FESTIVAL SPECIAL by Blaire Magazine

BLAIRE

f e s t i v a l

s p e c i a l

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4. FIELD DAY REVIEW 10. GROUPLOVE 16. THE NAKED AND FAMOUS 22. TOP 10 ROADTRIP ALBUMS 28. BLISS N ESO 32. VIOLENT SOHO 36. FALLS FESTIVAL REVIEW

THIS issue 3

FEILD DAY If you’re yet to hear of Field Day, or experience it, it is a festival that is definitely worth checking out. It’s a mix between a day at Falls Festival and Stereosonic, so the crowd is always very interesting. I was given the opportunity to hop around Sydney’s Botanical Gardens, being amused and entertained by plenty that was going on! Thank you Fuzzy Entertainment.

HIGHLIGHTS

LOWLIGHTS

The Sydney Botanical Gardens. Even though they have laid it out to look like a festival, there are still gorgeous, big old trees that you can perch yourself under while escaping the heat. All the staff were really helpful and the security weren’t creepy dudes trying to pick you up. The set times were also amazing. There were only a few clashes. Other than that, I was running from stage to stage all day seeing all my favourite artists. The VIP entrance was quick and easy, we were also given free food and massages! Winning! Also, there were plenty of toilets. For years we have been complaining about the lack of cubicles, hence the fact that we found boys peeing behind walls and girls taking cheeky squats to be then uploaded on Facebook. But now they’re listening to our complaints and actually doing something about it. My personal highlight was my experience as Media. Even though I didn’t look the part, I managed to stand in the photo pit and get some happy snaps. My happiest highlight was when I was accidentally given the wrong pass, which gained me access into the Backstage area. I was centimeters away from ASAP Rocky and he even said ‘Happy New Years’ to me.

Unfortunately there were a few things that really annoyed the crowd. Firstly, there were only two bars for the public. When I first rocked up (before hitting up VIP) I was waiting in line for 25 minutes just for a drink. I practically missed all of Panama’s set. I was a little devastated by that. VIP was amazing in the beginning, however as the day went on it became busier and busier. From what was meant to be an area with no lines, became and area with lines heading all the way back to the entrance, big fail.

WEIRDLIGHTS The crowd were fucking weird. The first time I ever experienced Field Day, I was welcomed by a mix of fun-loving hippies and normal festival goers. This year, dudes were walking around ‘roided’ up, whilst listening to London Grammar. It was the oddest thing that I have ever seen. Other then that, I saw a couple of really old ladies roaming around and a kid who easily looked about 12, so I’m not sure how he made it past security. >

BANDS CRYSTAL FIGHTERS There’s not much to hate about my favourite band in the whole wide world. They had futuristic, random costumes. They were entertaining and the dropped every single beat that I love. ‘Love Is All I Got’ was my highlight and I danced around everyone like a lunatic whilst watching them. The girls have the most amazing voices ever!

A$AP ROCKY ‘I love bad Bitches that’s my fucking problem’ ASAPPPPP. He was incredible. I’m not sure whether it was more so the part where I was kicking it backstage whilst dancing around like an idiot to him, or he’s black and sexy and can rap like a motherfucker. Either way, he kicked butt on stage. For his song ‘Wild For The Night’ he brought Skrillex on stage as a bit of a surprise! The crowd went nuts. I also saw a few girls get their ‘titties’ out on ASAP’s request.

FLUX PAVILLION I was pretty much away in happy land when Flux came on. It was night and the crowd was dancing like mental cases. He was mixing all his newbies ‘Daydreamer’ and ‘Do Or Die’ with my all time favourite ‘I Can’t Stop’. In between our much loved favourites, he chucked on some oldie and goldies like ‘Cocaine’. He absolutely nailed it for the second-last set of the night.

everyone was settled in to hear his stuff. And the highlight goes to him, when he brought Chet Faker on stage to sing their cheeky number ‘Left Alone’. We all had a feeling that they would do it, as apparently they’re best mates, but when they actually did it, we lost our shit.

LONDON GRAMMAR Unfortunately I did not get to see London Grammar, I was too busy liaising with A$AP Rocky. However I’m putting them up here as a highlight because from what I heard from my mates, the lead singer is fucking incredible. She sounds like she does in Triple J. She actually stopped halfway through her set to make some guy aware of the fact that she’s never seen anyone dance like he has to her music. I’m assuming it was one of the ‘roid heads hopping around. Funny shit.

FLIGHT FACILITIES I’m giving them credit where it’s deserved because they were fucking brilliant. In fact, I actually wish that they played their same set when I saw them in Melbourne only months ago. They remixed all their usuals ‘Crave You’, ‘With You’ and ‘Clair De Lune’, however incorporated some old-school rap, which got our little legs moving nice and early during the day. Well done guys! Overall, a very happy-vibe feeling festival! Interesting crowd, but it kept the day very amusing. One of the best line-ups I have seen in a while and would do it all again in a second!

