Issue 1471

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NEWSDESK

LOCAL NEWS

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GLOBAL NEWS

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

NOT SHABBY

STATE OF THE ART 2015 The line-up for the State of the Art 2015 has been announced. Headlining will be Birds Of Tokyo in their only Perth show as part of their national tour. Also performing is You Am I, The Scientists, Downsyde, Gareth Liddiard from The Drones, Katy Steele, Sable, The Love Junkies, Timothy Nelson & The Infidels, Rob Snarski, Holly Rollers (in a reunion show), Rainy Day Women, We Two Thieves, Lois Olney, Mt Mountain, Lower Spectrum, Grace Barbe, Boom! Bap! Pow!, Koi Child, Hideous Sun Demon, Lilt, Rag N Bone, Marksman Lloyd and The Community Supergroup (featuring Diger Rokwell, Empty and Wisdom 2th).

A further announcement will be made for the State of the Art Surrounds and Free Stage entertainment, ensuring there’s something for all ages. This will be the fourth annual Sate Of the Art festival and will feature as part of the WA Day long weekend on Saturday, May 30, at the Perth Culture Centre.

Birds Of Tokyo, State Of The Art

DATA RETENTION PARTY

IHART RETURNS The time has come for the third iteration of IHART, a one-night exhibition where a handpicked selection of 40 local, national and international artists show us what they can do with an (empty) Crystal Head Vodka bottle. This year sees the likes of Andy Quilty, Anya Brock, Jaime Lee Major and Jack Of The Dust on task, along with contributions from Pilerats, Juicebox and the Freeform Foundry, all at the behest of IHART creators Michael Prendiville and Dwight O’Neill. Proceeds from the exhibition are earmarked for charity, with this year’s takings going to the Dogs’ Refuge Home in Shenton Park. It all takes place at The Odd Fellow on Friday, May 1.

Coming from such diverse backgrounds as Tel Aviv, Beirut and Middle East Brunswick, Melbourne band The Shabbab are bringing their garage punk rock to Perth. Since releasing their self-titled debut EP last year, the four-piece have played with the likes of Pond, Kid Congo & The Pink Monkey Birds and Peter Bibby as well as finding time to record their seveninch The Wind/Baby’s Gonna Get Deported set for this week. Bringing together the personal and political, their music draws on their own experiences in war zones as well as challenging the idea of difference.

Catch them at Mojo’s Bar, Friday, April 24, with support from Hideous Demon Sun, Doctopus, Shit Narnia and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

The Shabbab

IHART

If the new government data retention laws are concerning you then you might want to book yourself a place at Scott Ludlam and Grahame Bowland’s CryptoParty. Bring your laptops and smartphones as a team of super geeks talk through steps to protect your data. There’ll be Crypto 101 sessions, a parallel session or more advanced users, a Q&A, and music (with rumours Scott Ludlam himself will be DJing). For a night of internet excitement head down to the Rosemount Hotel on Wednesday, April 22. The event is free but booking is essential at eventbrite. com.au.

GIZZ A GO!

Scott Ludlam, CryptoParty

LIVERPUDLIAN ANTHEM Liverpudlian prog-rock band, Anathema, are bringing an acoustic tour to Australia, playing a show in Perth for the first time. Starting out as a doom metal band, Anathema has been creating songs for over 10 years, transforming their sound to the atmospheric and brooding music it is today. Their latest album, distant satellites, won best album at the 2014 Prog Music Awards in London and song Anathema won Best Song of the Year. Experience the vast, emotional acoustic performance of Anathema at the Rosemount, Sunday, November 1. Tickets via metropolistouring.com.

Anathema | Pic: Scarlet Page

BODILY FLUIDS Iconic American jazz rock band Blood, Sweat And Tears are returning to Australia. With their status as one of America’s pioneering jazz, funk, soul, blues, rock’n’roll groups, Blood, Sweat And Tears are bona fide rockers from the ‘60s who created music up until the 80’s and have continued performing to the present day. Bringing their big international hits such as You’ve Made Me So Very Happy, Spinning Wheel and Hi-Di-Ho That Old Sweet Roll this tour will be led by current lead vocalist Bo Bice who was a runner up in the fourth season of American Idol. See them at the Regal Theatre, Wednesday, September 9. Tickets available from ticketek.com.au.

Move over old school megafests, a new festival is hitting Australia, Gizzfest. To celebrate the release of their new album Quarters, out Friday, May 1, pysch rock experts King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard have announced their own personal festival happening in each major capital city. Each day this week the band are announcing the line-up for each city, with the Perth edition at the Rosemiunt Hotel on Saturday, May 23, featuring Psychedelic Porn Crumpets, Mugwump, Dream Rimmy, Gunns, Hideous Sun Demon, Sam Atkin, Laurel Fixation, Shit Narnia, Aborted Tortoise, Doctopus and more. Tickets via Oztix.com.au.

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard

INTERN FOR REV With the 2015 Revelation Perth International Film Festival having into view on the horizon (July 2-12, folks), the Perth film community is ramping up for a full schedule of events, lectures, seminars and, of course, movies. All that razzle dazzle requires a fair bit of people power to make it happen, and so the call is out for volunteers to set their shoulders to the Great Wheel Of Film Culture and help set it in motion.

You’ll be worked like a dog, but you’ll get all the free tickets you can use, a Rev tee shirt and the chance to mix with local and international film hoi polloi. A clean driver’s license and/or an RSA ticket is an advantage, but all you really need is a lot of enthusiasm. Go to revelationfilmfest.org/volunteer to sign up.

Revelation Perth International Film Festival

CC IN British art pop rock band 10cc has a huge back catalogue with albums released from the ‘70s to the ‘90s, they are a staple of British music. Bringing hits such as I’m Not In Love, Rubber Bullets and Dreadlock Holiday, this show will be full of the innovative and polished pop rock 10cc are known for. See them at the Astor Theatre, Wednesday, October 28, with tickets available at astortheatreperth.com.

RETURN TO GALLIPOLI LOST IN THE SHADOWS Presented as part of PUBLIC 2015, Shadow is the new exhibition from New York-based Australian artist, Ian Strange. Combining five photographic works and an immersive film and sound installation, Shadow is a look at the darker side of Australian suburbia, working to subvert and distort signifiers of normality to reveal disturbing and upsetting undertones. It also marks Strange’s first Australian exhibition since 2013, as well as his first hometown show in eight. It runs at a pop-up gallery space at 381 Murray Street, Perth, from this Friday, April 17, until Saturday, May 9.

Ian Strange - Shadow 4

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Currently on show at the Fremantle Arts Centre are three interlinked exhibitions looking at war in general and Australia’s experience of the Gallipoli campaign.

Lev Vykopal’s Gallipoli: The Beautiful City is a result of his 2013 residency on the Gallipoli Peninsula, a collection of drawings, paintings and plein-air works that document the location as it exists today.

Gallipoli: earth & sky, by Vykopal and Paul Uhlmann, depicts the earth and sky that both sides of the conflict would have experienced during the campaign.

Breaking Cover, drawn from the City Of Fremantle Collection, features works by artists who served in wartime , including George Benson, eX de Medici, Brain McKay, RJ Dorizzo, Guy Grey-Smith and Frank Norton. All are on display until Sunday, May 24.

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N E W S L E T T E R - S I G N U P AT F O R E X C L U S I V E C O M P S

AGE OF ADALINE

BANKSY DOES NEW YORK On October 1, 2013, the elusive British street artist known as Banksy launched a self-proclaimed monthlong residency in New York City, posting one unique exhibit a day in an unannounced location, sparking a 31-day scavenger hunt both online and on the streets for Banksy’s work. Banksy Does New York is a documentary about this event that uses local news reports, YouTube videos by passersby, Twitter posts, talking head interviews and material from Banksy’s website to show how the city of New York interacted with each new piece of art. Luna Palace Cinemas in Leederville will be exclusively screening Banksy Does New York from Thursday, April 23. We have five double passes to give away. Enter via the X-Press App.

The Age Of Adaline is a romantic drama which tells of the miraculous life of Adaline Bowman (Blake Lively), who remains 29 years-old for almost eight decades following a near death experience. Over the course of the 20th century, Adaline leads a solitary existence, never allowing herself to get close to anyone who might reveal her secret. But a chance encounter with charismatic philanthropist Ellis Jones (Michiel Huisman) reignites her passion for life and romance.

When a weekend with his parents (Harrison Ford and Kathy Baker) threatens to uncover the truth, Adaline makes a decision that will change her life forever.

Thanks to Entertainment One we have 10 movie passes to give away. Enter via the X-Press App. The Age Of Adaline

Banksy Does New York

POLKA DOT VINTAGE MARKETS The Polka Dot Vintage Markets are part of three massive markets that will host over 300 market stalls selling genuine vintage and retro clothing, homewares, jewellery, pre-loved designer fashion, collectables, gourmet goodies and many more bargains. They take place at Claremont Showgrounds, Sunday, April 26, and Monday, April 27, (Public Holiday) from 9.30am to 4.30pm. We have 10 double passes to give away. Enter via the X-Press App.

EX MACHINA Caleb (Domhnall Gleeson), a 24 year-old coder at the world’s largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan (Oscar Isaac), the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world’s first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl (Alicia Vikander). We have five double passes for the movie preview. Enter via the X-Press App. Ex Machina

Polka Dot Vintage Markets

PRINT AND DIGITAL EDITIONS PUBLISHER/MANAGER Joe Cipriani

EDITORIAL - 9213 2888 MANAGING EDITOR Bob Gordon: editor@xpressmag.com.au LOCAL MUSIC & ARTS EDITOR Travis Johnson: localmusicarts@xpressmag.com.au GIG & EVENT GUIDES CO-ORDINATOR guide@xpressmag.com.au COMPETITIONS win@xpressmag.com.au For band gigs and launches - plugyourgig@xpressmag.com.au

ADVERTISING - 9213 2888 LIFESTYLE STRATEGY MANAGER – AGENCY / DIRECT Tim Milroy - entertainment@xpressmag.com.au Jennifer Groves - advertising@xpressmag.com.au ENTERTAINMENT ACCOUNT MANAGER ENTERTAINMENT / VENUES / LIVE AND DANCE MUSIC PROMOTERS / RECORD LABLES Tim Milroy - entertainment@xpressmag.com.au CLASSIFIEDS LINAGE classifieds@xpressmag.com.au

SPANISH FILM FESTIVAL

PRODUCTION DEPARTMENT - 9213 2854

The Spanish Film Festival 2015 at Cinema Paradiso boasts 38 features from across Spain and LatinAmerica. The festival will open with Spanish Affair by director Emilio Martínez-Lázaro, which was seen by over two million people in the fortnight following its release in Spain. The festival runs from Thursday, April 23, to Wednesday, May 6, at Cinema Paradiso and we have five double passes to give away. Enter via the X-Press App.

CONTENT COORDINATOR Anthony Jackson - production@xpressmag.com.au ART DIRECTOR Dwight O’Neil DESIGN + PRODUCTION Andy Quilty, Anthony Jackson, Rachel Del Borrello

Spanish Affair

PRINTING Rural Press Printing Mandurah DISTRIBUTION - 9213 2853 - distribution@xpressmag.com.au ADMIN / ACCOUNTS - 9213 2888 Lillian Buckley accounts@xpressmag.com.au EDITORIAL DEADLINES General: Friday 5pm, Eye4 Arts: Thursday 10am, WIN: Friday 5pm, Salt Clubs: Monday 5pm , Local Scene: Monday Noon, Gig Guide: Monday 5pm ADVERTISING DEADLINES Cancellations: Monday 5pm, Ads to be set: Monday Noon Supplied Bookings / Copy: Tuesday 12 Noon, Classifieds: Monday 4pm

STRETCH FESTIVAL The City of Mandurah presents the Stretch Arts Festival. Immerse yourself in the eclectic sounds of jazz and folk music, featuring Fox Cat Rabbit, Charlie Moon Meader, Darling, Mr Sims Quintet, Knotwork, Tahlia Hart and more. Join the delightful Owen Hinton as he hosts Festival Square presented by Healthway and Act-Belong-Commit. Soak up the atmosphere, grab some food, attend a free workshop or join in a dance battle. Come down to Mandurah’s eastern foreshore and Mandjar Square 10am-4pm on Saturday, May 2, and Sunday, May 3. We have a six-CD compilation of Stretch Arts Festival 2015 performers to give away to one lucky winner. Enter via the X-Press App. Fox Cat Rabbit, Stretch Arts Festival 6

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33,560 OCTOBER 2012 MARCH 2013 - AUSTRALIA’S HIGHEST CIRCULATING STREET PRESS

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FLESH

NEWS - INTERVIEWS - REVIEWS - CONTENTS

RTRFM IN THE PINES Past And Future Highlights RTRFM’s In The Pines returns to the Somerville Auditorium, UWA, this Sunday, April 19. We chatted to some local music stalwarts about their favourite memories (and the ones they’re looking forward to).

DM3 Abbe May | Pic: David Collins

ABBE MAY, ABBE FUKN MAY(!)

“Pines has always been one of my favourite events of the year. The last time I played was 2012. I had only just landed in Perth a few hours before the performance after spending nearly 40 hours in transit from a tour in Montreal, via New York and Sydney. I was exhausted, disoriented, hungry and annoyed that my feet had swelled up to gargantuan, elephantitis dimensions. I was nonetheless very keen to get to the festival because Pines is fucking awesome and my favourite band, Hootenanny, were playing early. I put on some big boots and a leopard print dress and had huge fun in spite of my elephant feet. Afterwards I slept for nearly two days.”

Brad Coleman, RTRFM’s Peter Barr, Leon Ewing

BRAD COLEMAN, BEAVERLOOP “My highlight was seeing so much talent back in the same place at the same time. I mean, In The Pines always has that but so many of these bands were icons. I enjoyed Peter Barr yelling at us to get off the stage, now that takes me back to the olden days... it was a common occurrence. I didn’t enjoy my amp blowing up on the very first note I played... note to self: service your amp more regularly than every 13 years.”

PETER BARR, RTRFM “You know I’m quite old now, right? So it’s the Rosemary Beads and the Jangle Brothers this year for me - but also the crooning Wilds, the mesmerising Methyl Ethyl, the seductive and evolving Abbe May and cosmic trippers Spaceman Antics.”

Claire Hodgson

CLAIRE HODGSON, WAM/THE SHAKEYS “Geez, there’s always so much local goodness on offer at In The Pines and this year is no goddamn exception!

But if I have to choose, bearded weirdos Thee Gold Blooms, baby face killers Aborted Tortoise and shortloving, shirt hating indie garage creeps Shit Narnia all top my list - by the way the terms ‘weirdos/creeps’ are both compliments in my book! Looking forward to the biggest and best Sunday session of the year this coming weekend at Sommerville!”

Anton Maz

YUMMY FUR, PINES VETERANS Jack Lucas “I remember a guy under the stage off his face, Freo style. He made the stage collapse and my wah wah pedal fell on his head. We stopped the gig. Also Jerome kicked a stage diver offstage once and he stopped the gig ‘cause he was convinced he killed him.”

Anton Maz - “In The Pines is always such a special time. Wonderful setting, amazing audience and so much fun. I remember my mum aka Mrs Yummy Fur getting up and singing a few songs with us after Mark Genge turned her into a radio Perthonality... she stole the show!”

Andrei Maz - Playing while some people crawled under the stage and smoked up underneath our feet. Crazy Freo hippy dancers, always some of those. I recall Jerome kicking a stage diver in the arse and sending him head first offstage. Demanding the audience of miserable fucks get up and dance. And the Rosemary Beads, RIP Cam.”

Jerico Wallace | Pic: Jarrad Seng

JERICO WALLACE, BOYS BOYS BOYS! “My fave Pines moment personally was when we played and about 30 people crashed the stage to dance and party with us They were dancing so hard they nearly knocked my keyboard over, woop! Outta con-TROL !”

Andrew Ryan | Pic: Rachael Barrett

ANDREW RYAN, FALL ELECTRIC/COOL PERTH NIGHTS “Shit Narnia and Statues are totally what I want to see this year. Shit Narnia’s vocalist Sam has a sweet flow to his dissatisfied confident rants. Statues will do what Drowning Horse did a few years ago destroy the pleasant indie vibe with sheer volume and abrasion albeit faster and with more screaming, which is a great thing to do before getting back into the indie vibe.”

In The Pines happens from 11am-10pm this Sunday, April 19, at UWA’s Somerville Auditorium and stars Abbe May, Aborted Tortoise, Fait, Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse, Hideous Sun Demon, Husband, Lanark, Maurice Flavel’s Intensive Care, Methyl Ethel, Rachael Dease, The Jangle Brothers, Shit Narnia, Statues, The Wilds, Thee Gold Blooms, Eduardo Cossio Quartet, Felicity Groom, SpaceManAntics, Grim Fandango and The Rosemary Beads. Pre-sale tickets are $20 RTRFM subscribers, $25 general public from 78 Records, Mills Records and Noise Pollution Records.

Door sales (limited) available on the day, $25 RTRFM subscribers, $30 general public.

THE SOPRANOS TILT MANOR The Manor Club in Leederville with the help of entertainment agency Rough Love is launching a brand new night. The concept: putting two of the club’s favourite genres on in one venue. Tilt down for hip-hop, tilt up for house. The Tilt launch party will feature hip hop and R&B downstairs with Amber Akilla x Daws, Kid Deep and Marko La Kucha. Upstairs will be all house featuring Shaddow Brothers, OM FOM (Fungle Club) and Bunj. For both your hip hop and house needs head to The Manor on Friday, May 1, from 9.30pm ‘til late. Tickets are $10 before midnight and $15 after with a 3am lockout.

Shaddow Brothers, Tilt @ The Manor 8

How would you encapsulate DM3’s music and its chapter(s) in your musical career?

From a songwriting perspective, I look back on it as the natural progression from what I was doing with The Stems and The Someloves. I was moving The Stems away from the overtly ‘60s garage sound with my writing. Then came the short-lived Someloves, a studio project I had going with ex-Lime Spider, Darryl Mather. We’d already released a couple of singles and then recorded the one album, Something Or Other. By then I’d given up on the dream of being a rock star, took a day job and started DM3. I never gave up on my passion for music, though.

I’m proud of what DM3 have been able to achieve under the circumstances. We were a part-time band that didn’t really do that much locally, but we were lucky enough to get our music heard in faraway places. This opened up other opportunities to keep the flame alive.

The band’s popularity in Europe has been especially enduring, hasn’t it?

Europe has been good to us. We had our records released by a Spanish label and we were able to tour there quite a lot and it’s been great to go back in last few years.

Any plans to record new DM3 material?

We talking about doing a seven-inch. An album might be a bit ambitious at this point in time.

RYAN DUX, THE FLOOR/KILL DEVIL HILLS “I’ve got to say The Homicides in 2008 and Kevin Smith & The Seven Storey Jumpers in 2009.”

