BMA Magazine 484 - 17 August 2016

COVER LINE INSIDE: INFO

BEN FOLDS

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REGURGITATOR

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AUSTRALIAN AD SPACE DANCE PARTY

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PAUL KELLY ANCIENT RAIN

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NGA MIKE AD PARR SPACE EXHBITION

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AINSLIE + GORMAN

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CANBERRAAD WRITERS SPACE FESTIVAL

MUSIC FOR CANBERRA

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BULLET TRAIN FOR AUSTRALIA PARTY

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CANBERRA ADSHORT SPACEFILM FEST

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THE DICKSON TRADIES

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SUMMERNATS AD SPACE

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CANBERRA ROLLER DERBY LEAGUE

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extraordinary new work that provokes and celebrates.

VOTE 1 AUSTRALIAN DANCE PARTY

Please stand by: The BMA Magazine website has been attacked by overseas hackers #484Aug/Sep Fax: (02) 6257 4361 Mail: PO Box 713 Civic Square, ACT 2608 Publisher Scott Layne Allan Sko General Manager Allan Sko T: (02) 6257 4360 E: advertising@bmamag.com

Editor Andrew Nardi T: (02) 6257 4456 E: editorial@bmamag.com

Accounts Manager Ashish Doshi T: (02) 6247 4816 E: accounts@bmamag.com

Sub-Editor Sarah Naughton Graphic Design Andrew Nardi

Okay, so they’re not really a political party. But it is a pretty clever play on words, considering the Australian Dance Party are Canberra’s newest emerging contemporary dance company in years. Their aim: to bring dance out of the theatre and reinstate its value by connecting it with other facets of our world.

Local dancer and choreographer Alison Plevey has been working on the project for two years. The company’s first project, Strings Attached, is a collaboration with the Canberra Symphony Orchestra (CSO), investigating the intimate and ancient connection between dance and music. In this performance, artists of the CSO together with the Australian Dance Party’s contemporary dancers collaborate to present the complex and important marriage of these artistic forms. Strings Attached asks: what are the physiological, neurological, ritual, social and theatrical connections of movement and sound?

“This is something so important for the cultural identity of our city, a company that makes work relevant to challenges, issues and joys that we face in Canberra and as a nation,” Plevey says. “We are committed to engaging local dance and cross-disciplinary artists and non-artists to make

“We make work that has a Canberran voice, dance that is accessible and that comes out of the theatre into our society.

Finding new ways, collaborators and supporters to make professional dance practice sustainable and integrated into our experiences of this world.”

The Australian Dance Party’s first show, Strings Attached, premieres at the Nishi Playhouse between Thu–Sat August 25–27 at 8pm. General admission is $30. Tickets and more info available at australiandance.party.

… AND JUSTICE FOR ALL Look, the Australian music industry has a problem: there’s a disproportionate number of men headlining festivals across the country. The problem is indicative of a genderdominated industry that has a higher barrier of entry for women, resulting in less women in bands, less all-women bands, less women on the radio and less role models for young women wanting to pursue a career in music. One of our writers did a great write-up on this in our last issue, titled ‘Questioning Gender Diversity’.

Go and check it out on our website if you’ve got a minute.

But there is a change in the winds – Canberra-based justice festival Beyond has quietly gone about assembling an outstanding line-up, headlined by some of Australia’s most influential and intellectually

formidable women. Megan Washington and Professor Gillian Triggs are being joined by triple J star Montaigne, Aboriginal elder Rosalie Kunoth-Monks and The Voice finalist Ms Murphy.

According to festival coordinator Robert Howie, the move was only partly deliberate: “the reality is that these artists, communicators and leaders are the best in their field – irrespective of gender.

Nonetheless as a festival based around justice we want to be at the forefront of empowering women, because this is one of the top justice issues globally,” says Howie.

“This is a little festival with big dreams: dreams for a more inclusive Australia, a more creative Australia, a more compassionate Australia.

To include academics of the calibre of Professor Triggs and artists of the calibre of Megan Washington and Montaigne because they are committed to justice is a huge honour and speaks to the importance of the event.”

Apparently, Lior loved Beyond so much last year that he’s returning again this year. He’ll be joined by Shane Howard, Hey Geronimo, Frank Yamma and All our Exes Live in Texas. Held from Friday September 30 to Monday October 3, the festival caters to kids through to seniors. Visit beyondfestival. com.au for tickets and more details.

Film Editor Emma Robinson Entertainment Guide Nicola Sheville NEXT ISSUE 485 OUT September 14 EDITORIAL DEADLINE September 2 ADVERTISING DEADLINE Sept 8 Published by Radar Media Pty Ltd ABN 76 097 301 730 BMA Magazine is independently owned and published. Opinions expressed in BMA Magazine are not necessarily those of the editor, publisher or staff.

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FROM THE BOSSMAN THE BUSYOFF We’ve all done something to earn coin. And we all get busy.

Sometimes we get extremely, skull-boringly, terrifyingly busy.

So inevitably, as our professional lives intertwine, we can find ourselves engaging in one of humankind’s most ironically timewasting enterprises – The Busyoff. A notion as useless as it is grammatically awkward.

The Busyoff occurs when two work routines hit that fever pitch where stress bubbles like magma, urgent files hang like dead albatrosses from heavy heads, and the cold hard grip of deadline clings at throats. It’s a volatile time where professionalism, logic, and common sense is cast ineluctably into the wind at the smallest provocation.

An incident is inevitable. We need those we work with to make us their #1 priority and when this doesn’t happen due to said person also having 20 equally important things jostling for their attention, we enter into an ill-advised bout of one-up-manship.

“I have five meetings today/Yeah? Well I have six! I have a budget to prepare by 12pm/Well I have two budgets to prepare by 11pm!

My wife died and I’m planning her funeral whilst preparing a 100page document that needs to be submitted by this afternoon/ Well my whole family died in a freak windmill accident so I’m organising three funerals, PLUS a 200-page document PLUS I’m bleeding profusely! I’m just so much busier!!!”

YOU PISSED ME OFF! Care to immortalise your hatred in print? Send an email to editorial@bmamag.com and see your malicious bile circulated to thousands. [All entries contain original spellings.]

Entry #1: Dear Hertz at Canberra Airport. YOU PISSED ME OFF. (Am I doing that right?) You can’t send an email out to customers and say “hey, if you book a rental car with us through this link, we’ll give you a tonne of extra frequent flyer points AND if you pre-purchase fuel it’ll only cost an extra $50.” Then go on to charge an extra $80 when I pick up the car and refuse to give me my points because my booking doesn’t qualify for the promotion that I booked it through. If you’re a little short on cash, it’s ok to admit it. We all struggle a bit sometimes. You can start a Kickstarter campaign or some shit, don’t just steal it from your customers!

Entry #2: Calling all parents who think it’s cute to have your toddler return your 25 kids library books, slowly one after the other. Well, it isn’t cute, it’s painful, especially when there’s a queue of people behind you. Equally bad is getting your child to shove your voting slip in the box on polling day, when they can’t manoeuvre the big form into the little hole, and there’s a line of voters waiting on you. To then go and give them yet another form to struggle with is sheer thoughtlessness.

I am not innocent of such a charge. Moons ago as Editor I felt the hot breath of the Deadline Dragon on my neck and was inflamed that a certain Melbourne DJ hadn’t got his interview answers back after two long weeks. “Now look here!” I unwisely wrote to said DJ’s management. “I’m trying to do you gits a favour and give free editorial that will lift sales of their latest shit-mix by as many as seven units!”

Needless to report, the agent threw the gauntlet down and put the fists up. “Rah-rah the artist DJs six nights a week and runs his own studio by day blah-blah he’s working on 70 mixes simultaneously and visits Children’s Hospitals to heal the sick rant-rant where do you get off talking to us like that…” etc-etc.

I knew instinctively as soon as I hit SEND it was a bad idea. We know that losing one’s cool is never, well … cool. Yet sometimes these encounters can be exactly what’s needed for both parties to blow off a bit of steam and release the pressure valve. But that’s only if one of you is big enough to apologise and the other mature enough to accept and apologise too.

Likely what occurs is that the rant continues for email after email, call after call, in a seemingly ceaseless time wasting loop when you could be getting on with some actual work making you look temperamental, and will likely forever put a silent black mark in your relationship for the rest of your working lives: “That new band’s great. Who is the contact?”/“Let me look it up … O, it’s Terry.” “Terry Big Bollocks, or Terry Nice Trousers?”/“Big Bollocks Terry.” “O no, not Terry-Terry. He’s a twat.”

In the meantime, poor Big Bollocks has probably been putting in 12 rant-free hours of hard work every day and saved over 80 children in the years since The Busyoff happened.

Right, that’s it for today. Now piss off, I am extremely busy.

ALLAN SKO - allan@bmamag.com

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WHO: SORREL NATION WHAT: EP LAUNCH WHEN: SAT AUG 27 WHERE: TRANSIT BAR

Since moving from the UK to Canberra, Sorrel has quickly established herself as an artist to watch closely in Australia – although she also maintains a strong fan base in the UK, who are eagerly awaiting the release of her EP Kids on the Run on August 12. The four-track EP was written throughout various parts of the world, when Sorrel was traveling across the USA, Europe and Australia. Fun fact: she worked with Disney on the DVD release trailer for Captain America. Bow down, nerds. Keep your ear to the ground for more details.

WHO: DJ CRAZE & FOUR COLOR ZACK WHAT: TOUR WHEN: SUN SEP 11 WHERE: ACADEMY

World champion DJs Craze and Four Color Zack upped the game with the release of their Two Cents mixtape series; now the renowned turntablists will bring their Two Cents tour to Canberra this September. To this day, Craze is the only solo DJ to win the prestigious DMC World Championship DJ competition three times, the first when he was only 20-years-old. The other half of Two Cents is the technically dazzling “DJ’s DJ”, Four Color Zack, known for wowing the crowd with a master class in creativity. Keep your head in it for further details.

WHO: THE OCEAN PARTY WHAT: ALBUM TOUR WHEN: THU SEP 29 WHERE: THE PHOENIX

Many a listenable band have come out of Wagga Wagga, NSW … I can’t think of any right now, but that’s not the point. The Ocean Party have quickly risen up to become one of the regional centre’s most celebrated musical exports. They’ve released six albums in the past seven years and show no sign of slowing down. A year since the release of their brilliant studio album Light Weight, The Ocean Party are elated to announce the release of their sixth full-length album Restless, which they’ll tour through Canberra in the coming weeks.

More details incoming.

WHO: PLUTONIC LAB WHAT: ALBUM TOUR WHEN: SAT OCT 8 WHERE: TRANSIT BAR

One of Australia’s original hip-hop legends, with a mammoth career spanning two decades, Plutonic Lab will tour through Canberra to launch his new full-length Deep Above The Noise this October.

The album picks up where his highly regarded classic Codes Over Colours (2005) left off. With a vast array of instrumental landscapes and guest contributions from Guilty Simpson, Miles Bonny, ComaChi (Japan), Notes To Self BBRC and MoMO (IAMMMXO), Deep Above The Noise is a heavy hitting affair from start to finish. Get amongst the launch! Tickets are $20 via Moshtix. Starts at 8pm.

WHO: THE DELTA RIGGS WHAT: ALBUM TOUR WHEN: WED OCT 19 WHERE: ACADEMY

Australia’s favourite Riggs have announced the release of their new album Active Galactic, plus a run of tour dates to boot. Slated for release on Friday August 26, The Riggs’ third studio LP features 13 new cuts that run the gamut of musical genres from the Rolling Stones inspired ‘Surgery of Love’, the disco-rock ‘Never Seen This Before’ and the high powered N*E*R*D infused ‘Baddest Mother Fucker in the Beehive’. You’re going to have the chance to experience all that when The Delta Riggs drop by Academy. Tickets are $20 + bf via Moshtix. Starts at 8:30pm.

WHO: THE JEZABELS WHAT: ALBUM TOUR WHEN: FRI OCT 21 WHERE: ANU BAR

The Jezabels released their third studio album Synthia back in February, but their national tour was put on hold due to pianist Heather Shannon’s health issues with ovarian cancer. Thankfully, all of your well wishes have positively re-energised the band, Heather’s health is back in check, and the four-piece are excited to get back out there and deliver the tour that was promised! Joining The Jezabels on the road will be Melbourne’s Ali Barter, who’s been all over triple j airwaves with tracks like ‘Far Away’ and ‘Hypercolour’.

Tickets can be acquired for $44 + bf via Moshtix. 8pm.

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OUTTA THE

BALL

PARK.

SHARONA LIN I have three things in common with SAM CROMACK, the frontman of BALL PARK MUSIC. We both went to Splendour in the Grass this year. We both thought one of the highlights of the festival was Ball Park Music’s stripped back rendition of ‘It’s Nice to Be Alive’, from debut album Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs. We both sang all the words in a packed out tent on a warm winter’s evening. The only difference – minor, really – is that Sam was on stage, while I was in the audience, singing along with the rest of the crowd. When I tell him I may have shed a few tears over how beautiful the song was that night, he laughs. “I was trying to make people cry, so you don’t have to feel bad. That song’s so old; we’ve been playing it for so long, we’re all sick of it. We all hate playing it as a group. But suddenly when I played it by myself it was really meaningful again. That was a real career highlight, it was a really beautiful moment.”

It’s intriguing to see how they’ve changed in the five years since their debut. For one thing, there are fewer onstage shenanigans – some punters might remember shows in which Sam gave audiences biscuits or fruit (“I also have a lot of lyrics about fruit,” he adds). In one memorable show, Sam brought a kettle full of boiled water out of his bag to make himself a cup of tea on stage. “It was probably really dangerous,” he muses. “We just used to be desperate to do something funny. Now we just play our songs in a way which is good, which is what you’re hoping to get to eventually. You don’t want to be a dickhead forever.”

Every Night the Same Dream is something of an experiment gone wonderfully right, the album that Ball Park Music always wanted to make. Sam had been interested in Sound Recordings, a completely analogue recording studio in Castlemaine, Victoria, and, “I just kept thinking: what would it be like if Ball Park did an album where all five of us just got in a room like our live shows, smashed it out, and just really had a rough, raw, rocky record? And the more we talked about it, the more we were like, yeah let’s do that.”

So along with Matt Redlich, who produced their first two albums, they went down to Victoria. In ten days, they had everything except the vocals, which were finished in Brisbane. “It was amazing, it was the first time we’d got out of Brisbane and had a bit of a holiday to make our album, it was a great experience. We should have been working like this on all our previous albums, I don’t know why we ever tried anything different.”

You don’t want to be a dickhead forever

It was a simpler time in 2011. There was very little planning or strategy to Happiness and Surrounding Suburbs – they were just excited to be making an album. “I remember in high school, I wrote a list of things I wanted to do with my life, and one of them was record an album. So I just thought I was killing it because I was making an album, period.”

Now they’re hitting the road again with their fourth album, Every Night the Same Dream, and they’ve matured greatly. “It’s become our job and livelihood, but it’s still a labour of love.” The band members always have their eye on the future, on directions for new music and what they can do next. “I guess as an artist, there’s just that desire to keep creating and exploring new territory and trying to make something amazing for the world to enjoy. I don’t think that desire will ever be crushed.

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I don’t know anyone who would call Ball Park Music too commercial, but you can definitely hear a rawer, less produced sound on the new record, with a grit that hasn’t really been present in earlier albums. A great deal of that is down to the recording process: the band recorded to a four-track machine, “like how bands worked in the ‘60s.” Most modern songs will have in excess of 50 or even 100 tracks, so working with just four is something of a throwback, and is simultaneously limiting and freeing. “It involves a lot of compromise and a lot of thinking in advance. You really have to perform the song the way you want to hear it – it’s a really fun way to make music.”

That rawer sound, more live show and less studio, really suits them, and Sam agrees. “I feel like we never intended to in the past, but all our albums have ended up having this clean, shiny sort of finish that we weren’t necessarily chasing, and every time I’m like, argh, how did this get so fucking clean?” The name of the game for Ball Park Music now, is simplicity. Like in the acoustic version of ‘It’s Nice to Be Alive’, or in the recording of the new album, “nine times out of ten, stripping something back and making it a bit more simple is the best. Simplicity is a beautiful thing, and I think we have a bit more of that now.”

Ball Park Music’s fourth studio album Every Night the Same Dream will be released on Friday August 19. They’re playing at ANU Bar on Thursday September 29 at 8pm. Support from The Creases and Sahara Beck. Tickets are $40 + bf via Moshtix.

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There’s a song about police brutality and racial profiling, which is a big issue for Zach

ROCK THE HOUSE RORY MCCARTNEY Party by name and party by nature, the Melbourne six-piece NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE are about to bring their famed live show to Canberra in support of new album Dare. BMA spoke to guitar/bass player Jackson Shoe to find out about the new release and the band’s recent touring experiences.

The band’s tags include alternative, dance and rock. So where amongst those three genres does their emphasis lie? “I don’t know how alternative we are. Basically we try to get people dancing, but we have a whole bunch of guitars.” The upcoming shows will be the band’s first Australian tour for quite a while. Shoe raved about the recent European tour. “We had a great response. There were heaps of Aussie bands there that we were friends with, so it was three weeks of hanging out with your mates.”

Laying down Dare was quite a different experience from the creation of the band’s debut Any Given Weekend in 2014. Rather than the recording, it was the preparation that marked the band’s musical development. “The writing was different as we learned so much from the first album on how we work as a band, and also individually. A lot of songs came as fully fleshed out tracks, rather than just ideas, and we had lots of demos to work from.”

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The band quit their day jobs for a month, laying aside most of January to record and accomplish the bulk of the work – a level of commitment far exceeding that of their debut. Recording happened in an assortment of studios around Melbourne, plus their bedrooms. Things did not go strictly to plan, however. “As is typical with our band, we left everything to the last minute and went over deadline. We had to finish the recording in London, taking three or four days off tour and booking a studio.” Then there was an intense two-month period back home, to finish the job.

The sophomore LP, while still very vibrant and danceable, is a different beast from the debut, as it sees more emphasis on songwriting, hooks and melodies, aiming for more polish. Themes still rotate around young adulthood and relationships. “We tried to move away from that but, naturally, we kind of came back to what we know.”

The twist comes in the tail with two songs aiming for something deeper. “There’s a song about police brutality and racial profiling, which is a big issue for Zach, as his family is African-American and that’s the issue we see on the TV here.”

As for Shoe, the album closer ‘Love Machine’ is his pick. “We were concerned that there wasn’t enough guitar on the album, that it was sounding a bit safe. So we came up with this brutal, Rage Against the Machine type of ending. It’s the rockiest track and the most chaotic one and I’m looking forward to playing that live.”

Northeast Party House, with Polish Club and Twinsy in support, will have you dancing at the ANU Bar from 8pm on Thursday September 15. Tickets $30 + bf via Moshtix.

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LOCALITY

Looks like another jam-packed four weeks of local Canberra. You know, as per usual.

We start things off with a reunion of a Canberra favourite to mark the birthdays of two of Canberra’s favourite live music fans. Beth and Ben are getting back together for one night only on Friday August 19 from 7:30pm at the Polish Club, with special guest Jimi on drums, who’s turning eight. Big sister Lisa is turning ten, so she’ll be on violin with the support act, People I Love. Tickets are $15, and this will probably be the most adorable gig you have ever seen.

If you’re planning on staying in on Saturday August 20, you’re an absolute fool, because there’s two great local gigs on. Head to the

Old Canberra Inn from 7pm for The Guitar Cases’ outlaw country, folk and blues. If indie rock is your jam, Duck Duck Ghost’s single and video launch is on at Civic’s Lobrow Gallery and Bar, with sets from Capes, Moaning Lisa and Hospital Pass from 7:30pm, and entry just $10.

The best way to recover from a weekend of that size is by heading to The Phoenix for The Bootleg Sessions on Monday August 22.

From 7pm, you can catch Tom Woodward, George Bishop & Benny Fowler, Rumshack and GUYY & The Fox. This seriously good folk and blues line up costs nothing to see, however all the best people chuck into the collection bucket on the night.

Friday August 26 is another jam-packed night. Betty Alto, Massive Sherlock and The Passive North are playing at Transit Bar from 8pm, which means you’re in for a whole lot of rock and roll joy. Want Latin tunes? Los Chavos is proudly presenting the August edition of Friday Night Fiesta at the Phoenix from 9pm. For just $10, you’ll catch sets from FunkyTrop, Eli & Jon from ClaveManía, and Los Que Son. Head over to Turner and you’ll find Bleach It Clean, Teen Jesus and the Jean Teasers and Moaning Lisa playing a bunch of alt rock and punk from 8pm, with entry sitting at $15.

Are you one of the many, many Canberrans who love Fun Machine?

Then put Saturday August 29 on your calendar, because they’ll be playing the Polish Club from 7:30pm with PAINTonPAINT, Faux Faux Amis, and Mondecreen. Get your tickets now, if they’re not sold out already! They’re $25 on TryBooking.

If all these gigs are a little too conventional for you, book yourself in for the Kill Climate Deniers Listening Party at Parliament House on Wednesday August 31.

From 1pm, folks will be wandering around listening to the album they’ve downloaded, full of tunes worthy of a ‘90s rave with an eco-terrorist twist.

Take a look at the event on Facebook for more details, with the walking tour version of the album available on the day from killclimatedeniers.com.

Finally, you can kick off the ninth month of 2016 and the beginning of spring with Azim Zain and His Lovely Bones, Duck Duck Ghost, The Treehouse Children and Latham’s Grip at the Polish Club on Saturday September 3 from 8pm. Entry is $15, and in return you’ll get a night of brilliant rock and roll.

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DYNAMITE GOES POP

DUSTIN TEBBUTT

SHARONA LIN The past few years have been pretty busy for ASTA Binnie. Not only has she hit the spotlight with her infectious pop tunes, she’s also moved from a small town in Tasmania to big-city Sydney, collaborated with Allday, and finished high school.

There can be some stigma around the pop genre, but Asta isn’t fazed.

“People get a bit confused about what pop is these days,” she reckons.

“I think pop music is becoming more, well, popular, and mixing into different genres.” The heart of pop is having strong, catchy melodies, which Asta excels at. And gradually, that stigma is being broken down.

I’m kind of making my way even more towards the pop planet

“It’s really awesome, because these days you hear a lot more pop music crossing over. I started with indie pop – I was indie but still a bit pop, and now I’m kind of making my way even more towards the pop planet.

It’s been really good and really fun to be able to discover where I fit comfortably and where I’m most convincing.”

Asta’s music has evolved greatly in the last few years, but there are a few constants. She uses strong melodies, and keeps things minimalist, careful not to overcrowd. Right now, she’s working on soulful, funk-inspired tracks; “it’s interesting,” she demurs.

This project is almost over, so fans can take heart that new music is on the way. It’s been a while, but there’s good reason: “I’ve been making a lot of music and meeting a lot of different people, so half of the music I’ve been making, I don’t like anymore,” she reveals. “It’s definitely been a journey of figuring out what kind of music I want to make. If I were to release songs I wrote and believed in a year ago … listening back to them I’m like, I’ve developed so much from that. I’m really glad I wasn’t just putting out music just because.”

Asta will be hitting the road soon, stopping by Jindabyne for Snowtunes and Canberra for the ANU Red Party, as well as touring with Ellie Goulding. Being from Tasmania, she’s a fan of cold weather.

“I haven’t had the opportunity to go to the snow,” she says wistfully – so hopefully Snowtunes will deliver the snow for the perfect festival.

Her appearance at the ANU Red Party is something else she’s excited for – the party is raising awareness and funds for the fight against HIV/AIDS. And of course, there’s that tour with Ellie Goulding. “I’ve known about it a while, and I’ve just been excited this whole time. I feel like it’s going to wear off soon, but on the night, I’m going to be like: ‘oh my god, what the hell is this?’” she tells me. “I love her music. I think there’s good pop and there’s bad pop, and she’s really good pop. I’m really honoured to support her; I’m really excited to show new people my music and to play on a big stage.”

Get down with Asta at ANU Bar for the ANU Red Party on Saturday August 20. Visit redpartyanu.com for details. She will later perform at the second inaugural Snowtunes Music Festival at Lake Jindabyne on Saturday September 3. Tickets and more details available at snowtunes.com.au.

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understand why lead singer Georgia is so excited. “I think it’s very cool that cool people like our stuff. It makes me feel cool, and it makes me really proud of what we do. It’s like all my dreams are coming true. And I guess to celebrate, I’m just going to sit in bed and eat fruit toast and read Game of Thrones.”

Okay, she’s not exactly a party person. But Camp Cope is a rocking album – Georgia, bassist Kelly and drummer Thomo smashed out the recording in two days, all live. They’ve recorded more traditionally before, with separate tracks, but “it just wasn’t us.” The band is in their

HERE I AM AT CAMP COPE SHARONA LIN CAMP COPE have had a killer year, topping mid-year album charts with their self-titled debut LP, making a splash overseas, and gearing up to a national tour with Philadelphia band Cayetana. So you can

A lot of boys will be like: “oh they’re just lucky”, and I’m like: “oh we’re just lucky, it’s not talent or hard work, is it.” element when playing together. “We wanted to keep that sound that we like about ourselves. Real, and natural, and nothing too fancy, ‘cos we’re not too fancy; we’re just doing what we do, together,” Georgia says. “We’re not produced, we’re not anything. We’re just three best friends that make noise together.”

