in that way.

Is your band responsible for more make-outs or break-ups? Why? I think our strength lies in the arrangement of our songs, encouraging our audience to make-out and break-up within a span of a single song. The world is changing so rapidly that soon our audience will actually make-out and break-up before they even hear our songs. I know. Mind. Blown.

What reality TV show would you enter as a band and why?

OMG I’m A Queer Eye Survivor Living On The Block In The Real World With My American Chopper And My Big Brother On The Jersey Shore With My Toddlers & Tiara’s In Jamie’s Kitchen Whose Farmer Wants A Wife To Pimp My Ride In My Backyard Blitz. Or Here Comes Honey Boo Boo. I can never decide.

If your band had to play a team sport instead of being musicians which sport would it be and why would you be triumphant?

I know that most of the band are big fans of equestrian vaulting. While the individual or pas-de-deux (or pairs) routines are exciting to watch, we just can’t get enough of the team events where they are required to perform a gymnastics routine on the back of a trotting horse on a leash taking in set moves as well as choreographed freestyle exercises done to music. I just know that we’d be good at it for some reason.

What’s in the pipeline for the band in the short term?

We are launching our new single and film clip for Sin City Sweetheart and as is our wont touring about the place the promote it. Because of the song’s sultry link to Las Vegas, we thought we’d do something a little special for the Brisbane launch and so we’re performing an intimate show at The Hideaway in the Valley on Friday 30 November. It will be a ‘Sin City’ styled party with a Wheel Of Fortune so that you, the punter, can have a chance to choose what songs we play and you may even get the opportunity to win a bloody marvelous meat tray. Tickets are capped at 100 though so get in early now kids.

The Good Ship play The Hideaway on Friday 30 November.

Photo by TERRY SOO.

that it’s game on, and before you know it we’re back inside Harvest waiting for a resumption of play, and we don’t even seem to miss any acts. Well played.

The Black Angels @ Harvest pic by Stephen Booth

through a greatest hits set, the tunes seemingly directing the clouds to sod off, if only for the interim. A trumpetassisted Godless opens proceedings before the goodness is just wheeled out end-to-end: We Used To Be Friends, Not If You Were The Last Junkie On Earth, Good Morning and Bohemian Like You. Finishing with Boys Better, the band couldn’t have made more of their hour-long slot.

Beck @ Harvest pic by Stephen Booth

HARVEST FESTIVAL BRISBANE RIVERSTAGE & BOTANIC GARDENS: 18/11/12 A massive electrical storm ravaged Brisbane yesterday and similar is expected for today, but that hasn’t stopped an eager swarm of indie lovers from descending on the picturesque inner-city environs of the Botanic Gardens where Harvest Festival is strutting its stuff today.

An enthusiastic crowd has lined up early to witness Sydney indie darlings Winter People open the Riverstage. Playing the gamut of their debut record A Year At Sea, the six-piece already seem at home on the main stage, with the biggest crowd response for Gallons. Nevertheless there is something staid about this performance that may fade over time. Overall an amiable – if underwhelming – opening to the day.

Philadelphian quartet The War On Drugs are on fire early at The Windmill Stage, frontman Adam Granduciel leading his charges through an impassioned set of classic rock, offset by synth-driven textures and atmospherics that make the experience a sensory delight. The catchy Baby Missiles is an early highlight, but he gets his Neil Young on during Come To The City and coaxes Taking The Farm to an arena-rock climax, before finishing an awesome set with the rocking A Needle In Your Eye #16, complete with a massive swirling guitar solo to close proceedings.

One of the few first-timers to Australia on the bill, UK’s Los Campesinos! are perfectly suited to kickstarting the party vibes. They aren’t spring chickens either, with a wealth of back catalogue to flaunt. Luckily it is all upbeat, which is what the crowd needs to keep the ominous clouds at bay. When It’s You, It’s Me, We’re Dancing hits its pace, the band truly seems to have won over a lot of fans. Let’s hope they’re back again soon.

While they play to a thin crowd right in the middle of today’s first big downpour, the UK’s Dark Horses don’t seem to let this deter them, as they smash out a wonderfully rich set full of brooding indie rock.

While the band are a little drab on stage, this doesn’t matter since sexy, engaging frontwoman Lisa Elle is captivating enough to make up for the whole mob as she belts out tracks from the band’s Black Music LP. Weirdest inclusion of the festival goes to ‘80s one-hit wonders Dexys (The Midnight Runners having scarpered some time ago). The band, fluctuating between eight and 11 members, is all dapperly dressed. Pity about the music – their take on theatrical new-wave pop has not aged well. Come On Eileen is fleshed out and is a highlight of the day; alas, without the sun and fullstrength beverages, the rest of the set is dead on arrival.

Even after almost 20 years, it’s clear that people still fucking love The Dandy Warhols. Behind pouting frontman Courtney Taylor-Taylor, the Oregon crew rip

Los Angeles four-piece Silversun Pickups seem right at home in the warm afternoon sun, and although the band make-up is slightly askew, with expecting mother Nikki Monninger replaced on bass duties by Sarah Negahdari, the four-piece give it their all. The setlist is desperately short on older material and the sound isn’t completely kind to Negahdari or frontman Brian Aubert, but the closing one-two of Panic Switch and Lazy Eye is the shot most people in the crowd need to really kickstart the afternoon.

What’s with the midnight vultures given a sunny spot?

Last year it was Mercury Rev battling the heat, today it is the ubiquitous Liars. The trio do their best – WIXIW and the excellent No 1 Against The Rush from their new record are particularly stirring, but it feels like this would be far better suited to dusk. A feverish Plaster Casts Of Everything and nebulous The Other Side Of Mt Heart Attack finish proceedings though, reminding everyone what a potent force they continue to be.

It was always going to be a strange proposition, seeing the sprawling orchestral Mike Patton’s Mondo Cane in the middle of what is ostensibly a rock festival, and judging by this afternoon’s performance, its effectiveness will depend on who you ask. Patton devotees lap it up, but some of the intricacies of this grandiose music seem so fully amplified to suit the setting that they lose that power of light and shade. Having said that, the musicianship is first class and Patton is a consummate showman and prodigious vocalist. The very fact that an act like this can be considered on a typical rock festival is testament to the festival’s refreshingly different programming.

Cake mix funk rhythms and sparse alt.rock with the slightly-singing-more-so-spoken-word musings of frontman John McCrea, to create a sound that, although unique, isn’t really that exciting – generally speaking. But the crowd remain enthused through the new material, politely listening to the ranting man front of stage when he veers off on a political bent, and are duly rewarded with a closing three-up of Never There, Short Skirt/Long Jacket and The Distance, making the journey all worthwhile.

How are The Black Angels not huge everywhere?

Occupying the Red Tractor Stage, the Texan psych powerhouse craft another scintillating set of rock that appears effortless, yet there is nothing lackadaisical about their performance. Christian Bland wields the guitar like a lysergic wizard in flannelette, while Stephanie Bailey leaves nothing to chance, flailing the skins to within an inch of their life. But it all comes down to Alex Maas’ vocals, and as perennial killer Young Men Dead typifies, it is top tier.

Once the sea of poncho-clad festivalgoers has reconvened across the hill of the Windmill Stage, Ben Folds Five reclaim Harvest back from the clutches of Mother Nature.

As lightning cracks constantly across the horizon, the aging three-piece show performance zeal far below their years. Underground and One Angry Dwarf and 200 Solemn Faces turn into jovial mass sing-alongs, newer material such as Draw A Crowd and Do It Anyway sit naturally among the quintessential ‘90s cuts, while Brick simply wraps you in a wave of nostalgia.

The Dandy Warhols @ Harvest pic by Stephen Booth

50 • For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews

Over at the main stage Minneapolis folk outfit Dark Dark Dark are completing their second set for the day – filling in on the main stage for Beirut, who pulled out at the last minute due to illness – and are doing a fine job of battling the inclement weather and lastminute scheduling with their atmospheric and textured sounds when the heavens open and an announcement is made that the event is postponed, and security (quickly and smoothly given the circumstances) usher all patrons off the site and urge people to take cover in the neighbouring QUT campus. The massive storm abates eventually and social media lets people know

It does mean, however, that the vibe at the main stage is somewhat weary and restrained, but the emergence of Beck, who launches straight into Black Tambourine, with the restrained cool that has been a huge part of his charm for the past 20 years. Think I’m In Love runs into a chorus of Prince’s Raspberry Beret nicely before Beck and co take on a couple of Sea Change numbers – namely The Golden Age and Lost Cause – that take on a special significance as the band that backs Beck Hansen up tonight is the same group that backed him on that 2002 record. An impromptu blues ditty that laments this evening’s weather leads into Soldier Jane before the slack groove of Hotwax starts the set’s energetic run home; One Foot In The Grave, Devil’s Haircut, Loser, Gamma Ray and Where It’s At see Beck in full flight, freestyling some typically bizarre chatter in amongst the slick renditions of these great songs.

While the storm delay disrupted the other stages, the Red Tractor Stage is now a quagmire, which scares many hipster fashionistas away. Thank fuck for Fuck Buttons then. The UK duo have cornered the market in making electronic noise enjoyable (even attractive), and while today’s set isn’t as ear-splittingly loud or seductive as it could have been, there is an insidious groove inherent in these cyclical tunes that hypnotise.

Grizzly Bear are an enthralling mix of indie smarts, church-choir choruses and rock-rooted playing. Singles like Yet Again and Ready, Able stir deep-seated emotions, and as the band are drenched in shades of colour it’s hard not to get overwhelmed. Touring keys player Aaron Arntz loses his shirt and starts crowdsurfing during While You Wait For The Others, highlighting the guys have plenty of humour behind their harmonies, but when Ed Droste leads the New Yorkers through a mesmerising Two Weeks, everyone is firmly rooted, lost completely in the moment.

Brooklyn’s First Lady of Electro Pop, Santigold, provides the perfect close to the evening over on the Windmill Stage. With choreographed dancers and a crack backing band kitted out in matching white schoolboy outfits and flattop helmets, Santi rips through the hits at speed – Go!, LES Artistes, Lights Out – before inciting a mass stage invasion that sees ladies and lads alike cutting the rug with the dancehall queen.

It is almost as if Mother Nature has conspired with Icelandic demigods Sigur Rós, as the elemental maelstrom feeds perfectly into the otherworldly music that the band inhabits. Accompanied by visuals (that include fireflies, falling sparks, contorting limbs and sun filtering through trees) and a mini-orchestra, the four-piece are unstoppable tonight. A crushing Von, a heart-wrenchingly cathartic Glosoli, a beatific SvefnG-Englar, a joyous Olsen Olsen – every facet of their utterly brilliant oeuvre is accounted for. The focus, as always, is on Jonsi Birgisson, his voice and bowed guitar combine in indescribable beauty and grace. The darkness of new track Brimstone intrigues, before an incendiary take on Untitled #8 provides the best ending to a festival this reviewer has ever seen. Utterly brilliant.

Crazy P know how to get down, and make the best of a bad situation that sees them going up against Santigold and Sigur Rós, getting a small throng of punters swaying to their deep-house grooves. The back section of Matt Klose and Tim Davies lock into some seriously funky rhythms, while frontwoman Danielle Moore continues today’s trend of vixen ladies simply owning the stage.

So there you have it: a brilliant array of musical talent prevailing over one of the mightiest storms in recent memory, making Harvest 2012 a memorable day for a myriad of reasons. Well played Brisbane!

Steve Bell, Dan Condon, Benny Doyle & Brendan Telford

HENRY WAGONS, LANEWAY OLD MUSEUM: 16/11/12 There are tables and chairs laid out in the side studio of the Old Museum, giving proceedings a stately vibe as local duo Laneway take the stage and start serenading the crowd with their folky tunes – Louise O’Reilly armed with an acoustic guitar and her expressive voice, partner-in-crime Paul Hannan favouring an electric – their voices melding together as they deliver the whimsical Sweet Asses. Songs like The Turbine meander along in a rush to nowhere, sometimes to their own detriment, but the delivery is warm and engaging.

It’s all a bit safe, even when they pull out stronger numbers like the country-tinged Bleeding Heart and rock things up a bit during closer Love Is A Devil, but people seem to enjoy their rustic charm nonetheless.

The crowd has swelled considerably by the time Henry Wagons takes the stage to launch his debut solo album Expecting Company? – he’s abetted by the bulk of his normal band, Wagons, plus Kelly and Jane from Melbourne outfit The Nymphs to provide the female accompaniment for the duets which comprise the new album – and the stage is offset with huge banners

featuring the silhouettes of Wagons and his unidentified female companion from the album’s cover, emitting a classy vibe as they kick off with the bombastic I’m In Love With Mary Magdalene. They run through I Still Can’t Find Her – the part of Robert Forster tonight played with aplomb by bassist Mark “Tuckerbag” Dawson – while Jane Nymph plays Jenn Grant’s role during the poignant Give Things A Chance To Mend.

Every song is dramatic, giving the clown prince Wagons the chance to play to his strengths, and he seems to be loving the additional limelight afforded by this solo venture, offering an anecdote about Give Me A Kiss being a “paedophile’s dream” due to the infantile voice of Gossling on the record, before retracting the off-colour comments after the song is completed.

He delves into the Wagons catalogue to pad out the set – not that excellent tracks such as Love Me Like I Love You, I Blew It and Goodtown are anything less than welcome – before The Nymphs rejoin the fray and offer up a sultry cover of Wanda Jackson’s Funnel Of Love. The epic tale of pestilence, Unwelcome Company, is up next, before the ominous A Hangman’s Work Is Never Done finds Wagons mock hanging himself with the mic chord at the song’s conclusion. A solo version of Marylou 2 leads into the coup de grace, a duet with Jane Nymph on the classic Islands In The Stream. Wagons ends up standing on a table in the middle of the room in a perfectly fitting conclusion to an excellent and fun night of melodrama and rock’n’roll.

Jason Gram

LOST RACE FESTIVAL COORPAROO BOWLS CLUB: 17/11/12 Alright, no time to waste. Lost Race Festival.

