Contents lash 78 05 SISTERS DOING IT FOR THEMSELVES 10 17
top 5 artists on artsy
Money Mindset REBOOT 7-DAY PROGRAM
26 35
Freyja Garbett on edu-k-shun
FILM NOIR REVIEW The Graduate
41
Happy Place A JOYFUL POP EXHIBITION
Contents 46
DENISE ON FICTION MATRIX BY LAUREN GROFF
49 54
Album Review los lobos, kiko
pop to the shop
56
RUBY'S MUSIC QUIZ
The Hornet Press 229A Swan Street, Richmond 3121 Editor - Anthea Palmer A s s i s t a n t - R u b y Wa t s o n Inquiries: info@jimmyhornet.com
SISTERS DOING IT F O R T H E M S E LV E S Powerhouse vocals, catchy, well-constructed songs, and natural stage banter. We saw these women cut up the stage and it sent us a little batty.
When did you start performing together? I think it was probably from the time we could talk! We would always set up shows in our lounge room at home when friends and family would come over. We were lucky our Mum and Dad were involved in music so MTV music was always on in the background and we had a mic stand and mic at our disposal 24/7.
Were you close growing up? I don't think we could get any closer! Sharing a bedroom, shoes, clothes, and even friends! We had an awesome childhood where we were basically attached at the hip.
How do you think your music style has devolved over time? A specific moment we can pinpoint would be while we were in LA, writing and recording in 2015. We were lucky enough to work with some amazing producers and writers from across the globe, however, because at that point we didn't have a specific sound, there was so much playing around with
genres and I think that process really made it clear to us that we smash the pop/rock style! We are so excited for what next year has in store for our music! We are keen to play around with production and collaborate with others to evolve our sound as we mature and change as people.
What are your plans for the new year? We've missed playing live so badly over the last couple of years, so we are excited to be back playing more regularly! Recording new originals already in the pipeline that needs to be put out there!!!
are you competitive with one another? I suppose in a way we are, but not so much when it comes to music! We are both pretty good at working in with one another's opinions... most of the time!! Haha
What other musicians inspire you? Our uncle was our inspiration for starting music. He is the lead singer of Aussie Rock band The Poor (AKA The Poor Boys). They were our first taste of live music and I think it just hooked us! We are also endlessly dreaming of having skills like Charlie Puth or Ryan Tedder! Ohhh and we can't forget Hayley Williams!
of the songs you've written, which is your favourite, and why? That's such a difficult one! We honestly have hundreds of songs we've written and they're all like our babies!! But we wrote a song called Champagne Problems recently and we are so proud of it, it's emotionally evoking and the lyrics really do take you right there in the moment.
if you weren't musicians, what would you be doing? Absolutely something music/entertainment orientated! Maybe event organizing or some form of management!
if you could collaborate with any other artist who would it be? Ohhhh!! I think 5 Seconds Of Summer would be a dream! We have always loved their music and have been told we are the female version of them! Which to us is a massive compliment!
if you could play anywhere in the world right now, where would it be? Honestly any festival! We want shoulder riding, crowd surfing madness! We can't wait for that! It doesn't matter where!
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top 5 artists on If you’re an avid art lover, collector or seller, you’ve probably heard of Artsy. It's the largest online marketplace for new and beloved art. Here you can buy, bid, or explore pieces created by iconic or new and emerging artists. Here’s a list of the top 5 artists on Artsy in November 2021.
1. Etel adnan Interest in Etel Adnan has skyrocketed on Artsy in the last month, with 5x more inquirers from November to October. This is likely attributed to her passing away on the 14th of November 2021. Adnan was 96 at the time and lived a full, meaningful life. Unfortunately for her fans, this means no more original pieces, hence, existing artwork has gone up in value. Etel was born in Lebanon in 1925, studied philosophy in Paris, and then moved to America in 1955, where she began painting in the 1960s. Like many artists, it was late in life that Adnan’s work caught the attention of the public eye. She first caught widespread recognition with an exhibition at Documenta 13 in Germany. She was 86 at the time.
Etel uses oil paint and a pallet knife to master her pieces. With bold and radiant colours, it’s incredible how she manages to capture the intense emotion you get from looking at the natural world with such a minimalistic approach. In 1986, Etel released a book Journey to Mount Tamalpais, a meditation on the relationship between nature and art. L'apocalypse arabe, 2020 by Etel Adnan
2. MADSAKI Born in Japan and raised in New Jersey, MADSAKI traveled a lot as a kid. According to the Artist, this involved many visits to museums and art galleries, where his interest in all things art sparked. In an interview with Hyperbeast, MADSAKI described perfect art as 'boring'. You can see this reflected in his playful take on iconic moments, artworks, and people. Using graffiti as his primary medium, most of his pieces have a signature dripping smiley face which brings a satirical and humorous element to his art. Though many of his more simplistic art pieces have sold between $15000 USD, he has recently sold 2 pieces on artsy for $176 000 USD each.