FLUME

Flume, good old Flumey Flume. He’s hot, sexy and knows his shit. As the last set of the night,

> Sarah Long

Crystal Fighters

A$AP Rocky

grouplove BLAIRE: Hi Hannah, how are you? HANNAH HOOPER: Hey Mr Ben, I’m well. That’s very official, I like it! So, you guys are LA locals, are you at home currently? We are LA locals, but no we’re not home at the moment, we’re off touring, surrounded by snowy streets. It’s fucking freezing! Dude, when you snowboard and you’re from a country that gets very minimal snow that actually sounds really good!

I’ve been listening to a lot of LA bands that we haven’t played with, like Waves and Best Coast. I’ve got in my head Tame Impala, ‘cause they rock, but they’re not from anywhere near here [laughs]. All of us are all randomly friends with the individual members of a band called Family Of The Year. They’re an LA band and any time we see them we know we’re going to have a really good time. Awesome. Spreading Rumours came out a little while ago, and has been destroying it since. How do you guys feel about the massive response to the album?

[Laughs] I’m actually a snowboarder too, I wish we Dude, we’ve been blown away by it. It’s always had a chance to make use of the weather. been a sketchy time for most bands to write and start performing their second album but for us, On the topic of LA, what’s your favourite thing our fans have made it so easy. We were going to do about your hometown? sets of half old stuff and half new stuff, but we’ve just really been playing the new album and people I guess coming off tour, there’s something wonder- have been freaking out over every song. It’s been ful about always having good weather. I grew up in more than we could ask for. San Francisco, and it’s not as consistent, so I really ‘Borderlines And Aliens’ Is one of my favourappreciate being able to come back pretty much any time and veg on the beach. Even if it’s like two ite songs at the moment. Please let Ryan, your drummer, know that the fills in that song make days, it always feels more like a week here. me happy every single time I hear them. Loads, of good music comes out of LA. I had a chat with The Naked And Famous the other day I wish everyone could have seen him in the and they named you as one of the bands they like recording process of this album, he’s a machine! hearing and playing with around LA. So who do Do you have a favourite song to perform? you guys like hearing and playing with around > LA and in general?

I think we all have different ones, but mine is definitely ‘Borderlines’. It just goes off and there’s so much, like, teenage angst and aggression in amongst a pretty upbeat set, it’s a nice change of pace. I know Christian’s favourite song at the moment is ‘Bitin’ The Bullet’. He doesn’t have a guitar in that song so he gets to jump around like one of Jay Z’s squad. It’s pretty awesome.

day. So with Big Day Out the fact you get all these breaks and actually get to see Australia, it rules! Is there anyone you’re really keen to play alongside on the tour?

I’m a huge, huge Arcade Fire fan, and I haven’t seen them live in like two albums, and I refuse to watch them on TV or anything when I know It sounds awesome. You guys are out here for they’re playing Big Day Out and I get to see them Big Day Out this year and I know you’ve toured seven times. And of course Pearl Jam, that’s crazy, here before, how have you guys found Australian I’m stoked. audiences in the past? How could you not be! What do you guys like to I mean, C’mon! Australia is the best! We were do outside of music? saying a little while ago that our biggest Christmas present is getting to play Big Day Out. None of us I guess for the last four years it’s been pretty much need anything under the tree cause we’re coming just music. Pretty much everything we do is someto Australia. how affiliated with the show. When we’re not playing shows most of us are smoking weed and That’s wicked to hear! writing songs, and we like to make the art for the stage and such. I do a lot of painting and keep it We always get to play in front of massive family and low key. I don’t know, I like spending audiences cause we’re usually playing festivals. I my time on music. Christian and Andrew are big feel like everyone in Australia is out to have a good history buffs, so they like a lot of city places. Yeah, time all the time. It’s like LA on steroids. but mostly we tour and try to find out who’s going to sell us weed. I can attest to the fact that, yeah, we are all pretty interested in a good time anytime. Especially [Laughs] Again, I can attest to that one. I know somewhere like Big Day Out, I try to go along you guys are all pretty creative, and into your art most years and there’s an awesome vibe. It in different respects and I know you do a lot of never really changes, it still feels like an old the album artwork yourself. Is there something school festival. in particular, outside of music, that inspires you guys as a group? We played a show with Cage The Elephant a little while recently, and they played Big Day Out last Great question! I don’t know if I could put my year or maybe the year before, and they were like finger on one thing. Whether it’s walking into a ‘Dude, you guys are going to have the best fucking gallery, or walking into a school or walking in a time!’ They kept calling it “Big Day Off ” and were drain. Whenever we meet people that are really like, ‘You just get to hang out with all these other enthusiastic about what they do, that’s inspiring bands and have a ton of fun.’ When you do tours in itself. It just depends on the day. Andrew’s a big like that in the states it’s like you just play and surfer, that’s his thing. travel to the next place for the next show the next > 13

