Sauce - Issue 65, 2-4-08 by David K Q Williams

On the street every second Wednesday

Free Edition #65

02/04/08 - 15/04/08 Made in Tasmania

Tix Available From Mojo Music Or The Venue www.myspace.com/jameshotell www.jameshotel.com.au 122 York Street Launceston 6334 7231

coming soon in may saturday 5th april

carus

suppt : mick attard (the embers)

saturday 19th april

devilrock four + the inches

chasing gravity thursdays blue juice uni night the paper scissors live bands / djs + huge drink specials!

A-List Entertainment & Geffer Notice Presents

“A Comic Masterpiece” Daily Mail UK “ As sharp as they come... Stand up is rarely so appealing” London Evening Standard DVD OUT N NOW www.jimeoin.com

www.alist.com.au

Burnie Town Hall Wed 9th April - Book at the Civic Centre – 6430 5850 Devonport Entertainment and Convention Centre Thu 10th April - Book at the Centre – 6420 2900 Wrest Point Entertainment Centre Hobart Fri 11th April - Tickets 1300 795257 Country Club Show Room Launceston Sat 12th April - Tickets 1300 795257

$4.00 BASIC SPIRITS! www.themetz.com.au 2

SAUCE #64

DANCE - SYDNEY // PIPER & ELROY

Countdown On To Upsize the Party

By Dave Williams

On the back of the latest release from their bambamMuzik label, Sydney deck-heads Piper & Elroy are heading this way to Upsize your night out at Syrup this month. Since this is a very, very good thing, it seemed like a damn good time to have a chat with one half of the famed DJ duo the morning after a set at one of Sydney’s biggest clubs, so SAUCE followed the Pied (Tom) Piper. Pointing ‘n’ clapping; Dave Williams … So what sort of music were you playing last night, and whereabouts were you playing? I was playing at Sublime last night in Sydney, which is at Home nightclub, and I was playing a mash-up sort of thing, of Baltimore breaks and hip-hop and electro, all combined. So an up-tempo set with a sort of urban vibe, but keeping it cool … A bit different to what we normally do … coming from a breaks background, it’s sort of very similar to what we’ve been doing on that sort of vibe. So how similar will that vibe or that set be to what you might be putting on in Hobart, at Syrup? Well, we’ll probably use elements of that – elements of the Baltimore sort of mash-up stuff – but I’d say it’d probably be a lot more up-front clubby than what we’re going to play down there. But there’s always elements in everything we do, in every kind of set, if that makes sense. How many of the tracks do you still play these days that you featured on Upsized Upsized? ? Well, because as you’d notice, most DJs are playing completely different sets that they played six months ago … but definitely along the same genre, and we still play some of the tracks on there. I’ve been playing remixes of

the Point ‘N’ Clap track … there’s still stuff that we play on there. Like, the tech-ier stuff at the start, we still use that in smaller gigs and things like this.

the visuals. We’ve got visuals made up for the show which we’ve been doing around Australia, so they’ll be running in the background.

At what point did you know that Point ‘N’ Clap was going to be as successful as it was? Did you ever recognise that there was something really special about that track? Or was it only when sales and accolades started coming in? The first thing was probably when we started getting people to do remixes, or mix tracks off the label, and they were all like, “Yeah, I want to do that. I want to do that.” … After the club charts and the ARIA charts started charting, that’s when we sort of knew that it was going to be good.

How do you and Adam play a set? Do you have some sort of routine that you follow? How spontaneous is it, in terms of who’s mixing when? We don’t sit down and plan things for a gig, so it’s different every time. We really don’t have a big plan – like, “You play this at this time.” It’s just … we’ve both been DJing for long enough to sort of come down and work it. Obviously, we know what each other can do, and we’ve all got little tricks that we do and we know, so they sort of work their way into stuff somehow, but it’s always different, and it works out the best in the end – you get something fresh every time.

You work a bit with VJ Spook – what manner of presence are we going to have of VJ Spook when you and Adam play in Syrup? Will Spook be along? How will he be “in the house”? Well, Spook won’t be with us in person. We’re actually putting together a proper show with him at the moment – like, a live show … a completely live thing with the VJ and everything. Down at Syrup, we’ll bring visuals that Spook’s made, which we’ll be playing. I’m not sure what the club has there, but as long as the club’s got visual elements, we can use

What about a follow-up to Upsized Upsized? ? What are the plans there? Well, we’re putting together a mix CD at the moment, which will be a double mix CD, and that’s the follow-up to Upsized Upsized,, and then we’re also putting together an artist album as well. When do you reckon we can expect those out? The new mix CD will probably be out in the next two months

… let’s say three months, by the time it’s actually in the shops and everything like that, and the album will be later on in the year. We’re just working to lay out tracks at the moment to cut together. And the artist album, with your original production – will that be still strongly influenced by breaks? Yeah, it’ll have elements of everything. As I was saying, last night we were playing like Baltimore, hip-hop, electro mash-up sorts of things, so it’s not going to be predominantly electro-house, do you know what I mean? It’s going to be a lot of cool different stuff. So yeah, there’ll be elements of breaks and hip-hop and Baltimore and electro … a bit of proggy stuff … we don’t box ourselves in – “We’re playing this,” you know what I mean? Like any good DJ, you don’t just do one thing – you sort of spread your roots, and do a variety of different music, and you come up with something that sounds like you. Piper & Elroy play Hobart’s Syrup on the 12th of April. Listen to the rest of the interview: www.sauce.net.au

“Like any good DJ, you don’t just do one thing – you sort of spread your roots …” REPUBLIC BAR & CAFE

299 Elizabeth St North Hobart Ph. 6234 6954 www.republicbar.com

WEDNESDAY 2ND APRIL

SATURDAY 5TH APRIL

APRIL

Wed

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tues

Wed

MATT COSTA (USA) + Will & Dash $37 9pm

SAN LAZARO + Let The Cat Out $10 10pm

Thurs

Fri

Sat

Sun

Mon

Tues

Matt Costa (USA) + Will & Dash $37 9pm Operator Please + Little Red + Flamingo Crash $20pre/$25door 9pm The No No's + The Vaudevillians $4 10pm San Lazaro + Let The Cat Out $10 10pm The Brewster Brothers (From The Angels) $12 9pm Carus $10 cover 9pm G. B. Balding (Finger Picking Blues) 9pm Train Wreck 9pm Pugsley Buzzard $5 cover 9pm Sugartrain $4 10pm 10pm Chasm with EPC and MDUSA&DAMEZA $15 Bjorn Souli Trio (jazz) $5 3pm Rosie Burgess + Justin Carter $5 cover 9pm Quiz Night 8:15pm Blue Flies 9pm SAUCE #64

LATIN - MELBOURNE // SAN LAZARO

#65 - April 2nd to 15th

Contents 3 4 5 6 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

Put on your dancing shoes …

Tom Piper San Lazaro / Carus / Moe Grizzly News / Competitions Short Daze / CD reviews Nick Warren / Samora Squid Madina Lake Mia Dyson Copyright / Theatre Sports Jimeoin / Justin Heazlewood Gig Guide Skin Deep / CD reviews CD Reviews / Struth Be Told

By Tom Wilson

“… It’s much more than you’d expect from the average Latin band …”

Contact Sauce

Phone: 03 6331 0701 Advertising: advertising@sauce.net.au Editorial: editorial@sauce.net.au Editor: Email:

David Williams david@sauce.net.au

Sub -Editor: Email:

Tom Wilson twilson@sauce.net.au

Graphic Design: Email:

Simon Hancock simon@sauce.net.au

Journalist: Email:

Chris Rattray crattray@sauce.net.au

Advertising: Email:

advertising@sauce.net.au

Opinions expressed in Sauce are not necessarily those of the Editor or staff.

Contributors

A Special thanks to our contributors: Lisa Howell, Shannon Stevens, David Walker, Richard Kemp, Lisa-Marie Rushton, Clara Murray, Dion Brooks, Adam Ferguson, Felix Blackler Neesha Peacock and Carole Whitehead.

Next Edition Deadline Friday 11th April @ 5pm (Sauce #66 - 16th April - 29th April)

What has twenty legs, eight different nationalities, a love of Latin music and an innate ability to get a party started? A band called San Lazaro, that’s what. Ahead of their two-gig Tassie trip this month, I spoke to timbale master Nasrine Rahmani about the challenges of bringing their groove to eyes and ears around the country … You’re in New South Wales at the moment, is that right? Well, we’re in Canberra; we’re on our way to Katoomba now. We’re just in the bus, about to leave. The first thing that popped into my mind; touring with ten people – what are some of the drawbacks of touring with a group that size? Ah, it’s expensive! [Laughs] Yep, a lot of people to accommodate … to have fed and happy, and to sustain their lives back home. We’ve been fortunate enough to receive some support from the Australian government and the Music Tree program, so that’s helping, but it’s by no means made it a luxury! So that’s one of the challenges you face … but we make up for that with the fact that it’s fun, and we’ve got a great group of people playing our own music … and a big sound on stage, and a lot of energy within the group circulating. Have you ever had trouble fitting all of you on one stage? No, actually; we’ve played some really small places, and we seem to manage no matter what. We’re very close, so

we actually play better when we’re set up really close together, so that’s not a problem. Sometimes we invade the dance floor a little with our horn section and our percussion section! But most of the time we fit on the stage, however cramped it might be. Some of the best gigs we’ve done have been playing into each other’s pockets. Now there’s a very diverse mix of nationalities in the group. How did all of you come together? When you guys set out – when the group first started making music – was it always an intention to draw influence from all the different nationalities and cultures? Not necessarily. We came together with our common interest being to play Latin music, so we didn’t come together to make some fusion, world music band. It was just that we like Latin music, and that’s what we want to play, so that’s what we started doing, and, inevitably, our varying cultures influenced some of our songwriting, and certainly the way we play, and our motivations behind our message and just our very existence, and the dynamic within the group as well. Everyone was so different, [in their] musical aesthetic, and food that they like to eat, and things they like to say and languages that they speak and stuff, so as far as the group

Hit the “songwriter” button By Tom Wilson

“It took a long time to work out who Carus is as an artist.”