Mona Lisa, 2019 by MADSAKI
3. fabiano milani Brasilian artist Fabiano Milani was in Sao Paolo in 1981 and by 2003, at 22 years old he'd already begun winning national awards. He is known for his hyperrealistic paintings, barely distinguishable from photographs, and somehow more realistic than real life. Some of his recent work involves honey or syrup dripping down women's faces, which perfectly encapsulates a frozen moment in time. Although he is more renowned for his realism pieces, some of his earlier work incorporates more abstract styles such as surrealism and cubism. With such an array of skills and perfectly precise brushwork, Milani is definitely one to watch out for in the art world!
Fruit of Life, 2020, by Fabiano Milani
4. eddie Martinez Eddie Martinez is an American artist based in New York. According to Artsy, his unique style take inspiration from • action painting- a style of painting in which markings are made from spontaneous movements such as splashes and smears; not so carefully or precisely applied. • neo-expressionism- an art style that emerged in the late 1970s that portrays people or objects in an unrestrained, intuitive way using vivid colours and rough strokes. • the CoBrA movement- a European avant-garde moment that began in 1948 that was inspired by the art of children His chaotic and colourful artwork somehow balances out, transforming imperfect lines and colours into an aesthetic and meaningful piece of art. The value of Gonzalez's artwork has accelerated this year with some of his pieces selling between $7- 800 000USD.
Park Ave Peace Out, exhibition poster from Salmon Eye, 2015, by Eddie Martinez
5. hernan bas Bas is a Detroit based expressionist artist. He was born in Miami Florida, where he attended the New World School of the Arts and graduated at age 18. Much of his work has a common theme of adolescence. His subjects are commonly young boys, caught in a moment of content and awkwardness, often exploring the theme of sexuality. Nocturnal Feeders, 2013, by Hernan Bas You can also find supernatural themes popping up in his pieces, which Bas attributes to growing up in rural Florida in a spooky area where there were often UFO sightings. Bas pulls inspiration from late-nineteenth-century decadent art and literature as well as 'Les Nabis', a group of French artists formed between 1888- 1900 that focused highly on symbolism in art. In November one of his pieces sold for 746000, 326% of its estimated sale price. "Paintings that I consider to be successful are always on the verge of falling apart. To me, that’s the fun of it—the imminent collapse, and also the challenge”- Hernan Bas
Supercut (look 11) , 2019, by Hernan Bas
7 day plan
reset your post pandemic attitude
Are you feeling a loss of confidence alongside debt and cash flow problems as a result of the pandemic? You’re not alone. Stating the bleedin’ obvious, the last two years have been TOUGH! Our (Jimmy Hornet) venue endured six lockdowns in Victoria, Australia. So cheery-pip from the most locked-down city in the world. No amount of digging will get you out of the hole if your head’s not right. So rather than wallow in the outcome, let us actively redevelop a positive mindset toward money in order to move beyond. What is a Money Mindset? Simple. It’s your attitude and beliefs about money. This naughty duo control how you handle money and guide your financial decisions. The good news is, your beliefs are only thoughts that you think over, and over again. Training your brain to think differently, and creating new thought habits around money, can be life-changing. Be patient! It’s taken years to create the paradigms you already live by, and it will take time and practice to change them.
Here’s our 7-Day Guide to a
affirmation
Money Mindset Re-Boot.
An affirmation, or mantra, is just a sentence or two that you repeat over and over until it penetrates your thought patterns and you believe it to be true. IIt’s not just in the speaking, it’s in the feeling. Place your hand on your heart and say a few words that resonate with you. Make it short and straightforward. Two simple rules, It needs to be about money, and it needs to be positive.
Maria Forleo has an affirmation she uses and recommends. Anytime she parts with money, whether paying a bill, making a donation, or spending money on herself, she says ...
“ er ’ alway mor wher tha cam fro .”
Examples of money affirmations:• Money flows easily and frequently to me. • I’m worthy of great wealth, and now I welcome it. • Money is not a pie that is eaten then gone. Money turns over and there is enough in the world for everyone.
The words we say to ourselves are powerful, and affirmations are invaluable. Create your affirmation and then repeat, repeat, repeat. It may not always feel appropriate to speak it aloud, but hearing your own voice recite the words helps with the resonation.
apreciation Write a list of all the things you are grateful for. Include family, friends, work, health, and keep going. Start broad and then become more specific. If you are feeling negative about any aspect of your life (dealing with family over Christmas can be grueling), make a point of finding a positive aspect, and add it to your list. Keep this list close, so you can read it during the 7-day plan. Even better, recreate the list daily.
VISUALISATION Think of visualisation as affirmations in images, rather than words. Whether you’re into law of attraction or not, training your brain to think about scenarios that make you feel happy is majorly beneficial.
Think of visualization as affirmations in images, rather than words. Whether you’re into the law of attraction or not, training your brain to think about scenarios that make you feel happy is majorly beneficial to your wellbeing. If you are partial to attraction theory, allowing yourself to daydream and feel the joy of your vision is omitting a signal to the universe about what you want to manifest. Set five to ten minutes aside in a quiet, comfortable place. Think about the one thing you want most. It might be a new car, oven, or a designer outfit. It might be a visualization of you with a big, fat, red PAID stamp, annihilating the bills Use whatever topic makes you feel joy. Persevere! If you’re not used to meditation, you’ll find your mind drifting back to its usual patterns of thought. Discipline your mind to stay in the abundant daydream.
