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#1: 070704 17/02/04 #4
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quick shots latest local, national & international news The results are in! With a record number of votes cast in 2004, a total of over 32,000 nationally, Australia's Top 50 DJs have been chosen, with Kid Kenobi once again taking the top spot! Having won the inaugural Technics inthemix50 DJ Poll in 2003, Kid Kenobi's popularity shows no signs of waning as he proves to be an unstoppable force. Fellow Sydney-sider Mark Dynamix also retained his position in the number 2 spot, with Nik Fish rising one spot to 3rd.
Sydney electro DJ Ajax and hard trance mistress Amber Savage were two of the highest moving jocks, Ajax jumping 34 spots from 44 to 10, and Savage rising from 41 to the 11th spot. Uplifting trance DJ Sample Gee's position at number 5 in 2003 dropped considerably, in 2004 dipping to 40th. Melbourne's Phil K rose to the position of number 1 DJ in Victoria, also taking out the position of fifth DJ overall nationally. The number 1 spots remained unchanged in SA and
the ACT, with JoSH and Rob Kay keeping hold of the top positions respectively. WA's Kenny L and Queensland's Baby Gee were both also new entries to rise to the number 1 position in their states. For more on results go to www.inthemix.com.au/50 New York --- After nearly a decade together, Creed has decided to disband. During their 8 years and 3 albums together (My Own Prison, Human Clay, Weathered) Creed achieved countless Rock & Roll milestones and sold over
30 million albums worldwide. With theiir unprecedented success at radio and their captivating live shows, Creed became one of the most successful acts to rule the charts over the past ten years. Creed songwriter/ guitarist Mark Tremonti has decided to join forces with Creed drummer Scott Phillips, original Creed bassist Brian Marshall and former Mayfield Four singer/ songwriter Myles Kennedy. The new band, named Alter Bridge, will release their debut album on Windup Records on August 10th of this year.
Gus & Frank are back in Tassie for the 3rd time this year, playing at the Launceston Uni Bar and two shows at The Republic Bar & Cafe in Hobart. Fans are known to be obsessive, but now there’s the 'Gus & Frankido Self Defence Club' in Hobart...12 people meet once a week in their Gus & Frank tops to work out while playing G & F in the background.....making it a total of 23 sporting clubs all around AUS called 'Gus&Frank', including 5 walking clubs (one in Dubbo!), The Hobart G & F Pancake Parlour, a darts club, a horse riding club, mixed basketball teams and a lawn bowls club.
Three-time Grammy Award-winner, Nelly, will make musical history on September 14th when he simultaneously releases two new albums entitled Sweat and Suit. While he joins Bruce Springsteen and Guns'n'Roses, who have also released two albums on the same day, Nelly becomes the first rapper to join their exclusive ranks. ... quick shots continued over page
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latest local, national & international news Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds are currently working on a new studio album due for release on Mute in September 2004. Titled "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus", the double album will be Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds' thirteenth studio album and the follow up to 2003's "Nocturama". "Abattoir Blues / The Lyre Of Orpheus" was recorded by Nick Launay at Studio Ferber in Paris in Spring 2004 by The Bad Seeds line up of Nick Cave, Mick Harvey, Thomas Wydler, Martyn Casey, Conway Savage, Jim Sclavunos, Warren Ellis and James Johnston. The new album is produced by Nick Launay and Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds and is being mixed at Astoria in London.
Miranda Murphy, from the Popstars Live series has signed a deal with Universal Music Australia to release her debut single, That Girl. That Girl was performed on the show's finale, which attracted an audience of 1.3 million. The 16 year old classically trained pianist and violinist from Perth said, 'I'm very excited about releasing my first single with Universal Music. This is a dream come true, I can't wait to see what the future holds.' Expect to see avideo soon.
Check the Gig Guide for details of gigs in Tassie by other members of the Postars mob, including our own Luke Parry.
Having already sold nearly 600,000 albums in Australia alone, after a lengthy absence, The Prodigy are back, delivering a new album that's been 7 years in the making. Featuring collaborations with Noel and Liam Gallagher, Princess Superstar, Kool Keith, Twista and Juliette Lewis, this is set to follow 'Fat Of The Land' and 'Music For The Jilted Generation.”
Neil and Tim Finn, The Finn Brothers, are set to release their first collaborative studio album in over eight years, 'Everyone Is Here', on August 23rd. Recorded in Los Angeles, the title reflects not only the musical reunion of the former Crowded House and Split Enz front men (Neil and Tim respectively) but also the involvement of both former and current musical cohorts.
The album "Always Outnumbered, Never Outgunned" is set to drop 16th August 2004
'Everyone Is Here' was produced by Mitchell Froom and mixed by Bob Clearmountain, the team behind much of Crowded House's catalogue, including their critically lauded album 'Woodface'.
Gamers who are fans of driving challenges may want to take note of the upcoming release of FORMULA ONE 04, the only officially licensed game of the FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP(tm). The game features all of the official teams, drivers and circuits of the 2004 season, including the brand new tracks in Bahrain and Shanghai. FORMULA ONE 04 is scheduled for release on 23rd of July.
EAT your way through winter. EAT (Emerging Artists Tasmania) Term 3 workshops start 2 August. EAT training develops theatre makers through devising, performing and collaboration. Workshops are Mon and Wed nights (6pm 9pm) at is theatre ltd rehearsal space (top floor of Salamanca Arts Centre, entry via Kelly's Garden). Term 3 is all about Time: Making Meaning. Workshops are run by Ryk Goddard (Artistic Director is theatre ltd) and include training in performance making, direction and production and group devising. Drop in anytime or email events@istheatre.com.au for more information.
"Our roots are in live music, even if it's just me and Neil playing acoustic guitars together," says Tim. "It works better if there's more than one person working at a time and people playing off of each other. There's a lot of that on the record, and there's a really strong band feeling." For the recording Neil and Tim recruited many of the best musicians around: multiinstrumentalist Jon Brion, drummer Matt Chamberlain and two bass players: Sebastian Steinberg and Davey Faragher. On the production side they recruited Adam Kasper to record (Foo Fighters, Queens of the Stone Age) with string arrangements by Tony Visconti (David Bowie, T. Rex, Mercury Rev). Northern Tasmania now has it’s own shop for vinyl, DJ gear and the like. Promoter and DJ Clint Pease and partner, Kimberly, have opened Chilli DJ & Urban Supplies on Launceston ‘s groovy Charles St, next to Refresh Cafe. The Hilltop Hoods made an instore appearance for the opening before their show at The Saloon.
The same band competition that launched Eskimo Joe (read the interview!) is on again. The National Campus Band Competition will hold Launceston heats on Wednesday, September 15th and Wednesday, September 22th. It was only Eskimo Joes fourth gig when they competed, so everyone, get a band together and have ago. You never know where it might take you, hey. Entries open Monday July 12 and Close Friday August 27, 200. To be eligible, a band must have at least one member who is enrolled at the University of Tasmania or at an institution who is a current financial member of an AACA institution. The State Final will be held at the Launceston Uni Bar on Thursday October 7, 2004 where the winners will take home $1000 cash courtesy of Jim Beam Australia and a berth at the National Final at Perth, Western Australia (including airfares and accommodation) to be held on Saturday October 30, 2004. Entry forms are available at any Student Association contact point on each Campus; Inveresk, Cradle Coast and Newnham. Or by contacting the Marketing & Events Coordinator, Angus Martin on 03 6324 3765 or angus.martin@utas.edu.au.
Got something interesting going on that you’d like to tell Tassie about? Then drop us a line with the details to editorial@sauceonline.net
Local, national and international bands Live music 7 nights a week Lunch 12-2pm, Wed - Sun Dinner 6 - 9:30pm every night 299 Elizabeth St North Hobart, Ph : 6234 6954 www.republicbar.com
JULY: Sat 10th Thu 15th
10pm 8pm
Thu 15th Fri 16th Sat 17th Thu 22nd Fri 23rd Sat 24th Thu 29th
9pm 10pm 10pm 9pm 10pm 10pm 9pm
Bomba $15/$12 conc. Comedy Night (Upstairs bar) Sammy J, Fox Callega & Michael Connell $7/5 conc. Jan Preston (NZ) Downstairs Gus & Frank $7/$5 conc. (spt: The Fray) Gus & Frank $7/$5 conc. (spt: The Fray) Wolf Mail & Band (USA) $3 Fizard (Syd) $5 Mike Tramp & Band (USA) $10/$7 conc. Son Del Sur (Cuban salsa) $2
Featuring this month
Fri 9 July Ryan Toohey (melb) ('roots-blues-folk rock') Sat 10 July The Resonation, Reflex + the Fuzzy Zellas Fri 23 July Mat Dynon (qld) ('contemporary roots') Sun 16 - July Gollip Fri 30 July - Ted Koops Trio + the Feral Cats Fri 6 Aug - Samuel Bester + the Rakes
Meals available Mon - Sun lunch & dinner Quality live music 25 min from town by the water Lewisham Tavern, 46 Scenic Drive, Lewisham, Hobart T 03 6265 8144 F 03 6265 8184 lewytav@hotmail.com
Rock Salt Battle of the Bands - Wrest Point Casino
Heat 1 Winner - Mad Uncle The Battle of the Bands at Wrest Point Casino had the first heat of eight on Friday 18th of June. The audience of approximately 300 people fought their way amongst gaming tables and sat down at the tables that filled the room, their complimentary cups of coffee grasped tightly.
recounted how nervous they were before they got up on stage earlier in the evening – mainly nervous because they were aware that the judges and their expertise could not be fooled.
Each heat of Battle of the Bands will feature four bands, who play one original song and two contemporary rock songs, which will be judged by professionals who work in the music industry.
Mad Uncle was formed in April 2001 at a high school in the North West of Tasmania. The fact that the North West is devoid of any live and original music was a contributing factor to the band’s move down South. Some of the band members are studying as the University of Tasmania, but they all seek a future in music and see themselves pursuing musical careers, hopefully in the form of Mad Uncle.
The winner will get a paying gig at Wrest Point, a days recording at Bedrock Studio and prizes totalling $5000.
They have played a variety of gigs, including Gone South and have recently had a CD of their original music professionally recorded.
The staging of Battle of the Bands at Wrest Point Casino follows the huge success of Talent Tasmania, which was as the name suggests, a talent quest.