What’s the most important lesson you’ve learned as a musician? And how did you learn it? To trust yourself and be happy to inhabit your own skin. It took a long time to work out who Carus is as an artist – you can try for too many styles sometimes, or try to cover too many bases. You need to find out what it is that you do and then trust it. I know I don’t sing like Jeff Buckley and I don’t rock like Tex Perkins, however I have my own thing, which, as hard as it is to define or work out what I do in a show – whatever it is, it works – I think I have an ability to connect with 4

SAUCE #64

To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

Dirtying up Dixie

people and make them have a good time, whilst also staying true to my songs and art. So now I just do my thing and don’t try to be anyone else. What is going to make 2008 a more exciting and satisfying year than 2007? What will you be doing differently? I am going to be recording a solo album. Already got ten or twelve songs that feel really good, and the songwriting isn’t showing any sign of abating. Greg Arnold is going to produce this one again, however I am not going to be beholden to any sort of band commitment, rather I will just really press the singer-songwriter button and do whatever is right for the song. My solo shows always have this emotional intensity and integrity to them – I wanna put that on an album. This is a pretty morbid question, but if you were to be hit by a car and killed tomorrow, what would you most like to be remembered for? Being a nice guy – being true to what I do – and hopefully being part of the long line of good Australian songwriters. And what song would you most want to be blazing out of that car’s stereo? In other words, if you could hear one song before you die, what would it be, and why? Khe Sahn – because Cold Chisel f*cking rock! One of the best Australian songs ever written. Carus plays Launceston’s James Hotel on the 5th of April, the Lewisham Tavern on the 6th, and Hobart’s Republic Bar on the7th. www.myspace.com/carusthompson

By Tom Wilson

A dirty, lo-fi sprawl of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s obvious right from the first droning notes of their new LP Fingering Dixie that this was a true labour of love for southern rock threesome Moe Grizzly; a paced, calculated exercise in grubby riffage and old-school production that takes its sweet damn time and makes no apologies for it. SAUCE threw some questions at Reggie, Ben and Hannah ahead of their set at the Brisbane Hotel … You recorded Fingering Dixie late last year at the Mould Room in Hobart. How long did this take you guys? And why did you choose this particular location to record it? From start to finish, the recording took about two weeks. This included four days in the studio recording basic tracks and the rest for overdubs, mixing, and mastering. The Mould Room is where we practice; in a house where some of us live. It was the obvious choice for our recording space.

What was your last victory? What were you up against? And how did you come out on top? My last victory was putting together a different band for the Bluesfest. Bedge (who plays mandolin, violin and piano in The True Believers) has been touring with Lior so he couldn’t do the gig – such a big one for us too. So I got Adam Gare (who played on my Acoustic at the Norfolk record) on mando and fiddle, and flew my old keys player Mo Wilson over from Perth … It ended up sounding awesome! We did one warm-up show at The Torquay Hotel on Good Friday. Had about three hours sleep and then caught the 6:50AM flight up to the Gold Coast for our show. [We pulled] it all off and the songs sounded as good as ever. Sometimes it’s nice to shake things up a bit.

San Lazaro play Hobart’s Republic Bar on the 5th of April, and the Brookfield Winery on the 6th.

ROCK - HOBART // MOE GRIZZLY

ROCK - AUSTRALIA // CARUS

Carus Thompson really is a True Believer when it comes to his abilities, because when he hits the studio later this year to record his next album, he’ll be shedding the band and walking alone. He spoke to SAUCE ahead of this month’s Tassie stopover.

of people that we are, the cultural diversity that exists between us is really integral to our dynamic, but as far as music is concerned, we really came together to play Latin music, and that’s why, when you hear the band, it sounds distinctly Latin, and the first couple of years together all we did was just straight up-and-down Afro-Cuban salsa. We no longer do that – now we play a hundred-percent original material, but because that’s really what brought this group of people together, that’s really what holds us together as well. We’re here to play Latin music, and although we’re incorporating influences of urban music and urban culture and funk, reggae, rock, hip-hop … different types of rhythms from different parts of South America and Central America and the Caribbean, it’s much more than you’d expect from the average Latin band, as far as diversity in the music. Yeah, it’s not like a fusion world music band or anything like that! [Laughs]

The opening track, I Own Your Feet, is a real blink-andyou’ll-miss-it track, clocking in at a mere fifteen minutes. Why have you put the longest track on the LP at the very beginning? This track was the first track we performed as a three-piece, so it works well as an entry-point to the album. Plus, if you listen to the album, you’re going to hear the song anyway, so it shouldn’t really matter where it appears. The LP has a distinctly dirty and lo-fi texture to it – how did you create this? Was it primarily through the way you recorded it? It was a simple recording process, using a four-track cassette machine and basic studio microphones; also our musical equipment is not particularly flashy. Studio flash can often detract from a recording, interrupting the invisible audio conversations between instruments and their tones. A very dark and somewhat fuzzy monochrome im-

age, the cover design for Fingering Dixie looks, to me, like the set of Play School after being hit with an atom bomb. What was the concept here, and who designed it? The cover was designed by the band’s drummer, Hannah Fitzgerald. It is a photograph of a diorama constructed out of found objects on a hot day in a sun-burnt frame of mind. It has to be asked – why call it Fingering Dixie? We’re a guitar-based band, so we don’t “whistle” Dixie, but rather we “finger” Dixie. The band draws inspiration from American folk, blues, gospel, and country; much of this originates from the southern states of the US, an area known as Dixie. The album title pays tribute to these influences as well as highlighting our devotion to the guitar. What are some things you aim to get accomplished by the end of this year? We have successfully toured to Melbourne twice already this year and we will return at least another two times before the end of the year, as well as a tour to Sydney and/or Adelaide. During the year we will also record a follow-up album to Fingering Dixie, for which most of the material has already been written. We also would like to start planning for an international tour, either to New Zealand, Japan, or South East Asia. Moe Grizzly play Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel on the 12th of April. www.myspace.com/moegrizzly

“The album title pays tribute to these influences as well as highlighting our devotion to the guitar.”

news

PNAU – JUST DAYS TO GO! Australian electronic crossover pioneers Pnau are touring nationally this month on the back of their latest album – one which was declared “the best Australian album released in ten years” by none other than Sir Elton John. They will be joined on this tour by Van She and French underground stars Beakbot. Saturday April 19th - Uni Bar, Tasmania University, Hobart. Tickets from Ruffcut Records (ph: 03 6234 8600); TUU Contact Centre (ph: 03 6226 2495)

HOBART FRINGE FESTIVAL’S ADULT BL ACK COMEDY NIGHT ABC - Adult Black Comedy – is on again for its second year, at Hobart’s Brisbane Hotel on Saturday the 5 th of April. A diverse range of cabaret-style acts – from pole dancing to corset tricks – will amaze and amuse, transforming the evening into a delicious experience that exposes the underbelly of the Hobart Fringe. Acts include the Black Mourning Band, Mr. Twist, Reverse Charge, Taylor Made, Beat Mongers, Zoezac, Sarah Muir and more, and for those wanting to rock on into Saturday night beyond the cabaret, there will be late evening sets with the Muddy Turds and the Superkunts.

meet fellow practitioners in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere. If you are new to the industry, this is your chance to practice your networking skills and make important connections. Meet with Screen Tasmania (Launceston only) One-on-one meetings are also available in Launceston only on Tuesday the 8 th of April and Wednesday the 9 th of April with Screen Tasmania staff to discuss projects. Please contact Screen Tasmania on 6233 6995 to make an appointment.

competitions

Win 1 of 3 copies of Win 1 of 3 copies of “Too Chasm’s debut CD, Fine featuring Ja Rule” by “Beyond The Beat Tape. Christian Alexanda.

Launceston Roadshow – Tuesday April 8 th 10am (Guidelines Overview) 5:30pm (Network Function, venue to be advised) Bow Room, Peppers Seaport Hotel, 28 Seaport Boulevard, Launceston Hobart Roadshow – Friday April 11 th 3:30pm (Guidelines Overview) 5:30pm (Network Function) Salamanca Room, Salamanca Inn, 10 Gladstone Street, Hobart Reservations/appointments essential. Places are limited. To reserve a place or make an appointment, please contact Screen Tasmania on 6233 6995.