The friends will be joined by Cayetana for the leg of the tour, including the show in Canberra. Formed in 2011, Cayetana also features a lead bassist and all-female line-up. A formative influence for Camp Cope, they’re now making their Australian debut with the band – a crazy experience for the latter.

Georgia remembers the first time she saw them play, down to where she was standing – “I was a bit starstruck, I didn’t talk to any of them, but I admired them from afar.” Later, one of the band members followed Georgia back on Instagram. “And I was like, this means we’re best friends now!” Georgia laughs.

Now the dream team is touring together. Still, even with their combined success, Georgia says, “A lot of boys will be like: ‘oh they’re just lucky’, and I’m like: ‘oh we’re just lucky, it’s not talent or hard work, is it.’”

She has an edge. “I see things way too politically,” and single ‘Jet Fuel Can’t Melt Steel Beams’ is a prime example. The lines: “Hearing catcalls from police cars / And they say what you gonna do about it dressed the way you are?” were drawn from a friend’s real experiences in the US. “It’s so common for women and trans and non-binary women to get hurt and harassed, and young, white men just don’t understand it, and I’m just trying to make them understand it,” she says.

“With our shows, we make an effort to give a microphone to people who don’t usually have it.”

Camp Cope join Cayetana at Transit Bar on Wednesday September 14 at 8pm. Tickets are $25 + bf via Moshtix.

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HOUSE SHOES THE YOUNG PHILOSOPHER SHARONA LIN I’m nervous as I wait to speak to Jessica Cerro – better known as MONTAIGNE – on the phone. Her bio is intimidating: at twenty, she’s been a triple J Unearthed finalist, played Splendour in the Grass, and is releasing her debut album, Glorious Heights, with the first single, ‘Because I Love You’, on high rotation already. When our interview starts, I only get more nervous: not only is she musically talented, she’s also whip smart, good at video games and incredibly nice.

While it’s easy to think of Cerro as effortlessly talented, the road to success hasn’t always been easy. Her high school years were rough, and her debut album was also fraught: “I lost my voice right as I was recording the song ‘Glorious Heights’, and recuperation was long and gruelling. It wasn’t just that I’d lost my voice but something in the configuration in the way I sang was off, and I had to go to a specialist and speech therapist and singing lessons just to get it back on track.

It’s fine now, but while recording the album, my vocals weren’t the best they could be – they’re probably 80%.”

We accidentally fall into the same internalised patterns of thought and behaviour

Listening to the album, it’s hard to believe that it could get any better, but having caught her set at Splendour, I can confirm that she’s magnetic on stage, with a dizzying voice that captures the crowd completely. Part of it is her honesty: one of the traits she shares with her eponym, Michel de Montaigne.

The French philosopher is known for his honesty and introspection, having retreated from public life at the age of 37 to lock himself in his family home and write. Cerro hasn’t locked herself away quite yet, but identifies with Montaigne’s truthfulness and reflectiveness.

It’s served her well, with a national tour coming up, including Beyond Festival in Canberra.

In the last few years, there has been criticism of how heavily maledominated Australian music is, with the triple J Hottest 100 catching the brunt of the heat as a sort of barometer of the industry. Festivals like Spilt Milk have also been under fire for their conspicuous lack of female artists. But things are gradually improving, and Cerro thinks it’ll keep getting better.

“A lot of it is us accidentally falling into the same internalised patterns of thought and behaviour. All we need is a slap on the wrist and things get corrected. It’s like when you’re a kid and you did the wrong thing: your mum tells you it’s wrong and she has to remind you, maybe ten more times, and you figure it out,” she says. “And on the whole, on a macro level, the way it is with society, you probably need many more slaps, because there are many more people and many more branches of thought and opinion that you need to give that disciplinary measure to. So I think we’ll get there.” In the meantime, Australian music is in a healthy place, especially with an artist like Montaigne.

Montaigne will perform at Canberra’s Beyond Festival on Saturday October 1.

Tickets are available from beyondfestival.com.au.

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presents an opportunity to get together and see some of the ACT’s best acts cross-genre. For the full line-up and tickets, head to the festival website or check out their FB for more deets.

THE REALNESS This month, The Realness is hitting you with a little bit of that Canberra hip-hop dissonance; a little bit of the old and a bit of the new.

It’s most definitely unfair to characterise D’Opus & Roshambo as old, but since hitting their straps with 2008’s ‘Million Dollar Bill’, these two are, at least, veterans of the Canberra scene. While it’s been a while since these guys have released anything official, they have been doing their live thing and are back to show the young’uns how it’s done with new single ‘Mayday’. Taken from their third full-length release of the same name, ‘Mayday’ signals a shift to a more mature and considered production and more diverse lyrical subject matter. Featuring stacks of CBR flavour in Axe Aklins, Nix, Lash and Jedbrii, ‘Mayday’ is gonna hit the shelves towards the end of the month, but if you’re really keen, you’ll be hitting up the boy’s SoundCloud for a sample.

Tak-Un-Da’s ‘Sex So Good’ has been getting airplay all over Australia and, man, it’s good to see credit where it’s due. Keep up the momentum and hit up Tak-Un-Da’s FB or SoundCloud to hear what all the fuss is about!

L-Fresh the Lion is L-FRESH off the back of his first tour (geddit!?) through the national capital, but he’s returning to Transit on Friday September 9. Getting around the CBR in support of his new album Become, L-Fresh will be meeting up with fellow Queanbeyan dissident Omar Musa and Melbourne MC Sukhjit. Tix available online and at the usual outlets.

Just a few more things to chuck on your calendar, even if you have to wait till the end of the year … Some of Detroit’s most iconic producers, Black Milk and House Shoes, will both swing through Canberra towards the end of the year. House Shoes, following on from his Transit appearance last year, will make his Lowbrow debut on Sunday October 2. You’ll have to wait until Thursday November 24 at Transit to catch Black Milk, but it’ll definitely be worth it. Boy’s gonna get some records signed! Keep an eye out at Landspeed or online for tix.

That’s about it for this month. Remember, if you’re a local artist or hip-hop head with an event coming up, hit me up at the email below and I’ll do my best to include it in the next issue.

BRADY MCMULLEN realness.bma@gmail.com

You’ve probably already copped tix, but just in case you haven’t, I thought I’d mention that Citizen Kay, Coda Conduct and Genesis Owusu will all be doing their thing at Westside as part of the new, ACT exclusive Cream Festival. Held on Saturday August 27, Cream

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ON

ALWAYS

POINT

COOL,

USUALLY

SHARONA LIN If there’s one thing I’ve learned about Canberra in the six months I’ve been here, it’s that it absolutely loves a hometown hero. And for Sally and Erica, the ladies behind hip-hop duo CODA CONDUCT, that love is deserved and appreciated.

The two native Canberrans met serendipitously in India on holidays, and started making music together when they realised they both loved hip-hop. Then came debut EP Butter Side Up in 2015, a memorable turn on triple j Breakfast for a weather rap, a win in triple j Unearthed’s Groovin the Moo competition in Canberra, and a stint as Unearthed feature artists.

They both live in Sydney now – but they always have a rocking time when they come back to Canberra for shows. “When you haven’t been there for a while and your family’s there and everyone’s super supportive and enthusiastic … we just love it. And for Canberra with live music, people actually buy tickets and go out to see music,” Erica says.

both in sound and in production. “In the past, we just got a beat, came up with an idea, and then wrote separately.” However, they approached the new EP differently, collaborating with Newcastle producer Jayteehazard throughout. “It’s the first time we’ve sat down with a producer and had them work with us,” Sally says.

Erica elaborates: “For this EP, with Jaytee, we sat in the studio while he was making the beat, so we wrote a lot of the lyrics while we were sitting in the studio.” After writing in the studio, they’d go away on their own to rewrite, and come back to compare and then combine.

The EP takes influence from a wide variety of artists and times, but most notably, it harkens back to early 2000s hip-hop, when artists like Missy Elliott, Usher and Nelly were huge. The first single off the EP, the irreverent ‘Click Clack (Front and Back)’ was well received – not just because the video featured Matt Okine’s booty – and the second single is just as smooth and likeable, but with an entirely different vibe.

On a community level, I think we’re really influenced by local artists

There’s never been a better time for hip-hop in Australia. “There’s so much happening now; the scene’s going amazingly,” Sally gushes. “There are so many new artists, so many people trying new things, and a great diversity and variety of sounds coming out of Australia at the moment. We’re really proud to be part of something happening in Australia right now, and obviously get a lot of inspiration from overseas, from grime in the UK all the way to underground stuff happening in the US.

“I think you can be influenced by international artists and have an Australian identity at the same time,” Sally adds. The duo credits a lot of their sound to the Australian hip-hop community: “There are a lot of Australian artists who have helped us out and mentored us, and on a community level, I think we’re really influenced by local artists.” Simultaneously, “on an ideological or more conceptual level,” she says, those overseas acts are highly influential.

Of course, despite being influenced by overseas trends and artists, Australian hip-hop is unique, with that distinctive Aussie accent (love it or hate it). Sally and Erica, like most Australian rappers now, rap in their natural accents. “I suppose it feels like there’s a bit of reclamation going on in the Australian hip-hop scene,” Erica notes. “For a while I think there was a stigma around rapping in an accent, but I think people are becoming proud of it, and that’s changing what Australian hip-hop means.”

Coda Conduct is touring in support of their soulful new single, ‘Usually I’m Cool’ (featuring “Australia’s most vibey MC”, Jimblah), ahead of their new EP. It marks a fresh evolution in their music,

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Sally and Erica are pretty keen for ‘Usually I’m Cool’ to drop – so much so that they delayed the EP launch in order to tour the single separately. “We love this single,” Sally says, “And when we finished it, we felt it was ready to get out there and to see what people think. And also to do some more gigging, which we missed.”

Their tour will take them to Canberra for a solo show, and also as part of the inaugural Cream Festival, a “local for local” affair featuring nothing but local Canberra talent. The festival has already sold out its first allocation of tickets, and a second round is now available – a testament to the strength of the live music scene here. “It tells you it’s still there, that passion to see live music,” Sally says.

Cream Festival will star Canberra artists such as Citizen Kay (who Coda Conduct have toured with previously), Genesis Owusu, Slow Turismo and The Aston Shuffle, for a DJ set. Held at Westside Acton Park and the Aviary, it will feature not just local music but local food, beer and artists too.

Still Canberrans at heart, Sally and Erica are excited to return to their hometown for the event. Erica concludes: “Having Canberra organisers who actually put everything together themselves, get a whole bunch of local acts together, and go to the effort of doing it just for their hometown to enjoy … I have a lot of respect for the people who put it together. I’m really proud to be a part of that.”

See Coda Conduct rally the crowd when they play at Cream Festival on Saturday August 27. Tickets are $30 via creamfestival.com.au.

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BMA SESSIONS

DANCE THE DROP

It’s the last time I’ll write about this topic for a while, but it’s nice to have a win for once! The success of the Keep Canberra Open campaign to stop ‘lock-out laws in disguise’ coming to our city is a pretty impressive feat, with the leaders of the three major ACT political parties all agreeing to hold back on the legislation that would have effectively meant closing times of 3am and the ability for the government to change licensing without a moment’s notice.

For some clubs, this would have meant the loss of many jobs, and their viability to stay open at all. The combination of both the music community and people who work across the spectrum of the latenight industry shows what can be achieved (as clichéd as it sounds) when people come together united under one voice.

But this shouldn’t be the end of the campaign. We’ve kept the clubs open, but there is more we can do as an industry to create more opportunities for music, hospitality and the arts. And we can also make it safer for everyone who comes to the city. There is still the occasional spout of violence; there is still sexism and homophobia.

These are cultural issues, which are definitely harder to change – you can’t just legislate it away. But if the last few months have taught me anything, things can change – I’ve got hope for Canberra.

Now for gigs…

DEPARTMENT OF LATE NIGHTS

The National Campus DJ Competition will take place over the next three Thursdays at The Well at UC, with an early 7pm start. There will be some future tastemakers behind the decks so come and show your support – I get to be a judge at this one, should be interesting!

After that, head to Knightsbridge for Pickle Thursdays on Thursday August 18, with Genie Stuart & Sardines in the mix. The following evening, it’s all about the Melbourne Bounce at Academy, with Joel Fletcher + Tyron Hapi bringing the noise, while indie electronic rockers Crooked Colours perform a DJ set at Mr Wolf. Nick Riviera, Mason and Ryan Fennis in support. Also that night, Department of Late Nights is back with another Fresh Locals Friday techno session at Digress with Ranburu, Biscuit Bytes, Christian, Mike Lions and DJHRH. Free entry on this one!

The following Friday August 26, Odd Mob appears at Academy (and yes, they’ll bring some bangers).

Friday September 2 sees ShockOne at Academy, while rapper UV boi (along with Kuren) return to Mr Wolf. Department of Late Nights has your Saturday techno cravings covered, with UK export and now Sydney resident Neil Smith along with local legends Loose Cannon, BiTmore and Champion Ruby in support at Digress. On the feel-good house tip, Minx is at Treehouse with some fresh tunes straight from Ibiza.

It’s become a bit of an internet meme, but who can deny the power of the acid-trance tune that is Darude’s ‘Sandstorm’ – catch the man himself, who I’m sure will take you on a ‘90s trance odyssey, at Academy for Trance Capital on Friday September 9. Also that night, Sydney’s Jensen Interceptor will be at Mr Wolf with some proper techno and dubby tunage.

Triple J’s KLP returns to Mr Wolf with Nyxen on Friday September 16, joined by an all-female line up including Mia, Genie and Indigo. And for those of you heading to Psyfari Festival this month, I’ll see you on the dancefloor!

PETER ‘KAZUKI’ O’ROURKE contact@kazuki.com.au

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“All the venues I’m doing for this tour are venues I’ve played at before, except for one. I have a really great time there and the people who come along are all amazing,” KLP explains of her choice to take the tour to central and regional venues. “I think half the places we choose come down to timing and whether the venues are available. I’m excited to go back to Ballarat because I have a really fun time there.”

KRISTY LEE PARTIES CAT WOODS Sydney DJ and producer KLP (Kristy Lee Peters) hosts House Party on triple J every Saturday night, and the playlist is both eclectic and familiar enough to draw in loyalists and newbies by the truckload.

Everything from K-Pop to ‘90s-era Gwen Stefani, Hot Chip, angstbound Radiohead and Fiona Apple, and the indomitable Beyoncé make it into the three-hour mix each week. It’s a must-listen for those heading out to club all Saturday night or those who’d prefer to bring the club into the loungeroom.

Not content to only reign over Saturday nights though, KLP has also released her own material in collaboration with What So Not, M-Phazes, Slumberjack and Zimmer. Not an overnight sensation, KLP had a sensational 2014 playing festivals including Splendour In The Grass and SXSW, as well as being touted by inthemix and Hype Machine as a talent to watch. She was also signed to major label, EMI. Now, House Party people can see the real deal when they attend KLP’s live tour, aptly titled KLParty. The national tour starts in Mackay and winds its way through cities and regional centres leaving glitter, stardust and the scent of burning vinyl as souvenirs.

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I like to see people at a gig with an open mind

As with any artist, KLP enthuses over the opportunity for people to discover something new during a night out rather than come along wanting to recognise every song and finding safety in predictability. Not to say that there won’t be familiar and well-worn favourite tracks, but the style of dance at a KLP gig is up to the forces of the dance gods. “I love to see people really enjoying the music and not relying on drops or having to know the songs to enjoy it.

I know I like to go to a show where the DJ plays music I’ve never heard before. I like to see people at a gig with an open mind.

“I don’t really plan my sets. I make it up as I go along – I go in there with the intention of doing the best that I can for the crowd that’s there and I read their reaction as I go along.”

With the rise of the superstar DJ, I have to ask KLP: Any crazy rider requests? “No! I always hear stories from other acts and I go, ‘Man, I should do that!’ But I don’t have any crazy rider requests at all. I keep meaning to ask for a banana or a juice because it’s practical. Not very rockstar. The rider is always the last thing that I think about.”

The KLParty comes to Mr Wolf on Friday September 16, with support from Wollogong-based producer NYXEN., as well as Mia, Genie and Indigo. 10pm.

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METALISE Hellbringer had a great half of 2016 with a US tour and a slot on one of the premiere underground metal festivals in the world, Maryland Death Festival. The three-piece (2/3rds Canberran, 1/3rd Sydney) aren’t resting on their laurels, having just released the best slab of mid ‘80s thrash metal you will hear this side of the Metallica reissues this year, in the form of their new record Awakened From The Abyss through High Roller Records. The first spin I gave it off Spotify brought to mind all the delights of proper ‘80s thrash, with all the conviction the Bennet bros and possibly the tallest guitar player in metal ever brought to their live shows. Fan-fucking-tastic; let’s hope to see them at a launch soon. Could there be a more complementary support for the Destroyer 666 gig on Thursday November 10? I don’t think so. Great work lads. Album out Friday August 19.

Dreadnaught have been one of Australian heavy music’s dark lords for a long time and have come out of hibernation with a killer new album called Caught The Vultures Sleeping. On a national tour to celebrate its release, the band hits town on Friday August 19 at the Basement in Belconnen with a huge bill featuring Black Rheno, NaMaza, Wretch fresh back from their European tour, Johnny Roadkill, Lions Of The Underground, Tundrel and Loud So Clear.

That should get your weekend fired up nicely.

THE MONKEYWRENCH

So it was a bummer that Inquisition pulled out of their Australian tour last week due to illness. It was a double blow for me because it also took away our opportunity to see new Melbourne band King play their first live show in Canberra. The band features members of Blood Duster, Fuck I’m Dead, Psycroptic and Witchgrinder, and sounds absolutely nothing like any of those bands. The album is entitled Reclaim The Darkness and is a slickly produced piece of blackened work that draws from inspiration like Immortal, Moonsorrow, In Flames, Satyricon, Dissection and Soilwork. There is a video for the title track up on YouTube for a suss, but the album is great and the production is fantastic. Check it.

Not sure who is in support now as Law of the Tongue have been forced to withdraw from the Acid King support on Thursday September 29 at Transit Bar, but the show is still going ahead. Will let you know who else will be in for their dense slabs of riffage next issue.

Well wishes go out to Witchskull who head to New York to record with Billy Anderson of Sleep, Mr Bungle, Cathedral, etc., etc., etc.

The band did some pre-production at Goatsound Studios in July with Jason PC, who will mix the record following tracking in New York.

The band had their debut record The Vast Electric Dark pressed onto vinyl by STP records in America and you can pick up a copy from the boys direct or through the label for fancier editions, all of which look stunning. The demo is really strong, going to be another great record.

JOSH NIXON doomtildeath@hotmail.com

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Written in a cabin in the mountains, the whole album came together organically. “When we were writing it, we just kind of went in and got all of our ideas in about a month-and-a-half, and wrote everything out and let it all take its course. And when it came to actually record it, we kind of just picked the best songs,” Neil explains. “Nothing was intentional,” he adds – the songs on the album are simply the best the band wrote.

HARDCORE IS THE BEST CORE SHARONA LIN One thing I remember fondly when I look back to my high school days is the music. Pop punk, emo and hardcore were everywhere, and the highlight of Year 11 was seeing A DAY TO REMEMBER perform live in Melbourne.

Not much has changed for the band since then, although they tour less now than they used to, says Neil (rhythm guitarist). “Back in the day, we tried to tour as much as possible – nowadays you can only hit a place so many times before they get tired of seeing you!”

Hardcore may have dropped from the mainstream somewhat, but reports of its death have been greatly exaggerated, at least according to Neil. “Lately there’s been a resurgence of a bunch of great bands that are kind of in that genre,” he explains. “It’s cool to see the next wave of bands coming along … so I think that the genre is as strong as it’s ever been.”

We might get Beyoncé to guest

He’s pretty willing to stake his reputation on that too, jokingly – or perhaps seriously – stating that the album isn’t just the band’s best work, but possibly the best album of all time, ever. It stands to reason they’re excited to bring it to Australia, then. Good thing A Day to Remember are coming here again this year, and are excited to bring Bad Vibrations with them.

“Once the album is out and people have had time to listen to it and find their favourite songs, that’s going to be the first chance we get to try out some new music,” Neil says. “I’m really looking forward to playing the new album in front of people,” he adds, especially since it’s Australia, one of their favourite places to tour. But you kind of have to say that when you’re talking to an Australian magazine, I point out.

Neil laughs: “The only complaint I ever have with doing Australian tours is that they’re not long enough.”

And any surprises they’re bringing with them? “We might get Beyoncé to guest,” he says, jokingly again – I think.

A Day To Remember’s sixth studio album Bad Vibrations will release on Friday September 2.

A Day to Remember’s new record, Bad Vibrations, came out with very little notice – not exactly a Beyoncé stunt, but something like it.

It’s an evolution in their sound, but one that has happened naturally.

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Bradlee explained that he first developed the concept at his high school growing up in New Jersey. He realised his passion for jazz music was not shared with his peers, so “I would take their songs and turn it into jazz.” A similar sentiment followed when he was struggling to make it as a jazz pianist in New York. He decided that, “I would go back to those days when I would take pop music and reinterpret it into different styles.” The rest is now history, as he explains that, “I put one on the internet and the next thing I knew, I had a viral video.”

WHAT’S NEW IS OLD AGAIN JARROD MCGRATH Having amassed nearly 500 million YouTube views since their incarnation, POSTMODERN JUKEBOX are an innovative entertainment package to be reckoned with. The brainchild of Scott Bradlee, the concept is about taking modern songs and turning them into an era of yesteryear with a cast of over 70 performers.

Having covered a large range of artists from Bruce Springsteen to Lorde, from Radiohead to Miley Cyrus, and posting a new song every two weeks, I was curious to know how Scott selected his songs. He advised that he chooses songs “that are really familiar to people for sounding a certain way,” and then he “deconstructs it” to find particular elements such as lyrics or melody that can be adapted to “apply to a genre of the past.” Bradlee cited the cover of ‘Sweet Child O’ Mine’, explaining that it is “really just a great folk blues song from the ‘20s,” and how he took it back as if Bessie Smith had originally written the song.

The coolest party that Frank Sinatra would have gone to back in the forties

The group’s live shows and covers are now legendary. Many artists they have covered have shown their appreciation on social media such as Beyoncé, Gwen Stafani, Lil Wayne and Adam Levine, and their gigs have been attended by artists such as Justin Beiber and Justin Timberlake, as well as celebrities such as Kevin Spacey. When asked to describe the live experience, Bradlee explained that it was like “going to the coolest party that Frank Sinatra would have gone to back in the forties.”

Building on this already hyped description, Bradlee adds that, “it’s not a typical sit down jazz concert, it’s a real party …

Every single one of our cast members has unique superpowers and I take pride in putting together the best combination of abilities and personalities to create an amazing experience for our fans. We want them to escape reality and join us for the most sensational 1920s party this side of The Great Gatsby,” he says. “We want them to experience what it was like to be at the New Years’ Eve show that Sinatra would have hosted in the 1940s. We want them to feel the excitement of hearing the greats of Motown live and up close … and a Postmodern Jukebox show is the only place you can experience all of this and more in one night.”

The party was sold out across Australia on their last visit, so be sure not to miss out this time. Bradlee has promised that he is “gonna get people out of those seats.”

Postmodern Jukebox will play at Llewellyn Hall on Saturday September 10 at 8pm. Tickets are available via Ticketek.

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an adventurous spirit. “I went up to Norway for a little while, and went hiking up in the Fjords … that was pretty incredible,” he says. “We booked a hike up one of the glaciers up there, and the whole thing was just insanely beautiful. There’s a railway track on the way back to Oslo called the Flåm Railway, which is cut into the sides of the mountains.

It’s so steep, so green, so epic.”

SEND OUT THE BEACON ANDREW NARDI Music journalists seem all too inclined to compare Armidale-raised DUSTIN TEBBUTT to internationally-renowned indie folk icon Justin Vernon. At first I think this is unfair on Tebbutt, a musician who – though stylistically similar to Bon Iver – earned his success by cultivating art through his own raw experiences. And while that’s no less true, I quickly learn that Bon Iver was responsible for motivating Tebbutt into his singing career.

“They say you are what you eat, right?” Dustin laughs. “I really got into singing through that first record of his. When it came out, I wasn’t really a singer and it was all the way out of my range. But after a while on repeat in the car, I started to push my own vocals by belting it out on drives.”

Tebbutt’s debut album First Light is a story of finding love again, all the while invoking images of nature and grand, far-reaching landscapes. That passion for nature came from Tebbutt’s childhood spent exploring his family property, and it’s flourished over time into

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One way of appreciating Tebbutt’s musical craftsmanship is through his ability to draw metaphors between nature and the human experience. “Quite often the music that I connect with the most takes me to a specific place, real or imagined,” he says. “You can go as deep as needed to find the right metaphor or line or image to sum something up, and there are so many ways to say something. It’s a case of how many songs you can write about one chapter [of your life] before you’re ready to move on or shift the lens.”

Naturally then, the process of writing an album is also a practice in growing as both a person and a musician. “The main thing I was trying to explore this time around was broadening my palette in terms of mood and colour. I wanted some of the songs to have a bit more energy, and be a bit more upbeat and uplifting. I took a while to find the right approach while still sounding authentic, but I think it translates well,” Tebbutt says. “Songs like ‘First Light’ and ‘Still In My Heart’ have a kind of momentum to them that I think was missing from some of the earlier stuff!”

The music that I connect with the most takes me to a specific place, real or imagined

Dustin Tebbutt will lull Canberra away when he plays at Transit Bar on Saturday August 20 at 8pm. Support from Robbie Miller and Woodes. Tickets are $25 + bf via Moshtix.

