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Edition #78
01/10/08 - 14/10/08 Made in Tasmania
Weekends at Irish Mur phy’s Hobart We got it covered. The best bands Your favourite tunes Every Friday and Saturday night on the waterfront.
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OCTOBER: WEDNESDAY 1: BEN WELLS BAND, JONI’S PLASTIC SUNDAY, IVY STREET THURSDAY 2: ABBEY DOGGETT, THE MIDDLETONES, DARLINGTON SUNDAY 5: TEA FOR TILLEY QUARTET TUESDAY 7: AUSTRALIAN SONGWRITERS ASSOCIATION WEDNESDAY 8: BRITISH BATTLEGROUNDS, NEW SAXONS, DALI SHROJ & THE PAPER BAND THURSDAY 9: DAN HENNESSEY, NOFOTO (ACOUSTIC), BEAVERJAM SUNDAY 12: LET THE CAT OUT TUESDAY 14: GRETEL TEMPLETON, JOE NUTTALL, ZANE PINNER 2
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#78 - October 01 to 14
Contents 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Dave Graney Tex Perkins and his Ladyboyz Jordan Millar and the Question Ohana / The Sure Shot Hunters Blue Team Go! / Marita Mangano Keli Hart / Dr J The Bondi Cigars / Hannah Phoenix Lights Magic Carpet Ride / Matt Colis Gig Reviews Meshuggah Jet News / Competitions Entertainment Guide Paris Wells The Staunches Halfway to Forth Cd Reviews Hip Hop Wrap Up / Jaimi Faulkner Hot Mods Jeff Drake / Baby Gee Little Red Arts Zzapped! Screen Street Fashion
Contact:
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03 6331 0701 advertising@sauce.net.au editorial@sauce.net.au David Williams david@sauce.net.au Chris Rattray chris@sauce.net.au Simon Hancock simon@sauce.net.au Lisa-Marie Rushton accounts@sauce.net.au
Opinions expressed in Sauce are not necessarily those of the Editor or staff. Sauce Publishing accepts no liability for the accuracy of advertisements.
Contributors Dave Venter, Tom Wilson, Steve Tauschke, Julien Lepoix, Michael Blake, Natasha Anderson, Tabitha Fletcher, Sam Harvey, Tony Starks, David Walker, Dorian Broomhall, Leann Kaczmarski, Tom Butler, Tiarne Double, David Quinn.
Next Edition Sauce #79 - 15/10/08 to 29/10/08 Deadline: 10/09/08 @ 3pm
THE GREENHOUSE – INCUBATING LOCAL TALENT Green isn’t just for St. Patrick’s day anymore! The Greenhouse at Irish Murphy’s (Hobart) has been playing host to local original music for a few months now –Dane Hunnerup gave us the low-down on the what, where, when, how your band can get involved, and why it’s never been a better time for audiences to go green! What is The Greenhouse? Greenhouse is a project that kicked off in June at Irish Murphy’s Hobart. Originally on every Tuesday and Wednesday, it has now expanded to include Sundays and Thursdays presenting a whole swag of Tasmanian original music. Several things are unique as well, such as the fact that we’re doing this on the waterfront and that there is no door charge. It makes it a simple affair to pop in to Irish and check out what’s cooking and we’re getting a wide mix of people, from the usual candidates to people who probably haven’t been exposed to Tasmanian music before. It’s a melting pot of faces and sounds that has surprised everyone, especially us with how well it’s been working. What have been some of the more memorable nights? We’ve had some real corkers. Probably number one for me was with Joni’s Plastic Sunday, Ejector and Enola Fall. It was a great one for us because we have recently started running live recordings of selected shows, hiring in a second soundy and extra equipment including stage and lights as well so that we have the full show on stage and a shiny recording of it available for bands and for Edge Radio/Sauce FM etc. to really capture the moment. What does The Greenhouse offer to local musicians? We’re taking a slightly different approach to what venues usually do at Irish. At the straight end of the spectrum we’re offering reasonably well-paid gigs, chosen thoughtfully and promoted widely for local bands. Then we go on our different tangents, from
offering those live recordings to the Tasmanian Artist Management Collective – available for anyone to attend for free fortnightly on a Tuesday – we’re assisting bands to develop the tools they need to start creating a national, and hopefully, international profile. It’s become more of a partnership approach between the venue and the bands (for those wishing to pursue that avenue) that is a win-win for everyone. What’s been the most personally fulfilling thing you’ve experienced through your involvement? Being able to pass on some of the things I learnt as a student at the JB Seed Artist Management course. As someone who jumped into the deep end managing TSOMM and as a beneficiary of the fantastic JB Seed program, myself and Dario Phillips (Hannah) have been able to host some excellent evenings that are all about sharing information. Coming up in the next few sessions we’re delighted to be hosting Dave Sykes from TasMusic NW who will be having one-on-ones with artists and bands and will be bringing his great wealth of knowledge to the table. We’re also hosting a sports psychologist who will be talking about band psychology and how to defuse the problems that often lead to bands breaking up. How would a band get involved? It’s so simple, just email me : dane.hunnerup@gmail.com or call 0428 751 320. The Greenhouse runs from Sunday to Thursday every week at Irish Murphy’s Hobart. Coming up in October: Joni’s Plastic Sunday, Ivy Street, New Saxons, NoFoTo, Let The Cat Out, Ballpoint, Hannah’s EP launch, Scenic Flight’s debut show, DJ Spin Easy (US - only tassie show!). Check the Entertainment Guide (page 17) for more details.
SAT, SEPTEMBER 27
Vulgar Style: 80’s thrash/hardcore This fast-paced four-piece from Deloraine are soon to enter the FatLip gates! Their mission: bring back the old school death metal! Vulgar have been together for the past two years and are eager to record their first album. Recording will start in the next two weeks. Check em’ out in Hobart when they support Mortal Sin. The gig is Sat 25th Oct at the Brisbane Hotel. Stay tuned... http://www.myspace.com/vulgartas SUN, SEPTEMBER 28
Daniel Bicanski Style: vocals/guitar Daniel is a fantastic solo artist from Devonport. Currently in his late teens, many fans are describing his voice as a fresh Roy Orbison. His talent was spotted earlier this year when performing at the Breath of Life concert. After recording a quick demo, he has acquired many gigs and standing ovations across Tasmania. Currently with interest from a major record label, Daniel and I will be recording a professional album in the next few weeks. This will display Daniel’s best original material to various executive producers. http://www.bicanski.com
ROCK - MELBOURNE// DAVE GRANEY
The Outsider Looks Inwards
…I don’t fit into any format or niche. There’s nothing I can do about that…
I called to arrange this interview I got the distinct impression oWhen that it was one of the highlights of alt-rocker lounge snake, Dave
Graney’s day, wiling away the time between tour dates in a hotel room in Maitland, New South Wales… “And then it got worse!” Laughs Dave, his soporific mood broken.
“We played in this place on Sunday and then had a date on Monday and Tuesday, so we’re staying here for two days. So we’ve walked up and down the street, I’ve run up and down the street. I’ve been to all the op shops and bookshops... A stray dog attached itself to us last night. We’ve seen how many desperate junkies there are around the place and I found a wallet in a public toilet and took it to the police. It’s been pretty eventful, I guess.” I’d also read that he’d seen a show that was attended by a bunch of transvestite football players. “I don’t think they were trannies, they were just enjoying themselves a bit too much…” he says, trailing off. “I love to play outside the cities. Henry [Wagons] is very good to travel with. He’s a great performer. It was pretty good fun… people come and see me in regional places – I haven’t toured that widely out of the cities… it’s funny to meet people who know you for one or two songs… mainly one song, that is, Rock ‘n Roll is Where I Hide… probably one of my strangest songs, too.” Speaking of strange, Dave was apparently attracted
to the “dark glamour” of music, something that was evoked by a Led Zeppelin poster owned by his sister. “Led Zeppelin were a group that never put out singles, after Whole Lotta Love… rock music was so big, there was such a big, monolithic audience, and it wasn’t generally divided up into niches like it is now. Every record was released out to this vast audience. Led Zeppelin just ran the show. They weren’t listening to radio people or marketing people – they just did whatever they liked… it was a world where rock music never came into your house, unless it was brought in by your older sister or brother. It wasn’t really on TV or radio. There was still great pop music around, but there was this otherworld you had to go seek out… I guess it’s still around, in the most loyal form of music now, heavy metal – those fans stick with the acts and they find out about that somehow through word-of-mouth and it’s really vast… you don’t see it written about in mainstream media and it’s probably really good because of [that]. A music magazine is more sophisticated than a daily paper. A daily paper always has to say something like ‘Keith Richards, guitarist of The Rolling Stones, a group started in 1960…’ in a rock magazine, you can just say
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SAUCE #78
‘Keith Richards’ and people know what you’re talking about. Well, they should.” And they’ll know the next sentence – ‘He’s snorted someone’s ashes off the back of some hooker somewhere…’ Dave laughs in agreement. “Yeah! That’s more sophisticated, that’s what I mean! It’s like you’re among friends. That’s what I was drawn to – it was like a world outside of my immediate vicinity – glamorous and exciting.” To what extent is he trying to creep into people’s bedrooms and scare them, now he’s part of that world? “Well, in rock music, I often say I’m not inside it at all. For better or worse, I’m really outside it still. I got into music through punk rock and that was… a last blast of people really believing in rock music. In hindsight now, that’s seen as an aberration – an elitist one because it wasn’t a mass thing. People only refer to AC/DC, or whatever, nowadays, in music of the 70s, but punk rock was THE thing, it was really powerful and I was into that. That’s been the biggest influence on me and that’s the kind of lyrical side of things. I write about music
itself, and I learned about that from punk rock music,” he reflects. “My music isn’t played on any radio, not Triple J – nothing. So I can’t get into people’s lounge rooms. I would love to… I don’t fit into any format or niche. There’s nothing I can do about that. Musicians shouldn’t try and fashion themselves to fit into those shapes that people make. Musicians should hold onto what they’re doing, for better or worse, and just do it. So that’s what I do, really.” Somewhere in Maitland, someone’s wallet is returned to them - courtesy Dave Graney. sCHRIS RATTRAY Dave Graney rolls into Tasmania with Henry Wagons on: 0 October 2 @ Batman Fawkner 0 October 3 @ Stage Door The Café 0 October 4 @ The Alley Cat Bar His new album, We Wuz Curious, is out now. Catch the rest of this interview at www.sauce.net.au
New Act a Real Drag ROCK - SYDNEY // TEX PERKINS AND HIS LADYBOYZ
wasted a good three minutes, David!” says Tex. “Hit me with the biggies. Let’s get a rapport going and we’ll launch into the three big o“We’ve issues you wanna cover…” But with a new album out, No. 1’s & No. 2’s, how can we possibly hit three big issues? DAVID WILLIAMS gives it a go… It was a really nice surprise to discover drag queens were going to be performing with you. How did the Ladyboyz become part of this show? They’re not Ladyboys! Ladyboys are the ones that have had their old fellas removed. [Amelia Airhead and Mini Cooper] are drag queens, which is entirely different; they still have their genitalia. It’s the male genitalia that’s still attached to their bodies. They’re only impersonating women. They’re not “ladyboys” as in transsexuals who have had their existing genitals removed. I just thought I had to pull you up there, make sure we got our terminology correct. We don’t want to offend the transgender community… You don’t want to offend me either, mate. I get sensitive about these issues. How did I come to get drag queens on the show, that’s what you wanna know? This is another benefit of knowing Jimmy Barnes. He rang me up one afternoon saying “Tex! I can’t take Jane to the… drag queen awards… will you do me a favour and escort her there?” As a good mate, I was only too happy to escort Jane to the drag queen awards. Anyway, there
we were amongst four hundred people, two hundred of them being drag queens… I plugged into that network, if you will, and Amelia Airhead was one of the frontrunners. Tora Hymen is probably the top drag queen on the circuit, but Amelia Airhead is a personal friend of ours, that’s why he got the gig. How often do you dress up in drag, Tex? Not my thing. I’ve done it, but it’s not really my game. I was in a video for The Cruel Sea many years ago and I was dressed as a woman. I’m not the sort of bloke you can pull on a few things and pretend to be a woman. I look more like a gorilla than a man so to turn a gorilla into a woman is very tough, so they had to really, really drag me up; really exaggerated stuff, more akin to a blow-up doll, really. With this tour, with Amelia, will it all be number ones and twos? You’re a cryptic question asker there, David… what do you mean by that? Is it all piss and shit? I could’ve taken that three ways – is it all piss and shit? Are you only going to play just the album, which is called No. 1’s
Wednesday October 1 Bunny 8pm Free Entry
Saturday October 4 $12 9pm
D av e Gr an ey
& He nr y Wa go ns
Sunday October 12 8pm
Su re Sh ot Hu nte rs
Thursday October 2 Jaimi Faulkner Blind Dead McJones 9pm $4 Saturday October 4 Dave Graney & Henry Wagons (Melb) 9pm $12 Wednesday October 8 The Eddy O Show 8pm Free Entry Thursday October 9 Ejecter Heather Crowther The Ben Wells Band $5 9pm
& No. 2’s, or are you only going to be playing number ones and number twos – anything that charted in those positions? Which of these are you actually throwing at me? What do you interpret it to be, Tex? Well, it’s just the way you set it all up… it’s like you were talking about the material. I’m baffled! We’ll pretty much play the entire album and then some… there’s a lot of material we could do… as is our style, to keep the value-for-money nature of the act, we’ll keep to close to four hours… close to four. Probably two. Comparing with the vast expanse of time, two hours is pretty close to four. I could have said six.
Talking in those terms, how did you feel when you heard they were going to switch on the Hadron Particle Accelerator? I heard about it after it happened! That’s a beauty isn’t it! Were you sitting around just waiting? Did you have a countdown? They didn’t know what was gonna happen – what did happen? The experiment’s not over, is it? The whole process takes a few months. Maybe it’s not over
yet – we’re not outta the woods just yet, Dave! The tracks that you’ve got on No. 1’s and No. 2’s, ‘fess up – you had to choose that title because it did have the double entendre, didn’t you? That’s just an oversight. Michael Jackson himself has had an album called Number One, and I thought well, I can take that further. That’s only really dealing with half the truth. That would be silly if we did that on purpose. We wouldn’t do that! We won’t let it happen again! sDAVID WILLIAMS
Catch Tex Perkins and his Ladyboyz on 0 October 17 @ The Wrest Point Casino 0 October 18 @ The Country Club Casino Their new album No. 1’S & 2’S is out now. Listen to the rest of this interview at www.sauce.net.au.
Friday October 10 DJ Big Al Saturday October 11 The No No's 9pm $5 Sunday October 12 Sure Shot Hunters (Melb) 8pm Wednesday October 15 Chi Roh 8pm FREE Thursday October 16 Argus $5 9pm Friday October 17 Coby Grant (Melb) Let the Cat Out 9.30pm $6
Alley Cat
The Alley Cat Bar 381 Elizabeth Street North Hobart 03 6231 2299 Wednesday Night Special 6pm - 9.30pm $10 Beaut Beer & Bonza Burger Night. Your choice of beef, chicken or vege Alley Cat Burger with a 10oz. of Cascade Draught or Pale Ale.
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ROCK - SYDNEY// JORDAN MILLAR AND THE QUESTION
To Live The Dream or Not To Live the Dream o
That is the question… or is it? Jordan Miller is accompanied by the question, but to my mind, the question is whether you can say you’ve truly arrived with an appearance on The Morning Show with Larry Emdur. “It was a good time meeting him,” says Jordan. “In fact, I think everyone in the band was excited, he’s very smooth.”
Some bands take years to get on The Morning Show to what do you attribute your relatively quick rise? We just got lucky I think. We’ve got a great manager who hustles hard for us, and luckily they liked our music enough to give us a shot on the show… we accidentally broke the noise restrictions though so whether they have us back or not is another question. You mentioned you moved from Tasmania to Sydney to “live the dream” – how’s the reality compare to the dream? Ha, I don’t think I moved here to live the dream, as such; more that I just wanted to have a real go at it and see what happened! However, I can tell you that I’m a fair way away from living the dream at the moment… Unless Centrelink student benefits are the dream?
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What are some of the happy accidents that have occurred to make the band possible? The happy accidents: We all met at a jam night in Kings Cross. We all like good music. We all like to eat Subway. We all want a career in music, and we all think that free gear is good…would anyone like to give us free gear? What were some of the pivotal moments that led you to pursue “the dream”? You know, after thinking about this for a while, I can’t really think of any major moments that stick out. But I think it was more the ongoing encouragement from family and friends, as well as the occasional competition win or wise word from someone in the industry that has kept me chasing it. What’s been the most challenging thing you’ve had
to confront to make it all happen for you? I suppose it’s just confronting having to live away from home, having to do the muso thing and struggle from week to week to get by, and not knowing whether it’s going to all work out or not. See, if you’re at Uni studying to be an accountant, you know that at the end of the day you’re going to be an accountant. Being a songwriter and musician you never know if it’s going to happen or not and I think that’s the challenge more than anything. What’s been the biggest compliment you’ve received about your live act or album, and who did it come from? There have been a few highlights from people like Michael Chugg, Rai Thistlewaite, Courtney Hard and Paul McKercher, but I can’t specifically remember what they said and don’t want to misquote. It was just general enthusiasm for the music, which is good. What particular tracks are you most proud of on your new album and why?
