Forte #607

FOUR page guide!

ISSUE #607 ball ar at | bell arine | Bendigo | ca stlemaine | geelong | surf coa st | warrnambool |

05/0 3/2014

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h i l lt o p h o o d s “...it’ll be a sweaty affair and the crowd will be into it I can’t wait!” pg.21

AIREYS INLET open mic music festival pg.33

taylor henderson

pg.38

the good morrows

pg.45

courtney barnett

pg.45

northeast party house pg.45

ALSO FEATURING: The Cactus Channel, Clowns, Jessica Skye Baker, Jordan Bailey, Ruby & Rome and heaps more!

10 0 % l o c a l ly o w n e d & o p e r at e d

Plus all the latest local entertainment news, music and movie reviews and all your favourite Forte columns!

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M U T HAS TA R R E C O R D S & O N YA S OA P B OX P R E S E N T

AUSTRALIAN

TOUR 2015

BLUES ROCK PSYCHE SOUL 06.03 THE WESLEY ANNE (DUO)

special guests SAMUEL MARZOLA & TELOS TEACUP

melbourne - Www.wesleyanne.com.au

07.03 THE BRIDGE HOTEL (DUO) special guest Luna Deville

castlemaine - www.bridgehotelcastlemaine.com

08.03 CHILL OUT FESTIVAL (DUO) daylesford - www.chilloutfestival.com.au 21.03 THORNBURY THEATRE (FULL BAND) special guest Jay Power

melbourne - www.thethornburytheatre.com

26.03 BARWON CLUB (DUO)

special guest ALISTER TURRILL

geelong - www.BARWONCLUB.com.AU

‘A FORCE OF NATURE’ - JIMMY PAGE ‘Z-STAR set the stage on fire!’ - MTV ‘THE FEMALE VERSION OF PRINCE’ - URBAN RADIO ‘OOZES VINTAGE SOUL WITH HER DEEP-HEATED VOCALS’ - DEVIATE MAGAZINE ‘NEW BLUES STAR’ - THE BLUES MAGAZINE Z S TA R M U S I C.C OM

FAC E B O O K.C OM / Z S TA R M U S I C

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ed's note We don’t know about you, but after our bumper 88-page issue for O Week we’re still recovering!

This issue we’re back to our normal size (feels good to slim down) but that doesn’t mean we’ve skimped on quality content.

In this issue we’ve got the Aussie icons Hilltop Hoods on the cover and revealing to Tex Miller how their track ‘The Nosebleed Section’ came to be. There’s also interviews with Taylor Henderson, Northeast Party House and The Cactus Channel.

I was lucky enough to have a chat with Courtney Barnett, whose music matches her manner to a T. As usual our gig guide on page 19 will help keep you entertained over the weekends, cash permitting, and our resident fashion guru Jessica Alves is keeping you stylish for uni.

It’s been a while since we’ve had our editor’s letter in the magazine, but we’re bringing it back and never letting it go (like that teddy bear we all know hides under your bed somewhere).

We’re also increasing our presence on social media, so look for the links and give us a follow. For those heading to Golden Plains this weekend I’ll see you there, otherwise see you next fortnight.

Amanda & the Forte Team @forte_mag @amanda_sherring

forte issue #607 t h u r s d a y 5 M ARCH 2 0 1 5

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PO Box 978 Geelong VIC 3220 fortemag.com.au

enquiries@fortemag.com.au Publisher

McNamara Publishing DIRECTOR

Luke McNamara

luke@fortemag.com.au

hilltop hoods pg.21

editor

Amanda Sherring

amanda@fortemag.com.au advertising

Abbey King

abbey@fortemag.com.au @abb_king _ Art director

James Dulce

artwork@fortemag.com.au @yo_ jimbo contributors

taylor henderson pg.38

courtney barnett pg.45

Win a double pass to see Whole Lotta Love: Led Zeppelin Celebration at GPAC on March 20!

To enter send your name and mobile number with the code ‘LOTTA LOVE’ to amanda@fortemag.com.au

Advertisers and agents are advised that all advertising copy is their responsibility under the trade practices act. Advertisements are published in good faith and on the understanding that the content is legitimate and lawful. Advertisers and or agents submit advertisements at their own risk. The editor and creators hold no responsibility whatsoever for the content of the magazine in the case that it may offend. Forte accepts no responsibility for errors or omissions. Forte reserves the right to edit all articles and letters.

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Anthony Morris, Adem Ali, Alastair McGibbon, Amanda Sherring, Andrew Pretorius, Cameron Brogden, Chris Cruz, Chris Lambie, Daniel Lock, Emily Hurst, Jessica Alves, Dr John Lamp, Kara Ready, Madelin Baldwin, Montana Agustin, Natalie Rogers, Paul S Taylor, Tex Miller, Wylie Caird, Xavier Fenell, Tony Montana printed by

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rites of passage Rites Of Passage is proudly brought to you this year by Tatsup Premium Tattoo Supplies.

Based out of Melbourne, Tatsup was established in 2013 and endeavours to bring premium products to Australia at low price. They pride themselves on providing outstanding customer service. Their easy and convenient online service is a studio’s dream, as a result they provide quality products to many of the regions best studio’s. Logistically they cannot be compared on their fast delivery with overnight fulfilment and their very own Melbourne delivery service.

Tatsup are heavily involved in the tattoo and art scene and support the community to encourage growth and generate more exposure for this booming industry. Built to service the professional tattoo industry, together with members of the industry, they are proud to host the 2015 Rites of Passage Tattoo, Music and Art Festival.

Be sure to look for the Tatsup stall this year.

Carlos Torres Carlos will be making his first trip out to Australia, attending this years Rites of Passage.

Carlos has 15 years experience in the industry and he will teaching a seminar at this years event on the creative process, light and shadows, black n grey and tattooing.

Mostly self taught, he has worked at a number of tattoo shops before owning Timeline Gallery in San Pedro, California.. Specializing in Black & Gray realism, he loves doing all tattoos, colour, portraits, etc.. He began painting around seven years ago and has a deep passion for it, sometimes he doesn’t even want to hang out cause he wants to go home and paint.

Carlos is a worldwide multi-award winner ranging from small black & gray to large black & grey to best backpiece etc,. He is funny guy who loves his family and his seminar will provide a great insight into how he has managed to master this craft.

Eso Written by Abbey King

Rites Of Passage is the largest tattoo event in the Southern Hemisphere and will run for three days over Anzac Day weekend. Hosting this years festivities in Melbourne is the one and only Eso, one third of Australian hip hop royalty, Bliss N Eso. "It's going to be a very exciting three days. I get to be on the microphone, I don't have to worry about remembering my lines, it's all about having fun with the people," he said.

"I love it, I'm a fan of art, period. I have to say though, I'm a virgin, I am a looker in awe of tattoos, but I am naked."

Like many of us, Eso is holding out for the perfect tattoo and is hoping to come across something at this year's event.

"I keep getting ideas, then I think, 'That's going to be silly in five years.' It's got to be original and it's got to mean something. I haven't found it yet I'm still waiting for the perfect one," he smiles.

"We're all virgins, we're all waiting for the right moment and the funny thing is the amount of Bliss N Eso fans that have our album tattooed on their bodies, or our names and faces on their skin and we don't have a single one, it's kind of saying hurry up there."

There are plenty of national and international artists making the trip to Melbourne for the event including the likes of Japan's Shigenori Iwasaki from Yellow Blaze Tattoo and Californians Nikko Hurtado of Black Anchor Collective, Carlos Torres of Sullen Art Collective and Franco Vescovi of The Vatican.

As well as all of the fantastic art on display, the event will host numerous vendors, seminars, demonstrations and performances.

"I will be hanging tough, not meaning to bring up a New Kids On The Block reference, but I will be all over the place. My best mate DJ Ism will be there, he's gonna be spinnin' some wax, 28 Days are going to be playing, there's Dan Kirby who's the drummer for 28 Days and the drummer for Bliss N Eso so he's gonna be there doing his thing. It's just going to be jam packed with cool people," Eso says.

In terms of music, Bliss N Eso continue to keep up appearances with a number of big festival shows booked in this year, they also hope to keep releasing new music.

"We don't really ever stop. There was kind of a time, like 10 years ago, when you'd drop an album and have a gap in between to have a break, but we're just staying as productive as possible we're already well into the next album. We like to have fresh material out there for the people and fresh material for us to play on stage," he says.

Eso has just this week also announced his ambition to produce some solo music, releasing the track, 'Sunny Days'. The track is now available through Illusive on iTunes and Soundcloud.