Vision Board If you find the mental visualization difficult, creating a vision board to refer to is another great hack. You may choose to create a digital vision board or print out images to create a physical display. Jot down a list of all the things you aspire to have. Keep going until you have at least 20.
Find images, photos, or symbols for each of the 20 items If it’s not a physical product, create a symbol or photo to represent it. Create a collage of your images. Use a program like Picmonkey to create a digital version (they have great collage templates), or go all out on decorating a pinboard, canvas, or cardboard wonder wall, and hang it in your home as constant inspiration.
goals Don’t be afraid, this task is about SMALL goals to assist the money mindset process. Here’s an example of five small money matters you can action, that will have a positive impact on your bottom line, and therefore your money mindset. Spending freeze for one day. Pack your lunch to work, don’t stop at the cafe, cook dinner using whatever is in the fridge. Avoid online shops, software updates, and other temptations. Don’t spend a cent for 24 hours. Start Your Emergency Fund Create a new sub-account with your band. Most banks allow you to do this from their online portal. If this feature is not available, take the time to open a new account, separate from all the daily comings and goings. Set an automatic payment into your new emergency fund. It might be $5 a week if you’re strapped.
Decide on what amount is feasible and feels comfortable, set-andforget! Automate Bill Paying In a perfect mindset world, paying bills would be little more than a mindless process, but if you’re feeling negative toward money, the process of paying bills can be arduous. Setting up automatic payments might relieve some of the stress, and serve to release your mind from the bill-paying worry. Of course, you’ll receive an overdrawn warning if you can't cover what's owing, but when you do have enough coffers, the automation can be freeing. It can also ensure your important outgoings (rent, electricity, registration), are paid early in the month or soon after payday. You can’t spend frivolously if the dosh has already been allocated to something meaningful. Know What You Owe When it comes to money, fear of the unknown can become debilitating. When you’re skint, facing the bills awaiting payment
can be so worrying, you bury your head in another Netflix series, rather than face your own financial reality. It’s rarely as bad as it seems. As humans, we are prone to imagining the worse (yep, there’s that poo-bum mindset again). List exactly what it is that you owe, face up to your ability to pay it, or find a solution to fill in the gap. Challenge the Costs Get in the habit of challenging your regular expenses. Is there a way to reduce your rent, transport costs, or even food bill? Are you paying too much for your insurance? Are you paying for phone apps that you no longer use? Could you be on a more economical phone plan? Work through your monthly outgoings and look for opportunities to decrease your spending. Then, after the boost in confidence from achieving one goal, set another for the following week. Little by little, you will be accomplishing great things, and your financial life will start to change.
When you complete a goal, find a way to reward yourself. Maybe you get a massage or you spend a lazy Saturday in bed. The key is to make the reward have meaning to you.
resources Today we look at tools you can use to encourage a positive money mindset. It might be a book, course, or phone app, but investigate resources available, and take on a tool or teaching to support your endeavours. Here’s our list of recommended resources:-
The Secret to Money App Based on The Secret and the Law of Attraction, this app is a personal development program of daily activities.
Grow Your Wealth with Marie Forleo
You are a Badass at Making Money
Marie is an American entrepreneur and New York Times, bestselling author. She releases courses and programs, a youtube and podcast series, and free content around the topic of money mindset. The link above will take you to a series of free videos on the subject.
This book by Jen Sincero is a funny, fascinating, and practical book about how powerful our thoughts are and how our bank accounts are mirrors for our beliefs about money.
The Money Mindset Queen Podcast Podcaster, Candice Young, discusses how to destress, declutter, and ditch your old wealth strategies. She demonstrates that regardless of where you're at financially now, you can create the habits that will last longer than just a "rich girl summer.”
Money Mindset Hypnosis Created by Mindifi this audio hypnosis program aims to transform lives with guided meditation and hypnotherapy.
give Giving sends off all sorts of endorphins and generally makes us feel worthwhile, but it does even more for a troubled money mindset. It helps to pivot your thinking from scarcity to abundance.
When you are feeling concerned over a lack of funds, find a way to give some away. It may seem counterintuitive, but you are reinforcing the truth that there is enough money to go around. Start a journal of all the ways you give to others. It might be via charitable donations, tips, gifts, or just shouting your pal a beer. Not only will the list help you to appreciate the gift of giving, but it will encourage you to give regularly, and make entries on your list. If you already support a charity, give them an additional donation, or add a little extra to your plan. If you don’t, then search for a charity that resonates with you, sign-up, and make your first pledge. In this largely cash-less society, ensure you keep some coins or notes in your purse or wallet, so you can give to the homeless when you are presented with the opportunity.
PLAN We’ve all started courses and programs with good intentions, only to fall off the momentum wagon. Today is for contemplating the last six days to discover what resonated most with you.
Consider which of these exercises or resources were most inspiring. Decide how much time, and when, you are going to spend time on managing your money mindset. Create an easily achievable, weekly plan for yourself.