They cite influences as varied (within the
Mad Uncle stole the judge’s hearts but each of the bands showed a level of professionalism and skill in their performances. Memorable moments from the evening included the first sighting of the singer from Brooker Highway’s above knee boots and the solo drunken fellow with glasses who was dancing up the front (to his own rhythm). Mad Uncle, the four piece band who won, relaxed in the VIP room after their gig and
Thursday Nights
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Social Club Membership draw $50 a week jackpotting
Wed 10:30pm til late
Fridays
Roundabout (Batty Bar) Roundabout (Batty Bar)
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The first two bands of the evening, Brooker Highway and Mad Uncle had a very unreceptive audience, the Tassie two-step not even visible amongst the audience that sat around. Anything But Temporary and Tesla finished off the set, both of these groups had quite a crowd dancing in front of the stage. Whether they were the band members friends or not is irrelevant.
Wednesdays
Heat 2 Winners - Melodic Candy rock genre) as Van Halen, Red Hot Chilli Peppers and Muse and on stage they are reminiscent of bands like Everlast. James Parry, the lead singer has a marvellous rock voice and he is not let down by the others in the band, Lewis Tunstall on lead guitar, Rory Waugh on bass and Michael Parker on drums. Entry to Battle of the Bands is free and the opportunity it provides for emerging Tasmanian rock bands is unrivalled.
35 Cameron St. Launceston 6331 7222 Heat 3 Winners - 3 Weeks Late
Don't Miss This
The Beautiful Girls Sunday 1st August $15+BF Available From Venue or CD CENTRE Doors Open @ 7pm
Cnr Paterson & St John St's Launceston 6334 6622
Rock Salt The Beautiful Girls ... are really boys ... and coming to Tassie Ok.
So, Australians are a bit more ... animal?
So, I'd go, "Ok, what have you got?" and they'd be like, "Crack, man." And I'd be like, "I though you meant buds? and they'd be like, "Yeah, crack." And I'd be like, "Nah, that's cool." So, I'm heading down this back alley and theee two guys walk out from this little doorway and I almost shit myself. So, did you have any freaky moments like that?
Yeah, look I'm not saying we're not polite. I'm saying we've got the "animal" in us over here.
Well, we never freaked out, but we did see a fight in New York just after we got there, but we never got in a freaky situation where we were scared. I didn't even in Brazil. The whole time, going there, I had the fear out in me from everyone. They're like, "Look out for this and that," but I never saw anything heavy, you know.
And how many times have you been down to Tasmania? To Tassie? We've been there once. And what do remember about that time? Was there anything that sticks out for you? Oh, that was, oh, insane down in Tasmania. So want to go back there. It was amazing. We were down there for Falls, New Years, so it was a really good gig. Did you hear about where it was? Yeah, Marion Bay.
And what's the music biz like in Canada and the States? Is it really high powered and glam? What's your impressions of the music biz over there? It's just like over here but, fully, on steroids. Ok. It's just bigger. I dunno. Yeah, of course. We've always known that. It's like a fuckin' entity over there. When we were staying in Hollywood, not so much the music industry, but it was funny to think, "Fuck, we're at the epicentre of the movies, or the media, or the thing that rules the world," It runs the world over there, you know. They run the world. The Yanks run the world, even in music and in media, of course.
Yeah, it was just so beautiful and amazing. In Tassie, right down there, away from everything else and then it was a couple of hours drive out from the airport out to this farm and here we are playing with all these cool bands and stuff and there's all these cool people there and we played in the afternoon, shortly after Mason and a few thousand people rocked up for our gig. And we thought, "Fuck, here we are in Tassie, pretty far from home and there's all these crew here." It was wicked . It was New Year's Eve so it was like, what an amazing way to end the year, you know. Really cool. I guess this will be a bit of a different trip, this time, doing the cities? The cities? This tour now?
And did you feel a bit insignificant or did you think, "Oh, we've made it"?
The Beautiful Girls are Mat McHugh vocal/guitar, Clay McDonald - bass and Mitch Connelly - drums, from Sydney’s northern beaches. Recently returned from a tour of Canada and the States, the band have found prominence through their singles, “Music” and “Blackbird” and are set to play in Launceston and Hobart. Dave Williams caught up with Clay for a chat. You guys got back from the States about a month ago? Yeah, well we finished our tour of the States a month ago, but I just got back a couple of days ago So you stayed on for a holiday? I went down to Brazil. And hooked up with Felipe? (who tours with them) No, I didn't see him until he got here two days ago. I didn't go to his house. Oh, right. I barred him, 'cause it stinks too much. Fair enough. You're not being serious? Well, I haven't been to his house, but I'm sure it would smell. Ok. Now, The Beautiful Girls, there are no girls in the band, apparently, or is there something that you "guys" want to 'fess up about?
No, we don't but we do. You don't have to, but you do? Yeah. So, I've seen all their dicks and everyone's got a dick. So, why call yourselves The Beautiful Girls? Is it who you were hoping to attract? Well, that wasn't the original idea, but that's a nice idea. Nah, the idea was me and Matty (Mat McHugh) were playing in this band, The Search for Delta Nine, and it was, like, stoner rock - heavy stuff. That was just what we were into at the time, playing with other heavy bands and stuff and we had all these mellow songs and wanted to do some other stuff and so I did tyhat with him, and we needed a name for it and we called it The Beautiful Girls, 'cause it's the opposite to those heavy band name. You know what I mean?
What was the point in going? Why did you decide to go in the first place?
Yeah, like Skullcrusher and ...
Instead of going to the UK?
Ok. 'Cause (on the road) you have to have communal showers and share ...?
For this trip, like I said, just to get our foot in the door, 'cause we want to go over there more and the idea behind that is to see how we can go with another group of people. It's a place we haven't been. We've been to a lot of places in Australia and it's been wicked to play to a lot of people in Australia, we're just finding out what other people think of us, in other countries.
But we're going back to Tassie. Yeah. Oh, instead of Marion Bay? Yeah, you're doing Hobart and Launceston this time. Yeah, of course. Yeah. So, we'll be playing in pubs. Yeah. Yeah, that's a spin out. It'd be good to play at the same place, but give me pub and I'll play in it. And what stage are you at with the last album? Have you got any more singles to come off that or are you looking at a new album? From "Learn Yourself"? Yeah.
(Laughs) Yeah, like Skullcrusher and stuff like that. I haven't heard of that band though. No, me either, but it should be a band, if it's not. Yeah, well that was the idea. Opposite to that sort of thing. So what was the most memorable event for you on tour? I dunno. people are always asking, "What's your favourite city?" but everywhere has good things about them for different reasons? Did you ever get frightened? What do you mean?
There's no girls in the band and we all have penises. I know for a fact.
Oh, right. I know what you mean. Well, we became friends with some people involved with the industry and stuff, you know, and that was all good, but we never felt insignificant. Sue, we weren't playing gigs to hundreds of people or anything, but it was just good to be there. We felt just happy to be there playing to people. We were just getting our foot in the door, if you know what I mean. It'll be interesting to see what happens the next couple of times we go back there, you know?
Yeah.
Well ... one time I was in Seattle and everywhere you go, people were going, "Hey man, want some buds?" and i thought they were talking about pot, right?
Mainly because that's our first contact. Mason Jennings, who played with us ob=ver here, in Australia, he took us on a tour over there, so we just followed on from that tour. That's basically it. I guess if someone in the UK said comw over and do a tour with us over there we would have gone there first but, it was mason , who lives in America, so, I suppose that's it. How do the American and Canadian crowds react, compared with Australian crowds? Is there any difference, or are people all the same? (Laughs) The Americans are really, extra, polite. WIn Oz we do these crazy gigs. everyone's pissed and carrying on and whatever and you get people heckling from the crowd and stuff, especially if our friends are there. And in America, it's real polite. After the gig, they're like, "Well, that was great," and off they go, they're out of there. Real polite scene over there. The kind of scene you'd expect in japan, from what I've heard anyway.
Umm, yeah. I think we're just about to bring out "Freedom." Fuck, maybe you shouldn't quote me on this. Do you write it down as I say it or are you going to pick out bits? Yeah, I pretty much go a transcript ... I actually shouldn't say anything, 'cause I can't remember. We were talking about it before we came back. We're not sure. What we do have is a whole bunch, well not a massive bunch, but we've got some new songs and looking forward to doing a new album but it could be a little while 'cause we're really busy, you know. Ok, cool. Lastly, what have you learnt about yourself, lately? (Laughs) Umm, fuck. That I was brazilian in a past life. Alright, thanks.
Rock Salt Eskimo Joe are tops of Triple J’s Net 50 .. and heading for Hobart ended up winning the national final and that was our fourth gig, or something. And then, suddenly, we were a band.'Cause before that we were just jammin' in someone's lounge and just having a good time with it. You've probably been asked this a few times, but where does the name, Eskimo Joe, come from, 'cause it's not really that cold in Western Australia? No it's not. It came from a t-shirt that a friend of ours found in an op-shop. There's a diner in Oklahoma in America, called Eskimo Joe's and Kav (Temperly) and Stu (MacLeod) saw this t-shirt and decided, if they ever started a band, it would be called Eskimo Joe. Ok. The new album, "A Song Is A City," how do you feel about that? Other artists I talk to say there's always something they would have done differently.
From Perth, (that’s Perth, Western Autralia) Eskimoe Joe (Joel Quartermain, Kav Temperley and Stu MacLeod) are enjoying success with “From The Sea” and Smoke” off their latest album, “A Song Is A City” released in May. Dave Williams was one of four interviews Joel was doing ... Joel? Hey David, how you doin'? I'm alright. How are you? Not too bad. What's goin' on? Uh, well, I've got about a hundred questions for you, but I've cut them down to about ten.
Is this the only interview you're doing today? No, I'm doing four today. Am I the first? No, second. And what do you think of whole interview "thing"? How do you find it, or is it all a big pain in the bum for you? Oh, it's fine. It's just part of the job. I mean, it's not as much fun as playing a gig or writing a song or doing a recording, but it's all part of the job. Better than digging ditches.
Ok.
Yeah, better than digging ditches, that's true.
I just tried to cut out the silly ones, like, "What colour socks are you wearing?" Stuff like that. it wasn't really relevant.
You play drums and guitar in the band, is that right?