And you mentioned you’re a snowboarder too. Has the snow/skate/surf culture influenced your music a bit? Yeah, there all things that are really revolved around having a good time and being athletic and being outdoors. It’s therapeutic, like meditation, you know. You can be having the shittiest day and your brain can be feeling all claustrophobic but once you’re out on the snow it’s unbelievable. Totally! I could not agree more! If you guys could play with any three bands from the present or the past, who would they be? Oh dude, that’s a crazy fuckin’ question! I think we’d start by having Mozart opening the night. I think I’d have to have Bjork headlining the night. We can play somewhere in the middle. And the last one would have to be Frank Sinatra. That would actually be an amazing show! On the flipside to that, if you had to erase a musical act from history, who would it be? Shit! I could get in shit for this. But I’ve got it, me and Christian’s least favourite band of all time… Bush. Fair enough. What’s the best thing about living the muso lifestyle? There’s something amazing about waking up in a different city every day, it’s like a rebirth. You have a bad day, then you get to wake up in a new city and start again, it makes it easier to be that person you want to be when you’re always moving.

of them are like ‘fuck you man, you making all this money being out on the road’ and it’s like, dude, that is not how it is. There’s an illusion to what we do, which is like party all the time, and as much as it’s an incredible experience and there’s nothing like it, it’s so much more work than a nine-to-five. It’s like 24/7 when you’re on tour. And it is incredible I feel like I shouldn’t even be complaining. If you guys could change the world in one way, what would it be? I would completely end factory farming, which is the number one source of pollution on the planet right now. It would just be nice if everyone shopped locally and we could just have free running cows who weren’t fed things that make them sick. And at the same time we would have a beautiful planet. Before we wrap it up, do you have any advice for young musicians? I would say don’t worry about what anyone else is telling you right now, it’s right if its from your heart, and if you’re responding to music then you’re doing great. Always remember, there is no one right sound. Last word from Grouplove? See you at a show!

Alternatively, what’s the biggest draw back? Id’ say its maintaining relationships with people who have no understanding of what you’re doing. All my friends work nine-to-five day jobs, and a lot 14

> Benny Thompson

VE O N A R B R U O Y T GE

MACKLEMORE & RYAN LEWIS

PRESENTING THE

ARENA

FIRST EVER AUSTRALIAN PERFORMANCE

LIVE

CELEBRATING 6 YEARS AT FUTURE

AND HEAPS ROAR

JU N G L E RU M B L E IN T HICEK RA CECOURSE SAT 8 MAR, RANDW

FULL LINEUP, TIKI-LEAKS

& TICKET INFO:

COM.AU FUTUREMUSICFESTIVAL.

TIX ON SALE TUES 1 OCT

The Naked and famous BLAIRE: Hey Jesse, how’re you going? JESSE WOOD: I’m very well thanks man. Are you guys at home at the moment? Yeah, we just got back to LA about a week ago. It’s been a very busy year for us with finishing the writing of the record, recording then rehearsal, so it’s been a bit crazy and we’re just kind of taking a break before Big Day Out. Yeah, you’ll be joining us for the Big Day Out festival. It’s not really hard for kiwi’s to get along in Australia, we’re siblings really, and I know you’ve played here on your own tours before but have you sent any time on the festival circuit? Yeah, we’ve played Big Day Out before, we’ve done Future Music and Parklife. I Lived in Melbourne for about three years when I was a bit younger, so I have a great love for the place, I love coming back to Australia.

Yeah, they’re like a lifelong dream band to play alongside so that will be massive. And 1975, we played a show with them in Kansas City and they’re really cool guys and we all love their record. And Grouplove as well! We see them quite a bit around LA and we’ve done a bunch of show with them before and they’re a really good group to see. It’s a really good line up, I’m really looking forward to it. And are you guys keen to get back to NZ and play the Auckland show? I’m sure it’s nice to play a set at home? Yeah that should be great. We haven’t done a show there in like two years. I compare New Zealand to a place like Iceland, touring wise it’s just really hard to get there. It’s kind of isolated, and so financially it can be difficult. There’s like 12 people in our band and crew and to get all the equipment and stuff, it just makes it too hard. So festivals are a great chance to get back there and play a massive show.

Cool, that’s nice to hear. Is there anyone you’re really excited to play alongside at the festival?

You guys have killed it for the last couple of years, your music is absolutely everywhere. I was introduced to you guys through the world We’re massive Arcade Fire fans, so I’m really look- of snowboarding. Your music is used a lot in ing forward to that. It’s a shame Blur pulled out but snowboard flicks and it seems to compliment since Deftones were announced I’m really excited the nature of them really well. Are you guys at all about that. into snow culture? > Me too! 17

I used to snowboard a lot when I was younger, but then my parents stopped taking me and I couldn’t afford to go myself [laughs]. I’m probably going to go boarding a bit this Christmas up at Lake Tahoe. I’m really paranoid about injuring myself these days, so I’m going to wear all the wrist guards and elbows and the lot. I’m going to look like a starfish.