Joe Japiteyn | Pic: Denis Radacic

Internationally revered local power-pop treasures DM3 will be touring around Australia this month before making their first trip to Japan. The Monsters Of Jangle tour will take in Sydney and Melbourne with local dates happening at the Rosemount Hotel this Friday, April 17, (with The Jangle Brothers and The JAC) and Mojos on Saturday, April 18, (with The Stanleys and A Month of Sundays). BOB GORDON chats with singer/guitarist, Dom Mariani.

You’re off to Japan soon, what’s the interest like for the band been there over the years?

Japan, like Europe, has a healthy rock’n’roll scene. There’s a cult following for almost everything from what I can see. I’ve played there a bit with The Stems and not long ago with The DomNicks. Every time I’ve been, I get asked about DM3. There’s a cool power pop scene going on.

Ryan Dux

JOE KAPITEYN, THE DEVIL RIDES OUT In the Pines 2011 was the first time The Devil Rides Out played a gig that was early enough for my kids to attend. To have them side of stage watching, earmuffs on and eyes wide, was a great moment for me. I remember afterwards that my oldest boy, who was 5 at the time, asking me, ‘Daddy, why did you tip water on your head? That’s crazy!’ In retrospect, he may have been right.

It’s A Jangle Out There

The Ten Sopranos is an act that brings together the forces of 10 talented female singers to recreate both modern and classical songs through the female voice. Led by renowned soprano Penny Pavlakis, the group’s impressive repertoire includes classics such as Nessun Dorma and La Donna Mobile and modern classics such as The Prayer, O Danny Boy, You Raise Me Up, A Hard Days Night, New York New York and many more. See The Ten Sopranos at the Astor Theatre, Friday, September 25, with tickets available at astortheatreperth.com.

What was it like playing with The Sunnyboys at the Festival Gardens?

It was great to play with The Sunnyboys. It was nice to be asked. The Stems got the invitation last year for the Sydney and Brisbane shows. I’m a fan, so it was a thrill for me personally.

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Newsdesk Win Flesh: Music Peace, Nicky Bomba’s Bustamento San Cisco, Rose Carleo, Marlon WIlliams New Noise

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Culture Hub Cover: Old Love Lifestyle, Hitlist While We’re Young, The Longest Ride Feature: What’s Hot Arts Listings Feature: Perth Comedy Festival Feature: ETC Education & Training

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Scene Cover: Alex Niggemann Koi Child, Record Store Day Local Scene: Moana, Amy Sugars Live: Fairbridge Festival, Mobb Deep Winterbourne

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X-Press Guide Social Pics/Volume

MOTOWN SOUL All the way from Las Vegas, Songs In The Key Of Motown is returning to Australia. Through the music of The Temptations, The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Martha & The Vandellas, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye and the Miracles, be transported back to a time when soul and Motown reigned supreme. See Songs In The Key Of Motown at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre, Wednesday, June 24, and at the Astor, Thursday, June 25. Tickets can be bought for the Mandurah performance at manpac.com.au and for the Astor show at astortheatreperth.com.

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Front Cover: The Empire Strips Back returns to Perth on Friday-Saturday, May 29-30, at the Regal Theatre, as part of the Perth Comedy Festival.

Scene Cover: Alex Niggemann hits Geisha Bar this Friday, April 17.

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MUSIC

VIEWS

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INTERVIEWS

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STORIES

Peace - it’s a straightforward band name. Similarly, the UK foursome is a straightforward bunch.

To clarify, straightforward needn’t imply ordinary. For instance, a world where all individuals are nice to one another and the planet’s resources are shared to the benefit of everybody seems straightforward enough. Yet, world peace sounds pretty extraordinary, doesn’t it?

Last month, Peace released their second LP, Happy People. Though, anyone paying attention to the UK pop-rockers during the last year would’ve been familiar with half of the album material already.

Starting with World Pleasure last March, five singles were released in the lead up to the album. The motivation behind this was fairly straightforward.

“There’s no point nowadays feeling traditional about the way to release a record,” says frontman, Harry Koisser. “World Pleasure, we put that out before the album was finished. We were still recording when Lost On Me was released. We thought, ‘Let’s just put songs out as we’re recording them and then get the album out at the end of it’.”

“When we finished World Pleasure I sent it to radio DJs on my own email without checking with the label. And it ended up getting played on the radio in England.”

PEACE Shiny Happy People Touring in support of their second LP, Happy People, Peace play at Groovin The Moo Bunbury on Saturday, April 26, and the Rosemount Hotel on Tuesday, April 28.

AUGUSTUS WELBY reports.

Opting to release songs straight after they’re recorded comes with various risks. For starters, it basically precludes any air of mystery surrounding an album, which many artists strive to evoke. Then there’s the potential of putting out something that you’ll later regret. But Peace weren’t particularly worried about such factors.

“If you’re making music in a certain way, that’s representing where the band’s at, whether it’s us experimenting with trying to be really polished and funky, or us recording live and as grungy as possible, that’s where the band’s at, so put it out. That’s just being genuine, rather than calculating this plan of how to look your best and how to look like the biggest or the coolest. It’s being completely honest with the world and with yourselves.”

Prior to the release of 2013’s In Love, Peace inked a deal with Columbia Records. The current era’s struggle to persuade listeners to purchase music means that major labels are more fastidious with artist signings than ever before. With this in mind, one would suspect the folks at Columbia were in the band’s ear, directing their creative decisions. Disappointingly for Koisser, however, this wasn’t the case.

It’s safe to say that Bustamento founder Nicky Bomba is a man who wears many hats (in fact I’ll wager he is single-handedly responsible for the return of the fedora – no-one wears them better).

Aside from his many musical endeavours, Bomba is a brother to fellow bandmates Michael and Danielle Caruana (AKA Mama Kin), best mate and business partner to Joe Camilleri, brother-in-law to John Butler, a doting dad and a budding park ranger.

“I told my school’s careers counsellor that I wanted to be a park ranger when I left school,” Bomba says with a smile. “I’d been playing music since I was six years old, every weekend with my family. But it wasn’t until I was about 16 that I got to the point where I had to ask myself, ‘Do I actually want to do this?’ I was really into electronics at that time and I absolutely loved playing soccer, so it was a big decision.”

Could Bomba have been the next Steve Jobs, had he gone down the electronics route? We may never know, but he assures that he made the right choice.

“Music carries vibrations that are beyond language, race and culture, in many ways. I like the idea that I can’t really put my finger on it, because that’s the magic, the beauty and the mystery of it. I can play a chord and it just does something to me.”

Nicky Bomba’s Bustamento

NICKY BOMBA Don’t Just Stand There Bustamento Nicky Bomba’s Bustamento have released a new album, Intercontinental Journal 7, and will play at Clancy’s Fish Pub Fremantle on Thursday, April 23; the Rosemount Hotel on Friday, April 24, and Clancy’s Fish Pub Dunsborough on Sunday, April 26.

NATALIE ROGERS reports.

“What to do in the future was constantly on my mind, but one day I thought, ‘No more!

I’m going to pursue music’. So I up and left school to head out on tour and finished up Year 11 by correspondence. I wrote my first song on that tour, and my musical journey started there.”

Fast-forward roughly 35 years and the experience of this intrepid traveller can be heard in every note of Bustamento’s new album Intercontinental Journal 7, out now through Transmitter Records – the label Bomba runs with Camilleri.

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“I thought there was going to be,” he says.

“They’re really like, ‘Do what you want’. Our A&R at the label, he’ll be like, ‘That lyric doesn’t make any sense to a listener, if you want it to say something, you need to say it more effectively’. That’s a personal thing between me and him and he’s really good. He’s like the guy who’s holding the flashlight and shines it onto bits of lyrics which he doesn’t think are as effective.

But that’s as far as it goes.”

Even though the folks at Columbia weren’t harassing Peace about the content that made it to Happy People, Koisser says the release-as-yougo strategy was a safeguard against the record potentially being delayed by the label.

“You hear a lot now of records being held back for two years and labels wanting there to be this big plan about it. By releasing singles and putting songs out as you go, they can’t do that then. If you’ve got half a record pretty much out there, you’ve got no choice. There’d be no point now in holding the album back or trying to make a big marketing plan.

“When we finished World Pleasure,” he adds, “I sent it to radio DJs on my own email without checking with the label. And it ended up getting played on the radio in England. The label thought it was cool, though. We were excited about it. We’d recorded this song and we were like, ‘Well let’s get it out there’.”

And so it is that all 10 songs are now packaged together and available to listeners everywhere. For an album called Happy People, by a band called Peace, it sounds exactly as you’d expect.

Starting with the bubblegum ‘60s pop of O You, on to the throbbing dance funk of Lost On Me and the distorted exuberance of I’m A Girl, the record’s a work of upbeat and hook-heavy excitement. However, scratching below the surface reveals that Koisser’s lyrics often aren’t so carefree. Gen Strange bemoans a world of ‘general ache and pain’, while I’m a Girl points out the alienating nature of the masculine stereotype, and the title track simply questions ‘Where did all the happy people go?’

“That’s what I’m really happy about with this record,” Koisser says. “It was something which started off accidental, but by the third song in it became this thing that I was quite into – sonically representing something but lyrically not. I think it’s a really cool idea, having a song that sounds really happy but the lyrics are really sad. In World Pleasure, with the lyrics being about the grittiness and the litter and the more horrid sides to the world and then the chorus and the music going out into this uplifting section.

“It is quite cool to have this juxtaposition of the music and the lyrics, because they’re always two different things in my head. It’s quite interesting to do as a writer. It’s something that I’m going to expand on in the future because I’ve never done it before. And I’ve never heard that type of thing before.”

“There are influences taken from everywhere – New Orleans, Mexico, the Middle East,” Bomba says. “We play elements of Latin, Afro-Cuban and of course there are sounds from the Caribbean.

This record was made to celebrate all the different sounds and sights we’d experienced over the last 12 months travelling the world together. There are seven of us in the band now and we wanted to hear a journal of our travels through live music – that’s why we chose that title.”

The eclectic feel of the 11 songs, co-written by the band and co-produced by acclaimed Melbourne producer Robin Mai (John Butler Trio, Augie March, Blue King Brown), showcases Bustamento’s passion for calypso, mento, early reggae and ska music, while cementing their place as one of Australia’s premier touring acts. Indeed, to truly appreciate Bomba’s infectious personality, you have to hear him in action.

“This might sound a bit cosmic, but there are harmonic vibrations that are instilled in music and the harmonics of the universe. When you play music you’re tapping into something else, and sometimes it’s just like, ‘Wow, this is beyond any cognitive or scientific explanation’. I feel like I’m connected to something bigger than myself, and music is the portal for me.

“Music carries vibrations that are beyond language, race and culture, in many ways. I like the idea that I can’t really put my finger on it, because that’s the magic, the beauty and the mystery of it. I can play a chord and it just does something to me.”

Sporadically during our chat, Bomba will play a tune on his ukulele, and even with the crude acoustics of the phone line, it sounds rather special.

“The ukulele is a beautiful way to start the day,” he says, before describing his delight at the prospect of bringing Bustamento’s vibrant show to an upcoming Onespace event at Sydney’s Paddington Chapel.

“I’ve never played there before, but when they explained the set-up to me I got a little bit tingly.

We thrive in more acoustically ambient situations, so that venue is going to be tailor-made for us. When it’s a bit more intimate like that, it’s a lot more fun. It’s more like a conversation as opposed to just another performance, you know?

“When we feel comfortable, relaxed and natural, a lot of funny things come out. Sometimes I think we joke around too much! Honestly, I love the connection you can have meeting someone for the first time. When you’re finding out about them, they’re finding out about you and the common language is music, it’s a beautiful thing.”

On that note, one wonders if Bomba ever felt regret for not pursuing his other childhood dreams – especially when he explains that he was granted Honorary International Ranger status for his work with the Thin Green Line Foundation.

“I actually live in the bush now too, so I’m my own little park ranger – and my son’s an amazing soccer player, so he inherited those genes and I can live that dream through him! (laughs).”

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SAN CISCO Mexican Waves

SAN CISCO | PHOTOGRAPHY: KANE HIBBERD

Touring in support of their recently released second LP, Gracetown, San Cisco will perform at the Fremantle Arts Centre on Thursday, April 23, (licensed) and Friday, April 24, (all-ages), as well as Groovin The Moo Bunbury on Sunday, April 26. BOB GORDON chats with drummer, Scarlett Stevens.

San Cisco drummer, Scarlett Stevens, is “in a hotel in the middle of nowhere, in Amsterdam.”

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Sounds terrible doesn’t it? This isn’t, however, a holiday. The band are in the midst of a European tour following on from a very successful US visit that included a performance at Mexico’s Vive Latino Festival.

“Mexico was insane,” Stevens enthuses. “It was like a big scale festival. We had a big crowd and that was really nice but the thing that kind of blew our mind was the signing that we did at a record store the next day. The line was going down the street and around the block. It took like two-and-a-half hours to meet everyone. The fans there are so passionate and affectionate. They bring you letters and fan art. The level of enthusiasm from the fans was crazy.

“I haven’t seen that anywhere else. We meet fans all over the world but we’ve never had

anything on that scale. Their energy! Maybe it’s the South American way, they’re just so vibrant and enthusiastic... they want to kiss and hug you.”

And sing to you. The band’s Mexican fans sung along to the songs from the new Gracetown album quite joyously.

“Apparently Nick’s walking and driving now. He’s just got a scabby bit on his foot

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that’s really gross.”

“It was pretty surreal,” Stevens says. “I don’t know how, because I don’t think the album had been released yet, but they knew the words.”

The band’s headline shows were also a success, so much so that they’ll be returning Stateside for a bigger jaunt in June.

“We sold out both New York shows and The Troupador in LA and they were all really fun shows,” Stevens says. “We’d been at South By Southwest (Austin, Texas) just before, so we were a little bit run down but they were really great, fun shows.”

Well versed in the art of touring, Stevens realises that ‘run down’ may as well mean ‘keep running’.

“We’d all gotten a bit of flu, at the time we went to New York, but we all had ours heads in the game, I think. We were well-rehearsed from SxSW so the New York shows ended up being the best ones on the tour.”

San Cisco have been playing roughly half of the Gracetown album with the response approaching Mexican levels of positivity.

“We’re playing About You, Bitter Winter, Snow, Wash It All Away, RUN and Too Much Time Together,” Stevens says. “That’s it for now. They’re sounding good. I think Too Much Time Together is a fun one for the crowds, seeing as it’s the single as well. Snow goes down really well, it’s a bit more dancey, four-to-the-floor. It kicks in and has a really big sound... it works well at gigs. Bitter Winter goes well... people sing a long to that.”

Of course bass player, Nick Gardiner, has been absent from this tour, having injured his foot in a shooting accident on a farm (and has rather ironically been subbed by Jen Aslett from Freo friends, Gunns). He’s been in touch while all this fun’s been going on.

“Yeah, we have heard from him,” says Stevens. “He’s been organising some stuff for our next tour, the Groovin The Moo tour. Logistical things on the production front. Hopefully it’ll all be ready when we get home so we can start rehearsing.”

So he’s all good to play then?

“Yeah, apparently he’s walking and driving now,” Stevens says. “He’s just got a scabby bit on his foot that’s really gross. I don’t think he’ll be dancing a lot, but he’ll be present. He should never have had a gun in the first place!”

Prior to the band’s national Groovin The Moo run, they’ll be performing two shows at the Fremantle Arts Centre. It’s a lovely way to come home.

“The Arts Centre is such a pretty venue and we have a lot of history with it,” Stevens says. “I think I played my first ever gig there.”

MUSIC

ROSE CARLEO There Comes A Time Perth-born Rose Carleo has delivered a rock’n’roll tour de force with her third album, Time Is Now. SHANE PINNEGAR discovers a talented singer who is ready to rock after a couple of heavily country music-leaning records.

Boasting a classic Aussie rock sound courtesy of producer Mark Opitz – a man whose CV boasts names such as Divinyls, The Angels, Cold Chisel, INXS, AC/DC, Rose Tattoo and many more – Rose Carleo’s new album, Time Is Now, doesn’t hold back on the rocking riffs, nor on the powerhouse vocals of the singer herself.

“I’ve always been a rock chick,” exclaims Carleo. “I suppose the brief for this album was to write rocking stuff with a good beat. I grew up listening to a lot of country music but also a lot of rock stuff, Aussie rock stuff. There’s nothing better than when you see someone tapping their foot to your song or even yourself when you’re at a concert or something just being able to feel the groove. I wanted to write four-on-the-floor stuff but I still

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wanted songs with substance, with good stories or messages in them.”

Growing up in Perth Carleo was influenced by everthing “as far fetched as Emmylou Harris to AC/DC - and there’s a lot in between. I suppose Buckcherry is another favourite of mine so that was probably that kind of vibe I had in mind to a degree.

Also, a little bit of that bluesier influence such as the Black Crowes, another favourite who have had a big influence on me. The rest fell into place, I suppose. It just sorta came naturally.”

Many of those diverse influences came from Carleo’s mum, a country music fan who promoted gigs and fomented a scene in Perth when Carleo was a pre-teen.

“She was into music - just a huge music lover and appreciator,” recalls Carleo fondly. “Mum started a couple of clubs just to help people along.

She enjoyed going to the gigs and didn’t want to see them end so she said, ‘oh, I’m just going to start a club so there’s a gig every week’.

“She was a big music appreciator and it was because of her that I first got up on stage - I got dared to get up on stage one night at the club when I was 13. I’d done my homework so I was allowed to go - it was actually at the old Dianella Hotel. They called me up - I looked across the table at Mum and said, ‘I’m not getting up there, you’re crazy’. She said, ‘I dare you’, and that was it, I was up like a shot. It was all good, so up there, it all began!”

Carleo eventually left Perth about nine years ago, first for Brisbane, and now the mountains outside of Sydney, where she met musical and life partner, Rogue Sharks guitarist Mick Adkins, who also plays on the album.

“It was the right time for me to move,” she explains.

“I think I had to be over here, not only for some of the music stuff but also to have that life experience to bring me to this point now, if that makes sense?”

Time Is Now is extremely honest and brave lyrically, tackling such thorny subjects as betrayals in relationships and the music business, and on more than one song, standing up for yourself and seizing the day. Carleo says she’s a pretty open and honest person at the best of times.

“On my two previous albums I did a little bit of that. With this third album, the older you get you just kind of... it’s not that you don’t care, but you just go, ‘whatever’. We’re all the same, we really are.

We go through different things. I think if someone can learn from me documenting my experience or talking about something, I think that’s a really cool thing to be able to do for someone. I thought, ‘I’m just going to be myself and say what I want to say and be honest and open about it’. I think people pick up on that and they appreciate it.”

