Warp Magazine October 2011

Gotye WARP TASMANIA OCTOBER 2011

Sinden | Community 2 | Laura Jean | Jeff Lang | Big Scary | Bittersweet Kicks | Cloud Control | Yacht Club DJs | Jeff Martin

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LIVE MUSIC 7 days a week Jeff Lang

Thur Oct 13

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Wed Oct 19

Big Scary

Fri Oct 21

The Red Eyes

Nov 4 & Nov 5

True Live Sat, October 8 Tom Richardson and Benny Walker Sun, October 9 Quiz Night Mon, October 10 Mental Health Week 'Co-morbidity' EP launch by Barry Jones w/ Dominic Francis Tues, Oct 11 Slyde + Active Delight Wed, October 12 Jeff Lang Thu, October 13 The Nomad Fri, October 14 Ben Wells & The Middle Names + Tiger Town + Nick Balcombe Sat, October 15 Republic Music Quiz (Afternoon) Sun, October 16 Wahbash Avenue Sun, October 16 Tex & Pete Mon, October 17 Peter Hicks and Twice Bitten Tue, October 18 Yacht Club DJs Wed, October 19 Global Battle Of The Bands Thur, October 20 Big Scary with Buckley Ward Fri, October 21 Sugartrain Sat, October 22 The Blue Mosquitoes + One Sick Lullaby + Desi Boy Sun, October 23 Joe Piere Mon, October 24 Blue Flies Tues, October 25 Brian Fraser Wed, October 26 Helloween Hip-Hop Havoc w/ Mic Dons, Stray, Enz, Sporatik and more Thur, October 27 Australian Made Fri, October 28 Cake Walking Babies Sun, October 30 Quiz Night Mon, October 31 The Red Eyes Fri, November 4 & Sat, November 5 Tijuana Cartel Wed, November 9 & Thu, November 10 Skipping Girl Vinegar Sat, November 12 360 Sat, November 19

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THE JEZABELS

BRIAN CADD & RUSSELL MORRIS

JEFF MARTIN

JAMES REYNE

LEO SAYER

SAT OCT 8 SALOON BAR, LTN SUN OCT 9 WREST POINT

SUN OCT 16 WREST POINT

WED OCT 19 COUNTRY CLUB THUR OCT 20 WREST POINT

FRI OCT 21 COUNTRY CLUB SAT OCT 22 WREST POINT

FRI OCT 21 WREST POINT

TONY HADLEY & GO WEST

DOLLY DIAMOND:

HOT GOSPEL! WITH THE TSO

JOHN HAMMOND

CESAR MILLAN LIVE

MORE THAN A WOMAN

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OCTOBER 8th - Roller Derby Afterparty w/ Cash Savage and The Hightimes (vic) ' SUN OCT 23 WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE

THE POINTER SISTERS

FRI NOV 18 WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE

FRI OCT 28 WREST POINT SHOWROOM

SAT NOV 5 WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE

DAVID CAMPBELL

SAT NOV 5 WREST POINT SHOWROOM

MON NOV 7 WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE

TIM FREEDMAN & THE IDLE

BOY & BEAR

BJORN AGAIN

FRI DEC 2 COUNTRY CLUB SAT DEC 3 WREST POINT

FRI DEC 2 WREST POINT SAT DEC 3 SALOON BAR

SAT DEC 31 COUNTRY CLUB

FRI NOV 25 COUNTRY CLUB

The Dirty Love ' The Bone Rattlers 8th - Late Night Krackieoke w De Goede Kip 12th - Franks Flicks 13th - Mental Heath Week Awareness Gig "Co-Morbidity" w Manchester Mourning ' Barry Jones ' DJ BTC 14th - Crooked Fiddle Band (vic) ' The Lawless Quartet 15th - Bastard Fest w/ BLOODDUSTER (vic) ' Psycroptic ' Taberah Meticulous Despoilment ' Wolf "Fucking" Pack 18th - Trasharama Films Screening 18th - Quiz-A-Saurus 19th - Community CD 2 Launch w M.O.1.O ' The Native Cats 'Manchester Mourning Mess O' Reds ' Dj's 21st - The Roobs ' Bitter Sweet Kicks (vic) 22nd - Grouch ' Isaac Chambers (nz) 25th - Brand New Second Hand presents Music On Film 27th - The Comedy Forge - Stand Up Comedy 28th - Helloween Havoc presents Satanicus ' GAPE ' Lost Hope ' HAPPY HOURS Lacerta Spiderkicks EVERY FRIDAY 29th - Brand New Second Hand "Crime" w DJ BTC ' Sister Olivia ' AND SUNDAY Dj Warhol ' Dj Nomad - Dress Up Theme "Crimes of Humanity" 6PM TIL 8PM!

NOVEMBER 1st- Art @ The Brisbane

3rd - Circus Horrificus Cabaret 4th - Damage 5th- Frenzal Rhomb 10th - Psyde Project 11th - Trash Nightclub w Raven Black Night 12th & 13th - Graveyard Train ' The Lawless Quartet ' The Sin & Tonics 19th - Vasco Era ' Papa vs Pretty L

Book online now at www.tixtas.com.au

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LUNCH TUES-FRI 12:30-2:30 DINNER TUES-SUN 5:30-8:30 ............

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6 News

Warp news in brief

Greatfood, food,free freepool pooland andlive livemusic music Great Nowopen opentilltill2am 2amevery everyfrifriand andsat sat Now

HAPPYHOUR HOUR HAPPY THURSAND ANDFRI FRI6-7 6-7 THURS

W arp Warp MSFEST MOVES SOUTH

------------------------------------------------Warp Tasmania OCTOBER 2011 ------------------------------------------------EDITOR Nick Mason nick@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------LOCAL MUSIC Stuart Warren stuart@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------CLUB / ELECTRONIC Ainsley White ainsley@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------ART Alison McCrindle alison@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------Performing Art Sarah Mashman sarah@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------Eat Out Jason James jason@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------DESIGN Miu Heath catspop@gmail.com ------------------------------------------------ADVERTISING ads@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------GIG GUIDE Submit your events to gigs@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------Writers Merran Reed, Sose Fuamoli, Sarah Leary, Eva Lubulwa, Josh Clements, Lyn Geisel, Daniel Townsend, Jervis Dean, Jarred Keane, Lucas Thomas, Caity Rode, Lisa Dib, Brett Neuling, Jade Bonus, Sybelle Foxcroft ------------------------------------------------NEWS Submit your press releases plus publicity images through to the appropriate editor for consideration.

------------------------------------------------www.warpmagazine.com.au www.facebook.com/warp.mag ------------------------------------------------INTERESTED IN WRITING FOR WARP? contact nick@warpmagazine.com.au ------------------------------------------------ALL SUBMISSIONS REMAIN THE PROPERTY OF WARP MAGAZINE. ALL CONTENT IS COPYRIGHT TO WARP MAGAZINE AND CANNOT BE REPRODUCED IN WHOLE OR PART WITHOUT WRITTEN AUTHORISATION OF THE PUBLISHERS. WARP MAGAZINE makes no guarantees, warranties or representations of any kind, whether express or implied, as to the accuracy, reliability, or completeness of the information provided. WARP MAGAZINE will not be liable for incorrect use of the information and will assume no responsibility for consequences that may result from the use of the information. WARP MAGAZINE is not responsible of any kind arising out of use, reference to, or reliance on such information.

The opinions expressed in Warp Magazine and Warp online do not necessarily reflect those of the editors or publishers.

KATIE NOONAN’S SWEET ELIXIR

After six years in Launceston, MSFEST has relocated to Hobart. The 2012 event will be held on Saturday March 3 at the TCA grounds on the Domain in Hobart. More news on the festival will be announced this month, including line up and ticket sale details. See www.msfest.org.au or www. facebook.com/MSFestTasmania for up to date information.

ERNEST ELLIS Ernest Ellis & The Panamas have been labelled a Triple J next crop artist, released a critically acclaimed debut album, sold out their own headlining tour, and toured with the likes of Florence and The Machine, Jamie T, and The Jezebels. Now they’re taking the nation by the throat with their sophomore album Kings Canyon and single Great Sky. See them at the Waratah Bandroom with support from Lincoln Le Fevre on Friday October 7. Presale tickets available from oztix or the venue.

TRUE LIVE

Elixir, Katie Noonan’s jazz project will perform two shows in Tasmania this month as part of the First Seed Ripening national tour. The first will be at the Peacock Theatre featuring the TSO String Quartet (Daniel Kossov, violin, Rohana Brown, violin, Will Newbery, viola, and Ivan James, cello), on Thursday October 13. Presale tickets available from Centretainment.

Elixir will also perform on Friday October 14 at Manhattan Wine Bar in Launceston with presale tickets from Venue, Mojo Music and and Oztix.

With a fresh approach to jazz, blues and swing, double bass player Leigh Barker and band, The New Sheiks and blues vocalist Heather Stewart saunter into Tasmania for two shows this month. Winning the Australian Jazz Bell Award for Best Traditional Jazz Album in May 2011, the New Sheiks feature double bass, trumpet, trombone, piano, piano accordion and drums.

Heater Stewart sings classic blues from Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Robert Johnson and Leadbelly, as well as repertoire from Billie Holiday and the other jazz greats, winning her the Vic/Tas Blues Awards for Best Debut Album in 2011 and Best Female Artist. See them play at Brookfield Margate on Sunday October 23 from 5pm or at the Launceston Jazz Club at the Royal Oak Tuesday October 25 from 8pm.

GBOB FINALS

True Live are back for two genre bending performances before packing their bags and heading back overseas. Since performing MONA FOMA in January the band has barely hit the ground, touring Europe and Asia.

See them fuse hip hop with jazz with equal parts punk at Hotel New York in Launceston on Friday Oct 7 and at the Republic Bar on Saturday October 8.

A bunch of Tasmania’s finest original live acts will be battling it out for the chance to win a spot in the Global Battle of the Bands Australian Final, contesting to win a trip overseas. It promises to be a tough contest as the GBOB’s overall first prize is worth US $100,000, giving the winners the title of “Best New Band in the World”.

The Tasmanian regional final is set for Thursday, October 20 at The Republic Bar & Cafe (18+) from 9pm, featuring Ending Atrophy, Crusador, The Sin & Tonics, Incacerate, FRITZ and all the way from Launceston, Zac Slater.

A Capella Lounge is a new monthly series of performances by the Tasmanian a cappella singing community at the Theatre Royal on the last Monday of the month. The aim of the A Cappella Lounge series is the creation of a new performance environment for choirs, small groups and even soloists who perform without musical accompaniment.

Performances are planned for Monday October 31 and Monday November 28.

FRENZAL RHOMB

COLEMAN’S RETURN Fresh from a 24-date UK tour in support of The Blue Mosquitoes, Christopher Coleman has bought home a few new songs and poetry written during his northern hemisphere sojourn. His world tour wraps up at Brookfield on Sunday October 9 when he’ll take the stage with good friend Daniel Champagne, a guitar virtuoso from Bega, NSW, the duo teaming up to deliver songs, poems, ‘jams’ and stories from the road.

A CAPELLA LOUNGE

LEIGH BARKER’S NEW SHEIKS

For Tasmanians with a hankering to taste Frenzal Rhomb’s finely marinated rock’n’roll delicacy in the live setting, fear not that

The Adam Cousens Band has loaded up the tour van and embarked on a road trip with the new single This Road Ahead, a followup to his celebrated debut album Free Flowin’ Footsteps (October 2010) which was recorded with Chris Townend (Silverchair, The Violent Femmes, Lior).

Their self-titled debut album entered the ARIA Album charts at number three in June, scoring a stint as Triple J album of the week and their first national tour that sold out in record time. Their acclaimed album has now achieved well over gold status. See them in Hobart on Wednesday November 30 at St David’s Cathedral on the corner of Murray and Macquarie Streets, in Hobart. Tickets are $57.50 plus booking fee from Ticketek.

Following on from the success of Sam Simmons at the Clubhouse in September, the next offering features special guest Michael Chamberlin. With many television appearances most notably as co-host of The Mansion on the Comedy Channel and three seasons as a cast member of the popular Australian sketch show skitHOUSE. Chamberlin has performed stand-up on Rove, Stand Up, Stand Up! Australia and Good Morning Australia and live at both the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and Adelaide Fringe Festival. See him with Matt Burton and guests at the Waratah Bandroom on Friday November 21. Doors open 9pm, entry is $10.

The buzz surrounding the Breath of Life Music Festival has been increasing online, as the festival has released line-up details including Hilltop Hoods, Icehouse, Grinspoon, The Living End, Boy and Bear, Parkway Drive, The Getaway Plan, Owl Eyes and The Amity Affliction, and there’s more to come. As well as the Main Stage, MOS Clubber’s Guide Arena and third stage, there will also be a Big Top tent, which will play host to Rockwiz Live on the Saturday. Taking place on Saturday March 10 and Sunday 11, punters can choose to attend either day, or both! Earlybird tickets are available now via Oztix. www.breathoflifefestival.com

PARTIE TRAUMA With debut album “Galaxies” spawning two tracks in the Triple J Unearthed top 10, Hobart electro act Partie Traumatic is making some deep impact on a national scale. Producer/musician Mathew Hislop describes the Partie Traumatic sound as “a catchy mix of a bunch dance and electro music styles smashed together to create some crazy sounds to get you moving”.

He’s planning a follow-up EP before the end of the year and a string of shows during the summer. www.myspace.com/ partietraumatic

NEW ENOLA FALL EP

With his 4-piece band, the Melbourne/ Hobart based Cousens will perform his folkrock rootsy show across 10 dates, visiting five major cities and three regional areas, including first-time shows in Bendigo and Wollongong. Two Tassie shows are included, on Friday, November 11 at the Republic Bar and an afternoon show on Sunday November 13 at the Longley International, Longley.

WARATAH CLUBHOUSE

during November before launching their new disc with a red hot show at The Brisbane Hotel early in December.

BREATH OF LIFE BUZZ

As part of the Heavenly Sounds national tour, the hugely successful collaboration between Sarah Blasko, Sally Seltmann and Holly Throsby will perform with in the historic St David’s Cathedral in Hobart.

The three talented singers will present a show filled with their beautiful harmonies, complemented by the rich acoustics and otherworldly ambience of the church setting, joined by their backing band of bassist David Symes and drummer Bree van Reyk.

\

South Australian MC Subsketch’s recent album Department of Human Services has been lauded as “a local release with a national perspective that does an incredible job of slowing the mind and enabling it to contemplate, take stock and be grateful.”

Catch the former recipient of the Hilltop Hoods’ Initiative Grant supported by Crixus, Dameza, Paddles and Afterthought on Friday October 28 at the Grand Poobah. Entry is $5.

SEEKER LOVER KEEPER

ADAM COUSENS’ ROAD AHEAD

MC SUBSKETCH

WARATAH VERSIONS This month’s Versions at the Waratah Bandroom will see local performers covering material from The Beatles. Local artists showcase some of their original tunes, plus a cover of their choice and a cover that fits the theme, on Friday October 14. Free entry. To perform at Versions email nick@mainstageevents.com.au

old age, medical problems and attractive odds at the local greyhounds will keep this band off the stage. With a reputation for causing absolute pandemonium at any show they play; be it inciting huge circle pits, destroying piñatas of political leaders or drinking every other band’s beer; trust the brand you know; Frenzal Rhomb. Playing Friday November 4 at Hotel New York and Saturday November 5 at the Brisbane Hotel.

D’OPUS & ROSHAMBO With the release of their long-awaited second LP Past Time, D’Opus & Roshambo are making their way back to Tasmania with an expanded live show, featuring live bass and drums. After becoming a Triple J favourite with the track Million Dollar Bill from their first album The Switch, the duo has produced a “record about moving on and travelling to a brighter future”. They perform with band at the Republic Bar on Friday December 2 and a DJ/MC performance at Fresh in Launceston on Saturday December 3.

FIRE UP RAY GUNS Hobart indie rockers The Ray Guns are just putting the icing on the cake that is their debut untitled EP, set to blister your ears when it drops on December 3. One of the busiest acts on the Tassie scene, The Ray Guns are planning shows in Melbourne

News from Hobart’s Enola Fall is that there’s another EP on the way, following hot on the heels of their I Am An Aerial EP from earlier this year. Singer Joe Nuttall told Warp the guys are in the midst of recording the new release and are planning a busy end to the year. They’re set to support The Jezabels in Launceston and Hobart in early October as well as making an appearance at the Peats Ridge Festival to usher in the New Year. www.enolafall.com

NO FAKER FOR US Straight off the back of a national tour with UK purveyors of indie pop The Wombats, the Faker: Live tour takes the band to metro and regional centres around the country, giving fans an exclusive opportunity to experience the band’s brand new music and showcasing a bunch of their previous hits. Except for Tasmania. Given their last trip didn’t finish in the greatest fashion perhaps that should come as no surprise?

www.tapasloungebar.com.au www.tapasloungebar.com.au

RookeStreet StreetMall, Mall, Devonport, Tasmania.

Rooke Devonport, Tasmania.

036424 6424 2727 2727 03

SEPTEMBER OCTOBER WED - TAPAS TRIVIA NIGHT 7PM SAT 8TH7TH - UNDER THE COVERS 9:30PM THURS 8TH HENRY JAMES 8PM SUN 9TH - HENRY JAMES 6PM FRI 9TH - 3 PIECE 9:30PM SAT12TH 10TH--OPEN THE ROCK PIGS 9:30PM WED MIC NIGHT 7PM SUN 11TH TREV HEINS 6PM THURS 13TH - LIAM (PADDY)

PADMORE WED 14TH8PM - OPEN MIC NIGHT 7PM FRITHURS 14TH15TH - THREEZA 9:30PM - KELLYCROWD MENHENNETT 8PM SAT 15TH SLATS & THE BIG FRI 16TH - THE TIMBERS (ADELAIDE) NATURALS 9:30PM 9:30PM SUN 6PM SAT16TH 17TH- -BIG THEJAM UNITBAND 9:30PM SUN 18TH - JACOB BOOTE & LAURA WED 19TH - TAPAS TRIVIA NIGHT 7PM MEAD 6PM THURS 20TH - PARIS TEXAS 8PM - TAPAS TRIVIA NIGHT 7PM FRIWED 21ST21ST - FUZZ 9:30PM THURS - DAN &SPAGHETTI BUDGE 8PM SAT 22ND22ND - ELECTRIC FRI 23RD ELECTRIC SPAGHETTI 9:30PM 9:30PM SUN 23RD JEFF WOODWARD 6PM SAT 24TH - THE ROCK PIGS 9:30PM SUN26TH 25TH- TAPAS - NEIL GIBSON 6PM 7PM WED TRIVIA NIGHT THURS POP &TRIVIA SKIP 8PM WED 27TH 28TH -- TAPAS NIGHT 7PM FRITHURS 28TH 29TH - UNDER THE COVERS 9:30PM - KIRBY EDWARDS 8PM SAT FRI29TH 30TH- THE - THEUNIT UNIT9:30PM 9:30PM SUN 30TH - BRETTY & W 5PM

OCTOBER NOVEMBER

SAT 1ST - AFL GRAND FINAL WED 2ND - TAPAS TRIVIA 7PMEVENT EXTRAVIGANZA - TICKETED THURS 3RD EVIL CISUM 8PM LIVE MUSIC ALL DAY & NIGHT FRIFEATURING, 4TH - THREEELECTRIC PIECE 9:30PM SPAGHETTI, SAT 5TH - CANDY FEETPIGS, 9:30PM THE UNIT, THE ROCK TMG, PLUS SUN 6TH MORE - ELECTRIC SPAGHETTI 8PM MANY (LONG WEEKEND) SUN 2ND - JEFF WOODWARD 6PM WED 5TH - TAPAS TRIVIA NIGHT WED 9TH - OPEN MIC NIGHT 7PM7PM THURS 6TH--EVIL TREVCISUM HEINS 8PM THURS 10TH 8PM FRI 7TH 3 PIECE 9:30PM FRI 11TH - T M G 9:30PM SAT 8TH--THE EVILUNIT CISUM 9:30PM SAT 12TH 9:30PM SUN 9TH - HENRY JAMES 6PM SUN 13TH - JEFF WOODWARD 6PM WED 12TH - OPEN MIC NIGHT 7PM WED 16TH - TAPAS TRIVIA NIGHT 7PM THURS 13TH - LIAM (PADDY) THURS 17TH -8PM TREV HEINS 8PM PADMORE FRIFRI 18TH UNDER THECROWD COVERS9:30PM 9:30PM 14TH - THREEZA SAT 19TH SLATS & THE BIG NATURALS SAT 15TH - SLATS & THE BIG NATURALS 9:30PM 9:30PM SUN 16TH - BIG JAMSURPRISE BAND 6PM SUN 20TH - SURPRISE 6PM WED 19TH - TAPAS TRIVIA NIGHT 7PM WED 23RD - TAPAS TRIVIA 7PM THURS 20TH - EVIL CISUM 8PM THURS 24TH - T M G (SHOW DAY EVE) FRI 21ST - FUZZ 9:30PM FRI 25TH - ELECTRIC SPAGHETTI SAT 22ND - ELECTRIC SPAGHETTI 9:30PM 9:30PM SUN 23RD JEFF WOODWARD 6PM SAT 26TH - ROCK PIGS 9:30PM SUN 27TH - LIVE MUSIC 6PM

8 Music

Music 9

COMMUNITY CENTRAL

REPHRASING RAP

IF NOTHING ELSE, HOBART MUSIC IDENTITY BABYLON IS MELBOURNE HIP HOP ARTIST PHRASE’S THIRD RELEASE, TAKING HIS SOUND IN A NEW DIRECTION, JULIAN TEAKLE IS A PRACTICAL MAN. HE TELLS WARP AHEAD OF HIS HOBART GIG THIS MONTH.

MARTIN’S TIMELESS MANTRA CANADIAN SINGER-SONGWRITER WHO NOW CALLS AUSTRALIA HOME, JEFF MARTIN, OF THE TEA PARTY, CONTINUES TO ENTRANCE AUDIENCES WITH HIS INTOXICATING EASTERN FLAVOUR. The first time I ever saw Jeff Martin play, it was a few years back with a little outfit called The Tea Party.

Jeff mesmerised and intrigued his fans then, with his astounding collection of unusual instruments and heavy influence of Indian and Middle Eastern music.

Jeff continues to astound us today with his musical expertise and we are lucky enough for this talented man to now call Australia home.

A love for this country and family commitments mean that in between tours and travels, Jeff divides his time between Australia’s east and west coast, with his eldest son living in Perth and a new son born in June this year in the Byron region.

Jeff is just finishing up a tour with his current project, Whole Lotta Love, which is a celebration of all things Zeppelin in collaboration with musicians Steve Balbi, Simon Meli and Natasha Stuart.

With the release of his third album, Babylon, Melbourne MC Harley Webster (AKA Phrase) has successfully pushed the boundaries of what can be accomplished by a predominately hip hop artist, and successfully confused critics and reviewers trying to pigeonhole his album into a specific genre.

Making the move from samples & loops to a full live band, Phrase has created a completely unique sound.

“It’s been rad,” he says. “It’s been more fulfilling - the process is totally different. It’s like I made the album twice; I made all the demos at home and played guitar and my wife played all the keys on a midi keyboard, then we went and completely remade everything in the studio.”

The difference in the music creation process itself was partially responsible for the new direction the music has taken.

“It was just a natural result of the different process, I didn’t consciously think of it, although I was sick of being pigeon holed into ‘urban’ or ‘rap’. It’s a good feeling though, I actually own the whole album, its mine, I don’t have to give 50% to a producer or pay a heap of money to clear a sample.”

To guide him through the process, Phrase sourced the services of popular producer Tony Buchen.

“Tony is a pretty talented studio engineer and producer, I really learnt heaps from him, even just in terms of studio techniques and microphone positioning.

[THE DIFFERENT SOUND] WAS JUST A NATURAL RESULT OF THE DIFFERENT PROCESS. I WAS SICK OF BEING PIGEON-HOLED INTO ‘URBAN’ OR ‘RAP’. warpmagazine.com.au

Plus he’s a big personality, so it was pretty intense. There were times where I didn’t think I could work with him anymore, we’re both so focussed and he was pushing me all the way. I think it paid off in the end.”

