+ INSIDE 33,560 OCTOBER 2012 MARCH 2013 - AUSTRALIA’S HIGHEST CIRCULATING STREET PRESS
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LOCAL NEWS
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ANNOUNCEMENTS
BUTLER TAKE SIX CHANGES TO THE SYSTEM Take note! Due to unforeseen circumstances, RTRFM’s Seriously Sound System happening this Saturday, December 14, has moved from the Urban Orchard to a new venue – The Bakery. The all-local line-up will feature live sets from Community Sound System (Diger Rokwell, Ylem, Mathas, Empty and ASAP), Kučka, Omega Is The Alpha (see interview, page 38), Boys Boys Boys!, with Oliver Laing and the RTRFM Artificial Intelligence DJs on the decks between sets. Some of Perth’s best DJs and dance music crews will be on board with Untitled Sound Alliance, DeadWeight!, I.C.S.S.C (I Can’t Stand Still Collective), Habitat, The Likes Of You and District also on the decks. It’s all yours from 6pm-2am. Tickets are $10 (subscribers), $15 (general), available from rtrfm. com.au or at The Bakery door on the night. Free entry for Gold Subscribers.
Fremantle’s John Butler Trio release their sixth album, Flesh & Blood, on Friday, February 7, and are heading out on their first extensive Australian tour in four years to promote it. With new drummer, Grant Gerathy in tow, they’ll be playing tunes from the new album as well as crowd favourites spanning the Trio’s catalogue. The tour kicks off in WA with a show at Fremantle Arts Centre on Thursday, March 27, (tickets on sale via Oztix from December 13); Belvoir Amphitheatre on Friday, March 28, (through Ticketmaster) and Old Broadwater Farm, Busselton on Saturday, March 29, (through Oztix). Special guests will be The Stray Sisters (Vikki and Donna from The Waifs) and Emma Louise. John Butler Trio. Photo by Kane Hibberd.
Kučka, Seriously Sound System at The Bakery this Saturday
WEST COAST REPRESENT
GABBA GABBA HEY! SHAKE, SHOUT & SHIMMY Voodoo swamp-rockers, Rocket To Memphis are unveiling a new album called Asia Lady Luck, which they recently launched in Tokyo. It’s a ‘best of the Stray Cats’ compilation but with female vocalists and featuring an array of bands. To see what it’s all about, head to Devilles Pad this Friday, December 13. This will be Rocket To Memphis’ last Perth show and there’ll be guaranteed dance floor action, go-go dancers, DJs and some special guests including Boom! Bap! Pow! Tickets on sale at the door from 8pm.
Kids (and parents sensation) Yo Gabba Gabba! are heading to Perth for the very first time - performing a show at the Riverside Theatre on Saturday, June 7. DJ Lance Rock, Brobee, Foofa, Muno, Cyclops, Toodee and Plex will all be along to jump, shake and shimmy to classic tunes such as I Like To Dance and Party In My Tummy. There’ll also be a guest band (Super Music Friends) and Dancey Dance guest performances from a range of Australian musicians. Tickets go on sale at 9am on Thursday, December 12, through Ticketek.
One of the world’s most love hip hop acts, Jurassic 5 are currently back in action and have been touring their new show around the world, which will take in Australia in March, 2014. The group broke up in 2007 after the six-piece consisting of Chali 2na, Mark 7even, Zaakir, Akil and DJs Cut Chemist and Nu-Mark released four successful albums and 13 singles including the now classic, Quality Control and What’s Golden. Catch them on Friday, March 28, at Metro City. Tickets on sale through Oztix on Friday, December 13. Jurassic 5
Yo Gabba Gabba!
Rocket To Memphis
SHAKESPEARE TURNS 450 To celebrate Shakespeare’s 450th birthday, Shakespeare WA is presenting Twelfth Night in Kings Park & Botanic Garden between Friday, January 3, and Saturday, February 1. Pegged as a “hilarious new production of unrequited love and shameless vanity,” the production resets Shakespeare’s tale of misunderstanding in a remote British Colonial outpost in the 1920s. The cast includes amongst many others, Gracie Gilbert of the TV series Underbelly and David Davies from this year’s Much Ado About Nothing. Tickets on sale at shakespearewa.com/tickets.
THE RETURN OF WWE World Wrestling Entertainment are bringing superstars John Cena (whose career highlights include being World Heavyweight Champion, US Champion, World Tag Team Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion and the list goes on), plus Daniel Brya, Sheamus, The Shield and more, to Perth Arena on Saturday, August 9, 2014. Chaos and brutality will reign supreme. Get your tickets from Ticketek.
GOOD GAMES Over the weekend, the 2013 VGX Video Game Awards was held and some of those winners will be appearing at The Game Changes as part of the 2014 Perth Writers Festival. ABC-TV’s Good Game stars Bajo and Hex will speak with the creators behind the hottest games including Steve Gaynor - whose Gone Home won ‘Best Indie Game’ and ‘Best PC Game’, while BioShock Infinite, on which he worked as a designer won ‘Best Shooter’, ‘Best Song’ and ‘Character Of The Year’ (for the Lutece Twins). Jill Murray who worked with the narrative team on Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag will also be appearing, amongst many other international guests. It’s all happening on Saturday, February 22, at the Octagon Theatre, UWA. Get your tickets via perthfestival.com.au.
MORE FROM MATHAS Following on from the single, Nourishment comes Doctorshopping, the next track from local wordsmith and producer, Mathas’ forthcoming album out in early 2014. Mathas says “it’s about acknowledging your predicament with good humour.” You can catch him dropping the new tune this Friday, December 13, at The Bakery supporting Abbe May; on Saturday at The Bakery for RTRFM’s Seriously Sound System; on Thursday, December 19, at the Prince of Wales, Bunbury (again, supporting Abbe May); on Saturday, December 28, at The Bakery for The Weapon Is Sound’s EP launch and on January 3-4 at Southbound, Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton. Mathas WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU
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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 AG . C O M . A U F O R E XC L U S I V E C O M P S
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EDITORIAL - 9213 2888 MANAGING EDITOR Bob Gordon: editor@xpressmag.com.au DANCE MUSIC & FEATURES EDITOR Rachel Davison: danceeditor@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 PHOTOGRAPHY Rachael Barrett, Stefan Caramia, Guang-Hui Chuan, Daniel Craig, Brandon D’Silva, Max Fairclough, Daniel Grant, Sammy Granville, Matt Jelonek, Emma Mackenzie, Callum Ponton, Denis Radacic, Bohdan Warchomij, Michael Wylie CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Leah Blankendaal, Nina Bertok, Lucas Bowers, Aaron Bryans, Joe Cassidy, Hayley Davis, Chris Gibbs, Alfred Gorman, Shaun Cowe, Predrag Delibasich, Jayde Ferguson, George Green, Alex Griffin, James Hanlon, Chris Havercroft, Joshua Hayes, Brendan Holben, Coral Huckstep, Ellie Hutchinson, Rezo Kezerashvili, Tom Kitson, Clayton Lin, Charlie Lewis, Daisy Lythe, Andrew Nelson, David O’Connell, Shane Pinnegar, Nick Sweepah, Jessica Willoughby
FESTIVAL: ULTIMATE SOUTHBOUND Southbound, Southern Skydivers and X-Press have joined forces to give you the ultimate Southbound experience! Up for grabs is a double pass to the festival featuring everyone from Solange to MGMT and the Violent Femmes. An upgrade to VIP status, which gives you access to an exclusive shaded area, some complimentary meals and drinks and private restrooms. A ‘Happy Camper’ ticket - giving you access to the camping facilities; and last, but not least - a tandem jump from 14,000 feet! To be in the running to win this prize pack for two people - email: win@xpressmag.com.au - letting us know why you deserve it!
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FASHION: HURLEY SANDALS MUSIC: STEREOSONIC FESTIVAL ANTHEMS If you’re already pining for the EDM festivities just gone, you might want to relive the weekend by getting your hands on a copy of Stereosonic Festival Anthems 2013 - a two disc continuous DJ mix overflowing with the biggest names from the event including David Guetta, Calvin Harris, Armin Van Buuren, Axwell, Empire Of The Sun, Afrojack, Alesso, Zedd, Sebastian Ingrosso, Tommy Trash, The Bloody Beetroots, Porter Robinson, Bingo Players, Hot Natured, Nero, Will Sparks, ShockOne, Clockwork and more. To win one of five copies, email: win@xpressmag.com.au and in just a few words, tell us what the highlight of Stereosonic was for you.
Star Surf & Skate in the Murray Street Mall, Perth are stocking the new Hurley Sandal. It’s the most comfortable and high tech sandal on the market, combining Hurley Phantom innovation and Nike Free intelligence, which results in the ultimate in comfort and functionality. Pop into the store and get your hands on a pair for just $79.99, but if you’re damn lucky - email: win@xpressmag.com.au and you might just win a pair to call your own. Hurley Sandals
PARTY: PRINT HALL’S NEW YEAR’S EVE The swanky Print Hall in Brookfield Place is throwing a prohibition themed New Year’s Eve party across the entire three levels aka think The Great Gatsby, which will include entertainment from the likes of the Brow Horn Orchestra, DJ Stacie Todd, DJ Rex and DJ Zel. Also included in the ticket price are premium food and beverages in the style you’ve come to expect from this bar and restaurant complex. Head to printhall.com.au for ticket info and use the hashtag #PrintHallNYE - if you’re keen to get tweeting. To win yourself a double pass to the event, email: win@xpressmag.com.au and get creative with your entries!
GEAR: YAMAHA PDX B11 Looking for the perfect companion for your music this summer? Whether at the beach or at a BBQ, the PDX-B11 wireless speaker can wirelessly stream your favourite tunes from smart phones, laptops and other Bluetooth compatible devices, so that you can enjoy the freedom of music without wires. It retails at $149, but if you would like this speaker in your hands in time for the summer holidays - enter now by emailing win@xpressmag.com.au. The winner will be notified on December 24. Yamaha PDX B11
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33,560 OCTOBER 2012 MARCH 2013 - AUSTRALIA’S HIGHEST CIRCULATING STREET PRESS
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FILM: MALTESERS MOONLIGHT CINEMA
FILM: LUNA OUTDOORS Luna Palace Cinemas opened its summer of movies in Luna Outdoors just a few weeks back with RTRFM’s Gimme Some Truth music doco film festival. Now they have a terrific first release of films and infamous opening night parties coming up where you can kick back in comfy bean bags and at café tables and chairs within an inner city garden setting, enjoying the latest in digital technology and 3D. Screening this weekend is Blackfish (read a review on page 26), plus coming up is Pussy Riot: A Punk Prayer, Craig Griffin’s Unchartered Waters featuring surfing legend Wayne Lynch, plus Made of Stone: The Stone Roses, to name just a few. To win one of five double passes to any film on the calendar (with conditions stipulated on the ticket) - email: win@xpressmag.com.au
FASHION: OUT WITH AUDREY Out With Audrey and its clothing encapsulates all things fashion, style and inspiration. The name comes from a childhood fascination of Audrey Hepburn and the way in which she made her style a worldwide phenomenon. Check out the clothing, accessories and shoes at outwithaudrey.com.au and if you’d like to be in the running to win a $200 voucher, tell us in 25 words or less, what best describes your street style. Email your answer with your name and phone number to: win@xpressmag.com.au. Out With Audrey
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Maltesers Moonlight Cinema located in the Synergy Parkland, Kings Park has announced the first half of its 2013/14 program, which will once again see the “cinema under the stars” feature a mix of advance previews, contemporary, classic and cult films. Advance previews include the comedy sequel, Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues; a drama starring Judi Dench and Mare Winningham, Philomena; the Disney musical fantasy-comedy, Frozen and a black comedy starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts called August: Osage County. The season kicks off today and runs until March 30 and to win one of three double passes valid for the season, email: win@xpressmag.com.au.
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NEWS - INTERVIEWS - REVIEWS - CONTENTS
NINA LAS VEGAS Festive Freestyle triple j House Party host, Nina Las Vegas, stops by Metropolis Fremantle this Friday, December 13, along with the Bluejuice DJs and Death Disco. BOB GORDON has a quick chat. Nina Las Vegas is looking forward to the festive season. She got a whole lot on her schedule. A whole lotta nothing, to be precise. “I’m having time off,” she says, happily. “I usually don’t do Christmas and I haven’t done New Year’s Eve for a couple of years now. I really like it, just to relax and not do anything and spend time with my friends and family. I work 24/7, so yeah, it’s kinda cool.” Indeed, the triple host/DJ has had a busy year. No wonder some time off is due. “The House Party tour is always a buzz,” she says, looking back at her 2013 highlights. “It’s
always really fun and the album went #1 so that was pretty rad. Playing the ARIAs was awesome and being able to present was a pretty wild coup. They’re pretty big things (laughs). It was a crazy year.” The year ahead looks equally busy for Nina, who has been busy in the studio creating her own tunes. “I’ve been writing and writing and writing,” she enthuses. “Basically, I want to play it out, so it’s very club-based. I don’t know yet if it will be trappy, but I like heavier bass stuff. A release is on the cards, but I just have to get to where I’m happy with it first. It’s early stages yet.”
EIDOLON AND ON...
GROOVIN & SLIDIN’ Byron Bay based blues ‘n roots artist, Nathan Kaye is heading to WA with Sydney-based musician Danny Ross - who’s on his first visit to this side of the country. You might have caught Kaye when he was last here - touring with Pete Murray earlier in the year. Catch them both tonight (Wednesday, December 11) at Mojos Bar; Thursday, December 12, at Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; Friday, December 13, at Kendenup House, Albany; Saturday, December 14, at Clancy’s, Fremantle; Sunday, December 15, at the Kalgoorlie Hotel and Wednesday, December 18, at the Indie Bar.
Fresh from taking out the ARIA Award for ‘Best Hard Rock/Heavy Metal Release’ for their Asymmetry album, Karnivool have just dropped a new video for their track, Eidolon. The video was directed by their good mate and fellow ARIA winner, Chris Frey, and features a bride and a groom with some very supernatural powers. Karnivool are, of course, hitting the road with Dead Letter Circus for the Polymorphism Tour, hitting at Red Hill Auditorium on Thursday, January 23, with special guests, sleepmakeswaves. A second show has already been added in Sydney for this tour, so get you skates on for the Perth date. Tickets on sale now via karnivool.com.au/tour.
STEEL PANTHER In Your Face Hair metal revivalists Steel Panther play Metro City this Thursday, December 12, with Buckcherry and Fozzy in tow. Lead vocalist, Michael Starr, tells SHANE PINNEGAR why they love Australia so much. “Australia’s been great for us so far,” the singer states, “so why not keep coming back? It’s like, when you finally find a hot chick you like to fuck, you go fuck her again!” Starr promises a ramped up show will hit Australia, with “a bunch of production that we’ve never brought before. “We’re bringing so much production to these shows that our parents had to sell their houses! We’re bringing a video screen - the most important thing is to make sure everyone gets to see us on stage. We also have incorporated some content, too, that we think people will get a fucking big kick out of.” The foursome have a new album – their third – ready to release at the beginning of 2014, to be titled All You Can Eat – a very ‘Steel Panther’ title if ever there was. Starr says that the record is a progression for the band. “I came to the conclusion that our records are really conceptual, kind’ve like a Queensryche
Karnivool Pic: Kane Hibberd
FLICKERING NOISE
Nathan Kaye
CHRISTMAS MAY Still glowing from her star turn in the triple j Christmas Number One single, Abbe May hits The Bakery with Mathas, Kücka and DJ Rex Monsoon in support, this Friday, December 13. Tickets via oztix.com.au and nowbaking.com.au. Do eet!
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News Win Flesh Music Hunters & Collectors The Be Project / Gossling Pond / Tom Odell Errol Tout New Noise Eye4 Cover: Archie Roach Blackfish / Mood Indigo Cavalia / American Hustle Night Train To Lisbon Arts Listings Kevin Bloody Wilson ETC Salt Cover: David Dallas News / Producer’s Cut / Test Pad Waka Flocka Flame Shapeshifters / Dieselboy Club Manual Rewind: PDMAs Scene Custom Royal / Casino Sunrise Kill Devil Hills Local Scene Tour Fozzy Tour Trails Gig Guide Volume
FRONT COVER: Hunters & Collectors are back for A Day On The Green at Kings Park & Botanic Garden on Saturday, March 29, (sold out) and Sunday, March 30, 2014. SALT COVER: David Dallas plays on Wednesday, December 18 @ Causeway Bar.
record, almost. Every record’s tied with having sex and partying. On this record there’s a different edge to it, a different side to Steel Panther. It’s a little heavier, it’s a little more in your face, and it’ll definitely get people in the audience and make them wanna move. “I think this record is a little edgier than the last one - but we’re still fucking chicks and singing about it!” Australian audiences will get an early listen to two tracks from the album on this tour, including the single, Party Like Tomorrow Is The End Of The World, which was released a few weeks ago. “Then we have a song called Glory Hole,” Starr elaborates, “which is really a love story.” Talking to Starr for the first time in two years, it’s apparent that although Steel Panther started as tongue-in-cheek parodists of the hair metal genre, with the impending release of their third album they seem to have realised that they’re a real band. Sure, the lyrics are still hilariously over the top, but there’s more talk of this being who they really are. Perhaps, in truth, Steel Panther are just saying and doing the things a lot of us secretly wish we could, if we weren’t bound by social mores. “When we’re in the studio and cutting vocals, it’s a blast man,” he says seriously. “What you hear on the records are who we are as people, you know? We tried other bands and we did the serious rock thing, and it never worked, we were never able to get a record deal or have it take off. But once we started being who we are and putting that into the music, it just took off, and it’s great! ‘Cause having integrity is great, we just have integrity in a different way - we don’t give a fuck! “Our lifestyle can be funny, but if you start singing about your feelings, and how shitty the world is, and all the bad shit out there - I don’t wanna hear about that shit! If I can make a chick laugh, it really helps... it means I’m gonna get laid!”.
Abbe May
Melbourne four-piece, The Smith Street Band; Philadelphia punk/indie band, The Menzingers and local lads, Grim Fandango are hitting the road together, stopping by WA on Wednesday, March 19 at the Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; Thursday, March 20 at HQ for an all-ages show, and on Friday, March 21 at The Rosemount. The Smith Street Band have been busier than ever this year - touring Europe, the UK and America and appearing at festivals such as the Big Day Out, Falls Festival and Meredith. Tickets are on sale from Monday, December 16 via thesmithstreetband.com. The Smith Street Band
MCAVOY’S BACK IN TOWN Featured in X-Press Magazine last week, Jess McAvoy has returned to the West for a short stay before making the big move to New York. She performs at the Astor Lounge this Friday, December 13. Support comes from Paige Trantham. Tickets are available through liveattheastor.com.au. Jess McAvoy Pic: Sean Ryan
RAISING CONSCIOUSNESS Raise The Roof is a night of music, dancing and good times, with all proceeds going towards disaster relief efforts in the typhoon-devastated Philippines. Local entertainers Mel & Rhay Rom have called on all their hugely talented friends in the Perth music industry to come together for this worthy cause. Performers include Generation V, Little Black Dress, Alan Stewart and Back In Time, with Keith Geary MCing. It all goes down at the Bedford Bowling Club on Friday, December 20. Tickets are $20.
NICE TIMES AT NANNUP Has it really been that long? The next Nannup Music Festival, held from Friday, February 28, ‘til Monday, March 3, is the 25th, believe or not, and the organisers have pulled out all the stops to make sure they mark the occasion in fine style. The stellar line-up is headed by the justly revered Archie Roach and includes The Lucky Wonders, Loren Kate, Bill Chambers, Nick Saxon, Ned Wishart & The Gaze, Alphamama, Timothy Nelson & The Infidels, Morgan Bain, Band Of Frequencies, Tracey Barnett and more. For the full line-up, head over to nannupmusicfestival.org.
Retro-awesome soul singer Clairy Browne and her group, The Bangin’ Rackettes, are making their way back to P-Town once more. Channelling the finer aspects of every ‘60s girl group you’ve ever loved, Ms Browne and company will play at the Rosemount Hotel this Saturday, December 14, with support from Miles & Simone. Tickets are available through Oztix.
The Lucky Wonders
Clairy Brown & The Bangin’ Rackettes
GET YOUR RACKETTE ON
LET THE MUSIC MOVE YOU Music Rocks The Civic is the final Music Rock Australia Show for 2013, showcasing performances by some of the finest young musicians in WA, happening this Saturday, December 14. Primary and high school bands will take to the stage at this all-ages event at the Civic Hotel back room, demonstrating what they’ve learned under MRA’s innovative ‘performance first’ learning system. Performing acts include those from Work Power, The Swan Friendship Club, Autism West, Therapy Focus, The YMCA and more. Tickets are available through Oztix.
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ERROL TOUT Humour Has It Errol Tout launches his new release, The Post Tumour Humour Album, this Saturday, December 14, at the Astor Lounge with support from Cowboy X. Proceeds from both albums sales and the launch go to West Australian Urologic Research Organisation (WAURO) and the Pancreatic, Liver, Biliary and Foregut Cancer Awareness Research and Education (PANCARE) Foundation. ‘Get busy living or get busy dying’. So said Tim Robbins, as Andy Dufresne, the innocent prisoner existing through a life sentence in the 1994 film, The Shawshank Redemption. For acclaimed Perth musician, Dr Errol Tout, these words became something of a template to live by upon being diagnosed with cancer in July, 2012. The following 12 months brought with it a lot of hope, pain, disappointment and more hope as he battled through his illness with the help of medical staff at St John Of God Hospital Murdoch. The ongoing struggle and the doctors and nurses who inspired Tout along the way led him to writing and recording The Post Tumour Humour Album. Dr Errol H. Tout was Head of the Department of Architecture & Interior Architecture at Curtin University of Technology until 2008. He is these days a Senior Lecturer and is the Chair of the Science and Technology Stream. For a decade or so from the mid-80s on he was better known as an acclaimed and accomplished solo guitarist, creating mesmeric soundscapes across numerous album releases and taking those creations into evocative live performances. It’s beyond wonderful to see him getting back to the stage and releasing new music.
