Issue 1480

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NEWSDESK

LOCAL NEWS

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GLOBAL NEWS

FRUIT OF THE BEAUVINE The good folk at JumpClimb Events have announced BeauVine, set to bring the people of Perth together from Friday-Sunday, October 23-25, with for “a unique celebration of gourmet food and wine, with popular Perth eateries and wineries, wellrespected chefs and sommeliers.” To be held in Birdwood Square (off Beaufort) Beauvine will “be art for the eyes and music for the ears.” For details and updates head to beauvine.com.au.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS

Laura Marling

LAURA THE EXPLORER Childish Gambino

LISTEN OUT ANNOUNCED A very impressive line-up has been announced by the Listen Out festival, which stops by our way on Sunday, September 27, at Ozone Reserve. In there you’ll find Childish Gambino, Sbtrkt (DJ set), Joey Bada$$, Alison Wonderland, Odesza, Rae Sremmurd, Golden Features, Dusky, Ryan Hemsworth, Ilovemakonnen, George Fitzgerald, Lido, Hayden James, Client Liaison, Roland Tings, Halfway Crooks, Jordan Burns, a triple j Unearthed winner plus many more to be announced. Tickets available now from listenout.com.au.

Beloved UK folk artist Laura Marling is heading back to Australia this October with a full band on the back of her most recent release, the critically acclaimed Short Movie. Performing at the Astor Theatre on Friday, October 16, Marling’s 2013 Australian tour was a sell-out, so head to secretsounds.com.au for details of a special pre-sale to make sure you don’t miss out.

Beach Boys

CALIFORNIA BOYS Captained by the ever-lovable Mike Love, The Beach Boys are returning to Perth for a special show at the Pioneer Women’s Memorial Kings Park & Botanic Garden on Saturday, November 21. It’s surely going to be fun, fun, fun with special guests John Paul Young & The Allstar Band, Glenn Shorrock, and plenty of memories surely to be shared. Tickets go on sale Friday, June 26, via ticketmaster.com.au (136 100).

PERTH RECLINK COMMUNITY CUP The Drones

ROLL THE DRONES In May seminal Australian band, The Drones, celebrated the 10-year anniversary of their acclaimed album, Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Float By, by playing it in full in a one-off show at the Sydney Opera House, for Vivid Live. It was so well received that the band are taking it to fans around the country, hitting Perth on Saturday, August 22, at the Rosemount Hotel, with special guests Batpiss. Tickets from oztix.com.au, available from Friday, June 26.

Expect a deluxe double 180g vinyl LP release of Wait Long By The River And The Bodies Of Your Enemies Float By soon, as well as a brand new album later in the year.

Now celebrating 21 years in Melbourne (with 12,000 fervid supporters in 2014) and four years in Sydney, theReclink Community Cup is being staged in Perth for the first time. Local musicians (The Bandgropers) and community media/music industry types (The Newshounds) will take to the field at Steel Blue Oval, Bassendean, on Sunday, August 30, in a game of “partly fun, partly serious hilarity.”

It’s all to raise money for Reclink, who support those experiencing mental illness, disability, substance abuse, homelessness, addiction and social and economic hardship. Tickets are $10 concession/RTRFM subscribers, $12 online presales from Oztix.com.au and $15 at the gate.

Dart

IT’S QUIZ TIME AGAIN WITH RTRFM It’s quiz time again. RTRFM’s annual Music Quiz is back for 2015, this time making its home at Inglewood’s Civic Hotel on Saturday, July 18.

Hosted by Full Frequency’s MC Dart, the

night consists of 10 rounds of trivia on general music knowledge, Perth music history, pop culture and more. Plus there’s live music, DJs and a special Movie Squad round with the station’s resident movie heads, Tristan Fidler and Simon Miraudo. As ever, there are some killer prizes up for grabs and a good time will be had by all.

SHORT BACK AND SIDEWALKS Barber Brothers Short Back And Sidewalks is a project that sees free haircuts given in the city to those in need, restoring some faith in human nature in the process. BOB GORDON chats with one of its creators, Craig Hollywood.

What’s the background to this initiative and the process of bringing it into actuality?

The project is based around a human being offering their skills to do a nice thing for another human being. It started with this basic principal, which with the help of the incredible staff at Weston’s Barbershop, Perth bred musician Ta-ku, photographers Ian and Erick Regnard, Hart Black, Babooshka cafe and Juicebox Creative has now grown into a project that we believe can offer a real change to a population in need. Since then we’ve had service providers such as The Salvation Army, St. Bartholomew’s House, Uniting Care West, RUAH and Tranby all jump on board with us which we are really excited about.

What were the first experiences like; did you know what the reactions would be from the customers upon the offer of a free haircut?

Our first ever cut was with a man called Godfrey who had travelled from 40kms away, and had turned up even before we’d set up any of our gear. It was then we realised this was something that would connect with people. The reactions were astounding, and one thing that resonated was that the folk getting cuts were happy just to sit down and tell some of their own story, share a coffee, have a bit of banter in an environment where they were treated as a human being.

It’s hard to think of something more positive than a project like this to a person for whom the world kicks-down-and-passes-by. The gesture; the conversation; the rare moment of being pampered; the haircut; seeing the new or indeed the old - in themselves...

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One of the guys told us he felt like so much fresher after his cut, and that it provided him with the opportunity of a new start. Not only was there an obvious physical transformation, but it was apparent that confidence levels were sky high as well, so much so we noticed one of the guys strutting around William Street about three hours later with a smile from ear to ear. It really was a very cool moment for all of us.

Have many background stories to homelessness been shared?

We’ve been told stories from people who have completely lost their family units, people who have previously been owners of very successful businesses that for one reason or another have gone into hardship, and as a result now find themselves sleeping in tents in bushland around Perth. It’s stories like that which make us realise that homelessness is something that can affect absolutely anyone. It’s not just that stereotypical image of a person on the side of the street pushing a trolley of their belongings, it literally can happen to anybody.

How popular have the haircuts proven to be, especially now with word getting out?

So far the reaction from the community has been incredible. We’ve had contact and support from everybody from members of parliament in Canberra all the way through to people phoning to say that since seeing the Short, Back And Sidewalks project they’ve cleared out clothes they don’t wear anymore and taken them to their local St. Vincent De Paul.

Overall, what are your hopes for Short Back And Sidewalks?

At the moment we’re really just looking to brighten up somebody’s day. Eventually we hope to roll the project out across all parts of WA with like-minded barbers and possibly beyond. If you’re on Instagram then come check us out @short_back_ and_sidewalks to keep in touch with our next cutting event.

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WIN

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

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FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD Based on the literary classic by Thomas Hardy, Far From The Madding Crowd is the story of Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan), a fiercely independent and spirited young woman who inherits her uncle’s farm. Financially autonomous, a beautiful and headstrong - she attracts three very different but determined suitors: Gabriel Oak (Matthias Schoenaerts), a sheep farmer, captivated by her wilfulness; Frank Troy (Tom Sturridge), a handsome and reckless Sergeant; and William Boldwood (Michael Sheen), a prosperous and mature bachelor. This timeless story of Bathsheba’s choices and passions, while trying to maintain her own independence, explores the nature of relationships and love – as well as the human ability to overcome hardship through resilience and perseverance. We have 10 double passes to give away, enter via the X-Press App.

NOCTURNAL BALL The WA Nightclub Association proudly presents The 19th annual Nocturnal Ball. Each year, the bars, pubs and nightclubs of Perth come together to celebrate the most eagerly awaited industry bash of the year. The Nocturnal Ball is the industry’s night of all nights, and is arguably the biggest Monday night of the year as the industry comes together for a night of fancy dress, stage performances, live entertainment, fundraising, and a few surprises! It is the one night of the year when all those in ‘the biz’ get the chance to let their hair down and party together. We have a double pass to give away to this night of nights. Enter via the X-Press App.

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

MARSHLAND The Spanish deep South, 1980. During annual festivities, in a forgotten town on the Guadalquivir Marshes, two teenage girls disappear. Juan and Pedro, two homicide detectives from Madrid with deep divisions in their ideology, are sent to assist the local police with the investigation. They must put aside their differences to untangle a web of intrigue, fed by secrets and lies which the locals refuse to give up. With their careers at stake and before more victims are claimed, time is running out to solve the case and face whoever has terrorised the community for years. We have 10 double passes to Marshland to give away, enter via the X-Press App.

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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

THE LOFT Defiant Screen Entertainment (previously Anchor Bay Entertainment) are set to release The Loft on DVD and Blu-Ray on Wednesday, July 1. In this tense psychological thriller, five friends conspire to share a secret penthouse loft in the city – a place where they can indulge in their deepest fantasies. But the fantasy becomes a nightmare when they discover the dead body of an unknown woman in the loft, and they realise one of the group must be involved.

Friendships are tested, loyalties are questioned and relationships crumble as the group is consumed by fear, suspicion and murder. The Loft features an all-star cast including James Marsden, Karl Urban, Rachael Taylor, Wentworth Miller, Isabel Lucas and Eric Stonestreet. We have five DVD copies to give away, enter via the X-Press App. 6

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FLESH

NEWS - INTERVIEWS - REVIEWS - CONTENTS

The Easybeats in the studio, BLOOD + THUNDER – The Sound Of Alberts

BLOOD + THUNDER The Sound Of Alberts Premiering on ABC TV this Thursday, June 25, at 8.30pm is the first episode of a new, two-part documentary, BLOOD + THUNDER – The Sound Of Alberts.

SHANE PINNEGAR reports.

BLOOD + THUNDER – The Sound Of Alberts provides what is to some a long-overdue analysis of the importance of the Alberts Studios sound to Australian rock and pop music.

“In the ‘50s and the ‘60s, Australian artists recorded American and British music and did it in a British or an American style as well,” explains series co-writer, Alex Barry. “Ted Albert was one of the sons, or one of the third or fourth generation of the Albert family, a music publishing company.

“He had this idea in ’64, that they should actually record and produce local artists for the local audience first but then also take that to the world. That was the real leap forward - this idea that we can do our own music.”

The result was a flood of epic talent.

Alberts started off by recording The Easybeats and Billy Thorpe & The Aztecs. After The Easybeats returned from an unsuccessful attempt to break it big in England, Alberts enlisted Harry Vanda and George Young from the band to be resident songwriters and producers for the studio.

What followed was some of the most glorious years of Australian music, years in which a truly Australian sound – the Alberts sound – was forged by AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo, The Choirboys and Stevie Wright.

Rose Tattoo’s leader, Angry Anderson, says that the Alberts legacy lies not just in this country, but the bands they influenced overseas.

“Dave Grohl - Foo Fighters. You have Metallica. You talk to the guys that were in Guns N’ Roses, Skid Row, Motley Crue. The list goes on.

Some of the greatest rock bands and inevitably the trail of their influences comes back to four bands: AC/DC, The Angels, Rose Tattoo, The Choirboys.

It’s the Alberts sound.

“None of those four bands,” he continues,

giving full credit where it is due, “and the other artists, none of us would have turned out to be the songwriters that we became without George and Harry.”

Barry says there are two storylines running through the programme – one of the Alberts rock n’ roll sound, one of Vanda & Young’s explorations into new pop.

“They spent what they call their fouryear binge in London after the fall of The Easybeats, learning how to write every type of song you could - everything from jingles through to jazz through to reggae, whatever.

“When they came back and set up the studio with Ted Albert, Ted really wanted to capitalise on that as well and use these wonderful skills. They were given the freedom so that they could create great and interesting pop music which would satisfy a different portion of the Australian public, which wanted to watch Countdown and wanted to sing along with John Paul Young, William Shakespeare, Ted Mulry (and Vanda & Young’s own quirky pop duo, Flash & The Pan) because he had Vanda & Young writing these wonderful songs.”

The link between the Alberts family and the Young family – George Young and his younger brothers Malcolm & Angus, who formed AC/ DC – is at the heart of Blood + Thunder, and it’s a united front that Barry says was not easy to break through. In a coup for the producers, however, AC/ DC guitarist Angus Young agreed to give them a rare interview.

“Paul Clarke who’s the director, had made a series called Long Way To The Top, a very seminal series about Australian rock’n’roll,” explains Barry. “During that time, they managed to secure an interview with Angus. Of all the interviews that have been done with Angus - which are very few - that’s a really strong one, and that was arranged through Alberts at that time.

“The Alberts family includes the Youngs - Stan Holsborough, who is one of the main people at Alberts these days, is the son of Margaret Young, who is Malcolm and Angus’s older sister. We communicated through Stan largely, who would then talk to Angus and the other members of the Young family.

“It was a gentle process of convincing them that we were going to do it justice, that we’re going to be sensitive and that we were telling the right story. It was important to the Young family, and to AC/DC, that we weren’t just telling AC/ DC’s story because, on the whole, they haven’t been interested in that. Because it was a broader story about Alberts, they were more keen in that regard… but it took some negotiation.”

Boys Revisited

BOYS REVISITED The McCarthy Years Paul McCarthy has been a major presence on the Perth music scene for many years in bands such as The Jackals, The Wishers, The Fortunados and with acclaimed solo work.

Some 35 years ago he was employed as the nonperforming songwriter for legendary Perth band, The Boys. This Thursday, June 25, at the Newport Record Club, he will perform and pay tribute to the band’s self-titled 1980 debut album for the firsttime ever, with help from ex-Baby Animals rhythm 8

section (and Boys alumni) Frank Celenza and Eddie Parise, plus guest guitarists Chris Travaglini and Michael Basham, collectively known as Boys Revisited (note this is not a reunion gig).

“It has been wonderful,” McCarthy says, reflecting on the surreal nature of performing these songs. “As a writer you do your best and put the work out there and hope that it connects and I knew that it had connected at the time but to find after all these years that people still feel such affection for the songs has been very gratifying and moving. You can’t hope for any more as a songwriter. I’ve just been bombarded with well wishes, its been fantastic.

“Rehearsing the songs has been joyful and surreal; I remember the young Paul that wrote them, so lots of flashbacks. I feel fortunate and grateful. I didn’t think the circumstances in which I would perform them would ever arise so I never really thought about it until the Newport Record Club came about. The whole thing has just been fantastic, I’m really looking forward to the gig.”

Tickets are $12 (plus booking fee) via oztix.com.au. Doors open at 7.30pm.

Turnstyle

TURNSTYLE The Way We Work With a new album soon to be unveiled, Turnstyle play at Mojo’s this Thursday, June 25, (with The Long Lost Brothers, Ursula and Treestump Almighty) and support Jebediah on Friday, June 26, at the Astor Theatre. BOB GORDON reports.

They’re back. Turnstyle, the Casio-geek-darlings of 1990s indie Perth reformed for RTRFM’s In The Pines 20th anniversary two years back, but have now made that gesture complete with a brand new album to be released later in the year.

But at what point did a reformation for In The Pines transition into an actual Turnstyle album and shows in 2015?

“It was almost immediate,” says vocalist/ guitarist, Adem Kerimofski. “I knew I wanted to do something for our 20th anniversary even if it was just a small online release with PJ and I. It’s become much more than that which is a bit exciting and a bit scary. We just kept getting together regularly after In The Pines and put this thing together. It’s not a reunion anymore.”

About half the album was written in the minds of the band’s members at the time of the initial reunion, with the other half being composed pretty much immediately after.

Kerimofski says they didn’t at any time feel bound by the ideal of how a Turnstyle album should ‘sound’ - the fact that they were writing and recording as Turnstyle enough.

“Well those two things are linked for us,” he explains. “We didn’t sit down and think, ‘okay this album has to have Casios’. When we started writing and demoing, we just used whatever we had around as we’d always done. The only problem was that I had amassed a few more instruments since 2002 and the others had to curb my occasional synthesiser fixations. We did set a few little rules in place I guess, to make it easier to work in a box and also to give the record a bit of timelessness. One example is avoiding any references to technology and making it more about feelings, which is kind of un-Turnstyle in a way.”

Even so there are songs that Kerimofski feels that best evoke Turnstyle today-and-yesterday somewhat simultaneously...

“Well there’s a few songs off Turnstyle Country that I think hold up pretty well and maybe some old ones,” he says. “I guess we were lucky not to be scooped up by the machine and we maintained a DIY cottage industry aesthetic. So I don’t think we sound as ‘90s as some other bands from that time.

“On the new album, we have the original sound intact but obviously we’ve picked up a lot of influences since. It’s not unusual now for us to be talking about Brian Eno, The Clash or St Vincent as opposed to Sebadoh and Pavement. I also shout a lot more now because I can and I don’t care about being judged for it. It’s not like I joined the cast of Mamma Mia.” The recording, Kerimofski, went smoothly, despite a certain amount of stop/start with plane rides involved.

“PJ, Todd and I had the record demoed by the end of 2013 then Dean made up his parts and we demoed again in early 2014 when he happened to be in Perth. In August, 2014, he recorded all his drums here with the help of our trusted engineer, Laurie Sinagra, and then I took over the production up until the mixing.

“The stop/start didn’t bother us too much as we were always moving ahead and because it was at my studio, I was able to complete a lot of my parts without the others waiting around. This is actually one of the quickest band albums I’ve made.”

Eventually, Kerimofski mixed the album with some guidance - earlier this year during a trip to London.