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MARLON WILLIAMS Fear Of Song Marlon Williams plays at Mojos this Friday, April 17, and Jimmy’s Den on Saturday, April 18. MATTHEW TOMICH reports.

Without so much as a debut album to his name, Marlon Williams has performed at the Astor Theatre, Meredith Music Festival and the Sydney Opera House. But make no mistake – this is not a man without musical pedigree.

The country singer/songwriter cut his teeth with New Zealand outfit, The Unfaithful Ways, before making the move to Melbourne two years ago, and releasing a trio of records featuring old country standards (and new songs disguised as classics) in collaboration with fellow New Zealander, Delaney Davidson, called Sad But True.

Still, it’s a hell of a feat for a musician with only two singles under his own name. That Sydney Opera House gig was a part of TEDxSydney, which saw Williams performing to a crowd of 4,000, sandwiched between talks on such relaxed subject

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matter as euthanasia, the mathematics of sex and the ethics of failure.

“In fact, there was talk of me doing a talk,” he says of the experience. “And I thought of what I was going to do for a while. I even had a topic and everything, and then decided it would be better if I just played songs and stick to what I know. I was in New Zealand and my manager said that I had the opportunity to do this, so I ended up playing a show in Littleton on Friday night, leaving there at about 2am, going to the airport straight to Sydney and going to the Opera House at 11am, and deliriously playing to 4,000 people at the Opera House.”

There’s a twisted elegance to Williams’ take on his genre. Country is a dirty word in some circles, yet on his latest single, Dark Child, Williams croons the haunting narrative of a father’s grief with a richness that’s enchanting enough to sway even the most country-averse listener. Maybe it’s the half-decade-plus of singing in a cathedral choir or the year of classical vocal training before he made the choice to pursue country over opera, but there’s mastery to the way every word wraps around the light strumming of guitar chords to paint a bleak and beautiful portrait of mourning.

Williams’ self-titled debut – which comes out Friday, April 24 – was written and recorded in his hometown Lyttlelton over the course of 2014, where the singer found himself haphazardly bouncing between the cottage where he wrote and the studio where he recorded. Though the writing process in his collaborations with Delaney Davidson were structured and methodical, when on his lonesome, Williams makes songwriting sound less like careful craftsmanship and more like an internal battle.

“I never like to spend too much time on a song. I guess I’m kind of scared of songs in that way. I don’t want to give them room to bite me so I just get them finished before they do. It’s a bit of a strange relationship with songwriting, but I want to get more systematic. And that’s the problem, that it’s a hard beast.

“It’s the fear of seeing too much of my own self in the song. I don’t want to look too closely at it before passing it off. I don’t want to become too invested in it. I need to have it out of my way, quickly.”

For a New Zealander now living in Australia, classically trained and yet playing a style of music most commonly associated with America, Williams’ sensibility may seem culturally confused, but his approach seeks to dislocate country from its geographical ties.

“The idea, I guess, is to decentralise it. I think geographical anonymity is the way I can see through that problem. I try not to be informed by American music as a thing.” Laughing, he adds, “It’s just music, man!”

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NEW NOISE

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THE WOMBATS

MARINA AND THE DIAMONDS

Glitterbug 14th Floor Records

Froot Atlantic/Warner

Given their previous successes and the fact that it’s been four years since their last LP, The Wombats’ third album, Glitterbug, is sadly a bit of a disappointment.

The album has three very distinct parts to it. Singles Give Me a Try and Greek Tragedy and the opening track, Emoticons, (which served as a teaser song) open the album. They contain melodies and riffs that are interesting and enjoyable to listen to, but they lack the signature sing-along lyrics that were viciously self-deprecating and humorous in equal parts. Those lyrics got into your brain without you knowing quite how they got there and made their past singles so memorable.

Next is a block of songs where being ‘influenced by the ‘80s’ is a huge understatement and then two songs The English Summer and Pink Lemonade that purely serve as nostalgia for the band’s guitar jangling days. Whether intentional or not, this sectional organisation makes the songs mostly indistinguishable from each other and they become blocks of just different styles of noise. The one song that jumps out of this noise is Your Body Is a Weapon, a single released all the way back in 2013, that still retains some of their former spark.

On the surface Glitterbug is a Wombats album, with lead singer Matthew Murphy’s distinctive Liverpudlian drawl, danceable riffs and larger than life sounds. But it lacks that savage humour and that undeniable catchiness that had previously prevented the Wombats from falling into post-millennial Britpop obscurity.

Welsh singer, Marina Diamandis, is unique. She thinks outside the box and lyrically explores elements of human behaviour like no other.

The latest release from Marina and the Diamonds, Froot, is a mixture of indie pop and synth pop. Unlike its overproduced predecessor, Electra Heart, which involved Diamandis’ adopting a famehungry alter ego, Froot is honest and authentic.

The record is at its ripest when the vocals are stripped back, displaying Diamandis’ unique sound. However, there are times when her impactful lyrics are lost amidst the musical production.

Froot is ultimately a break-up album. It mostly celebrates independence and emphasises that you don’t have to rely on someone else to be happy; most heard in Can’t Pin Me Down. On the other hand, synth pop-rock track I’m A Ruin conveys the guilt associated with ending a relationship.

The title track is a mash-up of disco and synthpop, which exhibits the quirkier side of Diamandis’ musical persona.

Froot is the strongest album from Marina And The Diamonds to date and showcases Diamandis’ unusual vocal delivery despite the few tracks that do fall flat.

JACK LACY

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LUCY RUTHERFORD

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THE PRODIGY The Day Is My Enemy Take Me To The Hospital/ Cooking Vinyl

‘Countrypolitan’ is a word that has been used to describe this album. That is unbelievably maddening. Although, to be entirely fair, it’s not an inaccurate description of Josh Rouse’s Embers of Time.

The sort of destructive introspection that results from such a devastating admission isn’t to be found on Embers of Time, as Rouse reminds us what’s good in the world with his upbeat, countryinflected folk.

The obvious connection to make here is that the Spain-based American has a lot of common with City And Colour. But where Dallas Green’s solo project is steadily been subject to more and more overproduction, Rouse’s efforts focus mainly on a man and his guitar.

Of course there’re pianos, accordions, drums, steel pedal guitars, maracas even, but as in say, Time, where all these extra instruments factor, they merely flank Rouse’s main course – not overtake it. The steel pedal in particular gives the very accessible strumming an incredibly powerful mood to it.

The best track on this album, You Walked Through The Door, is the most refined example of what makes Embers of Time great: enjoyable and conventional pop tunes, squeezed from the finest musical citrus fruits of Americana.

The Day Is My Enemy comes five years after Invaders Must Die and nearly 20 years on from The Prodigy’s biggest hit, their third LP The Fat of the Land. Despite such distance, there are plenty of commonalities between the three. Track titles such as Nasty, Rok-Weiler and Rebel Radio give you an indication of this record’s prominent meanness.

But hey, at least you can’t accuse The Prodigy of breaking character.

Nevertheless, The Day Is My Enemy does contain a few novelties to pique fan interest. The opening number and title-track features Massive Attack/ Tricky collaborator Martina Topley Bird interpolating Ella Fitzgerald’s All Through the Night. Topley Bird’s creamy elegance dresses a militaristic dancefloor bulldozer. The contrast works wonderfully well and it’s a shame she doesn’t show up later in the piece to provide respite from Keith Flint’s barked lead vocals.

The album’s other standout is Ibiza, which features vocals from Sleaford Mods’ Jason Williamson.

Williamson joins The Prodigy to take aim at lazy DJs who get paid stacks of money for plugging in USB sticks. This is a soft target, sure, but it’s an issue that the fuddy-duddy in all of us has probably felt urged to bitch about. Williamson’s snarled mockery is a perfect fit for the video-game punk rock arrangement.

At the same time as demonstrating The Prodigy’s loud, brash strengths, The Day Is My Enemy clearly delineates their limitations, which they seem to have sealed off sometime in the late-‘90s.

NICHOLAS HARTMAN

AUGUSTUS WELBY

JOSH ROUSE Embers of Time Yep Roc Records

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DEATH GRIPS Jenny Death After a tumultuous series of events between the first half of Death Grips’ double album, The Powers That B, and the present, the band has finally released part two – the highly-anticipated Jenny Death in spite of a breakup, a purely instrumental release and reforming for a world tour. In the lead-up to its release, Death Grips released several music videos of tracks from the album, heralding a scorching release of experimental rap combined with the unusual inclusion of guitardriven songs, all powered by memorable production and lyrics – and as the anticipated release landed, it earned the hype that was running behind it for months.

Straight from the opener, I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States, Jenny Death sends a statement to listeners: this album is not for the faint of heart (or the elderly... or children). I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States pummels with a rapid-fire beat over a seething drone synth with repeated howls of ‘I Break Mirrors With My Face In The United States’, and ‘I don’t care about real life’.

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Straight from the beginning, Jenny Death sets its theme clear: wanton aggression coupled with a reckless self-loathing, driving the music into a place of universal loathing and the idea that there’s nothing to lose. Multiple takes of this happen over the course of the album. Turned Off starts with the killer opening about chain smoking in the shower, despite the risk of death through heart attack or cancer, and that nothing’s sacred when vocalist MC Ride gets naked.

Other lyrical themes involve the literal piss-take of Pss Pss, which, due to its production and sexualised lyrical content, could be seen as a swipe at the overtly sexualised pop-rap culture. For the most part though, the album sticks to its anger like an endless grudge.

Combine the lyrical theme with pounding guitar riffs and some production as wild as the inner machinations of a meth addict, and Jenny Death never stagnates, staying unexpected, interesting and harsh.

Jenny Death’s success comes due to a more constructed approach to songwriting. The 10-track album features more rap and less electronic experimentation than previous releases, and as a result, Jenny Death takes the distinction of being their most coherent yet violent album in years. It might not be for everyone, but if you’ve ever enjoyed noise rock, heavier electronic music and rap, this is musical gold.

THOMAS BRAND

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DAN BRODIE Big Hearted Lovin’ Man, A Retrospective 1999-2014 Fat Swine Records You might wonder why musicians do it nowadays.

The internet has taken most of the money out of music, and at best a cult act such as Dan Brodie will make a modest living scratching around to make ends meet.

The answer is right here between the (virtual, if you like) grooves of Brodie’s retrospective throughout his life in music, from the late ‘90s altcountry twang of The Broken Arrows – with whom he picked up a couple of ARIA nominations - through to his more recent, gritty garage rocking Grieving Widows outfit.

Brodie makes music because he has stories to tell, songs to sing, melodies to share – art to create. He’s a largely unsung poet, troubadour, rocker and a minor legend.

Recorded in one night in January, 2015, in Melbourne, with only sporadic electric guitar from guitarist brother Chris Brodie, Big Hearted Lovin’ Man sees Brodie reinterpreting his songs with just an honest voice and acoustic guitar, bringing a fragility and raw truth to the likes of Big Black Guitar, Take A Bullet, Sonic Youth’s 100%, (I Don’t Want) Another Lover, and the rootsy spiritual stomp of Lower Me Down.

In light of Brodie’s cancer battle which took him out of play for most of 2013, the gentle touch, emotional vocals and evocative lyrics of I’m Floatin’ Mama, Lullaby and I Seen The Light make them impossible not to view in a brand new light.

If it’s part of the magic of art to take on new meanings dependant upon their interpretations as time goes by, then Dan Brodie’s Big Hearted Lovin’ Man is magic indeed, and shows in no uncertain manner how he garnered the admiration of the likes of Spencer P. Jones and Paul Kelly.

BETH HART Better Than Home Mascot Records Beth Hart opens her stunning new album with Might As Well Smile, simultaneously a reminder to herself of the power of smiling in the face of adversity, and not to repeat the mistakes of her past. These themes – along with love and self-belief – run strong through the album.

Hart’s huge voice dominates Better Than Home – bold, emotive and quite astonishing at times.

What she brings to the near-spiritual Tell ‘Em To Hold On and the ‘60s R&B of Tell Her You Belong To Me is unique.

Far from a tale of a love triangle, this latter track relates the ultra-personal true story of her stepmother trying to ban all contact between the young Hart and her father. The power of her anguish, pain and determination are all there in her incredible performance.

Clean and sober and warmly protected in the embrace of love Hart may be, but she’s not become a shrinking violet just yet. Her turn on Trouble brings to mind classic blues belters like Big Mama Thornton: noone writes songs like this any more.

Continuing the personal theme is Better Than Home, Mama This One’s For You and Mechanical Heart, all of which explore the complicated relationships in her life, or the love she’s found with former road manager Scott Guetzkow.

Guetzkow’s influence cannot be understated on Hart; instead of spiralling into darkness she is embracing the light in all things, and Better Than Home is the result. A career highlight.

SHANE PINNEGAR

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SAY LOU LOU Lucid Dreaming A Deux Records / Cosmos Music

ROSE CARLEO The future of Aussie rock’n’roll is looking golden with the release of Rose Carleo’s third album, Time Is Now, which is destined to be remembered with the same fondness as the Baby Animals or Screaming Jets debuts: it’s that good.

Where Carleo’s last two records were planted strongly in the country music camp, here she has assembled a band of kickarse rockers with serious cred, led by guitarist/boyfriend, Mick Adkins, and his Rogue Sharks bandmates drummer Ben Ashwood and Steve Adkins; and Screaming Jets/Rose Tattoo bassist, Paul Woseen.

These guys may do the heavy lifting – with their pedigree, you know the results will impress – but it’s Carleo’s album through and through, and her vocals have the lot: raw and aggressive a la Suze DeMarchi on rockers Ten Years, Don’t Play Me For A Fool and the ladyballs-out Down n’ Dirty; soulful and expressive a la Ann Wilson on the beautifully uplifting Anchor (‘I’m not an anchor, I’m a sail’); not afraid to inject a little country rock into proceedings on Between The Rock & The Roll and Pieces, thereby undoubtedly widening the album’s commercial appeal.

Time Is Now is the perfect title for Carleo’s album: she’s found her niche, written a mature and energetic set of songs that deserve a huge audience, and has the band to deliver the goods.

The duo, Say Lou Lou, comprises of twins Miranda and Elektra. They hail from Sweden, look remarkably like those girls from Abba, their father is Steve Kilbey and they take some parts of Dead Can Dance as their blueprint. The sum of their musical output is quaint dance pop, a sort of aural candy smorgasbord. Except that, unlike a smorgasbord, you can dance to this. The debut record seemingly comes at a time when there’s no strife in their life. Full of youthful exuberance and good looks, they’re yet to fully experience the catharsis that will undoubtedly darken their road in the future.

Peppermint is a charming love song.

Not a sordid easy fix in the disco toilets love, but a tender reflection with a hint of self-scrutiny and regret. Beloved picks up on this theme in a whimsical, less precious and more careless manner, albeit it’s just uncomfortable to suggest that it is a song you would not wish to play as you overstay your own party.

The single Nothing But A Heartbeat is suitably radio friendly and confident, although it would be fascinating to find out whether Say Lou Lou will not be submerged in this time of short memories and shorter attention spans. As a debut, Lucid Dreaming is neither particularly good nor bad. It’s reinvigorating and sophisticated in parts, befitting these heady, hopeful and inventive days. Nevertheless, the flip side is that is can also descend to being no more than incidental music in other parts.

SHANE PINNEGAR

BRONIUS ZUMERIS

Time Is Now Independent

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LURCH & CHIEF Breathe Illusive Halfway through the opening song on Lurch & Chief’s Breathe EP, I had to eject the CD from my computer to check it wasn’t the wrong one. That’s not to say that the song Echo isn’t a brilliant exercise in neo-grunge, but I had to make sure it wasn’t an unknown Alvvays or Warpaint album.

It’s clear Lurch & Chief’s six members are now all working from the same page. As indicated by the welcome sonic misdirection of Echo, female vocalist Lilibeth Hall has taken the role of lead singer from male vocalist, Hayden Somerville, on three of the EP’s five songs. The

first single released from the album is the highly accessible Fading Out. It captures the same radness of Sons & Daughters, with duelling male/ female vocals placed over the top of a driving Celtic punk rhythm.

Hall’s revelation as lead vocalist has not resulted in a lessening of Somerville presence on the record. The song that his slightly nasal intonation and brooding lyrics really comes to the fore is Reasonable Man, the yearning and hunger communicated by Somerville is stirring. As with all the tracks on this album, Anderson and Trevisan’s slightly post-punk guitar tweaking perfectly suits the mood created by the vocals.

It’s deeply satisfying to hear a young band lift their songwriting and production value to that of an international standard.

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L I F E S T Y L E & C U LT U R E

When I began my interview with playwright Chris Isaacs, I launched the usual pleasantries at him: “How are you today, is your day going well? What have you been up to?” Isaacs’s reply was out of the ordinary.

“I had a dream last night that I had new sneakers. In my dream I had bright shiny new sneakers and then I woke up and I didn’t have any sneakers, and that was a bit of a downer. But I’ve gotten through that. They were really white, pure white, almost angelic white, it was like my feet were submerged in clouds or marshmallows. It probably means something about my mother, something to do with the Oedipus complex,” he told me.

Chris is deadpan, but I know he’s having a laugh; he’s the kind of person that doesn’t like to let on that he’s making a joke. This could be an indicator of the kind of humour audiences will find in his new work opening at The Blue Room, Old Love.

The premise certainly seems ripe for the kind of surreptitious comedy that stems from when people are forced to into uncomfortable social territory.

Isaacs offers this brief synopsis of his play: Jim and Gabby are a young couple who are having Rob, a long-time friend of Jim’s, over for dinner with his new partner Florence. They haven’t met her yet; it’s been a three-month relationship, which is unusual for Rob, because he doesn’t normally have relationships that last longer than a few weeks. His new partner happens to be somewhere between 60 and 80; her age will never really be defined, but she’s an “older woman” to this couple. The play ensues with them managing the dinner party.

“The idea for the play came to me in different stages. I started writing a scene at a dinner party as an exercise to explore that form, and at the same time in my personal life I was looking at the attributes I wanted in a partner -- what do I look for, what are the things that I think would be important to have in someone who I’d spend a serious amount of time in my life with?

I started writing this list of attributes down and I realised that things like age, gender and race had no influence whatsoever on the qualities that I think people look for in a good partner.

Kindness and warmth and generosity don’t have an age barrier,” he says.

Isaacs has been busy with other projects, such as the Fringe World hit FAG/STAG and a stint in Taiwan with It’s Dark Oustide. “The initial draft was written very quickly last year and then it’s had a break because FAG/STAG took priority since it was happening sooner. Coming back to that draft in February, we did a reading of it and to be fair it was pretty shit. It wasn’t very good at all. So we’ve been reworking it, rewriting it, shifting it. The last three weeks have been a real dissection of what the play’s about. It’s been really great, it’s been hard work. I’ve gone through 11 drafts in 3 weeks.”

