Blank Gold Coast issue #29 – January 16

free Jan ‘16

issue #029

CELEBRATING 2 YEARS IN PRINT

MUSIC

CULTURE

FOOD

LIFESTYLE

ART + MORE

Ben Lee Harts The Maslows Hussy Hicks BigFellaLinc

Sparky Do Dah BUFTA: Cullen Solar at The Pines Sustainability at Falls

Borough Barista The Lamp Shop Funky Olive Baritalia

Single Fin Kippy Skateboards Untangling yoga The Race That Shames a Nation

Clare Hooper Get inked Horizons at Bleach Life drawing Art is pop

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NighT Markets

Food Vendors

Fashion

_ NATTALI friday 01 jan

RIZE & NOTIS

THE LYRICAL + SEEKA

08 jan

02 jan

katie who

09 jan

15 jan

dan hannaford

city over sand

NICKY CONVINE + TAYLOR

THE TWINE + JOSH LOVEGROVE

GABRIEL & CECILIA

22 jan

29 jan

30 jan

hot potato band HANLON BROTHERS

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the cairos

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Entertainment Central...

THE DELTA RIGGS

FAT PIZZA v HOUSOS

Ages 18+ Sat 9 Jan | $20* Presale $25* Door After a monstrous 2015, one of Australia’s most formidable new rock bands, The Delta Riggs are approaching 2016 at warp speed with the Summer in Space Tour, their final live hoorah before zooming off to outer space to start Album #3.

36 Scarborough Street, Southport P: 5552 4200

www.rslclubsouthport.com.au *Transaction Fee May Apply. Terms & Conditions Apply, Subject to Change

Sun 24 Jan | $25* Presale $30* Door You’ve seen the movie, now see the Fat Pizza & Housos go toe to toe live on stage. You be the judge… you decide who is the funnier and most staunch! See the guys do what they do best…….Drink, party, thong people and get totally sik!

Join us on

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#029 JAN 2016

Editor: Samantha Morris Culture + Lifestyle Editor: Natalie O’Driscoll Editorial Intern: Doris Prodanovic Design: Chloe Popa, Blunt Pencil Studio & Dusk Stone Design Advertising: Amanda Gorman Money Coordinator: Phillippa Wright Photographer: Leisen Standen, Lamp Photography Sub-editor: Cody McConnell COVERS & FEATURES: The Delta Riggs & A Race that Shames a Nation covers & feature articles have been designed by Dusk Stone

Single Fin Festival hosts Hanlons Hanlon Brothers will kick 2016 off in classic Gold Coast style, joining a lineup of local talent for the Burleigh Single Fin Festival.

They’ve just been confirmed for the Sunday of the event (10 January) along with Dave Rastovich and The Babe Rainbow. The event sees surfers compete on antique single fin boards made no later than 1981 with many boards coming from the 60s and 70s. But there’s also displays of historical surf craft, and a genuine carnival atmosphere. Get down to the beach to see it all unfold.

Contributors: Carmel E Lewis, Jodie Bellchambers, Sarah McEwen, Jake Wilton, Glenn Tozer, Samantha Morris, Kylie Cobb, Doris Prodanovic, Tiffany Mitchell, Marj Osborne, Catherine Coburn, Terry “Tappa” Teece, Natalie O’Driscoll, Anna Itkonen, Louise Christie, Emily Russell, Julia Schafer.

Acknowledgement of Country We show our respect and sincerely acknowledge the Traditional Owners of this land and their elders past, present and emerging.

Editorial: news@blankgc.com.au Advertising: advertising@blankgc.com.au Gigs: gigs@blankgc.com.au About us: Blank GC is independently owned and published by Samantha Morris and Chloe Popa. Most of our writers contribute their time pro-bono to boost the cultural scene on the Gold Coast. Founded in 2013 we are the Gold Coast’s independent cultural voice, relying on advertising to keep us in the fray. Opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of the editor, publishers or the writing team.

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Mojo rises again Mojo Burning will fire up for its third action-packed year continuing to build on its reputation as one of the best bluesroots-stoner-rock festivals in Queensland.

(Let’s face it, there’s not many). Hitting the Hamilton Hotel, Brisbane on Saturday 12 March and with a truly national lineup, Mojo Burning is a cultural force to be reckoned with, primarily driven by guitars and curated by people who work hard, tour hard and play hard. Joining Gold Coast bluesman Mason Rack on the bill are Bob Log III (USA), Jackson Firebird, The Fumes, Transvaal Diamond Syndicate, The Lazys, Hobo Magic, The Ugly Kings, The Royal Artillery, Guthrie, The Hunted Crows and Narla. That’s only the first lineup announcement too, so look lively. Though it’s hard to imagine how things could get better, we have it under very good authority that they will.

Local releases ahoy Seems summer is the season for releasing new music on the Gold Coast. OK, I take that back, it’s not different to any other season, but there certainly are a lot of quality offerings floating around right now.

Take for instance, Lincoln Hillard (AKA BigFellaLinc)’s new self-titled album. It’s been on high rotation in the Blankmobile and is well worth a listen. The Maslows are about to launch their new album, as is Felicity Lawless – along with a killer video for lead single Cowboy Cameraman. And if you like your tunes a touch on the heavier side (although admittedly, Felicity’s flamenco can be hea-vy sometimes too), then look no further than RedStarBorn’s shiny new EP Dead Philosophy. Hussy Hicks will drop their album, which comes with distinct southern soul crossed with surf guitar sometime soon and Bobby Alu is in the process of writing and recording songs right now. We really, really love #gcmusic.

Lakeside this summer at Evandale Darren Middleton and Casey Barnes have been announced in a month-long series of free live music events, taking place around Evandale Lake. As well as a heap of original and contemporary artists, the summer series will see salsa (dancing, not the sauce), food and a fully licensed area serving craft beers. Gracing the stage on Fridays (5.00 – 10.30pm), Saturdays (2.00 – 9.30pm) and Sundays (2.00 – 5.00pm) are the likes of Nicky Convine, Jackson James, Nyssa Berger, Oz Latin Brothers, Hoo8Hoo, Amanda King and Ashleigh Grace. Casey Barnes headlines on 8 January and Darren Middleton on 15 January. More at theartscentregc.com.au.

Seth Troxler launches Nautic Giants for 2016 After a sold out 2015 of live music and dance over the water at Fishermans Wharf, Nautic Giants begin the new year hosting world #1 DJ Seth Troxler, one of the most recognisable figures in global dance music.

Securing an act of Seth’s profile for their loyal Gold Coast audience, coupled with the increasing popularity of Nautic Giants speaks volumes for the City’s develop reputation as a destination for elite artists. The team behind Nautic Giants (which includes Crave Yard, Black Coffee Lyrics, About A Girl and elsewhere bar) describe the event as a curated entertainment experience. Troxler will bring the beats on Sunday 10 January in what is a coup for the Gold Coast. Tickets via Moshtix.

NightQuarter’s live offerings continue After a killer opening month, NightQuarter is finding its feet as a live music destination with thousands and thousands of people witnessing local bands since the venue’s opening in November. January will be no different with a couple of highlight gigs.

Nattali Rize will kick things off on new year’s day and on 23 January you can catch OKA with Leopold’s Treat and Matiu Te huki. On 29 January, the Cairos pass through town with support acts Neighbour and Matthew Armitage also on the bill. Get details at nightquarter.com.au.

Champagne in the streets of Surfers Paradise In between an exhausting October to February North American tour, acoustic guitar percussionist Daniel Champagne has snuck in a little trip home to Australia.

He’s playing the Woodford Folk Festival in the Sunshine Coast hinterland from 27 December until New Year’s Day. But luckily for Gold Coasters, he’s also lined up a little show at the Surfers Paradise Cavill Mall stage on 2 January (6.30pm). It’s a rare opportunity to catch this talent, whose guitar skill is frankly gobsmacking and is weaved amongst some impressive little storytelling tunes.

Definitely worth checking out.

Not so common kings Their Polynesian Roots combined with pop, rock, reggae, hip hop and RnB influences has them making waves all over the world and now Common Kings are headed Gold Coast’s way. Hailing from around the South Pacific, Hawaii and Orange County, Common Kings have been hailed as one of the best and brightest upcoming stars in the music scene today. They’re at the Coolangatta Hotel Thursday 18 February.

Holidays = live music at Chevron Renaissance They know where it’s at. It’s holidays and that means people are after tunes. Well, us kind of people, anyway. Every Friday, Saturday and Sunday through January, Chevron Renaissance will host artists such as Eleea Navarro, Brett Gannon, Jax Haze, Leigh James, Clare Nella and more. Get all the details at chevronrenaissanceshoppingcentre. com.au.

Iconic Aussie stars deliver classic hits at Jupiters It’s being romoted as a night of unrelenting, adrenaline-charged performances and it is chockas full of household names.

Choirboys, Rose Tattoo, Stars, Ted Mulry Gang, The Angels, Billy Thorpe Band and Matt Finish will deliver their hits when the Oz Rock Roadshow comes to Jupiters Theatres on Saturday 19 March. More at jupitersgoldcoast.com.au.

Modest Mouse lead new lineup announcement for Bluesfest Modest Mouse, Graham Nash, Kamasi Washington, Richard Clapton, Elle King and Ash Grunwald have all been added to the Bluesfest lineup. It’s the second announcement this month, with an earlier announcement including the Gold Coast’s southern-soulsurf-blues legends, Hussy Hicks. Bluesfest will take place 24 – 28 March. Get the full lineup at bluesfest.com.au.

A platform for local music at Sharks Southport Sharks has been hosting Platform – a showcase of local original talent for months.

And after a killer focus on psych in December, Friday January 29th Platform night is a solid mix of talented local artists. Ella Fence and Aquila Young – who both came out of the blocks firing in 2015 – are on the bill, along with Cassette Cathedral and Josh Heslin.

Platform takes place (usually on the last Friday of every month) at Southport Sharks.

Helensvale scores open mic night Saltwater Creek Hotel in Helensvale has opened its doors to emerging musicians with a new open mic night for the northern Gold Coast. The event will take place every Sunday, from 1.00 – 5.00pm with drum kit provided and all ages welcome with adult supervision. Bands, soloists, painters, comedians, poets and everyone in between have been extended an invitation to jump on stage and show their talent with performers being offered freebies and going into a random draw for meals. More at facebook. com/openmicsunday.

Maginot at Boardriders As a teen, Elliot Maginot was somewhat of a hermit, locking himself away from social situations, preferring the company of Nick Drake and Bob Dylan. It was music that showed him the possibility of selfreinvention, creating the pseudonym Elliot Maginot to create a new version of himself through which his music can dictate his persona, ironically creating a truly authentic version of himself. After his home demo was discovered in 2013, Maginot was signed to Indica Records (Half Moon Run, Hein Cooper), with the new album released in his homeland of Canada in 2015 to sold out crowds. Find out what the fuss is all about as he slips into the Gold Coast on 16 January for a little shindig at Boardriders Coolangatta.

Summertime continues for Mudgeeraba It’s one of the most family-friendly and highly curated music events on the Gold Coast and it’s received rave reviews from everyone who’s attended – from 2 year olds to great-grandparents and after a short break over the festive season, Summertime Sessions in the Village is back to properly sort summer out. And while there are a number of male-led bands on the lineup, it seems the ladies well and truly have this round of shows covered. CC The Cat and Leopold’s Treat kick things off on 29 January with Hayley Calvert, Nicky Convine, Ginger and the Ghost, Katie Demester and Nicole Brophy all performing across the eight-week program. I guess the guys deserve a little shout-out too. Taylor, Mattie Barker, City Over Sand, Marshall O’Kell, Benny D Williams, Phil Barlow, BigfellaLinc, Matthew Armitage and Gas Grooves also get a look-in. The very free and very lovely events run Friday nights from 29 January from 5.30 – 7.30pm.

Bring all the tunes to the Yard You’d be forgiven for cruising straight past The Yard thinking it was still a hairdresser’s.

But maybe when you hear the sound of clinking glasses and blissful tunes emanating from within its spacious café and yard area, you’ll look twice. Located right in the middle of Lavarack Road, Nobby Beach, The Yard Café hosts regular local original musicians, every Saturday and Sunday from 2.00 – 5.00pm and the diversity is wicked.

Jessie Morris, Matt Bourke, Kate Leopold, Amy Billings, Loa, Jerome Candour and Rob DeMasi are all on the January lineup. More at theyardcafe.com.au.

BLEACH* BRINGS BEN LEE TO BURLEIGH Bleach* Festival has announced that Ben Lee is its feature artists, closing the three-week long event with a concert at Burleigh. But he’ll do more than that. Over the weekend he’s in town, he’ll host a songwriting workshop for local musicians and share insights into his life over afternoon drinks at QT Hotel.

Many Australian music lovers will have grown up listening to Ben Lee, while the artist himself also grew, literally right in front of our eyes. His musical voyage has taken plenty of twists and turns alongside explorations into the unconventional and unexpected. He knows his stuff. He’s just released his tenth studio album Love is the Great Rebellion. You can catch Ben Lee: Saturday 19 March | 3.00 – 5.00pm QT Hotel presents an afternoon with Ben Lee, hosted by Blank GC

Dialed into the Earth’s frequency While we wait for news of the venue for 2016’s Earth Frequency Festival, we already know the lineup will be killer. Nattali Rize is in town to perform with Blue King Brown and Ozomatli’s Chali 2na is on the bill performing with Funk Hunters. There’s Dub FX, Kingfisha, OKA, Stickybuds, Bullhorn, Ganga Girl, D-Sens, Felicity Lawless, Psymon, Jesswah ft. Dyzlexic, Unity Roots, AndyDub ft. MindConTroll and local Tibetan dranyen and lingu player, Tenzin Choegyal performing with Taro Terahara.

It’s an eclectic but highly curated lineup and the event runs 12 – 15 February. Get more, including venue details, which are expected to be confirmed soon, at earthfrequency.com.au.

Tickets $45 + booking fee and include canapés and welcome drink.

Sunday 20 March | 10.00am – 1.00pm Songwriting with Ben Lee at Helensvale Community and Cultural Centre. Tickets are free but places are limited and you must register at bleachfestival.com.au.

Sunday 20 March | 1.00pm – 5.30pm Bleach* at Burleigh with Ben Lee, Sahara Beck, We All Want To and Black Rabbit George, Goodwin Terrace, Burleigh Heads.

The full Bleach* program will be released on Friday 15 January. Get all the details or join the e-list at bleachfestival.com.au.

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Michael Tramonte, otherwise known as Monte, is one of eight owners of the Cambus Wallace, but he doesn’t spend much time there. He’s based in Sydney where he works in a creative agency doing “experiential weird brand activations”. He’s also the bassist for The Delta Riggs.

All four members of The Delta Riggs are from the Gold Coast, but now live elsewhere, and one of them – Elliott Hammond – studied the Bachelor of Popular Music at Griffith University’s Gold Coast campus.

They left the Gold Coast for Peats Ridge where they lived in a farm house for six months and “got silly” and now two of them are in Melbourne and two are in Sydney.

“We’re kind of like a mishmash Gypsy band,” Monte said.

2015 has been a big year for The Delta Riggs. When last we spoke they were on the longest road-trip supporting Kasabian through southern states, and just about to return to the Gold Coast for the Yellowood music festival. Since then they’ve sold out their own headlining album tour and supported both You Am I and Foo Fighters. Yes, Foo Fighters.

Scoring that gig came as a surprise to them as much as anyone else.

“We were in LA last October. We played CMJ in New York and then came back to LA to play one show on a Monday night. It was a ripper show – one of those club nights that was just full all the time,” Monte said.

“Then we flew home the next night. When we landed back in the country it was a Thursday and I turned my phone on and got all these notifications. People saying how great it was that we got the Foo Fighters support slot.”

But it wasn’t something they applied for or sought out. Someone from Foo Fighters’ management team happened to be at the show, saw them play, dialed it in, called up the promoter, said we want to take these guys on tour.

“That’s it. Just one of those random strokes of luck,” Monte said.

“We’re still kind of DIY,” Monte added. “We don’t have

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evolution from the last two. We’ve got a bunch of time too. I’m just psyched to get in there.”

a record label or like big management companies or anything like that. And this whole last year’s been insane. It’s a testament to us being a hard working band. And it pays off.”

But of course 2015 was about much more than just the Foo Fighters. Monte said the band has had three or four overseas trips and recorded Dipz Zebazios. And adds that a new album will be recorded next month.

“We’ve been persistent and we’ve persevered. It’s a cool story but we still have a long way to go. It feels like it’s a good trajectory,” he said.

While we’re talking I explain that any silence at my end is due to me catching up on typing his answers to my questions and I let Monte know I was the schoolgirl typing champion at one of the Gold Coast typing competitions in the late 1980s. In response he tells me he was the Nintendo Australian champion in 1993.

“I still have a trophy,” he said. “I was like the wizard.”

“I’m not much of a gamer any more.”

The Delta Riggs produce a no-nonsense kind of rock and roll and, as Monte mentions above, will soon go into the studio to record album number three. I ask him if he thinks the recording process will be any different to Dipz Zebazios or their first long player Hex.Lover.Killer.

The album is scheduled to be out mid year and Monte said that 2016 will be much of the same as previous years.

“We’ll probably go over to the States in late February / March but we have nothing too much planned. All the focus is on this record and getting that out over the course of the next six months or so.”

The Delta Riggs return to the Gold Coast for a January show at the Southport RSL, which is a venue they’ve never played. In fact for a Gold Coast band, they’ve only played a few venues here. Not surprising given their rock sound.

“The Cooly, elsewhere, Shark Bar,” Monte lists them.

“We really need a new venue on the Gold Coast.”

“The worst thing the Gold Coast ever did was get rid of the Playroom,” he said. “It was in a good location, it had so much going for it. A dive bar, I used to see all the punk bands come through there and they just decided to mow it down. This one bit of culture we had and they just leave cars parked there.”

Few of their contemporaries could compete with the year The Delta Riggs have had. They’ve filled stadiums, supported one of the biggest bands in the world and now roll out their own Australian summer tour. It’s the final live hoorah before they hide away to record their third album.

“No,” he answered quickly. “We’re at our biggest strength playing live. It’s just business as usual.”

He tells me the sound itself has evolved a little but he doesn’t “want to give too much away.”

“We’ll still have that Delta Riggs swagger, but another

The Summer in Space tour will include a run of regional shows with The Belligerent and Wild Honey.

The Delta Riggs will hit Southport RSL on 9 January.

Tickets are $25 on the door.

More at rslclubsouthport.com.au.

Samantha Morris

FREE music in the park

SUMME RTIM E IN THE VILL AGE

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Jimmy Saint and the Sinners + Bobby Alu Josh Lovegrove + Jake Whittaker Karl S Williams + Ginger and the Ghost Aquila young + SwitchKraft Felicity Lawless + Hussy Hicks Hailey Calvert + marshall o’kell the lyrical + CC and the Rolling Waves Ella Fence + The Hanlon Brothers

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ART VS SCIENCE ADDED TO OZFEST’S JANUARY LINEUP When OzFest returns to Miami Tavern in January, they’ll bring Art Vs Science with them. It’s the fifth major act announced for the event, which takes place on Saturday 23 January.

In the few short years since their debut, Art vs Science have built a solid following, based on their live reputation and their knack for crafting a great pop song. They’re festival favourites for good reason – their knack for bringing the party to as many people as possible.

Headline acts include hip hop sensation and 2015 Aria Award nominee Seth Sentry, along with indie pop darlings San Cisco, Melboure-based nine piece Saskwatch and Tired Lion – who’d dominated radio play since releasing their first single this year.

It’s a mini, one-day, pop up festival with Gold Coast written all over it. And now with Arts Vs Science thrown in the mix, it’s even more awesome.

Ozfest takes place 23 January at Miami Tavern. Tickets via Moshtix and more at oz-fest.com.au

WHAT’S ON JANUARY Thur 31 Dec / 7pm / $10 NEW YEARS EVE - Crazy Hat Party Live Entertainment ‘Off The Grid’ Includes Drink on Arrival and Finger Food $50 Drink to be won for Best hat Male & Female Fri 8 Jan / 8pm / $10 Buskers by the Creek Presents ‘The Scrimshaw Four’ (2015 Battle of the Buskers Winners) + Sean Fitzgerald & The Barefoot Buskers Sat 9 Jan / 8pm / $10 SAINT BARAE EP Launch + JORDAN PINEDA + MERCURY SUN + MADDI ROSE Fri 15 Jan / 8pm / $10 SOULA(Melb) + LS PHILOSOPHY + ACCIDENTALLY PERFECT + DAVINA Sat 16 Jan / 8pm / $12 GIMPUS + KOLD CREATURE + DEVONIAN + JADE HAVEN Fri 22 Jan / 8pm / $10 REDSTARBORN + VERSUS FATE + LILLYE + UNITED STATES OF OZ Fri 29 Jan / 8pm / $10 BALTIMORE GUN CLUB + HANDFUL OF HELMET + CORNERSTONE + KOBRAKI Restaurant + Bar + Gaming Serving tapas until 10pm Courtesy bus available – 5534 2322 www.currumbincreektavern.com.au

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THE BYRON BROTHERHOOD. MEET WAXHEAD + THE BADLANDS + SUNROSE Carmel E Lewis has it tough living half way between Gold Coast and Byron Bay. Every single weekend she struggles to decide which direction to travel to get her music fix. Sometimes she even goes all the way to Brisbane.