Yeah, cool. (Laughs) Umm, what have you been doing today? Aaah, not much. Got up. Just got back from a trip to Melbourne and Sydney, yesterday. And just chilling out at home. I was just shaving actually. You use an electric shaver or a blade? A blade. Not the big silver blade, just your Bic disposable thing? No, not the old barber shop action. The normal one.
Uh, huh. Do the other members of Eskimo Joe play multiple instruments or is it just you? We all play everything, I guess. I play "keys" as well. We all play a bit of "keys" on the records and we all play a bit of guitar. I play all the drums, but we all swap instruments quite often. What were the early days of Eskimo Joe like? We got together just for a laugh, I guess. We were just muckin' round and having fun and then we entered this competition called The Campus Bands Competition and we
moment? Is it "From The Sea" or have you put out another one since then? I think the next single is "Smoke" and I'm not sure if that's been put out yet. "From The Sea" still seems to have "legs," still goin, but the next song is called, "Smoke." Ok. Kav's love-life, or lack of it, seems to inspire a few of the songs. How do you feel about that? Well, it's great. He writes honest songs, from an honest spot and, you know, it makes for good material. (Laughs) So whether he's in love or out of love, it, kind of, works. How much do each band member's relationships impact upon the band? It impacts quite a bit. Kav and I both went through break-ups last year and that really "informed" the material, if you will. That's why the record has this dark edge to it. It's not a happy album.
No, we're pretty happy with it. I haven't listened to it in a while, so it'd be interesting to hear it again. We play it live every night, but it's always different, listening to the record. Yeah, we're all pretty proud of it, actually.
Does it result in a change in the dynamic of the band when you get together, if you're going through the shit at the time?
How do your live versions of the songs differ from those on the record?
I guess so. These things are, obviously, going to affect everyone's demeanor and mood, so I guess you could say it does affect the dynamic in the band, yeah.
I guess they're a bit more raw and "ballsout" and rocking, live. They're a bit more refined and we tend to do a lot of tracking when we record an album. There's usually about 70 tracks on a song, and obviously, there's only five of us on stage, so it's, kind of, impossible to reproduce exactly what's on the record, unless you had 70 people. Web take the most important elements and put those things across. I had this impression, from your early days, that you guys were this hard rock/ punk band, but from the album it seems your overall style has changed a bit. How would you describe the sound of the band now? It's definitely evolved. Like I said, when we started out we were just muckin' around and having fun, making people laugh basically and, nowadays, I guess, we're taking it much more seriously and we really get into the production side of things and layering tracks up, like I was saying. So we're going for more of a textured sound, open arrangement, not so many distorted guitars, and arrangements with keyboards and acoustic guitars and, I suppose, an emotional core to the songs.
In the west, you're isolated, a bit, like us in Tasmania. How do you think that has influenced the development and sound of the band? It's great. If you're in Sydney or Melbourne, there's always he chance for record company people to be in your face, coming down and listening to what you're doing and that sort of thing, but over here we've got plenty of space to do what we do and write the songs we want to write and then we present it to them once it's done, rather than people coming in and interfering halfway through. So, it's very influential on how our band has evolved. How much harder is it for a band to become successful from an isolated spot, if they don't come from Melbourne, Sydney or, now, Brisbane? It is probably difficult to get noticed, but if you create some waves and write some good music, the party will come to you. And have you played down here, in Tassie, before? Yeah, quite a few times.
Three years is quite a while between records. Why did it take that long? Aah, we had to sort out some contractual stuff, which was out of our hands and contract law is always a slow process. And we spent a year writing songs and demoing songs. So, we were busy the whole time, we just weren't in the public eye.
And what are your memories, or impressions of Tasmania?
How happy have you been with the level of success from the single, ‘From The Sea?'
Umm, "frikin" cold, very beautiful. It's a really pretty spot. We always have a good time in Tasmania, because, it seems, if you go to places that aren't spoilt for music, like Melbourne or Sydney, where everyone goes, the people are very receptive and appreciative of bands and musicians coming down and playing. So, we always have a good time there.
Yeah, really happy. It's our most successful single that we've put out and the album cam out three, four weeks ago and is going really well so, so far so good.
Cool. Alright, mate, good luck with the tour and good luck with the single and the album and thank you very much for talking with me today.
What's the current single at the
No worries, David. Take it easy.
Rock Salt Tassie’s First Record Label - Dirty South Records Yeah, in stereo, yeah. Awesome. Why did you start Dirty South Records? Basically, we were on tour one day with Kenny P and The Vomits in St Helens and someone said, "Wouldn't it be cool if Tassie had a shop where you could do this and this and this," and over the past two years ... now it's just started ... basically to fill the void. Basically the way I see it, TasMusic are there to do what we are doing, but they don't do it. Everyone (who asks) I just say, "We're doing what TasMusic's supposed to do," and they're like, "Wicked." I mean TasMusic are great. They've helped us out heaps, but they could do a lot more, for what they are, really. Heaps more. And who's involved? It's me and two of my best mates. Just the three of us have started it.
At the moment, I've been recording at my mum's house, in the lounge room. So the whole house becomes a studio, but we're just about to move into Dane's house. His parents are moving out, so we're moving in there and there'll be a studio set up. Until we get the Pro Tools equipment, we've got a basic computer and sound card - input sound card, so ... Cool. And you've done your first release, Oxide. How did that come about? He was put on to me by a few of my mates. They were like, "Talk to him." And I got hold of him, listened to a few of his songs and we sat down and did a bit of producing work with him. Helped him make it a little bit friendlier to people and laid the tracks. He's got two friends, Effekt and Enigma and they're, like, the only three guys in the whole of Tasmania who are really doin' it - their own original Aussie Hip Hop. That CD came out a couple of months ago and it's been sellin' pretty good so far.
Who are they? Where are you selling it from? There's Dane Snadden, he's my best mate. Me and him started the whole thing and got it running and just recently, another friend of mine, Kane Anderson, joined up. He's taking care of all the promotional stuff. That side of it. And you'll be providing the full gamut of services?
The “Cleaners” - Kenny and Dane Kenny P, of Kenny P and The Vomits was sick of having nowhere in Tassie that could give a “full service” for Tassie artists, so with a couple of mates he’s set up Dirty South Records. Kenny talked with Dave Williams about this history-making venture. I'm with Kenny P of Kenny P and The Vomits, who is part of Dirty South Records, Tasmania's first record label. (I later confirmed) Is this the first Tasmanian record label? I don't think it's the first label, but I'm pretty sure we're the first to be signing artists and doing CD's and stuff as well, as we've gone the whole picture. There's Aroma Records in Hobart and that'd be about it - us and them. But in the TasMusic directory, we're the only one listed. So, I'll say yeah. Who knows? (Actually, it is Tassie's first label. Aroma records in Hobart is a retail store with a cafe. According to the guy on the phone, they're looking at being a distributor, down the track, but not at the moment.) You're actually signing artists and then you're going to record them and get their CD's pressed and distribute and promote? We've already done one. The first artist was Oxide - Aussie Hip Hop guys. We did eight songs. We signed the band, help
them get out the demo, get them off playing. We can promote and market them to the max. We want to be able to push bands until they can walk on their own two feet, 'cause they only need a little bit of help to get started. So are you mainly looking to do demo's or are you actually looking to do pressings? We're still lacking a bit in equipment. We're trying to buy Pro Tools at the moment, but we can still do good quality CD's straight off the hammer. And where are you getting the CD's burnt? At the moment we're burning them ourselves. We've got a friend who runs a computer company. He's got 20 to 30 burners hooked up, so we put in the master and 20 copies come out in five minutes. And what format are they coming out in? CDR? I wouldn't have a clue. (Laughs) I would not have a clue. They are, like, 192 kbs or up. But they'll play on regular CD players? (They’re actually in AIFF format - the same as record labels like Obese, Sony etc)
Yeah, pretty much. The way I see it ... if you're a musician, you should be able to come to Dirty South and say, "We want it to do this," or "We've got this idea," or "We need help with this," and there should, surely, be someone who can go, "Ok, here you go," and that's out target. Ok. Cool. Helping anybody out in the best way we can really. Obviously, you want to make a dollar out of it too? Money's not really the main issue, but it's always nice. You can't really expect to sustain that here in tassie, really. It works but the big dollars aren't here. No, you've got to get it noticed by a big global and hope they take it on.
It's at the CD Centre at the moment ... and it's on it's way to Ruffcut Records in Hobart and Obese records in Melbourne. They said, "Yeah. Send it to us. So, all we can do is cross (our) fingers now. The Hilltop Hoods are with Obese. Yeah I tried to get them on the support for that ... they would have been the perfect support for that, but what can you do? Maybe next time. What else are you up to? The Homegrown gigs at The Batty ... featuring all Tasmanian original music. That's three or four bands on set genre nights ... $3 on the door. People come in, pay their three bucks and they can hang around 'til six in the morning if they want to. That'd be a good way for you to preview artists? Yeah, it is. A lot of the bands have been not really heard of, but now people are coming back to see them ... regulars. It's going good. Thanks for that.
90% of our promotion, at the moment, has been in Melbourne and Sydney. We haven't even really bothered to get it out there, here yet and we've got bands ringing us from over there, "We want to come and play Tassie." We've got tours, gigs and all sorts of stuff lined up. It's awesome. What sort of bands or artists are you looking to have on the label? Any. Anything. if you're a musician and you want help, come and see us. Anything. What sort of equipment do you use and where do you record?
Interested in signing with Dirty South records or just looking for a bit of help or advice? Call Kenny on 0417 520 448 or Dane on 0439 351 548
Rock Salt From the South of the South comes ... Samuel Bester
PJ Harvey On writing, recording & performing ...
believe a lot of record companies have lost their way, in that sense. The seem to be copycating artists all the time, which leaves a big opening for the music lovers in the world. They want to hear musicians in music and I think an artist, likje John Butler, is able to tap into that and get out there. definitely, for all independent artists, there's a lot more avenues. It's also a lot easier to record, these days. Whereas 20 years ago, it cost a fortune to record and you had to go into an existing studio, these days there's a lot more available in the home-studio world. So a lot of bands and artists are able to put down their songs on a lower budget, which means the recording world is more accessible. Then you've just got to get that to radio.Of course, that's tricky, but there are, definitely bigger openings. How would you assess the Tasmanian original music scene at the moment? I think it's catching fire. It's going really well. I've been in the business a long time and I'm seeing more venues opening up ... to original music. There's more opportunities for playing live. There's more street press around at the moment than there's ever been in the last 10 years, in fact, probably fifteen. There's definitely better support networks for original music, things like TasMusic, magazines like (Sauce) out there promoting and helping out. The scene feels really health. A lot more than has ever been before. You've supported some big acts in the past including John Butler, Paul Kelly and The Living End. Is there anything that these artists have had in common that's contributed to their success? How would you describe yourself to a record company? A record company, ummm ... (laughs) ... difficult question actually ..aah umm ...I guess I'd describe myself as a performing artist, really. That's a tough one David. You've hit me ... no muckin' around ... a record company as well, you see. Have you got any brothers or sisters?