To enter, ter, email your name and address to competitions@sauce.net.au, with ‘Beat Tape” in the subject line.

To enter, ter, email your name and address to competitions@sauce.net.au, with ‘Too Fine” in the subject line.

Entries close 14th April @ 5pm.

9pm, $8 ($6 conc.)

PLUGGED! OPEN MIC NIGHT GOES ELECTRIC! For the last couple of months, The Royal Oak in Launceston has held a regular Open Mic Night, giving aspiring musicians a platform to get their music heard. Now, get ready to plug it in and crank it to eleven, because on the 18 th of this month, Open Mic Night “Plugged” will be open to electric instrumentation. Sound good? Well, you can sign up now by calling the Oak directly on 6331 5346, organiser Will Potter on 0423 121 27 1, or Carl Fidler at TasMusic on 0438 015 697.

LOCAL MIRACLE: MALE SAUCE STAFF MEMBER CONFIRMS RELATIONSHIP WITH A REAL-LIFE WOMAN SAUCE’s graphic design maestro Simon Hancock has tied the knot with long-term partner Kai in a ceremony held, funnily enough, on the very weekend he was supposed to be working on this edition. We’d have gone, but we were busy doing your job for you. Dave, Tom and the rest of the SAUCE crew congratulate you and Kai, and wish you every happiness. Now get your arse back to work!

BREWSTER BROTHERS TRIO TOUR TASSIE After the success of the Australian festivals, events and recordings of 2007, John and Rick Brewster – legendary guitarists and founding members of the Angels – decided to join forces with Paul Robert Burton to form the Brewster Brothers Trio. “The trio is fantastic,” says Paul, “sometimes it sounds like a six-piece band. We have a great sound and people can’t believe how many instruments we have going all at once. It’s really enjoyable, and we plan to focus our attentions on finishing a new studio album, the international release of the live album and the European Festival Circuit.” Before they get to that, though, they ’ll be playing two shows in Tassie this month – the Lewisham Tavern on the 4 th of April, and Hobart’s Republic Bar on the 6 th .

DAVID FLOWER BAND David Flower and his band are high-energy and uplifting , delivering a true sonic excursion flowing through styles of funk, roots, reggae, African and Arabic sounds. A lyrical approach and daring honesty is a trademark of Flower, and together the band moves with soulful grooves, earthly dynamics and some serious peaking acoustic crescendos. Tour dates: 2 nd April – Irish Murphy ’s Hobart 4 th April – Batman Fawkner, Launceston 5 th April – Irish Murphy ’s Hobart

SCREEN TASMANIA ROADSHOW Screen Tasmania will be conducting a series of Roadshows in Hobart and Launceston early in April to meet with screen practitioners and conduct a funding guidelines overview, networking events and one-on-one meetings. Funding Guidelines Overview The overview will include information regarding: Information on revised funding guidelines An overview of the new Creative Producer Scheme How to apply to Screen Tasmania for funding and the application process. This will include how to format treatments/scripts, writing development notes, and an explanation of a synopsis. Network Function The guidelines overview will be followed by a network function hosted by Screen Tasmania. Industry practitioners are encouraged to attend and SAUCE #64

ROCK - BURNIE // SHORT DAZE

Get busy, the days are short …

By Tom Wilson

The word “busy” appears seven times in this interview, but that’s just life in general for Burnie rockers Short Daze. SAUCE caught up with guitarist and un-killable martial artist Ian Hunter to delve into the songwriting process … What’s been keeping you busy outside of Short Daze? What does each of you do for a living? Megan works at Australia Post and as a consultant for Lorraine Lee Linen, and she’s also kept busy with the Burnie Choir and I believe the church choir, and when not too busy with us, the Retro’s invite her for cameos from time to time. She’s also been instrumental in maintaining the Myspace and Facebook websites for the band. Matt Carpenter works in the mining industry … he’s kept busy there with a recent move to fulltime work, which is good for him. Matt Randall is in his last high school year with Stella, so is kept busy with assignments and exams as such. He also plays drums in a school band there – so is kept busy. As for me, well, I’m kept busy with the martial arts classes and teaching music to people, as well as the administration and advertising that goes into each of these events. Being the only guy in the world to survive three brain surgeries and attain 4th Dan Black Belt makes me unique. I’m often asked to supply stories in regard to this and have appeared in Blitz MA magazine numerous times and Taekwondo magazine just as often; I was in the last two editions for various reasons. How would you describe the songwriting process of Short Daze? What usually comes first? Well, with me it’s definitely music then lyrics. With Liz’s (our previous singer) material, it was lyrics, then music. I do most of my best work with the hypnotic dance of the flickering flames in the home fire, accompanied by a half-glass of vintage red, with me having imbibed one-and-a-half glasses previously. I tend to stay sober these days. Got too many originals on board for now, and don’t really need any more for the moment. What’s the one attribute that a song must have before you guys are happy with it, and why? Being a pedantic bastard, it’s more than one, sadly. It has to be played tight, for starters. This is the reason we’re taking a breather for a month, as we’re playing with some new musicians in new roles, and some fill-in musicians who don’t know the work very well, so for now we soldier along, but [are] not over-satisfied with it. Our older line-up was tighter, and we will be, once we get time to devote to practice next month. This month, we’ve just been trying to fulfill the gigs booked, so as not to let the venues down. Although the venues and patrons have been happy with us, we haven’t been overly. There’s also the aspect of “Would the song appeal to the crowds we play?” If not, then back to the drawing board it goes. We’ve gotten to know the wants and desires of patrons at most venues, and can generally accommodate to

those. “Is it too much the same as existing material?” Again, if yes, start again. You don’t like to be seen as a musician (or group of musicians) with a signature sound. You need some variation to sound interesting and appeal to those you play.

“Being the only guy in the world to survive three brain surgeries and attain 4 th Dan Black Belt makes me unique.” If someone wrote a book about the band, what do you think it would be called, and why? Music for Dummies (Part 1); A Step-By-Step Guide To Creating A Band, Creating Music, Hunting Gigs And Operating A Relatively Successful Group As A Business. Why? Because in writing of the hardships (many) and the joys (not as many) we’ve experienced in becoming a part of this industry, it may guide younger muso’s in where and how to get started, and detail the realities of doing so. Most bands (younger ones in particular) start with much energy and enthusiasm behind one remark loaded with pipe dreams – “Let’s start a band!” But the reality is that there is much hardship to accompany the joys and excitement of it all, and it would nice if such a guide existed for the younger first-timers in particular. Part 2 would have to be written when the fame kicked in … haven’t experienced that greatly as yet. Short Daze play the Wynyard Hotel on the 4th of April, Stage Door The Café in Burnie on the 12th, and Tonic in Launceston on the 25th.

CD REVIEWS NOIR MACABRE Victory (Darkness Reigns Forever)

THE GETAWAY PLAN Other Voices, Other Rooms

Melbourne black metal band Noir Macabre have produced one of the most ear-shattering, evil-spirited albums I have heard so far this year. They’re a two-piece, made up of vocalist/drummer Blassfemuur (Matt “Skitz” Sanders of Damaged, Walk The Earth) and guitarist Heathen (D.W. Norton of Superheist and Walk The Earth).

The Getaway Plan are leading the way for the new generation of bands in the Australian music scene. On record, the boys create quite a unique sound – from seamless melodies to razor sharp screams, and with irresistible pop sensibilities thrown in for good measure. The eclectic nature of the band’s repertoire ensures that they escape being restricted by labeling and pigeonholing, and are truly a band that must be heard to fully understand. Other Voices, Other Rooms is quite different to their other album Hold Conversation; The Getaway Plan has dropped their screamo sound for a rock sound, and even if I think it was one of the best choices that they have made, some of their fans might not see it like that.