The reaction to an album that Phrase knew would alienate some fans has so far been one of critical acclaim from the media, and wariness from the public.

“I’m not going to lie; it’s been a slow start, it seems to be building slowly, once people actually give it a listen they seem to like it.

I’ve had a few people, even mates, saying ‘yeah nah I like Clockwork more’, then calling me a week later saying ‘Shit I think I spoke too quickly man, it’s been on repeat all week’.

“I understand it, if you go to buy a BMW, you don’t expect to get a Holden. You might end up loving the Holden, but that’s not what you wanted to buy. I think some people have written it off without giving it a listen, just going on what other people have said.

“The hardest thing is just getting it to people and getting them to listen to it. Once they listen, it’s all good.”

Everyone who catches Phrase on his upcoming national tour should expect a particularly huge night, he says.

“I’ve toured with a band before and I found it a bit hit and miss as to what would translate well to a live band and what worked better with a DJ. But with this album I know all the songs will work with a live band, and even sound better.”

SHANE CRIXUS

So practical in fact, that the new Rough Skies Records compilation disc, Community 2, was at least partly inspired by his want to help people cut down on the number of CDs they have to cart around to enjoy great Tasmanian music.

Of course, that wasn’t the only inspiration Julian had in putting the second Community disc together, but it did play some part, in a relatively obscure kind of way.

“I was a community radio DJ for years and the best things I had in terms of practicality were compilations because it usually didn’t mean I had to carry as many records or CDs,” he said. “This is sort of my mixtape or something like that I’m sending to other likeminded people.

“I’m hoping someone goes ‘I don’t have to carry so many CDs now because I’ve got this great compilation.”

Community 2 is an 18-track collection of songs either previously released or provided especially for the new release by some of the state’s most loved acts.

Among the contributors to Community 2 are the likes of Tiger Choir, All Fires The Fire, Transcription of Organ Music, Billy Whims and Myblackson, and these five provide just a snapshot of what listeners can expect on the disc.

“We put out Community 1 about 18 months ago and it’s basically just Hobart acts I really like and I think should be heard by more people,” Julian said.

“Most of the people on the compilation are friends of mine, which is also the nature of the Hobart music scene. Sometimes I ask for a specific song or ask if they can give me something exclusive. The compilation is kind of a mix of previously released stuff that I think would fit together well on top of the unreleased stuff and more.”

Living in a city the size of Hobart has been an advantage for Julian in terms of being able to sample the wares of local bands and soloists, but the rise and rise of the Internet

also proved a boon in collection a suitable swag of songs.

“It’s a combination of going to gigs and seeing bands and listening to stuff on the Internet and buying people’s records and getting recommendations from people. It’s kind of the advantage of being in a small town.”

“I still kind of believe in physical product for getting stuff out there and being taken seriously as well.”

Community 2 is set for an official launch on October 19 with a big night out at The Brisbane featuring a four-strong line-up of album contributors, namely Manchester Mourning, Mess O’ Reds, M.O.1.O. and The Native Cats. Physical copies will be available on the night and are already on the shelves at Tommy Gun Records.

“It’s basically a mixtape, stuff I dig and want to turn other people on to,” Julian said.

“It really documents what’s gone on in Hobart over the last two years.”

STU WARREN

Community 2 album launch at the Brisbane Hotel with Manchester Mourning, Mess O’ Reds, M.0.1.0 and the Native Cats.

Physical copies will be available to purchase on the night and from Tommy Gun Records.

“They were the easiest gigs, great arrangements, and playing with such great musicians of such integrity,” Jeff says.

Once that wraps up, Jeff will be hitting the road for a solo tour of our vast country, taking in shows in such far flung places as Rottnest Island, Darwin and making his way down to the fair shores of Tasmania.

“I love it down there, I wish I had the chance to see more of Tasmania - it’s beautiful.”

With his vast assortment of instruments and his constant travels and tours, even when travelling light, Jeff is now on very good terms with the airlines.

“I’ll try to keep it a little economical this time, but there’ll still be a minimum of five acoustic guitars.”

Then he’s back off to Canada for a few shows with the band that started it all, The Tea Party.

“We’ve only gotten back together for the one tour so far, but it seems the Tea Party is bigger now than it ever was. There’s this myth surrounding the band, and now amongst the old fans, there are 20-year-olds down the front at the gigs. It’s a true testament to the music; it’s timeless rock’n’roll.”

The Tea Party look to tour our shores in April or May, with another album in the works. Jeff is building his own studio in Byron and says it would be a shame to see it go to waste.

“I’m based in Australia now, so we’d have to do it over here.”

Jeff’s amazing stage presence evokes an almost mystical atmosphere that needs to be seen live. And with his innate nature of wanderlust, there will be no shortages of chances to embrace the Jeff Martin experience.

“I have the freedom now, to go anywhere I want. All my career I’ve wanted to make a dark, sexy blues record, so that’s on the cards now.”

KYLIE COX Jeff Martin performs at The Country Club in Launceston on October 19, and Wrest Point in Hobart on October 20. Ticket info: www.countryclubtasmania. com.au and www.wrestpoint.com.au

warpmagazine.com.au

10 Music

CAFE CUM NIGHTCLUB LAUNCESTON’S NEWEST NIGHTCLUB IS REALLY A CAFE. OR A BAR. OR MAYBE A BOUTIQUE HOTEL. IN ANY CASE, IT’S FRESH.

Music 11

Tucked away opposite the leafy, majestic Princes Square on Charles Street, Launceston, is a rapidly evolving local institution of fine food and good times known as Fresh. For the past 12 years, Fresh has provided the proverbial breath to Launceston’s food scene with its forward thinking, down-to-earth attitude and focus on good quality vegetarian food.

dubstep night in the North of the state and international acts such as DJ Dexter”

It’s the crew behind this establishment that really make it tick; founding force Andrea Dawkins, business partner Synjon Fraser and a team of fun, hard-working staff.

“We have some massive events planned for the coming months which I can’t share many details,” Synjon says, “however, we want to keep the events to a minimum to retain the party vibe and avoid over-exposure.

Recent expansions to Fresh have included converting one of the two shop fronts into an express bar, inclusion of a retail outlet and the top level’s renovation transformation, turning two rooms into trendy and affordable inner-city boutique accommodation.

The acquisition of the former Arts Alive space situated at the rear of the building is Fresh’s most significant change. Through months of hard work this space was transformed into a light, open bar/dining area with adjoining deck and stage space.

Good bar prices and options, up-for-it crowds, great music and a banging sound system are all given factors, but it’s the unpretentious party vibes that Recreational Thugs and Fresh push that makes these nights all that they are.

www.facebook.com/freshoncharles BILLY GREEN

TO MAKE WITH HER THIRD STUDIO ALBUM, LAURA JEAN MOVED TO THE VICTORIAN CENTRAL HIGHLANDS AND RETURNED WITH A WHIMSICAL WISDOM.

Since winning an APRA Professional Development Award in 2009, lead vocalist, Laura Jean, moved to the Victorian Central Highlands and worked on A Fool Who’ll.

Drawing inspiration from her move, the transcendental Melbourne-based songwriter says there was much-needed peace and serenity in the bush.

“There were a lot of long walks in the bush, visits from friends and family and we got a couple of dogs as well,” Laura said.

While having inspiration from her new surroundings, Laura didn’t have the clear direction she had for the previous two albums. Unsuccessfully trying to immerse herself in her work, she turned to working with other artists.

“I left it for a while, concentrating on helping other artists with their albums, then finally, upon plugging in a Gibson SG to a crap Gorilla band amp.”

the songs found their personality and I [finally] knew how they would be produced - raw and scratchy, but warm and hi-fi at the same time.”

“

Ultimately she teamed up with Grand Salvo, known as Paddy Mann, and collaborated warpmagazine.com.au

“When we started Blood Duster, it was kind of a joke,” Fuller explains. “It was like, ‘we’ll do pornogrind; no one’s ever done that before, that’ll be fuckin ridiculous’. It was like a two minute, stupid idea – kind of like every idea Blood Duster’s ever had.”

Yet 20 years later, the band is still in existence. But things have changed somewhat; the internet has revolutionized musical expertise.

“Now I go out to a gig, and a 20-year-old kid is telling me what’s grindcore and what’s not! It’s like, dude I was doing this before you were born – literally! Blood Duster is 20 years old this year – it’s kind of fuckin’ crazy.”

“We kind of fell into the bar events thing,” Synjon Fraser says. “Ryan and Cal of Recreational Thugs put on the first Drop which went really well, and things moved on from there. Now we are hosting the only

A Fool Who’ll is Laura Jean’s follow-up album to the folksy and spirited Our Swan Song (2006) and Eden Land (2008), and it’s a very different sound to what we have come to expect.

AS BASSIST JASON FULLER EXPLAINS, BLOOD DUSTER IS A BAND THAT PERHAPS SHOULD NEVER HAVE EXISTED.

“The focus always has been and always will be on the vibrant beautiful cuisine and setting. We aim to keep providing fine food and drink within a pleasant and unique environment without any pretension.” assures Synjon.

The main aim of the space was to provide an alternative environment for diners to drink away from the dining room, but after a trial opening earlier this year, local event promoters Recreational Thugs tested the waters with the now-monthly dubstep night, Drop.

LO-FI AND FOLKSY

HEALTHY METAL INTAKE

Coming in as part of the Bastardfest national tour, Blood Duster is keen to get the festival taking hold around the country.

with Magic Silver White’s Jojo Petrina and Monica Sonand for guest appearances in A Fool Who’ll.

Laura first imagined A Fool Who’ll as her third acoustic album, but as recording progressed she found the sound of her music changing.

“It’s like breathing to me. I just wait for that funny pregnant feeling, then I sit down and strum it out, trying to let the song be what it wants to be, not what I want it to be.”

Rather than being disappointed in this new sound, Laura loves it for what it is.

“I want the audience to get as little or as much as they want from my album, whether they listen to it everyday and extract meaning from nothing or hear me on the radio and turn it off in annoyance!”

A Fool Who’ll, above all else, has strengthened Laura’s sound, giving her the opportunity to experiment with and develop a different sound.

“I’m more confident and less hesitant.

The whole process is less of a drama now, because I realise that I will be doing this for a long time and it doesn’t matter too much if I stuff up, I just try again.”

RACHEL SHEA

“We kinda wanna take it to where Metal for the Brain [festival] was - where people wanna go out and wanna hang out. Metal for the Brain was about bands hanging out with everyone else, you know, so that’s kind of where we see this festival going. It’s all heavy kinds of music, from punk rock to hardcore to grind… and it’s predominantly local stuff.”

The local Australian metal scene tends to be somewhat of a divided topic at the moment – people either seem to be strongly for or against the quality of music being produced. Jason has apparently noticed the same thing.

“People keep telling me the Australian scene is kind of down at the moment – is it? I mean, if you’re going to shit shows, then of course they’re gonna be shit, but you can do that in any scene you know? It’s like, I don’t know what kind of show’s you’ve been seeing, but where I go it’s actually quite good!

“I’m old, and this is old dude talking right now, but I remember back in the days when you couldn’t hear an Australian band on radio - where there was no Australian scene, no Australian industry, you know?

“When I was 20, it was a completely different musical landscape. Triple M has a metal show on now, you know? That’s how mainstream this stuff is. Shit, when I was growing up you had to look through an old Hit Parade magazine to find a tiny photo, and if you liked the photo and thought it was glorious enough, you’d order it, wait six weeks for it to come in, and then be able to play it! So now I think the music scene is sick!”

Ah, Blood Duster - lifting your musical enthusiasm since the early ‘90s. Prove Jason’s thesis – catch them at Bastardfest.

BRETT NEULING

Laura Jean performs at the Grand Poobah on Friday November 4. Tickets are on sale now. A Fool Who’ll is available at Chapter Music.

Bastard Fest gets messy at the Brisbane Hotel on October 15 with Blood Duster, Psycroptic, Taberah, Wolfpack and Meticulous Despoilment. Tickets available from the venue and more info from www.bastardfest.com/Bastardfest/Hob.html

warpmagazine.com.au

12 Music

Music 13

INSERT GENRE HERE

The Crooked Fiddle band is unlike anything else in mainstream music at the moment.

Reading about the band from five different sources will result in five new attempts to pigeonhole the band into a genre. Even the band themselves aren’t exactly sure of how best to define them selves.

SELF-PROFESSED MUSIC REFUGEES, THE CROOKED FIDDLE BAND, TALK ABOUT THEIR TROUBLE GENRE, THEIR DEBUT ALBUM AND RECORDING WITH A MUSIC LEGEND.

“We haven’t heard something that fits it perfectly yet, but everyone seems to hear what they want to hear in it,” explains bouzouki, guitar, banjo and mandolin extraordinaire Gordon Wallace.

“We had an old Serbian couple come up to us once and say ‘oh it’s great to hear some traditional Serbian music being played’ and heard everything else in between.”

The band’s debut album Overgrown Tales comes off the back of two EPs and over four years of Wallace performing with band mates Jess Randall, Mark Stevens and Joe Gould under the Crooked Fiddle Band moniker.

“We’re all sort of refugees from different types of music. Some of us have had classical training, Mark on bass has done a lot of jazz and actually lived in Tassie for about 10 years and really got in to metal when he lived in Launceston.

“We’ve all had this background where we found ourselves wanting to explore new things and this thing we’ve all converged on was world and folk and blues music festivals. When there’s a really good Celtic

band or Hungarian or Romanian gypsy band playing the music has got so much intensity; we were all drawn together by that.”

It’s that intensity that is something that all can agree on when talking about the music of the Crooked Fiddle Band. Their frenzied live show has helped the band create a name for themselves at home as well as abroad, garnering a healthy reputation for themselves after successful tours through England and Germany.

It was that live energy that producer Steve Albini did his best to capture in the studio when the band joined him Chicago to record Overgrown Tales. Although the band were some what daunted by the man who’s CV bears names such as Nirvana, the Pixies and PJ Harvey, Albini kept the band at ease to capture their energy on tape.

“It all started as a fantasy, really. Having a few beers after practice we were wondering what to do next ‘oh, we want to get recorded

by Steve Albini.’ And we all had a laugh but when we looked into it we realised it was quite possible to do. He has done so much amazing stuff but he’s a very down to earth guy, very DIY, so he’s totally into that independent, punky scene. It wasn’t even outrageously expensive.

“The idea of the guy intimidates you but in reality he was totally down to earth. He used to wear this old grey overalls when he worked, like a mechanic. There was no pretention, so we felt really relaxed.”

LUCAS THOMAS

GOTYE’S CRITICAL REFLECTION

Chapter Music and Mobile Industries present

LAURA JEAN

ON THE EVE OF HIS SOLD-OUT MAKING MIRRORS TOUR, GOTYE (AKA WALLY DE BACKER) EXPLORES HIS SUCCESS AND MISGIVINGS AS A MUSICIAN, AND WHAT IT’S LIKE TO BE NAKED ON THE INTERNET. If you search the internet for the track Somebody I Used to Know, you may just find yourself watching five men from Sydney in a painstakingly executed parody of the original Gotye film clip. Wally De Backer takes it as a compliment.

New album

A Fool Who’ll

out now on Chapter Music

FRIDAY 4TH NOVEMBER THE GRAND POOBAH

“It’s hilarious,” the good-natured artist laughs. “Where they pan out the second time to reveal the whole band - five dudes I thought it was fantastic.”

Over one million people in Australia live with depression.

Over two million have an anxiety disorder.

With the right treatment, most people recover.

tickets via www.oztix.com.au / 1300 762 545

chaptermusic.com.au

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facebook.com/laurajeansongs

www.beyondblue.org.au, 1300 22 4636 or infoline@beyondblue.org.au

It’s been five years since De Backer released his seminal LP Like Drawing Blood. A favourite amongst the Triple J crowd, the record placed eleventh on the broadcaster’s Hottest 100 Australian Albums of All Time and though word of Gotye spread, his fan base remained happily underground.

With the recent release of his follow up album Making Mirrors, De Backer has made a crossover to a mainstream audience base, and done it with record-breaking success.

The single, Somebody I Used to Know (featuring Kimbra), has sat at No. 1 for over 6 weeks, aiding platinum album sales and almost 7 million online hits of the track’s film clip.

The icing on Gotye’s cake? In all its slowburning glory, Like Drawing Blood has re-entered the ARIA Top 50 album charts, sneaking in at number 49.

“Even though Drawing Blood exceeded my expectations, it was a very underground thing,” he says. “There were moments where I felt ‘wow, I won an ARIA Award, I’m crossing over to the mainstream’.

“Obviously, with Making Mirrors coming out at number one, and the single at number one, it’s all a bit extreme. If anything, it makes me feel more selfconscious about the things I’m not sure about in my music, or the things I think could do better.”

Traversing post-apocalyptic sonic landscapes to ‘60s soul-inspired pop pastiches, the genre-bending Making Mirrors is as unique and idiosyncratic as Wally De Backer himself.

“There’s lots of stuff on the record I’m really proud of. There’s a depth and a warmth to the mixes and the way the arrangements work, but I vacillate a lot between that depressive feeling of going ‘the best stuff’s behind me, I’m not as interesting or as experimental as when I was in my early twenties’, and at other times thinking I’m still progressing and the best stuff’s ahead.

“I’m looking at two years of working really hard to take all these opportunities, and make a live show I’m really proud of.”

“I’ve gotten into a lot of records that are made in very different ways to the way my music is made. I’m probably drawn in the future to really needing to make something more organic or based around performance with a band.”

Though De Backer wears his heart and his self-doubt on his sleeve, it’s driven by an overwhelming desire to challenge and confront his limitations, and to better himself as an artist.

Known for his arresting live performances, Gotye’s upcoming tour is sure to awaken more than just his fans’ aural senses - De Backer aspires to create an immersive experience; an audio-visual feast of sound, light and animation.

“I really strive to take my production and the mixing of the record to another level.

Anytime I’m making music, I’m just trying to get excited, trying to find things I haven’t heard before - things that give you that spark and make you want to perform and create.

“Something that feels like you, a group of people in a theatre are going into the headspace that I feel when I put on a pair of headphones and disappear or melt into a record.”

“To become a better producer, composer and live show creator and vocalist live I don’t feel like I naturally have those talents.

I take that head-on, as a big challenge and one I want to do really well.”

Disappearing into music is a pursuit that De Backer devotes countless hours to, digging through record stores, the internet and op shops for rare vinyl records.

There is one natural talent that De Backer already possesses, and it’s arguably the reason why the Somebody I Used to Know film clip has become a talking point for fans, critics, and parody makers alike.

“Exploring the rich tapestry of recorded music in history - the collecting, losing yourself and being inspired by this mysterious world of sound that is out there - but also navigating it by creating things and coming up with ideas. That’s the part that feels like the reason I got into music,” he says.

Ever the chameleon, De Backer hints that his future creations may move away from the sampling that has been the stalwart of his composing process, to draw inspiration from contemporary luminaries like Bon Iver, Fleet Foxes and Sufjan Stevens.

“It’s like it hasn’t really necessarily sunk in with me yet. The first few seconds start on my foot, and I kind of go ‘fucking hell! I’m really exposed here!” he laughs. “I guess that shows me that I’m quite comfortable standing half-naked without any Hollywood aids or modesty tape.”

Making Mirrors is available now on Eleven. www.gotye.com

warpmagazine.com.au

14 Music

Music 15

12 STRINGS ATTACHED

SERIOUSLY SCARY

SONGS FROM THE ROAD

RENOWNED FOR HIS MUSICAL PROWESS WITH A VAST COLLECTION OF STRINGED INSTRUMENTS, MELBOURNE’S JEFF LANG TAKES TO THE ROAD WITH HIS LATEST OFFERING, CARRIED IN MIND.

MELBOURNE INDIE-POP DUO BIG SCARY GET REFLECTIVE, CREATING INFECTIOUS BEATS WITH A MORE SERIOUS ARTISTIC INTENT FOR THEIR NATIONAL TOUR.

EL WITERI, FRONTMAN FOR THE RED EYES, COMES OUT OF HIS SHELL TO TALK WITH WARP ABOUT WHAT’S AT THE HEART OF A MUSIC CAREER.

Melbourne dub-reggae star El Witeri has two different selves. Today, Witeri is his private self. His off-stage self; his shy self.

It’s the self that Witeri describes as being like a snail, comfortable inside its shell.

As a seven-piece, The Red Eyes stage is packed, but funneling each of their creative ambitions into a collective Red Eyes voice is sometimes as simple as putting up one’s hand, as Witeri explains.

Come October and November, when the band kick off their national tour to launch the single Circles, the snail will come out of its shell and in its place, a spirited creature – a self-assured lead singer, who writhes around the stage to magnetic reggae beats, channeling all the exuberant energy that The Red Eyes are known for in their live shows.

“It comes down to whoever has ideas, puts their hand up, but ultimately, King Charlie and I drive the creative process and I write all the lyrics.”

“I’m extroverted on stage, but off stage I’m really shy,” Witeri says.

Having toured extensively, with regular gigs at big-name festivals and support spots for the likes of Salmonella Dub and The Resin Dogs, Witeri’s shyness has encourages a lot of backstage “support” from his band mates.

“I ask the guys before we go on if they’re nervous, and they say ‘they’re not looking at us, they’re looking at you’. So I get up there and I just go for it.”

It’s been eight years since Witeri joined The Red Eyes, having left New Zealand in search of the man he respectfully calls “King Charlie”.

“The guy who started the band - King Charlie - I used to sing with over in New Zealand. I flew over and found him. In the whole of Melbourne, I found him,” says Witeri, still seemingly in awe of the hand that fate played in their reunion.

With over 14 albums to his name, Jeff Lang’s new album Carried in Mind features collaborations with good friends and longtime colleagues Grant Cummerford (bass) and Danny McKenna (drums) plus a little help on pedal steel from Garret Costigan.

Though the majority of these songs are new, having been penned in the last six months, one or two are considerably more vintage era.

“One of the songs was written 16 years earlier, and has just been hanging around waiting for a suitable home til now,” he says.

The business of recording itself was over in just a couple of days, but it was “a good, fun recording”.

“I’m happy to put this album out, as happy as I can be. The songs are an honest representation of where I was at and what they should be at the time of recording, but they will continue to evolve and move forward.”

Carried in Mind will be available as a limited edition double CD set at Jeff’s shows, as he launches his album across the country. The bonus CD will contain alternative versions of a few of the tunes and a bonus track or two thrown in for good measure.

Having just returned from playing a few shows over in sunny England, Jeff is “just about to crank into it”, playing shows all across the country from Fremantle, to Mullumbimby to his home away from home, The Republic Bar in Hobart.

“I’ve been going to Tassie since the early days, since I used to play shows at the Uni. They are very supportive of the arts at the Republic Bar; it’s like a second home. And it’s always fun to have a new batch of songs to play.”

For a man who owns and plays a vast collection of stringed instruments, Jeff will be travelling light on this tour. warpmagazine.com.au

“I’m only taking 3 different guitars with me on this tour, plus the band - with a bass and drums and the pedal steel.”

And Jeff believes a live show should be a unique experience, not just an uninspired rehash of the recording.

“Playing these songs, there’s a scope within them to improve night after night; you don’t just want to recreate the recorded sound.

You have to have some of the essence, the spirit of the here and now, with the song going somewhere, somewhere good.”

Immediately after the tour, Jeff flies to India for a new project with Tabla maestro Bobby Singh, then there’s a little down time in December before festival season hits.

“I love being on the road. It’s a big part of who I am, and it’s helped shape what I am.”

Catch the string playing musical magician that is Jeff Lang as he launches his latest album Carried on Mind across the country in October with a set of inspiring shows.

KYLIE COX

Jeff Lang performs at Red Hot Music in Devonport on Wednesday October 12, the Republic Bar on Thursday October 13 with support from Jordie Lane. www.jefflang.com.au

It’s been a big few years for Big Scary. Since reforming in 2008, Tom Iansek and Jo Syme have released a series of EPs displaying the duo’s fresh and rather organic sounding approach to writing and performing fresh pop tunes.