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HAPPINESS BUSINESS ANTHONY PLEVEY Although legendary Australian guitar player TOMMY EMMANUEL averages 85 tour dates worldwide and numerous week-long guitar camps every year, he says he has a great job. “I make a living making people happy and that’s a great job,” he says. “I’m in the happiness business.”

Touring with a small crew of a sound man and front of house personnel, live performance “using whatever I have for the benefit of everyone else” is a strong focus for Tommy. He doesn’t see himself as a master technician or creative virtuoso. “I’ve never thought about myself as either of those,” he laughs. “I just get up each day and try to do better than I did yesterday.”

Seen as the consummate guitar player by fans worldwide, Emmanuel says more seriously, “I’m really not focused on awards or accolades.

I don’t focus on technique, although without it you can’t make music.

I’m focused on trying to do a good job and hopefully spreading a little music and joy around the world. “I know why I’m here,” he says. “I know it’s not brain surgery; I know I’m not saving someone’s life. I’m just a musician trying to do his best, but each one of us has to do that, and that’s what makes the whole thing work.”

In discussing his approach to selecting music for recording and live shows, Tommy referred to tracks on his most recent album, It’s Never Too Late, citing personal reflections like the evocative ‘Old Photographs’, tributes to his many fans and artistic influences such as ‘Miyazaki’s Dream’, which he created for his Japanese fan base and which challenges learning and playing both parts of the Chet Atkins/Wayne Moss piece ‘El Vaquero’.

I figure if I please me, then

tty sure I’m gonna

I’m pre Speaking about please you success and live performance, he emphasizes the need to “stick at it”, to work to be effective and to do a good job. Tommy enjoys performance and moving with the music, “I can’t play without moving,” he says. “It’s all about the feeling of the music. And it has to make me feel something. I’m still playing for myself, because I figure if I please me, then I’m pretty sure I’m gonna please you. And that’s not an arrogant statement, it’s just quality control.”

He confides that risk for him is responding to an audience request for a piece he hasn’t done recently, and getting lost and forgetting the tune. “I’ve spent my life working – building something good that I can hand on to the younger generation,” Emmanuel says of his legacy. “I’ve made a lot of instructional DVDs. There’s a mountain of information and knowledge,” he says, acknowledging he doesn’t read or write music. “There’s a lot of insight, in all the work I do; I make sure I talk about the detail and show the detail.”

Tommy Emmanuel appears at Canberra Theatre Centre on Monday August 29.

Tickets are available at canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

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the course of his records, including the songwriting, production and instrumentation. “It’s a lot broader in scope and I feel like I’ve come into my own a bit more, with having ideas and the confidence to see them through. Before I was concentrating on letting the song come through, whereas now I’m trying to have more colour in making the records.”

While these developments introduce more challenges in playing the material live, Carty’s concentration on the quality of the song means that he can express it well, whether solo, in a duo or with a full band.

“There’s a strong focus on the lyrics, narrative and melody, and if they are strong enough you can play solo and the song will work.”

A NEW SIDE OF JACK RORY MCCARTNEY Queensland singer-songwriter JACK CARTY has a strong work ethic, spitting out two EPs and four albums since the launch of his 2009 debut Wine and Consequence, while keeping up a rigorous domestic and international touring schedule. Now the folk singer is about to visit Canberra in support of his latest release Home State. BMA caught up with him on tour in Devonport, where he was both feeling the cold and suffering from one, to find out more about the album and the man.

Everything is discussed so much, but people aren’t having real discussions

Asked if the workload was challenging, Carty said, “Mostly it’s a lot of fun and a constant good time. I’ve been able to travel the world, make my music and make a living off it, which is a dream come true.” Not satisfied with one style, Carty’s music has developed over

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Carty’s themes have varied from invented stories to very personal things about himself. While he dismisses the idea that records are produced to mark personal milestones, he admits that, “Being a songwriter who writes a lot, albums do indicate where I was at, at different parts of my life. For instance, I don’t feel like the same person who wrote Break Your Own Heart,” he says. “Home State captures the tension between travelling, adventures and being away from home, and the human yearning for stability.”

Apart from friends and family, there is a hard look at the world and the current sad state it is in, with Carty witnessing hyper-individualism where, “Everything is discussed so much, but people aren’t having real discussions. Despite these huge online communities, there’s a lack of real community.” Carty agrees that the album shows a new side to him, with a more considered, mature set of songs and a new sense of confidence and calmness in his identity. “It’s a real exciting place to be.

I used to think you had to be kind of tortured and coming from a place of chaos to make music,” he says. “Now I don’t actually think that’s true.

I’m happier, and it’s nice to have made a record from that spot.”

Jack Carty, supported by Emily Barker and Jordan Miller, will play at The Street Theatre on Friday August 19 at 8pm. Tickets are $25 + bf. Full details at thestreet.org.au.

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T ARTS | ACT

ROLLINS, RISE ABOVE SAMUEL TOWNSEND Less than a week before the Orlando massacre at Pulse nightclub, I asked HENRY ROLLINS the same question that he posed to Marilyn Manson on the Henry Rollins Show back in 2011, “What scares you about America right now?” His response was swift, measured and chilling (possessing an ominous sensibility). Illustrating his major preoccupation with the social climate of his home country and the resonating impact that America has on the world at large, he responded, “I’m afraid of stupid people. I’ve always been afraid of stupid people. You can’t reason with them. You can’t talk them out of their homophobia, or their racism, or their misogyny.” Rollins speaks frenetically but pauses for effect. “There are a lot of dumb-ass people in this country. I don’t know how else to say it to you. The proof is the success and traction of Donald Trump, who very well could be the next President of the United States.”

And there you have a taste of Henry Rollins, the pop culture icon who will return to Australia this September for a gruelling tour of the country. “If you look at my schedule, I don’t have many days off. In 26 days in Australia I have five days off, and one of them is a travel day to get to Sydney.” The multi-platform powerhouse doesn’t stop. At 55 years of age his résumé will induce fatigue just by reading it, and there is no indication that Rollins will be changing gears anytime soon. He seems in possession of the same virility he brandished all those years back whilst fronting hardcore groups Black Flag and Rollins Band; kinetic, sweaty and never short of something to say.

His physical appearance may have shifted slightly, from the (often shirtless,) tattooed wiry frame with long hair, to the silver fox who still packs a punch; and whose appetite for knowledge and hunger for communication remain insatiable. “You don’t have to twist my arm too much to get me to tell you a story. If we’re stuck in an elevator and someone says, ‘Hey! Tell me a story!’ How many hours have you got? I’ll make you sick of me.” I asked if there will be any downtime during his trip Down Under. “What will I be doing? Record stores, gym, laundry, food, sleep and probably writing work (for Rolling Stone Australia and LA Weekly). I’m always on a deadline for something.”

An Evening With Henry Rollins will see this consummate performer take to the stage again in a series of spoken word events, a mode of performance that Rollins has been immersed in for more than three decades. “I started doing these shows in 1983 and it was the most natural thing I’ve ever done on stage. Music has always been – you

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know, fine – but telling stories on stage without a band is as natural as eating or sleeping to me.” We discuss his creative approach in context of the varied hats he wears creatively. “A lot of my talking tours are the same, in that the stories on stage are informed by travel. So while the stories change, the method for how I acquire material for the stage does not. I go out into the world, I voulez-vous with people all over the place and I bring back stories.”

This year alone has seen Rollins venturing to all corners of the globe, gathering material in this special mode of research and inquiry. What can audiences expect when he hits our shores in September? “This time around I’ll be talking about voyages that I’ve made to Antarctica, parts of Africa, Central Asia, South America and Easter Island. I’m going to talk about biodiversity, global climate change (in a way that’s not too boring), scuba diving, making movies, making documentaries, and just other stories from the world.” A brutally honest critique of his homeland is sure to make an appearance too. “America is feeling the effects of at least 30 or 40 years of a systematic dumbing down of its people. And that’s the only reason why a guy like Donald Trump, who’s just grotesquely hilarious and obscene, gets so much traction.”

Unlike other high-profile individuals (Sarah Silverman and Lena Dunham), you won’t see Rollins campaigning during the lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. He insists that he is already “preaching to the perverted”, and that he is only responsible for his vote. However, this doesn’t stop his considered diatribe on the current state of affairs. “Being President, as far as I can tell (from watching), it seems like a very, very careful and nuanced performance. It’s steering when no one even knows you’re steering. It’s not broad-brush, it’s painting with a single-hair brush, it’s a single needle tattoo, as evidenced by my amazing President who’ll be sadly walking away in six months.”

The Australian shows have been selling out fast for this tour, but don’t fret if you missed out this time – Henry Rollins is everywhere.

“I’ve always worn a lot of hats, because I don’t consider myself to be anything, so I’ll try anything. I would never consider myself a writer because then I’d have to compare myself to F. Scott Fitzgerald or Albert Camus, and that’s just not going to happen. I have always said ‘yes’ to opportunities, because I’m a crass opportunist, as much as I am anything else!” Rollins for President!

An Evening With Henry Rollins will take place on Thursday September 8 at Canberra Theatre Centre. Tickets are sold out.

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NIGHTFEST

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T ARTS | ACT

DRUM IT INTO YOUR HEAD TIM BUTLER In late August, the GROOVE WAREHOUSE – Canberra’s only dedicated drums and percussion store – will host two of America’s top drummers, GREGG BISSONETTE and JOHN RILEY. Gregg Bissonette is the son of drummer Bud Bissonette, who passed his passion down onto Gregg. “I started playing drums at six-yearsold, I started taking lessons at ten-years-old in the school system, and by 14-years-old my brother and I had a band that played at all of our junior high school dances.” Bissonette went on to study music at North Texas State University. He later became aware of other great drummers such as, “Ringo [Star], Buddy Rich, Alex Van Halen, Phil Collins, John Riley, Virgil Donati and Dave Grohl,” just to name a few.

Upon completing university, Bissonette’s talents were quickly spotted by the Maynard Fergusen Big Band, and in 1982 and 1983 they toured with the Buddy Rich Big Band. It seems there was a bit of tension between the two bands, as neither of them wanted to play first. “Buddy never wanted to go on first, he always wanted to close the show. Maynard never wanted to go on first, he always wanted to close the show. So it would always be a coin toss.” In 1988 and 1989 Bissonette, along with a number of other jazz luminaries, were invited to play with the Buddy Rich Big Band at two memorial shows, in New York City and L.A. “It was an unbelievably great experience. I have always been a huge fan of Buddy’s and I’ve seen his band play dozens of times growing up.”

In addition to drumming, Bissonette also sings, plays trumpet and piano. “The more you know about other instruments – and especially about singing, lyrics and vocal content – the better musical drummer you will be,” he says. “At North Texas State University, all musicians were required to be piano minors.” For a number of years, Bissonette has had the good fortune of playing drums with one of his other drumming heroes, Ringo Star. “I just got to play steel drums, trumpet and sing on Ringo’s new album … what a thrill!”

Bissonette has been fortunate to play with some of the biggest supergroups including The David Lee Roth Band, The Electric Light Orchestra, Toto, James Taylor and our own Wolfmother. He reflects on the importance of playing the original parts accurately. “With the David Lee Roth Band, whenever we played Van Halen songs, I tried my best to play as close as I could to one of my favourite drummers, Alex Van Halen. When we would do songs of our own with the David Lee Roth Band, that’s when I got to do my own thing. I always feel it’s best to try to play songs like the record on tour because that’s what people are used to hearing. Drum parts are a huge part of the song, and if you change up the groove or change up the parts, you’re not doing the song justice.” Playing with Wolfmother was a slightly different

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process. “I recently got to record with Wolfmother and I’m a big fan of that band, from Australia. I tried my best to play in the style that the band was known for, and they also asked me to do my own thing to add to it.”

John Riley is a world-renowned jazz drummer, having played with the likes of Stan Getz, Miles Davies, Dizzy Gillespie, Bob Mintzer and Mike Stern, just to name a few. As can be seen from Riley’s impressive line-up of gigs, he has been fortunate to have bridged the gap between the eras of America’s jazz greats to now. This comes out in his elegant and highly technically proficient playing style. Content not to require the complexity of double bass drum peddles and the plethora of cymbals and toms that can so easily seduce the modern drummer, Riley prefers instead to get his musical point across with well-honed technical skill and musicianship. When asked about the key to being a good jazz drummer, the answer was simply, “learn to hear musical form.”

One of Riley’s most memorable gigs was in 1978 when he joined the Woody Herman Band. “I’ve been very fortunate and enjoyed every experience. My first gig on the road was with Woody Herman and that was a great learning experience. My time with John Scofield was really special and I am happy to be playing with the Vanguard Jazz Orchestra for all these years.”

Many drummers find that written charts hamper their style and so choose not to use them or never learn to read music in the first place.

They do however form the foundation of a good part, Riley says.

“Drum charts are simply the composer’s representation, or guide, to what he thinks a drummer needs to be aware of in order to play a particular composition. Few composers really know exactly what information a drummer needs in a drum part, so the best players always use their ears to supplement the specifics of the part and to help the music come to life.”

Big thanks to the Groove Warehouse for bringing these two great drummers to Canberra, hopefully to inspire some of our local talent to greatness.

Gregg Bissonette will deliver a hands-on rock drumming intensive at The Groove Warehouse on Wednesday August 24 between midday and 4pm.

He will later perform at The Basement at 7pm. On Monday August 29, John Riley will deliver a hands-on jazz drumming intensive at The Groove Warehouse. Tickets and more details available at groovewarehouse.com.au.

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IN REVIEW

engagement in the development of the work and its score shines through from the wonderfully ethereal, anemone sway of the initial solo, to the coalescence of forest/reef community and the crab/ spider articulation of the alien.

Connected – QL2 Dance The Playhouse Wednesday July 27

‘All Our Might’, developed by physical theatre company Lingua Franca (Adam Deusien and Alison Plevey), examined modern world interactions. From the common connection of breathing the same air, the work engaged with the ‘us-versus-them’ challenge and tribal identity – common in sports and political posturing – through hakalike elements.

QL2 Dance’s leadership in Australian youth dance was confirmed in its Connected season, which comprised three works from young Australian choreographers on this theme. QL2 graduate Sara Black’s remount of her ‘Age of Contact’ opened the program. The intensive development of this work, since its initial performance, resulted in a much crisper performance.

‘Age of Contact’ works across a range of ‘levels of touch’, exploring contact and the connectedness it brings in tentative, searching movement. The performers control movement and timing, self-observing the act of contact, cycling in scope and intensity throughout the piece. In contrast to the physical, eye contact between the performers was direct, almost suspicious, communicating the need for contact, information, knowledge and feedback.

Kristina Chan’s ‘Infinite’ opens new aspects of the theme in the natural world. Composer James Brown’s active, in-studio

Adam Ventoura’s score supported this demanding, energetic and physical theatre choreography, allowing the dramatic effect of the spoken word to penetrate as the ensemble projected the fantasy of super hero strength, anchored in monosyllabic, “I’ll be back”, “Make my day”, catch phrases. This was contrasted to the actuality of needing to let down your guard and embrace vulnerability to make real connections, expressed through the verbatim texts of individual performers and the choreography of the different one seeking identity. Embedded within this action the engagement of vision was again a common feature, challenging the audience to look through and connect.

The large troupe of 32 performers, including guest performers from Bangkok Dance Academy, Perth and the Blue Mountains was skillfully handled by the choreographers. These aspiring youngsters’ strong commitment to excellence enabled the creation of engaging and dynamic performances that despite divergent choreographic processes built the connected theme over the program. The finale/ acknowledgement choreographed by QL2 Artistic Director Ruth Osborne cleverly reprised and interlaced aspects of the three works to bring the key elements of Connected into focus.

ANTHONY PLEVEY

ESCAPE ROOM CANBERRA

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T ARTS | ACT

ALL THAT CHIT-CHAT SAMUEL TOWNSEND In the midst of a self-diagnosed mid-life crisis, British TV host and stand-up comedian ALAN CARR returns to Australia (for the first time since backpacking in the late ‘90s), bringing with him his latest show.

“I’ve done over 250 dates of it, and then I ended the show on the 21st of February at the Hammersmith Apollo, and I thought that was it!” The autobiographical show, YAP, YAP, YAP! has toured the UK and Europe to much critical acclaim and Carr is thrilled to pieces as he continues riding the wave of its success. But as he explains, it wasn’t always smooth sailing. “The first time I did it, about 80% of the jokes didn’t work. I got really nervous and went offstage and as I did, the post-it note with my jokes on it fell out my hand and got stuck to the floor! So I had to come back and basically peel my shitty jokes off the floor!”

Carr can’t contain his excitement about bringing Yap, Yap, Yap! to our shores. He zealously recalls his time here at the turn of the millennium, “I stayed in Sydney when I was a backpacker and I lived in a two-bedroom house with two lesbians and four Irishmen. So it’ll actually be nice to come down to Australia and have a room to myself, and have money to actually go into restaurants and cafés instead of pressing my nose up against the window like Oliver Twist!” Carr’s heavy cockney accent is punctuated with that trademark giggle inbetween anecdotes. He describes his “best New Years, EVER!” when he partied like it was 1999 in Rose Bay, while Tom and Nicole (Cruise and Kidman) were on the harbour and fireworks illuminated the sky, “I found my friend Catherine in a bush and she had two footprints on her breasts. She’d passed out and someone had just trodden on her!”

The guy with ‘that voice’ and ‘those glasses’ first came to the attention of British audiences back in 2001 after taking out first place in the BBC New Comedy Award for Stand-up as well as CityLife Best Newcomer. His talk show, Alan Carr: Chatty Man, premiered in 2009 and has recently clocked up a whopping 180 episodes. The success of its formula has kept audiences laughing and celebrity guests coming back for more, but was an alcohol-fuelled and raucously slapstick chat show always on the cards? “They asked if I wanted to do a chat show, and I was like ‘oh, no, no, no!’ They sort of talked me around to it.”

Hilarious anecdotes are the life-blood of Alan Carr’s particular brand of autobiographical comedy. He fills notebooks with observations before weaving them into jokes and delivering them to his agent, “I’m not very political – no regimes are gonna crumble, no governments are gonna collapse when I get on stage!” With a career that spans radio, stand-up and television, I wonder who or what has surprised the Chatty Man most during his impressive trajectory. Carr pauses to reflect on his interview with Justin Bieber. “I was trying to break the Guinness Book of World Records for running in stilettos. Don’t ask! They said ‘Do not approach Justin; he will not wear stilettos … If you do, we will walk him off the show!’” What in fact transpired was television gold, “He popped on the red stilettos and he ran around, and of course it was great telly, everybody laughed their heads off and I thought ‘what a surprise!’ I thought he was going to be a right nightmare but he was actually a delight and actually added to the show by being such a good sport!”

Some memorable moments have transpired over the years as a slew of colourful guests have clinked glasses over the now famous portable globe cocktail cabinet. Sparks flew between Carr and Rhianna, we laughed at Nicki Minaj’s cockney accent, and we audibly gasped at a very wasted Courtney Love. When prompted to reflect on his impressive portfolio of interviews, Carr’s signature snappy tone is quickly replaced with a quiet sentimentality. “I was thinking the other day about Robin Williams … The joy of the chat show is that sometimes you get to meet these people before they are taken away.

He was such a lovely man. He was so funny on the show and so witty, and it was a real treat, you know? I love him, you know?” The mode of the chat show seems to provide more than just laughter and topical entertainment for Carr, instead it’s about an exchange and creating a legacy. “It’s poignant bits like that, that really hammer it home and make me think, ‘oh Alan, what a blessing and what a life you have that you can actually meet these people’.”

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As our interview comes to an end I sign off by letting Carr know, on behalf of his fans in Canberra, how excited we are to see Yap, Yap, Yap! Without hesitation, he effortlessly snaps back into his signature camp stylings, “See you in Canberra … and I promise that if you come backstage you won’t get tasered!”

See Alan Carr’s Yap, Yap, Yap! at Canberra Theatre on Monday August 22.

For tickets and details visit canberratheatrecentre.com.au.

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IN REVIEW Resident Alien The Street Theatre Fri–Sun Aug 5–7

As the house lights come down, a single light beams from beneath filthy bed sheets. Paul Capsis, in the guise of Quentin Crisp, sits huddled on his single bed, watching an episode of Oprah from under the covers. Although Crisp, the once divisive cultural agitator, has been dead for almost 20 years, his social critique on our celebrityobsessed culture (amongst other things) is as pertinent as ever.

Resident Alien, a one-man show, explores Crisp’s musings on life, death, relationships and the human condition, from the confines of the infamously grotty room he kept in Manhattan during the latter years of his life; “There is no need to do any housework at all. After the first four years the dirt doesn’t get any worse.”

Capsis emerges from beneath the covers and he is Crisp; hobbling, dirty and aged; sharp as ever. In his signature dressing gown and with that flock of grey and lavender hair, Capsis manoeuvres around the stage in a series of physically compromised gestures, pawing at bandages covering chronic eczema. Stage make-up cakes the face of Capsis in a camp caricature of the English raconteur, but disbelief is easily suspended as he embodies the harsh physicality of Crisp during his final years, down to the most nuanced detail. Pausing for brief moments during the dialogue heavy act, Capsis runs his tongue between his teeth and top lip as his lower jaw shudders; a grotesque homage to the compulsive tick that Crisp possessed- fiddling with his dentures.

The set design effectively mirrors the supposed chaos of Crisp’s dwelling – dirty, cluttered and cramped. Shredded paper blankets the floor in place of dust and boxes are placed haphazardly against walls and windows, whilst stacks of books lay in clusters beneath the bed, by the dresser, on the floor. Capsis effortlessly navigates his way through the domestic disarray, interacting with key elements; a black Bakelite phone, an antique dresser, and a box containing his iconic uniform; a shirt with velvet trousers and jacket.

In preparation for an interview, something Crisp never said no to (his number remained listed until his death), the dressing gown is replaced with his dandy armour, and the transition is mesmerising.

Beneath the gown, Capsis is wrapped and bandaged from ankle to chest, and in an elegantly measured ballet the individual items come together to reveal the acid tongued Englishman, in all his glory.

Much of Resident Alien unfolds at a quickened pace, but in the final stages of the play a noticeable stillness, masterfully manipulated

by Capsis, takes hold as he pulls the audience closer to observe the solitary figure; alone but not lonely. Words are of course his weapon, but in the silence his stoicism still cuts like a knife.

SAMUEL TOWNSEND

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HERE’S WHERE IT GETS CRAZY...

ALLAN SKO It’s a phrase often used by host/creator DAVE ANTHONY on American History impro-comedy podcast THE DOLLOP. “This is where it gets crazy… ” can come anywhere between the 20-50 minute mark, and is often met with shock and surprise from co-host GARETH REYNOLDS, and you suspect, a majority of the listening audience, for much craziness has already been had.

To the uninitiated, The Dollop sees Dave collect up weird, wonderful and unbelievable dollops of true American History and relay them to his comedy partner-in-time Gareth, who “has no idea what the topic is going to be about.” From there, the two improvise characters, impressions, stories and scenarios to hilarious effect. The podcast has just celebrated 200 episodes, and will be striking out on another Australian live tour, where the show has an impressive following.

Of the 200 episodes, Dave has many fond moments. “Hugh Glass is definitely one of my all time favourites – the one that DiCaprio turned into [The Revenant],” says Dave. “It’s one of the early ones and made me realise ‘Oh! People really like this podcast!’

“The Rube is one of my favourite characters of all time in anything,” he continues. “A baseballer from the early 1900s who played with one of our greatest pitchers of all time, but he was better than him. He was completely insane, so no one remembers him.”

I offer the episode on furious alcoholic Irishman Michael “Mick” Molly as a personal fave; a story that plays out like a Coen Brothers film.

“That story is completely mad!” Dave enthuses. “Every single time these guys try to kill him, he just keeps coming back. Every time he walks through the door … It’s just amazing. The ones that keep going on and on are spectacular.”

But with lovable characters like The Rube and Mick, there are plenty of personalities that can gnash the teeth in anger. “Lobster Boy is one,” Dave recalls. “It’s amazing that someone has that kind of physical challenge happening and you’re still, ‘God… What a monster!’ With Doc Anderson, we have a researcher who contacted him. We now send him the stories and he reads them to the other prisoners. We’re trying to get him an appeal. I really connected with him because the guy that did all the stuff to him was such a vile person.”

Despite the often dastardly people and dark subject matter, one of Dave and Gareth’s greatest abilities is to make the stories consistently funny without compromising the seriousness. “Usually if I do a really dark one I try to make the next one much less heavy,” Dave says. “We did the Ferguson/Iraq War episode, and the next one was about this kid who tried to make a nuclear reactor in his shed. So that was a lot lighter. The heavy ones take me a lot longer, because I’m trying to get a lot of information across. With Ferguson and the Iraq War, I wanted to make it funny.”

I ask if it’s like walking on eggshells with touchy subjects, particularly those concerning race, gender or murder. “Definitely, but it’s hard with improvisation to avoid that,” Dave reveals. “Gareth is really good at walking that line. A lot of other people would cross it. So that helps for me. But I’ve definitely learned some things are harder to talk about.

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He especially hates cruelty towards animals. There are episodes where I’m like, ‘Have I gone too far now?’,” he laughs. “I don’t want to be labelled under Snuff in iTunes.”