She takes us through some of the big bad bands emerging from Byron and what makes them tick.

SUNROSE When I first started going out regularly in Byron, six years ago, I didn't know anyone so used to stay at The Great Northern Hotel. So did all the bands that played there. I got to party with some mad legends - Blue Juice, Papa Vs Pretty, The Vines, Dune Rats, Horrorshow.

I could tell some tall tales and true, but what happens in Byron, you know the rest..... They don't let out rooms there anymore except for band members, and I have been recruited as a last minute road manager, publicist, roadie and got to know the locals, so I usually find a spot to crash.

Almost a local. Almost famous.

Dylan from Waxhead meets me at the Beach Hotel for a chat and a beer and we recount how we met.

About three years ago I ended up at (gate crashed) a 21st party at Red Devil Park, the old Blues Fest site. ELEGANT SHIVA had posted on facebook and I knew them, so I just rocked up. It was being fully catered for by Sailor Jerry food and booze laid on. I hadn't had rum since the bad old Bundy days of teenage yore, and still cringe at the thought.

But this spiced variety was delicious. Needless to say

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everyone was very merry. Joining Elegant Shiva on the bill were Pirates Alive, The Hated and Waxhead. It was a wild night of revelry. I don't know whose birthday it was, but thanks.

"That was the highlight of the festival,” he laughs. Swallow me up now please sweet Mother earth. They think I'm a legend. I think I'm a bloody idiot. I guess I'm an honorary Waxhead now.

Fast forward a few weeks and Waxhead are at The Cooly.

Lead singer Josh told me it was their first ever gig. “We were awful,” he said. But I remind him that everyone was smashed on Sailor Jerry and nobody noticed or cared.

It took me a while to figure out who was who with their nick-names Froggy, Finny, Beggs and Moffo.

Then, I caught them at BIGSOUND at one of the after-afterparties in Ric’s Backyard. That’s three times now. That must make me…. something?

I was at Falls Festival later, working at a friend’s market stall with the flu. Scoffing liquid codeine followed by Sailor Jerry chasers. Bloody Jerry. But my mates the Waxies were on stage. I climbed up and joined them, dancing up a storm.

No-one said or did anything. Security must have thought I was part of the act. The next morning bits slowly came back to me. OMG. I'm horrified. I wander around shaking my head in shame and disbelief. I see Danny, their bass player, walking towards me. I try to hide behind a tree. I'm mortified, but he comes round and hugs me.

Moffo is Danny Moffat, Finny is Dylan Finemore, Beggs is drummer Mitchell Begg, aka Shrek. Or is it Shred? And Froggy, I ask? That’s lead singer Josh O'Neil Hammer, “because at school some kids thought he looked like a frog,” explains Dylan.

Before I know it the guys are playing gigs in Indonesia and Japan, surfing and gigging their way around and living the dream. This year they travelled through Europe as well as working and recording with George Carpenter, keyboardist with Jimmy The Saint and the Sinners, ex-drummer from The Delta Riggs, and musical master-mind.

"We're keen to get our next EP out to the universe. Elliot and Alex from The Delta Riggs are also on board,” Dylan said.

I'm loving the brotherhood, how they all pitch in.

There's a good relationship between Goldie and Byron bands, I tell Dylan. I guess it's because of the surfing thing.

"And the Goldie and Brissie have a good relationship?”

Dylan asks.

I reckon there is still a bit of a rift, but I'm working on that.

Building bridges.

It's my circuit and we should all be one happy music loving family. Sharing each other's couches.

The Badlands have had their current line-up for three years now. Singer Paul Adams and guitarist and mate Tommy Flint started out jamming together, with Tommy also a member of local outfit The Grains. A few line-up changes later amd, bass player Alexx McConnell and drummer Massimo Tolli round out the foursome.

"That's the line-up now,” says Tommy.

"For now?" I ask.

"Forever. ‘Til death do us part,” they chime.

We're sitting at the Brewery/Buddha Bar having a chinwag before their gig. Tommy and Paul played a side show at Splendour in the Grass and were spotted by a festival promoter who invited them to play at Swagger Festival in Victoria. They thought it was in Melbourne but it was four hours away in Bright.

Bright is a town I’m familiar with. It’s where I got married, bought a cabin and had kids. I worked at the hospital up at Mt Buffalo.

We get into a rave about the area, how special it is. The festival was held out Wandiligong but Massimo came down with some bug and ended up in Wangaratta hospital, so maybe their feelings aren’t as fond as mine.

Asking about their musical influences, Tommy says, "Paul and I are about the same age and Massimo and Alexx are about the same age but ten years older than us so we have a wide range of influences.”

“I like 60's and 70's stuff. Also music from the 90s and the whole grunge thing.

Alexx likes his heavy metal, like Pantera, so brings that heavier edge to our sound."

I'm, a bit surprised. Hadn't picked that.

I ask about their favourite gig so far.

"More Rage Against The Machine type of rap. I like to keep the melody,” he explains.

"Opening for Immigrant Union here a few weeks ago was epic,” says Nick.

"We've pretty much been underground. We were selfmanaged up until pretty much last week. We've picked up a booking agent, Ventura that manage Waxhead. We did a tour with them which was a lot of fun.”

"Yeah,” I tell them. “They're friends of mine. They said they liked you too.”

2016 is looking like a big year for the band.

"We're pretty much just four dudes who like to jam. Playing live is our biggest thing.”

Smiles all ‘round from the boys. Being complimented by legends of the biz such as Brent from The Dandy Warhols.

That's pretty damn high praise right there.

Byron represent!

New kids on the block, Sunrose, met at the Conservatorium in Lismore where they studied the Diploma of Contemporary Music. I didn't know there was such a place or course. Lismore is such an odd town, full of surprises and the occasional mohawk. It attracts a lot of aspiring musicians.

A lecturer from the jazz-fusion band Crossfire, who has played Montreux with the likes of Herbie Hancock, has students flocking to study there.

Sunrose bassist Luke Mansfield still lives in Lismore. Singer Nick Bampton and drummer Ewin Lomas live in Possum Creek just out of Bangalow.

"Oh where all the rich people live,” I joke.

"Well Ewan and I live in a dairy shed", says Nick. "I guess you can call that rich.”

We talk about how ten or 20 years ago all the touring bands played in Lismore, not Byron. Grinspoon hailed from there.

There is still an underground scene there too, with its mix of hippies, punks, uni students, farmers and rednecks.

"And vagrants,” adds Ewin.

We're out the back alley behind The Northern Hotel. The guys are about to do their sound check before their gig with Richard in your Mind.

Nick says he's quite surprised at how many gigs they have been getting, being so new to the scene. I've seen them three or four times now. There's something quite mesmerising about their calmness and young professionalism. Hypnotic psychedelica.

"I was always into punk and rap,” says Paul. "I was heavily influenced by my oldest brother. I pretty much listened to Pennywise and NoFX. Dr Drey, Wu- Tang Clan.”

WAXHEAD

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HEARTS OF HARTS You grew up in Melbourne which cultivates music, arts, culture and sport. Do you think being around this inspired you in any way?

I think it did because I originally got into music through friends in High School and I think it was just kind of the culture in Victoria which is heavily music based. Music was a really strong subject in my high school and there was a lot of push to introduce students to instruments. Also once I could go to live venues I could check out the amazing music scene and started playing with bands.

This is your first time playing at Bluesfest 2016 and you are playing both Thursday and Saturday. Will you be able to check out some of the other amazing artists on stage and if so is there anyone in particular you would like to see?

I will probably be there for the full weekend. There are some great blues musicians, soul artists like D’Angelo and some big headliners that I’m keen to check out as well and some rock artists that I grew up listening to like Noel Gallagher.

You mention Buddy Guy as one of your musical influences.

What do you make of the recent comment he made expressing his concern about the future of blues music – he said that if young people don’t hear it like he did and listen to it then they don’t know about it.

I hadn’t heard that quote but that’s pretty much what it is because if it’s not exposed or available for people how do they know to like it or connect to it? That’s always a concern – particularly for someone like me who grew up listening to Buddy Guy and blues - it’s just not as present these days. But I think that there are a lot of artists who are trying to bring it back to consciousness like myself and Gary Clark Jnr as well as others. Also the people who come to my shows really appreciate what I am doing - they love the guitar work and the classic kind of blues thing that I add to my music. But I do agree with him as it is a dying thing right at this moment particularly with dance music being so strong with youth.

How do you relate to the blues?

I started playing drums first of all, then I kind of got into guitar playing through listening to Buddy Guy. It really connected with me the way the guitar sounded through the expressiveness of the instrument and the expressiveness of playing the instrument and as I started playing it more I

connected with it as my natural musical voice. It came from the most basic form of blues I was listening to, the 12 bar blues stuff I was learning straight up how to do all of that lead stuff, bending the strings and other stuff that you learn for the first time. It’s a touching experience for you because it’s something you can really express yourself with sound, it’s not your own voice it’s just the guitar as the best expression that I have and that’s how I connected with the blues so much. The blues was all about expression.

What have you had to let go of if anything in your musical journey to find the essence of your unique sound?

Well I had to go through many changes or styles of music to find what was natural. It’s pretty strange because I love all kinds of music and I have eclectic taste. I love dance music, funk, rock, soul, blues music, classical music, sometimes jazz as well. I couldn’t figure out what type of music to create or how I should go about creating it until I just experimented with many genres to try and blend what I liked together and to try and create something unique.. It was a hard struggle for me to try and find my own place within music and my own unique sound and genre. I don’t think there are many people out there doing the same music that I’m doing particularly with putting quirky funk, dance music and rock music together. It’s taken me a long time. I have been working on this Harts program for six years now and it’s taken this long to find what came natural to me.

Did your visit to Paisley Park on invitation from Prince who really loves and supports your music - influence this direction?

Yeah definitely! Prince really gave me a lot of guidance when I visited him. I played him my first album last year before it was released and he just kind of picked out what he liked about it, picked out what he necessarily thinks I shouldn’t be doing and should be continuing with. A lot of the guidance was that I should be focusing more around the guitar, developing songs as a guitarist and developing live as a guitarist and branding myself as a guitarist as he saw that as my biggest strength by far. I was kind of playing all instruments trying to be a jack of all trades doing it that way. Prince guided me away from that to focus on being a guitarist. As soon as I started writing the new material based around the guitar that’s when the big opportunities started coming: audiences started paying more attention, more airplay on radio, everything connected. So he was correct

about that, which was great. I was so lucky to have that support.

You have recently played regional gigs and festivals across Australia. What do you enjoy about playing live shows?

I like that the music comes alive when you play it live. You can see the audience’s reaction to the music. When you make music in your studio and then put it out you never see the audience’s first reaction to it. You never see people enjoy it, what parts of the song they are enjoying. It’s a whole other world as you don’t get to see that interaction with your music. That goes back to the earlier point about me branding myself as a guitarist above anything else. When I started playing live I could see that people were connecting with the guitar songs, every time I picked up the guitar and started to wail it everyone kind of went crazy and I didn’t realise that was a strong point of what I was doing. Also hearing people sing your songs back to you is cool. I played free gigs in pubs for example where people have just walked off the streets because they like what they’re hearing. Australia’s musical culture is great like that - they are not afraid to show they love it and they really support the music they enjoy.

The internet has provided you with opportunities to build your profile through social media, Triple J has also provided you with opportunities and now your live show bookings are on the rise. Do you think it’s important to maintain a good balance between these mediums of exposure?

Yeah definitely, I think the more you can hit all of those things the better for your career. It’s really hard to rely on just one form of promotion for example just doing live shows or relying on radio – or print media. I tried to do that for a long time with aiming for radio. But if you don’t get lucky with radio for whatever reason - if radio people don’t think your sound is right for their station and your single doesn’t get much attention - you really have to go out there and you have to play live. You have to also hit radio, media, internet, social media, bloggers as well. I just worked all of the opportunities that I had available.

Jodie Bellchambers Harts is at Bluesfest Byron Bay which runs 24 – 28 March, 2016.

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IVEY LEAGUE As a 16 year old on the Gold Coast, there’s little stress as to planning out your future. At that age, I had no desire to achieve anything other than to see how often I could successfully skip classes.

Ivey is made up of two high school graduates and two who still burn the midnight oil with maths and history studies. And as you will see, Ivey have their heads screwed on better than most kids their age. Taking the time out of their recent touring buzz, the young locals sat down with Jake Wilton to introduce themselves to Blank GC’s readers.

By day, the young Ivey crew work part-time jobs or singe the hours away studying; by night the band induce their sultry indie pop to ticket holders at British India, Art of Sleeping and even, ahem, Cold Chisel (playing the same stage as them later that day for the V8 Supercars opening ceremony) gigs.

“We just tried to play any gigs we could this year,” stated singer, and youngest member of Ivey, Millie Perks.

The pay off? Playing to the biggest crowds Ivey had before them and overcoming the burden of stage presence – a fear known by too many Gold Coast acts.

“At our shows last year we did not move. Especially Millie and Dante they were frozen on stage,” laughed Lachie.

Ivey have come to notice a significant change in patron size and audience appreciation at recent shows, particularly since the release of their latest single, Smell of Smoke. That live giveand-take between musicians and crowd couldn’t exist without participation on the d-floor.

For a band as young as Ivey with their roots just starting to take hold with a defined sound emerging, it’s utterly captivating for both myself as a listener, and the group themselves. The group’s overall sound dynamic, along with their own personal development will grow in sync, particularly when you consider their youthfulness.

“If you listen to Crowns, our first single, my voice is so high pitched; same with Lachie’s. It’s just amazing how it changes so quickly and that we’ve been able to witness it in our own recordings,” said Millie.

Like the sun setting in the evening sky, my chat with Ivey has coming to halt. Being the time of year with “best of…” lists a-plenty, I asked the group for each of their most sought after albums of 2015. Of course, it isn’t a 2015 list without…

“To Pimp A Butterfly by Kendrick Lamar,” interjects Matt. “[sighs] I should have said that. Okay, I’ll go with Wellness by Last Dinosaurs,” adds Dante.

“Feeding off the energy the crowd gives is really important now more than ever since the crowds are growing,” said Matt.

“The Positions by Gang of Youths. That’s a cracker album,” said Lachie.

The live barrier isn’t the only hurdle the band has had to overcome during their time on the scene. Having two core members being under the legal age to drink or even enter a licensed venue has put minor pressure on where they can perform.

“I don’t keep up with new music as much as these guys but I will say Speakerzoid from the Jungle Giants,” said Millie.

“It sucks so much,” curses Millie. “We just played with the Belligerents and Art of Sleeping and Matt [McGuffie, drums] and I had to leave while Lachie and Dante could stay, meet the bands and have a good night.”

“We’ve been told before that we couldn’t play a venue because of age. That’s wrong, because we can. It’s legal as it’s considered as work,” notes Lachie.

Lachlan McGuffie, the group’s co-frontman and guitarist, along with bassist Dante Martin both left high school last year leaving nothing, but spare time to push Ivey out to the already over-saturated indie-pop universe.

“I write the lyrics and chords,” said Lachie.

“Then it all comes together through all of our input. We’re like the English teachers coming to fix up the final draft,” laughs Dante.

Pic: Jake Wilton Photography 14 www.blankgc.com.au

Not ones to rest on their laurels, it seems that Ivey stand by their influences.

Ivey play their first show of 2016 at Miami Marketta on 21 January followed by the Bearded Lady in Brisbane the next night.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY IS QUITE SIMPLE. DON'T BE A DICK. WELL, THERE ARE OTHER THINGS TOO. BUT MOSTLY, JUST DON'T BE A DICK.

P

ublicity is one of your most powerful tools when it comes to raising your profile in the music industry.

More effective than advertising, an editorial (i.e. an interview, review or article written by a journalist) is the holy grail of credibility. Someone of reputable, arguably objective status, deems your work worthy enough to mention and, if you play your cards right, feature. Muchos kudos, right? Not to mention the potential for increasing your audience-reach.

Whilst accepting that certain publications require paid advertising to receive editorial coverage (which diminishes, to a degree, the cred of the mag and artists featured in my opinion), securing quality publicity should top the list of any musician's promotional strategy.

If receiving publicity is the holy grail, think of the journalist as Indiana Jones. These crusaders work to deadlines and have stories coming at them left, right and centre - you need to make sure yours is one of them.

So, here are my hot tips for a happy result when it comes to getting your story in the media: 1. Do your research. Know the specific publications you'd like to be in, their journalists and the kinds of stories they like to write. Tailor and pitch your story accordingly.

2. Have an Electronic Press Kit (EPK). A one pager online, complete with everything a journo could need in ONE mouse-click: killer bio; embedded songs and videos; downloadable MP3s; online links (socials, iTunes, youtube etc); downloadable high resolution promo images (horizontal and portrait) & album artwork; contact info.

3. Give an angle. For the most part, the fact that you have new music isn't the story. How many artists are releasing new material, afterall? Work out what it is that makes your story different and worth sharing. Don't be afraid to draw on something personal. The story behind the artist, the song, the music, build an interesting angle into your release/ launch strategy etc.

4. Offer a point-of-difference. Just like you, publications and their writers are trying to set themselves apart. It shows respect and consideration to offer journos exclusive stories (that is you won't share it with anyone else until they run it first); a unique angle; or as seemingly simple as a new photograph. I once dropped an interview from a mag because the band gave me the promo shot they'd been using in all press for the last three months. My readers would have passed it over as old news.

5. Last, but by no means least, don't be a dick. And, these are the words from my editor! Please, if a journalist contacts you for more information DO NOT tell them to go look at your website or be tardy in reply. This is a HUGE opportunity for you to build a relationship with the journo, as well as give them ammo to write more about you and when it comes to media space more is definitely MORE!

FRI 15 JAN

Tijuana Cartel $25+BF / $30 at the door FRI 22 JAN

Black Rabbit George With special guest Felicity Lawless $15+BF / $18 at the door THU 16 JUN Farewell Tour

The Beards $30+BF / $35 at the door

soundlounge.com.au

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BIGFELLALINC’S BIG 2016 While Samantha Morris prepares to interview Lincoln Hillard, he’s playing a song for customers in Board Culture and talking about his guitar.

“When you plug it in and you just put a little tiny bit of dirt on it so you just get that sustain – that electric sustain – this thing comes alive,” he said. You can tell Lincoln loves his guitar.

Lincoln Hillard has lived here on the Gold Coast since he was seven. When he finished school at Benowa High he did a chef ’s apprenticeship at Sheraton Mirage, then took time off to work at a surf shop where he spent more than three years. It was during that time that he formed his first band.

Anyone who grew up on the Gold Coast in the early 90s would absolutely remember Odyssey (or maybe those memories are hazy). Lincoln and his brother started Odyssey in 1993 after a friend, who was making inroads in the Brisbane uni scene challenged them to give it a go themselves.

“He said, you guys learn your instruments and we’ll try to get a gig over summer on the Gold Coast,” Lincoln told me.

“We got a gig in the second week of February at the Rose and Crown and three weeks later we were playing three nights a week there.”

suited your style. We used to live at Beach Road and The Party.”

Lincoln, otherwise known as BigfellaLinc is a full-time musician now and has been since 1997.

“I think what we learned from the Rose and Crown is that the instead of chasing random gigs all over the shop and surviving off that, we found the places for building long term relationships for venues and becoming resident acts for them.”

He rattles off a list of those venues. The Great Northern, Mermaid Tavern “in its day”, Griffith University (where he’s just locked in his shows for 2016).

“I think by doing that, it allows you to build relationships with your crowd as well. They’re seeing you more consistently – it always worked well for us.”

“We’d play indie covers mostly,” Lincoln said. “We used to share nights with Powderfinger at the Rose and Crown when they were just a cover band.”

Lincoln’s sets are often part originals, and part covers and he says that’s another reason why having a long-term relationship with a venue is important.

“The 90s music scene was amazing,” he reminisces. “The Tunnel, The Party, Cocktails and Dreams. Back then, didn’t really matter what genre you were into, there was a club that

“Doing originals on the side, that becomes part of the relationship with the crowd. They’ve bought your CDs, they know your original songs and you’re getting requests for your original songs.”

When you consider that the Gold Coast is one of Australia’s primary tourist destinations, with thousands of new people here every week, Lincoln says it’s important for artists to think about how to introduce those people to new music.

Plus, he says, “all of a sudden you’ve got contacts left, right and centre, all over the planet.”

Lincoln has just launched his new self-titled album. When we speak it’s only available digitally and 70% of his sales have been international.

“Brazil, Japan, Monte Carlo,” he said. “Most of that is meeting tourists at your local week in week out. You become part of their stay – you become part of their memories. So your music becomes part of the soundtrack of their holiday.”

Recording for the album was done over several months in his home studio and Lincoln played all the instruments himself.

“I always have been fascinated by jumping into that deep end and I just thought, well, I’m at that age now – been doing it long enough, so why not now?”

“I’ve always been fascinated by artists that do albums entirely themselves,” he said, noting Lenny Kravitz and Tim Rogers as two examples.

Lincoln played the guitars, bass, acoustic, electric and slide.

He even did some keyboard and hand percussion. “Drums were sequenced on it,” he added. “And all of the vocals. My good friend Rick (Hollis) mixed the album and laid down guitar on three of the tracks.”

“As far as initial inspiration for songs go, most artists will tell you, the best songs kind of just come and they’ll come in their entirety – you’ll just write a song in ten minutes – you don’t need to change anything – it’s perfect, like it’s just been sent to you from somewhere.”