My favourite is the title track, Lies In Translations. I think it’s a very honest song lyrically, and I think it sums us up as a band in three and half minutes. It’s a complex rhythm and guitar riff, but doesn’t overcrowd itself with musicianship, which is something I’m always trying for. You’re heading back to Tasmania to do some gigs down here – aside from the gigs, what are you most looking forward to about being back? Mum and Dad and the rest of the family, Banjo’s sausage rolls, The Dogs and Salamanca breakfasts! sCHRIS RATTRAY Catch Jordan Miller and the Question on:
0 October 10 @ The Hub Bar 0 October 11 @ The Republic Bar Their new album, Lies In Translation, is out now. Have a squiz at their website for more details: www.jmq.tumblr.com
ROCK – MELBOURNE // THE SURE SHOT HUNTERS
ab
ou …S t i om ta e s b pe ei op ng le “m tal at k hy ”…
A New Jam For Breakfast
name The Sure Shot Hunters is like our music, strong, straight o“The to the point and delivers a dynamic version of blues, rock and funk,”
says Zevon Hiltz, lead vocalist of Melbourne “jam band”, The Sure Shot Hunters. “We all give an equal part in writing in the group and have bold musical ideas – which supports the group’s name.”
On your MySpace page, you describe yourselves as a “jam band”. What is that? And what about honey and Vegemite, two of my favourites? Jam band is exactly what it says, we jam a lot and come up with ideas for original tunes via jamming a lot, and during shows we start with funk-based ideas and record them, then take the good bits and write tunes with them. Honey, a sure thing on everything from toast with peanut butter to a lady’s neck… [Laughs]…Vegemite is not bad, with tomato and S&P… What has playing with Mia Dyson, The Black Sorrows and Jeff Lang taught you? We were on the same bill as those cats earlier in the year at the Broadbeach Blues Festival on the GC. It actually brings our band’s playing up because one of them could be in the crowd and we want to blow them away and raise the bar; we try and do that every time we hit the stage. Who would you most like to be compared to, and who would you most not like to be compared to? Comparisons are all through this industry but we would like to push the boundaries of our own playing, and
ROCK - WOLLONGONG // OHANA
the nucleus we have, being together for four years, no other band ever could play like we do. If compared at all maybe a combination of Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, John Butler, Ben Harper and the Chili Peppers? What’s your sales pitch for people to buy your debut album, After Midnight? This album is twelve original tracks that took just over a year of recording and fine-tuning to complete. The album is a combination of blues, funk, soul and reggae. We like playing music that makes you dance, sing and feel something and we believe that this album does that. Buy it and see for yourself or come see a show and make your own mind up… sDAVID WILLIAMS
Upcoming shows: 0 10 Oct 2008 @ Batman Fawkner 0 11 Oct 2008 @ The Republic Bar w/ Jordan Millar 0 12 Oct 2008 @ The Alley Cat Their new album, After Midnight, is out now.
Four Noisy Boys Reach Critical Math Will Farrier sounds pretty happy when I call. He should be – oOhana’s his band’s new album, Dead Beat was released only a day prior to the interview, but there was no time to celebrate. “It’s a bit of a relief to have it out,” he says. “But there’s a lot more work to do.”
It would seem to be a cause of celebration, but Will and the band got in a little earlier. “We celebrated the end of the recording, which is a much better time to celebrate,” he says. “You can sort of shake off the stress of the whole thing. I think recording, as a whole, is always going to be pretty stressful. This time, it was actually a lot more comfortable, a lot more relaxed than previous times. I just think we’re a bit more confident in what we were doing, and we were working with an engineer we admired, which made it a lot easier. But yeah, recording, full stop, is gonna be stressful.” I wonder why that is. After all, making music with friends seems like a pretty fun thing to do. Will elaborates, “We make sure we’ve got everything down pat before we go in. We know what we’re heading towards and the songs are all rehearsed and stuff, and we record pretty much live without going over, fixing mistakes and stuff. It is what it is. So, it’s not stressful in that sense, but I think, because you are recording it live, your takes have gotta be spot-on. There’s only so many times you can go back over it before you just lose the feel. I think that’s the most stressful thing. Once it’s all out then we were joking around – once the takes were done, everything was a lot more relaxed.” That makes sense to me, because Ohana’s music demands a lot of attention. Is it as complex to play as it is to listen? Will laughs. “I don’t know – I guess it’s more complex than some music. It’s all relative. I certainly don’t feel like I’ve mastered my instrument or anything like that, but I guess there’s a bit more going on than a power-pop type of song. Some people talk about it as being “mathy” but I really don’t think in these extravagant time signatures or anything like that… but yeah, it does demand a lot of attention to play. It’s an intense sort of experience, I think.” And with their songs described as ‘geometric spaces with defined dimensions- all too easily filled up by the first strike of a traditional rock instrument…’ “I guess we’re asking for it!” Will says, laughing again. “Maybe we caught on to that and we’re going with it, but that
seems to be the general way people approach our stuff; that was just how we were thinking about our songs… our older stuff was a lot more chaotic with a million things going on at once and the whole idea of the song gets lost. This time we were thinking – it was sort of like Tetris – we were writing songs that were sort of like a skeleton and… layering it up a bit to see what we could add to a song without things being there just for the sake of it. You’ve got four boys playing rock music – there’s nothing new about that. It is, for the most part, kind of a noisy, ramshackle thing… we were trying to search for a bit of space in the songs, a bit of silence. I’m just really enjoying the parts where I don’t play! There’s something I’m really liking about when things drop in and drop out, and just leaving room for other things to breathe a lot more, and the songs as a whole just come across much better that way.” So how do audiences respond, typically? “People have just started dancing lately, which is just amazing. After so many years of playing to audiences who are interested and nodding their heads, and maybe being really interested and really nodding their head, it’s nice to have someone get into it completely and see people… dancing. It’s really nice. We’re not your typical dance kind of band. It’s more than it used to be. It used to be a more, sort of, straightforward and catchy rhythm, but it’s not The Presets or anything like that. It’s not club music. But that’s a recent development and that’s nice.” Here’s to Ohana for inducing the full-body nod in their audiences. sCHRIS RATTRAY
Get mathy with Ohana on: 0 10 October @ The Brisbane Hotel 0 11 October @ Arts Alive (Launceston) Their new album, Dead Beat, is available now from Tommy Gun in Hobart and Loose Change Records in Launceston. SAUCE #78
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WHAT’S THE STORY? With Everybody From Blue Team Go!
o
Apparently the lads from Blue Team Go! are making punk fun again. I for one can’t wait. For too long I’ve suffered through pretentious power pop punk wannabes and want… no - need to get my head kicked in by some motherlovin’ balls-to-the-wall hardcore punk!
Blue Team Go! - What’s the story… Behind your band name? We met at a LAN party. We bonded over our love of World of Warcraft. We then discussed Halo and decided that blue team were in fact better than red team. About how your band got together? Half of Tokyo Gun Club + Half of Shock Corridor + love of hardcore + love of a good time = Blue Team Go! About how you ended up in your role in the band? Too unco to play an instrument = singer. Dopest brah on guitar = guitar. Second best drummer in the band = drummer. Chiko, the man of justice = bass. Of the last time you were in trouble with the law? Joel is midiens; trolley destruction derby, Fieldy; Richy is the orange light bandit, and Nick was caught drink driving last week.
Of the last famous person you met? Brody Dalle at a family barbecue with Josh Homme and their baby girl. Behind your most prized non-music related possession? My dope ride, Nikon D70, goon bag and Playstation 3. Behind your most prized music-related possession? Boss Tuner, Vox AC30, Microphones on loan and disco bricks. We’ll be writing about your band in five years? If we all die in a horrific plane crash over Guatemala…. Blue Team Go! gets their hopes up about an obituary in some Central American rag on: 0 October 11 @ The Hub Bar Catch them before they die horrible, horrible deaths.
There’s Always Something ... WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 1 Nathan Wheldon YoungerDryas
WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 8 Falls Festival Playoff: Invisible Boy Nathan Wheldon & The Two Timers
THURSDAY OCTOBER 2 Ben Castles FRIDAY OCTOBER 3 The Unit TURN THE DIAL TO 11 With Marita Mangano 11 years ago… I left Brisbane in my Datsun 120Y with a computer monitor in the front passenger seat, a guitar and duffle bag of clothes in the back and my pet rat, Rastus, in his travel cage headed for the bright lights of Sydney… 11 months ago… I recorded twelve of my original songs at Tone Pacer Studio in Brisbane and eight of them were one-takes. They just felt right, so I let them have a life… 11 weeks ago… I was getting ready to tour in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. I played nine gigs in six weeks and just travelled with a nap-sack and guitar in hand. Trains, trams, buses, planes, cars and legs… 11 days ago… I landed back in Tasmania and I am so glad to breathe the air and feel cool air on my face. I come alive in Tasmania. I have jumped straight back into the never-ending tour with gigs in Launceston and Burnie…
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4 Mick Attard Mayfield SUNDAY OCTOBER 5 Ciaran van den Berg Ben Castles The Velvet Lounge
The Staunches Muddy Turds The Stoics THURSDAY OCTOBER 9 Tash & Caz FRIDAY OCTOBER 10 Long Way Home SATURDAY OCTOBER 11 In Limbo
MONDAY OCTOBER 6 Nathan Wheldon
SUNDAY OCTOBER 12 Hamish & Sara Glen Moorehouse Victor Charlie Charlie
TUESDAY OCTOBER 7 Sambo
MONDAY OCTOBER 13 Phil Picasso
11 hours ago…I had finalised the forthcoming dates for some upcoming gigs (see below)… 11 minutes ago…I had a chai latte with soy and extra honey. You can never have enough honey. I want to remember the taste as one day we may all go without. Apparently the bee colonies of the world are depleting at a rapid pace due to loss of habitat, like for everything else. The bees are the “canaries” of the earth, so we humans are in a lot of trouble. We’re definitely not sweeties! 11 years from now? I want to be healthy and have a simpler life and downsize my need for stuff as much as possible. I want to live on an island and grow my own vegies and enjoy day-to-day salutations to the sun, moon and what’s left of the bees. Upcoming Shows: 0 October 2 @ The Brisbane Hotel 0 October 4 @ The Prince Of Wales 0 October 5 @ Brookfield Vineyard 0 October 12 @ Wynyard Top Pub 8
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TUESDAY OCTOBER 14 Ben Castles
... Happening At Irish Murphy’s L I V E M U S I C 7 DAY S 3 BARS / FUNCTIONS AVAILABLE / RESTAURANT WOOD FIRED PIZZAS / LOG FIRES / ROOFTOP BAR OUTSIDE
211 BRISBANE ST LAUNCESTON 6331 4440
IN THE BOATSHED
Saturday October 4 at 9pm Launceston Blues Club presents
Jaimi Faulkner Saturday October 11 at 7pm $12
North / South Music Showcase Wizard, Halfway to Forth, Hindrum, Reuben Ellenberger, Samuel Cole, Ejecter, NoFoTo & Hannah IN THE BAR Wednesday October 1 at 9pm
Mark Vincent Thursday October 2 at 9pm
Sara, Hamish & Nathan Wheldon Friday October 3 at 9pm
Turry Beevor Sunday October 5 at 5pm
Open Folk Session (Open Jam) Wednesday October 8 at 9pm
Jerome Hillier Thursday October 9 at 9pm
Samuel Bester Friday October 10 at 9pm
The return of S&M Sunday October 11 at 9pm
Open Folk Session
DJ PROFILE: DJ KELI HART One of the most well established Sydney-based DJ’s on the scene right now, Keli loves nothing more than sexy, sassy, dirty electro house mixed with just the right amount of breaks. A regular at Moulin Rouge in the Cross, this half Aussie, half Austrian knows how to get the most out of her decks. We went hart-to-hart with Keli ahead of her upcoming gig at Syrup for more… How’d you get into DJ’ing? Basically I went from going out to see my favourite DJ’s to wanting to do it myself. I wanted to play the music that I thought would get people dancing. I definitely have an in-built love for music and wanted to be able to share the passion. To what extent do you think you’ve fulfilled your desire to “breathe new life into the Australian dance scene?” Let’s just say I’m getting there! Haha! Every single time I play I’m aiming to fulfill that desire. I hope with my music selection and performance that I’m always contributing something new and different to the scene.
DJ PROFILE: DR. J Dr. J (formerly DJ Joycie) is a fixture on the local scene in Tasmania’s North, responsible for obtaining some of the biggest acts to hit Launceston in the last few months, while maintaining his own regular nights at The James Hotel. But changes are afoot, as he explains… How’d you get into DJ’ing? It all started off by me being a regular clubber going to every event every week in Launceston and Hobart for about a year before I caught the bug and started to go to a mate’s place and try and use his gear. After two months of playing on his decks I had to go out and get my own. After about three months of having my own decks I was thrown into the deep end and played my first show. At the time, I thought I was as good as Carl Cox. Looking back to that day the people there listening to me must have thought they were at the Melbourne Cup. In what other groups might we have seen you perform? About two years ago Randall Stafford and I started a group we called the Allied Force, which consisted of Randall (The Butcher) on electric drums and myself on decks just mashing Breaks up. We played about twelve shows together then gave it up. What’s the best thing about DJ’ing at The James Hotel? At the moment I am playing at The James Hotel every Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday Nights, which has been awesome. I get the chance to play the tunes that I want to hear, and the crowd’s into them as well. This has been the best venue to play at over the past few years for that very reason.
(Open Jam)
When sourcing new music, what recent musical discovery have you made that surprised you and why? Last week I saw that a new remix of Lola’s Theme was at the top of the Beatport Charts - does that count? I am definitely noticing now, more than ever, a return of a lot of the classics remixed. What’s the strangest request anyone’s ever made of you and what’d you do? I couldn’t believe it when another DJ friend of mine said he’d been asked for a drink while playing behind the decks but just last week someone asked me! It was so funny I couldn’t control myself. The person was so smashed she wouldn’t have known which way was up or down. I probably should have said “No problem” and taken the cash but instead I pointed her towards the bar. What was the last album or track you heard that you can’t get out of your head and why? My new track - because I’ve been playing it over and over and over in the studio AND because it is so damn hot, of course!
What’s the strangest request anyone’s ever made of you and what’d you do? The worst song that I have ever been asked to play was the Chipmunk Song,…yeah, right. If someone asks me for a track that I have got and works in with what I am playing I’ll give it a spin, and if I don’t have it I just give them a smile and nod.
What’s the sexiest thing you’ve ever seen on a dancefloor? The whole crowd jumping up and down and going crazy to a hot electro track with a dirty bass line is the sexiest thing to me. Out of everything you’ve been doing lately, what’s been the most challenging and/or rewarding? I am finally putting the finishing touches on my first “release worthy” track with interest already from labels here in Australia and overseas. When it gets released that will be the biggest reward!
Wednesday October 15 at 9pm
Live Music
GREAT FOOD
OPEN MIC NIGHT
THE LAST WEDNESDAY
OF EVERY MONTH
OPEN 7 DAYS
14 Brisbane Street, Launceston 6331 5346
Who do you hope to see in the crowd at your gigs? People who are loving the music, loving being there and dancing their arses off!
Don’t miss Keli Hart! 0 11 October @ Syrup
Tuesday October 7th 9pm - 11:30pm
Prairie Nischler
What was the last album or song you listened to that you can’t get out of your head and why? Every now and again a track comes along that when I play it makes me go nuts when I am DJ’ing. At the moment, it’s a track called Star Guitar by Shinchi Osawa, it has enough in the track to keep all the ladies happy and on the other side has balls to keep all the lads rocking.
Patrick Berechree
Where will you be playing next? The next main event I play at The James Hotel will be for its farewell party on Saturday 18th October. There will be six DJ’s that night all doing back-to-back sets so we can have a bit more fun with the crowd at The James Hotel’s last night, as we know it.
Seth Henderson (Hannah)
The James Hotel is going to have massive renovations [done] to it - new name, new look, new sound and lights, new bar, new toilets, all new venue inside and out. It’s definitely going to change from a venue where people end up to a venue were people are going to start their night at and stay.
FREE ENTRY @ THE GREENHOUSE
Tim Downey
Irish Murphy’s DR. J PLAYS REGULARLY AT LAUNCESTON’S JAMES HOTEL – CHECK THE ENTERTAINMENT GUIDE FOR MORE DETAILS!
21 Salamanca Place, Hobart
Ph: 6223 1119 SAUCE #78
9
ROCK - HOBART// HANNAH
New EP Acts as Memorial the moment, as it stands, I believe it’s our best work to date and o“At the first time we have recordings which really represent our live
show,” says Hannah’s bass player, Seth Henderson, in regards to their new EP, Act One. “It’s a cliché but there’s something for everyone to enjoy and relate to from listening to it – energy, fun, love, peace, and everything else in between.”
“…there’d be these photographs of floating turds and things with our heads coming out…” BLUES - SYDNEY // THE BONDI CIGARS
Cigars to Float Across Strait of their Tasmanian tour, DAVID WILLIAMS pondered oAhead the bigger questions – The Bondi Cigars: a euphemism for joints
or penises? “Well, you’re right in half of it,” says strangely unfazed bass player, Al Britton, “I’ve never heard it used to allude to your manhood; but definitely towards joints and faeces. That’s the two I’m acquainted with.” Al explains...