This said, Gareth’s always-amusing reactions to the madness playing out form one of the show’s highlights. “To me, my favourite moments are when Gareth realises what’s happening,” Dave chuckles. “Like when we did the Kellogg’s episode with the founder starting the whole antimasturbation crusade. When Gareth realised that was the guy who made the cereal … His reaction was amazing.”

As well as being terrifically entertaining, The Dollop shines with altruistic purpose by educating and informing modern audiences about oft-neglected or forgotten issues from the past. “We tend to whitewash a lot of stuff, don’t we?” Dave says. “Certainly what we’re taught in school isn’t the dark reality of what happened … It’s really fascinating too, because right now we’re going through a super dark period. Hopefully in a few years when we’ve changed our ways we’ll look back on it and go, ‘Oh my God, that was terrible’.”

In this vein, were there any other eye-openers or changes in belief that the man himself experienced doing the podcast? “I’ve been a lot more cavalier or liberal, left wing, on my views,” Dave reveals. “But due to the podcast’s deep-rooted history and how people were treated by the system, particularly in the media, I have changed my views about how people need to be treated now. I can see it much more in the media and by our government. Because I’m a white man, and I was raised in an affluent area … This has made me look at feminism and how women have been treated and it’s just been mind-boggling.”

Admitting, “I haven’t even picked the stories … I have about 30 to choose from,” for the upcoming Down Under 3 tour, we discuss the joy of the intimate medium of a podcast being transferred to a live stage.

“It started mostly with comedy podcasts,” Dave says. “Not many were doing it. With Walking the Room, we decided to do a live one due to demand. It sold out fast and people flew in from all over the world. We had people from Australia, Japan, England … It was really crazy.”

I suggest Dave and Gareth’s obvious rapport goes a long way to their live success. “I never thought of that, but the rapport is definitely a big part of it,” Dave says. “Me and Gareth knew right away when we met on a podcast that something was clicking. You can feel it. So it makes sense that the audience would pick up on that and want to be there.”

To finish, I nervously ask if there’s any end in sight for The Dollop?

“No! As a matter of fact, there’s talk of possibly doing a TV show, an animated one,” Dave enthuses. “We were doing a deal with Sony, but they’re a very complicated company to work with. So we’re meeting with a company we really like and who are good at getting stuff on the air. Hopefully it happens; we’re really excited about it! It just keeps growing and I love it. If this is all I do with my life I would be so happy.”

You will be listening to The Dollop; a bi-weekly American History podcast where each week Dave Anthony reads a story to his friend, Gareth Reynolds, who has no idea what the topic is going to be about. CIT Woden, Thursday September 8 from 8pm. Tix are $35 from TryBooking via Comedy ACT. @bmamag

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TRUCK DRIVERS KNOW HOW TO READ TOO! So I’m good-looking and funny, but these things don’t always pay the bills. Like so many, I need a day job. What better job for the high school dropout, than one that allows you to earn more than your uni degree sister, thereby giving you drunken bragging rights at the yearly family Christmas family fight.

This is where becoming a courier comes in, and quite often, I’m asked the same dumb questions. Recently and yet again at the lawyer’s, the receptionist asked if the delivery was actually for her firm. I responded with, “well it is addressed to your firm, I do know how to read.” A complaint was then lodged with my boss about our “offensive” interaction! I didn’t realise a truck driver knowing how to read (albeit surprising) was still considered offensive!

Now most truck drivers are seen as a direct descendant of Cro-Magnon man, who first invented the wheel … and then amphetamines as to not fall asleep behind it. But you will be surprised to know that we are a part of the current evolution of man homo sapien, who is renowned for his ability to learn the art of the written symbol.

Most drivers will also make it to the sixth grade (we need to do something while our legs grow long enough to reach the peddles) and though the current education system is failing our young at an alarming rate, even the most bogan child graduates primary school with the ability to read the address on warrant papers.

A courier does actually require an intelligence level that goes beyond breathing and standing upright at the same time. My favourite questions when delivering packages are, “who’s it for?”

“You, you moron! I do have a list, but I’m not a yearlong Santa Claus that runs around delivering random gifts to the good little children. If I was, I wouldn’t be here, you are a lawyer! How do you sleep at night charging $350 an hour? (Actually I imagine pretty well – you could buy one hell of a bed for $350 an hour!)

The second question, “what is it?” My favourite answer to this, until I was advised otherwise, was always, “not sure, but it sounded like glass while I was kicking it.” Now I just say, “a box”. Whether it is a box of paper or the latest in sexual technology that does that amazing thing with your backdoor, couriers don’t know what’s in the box. Or actually care. The point is I didn’t order it! So lawyers, be nice to your couriers, chances are we’ll need representation one day and we’ll pick the lawyer that seemed the least condescending. Also you’ll sleep even better at night. Cheers.

COMEDY ACT

CY FAHEY – Local comedian as seen at venues around Canberra.

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E X H I B I T I O N I S T ARTS | ACT

THE WORLD’S A STAGE ZOE PLEASANTS Provocative, political ideas drawn out in sweeping arcs and characters you would like to spend time with. No, this is not an invitation to some amazing dinner party, but it is how Caroline Stacey, artistic director of The Street Theatre, described the play, THE FAITHFUL SERVANT. Written by local playwright, Tom Davis – his fifth play – it tells the story of a group of characters associated with a medical NGO operating in Africa, and explores what it means for affluent people to be ‘good’ in the face of global poverty. It will premiere at The Street in September.

The play chronicles the life of Ray, founder of the NGO, from his death in Australia back to his first encounter with Africa. Ray is hoping that his adopted daughter, Caroline, will follow his passion and work in the NGO, but she is content being a GP in Australia. And Ray’s righthand man, Coetano, wants to transform the NGO into a faith-based organisation. The play traverses time and place, spanning 60 years and set in destinations as diverse as Mozambique, a refugee camp in Zimbabwe and Calvary Hospital, Canberra.

Stacey, who is directing the play, expects it to evoke conversations about “the value judgements around when one makes choices in one’s life about where to help,” she says. “Is it more important to help in the place where your feet touch the ground and you live, or in a place 10,000 km away? Is there value in each: to be in Canberra, where people are living a certain way, or to go to Africa where there is enormous poverty? And what I love about Tom’s work is that it’s filled with ambiguities and complexity and no easy answers.”

Tariro Mavondo, who plays Caroline, agreed. “What I really like about Tom, he’s not saying … he’s posing questions. And so he’s not saying foreign aid is evil, is bad, but he’s not necessarily saying it’s good either. He shows different sides of everything,” she says. “For my character, she’s adopted and she’s lived in Australia most of her life, but she’s conflicted because her dad is pressuring her to be a doctor in Mozambique, and she’s like, ‘I really like it here, I’ve got my family, I’ve got my kids and I feel like I’m doing good here and I don’t need to do good in Africa to be a good person’!”

Mavondo is an exciting, multi-talented performer who will be joining PJ Williams and Dorian Nkono on stage. She was born in Zimbabwe and moved to Melbourne with her family when she was very young.

And she can’t really remember a time when she wasn’t a performer.

Indeed, when I caught up with her – two days after she arrived in Canberra for rehearsals – and asked about what projects she had

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coming up next, she talked about a Shakespearean web-series, performing her own poetry, playing Irina in a production of Chekov’s, Three Sisters, and co-directing a group of young artists in a play about climate change. Mavondo became involved with the The Faithful Servant when, having just returned from the United States, she received a call from Stacey. “Two weeks ago, I got a call from Caroline, she talked to me a bit about the play, and I was really interested in the content and the fact that my character is an African-Australian, which is a rare role to play. So I read the script and I really loved it, and then I came to The Street Theatre and loved the vibe of this place,” she says.

During my discussion with Stacey, I was interested to hear her describe The Faithful Servant as inherently theatrical. When I asked her what she meant by this, she replied that, “it has the capacity to move us in a lot of ways that are not in a box of realism and yet are very real. It works in the real life detail of a medical operation, and then moves to imaginary characters that are in the mind’s eye. In the next dimension we’re in a hospital bed in Calvary in Canberra, and then the next moment there are angels of Africa appearing, that are manifested from the want of a character.” Mavondo similarly described the play as exploring big ideas in a domestic setting – one involving the struggle between a father and daughter.

I asked Mavondo, who has no preference for telling a story on a stage or into a camera, what she thinks sets theatre apart from other storytelling media. She talked about the audience and performers, in a theatre, entering a contract. “The audience know that [the play] is make-believe; that it is an imaginary world because they caught an Uber or whatever [to get to the theatre],” she says. “So its makebelieve, but we’re on a journey together. How an audience responds to a work informs how we perform it, like if they’re really engaged it kind of ups the ante. And there are little moments, not mistakes, but every night is different. So what any given audience experiences is going to be completely different because anything can happen, and I like that.”

She adds, “you can’t get that watching a film!”

The Faithful Servant will be showing at The Street Theatre from Tue–Sun September 6–18. Go to www.thestreet.org.au for tickets and details.

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IN REVIEW

Our Land People Stories – Bangarra Dance Theatre Canberra Theatre Centre Thursday July 28

Photo by Jhuny-Boy Borja

Featuring powerful choreography that merges contemporary physicality with traditional motifs and music skillfully combining the ancient and the digital, sculptural sets and evocative lighting, Our Land People Stories leads the imagination to glimpse the lived reality. Jasmin Sheppard’s ‘MACQ’ initiates this synchronicity and challenges all to engage with both the present and the past.

As an overture, this work commences with ‘Mourning’, expressing universal, ancient and timeless loss – reminding all that whether it happened yesterday or in distant years, love is shared, grief is tangible and the tale must be told.

And what a tale it is. The invasion of a country based on the premise of a legal fiction, just like weapons of mass destruction. Governor Macquarie’s 200-year-old proclamation is read over the déjà vu action of a victim, cuffed, bag over-head and writhing under redcoat experimental interrogation. Imposing retribution, “…to inflict

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terrible and exemplary Punishments upon them,” and inciting terror, “... hanging up on Trees the Bodies of such Natives … in order to strike the greater terror into the Survivors.”

Subjugated refugees, subject to servitude and exploitation, forced to fit-in, dancing and singing land and story secretly beneath cockatoo branches, still unforgiven for being here. ‘MACQ’ powerfully contextualises this duality, giving new cognisance to the impact of history, whilst strongly linking to current events.

The resilience of Indigenous Australians in the face of this bleak 200 years of being Orwellian unpersons was highlighted in ‘MIGAYAN’, choreographed by Beau Dean Riley Smith and QL2 Graduate, Daniel Riley. This work examined the kinship/family bonds of nation, moiety, clan, family and individual that underpin community life.

Drawing on their personal relationships, the choreographers have reconnected, combining traditional and contemporary elements to place these relationships in context. Revisiting and re-energising these cultural structures through dance, they link the timeless qualities of these with the broader theme of the program.

Stephen Page’s ‘NYAPANYAPA’ – inspired by Yolngu artist Nyapanyapa Yunupingu’s life – encompasses aspects of her artistic practice, including her ‘Buffalo Story’, which illustrates her goring by a water buffalo. Accompanied by music of the late David Page, the choreography creates a powerful sense of creative endurance and survival. The ‘Poles’ and ‘Soul of Spirit’ elements of ‘NYAPANYAPA’ were particularly emotive, evoking the patience of guarding the fire, which links to the contemporary experience of waiting.

Inspired set design by Jacob Nash, lighting by Matt Cox and costuming by Jennifer Irwin for all three works ensured a superb production, allowing the creative impact of Our Land People Stories to span time and space.

ANTHONY PLEVEY

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incredible talent in Canberra. We’re lucky to have so many great artists living here – it’s why I love producing and performing shows,” she says. “Canberra has a supportive, close-knit, dedicated arts community, and audiences here are incredible because when they love something they give a very strong response. They appreciate arts and have high expectations, which means we have the opportunity to always rise to the challenge.”

ONE THOUSAND AND ONE CANBERRAN NIGHTS SAM INGHAM

Photo by Stephen Kaak

With a lifelong love of dancing, RACHEL REID’s first job as a TV presenter in Cambodia was enough to spark her desire to be a performer. Moving to Australia and learning to belly dance in 2009, Rachel danced traditional Middle Eastern belly dance in Turkish restaurants. After performing as part of the Multicultural Festival for six years, Rachel realised Canberra didn’t have opportunities for belly dancers to showcase or perform more alternative styles on a paid platform outside of the restaurants. So 2015 saw Rachel create a course known as ‘Fabulous Fan Veils’, where she taught class participants how to use different styles of fans and belly dance techniques to create and enhance modern, neo belly dance routines.

Rachel also performs burlesque as her Jazida persona, and is part of a punk cabaret duo where she sings and plays piano.

After producing several cabaret and burlesque shows, Rachel had a strong desire to bring together and showcase the expanded styles in our belly dancing community. In May 2016, Rachel produced ARABIAN NIGHTS, held at Polit Bar, where performers from several styles of belly dancing showcased alternative routines. The support from the crowd and Polit Bar made her first show a big success.

“The reason I love hosting this show at Polit Bar is they are a wonderful local business who ensure that artists get paid as much as possible for the work they do. Polit also show support by producing food and cocktails to fit the theme and during the two-hour production you can also get some henna work done, check out the handcrafted belly dance jewellery on sale and have a bit of a dance and shimmy with us during the intermissions,” Rachel comments. “The next show will showcase a range of performance styles including traditional belly dance, samba fusion, dubstep fusion and flamenco fusion, and it will include an array of props – veils, swords, Shamadans, tea trays, fan veils and lots of costume changes.”

You can see this amazingly talented pocket rocket perform at the Arabian Nights show at Polit Bar on Friday August 19. She competes in the Miss Burlesque Australia ACT Heat at The Abbey on Saturday September 10, and will also perform at An Elemental Evening at Gorman House Arts Centre on Monday October 3.

I asked Rachel what makes her so passionate about performing.

“I have a real drive to showcase creativity and share some of the

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IN REVIEW

Mondayitis Cabaret: Christmas In July The Abbey Monday July 25

Photo by Captavitae Photography

I’m not a fan of all that is “Christmas”. The music is jingly and annoying and the commercialism of it really irritates me. I arrived at The Abbey prepared to hear some lollypop version of ‘Santa Baby’, Frank Sinatra and Bing Crosby Christmas Carols for the millionth time, and expecting performances with a lot of red and white jingle fluff. I was wrong. About 90 people attended the show and I was floored by the variety of neo-zlternative performances that didn’t have traditional Christmas music at all.

Starting with a beautiful emcee named Belle Blue, her sultry and husky singing voice was captivating. The 16 performances on the night included a ‘50s-styled diner routine by Veruca Foxx. Belly dance routines performed by Tabla Bellydance were Folkloric with modern twists. There were sassy showgirl performances by

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Chocolate Claire and Mandy Bandersnatch and a ‘Twelve Days of Christmas’ poetry performance written by Bella Rose. The stage kittens performed the infamous ‘Mean Girls Jingle Bell Rock’, Fi Bonacci performed a cutie pie cat routine attacking the Christmas decorations. Lily Le Tigre performed a classic fan dance with her ginormous white feather fans; Crème De La Crop performed a Chapman-esque stripping Mime routine.

Then there were some really fantastic alternative acts that featured Roxi Ravish performing a drag king hip-hop routine, whose present box on her lap opened to reveal a massive strap on dildo. Ziggy Charms performed as a cheeky elf in a sack revealing his jingle bells and The Anal Choir sang a song all about ‘You Being a C*nt’.

Possum Galore came out dressed in an oversized baby costume with a grotesque mask, she stripteased out of the costume and then, keeping the grotesque mask, she did a Hawaiian Lei dance that had the crowd enthralled but absolutely mortified at the same time.

Sparkle Muffin performed a slow and sexual gender bending routine that started with a pilgrim woman in a bonnet slowly stripteasing to ‘Creep’, revealing fur/carcass lined lingerie, and then stripping it off to reveal a massive, green, glittered strap on.

The crowd went crazy all night – they absolutely loved it. I absolutely loved it. Thank you Mondayitis for letting performers in our small city showcase their creative freedom in such an accepting environment! Ending the night with a competition for the ‘Most Hideous Christmas Sweater/Costume’, winners walked away with prizes by sponsors – Captavitae Photography, Gwynnies, Rusty Blaze, Dazzle Me and Resin Doll. The show raised just over $400 for Canberra Cat Fix, a charity that assists low income earners to obtain affordable de-sexing for their cats with heavy support from local vets. Save the date for the next Mondayitis show: Halloween on Monday October 24!

SAM INGHAM

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ARTISTPROFILE: ALISON W.

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standard, not trying to be perfect. I nearly killed my love of singing tangled up in getting it ‘right’ in an incredibly competitive industry.

What do you do? I’ve been taking shadow selfies. I’m calling it folk art, as selfies are a kind of ‘art of the people’. The label is also a bit of a comment on the blurring lines between professionals and amateurs, with the internet making it easier to have a go and put your art out there – photography, film, music, writing. I love the way this is reinvigorating creativity at the community-level, but I also worry that IP control issues make it harder for people to earn enough to pursue their art full-time, in-depth.

When, how and why did you get into it? By accident. I’m a bit camera shy, so it took until early this year for me to take my first selfie. I discovered I was terrible at it, so I started photographing my shadow instead. It just took off from there.

Who/what influences you as an artist? John Cage. I originally studied music (opera in fact), and I loved his 4’33” of silence – the idea of hearing whatever sounds come up as music, without judgement. In some ways I’m doing the same thing – walking around taking happy snaps of my shadow without much forethought, and discovering what’s there when I fiddle with the exposure on the computer. It’s so much fun!

Of what are you proudest so far? I’m proud of the fact that I’m not taking this too seriously, not trying to meet some professional

What are your plans for the future? At the moment I’m working on enjoying the present, playing around and seeing where it leads.

What makes you laugh? My flatmates. (Just now, as she carefully lines up everything in the dishwasher yet again, Ruth says “Oscar [our new flatmate] said he likes rearranging the dishwasher too. It made me feel so much better.”)

What pisses you off? New housing developments that are not passive solar and will run hundreds of air-conditioners and clothes driers for the next 50 years. Such a wasted opportunity.

What about the local scene would you change? I’m pretty new to the Canberra scene, so ask me again in a year.

What are your upcoming performances/exhibitions? I’m showing some pictures at Smith’s Alternative Gallery from Mon Aug 22–Sun Sep 18. I hope they will spark lots of hand waving conversations about the ways technology is transforming society, notions of self, cultural constructions of gender, our relationship with the environment, psychoanalysis, philosophy of being … or that people will just think they are nice.

Contact info: Just go and see the show!

Alison W. – Monolith

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However, curators at the NPG have not deliberately scheduled these explorations. It’s been a natural evolution.

COMING INTO OUR OWN KEREN NICHOLSON

Robert Mapplethorpe – James Ford 1979

The National Portrait Gallery’s latest exhibition surveys the work of seven Australian and American photographers from the 1960s until now, all of whom approach the vulnerability in masculinity and identity through a sensitive, innocent and beautiful form. Curator Dr Christopher Chapman has explored themes of adolescent boyhood in art for more than 20 years and it was the basis for his doctoral thesis. TOUGH & TENDER is a physical manifestation of this exploration.

The exhibition features the beautification of all things in Robert Maplethorpe’s work, Larry Clark’s often heart-wrenching empathetic photos, Chris Burden’s psychological pursuit to stimulate the imagination in the Documentation of Selected Works, Nan Goldin and the more recent work of Warwick Baker and Rosalind Drummond. The National Portrait Gallery has produced some wonderfully expressive exhibitions of late, including In the Flesh and Bare: Degrees of Undress sparking humour and openness.

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Chapman tells me, “I think it reflects an interest we all share that portraiture can share emotion. It has not been programmed that way. The subject matter has been of interest to me for a very long time, decades really. What I hope the exhibition offers visitors, is that we all want to be loved and accepted, we all go through the phase of figuring out who we want to be. This is something that each artist has explored in their work. I hope for viewers to reflect on that sense of our own selfhood.” The exhibition brings together work from different collections, sourced from the National Gallery of Australia and private dealers in the US, including the work of more recent artists Baker and Drummond.

“It is not a survey of anyone’s work, or a particular theme of anyone’s work, but a look at the sense of emotional rawness each one shares in their work,” Chapman says. However, the artists have all been chosen quite specifically. “My PhD was largely about Larry Clark.

These artists resonate precisely – they are not afraid to look at the deep feelings about coming into being. They share a lovely sense of sensuality, and the photos themselves are beautiful. The colour photos are really lovely.” The works are certainly very open and raw, but they are not confrontational. At the same time, the exhibition doesn’t shy away.

Trust between the photographer and their subject is obvious, evoking a warm response. The honest selection of photographs lack judgment – set against the backdrop of the imperfect sexual dialogue of the last century. “The works are very sensitive to embracing the spectrum of who they can,” Chapman concludes.

Tough & Tender is displaying at the National Portrait Gallery until Sunday October 16.

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LITERATURE IN REVIEW

dying, but at the moment we’re so obsessed with prolonging life, the issue of quantity isn’t allowing for a discussion of quality. What might be improved if we tackle this remove from death?

“When given the diagnosis of a life-threatening illness, people are often told they are fighting a war. This, by definition, sets them up as failures if they don’t conquer the disease.”

Living well, says Kaminsky, and she’s probably right. Unfortunately, her philosophy on living boils down to YOLO. If you’ve ever read a book or seen a movie that treats death in a remotely grown-up way, you’re probably already familiar with the idea that life’s fragility makes it more valuable and more important to seize than it would otherwise be.

We’re All Going to Die Dr Leah Kaminsky [HarperCollins Publishers; 2016]

A GP’s exploration of death anxiety and its effects on quality of life, We’re All going to Die promises to be compelling and mostly delivers.

Death has moved from the home to the hospital, allowing much of Western society to go into unhealthy denial about death’s existence at all. Kaminsky paints the past death experience in broad strokes, tempering high historical mortality rates with a near idyllic portrait of a loving family keeping bedside vigil. By contrast the present day intensive and palliative care environments are sterile, lonely, inaccessible.

The central argument is that we could be doing better at living and

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Kaminsky goes back to this well a lot, pointing to the new lease on life sometimes achieved by those who’ve been through disease, disability, near death incidents and epic risk-taking (read: sword swallowing, tightrope walking, space travel). She’s less clear on how we’re to replicate the emotional knowledge of death’s nearness without the profound experience of having been near death.

But, if Kaminsky is not that original in her treatment of life, her take on death is challenging and relevant. Drawing on her own medical background, she makes some poignant points about the profession’s tendency to be life extending rather than life improving.

In particular, she takes aim at the way it frames healing in military terms. You can battle illness, beat cancer, be a survivor – but what sort of journey and identity does this allow for people who can’t or choose not to be a ‘winner’? Kaminsky espouses dignity, selfdetermination and investing in the moment.

She also forays into the fringes of death culture. Life clocks, death clocks, death cafés and death couture all get a look in. And posthumous use of social media. No, really. The dead can tweet. It’s an oddly easy read given its subject matter, but frankly better when it’s being confronting rather than engaging. I hope Kaminsky gets the revolution she’s looking for.

CARA LENNON

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LITERATURE IN REVIEW

Hack In A Flak Jacket Peter Stefanovic [Hachette Publishing; 2016]

It seems there is not a day that passes anymore without a lone wolf attack in a school, church, airport or café, or a headline on terrorism in the news. Often there is video, audio and photos from the scene taken by locals on the ground. With the advent of citizen journalism, drones and the power to view footage immediately as events take place, is there still a role for a dedicated foreign correspondent?

Absolutely.

Peter Stefanovic (yes, brother to the infamous Karl Stefanovic in case you wondered) is a straightforward, no excess adjectives storyteller; the facts as he remembers, in the order he remembers.

To that end, this isn’t Graham Greene or Freya Stark describing Vietnam in the 1930s. This is bombing in Gaza, children and their grandparents being blown up in front of their families and walls of journalists only able to press record and watch from the sidelines.

Stefanovic was a Channel 9 foreign correspondent based in London for almost ten years. His beat was Europe, Africa and the Middle East. When a story of interest came “across the wires”, Stefanovic would contact the Head of News in Australia at whatever hour, request to cover the story, and once approved, would be on a flight with accommodation and translator arranged.

There is no end to the death and destruction in Hack In A Flak Jacket, but Stefanovic is not trying to recreate a horror film – he has no desire to overplay or detail gruesomeness for the sake of titillating readers. His recounting of a four-year-old girl, chest bloody from shrapnel, lying in a coma while her father watched over her, was simple but devastating. Her mother and siblings had been killed in a single bomb blast. It’s not all terrorist attacks and political upheaval though. Stefanovic was also on the scene to cover the arrest and trial of Oscar Pretorius in South Africa. He is witness to family and friends protesting his innocence and assuring journalists Ozzie was not the type to be guilty of killing his girlfriend, or anyone.

When these events are covered chronologically and with little élan or exclamation, the amazing history that we are witnessing in the making can sometimes seem just another news day. In fact, it is through the eyes of a foreigner that the world opens up to us. While drones can catch a bomb going off in Gaza live, and radio can share screaming and citizens protesting, it can’t give the historical and political context in an articulate and compassionate voice. This is the role of the foreign correspondent – to put the world into word, to know instinctively who to talk to and how to communicate the epic tragedy and wonder and ecstasy of how people live and what living means to people we will never meet, in lands we might never go to. Stefanovic is no Hemningway, but he is a brave and resourceful Australian journalist with rare experience and insight on the last 10 years’ of world events.

Seek it out.