“And then there are other songs you need to work on and change.”

And then he tells me about his guitar, Greta.

“I bought her in Norway, when I was there last month.”

He was paranoid about travelling with a guitar because he’d heard so many horror stories so he decided to just pick up a cheap one while there.

“But I bought a fancy one instead – that wasn’t the plan. I couldn’t help myself. It was too beautiful. Too unique.”

“Most musicians will tell you, especially guitarists, it’s pretty rare you can summon the strength to walk away.. It’s a different sounding guitar. It has its place within my range of guitars. “ While Lincoln’s CD is selling on bandcamp ($15 digital or $20 physical), he’s only done a short run to sell at gigs. He says he’s been surprised at the number of orders for physical CDs, but he gets it.

“Being from the generation we’re from, I still love that experience of getting a CD, finding a quiet space, putting it on and listening to it for the first time, absorbing the info in the pack.”

BigfellaLinc plays NightQuarter 16 January and Summertime Sessions in the Village on 11 March. He also plays every Thursday and Sunday at Kitty O’Shea’s in Surfers Paradise where he celebrates his tenth anniversary of live shows early in 2016.

Pic: LAMP Photography

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ON TAP

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SIBLINGS LEAVE A LASTING IMPRESSION

Lastlings are brother and sister duo Joshua and Amy Dowdle. Hailing from right here on the Gold Coast, they’re making serious waves, despite the fact that Amy is still in High School.

Their third single Chills was released in November and their two previous singles Verona and Wavelength were picked up by Triple J without any publicity team behind them. And even bigger things are on the horizon with the debut EP Unreality due for release early in 2016.

Doris Prodanovic spoke to the pair ahead of that release.

Where do you get your inspiration from when writing?

Our lyric writing is fairly collaborative, one of us will have something already written and then we vibe off each other, try and finish the song, tweak it until we like it. We try to draw inspiration from other artists but at the same time try and stay true to our own musical backgrounds and create something original to us. We do live in a beautiful place, however, so it’s easy to be inspired by what’s surrounding us.

If you could work alongside any artist who would it be and why?

We’ve worked on a couple of collaborations already that we really enjoyed. I think at the moment because we are only very fresh it will be good to establish our sound a bit more before working with other artists.

Although, we do have a long list of artists and producers we’d love to work with. It would be amazing to tour with people like

Alt-J or Purity Ring in the future they are both bands that we absolutely love, but we still have a lot of work to do.

us in the Unearthed High Yearbook and what not. When they got Triple J play we sat in the car as a family and listened. It was pretty cute.

You have over 200,000 plays on your Soundcloud, how do you think the internet and other platforms are changing the way people put their music out there?

What made you decide to form as a brother-sister duo and how do you make it work?

It’s insane. Our first two tracks we just uploaded to our Soundcloud and let the internet do the rest. From just a couple of blogs picking up on it, they were reposted and the plays started working into the 10K and 100K ranges, we were already excited on getting like 1000 plays haha.

How did you feel when Verona and Wavelength were featured on Triple J Unearthed?

We love Unearthed. It’s great for emerging artists and we’ve gotten a lot of support from them putting us on rotation, putting

Josh always played in band and did solo cafe stuff and we normally played separately.

We’ve always had similar interests in music, I used to go onto his laptop and steal his music from iTunes. We were contemplating it for a little bit and would play here and there but never really thought about it seriously until this year. I dunno, we still fight about dumb things, but I guess we both want what’s best for each other so in that respect it works.

What can we expect to hear from your upcoming EP Unreality?

The Unreality//EP is kind of like the first chapter to Lastlings and a summary of the first three to four months of working on music. It was great working with our friend GOVS, another local artist; we hung out a lot, skated, ate plenty of Sizzler. We put it together really quickly and some of the singles are already released, but we thought it was a chance to revisit where it began. It’s also a good summary for people only just discovering us and we hope to make many more.

In five words, what will 2016 entail for Lastlings.

Evolving, progressing, producing more music.

Lastlings’ debut EP Unreality is due early in 2016

NATTALI RIZE OPENS 2016 AT NIGHTQUARTER Best known as front woman of Blue King Brown, she uses her voice and her music to support those fighting the exploitation of people and the planet. Along with being a vocal opponent to the invasion of West Papua by Indonesia, she’s also thrown her weight behind campaigns protesting the expansion of coal seam gas extraction as well as Aboriginal deaths in custody.

“Then I got into playing drums and I got into all the drums of the world – classical Indian drumming and African drumming and all the melodic music that goes into that.

I’ve been pulled towards reggae for most of my life too and now I’m in Jamaica and inspired and motivated by that.”

She spent most of 2014 and 2015 living in Jamaica, writing and recording and laying down new tracks with Jamaican outfit NOTIS and she’s about to return to Australia for a special New Year’s Day show at the Gold Coast’s newest live music venue, NightQuarter.

“I think Island music is something that I do have a connection with – music from many islands. Everyone sings.

The harmonies, the spirit in the music, maybe it’s got to do with the ocean and the proximity to it,” she ponders.

Nattali’s bio mentions her Native American and Samoan roots but she’s always quick to mention that she’s a global citizen. But has there been a particular culture or particular country that’s inspired her musically? She says musicians and artists are constantly evolving and drawing inspiration from experience.

“I was lucky enough to grow up with a really diverse musical soundtrack. My mum had great taste in music – Santana, Bob Marley, Louis Armstrong, Aretha Franklin,” she told Blank GC earlier this year.

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“Enuff corporate noise in the ears of the youth.

Time to spread the truth.” They are the words that greet you when you enter Nattali Rize’s website.

Samantha Morris Nattali Rize will bring those soul-awakening island vibes to NightQuarter on 1 January 2016 and to Earth Frequency Festival with Blue King Brown in February 2016.

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THE MASLOWS TOP OFF BIG YEAR WITH EP RELEASE

Pic: LAMP Photography

When Samantha Morris sat in The Yard Café at Nobby’s with Aaron Fenech he was obviously flustered and rightly so. There’d been an IT issue of epic proportions in the Fenech home – a fried hard-drive. And even though his four-piece band The Maslows are launching their EP very soon, they’d basically lost the artwork in the hard-drive debacle (amongst other things).

“We haven’t actually pressed the CD yet,” Aaron said. “But it’s up on iTunes.”

The self-titled EP includes three songs they’d previously released along with three new tracks. Aaron says they softreleased those tracks earlier in the year on Soundcloud.

“We recorded at Lovestreet with Scotty French - the master himself. And Paul Blakey did the mastering.”

Aaron said the band has about 25 original songs in its repertoire. I can’t imagine how they choose just three to go on the new EP but Aaron said it was easy.

“We’ve been gigging now as a band for a little over 12 months – predominantly we go off the stuff where we get the biggest crowd reaction live,” he said.

“The band’s moving and changing and shifting and trying new things – I guess we’re in that straight rock or indie rock genre and doing a lot more stuff with effects and stack delays.”

Aaron took me through some of the tracks on the EP. The opening track Atomic was chosen as track one because “if we were going to pick a single off the EP, that would be it.

Classic rock sort of style, I guess.”

“Seeing the Signs is one of the most interesting songs on the CD. It starts out with a heavy / dark intro and then broadens out into an open chord structure,” he said.

“We get a whole bunch of people saying Freeform (is their favourite song) because it reminds them of Pearl Jam and then we get Seeing The Signs because it reminds people of classic songs like Chili Peppers.”

“I get the reference a lot to Pearl Jam,” Aaron said. “The tone in my voice sits in the same register as Vedder – I can sing in that flat E – and then I can get this high register. I think that combination and the classic powerchords – people just go, ‘that’s that common sound’.”

“I think it’s nice people feel there’s a similarity there – but I kind of want to be known for our originality as well. Being associated with a band like Pearl Jam – that’s not a bad thing.”

As well as recording music, The Maslows have been busy gigging. Aaron said they tallied up their shows this past year recently. “We’ve done 17 shows,” he said as he rattled off some of the highlights.

“At Liars Bar for Sounds of Sunday, we were supposed to be supporting Tiger Town who’d just toured the States and there

were 500 people in the place. But they didn’t show. So we did a double set there. That was really cool,” he said.

The Maslows have also supported Super Best Friends and performed at Miami Tavern Shark Bar, Currumbin Creek Tavern and Studio 56, amongst other Gold Coast venues.

And next year? Aaron says they’ll have a formal launch for their EP sometime, but they haven’s settled on what or where.

“We’ve got a lot of crazy ideas and some standard ones,” he said. Aaron also told Blank GC that 2016 will be big for personal reasons as he’ll be transitioning from his current job to a new one – making guitars fulltime – something he’s been exploring for seven years now. As well as building guitars he’ll teach other people how to do the same (follow @ fenechguitars on Instagram).

The Maslows are Eugene Immisch (guitar), Mark Kearns (bass), Jon Ward (drums) and Aaron Fenech (guitar / vocals). Check out The Maslows’ Self-Titled EP on iTunes or pick up a physical copy at one of their 2016 gigs.

CELEBRATING VISUAL ARTISTS IN MUSIC: QUEENSLAND MUSIC DESIGN AWARDS 2015 QMDA Cover Art Winner William Lebihan - Pharoahs Playground

SEQ street press scenestr is one of a team of music loving organisations throwing their weight behind the Queensland Music Design Awards.

Created to recognise and celebrate the hidden champions of Queensland’s burgeoning music scene, the Queensland Music Design Awards will seek out the industry’s best illustrators, video directors, photographers, web developers and graphic designers.

Founded by industry veteran Andrea Smith and New Globe Theatre director Paul Robinson, the awards come from their shared realisation that those visual aspects of the music industry are so vital, yet often undervalued.

“Given that nothing else like it exists right now, starting a Music Design Awards seemed a natural and necessary step to take, and people have been eager to jump aboard,” Andrea said.

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The Awards are now in their second year and entries for work created during 2015 can be nominated by 29 January 2016. Seven categories cover video, merchandise, website, poster, cover art, live photography and studio or publicity photography.

Howard Duggan is the Director at scenestr and also a judge.

He says his magazine didn’t hesitate in jumping on board as a presenting partner “to help bring photographers and designers to the forefront.”

The Queensland Music Design Awards ceremony will take place Tuesday 15 March and a $10 administrative fee applies to entries. More at qmda.com.au.

Samantha Morris

Pic: LAMP Photography

FELICITY LAWLESS: MARTIAL ARTS AND MUSIC As Felicity Lawless prepared for her photo up the stairs at Board Culture, we chatted about props. She had three options. Her dog Bjorkie, her trusty guitar or her sword.

Wait, what? Sword? I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. It’s reasonably well known around the Gold Coast music scene that Felicity is a ninja. True. She’s been to Japan to train with the grand master Soke Masaaki Hatsumi.

As she stands there pulling it out of its scabbard I joke about Julz Parker (Hussy Hicks) who recently bought a rural property and went nuts with a machete.

“She’s actually into martial arts too,” Felicity said before telling me about a gig they had Bayside in Brisbane. They decided they should turn up three hours early seeing they’d never played together before. But instead of rehearsing, they went head to head with rad martial arts maneuvers.

“She can copy anything,” she said. By now Travis Buchanan who runs the surf store is beside himself with joy at the antics going on in his shop.

Felicity is just about to release Cowboy Camerman. It’s the first single off her new album, recorded at Lovestreet Studios. Not surprisingly, she tells me the “whole Gold Coast contingent” plays on the record.

“Scotty French, Alex Elfes, Nastaij (Annie), Brennan Smith, trumpeter Matt Parker,” she reels them off, and then tells me that the album has a very different vibe to her previous offering Ouroboros.

She says Ouroboros was about a personal healing journey to find inner peace. “But this one is about bringing it out into the microcosm, making it a lot more external,” Felicity said.

“It’s a lot of other people’s stories.”

One of those stories is that of the protagonist in Felicity’s lead single – Damian Lang, AKA Cowboy Cameraman. He made the film clip for the song, which is named after him.

“He’s got a pretty epic story of having gone to war and had a big realisation – a wakeup in the middle of it all – and then finding myself.”

“He met Rebecca Cunningham at a coffee shop and started filming a lot of musicians for free for experience. He’s had this realisation that he’s going to give to the community and get skills up at the same time.”

Felicity tells me about some of the other tracks.

“Well, there’s one called Happy Ending,” she said, as she roared with laughter. “I don’t really know what to say about that. It speaks for itself.”

Another one is a a homage to people in pain." I had some deaths around me – and in supporting people realised that everyone’s pain is really similar and I just wanted to create a song to recognise the pain in everyone else, to be able to have compassion and raise everyone up to pull out of the pain.”

"I remember the days prior to the filming of the clip for the new single, when Felicity put a call out for friends to descend on BreadnButter in Kirra in their best bohemian garb.

“It’s a collaborative effort. I basically got a crew together of the most bohemian individuals I could find on the Gold Coast. I’m playing myself, which is a guitar and swordweilding superhero and it’s about the superhero within all of us.”

Made by Cowboy Camerman himself (Damian Lang Productions), Felicity says it’s a Hollywood epic in the style of Kill Bill with some mariachi and Mexican dance party vibes thrown in for good measure.

Felicity has shows at Blues on Broadbeach and Earth Frequency festivals and will also support Tijuana Cartel’s Paul George in his folk project Black Rabbit George in January.

“For Blues on Broadbeach, we’re definitely going more along our rock vibe – and I’ve written a bunch of new songs that are quite rocky on the new album.”

She says the highlight of Earth Frequency will be just being out in the trees making music – her two favourite things.

And for the Soundlounge show?

“Paul and I have played together a lot and often share bands.

It’s a real collaborative night. We’ve been talking about doing a folk album together as a duo, we both have lots of folk music. I guess we just want to put something together that’s really basic – just two guitars and singing.”

And that is something to look forward to. Because when those two guitars are being wielded by Felicity Lawless and Paul George, you have something much more than just “basic.”

Samantha Morris Felicity Lawless will join Julia Rose for a dual album launch at Brisbane’s Powerhouse on 6 March. She supports Black Rabbit George at The Soundlounge on 22 January and hits Earth Frequency in February, NightQuarter on 12 March and Blues on Broadbeach in May. www.blankgc.com.au

21

BOBBY ALU’S COASTAL CHILL Bobby Alu is home for a while and he’s pretty damn happy about that. Which is no wonder, given he’s spent most of the year touring the world, drumming for Xavier Rudd.

“Every time I go away, I just come home and love it more. I get to appreciate it a whole great deal,” he said.

“Touring life is so fast. Being in one place that’s familiar and being surrounded by people you love – it’s just a great time to reflect and to take in what’s happened.”

So, when Bobby Alu is at home is it a case of just chilling, hanging out and playing ukulele?

“Well yeah, I do,” he said. “I’m pretty inspired at the moment, so I’m writing a new album. And I’m enjoying writing it at home. I’m just sitting, with ukulele, headphones and iPad. It’s been great.”

But he tells me he’s also been gardening. “I’m not really that good at it,” he laughed. “I’m just being right in the moment.

Just in the garden for a few hours, just doing one thing – just trying to make sure this plant works.”

“I’ve started surfing as well, just getting in the water.”

“I really needed to rest,” he added. “I’ve been touring nonstop since February. It really takes its toll physically, emotionally…”

So now, he’s gardening and preparing for Christmas with his mum and brothers and also writing a new album. He says creating music is something he never plans and this time around it’s the most inspired he’s felt.

“It’s coming clear and easily and I’m not really caring in what way it comes out,” he said. “I’m not going into the day thinking I need to write one song. I’ll just go ahead and work on a few ideas and it’s all just kind of happening.

While he’s home Charles Wall (that’s his real name) is playing some very local and very grass-roots shows.

He’s already brought the island vibes to Mudgeeraba’s Summertime Sessions in the Village and early in the new year he’ll hit Mandala Organic Arts Café. He has a strong connection to the place having hung out (and taught djembe) when it was Threeworlds and he was new to the music scene.

“There were many iconic venues that really hit home to me as to the journey I’ve already been so lucky to have.”

And he talks about the Fillmore in San Francisco and thinking about those who played before him. He talks about playing with artists like Patrice and Damian Marley at Germany’s reggae festival SummerJam. And he talks about how honoured he feels to play music with such a great bunch of people.

One minute he’s on stage at Bluesfest playing to thousands, the next he’s in San Fran, he shares the stage with Damian Marley in Germany, then he’s back at Mudgeeraba singing traditional Polynesian songs his mother taught him and he’ll start the year at an organic vegan café where he first found his feet.

If there’s one thing we love about Bobby Alu it’s that he is humble and grounded. But he probably sums that up best himself.

“I got all this inspiration from the last year and all the shows and I just want to keep it grounded, keep it grass roots, take away the fluff.”

“I want to get the music out there in the purest, simplest and cruisiest form.”

Samantha Morris Bobby Alu and his band the Palm Royale hit Mandala Organic Arts Café on 2 January 2016. Tickets $20. More at mandalaorganicarts.com.au.

CELEBRATING 2 YEARS IN PRINT

“Then when Mandala and the food started I had a couple of shows there. It’s a great space. I love the energy there, it’s a good vibe. I thought it’d be a good way to kick off the year.”

Speaking of the year ahead, Charles says he’s excited about what lies ahead and that 2016 will be great after having a “good month and a half off.” And that new album he’s in the midst of writing right now? Will it deviate much from the Bobby Alu we’ve heard to date?

“I’m not sure yet, but I don’t think so. It’ll definitely reek of Bobby Alu flavour, but obviously when you see a lot of music and kind of grow, there’s always different influences.”

“Fundamentally I have the theme of my music where I just want to kind of encourage balance,” he said talking about the importance of good human choices and humanitarianism. “I think we’ll just see what happens. Some of it is pretty cruisey.

Other stuff is a bit different.”

Fans of Bobby Alu would know that most of the touring he’s done this year has been with Xavier Rudd’s United Nations project. Charles has been reflecting on that journey, but when it comes to the highlights he says it’s hard to zone in on any one particular moment.

Pic: Polly Snowden 22

www.blankgc.com.au

Bobby Alu was Blank's first cover star when issue #1 went to print in December 2013. He has been a Blank favourite and featured in the magazine regularly since.

MIDNIGHT BLUES WITH GRACE POTTER Grace Potter recently released her new album Midnight, and the cover has a kind of Carly Simon look about it. Jodie Bellchambers asks Grace whether strong female artists have been a big influence on the album?

I love that, thank you. It’s interesting you ask me that, I have been getting that question a lot from people who are I think feeling the more feminine energy from this album. I can’t deny that this has been a factor, although not as big of a factor as you might think because I have always approached music as kind of an asexual creature. I really don’t like when people put women in their own right like women become like a “genre” you know. I have people come up to me and say like “hey you’re my favourite female artist” and it’s like so that’s a thing you know, as opposed to just a musician who plays music. Although on this record I do think there was that creeping into my influences? There was definitely a lot more influences that really did run the gamut for me. When I was in The Nocturnals as a band leader I really did accentuate the influences that were more masculine because I was in a masculine mood and The Nocturnals is a slightly more masculine sound than the Midnight record. Although I will say that every record I make is a little bit different and strange and my influences sort of change. I think in this case definitely the feminine energy just made its way to the surface a bit more because I was getting more comfortable in my own skin as a woman.

That’s a natural feeling women experience when we age, it sounds like you are enjoying it.

Listen, ageing has been a beautiful thing for me I’m really enjoying being in my 30s, when I turned 30 a couple of years ago I remember thinking ‘oh god I’m not this hot young thing anymore what’s gonna happen my career is gonna be over’. It’s really funny how people get more and more comfortable in their own skin and all those fears go away and suddenly you start to really take stock of your life and figure out what you want and I’ve been having a ball doing that.

I was lucky to have watched you at the Bluesfest in 2013. It was interesting to see the crowd descend into the tent after you started playing - they literally swarmed in, drawn by the energy of your music. Including my 16 year old son! Do you thrive on the crowd’s vibe as well?

Oh really oh I’m so honoured? I love that I’m getting the 16 year olds into it, I like it - for sure. That’s the other thing I have felt about being a woman- in music you can use it to your advantage you know. There’s definitely elements early on when I was paying my dues and playing at festivals and had to get my gear on stage and you don’t have a crew as I didn’t have enough money to pay them suddenly I’m like I come in with my small team – you know I need some help carrying this and that and I think as a young lady it was easier to get the attention of the production guys. Honestly it was always very respectful and never this objectification, just you know here’s a girl who’ s working hard and doing the heavy lifting herself give her a hand get her on stage get this girl what she needs you know. If I had of been Gary Potter who knows, it might have been a very different situation.

Read more of Jodie Bellchambers’ in-depth chat with Grace Potter at blankgc.com.au and catch the incredible songstress when she hits Bluesfest Byron Bay over Easter 2016.

JOSH PYKE BOUND FOR STUDIO 56 “Everybody feels so connected to music. It is a blessing and a curse in some ways because everyone feels like their opinions on music are gospel.” – Josh Pyke.

The quote was poignant. During a short interview where we wrestled with irony and faith, public opinion, fatherhood and festival performances, it was this little moment that captured Pyke’s insight into songwriting and making music. And make music he does. Some great music.