All of this work has been leading up to the October release of Big Scary’s debut record Vacation, an album which seems to have more than just infectious indie beats as a foundation.

Taking the album to various venues across the country, Iansek admits that the band will have to rethink the way they approach gigs, now they’re on a headlining tour of their own.

“Support [slots] are cool for a band because there’s no pressure,” Iansek said. “With your own shows, I think there tends to be a greater reward there and it’s special when pull off a great show. We’ve got to put a lot of work in it, to lift it from being just a bit of fun, to something that represents what we’ve done in the album.”

Referring to the band’s latest single Gladiator, Iansek explains how the origins behind this particular song are also shared through the whole album.

“King Charlie has a lot of respect as a producer and mixer. The band evolved naturally with musicians from all around Fitzroy and those places [in Melbourne].”

It’s the first track on the album and I think it suits quite well, because it’s a little bit of a recurring theme on the album.”

The idea of maturing and improving as a person has clearly struck hard with various punters around the country, as the response to Big Scary’s music has been steadily growing with each release. Iansek admits that the positive response the band has gathered, even before the release of their debut album, is flattering indeed.

“We just feel really luck and grateful that there are people out there who’ve taken an interest in our music. I was talking before about pursuing your art; it’s been another interesting part of that, having - all of a sudden - people taking an interest in what you’re doing.

“Going from someone writing tunes in their bedroom, to being considered an ‘artist’, without having really done anything different - that’s been really interesting.”

SOSE FUAMOLI

“I WRITE ABOUT STRUGGLE AND LOVE AND LIFE. I DON’T PREACH AND I TRY NOT TO KEEP IT TOO POLITICAL, BUT LIFE IS POLITICAL.” With Circles, the first single off their third album, Witeri’s lyrics touch on the life of a musician, describing it as “a winding road – full of hoops and loops and circles”. For an independent band like The Red Eyes, that winding road may be a little bumpier than some.

“It’s a labour of love. There’s no money in it. We work our arses off, but being independent is freedom,” says Witeri. “When people come up and say we inspire them, it’s the ultimate reward.”

If love is their investment, music their product, and inspiring fans their reward, then the road that The Red Eyes are on, it’s a worthwhile journey.

LOANI ARMAN The Red Eyes play the Republic Bar on November 4 and 5.

brookfield

MARGATE

UPCOMING EVENTS

REGULAR EVENTS

Benny Walker & Tom Richardson Sat Oct 8 | 7:30pm Andrew Marshall Sat Oct 15 | 7:00pm Ruby Tunes Sun Oct 16 | 4:30pm Acoustic Night with Bradfield Fri Oct 21 | 7:30pm Jess Ribeiro & the Bone Collectors Sat Oct 22 | 7:30pm The New Sheiks Sun Oct 23 | 5:00pm Breakfast with Ryk Goddard Thur Oct 27 | 5:30am!

Brian Fraser Thur Oct 27 | 7:00pm Grumpy Neighbour Sat Oct 29 | 7:30pm Tristan Bird Sun Oct 30 | 12:00pm Melbourne Cup Luncheon Tues Nov 1| 12:00pm

Open Mic Night 1st Friday of the month Folk Night 3rd Friday of the month both have a guest artist each month and are free Sitar Lounge 1st Thursday of the month (7pm) Trivia Last Friday of the month (7pm) Local Market Every Wednesday (10am - 3pm) Delicious Homestyle Meals Open 7 days 9am till 6pm Friday and Saturday nights and all events

1640 Channel Highway Margate Tasmania Ph: (03) 6267 2880 www.brookfieldmargate.com

“It stemmed from the idea of growing up, but not necessarily improving as a person.

That was an idea that we were kind of wrestling with,

[WE WERE] THINKING ABOUT DEVOTING OURSELVES TO OUR ART, AND WHAT THAT MEANT; THE ENJOYMENT AND ALSO THE COST OF IT.

Big Scary plays at the Republic Bar in Hobart on Friday October 21. www.republicbar.com

warpmagazine.com.au

16 Music

Music 17

EE FR W

KICKED OUT AND KICKIN’ ON

i iF

ON HIS WAY TO DJ AT MELBOURNE’S CHERRY BAR, ST KILDA’S BITTERSWEET KICKS FRONTMAN JACK DAVIES TOOK A BREATHER WITH WARP BEFORE THEIR NATIONAL TOUR. After a minor complication sharing pleasantries and Jack dodging a rouge motorcycle, he took a long breath and reflected over the million things he’s piled onto his proverbial plate.

“Aw man, what’s not going on should be the question,” he said. “We’ve recently released our first EP which was good, a ton of people came and we had a good old time.”

Since then the group has been on the circuit, gigging at all their local haunts, and then some.

VOODOO BLUES

“[We’ve] been doing a fair few follow up shows, touring and shit. We’re off to Brissie this weekend, then Sydney and then old Hobart.”

LAUNCESTON SWAMPCORE BLUESMEN GUTHRIE HAVE GOT THE MOVES ON-STAGE AND NOW THEY’RE PUTTING THEM ON FILM, AS PART OF THE ABC BLUE REELS PROJECT.

The group came to the attention of the music industry after developing a reputation in the Melbourne live music scene as being a troupe of crazy, stage junkies.

Growing up on the streets of St Kilda, commonly understood as the suburb common sense forgot, the Bittersweet Kicks boys have shed blood, sweat and booze on the road to recognition.

A cold, foggy night in the forth valley didn’t stop locals rolling out in droves to see Guthrie rocking out at The Bridge Hotel. As Guthrie cooled down after the sweat-soaked set and the room morphed from bar to movie theatre I caught up with band members Liam and Luke, along with the film makers who helped bring the clips to life.

Their energetic shows are a refreshing smack to the face for authentic rock fans looking for a raw and splintering experience. The alternative and interpretive have no place within the vocabulary of Jack and his mates, their brand of St Kilda “proto punk” is designed to get the vicious juices running.

As part of the ABC’s Blue Reels project, Tasmania’s best blues musicians have been collaborating with local filmmakers and the Forth Valley Blues Festival to create quality music videos.

“I think we’ve stuck to the underground scene for a reason, that being our general misbehaviour. It might’ve slowed us down a few years because we really f—ked around for a while.”

That said, it is time for the people of Tassie to experience the ferocious energy that is the Bittersweet Kicks, and hopefully it will give the southerners a taste of what it was like in St Kilda during its heyday.

Guthrie was chosen to take part in the collaboration, which saw them team up with Andrew Del Vecchio, photographer Vanessa Vanderburg and sound engineer David Henderson. Although the three filmmakers had never worked together in the past, the partnership was a success.

“We kinda got banned from a few places and built up a bit of a bad rep. It’s taken us a while to shake it and get on with it all I guess. But now we’re definitely gonna step it up, keep the attitude of course but get more shows.”

“It restored my faith in collaboration,” film maker Andrew Del Vecchio said.

The Espy and Punt on Punt are a couple of the places the Bittersweet Kicks no longer reside. Jack admits that for a while there, the group got caught up in the scene and took advantage of their health - to put it politely.

They all agree that being creative and living regionally has its challenges.

“It wasn’t even our stage antics that got us in trouble really. It was more afterwards when we’d hang around at the bar wearing out our welcome,” Jack laughed talking about The Espy.

$20

Some would say, to get banned from The Espy is actually quite an achievement. Jack said the banning both helped and hindered their image. Personally, I think it’s great.

“I guess we kinda broke even there - at The Punt on Punt, our bass player smashed a pint glass on his head and as we kept on playing we’d be stepping in this pool of blood. I stepped in it, ended up crowd surfing and walking bloodied footprints all over the roof.”

In hindsight, and luckily for their fans Jack said it was all worth it. The Bittersweet Kicks are definitely a group to watch and revel in and their debut EP is out now, a testament to their abilities off stage as well as on.

EDDY MORTON

warpmagazine.com.au

Sole Stickers play the One Fine Weekend Amplified

Showcase at the Republic Bar & Cafe on August 19 and James will perform a solo set for the Edge FM live broadcast from the Elizabeth Street mall earlier the same day.

“There aren’t as many people doing what you are doing so it can be harder to get support. But I think it keeps the creative work more original and fresh,” sound engineer David Henderson said.

As Guthrie’s first video Last Laugh fired on the big screen I understood what Del Vecchio meant about living regionally and its benefits for creating material with a unique flavor. The video also showcases the team’s comedic efforts and surprisingly impressive acting skills from singer/guitarist Liam Guthrie and drummer Luke Young.

After being abducted in the desert by a sinister priest and lunatic nun the duo are driven to a chapel turned pub to battle a tight wearing toe tapping voodoo magician who is almost a spitting image of Billy Connolly (who in actual fact is Liam’s dad).

Extremely stylishly, the duo conquer the eccentric witchdoctor with the power of rock and roll whilst the priest and nun are struck by lightning and die.

The second clip, Bitches Kitchen, although lacking the comedy of the first, shows the band at their best, which in my opinion is when they’re playing live.

The video starts with a film noir extract from 70’s flick, I Eat Your Skin, which looks as if it was conjured straight from some voodoosoaked pot deep in the New Orleans Bayou.

For the duration of the clip, the shot then alternates back and forth between mystic trance dancing from I Eat Your Skin and live footage from the band’s set at the 2011 Forth Valley Blues festival.

Although very impressed by the quality and creativity of the clips I think I was more curious than anything to know more about the band’s connection with this deep southern voodoo which until a few weeks ago I didn’t even know existed.

“I guess there’s always been a strong connection between voodoo, the south and our music, and as far as we’re concerned we’re about as southern as you can get, so it just makes sense really.”

“But we still haven’t had a personal encounter with the dark Tasmanian voodoo which we all know is down here!”

CABE MACKENZIE

To view all Blue Reel music videos head to http://open.abc.net.au/projects/bluereels-28ky5uk/contributions

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18 Music

DRUNK HOP GROWN UP WITH DISGUSTING LYRICS, RAZOR-SHARP SCRATCHES AND AMPED-UP PRODUCTION, ADELAIDE’S FUNKOARS ARE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH IN AUSSIE HIP HOP. MC SESTA TALKS WITH WARP ABOUT HOW THE ACT HAS GROWN UP.

Music 19

With a live show that could give heart palpitations to the most beard-stroking wallflowers, Sesta and Trials (MC/ producers), Hons (MC) and DJ Reflux have returned with a new album, The Quickening, on Golden Era Records (founded by the Hilltop Hoods).

The Quickening has an interesting list of production credits, more of the beats are handled by Sesta than on previous albums.

“In the end, it has always been me and T,” he said. “Even when it says it’s produced

by Trials or produced by me, it’s always gone back and forth between us and I’ll add something or he’ll add something to more accurately sculpt the sound we were going for.

“We did a few new things on this album, with outside production and live instrument recording. Everything on the album has had our dirty little hands on it. It’s definitely a team effort.”

Some of that outside production includes New York legend Large Professor (who has laced beats for everyone from Eric B and Rakim to Joell Ortiz) on the first single Where I Am. “We asked our manager if we could get him, we knew the connections were there.

At first we were worried, when Aussie producers say they have a ‘Funkoars beat’, it’s generally not even close to what I’d consider a ‘Funkoars beat’.

“But we sent him a treatment and he basically made something from scratch, we were pleasantly surprised.”

DEEP IMPACT SYDNEY DJ PRODUCER KATALYST HAS ALREADY HAD A LONG CAREER SINCE MOONROCK IN 1998, AND NOW HE’S DELVING CREATIVELY WITH DEEPER IMPRESSIONS.

“This album has more real influences.

The older you get, the more pressures there are. It’s more mature just because we’re older, so now, rather than saying something vulgar for the sake of saying something vulgar, we’ll say something vulgar and go into it and explain why it’s vulgar.

STAGING AN ORIGINAL GOT YOUR SONGS POLISHED, COURAGE UP AND CROWD BANTER DOWN-PAT? READY TO STEP OUT IN PUBLIC AND UNLEASH YOUR MUSIC ON THE MASSES? ALL YOU NEED IS A STAGE TO DO IT ON.

“We still speak our minds; we’re just more relaxed and comfortable in speaking our minds. It’s still in the same vein, you’ll know it’s a Funkoars album - we still don’t give a shit.”

The Funkoars return to Hobart in November for The Quickening album launch tour, playing Venue Six with Ciecmate, Mase and Mattic, and Golden Era label mate Vents.

“Originally we were just going to run it as just an original music night with a set band, but decided to run it as a competition, with five bands per Friday night heat, each getting a 30-minute set, to try and unearth as much new original talent as possible.”

With a reputation for wild live shows, the challenge is to consistently raise the ante with each tour; something that must be no mean feat.

“That’s what we’re trying to work out right now. First and foremost we’re trying to do new songs, as well as a few of the other ones. Reflux has got a heap of new toys to work into the set, so we’re trying to work all that out & make it crowd interactive. It’ll be fun! It’ll definitely be fun!”

The Funkoars appear at Venue Six on Friday 4th of November, supported by Ciecmate, Mase and Mattic, and Vents. Tickets available from Oztix, Ruffcut Records & the venue.

Stu Warren

His first solo album, Manipulating Agent, earned an ARIA nomination and won two Australian Dance Music Awards, while his second album, What’s Happening, garnered an ARIA nomination, as did his 2010 releaseSoul-Fi, with Steve Spacek (as Space Invadas).

“[Mr. Clean] was like ‘I think I might be on to something’ and just recorded the demo on his Macbook and in-built microphone, when he played it to me down the phone. We knew it was going to turn out pretty good.”

ONLINE MUSIC AND TALENT COMP MYSCHOOLACT IS OPEN TO HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS VYING FOR A SONY RECORDING DEAL AND A GIG AT THE BIG DAY OUT 2012.

“The song with Jane Doe seems to have struck a chord with some of the dubstep crowd, or the kind of people that seem to like dubstep. It’s not that kind of music, but a lot of them seem to get into it.

“One of my favourite songs on there, though - the one that I could really listen to over and over again, is U Can’t Save Me. I think Buff1 is a really talented MC, and one that hasn’t really blown up, or been discovered in the larger scene yet.”

After collaborating with so many artists, is there anyone left that he’d like to work with?

“Every time I release an album and do interviews everyone asks me this question, and the stock standard answer is that I’d like to work with Jay-Z, because that would be a huge boost to my profile. But there isn’t really anyone these days.”

SHANE CRIXUS

The plan is to run a monthly heat for three months leading up to Christmas with a Grand Final pencilled in for Christmas Eve – which just happens to be a Saturday and is guaranteed to be one of the biggest nights out on the calendar.

Bands are invited to apply through Mitch Lloyd at Lloyds Hotel in person with a CV and CD, if available, or email them to mdlloyd@live.com

SHANE CRIXUS

“With The Clapping Song - the third single, Steph recorded it a few months ago, then we flipped it to Coin Locker Kid and he had a few ideas to change it up which worked out well. There’ll be a video for that soon - Coin Locker Kid just shot it on a handycam at his home in the States so it should have a really cool homemade vibe to it.”

“In theory we will be able to display multiple bands in one night, with smooth, rapid changeovers and without jeopardising sound quality,” Mitch said.

The event is being supported by Barratts Music who will provide judges and a bonus prize along the way. Southern Comfort has been lined up to sponsor the first heat, sending promo girls to the party and decking punters out in promo gear.

SCHOOL ACTS IN IT TO WIN IT

“I’ve been trying to not do so much on the label front - trying to get away from the administrative side of things and get back to just making songs, and remembering why I got into it in the first place. There are actually a few more albums after this one that I’ve already finished.”

“The intention for it was essentially to find new talent and give unknown bands the opportunity to be seen in a popular venue,” Mitch Lloyd told Warp.

They’re providing a back-line (bass rig, two guitar rigs, and a drum kit - Dendy or Duron 22” kik, 12” rak, 16” flr - plus three booms, senior stand and hi-hat standard), and they’ll also have a sound engineer in the house, leaving bands to provide their own snare, cymbals, kick pedals, guitars and mics. And their songs.

“The winner gets $1000 cash,” Mitch said.

“We are hoping to offer good quality bands the opportunity to get frequent paid gigs on an original music night at Lloyd’s, to be held on one Friday night per month commencing after the competition has concluded.”

Continuing the formula established on What’s Happening, Deeper Impressions also plays host to a wide array of guest artists, everyone from long time collaborators Stephanie McKay and MC Hau of Koolism, to Coin Locker Kid and Mr. Clean.

“I really just like making stuff and creating stuff - if it wasn’t music, it’d be video or some other creative thing,” he says.

At Lloyd’s Hotel in Launceston, your time could be now. Take the first step.

Mitch’s aim is to tick all the boxes and take care of just about everything that a budding band or solo artist needs to take that step onto stage.

Katalyst (Ashley Anderson) has come far since Moonrock in 1998 with co-producer Illpickl (Michael Wright), with repeated successes leading to the formation of Invada Records with electronic music production genius Geoff Barrow (Portishead).

As one of Australia’s most prolific producers, it must be difficult to maintain such a high level of productivity over such a long period of time.

warpmagazine.com.au

Renowned for their crude and lewd lyrics, The Quickening makes few changes to their winning formula.

Musicians from metro, regional and rural high schools across Australia are competing in the competition this year, including Hobart College student Melissa Estreich, in it to win it with her acoustic track Utopia.

The 18-year-old has been writing songs for several years now and charts her progression as a songwriter on her MySchoolAct profile.

“I started writing songs when I was 12, but those days my lyrics where something along the lines of ‘the day before yesterday the sky was all blue’, some pretty obvious stuff like that.”

Among Melissa’s influences and inspirations are artists including Bon Iver singer/songwriter Justin Vernon, Iron & Wine, Lykke Li, Lisa Mitchell and Tracy Chapman.

“My main goal, or dream, in music, is not to be known, but to have had something of myself out there in the world, something that is apart from me yet still is me, so that even when I am gone, a small part of me can live on.... Yeah, I am deep, and very corny.”

Former Video Hits and MTV personality, Nathan Sapsford is acting as MySchoolAct presenter, running his well-versed eye over the field on a weekly basis.

Nathan is no stranger to spotting music talent, having been a host on Australia’s highest rating music show and having interviewed an abundance of bands, musicians and solo performers over the years.

October

Red Hot Music Devonport Thursday 13th Republic Bar Hobart

Wednesday 12th

with special guest Jordie Lane

MySchoolAct welcomes music, and musical performances, from every genre. So whether it’s as part of a rock band, a hip hop crew, classical ensemble, 20-piece jazz group or you prefer go it alone, they want to see your act.

As well as providing a fantastic opportunity to aspiring musicians, MySchoolAct supports music infrastructure within schools and is free to enter. www.myschoolact.com

warpmagazine.com.au

20 Music

EXPANDING HORIZONS NSW ALT ROCKERS CLOUD CONTROL ARE LIVING THE ROADIE LIFESTYLE, SNAKING THEIR WAY THROUGH EUROPE AND THE UK ON THEIR CURRENT TOUR, AFTER REAPING A SWAG OF AWARDS LAST YEAR.

Music 21

Returning bass player Jeremy Kelshaw rejoined the band in August after going on paternity leave and gave Warp a quick run down on how the group is traveling and handling their hectic schedule.

From October 22 through until November 16, the group will entertain audiences in Newcastle, South Australia and then down to Hobart, before they head back to Europe on tour with The Drums.

Nevertheless, the multi-tasking group still shows no signs of fatigue and even hinting toward new material.

It’s not down-time though, and Jeremy assured us that not all down-time is lost in the music industry.

“We are all well - we’ve just come out of two weeks writing and are part way through some European shows - currently driving from Cologne to Munich,” he said.

“We have some down time penned in which will be great. We will keep up the writing too.”

With home firmly set in their sights, the group have another three weeks of chocka-block shows and declining European temperatures before they leg-it back down under for a series of shows and the Fat As Butter festival.

Jeremy was clearly anxious to get back into the warm blooded continent to see family and friends when asked about returning after such a lengthy stint in Europe.

“Home! Very much so – summer, friends, family, festivals,” he said simply.

Cloud Control is one of Australia’s most recent exports to the old country, and like others they have enjoyed the sights, smells and sounds of festivals and solo shows alike.

“We just played around 25 festivals through Europe and the UK in the past few months.

It’s a very different thing to play to your home crowd, however.”

The group has sewn a fine seed in the grand scheme of alternative rock, being recognized for their own sound whilst competing with the likes of The Shins and Fleet Foxes.

“When I’m asked what kind of band we are, I say a rock and roll band. I like those bands, but I don’t think they tell the whole story. If you judge a band based on what other people say their influences are without listening to it yourself, then you will miss out on listening to good music.”

This stand-alone attitude is really what has enabled the group to venture from strength to strength. Their 2010 album Bliss Release received an obsessive response from Australian fans, leading to two ARIA nominations, a J Award nomination and eventually winning the Australian Music Prize in March this year.

As humble beginnings as any other, the group came to be through their days at university together.

“It’s a while ago. We were all at uni and Heidi wanted to form a band before she graduated. We did the whole band comp thing and then tried getting real gigs. We stuck at it because we enjoyed it and there was always something coming up to keep us going, so we never gave up.

“We enjoy what we do. Everyone should, if you don’t, do something else. I know that’s easy for me to say, but being in a band is hard work too and a lot of sacrifice.”

The result is a group as seriously devoted as the world is round. Without sacrificing the attitude that got them there in the first place, their music instils an eclectic sense of carelessness whilst provoking deep reflections with their intoxicating harmonies.

“We haven’t always been full-time at this - we have all struggled with wanting to do something we enjoy... This is reflected in our music. Life is serious, life is funny - so is our music.”

Jeremy sees no bounds for the group as their outlook and ideology is simply “why not.” It is no surprise that they have sold out shows across Europe and continue to gain momentum as a band to keep a close eye on.

EDDIE MORTON

Image: Andy Ewing

Local singer “DJ” jams with the Break in the Tiwi Islands.

BRIANISM

youth. Average family size is four children and would be higher if not for the epidemic rate of STDs.

THE BREAK GO TIWI NOW THAT I’M A FESTIVAL “CURATOR” (WHATEVER THAT MEANS), I LOOK AT FESTIVALS IN A NEW LIGHT WHEN I GO THERE AS A PERFORMER. Thus it was with great interest that I went to Ngiui, Bahthurst Island for the inaugural Milimika Festival. People think MOFO is cute because it’s in an isolated place but Hobart is the crossroads of the world compared to the Tiwi Islands.

The Tiwi Islands are about 80 miles north of Darwin. They are accessible by plane or by a 2 hour ferry ride. The Break opted for the ferry in order to bring rock music gear. The Break is a neo-surf music band consisting of myself with Jim Moginie, Rob Hirst and Martin Rotsey, all formerly of Midnight Oil. Alighting from the ferry we were greeted by the Strong Women’s Choir, a group of indigenous dancers and singers doing

traditional material and their own original compositions. “Milimika” is a word meaning “dancing or gathering ground”.

The people look like other aboriginal people but their music and art has some unique characteristics, formed as it is from an island experience. The festival is spearheaded mainly by actor, singer and writer Jason de Santis and organizer Denise Officer and spans a remarkable range of styles.

The Tiwis are an idyllic yet very troubled place. The region has the highest suicide rate in the world. Power lines are blocked by collars - climbing poles and grabbing the lines is a preferred method of suicide.

Drink and drugs are a major problem. Life expectancy is about 45 years. Midnight Oil played there about 25 years ago and there were only a few people remaining who could remember it; the rest are dead. Looking around, the population is clearly centred on

People are friendly and welcoming. Children climbed on me every time I appeared. They seemed amused by the old white dudes who came to play music. Everybody had the assumption that if we were here this year, we would be back every year. They said, “Next year we will take you to eat bush food, mangrove worms. We’ll take you fishing.

We’ll hunt crocs”.

The festival ranged from the Strong Women’s Choir and their original Tiwi language songs about life in the Tiwi Islands, to Wulumanayuwi and the Seven Pamanui (an indigenous re-telling of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs) to Sister Girls (Tiwi transgender performance), to B2M (a Tiwi self-esteem and empowerment band).

