30 April ‘14
free
BLUESFEST
we relive the joy
issue #007
BLUESFEST
Saskwatch The Beards Clairy Browne & the Bangin’ Rackettes
MUSIC
Tijuana Cartel Marshall Okell DZ Deathrays Jonny Craig
FOOD
Pizza Bar Daark Lott Cafe Bonita Bonita
ENVIRO
Bentley Blockade Springbrook water wars Fat happy humpbacks
CULTURE
Supanova Walls Gallery Margaret Olly Art Centre
Village Sounds & Secret Service Present
North Byron Parklands
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#007 30 APRIL 2014 Editor: Samantha Morris Design: Chloe Popa, Blunt Pencil Design Music coordinator: Mella Bunker Distribution: Melanie Brennan Advertising: Amanda Gorman & Melanie Brennan Environment editor: Mic Smith Sub Editor: Cody McConnell Cover photo: Saskwatch at Bluesfest by Gina Martin Bluesfest coverage: Gina Martin and Christie Ots Photographers: Gina Martin, SHOTS-FIRED by James Wills, Sean Scott Photography, David Donnelly Illustrator: Kemii Maguire Writers Mella Bunker, Marj Osborne, Pip Andreas, Terry “Tappa� Teece, Christie Ots, Andrew Scott, Jake Wilton, Kyle Butcher, Jarred Brunt, Sly Steve, Gina Martin, Shani Ishigaki, Emily Hosking, Anthony Gebhardt, Nev Pearce, Karin von Behrens, Anna Itkonen, Catherine Coburn, Mic Smith, Naomi Edwards, Samantha Morris, Chloe Popa
Editorial: news@blankgc.com.au Advertising: advertising@blankgc.com.au Blank Gold Coast PO Box 878 Broadbeach QLD 4218 www.blankgc.com.au Blank GC is independently owned and published. Opinons expressed in Blank GC are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or contributors.
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point blank Garterbelts and Gasoline The sixth annual Garterbelts and Gasoline Nostalgia Festival descends on picturesque Tamborine Mountain from 2 – 4 May 2014. It’s a full-blown three day celebration of 1950’s culture including hot rods, custom cars, live rockabilly, blues and alt-country, burlesque performances and workshops and a traditional pinup contest. Take it easy or party hard – you can even stay in a vintage caravan. Get all the details at garterbeltsandgasoline.com.au. Hits and Pits more hits than misses Good news for fans of punk and ska with Hits & Pits back for a third round this month. Following its first two instalments, this mini festival brings punk, ska and acoustic acts to Brisbane and Byron Bay to knock your block off. Featuring Strung Out, Unwritten Law, Face to Face, The Casualties, Ten Foot Pole, Death by Stereo, Big D and the Kids Table, Masked Intruder, Heartsounds and Implants. It all goes down with at HiFi Bar Brisbane on Friday 9 Bay and at The Northern Hotel Byron on Saturday 10 May. The Melbourne show has already sold out, so we recommend you get your tickets now at hitsandpitsfest.bigcartel.com. Drive Live at the Terrace They reckon music is medicine and theatre is therapy and next month they’re taking the theme to the people with a live outdoor broadbcast. It’s ABC Gold Coast’s Drive Live team. Scott Lamond will broadcast live from 3.00pm on Friday 20 June and you’re invited to join the conversation about music and theatre and how critical it is to the Gold Coast. Head down to Arts Centre Gold Coast’s Terrace to sit in on the broadcast.
Strung Out
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Tsun sign to Smack Face Records They’ve brought us The Growlers’ Gilded Pleasures EP and sold out debut Aussie tour as well as releases from Dothacker and Flea from Red Hot Chilli Peppers, so we’re thrilled to hear that Smack Face Records have looked a little closer to home and signed Gold Coast favourites Tsun. You can’t describe Tsun without using the word psychedelic, they’ve supported POND, Babe Rainbow, Major Leagues and have headlined a heap of shows in Byron, Brisbane and here on the GC. They’re set to make big waves and you can expect to see their debut single out on 7” this month, followed by a national tour. We’ll keep you posted on the release and tour. Marketta goes fortnightly Your favourite Friday night hang out is gonna happen twice as often. Miami Marketta will move to a fortnightly format real soon – every second and fourth Friday of the month commencing Friday 13 June. There’s some pretty cool bands on the lineup for both the Friday night Markettas and the weekly Street Food Marketta on a Saturday night, so keep your eyes and ears peeled for updates, or check out our gig guide for what’s coming up. Dan Sultan flies into the GC On the back of his new album Blackbird (see review this edition), Dan Sultan is embarking on a massive national tour and we’re thrilled to bits that Gold Coast is on the itinerary. He’s already supported Bruce Springsteen this year and his album is on high rotation both in the Blank office and over at Rabbit Radio studios. This tour sees Sultan backed by a full band and with Stonefield and Way of the Eagle (DJ set) supporting. He plays The Spotted Cow in Toowoomba on Thursday 3 July, Soundlounge Currumbin on Friday 4 July, Eatons Hill Hotel in Brisbane on Saturday 5 July and then down at The Northern Byron Bay on Tuesday 8 July. Tickets for the GC show available at soundlounge.com.au and all other venues at oztix.com.au. Aging Hard-ons Can you believe legendary punk-psych-metal outfit the Hard-ons turn 30 this year? The middle-aged trio celebrate the 30th anniversary of their first ever public appearance on
Tsun
21 July 2014. They’ve got quite a story too: a Croat, Sri-Lankan and a Korean crawling out of the Punchbowl ooze, ever the underdog, the then teenagers let loose with their unique blend of punk, metal, garage and bubblegum pop and their shows were wildly unpredictable. To celebrate this milestone, the Hard-ons are welcoming the temporary return of original member Keish de Silva and together as a four-piece with original members Peter “Blackie” Black, Ray Ahn and current member Murray Ruse, they will for the first and last time in their career tour the breadth of Australia playing sets consisting only of songs from their first incarnation spanning 1984 – 1993. They’ll also have in tow a brand new 2CD reissue of their breakththrough album Yummy as well as a split 7” single with Aussie jazz legends The Necks. And more. Lots more. They play The Northern Byron Bay on Thursday 19 June, Coolangatta Hotel on Friday 20 June and Prince of Wales in Brisbane on Saturday 21 June. Magic in the nude From hard-ons to nude magic … the makers of the biggest magic show on Earth bring you the boldest and cheekiest magic on offer. Two of Australia’s biggest names in magic take to the stage for the first time ever with their sleeves up and their pants down. The Naked Magicians – Christopher Wayne and Mike Tyler – have performed to audiences on televisions and stages across the globe, and this R-rated show strips away the top hats and capes leaving you with nothing but full-frontal illusions. You can check them out, in all their glory on Saturday 17 May. Get all the details at theartscentregc.com.au. Smooth as Velvet Velvet Martini formed in June 2012 but have already proven to be one of the Gold Coast’s most versatile acts around – with a unique blend of modern jazz and vintage funk, their growing repertoire is influenced by Ray Charles, Steve Wonder and more. They’ll create a smooth and heartwarming ambience when they hit Southport Sharks this Friday 2 May from 8.30pm. Get all the details at southportsharks.com.au. Velvet Martini also play Marketta Saturday 10 May.
Caxton Street Festival serves up more than seafood and wine It’s the 20th anniversary of this proud Brisbane tradition, but the Caxton Street Seafood & Wine Festival is also serving up some tasty music as part of this year’s event. The lineup includes Wolfmother, Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), Sheppard, Ella Hooper, Eurogliders, Tyrone Noonan, Pludo, The Tiger and Me, Jessica Sarah, Sean Kirk, West Texas Crude, Venus Envy and Chris Fair and the Fire. It all happens on Sunday 8 June and tickets are available at caxtonstseafoodandwinefestival.com.
Dallas Frasca crowdfunds 3rd album Three-piece riff rockers Dallas Frasca are back in a big way. They’re just crowdfunded their third independent album Love Army due out mid 2014, raising more than $20,000. The album was recorded by legendary Aussie producer Lindsay Gravina who’s worked with some of the country’s legendary rock acts including Cosmic Psychos, The Living End and Spiderbait. They’ve just released stomping new single Lizard Boy as a taste of what’s to come, and are winding up a national tour. You can get all the latest news from the band at dallasfrasca.com.
Hussies showcase more friends Those hussies are back, with some lady friends this time, for a different kind of circle: a little bit roots, a little country, some cabaret and a little rock. They’re being joined by Beccy Cole, Chris E Thomas and Libby O’Donovan and they hit the stage at Rabbit+Cocoon, home of Miami Marketta on Sunday 4 May from 2.30pm. It’s a family friendly show and tickets are cheap as chips – you can get ‘em at hussyhicks. iwannaticket.com.au.
Irish super group hit Australian shores Celtic Thunder, due to hit our shores on May and June, are dedicating their biggest and most spectacular Australian tour to the memory of the late George Donaldson, their original and principal singer. He died only last month, stunning his fellow band mates and fans alike. But Emmet Cahill, who left the group in December, has rescheduled other commitments to join the Mythology tour. The show takes punters through the history of the Celtic people, looking back at the heritage and influence of the Celtic community. The Mythology DVD debuted at number one on the ARIA charts and remained in the chart for 25 weeks. This Celtic powerhouse hit the Brisbane Entertainment Centre Friday 23 May and Jupiters Casino Theatre Saturday 24 May.
Funny stuff’s going on at the Arts Centre Adam Rozenbachs is a stand-up comedian, writer, broadcaster and ventriloquist dummy disliker. And he’s steadily risen to become one of Australia’s funniest and most consistent performers. He’s stopping in at The Basement Friday 16 May and you can book ahead for dinner and the show (or just the show). There’s even a discount for groups. Get all the details at theartscentregc.com.au. Mudd Rush a month away If you’re a regular Blank reader you’d know that the Gold Coast’s very own Mudd Rush is now just a month away. And we have two unsuspecting writers throwing themselves into the fray – all for the glory. I mean, the story. Melanie Brennan (Advertising) and Andrew Scott (Senior Writer) will join other fitness freaks for the 8 kilometre obstacle course style race. Are you game? You can still enter – visit muddrush.com.au for all the details.
Nine Sons of Dan
Tokyo Beef dish up tasty new tunes Tokyo Beef hail from Burleigh Heads – a five piece original rock band with influences including AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses and The Angels. It’s no surprise that their recently recorded songs bring back memories of smokey pubs and hazy surf-rock. They haven’t got any gigs lined up as we go to print, but you can check out their songs for free at reverbnation.com/tokyobeef. Nine Sons of Dan They started out as a uni band, but they’ve come a long way since then. With their third EP about to hit the streets and a national tour taking place from May, the five piece Gold Coast band are set to do more great things in 2014. Their EP
Used Up is a six-track compilation that they say introduces an edgier and slightly darker side to the band. It’s due for a 9 May release. They hit the road over June and July passing through Gold Coast at Swingin’ Safari, Sunday 6 July and Snitch in Brisbane on Thursday 3 July. Tickets at ninesonsofdan.oztix.com.au. 25 years of the blues The 25th anniversary of Bluesfest has been and gone with five days of glorious weather with some of the most unique musical collaborations taking place. The event saw Joss Stone perform with Jeff Beck, Warren Haynes of Gov’tMul with Dave Matthews Band, Xavier Rudd with Nahko and The Medine People, Chali2na joining WAR on stage, Bernard Fanning joining Kasey Chambers, Henry Wagon with Michael Franti and India.Arie joining Playing for Change. In addition to the musical magic, Cystic Fibrosis raised $55,000 throughout the festival through raffling donated Gibson guitars – the highest ever fundraising effort. Over the 15 years of Bluesfest around $367,000 has been raised for charity. Read our full run-down on Bluesfest in this here edition of Blank. Lake expected to flood Gold Coast The Arts Centre Gold Coast’s main stage will literally be flooded on Tuesday 13 May when the widely-acclaimed production of Lake comes to the Gold Coast. Set in flood, Lake merges contemporary dance, video and sound to create startling visual impact. The production has been described as serene, calm, haunting, menacing and is choreographed by Lisa Wilson – an independent artist with a 20 year international career working as director, choreographer, performer and educator. Tickets and more information at theartscentregc.com.au.
Send your music news to news@blankgc.com.au
Lake
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25 YEARS OF FESTIVE BLUES Bluesfest has long held a special place in my heart. From the ‘come one come all’ mentality to the stellar line-up of musicians featured every year, this festival is home for many people. This year the Byron Bay Bluesfest celebrated its silver anniversary, twenty-five years, and the line-up reflected this. With headliners like John Mayer, Jack Johnson, John Butler Trio, Erykah Badu, Dave Matthews Band, Matt Corby and Buddy Guy, there was no way this festival could disappoint. Mingling with these shining stars were newcomers and old favourites like Passenger, Gary Clark Jr, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Joss Stone, Tim Rogers and the list is almost endless. Bluesfest is definitely one of the best Australian festivals in regards to organisation, facilities, green thinking and atmosphere. The festival is all ages and it’s not unusual to see families strolling along next to the gaggle of twentysomethings, who’re racing between the bar and the stages. All manner of stalls are strewn along at convenient points to peddle everything from clothing to food. One standout this year was the ever-present Byron Bay Organic Donuts stall, which was being praised by punters and artists alike. This year there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and the winds cooled down the wandering hoards, and as the sun set over tents and the strains of music filled the air there wasn’t a place I would rather be for Easter. Everyone who attends Bluesfest, whether it is as an artist or audience, feels like family and this was evident with the amount of last minute guest performances that occurred. Friday saw D-Kazman from Dubmarine jump up with local lads Tijuana Cartel, Saturday Joss Stone graced the stage with Jeff Beck and Sunday had Bernard Fanning making music with Kasey Chambers. As an aside, the list of artists (both on the lineup and in town as punters) who left Bluesfest to visit the Bentley Blockade, just an hour down the road was also astounding. John Butler, Mama Kin, Nicky Bomba, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Declan Kelly, Hussy Hicks, Nat from Blue King Brown and Luke Vasella all threw their weight behind the Bentley Protectors during the Bluesfest weekend. But back to Bluesfest. Every year I find myself surprised by an artist, discovering something new to treat my ears with and happily impressed with a true favourite; and this year was no different. Slipping through the thousands of people packing out the Mojo tent Sunday night I found myself at Passenger. Anyone who has been to Bluesfest knows that this is the main and largest stage and at 5:45pm on a Sunday I could barely get myself near the front. This single man with his guitar managed to silence the entire audience as he performed and was so effusively thankful it was beautiful. His crowd interaction was hilarious, tailor-made to Bluesfest and entirely endearing!
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HANG 5: HAT FITZ & CARA
I was lucky enough to catch Devendra Banhart on Saturday, never having heard any of his music, I found myself carried away in the sweetness of his lyrics. His songs were heartfelt and beautiful and this is one act I am so grateful to have discovered, with a little help from my friends. Someone whose music I am no stranger to, but who impressed by no less, was Matt Corby. The man has had his detractors, and a lot of people questioned why I was going to see someone ‘commercial’. Well to you I say ‘you missed out’. As one doubtful person put it, after being converted by his performance, ‘I get the hype now’. He is a true singer/ songwriter and the control he exhibits over his voice is astounding. While I may have had to fight my way through a throng of screaming seventeen year olds, there were plenty of other people who were there to witness his spectacular performance. With such a stellar line-up choosing a highlight is too difficult. From the smooth crooning’s of CW Stoneking, to the jaw-dropping performance by Erykah Badu, Bluesfest outdid itself this year!
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This husband and wife duo met at a festival in Ireland they were performing at and, during a dance at the bar later that night, Hat swung Cara into a pillar. She woke up slung over his shoulder and the rest was history.
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Hat Fitz holds the record as the artist who has performed at the most Bluesfests, with eighteen appearances so far. He says it is just the way he wants to spend his Easter Holidays.
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Their new album is expected in September and they debuted a few of their new songs at Bluesfest.
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Neither of them want to tour with bands again, being married they get to share the highs and lows of touring together and prefer it that way.
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Hat’s pick of the Friday was Gregg Allman. While Dyson, Stringer and Cloher blew Cara away.