Simplicity at this stage. As soon as yo get into a band there is a certain amount of politics involved. At the moment, it's easier for me, being a singer-songwriter, to get out there, straight away, and do it on my own. As I build a reputation, hopefully, I'll be able to put a band together and run with that. Financially, it's very difficult to get any funding to run a band, in original music. It feels easier, to go out there, on your own, and sing your songs and play them and I've been playing solo for quite a few years. So, I feel very comfortable doing that.
I'd have to say determination, with these people, and a passion. If you're passionate about it you'll keep at it and, eventually, you're going to get some sort of success, large or small. Certainly with all those people, they've been driven. John Butler, you can look at him and say, "Wow, the guy's gone miles," but he's worked hard at it, touring and touring. He did a lot of touring before he got any radio play and built it up.
What are you up to, in terms of production?
Where are you playing these days? Do you mainly play in Hobart or do you play elsewhere?
I have yes. If one of your brothers or sisters were to describe you to their friends, how would they see and describe you as an artist, in terms of the way you perform and what you perform? I think the best way to describe that is acoustic, you'd almost say "rootsy", depends on your definition of "rootsy" . My songs cover a lot of genres, so it's difficult, but, I guess, acoustic solo really covers it. If you want to get into the genres, it's a little trickier. Basically, I cover so many different styles, because I love great grooves and I try and write melodic songs but if the groove is that good, I'll pick from any genre. So, it's difficult to put me into a genre, as such. Do you think that makes it a bit hard for people to identify with you or to market you? No. Not at all. I wouldn't say it was any more variable in my style than, say, someone like Ben Harper. I listen to one of his albums and I hear funk, I hear blues, I hear rock, I hear country influence, folk influence in his stuff and I'm, pretty much, along the same lines. I don't see him having any problem marketing himself. Maybe we should ask him? Why do you choose to be a solo performer, rather than with a band?
The new album I'm working on at the moment, I'm pre-producing it in my own studio and demoing it at the moment. Then, I've got a guy, called James Dwyer, who is going to come and do some engineering for me and helping me out with production. Basically, I've demoed a few songs once and we're going to go back and do them again and see where they end up from there. Probably looking, only, at an EP at this stage, but I've got plenty of material for an album. It's just a matter of time and funding and seeing where we go. I'm really, really keen to do, as always, I suppose, the best job with the money available. So I guess you don't want to spread it too thin? No, exactly. I'd rather put out a kick-ass five song or four song EP, than an album that's, kind of, half-way there. With John Butler's and other independent artists' success recently, is it now easier for independent artists? I think things have definitely changed, in a lot of senses. I believe part of John's success is that there are a great number of people out there who are starting to realize that the pop market is not the be all and end all of music and I do
I play elsewhere. A couple of months ago, I cam back from a tour I did on the mainland. I often play gigs at The (Royal) Oak in Launceston ... doing gigs in Trout, Republic (Bar & Cafe), Lewisham Tavern ... Do you get up to the North-West coast much, Devonport and Burnie? I haven't ... no. What are your goals for the future? To achieve some radio play. Get this recording out, try and get some radio with it and then, hopefully, tour the country. That's the short term goals. I've got a whole list of long term ones. We'd be here forever. Ok. Finally, what's your favourite beer? Favourite beer? Oh, that's tough. You like a few beers? I like a few beers. I love Coopers Ale. In fact both the ale and the pale. And I really like Boags premium. In fact both premiums, Boags and Cascade. Depends if I'm out to lunch or a late night beer, really.
If I had to put in order of preference writing, recording or performing, I think without a shadow of a doubt I would say performing, because that is for me where the music makes sense. For me music is something that is intangible and I like the beauty of the fact that it’s moving in time and you can’t nail it down and you can’t pin it down. And I always think that songs are at their most beautiful when they’re performed live and then it just passes by you on the air and then it’s gone. And you have one of those sensations of “that was a beautiful moment in time, and it passed through me and it’s gone”. And sometimes when you’re just driving around you have a sensation like that of just being overwhelmed by something beautiful and then that feeling’s like a lovely taste in your mouth, and is just gone. That’s why music is endlessly fascinating and untameable to me. So that is why the performance of music would come first but also because it’s such an enjoyable for me and to see the enjoyment that it can give very directly. You know when you make a record you don’t actually see the reaction of people when they’re listening to that record, or what it does for them, but when you’re playing in front of people that are visibly getting lost in the moment, and you are too, it’s a really uplifting and life affirming experience I think, and can be for everyone. I know that if I’ve gone to see a live performance and it’s been an incredible one, I feel changed afterwards. I feel like I want to change my life. I want to make my life – take it on a different path in some way because that person I saw performing inspired me so much and opened up my heart to all these possibilities that I never had before. So that’s why performance is top of my list of what music is about really. And I don’t even like the word performance, just the happening of music at that moment in time, rather than playing a recorded piece of music. So second on my list would be writing. Again because it’s something that happens in a moment in time. When an idea is forming, it seems to come from nowhere and it seems to pass through you, and you miss catching it and it’s gone. If you catch an idea – bit like a butterfly net or something – and you catch it, then it kind of moves through you and changes and becomes something else. And all that is so exciting as a writer because you’re moving with it in time. So this idea is that you’re moving with it, making it happen, shaping it and then the time’s gone and then it’s finished. And then you’ll never write that piece again. That quality of life and death of a piece. Whereas recording would come last for me because I find it a very painful experience, very difficult, very draining. I lose all my energy, everything is channelled so I find it hard to concentrate on anything else. It’s wracking in a sense that you have to keep questioning yourself overland over again – is this right, is that the best it could be, was this right? And then the fact that you finally arrive at something you think you’re happy with – you think, because you’re never quite a hundred percent sure – or I’m not – then you have to at some point stamp that in time and say “Ok that’s the best I can do for now”, and forever live with that piece. You don’t get to change it again. So yes, that would come the last of the things to me. I’m notoriously bad at making final decisions anyway so having to make a final decision on something being as good as it can be, can be very difficult.
GIG Guide 07/07/04 - 03/08/04 Wed July 7 Akello Family Benefit Night (Tas. Folk meets African song & dance The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt
Turry Beevor The Royal Oak, Ltn
9pm The Saloon, Ltn
Mousse Ink Irish Murphy’s, Ltn
Wed July 14 Matt Dynon The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt
Crossover w. DJ Gnosis Telegraph Hotel, Hbt
Bomba $15/12 conc. The Republic bar & Cafe, Hbt
Thu July 8 Samuel Bester The Royal Oak, Ltn
Azzam and Oceans of Mercury The Prince of Wales Hotel, Hbt
Loaded Dice Country Club Resort Ryan Toohey & Ant Wotten The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Last Kings of Hollywood The Lounge, Ltn MESH – Hobarts oldest club night, breaks/drum+bass with resident DJ SPIN-FX and guests. Syrup, Hbt Fri July 9 Liquid Nails The Royal Oak, Ltn Dead Kilkennys Irish Murphy’s, Ltn Leo Decastro & The Warriors The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Dave Graney Cow, Hbt Ryan Toohey Lewisham Tavern, Hbt Bomba The Lounge, Ltn MANHUNT Search for the perfect Male Karaoke upstairs in the Lube. The Saloon, Ltn Downstairs 8pm: KO – Resident DJ’s Seb, SPIN-FX & Gnosis ‘Laying down the Chunks“O”Funk’ Downstairs: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan. Upstairs: LaCasa – Vocal House with resident DJ’s Matt B, Gillie and Guests. Syrup, Hbt Refined Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Unleash the Nugget EP Launch 'Chickens in the Closet' With Melbourne DJ Prince Hakim From 8pm The Venue, Woobies Lane, Salamanca. Sat July 10
The Resonation Reflex The Fuzzy Zellas Lewisham Tavern, Hbt The Jane Does The Lounge, Ltn The Reactions Enola Fall trout, Hbt Dstrotek The Lounge, Ltn Psychedelic Cancerian The Big Shed Pirates Rd, Eaglehawk Neck Super Saturday Party Hard with Live Band FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube The Saloon, Ltn Downstairs: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Nick C and Rollie. Upstairs: The BEEZ NEEZ – “if it’s good we’ll play it” – house, electro & breaks with resident DJ’s Gillie, Adam Turner, Matt B and guests. Syrup, Hbt Selecta Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Sun July 11 Thomas, Kim & The Fox Prince of Wales Ho Bustamento (Bomba band) The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Leo Micky J Roundabout Mick Attard Kullablind Charlie Parkers Irish Murphy’s, Ltn Ray Martians Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Mon July 12 Republic Quiz Night The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Tue July 13 Joe Pirere The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt MEMORAMA Trivia Night from 7 to
Voodoo Lounge Irish Murphy’s, Ltn Daystream, Ltn Prince of Wales Hote The Legendary Uni Night RETURNS with 3 Live Bands: FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE, DONUT & THE UNIT The Saloon, Ltn Crossover w. DJ Gnosis Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Thu July 15 The Rakes The Royal Oak, Ltn Jan Preston (NZ) (Downstairs) Comedy Night (upstairs) The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Gus & Frank Launceston Uni Bar, Ltn MESH – Hobarts oldest club night, breaks/drum+bass with resident DJ SPIN-FX and guests. Syrup, Hbt Fri July 16 Leigh Ratcliffe The Royal Oak, Ltn Gus & Frank $7/5conc (spt. The Fray) The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Battle of The Bands Heat 4 Wrest Pont Casino, Hbt Goillip Lewisham Tavern, Hbt Red Angus Irish Murphy’s, Ltn FINAL: MANHUNT - Search for the perfect Male + Karaoke upstairs in the Lube. The Saloon, Ltn 7Downstairs 8pm: KO – Resident DJ’s Seb, SPIN-FX & Gnosis ‘Laying down the Chunks“O”Funk’ Downstairs: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan. Upstairs: LaCasa – Vocal House with resident DJ’s Matt B, Gillie and Guests. Syrup, Hbt Refined Telegraph Hotel, Hbt