The Rites Of Passage festival takes place from April 24-26 at the Royal Exhibition Building, Melbourne. forte 13

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The Horror You’ve Been Waiting For

Get Some Mötley Crüe In You Time to say your goodbyes kiddies, Mötley Crüe have announced the Australian dates for The Final Tour and as long as this doesn’t turn into a John Farnham moment, this is it. Alongside shock-rocker Alice Cooper the tour celebrates the end of an era with shows in most of Australia. A bit closer to home Mötley Crüe will play Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne on May 12. Bassist, Nikki Sixx says of the band’s visit, “We can’t wait to celebrate 34 years of Mötley Crüe with our Australian fans and come over there one last time. We always have an amazing time in Australia and we’re not holding back either... we are bringing along our full production including the Crüecifly drum coaster, as well as the pyro and every other bell and whistle.”

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It’s been a while since Miami Horror released an album, but who’s really been counting? As of last week the band announced the release date of the long awaited sophomore release, All Possible Futures, set for Australian shelves on April 24. You can’t blame the band for the delay when they’ve spent the past three years living between Melbourne and Los Angeles writing in exotic locations as log cabins in the California mountains to the sunny beaches of Australia, and cosmopolitan Paris. Those French patisseries can be mighty distracting. “We wanted to move to LA for inspiration and influence more than anything. It helped us to experiment and find our own sound. If you look at a lot of the alternative electronica and dance music coming out of LA it definitely has a feel - we love the weirdness and sunshine. It has been a strong influence on many of our favourite records from the 60s-80s and we wanted to allow it to influence this record,” says the band’s producer Ben Plant. If you can’t wait until then satisfy your urges with their new single ‘Love Like Mine’. [Photo: Dylan Reyes]

Tinie Tempah on Script

Travel to the Future

The Script will be hitting our shores in a number of weeks and they’ll now be bringing Tinie Tempah to join the party. This follows the sad news of Labyrinth not able to make the Australian and New Zealand leg of the tour, aren’t our snags good enough for you? But with the Britaward-winning artist, who’s also supported the likes of Jay Z, Usher and Rihanna, replacing the band there’s smiles all round. The Script play Rod Laver Arena on April 29.

Gone are the days of worrying about whether Avicii will clash with Afrojack or how far the main stage will be from your favourite grilled snacks as Future Music Festival have revealed the maps and playing times for 2015.

Future Music hits Flemington Racecourse, Melbourne on March 8.

Say Debut Debut Proving that things are better in twos the lovely Australian/Swedish sibling duo, SAY LOU LOU, have announced their debut album Lucid Dreaming will be available in Australia on April 10. But there was no day dreaming on this project as the sisters have taken charge of every aspect, that’s lyrics, the music videos, the styling, artwork, all aesthetics and probably even whether the album booklet was matte or gloss. Either way, we’ll be counting down until April 10.

Your Two Favourite Things Burgers and music, could it be anything else?

American band SleaterKinney, comprised of Carrie Brownstein, Janet Weiss and Corin Tucker, have been Bob’s Burgers-ified in their new clip ‘A New Wave’. We can’t think of anything better than taking on a 2D form and totally rocking out.

Calling All Melburnians Melbourne rock outfit Calling All Cars have announced a special oneoff hometown show at the Ding Dong Lounge on April 17, supported by two-piece Halcyon Drive. Having relocated to England in 2014, the boys will be back in the country with some brand spanking new material

in a limited capacity show, which means one thing, an increased chance of getting front and centre and locking eyes with Haydn Ing.

New Year, New Alien There were whisperings of a new Alien series being created when film director Neill Blomkamp released a series of badass concept art back in January. While the series was quashed, it’s now known that Blomkamp has signed on with 20th Century Fox for yet another Alien film. At this stage that’s all we know, but we’re long overdue for some more Alien in our life.

Pearls In The U, S of A Melbourne band Pearls released their debut LP with a little help from US magazine, NYLON: “If Twin Peaks’ Bobby Briggs and James Hurley put aside all of their differences and started a band (inspired by the love, loss, and life of Laura), they’d sound exactly like broody three-piece Pearls.”

Those Americans love their bagels, Games of Thrones and pawn shopping so surely if they love the debut it’s a sure thing for success.

The Machines Are Coming While a few of you might have still been in the womb or soiling nappies when they released their first LP, Machine Head are arguably one of the biggest names in metal music. The American band, hailing from Oakland, California, will be coming to Australia for a headline tour that is bound to be the best thing you’ve seen in a long while. So why not spend an evening with Machine Head when they play 170 Russell in Melbourne on June 22.

APRA and Josh Pyke Get Friendly Being a musician can be a quite a tough slog, especially for those yet to be signed. Thankfully, in conjuction with APRA, Josh Pyke is offering a partnership where you can win $7500 to go towards your career, a meeting with Josh, Gregg Donovan (Wonderlick Entertainment), Stephen Wade (Select Music) to establish a business plan with a follow up meeting three months later. Entries close March 31 so jump onto http://www.joshpyke. com/projects/jppartnership/ to enter.

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Panama Sell Out No, not the emotional gut-wrenching leave all your morals behind kind, the pysical tickets available kind.

With an ecletic line up of world beaters including Courtney Barnett, Sharon Van Etten, Bombino and #1 DADS, there was no surprise when a festival called PANAMA officially sold out a few weeks ago. Event organisers suggest for those who missed out to sign up for the mailing list as tickets for 2016’s event will be made available through the mailing list before it goes to the public.

Gamer’s Delight Remember that game where you were sent back into the memories of the silent killing, agile ancestor/ assassin during the crusades? The story is about to get a lot easier to watch unfold as there are plans to make Assassin’s Creed into a movie series.

Starring Michael Fassbender as the lead, there are also rumours Marion Cotillard has joined the ranks. Time to give those thumbs a rest and watch the killing happen on the big screen.

Our Worst Export According to the 2015 NME Awards, Australia isn’t all about good music as one of our biggest exports has received the award for Worst Band. Who is it you ask?

None other than the tween-swoon-inducing four-piece 5 Seconds of Summer.

Though it wasn’t all bad news as the band quickly took to Twitter to celebrate.

Drake Gets Busy While a days work for the average person might be posting some letters, getting the groceries and cleaning that brown smear of the oven that’s been there for a questionable amount of time, for Drake it involves releasing a 17-track mixtape, titled If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late (available now on iTunes) and a short film for one of those 17-tracks titled ‘Jungle’. Drake sure knows how to get busy, let’s just hope he doesn’t burn out before Future Music Festival.

Ciggie Butt Brain Wisdom There are few people in the world who share the wisdom, and profound insight into life like Damo and Darren.

Almost a year to the day later, Aussie animator Michael Cusack has thrown us another bone with the clip ‘Skatepark’ of Damo & Darren spitting out some harsh truths on getting your life in order, territorial rights and the foolishness of trying to recapture the moments from the good old days. There’s a few c-bombs in there, but

the near four-minute clip is bound to give you a new lease of life.

The Courtneys Attack Canadian fuzzy slacker pop trio, The Courtneys have just dropped the video clip to their ‘Lost Boys/Mars Attacks’ 7-inch alt A-side banger, ‘Mars Attacks’.

Drawing on 1996 sci fi-comedy of the same name – Mars Attacks proceeds in typically Courtneys fashion.

Built around Courtney Loove’s addictively breezy guitar riffs and layered with near-choral backup vocals. Mars Attacks takes a real left turn, when Vancouver bizarro and friend, MC Young Braised steps up to the mic, adding an unexpected, but strangely wonderful, rap bridge. Is it weird?

Absolutely. But does it work? Undoubtedly.

The Magic of Blur Blur fans gather around, the wait is over, 12 years and we’ve finally got another album! The bands eighth LP, titled The Magic Whip, will be released on April 27 and be the first release since Think Tank in 2003. Guitarist Graham Coxon spoke to triple j about the release: “Weirdly, because it’s got our voices on it, it does sound like Blur. It’s a weird thing to describe. There’s a lot of softer stuff, a lot of big expansive sounds.

Some really beautiful and almost sentimental moments as well. It covers a lot of ground.”

Golden Set Times For those heading to Golden Plains this weekend, and who haven’t already had a look at the set times, it’s worth checking them out. It’s time to start preparing your body for a midnight Y-MC-A dancing sesh on the Sunday. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

The Hills Are Still Very Much Alive South Gippsland festival The Hills Are Alive (March 27-29) have just announced another three acts to join the line up in their second announcement. Joining a list featuring Marlon Williams, The Pierce

Brothers and Remi is Jimeoin, Theme Team and Fossil Fuel. With all past events selling out, it’s about time you got your hands on some tickets to this exclusive and highly adored event.

Passes are available now via the mailing list.