Coorparoo Bowls Club setting. Twelve bands, insane weather, cheap as shit beer and UV lights to bring it all back to reality. Naked Maja kick things off in the spacious upstairs band room and it’s the usual affair of boy/girl harmonies in a dream-pop driven world. Then, in the homely downstairs pub area, Pale Earth in collaboration with Subsea kick up something rather different from the norm – a more danceorientated groove throwing off the room’s natural vibe. Occults up the volume and aggression for the day with their bleak sludge-rock going down well.

We’re then brought back up with the drum machine beat of Do The Robot who perhaps would have been better upstairs like Black Vacation, both of whom jump between minimalist pop and bleak delicacies.

The colourful history of almost supergroup Greg Boring sees those previous bands shine through an electronic oscillator – it’s a powerful and spellbinding set that’s an early highlight. Launching their new album Sun, Dreamtime, as usual, pull off a mystifying performance, with a backdrop of appropriate visuals.

Everything is tight and they’re a band that seems to be going from strength to Hulk. Back down, it’s cheap keyboards and high quality brass as Primitive Motion give the strongest reason to dance yet.

Launching their latest 7”, Nite Fields couldn’t be in a better light – the backdrop of coloured water setting the mood completely. Ditching the drum machine, the group work well together, delivering a solid set of post-Joy Division bliss. No Art drummer Charles Buddy Daaboul takes to the guitar, delivering up an interesting set of loops and various effects which shows his complete versatility. At times intense – others tender, and everything in between.

Sydney hype machine fodder Day Ravies follow, and the comparisons to Twerps proves somewhat justified, albeit in perhaps a safer light – they’re a tad too cute on this line-up. Downstairs, Secret Birds kicks off the usual fare of experimental sound-searching his performances are renowned for, always solid and head-scratching. Then it’s Cobwebbs who are launching their debut LP tonight; it’s all rock’n’roll as they lay down the downbeat version of Iggy & The Stooges’ Raw Power marred only with the odd technical hiccup. Back down to groove with oddball two-piece Four Door who offer a more aggressive house style in comparison to the duo’s other projects: Holy Balm and Naked On The Vague. And what better way to end things than with recently Pitchfork-approved Blank Realm,_ who nail every aspect of tonight’s performance, slogging things out with perfect sounds and a set leaving you wanting more of their ever-morphing aesthetic. Finally, closing things off downstairs is the Euro-electronica of Uplock which, even at this late hour of a long day, still has the kids dancing.

ARE YOU LOCAL? BRISBANE SINGLES AND EPS

BY CHRIS YATES CHRIS@TIMEOFF.COM.AU

sound of a dying Pacman enough to bring back visions of many wasted hours and unlimited frustrations. It also owes a lot to the first Super Mario Bros game in the main melodic part of the song. No drum’n’bass track is complete without a sub bass drop these days, and he manages to squeeze one of them in as well.

NEW JACK RUBYS Cardini/Rubber Wing Thing Independent

DAVE DI MARCO Dublin Independent As one of the founding members of local eccentric poppers Charlie Mayfair, Dave has already shown off his considerable talents at chucking together a hummable tune. Put in the spotlight on his own, and the song is a little more simplified and traditional in its humble folk pop arrangement. His voice is carefully considered and his almost whispering delivery is altogether soothing and the track basically becomes a lullaby. When he does let his vocals out of the box a bit, there’s an extra elevation to the song that works nicely and gives it a bit more dynamic range which is welcome.

NYSTAGMUS Game Over Independent Brisbane electronic artist Nystagmus is having a lot of success on the popular streaming site SoundCloud with over 100,000 people taking the chance to listen to his tunes online, and over half of those listens have come from this track alone.

As the name might suggest it takes a lot of its cues (not to mention samples) from retro video games, with the familiar, horrifying

New Jack Rubys turn all the distortion pedals on and play their guitars way loud on this new double A-Side single. Cardini is a throwback to classic ‘90s stoner rock, which is somewhere the Rubys always sound pretty comfortable.

The unusual timing and the heavy riffing pull out long enough to let the vocals through when they need to. They get a little bit pub rock punker for Rubber Wing Thing, with the guitars ringing out and letting the bass and drums do the work by themselves, the guitars following instead of leading the riffs.

THE OYSTER MURDERS The Water In Your Blood Independent Brisbane’s understated indie pop rulers The Oyster Murders’ Winter Of The Electric Sun album is a slow burner, but once the songs start to get under your skin they’re hard to shake. The Water In Your Blood is one of the most pop moments on an album that runs a gamut of interesting sounds and textures.

The atmospheric break in the middle gives some pointers to their more expansive sounds which they handle elegantly, and it makes for a tasteful interlude before the last chorus descends into an echo in the distant background while the effects swirl out.

Bradley Armstrong

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SHOW BOOKINGS 1800 014 014 s.com.au om.au www.twintowns.com.au Wharf Street Tweed Heads - " 7 Ê E Ê - / 9 Ê U Ê / 7 Ê / " 7 - Ê , - " , / Ê U Ê " " - Ê £ n ä ä Ê ä £ { Ê ä £ {Ê Ê For more reviews go to themusic.com.au/reviews • 51

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URBAN AND R&B NEWS BY CYCLONE

METAL, HARDCORE AND PUNK WITH LOCHLAN WATT

Miguel

Wanda Jackson The Lumineers really shot to fame earlier this year when their debut, eponymous record started to do very nice business in the USA and Aussie audiences started paying attention. The band have been out on the road with everyone from Old Crow Medicine Show to Dave Matthews Band (how does that horrid, horrid act manage to select such great supports?), but this is after they played a whole bunch of open mic nights in their native Denver, Colorado where they presumably earned their performing stripes.

The band now see themselves heading out to Australia next year for a bunch of shows (plus they’ll be on the Bluesfest bill, I promise) and it will be interesting to see how much their fan base can expand between now and then. I’d imagine a fair bit. Their Ho Hey tune has just gone to radio and they kinda seem like one of those bands that Aussies are going to lap up. Anyway, they’re at The Hi-Fi on Saturday 30 March.

Can promoters out there please tell me why you haven’t brought The Avett Brothers back to Australia? Their new LP Carpenter is pretty tidy and they’ve gotta be good for at least a few hundred people in each city, right? I seriously would like to know, my email address is above.

We already knew that the legendary Arlo Guthrie was going to be in the country early next year.

He has been announced as appearing at both the Port Fairy Folk Festival and Blue Mountains Folk Festival, but he’s added a whole heap of headline shows to his schedule, shows that will see him playing in front of audiences all over the country. The 65-year-old is one of the world’s most renowned protest singers, taking after his father – the legendary Woody Guthrie – and rose to prominence late in the 1960s with Alice’s Restaurant Massacree, an 18-minute talking blues track that proved he had the ability to tell a story through song much like his old man. The City Of New Orleans was another hit for Guthrie, its four minute duration a little friendlier to the general public, which no doubt helped it get into the American Top 40. His other most popular song was Coming Into Los Angeles, it gaining huge popularity thanks to its inclusion in the Woodstock movie and soundtrack album. Arlo will have some very special company with him on this trip – he brings his daughter and son-in-law out to support on each show with Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion opening on each and every date. They play the Judith Wright Centre, Saturday 2 March, Lismore’s Star Court Theatre, Sunday 3 and Twin Towns Services Club, Tweed Heads on Tuesday 5.

The legendary Carole King announced a round of enormous headline shows in Australia last week that will see her heading along to some of the country’s bigger venues. King was last here in tandem with James Taylor for a bunch of shows that I have been told were really special.

She has the kind of songbook that suggests she would probably be a pretty incredible prospect on the live stage; if you want to find out then you can do just that when she plays the Brisbane Entertainment Centre on Wednesday 13 February.

Speaking of legendary women in the world of music, Wanda Jackson’s return to Australia is pretty exciting and a bunch of intimate sideshows announced recently has me even more excited. Listening to the undisputed First Lady of Rockabilly’s recent records, it sounds like we might have a bit of a reinvigorated Jackson on our hands next year. No rock’n’roll fan should miss seeing this legendary performer live as she plays tunes from throughout her career. Catch her at the Old Museum on Wednesday 27 March.

In closing, I’d just like to say that you should listen to Midnight Oil’s new Essential Oils compilation because it’s amazing and will actually make you a better person. Cheers.

52 • For more opinion go to themusic.com.au/blog

What is it about indie hipsters and R&B at the moment? They love Frank Ocean, The Weeknd and post-dubstep soulstress Jessie Ware. Beyoncé’s sister Solange has been dubbed “The Indie Knowles”

by NME. Indeed, indie and urban are mixing in intriguingly avant-garde ways, Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon having collaborated with both Kanye West and James Blake. Lana Del Rey basically cut a hip hop soul album in Born To Die, hiring ‘Ye producer Emile Haynie. Sometime folkie Channy Leaneagh fronts Minneapolis’ Poliça who, diggin’ Ocean, The Weeknd and, er, Auto-Tune boffin The-Dream, modernises Aaliyah’s ‘90s tech&B (similarly beloved

by The xx) on Give You The Ghost. Poliça’s definitive song? The twisted ‘80s goth funk Dark Star with its horns. Even Canadian rave rebels Crystal Castles have R&B inflections on their new album, (III). Strange.

The Weeknd, AKA Abel Tesfaye, has been off the radar in 2012 while Ocean stunned critics with channel ORANGE. But the Toronto soulster, now signed to Universal, is closing out the year with Trilogy. This comprises the three mixtapes (including House Of Balloons) that he made available for free download in 2011, only remastered with a handful of new songs.

However, the most underrated figure in blog era altR&B has gotta be California’s Miguel Pimentel – or just Miguel. Happily, like Solange, the quiffed neosoulster’s fortunes are turning around. Pimentel’s latest album, Kaleidoscope Dream, has proven a critical triumph (Pitchfork loved it) and reached #3 in the US. You may have heard the sublime lead single Adorn, a ballad redolent of Marvin Gaye’s Sexual Healing, but with illwave sonic textures.

Pimentel inked a deal with Jive Records – the label behind R Kelly and Aaliyah – in 2007. His debut, All I Want Is You, was then shelved as he battled a

former production company. It finally surfaced in late 2010 and, though initially faltering, became a cult (or sleeper) success with the single Sure Thing. Jive was subsequently absorbed into RCA. Meanwhile, Pimentel decided to assume greater control of his music – and marketing. He’s strategically used digital EPs to generate buzz ahead of Kaleidoscope Dream. It’s paid off. Sony Australia is giving it a concerted push.

The theme of Kaleidoscope Dream is fantasy – or subconscious desire – and so it’s all very subliminal, Pimentel crafting a futuristic quiet storm. In many respects, he’s more into electro than traditional hip hop, favouring synths and employing experimental recording techniques. At the same time Pimentel, who plays guitar, is not adverse to alternative or funk rock. There are some shoegazey effects. Don’t Look Back, Use Me and Arch & Point border on being R&B takes on Radiohead (mind, Pimentel has a more pliable voice than Thom Yorke!). The Thrill, driven by its bass, is almost ‘80s indie, and Pussy Is Mine, the sparest song on an album of spare songs, is subdued grunge with simple guitar.

Though Pimentel himself produced Adorn, he’s again worked with respected studio types – among them Salaam Remi, still best known for producing Amy Winehouse. Remi helmed Pimentel’s first single, All I Want Is You, featuring J Cole. Here, he oversees the trippy title-track, a distant cousin of Raphael Saadiq’s Skyy, Can You Feel Me or Ocean’s Pyramids that lifts its bassline from Labi Siffre’s I Got The, and the slinky yet spacey How Many Drinks?, which Pimentel sings partly falsetto, Maxwell-style (oh, and there’s a rap interlude). Another Fugees affiliate, Jerry ‘Wonda’ Duplessis, Wyclef Jean’s cuz, is on board for the current single Do You..., a hybrid of shoegaze and rocksteady. Pimentel actually croons, “Do you like drugs?” Alicia Keys has a writing credit for the pianoladen Where’s The Fun In Forever, deceptively upbeat.

Kaleidoscope Dream isn’t so far away from Poliça’s retro-futuristic soul, but it’ll also appeal to fans of the mainstream Trey Songz, with whom Pimentel has toured. Certainly, Pimentel has rejected any suggestion that he’s a “typical R&B artist,” telling Billboard, “I want to change urban radio.” The revolution continues...

GOOD OR SHIT ALTERNATIVE POP CULTURE THERAPY WITH LIZ GALINOVIC

No Doubt The details are sketchy. It was 14 or 15 years ago, a Saturday night, we were about 14 or 15 ourselves. I remember losing my dragon necklace in the grounds of a primary school where we’d been engaged in a terrific evening of underaged drinking and acid trips, the latter being all the rage when I was a teenager. The memory of the dragon necklace indicative of the layers and layers of brightly coloured petticoats I would have been wearing as outerwear and a pair of Doc Martins to boot (ha, sorry).

What I remember of that evening with the most clarity is sitting on the steps of a building on Sydney’s Norton St with two of my girlfriends singing No Doubt’s Sunday Morning. The mental footage is old and grainy. Cracked, crinkled, parts of it completely destroyed. I don’t remember going to meet our guy friends that night, I don’t remember sitting on a footbridge that went over a main road and spitting on the cars below (as I was recently informed), but I do remember sitting on the steps singing that song and every time I hear that song I remember it.

“You came in with the breee-eeeeze...”

Of the three girls sitting on the steps that night, only two are alive today. Our friend Chantelle is dead.

Learning about No Doubt’s new album gave me the weirdest feeling. Certainly I was apprehensive about the actual music, but conversely – and kind of bizarrely – I was very excited. Almost a little ‘Yay! The team is back together and now everything is going to be OK’. The hype was

huge. It was all ‘Diplo has produced parts of it!

And … Diplo has produced parts of it! And… no that’s it! Diplo has produced parts of it!’