Sat July 17 Gus & Frank$7/5 spt The Fray The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Rover Ski Club “Bender” Rover Ski Club, Ben Lomond The Rodgers’ The Lounge, Ltn Nine Lives Irish Murphy’s, Ltn Krafty Kutz Halo, Hbt Gaff & resonation Prince of Wales Hotel Super Saturday Party Hard + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube The Saloon, Ltn Downstairs: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Nick C and Rollie. Upstairs: The BEEZ NEEZ – “if it’s good we’ll play it” – house, electro & breaks with resident DJ’s Gillie, Adam Turner, Matt B and guests. Syrup, Hbt Oscar Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Sun July 18 Fabio & band The RepublicBar & Cafe, Hbt Fake tan Disaster Nine Lives Voodoo Lounge Roundabout The Uprising distro Irish Murphy’s, Ltn Krafty Kutz Halo, Hbt DJ Will & Dave Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Mon July 19 GB Balding The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Tues July 20 Patrick & Anna (guitar & violin) The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt MEMORAMA Trivia Night from 7 to 9pm The Saloon, Ltn Wed July 21 Harlem Lounge The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt The Legendary Uni Night with Live Band: FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE. The Saloon, Ltn
GIG Guide
@Venue 07/07/04 - 03/08/04
Crossover w. DJ Gnosis Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Thu July 22 Mick Josephson & Eddie Tuleja The Royal Oak, Ltn 24/7 The Lounge, Ltn Wolf Mail & Band (USA) $3 The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Fizard Launceston Uni Bar, Ltn Samuel Bester Trout, Hbt MESH – Hobarts oldest club night, breaks/drum+bass with resident DJ SPIN-FX and guests. Syrup, Hbt
Matt B and Gillie. Syrup, Hbt Sun July 25 Matt Dynon Leo Ahamad & Plum Leigh Ratcliffe The Racks Mick Attard Last Kings of Hollywood Irish Murphy’s, Ltn Thomas, Kim & The Fox Prince of Wales Hotel Ray Martians Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Mon July 26 Republic Quiz Night The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt
Sugartrain The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt Battle of the Bands Heat 6 Wrest Pont Casino, Hbt Ted Koops trio The Feral Cats Lewisham Tavern, Hbt Downstairs 8pm: KO – Resident DJ’s Seb, SPIN-FX & Gnosis ‘Laying down the Chunks“O”Funk’ Downstairs 11pm: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan. Upstairs: PICKLE – TECHNO, HARD HOUSE, ELECTRO, TRANCE & NRG with resident DJ’s: Kir, Modal, Doofa & Corney. Syrup, Hbt
The Tasmanian "ROCK CHALLENGE" brought to you by Tas Music The Saloon, Ltn
Refined Telegraph Hotel, Hbt
Tues July 27 Joe Pirer The Republic bar & Cafe, Hbt
Sat July 31 Barflies The Royal Oak, Ltn Mousse Ink Irish Murphy’s, Ltn
Fabulous Picasso Bros The Lounge, Ltn
The Tasmanian "ROCK CHALLENGE" brought to you by Tas Music Wed July 28 The Saloon, Ltn
Fizard $5 (Melb) The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt
Blue Healers The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt
Super Saturday Party Hard + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube The Saloon, Ltn
Battle of the Bands Heat 5 Wrest Pont Casino, Hbt
Wed July 28 The Legendary Uni Night with Live Band: FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE The Saloon
Fri July 23 Fizard $5 (Melbourne) The RepublicBar & Cafe, Hbt Wolf Mail The Royal Oak, Ltn Refined Telegraph Hotel, Hbt
"THE BIG GIG" with GROOVE TERMINATOR Vs GOODWILL The Saloon, Ltn Downstairs 8pm: KO – Resident DJ’s Seb, SPIN-FX & Gnosis ‘Laying down the Chunks“O”Funk’ Downstairs 11pm: BOOGIE – 70’s & 80’s FUNK with resident DJ’s Nick C and Duncan. Upstairs: LaCasa – Vocal House with resident DJ’s Matt B, Gillie and Guests. Syrup, Hbt Sat July 24 Super Saturday Party Hard with Live Band FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube The Saloon, Ltn
Downstairs: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Nick C and Rollie. Upstairs: The Big Gig – GT vs GOODWILL national tour with local BEEZ NEEZ DJ’s Adam Turner,
DJ Gnosis Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Thu July 29 Damen Brown w. JB The Royal Oak, Ltn Distrotek The Lounge, Ltn Son Del Sur The Republic Bar & Cafe, Hbt MESH – Hobarts oldest club night, breaks/drum+bass with resident DJ SPIN-FX and guests. Syrup, Hbt Fri July 30 Roundabout The Royal Oak, Ltn Voodoo Lounge The Lounge, Ltn 1st Heat: MISS UNIVERSITY The Saloon, Ltn
Jane Does The Lounge, Ltn
Nellie and The Fat Band $2 The Republic bar & Cafe, Hbt Azzam and Oceans of Mercury The Prince of Wales Hotel Hbt
where?
The Saloon H o t e l Ta s m a n i a 191 Charles St Launceston 6331 7355 w w w. s a l o o n . c o m . a u Reality Niteclub James Hotel 1 2 2 Yo r k S t Launceston 6334 7231 info@jameshotel.com.au
Syrup 1st Floor 39 Salamanca Place Hobart 6224 8249 syrupclub@bigpond.com Republic Bar 299 Elizabeth St North Hobart 6234 6954 w w w. r e p u b l i c b a r. c o m The Lewisham Ta v e r n 46 Scenic Drive Lewisham 7173 6265 8144 Club 54 The Batty The Batman Fawkner Inn 35 Cameron St Launceston 6331 7222
Koolism Halo, Hbt Downstairs: TACKYLAND – 70’s 80’s and 90’s RETRO with resident DJ’s Nick C and Rollie. Upstairs: The BEEZ NEEZ – “if it’s good we’ll play it” – house, electro & breaks with resident DJ’s Gillie, Adam Turner, Matt B and guests. Syrup, Hbt Oscar Telegraph Hotel, Hbt Sun Aug 1 The Beautiful Girls The Lounge, Ltn Thomas, Kim & The Fox Prince of Wales Hote
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Bangin’ Beats Tassie producer, PD, remixes for the USA Because I had tracks sitting on mp3.com.au for a while ... I had them on there for three months and after the first months I was no.1 on the genre of "unknown" , 'cause I didn't know what to think of myself 'cause I make music that's dance orientated but also a little bit alternative style ... sort of laid back ... I thought, "I don't know what style I am." It depends on what mood I'm in when I make it. Looking around on the forum on there, I cam across this post by Subsonic saying anyone who's up for the challenge to get a free opinion towards whether your music can "make the grade" then etc etc. I gave them an email with a link to a few of my songs I was really happy with, that were online, and they sent (an email) back in two days and said, "Hey Paddy, we've listened to your ... tracks," and they were quite impressed with what I've done, 'cause all I'm using is a damned computer (laughs). How did you feel, being asked to do that? Words can't really say - very excited. It was like, "Shit, wow." ... dance music, I used to hate it when I was younger ... a full on metalhead guitarist, but now all my friends influences have been pushing towards techno . It started growing on me and basically I though, "I'm starting to like techno. I don't understand why, " and ... like guitar is definitely part of my life. I've been doing it for about fifteen years. A not-so-mild mannered computer worker by day, PD changes into an elctronic music producer by night, scaling the heifghts with a remix deal with an American outfit, Ultrasun. Dave Williams finds our superhero vulnerable to a red wine and a bit smashed I'm now recording this. Oh, ok. So, I can send it to ASIO and then ... you're fucked. Oh, shit. Nah, just so I get everything right and so when you bag everybody I can fuckin' print it. I'm not going to bag anyone. Why not? I'm not a bagster. Oh, bugger. I was hoping I was up for a really good interview. Oh, I've had a few wines so you never know what I might say. Excellent. Excellent. When I type Ultrasun into Google all I get is listings for tanning beds. Who are Ultrasun and why have you done a remix for them? Well, their website they've actually got - by Subsonic International Pty Ltd, - their website is actually www.ultrasunonline.com, because Ultra sun in America is actully a big sun bathing, tanning (company). it's like I remixed a tanning bed. Nah (laughs). The first
time I searched for them I thought the same thing. I thought, "Ultrasun, I've got find them," and I found the same thing and I was like, "What is this shit?" I'm not remixing a bloody UV bed. Then the guy, Dennis, sent me the actual link and I found out Katie Michaels and DJ/Producer .... what's his name? Bloody someone, I can't remember his name at the moment. Bloody someone, yep.
(Guys yelling in the background) I've got a bunch of mates out the back here. Yeah, it was unbelievable to hear that kind of news. I've always wanted to do something musically. I've always wanted to inspire people. The first gig I ever had was in front of 1500 people at St Pats College and we played "Teen Spirit," of all songs, and I ended up fucking up halfway through, but I didn't care, 'cause they were like, "Yeah, you rock, man," and I thought, "Woah. Yeah, cool."
Bloody someone. Nah. That'd be a good name. (Laughs) Yeah, but I found a list of their songs and it's pretty mainstream, Housy songs and they're quite big in America, apparently. I think they got a number 8 on the Sanity charts last year.
Cool. And what do you hope to come out of doing the remix of "We can Run Away"?
Who are your favourite artists? One that kicked me off, big time, was going to Dave Seaman (UK), down (in) Hobart. It was the first rave I went to. I watched him, had a ball and went, "Ok, I want to be like this but, instead of mixing other people's music, I want to mix my own music." The song I listened to, that you made, was quite mellow, do you make more up beat stuff as well? Yeah ... depending on the mood, fuck, I just want to make wicked hard trance or a casual House song or a funky little House song, depending on the mood .... I'm not trying to pay out on you or anything, but how do you stop electronic music from becoming elevator music? ...Just playing with people. Making them go, "Why did he do that? Why did he do this?" Even so, (if it was playing) and I was in an elevator, I'd still love it ... (laughs) What are you goals? Getting some nice CD's out, getting a bunch of equipment, a bunch of friends with me as well, mixing it up, having ... big raves and lots people come along and have fun. It must be pretty hard to play your music live though? It would at the moment ... but, hopefully if I start earning some nice money and get some the equipment ... some turntables and stuff like that ... I've got some mates who'll teach me how to do it ... like local DJ Mat C, who said he's going to come and help me out.