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TH E THURSDAY 5TH MARCH BABUSHKA BAR (Ballarat): Maddison Wilson BARWON HEADS HOTEL: Trivia Night from 7:30pm BEAVS BAR: Luke Biscan & Levi Anderson BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc) - Live and Local, $13 Pizza night BRIDGE HOTEL (Castlemaine): Zeahorse, DEAD, Curly Wurm EDGE GEELONG: Live Music and DJ ELEPHANT & CASTLE: $20 Asahi Seafood & Chips Night EUREKA: Thirsty Thursday with local resident DJ’S GPAC: Pirates of Penzance LORD OF THE ISLES: Trivia in the courtyard MARTIANS CAFE: $25 International Night including drink ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: 6pm Jazz n’ Blues THE SPHINX HOTEL: Schnitzel Night from $13

FRIDAY 6TH MARCH BABUSHKA BAR (Ballarat): Cal Darke BARWON CLUB: DEAD, Zeahorse BARWON HEADS HOTEL: Happy Hour 5-7pm, Meat Raffle & Members Draw BEAVS BAR: Steve Pianto BELMONT HOTEL: Matt Baird BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc): Happy Hour 5-7pm CITY QUARTER BAR: Friday Unwind from 5pm. With live entertainment and DJ THE EASTERN: Live Music EDGE GEELONG: Live Music and DJ ELEPHANT AND CASTLE: Thank Guinness It’s Friday THE GROVEDALE HOTEL: DJ Merv HOME HOUSE: Homehouse Fridays Party with DJs LAMBYS: Live Band

f o r t n i g h t l y c a l en d ar THE LORD NELSON: Happy Hour 5pm-7pm MAX HOTEL: Bangstrum Lads, Levi Anderson, Duncan Stephen MOTOR CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL (Geelong Showgrounds) ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: Live Music OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Twilight Makers Market PISTOL PETES: Brian Fraser SAINTS & SAILORS (Portarlington): Live Band SUTTONS HOUSE OF MUSIC: Vonda Bouys & The Falsettos TORQUAY HOTEL: King of the North

SATURDAY 7TH MARCH BABUSHKA BAR (Ballarat): Kaisha BARWON CLUB: Athena’s Wake BEAVS BAR: Butters BELMONT HOTEL: Peter Chapman BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc): Live Music and Happy Hour 5-7pm BRIDGE HOTEL (Castlemaine): Z-Star, Lunadeville CHERRY BAR: Batpiss, Zombie Motors Wrecking yard THE EASTERN: Live Music EDGE: Live Music and DJ EUREKA: $5 Night, Live DJS GATEWAY HOTEL: Dean Ray GPAC: The Listies Make You Lol!, Ken Nichol and the Dixie Chooks, Leo Sayer ‘The Restless Years’ Tour THE GROVEDALE HOTEL: Thom HOMEHOUSE: Apax, Reece Low KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): The Weight of Silence LAMBYS: Live Band, Pizzas until 2am MARTIANS CAFE: Dennis Crake, Back River MAX HOTEL: 2fast2sk8 MINYA WINERY (Connewarre):

Ken Nicol & The Dixie Cooks MOTOR CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL (Geelong Showgrounds) ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: Live Music OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): ‘CREAM’ Chillout Saturday PISTOL PETES: Andy Phillips, Cadillac Walk PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL SAINTS & SAILORS (Portarlington): Live Music SUTTONS HOUSE OF MUSIC: Pugsley Buzzard Trio THEATRE ROYAL (Castlemaine): Dan Sultan

SUNDAY 8TH MARCH BARWON CLUB: Five Mile Sniper, Bound by Hound BEAVS BAR: Luke Biscan BELMONT HOTEL: Live Band BIRD ROCK CAFÉ (Jan Juc): Kids Eat Free 3:30-6:30, Steak and Parma Night, Happy Hour 5-6pm CITY QUARTER: Perfect Sunday Sesh Live music and DJ from 4pm EDGE GEELONG: Live Music and DJ ELEPHANT & CASTLE: Live Jazz from 3-6pm and Parmi Night FUTURE MUSIC FESTIVAL (Flemington Racecourse) GEELONG RSL: $13 Carvery lunch GROVEDALE HOTEL: Abe Anderson KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): Clowns LAMBYS: Live Band LORD NELSON: Sunday Funday Live Music MOTOR CITY MUSIC FESTIVAL (Geelong Showgrounds) ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: Live music OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Honky Tonk Women PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL

SAINTS & SAILORS (Portarlington): Live Music SUTTONS HOUSE OF MUSIC: Celtic Alliance THE SPHINX HOTEL: Carvery from $17 YAH YAHS: Batpiss, Flour, Zombie Motors Wrecking yard

MONDAY 9TH MARCH BARWON CLUB: Oblivians, Warped, The Living Eyes BENDED: Steak night ELEPHANT & CASTLE: $20 Steak & Drink night GEELONG RSL: Members Draw, over $3000 in prizes to be won!

OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Parmi night PORT FAIRY FOLK FESTIVAL THE SPHINX HOTEL: Meals for $11

TUESDAY 10TH MARCH BENDED: Parmi night BLACK HATT: Bachata Dance Classes ELEPHANT & CASTLE: $20 Steak & Drink night GEELONG RSL: Steak Night $13 OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Parmi night

WEDNESDAY 11TH MARCH BABUSHKA BAR (Ballarat): Karaoke THE BARWON HEADS HOTEL: Master of Dartness and Poker from 7pm BEAVS BAR: Open Mic, Karaoke BENDED: Second chance & pub quiz BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc): Shit Trivia Mexican Night ELEPHANT AND CASTLE: Trivia Night from 8pm.

GEELONG (52 Garden St): No Lights No Lycra GEELONG RSL: Pot and Parmi Night $13 GOLD DIGGERS ARMS: Spinning Wheel and a lot of

Parmi’s from $14.50 OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Roast night PISTOL PETES: Food and Blues

THURSDAY 12TH MARCH BEAVS BAR: Winterbourne, Andy Forster BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc) - Live and Local, $13 Pizza night BRIDGE HOTEL (Castlemaine): Hollow Everdaze, Luna Deville, Howl EDGE GEELONG: Live Music and DJ ELEPHANT & CASTLE: $20 Asahi Seafood & Chips Night EUREKA: Thirsty Thursday with local resident DJ’S GPAC: Learn to Cook the Paleo Way with Pete Evans KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): The Bennies LORD OF THE ISLES: Trivia in the courtyard MARTIANS CAFE: $25 International Night including drink ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: 6pm Jazz n’ Blues OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Roast night THE SPHINX HOTEL: Schnitzel Night from $13

FRIDAY 13TH MARCH AIREYS INLET OPEN MIC MUSIC FESTIVAL BARWON CLUB: The Underhanded BARWON HEADS HOTEL: Happy Hour 5-7pm, Meat Raffle & Members Draw BEAVS BAR: 2­Tone BELMONT HOTEL: Lachy Cartledge BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc): Happy Hour 5-7pm BLACK HATT: Cor Ten BRIDGE HOTEL (Castlemaine): Sol Robouros, Special Guests CITY QUARTER BAR: Friday Unwind from 5pm. Live with live

entertainment and DJ THE EASTERN: Live Music EDGE GEELONG: Live Music and DJ ELEPHANT AND CASTLE: Thank Guinness It’s Friday EUREKA HOTEL: Live DJs THE GROVEDALE HOTEL: Luke Anderson HOME HOUSE: Homehouse Fridays Party with DJs KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): Gangz LAMBYS: Live band THE LORD NELSON: Happy Hour 5pm-7pm MAX HOTEL: Trojan ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: Live Music PISTOL PETES: 1st Birthday with Chris Wilson Band SAINTS & SAILORS (Portarlington): Live Music SUTTONS HOUSE OF MUSIC: Fidel & Sarah Anne YAH YAHS: Burlyrock ft Miss Bettie Bombshell, Miss Ferri Maya, Domino De Jour and more.