Nobody Said It Was Easy No one (and certainly not I) said it was going to be easy. Fixing your money mindset is a lot of self-work. This 7 Day plan is designed to provide you with ideas and tools to enable you to create your own program. With discipline and practice, you will see your life and bank balance change, before your eyes.
By Anthea Palmer
We would love to hear from you. Please email your thoughts or ideas to: info@jimmyhornet.com
Freyja Garbett: ‘Maya is about reconciling my interest in jazz with my love of pop records’ I did not know what to expect when I first put Freyja Garbett’s album, Maya, for a spin, but I certainly didn’t expect to be blown away by a gust of jazz-rock-afrobeatelectronica-drum’n’bass sonic wave flying towards me at 100km/hour. Maya has been
playing on heavy rotation in the Australian Jazz HQ (and my head) for the past couple of months and getting to interview the pianist, composer and bandleader has been one of my top priorities. Here she is, guiding us through her rare gem of an album.
who or what is Maya? In Hinduism and Buddhism, ‘Maya’ is the illusion or appearance of the phenomenal world and also the power by which the universe becomes manifest. In January 2017, I moved back home after a five year stint in Boston. I was spending a lot of time meditating, manifesting and trying to centre myself, as it was proving tough to be back in Australia after years of establishing myself in another country. I really wasn’t sure at this point if I wanted to continue pursuing music professionally, and it took about 18 months after I got home to begin feeling more ease whilst playing and composing. I wrote ‘Maya’ as I explored this new balance, and the piece developed into a sonically rich and technically challenging composition that I didn’t know I was capable of. I suddenly realised that no matter what, my approach as a composer is something no one can take away from me. This awareness offered me peace and the endurance to continue exploring.
what was the first tune you wrote for this album? Two of the tunes from the album, ‘Quiet Perceiver’ and ‘Edu-k-shun’, were written during my compositional studies at Berklee. After returning home to Australia at the beginning of 2017, I gained commissions by SIMA and APRA AMCOS to compose an extended work for a ten-piece jazz ensemble. ‘Bulga’ is a multimovement suite which heavily utilizes synthesisers, FX and a range of studio techniques to manipulate the band’s recorded improvisations. From this commission emerged my regularly gigging Septet, who I have been playing with for two years now. What I gained from that commision really allowed me to re-explore and re-imagine old compositions. The strong interplay and union between the members of the band is what helped morph and solidify the genre-blending aesthetic of these compositions.
how does Maya reflect your approach to music-making? The pieces from Maya are an exploration of an electro-acoustic approach to jazz composition and improvisation.
Jazz compositions function as springboards to stimulate and direct the improvisation of the band members towards a given mood or theme, and traditionally this is achieved rhythmically, harmonically and melodically.
An added element to my approach is accounting for my band’s capability of manipulating their instrument’s sound drastically through FX rigs – everyone has a pedalboard, even the horn players. This gives us lots of sonic dexterity when we play live, and when combined with the other traditional elements of jazz composition – both the arranged and improvised sections of my pieces have taken on completely new identities night to night. It’s
also about reconciling my interest in jazz with my love of pop records, and writing pieces that force my musicians to combine the two headspaces of these genres.
The music is influenced twofold. Growing up, I was captured by the sound of hiphop, indie rock, and the sound of synthesizers. Reggae and roots music was a huge influence on me, possibly because of my older brother Nick’s bands,
The Strides, and The Vampires. In my compositions, I think this has distilled in my music-making as I tend to keep my music based in heavy groove and singable melodies. As I came into my 20s, and undertook my Jazz Composition degree at Berklee, MA, bebop and traditional/ modern jazz/ fusion and the wonderfully colourful and complex world of jazz has appeared as a layer on top of my music.
As a result, I think my music is on the whole quite accessible to people who aren’t avid jazz fans, yet also has many elements of that flying, dodging and dextrous complexity that jazz aficionados and myself have come to love. Some of the artists I binged listened to before, during, and after the making of this album are: Gerald Clayton, Maria Schneider, Aaron Goldberg, Sam Harris – the pianist, not the philosopher -, Wayne Shorter, Flying Lotus, Erykah Badu and J Dilla, etc.
who are your heroes? My heroes are everyday people who strive for a better world and who live life with pure intentions for others and for themselves. I’ve never believed in the hierarchy of the music industry. I have seen some of the most incredible and creative music being played by musicians who don’t have the resources to even record their music properly, or pay a publisher to do the dirty work for them. They have to work a day job to support themselves and their family. These
are people who have a real perspective on life, and you can hear it in their music. They have a broad perspective, because they haven’t spent all of their time just learning their instrument. Musicians who do this probably don’t have to work to support themselves. They don’t have to worry about anyone other than themselves, and to my ears it sounds like too many notes played too fast and without any element of truth or beauty. Anyone can do that if they are given the means.
It takes real courage to face the realities of life and grow as an individual. The music grows with you. I have watched it over and over again; the industry latches on to a very narrow group which they will support until their dying days. Therefore the expansion of the music isn’t possible, and the general public aren’t shown what’s truly out there.
how did you form your siptet? After I moved back I found it so refreshing to be a part of a playing scene where I had zero awareness of any bias/ stigma (which often develops in muso circles). I was blown away by the home grown talent, as I’d thought I’d heard the best of the best in the intense musical jungle of the US of A.