At this stage he’s in the process of handing his play over to director Jeffrey Jay Fowler and the actors. “I always talk about plays like children. A friend who’s also a playwright says stuff like, ‘Plays don’t need doctors to fix them, they need families to raise them.’ I really like that idea, and I think that with this play we’ve got a family and I’m letting them raise the child. You can’t dictate everything that they are and they will inevitably, no matter how much you try to push them in one direction, become something that is out of your control. With plays it’s the same. As a playwright you have to accept that there’s a point where it will become something that you didn’t know it would be.”

Old Love runs until Saturday, May 2, at the Blue Room Theatre. For tickets and session times, go to blueroom.org.au CICELY BINFORD OLD LOVE - PHOTO BY JAMIE BREEN

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A R T S & C U LT U R E

Every week we bring you the best in fashion, food, shopping and lifestyle.

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YOUR COSMETIC MIX Balancing Your Beauty If hibernating over socialising is more your winter scene, picking up a new beauty product might inspire an outing; fabulous lipstick deserves more of an audience than the mirror. (And while you’re shopping, browse bodycare designed to help you minimise, if not avoid, dry skin this cold season.)

EAT AT: LUCKY CHAN’S LAUNDRY + NOODLE BAR It’s been a long time coming, but the crowdfunded bar/restaurant, located on William Street, Northbridge, is finally opening its doors. They’ve hammered their social media campaign and generated a lot of buzz, so now we finally get to see what all the fuss is about.

Lucky Chan’s

Benefit Cosmetics are excited about the release of their Roller Lash Mascara that “hooks, lifts and curls” (kind of like a hair roller, hence the name), so if you’re in the market to try a fresh eye product, this is a total newbie. The goal here is to take the eyelash curling step out of your makeup equation.

Recently The Body Shop lunched the Fuji Green Tea collection, made with green tea sourced from Mount Fuji in Japan, and if you’re the kind of person who loves a relaxing but refreshing bath, the Fuji Green Tea Bath Tea (recommended you use in conjunction with the Fuji Green Tea Bath Infuser) might be your new best friend.

M.A.C x Mia Moretti Capsule Collection

Kendall Jenner fans will be prepped for the Courrèges Estée Lauder collection (you might have spotted her in the campaign imagery). The partnership between the fashion house and the beauty brand is pretty interesting: think of a fusion of ‘60s-visit-to-the-moon vibes and modern day, light, fun cosmetics. The “poptimistic” limited edition collection hits counters/the website in the first week of May.

Mecca Cosmetica is now stocking the RMS Beauty Living Luminiser. The product creates a great glow while also nourishing skin, thanks to coconut oil in the formula. The organic range is from celebrity makeup artist Rose-Marie Swift, so if you haven’t checked out RMS before, head in store and take a look.

The English have definitely got it going on right now; the latest colours from London’s Ciaté, available at Kit Cosmetics and Mecca, are standout options. If you love cheek colour in a cream form, the Blush Pop is awesome and comes in a lot of shades.

For lip colour lovers, the Ciaté Liquid Velvet Matte Lip Stick might be one to try.

Mid-March saw M.A.C offer their limited edition Cinderella collection (did not include a glass shoe, I already checked, but there was glitter). On a totally different wavelength is M.A.C.’s Mia Moretti capsule collection. If you didn’t get to go to the US for Coachella, you can console yourself with some warm, summery shades the stylish DJ digs.

For perfume people, Clinique’s latest addition to their Aromatics range has just become available. The fragrance, Aromatics In White, is being marketed as a signature scent for women who want to stand out, so expect a bold experience. To give you an idea, top notes include violet leaf, cistus, and sichuan pepper.

On the body front, West Australian natural beauty e-boutique Eve Organics has added new gems to their virtual shelves: last month it was Fable Naturals, a natural and organic Canadian brand, and next months it’s Harlow, the Vancouver-based natural and organic range. (Sense a theme?) Definitely of interest to those tackling winter body complexion dryness, especially eco body/beauty buffs, so consider clicking.

GILLIAN O’MEAGHER

GET YOUR SPORT ON Footloose And Fit

DRINK AT: FIVE BAR This Mt Lawley institution is renowned for its incredibly curated beer selection. Why would you not?

Five Bar

It seems West Australians love to run (or sometimes, walk). Cardio-focused outings are a healthy, positive way to enjoy the last month or two of decent weather before the cold season really hits, so why not check out some of the upcoming active events around town, and start your training now.

A popular one for the calendar is the HBF Run For A Reason, held on the May 24. There’s a new 21.1km half marathon option, as well as the Ramsey Health Care 4km and 12km distances. Participants can enjoy free weekly fitness sessions in the lead up (check out the website for locations). It’s encouraged you fundraise for one of over 130 health-related charities, and the HBF Fitness app rewards you for training, with more money donated to charity (details on the site).

Last year over 30,000 people took part in the event. Random fun fact: Hashtag your instagram photos on the day with #hbfrun, and you can have them printed for free at the “Instaprint” booth (located at the finish line).

Before then, another great day for the family is the Bankwest Gallipoli Run. The options

SHOP AT: BEAUFORT STREET BOOKS How quickly this relatively recent addition to the Beaufort caffeine strip became an institution. Browse to your heart’s content, pick up some great lit, hit your favourite watering hole and get reading.

Beaufort Street Books

HBF Run For A Reason

are 5km or 10 km in Perth on April 19th in Kings Park, and 5km and 8km in Albany on Sunday April 26th. The first 2,000 people to register for Perth receive a free t-shirt provided by Bankwest, as do the first 500 to register for Albany. For entry fees and further details, check out the Bankwest website. Funds raised go to RSL, Athletics WA, and Legacy. (2015 marks a century since Anzacs fought in Gallipoli.)

The Perth MDC (Mother’s Day Classic) for 2015 takes place on Sunday, May 10, with the option of either a 4km walk or run, or an 8km walk or run, starting at the Eastern end of Langley Park.

You can find entry fee details on the website, with two thirds of each fee going to the Breast Cancer Foundation’s research programs. It’s a fun and active way to spend quality Mother’s Day time with mum, or to remember mum’s gone but never forgotten.

If you’re not located near Perth, the website offers alternate options that might suit, like the 4km walk or 6km run in Denmark instead, or the 4km walk and 7.5km run option in Carnarvon, so take a look for full listings and information.

Also worth checking out in the lead up to these kind of events is the Park Run Australia website. The idea of Park Run is to organise free weekly 5km timed runs globally; Perth now has quite a few of these scattered throughout the suburbs. You can go to the website to sign up, and find out the closest location. Park Run is a handy option for those who want to keep an eye on their times and like to run with others. When you register you’re allocated a barcode, so be sure to print this out and bring along on the run, if you want your time details.

T h e s a ke d e g u s t at i o n b o a rd w a s beautifully presented and from the first sip of the entrée’ sake, Kizakura Yamahai, with its hint of fresh honey-dew melon, you are taken on an exotic Asian journey. Its perfectly matched mouthwatering entrée: smoked snapper, chili, grated coconut, trout row, betel leaf is worth stepping out of your comfort zone to experience the texture including eating the leaf too.

For mains, the bite size Black Angus beef Taka Tataki, with mango, radish, crisp enoki and micro herbs seemed to burst with flavour with every

sip of its bamboo barrel aged sake, Mukai Shuzo ‘Natsu no Omoide’ 2000. My favourite was left ‘til last with desert: Miso pana cotta, salted caramel foam and peanut praline matched with a light and palatable sake, Nokano BC ‘Chochokyu’ 2013.

By the end of the degustation board the diverse range of sakes and accompanying exotic treats certainly lifts one’s spirits and leaves a lasting impression. Make sure to tick this one off on your Eat Drink Perth bucket list.

GILLIAN O’MEAGHER

DARLINGS SUPPER CLUB Sake And Asian Whiskey Flights Of Fancy As part of Eat Drink Perth food and beverage festival, Darlings Supper Club in Northbridge is hosting Sake And Asian Whiskey Flights of Fancy every Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday. This is one definitely on the list for foodies and connoisseurs of sake or whiskey.

GO TO: LINEUP MUSIC VIDEO FESTIVAL This Friday, April 17, the big screen at the Northbridge Piazza is being dedicated to music videos from emerging WA artists, including Rag N Bone, Rainy Day Women, Custom Royale, Apache, Shameem and more. Get down from 6pm and check ‘em out.

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With its uber-urban-rustic design and unpretentious atmosphere, everything you want for a sensational culinary delight is at Darlings Supper Club, including exemplary - not to mention friendly - service. Upon being warmly greeted you are offered the choice of two types of degustation menus. I chose the sake board. Now, it must be said that this is not for those looking for a main meal, but is rather a wind-down for the night (open ‘til 3am) or a tantalising start to your evening on the way to your next event. With the range of three rare sakes accompanied and matched with a selection of entrée, main and desert for $25, it’s more than reasonable. The artisan sake alone would total more than this price.

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RANDA KHAMIS

WHILE WE’RE YOUNG Talking ‘Bout My Generation Directed by Noah Baumbach Starring Ben Stiller, Naomi Watts, Adam Driver As more of their friends become parents, Cornelia (Naomi Watts) and Josh (Ben Stiller) start to find themselves growing more and more alienated from them. Unable to share this strange world of babies, feeding schedules and children’s songs, they begin to feel that something is missing, till one day a young couple enter Josh’s film class and strike up a conversation. Fresh, energetic and unafraid to experience life, Jamie (Adam Driver) and Darby (Amanda Seyfried) represent a dynamism currently missing in Josh’s life. As they strike up a friendship, Josh and Cornelia start to explore the strange territory that is hipster cool, a world of VCR, break-dancing classes, ceremonial hallucinogenics and urban farming.

Baumbach pitches While We’re Young in the sweet spot, forming a nigh-perfect intergenerational comedy. It is about more than just a couple engaging in age-inappropriate behaviour as they attempt to recapture a youth they are unwilling to believe they have lost. Looking predominantly at the relationship between Gen X and Y, it could so easily devolve into laughing at hipsterism or Gen X’s inability to accept maturity, but it manages to move beyond these themes and to say something greater. In part this is due to a revelation about Jamie approximately half way through that shifts the film from light comedy to a somewhat darker and more complex tone, drastically changing the dynamics of the two couples’ relationship.

This change in dynamics allows for a more nuanced exploration of the desires of each generation (or perhaps merely the individuals representing them, or stage of life they are at – they are all tightly interwoven) as well as the more nebulous topics such as the nature of truth and what lengths should a man go to achieve his desire. Initially jarring, this tonal shift lends weight to this comedy, and allows for a stunning confrontation near the conclusion. Here we get these matters aired out at an award ceremony, each side stating their grievances and desires, all under the shadow of the generation of Baby Boomers (represented by Charles Grodin as Josh’s father-in-law and former mentor). It is a masterful convergence of editing and script, and the thematic core of the film.

Stiller and Watts are perfectly cast as the Gen X couple unable to accept their journey into middle age, each stalled by where they find them self. In contrast, Driver manages to skilfully portray an ambiguity about his character. Depending on the point of view, he is either open, enthusiastic and charismatic, or entitled, manipulative, and callous.

His portrayal changes little, it is rather the audiences perspective that shifts, and we see him in differing lights.

Witty and poignant While We’re Young, presents a stinging commentary on intergenerational rivalry and the pains of growing older.

DAVID O’CONNELL

THE LONGEST RIDE Happy Trails To You Directed George Tillman Jr Starring Scott Eastwood, Britt Robertson, Alan Alda Sometimes you just have to admit your own bias.

Try as you might to judge something on its critical merits, you can’t help but question yourself when your reaction is vastly different from the audience around you. The latest story from The Notebook’s Nicholas Sparks presents such a conflict, with the rest of the audience made weak at the knees by a steelyeyed cowboy stare. Can being the right demographic really make such a difference?

College student Sophia (Britt Robertson) falls for professional bull rider, Luke (Scott Eastwood), despite the fact that their relationship will never work. Sophia’s dream career in art will soon see her in New York, far from Luke’s beloved North Carolina ranch. After coming to this conclusion, the couple chance to rescue an elderly man, Ira (Alan Alda) from a burning car. Sophia aids Ira’s convalescence by reading to him from the various love letters he wrote to his wife over the decades, recounting their life together. Meanwhile, Scott must face his own personal demons, personified in the bull, Rango, that previously hospitalised him. Both learn a lesson about the importance of love, and what the other truly means to them.

This is a film that dedicates a lot of its run time to convince you that cowboys are smoking hot objects of sexual desire. If the appreciative sighs for Eastwood’s “buns in the moonlight” stroll is an

indicator, then “job done.” Eastwood has a lot of his father’s looks, and although he has yet to gain Clint’s charisma, the early indicators are good. Strange then that the spark is lacking between him and Robertson.

The chemistry is adequate but misses that passion to really make it believable. With the rest of the cast they are great, and both seem to be actors to keep an eye on. It’s just together they make more convincing friends than lovers.

The Longest Ride paints a broad strokes picture of the melting pot of America, where a fourth generation rancher can fall in love with a first generation city girl. The problem is it is those brush marks are too broad. Nothing is explored in detail, instead falling to a cursory examination and clichéd archetype. Hence the problems faced by the two lovers seem inconsequential almost to the point of being worthy of their own hashtag. Far more interesting is the B love story, as related by Alda, of a Jewish couple in North Carolina after the war.

Unfortunately this is underdeveloped in favour of more shots of Eastwood and Robertson riding around the ranch. Add to this that everything is wrapped up by a deus ex machina (delivered by Peter Jurasik), and The Longest Ride feels a little cheap.

For all my personal misgivings, this film still does what it does well. It knows its demographic and competently pitches to them, with some beautiful cinematography (especially in the bull riding sequences) and a strong cast.

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SO HOT RIGHT NOW!

ANDY QUILTY, STEPHANIE REISCH, IAIN DEAN NEW WORKS

TOMAS FORD’S CRAP MUSIC RAVE PARTY Celebrate the centenary of the day Australia’s national identity was forged in fire, blood, heartbreak and blind colonialism by getting drunk and dancing to Agadoo when Perth’s king of cabaret, Tomas Ford, brings his Crap Music Rave Party to the Bakery for one final time on Saturday, April 25. Together with his transvestite hype man, Ayden Doherty, Ford brings the noise with some of the worst music human ears have ever been subjected to, with the rule of the night being you can request any song, as long as its crap! This is bound to sell out, so snag your tickets now via nowbaking.com.au.

If you fancy a touch of culture to go with your surfing action while you’re down in Margaret River, an exhibition featuring these three top notch Australian artists is curently running at the Margaret River Gallery until Sunday, April 26, with an artist’s talk scheduled by Reisch for 2pm this Sunday, April 19. Go to margaretivergallery.com.au for full details.

MY FITNESS KICKBOXING Unleash your inner Van Damme and get crazy fit at the same time with help from the friendly drill instructors at My Fitness Kickboxing in Booragoon.

A rapidly growing sports cult, kickboxing helps build strength, speed and confidence. Right now My Fitness has a special deal on, whereby you can score yourself three kickboxing classes and free set of boxing gloves, valued at $55. Check ‘em out at myfitnesskickboxing. com.au.

Andy Quilty

My Fitness Kickboxing

Tomas Ford - Photo by Karen Lowe

DRUG AWARE SURF MARGARET RIVER PRO 2015

IT FOLLOWS

ST VINNIE’S

WA CIDER AND PORK FESTIVAL

It took longer than usual (thanks, climate change!) but the weather has well and truly turned, which means it may well be time to update your wardrobe for winter. Eschew the new and get yourself down to your local St Vincent De Paul charity shop, where you’ll find an impressive range of retro, pre-loved winter gear at jaw-droppingly low prices. Even better, you’ll be supporting positive change in your local community. Find your local St Vinnie’s op shop by heading to vinnies.org.au/shops.

Two great tastes that taste great together. On Saturday, April 25, and Sunday, April 26, Oakover Grounds in the Swan Valley is devoted to pork products and fermented apples. Perth’s top chefs will be preparing their finest pork dishes and ciders from across the world will be available for tasting.

Plus there’ll be plenty of masterclasses and activities for you to try your hand at, too. Get over to ciderandporkfestival.com.au for all the news.

St Vinnie’s Shop

WA Cider & Pork Festival

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Smart, subtle, retro-inspired horror is where it’s at in indie cinema circles, and IT Follows is one of the most critically lauded of that ilk to come along in some time. Directed and written by David Robert Mitchell, it sees a young woman, Jai (Maika Monroe) struggling to overcome a terrifying, sexually transmitted supernatural curse. It opens at Luna Palace Cinemas this week - horror fans who enjoy suspense more than splatter are sure to be well pleased.

The top 36 male and top 18 female surfers in the whole wide world will descend upon Surfer’s Point in Prevelly this week for Western Australia’s premier surfing competition, The Drug Aware Surf Margaret River Pro 2015. Thousands of fans are expected to pack the beaches for a chance to see the best surfers alive tackle the Margaret River Mainbreak. Get over to worldsurfleague.com for all the details on the event, which runs form today, Wednesday, April 15, until Sunday, April 26.

It Follows

Drug Aware Surf Margaret River Pro

DORITOS ROULETTE If your snacking habits are depressingly bereft of the possibility of searing pain and embarrassment, Doritos have got you covered! Their latest flavour, Doritos Roulette, has a neat little conceit - some of the chips in every pack are crazy hot, but they look just like the chips that aren’t crazy hot. Apparently these are the hottest chips ever created, making this essentially a party game - or booby trap, if you’re feeling malicious - in a bag.

Doritos Roulette

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SO HOT RIGHT NOW!

WHAT’S ON IN APRIL

Diabolik Books & Records, all set and ready for Record Store Day this Saturday

RECORD STORE DAY IN PERTH From Morley to Northbridge, Mount Hawthorn to Fremantle and Midland to the CBD, Perth still boasts around a dozen independent record stores, all of whom will be offering some of the 450-plus special Record Store Day 2015 releases scheduled to drop this Saturday, April 18.

You should contact your local store directly to find out what they have planned for the day, or seek out more information on the store’s Facebook pages or the Record Store Day Australia website, recordstoreday.com.au.

78 Records manager, Dayvid Clark, describes the day as “like our Valentines Day for florists - it’s bigger than Christmas for us,” and says it’s a great opportunity to foster repeat visits from customers who make the pilgrimage in on day.

“There’s this sense of belonging,” he explains, “it’s like they realise they’re not the only one who gets excited about the special releases and limited edition stock, so it gives people comfort, I guess, in their consumerism - that it is pretty exciting to be a part of when they realise how many other people out there are doing it too and supporting small retailers as well.”

Maurice Flavel, who has been running Northbridge’s Noise Pollution Records for five years now, says that in recent years “the record buying public have been very supportive of Record Store Day,” whilst Stu Loasby at Fremantle’s Junction Records looks forward to “a communal day of buying wax and sharing the joy amongst all the indie stores – it’s a cool bonding process for music fans and retailers all over town.”