The name came about because of the ocean outfall they put out in 1989 and there was a bit of a protest against that when it occurred. They’ve since closed it down, I believe. What they used to do is they used to pump this sewerage waste out a couple of kilometres out to an outlet which then released it into the ocean, which was a charming idea. I think they’ve overcome that one now. I remember there were turds floating amongst the surfers… That’s right – the floating turds. It used to be the bane of one [of our] particular employee’s jokes, or the butt of his jokes anyway. Every time we used to go visit there’d be these photographs of floating turds and things with our heads coming out… that was his sense of humour. It was water off our back, anyway. You guys have been around for a while – what’s the secret to your longevity? Firstly, all the guys are pretty healthy. They don’t have any mad habits or whatever. Plus, we’re always writing tunes and are in the process of recording a new album at the moment, which we’ve got pretty close to at least the halfway mark, so we should have some new product on the market within six to eight months. And is it still exciting to work within the blues genre? I wouldn’t say we’re a straight-ahead blues band, by any stretch of the imagination. Basically, we write original tunes that draw on the blues, soul, r’n’b, and even… loose country rock. In a way it’s a bit of a misnomer. We’re just a band, as far as we’re concerned, even though we do tend to play a lot of roots n’ blues type festivals. To me, it’s just an original band touring their way around Australia. So what’s going to be surprising your fans on the new album? I don’t know, I haven’t asked anyone yet! We’re keeping it a secret. How far into recording are you? We’re over the halfway mark. We’ve got all the backing tracks done… we had a good session yesterday. We did an acoustic number up there and that’s worked out
well. Usually, every second or third album we’ll put an acoustic track on it, so this one’s turned out really well especially since we basically learned it on the spot and recorded it yesterday. That was all live. And what about a Bondi Cigars live performance – what’s the atmosphere you guys create these days? Pure excitement! Ripping your hair out! Arming yourself with oiled cabbage and eggs to throw at us! That wasn’t what I was expecting… Me either, so I hope people don’t take you up on that when you print it! We might have to put up the chicken wire! It reminds me of The Blues Brothers where they perform Rawhide – have you guys had any gigs like that, where it just goes out of control? Absolutely, we’ve had several gigs like that! One in particular was in a place called Katanning in Western Australia, it’s in the wheat and sheep-belt area, and it’s a small, rural town, with some beautiful old buildings in it. It was established in the mid-18oo’s; yes, we played at this particular hotel in there, we had a huge crowd, a multiple band show… and then, all of a sudden, someone yelled out “Fight!” and the whole place just erupted! I wish we’d have had a video camera there because it was an absolutely bizarre night. This occurred at the gig and it spilled over out onto the footpath. They kept going for several hours so everyone totally ignored the gig and went out and watched the fight in the street. Then, after the fight subsided, they all went and bought cartons of beer and opened all the cartons up, laid them down on the footpath by the hotel and proceeded to have their own private party out there, which went ‘til about four or five o’clock in the morning. When I got up in the morning and went outside, there were still three or four corpses lying there with bottles of alcohol around and various other substances. So, that was Katanning for you! s DAVID WILLIAMS
What was the easiest part of making it? The easiest part was the people - three best mates and an engineer/producer that was a great bloke. Rob was easy to get along with, extremely knowledgeable and listened to our ideas. He also had a lot of really good ideas himself. I suppose that means the easiest part was talking and expressing our ideas. We tried everything without fear or embarrassment. You can always delete a track.
Every time I hear that song or play it I feel sad but I am also grateful that something good could come from such a tragic event in terms of that we are able to express our feelings and the feelings of our friends and provide some sort or form of continuing memory. Music is my favourite thing so I’m glad we could write a song about our friend to remind us that life is precious. I feel it symbolises a memory that we relive when someone is tragically taken from us.
What was the hardest? Cutting down the amount of ideas to something that sounded uncluttered. There were a lot of musical ideas to try and picking the ones we did determined what kind of release we were putting out. I’m glad we ended up sounding like a three-piece rock band.
How do you guys distinguish yourselves, in terms of your live performance, compared with other bands in Hobart? I don’t think I’d really like to compare but I would say that we love playing and we believe in being totally comfortable up there. It’s great to feed off a crowd’s energy and vice-versa. It’s our show so we can really do whatever we feel. When I say “our show” I mean us, as a band, and everyone watching too. There are no real rules; it’s great.
Who has had the greatest influence on the EP, from within the band? It’s hard to say. Alister and I laid a foundation for melodical and lyrical expression by Chris. Both of these things influenced each other I think. It’s really up to the listener to realise what parts influence them and what parts that they feel “make the song”. And what about from outside the band? During the recording process definitely Rob Long from Birdland studios. But to be honest it didn’t feel to me like he was outside the band. Also, probably everyone we have played with and met over the journey so far has provided some form of influence on who or where we are at currently. The track, Drive Safe, is a ballad inspired by the death of a friend. To what extent has producing this track been like therapy, and to what extent is it a painful reminder, every time you play it? Or do you have different feelings about it?
& HIS LADYBOYZ
FRIDAY 17 OCTOBER WREST POINT SHOWROOM
SATURDAY 18 OCTOBER COUNTRY CLUB SHOWROOM
Upcoming shows: 0 11 October @ The Royal Oak 0 22 October EP Launch @ Irish Murphy’s (Hobart) For a sneak preview of the EP go to: http://www.myspace.com/hannahtheband
CATCH THE BONDI CIGARS At the Launceston Blues and Roots Festival on: 0 October 24-26 @ The Batman Fawner Inn
BRIAN MCFADDEN
NOISEWORKS SATURDAY NOVEMBER 1 WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE* TEX PERKINS
What’s the best gig you’ve played so far, and why? Our best gigs have been when we play to almost no one and still go as hard as if it were a crowd of thousands. That’s what I think shows how good a band you are and also how professional you are. I think any live act can take a lot of lessons from The Vasco Era. They are the most passionate live band I’ve ever seen no matter what the circumstances. sDAVID WILLIAMS
SCREAMING JETS
FRIDAY NOVEMBER 14
WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE
FRIDAY 21 NOVEMBER
WREST POINT SHOWROOM*
SATURDAY 22 NOVEMBER
COUNTRY CLUB SHOWROOM*
JIMMY
BARNES
MARTHA WAINWRIGHT
SATURDAY 8 NOVEMBER
SATURDAY 19 NOVEMBER
WREST POINT ENTERTAINMENT CENTRE *
WREST POINT SHOWROOM *
Tickets for Wrest Point & Country Club shows contact 1300 795 257 www.wrestpoint.com.au or www.countryclubtasmania.com.au 10
SAUCE #78
*Over 18 show only
PUNK - LAUNCESTON// PHOENIX LIGHTS
Full Wood Lights Up New Sound had been in its most stable line up for some time and that line up had really started to develop it’s own sound. We just wanted o“Halfmast to start things fresh really,” says vocalist, Ben Galvin, explaining his band’s name change to Phoenix Lights. “We wanted to shed the
conceptions people had about Halfmast as well as giving identity to the new stuff we were writing. When any of us used to mention to people that we were in Halfmast a lot of people would say things like ‘Oh I saw you guys play at a College Social a few years ago.’ It’s not the sort of impression you want people to have of you when you’re trying to make a reputation as a professional well-polished act.” What did you get up to in your recent four-month break? We didn’t really break for all that long, We had maybe a month without playing mainly because of problems Meddy (our drummer) has with his wrist, but apart from that we pretty much took a fair amount of time out to write a new set and record a four-track demo that we are handing out at shows and shit. Why should we care that you’re back? The fact that we hadn’t played any shows for the best part of six months is pretty unusual for us and as anyone would know who came to our gigs on a regular basis before our break we would be playing shows once or twice a month. Anyone who enjoyed that later Halfmast stuff will love these new Phoenix Lights tunes and by the same token a lot of people who may not have been into Halfmast before might find our new stuff to be more to their liking. The Phoenix Light’s set, as a whole, is much more focused and a lot more powerful. It’s been over a year since the release of your last album (as Halfmast), 6 YEARS.... 12,000 BEERS – what is the mix of your current live act between that material and new? We’re not playing anything off 6 Years… 12,000 Beers anymore. Our new set is pretty much all stuff that we wrote in our time off from playing shows. That was the whole idea of the name change really. Some of the Halfmast songs we were playing before we had a break we had been playing for nearly five years and were so different from the stuff we were writing at the time. If we had just changed our name and kept on playing the same old songs that would have defeated the purpose of the name change. Phoenix Lights is a completely separate band from Halfmast in its own right and the songs and the couple of shows we have played really reflect that. Indulge me a moment tell me about the last most
self-righteous and preachy bullshit you heard recently? Ben is a bit of a gamer and one of the songs that we have written lately, called M.A.I.A.F.D.C. (abbreviation for “Michael Atkinson is a f*cking dog c*nt”), is about the South Australian Attorney General Michael Atkinson who is basically being a stubborn prick by blocking the introduction of an R18+ classification for video games in Australia. You can be playing Grand Theft Auto and shoot a prostitute in the head and then continually beat her dead body with a baseball bat and that’s okay for an M15+ rating but apparently actually making use of her services is too risqué. The whole thing stinks of hypocrisy. Australia is so far behind the times in regard to games classification and the rest of the world is laughing at us. It’s not the most important issue in the world today but it’s conservative idiots like this guy who take the responsibility away from parents to control what their children play or watch that really are the bane of society. To what do you attribute the unique bond between your members that makes it such a joy to play with each other? None of us are wankers, that’s what it pretty much what it boils down to. We take a pretty relaxed approach, most of the shows we play, and I think it means we all enjoy the experience a lot more. We don’t go out to play the tightest, most amazing set anyone has ever heard, we go out there to have a good time and make sure the people who’ve come to see us do too. You can be the best band in the universe but if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing what is the f*cking point? We jam to make sure we play a tight show, we play shows to have a good time. You list Dio under your influences – what’s your favourite Dio album and song and why? Ben is the big Dio fan in the group and if he had to name his favourite Dio album it would have to be Holy Diver.
That album is probably one ne of his favourite albums of all time. If you look at a lott of alternative music today you can trace it back to Dio Dio, whether that band was influenced by Dio directly or have been influenced by another band that is influenced by Dio in most cases you will find that all roads lead to Dio.
Not saying what we’ve written so far is sub-standard because the song writin writing in Phoenix Lights is way more developed than the stuff stu we’ve done in the past, it’s just our sound is still developing. Once we start to get an idea of exactly where the band is heading we will be able to really focus on putting out a kick ass release.
If, six years and twelve thousand beers from now, some sub-editor of a local street press magazine asked the question of a band “what’s your favourite Phoenix Lights album or song and why?” how do you think they’d answer? It would definitely be a song we haven’t written as yet.
Get full wood with Phoenix Lights! 0 October 3 @ The Brisbane Hotel 0 October 4 @ The Commercial Hotel 0 October 25 Halowe’en Havoc @ The Hub
New Website. Tix Available Online REPUBLIC BAR & CAFE www.republicbar.com 299 Elizabeth St North Hobart Ph. 6234 6954
THURSDAY OCTOBER 2ND AT 9PM
FRIDAY OCTOBER 3RD AT 10PM
ASH GRUNWALD
BLACKALICIOUS
$12 PRE / $15 DOOR
$42PRE / $50 DOOR
SATURDAY OCTOBER 4TH AT 10PM
THE STOICS
SATURDAY OCTOBER 11TH AT 10PM $3
JORDAN MILLAR
$10
9pm
1 Wednesday OCT 8th
Brian Fraser
9pm
9pm
1 Thursday OCT 9th
Falls Playoffs
9pm
Blackalicious(US) + Lateef the Truthspeaker (US) + Thief (Melb) $42+bf pre/$50 door 10PM
1 Friday OCT 10th
Simon Russell & Guilty As Charged $3
10pm
1 Saturday OCT 4th
The Stoics + Half Way To Forth
10pm
1 Saturday OCT 11th
Jordan Millar
10pm
1 Sunday OCT 5th
Trumps
9pm
1 Sunday OCT 12th
Cake Walking Babies
9pm
1 Monday OCT 6th
Oberon Carter + Michael Shelly
9pm
1 Monday OCT 13th
Quiz Night
8.15pm
1 Tuesday OCT 7th
Edwin Morris
9pm
1 Tuesday OCT 14th
The Sign
9pm
1 Wednesday OCT 1st
Jaimi Faulkner
1 Thursday OCT 2nd
Ash Grunwald
1 Friday OCT 3rd
$20pre/$25door
$3
$10
SAUCE #78
11
UNDER THE COVERS With Eric Mertes of Magic Carpet Ride New band, Magic Carpet Ride, is set for takeoff at their debut gig at Hotel SOHO later this month. We jumped on board to find out more… Who is in the band and what do they do… under the covers? I play lead guitar, pretend to be manager and am Minister for Propaganda . Ted is on vocals, keys (if we can get him to!), sax, and is Minister of Health (he’s a medicine student). Michael plays bass and contributes backing vocals, as well as taking lead himself occasionally. Jimmy plays drums and percussion as well as being quite a good chauffeur! Aaron plays rhythm guitar and little bit of lead stuff, and is also my Deputy Minister for Propaganda (he made our Facebook page). We also make him play tambourine, and he did a great vocal performance of Radar Love last weekend, although he’ll probably never admit it. What style of music do you play… under the covers? Basically a mixture that goes from Stones, Creedence and Who tunes through to Zeppelin and MC5. Then just to round it off, some Motörhead and Neil Young. Of course, there are a few surprises in store especially to those who like The Doors and other, more “mainstream” stuff people will actually know… and some they probably won’t! And honestly, you must know who we stole Magic Carpet Ride from?
THE BIGGEST IMPACT… With Matthew Collis Hobart-based solo guitarist, Matt Collis, has a diverse musical background. “I was inspired to get into the guitar by the rock and metal bands of the 80’s,” he says, “but my dad got me into jazz and classical at a young age and I studied these styles as I was growing up.” What album has had the biggest impact on you, both personally and as a musician, and why? It sounds like a cliché but probably Miles Davis’s Kind of Blue album. It was so progressive for its time... the compositional techniques that were hatched by that album can be seen to be used now in so many different genres. I like the fact that it pushes the boundaries yet it is so great to listen to and accessible to everyone. Which gig has had the biggest impact on you, as a punter and that you’ve played, and why? That’s too hard - I’ve played so many! I find solo gigs liberating, on a certain level, because I get complete creative control and don’t have to compromise... but you have to watch that you don’t get too caught up in doing your own thing too much. I saw the Dave Weckl Band live about seven years ago... that gig probably inspired me the most, musically. What impact do you hope your music will have on people? I want people to get a tingle up the back of their neck when they hear my music and sound. I don’t want to write anything that’s too sad or victim-based at this time of my life. I’m sure there will be time to do that later on. Like Burt Bacherach sang, “what the world needs now... is love... sweet love…” What’s an example of the impact you’ve made on people through your music? I have been teaching the guitar professionally for almost ten years now. A lot of the guys I used to teach are now some of the best guitarists and bass players at the Conservatorium of Music. It’s great to watch them play at such a high level and know that you contributed to their development. The mutual respect that exists between teacher and student is cool. sCHRIS RATTRAY
Catch Matt Collis every Saturday at the Metz in Sandy Bay between 4 – 7pm. 12
SAUCE #78
Why did you decide to form this band… under the covers? I always wanted to form a band like this because we would go to clubs with friends and would constantly hear the same stuff, and I wanted to hear something different and loved those ‘classic’ rock bands. So I tried to look for people with the same taste in music as I have. Then, at an Agricultural Science ball, I was having an inebriated conversation with this guy about music when he said, “cool, you should meet my mate Jimmy, he plays awesome drums!” We talked and eventually got a jam session together. Unfortunately, the house we jammed at is about two doors from University and next door to a doctor’s surgery, and we play really loud. Even though there were only two of us, we were heard at the top of University and up to five blocks from where we were. Anyway, we realised we had something here and decided to set up a band. We found Mick through an advert I put out around various music shops. Aaron does Ag. Sci with us and sent a text to me saying, “can I join your band, I like playing Ricky Martin, Britney Spears and Tammy Wynette”. He wasn’t serious of course and he came over and we had a jam (Motörhead and Black Sabbath, naturally) – so we were a four-piece without a vocalist. Ted actually replied to the Bass ad and I said, “um, sorry the position is taken… but can you do vocals?” M.C.R. was born! What do you hope to get out of it… under the covers? A good gig and possibly the opportunity for several more, money for the gig, beer, some sort of a reputation,
a real reason not to get a haircut, a real reason to buy expensive musical equipment, fun, the final realisation that our taste in music can beat up these other cover bands’ taste in music, a good hangover… What sort of journey will you take people when they jump on the “magic carpet ride” … under the covers? A journey of incredible sights sounds and wonders. A journey of mass expectation that can only be sought through the power of reaching for that thing, where you will inevitably reach a full climax of insatiable raw power that will leave you shaking semi-paralysed,
half unconscious muttering to yourself, “Ha ha, old school…” Where will you be playing next… under the covers? We’ll see how this gig goes. Most of us have Uni commitments so it’s still a bit unsure at this stage but we all would really like to do more gigs… go to our Facebook page to keep updated! Search for Magic Carpet Ride under “show results from Australia!” Take a ticket and get on board on: 0 3 October @ Hotel SOHO
GIG REVIEWS
THE NOVOCAINES
GT
GYROSCOPE
HOLLY THROSBY
@ Irish Murphy’s (Launceston), September 25 ‘08
@ Syrup, September 26 ‘08
@ Wrest Point Showroom, September 20 ‘08
@ The Republic Bar, September 18 ‘08
Whilst they preceded the enigmatic Linc Le Levre, the lads from WA really stole the Thursday night with their hyper-energetic mix of smack-in-your-face 60’s hard rock and old-school punk - a Zeppelin guitar-infused, Rolling Stones flavoured sound. The frenzied and well delivered vocals from lead singer, Corey Marriot, really stood out with an ample scatter of intense harmonica and tambourine-laced, microphone stand-leaning stage antics.