CAT WOODS

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bit PARTS MIKE PARR: FOREIGN LOOKING WHAT: Art Exhibition WHEN: Until Sun Nov 6 WHERE: National Gallery of Australia Mike Parr is one of Australia’s most influential artists and the subject of a challenging exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia. Mike Parr: Foreign Looking is the first exhibition to bring together works in all media from Parr’s unrelentingly experimental practice from 1970 to the present. Spanning nine galleries, this installation of performance, film, sculpture, drawing, printmaking and photography provokes a challenging yet mesmerising experience. The exhibition presents works never previously seen. It also features a theatrette program devoted to Parr’s work as an avant-garde filmmaker, showing his extraordinary trilogy Rules and Displacement Activities (1973–83). Entry is free.

LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL WHAT: Film Festival WHEN: Fri Aug 19–Wed Aug 31 WHERE: National Gallery of Australia The Latin American Embassies in Australia are proud to present the 12th Latin American Film Festival at the National Gallery of Australia.

The festival will present a selection of 13 films from all over Latin America, including international award-winning pieces and featuring some of the most exciting and creative productions to reach the big screen in recent years. Each day showcases a film from a different country, including Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil and heaps more. Films are show at 2:30pm and 6:30pm daily. Entry is free, but bookings are essential via nga.gov.au.

Check the website for full details on all of the films.

CANBERRA’S FUNNY WOMEN WHAT: Comedy WHEN: Thu Aug 25 WHERE: Gorman Arts Centre Although giant strides have been made for women working across the film, television and entertainment sector, comedy is a field that women have a tough time breaking into. In partnership with Ainslie and Gorman Arts Centres, Feminartsy and the Fearless Initiative are presenting an evening of women in comedy. Featuring performances from Canberra’s Sparrow-Folk (a.k.a. Juliet Moody and Cathy Crowley), as well as Codie Bell, it’s promised to be jam-packed full of laughs and insights. The night will conclude with a thoughtful discussion on the status of women in the comedy industry. Part of the proceeds from the evening will also go to supporting survivors of domestic violence. Entry is $10 at 7pm.

SHAMLESS SEAMUS WHAT: Irish Music WHEN: Sat Sep 3 WHERE: Canberra Irish Club

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Jim Moginie (of Midnight Oil and The Break) and his ensemble of Irish musicians (from Sydney, Blue Mountains and Wollongong) promise a reeling and rollicking show when Shameless Seamus performs at the Irish Club. After discovering his bloodline to County Offaly four years ago, Moginie has returned regularly to Ireland for music festivals and sessions, and is completely bewitched by the timeless traditional melodies of Irish music. Shameless Seamus is a manifestation of Moginie’s aspiration to explore his cultural background through music; something he is doing with fond affection and a thought-provoking take on traditional music. Tickets are $20/$15 and can be purchased online at TryBooking.com.

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CMAG DR WHO EXHIBITION

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the word

on albums

hip-hop samples and rapping from Danny Brown and Biz Markie.

The individual tracks are more song-driven than before, helped along by the original instrumentation and vocals on most tracks. A suite of guest vocalists all lend their pipes to the cause, which adds variation to the sound across the album. Perhaps though, the best parts are still the slick beats and catchy hooks that draw you in.

album of the issue THE AVALANCHES WILDFLOWER [MODULAR RECORDINGS]

When The Avalanches released Since I Left You over a decade and a half ago, it was unlike anything heard before.

In saying that, it was like everything that had been heard before, as it weaved vintage samples into a musical proclamation of joy, built on a framework of funk, psychedelia and hip-hop. It was an album to influence a generation, spurning in-depth analysis and covers of its songs from across the music scene.

The Avalanches built an almost yeti-like air of mystery to a pending follow up – bringing out vague and promising pressreleases on a future album that would never eventuate. That was, until now.

For sixteen long years, Wildflower has been in the making. Always anticipated as a follow up to SILY, work began on a new album immediately after its predecessor’s release. However, between other commitments, side projects and health issues, the release of Wildflower became indefinitely waylaid. A major line-up change during this time saw Wildflower pieced together by founding members Robbie Chater and Tony Di Blasi, the group down from six members previously.

Upon first listen, to anyone familiar with SILY, Wildflower feels intimately familiar. For all the mixed genres that could have clashed on this album, there is a deftness of touch applied that just makes it work. The hip-hop aspect has been amped up on Wildflower, recalling The Avalanches during their earliest years, with the inclusion of hard-edge

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There has always been a strong element of nostalgia to work of The Avalanches, with the strategic use of samples from soundtracks, found sounds or commercials igniting a reminder of something you’ve heard before.

Wildflower is no exception, strongly playing on the novelty aspect by adding Disney-esque touches throughout. It’s like being transported into a children’s film at times – this influence undeniably brought over from the group’s work on a musical soundtrack for King Kong, which was never released.

However, this may also be the biggest issue with Wildflower – the novelty-pop interludes give the album a disjointed sound. It appears on Wildflower that The Avalanches wanted it as both a more serious album and something lighter and more fantastical. Lead single ‘Frankie Sinatra’ is one such track – the weird carnie vibe and the Sound of Music samples all seem a tad over-the-top.

The high points of Wildflower flow seamlessly together and are a pleasure to listen to. The album glides from ‘Subways’, an early highlight of airy disco funk, and sweeps through the next five tracks effortlessly. The delicate ‘Stepkids’ adds a touch of indie-folk based on a Lou Barlow sample, and drives the album back to its final groove on ‘Saturday Night Inside Out’. Featuring poetry and Father John Misty on vocals, this track was the first written for Wildflower and becomes the one to draw it to a close. Although it’s probably due to a decade’s worth of content that Chater and Di Blasi were busting to include, some editing of the album’s ambitious 21 tracks could have helped refine the flow of the album.

As a companion to SILY it works well, even if it will likely remain in its predecessor’s shadow. On its own, Wildflower stands up as a good album with some fantastic standouts, despite its sometimes forced determination to be unique and quirky.

BALL PARK MUSIC EVERY NIGHT THE SAME DREAM [STOP START] Ball Park Music hail from Brisbane, and are slowly but surely taking their music to a worldwide level. They have been around for about eight years, but seemed to have flown under the radar when it comes to mainstream recognition. Every Night the Same Dream will surely bring them to the forefront of musical success – whether they stay as an underground indie band or dive out into the depths of mainstream music.

The album’s alternate sound establishes a solid rhythm throughout the track listing, pushing forward new ideas and concepts at each corner. Indie rock is the only thing that can perfectly describe this album.

Elements of tape distortion and wah-wah pedals contribute to the indie feel, creating a psychedelic space for a kaleidoscope of surrealist sounds. The complexity and number of sounds that have been thrown together could possibly make you question how it even works well together. Somehow it does, and it sounds great. An amalgamation of old synthesisers, guitars and drums create a ‘70s feel to complement the experimental indie sound nicely.

To say the least, synthesizers give this album its flavour and edge. They’re featured heavily halfway through the album on ‘Nihilist Party Anthem’. Bathed in layers of synth sound effects, it exudes a grungy yet sophisticated alternate rock vibe. It’s a fun song that you’ll probably find yourself randomly singing to if you listen to it too much.

From the sounds of this album alone, surely Ball Park Music are going to be big news in the future. It’s old-school vibes meets new wave alternate rock.

MORGAN HAIN

MEGAN LEAHY

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GANG OF YOUTHS LET ME BE CLEAR [MOSEY RECORDINGS]

TULLY ON TULLY MILES AWAY [INDEPENDENT RELEASE]

NORTHEAST PARTY HOUSE DARE [STOP START]

Following the critically acclaimed success of their debut album The Positions, Gang of Youths return bigger and brighter with their six-track EP Let Me Be Clear. Made up of songs that didn’t make the cut for the 2015 album, each track has been polished and reimagined to perfectly tie together everything we experienced in The Positions.

Frustrations felt in the last album are fused together with acceptance; The Positions was the fight, Let Me Clear is the closure.

Melbourne indie poppers Tully On Tully first came to notice with their 2013 EP Weightless. Featuring a crisp sound and the potent vocals of Natalie Foster, tracks were guitar driven with keys playing a supporting role. Only the zig-zagging synth and less focused vibe of ‘The Young Ones’ gave a hint of the future direction the band would take.

After a kickass year playing shows in Europe and the UK, Melbourne locals Northeast Party House are back with their self-produced album Dare. Due out Friday September 9, Dare brings with it the familiar pop and rock infused electro that we fell in love with on their 2014 debut album Any Given Weekend, but this time adds an established sound that shows the band evolving.

‘The Good Fight’ is a window into the unravelling of lead singer David Le’aupep’s life during his 20s. Opening with husky vocals floating alongside a gentle piano, the track eases you in before exploding in a chaos of wrenching strings and shattering yells. The tranquillity is abruptly overshadowed by disorder and you’re suddenly thrust into anarchy. ‘Native Tongue’ continues this theme, beginning with kids yelling in the playground and an upbeat tempo, but spiralling into a ball of angst. ‘Strange Diseases’ welcomes a more forgiving vibe, with an orchestral arrangement and ecstatic chorus that erupts with musical colour.

At the end of a string of intimate tracks, the EP closes with a hauntingly beautiful cover of Joni Mitchell’s ‘Both Sides Now’. Its simplicity makes it a satisfying end to an emotional ride, with Le’aupepe illuminating his closure through Mitchell’s lyrics.

From start to finish, the anguish of Let Me Be Clear seeps through you. You want to yell, hit something and cry; but you come to the end of it and realise you’re not alone.

Le’aupepe’s vocals greet you like a bear hug, wrapping its arms around you, pulling you in close and whispering in your ear, “Everything’s going to be okay.”

Three years later, Tully On Tully’s sophomore EP, with songs written whilst the band was overseas on tour and laid down back in Victoria, has surrendered to the seductive power of the synth. Possibly influenced by the popularity of the softer, more electronic ‘producer’ vibe, keys play a bigger role and, while undiminished in their power, there is a softer edged feel to the vocals. Followers of the band will already be familiar with three of the tracks, centring on themes of isolation, nostalgia and a dying romance, which were progressively released as singles in 2014–15. Opener ‘Honestly’ combines galloping percussion and silver foil guitar licks, with the haunting voice of Foster borne aloft on floating keys. ‘All These Words’, with its expansive vocal overlaps and looped electronica, illustrates the ‘big sound’ branding now embraced by the band. Highlights come at the trailing edge of the track list. The intense, moody ‘Cold Hands’ projects a chilling and menacing presence, while the catchy title track carries a sound signature that stretches way back to the ‘80s. Every inch of it occupied by appealing rhythms or forceful vocals, Miles Away has a powerful, space filling presence.

While the band has evolved in an exciting new direction, I do miss the sharp quality and freshness that characterised their debut.

‘Heatbreaker’ nicely opens the album, experimenting with electronic sounds and mixing, but the track doesn’t immediately jump out at you. ‘Your House’ starts to build the mood, and ‘Wallflower’ encourages the dance vibe, but it’s not until ‘For You’ that the beat really kicks in. The usual blend of dance and rock is accompanied by elements of pop and soul, resulting in a dreamy combination of sounds. ‘Girl’ almost brings the band back to its roots, echoing sounds from tracks heard in Any Given Weekend, but bringing with it an extra edge of maturity.

Dare offers a more organised production than its predecessor. Any Given Weekend encompassed that raw, messy feel that comes with a live performance, which made it a fun party album. Dare takes on a more established root, with clean electronic cuts and timely cues. It still has that fun, upbeat vibe, but in a different form. The growth and influences from their travels shine through, giving proof that the band’s sound is continuously evolving. But this makes the album feel like a stepping stone to something more, something bigger. It’s a good album, but they haven’t reached their full potential yet.

GISELLE BUETI

RORY MCCARTNEY

GISELLE BUETI

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the word

intoxicating blend of wild costumes, hallucinogenic sci-fi themes and hard-hitting rhythms. The sound was inspired in equal measures by chiselled James Brown beat ‘The One’, those wild freakouts in Jimi Hendrix’s cosmic guitar jams and attitude laden proto-punk from the likes of The Stooges and The MC5. It helped that Funkadelic guitarist Eddie Hazel was every bit in love with his instrument as Hendrix, and the two Funkadelic selections compiled here fit the mould of the electric Miles Davis inspired album title. ‘Red Hot Mama’ from 1974 is a red hot slice of psychedelic funk, while ‘Maggot Brain’, the ten-minute instrumental from the classic 1970 album of the same name, is beautifully expressive and a good example of uninhibited expansiveness.

on albums

album in focus

VARIOUS RUNNING THE VOODOO DOWN: EXPLORATIONS IN PSYCHROCKFUNKSOULJAZZ 1967–1980 [WARNER MUSIC AUSTRALIA] A noticeable effect when psychedelics were introduced to pop music was a general slowing down that reflected a more contemplative state of mind. Have a listen to the Beach Boys’ ‘California Girls’ and The Beatles’ ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ for confirmation. Similarly, the impact of the psychedelic scene on funk and soul was a prevalence of seductive, narcotic grooves and a potent dose of multi-coloured weirdness celebrated on Running the Voodoo Down. It has been released on the Warners/Festival label, indicating an Australian origin, and makes for an excellent companion to the Cosmic Country collection released on the same label in 2013.

At first glance it appears the compilers have chosen a disparate selection of songs, but common themes emerge the more deeply you delve. The collection opens with James Brown’s ‘Talkin’ Loud & Saying Nothin’ recorded in 1970. By then, the godfather of soul was immersed in exploring stripped back funk to power his musical sex machine that hit hard in the mid-1960s and paved the way for the psych-oriented Sly and the Family Stone and Funkadelic, both represented here.

Funkadelic was truly something else. Live performances from this free-spirited ensemble involved an

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Given the influence of Hendrix, particularly the funkier stuff he was doing with The Band of Gypsys, it is a tad unfortunate that the master guitarist’s appearance here is on an uninspired jam that would have turned up on one of the many bootlegs following his death in 1970. That is okay though, because somewhat heavier vibes are mined on other selections that draw inspiration from cultural self-awareness and protest. The Isley Brothers turn Neil Young’s meditation on the 1970 Kent State University shootings, ‘Ohio’, into a soulful exploration of empathy and sorrow that cuts across cultural boundaries, as does Sly and the Family Stone’s downer funk ‘Thank You for Talking to Me Africa’ from the 1971 album masterpiece There’s a Riot Goin’ On, which fittingly concludes this two-CD set.

Elsewhere, musical experimentation was the order of the day when psychedelia found its way into soul, jazz and funk. Miles Davis was rapidly approaching full electric mode when he recorded ‘Willie Nelson’ in 1970 and the sinuous electric groove conjured is a thing of beauty. But if any track on this intoxicating trip captures funk and psychedelia in beautiful togetherness, it must be The Chamber Brothers’ 1967 epic, ‘Time Has Come Today’. It starts out as a slice of upbeat soul with a light psych tinge, but the elongated mid-section is a mind warping free-forall that teleports the main theme into uncharted waters – a soulful groove that also happens to be nicely toasted.

TARJA THE BRIGHTEST VOID [EARMUSIC] Those of you sitting twiddling your thumbs thinking you’ve got until forever before you have to nip out to pick up the new Tarja album … You’re wrong! Because here she is with what she calls a ‘prequel’ album to The Shadow Self, The Brightest Void.

And what a dazzling little disc it is, too!

Duets, cover versions – they’re all here and all go to make up one of the perkiest releases I can remember from the Finnish ice queen.

Tracks like ‘An Empty Dream’ are a delight to listen to, with Ms Turunen reminding most of the opposition (I say most, and I’ll explain why later) why she’s still top of the tree in the female metal vocalist stakes, whilst her duet with Hanoi Rocks’ frontman Michael Monroe is also a must-hear.

An intriguing reading of Paul McCartney’s ‘House of Wax’ works beautifully, as Tarja transforms the song into a brooding stadium metal epic. ‘Goldfinger’ is glorious, pure and simple. Tarja Turunen takes on Shirley Bassey and wins with a spine tingling version of the classic James Bond theme tune, however final track ‘Paradise (What About Us)’ is a little more problematic.

I mentioned earlier that Turunen was ahead of most of the pack, and this final track proves that statement as our heroine is bested here by the peerless talent that is Within Temptation’s Sharon Den Adel. Her beautiful, soulful gift of a voice totally owns the track, leaving Tarja sounding slightly stiff and brittle by comparison.

Still, let’s not let that little glitch get in the way of what is, in all respects, one of the most enjoyable records Tarja has ever lent her undoubted talents to.

SCOTT ADAMS

DAN BIGNA

@bmamag

PET SHOP BOYS SUPER [X2 RECORDINGS LTD] Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe, better known as the Pet Shop Boys, have achieved phenomenal success in 35 years of making music. The electronica-dance duo has flogged some 50 million records sold since they first let loose with the album Please in 1986, with its wonderfully gritty, atmospheric single ‘West End Girls’.

Super, the duo’s thirteenth studio LP is a mix of serious dance material and other stuff which, while it still contains mucho synth sparkle, is more for listening and nodding your head to. It maintains the smooth vocal delivery which has been associated with the band forever. Pet Shop Boys squeeze a lot of beats into a small space in the keyboard riff of opener ‘Happiness’. With super simple lyrics and a strong central beat, it intends to stake a strong ‘dance’ claim at the start of the record, but is a little lightweight.

Single ‘The Pop Kids’ brings catchy beats with a nostalgic glance into the rear view mirror of early nineties pop. There’s social commentary too, with ‘Twenty Something’ expressing the pressure to achieve in an era where the accomplishments of peers are all too apparent on social media. Faux strings lend an orchestral feel to ‘The Dictator Decides’, while its opening stomping beats capture the vibe of troops marching in formation in front of the leader of [insert name of your favourite totalitarian state here]. The bouncy ‘Pazzo!’ brings to mind ‘We No Speak Americano’ by Yolanda Be Cool, while the slow paced ‘Sad Robot World’ is a distinct highlight. The best dance tracks come late, including ‘Undertow’, the trance elements of ‘Inner Sanctum’ and the grinding bass and muscular, pumped up beats of ‘Burn’.

RORY MCCARTNEY

FUTURE OF THE LEFT THE PEACE & TRUCE OF FUTURE OF THE LEFT [REMOTE CONTROL/INERTIA] “Have you ever been part of a criminal conspiracy? It really is incredible fun.” So sings Welsh post-hardcore trio Future of the Left in their crowdfunded fifth LP. While many contemporary songs enter into ‘language warning’ territory for radio play, Future of the Left takes the more difficult path of using shrewd wordage in expressing their contempt for the values and obsessions of Western middle-to-upper class society.

Enter a harsh landscape of piano wire taut guitars and doom-laden drums in tongue in cheek opener ‘If A&T Drank Tea What Would BP Do?’ Frontman/guitarist Andrew ‘Falco’ Falkous utters his throat tearing screech in punching out the band’s nihilistic dogma.

Chockers with black, negative energy, the finale comes in cage fight blows. In what might be a bitter commentary on the obsession with celebrity culture, the rabid vocal delivery of ‘In a Former Life’ recalls the barely restrained rage of Public Image Limited. The darkly comic ‘Running All Over the Wicket’ expounds that there is never a problem, so long as the corpse can fit in the boot along with the shopping, before ending in a jolly sing-a-long. Full of fuzzed-up guitar, punk meets grunge in ‘Grass Parade’, while a plummy, upper-class accent relates domestic dramas in ‘Miner’s Gruel’. Highlight song ‘The Limits of Battleships’ is part brat’s rant, part political manifesto, borne aloft on a rapid tattoo of percussion and guitars set on automatic fire. There’s a disregard for conventional songwriting patterns, especially in tracks like ‘Back When I Was Brilliant’ where heavy lyrical repetition gives way to a running narrative. This release combines insanely wild, ragged edged music and messages whose starkness is softened by humour that at times encroaches on Monty Python territory.

RORY MCCARTNEY

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KING OF THE NORTH GET OUT OF YOUR WORLD [DIRTY ROCK RECORDS] Take a listen to King of the North and you would swear from the tumult of hard rock that this is a four-piece outfit. Wrong!

Only Andrew Higgs, on vocals and guitar, and Steve Tysses, on skins and BVs, are responsible for this wall of sound. How? A piece of electronic wizardry in the form of a ‘three from one’ pedal emulator enables Higgs to project the sound of two axes plus bass, either rocking them out simultaneously or with separate sounds.

What they produce at shows is a genuine ‘live’ product without any prerecorded padding.

The new record follows the 2014 debut LP Sound the Underground, using its surefire recipe of pedal-to-the-floor rock and adding in a little heavy rock royalty input courtesy of Cog’s Lucius Borich and Mark of Cain’s John Scott. The results are a varied collection of hard rock/stoner tracks, plus some bluesy undertones and sweet ‘70s sensibilities. There’s a steady diesel like throbbing punctuated by a rising guitar with a turbo shriek in the opener ‘Rise’. The title track benefits from swampy licks and cantering riffage, going through different phases as it brightens up, then gets dark and stormy. ‘Love Like Fire’ comes with ready-made lyrical handles for punters to grasp and shout along to, and there’s a little Led Zep in the high and tight vocal delivery of ‘Burn’. ‘Caught Between Two Worlds’ caries the best melodic line, while the cleverly titled instrumental ‘No Stone Left Unturned’ is indulgent stoner rock where the licks just keep on exploding. The closing cover ‘Manic Depression’ takes the long, live version performed by Jimi Hendrix and turns the extended drum solo into a wailing guitar maelstrom.

RORY MCCARTNEY

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TANGENTS STATELESS [TEMPORARY RESIDENCE] I wonder for a future for music writers where a band can more appropriately sum up their work in one word than a writer can in 300. Tangents, a Canberra/Sydney/ UK five-piece, make music without a set “state” or mode, relying on feel more than anything else. Stateless, the third album for the quintet, sits firmly between jazz and alternative electronica, with very acoustic and extremely synthesised elements working together to find something beautiful.

Album opener ‘Jindabyne’ sets the tone, driven by the drums of Evan Dorrian, as is the case on much of the album. Jindy is a weird town, with mountains jutting from an artificial lake, and this song does as well as any in representing its odd beauty. ‘Oberon’ sees the intensity grow, with the cut up cello of Peter Hollo taking a prominent place.

As the album progresses, Tangents keep showing new sides to their sound – the various keyboards of Adrian Lim-Klumpes plays heavy on ‘Masist Cau’, the junky guitars of Shoeb Ahmed run wild on ‘Directrix’.

Tying it all together is the aforementioned percussion of Dorrian and the processing of Ollie Brown.

For a quintet with a largely improvisational background, there’s a rather adept sense of conventional melody and structure at play.

There’s a great deal of restraint shown on Stateless, a withdrawal from excess that could have ruined the entire endeavour.

Not to say that this is a minimal sound, or certainly no more than say Four Tet or the Necks. More that the sound that is here sounds like it should be here, and works in unison.

Oddly, the only other way to describe Stateless in a word is stately.

CODY ATKINSON

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FAITH NO MORE WE CARE A LOT – DELUXE BAND EDITION [PIAS] The original 1985 We Care A Lot was a demo intended to gain attention of both fans and record labels. Rolling Stone labelled it “raw punk” and yet, it was eminently listenable and became an anthem still heard so many decades later.

Many of the tracks on We Care A Lot were re-recorded or re-released on following albums, but this is absolutely one for the fans. In true punk rock spirit, only a few of these tracks exceed the 4-minute mark – these were the days before Mike Patton started turning music into art performance.

‘The Jungle’ rivals the Guns N’ Roses ode to the wild place with thunking drums, bass and pure rock quality. Echoey synthesiser and bass underlay a few tracks – hinting at the potential for EDM and hip-hop collaborations Mike Patton would venture into decades later with side projects. ‘Why Do You Bother’ would easily pop up on a DFA records album tomorrow. Fresh. It is the clear precursor to many American and UK punk/EDM bands. (Future of the Left, looking at you!)

‘As The Worm Turns’ begins with tinkly keyboards that are broken apart with a jagged guitar line heralding the soft-softBAM approach that characterises much of FNM’s latter releases.

Undeniably, this sets the tone for much of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s punk-alternative bands that soundtracked many teenage lives. Offspring, Green Day and blink-182 can all be considered hatchlings of the FNM mother bird. If you don’t listen to it purely for your own enjoyment, make sure to find a spotty 13-year-old you can play this album to. When they’re older, perhaps you can introduce them to Mike Patton’s Mr Bungle.

But maybe none of us are ready for that.

CASEY GOLDEN TRIO MINIATURE [SCRAMPION] Given its instrumentation (piano, bass and drums), it is tempting to see this new Casey Golden EP in the tradition of trios such as those once led by Oscar Peterson or Bill Evans. Miniature has a provenance and a sound that put it well outside such a categorization, however. In four parts and based on a succession of short, related motifs, it owes as much to J.S. Bach and modern minimalism as it does to modern jazz. Each of its four sections begin with a brief but always intriguing melody, which is then elaborated through a series of permutations. There is an almost seamless blend of composition and improvisation and little sense at all of the head/impro/head tradition of most modern jazz.

As is the way with jazz piano trios, the piano does dominate but it’s important to note the role played by both the bassist and the drummer. The music is impeccably rehearsed and the bass (played by Bill Williams) often sounds like an extension of the piano; so tight is the mutual phrasing.

Ed Rodrigues (one of the most subtle drummers on the current jazz scene) does something comparable – but with perhaps a little more emphasis on improvisation. The tonality of his cymbals and drums is very much a part of the group’s overall texture.