SATURDAY 14TH MARCH AIREYS INLET OPEN MIC MUSIC FESTIVAL BABUSHKA BAR (Ballarat): Open Swimmer, Chris Bolton (Seagull) BARWON CLUB: The Good Morrows BEAVS BAR: Butters BELMONT HOTEL: Marcus Hayden BENDED: Live Music BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc): Live Music and Happy Hour 5-7pm BRIDGE HOTEL (Castlemaine): Fraudband, The Impossible No Goods COME TOGETHER MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL (Edendale Farm, Eltham) THE EASTERN: Live Music EDGE: Live Music and DJ EUREKA: $5 Night, Live DJS THE GROVEDALE HOTEL: Luke Biscan HOMEHOUSE: Angeljay, Keesh

KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): The Yard Apes LAMBYS: Live band, Pizzas until 2am THE LOFT (Warrnambool): Andrew Swift, The Rattlesnake Choir MARTIANS CAFE: Simon Marks MAX HOTEL: Adventure Playground ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: Live Music SAINTS & SAILORS (Portarlington): Live Music

MONDAY 16TH MARCH

SUNDAY 15TH MARCH

TUESDAY 17TH MARCH

AIREYS INLET OPEN MIC MUSIC FESTIVAL BARWON CLUB: Good Faces For Radio BIRD ROCK CAFÉ (Jan Juc): Kids Eat Free 3:30-6:30, Steak and Parma Night, Happy Hour 5-6pm BRIDGE HOTEL (Castlemaine): Jacques Soddell, Francis Plagne, Julian Williams CASTLEMAINE STATE FESTIVAL CITY QUARTER: Perfect Sunday Sesh Live music and DJ from 4pm EDGE GEELONG: Live Music and DJ ELEPHANT & CASTLE: Live Jazz from 3-6pm and Parmi Night GEELONG RSL: $13 Carvery lunch GPAC: Tribulation & Jubilation GROVEDALE HOTEL: Abe Anderson KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): Psycroptic LAMBYS: Live band THE LOFT (Warrnambool): The Stand Ins LORD NELSON: Sunday Funday MINYA WINERY (Connewarre): London Klezmer Quartet ODYSSEYTAVERN AND BREWERY: Live music SAINTS & SAILORS (Portarlington): Live Music THE SPHINX HOTEL: Carvery from $17

BARWON CLUB: Bellusira, Audemia, The Soulenikoes BENDED: Parmi night ELEPHANT & CASTLE: $20 Steak & Drink night GEELONG RSL: Steak Night $13 OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs: Parmi night

BARWON CLUB: $10 Parmis BENDED: Steak night CHERRY BAR: Cherry Jam Monday’s ELEPHANT & CASTLE: $20 Steak & Drink night GEELONG RSL: Members Draw, over $3000 in prizes to be won!

OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Parmi night THE SPHINX HOTEL: Meals for $11

WEDNESDAY 18TH MARCH BABUSHKA BAR (Ballarat): Karaoke BARWON CLUB: Psycroptic THE BARWON HEADS HOTEL: Master of Dartness and Poker from 7pm BEAVS BAR: Open Mic, Karaoke BENDED: Second chance & pub quiz BIRD ROCK CAFE (Jan Juc): Shit Trivia Mexican Night ELEPHANT AND CASTLE: Trivia Night from 8pm. Have fun win prizes book a table GEELONG (52 Garden St): No Lights No Lycra GEELONG RSL: Pot and Parmi Night $13 GOLD DIGGERS ARMS: Spinning Wheel and a lot of Parmi’s from $14.50 GPAC: Live Live Cinema: Dementia 13 KAROVA LOUNGE (Ballarat): The Beards OLD HEPBURN HOTEL (Hepburn Springs): Roast night PISTOL PETES: Food and Blues

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hilltop hoods FEATURE STORY Written By teX miller

Over the past 15 years they have become an institution in the Australian music scene, since releasing their breakthrough album The Calling in 2003, which featured the hit track ‘The Nosebleed Section’, they have inspired the likes of Tkay Maidza, Thundamentals, Jumbla, and countless others to take to the stage and make a career out of hip hop. Starting out at a time when hip hop wasn’t really cool and ruled by their American counterparts of the day, Hilltop Hoods have since broken the stereotype of what was once branded as ‘bogan hip hop’ and when I got a chance to catch up with MC Pressure for a chat, it was only a short while after the Beat The Drum 40th Anniversary of triple j concert, which was held in mid January, and he was still buzzing.

“Beat The Drum was amazing man! It was one of those festival and performances for us that is a rarity and a one off. For us the collaboration we did in ‘Cosby Sweater’ with a million rappers on stage who were some of our best friends and most respected peers as well was incredible. It was a one off that will never happen again and to be apart of it was truly great,” Pressure says.

Coming in at #3 on the Hottest 100 countdown of this year was the one, the only ‘Cosby Sweater’. If you haven’t heard this track, then you have been living under a rock, because over the past six months, it is simply unavoidable due to the airplay it has been receiving since the band released their seventh LP Walking Under Stars last year. Talking about the origins of the track, it was inspired by one of the biggest influences on the band, Notorious B.I.G. A.k.a. Biggie Smalls.

“He is without a doubt, one of our favourite New York rappers who passed on quite a few years ago. The track is an ode to him and is inspired by a classic photo of him in which he wears a horrendously multi coloured Cosby sweater. We saw the photo of the king and thought that we were going to make a song about it. Although the track is called ‘Cosby Sweater’ it is actually not – believe it or not – about Bill Cosby. When we released the track, there was a lot of talk that the song was about him. The song was written at least 18 months before that,” he says.

Talking about the making of Walking Under Stars, Pressure feels that it was a completely different process to how they made The Calling. 10 years on and in a different environment, Walking Under Stars is Pressure’s favourite release.

“Recorded in a different studio, with different equipment, there are some obvious changes to how we operated 10 years ago. We are also different people writing about different things as we head out into the world. Walking Under Stars is probably our most musical album to date and we had the most session musicians come in than ever before. From bass to six string guitar, keys, horn sections, string sections, collaborations with vocalists in different choruses, it was definitely the most collaborative and creative I think we have been,” Pressure says.

The writing process that Pressure and Suffa take to penning classic tunes such as ‘The Nosebleed Section’, ‘Clown Prince’ ‘Chase That Feeling’ and many others hasn’t really changed all that much in the time they have been together.

“The recording techniques and the collaborations change, whereas the writing process is very similar. We still use a classic hip hop style production, we might fill it out with session musicians these days, but it is still very much sample based hip hop, which is considered ‘old school’ these days,” he says.

Over the career of the band, there has been several awards and accolades as each new record is brought out, however as Pressure explains, success was never thought of at the start of the group back in the mid ‘90s in Adelaide.

“Suffa and I met on the first day of school and we started making hip hop together for a laugh and it grew from there and became more and more serious. I remember when we released our first demo in ‘97, we were probably working some part time shitty job and even then it was a hobby.

Nobody in Australia had a career out of hip hop at that point and we didn’t consider ourselves pioneers of being able to do that or anything. It happened organically I think,” Pressure says.

“I wouldn’t say that it’s a viable career option for any young musicians reading this, but you can make a career as a musician in hip hop in Australia today. It’s a hard slog and I wouldn’t recommend it, but it can be done.”

With upcoming shows at Future Music Festival as well as Groovin’ The Moo and headline tours around Australia planned for the rest of the year, the stage show that you can expect to see from the live performance is significantly different to previous shows. “We try and change our show up every album cycle, at the moment we are touring with three of us. We tour with Plutonic on drums and a horn section this time round. The album before we toured with pianos and string sections and we try and change it up and give people a different experience each time they come to see us. We can’t wait to hit the stage at Future, it’ll be a sweaty affair and the crowd will be into it I can’t wait,” he adds with a smile.

‘The Nosebleed Section’ is the biggest track in the band’s history and the song that broke them into the Australian music scene, yet it was a song that nearly didn’t happen. “Suffa found the break for that whilst on holiday in Port Elliot. He found it in a thrift shop. It was the song that blew us up and the defining moment for us. The album went double platinum and we were playing festival bills. It changed our lives.”

When&Where: Future Music Festival, Melbourne – March 8

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360 Spins into Action And now for a friendly reminder that 360’s rescheduled tour kicks off next month, with Mr Matthew James Colwell dropping by Warrnambool’s Whalers Hotel on April 3 and Barwon Heads Hotel, Barwon Heads on April 4. 360 was forced to cancel his original run due to illness, marking the first time he had cancelled dates. For fans still up for it, tickets for the original shows will remain valid for the new ones. If you can’t make it, you can seek a refund through point of purchase. The tour puts the focus on his latest release, Utopia, which received a four-star review from The Sydney Morning Herald. Joining 360 at both dates will be Coin Banks, LEVA and Mistress of Ceremony.

There’s No Stopping Babaganouj Some Brisbane goodness is coming our way, with Babaganouj (which includes members of Yves Klein Blue, Inland Sea and Go Violets) set to raise heartbeats with their catchy new single ‘Can’t Stop’. And there’s just about no stopping this band. They have enjoyed the Blurst of Times tri-city mini-fest and made an appearance at the inaugural Palms Invitational Mates Festival, while supporting the likes of The Coathangers, Veruca Salt and The Lemonheads along the way.

The new single has been finding a lot of love, reaching international blog Bitter Sweet Symphonies who made the track their Song of the Week. The Bridge, Castlemaine – April 16.

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A Barrel of Rumjacks

Paul Kelly’s Merri Sessions

All About That Metal

Celtic-flavoured punks The Rumjacks will soon take to the road with a bunch of new songs in their swag.

One of the new tracks is ‘Blows & Unkind Words’, which has been steadily clocking up the views on YouTube.

One song is great, an album’s worth is even better. On February 6 the band released Sober & Godless, their second full-length album.