So I spent my first year back playing music with people I met over the internet, or who had been introduced to me by friends from Wollongong. Nish Manjunath was looking for a keys player to go on tour with his reggae band Black Bird Hum. We had a few mutual friends but I didn’t know any of the other members of the band. Alex Inman asked me to do some gigs with his trio and I met Max Alduca through the Wollongong hook-up.
I formed a quartet with this core group and as my music developed it evolved into the seven-piece uniyou hear on the album; Felix Lalanne (guitar), Simon Ferenci (trumpet), Nish Manjunath and Michael Avgenicos (tenor sax), Jaques Emery, and Max Alduca (basses) and Alex Inman-Islop (drums). I also asked Jess Ciampa to come along and overdub percussion. He did a beautiful job!
how would you describe your music to someone who is not familiar with it? It’s intended to be a “cinematic” audio experience. It’s something you can sit down and listen to, and hopefully engage with like you would a movie. You can get to know the melodies as characters, the chords as a colour palette and the grooves as rich landscapes. I haven’t tried to be overly clever, or go out of my way to disguise melodies or chords with difficult intellectual stuff. But I have tried t
But I have tried to surprise you with where you might expect the tunes to go. It’s hopefully going to take you on a journey, but hopefully will make you feel good while it happens.
You blend various elements, from afro beat to drum ‘n’ bass to hip hop and so on. How would you put this artistic statement into words? I’ve always adored Afrobeat and hip hop music and these genres are already influenced by jazz, so it feels very natural for me to create a soup with all these different elements. I compose all of my music using my go-to Digital Audio Workstation, Ableton. This allows me to initially not be contained by the manuscript, and it’s much easier for me to compose this way. After I finish the tune, I then transcribe it using notation software.
Afrobeat and Hip-hop are two genres in particular which are written from a very visceral, and sonic perspective, as opposed to jazz which is often written in a theoretical and technical perspective. So I want to compose jazz like J Dilla composed his beats – if I don’t even know the chords that I’ve written then that’s often a good sign! It frees me up to stretch for new ideas and sounds. The other major advantage is to be able to provide my band with solid demos which directly inform them of the sonic palette and rhythmic approach I’m going for. For example my tune ‘Afrobeast’ was written during my stay in NYC in March 2019. Due to jet lag I would wake up at four or five each morning. I would pour a huge mug
of drip coffee and plug in my midi keyboard. Initially I dragged a Tony Allen sample into Ableton and used that as the basis for the groove. Alex Inman (our drummer) created his own unique take on this, which I love. The horn melody is quite modal and centers around a combination of generic intervals in the key of B minor. I would then invert, reverse and syncopate these simple modal constructs. This eventually made for a really hip melody that I was super proud of. I would do this every morning for as long as the coffee high allowed. Then go back to bed.
Being a woman in jazz, have you faced any gender-specific challenges? I find that I get a lot of opportunities by being a female in the jazz scene. I’ve been grateful for this, and I think without these boosts I wouldn’t have made it to where I am. I also think that it’s great for breaking the cycle of male dominated role-models in the elite jazz world – slowly but surely, more
women will rise to the upper echelon of artistry and this will only be made possible by directly supporting the career of female artists, such as how it’s been provided to me so far! I do however find that the social interactions with male musicians can be challenging for me. Musicians are by nature sensitive creatures, and passionate people, and it’s this very asset to their art-making that can create odd barriers to a free-flowing dynamic while hanging out. I read an article
recently written by a transgender woman on her experience after the first day of completed gender transition surgery, and her main remark was, “I never realised how often that men interrupt women in conversation!” This has stuck with me as the best description as to what I feel hanging out in some musician circles. Women probably feel it in all facets of waking life, and I’m sure it’s just as annoying to everyone else as it is to me – haha!
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THE GRADUATE MIKE NICHOLS 1967 By Steven Scheloske There are few films that are as equally light as they are dark. It is a style that has been replicated many times and some would say perhaps even mastered by directors like Wes Anderson, but in 1967 mainstream cinema had never seen a film like The Graduate.
the story The story revolves around Benjamin Braddock (Dustin Hoffman), who returns home to sunny California to his upper-middle-class parents after graduating from college. Ben’s achievements at college (which are literally read out to us) paint the picture of an ambitious, successful gogetter. What we see of Ben, however, is completely different. We see a shy, awkward young man that is drowning in a sea of confusion and
uncertainty. Enter Mrs. Robinson (Anne Bancroft), a friend of Ben’s parents that exudes confidence and sexuality like no one else. She sees Ben’s strengths and weakness as an opportunity to manipulate, and, after some effort on her behalf, commences a secretive affair with him. To complicate issues that are already plaguing Ben, Mrs Robinson’s daughter Elaine (Katherine Ross) also returns home from college. Ben’s parents, as well as Mr Robinson, encourage the two to go out. Mrs Robinson as you can imagine is against this potential pairing. Ben does his best to firstly avoid, and then repulse Elaine. Eventually, though, he is smitten by her. The two start seeing each other and their love blossoms. Mrs Robinson will do anything to break them up including admitting to their affair, so Ben decides to beat her to the punch.