The Break were the only gringos on the bill. We won over the crowd with Wipe-Out, apparently one of the most popular songs across the Northern Territory.

Sister Girls were controversial because of homosexuality and a hard-core aboriginal

drag show performance for a crowd of mainly children was bizarre. The Sister Girls show was the public face of a transgender subculture in the Tiwi Islands; perhaps an unintended consequence of the gutting of traditional male culture by missionaries in the past several generations. Their version of Hey Big Spender (“hey big pee-pee, rub your big pee-pee on me) was a crowd-pleaser.

We got into the community with music workshops in the schools and café performances as well as our more formal festival appearances. It was a great experience. The festival ran on a shoestring, yet made a strong artistic statement, entertained a huge percentage of the small (3000) Tiwi population and got the public involved as participants in many of the events.

BRIAN RITCHIE

Saturday the 8th of October / Julius Schwing Quartet featuring Elly Hoyt (Melb) / 9pm Monday the 10th of October / Danger Academy Wednesday the 12th of October / Film: Total Recall / (Paul Verhoeven) 1990 Friday the 14th of October / The Back Alley Cock Fight Followed at 9.30pm by Rogue Sharks, Roadkill and The Ritz Saturday the 15th of October / Underage Gig / 3-6pm Tigertown, Ben Wells and the Middle Names, Myamora & Abby Otten Wednesday the 19th of October / Film: Total Recall / (David Lynch) 1986 Friday the 21st of October / Jess Ribeiro and the Bone Collectors Saturday the 22nd of October / Let the Cat Out Wednesday the 26th of October / Film: The Goonies / (Richard Donner) 1985 Friday the 28th of October / Subsketch and Crixus Saturday the 29th of October / Halloween Party / Wild Turkey, The Sin & Tonics & Craicpot Wednesday the 2nd of November / Film: Easy Rider / (Dennis Hopper) 1969

142 Liverpool St, Hobart | 03 6231 3363 thegrandpoobahbar@gmail.com www.facebook.com/thegrandpoobahbar warpmagazine.com.au

EVERY WEDNESDAY : FILM NIGHT / Food Avail 7pm Film starts 8pm EVERY THURSDAY : SWAMP JAM / Acoustic Swamp Jam from 6pm serving old school cocktails.

FIRST SUNDAY OF THE MONTH : THE GRAND POOBAH BAZAAR / Noon till 5pm

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22 Club / Electronic

Club / Electronic 23

DJ PROFILE

Club and Electronic News LOCAL NEWS

Pencil IT in CONT.

DIRTY, DIRTY DUBSTEP

HALLOWEEN AT PLANB & SYRUP

BREATH OF LIFE DANCE ACTS

PlanB’s monthly dose of dubstep night, Brown Note, this month features a guest slot from Melbourne DJ-producer A13 and local supports Billy Green, Dagwood and Mylestone.

Syrup and PlanB join together for one night of ghoulish fun in celebration of Halloween, where costumes are a must. The Coven freaks out PlanB with Gothoween, featuring a cross-section of industrial, synth-pop, EBM and other darkstyles with a 10 DJ line-up. And Tackyland will stay true to form downstairs at Syrup.

Breath of Life music festival has announced its first round of Ministry of Sound dance stage acts, featuring Sneaky Sound System, The Potbelleez, Tonite Only, Goodwill, The Only, Vandalism, Minx, Denzal Park, still with room for more.

Friday Oct 7 at PlanB, entry is $5.

TRANCE FREQUENCY Trance and Progressive sounds are back with the regular Frequency night at PlanB and this month heralds the return of Hobart trance favourite MaRLo (Netherlands).

With regular appearances in the In the Mix DJ awards including 4th position in 2011, MaRLo will be joined by Sydney-sider Nick Arbor who will find out for the first time what Hobart’s dance collective are about.

Saturday Oct 8 at PlanB. Tickets are $15 +BF from Ruffcut Records and Mojo Music.

Limited earlybirds available online for $10 +BF from Moshtix.

HOMEGROWN FREQS Homegrown Freqs is a National DNB mixing competition with the Tassie heats hitting PlanB this month. Previously an online national mix competition, Homegrown Freqs has expanded to include live regional DJ heats. Entrants are required to submit a recorded mix, from which six finalists will be chosen to battle it out with a 30 minute live set in the club. The winner will be flown to Melbourne for the national finals, with the national prize including a set at Tribe Festival plus DJ equipment vouchers.

Submit your entry to nationalmixcomptas@ twistedaudio.com. Cut-off for the Hobart heat is midnight, Saturday October 8.

Saturday Oct 29 from 9pm, entry is $10 from 10pm (with bonus Coven drink card).

Pencil it in FRISKY POOBAH Hobart’s new night of House, Progressive and Tech tunes will be up and running with two events in the next few months. Frisky will be feautre as a room at the closing party for the Taspride Festival at the Grand Poobah, Saturday November 5. Presale tickets are available from TasPride.com.

Saturday Nov 5 at the Grand Poobah, and Saturday December 3 with resident DJs Dale Baldwin, Thomas Williams and DJ Texas.

Doors open 9pm, runs to late and entry is free.

EVIL NINE It’s been over seven years since UK duo Evil Nine has graced our shores and now Freshly Breaked and Areacode bring the poster-boys of Adam Freeland’s Marine Parade label back. The long-term residents of London’s Fabric nightclub cut it up at PlanB with support from Malakai, Lids and Adam Turner.

Saturday October 15 at PlanB from midnight.

Saturday Nov 5 at PlanB. Tickets available now from Moshtix, Ruffcut, Mojo Music and Hotel Tasmania.

REGROOVED

END OF EXAMS UNI PARTY

Freshly Breaked whips up another dose of Regrooved at Ivory Lounge Bar with New Zealander Funk Ferret with local supports Dameza and Mez. With releases on Bootie Pirates, Boogie Boutique and Budabeats, Funk Ferret is all about funky phat beats.

Regrooved brings Hobart a monthly dose of break beats of the funkiest order, showcasing Australasian and International artists in a joint venture between Good Groove and Ghetto Funk (UK).

In celebration of the end of another university year, the Dance Music Society is holding the mother of all parties, with 10 DJs spread across two rooms and featuring UK DJ/producer Andy Moor. the night will be backed up with massive lighting and audio production.

Saturday Oct 22 at Ivory Lounge Bar. Entry is free before 11pm and $7 afterwards.

MOS WAREHOUSE Spring is officially here and the Ministry of Sound is releasing the Clubber’s Guide to Spring 2011 compilation at the Warehouse in Devonport. The double CD is mixed by veteran Aussie DJ Goodwill and firm clubland favourite Anna Lunoe featuring 44 fresh tunes to propel you through to summer with a launch party courtesy Goodwill and supporting DJ duo Scaveng3r.

Saturday Oct 22 at the Warehouse in Devonport.

warpmagazine.com.au

Saturday Nov 12 at the Unibar. Presale tickets are available on campus at the TUU Contact Centre and from Ruffcut, Mojo Music and Moshtix.

ELITE FORCE’S CHRISTMAS CRACKER Christmas comes two days later this year in the form of the Freshly Breaked Christmas Cracker., featuring A-Skillz and Elite Force (UK). Reminiscing an old school rave, The Grand Poobah, will open up with multiple rooms catering for a mashup of musical styles. Along with headliners A-Skillz and Elite Force, the event will feature interstate DJs, Tasmanian ex-pats back for Christmas and a bunch of Hobart’s finest playing back to back sets through the night.

Tuesday Dec 27 at the Grand Poobah. Early bird tickets are now available for $25 plus b/f from Moshtix, Ruffcut, Mojo Music and Hotel Tasmania.

The event will be at Inveresk in Launceston on March 11 2012, with tickets now on sale online at Oztix.

NATIONAL NEWS SHAPESHIFTER NATION

NATIONAL NEWS CONT. female DJ. Runner-up Alison Wonderland is another one to watch, recently signed as a producer and performer on EMI’s growing dance roster.

SINDEN’S TONIC

DJ GILLIE

COLLABORATIONS HAVE BEEN SINDEN’S STABLE SOUND FOR YEARS BUT RECENTLY HIS SOLO PROJECTS HAVE BEEN TAKING THE REIGNS FOR A WILD RIDE ON THE FUN SIDE.

HOBART DJ GRAEME “GILLIE” GILLON HAS BEEN ROCKING SETS AT SOME OF HOBART’S HOTTEST NIGHTCLUBS SINCE THE EARLY ‘90S. MOST OF US KNOW GILLIE FOR HIS STOMPING ELECTRO-HOUSE AND TECH-FILLED MADNESS, WHICH WILL GET EVEN THE MOST PRUDISH CLUBBER DANCING. Gillie works closely with the Syrup and PlanB crew, and can often be found slamming down tunes behind the decks at the Salamanca hotspot. However, his one true love is raving.

NATIONAL KATALYST Sydney beatmaker Katalyst takes it on the road for his Deep Impressions album tour after appearing at the Fat as Butter Fest in Newcastle on Oct 22. He’s headlining live shows at Melbourne’s Toff in Town on Oct 20, Sydney’s Secret Show on Oct 27, Adelaide’s Rocket Bar on Oct 28 and wrapping up at Perth’s Life’s a Beach Festival on Dec 10. www.katalystmusic.com.au

“There were many promoters putting on warehouse style events over 10 years ago.

I truly believe that these larger scale events were part of the lifeblood of the club scene.

“I love the fact that the team at PlanB have put their money out there to revive the scene again and the parties to date have been great. Do I think it will make a comeback?

Fingers crossed!”

New Zealand-bred five piece live drum’n’bass band Shapeshifter swoops in from the UK for an Aussie summer tour, kicking off in Perth’s Heavyweight Sounds at Metro City on Friday October 28 before hitting up Melbourne’s Forum on Oct 29, Brisbane’s Hi-Fi on Nov 4 and The Metro in Sydney on Nov 5. www.shapeshifter.co.nz

CALUM MAX POWER

GILLIE’S TOP 5 TUNES OF THE MOMENT: Music has always been a massive influence on his life, as he freely admits; “I have played the guitar, the piano, snare drum in a pipe band, sang in a church choir and of course I DJ.”

SHE CAN DJ Sydney DJ Minx has been named the winner in EMI’s inaugural She Can DJ competition, signalling the start of some very busy times for the inthemix awards top-voted

As one half of the dynamic party duo with The Count (AKA Hervé), Graeme Sinden has certainly rocked some major parties over the years, and the duo appear to be unstoppable. So how did this party phenomenon begin?

“We met at Switch’s studio over 5 years ago. The Count was releasing on Switch’s Dubsided label at the time I started to collaborate with Switch. We hit it off and began to produce records for Counterfeet, a label Switch and me used to run. After those tracks started to get successful we got offered an album deal with Domino and started working a lot more. We became really tight after [that].”

Their 2010 album Mega Mega Mega topped dance charts worldwide, and is still a major floor-mover. In August the pair launched the second installment of their huge album under the name Mega Mega Remix featuring remixes from the likes of Canblaster, Hot City, Dave Nada and xxxy among others.

However he says the next Count & Sinden album may not be anything like past material.

“We may go back and do something else in the future. We did talk about going back and doing like a strange down-tempo record. We hinted at that with our track, You Make Me Feel So Good.”

Despite almost constant touring and producing, he has found time to launch his own imprint, Grizzly, and establish it as one of the industries more eclectic labels.

After so many years behind the decks playing electro and house at major parties and events, you might expect that Sinden’s releases, like many DJs, would be mostly electronic. The opposite is true, however, and he admits a serious love for hip-hop.

“I put together an official rap mix tape with Gucci Mane this year, my new single coming out is a rap record and several of my mixes over the years have a lot of range outside the usual BPMs.”

The next release to offering from the label will be a too be a rap release, by talented West Coast producers 5kinandbone5 featuring LA rapper YG.

As a DJ, Gillie has a love for all kinds of music, and loves to meld genres in order to create the unique sound. But his biggest love?

“I’m really excited about this one, a real bona fide record that’s already been talked about by Odd Future’s Tyler. It’s pretty mean!”

“My absolute favourite sound would be deep chunky house music with funky bass lines & deep vocals. I have always been known to champion funky bass lines and use these to build my sets. “

Although being an advocate of massive parties and extremely danceable music, he admits dance music can have its bad side especially at larger rave parties.

“I’ve seen people wiling out on the dance floor to other people that play that [rave] music. For me it ruins the whole vibe, especially for the girls.”

”There’s nothing worse than guys together in a mosh pit pushing each other, I’m not down with it at all. Dance music is supposed be sexy for me.”

With his favourite track at the moment being Tim Green’s Cherry - “a really slow house record but has tons of energy and loads of feel-good factor” - we’re in for a treat when Sinden returns to Hobart after the massive Parklife tour.

CALUM ‘MAX’ POWER

Sinden plays at PlanB on Wednesday 19th October (Show Day Eve), supported by Jeese Breen, Malakai and Adam Turner.

Tickets from Ruffcut Records, Mojo Music and Hotel Tasmania.

NQR (Club Mix) - DJ PP.TBIB &Chardy (Hotfingers Records).

The Game (Santos 909 And Piano Roll Remix) - Taras Van De Voorde (EC Records) Bolly Touch (Mendo&YvanGenkins Remix) Carlo Caldareri (Microtech Records) Pez Lobo (Original Mix) - DJ PP (Soulman Records) Story Of My Life (Main Mix) - Copyright ft Imaani (Defected Records)

GEAR REVIEW

NOVATION TWITCH NOVATION’S NEW TWITCH CONTROLLER TAKES SOME OF THE MOST IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF CONTROLLERISM AND DJING AND PUTS IT ALL IN A DJ CONTROLLER THAT LOOKS LIKE A SERIOUS PERFORMANCE TOOL WITHOUT TAKING UP HALF THE DJ BOOTH. Twitch is essentially a full-figured DJ controller, but instead of some sort of round jog wheel the company added a touch strip, which can be used for everything from finding the beat to zooming in and out of the waveform display. Although designed to be used with Serato ITCH the Twitch controller boasts a full complement of controls for Traktor NI and Ableton Live.

The Twitch is a small controller – about the size of a 15" laptop. It is a two-deck device, so it has a two-channel mixer. Each channel has its fader, plus gain, low, mid and high controls, and headphone monitoring. VUs are 16-bar stereo master, switching to cue when headphones cue is selected.

To the left and right of the mixer are two decks, each a mirror image of the other.

Above the left-hand deck are the effects and mic/aux controls, and above the right-hand deck are the library and output volume controls.

It’s also important to note that the Twitch can be used as a full-duplex sound card for your computer with Focusrite being behind the internals so you can expect the audio quality to be top notch.

The Twitch is a hugely capable controller, and it proves that changing user behaviour isn’t always such a bad idea. By replacing the oversized, somewhat useless jog wheels that most other controllers are using these days, Novation has managed to make it smaller, lighter and yet still more robust than almost everything else on the market.

JAMES WHITEHEAD

www.novationmusic.com/TWITCH/

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24 Club / Electronic

PARTY BOAT CRUISERS WITH THEIR ABILITY TO “TURN EVEN THE BESTDRESSED CROWD INTO SEXY, SWEATY GUTTER TRASH,” THE YACHT CLUB DJs HAVE BECOME A TWOMAN PARTY MACHINE FAVOURITE.

Club / Electronic 25

The last time the Yacht Club DJs (AKA Guy & Gaz) hit the southern isle was for their Demons of Gymnastics tour, and those who were present on that sweaty Wednesday evening at the Republic Bar in North Hobart were treated to a bouncy, hit-filled set of mash-ups spanning everything from Metallica to Coldplay; System of a Down to Kanye West.

of things that I can cut and paste around, so I can keep changing stuff quite readily. I am totally obsessed with music of all types so I am always working on something musical.

I use Ableton Live with a bunch of plugins I have collected and Blue Sky monitors.”

They have played some amazing venues and festivals recently, but when asked their favourite, Guy made it clear which came out on top.

“Keep it very simple - when things get loud you lose all the nuances of a mix so don’t make them complicated. Try and learn to key your mixes - make sure everything you’re using is in the same key or don’t try and mix them for too long.”

“Meredith Music Festival 2009 for three reasons. We came on after MGMT, who were everyone was waiting for and who turned out to be a bit boring live which gave an extra boost for our show. The first break from the torrential rain came at the very start of our set.

“We played a mash up of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash, All I Want for Christmas by Mariah Carey and Beautiful People by Marilyn Manson. That show signposted our change from a club act to something bigger and I don’t think we have played a better show.”

Even through constant summer touring, Guy admits he is something of a workaholic.

“I am always working on things - I produce in Ableton [Live] and have hundreds of files

So does Guy have any tips for the young DJ wanting to make inroads into the genre?

WE PLAYED A MASHUP OF RING OF FIRE BY JOHNNY CASH, ALL I WANT FOR CHRISTMAS

BY MARIAH CAREY AND BEAUTIFUL PEOPLE BY MARILYN MANSON… THAT SIGNPOSTED OUR CHANGE FROM CLUB ACT TO SOMETHING BIGGER.

The genre of bootlegs (or mashups) is plagued by copyright law and legal technicalities that often prevent artists from releasing their music, even if it is heavily modified and re-mixed. As such the Yacht Club DJ’s bootleg mixtapes have reached almost cult status on the internet, with over 15,000 downloads. Some copies were even fetching up to $150 a piece on eBay.

ULTERIOR MOTIF

NOMADIC CALLING

AFTER TWISTING MANY EARS ON THE AUSSIE DANCE SCENE, DJ WAX MOTIF IS MAKING ALL THE RIGHT NOISES ON THE INTERNATIONAL STAGE.

NEW ZEALAND/MELB PRODUCER THE NOMAD BLENDS DUB RIDDIMS WITH REGGAE AND DUBSTEP. HE TALKS WITH WARP FROM THE ROAD ABOUT LONG-DISTANCE PRODUCTION.

They recently had a bit of a sabbatical from touring and have been working on all sorts of new material, including a collaboration with punk thrash duo Rick Moranis Overdrive.

They are now back on the road however, and from the sounds of the latest Parklife mixtape, are absolutely killing it again.

After an introduction via some very solid fundamentals, the next move was a natural progression. After burning down many a dance floor with his “visionary” sets, Wax started getting noticed by some large name DJs for both his studio and live DJ work.

He now carries the support of artists such as Diplo, A-Trak, Annie Mac, Bart B More and Italian rave monsters Crookers. In fact, Crookers toured with Wax in Europe, which has just concluded.

“There was one gig in particular in Italy that was insane. The club was massive and Cos (Crookers) are from Italy – it’s like playing with the biggest hometown heroes. The crowd and vibe was amazing, I didn’t want to leave.”

It turns out that the electro/disco/ progressive/house/whatever weapons that are destroying dancefloors worldwide are not the only rabbit this magician can pull out of his top hat. Studio time is devoted to music creation of all types, Wax divulges.

CALUM ‘MAX’ POWER

Yacht Club DJs perform at the Republic Bar on Wednesday October 19, supported by Chi Roh. Tickets are $20 from Ruffcut Records, Moshtix or the venue.

Recently touted by dance music hero Ajax as “one to watch”, Sydney’s Wax Motif is a swiftly rising star that brings a wealth of experience in a broad range of music. His itinerary is full to bursting with gigs at some of the best clubs across Australia.

“When I was younger I was into a lot of the ‘90s house music, disco and also rap and hip-hop,” he said.

“I just really like music and really wanted to make music so when I tried Djing I fell in love with it straight away and went and bought some really basic turntables, mixer and a couple of records.”

So it seems that Mr Motif walked to the beat of the dance music drums even as a youngster, immersing himself in the music of one of the true golden ages. The passion for studio work also burned from early on.

“Around that time I also had programs I was experimenting on like Sony Acid and Fruity Loops for music production”.

“Generally, I make stuff at around the same tempo – around 125 – 128 beats per minute – but I do delve into other genres.

“For instance, this week I’ve been coproducing a more rock sounding track for a UK girl group signed to Polydor... I tend to just run with something, so if I wake up and feel like doing disco, then I’m gonna spend the day doing disco.”

The future of dance music is in safe hands, if Wax Motif is anything to gauge by. He’s talented behind the decks and in the studio, fresh ideas and style, and a nice guy too. billy green

Wax Motif plays Ivory Lounge Bar on Saturday November 12. Doors open 10pm, tickets are available from Ruffcut Records, Billy-Jo and Ivory Lounge Bar.

KIWI PSY-FI PSY-DUB PRODUCER THE GROUCH HEADS TO LOCAL GROUND THIS MONTH TO SOW SOME SERIOUSLY PERCUSSIVE PSYCHEDELIC DUB.

Kiwi producer The Nomad – AKA Daimon Schwalger – hasn’t always been a solitary creature. He was once a member of Locuste and has valued live instruments despite travelling the solo road.

His new release, Perilous Times, is a dub masterpiece featuring collaborations from MC Rayjah45 (Te Oranga Nolan), Jake Savona and Tehi Mani Kerr of Fat Freddy’s Drop. The digital-only bonus edition (exclusive to iTunes) includes two previously unreleased tracks; So Crazy, featuring King Kapisi and Stand, featuring Luciano. Both tracks are stunning, featuring the talents of both celebrated vocalists and make it a must-have for fans of The Nomad.

Working with other musicians creates the rich community of dub producers in Australia and New Zealand, but collaborating with other musicians in this wide brown land is a challenge.

“The challenge in Australia is definitely distance,” he said. “In New Zealand it’s a lot easier as everyone lives a lot closer together and doesn’t have such a hectic schedule as Australians seem to have. I am based in Melbourne and the culture and quality of musicians is great, however it can be challenging to bring everyone together at the same time to record.”

Daimon has developed his production skills over the years, and has adapted to some unique recording situations.

“I don’t really need any other equipment [to record] other than a sound card, mic and editing software - I use Logic Pro. Having said that, I believe sound proofing is easily one of the most important things in a studio - if you can’t hear how it actually sounds then you’re pretty fucked really! I rely heavily on my Genelec monitors, which are amazing!”

It’s not only audio that fascinates The Nomad, as his new music videos will prove.

“I have just taken up video editing as a hobby, so I am busy trying to learn Final Cut Pro. When we were snowed into

“We are also going to be recording the video for the single of the album Deeper, which will be out toward the end of the year.”

So what inspires the Nomad?

“My dreams influence me massively, and I travel quite a bit so I get inspired by being away from home. Political and environmental issues inspire me as well.”

“Musically, Mungo’s Hi-Fi [a Glasgow-based dub-reggae Sound-System] is inspiring me hugely at the moment. I’m influenced by music a little, but not as much as I used to be. I like to be without too much influence so that I can tinker and create that unique sound.”

So what can we expect when the wandering Nomad returns to Tasmanian shores?

“I’m pretty excited for this one – I am bringing my 4-piece live band down, and we have local guys Dublo supporting us. I think I might even do a DJ set too!”

CALUM ‘MAX’ POWER

The Nomad (plus four-piece band), MC Rahjah45 and Caroline Agostini plays the Republic Bar on October 14 with support from Dublo and Dameza. Pre-sale tickets are $20 +BF from Ruffcut Records, Moshtix or $25 on the door.

The Grouch (AKA Oscar Allison) is one of New-Zealand’s premier producers of psychedelic dub, with over 10 years experience producing phat beats.

psychedelia, giving him track releases and artist signings to labels such as Cosmic Conspiracy Records, Zenon Records, and Audio Ashram to name a few.

Originally hailing from the drum’n’bass scene, his love of dub grew to prominence through attendance at outdoor parties, and in 2006 he finally made the switch to psychedelic dub.

So when local crew Carpe Noctem approached him with a view to “show-case to Tasmania New Zealand’s top progressivePsydub artists,” he couldn’t resist. The Grouch plays alongside Isaac Chambers, who will bring his jaw-dropping mix of infectious, uplifting electronic music without style boundaries.