I eagerly brought up YouTube and began playing the first two singles – Settle Down and title track Push And Shove, the latter of which Diplo has produced parts of. And it was nice to see these oddballs at it again. And they really are quite odd. Very over the top in a, ‘Yeah, we’re weird and we don’t give a fuck’ kind of way. And the tunes have the same sort of awkward mashing of genres that the band is famous for. Not so much ‘avant garde’, more chaositivity.

I’m not going to say it’s shit, but I’m not going to buy the album and listen to them on my way to the station. It’s just not my thing. Not quite hitting a mark I wanted it to hit. However, I feel this bizarre sense of loyalty to them. As though they’re my close friends.

As though they know me. As though the day Gwen and I took the big pink ribbon off our respective sets of eyes, back in nineteen-ninety-whatever, was the beginning of a defining period. And as the dancehallish Bollywood-ish beat of Diplo produced Push And Shove moved into the slow head-banging rock of the chorus, I knew where I had to go and who I had to go there with. I emailed the women I was closest to back then and we went back to Tragic Kingdom.

Back then, No Doubt was what we needed. And what they’ve got now isn’t hitting the same spot.

And maybe that’s because that spot isn’t there anymore? Maybe we have grown up and grown out of it? And maybe No Doubt should too.

Tragic Kingdom, as one of my friends said, is a very defining and memorable place in time for us. And a couple of years ago, sitting in a coffee shop one afternoon trying to get used to living in a world without our friend Chantelle, I mentally begged her for a sign. Some people say that the dead never really leave you and I desperately wanted to believe that was true. As soon as I’d asked for this sign, the music in the cafe changed abruptly mid-track.

They started playing No Doubt’s Sunday Morning.

Adam Curley is on leave and The Breakdown will return soon.

This week’s instalment of Adamantium Wolf comes at you from the Wi-Fi of KFC in Magelang, Central Java, Indonesia. I’ve been on tour over here for the last week and I can’t even begin to describe how ridiculous and amazing the experience has been. Wild, insane, totally fucking mental – none of it would begin to paint an accurate picture of what we’ve been through so far. Let’s just say that heavy music fans might think they are hard done by in Australia when it comes to their options with venues, shows, and bands... we are straight up wrong, spoiled little brats who have it anything but hard. The struggle faced on the streets every day here is completely real and it’s easy to see why the NYHC vibe has rubbed off so strongly over here. Take nothing for granted – no one here does. Every show is a blessing and every riff could be your last. Mosh harder, represent harder, play harder.

Italian power metal lords Firewind have postponed their scheduled tour for April due to “circumstances beyond the band’s control”.

Given the various dramas of late from tour promoters Whiplash Festival, including multiple cancelled international bands on their previous festival tour, quite publicly annoyed bands and punters who are having their comments deleted from the Whiplash Facebook page, as well as promises of refunded tickets that are yet to come through, another round of bad news perhaps comes as no surprise to many. What a mess.

US punk legends The Descendents will make their return journey to Australia in February 2013.

Not content to just bring themselves along for the ride, fellow Americans The Bouncing Souls will join them alongside Aussie big names Frenzal Rhomb and Bodyjar. Huge. Catch them at the Eatons Hill Hotel on Wednesday 6 February with The Disables. Irrelevant and Game Over also supporting in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne respectively. Tickets go on sale this Thursday.

Fresh off their first overseas jaunt in Canada, Sydney metalcore group Northlane have announced massive regional tour for January.

They’ll be supported by Byron Bay’s In Hearts Wake and fellow Sydneysiders Endless Heights. The closest they’ll get to Brisbane is the Byron Bay YAC on Thursday 10 January.

Big time Irish-themed punks The Dropkick Murphys are touring Australia once more in March next year, and they’re heading out with Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls and Swinging Utters thanks to Destroy All Lines. The tour kicks off in Newcastle on Sunday 31 March and there is no Brisbane show to be seen.

Sydney-based post-metal seven-piece We Lost The Sea have got some pre-orders for their longawaited second album happening. The Quietest Place On Earth can be pre-ordered as a download, a double LP, or a double LP with various variations on merchandise through welostthesea.bandcamp. com. Fans of Cult of Luna, ISIS and The Ocean need to get on board with this as soon as possible.

GIGS OF THE WEEK: WEDNESDAY: Eyehategod (USA), The Fevered, Shackles – The Zoo. THURSDAY: Defamer, The Donor (JPN), Eternal Rest, Dirty Charlie, Black Deity – Crowbar. Dark Funeral (SWE), Empyrean, Shifting The Paradigm – The Hi-Fi. Jamie Hay, Arrows, Toy Boats, Lincoln Le Fevre – X&Y Bar. Iwrestledabearonce (USA), In Hearts Wake, Storm The Sky, For All Eternity, Hand of The Architect – The Zoo. FRIDAY: Iwrestledabearonce (USA), Thy Art Is Murder, In Hearts Wake, Storm The Sky, I As One, Leviathan – Expressive Grounds. The Fevered, Sick People, Ritual Harm, Pissed On – Crowbar.

SATURDAY: The Blasted Heath, Hellcrown, Vomit Bullets, A Hero To Some – Fat Louie’s. Thy Art Is Murder, Resist The Thought, Boris The Blade, Aversions Crown, Endworld – Crowbar.

SUNDAY: Thy Art Is Murder, Resist The Thought, Boris The Blade, Tomb of Doom, Far West Battlefront, Arbour Lane – Chermside PCYC.

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QUIET STEPS

AVABEREE songs, one person will bring the bare bones, in this case Irena [Lysiuk], and then we will all workshop it.”

Pressed to a batch of 12” vinyl, the guys put down the record at Sun Distortion Studios with Chris Brownbill, with Perkin recalling the creation process as a point of transition for the band.

Leon Perkin of local three-piece Quiet Steps talks to Benny Doyle about keeping things short and succinct.

Dying Livers is a new batch of sharp alt.rock gems from the Brissie trio. Although billed as an album, it’s six songs deep, 25 minutes long and without a single moment wasted. As Perkin explains though, all the makings of a cracking LP are in place – it’s just delivered minus the bells and whistles.

“The record tells a story from start to finish in a fairly dramatic way, so it feels like an album minus any unnecessary extra bullshit,” he says. “Sound-wise, you can expect elements of punk, indie rock and shoegaze, but it’s really just us playing our instruments in a jam room without any specific direction in mind.”

“Two of us moved to Melbourne only weeks after finishing the record and we’ve all shifted our lives in some ways, from personal relationships to jobs,” he concedes. “Despite all this, the lyrical content behind the album is a little outside of our personal lives. From the beginning, I wanted the lyrics to be less directly about our personal situations and more worldly and far-fetched. The record explores and exaggerates the depths of how far human emotion and change can take a person – in this case, ending in death.”

However, sonically, the focus was far more acute and simple for Quiet Steps: keep it live, raw and true – factors which you’ll hear from the group when you come to the dual album launch with their good friends Nikko.

“There are some off notes here and there and unwarranted noise at times, reminiscent of being at a venue,” Perkins tells. “We recorded it all live and the only addition really was some extra noise and plenty of reverb.”

WHAT: Dying Livers (Tenzenmen) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, The Zoo

WELCOME TO TELEVISION

Delivering a grand take on the traditional folk sound, Welcome To Television have grabbed a set musical formula and given it a good, hard shake, as Siobhan Ford tells Benny Doyle.

“That’s really what we’re trying to do,” the 32-yearold frontwoman confirms. “The fun and energy part are really important. We also like to not set any boundaries and just see how far we can take a certain song. Hold On for example – it’s a fairly traditional folk structure, almost a sea shanty, but we created a folk monster with guitars, banjo, a seven-part vocal harmony, and more guitars... Then we thought, ‘How can we make this more epic?’ so we asked Dan

But things weren’t always so crisp and innovative, the 20-year-old laughs.

If you want to hear just how gorgeous a melody can be, then give the music of Avaberee a spin. One of those voices, Genevieve Bufalino, serenades Benny Doyle with some spoken word Q&A. Some songs are slow burners. You can hear them time and time again, but it might take a hundred spins before the tune’s full impact crashes inside you. Lover Of Mine, the first single from Brisbane trio Avaberee, isn’t one of those tracks. A vocal dance that is only assisted by a bass synthesiser, the glitchy mantra is a genuine revelation.

“Lyrically, the song is inspired by falling in the loves and whatnot (what song isn’t),” Bufalino says. “More so, when you meet someone for the first time and instantly want them to be a part of everything. Like most of our

“It’s hard to say an exact date, but we are hoping for an early-2013 release, around March/April time,” Bufalino informs regarding a extended release. “[But] we’ll definitely keep people updated through our Facebook and mailing list.”

WHAT: Lover Of Mine (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 22 November, The Hideaway

Mansfield (The Gin Club) to play Hammond organ on it and he just took it to the stratosphere.”

dependent on the instruments, and that I could let the stories and performances speak for themselves.”

It’s been over a year since the release of the band’s first single, Spider And The Butterfly, with Ford admitting the Brisbane five-piece never intended to take this long to record a follow up. However, there’s no way you can really put the brakes on giving birth to twins. Time has proven to be a virtue for the group, though, with the mother of two saying they’ve discovered what the real sound of Welcome To Television is, and can’t wait to introduce this refined model to audiences at their EP launch.

Resonation was produced by Paul McKercher, who has worked with Augie March and You Am I, but Le Fevre says his decision to work with him was based on more than this.

“When we play live, we try to bring out different aspects of the songs – a vocal harmony or a guitar line,” Ford says. “Playing live is also a chance to inject more spontaneity into the set than what’s possible in the studio. We have fun and mix things up. [The launch] is going to be a real party vibe; we’re playing with a couple of our favourite Brisbane bands (Danny Widdicombe and The Stress Of Leisure), and on top of that it’s Robbie [Burns, guitar]’s 30th birthday. Expect dancing, cake, a magic show and maybe even fairy bread (BYO cake, magician and fairy bread).”

WHAT: Hold This Spider (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Saturday 24 November, The Hideaway

“Paul has worked on a whole bunch of records that I love, like Hourly, Daily and [Screamfeeder’s] Kitten Licks, and I knew from the Augie March records that we’d be on the same page sonically.

Plus he’s an ex-pat Tasmanian as well and I kinda liked the idea of keeping it a little bit local.”

Tasmania’s best kept musical secret, Lincoln Le Fevre, is hoping his new album, Resonation, will sound out his name on the mainland.

Tony McMahon thinks it will.

“In a lot of ways I was still finding my feet with 30-Watt Heart,” says Le Fevre, talking about the differences between his two albums. “I was still just beginning to experiment with a new aesthetic, both musically and lyrically. Resonation is probably the most personal collection of stories I’ve ever put together as well, which is something that I might have tried to hide from in the past, and for me it feels a lot more focused and coherent. I felt a bit more confident that the dynamic of the record wasn’t going to be

Talking of where he’s from, Le Fevre is quite the local legend, but is looking forward to a bigger audience.

“One of the best things about what I get to do is that I get to meet people and make new friends, and some of the friends I’ve met along the way are just the best humans, and they’ve been incredibly supportive about the new album and the tour shows.

So yeah, there’s a bit of excitement about the tour. We’ve already played the Tasmanian shows, and the audiences were amazing, so hopefully the rest of the tour can be just as much fun.”

WHAT: Resonation (Poison City) WHEN & WHERE: Thursday 22 November, X&Y Bar; Saturday 24, The Shed, Byron Bay

ZAC GUNTHORP Mexican or curry for dinner, back to the studio for the evening, go to bed then wake up and do it all again.”

wasn’t amazingly produced, but the opportunities weren’t there to experiment with adding in a random trumpet sample or theremin. Those are the kinds of opportunities we took advantage of when recording and producing this latest EP ourselves.”

Given this, it sounds like Gunthorp is not much of a television sets in swimming pools kind of guy, which is not to say he’s not excited about hitting the road.

As touched on above, the band chose to take a much more homemade approach with this record. Apparently, like a lot of good music, this EP was born from a healthy dose of chaos.

“It was definitely a conscious decision to make a departure from our previous EP,” says McMillan, talking about the approach his band took to their new record. “It’s been two years and it wouldn’t make sense to make the same thing again, with different songs obviously. Recording our previous EP was stacks of fun but it felt like it was kind of a rushed process and we lost a lot of creative control having someone else produce it. Not that it

The trio will launch this single before getting stuck into work on an EP, and if Lover... is anything to go by, Avaberee could become serious hot property next year. All the more reason to get out now and get them all to yourself.

LINCOLN LE FEVRE

THE GOOD CHINA

Nick McMillan, singer and guitarist with Melbourne eightpiece The Good China talks to Tony McMahon about his band’s terrific new EP, We Knew That We Had To Leave, and the perils of touring.

“I’ve known Irena since I was a wee tot and we sang duets together at talent quests. We went to primary and high school together where we met Aimee [Cavanagh] in music class and decided to start singing together. What started off as corny covers – we had a sterling rendition of Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, dance moves and all – turned into writing originals, and the rest is history.”

“Well, I can’t speak for anyone else but my excitement levels are pretty high. This, being my first tour playing my own songs live and launching my first EP, is a bit of a dream come true. And supporting Andrew Morris launching his new album The Situationist and having him playing with me on some of my songs is amazing and something I’ll never forget. No real surprises planned though, but you never know.”

“The original intention was to just make a couple of quick new demos, but that kind of got out of hand fast. We found that we were able to record everything ourselves thanks to a bunch of second-hand gear and some really tolerant (or possibly deaf) neighbours.”

Given they’re an eight-piece and about to embark on a tour, it would be journalistically remiss of Time Off not to ask what the van dynamic is like. Non-fans of the pun will be asked for their pardon, but it seems being on the road with The Good China is, well, prickly.

“The dynamic is pretty solid as we’re all mates. And if anyone’s out of line we tie them to the bottom of the van and drive through a cactus patch.”