Frontman Frankie McLaughlin: “The making of this album saw us wondering at this whole folk/punk thing as a wider genre, and what it means to us … Call it Celtic punk, folk, rock or whatever, we have to keep telling each other our story, that’s the only thing that keeps us human…”

The Barwon, Geelong – March 27 & The Bridge, Castlemaine – March 28.

In December 2014, treasured songman Paul Kelly released his lazy 20th album The Merri Soul Sessions, enlisting the likes of Clairy Browne, Vika and Linda Bull, Dan Sultan and Kira Puru. Paul and his crew have been having a blast taking this show around the country, so Ballarat is in for a real treat. Hitting the Taronga Zoo early in February, the Newcastle Herald wrote: “The Merri Soul Sessions tour is further proof this living legend is still setting his own musical agenda. And Australians, the world really, are the winners. This intimate show was like a throwback to the early days of rock’n’roll when artists travelled together and played as a revue with a single backing band.” Her Majesty’s Theatre – April 8.

Everyone knows that metal is best when it comes in threes.

Let’s hear it then for Perth’s Tempest Rising, Sydney’s Red Bee and Newcastle’s Let the Number be X, three heavy-hitters who have teamed up for a nice little batch of shows. Transmutation is the debut album from Tempest Rising.

Speaking with Metal as Fuck last year, vocalist Vin Trikeriotis had some great news for fans: “The highest point is when we finally released our debut album. It was almost two years in the making.

It feels good to put it out there for the world to hear and get to move onto new songs. We are already ten songs into pre-production for the second album.” The Barwon, Geelong – March 19 & Music Man, Bendigo – March 20.

Tonight with Lucie Thorne Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Lucie Thorne will release her new album, Everything Sings Tonight, on June 1. But because that is a while off yet, and people tend to be such impatient buggers, the songbird has announced a few shows to give a sneak peek.

Longtime collaborator (and drumming extraordinaire) Hamish Stuart will join her at the shows. Hamish also joined her on the album, which the pair recorded in Berlin.

Other contributors to the album include Chris Abrahams, Bo Ramsey, Dave Symes, Greg Brown, Tim Thorne, Chris Parkinson and Pieta Brown. ‘The Rushing Dark’ is the album’s first single. The Bridge, Castlemaine – March 27. Jimmy Dowling supports.

Liam Gerner Walks the Long Road Life is full of temptations, and singersongwriter Liam Gerner has had his share. Leaving his rural family life in the Adelaide Hills, Liam headed for London to seek his fortune. Sure, he has toured with Paul Weller, Jason Isbell, Alanis Morissette, Paolo Nutini, Elton John and Drive-By Truckers among others. And sure, he was recognised as a “hot new talent” and experienced all that comes with that, including a record deal, but he decided to take a step back as he didn’t want to risk losing his identity. Doing things his way, he teamed with some of L.A.’s finest and on his return to Australia in early 2013 had with him the album Land of No Roads. Ararat Live – March 25.

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Just Clowning Around Fine and sexy readers, Melbourne scuzz punks Clowns have released their new album. It’s called Bad Blood and it was written in the band’s hometown of Cheltenham in a complex that houses a bakery, a cattery and a morgue. Lyrically inspired by their native suburbs, the album was intentionally kept close to home as they wanted it to beat the heart of Melbourne.

It is their follow-up to 2013’s I’m Not Right.

In other news, the band not too long ago got back from China, and if you check in on their Facebook page you’ll be able to see what kind of adventures they got up to. The Karova, Ballarat – March 8.

They will be joined by US stoner-punk outfit American Sharks.

Take a Walk with Benny With a Victorian Indigenous Performing Arts Award under his belt (Best New Talent – 2012), songman Benny Walker has become a favourite voice within the blues, roots and folk scene. His sophomore album, Sinners and Saints, showed us that, reaching #1 within a day on the Australian Blues/Roots Airplay Charts. It also made the #3 spot on Unpaved’s 50 Best Albums of 2013: “… Walker’s intimate, eloquent songwriting is complemented by a rich, soulful voice which speaks of the trouble, strife and wonder of everyday life.” It should make the news of his third album, titled Through the Forest, all the more exciting. Head on down to Sutton’s House of Music, Ballarat on April 18 for some fresh tunes.

He Who Laughs Last Clocking in at over seven minutes, ‘Last Laugh’ is the new single from Melbourne five-piece Hollow Everdaze. The band went through a tough patch recently when their Bacchus Marsh shed burnt down due to an electrical fault.

Almost all of the band’s instruments, gear and collective personal possessions were wiped out in the process. The band took to Pozible, to not only raise funds to replace some equipment but to also enable them to go ahead with their recording. I Will Not Fear is the EP, and ‘Last Laugh’ is its latest single. The Bridge, Castlemaine – March 12 & Mynt Lounge, Werribee – March 13.

The band also has a date with Ballarat’s Inca Roads Music Festival on March 20.

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Dan the Man One of the country’s favourite songmen, Dan Sultan, is on the road touring his Dirty Ground show, from the Northern Territory to Victoria. The tour takes its name from his new EP, Dirty Ground, and has Sultan ditching his band for the time being to play solo. Sultan: “I enjoy playing with my band and I also enjoy playing solo … I’m looking forward to getting back on the road with more space on the tour bus.” While he may be performing solo, the country soul rock’n’roller has enlisted the help of the Pierce Brothers to warm things up. Theatre Royal, Castlemaine – March 7. Dirty Ground was recorded in just one day under the watchful eye of Jan Skubizewski.

Steve the Song-Smyth Ah, music lessons. If you can find a good teacher, you’ve struck gold. If not, a pleasure becomes a chore. For Steve Smyth there was only one man who we wanted to be his teacher: Bono. “I had a dozen lessons, but one day the teacher pissed off and left me with the only thing I wanted from him: the songbook for U2’s Joshua Tree.” Then when he discovered Dylan his true musical spirit was awakened. Skip ahead to 2014 and the release of Exits, an album which has kept him very busy.

Worker’s Club, Geelong – April 10 & The Karova, Ballarat – April 12.

Those who are making the trip to the Port Fairy Folk Festival would be wise to check him out.

The Stylish Christine Anu In 1987 the Warumpi Band released ‘My Island Home’, a track written in reference to lead singer George Burarrwanga’s home at Elcho Island off the coast of Arnhem Land. Christine Anu, who was a back-up vocalist for Neil Murray and The Rainmakers, would record a version of the track for her 1995 debut, Stylin’ Up. “I was quite happy as a backing singer but Neil would always say, ‘C’mon, you’re the only chick in the band, we’ve gotta get your face out front.

Surely you can sing a couple of songs to give me a break’. I started singing one line of My Island Home, then a verse. Then it ended up becoming the song that I sang,” she says. Anu, who changed some of the lyrics in the song to suit her circumstances, would take home Song of the Year at the 1995 APRAs. Stylin’ Up, meanwhile, took home the prize for Best Indigenous Release at the ARIAs. The album also led to performances around the country, including a gig at Sydney’s Metro that was recorded for a live album and documentary. In celebration of its 20th anniversary, the songbird will be revisiting the album through a series of very special shows. Drama Theatre @ GPAC – May 16.

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Passerine Will Set You Alight

A Delicate Touch In 1999, following a show at the Ipswich Racecourse, Clint Boge met his future band of brothers, progressive rock outfit The Butterfly Effect.

Clint would steer the ship until early 2012, when personal and creative differences led to his departure – Boge informed his former bandmates of his decision in September, 2011. Thousand Needles in Red and The Given Things followed, though it was through Like Thieves where he found a new home. Like Thieves recently released their second EP, Autumns Twilight. What is of particular interest, however, is his debut solo album, Songs of a Delicate Nature.

Music Man, Bendigo – April 8; The Bridge, Castlemaine – April 9; and Beav’s Bar, Geelong – April 12.

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The Heartache of Bellusira Bellusira are off and running on their We’ve Missed You tour. Drawing their name from the Latin meaning ‘beautiful anger’, Bellusira formed out of Melbourne in 2007. Being in a band is no easy task, so when you have the likes of Clint Boge and Grammy Award-winning producer Michael Barbiero (“Bellusira kicks major ass and deserves to be up there among the best new international rock bands. They’ve got a fresh take on songwriting that makes you want to hear more and a killer lead vocalist) in your corner, you must be doing something right. It’s little surprise that with that sort of endorsement the band calls the US home these days – landing major endorsements and signing with management booking agent M7 in the process. Despite the good times, Australia is not forgotten. Frontwoman Crystal Ignite: “We are so excited to return to our home ground for a tour. We have missed out fans so much and it will be great to show them where the band is at now. The USA couldn’t have gone better for us and we are proud to be coming back with so much good news to announce!” This new includes new EP The Gold in Every Fall, a release funded thanks to a successful PledgeMusic campaign. The Barwon, Geelong – March 17 & Music Man, Bendigo – March 19.