Miniature also credits a guest guitarist, Daniel Walsh, who plays in a couple of sections where a melody (or countermelody) is carried on his electric guitar in unison with Golden’s Wurlitzer electric piano and/or synthesiser to generate a suitably unearthly sound.

GEOFF PAGE

CAT WOODS

@bmamag

AL LOC SIC MU

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singles in focus

BY CODY ATKINSON D’OPUS & ROSHAMBO ‘MAYDAY’

BERNARD FANNING CIVIL DUSK [DEW PROCESS]

LOUD SO CLEAR KILL YOUR DARLINGS [INDEPENDENT RELEASE]

With a career in music spanning over 25 years, new music is about to drop from Australian music veteran Bernard Fanning.

He is back with his third solo album Civil Dusk, which possesses themes of modern day life and anxieties. Looking back at previous albums that Bernard has released, this one is no letdown in comparison.

‘But songs must be sung, Is anybody listening?’ So sings Ryan McKeown, frontman for local rockers Loud So Clear in the band’s second EP release. Formed in 2008, the four-piece issued a self-titled debut with a distinct, grungy sound the following year. A long seven years later, after some creative inertia, they are back bigger and bolder than ever.

For ten tracks, it leaves a lasting impression; an impression that makes you want to keep listening to it over and over. It could be said that this album sounds just how you would expect a Bernard Fanning album to sound; half rock pop, half rock country. A few small pockets of the album are filled with an indie-like aesthetic, relying on sound effects and deeper, grungier sounding guitars. For the most part, tracks have been loaded with light harmonisation of piano and acoustic guitar to resonate with an easy-listening audience.

‘Change of Pace’ is certainly something else, and definitely unexpected; from such a peaceful and tranquil album, this song really stands out. A punchy, energetic pace is set with rockabilly tones as quick electric guitar strums duel with the soulful sounds of acoustic guitar and piano. Another track that grabs your attention is ‘Belly of the Beast’. It starts off with a country vibe, but by the end of the track it becomes a fully-fledged indie rock hit. Definitely one to listen out for.

Civil Dusk is one for those who enjoy rockabilly qualities in their music. It is a cool album, with different elements of alternate rock, covering all corners from easy listening acoustic tracks, right down to some good old rock and roll.

MORGAN HAIN

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Kill Your Darlings, recorded over the Christmas break at Merloc Studios in Watson, has discarded most of that early grunge fuzz. True to the band’s name, it projects a more focused sound with songs that are tight with well-structured arrangements. The boys also recognise the value of combining raging guitar work with strong backing vocal harmonies, particularly in the track ‘Someone Tell’.

It’s hard rock with an elevating – not a crushing – vibe. Barreling out of the alleyways of Civic, opener ‘Like it in Motion’ has a bit of everything, all piled up, layer cake style. A great rolling riff gives way to a solid chugging motion. Licks come in multiple guises, coupled with glimpses of clever little hooks. ‘I Got You’ (not to be confused with the Split Enz classic), kicks off with a thunderhead of fuzzy guitars and pounding percussion from drummer Nak O’Brien. There’s some obscure spoken word sampling mid-song, in a track with a domestic violence subtext to the lyrics. The closer ‘Human Disease’ injects variety into the disk with its slower, shadowy passages, contrasting with slashes of distorted guitar.

Words hissed sotto voce hint at either a toxic relationship or a terrible addiction.

A CD packed with rollicking and vigorous rock and roll, with plenty of air guitar opportunities.

A super slick beat from D’Opus on a strong return to form for the local duo. Roshambo’s laconic flow fit perfectly with the machine gun snare, with just enough to get it stuck in your head. This is the sort of one you can leave on repeat and play again and again and again.

THUNDERBOLT CITY ‘TEENAGE WASTE DUMP’ What a CHOON from Thunderbolt City on their debut cassingle. The ACT three-piece unfurl a world of noise cut by a killer riff and a cool little chorus.

This is what happens when you listen to too much Cheap Trick then plug into a distortion pedal set to “destroy”. Top effort, with hopefully more to come.

MAKE MORE ‘BEST END’’ Brisbane indie pop aficionados Make More put this one out recently through Canberra label Lacklustre, and more people should be listening to it. Bright guitars are freaking everywhere here, with an energetic backline and slow vocals to balance it all out.

KATY PERRY ‘RISE’ This is peak overblown. I didn’t think you could put so much effort into making something try to sound grand and make it sound so meaningless, but hey, here we are.

The chorus kinda sounds like The Panics’ ‘Don’t Fight It’, which only ended up making me think about how much better that song is. Listen to that instead.

RORY MCCARTNEY

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the word

on films

WITH EMMA ROBINSON

It was with breath that was baited that trekkies and non trekkies alike waited for the latest installment in the centuries old political space adventure. Personally, I feel like we got The Fast and the Furious in space and not nearly enough screen time was dedicated to Idris Elba. Nevertheless, Star Trek Beyond was a perfectly fine way to spend a couple of hours. Because space battles are awesome and the late and talented Anton Yelchin was wonderful. If you’re going to watch action, it’s better to watch action in space.

quote of the issue

“We got no ship, no crew, how’re we going to get out of this one?” Chris Pine (James T. Kirk), Star Trek Beyond

GHOSTBUSTERS

SUICIDE SQUAD

JASON BOURNE

I know, in my head if not my heart, Ghostbusters is so not even close to a perfect movie.

It’s got pacing issues, plot holes, bits where it falls slightly flat and bits where it plays things too safe, and it’s a remake! And yet, I don’t mind. Ghostbusters absolutely smashes something far more important: it’s fun.

Unsurprisingly, all these women – plus Chris Hemsworth as the gloriously one-note secretary – are hilarious, and it’s a joy to watch them do their thing, be that hunting ghosts, yelling about wontons or dancing around with blowtorches. (On that note, Kate McKinnon is the crispest comedy talent since Tina Fey. She doesn’t need lines to steal entire scenes.)

Remember when you’d come to school, ready to submit an assignment, and then you’d see all the work the other kids had done, and yours just looked paltry and sad in comparison?

Matt Damon makes a more than welcome return as rogue CIA operative, Jason Bourne: the master of spy-multitasking, purposeful fast-walking, ad-hoc weaponry and evasive manoeuvring. As we’ve come to expect with Bourne, we’re treated to some exquisitelycrafted action and hand-to-hand combat, where it’s always thrilling to witness Bourne’s resourcefulness – especially his quick-thinking ability to make a weapon out of just about any old object he gets his hands on.

As I mentioned, Ghostbusters is flawed. But the reason I enjoyed it, in this year of colossally bad blockbusters – and in a pretty nightmarish year as a whole – is because this movie just made me happy, and that in turn inspired a kind of logicallystunted profound gratitude, which blossomed into a high rating and a big, fat grin. There’s nothing wrong with processing responses through the wood chipper of reason (if there were, I’d be out of a job), but facts are only as good as the emotions they evoke, so here it is: Ghostbusters is great, and it’s great because it’s fun. Positive, earnest, light, spooky fun.

Also, it’s got what might be the action sequence of the year.

You’ll know the one.

INDIGO TRAIL

I’d imagine the fledgling DC universe is beginning to break out in a sweat in front of the class right about now.

Suicide Squad is the next entry in executive producer/ creative director Zach Snyder’s establishment of the DC universe, in case the cheesy lens flares at the beginning of the film and the nightclub karaoke soundtrack wasn’t a dead giveaway. I assume director David Ayer (Fury, End of Watch) was brought in to try and wrestle some gritty gravity into a film that was already going to be high on style and skimpy on substance.

I can see exactly what the vision for this film was – the sardonic humour of Deadpool meets the kinetic enthusiasm of Hot Fuzz – but too many corners were cut, and too many liberties were taken with the characters. Development of relationships are rushed and too much information is tactlessly slammed in the viewer’s face for the first 20 minutes.

This is a film that desperately wants to please without doing most of the work that is required by blockbusters of this scale and budget. But don’t let Jared Leto’s Joker fool you (in fairness he had a tough act to follow), Suicide Squad can be a fun film.

PATRICK JOHNSON

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But the Bourne films have always been about more than the action: thematically, Bourne moves with the times. We’re now operating in a post-Snowden world, where the boundaries between privacy, security, personal rights and public safety are increasingly blurred.

The film opens with flashbacks to remind us of the personal turmoil poor ol’ amnesiac Jase experienced in Identity, Supremacy and Ultimatum.

After Nicky Parsons (Julia Stiles) commits a cyber-breach into files connected to Bourne’s past, CIA director Robert Dewey (Tommy Lee Jones) recruits Heather Lee (Alicia Vikander, a great addition to the cast), a young and ruthless CIA cyber expert, to pursue Bourne with a vengeful Asset (Vincent Cassel).

Can Lee entice Bourne back into The Program? And what did Bourne’s dad have to do with previous CIA operations?

(Cue some exceptional ‘Inigo Montoya’ moments.)

Welcome back, Bourne. Please don’t disappear for long – you’re too much fun.

MAJELLA CARMODY

@bmamag

LOVE & FRIENDSHIP At this point, there are more Austen adaptations than there are Fast & Furious movies and, as time goes on, they stumble toward bland repetition. Most films adapted from Austen’s novels chose to go down the path of the sweeping romance, which makes for very entertaining but ultimately slightly superficial drama – something of the subtlety gets lost on those misty morning walks through the moors. Love & Friendship does no such thing, and instead focuses on the uglier, and emphatically less romantic social satire that Austen’s original work is saturated with. Adapted from her comparatively-unknown novella, Lady Susan, Love & Friendship follows the titular character as she manoeuvres, judges and exploits the people around her pretty much exclusively for her own gain – and, worse, entertainment.

The great thing about Love & Friendship, however, is despite this diabolical protagonist, the movie still makes you care about all of the characters.

And you do – Kate Beckinsale gives what might actually be a career-best performance, simultaneously bitingly acidic and easily loveable. Beckinsale is backed up by a great supporting cast, including Chloë Sevigny as her equally devious best friend and newcomer Morfydd Clark as her much put-upon daughter.

As a result, Love & Friendship manages to do what very few Austen adaptations have, which is give that beautiful, idealised romance a sharp, healthy injection of cynicism, sarcasm and stinging intelligence.

INDIGO TRAIL

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS: THE MOVIE The self absorbed, materialistic, bubbly swilling duo is back.

Older, not at all wiser, and fabulously sozzled, Edina (Jennifer Saunders) and Patsy (Joanna Lumley) give fantastic performances as the characters that gave us biting satirical humour and much more in the 1990s.

Hoping to land the mother of all publicists’ dreams, Edina and Patsy attend a party of London’s social elite in an attempt to curry the favour of Kate Moss.

Unfortunately they instead knock the supermodel in the River Thames, creating a media meltdown and are forced to flee to the south of France. Of course there are dozens of celebrity cameos along with a few sly nods to transgender politics.

It’s still a delight to watch Edina and Patsy lurch from one self-induced crisis to the next.

What this film lacks is the punch that the original show brought in thirty-minute blocks. What works in small doses often fails to do so in feature-length films.

The film does have a wry sense of escapism – there would be several British citizens exasperated with current politics wanting to switch off and focus on celebrity gossip and who’s wearing what.

Nevertheless, the reliance on the same jokes is starting to wear thin (no pun intended) – humour relating to thwarting the ageing process in your forties is very different to injecting embryos into your face in your sixties.

Still, it was good to see the girls again.

EMMA ROBINSON

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the word on dvds

11.22.63 [ROADSHOW] Alternate history fiction – that genre where factual events are flipped and played out in divergent paths – is so popular because, really, we want to have our cake and eat it too. Bad things always happen and often lead to even worse outcomes, but what if we had a chance to tweak history? What if we could fix things? What would happen?

Killing baby Hitler is one of the most common alternate history thought experiments and ethical dilemmas. But for many American baby boomers, the assassination of John F. Kennedy was an event so profound it tangled their minds for a generation or two. And who better to untangle it than Stephen King.

11.22.63 – the day Kennedy was killed – bursts out of the block in one of the most exciting and satisfying debut episodes of the last couple of years. Jake Epping (James Franco) is a lowkey English teacher in bucolic suburbia. One of his only friends is the taciturn diner-owner Al Templeton (Chris Cooper) who has a door out the back that doubles as a portal to Dallas, Texas in 1960. Years can pass on the other side of the portal and translate to minutes on this side. Templeton has been taking multiple trips to the other side to stop JFK’s death – all of them fruitless. Now, on the verge of death himself, Templeton implores Epping to do the job properly where he has failed so many times before, to kill Lee Harvey Oswald before Dealey plaza happens.

Though this is pitched as a sci-fi alternate history yarn, Jake’s relationships with his new 1960 friends, especially Sadie Dunhill (Sarah Gadon), are the heart of this eight-part mini-series.

Franco, as ever, plays it so loose you’d swear he was making it up on the fly. But that final scene of regret and reconciliation – well, he knew all along what he was doing.

JUSTIN HOOK

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FOLLOW THE MONEY [HI GLOSS ENTERTAINMENT]

NORSKOV [HI GLOSS ENTERTAINMENT]

Whether you are a fully paid up member of the Nordic Noir fan club or you have yet to find the series that converts you, there is a high chance Follow The Money will fulfil whatever expectations you have of a top quality Euro series.

What a tangled web we weave.

Especially when drug addiction, teenage cocaine parties, complex love triangles and the politics and pressure of combining police work with knowing almost everyone in town.

Rating highly on the bingewatching factor, this is an exploration into what happens when ordinary people become greedy and begin to see relationships, work and their own values through a golden hued kaleidoscope. Everything becomes the means to an end: more money, more power, more applause.

In this case, the small town is Norskov, Denmark. Tom has returned to his hometown where he is quickly assigned to crackdown on cocaine culture and underage nightclubbers.

An encounter with childhood love-of-his-life sets a chain of events in motion that inevitably spirals into a complexity of relationships, politics, promises and deception, which took root decades well before and is only surfacing now. Naturally, Tom’s assignment is not clear-cut and those he knows and loves will become witnesses, suspects and threats to his life.

The writers and producers of Borgen (much lauded Danish political drama), The Killing and The Legacy are also behind this series; their ability to develop characters who could be our neighbours, friends and workmates means everyone is relatable. In the first episode alone, I found myself compelled to know what happens to the dodgy investments trader, the new and mysterious CEO of Energreen, the policeman who cares for his chronically ill wife and the two mechanics with criminal records.

How will they all come to interact and influence one another? What on earth is Energreen about and how can it be so riddled with corporate crims while claiming to be the world’s first truly ethical, sustainable green power player?

This first aired on SBS and despite having only just finished the whole series a week ago, I am watching the entire lot again.

If you loved The Bridge, The Killing, Borgen, Norskov and you’re all about smart scripts, great storytelling, compelling and relatable characters with a good shot of politics, business, crime and police procedural, then all your dreams have been answered. Fingers crossed that the second season is as addictive as this first series of Follow the Money. Get it, watch it … watch it again.

CAT WOODS

Rumours, innuendo, criminal records and the clash of personal and business interests threaten to sink the cool, confident mayor. Secrets he has kept from his wife, his best friend, his colleagues could not only destroy his marriage, his chance to adopt a child and also his chance to see the success of a multimillion dollar infrastructure project he has masterminded.

Like all small towns, friends from school become lifelong enemies, or lovers, or business competitors. This muddies the waters, creates entanglements that can ultimately drown one or both and also make for compelling screen time. Add a cocaine syndicate and you’ve hit jackpot.

In the vein of top quality Nordic dramas like Borgen, The Legacy, The Bridge and Follow The Money, Norskov is a skilful and memorable investigation of politics, love, family, desperation and redemption of the human spirit. The acting and the script are faultless. The intermingling of storylines, characters and their vested interests is done with care and subtlety. Watch it.

CAT WOODS

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Questioning Drum Machines

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your eyes; I come to praise drum machines, not to bury them. The evil that drummers do lives after them, The good fills oft interred with their bones. This week Cody Atkinson investigates the rise of drum machines across music. You could call it the rise of the machines. Or something really similar, for copyright reasons.

CODY ATKINSON OK, why are you writing about drum machines? Well, my attention was drawn by a RIP Society tweet, as faithfully reproduced below: New band PHONE open for feedtime (@subpop) on Saturday.

Just notice feedtime are the only band on the bill w/o a drum machine #ThatsSo2016 OK then, why don’t you treat me like an idiot and lay out a brief history of the drum machine? Gladly. The first drum machine (or at least probably the first one) was the Rhythmicon, invented in 1930

by Henry Cowell and Leon Theremin. Yes, Leon Theremin invented the Theremin too. The Rythmicon was great except it didn’t really work.

Like all good musical instruments then… A few tape-loop based machines were launched in the late ‘50s and early ‘60s, including the Rhythmate, Side Man and Bandito the Bongo Artist. They were a step forward, but still pretty rudimentary.

And that step forward was? Solid state. Starting with Gulbransen and Seeburg in the early ‘60s, drum machines became small enough to put on electronic organs, and then slowly evolve from there.

Soon Korg got in on the act, as did Yamaha and Univox. In ‘72 the first programmable machine came out (Eko), and in 1980, the first machine with digital samples (Linn). But the machine to finally make the big leap wasn’t one with all of the technological bells and whistles...

So what was it? The Roland TR-808, a programmable drum machine with synthesized sounds, like some of the older machines. It’s probably played on more big songs than any real person has, and has a very distinctive, much recognised sound. The 808 was accessible, easy to use and most importantly (and especially after production was ceased) cheap. Once Roland brought out their newer drum machines that were more heavily reliant on “real drum sounds”, the old 808s were sought out by early dance and house producers, not to mention a plethora of pop stars of the day.

Such as? Well, everyone’s fourth favourite former member of Nirvana, Dave Grohl, who said, “all that shit ruins music these days.”

Grohl continued his shittest, mildest take by saying, “drum machines work for pop artists but when it comes to rock ‘n’ roll – don’t fuck with the human element.”

The Human Element sounds like the title of a shitty futuristic thriller… Grohl was apparently unaware of all the great rock ‘n’ roll bands that had utilised drum machines instead of real drummers. I’m going to start listing them here, but I will note one that Dave should know. Big Black, whose guitarist Steve Albini recorded Nirvana’s best album In Utero. Good work Dave!

What about these days? Does anyone use drum machines? Let’s run with “yes” as the answer. Anecdotally, more and more bands on bills seem to use drum machines, at least in their early days. That Feedtime bill above is just one example of many, and drummers seem in shorter supply than in the past.

Sometimes you can’t get a drummer, and often the music just sounds better without one. Even a handful of Canberra bands, such as Wives, Wet Dream and TV Colours have used drum machines in recent times and it absolutely works. In an extremely unscientific study, I would suggest that drum machine usage has doubled in the last year. And if this trend continues, every band will have a drum machine instead of a drummer by 2084.

So what will the post-apocalyptic, drummer-free universe look like? I’m glad you asked. With drum machines taking the jobs of every drummer and percussionist in every musical act, the now-unemployed drummers are destined to walk the earth, aimlessly hitting things that get in their way. Rhythmically, of course.

Eventually, drum machines will start to correct the imprecise beats of the former drummers, and add some dope fills as well. The drummers will eventually start to band together, and form a small sovereign nation on the outskirts of Siberia, in mostly uninhabited territory. Eventually the “beaters”, as they call themselves, will find a charismatic leader and plot their next course.

Some drummers have fully embraced them, other miserable shithawks have decried their rise

Where would I have heard it? Well, Marvin Gaye’s ‘Sexual Healing’ for starters. Maybe also on ‘Planet Rock’ by Africa Bambaataa. Or on a bunch of New Order, Beastie Boys, Talking Heads, Prince or Michael Jackson tracks. The tinny snare hits, the hissy high hats, the punchy bass, all recognisable – as long as you know what you’re looking for.

So I’m across drum machines. Great. Glad you’re happy.

But there’s been a lot of backlash against the use of drum machines over the years, right? Yeah, they’ve copped a bit of heat over the years. Whilst some drummers have fully embraced them and utilised their potential, other miserable shithawks have decried their rise. And yes, people who stand in the way of progress with no actual downsides are miserable shithawks.

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Obviously. The solution becomes clear quickly: to rise against the (drum) machines. Led by caveman aficionado Dave Grohl, they use cricket and baseball bats (now called “the big drum sticks”) to smash the machines one by one. However, what the “beaters” don’t realise is that the machines have evolved and can take almost any form.

All phones and computers can house drum machines, and millions worldwide carry them without knowing. Eventually, Grohl breaks down after working out that if they destroy all machines, they can’t record their own drums in the future. Out of nowhere, a suburban mum suggests that Grohl sends his own son back through time to kill Cowell and Theremin, and sort this all out once and for all.

Let me guess, this is coming… COMING TO A CINEMA NEAR YOU!!! THE HUMAN ELEMENT!!! BOXING DAY 2018!!!

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the word

Hard-Ons The Basement Saturday August 6

on gigs

Locals Cockbelch opened the night and their version of ‘Ballroom Blitz’ was really rad. Joel loudly screamed, “fuck you, MS!” and thrashed hard on his bass through the entire set. Well done, mate.

We love you even more for refusing to give in. Johnathan Devoy preformed acoustic rock covers – watching badass punks discreetly singing along to ‘Toxic’ by Britney Spears was funny. His version of ‘These Boots Are Made for Walkin’’ was brilliant.

Sketch Method were loud and like a heavier version of Offspring.

They are working on an EP, so I’m looking forward to that release.

Johnny Roadkill performed their own heavy rock material and performing a near perfect set, the crowd rocked along loudly to every song.

Revellers are melodic punk locals – they were hard and fast and you can tell they are influenced by oldschool styles. Mucho Sonar were spectacular. Sounding like Motörhead on speed with brass instruments, they made a heap of new fans that night. Crowd pleasers Australian Kingswood Factory were high-energy and their psychobilly rock sound had the crowd moving through the entire set.

PHOTO BY SAM INGHAM

Hard-Ons took to the stage with massive applause. No lighting, gimmicks or special equipment needed – all focus was on them completely and the crowd was enthralled. Years of stage experience flowed easily and the crowd rocked along through the entire set. The guys professionally took the mobbing they received from fans after the show. Absolute legends.

Horrorwood Mannequins closed the evening with their goth-metal horror style. They released an album on iTunes in May – worth checking them out if you love Rob Zombie and Wednesday 13.

SAM INGHAM

the word

on gigs

Troye Sivan, Nicole Millar UC Refectory Thursday August 4 Performances like this perfectly illustrate the power of pop music.

This tightly packed crowd of youths, who were quite visibly losing their minds, danced and screamed along to every word, much to Troye Sivan’s delight. The gracious idol took time to collect handmade gifts from the crowd and at one stage he stopped to read a fan letter out loud; to the rapturous enjoyment of everyone in the UC Refectory. His introduction to ‘Heaven’ started with a confession, touching on the challenges he faced when coming to terms with his own sexuality. “I wrote this song about being homosexual.” Sivan generously explored the difficult what-ifs unflinchingly, before sharing his realisation in relaxed confidence, “Fuck all that stuff. All that matters is that I’m happy and feel good about who I am!”

‘Wild’, the opening track of Blue Neighbourhood, brought the house down in a spectacular fashion, before prompting a special shout-out to his mum, who was watching from the mezzanine. Sivan thanked his parents, who were marking their 25th wedding anniversary, and said he hoped to find a love like theirs someday, “It’s pretty awesome.”

PHOTO BY KELSEY DRABSCH

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Sivan’s sold-out show sparkled brightly before finishing the way it started, in a cloud of coloured fog. Much to the glee of the crowd, he returned, of course, with an encore, “Surprise, surprise! I’m back!”

Two songs marked the official end of the night, ‘Lost Boy’ and his massive hit single, ‘Youth’. His faithful followers chanted the lyrics, “And when the lights start flashing like a photo booth, and the stars exploding, we’ll be fireproof”, like a war-cry conceived especially for them. Draped in a rainbow flag, Sivan thanked Canberra for having him and waved goodnight, “I can’t wait to come back!”

SAMUEL TOWNSEND

@bmamag

the word

Neville Staple, The Kingstons The Basement Saturday July 30

on gigs

Canberra’s own purveyors of the ska and rocksteady genres, The Kingstons warmed up the crowd, amongst whom could be seen people sporting the black and white garb popular with the ska band followers. The band began gently with ‘Sick and Tired’, but revved up as it progressed, getting some dancing going near the stage. The set included ‘El Condo Pasta’, the band’s version of a cross between a Greek wedding and a spaghetti western, and the classic rocksteady hit ‘Israelites’. Being a local outfit, a bit of political commentary was included, courtesy of ‘Manipulator’.

The great thing about The Basement is that you could pop into the backroom stage and catch a bit of frenzied punks from the likes of Green Bricks and Albion Park band Catchers and Halves, before the main act started. The soundproofing was tops, with no interference apparent when simultaneous sets were in play on the two stages.

PHOTO BY TREVOR HICKMAN

Neville Staple’s seven-piece backing band, all done up in flash suits, provided all the spectacle and depth of sound associated with Staple’s original band, The Specials. Noticing the crowd size he said, “There’s only a small group of us here, so let’s have a party”. And a party it was, with the bright, happy ska tunes demanding that the punters dance and sing along with them. There was skanking and shouted out choruses aplenty. Besides songs from Staple’s solo career, there were old hits to keep fans happy including ‘A Message for You Rudy’ and ‘Ghost Town’, with its spooky melody and vocals,

by The Specials. The equally eerie ‘The Lunatics Are Taking Over the Asylum’ from Fun Boy Three days was another highlight.