How do you think you go about achieving big things from Tassie?
What do you like doing when you're not making music?
Well, basically I want ... to show the map of Tassie, to get it out there ... there are so many musicians down here that have potential, but they can't get recognised 'cause we're in such a little town that's in need of a bit of media attention.
Just chillin' out with friends, having good food, drinking, just having a ball, socialising. Meeting new people is always an inspiration.
How do you make your music.
Shit! I could give you a whole list of people. (laughs)
Are they a band? Yeah, they're a House act - like a happy rave thing ...
drum loop. People singing ...guitar work ... even crazy little mouth organ things (laughs) ...anything to make you go, "What the frig was that?"
What I use is a couple of programs .... a multitrack program, Soundforge, a wave editing program, heaps of different plugins and mix it up from there.
Basically the mix that I've sent them is a song I've created from scratch, and it's got crazy little samples in there and it nicely builds, nice and mellow. Their lyrics were in the dead same key as a song I wrote a couple of weeks before I was asked to remix it and it (the song) slotted in perfectly. So I was like, "Yep, they work really well." What might happen with that is they might come along and go, "Hey, this dude mixed it up and made it sound even better," or it might be just another recognised version of who I am and who they are, as well.
All on PC?
How did you come to the attention of the Ultra sun and Subsonic International pty ltd people?
A bit of both. I've had mates come 'round with drum kits and stuff and I'll sit there and record it with a mic and mix it a bit and chuck it in a
Yeah, all on PC. Specifically, which programs do you use? Fruity Loops is one, the producer edition and Soundforge ... and I'm starting to learn Reason ... and just a big concoction of plugins.
Finally, who would you like to bonk most in the whole world?
Top 3. Top 3. Jennifer Lopez, so I could say, "Yeah, I've been there, married her and divorced her for a laugh," (laughs) Kylie Minogue, 'cause everyone reckons her arse is great but, nah, I'd probably just tell her to piss off, I'd rather just do a song with her, (laughs) ... I dunno, my girlfriend is pretty hot. I like her a lot. That's probably the best. Yeah, be loyal. Ok mate, that's good for me.
So do you record sounds or do you generate them?
As good for you as it was for me? Yeah. Oh, that's alright then.
Bangin’ Beats Fizard - a Melbourne Hip Hop band with no DJ - playing here soon. produced independently and it got onto Nova 100, which is a pretty big feat and everytime we've relied on someone else to do our recording we haven't been that happy. Where have you been recording the latest one?
Hip Hop with no DJ? Unearthed by Triple J? Supported Grandmaster Flash? Dave Williams spoke with drummer, Jason Ogg before the band head to Launceston and Hobart for shows.
I'm just playing grroves, so it's what I personally dig. It's definitely a different role, as a drummer. In other bands you can expand a bit more, but that's cool.
A lot of stuff we've been doing ourselves at home. We've all got studio's. Within the band, WeaponX, he's one of the lead vocalists, he's remixed stuff for 1200 Techniques, a Scribe remix and stuff like that, so as a producer he's done a lot of remixes for some big names, so he's got credibility. We've recorded in really expensive studios with people who "really know what they're doing" and, only because their not tuned into the Hip Hop sound, and we haven't had enough money to spend enough time there, we haven't been able to get the right sound. But with ourselves, we know what we're capable of and we know what we want and how to achieve what we want and the results have been much, much better, especially the new stuff, which is kick-ass. Have you got any idea of finish or release date? Yeah, definitely by the end of the year.
Since first conception, we made a choice to have a full band and no DJ or samples. So, I think, from the word go, that's put us in different boat to everybody else. A full live band, relying on nothing else. In doing that, and the type of musicians we are - a lot of us are jazz trained or come from a background like that, but we've always been passionate about Hip Hop. Our songwriting has been different. More musical than the standard Hip Hop. In doing that our music has, to our advantage, been a bit more widespread than standard, head banging Hip Hop. The most noticeable difference is the full live band. Then there's the MC's who are very proficient and the best at what they do, in Australia.
Have you ever thought about introducing a DJ? I think it was about 2000 everyone that had a band or was doing that kind of thing, that we could recognise, in Australia, anyway had a DJ and that DJ would supplement half a band. They didn't have a bass player, they'd have a Dj instead, that sort of thing, so the DJ would be laying down the grooves as well. So we made the conscious effort to stick with a full band, which has meant we can do a lot more. I think with a Dj, they have to be able to find stuff to make work and sometimes they can think in limits, limit what you can actually do. I was doing a jazz course and met half the band and that came along at the right time.
Lyrically, do you go down any particular "road" or have any particular themes?
What are you see for your goals for the future?
Have you got any major influences?
Short term, now when the pressure's on completing our album - this is our first full length album - what we're focussing on is getting the album done.
Sometimes I don't like to answer this question. Only because there's always the cliche answer, The Roots, who are, pretty much the only international Hip Hop band around and because they're the main figure in the Hip Hop world, it's, like, really cliche saying that. Because they play their own instruments? Yeah, 'cause they're a live band. But, to me, as a drummer, that's my biggest influence. They are the reason why I'm drumming. When I heard them I went, "Oh, yeah man, I want to drum, kind of thing." So what role does a drummer have in a Hip Hop band? I think it's the most important role it's possible to be (laughs). I think it's just laying down the groove. Really, just nailing it, trying to make it sound metrenomic, in some cases, but in others you don't want it to sound quite metronomic, but you still want it to be really solid. As a drummer, it's a weird role, in a Hip Hop band. You get to play for the song, not for yourself. You're not doing drum fills and oustanding like you do in other bands ... You don't really get a solo. No, you don't. You're just lay down the groove, but that's what I dig. When I'm at home and there's no music playing and I'm playing drums,
How long have you been doing that? It's been the last couple of months. Something that we've always been working on is trying to follow up from being Triple J Unearthed. That's such a big .... Pressure on you? It means a lot of work. It doesn't make things easier. it makes things a lot harder, if you want to ride it that is. If you just want to sit back and say, "Yeah, we were TripleJ Unearthed ... whatever," that's all good, but if you actually want to do something with it, it means a lot more work. You've got to follow that up ... we're trying to tour everywhere, get our name out there, as much as possible, so it's meant a lot more work and a lot less money (laughs). Oh, well. It's all good. It's all for a better cause ... but in general it's (about) better songwriting as well, focussing on that as well. Are you producing the album as an independent? Yeah ... mainly because our last single was
You want to get it out for summer? Yeah, definitely. The band's going to have it ready by September and that's when we're going to start shopping it around. How would you describe your live shows?
Fuckin' awesome. We've got two energetic MC's at the front who are at the top of their game ... who by themselves put on a really good show. The band, just adds another element. It's a full stage. It's a show ... we actually write a show together and semi-choreograph stuff that we do . We're tight. It's phat and it's a show. I think the word "show" gets thrown around a lot, where people just do a gig, but I think we've actually got a show. How do you feel about coming down to Tassie to perform? I heard it's snowing at the moment ... I'm pretty excited, I've never seen snow before. We've actually heard a lot of good things about Tasmania, about going down there. A little bit of publicity goes a long way, kind of thing. And it's somewhere we haven't been, so we're a bit unsure. We don't know what to expect ... it's a bit of a weird thing ... but at the same time we're really excited because we have to do it ... Do you feel restricted, as a drummer behind a drum kit, when playing live when the other members of the band can stroll around up front? That kind of thing doesn't bother me because I'm doing what I love and playing what I like, so I don't feel restricted ... I'm plaaying Hip Hop. I'm passionate about Hip Hop and so the grooves and everything I'm doing in the band is how I always perceived it and I'm doing exactly what I want to do ... the only thing that's not happening that I promised myself is I'm not earning good money. I'm still pov (laughs).
Win Tickets to
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The Beautiful Girls
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01. 02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07. 08.
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01. Everytime 02. I Don’t Wanna Know 03. Burn 04. Trick Me 05. Push Up 06. All Nite Don’t Stop/I want You 07. Heartbreaker 08. FU Right Back
Britney Spears Mario Winans Usher Usher Freestylers Janet Jackson Kayne Taylor Frankee
Bangin’ Beats GT - The Terminator to Target Tassie the stuff I do normally.
too late."
Cool, say Kelis in any sentence and my ears prick up.
That's my advice for all aspiring DJ's and musicians, think very carefully about the name you choose.
Yeah, I should think so. Yeah, what a fox. (Laughs) Yeah, good songs too. (Laughs)
Fantastic.
Yeah, good songs too. Hey, you said it's a strange time for dance artists in Australia, what do you mean by that?
Yeah, pretty full-on name. (Laughs) What sort of music are you going to play live, in Tassie?
Oh, well .. why be signed to a major label. I was having this conversation with a friend, Marnie, who does the Dance Music Awards. When they first started, there was this massive amount of acts, every year there were a couple of new acts, new albums and there's been sweet fuck-all in the last year. There really has. That's what I was thinking.
Sunning himself in Sydney, the Aussie dance guru, Groove Terminator gave Dave Williams an idea of what Tassie’s in for when he tours with DJ Goodwill this month. What are you up to? Just cruising around, enjoying the sun. Gotta love winter in Sydney. (laughs) Enjoying the sun? Yeah, you know, enjoying the sun. Winter in Sydney is ridiculously warm. Really? Yeah, it's a sunny day. Everyone's down the beach. Pretty good. Wow, it's absolutely pissing with rain here. Hah, hah, hah, hah. Snowing on the mountain, the whole bit. I'll have to bring my (snow)board down. Yeah, definitely man. ... So what are you doing at the moment in Sydney, work-wise? Work-wise? Yeah, sorry man, gotta talk about work sometime I s'pose. I've been demoing a new album. I haven't decided whether it's going to be Groove Terminator album or a whole new project altogether, 'cause it's very "rocky" and I'm not sure what it' actually going to be. It may end up being something completely new. But, I've been working with a bunch of different people ...it's basically with an aim to getting a record deal overseas. I got out of my record deal with Virgin in Australia, last year, so I'm quite happy not to be signing with an Australian record label in the interim, I've got to say. It's a funny time to be a dance artist, anyway, in Australia, but actually the last time I was down in Hobart, I actually met a girl called Cle, Australian idol finalist, and we've, since, hooked up and we've been writing stuff for her album, as well. We've probably got about half of the songs, so we're just about ready to go shopping for a deal for her. So, that's very, very cool. It's sort of funky, down tempo sort of stuff. Sort of a cross between Kelis and Miss Dynamite, or something like that ... it's got a really heavy reggae or jamaican thing goin' on. So that's been a lot of fun ... very different to all
There's this girl DJ in Melbourne and her name is Diskopussy.