Sucked In by the BellRays The BellRays and the Supersuckers have combined their musical superpowers for a run of shows – and they’re landing in Forte territory, with gigs at The Barwon Club, Geelong on May 27 and The Karova, Ballarat on May 28. Blues is the teacher.

Punk is the preacher. It’s all about emotion and energy, experience and raw talent, spirit and intellect. Exciting things happen when these things collide. And so we are introduced to The BellRays, a band that made their first steps way back in 1991.

Fuelled by the likes of The Beatles, Stevie Wonder, the Who, the Ramones, Billie Holiday, Lou Rawls, Hank Williams, the DB’s, Jimmy Reed and Led Zeppelin, the Californian natives combine garage rock with soul singing styles. The Supersuckers have a few more years under their belt than their touring partners, forming in 1988 as The Black Supersuckers out of Tuscon, Arizona. All hail the greatest rock and roll band in the world. Praise be to the Supersuckers, my friends. Eddie Spaghetti, Rock Guy, is your leader here. Dan ‘Thunder’, ‘Metal’ Marty and ‘Captain’ Chris are his regulators. Get the Hell is their latest release. Do you have what it takes to ride with these guys? Doubleheaders don’t get much better than this.

Larissa Tandy is Heading Home It’s a little bit of this and a little bit of that that makes the sounds of Larissa Tandy so good. Southern rock, ’90s alternative, vintage gospel and country soul is all there. She’s been doing her thing since the late ’90s, playing in a number of Melbourne bands while also writing music for film and television.

After dividing her time between Canada and Australia for a few years, Larissa was granted permanent residence by the Canadian Government.

While it’s never easy to say goodbye to friends and family, the strength of the Canadian music scene proved too strong. However, along

with her band the Strine Singers, Larissa is set to pay a visit to old friends. The Bridge, Castlemaine – April 4.

Get Your Motor Runnin’ Well, we’ve arrived at the Motor City Music Festival. Are we pumped? How could you not be?!

You have three days of tunes – three! Sunday’s program is arguably the highlight, serving up a program the whole family can enjoy.

And if you hate your family, you can enjoy it by yourself. Sunday’s acts include Amber Lawrence, Claude Hay, Eurogliders, Michael Stangel, Vika & Linda, James Blundell

and Pugsley Buzzard among others. A huge fireworks display will close out the festival.

Of course, there is plenty happening on the Friday and Saturday as well. It’s not too late to get in on the action, so hit up motorcitymusicfestival. com.au to get all the details. Geelong Showgrounds – March 6-8.

DAAS Returns For 10 years, from their busking debut in Canberra in 1984 to their calling it a day in 1994, the troublemaking trio of the Doug Anthony Allstars (Tim Ferguson, Paul McDermott

With this being our last issue before the Aireys Inlet Open Mic Festival, it’s the perfect time for a good look at what’s in store. It’s a ripping little festival, after all. For those who love it short and sweet, the festival welcomes over 150 performances across three days and nine stages. It’s free entry, too; although festival-goers are welcome to pay what they think is fair.

For those who love it a little longer, the festival is expected to attract over 5000 people. From full rock bands to solo acoustic performers, the festival offers a little of everything – including a Special Mystery Guest.

Past guests include Colin Hay, Dan Sultan and Mark Seymour, so that’s pretty cool. From the festival’s website: “It is a positive festival where music lovers gather on the coast to appreciate talented musicians and their music.

Our festival provides artists from all over Australia with invaluable exposure and performance experience.

Critically, it connects and grows the young people of our community but is a festival for all ages and demographics.

This is a festival for the true music lover. It is not a money making festival, it is a music making festival.”

March 13-15. Hit aireysinlet.com. au for the line-up.

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Fronted by classically trained viola player Phoebe Dubar, Passerine is a Melbourne outfit driven by analogue synths, dirty beats and soulful vocals. The band first appeared in 2013 with their debut single ‘Ready to Rumble’. In February 2014, the band released their debut self-titled album. The year would be rounded out with performances alongside Tkay Maidza and Willow Beats at The Hills Are Alive, Bernard Fanning and Claire Bowditch at Live on the Lawn at Werribee Mansion and the support slot for disco legends Boney M’s sold-out Melbourne shows. They also hit the studio, recently re-emerging with new single ‘Set Me Alight’. Black Swan, Bendigo – March 21.

and Richard Fidler) became staples of the ABC and BBC. They released book and albums. They had their own TV series. They toured the globe. They were accused of fascist tendencies, though according to Ferguson in an interview with The Sydney Morning Herald last year, they “were against uncertainty”. In 2014 they reformed for a tour, with Paul Livingston (aka Flacco) replacing Fidler, who had other commitments. Joyous times were had by all, so here we are again. The Capital, Bendigo – May 15 & The Playhouse @ GPAC – May 16. forte 25

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What’s On In The Rat Written by Daniel Lock

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G’day readers that I’m-running-out-ofimaginative-descriptions-for, and friends.

Daniel here with the fortnightly... You know the rest.

Thursday March 5 and first cab off the ranks (as usual because I try to stick to alphabetical order) is Babushka Bar. They have Maddison Wilson bringing her wistful words balanced by her calculated keyboard to their stage.

Joining her will be Larissa Tandy. Entry: $5.

Friday March 6 Cal Darke will be soloing Babushka Bar... Or playing solo with supports (my sources are unreliable at the best of times). Entry: $5.

A busy four band/artist line up for The Eastern with Von Stache (Geelong based electropop), Sound Mountain (Ballarat based harmonic folking awesomeness), James Ramsay (Rock meets Indy and modern manly Goldilocks) and The Mary Gardens (two sisters, one guitar). Entry: $8.

Saturday March 7 sees the return of Kaisha to the Babushka Bar. Entry: $10.

The Eastern will have Frank Sultana & The Sinister Kids (Sydney) playing on this night with supports to be announced. Entry: $10.

The Weight of Silence will be playing (hopefully louder than their name implies) at The Karova Lounge. With support from Into Ruin.

Entry: $6.

Suttons House of Music has the Pugsley Buzzard Trio set for stage. FREE ENTRY. Sunday March 8 The Karova are open to host The Clowns with support from American Sharks. Entry: $12.

S.H.O.M. Have the Celtic Alliance playing.

FREE ENTRY. Thursday March 12 The Karova have The Bennies back supported by Foxtrot, Tigers and Agent 37.

Friday March 13 The Eastern have punk duo Art Pope and surf rockers Tsugnarly (a personal favourite) playing. Entry $10.

The Karova Lounge have Gangz playing, supported by Robot Fox. $6.

S.H.O.M. have Fidel and Sarah Anne playing. FREE ENTRY. Saturday March 14 The Babushka Lounge have Open Swimmer and Chris Bolton playing.

Entry: $10 The Eastern are hosting FRED’s last gig (one of local artist Shane Van Den Akker’s projects). Good Time Aussie Bogalars are also booked to support.

The Karova Lounge has rockaBallaratta boys The Yard Apes playing with Rick Moranis Overdrive and The Villenettes. Entry $10.

The Main Bar have one man blues band Shaun Kirk playing. Shaun Kirk is a constantly touring artist who frequently plays many festivals and as well as rock the roof off solo, he’s also a nice guy. Entry: $15 presale, $18 door.

Sunday March 15 The Eastern is having a Sunday Funday with Epicure frontman Juan Alban playing a solo set. FREE ENTRY. The Karova Lounge has heavy metal band Psychroptic play with support from Goatwhore. Entry: $25.

Wednesday March 18 sees the return of The Beards to the Karova Lounge, supported by The Stiffys. Entry: $25.

Thursday March 19 The Babushka Bar has Marta Pacek and the Jessica Stuart Few listed as playing (though their facebook says they’re playing Geelong, awkward). Entry: TBA. The Karova Lounge will be hosting KELE. Entry: $20.00 Last but not least, The Main Bar will have Chris Wilson playing. Entry: $20.

That’s all from me for this fortnight, catch ya later.

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Courthouse ARTS Exhibition Clare Bedford’s Invenire will find a home at the Courthouse ARTS gallery starting March 13. Clare: “I love to dabble with paint, film and pen but a camera is my first love. I have a great passion for creating stories based on the mental experiences in my own life and of others. To me being human gives us an incredible power to create and learn, which photography and writing gives to me … I guess as such a shy youngster this became a face for me. Something that was my own, I could still share it, but it was the beginning of the evolving confident person I wanted to be.

Now, it is still my face but it is more my face and continues to grow as I do.” Check it out.

Tea for One Australia is set for another round of Jeff Martin shows, with the old-hand set to play a string of acoustic dates on his Returning from the Ocean at the End tour.

While the tour will shine an acoustic light on The Ocean at the End, fans will also be treated to Tea Party favourites, as well as the odd surprise or two.