The video for Bloodied From Battle depicts the vocalist drenched in blood, a burning of the crucifix, and brief scenes of forests, and that pretty much sums up the subject matter of this album. The eight tracks of ferociously blood-spilling lyrics all follow the same arrangement of satanic screaming over blast beats and rapid guitar fretwork which, all at once, create a frankly irritating wall of sound. The only track that shows any sign of slowing down is Victory (The Satanic Hordes Ride), coming across as the catchiest track on the album as it doesn’t have a repetitive sound. The album explores all topics sinister, from sexual lust, hell, and the hatred of Christ. N.M. have produced a bold statement with their first album, packed full of aggression and offensive subject matter. I recommend this album to anyone into psychotic cannibalism, a disliking to Christianity, and a love for bloodthirsty music. Rumours of a full world tour are circulating, but in the meantime, you can look forward to the band’s next music video, Victory (Ride The Satanic Hordes). DAVID WALKER

It is undeniable they are the band to watch this year. Releasing the dynamic Other Voices, Other Rooms, they have satisfied fans who have been waiting for this release, and they’ve silenced the critics who were waiting for the young band to falter. Sometimes mistakenly grouped into the hardcore and screamo categories many people use to describe music they don’t quite understand, Other Voices, Other Rooms dispels these misconceptions as The Getaway Plan unleash a forward-thinking, innovative rock record. Where many bands produce soft, safe records as they try to distance themselves from the “heavy” label dropped on them in their early years, The Getaway Plan embrace these elements and seamlessly weave them throughout the record. If you’re either a fan of The Getaway Plan or you just like listening to good Australian music then you can’t go pass this album. LEANN KACZMARSKI

SAUCE #64

ROCK - BRISBANE // NICK WARREN

Courting an altered state of being

By Tom Wilson

It seems like only yesterday when we bid farewell to Launceston alt-rock troupe Modus as they set off for the new possibilities (and warmer weather) of Brisbane. Now, thankfully, we’re getting at least one of them back, and even though veteran six-stringer Nick Warren has since parted ways with the original band, there’s still plenty of fire in the belly. He spoke to SAUCE ahead of his return trip. You were best known during your time down here as the lead guitarist for Modus, but I understand you’re not playing with them anymore. What happened? What motivated this? Well, most of the songs that we played in Modus I wrote a long time ago, and it’s not really where my head is at the moment, so I got to the point where I felt that I couldn’t contribute songs to it anymore, and needed to branch off in a new direction. I wish everyone all the best if they decide to keep it going. You are also involved in a project called Altered States Of Being. What’s been happening on that front? Yes, the Altered States is what I’m pouring all my effort into right now. We are a three-piece with myself on vocals and guitar, Anthony Beveridge (Nan) on drums and Jacob Parker on bass and backup vocals. We are jamming for twenty-plus hours a week, and doing as many gigs as possible to break into the Brisbane scene. We are also looking at finding a lead guitarist, and doing some touring and recording later in the year. How did moving to Brisbane change things for you? What doors did this open for you? It was a bit of a wake-up call going from playing Falls Festival gigs and the MS Fest down in Tassie to starting from scratch in Brisbane, and having to prove ourselves all over again. It’s definitely been a learning experience, and overall I think it’s been good for us. What impact did this move have on the music that you make? How do you think you’ve evolved as a musician since you’ve been in Brisbane? I came up at the start of summer, and all of a sudden I started writing all these reggae songs. It must be something to do with the warm weather. I also get a lot more inspiration for songs when I have a change in my life, so it’s been good for that. How would you describe the music scene in Brisbane at the moment? What kind of genres are popular? And how easy is it to get gigs, compared to Tassie? I think the music scene is great up here! There’s more of a night life because of the warm climate, so there’s a lot more people out to see bands. There seems to be a lot of roots and reggae-influenced bands doing their acoustic thing up here, but at the same time, there’s heaps of other stuff going on. It’s really diverse. There’re heaps more original music venues, but at the same time there are a lot more bands, so the gigs are there for you [if you’re] willing to try just that extra bit harder than the next band.

What can you tell me about the material that you’ll be bringing down for your shows in Launceston, sound-wise? I’ll be playing everything I’ve written from the last fifteen years. So it ranges from pop/punk songs I wrote about girls in high school, through to the alt/rock stuff I did with Modus, and then on to the stuff I’m doing now, which has a Silverchair/Muse/Radiohead vibe. I’m down in Tassie for two weeks, and I’ll be doing an acoustic solo show at the Royal Oak on the 17th of April, and at the Hub bar on the 25th. Next trip, I’ll be bringing the rest of the band with me!

“… If I don’t sacrifice a few years now to have a shot at it, I’ll regret it …”

What releases do you have planned at the moment? At the moment we’ve got around fifty originals to sort through with the band, and once we’ve sorted which ones will work well together on an album, we’ll get into the studio – in the next six months, I hope! As a songwriter, how would you describe your approach to writing lyrics? What do they usually deal with? I always write the music and melody first, and then try and work out what sort of vibe I’m getting from it. Then I’ll start just rambling on as I’m playing until a line catches my ear. Then I’ll grab a pen and go from there. Sometimes it will take an hour to complete, and sometimes up to a year. You’ve just got to wait until it feels right – if you force the lyrics, they normally turn out bad. I like to use words with double meanings, and use them in a way where you can have two different meanings to a phrase depending on who’s reading it. Of all the songs you’ve written, which would you say is the most personal, and why? I think that the most personal one for me at the moment is called Apartment Syndrome. It’s about weighing up whether or not you stay in a place where you’re very happy, or do you leave to follow your dreams? It pretty much sums up my whole move to Brisbane, and that if I don’t sacrifice a few years now to have a shot at it, I’ll regret it for a lot more than a few years. What do you most want to accomplish this year? What every musician wants – to turn a hobby into a career! Nick Warren plays Launceston’s Royal Oak on the 17th, and the Hub on the 25th. www.myspace.com/nickwarren2007

SPOTLIGHT - LAUNCESTON // SAMORA SQUID

Fire up your bum!

By Tom Wilson

Samora Squid is, quite simply, a freak of nature. Able to fit all one-hundred-and-ninety-five centimetres of his double-jointed body through a tennis racket, the world’s tallest contortionist has eaten broken glass, swallowed swords, sat on fireworks and driven five inch nails up his nostrils with a hammer, and he’s about to host a celebration of all things weird and wonderful in Hobart this month as part of the Fringe Festival. Painfully realising he’s not double-jointed; Tom Wilson … Sword-swallowing, contortion, and of course the bucket full of firecrackers on the bum, which we’ll get to later … how do you come up with ideas for your act? Is it a lust for new challenges? Or are you just a masochist? Probably all of the above. [Laughs] I think the key in what I’m doing is to either constantly look for new stupid things to do, or new ways to do stupid things, and the best ideas often come when I’m sitting around, having a couple of beers with a couple of my mates, and we come up with stupid ideas for what Samora Squid could do next! One trick, which I know you haven’t done for a while,

“I’m going to be in a lot of pain very soon!” but still raised eyebrows around the office when we read about it, was putting your bare bum in a bucket full of lit fireworks. We have to know – what kind of thought process led to you coming up with this trick? That stunt I did when I was in the Kamikaze Freakshow. We were touring Europe and Central America. It’s a traditional stunt of the Kamikazes – they’ve been around for about ten years … The traditional stunt is usually John Kamikaze, the main guy of the show, putting his head in a bucket of fireworks. It was on the first day of the tour; we were doing our soundcheck and our tech run and everything, and it was actually John that came up with the idea for me to plant my buttocks in the bucket. It felt pretty good, so we decided to keep it in the show, and it made a few people laugh, so that’s the main thing. What kind of precautions do you have to take? I imagine it would be fairly hard to sit down afterwards. 8

SAUCE #64

Ah … none! [Laughs] The thing about sideshow stunts is that they haven’t really been recorded or written down; they’ve kind of been handed down by word-of-mouth mainly, partly through trial, mostly error. Basically, I would drop my pants, I would sit on the bucket, and then John would light some tom thumbs and drop them behind me, into the bucket, and it goes bang-bang-bang-bang-bang, and I would stand up and the smoke would all rise. It was quite a nice effect actually. How did you first get into this kind of performance art? I was playing in rock bands, and I used to do my contortion and my bending stuff on stage with my band. Then guys in other bands that I was hanging around with wanted me to come up on-stage and do tricks with them, and eventually I just started doing this more than playing in rock bands. But I still play in bands. When doing your performance art stuff, what kind of preparation [happens] before a show? Do you have any kind of warm-ups that you have to take care of? Yeah, usually a couple of beers! I was thinking more along the lines of stretching or something, but I suppose beer would work in equal measure. For the bendy stuff, I stretch up a little bit. The other stuff, it’s mainly mental preparation really – just psyching myself up, and making sure my body is ready to cope with the fact that I’m going to be in a lot of pain very soon! [Laughs] You can watch Samora Squid endure the pain at Hobart’s Alley Cat Bar on the 5th of April alongside The Emma Dilemma Show, The Muddy Turds and Vamp, as part of the Hobart Fringe Festival Cabaret Evening. ONLINE: Samora shares a tale of woe involving getting stuck halfway through a tennis racket and having to take his pants off in front of a hundred shocked Londoners. To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

METAL // MADINA LAKE

Are we seeing double?