While there may have been a slight amount of bleeding between the stages, you come to expect that with festivals of this size, and thankfully this year the lines for the bars and toilets were manageable. While controversy circulated in relation to the wearing of native headdresses as sport by punters who couldn’t claim the history, overall this was one of the best experiences I have had at a festival in a long time. Bring on Bluesfest 2015! Christie Ots
HANG 5: SETH LAKEMAN 1
Steve Earle & The Dukes were the band Seth was most excited to see and also the artists playing Bluesfest that he would choose to collaborate with, if given the opportunity.
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Word of Mouth Seth’s latest album was recorded in a Church and most of his tour venues have been churches. He wants to record his next album in a toilet (joke).
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This is his third time back at Bluesfest and he hopes to bring his family with him once his children are a little older.
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Portrait Of My Wife is currently Seth’s favourite song to play at his gigs.
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Seth is playing with Suzanne Vega, another Bluesfest artist, at sideshows along the east coast.
Doobie Brothers
BLUESFEST
Photos courtesy of Gina Martin
Iron and Wine
Joss Stone
Erykah Badu
C.W. Stoneking
Boz Scaggs
Michael Franti
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Your first few singles and the debut album were released digitally, but you are also big fans of vinyl, releasing all your albums on LP and a few 7”, what is it about vinyl that really captures your sound? That’s a good question man, I think to be honest for us it just sounds better, I guess we all like a bit more of a distorted sound more than a clean sound. We all sort of listen to records and I guess we’re a fan of old production and recording techniques and you know that bit of grit in the songs so for us it’s like the perfect representation. Not that we want to sound exactly like that but having some kind of relation is good as well. Then on the flip side of that you guys release a lot digitally as well and you can reach a much wider audience, how have you found releasing your music on Bandcamp, as a fairly newish platform? Bandcamp is great man, it’s really easy and really user friendly for artists, it’s great to have something that’s so easy for bands to get their stuff out there for people to stumble across it, so to speak.
SASKWATCH ON THE UP AND UP
In May you’ve got your first show on the Gold Coast for the Live at Bond music series. For those who haven’t caught you live what can we expect?
Just before they hit Bluesfest, Sly Steve got on the blower with Saskwatch guitarist and songwriter Liam Mc Gorry to talk about their upcoming tour, the making of their second record Nosedive and the timeless beauty of vinyl.
Yeah we’re really looking forward to playing on the Gold Coast, we’ve always meant to make it but it hasn’t worked out timing wise, but we’ll be coming back later in the year as well for the tour so we’re really looking forward to coming up and hopefully staying for a bit.
It’s been busy year for you guys already, playing a bunch of shows including Panama Festival in Tasmania and Womadelaide. How was Womadelaide?
We’ve been digging the new record Nosedive and there’s a couple of great film clips to accompany the first two singles, how do you guys go about matching up the visuals to your sound?
Liam McGorry: Yeah it was great man, to be honest I’ve never been before, a few of the other guys had been before playing in other bands and that sort of thing, It was amazing, just the whole set up of the festival in the park and the roaming around and the sheer size of it was amazing plus the shows went great so we were very fortunate in that respect as well.
record came out because there was a bit of a gap between us recording it (the first album) and putting it out. So I guess we had a year and a half of writing which was great - a different approach than the first one. With the first one we had like two or three years of getting used to writing songs and bringing stuff in, so I think this time we had a bit more time to refine things and test out the arrangements so that was one of the main differences. Have you been testing out a few of the tunes out on the road in the live arena?
You’ve done shows with John Newman and you’ve supported some amazing acts in the last few years, including cats like Earth, Wind and Fire, what’s been a highlight for you in the live scene?
Yeah it’s definitely something we’ve always tried to do, as soon as we write a song we bring it into the fold for the live set, and we’re already looking forward to playing all of them for this tour.
Playing with Earth, Wind and Fire was great, I mean we’ve been fans of theirs for forever so that was pretty incredible. At the time that was sort of the biggest gig we’ve ever done in front of a few thousand people so for us that was pretty incredible. Also playing with one of our idols Daniel Merriwether was great and also the show with did with Sharon Jones down in Mossvale, they are definite heroes of ours.
There’s a bunch of you in the band, nine all up, as one of the main songwriters how does the songwriting process start? Is it a collaborative effort or do you bring ideas to the table and go from there?
Nosedive has just landed, how long have you guys been working on this new record? Well to be honest we started writing even before the first
I guess I’ll bring in a demo of a song or just a general sort of vibe to a song and then depending on if there’s a few active people involved that will push the song to a better form and really add their own touch to it so I think it does end up being quite a communal thing and something that’s refined over a period of time.
We pretty much just find people that we like, find some great people that make film clips, or artists with any of that sort of stuff we definitely just go about sort of finding directors that do great work and hopefully that will work out for us, we’ve had great luck so far so hopefully that will continue. With the new record too, as well as bringing your trademark groove there seems to be a few more ballads, a few more down tempo moments too like Left me to die and Call your Name, was that a conscious shift in the writing this time around or did it come around more naturally? I think it was a combination of both actually, like it did come about naturally we did start writing sort of different kind of songs and then I guess with the first album was more a product of that it was the first twelve or thirteen songs that we’d ever done. This one we had a bit more time to consider it and make a bit more of a classic album, so hopefully it’s a bit more rounded this time.
Saskwatch play Live at Bond, 18 May from 1.00pm
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A WHOLE LOTTA BEARD!
A PUNCH OF A PERFORMANCE
Kicking off their tour at Bluesfest, Adelaide band The Beards have taken their comedic approach to music and built a cult following. Christie Ots caught up with the band at Bluesfest to discuss beards, beards and no beards.
Clairy Browne & The Bangin’ Rackettes, a nine-piece band from Melbourne, pack a whole lotta soul into a single performance. Christie Ots caught up with Clairy at Bluesfest to discuss the Rackette family, collaborations and capes.
Let’s take a look at The Beards. Nathaniel Beard (bass, vocals), John Beardman (drums, vocals), Johann Beardraven (vocals, guitar, sax), and Facey McStubblington (guitar, vocals). It’s pretty clear to anyone one who has seen The Beards live, or heard one of their songs, that there is one thing these guys live for – beards. Not only has the band managed to produce three beardthemed albums since forming in 2005, with the latest titled Having a beard is the new not having a beard, all of their songs are very much pro-beard. Having played at Bluesfest last year the band feels at home amongst the other bearded artists and punters that populate the festival grounds. The first thing the guys establish is that they love beards and they’re disappointed that I don’t have one.
Songs like If Your Dad Doesn’t Have A Beard, You’ve Got Two Mums, a penchant for hilarious crowd interaction and their glorious beards are just some of the reasons why the band was nominated for both Comedy Album of The Year and Comedy Song of The Year in 2012. There’s no doubt these fellas take their beards seriously. They explain in some detail that if one of them were to lose their beard in a horrific angle-grinding accident, it would destroy the entire band.
Coincidentally the first single release from their upcoming album, All The Bearded Ladies, discusses the stigma that bearded woman must feel.
Nathaniel warns Johann,“I would make it my business to destroy you. I would destroy your reputation, all of your ties with loved ones and family, your professional relationships. I would basically make it so that it was as though you had never existed. People would not come to your funeral.”
“They’re often shunned and we want to change that,” Nathaniel says, “They often shave their beards to avoid the stigma that comes with having a beard.”
Johann nods as if this is perfectly acceptable and expected. “That’s what Nathaniel would want us to do for him,” John adds.
The band is touring extensively this year, finishing up in Launceston, 9 August and will be performing at The Sound Lounge in Currumbin 3 July.
The guys debate whether you could simply go into seclusion until the beard grew back, to which the answer is no – no self respecting member of The Beards could go even a day without their beard.
They fear a shaving epidemic has gripped the Gold Coast. “I think that’s why it’s important that we come back to the Gold Coast, because I think they need us more than any other place in Australia. The tendency to shave is rampant over there,” Nathan said. “I worry that bearded men on the Gold Coast are ostracized and questioned by their beardless friends as to why they have a beard,” Johann added.
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Looking forward to hitting the road for the remainder of the year, it is clear that these men are on a serious mission to spread beard awareness; and they are doing a damn good job at it!
With their debut album Baby Caught The Bus garnering praise both nationally and internationally their highly visual performances are captivating. The band was formed from an idea that Clairy had five years ago. “I wanted to put on a stage show that was really participatory for audiences,” she explains. “Something that embodied that 1960’s television hysteria of shows like The Beat, where musicians are wildly losing themselves and audiences are being carried with them.” That is exactly what you get with this band, with songs like Whatta Man sending the crowds into wild gyrating frenzies and bringing to mind the days of swing dancing and jive. Consisting of Clairy Browne and backed by Camilla McKewen, Loretta Miller and Ruby Jones along with Darcy McNulty (saxophone), Peter Bee (guitar), Jules Pascoe (bass), Gabriel Strangio (keyboards) and Nick Martyn, this band really is a family, and they have a busy year ahead with writing and recording material for their sophomore release. “We don’t want to release anything until it’s absolutely
perfect. There is a lot of pressure on us for the second album. We have a lot of material, almost thirty songs, and are still writing,” Clairy explains.
CASEY BARNES ON SONG FOR GC MARATHON
However their live performance has evolved since they were formed; with influences from life, art and film helping.
Casey Barnes: you’ll remember him from Australian Idol and boy has he been busy since then. This Gold Coast troubadour has just released a brand new single, Flesh & Bone which has reached the finals of the International Songwriting Competition and is the title track off his forthcoming EP.
with opportunities to perform around Australia coming in at the last minute,” Casey said.
But as well as preparing for performances at the Urban Country Music Festival (2 – 4 May) and the Broadbeach Country Music Festival (20 – 22 June), he’s also preparing for something new.
Since committing to the event, Casey has been flooded with support from friends and family including a handful of local Gold Coast runners who’ve been happy to share marathon training tips.
He’s laying down the guitar, strapping on a pair of joggers and joining 30,000 other people to tackle the Gold Coast Marathon this July.
“My wife and two daughters have been extremely supportive and understanding of my training and the importance of going for a run to zone out from everyday stress,” Casey said.
“The Gold Coast Airport Marathon is something that I’ve always wanted to do,” Casey said of the 42.195 kilometre challenge.
“I also often cross paths with other running friends such as former rugby league legend and current triathlete Mat Rogers who often sends me messages of support and advice.”
“I wanted a goal that would drive me both physically and mentally as well as push me outside of my comfort zone.
The Gold Coast Airport Marathon takes place Saturday 5 and Sunday 6 July and is expected to attract more than 30,000 participants. Visit goldcoastmarathon.com.au for more information.
“The aesthetic is very important to us, as well as the music needing to be meaningful, so it has grown and changed; however fundamentally what we do it still this beautiful cathartic journey that is predominantly soul. We try to tell stories that take people to the highest highs and the depths of sorrow and that’s important.” Being known for their evocative live shows and choreographed performance means that a lot of work goes into making sure that their set continues to grow and what the audience experienced at Bluesfest was unlike anything the band has done previously. Clairy joked with the crowd regarding a beautiful cape that she was wearing, asking them if they were jealous. However despite her engaging on stage persona, she still gets a little world weary, and would love it if her cape were imbued with invisibility. “I’ve always wanted to be invisible, not on stage, but it is a fantasy of mine to be able to disappear in moments,” Clairy says laughing. “You could get away with bizarre and naughty things and then reveal yourself. I’m sure there’s way cooler superpowers than a disappearing act, but sometimes I just want to disappear.” With the band’s astonishing live shows and fantastic quirk I don’t think this is something that will happen for a long time. Embodying that fun and energetic vibe of the 60’s, the band released a 7” split single with fellow Mebournians Saskwatch who they toured with in 2012. This, coupled with music video for Love Letter, and their live shows cements them as a band that is definitely a throwback to an era where the vibrancy of music shone, much like Clairy herself.
“To do that in my hometown along the beach front and surrounded by some of the best scenery in Australia is really exciting.” Casey is currently squeezing his marathon training program in-between touring and promoting Flesh & Bone and his second new single Valentine. And his EP will drop in June, just before the race. “It’s been pretty challenging fitting in the training around my hectic schedule of touring which can be very unpredictable
“I’ve learnt to fit in running whenever I can. Lately I’ve been lucky to fit in two to three runs per week including a long run, around the 21 kilometre mark, on weekends.”
Samantha Morris As well as watching Casey zoom by in July, you can catch him at the Urban Country Music Festival in Caboolture on Saturday 3 May, at Harrigans Drift Inn, Calypso Bay from midday on Sunday 25 May, at Broadbeach Country Music Festival on Saturday 21 June and at the GC Suns v Collingwood game (go the suns) on Saturday 5 July, Metricon stadium.
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BIRDY, BLUESFEST AND IN BETWEEN Marshall OKell is fresh from playing at the Byron Bay Bluesfest for the fifth time, having been touring since 2013 for his latest album Birdy. With a vibrant and electric live performance that is a must-see Christie Ots caught up with him about a life spent dedicated to music and why his latest release means so much to him.
31st May - 8th June 2014
• Nine Days of exciting environmental awareness activites • Celebrating UN World Environment Day (5th June 2014) • Showcasing individuals, businesses and groups who act & think GREEN
Wildlife Expo SUNDAY 8TH JUNE 2012, 10AM-2PM
Australia Fair Shopping Centre 42 Marine Parade, Southport QLD 4215
FUN FAMILY DAY OUT! >Live Animals >Activities >Speakers
Birdy, released in April 2013, holds a special place in Marshall’s heart. Showcasing collaborations from amazing artists and friends like Hussy Hicks, Hat Fitz and Chase The Sun, Birdy was produced by the late and great Brian ‘Birdy’ Burdett.
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Speaking of the recording experience Marshall says it was beautiful and amazing and heavy. “Losing Birdy right towards the end of it, I just had to take some time out from the music. I would listen to the songs and just get floods of memories from our time hanging out together and he was like my brother so that was really hard,” he said. To finish the album Marshall called upon a few friends, like Leesa and Julz from GC duo Hussy Hicks. “We all sat around and sang songs together and cried and helped each other through it. When I started this album I approached Birdy and wanted to record all of the songs that we sit around and play after the gigs. We spent a lot of time with the girls, as well as others, just sharing our special songs; so it’s a big family album.” Playing certain songs, like Birdy, still managse to spook Marshall and it’s taken almost eighteen months to be able to play the song without being thrown and forgetting lyrics. However playing at Bluesfest almost seems like a homecoming and Marshall has played several times since winning the Bluesfest Busking competition in 2007. Recounting a story from one of the five Bluesfests it is easy to understand why the festival is one of Marshall’s favourites. “One year at the Juke Joint stage, it was so packed you couldn’t fit in anymore people, and they had these big security guards that had to hold the speakers up because people were jumping so much they almost fell over.”
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>Displays >Stalls >& Lots More
“We had a couple of thousand people singing Friends for Life to us, which gives you a crazy energy.” Having been on tour for almost eight years now, with breaks in between to record, music is clearly a full-time job. “My dad was a great muso and I grew up around him and his band. I love it, I can’t imagine doing anything else. I wake up early most days and before I’m clouded from the day I just start jamming. I keep the inspiration flowing,” he says laughing. “Partying, surfing and making love all help. I try not to force the writing.” Having played music since he was eleven Marshall has quite the back catalogue to pull from, and mixed songs from Birdy with old favourites at Bluesfest; proving once again to be a crowd favourite. Beth Hart and The Wailers are just some of the artists that he wanted to see for himself, as well as John Mayer – though just to see him play guitar, “I like him when he’s playing guitar, not when he’s talking,” Marshall explains laughing. To catch Marshall’s passion and energy with a set as electric as Bluesfest, head to Blues on Broadbeach, 22 May.