54 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

WHAT: We Knew That We Had To Leave (Independent) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 23 November, Beach Hotel, Byron Bay; Saturday 24, Tempo Hotel

Sunshine Coast songsmith Zac Gunthorp makes the outrageous claim that there were no sex or drugs involved in the making of his debut EP, Long Lost Love Lies. Tony McMahon investigates this most serious of musical scandals.

“The process was great. Nice and relaxed,” says Gunthorp. “I went down and stayed a few nights in the guest room at the ever-accommodating Andrew Morris’s Soul Arch Recordings and the day would usually start out with a surf or swim followed by a beautiful homecooked brekky. Get into some recording for the day then maybe some fishing in the arvo, then some homemade

And the songs from Long Lost Love Lies will be gorgeous to see live, in this writer’s opinion.

Gunthorp agrees, as, it seems, do the punters.

“It feels pretty good to me. Most of the venues we’ve played so far have been cool little rooms, which are perfect for the style of songs we’re playing – acoustic folk kinda stuff. From what I’ve felt and the nice words people have said to me after my set I’m guessing that it translates well and audience are diggin’ it.”

WHAT: Long Lost Love Lies (Soul Arch) WHEN & WHERE: Friday 24 November, Brisbane Powerhouse; Monday 26, Embassy XO, Sunshine Coast

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55

EXTENDED PLAY-TIME

UNCONVENTION 2012 SPEAKER PROFILE

ART OF SLEEPING

EDWARD GUGLIELMINO

Name of EP: Like A Thief

STEPHEN GREEN

Label: Dew Process/Universal How many tracks: Five

Business/Position: SGC Media – Managing Director

Tell us a little bit about the release: Patrick Silver (guitar): The EP represents our first time working with a producer. This time around we really wanted the recordings to communicate the same dynamic and energy of our live shows. It was our aim for the music to be genuine and honest, so we tracked the majority of the EP live. We are really excited about the way it has turned out!

How did you first become involved in the music business?

Wrote a new music column in a few community newspapers around Brisbane and worked at a record store (remember them?) while I was at high school.

What do you have planned for the launch?

We’ve been on the road a fair bit this year and played a lot of shows, so we’re keen for this launch to have something different! Without saying too much, there’ll be a visual aspect to the shows, a new song or two and possibly a sneaky cover. The launch is a bit of a celebration for us, it’s been a massive year and we’re really excited that we can finally share this EP with everyone.

What’s on the horizon for the band?

Our drummer, Jean-Paul, has been working very hard on his fake tan... Lucky for him we’ve just been added to the Falls Festival line-up (Vic & Tas) as well as Southbound (WA). It’s going to be one hell of a New Year’s party!

Art Of Sleeping launch Like A Thief at The Zoo on Friday 23 November.

HAVE YOU HEARD

RUNNING GUN SOUND How did you get together?

Michael Fletcher (guitar/vocals): Through a casting call for a situational comedy revolving around a group of friends living in Manhattan.

Sum up your musical sound in four words.

Better.than.the.Boss.

If you could support any band in the world – past or present – who would it be?

Ted Nugent.

You’re being sent into space, you can’t take an iPod and there’s only room to bring one album – which would it be?

Lulu by Lou Reed and Metallica. It’s what every Radiohead album should have sounded like. It’s that good. Radiohead.

Greatest rock’n’roll moment of your career to date?

Pretending to be Dee Dee Ramone. I could feel the rock’n’roll moments. It took days to shake the feeling.

Why should people come and see your band?

Because I can play all the major chords without looking! And, we’ve just finished recording a real corker of an album and we’re massively excited to be playing our new songs to real people.

Running Gun Sound launch Just You See (Independent) single at The End on Thursday 22 November.

UNCONVENTION 2012 SPEAKER PROFILE

What do you perceive to be your area of expertise, and how did you gain experience in this field?

Marketing. I always had a massive interest in what makes audiences tick and how to get good new music to people. I took a job in marketing for an independent record company back in 1999 and learned heaps repping commercial music to national radio and press and got my contacts that way. After 13 years or so of projects you end up learning a lot about what works and what doesn’t!

What will you be primarily discussing during your appearance at UnConvention?

My panel at UnConvention will be a hypothetical session taking a band from the garage to stardom and we’ll look at the choices and situations the band will find themselves in along the way. We’ll have a manager, radio person, venue owner, booker, publicist and more all throwing their opinions in on what the band should be doing along the way.

What are you hoping that people will be able to learn from your panel/interview?

We’ll be looking to cover a lot of ground about the stages in an artist’s career but in a way that’s fun and hopefully we get a really honest and informative session that answers questions that artists have about marketing, getting gigs and other aspects of the climb up the ladder.

Why do you think it’s important for people starting out in the industry to attend events such as UnConvention?

It’s really important for people starting out to understand what they don’t know. Too many aspiring artists or managers jump in thinking that they know how the industry works and how to do it without taking advantage of the enormous amounts of help and advice that are out there. They end up wasting lots of time, money and opportunity. The ones that succeed are the ones that continually learn. I’ve been doing this for over a decade, but I keep my ears open every day. There’s always something new to learn and something like UnConvention is a great way to grab a huge knowledge boost and meet new people… Because it’s not always what you know…

UnConvention 2012 takes place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 November at The Edge, South Bank. Full details at unconventionbrisbane.com.

THAT WEST COAST SUNSHINE Perth electro kids Sun City are keen to soundtrack the party season. The pairing, made up of Tobias John and Daniel Mackey, have drawn comparisons to international players such as Passion Pit and M83, with their latest EP Set Alight perfectly showcasing their recipe for blissed out tunes. The duo play Barsoma, Saturday 15 December and then make a return journey our way to perform at Beach Hotel, Byron Bay, Saturday 12 January.

THE YOUNG AND THE VOCAL One of the leading lights of raw and honest folk punk, Austin Lucas continues to win over souls with his stirring narratives and open-book confessionals, while fellow American PJ Bond is a young strummer continuing the legacy of greats such as Dylan and Elliott Smith. Another bloke kicking big goals with his music is Jamie Hay, the former A Death In A Family player putting together a great new record in the shape of King Of The Sun. The three lads are joining forces for the The Young Troubadours tour, and will be performing at The Wasp Factory (Lismore) on Thursday 17 January, The Shed (Byron Bay, all ages) on Friday 18 and Crowbar on Saturday 19.

56 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

Business/Position: Musician/Does other things to pay his bills.

How did you first become involved in the music business?

When I was 22, I was handed the reins of a music night by Timothy Carroll called ‘The Bridge Sessions’. At the time I was atrocious so the only way I could get a gig was by booking myself and my friends’ bands – and using that as leverage to get gigs around town. I quickly built a reputation as a really untalented musician that people had heard of. Later in life became better known as Edward Googlemaps: a reference to my online presence and my inability to go in any one direction.

What do you perceive to be your area of expertise, and how did you gain experience in this field?

Bullshitting people into managing me, playing in my bands, collaborating with me, and speaking at conferences which I direct.

What will you be primarily discussing during your appearance at UnConvention?

How To Hustle In The Music Industry – really an idea I have stolen from Ian Rogers, but that is part of hustling anyway, so whatever.

What are you hoping that people will be able to learn from your panel/interview?

That anything of great value doesn’t come without sacrifice hustling and hard work. That money is no reflection of talent, but nor is lack of money. Talent, if it can be defined, is the ability to bullshit people into believing you are talented – and the best way to convince them is to convince yourself, and the best way to convince yourself is to keep slogging at the same thing for as long as you can without breaking your spirit, and then keep going after your spirit is broken because that’s when you will produce your best work. Your manager is probably wrong, you probably don’t need to write a single for radio, the majority of radio has had the soul sucked out of it by the internet. When I say soul I don’t mean influence or ability to make money – I mean its spirit.

Why do you think it’s important for people starting out in the industry to attend events such as UnConvention?

This is a conference for creative people, lots of conferences make you feel like a Wall Street Banker who somehow ended up trading music shares. This conference will make you feel like an artist or an artist manager, it will remind you of why you go into it in the first place.

UnConvention 2012 takes place on Saturday 24 and Sunday 25 November at The Edge, South Bank. Full details at unconventionbrisbane.com.

THEORETICALLY SPEAKING The Zombie Apocalypse Theory are coming our way, and you can be sure that there’s going to be blood.

The progressive rock four-piece will be launching their brand new EP, The Pandemic Begins, a body of work showcasing the dynamic vocalist of frontwoman Andrea Juricic, wrapped by duelling riffs and unified rhythms.

Big tunes will be heard on Saturday 1 December at The Tempo Hotel, with free entry all night. Support comes from fellow locals Awaken Solace and Dark Symphonica.

FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING Sydney-based solo genre pusher Hinterlandt is making his maiden voyage up to Brisbane, presenting his brand new album, Cartography, a powerful, raw statement that stiches sounds together in way rather unheralded on today’s landscape. Check out Jochen Gutsch, the man behind the moniker, when he plays The Waiting Room, Thursday 22 November, with electronic triplethreat Anonymeye, Julian Knowles and Puzahki.

A BEAUTIFUL THING Released earlier this year, the Take Something Beautiful album brought together 11 musicians to interpret the songs of Jesse Younan, a singersongwriter who died of leukaemia in 2008 at 35 years of age. Now five of these artists – Jordie Lane, Jen Cloher, Greg J Walker (Machine Translations), Emily Lubitz (Tinpan Orange) and M Jack Bee – will take to the stage together to premiere the live version of Take Something Beautiful at this year’s Mullum Music Festival on Friday 23 November, along with producer Dave Symes (Seeker Lover Keeper, Sarah Blasko, Missy Higgins) directing a full band and CODA string section. We grabbed Walker, Lubitz and Bee to talk about the event.

Do you remember the first time you came across Jesse’s music and your reaction to it?

M Jack Bee: I heard the song Swing as I was driving down the South Coast with my sister and her now husband. It was so deep and brooding, I was mesmerised.

Greg J Walker: I remember an afternoon up in Byron Bay and hearing one of his songs and getting blown away by the voice and the power of his songs.

Emily Lubitz: It was when Norman Parkhill sent me an mp3 of Bea, the song I sing on the record. Made me feel sad but in a good way. I said, ‘Hell yeah, I’ll sing it!’

What made you choose the particular song of Jesse’s that you sang on the album Take Something Beautiful?

MJB: Road Long Been Travelled is a song full of hope and warning; I find a warmth in it and a mix of an adolescent soul with a very old one.

GJW: I chose Queeny because it kind of stretches me in a different way song-wise than the stuff I write for myself. It’s a great challenge to sing something that passionate and direct.

EL: It was chosen for me. A good choice, I thought.

What is it about Jesse’s music that it is respected by artists so much that they want to cover it and perform it live?

MJB: He was humble, dark and funny.

A perfect mix on a record.

GJW: I think it’s the voice and also the songs of a totally committed artist – when you do this kinda thing yourself you can smell the real thing a mile off.

EL: He was such a solid songwriter.

Raw and honest and brutal and beautiful. Incredibly engaging.

How are you imagining the live experience at the Mullum Music Festival with Take Something Beautiful will be? Sombre?

Joyous? Both?

MJB: I think it will be a passionate and joyous event. Five years since Jesse’s passing is a time to remember and celebrate something beautiful that was once here.

GJW: Oh Jeez I dunno, I try not to imagine these things. Hopefully it’ll be a celebration and we can do Jesse’s songs justice on the night.

EL: Both I suppose. His songs encompass those extremes and remembering him through his work will certainly be very emotional for many in the hometown crowd. I’m very excited and honoured to be involved.

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57

LAUNCHING PAD

SOUTHBOUND & DOWN

FREESTYLE DUBTACULAR You don’t generate 70 million views on YouTube without having a skill, or a baby that bites fingers.

In the case of Aussie-born, British-based performer Dub FX, that talent be beatboxing, but done with a twist. Using loops and effects pedals, FX spins his sounds into intricate dub, reggae, hip hop and more, creating music that you’ll love, done in a way you’ve never seen. He plays The Hi-Fi, Thursday 24 January with Flower Fairy and the Convoy Unlimited stable. Tickets through Moshtix.

PERSONAL BEST RECORDS

PSYCH IT TO ME BABY! NIKKO Album Name: Gold & Red (Deluxe Double 12” LP in coloured vinyl) Label: Tenzenmen/Music-Fix Where does this release sit in your discography?

Gold & Red is our second full-length album (following 2010’s The Warm Side), but our first to be pressed to vinyl. We did a two-track 7” last year, but that was nothing compared to this gatefold, double 12”, 45rpm coloured vinyl monster.

How do you compare it to your previous studio work?

The double LP is the definitive version of Gold & Red. The gatefold sleeve showcases Archie Moore’s artwork beautifully, and the coloured gold and red vinyl cut to 45rpm makes for a pretty awesome listen. We launched the CD version of the album earlier this year, before the vinyl was ready, but it’s clear that listeners are more interested in vinyl, as the amount of pre-orders we received for the vinyl has outweighed the CD three-to-one, which has been very encouraging.

Also, we won’t be pressing any more than the original 260, so once they’re gone, they’re gone.

Is it reflective of your live show or have you used the studio to enhance the material?

We like to keep things fairly loose and spontaneous when it comes to our live shows.

We always leave plenty of room for improvisation, as playing exactly the same song twice isn’t something that appeals to us. With Nikko, what you’re getting on record is a very carefully considered take on a song that often sounds completely different in a live setting. Most bands try to re-create their recorded material live, but we’re always running away from that idea in an attempt to keep ourselves interested and engaged.

What have you got lined up for the launch?

Fellow veterans of Brisbane’s indie rock scene Quiet Steps will be joining us to launch their brilliant new record Dying Livers, which will be available on vinyl in three different colours along with a bonus CDR. Rational Academy sideprojects O (epic post-black metal) and Pale Earth (Ben Thompson solo) will be rounding out the bill, plus Zac from Dreamtime is hooking us up with a killer light show that might cause a few seizures and will definitely blow some minds.

Nikko launch Gold & Red (Tenzenmen/ Music-Fix) on vinyl at The Zoo on Saturday 24 November.