“One of the fun things about Record Store Day over here,” says Clark, “is because we have so few stores in Perth, we get bigger crowds in each store.

I’ve seen photos of stores around the world who have 20 or 30 people waiting when they open – at 78s we have crowds of over 250 people lining up before 6am standing in the rain when I get here to open up.”

Flavel says Noise Pollution – like all of our independent retailers – will be stocking some of the 450+ special Record Store Day CDs, vinyl and even cassette releases.

“As always they are very, very limited usually only 1500 to 3000 copies of each worldwide,” Flavel explains, “but I will be getting in some Jimi Hendrix, Bruce Springsteen, The Bee Gees, the Metallica Demo re-creation cassette, and lots and lots of new stock that no other stores have.”

78 Records, which at over 44 years-old must be the Grandaddy of West Australian record stores, will carry “the biggest selection [of special releases] in WA,” according to Clark. “That’s our main thing - we take advantage of the fact that we can get our hands on so much from being big buyers throughout the year. We’ll only know during the week confirmation on the titles we’ll be getting - it’s a last minute dash a couple of days before. We usually get a couple of hundred titles, we’ll give away some gift vouchers during the day. We’re giving away a record player, amp and speakers package as a prize on the day as well as 15 per cent discount off most stock.”

Record Store Day has helped get people back into small stores rather than generic chains,

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and since its foundation in the US in 2007, vinyl sales alone in that country have more than quadrupled.

“As convenient as clicking a button and getting a digital download is,” explains Loasby, “nothing compares to the process of buying a proper big ol’ record you had your heart set on and reading the liner notes and staring at the cover on the bus or train ride home. And then sharing those scores with friends over a few cold ones in front of the hi-fi. We’ll also have buy-one-get-one free offers on selected titles, 30 per cent off other selected titles, 10 per cent off all new and second hand vinyl - except for RSD titles - a $50 gift voucher up for grabs and even a Freddo Frog lucky dip with every purchase.”

Flavel goes further, insisting that “it’s important that music fans keep the independent shops viable – that’s what Record Store Day is about. If a store like mine closed, you’ll just be left with huge megastores, you’ll lose that experience of finding a nice collectible record or something different – it’s like supermarket shopping where every store has the same stuff on every shelf. You can come into a store like mine and visually check the record you are wanting to buy, where if you buy online you have postal charges, which are often forgotten, and you cant physically check the LP you are about to buy - you can buy without second guessing in-store.”

“If you’re queuing up while waiting for 9am to hit,” suggests Loasby, “put away your device and have a chat to your fellow crate diggers. Make friends, form bands and create new stories.”

SHANE PINNEGAR

PARTICIPATING WA RECORD SHOPS Rhubarb Records, 6/342 Fitzgerald Street, North Perth Unknown Treasures, Shop 199 Coventry Square Markets, Morley 78 Records, Upper Level, 255 Murray Street Mall, Perth Planet Music, Level 2 636 Beaufort St, Mt Lawley, Perth Fat Shan Records, The Basement, Perth Replay Records, 5 Royal Street, Perth Junction Records, 27-35 William Street, Fremantle Mills Records Fremantle 22 Adelaide St, Fremantle Blue62 Sight & Sound, Shop 14 Boulevard Shopping Centre, Busselton Midland Records, 7 Spring Park Road, Midland Diabolik Books & Records, 149 Scarborough Beach Rd, Mt Hawthorn Soundwaves Music and More, 144 Bussell Highway, Margaret River Sound One, Shop 13 Dog Swamp Shopping Centre, Yokine Geraldton CD Centre, 88 Marine Tce, Geraldton Southern Sound, 160 York Street, Albany

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document about the beauty of imperfection. It runs from Saturday, April 18, until Sunday, May 24. Go to melville.wa.gov.au for more info.

Brain JuJu: The Butcher Shop This solo exhibition by sculptor Bruno Booth runs from Wednesday, April 22, until Sunday, April 26. Go to thebutchershop.com.au for more info.

Rebirth: The Art Gallery Of Western Australia Japanese artist Mariko Mori has created Rebirth, an immersive experience comprised of installations, LED sculptures, photographs, drawings and videos. It’s on display until June 29. For more information, go to artgallery.wa.gov.au The Visitors: John Curtin Gallery Celebrated Icelandic artist Ragnar Kjartansson presents his ambitious nine channel music video installation to Perth as part of the Perth International Arts Festival. It runs until Sunday, May 16. Go to johncurtingallery.curtin.edu.au for more information.

NEWS

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VISUAL ARTS For Love Of Country: The Art Gallery Of Western Australia Commemorating the centenary of World War One, this exhibition draws various works from the State Art Collection to present a fascinating look at how art has responded to war and conflict over the past century. It runs until Monday, July 20. Go to artgallery. wa.gov.au for full details.

My Island Home - Artists Of Badu Island: Mossenson Galleries This exhibition of works from Badu Island in the Torres Strait features works by Laurie Nona and Alick Tipoti, plus traditional Badu Island dancing on the opening night, which starts at 6.30pm on Wednesday, April 15. The exhibition continues until Saturday, May 2. Go to mossensongalleries.com.au for more details.

Escape Artist: Heathcote Museum & Gallery Shot in rural Spain by photographer Pablo Hughes, this is exhibition is a kind of autobiographical travel

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countries. It runs from Wednesday, May 13, until Saturday, May 30. Go to blueroom.org.au for tickets and session times.

FESTIVALS Médée: Fremantle Arts Centre Darius Milhaud’s 1938 opera is brought to life by new opera company Lost & Found. Featuring infidelity, Eat Drink Perth insanity, vengeance and infanticide, it runs from Running until Friday, April 24, this citywide festival of Monday, May 11, until Sunday, May 24. For tickets food holds a thousand temptations for gourmands of and sessions times, head over to fac.org.au. all stripes. Head over to visitperthcity.com for more info.

Once We Were Kings: The Blue Room Theatre Written by Dure Khan and directed by Mustafa Al Spanish Film Festival Mahdi, Once We Were Kings is a look at the world All the passion and drama of the Latin world comes to through the eyes of young, queer Muslims. The show Cinema Paradiso, opening on Thursday, April 23, with is accompanied by a special art exhibition of pieces Spanish Affair and continuing until Wednesday, May 6. from artists who have been censored in their own Go to lunapalace.com.au for all the details.

Old Love: The Blue Room Theatre The creative dynamo that is theatre collective The Last Great Hunt bring us a May December romance that is sure to bush the boundaries. It runs until Saturday, May 2. Head to blueroom.org.au for more information.

Armour: The Blue Room Theatre Writer and director Tom Jeffcote brings us a story of damaged masculinity in this drama, which sees four men on a weekend retreat confront both each other and their own tortured emotions. It runs from Tuesday, April 21, until Saturday, May 9. Go to blueroom.org.au for tickets and session times.

An Evening with Noel Fielding: Perth Convention And Exhibition Centre Rock star comedian Noel Fielding of The Mighty Boosh fame comes to Perth for one night only on Friday, April 24. Book via Ticketek.

The Confidence Man: Studio Underground Side Pony Productions presents an interactive audio experience, directed by Zoe Pepper and written by Pepper and Adriane Daff, that exposes the greed and betrayal festering under the surface of ordinary suburbia. It runs from Thursday, April 30, until Sunday, May 10. Go to perththeatre.com.au for more.

FAS H I O N

Cosentino - Twisted Reality Tour: Regal Theatre Known as Australia’s greatest magician, Cosentino brings his unique brand of large-scale illusion to Perth for two shows only on Friday, May 1, and Saturday, May 2. Tickets are available via livenation.com.au.

THEATRE/DANCE/ PERFORMANCE Once We Were Kings

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The Confidence Man

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COMEDY EDITION

PERTH COMEDY FESTIVAL GUIDE FOR DUMMIES This year’s Perth Comedy Festival is about to make things a little less serious and a whole lot funnier this autumn with its stellar line up of local, national and international artists. PENNY LANE has dissected the whopping gig guide to find only the best in side-splitting, pee-inducing comedy acts that anyone – from live comedy virgin to local mic night groupie – should check out. Bookings via www.perthcomedyfestival.com.

LUKE MCGREGOR, I WORRY THAT I WORRY TOO MUCH Luke McGregor is every bully’s wet dream, but don’t let his nerdy facade fool you – his natural geeky charm and awkwardyet-entertaining stage presence have seen him be awarded best newcomer at both Melbourne and Sydney comedy festivals in the past two years. The comedian uses hilarious observations and self-deprecating humour to explore OCD, life’s fears, failures and awkwardness in his stand-up show, which will have you second-guessing the abilities of geeks far and wide.

Subiaco Arts Centre, FridaySaturday, May 1-2.

Luke McGregor

THE EMPIRE STRIPS BACK Empire Burlesque Ever wanted to see a stormtrooper strip tease, or see Princess Leia twerk? Well now you can, when The Empire Strips Back returns to Perth on Friday-Saturday, May 29-30, at the Regal Theatre, as part of the Perth Comedy Festival. Stopping short of the next Star Wars-themed porno, the burlesque parody is every Jedi fan’s wet dream. PENNY LANE speaks to creator, Russall Beattie, about when it all began and a master Jedi’s guest appearance.

‘Man, that stormtrooper really turns me on!’ said no one, ever.

Well, not until Russall Beattie devised a burlesque show based on George Lucas’ epic Star Wars saga. The show, which first took to the stage back in 2011, takes the story of Luke and Leia and injects it with suggestive subtexts and gyrating wookies.

“We have spent a lot of time and energy trying to create the Star Wars world and be true to the characters,” says the creative director, “then we spent a lot of time and energy making those characters strip.”

The musical-meets-backyard cosplay adult movie is riddled with crude humour, diehard fan injokes and top-notch gender-bending performances that include a cheeky version of Luke Skywalker, an alluring Boba Fett, and a latex wearing, dominatrix-style Darth Vader. But it doesn’t stop there. Beattie’s also thrown in flamethrowers, stilts, gigantic puppets and dancing, remote-controlled droids.

It’s hot, it’s raunchy, and a little risqué, but Beattie says there’s plenty for everyone.

“When you do burlesque on a scale like this you make a show that will have to appeal to a wide range of audiences,” he says. “We have spent years working out that balance. It’s definitely a sexy show, but also funny, skilful, and most of all, entertaining as hell.”

The proof is in the pudding, with last year’s Australian tour a sell-out.

“We have sold 50,000 tickets in the time the show has been running, and I have people who just turned 18 to people in their 70s coming along – men, women, geeks, bros, hipsters, couples… the force is strong with most.”

A lot has changed since the first sold-out performance almost five years ago – the producers destroyed the original set and costumes in 2013 to make way for the new, extra sexy The Empire Strips Back: A Star Wars Burlesque Parody.

“The first show was made up of toys and costumes I made in my garage,” Beattie recalls. “I have since rebuilt the show from the ground up, actually hiring people who had worked on the Star Wars films to help build the new stage version.”

The Empire Strips Back was Beattie’s first foray into movie parodies, which has since led him to recreate other movies such as Annie and Ghostbusters for the burlesque world.

“I had been doing burlesque for years and I wanted to keep it interesting by bringing in my other more geekier pursuits,” Beattie explains. “It was meant to be a one off gig, but the audiences enjoyed watching it as much as I enjoyed putting it on, and five years later, we are still making these shows.”

But unfortunately for England and New

STEPHEN K. AMOS, WELCOME MIKE GOLDSTEIN, TRANSIENT TO MY WORLD JOKE MONKEY Sucker for a British accent? International comedian, Stephen K. Amos, will have you swooning, before testing your abs with his take-no-prisoners-style comedy. The performer is so at ease on stage it’s as if he knows every single person in the room – that or he’s picturing them all naked. The witty entertainer is renowned for his audience interaction, and doesn’t take himself, or the audience, too seriously. Note: if you’re a little on the shy side, look like you could easily be picked on or are of some ethnic minority, don’t go booking yourself front row tickets!

His Majesty’s Theatre, Thursday-Saturday, April 30, May 1-2.

American expat, Mike Goldstein, gave up being a lawyer for a career his parents refer to as ‘streetcorner talking’. Lucky for them, he’s damn good at working the street. The artist is a natural behind the mic, and isn’t afraid of a little (or a lot) of audience interaction. Unfortunately though, that has often gotten this transient joke monkey into trouble.

Mike has performed everywhere between Western Australia and America, with the battle scars to prove it. Find out what happened, or be the cause of his next trip to hospital.

720 ABC Laugh Locker, Mt Lawley Bowling Club, Wednesday-Saturday, May 13-16.

Stephen K. Amos

<C>Mike Goldstein, Transient Joke Monkey

CAL WILSON, UNDERCURRENTS Zealand, the sexed-up Death Star is reserved for Australian and American fans only.

“In Australia and the USA, we are very fortunate to have modern media fair use laws, which means you can parody intellectual property,” says Beattie. “The UK and New Zealand don’t have the same laws in place.”

That’s just too bad, as they’re missing out on one outlandish re-enactment that shouldn’t be missed, purely for the show’s latest character edition: Yoda.

“We added Yoda on the last version of the show,” Beattie says, “and he is saved to the end ‘cause it is quite something special.”

We have a knack for claiming New Zealand things as our own. First there was the pavlova, then Russell Crowe (although I think we gave him back), and now, there’s Cal Wilson. The pint-sized female performer has turned heads all over the world, her talent leading her to appear three times at the Montreal Just for Laughs Festival, performed on a number of popular Australian TV shows, and most recently, battled it out alongside Alan Davies on QI. She returns to Perth for the festival, bringing with her one hour of stand-up gold.

Mt Lawley Bowling Club, Thursday-Saturday, May 7-9.

Cal Wilson

Boba Fett

“When you do burlesque on a scale like this you make a show that will have to appeal to a wide range of audiences. We have spent years working out that balance. It’s definitely a sexy show, but also funny, skilful, and most of all, entertaining as hell.”

TIEN TRAN, MOLOTOVS ON OLD STREET The Divinyl’s I Touch Myself springs to mind every time Tien Tran performs. The self-confessed ‘jerkeroffer’ lays his sex life, or lack there of, out on the table, then shoves it down each and every audience member’s mouth with dry veracity. He then washes it down with a racial slur or two, poking fun at his traditional Vietnamese heritage and the way white Australians perceive him. And when you think it’s all over, he comes back with a billie, makes you smoke it, then tells you what the bong was made out of… here’s a hint: you really don’t want to know.

Subiaco Arts Centre, Thursday-Saturday, April 30, May 1-2.

Tien Tran

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COMEDY EDITION

HANNAH GADSBY, DONKEY It’s a show about arses… what’s not to love? In reality, three-time Helpmann Awards Best Comedy Performance nominee Hannah Gadsby tells us about her new bike, Donkey, and how she will never ride the same way again. Hannah has been winning audiences with her sardonic, laconic acts since she first came onto the scene in 2006, after winning triple j’s Raw Comedy Award. She’s gone from strength to strength, apparent in her sold out Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth, Hobart, Canberra and Brisbane shows last year. Check her out if you love sarcasm and appreciate bluntness.

The Octagon Theatre, Friday-Saturday, May 15-16.

Hannah Gadsby

TOM GLEESON, LIVE Comedians have a unique way of dealing with uncomfortable situations. Instead of cowering in a corner wishing they’d worn undies under their size two jeans, they’re loud and proud, ready to ride that horse commando. Tom Gleeson is part of the ‘balls out and hanging’ club, never straying away from a challenging issue or controversial topic. Expect a show touching on anything from Tony Abbott’s budgie smugglers to defecating in a cemetery, and not necessarily in that order.

His Majesty’s Theatre, Friday, May 1.

Tom Gleeson

JOEL CREASEY, THE HURRICANE Fresh from a stint on I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, and an astounding 24 shows at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, one of Australia’s hottest and now world renowned comedians, Joel Creasey, best known as the ‘Acid Tongue Prince’ is set to return to his hometown to perform three shows at this year’s Perth Comedy Festival.

Regal Theatre Friday, April 24 and Thursday, April 30 (sold out). Tuesday, April 28, State Theatre Centre of WA – Heath Ledger Theatre.

Joel Creasey

ADRIENNE TRUSCOTT, ASKING FOR IT One-half of the infamous Wau Wau Sisters, Adrienne Truscott dresses only from the waist up and ankles down, undoes and does in the rules and rhetoric about rape, comedy and the awkward laughs in between.

With enough ducks, whistles and gin and tonics to get a girl in trouble, Truscott “lets her pussy do the talking. Set to pop music.”

His Majesty’s Theatre, Thursday-Saturday, May 14-16.

Adrienne Truscott

THE UMBILICAL BROTHERS, KIDSHOW (NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN) Parents beware: It might be titled Kidshow, but this act by The Umbilical Brothers is definitely not for kids.

Dane (David) and Shavid (Shane) try their best to be children’s entertainers but in all attempts fail. Starting off as a kids’ show full of singing, dancing and audience participation, the skit is soon overtaken by violence, sexual references, drug taking and frequent coarse language. God help the parents who mistake this for a Wiggles concert.

Regal Theatre, Friday-Saturday, May 8-9.

The Umbilical Brothers

SAM SIMMONS, SPAGHETTI FOR BREAKFAST

HEATH FRANKLIN’S CHOPPER, REPEAT OFFENDER The real deal may have passed on, but Australia’s most wanted comedian, Chopper, is bringing his smash hit show, Repeat Offender, to Perth after sell out shows across the country and New Zealand.

Repeat Offender is “about letting go, losing your shit and loving what you can’t have because you are forbidden by a court order, but hanging out in their front garden with a thermos and binoculars anyway.”

The Octagon Theatre, Saturday, May 16.

Convention isn’t really Sam Simmons thing. Nor should it be. The winner of the 2014 Helpmann Awards Best Comedy Performance combines acting, music and some perfectly staged voiceovers into one hell of an entertaining show full of weird and wacky impersonations. The LA-based Australian artist has just wrapped up a sellout season at the Soho Theatre in London, and isn’t to be missed. Catch him at the State Theatre Centre for a recount of one man’s journey in search of the perfect poached egg (not a real egg).

State Theatre Centre of WA – Heath Ledger Theatre, Friday-Saturday, May 1-2.

There must be something in the water at triple j’s breakfast radio HQ, what with former breakfast host Tom Ballard and current host Matt Okine both jumping on the comedy bandwagon. Tom, who has also fronted The Project and appeared in series It’s A Date, brings to the Mt Lawley Bowling Club a tale, which, like a lot of ‘nothing good happens past 2am’ stories, starts at the back of a taxi. Touching on loneliness, labels, sex and love, Tom is brutally honest, fearless and has no bounds.

Mt Lawley Bowling Club, WednesdaySaturday, May 13-16.

Sam Simmons

Tom Ballard

Heath Franklin’s Chopper 26

TOM BALLARD, TAXIS & RAINBOWS & HATRED

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E D U C AT I O N , T R A I N I N G & C A R E E R S

way to introduce the Perth community to cultures and styles of art and performances that they may not have experienced before.