As for The Ocean at the End (2014), the album marked The Tea Party’s eighth studio album – and their first since 2004’s Seven Circles. They also recorded a live album in Australia as part of their reunion tour, which was released in 2012.

Few bands have forged a connection with Australia quite like The Tea Party, with over 15 tours under their belt. The Karova, Ballarat – April 10.

One Wise Gal Melbourne-based songbird Rowena Wise has plenty to smile about these days. There’s the booking deal with Heartstop Music, but even sweeter is that she recently successfully crowdfunded her debut EP. Originally from Margaret River, Rowena grew up in a family band and played her first gig when she was just eight. Sure, it might have just been banging an egg shaker on the ground, but it was the start of something. She moved to Melbourne a few years ago to pursue music and study at University, where friends were made and opportunities were found.

Rowena will accompany Jordie Lane at Ararat Live on April 22 and Beav’s Bar, Geelong on April 23.

Tunes atop a Skyscraper Lending their name from the council housing that dominates the Melbourne skyline, Skyscraper Stan and the Commission Flats

are troubadour rock and rollers. While you will also find elements of early American music and big bang New Orleans in their sound, their musical hearts lie in Melbourne. It wasn’t always this way. Originally a dirty, foot-to-the-floor blues band, the turn came when the band disbanded in 2011 and American adventures took place.

Upon his return, Stan set about reforming the group in order to tell of his Louisiana tales. His ragtag team are Martin Schilov, master of the viola bass and resident groovehound; Richard Wise, drummer and in-house clinical psychologist and kit pilot; Oskar Herbig, guitarist and face-melter; Lia Sharard, vocalist and apparently the only sane member of the group; and Gemma Sharard, singer and potty mouth. Then there is Stan Woodhouse, once described as “wet cement channelling Nick Cave”. Last year saw the release of their debut album Last Year’s Tune.

Recorded in Melbourne and mixed in New York

by Greg Calbi (Bon Iver, Alabama Shakes, Norah Jones), the band has been patiently sitting on the album in order to launch it at the Port Fairy Folk Festival. From there, they will take in several other dates. The Loft, Warrnambool – April 5.

Get Your Tickets Here Geelong’s Barwon Club has a couple of ripping acts coming up where tickets are still available. First up you have Tony Joe White on April 2. The Louisianaborn songman has been playing his swamp rock since the late ’60s. His biggest song, ‘Polk Salad Annie’, has been recorded

by Elvis and Tom Jones.

He recently performed the track with the Foo Fighters on Letterman.

Next up you have Frank

Grow a Beard and Be Awesome The manly bearded men of The Beards are once again about to set off on another massive mission. You see, they are all about the beard and the awesomeness of them. Beards make you more attractive. Beards make you live longer. Beards make lovin’ even sweeter. Beards will make you able to win a fight with a bear, should that ever be a problem. Beards don’t make your drinking a problem. Beards enable you to do so many things, and The Beards mission is to impart their wisdom on you. Wisdom which comes from, yes, beards. Their new single is ‘Strokin’ My Beard’, which all bearded folk will know from 2014’s The Beard Album. The Karova, Ballarat – March 18 & The Barwon, Geelong – March 20. Beards.

Turner on April 16. The English songman led post-hardcore act Million Dead until the band split in 2005. From then, he has enjoyed a primarily acoustic-based solo career. Both are making good use of being out this way for Bluesfest, so I don’t know what you’re waiting for. A written invitation, perhaps?

Garage Days with Oblivians Modern garage-punk godfathers Oblivians lead an awesome little mini-fest at Geelong’s Barwon Club on March 9. I guess when you keep fans waiting over twenty years for a tour you have to make it up to them somehow. Many years ago, in the year of 1993, the Oblivians started performing together. At the time Greg Cartwright and Jack Yarber were part of Compulsive Gamblers, however when other members began drifting away the pair decided to keep things going.

They met and recruited Eric Friedl and did their thing as good as anyone until their breakup in 1998. They reformed in 2012. Oblivians will be joined by Hits, Warped, The Living Eyes, The Kremlings and Hierophants.

Port Fairy Folk Festival The Port Fairy Folk Festival takes place this weekend (March 6-9), bringing with it as good a line-up as you’re likely to find anywhere. You no doubt know about the lineup itself, so let’s take a look at a few things you need to know. The main music program is held at Festival Arena (Southcombe Park), Campbell Street.

Gates open at 5 p.m. on the Friday and 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, Sunday and Monday. A shuttle bus will operate from town from 8 a.m. through 11:30 p.m. for a gold coin donation.

Please take care of your festival wristband as this will enable you to come and go as you please. You’re welcome to bring your own food, but leave the grog at home. A full FAQ can be found through portfairyfolkfestival.com.

Tell Me More, Tell Me More Three-piece powerhouse metal outfit Weight of Silence will take in Ballarat’s Karova Lounge on March 7 and Bendigo’s Music Man on April 2. Melbourne’s legendary nightclub Cloud Nine is setting up shop at Geelong’s Eureka Hotel on March 20. Put in charge to entertain you is a selection

of Cloud Nine’s hottest DJs, including Slice N Dice, Zac Waters, Press Play, AzmaC and Teddy Cream. ChillOut takes place in Daylesford this weekend, March 6 through 9, with information through chilloutfestival. com.au. Dennis Crake and Back River will take their blues, country, funk kinda thing to Martians Café, Deans Marsh on March 7. Hey, ho, tickets are currently available for the National Celtic Festival, did ya know?! Taking place mid-year, the festival will welcome an amazing mix of local and international artists, as well as a few other treats including dance and various workshops.

Hit nationalcelticfestival. com for details. The Yard Apes have a date with The Karova, Ballarat on March 14. Luna Deville hits The Bridge, Castlemaine on March 12 while Fraudband hits the same venue on March 14.

Blues on Parade Bendigo will once again welcome Blues on Bull Street as part of Easter festivities. Easter Saturday, April 4, will welcome the likes of Blues Mountain, Stringybark McDowell, Hailey Calvert, Alawishus Jones & The Outright Lies and the Funk Junkies.

A major highlight of the

day will be the first heat of the Lazenby Young Blues Guitarist Award. The award is an initiative of the Bendigo Blues and Roots Music Festival, named in honour of the late Phil Lazenby, one of Bendigo’s most loved and respected figures. Guitar slingers aged 20 years or under on the 7th of November, 2015, are encouraged to enter. Applications for heat one close March 13, with details through bendigobluesandroots. com.au.

In the Crossfire According to Wikipedia, Cobden had a population of 1813 at the time of the 2006 Census. Among those lived Daniel Unwin and Joe Gleeson, two mates with music on their mind.

After jamming for kicks in their shed, a more serious tone started to develop. A serious enough tone for the mates to give the real thing a crack. After writing a few songs and christening their endeavour Crossfire Hurricane, they looked to the stage. A bass player was needed, so they convinced their mate Callum Humphrys to join them.

With their debut EP as fresh as they come, the trio will be hitting The Karova, Ballarat on March 20. Joining them will be Kashmere Club and Fine China.

AC/DSHE AMBER LAWRENCE APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION GUNS & ROSES TRIBUTE BLUES MOUNTAIN BRODERICK SMITH CANYON CHRIS WILSON CHRISTIE LAMB CHUBBY RAE & THE ELEVATORS CLAUDE HAY CREEDENCE CLEARWATER RECYCLED DEFRYME DOUG BRUCE ELECTRIC MARY EUROGLIDERS GEOFF ACHISON GLITTER GANG GWYN ASHTON INXSIVE JAMES BLUNDELL JASON SINGH JIMI HOCKING JOHN MCNAMARA JR REYNE

S T E K C I T OR AT

GATE

KAYLENS RAIN LLOYD SPIEGEL MCALISTER KEMP MICHAEL STANGEL MICK THOMAS & THE ROVING COMMISSION PAINTERS & DOCKERS PHIL PARA PUGSLEY BUZZARD RHIANNON FLEETWOOD MAC TRIBUTE SAFARI MOTEL SAMMY OWEN BLUES BAND SHED ZEPPELIN SPOONFUL SWEET FELICIA & THE HONEYTONES THE BLACK SORROWS THE DETONATORS TO HELL & BACK! MEATLOAF TRIBUTE TRAVIS COLLINS VIKA & LINDA WALKIN’ THE LINE CASH & CARTER STORY WAYNE JURY & BRIAN FRASER

For all festival information & ticket bookings visit:

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TICKETS OR AT

GATE

FRIDAY – ROCKIN’ ROOTS 5:30PM - 12:30AM

We kick off with a huge night of Rock & Roots artists. While you’re rocking TICKETS out, don’t forget to grab yourself a bite to eat from one of our famous food trucks and while you're at it don’t forget to grab a frothy or crispy in our craft beer & cider hall between all of your favourite bands!