DAY AND NIGHT A Skateboarding Soiree, the recent release from Melbourne hip hopper Allday, has been getting some crazy buzz recently behind well-received radio singles So Good and The City. A good-time mix of pop culture, street smarts and creative lyricism, the MC is eager to strengthen ties with fans in our region before his debut record drops early next year, playing a couple of shows next month. Check Allday out at Bowler Bar, Friday 7 December or head down for a freebie Saturday 8 at Byron Bay Brewery. Both shows are headlined by Seven.

FESTIVAL OF THE SUN UNEARTHED Although there were loads of fantastic and varied acts vying for the Unearthed slot at this year’s Festival Of The Sun, there was unfortunately only space for one winner. This year, that crown was bestowed on Patrick James, a local young folkie that calls the win a cherry on top of a great year. Don’t miss James and a host of other great acts including Kimbra, Dead Letter Circus and Hermitude, when they take the stage at Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park, Port Macquarie, Friday 14 and Saturday 15 December. Presented by Time Off.

ANGEL AT MY TABLE Member answering/role: Robin – guitar Who we are: We’re a five-membered pop-rock/powerpop band with a female vocalist all the way from Luxembourg, Europe. We’ve played every single major festival in and around Luxembourg and mainly toured abroad these last two years.

Some of the festivals we played at featured major headlining acts such as the Foo Fighters, Paramore, Motörhead, Biffy Clyro, Snow Patrol, Lostprophets, etc. We also supported various artists such as One Republic, Good Charlotte, Jennifer Rostock and others. We’re now headed over to the other end of the world, to you, Australia, where we’ve been asked to tour along with SCoRCHeR Fest, stoked!

Have you been to Australia before? If so, was it for work or pleasure?

I don’t think any one of us has ever been to Australia, but we’ve had some friends over there for a while now, mainly people who moved. We’ve heard such great things about Australia: the people being so nice and happy; the food’s delicious; obviously Surfers Paradise; and also just an amazing country nature-wise.

What are you looking forward to experiencing while you’re down here?

(Laughs) I for one really want to have spent at least a couple of hours on the beach. I mean, you can’t come all the way to the Gold Coast during summer and not go for a swim, right? Mainly we’re all hoping to get a picture of the Aussie lifestyle though, see what nature is like on this side of mother earth, spot some wildlife on the road maybe? In general we’re just really looking forward to making this a trip to remember, and looking forward to meeting a lot of new people!

The bell is ringing on Round II of The Psychedelic Syndicate’s Psych Nights, with the crew putting together a bill capable of delivering pure washed-out bliss in bulk. Featuring on the evening will be The Unofficials, Electrified Fooling Machine and Magenta Voyeur, with support coming from M-Humm and Papperbok. It all goes down on Saturday 1 December at The Underground, and the whole event is BYO so grab some plonk, put the beers on ice and get amongst it.

Tickets can be purchased now through Oztix for $15.

WIDE SCREEN SOUNDS Looking to expand further on their ‘epic folk’ ideals, Welcome To Television have been hard at work on new music and are looking forward to introducing some large guitar solos and multipart harmonies to Brisbane audiences. The local five-piece will be launching their new EP on Saturday 24 November at Barsoma, with The Stress Of Leisure and the Danny Widdicombe Band. Get along and support our city’s scene!

A BIT OF MAN LOVE Musicians and mates Somerset Barnard and Pat Tierney are hitting the road together this summer for a whole bunch of dates under the banner of the Boots & Boards Tour, which when you look at the schedule says it all really. Join the pair of strummers for a fantastic night of soulful tunes when they play Friday 30 November at Race Cafe Workshop (Nundah), Thursday 6 December at The End, Friday 7 at Solbar (Maroochydore), Saturday 8 at La Foccacia Bar (Stradbroke Island), Tuesday 11 at The Palmy Cafe (Gold Coast), Wednesday 12 at The Rails (Byron Bay) and Monday 17 at The Beach Hotel (Byron Bay).

SINGLES ONLY

What are you looking forward to showing us while you’re down here?

We’re only in our third year as a band, but I think I can honestly say we’ve built up a solid live-show over time. The connection with the audience is something we deem really important, so we put a lot of effort into it every night and give it our best shot to make sure that happens.

Do you have a fave Australian band (or bands)?

Absolutely! As a band, Tonight Alive is probably what we can relate to best, musically. Other bands that come to mind personally are Hands Like Houses; Dream On, Dreamer; AC/ DC for obvious, good old rock‘n’roll reasons; Drawing North, from Canberra, is another great emerging Aussie band; and who hasn’t heard Gotye on the radio yet, right?

What’s in the pipeline for after the trip?

More touring, more songwriting and a debutalbum we are working on as we speak for 2013!

Angel At My Table play Miami Shark Bar (Gold Coast) on Saturday 24 November and SCoRCHeR Fest Brisbane at Spring Hill Hotel on Sunday 25.

CIRCLING ABOVE US Sydney proggers Breaking Orbit are floating up north for one night only, playing Crowbar in the Valley on Friday 30 November. Their July debut release, Time Traveller, has established the four-piece as one of the most dynamic and visceral rock acts in the country. This could be your only chance to see the guys in a room so intimate so get along.

SEAING OUT 2012 The Sonic Masala crew have one final night of champion tunes up their sleeves to sign out the year. Check out instrumental GC rock pair The Sea Shall Not Have Them at The Waiting Room on Friday 23 November when they launch their debut record Mouth. Also on the bill are Hven, White Squall and First Places, and as always it’s BYO.

58 • For more news/announcements go to themusic.com.au/news

CURT EMERTON FROM THE SEA SHALL NOT HAVE THEM Best record you stole from your folks’ collection?

My older brother probably gave me a better musical roadmap, and Tinderbox by Siouxsie & The Banshees, Nighttime by Killing Joke and Concert by The Cure were the key steals from him. Reminds me of surfing trips down the coast with him too, when I didn’t have to pay for fuel.

I still listen to these bands now. From my dad, it would have been Dark Side Of The Moon, just like almost everybody else, I’d imagine.

First record you bought?

The memory gets a little blurry here. Whatever it was, it’s been suppressed in the memory bank. My first thought is that it was something by either ABBA or Billy Idol, which would have been an effort to appear ‘punk’ at the time.

Definitely nothing cool like Beatles or Pink Floyd.

Record you put on when you’re really miserable?

Possibly 90% of my collection could do the job here. Beaster by Sugar or Deathconsciousness

by Have A Nice Life have been favourites of mine, however, I actually find these both of these albums pretty uplifting. I’m rarely miserable though, more likely to be frustrated or pissed off.

Record you put on when you bring someone home?

White Hills’ Frying On This Rock – great for a late night ‘pissing off the neighbours’ acid-rock freakout. Or anything by Boris.

Most surprising record in your collection?

The Korgis’ Everybody’s Gotta Learn Sometime. A great song is a great song.

Last thing you bought/downloaded?

And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead’s Lost Songs, Axxonn’s Beyond Light, Tamaryn’s Tender New Signs, Nadja’s Dagdrøm – bringing the rock, the twisted, the swoon and the doom respectively.

The Sea Shall Not Have Them launch Mouth (Independent) at The Waiting Room on Friday 23 November.

COURTNEY BARNETT Role: Singing, guitar, stage front-left Name Of Single: History Eraser Stand-alone release or precursor to something more substantial?

History Eraser is part of a split-7” vinyl with Jen Cloher’s Mount Beauty. But it will also appear on my second EP due out early-2013.

How does the single differ from previous work?

It’s a pretty solid rock song with semi-spoken lyrics and a chanted chorus. I’ve never done that before, it’s a pretty shameless [thing] to just blatantly say your lyrics instead of singing them but I couldn’t think of a melody.

What do you have planned for the launch?

Jen Cloher and I are doing a national tour throughout November to launch the split-7” vinyl. It’s been real fun so far!

Where to from here?

After the tour I’ve gotta buckle down and finish the next EP. It’s halfway there, we’ve recorded a bunch of cool shit already. I’m a bit of a procrastinator, plus I need to get all the lame parts out of my lyrics before I show the band any new songs. One song so far is just a seven-minute instrumental, it sounds beautiful, maybe I’ll just leave it like that.

Courtney Barnett launches History Eraser at Black Bear Lodge on Thursday 22 November.

HOT AND COLD With emotion, honesty and heart, Love Like Hate’s music takes listeners on a journey across a range of genres, recalling the power and unrestrained passion of artists like PJ Harvey and Patti Smith. The duo have just released their new EP Rabbit Hole, and are looking forward to introducing their dark pop to new ears next month. Love Like Hate play a free show at Ric’s, Saturday 1 December, with support coming from electro-flash group Shiny Shiny.

PUMPED UP? Alla Spina definitely are, at least that’s what the English translation of their name suggests. Their energised pop punk with sprinklings of ska does nothing to dispel such ideals, with the local five-piece’s debut EP, Tony, a release that demands attention. The quintet will play X&Y Bar, Friday 30 November with support from Sunshine Coasters Rev Sunday and fellow Brisbane brethren The Shakeouts. Grab your tickets now via Oztix for $11.25, get along and get bouncing.

AUSTRALIA, JAPAN, THE WORLD Charismatic local jazz performer Sarah Collyer dropped her most recent release, Yesterday’s Blues, earlier this year, and since then it’s been a non-stop upward ascent, with a distribution deal in Japan putting the foundations in place for a huge 2013. Discover this enigmatic voice for yourself when Collyer and her ever-reliable band perform at the Brisbane Jazz Club, down on the banks of the river in the shadows of the Storey Bridge, on Friday 30 November.

TOUR GUIDE FATHER JOHN MISTY: Wednesday 20 February, The Zoo

INTERNATIONAL COLDPLAY: Suncorp Stadium Nov 21 EYEHATEGOD: The Zoo Nov 21 BOYZ II MEN: The Tivoli Nov 21, Jupiters Nov 23 KORA: Arena Nov 22 IWRESTLEDABEARONCE: The Zoo Nov 22 NICKELBACK: BEC Nov 22 THE KNOCKS: Coolangatta Hotel Nov 22, Bowler Bar Nov 23 DARK FUNERAL: The Hi-Fi Nov 23 FREQ NASTY: Plantation Hotel Nov 24, Starseed Gardens (Yoga of Bass) Nov 28, The Hi-Fi Nov 30 TOMORROW PEOPLE: The Hi-Fi Nov 24 JOE PUG: The Waiting Room Nov 24 JOEY CAPE: Crowbar Nov 25 KORA: The Hi-Fi Nov 25 PAUL DIANNO, BLAZE BAYLEY: The Hi-Fi Nov 26 THE SELECTER: The Zoo Nov 28 LAGWAGON: The Hi-Fi Nov 28, Coolangatta Hotel Nov 29 OMAR RODRIGUEZ-LOPEZ: The Zoo Nov 29 REEL BIG FISH, GOLDFINGER, ZEBRAHEAD: The Tivoli Nov 29, Coolangatta Hotel Nov 30 JEFF MARTIN: Byron Bay Brewery Nov 29 PRIMAL SCREAM: The Tivoli Dec 3 NICKI MINAJ: BEC Dec 3 SPIRITUALIZED: The Hi-Fi Dec 4 REGINA SPEKTOR: BCEC Dec 6 POUR HABIT: Crowbar Dec 6, Miami Shark Bar Dec 7 GRIMES: The Zoo Dec 8 SIMPLE MINDS, DEVO: Sirromet Wines Dec 9 OMAR SOULEYMAN: Queensland Art Gallery Apt7 Dec 8 (free), Brisbane Powerhouse Dec 9 (free) MAYDAY PARADE, WE ARE IN THE CROWD: The Hi-Fi Dec 9 SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, UNWRITTEN LAW, THE DUDESONS: Coolangatta Hotel Dec 12, The Hi-Fi Dec 13 EARTHLESS: The Zoo Dec 13 BLONDIE, THE STRANGLERS: Brisbane Riverstage Dec 13 WILL & THE PEOPLE: Tempo Hotel Dec 13, Solbar Dec 14 HOME BREW: Coolangatta Hotel Dec 15 HAWTHORNE HEIGHTS: Elements Collective (AA) Dec 15, Thriller Dec 15, Shark Bar Dec 16 EVAN DANDO & JULIANA HATFIELD: The Zoo Dec 16 MORRISSEY: BCEC Dec 17 JENNIFER LOPEZ: BEC Dec 18 KENDRICK LAMAR: The Hi-Fi Dec 19 COSMO JARVIS: The Rails Dec 26 THOMAS GOLD: Eatons Hill Hotel Dec 28, Platinum Dec 29 THE HIVES: The Tivoli Jan 2 65DAYSOFSTATIC: The Hi-Fi Jan 3 BOMBAY BICYCLE CLUB: The Tivoli Jan 3 TOTALLY ENORMOUS EXTINCT DINOSAURS: Oh Hello! Jan 3 BEN SOLLEE: Byron Bay Community Centre Jan 3