“I had the idea to get the record out of

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Perth and into the ears of someone with an entirely different cultural context. The result so far exceeds what I thought I would get out of this. Andy (Ramsay, Stereolab) totally beefed up the sound and gave me some great production advice. It was ego-destruction. I feel like I know nothing when I’m around guys like that and that I need to try harder and not rush things.”

Just like their 2001 song says, Turnstyle were indeed World Famous In Perth in the late ‘90s/ early ‘00s. It was a different time with different tribes.

“My memories are vivid and what I don’t remember is usually filled in by one of the other guys,” Kerimofski reflects. “Expression is only a small part of music for me – I do like feedback and how something I’ve done affects somebody. So when our profile peaked, I was interested by how people were reacting to what we were making. It made me realise we had more in common with the non-musicians coming to our shows than the musicians in the local scene. It’s not like that so much now because everyone at a gig is in a band.”

There’ll be more than memories shared when Turnstyle join the bill for the first show of Jebediah’s 20th three-date anniversary run at the Astor Theatre on Friday night.

“We are excited and honoured to be included among esteemed company such as Screamfeeder and Adalita,” says of the impressive support bills that have occurred around the country as part of the tour. “Jebediah’s second show was supporting us, which is quite funny now but we could see that the music they were making was going to cross over better than ours. So we didn’t feel the need to compete because we were so different. That didn’t stop them from championing Perth bands and promoting the musical fertility here. It should be a fun show and I look forward to seeing them on and off stage.”

With the album now a reality, one wonders how Turnstyle proceed from here... are there rules or plot-points with this latter era?

“It’s a lot about adapting the band to the current musical climate,” Kerimfoski states. “We are not, in any way, going to integrate ourselves back into the gig/pub scene, but we will play worthwhile shows when we can. We think we are a unique case because our reunion was never money-oriented but just a common belief that we can make some good music and get it into as many ears as possible.

“We are all grown-ups now so I think a lot of our shortfalls as 24 year-olds have been recognised now that we are in our 30’s. Well I’m 40, so transparency is the big thing. We’re having a meeting at some point so I’ll let you know!”

CONTENTS 4 6 8 10

Newsdesk Win Flesh Music Mark Ronson, Death Cab For Cutie, Cosmic Psychos PINS, Lior New Noise

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Culture Hub Cover: John DiMaggio (Supanova) Lifestyle, Hitlist Billy West, Susan Olsen, Arts Listings Far From The Madding Crowd, Minions Feature: What’s On In July

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Scene Cover: Jebediah Feature: Local & Launching Live: The Black Dahlia Murder, Sex Panther, Psychedelic Porn Crumpets

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X-Press Guide Social Pics/Volume

Front Cover: Mark Ronson brings his Uptown Special Tour to Metro City on Wednesday, July 22.

Scene Cover: Jebediah celebrate their 20th anniversary with a new compilation album, Twenty, and a national tour which stops by the Astor Theatre for sold-out shows from Friday, June 26, to Sunday, June 28.

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MUSIC

VIEWS

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INTERVIEWS

“I can’t speak for Kevin and his influences, but when I listen to Tame Impala, a lot of it reminds me of what I love about Stevie Wonder.”

MARK RONSON It’s All Uptown Mark Ronson brings his Uptown Special Tour to Metro City on Wednesday, July 22, with support from Pond and Yolanda Be Cool plus guest vocalists Kevin Parker (Tame Impala), Daniel Merriweather, Andrew Wyatt (Miike Snow), MNDR, Alex Greenwald (Phantom Planet), Theophilus London and Keyone Starr. AUGUSTUS WELBY reports.

DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE The New Normal Death Cab For Cutie play Metro City on Thursday, August 6. LUCY RUTHERFORD reports.

Death Cab For Cutie drummer, Jason McGerr, out of all Australian cities, has a particular fondness for Perth.

“Perth is always wonderful to visit. It’s funny, I’ve celebrated a few birthdays in Perth, oddly,” he says.

Known for being one of the most quintessential indie bands of the last decade, Death Cab For Cutie are currently touring their eighth album, Kintsugi, playing shows around Australia in July and August, including the Splendour In The Grass festival. During the recording of this latest album, founding member Chris Walla stepped down as resident producer and, before it was released, amicably parted ways with the band.

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McGerr is focussing on the positives, saying bringing in outside producer, Rich Costey, who has also produced for the likes of Sigur Ros and Muse, was what Kintsugi needed.

“He was very demanding,” he says of Costey. “He was not easily impressed, but his holding high standards was exactly what we needed. He had us play live a lot as a band.

Previously when Chris was there producing and engineering he had to be in the control room, he couldn’t be on the floor with Ben (Gibberd, vocals/ guitar) and Nick (Harmer, bass) and I. So it allowed us to play more live as a four-piece, but also gave us that un-biased set of ears. He only accepted the best sounding performance and I think that allowed us to make a better album then we would have made had we done it on our own.”

With a substantial back catalogue and fans collected from over 15 years of writing and playing music, McGerr says Kintsugi does have a common thread with all their albums.

“Kintsugi has a dramatic thread that can be connected to everything that we’ve done. I feel like there are pieces of this new record that lean towards our history in a good way and a positive way, yet also show that we’re very much pointed forward and not backward.”

McGerr and the band are excited about touring and he says they’re keen to show audiences a bigger and better live show.

“We lost a founding member, Chris Walla, who decided to make a change after we made this record. He chose not to tour or be a member of the band anymore. We added two people to replace his one set of hands and it has allowed us to fill out the live show with a lot of the sounds that we were able to record in the studio.

Whereas if we were back to a four-piece we’d have to make some decisions about what comes across live. Technology offers so many options these days but we still, rather than just run everything off of a computer or a playback, are actively performing all the parts you’re hearing on the record.

“By adding a fifth person on stage it’s no longer a two guitar thing, it’s a three guitar thing and that just adds a whole other layer of sounds and it has a much bigger presentation. People have had some questions about how we’re going to go on without Chris Walla, ‘he was a founding member, how’s it going to work and is everything going to be okay?’. And I feel like every night I step out I’m like, ‘I’ll show you how it’s going to work’ and I literally play with more confidence and energy than ever because I want people to know and understand that we haven’t changed. We’ve become something different, but this is who we are now, we’re very proud, very confident of what it is.”

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STORIES

After 2010’s synth-pop and alternative hip hoporiented LP, Record Collection, Mark Ronson fans had to wait more than four years for the producer’s next release.

However, when Uptown Special finally surfaced this January, it was an emphatic reminder that the UK studio auteur doesn’t do things by halves. Like his three previous albums, Uptown Special came together with help from a crack team of guests. Several of those involved, including contemporary music dons Bruno Mars and Tame Impala’s Kevin Parker, have successfully carved out their own stylistic niche. But Ronson wasn’t simply looking to appropriate his guests’ respective trademarks.

“Obviously a lot of the reason why I contact people is that I’m a fan of their work,” he says. “But I’ll also just be writing something and think, ‘Oh I know who’d sound great on this’, or, ‘It’d be really great if I could get them to add something’. With guys like Kevin and Andrew Wyatt and Bruno, there is that aspect of wanting to capture what I love about them. But I think for them, working on my album can be like a holiday.

When it’s your own project, you antagonise over every little detail. But if you just come in to do one song, you can mess around, sing something or play some guitar, have a bit of fun, and it’s a chance to try something new.”

In comparison to Ronson’s first three LPs, Uptown Special isn’t absolutely jam-packed with guests. Parker and Wyatt (of Miike Snow) both appear multiple times, and the whole album was made in co-ordination with producer and composer, Jeff Bhasker. Nonetheless, running the gamut from unknown singer Keyone Starr to Sydney provocateur, Kirin J Callinan, and veterans Mystikal and Stevie Wonder, it’s an incredibly diverse assemblage.

“I’ve never been able to get my head out of the DJ booth,” Ronson says. “On paper that sounds like a frenetic or scattered list of people.

But in a DJ set, I’ll happily include Steely Dan and Chaka Khan and AC/DC and Mystikal. Maybe not in that order, but over the course of a night I could play them all. For me, those things aren’t massively different. When I was a hip hop DJ in New York, I used to love throwing in a soft rock or classic funk track and the hardcore hip hop kids who didn’t think they were into that stuff would be dancing to it. It’s the same with Back In Black by AC/DC, which I used to play, and I’d follow it with a Puff Daddy song. So, while it does seem like a weird selection, to me all of it is connected.

“I can’t speak for Kevin and his influences, but when I listen to Tame Impala, a lot of it reminds me of what I love about Stevie Wonder,” he adds. “It’s soulful but it’s also psychedelic, there’s lots of weird organ sound and really great melodies. So working with these newer artists ties together a lot of the influences from the past.”

Uptown Special features input from another highly accomplished artist, though not in the world of pop music. Novelist Michael Chabon – who is responsible for 1995’s Wonder Boys, which was made into a film starring Michael Douglas, and the 2001 Pulitzer Prize winner The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay – penned lyrics for nine of the 11 songs.

“I would say Michael Chabon is my favourite living writer,” Ronson says. “Especially Kavalier & Clay – that book got me back into reading. You know when you finish school and you never want to read a book again? I was just like, ‘I’m going to DJ hip hop clubs and make beats’.

But, yeah, I’d written Summer Breaking and it had a night-time vibe, it had a bit of mystique, it was unlike anything I’d written before. I thought that it needed to tell a story, but I don’t really know how to write that kind of story. We can all copy someone else, but I thought I’d ask Michael if he was interested. I wasn’t too worried; if he’d said no, Jeff and I probably would’ve written it. But it was so great when he agreed to do it.”

A cool jazzy rock tune carried by a dangerous sensuality, Summer Breaking owes significant musical debt to the work of Steely Dan and the Doobie Brothers. Meanwhile, after tuning in closely to hear lyrics like ‘Avenues empty as .44 clips/ Cargo ships, teen zombies ghost-riding their whips’, one’s impression of the song vastly expands. The multi-layered nature of Summer Breaking is true of the album as a whole. While Uptown Special’s an immediately engaging pop record – perhaps Ronson’s most accessible to date – it continues to reveal itself on repeat listens.

“I think this is the first album of mine that has the chance to do that, if it stands the test of time,” Ronson says. “When you listen to Bang Bang Bang or The Bike Song, (from Record Collection), everything’s really on the beat and in your face. Once again, because I’m unable to remove myself from DJing, it was hard to understand that not every song on an album needs to be upbeat. So with this album, I wanted to go on some journeys and go into some darker places.”

COSMIC PSYCHOS Top Cause Touring in support of their new album, Cum The Raw Prawn, Cosmic Psychos and their mates Dune Rats hit Settlers Tavern, Margaret River, on Friday, June 26, and the Rosemount Hotel on Saturday, June 27. AUGUSTUS WELBY chats with singer/bassist, Ross Knight.

Australia’s premier farm punks, Cosmic Psychos, are back with their ninth album, Cum The Raw Prawn.

It’s been four years since the band’s last effort, Glorious Barsteds, but in spite of the somewhat lengthy delay, Cum The Raw Prawn is by no means a departure.

Led by Ross Knight’s Aussie brogue and bulky bass playing, the album is chock-full of the sort of lyrical vulgarity and instrumental ferocity the Psychos have been pumping out since 1982.

“It’s funny how it just happens that way, but I guess that’s the way I think and it’s the way I get a bit of shit off me liver,” says Knight. “There’s no real pre-planning involved. Especially this album, it just happened. I had a few ideas that’d been rolling around in me head for a couple of years, but most of it was written on the spot.”

The album was recorded in Knight’s Victorian farmhouse earlier this year. The finished product flaunts a tough, ballsy sound, which belies the nature of the recording arrangement. “The drums were set up in the lounge room and me and Macca (John McKeering, guitar) stood there, off from the drums a little bit,” Knight explains.

“We had the two amps in my sons’ rooms and the control room was in my bedroom, and we did the vocals in the laundry.”

When it comes to the nuts and bolts of this makeshift studio, Knight remains almost entirely ignorant. “I think it was into a computer,” he ponders. “All I know is that I sing into a microphone which has a lead on it that goes into a whiz-bang box with a few dials on it.”

Interest in the Psychos resurged in recent years thanks to Matt Weston’s 2013 documentary film, Blokes You Can Trust. However, as depicted in the film, the band’s irreverent and uniquely

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“As long as we’re playing, there’s going to be people who just think we’re a bunch of potty-mouthed pricks. And you know what? That’s fine.”

Australian punk rock has been an influential force for decades. In addition to making fans and friends out of grunge linchpins Eddie Vedder and Mark Arm, Cosmic Psychos continue to embark on regular European tours. However, such far-reaching respect won’t silence the band’s naysayers.

“As long as we’re playing, there’s going to be people who just think we’re a bunch of pottymouthed pricks,” Knight says. “And you know what? That’s fine. There’s certainly a spot in there for a band every now and again to pull rock’n’roll out of its own arsehole. People just get carried away and take it all a bit too seriously.”

You could argue that pissing people off is better than making no impact at all. Also, it’s quite healthy to let yourself simply enjoy something and not worry about whether it’s a meaningful use of time. Either way, Cosmic Psychos’ vocal opponents haven’t impinged upon the band’s fearless attitude.

“We played in front of 45,000 people when Pearl Jam first came to Australia,” Knight says, “and there was 45,000 people booing us. We had a ball. They were cranky, it was great. We’re almost an anti-band. We just do it because it’s a bit of fun, and if it pisses people off, well, that’s fine.

And if people like us, well that’s good too – come and have a beer with us.”

MUSIC

LIOR The Autumn Years Lior’s 10th anniversary national tour for his debut album, Autumn Flow, stops by the Astor Theatre on Friday, October 30.

CLAUDIA NATHAN reports.

Australian-Israeli singer/songwriter, Lior, recently announced a re-release and national tour of his debut album, Autumn Flow, in celebration of the 10th anniversary of its release in 2005. Eeminent for his honest and deep-rooted unprocessed sound, Lior will perform Autumn Flow in its entirety, as well as selected songs from subsequent albums that followed its release.

Lior came into success through his own cosmic commitment and dedication to true, honest, story-telling music. After an failed attempt in obtaining a record deal, he put out his debut album independently; a risky decision considering that successful independently released albums were a rarity in Australia at that point in time. As it turned out, Lior’s raw, unfeigned sound connected

VIEWS

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INTERVIEWS

to a large national audience, extending to global recognition and critical acclaim, as well as three ARIA nominations and a J Award nomination for triple j’s album of the year.

We spoke with Lior about the upcoming tour and his hopes and expectations of re-releasing and touring Autumn Flow.

“I suppose, as artists, we are always looking forward,” he says of commemorating the album’s anniversary, “and it just struck me as a really good time to take a moment to reflect on 10 pretty rich years that have been filled with six albums, and to go back to an album that started it all and paved the way for me to begin my career and that connected with a lot of people.

“Also, having put that album out independently, it grew in a really organic way, word of mouth, it just slowly built, so a lot of people that discovered the album did so after I’d launched it and toured it and I suppose this is a nice way of re-connecting with those people that discovered it a few years later but never got to see it live.”

Lior will play at six beautiful venues across Australia from October 9-31, joined on stage by musicians Brett Hirst, Evan Mannel, Elana Stone Bree Van Reyk, Ben Edgar and Gerard Masters.

“The line-up is similar to the one I used on my last album,” he says, “other than Brett Hirst on bass who was a member of the original line-up with

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STORIES

Autumn Flow, who’s such a beautiful musician.

“With the last album I used two drummers, both on the record and live, playing simultaneously.

Autumn Flow is quite rich in terms of percussive texturing and layering, so it will work really well for that album too – it seemed like a natural decision to stick with that band.”

Lior’s musical legacy and success owe itself to how he has connected with his audience on a level that is much more than just entertainment; there are constituents of spiritual inner sentiment in his music that pulls him out of the footlights, where we can understand him as an artist and musical paragon.

“I think there’s just an honesty and an authenticity about the songs that I put out,” he says. “And I’m not saying that that exists more so than other singers and songwriters, but the people who do connect with my songs, I think they feel a genuine sense of connection because I’m writing honest songs. Writing, for me, was not something I got into for the showbiz. I got into it because for me it’s a diary entry and a way of me marking down my stories, and I think that some people can look into those stories and they serve as windows into their own lives.

“Autumn Flow was done with no commercial consideration at all because it was released independently and I couldn’t get a record deal at the time. So I did that album for me and I

thought, ‘if someone buys it that’s cool, I just don’t want to leave this world without capturing these songs in the best way that I can for me’.

“I think when art is done for those reasons, and it works, then it connects with people on a very true level.”

PINS On Psych’s Edge UK outfit PINS have just released their second album, Wild Nights. LUCY RUTHERFORD chats with vocalist, Faith Holgate.

British rock four-piece PINS’ new album, Wild Nights, has been getting positive reviews from audiences.

“We played at the Lexington in London, that was where we unleashed all of the songs, and we had a girl moshpit and a bunch of people dancing up on stage at the end so that’s always a good time,” says lead singer, Faith Holgate.

The Manchester ladies introduced us to their brand of garage, hazy indie rock with their first album, Girls Like Us, in 2013. Their second album, released earlier this month, was recorded over seven days in the Joshua Tree desert studio of Queens of the Stone Age producer, Dave Catching, and features many of his large collection of vintage instruments.