The DJ was late this Friday. The show eventually began a little after 1.30am and that was the Dirty F’king Dancing@syrup featuring Groove Terminator (GT or Simon Lewicki). Each time I go to Syrup, I inevitably ask the same question: “When is the main DJ firing up tonight?” I like to see the transition, and the start of the guest DJ.
Before I get to Gyroscope, mention must be made of Shihad’s typically incendiary support set. It was classic we-wear-black-t-shirts-and-rock-real-hard stuff, heavy and shouty and jumpy and just on the far side of absolutely brilliant. They trotted out a good mix of old and new, whipping the crowd up with a particularly rousing performance of Comfort Me.
A very strange gig, this one.
At previous DJ sets at Syrup, it was always fairly obvious when the house DJ left his turntables to the guest DJ. This time I had to ask another question to the Syrup staff… “The guy playing now, is that the main DJ of the night?” “Yes…” It was not a good set this Friday. I find myself waiting for something to happen, thinking this DJ might be of a diesel gender, just taking some time to warm up the atmosphere. It actually never happened.
While lurking in the photographer’s pit between bands, it was heartening to see most of The Overview pressed against the crush barrier, getting around one of their favourite bands. They weren’t alone either, the general crowd consensus being “Gyroscope f*cking rock.”
Chunky bass performed by a comparatively laidback Steven Turnock backed the equally talented guitarist Jay, who wowed us all by his many leads during the set. The crowd was totally mesmerised by the magnitude of energy that was resonating from this young four-piece, something they delivered consistently throughout the set with ease. They played ten songs, all of which were played with unrelenting vigour, bar I Got No Reason – a clever and well received composition with a psychedelic flavour - towards the end of the set which was played after a declaration from the frontman, something along the lines of, “Looks like you guys need a bit of a quieter song, we might tone it down a bit.” This is not a band I’d had the chance to see or hear before, but with so much power and original style, they’re an act I’d love to see again – the energy and sound they deliver is contagious.
The house DJ, though, was good this night; just before leaving his turntables to the visitor, he was remixing a Depeche Mode song with Brio. I told my friend to start taking pictures, sure that the main act had begun while we were ordering some drinks. He just has to do the same soon after, while GT actually began his set with a non-inspirational, flat version of the world dance song, Are You Ready? GT was moving so much in the cabin that he probably would have felt better on the dance floor, because obviously he didn’t know what to do with his turntables. Dirty F’king Dancing sure was dirty but not as you want it to be. Well, c’est la vie I guess.
On this note they arrived, with smoke and blue lights and screaming guitars, launched frenetically into their set, and pretty much didn’t let it up for the next hour. They played, they headbanged savagely, the crowd loved it, and if I’m honest, I did too, because for all their stageantic guitar-heaving (sometimes looking like The Mars Volta having a bad day at the office) and stuff, when it comes down to it these guys are totally excited to be on stage, and it really shows. I could have forgiven them for being a bit lacklustre, this being the last show of their Australian tour, and Hobart possibly isn’t their favourite place to play, but they were great. Yes, frontman Daniel did occasionally spit water into the crowd, but if anything they seemed to appreciate it.
After a slightly less passionate than usual opening set from Lincoln le Fevre (barring an enjoyable cover of Weezer’s Buddy Holly), Ms. Throsby took to the stage with her guitar, faced by a crowd in which a disquietingly large minority seemed to have very little interest in hearing her play. The touring football team didn’t help, but even when they shut up she was still fighting an uphill battle against a shitload of people talking pretty loudly. She did eventually ask anyone who wanted to talk and make noise to go up the back and do it there, but it didn’t seem to help much. Unperturbed, she knuckled down and those that were actually there to see her were not disappointed by her set of achingly well-constructed ballads and flights of wistful whimsy. Haunting cello movements carried into upbeat piano trilling and back again, all the while supported by distinctive drum-work. One of those acts who sound better live than in the studio, Holly’s backing band – Jens on cello, bass and mandolin, and the spectacularly dextrous Bree on drums, glockenspiel, accordion, Casio and “cool tricks” – worked with her perfectly to create a richly textured sound that really didn’t sound like just a three-piece (it often wasn’t, with Bree sometimes playing drums and accordion simultaneously).
NATASHA ANDERSON JULIEN LEPOIX
They really shone on the acoustic-driven Australia and closed spectacularly with Snakeskin. It was a nice touch too that both bands swapped drummers for their last song. Good bit of camaraderie from two gnarly bands.
After the teething troubles, this was a great night out – a beautiful show. MICHAEL BLAKE
MICHAEL BLAKE
LET THE CAT OUT
RUMPUNCH
@ Irish Murphy’s (Hobart), September 7 ‘08
@ The Alley Cat, September 13 ‘08
It’s not often you see a band with a rhythm section as flat-out fat as Let The Cat Out. It’s even less common when said band has nobody playing bass guitar. But Let The Cat Out don’t have a conventional bass player. Instead, they have Hammond organ-player Randal Muir’s left foot.
Last night I got to do one of my favourite things. I went to check out a new band, Rumpunch, at The Alley Cat bar. I also caught their support act, The Frets – a young bluesy, alt. rock outfit, who were a nice opener. Describe Rumpunch? It was a different kind of sound that hit my ears, and I can only describe it as their own secret recipe for musical punch. On sampling, you’ll distinctly taste reggae and roots, jazz, a swig of dub, maybe even a dash of bandolier music, infused with hip-hop, chilled on ice, sweetened up with plenty of juice and no doubt some rum for good measure.
Boy, what a foot. What a band. From the opening song – a stomping, funk-laden lesson in groove and cunning instrumentation – punters at this Sunday night gig were treated to a seriously high-quality performance. Indulgence and enjoyment was the name of the game, as they swung from the opener into the blues-wander of Started Something, and they didn’t let up the genrehopping all night. Funk, groove, soul, roots, they blended it all, with Randal and drummer Henry Nichols working to create a tight and inventive platform for the rest of the band to build from. Gilly G’s face-contorting antics on guitar were entertaining as usual, his solo on Freight Train particularly impressive. Powerful work from Al Dobson with the sax and Randal’s hands on the Hammond rounded out the brilliant instrumentation. The only real criticism of an otherwise great set was that Jane McArthur’s (excellent) vocals were sometimes lost in the mix, but other than that it was a classy and soulful set from a band on the rise.
The band is comprised of Tuka on vocals, Aaron O’Neil on guitar and vocals, Charlotte Craib on keyboard, melody and vocals and Evan Jones on bass and vocals. Mick Stuart plays an alto sax, and Mike Silk is on drums. It is clear in every note that the group just loves making music. I can only imagine that this is why they began their show with an hour-long instrumental set before they were joined by Tuka. I found this unnecessary after seeing a support act, but still the crowd enjoyed it all, and seemed happy for the night to take its sweet time. I must admit that I was ready to leave when the instrumental set was drawing to a close, but changed my mind when Tuka finally came on. The night was instantly turned up a notch with the addition of the singer’s energetic crooning. A warm toned, jazzy voice injected a welcome mix of song, hip-hop and narrative, which was what the recipe really needed to round it off.
MICHAEL BLAKE
Rumpunch delivers an enjoyable and entertaining night of live music. Their sound is fun and gr-oovy baby.
SOUTHSIDE ONE featuring DUNN D, COVERT, LAWS & MULTIPLE CHOICE
THE HERD W/ MDUSU&DAMEZA
@ The Republic Bar, August 22 ‘08
@ UniBar (Hobart), September 4 ‘08
Local hip-hop is a bit hit and miss, but I’m always keen to check it out. The night started off okay with quite a few people there early and as the numbers began to grow the first act went on. I’ve never heard of Multiple Choice, which was kind of interesting. They had three MCs on stage and a DJ and all of them were obviously enjoying themselves.
Being the first hip-hop show at the Uni Bar since the “troubles” surrounding the UniFied tour back in May, I was happy to see that the only real change was the introduction of a fenced-off area outside for smokers. After grabbing a drink, I settled in to watch opening act, mdusu&dameza, who were their usual polished selves, playing to an appreciative crowd.
Their music was a little different from most of the other local stuff I’ve heard, but it wasn’t too bad. Their DJ needs to practice a bit though! Then came Laws, whose tunes where a lot more raw. He had another MC with him called Greeley and they really worked well together, especially with them taking turns scratching.
The next act, The Last Kinection were made up of two MCs (brother and sister team Nay & Weno), and a DJ (Jay Tee), they rocked the crowd, and got everyone pumped for the main attraction.
The next act up was Covert. I’ve heard his music before, but never seen him live so I was keen to check it out. I was quite impressed. He had a good variety of beats, including some really heavy stuff. I thought it was a little strange that the guy on stage with him wore a backpack through the whole show, but that didn’t seem to stop him jumping round. The last act to get up was Dunn D. He had a DJ and another MC and from the start they really rocked the stage. The highlight was when he rapped about selling out over the M.I.A. Paper Planes beat. The whole crowd went wild! He finished with a song about how much he likes living in Tassie, which was great too. It was an all round good night.
THE
LAST
KINECTION
&
The beats were phat, the rhymes were real, and MC Nay can really sing as well. Some people may recognise her from early 2000’s pop group Shakaya, although TLK ain’t a thing like them. Props to them too, for being able to touch on indigenous issues without sounding like some bad community centre project. With the support acts having nicely warmed me up, I was ready for the main attraction. With a new album to show-off, The Herd were in fine voice (and instruments – one of the thing that really makes these guys’ live show a memorable hip-hop experience). It was dope to see Jane Tyrell have a bigger presence in the group on the newer songs, and they dropped just enough of the “classic” material to keep old and new fans more than happy. F**k me, I’d forgotten how much fun these guys are! Dope night.
If there’s a SouthSide Two I’ll be heading along. TONY STARKS
TABITHA FLETCHER
SAM HARVEY SAUCE #78
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o e t ’s ik le t l op us pe ” e j th … W wi ds “… ss hea e
m
METAL - SWEDEN// MESHUGGAH
Behold the Schism of the Rhythm meet your idols; more often than not, they won’t live up to your expectations. But this isn’t always a bad thing – sometimes it’s just strange... oNever very strange. On the phone from Stockholm in his homeland of Sweden, Meshuggah rhythm guitarist Mårten Hagström is pleasant, laid-back and
accommodating. It’s somewhat disarming, considering the crushing, down-tuned and downright evil tones he creates as part of one of the metal world’s most innovative and original bands.
Doing press ahead of their mainland tour in October, he calls SAUCE directly and never sounds like he’s counting the contractually obligated minutes. He takes his time, and that’s not just with his answers – obZen, their sixth full-length album, has taken almost a year to complete... and it’s far from what most would expect. 2004’s I was a single twenty-one-minute volley of their trademark rhythmic perversity. 2005’s Catch ThirtyThree was a droning, devastating prog-metal opus. obZen, on the other hand, is... gasp ... a conventionally structured album – the likes of which they haven’t produced since Nothing way back in 2002. After all the experimentation, what gives? “I would say that the fact that we came from two consecutive albums, having explored an idea that we’d [had] for a long time, made us feel that we had that out of our system,” Mårten explains. “Coming into the writing process of the new album, it felt just like a natural thing to start writing in a normal song structure again. It wasn’t something that we really sat down and decided – it was just that we started writing stuff, and it happened to be that format. It felt like a natural reaction ... Having made those two albums made us view stuff a little bit differently, so we could bring something we learned into this process.” The clearest example is the album’s 14
SAUCE #78
opener Combustion – a ballistic neo-thrash jackhammer that is, comparatively, the most straightforward piece of music they’ve done in years. While far from a bad song, it has to be asked – why open with it? “When we were putting together the track list for the album, we had a couple of problems. We wanted this album to be dynamic – within the songs, as well as in-between songs, so that you could actually feel that there was a difference of flow through the album. Picking the opening track was kind of hard, and we messed around with some options, but we got the feeling after a while that it would maybe be better to have a more direct, go-for-the-throat approach for the start of the album... For us, it happens to be a pretty straightforward song, but that never comes into mind – whether it’s a tricky or messy song. We always write just to make songs anyway.” And so, with an almost infuriating sense of modesty, Meshuggah once again downplay a reputation that will probably stick with them to the end – that they automatically set out to create mind-bending displays of polyrhythmic technicality that remain peerless in the metal world and seemingly require a PhD to understand (one fan actually wrote his Uni thesis on the track
Future Breed Machine). But whether or not they think it’s a big deal, it can’t be denied that their famously high level of musicianship has once again been kicked up a notch – this time with the tightly-coiled riff whirlwind that is Bleed, the album’s first single. “Bleed is a very technically demanding song, and mostly because of the repetitiveness, you know? You have these minute rhythmical figures that you work around with that are kind of morphing over the beat in different patterns... over a long period of time, and it’s got to sound like you’re a machine locked together. It’s kind of strenuous, you know? You have to be really relaxed to play it with confidence, and that’s a fine balance .. We have a term that we use in the band – “sports music.” It’s kind of an ironic remark that so many [people] tend to focus on the technical aspect of what we’re doing, which is pretty natural, I guess. But for us, that never comes into play. It’s just a matter of getting ideas out... it’s an ironic remark [about] music which is made mostly to show off on our instruments... Everything that has to do with this band is very much less focused on the technical [aspect] as some people seem to think.” That said, there’s one aspect of the band that people can’t ignore, and that’s their sense of humour – first
(and best) illustrated in their video for New Millennium Cyanide Christ, where the band air-guitared the song in the back of their tour bus with vocalist Jens Kidman bellowing into a biro, and the fact that they had onetime tour buddies Machine Head convinced that they were gay lovers. “We just like to mess with people’s heads,” explained Hagström. “We did it with a monitor tech from Slayer that we had in ‘99 when we opened for them in the States. His name was Rick, and for the whole latter half of the tour, we had this one objective, and that was to make him think that Jens had the hots for him. That was hilarious! He was scared of Jens! He couldn’t do anything since we were one of the bands, but he was definitely uncomfortable!” sTOM WILSON Meshuggah destroy the mainland in October. obZen is out now on nuclear blast records. Listen to the rest of this interview online at www.sauce.net.au NEXT EDITION: Slipknot…
ROCK – MELBOURNE // JET
Wild Ones Collaborate to Celebrate Legend
Re-working an Oz rock classic has refuelled Jet’s musical passion, writes STEVE TAUSCHKE. To be selected as the band to revive 50’s rocker Johnny O’Keefe’s iconic single The Wild One in celebration of Australian rock n’ roll’s 50th anniversary is an honour in itself. But to have the grandfather of punk rock join forces with you on the recording is almost overwhelming. That was the enviable scenario facing Melbourne rockers Jet back in April when they spent a week with American punk avatar Iggy Pop in his hometown Miami. Together, at Hit Factory studios they paid tribute to O’Keefe’s legacy by re-working his 1958 signature song The Wild One, a seminal moment in Australian rock n’ roll history and the most successful of 30 chart hits for the pioneering performer, who died in 1978. “It was a pretty incredible thing to be part of, not only collaborating with Iggy but collaborating on a song that’s an Australian classic,” says Jet frontman Nic Cester of the recording. To be included as a bonus track on Johnny O’Keefe – The Wild One, a remastered collection of JOK’s hits set for release next week, the commemorative tribute found Jet and Iggy approaching the song from opposite angles, the young Aussies having previously never performed it. “We tried to be really clever with the song at first and do something really different with it,” says Cester on the phone from Melbourne. “We messed around with it for about three days before we even got there but then we thought ‘the song is called The Wild One, it’s supposed to be a bit reckless and exuberant’. And from there it just took a couple of minutes. It’s a three-chord rock song - how much do you want to f*ck around with it?” Of course, Iggy Pop is no stranger to the teen rebel anthem, having re-jigged it in the mid-80’s as Real Wild Child, a sound bite from which is still the theme to Rage, the ABC’s long-running late night video program. “Now that I think about it, Rage was probably my introduction to Iggy,” says Cester, 29. “When we were talking about what we wanted to do with the song, the first thing we agreed on was that Iggy has to kick it off with that “I’m a real wild one” – that’s just entrenched in my memory from watching Rage so many times.” Nervous at meeting the legend who inspired a generation with his seminal American proto-punk outfit The Stooges, Cester says working with Iggy was
an ego-free pleasure – “he was cool as shit from day one, just the youngest 60-year-old in the world”. “Iggy kind of walks into a room and owns it, he’s just one of those guys,” he says. “But having said that, he’s still very humble and human as well. There was a really awkward moment when we first shook hands and we both kind of choked on each other’s words for a few seconds - it was really weird. He’s just such a living legend you don’t think someone like that is going to get nervous at all. But he’s just human.”