By Dave Williams

As the t-shirt says, they â&#x20AC;&#x153;do it with rhythm,â&#x20AC;? but thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s another, far more fitting bass player stereotype to use when talking about Madina Lakeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Matthew Leone â&#x20AC;&#x201C; they are often the linchpin that holds the band together. He spoke to Dave Williams about being identical twins with the bandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s singer, and how ramen noodles donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t come any cheaper when people are saying youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re famous â&#x20AC;Ś [After being thanked for doing the interview] You guys are kind of a happening thing right now, so itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s kind of timely â&#x20AC;Ś Oh, thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s exciting news! [Laughs] It doesnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t feel like that? Dan and I were just joking about how weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re scraping change together to go buy some ramen noodles at the little store over there. But weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re realising how happy we are, because that really is successful, you know? [Laughs] Look, as long as you can scrape together the change together for the noodles, then youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re doing alright. Yeah, exactly. If I get [this interview] done in ten minutes, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll get half of my noodles! [Laughs] I guess financially itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still tough, but does it feel like you guys are getting a bit more attention these days than ever before? You know, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s funny. When you live in a band, I think you live in kind of a bubble, you know? Where the perception of yourself is extremely difficult to see. But yeah, we couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t possibly be happier, because this is exactly the kind of success we wanted, especially with our first record, where we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to, you know, blow up overnight. We have no interest in fame or fortune or celebrity or anything like that. What we always set out to do was just to make the music we wanted to make, and then share it with the rest of the world, and have the opportunity to travel and submerge ourselves in different cultures across the world. And, you know, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve done exactly that, so I think weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re probably one of the happiest bands around right now. In terms of the band, and the band being happy and that sort of thing, I read an article â&#x20AC;&#x201C; I canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t remember which band it was to do with â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but the theory was that it was the bass player in bands that was the glue that holds the band together â&#x20AC;Ś [Laughs] Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;m sure youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re going to agree with that, but seriously, is that too much of a generalisation? Or is there a personality type to a bass player â&#x20AC;&#x201C; do they have to take on a role? Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a very funny question. Yeah, I think it makes perfect sense. I was thinking about it as you were saying it, because, you know, drummers are just obsessed with drumming, so theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re just playing â&#x20AC;Ś theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re beating their hands and their legs and stuff all the time. They just love to play drums. Guitar players like to write riffs, and singers â&#x20AC;Ś you know what

â&#x20AC;&#x153;â&#x20AC;Ś Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re scraping change together ... to go buy some ramen noodles â&#x20AC;Śâ&#x20AC;?

singers are like! [Laughs] We bass players, we do the work! [Laughs] Do you and your brother still have any fun based on being twins? Are you identical twins, or are you paternal twins? Yeah, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re identical, and yeah â&#x20AC;Ś weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re really sort of relishing that fact right now. Our whole lives, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had similar interests and similar journeys and experiences together, and itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s been a really, really wild ride. I mean, we were soccer players for the first half of our lives, and that afforded us some really interesting opportunities, and we had a blast, and now that weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve gotten into this together â&#x20AC;Ś itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an absolute blessing, you know? Not in a religious way, because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not religious! [Laughs] But itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s like, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re so lucky that

we get to experience these things together, because weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re best friends, and always having someone there to reflect the experience back at you, and to make these memories, we just feel really, really lucky. So yeah, weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still having a blast. I was really more talking about situations where maybe twins swap places, and one takes on the identity of another â&#x20AC;&#x201C; maybe for an unsuspecting girlfriend, or even in an interview, maybe â&#x20AC;Ś Maybe you guys might swap interview roles or something? [Laughs] Yeah, we do some of that stuff â&#x20AC;Ś It went from being sort of juvenile â&#x20AC;Ś when we were younger, it would be maybe the switch on a girlfriend and see when she detected it. But we sort of grew out of that, and yeah, now it becomes just a professional benefit â&#x20AC;Ś if Nathan was having some struggles

with his voice, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve had to learn how to sing the set. Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve yet to have to do it, but if the time comes, I might have to stand in the front and sing while he plays the songs on bass, and thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s going to be embarrassing for everybody! As embarrassing for him on bass as for you on vocals? Probably worse for me on vocals, because we all know that you canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t really hear the bass anyways! [Laughs] You just feel it, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t you? Yeah, yeah! Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s in the soul! From Them, Through Us, To You is out now. To listen to an MP3 of the full interview, go to www. sauce.net.au

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ROCK - MELBOURNE // MIA DYSON

Striking down once again

By Tom Wilson

Been Struck Down yet? Well, just in case you haven’t, blues-rock singer-songwriter Mia Dyson is coming down to take another swing at your ears with her second Tassie visit promoting her recent LP – this time as the interstate headliner of Locally Famous 2008. She spoke to SAUCE about how the album turned into the busiest of her twenty-seven years. Getting Struck Down; Down; Tom Wilson … You were last down here in October promoting Struck Down. Down. Are you still touring that record? Yeah … We’ve held off on doing another tour off our own back, but we’ve been doing … like, we did a support tour for Joe Cocker just recently, and at the moment, in this late summer period, we’re doing some festivals to support the record, but we’re probably not going to do any more sort of major touring of our own … off our own backs for a little while now. But definitely still trying to promote the album! [Laughs] Always! Always trying to do that! When you last spoke to us, in the lead-up to that first tour, you were saying that you’ve always had reservations about your work when you release it. Now that it’s been out for a while, do you still feel that way? How were your reservations confirmed, or …? Or quelled, yeah … Look, I think … I haven’t listened to the record in a long time, and just the fact of not listening to it really takes your mind off those kinds of doubts. I mean, it was really interesting … I don’t know what time we spoke, whether at that point the reviews had come through, but there were a lot of really good reviews for it. I actually didn’t read them, but people around me and my family and stuff would sort of say, “Oh, you’ve got a great review in blah-blah,” or whatever, and it seemed that it seemed that it was really well received, and I thought that it would be quite … being the third record, [I thought] people might have a bit of a go at it or something! [Laughs] And I was really surprised at that, because it’s not kind of a … being a third album, you know, it’s not like I’ve gone and stepped it up to some big-time producer and done a really kind of elaborate record, if you know what I mean? So it’s almost a bit of a more subtle record, and that’s why I thought people would go, “Oh, I don’t know about this.” I think in a few years time I’ll be OK with it. I might have said to you last time that I’d finally got OK with my first record, and I think it just takes a lot of time to pass … before you look back on yourself with a bit of compassion, instead of all the criticisms that you had at the time. So have you been working on any new material? Yeah, I have. I have, and it’s been really good to get that going, because last year was such a … it was by far the busiest year of my life; we toured so much that I barely got to write, and that was really disconcerting for me, because that’s kind of the whole point … I mean, everything starts with a song, with original songs. In the early part of this year, I’ve been writing a lot, and, for me, that’s probably more prolific than I’ve been in a long time, and it’s really exciting … I’ve opened up a new part of my creativity

SAUCE #64

or whatever. I’ve got a piano at home now, an upright, and I’ve been sort of messing about on a few different instruments and just feeling quite creative, which is really good, to feel that way. What kind of stuff are you writing about, from a lyrical standpoint? Oh … [Laughs] You ask some very hard questions! It’s what I do … [Laughs] Yes, yes, indeed. I think … well, these first few songs that I’ve written since finishing Struck Down have been really personal songs … One of them is about an early sort of friendship that didn’t … it didn’t last past teenage-hood, which I sort of have just got my head around, even though I’m twenty-seven! [Laughs] But I guess that’s the way … you know, I couldn’t write about that thing until I’d sort of grown up enough to sort of look back and see it for what it was, instead of still being emotionally involved in it. And I think one of them is a bit of a love song … Yeah, so far it’s all been pretty personal, so we’ll just see whether I start writing some “story songs” as time goes by. Mia Dyson plays Locally Famous 2008 at the Door Of Hope in Launceston on the 11th of April. To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

“I’ve opened up a new part of my creativity …”

DANCE – U.K. // COPYRIGHT

Spreading The Word of House

By Dave Williams

In the realm of electronic music, few genres have evolved like house music, and one DJ who’s well aware of that fact is Copyright, who’s just gone head-to-head with DJ Jorj to produce Alumbra In The House, Deflected’s double-CD ode to house music of past and present. Mixing it up; Dave Williams … So how did you get involved in the production of this new CD, Alumbra In The House? Well really it was through the label, Deflected. Obviously, we’re signed to Defected, and they were doing this project with the guys from Alumbra, and asked us if we wanted to mix one of the CDs, so obviously we jumped at the chance.

“It’s great to get the exposure out there, and preach the gospel of house music.” And what is it about what you guys are doing at the moment that you think got you the attention of Deflected to mix it? Well I think this year we’ve got quite a lot going on. We’ve got

a new artist album coming out, we’ve got a few new productions out … we’ve done quite a few compilations in the past for Deflected which have been really, really successful. We did Miami In The House last year, and before that we did Deflected In The House – like an international edition. It’s great to do these things; it’s great to get the exposure out there, and preach the gospel of house music. Do you think this CD shows an evolution of house music? Or is it just a compilation of what’s hot right now? I think it’s both, because CD 1, which we mixed, is really upfront stuff, and CD 2 is DJ Jorj, which has got a few classics on there. It’s a good representation of what’s going on now, and what has been going on in the past, so I think it’s a good mix. But “house music evolution”? Well, I don’t know about that. I mean, I like to think we just do our thing. We’ve been doing our thing for a long time now, and fads come and go, but we just stick to what we do, you know? We’re never looking for the “new thing” – we’re just doing what we’ve always

done, which is quality, soulful house music. So what’s happening in the U.K. in general, in terms of house music? Influences? In the U.K. at the moment, I’d say it’s been ravaged by electro, so people like ourselves … we maybe do seventy gigs a year, maybe more, and I’d say about five of those are in the U.K. We’re very much international DJs, so house music, I’d say, is still alive and well around the world, but in the U.K. at the moment … there’s still so many sub-genres of music, so many different acts, and different artists coming into London or around the country to play. It’s a very sort of big scene on a small island, with many, many different genres, so it’s not like the good old days when it was just like one scene. Alumbra In The House is out now. To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