“He’s got guitars from the past 50 years, things that he picks up here, there and everywhere.

A lot of that made it on to the record, a lot of vintage guitars and pedals, it was like being kids in a toyshop,” Holgate says.

“There’s more in the way of vocal melodies and harmonies,” she continues, talking about what’s new for PINS on Wild Nights.

“It’s got keyboard which is new and there are other layers of percussion, all the little details we didn’t do on the first album. We’ve also added more of a psych edge, just tried to be a bit more open a bit more creative. But we still have the two-minute noisy pop songs.”

Girls Like Us was, as the title suggests, an album taking inspiration from the experiences of the all female line-up, and this new album follows on from that.

“Overall there’s a theme of coming of age. Being older and being able to look back on experiences rather than always being in the experience. Looking back at the idea of teenagers and how I felt at the time.”

As an all-girl rock band, this can often become a focus of interviews. Even describing a female band often has to be prefaced by all-girl as simply writing ‘band’ implies all male. But Holgate says this gender divide in music is getting better.

“It used to be every single question was about being in an all-girl band. Now it does still come up but we’re proud to be an all-female band. We’re happy to fight the fight for women, we just don’t want it to be the only focus. We don’t want it to overshadow the music, we’re just trying to do it in the sense of being equal to male bands. But now people do ask more about the music and the instruments and the sound rather than just what we look like or what sex we are.”

However Holgate is always happy to appreciate the female musicians around her.

“I went to watch Courtney Barnett in Manchester about a month ago she’s very cool. I like her garage rock element of her music and the way that she delivers the melody. Warpaint, Sophie our drummer is a very big fan of them, she looks up to their drummer quite a lot.”

Holgate hopes she can inspire females even just to be creative.

“I always find it very flattering when people say they want to start a band because they’d come to see our band. And when there’s younger girls at the shows and they say they feel inspired to do something, not just music, just something creative.”

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NEW NOISE

For more album reviews head to xpressmag.com.au

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OUT OF 5

OUT OF 5

SASKWATCH

OH MERCY When We Talk About Love EMI

Sorry I Let It Come Between Us Northside Records

Melbourne lightweight pop proponents Oh Mercy are now four albums in, building a reputation that is pushing Alex Gow towards the top of the pile in terms of songwriting output. Gow again takes all of the responsibility of penning the tunes on When We Talk About Love, the most personal record from Oh Mercy to date.

Writing When We Talk About Love, Gow sentenced himself to a self-imposed exile in the US and came out the other end with an album that tips its hat to The Triffids and The Go-Betweens.

Strings start the album before giving way to the bright acoustic pop that is Oh Mercy’s bread and butter. Gow sings like a fellow most likely to have had sand kicked in his face by the bully at the beach, but it is this reserved delivery that is also one of the band’s greatest assets. Let Me Be Him is a lovely piece of jangle and Sandy is delightfully hook heavy.

The upbeat and breezy arrangements hide much of the remorse and regret on When We Talk About Love. Oh Mercy (or more accurately Alex Gow) have returned from staring at the abyss with purpose, even if not with optimism.

Once again Saskwatch has showcased their ability to consistently surprise listeners with unpredictable, crafty but well-oiled layers of a diversity of sounds.

Their mature growth is prevalent immediately as lead single, I’ll Be Fine, kicks off with groovy rhythm, slick chorus lead and a boppy drum track. Vocalist Nkechi Anele has taken a relaxed approach this time around, hitting the perfect notes without having to belt everything out. Following track In Your Arms gives the bass some spotlight within a comforting build and some sneaky, yet always pleasant horn fills. The album’s emotional roller-coaster continues into the slower bluesy track Everyone’s Giving Up which is beautifully complimented by trumpet layers.

Again pushing their versatility and endless musical parameters Time To Let You Go blends crunchy lead with soothing piano, giving a surprisingly enjoyable energy to an emotionally saddening theme.

Saskwatch have once again proven their musical skill triumphs all that stands in its way as they continue to find new ways to please fans and produce solid music.

CHRIS HAVERCROFT

AARON BRYANS

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OUT OF 5

UNKNOWN MORTAL ORCHESTRA

SLAVES Are You Satisfied?

Virgin/EMI British two-piece Slaves have arrived, taking full advantage of their recent signing to Virgin EMI by moving their boisterous and in-your-face live presence into a gritty and uncaring album.

It’s hard to believe two musicians could make such a raucous noise together, but Laurie Vincent and Issac Holam have achieved it; unfortunately the band’s clear live strengths struggle in a recording environment with repetitive structures strangely inducing a lack of memorability. The album’s overall uniqueness and disdain for dignity however, is engaging but not something that goes down well on a second listen. Opening track The Hunter is the album’s crunchiest tune with pounding guitars and thrilling, cynical vocals; however Cheer Up London’s intense chorus vocals and perfectly companioning drum beat takes the prize as best track.

The faster-paced Ninety Nine is another fun song further down the tracklist but really fails to reach that pinnacle in its build.

AARON BRYANS

Multi Love Jagjaguar Ruban Neilson is a sucker for production. Unknown Mortal Orchestra’s Multi Love is a legion of tape effects, fuzzy layering and instruments on drugs.

Their third studio album lies somewhere between being a distant second cousin of psych pop and a great grandchild of 60s funk-rock.

The appeal and the magnetism of this album lies within its subjects of thought. The title track and album is hinged on Polyamory. Neilson has explained that Multi Love, thematically brilliant, was exclusively inspired by a time in his life where he experienced two of his greatest loves simultaneously.

And it’s all in the lyrics. But then you realise that, with heavy layering and texture, and a production sound that resembles a band playing through a tin can telephone, it’s not just in the lyrics at all. Neilson’s voice emulsifies with instruments and you begin to feel that it is the sound of this album that is its most outspoken aspect.

Though you probably want to hear about the brilliance of Multi Loves individual numbers, I instead strongly recommend that you just listen.

CLAUDIA NATHAN

4.5

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OUT OF 5

SHAMIR

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THE ORANGE HUMBLE BAND

Ratchet Godmode

Depressing Beauty Citadel

Hailing from the northern suburbs of Vegas comes a paradigm of genre-bending disco-pop music, Shamir Bailey. With a voice like the lovechild of a young Prince and Crystal Waters, flawless musical intellect and an aura of powerful, canny teenage naivety, he brings us a musically and thematically phenomenal aesthetic, his debut album, Ratchet.

Shamir takes on expert-level musical ingenuity at the ripe age of 20; and though Ratchet encompasses the genres of synth and dance-pop, there’s something about this album that deviates from the exhausted, basic and repetitive massproduced bangers.

On The Regular, Hot Mess, Make A Scene and Call It Off surrender to the squelching, synthesised basslines of the youth manifestation that is ‘80s-house-music-gone-Minneapolis-MichaelJackson.

Then there’s Darker and KC, where Bailey bends every boundary of synth-pop and brings us into a musing, musically beautiful, meditative realm of sound that still manages to embody anguish and austerity.

Everything is melodically sound, everything is expressive and spectacular and whole. We’d like to say songs on this album are prospective top 40 sell-outs, but somewhere between Shamir’s fabled, androgynous, countertenor vocal, the acid-house basslines and the Prince-like clean R&B, funk rhythm, we realised Shamir is far beyond that.

Darryl Mather made a splash as the guitarist and songwriter for Lime Spiders and Someloves, two bands who continue to held in high regard for their part in Australia’s guitar pop history. Mather again confirmed that he knew his way around a melody with The Orange Humble Band - a band that he developed with a host of international friends. After two albums in the ‘90s, The Orange Humble Band pulled up stumps.

Mather took a break from music at the turn of the century, but was quietly penning tunes in the background until now, with Depressing Beauty quietly sneaking out from a band that hasn’t been a going concern for fifteen years.

Mather is still most adept in the power pop realm, but along with the cracking riff-driven You Close Your Eyes and the bubblegum chorus of Sowannadoit, there is a host of subtle toned-down laments such as Ain’t Tougher Than Me and the country-toned The Girl Without A Name. Stringfellow delivers in spades with a voice so perfectly suited to pop tunes that it is criminal he is not a superstar in his own right.

With a record that documents fallen friends and celebrates those who came out the other side, Depressing Beauty is surprisingly well worth the wait.

CLAUDIA NATHAN

CHRIS HAVERCROFT

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

Actor John DiMaggio started his career as a comedian in the ‘90s before transitioning to acting, even landing a role on the successful medical drama, Chicago Hope. Yet he is best known for his work in voice-over acting, lending his vocal chords to such characters as Bender from Futurama, Jake from Adventure Time, and even making Aquaman cool. With DiMaggio heading to Perth for Supanova Pop Culture Expo, X-Press catches up with him for a word.

“I like to work from the outside in. See what a character looks like and the physicality of it. Then things can change, and you play against type. You have to be able to switch on a dime. It’s challenging work that happens fast.”

Futurama provided one of those moments. For Bender, DiMaggio was the only audition that didn’t perform the character like an emotionless automaton.

“I came up with this,” he says as he effortlessly switches to the voice of Bender Bending Rodriguez, “I think Matt Groening described him as a punch-drunk fighter. I beat out 250 people for that gig. It was a once in a lifetime gig.”

Although, in all fairness, lightning really has struck twice for DiMaggio, with him voicing two breakout characters in immensely popular shows. Almost the polar opposite to the beer, blackjack and

hooker loving robot, Bender, DiMaggio also provides the voice of the ever-faithful Jake in Adventure Time. “Jake the Dog is kinda my voice with a hug around it. It’s very comfortable, like a blanket. It’s weird when you do it,” exclaims DiMaggio, not used to using something so close to his own voice.

“In TV you never expect immediate success. You never know what is going to pop. I love Adventure Time, it just keeps getting better. I am stunned by the world wide success. There’s a bullet train in Korea with Jake the Dog on it! At conventions you’ll get mum dressed up as Princess Bubblegum, dad dressed as The Ice King, you’ve got the baby dressed as Lumpy Space Princess, you’ve got the oldest daughter dressed up in a BIMO outfit she made, and then the boy is dressed as Finn. It’s awesome! Everyone is into this show, from one to 92. It’s really something special.”

In fact the industry has become such a part of DiMaggio’s life that in he was Executive Producer of the 2013 behind the scenes documentary on voice actors, I Know That Voice, which looks at many of the big names in the industry (including DiMaggio).

Animation hasn’t been the only forum for DiMaggio’s voice. With computer games becoming more and more cinematic, DiMaggio has found a lot of work voicing games, most notably Marcus Fenix in Gears Of War. “Computer games are brutal work. There’s so much stuff you have to record compared to animation. You have to record anything and everything that your character would possibly do. For Gears Of War I remember I had to get cut in half with a chainsaw. That was a fun Friday!”

DAVID O’CONNELL

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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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FILM

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FAS H I O N

WA’S LARGEST MOTORCYCLE AUCTION Bikes On The Block

EAT AT: SLURP SOUP AND SALAD BAR Boutique soups available to go - perfect for winter.

Western Australia is definitely bikefriendly territory. From long, winding roads to many beaches and everything in between, bike culture (whatever flavour of wheels you prefer) is alive and thriving in our state. The market is constantly widening, with more and more people taking on the challenge of the open road every year.

Want to recreate that Easy Rider kind of vibe? Fan of The Wild One? First you’ll need a bike. Luckily there’s an auction coming up that might be able to help you find the ride you’re looking for.

“We have a mix of everything you can imagine,” says WA Auctioneers Proprietor Mark Murray, of what he’s describing as WA’s Largest Motorcycle Auction.

Whatever your tastes - whether adding to your collection or looking to offload before upgrading - there’s a solid chance a wheeled creation might catch your eye at the auction. So far the items on offer span a large and diverse range of vehicles.

“Stunning Harley Davidsons to roughed up dirt bikes,” says Murray. “One of only 25 Vespas in the country. Quad bikes, off-road buggies, even a Mad Max style cart that will do 250 kilometres per hour.”

He’s expecting the event to be big; nearly 2,500

people have registered their interest on the event’s Facebook page.

Murray says registered subscribers will receive access to an online catalogue about five days beforehand. “There will be inspection days as well just prior to the auction, and for two hours prior to the auction, held in our Wangara complex.”

Originally scheduled for the end of June, the auction has been moved to Saturday, July 4, due to overwhelming public interest.

When asked what types of bikes are popular in this scenario, Murray says, “Not sure.

We will certainly know after the auction though.”

In terms of pros for selling through the auction, Murray says, “For buyers, the fact that all registered bikes are checked for any encumbrances. For sellers, it’s an amazing opportunity to put their bike in front of so many buyers at once. Also a lot safer than doing the Gumtree thing and inviting total strangers into your home.”

Can those interested in selling their bikes ring and talk to you about it? “Yes, we’re taking calls constantly. Happy to answer any questions.” Sellers should note if there’s no sale, no charge, all bikes being put on the block have to be at the auction prior to the event, and that consignments are fully insured while in the possession of WA Auctioneers.

In terms of how many bikes will sell on the day, Murray points out, “This is the first motorcycle auction we have ever done. We hope to make it an annual event.” His advice for those wanting to offload their current ride? “If sellers set realistic reserve prices, then their bikes will certainly sell. If they want more than what their bike is worth, than the result is obvious.”

For details on the motorcycle auction, contact WA Auctioneers.

GILLIAN O’MEAGHER

ON A WHIM Clever Clever Situated in Leederville, the store mantra for On A Whim is something along the lines of “We like clever things made by people,” says Kate Wilks, co-designer and co-owner with Erin Vanhaeften.

DRINK AT: THE ROYAL ON THE WATERFRONT Embrace the season with a mulled wine or three at this welcoming waterfront bar.

She describes On A Whim as a fashion and lifestyle store housed inside a collaborative space called 324 Oxford. “Inside the space you’ll find Virgil Coffee (serving up coffee and eats), and a shared studio space, home to photographer Natasja Kremers, graphic designer Melissa Soraya, and stationery designers Mitchell and Dent.

“The On A Whim store stocks our own womenswear and menswear clothing lines, as well as a variety of unique homewares, accessories, and skincare from all over Australia.”

What made Wilks and Vanhaeften expand from a design focus, to an online store and retail outlet? “We’ve always loved selling our own product, initially at markets, then pop up shops and collaborative efforts, so the next step was to open our own retail space. Since we moved into front of house at 324 Oxford we embraced the opportunity to stock other local creatives.”

She says when sourcing stock for the store, “We love a good story so we choose products and brands that appeal to us on that level. All our own

On A Whim

products are made locally in Perth and we’re very proud of that fact, so we’re always on the hunt for unique items whose creators absolutely love what they do and create.”

All aspects of On A Whim are a shared endeavour. “We both design, construct, and create our products as well as sell them on the floor,” says Wilks. The pair also offer bridal bespoke through their studio, as well as a custom order service. “We enjoy this side of the business because we’re constantly learning and creating items to fit all different shapes and sizes.

“In fashion you usually have a collection ready months prior to it being released onto the shop floor, and it’s not uncommon to get sick of the sight of it, so by having the custom side of our business it’s keeps everything fresh and exciting, which is one of the driving forces of what keeps us motivated.”

BACK SHOP AT: DANDY BARBER IN THE TRENCHES

Located at 666 Beaufort Street, it’s the Devil’s own barber shop.

X-Files Fashion The news of more X-Files episodes reminds us the perfect ill-fitting winter coat is out there—you just have to believe. When it came to pulling off staid jackets the stars of this cult series always had it covered (pardon the pun). Actors David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson’s ability to transform dull costuming into stylish workwear borders on the supernatural, and to this day remains the series’ ultimate unsolved X-File.

GO TO: 140 ALIVE 140 gets relaunched this Thursday, June 25, with a huge free public event featuring a performance by Gossling, DJS, live street art and food trucks, and more. It all kicks off at 4pm.

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In all fairness, it was the ‘90s. Wardrobe departments were having problems letting go of shoulder pads and the world’s youth were embroiled in a love affair with grunge. Thanks to this show I saw America as a country where summer never arrived. Sure, the sun

Scully and Mulder

shone, but the show gave you chills. For the characters that chill was more than figurative.

Working for the (faux) Bureau back in the day was a cold gig—literally. If it wasn’t long coats out in the field it was shorter coats around the office.

(Broken thermostat? Budget cuts during the Clinton administration? What am I missing here?).

Over the next few months, when cooler weather comes round and you realise you forgot to budget for Burberry, channelling the Supernatural Procedural Odd Couple is your best bet. The X-Files showcases how to make a bulky coat one step away

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As for the menswear collection, “On A Him actually started off as a joke but has since become not only a great play on words, but the starting ground for our menswear line. We’d dabbled in menswear over the past few months, making custom pieces for our friends, and decided to just jump in. So we introduced the On A Him line when we re-opened our store in May. The collection is still very fresh, housing button down shirts and cotton jersey tees, with plans to extend the line in the near distant future.”

Speaking of the future, plans for On A Whim include world domination. Wait, did she say world domination? “Jokes, our plan is to continually learn, create, and develop our label/brand in all areas,” says Wilks. “We absolutely love our store so we intend on staying put for the foreseeable future.”