The story of The Graduate is so familiar to us nowadays that we forget how truly messed up it all is. We have a wealthy bored housewife that is literally grooming a confused college graduate to have sex with. She's hot and she is sexy, and she knows it. She has no interest in Ben other than sex, and she treats him poorly to boot. Ben is, at one point, carrying out an affair with both Mrs Robinson and Elaine. I know things have changed, and people may be more liberal these days, but personally, I have never met anyone that has had overlapping affairs with a mother and her daughter. The original story is based on the novella of the same name by Charles Webb. There is little difference between the novel and the film, other than the way they are executed – this varies greatly. The novel features a great deal of dialogue. The film, on the other hand, focuses more on the look and the feel to tell the story. Much more is said in the film when the actors are not delivering their lines.
the director The Graduate is director Mike Nichols’ second film. His first was the brilliant Who’s Afraid of Virginia Wolf. His efforts on The Graduate were rewarded with an Oscar, a BAFTA, a Golden Globe, and a Directors Guild of America award. His work on this film is artistic yet unpretentious and easy to digest. There are a dozen scenes that warrant being
dissected, frame by frame, to truly appreciate Nichols’ craft in pace and staging. One such scene is the buildup to Mrs Robinson propositioning Ben. Another is when Ben comes clean to Elaine about “the other older woman” before Mrs Robinson can beat him to it. These two scenes play like mini-movie masterpieces within a major masterpiece. It is very clear that Nichols had a vision of how the film should look and feel. Academy Award-winning cinematographer, Robert Surtees (known for Ben-Hur) said, “It took everything I had learned over 30 years to be able to do the job. I knew that Mike Nichols was a young director who went in for a lot of cameras. We did more things in this picture than I had ever done in one film.”
the cast The performances of the three central characters are all perfect. In his first starring role, Dustin Hoffman appears a little too old to be playing Ben, a confused uncertain college graduate, but Hoffman’s actions and mannerisms absolutely nail the character. I particularly love the improvisation when Ben is about to have sex for the first time with Mrs Robinson but does not know how to start, so after an uncomfortable amount of small talk, he simply reaches out and squeezes her boob only to quickly release it and turn away. Priceless. The role of the first nameless Mrs Robinson was one that many actresses were coveting.
Lauren Bacall, Audrey Hepburn, and Joan Crawford all put their hand up. Initially, Nichols wanted Jeanne Moreau, thinking that audience would believe it was more common and acceptable for a mature French woman to younger men in the matters of the bedroom. In the end, the role went to Anne Bancroft. After a 5-year hiatus from the cinema where she took her craft to the theatre, Anne Bancroft returned to film winning an Academy Award for The Miracle Worker. Bancroft then followed up with The Pumpkin Eater, in which her sexuality drew Nicholls’ attention and landed her the now immortal role of Mrs Robinson. Her portrayal of the bored, manipulative, and highly sexual Mrs Robinson is one of the greatest performances of all time. She oozes sexuality yet remains icy cold. Interestingly, both actors were portraying characters of different ages to their own, and the actual age difference between Hoffman and Bancroft was only 6 years. Katherine Ross who plays Elaine is also perfect as the sensitive and damaged daughter of Mrs Robinson.
T HE SOUN DT RAC K The now-classic soundtrack by Simon and Garfunkel perfectly complements the colour of the film while beautifully encapsulating the sounds of the mid to late 60’s. It is considered by many as one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. The soundtrack is also responsible for expanding the duo’s audience, previously being perceived as folk singersongwriters, to pop star songwriters.
The Graduate is one of those films that comes out once in a generation and undeniably holds a mirror to society. It depicts a time and a culture of Californian affluent middleclass families in the mid 60’s while telling a unique story. Visually it is incredibly impressive, stunningly acted with some fantastically memorable quotes, plus a soundtrack that you will be humming for many days afterwards.
By Steven Scheloske
hAPPY PLACE Tired of bad news, pandemic stats, climate change, and other sad and bad things? Man, do we have THE place for you. Surround yourself with things that radiate happiness, like giant cookies, confetti, rubber ducks, and everything positive sounds. Welcome to Happy Place.
The joyful pop-up exhibition lies within the level 1 precinct at Crown Melbourne this summer. If you can’t find it, look for the section that has a queue of gloomy faces at the entry, and a frenzy of laughing, beaming faces at the exit.
Happy Place all began in Los Angeles in 2007. Since its opening, Happy Place has had sold-out residencies throughout the USA and Canada. It then made its way across the world to Sydney in March 2020, where it was postponed until July (thanks covid), and to Auckland in April-May 2021, before coming to Melbourne in December. Founder and event producer Jared Paul explained he wants to ”live and raise (his) children in a world surrounded by what makes us happy.” Paul is credited with organizing touring productions such as ‘Dancing with the Stars: Live!’, ‘America’s Got Talent: Live!’ and ‘Glee: Live!’. He conceptualized and created a space solely dedicated to making people smile. Well, that and the opportunity to create the perfect photo. Perhaps the latter has pulled in the biggest of crowds. I'm sure by now, whether you're 12 or 72 years old, you're aware of the significance of Instagram in today's society. There's nothing quite like the perfect picture opportunity to send crowds of Millennials and Gen Zers through the doors, and there’s no interactive exhibition quite as picturesque as this. Happy Place encourages all levels of photography from your basic selfie to your professionally set up camera. And if your Instagram’s looking a little sad after lockdown, it’s a lot cheaper than booking a holiday to a deserted island.