“…we both kind of choked on each other’s words for a few seconds…” While the pairing’s rendition of The Wild One is largely faithful to the original - save for the addition of overdubbed horns - Cester admits the experience inspired the entire band, their renewed enthusiasm spilling over into Jet’s forthcoming third album, slated for release early next year. “We weren’t going to start demoing actually but we all had to get back together to do this project,” he says. “And we were all getting along so well and the vibe was so good we thought we may as well stay and capitalise I suppose on the energy that we got from that experience. So we just ended up doing a lot of tunes in a short amount of time and just sort of kept going - and we haven’t stopped since then.” Jet hope to have a new album out in early 2009. “I think everything that’s come out of the writing over the last few months has just been really genuine and really honest,” says Cester. “I think the first album was naïve and fun, the second album had delusions of grandeur and this one’s just really f*ckin’ honest. “It feels like it did when we started because we’ve been through a lot of shit over the last few years and had a lot of ups and downs. So this is feeling like a bit of a rebirth for us. And unlike the last record we’re going to do this one in a couple of weeks as opposed to a couple of years.” sSTEVE TAUSCHKE Johnny O’Keefe – The Wild One is out now on Warner. SAUCE #78
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NEWS
COMPETITIONS AND GIVEAWAYS
FALLS PLAYOFFS
THE STAUNCHES Proving once again that the state of Tasmania is brimming with musical talent, The Falls organisers have been overwhelmed with the high calibre of musicianship from bands applying to play at The Falls Festival Showcases in Launceston on October 8th, and in Hobart, October 9th. Playing at Irish Murphy’s for the Launceston Showcase on October 8th, comes the musically evolving, catchy pop from The Stoics; the melting pot of acoustic poproots from Nathan Wheldon & the Two Timers; lively and hopeful acoustic pop tunes of Invisible Boy; the satisfying culinary delights of meat and three veg rock’n’roll outfit The Staunches; and humorous garage rock ‘n’ blues from the Muddy Turds.
RADIOHEAD REWORK INSPIRES JUSTIN MARTIN REMIX COMPETITION Justin Martin’s eagerly anticipated new mix compilation, Chaos Restored 2, comes out on Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly on October 25. It includes Justin’s muchtalked-about exclusive remix of Radiohead’s Nude, after he - like many other fans - simply downloaded the parts when the band made them available online this year. The mix has been a talking point on many blogs since it started circulating earlier this year. Radiohead were alerted to his remix and, in a spirit worthy of their newfound independence, graciously granted Buzzin’ Fly the subsequent license for its use. Inspired by the turn of events, Buzzin’ Fly is now offering Justin Martin fans the chance to do something similar. Justin’s next single out in November will be a brand new track culled from the compilation called My Angelic Demons. For a special bonus track, fans are invited to take part in a competition to remix Justin’s seminal 2007 classic The Fugitive, with the winning remix to be included in the package. Parts for The Fugitive are available to download now. All entries must be submitted by October 1.
THE AUSTRALIAN MUSIC PRIZE RETURNS IN 2008 WITH $30,000 CASH PRIZE Now in its fourth year, The Amp is calling for all Australian artists across every musical genre to submit original album-length works (released in 2008) to go into the running to win the cash prize, which this year has increased to $30,000.
It’s your chance to score some free swag… read on to see how!
The winner and finalists (known as the Shortlist) will share in widespread media and retail exposure thanks to their association with The Amp 2008.And along with the Australian Music Prize itself, The Amp also awards an encouragement prize (supported by Red Bull), as well as including a public vote component. More details of the Red Bull Prize will be announced very soon, along with a couple of exciting developments which will make The Amp 2008 the biggest and best yet. Artists intending to enter should note there is an early bird entry fee of only $55 applicable from 1st to 31st October. Entries received after that date will attract a $95 fee. Final entries close on 21st November 2008, no exceptions. To enter go to www.australianmusicprize.com.au from 1st October.
More info and link to audio parts here: http://www.buzzinfly.com/justinmartinremix.html
MACHINE HEAD We have FIVE SIGNED copies of Machine Head’s latest, The Blackening , courtesy Roadrunner Records to give away! See entry details below! DJ PERPLEX We have FOUR copies of DJ Perplex The DJ Knows Mixtape to give away! See entry details below! MC DIALECTRIX We have THREE copies of Sydney MC Dialectrix’s new single, Outcast to give away! See entry details below! RNB SUPERCLUB We have FIVE copies of R’nB Superclub Vol 9 National Tour to give away! See entry details below!
LINCOLN LE FEVRE & THE INSIDERS
HOW TO ENTER To enter any of our competitions or giveaways, email your name, address and which three bands or artists you most want to tour Tassie to competitions@ sauce.net.au.
Rocking the stage at Republic Bar for the Hobart Showcase on October 9th, presenting the perfectly potent and engaging indie rock of roots collective Lincoln le Fevre & the Insiders; an intriguing and intense ambiance from raw three-piece outfit, Ivy St; rockin the 50’s rockabilly revival, The Bone Rattlers; Tassie live music scene stalwarts, MC/DJ combo mdusu&dameza; and the formidable folk rock sound and pulse pounding stage show from Enola Fall. Showcases begin at 8pm, entry free.
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Include the name of the competition you’re entering in the subject line of your email, for example, to enter the MACHINE HEAD competition, write “MACHINE HEAD”. It’s so easy, even your Mum can do it! RADIOHEAD
ENT ERTA INMENT GU IDE WEDNESDAY 01 HOBART The Alley Cat Bar Bunny FREE 8pm The Brisbane Hotel Wedding Tapes + The Trolls
Recording Mixing Mastering Production
The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s Ben Wells Band, Joni’s Plastic Sunday, Ivy Street The Republic Bar 9pm Jaimi Faulkner The Metz Mid Week Metz (Uni Night!): DJ Woodhouse 8pm till late LAUNCESTON
Bookings Essential
Call Dave Venter for a quote 0408 373 066 or email fatlipstudios@gmail.com Launceston Studio www.myspace.com/fatlipstudios
Irish Murphy’s Nathan Wheldon YoungerDryas The Royal Oak Mark Vincent in the P/B @9 Stompin Uncover This Part 1 - The House 8pm THURSDAY 02 HOBART The Alley Cat Bar Jaimi Faulkner’ & Blind Dead McJones 9pm $4 The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s Abbey Doggett, The Middletones, Darlington The Republic Bar 9pm Ash Grunwald $20pre/$25door Syrup MESH: 10pm ‘til late – Free Entry “Hobart’s lingest running club night” – the very best funky mid-tempo beats, breaks & drum ‘n bass. DJ Adam Turner + guests. LAUNCESTON
103 Elizabeth St Hobart 03 6231 5578
Batman Fawkner Dave Graney w/ Henry Wagons Irish Murphy’s Ben Castles The Royal Oak Sara, Hamish & Nathan Wheldon in the P/B @9
"Tasmania's own"
REDLINE Coach Services
DISCOUNTED STUDENT FARES University Student Semester Special $12.50 per sector * Hobart to Launceston $55.60 (Return) * Devonport to Launceston $39.10 (Return) *Conditions Apply
Reservations/Credit Card Payments 1300 360 000
Brookfield Vineyard. 1640 Channel Highway. Margate. 7054. Ph 6267 2880
Licensed cafe open 7 days & late for all events
Friday October 3 Brookfield Idol for the young & Open Mic for the young at heart
Sunday October 5
Marita Mangano 3.30 Friday October 10
Couta Blue All have meals available. www.brookfieldvineyard.com - info@brookfieldvineyard.com
FRIDAY 03 HOBART The Brisbane Hotel The Turnaround + Cocktails & Dreams + Most Triumphant + Phoenix Lights Brookfield Brookfield Idol & Open Mic Hotel SOHO Magic Carpet Ride The Republic Bar 10pm Blackalicious(US) + Lateef the Truthspeaker (US) + Thief (Melb) $42+bf pre/$50 door Syrup BOOGIE: Doors open from 9pm: DJ Nick C & Stirlo from 10pm playing the best of 70’s and 80’s Funk & Disco + Upstairs from 11pm… BREAK EVEN: Booty breaks & Bumpin’ Beats w/ resident DJ Adam Turner + guests
The Brisbane Hotel AA The Seduction, No Way Out, All or Nothing, Sunday, Something Ruined, Sound a Surrender 18 +The Seduction, No Way Out, All or Nothing, Sunday, Something Ruined, High 5 for Hitman Brookfield Quiz Night Rotary $15 Hotel SOHO No FOTO The Metz Accoustic Arvos: Matt Collis guitar & vocals 4 - 7pm The Republic Bar 10pm The Stoics + Half Way To Forth $3 Syrup TACKYLAND: Open from 9pm (Free B4 10) 10pm: 70’s, 80’s, & 90’s dance Classics w/ DJs Naughts, Rolly, Stirlo & Billy Bob on rotation + Upstairs from 11pm… DIRTY F’KING DANCING: The very best of House, Electro & Breaks w/ DJs Adam Turner, Gillie & Corney LAUNCESTON
The Bridge Hotel Jaimi Faulkner SATURDAY 04 HOBART The Alley Cat Bar Dave Graney & Henry Wagons (Melb) 9pm $12
The Metz Mid Week Metz (Uni Night!): DJ Woodhouse 8pm till late The Republic Bar 9pm Brian Fraser LAUNCESTON The Hub Bar Chaotic Dilema, The Framed, Brentish Irish Murphy’s Falls Festival Playoff: Invisible Boy / Nathan Wheldon & The Two Timers / The Staunches / Muddy Turds / The Stoics
THURSDAY 09 HOBART
The Royal Oak L’ton blues club presents Jaimi Faulkner in the Boatshed @9 (cover charge) Stompin Uncover This Part 1 - The House 8pm SUNDAY 05 HOBART The Alley Cat Bar Sunday Chill with DJs & $5 pizzas Brookfield Marita Mangano 3.30 $5 Hotel SOHO 9PM Open Mic with Christian and John
The Alley Cat Bar Ejecter, Heather Crowther & The Ben Wells Band $5 9pm The Brisbane Hotel Argus The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s Dan Hennessey, Nofoto (acoustic), Beaverjam The Republic Bar 9pm Falls Playoffs Syrup MESH: 10pm ‘til late – Free Entry “Hobart’s lingest running club night” – the very best funky mid-tempo beats, breaks & drum ‘n bass. DJ Adam Turner + guests. LAUNCESTON
The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s (Tea for Tilley Quartet?)
Irish Murphy’s Tash & Caz
The Lewisham Tavern Jaimi Faulkner w/ Ash Grunwald
The Royal Oak Samuel Bester in the P/B @ 9pm
The Metz Metz on Sundays, forget about Monday: DJ Camo 5pm till late
FRIDAY 10 HOBART
The Republic Bar 9pm Trumps LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Ciaran van den Berg Ben Castles The Velvet Lounge
Hotel SOHO 10PM The Smashers
FORTH
The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s British Battlegrounds, New Saxons, Dali Shroj & the Paper Band
Irish Murphy’s Mick Attard Mayfield
The Hub Bar Sam Cole, Joni’s Plastic Sunday, The Staunches
Stage Door the Café Dave Graney w/ Henry Wagons
Hotel SOHO 8PM Tom & Nick Wolfe
The Royal Oak Jerome Hillier in the P/B @9pm
The Commercial Hotel Rob Richards
BURNIE
The Alley Cat Bar The Eddy O Show FREE 8pm
The Hub Bar Random Order, Kronik, Your Damn Neighbours
MONDAY 06 HOBART
Stompin Uncover This Part 1 - The House 8pm
WEDNESDAY 08 HOBART
Lonnies Baby Gee Wild Weekends Tour
LAUNCESTON
The Royal Oak Turry Beevor in the P/B @9
Irish Murphy’s Sambo
The Commercial Hotel The Turnaround / Blue Team Go! Woof Woof / Phoenix Lights
The Royal Oak Open Folk Session (open jam) in the P/B@5pm
Irish Murphy’s The Unit
The Hub Bar Open Mic Night
The Republic Bar 9pm Oberon Carter + Michael Shelly The Venue Mount Eerie w/ Cougar Flashy + Transcription of Organ Music
The Alley Cat Bar DJ Big Al The Brisbane Hotel Ohana (NSW), Ivy St, Native Cats, Paint Your Golden Face Brookfield Couta Blue $10 Curly’s Baby Gee Wild Weekends Tour Hotel SOHO 8PM Tom & Nick Wolfe The Republic Bar 10pm Simon Russell & Guilty As Charged $3 Syrup BOOGIE: Doors open from 9pm: DJ Nick C & Stirlo from 10pm playing the best of 70’s and 80’s Funk & Disco + Upstairs from 11pm… LA CASA: Free for Uni students! Sexy vocal house and funky beats w/ Matt B., St Nick & Timo
LAUNCESTON LAUNCESTON Irish Murphy’s Nathan Wheldon Village Cinemas 4pm Rock Challenge ‘08 TUESDAY 07 HOBART The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s Australian Songwriters Association The Republic Bar 9pm Edwin Morris LAUNCESTON
Batman Fawkner The Sure Shot Hunters The Commercial Hotel DJ Skip The Hub Bar Jordan Millar and the Question, British Battle Grounds, The Fox Hunters Return
Stompin Uncover This Part 2 - The Cul-De-Sac 8pm SATURDAY 11 HOBART The Alley Cat Bar The No No’s 9pm $5 The Brisbane Hotel Trasharama Film Fest Screening w The Superkunts + The Bone Rattlers n DJ BTC + Dj No Requests Hotel SOHO 9PM The Robinsons The Metz Accoustic Arvos: Matt Collis guitar & vocals 4 - 7pm The Republic Bar 10pm Jordan Millar $10 Syrup Jeff Drake & Keli Hart Plus Gillie & Adam Turner, tickets $15+bf LAUNCESTON Arts Alive Ohana The Commercial Hotel Off the Cuff The Hub Bar Most Triumphant, Blue Team Go, The Ghost and the Storm Outside Irish Murphy’s In Limbo The Royal Oak North/ South music showcase feat. Wizard, Half way to forth, Hindrum, Reuben Ellenberger (L’ton) Samuel cole, Ejecter, NoFoTo and Hannah (Hbt) in the Boatshed @ 7pm $12 cover Stompin Uncover This Part 2 - The Cul-De-Sac 8pm BURNIE Sirocco’s Baby Gee Wild Weekends Tour SUNDAY 12 HOBART The Alley Cat Bar Sure Shot Hunters (Melb) 8pm & $5 pizzas
Venue Guide
Hotel SOHO 9PM Open Mic with Christian & John
DEVONPORT
The Alley Cat Bar
The Warehouse
381 Elizabeth St 6231 2299
The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s Let the Cat Out
20 King Street
The Metz Metz on Sundays, forget about Monday: DJ Camo 5pm till late
HOBART
6225 0112
Brookfield Vineyard
www.wrestpoint.com.au
The Republic Bar 9pm Cake Walking Babies
Margate 6267 2880
LAUNCESTON
Hotel SOHO
Irish Murphy’s Hamish & Sara Glen Moorehouse Victor Charlie Charlie
Devonport 6424 7851
Wrest Point 410 Sandy Bay Road Sandy Bay
1640 Channel Highway
LAUNCESTON Batman Fawkner Inn 35 Cameron St 6331 7222
124 Davey Street 03 6224 9494
Commercial Hotel
www.hotelsoho.com.au
27 George Street Launceston 03 63313868
The Royal Oak Open folk Session in the P/B @5pm MONDAY 13 HOBART Hotel SOHO 10PM One For the Road
Irish Murphy’s 21 Salamanca Place
Country Club
6223 1119
Country Club Ave Prospect
www.irishmurphys.com.au
6335 5777 www.countryclubtasmania.com.au
Metz On The Bay
The Republic Bar 8.15pm Quiz Night
217 Sandy Bay Rd
Irish Murphy’s
6224 4444
211 Brisbane St 6331 4440
LAUNCESTON
www.themetz.com.au
www.irishmurphys.com.au
Irish Murphy’s Phil Picasso
Syrup
James Hotel
1st Floor 39 Salamanca Place
122 York Street
6224 8249
6334 7231
Raincheck Lounge
The Newstead Hotel
392 -394 Elizabeth St. North
160 Elphin Rd 6331 1344
TUESDAY 14 HOBART The Greenhouse @ Irish Murphy’s Gretel Templeton, Joe Nuttall, Zane Pinner
Hobart
The Republic Bar 9pm The Sign
03 6234 5975
The Hub 1 Tamar St
LAUNCESTON The Hub Bar Open Mic night
Republic Bar
6334 9288
299 Elizabeth St 6234 6954
www.tamarbackpackers.com
www.republicbar.com
Irish Murphy’s Ben Castles
The Royal Oak
Irish Murphy’s Long Way Home
The Brisbane Hotel
14 Brisbane St 6331 5346
3 Brisbane St 6234 4920
myspace.com/leapinlimpout
The Royal Oak The return of S&M in the P/B @9pm
thebrisbanehotelhobart@ gmail.com
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POP - MELBOURNE // PARIS WELLS
A Toast to Paris
Aussie popstress, Paris Wells, has improvised her way to oPerky release with the first single, Dat-Du-Dat, from her new album. DAVID WILLIAMS caught up with Paris to find out more…
Can you tell me about your latest single and where that came from, in terms of the title? My latest single, Dat Du Dat – that song was, like six months in development! It sounds so simple and catchy and fun but, oh my god… the verses, the melody were different at the start. The choruses didn’t exist… the bass line was the first thing we wrote a long time ago and then the verses and then I was doing dishes when Rhino and I were fixing a drum-beat, and I just started singing along to the bass line with “da-du-dat-duh duh duh” and that’s when we came up with the chorus after a huge night out on the town, dancing. It was kind of a seedy morning experiment, and it worked. It was really exciting once we’d nailed it.