SPOTLIGHT - LAUNCESTON // THEATRE SPORTS

Give impro’ a go By Tom Wilson

It’s official – those with an interest in acting (or just an entertaining night out) have now got no excuse whatsoever for sitting at home on the 5th of this month whining that there’s nothing to do, because The Hub in Launceston is set to host a brand new night of theatre sports for you to have a crack at. Rebekah from the Hub gave us the skinny … Why have you decided to start this event? What inspired it? The inspiration came from the Hub itself. It is such a great space, and needs to shared with the community, especially our university students. Launceston has some exceptional talent, and I felt like they needed a space where they felt comfortable to express themselves, and display their work, whether it be theatre, music or art. Who have you been organising this event with? I was fortunate enough to meet Georgie Parker at the Outta Lonnie acoustic party at the Hub. We got chatting about the space. We decided to set a date, come up with an idea, and just go for it. Later that week I met up with Rachel Williams, Burgo and Sophie Ray McCaan for a brain storm. They are a very creative, energetic, fun bunch of guys, so it was very easy to get the party started, so to speak. How would you define “theatre sports”? A form of theatre that is made up of improvisational games and audience participation. What kind of skills will be called upon for performers? This form of theatre is quite hard as it is completely unscripted. The actors have to think on their feet, and be willing to take on a new situation instantly, which can often be extremely abstract and funny. I guess the most important skill you need to have while playing theatre sports is the ability to say, “Yes, let’s have a crack.” How would interested parties go about getting involved? People who are interested in joining in can contact Rachael Williams at rew1@utas.edu.au or me on 0400 668 193. The event is this weekend, so if they are interested, they need to call, or I guess they can just rock up on the night. How will the nights run? How will things be laid out? Mick will be playing a set at the beginning of the night, then there will be a forty-minute block of theatre sports, with four teams competing and three judges recording their scores. There will then be an interval with some free grub, and people can mingle and enjoy some more music. Most of the games require audience participation, giving actors places and situations to be in. Basically, the audience gets to pick where and what the actors do, which creates a fun atmosphere! What will make this night unique? The most unique thing about this night is doing theatre in a place that is not a conventional theatre space. It is very easy for theatre to stay in its usual areas, and it is extremely exciting to bring this out to people that may not usually get the chance to see theatre. The best thing is it’s a free night of entertainment, which is a lot more unpredictable and fun than just watching TV at home. Theatre Sports kicks off at the Hub in Launceston on the 5th of April. SAUCE #64

COMEDY - AUSTRALIA // JIMEOIN

Loving and laughing at life

By Dave Williams

It’s fair to say that the ultimate mark of a good comedian is one that doesn’t even need to pre-write their material. Triggering fits of laughter can come down to a mere grin or a raised eyebrow, and it’s this gift that has put the truly inimitable Jimeoin on stages and TV screens around the world. Heading to our shores this month with his new show On Ice, he juggled phone calls and his child’s nappies to [Being a dad] How’s all that going for you, with performing and fitting it all in? [Laughs] It’s good, it’s good. I’m a busy boy … I’m changing a nappy right now as we speak, in case you want to know. That doesn’t sound too good, to be honest … she’s f*cking kicking … we’ve got a new baby – she’s about … eleven months, now.

I started a comedy festival in Melbourne last night. I did the Adelaide festival, and I did the West End in London before that, so I’ve been pretty busy already this year. I’m like a miner – I do two weeks on, two weeks off. It works. A “laughter miner.” A “laughter miner”, yes – digging for gags!

So has she weed on you lately? Nah, I haven’t had that happen yet.

So how does your brand of humour go down in London? You’ve done the full circle. I’ve done pretty well, haven’t I? I mean, I’ve been doing London for ages; I did the West End for a long time, and people are people, really. It doesn’t really matter where you are, touring. Sometimes they’re exposed to different types of c o m e d y, but they certainly get what you’re up to, I think. If you can tip a couple of people your way … it seems to travel well, my show. I don’t really think it’s part of a certain trend – I think people get it, you know? Well, they definitely do get it.

Ah, you’ve missed that so far! Thank god! It hasn’t happened yet! [Dear readers, we’ll just omit the three minutes now spent discussing nappy rash remedies. If you’re old enough to read this and you have nappy rash, seek help elsewhere – Tom] [With parental responsibilities] You’ve just got to do your thing and roll with it. Yeah. I didn’t even want to get married! [Laughs] I was sucked into the whole thing … I know what you mean – these things kind of just happen, don’t they? And then you work it out later. That seemed to be for the best. I think men that run down the aisle, it’s never what they expect it to be, whereas it’s good if your expectations are low. It’s just better.

The show that you’ll be performing in Tasmania – is it similar to other shows? No … it’s sort of … it’s the

And what have you been doing work-wise lately?

STRUTH BE TOLD

For a brief flash I was inspired that someone else was being playful and witty with their lyrics, but within seconds I couldn’t help but dwell on the fact he’s from New York, hangs out in Greenwich village, and probably lives in a commune of hilarious, hyper-productive visionaries all strumming killer bohemian tunes, having genius Charlie Kaufman-esque conversations with second helpings of consequence-free sex with the DNA cocktails of Maggie Gyllenhaal, Audrey Hepburn and Rose Byrne. [Writer takes short break.] Clarity starts at home.

JEANS ARE ALWAYS BLACKER Ever had the feeling that someone, somewhere is having a much better life than you? Ever trawled through a magazine and taken the whole thing personally? E Gad! Look at these hotter, wiser, better dressed young things. Ever stared at that touchy-cutesy couple at the gig and assumed they must have regular mind-blowing sex while listening to a cutting edge compilation of bands you’ve never heard of? Well – you’re weird. Or perfectly normal. It’s garden variety “the grass is always greener” theory. For example – “that band on stage must have better pot than I do.” These inferiority complexes are placed in our ears by the aloof fairy on our thirteenth birthday. They flourish in high school; a ninja training ground for low self-esteem; then, in your early twenties, you hit a second wave of confidence, figure out that you’re pretty ace, but still find yourself regularly undone by the pop culture pixel grenades thrown in your face by a glamour-obsessed media. Take me; as a musician, I rely on street press to act as an upto-date and concise form guide for my industry – a White Pages of creativity. Why, then, do I see it as a brown pages of failure, existing solely to remind me who’s getting better gigs? Just yesterday, my friend gallantly played me a song by American anti-folkist Jeffrey Lewis.

At International High School, Australia is hanging down by the bins, while London, Berlin and Paris are the jocks. As a creative man who’s never left this sun burnt nest, sometimes I cannot help but fuel the illusion that my life would be improved if I were hanging with the ‘northern hem’ kids – that the rest of the world is one big trend-setting disco while we’re all here eating Nutri-Grain in front of Burgo’s Catchphrase. The truth is, like gamblers, you never hear about the losses. You never read articles on the depressed designer getting evicted from her Manhattan bed-sit, or the out-of-work actor leaving his iRiver on a train on a rainy day in Soho. Who gets inside the head of the jauntily attired retro-queen buying a beer – her inner monologue pounding her over the money she’s spending? Who can reveal the electro-punk front man, backstage, lowering his eyes during a band dispute that’s been unresolved for months because of the hapless communication skills bestowed on him by a distant father? Who can sensationalise that evening’s average, nervous sex with a friend of a friend? No-one can be having that good a time, because it would mean matching the ferociously perfect caricatures of your mind. Imagine if your small corner of the globe was actually the charmingly lo-fi epicenter of modern art. Imagine if all this time, it’s actually been you setting off the laser-eye tripwires of criss-crossing competitively. The grass may be greener, but doesn’t that mean your neighbour just has to mow it more? You can’t know someone until you’ve walked a mile in their jeans, only then will you realise how much pain they’re actually in. JUSTIN HEAZLEWOOD

SAUCE #64

lines that work best. It’s not like a play. There’s no message, you know? You’ll be none the wiser at the end of it. It’s purely just for a laugh – a thing to get away from real life, [and] just have a real good laugh. I just try and make it totally different to the show that I did the last time in Tasmania – that’s what I head out to do. I did a gig the other night in Brisbane the other night, on Tuesday, and I did a show on Wednesday, last night, and they were totally two different shows. It was more to do with the fact that I wanted to do a different show than I did at the Comedy Festival last year … You don’t really need queues – you’re just going off your own [head]. The thing that keeps me entertained, I don’t go onto automatic pilot – I really have to think about what I’m doing. So it’s the uncertainty that keeps you excited? Yeah, yeah … I enjoy it. But sometimes, getting to the venue and organising things and trying to do those things can be hard work, but the actual gig – I really, really enjoy it, and for that, I really enjoy stand-up as an art form. It’s a great craft to have something that, at the end of it, you think, “Oh yeah, that really pushed me.” Is wit something that you can develop, train? Yeah. Some people have wit, and they train it and develop it in their job. Hairdressers are often great for a chat – they’re very open to the concept. They just talk all day … even if I’m doing London, I have to make a point of trying to catch up with someone through the day, because you’d end up finding that you wouldn’t be having any real conversations with anybody, unless you were doing the show. You have to keep it in check. You have to keep … if you want to say “practicing it.” You’d be the same – you have a job where you sort of have to deal with people a lot. Maybe I’m saying the wrong thing here, but your job would be more [about] looking for an opinion, whereas mine is just being flippant!