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TIJUANA CARTEL STILL FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT Tijuana Cartel have been getting Gold Coast audiences off their butts and onto dancefloors for nearly a decade, but it wasn’t until 2011 that they got their first decent break with single White Dove getting airplay on Triple J. That break opened up plenty of new doors for the GC beat merchants. Mella Bunker talked to Paul George (lead guitar and vocals) just before their Bluesfest performance about what’s happened since then and how 2014 will unfold for the lads. Story by Samantha Morris “We did tour a lot, we had a swell of people coming and we were selling shows out everywhere, but we were a bit under the radar,” he explained. “When we released White Dove which was pretty popular on Triple J, a lot of doors really just opened to us,” Paul said. “A lot of festivals and things that wouldn’t talk to us beforehand.” That single was the catalyst for a European tour and a short stint in the USA. Paul said they went to California trying to get a record deal. “We ended up with a management team there who actually do pop bands, which is funny for us. But you know, they’ll bring us over and we’ll tour and take it from there. We’re starting from scratch in America so it could be a lot of empty pubs I suppose.” The current format of the band comprises Paul as lead guitarist and vocals, Carey O’Sullivan on keys and production and Daniel Gonzalez on percussion. They’ve been working hard over recent months to finish 10 songs which will make up a new album due for release in October. “We only have a couple more to go,” Paul said. “Now it’s just a matter of when we’re going to release it, what we think are the singles and how we work them into our live shows.” And of course, on the back of a new album comes tours. Paul hints at a gig at Rabbit+Cocoon in the near future as well as the summer festival circuit to promote their new offering. From what’s on the horizon to the band’s past, Paul reflects a little on how Tijuana Cartel actually came about. He and Carey started out doing chill-out type sets in cafes and hotels around the coast. “We enjoyed it, but started to get a bit bored. We just loved getting people dancing, so as we played our beats got louder and faster and it evolved from there,” he said.
“One problem we did have as a band was that we kept changing directions for a while. To do well in terms of marketing you need to do one type of thing and we’re too bipolar to stick to it.” “We don’t really fit into a box. You don’t know what people are going to like,” he said. Tijuana cartel played a couple sets at Bluesfest, their sixth time at the event but first go on the main stage. They’re also playing at Ningaloo Shark Festival in WA where Daniel their percussionist now lives. Paul sounds a bit like a hippie when he speaks of his love for the Gold Coast hinterland. “You can go up to Springbrook and have a whole waterfall to yourself,” he said. And he’s just as quick to praise Gold Coast’s music scene. “I don’t get to come back here often enough. Karl S Williams, I see him around. I like Bleeding Knees Club but I’m nearly too old for that,” he said. I think there’s quite a few good things: the things going on at Rabbit+Cocoon and Swingin’ Safari,” he said. We’ve got a good little underground scene going on and it’s not too bad for the size of the Coast,” he said.
You can listen to Tijuana Cartel’s brand new single Still Fighting at soundcloud.com/tijuana-cartel Or you can catch them live at Swingin’ Safari on Friday 9 and Saturday 10 May.
Photos courtesy of Gina Martin
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JONNY CRAIG FOUND WHAT HE LOVES IN AUSTRALIA With just under a month before Jonny Craig touches down in Australia for his solo tour backing his EP Find What You Love And Let It Kill You, it’s no surprise he’s excited. He loves Australia. That’s not the only thing Craig was excited about. He has exclusively revealed to Blank that his new band Slaves with Alex Lyman is in talks with touring companies to come to Australia. Slaves’ debut single has just hit the airwaves and the album We Are All Equal Through Art is dropping 14 June. Craig spoke of creepy fans, being an influence on an X-Factor runner up, and recording without being “f*cked up” on drugs and alcohol. Kyle Butcher and Jarred Brunt spoke to Jonny Craig as he took a break from moving house.
Are you looking forward to touring Australia with your solo work? Yeah man I love Australia. It’s my favourite place to tour, it’s a beautiful place and you guys have beautiful women. I love your club nights, I love to have a good time, so yeah I love Australia. Are you still in the studio now with your second solo album or are you having a break after recording with Alex Lyman for Slaves? Yeah we just finished the Slaves album. The second full length solo album is kind of in the works at the moment. It’s not quite done at the moment, there are still a couple of songs we need to perfect but it’s about halfway done. How do you feel you have progressed musically since your last album release? The first solo album was obviously a full band, and I loved working on it, but you know I feel like Find What You Love And Let It Kill You was more me, it was more of a solo release. I want to keep it separate when it comes to playing in a band and when you have a solo CD you want it to sound separate from your band. That’s why I feel the first album sounded more like a branch off of Emarosa. This recording was different because it was the first time I wasn’t f*cked up on either drugs or alcohol, so I definitely took a different approach to that aspect of the recording. Do you plan to play any new tracks on your Australian tour? I won’t be playing any Slaves tracks, but we are currently in talks to come down to Australia to tour. I’m gonna play some new solo songs for sure, but I’m going to focus on the tracks from the EP because you guys know those songs and some old songs. In Australia there is a woman called Sally Chatfield from the second season of X-Factor who said you were her primary influence, it must be pretty humbling to hear people to say that. Yeah I met her on my last Australian tour, and she’s a really cool chick. It’s really humbling that she said in front of her whole country that I’m someone that inspired her, and that’s something that I live for. It’s awesome. If you had to pick one major influence on your music, who would it be? When I was growing up I listened to alot of Boyz II Men, so vocally they would be my influences. Jonny Craig is playing Brisbane on 8 and 9 May at Crowbar and Tall Poppy Studios respectively.
You can hear more from Kyle and Jarred on Sounds from the Bunker by listening in to Rabbit Radio from 4.00 – 6.00pm every Tuesday. rabbitradio.com.au.
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ANTIMATTER’S UNDERGROUND SOUNDS THE KREMLINGS Whole Earth Cleansing
Geelong, birthplace of Ford in Australia, a hard rocking outpost which has a long and proud lineage of top notch guitar bands, from the seminal grunt of Bored! and Magic Dirt through to recent upstarts such as Frowning Clouds and The Living Eyes (a reference to the classic second Radio Birdman album surely!?) Young tearaways The Kremlings can now be added to that list, a teeth gnashing pummel of fury from the fetid depths of Motor City Oz. The band have managed to impress some highly credentialed punk rockers already - rumour has it that one Jello Biafra (singer with the legendary Dead Kennedys) was so taken by the young Geelong five piece on his recent solo Australian jaunt that he wanted to put out the band’s first album on his own label. Well with the release of Whole Earth Cleansing, local label Desperate Records beat him to the punch on that one! Produced by the ever-prolific Mikey Young (of Eddy Current Suppression Ring fame), there is no great subtlety or variance in musical texture at play here, save for the speed at which the songs are delivered. For the most part this is mid
paced, angry garage punk of the top shelf variety. Singer Andre Merino delivers his vocals in a larynx shredding, early hardcore style, channeling the bug-eyed screech of Henry Rollins in his Black Flag days. Musically the band are tight and unrelenting, channeling the best of the seminal heavy underground, from the glory days of early 80’s US hardcore (the influence of latter period Black Flag is hard to escape) through to classic Australian garage punk of the Bored! ilk. Tracks such as Sniffed The Hide, Flesh on Flesh and Knife Sale deliver pulverising garage punk riffage and dark, anguished vibes that race by in sub two minute bursts. Abort starts off with a breakdown (like the classic Stooges track I Wanna Be Your Dog) before a killer riff of the band’s own making kicks in and brings it on home. Know Nothings slows the pace to a steady march, a slow burning sub-Stoogian creeper that clocks in at an album record four minutes plus. And the intro to Vulture Race brings to mind just slightly the Dead Kennedys anthem Holiday in Cambodia. Raw, unrelenting and powerful, with Whole Earth Cleansing The Kremlings have delivered a world class salvo of ‘angry young man’ garage punk. Feel ‘em simmer and burn!!
To hear the album for yourself, tune into Rabbit Radio (the Gold Coast’s very own digital streaming online radio station) on Tuesday nights from 9.00pm. Whole Earth Cleansing will be played in full right after The Avalon Hour - which happens to be the radio mouthpiece for Antimatter’s Underground Sounds.
METAL BYTES Wallapalooza is almost upon us. This free all-day event at The Wallaby Hotel boasts 29 bands across three stages and features some awesome local talent including Helm, Hailmary, Azreal, The Black Swamp, The Molotov, Smoking Martha, Gimpus and heaps more. Make a note in your diary. It all goes down 8 June at Mudgeeraba’s oldest pub. The Black Swamp are set to release their debut EP Foulness on 1 May. We’ve had a sneak peak at the CD and it’s nothing short of amazing. And their official release is happening 2 May at The Abyss at Melba’s. AND you can catch them live on the SEQ Foulness Tour which kiks off 31 May at The Cooly Hotel. They’ll be supported by In-Cyde, The Silencio and F.U.C. The Godfather of industrial Gary Numan will be here for a tour at the end of next month in support of his new album Splinter (Songs from a Broken Mind). Numan plays The Tivoli, Tuesday 27 May. Tickets from ticketmaster.com.au. In Death guitarist and respected tattoo artist Rah is raising money for the Cancer Council after recently beating brain cancer himself. Rah will be donating his time as a tattoo artist to the value of $1000 to one lucky person who contributes $10 to the cause with the winner drawn 21 May.
You can contribute at qld.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/rahtattoogiveaway. After taking the USA by storm King Parrot are returning to Australia for the Blaze In The Northern Suburbs tour and will be playing three huge shows in Queensland. See them with Azreal and Rome at The Cooly, Friday 23 May, At Thriller (also with Nightmares), Saturday 24 May and at The Lab in Brisbane for an all ages show on Sunday 25 May with Widow The Sea, I Shall Devour and Gouge.
Got some metal news we should know about? Email rabidnoiseradio@hotmail.com. For all the latest metal tracks and interviews tune into Rabid Noise every Wednesday night from 9pm on rabbitradio.com.au.
Psycroptic and Aborted are teaming up for the huge Necrotic Repression tour in June and taking Brisbane’s own The Schoenberg Automaton with them. See them at Brisbane’s newest venue The Brightside, 21 June and The Lab 22 June for an all ages show. Tickets through Oztix. Tickets for the Carcass Surgical Steal The Commonwealth Australian tour are selling like crazy and word is that it will sell out. Don’t miss your opportunity to see one of the most legendary bands on the planet live and get your tickets ASAP! Visit thehifi.com.au for more info. Win win win … we have a double pass to give away to Carcass for their Brisbane show 13 June. Get the details at blankgc.com.au/carcass/.
The Black Swamp
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been there done that A quick google search of this man is simply not possible. His legacy is enormous. Kristofferson’s accomplishments are probably unmatched by any other man in the business of music. I spent just brief minutes surfing the web before taking off for the big event. Most of this knowledge had been passed down to me by my father during many a boozy music education session. A Rhodes Scholar, a helicopter pilot for the US armed forces, actor, music hall of fame inductee and … the lover of Janis Joplin upon her untimely death. Even with this resume, few people jump out of their seats when I mention taking on the privilege of sharing his performance with Blank. So how about this perspective… You know Johnny Cash? Willie Nelson? Yes… well Kris Kristofferson LED these men in the 80s country music supergroup HighwayMen. Like the Captain America equivalent for music gods hailing from the legendary post-Vietnam Era. Are we awwwing yet? Back to the gig. With all young people distracted by some sort of Bluesfest down south, it is myself and a couple hundred senior citizens bothering the friendly staff of the Arts Centre. I can feel the stares of disdain as I pounce up the steps. A careless display of youth which comes with being the only attendee with both original hips. Just kidding. My experience with such crowds is the overwhelming positive encouragement for celebrating what a lot of youth are missing today. Talented performers free of hubris. Most likely why most people kinda, sorta but don’t really recognise the name or face of this giant.
KRIS KRISTOFFERSON Arts Centre Gold Coast Saturday 19 April
Surfers Paradise on a Saturday night. The Easter crowd has descended upon Cavil. Bright lights and crowds are about as warming to me as freshly picked cherry tomatoes. Everybody else seems to love them. I would rather slam my fingers in a draw to the beat of Britney Spears pop. Tonight is registering a distinctly different emotive response. I am calm in this zone. I am excited. Helped along by stuffing myself with sugar-dense and caffeinated treats. There is a legend in town and I would rather give myself diabetes thAn fall asleep in his presence. Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Mr Kris Kristofferson. 16
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I claim the ticket and scour the crowds for a character who looks a bit like Santa on a summer holiday. My old man is by the bar with his partner in crime. Bob and Bill. Both with scotch in hand. Perfect! I had purchased tickets for these fine gentlemen as a Christmas present. Upon greeting I am lifted by their spirits. Not the spirits in hand, the type hidden in the eyes. A school boy type anticipation is stirring. We exchange all the usual banter. Weather, Gold Coast chicks, motor-boating is even discussed. I am both proud and ashamed to be with these old trouble-makers. The Kristofferson facts and figures are thrown about. My old man even recollects the specific moment he first heard the man’s poetic voice. A Gene Hackman film of old. I can’t recall the title. I am quivering with excitement. I wonder what I have done right in my life to be on the cusp of witnessing this event. OMG, I need to pee. Once inside, I find myself seated next to a friendly younger couple. Sixty years young to be exact. More Kristofferson gossips are exchanged. The word privilege is used over and over again. Right up to the moment the lights are dimmed. As he walks out, I am enthralled by the power of audience response. Kristofferson waves it away, stands up to the mic and begins immediately. The crowd goes wild. Seriously wild. It’s awesome! How are they making so much noise?!
My head races with words to capture this moment. I am desperate to share the enormity of this one man show. Harmonica, acoustic guitar and a soothing poetic song. Wait, how old is this dude? The thoughts are incessant, repetitive. It’s at least three songs deep in the set before I am able to settle and absorb this atmosphere. Another two songs before I can calm enough to hear his words. Before I know it, he has announced intermission. More a necessity for the gushing light-headed crowd. Kristofferson has probably gone back stage to do push-ups and finish solving the challenge of world peace. As I exit, I summon the attention of a professional looking lady with a walkie talkie. I swallow my juvenile squeals and fake a professional demeanour. “Excuse me, I am a one man reviewer without photographer. Is it possible for me to get a photo of Mr Kristofferson on my phone?” She talks to her talkie. Within seconds a large man is schooling me on the photographer’s etiquette. I look stupid and honest enough to be given a second chance. He leads me to the front of the room to meet security. “This man will come down to get photos during the first song”. Security shakes my hand and I run out to share the news with Bob and Bill. Outside, the crowd is pulsing. Bob and Bill look high. The schoolboy glean is so bright I genuinely feel like I’m talking to teenagers. Very fat, very old, very grey teenagers. There is no lingering doubt about the quality of this spectacle. The genius title is thrown about and agreed upon by all. I run away again, I gotta pee. In minutes I will need to stand up front and get photos of this man without passing out from awe. So the rest of the night… well, sitting front row for the second half is a phenomenon too powerful for meagre words. I could see the pattern in his boots, hear it tap as he worked through the remainder of his enormous playlist. I believe this tour was to celebrate his 253rd album. Well, a mild exaggeration, 23rd perhaps? Check it out for yourself at kriskristofferson.com. There is also a movie recently released which he stars in. Check the preview for The Motel Life. A big shout out required for all the accommodating staff at the Gold Coast Arts Centre. The crew at Blank for helping me get to this show and all residents who attended. What an honour it was to share this moment in time with ya’all. Peace out from Blankman.
The two singles, Gina Works at Hearts and Northern Lights, are a chance for keen DZ thrashers to glimpse Black Rat before the looming release date. These two very different songs presented varying viewpoints into just how Black Rat would form. At first listen, a hefty shift of focus toward melody and Shane’s voice can heard. Where this can be seen as a broader swing into pop, Shane sees it as another layer or genre to attach to their belt. DZ’s new album is produced by Burke Reid and, according to Shane, he may as well be the much fathomed third member of the thrash outfit. “He really wanted me to sing more. We actually went back and added more screaming into it to add some more energy.” The lack of screaming on the record does not detract from the exploding riffs and crashing cymbals. Perhaps it was an effort to bring more attention to Shane’s lyrics – an element of DZ Deathrays’ music which has also been tough to decipher. Consider Night Walking; a swirling, vacuumed track that touches on some shoegaze and pop facets brought in by Northern Lights. Its chorus sees Shane’s voice glide and soar over his guitar line – something which would have easily been replaced with screaming if it were to be found on their debut. The band considered this to be their most diverse track to date, but it was Burke who convinced Simon and Shane that it had to make the 11-track strong album. The band even flicked through some of their old record bins to find inspiration for the track.