“…You want me to wear your top? That’s weird!…” It was kind of one of those moments of inspiration that happened completely by accident… Exactly… it’s a nonsense word but going around the rest of the song it makes perfect sense so… it’s great. I like it, anyway! You’ve always gotta take promo stuff with a grain of salt, but the last bit of promo I saw for you was “Australia’s newest female sensation!” from an email I got… Well, there’s gotta be a headline somewhere. If I had written the headline myself I probably would’ve written something x-rated that you’re not allowed to print so… We can print anything, go ahead… “New sensation” is like a simplified version of “Australia’s rawest f*ckin’ soul extraordinaire bitch!” [Laugh] It’s an exciting record, I’m really happy with it. I’m thinking along the lines of something like “Australia’s hottest sexy honey” or something like that? Yeah, but… nuh. I think the song speaks for itself. I still find it funny, David, when I now get modelling opportunities and stuff like that. I still find it funny because I was such a cute little fatty in high school. I’m never coming from that train of thought, if that makes any sense. 18
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When you say modelling is that like from FHM or Ralph or something like that? No, no, no! It’s all funky stuff to do with my personality. It’s just an honorary, like little indie labels want you to wear their tops and stuff. I’m still really humbled; I’m like, “You want me to wear your top? That’s weird!” That’s what I mean by that. I don’t think you’ll catch me in one of those magazines for a while. You said you were a cute little chubby-wubby in school – how did you become the singer we’re exposed to now? A lot of hard work. I started in the club scene toasting with Melbourne’s best DJ’s three years ago. I still do that, to this day, and it’s taught me a lot about gauging an audience, hyping an audience, improvisation… my voice kept getting better because I kept practising every day – I have these couple of amazing vocal teachers – everything just kept improving the more you do live. I think performing live is the best thing you can do for yourself and for your voice. Did you say “toasting” with DJ’s? I haven’t heard that expression before - what is “toasting” with a DJ? The modern word for it now would be sound system or mixtape. Toasting is a traditional Jamaican form where the Jamaicans, using the same beat or same riff, might come in and sing about god or someone might sing about politicians, and then in the 80’s it was taken over [by] rapping, so rappers would get up and rap to a beat, hence an open mic night where it’s all hip-hop. And then hip-hop took on that concept of toasting. I started singing again over soul tunes, really started sourcing out my own beats and bringing my own vinyl to shows, dumping it on and making up something off the top of my head. Two of the songs on my album and EP – the ideas came from something out-of-the-blue live… sometimes the best things come in the spur of the moment. sDAVID WILLIAMS
Paris’s debut album, Keep It, is out now on Illusive Sounds. Catch the rest of this interview at www.sauce.net.au.
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“…We’ve all just done a Cert III in band competition rigging at TAFE…” ROCK - LAUNCESTON// THE STAUNCHES
Steadfastly Heading For a Falls “meat and three veg rock ‘n roll band,” The Staunches, have their sights set firmly on a spot on the Falls stage in Marion Bay. “We’re oSelf-described just trying to be a no-frills rock band. We’re not going for the skinny soy latte and baguette with the semi sun-dried kind of crowd,” says Luke Young, describing exactly the type of crowd they don’t play to. “It’s just two guitars, bass, drums and vocals. No turntables, no strings, horn sections or moog synths. We’d all like to be the 400 gram porterhouse but will settle for the charred rump on the barbie on any given Sunday.”
On your MySpace you’ve also said that “straight-up, hard and energetic breed of rock” has been missing in the Launceston music scene for quite some time. What kind of music do you think has been dominating, and why? I don’t really think any music has been “dominating” in this town lately. The venues that’ll book you are getting fewer and fewer and the pay is nearly non-existent. We have some world-class music coming out of this town and it needs to be given the chance it deserves. All power to venues like The Hub and The Oak for putting on original Launceston bands week in, week out. Local bands can pull crowds! Look at The Stoics, The Embers or the dudes from DFFW.
as friends. How freaked out were you when they added you on MySpace and/or Facebook? Dave Grohl shit his pants when he sent the request. He’s a huge fan of Jimmy Steele and said our song Dave Grohl was sick. So now him and Jimmy are best buddies. Jimmy lets him come on his Face (book). Chris Cornell, on the other hand, was disappointed that we hadn’t written a song for him.
spot at Falls, Marion Bay. What strategies have you got to impress the judges? We’ve all just done a Cert III in band competition rigging at TAFE so the chicken suits and a pole dancing solo may come in handy. Just play hard and give it our all just like any other gig, we’re not really about bunging it on and being something we’re not to get ahead. Or some head. Well maybe the latter.
What do you mean to convey about the band with your name? STAUNCH - firm or steadfast in principal, adherence, loyal to a cause. Characterised by firmness: strong, substantial.
What’s your most memorable experience from Falls, as part of the crowd? Who remembers Falls? I’m always too hammered to take anything in! Two words…Tim Rogers. And corn on the cob!
And you’ve got The Foo Fighters and Soundgarden
You’re competing in the Launceston playoffs for a
And where to next for the band, after the playoffs?
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A gig at Falls would be nice! More gigs, writing tunes, recording tunes, growing beards, getting sailor tattoos and some mainland shows. After you finish answering these questions, what are you going to do next? Watch Black Books and have a cigarette. What are you going to do next? sDAVID WILLIAMS
Upcoming shows: 0 3 October @ The Hub Bar 0 8 October, Falls playoffs @ Irish Murphy’s (Launceston)
ROCK - LAUNCESTON// HALFWAY TO FORTH
Apples Fall Halfway From Tree music in their blood, Dan and Kyle Lizotte’s folk-roots-acoustica oWith duo, Halfway to Forth are creating a buzz around Ye Olde Launceston
towne on the strength of their humble, yet captivating live shows. DAVID WILLIAMS hitched a ride and got halfway to understanding why…
How often do you listen to your own music, and what does that feel like? Kyle: Not all that often, mostly when we’ve recorded something new to get an idea of what could be improved/ changed. Feels exciting and encouraging, you know, like we are just that one step closer to releasing a CD. Why are so many people telling me how good you are, from Diesel to the SAUCE graphic designer? Dan: Well, there is a simple answer to that question. To us, Diesel is also Uncle Mark, Dad’s brother. So he has to say good things about us or we leave him off our Christmas email list. He’s been very supportive and generous over the last few years. And I reckon that if you look back far enough you’d probably find that your graphic designer is related to us as well! It’s very flattering to think that people are saying positive things about us, and I think the music we play has quite a broad appeal. We try not to be “in your face” at all. We just like to have a good time playing together and have fun, which hopefully the audience finds infectious. How would you like to improve? Kyle: I’d like to spend more time rehearsing. Living an hour apart doesn’t seem like all that much at first but when I have a full time job, Dan has school throughout the week and we have gigs on the weekends, it’s very hard to find the time when we can actually get together and practice or write something new together. What are some of the best jokes made about your band name, and what are some of the worst? Dan: Someone once said to me, after I’d done a couple of solo songs at an open mic night, that by myself I’m just a quarter way to Forth. I think that goes in the “worst” category. I can’t really think of any others, but there has been some. I’m sure there’ll be more, too. What are the benefits of only having two of you in the act? Kyle: The best thing I think is that it’s easier to organise gigs and rehearsal time, less trouble with band members being busy. I’ve been in a few other bands, including
a five-piece in high school and that was very difficult to actually find a weekend when everyone was free for a practice. I have even had similar difficulties with a three-piece. So far though, two seems to be a nice easy number to work with. And the drawbacks? Dan: Sometimes I would like to use more colourful instrumentation. That’s really the biggest drawback for me. We have played the odd gig where we just haven’t been loud enough or “dance-able” enough for the patrons of the venue. So I guess we’d benefit from a bigger sound in those cases. When do you think you may add more musicians to Halfway To Forth, if ever, and what would motivate you to do that, if at all? Kyle: Well we have discussed it a few times, maybe getting a percussionist, mostly to free Dan up on guitar a bit more. But for now though I think we are quite happy with the sound we are creating with just the two of us. As you’re brothers, who’s the gushiest in your family? Who, from your family, is going around, the most, talking about how good you two are? Dan: It seems that most of the time Mum and Dad are competing to see who can gush the most. But thanks to them bringing all their friends to our gigs we’re a big hit with the over 40’s! It’s so nice to have people in the audience who are happy just to listen. We tend to give Mum and Dad a hard time about the whole “gushing” thing but I guess, seeing as Mum will probably be cutting and pasting this article into the scrap book, I should add that we couldn’t have more supportive and encouraging parents. I think shoving an instrument in your kid’s hands and saying, “Go crazy!” is one of the best things a parent can do for their child. And what was the last thing the two of you fought over? Kyle: It’s hard to say actually, I don’t think we have ever had a fight... hmm, well maybe that’s a bit of a lie, but
to be honest we don’t really fight often at all. I actually can’t remember the last time we had an argument or a fight. I get along really well with my brother and we kind of think the same so there’s normally no disagreeing so never really that much to fight about! If I had to have an answer for this question though I’d probably say the
last thing we fought over was maybe who ate the last of the leftovers? sDAVID WILLIAMS Upcoming shows: 0 4 October @ The Republic Bar 0 11 October @ The Royal Oak
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CD REVIEWS
CARPATHIAN - Isolation
GARGOYLE - Saintsinner
THALIA ZEDEK BAND - Liars and Prayers
UNDEROATH - Lost in the Sound of Separartion
Straight-edge Melbourne hardcore/metalcore band, Carpathian have had their fair share of touring alongside some of the world’s top bands including Killswitch Engage, As I Lay Dying and Atreyu. Since the formation of the band in 2003 many have witnessed their solid approach to their take on “hardcore”. Despite a busy touring schedule the band have managed to bring you their third album.
Ex-pat Tasmanian Joey Gargoyle is the latest artist to release on the Broken Tooth Entertainment imprint, a label that’s known for rugged, Australian-style gully releases. This album is no different, with nine dark tales (and a couple of short interludes) bludgeoning their way into your head. Largely self-produced, the album also sees cuts from another Tassie ex-pat, Tornts, and from French producer I.N.C.H. While some tracks are relatively standard fare for the subject material, some tracks are quite different and go against the grain, like the opening (following the short intro) track Samson, and the sparse, spoken word-like Coalface.
Putting this disc into the player and pressing play for the first time was an interesting experience, having never heard of this American outfit before. The album is a fairly solid mix of folk, blues and rock. In many ways the drums, bass, and piano do most of the job of holding this album together.
Covering a wide scope of vibes, paces, and directions, Lost in the Sound of Separation will move you. You’ll be shaken by the monstrous growls from Chamberlain and stunned by the bombastic drumming from Aaron Gillespie. At the same time, the melodies will sooth and calm you, only to betray you in a split second with huge riffs. Add in Grant Brandell’s lively bass and keyboardist Chris Dudley’s sense for the atmospheric, and you have the recipe that rocks.
Martin Kirbys’ vocal style sounds as if he’s battling to be louder then the rest of the band, incoherently howling to the point of sounding like it hurts. The rest of the band performs tight as a unit but overall it’s a bit hit and miss. If you know the hardcore genre well, you will know that this is a case of having heard it all before, and knowing it can be done better. If you played a dozen bands of this genre in a row you would be struggling to distinguish the difference. The best thing about the release is that I only had to overcome just under twenty-six minutes of waffling drivel to review it. Isolation is an album for scene kids, emos and people who still live with their parents and are so angry at the world that they need to listen to three-minute spurts of blatant bullshit to calm themselves. 3/10 DAVID WALKER
The mood on this album is a mixture of anger, frustration, and despair, with the lyrics tending to favour metaphor-heavy fragments about the seedy underbelly of modern society, some external (The Men’s Shelter, Sans Abri), some internal (Doomsville, and the title track Saintsinner). Guests are limited to Tornts on The End – it’s clear that this is a one-man project. While some casual listeners may find it hard to get into Gargoyle’s rhyming style (like other Hired Gonns affiliates, most of the time he doesn’t rhyme the end of his lines, preferring to deliver whatever’s on his mind un-edited), delving deeper will reward heads with some intense imagery, and some clever metaphors (“dad wasn’t like Icarus - close to the son”). If you like gritty, raw stories about Australian streets, then this will be well worth a listen. 7/10 TOM BUTLER
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Throughout the album the violin is used as a background solo instrument, and at times almost becomes annoying, creating unnecessary tension to a nice instrumental bed. However at times when it is used without vocals it works best. The vocals sound fairly blues influenced, with a certain nod to Bob Dylan and even a slight tinge of Courtney Love. When the trumpet is used, it is reminiscent of Tom Waits’ musical backing. Again, this may not have worked so well, though at times it fits nicely. The third track, Do You Remember, is one of the better tracks on the album, though it feels like it is leading to a point that it never quite gets to. The second last track, Stars, also is good, as it is a break from what was previously much of the same sort. The tension towards the end built by the dissident wailing guitar then resolved by the delicate piano is a definite highlight. For lovers of the style, Liars and Prayers is a solid offering. However it is nothing new or innovative and the band could benefit from some lighter tracks to break up the block dynamic of the album. 5/10 DORIAN BROOMHALL
Gillespie kicks off A Fault Line, A Fault Of Mine, a midpaced song that features a nice dreamy pre-verse with vocals from the drummer, which leads into needling riffs and a crushing bridge as the harmony between Gillespie and Chamberlain soars. The Only Survivor Was Miraculously Unharmed is furious, but one of the highlights throughout the album is Gillespie’s drumming. It gets better with each release and just absolutely dominates this track. The cool part about the song is its transition from straight up brimstone and fire to melodic chanting and staccato drumming. The unpredictability continues with closer Desolate Earth/The End Is Here. Electronic beats and lingering piano chords from Dudley sets the mood, and when the strings kick in, you are encompassed by the stunning beauty of the track, as it cleanses your mind and ears. In an album paced by desperation and anxiety, the final theme and message is hope. 6/10 LEANN KACZMARSKI
is a great way to kill those dormant hours on tour, and a great way to unwind after a show back at the hotel room. 2. Sunglasses to hide the hangover. Trust me… 3. My own microphone! If you don’t, you’re asking for trouble! Some of these mics see about three vocalists a night and get used on average about 330 times a year! That’s a lot of spit, skin and god knows what else… sorry ‘bout that, but you asked!! Which three albums or songs keep you going when on the road? Bob Dylan’s Time Out of Mind is without doubt in my top three Road Records! It has some of the best production that I have ever heard on a record, which is not a surprise considering Daniel Lanois produced it, but it also has great organic instrumentation and beautiful lyrics. And Dylan’s voice is honest as ever. I love it!
THE SUITCASE Touring Travel Tips with Jaimi Faulkner With two albums under his belt, this in demand blues/roots player will be stopping off in Tasmania before heading over to Germany for a European tour. We ran in his wake to find out how he manages to stay sane on tour… What are the three most essential items you make sure you bring with you on tour and why? 1. DVD series of my choosing (at the moment, I’m digging The Sopranos). Having a good DVD and laptop
This year, the album I’ve probably played to death, but still thrash every time I hit the road, is Steve Earle’s Transcendental Blues. Steve Earle’s another brilliant writer and this particular record sways from “hard and edgy” to open and lovesick ballads. I’ve got vivid memories of spending hours on trains in Europe going from gig to gig. I’d listen to Steve’s southern drawl and watch the landscape fly by. Chris Whitley is one of my favourite songwriters and
I had the chance to do a gig with him in Sydney about nine months before he died. Anyway, it turned out that while he was in Australia for that tour he was working on a record with Jeff Lang. The end result is brilliantly captured on Dislocation Blues. Sadly, Whitley had passed away by the time the record was launched. Jeff Lang invited me, and some of Melbourne’s finest blues/roots performers to launch Dislocation Blues and celebrate the life and music of Whitley at the Corner hotel. It was an amazing night! Where was the last place you went on tour and how was it? I just finished up a national tour supporting Jeff Martin who, for those of you who don’t know, is the ex-Tea Party frontman. We played sold out shows In Brisbane, Perth, Sydney, Adelaide and Melbourne… (sorry Tassie!) It was an amazing experience to go on the road and share the stage with such an amazing artist. Jeff and I both share a love of blues and world music so we got on really well and had plenty of late night hotel bashes where we’d get the guitars out and trade tunes. Where’s the next destination after your tour here and how do you think it will compare? After my shows in Tassie, I’m heading to S.A and then W.A, which will be fantastic. Aside from Oz however,
I’m really excited about heading back to Germany in November. I’ve found European audiences to be amazingly respectful and to have a real love of Australian folk and roots music. It’s not uncommon to have a completely silent audience during a performance. I guess Europe has a long history of music and the arts and as a performer I can’t get enough of their hospitality! What’s the thing you most look forward to when you arrive home? It’s a bit of an old cliché, but there is NOTHING better than my own bed! I love coming home and getting into my bed for the first time, especially when I haven’t seen it for a couple of months. Other than that, it’s just great to be able to wander down to my local café in Brunswick and have a coffee and read the paper. I guess it’s the simple pleasures that I look forward to.