The Grouch experience is a profound and cheeky amalgamation of minimal, tribal percussive elements, with intricate and phat stomping bass-lines. Having a soul rooted connection to his homeland of Aotearoa, New Zealand, inspiration from travel and natural ninja skills in percussion, Grouch shares a unique voice with technically minded and sounded productions.

Grouch’s evolution of sound was debuted on his album The Moof is Rooving, released on A-List Records in 2006, and Oscar has continued to push the limits of progressive warpmagazine.com.au

Christchurch this year we made a music video for the title track off the new album, Perilous Times, which I have sent off to my video maestro in Shanghai for mastering.

CALUM ‘MAX’ POWER

The Grouch performs at The Brisbane Hotel on Saturday October 22, supported

by Isaac Chambers. Entry is $20.

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26 Performing Arts

Performing Arts 27

News in brief SCREEN ARTS LAW SEMINARS

COMEDY OPEN MIC COMP

Screen Tasmania is hosting two Arts Law Seminars for emerging screen practitioners with Robyn Ayres from Arts Law, covering a number of legal issues specific to the screen industry.

Are you funny? Do you know someone who is?

This is a great opportunity to gain a better understanding of some of the legal issues that experienced screen practitioners regularly face.

Get along to a seminar near you, in Hobart on Monday, October 17, from 4.30pm to 6pm at Arts Tasmania Board Room (146 Elizabeth St) and in Launceston on Friday, October 21, from 1.30pm to 3pm at the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Board Room (Ground Level, 2 Invermay Rd, Inveresk).

Registration is now open for the inaugural Lower House Comedy Lounge Open Mic Competition, set to hit Hobart on Thursday October 13. For one night only, new comedians will be given a chance to take to the stage for five minutes each, in the hope of winning over the judges and scoring a $100 cash prize.

OLD JOKES, NEW JOBS

CIRCUS IS STEAMY

LOVELY LADY LULZ

ANCIENT PLAYWRIGHT PLAUTUS’ COMIC SITUATIONS WERE FORMED IN 205 BCE, BUT THE JOKE’S NOT OLD YET. HIS CHARACTERS – LIKE THE “CLEVER SLAVE” - HAVE BEEN REHASHED SINCE A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM IN 1962.

ILLUSION, SPECTACLE AND DANGER: THE BIG TOP PROVIDES AN ARENA FOR OUR EXPECTATIONS IN A MISHMASH OF TRICKERY, ENDURANCE AND ARTISTRY.

A COMEDY SHOWCASE OF HILARIOUS WOMEN, FROCKIN’ HILARIOUS FEATURES A LINE-UP OF LOCAL LASSES AND ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S FINEST STAND-UP COMEDIENNES, RACHEL BERGER (MELB). Emcee and Raw Comedy state finalist Tracey Cosgrove talks to us about life in the laugh lane.

The competition is free to enter, but is limited to twelve places and entrants must be aged 18 or over and reside in Tasmania.

Full terms and conditions are available by emailing info@tadaa.com.au and entries close on October 9.

Places are limited so please RSVP early to info@screen.tas.gov.au

Performing Arts Guide

The Twentieth Century saw an evolution of the circus from animal oriented acts, freak shows and high-wire stunts to shows that placed an emphasis upon human accomplishments, narrative and music.

THE SOUTH CABARET The Brisbane Hotel Circus Horrificus and Friends, Oct 6

Theatre Royal Hobart Showtime, Oct 2 THEATRE

Les Girls Newcomer’s Evening, Oct 28

The Playhouse Theatre Richard III, Oct 21 - Nov 5

CIRCUS

Theatre Royal Hobart A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Oct 11 – 15 and 18 – 22

The Theatre Royal Circus Oz presents Steam Powered, Oct 26 - 29

The North

COMEDY

CIRCUS

The Brisbane Comedy Forge, Oct 27

The Princess Theatre Circus Oz presents Steam Powered, Oct 21 - 22

The Grand Poobah Danger Academy, Oct 10 and 24

DANCE

The Lower House Comedy Lounge Open Mic Competition, Oct 13

Burnie Arts and Function Centre The Tasmanian Classical Ballet Company presents Swan Lake, Oct 28 and 29

Onba The Corner Store Comedy, Oct 13 Playhouse Theatre Frockin’ Hilarious!, Oct 7 Southern Lights Hotel Kingston Comedy Bar, Oct 12 The Theatre Royal A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Oct 11 - 15, 18 - 22 Waratah Hotel The Clubhouse, Oct 21 DANCE Derwent Entertainment Centre The Tasmanian Classical Ballet Company presents Swan Lake, Oct 22

The Gaiety Theatre The Tasmanian Classical Ballet Company presents Swan Lake, Oct 27 THEATRE Devonport Entertainment and Civic Centre Youth Entertainment Spectacular, Oct 7 - 8 And Then There Were None, Oct 28 - Nov 5 The Princess Theatre Prologue for Potentials, Oct 2 Buddy the Concert, Oct 29

Hobart’s John Xintavelonis (AKA John X) talks with Warp about funny things that happen in the theatre.

Premiering on Broadway in 1962, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum has been running on various stages ever since. John X remembers seeing it 20 years ago at the Playhouse Theatre with Craig Wellington, “I fell in love with it then”.

Offered the chance to perform it in 2011 alongside Wellington, Colin Dean, Andrew Colrain and Ben Paine, he jumped at the chance of producing a show that will keep the audience in stitches.

Taking place in three houses, the story follows X’s character, Pseudolus, who lives in the middle and is the slave of a young man called Hero who falls in love with a concubine from the brothel next door.

Hero offers Pseudolus his freedom if he can help him win the heart of the concubine.

From this point, the events take a farcical turn with slapstick comedy, cross dressing and togas.

“It’s the funniest musical of our history,” X says. “Spamalot came in a number four, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, number one.”

The musical comedy may be based on 2000-year-old jokes, but with a gruelling rehearsal period, there is a lot of freedom for the actors to “bring their own schtick” to the scenes. This includes updating and incorporating original gags and comic timing from a cast carefully chosen for their experience and abilities.

“It’s very much a comedian’s show – all the funny people. This is the strongest musical comedy cast we’ve had in one show at one time.”

Of course, with so many comedians on the stage, X says that they are “competing a lot for the laughs,” each trying to one up the other in forms of hilarity. X’s own approach to the production is to “go with

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my strengths... that’s what I know and that’s what I’m naturally good at; comic timing.”

Musicals can cause ambivalence in audiences, but X says that this production is “not as jarring as most musicals, you don’t have to be a fan of musicals to enjoy this show”.

The dialogue-to-song-ratio weighs on the dialogue side and with only a dozen or so songs in the show, they do not interfere with storyline or threaten to destabilise the entertainment, “they’re all quite funny and progress the plot”.

John X is arguably Tasmania’s most successful theatre performer, well known locally and nationally and passionate about his work, revelling in his roles. X says that he jumped at the chance to do A Funny Thing Happened at the Forum, and his excitement exceeds even that experienced ahead of his roles in The Lion King and Billy Elliot.

Commuting between performances with the Sydney Theatre Company of The Threepenny Opera, X returns on weekends for a full gruelling rehearsal and he maintains that he’s “excited to be doing the show and working with all my friends”, adding that above all else, he’s “looking forward to seeing how Hobart will react”.

TOM HOPKINS

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum Not suitable for children as it “contains naughtiness” Theatre Royal Hobart on October 11, 15, 18 and 22 from 8pm and October 15 and 22 from 2pm.

Tickets: 6233 2299 or 1800 650 277 www.theatreroyal.com.au

Cirque du Soleil, Circus Oz, Flying Fruit Fly and Tasmania’s own Slipstream Circus travel nationally and internationally providing the same thrills with some modern ideas and technology.

Circus Oz is known for its innovation, imagination and pushing boundaries.

Cabaret artist Sarah Ward tells Warp about the frenetic pace of their national tour for Steam Powered.

“We bump everything in, do media, a tech run, a dress rehearsal and performance on the day we get in,” Ward said of the circus that jumps from the traditional vaudevillian style to modern electro dance.

“Then we have to bump out of the theatre.

So a day starts from nine and goes to midnight, including a show. It can be really hectic when you’re doing one show in a town.”

Ward’s role is of the traditional emcee role but with a “bit of a spin on it”. As a Circus Oz member, she fulfils a range of roles; from ring mistress, welcoming and farewelling the audience; to accompanying the band, as song writer and providing transitional acts.

“I usually have someone on the stage with me, or I’m suspended in the air, or singing on stage, stuff like that to accompany the acts,” says Ward, who has a creative role that goes beyond the traditional ring master role.

“It’s really exciting because it amalgamates the past, present and future,” says Ward, who is also drawn to the historical role of women within politics - or the distinct lack of women’s rights and appreciates the company’s political view.

“Circus Oz has a rich tradition of strong women and a political left message. That’s what I bring to the emcee role.”

She does however have some concerns for her audience but judging by Ward’s own history, dismissing the mainstream to question the world she has found a welcoming home.

“In Melbourne it’s really well received although in regional towns you’re pushing people’s buttons a bit. But that’s part of what Circus Oz does; challenges the status quo.”

SARAH MASHMAN

Who are these people and where do they live? I’m going over to their house to cry about my boyfriend and my period. I haven’t met anyone stupid enough to say to me that ladies aren’t funny. These people may be living among us, but they aren’t coming to see live comedy - they’re at home watching Swamp People.

Who is your favourite comedian and why?

I change my favourites all the times. When I started comedy I was obsessed with early Margaret Cho and Sarah Silverman - the meaner, the darker; the better. This year at the Melbourne Comedy Festival, I saw Maria Bamford and Claudia O’Doherty. I loved them so much I would marry them if it were legal to have same sex polygamist marriage, and if we had a bigger house.

What was your first job?

Harassing my siblings. I’m the eldest of four and used to babysit a lot. I took the responsibility very seriously.

Circus Oz Steam Powered: Princess Theatre, Launceston

Ward has a strong theatrical background and has taken the unconventional route, rejecting the mainstream and carving out a unique career on the small but thriving cabaret circuit in Australia.

Friday October 21 at 7pm Saturday 22 October 22 at 1pm and 7pm

She has performed at the Adelaide Fringe Festival, the Melbourne Fringe and Comedy Festivals. She has performed with the first ladies of crazed adagio, cabaret team, the Town Bikes and in 2008 and 2010 was awarded a Best Cabaret Artiste Green Room Award.

Theatre Royal, Hobart

Steam Powered is influenced by the subculture of steam punk.

Some people discredit female comedians as not being funny, what would you say to them?

Ph: 03 6323 3666 www.theatrenorth.com.au

Wednesday October 26 at 7.30pm Thursday October 27 at 7.30pm Friday October 28 at 7.30pm Saturday October 29 at 1.30 at 7.30pm Ph: 03 6233 2299 or 1800 650 277 www.theatreroyal.com.au

As for a paying job, when I was 16 my sister and I worked school holidays at my aunt’s colonial-themed ice cream parlour. The pay was really bad but we were allowed to eat all the ice-cream we wanted.

dearest; I’m always trying to make them laugh. I’m comfortable around them and their love and affection makes them obligated to put up with it.

Where does your material come from?

I exaggerate real life and I have funny friends. When you have funny friends, even bad experiences retold can be very funny. The uncomfortable stuff is the most entertaining because when things are at their most unpleasant [and] that’s when you’re most engaged - Insert sad clown smiley face here.

Do you have a pre-show ritual?

In the beginning I couldn’t eat from midday onwards. These days pre show I can’t talk to people, I mutter and rant. I tend to take myself away and hang around in the loo so maybe being socially awkward is my ritual.

What will your one-woman show be called?

I’ll be doing my first solo show at the Melbourne Comedy festival April 2012.

I haven’t got a name for it yet. It’s about me, dead pets, my tongue-kissing uncle and the best carbohydrates to serve at a funeral. If anyone has any show name suggestions, I’d like to hear them. I can be found at a comedy venue pre-show, just look for the lady in the lav talking in tongues.

KATHERINE FARRELL

We had an ongoing competition to see how much we could eat before one of us spewed in the sink. My hot tip for small business owners - I’m talking to you, Aunty Penny pay award wages, you’ll make more money.

Do you consider yourself to be a funny person?

I like to think I’m funny on stage. People laugh and sometimes say nice things.

Sometimes I even get money or beers in exchange for jokes.

Off-stage, I’m funny to my nearest and

Frockin’ Hilarious

October 7 from 8pm at the Playhouse Theatre Tickets $27.50 from www.trybooking.com or on the door, if not sold out.

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28 Arts

Arts 29

COLUMN OF ANDREW

THE EYE OF THE STORM AUSTRALIAN LITERATURE HAS NO BIGGER NAME THAN PATRICK WHITE.

In short, director Fred Schepsis was tackling quite a task in attempting to film a novel filled with White’s legendary language and surgically-precise characters. Even with an impressive cast of the best Australian actors around, the potential for this film to fall flat and be an awfully boring cinematic experience was palpable.

The narrative concerns the last days of Elizabeth Hunter (an extraordinary Charlotte Rampling); a woman who has ruled her family and those around her with brutal emotional manipulation. Her cruelty is subtle and dominating, and her greed is consuming – what she wants, she gets.

She’s ruthless but not inhuman – it’s far too easy to make us simply hate her and this was never the intention. Her children, both living in Europe, have been summoned to her side, and seeing as both are in some financial trouble, and Mummy has a large inheritance to be gained, they have made the epic journey across the globe to Australia.

Schepsis is best known in the modern era for making digital penguins strut their stuff; but although it’s been twenty years since he directed Meryl Streep in Evil Angels, the man has not lost his talent for intense human drama. The Eye of the Storm is a good film.

I don’t know that it reaches the heights of White’s extraordinary novel, but I am not sure if you can really judge a film by how well it lives up to a book; the task of the director and cast is to translate and adapt, yes, but it’s also to make a film.

Basil Hunter, played by Geoffrey Rush, is an affected stage actor whose once stellar career, which gained him a Knighthood, has taken a dive. His sister Dorothy de Lascabanes, realised with great nuance by the always wonderful Judy Davis, is a French princess, but divorced and also on hard times; she has little more than a title. Their return to a house filled with approaching death, nurses (a vivacious Alexandra Schepsis – yes, Fred’s daughter - stands out here) and servants (the desperate Lotte,

Nobel Prize winner and arch critic of Australian society, White is likely this countries’ greatest author. He casts a long shadow, and amongst his plays and novels, The Eye of the Storm is possibly his greatest work.

Image: Matt Nettheim

played by a very hard to recognise Helen Morse), leads to subtle and not so subtle jockeying for control as Elizabeth slips in and out of lucidity as the end approaches and the toxic aspects of a dysfunctional family come to a slow boil.

It sounds macabre, and it is, but it’s not that simple. There’s humour of the black variety, precision-targeted satire and tenderness as these people find ways to survive their complex lives, face death and lose a parent.

ANNE MESTITZ MAY BE DEFINED AS A SCULPTOR, ALTHOUGH SHE DOES NOT ADHERE TO ONE METHOD FOR CREATING HER WORKS. SHE IS NOT AFRAID TO CHALLENGE THE BOUNDARIES OF PERCEPTION THROUGH THE USE OF COLOUR, LINE AND FORM.

What are you working on at the moment?

I am trying to resolve the relationship between two squares. The squares are different sizes and are to hang from the ceiling. The colours are ambiguous. I have been thinking about Bob Dylan’s lyrics from All Along the Watchtower and Josef Alber’s series of paintings titled Homage to the Square.

THE TASMANIAN GOVERNMENT ART SITE SCHEME IS CELEBRATING MORE THAN 30 YEARS OF COMMISSIONING ARTWORKS BY TASMANIAN ARTISTS IN PUBLIC SPACES.

It IS a shame though – some dedicated people who have been presenting live theatre in various forms to the public are possibly out of a job, and a literary institution that was still pretty relevant may no longer exist. Neither has given up the ghost just yet, so I guess we’ll see what happens but it has brought up a few issues for me.

premiers of other states are suggesting that Tasmania is a drain on the economy of the rest of the country – when you act like a poor cousin, you’ll get treated like one. Times are tough, yes, but there is growth (take, for example, the fish food manufacturer that opened an expanded operation at Campania last week and is looking to the horizon and could even survive going green if it had to), it’s not all doom and gloom, although us thinking it is makes it harder to complain as the Labor government wrings its hands and chips away at the culture industry.

One is something I’ve started to call “Little Tassie-ism”. It’s not my idea, and I’ve heard versions of it kicking around for a while now. It’s the problem that Tasmanian art and culture is excused if it’s a bit pissweak or a bit undercooked because it’s from Tasmania, and at least they’re trying and give them a leg up and stop knocking them, you negative arseholes.

The idea of creating one huge employer is great, but it might be more realistic to create a whole lot of little ones, and a Theatre Company could be one of these, and needs to be looked at as such. The other side of that coin is that artists, and everyone, have got to get more critical, not less, and produce quality product. Don’t tell Tasmanian stories because they “have to be told” – tell them because they’re good stories, and tell them very, very well. Not to say this is not happening already, but I still think the attitude needs to change and the quality needs to be ramped up, in every cultural form. No one is exempt.

I could say this for the whole of Australia sometimes, but the issue is amplified here.

It’s so ingrained in so many aspects of local culture that it’s no surprise that the

Now that’s all very well to say, but there’s another step involved, and that’s us punters actually getting off our bums and paying to see stuff. I know MONA is

Established in 1979, the scheme (formerly the Art for Public Buildings Scheme and renamed in 2009), was the first of its kind in Australia. Its creation demonstrated a visionary understanding of the way in which artworks can enrich public buildings and spaces.

Reflecting the diversity and skill of the Tasmanian artistic community and creating a vital public interface for artists, the scheme also has the unique ability to enhance public access to and understanding of contemporary art.

Funding for the Tasmanian Government Art Site Scheme comes from the State Government capital works budget, with a percentage of the forecasted budget allocated for the acquisition or commissioning of new artworks.

During its 32-year history, the scheme has commissioned approximately 500 artists and created over 1500 inspiring public artworks that can be enjoyed and contemplated in more than 500 locations across Tasmania.

Traditionally, public art is incorporated into the city streetscape, however the majority of artworks commissioned through the Tasmanian Government Art Site Scheme are housed in places that people visit every day –beautifying many of our schools, hospitals, community health centres, child and family centres and other government buildings. These artworks have been created specifically to enrich and enhance our public places and inspire the people who visit and work in them.

bloody fabulous (yawn) but too many people now expect their art and culture delivered to them on a plate, for free, and that’s bullshit as well, so please, note that the last issue of Island was a bunch of opinionated stuff about MONA, so buy it and read it, and note as well that there are some plays still to come this year from Tasmanian Theatre Company, so do try and go and see them, and let them know what you thought.

I know it’s hard, but you spend $50 at the pub once a week, so don’t tell me you’re broke. Everyone wants someone to give little Tassie a leg up, and that’s lovely, but our biggest beer manufacturers are not even locally owned, so buy a microbrew, go to the theatre and stop whining. It’s time to grow up and make stuff that demands to be seen, not begs.

ANDREW HARPER Follow Andrew on twitter: @andrew_w_harper

they are indeed being seen and enjoyed by a great number of people throughout the course of their daily lives.

So next time you visit your local hospital or school, have a look around – there’s a good chance that there’s some amazing public art just waiting to be discovered.

To find out more about the Tasmanian Government Art Site Scheme or for information on how to apply for current commissions, visit: www.arts.tas.gov.au/publicart CONOR CANNING

So, even though these public artworks may not be where you would expect them to be,

A panoply of artists interest me and it is impossible to isolate any particular one.

I admire artists who clearly demonstrate integrity.

What have been some of the challenges and highlights of your artistic career?

How and when did you begin as an artist?

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ART IS ON THE INSIDE

Who are some of your favourite artists?

A casual lecturer at the Hobart Art School in “Extended Concepts of Drawing”, Mestitz is reputed for her 3D drawings that use wire and aluminum cable. She talks with Warp about her practice.

I work at home. I try and keep the rooms occupied with my experiments down to a minimum but it is difficult. In the house I have a small study with computer and a table with art experiments all over it and papers and books and tools on the floor.

ANDREW HARPER

I drink herbal tea and munch on homebaked biscuits or a banana or the new apple – a capsicum. I listen to Radio National interviews or downloaded art/philosophy shows on my iPod. If things are going awry and I need to go into a calm space in my mind I listen to Philip Glass solo piano or Arvo Part or Bach Goldberg Variations.

ANNE MESTITZ

Where do you work?

Worthwhile indeed, this is an example of film making as it should be – character and story are at the core of what makes The Eye of the Storm riveting and memorable.

The Eye of the Storm strives to show the truth and richness of human relations, and its success rests with its cast, all of whom do

Artist Profile

I wanted to be an artist since I was nine.

I drew constantly and deconstructed old radios and clocks. I didn’t play with many toys and tended to play with wooden blocks and cardboard boxes. I taught myself to draw tonally by staring at the black and white photographs in National Geographic magazines. I had to get a paying job when I left school so I didn’t get to Art School until much later.

admirable work. If you want genuinely good acting, this is a must-see; Judy Davis in particular gives a masterful performance as the desperate, brittle Dorothy, but it’s a film filled with actors who really know their craft.

The recent funding announcement by the state government that basically slashed and burnt the Tasmanian Theatre Company and Island magazine wasn’t entirely unexpected, even if it was brutal.

The responses have been interesting; the theatre community has written to the Mercury and no doubt to various sitting local members, claiming it’s an outrage and a tragedy; the writers and poets have done a few similar things. I don’t want to be a prophet of doom and gloom, but it’s not going to have much effect, and the general public will hardly be won over in an era where hospitals are getting cuts.

I have a converted garage as a studio where the more serious making happens. It is also a little chaotic with objects but I constantly attend to “sorting things out” as often as I can. Also I am a Casual lecturer of a Drawing Unit called “Extended Concepts of Drawing” at UTAS.

It is a matter of allowing myself to make connections between things that seem ambiguous or seemingly impossible to connect. I find it is best not to question why there is an attraction to an idea but to follow intuitively and see what happens in the process of making.

What inspires your work?

What main themes and topics do you work with?

All things physical and metaphysical inspire me. This is a ridiculous answer but true.

I am inspired by an overactive imagination - my imagination takes off laterally and randomly in all directions at the slightest impulse from something I have read or a song or a picture in the news or a spoken word in a TV show or walking down the street, ideas pop into my mind.

I am interested in colour, sensation, affective objects, aesthetic theory, perception, space, psychology, doubt, empathy, ambiguity, modernism and institutional art theory.

Describe some music, food or drink that you think would accompany your art work?

I think the biggest challenge of my career has been making large works in the environment for Sculpture by the Sea and elsewhere. I have not done any for a few years now but at the time it seemed like a huge effort against and with nature in an unframed literal space. The highlights of my career include the collegiality and conversations with like-minded artists and the realization of seemingly impossible objects.

How does living and making work in Tasmania influence you as an artist?

I am not sure living here actually influences my work except the sky and the light is the most beautiful in the world and I think about it and look at it a lot.

NICOLE O’LOUGHLIN Image: George Smiley

Pod 2: The Balloon or Zeppelin 2011

warpmagazine.com.au

30 Arts

Arts 31

RIVERS RUN DARKLY

Arts Opportunities

TASMANIA HAS A DARK HISTORY; ONE OF SEVERE BRUTALITY TOWARDS ITS ABORIGINAL POPULATION. STORIES ARE HIDDEN, UNTOLD OR LOST IN TIME.

HERE’S OUR LIST OF UPCOMING WORKSHOPS, GRANTS, RESIDENCIES AND OTHER ARTS OPPORTUNITIES. THIS IS ONLY A TASTE OF WHAT’S OUT THERE FOR ARTISTS, SO JUMP ONLINE AND DO SOME SURFING AROUND THE WEBSITES I HAVE LISTED TO FIND OUT MORE AWESOME STUFF TO DO AND BE PART OF. Workshops Plastic Fusion with Anna Phillips: Discover how to create t-shirt designs, art and craft objects and nifty bags out of plastic bags.

October 8, $20, 10am-4pm. Contact Moonah Arts Centre on 6214 7633.