BY BOB GORDON 2013 has been an extremely challenging year for you. How does it feel to end it with the release of Post Tumour Humour? Actually it’s totally fabulous because I’m alive. The cancer has been removed and it’s Gone Daddy Gone! There was short period where I was not sure that would be the case. It actually started in 2012 when I was informed, the week after our mum died, that I had blood clots in my lungs at the same time as a whopping two-kilogram tumour on my kidney. I got rid of that – well, I didn’t, a fabbo surgeon and his team did - and then later found more cancer in my liver. After a period of no alcohol and then chemotherapy for three months, I was informed that there was nothing that could be done. I said ‘bugger that’ and got a second opinion, which took us to Melbourne to a surgeon that said he might be able to help. He did – in a fairly spectacular manner! He had me on the surgery table for 10-and-a-half hours. He said there was a pretty good chance I wouldn’t get off the table. I didn’t like the other option much, so it was a no brainer, really. I have to have check-ups every three months but I am a cancer survivor now! I have been through a period that was full of fear, discomfort and more MRIs that any person should have to endure. To see an end to that… is brilliant. Given the album was written/recorded through various stages in your illness and recovery, does it feel surreal hearing it now? It has been interesting getting the pieces to performance standard and trying to remember where my head was and what the hell I actually played. To be honest - and this is embarrassing - I don’t remember recording some of the pieces. Anaesthetic takes a long time to recover from, and it is common to feel really fatigued. The best I could do was to work for an hour and then stop to rest. The work did not have the continuity that you might expect from making an album. The process was quite fractured. So now I am asking myself – ‘how the hell did I do that?’ Is it strange or unusual to listen to it? Well my whole world had been pretty weird for the last two years, so I guess listening to it is no weirder than making it was. I do feel that making the music has placed the experiences into a position where I can now view them from a wider perspective of time. That, in and of itself, is part of a healing process. That said, what’s it like performing it? Well I haven’t yet, but so far it has been quite challenging. I have pieces on the album where I play up to eight parts simultaneously. To perform it, I have remixed the album taking some parts off to leave me space to play the other parts live, with the recorded material as back up. In some instances I will play an interweaving part to work with what was recorded. I am concerned that this may look pretty boring, a performer playing along with backups, so I’ve made a slide show that will play while I am performing it. It’s a multi-media performance. Gee - I am doing a ‘happening’ of a ‘concept’ album. That’s a bit of a worry in the 21st century isn’t it? I have a number of the people that played on the album performing live with me. I feel every honoured that Graham Greene will be playing his killer guitar, Cowboy X will be playing harp and the ever smooth John Bannister will be playing some 12
very cool trumpet. How good is that? We will be performing a lot of the music live at the Astor Lounge. Ask me again after we have done the launch. When did the idea for the album start to take shape? One of the challenges in life is to turn a seeming disadvantage into an advantage. Well the first thing I said when I went into the operating theatre was, ‘slice me up baby – let’s get this bastard out!’. The surgeon later told me that he went to a lot of trouble to make a special thing called a ‘rooftop cut’, so that he didn’t have to take any of my ribs off and so I could still play a guitar. I had a guitar back on within a fortnight. I thought, ‘well, he’s gone to all this trouble, let’s make it worthwhile. Let’s look at a piece of music that might capture the feeling of clever people doing something really useful’. The riff appeared almost immediately and then I let the piece of music take me where it felt like taking me. If you let it, music can gently take your hand to very interesting places. From there an idea begins to present itself, which you can ignore or do what it suggests. Then I thought why not make a ‘concept album’ of the adventures? Maybe others that have been there may feel a bit better about their adventures. Why not make the proceeds go to cancer research? The West Australian Urological Research Organization (WAURO) and PANCARE Foundation had been good to a lot of people in lots of ways. Let’s do something for them. How important has humour been in overcoming all of this? It is incredibly powerful, as is the healing power of music. It helps you put things into perspective and this lightens a load. How humour and music actually work to make you feel better remains a mystery to me. While I was having chemotherapy, and not able to go to work, I enrolled and completed an online Guitar Craft course. This is part of the organisation that ran the courses I once attended run by Robert Fripp. They were all behind me as well, and were part of my healing. The music helped me keep energised, as much as it could. If you can keep energised you can keep positive. With the illness as a backdrop, in what ways was this different to writing for previous albums? Some people call this ‘programme music’ in that each piece of music tells a story, or describes a scene or a moment. I have been doing that for ages. When you have something you really want to say with a piece of music, you end up with some pretty powerful ideas, which go on to generate some pretty powerful music. I don’t think the music would be at all like this if it was just another guitar album. I sent a copy of the album to a Professor of Philosophy and he described the material as being a bit ‘pointy’. I was kind of over making more guitar albums and was keen to do something different, with some more content. This album had a specific set of experiences to convey, which I wanted to do in a positive manner. The different collaborators on the album really add to the emotional depths and heights - what were your directions to them? The contributions from the other musicians are wonderful. Their ‘instructions’ varied depending on the pieces. A lot of the musical parts represent characters in a little scene. In a piece called ICU Nurses Are Lovely. ICU Isn’t I was trying to describe being in the Intensive Care Unit at St John Of God in Murdoch. It starts with trolleys going past and machines going ‘boing’. Graham Greene (Ice Tiger, Resonance Project) brought two of Perry Ormsby’s killer guitars to my studio where I asked him to be the voice of a tough old nurse saying, ‘there, there, there - it’s all okay, I’m here to look after you’. Graham didn’t even need to hear the backing, just read the chord chart but just recorded it once and it was… perfect. Jamie Oehlers and his saxophone were asked to be cancer growing in your body. Being slow dark and evil. He did it so well it was scary. On one section he didn’t even want to hear what was already recorded. ‘I’ll just be sick and nasty shall I?’ He then did the best John Coltrane stuff you’ll ever hear… which JC would have totally dug. Fiona McAndrew blessed us with her amazing voice. After Jamie played cancer growing in your body, Fiona had to be the voice of the body healing itself. I had heard her singing at a recital where she sang in French and Italian, which I found totally amazing. So I found some Victor Hugo French love poems. She then sang some of them over the music. She is basically singing, ‘where there is love there is hope’. She would have preferred it if I had given her a score with lyrics and tune, but
“Is it strange or unusual to listen to it? Well my whole world had been pretty weird for the last two years, so I guess listening to it is no weirder than making it was. I do feel that making the music has placed the experiences into a position where I can now view them from a wider perspective of time. That, in and of itself, is part of a healing process.” she came through like a legend! We last worked together 25 years ago. Maybe we won’t leave it so long between drinks in future. At her suggestion, we were going to be performing Song To The Siren at the Red Parrot Reunion but she got called away to do some work for opera Australia. Bugger! George Kailis (Cinema Prague) on guitar, John Bannister (Charisma Brothers) on trumpet, and Cowboy X on harp, played all the way through over what had already been recorded. I then edited the bits out that didn’t work so well, and kept the bits that did work really well. This is a pretty common technique in electronic music, but you’ve gotta have the right people. Mark McAndrew listened to stuff I had done and said, ‘no that’s wrong. It should be like this’. With guys like Mark it’s best to let them loose and keep out of their way. How lucky am I to be able to work with such wonderful people? How has what you’ve been through changed your feelings towards creativity... and life? Let’s deal with them one at a time. In terms of creativity, this has been a great project because the subject matter, dealing with cancer, is a ‘plateful’. The project has strengthened my feeling towards creativity in that being creative
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with music, for me, has great powers of healing and keeping me going, energised, focussed and interested in being alive. After major surgery like I had, you are so tired and sore and bored I can see how it could easily get you down. Being creative never gave me time to be long in the face. M y fe e l i n g s tow a rd l i fe h ave n o t drastically changed. This cancer is not the first life threatening illness I have had to deal with. In my younger years I was a nursing assistant with disabled children. You learn a lot about life in a gig like that. I have had amazing support from my partner and my family and employer. I reckon it’s harder for them than it is for me because they care but feel helpless. I have always been pretty efficient in doing things with my life, but I’d like not to waste a second of what I have left. So, 2014. How’s it look and are you looking forward to it? I’m alive, thanks to a whole lot of brilliant people. Am I looking forward to what they have given me? Yeah baby! That’s kinda the idea of the album. I am trying to say thank you to everyone. I’d really love it if it made someone that is sick feel a bit better.
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THE BE PROJECT Breaking Binge Pez and Bonjah are ambassadors for The Be Project, a national competition inviting young Aussies to submit an inspirational song or 30 seconds of amateur sports film that has a positive feel, to form a collective voice challenging Australia’s binge drinking culture. The competition is now open and closes at midnight on Friday, December 20. The winning songwriter will win a Macbook Pro, have their song professionally recorded and they will receive mentorship from music industry experts. The 10 winning amateur action sports footage entrants will each receive a handheld action camera and their footage will be edited together and set to the winning song. Visit tacklingbingedrinking. gov.au/thebeproject or facebook.com/ nationalbingedrinkingcampaign for full details.
PEZ Being body slammed to the turf by a serious illness can have some strange positives and while it’s often hard to see it at the time, Perry Chapman aka Pez, has acknowledged what his tango with Graves’ Disease (a serious thyroid condition that also put a hold on Sia’s touring life) has taught him. That lesson is now being passed on to others through his involvement in The Be Project – a government initiative aimed at tackling the problem
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of binge drinking. Apart from supporting up-and-coming songwriters and film makers and keeping young people alive, it will hopefully reduce the amount of vomiting douche bags we all need to deal with. “A lot of artists, kids look up to them and they think they wanna be like them but they don’t see them behind the scenes and what they’re really like,” Chapman says. “They don’t see that they’re alcoholics and that they’re really not happy at all. In their photos and shit and it’s so glorified, kids think they’re livin’ the dream and I’m there with ‘em thinking ‘this is all bullshit’. Music is really promoting binge drinking, especially a lot of international music. It’s all like, ‘Yeah, you only live once, we get fucked up yeah! Work hard, play hard, we don’t give a shit!’ and somehow it’s cool to be like that. “The people in the industry have always had that agenda to try and plug straight into kids’ thoughts. Before I got sick, everything got crazy for a while. I went from being in a bedroom wanting to do music to playing festivals and I was in front of thousands of people and everyone’s really hysterical and shit and I definitely didn’t handle it very well being a really shy person. You can just start abusing yourself with substance abuse and drinking. I got lucky, when my thyroid went crazy I couldn’t do that anymore and it gave me a slap in the face. Since then I’ve stepped back and I’ve realised that if you’ve got issues you’ve gotta deal with them.” Chapman’s dealing with his, and that’s why folks like he and 360 are actually living the dream. The next few months are set to be massive with his album looking to be wrapped up by the end of December. “Everything’s being put out on the label with both mine and 360’s solo albums out early to mid-next year and then with the album we’ve done together, we’ll have that ready and we’ll have to gauge how it’s going, whether it’s crazy or not, and see whether it comes out late in the year or early in the next year. Both the solo albums will definitely be finished up by late December, though.” They says the surest way to lose money is to start a record label, and with the two-way street of Obese and Elefant Traks now divided into a multilane highway of countless hip hop specific labels, what motivated Chapman to start the label? “I always wanted to have one just on my own called Easy Records and I was gonna do that and put out my stuff on that,” he says. “Plus I had a few other people just within my circle that I wanted to believe in and put out their music; I’m really passionate about that. But then cause me and 360 have the manager and we’re always talking, he wanted to do the same thing so we were like, ‘stuff it, let’s do it together. That’ll be even more fun’. We might lose a shit load of money, we’ll find that out real soon, and it’s all pretty innocent, but we just love it and we’ve always wanted to do it. A lot of the people we idolised in the hip hop genre came from nothing and were pretty entrepreneurial and started labels, so I guess the whole idea was glorified for us.” Hopefully there’s enough room in this large land of few people to share the hip hop spoils. So far everyone seems to be playing nicely. “The people that I come across seem to be really excited that things are growing to this kind of level but I’m sure there was, well I mean Obese was the huge label for so long,” he says. “Elefant Traks seems to be such a tight-knit little family and seems to be going strong. Pez is touring with the Big Day Out in January. KRISSI WEISS
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BONJAH New Zealand-bred/Melbourne-based Bonjah returned to the fold early this year with the grooveheavy tune, Evolution, and they’ve now dropped a follow-up single, Blue Tone Black Heart. The new songs step away from the band’s rootsy origins, incorporating a raw rock’n’roll feel, and lead vocalist Glenn Mossop explains that the band chose to pursue this sound after simply reflecting on what songs in their catalogue they enjoy playing most. “We’ve always enjoyed playing the more up-tempo numbers live, so we thought, ‘Let’s just make a louder, faster record’,” he says. “I put down the acoustic and upon picking up the electric – that’s just the way I began writing. Everything started coming out gritty, which I really liked, so we’ve continued to build on that energy.” This year’s two single releases are the first new music Bonjah have let slip since 2011’s Go Go Chaos LP but their third full-length album is yet to arrive. Mossop indicates that, despite the delay, songwriting for the forthcoming record has felt more natural and honest than ever before. “We are really refining a more collective sound for an album than what we have in the past and using a different songwriting process. We’re also a bit older now and choices become more direct and certain. So it is feeling more natural and true to where we’re at musically at the moment.” Over the years the band’s perspective on what they want to achieve has shifted somewhat. Initially the focus was on gaining masses of fans, but Mossop says they’re now chiefly driven by writing the best music they can. “The focus now for us is just writing and recording a record we can be proud of and it’s a bonus if people want to put it on.” Despite this stated quest for artistic sovereignty, Bonjah’s ambitions to cultivate a wider-reaching fanbase haven’t completely subsided and Mossop reveals their plans for a more rigorous approach to cracking the overseas market. “It’s been over seven years in Oz, we’ve done a fuck load of touring and gathered some amazing fans and friends along the way, which we’re
GOSSLING After The Gold Rush With a new album, Harvest Of Gold, out now, Gossling will perform at Southbound, happening Friday-Saturday, January 3-4, at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton. ALASDAIR DUNCAN reports. Helen Croome began her university career studying psychology, after deciding that it was time to put music aside after high school in favour of something more serious. A few months into the course, though, she realised she may have made a mistake. “I thought psychology seemed really cool at first, but part way through my first year I realised it was all statistics, and I hated it!” Croome let her impulses guide her back to her first love – she dropped psychology and switched to a Bachelor of Music, with a major in composition. While studying in this area, she developed an immediate affinity for arrangements and instrumentation, and hasn’t looked back since. You probably know Helen Croome a lot better as Gossling, the maker of sweet, melodic indie pop tracks like Heart Killer. The past few years have been busy for her, with three Gossling EPs, a good deal of national touring, a collaboration with 360 that sent her to the upper reaches of the ARIA charts, and another with Oh Mercy’s Alexander Gow that saw the two fly to Paris to shoot a music video. This month, things got bigger still, with the release of Gossling’s long-awaited debut album, Harvest Of Gold. The record represents the culmination of a lot of time and hard work. “I can’t 14
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pretty honoured about, but we’re definitely going to head over to Europe sometime in the next year and broaden the horizon,” he says. Speaking of broadening their horizons, Bonjah recently gathered a lot of attention for covering the hit single Royals by fellow-kiwi Lorde for triple j’s Like A Version. The cover has introduced many people to their music for the first time, which Mossop admits has generated mixed feedback. “She’s an amazing young artist and we liked the song and yeah I think we’ve gathered a few more fans from it, but not without some haters.” A further case of the band stretching their boundaries is enlisting the help of hyper-busy production-wiz Jan Skubiszewski to record Blue Tone Black Heart. Skubiszewski is known for his recent work under the Way Of The Eagle moniker, as well as production credits on albums by Cat Empire and Phrase. With two singles now out in the open fans are no doubt getting antsy for the new Bonjah record. Mossop serenely states that the album is still a work in progress but assures that it will come out in the early part of next year. “We’re still continually coming up with new tunes and having a great time writing. We’ve got some pre-production dates set with Jan to hone in on the songs and even write more with him, so we’re all pretty pumped at the way it’s travelling at the moment.” As for whether the garagey old-school rock sound confidently expressed on Blue Tone Black Heart will be explored further on the album, Mossop covertly suggests the record will canvass a variety of influences. “We’ve never been set to one certain sound when it comes to writing songs, and we’ve always had a pretty broad range of music we listen to, so we’re influenced by a lot of various artists and bands from all eras.” Bonjah will hit WA next month, playing at Thursday, January 9, at the Prince Of Wales, Bunbury; Friday, January 10, at Redcliffe At The Murray; Saturday, January 11, at Mojo’s and Sunday, January 12, at the Indi Bar. AUGUSTUS WELBY
believe it’s finally coming out after all this time,” she laughs. “I just couldn’t wait for people to hear it.” Harvest Of Gold went through something of a difficult gestation period. Croome initially went to Tasmania with the aim of getting lonely and depressed and writing a lot of songs, but in the end only two of those things happened. “My family have a place in a little beach town called Bicheno on the North-East coast. I went there because I thought it would be good to get isolated, but I wasn’t very productive. I got just as lonely and depressed as I’d hoped, but the songs didn’t come. It wasn’t until I got back to Melbourne and was surrounded by friends and had the internet again that I started to get actual writing done.” If Croome was initially aiming for ‘lonely and depressed’ on this album, I ask where she actually ended up. “It’s a real mix,” she says. “There are a few tracks that are very obviously a continuation of my past EPs, but on the whole, Harvest Of Gold is a lot more pop than what I’ve done before.” Indeed, the album features more synths and electronic sounds than Gossling’s previous, more folky recordings. “I’ve always wanted to do something like that, and I was lucky in that the material I was writing lent itself to that. I wouldn’t have gone down that road if the songs I’d been writing didn’t want to go in that way.” Harvest Of Gold sees Croome hooking up with an array of collaborators, not least the aforementioned Gow of rakish Melbourne rockers Oh Mercy. “Alex and I met a couple of years ago on tour,” Croome says. “I was doing a solo support with him, and after that we stayed mates, and eventually did a song together for Mélodie Française, a compilation of Australian artists doing French songs. We got to go to Paris for four days to make a video clip, which was pretty incredible. A while later, we got together again for a really long writing session – one song from which, Accolade, made it onto the album. That’s definitely one of my favourites.”
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POND Part And Parcel With a new album already recorded, Pond are doing a national run of shows in support of this year’s Hobo Rocket LP, hitting Metropolis Fremantle this Thursday, December 12, supported by Doctopus. LACHLAN KANONIUK reports. With such a multi-faceted and involved schedule over the past few years, the fact that the still-nascent Pond outfit have managed to clock up five full-length releases with their current LP, Hobo Rocket, is more than a little impressive. However, Nick Allbrook dismisses the notion of prolificacy as somewhat of a fallacy. “The first couple of albums were pretty… eccentric,” he euphemises. “A lot of veteran bands could just pop one out if they so desired. It’s just that we’re dumb. We decided that if we did something, it should be out anyway. I don’t feel like we’re that prolific, it’s just we have those stupid albums at the beginning.” Hobo Rocket quickly followed up last year’s Beard, Wives, Denim – Pond’s first release on Modular – and the band are primed for another quickfire fulllength release within the year. “We’ve recorded a whole bunch of stuff, we just need to figure out how and when and if we’ll put it out.” Clocking in at a tidy seven tracks, Hobo Rocket was very much a clearly focussed musical statement. As Allbrook explains, it’s the result of a measured ethos. “You’ve definitely gotta cut yourself off, because it’s never finished. Otherwise you keep doing shit forever, refining it. Then your tastes change and ‘refined’ isn’t refined enough, or ‘refined’ is too refined so you have to re-refine it. Then once you’ve re-refined it you can do it all again. “So someone at some point needs to come in and say, ‘Shut up and pull your finger out, and put the record out’. I guess there are certain tiers of decision making; everybody’s got to call it a number of times before it’s actually called. I’m pretty good at it. Probably because I’m lazy, saying, ‘I can’t be fucked, let’s move on’. But there are also deadlines.” One of the many excellent, intertwining projects to emerge from here on the West Coast in the past half-decade, Pond, of course, stem from the primordial ooze of Mink Mussel Creek.
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“Mink Mussel Creek is like the original band, and we stopped doing it ages ago,” Allbrook says. “Well, we didn’t really stop doing it, I suppose – there’s no quitting, we just did the one album. We could always play shows again, but it’s not really going in the usual sense. Most of the guys are in Perth, Kevin (Parker) is on tour, and there’s no particular reason to rehash the old songs.” Throughout the concise tracklisting present on Hobo Rocket, we’re taken through a disparate array of mind-bending psychedelia, including a star turn from a Perth street performer identity on the title track – “It’s a sort of accumulation of Cowboy John’s lyrical musings, and he just came in and cut loose on the microphone” – and some Eastern touches – “That’s Joe (Ryan), he loves his sitar. But he also buys Peruvian knitwear from Fremantle Market, so y’know... it’s all part of the same parcel.”
“Mink Mussel Creek is like the original band, and we stopped doing it ages ago. Well, we didn’t really stop doing it, I suppose – there’s no quitting, we just did the one album. We could always play shows again, but it’s not really going in the usual sense. Most of the guys are in Perth, Kevin (Parker) is on tour, and there’s no particular reason to rehash the old songs.”
The recollection of the golden age of heavy and experimental rock is not necessarily a motivated move, Allbrook explains. “I didn’t think it sounded like a vintage thing. There was all this different stuff we were listening to. Joe was probably listening to bloody Paul McCartney & Wings or something. Gum (aka Jay Watson) was probably listening to ELO, then decided that ELO is too pussy, then listened to Chrome or something,” he laughs. “So it changes daily, with each person.” As opposed to his former role in Tame Impala, Allbrook is very much the frontman of Pond. So what does he think makes a good frontman? “You gotta be completely aware of your own stupidity for 40 minutes a day or something, that’s probably it. I got good at forgetting that I looked like a fool.” As for his experience with Tame Impala, particularly during the runaway success of last year’s
acclaimed Lonerism, Allbrook is philosophical. “I got to do stuff that no one else gets to do. That’s pretty cool. I saw the world in a way that nobody else gets to see it. I saw it from a different angle, a very privileged angle,” he humbly states. “You learn what you learn, these little things stick to you as you go along. I swear I saw a Japanese gameshow where they have to run as
far as they can with all this shit sticking to them, gradually picking up more and more. Maybe it was a dream, I dunno. But either way, that’s what life is like: a Japanese game show that I invented.”
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songwriting method he’s learned how crucial it is to pursue creative challenges. “I very easily write piano ballads because I’m a piano player. I had to push myself to write a song like Hold Me, it’s not a song that naturally came. It’s about not thinking too much but also just opening up a bit. There was a point where all my songs started with a piano riff, but you break out of those things.” Long Way Down’s favourable public reception threw Odell a lengthy global touring schedule and he says that getting to live the lifestyle of a 24/7 musician will inevitably influence his next album. “We’re touring the world at the moment and you learn a lot from that – the bits you don’t have to play, don’t have to sing. It will definitely have an effect, unconscious or consciously. I’ve learnt more about music in the past year than I ever have in my entire life.”
Music That Moves UK wunderkind, Tom Odell, heads down to Southbound happening FridaySaturday, January 3-4, at Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton. AUGUSTUS WELBY reports. Since coming into focus in late 2012, England’s Tom Odell has generated hyperbolic polarity amongst the music press. The 22-year-old Odell received the Critic’s Choice award at this year’s BRIT Awards, however the characteristically flippant NME gave his debut LP, Long Way Down, a 0/10 rating. Getting exposed to such wayward attitudes could easily unsettle Odell’s artistic self-appraisal but he stresses that this year’s ups and downs won’t skew his essential compositional motives. “The most important thing for me is to write songs for myself because really that’s the only listener that you can please,” he says. “I think your instincts are one of the most important things and not to think about what people are going to like and what they’re not going to like. That just ends in an awful headfuck situation.” Having the ability to abstract oneself from the impositions of circumstance is a hugely advantageous skill for anyone creatively inclined. Odell’s current listening habits reveal that rather than focussing on what’s hot right now he gathers inspiration from broad reaches of the music spectrum. “I’m obsessed with Nina Simone. I’ve been listening to a lot of Etta James, a lot of Sun House. There’s this guy Cass McCombs, my friend got me into him, there’s albums of his I love. I’ve been listening to that band Girls who split up about two years ago – really into them at the moment.” Nina Simone and Girls might appear to be disparate influences but both artists share an emotionally driven core and Odell admits to a strong affection for music that vibrates with feeling. “I think I’m just drawn to music that moves. I’ve never been particularly interested in acid-house or anything. I like stuff that moves you emotionally and you can connect with it. The raw soul,” he explains. Odell’s debut album, Long Way Down, wears a smorgasbord of influences on its sleeve, owing debt to such exemplars of commercial poprock as Arcade Fire, Elton John and Coldplay. Odell indicates that rather than adhering to a habitual 16
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Pond will also appear at Southbound at Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton, on Friday-Saturday, January 3-4.
“I don’t feel any pressure. If it takes me five years to make an album it doesn’t really bother me. It’d be awful to make an album just because you’ve got to make one. No one has to make one.”
The Long Way Down world tour continues into Australia this December including appearances at the Falls Festivals and the Corner Hotel. The same group of musicians that played on the record join Odell on stage and he’s emphatic that the live show isn’t a generic singer-songwriter display. “A big part of it is about the band and how the songs work with the band and I. I think people would come to the shows and be quite surprised about how energetic and live it is.” Following up a successful debut record is always a daunting prospect but Odell doesn’t feel too anxious about album number two. “I don’t feel any pressure. If it takes me five years to make an album it doesn’t really bother me. It’d be awful to make an album just because you’ve got to make one. No one has to make one.” Despite this reasoned response Odell seems intent on following up Long Way Down as soon as possible. “I’ve been writing quite a bit and I’m already talking to a few producers about working with them. I’ve learnt so much about recording and songwriting that I’m excited to get into it.”
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HUNTERS & COLLECTORS Annus Crucibilis Classic Australian band Hunters & Collectors are back for a national tour that will bring them to Perth for two A Day On The Green shows at Kings Park & Botanic Garden on Saturday, March 29, (sold out) and Sunday, March 30, 2014. BOB GORDON checks in with singer/guitarist, Mark Seymour. A level of balance in life can be a very important thing. As word spreads around the country - helped along by a half-time appearance at the AFL Grand Final - that seminal Australian ‘80s artrock/’90s pub-rock outfit Hunters & Collectors have reformed for a short national tour (not to mention a highly desired support slot for Bruce Springsteen in Melbourne), singer/songwriter Mark Seymour picks up the phone, fresh back from a promotional tour of Toronto, where he’ll return with his ‘solo’ band next May. It’s important, it seems, to preserve the contemporary alongside what many would deem as nostalgia. “Oh Hunters is definitely nostalgia,” he says, “there’s no other word for it, really. That’s the way I frame it. My career’s ongoing. They’re interconnected, obviously, because the songs are part of my history as a writer. “I don’t draw a line in the sand, really, and I haven’t for a long time. Although I probably did try and frame it that way when I first went solo, but I’ve long put that behind me. Hunters & Collectors’ reputation has kind of reached a level of myth, really. It’s just part of my history.” Hunters & Collectors began in 1981 as an art-rock-funk outfit that grew to nine members and lived for a time in London. They split for a short time in 1983 before regrouping and with angular, off-kilter songs like Talking To A Stranger and Betty’s Worry (The Slab) were very ‘inner city’ for the first half of the ‘80s - or considered to be - before hits such as Throw Your Arms Around Me (released no less than three times as a single), Say Goodbye, Everything’s On Fire, Do You See What I See?, When The River Runs Dry, Where Do You Go? and Holy Grail penetrated radio and took them into the larger pub rock wonderland. By 1998, the wheels were falling off, however, and the band did the requisite farewell tour. Seymour has been a constantly working solo artist ever since, though his past is somewhat more than his shadow, as he recounted in his 2008 book, 13 Tonne Theory . “I think the book helped me just accept the fact I was inextricably linked with the band and that’s just the way history has unfolded for me as an artist,” he says. “I’m pretty reactive; the process of writing songs is just an ongoing thing and I pull the rabbit out of the hat every so often (laughs). I just don’t see the two as distinct entities. It’s just an unfolding story, really. Things evolve slowly. “I think when the band was going into its decline there was a very gradual realisation. I was just getting more and more frustrated and I couldn’t really put my finger on why. I mean, there were lots of little issues and the clarity has only really merged with time.” Seymour has long toured and made music within a far leaner structure than the bulky Hunters & Collectors tribe. “The processes I use to write songs haven’t really changed at all, but the musical environment I’m in now is a lot more relaxed, put it that way (laughs). It’s a great little four-piece band. “Hunters is great; it’s a really interesting thing to get back into, but as I say it’s definitely nostalgia, there’s no question about that.” It’s interesting how the long game plays out. Artists will not feel at all nostalgic about their previous career whilst carving out a newer one on their own. Though he has played Hunters songs in his solo sets, Seymour - aside from a 2009 appearance with the band - has opened the door to some nostalgia, yet it seems he and his Hunters brethren are the last ones to want to revel in it. That said, he knows that if not for the past, the present would be... unknown. “I would not be talking to you now if I hadn’t had those songs get onto radio in the early ‘90s,” he says. “You get across-the-board airplay two or three times and it’s a game-changer. And peoples’ perception of you changes with it.” The wallpaper airplay in the early ‘90s certainly propelled Hunters & Collectors into a higher ground of popularity, though mainly because it drew a broader demographic to their intense live shows. It was always a good laugh to watch VBswilling bogan blokes with shirts off and arms around shoulders singing, ‘you don’t make me feel like I’m a woman anymore’ any time ‘Hunnas’ launched into Say Goodbye. “Those songs - there’s about half a dozen of them - they’re the ones I still play,” Seymour says. “And they’re the ones that everybody remembers. “There’s a whole lot of other material that we played in the early ‘80s that we revived at the end of the band’s career that people didn’t know. Like Talking To A Stranger, The Slab and all those - they weren’t played on the radio so people didn’t know them. “It will be interesting with this tour... you know, Michael Gudinski came up to me the other night and said, ‘when you do the Springsteen show you’ve got to make sure you play the hits’. And I said, ‘well we don’t have an hour worth of hits. We’ve got less than half an hour’s worth of hits. But we’ll play all of them and then we’ll play everything else that we learned’. “There’s this mythology surrounding Hunters & Collectors that they were this massive 18
“It will be interesting with this tour... you know, Michael Gudinski came up to me the other night and said, ‘when you do the Springsteen show you’ve got to make sure you play the hits’. And I said, ‘well we don’t have an hour worth of hits. We’ve got less than half an hour’s worth of hits. But we’ll play all of them and then we’ll play everything else that we learned’.
commercial band and it’s not actually how it unfolded.” Such airplay - which also eluded Hunters & Collectors on their final two albums (1994’s Demon Flower and 1998’s Juggernaut) - didn’t follow Seymour into his solo career. Much like the band had, however, he dug his heels in and hit the road, hard and often. He teamed frequently with an unlikely ally in James Reyne, the ex-Australian Crawl frontman who’d had two platinum solo albums before he also stopped getting airplay and became a different kind of celebrity. Though once at polar opposite ends of the Australian music scene the pair had both become journeyman rock’n’roll singers and toured together often. They actually had plenty in common. “There’s a certain benefit in just continuing to work,” Seymour notes. “You play in clubs, you just endure as a performer and people’s perception of you just gradually changes. You just become a different creative animal. “I mean, we’re talking decades. I’ve been playing music for over 30 years and the issues just aren’t the same anymore, but the one thing that continues is the songwriting. That’s the one thing that’s consistent, really.” Strangely, it’s a fact proven by the release of a tribute album to Hunters & Collectors earlier this year. Crucible - The Songs of Hunters & Collectors features versions of the band’s songs by the likes of The Living End, Birds Of Tokyo, Something For Kate, The Rubens, The Panics, Cloud Control et al, with the original versions on a second disc. It was a huge force in making the Hunters & Collectors reunion tour happen, but was a project that, initially in the hand of H&C themselves, almost never saw the light of day. “Hunters & Collectors just doesn’t seem to be able to make a decision without everybody making the decision,” Seymour says wryly. “You can’t just make decisions. A lot of things have emerged in the last few months because, for me, I’ve become reacquainted with the politics of the group. There was a system we invented that is just iron clad; it’s the way that everybody communicates a certain way and that’s just the way it is and you can’t fight it. “It just affects everything, including trying to choose artists for this tribute record. There were just lists that went on forever. We had so many artists; eight guys writing down their wishlists and somebody in the record company said, ‘guys, this just isn’t gonna work. You’ll never make it’. So we went, ‘okay’ and just walked away from it.