Upcoming shows: 0 1 October @ The Republic Bar 0 2 October @ The Alley Cat Bar 0 3 October @ The Bridge Hotel (Forth) 0 4 October @ The Royal Oak 05 October @ Lewisham Tavern w/Ash Grunwald
HIP HOP: THE WRAP-UP What’s cracking, señors y señoritas? It’s that time again for another edition of The Wrap-Up, your guide to all things hip-hop. As always, your local hustlers, mdusu, Grotesque & Dameza guide you through the latest shows, releases & news from the four elements and beyond.
Uncover This Stompin
It’s been a busy time of late for Tasmanian hip-hop, with local hip-hop website tasflow.com celebrating its second birthday with a big bash down at The Brisbane Hotel. Local up-and-comers Oratoric & Paddles, Dee Dare, Draz, Greeley & EPC kept the tunes pumping all night to an appreciative crowd of dedicated heads. Here’s hoping that there’ll be many more birthdays to come for this Tassie stalwart! Other acts that graced the stage since the last column include The Herd, Last Kinection, mdusu&dameza, Apostles & Dunn D, with Bukkcity, 360 & Draz playing between the writing of this column & the publishing date.
A two part dance work performed in a residential house and a cul-de-sac in launceston. Uncover this is about exposing hidden aspects of our private lives to the public. Part 1 – The house 30th September / 1st, 3rd, 4th October At 8pm Part 2 – The cul-de-sac 10th, 11th October At 8pm Hidden cameras & public screens Find out more at www.stompin.net
Blackalicious
Looking ahead, there are some absolute crackers of gigs coming up, with American superstars Blackalicious hitting The Republic Bar & Café on Friday October 3rd. Supported by mdusu&dameza, tickets are $42 + BF, so get in before they all disappear! Other upcoming shows include the Southern Tasmania Falls Festival Play-offs, where two acts are chosen to play at the Marion Bay site. For the first time ever, the southern heats have included a hip-hop act, with mdusu&dameza fighting for their shot at the big stage. The heats are on Thursday October 9th, and m&d are on at 11.30, so get down there and help some local hip-hop get amongst the big guns!
Adults: $15 / Concession: $10 Double ticket special price: Adults $25 and concession $15 For performance location details and bookings call the Princess Theatre 03 6323 3666 Book now. Limited tickets available. Choreographer: Adam Wheeler Performers: 25 young Stompin dancers Lighting Designer: Daniel Zika Composer: David Franzke
Now, if you’re looking for that new album to bump in the car/flat/bathroom/mp3 player, you could do a hell of a lot worse than check out Melbourne wunderkind Pez. One half of Forthwrite with 360, October 4th sees the release of his solo debut LP, entitled A Mind Of My Own. Dude has mad wordplay, and has taken a bit of a left turn from the humorous comedy style of rapping that ‘Sixty & he are renowned for, with most of the tracks being of a deeper, more introspective nature. With production handled by Matik (one to watch out for in the future, fo’ sho), the album is something that all true fans of lyricism should check out. Speaking of releases, there are also a few local projects simmering away and nearing completion. S.L.U.T Productions artist Dunn D is on the cusp of dropping his debut mixCD (a mixtape on CD, durr), entitled Dunn D Presents: The Map of Tassie. Mick’sCD, which is a prelude to his solo debut LP, Map of Tassie. Hobart hiphop’s latest conglomerate, Epicentre Recordings is also about to unleash big-time on an unsuspecting public, with releases due from Skurgeone, Draz, Phex, Enz, Richo D, Pissed Apostles, Greeley, Sporatik & Covert now and over the next six months! Anyway, that’s full time for another edition. As always, if you have any news, shows to promote, releases to spruik, queries or general messages of support, flip us a message at supportlocalundergroundtalent@gmail. com. Don’t forget to keep supporting your local artists, shows & independent hip-hop stores! Peace out…
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through the Australia Council, its arts funding and advisory body.
Uncover This was assisted through Arts Tasmania by the Minister for Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts
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SPONSORED BY
TA S S I E ’ S
H O T T E S T
C A R S
Vehicle Graphics
Garry Street’s 2000 VT SS Holden Commodore Specs 5.7 litre V8 Gen III LS1 6 Speed Manual The SS is still rolling on the factory 17” alloys but they handle well and smoke up when I need them to. The car is still pretty much stock which I like because it is like a sleeper with a lot of get up and go. SS cloth interior and monza gear knob I.C.E. Kenwood CD player, Clarion splits in the front and Clarion Three-ways in the rear. Sub and amp are coming.
Driver Profile Garry Street AGE: 25 LOCATION: Launceston CAR CLUB: Illusion When and where did you buy your car? I brought the car in March this year from Motors, with a loan, unfortunately. What car did you have before this one? Nissan Pulsar SSS What car would you like after this one? Later model SS or clubsport What’s your dream car? 350z What did you have done to the car first? And next, and so on? I put a new CD player in, then I put the Altezza taillights. That’s all I have done at the moment but there are big changes coming to it soon. Why do you love the car? I used to own a VK Calais so I love the sound and the kick of the V8 and also the feel of the seats.
WANT YOUR CAR FEATURED IN HOT MODS? CONTACT US AT HOTMODS@SAUCE.NET.AU
For local information about: HIV/AIDS, Gay Men’s Health, Safe Injecting & Needle & Syringe Programs 1800 005 900 / 03 6234 1242 Hepatitis C 1300 HEP ABC (1300 437 222) 24
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www.tascahrd.org.au 319 Liverpool Street, Hobart - Open 9am - 5pm Mon- Fri (Tues 12:30pm - 5pm)
DJ PROFILE: DJ JEFF “THE” DRAKE If you’ve ever had your washing done at Chinese Laundry in Sydney, you’ll know that your whites come out whiter than white, but you’ll have sweat stains in places you didn’t even know you had glands. And that’s probably courtesy DJ Jeff Drake. Read on to find out more about the man that makes you dirty on the dancefloor… How’d you get into DJ’ing? I had a long-term love affair with Brit pop and the Manchester bands before that, but when a friend made me listen to Sasha & Digweed’s Northern Exposure CD it all changed. I’d never been to a club and didn’t know what a DJ was but a passion for electronic music was born and the obsession took over. Many years later I was finally convinced to start DJ’ing. While I had a large music collection and many of my friends were DJ’s, I was originally hesitant because if I sucked it would have tarnished something so important to me. I guess the pressure of making sure this didn’t happen motivated me to work pretty hard at it. First gig was for a friend’s party and I almost didn’t play because I was so nervous but thankfully all went well and some of the right promoters saw me play and things crew from there. What residency have you had lately that’s really rocked your world and why? Chinese Laundry in Sydney! This is the best club in the world! Musically it’s diverse and you can get away with so much and vibe wise its crazy! Low roof, massive sound, people there for the music – what more can you ask for really! How does The Drake make sure everybody loves him? Hahaha – not sure really! Giving away drink cards and not being an arsehole when people come and talk to you...
What was the last album or track you heard that you can’t get out of your head and why? The new Oasis single is fantastic and feels like a return to form for them. It’s been stuck in my head loads lately. In terms of club stuff – this record called Township Funk by DJ Mujava has been occupying my headspace for the past few weeks. What’s the funniest thing you’ve ever seen on a dancefloor? Just last Saturday night, at Moulin Rouge in Sydney, I was DJ’ing and a guy dancing right at the front who was clearly having the time of his life reached up to the front of the DJ booth to stretch and balance himself up against the wall and managed to eject the CD I was playing. He didn’t event notice the music stop or the people around him yelling and just stayed there. I had to pry his hand off the CD player so I could start the music again. Funny guy! Out of everything you’ve been doing lately, what’s been the most challenging and/or rewarding? Most recently I have been spending a lot of time in the studio working on three new records and that has been really rewarding. Have just finished recording some new live elements for what will likely be my next release and I am pretty excited about that! The other thing is the Foreshore Festival. Festivals are a lot of work and involve great risks, but when they come together it’s one of the greatest rewards in this industry. Seeing thousands of people enjoy the day is pretty special!
Don’t miss The Drake! 0 11 October @ Syrup
DANCE - BRISBANE // BABY GEE
Wild Nights Wardrobe Malfunctions Playing in some of the more out-of-the-way places in Australia have led to some of Baby Gee’s fondest memories… and maybe some nights he’d rather forget, as I discovered… What has to happen for your weekends to be classified as wild? Turning up to the gig in a dress… maybe missing my flight and getting taken home by the police. It’s happened before. What’s a couple of the wildest things you’ve done lately? Can I say wildest things I’ve got coming up? I’m actually going to skydive and I haven’t done that ever. I’m looking forward to that… just jumping out of a perfectly good plane and plummeting towards the earth! I’m going tandem [and] trying to work out whether it’s going to be over land or the ocean… I’d [love] to go over the beach, that’d be awesome. What are some of the wildest places you’ve been in the last three years? You might have noticed a theme… When I’m touring, the wildest places are always the rural places. Every time I go to, like a little outback town, none of the major cities - the guys there are always crazy for a party. They end up being the wildest of my times. The time that I actually missed my flight and wore a dress, that was actually Darwin… it’s usually just the little places, the unexpected… that tend to be the wildest. Wh y do you think that is? You already touched on it a bit… is it purely because they’re starved of good parties? I’m not too sure they’re starved; maybe that’s the reason, but they’re always up for a party… it doesn’t matter who you are, when you get up there they wholly embrace you… I guess, I came from a little country town
as well and there isn’t really that much to do except go out and get plastered so anyone that’s with you, you kind of drag along and get caught up with in the moment so that’s always fun. Aside from your sound gear, do you take along any of your own lighting gear as well? Is that part of it or is it just purely the vibe and the music? No, just purely the people, the vibe – I just take my music… the nightclubs are usually all set up, and it’s [all] crazy antics… Actually, one of the craziest places I’ve been to in the last three years was probably Dreamscape up in Cairns, it’s like an outdoor doof… it’s so much fun, it’s crazy to have fire twirlers, lasers, and smoke machines, like, pushing into the forest… they shoot lasers through there while people are dancing… that’s pretty cool… I was playing there, but I’ll never forget the outdoor feel of the event. I always think that music sounds way better outdoors… they had a lake in the middle of this gig and it started drizzling halfway through the night and the… I don’t know if you’ve ever seen [it], but when you see a laser getting shone through rain droplets it actually captures every single rain [drop]… It was phenomenal. I’ve never seen anything like that ever before and ever again. It was pretty cool. sCHRIS RATTRAY
Join Baby Gee on his Wild Weekend Tour! 0 8 October @ Lonnies 0 10 October @ Curly’s 0 11 October @ Sirocco’s Catch the rest of this interview at www.sauce.net.au.
SAUCE #78
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ROCK - MELBOURNE// LITTLE RED
Group Thrives in Live Vibe
got a new album out, but that’s not what Little Red loves oThey’ve the most about the band. “It’s certainly the gigs,” says vocalist,
Tom Hartney. “It’s hard to get a sense of how the album’s doing because you’re kind of not there, on the spot. But when you’re doing gigs your audience is right in front of you and you get appreciation first-hand; that’s what we love the most.” It seems Little Red puts their priority on the live performance over their recorded product. Tom agrees. “That’s right… the fact is we’ve only really recorded twice. We did our EP and we did our album… in that formal setting we’ve only done it twice, where we would have done two hundred plus gigs. It kind of makes sense that that’s where we thrive. We actually went in and recorded the album last year – at the end of last year – before we’d had that much gigging experience and we sat on it for ages. The more we played live, the better we got, and the album kind of went out of date. We actually went back in this year and made a real conscious thing of recording as live as possible since that’s where we got all our experience. We basically recorded all the songs on the album mainly live in the room and maybe a couple of vocal overdubs, just because that’s where we got our experience from, all the live gigging.” But have they taken any conscious steps to ensure they have a unique sound, to distinguish themselves from other bands on the scene? “Not really, it’s all happened not by design but by accident, so far. We just happened to have the four of us who wanted to sing. We didn’t know that other bands were doing that kind of harmony thing – that’s just what we wanted to do when we started out and just the formula of our makeup as a band just gave us our sound,” he reflects. “But yeah, we’re constantly influenced by the bands we play with, probably more so than what you hear on the radio, it’s the bands you tour with that influence you.
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I guess it is a bit of an issue to keep a coherent sound, because there’s three songwriters and five members and we’re listening to different things at different times… we might be writing in one direction and someone else is writing in another direction, but generally you only bring songs to the band that you think will fit with the band. But we don’t really talk about it; it’s just under the surface…” You’d think this would create a healthy competition amongst the songwriters to develop the best material. Tom acknowledges that, “We don’t really talk about it, but the fact is there’s always competition. Dominic writes most of the songs. He’s the most prolific. I think he writes a song every day, as far as I know. You’ve gotta be on your game to compete with that. We only bring our best songs to Little Red. There are a couple of side projects that are vehicles for songs that never make it to Little Red… It is a bit competitive, I guess, but that’s healthy.” sINTERVIEW BY DAVID WILLIAMS ARTICLE BY CHRIS RATTRAY
Upcoming shows: 0 October 17 @ UniBar (Hobart) Little Red’s latest album, Listen to Little Red, is out now on Hooch Hound/Shock.
TASPRIDE REBORN Tasmania’s annual gay and lesbian festival TasPride has attitude in 2008! It has attitude, it has energy, it has colour – and if any festival in Tasmania had personality, it’s TasPride. The 2008 TasPride Festival, presented by the Gay and Lesbian Community Centre (GLC Centre) mirrors the depth and diversity of the GLBTI community and its friends and supporters, hosting a myriad of events, activities, cultural evenings, dinners, walks, rock nights and dance parties across the state. The Tasmanian community and interstate visitors alike will be able to celebrate the start of two weeks of festival fabulousness at the party of the year, the iconic Halloween Party Saturday, 1 November. Dancing, music and Halloween fun will run riot across two levels of SOHO. The roof will be raised by five of the best DJs – Sydney’s Dan Murphy, Tom, D2M, Kat and MarQ – along with a fantastic production shows from Melbourne’s own Drags Aloud.
ARTS - LAUNCESTON // UNCOVER THIS
Familiar Spaces House Secret Dancers always one of those daggy rug rats who’d put on little shows in the lounge room for visitors,” o“IsayswasRhiannon Golder, dancer with Stompin’s mysterious show, Uncover This. “I wasn’t involved in
any dance classes or competitions as I grew up, I just didn’t know people who were into that sort of thing. When I was eleven, I went to see a contemporary dance work at the Princess Theatre choreographed by Graeme Murphy, a famous Tasmanian dance export, and I just remember thinking ‘Wow!’” “They were doing amazing things that I’d never seen before, and it was the first time that a) I understood a show of any kind, and b) that movement can tell a story of its own, and evoke powerful feelings. It was something I never forgot, just didn’t really have the opportunity to pursue until quite recently.” It was only natural that such fascination would lead her to pursue dance. After successfully auditioning for Uncover This, Rhiannon has learned a lot about herself. Rhiannon explains, “I’ve learnt I’m a lot braver than I ever thought! Part of Stompin’s process is to collaborate in developing choreography between the staff and performers. As dancers, we workshop ideas, present them, explain them and put a lot of ourselves into them before the group. It’s a vulnerable, risky process to put yourself out there like that. [The show] is about uncovering the things in our lives that we normally like to keep private: the awkward, embarrassing and guiltridden. The inspirations for the choreography, and even
the advertising material, came from us anonymously confessing these things. Luckily the Stompin crew are really supportive, and as dancers we get on well. So the challenges start a long time before the show does.” Surely it can be challenging to tell a story purely via physical movement? “I think when movement is honest and expressive, there’s something about using your body to tell a story, or set a mood, it’s a fundamental unconscious connection between the audience and performer. Most of the way we communicate is through body language, so I think dance can tell more of a true story sometimes by removing that extra barrier of speech to expose our true intention. It’s a look, a gesture, a stance, a bold jump or a shy step. It’s a bit like poetry; it wraps up so many layers of meaning within rhythm and story. I think it’s amazing and beautiful. There are moments in this performance where we share ourselves with each other in that way.”
Bringing this show to life was not without its challenges, not just for the performers, but also to find a place to stage it. “Stompin produces site specific work, that is, it’s choreographed in the context of where it is, rather than painting trees on a stage set; the venue is almost like another performer. It took months and months for the team to find people willing to let us perform in their home, and in their street. The venues were crucial for us to make this show what it is. We were all asking our families, workmates, neighbours, hairdressers...now we’ve found great locations from the most generous bunch of people. Muchas gracias!” sCHRIS RATTRAY
Uncover This performances: 0 Part 1-The House 1st, 3rd, 4th October @ 8pm 0 Part 2-The Cul-De-Sac 10th, 11th October @ 8pm Limted tickets available. Call The Princess Theatre on 03 6323 3666 for more details.