But For All These Shrinking Hearts is his fifth studio album and latest offering and once again Pyke brings his thoughtful first-person storytelling and weds it in each song with incredible sing-a-long-ability. Debuting at #2 on the ARIA Album chart in July and launching with four sold-out Fans First shows, new and old fans alike seem more than satisfied. Pyke talks about what makes the best anthems of life; “It could be just one line in [the song] that resonates with you for whatever reason and it doesn’t have to be for the same reasons that it resonated with the songwriter; it could just be something that applies to your own life… But one person’s best song in the world can be one person’s worst song in the world, that is like really exciting, but also scary when you are a songwriter.”

Embracing that boldly, Pyke nails a number of those anthems in amongst his eleven solid tracks with memorable melodies you can’t help but harmonise to as you sing along in the car, office or loungeroom.

Often though, the catchy melodies are lyrically complex and stimulate self-reflection well beyond what is normally expected from today’s pop songs.

Songlines, named for the Chatwin literary classic exploring Indigenous navigation by song, speaks of passing on his relative wisdom to his kids through song. Perhaps ironically given Pyke’s atheism, and evidently as a surprise to himself, the song paraphrases a famous bible verse from the book of Joshua.

There’s a Line, Momentary Glow and Hollering Hearts form a powerful three-punch combo that knocks you for six, philosophically of course, right in the guts of the album. At the close of the album, Pyke channels his inner country star with the rebellious (possibly tongue-incheek) Doing What You’re Told and then resolves that conflict with a pretty love song Someone to Rust With. If you’ve fallen in love with his earlier albums, But For All These Shrinking Hearts might be compared to a marriage enrichment course, bringing you even closer together.

While the album might be enough, Pyke’s also scheduled a cracking little tour, kicking off with the Woodford Folk Festival in the Sunshine Coast hinterland on 27 December. He comments on the festival experience, and in particular playing to people who may not have heard his music; “If anybody has seen me before they know that I definitely like having a bit of a chat between songs and that’s always a good way to engage people. You can only be as good as [your songs].

So you just play the material and hope for the best,” he said.

This is not a misplaced hope. Pyke’s songs are compelling narrative and his material is addictive. While his popularity gains momentum, his humility remains in place as he offers a message for his Gold Coast fans; “I guess I am still extremely grateful I am still doing this ten years down the line. So many musicians I have seen come and go and I am still stoked that I am able to do this every day.”

Glenn Tozer Josh Pyke plays Woodford Folk Festival on 27 December and Studio 56 at Miami Marketta on 4 February. www.blankgc.com.au

23

FROM BAVARIA TO BYRON AND BACK AGAIN: HUSSY HICKS ON THE YEAR AHEAD Pic: Polly Snowden

Julz Parker is exchanging emails with Blank editor Samantha Morris over a Bavarian breakfast. White sausage, bretzel and weisbier. She only answers half the questions and says she’ll get back to us, but we know better. She lets slip that she’s going skiing on Monday, after the shows they’re in the country for.

“Hopefully we make deadline,” she said. Yep. Told you we know better. Julz and bandmate Leesa Gentz jetted off just days after the video for That Old Heartache was launched, following the single, which came a month or so earlier. She said the response has been great. Everyone seems to love it.

“Tedeschi Trucks,” she said. “Derek Trucks is definitely one of the greatest guitarists of our generation and Susan is a monster singer. So I reckon trading licks with Derek while Leesa sang in harmony with Susan would be a pretty ultimate musical bucket list moment.”

“It’s a simple little song that Leesa wrote in about 15 minutes, but it seems to strike a chord across a whole bunch of different crews,” she said, adding that it’s her mum’s favourite song. Which is awkward seeing she didn’t write it.

“Otherwise D'Angelo ‘cause we both spent a good part of the last 15 years listening to his music.”

The video is simple, but effective too and Julz said it happened with ease.

“Our friend Hazel just moved from London to Burleigh with her husband Schrav (who recorded the London Sessions and plays keys with us),” Julz said. “Her background is more in graphic arts and design but she's recently moved more into video stuff.”

Hazel suggested they do a clip and the next day they were in Justin Lane (then Cavalier) with a bunch of family and friends as extras before Hazel spent the next few weeks editing the clip in New Zealand.

“When she got back I looked after her little son and her and Leesa hit the beach on a fortunately-timed full moon to shoot the final scenes.”

Julz said the hardest thing was to not look too happy. “It’s a heartache song, after all.”

Helping sustain those happy faces is news that Hussy Hicks have been added to the Bluesfest lineup. They first played the event in 2010 after winning the busking competition and have played there a bunch of times since, including with Marshall O’Kell and Kristy Lee as well as presenting their Circle of Friends format.

“It's always such a great lineup so it's an honour to be involved in any way,” Julz said. “But we're extra happy to be able to do two full Hussy sets this time ‘round.”

When I ask Julz who she’s most like to share the stage with from next year’s lineup, she of course, has the whole thing mapped out.

24

www.blankgc.com.au

The pair will warm up for Bluesfest with a heap of local shows too. First cab off the rank is Southport Sharks, where they’ll perform on 9 January.

“It’s great to see such a big club making the move away from cover bands,” Julz said of the venue. “They have been having some great acts lately so we're looking forward to getting up that way.”

“We're pretty stoic southern Gold Coasters so it's been great getting a few gigs up the northern end.”

“We played the Nightquarter just before we left and wow that is such an amazing space too. I guess we're gonna have to spend a bit more time north of Miami in 2016.”

2016 will be a big year for Julz Parker and Leesa Gentz.

They’ll hit the road mid-February to tour their new release Lucky Joe’s Wine and other tales from Dog River. They’ll be in Sydney and Melbourne as well as the West Coast for some festivals before Bluesfest rolls around.

“And after that we'll be disappearing for a few months and playing a bunch of festivals and club shows in Europe.”

Hopefully also in that time we'll be recording another record and swimming in the ocean and growing some veggies and drinking whiskey and listening to music with good friends.”

Julz signs off her email by saying she’ll touch base after hitting the mountain. We all know how that worked out.

Samantha Morris Hussy Hicks play Southport Sharks on 9 January before touring the nation and landing at Bluesfest Byron Bay over the Easter long weekend.

INTIMATE TOUR ON THE HORIZON FOR GONZALEZ Sweden’s Jose Gonzalez returns to Australian shores this February for some very special shows, after releasing his solo album Vestiges and Claws at the start of 2015. With seven years between Jose’s solo albums, fans are extremely keen to see the intimate shows lined up for early next year.

Blank GC’s Sarah McEwan chatted to Jose about his tour, working on a soundtrack and his new love for plum liquor.

We Aussies are pretty excited for you to return next year, you have some pretty special shows coming up, how long has it been since you've been here?

We did a show with Junip a couple of years ago, but haven't been to Australia doing my solo work in a while.

Your solo album, came out earlier this and it's been seven years since we've heard solo stuff from you, how did it feel to release a solo album after so long?

It feels really good, I was really happy with the album and the artwork and got together a band that’s really grown within the first couple of shows we've done. It's kind of a relief and really comfortable to get back to basics with my vocals and finger picking.

In those seven years, you were working with your side project Junip, how did that project come about?

Junip has been around for a while - we started back in the 90s. We did a couple of shows and recording, but then stopped for a while when I was in university and released my solo album and then we got together again around 2005 and later in 2009. It’s been a long project with some good friends. For me now I’m in a very different headspace as we had a couple of years with Junip and then I focused on my solo music.

You worked on the soundtrack for the film, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, how was that experience for you, working with film'?

It was fun, I was very inexperienced so I started doing demos and we tested that out with the first draft of the movie - they had already filmed most the footage.

I went to New York to watch the draft and was expecting a very unfinished movie but it was just like watching such a perfectly crafted movie, so all the material I worked on was to an unfinished movie, some of the songs on the

album reviews

soundtrack I actually didn't write I just did the vocals for.

Within the years of your side projects and getting back into your solo work, did you get any down time to travel?

Yeah, within every album cycle that I do there is time off, so just relaxing at home doing normal stuff like cooking food and drinking beer.

As you’ve been within the music industry for a while, have you worked with anyone in particular that has influenced your music recently?

Yeah, I can say Jessica Pratt who was on tour with us, her music has made me think more about changing harmonies within a song, I've also read that you've worked with a lot of orchestras and worked with a punk band?

So the punk band was when I was a teenager and with the orchestra we did a two-week tour around New York and it was about 20 musicians from Berlin. I have a wide appreciation for a lot of different genres of music, when I listen to music I don’t listen to a lot of singer/songwriters.

So now I want you to describe the perfect scenery, food and beverage you would want your audience to have at your show?

Okay, so starting with beverage, usually I drink beer, it makes me burp. But the other week we got plum liquor which has been working pretty good with some ice - fruity. but not too sweet. What I think people should be doing when I’m playing is more about clapping hands, closing their eyes, hugging a partner or a non partner and depending on the song maybe shouting or singing, sitting or dancing.

What’s the most memorable gig you've played?

Back in 2003, when we were in Australia, I have fond memories.

I remember doing a show in New Zealand where I went bungee jumping and did a show at a winery, which was fun.

SARAH BLASKO | ETERNAL RETURN

DAN KELLY | LEISURE PANIC

MUTEMATH | VITALS

Sarah Blasko’s 5th album Eternal Return has been produced with the influence of an unusual muse. The purchase of an old Prophet synthesiser heard throughout the new album has been in her words; “a catalyst” to her musical invention. That and her desire to present something a little bit more pop orientated, Blasko and her beautiful husky voice have channelled the Depeche Mode era with the instrumental artistry smarts of Bowie.

Dan Kelly opens his album Leisure Panic with a nine minute slow-burner. That might seem counter intuitive for such radio-friendly music, but On The Run is an incredible track and sets the bar high for the rest of the album. On first listen, I kept checking the track numbers, ever-surprised it was still the first song – it goes through three distinct evolutions in all of its nine minutes including a long instrumental interlude.

Funky retro dance beats backing catchy melodies best describes Mutemath's latest offering, Vitals. After 2011's Odd Soul was released, sounding a little like discoinfluenced Steely Dan, it was fair to expect more old-school vibes from the New Orleans vintage instrument lovers (yay keytars!). Paul Meany and his buddies have not disappointed.

The opening song I am Ready starts with a strong Sarah Blasko signifier – the rat-a-tat riff of the drum that featured throughout her last two albums. Maybe this is a goodbye to the past march style orchestral compositions, to a more light-hearted synthetic feel, an indicator of the current popularity for artists to play with New Wave, a drum machine and in Blasko’s case, love in her life. Each song is noticeably less insular than on her previous album I Awake, even the song titles on Eternal Return give her new found love away; I Am ready – “I am ready / to be revealed” and I Wanna Be Your Man, both songs soaring with 80’s Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark-like sustained synth chords.

The whole album showcases Kelly’s songwriting skills and makes plenty of references to the Gold Coast and northern NSW where he spent time as a young adult.

Better With You picks up speed with an electronic drum arpeggio running in the distance alongside ghostlike electric chords.

The lyrics “Look at we have it’s getting / better all the time,” is a warmup to my favourite track on the album I’d be Lost – Blasko’s token get up out of your seat and dance number. Yes you read correct – a Sarah Blasko dance number. But back to your seat for the super smooth Luxurious – this time her synthesiser muse has flicked the instrumental effects to ‘strings’ which hover listlessly and you can hear influences of the uber-cool US artist Joan as Police Woman. Even Say What You Want has a certain ‘Chris de Burge’ strain running through, now that’s hard core 80’s. Blasko’s unique husky vocals accompanied by her synth-pop compositions will take us back this summer to those freedom years.

Tiffany Mitchell

Jose Gonzalez returns to Australia in February with shows in Melbourne and Sydney before hitting The Tivoli in Brisbane on 10 February, supported

by Tiny Ruins.

Eternal Return is out now through EMI and was released in November with national tours starting in April 2016.

There’s dreamy pop poking through in the track National Park (you can feeeeeel yourself gliding down the Pacific Highway listening to this song, which references driver revivers) and up-beat alt-country in Never Stop the Rot. Songs like Baby Bonus showcase clever lyricism – definitely a stand-out feature on the album.

Local references come in many forms, cabins in Northern NSW checking out the whales, towns opposed to CSG with “signs nailed to a Laurel tree”, there’s Gary from the Nimbin Hills, Wet and Wild and Dreamworld, the Indy 500, canals, casinos and “jet skis fuckin’ the sea”. Chevron Island, north coast girlfriends and “a million backpackers slapping on the lotion,” also get a mention.

Musically, Leisure Panic is a journey through guitar-driven soft rock, alt-country and dreamy pop tunes but if you were to pick one stand-out genre, it would have to be contemporary Australiana. This album captures the very best of Australian songwriting and it’s no surprise given Dan Kelly’s genetic stock and his life-long association with some of Australia’s leading musicians.

I didn’t mean to review this album, but after a few listens on CD I couldn’t bear to pass it on to another writer. Now I’m Dan Kelly’s greatest fan. This album is one of my favourite from 2015 and I’ve since upgraded to vinyl so I can listen at home as well as the car. You should listen too.

Three upbeat tunes open the album, with the single Monument closing the album's first quarter, and I can't help but tap my feet, or the steering wheel, as I smile along with the fun-loving style. "Can we go out tonight, anything goes, let's make a monument for our love," Meany pleads. I say yes.

One of my fave tracks, Stratosphere, kicks off a more lyrically mellow set of four, that includes the instrumental album title track, Vitals, which is another catchy ditty.

Tracks eight and nine, Used To and Best of Intentions, were such a prophetic, perhaps clairvoyant, insight into my personal life I had to listen to them a number of times.

This cleverness got me addicted to them.

"I'd like to help you get those hang-ups under control but I've far too many, far too many of my own". Terrible, in a good way.

Vitals closes strong, again bringing a subtle mellow lyric over neat little beats with Safe if we don't look down and Remain, which are the longest two tracks on the album. I got to the end and wanted to start over, which, unlike my personal issues, made the album quite the comfort. Recommended for those looking for clever beats to go with their empathy.

Glenn Tozer

Samantha Morris

www.blankgc.com.au

25

DECEMBER

GOLD COAST GIG GUIDE

WEDNESAY 23 DECEMBER Alex Fietz | Southport Sharks Dana Hassall | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) The James Street Preachers | The Cambus Wallace

Voice & Congas | Southport Sharks Musical Bingo | Byron Brewery

WEDNESDAY 30 DECEMBER

Free The Genie | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise Pinc Zinc | Coolangatta Sands (4.00-7.00pm) Matthew Armitage | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach

BUSKERS BY THE CREEK SIDESTREET EVENT | Sean Fizgerald + The Barefoot Buskers and winners of Battle of the Buskers, The Scrimshaw Four | Currumbin Creek Tavern Mapstone | Dust Temple (7.00pm) Benny D Williams | Burleigh Brewery

Alex Fietz | Southport Sharks

Open Mic Night | Loft Chevron Island

Open Mic Night | Loft Chevron Island

Benny D Williams | Sunhouse Coolangatta

Open Mic Night | Byron Brewery

Leigh James | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

Late for Woodstock | Southport Sharks | (covers)

THURSDAY 31 DECEMBER

Smooth Groove | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Open mic night | Lonestar Tavern, Mermaid Waters (from 7.00pm)

Felicity Lawless | The Boatshed, Currumbin (1.00pm)

SATURDAY 9 JANUARY

Open mic night (1.00 - 5.00pm) | Saltwater Creek Hotel, Helensvale

The Delta Riggs | Southport RSL

THURSDAY 24 DECEMBER Zookeepers | Southport Sharks Clare Nella | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

FRIDAY 25 DECEMBER electronic boogie show | elsewhere

Saturday Night: Six Shooter + Latour + Nadeem + Giv | elsewhere

Dubarray | Sheoak Shack 80s Revival ft. Madonna Tribute | Southport Sharks Hot Jazz & Swing Kings | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

JANUARY FRIDAY 1 JANUARY Nattali Rize & Notis + Seeka + The Lyrical | NightQuarter, Helensvale

Jam Festival | Byron Brewery Brett Gannon | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

SUNDAY 27 DECEMBER Damon Innes | Cabana Bar & Lounge (1.00pm) Danyak | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise Jerome Williams | Sunhouse Coolangatta

The Scrimswhaw Four | Fiddlers Irish Pub

SATURDAY 2 JANUARY

State Champs + Neck Deep (all ages) | The Triffid

Matt Rodgers | Coolangatta Sands

Bobby Alu and the Palm Royale | Mandala Organic Arts Café Mapstone (7.00pm) + Irish Mythen (2.00pm) | Sheoak Shack Hanlon Brothers + Hot Potato Band | NightQuarter, Helensvale Surf Report Duo | Coolangatta Sands

Alex Fietz | Southport Sharks | (covers)

Saint Barae (EP Launch) + Jordan Pineda + Mercury Sun + Maddi Rose | Currumbin Creek Tavern

THURSDAY 7 JANUARY

Clare Nella | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Fleetmac Wood | elsewhere BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

Pure Velour | Miami Marketta

SUNDAY 10 JANUARY

Dan Champagne | Surfers Paradise (Cavill Mall)

Zookeepers | Southport Sharks | (covers)

Seth Troxler (at Nautic Giants) | Fishermans Wharf

Alvin & d’Band Jahbutu | Miami Marketta

FRIDAY 8 JANUARY

Palmy Sunday Fun Day: Felicity Lawless + Hussy Hicks | Palm Beach Parklands pirate park (4.00 – 6.30pm)

Brett Gannon | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

The WellSwung Daddies | Southport Sharks (covers)

4’20’ Sound | Byron Brewery

Hussy Hicks | Southport Sharks

Open Mic Night | Loft Chevron Island

Smooth Groove | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Lloyd Saniel | Southport Sharks

Dan Hannaford + The Twine + Josh Lovegrove | NightQuarter, Helensvale

Zade | Southport Sharks (covers)

Groove | Byron Brewery

MONDAY 28 DECEMBER

A Tribe Called Frank | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise

Jessie Morris | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach (2.00 – 5.00pm)

Nicole Brophy + Velshur (from 2.00pm) | Sheoak Shack

Blues Corp | Miami Marketta

DJ T (Get Physical / Berlin) | elsewhere

BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

TUESDAY 5 JANUARY

The Oh Sees | Miami Tavern Shark Bar

WEDNESDAY 6 JANUARY

Blackcats Re-Loaded | Southport Sharks

Akova | Miami Marketta

Lloyd Saniel | Southport Sharks (covers)

Bearfoot | Miami Marketta

Wild Marmalade + Felicity Lawless | Byron Bay Brewery

Eleea Navarro | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Marshall Okell | The Rails, Byron Bay

MONDAY 4 JANUARY

Jax Haze | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Voice & Congas | Southport Sharks

Matty Rogers + Benny De Williams + Alone Alaska + Jake Whittaker | NightQuarter, Helensvale

James Reyne + Moving Pictures | Jupiters

www.blankgc.com.au

Lotus Ship | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise

SUNDAY 3 JANUARY

Hayley Grace | Cabana Bar & Lounge, Southport Sharks

SATURDAY 26 DECEMBER

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TUESDAY 29 DECEMBER

Stray from the Path + Void of Vision + Hellions + Antagonist A.D. | Cooly Hotel Casey Barnes | Lakeside, Evandale Parklands as part of Summer at the Cultural Precinct State Champs + Neck Deep (18+) | The Triffid Katie Who + Nicky Convine + Taylor + Felicity Lawless | NightQuarter, Helensvale Smashed Crabs | Coolangatta Sands

Matt Bourke | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach (2.00 – 5.00pm) Sunday Sessions: Kenny Slide | Currumbin Creek Tavern Beergarden (1.00 – 4.00pm) BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise James Street Preachers | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise Simon Meola | Cabana Bar & Lounge, Southport Sharks

Hanlon Brothers + The Babe Rainbow + Dave Rastovich (Burleigh Single Fin) | Burleigh Heads

Wandering Eyes | Miami Marketta

TUESDAY 19 JANUARY

Elliot Maginot | The Haven, Murwillumbah NSW

Ritchie Langford | Coolangatta Sands (4.00-7.00pm)

SATURDAY 16 JANUARY

Gabrielle Lambe + Little Red Robin Horse | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise

Kenny Slide | Currumbin Creek Tavern (1.00-4.00pm) Angus Oastler | Sunhouse Coolangatta Brett Gannon | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) Open mic night (1.00 - 5.00pm) | Saltwater Creek Hotel, Helensvale

Kate Leopold | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach (2.00 – 5.00pm) Jackson James Smith | Lakeside, Evandale Parklands as part of Summer at the Cultural Precinct CC The Cat + Hemingway + BigFellaLinc | NightQuarter, Helensvale

Voice & Congas | Southport Sharks (covers)

WEDNESDAY 20 JANUARY Open Mic Night | Loft Chevron Island

THURSDAY 21 JANUARY

The Beautiful Girls | Cooly Hotel

Zookeepers | Southport Sharks (covers)

Kato (Worldlife / Sydney) | elsewhere

Open mic night | Lonestar Tavern, Mermaid Waters (from 7.00pm)

Felicity Lawless | Beaches on Kirra (6.00pm)

BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

TUESDAY 12 JANUARY

Eureka Funk | Coolangatta Sands

Ivey | Studio 56, Miami Marketta

Benny D Williams | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise

Leigh James | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

FRIDAY 22 JANUARY

Voice & Congas | Southport Sharks (covers)