Stop frame animation workshop: At The Gallery, Devonport, on October 12 – 13 from 1-4pm. Contact Astrid Joyce, Devonport City Council, on 6424 8296 or email: AJoyce@ devonport.tas.gov.au

Residencies

image: Devonport Regional Arts Gallery

Rivers Run is a new component in Julie Gough’s ongoing physical and psychological engagement with Tasmania and its history.

Gough is one of Australia’s most important aboriginal living artists, her practice combines sculpture, video and installation alongside rigorous historical research.

Devonport Regional Gallery is situated in a converted church in downtown Devonport.

The sense of history that the Baptist church has left behind does not generally impact on visiting exhibitions, however in the case of Rivers Run the space played an important role in framing Gough’s investigation. The 10 works in the show included two video pieces, photography, sculpture, installation and a room filled with hay bales.

Trespass filled the belly of the old converted church. The large hut housed an improvised bed made from an army stretcher, tea tree branches and pieces of derelict furniture while the blankets were made of well-worn kangaroo skin. The walls of the hut made of white farm gates were stencilled with black words running across each panel; each letter rolls into the next, making it difficult to decipher what hides within.

Each disguised word was the title of a Tasmanian property awarded a government land grant in Van Diemen’s Land in the 1800s. Many of these properties still remain today whereas second generation farmers in Victoria used aboriginal place names, this highlights the residing influence that the English played in cultivating Tasmanian culture.

There were two video works projected onto the end walls of the gallery space - Driving Back Home 2, is a recording of the artist

driving through the Tasmanian landscape.

As she drives through different properties the names of the families who received land grants rolls across the screen.

The other video, Rivers Run is footage of the artist floating through the largest land grant area, namely, Clarendon Estate in the states north. While the artist journeys along, transcribed letters roll over the screen. The content is correspondence relating to the riverbank skirmishes between aboriginal and non-aboriginal people between 1824 and 1836.

Both these works depict the artist physically exploring her tribal history. Both are simplistic in their construction, the camera work is shaky adding to the unsettling feeling and darkness of the works.

Rivers Run was gloomy, depressing and unsettling - but that is what made it such a powerful exhibition. The conflicting histories of the past and the present played out beautifully in the converted church space.

All the works were thoroughly thought out and resinated powerfully in the vast open room.

ASTRID JOYCE

ATLANTIC CENTRE FOR THE ARTS: The Atlantic Centre for the Arts in Florida, USA, offers a Residency for 2012 providing artists with the opportunity to work and collaborate with some of the world’s masters in the visual, literary and performing arts. Applications close 21 October. www.atlanticcenterforthearts.org MEGALO PRINTMAKERS: An annual residency program at Megalo Print Studio and Gallery in Watson, ACT, is open to printmakers at all stages of their careers. Applications close October 31. www.megalo.org/ residencies/pir-program.html SELF-INITIATED: Tasmanian artists are invited to apply to undertake a self-initiated residency locally, nationally or internationally. www.arts.tas.gov.au/residencies WILDERNESS AND CULTURAL: Tasmanian artists can apply for a residency in one of the 13 sites of ecological and or cultural significance within Tasmania. www.arts.tas. gov.au/residencies

NOLAN ART: The new art project centre has opened in Salamanca Arts Centre and is seeking expressions of interest from art tutors for term three holiday art programs, artists wishing to join the exhibition program and more. Submissions close October 31.

Contact Betty Nolan on 0438 446 785 or betty.nolan@bigpond.com TAS GOVT ART SITE SCHEME: Seeking expressions of interest from Tasmanian contemporary artists to create an exterior artwork at Little Penguins Child Care Centre, Bicheno. A budget of $7,380, submissions close October 28. www.arts.tas.gov.au/arts@ work/public_art/public_art_commissions YOUTH ARC GALLERY: Seeking young artists aged 12-25 or organisations working with young artists to present 2D work at the recently established gallery space at Youth ARC (44 Collins St, Hobart). Contact Mark: potterm@hobartcity.com.au

WEBSITES OF INTEREST Arts Tasmania - www.arts.tas.gov.au Arts @ Work - www.artsatwork.com.au

Rivers Run by Julie Gough Devonport Regional Gallery September 2 – 30, 2011

GET INSPIRED BY UTAS ART FORUM, A LECTURE-BASED PRESENTATION HELD AT THE UTAS CENTRE FOR THE ARTS’ DECHAINEUX LECTURE THEATRE ON FRIDAYS FROM 12.30PM – 1.30PM. ARTISTS FROM ALL WALKS OF LIFE PRESENT A FOLIO OF THEIR WORK.

146 ARTSPACE Best Practice, John Vella, ends Oct 16.

Left Overs, Penny Malone & Shaz HarrisonWilliams, Oct 17 – Nov 20.

Suspended and Grounded, Maarten Daudeij, 5-26 Nov OPENING 6pm Nov 4.

Pictures half-full/half-empty, Fernando do Campo, 5-26 Nov, OPENING 6pm Nov 4.

ART MOB Dennis Nona, new works, 14-30 Oct, OPENING 6pm Oct 14.

Pansy’s Panorama, Pansy Napangardi, 4-20 Nov, OPENING 6pm Nov 7.

INKA GALLERY INC. Feline, Felicity Edwards, ends Oct 19.

Dance of the Diatoms, Liz Salt, Oct 20 - Nov 9, OPENING 5.30pm Oct 21.

BETT GALLERY MAIN GALLERY: Painting & Drawing by Helen Wright BACKSPACE: Sculpture by Joel Crosswell.

Both shows Oct 5 – Nov 1 OPENING 6pm Oct 7.

CARNEGIE GALLERY Place of Residence, Ruth Frost, ends Oct 30.

CAST Iteration:Again, group show, ends Oct 15.

Shotgun 2011, Andrew Harper & Amanda Davies, Oct 29 – Nov 27. Symposium event 2pm, Nov 12.

COLVILLE GALLERY Jock Young, opens Oct 21.

DESPARD GALLERY Paper works, selected works on paper from various artists. ends Oct 11.

The “Collectors” Exhibition, vintage work from selected artists, Oct 13 – Nov 8, OPENING 6pm Oct 13.

Salamanca Arts Centre - www.salarts.org. au Tasmanian Regional Arts - www.tasregionalarts.org.au

FLEURTYS CAFE Down to Earth, group show, ends Oct 16.

*If you are an arts organisation or body with an upcoming opportunity that is within the arts bracket and would like it included in Warps Arts Opportunities guide please email all details to alison@warpmagazine.com.au

GOULBURN ST GALLERY Angus Douglas and Sharon Waldron, Oct 7 – Oct 27.

Contemporary Art Spaces Tasmania - www. castgallery.org Moonah Arts Centre - http://mac.gcc.tas. gov.au/Pages

Other Opportunities

HANDMARK GALLERY Melissa Smith & Charles Wyatt works on paper & jewellery, Oct 21 - Nov 16, OPENING 6pm Oct 21.

Frances Watkins & Chris Edwards bronze sculpture, ends Oct. INFLIGHT Atmospheric Relations, Amanda Shone 8-29 Oct, OPENING 6pm Oct 7.

JUMP MENTORING: Jump national mentoring program for young and emerging artists supports the development of artists aged 18-30. Applications close October 28. www. jumpmentoring.com.au

This month’s Art Forums are presented in association with Contemporary Art Spaces Tasmania (CAST), showcasing participants in ITERATION: AGAIN.

exploit the tension of hospitable interactions with strangers and the unknown.

OCT 7

Maddie Leach’s work is largely projectbased, site responsive and conceptually driven. Investigating new thought on art, sociality and place-based practice, she references the discourses of conceptual art, minimal/post-minimal sculpture and relational practice. Leach will be talking on ‘Irrational Thoughts Followed Absolutely and Logically: New projects with apples, lamps & precious metals’.

Bethany Fellows’ practice is generally participatory and cited in public and non-traditional space. Gift giving is often used in her arts practice to emphasise the importance of relationships with people and place and as a cultural critique. Fellows’ work involves fleeting exchanges with others, frequently utilising humour and food to highlight and

SOUTH

ENTREPOT GALLERY MAIN: There are places all over Australia to avoid, Russell Joyce.

LOUNGE: Seven Cloudy Days, Ann Holt. Both shows Oct 3- Oct 20.

MAIN: Tembus cahaya light passes through, Jillian Farmer & Hilmi Mohamed.

LOUNGE: The Darkened Room, Louise Josephs. Both shows Oct 24- Nov 10.

BRICOLAGE DESIGN PRIZE: Design marketable products from inert industrial waste materials, such as metal, textiles, plastic and wood. Entries close October 31. www. environment.tas.gov.au

ART FORUM

warpmagazine.com.au

CRADLE COAST RESIDENCY: The 2012 Artist Residency at UTAS Cradle Coast Campus is open to artists working in visual arts, design, craft, literature and community cultural development. Applications close 28th October. www.cradle-coast.utas.edu.au

Other Opportunities CONT.

WARP GALLERY GUIDE - august

JIMMY’S SKATE & STREET Nick Hills paintings and drawings, ends Oct 14.

Reflections, Kazee stencil/street art, Oct 14 Nov 4, OPENING 5.30pm Oct 14.

LOVETT GALLERY Members work on show constantly changing & includes painting, sculpture, photography & ceramics. Winter open hours Sat & Sun 10am -4pm.

MOONAH ARTS CENTRE Hobart Gay & Lesbian Community Centre Artfully Queer 7, ends Oct 6.

Cambodia - Through our eyes, Children’s photography exhibition, Oct 12- Oct 27.

Animated Portraits, Young people from Glenorchy, Nov 2 – Nov 10.

MUSEUM OF OLD & NEW ART Monanism, permanent collection.

MONA City Raceway, Oct 8 on the Museum roof plaza.

PEPPERCORN GALLERY Is a co-operatively run outlet for The fine art and craftwork of local Richmond artists.

PLIMSOLL GALLERY Un-Natural, group show curated by Megan Keating, Oct 7 – Nov 4, OPENING 5.30pm Oct 7.

RED WALL GALLERY Red Wall & Palais de Rat Presents: A plastic bottle and it’s various components, Geoffrey L’Ansier, ends 30 Oct, OPENING 5pm Sep 4.

Excess in moderation, Callum Donoghue, 2-28 Oct, OPENING 5pm Oct 2.

SADDLERS COURT GALLERY Exhibiting over 100 Tasmanian artists & crafts people.

SALAMANCA ARTS CENTRE LONG GALLERY + SIDESPACE: Optomeyes Art Exhibition 2011, raising funds for the Menzies Research Institute, Oct 7 – Oct 9, Gala Opening 6pm 6th Oct, Auction from 6:45pm.

LONG GALLERY: The Art of Christmas 2011, Raising funds for Menzies Research Institute, Oct 12, OPEN 6-8pm 12th Oct.

nortH CONT. Hutchins Art Prize, artists working on paper, Oct 18 – Oct 30.

SIDESPACE GALLERY: The Smell of Ugg Boot, Jon Kudelka, Oct 11 – Oct 23.

TOP GALLERY: Be With Me, Karin Chan, Oct 7 – Oct 30, OPENING 6pm Oct 7.

SCHOOLHOUSE GALLERY GALLERY: Paper & Book Artists’ Guild Exhibition 7-19 Oct. The Tasmanian Ceramics Association Annual Exhibition, Oct 28 – Nov 9.

THE BARN: Clarence Prize for Excellence in Furniture Design Oct 14 – Nov 6, OPENING 5.30pm Oct 13.

SONA GALLERY Ongoing stock exhibition TASMANIAN LANDSCAPES GALLERY Luke O’Brien Photography. Art printing & mounting services also available.

TASMANIAN MUSEUM AND ART GALLERY The Reading Room, Brigita Ozolins, ends 16 October.

Primavera 2010: a Museum of Contemporary Art exhibition, Oct 8 – Nov 20.

WELLINGTON GALLERY Thomas Anderson last available works original paintings, gallery open by appointment Ph. 6223 6643.

nortH GONE RUSTIC STUDIO & GALLERY Material Girl, various Tasmanian women artists, ends Oct 26.

HANDMARK GALLERY Di Allison jewellery & Katherine Cooper paintings, ends 7 October.

Mandy Renard printmaker, Oct 7 – Nov 11 OPENING 6pm Oct 7.

LAUNCESTON COUNTRY CLUB CASINO Paintings by Evelyn Antonysen , Ends Nov 20.

LEONI DUFF GALLERIES Intimate Pastels...a Showing of Master Works in Pastel, Leoni Duff, Clare Holder, Neola COles, June Wilson & Dianna Lord, |ends Oct 31.

POIMENA GALLERY ‘Little Hill’, Poimena Staff Show, ends Oct 14.

POWER HOUSE GALLERY Textile Show, curated by Mae Finlayson, ends Oct 9.

Stable Memories, Rowena Tame, 12-23 Oct, OPENING 6pm Oct 12.

QUEEN VICTORIA MUSEUM & ART GALLERY Of Love and War, Oct 1 – Dec 4.

THE ACADEMY GALLERY Sidney Nolan: Heroes and Legends, Sidney Nolan, ends Oct 16.

CCP Documentary Photography Award, Contemporary Australian documentary photography, Sep 9 – Oct 14.

THE WILDERNESS GALLERY THYLACINE - The Tasmanian Tiger Exhibition (permanent). Peter Dombrovskis photography (permanent). 10-room purpose-built photographic gallery showcasing leading local, national and international artists, ends Mid Nov. THREE WINDOWS GALLERY Changing Southern Midlands Artists

northern Tas DEVONPORT REGIONAL GALLERY MAIN GALLERY: RACT Insurance Youth Portrait Prize, Tasmanian artists aged 30 and under.

LITTLE GALLERY: PAN IC, Jo Green. Both shows Oct 8 – Oct 23, OPENING 6pm Oct 7.

PARADOX BAZAAR Unique Tasmanian Art & Craft creations operated by, and featuring the works of, local Artists and Craftspeople and is constantly changing throughout the year www.paradoxbazaar.com.au TWO OAKS GALLERY Minds do Matter 2011 Art Exhibition, Mental Health Week event, Oct 10 – Oct 14.

ULVERSTONE VISITOR INFORMATION CENTRE Art Adventurers, local artists, ends Oct 27.

WONDERS OF WYNYARD GALLERY Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, Stitch ‘N’ Bitch sewing group, Oct 7 – Oct 30.

KING ISLAND LOLLIPOP GALLERY + BOATHOUSE GALLERY Paintings by Caroline Kininmonth and Bridget Levy on exhibit throughout the year and continually changing. * If you are an exhibiting gallery or space in Tasmania and want to be included in the Warp Gallery Guide email: alison@ warpmagazine.com.au

OCT 14

137 Collins Street, Hobart 03 6234 3788 www.arterydirect.com.au

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32 Eat Out

CHEWING THE FAT

Eat Out 33

WRITTEN ON TEA

Address

Address

236 Sandy Bay Road, Hobart, Tasmania Contact

Aside from giving me a chance to make poor puns the pie story enables me to segue brutally into this month’s theme for Eat Out, which is “Places to take someone special”. I once made the horrible blunder of taking a special person to the top Ross bakery to have pies. As soon as we walked in I realised my mistake. It does not impress a new partner to show them a buxom maid handing you buns while you smile. In my case it was the smile of drowned man fighting to make the surface.

Sometimes I wonder how men survive at all. I think in future I will do my pie eating alone.

Jason James

Eat Out Editor Jason@warpmagazine.com.au

Address

47 Salamanca Place, Hobart TAS 7000

9am to 5pm - 7 days a week Dinner on Friday and Saturday evenings from 6pm

Lunch and dinner daily

Or there is the top bakery with its famous vanilla slice, less famous pepper steak pies, and serving staff in maid costumes. To prove once and for all which was better I ate pies at both establishments in quick succession.

This left me feeling like I had made a misjudgement: it is best not to over eat before driving long distances. I also learned that women in costumes do not necessarily have better pies.

Contact Hours of Operation

Hours of Operation

There are a lot of bakeries on the road between Devonport and Hobart, but the argument always seems to come down to which bakery in Ross to choose from. There is the bottom bakery with its famous scallop pies, ($6.50 and full of scallops, a bit of sauce and lots of pepper – best I have ever had).

24 Mary Street Cygnet Tasmania 03 6295 0466

03 6223 3298

When driving from the North of the Tasmania to the South there is an important question that a lot of motorists ask themselves, “Where to get a pie?” For some, the answer is simple: just stop at a service station to get a lukewarm National Pie out of the pie oven. I have been down that route before.

Today I was looking for a new path.

RED VELVET MALDINI LOUNGE ITALIAN CAFE RESTAURANT

Written on Tea, located in the Mayfair complex in Sandy Bay, has become the go-to default for my wife and myself for a number of reasons, but the foremost one is its sheer consistency. I have lost count of the amount of times we’ve been to this place, and I have no doubt we will continue to visit in the future, simply wanting to have our most favoured dishes again and again. Still, in suggesting the assignment to the editor, I had to think about the attractions of Written on Tea a little more.

It’s unpretentious. I have to phrase this carefully as no doubt it will annoy someone, but as much as I enjoy the wave of new and fascinating food sweeping across our fair state, sometimes I just want meat and potatoes, or more in this case, Soup Dumplings.

Soup Dumplings that are always going to be a bit messy to eat, but taste delightful – biting open the dumpling skin and slurping the soup is indecorous indeed but who cares when it tastes this good? I think we have these every time we go here. They arrive in a steamer and there are heaps of them.

It’s solid, simple fare that I imagine being a pretty ordinary dish in their area of origin, but that’s Written on Tea overall – you are getting pretty much home cooking.

There’s a strong comfort food feel and I think this another thing that attracts us: items like the Lion Head Meatballs are just huge in terms of taste and portion, more than enough to share and feel very well fed afterwards.

Add to this the Roast Duck and Say Chicken dish and you have a three course winner, which is best shared anyway, which is the clinching reason – it’s meant to be shared.

Here’s your plates, here’s your dishes, away you go, enjoy. Essential though to make it all really gel is a pot of tea – we generally get the Jasmine, which seems endless, and you can get it topped up with hot water anyway.

You’ll get in and out of here for about $20 a head, but it can be less if you don’t go after specials – the value is just great. It’s not romantic, but it is fun and busy and alive, and it’s all about sharing the dishes, revisiting favourites and trying the new stuff as it appears. Written on Tea experiences vary but it’s never let us down, and it’s so easy going, affordable and reliable that you can just decide to head in and get takeaway if it’s really pumping.

ANDREW HARPER

What do you do when Hobart offers up a rare warm and sunny day? Go for a pleasant country drive, of course. A leisurely lunch is always a good destination, and less than an hour drive from Hobart you can find the Red Velvet Lounge, a surprisingly expansive cafe for little Cygnet.

We arrived Tuesday lunch, and as far as I knew, we were the only booking, so I expected a totally desolate cafe, and I said as much to my partner. We walked in, and surprise! - it was packed, and I mean, like fifty-odd people inside, all busily chatting, sipping their lattes, engrossed in their Cygnetian exchanges. The building itself appeared to be a lovely old theatre or hall made over in shades of red, with a high patterned ceiling, comfortable furnishings, and yes, a red velvet lounge.

Having already perused the online menu I knew what was on offer. However I still couldn’t decide what to have - maybe the pickled beef tongue, with braised lentils, mustard cress, salsa verde and a poached egg ($25.90)? Or perhaps the lamb’s fry, with Bok’s bacon, slow roasted onions, sherry vinegar and potato puree ($25.90)? I briefly considered the organic quinoa salad, with tomato, red onion, parsley, toasted nuts and a preserved lemon dressing ($11.90), but ended up settling on the more substantial pulled pork sandwich, with apple-cabbage slaw, smoked chipotle mayo, and old-school chips ($19.90).

The sparkling waitresses dispensed our beverages, took our order, and then we had a reasonable - though not unacceptable wait for our meals, I’m guessing on account of the fullness of the place.

My sandwich came in the form of a homemade glazed bun, packed with the pulled pork and slaw. Interestingly, the components separately were nothing to write home about - the pork itself could have been more flavoursome - but with everything together in the bun, it worked well. I guess that’s where the cleverness of making good meals revels - in the correct assembly of things. My partner was happy with his lamb’s fry, though I thought it could have been more pink-hued inside, however this was only a minor flaw - overall the dish was well executed.

So is the Red Velvet Lounge worth the drive? I think so. Our meals were good, but not exceptional - however, it is clearly food made with love - made from scratch with fine local produce. The menu is not trenddriven either; it is unique and interesting, and reflects a culinary keenness. Certainly the place is well reputed, and fifty people voting with their feet whilst we were there suggests to me that it’s worth revisiting.

SARA WAKELING

warpmagazine.com.au

Contact

03 6223 4460 Hours of Operation

Hours of operation Breakfast 7am – 11:30am Lunch 12 noon – 4pm Antipasti 4pm – 5:30pm Dinner 5:30pm – 10pm

I have to snatch special moments when I can: the place I go to for a fast intimate dinner is Maldini. It is a difficult place to write about as I am a regular customer, so I will just write about my experience there this week. I arrived with my special person soon after 5pm, so they offered the Antipasti menu with the comment that we could order mains at the same time. I was hungry but resisted the urge to have pork belly again.

Instead we went for warm Italian olives in balsamic, fennel seeds, rosemary and olive oil with bread ($6.50) and the rock lobster and prawn pate’ with salmon caviar and Lavosh ($16.50). The olives were perfectly fine, but I have grown used to more exciting varieties. The pate’ was flavoursome even if there was not quite enough Lavosh. I could have asked for more, but it went down very well heaped on the biscuit so I was able to make do.

For main course I had Spaghetti alla marinara – mussels, clams, prawns, fish and calamari in a garlic & white wine sauce ($29.50). I had seen this get eaten before and thought that it looked like a seafood feast. I was not disappointed.

My partner had the fish special of the day.

I would like to say that I tasted it, but alas I cannot. There was one of those awkward moments where it would be appropriate to share a taste of each other’s meal. At exactly that moment both diners stop talking, look down at their plate and decide that there isn’t enough to share. My mind was racing.

I was in a panic. There was no part of this meal that I could give up. All I could do was hope that my partner’s meal was as good as mine and that she was thinking the same thing. When I glanced up I had noticed that she had already portioned her fish into four remaining bite sized pieces. Too few left for me to ask for one.

At the conclusion of the meal we both relaxed. Finished off the Italian red and made comments about the delectable dished that we had just consumed. Then almost simultaneously we made the mock shame over not offering to share our meals with each other. Luckily we live close and will be able to go back to share another special moment of high treason over food.

I also recommend repeating the above experience over their cake selection.

JASON JAMES

PILGRIM COFFEE Address

48 Argyle St, Hobart Contact

03 6234 1999 Hours of Operation

Monday – Friday 6.30am-4.45pm

I am a coffee snob. It is annoying to be dissatisfied for years on end. When I was in Sydney there were only a few places that excited me: Campos, Kafa, and Single Origin.

When I moved back nothing excited me.

What I eventually learned was that 99% of people here drink their coffee with milk. If I asked for a doppio ristretto I was generally met with confusion, rudeness or embarrassment. When someone was brave enough to give it a go I was generally disappointed. I gave up short black coffees for lattes. I started adding sugar. I ended up drinking instant coffee. It didn’t matter to me anymore, it all tasted bland. One day I woke up and wondered why I was spending $16 a day on coffee I didn’t enjoy, so I just gave up.

For the purposes of writing reviews I would try the coffee at new places. I hadn’t been tempted to start drinking coffee again.

That was until I went to Pilgrim Coffee.

After a short argument about how I wanted my ristretto made I waited annoyed, and grumpy, for another disappointment.

The waiter that served it was cheerful, cheeky, and charming. I expected to hate him, drink the coffee, and never darken the door again. That was until I tasted it.

My first sip and I knew that I was back to drinking coffee. As soon as I tasted it all the

memories of my corruption by Ben d’Emden can flooding back. He was the roaster in Sydney that convinced me to abandon all that I thought I knew about coffee, and to start drinking lightly roasted beans. I used to like the caramel blandness of welldone beans. The strangeness of this other style was uncomfortable. But like many things once you get used to it then you are hooked. If coffee beans are lightly roasted then you taste the difference between the varieties. The flavour profile takes on a three dimensional shape. It is easy to start taste testing different varieties only to realise that you have had six coffees before 9 o’clock.