NIGHTWALKERS
“We were going for a Walkmen / Joy Division style on this one, which we haven’t done before,” Shane explained.
Genre is constricting; a means to limit an artist’s potential. Thankfully genre boundaries are loosening with bands breaking free and exploring. Jagwar Ma, Animal Collective and Beck: allow me to quote Futurama: “I always dreamed of being a musician-poet who transcends genres even as he re-invents them.” DZ Deathrays, Brisbane’s ultimate thrashers, have a lot on the horizon and Jake Wilton thought it’d be as good a time as ever for a status report from Shane Parsons. While still contemplating their overt sound as a band, DZ Deathrays combine enough musical elements to make mash-up DJs of themselves: metallic, jagged heavy rock guitar tones, the crashing cymblas and the arpeggiated dance-punk undertones – or “heavy disco” as christened by the duo. Each of their releases have developed and fleshed out these techniques, yet their new offering, finds DZ Deathrays reaching, exploring and domineering in every possible way. The duo consists of Shane Parsons [guitar/vox] and Simon Ridely [drums], who have spent the better half of their Deathrays adventure on the road and the other half creating the most inventive heavy music to come out of Brisbane. Having graced the Splendour in the Grass, Laneway, Falls, Reading & Leeds stages, just to name a few, on the back of their fiery debut Bloodstreams. DZ Deathrays have again daisychained boards of pedals and broken periphery lines of genre to create their follow-up Black Rat.
Now stretching over the two year mark since Bloodstreams the band wanted their new record to be out by the earliest, of late last year. Simon and Shane though have not been sitting on their hands: the constant touring, which included one-off DJ sets spread across Australia and the crafting of the new Velociraptor record, led by Brisbane’s cultural reference icon Jeremy Neale. For another first for the duo, DZ Deathrays did two weeks of pre-production in November/December of last year. This proved invaluable for the band as Black Rat presents an intriguing complexity in the guitar tones – whether it be the propulsive Ocean Exploder or the unnerving dance-punk of Fixations. “I feel like it’s an extension on Bloodstreams – it’s not a full departure from it, but I think it’s a little more shorter and sharper and more melodic. It’s got a little more pop and polish… but not in a terrible way,” said Shane.
The boys have been able to keep themselves busy before the record is released, rather than eagerly watching how many pre-orders they’re receiving. The last time we spoke, Shane and Simon were getting ready to fly off to Austin, Texas for one of the world’s largest music conferences, SxSW. Having done it twice before, the boys appreciate the experience and the opportunity, but understand the consequences, “We just know what we’re getting ourselves into…” The idea of the festival is to play as many shows as physically possible, drink beer, play more shows, rinse and repeat. “Some of the shows were really early in the day and, by that stage, you were struggling to survive as a human then you’d turn around and play at 1.00am the night before and the night after,” Shane said. The hard worked paid off in the end as they wound up their rapid US trip in Lake Tahoe for a few days of relaxation on the lake. DZ Deathrays have also returned from a run of shows in Europe supporting their good friends Blood Red Shoes. Using the tour to their advantage, the duo were able to road test some Black Rat material before crowd surfing their way around Australia armed with these new songs. “It’d be nice for us to come into the Australian tour being road-ready,” Shane said. Black Rat is out 2 May through I Oh You and DZ kick off their national album tour right here on the Gold Coast at Elsewhere Bar, 8 May. www.blankgc.com.au
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BEHOLD! VELOCIRAPTOR! Brisbane’s music scene is unlike any other in Australia. The bands are a family. They interlock with each other and regardless of genre or musical background each member lands on a revolving carousel collaborating or joining other bands. And then there’s Velociraptor, a structurally coherent 12-piece garage-pop outfit which breaks the rules and doesn’t look back. With a new single, tour and album on the way, it’s all uphill for these prehistoric rompers. The group’s frontman Jeremy Neale got on the line with his crispy, acclaimed sense of humour, to chat with Blank’s Jake Wilton. “Ramona is probably the most literal songwriting I’ve ever done,” Jeremy said, speaking about their giant new single. “It was fresh after a breakup, hanging out with the ex, who is now basically my best friend, which is a beautiful thing … the fresh times of trying to be friends straight after the breakup. So we went to see a movie, and this is how literal the song is, [Ramona I told you / I can’t sit next to you in the cinema when you’re texting other guys] and I could see her always checking her phone to text this other guy. And that destroyed me because I still had feelings for her.” Beyond the dexterity and humorous, “It sounds like you’re interviewing R2-D2,” side to Jeremy, there’s a human underneath it all. Yes, musicians are humans too. The upcoming, and supposedly self-titled, first official Velociraptor LP due for release in July, following on from 2012’s mini-album The World Warriors, doesn’t just dwell on past relationships. “On the new ‘Raptor album there’ll be a couple of songs referencing my bitterness at being working-class, not that I’m always bitter about that! Sometimes the song will relate moreso to existence and how hard that can be… But most of the time it’s about love. You’re right, you got me.” “The overriding theme of the album is… I mean, you can still party to it, but there’s a phase of sadness running through the record as well. I refer to that as late ‘80s Ramones stuff where it’s really sad but you can still move to it. It also feels right to run it self-titled because there may not be another record after this… Who knows?”
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Velociraptor isn’t the only project Jeremy is fronting. He also has his own solo project, which could be said to have also existed around the time of the dinosaurs. Both outfits have similarities, touching on ‘60s garage pop and the swaggering style of Elvis Presley meets Jack White. Yet while Jeremy sees the two bands cross-connected, he notes some factors that make them as entirely different beats.
“I think I let go of the reins a bit more with the ‘Raptors stuff. Even though I’ll pen them the same way, I’ll still write in weird hours of the morning or maybe on an acoustic guitar or just free ball the melodies while I’m driving. I think the finished product and where they end is very different because there’s so many people in the band to add it to.”
“Last week we had Shane [Parsons] come in, I mean he’s been a ‘Raptor since the beginning but also he’s the guitarist from DZ Deathrays. He’s spent the last 4-5 years being a guitar boss, so he’s such a weapon to have in the studio. He takes stuff so far away from where you thought it would end up, it’s brilliant.”
can put out a single every 2 months or so, but in that time you might have written 5 songs that you want the world to hear but they can’t hear them. So how can you release those without people saying they’re sick of hearing about this artist? Maybe give those people an option without ruining the branding that’s associated with songwriting.”
“With the solo thing, it wouldn’t matter if I produced a song that was like a sample beat and keyboard line with my vocals. Whereas there is an expectation with ‘Raptors, as a band, that it’s going to sound like a gang, at some point. It’s like conscientiously keeping things within a parameter. But again, a lot of it is letting go of that in this one and just trying to make a record.”
The remarkable thing about Velociraptor is, as Jeremy pointed out, the 12-strong gang of members moving through minimal instrumentation to exploding guitar riffs. It’s also in the live show, where the majority of the members show their claws, that Velociraptor bring their furious garage riffs to life and differ themselves from Jeremy’s solo outing.
“We’ve got some songs that are quite straight down the line and only sound like they’ve got two guitars and a keyboard on it. Yet, for some reason, at two points within a song, there’s probably 8 people doing a gang vocal track. There’s a spectrum from where we can take it from, going from quite minimal to huge, and it’s knowing when to pull that in and pull it out.” “I never cross-promote the two, so I try and take them as two separate entities. I think, at least, half of the people who are into each one, independently, probably know that I’m in the other one. I kind of run each project seasonally because I can’t stop writing and releasing music – I get really antsy if I haven’t released anything in a couple of months.” “The solo EP came out in November of last year and now this ‘Raptor record will come out in July. By the time that cycle is finished, it will be late September, early October and I’ll put out a new solo single. They balance each other out but it also means I can keep purposely writing for something in the background at all times.” Although Jeremy is an unstoppable writing presence, he claims that having the two projects under his belt allows him, and his audience, to stay fresh and not overdo it. In an already over-filled market, especially Brisbane, it’s easy for punters to become overwhelmed with music variety.
“The biggest critique of the band is that, ‘Oh, there’s, what, fifteen members in the band but it only sounds like there’s four people.’ That’s because it has to be looked at moreso as there’s a gang from which we’re choosing people from for each adventure. So with the live show, it’s always going to be different from our recorded work – we’re consciously aware of that and that’s something that we like. You’ll get a totally different experience out of the live show, and that’s important. If you have a CD and the band replicates the CD live, you might as well have saved your money and stayed at home. The CD has to give you something that you can enjoy on your own, either on headphones or you can dance around in your room to it.”
ILKING MTHE COW Fe
BEER
s ti v al
“With the band, we’ve been playing the same set for the last four moths or so. During the solo shows, though, I can ride through it with banter as well. It acts as the introspective part of the show – the before and after segments of a Seinfeld episode, that’s how I see it. With ‘Raptors, it’s tough because we’ve only been a touring band for about a year now – we’ve played Brisbane maybe four times or so over that year but haven’t done any shows out of the city. In a lot of ways it will be fresh, because of the songs, and the energy will be high, as always.” Ramona is out now via Dot Dash / Remote Control and you can expect Velociraptor’s debut album in July.
“It’s tough because, as a songwriter, you’re inclined to write a lot of music. Yet as a particular artist in a particular form, there’s only so much music you can put out before people stop caring because there’s nothing special anymore. You
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album reviews
BAND OF SKULLS
DAN SULTAN
LIAM FINN
Band of Skulls. This band captured my attention with their debut album Baby Darling Dollface Honey and haven’t lost it since. Hailing from England, this band captures an impressive blues cross garage rock sound that is powerful and driving, the best kind of music in a live scene. They have just released their third album Himalayan, with Asleep at the Wheel being the first tantalising taste released at the end of last year. This album is much like a barrelling train; it never stops, keeping you stuck inside the entire time. Cold Sweat is haunting, the female vocals and backing melodies paint a desolate picture that ultimately ends in a Band of Skulls styled fuzz of intense guitar work and cymbals. Brothers and Sisters boasts tightly composed verses with cracking snare hits, lashing guitar riffs and a perfect melody progressing the song from start to finish. I Guess I Know You Fairly Well ensues with deep tom and bass drum hits, reversed guitar effects and the now-popular quiet verse, loud chorus song structure made famous by the Pixies.
It’s been five long years since Sultan’s last release, but Blackbird was well worth the wait. Described as a mix of country, soul and rock and roll, Sultan’s latest music is much more than that. It’s Australian, and it’s good. Sultan’s new, unique sound can be heard on this third release which flew into stores earlier this month.
Liam Finn’s latest offering in the form of his third album The Nihilist is one that is compositionally interesting.
Himalayan
Blackbird
I feel like Ten Men, Nine Dead and One Dying starts its western styled, sinister riff quickly with the vocal melody only adding to the sinister feel, rounded out by the whirring guitar effects in the chorus. This track in particular would translate exceptionally well in a live setting, and is accordingly a staple of their live shows backing this album. Band of Skulls have only improved from one album to the next, tightening their sound and performance skills live, and this album is a testament to that progression. Kyle Butcher
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From the opening song, Sultan barely comes up for a breath. Each track is distinctfrom the last, and as the album progresses, it gets better and better. From country to soul to blues, to Aussie rock and even the appearance of a didgeridoo, Blackbird takes you on a tour through everything Australian music has to be proud of, and it’s a kick-ass itinerary. The Same Man is the first single to be released from the album. Starting off with a bit o’ Sultan blues lovin’, it’s not long before the banjo is plucking and the male vocals are chanting a catchy hook that you can see a festival crowd having a good crack at. Sultan’s soul prowess is well exercised in Ain’t Thinking About You, and while it took him 10 years to uncover this gem, it has been brought to life in the best way possible - with a killer brass section. I expected Blackbird’s final words to be soulful, reckless and dynamic but on the contrary, Sultan finishes off with Gullible Few - a naive and heart wrenching piano and vocal ballad that shows Sultan in a whole new emotional light. Dan Sultan is back and with independent label Liberation, he has really found his feet. Blackbird is the album he was born to release. If you have felt slightly underwhelmed with his previous releases, please, give this one a chance. It’s good. Really, really good. Emily Hosking
The Nihilist
Opening track Ocean Emanuelle rolls out awesome Sleepy Jackson-esque sounds while track two The Nihilist mixes that sound with Arcade Fire’s beautiful soundscapes. Finn has a track nestled in the middle named after famous actress Helena Bonham Carter, and the lyrics are one you must listen to. The album feels almost dreamlike in its layers of fuzz, reverb and synth notes: every track a showcase of Finn’s years of experience in the music industry. Drearydroop melodically casts back to Finn’s debut album with psychedelic rock flowing through the track in an encompassing wave of sound. The Nihilist clocks in at just shy of an hour which is impressive when pop artists today release mere 40 minute offerings. Liam Finn has progressed so far from playing in Betchadupa, who were famous for My Army of Birds and Gulls and Supa Day, and also from his debut album I’ll Be Lightning which spawned singles Second Chance and Better to Be. Liam Finn has played opening slots for various large acts, such as grunge giants Pearl Jam as well as playing alongside alternative rock quirk Connan Mockasin. This album slots smoothly into today’s music scene and will be an excellent reason for Liam Finn to tour Australia again. We hope. Kyle Butcher
single
a gig review GINGER AND THE GHOST + TSUN Rabbit + Cocoon | 4 April Walking in to Rabbit + Cocoon on Friday 4 April, I thought I’d stumbled upon some sort of jungle carnivale with every face decorated in glitter and gems. The space too was elaborately decorated like a psychedelic retreat with textured fabrics, dream-catchers and a perch swing.
DZ DEATHRAYS Black Rat
Change is perspective. Genre is constrictive. DZ Deathrays are relentless. With high anticipation in the air after purposefully dropping two dynamically different singles – Northern Lights and Gina Works at Hearts – Shane Parsons and Simon Ridley have returned with their most structurally inventive product yet. Black Rat begins with its title track and an instant sense of minimalism sweeps across the song. This trend continues through the 40-minute thrasher and presents a heftier swing toward complex guitar tones. With DZ’s debut Bloodstreams, every song was a guitar-slinging, cymbals-crashing head banger. Black Rat in contrast pans out more moderately as Shane’s guitar swirls over his vocals. Working with Producer Burke Reid has led to the record having a mature sound with Shane singing more than screaming. This results in far more melody on Black Rat, which can be evidenced on Nightwalking – a vacuumed track whose chorus would have never been possible on Bloodstreams. The Brisbane duo have always blurred the margin between genres and interestingly they hold more genre trains than ever before with this second effort. The “heavy-disco” inspired track Fixations could result in some decent remixes if handled by pros. The previously released Northern Lights, which saw DZ fans divided, now has a context to work within – much like Tonight Alright. Ocean Exploder and Reflective Skull bridge the smallest gap between album cycles and are the heaviest on Black Rat. Perhaps the only downfall of the record are the lyrics which have always been a question mark in DZ Deathrays’ music. But the heavily transparent lyrics to the songs do provide a melodic structure for the groundbreaking guitar and drum work. Black Rat shows DZ’s keen resolution to explore new frontiers. Jake Wilton
THE BLACK KEYS Fever
Fever is the latest single to be released by The Black Keys after a three year break following their notorious album, El Camino. El Camino garnered adoration and attention from all and received critical claim, in part from tracks such as Lonely Boy. Once again The Black Keys have formulated another catchy tune with Fever. A band formerly devoted to blues-garage rock, The Black Keys duo have now resorted to the sounds of psychedelic. In order to help the transition toward such a sound, the band called upon one of the biggest producers in the game, Danger Mouse. A man who helped write and produce some of the biggest albums in the past decade including Demon Days by the Gorillaz and several of The Black Keys’ previous works. The product of such a collaboration still holds the bluesy vocals that many remember the band for, however with generous layers of effects reminiscent of the current trending psychedelic theme. The echoing vocals and the pulsing bass line supported by the simple yet playful synths are sure to infect listeners and resonate for days, much like an actual fever… only one that is welcomed.