Hong Kong is pretty solid, they have curly fries.

[laughs] That’s something I want to see. Do you think with NZ having such a big snow culture that it helps to shape the channel of music it produces? Or is there some other secret? New Zealand seems to be producing a ton of amazing music these days.

Of course! You guys live in LA these days, right?

I don’t know if it has anything to do with the place, in terms of words of music, I mean I’m not sure if it’s totally unimpressionable from any other place, but at the same time of course some things will flow through. Speaking of NZ having some great musicians, is there and Kiwi acts you guys are into? Lorde has become massive, everyone knows that, but that’s great. We know Joel who helped with the writing and producing on the album so I’m really happy for those two to be doing so well. Yeah she’s killing it. As is Kimbra. What do you guys like to do outside of music? I’m kind of just figuring that out again cause it’s been so long since we’ve had a break. I’ve personally been getting back into cooking again which has been nice. I’ve been eating the worst food on earth for the last two months. I mean there’s good food around but by choice I go to McDonalds everywhere. We have this running joke of like, ‘Gee, I wonder what McDonalds tastes like in Sweden?’ 18

Where has the best Maccas?

Is there some scientific reason curly fries taste better than straight ones? I think that have more surface are to absorb more oil to they’re greaser and more delicious.

Yeah, we’ve been here for about a year and a half now. It’s a really practical place to live. You can pretty much fly anywhere in the world in one flight. Auckland to London is like 20 hours, and two or three or four flights. Plus there are a lot of really good studios here, a lot of good producers, it’s pretty accessible, we’ve really enjoyed it. One of my favourite bits about being in new places, as you say, is the food. Outside of McDonalds, have you found any really amazing places to eat in LA? [Laughs] I’m being a little dramatic, I’m not completely uncultured. There’s this really good place called Myer’s. It’s really close to our rehearsal space in Silverlake. They have really, really good burritos and hot sauce. There’s heaps of good spots in LA, depending what you want to do. The food here’s pretty varied and reasonably priced, so I actually eat out a lot here. I’m getting jealous dude! If you guys could choose three bands from any point in time to play with, who would they be? I’m not sure if it would make any sense musically, but I’d love to play with Queen. David and I have been have been pretty obsessed with Queen recently. We’ve been watching lots of shows and stuff and they just put on a great performance. There’s this German guy called Apparat, and he’s probably one of my favourite artist. >

He’s really good at blending electronic music and live drums and guitar and stuff. A couple of his song are on The Art Of Flight, the Red Bull Snowboard film that we also had a few songs in. And The Chemical Brothers, I saw them in Japan at the Fuji Rock Festival and their live shows incredible, so I’d love to play with them. I’d say we were all pretty influenced by them growing up and I feel like a lot of their music has rubbed off on us. That’s definitely not a bad thing. What’s the best bit about playing music for a living? It’s kind of funny, I grew up going, ‘all I want to do is play drums,’ and now I have moments where I’m like, ‘Oh god, I got to go do this today,’ but then I take a second and realize how awesome it is and how lucky I am. The day-to-day activities I have to do for my job are not like any other job. We’re not really egotistical, so we’re not really worried about being famous, but we are really lucky to have to opportunity to actually do what we love.

Nice man. Have you got any advice for young musicians, especially from Australia and NZ? Every time I see an artist get talked out of something they’re really passionate about, it backfires. If you’re really passionate about something and stick at it then it will pay off in some way shape or form. Sometimes when people get semi successful then record labels and producers will swoop in and manipulate them to do something else. It’s good to take advice from people but you have to stay true to what you enjoy, cause if you’re going to change and do something you don’t enjoy then it actually becomes a job. Make sure you enjoy what you do and you’ll be successful. Last word from The Naked And Famous? We’re really keen to come back to Australia and play some shows, the vibe is great, the weather is great, and it’s one of our favourite places to travel, so we can’t wait to see you there.

And what’s the biggest drawback? I was thinking about that recently, touring is really difficult on your friends and family. My brother just moved to Berlin, which is awesome cause I get to see him, but only like once a year. But you can’t have it all, so it’s pretty good in that respect. It’s made me miss my family over the years, so I’m glad when we do get to do things like Big Day Out and I get to spend a bit of time with my family. Okay, a couple of quick ones before we wrap it up dude. If you could change the world in one way, really big, or really small, what would it be? Probably just sustainably man. I know that’s pretty boring but I read some stuff and I’m like, ‘how are we not doing this already?’ Or just awareness for people, help us see the bigger picture. 20

> Benny Thompson

T o p 1 0 Road Trip albums As most of our summer adventures are slowly coming to an end, there are a few lucky buggers still out on the road pumping tunes and chasing the summer rays all over Australia. The music playlist is a secured must-have for these situations and these are my recommendations.