And of course a festival would not be a festival without catering to the cineaste in all of us – enter the inaugural TasPride Film Festival. Cuddle up in the newly renovated State Cinema with a beverage of choice as four queer films make their Tasmanian Premiere. Lalaland, Hobart’s premier nightclub event, returns during TasPride. DJ joSH, Australia’s #1 female DJ is the special guest, and at the top of her game after headlining at the 2008 Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras party. As PRIDE is considered the ultimate of all the seven deadly sins this promises to be an awesome experience for anyone who loves to sin! Taking centre stage at The Brisbane on Friday 14 November is Tokyo’s punk rockabilly trio -Ikochi who will have recently flown in from Japan to perform at TasPride and then FEAST in Adelaide. Singer/guitarist Chikako is so defiantly beyond gender as to cause all manner of sexual confusion to members of the audience boring enough to consider themselves anything so simple as merely “straight” or “gay”. Along with cultural events Queer Desires in Medieval Music, Walk With Pride on Tasmania’s beautiful Mount Wellington, Queer Quiz Night and Vonni’s Drag Bingo, visitors will be treated to an ongoing sense of community and pride as the festival winds up on Sunday 16 November with the TasPride Festival Family Picnic Day. TasPride Festival will take place from 1-16 November 2008 across Tasmania. For more information and to download the Program Guide go to www.taspride.com.
124 DAVEY ST HOBART 03 6224 9494 WWW.HOTELSOHO.COM.AU
MONDAYS
WEDNESDAYS
FRIDAYS
SUNDAYS
INDUSTRIE NIGHT
UNI NIGHT
HAPPY HOURS FROM 5PM
OPEN MIC
AROUND THE CLOCK JUGS FROM 5PM MUSIC FROM 10PM
$5 PARMAS & JUGS $3 SPIRITS FROM 9PM MUSIC FROM 8PM
MUSIC FROM 8PM
AROUND THE CLOCK JUGS FROM 5PM $20 REDBULL JUGS SAUCE #78
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games, gadgets, and other digital distractions
NEWS
Castle Crashers
PUZZLE – XBOX360 LIVE ARCADE
Evil wizard crashes your feast-ival, steals your princesses and trashes your moat – what would MacGyver do?
SILENT HILL: HOMECOMING BANNED The latest game in Konami’s excellent Silent Hill series, Silent Hill: Homecoming has been refused classification thanks to the Office of Film and Literature Classification board.
From the game studio that brought the insanely frenetic shooter Alien Hominid, Behemoth has hit that magical happy medium of crazy classic gaming that is addictive, zany and with outlandish tongue-in-cheek humour with a modern comic style. Castle Crashers is ripped straight from the pages of arcade legends such as Golden Axe and Streets of Rage making it to Xbox Live Arcade and refreshing the home console system. If you want a fun and easy to pick up game then Castle Crashers fits the bill. Using 2D flash illustrated styling, Castle Crashers plays homage to the side scrolling Sword & Sorcerer genre and has endearing, cute graphics. Thankfully it doesn’t cut down on the slapstick and gore which is overflowing in this adventure. Play as a number of Knight heroes in story mode and battle against Barbarians, Peasants, Dark Knights in this fantasy romp. Your job as a Knight is to save the princesses from their captors and to defeat the evil Wizard who crashed your party. An assortment of formidable and somewhat bizarre weapons keep the hack and slash from being too monotonous and the barrage of enemies make for novel entertainment. You also get familiars; you can enlist their special powers to pick up secret items or give you an advantage against your foes. Pet Nurse gives you advice and insight into the powers of the familiars and your local blacksmith has a storage frog for your weapons. Mini-bosses are consistent during gameplay and each level provides an adequate progression in the storyline. My favourite part of this game is the secret weapons and pop culture references such as the Cyclops death scene. Also the UFO level pays respect to the zany Alien Hominid and a nod to the game developers.
Gameplay is broken up by the ability to gain more weapons, replenishing stocks and level-up points. In-game diversions include the gladiator stadium rounds where you need to defeat ever-growing numbers of foes without dying. The outlandish character styles makes for an entertaining game and moreover enjoyable, alternative gameplay with XboxLive and an “All you Can Quaff ” eating competition that pushes your button sequence speed to the max. I thoroughly enjoyed this game on the first level. Although the levels can be tiresome on replay, the secrets are worthwhile for a second comb of the scenery. Unlocking items is a good way to pass the time, however the button mashing gets a little passé. Also, there are some glitches that can hamper your enjoyment in story and Live. This is a fun game for quick hack-n-slash action that all ages could enjoy. sTIARNE DOUBLE
GAMEPLAY: 70%
They didn’t go wrong with Golden Axe and justice has been done with this comic animated style. The boomerang is awesome.
SOUND: 60%
It remains to be seen whether Konami can alter Silent Hill: Homecoming enough to meet the lower classification, or whether Australia will finally step up to the rest of the world and introduce an R18+ classification for games. The former would be the latest in a series of compromises to allow games to be sold in Australia.
A step up from the arcade games of the 90’s with the option to turn it off and play your own music (possibly from the movie Willow).
The latter would development.
GRAPHICS: 80%
Decent looking game with comical themes and animation.
PLAYABILITY: 70%
Easy to play but requires you to repeat levels for upgrading. OVERALL: 70%
Whacky humour makes it a cheap gem for the arcade collection. Castle Crashers is available now for: 0 XBox 360 Live Arcade
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Friday October 3 Rob Richards Saturday October 4 The Turnaround / Blue Team Go! Woof Woof / Phoenix Lights Friday October 10 DJ Skip Saturday October 11 Off The Cuff
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SAUCE #78
The highest rating for games in Australia is MA15+. Other forms of media, such as DVDs and movies, extend further to R18+. However, games that fail to meet the board’s classification system are effectively banned from entry into the country, making it illegal for the games to be sold. Other games deemed unsuitable for adult consumers to have been banned this year include Dark Sector and Fallout 3.
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SCREEN - FESTIVAL
Trasharama to Puke in Your Face!
still get a lot of art-fag films from Victoria,” laughs Jero, co-ordinator of Australia’s nastiest filmo“We festival, Trasharama. “We still get paro and can’t work out how we manage to get our shit together enough
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BRENDA HEAN?
Directed by Scott Millwood
to put on a festival that travels most of Australia each year.” Ahead of the festival’s Tasmanian tour, DAVID WILLIAMS asked what else has changed over the years?
I guess the biggest change over the years would be the fact that with better and more affordable technology, more people have a chance to make their own films. A few years back it was a lot harder to get your hands on a VHS or Video8 camera and do a crash edit with a couple of VCR’s. Now you can get a half decent camera for not too much or even film stuff using a mobile phone, and editing software is a lot easier to come across for your PC. The production values of films (even back yard dodgies) has become better and better.
a corpse al’a Nekromantik. Then there’s Tom Priestley and Bill Flower’s latest work of genius, Killin’ Flies. I’d have to comment on the Tasmanian entries once again. You guys really make an awesome brand of TRASH.
What are the hallmarks of a good schlock movie or B-grader that makes you choose it for the Festival? I guess the main thing is it has to be entertaining. We don’t care what it’s shot on - super8, VHS, mini-dv, film or mobile phone, as long as it’s got some sort of story that engages the audience. Obviously, an excess of bodily fluids always brings a smile to the face... toilet humour and anything un-PC. Push the boundaries... be creative...
What keeps you interested? I still get a huge buzz when I go down to the post office and pick up the entries, get home, crack a cold one and eagerly watch the new batch of shorts with Dick, Frank and who ever else wants to give their two cents’ worth. And, of course, the biggest highlight would have to be getting to see the films on the big screen with a packed audience screaming in delight out and rolling around the floor in pain from laughing too hard. Having a beer with the filmmakers after the show and getting their trade secrets on best recipes for blood, etc. PRICELESS What have been some of the most memorable reactions? How many people have been overcome with nausea or run, screaming from the screenings, or similar? Last year at our Premiere at The Mercury, an ambulance had to take one punter to hospital after a wild night of Trash. Rumour has it that she actually split her sides from laughing too hard. There were some punch-ups after our show in Geelong but I’m pretty sure that was just some redneck yokels who rocked up at the end after we sold out of popcorn. There has been plenty of real life vomiting but that might be more to do with the “special punch” that was consumed during the show. What are your personal favourites in this year’s presentation? And, of course, why? So many good ones it’s hard to pick a favourite. I really like Look to the Skies, where a sci-fi geek who “wants to believe” goes out in search for extraterrestrials and gets much more than he bargained for. I love the tranny who mimes some bad 70’s song while fornicating with
Sometimes I get more serious about it and think I’ll sell out and make something for Tropfest, but, to be honest, that shit bores me to tears.
How often has the Festival entered your dreams? At the moment we are all working around the clock trying to make this happen. Today, for example, we spent all morning and afternoon sending emails, organising street press and radio interviews, sending out posters and flyers to our awesome volunteers who help spread the word. Tonight Dick and I helped Frank make his film until about 9pm, then a quick couple of beers down the pub talking up Trasharama to eager punters, then we filmed another “night” scene outside the local adult book store, now it’s 12.30am and I’m typing up responses to interviews. Do this for weeks on end and it definitely gets into your dreams! Where will this all go? Will the films just keep getting worse and worse, or better and better, or are they the same thing? Who knows? Judging by the past twelve years or so, the films have been constantly fantastic. Production values have generally been getting higher, and storylines are getting more bizarre. Hopefully Trash will never die... they will just smell that way. STAY SICK! Why do you do this? To what extent are you an unfulfilled filmmaker, wanting to burst out, or is there an even darker explanation? I’ve been making short trashy horror and sci-fi for about 18 years now and I think it’s something I’ll always do. Sure it would be great to make a feature one day, but it’s just too much fun getting a bunch of mates together, $15 bucks worth of tomato sauce and offal from the local butcher, and knocking out a film in a week or so.
sDAVID WILLIAMS Get trashed with the Trasharama Film Festival on: 0 11 October @ The Brisbane Hotel 0 12 October @ The Gateway Hotel (Devonport)
SCREEN - ACTION
The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
Fraser just might be a marketing department’s worst nightmare. Don’t be mistaken, he wasn’t oBrendan throwing TV sets out of hotel-room windows or engaging in any other bad-boy behaviour (well, not while I was looking, at least) during his recent trip to Australia to promote The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, the third instalment in the successful supernatural/action movie franchise. And he wasn’t surly, snappy or uncommunicative – quite the opposite, in fact.
Fraser, you see, is something of an animated raconteur, the kind of guy who’ll happily leap from topic to topic. If he’s not doing a charming (and rather accurate) impression of Mummy co-star John Hannah bemoaning the sleeplessness of his newborn twins, he’s dropping anecdotes about Gods and Monsters colleague Ian McKellen or volatile studio head Harvey Weinstein. He even pulls out his high-tech iPhone to proudly show off the new poster for his upcoming fantasy film Inkheart. As a dinner-party guest, Fraser would be a blast. As a salesman for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor, he’s got a few lessons to learn. That’s not to say Fraser never managed to stick to the subject at hand. In talking about reprising his role as devil-may-care adventurer Rick O’Connell for this third Mummy movie, which pits Rick, his wife Evelyn (A History of Violence’s Maria Bello, replacing Rachel Weisz) and their son Alex (Australian actor Luke Ford) against a power-hungry Chinese sorcerer (Jet Li) and his army of undead soldiers, he acts out a spirited phone call he received from Stephen Sommers, who wrote and directed the first two films and produced the third. (Rob Cohen of The Fast and the Furious fame is in the director’s chair for Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.) “The third picture comes from Stephen’s premise, and he godfathered it,” says Fraser. “Years after making the second movie, I got a call from him. ‘Hey, Brendan, we’re making another Mummy movie!’ Yeah? That’s cool. ‘Yeah, we’re going to China!’ They had mummies in China? ‘They had the terracotta warriors!’ Uh-huh. ‘They all look different! You know why?’ I don’t know. Why? ‘Because they were real! A real army! And they got cursed! We got Jet Li to play the bad guy! He was cursed too! And he brings them back to life! We’ll work out how!’ Okay, I’m sold! You had me at China!” With Cohen replacing Sommers as director, Bello replacing Weisz as leading lady, Li replacing Arnold Vosloo as the bad guy and an army of Chinese terracotta warriors replacing the Egyptian mummies of the first
1972 saw the creation of one of the Tasmania’s largest Hydro-electrical dams in the southwest of the state. A magnificent lake high in the mountains with stunning white sand beaches and magnificent views was flooded to create what in now known as the “New” Lake Pedder. Opponents of the project however would prefer it to be called the “Huon Serpentine Impoundment”. No matter what name it is given though, Lake Pedder became known internationally as an ecological battleground. The fight for it saw the creation of the worlds first “Green” Party and an increase globally in the awareness of ecological matters. One woman on the forefront of the fight to save Lake Pedder was Brenda Hean, a widow who’s passion for keeping the lake alive led her to try and fly to Canberra in a Tiger-moth to petition the government personally. Neither Brenda nor her pilot Max Price made it to their destination and the intervening years have thrown up numerous theories as to what exactly happened to them. Scott Millwood’s 2008 documentary Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean? is an attempt to unravel the tangled threads of these two people, lost now for over thirty years. Scott takes a prominent place in his documentary and serves as our guide through the stories that may or may not be the truth behind the mystery. Early on, the production makes the unorthodox decision to offer a substantial reward for information about the incident, the upshot of which seems to be a collection of rumours and half-truths, which could point to a greater conspiracy. Or two. Scott’s film is entertaining and informative in equal parts and is, if nothing else, a wellresearched and entertaining historical piece on the beginnings of the green movement. It is also a document of a beautiful piece of wilderness now lost to us. Beyond that it is a collection of ripping yarns, memorable characters and fantastic stories all of which can be taken or left on the viewer’s whim. Each possibility is presented as a viable option and by the end it is up to the viewer to make up their own mind as to what they think may have happened. Some stories, such as the two men searching the bush based on the words of a psychic, are simply bizarre. Others are depressingly believable.
two movies, Fraser could be seen as the franchise’s sole mainstay in this third film. He’s quick to point out that Scottish actor Hannah, who plays Evelyn’s playboy brother Jonathan, has also returned – “John based his character on Daffy Duck, by the way,” he snickers – but he says that being “captain of the team” was a job that usually fell to him on the Mummy movies’ sets anyway. “On the first picture, we were charging around the deserts of Morocco,” he says. “When you do that, you’re far, far away from Hollywood, so the suits don’t show up. So we could make the movie we wanted to make... or we’d have enough rope to hang ourselves. And John and Rachel were cracking each other up all the time – they were playing brother and sister, and they behaved like siblings. So oftentimes it’d be me saying ‘Guys, come on, we’ve got to do this! Can we please do this? There’s a sandstorm coming in! Stop horsing around!’ If I didn’t take control, we wouldn’t get the shot!” Despite this type of chaos – and it should be noted that Fraser recounts these events with a smile and
an impressive array of vocal effects – The Mummy became the kind of smash hit that prompts sequel after sequel. “We had no idea what kind of movie we were making,” Fraser admits with a laugh. “It could have been a comedy. It could have been a scary ‘woo-oooooo’ movie. Or it could have been the action-adventure movie that encompassed everything you’d ever want to see when you go to the movies. You go in one end, you come out the other side and you know you’ve been on the kind of ride you want to take again. So the second movie was essentially the first one all over again – that’s between you, me and this recording device you’ve got here, by the way! But that’s what everyone wanted to see because they liked the first one so much. And for years I’ve been getting ‘When’s the next Mummy movie?’ I was hearing it everywhere I went, I was hearing it in different languages. People know what they like, and they like these movies.” The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is in cinemas now. Check local listings for details.
Generally well shot throughout, though occasionally self indulgent, the film moves on at a good pace. The archival footage of Pedder and Brenda is fascinating and the depth of research is evident throughout. Occasionally Scott’s artistic editing and choice of imagery can be jarring, (one sequence of flashing trees near the end proving physically uncomfortable to watch) but generally it feels like a smooth production. A couple of acted recreations seem at odds with the style of the rest of the film but for conspiracy enthusiasts and lovers of a good story alike, this doco will not disappoint. 4 tiger-moths out of 5 sDAVID QUINN Whatever Happened to Brenda Hean? commences its Tasmanian season on 0 3 October @ The State Cinema (Hobart) The director, Scott Millwood, will be in attendance on the weekend showings for Q&A. SAUCE #78
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S T R E E T FA S H I O N
Tasmania's Arts and Cultural Celebration for the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Intersex Community and their Friends
Ella ll 20
Maggatron 19
What do you look at most, TV or Computer screen? TV
What do you look at most, TV or Computer screen? Computer
What radio station do you listen to? Triple J
What radio station do you listen to? I don’t listen to the radio
What’s your favourite TV show? The Mighty Boosh
What’s your favourite band? The Moldy Peaches
What web site do you go to most? Facebook.com
What’s your favourite TV show? The Mighty Boosh
What’s an item of clothing you would never wear? My birthday suit in public...
What web site do you go to most? Viceland. com What’s an item of clothing you would never wear? A neon plastic poncho
Katherine 20
Cait 17
What do you look at most, TV or Computer screen? Computer
What do you look at most, TV or Computer screen? Computer
What radio station do you listen to? None Who’s your favourite musician? John Mayer What’s your favourite TV show? Grey’s Anatomy What web site do you go to most? Facebook. com What’s an item of clothing you would never wear? Overalls
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SAUCE #78
What radio station do you listen to? Triple J What’s your favourite TV show? Skins What web site do you go to most? eBay What’s an item of clothing you would never wear? Flares
SAUCE #78
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