NIGHTWISH: Arena Jan 4 THE CRIBS: The Zoo Jan 4 HOT CHIP: The Tivoli Jan 6 TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB, THE VACCINES: The Tivoli Jan 7, Jan 8 (AA) DJANGO DJANGO: The Zoo Jan 10 BORED NOTHING: Black Bear Lodge Jan 11, A & I Hall Jan 12 COMEBACK KID: The Hi-Fi Jan 11, Beenleigh PCYC (AA) Jan 12 BEACH HOUSE: The Tivoli Jan 11 WEEZER: BEC Jan 13 MARDUK: The Hi-Fi Jan 13 PETER MURPHY: Beetle Bar Jan 13 VENGABOYS: The Hi-Fi Jan 18 THE WATERBOYS: The Tivoli Jan 19 ALESTORM: The Hi-Fi Jan 20 OFF!: The Zoo Jan 21 THE BLOODY BEETROOTS: The Tivoli Jan 22 A PLACE TO BURY STRANGERS: The Zoo Jan 23 THE NEW MENDICANTS: Black Bear Lodge Jan 24 WOODS, HUNX & HIS PUNX: The Zoo Jan 25 ABOVE & BEYOND: Family Jan 25 RICHARD HAWLEY: The Tivoli Jan 26 EARTH CRISIS: The Hi-Fi Jan 31 ELVIS COSTELLO & THE IMPOSTERS: Sirromet Wines Feb 3 GLADYS KNIGHT: Jupiters Feb 6 DESCENDENTS, BOUNCING SOULS: Eatons Hill Hotel Feb 6 GIN BLOSSOMS: The Hi-Fi Feb 8 AMANDA PALMER & THE GRAND THEFT ORCHESTRA: The Northern Feb 9, The Tivoli Feb 10 RINGO STARR: BCEC Feb 11 GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR: The Tivoli Feb 13 CAROLE KING: BEC Feb 13 MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS: Coniston Lane Feb 14 THEE OH SEES: The Zoo Feb 14 JENS LEKMAN: The Zoo Feb 16 BARRY GIBB: BEC Feb 16 CONVERGE: The Hi-Fi Feb 17 FATHER JOHN MISTY: The Zoo Feb 20 MY BLOODY VALENTINE: The Tivoli Feb 20 GLENN FREY: BCEC Feb 21 PUSCIFER: The Tivoli Feb 22 BLINK-182: The Marquee, RNA Showgrounds Feb 22 EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN: The Tivoli Feb 23 ED SHEERAN: Brisbane Riverstage Mar 2 ARLO GUTHRIE: Judith Wright Centre Mar 2, Star Court Theatre, Mar 3, Twin Towns Mar 5 THE WEDDING PRESENT: The Zoo Mar 2 CAT POWER: The Tivoli Mar 5 TITLE FIGHT: YAC Mar 6, Sun Distortion Mar 7, Crowbar Mar 8 MXPX: The Zoo Mar 6 WILD NOTHING: Alhambra Mar 7 NEIL YOUNG AND CRAZY HORSE: BEC, Mar 7 THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: The Zoo Mar 7, The Northern Mar 8 BOB MOULD: The Zoo Mar 8 THE PRESIDENTS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA: The Hi-Fi Mar 8, Coolangatta Hotel Mar 9 PURITY RING: The Zoo Mar 10 KISS, MOTLEY CRUE, THIN LIZZY: BEC Mar 12 DINOSAUR JR, REDD KROSS The Hi-Fi Mar 14, Coolangatta Hotel Mar 15 MUTEMATH: The Hi-Fi Mar 23 JOAN ARMATRADING: The Tivoli Mar 27 WANDA JACKSON: Old Museum Mar 27 JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Brisbane Powerhouse Mar 27

PRESENTS REDCOATS: Alhambra Lounge Nov 22, Great Northern Nov 23 PAUL DIANNO/BLAZE BAYLEY: The Hi-Fi Nov 26 PIGEON: Beach Hotel Nov 30, Alhambra Lounge Dec 1 PRIMAL SCREAM: The Tivoli Dec 3 JORDIE LANE: Black Bear Lodge Dec 12 FESTIVAL OF THE SUN: Port Macquarie Dec 14-15 WOODFORD FOLK FESTIVAL: Woodfordia Dec 27-Jan 1 THE HIVES: The Tivoli Jan 2 HOT CHIP: The Tivoli Jan 6 TWO DOOR CINEMA CLUB: The Tivoli Jan 7, Jan 8 (AA) DJANGO DJANGO: The Zoo Jan 10 BEACH HOUSE: The Tivoli Jan 11 BORED NOTHING: Black Bear Lodge Jan 11 DEADSHITS! FOUR: The Zoo Jan 23, Black Bear Lodge Jan 25 SARAH BLASKO: QPAC Feb 9 GODSPEED YOU! BLACK EMPEROR: The Tivoli Feb 13 FATHER JOHN MISTY: The Zoo Feb 20 EINSTÜRZENDE NEUBAUTEN: The Tivoli Feb 23 NEIL FINN & PAUL KELLY: Brisbane Convention Centre Feb 27 FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL 2013: Doomben Racecourse Mar 2

Mal Capewell Trio The Vault Bar & Grill, Gold Coast Nathan Black, Josh Lovegrove, The Deep End The Tempo Hotel Open Mic Night The Loft, Gold Coast Pat & Lee, Kristie Schoots, The Vanguard, Nikolaine Martin The Elephant Arms Pete Smith, Mark Z Regatta Hotel Rabbit Hole Run, Bree De Rome X&Y Bar Sandy Beynon, Sean Mullen Motion Bar & Grill, Marriott Hotel Sera Jane Townsville RSL Shoot! The Piano Player Stockholm Syndrome Steve & Mitch Mick O’Malley’s Ten Foot Pole, Liberation Front, Friends With The Enemy, No Trust Crowbar, Brisbane The Beach Boyz Caloundra RSL, Sunshine Coast The Bowery Hot Five With Mal Wood The Bowery The Clem Four Coorparoo Bowls Club The Gold Coast Rockers Broadbeach Bowls Club, Gold Coast

Guards Of May The Beergarden, Gold Coast Hinterlandt, Anonymeye, Julian Knowles The Waiting Room I Can’t Believe It’s Not The Satellites The Bowery I Wrestled A Bear Once, In Hearts Wake, Storm The Sky, Hand Of The Architect The Zoo Jabba Irish Murphy’s Jamie Hay, Arrows, Toy Boats, Lincoln Le Fevre X&Y Bar Jen Cloher Black Bear Lodge Mason Rack Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast Nickelback Brisbane Entertainment Centre Rafael Karlen Quartet, Andrew Shaw Turnaround Jazz Club Redcoats, Roystone Vasie Alhambra Lounge Running Gun Sound The End Sam Cahill, Chris Miller Elsewhere Bar, Gold Coast Sandy Beynon, Sean Mullen Motion Bar & Grill, Marriott Hotel

CAT POWER: The Tivoli Mar 5 IWRESTLEDABEARONCE: Thursday 22 November, The Zoo

THE JON SPENCER BLUES EXPLOSION: The Zoo Mar 7 DINOSAUR JR: The Hi-Fi Mar 14, Coolangatta Hotel Mar 15 GRINSPOON: The Tivoli Mar 15, Coolangatta Hotel Apr 21 THE MARK OF CAIN: The Hi-Fi Mar 21 JOAN ARMATRADING: The Tivoli Mar 27 WANDA JACKSON: Old Museum Mar 27 JAKE SHIMABUKURO: Brisbane Powerhouse Mar 27

THU 22

BLUESFEST 2013: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Mar 28-Apr 1

Adrenaline Brothers Sports Club, Bundaberg

BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA: The Tivoli Mar 28 JON ANDERSON: Brisbane Powerhouse Mar 28

Avaberee The Hideaway

ROGER HODGSON: The Tivoli Mar 30

Ballad Boy Loving Hut

THE LUMINEERS: The Hi-Fi Mar 30

Brett Allen, Apollo Flex, Dj K-Otic, Dj Dezastar, + More Shooters Nightclub, Gold Coast

RODRIGUEZ: The Tivoli Apr 1

WED 21 Alexis & The Missing Pieces, Good Oak, Nat Dunn & Band Black Bear Lodge Boys II Men The Tivoli Brett Allen, Apollo Flex Shooters Nightclub, Gold Coast

Coldplay, The Temper Trap, Pierces Suncorp Stadium Eyehategod, The Fevered, Shackles The Zoo Henry Chase Southport RSL, Gold Coast Lindsay Webb Paddington Tavern Locky Irish Murphy’s

Conversations Brisbane Jazz Club Dark Funeral, Empyrean, Shifting The Paradigm The Hi-Fi Defamer, The Donor, Eternal Rest, Dirty Charlie, Black Deity Crowbar, Brisbane Drawn From Bees Beach Hotel, Byron Bay

Steve Cummins Club Helensvale, Gold Coast Sue-Fong, The Wandering, Interim, Upsize, Strings For Ammo, The Deported The Tempo Hotel The Knocks, + Special Guests Coolangatta Hotel, Gold Coast The Root Note, Polydemic, Essie Taylor The Loft, Gold Coast Transition Brothers Leagues Club, Ipswich Wilderness, Stephen Smith, Winter Solace, Jack Paterson Beetle Bar Yasmin Levy, Baby Et Lulu Brisbane Powerhouse

To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags • 59

GIG OF THE WEEK

Steven Michael & Sarah Coolangatta Sands Hotel, Gold Coast

FRONT END LOADER FRIDAY 23 NOVEMBER, BEETLE BAR They’ll probably try and pass it off as something to do with their new EP, Fresh Six, but it’s patently obvious that Sydney rock’n’roll institution Front End Loader are heading north to celebrate the anniversary of their 2011 ARIA victory for Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal album. It’s taking them a year of preening to even get back on the road at all, so best get along to the Beetle Bar this Friday night to see what the fuss is all about because they might never get around to coming back. Joining them for the celebration are French-speaking Brisbane degenerates HITS and esteemed NSW outfit Dunhill Blues, making this a night of Hard Rock/Heavy Metal not to be missed!

FRI 23 About Time Lock ‘N’ Load Adrenaline Brothers Sports Club, Bundaberg American Idiots - The Green Day Tribute The Elephant Arms Andrew Morris Brisbane Powerhouse, Visy Theatre Anna Smyrk And The Appetites, Leopold’s Treat The Loft, Gold Coast Art Of Sleeping, The Belligerents, Swaying Buildings The Zoo Atmosphere Southport RSL, Gold Coast Boyz II Men Jupiters Theatre, Gold Coast

Gay Paris The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Graeme Jenson Duo City Golf Club, Toowoomba Le Breeze The Point Restaurant Lincoln Le Fevre, Jamie Hay O’dowds Irish Pub, Rockhampton Lock & Load Mick O’malley’s Mal Capewell Trio The Vault Bar & Grill, Gold Coast Mickey Elsewhere Bar, Gold Coast Mouse Club Helensvale, Gold Coast Mr Troy Kingscliff Beach Hotel Nick & Sal Gazebo Restaurant, Hotel Urban

TOMORROW PEOPLE: Saturday 24 November, The Hi-Fi

B-Rad Irish Murphy’s Brett Allen, Apollo Flex, Eakut, + More Shooters Nightclub, Gold Coast Caught In The Act Brothers Leagues Club, Ipswich Claire Walters, Ryan Livings, Capitol Groove Press Club Dan Kelly, Keep On Dancin’s Black Bear Lodge David Bentley Ecco Bar And Bistro Don Costa Gympie RSL Elbowskin, Mike Van Acker, Nick Johns, Mitch Mccutcheon Paddington Tavern Front End Loader, Hits, Dunhill Blues Beetle Bar

Nick Muir Coolangatta Sands Hotel, Gold Coast One For The Road Maryborough Sports Club One Sound Logan Diggers Club Ozmanouche Gypsy Jazz Festival Brisbane Jazz Club Parachute Youth The Hi-Fi Parachute Youth Afterparty, The Knocks Bowler Bar Paul Bell, Mark Z Regatta Hotel Redcoats, Royston Vasie Great Northern Hotel, Byron Bay Rod Christensen Duo Noosa Harbour Wine Bar

Roulf & Elisha Commandeur Coolangatta Sands Hotel, Gold Coast Say Do Now, Apollo Street, + More The Tempo Hotel Tex Perkins & The Dark Horses, Mike Noga The Venue, Townsville The Fevered, Sick People, Pissed On, Ritual Habit Crowbar The Good China Beach Hotel, Byron Bay The Good Ship La Boite Theatre Company The Potbelleez Hamilton Hotel The Sea Shall Not Have Them Waiting Room Those Clever Foxes, Foster & Lucifer, Bridige, Ardens, Dj Pony Club X&Y Bar Thy Art Is Murder Expressive Grounds Tijuana Cartel SoundLounge, Currumbin Ultra Violet Caloundra RSL Violent Soho, Dune Rats, Fat Susan Alhambra Lounge Women In Docs Brisbane Powerhouse Turbine Platform

SAT 24 Adrenaline Gympie RSL Ammunitions, Dom Millers & The M S, The Good China, Cold & Need, Off The Leash The Tempo Hotel Amos Coolangatta Sands Hotel, Gold Coast Andrew Morris Brisbane Powerhouse, Visy Theatre Bbjs Bowler Bar Blue Chips Townsville RSL Cleavland Blues Gunalda Hotel Dan Mccoy Chinderah Tavern, Tweed Heads Dennis Dean Club Helensvale, Gold Coast

60 • To check out the mags online go to themusic.com.au/mags

Dj Owe, Stevie Z, Dj Dezastar, Loudmouth Len Shooters Nightclub, Gold Coast Don Costa Maryborough Sports Club Epidemic…Over, Breaking Orbit, Interim, Artic, + More Grand Hotel - Gladstone Founds Solbar, Maroochydore Gay Paris Ric’s Ger Fennelly, Berst Irish Murphy’s Glenn Callaghan Brothers Leagues Club, Ipswich Joe Pug, Little Bastard Waiting Room Just The Ticket Southport RSL Kora, Tomorrow People The Hi-Fi Lincoln Le Fevre, Jamie Hay The Shed, Byron Bay Little Kitty, Big Meow Lock ‘N’ Load Loose! The Elephant Arms Mc Bossy, Paul Bell, Marky Mark Z, + More Regatta Hotel Mission X Caloundra RSL Nikko, Quiet Steps, Pale Earth, O The Zoo Out Of Abingdon Emporium, Reverse Garbage Paua, Ghetto Fire Crew, Champion Sound, One Dread, + More Jubilee Hotel Redcoats, Royston Vasie The Spotted Cow, Toowoomba Rob Reeves Zegatos Scripted Dialects, Kryptamistik, Quorum Consensus, The Rusty Datsuns Coniston Lane Seth Enslow (Spoken Word), The Royal Artillery Elsewhere Bar, Gold Coast Some Jerks, Main Street Brats, Cannon, Shrewms Beetle Bar Steve Fothergill Mick O’Malley’s