FOSTER THE PEOPLE Torches This American indie-pop band formed back in 2009. I love their up-beat poppy sounds. They make me get my happy feet on. ‘Pumped Up Kicks’ is an all time favourite, as well as ‘Call It What You Want’.

BLOC PARTY A Weekend In The City This indie-rock band is straight out of UK. This album was released in 2007 and is easily by far my favourite of their albums. It has a mix of relaxing tunes and also upbeat ones. ‘I Still Remember’ and ‘Hunting For Witches’ are the highlights.

RÜFÜS Atlas These Aussie boys are a very new band on the scene. If you’re yet to be acquainted with their stuff, then you’re missing out. Their electro-pop beats are nothing like I have heard before. Their music gets your body shifting from side to side in the seat of your car. ‘Take Me’ and ‘Sundream’ are the most popular, but I love every song.

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS Star Of Love It is a mystery as to how I came across these guys, but let me tell you that I am obsessed. They an English/Spanish electronic band, and consist of mixed genres such as Basque folk, electronic and dubstep. My favourites are ‘With You’, ‘Follow’ and ‘Love Is All I Got’.

GORILLAZ Demon Days I have always been a sucker for their music and cannot understand why people don’t love them. They are a musical project straight out of England. In 2001, they released their debut album and since then kicked some serious butt. ‘Kids With Guns’ and ‘Clint Eastwood’ are the best! 25

HILLTOP HOODS The Hard Road Even though they have released their new album Drinking From the Sun, The Hard Road stands at number one on my list. These guys put Australian Hip-Hop on the scene. And they did it in a very tasteful way. ‘Recapturing the Vibe’ and ‘Stopping all Stations’ are my top picks.

THE XX XX I suggest not putting these guys on at night, as you might falls asleep. However while you’re keen to just cruise and turn your mind off for a bit, then this is the perfect album. Their soft-electro beats will have you melting at their feet. ‘Crystalised’ and ‘Night Time’ are the highlights of this album.

THE STROKES Angles I had always listened to The Strokes here and there, but that’s because every man and their dog raved on about them. However I finally listened to their whole album in 2011. It was incredible. I loved every song. They’re an American rock band, with one of the most amazing voices ever from Julian Casablancas. ‘Call me Back’ and ‘Taken for a Fool’ were my favourite. 26

ARCTIC MONKEYS AM The things that I would do to see Arctic Monkeys live. I would have to say that Alex Turner’s voice is even better than Mr. Casablancas’. And his English accent just tops it. He’s so God-damn sexy. Their recent album has kicked goals. My favourites: ‘Arabella’ and ‘Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High’.

YEASAYER Odd Blood The reason why I chose these guys is because their music is so different. They’re an American psychedelic band straight out of Brooklyn, New York. Odd Blood was their second released album in 2010 and I love ‘O.N.E’ and ‘Love Me Girl’.

> Sarah Long 27

bliss n eso BLAIRE: Hey man, how’re you doing?

You definitely can say what you did with them!

ESO: Not too bad mate, how are you?

Oh yeah? Well we got some grade-A dozer, smoked and chilled and talked about shit like I’m very well. Where are you currently? going to Africa, they were awesome. It was like an instant universal connection. It’s crazy, I was I am standing barefoot in Hyde Park, the sun is out listening to them a while ago. I love their style, and and it’s absolutely beautiful. I just put out some positive energy and a couple of month later we’re chilling with them in a hotel. It’s Sounds like your day is treating you well then? Mental. Every day is beautiful man, you’ve just got to see the sunny side of it. That’s very poetic man! Check it out, I got the fuckin’ quotes going on already. This is going to be a good one dude, I hope you’re ready! Yeah dude, firing! I’m excited! So, I’m curious who you guys are listening to at the moment? We’ll I don’t want to say too much that’s going to make me feel old, shit. I’ve been listening to these guys who call themselves Beast Coast, and it’s not from New York, it’s from New New York and these kids are crazy. I also listen to things like The Underachievers, Dylan Cooper, and this whole breed of new and hungry rappers coming out of New York who are all on fire right now. The Underachievers came over recently and we got to kick it with them. I’m not sure I can say what we did with them… 30

That’s cool man, not enough of us embrace positive energy these days. You guys have had massive success with Circus In The Sky, it’s killed it. You guys aren’t new to releasing albums at all, this is your fifth. Do you still get just as exciting when a release is well received now as when you started out? Absolutely man. Whenever I get asked about the response to the album I always go back to being a 16 year-old kid in a small room, staring at a brick wall wishing it was a crowd. To get to this point and to have an album go number 1, to have 800 people rock up to a gig, it’s still absolutely mind blowing. We’re extremely humbled by it every day. This is our dream, sometimes I feel like a have to pinch myself. Fuck yeah dude, you sound so enthused about it all. You guys are definitely not new to the festival circuit either. Big Day Out is coming up very soon, are you looking forward to it? >