This year, we have a Reunion Island dance group, Bollywood, Brazilian/African samba as well as local favourites Boom Bap Pow, Odette Mercy & Her Soul Atomics and The Brow to attract ‘Perth-ites’.

The City of Perth International Student Festival

2015 CITY OF PERTH INTERNATIONAL STUDENT FESTIVAL Free International Student Event The City of Perth International Student Festival happens on Saturday, May 9, from 11am-3pm at the Perth Cultural Centre (James St Amphitheatre & Central Square) and is entry is free. We spoke to Charlene Ellison from StudyPerth about the event.

What is the thinking/ethos behind the Perth International Student Festival?

The City of Perth International Student Festival 2015 is a free non-profit event that brings together newly arrived and established international students studying at university, college and school in Perth. Beyond this, local students and community members are invited along in what is a recognition and celebration of harmony, and the contribution of international students to the cultural diversity of Perth.

The festival sets out to be a major calendar event, presenting an opportunity for international students to meet others, be acknowledged by the city, through the Rt Honourable Lisa Scaffidi, Lord Mayor of the City of Perth, enjoy a day of entertainment, good food and fun in a festival atmosphere, and to receive information on Perth’s lifestyle and attractions.

In previous years what have been the big highlights of the festival?

Great local bands and dance troupes, setting up the City Challenge and having strong support from our major festival sponsors and international student volunteers to make the day a great success.

Also having the Lord Mayor as VIP for the past three years makes the festival a standout event for the City of Perth and our unis, colleges and schools.

The entertainment looks to have been programmed to reflect the diversity of contemporary student life in Perth...

We try and recruit bands and dance troupes for the festival to reflect on the cultural diversity of international students and families in Perth. It’s a taste of home for some and also a great

Some people believe it’s only the international students who gain something from coming here, but of course there’s many benefits for the institutions and their fellow (local) students. It’s certainly a twoway street isn’t it?

While the festival is aimed at celebrating international students here in Perth, it is definitely a fun free day out for everyone!

Over the past few years we have noticed many Perth families from all walks of life join in the festival. The festival is held in the Perth Cultural Centre, a hub for many families on the weekends who visit the Art Gallery, Museum and Library and use the Perth Train Station.

We estimate more than 5,000 people will attend the festival.

What do you hope that students and other attendees of the Perth International Student Festival take from the experience?

We hold the festival to celebrate the cultural diversity international students bring to Perth, so for us we really want attendees to have fun and recognise the significance of international students and the importance of multiculturalism in Perth.

We also hope our volunteers and city challenge participants learn more about Perth on the day, get to meet other international students and Australians, as well as receive info from our exhibitors on the day about Perth’s lifestyle and attractions.

PERTH CITY CHALLENGE Forming the first part of the day’s activities, will be the Perth City Challenge. This exciting and educative city adventure, invites teams of students to search the streets of the Perth CBD to solve clues and take photos of their findings, while in the process developing an intimate knowledge about different facets of local life. The teams who collect the most points and receive the highest scores will win one of the many exciting prizes on offer. There is also a ‘Best Dressed’ category to the Challenge, which will add a multitude of colour and vibrancy to the day.

International students interested in the scavenger hunt are able to register online through the Perth Education City website

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(studyperth.com.au). Registrations must be submitted by 5pm on Wednesday, March 11.

Participants in the City Challenge are required to be international students and aged 16 and above on the day of the festival.

Some great prizes on offer this year include a trip for two to Exmouth, Perth Glory season passes, surfing lessons, cruises to Penguin Island, daytrip to the Pinnacles and more. Prizes are sourced that promote the Perth lifestyle and activities international students can enjoy during their time In Perth.

GLOBAL FEASTIVAL FOOD MARKET The Perth Cultural Centre precinct is set to tempt and tantalise tastebuds with the return of the popular Global Feastival Food Market. A wide range of specially selected food vendors will present a diverse international selection of cuisines open to the public for the duration of the festival including: • Top Rice BBQ: Filipino BBQ • Ragin Cajun: Louisiana Style ribs • Hummingbird Pantry: Mexican Snacks/drinks • The Juicist - drinks truck: Fresh pressed juice and coffee • Baguette Me Not: Vietnamese Food • Bangkok Jump Street: Thai Food • 3 Little Pigs: Pork rolls/sliders • Las Empanadas: Baked Empanadas and alfajores • Delish Ice: Hand made icy poles • Sweetly Baked: Cup Cakes • Tapasman: Spanish tapas platters

INFORMATION STALLS/ EXHIBITORS Exhibitors at the festival include; City of Perth, Curtin University, Edith Cowan University, Murdoch University, The University of Western Australia, Aussie Wanderer, Department of Health, Perth Heat, WA Police, Student Uni Travel, the DESI Student Society, Perth Glory and Surfing WA. Each of these exhibitors will have loads of giveaways and activities on the day. There’s also an Aussie animal petting zoo, so international students and families can meet a dingo, koalas and native reptiles.

Please note this is the new date of the rescheduled Festival which was postponed in March due to severe weather warnings.

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NEWS

Tying up loose ends before this month’s Australasian tour, Alex Niggemann chats with JAI CHOUHAN ahead of his appearance at Geisha Bar this Friday, April 17.

“I like to feel the reactions so close that you can do a handshake or you can see the smiling faces of people immediately in front of you. That’s something that drives me when I play.”

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Influence can come from anywhere in Alex Niggeman’s line of work.

Be it in the studio or in the club, the Berlin-based house magnate draws inspiration from a plethora of avenues.

“You listen to music all over the world, even if you just jump into a taxi and you hear something on the radio,” he says. “I like to make inferences from that because I think that if you have tunnel vision, you only have one direction you’re looking in and techno and house music usually has that kind of direction.

But I think it’s always quite good to break outside of those borders and look a little more left and right to see what other music has to offer.”

In addition, the German DJ/producer/label head believes that emotions hold an important place in electronic music.

“It’s the same with emotions actually,” Niggemann begins, “They influence what you do, your music, or what you’re becoming as a person.

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“Sometimes it’s a problem and sometimes it’s the main influence when making music [emotion]. And so, somehow, your emotions always lead you through a track or through making a track. Let’s say you had a moody day; you probably won’t start with some heavy chords or something like that. Same as when you are making the track, there could be a loop in there somewhere and accidently the track continues but you didn’t want it to, but you feel ‘oh wow’ it’s pushing me in another direction.”

Even when taking to the ones and twos there’s an emotional aspect to it.

“I think it’s a combination of being nervous and the moment that the feeling of being nervous turns into adrenaline and you’re really feeling it,” Niggemann states. “Usually it’s when you mix the first record and you see the first reaction, or you play the second record and you see people are picking it up even more. That’s the most important moment

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VENUES

for me, it gives you the first signal of how the night will go.”

The distinction between playing to thousands and playing to hundreds can also weigh heavily on the DJ’s mindset.

“I like to feel the reactions so close that you can do a handshake or you can see the smiling faces of people immediately in front of you. That’s something that drives me when I play.”

Geisha Bar should definitely suit the German nicely on the opening date of his Australian tour. He’s played there previously and enjoys the venue’s intimacy.

“I’ve never had a bad show in there, it’s always a great start for the tour,” Alex says. “I’m really looking forward to it.”

Ahead of this month’s tour, Niggemann says he’s got some upcoming North and South American dates, as well as a handful of releases including one that he could neither confirm or deny as, “the ink is not dry.”

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NEWS

RECORD STORE DAY For Those About To Shop The annual celebration of physical music product and independent music retailers, Record Store Day, comes around again this Saturday, April 18. SHANE PINNEGAR speaks to Record Store Day Australia Ambassador, Tim Dalton, about why the day is so important.

Music shoppers should expect a fun and rewarding day out as thousands are expected to visit their local independent record stores on Saturday, with many of Perth’s retailers offering special discounts and promising to stock many of the much-sought-after items released specially for the day.

Dalton, a music industry educator born in Liverpool with a long history as a recording engineer and front of house engineer to Public Enemy and Beastie Boys, then tour manager for bands such as Atomic Kitten, Elvis Costello, Faith No More and Simple Minds, says he’s passionate about representing Record Store Day, and this is his second year running in the role.

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“It’s going very well - I’m really enjoying it, actually. They get a grown-up to do the responsible part - I get to do all the fun stuff, which is talking about Record Store Day and what’s going to happen on April 18. I kind of seen myself as someone who’s kind of evangelical about it - that’s what I’m here to do, to jump up and down and get excited about Record Store Day but I don’t need much encouragement.”

Since Record Store Day started in America in 2007 vinyl sales in America alone have more than quadrupled – but is Record Store Day only about vinyl records?

“No it’s not,” insists Dalton, “and it s a bit of a misconception really, in that it’s not ‘vinyl record day’, it’s actually about independent retailers, it’s about recognising that music fans have kind’ve lost the joy that comes from owning tactile product. It’s one thing owning music that’s a stream of digits on a hard disc drive, it’s another thing owning a CD or vinyl or a cassette or whatever – something you can pull off the shelf in 10 or 20 or 30 years and say, ‘you know, I bought this when I was dating that girl’, or ‘I bought this when I just moved to that location’, or ‘I bought this because I saw this band play at this festival’, and it’s nice having that tactileness. That’s the stuff that will become family heirlooms, cherished and handed from father to son and mother to daughter in years to come.

“I think as long as you’re buying the music,” he summarises, “and you’re buying it from an independent retailer, that’s what Record Store Day is about.

“Do you really want to buy everything off Amazon?” exclaims Dalton when asked why Record Store Day is so important. “Do you really want to buy all your food and clothes and everything online? Probably not! There are some items that you do want to buy in store.

“The independent retailers are the ones that tend to do all the really creative stuff,” he explains, referring in part to the more-than-450 special Record Store Day releases this year, “that seek out the product that the big online retailers don’t want to involve themselves with, and the people who run these shops - be it clothing or records or whatever - these people tend to be the enthusiasts. They’re not doing it to make a huge profit, they’re doing it because they love it. They have a real interest in their stock line and can tell you about stuff. That’s one of the other reasons why I’m involved in this.”

For some local Record Store Day action, head to page 21.

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KOI CHILD Fair Play Christian Ruggiero and Sam Newman are old WAYJO buddies, trained town planners, the production side of hip hop outfit Childs Play, and horn players with emerging hip hop-soul band, Koi Child. The seven-piece are playing at Groovin The Moo in Bunbury on Sunday, April 26, gigging intensely, and releasing a new single, Black Panda, via Pilerats this week. ZOE KILBOURN reports.

Koi Child is the merging of nu-soul four-piece Kashikoi and Childs Play, Newman, Christian Ruggiero and Shannon ‘Cruz’ Patterson’s hip hop trio. Kashikoi were interested in playing hip hop; Ruggiero and Newman missed the live band set-up.

“We saw the Robert Glasper Experiment play at the Perth International Arts Festival two years ago, and we’re all just in awe of how big their sound was,” says Ruggiero. “It was pretty inspiring. We sorta said, yeah, we’ll have a jam and try to come up with something relatively along those lines as a big sevenpiece live band.”

“Essentially, we’re seven composers, not one.”

“Me and Christian here missed the live band aspect,” Newman explains. “We used to be in WAYJO together. We’d kinda just been doing hip hop and DnB production for a while.”

“Essentially, we’re seven composers, not one,” Newman says. “With The Brow Horn, it’s Nick (Owen), he composes everything, with Tame Impala,

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it’s Kev (Parker). Fortunately or unfortunately for us, it’s every single member. So there’s this tedious threenights-a-week process of going through every song.

We went to this island down south for 10 days, which is when we wrote and recorded the songs. It was the transition from ‘Are we a jam band?’ to ‘Are we writing and composing songs?’ We’re pretty non-jamming now.

There’ll be times to jam.”

Koi Child’s first single, Slow One, emerged from those early jam sets.

“It’s funny - that name was a bit of a mistake,” says Ruggiero. “To remember all these jams that we had we’d just go, ‘Yeah. Just play the slow one.’

There was a bit of confusing when we were putting it up - what was it meant to be called?”

“A much better name than that,” says Newman. “And Shannon is now naming the songs, he’s doing damage control. I suppose in that vein - a bit of a disclaimer - this next one should be called Super Fast One.” “I think the sound we’ve got is a combination of everyone’s ideas, especially in the horn section,” says Ruggiero. “Me and Sam have pretty similar funk, jazz influences. Jamie, the other sax player, he’s come from a classical background. Technically he’s brilliant. Me and Sam, we’ll come up with that traditional Fat Freddy’s horn line, and then Jamie goes, ‘how about you play this, change this note’.”

Newman and Ruggiero, who finished a Town Planning degree together last year, had a strong grounding in small jazz ensembles from primary school up - “farting louder than playing,” Newman says. “I think you, me, Jamie (Canny , alto sax) and Yannis (Vissac, bass) did TEE music. Shannon’s just black and natural. Tom’s WAAPA. Blake’s (Hart, drums) good fun - Blake’s the real Koi influence. He’s a drummer, a real psychedelic rock’n’roll kind of guy. Not having a jazz-trained drummer is really good for us, because he’s brought this whole different element through this droney rock influence. He didn’t know hip hop or jazz, so he just sorta smashes things out, and it’s great.”

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Moana - Photo by Tanya Voltchanskaya

MOANA Monsoon Season Ethereal, ritualistic and decidedly otherworldly, Moana make music the Old Gods could groove to. The first part of their latest project, the tripartite EP Trilogy Of The Black Monsoon Part One: Golden Orb/Magenta Dust, launches at The Bird this Saturday, April 18, with support from Antelope, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets and Mossy Fogg. We catch up with lead singer, Moana Lutton.

How has 2014 been shaping up for you so far?

It’s been wonderful! All the gigs have been exceptionally fun and well received. During the last six months we’ve added a fourth member (Beau Jones) which is really exciting and has seen us experimenting with our sound, songwriting and live performance.

We also got in the studio to start recording our new material and have been engrossed in planning how the rest of this year will unfold with our next release.

You must be happy with the reaction to A Mouthful Of Birds...

Yeah, it’s a nice feeling to see people enjoying what we’ve created and to be recognized for the hard work we put into our art. For a home-made, shoe-string budgeted recording it’s done us pretty well! Now we’re just itching to get into the new stuff.

Tell us about The Black Monsoon - is it one EP or three? What lead you down this path?

It’s one EP, released in three parts - hence

The Trilogy. It’s also a cross-collaborative project, so it’s pretty different.

When analysing the band’s latest collection of songs I noticed there were many diverse sounds and musical explorations that could be split into two separate “feelings” or “vibes.” One half is a musically heavier, chaotic, darker side and the other a contrastingly fragile, celebratory, dreamy side. The concept of a ‘black monsoon’ intermixes with these paradoxes as a mystical sticky tropical storm that sees all the elements collide and dance in their most fierce form, followed by the aftermath of stillness and fragility where rebirth and earthly cycles begin, again. Things just evolved from there. Each part sees the release of two songs - deliberately contrasting in mood and meaning, accompanied with a music video, an original artwork based on the two songs and a oneoff theatrical live performance at each launch. This will all culminate into a six-track EP with a creative video series and a larger interconnected visual artwork.

The Black Monsoon gigs incorporate a lot of different art forms and media, not just music. What draws you to blur the lines like that? How do you decide who to invite to the party?

I have a pretty active imagination and creating music is always a fully immersive experience.

When I write lyrics there’s poetry and stories and whole other worlds in there, and I see visual images and physical movements and hear the voices of characters and performance that could go with it.

So it’s a natural thing for me to want to mesh all the elements together, and this particular collection of songs lend themselves so well to that as they exist in such symbolic, otherworldly and fantasy realms.

What’s on the horizon?

There’s plenty of madness happening right now in all our worlds. But this year is pretty much full with working on that release and pushing ourselves with it. Plenty of gigs and hopefully another tour.

We’ll probably be somewhere on the other side of the world after this release living out our pirate dreams.

But for now we’re caught up in the black monsoon...

SETTING SAIL FROM THE AUTUMN ISLES

PALLIN’ AROUND WITH GRRL PAL Electro-pop two piece Grrl Pal launch their new EP, Paradise, at The Bird this Friday, April 17, with a little help from their friends Antonio//Paul, Childsaint and Child’s Play. Doors open at 8pm and entry is a mere $5 on the door, $15 with CD.

In rather sad news, Perth indie-pop mavens The Autumn Isles are hanging up their guns after a solid decade of musical musings. Their career has gifted us with two EPs, two alums and countless good times at lord knows how many stellar live shows, but now it’s time for one final live jam at The Rosemount on Saturday, May 2, with support from Boom! Bap! Pow!, Community Chest and Patient Little Sister. Tickets are $10 plus booking free via Oztix, $15 on the door, which opens at 8pm.

The Autumn Isles

Grrl Pal

FEEL THE EXCESS WITH TRS Margaret River thrash exponents TRS are bringing the noise to the Astor Lounge when they launch their debut album, Better Out Than In, this Saturday, April 18. Suitably loud support comes from The Insinnerators, The Shakeys and Renegade Girl. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.

HEAD TO THE HERDY When one venue (or, let’s face it, several - it’s been a tough year) falls, another rises to take its place, and that’s the case with the Herdsman Lake Tavern in Wembley, who’ve taken up some of the slack in the Perth live music scene, putting on regular barnstorming shows like the one happening this Friday, April 17. Hit the Herdy from 8pm to catch The Flying Embers, The Corner, Sophomore and Blake Byrne doing their thing. Entry is $10.

FIRE IN THE HOLE Pop punk people Ready To Fire are setting their new EP, Without Doubt, loose at an all-ages show at Leederville HQ this Friday, April 17. Sharing the bill are Vice Versa, This Other Eden, Last Lions and Last Week’s Heroes. Doors open at 6pm, entry is $10.

Ready To Fire

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AMY SUGARS Never Say Never Emerging singer/songwriter Amy Sugars launches her debut album, Everything I Never Said, at The Carine this Friday, April 17. We have a quick catch-up with the talented young musician.

When did you first realise you wanted to pursue music?

I think to some degree I have always wanted to pursue music. A big turning point was when I started writing songs and realised that if you get the right string of words with the right melody you can bring people to a standstill. You can condense an entire relationship into three minutes, or alternatively you can write three minutes about one split second. I find most of my clarity through doing that. And then you can get up on a stage and tell those stories to people. I mean, that is just the coolest thing ever! I have been so lucky to have looked up during a few gigs and realised that the entire room is in silence, watching and listening to every word as I sing it. I have always sung and played instruments but I wouldn’t pursue this if I wasn’t a songwriter.

What’s your sound? Who are your key influences?

My sound could be described as acoustic pop.