GILLIAN O’MEAGHER

from a blanket look good. Work that shapeless wonder! Little bit of Scully smoulder, touch of Mulder sass... it’s a wrap, people.

Scully introduced me to plaid coats with black velvet collars, dark green as an alternate to black, and the idea an undefined waistline in the change room reflection is no reason to veto a jacket.

It can be argued coats and cleverness were key to the characters’ appeal.

Intelligence is a great addition to any style arsenal, and Mulder and Scully had smarts in spades. Seems wrapping the characters complex motivations in ill-fitting professional wear created an indelible impression on audiences.

That’s why winter has always been my X-Files tribute season. A time to weather the storm, actual storms I mean, in fashion inspired by the best of the faux FBI-ers. Layer up, don’t shy away from shoulder pads—they can’t hurt you—and if in doubt wear a vest at least once. (No, really.) Nonchalance is key when channelling the ‘90s TV style that creates accidental sex symbols.

Here’s hoping the new X-Files doesn’t make our favourite fictional procedural pair too slick the second time around. Mulder and Scully were never concerned with maintaining a wardrobe on the cutting edge of style. They dressed for the job and didn’t spare a thought beyond general appropriateness, an attitude that brought a certain je ne sais quoi to the show’s look.

GILLIAN O’MEAGHER

A R T S & C U LT U R E

Fry, voiced by Billy West

BILLY WEST The Best Of The West “It might be cool to be a nerd now, but it wasn’t 50 years ago, I tell you.”

Says veteran voice actor, Billy West.

Best known for his voice work on Futurama, Ren And Stimpy, Doug and Space Jam, West has been a multitude of characters over the past quarter of a century. It hasn’t always been easy for West.

“I used to love comic books, and had about one and a half friends. I did find one kid across town that read comic books, so I had a friend for life. I was also super sensitive, so they took special interest in circling the wagons....but you know what? All those guys are either dead or

Now and then, Susan Olsen, aka Cindy Brady

SUSAN OLSEN Cindy, Cindy, Cindy...

It’s surprising, given how popular the iconic US television series, The Brady Bunch, was (and is) in this country that Susan Olsen, aka Cindy Brady, has never been to Australia.

“That’s what’s so weird,” she says. “We weren’t aware of it, but The Brady Bunch was actually bigger in Australia than it was in America. It’s a shame that I’ve never been there. I know Mike hasn’t been.

Christopher Knight went there and was amazed at how popular The Brady Bunch was. It seems like we should have done something a lot sooner.”

She may still be ‘the youngest one in curls’ to many of us, but Olsen has led a full life as an actor, musician, mother and animal welfare activist. Olsen acknowledges, however, that especially in promoting an appearance (with Mike Lookinland, aka Bobby Brady) at Supanova, The Brady Bunch is the topic at hand. While most people’s childhood memories from the ‘60s-’70s come in the form of fading photos and dodgy Super-8 film, her childhood is still neatly intact with all 117 episodes of The Brady Bunch, as are her recollections of the time.

“I think it has to do with the fact that we were learning to memorise scripts. I think that opened up a part of my mind where I could memorise my life.

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in jail. So if anyone is reading this – it pays to be a good guy.”

His career in voice-over acting has allowed West to achieve many highlights, working with many actors he admired in his youth. “Warner Brothers decided they were going to do modern interpretations of classic characters. They did one called Daffy’s Rhapsody Or The Hunter’s Lament - and it wasn’t a cartoon, it never previously existed, save for a phonograph record from 1952 and it was Mel Blanc performing Daffy Duck. So they added me as Elmer Fudd and I got to work with Mel Blanc, in the oddest sense. For me it was the greatest achievement. If I had a bucket list it would be on it.”

As much as he loved reprising classic Warner Brothers or Hanna-Barbera characters, West preferred to add his own mark to the industry. “I love doing Bugs in Space Jam. All these people that influenced me, I got to fill in when they were gone. It’s kind of a dream come true, but the thing that really trips my trigger is creating something new. I didn’t want to be Cityscape Sunset - Jessica McCallum, POP (Portraits Of Perth)Film Festival a sound-alike, as you would just be a footnote.”

Fracture: The Blue Room Theatre Creating something new is certainly VISUAL ARTS Written by debuting playwright Lucy Clements and what West did, providing a host of characters for a variety of animation. In Futurama alone he For Love Of Country: The Art Gallery Of Western directed by noted theatre figure Joe Lui, Fracture is voices Fry, Zoidberg, Professor Farnsworth and Australia a study of grief and the failure to cope. It runs until Zapp Brannigan, just to name a few. “Asking Commemorating the centenary of World War One, Saturday, June 27 - go to blueroom.org.au for tickets for a favourite is like asking a mother who her this exhibition draws various works from the State and session times. favourite kid is. I put so much into every single Art Collection to present a fascinating look at how one of those that I did.” art has responded to war and conflict over the Of course with all those characters, past century. It runs until Monday, July 20. Go to Blithe Spirit: The State Theatre Centre Black Swan State Theatre Company presents this it is inevitable that sometimes West will be artgallery.wa.gov.au for full details. performing a number of different voices in one new production of Noel Coward’s supernatural scene. “I just take a deep breathe and shove Rebirth: The Art Gallery Of Western Australia comedy, which sees a novelist haunted by the ghost away at it. I’m sort of really good at it, I can Japanese artist Mariko Mori has created Rebirth, an of his first wife, much to the consternation of his talk to myself in different characters. One of immersive experience comprised of installations, LED second. It runs from Saturday, July 18, until Sunday, the rewards of a misspent youth.” sculptures, photographs, drawings and videos. It’s As for the convention circuit, it has on display until June 29. For more information, go August 9. For tickets and session times, head to bsstc.com.au amazed West to see how far sci-fi, comic book to artgallery.wa.gov.au and cartoon fandom has come. “I’m thrilled.

What are the odds of people not only liking POP (Portraits Of Perth): Peek A Boo Gallery Cirque Du Soleil - Totem: Belmont Racecourse what you do? I mean the age groups there – Presented as part of the Perth City Arts Season, The latest show from the renowned circus troupe there’s my age (63) down to the little kids. It’s POP is a look at Perth and its people by mixed traces the evolution of the human species from our great to see everyone about.” media artist Jessica McCallum that features pint- distant amphibian state to our ultimate desire to fly, sized pictures on canvas, timber and paper. It runs drawing inspiration from numerous creation myths DAVID O’CONNELL from Friday, July 3, until Thursday, July 9. Go to along the way. Directed by Jeffrey Jay Fowler and Supanova Pop Culture Expo runs at the Perth jessicamcallum.com for more. starring Adam Booth, Adriane Daff and Michelle Convention & Exhibition Centre from Friday, Fornasier, it runs from Friday, July 31, until Sunday, Dis/connection: The Basement Gallery June 26, until Sunday, June 28. For tickets and September 20. Go to cirquedusoleil.com/totem for This photographic exhibition by Jessica Sorci and info, go to supanova.com.au Marijke Loosjes is comprised of works created full details.

“Every single actor on The Brady Bunch when each artist was exploring their family’s home will tell you I’m the one to ask about what-happened- countries - Loosjes in the Netherlands and Sorci in FESTIVALS and-when. All that stuff. I know Brady trivia, I actually India. It runs from Saturday, July 4, until Monday, July 20. watch the show. They joke with me, ‘oh you’re Revelation Perth International Film Festival just making it all up’, but I really do remember and Hyper Vision: Midland Gate The 18th iteration of Perth’s best film festival amazing amount of my childhood.”

This year’s exhibition of works by local young people Olsen looks back fondly on her Brady years, runs from Thursday, July 2, until Sunday, July 12. is built around the theme of “What’s Missing”, with but it could be tough back at school when some of her the artists broadly interpreting it in a range of Sprawling across four venues - Luna Leederville, Luna classmates seemingly couldn’t separate Cindy from media. The works stay on display at Midland Gate on SX, Cinema Paradiso and The Backlot Perth, this Susan. from Monday, July 6, until Sunday, July 26. Go to year’s program features such cinematic delights as “It’s funny because most people think that hyperfest.com.au for more details. the provocative The Duke Of Burgundy, HR Giger it must have been really cool to be on a TV show documentary Dark Star, musical docos The Wrecking while you were going to school, but it was exactly the Crew, Industrial Soundtrack For The Urban Decay and THEATRE/DANCE/ opposite. Particularly if you were playing a character Theory Of Obscurity, and much more. Head over to that wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.

PERFORMANCE revelationfilmfest.org for tickets and session times.

“I used to be grateful that the show aired on a Friday and there was a whole weekend so that Wicked: Crown Perth hopefully people would kind of forget the dumb things Scandinavian Film Festival Cindy did by Monday, so they wouldn’t have much The smash hit musical, which chronicles the exploits The second ever Scandinavian Film Festival lands at to tease me about... but they always did. And I got of the Wicked Witch’s exploits prior and parallel to Cinema Paradiso on Thursday, July 23, bringing with the events of The Wizard Of Oz, runs until Sunday, teased horribly, and bullied.

June 28. go to wickedthemusical.com.au for session it a full roster of dramas, comedies and thrillers from “But what kept me sane was the fact that times and tickets.

Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland and Iceland. It all of my real friends stood up for me. To them I was runs until Thursday, July 29 - got to lunapalace.com. just Susan and Cindy was something else. It was only Jesus: No Ordinary Life: The Blue Room Theatre the kids that didn’t know me that teased me. That Damon Lockwood’s sketch comedy looks at the au for more information. was a very important factor. In my mind it became ‘if religion of celebrity and the celebrity of religion in they know me, if they become my friend, then they like a wonderfully weird scenario wherein a PR outfit Great Britain Retro Film Festival me. So I shouldn’t take any of this personally’. But it’s is hired to find just the right Jesus to promote the Presented by patron David Stratton, this festival still embarrassing when people throw stuff at you at church’s brand. It runs until Saturday, July 4 - go to brings back to the screen 20 classics of British school.” blueroom,org.au for tickets and session times.

Cinema, including 2001: A Space Odyssey, Lawrence It’s no surprise that Olsen shares a bond Of Arabia, and newly remastered prints of Carol with the other Brady cast members, but it’s unusual The Real Thing: Stirling Theatre in that it’s a family held together by other people’s Barry Park directs this production of Tom Stoppard’s Reed’s The Third Man and Powell and Pressburger’s memories, hence its lasting popularity. meditation on love, infidelity and truth, presented Tales Of Hoffman. It runs at the Windsor Cinema “I think that all of us intuitively know that by the Graduate Dramatic Society. It runs until from Thursday, August 6, until Wednesday, August every single one of us has only five other people on Saturday, July 4. for tickets and session times, go to 19. For tickets and session times, go to lunapalace.com.au. the planet who understand what our childhood was grads.org.au like,” Olsen says. “And that creates an immediate bond between all of us.

“You know what? We were good kids.

We are nice people. We don’t feel compelled to stay in touch or write birthday cards or anything like that, ‘cause there’s always something that brings us together. And when we get together it’s like no time has passed at all. My relationship with Mike Lookinland is the same as it was when we were 10; we’re still looking for how to prank people (laughs). It’s really, really very lovely and it’s an enriched life. It’s kind of an extended childhood.”

BOB GORDON

Supanova Pop Culture Expo runs at the Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre from Friday, June 26, until Sunday, June 28. For tickets and info, go to supanova.com.au Lawrence of Arabia - Screening as part of the Great British Retro WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU

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PHOTO BOMB #5 Little Wing Corner Gallery Friday, June 19, 2015 Old Blood, Hunting Huxley, Luke Dux and The Chlorines provided the music and Haylee Fields, Brad Loafer, Bertie Louise, Dee Mosca and Jennifer Taylor provided the artistic additions to James Simmons’ photo work at the fifth instalment of Little Wing’s ongoing live exhibition series.

LET THE REVELS BEGIN!

NAIDOC WEEK 2015

Once again the Revelation Film Festival is almost upon us, with the opening night extravaganza taking place at Luna Leederville on Thursday, July 2. Jeremy Sims' Last Cab To Darwin - his spiritual sequel, of sorts, to his acclaimed Last Train To Freo - inaugurates the proceedings, followed by a launch party in the fine old Rev style. For full info, go to revelationfilmfest. org. Tickets for the opening night, as well as all subsequent sessions, are available via lunapalace.com. au. And if tou need to refresh your memory of Last Train To Freo, it's the Australian Revelations feature this Monday, June 30, at The Backlot Perth!

Running from Sunday, July 5, until Sunday, July 12, NAIDOC Week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture that encompasses a wide variety of performances, events and observances. The theme for 2015 is We All Stand On Sacred Ground: Learn, Respect and Celebrate. Notable events this year include the dance performance Gudirr Gudirr, presented by Yirra Yaakin Theatre Company and Marrugeku, which runs at the State Theatre Centre's Studio Underground from July 7 - 9. For more information, go to naidocperth.org.

For tickets, head to ticketek.com.au.

Last Cab To Darwin

Gudirr Gudirr

NEEL AND TELL THE TRUTH

MAKE YOUR MARK ON THE NEW PERTH STADIUM

Having sold out venues across Australia and made his Edinburgh Fringe Festival debut last year, Australian comedian Neel Kolhatkar is coming to Perth.

Kolhatkar (pronounced exactly how it's spelled) brings his show, Truth Be Told, to the Astor Theatre for one night only on Saturday, October, 3 - if you're one of his 650,000-odd social media acolytes, you know why that's a reason to be excited. Book via astortheatreperth.com.

Expressions of interest are being sought from Australian and international artists or art teams to design a permanent land art installation with the Sports Precinct at the currently-under-construction Perth Stadium. The installation will be commissioned via the WA State Government's Percent For Art Scheme. The deadline for expressions of interest is 5pm, Monday, July 20, 2015. To receive the Land Art Brief, contact FORM Art Consultant Carolyn Karnovsky via commisions@form.net.au

Neel Kolhatkar

Perth Stadium

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Photos by Rachael Barrett

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FAR FROM THE MADDING CROWD Hardy Stock Directed by Thomas Vinterberg Starring Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts, Michael Sheen Based on the classic Thomas Hardy novel, Far From The Madding Crowd follows the life and love of Bathsheba Everdene, as she struggles to prove her worth beyond the mere marriage chattel that Victorian society confines her.

A fortunate inheritance provides Miss Everdene (Carey Mulligan) with the opportunity to prove her own worth as the owner of a farming property. However, life has also thrown complications of the heart her way. Gabriel Oats (Matthias Schoenaerts), a former suitor and confident that after falling on hard times, is working on Everdene’s farm. Mr Boldwood (Michael Sheen) is smitten with Everdene after a prank goes awry and has an impeccable social position. Sergeant Troy (Tom Sturridge) is a cad, but with looks and charm enough to turn Miss Everdene’s head.

Something about Far From The Madding Crowd doesn’t quite click. Despite the sumptuous photography, authentic sets and realistic performances, this never reaches the heights that

it should reach, not given all the obvious effort and talent displayed on screen. This is not to say that it is bad There is no doubt that The Madding Crowd is a solid film, it’s just with all that obvious effort it should be great, and there feels like something is holding it back.

In part this may be because of the performances. They are realistic of the era, in that they are very reserved and a little formal. This is understandable, given the context of Hardy’s work as an examination of class and social structure, it is just that to a modern audience this can appear standoffish. To his credit, Vinterberg has this played as naturalistic rather than the heightened pantomime that can infect other period romances, but it still adds a layer of distance between the viewer and the character, making it difficult to form an attachment.

That slight distance is a shame, as there is some fine work being done here. Mulligan nails the central role of Everdene to the masthead, bringing a natural determination and intelligence to the character, and challenging her fellow actors to keep pace. Sheen is probably best in this regard, effortlessly bringing a sense of grief and fragility to Boldwood’s formal manner. Schoenaerts is solid as the doting Oats, always seeming to be contemplating everything he is doing. Weakest by far is Sturridge as the rather underwritten rake, Troy, but in fairness his look alone conveys more of the character than his dialogue ever does. Sturridge is also not helped in this regard by the on-screen chemistry which Schoenaerts and Mulligan share, as it is always there, quietly smouldering in the background, making Everdene’s dalliance with Troy seem even more impulsive and wrong headed.

Vinterberg creates a solid and beautiful adaptation of Hardy’s work. It may not wow as it should, but it does its best to gently woo.

DAVID O’CONNELL

MINIONS Will Hench For Mench Directed by Kyle Balda, Pierre Coffin Starring Pierre Coffin, Sandra Bullock, John Hamm Throughout history the Minions (all voiced by director Pierre Coffin) have evolved a very simple strategy for survival, which is to find the most despicable boss they can and serve them (if not competently then at least enthusiastically).

It is a strategy that serves them well, until an unfortunate incident with Napoleon and a misdirected cannonball drives the Minions into exile. Now, after centuries without a master, Minion society is growing depressed and stagnant. In the dark time before Gru, it is up to three minion heroes to venture out into the world to find one very special evil overlord: a malevolent mistress of mayhem called Scarlet Overkill (Sandra Bullock).