I went back to Pilgrim Coffee every day for a week. I ordered food that was better than the normal café fare. My favourite was the lamb and chickpea wrap. It was heated through, tasty and moreish. Even after I started working on the other side of town I would get a coffee there before turning up to work late. When they close on the weekend I found myself double checking to see if they might open. When I went away on tour I found myself thing of them each the morning. If you have never had a short black or double ristretto then I recommend that you start at Pilgrim Coffee.

JASON JAMES

warpmagazine.com.au

34 Eat Out

Eat Out 35

drink reviews

QUICK MEALS FOR POOR STUDENTS

WINE

CONTINENTAL CREAMY BACON CARBONARA: $2.19

Of everything in this experiment, this probably looks the least like something humans would eat. A mush of pasta and off-white sauce, it has a thick consistency that vaguely resembles the vomit of a carbohydrate-obsessed marathon runner.

But it’s delicious, and since it’s just pasta in a bowl, you can add vegetables to make it healthier. Or maybe even some kind of meat (if you rob a bank beforehand). It requires water, milk and butter, so it could get a little more expensive than you’d expect. But that’s the price you pay for a meal that looks like it’s perfect for throwing from a moving vehicle in the general direction of your ex.

SUNBEAM CHINESE SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN:

First off, they’re asking $5.19, and for that price the chicken had better have been raised in a cruelty-free environment. Or at least have them beaten behind the ears so people can’t see it. And also given prosthetic ears since chickens don’t have really have ears like that. But none of these happened, so instead it’s just chicken that’s expensive.

Well, at least it says that it’s chicken, but I’d almost feel better if I found a beak or feather somewhere in the meal. Then at least I would know that the tough, slathered in sickly-sweet sauce, corpse-grey coloured meat was in fact chicken instead of some unnamed meat that wasn’t really safe for human consumption. The road to hell is paved with good intentions and tuck-shops that sell nothing but this. And people that use the words ‘tuck-shop’.

$5.19

Is it disgusting? No, it’s actually pretty good and I could probably live on it if I really had to.

Is it disgusting? Define disgusting for me.

While you’re looking for the dictionary I’ll be subtly tipping this into a potted plant next to the table.

McDONALDS McDOUBLE: $1.95

POTATO GNOCCI WITH PUMPKIN AND SUNDRIED TOMATO SAUCE: $3.89

EMILY’S KITCHEN BEEF AND BLACK BEAN: $6.99

At $1.95 you’re paying a modest price for double what you’d normally get from a cheeseburger. Twice the stuff! That’s twice the thigh-ballooning ‘beef’. Twice the shunned and thrown on the roof pickles. And twice the plastic cheese that if you don’t eat could be melted down and turned into Coke bottles. The burgers doesn’t taste completely terrible provided you’ve had three types of liquor over the past five hours, and if you buy a bunch of these bad boys and you can live off them for a couple of days. Or die from overeating crap. Either way you’re saving money.

Initial problem: Does the fact that it’s a “Meal for One” really need to be advertised so prominently on the box? Like the poor people who are “eating for one” are not already aware that they’re amazingly alone and their life has become so sad that they think food packaging is mocking them? The meal itself is an interesting mix of flavours, like being punched in the face by someone who had been eating an international food fair all day and their hands had dozens of exotic flavours lingering on them. Well, actually, it’s mostly just pumpkin, potato and tomato, but after eating McDoubles almost anything tastes exotic. It requires little skill to cook, mainly asking that you have mastered use of the microwave and using your opposable thumbs to tear plastic off the top of packets. Perfect if you’re a chimpanzee with a microwave who wants mock other animals in your zoo about their lack of cooking skills.

The appeal of naming your company “Emily’s Kitchen” is unclear. Except for the fact that it presumably leads to Emily’s Hallway, which, if you play your cards right, leads to Emily’s Bedroom (although sadly, that leads to Emily’s Window and an unexpected escape jump down three stories because Emily is into weird, gross stuff ). But she does make an okay Beef and Black Bean. While it costs enough to make you perform a mock-shocked gasp and head shake at the cashier while you’re paying for it, it’s great for a drunken meal that requires no actual coordination or real cooking. It doesn’t really taste like the beef and black been from your favourite take away, instead opting for something that sits between “oyster sauce” and “mind-numbing blandness” It should also be noted that although the packaging claims the meal includes red capsicums, there was only one tiny sliver in my entire meal. So, you know…

Don’t go in expecting to be showered with capsicums, because Emily doesn’t roll that way.

Is it disgusting? The first one goes down easy. Then it starts to get more difficult. After three you’re suffering from a unique condition known McNausea that brings on wild hallucinations. John Lennon wrote Imagine after five.

Is it disgusting? Definitely not.

Drinks of the month

BEER

2010 D’ARENBERG “THE STUMP JUMP” SVG MCLAREN VALE, SA

Blends may never command the respect of the dominant varietals, but that also grants them a license to explore new and unusual niches in the market. This particular offering chooses to do so by promoting Shiraz to prominent second-billing, adding grip and a hint of spice to a palate rich in berry fruits. A small leap for stalwarts of the dominant varietals.

Available: All good wine retailers.

PEDRO’S REVENGE OKTOBERFEST BIER PAULANER, GERMANY It is rare that a brewer can foresee the specific circumstances under which their beer is going to be consumed, but for the six authorised Munich breweries, Oktoberfest offers just that. A pronounced mineral tang and light hop bitterness might seem underwhelming, but this beer is meant to do three specific things: pique appetite, cut through rich food, and go down by the litre.

Prost!

Available at PlanB for $10.

VALE ALE

Available: Cool Wine.

MAC’S SASSY RED McCASHIN’S BREWERY, NZ

2009 LONGVIEW “RED BUCKET” SHIRAZ CABERNET ADELAIDE HILLS, SA

Maker’s Mark is a full-flavoured yet remarkably easyto-drink Bourbon whiskey. Our Pedro’s Revenge cocktail balances with the sweet taste of maple syrup and Barenjager honey liqueur, adds sour drops of lemon juice as well as Pedro Ximinex to complete a rounded flavour. Come to PlanB this month and one of our amazing bartenders will make you a Pedros Revenge to kick start your night out.

Not to be confused with “Clarendon Vale Ale” (AKA the “Rokeby Red”) this beer is produced by the brewers at McLaren Vale Beer Company located in the heart of South Australian wine country. It has become a bit of a fad these days to a find a craft beer made in a winery but this one isn’t, it’s made by a brewer in a brewery, just how it should be. It’s a clean and citrusy drop that remains quite active in your gob, and at an easy 4.5% Vale Ale should be raising its hand for a regular slot in your session beer repertoire.

Those in search of the perennial weekly quaff take note; this vintage of the singlevineyard blend is edging-out its prime. In keeping with the mental image it evokes, the Red Bucket is overflowing with fruit, predominantly of the blackcurrant variety, augmented with a good measure of Shiraz pepper. Further proof that to blend is not to compromise.

Our antipodean neighbours have been making quite a name for themselves in beer circles recently, with equally strong forays into traditional, old-world styles, and innovative new fusions. Ahead of the trend by a good thirty years, the Mac’s range encapsulates this movement. Dousing the typical malt base of a red ale with liberal amounts of saaz hops lends the palate a spiced biscuit character.

Available: All good wine retailers.

Available: All good beer retailers.

MEDOS VODKA

CIDER

Medos is a Polish grain vodka flavoured with natural honey from wild bees and a few spices to give a rich honeyed flavour with a spicy edge. With warm weather on the way, the 40% alc/vol Medos is best enjoyed on the rocks.

ROGERS’ LITTLE CREATURES, WA

An oft-overlooked middle-child in the Little Creatures family, the Rogers’ makes use of a richer malt base to balance the distinctive hop-heavy flavour of its elder sibling, the ubiquitous Pale Ale. Ignore the stigma levelled at mid-strength beers and you’ll find this amber brew as kind to your tastebuds as it is to your head, at a convenient one standard drink per bottle.

Available: All good beer retailers.

OLD ENGLISH CIDER DICKENS CIDER, TAS

As the producers themselves wryly concede, this cider attempts to recapture the half-remembered characteristics of a beverage consumed many years ago and half a world away. In practice, it seems to walk a middle-ground between the various traditional English styles, with the funky nose of sweet cider, the sour starch of a cloudy, and strength enough to make some half-memories of your own.

Available: Preachers, Davies Grand Central, Crown Cellars, Cool Wine, Wursthaus.

Available this month for $5 at Mobius Lounge Bar.

Available from the Republic Bar $7.50/Nip.

DIPLOMAT The Diplomat, on ice with fresh lime (with or without Bundaberg Ginger Beer) is a drink for those who live the sweet life. Distilled from sugarcane honey in old copper pot stills in Venezuela by Destilerias Unidas, they are consistently ranked among the finest South American rums.

Available at the Brisbane Hotel for $10.

THOM FULTON

CAFÉ EUROPA FRESH COFFEE, GREAT FOOD, FRIENDLY STAFF. OPEN 7 DAYS LATE FRIDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHTS 2/23 CATTLEY ST BURNIE 7320 PH: 03 6431 1897 FUNCTIONS AND BOOKINGS AVAILABLE

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Barista coffee Breakfast Lunch and daily specials Free Customer Wi-Fi Free range Eggs, Bacon and Chicken Cakes / Biscuits (Gluten free available) Take Away Special (7.30am - 3pm) Egg and Bacon Roll with coffee $10 Fresh Juice / Smoothie Vegetarian options

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36 Live Reviews

Live Reviews 37

BATRIDER W/ THE NATIVE CATS AND PAINT YOUR GOLDEN FACE THE GRAND POOBAH SEPTEMBER 9

GLENN RICHARDS AND MICHAEL NOGA

MOFO TSO SIDESHOW

THE RAY GUS

W/ DAN LUSCOMBE THE GRAND POOBAH SEPTEMBER 3

W/ DEAN STEVENSON AND THE ARCO SET AND ACUMEN SEPTEMBER 23

W/ KING CAROUSEL THE WARATAH SEPTEMBER 16

We (live music lovers in Tasmania) want more big bands to visit us. The benefits shouldn’t really need to be assessable in economic or tourism terms, because after visiting PW1 for the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra MOFO sideshow outing, it’s obvious we’ve got a great venue on our waterfront that should be used to bring great music to the masses and smiles to their faces.

It was a line-up too good to refuse: two rising Hobart bands and footy finals on tele in the front bar of one of the newest live music venues in town, so I headed off to ‘The Tah’ for a gander at all three.

Local faves The Native Cats put on an astoundingly brilliant performance.

Launching their new release Process Praise on vinyl their fans were out in force. Their blend of Peter’s Escott’s vox and unique lo-fi electronic instrumentation with Julian Teakle’s decidedly grunge guitar is a curious and addictive mix.

I love it when Peter played the Nintendo DS it was so anti-rock! But it so rocked! I felt this band had more of a rock vibe than usual and the move away from the lo-fi indie pop kinda thing is something I totally approve of. These guys have a huge sound for a twopiece but add the golden tones of Lisa Rime from the Bad Luck Charms and that huge sound becomes magnificent; captivating harmonies with odd catchy grooves.

SAM SIMMONS THE CLUBHOUSE AT THE WARATAH SEPTEMBER 23

Batrider have got to be the most exciting thing on the chick-grunge block, delivering new material from Piles of Lies. Originally from NZ, their sound is remotist, lo-fi, angsty, grunge rock. Sarah has got the most powerful roaring voice; she wails and screams and carves it all up with honesty.

There is much beauty in this lady’s sadness - the lament has a powerful spectrum. She played the guitar like a pro - wrestling the feedback loops and playing to her amp. It was solid! It had been a while since I had seen them and I thought their new drummer was a perfect fit to the Batrider puzzle. I don’t believe this band isn’t playing gigs like the Big Day Out. Both the Native Cats and Batrider were seriously impressive - their new releases are available at Tommy Gun records - and quite definitely collectable.

STU WARREN

Ex-pat Tassie head Michael Noga opened the night with a slick and tidy set. Acoustic guitar + harmonica + voice = A classy folk singer.

This guy is a modern day troubadour, with songs that are humorous and melancholic.

The intimate crowd provided the perfect atmosphere for this genre. I am a big fan of his work on drums with the Drones. But was impressed by his singer-songwriter integrity - he really did stand alone with his guitar and the stories he told struck a chord.

I was excited to see Glenn Richards’ solo show. I had followed his career since his early days with Aussie alt/folk act Augie March and was not disappointed when he was joined onstage by Dan Luscombe (also of the Drones) for most of the set.

Dan Luscombe must be one of the most intuitive guitarists around, but if he was improvising I didn’t notice, it was like he knew every note intimately. He didn’t do too badly on the keyboard as well.

Glenn’s performance clearly showed why he is one of Australia’s premier songwriters, with richly crafted and lyric-heavy songs are

shiny and golden with a nostalgic feel.

He has one of those voices, a strong masculine voice. A voice you take seriously.

Tracks from all his releases with Augie March were played and Michael Noga added some keys and some percussion to the mix.

It was clear these guys were all friends having a great time doing what they love.

One Crowded Hour was the stand out track though a couple of tracks from Sunset Studies were also intensely awesome. The thing that really struck me was the degree of humorous banter. We were all in stitches over Glenn’s derision of the Launceston monkey’s 4.30pm bedtime. I’m hoping he writes a song about it!

It’s those local references that really bring this artists work to life. It’s accessible and I really was moved to tears. Glenn is an amazing songwriter and his songs were beautifully complimented by Dan Luscombe’s guitar work.

ZOEZAC VISIOU

JOSH THOMAS W/ MEL BUTTLE THEATRE ROYAL SEPTEMBER 10

W/ THE SIN & TONICS AND GUTHRIE THE BRISBANE HOTEL SEPTEMBER 23 Northern Tassie rockers Guthrie, set things off with a mix of sleazy southern blues, chunky rock, and some excellent slide guitar. Singer Liam Guthrie has a vocal style born of Jack Daniels & The Marlboro Man, in bed with Bob Dylan, and Phil Anselmo from Pantera.

It was probably a good thing that the footy was all but over by the time I arrived because King Carousel were soon on stage and I’d wanted to see them live since getting hold of a copy of their debut album a couple of months back.

Fresh from its latest facelift, the old wharf shed is now a wonderfully comfortable and diverse venue with acoustics worthy of an orchestra! It’s also great for gritty rock bands (e.g. Grinderman) and no-doubt all kinds of acts in between.

Paint Your Golden Face’s set was glorious noise onslaught - I was reminded of artists like Concern. Their cool mix of drums, voice and keys had an oddly tribal feeling, although they’re way more indie pop. This band blows my mind every time; the curious combo is intense and captivating. The vocal deliver was also very catchy and intense - in a good way.

THE BROTHERS GRIM

With songs ranging from growing up in Launceston, 600 metres away from the sewer works, to the funny things that can happen after imbibing to much JD, Guthrie played a solid set, even more impressive by the fact that there’s only two of them.

They are definitely a duo who I’ll be paying attention to in the future.

The four-piece looked a bit squeezed onto the little stage, but it was all good when they launched into album tracks like You’re Clever and it Shows and Weak Knees. The harmonies were there, the pop hooks and folk undertones and King Carousel proved themselves worthy openers for the approaching indie-rock whirlwind.

Local DJ/VJ duo Acumen showed us their classical vision to open the evening in a blaze of lights, visuals and big sounds.

Dean Stevenson and the Arco Set blended pop sensibilities with rich, orchestral string sounds and even launched into a cover of Guns ‘n’ Roses classic Sweet Child O’ Mine, the intro of which had me scratching my beard and wondering where I’d heard it before. Far from reaching for notes in a strained Axel Rose mould, Stevenson’s silky smooth voice was loungey and languid and washed over the sea of onlookers in beanbags and tiered seats.

Next up, THE SIN & TONICS were the epitome of what I’d call Psychobilly; highspeed farmyard blues, with a shout out in particular to the double bass player who was thumping the strings like a hot rod maniac.

The Ray Guns’ frontman Liam Martschinke was amped up from the outset, thrashing around the stage in some kind of fuzzinduced fervour. He demanded the audience sweat, and given the feverish nature of The Ray Guns garagey offerings it wasn’t long until punters had bought into his vision along with the fast and fuzzy fare blaring out at them.

Vocally similar to Guthrie, in terms of the sleazy bluesy aspect, but with a lot more beer soaked ocker to them. Crispy rockabilly guitar, combined with the thunder of the rhythm section, made The Sin & Tonics a great band for drinking, and kicking up your heels on the dance floor.

My expectations for THE BROTHERS GRIM were fairly high after such impressive support acts, but I’m sorry to say that I wasn’t blown away by them. Their sound was a similar combination to the two previous bands, but lacked the power of either of them, very much seemed like a diluted version of what I’d just seen.

Having kept themselves busy all year with a string of shows around the state, The Ray Guns were playing as tight as their tunes were up-tempo. There’s word of an EP coming soon and if the live show’s worth a damn, it’ll be worth a listen for lovers of distorted riffs, solid rhythms and high energy rock ‘n’ roll.

The TSO performance of Beethoven’s 5th Symphony served as a MOFO warm-up and surely whetted appetites for what’s coming to town in the New Year.

With the stage packed full of the State’s best classical musicians, Sebastian LangLessing also conducted his orchestra through a couple of pieces other than the symphony, heads around me nodding to The Imperial March from Star Wars and a mood of introspection being ushered in as concertmaster Jun Yi Ma lead the theme from Schindler’s List.

The singer seemed to be more about performance than actual singing, and they were musically flat in comparison. I don’t want to trash the band after just seeing them once, so, to sum up, it was a good show overall, just with a bit of an anti-climax from the main act.

STU WARREN

Comedian Josh Thomas had no trouble pulling a full house for the Hobart leg of his Everything Ever tour, but it’s safe to say I didn’t exactly fit into the dominant demographic – under-25-year-old females.

There was a smattering of ‘older’ folks in the lavish surrounds of the Theatre Royal, too; some who squirmed as Thomas regaled them with tales of his recent trip to Asia and how his sexuality may have landed him in legal trouble, if publicised.

First encounters with both females and males hadn’t gone entirely to plan; cue more uncomfortable squirming from some.

Funnier, in a dark and possibly unkind sort of way, was a story about his mother’s battle with depression and his father’s midlife crisis.

Brisbane comedian and long-time Thomas collaborator Mel Buttle had opened the night with a number of cringe-worthy observations about her own family, and love life, in what served as a funny and fairly accurate barometer of what was to come.

Both Thomas and Buttle took questions from the crowd to conclude the show and perverse as it sounds, it was a “kill/fuck/ marry” question from a kid in the crowd that got just about the biggest laugh for the night. The young bloke ended up being invited on stage to grind with Buttle, and to Thomas’s obvious discomfort, hugged the star of the show on his way off.

Not the thigh-slappingly, rib-ticklingly funniest night of comedy ever, but everything considered, not a bad one, either.

Tim Logan

ADAM KING

As the night ended, the PW1 side doors slid open and people poured out into Salamanca Place, replete after a night of sound and energy the likes of which we don’t often see. But we should. And hopefully we increasingly do so.

It’s not often that a man pours one sachet of taco sauce powder into his mouth, followed by one jar of salsa and then proceeds to smash 10 taco shells one by one onto his bare chest in front of a sell-out audience, to the sound of an intense symphony soundtrack for the show’s finale. But for Sam Simmons, this was not completely out of the ordinary.

STU WARREN

Simmons and his quirky, bizarre and completely hilarious skit stunned the more than capacity sold out crowd at the Waratah Hotel’s Clubhouse.

With an arsenal of tools including music, ridiculous dances, songs, props and unlikely objects including an Old El-Paso TacO kit, Sam’s quick-draw madness is completely infectious and executed extremely well.

Somehow totally in control of the chaos on stage, the Adelaide-born Simmons was extremely unpredictable. It was pure genius.

NICK PROBIN

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38 Album Reviews

Album Reviews 39

Dum Dum Girls have released a cracker of a record in Only in Dreams. I’m really enjoying the interest being taken in that old school girl group sound that was big back in the ‘60s and ‘70s lately; the sound which is most prominent on this album.

The band, formed by Dee Dee Penny back in 2008 blend together different bits of artists including The Ramones, Siouxsie and the Banshees and to an extent, Hole, in bringing forth this nostalgic kind of girl rock. The first thing to be noted about Only in Dreams and about the music of the band in general, is that you’re not being given any sense of modern stylings.

DUM DUM GIRLS ONLY IN DREAMS

Dum Dum Girls are completely set in bringing across a vintage 60s rock sound,

KATALYST DEEP IMPRESSIONS

which acts not only as a way to remind us of artists who set some pretty great precedents in music, but also to highlight the different and unique scene in which the band has chosen to set itself in.

There’s a youthful feel behind the songs on the record - Bedroom Eyes and Caught in One conjure up images of teenage romance and yearning. Dee Dee’s vocals are fantastically grunge-driven and it’s in the harmonies that you can really get that vintage girl rock coming across. Dum Dum Girls play with pace and melody; matching the themes of anguish and playfulness that come across in the lyrics. I particularly enjoyed Coming Down and Teardrops on my Pillow, both displaying the smooth surf rock vibes of Los Angeles, where the girls are from,

TEX PERKINS AND THE BAND OF GOLD

Tidy pop song Heartbeat thrives on the musicality of the guitars and the honesty of the lyrics. The level of sass and confidence Dum Dum Girls inject into all the tracks on Only in Dreams is what makes their music so refreshing – there’s no sense of diva arrogance to the girls, they’re all about the essence of the rock and old school nature behind it. This album will be high rotation in warmer weather, but even now it’s a great spin.

Johnny Cash fans will recognize these Band of Gold tracks with co-vocalists Tex Perkins and Rachael Tidd from the award-winning movie The Man in Black.

The album features a wide array of guest appearances, from popular singers such as Stephanie McKay and Jade Macrae, to MC’s Hau (of Koolism) and Pharcyde’s Bootie Brown. But despite the large amount of cameos, the album maintains a smooth, cohesive consistency throughout.

Free of unnecessary effects, these songs

by Townes Van Zandt, Merle Haggard, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson, John Prine, George Jones, Porter Wagoner and Johnny Paycheck are given delicate treatment in production, with each voice and instrument given its own concise space.

BEN SALTER

YOU ARE ALL I SEE

THE CAT

Katalyst expertly manages to meld influences which have all had a deep impression on his production (hence the album title) into an instantly recognisable and unique sound. It is definitely reminiscent of Manipulating Agent, but it is definitely an evolution of the style.

This album is all about the voices and the emotion of life, love and loss they convey.

The delicate power of Tidd’s voice sits nicely aside the depth and sincerity of Perkins’, her musical theatre background evident in the integrity and dynamics she brings to the subject matter.

Standout tracks include a remake of The Clapping Song, Black Dragon (featuring Mr. Clean), and U Can’t Save Me (featuring Buff 1 and Stephanie McKay), but there aren’t any obvious filler tracks here.

Shane Reilly’s soft pedal steel work sings in accompaniment, most notably on the two Kris Kristofferson songs Help Me Make It Through The Night and fifth track I’d Rather Be Sorry, while Shannon Bourne’s slide guitar features on Speed Of The Sound Of Loneliness by John Prine before the two team up for solos on Wagoner’s Lonely Coming Down, with Tidd on lead vocals.

The instrumental tracks between the guest tracks really stand on their own, and are more than just interludes. The production is layered without sounding cluttered, syncopated without sounding robotic and smooth without sounding boring. If you’re a fan of instrumental hip hop, or beat-based soul music, this album is definitely worth checking out.

Tex Perkins has the talent and ego to conceive a project like this but leaves ego behind, in favour of a reverence which these greats deserve.

Grossi’s voice out of this world - his subtle refinement, power and technique transform it into an instrument of heavenly beauty.