“Nobody did anything. The whole thing got made and we’d hear these updates or hear that so-and-so was doing something. It was taken completely out of our hands and if it hadn’t been I doubt it would ever have been made.” From a completely objective point of view, Seymour says he finds the album to be an interesting analysis of Hunters & Collectors and is somewhat surprised by who has claimed influence from the band. That said, the intensity and an individuality of Hunters & Collectors’ music is something that once seemed at odds with the notion of a tribute album. Sometimes it’s hard to remove the music from the artist (triple j’s Nick Cave Tribute anyone?). Some songs seemed too entrenched with Mark Seymour and this band and that context. However there are some moments on the album that transcend any context and that’s when it works best. “That’s a pretty accurate read, I reckon. I mean, I definitely have my favourites, and that’s putting it politely (laughs). “But the ones that are really good are really good. It’s like, ‘wow, that’s a really interesting interpretation of that song’. I like Emma Donovan singing True Tears Of Joy with Paul Kelly, they’ve done such a good job of that. That was the first thing I heard, actually. I quite like The Slab, that’s pretty interesting “I really like Alpine - who I’d never heard of before - doing Hear No Evil. I reckon that’s just really brooding and it snares the mood and intent of that song but it just puts it in a different landscape. But that feeling is the same. That’s a difficult thing to pull off. With the singles, the famous, anthemic ones, I think it would have been a lot harder to do that.” Prior to and beyond Crucible, the greatest reappropriation of a Hunters & Collectors song is the AFL’s grasp of Holy Grail, most often, it seems, for Grand Final use. It represents a whole ‘other’ ownership and a different yet incredibly specific ‘other’ life for the song. “I’m pretty philosophical about it,” Seymour reflects. “Even if that hadn’t happened - and it’s a huge, hypothetical argument - people would have understood it to mean something that it isn’t. There’s a very subtle conflict inside of that story. It’s got that line about a cup in it, which means you can access a meaning on that level, but there’s this whole other dark conflict going on in this song that little boys relate to because it’s all ‘about’ dungeons and dragons. It just works on so many levels.
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“I was definitely trying to defy ambiguity when I wrote the lyric because the band was in a state of internal conflict as it often was. We were in the studio and I was trying to get the sense of how you can have a whole lot of people who have this goal in mind but everybody is arguing about how to achieve it. I was listening to all this conflicting dialogue going on around me and wondering, ‘is there any point to this? Why are we doing this? What’s the actual reason for this?’ On a really basic level I was actually asking this really basic question to myself. I didn’t ask them, I just asked this question. And the lyric just emerged out of that question. “So the idea that it could become a footy anthem is no more or less absurd than the context in which I wrote the lyric in the first place. I don’t really care. People who interpret songs have wildly disparate views on what songs are about. Not just Holy Grail, it’s always been like that. People just appropriate a song; it becomes incredibly meaningful to them at a particular point in their lives and they’ll just never change their minds about what it’s about. It’s just human nature. “So the idea that the song would be picked up by a sporting code and just appropriated like that, I just think, ‘well, bring it on’. I don’t have a problem with it at all. I mean some people do; I understand that people would see that there’s some basic artistic conflict in that idea, but I just don’t believe you write in a vacuum, anyway. The idea of this glorious poetic isolation and wanting the absolute meaning to come shining through, you’re kidding yourself. I just don’t believe in that idea.” It’s not surprising then, that Seymour and his fellow Hunters & Collectors are pragmatic about their reunion in the face of all this eminently positive nostalgia. The future is now. And now only. “I think it’s really important to get all that stuff sorted out,” he laughs. “You don’t want to leave any doors half open. There are some guys in that group you just would not get out of their houses unless they had a very clear argument presented to them about why it was worthwhile. “The idea of just reforming the band for fun... is bullshit. You watch it happen, middle-aged men getting out on the road and it just becomes this scrounge-fest. ‘Oh someone’s offered us a show for this much money, do you want to do it? I’ll let you know’. Then people are looking at their watches... and three weeks later you’re doing a gig at a festival somewhere and it just becomes this random, unfolding story. “I’m just not interested in that at all. It’s gotta be absolutely clear as to why we’re doing it and then get to the end and it’s finished. And I’m heading off and doing my thing, you know? It’s as simple as that. “And the guys all are as well. There’s a couple of them that are seriously into business. They can’t walk away from that. Actually getting the calendar right is the biggest battle of all.”
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NEW NOISE
For more album reviews head to xpressmag.com.au
4
5
OUT OF 5
PERTH
4
OUT OF 5
5
OUT OF 5
CECILE MCLORIN SALVANT
SARA STORER
OUT OF 5
PENNY KING QUINTET
What’s Your Utopia? Hidden Shoal
Woman Child Mack Avenue Records
Lovegrass ABC Music/Universal
Journey Independent
Songwriter, Michael Dolan, has teamed up with half of the members of Apricot Rail for his band, Perth. With such a pedigree, there is little doubt that Perth are going to be one of the most cinematic and calming bands to come from these parts. What’s Your Utopia? has a sense of the upbeat in its prevailing mood, even if it is not always reflected in its tempo. While not as word-shy as Apricot Rail, Perth still use vocals sparingly as a musical tool, but they are at their most prominent during Greasy Moon. It is not that Perth have nothing to say, or that they can’t hold a note, it is just there are no need for words when the music is as expressive as that found on What’s Your Utopia? Old At Heart has the slow burn that Múm have always used to great effect. The tune that is over well before acceptances has the sound of somewhere between living inside a video game and sitting in an oriental garden. Treading the lines between electronica and post-rock is an artform that Perth excels at without trying to be too clever or overblown. When Pavement sang I Love Perth all those years ago, they sure as hell weren’t wrong!
Upon winning the Theolonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2010; Cécile McLorin Salvant became the hottest jazz/blues vocalist around. Woman Child mainly focusses on early New Orleans blues, a couple of her own compositions along with a couple of standard tunes (I Didn’t Know What Time It Was, What A Little Moonlight Will Do). Opening track, St. Louis Gal (first recorded by Bessie Smith over 90 years ago) is all authentic and uncluttered, featuring only acoustic guitar and vocal. You Bring Out The Savage In Me, by Sam Coslow, is a surprising delight with only vocal, piano, snare drum and high hat. Salvant doesn’t have a straight through vocal range, which enhances her authentic interpretation while staying in the musical genre. Have Pity On Me by Clarence William is also sparse, using acoustic guitar, vocal and drum, no clichés and not overly emotive - just raw and real. This is followed by, Rodgers & Hart’s standard, I Didn’t Know What Day It Was, a minimal interpretation which expands as the pianist takes it to another place along with a tasteful bass solo and brushes on the drums. Nobody, written in 1906 by Bert William, is a medium ragtime style followed by Fats Waller’s Jitterbug Waltz; Salvant not only sings this one but also plays piano as if she was sitting in a bar in the ‘20s. However, to these ears the outstanding track is Salvant’s own composition, Woman Child. In an era where uniqueness is hard to find, Cécile McLorin Salvant is a diamond at the coalface.
Sara Storer has certainly lived the life that she sings about, from her formative years living off the land in Mallee to her time spent as a teacher in remote areas of Queensland and the Northern Territory. With 14 Golden Guitars in her cabinet there is no doubt she is a storyteller of great note. As loved as Storer is, it is hard to deny that her career started with two great albums and since then quality has somewhat dropped away. Storer’s fifth album, Lovegrass, is a welcome return to form - whether it be the six years between albums of new material, or the headspace that has come from the birth of her three children and relatively recent nuptials. The title track is a song about a noxious weed, and is an ode to her husband. While it may sound like a premise that would be too corny for words, the lithe melody and tasteful fiddle make it Storer’s finest moment for some time. There are the more serious moments like Pozie, a duet with John Williamson that reflects on the tales of a digger. Storer is able to mix these more typical country movements with spritely numbers that borrow the spirit of Frente in Canoe. Lovegrass is an easy listen that finds Storer delivering on her reputation as one of the finest exponents of country music in Australia.
As this is Western Australian jazz vocalist, Penny King’s debut LP, she has taken this opportunity with both hands to explore and express her musical taste and talent. The first track, Waltz For Debby, by Bill Evans is well known to jazz enthusiasts particularly after Tony Bennett and Evans’ duo recording; however, Penny brings her own interpretation to this wonderful song. Journey is the first of her compositions - strong melody line and chordal changes allow the soloists (Carl Mackey on sax and bassist, Peter Jeavons) to stretch out. This is followed with James Taylor’s musical poetry piece; Carry Me On My Way beautifully executed by King, with an insightful piano solo from Tom O’Halloran. Wayne Shorter’s seminal piece, Footprints, pops in but to be honest, the interest lies more in King’s own works. Rest Your Head, filled with pathos and loving thoughts, is underscored by a beautiful solo, again by O’Halloran, while Just You - penned by King and arranged by Jeavons - is funky, joyous and gives Mackey and O’Halloran another opportunity to spread their incredible talent. Bravo Penny King.
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
4.5 OUT OF 5
HELEN MATTHEWS
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
2.5
4
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OUT OF 5
HELEN MATTHEWS
4.5
DANIEL CHAMPAGNE
OUT OF 5
The Gypsy Moon (Volume 1) Independent The Gypsy Moon was written while Daniel Champagne toured the world for five years on end. It’s all very deep, traversing contemplative territory and conjuring journeys filled with romance, loneliness, longing, weariness and doubt. There’s a feeling of seeking the unattainable, striving to reach something that may not be reached or even exists. The title track captures this, exploring Champagne’s wandering thoughts when he pauses and questions why he’s on the road again: ‘another set of bright lights in another hotel room, just to chase the gypsy moon’. Champagne can spin a story with a nice turn of phrase, particularly the one-liners, ‘her wayward heart has got away with me’ in Night Skies, Dark Eyes and ‘we’re torn apart by the hands of the highway’s hold’ from Highway’s Hold. You can’t shake that feeling of uncertainty from songs strung out on never-ending roads; it feels like they were born from catharsis. There’s also a lot of fine string work. Guitars are fiercely plucked relating a sense of determination and showcasing the artist’s classical training; additions of the viola and cello add a hint of folksy intrigue such as in the country duet, Heart Like This, wherein Mikaela Atkins lends pretty vocals. A true country icon is referenced when Champagne covers Emmylou Harris’ Deeper Well. His rendition has a brisk, busking feel, replacing the original slow electric guitar with choppy acoustic and changing it up enough to make it fresh. Eight songs are just enough for The Gypsy Moon to capture the transience of life on the road and leave a lasting impression. CORAL HUCKSTEP
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SLEEP PARADE
HELLOGOODBYE
Inside/Out Independent
Everything Is Debatable Old Friends Records
OLD MAN LUEDECKE Tender Is The Night True North Records Chris Luedecke, or Old Man Luedecke as he prefers to be known when gracing the stage, is a Canadian folk singer who is a master of his craft on the banjo. Tender Is The Night is a continuation of his deft bluegrass pickings, but this time he teams up with a couple of Nashville musicians to flesh out the skeletons he creates. Luedecke may have a passing resemblance to Kyle Sandilands, but he is far from foolish when he opens his mouth. Not only do his fingers do the talking on his trusty banjo, he shows a clever turn of phrase and a warm set of pipes. Jonah And The Whale is a tale of struggle as a man is sent packing from his family home and finds himself crying out from the belly of a whale. It also happens to be as catchy as hell. Song For Ian Tyson brings in the country staple of whiskey to the occasion stating that ‘whiskey makes the guitar rusty, soothes the voice like honey for a while’. It makes you want to reach for a drop immediately. Old Man Luedecke may get heaped in with the new folk crop such as your Mumford & Sons, but not only is he a far more authentic proposition, he also has them well covered in the singing and songwriting stakes. Tender Is The Night is one for the test of time.
Hellogoodbye’s latest album feels like it rode in on a Californian breeze. It’s been a few years since the band released an album and as fresh as this one is, it also feels like the soundtrack to The O.C. or The Killers circa 2006. This is definitely not a bad thing. Fans of Hellogoodbye’s debut Zombies! Aliens! Vampires! Dinosaurs! will remember they were labelled emo-pop and had a penchant for vocoder and autotune. A lawsuit and line-up shuffle a few years later saw frontman, Forrest Kline, shake things up and shove the electronica (mostly) aside, producing the organic album, Would It Kill You? Their third studio album sort of tows the line between both and personally it’s preferable over the other two. It still has the pacey riffs and electronic depths (and quirks), but it feels little more mature both sonically and lyrically. This is most evident in Just Don’t Let Go Just Don’t, which strikes a fine balance of strong vocals with a smattering of layered effects. Each of the tracks has a wonderful giddy feeling which begins the second the CD starts playing …And Everything Is A Blur which welcomes you into the 11 track bubble with a glittery synth and echoey group vocals. It’s reminiscent of Passion Pit. The CD booklet’s pop art style photomontages and typeset lyrics are exemplar of an album that has been carefully produced with an ideal listener in mind. In all, this puts Hellogoodbye at the top of their game.
It’s been five years since Melbourne rock band Sleep Parade emerged with their critically-acclaimed LP, Things Can Always Change, which featured atmospheric rock built on mysterious verses and heavy-hitting choruses. Tracks such as Passenger and Carry On were lauded, and soon enough the band was handpicked to tour with Karnivool, Dead Letter Circus and The Butterfly Effect. Their recent release, Inside/Out, however, features a different approach, with a stripped back sound as they verge closer to an ‘indie’ approach. Their newer style has it perks, with strong harmonies, multiple layering, sensuous keyboard and a strong bass drive. For vocalist/guitarist, Leigh Davies, the dynamics required in Sleep Parade’s new style has been a positive, showcasing his versatility and effective lower-range. Unfortunately, the band only seems to nail the new sound in the songs Footsteps and Oxygen, which are tracks five and six respectively. The first four tracks are full of ideas, but overall feel convoluted, lacking solid structures; while Dancing With The Enemy is an extremely odd pick for a first single. It’s clear that Sleep Parade are moving towards a solid indie-rock sound, and while they haven’t perfected it just yet, Inside/Out provides an interesting listen. AARON BRYANS
CORAL HUCKSTEP
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
OUT OF 5
3
3.5
2.5
OUT OF 5
OUT OF 5
OUT OF 5
LETLIVE The Blackest Beautiful Epitaph Records
WE CAME AS ROMANS
If you’re looking for a unique and intense sound, you’ve found it. It may take a few listens to truly appreciate The Blackest Beautiful as anything more then a clusterfuck of noise and tempo changes; however, once you reach that epiphany, it becomes clear how bold, complex and dynamic Letlive’s third LP is. Evolving from the alternative metal sound of Letlive’s 2010 LP, Fake History, The Blackest Beautiful combines post-hardcore, funk, rock and punk styles to form a demon spawn of Rage Against The Machine and Asking Alexandria. Jason Butler is an incredibly versatile vocalist; alongside strong pre-choruses, Letlive’s choruses become naturally gripping. The instrumentals are hardhitting, whilst occasionally changing into eerie beauty. Opening track, Banshee, seamlessly travels between punchy rapping, an explosive chorus and an entrancing bridge, which will leave you attempting your best Butler screams; however it is the chorus of Younger that will stick in your head for days, with its simple structure, catchy vocals and solid harmonies. It seems like Letlive have officially arrived, with a stronger sound and a stride they aren’t afraid of showing off.
Tracing Back Roots Equal Vision
AARON BRYANS 20
ASKING ALEXANDRIA From Death To Destiny Sumerian Records
FRANKIE ROSE Herein Wild Caroline/Universal
Since their debut album, To Plant A Seed, in 2009, We Came As Romans have had numerous member changes alongside a steady rise of their fan base. Over the last four years and three LPs there is one thing that hasn’t been changing… their sound. Whilst this can be seen as a positive that they can still play music similar to that of To Move On Is To Grow, it is now becoming stale. Tracing Back Roots is filled with uneventful and forgettable tracks that feel vocally driven and as a result lack solid instrumentation. The album kick starts in a huge way with the heavy title track that is built on the way-too-clingy relationship between the drums and guitar resulting in a lot of chugging. This is followed by Fade Away, which features a large amount of autotune and lacks creativity. Tracing Back Roots still has its positives. There’s been a huge vocal improvement from Dave Stephens, who now shares clean vocal duties with Kyle Pavone, and the band still focusses on sending motivational messages through their music. Unfortunately this LP is just too familiar and, well, safe.
With Aerosmith and Motley Crue being stated as their influences, it was only a matter of time before Asking Alexandria gave the ‘80s rock genre a shot. In their third LP, From Death To Destiny, the band has maintained their metalcore vibe whilst beginning to blend in old school rock, and it works. Opening strongly with Don’t Pray For Me and Killing You, the band explodes with the energetic and momentous track, The Death Of Me. As a result the album fails to pick up again until Poison and White Line Fever. Vocalist Danny Worsnop’s screams were a big turnoff in their previous LPs, an issue that he has improved upon, now providing an aggressive sound that is less brutal and genuine. It feels like a death sentence to claim that a heavy band sounds better clean, but From Death To Destiny seems to have proved just that. The band has begun the transitional shift away from the genre they spawned from, and shown in the bonus track The Death Of Me (Rock Version) that the move may continue. If it does, brace yourself for some incredible music.
Brooklyn musician, Frankie Rose, has been an active member of the underground music scene of New York through her roles in garage rockers Crystal Stilts, Dum Dum Girls and The Vivian Girls, with most of her time spent on a drum stool. Herein Wild is the latest of her albums wherein she takes the reins. With much of the music of the bands that Rose has moonlighted in having a focus on the melodies of the ‘60s, there is little surprise that Herein Wild is big on the pop stakes. Sorrow is a glistening slab of summer syrup that is all chiming guitars and Rose’s cheery vocal. A student of the history of rock, Rose tackles goth/punk band The Damned’s Street Of Dreams with little of the original’s venom, yet remains a haunting beast with its up-and-down rhythms and low synth. Strings come in on Cliffs As High with Rose using breathy vocals as a tool of aural pleasure instead of for storytelling. Herein Wild is a nice record that shows off the talent of Rose. It just may be a little too nice on this occasion, when some grime and dirt could have been in order.
AARON BRYANS
AARON BRYANS
CHRIS HAVERCROFT
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A R T S & C U LT U R E
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EVENTS
Archie Roach will perform Live At The Quarry Amphitheatre this Friday, December 13, supported by Gina Williams & Guy Ghouse. BOB GORDON speaks with the acclaimed and treasured Australian singer/songwriter. The long journey of the career singer/songwriter may often be difficult, but it’s usually interesting, with plenty of opportunity for firsts. For Archie Roach another ‘first’ came recently, when he supported the great Leonard Cohen at some A Day On The Green shows in the Hunter Valley and Geelong. “Oh it was great,” he quietly enthuses. “At the Geelong show I got a chance to meet him. We had a bit of yarn there. It was good; he got up and said some lovely things about us before he did his show.” Cohen is certainly an inspirational songwriter to many. And there are others who have helped Roach along his creative path. “There’s been so many great songwriters,” he says, reaching back into his thoughts and inspirations. “Over the years there’s been a few inspirations along the way... like Hank Williams. One of my favourite singers from not long ago was Teddy Hawkins. Certainly Australian writers like Paul Kelly. And Slim Dusty; he wrote some great songs.” Roach recently released a 4-CD retrospective, Creation. There’s 61 songs across the release, spanning remasters, live tracks and demo recordings. Putting it together and hearing some of those early recordings again provided some pause for thought. “It was amazing,” he says. “One song in particular called Hungover I’d almost forgotten. That one really registered, as well as a couple of song demos we’d done. And there were some live recordings; you hear them and, I s’pose, they don’t have the refinement or polish of studio-produced tracks. I think the rawness of them is pretty unique, I actually like that. Doing them live there’s no going back and getting your best vocal or instrumental down, it’s just honest. “And the demos, before they were embellished, they’re just the guts of it. It was good to hear them again like that.” Roach has since performed some Creation-
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focussed shows. Yet while the songs retrace his history, Roach says that in performance of them... “... I’m much more in the moment. The thing about revisiting these songs again is that they’ve grown and matured. You’re more sure of them and I s’pose you reinterpret them again. It’s more like you realise how they should have been interpreted in the first place.” Does he tend to write songs when he feels like it now, or more from a workman-like perspective? “G o i n g t h ro u g h the back catalogue, there’s songs that just seemed to be around, just going through my memories,” Roach recalls. “Now it’s more actually sitting down and thinking a bit more as to what I want to write about. I sit down and make a bit more of an effort to get a song from out of the page.” Roac h h a s b e e n re a l l y p l e a s e d w i t h t h e reception to his 2012 LP, Bloodstream, especially given the hardship - his wife Ruby Hunter passed away and he suffered a stroke - he endured in the lead-up to it. “Yeah,” he quietly considers. “I was just so grateful to perform those songs with a band and later on with a choir, then strings and horns. What I intended to do with that album, was helped by things like that in terms of the healing quality of it.” At the recent Deadly Awards, Roach received several nods, including a Lifetime A c h i e ve m e n t aw a rd . H e doesn’t do music for awards obviously, but acknowledges that it’s nice to get some recognition after working so hard for so long. “ O h y e a h , sometimes I don’t know what to say at some of those things,” he states shyly, “when there’s an award or someone’s acknowledging what you’ve done through the years. It’s quite humbling. You don’t expect it. “That’s the great thing about what we do, it’s what you get back from people. You find that music is not all one-way, it’s a two-way street.” With a New Year ahead, Roach has no firm plans by the sounds, but certainly lots to do. “I hope to get another album happening and maybe write songs to sing as duets with other people. I’ll take it as it comes, but while it’s good doing albums and concerts, I always like to do things for the wider community, for whatever purpose.” PIC: JAMES HENRY
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Henry & Aaron’s ABC2 Xmas Quickie
SEASONAL SILLINESS Local comedy machines Henry Inglis and Aaron McCann - they of the It’s A Snap CIT ad that went viral - are making the jump to the chattering cyclops with their first ABC commission, Henry & Aaron’s ABC2 Xmas Quickie. A sorta-sequel to their 2010 digital short, Henry & Aaron’s Perfectly Adequate Christmas Special, this offering sees Aaron kidnapped on Christmas Eve and Henry investigating. A raft of Perth comedy talent feature in the show, including Ben Sutton, Liam Graham and Werzel Montague as Santa. It airs at 9.20pm on Monday, December 23, on ABC2.
MYRE BY NIGHT Buratti Editions is taking over the ground floor of Myre in Fremantle this Friday, December 13, for ARTNIGHT, a celebration of art and design. Featuring live painting by Chris Nixon, live music from Masonik, live throwing by ceramic artist Sarah Hannah, a light installation by David Kenworthy, a pop-up bar and more, it’s sure to be a great night. As part of the festivities, Buratti will be hosting a live drawing class in the Kane & Abel Kafe with local artist Daevid Anderson, starting at 6pm ($20 cost). Doors open at 5pm.