Sandy Beynon, Sean Mullen Odyssey Taverna Scndl, Will Sparks The Good Ship Queen Elsewhere Bar, Street Mall Gold Coast The Grand Scheme, SCoRCHeR FeST London Bureau, Bloom Spring Hill Hotel Street Arcade X&Y Bar Seventh Avenue The Potbelleez Trio Botanical Café Racehorse Hotel Sue-Anne Yandina Hotel Thy Art Is Murder, Resist Sunday Jazz Sessions The Thought, Boris The Story Bridge Hotel Blade Crowbar, Brisbane The Satellites Two Of A Kind Logan The Bowery Diggers Club The Scam, El Motel, Tyney Charles Kingscliff Spook Hill, Dead Beach Hotel Wolves Mustang Ultrafox, Daniel Weltlinger Bar (Afternoon) Brisbane Jazz Club The Tiger And Me Welcome To Television, Black Bear Lodge The Stress Of Leisure, Thy Art Is Murder Danny Widdicombe Chermside Bowls Club Barsoma Toni Pollard Beerwah Hotel Village People Jupiters Casino, Gold Coast Anna Smyrk And The Who’s Charlie Appetites Lock ‘N’ Load Chinderah Tavern, Ebb & Flow Caloundra RSL Tweed Heads

SUN 25

ALAN BOYLE: Sunday 25 November, Ric’s Bar

Ger Fennelly, Wasabi Irish Murphy’s

MON 26

Husky, Tim Carroll SoundLounge Currumbin (Afternoon)

Andrew Morris Embassy Xo Sunshine Beach

Husky SoundLounge, Currumbin

B-Rad Irish Murphy’s

Joey Cape, Will Wagner, Matt Haora Crowbar John Morrison’s Swing City, Jacki Cooper, Gold Coast Youth Orchestra Bond University Adco Amphitheatre, Gold Coast Julia Rose, Rose Wintergreen Brisbane Powerhouse Kora, The Nudge The Hi-Fi Luna Junction, Date Brothers Brisbane Jazz Club Mick Danby Tempo Hotel Mitzi Steal, Treasure Fingers, Mickey Sunday Safari, Byron Bay Mouldy Lovers, The Rusty Datsuns, Feet Teeth, Rivermouth, Coco Loco Laura St, Highgate Hill Murray Brown, Brett Allen, Craig Obey, Apollo Flex Shooters Nightclub, Gold Coast Nick Waters Coolangatta Sands Hotel, Gold Coast

Destiny’s Plan Caloundra RSL, Sunshine Coast Mark Sheils The Elephant Arms Paul Dianno, Blaze Bayley The Hi-Fi Raw Connection Broadbeach Bowls Club, Gold Coast Rockaoke (With Live Band) Tempo Hotel

TUE 27 Dark Lab, + More Tempo Hotel Dubmarine, Bankrupt Billionaires The Old Museum, Brisbane Masta K Shooters Nightclub, Gold Coast Teale Jakubenko, Jake Whittaker Sit Down Comedy Club, Paddington Tavern Henry Chase Southport RSL, Gold Coast Mike D Club Liv, Gold Coast Lauren Lucille Lock ‘N’ Load

On The Move Brothers Leagues Club, Ipswich

Mark Sheils Samford Valley Hotel

Out Of Abingdon Brisbane Square Library

Rusty Datsuns, The Lamplights The Bug

TOUR GUIDE THE BLIND BOYS OF ALABAMA: The Tivoli Mar 28 JON ANDERSON: Brisbane Powerhouse Mar 28 ROGER HODGSON: The Tivoli Mar 30 THE LUMINEERS: The Hi-Fi Mar 30 RODRIGUEZ: The Tivoli Apr 1 NEWTON FAULKNER: The Tivoli Apr 2 THE SCRIPT: BEC Apr 9 EXTREME: Eatons Hill Hotel Apr 11 BRYAN ADAMS: BEC Apr 27 FIREWIND: Beetle Bar Apr 28 BLACK SABBATH: BEC Apr 25 DRAGON: Eatons Hill Hotel May 25 P!NK: BEC Jul 19, 20, 22, 23, Aug 29, 30

NATIONAL JEN CLOHER: Black Bear Lodge Nov 22 REDCOATS: Alhambra Nov 22, The Northern Nov 23, Spotted Cow Nov 24 DAN KELLY: Black Bear Lodge Nov 23 VIOLENT SOHO: Alhambra Nov 23 BATTLESHIPS: Alhambra Nov 29, Solbar Nov 30 FLIGHT FACILITIES: Oh Hello Nov 30, Sunday Safari Dec 23 THE LIVING END: The Zoo Dec 1-7 BOOMGATES: Legions Club Dec 1 DREAM ON DREAMER: Thriller Dec 1, Eagleby South State School Hall Dec 2 MISSY HIGGINS: BCEC Dec 1 CHARLES JENKINS & THE ZHIVAGOS: The Hideaway Dec 6 MIKE NOGA & BEN SALTER: Spotted Cow Dec 6, Beetle Bar Dec 7 WORLD’S END PRESS, COLLARBONES: Black Bear Lodge Dec 7 SAN CISCO: Alhambra Dec 9 (afternoon), The Rev Dec 9 (evening) BRITISH INDIA: Kings Beach Tavern Dec 9, The Zoo Dec 10 JORDIE LANE: Black Bear Lodge Dec 12, Mullum Drill Hall Dec 13 TAME IMPALA: The Tivoli Dec 12 PARKWAY DRIVE: Byron Bay High School Dec 12, Brisbane Riverstage Dec 14 OVER-REACTOR: Crowbar Dec 13 DZ DEATHRAYS, BLEEDING KNEES CLUB, YACHT CLUB DJS, VELOCIRAPTOR: The Rev Dec 13 YACHT CLUB DJS: Neverland Dec 14 DARREN HANLON: Old Museum Dec 23 YOU AM I: Twin Towns Dec 29, Old Museum Dec 30 THE ONYAS: Mustang Bar Dec 30 KID MAC: Komune Dec 31, Solbar Jan 10, The Brewery Jan11, Komune Jan 27 WOLFMOTHER: Eatons Hill Hotel Dec 31 MATT MCHUGH: The SoundLounge Jan 4 DEEZ NUTS: The Hi-Fi Jan 11, Beenleigh PCYC (AA) Jan 12 TWELVE FOOT NINJA: Tempo Hotel Feb 8, Shark Bar Feb 9 SARAH BLASKO: QPAC Feb 9 BONJAH: The Joynt Feb 14, Beach Hotel Feb 15, Solbar Feb 16, Hotel Brunswick Feb 17 NEIL FINN & PAUL KELLY: BCEC Feb 27 THE ANGELS (Doc Neeson): The Tivoli Mar 2 THE ANGELS (Dave Gleeson): Acacia Ridge Hotel Mar 14, Eatons Hill Hotel Mar 15, Southport RSL Mar 16 GRINSPOON: The Tivoli Mar 15, Coolangatta Hotel Apr 21 THE MARK OF CAIN: Coolangatta Hotel Mar 21, The Hi-Fi Mar 22

FESTIVALS MULLUM MUSIC FESTIVAL: Mullumbimby Nov 22-25 DUB DAY AFTERNOON: Jubilee Hotel Nov 24 STEREOSONIC: RNA Showgrounds Dec 2 FESTIVAL OF THE SUN: Sundowner Breakwall Tourist Park Dec 14-15 SUMMAFIELDAYZE: Doug Jennings Park Jan 5 DEVIL’S KITCHEN: Beetle Bar, Jan 19 BIG DAY OUT: Gold Coast Parklands Jan 20 ST JEROME’S LANEWAY FESTIVAL: RNA Showgrounds Feb 1 SOUNDWAVE: RNA Showgrounds Feb 23 FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL: Doomben Racecourse Mar 2 HITS AND PITS: The Hi-Fi Mar 24 BLUESFEST: Tyagarah Tea Tree Farm Mar 28-Apr 1 EASTERFEST: Queens Park Mar 29-31

61

EMPLOYMENT

FILM & STAGE

ADMINISTRATION Experienced Manager required for established Brisbane based artist. Must have industry contacts, previous and current experience and be ruthless.

Contact Justin info@earthgoat.com

PRODUCTION Quality showreels compiled and produced for actors at affordable rates by Melbourne based production company. Call Aaron 0451 208 675 http://cardboardemporium.net iFlogID: 20284

iFlogID: 19087 Experienced Sydney original rock band looking to play with local interstate bands. Will return favour with string of Sydney dates in venues such as The Wall, Valve, Town & Country. RemmosK@gmail.com

FOR SALE AMPS

iFlogID: 19261 Get your Band/ Business online with affordable website design.

From $299 Services include Seo, Social network marketing Includes free 1000 Facebook likes, 22k twitter followers.

Contact

BASS AMP TRACE ELLIOT 600w combo $1,800 o.n.o RRP $3,300. Near new condition heavy duty locking wheels, Trace elliot 600W combo 12-band classic Graphic Eq

info@earthgoat.com

CELESTION & EMINENCE

iFlogID: 19089 RADIO SYDNEY possibly the worlds largest digital Radio Station with 100 music channels is offering bands and solo artists their own feature promotional channel visit the Indie channel on www.radiosydney.com.au iFlogID: 18316 Seo Marketing ~ Facebook likes, YouTube, Twitter views Promote your business online with Seo services Facebook likes 1k - 10k Youtube views 1k - 100k Twitter followers 1k - 100k Prices start from $20 iFlogID: 19091

SONGWRITER AVAILABLE

Songwriter looking to collaborate with dynamic artist for long term music making. I write in many styles from classical to reggae, big band to pop. Maxi Priest, Big Phat Band and others have recorded my songs. Work samples at www.shineonsongs.org Contact me at mark_ferris1@yahoo.co.uk and let’s find time to chat!

BUY GUITAR STRINGS LOCALLY!

String Centre is Australia’s leading online retailer of acoustic, electric and bass guitar strings. We are authorised stockists of the world’s leading brands, such as Elixir, Ernie Ball, Martin, D’Addario and DR Strings. All at great prices and with FREE overnight delivery.

We are Aussie owned and operated! www.stringcentre.com.au iFlogID: 20195

Call Tim 0416 732 029 iFlogID: 19226

Guitar and Bass Speakers. Custom Crafted Speaker Cabinets for Guitar, Bass, Combo and Heads made to order. Any Design /style / finish. Full range of replacement speakers available including Tone Tubby, Celestion, Eminence, EV, Jensen, Weber, FANE etc. The Speaker Factory iFlogID: 20120

Gibson Les Paul Standard 1992, Cherry Sunburst, made USA, all orig, very clean w/orig hardcase, nice maple top grain/hints birdseye, binding aged creme, sounds/ looks KILLER, Pictures available $3750ono (Brisbane) wrecker70@hotmail.com iFlogID: 19403

STUDIO GEAR Roland Boss Digital Recording Studio 8 Track and Professional CD Burning and Mastering System All in One, Portable with Multi Effects and Loops, 0421690000, May Swap Trade, jman0023@gmail.com QLD iFlogID: 19698

BASS

MUSIC SERVICES

Epiphone hollow body bass - Jack Casady Signature $850 o.n.o, RRP $1,299.

Near new condition, epihone hard case included. earnie ball strings, Very well loved.

Call tim 0416 732 029 iFlogID: 19228

CD / DVD Attention Musicians, Record Collectors, Universities, Libraries - new Book (print/cdROM/direct download) compiling 100 years of popular music. GO TO www.plattersaurus.com web-site on how to buy.

Enquiries: (02) 9807-3137 eMail: nadipa1@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 13287

iFlogID: 20405

DUPLICATION/ MASTERING CD MANUFACTURING:Acme is Australias best price CD manufacturer. 500 CD package = $765.05: 1000 CD package = $1320.00 Short run also available. www.AcmeMusic.com.au KevinW@AcmeMusic.com.au iFlogID: 13117 Transfer your old master AUDIO DAT or MINI DV tapes to media files. Full quality, no compression. Call Aaron 0451 208 675 http://cardboardemporium.net iFlogID: 20274

DRUMS SALES & MARKETING People needed to send eMails offering a new music Book for sale. Must have own computer - payment by commission via Paypal. Contact Bill on (02) 9807-3137 or eMail: nadipa1@yahoo.com.au

High Definition YouTube video demonstrations of cymbals. ZILDJIAN, SABIAN, PAISTE, UFIP, MEINL, WUHAN, STAGG, PEARL... www.youtube.com/user/sydneypollak iFlogID: 19832

GUITARS

iFlogID: 13289

Acoustic Yamaha Guitar, Solid Top, Great Sound and Condition, Comes with Carry Case, $420 ONO May Swap or Trade, 0421690000, jman0023@gmail.com, QLD

HIRE SERVICES P.A - SOUND SYSTEM FOR HIRE 2000W FRONT OF HOUSE, 650W FOLD BACK, $250 WITHOUT ENGINEER, PICK UP, $350 WITH ENGINEER SET UP & DELIVERED, PARTIES/DJ’S/SMALL BANDS CALL STEVE 0400606650 steveshifter@hotmail.com

iFlogID: 19700

iFlogID: 20354

MASTERING Audio Mastering, mixing, recording. CD-R music & data duplication, cover artwork, colour disc printing, online global distribution. Full studio package deal for EP or full album projects. Enquiries ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15156 Audio Mastering, mixing, recording. CD-R music & data duplication, cover artwork, colour disc printing, online global distribution. Full studio package deal for EP or full album projects.

Enquiries ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15162

OTHER ++ play more chinese music - love, tenzenmen ++ www.tenzenmen.com iFlogID: 14468 Award-winning Experienced, Qualified Music Producer: 1.Doing Instrumental version of any song for $40 2. Mix your multi-tracks for $50 and produce personalized original instrumentals for $50.

3. Check lovenabstudio on soundclick.com email: vangelis2133@yahoo.com iFlogID: 18269 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY - from $299 including Hosting and email addresses!

Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see

iFlogID: 15452 High Definition YouTube video demonstrations of cymbals. ZILDJIAN, SABIAN, PAISTE, UFIP, MEINL, WUHAN, STAGG, PEARL... www.youtube.com/user/sydneypollak iFlogID: 19834

LIVE VENUE AVAILABLE

Town & Country Hotel St Peters is one of Sydney’s smaller and interment venues. We offer the opportunity for all types of bands DJs and music to play live. We supply the Venue, PA, Mics, lights, mixing desk, advertising & Sound Engineer free. Available 7 days a week with a percentage of bar sales going to the bands. Door charge is available. For further information or booking enquiries call Brandon or Dionne Ph 02 9519 1965 iFlogID: 20388 Music publicity. Do you want to get noticed? Affordable exposure for your band by someone that actually cares! www.perfectlywrite.com.au Drop me a line! iFlogID: 15737 Songwriter - If you want to rhyme I’ve got the time. Jingles, songs, you can’t go wrong. If you’ve got the music, I’ll make it the number 1 pick. Tommy-0434021675. iFlogID: 17080

PHOTOGRAPHY Image is everything! If you have a band wanting to get ahead let me capture the next gig. High quality pictures say everything. http://roybarnesphotography.com/ 0414 243 811 iFlogID: 18648

POSTERS

iFlogID: 17120

Any size available - can include Sail Tracking and installation

1000 $99 2000 $143 A6 FLYERS 250 $242 500 $297 A3 POSTERS 2000 $330 BEER COASTERS 1000 $198 FULL COLOUR OUTDOOR UV VINYL STICKERS 5cm x 20cm 250 $198 500 $297

Direct: 0412 488 446 7 Days a Week

P A HIRE + FREE LIVE RECORDING

OzSoundSolutions is proud to launch our all new range of LINE 6 PA systems, ranging from 1,400 to a massive 10,000 watts. Features include; Wireless Vocal Mikes, Anti Feedback Technology, Compact Design for a BIG sound in small and large venues, Professional Presentation for that First Class look, In-Ear Monitor for the drummer (no wedge required), Up to 24 LED Par 64 Lights on Trees and Trestles. ***SPECIAL OFFER***: ALL NEW BOOKINGS WILL RECEIVE YOUR ENTIRE PERFORMANCE (UP TO 3 HRS) RECORDED FREE OF CHARGE - 16 CHANNELS PLUS STEREO FRONT OF HOUSE IN 24 BIT WAVE FILE - RECORDED PRE-EFFECTS!!

REMIX IT IN A RECORDING STUDIO AND CREATE YOUR OWN LIVE ALBUM. CONTACT FOR FULL DETAILS iFlogID: 20340

www.bizwebsites.com.au.

GOLD COAST BYRON BAY NORTHERN NSW Poster distribution for touring artists & bands. Fast, efficient & reliable service at a competitive price www.thatposterguy.com.au

CORFLUTES full colour, any size!

OUTDOOR BANNERS 3m x 1m $264

PA / AUDIO / ENGINEERING

RECORDING STUDIOS

ALCHEMIX STUDIOS

Inner Brisbane City Recording and Music Production Studio.

Record, Mix, Master and Duplicate. Established 1998. 7 Music Producers to choose from. Large studio with lots of Vintage Gear & the latest in Digital Technology. Obligation free studio tours available. PH: 0407 630 770 E-Mail: sound@ alchemix.com.au WEB: www.alchemix.com.au iFlogID: 20079

Lot 17 Recording Studios provides a friendly, relaxed studio environment for all recording needs. Work with our experienced engineers on your next project by contacting info@lot17studios.com.au iFlogID: 20336 ParallelHarmonyStudio Robina is the Gold Coast’s newest Recording & Production facility. 30m2 liveroom.

Record to your budget. Amazing Vocalbooth. Record a song for $25 on Thursday Friday & Saturdays. Call 0755808883 www.parallelharmony.com.au

THE WHITE ROOM

Mt Nebo. 35 minutes from CBD. Clients include The Go-Betweens, The Grates, The John Steel Singers, Yves Klein Blue, The Good Ship, DZ DEATHRAYS, Barefoot Alley. www.whiteroomstudio.com - 3289 8185 iFlogID: 19468 Wavelength recording. The trusted name in quality recording and value for money. Check our website for different packages and services. Engineers join our collective for free and get discounts. www.wavelengthrecording.com.au

Gold Coast ParallelHarmonyStudioRobina. 30 square metre live room, large vocal booth. Handsome range of range of topoftheline Neumann, Rode and Shure microphones. Call 0755808883 for details. www.parallelharmony.com.au iFlogID: 18640

TUITION Eastern Suburbs guitar/ukulele/bass/slide lessons with APRA award winning composer. Highly experienced, great references, unique individually designed lessons from Vaucluse studio. Learn to play exactly what YOU want to play! www.matttoms.com iFlogID: 16690 GUITAR TUITION. Bris. 30 yrs experience. Beginners a specialty. My home($40hr) or yours($60hr) Ph Peter.

0406017022 iFlogID: 20116 LEARN GUITAR $99 Special Promo 5 week course Beginners Welcome Children & Adults *Friendly mentoring approach *Great Results Guaranteed Enquire Now Paddington Ph: 0416960673 E: nikolaidis@live.ie

iFlogID: 15160 Recording, Mixing and Mastering services Inner West, Sydney Digital Editing, Analogue Tape Recording, Full range of microphones and equipment.

Contact Peter Holz: 0437 712 927 www.phmelectronic.com iFlogID: 20286

TALL POPPY

iFlogID: 20407

iFlogID: 16159

SERVICES

DJ

BEAUTY SERVICES

Dj available Dubstep to Drum&bass willing & able to adapt to your event.

Low hourly rates.

Everything negotiable.

Easygoing, flexible entertainment.

Call for a quote today.

KN!VZ Entertainment Group Ph:0415680575

Fully Qualified & 8yrs Experience, Thai Massage $49/ hr or Sensual Balinese Aroma $69/hr. In/Out calls, Male/ Female Welcome. www.takecaremassage.com.au - By Anson 0433646338 iFlogID: 17428

GRAPHIC DESIGN iFlogID: 16661

DRUMMER A1 TOP PRO DRUMMER AVAILABLE FOR SESSION FREELANCE WORK, TOURS ETC. EXTENSIVE EXPERIENCE, TOP GEAR, GREAT GROOVE AND TIME.SYDNEY BASED, WILL TRAVEL. PH 0419760940. WEBSITE www. mikehague.com iFlogID: 18334 TOP INTERNATIONAL DRUMMER available.

Great backing vocals, harmonica player and percussionist.

Gigs, tours, recording.

Private lessons/mentoring also available. www.reubenalexander.net

iFlogID: 15154 Music tuition, classical / flamenco guitar, celtic harp, theory & harmony, arranging. 9am - 9pm, 7 days. Parramatta area. $40 hr, $30 half hr. Mature & patient. Harps for hire.

Ph: 02 98905578 iFlogID: 15158 VocalHub - Sing like no one is listening! Singing lessons for vocal technique and care, audition tips and repertoire in a encouraging and supportive environment. Visit: http://www.vocalhub.com.au iFlogID: 17102

VIDEO / PRODUCTION CHECK OUT finncut’s channel on Utube Music Videos produced by Matti

19 year old guitar player looking to form Rock N’ Roll band. Influences: Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, The Sex Pistols. I live in Sydney-Cronulla. Call tom on 0401722767. iFlogID: 13358

SINGER SINGER SEEKING A GRADE BAND THAT HAS THEIR S**T TOGETHER. PRETTY OPEN IN REGARDS TO GENRE BUT PREFERABLEY ROCK. FOR VOCAL REFERENCE VISIT www.facebook.com/ delsantomusic Please contact: steveshifter@hotmail.com iFlogID: 20356

SONG WRITER Songwriter - If you want to rhyme I’ve got the time. Jingles, songs, you can’t go wrong. If you’ve got the music, I’ll make it the number 1 pick. Tommy-0434021675.

Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY from $299 including Hosting and email addresses!

Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au iFlogID: 15450 Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively and PROFESSIONALLY- from $299 including UNLIMITED pages, Logos, Hosting and 5xemail addresses and much more! Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www. bizwebsites.com.au iFlogID: 13864 Limited Edition mens tees and hoodies with a sense of humour. All hand-screened and numbered. monstrositystore.com iFlogID: 13611

iFlogID: 17078

BANDS

finncut@gmail.com iFlogID: 19971 D7 STUDIO MUSIC VID FROM $250. Live gig edits, multi angles, fr $125 a set, 1 live track $100. All shot in full HD. d7studio@iinet.net.au 0404716770 syd based iFlogID: 13368 Kontrol Productions is a highly professional production company that specializes in the production of music video’s. We ensure that our products are of the highest industry standards. For enquiries www.kontrolproductions.com iFlogID: 13827 QUALITY MUSIC VIDEO PRODUCTION Immersion Imagery strives to offer quality & creative music videos to suit your style & budget. Portfolio of over 30 artists. www.immersionimagery.com info@immersionimagery.com facebook.com/immersion.imagery

You want music video produced?

Visit finncut’s channel on Utube Contact Matti finncut@gmail.com

OTHER Get your Band or Business Online Cost effectively from $299 including Hosting, Shopping Cart and 5 email addresses!

Contact info@bizwebsites.com.au or see www.bizwebsites.com.au. iFlogID: 15454 If you want to use DRUGS, that’s your business If you want to STOP, we can help.

Narcotics Anonymous 9519 6200 www.na.org.au iFlogID: 16217 Tarot Card Readings by Karen. Over 30yrs Exp. “When you need to know” Always welcome new customers. www.tarotreadingsbykaren.com Parties and Private readings P: 0432 689 546. Evenings & weekends available. iFlogID: 19301 What happens when you start paying attention? When you become an active member and start participating in this elusive thing we call life.

WWW.WHATISTHEHAPS.COM

MUSICIANS WANTED Isobel Galloway - acoustic soul/pop duo seeking percussionist for cover set, already gigging amy winehouse, tracy chapman. no full kit, cajon/shaker etc.

Find us on soundcloud to listen, and email anthony320chmiel@hotmail.com iFlogID: 20088 Seeking experienced lead & backing singers, bass, keyboard, sax & trumpet players for REGGAE band in Northern Beaches. Call Michael 0402 549 423 or email siczex@yahoo.com.au iFlogID: 18612 Seeking female guitarist/singer. I sing and write for a rock band that’s been going for 8 years. I’m interested in doing something brooding and soulful. Think ‘Mark Lanegan’. jimmydirt@hotmail.com.

iFlogID: 17980

TUITION $25 PRIVATE MUSIC LESSONS singing guitar keyboard piano drums violin tuition music instruments sales service & repairs ph: 0418 172 506 JAC MUSIC SCHOOL - EPPING iFlogID: 20244 DRUMMER AND DRUM LESSONS Avaliable in Gladesville Teach all Levels, ages and experience.16 years experience.

I studied at The Billy Hydes Drumcraft Academy and Obtained a Diploma in Drummig. $60/HR Mob: 0402663469 Michael iFlogID: 18762

iFlogID: 19687

DRUMMER

WANTED OTHER

Experienced drummer with a commitment to practice and regular rehearsals required for Melbourne-based alternative rock band.

Influences QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Nirvana… www.myspace.com/mollydredd 0411 372 469

Looking for music that is fresh and original??? Check out www.thesecretcity.com.au

iFlogID: 16936

iFlogID: 19736

iFlogID: 20211

iFlogID: 20022

All prices include G.S.T. | Artwork from $65 per hour

Free online and print classifieds Book now, visit iflog.com.au 62

iFlogID: 13407 Guitarist/Singer wanted for established ‘all live’ covers duo from January. Confirmed regular gigs already booked. Style of duo is relaxed but also upbeat. Professionals only need apply. 0402 980 602

iFlogID: 14261

iFlogID: 18477

BRISBANE’S ONE-STOP SHOP. Rehearsal Rooms, Recording Studio, Mastering, CDDuplication, iTunes Distribution, Photography, Film Clips, Live Shows. We’re here to help you move forward in the industry. Happy to talk and provide a solution that works for your band. Ph: 32752176 tallpoppyproductions.com

GUITARIST 19 year old guitar player looking to form Rock N’ Roll band. Influences: Guns N’ Roses, Aerosmith, The Sex Pistols. I live in Sydney-Cronulla Call tom on 0401722767.

GUITARIST

iFlogID: 19765 Music tuition, classical / flamenco guitar, celtic harp, theory & harmony, arranging. 9am - 9pm, 7 days. Parramatta area. $40 hr, $30 half hr. Mature & patient. Harps for hire.

Ph: 02 98905578

RECORDING STUDIO $30ph

iFlogID: 15152 Recording Studio, Parramatta, $30hr casual rate. No kits! Singers, songwriters, instrumentalists for acoustic, world, classical genres specialist. 25+yrs exp, multi instrumentalist, arranger, composer, producer. Ph: 02 98905578, 7 days.

BASS PLAYER Electric & upright bass. Good gear. Comfortable in most styles. Experience performing live and in the studio.

Check out my website if you wanna hear more. http:// www.wix.com/steelechabau/steelechabau

iFlogID: 20250

STUDIO HIRE

iFlogID: 18638 iFlogID: 17084 Recording Studio, Parramatta, $30hr casual rate. No kits! Singers, songwriters, instrumentalists for acoustic, world, classical genres specialist. 25+yrs exp, multi instrumentalist, arranger, composer, producer. Ph: 02 98905578, 7 days.

MUSICIANS AVAILABLE

Aleka

SAE Institute Graduate SAE was the key in order to gain an insight on the world of sound.

Since then, I’ve been applying all these knowledge in my career in the music industry.

SAE INSTITUTE

Audio Production | Film Production Electronic Music Production FEE-HELP available

Visit openday.sae.edu.au or call 1800 SAE EDU for more info facebook.com/saeinstituteAU