Title track You Are All I See sweeps into an inner world with finger-plucked harp transitioning into a heavenly mish-mash of minimilistic electronica, R&B and choral harmony. Playing House features vocals from Tom Krell (stage name, How To Dress Well) on easily the most R&B-influenced track. Johnny & Belinda has an expansive, cinematic feel while Shield & The Sword and Way Too Fast are both epic tracks with post dub-step synthesiser, as if Grossi was the conductor of a choir of replicants. Hanging On is really the signature moment; a concise ethereal ballad.

You Are All I See is a symbiotic relationship of organic and electronic; a fine example of Grossi’s work as a master craftsman.

MICHAEL CLOHESY

BYRON WARDROP

SHANE CRIXUS

CANT DREAMS COME TRUE

ACTIVE CHILD

LA-based New Jersey artist Pat Grossi’s solo project Active Child delivers a distinctive musical soundscape with falsetto vocals from his days as a choir boy. You Are All I See is an album full of bittersweet beauty, a cinematic soundscape conjuring imagery of a neo-noir futuristic wasteland; like a William Gibson novel brought to life with pockets of joy and hope.

Album opener Too Late, Too Far provides an instant surprise for any expectant Grizzly Bear fan. Forget fragile, swooning indierock; there’s a definite dance vibe at play here. Taylor the multi-instrumentalist contributes bass, clarinet, flute and vocals to a single song – but his talent and experience as a producer is touted less frequently. Here it truly shines through, and he manages to

SOSE FUAMOLI

THE NIGHTWATCHMAN WORLD WIDE REBEL SONGS

TEX PERKINS AND THE BAND OF GOLD The new album from Sydney producer Katalyst continues his tradition of rock solid sample-based beats loosely based in funk, soul, and dub. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

CANT is the solo moniker of Grizzly Bear’s Chris Taylor, and knowing this it’s impossible to listen to his debut fulllength Dreams Come True without Grizzly Bear comparisons. And despite Taylor’s impressive ability to reach outside the realms of that band and his numerous other projects to date, the stronger elements of his past work are recognisable on this record, thankfully.

in amongst all the grunge of the urban.

Ben Salter’s first solo outing is not your run of the mill solo album – it’s a stand-alone album from the Giants of Science and Gin Club luminary.

The quality of the album has a real sense of earthiness and dirt under the fingernails sound to it; maybe this has to do with the fact it was recorded at Gaz Liddiard’s outback studio home, Havilah. The rest of the Drones make cameos in way or another, with Fiona Kitchin on vocals, Dan Luscombe on Mellentron and Mike Noga co-penning I Am Not Ashamed.

The opening track The Cat is a stellar.

The splash of sax towards the end really brings the track together. Ben never has shied away from experimentation, and subtle nuances on this album include a touch of Celtic strings on the track Opportunities, while the plaintive drawl on West End Girls adds aural depth.

The beautiful thing about this album is each track is its own entity; it tells an individualistic story from one song to the next, with abstract and left-of-centre tales about people from all different parts of life told through deep, strange lyrics, with a sense of abstract beauty.

MARK IRELAND

What I expect from a Nightwatchman release is an aural anti-folk affair of political dissent and poignant themes delivered in a Johnny Cash-like voice and shuffling acoustic strums. I was hit with something completely different here.

As a fan of Tom Morello’s work with Rage Against the Machine, his signature guitar is a welcome presence, but this is a slight departure from his previous acoustic albums.

World Wide Rebel Songs is Tom Morello’s first endeavour with a full-band line-up under the Nightwatchman alias, and it’s surprising, triumphant and motivating.

Thankfully, no messages are lost in the transition; Union anthems and murder ballads about the need to rise up and fight remain.

Like a sneaky guerrilla fighter, the album delivers songs that blend into any genre, and makes it easily hypnotic to chant along with the songs no matter what political preference you prescribe to.

But the context and emotion is still the same, these are anthems to provide thought and discussion or even to fuel the fires of dissent. Give songs like “The Whirlwind” or “Save the Hammer For the Man” (which features Ben Harper) a listen, and get ready to fly your flags, as this album makes allies of its listeners.

thrust a staggering array of sounds upon you while somehow maintaining a spacey feel and relaxed energy.

Taylor’s vocal delivery has the same soaring fragility here as always, and it’s this which ties the record together, somehow allowing the woozy electronic sounds which creep in and out of the tracklist to sit very nicely alongside the tracks more similar to Taylor’s back-catalogue.

The variety of songs is impressive, given how cohesive it feels as a whole. Within She’s Found A Way Out, Taylor lurches from a bare vocal and finger-picked guitar melody into a distortion-heavy lo-fi grunge riff, and then headlong into an Animal Collective-esque electronic squelching. Taylor manages it all with apparent ease and each turn never

STEPHEN MALKMUS AND THE JICKS

SELL

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This record never feels like a gamble. While this batch of songs are clearly too left of field to be at home on any Grizzly Bear record, the shift in sound seems a very natural one for Taylor. If anything these songs seem to mark a further development in his songwriting, and if CANT began as an experiment, it’s definitely morphed into something far more settled and completely thought-out.

Stephen Malkmus is always going to be “the singer from Pavement” and while The Jicks are a vastly different band in many aspects, there are plenty of similarities here.

Those expecting a triumphant return to the slacker-rock golden days are going to be disappointed, but there’s probably more on Mirror Traffic than on any Jicks record so far. Sadly, the witty one-liners and playful wordiness that sat perfectly with Pavement have become tired and grating here.

I’d been hoping that Beck’s normally heavyhanded production style might help to reel Malkmus in a little, but his fingerprints are quite light on this record. For their part, The Jicks perform admirably.

When the songs meander along whimsically (eg. closing track Gorgeous George), the results are pretty nice - it’s just a shame that so much of the record is completely overshadowed by Malkmus, who really doesn’t have much to say. Brain Gallop could almost have been an album highlight, but builds up to not much more than a poorlyplaced falsetto and a cheesy guitar solo.

Mirror Traffic is a pleasant enough listen but it’s frustrating to know that Malkmus and band are capable of so much more.

DAVID HENNESSY

DAVID HENNESSY

THE SUBWAYS

JIM WARD

MONEY AND CELEBRITY

QUIET IN THE VALLEY, ON THE SHORES THE END BEGINS

MIRROR TRAFFIC

The British trio has returned with the release of Money and Celebrity which has all the hallmarks of a Subways album; fast, energetic, melodic and hypnotic. Yet this time they returned with an agenda, one aimed solely at getting you off your lazy ass and shuffling your feet. How can anyone resist when the opening track is called It’s a Party, I Wanna Dance with You and Popdeath?

No-one.

After All or Nothing, they honed in on what makes them truly unique and amped it up, which works; yet at times it does come off as slightly cheeky. That’s forgiven when you’re dancing around your apartment with a lampshade on.

Jim Ward, of the now-defunct post-punk outfit At The Drive In, raised eyebrows in pursuing a solo alt-country career. His ambition yielded a trilogy of EPs and this, his full-length album, merges the material of each record together.

Quiet in the Valley... presents Ward’s acoustic craft tumbling forth without urgency or inspiration, exuding a mild-mannered serenity sure to invoke an insufferable tedium. These are same tricks of the trade without any definitive transition between each timid EP.

The road-hardened trio has an obvious influence here of producer Stephen Street (Blur, Keyser Chiefs and The Smiths), delivering them into the realm of catchy pop/ punk with instantly catchy songs.

The messagesand context of the album is the distractions of Hollywood and the dire situation of financial institutions, which you can ponder about whilst getting the party started.

As if pushing through Quiet in the Valley... weren’t hard enough, an additional EP The Electric Six - is included in the release.

Fortunately, it provides a surprise departure from what came before, though it fails to act as a reprieve for the release’s alt-country infection, the additional disc offers a breath of fresh air, restoring some of the grit for which Ward is best known. While not stellar, it’s a definite improvement and the precise tonic required to wash away much of the acoustic drudgery heard throughout the primary disc.

Consider it a pop-punk serving of good energy with a message that you can think about in depth when calling for the paramedics after someone indulged too much at your party.

Escaping the electricity of past endeavours, Ward flails helplessly in shallow waters, leaving little to the imagination of folk/ alt-country fans; a dull and disappointing mishap.

SEB HUDSON

SEB HUDSON

and

THE BRISBANE HOTEL WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7

comes as a surprise. Another plus side of these frequent direction changes is that on the rare occasion that something does fall a little flat (the opening of Answer being an example) it’s never enough to really corrupt the song.

present

NICK MASON

40 Event Guide

Event Guide 41

Hobart CONT.

Hobart Date

Venue

Acts / Start Time

OCTOBER Saturday

Friday 8

Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

10

11

12

13

14

Date

Venue

Acts / Start Time

Date

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Sticks and Kane followed by Devo and Ado

Thursday

Venue

Acts / Start Time

20

Republic Bar & Cafe

Global Battle of the Bands Regional Final 9:00pm

Wednesday

26

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

Thursday

20

Wrest Point Show Room

Jeff Martin 8:00pm

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Billy Witlon & The Hepcats

Wednesday

26

Republic Bar & Cafe

Friday

21

Brisbane Hotel

The Roobs + Bitter Sweet Kicks (vic)

Brian Fraser 9:00pm

Brookfield Vineyard

Acoustic Night

The Grand Poobah

“The Goonies” Movie Night

Thursday

27

Brisbane Hotel

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Tim Davies followed by Jarrod Matchham

The Comedy Forge - Stand Up Comedy

Ivory Bar

Behind Closed Doors

Brookfield Vineyard

Brian Fraser (Blues)

Observatory (Lounge Room)

DJ Dameza

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Micheal Clennett and Guests

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Johnny G

Plan B

Gillie and Lovell

Republic Bar & Cafe

Helloween Hip-Hop Havoc: Mic Dons, Phex, Skurge, Sporatik, Draz, Stray, Fubex and more 9:00pm

Republic Bar & Cafe

Big Scary ‘Vacation Tour’ + Buckley Ward 10:00pm

The Waratah Hotel

Cloud Control w/ Samuel Cole & The Mornings

Brisbane Hotel

Helloween Havoc presents Satanicus + GAPE + Lost Hope + Lacerta + Spiderkicks

Brookfield Vineyard

Coyote Quiz

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Sticks and Kane followed by Devo and Ado

Ivory Bar

DJ Malakai

Observatory (Lounge Room)

DJ Millhouse

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

Roller Derby Afterparty

Ivory Bar

DJ Grotesque

Cash Savage and The Hightimes (vic) + The Dirty Love + The Bone Rattlers

Observatory (Lounge Room)

DJ Millhouse

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Johnny G

Brisbane Hotel

Late Night Krackieoke w De Goede Kip

Plan B

Finch and Corney

Brookfield Vineyard

Benny Walker & Tom Richardson

Republic Bar & Cafe

The Nomad + Dublo 10:00pm

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

DJ Millhouse

Syrup

“Boogie” with DJ’s Nick C and Webby

Ivory Bar

Grotesque, Mez and Dameza

The Alley Cat

The Muddy Turds & The Super Kunts 9:30pm

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

The Grand Poobah

The Back Alley Cock Fight

Plan B

Frequency Events presents Marlo and Nick Arbor

The Grand Poobah

Rogue Sharks, Roadkill and The Ritz

The Telegraph

Micheal Clennett followed by Wolf Brothers

The Waratah Hotel

Versions - The Beatles 9:00pm

Syrup

“Boogie” with DJ’s Nick C and JayDee

Brisbane Hotel

Bastard Fest w/ BLOODDUSTER (vic) + Psycroptic + Taberah + Meticulous Despoilment + Wolf “Fucking” Pack

The Alley Cat

Truckshow, Ramona & Infected 9:30pm

The Grand Poobah

Jess Ribeiro and the Bone Collectors

Brookfield Vineyard

Lounge Room Sessions

The Telegraph

Micheal Clennett followed by The Smashers

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

DJ Rabb

The Waratah Hotel

The Clubhouse 9:00pm

Derwent Entertainment Centre

Brace for War

Leo Sayer 8:00pm

Ivory Bar

Kenny Beeper, Mez and Dameza

Wrest Point Entertainment Centre Brisbane Hotel

Grouch + Isaac Chambers (nz)

Plan B

Gillie and Finch

Brookfield Vineyard

Jess Ribeiro

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Big Swifty 8:30pm

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

DJ Johnny G

Republic Bar & Cafe

Australian Made 10:00pm

24Seven 9:30pm True Live 10:00pm

Syrup

“Tackyland” with DJ’s Webby and Muzza

The Alley Cat

The Tokyo Room & David Knight 9:30pm

The Grand Poobah

Tasmanian Roller Derby Championships Bout #3 Afterparty, DJ’s Trashnpop, Myf & Lolita Lightsout

Saturday

15

Friday

28

The Grand Poobah (Kissing Room)

Juilius Schwing Quartet featuring Elly Hoyt 9:00pm

The Telegraph

Micheal Clennett followed by The Smashers

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

Brookfield Vineyard

Daniel Champagne & Chris Coleman

Plan B

Homegrown Freqs - National DNB Mixing Competition

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Barry Pilkington & The B.J’s 9:30pm

Derwent Entertainment Centre

Swan Lake

Syrup

“Boogie” with DJ’s Nick C and Webby

Republic Bar & Cafe

Ben Wells & The Middle Names + Tiger Town + Nick Balcombe 10:00pm

Ivory Bar

Funk Ferret, Grotesque. Mez and Dameza

The Alley Cat

Wild Turkey and The Eddy O Show 9:30pm

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

The Grand Poobah

Plan B

Finch, Lovell, Corney

Edge of the World Records Presents: Subsketch (SA), Crixus, Dameza, Paddles, Afterthought

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Gypsy Rose 9:30pm

The Telegraph

Micheal Clennett followed by Entropy

Republic Bar & Cafe

Sugartrain 10:00pm

Wrest Point Show Room

Dolly Diamond: More Than A Woman 8:00pm

Brisbane Hotel

Brand New Second Hand “Crime” w DJ BTC + Sister Olivia + Dj Warhol + Dj Nomad - Dress Up Theme “Crimes of Humanity”

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Wolf Brothers followed by DJ Grotesque

Derwent Entertainment Centre

Psychic Medium John Edward

Republic Bar & Cafe

Tom Richardson + Benny Walker 9:00pm

Wrest Point Show Room

The Jezabels 8:00pm

Republic Bar & Cafe

Quiz Night 8:15pm

The Grand Poobah

Danger Academy

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Burglar’s Dog

Republic Bar & Cafe

Mental Health Week ‘Co-morbidity’ EP Launch

by Barry Jones with Dominic Francis 9:00pm

Brisbane Hotel

Franks Flicks

Federation Concert Hall

Marvellous Melvin

Observatory (Lounge Room)

DJ Dameza

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Cake Walking Babies

Republic Bar & Cafe

Slyde + Active Delight 9:00pm

Monday

The Grand Poobah

“Total Recall” Movie Night

Tuesday

Venue Six

Flo Rida

Brisbane Hotel

Mental Heath Week Awareness Gig “Co-Morbidity” w Manchester Mourning + Barry Jones + DJ BTC

Sunday

The Alley Cat

Groove Ganesh 9:30pm

The Grand Poobah

Underage Gig - Tigertown, Ben Wells and the Middle Names, Myamora & Abbey Otten 3:00pm

The Telegraph

Brett Collidge followed by Selecta

Syrup

“Tackyland” with DJ’s Webby and Muzza

Wrest Point Show Room

Brian Cadd & Russell Morris

The Alley Cat

P.A.R.I.S.//T.E.X.A.S 9:30pm

Brookfield Vineyard

Ruby Tunes

The Grand Poobah

Let The Cat Out 9:00pm

Brookfield Vineyard

Grumpy Neighbour

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Joel Everhard followed by DJ Grotesque

The Telegraph

Ado and Devo followed by The Smashers

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

DJ Millhouse

Republic Bar & Cafe

Republic Music Quiz (Concert tickets, cash and other give aways) 2:30pm

The Waratah Hotel

One Sick Lullaby + King Carousel 9:00pm

Federation Concert Hall

Night of Ecstasy 7:30pm

Wrest Point Show Room

James Reyne 8:00pm

Ivory Bar

DJ’s Grotesque, Mez, Dameza

Republic Bar & Cafe

Wahbash Avenue 9:00pm

Brookfield Vineyard

The New Shieks

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

17

Republic Bar & Cafe

Tex and Pete 9:00pm

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Where’s Mary followed by DJ Grotesque

Plan B

Coven Halloween Party

18

Brisbane Hotel

Trasharama Films Screening

Republic Bar & Cafe

Pumpkin Heads 15th Anniversary 9:30pm

Quiz-A-Saurus

The Blue Mosquitoes (Homecoming Show) + One Sick Lullaby + Desi Boy 8:30pm

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Brisbane Hotel

Republic Bar & Cafe

Phrase Babylon Album Launch Tour 10:00pm

Peter Hicks and Twice Bitten 9:00pm

The Alley Cat

Cilla Jane

Syrup

Community CD 2 Launch w M.O.1.O + The Native Cats + Manchester Mourning + Mess O’ Reds + Dj’s

Wrest Point Entertainment Centre

Tony Hadley & Go West 8:00pm

Saturday Halloween Tackyland Scary DJ’s Walking Dead Webby and Monster Muzza

The Alley Cat

Tristen Bird 9:30pm

Monday

24

Republic Bar & Cafe

Joe Pirere 9:00pm

The Grand Poobah

Tuesday

25

Brisbane Hotel

Brand New Second Hand presents Music On Film

Halloween Party - Wild Turkey, The Sin & Tonics & Craicpot

The Telegraph

Micheal Clennett followed by Big Swifty

Yacht Club DJ’s on Show Day Eve with Chiroh 9:30pm

Federation Concert Hall

The Four Seasons 7:30pm

Brookfield Vineyard

Tristen Bird

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Burglar’s Dog

The Grand Poobah

“Blue Velvet” Movie Night

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Micheal Clennett followed by DJ Grotesque

Republic Bar & Cafe

Blue Flies 9:00pm

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Micheal Clennett and Guests

Republic Bar & Cafe

Cake Walking Babies 9:00pm

Observatory (Lounge Room)

DJ Grotesque

Republic Bar & Cafe

Quiz Night 8:15pm

Republic Bar & Cafe 19

Brisbane Hotel

Sitar Lounge

Cargo Pizza and Lounge Bar

Micheal Clennett and Guests

Observatory (Lounge Room)

DJ Dameza

Peacock Theatre

Elixir featuring Katie Noonan

Observatory (Main Room)

DJ Mr B.

Brisbane Hotel Brookfield Vineyard

Republic Bar & Cafe

Jeff Lang supported by Jordie Lane 9:00pm Crooked Fiddle Band (vic) + The Lawless Quartet Ben Roberts & Friends

Thursday

and

22

“Tackyland” with DJ’s Webby and Muzza

16

Wednesday

Saturday

Syrup

Brookfield Vineyard

Republic Bar & Cafe Friday

Acts / Start Time

Brisbane Hotel

Republic Bar & Cafe

9

14

Venue

Brisbane Hotel

Queens Head Cafe Bar

Sunday

Date

20

Sunday

Wednesday

23

26

Saturday

Sunday

Monday

29

30

31

present

THE BRISBANE HOTEL WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 7

TICKETS ON SALE NOW. WWW.MOSHTIX.COM.AU, THE BRISBANE HOTEL, TOMMY GUN RECORDS AND RUFFCUT Warp warpmagazine.com.au

S

G N I LE L

T S FA

warpmagazine.com.au

42 Event Guide

Launceston Date

Venue

Acts / Start Time

OCTOBER Saturday

Sunday

8

9

Thursday

6

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Trev Heins 8:00pm

Toby Della Valle, Roger Davis, Bec SheBounce

Friday

7

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

3 Piece 9:30pm

Irish Murphy’s

Well Strung

Devonport

The Central

The Durka’s

Launceston Saloon Bar

The Jezabels 9:00pm

Saturday

8

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Evil Cisum 9:30pm

Longford Town Hall

Virtuosi 2:00pm

Sunday

9

Irish Murphy’s

Candy Feet + Dave & Kristy + Callum Tully + Ben Castles

Palais Theatre

Virtuosi 2:00pm

Tuesday

11

Irish Murphy’s

Ben Castles

Wednesday

12

Hotel New York

Future Tech

Irish Murphy’s

Top Shelf

Fresh on Charles

Inside Stephen’s Bumbag 8:00pm

Irish Murphy’s

Dave & Kristy

Princess Theatre

Marvellous Melvin 1:00pm

Country Club Show Room

Brian Cadd & Russell Morris

Fresh on Charles

Small City lights + 7th Street Entry + Luke Bennet 9:00pm

13

14

15

Hotel New York

Mace, G-Rox, PD

Hotel New York (Front Bar)

Randall Foxx

Red Hot Music

Jeff Lang

Tapas Lounge Bar

Open Mic Night 7:00pm

Thursday

13

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Liam (Paddy) Padmore 8:00pm

Friday

14

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Threeza Crowd 9:30pm

Devonport

The Central

Jeff Woodward

Saturday

15

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Slats & the Big Naturals 9:30pm

Sunday

16

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Big Jam Band 6:00pm

Wednesday

19

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Tapas Trivia Night 7:00pm

Thursday

20

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Evil Cisum 8:00pm

Friday

21

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Fuzz 9:30pm

Saturday

22

Sunday

23

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Electric Spaghetti 9:30pm

Devonport

The Warehouse

(MOS) Goodwill

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Jeff Woodward 6:00pm

Devonport

The Alexander

Threez a Crowd

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Tapas Trivia Night 7:00pm

Wednesday

Fresh on Charles

Little Cubas w/ Mick Attard & Katy Humphries 8:00pm

Thursday

27

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Pop & Skip 8:00pm

Friday

28

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

TMG 9:30pm

26

Hotel New York

Wax Motif & Jono Fernandez

Saturday

29

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

The Unit 9:30pm

Irish Murphy’s

Victor Charlie Charlie

Sunday

30

Devonport

Tapas Lounge Bar

Bretty & W 5:00pm

Monday

17

Irish Murphy’s

Hamish & Callum

Tuesday

18

Irish Murphy’s

Nathan Wheldon

Wednesday

19

Hotel New York

Future Tech

Irish Murphy’s

Top Shelf

Tonic Bar

Jeff Martin 8:30pm

Thursday

20

Irish Murphy’s

C Williams

Latrobe Memorial Hall

The Four Seasons 7:30pm

Friday

21

Country Club Show Room

James Reyne 8:00pm

Hotel New York

PD, Roger Charles

Hotel New York (Front Bar)

Randall Foxx

Irish Murphy’s

Long Way Home

Manhattan Wine Bar

Luke Bennet

29

Devonport Devonport

Elixir Featuring Katie Noonan

All Aboard + Callum Tully + Dave Kristy + Billy Bennet

Saturday

Henry James 6:00pm Pure Blondes

Manhattan Wine Bar

Irish Murphy’s

28

12

Tapas Lounge Bar The Alexander

Lorenzo Von Matterhorn

16

22

Wednesday

Devonport Devonport

Irish Murphy’s

Sunday

Friday

Acts / Start Time

Hotel New York (Front Bar)

Leigh Ratcliffe

Saturday

Venue

Mace, Bassup, Hopper, Joycie

Irish Murphy’s

Saturday

CITY

Hotel New York

10

Friday

Date

OCTOBER

Monday

Thursday

NORTHWEST

Stanley Town Hall

The Four Seasons 7:30pm

Country Club Show Room

Leo Sayer 8:00pm

Hotel New York

Clubbers Guide to Spring - with Anna Lunoe

Hotel New York (Front Bar)

Darcey, Toby Della Valle, Bec SheBounce

Hotel New York

PD, Roger Charles, Boaz

Hotel New York (Front Bar)

Randall Foxx

Manhattan Wine Bar

Gina & Hamish

Fresh on Charles

Skinny Geans presents Crazy 88s, Dig?, and more

Hotel New York

Mace, Randall Foxx, PD, Basssup

Hotel New York (Front Bar)

Toby Della Valle, Darcey, Bec SheBounce

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