When I play live its just me and my acoustic guitar, and on the album there’s a band behind each song but it’s still pretty light. A few key influences for me would be Taylor Swift, Missy Higgins and Ed Sheeran.

What’s your writing process like?

I tend to have a lyric idea or melody pop into my head, grab my phone or a pen and paper, and go from there. Other times I sit down with my journal and start writing about what I’m thinking or feeling. I’ve written a song in a friend’s kitchen, in my car on my lunch break, on an airplane, and the list goes on, and no one had a clue they just thought I was texting! But most of the songs I write are written on my bedroom floor.

Tell us about Everything I Never Said.

Everything I Never Said is my debut album which consists of nine songs that I have written. You know, I’m 19 years old so I’m going through new experiences and learning lessons every day and that’s what I write about. The songs on my album move around the general theme of love, or the lack of it, and all the emotions that come with that because that topic is a major thing for a 19 year old girl. For all humans really. I grew up in Perth with a loving family, I don’t have a troubled childhood to write about. I have written songs about death, friendships and growing up, but the songs I write about love just tend to be better and they still explore other themes.

Where did you record and who with?

I recorded at Tone City Recording Studio with Sam Ford and it was an excellent experience! Since I work full time, Sam let me record after work hours and on weekends. It was hard work and definitely a learning experience and growing experience for me musically as well.

What’s up next for you?

I’ll take Everything I Never Said on the road on April 20 around Australia to play at pubs, local music festivals and local radio stations to hopefully build a fan base and gain more experience.

Morgan Bain

17/04

AMY SUGARS Everything I Never Said Album Launch @ The Carine

17/04

MORGAN BAIN Why Don’t You Stay Single Launch @ Indi Bar

17/04

GRRL PAL Paradise EP Launch @ The Bird

17/04

READY TO FIRE Without Doubt EP Launch @ YMCA HQ

17/04

TANGLED THOUGHTS OF LEAVING Yield To Despair Album Launch @ The Bakery

18/04

DARKYRA BLACK Fool Album Launch @ The Astor

18/04

MOANA The Trilogy Of The Black Monsoon Part One EP Launch @ The Bird

18/04

NATALIE GILLESPIE Courage To Love Album Launch @ Fremantle Arts Centre

22/04

HELEN SHANAHAN Finding Gold EP Launch @ The Ellington

24/04

ODLAW Soup Herb EP Launch @ The Velvet Lounge

26/04

CELERY Self Titled Album Launch @ The Velvet Lounge

08/05

THE KILLER HIPSTERS Self Titled Album Launch @ Paddington Ale House

09/05

AXE GIRL Beach Single Launch @ The Odd Fellow

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NEWS

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INTERVIEWS

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REVIEWS

| B E AT S

|

LIVE

|

VENUES

Odette Mercy & Her Soul Atomics

Bearded Gypsy Band

The Lammas Tide

Kallidad

Katie J. White

to the solid female drummer, Kyrie Anderson, who created some great dynamics even on brushes. One of the closing acts National Junk Band made me ask myself questions such as: Is that a French horn violin? Is he playing a water canister? Why is that man juggling chickens? Why is there an aluminum roof on the drummer? Where did the tuba come from? And why is the lead singer eating fire?

It would not be worth writing this piece if I didn’t mention All Our Exes Live In Texas.

Crammed into the corner of a chapel pew, as the church filled to its utmost capacity, the four young beautiful Sydney women made the squeeze worth it. They had us immediately eating out of their endearing little paws as they blew us away with their impeccable four-part harmonies. Their sound

was both punchy and sweet and covered in lyrics you wanted to listen to because they told the most beautiful love stories. You were reminded of Elvis’ blues and ABBA’s pop with the piano accordion and tambourine respectively while also giving it that modern folk twist that was as easy to sing along to.

The cute, cheeky jokes, the bubblegum soprano, the warm and reverberating sound made this flawless quartet one of the stand-out performances for everyone this weekend.

As a whole, it was a most spiritual and enjoyed festival that saw its muddy patrons returning home with a sense of rejuvenation and a reawakening in their connection to the earth and the music.

Koi Child

The Bombadils

MOBB DEEP

After hyping up the crowd, he finally introduced to the stage, Mobb Deep. Prodigy and Havoc bounded on stage, not wasting any time, launching into God Pt. III from their 1996 album, Hell On Earth.

The Realest off 99’s Murda Muzik sounded heavier than ever - with the bass jacked to the max - you could feel it rattle your chest. The duo owned the stage, their solid, sparring rapping, honed from years of experience.

Then it was time to get down to business.

‘How many y’all got that Infamous album’ asked Prodigy, as they took us back to ‘95 launching into the opening track off the album, The Start Of Your Ending (41st Side).

Following it up though with Right Back At You it became evident they wouldn’t be playing the album from start to finish though. Next up was Say Something, off the their new 2014 album The Infamous Mobb Deep , which included unreleased material from the original Infamous recording sessions.

The Learning (Burn) was quickly followed

by Up North Trip, before they started to break out the big guns with Cradle To The Grave and Survival Of The Fittest which sent the crowd into a frenzy, surging forward, rapping along with every word, hands reaching out for a slap from their old school idols who destroyed the room, putting on a clinic for wannabe rappers.

Perhaps their finest moment, stone cold gangsta rap classic, Shook Ones, Pt. II got a huge reaction – the crowd bouncing around to the beat as Prodigy and Havoc traded lines. The classic lyric ‘You minor, we major’ really summed things up for these legendary heavy hitters.

Much like the sweet, pungent smoke that filled the room, the show was straight up dope, as they finished the night with another classic, Quiet Storm. There was no encore. Class was over.

FAIRBRIDGE FESTIVAL Pinjarra Friday-Sunday, April 10-12, 2015 Fairbridge is probably one of the only festivals in WA than can attract a crowd that ranges from 4-84 years of age. It’s the only place that you will find a man old enough to be your grandfather rattling an egg shaker next to you in a moshpit.

This blatant disregard to appeal to a certain demographic means there is a bigger sense of community than at any other festival. Bare-footed mothers pushing strollers, kids with hats out busking on the footpath, more dreadlocks than at a Bob Marley tribute concert and that real country fresh air laced with eucalyptus and incense.

One the first day we found Tranquila, the relaxation area where festival-goers could get a massage or visit the Fairbridge Labyrinth to place a rock and a candle along the path. The Ruby Stage And Bar was like entering the Secret Garden. With low hanging willow trees and fairy lights strung up everywhere, it was as though peace and tranquility were too hard to resist.

One of the first and most impressionable acts on Friday was the crystallised serenades of the all female quartet Co-Cheól. Playing in the chapel made the four appear angelic as they used body percussion to begin their set so simplistically, yet so holistically.

With wave after wave of incredible harmonies, my goosebumps were later confirmed not be a result of the cold draft, but rather the perfect harmonies, as

my friend sat next to me with tears streaming down her face. Stumbling upon Baka Beyond (UK) was the best mistake of the weekend; as we watched the yodeling tribal princess Su Hart take us through a set of world music in this colourful arrangement of jungle reggae and primal sounds. The audience mirrored Hart’s feet stomping, hip rotating and hair flipping which completely defined the idea of hessian people.

Hessian people are the organic and free spirited people of our community and can all be found at Fairbridge. The people running around in the mud with no shoes on; the people dancing when no one else is; the people who will stand around and converse with strangers for hours. I had a conversation like this with a stall owner on the performance of Kallidad.

Upon this strong recommendation, we braved a light drizzle at the Youthopia stage as the Sydney boys mixed metal mariachi and flamenco. Their faces adorned with skull candy face paint, the band had an incredible effect on the audience with their audibly and visually seductive performance. The melody was considerably strong even without a vocal lead.

Preceding the Spanish enthusiasts, were Perth boys Nodes with a fresh and upbeat switch from the rest of the weekend. Playing on the Youthopia stage they attracted a major posse of adoring teenage girls and head banging boys. Even when they took it down from their fast paced crowd participation song, Huffin’ N’ Puffin’, everyone was still vibing to the slow bop tune Bonus Bonus featuring the sweet and sultry Stella Donnelly. Props go to the frontman who maintained his poetic prowess along with the great sounding cajon and acoustic guitar.

Another act worth mentioning are the surprisingly clean cut Bearded Gypsy Band with a geekishly handsome lead singer/violinist, it was the kind of boot stomping, naughty Celtic/Gypsy music that had all ages jiving. Special commendation goes

Capitol Wednesday, April 8, 2015

All Our Exes Live In Texas

Amanda Merdzan 34

The Rogues

Legendary hip hop duo Mobb Deep are ranked alongside Nas, Wu-Tang Clan and The Notorious B.I.G. as some of the most important rappers to come out of the East Coast ‘90s scene, and as producers, they took things forward with their new style and sound. Their second album The Infamous is hailed as one of the greatest hip hop records of all time. Its dark and gritty sound, bleak lyricism and narrative style pushed the boundaries of gangsta rap at the time. Havoc and Prodigy weren’t fronting, they were talking about their lives on the streets of Queens.

In exciting news for old school, hardcore hip hop lovers, following on from the recent Nas’ Illmatic tour, Mobb Deep were in town to celebrate the 20th anniversary of The Infamous, and play the seminal record in full – though it wasn’t quite that straight up a set.

Charlie Bucket got the crowd and well and truly fired up with a well selected party set, with plenty of ‘90s East Coast flava and his infectious enthusiasm, getting down behind the decks as he pulled off some impressive scratching and tricks on his control vinyl, beat juggling KRS-One’s classic Sound Of The Police and Gang Starr’s Full Clip, as well as mixing in some Wu-Tang.

Around 10, Mobb Deep’s tour DJ Skibeatz took the stage, getting set up behind the decks, commenting how it was his first time in Perth. The DJ/producer is himself an East Coast legend having been an original player on the scene since way back, he holds some pretty impressive production credits to his name, including some of the best tracks on Jay-Z’s debut album, Reasonable Doubt.

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MIA CAMPBELL-FOULKES | Photography by Tamara Szep

ALFRED GORMAN

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X- P R E S S G U I D E

A$AP FERG, APRIL 28

DEMI LOVATO, APRIL 21

TO URS THIS WEEK DUBARRAY 17 Odd Fellow 19 Indi Bar CARMADA 17 Villa ATTILA 18 Amplifier 19 YMCA HQ THE MURLOCS 18 Four5Nine Bar MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD 18 Red Hill Auditorium NANA MOUSKOURI 19 Perth Concert Hall THE OCEAN 19 Amplifier DEMI LOVATO 21 HBF Stadium APRIL 2015 SAN CISCO 23 & 24 Fremantle Arts Centre DUBARRAY 24 Settlers Tavern 26 Caves House THE SCRIPT with LABRINTH 24 Perth Arena GUTTERMOUTH 24 Leisure Inn 25 Rosemount Hotel 26 Margaret River Football Club SHABBAB 24 Mojos KATY STEELE 24 Jimmy’s Den FUNERAL FOR A FRIEND 24 Amplifier NOEL FIELDING 24 & 25 Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre BOO SEEKA 25 Jimmy’s Den PAPER DIAMOND 25 Capitol JERICCO 26 Rosemount Hotel SPYGLASS GYPSIES 26 Ellington Jazz Club GROOVIN THE MOO 26 Hay Park, Bunbury A$AP FERG 28 Villa HUMAN NATURE 28 Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre YOU ME AT SIX 28 Capitol 360 29 Rosemount Hotel 30 Prince of Wales STEPHEN K. AMOS 30 His Majesty’s Theatre

MAY 2015 COSENTINO 1 & 2 Regal Theatre STEPHEN AMOS 1 & 2 His Majesty’s Theatre PAUL DEMPSEY 1 Rosemount Hotel SPENDA C 1 Villa 360 1 Players Bar 2 Dunsborough Tavern COURTNEY BARNETT 2 & 3 The Bakery APIA GOOD TIMES TOUR ft. KATE CEBERANO, BRIAN CADD, JOE CAMILLERI & GLENN SHORROCK 2 HBF Stadium SAM SMITH 4 HBF Stadium ACE FREHLEY 7 Astor Theatre RED FANG 7 Rosemount Hotel THE BEARDS 7 Prince of Wales 8 Settlers Tavern 9 Capitol RICKY MARTIN 8 Perth Arena ANDY BULL with CUB SPORT 8 Rosemount Hotel 9 Mojos Bar 10 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre MICHAEL SPIBY & THE BADLOVES 8 Centurion Hotel 9 Charles Hotel 10 The Ravenswood OPETH 8 Astor Theatre AMERICA with SHARON CORR 9 Red Hill Auditorium JOE AVATI 9 Fremantle Town Hall ANASTACIA 10 Perth Concert Hall SILVERSTEIN 10 Amplifier SUFFOCATION with DECAPITATED 10 Rosemount Hotel ALT-J 15 HBF Stadium BACKSTREET BOYS 15 Perth Arena BRITISH INDIA 15 Dunsborough Tavern 16 Capitol 17 Newport Hotel THE ANGELS 16 Charles Hotel

FEATURED GIG

MICHAEL FRANTI AND SPEARHEAD RED HILL AUDITORIUM APRIL 18 36

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GUTTERMOUTH, APRIL 24 - 26

PALOMA FAITH 16 Perth Concert Hall RIBLJA CORBA 16 Astor Theatre ENTER SHIKARI 18 Metropolis Fremantle NECRO 20 Metropolis Fremantle SPANDAU BALLET 22 Perth Arena SHE WHO ROCKS ft.

BABY ANIMALS & THE SUPERJESUS 22-23 Charles Hotel KARNIVOOL 22 Metro City COLIN HAY 23 Regal Theatre 24 Colonial Brewery, Margaret River MOTLEY CRUE/ALICE COOPER 23 Perth Arena SHAGGY 23 Astor Theatre PETER BIBBY 24 Mojos NICKELBACK 26 Perth Arena DEFEATER 28 YMCA HQ 29 Rosemount Hotel ANDREW STRONG 29 Astor Theatre PANOS KIAMOS 29 HBF Stadium DARYL BRAITHWAITE 29 Charles Hotel DENMARK FESTIVAL OF VOICE 29 – 31 Denmark Civic Centre DAVE WARNER 30 Charles Hotel THE FUNKROARS 30 Amplifier JUNE 2015 BORIS 1 Rosemount Hotel IN HEARTS WAKE 2 YMCA HQ 3 Metropolis Fremantle BEN HOWARD 3 Fremantle Arts Centre AGAINST ME! with JOYCE MANOR 4 Rosemount Hotel KINGSWOOD 4 Jimmy’s Den VOYAGER with KLONE 5 Amplifier R.A. THE RUGGED MAN 5 Game Sports Bar DIESEL 6 Charles Hotel YNGWIE MALMSTEEN 6 Astor Theatre DEEZNUTS 9 YMCA HQ 10 Amplifier KARISE EDEN 10 Albany Entertainment Centre BRIAN KENNEDY 10 Victoria Hall THE GETAWAY PLAN 12 Rosemount Hotel HARTS 12 Amplifier 13 Settlers Tavern 14 Newport Hotel THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER 18 Capitol SONGS IN THE KEY OF MOTOWN 24 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre 25 Astor Theatre JEBEDIAH 26 & 27 Astor Theatre

5 SECONDS OF SUMMER 29 Perth Arena MACHINE HEAD 29 Astor Theatre JULY 2015 THE CLOWNS 3 Prince of Wales 4 Four5Nine Bar 5 Mojos YELLOWCARD 4 Metro City AUSTRALIAN ROCK WITH ANGRY ANDERSON 4 Charles Hotel THE MANFREDS 4 Astor Theatre TIM ROGERS & THE BAMBOOS 4 Rosemount Hotel THE CHURCH 16 Settlers Tavern 17 Prince of Wales 18 Rosemount Hotel JOHNNY MARR 18 Metropolis Fremantle ADAM HARVEY 22 Albany Entertainment Centre JOSH PYKE with WASO 24 Perth Concert Hall V CAPRI 25 Charles Hotel AUGUST THE AUSTRALIAN BEE GEES SHOW 15 Regal Theatre 16 Albany Entertainment Centre PEACE TRAIN: THE CAT STEVENS STORY 21 Astor Theatre 22 Albany Entertainment Centre THE BEATLES FOREVER 27 Albany Entertainment Centre ELVIS MEETS THE BEATLES 28 HBF Stadium SEPTEMBER TYLER OAKLEY 9 Perth Concert Hall BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS 9 Regal Theatre JULIA MORRIS 11 Regal Theatre ROY ORBISON & THE EVERLY BROTHERS 12 Crown Theatre THE TEN SOPRANOS 25 Astor Theatre OCTOBER KISS 3 Perth Arena AT THE GATES 28 Amplifier 10CC 28 Astor Theatre FLEETWOOD MAC 30 Domain Stadium NOVEMBER ANATHEMA 1 Rosemount Hotel NEIL DIAMOND 14 Sandalford Estate 16 Perth Arena AC/DC 27 Domain Stadium

FOR ALL WEEKLY EVENTS DOWNLOAD OUR FREE MAGAZINE APP AVAILABLE FROM DOWNLOAD OUR FREE EVENTS GUIDE APP Deadline Monday 5pm. X-Press Guide is a service to advertisers listing all entertainment events. All inclusions are at the discretion of X-Press. Email guide@xpressmag.com.au

PUCK, APRIL 18

OPETH, MAY 8

WEEKLY WEDNESDAY15/04

THE BEAT Street Wednesdays THE BIRD Greater Union: Soft vs. Smooth THE CARINE Open Mic Night ft.

Shaun Street CLANCYS CANNING BRIDGE Songwriters Night ft.

Josh Johnstone Wally Howlett CLUB KAHUNA Ch33k ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB The Bombadils Night Cap Sessions FLYRITE Northbridge Nightly Now THE GOOD SHEPHERD Herd ft.

Doctopus Yokohomos Ohayo Childlike Empress Hokusai Hot Rock DJs HULA BULA BAR Island Nite INDI BAR Club Acoustica LANEWAY LOUNGE Adam Hall & the Velvet Playboys LUCKY SHAG Howie Morgan MALT SUPPER CLUB Margeaux Wednesdays METROPOLIS FREMANTLE Next Gen MOJOS Gambo’s Pick N Mix ft.

Shit Narnia Childs Play Slums Eli Schoen MOON CAFÉ Timothy Nelson Moana MOONDYNE JOES Karaoke with Nikki MUSTANG BAR Wild Wednesday Backpacker & Student Night Kickstart NEWPORT HOTEL Newport Wednesdays 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL The Bearded Gypsy Band Turn Robinson (acoustic) Jeff’s Dead ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Kallidad Ben Catley Candice McLeod Ensemble Formidable ROSEMOUNT HOTEL (BEER GARDEN) Student Night ft.

DJ Anton Maz SETTLERS TAVERN Open Mic Night ft.