RORY MCCARTNEY

the word

INXS & Red Hot Chili Peppers Tribute Hellenic Club Saturday July 30

on gigs

Produced by The Greenroom, the show took place on the main stage area of the Hellenic Club, so it was free entry. The upstairs rooms were unavailable due to the Brick Expo. Literally hundreds of people danced and drank all night to Chilli Willi performing Red Hot Chili Peppers and Deathcap Mushroom performing INXS. There were a wide range of hits covered, includinf ‘Otherside’, ‘Scar Tissue’, ‘Breaking The Girl’, ‘Under the Bridge’, ‘Original Sin’, ‘The Devil Inside’, ‘Bitter Tears’, and ‘Never Tear Us Apart’. The massive throng of people singing along at the top of their drunken lungs for three hours was both pleasing and disturbing.

The Greenroom had asked Hellenic to remove the tables and lounge chairs, but this did not happen, so many patrons spent the night standing on chairs and tables as standing room was very sparse. The queue at the one functioning bar was long all night and many glasses were broken throughout the evening. Paramedics attended. The crowd was too drunk and rowdy and packed in for me to have a really good time. The bands however were absolutely fantastic.

PHOTO BY SAM INGHAM

The sound and lighting provided by Gaz from The Greenroom was perfection. You could clearly hear the singer’s voices loudly and clearly in the noisy space and the balance of guitars and drums was almost perfect. The lighting, which changed along to the moods of the songs, was on point and you could see how pumped the bands were to be performing to a massive crowd. Huge night, huge crowd, huge success. Looking forward to the next show – hoping its better contained in future though.

SAM INGHAM

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the word

80’s Tribute Night The Basement Saturday July 23

on gigs

Over 215 punters rocked out with nine tribute bands covering 80’s bands. Attendees partied hard until the end of the show, with well over 100 still there at the end. Very tight black jeans, long hair, leather pants and flannies a plenty, The Baso filled quickly before the first performance at 8pm. The line-up for the night started with Blondie, performed by Parallel Lines, Frances was nervous but the crowd loved her smooth vocals. Twisted Sister performed by Fisted Sister had epic makeup and costuming, ‘We’re Not Going to Take It’ was definitely the crowd favourite. Glam Rock Hits, performed by White Steak, included songs ‘Jump’, ‘Living on a Prayer’, and ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ and the audience sung along loudly. Up next was The Police, performed by The Fuzz, and I would give these guys the title of best performance on the night – they sung flawlessly and really pleased a wide generation of attendees.

PHOTO BY CASS SIDLEY

Guns N’ Roses by Guns N’ Roadkill was next with ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ being the token standout performance. U2 performed by Bonotron, with guest vocals by Jason Hore, sang ‘With or Without You’ and really had the crowd cheering its approval. INXS by Deathcap Mushroom was next, my personal favourite tribute band as Ralph’s ability to sound just like Hutchence sent shivers down my spine, and ‘Devil Inside’ had the crowd dancing hard. Motörhead by The Bastards Sons of Liberty had the back room packed with more loud applause and the night ended with an epically well played set of Metallica performed by Seek and Destroy, ‘Master of Puppets’ was just brilliant. Thanks Shenanigans Entertainment and The Basement – it was a very pleasing night indeed.

SAM INGHAM

the word

on gigs

Galapagos Duck Southern Cross Club, Woden Thursday July 21 With a pedigree stretching back to 1969, Galapagos Duck has a strong following amongst jazz fanciers, with many longtime fans turning out on a Thursday night. The membership has churned over time and it was great to see saxophone/percussion player Willy Qua (who first joined the band in 1973) back in the line-up. Opening with a blast, the band showed why two saxes are better than one.

I had the impression that jazz was something that musos often made up as they went along, but the Duck actually had sheet music with them. There was still plenty of room for improvisation though, with most numbers featuring highlight solo spots where each performer could show off their consummate musicianship. Will Sargisson’s nimble digits danced along the piano keys like spiders, while John Conley was the picture of concentration, applying himself to the double bass. Ex-Canberran Richard Booth showed his prowess with the steel drum, its luminous sound piercing the air during ‘Like Trinidad’.

PHOTO BY RORY MCCARTNEY

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There was a special interlude, as Booth brought up on stage the gentleman who had taught him the instrument many moons ago. He accompanied Booth, flamboyantly playing the wooden guiro and executing fancy footwork. Drummer Rodney Ford left his skins to sing Fats Waller’s ‘I Can’t Give You Anything But Love’, with Sargisson throwing in some honkytonk on the piano, while ‘Old San Juan’ featured spaghetti western style whistling from Conley. Highlights included the sweaty salsa licks and gunshot percussion of ‘Cuban No. 1’, and the band displaying their party tricks, including Booth simultaneously playing sax and clarinet and Qua ‘drumming’ on the strings of the upright bass being played by Conley.

RORY MCCARTNEY

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the word

on gigs

Splendour In The Grass North Byron Parklands Fri–Sun July 22–24 Day 1 and my first present to unwrap were DMAs. This Aussie band is a little confusing with their obvious English swagger. But what you can’t fault is their catchy tunes like ‘Lay Down’, which got the early crowd jumping. Emma Louise came on stage in a white pantsuit, short hair and androgynous looks, but once her vocals came on there was no mistaking her feminine prowess. After last year’s fuck up, Years and Years actually turned up with all their equipment and gave us the set we so desperately wanted last time, but with the added bonus of some new material.

The 1975 is the closest Splendour will come to a hosting a ‘boy band’ and this was evident with the front row swooning with young girls. With some dark elements, this band are quite the interesting package. ‘Sex’ was their last song and it’s announced that it’s about fucking – enough said. The Strokes came on 20 minutes late with mixed feelings from the crowd. The nonchalant attitude of Julian can come across as arrogance, but then again it is part of his charm.

Plenty of classics for them to get the “job” done.

Back at the campsite. With 17,000 people camping, etiquette is needed, but in this confusing world, where even for a progressive minded guy, it’s hard to know what to do. Like, do I use the female showers to show solidarity, do I only eat vegan/Halal/Kosher/ organic meat? So confusing! So it was of great relief to see the camping rules read, “don’t be a dick bag and after 12pm shut the fuck up”, easy.

Day 2. Overdoing it on day one, I decided to take it easy today.

Wandering around, you notice Splendour tries to incorporate a family friendly affair, with even an area set aside for a ‘mini Splendour’. This reminded me of a petting zoo, but apparently parents don’t like it when you pat their kids on the head.

Like its sister, uber cool, OS festivals, there is a bit an unofficial fashion parade occurring. So for a recap, anything with rich autumn colours and face glitter was a win for the ladies with shear lace dresses worn by the more adventurous. For the gentlemen the trend has been a bit more difficult with ‘peak beard’ come and gone. So for this year, just any clothes and a drink in hand basically amounted to the height of fashion.

I took a break from having a break and chilled at the comedy stage for a while, catching Triple J’s Matt Okine and host Will Anderson.

It’s so good that Splendour puts on a comedy stage – most other Aussie festivals will just put Shannon Noel on the bill for comic relief.

If you want The Cure to play at your festival, its done on their terms, so when they say they wanna do a three-hour set that’s what they will do. I settled in on the hill with enough beverages at hand to keep me occupied for tonight’s performance. Starting with slower tracks from Disintegration, the next three hours went quick, with the crowd standing up during the poppier songs such as ‘Let’s Go To Bed’ and finishing with ‘Boys Don’t Cry’. The fact that this song was written in the ‘70s shows how influential this band remains.

PHOTOS (TOP, MIDDLE) BY BIANCA HOLDERNESS PHOTO (BOTTOM) BY JESS GLEESON

Day 3 and back in the saddle and ready for a massive day. Tegan And Sara, who have graced Canberra previously for a GTM show, have since found salvation in ‘80s synth-pop, but still dipped into their back catalogue. Jake Bugg has a tough slot up against Sigor Ros, but you can see them anytime right? Jake oozes talent and his latest album is brilliantly diverse. Flume finished off Splendour and absolutely packed the amphitheatre. Superstar producer ¬– yes.

Incubator for Aussie talent – yes. And great show – yes.

ALEX K

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on gigs

Totally 80’s Royal Theatre Sunday July 17 The night was altogether tragic, cheesy and glorious (which is possibly a way to describe the 80’s overall)! The cheese started when Maynard entered the stage as the host for the evening and we all had to try and remember where we knew that guy from, and what was his deal still being around. To the two-thirds full Royal Theatre he announced that this was Men Without Hats’ first time to Australia, before encouraging us to “please welcome Ivan.” Then Ivan, lead singer, entered the stage as the only original member of the band, and we realised that many of the acts were likely to involve only one member from each band, performing in front of the house band. Ivan set the scene for rad fashion statements of the evening too, in his glitter-clad black shirt, black sunglasses and sporting his old man pony tail. Once he belted out ‘Safety Dance’ however, he reminded us why we had all come.

The tragic element entered again when Maynard announced the next act as New Life and then had to correct himself and announce Real Life. They (or he, as it was again just the singer with the house backing band) set the theme for the first set of acts for the evening, which turned out to be ‘their hit and one other song we don’t know’ (Real Life’s hit being ‘Send Me An Angel’). WaWa Nee (again singer only) came out next in another classic 80’s look with white jeans and a white shirt and proceeded to pull out a red keytar to play during ‘Stimulation’. Next Maynard tried to egg on the Canberra crowd by announcing that Stacey Q had been too unwell to play Sydney and this was our exclusive, but her performance didn’t make me feel this way. His subsequent announcement built expectations as Maynard advised that the next performer was both a Grammy nominee and Eurovision winner. Katrina (of The Waves fame) came out leatherclad. Once she yelled “are you ready to take a walk with me” and got into ‘Walking on Sunshine’ we hit another highlight of the evening.

The second set of the night featured Paul Lekakis, Lamal, Berlin and Martika. These acts went beyond the ‘signature hit and one other song we don’t know’ format of the first acts, but it was really only Martika who had more than one song we knew. Paul Lekakis brought added cheese with two female dancers bouncing around him as he stripped off his fluoro vest during his classic ‘Boom Boom (Let’s Go Back To My Room)’. Performing his hit to a backing tape as opposed to the house band also made his performance a bit like bad karaoke. Lamal and Berlin both outstayed their welcome after the ‘Never Ending Story’ and ‘Take My Breath Away’ anthems we had come to see. Berlin did at least involve more members than just the lead singer and the keyboardist was apparently from The Goo Goo Dolls, which gave them some added credibility.

As the headliner, Martika brought the glory, her five song set included ‘I Feel the Earth Move’, a speech about Prince and Paisley Park before performing ‘Love Thy Will Be Done’ and ‘Martika’s Kitchen’. She then concluded with an epic rendition of ‘Toy Soldiers’.

Like a good pizza she had inspired the audience to overlook the cheese for the real base and ingredients that was the reason we had come out on a Sunday night. Overall, the night was certainly an experience I don’t think many who were there will forget and I’m sure it will be talked about a lot.

PHOTOS BY MARK TURNER

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JARROD MCGRATH

@bmamag

the word

Dami Im The Playhouse, Canberra Theatre Centre Saturday July 16

on gigs

An opening act (of sorts) came courtesy of Dami Im’s backing vocalists, including former X-Factor contestant Izaia Fuimaono.

With acoustic guitar support, they delivered some covers plus an original, which proved to be opportunities to showcase their powerful vocals. However, this very short opener contributed little to the night, other than an excuse for an interval.

For Im’s ‘Yesterday Once More’ show, featuring the songs of The Carpenters, I was curious to see if punters were mainly Carpenters fans or new recruits from her X-Factor notoriety. The Carpenters’ fans won out, although someone brought his homemade ‘Dami’ sign.

The main gig kicked off with ‘A Kind of Hush’. Im had the power and crystal clear vocals that the songs deserved, to do justice to the delivery of the original chanteuse Karen Carpenter. However, this was no ‘tribute’ show. Im presented songs that were special to her and, while the arrangements were usually faithful to the originals, she gave them her own touch.

PHOTO BY NOAH KIM

There were patches of extended scatting, including one duel with the guitarist. There was no Richard Carpenter either, with Im playing the (very small) piano herself. She played the flute too, providing the opening for ‘We’ve Only Just Begun’. Apart from The Carpenters hits, there was a good sprinkling of her own material and songs she did on X-Factor, including ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’, which was funny considering a Simon and Garfunkel tribute show was taking place in the adjoining main theatre. Im’s own material really allowed her to display the full capability of her voice, including her challenging Eurovision entry ‘Sound of Silence’. Both Carpenters and X-Factor fans got a bonus, being exposed to styles of music they probably had not appreciated before.

RORY MCCARTNEY

the word

on gigs

Jack Biilmaan, The Bronze Whalers, Sara Flint Transit Bar Saturday July 16 Music lovers from across the city gathered in Transit Bar to view Jack Biilmann release his latest single, ‘Own Worst Enemy’. Backing Biilmann once again were The Bronze Whalers consisting of Todd Gregory on bass, Jarrad Stewart on drums/electronic, Cam Smith on trumpet and Josh Hart on trombone.

Opening for Biilmann was 17-year-old Sara Flint. Armed with an acoustic guitar and a whisper-like voice, Flint performed original material, as well as covers such as, ‘Counting Stars’ by One Republic, and ‘You’re the One that I Want’ from Grease. What made Flint so unique was her ability to take another’s song and make it her own. She triumphantly turned the fast-paced Grease melody into something more suited to her slow, breezy style. Flint ended her set to the cheers of “encore” from a hearty team of supporters in the front row.

Jack Biilmann took the stage just past ten o’clock. His songs were ecstatic and fast paced, filling the bar with the fierce sound of his electric guitar. It was a big contrast from the soft, folk tunes of previous acts. And, with some encouragement from Biilmann, the audience got to their feet for the first time that night, dancing as best as they could in the small space provided.

Though I preferred the faster style of music, the slow rhythmic pulse of the first act was calming and beautiful. It was enjoyable to listen and pay attention to the careful, intricate techniques that come with good acoustic guitar playing. In addition, the music of Flint would not have been the style I’d have come across on my own accord, further instilling the reason why it’s always worth being on the lookout for new gigs in Canberra.

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ANNA FRANCESCHINI

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CANBERRA WRITERS FESTIVAL

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE August 17 – August 20

Listings are a free community service. Email editorial@bmamag.com to have your events appear each issue.

Diane Arbus: American portraits

PJ O’Brien Band

ON THE TOWN

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

Fridays From Five

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

ON THE TOWN

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

LIVE MUSIC

Chicago Charles & Danger Dave

Collected Resonances

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Menagerie

AINSLIE ARTS CENTRE

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 17 ART EXHIBITIONS Mike Parr: Foreign looking

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Until 30 Oct. This exhibition features 36 of Arbus’ most iconic photographs.

8pm. $5.

7pm.

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

The Thursday Games

“Arabian Nights” Exotic Showcase

An exhibition of recent works by young Canberra artists Tom Buckland, Rebecca Selleck, and Sian Wats

Smith’s Varietal 9.30pm. $10.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

Portrait Encounter

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

THEATRE

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct.

BAD!SLAM!NO!BISCUIT!

Short & Sweet: Top 20, Week 2

THE PHOENIX BAR

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Reflections

Imaginary Borders

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

8pm.

Works from Canberra Glassworks and the Parliament House Art Collection.

Until 11 Sep.

Youth Theatre Project. Tickets and info @ rebustheatre.com. A youth theatre project for young people.

Design and Nature

Physics in the Pub

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Until Mar 2017. A glass and ceramics exhibition.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

2°

Curated by Alexander Boynes. 15 Jul-20 Aug.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Nervous by Heather B Swann

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

7pm. Free.

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

Tickets at philo.org.au. 11-27 Aug.

Triangulation 3

Direct from the Sydney Opera House, by Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson. Tickets at canberratheatrecentre.com.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Until 21 Aug.

ANCA GALLERY

TRYAA Collection Exhibition

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Tough and Tender

THEATRE 3

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize Shortlist

28 Jul-4 Sep. Shortlisted artwork from Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize entrants.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Repeat2

REPEAT ² is an exhibition of hand screen printed textiles.

MEGALO PRINT STUDIO + GALLERY

Mud Men

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran installation.

30 Jul-29 Jan. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Interchange Until 3 Sept.

4-20 Aug. Bookings at canberrarep.org. au or 6257 1950.

TRIVIA Tranny Trivia

Glamour & Song questions. 8pm. Book Online.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

WORKSHOPS Pottery Classes for Adults and Kids

Bookings at 6241 7800 or canberrapotters.com.au. 23 Jul-23 Sep. WATSON ARTS CENTRE

THURSDAY AUGUST 18

BILK GALLERY

COMEDY

Contemporary Asian galleries

Fearless Comedy Gala

Until Nov. A new display focused on contemporary Chinese art.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

EASS 2016

Award winners from ANU School of Art Ceramics Graduates. Until 21 Aug. WATSON ARTS CENTRE

Bigger on the Inside: Collecting Dr Who Opening on the 15th Jul at 2.30pm.

RSVP at cmagbookings@act.gov.au or 6207 3968. 16 Jul-20 Nov. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

Hindmarsh Prize Until 4 Sep. Free.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

WORKSHOPS

7.30pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

A Night of Hilarity for Charity

Some of Australia’s best comedians to shine a light on family violence in our community. 7.30pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

LIVE MUSIC Yaurout

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Youth Art Lab. 4.15pm. Life-size puppet making for 9-14 year olds. $180 per term.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

FRIDAY AUGUST 19 FILM Latin American Film Festival

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

LIVE MUSIC Matt Dent

Awesome Aussie Roots Music. 3pm.

OLD BUS DEPOT MARKETS

The Undermines

With The Feldons & Cub Calloway and the Revolutionaires. 9pm. $10/$5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Icon

9.30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Marcus Whale

Support TBC. 8pm. $5.

LOBROW GALLERY & BAR

Jack Carty

8pm. jackcarty.com. Tickets at thestreet.org.au.

THE STREET THEATRE

Destrends

With Moaning Lisa and more 8pm, $10 on the door.

TRANSIT BAR

Black Horses Duo

Alt Country duo. 7pm. Free.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Black Rheno

No Time For Numb Nuts Tour. Equal parts stoner, sludge, grind, punk and doom.

THE BASEMENT

With The Ians & The Freemen. 9pm. $10/$5.

Dreadnaught

Foam

Friday Night Live: PJ Junior & The Soul Pimp

THE PHOENIX BAR

‘I Could Milk Myself’ tour. Tickets at foamband.com or through Transit Bar. TRANSIT BAR

Crystal Cities 7.30pm.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

facebook.com/bmamagazine

16-19 Aug. 7.30pm. $35/$28.

Ghost Stories

Direct from the Sydney Opera House,

by Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson.

Tickets at canberratheatrecentre.com.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

SATURDAY AUGUST 20

Shopfront Art Club

Ghost Stories

Free. Until 27 Aug.

15 Jul- Oct.Intimate and raw photographs that explore the complexities of personal relationships.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

ERINDALE THEATRE

Macbeth

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Direct from the Sydney Opera House,

by Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson.

Tickets at canberratheatrecentre.com.

‘Monsters and Beats’ Cahoots

Anything Goes

THEATRE

Ghost Stories

Short & Sweet: Top 20, Week 2

Performances 3 & 4 Sep. Exhibition until Nov.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Short & Sweet: Top 20, Week 2

THEATRE

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

8pm. This colourful showcase will hypnotise and take you on an incredible journey to the Middle East.

16-19 Aug. 7.30pm. $35/$28.

Tues & Thurs. 16 Aug- 8 Sep.

16-19 Aug. 7.30pm. $35/$28.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

9pm. Free.

Crazy Ass Games including tournaments and prizes, and all things Sangria & FUN. 5pm. Free.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

DJs spinning Old Skool, Hip Hop, R&B. Free from 5pm.

Caught The Vultures Sleeping tour.

THE BASEMENT

8pm. Free.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Waza

Crooked Jaw album tour. With Broken Thought Theory.

LA DE DA

ART EXHIBITIONS Diane Arbus: American portraits

Until 30 Oct. This exhibition features 36 of Arbus’ most iconic photographs.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

From the Forest to the Sea 19 Aug-11 Sep.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Mike Parr: Foreign looking

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Portrait Encounter

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Menagerie

An exhibition of recent works by young Canberra artists Tom Buckland, Rebecca Selleck, and Sian Wats TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Reflections

Works from Canberra Glassworks and the Parliament House Art Collection.

Until 11 Sep. CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Design and Nature

Until Mar 2017. A glass and ceramics exhibition.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

2°

Curated by Alexander Boynes. 15 Jul-20 Aug.

CANBERRA CONTEMPORARY ART SPACE (GORMAN HOUSE)

Earth

19 Aug-11 Sep.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Triangulation 3 Until 21 Aug.

ANCA GALLERY

Nervous by Heather B Swann Performances 3 & 4 Sep. Exhibition until Nov. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

TRYAA Collection Exhibition Free. Until 27 Aug.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Tough and Tender

15 Jul- Oct.Intimate and raw photographs that explore the complexities of personal relationships.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

75

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE August 20 – August 24 SATURDAY AUGUST 20 ART EXHIBITIONS Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize Shortlist

28 Jul-4 Sep. Shortlisted artwork from Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize entrants.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Repeat2

REPEAT ² is an exhibition of hand screen printed textiles.

MEGALO PRINT STUDIO + GALLERY

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Imaginary Borders

Youth Theatre Project. Tickets at info@ rebustheatre.com. A youth theatre project for young people.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Big Boys Toys Expo

10-4pm. Info at bigboystoyscanberra. com.au.

EXHIBITION PARK IN CANBERRA (EPIC)

THEATRE

Classical Twilight Concert Series 5pm. $40/$25.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

A Bite to Eat Sunday Best

Live music and tapas menu 5-7pm.

Free entry. New bands every week.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Romance and Revolution

Classical music. $40/$25. Tickets at trybooking.com.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Cream Sound Off! Final Heat

TUESDAY AUGUST 23 FILM Latin American Film Festival

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

KARAOKE Karaoke Salon

8PM. Songlist at nightlife.com.au/ karaoke.

19 Aug-11 Sep.

Tickets at philo.org.au. 11-27 Aug. ERINDALE THEATRE

Winners from Heats 1-4 battle it out for the final place on the CREAM Festival Line up. 3pm. Free.

Short & Sweet: Gala Final

#KaraokeLove

Mud Men

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

Aviary Sundays Live

TRANSIT BAR

Mythology

Anything Goes

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran installation.

30 Jul-29 Jan.

2.30pm/7.30pm. $38/$30.

Contemporary Asian galleries Until Nov. A new display focused on contemporary Chinese art.

Direct from the Sydney Opera House, by Andy Nyman & Jeremy Dyson. Tickets at canberratheatrecentre.com.

EASS 2016

Macbeth

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

THE COURTYARD STUDIO

Ghost Stories

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Award winners from ANU School of Art Ceramics Graduates. Until 21 Aug.

4-20 Aug. Bookings at canberrarep.org. au or 6257 1950.

WATSON ARTS CENTRE

THEATRE 3

Interchange

WORKSHOPS

BILK GALLERY

Pottery Classes for Adults and Kids

Until 3 Sept.

Bigger on the Inside: Collecting Dr Who Opening on the 15th Jul at 2.30pm.

RSVP at cmagbookings@act.gov.au or 6207 3968. 16 Jul-20 Nov. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

What Becomes of Little Boys Obliterate & Tied 18 Aug-4 Sep. 3 new artists.

M16 ARTSPACE

Hindmarsh Prize Until 4 Sep. Free.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

FILM Latin American Film Festival

Bookings at 6241 7800 or canberrapotters.com.au.

23 Jul-23 Sep. WATSON ARTS CENTRE

With Wrong Turn & The King Hits. 9pm. $10/$5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

4th Degree 10pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Cilla Jane

8pm. $6. With Andy Picker on organ, drums and cello.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Robbie Miller

Bundah Blues Band

Canberra Blues Society Jam. 2pm. $3/$5.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

CBS Youth Jam

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Land, Sea, Air Poetry Workshops 10.30am.

ACT WRITERS CENTRE

SUNDAY AUGUST 21 DANCE Tango Fire 5pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

FILM Latin American Film Festival

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

LIVE MUSIC

Supporting Dustin Tebutt’s First Light album tour.

Sorrel Nation

No Haus Frau

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

ACTWC Writerly Q&A

With Sophie Lovell. 5.45pm.

ACT WRITERS CENTRE

TRIVIA

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

WORKSHOPS

Big Boys Toys Expo

Shopfront Art Club

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

10-4pm. Info at bigboystoyscanberra. com.au.

7.30pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Tues & Thurs. 16 Aug- 8 Sep. TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

EXHIBITION PARK IN CANBERRA (EPIC)

Candice Fox: Never, Never

$70-$100. Bookings at eventbrite.

TALKS

The Phoenix Quiz

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Make Your Own Paperweight or Tumbler

9pm. Free entry.

With Bundah Blues Band, Bailey Judd & Room 15. 2pm. $3/$5.

TALKS

$55. 10am.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Leadfinger

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

Instagrammers 101

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

LIVE MUSIC

3pm. Free. Our weekly live music day with vibes for days from Canberra’s best undiscovered talents.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

3pm. A thriller set in WA mining country, co-authored with one of the world’s besetting authors.

MUSE: FOOD, WINE, BOOKS

Out of Left Field: Tara James

Kickboxing. Series of talks exploring culture and identity through the lens of sportspeople. 2pm.