Yeah man, we love performing, full stop. It would feel complete if we couldn’t do this life for people. Big festivals, small shows, we love it all. There’s something different to all of them and festivals like the Big Day Out just have that vibe. We’re honoured to get onstage with all these Aussie and international artists that are putting out quality music at the moment. 10 years ago you wouldn’t see Hip Hop anywhere on a festival bill, so it’s amazing. Is there anyone you guys really want to play with? I love watching Pez, he’s a legend. I even like making fun of his real name, Perry Chapman. It rhymes with Eric Clapton. Definitely be watching Snoop and we’ll hopefully get to burn down a big one with the man himself. Is that not the dream for any Hip Hop artist and every stoner ever? I know! And it might happen! If it does, please have a toke for me. Oh, I will, don’t you worry. And I’ll Instagram it like a motherfucker! Word dude, get your hashtag on! Have you got a song you love to perform? Every song and show has a different feel, finding out what’s going to rock the crowd on one night is part of the excitement of it all. I’ve got to say, when we’re finishing up a set and Addicted comes in, fuck, something happens. It’s just the pace and rhythm of that beat, the intensity, The crowd always looses it and I naturally just go into this weird trance, like a fucking caveman and just start jumping around. I fucking love that song! 32

So do I dude, and it’s does go off live. Have you ever been totally star struck? Dude, it happens all the time! We’re still kids. With the industry we’re in we do get to meet lots of people we never thought we would. We met Chris Lilly not long ago and I was shitting myself. At the end of our Canadian tour recently we went to LA and we did the film clip for ‘My Life In Las Vegas’ and Nas rocked up. We were like, ‘Do you think he’s going to come? When’s he going to arrive? What do you think he’s wearing?’ It really was insane, biggest butterflies. As you said before, the Hip Hop community has come a very long way in Australia in the last 20 years, I’ve heard you guys say before that Hip Hop was almost nowhere when you started out. Did you ever expect to achieve what you guys have across your pretty inspiring career? We’re real man, and we’re free thinkers. Not to sound vain at all, but when we started we said to ourselves if we sharpen our craft, and we fuckin’ bring it, then there’s no reason we couldn’t conquer this bitch. Especially when we knew the message had to be real and had to have some substance to it. We were raised on gangsta rap, and we knew how that affected us. We were pretty punk-arse little kids, and my mum lost at me once when she heard me call bitches bitches, and so we knew we had to take that idea and deliver it with the right message and if we could, we could change the fuckin’ world. That’s what it’s all about. I just imagine a kid who’s had a shitty day or maybe has a shitty life and he or she chucks on a B’N’E album and it actually helps to make the world seem better. That’s what happens with music, we don’t have fans, we just have free thinkers. Definitely dude, I love your style. Before we finish up, if you could play with three artists, current or past, who would they be?

Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley and Outcast. Who are apparently getting back together! I’m hearing rumours too dude. Hey while I’m Thinking of it dude, we have just reached 500,000 followers on Facebook, which is an amazing figure, and we’re supper grateful to all out free thinkers. And because of that, we have gone back into the studio and recorded and acoustic version of ‘My Life’, free for everyone to download, there’s a clip to it and stuff and it’s our gift to you guys to say thanks. You can find it at www.blissneso.com, you can check out our instagrams, @blissneso28 and mine is @eso28. We also have a Bliss N Eso TV channel on Youtube, which has load of behind-the-scenes stuff. We were in California recently with Robbie

Maddison on water jetpacks, go check it out. Nice one man. Have you got any advice you can give to young artist, especially Hip Hop artists, who are trying to do their thing? Be yourself, and let your imagination run free. Try not to be consumed with everything that’s going on in the world and let your mind have its say. Now that there are so many artists in Australia that are putting out quality music, take notes on how are artists are shaping the scene. Keep at your craft. If you’re a rapper, freestyle every day and exercise that mind of yours for some free thinking.

> Benny Thompson 33

Violent Soho BLAIRE: Hey James, how’s Brisvegas today?

Bryon Bay is pretty much the ideal place for a festival like Falls I reckon. It is pretty well any JAMES TIDSWELL: It’s awesome, it’s pretty cool festival musician’s dream to end up on the Falls but there’s blue skies. Don’t get many bad days here stage at some point. Is there anyone you guys are man. really keen to play with? It’s a hard life you live. Hungry Ghost came out earlier this year, it’s been killing it. I’ve had it on high rotation myself, ‘Covered In Chrome’ is an awesome song. How have you guys found the response to the album? Yeah man, we’re stoked. We really didn’t anticipate it at all. We just sort of did the album in a friend’s bedroom studio and it was more for us than anything else, so it’s been a real surprise to see it actually getting some attention. I mean we wanted to make a good record, don’t get me wrong, but for an album we thought really only we’d listen to, it’s done well for itself.