254 Mount St Upper Burnie 7320

“SEE YOU AT THE DOOR AT SOME STAGE” $10 entry unless otherwise stated

THURSDAY, APRIL 3

Jazz Club '08 Viktor Zappner Swingtet featuring

Teresa Beck-Swindale from Legana on sax and flute 7:30pm / $7

FRIDAY, APRIL 4

Alyce Platt Sings For You

I think that’s giving a bit too much respect to what I do, mate … [Laughs] But you know, regardless of what the issue is, you’d have to have an angle on it, you know, whereas we just go “f*ck everything,” be flippant, and come out from a freaky angle. Jimeoin appears at Burnie’s Town Hall on the 9th of April, the Entertainment & Convention Centre in Devonport on the 10th, the Wrest Point Entertainment Centre in Hobart on the 11th, and the Country Club Showroom in Launceston on the 12th. To listen to the full interview, go to www.sauce.net.au

$75 dinner and show 7:00pm 160 Elphin Road L a u n c e s t o n TA S 7 2 5 0

Live music Woodfired pizzas Extensive bottleshop ph: 03 6331 1344 fax: 03 6331 2191 e: thenewsteadhotel@hotmail.com

SATURDAY, APRIL 5

Kram Nossirah acoustic, variety 7:30pm

THURSDAY, APRIL 10

Jazz Club '08 Viktor Zappner Swingtet featuring

Denise Sam from Launceston on vocals and percussion 7:30pm / $7

FRIDAY, APRIL 11

Justin Carter & Rosie Burgess 8:00pm

SATURDAY, APRIL 12

Short Daze 8:00pm

stagedoor@keypoint.com.au

GIG GUIDE

2nd - 15th APRIL

WEDNESDAY 2ND HOBART Brookfield Vineyard. 1640 Channel Highway. Margate. 7054. Ph 6267 2880

Licenced cafe Open 7 days a week and late for all events

April’s Music: Sun 6

San Lazaro + supports: The Trolls,

Brisbane Hotel Go Genre Everything + Viva Computer + The Vivids + Transcriptions of Organ Music Republic Bar & Café Matt Costa (USA) + Will & Dash @ 9PM Syrup Rewind @ 9PM The Metz Wednesday Sessions DJ Scott Woodhouse from 8:30pm Victoria Tavern John & Craig

Dewayne & DJ Kashishi (12 noon/$20)

THURSDAY 3RD

Fri 4

Open Mic/Ramshacklers (7.30pm/free)

Fri 11

Pugsley Buzzard (7.30pm/free)

Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Swingtet + Teresa Beck-Swindale @ 7:30PM

Thurs 17 Rory McLeod (7.30pm/$25) Fri 18

Folk Night/Hot String Band (7.30pm)

Fri 25

Piano Marathon (12 noon)

Sat 26

Piano Marathon (12pm to 12am)

Sun 27 Piano Marathon (12pm to 10pm) info@brookfieldvineyard.com www.brookfieldvineyard.com

BURNIE

HOBART Alley Cat Bar “Up the Garden Path” – Ally Mok + Barney + Riot Act + Jane McArthur @ 9PM Brisbane Hotel Adult Black Comedy Cabaret Night – Black Mourning Band + Reverse Charge + Taylor Made + Sarah Muir + Zoezac + Arrow + Cloud + Jules + The Muddy Turds + The Superkunts Republic Bar & Café Operator Please + Little Red + Flamingo Crash @ 9PM Syrup Mesh – Adam Turner + Guests @ 9PM Victoria Tavern Jeremy Matcham

LAUNCESTON James Hotel PD Royal Oak Raelene Bruinsma

Alley Cat

FRIDAY 4TH

The Alley Cat Bar

BURNIE

381 Elizabeth Street North Hobart - ph: 03 6231 2299

HOBART

THURSDAY 3RD

THURSDAY 10TH

'Up the Garden Path' Ally Mok, Barney, Riot Act & Jane McArthur' A night of music & gardening tips $4 / 9pm

'The Ladies Night' up and coming female musicians feat. Hayley Couper, Rosie Burgess (melb) and Ally Mok $4 / 9pm

FRIDAY4TH

FRIDAY 11TH

Gene Bob & the Slaughterhouse Band & The Magnificent Justin Ossher (sydney) $4 / 10pm

Enola Fall & I Built a Flying Machine & Fringe buskers night after party $6 / 7.30pm

SATURDAY 5TH

SATURDAY 12TH

Hobart Fringe Festival CABARET EVENING $10 / 8pm

Matt McBeath + support Whims and Bellows Free Entry

SUNDAY 6TH

SUNDAY 30TH

Acoustic music afternoon feat. Ben Wells & SoFar Free Entry / 6.30pm

Acoustic music afternoon feat. Three Free Entry / 6.30pm

Stage Door the Café Alyce Platt @ 7PM Alley Cat Bar Gene Bob and the Slaughterhouse Band + The Magnificent Justin Ossher (Sydney) @ 10PM Brisbane Hotel DJ No Requests + Rocksteady Eddie + Dj Sooz Brookfield Vineyard Open Mic + Ramshacklers @ 7:30PM Republic Bar & Café The No No’s + The Vaudevillians @ 10PM Syrup Break Even – Adam Turner + Guests Downstairs – Nick C + Reme @ 10PM

LAUNCESTON 39 Bar David Flower Band James Hotel PD Royal Oak The Titz @ 9PM The Hub Ejecter + Frankie

WYNYARD Wynyard Hotel Short Daze

SATURDAY 5TH BURNIE

Stage Door the Café Kram Nossirah @ 7:30PM

HOBART Alley Cat Bar Hobart Fringe Festival Cabaret Evening – Circus Horrificus + Vamp + The Emma Dilemma Show + The Muddy Turds + MC Rosa @ 8PM Brisbane Hotel Zombie March Afterparty – Go Genre Everything + Moe Grizzly + Hypnotic Midday Movie + Hobart Voltron – ALL-AGES @ 3PM Kind Winds + The Que + Soundtracks Will Dissolve – 18+ @ 9PM Irish Murphy’s David Flower Band Republic Bar & Café San Lazaro + Let The Cat Out @ 10PM Syrup DFD – Gillie + Adam Turner + Corney Downstairs – Naughts + Rolly + Billy Bob @ 9PM The Metz Matt Collis (acoustic) 4-7pm Victoria Tavern Christian

LAUNCESTON James Hotel Carus + PD Royal Oak Live Music The Hub Theatre Sports + Mick A ard (The Embers) + Ciaran & Friends @ 8PM

SUNDAY 6TH HOBART

Alley Cat Bar Ben Wells + SoFar @ 6:30PM Brookfield Vineyard San Lazaro + The Trolls + Dewayne + DJ Kashishi @ 1PM Republic Bar & Café The Brewster Brothers (From The Angels) @ 9PM The Metz DJ Dan Copping from 5pm ‘til late

LAUNCESTON Royal Oak Open Folk Group @ 5PM

MONDAY 7TH HOBART

Republic Bar & Café Carus @ 9PM Victoria Tavern Christian

TUESDAY 8TH HOBART

Brisbane Hotel Super 8 Competition Screening Lewisham Tavern Carus Republic Bar & Café G. B. Balding (Finger Picking Blues) @ 9PM

LAUNCESTON The Hub Open Mic Night

WEDNESDAY 9TH BURNIE

Burnie Town Hall Jimeoin

HOBART Brisbane Hotel Fringe Mic With Andrew Harper Republic Bar & Café Train Wreck @ 9PM Syrup Rewind @ 9PM The Metz Wednesday Sessions DJ Scott Woodhouse from 8:30pm Victoria Tavern John & Craig

THURSDAY 10TH BURNIE

Stage Door the Café Viktor Zappner Swingtet + Denise Sam @ 7:30PM

DEVONPORT Devonport Entertainment & Convention Centre Jimeoin

HOBART Alley Cat Bar “The Ladies Night” – Hayley Couper + Rosie Burgess (Melb) + Ally Mok @ 9PM Brisbane Hotel Fringe Festival: Hobart Underground Films Republic Bar & Café Pugsley Buzzard @ 9PM Syrup Mesh – Adam Turner + Guests @ 9PM Victoria Tavern Jeremy Matcham

LAUNCESTON James Hotel PD Royal Oak Mickey J @ 9PM

FRIDAY 11TH BURNIE

Stage Door the Café Justin Carter & Rosie Burgess @ 8PM

HOBART Alley Cat Bar Enola Fall + I Built a Flying Machine + Fringe Buskers Night AfterParty – Samora + Gene Bob + Adam Cousens + Linc Le Fevre + James Brooks @ 7.30PM Brisbane Hotel Happy Noodle Psy-Trance Party – Rubal + Acid Casualty + Psywise + More Brookfield Vineyard Pugsley Buzzard @ 7:30PM Republic Bar & Café Sugartrain @ 10PM Syrup La Casa – Matt B + Discotouch + St. Nick Downstairs – Nick C + Reme @ 10PM Victoria Tavern Crikey Wrest Point Jimeoin