Jessie Morris Band (7.00pm) + Matt Stillert (2.00pm) | Sheoak Shack

Black Rabbit George + Felicity Lawless | Soundlounge

WEDNESDAY 13 JANUARY

The Wet Fish | Miami Marketta

Open Mic Night | Loft Chevron Island

Captain Wow | Southport Sharks (covers)

MONDAY 11 JANUARY Lloyd Saniel | Southport Sharks (covers)

THURSDAY 14 JANUARY

Elliot Maginot | Coolangatta Boardriders

Dead City Ruins + RedStarBorn + others TBA | Cooly Hotel

SUNDAY 17 JANUARY

Zookeepers | Southport Sharks (covers) Open mic night | Lonestar Tavern, Mermaid Waters (from 7.00pm) BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

FRIDAY 15 JANUARY Tijuana Cartel | Soundlounge Die! Die! Die! | elsewhere City Over Sand + Gabriel & Cecilia | NightQuarter, Helensvale Mason Rack Band | Southport Sharks SOULA (Melb) + LS Philosophy + Accidentally Perfect + Davina | Currumbin Creek Tavern Todd Jesson | Burleigh Brewery Darren Middleton + Casey Barnes | | Lakeside, Evandale Parklands as part of Summer at the Cultural Precinct Gentle Jazz | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) Akova | The Farm, Byron Bay Shem | Coolangatta Sands

Brett Gannon | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) The Great Southern Band | Southport Sharks (covers)

SUNDAY 24 JANUARY Chris Lorenzo (UK) | elsewhere Palmy Sunday Fun Day: Karl S Williams + CC and the Rolling Waves | Palm Beach Parklands pirate park (4.00 – 6.30pm) Dallas James | Southport Sharks (midday – 4.00pm) Amy Billings | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach (2.00 – 5.00pm) Free The Genie | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise Khan Harrison | Sunhouse Coolangatta Backtrackin Duo | Coolangatta Sands Felicity Lawless | Bread N Butter, Coolangatta

In Essence | Burleigh Brewery

BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

Taylor + Aquila Young + Fox & Fiasco | NightQuarter, Helensvale

Nyssa Berger | Live Music Lakeside, Gold Coast Arts Centre

Skin Deep | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Jemma Lee + Casey Duque | Currumbin Creek Tavern Beergarden (1.00 – 4.00pm)

RedStarBorn + Versus Fate + Lillye + Kobrakai + United States of Oz | Currumbin Creek Tavern

Hot Jazz & Swing Kings | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm)

Palmy Sunday Fun Day: Bobby Alu + Hayley Calvert | Palm Beach Parklands pirate park (4.00 – 6.30pm)

Oz Latin Brothers | Live Music Lakeside, Gold Coast Arts Centre

James | Cabana Bar & Lounge, Southport Sharks

Marshall OKell | The Lennox

BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise

Mapstone | Miami Marketta

Open mic night (1.00 - 5.00pm) | Saltwater Creek Hotel, Helensvale

Inexcess: INXS tribute show | Southport Sharks

MONDAY 25 JANUARY

Loa | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach (2.00 – 5.00pm) Felicity Lawless | Currumbin RSL (2.00pm)

SATURDAY 23 JANUARY

Soul Stripes | Institution Ale House, Surfers Paradise

OzFest: Seth Sentry + Art Vs Science + San Cisco + Saskwatch + Tired Lion | Miami Tavern

The Preloves | Sunhouse Coolangatta

OKA + Leopold’s Treat | NightQuarter, Helensvale

Joshy Dredz + Salty Storms | Currumbin Creek Tavern Beergarden (1.00 – 4.00pm)

Jerome Candour + Rob Demasi | The Yard Café, Nobby Beach (2.00 – 5.00pm)

Open mic night (1.00 - 5.00pm) | Saltwater Creek Hotel, Helensvale

Wandering Eyes | The Lennox

MONDAY 18 JANUARY Lloyd Saniel | Southport Sharks (covers)

Felicity Lawless | Marty’s at Cabarita Hanlon Brothers | Miami Marketta Geoff Turnbull + Manoa (from 2.00pm) | Sheoak Shack Smashed Crabs | Coolangatta Sands

Two questions: Who’s playing?

What’s pouring?

Gentle Jazz | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) Lloyd Saniel | Southport Sharks (covers)

TUESDAY 26 JANUARY Gentle Jazz | Chevron Renaissance (6.30pm) Lloyd Saniel | Southport Sharks (covers)

WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY Open Mic Night | Loft Chevron Island

THURSDAY 28 JANUARY Zookeepers | Southport Sharks (covers) BigFellaLinc | Kitty O’Shea, Surfers Paradise Open mic night | Lonestar Tavern, Mermaid Waters (from 7.00pm) www.blankgc.com.au

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Food & Drink

THE LAMB SHOP Shop 106, Oracle Boulevard, Broadbeach “Fast food done well,” The Lamb Shop’s owner Peter Gloftis tells me.

I look at him, glance into the shop, and then down at my food. That’s his mission?

‘He’s the master of understatement!’ I think.

This is not ‘fast’ food.

We had been beckoned over to The Lamb Shop by the aromas wafting out into Oracle Boulevard; meat roasting slowly on a spit over high grade charcoal. It’s the stuff of home hearths and heritage, with culinary techniques and family recipes passed down through centuries.

From the 17th century BC, Greeks skewered meat and grilled it over hot coals, the origins of today’s souvlaki. In many areas, meat was a delicacy, with olive oil and herbs flavouring a plant-based diet grown on the hills around them. Terrain and climate dictated the meat available: goat, lamb, chicken and fish rather than beef.

The Lamb Shop pays homage to the farm workers, butchers and cooks who brought food to the family table through love and necessity.

Farmers. Butchers. Chefs.

The Lamb Shop oozes masculinity; a modern take on an old-fashioned butchery with its blue and white heritage tiles, the shop counter low enough to see the spit perched above glowing coals, and your meal being prepared by gorgeous men in leather butchers’ aprons. Peel away the mystique.

How we love to watch men at work!

And it’s a workman’s meal: a modern take on traditional souvlaki, with no shortcuts taken. Shoulders of Junee lamb and Byron Bay pork are marinated for 24 hours, then slow-cooked over charcoal for 4 to 5 hours, basted constantly during cooking.

We overlook the very worthy bar menu (chargrilled corn, prawn, octopus and saganaki) to tackle the souvlaki. There are five types of souvlaki on offer, with a choice of two small plates plus sides. We try one of each: Slow-cooked pork packed into a soft pita with onion, parsley, tzatziki and, in a turn which would make the purists blush, chips. They’re not just any chips, though.

Hand cut and prepared from scratch in a triple cooking process, they’re gourmet fare!

Eaten at the bar with an accompanying beer or wine (The Lamb Shop is fully licensed) or to take away, the souvlaki’s a generous meal.

THE FUNKY OLIVE 1722-1724 Gold Coast Highway, Burleigh Heads Opening a restaurant is a bit like running the gauntlet. There’s so much to do: leases, venue and kitchen fitout, engaging a chef, decisions about menus and suppliers, staff recruitment and training, licensing and inspections, branding and marketing … all in preparation for that all important ‘reveal’ to the general public.

From the outside The Funky Olive presents as just another ‘funky’ Burleigh café with a Mediterranean twist, the welcoming warmth of its cosy timber décor lit by trendy drop lights and enthusiastic new owners willing to give their business a decent shove. But our experience so far tells us that it’s so much more.

First impressions count. After all, thanks to social media, the Gold Coast is really just a small town. Word spreads like flames in a haystack: earn or burn!

We’ve dined at The Funky Olive three times (breakfast, lunch and dinner) and have come away totally impressed. ‘Too good to be true,’ I thought, pinching myself that these were first time restaurateurs. Service was efficient and cheery – no hiccups when

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My ‘small’ plate of slow-cooked lamb arrives, the generous serving of meat freshly cut from the spit. It’s accompanied by tangy tzatziki and quarters of soft pita bread, a lunch unadorned by the refreshment of a salad, which can be ordered as a side. I long for green, but the meat begs to be eaten, its smoky flavours playing with nose and tongue as it yields easily to the bite. Earthy, unfussy, it carries the legacy of coals and herbs that only slow cooking brings.

The flavours play with my imagination as well. If only we could see where this aroma had wafted before through history, what stories would it bring?

we visited, food was promptly delivered and water refilled despite the place being hummingly busy.

Our Bircher muesli with poached rhubarb, for example, is topped by goji berries, fresh raspberries, strawberries and apple, with a slurp of honeyed yoghurt smeared across the plate. It looks almost too gorgeous to eat. Of course, it’s delicious.

It’s a huge ambitious menu: Breakfast (everything from bircher muesli and açai bowls to eggs your way or brekkie boards), Lunch (salad or sandwich through to sticky pork belly) and Dinner (small or large plate dishes which take in everything from snacks to French-influenced comfort food).

And then there are the stayers – menu items such as boards and all day brekkie plates which spread across all three meals. Beef up any meal with sides to share; there’s an entirely separate menu for kids, and plenty of homemade sweets.

All in all, the menu is so extensive that it’s a bit complicated; so much choice, in fact, that we’d question its sustainability.

Mind you, customers aren’t complaining, and the kitchen flow is well divided with cold platters prepped behind the servery and other menu items cooked in the back kitchen. It’s these intelligent touches of organisation, the owners on the floor keeping a watchful eye on the action, which make all the difference.

When we dined late, platters poured out of the kitchen - generous portions of well-presented cold cuts (meat or ocean), bread, cheeses and antipasti ($22.50 or $32) – plenty to nibble on with a glass of wine, but in our view the star dishes come from the chef: smart combinations of ‘on trend’ ingredients, well cooked, with gorgeous presentation.

‘Fast food?’ I muse. Only from grill to table.

Marj Osborne Read more of Marj’s reviews on Good Food Gold Coast foodgoldcoast.com.au

Lunch meals also demonstrate the chef ’s expertise: perfectly cooked Scallops topped with smoked tuna dust, Sticky pork belly zigzagging beautifully across a quinoa salad dotted with pear gel. Rustic or delicate, all of our dishes showed intriguing points of interest and attention to detail; nothing was average.

The Funky Olive has many assets: its position in a highly desirable dining area, an all- encompassing menu, a share plate philosophy, crowd pleasing tummy filling platters, friendly service, well-priced drinks, great coffee and even a real pot of tea. The restaurant can function as a family and party-friendly venue which can also accommodate a casual meet up with friends for breakfast or a solo crowd-watching coffee on the front pavement.

While all of these factors have been important in The Funky Olive’s highly delectable ‘reveal’, it’s the chef ’s creations we’d go back for any day. The real talent in The Funky Olive kitchen is the icing on a simply delectable cake!

Marj Osborne Read more of Marj’s reviews on Good Food Gold Coast foodgoldcoast.com.au

There are also specials on the blackboards around the restaurant. Simon tells me later that the kitchen staff originate from all around Italy, so they take turns choosing their own regional specialties to try as specials, putting their own special spin on each dish to make it their own. It’s a great way to judge which dishes are worth including on the regular menu.

BARITALIA

Surfers Paradise Blvd & Elkhorn Ave, Surfers Paradise Sometimes a really solid little restaurant can be hiding in full view, waiting to be discovered by locals. Perhaps you, like us have walked past the olive trees too many times. All along, Baritalia has been sitting in the corner beckoning us with hooded eyes and somehow we’ve missed the overtures.

Located on a triangular corner of Elkhorn Avenue and Surfers Paradise Boulevard opposite the Clock Hotel, Baritalia lies in prime tourist territory. Although tiny inside, the restaurant has the luxury of three sides flanked by alfresco area, mostly undercover and facing northeast; a great position to catch both the winter sun and summer shade.

Melburnians Simon Vella and Stacey Cameron took over Baritalia in 2010.

Simon’s experience as a chef and Stacey’s retail background were put to good use as the couple took the opportunity to move north and invest their savings in the restaurant. Slowly they transformed the venue as their vision for the restaurant slowly crystallised.

Baritalia is now a welcoming restaurant decked out like a homely Italian garden, inviting us to come in, sit and relax. Simon and Stacey have added their own touches to make the restaurant feel like a home away from home: faux grass bench seats, a box of cookbooks on the table inside the entrance, plants (lots of them) wedged in doorways, standing against columns, on peg hangers in denim bucket holders, attached to doors in wire hangers, handmade tables (Stacey’s ideas, his work, Simon says, laughing)… It’s all very eclectic, but somehow it works, giving the laid back feel of a local village trattoria or urban garden with welcoming hosts.

“We like to keep it really casual. It really reminds me of my Mum and Dad’s back yard when we were growing up – a touch of woginess, and lots of greenery. We spent our whole childhood in the backyard,” Simon adds.

We’ve made ourselves comfortable in the ‘front yard’ overlooking the street. Time to check out the menus. We order a mug of coffee, a smooth rich chocolatey Di Bella Coffee Felici house blend from 100% Arabica beans, as we take our time with the menu choices.

It’s early afternoon, so we overlook the breakfast menu and freshly squeezed orange juice, choosing our dishes from the Lunch/ Dinner menu. It’s an all-encompassing journey through modern regional Italian cuisine: antipasti, pane, secondo, pasta e risotto, pizze, dolce and a supplementary lunch section of burgers, sandwiches and salads, with gluten-free and vegetarian choices clearly marked. All of Baritalia’s food is made in house bar the pasta, sourced from local producers Pasta Fresca, a couple renowned for their artisan fresh pasta and sauces.

Fully licensed, Baritalia’s a great place to choose food to share with a drink: large bowls of chilli Tasmanian chilli mussels in a wine-laced saffron broth ($20) platters of salumi to accompany drinks, or garlic king prawns from the local trawlers ($23).

The mains contain rustic favourites such as Northern Rivers Veal scaloppini, a hearty Porchetta (roast pork stuffed and slow roasted, served with balsamic roast veg), and pasta dishes such as Pappardelle con Salsiccia (flat ribbon pasta with pork and fennel sausage and gorgonzola in a light creamy sauce). Oh yes, we could gobble that up!

We’ve dining at lunchtime – a lighter meal for us, and as we’ve ordered some bread to start, a house-made flatbread topped with black olives, I choose an entrée as a meal from the specials board: Mozzarella di Bufala Fritta – two deep-fried buffalo mozzarella and artichoke balls coated in a breaded parmesan crust with a tomato sauce ($15) – delicious! It’s a generous serve which could be a meal with a side salad ordered separately, or shared as entrée due to its size. Yes, that’s a keeper, Simon!

The Main Squeeze orders Spaghetti al fruiti di Mare (Marinara) with prawns, black mussels, scallops, bugs, fish and calamari panfried in garlic with a fresh tang of chilli in a tomatobased sauce laced with olives and EVOO ($35).

It’s a hit, which leaves him silent, even when the Clock Hotel’s clarions strike the hour with Edelweiss in discordant tones. Mmm… It’s one of those eccentricities that travellers often encounter, but it will keep younger family members enthralled watching the kangaroo, emu, koala and swagman parade around the clock as it strikes each hour to a different tune. The front of the restaurant is prime viewing territory!

There’s no skipping dessert, as both Simon’s biscuits and desserts are well known. We pass the gelati, tiramisu and crumbles, choosing a Citrus tart with caramelised toffee top to finish our meal ($12). It’s deliciously light yet packed with flavour; the perfect tangy conclusion to a satisfying meal.

Family-friendly, Baritalia is a great place to stop, relax and take some time out of the concrete jungle. With two hours free parking under Chevron Renaissance, and the light rail only a block away, now there’s no excuse to miss out on Baritalia’s classic food with a modern twist. So come outside into the garden. There’s a great Italian meal waiting just past the olive trees.

Note: Good Food Gold Coast dined as guests of Di Bella Coffee.

Marj Osborne Read more of Marj’s reviews on Good Food Gold Coast foodgoldcoast.com.au

BOROUGH BARISTA 14 The Esplanade, Burleigh Heads It’s that wonderful time of year again when the days become longer, the heat starts to rise and the call of the beach is undeniable.

Sitting on the bar overlooking the beach at Borough Barista you are so close to the surf that you can hear each wave crash and smell the salt on the breeze as you sip on your caffeinated beverage of choice. Clearly this is heaven.

A Burleigh Heads staple for the past couple of years, the famous yellow bench at Borough has seen many locals and casual beach goers stop by to grab a coffee or a tasty meal from the brief, but enticing menu. For those looking for a drink or treat to grab and go, Borough has you covered with a fridge filled with raw treats, cold drip coffee and cold pressed juices.

Owners Liz and Dean are also the folks behind the hugely popular Barefoot Barista in Palm Beach with both cafes having a similar relaxed vibe, excellent customer service and great coffee.

With single origins rotating monthly, Borough’s house coffee is the Story blend, a combination of Ethiopian, Sumatran, Columbian and Rwandan sourced beans that make for a sweet and balanced coffee. The espresso is my favourite way to experience the Story blend as its aroma is a beautiful combination of nuts, cream and chocolate, whist its flavour is rich with sweet berries and a punch of acidity ending with a delicate floral note. As it was a hot day how could I pass up an iced long black with its juicy and sweet flavour that is bound to satisfy after a morning down the beach. By comparison the cold brew, which has had time to let the flavours develop more deeply, has an incredible creamy vanilla scent and a deeper, more complex taste of berries, dried fruit and mild nut. For the lactose lovers out there Borough also has a milk based cold brew that I would highly recommend you try. If you like your coffee hot, the Borough latte has a big caramel scent and a mild, sweet caramelised berry flavour that makes for a pleasant drink.

Open 5am to 2.30pm seven days a week don’t be shy if you’re nearby, come straight off the beach in your togs for an awesome feed and coffee. The yellow bench awaits you!

Catherine Coburn www.blankgc.com.au

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FESTIVAL FALL-OUT: MAKING FESTIVALS SUSTAINABLE

If you use social media, you would have seen images of the Falls Festival fall-out. Hundreds of metres of camping gear strewn as far as the eye could see, piles of rubbish and general waste. I was devasted. I couldn’t believe people would treat camping equipment as if it was disposable or single-use.

It’s not an issue unique to Falls Festival, that’s for sure. Every major event – whether a music festival or not – has to deal with waste. Some of it is obvious (you drink a beer, there’s an empty beer can), some of it is not so obvious (where does all the poo go?).

Brandon Saul is a Director of Falls Festival and runs the Byron leg of the event and it’s his job to manage sustainability. When he speaks to Blank it’s just three short weeks out from launch day.

“Credit where credit is due – a lot is done on site by patrons.

What’s left at the campsite that doesn’t fit in the bins is a big issue for us.”

Brandon said this year Falls Festival is also collecting used tents to make artworks out of but the whole campsite waste thing is just one of the sustainability areas the team is focused on.

Inside the festival grounds there are waste streams that go to pigs and compost and for cardboard, glass and PET containers. There’s an enormous amount of waste self-sorted by patrons as well as teams who sort by hand.

“The biggest challenge with recycling is keeping it pure,” Brandon said. “To have things recycled – even if separated – they’ve got to be clean.”

Falls Festival also uses Climate Friendly to offset its carbon emissions and asks patrons to do the same. In 2014 that resulted in more than 37,000 patrons offsetting their travel and therefore offsetting 5,400 tonnes of greenhouse gas, which is achieved through an investment in the Tasmanian Native Forest Protection Project.

And what about the actual site that the Festival calls home?

Hardly a sustainable land-use to begin with, the site was previously a cane farm.

“Depending on who you talk to – it’s either the best thing that happened onsite, or the worst,” Brandon said.

“Falls Festival runs a program where people get to plant trees in return for tickets. We also plant trees at the festival – that’s not so much about the tree as about getting across the concept and giving people a chance to interact with the place. The more people who can be involved and get their hands dirty in the soil – the more there’s an understanding that it’s an ecosystem that needs to be maintained and grown.”

“We’re in the final throes,” he said. “We’re pretty practiced for it. We’re onsite. We’re building. It’s real. It’s the pointy end.”

“The food waste we collect on the inside will go to pigs and then in the campground where there is that risk of contamination of glass products we’ll be composting that.”

Brandon tells me a little bit about his background and his passion for poo. We talk about those striking images that came out of Falls Festival last year and he agrees it’s a challenge for all event managers.

To hear Brandon talk about sustainability and the festival, you’d think he had a background in environmental science or engineering. But believe it or not, Brandon is a lawyer and accountant by trade.

“It’s a universal problem. Equipment is so cheap now – it’s become a disposable item. From our point of view we do everything possible to recycle some things.”

“To be honest I have an obsession with toilets, compost and waste,” he laughed before channeling his inner composting geek and telling me about the site’s composting toilets.

Brandon explains that a lot of the property had previously been cleared and what hadn’t been cleared are the wettest parts.

Brandon says Falls Festival’s approach to recycling said camping equipment is very hands on. They have a team that physically cleans anything that’s useable and then engage a bunch of community groups who come through and claim what can be used. Scout Groups, for example are quick to lay claim to gum boots and tents.

“It took us a long while to get relevant authorities to allow us to use composting toilets. We actually had to create a pilot project before we were able to do it on a larger scale,” he said.

“The systemic plan there is to improve the quality of the forest blocks – it’s one thing to look at trees and bush and it’s another for it to be good habitat,” he said.

The toilets had to be ordered from China and Brandon said they’d never been manufactured there either. When the did arrive, there was a kilometre of trucks coming down the Pacific Motorway with the toilets destined for Falls Festival.

“For it to be meaningful habitat, it needs to be 30m deep.