If you look up Happy Place on Instagram and search through its tagged posts, you will see how many incredible photos have come off the vivid exhibit.
So what can you expect to see inside? You can expect to see some very playful installations and ‘multi-sensory immersive rooms’ filled with bold colours. Featured rooms in the exhibition include:
An ‘upside down’ bedroom, where all the furniture is stuck to the ceiling. A giant choc chip cookie (sadly not edible). A room filled with gumball machines. An entirely yellow room with walls completely covered in rubber ducks and a bathtub full of yellow ball-pit balls. A room, full of flowers (not real, safe for fellow hay fever victims). A confetti room, that continuously has confetti circulating through it, and much more fun, photo opportunities along the way! If you feel a bit joy-deprived after the plethora of lockdowns here in Melbourne, you’re not alone. There are only so many funny animal compilations you can watch before you feel like you’ve seen every cat fail ever. Sometimes, it's good to take a break from all of your responsibilities and just dedicate a day to making yourself smile. If you get a chance, why not head over to the one-of-a-kind exhibition dedicated to the sole purpose of giving those cheek muscles a big workout. The Happy Place exhibition is open every day until the 30th of January, tickets are $30 per head and can be purchased at Ticketmaster.
visit the happy place melbourne website here
“Melbourne has had a pretty tough time throughout the global pandemic and now on the other side, we are delighted to be able to bring Happy Place to all Victorians. Our mission is to allow our guests to immerse themselves in an over-the-top themed experience that is designed to deliver a super-sized dose of happiness."- Jared Paul, founder of the Happy Place
DENISE
on fiction Matrix by Lauren Groff
Riverhead Books, 2021 Marie de France is considered to be that country’s first female poet. Who she actually was is still hotly disputed. Because of her level of literacy, most agree she was a noblewoman. Some believe she was an illegitimate child of one of the Plantagenents. Some believe she was one of Queen Eleanor of Acquitaine’s lovers. And others have theorized that she was Abbess of Shaftsbury. Lauren Groff imagines her life in ‘Matrix’. She portrays Marie as an ungainly, unattractive giant of a woman, banished at seventeen from Eleanor’s court to take up a place as prioress in an impoverished abbey. Away from the reminders of her mother and aunts, fierce warrior women who fought in the crusades, and from the women she loves, she is at first desperate when she meets the mad, blind Abbess and her starving nuns. Her life is hard.
‘So hungry, the nun’s faces are skulls skinned of flesh in the dark dortoir. There are soups in which meat is boiled and removed to save for future soups. Fingernails the cold blue of the sky.’ Finding relief only when she takes up pen and paper to create her verses, Marie decides to take her fate in her own hands, and begins to build the fortunes of her community, soon also building trust and loyalty with the nuns.
‘…but most half proud to have a woman so tough and bold and warlike and royal to answer to now. For it is a deep and human truth that most souls upon the earth are not at ease unless they find themselves safe in the hands of a force far greater than themselves.’ Having learned at the feet of the clever Queen, she realises that networks and reputation bring power and wealth, and through her visions and extraordinary infrastructure projects, including the creation of a labyrinth around the Abbey to keep out men and all opposition, she eventually has an embarrassment of both. As the story unfolds we are offered glimpses into the life of the times that provoked shame in the reviewer, who had been heard to complain about the discomfort of a COVID probe up the nose.
‘Nothing can drive out the disease: not praying, not bathing them in holy water, not tying them to their beds, not leaping out from the night to frighten them, not holding them by the ankle in the cold river, not beating them around the head with a yew branch, not burying them crown to tow in warm manure, not hanging them upside down from a high tree and spinning them until they vomit, not drilling a tiny hold through their skulls to let the bad humours out of the brains.’
This is an enthralling story about a powerful woman who protects the lives of women in her community at all costs. Groff’s world-building is intriguing, and the imprint of her Abbess lingers after the story has been told.
Visit Denise Picton
Los Lobos " K i ko " 1 9 9 2 by Victor Stranges Casual observers of the East Los Angeles band Los Lobos may be forgiven for the stereotypical image of a Mexican folk-rock group in the 1980s that played 1950s Ritchie Valens covers, “La Bamba”, “Donna” and “Come On Let’s Go.” Whilst it’s true that they enjoyed massive success from their songs appearing on the “La Bamba” soundtrack in 1987, their influence on modern record-making and song mastery is misunderstood and their musical efforts have been largely misappropriated in rock’s mainstream consciousness. The year was 1992 and “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Seattle newcomers, Nirvana, was already the mainstay on radio. Flannelette shirts and ripped jeans were the “no image” image that was being pumped through to the MTV generation. Released on 26th May 1992, “Kiko” would redefine Los Lobos by single-handedly dismantling the Mexican rock cover band myth on one album. Produced by Mitchell Froom (Crowded House, Elvis Costello, Paul McCartney) and Los Lobos, “Kiko” removed the cliched assortment of folk instruments and replaced them with unconventional production
techniques utilizing an array of musical gadgets, guitar effects, strange and kooky keyboard sounds, and whacked-out tipsy horn arrangements. The songs are predominantly and beautifully written by David Hidalgo and Louie Pérez with occasional contributions from Cesar Rosas and Leroy Preston. The simplicity of a roots-rock blues rhythm combined with a Mexican-American musical leaning was woven into a new type of fabric that was held together by its visionary producers and studio engineer Tchad Blake (Arctic Monkeys, Peter Gabriel, Tom Waits).