The night kicks off when Gold Coast up and comers TSUN take to the stage with unreal sounds. Their psychedelic blues style feels like it’s from another lifetime and while they perform I look around the room and every pair of eyes is set on that stage. The distant sounds of the guitar and constant percussion in Marmalade give the feel of wandering lost through the desert and as they move through the set and it builds intensely, I am completely engulfed. Towards the end a balloon full of confetti pops over the crowd, showering us with its insides, making the perfect end to TSUN’s set and the perfect welcome for Ginger and the Ghost. With a gentle yet intense presence, Ginger and the Ghost approach the evening with intimacy and creativity. The set begins with Karl Williams (of TSUN) reading poetry and an animalistic dance display (dressed by Nine Lives Bazaar). This experience feels like I’m watching a band perform a concept album that flows without fault. It’s amazing the amount of sound this duo create! As the set progresses I am captivated by the magic and the child-like playfulness of the performance and after Missy (Ginger herself) reflects on the creation of her out-of-thisworld cape, they move into the 2013 single Where Wolf. After a barefooted drum-off and a swing on the perch, the magic, sadly, must come to a close and I left that night feeling overwhelmed by the amount of creativity, dedication and involvement that went in to create such a special event. Gina Martin
Fever is the first single from The Black Keys’ upcoming album Turn Blue which is set for release 13 May. Jarred Brunt Ginger and the Ghost @ Rabbit + Cocoon
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off the record
HANGIN’ 5 WITH RABBIT RADIO’S SLY STEVE
a week before Blues dad asked me if I’d ever listened to Rodriguez before and I said “Who?” so he gave me Cold Fact to listen to and I fell in love. Rodriguez released two albums in the early 1970s under the label Sussex and neither sold well in the US. He was soon dropped from the label and discontinued a music career. Unknown to the man he had become a household name in South Africa and an inspiration to many people at the time. When Rodriguez caught wind of his fame there he toured South Africa for the first time in 1998 and played to thousands of fans. I love the Rodriguez story! It is such a humble story and he is such a humble man. Filled with politically driven folky blues tunes, I can’t help but wonder why Cold Fact didn’t take off earlier in the US at the time of its release. It’s so relevant! Rodriguez sings about inner city poverty and whatever ‘hipsters’ were called in the 70s (hipsters?). When I listen to Cold Fact now I still get the same feeling I did the first time I heard it, which is something like ‘Where have you been all my life?!’
THE WAR ON DRUGS Lost in the Dream
Since seeing The War on Drugs at Falls Festival over New Years and being totally blown away I’ve been pretty darn excited about the latest album Lost in the Dream. It’s perfect if you’ve had a sleeplessness night and you’re up before the sun, laying in bed not knowing whether to get up or not. Just put this record on and close your eyes. Get lost in the dream. Lost in the Dream is magnificently produced and every time I listen to it I find something I haven’t heard before. The time and detail leading man Adam Granduciel spent perfecting this album proves to be a worth while venture. Following on from the band’s sophomore release, Slave Ambient, Lost in the Dream has this country-like mild psychedelic feel that sucks you in and proves Granduciel an accomplished songwriter. I’m a sucker for coloured vinyl and Lost in the Dream has been brought out on limited edition 180gram purple vinyl and is well deserving of a spot on your shelves.
RODRIGUEZ Cold Fact
I was about 14 when my dad took me to my first Byron Bay Bluesfest. I’d been to Splendour in the Grass and Big Day Out a few times but never to a five day festival before. About 22
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STRYPER
The Yellow and Black Attack! Ahh, Stryper. There is no 80’s Christian glam band like them. I had only ever heard references of Stryper but never actually seen an album or listened to them so when I saw a Stryper record at the markets for $5 I had to buy it! Released in 1984 the debut EP from Styper, The Yellow and Black Attack!, features your classic 80’s glam metal distorted guitars and thick bass lines. The squeals leading man Michael Sweet produces are pretty unreal! To be perfectly honest, I bought this album for comic relief however I have grown quite fond of Sweet’s voice. It’s rather warm and he displays brilliant control. The backing vocals are also really nice. There are a few things that are identifiable as Christian glam on this record like the lyrics, of course, but the backing vocals and harmonies give the depth and warmth of a church choir almost and I think that (obviously) fits in well with the beliefs of the band. As I mentioned earlier I am a sucker for coloured vinyl and when I picked this up at the markets and laughed out loud the lovely stallholder saw what I was holding and laughed too. When I pulled the record out and saw it was this cool translucent blue vinyl I got so excited! I just had to have it. Gina Martin
Who’s your favourite GC artist / band? Right now it’s really exciting, there’s so much talent around. I’m really diggin’ Drag Mondays, their debut ep ‘Bullet for the General’ is killer. Also been listening to Calan Mai a whole bunch and I just got turned onto a new producer KlubKnight. What do you think is the best thing about living on the GC? We’re surrounded by such natural beauty which is pretty special. There’s also a lot of passionate people doing some amazing things right now in a whole bunch of different creative areas. It’s exciting to play a small part in that and to give back to the community. The most under-rated musician right now? Ngaiire comes to mind, her debut Lamentations is amazing and her live set as part of Rabbit Radio presents was incredible. Why she isn’t huge right now boggles my mind. Also Darwin duo Sietta’s new record is incredible and deserves your attention. What brought you to Rabbit Radio? Well music is more than a passion of mine, obsession is a more accurate description. So out of uni I was volunteering with Jazz Radio for about 2 years. Then a friend told me about Rabbit Radio which was about to launch and I loved the idea of a local, community radio station which could reach a world wide audience digitally. I’ve been here ever since doing my show and this year I stepped up as Music Director with another talented cat Jake Wilton. We’re very proud of the content we have right now with a bunch of passionate/obsessed volunteers, it’s a privilege to be involved. If you could give one piece of advice to a large group of people, what would it be? In a broader sense there are so many important issues happening right now that deserve our attention. We need to look beyond short term financial gains and focus on building a sustainable, humane future. That will happen as we get back in touch with our communities and build respectful, supportive relationships. You can listen to On the Sly with Steve every Thursday night from 7.00 – 9.00pm on rabbitradio.com.au.
gig guide MAY Thursday 1 May Rhythm ‘n’ Soul Night: Caleb Lafaitele, Malachi Tuhoro, Denzel Taylor, Priya, The Loft Chevron Island Friday 2 May Iluka ‘12th of July national tour’ + special guests, The Loft Chevron Island The Lyrical, Burleigh Brewhouse Bash Warren Musgrove, Genki Café Palm Beach Velvet Martini, Southport Sharks Saturday 3 May Residual, Real//Talks, Alaska Homer, Jordan Richie, The Loft Chevron Island The Living Room, Miami Marketta Street Food Hell N Whiskey, Southern Cross Tavern from 3.00pm Petula Clark, Twin Towns Jazz in the Basement, hosted by Mal Wood and featuring Ingrid James, The Basement, Arts Centre Gold Coast Sunday 4 May Sarah Frank, Genki Café Palm Beach Circle of Friends hosted by Hussy Hicks featuring Beccy Cole, Chris E Thomas, Libby O’Donovan, Miami Marketta (Rabbit+ Cocoon) Leopold’s Treat, Bambu Bar Palm Beach 4.00pm Kasey Chambers in The Foggy Mountain Jam, Busby Marou, Harry Hookey, Ashleigh Dallas, Twin Towns Thursday 8 May DZ Deathrays, Elsewhere Arundel, Neem, Laura Mardon, Mitchell Ryan, Q The Moon, The Loft Chevron Island Dinkum Bohos, Genki Café Palm Beach Friday 9 May RUFUS, Cooly Hotel Dinkum Bohos, Genki Café Palm Beach Felicity Lawless and band, Miami Marketta Taylor,Marcus Blacke Band, Ayla Briscoe, The Loft Chevron Island Tijuana Cartel, Swingin’ Safari Mason Rack Band, Southport Sharks Barefoot Friday, Burleigh Brewery Hits and Pits: Stung Out, Unwritten Law, Face to Face, The Casualties, Ten Foot Pole, Death by Stereo, Big D and the Kids Table, Masked Intruder, Heartsounds, Implants, HiFi Bar Brisbane
Saturday 10 May Tuesday’s Good EP launch, Jackson James Smith, Sarah Frank, The Loft Chevron Island (all ages accompanied by adults) Velvet Martini, Miami Marketta Street Food Leopold’s Treat - MFest Motherhood Festival Springbrook State School, noon Tijuana Cartel, Swingin’ Safari Mamas New Bag, Tom Ray Jones, Burleigh Underground Drummers Hits and Pits: Stung Out, Unwritten Law, Face to Face, The Casualties, Ten Foot Pole, Death by Stereo, Big D and the Kids Table, Masked Intruder, Heartsounds, Implants, The Northern Byron Bay Sunday 11 May Sarah Frank, The Bluff Café Burleigh Sirens for the Sea Fundraiser with Dustin Thomas and Ziggy Alberts, Mandala Organic Arts Café Mermaid Beach from 3.00pm Anika Mantell, Genki Café Palm Beach Monster Guitars, Tyalgum Hotel NSW Thursday 15 May Monster Guitars, Rails Hotel Byron Bay Friday 16 May Ella Hooper, Soundlounge Currumbin Dinkum Bohos, Mandala Arts Café Mermaid Beach Infinity Broke, Talltails, David Baker, The Loft Chevron Island Mitch Ryan, Burleigh Brewery Apia Good Times Tour: Richard Clapton, Leo Sayer, Joe Camilleri, Russell Morris, Twin Towns Smoking Martha, Stellar Green, Black Diamond, Miami Shark Bar Monky Pharm, Genki Café Palm Beach Saturday 17 May Leopold’s Treat – Palm Beach Currumbin Farmer’s Market Palm Beach Jahkaya, B for Bandit, Kere Keelan, The Loft Chevron Island Eureka Funk, Southern Cross Tavern from 3.00pm Floating Bridges, Street Food Marketta, Rabbit+Cocoon Miami Sunday 18 May Kim Churchill, Soundlounge Currumbin Saskwatch, ADCO Amphitheatre, Bond University (free event, 1.00pm) Sarah Frank, The Village Markets (morning) A Blues Explosion, Miami Marketta (Rabbit+Cocoon) Lisa Hunt, Fisherman’s Wharf
Benny D Williams, Genki Café Palm Beach Friday 23 May Blues on Broadbeach Josh Lee Hamilton Duo, Burleigh Brewery Ben Amor, Genki Café Palm Beach Saturday 24 May Blues on Broadbeach May Alvin and Jahbutu, Miami Marketta Street Food Celtic Thunder, Jupiters Casino Theatre Sunday 25 May Blues on Broadbeach Casey Barnes, Harrigan’s Drift Inn, Calypso Bay from midday) Monky Pharm, Genki Café Palm Beach Friday 30 May Kevin Bennett and The Flood, Soundlounge Currumbin Mar Haze, The Loft Chevron Island White Lodge, Heads of Charm, The Waiting Room West End, Brisbane Nix, Burleigh Brewery Warren Musgrove, Genki Café Palm Beach
Friday 13 June The Paper Kites, The Northern Byron Bay Sarah Frank, Mandala Organic Arts Café Mermaid Beach Sunday 15 June Benny D Williams, Genki Café Palm Beach Kiara Jack & the Jills, Felicity Lawless, Julia Rose, The Joynt West End Thursday 19 June Hard-ons, The Northern Byron Bay Friday 20 June Hard-ons, Coolangatta Hotel Sarah Frank, Genki Café Palm Beach Broadbeach Country Music Festival Saturday 21 June The Angels, Cooly Hotel Broadbeach Country Music Festival Kiara Jack & The Jills, Pacific Hotel Yamba Sunday 22 June Broadbeach Country Music Festival Friday 27 June Ben Amor, Genki Café Palm Beach
30 May – 9 June Cooly Rocks On featuring Slim Jim Phantom
Sunday 29 June Warren Musgrove, Genki Café Palm Beach
Saturday 31 May Jahkaya, Miami Marketta Street Food Angela Fabian Band, Burleigh Underground Drummers Tony Childs, Twin Towns
JULY
JUNE Sunday 1 June Sarah Frank, The Bluff Café Burleigh Circle of Friends with Hussy Hicks, Miami Marketta (Rabbit+Cocoon) Clint White, Genki Café Palm Beach Friday 6 June Fat Daddy, Genki Café Palm Beach Saturday 7 June White Lodge, Drunk Moms, Wod, The Good, Transpotters Grand Central Hotel Brisbane Tuesday’s Good, Miami Marketta (Rabbit+Cocoon)
Thursday 3 July The Beards, Soundlounge Currumbin Kiara Jack & The Jills, Railway Hotel Byron Bay Friday 4 July Dan Sultan, Sounlounge Currumbin Sunday 6 July Nine Sons of Dan, Swingin’ Safari Tuesday 8 July Dan Sultan, The Northern Byron Bay Friday 11 July Lloyd Cole (UK), Soundlounge Currumbin
Send your gigs to news@blankgc.com.au
Sunday 8 June Warren Musgrove, Genki Café Palm Beach
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ECO-BYTES Shearwater world tour begins The adult shearwaters also known as mutton birds in Bass Strait have given their chicks a farewell fish-vomit kiss and started their annual migration to the Northern Atlantic. Their chicks are still flightless, waiting for their adult plumage to get waterproof, only daring to come out of their burrows at night to do a few warm-ups before following mum and dad in the first week of May. Gold Coasters will see them come past on their return leg in Spring, hopefully in better condition than last year when thousands died from hunger and exhaustion. See blankgc.com.au/the-muttonbirds/ for more info. Best of luck to our shearwater buddies. Marine Conservationists commend Philippine Airlines for its shark ban Philippine Airlines, the country’s national carrier has announced it will formalise a freight policy it has recently adopted to stop the shipment of shark fin. It’s being hailed as a win for marine conservationists at Save Shark Networks Philippines who launched an online petition at change.org just 12 hours beforehand. Join Al Gore for a climate reality check Al Gore is re-running his Climate Reality training in Australia this June, bringing together a select group of individuals committed to mitigating the risks of climate change impacts and implementing solutions that will define us to future generations. Climate Reality Leaders influence communities, businesses and governments and the training provides an opportunity to meet and learn from experts and other trained Climate Reality Leaders from a range of professional and cultural backgrounds. The training takes place 25 – 27 Melbourne and expressions of interest are open now with a selection process taking place to choose suitable applicants. Nominations close 23 May and more information is available at climatereality.com. Nerang to host Gold Coast’s biggest tree planting Saturday 24 May will see a massive 10,000 plants in the ground thanks to Nerang River Keepers, doubling last year’s efforts of 5000 plants. Those plants have since created a new wetland habitat in Nerang and this year the group is hoping to attract more than 250 volunteers to get their hands dirty and get those plants in the ground as quickly as possible. All equipment will be provided (heck, even the holes will be dug), all you have to do is show up. It all goes down at Country Paradise Parklands, 231 Beaudesert-Nerang Road on Saturday 24 May from 8.00am until the plants are in the ground and more information is available at goldcoastcatchments.org. Visit Fraser for free Yep, you can visit Fraser Island for free. But there is a catch! You get to spend a week on the island with all expenses paid and sightseeing arranged, but you have to give 20 hours of your time to help with weeding work. The week is being coordinated by Fraser Island Defenders Organisation and takes place from 11 to 17 May. Transport is provided from Brisbane and accommodation is at a beach house in Happy Valley. For more information or to register contact thejohnsinclair@gmail.com.