Our approach has been to expand the outer edges of the forest blocks, but also the quality. We’re subject to exhaustive environmental monitoring programs – that dispels some of the half-truths people are putting out.”

“If it’s reusable, we reuse it. And then we put a lot of effort into recycling everything else,” he said.

One of the changes to camping policy this year is expected to have an impact on the volume of waste after the event.

Patrons will be able to camp with their cars. Brandon expects that will mean people will take their stuff with them when they leave.

“I’ve been to camping festivals and I sympathise with trudging your gear in and out. The easier you make it for people to do the right thing, they will.”

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“We have the largest collection of composting toilets of any event in Australia. These things are revolutionary in Australia but they’ve been doing it forever overseas. The idea that you can compost human poo? I mean it’s a valuabe commodity in India.”

As well as closing the loop when it comes to poo, composting toilets also significantly reduce water use.

Which adds to the Festival’s efforts to collect water off its permanent structures.

“We have a groundsman and manager onsite that spend the whole year looking after habitat. Sometimes that’s the simple act of killing camphors.”

“We’re three years in now and we can comprehensively conclude that we’re being a benefit to the place – and not detrimental - and that’s something that I’m proud of, to be frank.”

Samantha Moris Falls Festival’s Byron Bay event takes place 31 December – 3 January. More at fallsfestival.com.au.

THE PINES LEADS THE WAY WITH MASSIVE SOLAR STRUCTURE

FIVE WAYS TO GREEN UP YOUR CHRISTMAS FUNCTION

Family owned shopping centre The Pines at Elanora has followed the trend in its local community by embracing solar power. The recent unveiling of its $30 million redevelopment was topped off by over 2050 solar panels which will generate over 1000MWh of electricity per annum.

(AND THE REASONS WHY YOU SHOULD)

The Pine’s Centre Manager, Hilary Jacobs, said introducing solar was in line with the centre’s vision to contribute positively to the local community.

Entertaining over Christmas?

Why not send a sneaky little message with every function that you put on by going “green”? You don't need to be preachy about it, just subtle education through leading by example in the things you use, reuse and reduce at your next occasion.

“As a community shopping centre, it is important that we lead the way in reducing our environmental footprint.

Thanks to the solar car park, our CO2 offset will be the equivalent of taking 185 cars off the road each year.”

The centre has outdone itself by installing a 636kW solar system - the largest solar car park structure in Australia which makes it one of the largest solar power generators in the country. Its opening co-incided with the wrap up of COP21 UN climate change conference in Paris, at which 195 countries, including Australia, have reached a binding agreement to curb global warming and its impact on the planet.

But this isn't where their environmental vision ends.

Recently The Pines management have asked students in the local area to design an eco friendly, reusable tote bag to help reduce plastic bag usage in the centre. This will be locally made and contribute to the economy of the area.

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In collaboration with Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary, the centre has been a major sponsor of The Pines Elanora Discovery Den, an amazing outdoor teaching space for environmental education. Through a variety of tailored workshops linked to the Australian Curriculum, school students can be totally immersed in their learning, being surrounded by the beautiful natural bush setting.

Through their initiatives The Pines are leading the way in implementing measures to lighten their footprint on the Planet. With the Australian Government now reinstating their funding for wind power projects, let’s hope that some of the redevelopments on the coastline will take note and follow suit.

Ditch the single use disposable plates and cutlery.

I know, no one really likes to do the washing up particularly when you have invited all the relatives, neighbours and friends far and wide to your place for a feed. So the temptation is there to buy plastic plates to make your life easier. But did you know these plastic items take between 500 and 1000 years to break down?

And while they are swanning around in landfill, they are leaching toxins into our ground water. So choose an alternative like compostable plates and cutlery made from corn starch and sugar cane pulp. They are comparable in price and won't harm the environment.

Set up a compost bin close to the gathering and tape a sign to it to educate your guests as to what can go in the compost.

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Don’t buy disposable plastic bottles. With our beautiful warm Christmas weather the temptation is there to buy those huge packs of 24 plastic wrapped, disposable bottles of water, or soft drinks packaged in plastic. But did you know some plastics never break down, discarded drink bottles account for 38% of landfill and it takes seven litres of water and one litre of oil to make 1 litre of bottled water? Okay so enough preaching, what’s the alternative? Drink dispensers, jugs and punch bowls are excellent receptacles for your summer beverages and add just a little retro touch to your occasion.

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Be straw free. 500 million disposable plastic straws are used and discarded in the United States alone each day, which is enough to fill 127 school buses daily! Plastic doesn't biodegrade, it photodegrades which means it just breaks up into smaller and smaller plastic particles which clog our waterways, enter our oceans and are consumed by small fish and sea birds. The CSIRO has estimated that almost all sea birds will have plastic in their gut by 2050. Straws aren't a party essential so just don't use them or if you must, then opt for the paper, compostable alternatives.

Julia Schafer

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Buy in bulk to save money and packaging. One of the most challenging parts of catering an event is avoiding packaging, but it can be done. Things like condiments can be bought in bulk and portioned out into bowls, buy meat from a butcher and have him pack into your own containers, buy baked goods from a baker and ask them to do the same. Fruit and veggies can be bought at the market and you can take along your own produce bags or paper bags for the grower to fill. Shop with reducing your packaging in mind and the alternatives will become apparent. Also allow yourself enough time to shop for your food items so you don't give in to the last minute rush to the store.

5.

Opt for a BYO and TYO event. Yeah you’ve heard of BYO (bring your own) but what’s TYO? Well it’s “take your own”, meaning waste! Bring your own plate of food to share and take the plate home with you. Bring your own beverages and take your own bottles home to be recycled. Bring your own chocolates and chippies and … leave them with me! We are all conscious of our expenditure over Christmas and getting together for a shared meal is what it’s all about. No one expects that you should blow your whole Christmas budget entertaining others, and many foodies love the opportunity to showcase their signature dish, so let them! In fact, if they are willing, ask them to provide an email with their recipe that you can pass on to everyone who came (just a thought).

While there are many more ways that you can “go green” over Christmas, these are just a few suggestions to get you started. So I hope you take them on board, educate your friends and family in subtle ways and help them all to walk a little lighter on the planet.

Julia Schafer

www.blankgc.com.au

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Arts & Culture

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ALL THE BIRDS, SINGING EVIE WYLD In her award winning 2014 novel, All the Birds, Singing, author Evie Wyld uses our fear of being alone against us, setting her story on a creaking sheep farm on an isolated British island. It's here that Jake White has chosen to hide from the world, with only her dog and birdsong for company. But when someone, or something, begins killing her stock and terrorising Jake at night, she is forced to acknowledge the past she is trying so hard to hide from.

Wyld has used a clever literary device to create a compelling read; every second chapter moves Jake's story backwards in time so we can piece together her past and the events that led her from living in the Australian outback to owning a sheep farm in England.

There are two sources of horror in Wyld's dark novel. As well as the sinister something killing her sheep, Jake is plagued with painful memories and her fear of discovery. As the story moves backwards, the reader bears witness to the brutality and violence Jake has suffered at the hands of men.

On the run from her hometown, her family, and a violent man named Otto, she has been forced into a rough life, never free, never safe, always on the move.

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Bereft of kindness and humanity for so long has left Jake cold. She is unable to even give a name to her only friend, calling him simply, Dog. When a drifter arrives on her property, Jake is spooked, but she begrudgingly allows Lloyd to stay. His lack of bush knowledge is amusing and of no use to her, but perhaps she can sense his internal wounds.

Farming is traditionally a world dominated by men. For Jake it's an act of defiance against the men who have restricted her freedom or inflicted violence. The hard physical labour that comes from working with animals is a way she can prove herself and reclaim her strength.

All the Birds, Singing is a stellar mystery with a dark and savage side. Readers will be compelled to discover the truth about Jake's past and whether she can learn to forgive herself and trust again.

Emily Russell

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THE MARBLE COLLECTOR CECILIA AHERN The latest offering by prolific Irish author Cecelia Ahern follows a day in the life of thirty-something Sabrina, who discovers in her invalid father's possessions a rare and expensive collection of playing marbles, revealing a second life and identity he had kept secret from everyone in his family. In attempting to track down some of the more expensive items, which appear to be missing, Sabrina uncovers more of her father's secrets and in turn discovers some truths regarding her own unhappiness.

Ahern's characters and their interactions are always the strongest aspects of her novels, and this is no exception. The story of Sabrina's father Fergus is told in flashback form, delving into his complicated family life as the middle son of seven growing up in a displaced Irish family with a scornful step-father. The kindly priest who gives him his first marbles as a small child after he has been beaten and locked in a cupboard by a sadistic teacher unwittingly kicks off a life of obsession and ultimate deception as he strives to be the man he believes his family and wife wishes him to be.

The book includes a handful of fun side characters whose irish brogue virtually jumps from the page into your ear during their few lines of dialogue, and the care with which the author has researched the creation, styles and value of marbles is to be commended – of course being a complete neophyte in that area, people could tell me anything and I would be forced to believe it. It doesn't quite pack the same emotional punch as earlier works P.S I Love You or If You Could See Me Now, but it's an enjoyable and easy read, and the sadness of character of Fergus in particular will stick with the reader.

Natalie O'Driscoll

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA CHRIS HEMSWORTH, BENJAMIN WALKER, CILLIAN MURPHY, BRENDAN GLEESON We have just watched Shark Week on Discovery at our house, so with fear of the ocean firmly in place, I allowed Chris Hemsworth to dip my toes back in the briny sea from the safety of my cinema seat.

In The Heart of The Sea is directed by Ron Howard and stars the aforementioned Chris Hemsworth as reluctant first mate Owen Chase and Benjamin Walker as entitled novice Captain George Pollard Jr. The film is based on a true story of whaling ship The Essex.

The movie opens with Thomas Nickerson (Gleeson) - a drunken shell of a man - recounting his experience as a 14-year-old cabin boy on the doomed ship to author Herman Melville, who later went on to write a fictional novel inspired by the story: Moby Dick.

During this period, whale oil was as precious as gold and men spent years at sea risking their lives for it. Under pressure to achieve great results and having survived storms both upon the ocean and between the Captain and First Mate, the crew of The Essex ends up thousands

of miles from anywhere and surrounded by whales. This is where we meet THE whale.

Ron Howard's impressive CGI whale makes for great escapism. From aerial shots to underwater manouvres, whenever this creature was on screen I was fearful and quiet, ready to believe I was looking at a whale as real as the actors trying to kill it.

For two hours we were swept up in a battle between man and beast, the tragedy of men lost at sea having to resort to extreme measures to survive, and the treacherous life of the whalers in the 1800's. While to some viewers it may compare unfavourably to the book which the original story inspired, for someone who has never read Moby Dick it was a fascinating adventure and well worth the time it takes to watch.

Louise Christie

THE ARTS CENTRE GOLD COAST PRESENTS

AT THE CULTURAL PRECINCT

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Arts & Culture “I studied film over the last two years of high school and that’s where I made both my films for BUFTA,” Lizzy said.

just the normal world but no people and the markings disappear from her arms one by one – it’s like a countdown on her body.”

“I’ve sort of been making films since I was very young with my brothers. We used to make reproductions of our favourite films – make all the costumes and everything. They were terrible, but that’s how I started off.”

“The Artist – that was filmed this year,” she said, explaining it’s about an artist struggling to make ends meet. “She’s experiencing creative block and she can’t produce anything – it’s a very abstract film about overcoming where you want to be creative but can’t produce anything. It also kind of talks about the limitations – you have an idea but you can’t quite achieve it – that internal struggle.”

Lizzy said her school Cairns High is known for its arts program and is slowly building a reputation for film. “It’s a great program,” she said. “The teachers are so passionate and they just inspire the kids ALL THE TIME, even out of class.”

“I used to sit in the film rooms at lunch and we’d just talk about movies and techniques in filming and that kind of thing.”

And even though Elizabeth has scored a full scholarship to Bond, she’s not going to rush into such a big commitment.

FILMMAKER CULLEN SECOND WOMAN IN 20 YEARS TO TAKE OUT BUFTAS After two decades launching the careers of some of Australia's best young filmmakers, the Bond University Film and Television Awards (BUFTAs) have unearthed yet another star in 18 year old Elizabeth Cullen, who was crowned Best Filmmaker for two short films at this year's red carpet event.

She also won Best Directing.

Elizabeth is one of only two women to win the top award in the event’s 20 year history and has won a full scholarship to Bond University to study a Bachelor of Film and Television.

Blank GC spoke to Lizzy from her home in Cairns, where she’d just wrapped up her year 12 exams.

“I’m definitely going to take it, I just don’t know if I’m quite ready to go yet,” she said, explaining that if she took a year off, she’d probably travel.

“I want to do some acting as well and I’d quite like to get an agent and get some auditions.”

Elizabeth’s Best Filmmaker award recognised her work on two films: The Artist and Alone.

“I just hope to get better and better as the years go on and just keep making films as much as I can,” she said.

She filmed Alone last year and said it was fun to film and it showcases the Cairns landscape.

“It’s basically about this girl who wakes up covered in these strange markings all over her body. She’s completely alone – she doesn’t remember who she is or what happened. She left isolated in the world –

On 14 January some not so ordinary Australians are giving their time and talent to perform at 2020 Vision: Something to ‘Swing’ about. Thirteen Gold Coasters plus a couple of mates from Sydney will be performing at The Arts Centre Gold Coast, in the Paradise Showroom, to raise money to help the Foundation. Every cent of the profits will go towards saving someone’s sight.

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“We saw all the films in the morning. The standard was so high, it was quite amazing the films we saw. So I went to the night not expecting to win anything – I was just happy to be there. When they called my name, I didn’t even get up straight away. I was just shocked.”

“I plan to make another film early next year if I have a gap year. And I have a couple of other experimental films I’ve made over the last couple of years as part of school but nothing substantial,” Lizzy said.

The late Fred Hollows had a plan – he believed that four out of five people in the world who go blind don’t need to. For just $25 The Fred Hollows Foundation can save a person somewhere in the world from going blind – in many cases those who go blind are also very poor and the double whammy of poverty and blindness must make life almost unbearable. Fred’s vision was to eliminate unnecessary blindness by 2020.

2020 VISION: SOMETHING TO ‘SWING’ ABOUT

Elizabeth’s mum travelled with her to the Gold Coast for the Awards ceremony and says they were both shocked at the win.

The performers, Adam Scicluna (winner of multiple MO and ACE awards for his cabaret performances over the last ten years), Gold Coast vocalists Greg Aspeling and Cherryn Lomas, and Sydney compere/entertainer, Cheryl O’Brien, will be joining forces with Les Wilson’s Swing Force Big Band to present a great evening of swing music. They will be paying tribute to the greats: Frank Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald and many more.

Rick from Best of the Swing Force Big Band says all the performers are donating their time.

Samantha Morris For the full list of BUFTA winners visit bufta.com.au.

“Everyone's been great”, he says. “Even our the designer for our materials gave us a discount, and the venue is working with us to help support the cause.”

A few of the band members have this cause close to their hearts. “Some of us have had cataract surgery”, said Rick.

“It makes you realise when you see the [Fred Hollows Foundation] ads on TV, that there are people who don't have access to this free healthcare that we have here. We wanted to help in any way we could.”

Obviously the more people who turn up on the night, the more money gets raised for the charity. “I wouldn't even like to speculate about how much we might make for them,” says Rick. “We've had four hundred in that room before, of course that would be the greatest possible outcome.”

With plenty of folks on the Gold Coast up for a great night of music and at only $25 a ticket for some top shelf acts, 400 should be an easy number to “swing”, if you will. The best part about it?

“Hundreds of people could have their sight saved, from just this one night.”

Natalie O'Driscoll Something to Swing About takes place 14 January with doors at 6.30pm. More at theartscentregc.com.au. www.blankgc.com.au

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GOLD COAST CITY GALLERY GETS ‘INKED’ THIS SUMMER! Touring exhibition from Townsville’s Pinnacles Gallery A Permanent Mark: the impact of tattoo culture on contemporary art is on display at Gold Coast City Gallery from Saturday 12 December.

Given the Gold Coast’s city-wide fascination with tattoo culture it is fitting that we host the first major touring exhibition in Australia to explore and reconcile how two distinct industries – tattooing and contemporary art - are becoming increasingly interconnected.

ART IS POP, LIFE IS STILL, WE ARE MASKED 19 Karen contemporary artspace is wrapping up the year with three interesting and surprisingly complementary exhibitions; Johnny Romeo’s explorations of pop culture and iconography treats you for a dose of mesmerizing colour and dominant shapes, Carolyn O’Neill’s simplified aesthetics portray the everyday beauty in life and Skount reflects your deepest fears and desires through his surreal study of our latent inner selves.

Johnny Romeo is a world renowned Pop sensation with shows, events and book launches here and in the USA, numerous exhibitions in New Zealand, Germany, USA and Australia. He has been featured on the front cover of this month’s issue of UK based Arts and Culture magazine The Sublime Zine and now his work has is exhibited in Karen 19 to treat us just in time for the festive season.

“My latest series, 'POP LIFE', is a Technicolor celebration of all things Pop. By removing text from my usual visual vocabulary, I've been able to experiment with more innovative compositions on canvas while allowing my subject matter to really speak for itself. In doing so, these paintings delve deep into the pervasive power of iconography in Pop culture, “ Romeo elaborates.

Carolyn O’Neill then again is a former psychiatric nurse, now a full-time artist, who over time has developed her own aesthetic.

Her aesthetics are largely inspired by her obsession with mid-century modernism for its clean lines and timeless designs. “A couple of years ago I began to sketch on

an almost daily basis. My subject matter consisted of collected objects in my home like espresso pots, cacti and vases which express my obsession for the mid-century modernist aesthetic. This body of work translates these sketches into oil paintings”.

And from Australian pop culture and everyday aesthetics, the gallery leads us into its third exhibition by Spanish artist Skount. Inspired by classical theatre, deities and ornamentations from different cultures and aesthetics from VXII century, Skount presents a metaphorical seeking for our inner self, a surreal study of our latent inner universe in -'Projections - Internal Latent'.

“How by removing a metaphorical mask and by leaving behind hidden feelings, thoughts or desires, the person can try to look for his inner self, adopting behaviors of other people close to him. This creates an inner self as a projection of other people or a fusion of our inner universe with each person that is part of our life.”

“Modern tattoo culture has been revolutionised - especially here on the Gold Coast with many an inked individual - so we hope this innovative and provocative show will be cause of some interesting debate amongst viewers”.

Tattoos and body art were central to many ancient cultures and civilisations, but it is the more recent popularisation and acceptance of tattoos in Western culture that has resulted in the art form permeating into the contemporary artsphere.

A Permanent Mark: the impact of tattoo culture on contemporary art will celebrate tattooing’s raised status as a legitimate art form, and most importantly display works by local, national and international tattoo and contemporary artists as evidence of the crossover of styles, technology and techniques, themes and iconography.

Throughout much of the 21st century the art form was derided in mainstream Western society, both socially through the perceived ‘lower’ status of those who proudly displayed their ink, and artistically through the lack of consideration and respect paid to the talented tattooists who devoted countless hours to creating permanent living artworks.

Exhibiting Australian artists eX de Medici and Richard Dunlop, along with ChineseAustralian artist Ah Xian utilise the human figure as an object to be ‘tattooed’ with symbology and concepts. Others, such as Mexican artist Dr Lakra, American artists Shawn Barber, Scott Campbell, and Don Ed Hardy, and Australian Leslie Rice maintain a dual practice, making a clear definition between their work as a professional tattooist and as a contemporary artist. In both cases though, the two practices remain invariably linked through representation and the use of tattoo culture iconography.

A shift has begun to take place within society whereby the status of people with tattoos is not so quickly assumed.

Artworks adorn the skin of many highly respected and influential professionals, from doctors to politicians. The content and design of the artworks themselves are also increasingly personal and considered.

Further, the advances in technology has enabled tattooists the world over to create increasingly intricate and beautiful works.

But perhaps the most interesting development is those artists using tattoo techniques and technology for the creation of contemporary art with few visual links to the mainstream tattoo industry. For example, Qin Ga, emerging from the underground Chinese art scene, uses tattooing as a powerful and concise communication tool in film and photography, deliberately breaking with conventional and expected aesthetics.

“We are excited to display such a dynamic, cutting-edge exhibit” says Gallery Manager, John Walsh.

“Tattoo — much like graffiti, which in the past decade has been transformed from cult to collectible — is increasingly being embraced by the art world. After all, we are not far from a time when even photography was not widely recognised as a legitimate art form” says Mr Walsh.

Anna Itkonen A Permanent Mark: the impact of tattoo culture on contemporary art is on display in Gallery 2 from 12 December – 7 February 2016.

These exhibitions are a definite treat for the art lovers amongst us, but if the festive season doesn’t take you into a gallery, do not despair. During his time in Australia Skount painted numerous public murals, one of which you can see in Mermaid Waters.

Carolyn O’Neill impressed the interior designers of the Nine network reality tv-show The Block and her work has been included in the series and if your local news agency doesn’t stock The Sublime zine, you can always get your copy online.

Anna Itkonen All three exhibitions run until 30 January at 19 Karen Gallery at Mermaid Beach. www.blankgc.com.au

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Arts & Culture

DRAWING FROM LIFE

Rebecca estimates around 70 artists have been through the door since the session started.