The album kicks off with the iconic drumbeat of “Dream In Blue” which descends into rhythmic defibrillation of chaotic fits and starts. Drop-dead gorgeous melodies crash into distorted feedback with ominous bass lines providing a new type of musical contortion not seen or heard since Zappa’s poppier moments. “Wake Up Dolores” is like a song played backward and then reversed during mix-down; not literally, but in terms of its feel. "Angels with Dirty
Faces" yet again has that backward feel that makes it so appealing and uneasy, whilst dealing with the issue of homelessness, not in a political way, but via a personal vignette.
“ Wit on sho o An on sho l Stand wounde ma Wh jus laugh i off An th angel wit dirt face g i alon ” Dirty Faces Angels With
There are some lighter foot-tapping John Lee Hooker type moments like “That Train Don't Stop Here" which deals with love gone away, whilst darker subject matters such as rape (Reva’s House), alcoholism (Whiskey Trail), and child abuse (“Two Janes”) are honestly dealt with as matters of conscience and corazon. “Kiko And The Lavender Moon” is one of the album’s finest musical explorations which can only be described as Duke Ellington meeting cabaret musicians in a carpark. It is unsettling as it is glorious using light and shade whilst ultimately hanging unresolved on a knife’s edge.
"Short Side of Nothing" is a song to find solace in… “here I am on the short side of nothing, all alone…. can’t find my way home.” The song speaks of hopelessness and about the rootlessness of not fitting into community or family; a disconnect that melodically ends on an unpredictable E7 chord that leaves one hanging for more. “Saint Behind The Glass” and the instrumental “Arizona Skies” are very moving
and are welcome deviation in an album that leaves its listener hanging in the balance. “Kiko” broke new ground in a time when grunge dominated. The band’s saxophonist/keyboardist, Steve Berlin, remembers “Kiko was special because of the thresholds and the barriers that we broke through. I don’t know if there are any of those barriers left. We broke through that shell and we’ve lived on the other side of that every record since.” “I just think the culture, the way things are now, make it impossible to make a record like Kiko now. Now with lo-fi, there’s a whole genre of records that sound like Kiko. But in 1991, there wasn’t much in terms of mixing hi-fi and lo-fi stuff. I’m not saying we were the first-ever. But it’s certainly the first time we explored the idea of combining something damaged beyond words with something as beautiful as we could make it.” In 1992 I had never heard anything like “Kiko” and I haven’t heard anything like it since. This would have to surely be the band’s finest record. The album format died a long time ago and this is possibly one of the last great albums that can be heard in its entirety in one sitting. And yet, they still call themselves “just another band from East LA.”
pop to the SHOP t h e tang er i ne f ox A range of everything from jewellery and accessories to homeware, games and gifts all with a unique artsy twist! Shop 325, Westfield, 111 W Lakes Blvd, West Lakes SA 5021
you me & bones A great little gem of a shop in reservoir that sells the funkiest and kookiest bunch of candles you've ever seen. They also sell candle making kits. 125 Spring St, Reservoir VIC 3073
Shopping small? You're kind of a big deal!
pop to the SHOP il papiro A luxury stationary and paper artisan shop in the heart of Melbourne. Perfect for gifts or yourself.
10 Degraves St, Melbourne VIC 3000
mitchell road antique & desIgn centre A large warehouse in Alexandria, NSW, filled with all of the vintage furniture and homewares you could dream of.
17 Bourke Rd, Alexandria NSW 2015
Shop like your High Street depends on it!
's y b u R
music music quiz quiz Feel like you know your albums pretty well? Let's see if you can guess these album covers and their artists based on these closeups!
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an sw ers ns we 1. the voice of frank sinatra/ frank sinatra
12. parallel lines/ blondie 13. purple rain/ prince
2. enema of the state/ blink 182 3. revolver/ the beatles
14. i put a spell on you/ nina simone
4. elephant/ the white stripes
15. heroes/ david bowie
5. back to black/ amy winehouse
16. speaking in tongues- talking heads
6. AM/ ARCTIC MONKEYS 17. 21/ adele 7. Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness/ the smashing pumpkins
18. ...Baby one more time/ britney spears
8. london calling/ the clash 9. elvis presley/ elvis presley 10. rumours/ fleetwood mac 11. unknown pleasures/ joy division
19. can you get to that/ funkadelic 20. the velvet underground & nico/ "" 21. born in the usa/ bruce springsteen
INTIMATE MUSIC LOU NGE