People just aren't releasing stuff. I don't know if the Infusion album is going to come out this year. I hope it does. They're really the only ones that are major, you know what I mean? The other awesome acts, like NuBreed, are doing it independent. If you want to get to the outer rim, the outer galaxies of dance music, you've got people like Cat Empire and stuff like that. But even The Presets, (who) use a drum machine, I don't know if you'd call them dance music, and Bumblebeez and stuff like that, it's a very different time, you know.
Well, we're doing the back to bak, head to head with DJ Goodwill and it's overlaying a lot of stuff over the top of each other and musically, throwing acapellas that people know over other people's music. Pretty much like what you do ... on a tricky-mix CD, but just trying to attempt it live and keep the energy up. It's from funky house, to old stuff to new stuff to our own stuff, edits of things, edits of other tracks with breaks and a bit of electro and ... the tunes we like at the moment, really. There's a fair bit of old stuff being thrown about, I gotta say.
just to get through the crowd. To slide through, you need to oil yourself up. (Laughs) Well, that's ok (Laughs) Something tells me not too many people would be upset about that though. Just take the coconut oil and you'll even smell ok as well. (Laughs) So what would be the best possible scenario for you, when you come to Tassie. Picture it in your brain. You're so happy with how things are going. What's happening? Everyone has a good time. it's all about having a good time, you know. That's my cliche interview response 10. Yeah.
Excellent.
It's all about giving the paying customer a very good time. I have to have a good time and in order for me to have a good time, the crowd has to be going off. And so that's what I work hardest at, basically. That'd be the ideal. I must say, I've yet to have a bad gig down there. It's always been fantastic. it's always been a huge, huge night and the next day I always have a massive hangover and don't remember the last three hours of being awake. So, it's always pretty good.
It feels like jelly-wrestling in Syrup though, I've gotta say. That club is so small. You need jelly
Ok. Cool. Thanks very much for chatting with me.
Ok. 'Cause when I first heard about GT vs, Goodwill, I was reminded of WWF and I thought maybe you guys are going to be doing some pro wrestling or something. (Laughs) No, maybe some jelly-wrestling.
So, "GT" does that stand for Gin and Tonic? Sure, whatever you want. Cool. That's not true, is it though? No. It's Groove Terminator isn't it? Yeah. So did you decide to shorten your name when Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC? (Laughs - loudly) Umm ... no I just go through phases ... GT or Groove Terminator or whatever. I've been trying, actually, to get rid of the name since '92. When I signed my record deal in '97, I was "Cool, I can change my name," and they were like, "No. No, we love your name," and I was like, " Oh fuck ..." It got to the point where, because it was a joke name to start with, I'm just stuck with it. It was, originally, very Hip Hop, but now it just sounds like some crazy old rave thing from '91. I'm going to have to live with it now ... it seems like career suicide to change your name. Career suicide? Oh, fuck yeah. Look what happened to Girlfriend when they became GF4, you know. I don't even know what happened to them. Well, there you go ... don't even know what happened to them (Laughs) Exactly. Look what happened to Prince. Yeah. I was talking with a guy from Speedstar about the same thing, 'cause everyone asks them if they're right into the goey ... (Laughs) And they're like, "Oh, maaate. We wanted to change our name, 'cause we get asked that all the time, but you get to a point where it's
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LIFE BYTES
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DVD
‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ New Line Cinema
‘Arena. Duran Duran’ EMI
‘Lost In Translation’ Universal
‘American Splendor’’ HBO Films
The name says it all- prepare to be chilled to the bone and skinned alive all over again. Thirty years on and it’s still a damn scary story.
Well I was about seven when these cats were cool, so the whole Duran Duran phenomenon went just a little over my head, though from what I know DD fans are about the most obsessively loyal and dedicated bunch in pop history. ARENA is geared toward the astute collector, with archival concert footage and music videos fused with sci-fi concept skits. It’s all highly choreographed, big budget extravagance, at the time is was obviously cutting edge stuff, some of the early videojockeying and technology-based performance is impressive. Box set includes A4 size fold-out poster and stickers for your pencil case or Simon Le Bon shrine, bonus features include production footage, trailers and interviews. It’s still over my head.
Sofia Coppola’s multiaward winning feature starring Bill Murray as movie star, Bob Harris, who is hired to endorse a brand of whiskey in Japan. Detached and fairly non-commital, Harris looks set to spend a fortnight in his hotel room, until he notices a young American girl, played by Scarlett Johansson, in a similarly lost, sleepless and lonely state. With a series of chance encounters they form an unlikely friendship.The film lives up to its name by not using subtitles for the Japanese dialogue and achieves an unscripted or improvised feel throughout, which is an interesting and refreshing method of direction. Never really picking up in terms of pace, the movie relies on the craziness of Tokyo, which stands in stark contrast to the mundane lives of the two leads. Nice light viewing. Different and quirky.
This is a semi-autobiographical account of the life and times of American underground comicbook legend, writer Harvey Pekar. American Splendor rose to cult status in the ‘70’s and became one of the all-time best-selling comic series. Based upon his own mundane, working class, suburban life, it broke from the traditional superhero themes, instead playing on the ironies of everyday life on struggle street. At times, the dramatisation gives way to documentary. Interviews with real Harvey Pekar pop up through the film every so often. In some scenes, it is difficult to tell the fake Harvey Pekar from the real one, which is kind of cool.
The accurate remake from original director Tobe Hooper of the 1974 classic doesn’t fail to disappoint, it’s bleak and intense, and gory enough to turn a butcher vegan. Jessica Biel of TV’s Seventh Heaven is outstanding in the lead role, screaming her way into a right frenzy, and managing to keep the whole thing respectable. I must say for some reason I wasn’t as scared watching the original when I was 6 or 7? Try to avoid tomatoes and pork chops for a few days after viewing.
GT4 - Prologue
STAFF
PS2 Game Review
unlocking 54 car models and ultimately prepare for the forthcoming challenge of GT4. As well as the license tests there is an arcade mode with five different tracks from the full version of the game. The rally course is definitely a stand out, with very realistic controls and unbelievable graphics. Unfortunately, GT fans want racing and this is where this game falls short. The arcade mode lets you race against AI drivers but they don’t offer any real challenge to newcomers let alone serious GT fans, even on Pro difficultly setting the performance of drivers is somewhat uninspiring. The big plus for Gran Turismo Prologue is that it is the first game to take advantage of the Logitech Driving Force Pro wheel’s 900-degree turning circle, providing the most authentic driving experience available. Unfortunately for me, I only got to play the game with control pad (which was still fun) but this game would definitely come into its own with a driving wheel controller.
There is nothing more annoying for a gamer than eagerly anticipating a release, only to have software companies continually stalling the release date. Unfortunately for Gran Turismo fans this has been the case, with fans having to sit back and watch the release date for GT4 slip further and further from sight. As I sit here waiting for Half Life 2 and Doom 3 to be released, the good people at Sony have had a great idea (for GT fans), release a ‘Prologue’ to give fans a taste of what to expect from Gran Turismo 4. Gran Turismo 4 ‘Prologue’ is a slimmed down version of its big brother, which is quite obvious from the start. This game is aimed at hard-core GT fans, and hopefully does enough to keep these fans happy. The technological advances for the game include a new physics engine and improved graphical polish, which are showcased in Prologue. Using the new game engine, gamers will have the opportunity to polish their driving skills by completing 46 different license tests,
As with all GT titles the graphics and sound are excellent and the menu screens are ease to navigate. The replay function is brilliant with excellent camera angles and lighting used during races. For release, the game is bundled with a special ‘Making of GT4’ DVD prepared by the producers of ‘Top Gear’ (UK Motoring Magazine). This is an expose of the dedication and extremes that Polyphony Digital go to in order to produce the Gran Turismo games. Overall Prologue was released to calm the cravings of serious GT fans, and if you are one of these then you will be happy to get a taste of what GT4 will be like.
Nominated for Best original Screenplay at last year’s Oscars, and a winner at Cannes, American Splendor is inventive and funny and is my pick for the Week.
David K Q Williams Publisher
Rachel Edwards Journalist
Simon Hancock Grahic Designer
Max Ireland Photographer
If you are new to the world of Gran Turismo then you may be a little disappointed with the games lack of depth and limited feeling that you get from prologue.
editorial editorial@sauceonline.net 0400 940 699
Graphics Sound Game play Multiplayer: No Overall
Elle Tiffen Journalist
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Albums by EQ
‘White Trash Beautiful’ Everlast
‘Since We Last Spoke’ RJD2
‘Nurse’ Sonic Youth
‘2nd Round’ Sporto Kantes
Island/Def Jam
Creative Vibes
Geffen
Creative Vibes
A familiar recipe for the House of Pain MC turned solo artist, his niche brand of unplugged hip hop continues on his latest offering “White Trash Beautiful”.
In a day where musical innovation is the name of the game, where Folktronica and Neo-soul are part of the ever-growing spawn of genres and sub-genres, it becomes difficult to pigeonhole everything. While this guy’s background is largely hip hop and boozy jazz-funk, he dabbles in electro and rock n roll on this offering, the sample specialist turns jack of all trades, mashing up some unique hybrid sounds from left of leftfield. The Ninja-affiliate who is renowned for his live show, is still riding on the success of his debut and subsequent world tour recently, part of the growing number of DJ/VJ/Producer sets growing in popularity around the globe. My only criticism is that there some awkward transitions into some of the breaks that could have been smoothed out, kind of stumbling along in some parts, but the ship steadies and the result is a top shelf recording.
One of the most important bands of the modern day that continue to enjoy a huge following around the world, but never cross the line into the mainstream, Sonic Youth, are back with another quality album. Not quite as youthful, but wiser in many ways, they prove that a wall of distortion does not necessarily a great album make. Some great grooves here, including Dripping Dream and I Love You Golden Blue, round out a truly beautiful listening experience. Subtelty gives way to pure genius in the track, New Hampshire The warmth of these melodies is a rare quality, one that is difficult to achieve when playing the black keys. This has to be one of the most significant releases of the year, timeless and eclectic and worth the money.