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 ART EXHIBITIONS Portrait Encounter

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

From the Forest to the Sea 19 Aug-11 Sep.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

WORKSHOPS

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

Grammar and Punctuation Primer With Pippa Carron. 10am.

ACT WRITERS CENTRE

Mike Parr: Foreign looking

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Menagerie

Make Your Own Paperweight or Tumbler

An exhibition of recent works by young Canberra artists Tom Buckland, Rebecca Selleck, and Sian Wats

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Nervous by Heather B Swann

$70-$100. Bookings at eventbrite.

MONDAY AUGUST 22 COMEDY Alan Carr

Yap Yap Yap tour. 8pm.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Performances 3 & 4 Sep. Exhibition until Nov. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Design and Nature

Until Mar 2017. A glass and ceramics exhibition.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Earth

FILM

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Awesome Aussie Roots Music.

11.30pm.

Latin American Film Festival

Free. Until 27 Aug.

Combining her poetic lyrics with a textured production to construct songs set in a wintery realm.

Matt Dent

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Dustin Tebbutt

Traditional Irish musicians in the pub from late afternoon. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Soulful vocals and powerful melodies from London’s singer. 5pm. Free.

9pm. Tickets via stickytickets.com.au. $10/$15.

Matt Dent

Woodes

THE GEORGE HARCOURT INN

SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

TRANSIT BAR

With Robbie Miller and Woodes.

First Light Album tour. Tickets at dustintebbutt.com.

TRANSIT BAR

Awesome Aussie Roots Music. 3.30pm.

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

Clueless

Irish Jam Session

Mondays at 6:30pm, Quote-A-Long session.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

LIVE MUSIC

WILBUR’S CAFE BAR

Andrew Swift

8pm. Supported by Dana Hassall.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

DENDY CINEMA

The Bootleg Sessions 8pm. Free entry.

THE PHOENIX BAR

19 Aug-11 Sep.

TRYAA Collection Exhibition TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Tough and Tender

15 Jul- Oct.Intimate and raw photographs that explore the complexities of personal relationships.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize Shortlist

28 Jul-4 Sep. Shortlisted artwork from Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize entrants.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

Mythology

19 Aug-11 Sep.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

76

@bmamag

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE August 24 – August 27 WEDNESDAY AUGUST 24 ART EXHIBITIONS Mud Men

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran installation.

30 Jul-29 Jan. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Contemporary Asian galleries Until Nov. A new display focused on contemporary Chinese art.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Interchange Until 3 Sept.

BILK GALLERY

Bigger on the Inside: Collecting Dr Who

LIVE MUSIC Two Steps on the Water

With Passive Smoke, Happy Axe and Ear Ache.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Amanda Delaney Duo 9pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Two Steps On The Water

With Passive Smoke, Happy Axe & Ear Ache. 9pm. $10/$5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

John Steel Singers

They’re back with a new album, supported by the awesome Alex Lahey 8pm, presale via Moshtix.

TRANSIT BAR

Friday Night Fiesta

Design and Nature

THE PHOENIX BAR

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

With Funkytrop Jon and Eli. 9pm. $10/$5.

Chris Harland Blues Band

TRYAA Collection Exhibition

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

8pm.

Matt Dent

Unique Australian feel. 7pm. Free.

TRANSIT BAR

Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize Shortlist

Supported by Massive Sherlock and The Passage North 8pm.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Mushroom Cloud

28 Jul-4 Sep. Shortlisted artwork from Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize entrants.

Playing everything from Johnny B. Goode and Mustang Sally to Adele’s Rolling in the Deep. 7.30pm.

What Becomes of Little Boys Obliterate & Tied

ON THE TOWN

M16 ARTSPACE

Until 4 Sep. Free.

Crazy Ass Games including tournaments and prizes, and all things Sangria & FUN. 5pm. Free.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

FILM

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

SOMETHING DIFFERENT

Latin American Film Festival

Feminartsy presents

Canberra Writers Festival

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

18 Aug-4 Sep. 3 new artists.

Hindmarsh Prize

The Thursday Games

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Canberra’s funny women with the Fearless Initative. 7pm – 9pm. $10 at the door. agac.com.au.

LIVE MUSIC

Poetry Readings

Corey Harris & Kristen Lee Morris

MANNING CLARK HOUSE

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

8pm. $36/$40.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Ben Wright Smith

Hot on the heels of his new single ’Sand Grabber’, supported by PJ Michael & The Banditas. 8pm, free.

TRANSIT BAR

Corey Harris

Internationally recognised blues & reggae musician.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

ON THE TOWN

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

7.30pm.

Lakeside Live: Life Drawing

A monthly life drawing session for artists with basic to advanced level experience. $25 + drink.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

THEATRE The Marriage of Figaro 7.30pm.

‘Monsters and Beats’ Cahoots

Anything Goes

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Youth Art Lab. 4.15pm. Life-size puppet making for 9-14 year olds. $180 per term.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Tickets at philo.org.au. 11-27 Aug.

FRIDAY AUGUST 26

ERINDALE THEATRE

TRIVIA Tranny Trivia

Glamour & Song questions. 8pm. Book Online.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

THURSDAY AUGUST 25 DANCE

DANCE Strings Attached

Australian Dance Party investigates links between dance and music. 8pm.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

NISHI GALLERY

LIVE MUSIC

FILM

Friday Night Live: Chris Harland Blues Band

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

DJs spinning Old Skool, Hip Hop, R&B. Free from 5pm.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

Isobelle Carmody, A.C. Grayling, Charlotte Wood and more. Tickets at canberrawritersfestival.com.au.

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Poetry Slam

8pm. Free.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Oscar

9.30pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Contemporary Asian galleries Until Nov. A new display focused on contemporary Chinese art.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

DANCE Strings Attached

Australian Dance Party investigates links between dance and music. 8pm.

NISHI GALLERY

FILM Latin American Film Festival

THEATRE

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

The Marriage of Figaro

LIVE MUSIC

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Rouge: Poppies in the Field

7.30pm.

SATURDAY AUGUST 27

Until 3 Sept.

5.30pm. Concert in support of the Alliance Française de Canberra Building Fund and Wesley Music Scholars.

WESLEY MUSIC CENTRE

The Mighty Yak

Live music. 10pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

BILK GALLERY

Distant Monarchs

Bigger on the Inside: Collecting Dr Who

THE DURHAM

Opening on the 15th Jul at 2.30pm.

RSVP at cmagbookings@act.gov.au or 6207 3968. 16 Jul-20 Nov. CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

What Becomes of Little Boys Obliterate & Tied 18 Aug-4 Sep. 3 new artists.

M16 ARTSPACE

Hindmarsh Prize Until 4 Sep. Free.

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

From the Forest to the Sea 19 Aug-11 Sep.

Mike Parr: Foreign looking

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Portrait Encounter

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Menagerie

An exhibition of recent works by young Canberra artists Tom Buckland, Rebecca Selleck, and Sian Wats TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Earth

19 Aug-11 Sep.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

facebook.com/bmamagazine

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran installation.

30 Jul-29 Jan.

7pm. Free, but donation appreciated.

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

Australian Dance Party investigates links between dance and music. 8pm.

Latin American Film Festival

Fridays From Five

FILM

Strings Attached

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

NISHI GALLERY

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

19 Aug-11 Sep.

ON THE TOWN

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Latin American Film Festival

Mythology Mud Men

THE STREET THEATRE

Interchange

Shopfront Art Club

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

8.30pm.

WORKSHOPS

THE PHOENIX BAR

THEATRE

Sensaround & Otiose Duo

ART EXHIBITIONS

Tues & Thurs. 16 Aug- 8 Sep.

8pm.

OJO CAFE & BAR

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Sad Old Bastards Night

Tough and Tender

Betty Alto

Chris Harland Blues Band NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

Free. Until 27 Aug.

15 Jul- Oct.Intimate and raw photographs that explore the complexities of personal relationships.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Opening on the 15th Jul at 2.30pm.

RSVP at cmagbookings@act.gov.au or 6207 3968. 16 Jul-20 Nov.

Electric guitar blues. 7pm.

Until Mar 2017. A glass and ceramics exhibition.

Variety of Rock, Modern, Easy Listening and Popular Classics. 9.30pm.

Bastard Sons of Liberty

Fight Milk & Needledick. 9pm. $5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

The Guitar Cases

Album launch. 7pm. Free.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

Sorrel Nation

Launching her new EP! 8pm, $10 on the door.

TRANSIT BAR

Grigoryian Brothers

Australia’s boundary pushing guitar duo of siblings. 7.30pm THE STREET THEATRE

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Raize the Roof Gala Ball

Hosted by Amanda Whitley from HerCanberra. With Sebastian Terry. raizetheroof.org.au.

QT CANBERRA HOTEL

Canberra Writers Festival

Including Isobelle Carmody, A.C. Grayling, Charlotte Wood and more.

Tickets at canberrawritersfestiv VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Writers Tour

Bookings essential at portrait.gov.au, $5 per person. 3.30pm.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

77

ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE August 27 – September 3 SATURDAY AUGUST 27 THEATRE Anything Goes

FILM Latin American Film Festival

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Tickets at philo.org.au. 11-27 Aug.

TUESDAY AUGUST 30

ERINDALE THEATRE

The Marriage of Figaro 7.30pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

SUNDAY AUGUST 28 FILM Latin American Film Festival

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

LIVE MUSIC The Merlotones

KARAOKE Karaoke Salon

With yMusic. 7.30pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

A Bite to Eat Sunday Best

Live music and tapas menu 5-7pm.

Free entry. New bands every week.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Shaun Kirk

8.30pm. $18. Independent blues/soul.

THE FRONT GALLERY AND CAFÉ

Aviary Sundays Live

3pm. Free. Our weekly live music day with vibes for days from Canberra’s best undiscovered talents.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Canberra Writers Festival

Isobelle Carmody, A.C. Grayling, Charlotte Wood and more. Tickets at canberrawritersfestival.com.au.

VARIOUS LOCATIONS

Writers Tour

Bookings essential at portrait.gov.au, $5 per person. 3.30pm.

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

MONDAY AUGUST 29 FILM The Fifth Element

Mondays at 6:30pm, Quote-A-Long session.

DENDY CINEMA

Latin American Film Festival

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

LIVE MUSIC An Evening With Tommy Emmanuel

9pm. Free entry.

TRANSIT BAR

THEATRE Shadowland 8pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Glamour & Song questions. 8pm. Book Online.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Sound of the 80’s

The Fairlight Synth Revolution. trybooking.com/mcda. $10. 7.30pm.

NATIONAL FILM AND SOUND ARCHIVES

THEATRE Antigone: The Greek Project Tickets at cytc.net.

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3

LIVE MUSIC

ART EXHIBITIONS

The Woppy Boys

Nervous by Heather B Swann

9pm. Free.

Performances 3 & 4 Sep. Exhibition until Nov.

THE PHOENIX BAR

8pm, $5.

Hindmarsh Prize

Key Grip

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

WEDNESDAY AUGUST 31 ART EXHIBITIONS Contemporary Asian galleries

Until Nov. A new display focused on contemporary Chinese art.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Interchange Until 3 Sept.

BILK GALLERY

Bigger on the Inside: Collecting Dr Who

She-Riff: Vol 2 TRANSIT BAR

7pm.

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

As A Rival

With Raised as Wolves, Sketch Method, Yoko Oh No and Sketch Method THE PHOENIX BAR

ON THE TOWN The Thursday Games

Crazy Ass Games including tournaments and prizes, and all things Sangria & FUN. 5pm. Free.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Until 4 Sep. Free.

What Becomes of Little Boys Obliterate & Tied 18 Aug-4 Sep. 3 new artists.

M16 ARTSPACE

From the Forest to the Sea 19 Aug-11 Sep.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Mike Parr: Foreign looking

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Portrait Encounter

Opening on the 15th Jul at 2.30pm.

RSVP at cmagbookings@act.gov.au or 6207 3968. 16 Jul-20 Nov.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

What Becomes of Little Boys Obliterate & Tied

Antigone: The Greek Project

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

Until 3 Sept.

M16 ARTSPACE

WORKSHOPS

Earth

Shopfront Art Club

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

CANBERRA MUSEUM AND GALLERY

18 Aug-4 Sep. 3 new artists.

From the Forest to the Sea 19 Aug-11 Sep.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Mike Parr: Foreign looking

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Portrait Encounter

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct. NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Design and Nature

THEATRE Tickets at cytc.net.

Tues & Thurs. 16 Aug- 8 Sep. TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 2

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct.

Interchange BILK GALLERY

19 Aug-11 Sep.

Murrumbidgee 26 days Exhibition

Opens 1 Sep 6pm. Until 1 Oct. Free.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Mythology

LIVE MUSIC

19 Aug-11 Sep.

Friday Night Live: Key Grip Full Strength

DANCE

8pm. Free.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Celtic Illusion

Tickets at canberratheatre.com.au.

Until Mar 2017. A glass and ceramics exhibition.

Lakeside at 5

Earth

Rock Or Be Rocked

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

OJO CAFE AND BAR

Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize Shortlist

9.30pm. Free.

LAKE JINDABYNE

Cherrypickers Trio

6pm. Tickets at songcompany.com.au.

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

19 Aug-11 Sep.

Live music. $10. 5pm.

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Classic rock and blues. 8pm. Free.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

LIVE MUSIC Snowtunes 2016

Oscar

What So Not, Hot Dub Time Machine & more. $89.95. 2pm.

28 Jul-4 Sep. Shortlisted artwork from Inaugural Hindmarsh Prize entrants.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

The Concord of Strangers

Mythology

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

7pm. Free.

WESLEY UNITING CHURCH

19 Aug-11 Sep.

Goldilocks & The 3 Beers

10pm. Free.

Mud Men

THE PHOENIX BAR

CIT Presents The Bootleg Sessions THE PHOENIX BAR

Free. All films screened at 2:30pm and 6:30pm. All films subtitled in English.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

CANBERRA GLASSWORKS

8pm. Free entry.

Latin American Film Festival

DJs spinning Old Skool, Hip Hop, R&B. Free from 5pm.

Impact Records Presents

7.30pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

FILM

Tranny Trivia

Nerd Trivia with Joel and Ali.

Ben Folds

THE PHOENIX BAR

#KaraokeLove

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Irish Jam Session

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Fridays From Five

7.30pm.

TRIVIA

TRIVIA

Traditional Irish musicians in the pub from late afternoon. Free.

ON THE TOWN

Comedy Gong Night

8PM. Songlist at nightlife.com.au/ karaoke.

Smooth tones and fresh interpretations of jazz classics. 5-7pm. Free.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

COMEDY

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Ramesh Mario Nithiyendran installation.

30 Jul-29 Jan. NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Special K

9pm. Free.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Foreign Kings

7pm. $20/$15.

Back after a little hiatus, with rockers IVY in tow 8pm, presale via Moshtix.

Shameless Seamus CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

TRANSIT BAR

Black Heart Breakers

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With The King Hits. Promoting new single ‘I Want You’ SMITH’S ALTERNATIVE

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ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE September3–September10 SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 3

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 6

LIVE MUSIC

KARAOKE

Slumberhaze

Karaoke Salon

With Capes & Moaning Lisa. 9pm. $10/$5.

THE PHOENIX BAR

THEATRE Antigone: The Greek Project Tickets at cytc.net.

GORMAN HOUSE ARTS CENTRE

WORKSHOPS Land, Sea, Air Poetry Workshops 10.30am.

ACT WRITERS CENTRE

SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 4 ART EXHIBITIONS Nervous by Heather B Swann

FILM

Woodface

Jumpcuts

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

9.30pm. Free.

Local Independent Short Films. 7.30pm.

THE PHOENIX BAR

7pm. Free.

CANBERRA IRISH CLUB

8PM. Songlist at nightlife.com.au/ karaoke.

THEATRE

#KaraokeLove

6-18 Sep. A gripping modern drama about foreign aid, former colonies and conflict between generation

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

9pm. Free entry.

TRANSIT BAR

LIVE MUSIC Dirk Zeylmans Quintet

Tribute to Bernie McGann. 6pm.

Bookings via thegodscafe@gmail. com. $22.

THE GODS CAFE

Jazz at the Gods

Meals from 6pm. Music at 7:30pm.

Bookings essential. $22/$15.

King Of The North

Tranny Trivia

THE BASEMENT

THE ABBEY

Get Out Of Your World tour.

Glamour & Song questions. 8pm. Book Online.

POLIT BAR & LOUNGE

Henry Rollins

SOMETHING DIFFERENT Art Underground Wide Open Mic Night

8pm.

CANBERRA THEATRE CENTRE

Share music, stories, comedy, circus tricks or antics. 7pm. Free. With special guests.

WORKSHOPS

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

LIVE MUSIC

Shopfront Art Club

ON THE TOWN

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

Chicago Charles & Danger Dave

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

Irish Jam Session

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 7

Traditional Irish musicians in the pub from late afternoon. Free.

ART EXHIBITIONS

A Bite to Eat Sunday Best

12 Aug-6 Nov. Brings together works in all media across Parr’s voraciously experimental practice.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Live music and tapas menu 5-7pm.

Free entry. New bands every week.

A BITE TO EAT CAFE

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5 FILM The Breakfast Club

Mondays at 6:30pm, Quote-A-Long session.

Mike Parr: Foreign looking

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

9pm. Free.

The Phoenix Quiz

The Thursday Games

THE PHOENIX BAR

7.30pm.

KING O’MALLEY’S IRISH PUB

Crazy Ass Games including tournaments and prizes, and all things Sangria & FUN. 5pm. Free.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

LIVE MUSIC

19 Aug-11 Sep.

Murrumbidgee 26 days Exhibition

Opens 1 Sep 6pm. Until 1 Oct. Free.

WORKSHOPS Mini Pitching Mentorships 10am.

ACT WRITERS CENTRE

TALKS Robert Forster in conversation

WORKSHOPS

Explores personal relations, individual expression and fluid identity. Free. Until 16 Oct.

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

THE PHOENIX BAR

TRIVIA

Portrait Encounter

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

Earth

8pm. Free.

BEYOND Q

19 Aug-11 Sep.

DENDY CINEMA

CMC Presents The Bootleg Sessions

7pm.

Bookings essential at portrait.gov.au.

6pm.

From the Forest to the Sea

DJs spinning Old Skool, Hip Hop, R&B. Free from 5pm.

AVIARY ROOFTOP BAR

NATIONAL GALLERY OF AUSTRALIA

Arestrained frenzy of blues, old school R&B. 5-7pm. Free.

ON THE TOWN Fridays From Five

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 8

TRIVIA

Tues & Thurs. 16 Aug- 8 Sep.

Harry Manx

TRIVIA

Blue Eyes Cry

Keygrip Ultralite

TRANSIT BAR

6:30pm for 8pm start. $55-$105.

THE PHOENIX BAR

Performances 3 & 4 Sep. Exhibition until Nov.

Supported by Omar Musa and Sukhjit 8pm, presale via Moshtix.

THE STREET THEATRE

LIVE MUSIC

7.30pm.

L-Fresh the Lion

The Faithful Servant

THE GODS CAFE

The Phoenix Quiz

Ken from Special K

NATIONAL PORTRAIT GALLERY

Shopfront Art Club

Tues & Thurs. 16 Aug- 8 Sep. TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 9 LIVE MUSIC

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 10 DANCE Miss Burlesque Australia

6pm for 7:30pm start. $50-$110.

THE ABBEY

LIVE MUSIC Owen Campbell 8pm. $15/$22.

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

Rock Or Be Rocked 8pm. Free.

THE BURNS CLUB

Mythology

Friday Night Live: Simon Kinney-Lewis

BELCONNEN ARTS CENTRE

HARMONIE GERMAN CLUB

WALT & BURLEY

TUGGERANONG ARTS CENTRE

19 Aug-11 Sep.

8pm. Free.

OUT

SEP 14

Matt Dent

Awesome Aussie Roots Music. 6.30pm.

WE ALL GO OUT TO NIGHTFEST INTRODUCING: THE WHITLAMS I BELIEVE YOU, MEGAN WASHINGTON SAFIA *FINALLY* DROP THEIR ALBUM ON US

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SIDE A: BMA BAND PROFILE

FIRST CONTACT Aaron Peacey 0410381306 band.afternoon.shift@ gmail.com.au Adam Hole 0421023226 Afternoon Shift 0402055314

Kayo Marbilus facebook.com/kayomarbilus1

Amphibian Sound PA Clare 0410308288

Kurt’s Metalworx (PA) 0417025792

Annie & The Armadillos Annie (02) 61611078/ 0422076313

WHITEFALL Group members: Connor Mairs (vocals), James ‘Scotty’ Scott (guitars), Chris McLaughlin (guitars), Ben Harvey (bass) and Bradly Cronan (drums).

Where did your band name come from? We actually got the name from the TV series Firefly. Whitefall is the name of a corrupt backwater planet and to us it seemed like the modern world is slowly heading towards that.

Describe your sound. Our sound is a mix of metalcore and progressive inspired sound. We like to have crushing, heavy riffs and then juxtapose them against a nice clean section.

Who are your influences, musical or otherwise? Our sounds comes from other bands in the metal scene like Northlane, In Hearts Wake, Woe Is Me, and is also inspired by some more progressive acts like TesseracT. What’s the most memorable experience you’ve had whilst performing? For our very first gig back in November, we were lucky enough to be able to play alongside both Dream On Dreamer and Polaris.

Of what are you proudest so far? We’re probably proudest of our debut EP Origins. We recorded it in three days with Dax from Puzzle Factory Sound Studio and we couldn’t be happier with the end product.

What are your plans for the future? At the moment, we’re looking to get more gigs outside of Canberra and possibly set up a short east coast tour, but so far that’s just a brain child. We’re also working on new material with hopes to release some new songs in the near future.

What makes you laugh? We tend to have a great laugh with some of the other local bands like Kitten Hurricane and Lions of the Underground. We’ve become really good mates with these guys and we can’t help but have a few beers and a laugh when we get together.

What pisses you off? I think as a band the biggest thing that pisses us off is trying to organise our schedules around one another so we can get consistent practices in.

What about the local scene would you change? I would definitely like to have more metal friendly venues. The current venues generally have either too high or too low of a cap on the amount of people they can legally have inside.

Canberra doesn’t seem to have any mid-range venues, which means a lot of the bigger bands tend to skip Canberra on their tours, which doesn’t give the local bands a chance to be the hometown support.

What are your upcoming gigs? Our next gig is on Friday August 12 at The Basement in Belconnen. We’ll be supporting Sydonia along with the boys in Kitten Hurricane and Lions Of The Underground.

Contact info: facebook.com/whitefallaus, whitefall.bandcamp.com, triplejunearthed.com/artist/ whitefall, whitefallaus.bigcartel.com

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Johnny Roadkill Paulie 0408287672 paulie_mcmillan@live.com.au

Aria Stone sax/flute/lute/ harmonica, singer-songwriter Aria 0411803343 Australian Songwriters Association Keiran (02) 62310433 Back to the Eighties Ty Emerson 0418 544 014 Backbeat Drivers Steve 0422733974 backbeatdrivers.com Birds Love Fighting Gangbusters/DIY shows-bookings@ birdslovefighting.com Black Label Photography Kingsley 0438351007 blacklabelphotography.net Bridge Between, The Cam 0431550005 Chris Harland Blues Band, The Chris 0418 490 649 chrisharlandbluesband @gmail.com Cole Bennetts Photography 0415982662 Danny V Danny 0413502428 Dawn Theory Nathan 0402845132 Danny 0413502428 Dorothy Jane Band, The Dorothy Jane 0411065189 dorothy-jane@dorothyjane.com Drumassault Dan 0406 375 997 Feldons, The 0407 213 701 Fire on the Hill Aaron 0410381306 Lachlan 0400038388 Fourth Degree Vic 0408477020 Gareth Dailey DJ/Electronica Gareth 0414215885 Groovalicious Corporate/ weddings/private functions 0448995158 Guy The Sound Guy Live & Studio Sound Engineer 0400585369 guy@guythesoundguy.com

Los Chavos Latin/ska/reggae Rafa 0406647296 Andy 0401572150 Merloc - Recording Studio, Watson. Sam King: 0430484363. sam@ merlocrecords.com Missing Zero Hadrian 0424721907 hadrian.brand@live.com.au Morning After, The Covers band Anthony 0402500843 Mornings Jordan 0439907853 Obsessions 0450 960 750 obsessions@grapevine.com.au Painted Hearts, The Peter (02) 62486027 Polka Pigs Ian (02) 62315974 Rafe Morris 0416322763 Redletter Ben 0421414472 Redsun Rehearsal Studio Ralph 0404178996/ (02) 61621527 Rug, The Jol 0417273041 Sewer Sideshow Huck 0419630721 Simone & The Soothsayers Singing teacher Simone 62304828 Sorgonian Twins, The Mark 0428650549 Soundcity Rehearsal Studio Andrew 0401588884 STonKA Jamie 0422764482 stonka2615@gmail.com Strange Hour Events Dan 0411112075 Super Best Friends Greg greg@gunfever.com.au System Addict Jamie 0418398556

Haunted Attics band@hauntedatticsmusic.com

Tegan Northwood (Singing Teacher) 0410 769 144

In The Flesh Scott 0410475703

Top Shelf Colin 0408631514

Itchy Triggers Alex 0414838480

Undersided, The Baz 0408468041

Jenn Pacor Singer-songwriter avail. for originals/covers 0405618630

Zoopagoo zoopagoo@gmail.com

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