WHEN IN WANNEROO The City Of Wanneroo presents Live In The Amphitheatre, a season of free outdoor cinema in the Jacaranda Amphitheatre starting on Friday, January 31, with a screening of The Castle. In total, eight films will be screened over four weeks, including The Avengers, Red Dog, The Lion King, Fast Five and Mary Poppins. Entry is free, but bookings are essential through wanneroo.wa.gov.au.s
NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON White Reindeer
REV ON THE ROOF Two of Perth’s great film institutions, Revelation Film Festival and Rooftop Movies, are coming together. Revelation’s first-ever summer screening takes place at Rooftop on Friday, December 20 with a seasonallyappropriate session of indie auteur Zach Clarke’s satirical Christmas tale, White Reindeer. The film was well received when it played at Rev this year, and this marks your last chance to catch it on the big screen in Perth. More info and tickets at rooftopmovies.com.au
SOFT SERVE The acclaimed post-classical concert series, Soft Soft Loud, returns to the intimate confines of the Fremantle Arts Centre’s inner courtyard in 2014. This year, the featured composer is Brooklyn resident Bryce Dessner, who has worked with such luminaries as Steve Reich, Philip Glass, David Lang and Sufjan Stevens. The Soft Soft Loud ensemble will be performing works selected by Dessner, while the composer will perform his work for solo guitar, Feedback Counterpoint, himself. Also included will be the premiere of a new work by Western Australian composer, James Ledger. Presented as part of the Perth International Arts Festival, the performance takes place on Thursday, February 13. Tickets are $49 plus booking fee through Oztix.
Revolutionary Read Directed by Billie August Starring Jeremy Irons, Melanie Laurent, Jack Huston Ageing professor Raimund Gregorius’ (Jeremy Irons) humdrum life is disrupted as he prevents a young lady from committing suicide. When she runs off, he follows her using the only clues to her identity that she has left behind: a book and a train tickets to Lisbon. Hopping the titular night train to Lisbon, he reads the novel and becomes fascinated with the philosophical writings of its author, Amendu (Jack Huston). Upon reaching his destination he attempts to discover more about Amendu’s life in the hope that it will give him a clue as to the unknown woman’s identity. In doing so, Raimund becomes increasingly involved in uncovering the hidden history of the resistance against the totalitarian Salazar dictatorship. Based on Pascal Mercier’s 2004 novel of the same title, Night Train To Lisbon comes across as less than the sum of its parts. It’s a good literary detective tale in the modern era, as Gregorius chases down the clues of Amendu’s life. It is also a fascinating historical study of an age few of us know about, as it shifts to flashbacks of the resistance (set during the early ‘70s), all of which is filtered through the recollections of the participants and the poetry of Amendu’s philosophical writings.
Director Billie August (The House Of The Spirits) does an admirable job of realising this period and conveying it in an appropriately oppressive way. However August seems less successful in conveying the passion for life that these young freedom fighters have and how that inspires Gregorius. In this, perhaps the film’s structure is to blame; what works on the page doesn’t necessarily work on the screen. The constant flashbacks never allow the film to build up a full head of steam. There is some joy to be had in piecing together the mysteries of Amendu’s life and even the odd surprise, but on the whole the story is somewhat predicable. Indeed, despite the setting of revolution and resistance, many of the key historical moments happen off-screen and the story that’s left seems somewhat mundane by comparison. Still, for all this Night Train To Lisbon does have some wonderful actors on display. Irons does his best to bring a sense of intelligence and reserved charm to Professor Gregorius, while Huston (Boardwalk Empire’s Richard Harrow) demonstrates he can have both a quiet intensity and smouldering good looks, when half his face isn’t hidden by a mask. Neither a stale serving of Europudding nor a tasty treat, Night Train To Lisbon seems stuck somewhere in between. Not terrible, but nowhere near as good, on the whole, as the elements individually would have you believe. DAVID O’CONNELL
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AMERICAN HUSTLE That ‘70s Show Directed by David O. Russell Starring Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Jennifer Lawrence, Louis C.K. Bad hair and bad decisions are the order of the day in this blackly comic thriller, loosely based on the ABSCAM scandal of the late ‘70s. Balding, bloated businessman Irving Rosenfeld (Christian Bale) is a conman, pure and simple. With his partner/lover, Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams), he dabbles in art forgeries, but his main hustle is stinging desperate businessmen for fake loan guarantees at five grand a pop. When the pair are pinched by an ambitious FBI agent, Richie DiMaso (Bradley Cooper), the only way to avoid prosecution is by helping him in an elaborate sting operation. Playing for the highest possible stakes, the duplicitous duo must hustle harder than ever, dealing with not only the increasingly manic DiMaso, but also affably corrupt New Jersey politician Carmine Polito (Jeremy Renner) and his mafia associates. It’s a pastiche, of course. Hell, it’s damn near Scorsese fanfic, with director David O. Russell (The Fighter, The Silver Linings Playbook) and his impressive cast delighting in pushing the tropes of ‘70s New Hollywood right up to the point of absurdity. The voiceovers, the near-constant montage sequences, the constantly roving, restless 26
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camera and, of course, the period costumes and sets all contribute to the feeling that isn’t a new film, but some lost gem from the last great golden age of cinema. Russell even has the chutzpah to have Robert De Niro crop up for a brief turn as a grizzled mob boss, just to hammer the point home. Unlike last year’s Argo, which lifted from post-Watergate political dramas with straightfaced seriousness, American Hustle winks at the audience, transforming what could have been a rather strained attempt at affectation into a fun romp. Everyone’s having a blast portraying the film’s gallery of self-deluded grotesques, with Bale in particular seeming much more comfortable now he’s shed the action hero straitjacket. The whole affair is a tightrope walk along the line between drama and farce, and all involved seem to understand the exact level at which to pitch their performances. Jennifer Lawrence shines (as usual) as Rosenfeld’s mercurial, self-absorbed wife, while Louis C.K. puts his worn-down schlub persona to good use as DiMaso’s put upon boss. There’s not a bum note to be found, and doubtless the cast will get a good showing when the big award nominations come rolling in early next year. Still, as much as its an enjoyable ride, American Hustle is ultimately a pretty slight affair. It’s big, bold, bright and boisterous, but it’s not really about anything; the end, when it comes, is abrupt and rather unsatisfactory. Still, the journey up until that point is so much fun that such a failing is easily forgivable. As an exercise in style, Hustle knocks it out of the park; hopefully, Russell’s next offering will find his obvious technical skill in service to some substance. TRAVIS JOHNSON
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BLACKFISH A Whale Of A Tale Directed by Gabriela Cowperthwaite Starring Tilikum In 2010 an experienced SeaWorld trainer, Dawn Brancheau, working at their Orlando, Florida, park, was killed by Tilikum, a five tonne male Orca during a show. Filmmaker Gabriela Cowperthwaite, intrigued by the notion that such an allegedly peaceful and intelligent creature could be responsible for a human death, investigated. The result of her inquiry is Blackfish, one of the must-see documentaries of the year. The film moves like a thriller, almost a whodunnit - apt when you consider that Brancheau’s was not the first death that Tilikum had a flipper in, the big mammal having previously involved in two other fatalities (you may recall the 1999 incident, where morning workers at SeaWorld arrived to find a naked corpse draped over the whale’s back). However, Blackfish is not a tabloid-style expose of a dangerous animal; rather, Cowperthwaite uses the Brancheau incident as a jumping off point to indict the entire marine park industry - and SeaWorld in particular for a range of failings against both the whales and dolphins that perform there and the apparently undertrained and unprepared staff that work with what are, no matter which way you slice it, wild and potentially deadly animals.
Cowperthwaite and company have amassed a wealth of interviews, archival footage and other evidence to support their claims, trotting out a seemingly endless parade of former marine park employees turned harsh critics who describe in detail the unsafe conditions and lacklustre preparation they had to contend with. Emotions run how when the family members of victims, such as the widow of Alexis Martinez, who was killed by a different whale at a Spanish park in 2009, speak of their experiences, or when a grizzled old sailor is reduced to tears when he recalls participating in a hunt for juvenile whales, separating them from their pods. It’s impossible not to be moved. Wisely, the film doesn’t rely solely on pushing emotional buttons, also consulting a number of scientists and animal behaviour experts in order to delve into the root causes behind the Orcas’ aggression, coming to the consensus that the effect of captivity on such intelligent and highly social animals is invariably psychologically distressing, with unpredictable and dangerous behaviour being the inevitable result. For all that, it does at times come across as polemical, with the lack of interviews with SeaWorld representatives and supporters being quite noticeable. We are informed by title card that SeaWorld declined to participate in the making of the film, but surely someone could have been found who took the side of the sea park industry? That aside, Blackfish stands as an excellent film, albeit a distressing and troubling one. At the very least, it might make you rethink your next Gold Coast holiday itinerary. TRAVIS JOHNSON
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MOOD INDIGO Moody Blues Directed by Michel Gondry Starring Romain Duris, Audrey Tautou, Gad Elmaleh Amelie has been snorting William S. Burroughs’ bug powder in this hyper-kinetic piece of French fantasy from director Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind). Here he tackles Boris Vian’s 1947 novel, L’Écume Es Jours. Often touted as unfilmable - despite having three films and an opera made from it - this tale is a trip into a world where logical rules don’t apply and surreality takes a firm hold. Colin (Romain Duris) is a bachelor living comfortably off his meagre savings. His life consists of dinner with his friends, his pet mouse and tinkering with such whimsical inventions as the Pianococktail (a machine that creates cocktails based on the tune you play). Still, as his friends all find romance he realises how alone he is and seeks out love. At a party he meets Chloe (Audrey Tautou) and, after a whirlwind courtship, they are quickly married. However, after their honeymoon Chloe falls ill and soon discovers that the cause of her malady is a waterlily growing on her lung. With the only effective treatment being to surround Chloe with flowers, Colin is forced into the workplace to afford the ruinously expensive treatment for his gradually worsening wife. This is without a doubt a highly stylised and visually appealing offering. Gondry brings this world of a surreal retro-futurist Paris that never was
to the big screen and fills it full of insane and frenetic images. Doorbells change into mechanical spiders, rapidly scampering about the place in stop motion animation; dancers step to the rhythm of jazz with giant muppet-like legs as it is played by a virtual Duke Ellington; a roomful of writers working on a conveyor belt of typewriters type out the story of Colin’s life. Nothing makes a lick of sense and it all gleefully flows from Gondry’s imagination. There is no doubt that this movie is more than the froth of daydreams. Strong elements of satire and social commentary often raise their head, such as Colin’s job of delivering unwanted news for The Authorities, or the pompous, cult-like existential prophet Jean Sol-Patre (yes that is a spoonerism of a well known philosopher – the lesson here is not to run off with an author’s wife). Yet the audience is so cast adrift by the sheer and constant insanity of the world that there is little to latch onto. As such it is difficult to feel any real emotional involvement with the characters, despite the charm of Duris and Tautou. Thus, when the harsh (un)realities take hold, there is little investment in the melodrama that unfolds. How far down the rabbit hole you are willing to go will affect your enjoyment of this movie. Follow that white rabbit all the way down and you will be immersed in a Wonderland of surrealist beauty. If instead you decide to take the blue pill, then Mood Indigo will baffle you with its constantly shifting reality and cartoon physics. DAVID O’CONNELL
Mood Indigo screens as part of the Lotterywest Festival Films season at Somerville from December 16 - 22 and Joondalup Pines from December 24 - 29 (except Christmas Day). For more details, head to perthfestival.com.au WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU
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Horses For Courses The spectacular equestrian extravaganza, Cavalia, is currently blowing away Perth audiences with its mix of acrobatic stunts, trick riding and the natural beauty of its four-footed stars we caught up with (human) performer, Katie Cox. You may have seen rodeos or equestrian competitions before, but you’ve never seen anything quite like Cavalia. More than just a series of tricks and stunts, the show romanticises, almost to the point of the spiritual, the relationship between humanity and horses. “It’s so different,” explains troupe member, Katie Cox. “Because it’s a show that focuses on the natural beauty of the horse and the relationship that humans have with them. the whole story is about our bond and the way we’ve worked together throughout history. You’ll see that the beginning of the show is extremely simple with us contacting and communicating with the horse through body language and voice, and it kind of works up to how we became partners. It’s not just a show to impress people - it’s really a show about the natural beauty and amazingness that is the horse.” Originally hailing form Orlando, Florida, Cox has harboured both a love of horses and a love of performing ever since she was a kid. “Ever since I was young, I’ve been horse crazy and I wanted anything that had to do with horses. I loved performing and I loved acting and make up and costumes - anything that had to do with shows, so of course I was always loving the circus and stuff like that when I was very young. Then, when I first saw a horse show in Florida I was drawn to it instinctively.” Cox has worked with a number of circuses and performing troupes around the globe over the course of her career, but as soon as she became aware of the existence of Cavalia, she knew she wanted to be a part of what she views as a wholly unique equestrian act. “I was working with a circus in Montreal in Canada and Cavalia was in town and they came and saw our show and they called me right away and said, ‘We’d like to know when your contract is up with that show, because we’d be interested in offering you a contract.’ and I was like ‘YES!’”
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Old Politicians, Old Buildings And Old Whores
Katie Cox and Emilio - Cavalia
Cox performs three different acts within the larger show. “I’m a bareback rider, which is a circus style of riding originally in a 13 metre circle where we stand on the horse’s rump and you sue the centrifugal force to stay on the horse. Then I do classic dressage riding and then trick riding, which is a rodeo style of Western riding where we throw ourselves over the sides of the horses and stand up and do tricks from the saddle.” She clearly loves her work, but more than that, Cox is proud to be part of an animal act that puts its not-human cast first. “I really love that Cavalia is so into making the horses super happy - I love that. For us it’s not really the value of the horse that interests us, it’s what the horse has to offer - their personality or whether they’re funny or open or really like to entertain. We don’t care where the horse comes from or whether they have high breeding or any of that; it’s just how you work with the horse and how you get them to trust you and how you put love into them and they shine - they become stars.” TRAVIS JOHNSON
Cavalia have extended their Perth season until Sunday, January 5, 2014. For tickets and info, head to cavalia.net.
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“Mate, I’ve got son called Travis. He’s a cunt too.” That’s how the conversation starts when we got on the horn to Kevin Bloody Wilson to discuss his latest tour. Well, what else would you expect from Australia’s master of foul-mouthed fun, whose incredibly filthy ditties have been sung in pool rooms and playgrounds alike for over three decades now? The man has a reputation to uphold, after all. Still, this is a momentous occasion, as Wilson embarks on what, at first glance, looks like his final round of appearances. Or is it? “Well, this is The First Of The Final Farewell Tours...perhaps. What it’s about is, I’ll probably do final farewell tours for the next four years, five years, perhaps, and then I’ll have 12 months off and I’ll start the comeback tours. Like KISS. And I’m gonna out-Farnham Farnham.” So we can expect to hear a lot of classic Wilson songs, or will there be more of a focus on recent material? “Well, certainly all of the above,” he says. “I’ve got a new album coming out to coincide with the tour, called Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Certainly, we’ll be going back over 30 years of stuff that I’ve recorded. Certainly, I’ve recorded in excess of 300 songs across 18 albums. Certain songs like Living Next Door To Alan and Hey Santa Claus, You Cunt, they’re always going to be a part of it.” Whatever you think of the man’s material, Wilson is part of a long and storied tradition within music - a tradition that spans cultures and centuries and shows no sign of ever dying out. “It’s interesting when you look at the history of the bawdy ballad. The reason I took it up was because they weren’t writing them any more! I never got to hear any new ones, you know? The old ones like The Hairs On Her Dicky Di Do, you’ve probably heard them as a result of the Kevin Bloody Wilson thing, but those songs have been around for hundreds of years. A lot of the famous scribes of our time, including Henry Lawson and going back as far as Shakespeare, used to write bawdy verse. Bawdy ballads were quite the tone back in those days - it was quite acceptable. Charlotte The
Harlot, The Cowpuncher’s Whore, Poor Little Angeline all these things I suede to read up on as a kid, because you could only get them in the adult section of the library in those days. I was always fascinated by them. When my music career started at 15, there was a time and a place to do these bawdy ballads, like when I was hanging around with me mates. I found that, when I went to record them, there weren’t any new ones out there, so that’s about when I started to write my own.” So, would he say he’s made a valuable contribution to the culture? “Culture and Kevin Bloody Wilson in the same sentence?” he laughs, before continuing more thoughtfully. “I was also interviewed by the music archives in Canberra. They spent two days with me, interviewing me, several years ago, taking all the songs and writing them down and taking recorded versions of everything I’d laid down up until that date and we still refresh it with every new album, so it’s historical in Australia as well. I’m pretty proud of that.” Does that mean he’s becoming respectable? “Oh, I fuckin’ hope not! It’s just something we do, isn’t it? Everybody’s got their favourite naughty story. Even the Queen must laugh at fart jokes.” Kevin Bloody Wilson plays at the Crown Theatre from Thursday, December 12 until Sunday, December 14 and at the Bunbury Entertainment Centre on Saturday, December 21. Go to kevinbloodywilson.com for tickets and info. TRAVIS JOHNSON
MOANA NIGHTS Moana Coffee Saturday, December 7, 2013 Perth’s newest boutique live venue played host to the amazing Odette Mercy & Jon Fernandes, Anton Franc and Rachael Dease. An excellent time was had by all, as our social snaps can attest. Photos by Matt Jelonek
Tracy, Lloyd
20 FEET FROM STARDOM Harmonious Directed by Morgan Neville Starring Darlene Love, Merry Clayton, Lisa Fischer This is a documentary about the singers of just about every classic rock song you love. Not the band that’s name is on the album, but the back-up singers that are rarely acknowledged. Chances are you have loved at least one of their tracks - heck, chances are you have actually sung along with them on a classic hook. They were the foundation for Phil Spector’s Wall Of Sound, the background flourish for many an artist. Consider it for a moment: how would Ray Charles have sounded in What’d I Say if no-one answered his shouts of “Hey!”? How would Gimme Shelter be if someone hadn’t turned up at 2am to screech “It’s just a shot away”? 20 Feet From Stardom is their tale. Developing an idea put forth by music industry heavyweight Gil Freisen, director Morgan Neville (Johnny Cash’s America) presents a historical perspective on the rise of the background singer. Predominantly African-American, these singers often rose out of an Evangelical choir background. Bringing passion and feeling to the music, groups such as The Blossoms replaced the soulless fembot readers (a term used for the predominantly white background singers of the ‘50s). From there, 20 Feet From Stardom cuts a wide swathe through rock and pop 30
history to almost the present day (with the aftermath of Michael Jackson’s death). Informed by a combination of interviews, graphics, archive footage, and recorded concerts, the audience hears the likes of Sting, Mick Jagger, Bette Midler, Bruce Springsteen, and Stevie Wonder wax lyrically about these unknown songbirds. It also gets to meet these mysterious divas and hear them tell their own history, both spoken and musically. Hearing and seeing the body of these songstress’ works provides an amazing soundtrack and a great visual spectacle as archival footage of concerts and pop clips are rolled out for the audience to play a game of spot the background singer. 20 Feet From Stardom also offers a brilliant meditation on the nature of stardom itself. All of the singers interviewed are obviously talented, hard working, connected within the industry and quiet a few are ambitious. All of them have also had a tilt at a solo career, with varying degrees of success, but none of them have ever really cracked the big time. Sure, Darlene Love has some recognition now, but her solo career ran into so much trouble she became a housekeeper, and Lisa Fischer’s solo album may have won her a Grammy, but she never followed the album up. The documentary examines the combination of personality, ego and luck that goes into making a star. A fantastic glimpse into a world few of us have even thought about, with enough star power to sell out a festival and even more talent, 20 Feet From Stardom is a wondrous documentary that, like a great tune, will stay in your head for days afterwards.
Megan, Jake Sian, SuLynn, Katherine
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20 Feet From Stardom screens as part of the Lotterywest Festival Films season at Somerville until December 15 and at Joondalup Pines from December 17 - 22. For more details, head to perthfestival.com.au
Jamie, Josh, Matt, Monica
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VISUAL ARTS David Bromley - Paintings, Sculptures And Jewellery: Gullotti Galleries An eclectic collection of works from renowned artist, David Bromley, curated by Bromley and gallery owner, Paul Gullotti. The centrepiece of the exhibition is a newly completed portrait of Perth-born 2011 Miss Universe Australia winner, Scherri-Lee Biggs. It runs until September 24. Go to gullottigalleries.com.au for more info. Glass Eclectica: The York Mill Boiler Room Gallery A free exhibition of glass pieces in all shapes, sizes and colours from leading Perth glass sculptor, Greg Ash. On display until December 29. Head to theyorkmill.com.au for further information. Being Eurasian: Fremantle Arts Centre Abdul Abdullah and Dr Leslie Morgan examine identity, history and ancestry in contemporary Australia. Abdullah’s paintings explore the ways in which people of mixed Asian and European heritage define themselves, while Morgan’s work looks at the entry of Anglo-Indians into the country in the time of the White Australia Policy. The exhibition runs until January 19. Go to fac. org.au for more details.
David Bromley
Little Paintings, Big Stories: Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery Runs until December 14.
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140 ART: 140 Nationally recognised artists and local emerging talent both contribute to this temporary gallery project that runs until January 31. Andy Quilty, Phibs, Amok, Anya Brock, Pip McManus and more will use shopfronts and walls along Wellington, William and Murray Street as a canvas for an ambitious urban art project. Head to 140. com.au for further information. Printmakers Landscape: Heathcote Museum & Gallery An investigation into landscape and environment through the medium of print from Robyn Collins, Emily Douglas, Kay Gibson, Jane Hardy and Mary-Lynne Stratton. The exhibition runs until December 22. Head over to melville.wa.gov.au for further info. The Problems Of Explaining A Thunk: Fremantle Arts Centre Set in an installation reminiscent of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Steven Dickie’s newest work explores the limits of conventional knowledge through a series of video and installation works that look at our inability to express and explain thoughts. It runs until January 19. Go to fac.org.au for more. 2013 Bankwest Art Prize: Bankwest Place The exhibition of all the finalist pieces for this prestigious annual award, including works by Rachel Coad, Penny Bovell, Susanna Castleden, Thea Constantino, Penny Coss, Jo Darbyshire and more, runs until March 3. Go to bankwest.com.au for more.
Psychedelic Protector from Glass Eclectica
Against The Grain: Alcoa Mandurah Art Gallery An exhibition encompassing the four decade career of Australian multimedia artist and provocateur Tim Burns. It includes over 350 images and a number of video installations. It runs until January 11. Go to manpac.com.au for more information. The Langue Verte - Art Of Transformation: Buratti Fine Art This exhibition draws together a range of Australian and international contemporary artists who reinterpret the concept of transformation across the media of film, sound, painting, drawing, printmaking and installation. Features works from Barry William Hale, Harvey Bialy, Masonik, Harry Smith and more. Head to buratti.com. au for further details. A Private View - Modern Masters From The Kerry Stokes Collection: The Art Galley Of Western Australia 26 paintings drawn from one of the most significant private art collections in Australia, representing the major art movements of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It runs until March 3. Go to artgallery.wa.gov. au for further information. Within These Walls: Wanneroo Library And Cultural Centre Gallery A free combined exhibition collated by the Wanneroo Museum and Art Collections, this innovative and quirky exhibition will showcase rarely seen artefacts from the Museum’s collection, juxtaposed and harmonised with art works from the city’s art collection. It runs from December 14 - February 2. Visit wanneroo.wa.gov.au for more. 2016: Linton and Kay Galleries, Perth The upcoming 400th anniversary of Dutch explorer Dirk Hartog’s WA landfall has inspired this exhibition by the collaborative photography group Ninety Degrees Five. The culmination of a three year endeavour to capture the sea- and landscape, it runs from December 19 - 31. Head to lintonandkay.com.au for more info.
MUSIC Lior & Westlake - Songs With Orchestra: Perth Concert Hall Performance on Wednesday, December 11. Head to waso.com.au for tickets.
THEATRE/DANCE/ PERFORMANCE Peter Pan: His Majesty’s Theatre West Australian Ballet presents a delightful adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s beloved children’s story. The season runs until December 15. Go to waballet.com.au for more information. Cavalia: The White Big Top This magnificent equestrian event combines spectacle and acrobatic skill reminiscent of Cirque Du Soleil with jaw-dropping displays of horsemanship and derring-do. Until December 29. Head for cavalia.net for more.
FESTIVALS Perth International Arts Festival Perth’s biggest celebration of art, film, music, theatre, dance and culture runs from February 7 - March 1. Head to 2014.perthfestival.com.au for the full program.
Cavalia
To have your performance, exhibition or cultural event listed, get in touch via
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E D U C AT I O N , T R A I N I N G & C A R E E R S
GET STUDYING As many students await their second semester results for 2013, we take a look at some of those people who have been doing amazing things in their chosen careers following their courses of study at various educational institutions ‘round town. It may inspire you to embark on further study in 2014 - in fact some colleges and universities including Central Institute Of Technology are still open for round two, full time course enrolments, until January 3.
YAN ZION Fashion Designer
ZAK HILDITCH Filmmaker
What course did you study? I studied Fashion and Textiles at Curtin University. How long was your course? It took me one and a half years full time because I had previously studied at Central Institute Of Technology. It was great studying at Curtin because there is so much to learn about fashion and it gave me opportunities to pick up more skills and consolidate the ones I have already. It also gave me opportunities to experiment with my style and techniques, which I think is very important. My time at Curtin has helped dramatically by shaping and directing me to be the designer I hope to be - an innovative designer. How is the course structured? The Fashion and Textile course at Curtin has a variety of subjects that you can pick up as part of the fashion course, which can lead to many career avenues. For example, there are photography and jewellery units that can be picked up as part of fashion. One of my favourites was learning how to build a website using XHTML codes, which I found useful and fun. The diversity and flexibility has allowed me to test out what I like and don’t like and where my strength and weaknesses lies.
What course did you study? I did a double major in Creative Writing and Film and Television at Curtin University followed by an honours degree in Screen Arts.
What made you choose this course? The course has been running for quite some time. Curtin University celebrated its ten year anniversary at the Perth Fashion Festival earlier this year. I showcased some of my ‘Ebony and Ivory’ collection made with world class Banshu fabrics from the Ozawa Textile Company. What advice would you share with others embarking on the same path? Enjoy your time experimenting with your style and techniques while you are studying. It’s a great time to ask lots of questions. What’s next on the cards? To keep on designing and building the label profile. Make my way to the east coast of Australia.