Minions has a significant amount of flash to it, without much depth. It lacks the heart and intelligence of its predecessors from the Despicable Me series of films. In its place it substitutes a maniacal energy and the most significant amount of Cool Britannia that we have seen since Kingsman: The Secret Service graced our screens. Submersing itself in late ‘60s British culture lends itself nicely to the aesthetics of the film (in all fairness, the era has been a strong influence in Despicable Me design previously),

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allowing for bright retro colours, sleek chrome super-science, a groovy soundtrack and some very amusing historical in-jokes.

Ultimately the plot is almost nonexistent and, it must be said, somewhat unimportant in the grand scheme of things.

It is merely an excuse to ricochet the three core minions (Stuart, Kevin and Bob) from one whacky adventure to the next, with much happening on mere whim. It really doesn’t seem to matter one way or the other, as long as it keeps that frenetic pace. The advantage to this is the comedy and action ticks over nicely, and there is a lot of wow factor in the set pieces.

The downside is that there is no tension or any emotional stake in the actions of these three, and you never feel properly invested.

Sandra Bullock does here best does her best old school Disney villainess impersonation, as Scarlet Overkill lurches from sugary sweet to missile launching psychotic at the drop of a hat (or, in this case, a crown). John Hamm (Mad Men) voices the other half of the Overkills, Herb, making him cool and suave but with a genuine joy for life. The designs of both characters are stunningly slick, with razor sharp lines that reflect the mod period perfectly. Coffin himself makes great use of the argot of languages that forms Minionese to give a range of emotions to hundreds of Minions on screen.

Sleek, flashy and fast, Minions might be all style over substance, but it sure is entertaining about it.

DAVID O’CONNELL

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DREAM TOUR Two years since their debut, rock’n’roll sisters Stonefield have returned with a new album and a national tour. A taste of their new music, first single Golden Dream from the upcoming album strips back the heavy rock sound we’ve heard previously from the sisters to create a more psychedelic, dreamier feel. The song and album due for release later this year were produced by Spiderbait’s Kram.

Catch Stonefield on their Golden Dream Tour with support from Magic Bones and Destrends, at Four5Nine at the Rosemount on Saturday, July 11, and Mojos on Sunday, July 12. Tickets from oztix. com.au.

BEATS IN THE HEAT IN KARRATHA Illy, Allday, Shockone, Tom Piper, Safia and more exciting, diverse acts will be coming to the Karratha Leisureplex for Karratha’s first major music festival, Beats In The Heat on Saturday, August 8. This allages festival will take place across two massive stages, and as stated on their Facebook page will deliver “an exciting array of sound, lighting and robotic aesthetics.”

Hosting a fully licensed bar, the main stage will be 18+ only, however under 18s will be able to view the main stage from a purpose-built raised platform and on screens placed around the venue.

With gourmet foods, exotic beverages and a great line-up, this won’t be one to miss.

Available tickets range from $109 to $199 with general admission and VIP camping tickets also available from beatsintheheat.com.au.

Illy, Beats In The Heat

SAN CISCO @ BUNBURY Recently having played a string of sold-out headline shows across the country, as well as the recent Groovin the Moo festival, San Cisco will play Settlers Tavern in Margaret River on Friday, July 17, and the Bunbury Entertainment Centre on Saturday, July 18, headlining the first birthday edition of Out of the Box + Into the Cube, Bunbury’s newest live music program. Supports will be announced soon. Tickets from oztix.com and bunburyentertainment.com.

San Cisco

WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS ART AWARDS 2015 To celebrate and acknowledge the diversity and brilliance of Indigenous artwork in this country, the Art Gallery of Western Australia will be bringing us the Western Australian Indigenous Art Awards from Saturday, July 4, to Monday, October 12.

The Western Australian Indigenous Art Award of $50,000 (national), the Western Australian Artist Award of $10,000 (for a Western Australian artist) and the People’s Choice Award of $5,000 will be awarded to acknowledge the significant, on-going contribution that Aboriginal and Torres-Strait Islander artists make to the art and culture of Australia.

Fourteen finalists have already been selected for exhibition with Amy BarrettLennard (Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts), Kimberly Moulton (Yorta Yorta emerging writer and curator) and Clotilde Bullen (Curator of Indigenous Art at AGWA) on the selection panel. Free guided tours of the exhibition will be available at 2pm on Saturdays and Sundays in July (excluding Saturday July 4) and 2pm Sundays through to Fridays in August.

Sandra Hill - Homemaker #9: The hairdresser, 2014, oil on linen, 76 x 91 cm. Courtesy the artist and Mossenson Galleries. © the artist, courtesy Mossenson Galleries

Stonefield

EVENT SERIES: PROFS AND PINTS

NSW singer/songwriter Dylan Wright is heading over to Perth to play three very different but special shows with WA’s own Riley Pearce. One is an intimate/house concert style gig at Blinco St Cafe, Fremantle, on Thursday, July 2; , there’s a full band gig of Pearce’s at the Indi Bar, Scarborough, on Friday, July 3, and the third at the HyperVision art show in Midland.

Pearce will also release a new EP in October. For full details head to rileypearce.com.au.

Scitech has announced the Profs And Pints event series every Tuesday until July 21 from 6-8pm.

Open to all and free of charge, this night will consist of scientific banter with a topical line-up ranging from human motivation (food, sex, achievement) to the psychology of performance enchancement to the future of Perth.

If this sounds like your kinda gig, head down to the National Hotel in Fremantle for beers, lively, pro-bantering discussions and an online Twitter feed showing online conversation, questions and remarks. Informal, informative, interactive and free, head to scitech.org.au for more details.

Riley Pearce - Pic: Tanya Voltchanskaya

Profs And Pints

THE WOMBATS

Knudsen attributes their refined sound to experience, labelling their new album as “more professional”. On This Modern Glitch we had three or four sounds doubling each other and everything was doubled, tripled. This time around we’ve tried to find the one sound that would do the job instead of having three sounds running at the same time. It’s a bit more stripped back in that sense.”

While their second album was recorded in Los Angeles, The Wombats headed back to the motherland to record their latest release, working on demos of the tracks in Liverpool, where they remain based.

“We did most of the stuff there. We spent days making them sound good,” says Knudsen. That explains why The Wombats are credited as coproducers of the album. “If you listen to the demo versions and the final versions they sound pretty similar. The final version sounds maybe 20 per cent better, so a lot of the production work was done before going into the studio.”

Knudsen believes the band took a lot from its experiences recording in LA. “We’ve been doing it for so many years now we’ve picked up some tricks,” he says. But for the final touches on Glitterbug, the trio headed to London.

Although Glitterbug involved a move away from LA logistically, the city’s influence is still recognisable in the lyrics of the album’s songs. Lead singer and songwriter Matthew Murphy claims the album is inspired by LA, but to Knudsen the city was initially confronting.

“LA to me is probably one of the strangest, weirdest places in the world. It’s the least realistic place in the world. It’s kind of detached from everything else that’s happening.

“After spending months and months there recording our second album, I started to really like it,” Knudsen says. “I started to know where’s good to go for food and nice bars where you can get to know people. I think it’s a great place to record and spend time.”

PEARCE & WRIGHT

Knudsen City Limits Touring in support of their new album, Glitterbug, The Wombats open their Australian tour at Metro City on Thursday, July 23. MAT DROGEMULLER reports.

The Wombats have a special relationship with Australia. Not only do they take their name from an animal unique to our fauna, but there’s another little thing: we can’t get enough of them.

Since the late 2000s we have watched the Liverpool lads evolve. Their first album, appropriately titled A Guide To Love, Loss & Desperation, was arranged simply, with most songs revolving around guitar, bass and drums. For their second album, This Modern Glitch, The Wombats changed things up by adding a synth (or four) to most of the tracks, producing a more upbeat, dance sound. Their 2015 release continues that trend, but at the same time Glitterbug represents new territory for the trio. Bass player, Tord Øverland Knudsen, says they’re more comfortable now with their adapted sound.

“On This Modern Glitch we ‘found’ synths in a way, but we didn’t really know how to use them,” he says. “This time around we’ve learnt how to manoeuvre them properly and gone into more detail on using them and playing around with sounds.”

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BURATTI FINE ARTS FIRST LOOK From Thursday, July 2, through to Saturday, August 1, the Buratti Fine Art will be bringing us First Look, an exhibition of new, undiscovered emerging local talents in painting, printmaking, drawing, sculpture and new media.

This year’s exhibition will include: Anne Gee, Yianni Johns, Keiran Ingram, Casey Tembey, Dave Wolfy, Deborah Ralph-Karafela, Jeremy Goodchild and Natalie Schilotz with special guest E.L.K. (Canberra).

Opening Night is Thursday, July 2, from 6.30pm at Buratti Fine Art 202 Hay Street Subiaco.

The exhibition will be open Tuesday to Friday from 10am-5pm and Saturdays 10am-3pm.

Hollow Wings, Oil on linen - Artwork by Kieran Ingram

IT’S THE PLAYOFF! It’s getting near the business of The Playoff Band Comp, happening on Wednesdays at Bar Indigo in Rockingham. Doors open 7pm.

Semi Final #2, this Wednesday, June 24, sees Falloway, The, Hunting Birds, Reapers Riddle, The Hounds and Beyond Stone Rising playing for their very lives.

The Grand Final on Saturday, July 4, will see The Milkmen, The Georgians and the first and second placegetters of Semi Final #2, plus a Wild Card pick heading for the ultimate showdown... and $5000 cash. Best of luck to all bands.

The Milkmen

NOCTURNAL BALL The 19th Annual Nocturnal Ball happens on Monday, July 6, with the WA hospitality industry coming together for a night of fancy dress, fundraising and surprises. BOB GORDON chats to organiser, Tim Brown.

For people who have never attended, how would you sum up the Nocturnal Ball?

Probably the biggest and maddest party you’ll go to all year!

This is the 19th edition, describe the early years and how the event has evolved over time?

It’s grown from a few hundred people to an enormous party of 2000. From a bunch of staff from half a dozen clubs to an event that draws people from all areas of the hospitality industry. Oh, and the costume element just seems to get better and better every year. Most people now come in costume and everybody makes an amazing effort.

The theme this year is F**K Me I’m Famous - from what you’ve heard, how are people’s preparations for this promising suggestion?

Really, really well. We always try and have a broad theme to encourage as many people as possible to come dressed up. Looking at my staff Facebook page and speaking to others it would seem like it was a great theme with people coming up with some really clever twists on the idea.

THE RISE OF THE 1920s, ELECTRO SWING PERTH

DEAD LETTER CIRCUS ANNOUNCE NATIONAL TOUR

If the ‘20s prohibition era of underworld crime, speakeasies filled with gangsters, brooding millionaires and sexy upper-class women piques your interest, then we’ve found the perfect excuse for you to delve back into the epoch of Moonshine and swinging good times.

Electro Swing Perth, a rapidly-growing underground music club event first held at The Ellington, presents the second instalment of its UnderFringe 1920s themed event on Friday, July 3, at Jimmy’s Den. For a night back in the roaring Volstead era and some real moonshine, Electro Swing is the place for you.

Doors are open from 7pm, with Jessie Gordon Quartet Featuring The Cottontail Trio, Nicola Milan & the Stray Cat Club and DJs Invoker and NDORSE, free swing dance, shoot-out reenactments and a strict ‘20s Gangster dress code comin’ right at ya.

Queensland-bred band Dead Letter Circus have announced a national tour to promote new single, While You Wait. The band have spent months meticulously honing and refining a new currently title-less album.

The comparatively stripped-back While You Wait has been praised as being, potentially, the band’s biggest hit in their surging prog-rock career.

So, to contrast this new stylistic direction, the tour will be built around both the new single and Dead Letter Circus earlier on in their career.

Dead Letter Circus will perform at much more intimate locations with on average a mere 300 tickets being sold per venue across the capitals, including Perth’s Rosemount Hotel on Sunday, July 19. Tickets still available via Oztix.com.au

Nicola Milan, Electro Swing Perth

Dead Letter Circus

UK DJ CHRISTOPH ANNOUNCES DEBUT NATIONAL TOUR

How important to the hospitality industry is the Nocturnal Ball?

I think it’s really important. It’s a great chance for staff to get together and celebrate all that’s great about hospitality in this state... we have people that come in from the regional centres, too.

And, for those of us that work every weekend, it’s the best chance to let our hair down and have a proper weekend. It’s our New Year’s Eve.

With recent bookings in Ibiza and across Europe, emerging UK-based DJ/producer Christoph is finally getting the global recognition he deserves.

Following his Shelter EP in late 2014 with remixes from Sante, Josh Butler and Snilloc, Christoph has begun to establish himself in the deep-tech-house music scene as an accomplished international act.

Christoph is coming to Australia, landing in Perth on Friday, July 3, at a venue to be announced. Deep-house enthusiasts and industry experts (like English BBC 1 radio DJ Pete Tong) have identified up-and-comer Christoph as a promising international DJ with big things headed his way.

Nocturnal Ball - Pic: Nick Spencer

Christoph

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Jebediah celebrate their 20th anniversary with a new compilation album, Twenty, and a national tour which stops by the Astor Theatre for sold-out shows from Friday, June 26, to Sunday, June 28. BOB GORDON reports.

Unlike many of their ‘90s contemporaries, Jebediah have never broken up, nor announced an official sabbatical.

While Kevin Mitchell’s forays into the worlds of Bob Evans and The Basement Birds have sometimes seen Jebediah on the backburner a little, when they have re-emerged it has always been at full-force.

Upon the band’s 20th anniversary tour and commemorative album release, one wonders though, was there ever a time when they all though it might have been done and dusted?

“Personally, for me, no,” says guitarist, Chris Daymond. “I’ve never felt like I could be standing on the edge of it not ever happening again. So that’s just a gut feeling, because there’d have to be some reason for that; some catalyst that would mean that the end is nigh. And that hasn’t occurred to me.”

“I can’t even foresee the end,” says bassist, Vanessa Thornton, “or how we would ever get to the point where we would say to each other, ‘okay this is it. This is gonna be the last show’.

Imagine going out to play a show, knowing it was

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gonna be your last. I mean, obviously we’ll play a last show, but...” “... will we?” asks Daymond.

“I guess so, unless we’re gonna go forever. Like until the end of time.”

“That’s my plan,” says Daymond, sending Thornton into fits of laughter.

Anyone thinking that the three Bob Evans albums may have distanced Mitchell from Jebediah has been proven incorrect by the fullness of time. If anything the folk/country climes of his alter-ego must have likely made sure that there was plenty of room for Jebs in his rock’n’roll heart.

“The other interesting thing about that is he started playing Bob Evans show before we even released Slightly Odway,” Thornton points out. “So that has always been there and always been a part of what he does.”

“It depends on what your outlook is on it as well,” says Daymond.

“If you’re optimistic then you don’t think that that kind of change will have a negative result on the band. You think it’s going to have a positive result - which it has done - and you encourage each other to pursue those things, it’s really important.

“Kev’s enjoyment of pursuing his own musical journey is integral to being part of this as well. So it’s your outlook when those things come into play, all of these things can exist together, it doesn’t have to be a trade-off between one thing and having to give something else up.”

If anything, allowing Jebediah to take a back seat for certain periods of time has allowed all its members to follow their passions, and eventually

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rekindle the initial passion when they started the band in 1995.

“It takes the pressure off as well,” says Thornton, who also plays in Axe Girl and The Tommyhawks and previously with Felicity Groom & The Black Black Smoke. “The band was totally a hobby, and it was not something that we had all invested every facet of our life into. The sheer joy of just being in this band because we just wanted to play music together, I hadn’t strongly felt that particularly feeling for a good many years, the whole journey’s been fun and I wouldn’t change anything, but there was definitely a feeling, when everything else was taken away, that it’s come back down to this basic thing - us four want to be in a room together and play music.”

Daymond agrees: “That’s an important point - the four of us. Whereas if you compare it to something like Silverchair, where it was emotionally driven by Daniel (Johns), his investment in playing those songs every night, emotionally, it takes a lot out of him. So to keep that momentum going, obviously is very, very difficult, from an output point of view.

“So it does have its shelf-life in a way, and it does have to resolve so you can move on.

Because our music is a shared creative exercise, you can all step away from it and it won’t necessarily disintegrate. When you pick up your guitars again in the same room together you can just jump back into it.”

The 20th anniversary tour will see Jebediah played their debut album, Slightly Odway, in its entirety along with other hits and favourites.

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VENUES

The interest in this outing, nationally, has been massive and has certainly taken the band by surprise.

“The element of revisiting an album like Odway obviously brings an attention to the show which we haven’t had recently,” Daymond notes, “but also it’s really humbling that people want to come along and celebrate that with you as well.

When we did the predictions, budget-wise, for the tour and stuff we were very pessimistic about attendance, so we’ve been blown away by the fact that we’re doing four nights at the Corner Hotel.

It’s never happened in our career.”

While times have changed, there’s been no change of heart in Jebediah. Their approach to playing and creating music has remained on track and is the key to why this tour rings so bright and true.

“It’s not unusual for us to be playing these songs in this way, it’s not like we have to rewind the equipment,” says Daymond. “We’ve all still got the same thing in our hands as we did when we did that. What makes it really special is the connection you have with the people who are enjoying it. We’ve played Leaving Home so many fucking times that you’d think, from a musician’s point of view, that we’d be sick of playing that song. But it’s not like that, because every time you play it, sure, if you were just looking at your guitar it would be exactly the same, but you’re not. You’re involved in the experience of sharing the music with people. Now you can see that it really means something. If you can’t get anything out of that as a performer you’re missing the point.”