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Photo courtesy of SHOTS-FIRED by James Wills Volunteer at Avoid Later this month WildMob and Reef Catchments are teaming up to target invasive plants critically endangered rainforest and plastics on turtle nesting beaches across islands in the Cumberland Group. And they’re looking for willing hands to help out. Avoid Island Nature Refuge is one spot to be targeted. It’s home to one of Queensland’s largest flatback turtle rookeries as well as beach scrub rainforest. And with just a little help it could be free of invasive pest plants. The trip, which departs Mackay Marina, takes place 22 – 28 May and there’s a cost of $350 involved. To express your interest send a brief statement about yourself to renee@wildmob.org. Sirens for the Sea Sirens for the Sea is a raw, underground movement embracing conservation as a lifestyle choice. They’re working on two landmark campaigns right now: Save The Kimberley and Protect The Reef. They’ve got big plans for making a documentary in partnership with Surfers For Cetaceans on the coal export terminal at the Great Barrier Reef but to get things off the ground they need some cash. So a fundraiser is being held this month to help rally the troops (and the funds). It all goes down on Sunday 11 May at Mandala Organic Arts Café from 3.00pm and features Dustin Thomas and Ziggy Alberts. As well as entertainment there’ll be some information there about the campaign and how you can get involved. Jump on board, get to the gig and head over to their facebook page (sirensforthesea) to get all the latest news. Green Week 2014 Gecko – Gold Coast & Hinterland Environment Council, along with some special friends, has put together a stellar lineup of activities to celebrate World Environment Day. Indeed, they’ve taken things a step further with a whole week of green goodies to keep you connected to planet and community. There’s stargazing and astronomy, Aboriginal kayak tour of Currumbin Creek, National Whale
Day, coastal scavenger hunt, open day at the Australian Bat Clinic, Elanora Wetlands tour, clean ups, tree plantings and heaps more. It culminates in Gecko’s Wildlife Expo on Sunday 8 June and you can get all the details at goldcoastgreenweek.com. Bentley Blockade So if you haven’t heard about what’s going on at Bentley, just 10 minutes from Lismore, you’ve been living under a rock. Metgasco, A Sydney based gas exploration company wants to drill a gas well 2km deep into the tight sands deposit near the township. Tight sands gas is a form of unconventional gas similar to coal seam gas where lots of wells are required to produce a scommercial flow. One difference is that fracking is almost always required to get the gas to flow from tight sands deposits. Metgasco was due to commence drill site preparation at Bentley in early April, with drilling operations to follow. But they’re not there yet. And that’s partly due to the 2000 odd people who’ve been camping out on-site since early April. Not surprisingly, the camp at Bentley had a steady stream of visitors while Bluesfest was happening just down the road. And the visitors brought some considerable musical clout with them. We’re talking John Butler, Mama Kin, Nicky Bomba, Nahko and Medicine for the People, Declan Kelly, Hussy Hicks, Natalie Pa’apa’a (Blue King Brown) and Luke Vasella. And as we go to print Xavier Rudd and Bobby Alu are heading south for a couple of sets at sundown. It’s being hailed as one of the biggest actions we’ve seen for decades and one month on the number are growing and there’s still no sign of Metgasco. If you’d like to be kept updated, visit csgfreenorthernrivers.org and throw your weight behind this important campaign. Send your eco-news to news@blankgc.com.au.
WATER WARS OVER SPRINGBROOK’S UNDERGROUND EXTRACTION Global soft drink giant Coca-Cola Amatil is under fire from local conservationists over its natural spring water extraction in Springbrook for its Mount Franklin and Palm Springs brands.
groundwater exploitation, which has never been done. The argument is all anecdotal, and evidence suggests creeks that used to flow permanently, now only flow for a few days after heavy rain,” Ms Ash said.
The issue has divided the peaceful community with a feud between local business owners and conservationists who want tighter extraction regulations and proof the water isn’t being extracted at the expense of the World Heritage area’s streams and falls.
“The streams don’t just dry out if it stops raining, they are fed from all of these underground aquifers. They’re taking the water from those underground aquifers and nobody has done the research,” she said.
They are complete opposites, but the Gold Coast’s glitter strip is only minutes away from the Jurassic-Park-like rainforest of Springbrook. A peaceful drive winds up to a rare array of flora, fauna and lush canopies over walking tracks; the fastest way to escape from busy streets and high-rise. The crisp mountain air of the World Heritage Listed Springbrook National Park braces the skin as much as a splash of the mountain water cascading down Purlingbrook Falls, but recently the falls turned into a trickle. The 1996 approval for water extraction from Repeater Station Road in Springbrook permitted two tanker loads each day to be drawn out and transported six days a week. Coca-Cola Amatil’s Mount Franklin and Palm Springs gained approval in 2006 to extract groundwater from the bores. Companies who own the land have no limitations on how much water they’re allowed to take per visit, and they don’t have to pay a cent. Springbrook is not part of a State Government Regulated Water Zone, and little research has been done to prove company owned aquifers aren’t connected to World Heritage sites. Many residents have said the creeks don’t flow like they used to, and some have dried up. Local resident Ceris Ash has been lobbying against the bottled water operation and wants tighter regulation. She said the water extractors blamed the lack of rainfall for the dry creeks but she argued that’s even more reason to stop draining Springbrook’s aquifers. She explained that the people who get upset are the people who want to make money out of Springbrook. “The local business owners who are against the conservationists don’t get that people come for the National Park, and not just for the cafés. The greenies have actually aided their business,” she said. Ms Ash moved to Springbrook in 2006 and invested in renovating and revegetating her 15-acre property, which was formerly weed-infested farmland. She said the government buybacks of farmland create a buffer between the World Heritage areas and built up areas. She has discovered many of Springbrook’s hidden secrets, spectacular look outs and creeks. “After approvals in 1996 there was to be an investigation into
A Coca-Coca Amatil spokesperson said the company is one of many contractors, including other water bottling companies and farmers, extracting groundwater from more than 50 bores in the Springbrook area. “We draw water from bores acquired when we bought the Palm Springs spring water business several years ago on land designated for use for residential dwelling and rural industry. We monitor our water use and fully support a sustainable water management plan for all regions where we source water,” she said.
Springbrook resident Ceris Ash has been lobbying against the bottled water operation and wants tighter regulation.
A Gold Coast City Council spokesperson denied any Gold Coast Water involvement, but said Town Planning issued the permit. “For the purpose of bottled water production, I can confirm that Gold Coast Water does not grant such a permit, nor do we monitor this particular water source,” he said. The man transporting the water, Ray Cavanough said the bores aren’t aquifer water and there are lies being generated about the amount of water extracted. “It’s all lies because the bores don’t yield that amount of water and we only take two loads per day. We have the figures and figures don’t tell lies, but we can’t release them until we are taken to a court of law,” Mr Cavanough said. “SEQ Catchments are looking at doing water extraction studies that will include everybody’s bore,” he said. Veteran Springbrook resident and business owner Errol Barnes has lived in the community for over 40 years. He said the case presented in local media has been emotive and overstated. “This is normally a very wet place, averaging 3m of rain per annum, so usually there is a lot of surface water run-off. At the time the issue came into media focus, it was coming to the end of an extended dry period and so the streams were naturally very low,” Mr Barnes said. Conservationist and local resident Sheila Davis disagreed. She said it’s important to protect these aquifers, as they not only provide water to many residents on Springbrook during periods of low rainfall, but they also do provide water through their springs for the wildlife in the area. “As far as I know, there has been no assessment of the extent of the aquifers or any level of safe extraction. Geologist
Permits allow Coca-Cola Amatil to take two water trucks a day from the Springbrook water bore.
Warwick Wilmott says this would be a massive task. They have no idea where the heritage site aquifers begin and end,” Ms Davis said. “As Springbrook is the water catchment for the Gold Coast and beyond, it should be declared as such and no commercial water should be allowed, particularly as the forests are so dependent upon underground water stores in times of drought,” she said. It’s the oldest dispute in the books – environmentalists versus business owners, and the council is now investigating the matter through the development compliance department. It’s a contentious debate, but both sides welcome the Gold Coast City Council’s investigation into whether the water extraction is to blame for the dry creeks. Shani Ishigaki
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She was also fascinated by how much they were attracted to the research ship she was on in the Ross Sea. The researcher had started by using little boats to get close to the whales to take skin biopsies, but the whales were so interested in the ship she found she didn’t need to. “They were really attracted to the ship. Play around… Roll around the ship… So we ended up taking our biopsy samples off the ship’s hull.” From the genetic tagging she did there, Dr Schmitt made a significant discovery that the East Coast humpbacks aren’t the only whales that use the Ross Sea and Belleny Islands feeding grounds as previously thought. They share it with whales from the South Pacific Population especially New Caledonia. She also said there was very strong evidence that the South Pacific herd sometimes joined in with the East Coast population to hug the Australian coast, so she’s hoping for funding to find out.
“It’s classic baleen feeding. Come in, turn on their side, take a big gulp of water and krill and push the water out through the baleen,” Dr Kelly said. Photo by David Donnelly, under permit.
WHODUNNIT: THE CASE OF THE FAT HAPPY HUMPBACKS As you read this, thousands of fat humpback whales are converging on the Australian East Coast from across the Antarctica. Fattened up and sadly parted from the krill on which they had gorged themselves all summer, a large chunk of the Australian East Coast population is still in the Southern Ocean south of NZ. On the move since the days grew shorter and the ice started coming back and doing about 900kms a month, they are still on the first leg north from their Antarctic feeding grounds in the Ross Sea.
Ross Sea, but through satellite and genetic tagging and song mapping they have found out that the Gold Coast’s favourite marine mammal has feeding grounds much further west than they originally thought. “We are discerning new things about the population all the time,” Melbourne-based whale researcher Dr Natalie Schmitt said.
In summer the Southern Ocean that circles Antarctica is a wild changeable place… High pressure systems with total stillness and acid blue skies… The bedlam of 100 knot blizzards, mountainous seas and shifting ice… Endlessly light… Penguins… Pods of killer whales like puppy dogs, porpoising quickly in a hurry to get somewhere… Graceful minke whales rolling over to look at the plane flying above them… Huge flocks of snow petrels and albatross shepherding the big orange icebreaker Aurora Australis… Rare sightings of super groups when up to 40 whales of different species can be seen in all directions… And humpack whales feeding like there’s no tomorrow… CSIRO statistician Dr Natalie Kelly has worked with the Australian Antarctic Division for seven years and has spent four summers at the Australian Antarctic base - Casey Station. Her research involves aerial surveys of minke whales from a spotter plane. She said saw a humpback down there every few days. Humpbacks go to the Antarctic purely to eat for four months, she said, because they don’t always have the opportunity when they are on their eight month round trip to the Great Barrier Reef to calf. “The go beserk.
Not far ahead of them, more whales are crossing the Tasman Sea from New Zealand to Tasmania or Eden in NSW.
Dr Schmitt, who just finished her PhD on “Australian Humpback Whale Population and Structure” with the Australian Marine Mammal Centre, said as the East Coast population grows their structure and migration is more varied and staggered.
Others are coming straight up from the ice-edge to Tasmania, while still more are coming over from feeding grounds against the ice south of Western Australia.
She spent a summer in the Ross Sea researching the humpbacks and couldn’t get over how fat they were down there.
“That’s it. That’s all they do, except for staying out of the way of the big killer whales.”
The migration patterns are complicated. Not like the Gold Coast light rail – there’s more than one route.
The shape the whales are in when they are breaching for the tourists on the Gold Coast is very different to the big porky condition the marine over-eaters get into down there.
“It’s classic baleen feeding. Come in, turn on their side, take a big gulp of water and krill and push the water out through the baleen,” Dr Kelly said.
“Like chalk and cheese. They are just enormous.”
The East Coast humpback population is going up by 10 percent a year so they are “not food limited”.
Not long ago, scientists thought the whole east coast humpback population spent summer in the Antarctic’s
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“Go bananas. “Feed as much as they can, just over a ton of krill a day.” “Eat!
Humpbacks tend to feed where dense balls of krill mass up against the ice. They eat mostly near the surface but new research done on the South American population near the Antarctic Peninsular revealed they’ll dive up to 200m compared to minkes’ 300m for krill, but only if they need to. And they don’t go as far into the ice as minkes.
beach bits
Greenmount in the 1970s photo courtesy from Ray Sharpe (source: City of Gold Coast)
She called humpbacks the “can can dancers of the whales.” Dr Kelly said when the “humpies” are migrating they’ll only eat when a big ball of fish or krill is put in front of them, so the opportunities are sporadic. However, there’s very good evidence that some of the East Coast humpback population aren’t making the migration south to the Antarctic every year. Instead of migrating, they sometimes stay where there is enough food to sustain them, south and east of Tasmania and around NZ, Dr Schmitt said. “We know they feed off Eden in NSW. They don’t need to go down to the feeding grounds if they don’t have to,” she said. They are a lot more “fickle” than previously thought, with their choices mostly depending on ocean currents and food. There were several cases lately of detours from the norm. For example a humpback was sighted on March 23 near Kiama north of Jervis Bay which is extremely early in the migration cycle. It’s not known if he summered on the east coast or migrated from the Antarctic early. Cetacean researcher David Donnelly said he saw a photo recently of an East Coast humpback taken in an Antarctic feeding ground south of Western Australia, much further west than East Coast humpbacks have been previously documented. The whale scientist had seen the humpback named Bladerunner several times before. The female was easily identifiable with very distinctive scars from devastating injuries inflicted by a ship’s propeller about 10 years ago. “She’s very shy of boats for obvious reasons,” he said. “There’s no question it was her.” More is being revealed all the time about humpbacks, but there is so much that humans don’t know about these animals. As Dr Schmitt said, “The plot thickens.” Mic Smith
COMMERCIALISING OUR BEACHES? Our beaches shape the coast and define our famous city. Without the surf, sun and sand the Gold Coast would be a very different place. So, it’s easy to see how our beaches provide the gold for our economy. Especially considering their awesome beauty attracts approximately 4.6 million domestic visitors and 42 million local visits a year. Regardless of any preconceptions of how the economy does, doesn’t, could or shouldn’t benefit from our beaches, a balanced approach must be achieved so we don’t detract from what nature provides – surf, sun and sand. To achieve balance, the City of Gold Coast recently held city-wide public consultations for the council’s “Commercial Activities on Ocean Beaches Management Plan”. As part of the Ocean Beaches Strategy, the plan aims to ensure everyone can enjoy their beach experience, by adopting a consistent approach to best manage and monitor commercial activities. As every activity has the potential to impact the value of our beaches, the plan will outline the appropriate commercial activities for the ocean beaches in line with award-winning coastal management practices. So, what were some of the views expressed in this consultation? •
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Let’s leave the natural beauty of our beaches alone. We don’t need to be copying ideas from other places. We certainly don’t need commercial activity occupying certain spaces and dictating where locals and tourists alike can walk and sit on the beach. I would like to see ‘less’ commercial activity on the beach, as myself and other people go to the beach to enjoy it’s natural beauty and it’s natural state with the
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least amount of disruptions or ‘man made’ influences as possible. There are less and less places in the world where you can just enjoy the beauty of the environment without a lot of pollution, plastic, chairs etc. For anyone not into theme parks or nightclubs, activities are quite limited along the Gold Coast. I think sunset camel rides perhaps along the beach near SeaWorld would work well. Would it be possible to have ‘movies on the beach’ similar to ‘movies in the park’, bring your own chair, rug / towel for comfort? Expand Surf Clubs’ commercial scope to include renting beach umbrellas and lounges, as that is something lacking for visitors, as that service is generally available at other beaches around the world. However, restricting this type of licensing to the Surf Clubs would help support their critical role for Gold Coast’s beaches. I would like to have lockers on the beach to place my valuables while swimming. No lockers on the beach, but how about the Surf Clubs run a locker service from their buildings?
It’s been an interesting discussion to follow. For more information about the Commercial Activities on Ocean Beaches Management Plan please visit cityofgoldcoast.qld. gov.au/ouroceanbeaches. You can see more comments at gchaveyoursay.com.au: Commercial activities on ocean beaches. Naomi Edwards Griffith Centre for Coastal Management
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THE LOTT CAFÉ & ESPRESSO BAR
delight for the eyes, it’s fresh and delicious.
4/217 Ron Penhaligon Way, Robina
“That looks fantastic!” say diners at the next table, hoeing into their regular brekkie of avocado on sourdough. Of course they’re commenting on my dish. His has been reduced to a pile of rubble! “We come here every weekend,” they add.
“The Lot!” That’s The Farmer’s response to the question, ‘What would you like with that?’ Two decades of farm life have left their mark. A carnivore by heritage, he’d much rather a steak for breakfast than a green smoothie. “The cows have eaten the grass already, so why be a vegetarian!” he quips. Learning that there’s a café named after his food preference he’s downright chuffed! The Lott forms part of a small enclave of shops housing some pretty decent value suburban dining. There’s easy off street parking just outside; one reason why coffees are racing out the door. The other is Lott’s excellent Campos coffee. We sip our coffees and look around at the recent refurbishment. Owners Ashleigh and Jarrad Moore have created a cosy welcoming spot. They greet regulars by name, and the restaurant features a huge chalkboard full of patrons’ grateful comments. Looking through the brekkie menu of homemade Bircher Muesli, Eggs Bene, BLT, and even omelette, The Farmer keeps scanning, searching. Until he finds his treasure: The Lott Breakfast!