Designs by Yan Zion. Photos by Nick Fitzpatrick. Model: Letesia. MUA and hair by Kate, Monique and Angela.
Where do you see yourself in ten years? In Hawaii wearing frangipanis by the beachside... On a serious note, hopefully still in the creative industry - selling internationally.
How is the course structured? The best thing about doing film at Curtin is how focused on film it really is from the second you walk in the door from both a practical and theoretical perspective. The course was structured in a way to teach you to walk before you can run, and I felt there was a real progression in my work from first to third year. The advice, facilities and people are all there, it’s really put on you to step up your game each year if filmmaking is what you really want to do. I lived, breathed and ate films while I was at university and this is where I started to develop my style. What made you choose this course? Following high school I just wanted to figure out how to go about making films so I looked into all the university campuses to see what they offered. When I looked at the way the Curtin film course was structured (and what facilities they had on offer) it just seemed the right fit for me. It had a really good mix of the theoretical and the practical so I decided to enrol there. It can be an important decision early on, so I would recommend you do your homework on each campus before enrolling. I was lucky enough to join Curtin in a year that saw me develop my craft with talented filmmakers like Matt Lovkis, Ben Young and Antony Webb to name just a few. Being surrounded by creative peers was a great experience and it’s great to see the careers of friends I studied with start to take off.
JOEL CRANE Photographer & Filmmaker What course did you study? Bachelor of Arts in Screen Production at Murdoch University. How long was your course? I studied three years full time, working on the side as much as I could. My lecturers were really great at getting me experience working on film sets and music videos and a few ads. From my very first semester, I was searching out for more experience in any position I could manage. How is the course structured? There are a number of practical classes that teach you how to use and operate the equipment, hands on sessions that group-up students into small film crews to make at least one short film each year. There are also some theoretical classes that delve into the psychology of films and the history of some of its pioneers, leading group discussions and studies of past and current filmmakers and their works. 34
What advice would you share with others embarking on the same path? Don’t wait until you’ve graduated to start looking for work. I’ve seen so many people come out of uni with no on-set experience, freaking out that they have no connections and no idea how to get onboard with any new projects. The skills you need for this work won’t come from uni anywhere near as much as actually working on films will. Use the lecturers and their connections to kick start your career as much as you can before leaving uni. Get your name known in the industry that people can trust you to do a good job. What’s next on the cards? I’m working on several web series and short films at the moment and directing a few music videos. I’ve recently purchased my own cinema camera that has also opened up several doors for me. Where do you see yourself in ten years? My goal is working in New York as a Director of Photographer on independent feature films. WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU
What advice would you share with others embarking on the same path? If filmmaking is your passion, no matter the particular area, Curtin has something for everyone. Again though, it is on you to make it happen. Curtin will guide you in the right direction, but you must be prepared to work hard and listen to feedback when it comes to being creative and seeing your vision take form. I came up with numerous terrible ideas for films, and if it wasn’t for the guidance of people like Ken Miller and Ron Elliott, encouraging me to tell stories that I felt were meaningful, who knows what path my development might have gone down. What’s next on the cards? This year I finished my feature film, These Final Hours which is an apocalyptic thriller set on the last day on earth that explores the notion that its never to late to find redemption, even in the face of the apocalypse. The film stars Nathan Phillips (Wolf Creek), Sarah Snook (Not Suitable For Children), Jess De Gouw (Arrow), Dan Henshall (Snowtown), Kathryn Beck (Neighbours), Lynette Curran (The Boys) and newcomer Angourie Rice who was in my award winning short film, Transmission. The film premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival where it won the ‘Age Critics Prize’ for best Australian film. Myself and producer Liz Kearney have recently sold the local distribution rights to Village Roadshow and the film will be hitting theatres early next year. Anything else you’d like to tell us? My friend Matt Hardie just won Tropfest. It’s great seeing my friends who I’ve come up the ranks with doing so well. I made a very low budget feature a decade ago with him called The Actress - with him in one of the leads.
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New Zealand rapper David Dallas arrives at Causeway Bar on Wednesday, December 18 (it’s also the EP launch of local rapper, Knoe) to promote his recently released third album, Falling Into Place - a record that has potential to make him the first Australasian MC to achieve success in the world of American hip hop. He chats to JOSHUA HAYES. Falling Into Place debuted at number two on the NZ charts and has achieved some notable accolades with single, Runnin’ used in the online trailer for gridiron video game Madden 25, as well as the soundtrack for soccer game FIFA 14. “That was one of my favourite things that’s ever happened to me in music, period, because I grew up playing FIFA,” Dallas laughs. “It’s one of those things that, all my friends that I grew up with that aren’t really into the music scene, they’ll be like ‘Oh, you’re number one on iTunes? That’s pretty cool”, they’re not really that stoked on those sorts of things,” he says, “but when they see the song on FIFA, they’re like ‘oh shit, you’re on FIFA!’” Dallas first gained attention under the moniker Con-Psy, with a high profile guest spot on Scribe’s Not Many Remix and two albums as the rapping half of hip hop duo, Frontline. However he soon dropped the alias in favour of his own name, and released his solo debut, Something Awesome in 2010. The album was acclaimed in New Zealand and as a sign of things to come, attracted international attention when Kanye West posted the video of Dallas’ single Big Time on his blog. In 2011, Dallas signed to Duck Down Music - a New York hip hop label formed in the mid ‘90s, with a roster that boasts legendary acts such as Black Moon and Smif-n-Wessun - and put out his follow up, The Rose Tint as a free release. “It was very validating, just the idea that artists like Black Moon and Buckshot - I grew up seeing them on TV as a kid,” Dallas says. “They’re not artists that I ever thought I would meet, let alone work with or that would appreciate the things that I did.” He continued working his way into the American market in 2012, spending the last four months of the year on a 48-date North American tour with hip hop duo Aer, before returning home to work on Falling Into Place. The album was written, recorded, mixed and mastered in an intense five month stretch, beginning in early January. “My other albums, a lot of the time my process is quite insular. The producers will send me the music and I’ll be like ‘okay, cool’, and I’ll kick around, go write my own song to it, demo it up myself and get everything perfect how I want it, before I even show (a demo to) everyone else who’s working on the song,” Dallas says. “Whereas this one, because we were working in a close space and it was myself and my producers Fire & Ice, we were all in there, I had to deal with showing people my ideas in their infancy, while you’re still quite vulnerable, as opposed to having the chance to mull them over and polish them… It was difficult for me at first, that process, but the record turned out all the better for it.”
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WAKA FLOCKA FLAME Wak-a-holic Atlanta artist, Waka Flocka Flame is one of the most electrifying rappers to emerge in recent times. When it comes to technical skill and lyrical dexterity, he’s not ‘the most’ proficient in the business, but the energy he brings to the mic is unrivalled. LACHLAN KANONIUK chats with the self-proclaimed “hip hop rock star” ahead of his show at Metropolis Fremantle on Thursday, December 19. The hood anthem Hard In Da Paint produced by steady collaborator Lex Luger, still stands as one of the hardest trap anthems out there. Since its release, trend has seen a marriage of trap and EDM - their unbridled hype capabilities proving to be a more than potent complementary force. As such, it’s typified by the current circumstance I find Flocka. He’s speaking on the phone while on tour with EDM heavyweights Steve Aoki and Borgore; the potential for studio collaborations with these DJs a distinct possibility in the near future. “Honestly, this is one of the best tours I’ve even been on,” he says. “The energy is amazing - it’s so positive with the party vibe... everyone just wanna party, party, party. I feel like it’s all one big-ass party; everything I do.” Showing a thirst for smashing through genre barriers, Flocka has teased the prospect of touring with metal titans Lamb Of God. As of now he’s scarce on details, but his excitement is palpable. “I can’t wait, it’s looking good,” he delivers in his trademark gravelly cadence. Last year saw the release of Triple F Life: Friends, Fans & Family, Flocka’s second commercially released album, with guest spots from artists such as Drake, Nicki Minaj, Trey Songz, Ludacris, Meek Mill and more. The diverse offering of tracks on the album saw Flocka experiment with a broader range of styles with varying levels of success. The record will be followed up by the recently delayed Flockaveli 2, the sequel to his debut.
DO THE ROBOSONIC PHETSTA FAREWELL Following in the footsteps of Pendulum and Shockone, local bass producer, Phetsta is departing P-Town for London - all in the name of taking his career to the next level. His career to date has spanned over a decade firstly steeped in UK drum’n’bass, which has now evolved into the sounds of dubstep, electro house, rave and hip hop. From the 2011 Prism EP to his collaborations with the likes of Shockone and Metrik - he’s had releases on labels like Technique Recordings, Klub Kids, Never Say Die, One Love and Viper Recordings. Say your farewell on Saturday, January 18 at Villa along with special guests including Sydney’s Doctor Werewolf, Rregula, Spectrem, VLTRN, Ekko & Sidetrack and MCs XSESSIV & STYLEE. Tickets on sale via Moshtix.
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RAVE & REPEAT There’s nothing but parties going on at the Newport Hotel right now with Sydney house DJ, Hook N Sling dropping in for a set this Friday the 13th - the best dressed spooky costume wins a bar card. On Wednesday, December 18, Canberra party boys Adam Hyde and Reuben Styles aka Peking Duk will be dropping the electro anthems at a Full Moon Party at the venue. Then on Friday, December 20, Jay from MTV’s Geordie Shore will be paying the Newport a visit. Entry to all events are free. Pic: Hook N Sling
Pic: Juan Atkins
PRODUCER’S CUT
DARKSIDE OMEGA IS THE ALPHA
Darkside is a collaboration between electronic musician Nicholas Jaar (best known for his acclaimed 2011 album Space Is Only Noise) and guitarist Dave Harrington. The LP comes on the back of their recent surreal reimagining of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories and is a fusion of introspective rock and conceptual electronica which for many is heading down a road sign-posted as ‘pretentious’ and should be avoided, but not dismissed too quickly. This sort of sound has been done before, most recently by Trentemøller and in the ‘90s by bands such as The Aloof and Lionrock and is one that needs time to be absorbed before one is comfortable with the sombre melodies and haunting vocals. Opener Freak, Go Home is certainly one of these growers whilst The Only Shrine I’ve Seen, the most upbeat track on the release, displays hints of Pink Floyd along with its guiding bass and guitar licks. The bluesy Paper Trails is a conventional rock track that could have been released anytime in the last 50 years. This is not a dance album, but it is sufficiently different and has elements of interest that give it a charm, meaning it can’t be dismissed too quickly.
Producers you’re digging? Aoki Takamasa of the current ones. Overall, it has to be Mitar Subotic, better known as Suba. He was a Serbian producer who moved to Sao Paolo, started a career by producing the first Bebel Gilberto album, then tragically died in a fire in his apartment while trying to save the tapes. Quick overview of your year: I have released a free His album Sao Paolo Confessions is one of my all time download EP with seven songs, which got picked up fave albums! as a ‘Local Release Of The Week’ on RTRFM. As always, they’ve been very supportive of my music. Played a Who shouldn’t we miss at Seriously Sound System? few shows, still learning how to work this music in the Kucka. live show situation. What’s on the cards for 2014? Hopefully doing an Tools of your trade? Laptop and Audacity. I use album as Omega Is The Alpha, having a new release Reaper live. Basically, I prepare a different mix with out with Smrts and to debut my new band, Night slightly different tunes every time I do a live set. It’s Signals. still ‘press play and fiddle with the knobs’... there is not much room for improvisation. I keep that for my Omega Is The Alpha plays RTRFM’s Seriously Sound other solo stuff. System on Saturday, December 14 @ The Bakery. What kind of music do you make? Electronic dance, computer-made music. I’m new in this field, not too familiar with it, so I’m making something that I would like to listen too.
BEHIND THE DECKS
ANDREW NELSON
NAOMI FAYE
OUT OF 5
DANNY BROWN Old Fool’s Gold Records/Warner Danny Brown is like a living cartoon character, his voice is Looney Toons and his subject matter is Liquid Television. Essentially his first official album following some free downloads and mixtapes, it’s a highly polished release. Divided into two parts, the first half 38
sees him utilising a slightly more traditional hip hop sound with beats provided by the likes of Oh No and Paul White. Nevertheless, he maintains the wackiness his fans have grown accustomed to, while his lyrics are sort of scattered around the beat, creating a chaotic but engaging experience. Upping the ante on the second half, he’s recruited producers with a more neon, dancefloor vibe including UK bass music star Rustie. The combination of these two is one of highlights of the record, as precision of the rhythms counter balances the frenzied lyrics. In fact, the later half of the record is packed with so much energy it’s almost exhausting to listen to, and will probably grate with some listeners. This isn’t your chilled afternoon, Tribe Called Quest kind of hip hop - it’s more like M.O.P on shrooms or Ol’ Dirty Bastard at a rave. NICK SWEEPAH
Most exciting moment on stage? When I jumped on the stage with Iggy And The Stooges, back in 2006! I doubt anything ever can top that in my book. Weirdest thing that’s happened while performing? Got a young woman rubbing herself all over me while I played solo at the Hydey years ago. It was uncomfortable and I was in the middle of the songs and I could not just remove her by force. The audience loved it.
Psychic Modular Recordings
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TECHNO CITY Detroit techno legend, Juan Atkins - compatriots of Derrick May and Kevin Saunderson is locked in for an Australian club tour. From his beginnings in the ‘80s and right throughout the decade of the 00‘s, Juan Atkins has continued to make his mark on the electronic world, with extraordinary releases on Subject Detroit and New Religion (including his Back To Basics series). Catch him at a party presented by the Likes Of You at The Court Hotel on Sunday, January 19 with support from Craig Hollywood and Allstate. Tickets on sale through Oztix.
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BONOBO Late Night Tales, the popular compilation series where chosen musicians curate a mix of tracks for “late at night” has become an after party staple. British producer Bonobo (Simon Green) is the latest musician to conduct Late Night Tales and after six successful albums, he is more than qualified for the job. A reflection of his musical inspiration over the years, Green describes his selection as “neo-classical to more abstract electronic pieces to spiritual jazz”. Featuring experimental pieces by Shlohmo, Lapalux and Romare, and jazz numbers by Nina Simone and Hypnotic Brass Band, Bonobo’s track choices will keep listeners up until the early hours of the morning, meandering through thoughts and deep conversation. Dustin O’Halloran’s An Ending A Beginning is a stunning start, and as the title suggests, it motivates even the most tired souls to stay up and begin a new end. Following Late Night Tales’ tradition of featuring a cover version by the chosen curator, Bonobo presents his reading of Donovan’s Get Thy Bearings taken from his 1968 album The Hurdy Gurdy Man. With vocalist Szjerdene, Bonobo’s version is smooth and sweet, contemporary jazz. Eddi Front begins the end of this compilation with her magnificent breakup song Gigantic, so if you do you end up drifting off to sleep, you’re sure to wake up to something beautiful.
Pic: Robosonic
Pic: Phetsta
“All my vocals are done, just working on my mixes. It’s gon’ be crazy man, I can’t wait,” he teases. As for dividing time between the studio and the road, Flocka is philosophical. “It’s a balance man, know what I’m sayin’? Doing shows, it’s all music.” As for what Flocka does in his downtime to unwind, he retorts that there isn’t really a downtime at this stage in his life. “It’s not about me right now. I might have a couple of massages, then I’m back workin’. It’s not about me right now,” he reiterates. “It’s all work.” Not limiting his pursuits to a purely music medium, Flocka is the star of the recently released WakaVille, a zombie slaying video game for mobile platforms. It’s indicative of a grander vision for legacy building. “It’s amazing man... the start of a dynasty right now. The whole business is more than just music. This right here is my baby steps. We just keep moving forward and keep making history,” he declares. As for what Australian audiences can expect for Flocka’s debut tour, chances are we’re in store for a rap show like we’ve never seen before. “I’m just gonna come do what the hell I do.”
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Late Night Tales Late Night Tales/Balance Music/EMI
German duo, Robosonic aka Cord and Sacha are getting set to murder the dancefloors of Australia - stopping in for a Habitat party on the rooftop of Bob’s Bar on Sunday, December 22. The duo came to the clubbing world’s attention last summer with their hit record, Worst Love on Off Recordings - hitting the top spots on Beatport. They followed this up with the interesting, Feldrecord Im Zirkus EP (amongst other things) which played tribute to pianist, Laura Weider. Expect a wild party and some hi-tech soul when the boys get behind the decks. We hear tickets have already sold out for this one - so best start wheeling and dealing.
BOSTON SWITCH Describe your genre in a few words? Basically house party vibes - anything from electro, moombah, dubstep, drum’n’bass, all the way back to hip hop and old school tracks. Overview of your year? I headlined the local stage of three festivals - Southbound, Future Music and Groovin’ The Moo. I also performed at both Stereosonic and Summadayze; a couple of shows at Sky Garden and Eikon Bar in Bali; a mini east coast tour and hosted a launch party for my own signature surfboard (Boston Switch Model) with Clearwater Surfboard - before heading to Indonesia for three months of surfing and shooting for my sponsors.
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How long have you been DJing for? I’m unsure of the first time I actually laid hands on decks, but my first club appearance was roughly two years ago for the Into The Limelite competition at Villa in 2011. Since then I was hooked. Best track to open and close a set with? I’d have to say any Shockone track! I always find myself opening with his tracks they just have so much energy and always a great hook. Strangest thing that’s happened to you while DJing? The craziest thing would have to be crowd surfing at the Margaret River Pro. I jumped off the table to crowd surf and my foot kicked my laptop mid air, which did an entire back flip off the table and landed perfectly on the ground without the slightest skip or bump in the track. I was amazed it didn’t kill the music or my laptop! Catch Boston Switch at the Hotel Southbound Tour Parties on Friday, December 13 @ Varsity Bar; Saturday @ Gnarabar, Margaret River and on Sunday @ The Botanica. Parties are happening ‘round WA until December 29.
THE SHAPESHIFTERS Return to their roots It’s been 10 years since UK house duo The Shapeshifters teamed up to carve a place for house music in the world. But as they celebrate the occasion with anniversary tours, the two have little time for nostalgia. Simon Marlin talks to HAYLEY DAVIS before capping off their anniversary year at The Court’s Boxing Day Foam Party on Thursday, December 26. When Simon Marlin first started making music he was recording mixes on tapes. Over a decade later, he and Swedish born Max Reich are marking 10 years of causing trouble in the industry by releasing the double disc compilation album, Analogue To Digital… And Back Again. One disc features the remixes they’ve done over the years from Empire Of The Sun and George Michael to Christina Aguilera. The other has four original tracks and remixes of their biggest hits by the likes of dance music titans Laidback Luke and Mercury. Analogue To Digital also includes a new take on Lola’s Theme, the notorious track that sent them to the top of the UK charts ten years ago. Since that hit they’ve worked across the spectrum of legends in the industry including Nile Rodgers of Chic, as well as founding their own record label (Nocturnal Groove) holding residencies in Ibiza, and being hailed one of the UK’s best ever dance acts. Moving and shaking in the scene well before Lola’s Theme, the pair is hardly stuck in times past. Modestly acknowledging the milestone, Marlin believes they’re making some of their best music right now. “That’s what I’m excited about,” he says. “I appreciate the past and I love what I’ve done in the past and I’m proud of what I’ve done in the past, but for every artist it’s all about what we’re doing in the future.” And that future sees the boys returning to their roots. “I do feel like we’re making the best music we’ve made in a long, long time... we’ve gone back to what we did originally, which was take inspiration from our funk and soul backgrounds.” After retreating for some time from producing records for the charts because they felt
the industry had lost its way, Marlin says dance music has now found its place in the world. “It’s not just the bastard child of the music industry anymore. When we first started, people didn’t take it seriously, you know,” he explains. “House music has definitely come back in a big way so that makes us a bit more inspired. We have struggled in the last couple of years with the whole EDM thing. We definitely felt that the scene had lost its way. So we pulled back but now we’re inspired.” Never the shrinking violets, Simon gets frustrated with the volume of under-produced work that gets churned out nowadays. “Whereas before you would have to press vinyl which is a whole process in itself, you would have to go through a lot more processes before you let the world hear it. So that naturally weeded out some of the crap.” His advice to the many kids that can now pick up a laptop and become a DJ: “Believe me I know it’s really hard, when you’re faced with 10,000 people in front of you and you’re playing what you love and it’s not quite connecting. You’re like: “Should I reach for this? Should I suck Satan’s cock, or not? It’s better to be true to what you believe in then play a lot of shit that you don’t believe in - then what are you doing it for?