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W H AT ’ S N E W I N LOCAL MUSIC

13 CIRCLES What:

Embryonic EP Launch

Where:

The Rosemount Hotel

When:

Friday, June 26, 2015

PEYTON What:

Supporting Divorce Party with People Like Us, Green Light District and Alex Brittan

Where:

Four5Nine Bar

When:

Thursday, July 9. 2015

Answered by Jarrod Henry (guitarist).

What’s the 13 Circles story?

The four of us have been playing together for a couple of years now, in a different project, and began writing around the middle of last year. The songs we’re releasing as 13 Circles coalesced over the last eight or nine months as we began to forge our own distinctive sound and style.

What’s your sound?

Our sound focuses on a melodic, atmospheric style. Big memorable choruses, intricate rhythms, soaring vocals, one minute dark, dense and brooding, the next uplifting. We all have our individual influences, counting Tool, Karnivool, Muse, Pink Floyd, Dead Letter Circus and Alice In Chains.

Tell us about Embryonic.

These songs that comprise Embryonic deal with a variety of themes; the shortness of the time we spend in this life and making the most of each moment, the frailty of our relationships with each other, the feelings surrounding the loss of loved ones, the symbolic fire and passion within us and the capacity of our feelings for each other.

Where did you record?

The songs were recorded in January at Debaser Studios with Andy Lawson and mastered by Forrester Savell over east. We feel that the recording process went really well and we’re very excited by the results of our labours!

How did you first come to realise you wanted to make music?

I’ve been surrounded by music my entire life. My whole family is very musical and I think that definitely sparked my interest. Watching other musicians when I was younger inspired me to think that I really didn’t want to do anything else.

What’s your sound?

I would say my sound is indie electronic pop. My influences would be Lana Del Rey, Florence and the Machine, M83 and Elvis Presley.

You released your first single, New York Era, not too long ago. Are you happy with the response?

I am very happy that I got to hear my song on the radio. Everyone seemed to enjoy it and critically it got a really good reception, that’s all a musician can ask for.

Where did you record?

I recorded in my producer/co-writer Lance Robinson’s studio. I love the recording process so it went really well. The studio had a really comfortable environment so it made it easier for me to be more free artistically.

What’s up next for you?

At the moment I am focusing on my live shows and finishing the EP which i plan to release the near future and hopefully do an east coast tour soon.

GENTLEMEN, START YOUR ENGINES

THE PLAY-OFF SEMI FINAL #2 Red Engine Caves are taking over Wednesdays

The Milkmen and The Georgians are already on their way to the Grand Final of The Playoff Band Competition, which takes place at Rockingham’s Bar Indigo on Saturday, July 4, but they won’t be alone. Someone from the second semi-final will be joining them. Tonight, Wednesday, June 24, Falloway, The Hunting Birds, Reapers Riddle, The Hounds and Beyond Stone Rising go head to head for a chance at the $5000 cash prize and more.

Doors open at 7pm, entry is $10.

at Mojos for a couple of weeks, just because they can. Tonight, June 24, they’re supported by SpaceManAntics and Psychedelic Porn Crumpets.

Next Wednesday, July 1, Kitchen People, Ray Finkle and The Southern River Band take up the slack.

Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.

Red Engine Caves

The Milkmen

WHICH WITCH Rock fusion outfit Kripke’s Illusion hit The Railway Hotel on Friday, July 3, with support from Magnolia Jones, Discordians and Just Numbers. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.

They’ve been described as “Modest Mouse meets Twin Peaks”, which strikes us as a sound that needs investigating. You’ll get your chance when The Witches play The Velvet Lounge this Sunday, June 28. The four piece are supported by The Caballeros, the Stuart Orchard Band and Joni In The Moon.

Doors open at 6pm.

Kripke’s Illusion

The Witches

USE YOUR ILLUSION

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W H AT ’ S N E W I N LOCAL MUSIC

KING’S JUSTICE

CHAOS DIVINE

What:

Headlining, with support from Rum Punch, Segue Safari, Yaqui Yeti and Silky Chooks

What: Headlining, with Tangled Thoughts Of Leaving, Tempest Rising and Nevsky Prospekt

Where:

Four5Nine Bar

Where:

Amplifier Bar

When:

Wednesday, July 8, 2015

When:

Friday, July 10, 2015

Answered by Jack Young (Lead singer)

Answered by Ryan Felton (Guitarist)

Who are King’s Justice?

King’s Justice has been around in some shape or form since 2011. had known Matthew from school and asked him if he wanted to do some covers and maybe write a little as a two piece and it just took on from there. At the start of last year we finished off our first EP, To Your Arms I’d Run, in the studio.

How’s your live sound developing of late?

We have really worked hard on improving our live show, and it was really something we developed after we released Colliding Skies. We wanted to make sure the new songs translated properly for the stage. It was a bit of a task due to the intricacies of the album compared to some of our older stuff, but we really enjoy playing our new material live and putting in 100% when we play.

What’s your sound?

Our sound in the simplest description would be indie-pop - I mean I don’t even plug in the distortion pedal any more. That being said, a lot of the songs we write now definitely don’t fit inside that genre, and I think that comes from the way our song writing process is at now. Each member writes some part of the songs we play, whether its lyrics, the progression, riffs or the beat.

What’s the rest of the year involve?

Writing, writing, writing. We’ve already slipped one song into our live set just last week.

Obviously we’re going to keep writing, but at the moment the main focus of the band is to spend a much longer chunk of time writing songs, as many as we can, so that we have got a large body of work behind us for when it finally comes time for us to release our first full length release. We definitely feel we’re writing at a level that will only improve with time and practice, and we might have a sneaky demo or two out in the near future. We are in the midst of relocating our studio so that we can get the most out of the creativity that’s been born in these writing sessions.

What’s the current set list looking like?

For our upcoming shows we will be doing a bit of a mixed bag - new songs, old songs and a complete surprise of a cover that is going to be a whole lot of fun.

Are you happy with the reaction to Colliding Skies?

We really have been blown away with the response, given that we heard a lot from people that they were worried we wouldn’t be able to top our previous album. It’s in our nature to not do the exact same album every time, but we are really pleased that those who liked the last one, seem to really like the new one too. The reviews we have seen are for the most part all really positive and now for us its about taking the album to the next level.

What’s up next?

We want to look abroad and secure some things that are really going to take our album into the hands of people in Europe or the US, that’s where we see our next step being.

RTRFM FREMANTLE WINTER MUSIC FESTIVAL Born Freo Spread across five venues, RTRFM’S ninth annual Fremantle Winter Music Festival will see 24 WA bands and a selection of DJs showing off their excellent talents.

Swan Hotel Lounge: Flooded Palace, Edie Green, Hayley Beth, Laurel Fixation and Patient Little Sister.

Swan Hotel Basement: Dream Rimmy, Golden Slums, Jimmy Chang, Mt. Mountain and Dream Jimmy DJs. North Fremantle Bowls Club: Datura4, The Floors, Huge Magnet, Old Blood and Stoney Joe. The Railway Hotel: Dianas, French Rockets, Koi Child, Sugar Army and Tired Lion.

Mojos: Leon Osborn, Mudlark, Ourobonic Plague, Sam Atkin and Spirit Level. Courtyard: RTRFM DJs Alex Griffin (Out To Lunch), Britt Day (Out To Lunch) and Coel Healy (Golden Apples, El Ritmo).

This all happens Saturday, June 27, tickets are $15 for subscribers and $20 for the general public from rtrfm.com.au. Gold and Platinum subscribers receive free entry.

YANN VISSAC, KOI CHILD DOM MARIANI, DATURA4 As a Freo-based outfit is there a special significance playing the Fremantle Winter Music Festival for you?

Being in Fremantle means that Greg, Stu and I don’t have far to drive. It’s great to be part of a cool musical event like this. We’ll see lots of our Freo mates, no doubt.

Who on the bill are you keen to check out or catch up with?

The Floors are always good. Flooded Palace. Mt Mountain could be interesting.

You recently released advance copies, Demon Blues, of the Daytura4 album, what’s the reception been like so far?

The new Datura4 album is not out just yet. July 10 is the proper release date. There have been some very positive reviews for it so far. Who knows, we could be on a winner here, but we’re not getting too carried away with things just yet.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

It’s pretty much Datura4 all the way. We’ll see what happens with Demon Blues. Some touring would be nice.

As a Freo-based outfit is there a special significance playing the Fremantle Winter Music Festival for you?

The line-up is 100 per cent awesome crew.

The special significance is in the company we get to share this festival with.

Who on the bill are you keen to check out or catch up with?

Our buddies in Edie Green and Old Blood, Dream Rimmy, Mudlark, Leon Osborn and many more!

You recently released Black Panda, what’s the reception been like to it?

Black Panda’s been out for two months now, in that time we have received massive support from friends and fans alike, It was played on BBC Radio 6 and we’ve since signed to Pilerats Records. I would say it’s fared better than most of us anticipated, now triple j’s onto it and playing it on the reg and that’s all the better.

What are your plans for the rest of the year?

We’re working hard on our debut album!

We have the privilege of working with Kevin Parker and can’t wait to hear the finished product. It ought to be out by the end of this year. We’ll be heading to the Eastern States in September as well. Exciting stuff!

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DIGER ROKWELL

HIDEOUS SUN DEMON

What:

Seeds EP Launch

What:

Sweat Vinyl Launch

Where:

The Bird

Where:

The Odd Fellow

When:

Friday, July 24, 2015

When:

Friday, June 26, 2015

How’s 2015 been for you so far?

2015 has been epic! Firstly, the birth of my first child, Campbell, two days ago. He is such a awesome little human. Loving every moment of it.

Secondly, doing stand up comedy for the first time for Comedy Vultures was another highlight, after I finished, I just wanted to do it again. Its addictive.

Thirdly, releasing a line WA Pom Pom beanies for winter. Fourthly, releasing my music on vinyl for the first time.

Tell us about Seeds.

Seeds is a four track journey tinged with hip-hop drums, crunchy percussion, ethereal drone, psych leads and soaring sonics released via limited edition 10” vinyl. It is an electronic music creation process made with collected pedals and instruments collected over 15 years. It is a continuation from Innersense, focussing on one influence at a time.

The music seemed perfect for a limited edition vinyl release.

You’re building up to an eventual album release - are you getting a sense of what the final shape will be like yet?

The album will be a real diverse bag of my instrument based music from the last 3 years, and moving into 2016. It will reflect my love of diverse genre and my playful experimentation with house, psych, beats and disco and a introduction to many people my music. There will be another two more EPs released before, and the album will revisit the choice cuts from the series.

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Answered by Vin. What’s the Hideous Sun Demon sound?

Between us we listen to all kinds of stuff.

I think right now the main similarity in influence is that whole West Coast garage revival thing going on in the US, as well as that whole Australian east coast post punk revival thing. Although that’s a very simplistic way of putting it. There’s also fair bit of hip hop influence going on as well as that whole classic riff rock Sabbath style stuff. Then there’s the whole kraut rock/psyche thing going on. Kraut’s good like that because it’s very versatile, I’ve always seen it as the bridge between punk and psychedelia. I think Kraut’s broad nature is the reason its becoming so popular, especially in Perth.

It slips into genres pretty easily.

What:

Live At The Ellington EP launch, Fremantle’s Hidden Treasures

Where:

The National Hotel

Lane and some ability to write twisted delta blues tunes. I play a sweet acoustic guitar, a rusty old steel Dobro called Sally, and a home made stomp box. Chris Parkinson is a slave to the harmonica.

When:

Thursday, July 9, 2015

Tell us about this new EP, Live At The Ellington.

THE MATT CAL TRIO

Answered by Matt Cal.

Give us a bit of a history lesson about The Matt Cal Trio.

The story of the Matt Cal Trio is we are more often than not a duo, not sure how we got the name trio but it seems to have stuck since my band, The Black Heart Sun took a break some three years ago (although we do have an album in the works).

I’ve been kicking around the state playing solo chill-out jams most weekends of the year since before the dinosaurs, but when I get together with You’re recording soon, we hear; how’s the new Chris Parkinson on harmonica we focus in on a grungy style of alt/ folk blues that is punchy and lyrical. material shaping up?

We’re actually almost done recording.

We have a full LP, I’m pretty happy with it. I think What’s your sound?

My obsessions are based around The it’s a more confident and succinct effort. It’s a bit Tallest Man On Earth back catalogue, Jordie heavier than last time.

What’s behind the decision to release on vinyl?

CDs are dying, they’re an obsolete format. CDs are digital and we have the internet for that now. Plus vinyls are so much more aesthetically pleasing, aurally and visually. For the hipkidz who live in the binary world we do the whole digital thing because its pretty much free, for the dadrockers and purists we have records.

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The new EP was caught live on a night that just had that little bit of magic. I think the microphones were in just the right spot and we got lucky. It’s my proudest moment so far for sure. When it was mixed and mastered I felt like I was able to move on and I’ve been writing freely since which is exciting for me ;) How’s the rest of the year looking?

The rest of the year will be spent getting around all my haunts and playing the new EP live, with a couple sets at Bridgetown Blues sure to be a highlight, along with the WAM Wheatbelt tour. There’s talk of getting over east but we’ll have to see how that pans out. Other than that I’m studio-bound, working on new stuff for an album next year.

W H AT ’ S N E W I N LOCAL MUSIC

Black Stone From The Sun

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13 Circles Embryonic EP Launch @ The Rosemount French Rockets Arc Album Launch @ Jimmy’s Den Black Stone From The Sun Death Threats And Cigarettes EP Launch @ Jimmy’s Den Yaqui Yeti A Way Of Knowledge EP Launch @ Clancy’s Freo Diger Rokwell Seeds EP Launch @ The Bird Our Man In Berlin Spirit Down EP Launch @ Amplifier Foxes Organic Vessels Album Launch @ Amplifier Ragdoll Rewind Your Mind Single Launch @ The Velvet Lounge Iceage Sugar Sometime (Take You Out) Single Launch @ The Rosemount The Shops Self Titled EP Launch @ Mojos Tired Lion Figurine EP Launch @ Amplifier Rainy Day Women In The Dark Single Launch @ Jimmy’s Den

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ALPINE The Yuck Factor Alpine have just released their second album, Yuck, and will perform at Metropolis Fremantle on Friday, July 3.

ADAM NORRIS reports.

There are many reasons why we have caught Phoebe Baker and Lou James at a good time. Melbourne sextet Alpine have a string of successes to their name now, including global tours and festivals, accolades and television spots – the highlight a performance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! – and plenty of gigs to come.

It’s also a lovely day, sunny and warm, and the girls are relaxing on comfortable couches.

But mostly you know the co-leads are in a good mood thanks to Paul Simon. After I complain that You Can Call Me Al has been in my head all morning, the conversation is off and racing, with impromptu sing-along’s and unexpected topics popping like champagne corks. Prepared questions are lost in the dervish, and as we discuss alternative lyrics to the Simon song, it becomes immediately clear that these two have turned banter into a strange art.

“I always thought it was Caught Me Out,” James laughs, and the pair start singing alternate lyrics about a guy called Eddie walking in on his cheating partner. “I thought it was about a guy having an affair, and he gets caught by his wife. But he’s also some cockney geezer, you know? “‘Cor, you caught me out!’ It would make a great karaoke song.”

“I’ve only done karaoke once,” Baker recalls, “and it was fun, but I was a little too ambitious.

I went with Prince, I Would Die 4 U. Great song, but karaoke?” She shakes her head sadly.

Before I really understand what’s happening, we’re suddenly in Disney karaoke territory, trying to recall the lyrics to Friend Like Me

while Baker sings Arabian Nights and James reflects on her Lion King obsession growing up; collecting the quilt, the lunch box, the Lion King Polly Pocket (which apparently was a thing). It’s invigorating conversation, and speaks volumes about not only Baker and James’ ease in interviews, but also their own friendship and the idiosyncratic banter that has become such a vital aspect of Alpine’s live performance. This, however, has not always been the case.

“It comes down to us being more assured now, and being more comfortable in expressing what we want,” says James. “It’s building a world that we don’t want to seem too disconnected or out of reach, especially once we start performing onstage. We want people to feel as involved with it as we are. I don’t like going to a show and feeling that the stage is some barrier between me and them, you know?

There’s something about crafting a show which is magical and that has the audience involved, too. But it’s been hard to figure that out. You’ve got to have a strong identity for people to connect with, and I think the first time around we were a little fragmented.

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Things like interviews, the banter at our shows, it wasn’t really that connected. I think you definitely need to reconnect with a song in order to get that feeling of storytelling. You’re not just playing a song live, you’re bringing something to life.”

Following the rolling success of their 2012 debut album, A Is For Alpine, it was always just a matter of time before their sophomore dropped.

They’re now a little bit older and a lot wiser for the three years in between. Yuck has already seen its lead single, Foolish, released to strong acclaim and high rotation, and the record itself is only days away. The self-assurance James speaks of has served the band well in piecing together a release that truly reflects who and where Alpine are today, but it also helped ease concerns about how their follow-up would be received.