The lunch menu is full of light flash food: deluxe burgers f eaturing eye fillet, chicken schnitzel or tofu, including a serve of chips; Peri Peri duck shanks, hot dogs and salads. The Lott Burger is the biggest Friday night sale item. It’s asy to see why! Laden with a 100% Aussie beef burger and salad, and spiked with a skewer of bacon, it’s a beautiful sight. This is a real burger. Not the fast food impersonation often seen in town, it’s a burger like they used to make in country cafés before haute cuisine gave us sliders. The Lott is a great alternative to facing the clatter of the stiletto set in town. Funky but relaxed, it provides a cosy suburban nook to kick back during weekend hours, or to catch-up with friends. You can come here for a quiet meltdown after the working week, a wind down, or a re-pump with a healthy or indulgent breakfast. Marj Osborne Read more of Marj’s reviews on Good Food Gold Coast www.foodgoldcoast.com.au
He was in for a treat: Eggs, bacon, mushrooms, baby spinach, tomato, a fine continental pork sausage, hash brown and two slices of sourdough toast. The plate is piled high with a veritable feast!
BONITA BONITA
My Brekkie bruschetta is more of a piece of art: poached eggs and bacon strewn across a bed of tomato, basil pesto and crumbled feta, on top of Turkish bread. Filling, but a
If the spirit of Frida Kahlo descended onto the Gold Coast, I am sure that she would come to rest in Bonita Bonita. Besides being kindred Mexican spirits with their own unique artistic
The Lott @ Robina
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2460 Gold Coast Highway, Cnr Glenelg Ave., Mermaid Beach
Bonita Bonita @ Mermaid Beach
styles, Bonita’s owner/chef Morgan Walsh (ex Commune) bears a striking resemblance to the famous Mexican artist. By day the façade of the restaurant is unimpressive; just another shopfront tucked away in an uneasy L-shaped backwash off the highway on the ‘wrong side’ of Mermaid Beach. Another wall and doorway, a reasonably ordinary façade, how exciting could this taqueria and bar possibly be? But our first visit to Bonita Bonita proved how wrong we were to judge by appearances. Arriving very early on a mid-week night, we barely scrape a one hour spot on the verandah. The restaurant is a hive of activity, literally buzzing, and fully booked. We order a jug of sangria to quell the nerves. Deadly! “You could drink gallons of this (if you take the time to book a table),” I slurp between sips. “Or you could bathe in it!” says the Main Squeeze. I’m calming down nicely. Hugely excited, but too close a call! We’re soon to see what all the fuss is about. Although compact, the menu’s full of treasure. Divided into five sections (Empezar – To Begin, Especialidades – House Specialties, Lados – Sides, Tacos and Postre – Dessert), it’s a feast of choices meant to be shared. Dish by dish, the parade begins, some of the best modern Mexican cuisine that we’d had in years! No refried beans, yellow rice and puddle of mince under a hood of melting cheese here! Each dish brings fresh clean tastes, a kaleidoscope of texture and colour: a rich almost smoky snapper and scallop ceviche bathed in chillied coconut milk accompanied by excellent tortilla chips, Leek quesadillas with a modern twist of beetroot and slivers of fennel, Tacos filled with Crispy snapper or Pulled pork topped with slaw and fresh salsa, and two soft Chorizo croquettes on a bed of lettuce. There’s a tang of chilli on each dish, plenty more in the tiny bottles of Cholula and Bufalo on the table if you want to ramp up the heat! With dishes ranging between $9 and $15, it’s affordably close to an authentic street food experience.
A look at the wine list shows us the choices for next time: some excellent craft beers (locals from Burleigh Brewing and Stone & Wood; Dos Equis, Doss Blockos and Sol), cocktails, as well as wines from Chile, Spain, Argentina and Australia. I sneak off for a wander to take a few snaps. We know it’s been a communal decorating effort, and by night the interior is aweinspiring! As the sun sets, the rouge of tealights bounces off the blonde wood tables. It’s Day of the Dead meets a Latino shrine. No, we’re not in a converted church; the only homage here is to the fresh authentic street food of Mexico, adapted to a Gold Coast locale. Bonita Bonita is in so many ways far too interesting to be ‘cute’ or ‘pretty’ (as its name implies). Instead, it reminds us of a Frida Kahlo painting: Que bonita es la vida... How beautiful is life! There’s a surprise around every corner.
of pastas, salads and small share plates you would expect to see on any pizza restaurant menu worth your time. Beyond the food, one of the most impressive aspects of Pizza Bar is that it has been wholly created by owner Scott Horn who is only in his early twenties. This is the second restaurant Scott has opened on the Gold Coast, he also owns a more casual pizza bar in Helensvale. With two restaurants under his belt already I think we can expect to see Scott continue to contribute to the Gold Coast dining scene in years to come. Pizza Bar pride themselves on getting to know their customers and catering to their needs as best they can. They have carved a little niche for themselves, adding some buzz to the Miami pavement of an evening. If casual dining is your thing, a trip to Pizza Bar will reward you with affordable, good quality fare served with a friendly chat. Chloe Popa
Marj Osborne Read more of Marj’s reviews on Good Food Gold Coast www.foodgoldcoast.com.au
DAARK ESPRESSO BAR PIZZA BAR MIAMI
Shop 2/41 Musgrave Avenue, Chirn Park
1916 Gold Coast Highway, Miami
When it comes to great coffee, those of us who live on the southside of the coast are really spoiled for choice, but what about our poor northern GC friends? Well pity them no longer, for Daark Espresso Bar in Chirn Park is here as a shining beacon of caffeinated hope for the northern masses!
I’m biased, this is my local and I have a natural tendency to think everything is good. But when I moved to the Gold Coast from one of Brisbane’s trendiest suburbs I was thrilled to see this new restaurant opening just around the corner. With it’s open plan dining and outdoor seating, the Pizza Bar has filled a gap in its locale, offering a spot for casual dining and a few drinks and I hear plans for live music on weekends are in the pipeline. I have sampled my fair share of pizzas from the Pizza Bar menu, none have disappointed. Always a generous amount of fresh toppings on a thin and crispy base. A standout for me is the garlic prawn pizza with strong, simple flavours punctuated by fresh juicy prawns. The pizza menu is complimented with a selection
Pizza Bar @ Miami
the coffee machine at its heart. Helmed by the easygoing Jareth and Leah, who worked in Sydney’s demanding hospitality industry for 16 years before they moved to the Gold Coast to utilise their skills and passion to open their own place. Jareth is clearly a coffee lover and we had a great chat about the coffee culture emerging on the Gold Coast. Daark’s coffee is supplied by Supreme Roasters in Yatala, with their single origin offering changing at least once a fortnight. Jareth informs me that his favourite single origin is the Kenyan Candy, which he recommended that I come back to sample. The single origin on offer during my visit was the Brazil Ipanema Dulce, which made for a syrupy full-bodied espresso that packed a big hit of roasted hazelnut flavour. A piccolo of the single origin brought out a creamier chocolate flavour accented by smooth nutty notes. Daark’s house speciality is the Beach blend, which I enjoyed in a sweetly scented long black that offered a flavour sensation of sweet caramel, chocolate and hazelnut. Upon sampling my friends’ cappuccino and flat white the flavour smoothed out into a creamy, nutty comfort. Daark is open Monday to Saturday 6.30am to 4.00pm and is closed Sunday. For great coffee in an inviting setting I can thoroughly recommend you make the trip to Daarkside. Catherine Coburn
Less than six months old, Daark is already generating a lot of excellent word-of-mouth. Many of my friends and co-workers pestered me to make the trip to sample their caffeinated wares and when we made a call out on social media for Blank readers’ favourite caffeinated watering holes, this little gem came up trumps. Daark offers a chilled, boutique-like experience to café patrons who seek refuge from the busy street into an inviting modern space with warm wooden tables, industrial pendant lights, and
Daark Espresso Bar @ Chirn Park
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BREAKING BLANKS:
Currumbin Alley Image courtesy Sean Scott Photgraphy 21C James Street, Burleigh Heads | seanscottphotography.com.au Currumbin Alley is one of the five magic sand-bottom point breaks the Gold Coast is famous for. The name Currumbin has a few roots. According to the Australia Post Office History, the word Currumbin means high up or place where high trees grow. Other sources say Currumbin is derived from kurrohmin, meaning kangaroo, taken from the book by JG Steele Aboriginal Pathways in Southeast Queensland and the Richmond River. Another theory holds that Currumbin is of Indigenous origin and means quicksand. In the late 19th century, coaches took mail and passengers from Southport over the Nerang River via Meyers Ferry. According to an historic letter written by Isobel Hannah to Mr Hartley of Geelong, in the old days of travel along the coast, horses and carts had to ford across the creeks at Currumbin and Tallebudgera which coul only be negotiated at low tide. But horsemen had to be careful owing to the quicksand which was prevalent in Currumbin Creek. They travelled along the beach to finally reach Coolangatta - Tweed Heads. This all happened well before surfers were gliding across the long walls at Currumbin. At one stage the mouth of Currumbin Creek was as far north as Palm Beach Avenue. But Currumbin Alley? Erosion was always a problem at Currumbin, and before the construction of the seawall that runs out to Currumbin Rock, the rock was actually like an island with deep water running between the rock and the beach.
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It was known for sharks and was dubbed Shark Alley. Many a surfer used to paddle out to the rock across Shark Alley, climb up and jump out again. From Shark Alley it was shortened to The Alley or Currumbin Alley as it is known today. The seawall to the rock was constructed in 1973, and the training wall for the creek completed in 1981. So even though Shark Alley is gone the name still kind of remains. Currumbin has always been a popular break, particularly with longboards, learners, SUPs, and other water craft. The long winding walls of The Alley can produce world class waves with long sand-bottom tubes that wind endlessly towards Lacey’s Lane. Being such a popular place with surfers, boaties and other recreational users, The Alley has seen quite a bit of controversy. Local surfer Richard King was killed when a boat struck him in 2011, with another surfer being stuck by a boat and breaking an arm in 2013. Calls for a dredged boating channel have caused uproar amongst surfers, and as any local could tell you a dredged channel will only last until the first groundswell moves the sand and once again closes the channel. Mother Nature is funny like that. She nearly always wins. The local boardriders club is The Alley Boardriders, original known as Salt City Boardriders. Forming in 1981 after a split with Palm Beach Boardriders, Keith Halford and Brad Smith formed the club at a meeting at Palm Beach Hockey Club.
Surfers of note from The Alley Boardriders include former WCT surfer Luke Munro, and World Amateur Champions Grant Frost and Mark Richardson. The Alley Boardriders have a swathe of up and coming juniors and are always one of the most competitive clubs in Queensland with a strong junior development program, and if you would like to find out more about the club, check out . Yes Currumbin Alley is one of the busiest breaks on the coast with all sorts of aquatic craft gracing its waters. But that unique rock, sitting out there since ancient times watching the sunrises and sunsets, where you can look north or south along the coast, is something really to behold. And if you happen to get one of those long winding walls at The Alley, it will be a wave you will remember. My Dad still tells a story from the early 70s, shooting through a sunlit tube in the late afternoon at Currumbin, and he still believes it is one of the best waves on the coast. He’s not wrong, it is under-rated; and The Alley boys and girls like it just that way. Terry ‘Tappa’ Teece Read more about The Alley Boardriders at alleyboardriders.com.
THE BLANK WHITE WALLS OF A CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE On a quiet side street in Miami, Gold Coast, in a block of industrial units you will find The Walls contemporary art place squeezed between a pool shop and a mechanic. If this isn’t contemporary reality of Gold Coast then what is? The Walls is something you don’t quite expect, something that might just surprise you and something you will likely enjoy whole-heartedly.
GOLD COAST SUPANOVA 2014
The Walls works by inviting expressions of interest from artists annually and selects approximately 12 artists to form the exhibition calendar. The chosen artists are invited to exhibit for 3 weeks at a time and paid a fee to help facilitate the show. It’s an even playing field for local, Australian and international artists, which creates an intriguing mix of backgrounds, nationalities, ambitions and mediums.
With Surfers Paradise clubs less than four kilometres away, it’s a little odd seeing crowds of people dressed as fictional characters making their way to Broadbeach for Supanova. The nationally touring pop-culture expo kicked off its 2014 tour at the Gold Coast Convention Centre. Affectionately nicknamed Goldnova and attracting over 20,000 visitors, it is Australia’s response to America’s Comic-Con.
So far in 2014 The Walls has seen installations of forms and colour in Chris Bennie’s part-documentary, part-abstract and part-science fiction piece Fern Studio Floor; a Cosmology. It is a series of image-based works, videos and installations in < 3 by Nat Patton and Making Friends; a collaboration between Australian David Creed and Angela Rossitto, and New Zealander Justin Jade Morgan. Leisure Kitsch is brought to The Walls in April by two Sydney based artists Bonita Bub and Marilyn Schneider. The first time collaboration of these two artists has created a piece that toys with the notion of isolating a structure from its purposeful, functional environment, introducing it to a gallery context. It becomes an object of nothing but colour, form and materials. They take the colour palette from images of marine furnishing in yachts, bars and resorts in the famous American counterparts of the Gold Coast; Miami, Florida, and draw attention to lifestyle parallels. Gold Coast artist and creator of The Walls exhibit, Rebecca Ross, had a vision of creating a contemporary art space on the Gold Coast dedicated to presenting experimental and innovative artwork. She saw a gap in the way art was presented on the coast and found a need for a permanent platform for artists to connect with their peers, and to engage in dialogue beyond the local geography. Her vision took a concrete shape and form in 2013; an opportunity had presented itself through a studio residency in Rabbit + Cocoon creative precinct. Rebecca was able to open her studio to exhibit other local contemporary artists. By the end of the year the art had outgrown the space and she had to relocate. Rebecca also joined forces with fellow local artist, Dylan Quirk, to direct and coordinate the art space and its program. Rebecca has come full circle since she graduated from Miami High School. She studied art in Brisbane; worked, lived and traveled overseas as well as across Australia before returning home to the Gold Coast.
Her own artistic ambitions had engaged her in working with mixed materials and textiles to produce works that reflect geography and cartography. And now she is using her artistic connections, vision and determination to put Gold Coast on the contemporary art map. As Rebecca points out, there are still too many misconceptions and ideas based on the Gold Coast from some time ago when the city was seen as just a beach town and tourism centre. Rebecca and Dylan were very aware that if they were going to create a permanent platform to exhibit contemporary art, it had to attract attention from Brisbane and beyond. From the overwhelming response they have received, it’s clear they have succeeded. Exhibitions on the Gold Coast are becoming increasingly desirable, interesting and artistically fulfilling; and we, as an audience, are welcoming it with open arms. So whether you are an art lover, an aspiring artist or simply a proud Gold Coaster pop around to The Walls and surprise yourself with an artistic experience in our own backyard! Despite all the jargon of an art connoisseur and the sometimes slightly scary reputation of contemporary art; this exhibit will entertain and inspire you regardless of your background. Anna Itkonen The Walls is located at 4/18 Mountainview Avenue, Miami and open on Thursdays 3.00pm – 8.00pm, Fridays - Sundays 10.00am – 3.00pm or by appointment. For more information visit thewalls.com.au.