DIESELBOY Solitude Is Bliss Heading to Villa on Saturday, December 14 for an Inhibit event also featuring XKore & Dose, Damian Higgins aka Dieselboy, gave TOM KITSON his views on the art of DJing, technological changes in music and the importance of selfmotivation. Through his career as a prominent US DJ/ producer across multiple genres, Higgins was the first drum’n’bass artist to break into the Billboard’s dance chart with his tune, Invid in 2000. Since then he founded the Human Imprint label, has written tracks for film and video games and continued releasing singles, remixes and mixtapes. His passion for DJing itself has been his most important endeavour of late, utilising his skill and advances in technology to add complexity to his sets. “Right now I am focused on dialling in my DJ game even further than what I’ve previously been capable of,” he says. “I recently made the switch to playing with flash drives and that’s enabled me to put together more detailed, textured and layered sets. Beyond that, I’m working on a new project of 175 BPM music, though not directly drum’n’bass, under a new name,” he says. “The name Dieselboy carries with it a certain d’n’b weight, and I want to be able to explore other experiments without that stigma.” Dividing his time evenly between making music and running his label, Higgins finds his musical drive and purpose when in solitude. “I get most inspired when I am alone in my own thoughts, in the shower, staring out plane windows,” he says. “I feel that space and quiet help inform my creative process. I make music to explore certain artistic elements within myself but also because in today’s market you have to produce music in order to continue having opportunities to DJ, which is somewhat ridiculous in my opinion.” D e s p i te o f te n m i x i n g e l e c t ro a n d dubstep elements into his live sets, his love of d’n’b seems to always draw him back. “For a while I experimented with playing different tempo music styles in my sets in order to mix it up more, but in the past year I have
returned to just playing 175 BPM drum’n’bass/ drumstep,” he says. “At the end of the day, it’s my favourite type of music to play.” Letting go of a bunch of analog studio equipment in favour of a simple computer and monitor set up, he still uses traditional live mixing techniques and multiple decks when performing. “Nothing is pre-determined however, and the entire experience is, in fact, live,” he says. “My push is on DJing and less on crowd surfing, Jesus posing or basically anything that takes me away from actually DJing.” Unaffected by the pressure that comes with topping charts and best DJ lists; it’s enabled a fierce attitude to produce work that reaches his own standards. “I always make music that inspires me, given my tastes at that moment,” he says. “The only pressure I feel is from myself and I’m my worst critic.” WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU
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AMPLIFIER/ CAPITOL Harlem Wednesdays THE BIRD Shplit single launch ft. Catlips / Pete / Rok Riley THE BRASS MONKEY Victor CAPITOL Joey Bada$$ CLUB RED SEA Cheek GOLD BAR Famous Wednesdays THE GRAND Anthony Grier GROOVE BAR (CROWN) DJ Crazy Craig THE LLAMA BAR Akuna Club MUSTANG BAR DJ James MacArthur PLAYERS BAR Why Wait Wednesday? ft. DJ Ambadextrus SOVEREIGN ARMS Jordan Scott THE VILLAGE BAR Village People Wednesdays THURSDAY 12/12
THE CAUSEWAY Xport Thursdays CLUB RED SEA Candyshop CONNECTIONS Bingay THE CRAFTSMAN FiveO EVE NIGHTCLUB Retro Thursdays ft. DJ Crazy Craig FLYRITE Boomtick Christmas Party ft. DJ Electro Blanket / Sparklehaüs / K-san / The Smiling Observer / You’ve Been Nick’d / Waka Flocka Hart / FMT (featuring MC Pinchy)
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KALAMUNDA Grizzly LEISURE INN DJ Peta MALT Collective NEWPORT HOTEL Tiki Bar Open Mic Night FRIDAY 13/12
AIR NIGHTCLUB VIP Platinum Fridays AMBAR Black Laces / BMB / Escue / Standards Down / Pussymittens AMPLIFIER Fridays Are Back THE AVENUE DJ Lokie Shaw THE BAYSWATER Jon Ee THE BEAT (DOWNSTAIRS) PLAY THE BIRD London Town ft. Viv G / HW Sims / Annert / Jack B THE BRASS MONKEY Greene George & James Ess THE BRIGHTON DJ Peta C5 METRO FREO Fresco Flow Fridays CAPITOL Capitol Fridays ft. DJ Roger Smart
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MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL
MONARCH @ VILLA
METRO FREO
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Hopsin - Sunday, December 15 @ The Bakery
CAPITOL (UPSTAIRS) I Love 80’s & 90’s CLUB RED SEA Awol CONNECTIONS Get Weird ft. Late Night Tuff Guy THE CAUSEWAY Acoustic Sundowner THE COMO Jay Lee Lloyd THE CRAFTSMAN Britty DAILY PLANET Sundowner Sessions THE DEEN Student Night FLAWLESS Monarch Fridays
FLYRITE DEADWEIGHT ft. Zeke / Nebula / Shobu & Bockman / Bazil Zemplys GEISHA Tube & Berger THE GENEROUS SQUIRE Anaru GINGER NIGHTCLUB Mondos “Feel Good” Dance Party GOLD BAR Friday Vanity THE GRAND Jay Mackay GROOVE BAR (CROWN) DJ Crazy Craig
THE HIGHWAY HOTEL Crackers LAKERS TAVERN Grizzly LIBRARY Sneaky MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL DJ Darren Wize MUSTANG BAR Swing DJ/ Cheeky Monkeys/ DJ James MacArthur METRO FREO Frat House Fridays ft. Death Disco MY PLACE Karaoke NEWPORT Gravity PARAMOUNT Flyte/ DJ John/ Jordan PARKER Alex Metric ft. Philly Blunt, Axen & Paradise Paul PLAYERS BAR Hooch THE QUEENS Reuben ROCKET ROOM Howlers ft. DJ Frank N Bean SOVEREIGN ARMS Jordan Scott THE SAINT Garrison VILLA MINISTRY OF SOUND: THE ANNUAL 2014 ft. Uberjak’d & Chardy THE WHALE & ALE DJ Spinback YAYA’S ACE ft DJ Pup SATURDAY 14/12
Deekline - Thursday, December 26 @ Breakfest, Belvoir Amphitheatre
AMBAR Underground Christmas Party ft. Ben Mac / Tone / Philly Blunt / Benny P / Marko Paulo / Bezwun / Micah / Dead Easy / MR.eD / DNGRFLD AMPLIFIER Pure Pop ft. Eddie Electric
Joey Bada$$ - Wednesday, December 11 @ Capitol
THE AVIARY Just For The Night THE BALMORAL Back To The 80’s BAR 120 Little Nicky THE BAKERY RTRFM’s Seriously Sound System ft. Omega Is The Alpha / Kuč ka / Bastian’s Happy Flight & more BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) CANVAS BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) Big Kidz BRASS MONKEY DJ Peta & Jordan Scott THE BRIGHTON DJ Mel C5 METRO FREO I Love 80s & 90s ft. Darren Tucker / Dr Wazz CAPITOL Death Disco ft. Death Disco DJs CAPITOL (UPSTAIRS) Cream of the 80s ft. DJ Roger Smart CLUB RED SEA Fresh Saturdays THE CAUSEWAY House Party
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THE COMO Anaru EAST END BAR Home FLAWLESS LQ Saturdays FLAWLESS Cube GENEROUS SQUIRE Defauntly GOLD BAR Saturday Pure Gold THE GOOD SHEPHERD Chocolate Jesus THE GRAND Jay Mackay GROOVE BAR (CROWN) DJ Dan LEEDERVILLE HOTEL (DOWNSTAIRS) Under The Arena Party THE LIBRARY DJ Victor / DJ Riki LOST SOCIETY Chalk METRO FREO Metropolis Saturdays ft. Darren Tucker / Dr Wazz / Ben Carter / Shane Hewson MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL DJ Gary Hawkins
Ku č ka
RTRFM’s Seriously Sound System SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14 @ THE BAKERY PARKER Parker Saturdays ft. Drifter, Kastel, Paul Scott, Chiari, ACEBASIK PARAMOUNT Felix/ DJ John/ Jordan PLAYERS BAR LUXE THE QUEENS Kenny L THE SAINT Az-T THE SHED Huge / DJ Andy SOVEREIGN ARMS River Milnes TIGER LIL’S DJ Bojan/ Benjamin Sebastian/ Alex Koresis VILLA Dieselboy / Xkore / Dose / Killafoe & J.Nitrous / Vltrn / Gracie & SISTYM
THE WHALE & ALE DJ Spinback THE WEMBLEY HOTEL Lokie Shaw YAYA’S Arcadia All Nighter SUNDAY 15/12
THE BAKERY Hopsin THE BRIGHTON Squinty THE CAPTAIN STIRLING Lokie Shaw EMPIRE BAR DJ Victor/ DJ Riki EVE NIGHCLUB DJ Slick GROOVE BAR (CROWN) DJ Crazy Craig LAKERS TAVERN James Ess MULLALOO BEACH HOTEL Kenny L / DJ Degraff / DJ Slick
MUSTANG BAR DJ Rockin’ Rhys NEWPORT DJ Tom Drummond THE PEEL ALE HOUSE Hages ROSEMOUNT HOTEL The Get Down THE SAINT DJ Jon Ee/ Az-T THE QUEENS Fiveo & Sam Spencer MONDAY 16/12
MUSTANG BAR Triple Shots THE ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Bada Bingo! TUESDAY 17/12
MUSTANG BAR Danza Loca Salsa Night
Deadline Monday 5pm. The Club Manual is a service to advertisers listing all DJs & Dance Music. All inclusions are at the discretion of X-Press. Email guide@xpressmag.com.au
OCEAN ONE BAR
MY PLACE
THIS WEEK CATLIPS SHPLIT SINGLE LAUNCH ft. Pete / Rok Riley 11 The Bird
JOEY BADA$$ 11 Capitol MINISTRY OF SOUND: THE ANNUAL 2014 ft. Uberjak’d & Chardy 13 Villa ALEX METRIC Philly Blunt, Axen & Paradise Paul 13 Parker FRIDAY THE 13TH ft. Black Laces/ BMB/ Escue/ Standards Down/ Pussymittens 13 Ambar GET WEIRD & THE MONARCHY PRESENTS LATE NITE TUFF GUY 13 Connections TUBE & BERGER 13 Geisha HOOK N SLING 13 Newport AMBAR’S UNDERGROUND CHRISTMAS PARTY 14 Ambar
PEKING DUK 18 Newport WAKA FLOCKA FLAME 19 Metropolis Fremantle GUTI 19 Malt MIDLAND 20 The Bakery BOTNEK 20 Ambar INHIBIT’S DRUM’N’BASS ft. Rregula, Spectrem, VLTRN, Greg Packer & more 20 Shape Bar (both levels) HEDKANDI PRESENTS PIERO 21 Geisha ROBOSONIC 22 Bob’s Bar (sold out) METRIC XMAS PARTY ft. Clubfeet 23 Villa BREAKFEST ft. Stanton Warriors/ LTJ Bukem/ Plump DJs & more 26 Belvoir Amphitheatre
DIESELBOY, XKORE & TEDDY KILLERZ 14 Villa
BREAKFEST AFTER PARTY 26 Ambar
RTRFM’S SERIOUSLY SOUND SYSTEM ft. Omega Is The Alpha, Kucka, Bastian’s Happy Flight & more 14 The Bakery
BOXING DAY FOAM PARTY ft. Shapeshifters (UK) 26 The Court
THE PRESETS & NINA LAS VEGAS (sold out) 15 Hotel Rottnest HOPSIN 15 The Bakery DECEMBER LOOPTROOP ROCKETS, SAGE FRANCIS 18 Villa
CAKE ft. Wordlife / Genga / Drifter / Get More / Beyond Tha Noize 27 Parker
SALT ON THE BEACH ft. De La Soul 31 North Fremantle Beach STICKY FINGERS NYE ft. Stillwater Giants, Lyall Moloney, Death Disco DJs & Micah 31 Capitol ORIGIN ft. Wiz Khalifa/ A$AP Rocky & more 31 Ozone Reserve SOUL CLAP & WOLF + LAMB 31 The Bakery PARKERS NEW YEARS EVE 31 Parker
BENI 10 Metropolis Fremantle 11 Amplifier SUNDOWN SESSIONS ft. Fat Freddy’s Drop 18 Scarborough Beach PHETSA FAREWELL TOUR 18 Villa JUAN ATKINS 19 The Court
WONDERLAND ft. Sampology, Indian Summer, The Kite String Tangle & more 1 Myre Rooftop IAN CAREY 3 Parker
BEDROOM TO BIG HOUSE (DJ COMP) ft. Yolanda Be Cool 27 Metropolis Fremantle
SOUTHBOUND ft. Bonobo, Horrorshow, Solange, MGMT, Anna Lunoe & more 4-5 Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton
MARTEN HØRGER 31 Ambar
CYRIL HAHN 4 The Bakery
AUSTRA 17 Chevron Festival Gardens
THE ASTON SHUFFLE 23 Secret Show
MARK KNIGHT 25 The Deen
CLUB PARADISO ft. Bag Raiders & Yacht Club DJs 1 Salt On The Beach
EBONY BONES 16 Chevron Festival Gardens
HEAVYWEIGHT SOUNDZ ft. London Elektricity, Memtrix, MC Wrec 24 Metro City
LEE FIELDS & THE EXPRESSIONS 31 Rooftop Movies CUBAN CLUB ft. De La Soul/ DJ Yoda 1 The Flying Squadron Yacht Club
DJ SHADOW 15 Chevron Festival Gardens
DJ FOOD/ DJ CHEEBA/DJ MONEYSHOT 18 Chevron Festival Gardens
MAX VANGELI 24 Villa
JANUARY
MIAMI HORROR 15 Amplifier
DANNY DAZE 23 The Collective @ Malt
DJ T 31 Geisha
AVICII 27 Perth Arena HANNAH WANTS 31 Parker FEBRUARY ALICE RUSSELL February 6 & 7 Chevron Festival Gardens
ST JEROME’S LANEWAY FESTIVAL ft. Cashmere Cat/ Earl Sweatshirt/ Four Tet/ Jamie XX 8 Esplanade Park & West End, Fremantle #TOGETHER ft. Taku/Zeke/Kit Pop/ Cosmo Gets/Sable 8 Chevron Festival Gardens 100 MILLION NIGHTS 11 Chevron Festival Gardens LADI6 & HOME BREW 13 Chevron Festival Gardens
AMPLIFIER
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT ft. Roy Ayers 27 Chevron Festival Gardens PUBLIC ENEMY 28 Chevron Festival Gardens MARCH KERSER w/ DJ Dazastah, Bitter Belief, Complete & Omac 1 Metro City
FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL ft. Deadmau5/ Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/ Phoenix/ Hardwell & more 2 Arena Joondalup GOOD LIFE ft. Deadmau5/ Macklemore & Ryan Lewis/ Hardwell & more 3 Arena Joondalup ILLY 21 Capitol BATHS 23 The Bakery JURASSIC 5 28 Metro City
Ambar takes out ‘Best Night Club’ and Philly Blunt with ‘Best Club Night’ for Japan 4. Photo by Adam Mazur.
PERTH DANCE MUSIC AWARDS Final Farewell The Court Hotel Sunday, December 8, 2013 Over the last 15 years, Perth dance music has been underpinned by a dedicated group of people hell bent on forging a scene here in the west. That scene is now said to rival cities all over the world and the Perth Dance Music Awards (PDMAs) and its directors have played a large part in helping to recognition some of the best in their chosen fields. But after 15 years running, directors Petar Ceklic, Liz Sheehan and Chris Dart-Kelly are wrapping up the PDMAs, with the final awards night was held at The Court last Sunday. After seeing the industry expand enormously in the last few years, the directors believe they had taken the awards as far as they could go. With categories numbering 28, the PDMAs have done much to raise the bar for dance music in WA, encouraging people to strive for the awards and providing a platform for exposing new talent. Revelers and industry folk gathered to make it a night to remember – and a night to remember it was. There were twerking and mini-golf competitions, a slut-dropping podium dancer who kept sneaking his way on to the stage after being bounced
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‘Best Techno DJ’, Craig Hollywood. Photo by Adam Mazur.
and a notable highlight when Mikee Kinsella (aka Blend) called everyone “cunts”. It was also an emotional awards night for many, with the late Jeremy Junk and John ‘Gully’ Rodgers being inducted into the ‘Hall Of Fame’. Junk (otherwise known under any one of the monikers Delirium, Mr W or Mr Whippy) was hailed by the PDMAs and Kevin Nugent as having “almost single handedly overseen the ascension of electronic dance music from dusty, small illegal warehouse parties to the large scale festivals we see today, all while retaining authentic underground credibility.” Puff (Gerard Eaton) accepted Jeremy’s award. Gully’s parents, Alma and Con Rodgers accepted the induction on his behalf. His 20-year legacy included forging tracks for breakbeat and electronic music not only in WA, but in China and Indonesia. He kicked it with the best in festivals throughout Europe and left lasting relics here in WA, with the establishment of the Nu-School DJ Academy and DJ course offered at the prestigious Guildford Grammar. Philly Blunt couldn’t of taken away more awards if he tried, taking out ‘Best Producer’, ‘Best Local Tune’, being a part of Japan 4 that scored ‘Best Club Night’ (alongside Blend, Wish, Prizzy, Mona Lisa and Marty McFly), ‘Best Breaks DJ’ and RTRFM’s Full Frequency for ‘Best Radio Show’. After an emotional year, Ambar was awarded ‘Best Nightclub’, with thanks going to all those in the community who’d banded together throughout the year to support the venue, which will now stay where it belongs, in the underground at its home on Murray Street. A full list of award winners can be found on the PDMA website. The community were treated to a night of entertainment by Craig Hollywood (‘Best Techno DJ’), Flex (‘Best Tech House DJ’), Illuminor (‘Best Trance DJ’), Miss Demeanour and DNGRFLD, Philly Blunt, Gracie and Timbee (awarded ‘Best Commercial DJ’). As the party continued into the wee hours of Monday morning, all involved gave a fine farewell to the PDMAs, venturing into the great unknown, wondering what will grow to fill the space. HAYLEY DAVIS
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LOCAL NEWS
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INTERVIEWS
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REVIEWS
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Q & A
Deerhunter - Photo by Daniel Grant
SLANTED AND ENCHANTED The Astor Theatre/The Bakery Saturday, December 7, 2013
Chic - Photo by Rachael Barrett
CHIC FEATURING NILE RODGERS Charlie Bucket/Bastian’s Happy Flight The Astor Theatre Sunday, December 8, 2013 I’ve been asking myself for the last few hours, ‘How on earth am I going to describe the events of Sunday’s Chic concert in such a short space?’ The phrase ‘good times dance party’ springs to mind and the dancing didn’t just start with Chic. As soon as DJ Charlie Bucket took the stage the booty shaking began and increased with every soulful beat. Also a DJ set from members of Bastian’s Happy Flight did not disappoint with some grooving numbers. These two DJ sets were the perfect backdrop for what was to be a funk-induced celebration of Chic hit maker, Nile Rodgers. As soon as they took to the stage everyone in the Astor Theatre knew it was going to be good. Really good. You could feel it. They started the set with popular Chic classic Everybody Dance and from then on it was literally hit after hit, and not just songs by Chic but songs that Nile Rodgers famously produced or co-wrote such as Madonna’s Like A Virgin, INXS’ Original Sin and Bowie’s Lets Dance in which the enthusiastic preacher-like drummer sang. These songs
were performed in a funky, Chic-like way whilst still retaining the true essence of the original tunes. Songs such as Diana Ross’s I’m Coming Out and Upside Down came together with energy, charisma and groove, and Chic’s Good Times and I Want Your Love hit the audience in a spectacular way. And we can’t forget the disco grooves of Sister Sledge hits like We Are Family and He’s The Greatest Dancer. It seems that Nile Rodgers was on a mission. A newfound passion and energy due to a recent health scare saw him engaging with the audience in an intimate way. The man just knows how to entertain. And how can you not love that signature Nile Rodgers pose, gesturing towards the crowd with his guitar, that smile and playing those recognisable funk guitar rhythms? It was one of those moments that was the highlight for me, as I heard the lead into Le Freak. I danced. Everyone danced. I even got a Chic-induced foot cramp from dancing so much. It was contagious and just when we thought that the grooving and partying couldn’t get any more intense, it did. The reason behind Nile Rodgers’ recent surge in popularity came to light as Daft Punk’s Get Lucky blasted across the theatre and Nile and his band grooved along with the audience. Even after this it wasn’t over as Nile ditched his guitar and did one final, almost victory-like, boogie along with the audience, singing the words to Daft Punk’s Lose Yourself To Dance - another tune he famously played on - showing the audience that he’s definitely still got it and providing a testament to the true essence that is Chic and Nile Rodgers. And in Nile’s own words “. . . that’s what I have been doing all my life and I’ll do it till the day I die.” So there we have it folks, I don’t know about you but I’m quitting my job and starting a boogie disco venue called Good Times after seeing that show. DOMINIQUE PRATT
CITY AND COLOUR Twin Forks Belvoir Amphitheatre Saturday, December 7, 2013 Canadian singer-songwriter Dallas Green took to the stage as the post-hardcore Alexis On Fire collective City And Colour at one of Perth’s greatest venues, Belvoir Amphitheatre, in support of the latest release The Hurry And The Harm for a night of magic under the stars. As the crowd trickled in, little by little, to capacity in no time for a night of roots and a folk love affair, the opener to warm up the crowd was American folk-rock four-piece Twin Forks, led by Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba. The set was a refreshing contemporary take, on a folk and country style that allowed you to lose yourself within the melody, and the talented traditional finger-picking techniques of Carrabba. The warm mellow crowd
naturally danced along to the catchy vibes of Cross My Mind from their latest self-titled EP. Next up, Melbourne’s four-piece alternative folk rockers Husky, won the hearts of the Perth audience, who were captured with every inch of guitarist/lead vocalist Husky Gawenda‘s voice. The clarity and essence of each note, along with the growth of pitch with the radiant melodic acoustic takes you on a journey as your mind floats across the lyrics to each track. Dallas Green casually strolled on stage, echoed by Belvoir’s at capacity crowd roaring with delight to the magical moment of the much-loved and inspiring presence of City And Colour diving right into their new track, Of Space And Time, which naturally evolved into The Lonely Life. It charmed the crowd, who immediately sang along. Green’s voice is hypnotic, drowning out all that is happening around you, opening his performance on a very high note that is impossible to ignore.
Taking its name from Pavement’s seminal debut album, the inaugural Slanted And Enchanted festival took over two venues across Perth on Saturday night with a feast of indie and electronic delights. Billed as a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ concert, punters had four stages to explore local and international talent. It was a cleverly curated lineup of acts with The Astor hosting a range of bands from 6pm-midnight, and The Bakery taking over til 3am on the electronic trip. Chicago’s Cave had a modest early Astor crowd enthralled. The instrumental groove-based band are tight as a drum and ooze a heavy, dense psychedelic sound. The two guitarists and bassist lock into a groove and ride it with impressive musicianship. Upstairs in the Cool Perth Nights Room, local band Cow Parade Cow were putting on a helluva show. The small theatre room, which had been decked out nicely, made for an intimate setting. Their awesome live show featured multiple drummers creating infections rhythms, and passionate vocals. The production at both venues was generally great all night, though one exception was the John Steel Singers, whose set was hampered with technical difficulties early on. The young Brisbane five-piece did valiantly to soldier on with some keyboard and vocal issues. After a of couple songs, suddenly the sound kicked in properly, much to the delight of the crowd and band, enabling them to display their full, laidback rock sound and four-way vocal harmonies. The explosive Metz burst onto the stage with a wall of sound. Sub Pop’s latest darlings pack a real punch, the Canadian three-piece winners of ‘loudest band of the night’. In the raw, thrash rock vein of Nirvana and The Melvins – their chunky distorted guitar, heavy bass and absolute beast of a drummer are a formidable combination, with lead singer Alex Edkins screaming into the mic. The enigmatic Deerhunter are always an intriguing live prospect. Bradford Cox is a contrary frontman – at times withdrawn, others screaming and rolling around on the floor. Sporting a blonde mop, he carries his notoriously slender frame with the manner of a more subdued Iggy Pop or Mick Jagger. Cox’s between-song banter was amusingly awkward, but he seemed to enjoy the randomness. Mumbling ‘Merry Christmas, Perth’ or grabbing a crown of flowers from an audience member and then discarding it, commenting he may be allergic, ‘What The band boasts a current lineup of Jack Lawrence on bass holding a beautiful subtle string of hooks, whilst drummer Doug MacGregor’s passion vibrated throughout the venue. Dante Schwebel and Dallas Green would pair up on guitars sending out a surge of booming solos timed with the sophisticated ambience of colour and lights maneuvering in a stellar fashion. Green’s assistant Matt Kelly on the pedal stew, organ and piano twinkled away each key under the star filled sky, adding to the essence of the magic of the evening. Then your attention would lock on to Green and his melodic acoustic charm after a switch of guitars, where despite there being a sold-out crowd the humble guy from Canada made each song feature a personal touch, sending a wave of emotions through you. The songs for the evening delved right back into the album Sometimes with the track Comin Home where emotions ran high, through to Body In A Box, Waiting, Sleeping Sickness, O Sister, The Grand Optimist and Little Hell making it clear that it’s just way to hard to choose a favourite. In between tracks Green would chat and laugh with the crowd, having a great stage presence, expressing to the crowd his love for the venue and
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are these, lilacs?’ He’s much more in his element leaning into the throes of feedback emanating from his amp. Don’t Cry was more rocked up than the fairly sedate recording. After a story about how he rescued a puppy from certain doom in the USA, he launched into an improvised version of Hendrix’s Star Spangled Banner, before handing vocal duties over to guitarist Lockett Pundt for the awesome Desire Lines, the extended outro rising to a crescendo of harmonic distortion. After the more chilled T.H.M. they finished things off in epic fashion with more walls of noise. After Deerhunter, many stumbled outside to bus or cab it to Part Two of the night over at The Bakery. A stream of punters just before midnight into the venue bolstered Craig Hollywood’s set. The PDMA-winning ‘Best Techno DJ’ eased the crowd through their transition with a finely mixed set of techy treats, before handing over to Kelpe, who grabbed the mic. ‘Hi I’m Kelpe from London. My computer just went mad, but it should be cool.’ And cool it was indeed – his computer’s sanity apparently not a problem. Rocking out a live MPC set, the man has mad skills that impressed many on his first Australian tour - a superbly crafted set of crisp beats that got people moving big time. And now for something completely different... New York rapper and dancer Le1f took to the stage, and totally owned it. Backed by DJ Mess Kid, he put on a real show - a flamboyant and dramatic performer, he throws himself into it with big tracks like Wut and Damn Son. His rapid fire delivery and aerobic dancing really got the crowd involved. Meanwhile in the Black Box room Lower Spectrum played a brilliant MPC set. The Melbournite has recently relocated to Perth and is sure to make an impact with some seriously smooth tunes. Finishing off the night was much raved about UK producer Jon Hopkins on his first visit to Perth. A man of the finest pedigree, there were high expectations, but he met those and then some. A blustering live set of glitchy breaks and bass, featuring tracks from his superb LP Immunity, We Disappear and Open Eye Signal were delivered slickly. He featured his track used on the Brian Eno co-produced Coldplay album, Viva La Vida, Light Through The Veins – the tune’s lush, harmonic progression was a real highlight, rising and rising to a euphoric peak. An incredible performance, he manipulated several Kaos pads to twist and contort the mix, spanning many genres, his music is truly next-level. The sheer power and energy of his set was tangible. The rabid crowd enticed him back on stage for one last tune before the amazing night of music sadly came to an end. The success of the gig will hopefully pave the way for more niche, boutique events, recognising the crossover of the indie and dance music camps. It would be fair to say next year’s festival is already highly anticipated! ALFRED GORMAN
how usually musicians just get placed in a back-room: ‘A lot of places suck. Truly be thankful that this is here.’ Whilst also joking around with the audience to savour the moment with each track and to put away all phones and cameras, teasing that the choice of crop position and filter can wait. The audience responded in harmonious giggles with Green, demonstrating his all out down-to-earth essence. The request to sing along with Green was only made once, and from that moment Belvoir was filled with a mass of harmonies. The night ended with a plethora of appreciations: ‘Thank you very much guys. It is pretty dark, but when the lights turn and I see how many people are here, it’s really kind of you to be interest in these song. Very kind. Appreciate it.’ From that the night ended all to soon with The Girl and Death Song. Leaving Belvoir it was clear, Perth’s love affair with the humble, amazingly gifted City And Colour was high and undeniable. The unique sound and loving atmosphere they provide with every note, key and beat creates an experience that you don’t want to see an end to. Perth was presented with an inspiring and magical musical evening. KRISTINA SIMICH 43
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LOCAL NEWS
KILL DEVIL HILLS Ghost Latitudes The Kill Devil Hills launch their new live album, Past And Future Ghosts, this Sunday, December 15, at Mojos, supported by The Floors. BOB GORDON reports. “’Twas a balmy eve in a small port town off the coast of...’” Kill Devil Hills singer/guitarist, Brendon Humphries, allows for a little mythology to creep in when recalling the night the band’s new live album, Past And Future Ghosts, was recorded in Fremantle. However, the band’s trademark gritty realism soon kicks in. “The original reason for this recording was for it to be a European tour release,” he recalls. “So we did it in something of a hurry to get it done in time for a tour that never eventuated. We quickly pulled together the crew to record and film it, roped in a few guest performer friends and off we went. What was intended to be more of an unplugged kinda thing got sonically ambushed somewhere along the way.” When a band knows that its performance is being recorded for a release - or often even for mere posterity - it can have quite an effect on its instincts. They don’t call it red light fever for nothing. “It’s great,” Humphries enthuses, “It pushes the band to play with extra focus, though when you’re just relying on the one show, not the typical two or three shows that live albums are compiled from, there’s a little voice in the back of your head saying, ‘don’t fuck up’. “I’d record every gig if we could, let it become something normal. The best ones are always those that never get recorded, though.”