The lineup is awesome. The Roots are definitely someone I want to see again, but there’s really too many to name them all. Who do you guys like playing with in general? Well I have to say Dune Rats are pretty rad to hang out with and it’s always good to have to bands worth of people on the hunt for weed. It’s sometimes a bit of a mission, so having those guys along definitely helps that cause.

Who are you guys listening to at the moment?

You guys we’re brought to my attention through lots on my friends in the skate scene, you’re music has been pretty heavily embraced by the surf and skate culture. Are you guys involved in that scene yourselves?

Heaps of bands. At the moment I’m pretty into Freak Wave, they’re rad. We’re all getting into a bit of like stoner and doom stuff right now. You guys are playing at Falls Festival, you’ve got to be looking forward to that. Have you guys played Falls before?

Oh yeah. Growing up where we did, surf culture is pretty much everything and everywhere. We all grew up at the beach and in the water and the culture definitely does influence everything around us. And I skate every day, I work in a skate shop. Yeah, it’s a part of my life in a very big way.

Yeah we played a couple of years ago. Back then there were only three stops, so it will be sick to play Bryon on this leg too. But, dude, I’ve been attending them for years, so it’s amazing to play there.

Punk and rock have always been pretty synonymous with skating, especially in Australia. Do you see a little bit of a resurgence of both skate and the music happening at the moment? > 35

There’s defiantly a resurgence of skate culture coming through man, and music always goes with it. I don’t know if it’s all punky this time, I think a lot of the music is going down a psych/jam path, but skating and music go hand in hand and I think the two will always play a part with one another.

Yeah, cause they’re fucking shit. Can’t argue with that dude, great answer. What’s the best thing about living the muso lifestyle?

Outside of surf, skate and music, what else do you guys get up to?

We get to see a lot of music that we really like all the time, and that’s amazing. Not only that, but we get to meet a lot of the people making the music and that’s unbelievable sometimes.

Not a hell of a lot to be honest man. Fifa. [laughs]

What’s the worst bit?

You are my kinda guy! You’re life sounds very similar to mine. Skating round, baking on and playing Fifa.

There’s not a lot I don’t like about it man. It kind of sucks when I’m on tour and I can’t just call my dude and get weed whenever I want. Sometimes the hunt can be arduous, and we’ll spend hours wondering if it’s going to happen, and talking to people in strange cities, but it normally comes up our way anyways.

That’s pretty much all we do man. And I guess try to fit some music in here and there. We went on tour with Arctic Monkeys a little while ago, they were sick and their show was awesome, and they had this stand, with a TV and Fifa connected so they had a little Fifa station wherever they went. We were mind blown. They barely touched it either, like they’d gotten to a point where the novelty of this had worn off. That’s next level.

I feel you dude, and nice honest answer. If you could change the world in one way, what would it be? Probably more access to weed dealers, right?

I’m pretty sure that’s the definition of baller. If you guys could play with any three bands from any point in history, current or past, who would they be?

Well, definitely that. But I guess I’d like to get rid of a monetary based system. We could live on simply growing food and being good to each other, we really don’t have to abide by this bullshit system, but we do.

Well, don’t know about the other guys but I’d pick The Pixies, Blink and Nirvana.

Fucking A, man. Lastly, got any advice for young musicians?

That would be an amazing show! On the flip side to that question, if you could erase a musical act from history, who would it be?

Yeah, if you love it keep at it. If you don’t you can fuck right off.

Dude, I could pick a lot of shit bands for you. But I’m going to go with Sheppard. You didn’t have to think much about that. Got a reason why? 36

> Benny Thompson

FAL L

L S F E S T IV A L For all those who missed out on the magical experience of Byron Bay’s Falls Festival, we have you covered. We sent our man Brod Fraser out on an adventure to catch the highs, the lows and the dead-set weird moments. He’s done a great job at capturing the true Falls Festival vibe.

HIGHLIGHTS The Amphitheatre was an absolute winner. It was situated at the bottom of a hill, so it did not matter where you stood, you could see it all. Falls Festival nailed the set up. There were two main stages and three side stages, all of a close proximity. The silent disco was unreal. Everyone had headphones on, but there were three different stations. The stations were segmented by colour. So if a really good song came on at the red station, all the headphones would light up red, as a sea of people would flock to that station. It was especially unreal watching this happen. The Jack Daniels Barrel House was a huge tin shed. There were DJs and bands in there that you could just chill out and watch throughout the day. It was a different vibe. I loved how easy it was to get grog into the festival. Festival alcohol is ridiculously expensive. We were all really impressed with the toilets and showers. They were constantly being cleaned all day and night. What I loved the most about Falls, was the crowd. Everyone was real chill and hippy. There were no punch ons. People were hugging everywhere.