“I don’t feel anxious, because I just feel so much happier and more content with this album than the first one,” says James. “In terms of recording it, having so much more time was important. I feel like being a bit older with more experience, the big difference was knowing what I’m trying to say with the lyrics, being able to write them down and being happy with them. Not many people get to do an album, let alone two, so at the end of the day it’s awesome.”

“I think with your second album there might be more pressure, but I think what will be, will be,” Baker grins. “I enjoyed the process and we’re really happy with the songs.”

“I still listen to it all the time,” says James.

“I’ve found that with both albums, but this one I listen to and there are songs that still put me in that emotional place when we were writing them.

It touches me; there’s a real connection. We’ve only performed maybe two or three songs from this album live before, and if I’m nervous about anything, it’s just not knowing. Performing the older songs, it’s fine – I know how I’m moving in each of them – but with these there hasn’t been that chance to connect with them yet onstage.”

“They take you back to that moment, that emotion,” agrees Baker. She pauses, and looks across to James. “But part of that is because we really, really worked on this – together and individually. The two of us always work collaboratively, but this time the other guys in the band had more input. As you listen and reflect on it, you’ll always hear things you didn’t recognise at the time. You’ll be surprised by bits working in ways you never thought about. Even if you’ve moved on from those emotions, it’s always interesting to listen back and realise, ‘Oh, so that’s how I reacted then’. I remember when we first listened to the master, it was all too much. You’re thinking about all the things you could have done, the things you want to change. But really, I’m so happy with it.”

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Photo by Denis Radacic

THE BLACK DAHLIA MURDER Malignant Monster/Iconoclast/Earth Rot Capitol Thursday, June 18, 2015 Perth heavyweights Earth Rot brutalised the early time slot with an unapologetic assault of their guttural metal. The guttural quality is no doubt shaped by J.P Bridgeman’s glottal and throaty style. Bridgeman’s vocals remained sepulchral throughout the epic old-school breakdowns and Tom Slaughterhouse’s riffage is filthy to say the least. All band members boast an impressive CV, but a highlight was certainly the fill-in from Louis ‘Disaster’ Rando on drums, of The Furor and Malignant Monster notoriety. Earth Rot finished up with Black Smoke, from their debut album, Follow

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The Black Smoke, which culminated in quite the windmill party and a seriously impressive opening slot.

Iconoclast was up next with an unrelenting deathcore that maintained a shocking intensity from the first note right until the last.

Frontman Mitch Macari delivers your gardenvariety metal vocals but on the rare occasion will rip out a sensational velociraptor-styled scream that’ll send a chill up your spine. Bassman Chris Van Swam is a maniac and adds an edge to the band’s stage presence. Iconoclast treated fans with some new material and, in turn, the fans went mental in the fight pit.

And now, for something completely different: Malignant Monster. Cain Cressall is renowned for his stage show but it’s really the unique vocal style that carries it through. The same can be said of the musicianship too; there is so much going on in the structure of the sound, from ambient melancholy to thrash, which calls for serious consideration. Jarrod Curley’s guitar playing is insanity, moving from doomy riffage to the speed of lighting like he was flippin’ burgers.

A tide of Everblack shirts surged forward to indicate that it was nearly time for the Detroit bonecrushers The Black Dahlia Murder to hit the stage. This band is hard working, both in their writing ethos and on stage, with frontman Trevor Strnad constantly moving around the stage and never failing to engage with the crowd.

It must have worked because a bright green bra got hurled onto the stage.

But all bras aside, it’s BDM’s wall of sound that has seen them thrive as global metal mainstays. The music is of course tight, as you would expect from a mature band and the live delivery of some of the classics breathed new life into the veterans’ touring act.

The Capitol gig was the first show back after a six-month break but the vibe was more like a party than a gig. It was clear that the band love what they do and Strnad even professed how much he missed and enjoyed playing live. He was a genuine dude that made sure everyone had a good time so it’s no wonder fans stay loyal. While there was no talk of the upcoming September release, Abysmal, but the band have stated that the album is recorded and apparently “gross”… just the way we like ‘em. Throughout the night there were more fist pumps than I’ve ever seen and just when you thought there couldn’t be more… there it is: the double fist pump.

LAURA GLITSOS

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LIVE

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VENUES

SEX PANTHER Dead End Brawler/Ursula/The Pissedcolas/The Long Lost Brothers/Rag n’ Bone The Rosemount Hotel Friday, June 19, 2015 The scattered few early birds clung close to the bar as Dead End Brawler began their set. The band’s noisy, abrasive punk sensibility made itself apparent from the start, enveloping the room and bleeding through to the outdoor area. Having hit their stride towards the end of the set, the band finished with Shiteratti, focusing on big, quarter note grooves.

However, though the musicianship was strong, the band spent much of their time disengaged with the audience.

Supergroup side project Ursula was next to the stage. Ursula characterised itself with more melancholy grunge anthems. Unsurprising, considering its curly-haired frontman, Robbie Rumble, is another Love Junkies member. The band had a good natural interaction, though there wasn’t enough emotional engagement with the songs. Ursula hit its crescendo with their final track, Hollow, Rumble’s vocals slurring over the more aggressive, riff-based tune.

Moving away from the rest of the night’s vocal-based sets, The Pissedcolas invested heavily in instrumental, groove-focused songs churned out with a lethargic energy. Fuzz-thick, repetitive guitar lines bled out from the stage, drowning out the synth and bass lines, during saw-tooth distorted crescendos. Frontman Fabian Rojas avoided banter for much of the set, though seemed to warm up towards the end. With the guitar-heavy mix and stripped-back songwriting, however, the songs came across as repetitive, failing to evolve.

Andrew Ryan was next to commandeer the stage with The Long Lost Brothers. After a false start and some awkward opening banter the band kicked off with aggressive floor tom rhythms and chunky, off-kilter guitar lines. Ryan’s vocals were somewhat reserved, not committing emotionally to the parts, but songwriting made the set diverse and engaging.

Rag n’ Bone launched straight into Danielle, thunderous drums, banshee wail vocals and erratic, distorted guitar lines washing over

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Sex Panther - Photo by Shaun Ferraloro

the swelling audience. The muddy, distorted bass lines of Sara McPherson rumbled under each song, characterising a set more rock and less grunge than the earlier acts.

Finally, the long-awaited Sex Panther finished up the night. Continuing the night’s theme of floor tom intros, the band blew into Killer Pink.

Leopard-print playsuit, incalculable, devil-eyed singer, Storm Wyness stalked onstage between songs. Once again the guitar drowned out much of Wyness’ vocals, dampening the effect of her stage performance. Mercedes saw them reach a better level and hit their stride, the band’s garage sound translating well in the Rosemount’s cavernous maw.

Though there was some dissonance between drums and guitar, the playful spirit of the band amended this early looseness and overall, they seemed wellrehearsed, pumping out tunes to the flurrying, dancing crowd that remained late in the night.

SHAUN THOMAS COWE

N E W S | I N T E R V I E W S | R E V I E W S | B E AT S | L I V E | V E N U E S

PSYCHEDELIC PORN CRUMPETS The Big Splash Heat #3 Winner Answered by Jack McEwan, singer/guitarist.

As a band, what are you trying to do? Are you doing it?

We’re trying to reach the π in the sky and chase the rabbit down the wormhole. All of us are motivated to cross genres and change up things as much as we can within the time frame of a ’song’, try and avoid those structural cliches which seem to be so common in popular music now and hopefully throw a few fresh ideas around that get heads bopping.

Obviously we don’t want to glitch everything apart and meaninglessly add changes for the sake of it, we’re aiming for that perfect balance of sound, letting your ears do the calculating and forgetting about conventions, just make what feels, tastes, sounds and looks good.

How did you feel about your set last Thursday night?

Definitely one of our best shows to date!

We went in fairly comfortable and tried to lose that competitive mindset to ease the nerves, a few pints of 4 Pines helped. It went too quickly, we could have played for hours with the high energy that the crowd were giving us. It felt like our sound was on point so it was easy to slide through the gears, all of us got lost after about 10 seconds and were wrapped within the vibes so it was an amazing feeling when people told us after that they were feeling the same.

What acts caught your ear/eye?

Galloping Foxleys for sure. Those guys are great musicians and have a solid, detailed and precise

sound that you can tell they have spent a while mastering. We were mesmerised at points, tapping our feet trying not to like them because we thought they were gonna win (laughs). We were caught up in the jingle rhythms.

Who else in The Big Splash heats are you keen to get a look at?

Shit Narnia, High Learys, Foam, Rag ‘n’ Bone, the list goes on. The Big Splash feels like a shuttle launch for bands, the way the heats have been hyped up and buzzed about has given everyone a great insight into Perth’s vibrant music scene.

What are your plans, at this stage, for the rest of 2015?

Things have suddenly jumped from bedroom recordings to this influx of interest and it’s pushing us to create more material which is great. We were fortunate enough to support King Gizzard who are absolute legends. It’s helped push our sound to a wider audience and made us strive for bigger things.

Coming up we’ve got a couple of shows with Red Engine Caves, one this Wed at Mojos and another at the Soggybones Launch July 10. We’re also stoked to be supporting Dune Rats this Sunday at Mojos... it’s insane right now, we’re lapping up every minute of it.

The Big Splash continues with Heat #4 on Thursday, June 25, at The Bird with Agamous Betty, Figurehead, Shit Narnia and The Methamphetaqueens. Doors open 8pm, $6 entry.

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5 SECONDS OF SUMMER, JUNE 29

MARK RONSON, JULY 22

TOURS THIS WEEK SONGS IN THE KEY OF MOTOWN 24 Mandurah Performing Arts Centre 25 Astor Theatre CRAIG DAVID (DJ Set) 24 Metro City 1927 25 Friends Restaurant 26 Wintersun Hotel 27 Charles Hotel 28 Ravenswood Hotel JEBEDIAH 26, 27 & 28 Astor Theatre STOOKI SOUND 26 Metro City COSMIC PSYCHOS & DUNE RATS 26 Settlers Tavern 27 Rosemount Hotel 5 SECONDS OF SUMMER 29 Perth Arena MACHINE HEAD 29 Astor Theatre JULY 2015 TITLE FIGHT 1 Amplifier 2 YMCA HQ THE CLOWNS 3 Prince of Wales 4 Four5Nine Bar 5 Mojos DEAN RAY 3 Charles Hotel ALPINE 4 Metropolis Fremantle YELLOWCARD 4 Metro City AUSTRALIAN ROCK WITH ANGRY ANDERSON 4 Charles Hotel THE MANFREDS 4 Astor Theatre TIM ROGERS & THE BAMBOOS 4 Rosemount Hotel COSMIC GATE 5 Metro City JIMMY BARNES 10 Crown Theatre TEX PERKINS 10 Charles Hotel STONEFIELD 11 Four5Nine Bar 12 Mojos THE CHURCH 16 Settlers Tavern 17 Prince of Wales 18 Rosemount Hotel LITTLE SEA 16 Astor Lounge SAN CISCO 17 Settlers Tavern 18 Bunbury Entertainment Centre

JOHNNY MARR 18 Metropolis Fremantle CLARKSON, HAMMOND & MAY LIVE! 18 – 19 Perth Arena DEAD LETTER CIRCUS with I AM GIANT 19 Rosemount Hotel ADAM HARVEY 22 Albany Entertainment Centre 25 Astor Theatre JAY ELECTRONICA 22 Capitol MARK RONSON 22 Metro City TIGERS JAW 22 Amplifier 23 YMCA HQ THE WOMBATS 23 Metro City JOSH PYKE with WASO 24 Perth Concert Hall VINCE JONES 24 Fly By Night 25 & 26 Ellington Jazz Club OPTIMUS GRYME 24 Jimmy’s Den JA RULE & ASHANTI 25 Metro City EARL SWEATSHIRT 29 Villa BLUR with JAMIE T 30 Perth Arena AUGUST 2015 RUBBER SOUL REVOLVER 1 Perth Convention & Exhibition Centre IAN MOSS 1 Charles Hotel KITTY, DAISY & LEWIS 5 Rosemount Hotel PHIL JAMIESON 5 Dunsborough Tavern 6 Highway Hotel 7 Leisure Inn 9 The Saint Hotel, Innaloo DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE 6 Metro City UV BOI 7 Jimmy’s Den HOODOO GURUS with ESKIMO JOE 8 Cable Beach Amphitheatre … AND YOU WILL KNOW US BY THE TRAIL OF DEAD 12 Rosemount Hotel GOOD RIDDANCE 12 Amplifier SETH SENTRY 12 Judd’s, Kalgoorlie

FEATURED GIG

MACHINEHEAD ASTOR THEATRE JUNE 29

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THE SMITH STREET BAND. SEPT 18

13 Pier Hotel, Esperance 14 Studio 146 15 Settlers Tavern 19 Dunsborough Tavern 20 Prince of Wales 22 Astor Theatre CHELSEA GRIN 13 Rosemount Hotel DRAPHT 14 Metropolis Fremantle THE AUSTRALIAN BEE GEES SHOW 15 Regal Theatre 16 Albany Entertainment Centre YOB 19 Rosemount Hotel PEACE TRAIN: THE CAT STEVENS STORY 21 Astor Theatre 22 Albany Entertainment Centre LLOYD SPIEGEL 21 Settlers Tavern 22 Indi Bar 23 Mojos 25 Perth Blues Club NORTH WEST WEEKENDER ft. BIRDS OF TOKYO, PEKING DUK, ANGUS & JULIA STONE, DRAPHT, SETH SENTRY, BRITISH INDIA, THE PREATURES & more!

21 – 23 Port Hedland Turf Club JAMIE LAWSON 22 Jimmy’s Den THE DRONES 22 Rosemount Hotel ANDREW MCMAHON 26 Amplifier THE BEATLES FOREVER 27 Albany Entertainment Centre ELVIS MEETS THE BEATLES 28 HBF Stadium HIATUS KAIYOTE 29 Rosemount Hotel HELLIONS with CAPSIZE & ‘68 29 Civic Hotel 30 YMCA HQ THE GRISWOLDS 30 Jimmy’s Den HELLYEAH 31 Capitol SEPTEMBER 2015 THE STORY SO FAR with MAN OVERBOARD 2 Amplifier 3 YMCA HQ JAMES REYNE 5 Astor Theatre TYLER, THE CREATOR 8 Capitol 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 RUBENS 16 Prince of Wales 17 Settlers Tavern 18 Astor Theatre THE SMITH STREET BAND 18 Metropolis Fremantle AS IT IS 22 YMCA HQ XAVIER RUDD & THE UNITED NATIONS 23 Goldfields Arts Centre 24 Esperance Civic Centre 25 Albany

Entertainment Centre 26 Belvoir Amphitheatre 27 Three Oceans Winery, Margaret River THE TEN SOPRANOS 25 Astor Theatre CELTIC WOMAN 25 Perth Arena LISTEN OUT 2015 ft.

CHILDISH GAMBINO, JOEY BADA$$, ALISON WONDERLAND, ODESZA, HAYDEN JAMES, CLIENT LIAISON & many more 27 Ozone Reserve BEHEMOTH 29 Capitol JOAN BAEZ 30 Perth Concert Hall OCTOBER 2015 KISS 3 Perth Arena NEEL KOLHATKAR 3 Astor Lounge ROBBIE WILLIAMS 9 & 10 Perth Arena CONRAD SEWELL 10 & 11 Jimmy’s Den LIFEHOUSE 11 Metro City LAURA MARLING 16 Astor Theatre SNOT 21 Amplifier AT THE GATES 28 Amplifier 10CC 28 Astor Theatre HOZIER 28 Belvoir Amphitheatre FLEETWOOD MAC 30 Domain Stadium NOVEMBER 2015 ANATHEMA 1 Rosemount Hotel THE RUTS 12 Rosemount Hotel COLD CHISEL with THE LIVING END 14 Perth Arena NEIL DIAMOND 14 Sandalford Estate 16 Perth Arena DEF LEPPARD with BABY ANIMALS & LIVE 21 Red Hill Auditorium THE BEACH BOYS 21 Kings Park NILE with UNEARTH, FEED HER TO THE SHARKS & WHORETOPSY 22 Capitol AC/DC 27 & 29 Domain Stadium UB40 28 Metropolis Fremantle SAM SMITH 28 Perth Arena DECEMBER 2015 ED SHEERAN 2 NIB Stadium THE SCREAMING JETS 3 Prince of Wales 4 Settlers Tavern 5 Charles Hotel 6 Ravenswood Hotel CHRIS CORNELL 8 Perth Concert Hall JANUARY 2016 NIGHTWISH 15 Metropolis Fremantle

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

DOCTOPUS, JUNE 24

TURNSTYLE, JUNE 25

W E E K LY WEDNESDAY 24/06 AMPLIFIER Amplifier Wednesdays: issue #6 ft.

Braves The Limbs The Body Boys Sophie Hopes (Tired Lion) Elli Schoen THE BIRD Leafy Suburbs Et Ana Shit Narnia CHOO CHOO’S SMALL BAR The Low End Theory Mr. E. Mann Aaron Gwynaire Conal Savins CIVIC HOTEL Open Mic Night CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Songwriter’s Night ft.

Ajay Peni Amanda Merdzan CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Commander Cody’s Seaside Quiz THE GOOD SHEPHERD Herd ft.