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INTERVIEWS
What was the thinking in terms of the song choice for performance and eventual release? “We just picked out whatever we liked the vibe of,” Humphries says. “It didn’t need to be perfect, but it did need to be something we could listen to without wincing. “The actual performance that night went for over 100 minutes, we played a lot of material we hadn’t touched for a while. There was one older song we had never got onto an album that we were really hoping would make the cut but it was a pretty average version, a slippery eel of a tune.” Fans of the Kill Devil Hills will probably get a different listening experience from the album to that of the band itself. It certainly speaks unusually to Humphries... “It whispers breathily, ‘thank God we got away with that’. It’s very much a kind of bringinginto-the-present of a lot of the material we’ve played for ages, alongside newer songs. How the band is now is not how it was 10 or even five years ago, it’s a different line-up, heavier sound, new material, etc. “We’ve always developed songs more live, after we recorded them on an album. Which is a bit stupid really, but hey, that’s how we roll.” And the Kill Devils Hills have been rolling for 10 years now. It’s been a creative, rugged type of journey but one that he initially struggles to characterise. “That’s a very difficult question to answer,” he begins, “there’s a lot I’ve blocked out or don’t remember very clearly. “As an experience it vacillates somewhere between being a Contiki tour devised by Satan, and the most fucking fun I’ve had in my life. Some crazy and hilarious shit goes on, especially when touring. Like a rewarding case of Giardia, perhaps.” Other than taking their prescribed medication and drinking plenty of fluids, Kill Devil Hills will be well busy heading into the New Year. “We’re in the process of finishing our next studio album here in Perth,” says Humphries. “There’s not far to go, the working title is A Fistful Of Bees. Then it all gets silly again where we prattle on to the media and public about how great it is, and try and trick/convince people to buy it, or at least come along and window-shop. “There will be lots of shows here in Australia, and we intend to get overseas later in the year. I’d quite like to go to Japan.” Pic: Guang-Hui Chuan
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CATHERINE TRAICOS Golden Silence Catherine Traicos will be playing A Not So Silent Night at the Rosemount Hotel December 21. CHRIS HAVERCROFT reports. The music of Traicos suits someone who has had many addresses – to the point that she even won an Unpaved Female Vocalist of the Year award as people thought she lived in Melbourne even when she was residing in Sydney. The tunes are slow and thoughtful, which gives the listener time to digest and appreciate the space between notes. Traicos was joined by her band The Starry Night for her latest record The Earth, The Sea, The Moon, The Sky. Although she still plays solo shows, Traicos says there is ample space for her stripped back folk tunes and her full band to coexist. “I write a few songs at a time and they either work with the band or they don’t,” says Traicos. “We can make something that is essentially what we do with them or we won’t. It is quite an easy process in the end. It’s more a case of us saying ‘this sounds shit, or this sounds great’.” “Every now and again there is a song that someone doesn’t like, but the rest of the band will just bully them into playing it. They come around in the end. What I like about this band is that we all definitely have a say in everything. There are songs that we play that I don’t particularly like but the band like it. It’s fun if you are team.” Each band member brings their own unique element to the creative process. Traicos is grateful for tis contribution, but more so the way that they collectively challenge her to do her best at all times. Each band member has a different background and whether they be bringing an experimental touch or a pop aesthetic, the sum is greater than its parts. “I don’t know where I fit in. I just write songs that feel right. I guess I do things a lot slower than other people in my life in general, and that comes through in the music as well. I like to take my time. I enjoy hearing each part of the music so I like to linger on things.” When talking to Traicos she is a vibrant and witty conversationalist. It is a long way from the persona you would expect of someone who is prone to penning dark tunes. Traicos prefers to think of her songs and strangely humorous, and believes that there is a dark
humour in there that may have a positive vibe to it. “I think that shiny happy music is really hard to do and be genuine at the same time. The Beatles did it and it is great, but now days there is lots of fake chirpy music where people obviously don’t mean it, so please just stop doing it. Which is me being horrible and cynical. I like to think that there is a subculture of people who will question what we are fed in the mainstream media in Australia and I really enjoy being a part of that. We don’t have a giant fan base, but there are people who enjoy what we do and that helps me to get out of bed every day.” The title of the album The Earth, The Sea, The Moon, The Sky suggests that Traicos may subscribe to some Wicca code of living, but other than her having watched every episode of Charmed, there is nothing that connects Traicos to the world of the witch. “I don’t follow any religion or subscribe to any strain of spirituality, but I do meditate. I love crystals and all that kind of stuff, so I’m into that. The title came from a song that is about the life of the goddess Athena and it all kind of came from there. The album cover has an owl on it and Athena’s companion was an owl and it has the olive branch on the back as well. I love her as a role model as she was someone who was almost asexual. There was no sexual politics around her ruling I guess. She was a really powerful being and she was a women, so she was inspiring.” Catherin Traicos
RAILWAY HOTEL This Friday night catch some acoustic tunes from Darren Guthrie, Lost At Sea, Fletcher Joyce and US singer-songwriter Brian Hoehn. Doors open 8pm and entry is by donation. Saturday night it’s the monthly Teachings In Dub night with tunes courtesy of The KBI Sound System. Doors open 8pm and entry is free! Sunday, December 15 catch the Gignition new band showcase featuring Blue City Underground, Severity One, The Mondays, Della Fern and Aishl. Doors open 6pm and entry is $8.
THE BEAT NIGHTCLUB This Friday the 13th The Beat upstairs hosts a horror show of epic proportions with The New Husseins being supported by Creature, Gutter Drakes and Medicine. Stick around afterwards for The Black Fridays’ dress up party! Saturday, Iconoclast release their new single at Runaways, supported by the Gold Coast’s I Shall Devour. Doors at 10pm.
MUSTANG BAR This Wednesday catch Easy Tigers with DJ James MacArthur. Thursday it’s Dallas Royal and Ray Finkle with DJ James MacArthur. Friday groove to the Oz Big Band with Swing DJ, plus Cheeky Monkeys with DJ James MacArthur. Saturday, it’s The Burger Kings with DJ Holly Doll and Flash Nat & The Action Men with DJ James MacArthur, while Sunday sees the return of Tailgate Sunday with Special Brew and The Isolites with DJ Holly Doll.
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SWALLOW BAR
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL This Wednesday, December 11, catch Severtone, Mourning Lillith, Pending The Silence and Defy The Leader, and Thursday night it’s Monicans, Rag N’ Bone, Bury The Heard and Black Stone From The Sun. Friday night The Arsonist play a headline show to raise some cash to record their next EP, joined by special guests Mezzanine, Oak Tree Suite and Flighflow, and Saturday night Clairy Browne And The Bangin’ Rackettes hit the stage with help from Miles And Simone. Sunday catch the huge Scorcherfest show taking over the main room, beer garden and 459 Bar. Doors open 8pm each night, expect Sunday which is 12pm. Head to rosemounthotel.com.au for ticket info. Severtone
INDI BAR Arts Martial are taking over the usual Thursday night Open Mic Night antics, while on Saturday night, roots favourite Matt Gresham takes to the stage for his monthly residency show. Catch boogie blues band Huge Magnet on Sunday for a real deal Sunday session.
This Sunday, December 15, get down for the great sound of The Jook Joint Band from 5pm. Jook Joint Band
MOJOS YAYA’S It’s time for the last HaHa’s @ YaYa’s of the year! Get your sides split this Wednesday with musical headline Suns Of Fred and the hilarious Mike G as MC for the night, as well as plenty of Perth’s best comedians. On Friday Avastera also have their last show for the year and are playing as a once-off seven-piece acoustic act, playing new arrangements of old songs, as well as brand new material. Lights Of Berlin and Japanese Tongue-Sisters will also be joining them on stage! To top it off Chainsaw Hookers release their new 7” on Saturday with support from The Decline, Ben David (SA) and Medicine. Suns Of Fred
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Thursday, Dec 12, The Arts Management Student Organisation, supported by Southbound, is proud to announce Mr Mojo’s Risin’, an evening of transcendent music, art, post-exam vibes and an opportunity to win two Southbound tickets valued at $200 each - all in the name of FUNdraising! The Arts Management students in their third year go on full-time, unpaid internships and need some moolah to help keep them afloat! The money can go towards flights for students travelling nationally or internationally, paying rent, buying food, the occasional networking beverage, essentially just helping them to live while living the dream! The visual arts exhibition features artists Amber Bateup, Breanna Vos, Krystalle Cronin, Jessica Quinnell and Shannon Gluyas There will be live painting on the night and more artists. Bands playing are We Move Walls, SpaceManAntics, Delay Delay, Nevada Pilot and The Silent World. Tickets are $5 at the door.
LOCAL NEWS
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INTERVIEWS
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LIVE REVIEWS
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Q & A
CUSTOM ROYAL To Cut A Long Story Short Custom Royal launch their debut single, Sweet Disguise, this Saturday, December 14, at The Odd Fellow (formerly Norfolk Basement) with help from Apache and The Itch. BOB GORDON reports. A well-dressed rockin’ presence on the live scene for the last two years, Custom Royal formed when the respective bands of Dion Mariani (The Flairz) and Mitchell MacKintosh (The Watts) parted ways. “We had jammed before when we were about 10 years-old so I guess it seemed pretty natural to form an alliance,” Mariani says. As for our drummer Darcy (Barnard), solid rock drummers can be a hard breed to come by and he so happened to be the first to come down for a jam. Cameron (O’Loughlin) our bass player is a great mate of mine from high school and we had played in school bands together so we asked him to join and with that Custom Royal was formed.” Is the band how you imagined it - musically or otherwise - or is it something beyond? “I think for us it really has been a natural progression from when we began to where are now and I don’t think that I could’ve predicted that we’d be writing songs like we are now or playing shows like we are now,” Mariani states. “For me, it was a matter of jumping back into it, writing music again, playing gigs, and taking advantage of famous bands’ backstage riders. That said, we all have a similar foundation of influences like Led Zeppelin, The Beatles and CCR, as well as a plethora of others. Like Mitch gets into a lot of electronic music, but we all bring our unique influences and ideas to the table and use them to
shape our sound.” Custom Royal have just released their debut single, Sweet Disguise, a song that also features in the soon-to-open, locally produced film, Twisted Minds. “Long story short,” begins Mariani, “a friend who I had met at uni contacted me asking if the band would be interested in writing a song for a movie that he was working on that featured John Howard from All Saints. We thought it was a grand idea and a great opportunity to be heard and begun working on the tune. “We’ve been thrilled with the reception of Sweet Disguise. We were stoked to hear that triple j as well as a heap of other radio stations across Australia had begun playing it w ith lots of great feedback. I actually got an email this morning from a station over in Melbourne notifying me that Sweet Disguise has been one of their feature tracks for three weeks running now, which is pretty cool.” With the single out now and a new year ahead, there’s plenty for Custom Royal to look forward to. “Our two main goals for 2014 I think, are to head over East for a few shows and to release an EP,” Mariani says. “We’ve just begun demoing a few of our songs in preparation which is all pretty exciting.”
SAVE THE DATE Get down to The Paddington Ale house tonight, Wednesday, December 11, to get a load of local rockers, The Date, along with Ragdoll and The Red Embers. Doors open at 7pm, entry is free. The Date
NO SAW FEELINGS
FRIDAY ON MY MIND Get some much needed ‘punk ‘n’ roll’ into your system this weekend when Search & Destroy Presents Friday The 13th at The Beat Nightclub. It’s all night explosion of old school noise, with live performances from Medicine, Gutter Drakes, Creature and The New Husseins. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.
WAM Award-winning rock machine, Chainsaw Hookers, are not resting on their laurels, instead throwing themselves full-tilt into the release of their new 7-inch, The Split. The boys storm the stage at YaYa’s this Saturday, December 14, along with The Decline, Ben David and Medicine. Doors open at 7pm. Chainsaw Hookers
The New Husseins
CIRCLE OF FRIENDS
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Hard charging heroes, Stone Circle, are playing their very last gig of 2013 at The Factory this Saturday, December 14. It’s gonna be a red letter day for fans of no-nonsense, drum-tight rock ‘n’ roll, with the Circle being joined by Beside Lights and Graphic Fiction Heroes. Doors open at 7.30, tickets are $15 through stonecircleband.com.au, $20 on the door.
Parker Avenue are letting their second EP slip the leash at The Rosemount Hotel next Wednesday, September 18. Joining them onstage for this auspicious occasion will Ragdoll and Tracksuit. Doors open at 8pm.
Stone Circle
Parker Avenue
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DOWN ON THE AVENUE
Put the word to the herd about upcoming album, EP, single or video releases by dropping us a line at plugyourgig@xpressmag.com.au
CASINO SUNRISE Self-described dance-rock quartet, Casino Sunrise, launch their latest single, Castles, at Amplifier this Friday, December 13, with support from Harlequin League, Apache, Digital Order and Mentok Commandz Yu. We pinned down singer and keyboardist, Justin Campbell, for a quick Q & A. Where did you spring from? Casino Sunrise are from mixed backgrounds. I came from Karratha and as a 16-year-old little punk I played my first couple of shows supporting bands like Jeeadiah and 28 Days. I moved to Perth and met drummer Adam Round at the local open mic night at the Leedy. We started jamming and writing a few years later. I met Anthony Jackson through mutual friends and ended up playing in his band, Tragic Delicate. Our guitarist Justin Story was a friend of Adam’s and joined the band shortly after, completing the lineup. What’s your sound? Who are your key influences? Traditionally, we’ve been alt-rock. Then it kind of became dance-rock. But now it’s kind of just dance. I’ve been listening to a range of different music recently including ‘90s pop, Calvin Harris, Danny Brown, Justin Timberlake, Karnivool, M83... according to my Pandora, anyway. We were lucky enough to share Adam’s studio with David Guetta recently so I tried squeezing some creative juices out of the seat when he left. Tell us about Castles. Castles was written predominantly on my iPad before taking it to the band to expand on. We felt the sound of the song was a strong bridge from what we’ve previously released to what we will be releasing in the future. Where did you record and who with? We recorded the song with our drummer and producer Adam Round and his bearded studio buddy Sam Allen. They have a studio in North Fremantle called Electric City which was previous called Couch a number of years ago. The final product has turned out a lot larger sounding than first expected but contains the initial feel and vision for the track.
What does 2014 hold in store for the band? I’m really excited about having a live set ready to go for the new year. We’re looking forward to playing shows and getting back in the studio to record a few more tracks for a future release.
FRANTIC ANTICS The Velvet Lounge’s regular night of free music and almost-free libations, Night Of The Cheap Jugs, is happening again tonight, Wednesday, December 11, from 8pm. The MDC, Silver Foxes and Black Stone From The Sun will be cranking out the sounds, plus it’s also booking agent Rob Grave’s 30th, which is even more of an excuse to get your rock on.
Antics is on again at The Claremont Hotel this Saturday, December 14. This time the lineup is headed by perennially popular three piece, Dianas, along with Legs Electric and Childsaint. As ever, the Antics DJs will be filling the gaps between sets with some sweet sounds. Doors open at 8pm, entry is free.
The MDC
Legs Electric
SALUTE OF THE JUGGER
SHADY DEALINGS
LET’S GET MONSTERED
Head to YaYa’s this Thursday, December 12, for Light & Shade, an incredible showcase of top notch WA musical talent. Big Splash finalists, Apache, are headlining, with support from the incredible Tired Lion, Leah Miche & The Regular Hunters and Kat Wilson. Doors open at 7.30pm.
Support weird film and local music simultaneously at The Velvet Lounge this Saturday, December 14, when you get along to the Monsterfest Perth Fundraiser. In an effort to raise funds to bring awesome horror movie showcase, Monsterfest, to Perth once more, The Lungs, Yob Mob, Black Swan, Electric Toad and Trip Hazard And The Rude Boys have come together to offer up a night of hard and heavy tunage. Doors open at 8pm, entry is $10.
Apache
LO C A L & L AU NC H I NG 13/12 13/12 14/12 14/12 14/12 15/12 18/12 20/12 20/12 28/12 28/12 17/01
CASINO SUNRISE Castles Single Launch @ Amplifier SPIRIT LEVEl Self Titled EP Launch @ The Common Room CHAINSAW HOOKERS The Split 7” Launch @ YaYa’s NIGHTMARE EFFECT Unravelled Single Launch @ The Civic RED ENGINE Caves Black Mary Album Launch @ Mojos THE KILL DEVIL HILLS Past And Future Ghosts Album Launch @ Mojos PARKER AVENUE Self Titled EP Launch @ The Rosemount I, SAID THE SPARROW Deathpop Album Launch @ The Rosemount KRISTIE SMITH The Bunny Boiler Album Launch @ The Fly Trap BUZZ KILL VAMPS Isolation Sickness EP Launch @ YaYa’s THE WEAPON IS SOUND The Direct Dub EP Launch @ The Bakery THE DEVIL RIDES OUT Empty Sky Video Launch @ The Rosemount WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU
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TOUR TRAILS
STEEL PANTHER, DECEMBER 12
THIS WEEK JOEY BADA$$ 11 Capitol TAYLOR SWIFT 11 Perth NIB Stadium STEEL PANTHER 12 Metro City ARCHIE ROACH 12 Fremantle Arts Centre Courtyard 13 Quarry Amphitheatre POND 12 Metro Freo BON JOVI 12 Perth Arena ABBE MAY 13 The Bakery 19 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury CLAIRY BROWNE & THE BANGIN’ RACKETTES 14 Rosemount Hotel THE PRESETS & NINA LAS VEGAS 15 Hotel Rottnest
DECEMBER CLAIRY BROWNE & THE BANGIN’ RACKETTES 14 Rosemount Hotel THE NERVE 19 Mojos Bar WAKA FLOCKA FLAME 19 Metro Freo SAN CISCO 19 Studio 146, Albany 20 Settlers Tavern, Margaret River 21 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury HUMAN NATURE 20 Perth Zoo CATHERINE TRAICOS 21 Rosemount Hotel THE GIN CLUB 21 Mojos Bar SMOKE MY TOUR FlipTrix, Dirty Dike, Jam Baxter, Ed Scissortongue and DJ Sammy B-Side 24 Metro Freo BREAKFEST 2013 26 Belvoir Amphitheatre EARTHLESS & THE SHRINE 28 Rosemount Hotel 29 Mojos Bar DE LA SOUL 31 Salt On The Beach NEW YEARS EVE FIESTA Abbe May, The Kill Devil Hills, Split Seconds, Simone and Girlfunkle, Huge Magnet, The Floors, Patient Little Sister & DJ Shannon Fox 31 Rosemount Hotel JEBEDIAH 31 Dunsborough Tavern STICKY FINGERS 31 Capitol
JANUARY DE LA SOUL/DJ YODA 1 Cuban Club (Flying Squadron Yacht Club, The Esplanade, Dalkeith)
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TOURS LIVE
MISFITS, JANUARY 19
SOUTHBOUND !!!, Bonobo, Crystal Fighters, Grizzly Bear, Horrorshow, Johnny Marr, London Grammar, MGMT, Neil Finn, The Roots, Vampire Weekend and more! 3-4 Sir Stewart Bovell Park, Busselton, WA WATAIN 9 Amplifier BONJAH 9 Prince Of Wales 10 Redcliffe On The Murray 11 Mojos Bar 12 Indi Bar DEAFHEAVEN 11 Rosemount Hotel DAUGHTERS 14 Amplifier EYEHATEGOD 16 Rosemount Hotel PARAMORE 16 Perth Arena HALF MOON RUN 16 Fly By Night Club MISFITS 19 Amplifier SETS ON THE BEACH 19 Scarborough Beach COLIN STETSON 20 Mojos Bar 21 Hellenic Club KARNIVOOL & DEAD LETTER CIRCUS 23 Red Hill Auditorium CELTIC WOMAN 24 Riverside Theatre PETE MURRAY 25 Leeuwin Estate Winery BORN OF OSIRIS & AFTER THE BURIAL 25 Rosemount Hotel 26 YMCA HQ WE ARE SCIENTISTS 26 Amplifier AVICII 27 Perth Arena LEMURIA 29 Rosemount Hotel
FEBRUARY SELENA GOMEZ 1 Perth Arena BIG DAY OUT Pearl Jam, Arcade Fire, Blur, Snoop Lion, Major Lazer, Tame Impala, Flume & more! 2 Claremont Showgrounds CAT POWER 4 Fly By Night Club BRUCE STRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND 5,7,8 Perth Arena ASH GRUNWALD 5 Indi Bar 6 Prince Of Wales, Bunbury 7 Settlers Taver, Margaret River 8 Fly By Night 9 Ravenswood Hotel, Ravenswood ED KOWALCZYK 5 Metro City ALICE RUSSELL & BOOKER T JONES 6 & 7 Chevron Festival Gardens
#TOGETHER ft. Ta-Ku, Zeke, Kit Pop, Cosmo Gets, Sable 8 Chevron Festival Gardens LANEWAY FESTIVAL 8 Fremantle THE BASICS 9 Chevron Festival Gardens THE LOCUST 10 Amplifier JULIA HOLTER 10 Chevron Festival Gardens 100 MILLION NIGHTS 11 Chevron Festival Gardens IALARU 12 Chevron Festival Gardens LADI6 & HOME BREW 13 Chevron Festival Gardens HUSKY 14 Chevron Festival Gardens DJ SHADOW 15 Chevron Festival Gardens THE NATIONAL 14 Belvoir Amphitheatre MIAMI HORROR 15 Amplifier PETE MURRAY 16 Astor Theatre EBONY BONES 16 Chevron Festival Gardens AUSTRA 17 Chevron Festival Gardens DJ FOOD, DJ CHEEBA, DJ MONEYSHOT 18 Chevron Festival Gardens OKKERVIL RIVER 19 Chevron Festival Gardens OLAFUR ARNALDS & KEATON HENSON 20 Chevron Festival Gardens DON WALKER 21 Clancy’s Fremantle 22 Civic Hotel 23 Fremantle Arts Centre DAUGHN GIBSON & OWL EYES 21 Chevron Festival Gardens POND, AAA AARDVARK GETDOWN SERVICES, FELICITY GROOM, THE SILENTS, DJ LADY CARLA 22 Chevron Festival Gardens ALTAN 23 Chevron Festival Gardens WIRE 24 Chevron Festival Gardens SETS ON THE BEACH 23 Scarborough Beach CHARLES BRADLEY 25 Chevron Festival Gardens MADELEINE PEYROUX 26 Chevron Festival Gardens
HUSKY, FEBRUARY 14
ROBERT GLASPER EXPERIMENT 27 Chevron Festival Gardens DOLLY PARTON 27 Perth Arena NEKO CASE 27 Fly By Night Club PUBLIC ENEMY 28 Chevron Festival Gardens BRUNO MARS 28 Perth Arena
MARCH MIKHAEL PASKALEV 1 Chevron Festival Gardens KERSER 1 Metro City FUTURE MUSIC Deadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Phoenix, Hardwell, Knife Party, Eric Prydz, Rudimental, Tinie Tempah, Chase & Status 2 Arena Joondalup LIONEL RICHIE & JOHN FARNHAM 2 Sandalford Winery Swan Valley THE WONDER STUFF 2 Rosemount Hotel SOUNDWAVE Green Day, Stone Temple Pilots, Alice In Chains, Rob Zombie, Megadeth, Placebo and more! 3 Claremont Showgrounds GOODLIFE FESTIVAL Deadmau5, Macklemore & Ryan Lewis, Hardwell, Rudimental, Knife Party, Kaskade, Porter Robinson 3 Arena Joondalup DAN SULTAN 6 Art Bar BRIAN MCKNIGHT 7 Riverside Theatre GURRUMUL 8 Kings Park BILLY BRAGG 8 Perth Concert Hall GOLD PANDA 9 The Bakery QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE & NINE INCH NAILS 11 Perth Arena JOSH PYKE 12 Quarry Amphitheatre THE ANGELS, DIESEL & MI-SEX 14 Graham Bricknell Music Shell, Bunbury SONGS IN THE KEY OF MOTOWN 14 Astor Theatre NEIL FINN 16 Perth Concert Hall THE ROLLING STONES 19 Perth Arena ABSU & PORTAL 20 Amplifier Bar THE SMITH STREET BAND & THE MENZINGERS 20 YMCA HQ 21 Rosemount Hotel
ILLY 21 Capitol KATE MILLER-HEIDKE 21 - 22 Quarry Amphitheatre SEBADOH 25 Rosemount Hotel DARK TRANQUILLITY & ORPHEUS OMEGA 25 Capitol 30 SECONDS TO MARS 25 Challenge Stadium JOHN BUTLER TRIO 27 Fremantle Arts Centre 28 Belvoir Amphitheatre 29 Old Broadwater Farm, Busselton JURASSIC 5 28 Metro City HUNTER & COLLECTORS 29 (sold-out) & 30 Kings Park & Botanical Garden KRIS KRISTOFFERSON 30 Red Hill Auditorium
APRIL PACOPENA 2 Perth Concert Hall SUZANNE VEGA 11 Astor Theatre WEST COAST BLUES N ROOTS Matt Corby, Michael Franti, John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band, Doobie Brothers, Boy & Bear 13 Fremantle Park BOZ SCAGGS 14 Crown Theatre TOXIC HOLOCAUST & SKELETONWITCH 18 Rosemount Hotel SKID ROW & UGLY KID JOE 23 Metro Fremantle MICHAEL BUBLE 26 & 27 Perth Arena
MAY LEE KERNAGHAN 9 Crown Theatre JASON DERULO 10 Perth Arena ARCTIC MONKEYS 13 Perth Arena PETULA CLARK 17 Perth Concert Hall SEPTICFLESH & FLESHGOD APOCALYPSE 18 Amplifier THE ENGLISH BEAT 23 Rosemount Hotel ELLIE GOULDING 28 Challenge Stadium
JUNE YO GABBA GABBA! LIVE! 7 Riverside Theatre JAMES BLUNT 13 Riverside Theatre BASTILLE 18 Challenge Stadium KEITH URBAN 29 Perth Arena
TO U R TA L E S
FOZZY Hot Fun Fozzy lead singer Chris Jericho brings his band of metal marauders back to Australia this month as support for the Steel Panther/Buckcherry tour hitting Metro City this Thursday, December 12. SHANE PINNEGAR reports. Chris Jericho may be a dedicated family man and father of three, but he hass no qualms about sharing a backstage area with notorious advocates of the ‘groupies and blow’ lifestyle, Steel Panther. “Well I’ve been on the road since 1990, so I’m no stranger to all that stuff,” he admits candidly, “and I think at certain times I’m probably the worst of all of them when it comes to certain things - especially when it comes to the straight vodka. The groupies and blow are all fine and dandy but the straight Grey Goose... that’s where my expertise lays!” Shenanigans aside, Jericho is amped to be heading back to Australia for the second time this year, having played Soundwave in February-March. “Absolutely... we like Australia and we think Australia likes us,” he declares, “which was really apparent at Soundwave this year when the crowds that we had for our set early in the day really blew me away. I mean, thousands of people... to get that sort of a crowd at 2.30 in the afternoon, it’s like, ‘you know what? I think we’re doing something right here!’”