Breaks have emerged as a dj’s weapon of choice in recent years, there is so much of it out there now it is easy to miss something great like this when it comes along.
The overriding theme of the album is, kind of, all-American, trailer-park (caravan park here in Oz) blues, sitting ‘round a 40 gallon drum campfire with a guitar and a backing track, reflecting on the pain of mediocrity. What is a unique sound is solidified by the gravely quality of his vocals, but this becomes borderline abrasive when on rotation, track after track. If you like storytelling in your music, then Everlast could be your man. After all, beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
Bangin’ Beats Krafty Kutz - he’s comin’ so who is he? Studio collaborations with funk master Freddie Fresh and New York’s Dr Luke produced a brilliant ne blend of party beats. Finger Lickin’ snapped up the tracks and the resulting Finger Lickin’ Funk EP was a huge success. Krafty and Freddie then created a new label, “Against The Grain.” The sound is electric, a house of bass-heavy beats.
You might get the impression that Krafty Kutz likes the breaks. Krafty Kutz, alias Martin Reeves entered a DJ comp when he was 17and won even though he’d never DJ’d before. His big break came after he opened his own record shop, developed his own style of uptempo beats and was featured by Richie Rich on one of his hip-hop remixes on his Kiss FM show. Plying his trade since the 1980’s he’s been voted best International DJ at the Dance Music Awards in 2002. Based in Brighton, Krafty Kutz rmade his first release in 1997 with “Latin Bounce,” followed by 1998’s “Funky Elements” and “Retiurn of the Elements” after which he was a serious contender in the breaks arena.
This may not fall under that category exclusively though, it has a turntable jazz, Shadow-esque quality to it, with some sublime crackly samples and familiar breakbeats, sequenced with finesse and style. Think JXL and Up, Bustle & Out in a blender, add some semi-obnoxious but mega-catchy hooks and a drop of ragga and you’ll find Sporto Kantes, check it through Creative Vibes.
Blue Cafe presents
Our House Friday and Saturday nights from 21:00 Resident DJ Matt C + Friends
Krafty complied the December cover CD for Mixmag and one of his tracks has been used in a Coca Cola advertising campaign. On the remix front, Krafty has reworked Africa Babaata’s “Funky Heroes” for one of breakbeats top labels, Acetate Ltd. Remixes also include Deadly Avenger, freestylers, Mob Records, Sounds of Vancouver and Disco Assassins. He has also written music for the Playstation 2 game, “Rollin’” Until recently, most of his production skills were focussed on the Finger Lickin’ Funk, party hip hop album he wroteb with talented youngster A Skillz, which oozes summertime funk. They worked with a whole host of well known artists with plans this year for a live tour featuring the mixing and scratching talents of Krafty and A Skillz, plus various singers, rappers and musicians.
His compilation, “Slam the Breaks On” was acclaimed by the music press after which he had residencies in a number of Brighton and London clubs.
The album, “Tricka technology”was released in September 2003 and has received racve reviews and accolades.
He has played all over the world, including the USA, Canada, Europe and Australia.
A second Krafty Kutz show has been announced for Halo on 18th June, after the 17th sold out.
Blue Cafe Inveresk Railyards 6334 3133 18+ Licensed Event Management reserves the right to refuse entry
Travel Bug adventure Skiing for the First Time - Ben Lomond
by Steve M
Recent early good snow led me up Ben Lomond, for my first time skiing and my first glimpse of snow since I was a kid. Awesome. It takes about an hour to get up to the Ski Village from Launceston, out past St Leonards, but it’s a beautiful drive along the banks of the North Esk River. Just before Blessington, you turn off the bitumen and onto the dirt road that is the mountain road.
Jacob’s ladder is a set of winding hairpin turns that are joined by traverses across the mountainside, which enable you to reach the plateau quickly.
It sounds a bit expensive, but the lifts open at 8.30am on weekends and close at 4.00pm so that’s 71/2 hours of good entertainment, which is cheaper, per hour, than the movies and a lot healthier.
At the end of the lesson, I even made it onto the ski lift. I didn’t go up very far and had a few crashes on the way down, but it was all good fun.
However, at the last corner I was greeted by a car stuck in the middle of the road with people pushing while the front wheel drive was spinning. Don’t come up Ben Lomond in a 2 wheel drive unless you bring chains or you’ll get in some sort of trouble.
My travel companion and I helped the car off the road and gave the passengers a lift. That’s what you do when your on the moiuntain, I was told.
The Ben Lomond Ski Village is inside a National Park and so I had to pay the entrance fee, of $10 per car for the day. About twenty minutes later, I was staring at some of the most beautiful, rugged landscape I’d ever seen.
We were soon in the parking area of the Ski Village and about twenty minutes later I was kitted out with skis, boots, poles, a lift ticket, parka and pants, and I booked a ski lesson, all for $85.
I took a lesson with one of the instructors from ben Lomond Ski rentals, Adam, and after a few falls I got the hang of it. Falling was ok as the skis just come off and the snow was fairly soft. I did get pretty warm though, exercising muscles I didn’t even know I had.
The day started to draw to a close and so I made my way to the Ben Lomond Creek Inn and enjoyed a beer, before heading home. It was awesome. One of the best days ever.
O u t o n t h e To w n Blue Cafe, Launceston - Saturday 19th June
Syrup, Hobart - Saturday 26th June
R e a l i t y, L a u n c e s t o n - S a t u r d a y 2 6 t h J u n e
Bare Threads
Name: Jo Age: 18 What’s your passion: Having fun Most important issue today: Logging Favourite band: Jet Favourite track: Are You Gonna be My Girl (Jet) Favourite drink: Pale Ale I’m gonna: Be famous
Name: Lauren Age: 19 What’s your passion: Jazz Most important issue today: Poverty Favourite band: George Favourite track: Chicken (Maceo Parker) Favourite drink: Mango Lassi I’m gonna: Go home
street fashion
Name: Pip Age: 21 What’s your passion: The environment Most important issue today: The environment Fave band: Lydia Lunch Fave track: Something Vague (Bright Eyes) Favourite drink: Beer I’m gonna: Head home
Name: Soph Age: 23 What’s your passion: ?? Most important issue today: American dominance Favourite band: Brazilian Drum & Bass Fave track: Too many to name ... Favourite drink: Margarita I’m gonna: Go eat pizza
SPOTLIGHT A r t s i n Ta s m a n i a
EXHIBITIONS Nine Women And Mutlimedia exhibition 6th August - for 3 weeks 6pm Russ J Wheeler Fine Art Framer 102 Bathurst St Hobart 6th September -3 wekks ArtsAlive 178 Charles st Launceston
The Loft Exhibition Where: Salamanca Arts Centre Inc. 77 Salamanca Pl Hobart, TAS When: Until 11 July, daily 9am-5pm Price: Free
Monday 2nd August TASMUSIC Rock Challenge Returns Heat 4 (High Schools) TBC, Hobart
Theatre
Music TSO: Liquid Gold Where: Federation Concert Hall 1 Davey St Hobart, TAS When: 2:30 pm Saturday, Jul. 10
Playhouse Creatures Where: Theatre Royal 29 Campbell St Hobart, TAS When: 8 Jul-10 Jul Price: Bookings (03) 6233-2299
The Comedy of Errors Where: Theatre Royal 29 Campbell St Hobart, TAS When: Thursday, Jul. 15 Friday, Jul. 16 Saturday, Jul. 17 Price: Bookings (03) 6233-2299 My Friend The Chocolate Cake Where: Theatre Royal 29 Campbell St Hobart, TAS When: Saturday, Jul. 24 Price: Bookings (03) 6233-2299
Fri 9 July Heat: MANHUNT - Search for the perfect Male + Karaoke upstairs in the Lube. Sat 10 July Super Saturday Party Hard Live Band FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube Tue 13 July MEMORAMA Trivia Night from 7 to 9pm. Its fun & its FREE. Huge Prizes & Jackpots Wed 14 July The Legendary Uni Night RETURNS 3 Live Bands: FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE, DONUT & THE UNIT. Great Drink discounts, Free Student Entry before 11 and Free Buses to and from Uni.+ Kamakaze Karaoke in the Lube Fri 16 July FINAL: MANHUNT - Search for the perfect Male + Karaoke upstairs in the Lube. Sat 17 July Super Saturday Party Hard + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube Tue 20 July MEMORAMA Trivia Night from 7 to 9pm. Its fun & its FREE. Huge Prizes & Jackpots Wed 21 July The Legendary Uni Night Live Band: FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE. Great Drink discounts, Free Student Entry before 11 and Free Buses to and from Uni. + Kamakaze Karaoke in the Lube Fri 23 July "THE BIG GIG" GROOVE TERMINATOR Vs GOODWILL Live on Stage. Doors at 9.30pm Massive Night. Be there. Sat 24 July Super Saturday Party Hard with Live Band FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube Mon 26 July The Tasmanian "ROCK CHALLENGE" brought to you by Tas Music. All Ages. Tue 27 July The Tasmanian "ROCK CHALLENGE" brought to you by Tas Music. All Ages. Wed 28 July Legendary Uni Night Live Band: FUNKEN UNBELIEVABLE. Great Drink discounts, Free Student Entry before 11 and Free Buses to and from Uni. + Kamakaze Karaoke in the Lube Fri 30 July 1st Heat: MISS UNIVERSITY Tassie's loveliest students compete for great prizes and a chance to represent Tasmania at the National Finals + Karaoke upstairs in the Lube. Sat 31 July Super Saturday Party Hard + CHILLI DANCE PARTY in the Lube Wednesday 4 August The Legendary Uni Night Live Band: DONUT. Great Drink discounts, Free Student Entry before 11 and Free Buses to and from Uni. + Kamakaze Karaoke in the Lube Thursday 5 August SPACE LIKE ALICE - National Tour. Doors from 9.30pm Friday 6 August 2nd Heat: MISS UNIVERSITY Tassie's loveliest students compete for great prizes and a chance to represent Tasmania at the National Finals + Karaoke upstairs in the Lube. Saturday 7 August TRIPLE J's "GROOVE TRAIN". This will be HUGE. Doors from 9.30pm. BE EARLY. A Sensational Line-Up.
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