Sometimes there are small groups, sometimes there are big groups. And for her last two sessions she’s once again combined her passion for music with her artistic practice and included live performance in the three-hour session.

“I always felt that music feeds art and art feeds music – it’s the perfect combination. It’s not something that people often experience – creating art to live music. I’ve done it a lot with the live painting. It just makes it a really special experience for people. They get to sit there and draw with music and rhythm feeding their creativity.”

“I’ve always been surrounded by musicians. When I was studying in Melbourne, that’s when I started doing the live art. It just became my “thing” that I did down there. I’d go to festivals and concerts and gigs and do live paintings.”

As well as combining music with art, Rebecca recently threw dance into the mix as well.

Bellydancing to be specific.

“That was beautiful,” she said. “We did more short poses so she was holding a dancing pose and she had a costume on which was nice for a change.”

“The artists loved it too – there was that, rhythm from the live music, Felicity (Lawless) playing flamenco – and the movement of the dancer. That movement came out in the artwork.”

Rebecca also teaches life drawing to architects, though she laughs at the term ‘teaches’.

“More like gentle guidance,” she said. “They need to have an understanding of the human form – they’re creating buildings for humans after all. They need to understand function and form. And also perspective.”

“It really refines your drawing skills if you have the ability to draw from life.”

“You never know anything. Every pose, every model is different. You have to observe that and understand that.”

Rebecca says anyone can do it.

“It really is about letting go of being afraid of being judged and enjoying the process,” she said.

“People get so afraid they can’t do things perfectly the first go and that puts them off. Every person’s unique style is really interesting.”

Rebecca Cunningham is a softly spoken artist whose practice is firmly intertwined with the Gold Coast music scene. You can regularly find her painting live at gigs and in recent months she’s designed the cover art for music releases by Leopold’s Treat and Felicity Lawless.

A graduate of Palm Beach Currumbin High (where she was lucky enough to be taught art by the fabulous Miss Paula Hall), she went on to study Visual Arts at RMIT before returning to the Gold Coast and falling in love with the Dust Temple.

She considers herself a full-time artist, but acknowledges that she does need to work other jobs to pay the rent. And she’s been running life drawing sessions at said Dust Temple for 15 months now “because there wasn’t anything available at the southern end of the Gold Coast.”

“I had just come back from studying art in Melbourne and I loved it. I wanted to be able to offer it to other people.”

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And I can attest to that. I put my brave pants on – or took them off, actually – and stood in as the model for Rebecca’s last life drawing session for the year last week.

While I was fully dressed and people were arriving I was already floored at the diversity of artists. Someone had an easel, another scrap paper and charcoal. Some had water-colour style pencils, some had brown paper, sketch-pads, butcher’s paper, textas. Dion Parker was using thick black marker pens.

And that diversity in artistic styles is reflected in the diversity of models Rebecca uses.

“Our models come in all shapes and sizes,” she said. “I have a high rotation of models because I want to provide variety.”

“Honestly, it’s been the funniest thing,” she said, when I asked how she finds them. “I’ll just think in my head, I need a new male model or this type of model and I’ll get an email or text message, I’ve never experienced anything like it.”

I actually prepared for my big chance on the life modeling stage (and no, I didn’t do one thousand sit-ups, which is what my best friend suggested). I googled ‘how to be a life model’ and there was a heap of information and resources for aspiring nudes.

And artists aren’t actually looking at your bits. They’re looking at your shape and your form.

They’re drawing lines and curves. And they’re doing an amazing job of adding their own flourish to the human shape.

I got paid a small fee to model that night, but I feel like I gained more from the experience than what I gave. And the artists are welcoming, warm and witty.

“It’s what I really like about that crew that comes to the Dust Temple,” Rebecca said. “It’s not pretentious – everyone’s really happy to talk about art and shared experiences.”

Life Drawing at Dust Temple recommences Thursday 4 February and then continues every first and third Thursday of the month. It runs 6.30 – 9.00pm

and costs $20.

To find out more, call Rebecca on 0412 835 689. Musicians interested in performing are also welcome to get in touch.

Rebecca’s format follows a similar one to many life drawing sessions so I knew what to prepare for. The session starts with 10 one minute poses before moving on to a series of two and five minute poses and then ten minute poses before finishing with three 20 minute poses.

The hardest part, for me, about being a nude model for life drawing was a) trying to position my body in ways that would be interesting for the artists to draw and b) being still. The latter was an awesome practice in mindfulness and I actually finished with a twenty minute meditation pose.

Over the past year, Louise and the team have engaged with nationally acclaimed producers, artists and musicians, along with an army of local talent, to feature as part of the visionary program for Bleach* Festival 2016.

“Our aim for Bleach* Festival 2016 is to create incredible and artistic moments in time, in the most unlikely places,” Louise said.

“We will be challenging people’s perceptions of what art is and where it should be performed,” she said, “with the Gold Coast’s natural environment and some of its best known landscapes having ‘starring roles’ in many of the Bleach* events.”

BLEACH* FESTIVAL PUSHES HORIZONS Bleach* Festival organisers are about to unveil their most ambitious program yet, with the event taking place 4 – 20 March across the City. It’s the culmination of a whirlwind year for Bleach* which has seen the organisation receive endorsement as a significant component of the City’s cultural strategy as well as change its governance structure with a new independent operating company, Bleached Arts Ltd established with an enthusiastic and experienced board of directors at its helm.

The 2016 Bleach* Festival will include eight world premieres.

Yes, eight!

Artistic Director Louise Bezzina said Bleach* Festival is moving into a new era, now recognised on a national level for its role in building and enhancing the City’s reputation as a key cultural destination.

Bleach* has always showcased the Gold Coast’s unique environment and 2016 will be no different with beaches, parks and waterways becoming outdoor stags for performances.

The full program will be launched 15 January, but the team was unable to keep under wraps one of the world premieres – Horizons with Angels. The piece was commissioned

by Bleach* and The Arts Centre Gold Coast and created

by Preposterous – a brand new creative division of contemporary circus company, Circa.

Set around the Evandale Lake in the heart of the Gold Coast’s cultural precinct, Horizons with Angels will be swathed in intensely beautiful music, and heightened by a mixture of physical daring and spell-binding light and projection. It will take place during the opening weekend of Bleach* (4 – 5 March 2016).

Louise said Horizons with Angels signifies a new direction for Circa and Artistic Director Yaron Lifschitz, who was recently appointed the Cultural Lead of the Arts and Cultural Program for the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth

Games. It is co-directed by Ben Knapton with choreographer Alice Lee Holland and Musical Director Scott Saunders.

“Yaron’s work is exemplary, and has already been seen by more than half a million people in 33 countries around the world,” Louise said.

“Horizons with Angels is an opportunity to further develop Circa’s relationship with Bleach* Festival and The Arts Centre Gold Coast and bring audiences something new, thrilling and artistically brilliant.”

The performance will also feature the voices of Gold Coast school children who will form a 200-strong choir to perform some of the haunting songs by Leonard Cohen.

“The opportunity for these kids to perform in a world premiere, alongside a world-famous performance company such as Circa’s and Music Director Scott Saunders, is a oncein-a-lifetime experience for them and one they will never forget,” Louise said.

Louise said that Bleach* Festival aims to be a platform for expression and is curated to encourage community ownership and participation.

“Incorporating a cast of school children … into Horizons with Angels epitomises the true essence of Bleach*, why we are here and what we are all about,” she said.

Horizons with Angels takes place 4 – 5 March at Evandale and the full Bleach* program will be announced on Friday 15 January at The Arts Centre Gold Coast.

More at bleachfestival.com.au.

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BEROCCA AND NEUROPLASTICITY – SEA TEARS WINS GOLD COAST ART PRIZE 2015 Neuroplasticity is the potential that the brain has to reorganise and adapt by creating new neural pathways.

Think of the neurological changes being made in the brain as the brain's way of tuning itself to meet your needs. And Berocca is Berocca, the vitamin filled drink that gets a lot us going in the morning. And then there is Hiromi Tango and Sea Tears.

Sea Tears is the winner of Gold Coast Art Prize 2015 and as such the latest acquisition in the Gold Coast City collection.

"Like a Berocca to the senses, Tango seduces us into her mad and obsessive collecting. Like a bowerbird, she mines her immediate surroundings and experiences to create works that are both autobiographical and take the pulse of contemporary society." judge Nick Mitzevich, Director of the Art Gallery of South Australia describes the winning piece.

At first glance the piece seems to jump out off the wall it’s hanging on. It is a colourful, bright and playful 3D sculpture but the meaning and process behind it takes the viewer to a much deeper, more emotional journey. As the artists described it herself, during the creative process she went through an array of emotions all of which left their mark in the piece; a period of anger produced the red elements, feelings of comfort were reflected in the ocean, the coral and the calming blues.

Sea Tears follows the shape of a seahorse, used as a metaphor for the seat of memory and emotion in the human brain.

The Hippocampus, named after a seahore for its shape, is associated mainly with long-term memory as well as emotional regulation. The sculpture’s numerous tendrils branch and intertwine, coil and terminate like neural networks. Acts of sorting, wrapping and weaving create the visual representation of neuroplasticity.

"Since 2009, my work has become increasingly preoccupied with brain structures, connections, and the promise of emotional healing and healthy development offered through the science of neuroplasticity. Poetic possibilities offered by nature including the seahorse, jellyfish, flowers, elements, coral reef and lizard’s tails have been explored as metaphors for regeneration and healing." Tango explains.

world including exhibitions in Australia, Belgium, Hong Kong and Japan. At the moment Tango is working on her installation for the Adelaide Biennale in 2016. Hiromi Tango lives in Tweed with her husband and two children.

This piece is as intriguing, interesting, delicate and quirky as the artist who created it. And who said art wasn’t brain surgery? Or that Berocca was best enjoyed around the breakfast table?

Anna Itkonen

Gold Coast Art Prize 2015 is on display in Gallery 1 and Foyer Gallery until 31 January.

But what you see on the wall in the gallery is not the whole story. Sea Tears is actually a performance installation.

The performance, as Hiromi Tango explained, is an ever-changing component of the piece. On the day of my discussion with Ms Tango, her inspiration and content for the performance came from her father’s illness, on another day it was her thoughts and perceptions of the Gold Coast.

Then again the static piece on the wall is constant and solid and it is our perception of it that is ever-changing.

Hiromi Tango is originally from Japan and in 1998, not knowing any English, Tango relocated to Australia.

Working as a studio assistant for her now husband Craig Walsh, Tango started to develop her wildly unique practice.

Nearly 20 years later, she is nationally and internationally acclaimed artist with site specific installations for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Sydney, Queensland Art Gallery/Gallery of Modern Art in Brisbane and various solo and groups all over the

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Arts & Culture

CLAIRE HOOPER BAKES OFF WITH HER PANTS OFF Claire Hooper is one of those familiar Australian faces of comedy that makes you squint at the TV, trying to remember where you have seen her before. The answer is basically: everywhere. From her own quirky brand of stand up shows and regular appearances at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to TV stints on Rove, The Sideshow and Good News Week, there has rarely been a year in the last ten where she hasn't appeared on our screens.

This year saw her co-host The Great Australian Bake-Off with fellow comedian and Brisbanite Mel Buttle, a slight change of tack but one which ended up paying off in comedy gold. Back in her usual milieu, in January 2016 she will be appearing alongside a steallar line up of her fellow comedians in Laugh Your Pants off at Jupiters Casino. Natalie O'Driscoll spoke with her about her comedic journey so far.

Early into your career you described comedy as your "dream job". A fair way further down the track, would you still describe it that way?

Absolutely. Although technically it's my 'reality job' now. But I am still grateful. It's such a creative and interesting field, every day is different, and it's bought me a pretty little house and a pretty little husband so I'm a lucky woman.

You've worked with some of Australia's best known comedians. Who are your favourites?

Ok. But so we're clear I'm only agreeing to pick favourites because you've got a gun to my head. Tom Gleeson would be one of them, especially when he's working up new jokes. I saw him walk onstage the other night immediately after losing his phone down a hole in the side of the stage and turn that information into an incredibly

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funny opening five minutes. Who else?

Tom Ballard, Cal Wilson, Celia Pacquola, Lawrence Mooney, Ronny Chieng. And of course I spent ten weeks this year working with Mel Buttle on Bake Off and loved every minute of it. She's a bloody joy, she is. But there are another thirty or so on the list. It's an amazing industry in that you can be a fan of so many of your co-workers.

Lots of pressure though! The producers would just point a camera on Mel and I and say 'now you guys say something funny'. We didn't always manage. Lucky there's editing.

Tell us about The Great Australian Bake Off! How did it all come about, and how does working on a show like that compare to comedy programmes and stand up?

I've just made my husband pick three words for me: "Pays the bills". That's all he gave me.

I still remember getting the call that I was going to screen test for it. So excited. I'm a flat out huge fan of the British series. When they cast me opposite Mel (did I mention she's a joy?) I was like 'these people have great taste'. And the experience itself was even more fun than expected. I absolutely loved being on a non-comedy show for a change. It's an honour to be the comic relief.

You and your comedy have been described as "outrageous", "self-deprecating", "cheeky" and "endearing". If you had to choose three adjectives that encompassed your comedic style, what would they be?

The world continues to change, in positive ways, for women. What changes for women have you witnessed or experienced in comedy from when you started to now?

I feel really optimistic about my daughter's ability to achieve the prime ministership.

But honestly, I feel like the last few years in comedy have been a bit of a plateau for women. Only the other day I had a perfectly lovely woman look me in the eye and say, in a friendly voice, 'I don't really like any female comedians'.

I'm hoping what she meant was 'I don't really know any female comedians'. It's a bit heartbreaking. Look back at the 80s, when Wendy Harmer was hosting the Big Gig, and female stand ups were thick on the ground. What a wonderful time! Thirty years later and Australia still doesn't cast female comics as hosts. I can only think of Julia Zemiro on Rockwiz.

Oh, hang on, there's Mel and I hosting Bake Off. So, well, baby steps.

You can catch Claire at Laugh Your Pants off on Friday 8 January at Jupiters Casino.

Tickets via ticketek.com.au

SPARKY DO DAH LAUNCHES SPARKY’S CARNIVAL AT NIGHTQUARTER Nigel Coates tells Samantha Morris why kids deserve better than jumping castles and fairy floss.

He’s better known as Sparky Do Dah than Nigel Coates, and if you were to meet him at a party, you’d likely find him being mobbed by kids. He just draws them in.

Nigel studied media and communication at SCU (Lismore) and spent ten years working in production for television commercials and websites. He’s driven a bobcat, imported furniture from Mexico, worked in the film industry, been a massage therapist.

“It takes parents back to their childhoods. Back to basic games. There’s no tears. With normal events, kids are so high on sugar that when they don’t get their own way they crack it. Here they engage themselves.”

Nigel also shares some secrets on getting parents involved in a hands-on way.

“Once I feel comfortable and something else is shiny, I move on,” he laughed.

“If I’m showing the kids how to do the juggling sticks, I’ll get the parent to hold them for a second and do something oneon-one with the kids and then walk off. And the parents will be there with them (juggling sticks) in their hands.”

Nigel worked on a bunch of big local events as well, working in site management and production, and he observed very closely how people – especially kids – were using the space.

“Or I’ll roll a hula hoop on the ground and get parents to stand at the other end and roll it back to me. It’s just an invitation to the parents to participate as well.”

“Kids would come in, line up for face painting, eat fairy floss, jump on the jumping castle and then go home.

A week before we spoke, I visited Nigel’s dedicated space at Helensvale’s cultural playground, NightQuarter. He’s quick to point out that it’s not a child’s space, but rather a family space and he tells me it’s a joint venture between him and NightQuarter.

“I started to develop a kit I could take to events to help develop kids in a healthy way and those kits continued to grow,” he said. “I did five carnivals for myself. They were all sugar free – giving kids a taste of music, drama, comedy, theatre, arts and craft, tie-dye, story-telling. We’d take it to the suburbs too. A lot of these kids were having their first cultural and artistic experience in their own neighbourhood instead of having to travel to get there.”

“Parents start on the sidelines and really quickly warm up and start participating themselves,” Nigel said. “They go from standing crossed-arms trying to make sense of what the space is, then they start working with their children and then they grab them and say ‘let me show you how’.”

The night I visited, Sparky’s Carnival was full of children and their parents walking on stilts, hula hooping, performing pop-up puppet shows, playing with puzzles and balancing on all manner of things. It was a beautiful, noisy, colourful, chaotic mess. Every single person – young and old – was grinning from ear to ear. Not least of which was Nigel.

“The space is evolving continually,” Nigel said. “And a lot more people are now familiar with how it operates. Every time we’ve opened we’ve grown in leaps and bounds.”

When we spoke Nigel had just run a Lego workshop at the site. “They had Lego kits, trains that can run on a track, Lego speed building competitions. Just buckets and buckets of it.”

“I’m also looking to develop theatre, culture, comedy, artistic experience that families can engage with,” he said.

Sparky’s Carnival is a fenced area with ticketed entry and limited capacity. Nigel said during early days he’s trialing a $10 come-and-go ticket, but in the future they’ll look at dedicated session times and a $15 entry fee.

Nigel credits the City of Gold Coast’s Active and Healthy program for helping him get established early on. “They had a push one school holidays for people to do naturebased activities. I’m now up to the fifth series doing natural adventures in parks and natural areas, and leading people in nature play and games.”

And he’s already been acknowledged for his work being name a finalist in the Queensland Outdoor Recreation Awards. It is the first year the awards has included a nature play category.

“Because I’m not traditionally trained in early childhood I sort of just do it my own natural way,” Nigel said. “I’m not a teacher. It takes the kids a second to figure out where I’m coming from.”

You can meet Sparky Do Dah and his team in person at NightQuarter every Friday and Saturday night.

Activities are geared for children aged 2 – 12 and their parents. Entry is currently $10 for a come-and-go ticket.

More at sparkydodah.com.au.

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Lifestyle

Vinyasa: Involves co-ordinating movement with the breath.

It is usually a more flowing and dynamic class with a shorter time spent in each individual pose. Some studios or teachers will teach a particular sequence each class while others will vary each class. The pace and style of flow will vary depending upon the level of the class and the individual teacher.

UNTANGLING YOGA Yoga has an amazing array of benefits for the mind, body and soul, and conveniently the Gold Coast has an amazing array of yoga. So which style of yoga is for you? To help you find your perfect yoga match I have given a very brief description of the most common styles of yoga found around the Gold Coast.

Ashtanga: This method gave rise to vinyasa, although there is a strict order to the Ashtanga flow. Traditionally practitioners begin with the primary series, a set sequence of poses and as they progress their teacher will add more poses to the sequence they practice. Led classes are available, which is primary series without the addition of extra poses.

Ashtanga is a very strong practice aimed at developing strength, discipline, flexibility and determination.

Iyengar: A less flowing practice with longer holds in poses and a very strict focus on correct alignment and technique.

There is strong use of props (blocks, straps, etc) to support the body through the practice, enabling the practitioner to maintain alignment in each pose. Iyengar aims to cultivate strength, flexibility, stability and awareness.

Yin: This practice is a much less vigorous and a more passive class with long (3-5 minute) holds of poses. It is a deep practice designed to lengthen the connective tissue around

Casey Barnes January id Fr ay 8 and 15

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Hot Yoga: This is usually a vinyasa style class in a room heated to around 40°C. The classes are usually a set sequence, which will vary depending on the studio, or they may be variable sequences. The heated room is to enable practitioners to move deeper into the poses and detoxify.

Bikram yoga is hot yoga with the sequence put together by Bikram Choudhury.

Kundalini Yoga: Offers a strong emphasis on dynamic breathing techniques, meditation and chanting while still moving through particular poses. This practice is designed to enable energy to flow freely through the body building vitality and increasing consciousness.

Hatha: This is simply the practice of the physical poses so basically all other styles mentioned here fall under this term.

There you have it, by no means an exhaustive list of styles, or an in depth look at each style, yet hopefully a decent start.

Feel free to get in touch with me with any questions, find me at www.aloka.com.au.

Darren MiDDleton Friday 15 January

Proudly supported by

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the joints and the fascia of the body. It can be meditative and challenging.

JaCkson JaMes sMith Saturday 16 January

Summer at the Cultural Precinct, proudly supported by

Erin Bourne

HELENSVALE LOCAL AIMS FOR THE GALAXY IN 2016

Lifestyle

Photography by Carlos Mayenco Photography, Makeup by Dunkle Authentic Makeup.

Gold Coaster Gemma White is no ordinary pageant contestant, and Miss Galaxy Australia is no ordinary pageant.

McDonalds is a fairly common first job for a teenager. (Or in my case Red Rooster, at a whopping $4.40 per hour.

Showing my age much?) In the case of young Gemma White, however, it was a stepping stone to discovering her more altruistic side.

“From working at McDonalds I became involved in Ronald McDonald House. We got to cook meals for the families and the children, and even though it seems like a small thing, it can make a difference in their lives.”

At age 24, Gemma's passion for charity work and volunteering has led her to raise funds for Make-A-Wish Foundation, become an Ambassador for 'icaniwill', a local charity dedicated to bridging the gap for children with special needs, and represent Queensland, specifically Helensvale, in the Miss Galaxy Australia pageant.

Although the Miss Galaxy Australia pageant does have similar elements to Miss Universe - such as the incorporation of fashion and swimwear components - it also has a strong charity focus, something which appealed to Gemma.

“It focuses a lot on your charity involvement, community work, and gives you an opportunity to be a role model in your community. That's what drew me in the first place.”