As assertive as ever, Jericho quickly debunks the theory that it might have been surprising to have been asked to come back so soon. “Well I dunno if it was a surprise, I think it was more warranted,” he counters. ”It shows that the people who organise Soundwave were paying attention. Like, we were like a destination band at Soundwave - people grabbed their programs at the beginning of the day, looked at the set times, said, ‘we’re gonna go see Fozzy at this time’. Like I said, the response we got was off the charts. So for me it’s kind of a no brainer to bring us back again because we obviously did our part at Soundwave.” This time ‘round Fozzy’s old school heavy metal grooves are standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the sleaze-dripping party rock anthems of headliners Steel Panther and Buckcherry. “In some ways it makes perfect sense,” Jericho says of the line-up, “‘cause I think all three bands are very entertaining live bands and all very exciting live bands, and all very much have the same kind of motto - which is, have a great time! “We’re making sure that people have a blast at these shows, and it’s good-time metal. That’s one of the reasons Fozzy has been so successful over the past few years, because we’re very versatile. We could open for Slayer, Shinedown, Steel Panther - and get great reactions with all of those fans. “So it’s kinda cool for me, because as I said, it’s a perfect match for that reason. Sometimes fun is almost a dirty word in rock’n’roll and this is gonna be a fun show. I think everybody knows that. And when you do shows like this it really works ‘cause you’re getting new fans for all the bands. So I think it’s actually a really good mix.”
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GIG GUIDE
CATLIPS/THE BIRD/ WEDNESDAY 11
WEDNESDAY 11/12 AMPLIFIER Academy In League Make Blieve Me Adora Heights BAR 120 Felix BAR ORIENT Karaoke THE BIRD Catlips Pete & Rok Riley BRASS MONKEY Sugar Blue Burlesque CAPTIOL Joey Bada$$ CARINE Open Mic Night Chris Gibbs CLAREMONT HOTEL Acoustica GREENWOOD Bernardine ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB The Msuic Of John Mayer Will Udall GROOVE BAR (CROWN) 5 Shots INDI BAR Sam Berendes Jay Grafton Riley Pearce LOBBY LOUNGE (CROWN) Decoy Duo LUCKY SHAG Howie Morgan MOJOS BAR Lloyd Spiegel Mitch Becker Liam Naughton MUSTANG BAR Easy Tigers DJ James MacArthur OCEAN ONE BAR OverGrown Tahlia Jaye Nic Brown Silky Digits Adam Springhetti PADDO Ragdoll The Date The Red Embers
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SEVERTONE/THE ROSEMOUNT HOTEL/ WEDNESDAY 11
ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Severtone Mourning Lilith Pending The Silence Defy The Leader SWINGING PIG Open Mic Night Greg Carter UNIVERSAL Retriofit THE VIC Leighton Keepa VILLAGE BAR Village People - Open Mic YAYA’S Haha’s @ Yaya’s THURSDAY 12/12 AMANI WINE BAR Live Jazz Night BALMORAL Travis Caudle BAR ORIENT Open Mic Night THE BIRD Hip Hop Kara”YO”ke BRASS MONKEY Rhythm Bound Karaoke BRIGHTON Open Mic Night Rob Walker THE BROOK Open Mic Night Chris Gibbs BROOKLANDS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke THE CAUSEWAY BAR Xport Thursdays DEVILLES PAD Rock n’ Roll Karaoke DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Open Mic Night Pat Nicholson ELEPHANT AND WHEELBARROW Wax Lyrical Open Mic Night ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Gillian Moorman Night Cap Sessions FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE Sonic Sessions Archie Roach
LOCAL GIG
THE MONICANS
THE MONICANS Rag N’ Bone, Bury The Heard Black Stone From The Sun Thursday, December 12 The Rosemount Hotel
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FLYRITE Boomtick Christmas Party Waka Flocka Hart THE FLY TRAP (FLY BY NIGHT) Brendan Gaspari THE GATE Greg Carter GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Decoy INDI BAR Arts Martial Oakland LANEWAY LOUNGE Aaron Spiers Trio METRO CITY Steel Panther Buckcherry Fozzy METRO FREO Pond Doctopus MOJOS BAR We Move Walls SpaceManAntics Delay Delay Nevada Pilot The Silent Word MUSTANG BAR Dallas Royal Ray Finkle DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Easy Tigers NORTH FREMANTLE BOWLS CLUB The String Beans OCEAN ONE BAR Marcio Mendes Band PERTH ARENA Bon Jovi ROSEMOUNT HOTEL The Monicans Rag N’ Bone Bury The Heard Black Stone From The Sun SETTLERS TAVERN Acoustic Open Mic Night Claire Warnock SWALLOW BAR DJ Razor Jack UNIVERSAL Off The Record THE VIC Harry Moore YAYA’S Apache Tired Lion Leah Miche & The Regular Hunters Kat Wilson FRIDAY 13/12 THE ALBION Jen De Ness AMPLIFIER Casino Sunrise Harlequin League Apache Digital Order Mentok Commandz Yu ASTOR THEATRE Jess McAvoy Paige Trantham THE BAKERY Abbe May Mathas Kucka DJ Rex Monsoon
ARTS MARTIAL/INDI BAR/ THURSDAY 12
BALMORAL Mike Nayar BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) Medicine Gutter Drakes Creature The New Husseins The Black Fridays BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) PLAY BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ Roger Roger Feisty Burlesque BELMONT TAVERN Cornerstone BEST DROP TAVERN Pretty Fly THE BIRD London Town Viv G Hw Sims Annert Jack B THE BLVD Blue Jene Band BRASS MONKEY Jamie Powers THE BROOKLANDS TAVERN Vendetta THE CARINE Velvet CITRO BAR Adrian Wilson CIVIC BACKROOM Desecrator Malignant Monster COMO HOTEL Libby Hammer Trio CRUISING YACHT CLUB The Hitman DEVILLES PAD Rocket To Memphis EAST 150 BAR Justin Cortorillo ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Natalie Gillespie The Prefix EMPIRE BAR Howie Morgan FAIRLANES AMPHITHEATRE Trevor Jalla THE FLY BY NIGHT White Limo FLYRITE DeadWeight! The Final Wheel-Up THE GATE Dirty Scoundrels GOSNELLS HOTEL Travis Caudle THE GREENWOOD Greg Carter GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Tod Johnston & Peace Love HYDE PARK HOTEL Joppy INDI BAR Vdelli INDIAN OCEAN BREWING COMPANY Ben Merito KALAMUNDA HOTEL B.O.B. LANEWAY LOUNGE Hans Fiance Just For The Night
MAHOGANY INN Harry Moore METRO FREO The Mad House Nina Las Vegas MOJOS BAR Hideous Sun Demon Heath Legend Black Birds Henry Kissinger MUSTANG Oz Big Band Swing DJ Cheeky Monkeys DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Karaoke Classic OCEAN ONE BAR Mad Agents PADDO Easy Tigers PADDY MAGUIRES Cherry Lips PAPER MOUNTAIN Spirit Level Ermine Coat Rakkit Dibs Rabbit Island PORT KENNEDY TAVERN One Trick Phonies PRINCE OF WALES Shihad THE PRINCIPAL Electrophobia QUARRY AMPHITHEATRE Archie Roach RAILWAY HOTEL Darren Guthrie Lost At Sea Fletcher Joyce Brian Hoehn REDCLIFFE ON THE MURRAY Danny Bau RIVERSIDE THEATRE Passenger ROCKET ROOM Kickstart ROSIE O’GRADYS FREMANTLE Madam Montage ROSEMOUNT HOTEL The Arsonist Mezzanine Oak Tree Suite Flightflow SAIL AND ANCHOR Light Street SETTLERS TAVERN Matt Gresham SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE Robbie King Karaoke SPRINGS TAVERN Die Hard Karaoke UNIVERSAL Nightmoves THE VIC Nathan Gaunt WINSTERSUN HOTEL James McDonald YAYA’S Avastera Japanese Tongue Sisters We Are The Emergency SATURDAY 14/12 ASTOR THEATRE Errol H Tout
Deadline Monday 5pm. The Gig-Guide is a service to advertisers listing all LIVE MUSIC. All inclusions are at the discretion of X-Press. Email guide@xpressmag.com.au
THE ARSONIST/THE ROSEMOUNT HOTEL/FRIDAY 13
BALMORAL Retriofit THE BAKERY Seriously Sound System Artificial Intelligence DJs Oliver Laing Boys Boys Boys! I.C.S.S.C The Community Sound System District Habitat Omega Is The Alpha Untitled Sound Alliance Kučka Oliver Laing The Likes Of You Dead Weight! BEAT NIGHTCLUB (UPSTAIRS) CANVAS BEAT NIGHTCLUB (DOWNSTAIRS) Runaways Iconoclast I Shall Devour BELGIAN BEER CAFE Acoustic Aly BENTLEY HOTEL Passionworks BIRD Rabbit Island Ermine Coat Emerald Cabal Ben M Clunk & Raaghe THE BLVD Ragdoll Box Party BOAB TAVERN Dirty Scoundrels THE BROOKLANDS TAVERN Afterhours THE CIVIC BACKROOM Zemlja THE CLAREMONT HOTEL ANTICS The Dianas Legs Electric Childsaint DJ Lukas Wimmler CRAFTSMAN GrooVe CROWN THEATRE Kevin Bloody Wilson DEVILLES PAD Feminem & Her Divine Drags DJ Donny Disco EAST 150 BAR Jean Proude ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Anea Duratovic Quintet Late Night Groove Series FLY BY NIGHT The Crimson ProjeKCt THE FLY TRAP (FLY BY NIGHT) Trey Gee & The Woodfalls THE GATE The Hitman GREENWOOD Pretty Fly
SPECIAL BREW/MUSTANG BAR/ SUNDAY 14
HYDE PARK HOTEL Sophie Jane & The Chili Bin Boys INDI BAR Matt Gresham INDIAN OCEAN BREWING CO Shawne & Luc LAKERS TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MOJOS BAR Red Engine Caves Foam Aborted Tortoise The Eerie Serpents MERRIWA TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke M ON THE POINT Rhythm 22 MUSTANG Burger Kings Flash Nat & The Action Men DJ Holly Doll DJ James MacArthur NEWPORT HOTEL Gravity Tahli Jade THE ODD FELLOW (NORFOLK BASEMENT) Custom Royal Apache The Itch PADDO Cheeky Monkeys PARAMOUNT NIGHTCLUB Felix PEEL ALE HOUSE Michael Battersby OCEAN ONE BAR Desert Bells PORT KENNEDY TAVERN Stu McKay QUARIE BAR & BISTRO Chill Divine RAILWAY HOTEL Teachings In Dub The KBI Sound System ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes Miles & Simone ROSIE O’GRADY’S FREMANTLE Flava SAIL & ANCHOR Better Days SETTLERS TAVERN The Kill Devil Hills The Floors THE SHED Huge SOUTH ST ALE HOUSE Robbie King Karaoke SWALLOW BAR DJ Peas SWAN HOTEL (BASEMENT) Desecrator Malignant Monster SWINGING PIG RockIt Greg Carter UNIVERSAL Soul Corporation URBAN ORCHARD (PICA) Seriously Sound System
YAYA’S Chainsaw Hookers The Decline Ben David The Hard Aches SUNDAY 15/12 THE BAKERY Hopsin DJ Hoppa BALMORAL Electrophobia Adrian Wilson BELGIAN BEER CAFÉ The Monte Christos BELMONT TAVERN Dove BIRD Sunday Sound Selections THE BRIGHTON John Read BROOKLANDS TAVERN Gerry Azor THE CAUSEWAY Accoustic Sunday THE CARINE Acoustic ALy CIVIC HOTEL Frank G COMO HOTEL Ansell & Fretall CLANCY’S FREMANTLE The Zydecats DUNSBOROUGH TAVERN Kris Buckle ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Rick Webster Victoria Newton THE FLY TRAP (FLY BY NIGHT) Stage Fright Open Mic Night FREMANTLE ARTS CENTRE Harry James Angus Band THE GATE Greg Carter HOTEL ROTTNEST The Presets Nina Las Vegas HYDE PARK HOTEL Bernardine INDI BAR Huge Magnet INDIAN OCEAN BREW CO Retriofit KALAMUNDA HOTEL Kizzy LAKERS TAVERN Wesley Goodlet Jamboree Scouts LANGFORD ALE HOUSE Josh Johnstone MERRIWA TAVERN North Coast Jam Session M ON THE POINT Velvet Mariachi Trio MOJOS BAR The Kill Devil Hills The Floors MULLALOO BEACH
NOAH SKAPE AND THE TEENAGE WASTELAND/YAYA’S/TUESDAY 17
HOTEL Sunday Cider Sessions Reilly Craig MUSTANG Tailgate Sundays Special Brew The Isolites DJ Holly Doll NEWPORT HOTEL Dallas Royal Ray Finkle Custom Royal OCEAN ONE BAR Tahnee RAILWAY HOTEL Gignition Blue City Underground Severity One The Mondays Della Fern Aishl REDCLIFFE ON THE MURRAY Jonny Taylor ROSEMOUNT HOTEL Scorcherfest SETTLERS TAVERN Julius Lutero QUARIE BAR & BISTRO Damien Gibbs THE SAINT Howie Morgan Project SEAVIEW TAVERN Jean Proude SOUTH ST ALEHOUSE Blackhart & Strangelove SWALLOW BAR Jook Joint Band SWINGING PIG The Hitman Matt Angell UNIVERSAL Retrofit WANNEROO TAVERN Travis Caudle WHISTLING KITE James Wilson YAYA’S The Kelete Theatre & Perfomring Arts Company Christmas Cabaret MONDAY 16/12 BRASS MONKEY Wire Birds XBOX Mondays
ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Jamie Oehlers Quartet MOJOS BAR Wide Open Mic MUSTANG BAR Triple Shots THE SAINT Celebration Karaoke YAYA’S Big Tommo’s Open Mic Night TUESDAY 17/12 BRASS MONKEY Open Mic Night Josh Terlick THE BIRD Open Mic Night Grady Darren Guthrie Samuel Barendse Claire Nina Norelli THE CHARLES HOTEL Perth Blues Club Bag Of Snakes Luke Escombe The Warm Ups THE COURT Open Mic Night THE CRAIGIE TAVERN Open Mic Night ELLINGTON JAZZ CLUB Watercolours Of Brazil Victoria Newton GROOVE BAR (CROWN) Jack & Jill KALAMUNDA HOTEL Open Mic Anthony Kay LOBBY LOUNGE (CROWN) Hans Fiance MERRIWA TAVERN Celebrations Karaoke MOJOS BAR Wide Open Mic MUSTANG BAR Danza Loca Salsa Night YAYA’S Noah Skape And The Teenage Wasteland The Disappointed Ollie Regal Nutmeg
LOCAL GIG
HIDEOUS SUN DEMON
HIDEOUS SUN DEMON Heath Legend, Black Birds Henry Kissinger Friday, December 13 @ Mojos
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YO U R M U S I C G E A R A N D T E C H N O LO GY F E AT U R E
SO YOU WANT TO BE A DJ Everyone likes to think they could be a superstar DJ these days and the cost of putting together your own home DJ set-up is certainly far from prohibitive. Still, the sheer variety of equipment available can be absolutely baffling to the beginning artist. We had a word with Tully Jagoe of Store DJ to get some Cliff’s Notes for budding deck demons.
Pioneer CDJ900 Nexus
“In terms of controllers, there’s four levels to look at,” he explains. “Cheap beginner usb controllers, professional usb controllers, CDJ systems and turntables. If you want the best bang for your buck, you want to put your money into a pro usb controller. CDJ or turntable systems can cost anywhere between three to six thousand dollars, whereas the pinnacle level of the market in pro dj controllers will only set you back 1200 to 1500 dollars.. Also, controllers like the Pioneer DDJ-SX, or the Vestax VCI380 have creative tools that simply do not exist in CDJs or turntables.” For those with little to no experience who went to dip that first hesitant toe into the world of DJing, Jagoe recommends the Numark Mixtrack Pro II. “It’s a two channel usb midi controller that runs off your Windows or Mac laptop. Gives you two remix decks, two effects panels, super easy software. It’s light as a feather and costs $359.”
are analogue. Raw electricity. You can get some seriously crazy sounds out of an analogue filter that digital filters have a hard time replicating. Plus, all the circuitry is vertically distributed. Normal mixers have one big circuit board, where Allen & Heath have lots of little ones spread out from each other. Basically, if your drunk mate snaps a knob off somewhere, only that channel is affected, instead of ruining the entire box. The cost of the CDJ900 Nexus has not been officially announced, but the Xone 92 retails for $1799.” Of course, for the classicists, only vinyl will do. “If you want to get into scratch DJing, my turntable of choice is the Audio Technica LP1240 USB. It’s built like a tank, has an excellent direct drive turntable with a really snappy start and stop speed, very isolated from table vibration, comes with a hard cover, and only costs $649. It can be used either standard or battle style. As far as mixers go, the Rane Sixty Two will allow you to use your digital vinyl control with Serato without lots of excess cabling and audio interfaces, plenty of control for the SP6 sample player and effects, plus internal hardware effects. The Sixty Two goes for $2299.
Numark Mixtrack Pro II
For those wanting something a little more complex and professional, it’s the aforementioned Pioneer DDJ-SX. “It has an internal four channel hardware mixer, so even if your computer dies, you can still jack in up to four CDJs or turntables and keep the party going. Amazingly robust steel build, touch panel for needle search, gorgeously smooth jog wheels, quantized beat slicer and remix decks, plus, it comes with Serato DJ, which is the most advanced DJ software currently available.” It currently retails for $1299. CDJ systems are a whole other level above, though. “If you’re looking to ditch the computer, but still want advanced remixing tools, the new Pioneer CDJ900 Nexus and Allen & Heath Xone are my personal favourites. The big key here is that the new CDJ900s have a full colour touchscreen and a very advanced internal beat calculator, so it’s really easy to throw down complex loops and hits, and quantize complex loop rolls and effects. The Allen & Heath Xone92 is one of the best mixers I’ve ever used, especially because all its filters and effects
Pioneer DDJ-SX 52
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Audio Technica LP1240 USB
“Last of all, you want a pair of speakers and headphones. This is largely a matter of personal choice, but in terms of speakers I would be checking out the Behringer 2031A, Mackie MR8mk2, Samson Resolv8, or my personal favourite, the Event 20/20 bas. Headphones, I would be having a listen to the Sennheiser HD25 Aiaiai TMA1, Audio Technica M50, AKG K550, and they Beyerdynamic Custom One Pro.” TRAVIS JOHNSON
For more info on the range of gear available at Store DJ, head to storedj.com.au
HAILMARY Directing The Yellow Light Of Death The hard-rocking Hailmary drop their new music video, The Yellow Light Of Death, next Wednesday, December 18. Keen to glean some insight into the creative grind that goes into fashioning a music clip, we put the hard word on director, Steven Mihaljevich. How did you get into the directing game? I have been a filmmaker for about nine years now. I started out as an actor of comedy and a musician and then began producing music video clips because I wanted to create clips for the band I was in at the time. After doing a couple of music videos for my own musical tracks, which picked up a few film awards, I started producing and editing music videos for other bands. I have now produced, directed and edited dozens of music videos for artists such as Rob Walker, Jonny Taylor, Chelsea Basham, Sisters Doll, Big Prodeje from LA and many others under my company name, M.Productions. I am currently a Specialist Performing Arts Coordinator as well as a music video producer at M.Productions. I am still an active filmmaker of comedy and write/produce various comedy web series shorts, and produce music under a European music label, Amadea Records, with my current music duo, Life In Motion. I guess my background allows me to try and make accurate connections between the music tracks and the videos, but also get somewhat creative and offer practical conceptual ideas and maybe even throw in some humour. How did the concept for this clip evolve? With Yellow Light Of Death, I guess we all talked about what style we wanted and I devised the initial concept. Then we all jumped on the idea and kept discussing where else it could go. There wasn’t too much planning. There was no story boards, just some definitive shots we wanted but then a lot the ideas formulated through the editing process. I find editing the most enjoyable aspect of the process when you are allowed to create and experiment with ideas with the artist as you go. Sometimes the best material comes out during this time and you would never expect it to.
How did you come to work with Hailmary? I met the band through another musician friend of mine and we have been talking about making a clip for quite some time now - it’s just that financial commitments and time constraints got in the way. What other clips have you directed or produced? I have just finished a music video clip for local rising star Rob Walker, for a track called Where Would You Go?. This year I also directed and produced the second music video I have made with local country star, Chelsea Basham. I am currently producing two music videos for my own musical act, Life In Motion. I am just about to start planning production for two more clips for two local artists but I can’t reveal who just yet.
How was the actual shoot? The shoot was one night - one very long night - and one other evening. It didn’t take long. It was an enjoyable clip to produce because, as I said, everyone was open to ideas and it kind of felt as if like there were no boundaries. I was working with a wonderful director of photography, Dean Butler, and model, Phoebe Woodhead, both who brought positive energy to the table throughout the whole shoot. TRAVIS JOHNSON Pics: Stills from The Yellow Light Of Death WWW. XP RE SS MAG.COM. AU
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MUSIC GEAR & TECHNOLOGY
FOR SALE HEADPHONES all brands & styles. 23 Harrogate Street, West Leederville. Contact Headphonic 08 93886333 headphones.com.au MUSOS WANTED OPEN MIC NIGHT every Thursday night at Indi Bar. Just call Bex on 0404 917 632. OPEN MIC NIGHT @ THE CRAIGIE TAVERN Tuesdays from 8pm. Solos, D u o s , Tr i o s , O r i g i n a l s a n d C ove r s . Contact Paula or Ceelay 0420375670 or openmiccraigie@hotmail.com PHOTOGRAPHY P RO J EC T P H OTO G R A P H Y P ro m o photography, studio, live, location. Mike Wylie 0417 975 964 www.projectphotography.com When its time to ice the cake... PRODUCTION SERVICES BAND PA’S WITH PERSONAL ENGINEER Hire Premium Brands & Service Yo u r m u s i c i s o u r p a s s i o n Will travel 0412 247 247 CD & DVD MANUFACTURE Check out our latest CD & DVD specials online at www.procopy.com.au 9375 3902 DISK BANK Perth’s premier CD & DVD manufacturer, with options for all budgets. (08) 9388 0800. www.diskbank.com.au/ specials. FREE DELIVERY, SETUP & PACKDOWN Sound, Lighting & Projector hire. Personal Service, Premium Gear, Eftpos. Complete Package 0412 247 247 MATRIX PRODUCTIONS AUSTRALIA Lighting, staging, sound systems, smoke machines, night club FX, intelligent lighting, strobes & mirror balls, crowd barriers, video projectors. 9371 1551 RECORDING STUDIOS ALAN DAWSON’s WITZEND RECORDING STUDIO Prof quality albums or demos, large live room, experienced engineer, analog to digital transfers, mastering..Alan 0407 989 128 or Jeremy 0430638178 www. witzendstudios.com ANDY’S STUDIO International m u l t i aw a rd w i n n i n g s o n g w r i t e r / producer. No band required. Broadcast q u a l i t y. A s o n g w r i t e r ’ s p a r a d i s e . Ph 9364 3178 FREMANTLE RECORDING STUDIOS now offering FREE consultations. Mention this ad to get 1/2 priced recording session. Call 0415 738 155 GOLDDUST Production Mixing, recording and composition. Leederville $80 p/h. 0408 097 407 POONS HEAD MASTERING Analog Master. TAPE, TUBES & TRANSFORMERS. 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 RECORDING MIXING MASTERING PRODUCING Fremantle location. Call Pete Kitchen Cooked Records. Ph 0407 363 764 / 9336 3764
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REVOLVER SOUND STUDIO Ph 9272 7505. www.revolverstudio.com.au S AT E L L I T E R E C O R D I N G S T U D I O www.satelliterecording.com 0419 908 766 - NEW ProTools HDX System. 17 Years exp SONGWRITERS AND BANDS! - 30TH ANNIVERSARY DISCOUNTS! UNLOCK YOUR SONG’S POTENTIAL! FREE APPRAISALS. UK Producer, 40,000+ hours studio experience, 20 yrs in London. Kicking arrangements. Great studio and the ability to really listen will give your material the edge you need. Call Jerry on 0405 653 338 or visit www.jerichomusic.com.au REHEARSAL STUDIOS AAA VHS REHEARSAL ROOMS Great facilities, great vibe & great price!!! Unit 5 /16 Peel Road, O’Connor. Phone 9418 5815 or 0413 732 885 BIGBEAT SOUND STUDIO Clean rooms, all new PA systems, air-con and good parking . Willetton Ph: 0425 698 117. P L AT I N U M S O U N D RO O M S Professional rehearsal rooms, a i r c o n d i t i o n e d , q u a l i t y PA s m o b 0418 944 722 STREAM STUDIO’S 89 Stirling St, Perth. Mobile: 0403 152 009 info@streamrehearsal. com.au VISION REHEARSAL Perth’s premier rehearsal facilities. Visit www.visionstudios.com.au for all info. East Vic Park. Email rehearsal@ visionstudios.com.au or call 0432 034 122 TUITION ***GUITAR LESSONS - XMAS VOUCHERS AVAIL Give the gift of music. Beg to adv, all styles. Catering to WAAPA and AMEB standards. All tutors have WWC clearance. Cliff Lynton Guitar Institute. Mt Lawley 9342 3484 / www.clifflynton.com BASS GUITAR LESSONS AVAILABLE by WAAPA tutor. A practicle approach to learning. .All styles.Years of experience. Tony Gibbs 9470 6131
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CLASSIFIEDS
SUMMER STUDIO SESSIONS Fremantle Recording Studios Friday, December 6, 2013 Fremantle Recording Studios - somewhat counter-intuitively located in O’Connor - are making an effort to foster a sense of community in the Perth music scene by the simple expedient of turning their premises into an occasional, informal concert venue. Their first session saw the likes of Villain, Mudlark, Hunting Huxley, These Winter Nights Apache and more perform, while last Saturday Methyl Ethel, Zorbs, Pimps Of Sound, K-Town and Nodes did their thing. Photos by Matt Jelonek
Kalieisha, Dami, Megan
Bruce, Matt
Paige, Jakub
Luke, Jas, Richard
CLASSIFIEDS
Scott, Daniel, Anna, David
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