Claire Warnock SWINGING PIG Ricky Green

UNIVERSAL BAR Daniel Rata WANNEROO VILLA TAVERN Keith McDonald THE WINDSOR Mike Nayar THURSDAY 16/04 AMPLIFIER Last Night – Disney Extravaganza!

THE BIRD Hypermagic Monument ft.

Joni In the Moon duo Rabbit Island She Leaves the Mountain Kari Hiller THE BROOK Chris Gibbs Acoustic Autumn BROOKLANDS TAV Celebrations Karaoke CAPITOL Napalm Death Carcass Extortion CIVIC HOTEL Steve’s Karaoke DEFECTORS BAR Songwriters Klub ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Cliff Lynton ‘Eclectic’ Night Cap Sessions THE GATE Greg Carter THE GOOD SHEPHERD Teischa Lunar Whales Mister Wolf Gryff Hindley GRAND CENTRAL PARK Adrian Wilson HULA BULA BAR Rhum Club INDI BAR Open Mic JIMMY’S DEN Ungus Ungus Ungus Ensemble Formidable Childs Play LAKERS TAV Howie Morgan LANEWAY LOUNGE Charisma Brothers LUCKY SHAG James Wilson MOJOS The Bearded Gypsy Band Galloping Foxleys Justin Walshe Folk Machine MOON AND SIXPENCE Bob & Clem MOONDYNE JOE’S Open Mic Night with Peter MUSTANG BAR Thumpin’ Thursdays ft.

Decoy NORTHSHORE TAVERN Nathan Gaunt PURL BAR Justin Cortorillo 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Magnus Danger Magnus

ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Fight The Morning Hope Street Enemy Minds Dead End Brawler RUBIX BAR Monty Cotton SETTLERS TAV Dave Mann Duo ST. ANDREWS HOTEL Open Mic Night ft.

Shaun Street UNIVERSAL BAR Off The Record FRIDAY 17/04 AMBAR Force Majeure ft.

The Partysquad AMPLIFIER Citizen & special guests ASTOR LOUNGE West Coast Saloon Shaker #3 ft.

Taylor Smith Belle Harvey Free Range Childs Rose Parker & Phoebe Corke THE BAKERY Tangled Thoughts of Leaving (Album Launch) Naik Skullcave THE BALMORAL Howie Morgan Duo BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) PLAY BEAU RIVAGE Courtney Murphy BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Mike Nayar THE BELMONT Electrophobia THE BIRD Grrl Pal (EP Launch) Antonio Paul Childsaint Childs Play THE BOAT Delicious BRASS MONKEY Kevin Curran BRIGHTON HOTEL Chris Martin THE CARINE Amy Sugars (Album Launch) CIVIC HOTEL Elephants in Paris Back & Forth CLANCYS CANNING BRIDGE Boullibass DJ Boogie CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Café Sundowner Sessions ft.

The Limelights Jazz CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Dynomite DJ Jiminy Kickit & Friends Dva COMO HOTEL Nathan Gaunt DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Patient Little Sister EAST 150 Adrian Wilson EDZ SPORTZ BAR Siren & Assassin ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Charlie Moon Meader Shameem Homecoming Show

MARLON WILLIAMS AND THE YARRA BENDERS, APRIL 17

TEISCHA, APRIL 16

EMPIRE BAR Howie Morgan EVE NIGHTCLUB Candy Fridays FLYRITE FACE. Presents DANA Menace Rendition Animal Precinct GATE BAR & BISTRO Mike Nayar GEISHA BAR Alex Niggemann Saul Bliss Arjen Jimi J GINGER NIGHTCLUB Mondo Fridays GOLD BAR Fox Fridays THE GOOD SHEPHERD Throwback Strict Face Mike Midnight Opium Bixxler Frodo Mandem Mitch Professor Mowbray Pelajik GOSNELLS HOTEL Chris Gibbs GREENWOOD Steve Hepple HERDSMAN LAKE TAVERN The Flying Embers The Corner Sophomore Blake Byrne HIGHWAY HOTEL Sydney Hotshots HULA BULA Friday Frendzee HYDE PARK HOTEL Adam James INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO. Ben Merito INDI BAR Morgan Bain (Single Launch) Riley Pearce band Nicky Sandover KALAMUNDA HOTEL Retrofit James Wilson LANEWAY LOUNGE Fleer Ultra Elixir LIBRARY Sneaky MAHOGANY INN Stu McKay MANDOON ESTATE Hans Fiance MOJOS BAR Marlon Williams & the Yarra Benders (Single Launch) Davey Craddock & The Spectacles Julia Jacklin DJ Sarah Tout MOON AND SIXPENCE Soul Corporation MUSTANG BAR Adam Hall & The Velvet Playboys Flash Nat & The Action Men NEWPORT HOTEL Friday Fiesta THE ODD FELLOW The Amani Consorts DUBARRAY DJ Swami PARKER Majesty ft.

Sable Jia Lih

PEEL ALE HOUSE Siren Song Enterprises PIRATE BAR Trent Jean PORT KENNEDY TAVERN 2 Tenors ROCK INNE Light Street ROSE & CROWN HOTEL Choppa 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL DM3 Jangle Monster The JAC ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Hunting Huxley Shit Narnia Race to your face Black Stone From the Sun Verge Collection Bikini Cops SAIL & ANCHOR Acoustic Royale SETTLERS TAVERN Zarm THE SHED Monty Cotton SWAN LOUNGE The Lucys & special guests SWINGING PIG Frenzy UNIVERSAL BAR Nightmoves VELVET LOUNGE Macshane Freqshow Wisdow 2th DJ Silence VERNON ARMS TAVERN Greg Carter VILLA Carmada WANNEROO VILLA TAV Rock Star Karaoke YANCHEP INN Jeanie Proude YMCA HQ Ready to Fire (EP Launch) Vice Versa This Other Eden Last Lions Last Weeks Heroes SATURDAY 18/04 AMBAR Japan 4 ft.

Nick Thayer AMPLIFIER Attila & special guests ASTOR LOUNGE TRS (CD Launch) The Insinnerators The Shakey’s Renegade Girl THE BAKERY Puck Pat Chow Dream Rimmy Pissedcolas Abacaxuva THE BALMORAL Wire Birds BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) CANVAS BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Nathan Gaunt THE BIRD Moana (EP sneak peek) Antelope Psychedelic Porn Crumpets Mossy Fogg BRIGHTON HOTEL Thierryno BROKEN HILL HOTEL Drifter

BROOK BAR & BISTRO Electrophobia BROOKLANDS TAVERN Siren & Assassin CIVIC HOTEL Ragdoll – USA Tour Fundraiser Show Hailmary September Sun CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Justin Burford CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Al & Drac’s Funk Duo CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Ungus Ungus Ungus Ensemble Formidable DUNSBOROUGH TAV Jonny Taylor EAST END BAR & LOUNGE Temptation ELECTRIFIED RAVE WARS: Episode 1 – A New Hope ft.

Noizy Boy (UK) ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Jamie Oehlers’ Blowfish with Allira Wilson Sam Nafie farewell party FLYRITE Father FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE Natalie Gillespie (Album Launch) THE GATE Greg Carter GINGER Serial.

GOLD BAR Pure Gold THE GOOD SHEPHERD Chocolate Jesus GOSNELLS HOTEL Circus Animals & guests THE HERDSMAN Crisis Mr. Swagger & guests HULA BULA Sailor Saturdays JIMMY’S DEN Marlon Williams & the Yarra Benders KALAMUNDA HOTEL Celebrations Karaoke KINGSWAY BAR & BISTRO Courtney Murphy LAKERS TAV Celebrations Karaoke LANEWAY LOUNGE Saffron Sharp Trio LLAMA BAR Laundry LOBBY LOUNGE Why Georgia?

M ON THE POINT Rhythm 22 METRO CITY HYFR #8 MOJOS BAR DM3 Month of Sundays The Stanleys DJ Super J MUSTANG BAR The Wal*Tones DJ Holly Doll Frenzy

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MATTYTWALL APRIL 18

NORTHSHORE TAVERN Howie Morgan Project THE ODD FELLOW Sh’Mon DJs PADDY MAGUIRES Jonny Dempsey PARKER Menagerie Nights PEEL ALE HOUSE Greg Carter PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Monty Cotton RED HILL AUDITORIUM Michael Franti & the Spearhead ROCK INNE P!nked & guests 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL The Murlocs Doctopus Hamjam Kitchen People ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Chad Chambers Jerico Band Lion Rezz DJ Antikz ROSEMOUNT HOTEL (BEER GARDEN) Turin Robinson SAIL AND ANCHOR Organ Grinders SETTLERS TAVERN Pimps of Sound SHAPE BAR HUSH THE SHED HUGE SOUTH WEST BLUES CLUB MattyTWall SWALLOW BAR Nick Sheppard SWAN LOUNGE SleepTV SWINGING PIG Vendetta UNIVERSAL BAR Soul Corporation VELVET LOUNGE The Marvel Party VILLA Inhibit presents Icicle Mind Vortex June Miller WHALE & ALE Adam James Duo SUNDAY 19/04 AMPLIFIER The Ocean & special guests THE BALMORAL Andrew Winton BAYSWATER HOTEL Acoustic Aly THE BELMONT Selestial BENTLEY HOTEL Jeanie Proude BOTANICA BAR & BISTRO Official GTM Warm Up Party THE BRIGHTON Choppa BROKEN HILL HOTEL Talia Hart Duo BROOK BAR & BISTRO Justin Martins BROOKLANDS TAVERN Drifter CHASE BAR & BISTRO Jonny Dempsey

CHIPPY’S JINDALEE Matt Burke CIVIC HOTEL Troy Nababan CLANCY’S CITY BEACH DJ Boogie Salt Shaker Selectors CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Ungus Ungus Ungus CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Decks on the Decks ft.

DJ Jiminy Kickit Grace Barbe & Afro Creole COMO HOTEL Light Street CURRAMBINE BAR & BISTRO Courtney Murphy DOLLS HOUSE Freaks & Fishnets FLYRITE MVMNT FREMANTLE SAILING CLUB Howie Morgan Project THE GREENWOOD Frankie G HULA BULA BAR Tropical Sundaze HYDE PARK HOTEL Carus Thompson INDI BAR Dubarray Zarm INDIAN OCEAN BREWING CO. Retrofit KALAMUNDA HOTEL Threeplay LAKERS TAVERN Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts LANEWAY LOUNGE Perth Jazz Society presents The Laneway Sessions ft.

MacShane Georgia Reed LEISURE INN (BAR INDIGO) Chad Chambers & guests LOBBY LOUNGE Thierryno M ON THE POINT Nathan Gaunt MAHOGANY INN Trent Jean MANDOON ESTATE Adam James MOJOS BAR The Murlocs Mt. Mountain Hideous Sun Demon Dream Rimmy THE MOON CAFÉ Shontay Snow NORTHBRIDGE PIAZZA Saxy Bass The L.A. Band PARKERVILLE TAVERN Chris Gibbs Trio PEEL ALE HOUSE Thierryno PERTH CONCERT HALL Nana Mouskouri PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Greg Carter

RAGDOLL, APRIL 18

RAILWAY HOTEL One Night in Perth ft.

Juno Reactor Grouch 20hz Acidic x Alkalin Jeevan Red Can Mattiecee Powder Monkey Temperamental Goat THE ROSE & CROWN HOTEL Siren & Assassin 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL The Second Alternation Amberdown Last Week’s Heroes Just Numbers ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Lady Velvet Cabaret’s Sugar Du Joure PULMAC presents The Robert Hinton Trio Rose Parker & Phoebe Corke Stoney Joe Jake & the Cowboys ROSEMOUNT HOTEL (BEER GARDEN) Get Down ft.

Aslan Klean Kicks Pawel Good Company DJs Sleepyhead Beni Chill Jo Lettenmaier Tim King THE SAINT The Wire Birds SETTLERS TAVERN Chief Monkey SHED Monty Cotton SOMERVILLE AUDITORIUM In the Pines 2015 ft…

SWALLOW BAR Jessie Gordon Duo SWINGING PIG One Trick Phonies UNIVERSAL BAR Retrofit WANNEROO TAV Anderson WHISTLING KITE James Wilson WINDSOR Adrian Wilson YMCA HQ Attila Ocean Grove DropBears Finders

MONDAY 20/04 THE BIRD Paradise Circus – Exhibition by Matt Wright BRASS MONKEY Monday Madness Student & Industry Night CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Scotty’s Quiz Night ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Song Lounge ft.

Toby Mossy Fogg Ezereve Hank LOBBY LOUNGE Hans Fiance MOJOS BAR Wide Open Mic PARKER Manic Mondays ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Comedy Trivia TUESDAY 21/04 BRASS MONKEY Open Mic Night ft.

Shaun Street ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Eddie Masson GROOVE BAR Jack & Jill HBF STADIUM Demi Lovato LANEWAY LOUNGE Open Mic Night ft.

Josh Terlick LLAMA BAR Ruby Tuesdays THE LUCKY SHAG Ben Merito MERRIWA TAV Celebrations Karaoke MOJOS BAR Blood Groove Dirac Sea Alzabo NEWPORT HOTEL Quiz Show PERTH BLUES CLUB PBC’s Anzac Show ft.

The Legacy Show Band The Ripping Horns ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Bex & Turin’s Open Mic Night SWINGING PIG Greg Carter TORCH BAR Quiz Meisters

FEATURED GIG

TANGLED THOUGHTS OF LEAVING THE BAKERY APRIL 17 37

NEWS

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INTERVIEWS

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REVIEWS

| B E AT S

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LIVE

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EVENTS

AMPLIFIER/CAPITOL

METRO FREO

THE COURT

THE ROSEMOUNT

MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY

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CLASSIFIEDS

Gear and tech reviews by Chris Gibbs ORANGE PPC212OB OPEN BACK SPEAKER CABINET The idea of an open back cabinet is that the tone will tend to “chime” more and will possess increased presence, thereby opening up the sound and increasing the spread of sound throughout the performance space. This is of particular advantage when running amps with lower wattage in the sense that the open back design assists in overall volume and impact.

Orange’s unique skid feet design also apparently helps to “acoustically couple” the speaker cabinet to the stage, thus providing a platform for tighter bass response and full range tone definition, resulting is a more focused tone that accentuates a warmer mid-range. This thinking is well worth a thought for guitarists with smaller cabs who tend to raise their enclosures up on crates or chairs as they may be missing out on a more powerful and balanced tone as a result.

With the rugged construction guitar players have come to expect from Orange, the PPC212OB speaker cabinet is built from 13 ply high density 18mm Baltic birch plywood and is loaded with two

MUSOS WANTED OPEN MIC NIGHT/ARVO South St Alehouse, Hilton. Original songs, solo/duo, sorry no bands.

Come on down for a play on a Sunday to round off the weekend..TEXT..Gus 0409 101 688 PRODUCTION SERVICES CD & DVD MANUFACTURE Check out our latest CD & DVD specials online at www.procopy.com.au 9375 3902 MATRIX PRODUCTIONS AUSTRALIA Lighting, staging, sound systems, smoke machines, night club FX, intelligent lighting, strobes & mirror balls, crowd barriers, video projectors. 9371 1551 RECORDING STUDIOS ALAN DAWSON’S WITZEND RECORDING STUDIO Prof quality albums or demos, large live room, experienced engineer, analog to digital transfers, mastering. Alan 0407 989 128 www.witzendstudios.com 38

MOOER MICRO LOOPER EFFECTS PEDAL 60 watt Celestion Vintage 30 speakers. The speaker cabinet’s power ratings are 120 watts and 16 ohms.

In terms of finish, this model is available in orange (but of course) or black.

The Orange PPC212OB Open Back Speaker Cabinet is a high-quality, affordable speaker enclosure solution at just $899.

Orange PPC212OB Open Back Speaker Cabinet

ANALOG MASTERING VINTAGE TAPE, TUBES & TRANSFORMERS with the latest state of the art digital converters. Clients include: Melody’s Echo Chamber, Pond, Gossling, Knife Party, Felicity Groom, The Floors, Jeff Martin & The Panics. World class facility, World class results. www.poonshead.com. 9339 4791 ANDY’S STUDIO International multi award winning songwriter / producer. No band required.

Broadcast quality. A songwriter’s paradise.

Ph 9364 3178 GOLDDUST Production Mixing, recording and composition. Leederville $80 p/h. 0408 097 407 RECORDING MIXING MASTERING PRODUCING Fremantle location. Call Pete Kitchen Cooked Records. Ph 0407 363 764 / 9336 3764 REVOLVER SOUND STUDIO Ph 9272 7505. www.revolverstudio.com.au REHEARSAL STUDIOS

Part of Mooer’s Micro series of effects pedals, the Micro Looper aims to provide players with a simple and direct operation experience. The pedal is capable of up to 30 minutes of recording time and unlimited overdubbing times. The Micro Looper has no maximum bar limit for the overdubbing times, creating a more free-form looping experience than some other effects of this type that tend to function better on a set bar-length loop setup.

The Loop level knob controls the volume

PLATINUM SOUND ROOMS Professional rehearsal rooms, airconditioned, quality PAs mob 0418 944 722 TUITION ***GUITAR LESSONS*** New Year enrolments.

Online bookings. Children & adults. Beg to adv. AMEB and WAAPA accreditation. Cliff Lynton Guitar Institute. Mt Lawley 9342 3484/ www.clifflynton.com BASS GUITAR LESSONS AVAILABLE by WAAPA tutor. A practicle approach to learning. .All styles.

Years of experience. Tony Gibbs 9470 6131 GUITAR TUITION Learn guitar at the speed of light in a state of the art music studio. fretlightaustralia.com. Ph: 0433042503

BIBRA LAKE REHEARSAL STUDIO Air Conditioned VOICE COACH SINGING TEACHER 30 years Room. Great Facilities. Superior sound to hear yourself and your band. 10 mins from Freo. experience. All levels, all styles. Student discounts.

NOR 0407 260 762 Phone Nick: 0410 485 588.

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of recorded loops, allowing players to adjust loop levels reasonably easily if they find that loop playback is overtaking their soloing sound.

The ‘simple operation’ setup of having Stop/Delete/ Redo functions all controlled by one footswitch certainly keeps the size down, but the holding, pressing and watching for the right coloured LED to know which mode guitarists are in when using the pedal may take some getting used to compared to larger units with dedicated individual switches for different functions.

The Micro Looper utilises high quality electronic components that aim to replicate the playback audio signal as clearly as recorded with minimal detail loss. The pedal features true bypass, which will not affect the original signal when the pedal is disengaged.

As with all Mooer Micro pedals, the one big selling point is the small size, allowing for more pedals on a pedalboard or ease of transport in a guitar case if only a couple of pedals are being used. A point worth considering though is that this series of pedal does not have a battery option, so space-conscious players will need to factor in a power supply solution.

The Mooer Micro Looper retails for around $89, making it one of the most affordable looping options on the market.

Mooer Micro Looper Effects Pedal

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