The expo gives Australia access to the greatest cult TV, film, anime and video game celebrities, as well as rare merchandise, panels, workshops, premiere screenings and competitions. Whatever your fandom, there’s something for you at the expo. The main attractions at Goldnova were Lucy Lawless of Xena: Warrior Princess fame, Peter Mayhew who acted as Chewbacca in the original Star Wars trilogy and Verne Troyer, who acted as the popular pint sized villain Mini-Me in Austin Powers. These stars and their counterparts walked through the crowds going to and from their signing and photo sessions as well as their seminars in which fans could ask questions. The volunteers took their roles very seriously, which showed a high level of professionalism. The only problem I had with the volunteers was when I hit it off with Michael Rooker, from The Walking Dead series in my photo shoot and he wanted to take a second photo even though I only paid for one. I approached the volunteers to collect my photos and they were reluctant to give me the second photo unless I paid for it, but they eventually relented. The stalls were packed full of every pop culture and gaming enthusiast’s dreams, and the massive League of Legends setup was a sight to behold. The finals of Australia’s League of Legends championships, or LoL as it is commonly known, were carried out over Goldnova’s two days, and the games were carried out live in front of the audience on big screens that could be seen from almost any spot in the main area. For a cheap entry into a high quality, ‘Supa-Star’ packed convention such as this, its no wonder Supanova is attracting a growing number of pop culture fans from every walk of life. Kyle Butcher www.blankgc.com.au
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A NEW LEASE OF LIFE FOR COURAN COVE It had been fifteen years since my last visit to South Straddie, so when I received an invitation from Couran Cove Island Resort’s new management to visit as their guest, I jumped at the chance. It’s been 16 years since the resort first opened. A pet project of Ron Clarke (before he was Mayor) and his philanthropist friend Chuck Feeney, the original development was marketed as a rather exclusive affair. Feeney poured some $280 million into the resort, propping it up until it finally fell into liquidation in 2011. Two years later it was bought by Craig Dowling and re-opened under the Ramada brand, part of the hospitality giant Wyndham Hotel Group. CEO John Muntz said when he first inspected the facilities; it looked like they’d stopped working just a few hours ago. “In the kitchen there were chopping boards just sitting there, with knives next to them ready to go,” he said. Thankfully, the original development has stood the test of time. Built from sustainable materials, and designed to blend in with the natural environment, the resort’s 352 units are still in fantastic condition. And you’re spoilt for choice: studio apartments, one bedroom suites, two bedroom lagoon lodges and four bedroom villas are dotted throughout the resort’s lush 150 hectares. Many of the resort’s original sustainability principles are still intact and it is a fairly low-impact holiday. As well as processing its own waste and sewage, the resort’s grounds include 12 kilometres of walking and cycling tracks through stunning and mostly intact coastal bushland. There are also kayaks and bikes available for hire. The ferry terminal at Hope Harbour is under renovation, slated for completion in June. But just over half an hour after leaving, you’re stepping off that boat into a sparkling marina. As you step off the ferry, there’s no mistaking you’re in a coastal paradise. From the pavilion style open air reception, the boat-house looking apartments, the timber gangways and strong pastel colours, you’ll soon realise that things don’t happen at a cracking pace at Couran Cove. And you probably won’t care. With 40 people arriving by boat all at once, check-in can be a bit lengthy. But it’s breezy, the lobby is well appointed, and if you’re lucky there’ll be wallabies who decide to come and greet you when you arrive. Oh, and there’s also a bar. Once we were checked in, we met new CEO John Muntz for a guided tour. On the back of a golf buggy we zoomed from the marina to the surf beach, through rainforest, passing dozens of guests out on bikes enjoying the afternoon or
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meandering barefoot to the resort’s sparkling pool (I highly recommend the Midori Splice if you find yourself there at happy hour). We joined some other guests for pre-dinner drinks, watching the sun’s colours shift across the marina, then were treated to a degustation dinner at The Restaurant, sacrificial guinea pigs for Executive Chef Chris McIntyre who was testing new menu items. The deconstructed beetroot with goat cheese and candied pistachio nut, our first course, isn’t something I’d ever considering ordering off a menu. Until now. Wow. To think you could do so many things with a beet. And the courses kept coming. Tuna seared with dukkah, crispy skin pork loin with warm lentil and kale salad, pan friend scallops with pickled fennel, duck breast with pear tarte tatin. And to top it all off, a white chocolate brulee with dark chocolate fairy floss and praline ice cream. Previously Executive Sous Chef at Palazzo Versace and Atlantis The Palm in Dubai, Chris joined us between each course to introduce his offerings, and I can’t help but feel he’s really enjoying this job and this is reflected in the diversity of the menu and the quality of the food. A quick scan of online review sites makes it obvious that the resort has had some teething problems since re-opening 12 months ago. John Muntz says that reopening the resort after a lengthy period in caretaker mode has had its challenges. “Due to the enormous infrastructure here, there have been a number of hidden surprises.” He says that they’ve worked hard to refurbish the resort back to its former glory, revamping accommodation, restaurant facilities, the rainforest boardwalks and leisure infrastructure. Samantha Morris was a guest of Couran Cove Island Resort for her visit to the island.
If you go • Be sure to understand what you’re booking. There are privately owned apartments and houses on the island and if you book through a third-party website you may be booking one of these. • It costs nothing to visit the island as a daytripper. The ferry costs $30 per person ($15 for kids 4 – 12) and boaties can moor at the marina for $50 per day or $100 overnight. Boaties receive half that fee back in food and beverage vouchers. • Like any natural environment, you’ll find all sorts of interesting creatures. Including mozzies and midgies. Take insect repellent or wear loose fitting light coloured clothes to avoid being hammered. • While on the island, take a sea plane ride over the Gold Coast’s stunning waterways. We were the guests of Peter, from Cloud9SeaPlanes. He’s kept busy with dropping people at remote beaches for marriage proposals, romantic picnics and the usual joy flights. You’ll see him cruising around the resort looking for victims, I mean passengers. It’s a unique perspective on the GC and you will not regret taking the flight.
HOW AUSTRALIA MADE ME (A BIT) GREENER I am a self-proclaimed environmental advocate. What qualifies me to be one? I was in the environmental law practice in the Philippines; I practise waste segregation at home (and outside, where practicable); my family and I ride our bicycles as often as we can; we only have one car; we don’t eat processed food, and we keep ourselves aware of environmental issues in the Gold Coast, Australia, and the world.
5-6 July 2014
Our lifestyle back in the Philippines was more laid back and we were so intertwined within our small community that we can easily forget about the environment. But I didn’t. We tried our best to live an eco-friendly lifestyle and I kept myself informed of the various environmental policies and practices within the island and in the country. I thought I couldn’t get any greener that that! Until I came to the Gold Coast – my family’s new home. First world consumerism gave me a bit of a shock when we first migrated. I saw scores of packaged instant meals and drinks in huge plastic bottles in supermarket aisles; fruits and vegetables bigger than me; one car for every person; and complete baby equipment for one baby. And as expected, people stock up on a lot of meat, wine, beer and spirits in their kitchens! We decided to grow some vegetables in our garden here, something we never even thought about in the Philippines. After thinking about why this could be, I came up with one answer. Back in the Third World, locally grown fruits and vegetables seem to be a lot smaller. They don’t look ready for a photo shoot, but they are tasty and sweet. Here, most produce look like they are on steroids! Some can be tasty and worth lugging around with that extra weight, but they’re too much for my family to consume. I’m not sure how much of this super-sized produce is eaten and how much is thrown away. “We need more jobs” seems to be a battle cry in this country. I thought it was just a Third World concern. With the global financial crisis threatening our workforce, I would’ve thought that the first world governments – who have more capability to spend on education and social welfare – would be the first to help their citizens become more self-sufficient. The Philippines have much smaller areas of land, but the ‘lower class’ citizens – who don’t have jobs in the first place - will probably survive with their own produce if the global economy collapses entirely. I’m new to this country and I don’t claim to have enough knowledge about the societies and the cultures that Australia is based on. But at this point, I believe that I have become more appreciative of our environment. I am more aware of how both countries’ governments and citizens are relating to their environments –positively or negatively. Both countries are rich in natural resources and are in environmentally significant geographies, but I had higher expectations from the Australian government to be more aggressive in pushing for environmental consciousness and protection among its citizens.
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MARGARET OLLEY ART CENTRE
Australia for the UK at the time because the media attention she received was so intrusive. Susi Muddiman wonders about the reasons for the attention. “Was the attention because Dobell’s painting was the winner of the Archibald, or because she was so beautiful and Dobell had painted her so flamboyantly? Or was it simply because he had chosen to paint her?” In 2011, Olley was the subject of a painting by a second Archibald prize winner, Ben Quilty. While that painting is on loan to the Art Gallery of NSW right now, Muddiman is confident that Quilty will eventually loan his painting to MOAC. There are already 33 paintings gifted to the Tweed gallery painted by Margaret herself, as well as other artists’ works she had owned. They are on display inside the house at the centre. The gift is enduring, and more works will be acquired in July this year.
A year ago, the new diagnostic bible for psychiatrists, the DSM 5, was published and a new disorder was invented. Hoarding disorder is defined as the acquisition of and failure to discard possessions that are of limited value, leading to clutter and rendering rooms non-functional whilst compromising safety and hygiene. Thankfully, the celebrated Australian artist, Margaret Olley, passed away 2 years before the invention of a disorder that would have boxed her into a treatable diagnosis, rather than respecting her as the inspiration and National Treasure that she was. Olley’s ‘clutter’ from the terrace house she owned in Paddington in Sydney’s eastern suburbs has been meticulously transported to the Tweed Regional Gallery in Murwillumbah where an exact recreation of part of her home and studio now stands as the Margaret Olley Art Centre (MOAC). Olley, who was born in Lismore NSW, initially bequeathed the contents of her home and $1 million to The Lismore Regional Gallery. However, the Lismore City Council weren’t convinced of the benefits of building an Olley wing, so the next choice was the region where Olley spent much of her childhood on a sugar cane farm on the Tweed River. The Tweed Council had a more welcoming attitude and Lismore’s loss became Murwillumbah’s gain. Susi Muddiman, Tweed Gallery’s Director, grew up in Lismore herself. She says she has now “gotten over the guilt” of the Tweed Regional Gallery winning the new art centre over Lismore and is clearly thrilled to have MOAC based in the Tweed. Muddiman was hands on with the painstaking move from Sydney to the Tweed, even packing a few boxes herself. There are 22,000 pieces in the recreation of Olley’s house and more in storage. Even some of the original door frames and windows were brought to their new home at MOAC. 34
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Although much of the dust and smell of the old house still permeates the rooms, the only items that were professionally cleaned before being laid out at the gallery were the kilim rugs. However, any clean freaks viewing the exhibition will soon be won over by the fact that the apparent chaos is more organised than it first appears. All vases, flowers, bottles, pots, ribbons and brick-a-brack are thoughtfully placed as if in readiness for the artist’s next still life painting. Many items were also deliberately stacked as props to help Margaret move around the house as she became increasingly debilitated with age. Where there were no props to help, there was ‘Moses’, her walking frame, replete with Chanel ribbons and a horn. The entire house was crammed full of items to enable Olley to paint in all parts of the house depending on where the light was. Where she painted was at the mercy of the light. The famous Yellow Room, which Olley painted numerous times, was the brightest room until the garden became overgrown and covered the windows. Olley loved the ramshackle nature of the garden. She even kept dead flowers in the house because they too represented life. Muddiman says she admires Margaret’s resolve in choosing early on to paint still life and interiors, and to stick with that decision. In the 60’s there were plenty of Dobell-esque landscape paintings around that were a little dark and foreboding. The art world was very much a man’s world at the time. Olley could not command the same money for her paintings as her male counterparts, yet she was uncompromising in painting her genre, and indeed, making art the centre of her world. However, she did become overwhelmed at the attention she received after William Dobell won the Archibald prize for his painting of her in 1948. She left
It is hoped that private collectors will be encouraged to gift their works to the gallery in future. Already, one Brisbane collector has donated a painting of Farndon, the Olley family home in Brisbane that burnt down in 1982. Many of Olley’s early works were unfortunately lost in the fire, so it was particularly exciting to have had that painting donated only one day after MOAC opened. While Muddiman says the Margaret Olley Art Centre is a huge commitment to have, she is buoyed by the “sensational” feedback she has received. She is finding interest in MOAC incredible, and while she expected interest to have plateaued by now, it is just getting busier and busier. The Margaret Olley Art Centre is a local gem we are very fortunate to have in our region. Pip Andreas Margaret Olley paintings from Philip Bacon Galleries Brisbane are on loan to the Margaret Olley Art Centre until September this year. The Tweed Regional Gallery and Margaret Olley Art Centre is open 10.00am to 5.00pm Wednesday to Sunday. Admission is free.
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DANCING IN DEFIANCE On the surface this is the simple story of Chrissy Keepence, a woman whose infectious love of Lindy Hop / Swing dancing is propelling the next generation of dance enthusiasts on the Gold Coast to giddying highs. A woman who, along with her husband Ray, are on a mission to share their passion for Lindy Hop, Shim Sham, Charleston, the retro look and all things swing with the younger generation. Dance teachers are asking for more young men to sign up so their female students don’t have to swing alone anymore.
keep it together. When I’m at my worst I come to class and the music, the energy and the students lift me,” she said.
Beneath all this, however, is the story of a woman so beset by grief that dancing is an act of defiance to despair.
She went on to research other dance styles in books and videos - this was pre-google.
Chrissy Keepence’s sister, Elisha Neave, is a single mother living on the Gold Coast with a rare form of ovarian cancer. Chrissy’s mother also has cancer. Chrissy’s grandmother, great grandmother and aunt all died as a result of the inherited Bracall gene. Her father died just 11 months ago of liver cancer, two weeks before a fundraising walk in aid of her sister’s treatment.
Chrissy’s epiphany came when she saw Frankie Manning’s 80th birthday celebrations and knew straight away that’s what she wanted.
Chrissy and her other sister Veronica have both had double mastectomyies in order to avoid the same fate – they had tested positive to the dreaded gene which meant a 85-95% chance of getting the cancer. Elisha was planning on doing the same but wanted to have more children first. She didn’t realise how little time she had. “We’ve been in a little bit of a crisis stage,” said Keepence.. “We’ve run out of funds so we couldn’t afford to send them to Germany where they’re doing some revolutionary treatments that aren’t available in Australia because they’re not yet approved by the FDA; so we’re sending them to China. We were putting them on the plane last week but Elisha got an infection. Mum’s declining as well. They’ve both been four weeks without treatment….we haven’t yet reached the point where we have to sell our house and we are hoping not to have to but we will if it comes to that.” Chrissy credits swing dancing for helping her keep it together: “It has been my outlet…I can’t fall apart, I have to
Ironically it was her mother’s illness that prompted Chrissy’s journey into Lindy Hop in the first place. “When mum first got cancer I came down to Queensland [from Darwin] to be with her. I took her to Rock’n Roll but I found it too simple,” she said.
Frankie Manning was a very cool cat and choreographer who would be turning 100 on 26 May this year, were he still alive. Now crowned World Lindy Hop Day, 26 May is a celebration of Manning’s life and the dance he influenced so much; performing the world’s first aerial with partner Freida Washington in a swing dance competition at New York’s Savoy Ballroom in 1935. This year his birthday, ‘Frankie 100’ will be huge. Thousands of people from all around the world are flying to New York to celebrate with dancing in Central Park, workshops and performances. Dance schools across the globe including the Keepence’s will learn a Frankie Manning routine, which will then be edited into one amazing global dance montage. “For ‘Frankie 99’ people were really creative, one German group danced on beds with things on their heads and some other people danced whilst scuba diving,” said Keepence. After discovering swing, there were two things on Chrissy’s bucket list. The first was to bring Swedish Dance Troupe, Rhythm Hot Shots out to Australia. The second was to dance with Frankie Manning. She’s done both.
Not only did Chrissy dance with Frankie Manning, but also Manning asked Chrissy and Ray to join his teaching team. The Keepences went on to start their own dance school called Kat’s Corner, which was a corner of the Savoy Ballroom where all the cool cats, including Manning used to dance. The Lindy Charm School was subsequently born out of Kat’s Corner as Chrissy started teaching and styling girls. The couple later took a few years break from dancing until just last year when Swing on In was born. The new dance school is booming in Tambourine, Broadbeach, Bangalow and Towoomba but still crying out for more men. “How do we get more young, hot guys to come to class? Boys who can dance always get the girls, so how can we get them to give it a try?” she said In addition to Swing on In and the Lindy Charm School, the Keepences are also on the verge of launching the next big craze in fitness - Swing Fit. It’s the new Zumba, only with swing moves and awesome swing dancing tunes. They just hope that Elisha will one day be well enough to join in. For more information or to donate visit: helpelisha.com.au
Karin Von Behrens
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