“Give my people beer, Good beer, cheap beer, And there will be no Revolution among them” Queen Victoria 1819-1904

Now open Sundays 4pm onwards Live music 6 nights per week

LAUNCESTON 39 Bar Chasm + Mynse Door Of Hope Locally Famous 2008 – Mia Dyson + End Of Silence + Libre + State Of Mind + Your Damn Neighbours – ALL-AGES @ 7PM James Hotel PD The Hub Halfway to Forth + Mick A ard

SATURDAY 12TH BURNIE

Stage Door the Café Short Daze @ 8PM

HOBART Alley Cat Bar Matt McBeath + Whims and Bellows Brisbane Hotel The Dacios + The Bulls + Moe Grizzly Red Light Disko – Wylie Kylie + Azza Matazz Republic Bar & Café Chasm + EPC + MDUSA&DAMEZA @ 10PM Syrup DFD – Piper & Elroy (Sydney) + Corney + Gillie Downstairs – Naughts + Rolly + Billy Bob @ 9PM The Metz Matt Collis (acoustic) 4-7pm Victoria Tavern Smashers

LAUNCESTON Albert Hall Anti-Pulp Mill Benefit Concert – Zero Degrees Freedom + The Stoics + The Chromatics + Bocamano + Steve Power + Shady Lane + The Collins Band + Matsuriki- Sheik Charmers + Cambalache Tango Club + Bill Carney @ 7PM Country Club Showroom Jimeoin James Hotel PD Royal Oak Ben Castles @ 9PM The Hub The Muddy Turds + The No No’s

SUNDAY 13TH HOBART

Alley Cat Bar Three @ 6:30PM Republic Bar & Café Bjorn Souli Trio (Jazz) @ 3PM Rosie Burgess + Justin Carter @ 9PM The Metz DJ Dan Copping from 5pm ‘til late

LAUNCESTON Royal Oak Open Folk Group @ 5PM

MONDAY 14TH HOBART

Victoria Tavern Christian

TUESDAY 15TH HOBART

Republic Bar & Café Blue Flies @ 9PM

LAUNCESTON

Venue Guide BURNIE Stage Door The Cafe 254 Mount St Upper Burnie 64322600

HOBART Brookfield Vineyard 1640 Channel Highway Margate 7054 6267 2880 Syrup 1st Floor 39, Salamanca Place 6224 8249 Republic Bar 299 Elizabeth St 6234 6954 www.republicbar.com The Alley Cat Bar 381 Elizabeth St 6231 2299 The Brisbane Hotel 3 Brisbane St 6234 4920 thebrisbanehotelhobart@gmail.com The Metz 217 Sandy Bay Road, Sandy Bay, 7005 6224 4444 LAUNCESTON James Hotel Reality Niteclub / James Bar 122 York St, 6334 7231 www.jameshotel.com.au The Hub 1 Tamar St 6334 9288 www.tamarbackpackers.com The Newstead Hotel 160 Elphin Rd 6331 1344 The Royal Oak 14 Brisbane St 6331 5346

The Hub Open Mic Night SAUCE #64

skin deep sponsored by Tattoo Studio

Feature Model: Lisa

dvd reviews

IRON MAIDEN Live After Death

9/10

Filmed over four sold out nights at California’s Long Beach Arena in 1985, Live After Death captures Iron Maiden at the heights of their greatness during their legendary World Slavery Tour. It’s much more than a live concert however, thanks to the packed second disc of extras and features that deepens the experience considerably and is a testament to the integrity of their music and the unique influence it has had on legions of fans worldwide. Having seen them recently in Melbourne for their Somewhere Back in Time tour, I can say that this DVD, featuring remastered video and audio, is the best thing apart from being at a live Maiden concert. The concert itself on disc one is ninety minutes of essential Maiden, complete with 80’s leotards and wall-to-wall denim. The band, all in their mid-twenties at the time, provide a fantastic spectacle as they run and leap all over the stage, playing fan-favourite tracks such as Hallowed be Thy Name, The Number of the Beast, The Trooper, Run to the Hills and Two Minutes to Midnight. The songs sound as fresh now as they did then, thanks to a remastered audio mix that offers a choice between the original stereo mix and a more contemporary 5.1 surround mix. You’ll want to hear it in 5.1 as it recreates the atmosphere of the live show perfectly with audience cheers from left and right, behind and in front adding immensely to the experience, especially during the audience participation bits in Revelations and Running Free. These highlights are eclipsed only by the thirteen-minute long Rime of the Ancient Mariner, and an appearance from the band’s mascot, Eddie, leaping about on-stage during Powerslave dressed as a giant Egyptian mummy, as befits the concert’s Egyptian theme. The second disc would be worthy of a purchase all its own. It is loaded with all kinds of requisite extras such as the obligatory promo material comprising film clips from the band’s early days and a gallery. However, three hour-long documentaries really set the presentation alight, representing great value for money. First off is Part Two of the band’s ongoing History of Iron Maiden documentary. This doco goes in-depth into the creation of the band’s fifth studio album, Powerslave, and the massive accompanying World Slavery Tour. The band continues their candid recollections of that era in the band’s life with interviews from all band members, their managers, producer, and crew. Next up is Behind the Iron Curtain, a fifty-minute doco about the band’s history-making tour of Poland 14

SAUCE #64

in 1984, being the first Western band of the time to be allowed to tour the Eastern Bloc. This brilliant presentation features plenty of non-tour footage, including a complete cover version of Smoke on the Water performed at a Polish wedding reception (!) and a glimpse of the band enjoying some recreational soccer against a local Polish team. The final documentary, Rock in Rio ‘85, takes place at Maiden’s biggest ever show in front of 300,000 people which goes to show how phenomenally popular this band became, and still is, despite never having been given mainstream support in terms of commercial airplay. It’s worth noting that you might want to space out your viewing of these docos, as their set-lists are very similar to the main presentation. Despite this very minor criticism, Live After Death deserves pride of place in any self-respecting metal-fan’s collection, and is essential viewing for fans young and old. It will make you want to grow your hair long all over again, just so you can headbang along to all your favourite songs… and if you aren’t a fan yet, be warned… “Iron Maiden’s gonna get all of you!” The fashion is daggy but Iron Maiden’s legacy endures, thanks to this excellent DVD. CHRIS RATTRAY

REGURGITATOR

would be more at home in a three-minute music video, simply does not work in a format this long; it’s an eye-exhausting salute to ADD editing, especially the first thirty minutes.

Band In A Bubble

On the whole, however, the most interesting part of this event – watching Regurgitator work – is still there, and it was enjoyable to see the album be created from scratch. The two-disc set also contains the live “Bubble Exit Show” in its entirety (fifty-five minutes), a short doco, and several Regurgitator music videos. For all its faults, I’d still have to recommend it as a must-own for any hardcore Regurgitator fans, or anyone who’d like a peek at exactly what goes into recording an album. Just don’t watch it all in one sitting if you value your eyes.

7/10 My normal reaction to anything in the so-called “reality TV” genre is instant and complete nausea, and no small amount of depression over the dumbing down of TV entertainment it represents. I have never liked it and thought I never would. And then came Band in the Bubble, a DVD which chronicles the 1994 reality TV event of the same name, which saw the Brisbane-born band Regurgitator sealed in a glass-walled recording studio in Federation Square, Melbourne, for twenty-one days with the goal of writing and recording a brand new album. All the while, cameras recorded it all for cable TV’s Channel [V]. Being kind, I’d call it a bold musical experiment which exposes the fascinating and normally hidden creative process behind creating an album. My cold-hearted inner cynic, however, calls it a media stunt, designed to capitalise on the popularity of shows like Big Brother and sell more Regurgitator CDs. Either way, you really have to hand it to Regurgitator’s Quan, Ben and Peter for being intrepid enough to not only sacrifice their privacy, but also completely expose their creative process – something most creative people I’ve met are reticent to do. Many would rather not have their methods put under constant, all-seeing scrutiny. The DVD presentation of this event was a little less impressive than the actual idea of the event and it’s wonderful end result, the album Mish Mash! The three-and-a-half hours of awkwardly choppy editing and irritatingly “look how funky I am” try-hard Channel [V] hosts don’t exactly fly by. The jittery fast-cut editing style and camera work, which

NATE BURR

CD REVIEWS

1 Tamar St. Launceston. 6334 9288 www.myspace.com/backpackerhub

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Saturday 5th Theatre Sports + Mick Attard (The Embers) + Ciaran & Friends @ 8PM

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Tuesday Nights Wednesdays $6 jugs @ 6pm $7 jugs @ 7pm $8 jugs @ 8pm $9 jugs @ 9pm $10 jugs @ 10pm

Thursdays Salsa dance

Friday 11th Halfway to Forth + Mick Attard Saturday 12th The Muddy Turds + The No No's Tuesday 15th Open Mic Night SAUCE #64