Doctopus (Single Launch) Pissedcolas Shiny Joe Ryan Yokohomos The Worst Hot Rock DJs HULA BULA BAR Island Nite INDI BAR Club Acoustica METRO CITY Craig David MOJOS BAR Red Engine Caves Spacemanantics Psychedelic Porn Crumpets MUSTANG BAR Wild Wednesday ft.

Kickstart DJ Giles 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Humpflump Energy Commission Sexy Robot House Arrest Jez Watts Scott Sharpe Nick Maro Sonny Yang Lady Malice ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Rock n Roll Karaoke with Magnus Danger Magnus ROSEMOUNT HOTEL (BEER GARDEN) Student Night ft.

DJ Anton Maz SETTLERS TAVERN Margaret River PS “Rock Fest” Fundraiser THURSDAY 25/06 AMPLIFIER Last Night

ASTOR THEATRE Songs in the Key of Motown THE BIRD Big Splash Band Comp Heat #4 ft.

Agamous Betty Figurehead Shit Narnia The Methamphetaqueens CIVIC HOTEL Abmusic Club Steve’s Karaoke DEFECTORS BAR Songwriters Club ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Kerry B Ryan Blues Experience HULA BULA BAR Rhum Club INDI BAR Open Mic MOJOS BAR Turnstyle The Long Lost Brothers Ursula Treestump Almighty MUSTANG BAR Thumpin’ Thursdays ft.

Decoy DJ James Mac ROSEMOUNT HOTEL RAW: Splendour ft.

Latehorse Chelsea Jones Penny Purr Howling Bones & performing acts SETTLERS TAVERN Comedy @ Settlers ft.

Pat Burtscher Garrett Jamieson FRIDAY 26/06 AIR Viking / Caveman / Barbarian Party AMBAR JSTJR (USA) Jordan Scott Peter Payne Micah Black Genga AMPLIFIER The Loft Alternative: A Joyous New Order ft.

Eddie Electric Jamie Mac KLA Panda Lady Libertine Volatile ASTOR THEATRE Jebediah Turnstyle THE BIRD Where’s My Hover Board?! An Exhibition Fundraiser for Graphic Design Students ft.

Baskervilles Apollo’s Son Mr. McLean + MJB CAPITOL Make Them Suffer CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE DJ Boogie

FEATURED GIG

13 CIRCLES GRAPHIC CHARACTERS SEPTEMBER SUN DEAD END BRAWLER ROSEMOUNT HOTEL FRIDAY JUNE 26

CLANCY’S FREMANTLE The Fling CIVIC HOTEL Boom’s B’day Bash ft.

Disorderly Conduct Skulka & more THE FLY TRAP Rock Scholars presents Autumn Gigs GERALDTON HOTEL Ragdoll GINGER NIGHTCLUB Mondo Fridays GOLD BAR Fox Fridays HULA BULA Friday Frendzee INDI BAR Hells Bells JIMMY’S DEN The Loft Session presented by Bass Ingredient THE LIBRARY Dorcia METRO CITY Father Takeover ft.

STOOKi SOUND (UK) CRNKN (USA) METROPOLIS FREMANTLE Loadstar UK Hewson & De.Bug DJ Darren D Rivers & Ritual Ellictt Chat Fop & Heavy Daze MOJOS BAR Nineties to Noughties – Volume 8 ft.

Andrew Sinclair Aslan Catlips HAMJAM NEWPORT HOTEL Friday Fiesta THE ODD FELLOW Hideous Sun Demon (Vinyl Launch) Nicholas Allbrook HAMJAM The Darling Rangers QUALITY HOTEL BAYSWATER DJ Veeness RAILWAY HOTEL Facegrinder BORC Constructs Sexpiss 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Live! Nerds! Nerds!

Nerds! Ft. Dollar Dazzler Lady Malice P.A.S.T.I.E. 3000 Adam Peter Scott ROSEMOUNT HOTEL 13 Circles (EP Launch) Graphic Characters September Sun Dead End Brawler ROSIE O’GRADY’S FREMANTLE Yambeque SETTLERS TAVERN Cosmic Psychos Dune Rats THE VELVET LOUNGE Michael Savage & band The Shops Rich King M atthews David Craft VILLA The Aston Shuffle DJs WHALE & ALE TAVERN Rock Candy SATURDAY 27/06 AMBAR Japan 4 ft.

NOY AMPLIFIER Goldfields KLP Lanark K La ASTOR THEATRE Jebediah Turnstyle THE BIRD Tsvoim Liberation Erasers Makee DJ Basic Mind CAPITOL Death Disco Meina Bass Attic DJs

THE JULIUS LUTERO BAND, JUNE 28

HAMJAM, JUNE 26 CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Fifi Mondello Trio CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Villain Howling Bones Fine Court Lunar Whales THE CRAFTSMAN Rock Candy Duo EAST END BAR & LOUNGE Home ELECTRIFIED Cirque du Electrified – 3rd Birthday Spectacular ft.

Kidd Kaos Lucy Fur (UK) FLYRITE Father THE GAME SPORTS BAR Sci Fi Glow Party ft.

Discovery GOLD BAR Pure Gold THE GOOD SHEPHERD Chocolate Jesus ft.

Red Engine Caves Dougal’s Casino Benji Gala DJs GROOVE BAR Decoy HULA BULA Sailor Saturdays INDI BAR Blue Shaddy JIMMY’S DEN Outlook Festival 2015 Launch Party ft.

Hybris Soundboy Gracie & Sistym Sphere CMB LEISURE INN Zarm Trojan John Aaron Gwynaire DJ Flex LLAMA BAR Laundry METRO CITY Will Sparks METROPOLIS FREMANTLE End of Semester Cops + Robbers Party MOJOS BAR RTRFM Presents Fremantle Winter Music Festival 2015 ft.

Leon Osborn Mudlark Ourbonic Plague Sam Atkin Spirit Level Alex Griffin Britt Day Coel Healy NORTH FREMANTLE BOWLING CLUB RTRFM Presents Fremantle Winter Music Festival 2015 ft.

Datura4 The Floors Huge Magnet Old Blood Stoney Joe PARAMOUNT Felix RAILWAY HOTEL RTRFM Presents Fremantle Winter Music Festival 2015 ft.

Sugar Army French Rockets Tired Lion Koi Child 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Michael Triscari The Scarred Rattler Ruby May ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Cosmic Psychos (VIC) Dune Rats (QLD) & special guests ROSIE O’GRADY’S FREMANTLE Deluxe SETTLERS TAVERN V12 Cadillacs SWAN BASEMENT RTRFM Presents Fremantle Winter Music Festival ft.

Mt. Mountain Patient Little Sister Hayley Beth Edie Green

Dream Rimmy Golden Slums Jimmy Chang & more VILLA Golden Features The M Machine YMCA HQ Make Them Suffer SUNDAY 28/06 ASTOR THEATRE Jebediah Turnstyle CLANCY’S CITY BEACH The Limelights Jazz CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Brayden Sibbald CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Dr. Fish DEFECTORS BAR Open Sesame – Open Mic Night FLYRITE MVMNT HULA BULA BAR Tropical Sundaze INDI BAR The Rogues LAST DROP TAVERN Brett Hardwick MOJOS BAR Dune Rats Hideous Sun Demon Psychedelic Porn Crumpets NEWPORT HOTEL Gold Fields KLP NORTHBRIDGE PIAZZA Sunday Sounds ft.

Riley Pearce The Julius Lutero Band SETTLERS TAVERN Sunday Session ft.

Graema Dickinson Jeff Barhams THE VELVET LOUNGE The Witches The Caballeros Stuart Orchard Band Joni In The Moon MONDAY 29/06 ASTOR THEATRE Machine Head CAPITOL Seether BRASS MONKEY Monday Madness Student & Industry Night CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Scotty’s Quiz Night MOJOS BAR Wide Open Mic PERTH ARENA 5 Seconds of Summer ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Comedy Trivia TUESDAY 30/06 THE BIRD Barefaced Stories – Seduction CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Quiz Night LLAMA BAR Ruby Tuesdays MOJOS BAR Collections NEWPORT HOTEL Quiz Show ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Bex & Turin’s Open Mic Night TORCH BAR Quiz Meisters WEDNESDAY 1/07 AMPLIFIER Title Fight THE BIRD Shake ft.

Johnny Ajax CIVIC HOTEL Open Mic Night CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Songwriter’s Night ft.

Darryn Foote Simon Fasolo CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Commander Cody’s Seaside Quiz FLY BY NIGHT Gaslight Club ft.

Matt Taylor

THE FLY TRAP Matt Taylor FLYRITE PLASMOTION LAZY SUSAN’S COMEDY DEN Trivia Death Match – 80s Edition MOJOS BAR Red Engine Caves Kitchen People Ray Finkle The Southern River Band 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Cumquat Ben Stacy Daniel Castledine ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Rock n Roll Karaoke with Magnus Danger Magnus ROSEMOUNT HOTEL (BEER GARDEN) Student Night ft.

DJ Anton Maz THURSDAY 2/07 ASTOR LOUNGE Mace Francis Orchestra THE BIRD Aarti Jadu High Tea Mei Saraswati DEFECTORS BAR Songwriters Club MOJOS BAR Big Splash Band Comp Heat #5 ft.

Beach Aunty Bliss in Berlin The High Learys Valdaway 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Search & Distro LEECHES The Reptillians The Cavaliers House Arrest Sex Piss ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Ducks on a String Sprawl Zyklus Agamous Betty The Gothic Circus YMCA HQ Title Fight FRIDAY 3/07 AMBAR Monarch AMPLIFIER Josh Wade ASTOR LOUNGE The Devil in Miss Jones (Single Launch) THE BIRD R.H.Y.T.M.A.T.I.S.M #43 ft.

Marcus Hall Roland the Realest Ben EM Ben Taaffe CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE DJ Boogie CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Billie Rogers & The Country Gentleman FLYRITE FACE 03 ft.

OLI. Axiom Heinous Goods Fishbowl Boathouse Clothing FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE Gallery Sessions ft.

Abbe May Mathas GINGER NIGHTCLUB Mondo Fridays GOLD BAR Fox Fridays FLYRITE FACE 03 ft.

OLI. Axiom Heinous Goods Fishbowl Boathouse Clothing HULA BULA Friday Frendzee JIMMY’S DEN Gangster! The Rise of the 1920s ft.

DJ NDORSE Nicola Milan & the Stray Cat Club

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FAIT, JULY 4 DJ Invoker Jessie Gordon Quartet THE LIBRARY Sneaky THE MANOR TILT MOJOS BAR Fisherman Style #109 ft.

Earthlink Sound DJ Corby Rasta Fyah Smitch Killa Elite NEWPORT HOTEL Friday Fiesta 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Breaking Punk ft.

Benny Mayhem Tom Ware Dan Cribb & Scott Connor Ben Elliott Blonde Spit Noah Skape ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Shiny Joe Ryan & the Cosmic Microwave Background HAMJAM Alzabo Cool Band SETTLERS TAVERN Boys Boys Boys!

Axe and Jade VILLA CASPA Peter Payne Slyies Equation SATURDAY 4/07 AMPLIFIER Last Dinosaurs ASTOR THEATRE The Manfreds THE BIRD Fait Mt. Mountain Mei Saraswati CAPITOL Crooked Colours CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Kakemono Duo EAST END BAR & LOUNGE Home FLYRITE Father GILKISON DANCE STUDIO Rinse Out 003 ft.

Hybrid Minds GOLD BAR Pure Gold THE GOOD SHEPHERD Chocolate Jesus HULA BULA Sailor Saturdays

MOANA, JULY 4 INDI BAR Zarm Malachi DJ Flex JIMMY’S DEN French Rockets (Album Launch) Dream Rimmy Alzabo Mayor Dadi DJ Thyrd Pseich LLAMA BAR Laundry METRO CITY Yellowcard METROPOLIS FREMANTLE Alpine MOJOS BAR Carus Thompson Tom Fisher Christian Thompson DJ Chet Leonared THE ODD FELLOW Moana Apache Ray Finkle The Naked News PRINCE OF WALES Boys Boys Boys!

Midnight Mules 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Clowns (VIC) Summer Blood Chainsaw Hookers Scalphunter ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Tim Rogers & The Bamboos (VIC) SETTLERS TAVERN Sam Perry VARSITY BAR 4th of July Party SUNDAY 5/07 CLANCY’S DUNSBOROUGH Old Blood CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Zarm DEFECTORS BAR Open Sesame – Open Mic Night FLYRITE MVMNT HULA BULA BAR Tropical Sundaze INDI BAR Zarm METRO CITY Cosmic Gate JES Beat Service Jerome Isma-Ae METROPOLIS FREMANTLE Bone Thugs N Harmony MOJOS BAR

Clowns (VIC) Kitchen People Summer Blood (VIC) Emu Xperts 459 ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Bass Ingredient ft.

Deltoid Silver Notamonsta Cathedral B-Jammun Jparker Faded Against Odds Signal Fire Achelios ROSEMOUNT HOTEL (BEER GARDEN) Get Down ft.

Aslan Klean Kicks Pawel Good Company DJs Sleepyhead Beni Chill Jo Lettenmaier Tim King SETTLERS TAVERN Ten Cent Shooters MONDAY 6/07 THE BIRD Lurking: An Exhibition by Brad Seris BRASS MONKEY Monday Madness Student & Industry Night CLANCY’S CANNING BRIDGE Scotty’s Quiz Night METRO CITY 19th Annual Nocturnal Ball MOJOS BAR Wide Open Mic ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Comedy Trivia TUESDAY 7/07 CLANCY’S CITY BEACH Hatched from the Sea CLANCY’S FREMANTLE Quiz Night LLAMA BAR Ruby Tuesdays MOJOS BAR Freo Sounds NEWPORT HOTEL Quiz Show ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Bex & Turin’s Open Mic Night TORCH BAR Quiz Meisters

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NEWS

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INTERVIEWS

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REVIEWS

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LIVE

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VENUES

AMPLIFIER CAPITOL

CHOCOLATE JESUS @ GOOD SHEPHERD

DELICIOUS @ ROCKET ROOM

METRO FREO

MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY

GIGGER Airbnb For Bands Gigger is a new online booking platform which is set to revolutionise the way venues and bands interact, streamlining communications and making organising gigs as simple as possible. We spoke to Gigger founder, Anthony ManningFranklin, about the possibilities.

What, in simple terms, is Gigger?

Gigger is a platform for bands, venues, and promoters to find each other and put on awesome events! If someone asks you “Got gigs?” and your answer isn’t yes, then you need Gigger.

Or a more reliable bassist. (I’m a drummer, the only people lower than me on the food chain are bassists - bloody bassists.)

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CLASSIFIEDS

immediately offered a gig. At which point, everyone who is an admin of that band on Gigger will get the email with the offer details.

We’re working to automate as much of the process as possible - by the end of this week we expect to be automatically compiling worksheets, tech specs, etc, before sending them out to the right people at the right time. Artists will also be able to use the platform as promoters themselves - pitching venues their own event proposals.

And for bookers?

Their work load is drastically reduced!

The amount of time promoters have to spend finding bands, finding their contact details, writing an email, duplicating all the info they sent the last band - Gigger does that with a couple of clicks.

And although it’s hard to measure - we’re hoping to see an increase in quality of lineups.

If promoters are more able to find bands better matched to any given lineup, then hopefully they can put on more entertaining events, which would lead to more punters and more cash for everyone involved - bands, venues, promoters.

What are the inherent advantages for artists?

Artists are much more visible to promoters on Gigger. They can easily be searched by location and genre, quickly listened to, and

How does Gigger integrate with social media?

Gigger heavily integrates with Facebook.

We use it to pull band/venue/event data so that people don’t have to waste their time entering data that already exists on Facebook. We also piggy back on their admin system - remove that unreliable

MUSOS WANTED BASS PLAYER AUDITION Original Metal Band seeking skilled bassist. Req: good gear, reliable transport, able to contribute towards band growth. Call Dalton: 0410 926 171. facebook.com/DrownThe Face 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 MIXING, MASTERING, RECORDING, TUITION Sth of River. Call Daniel 0407 191 609. www.musicproductionservices.com.au 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 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 a n d co m p o s i t i o n . Le e d e r v i l l e $ 8 0 p/h. 0408 097 407 RECORDING MIXING MASTERING PRODUCING Fremantle location. Call Pete Kitchen Cooked Records. Ph 0407 363 764 / 9336 3764 R E V O LV E R S O U N D S T U D I O P h 9272 7505. www.revolverstudio.com.au

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ex-bassist from your band’s Facebook Page admins and they no longer have access to the band’s Gigger profile either.

There’s more cool stuff we want to do like helping the promoter construct their Facebook Event when a gig is finalised, then automatically including the link in the worksheet so there’s no excuse for duplicate FB events.

Excel didn’t put accountants out of business. The human touch is definitely needed to put together a gig, it’s an art finding the right acts and making a special, memorable event. That takes practice and experience. Better tools have never rendered specialist expertise irrelevant.

Still, yeah it’s going to make a really big dent in the industry.

This system looks set to cut out some middlemen...

I don’t think it’s going to put people out of a job, it’ll give them tools to do the job better.

TRAVIS JOHNSON

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