In the 2015 pageant Gemma placed first in Queensland, and was the fourth runner-up in Australia. In 2016 this Gold Coast local hopes to win the Australian title and go on to represent Australia in the international competition in Florida, USA. “If I make it through all the finals and go through to internationals, the announcement is made on the night of my 25th birthday, which would be so incredible.”

Should that fail to happen however, Gemma won't let that stop her from chasing her dreams of a fulfilling life.

With most of her weekend time already taken up doing philanthropy work for children's charities including starting her own small business,which raises funds for them, there will be no shortage of things for her to focus on.

“My goal is basically just to make sure that I'm happy. Make sure that whatever I set my career to, or where I set my goals in life, (because as we go on everything changes year to year), as long as I stick to my values then that's success and happiness for me. 'icaniwill' has got some really exciting things in the making from next year and it should hopefully expand from helping 500 children to 5000 children, it's a huge expansion and that's just on the Gold Coast. I feel very privileged to be a part of it.”

Gemma's attitude has clearly already set her on the path to success.

“Even though we always have our own things going on in our lives, there is always something you can do for someone else... I really believe that hard work and determination can see you through and anyone can achieve whatever they put their mind to.”

Natalie O'Driscoll

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GOLD COAST SKATEBOARD MAKER EXPORTING TO 16 COUNTRIES: MEET KIPPY Samantha Morris talks to Katie Beer, otherwise known as Kippy, who makes skateboards from a workshop based out of Board Culture at Mermaid Beach.

“I just always had a nickname,” Kippy said of the moniker which her skateboards now bear. “It’s from my two older brothers.”

Kippy grew up around Gaven attending Guardian Angels and Trinity Lutheran before moving to Mermaid Beach with her family as a young adult. She’s now just 23 years old, but has managed to take her modest hobby to a whole new level selling around 300 boards in the past year to around 15 or 16 countries.

“Since the middle of last year I’ve been doing it full time,” she said. “I had two boards that got stolen – and they had stopped making them – so I was like, ‘I can’t buy what I like to skate’.”

So Kippy and her dad drew a board and used chunky bits of timber to cut out the shape. They made one just for fun and then people started suggesting other styles.

“My friend Graham Parr is a woodworker – he has a sick workshop at his house at the Sunny Coast and he showed me how to cut out boards – that was the first ever time.”

“And then I did a few with my dad at home but that was still a little bit inconsistent – so I started getting them cut out, then I’d sand them and do the rest.”

Kippy started her online store in 2013 and used Instagram to help boost her profile and her sales. Her first order was to the USA. But she’s sold boards to a heap of other countries too: Austria, Norway, Greece.

“There’s no Australian skateboard manufacturer,” she explained. “So no trucks or wheels can get made here.”

“The decks are imported timber but they’re all finished here.

It sucks a little bit that they can never be Australian made.

There’s only US and Chinese manufacturers in the whole world,” Kippy said.

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“I get the decks as blanks and then either hand paint them or I’ve got about seven or eight designs that I’ve created the grip tape for and I grip them and assemble them,” she said, adding that the boards are stocked in three physical stores – Board Culture – along with one on the Sunshine Coast and one in Western Australia.

And next year she’s looking at wholesaling too.

“I’m still like not a good skater, I just cruise,” she laughs, and I ask whether she’s had feedback from other local skaters about her boards.

“I think a lot of people they haven’t seen much stuff like them, everyone is so positive and encouraging. It’s so nice,” Kippy said. “I rarely get negative comments, it makes me so encouraged to keep doing it.”

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What’s it like when Kippy stumbles across someone riding one of her boards?

“It happened at Nobby’s the first time,” she smiled. “I can sort of tell my old boards, it’s a different style truck. I can tell from a distance. And I was like ‘oh my gosh, oh my gosh’. It was weird, I was really excited. They were just skating along the beach having fun.”

“And I’ve seen a few people in my shirts too, who I don’t know,” she said. “The other night at Justin Lane a guy I didn’t know was wearing a hat.”

While Kippy hasn’t had formal business training, she’s thought about what she wants to do and why. “I will probably outsource business stuff,” she said. “I want to do training but I’m more interested in going to a conference or mentoring.”

Kippy Skateboards retail at either $179 or $199 and customs start at $179. Visit kippyskateboards.com.au for more.

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SINGLY THE BEST WEEKEND It is now something of legend. The second weekend of January, surfing enthusiasts get ready for the best weekend of their year. The natural amphitheatre that is Burleigh Heads is lined with thousands of people checking out surfing (not pro-surfing) on surfboards more than 35 years old, with one single fin, how it used to be.

The 19th Burleigh Boardriders Single Fin Festival will be held from 8 to 10 January 2016, the first surfing event of the 2016 year. Surfers will be competing on antique single fin boards, which need to have been made no later than 1981.

Some of the vintage boards surfed are actually from the late 1960s and early 1970s.

The Festival commences on Friday with the Annual Charity Luncheon. Nathan "Carnage" Corbett - internationally renowned Muay Thai boxer - is the first guest speaker confirmed. TV personality Alan “Robbo” Robinson will be the MC, and other guest speakers will be announced shortly.

Saturday and Sunday will see the Burleigh Boardriders Single Fin Classic take place at the iconic Burleigh Heads point break where thousands of spectators will line the point to watch some of the best surfers take on Burleigh on the old boards.

Surfers who have competed in the event in the past include Mick Fanning, Joel Parkinson, Jack Freestone, Dave Rastovich, Wayne Rabbit Bartholomew, Gary Elkerton, musician Ash Grunwald, jockey Daimen Oliver, footballer Andrew Johns, celebrity Chef Peter Evans, and a host of others.

There is a field of locals to contend with. In the 2014 contest, Burleigh Boardrider Thomas Woods took victory for the second time. The top 100 ranked surfer will be back this year to defend his title.

There will be 96 competitors. There are no cash prizes, just the glory of being the champion, and a classic Dick Van Straalen single fin made especially for the event winner.

There is also an under 18 division, where the young grommets will be surfing boards that are more than twice or in some cases 3 times their age!

It is a carnival atmosphere, with displays of surfcraft from a bygone era and live music on Burleigh Point on the Sunday.

Mellow but exciting, a retro vibe with a modern twist. Best head down to Burleigh on the 9th and 10th of January to check it out! The competition starts around 8am each day, and runs through to mid afternoon. Tickets to Friday’s charity luncheon are available from Burleigh Bears Rugby League club at $120 including meals and refreshments, and it is $70 to enter the event via the Surfing Queensland Website. The Burleigh boys will have a spare board for you to surf, but you'd better get in quickly as the junior division is full already.

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In 2013, the mare Verema broke down in the straight of the Melbourne Cup. As she tossed and screamed in pain with a shattered leg, the delicate eyes of the dressed up racegoers were shielded from the sight of a vet approaching with a loaded g un by an all-too-familiar g reen cur tain as the horse was put down. Almost a year later at the star t of the Spring Racing Carnival in 2014, the Coalition for the Protection of Racehorses paid for a billboard over one of Melbourne’s busiest roads. Simple and brutal, it depicted a dead racehorse on the g round and the question

“Is The Par ty Really Wor th It? ”

O

ne month after the billboard went up, 2014

the love and care shown to all its “equine athletes” by

about the realities of the “sport”? Are people so eager

Melbourne Cup favourite Admire Rakti

trainers and owners. Then in January of this year, that

to believe what keeps them gambling and entertained

stumbled last over the finish line only to die of a

billboard erected in that one place in Victoria only

at any expense that the only thing required to hide

suspected heart attack five minutes after running the

made it into the Top Ten Most Complained About

the truth from them is a cheap green curtain?

race. Hours later, seventh place winner Araldo, who

Ads of 2014, in the whole of Australia.

shied and jumped a fence following the race, breaking a leg, was also “euthanised” by a vet.

Let’s forget for a second that euthanasia is actually a term for a voluntary decision made by a human patient in pain, and have a look at the response to the CPR billboard, which far outweighed the response to the deaths of the horses.

127 horses died on racetracks between the 2014 and

11 months later, 10 year old gelding Red Cadeaux was

2015 Melbourne Cups. And the only thing that can

put to death after sustaining a broken foreleg in the

be said in defence of that number is that it is down

2015 Melbourne Cup.

from 133 the previous year. Apart from that, there is

So what’s the real issue here? That people are so offended by a picture of a dead horse that they would make the effort to call the bureau and complain about a billboard, or is it actually that - no doubt - a large

Racing Victoria hit back against the ad, labeling it

number of these same people are so enamoured with

“offensive” both to the industry and the public, and

the glitz of racing and Melbourne Cup (actually just

called the claims by the CPR that ex-racehorses are

an excuse to get shit-faced on a Tuesday afternoon)

routinely slaughtered “misleading”. They pointed to

that they would like to keep their head in the sand

little agreement to be had between Racing Australia and the activists. Different activist pages will even disagree with one another on what the actual numbers are when it comes to wastage within the industry. Rather than attempt to argue all the sides, I would say that the exact numbers actually don’t matter. Here are the undisputed facts surrounding some of the major horse racing issues:

FACT: A number of thoroughbreds each year are “wasted” by the industry.

“Wastage” is the term used for horses that exit the industry. Wastage includes both

Paul McGreevy, Associate Professor, Faculty of Veterinary Science at Sydney

the breeding of thoroughbreds that never make it to the racetrack and thoroughbreds

University said “If flogging a dead horse is futile, flogging a tired horse is worse still

leaving the racetrack once their racing career has ended. 17,500 thoroughbreds are

since such animals feel the pain while unable to respond”. Professor McGreevy and

raised in Australia every year, two thirds of whom will never make it to the track..

his colleague Dr David Evans conducted a 2011 study which showed that whip use is

While activists can’t agree on actual numbers that are sent to the knackery for

actually ineffectual: “What is surprising is the finding that whipping doesn’t make any

overseas human consumption and dog food (where they are generally transported for

difference. Jockeys may as well save their energy, keep their hands on the reins, and

long periods and then shot in front of one another), around 25,000 horses each year

head straight for home.”

are killed in abattoirs. A study (Doughty, 2008) showed that 52.9% of horses at one abattoir carried brands showing that they were of racing origin. So you do the math.

FACT: Horses are whipped during racing, and the whipping rules are not being followed.

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International horse racing rules allow, among other things, for the horse to be struck only on the hindquarters and (in Australia) for the horse to be struck with the 2009 regulation padded part of the whip only. In a follow up study in 2012, Professor McGreevy studied the actual use of the whip in comparison to the rules and found:

The whip caused a visual indentation on the horse in 83% of impacts; The unpadded section of the whip made contact on 64% of impacts; At least 28 examples of apparent breaches of whip rules were found; More than 75% of the time the whip struck the horse in the abdomen (or flank).

So much for the protection of the industry.

FACT: Racehorses are constantly placed into unnatural situations, at a cost to their health Racehorses are often placed in unnatural and

90 per cent have blood deeper in their lungs.

Placed under high-stress situations with

harmful situations during the course of their

Only about 1 per cent of horses show outward

unnatural demand on their bodies, casualties

training and time on the track. During 37

signs of bleeding, with blood at the nose. The

are not only likely but inevitable. Deaths as

degree heat, a horse would normally stand

rest are more difficult to diagnose because

a result of injury are also a given. And in the

still in shade, not be forced to race, exposing

they bleed into their lungs without it being

case of a multi-billion dollar industry where

itself to heat stroke. A horse constantly

obvious. A study in the Equine Veterinary

speed is key, those unlucky, purposely bred

moves and selectively grazes all day, whereas

Journal found hemorrhaging in the lungs

horses who are not injured, but simply aren’t

racehorses are confined to small stalls for up

in 95 per cent of horses checked during two

good enough have a high chance of ending up

to 22 hours per day during training and are

post-race examinations.

as a can of dog food within a few years.

With horse racing a $15 billion a year

The CPR’s question remains valid. Is The

industry in Australia, it isn’t hard to see why

Party Really Worth It? The infuriating human

those in power, including the government,

characteristic to see only what supports our

which receives a hefty portion of all gambling

convenience is essentially what enables this

profits - are interested in glamourising the

industry to continue. I feel that supporters

industry at the cost of its “equine athletes”.

of horse racing fall into two categories:

It’s up the consumer to decide whether or not

Those that have chosen to swallow the spin-

the facts presented above combine to form an

doctoring being fed to them by the industry,

adequate enough reason to quit supporting

and those that know the truth but don’t care

the industry, even if you do it only one day in

because they want to have a punt one day of

the year.

the year. It’s hard to know which position to

fed heavy meals of grains which can cause boredom and also gastro-intestinal distress, particularly when combined with heavy exercise. A study of racehorses at Randwick NSW found that 86% of them had stomach ulcers. The prevalence of gastric ulceration in thoroughbred racehorses is reported to be between 66 and 93 per cent, increasing to 80 to 100 per cent as training duration increases and racing commences.

Drug use in the industry, while less common due to improved testing measures, still exists.

Injured horses are given painkillers which can cause them to race harder than their injury would otherwise allow. Stimulants and sedatives can be used to affect the outcome of races. These can affect the horses’ physical and mental wellbeing.

EIPH (Exercise induced pulmonary hemorrhage) occurs as a result of the horses being put through exercise which is more strenuous than their bodies would naturally allow. Researchers at the University of Melbourne have shown that 56 per cent of racehorses have blood in their windpipe, and

While attempting to describe to Sky News how hard hit jockeys can be by their horses

respect less.

Natalie O'Driscoll

being injured, Australian Jockey Association manager Des O’Keeffe touched on the inevitability of horses becoming injured.

“When riders are going 60 kilometres an hour on a 500 kilo animal, in a field 10, 12, 14 or tomorrow 24 runners it is an inherently dangerous sport,” Mr O’Keeffe told AAP. It’s hard not to say yes, Mr O’Keeffe. That’s kind of the point. Horses might weigh 500 kilograms, but their bones shatter easily into irreparable pieces in a high-impact injury.

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Kinsmen & Co set to thrill audiences with new show Stunning vocals, jaw dropping illusions and spine tingling entertainment are just some of the ways to describe Kinsmen & Co., which will show at Jupiters Theatres on 30 January.

Starring Pearson & Harvey from The Four Kinsmen, master illusionist Matt Hollywood and vocal group The Lion’s Den will also appear. Tickets via jupitersgoldcoast.com.au.

Tweed Regional Museum features artefacts from the past 135 years An original record of the daily happenings at Condong’s sugar mill in 1880 is just one of the ‘old but new’ acquisitions on display at Murwillumbah’s Tweed Regional Museum.

The Museum collection includes thousands of items gathered over more than 50 years.

Free tours of the Museum are available on the third Thursday of every month at 11.ooam commencing 21 January. More via trm@tweed.nsw.gov.au.

A Permanent Mark: tattoo culture and contemporary art Running until 17 February and touring from Townsville’s Pinnacles Gallery, A Permanent Mark draws together a number of notable works by high profile national and international artists to encapsulate how far and in what ways tattoo has infiltrated the contemporary art sphere. The exhibition features Ah Xian, Amanda Wachob, Don Ed Hardy, Dr Lakra, eX de Medici, Holly Grech, Leslie Rice, Lisa Reihana, Matt Elwin, Qin Ga, Regan ‘HAHA’ Tamanui, Richard Dunlop, Rob Douma, Ron McBurnie, The RUN Collective and Shawn Barber. More at theartscentregc.com.au.

Gold Coast Art Prize on show now Now in its 47th year, the popular Gold Coast Art Prize provides an opportunity to showcase excellent contemporary art practice from across Australia. The prize is open to all Australian artists working in any art media except photography, and this year sees 47 finalists competing for a total prize pool of $30 000 in acquisitions. The exhibition of finalists closes 31 January at the Gold Coast Museum and this is the last year of the Award before it evolves into a biennial Art Prize. More at theartscentregc.com.au.

Byron Spirit Festival returns to Mullum in 2016 A new time, but familiar face for the fourth Byron Spirit Festival in April 2016. Now the local gathering of the healthy, exploratory tribes returns with first-time and former world class yogis, philosophers, healers, leaders, musicians, dancers, artists, and gourmands, keen to share their knowledge and inspire all comers to their greatest potential and momentum is flowing since achieving a new sister event in Hamptons Yogafest held in Long Island, New York.

Super early bird tickets and more information is available at spiritfestival.com.au.

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The Comedy Genius of Jonathan Atherton returns There’s nothing quite like the Jonathan Atherton experience. Wild, passionate, lateral thinking – like the bastard love child of Bill Hicks and Robin Williams. All darkness and light, Atherton is now a full time resident of Kuala Lumpur where he runs The Crackhouse Comedy Club, the first ever dedicated comedy club on the Malaysian comedy scene where he provides what he calls ‘stress relief and legal highs!’

But he’s returning for a special comedy set at Mullumbimby Ex Services with Mandy Nolan as MC and Greg Sullivan in support on Saturday 16 January. Book 02 6619 0529.

Workshops, activities and shows for kids aged 3-12 years these school holidays.

The Arts Centre Gold Coast is going above and beyond for creative kids these holidays.

Targeted at children aged 3 – 12 and part of the Summer at the Cultural Precinct festivities, a heap of engaging activities will take place from 12 – 22 January. Become a superhero, learn guitar, practice circus skills such as aerial rings and acrobatics, enjoy storytelling in the gallery, drama games on the terrace or see live music and do handson craft. Many activites are free and some have affordable fees. Get all the details at theartscentregc.com.au.

Busy hands, playful minds A series of free Saturday afternoon sessions for 4-12 year olds will stimulate creative thought and problem solving skills, with the most picturesque backdrop of Evandale Lake and the city skyline. Printing the Precinct, Painting the Precinct, Building the Precinct and Creating a Precinct Monster will take place on 9, 16, 23 and 30 January respectively.

And as well as those structured activities, there will be giant and regular sized board games such as dominos, snakes and ladders, noughts and crosses and chess. It’s part of The Arts Centre Gold Coast’s Summer at the Cultural Precinct. Parental supervision is compulsory.

Rolling Thunder Vietnam returns in 2016 Back by popular demand, the sensational Australian concert drama Rolling Thunder Vietnam – Songs that Defined a Generation will return in July-August to Jupiters Theatre.

The dates coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan. The production became one of the most talked about musical events of 2014 when it toured nationally after premiering at QPAC. Tickets from $79.90 via ticketek.com.au.

Cleese and Idle, together again Fans of Monty Python will be beside themselves at the news that Britain’s living legends of comedy and the founders of Monty Python will be in Australia in February. John Cleese and Eric Idle have a new show playing all Australian capital cities as well as Gold Coast. “Eric and I had huge fun touring the States in October and now we can bring our show to the friendliest people in the world” John Cleese said on the announcement of the Australian tour. Catch the pair at Jupiters Theatre on Thursday 25 February.

Funny business at Palm Beach Hotel Palm Beach Hotel hosts weekly comedy sessions, every Sunday night from 7.30pm.

Kicking off the year on 3 January is Joel Bryant. Don’t let his booming voice put you off, Joel is a funny softie with good intentions at heart. And MC Marty Lappan boasts a long career of touring stages around the country. Deadpan delivery and bemusing tales are an absolute riot. More at basedcomedy.com.au.

GC Italian Festival adds to City’s menu of food events The Sunshine State might be most often thought of for its stretches of pristine beaches, but it's also home to an abundance of local produce that's been grown, caught, baked and served by an array of clever clogs and inspired minds. Gold Coast plays host to a heap of those events, but for the first time in 2016 we’ll see the Gold Coast Italian Festival. The event will give people the chance to savour the tastes, signs and sounds of Italy, from fine food, Italian wines and family entertainment. Gold Coast Italian Festival takes place 26 and 27 March at Pratten Park, Broadbeach. Get more at visitgoldcoast.com.

New course targeted at Arts Producers A new Diploma of Project Management course, established in consultation with City of Gold Coast Cultural Development officers aims to provide training, industry contacts and experience to people hoping to move into arts and culture producer roles. It’s targeted at people who already have an arts or culture background with the course including video conferences, week-day workshops and self-directed study.

The 12-month program commences in February 2016 and places are limited. More at tafegoldcoast.edu.au.

Comedy kicks off at Broadbeach Tavern Broadbeach babes rejoice. 2016 will be known as the year that comedy became a ‘thing’ in the tourist strip. (Ok, that’s not true, there’s comedy all over the place on the strip). Anyway, it’s a new thing for the Broadie Tavern. Monday nights will see regular comedy shows at the popular tavern / live music venue. Kicking off the year on Monday 4 January will be headliner Ellen Briggs – known for saying the things that most mums only think. Ellen takes every audience on a hilarious journey and is an award-winning performer. She’ll be joined

by MC, Desh, who’s performed to a capacity State of Origin crowd, been a finalist at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and also been on the NRL Footy Show. More at basecomedy.com.au.

Fire In Jupiters Ballroom Recognised worldwide for their high performance standard, and as the “rebels of the ballroom” Burn the Floor are heading back to Australia with a stunning new production. Years before reality TV turned ballroom dancing into must-see television, Burn the Floor was setting stages ablaze around the globe. Their debut show in London in 1999 has been credited as reinventing the ballroom style and starting a new fashion and trend that enabled reality TV to showcase ballroom and Latin dancing to the masses. It hits Jupiters from 5 – 21 February. More at ticketek.com.au.

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free Issue #29 JANUARY 2016

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