LOWLIGHTS I don’t really like focusing all too much on the lowlights, however it might make all you guys

who missed out feel a little better. Firstly, the heat was real gross. It was really dusty and so the dust would stick to our sweat, not a good mix. We couldn’t escape it. Falls did offer a mister, but it was always off. So maybe next time, they should invest in like 10 of those that actually work. The festival also ended pretty early every night, there wasn’t anything on past 2am, which made it frustrating for party goers. They also could have scheduled the music better. All the good music was at the end of the festival and we were all burnt out and wrecked by then. There were a few technical glitches, but I don’t think many people noticed. The taps did flood at one stage and the water floated over to our tents, which sucked. Oh and I know that it’s a policy, but they only sold mid-strength drinks. I spent like $100 and was still sober. Next time, they need to give a little variety. Not everyone drinks cruisers!

WEIRDLIGHTS There’s a village in the middle of the festival and real weird shit goes on there. There was a stall that had been set up and during the night, a caravan was placed in this stall. Inside the caravan sat a dwarf and he was pouring chemicals into a beaker. My brain couldn’t handle it.

At another stage, there was a girl who was sitting in the stall chatting to a flea. She was trying to make it do tricks, but it just sat there. People were also selling plants and held up a sign saying ‘adopt a plant’. That was really odd. There were also some creepy clowns walking around smiling at us. I didn’t like that too much. There was also a skeleton wedding. That was actually really funny. The weird bits probably have the most impact on defining what Falls Festival is really about.

BANDS VIOLENT SOHO Two words: fucking awesome. They had the crowd moshing and bodies were flying in all directions. It was actually hilarious to watch. Violent Soho were extremely entertaining, they spoke to the crowd the entire time. Even for some of my mates who don’t know Violent Soho very well, were extremely impressed. They opened with ‘Dope Calypso’, and ‘Jesus Stole My Girlfriend’ and ‘Covered In Chrome’ were highlights. Well done dudes.

RÜFÜS Rufus are always a crowd winner. I knew every song, so I was right into it. The electro-pop beats of their new album had people rocking out, but it was also awesome to just chill and drink to. They’re so quirky and cool. Their ultimate songs were ‘Take Me’, ‘Desert Night’ and ‘Simplicity Of Bliss’.

THE WOMBATS It was a pretty unreal moment when The Wombats were playing. It was pissing down with rain, it was 40

the last performance and not one person gave a shit that they were drenched. In fact, it’s probably what made their set THAT much better. They played on the Amphitheatre with a massive crowd, who were loving it. They played all their main songs, old and new. ‘Lets’s Dance To Joy Division’ was incredible. Along with ‘Kill The Director’ and ‘Tokyo’.

CRYSTAL FIGHTERS I fucking froth over these guys. They’re absolutely killing it. They’re so cool. They played at night and we were all sweaty as fuck. It had just stopped raining, so everyone was going crazy. The blonde chick came up on stage to sing and gave me the biggest stiffy, she’s mint as. ‘Love Is All I Got’ was their best and they planted it in the middle of their set. I loved their costumes too, the main singer had a gold sequined net over his face for the first two songs. The other two awesome songs were ‘Wave’ and ‘At Home’.

NEIL FINN Neil Finn was on another level, in his own element. He was incredible. Every single person in the crowd was two generations before his time, yet they knew all the words to every song that he played. He sung two words of his most popular ‘You Better Be Home Soon’ and the crowd finished off the verse for him. It was especially cool that a crowd of thousands of people knew all his music.

VAMPIRE WEEKEND Also really good. They had a large crowd and were super energetic. They opened their set with their new song ‘Diana Young’. The highlight was ‘A-Punk’. The reason why I don’t have much to report on, is because I was listening to them from my swag (too hungover). >

Crystal Fighters

THUNDAMENTALS I was crook as and still had a wicked time. They played on the second day around 2pm. It was a good boost and got the crowd going for the rest of the day and night. They did their ‘Brother’ Like a Version, which was fucking unreal. They also did my favourite, ‘Smiles Don’t Lie’.

‘Kids’ were just crap. It was an absolute disgrace. Festival organisers, please stop booking these losers. Overall, mint festival. You have to go at least once. Word of advice, if you’re planning to stay in Byron after the festival, make sure you book early!

Dishonourable Mention: MGMT Their sound was so shit. The main singer didn’t even sing into the microphone. Instead he had a Hello Kitty teddy and a GoPro that he was using on stage. He kept taking footage of the teddy that he had in his hand. It was real messed up. I’m fair sure that he was as high as a kite. There was just no energy at all, even their all times ‘Electric Feel’ and

> Brod Fraser

blaire F E S T I VA L S P E C I A L EDITORIAL Emily Eaton Editor Sarah Long Creative Director Dave Lee Assistant Editor Jordan Ellis Advertising/Marketing CONTRIBUTORS Sarah Long Benny Thompson Brod Fraser

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