$39

OUTDOOR

SOUTHERN CROSS STAGE 6.00PM 6.15PM 6.30PM AC/DSHE 6.30 – 7.15 6.45PM 7.00PM 7.15PM 7.30PM DEFRYME 7.30 – 8.15 7.45PM

HALL OF AGRICULTURE

BRODERICK SMITH 6.00 – 6.45

BRODERICK SMITH 7.00 – 7.45

8.00PM 8.15PM 8.30PM ELECTRIC MARY 8.30 – 9.15 8.45PM

PHIL PARA 8.15 – 9.00

UNDERCOVER STAGES MOTOR PAVILION

CHRIS WILSON BAND 6.45 – 7.30

CHRIS WILSON BAND 7.45 – 8.30

9.30PM PAINTERS & DOCKERS 9.45PM 9.30 – 10.30 10.00PM

PHIL PARA 9.15 – 10.00

10.45PM 11.00PM

THE BLACK SORROWS 10.30 – 12.00

TEX MILLER 6.00 – 6.30

TEX MILLER 6.45 – 7.15 PUGSLEY BUZZARD 7.15 – 7.45 REVOLUTION PUGSLEY BUZZARD 7.45 – 8.15 8.00 – 8.30

SAFARI MOTEL 9.15 – 10.00

GWYN ASHTON 9.00 – 9.30

GWYN ASHTON 9.45 – 10.15

10.15PM 10.30PM

VIP/MEDIA FUNCTION 6.00 – 6.45

LIVE & LOCAL

REVOLUTION 8.30 – 9.00

9.00PM 9.15PM

SHOWMANS BAR

SAFARI MOTEL 10.15 – 11.00

FAMOUS WILL 9.30 – 10.00

FAMOUS WILL 10.15 – 10.45 CLUDE HAY 10.45 – 11.15

11.15PM 11.30PM 11.45PM

CLUDE HAY 11.30 – 12.00

12.00AM 12.15AM

TICKET PRICES FRIDAY (5:30pm–1.00am, over-18s only) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$39.00pp SATURDAY (12 noon–1.00am, over-18s only) . . . . . . . . . . . . .$58.00pp TWO-DAY PACKAGE Friday & Saturday. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $97.00pp FUNDAY SUNDAY (U18's FREE!) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .$52.00pp All prices are inclusive of booking fee and GST. Transaction fees & credit/debit card processing fees may apply.

FREE

28 forte

SATURDAYS – BLUES & TRIBUTES 12PM - 12:30AM

FUNDAY SUNDAY! 10:30AM - 9:00PM TICKETS

$58

See one of the biggest line-up of blues artists over 4 stages in the country! Saturday also features a homage to rock n’ roll royalty when the tribute bands take over the Southern Cross stage. INXSIVE; Appetite for Destruction; Shed Zeppelin and more – you’ll know every word to every song.

OUTDOOR

SOUTHERN HALL OF CROSS STAGE AGRICULTURE 12.30PM WALK THE LINE - CASH CARTER 12.45PM TRIBUTE SHOW 1.00PM 12.30 – 1.15 CASS EAGER & THE VELVET RHIANNON A 1.45PM ROPE TRIBUTE TO 2.00PM FLEETWOOD MAC 1.30 – 2.15 2.15PM 1.45 – 2.30

3.00PM CREEDENCE CLEARWATER 3.15PM RECYCLED 3.30PM 3.00 – 3.45 3.45PM 4.00PM

CASS EAGER & THE VELVET ROPE 2.30 – 3.15

12.30 – 1.00

JOHN MCNAMARA

GEOFF ACHISON & CHRIS WILSON

1.15 – 1.45

SWEET FELICIA & THE HONEYTONES

10.30AM 10.45AM

SAMMY OWEN BLUES BAND 3.45 � 4.30

CHUBBY RAE & THE ELEVATORS 6.00 – 6.45

GEOFF ACHISON & CHRIS WILSON

JACK WRIGHT 1.45 – 2.30

11.45AM 12.00PM GLITTER GANG 12.00 – 12.45 12.15PM

GWYN ASHTON 3.15 – 3.45

BROOKYLN BLUE 3.00 – 3.45

1.00PM

GWYN ASHTON LLOYD SPIEGEL

4.00 – 4.30

4.15 – 4.45

LLOYD SPIEGEL 5.00 – 5.30

CHRIS WILSON BAND 6.00 – 6.45

2.00PM UNDERGROUND 4.15 – 5.00

CHRIS WILSON BAND 7.00 – 7.45

PUGSLEY BUZZARD

3.15PM GRASS HOPPER 5.30 – 6.15

5.45 – 6.30

3.30PM 3.45PM JASON SINGH 3.45 – 4.30 4.00PM 4.15PM

VIP / MEDIA FUNCTION 7.00 – 9.00

JESSE VALACH & BLUES MOUNTAIN 8.15 – 9.00

THE STACKSHOTS 6.45 – 7.30

6.15PM

7.00PM

9.45PM 10.00PM 10.15PM 10.30PM 10.45PM

JIMI HOCKING'S BLUES MACHINE

SPOONFUL 10.30 – 11.15

JIMI HOCKING'S BLUES

SPOONFUL 11.30 – 12.30

10.30 – 11.15

LIVE & LOCAL

PEVAN & SARAH 10.45 – 11.30

GWYN ASHTON 11.45 – 12.30

WILLOW STAR 11.45 – 12.30

CLAUDE HAY 10.30 – 11.30

CASS EAGER & THE VELVET ROPE 12.45 – 1.30

GWYN ASHTON 12.45 – 1.15

PEVAN & SARAH 12.45 – 1.30

CASS EAGER & THE VELVET ROPE 1.45 – 2.30

AMBER LAWRENCE 3.30 – 4.45

WAYNE JURY & BRIAN FRASER 3.00 – 3.45

WAYNE JURY FOUR WITH BRIAN FRASER 4.00 – 4.45

GWYN ASHTON 1.30 – 2.00

7.15PM 7.30PM 7.45PM 8.00PM MICK THOMAS & THE ROVING 8.15PM COMMISSION 8.00 – 8.45 8.30PM 8.45PM

JAMES BLUNDELL WAYNE JURY FOUR WITH 5.00 – 5.45 BRIAN FRASER 5.00 – 5.45

ANDY MAGEE PUGSLEY BUZZARD 3.45 – 4.30 4.30 – 4.45

FENN WILSON 4.45 – 5.15 CLAUDE HAY 5.15 – 5.45

TRAVIS COLLINS CLAUDE HAY 6.00 – 7.00 JESSE VALACH & 6.00– 6.30 BLUES MOUNTAIN 6.15 – 6.45 JESSE VALACH & BLUES MOUNTAIN McALISTER KEMP 7.00 – 7.45 7.30 – 8.45 JESSE VALACH & BLUES MOUNTAIN 8.00 – 8.45

DAZZLING DAN THE MAGIC MAN 1.45 – 2.30

PUGSLEY BUZZARD 2.30 – 3.00 FUNKY MUMMIES 2.45 – 3.30 PUGSLEY BUZZARD 3.15 – 3.45

4.45PM 5.00PM VIKA & LINDA 5.00 – 6.00 5.15PM

6.30PM EUROGLIDERS 6.30 – 7.30 6.45PM

JESSE VALACH & BLUES MOUNTAIN CLAUDE HAY 9.15 – 10.00 9.30 – 10.15

DOUG BRUCE 2.00 – 3.00

3.00PM

5.00 – 5.30

PUGSLEY BUZZARD

2.15PM

5.45PM

THE DETONATORS 9.15 – 10.00

SAFARI MOTEL 11.30 – 12.15

2.30PM JR REYNE 2.30 – 3.15 2.45PM

5.30PM

THE DETONATORS 8.15 – 9.00

KAYLENS RAIN 12.45 – 1.30

1.45PM

4.30PM CHUBBY RAE & THE ELEVATORS 7.00 – 7.45

CHRISTIE LAMB 11.45 – 12.30

1.15PM CANYON 1.15 – 2.00

6.00PM

9.15PM

SHOWMANS BAR

JAMES BLUNDELL SAFARI MOTEL 10.30 – 11.15 10.30 – 11.15

1.30PM

8.00PM

9.30PM

MOTOR PAVILION

12.30PM

7.45PM 8.15PM

UNDERCOVER STAGES

11.15AM

2.00 – 2.45

6.45PM

8.30PM INXSIVE � THE INXS TRIBUTE 8.45PM SHOW 8.30 – 9.30 9.00PM

HALL OF AGRICULTURE

11.30AM

1.15 – 1.45

6.30PM 7.00PM APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION – 7.15PM GUNS & ROSES 7.30PM 7.00 – 8.00

SOUTHERN CROSS STAGE

12.45PM SWEET FELICIA & THE HONEYTONES

5.30PM SHED ZEPPELIN 5.30 – 6.30 5.45PM 6.15PM

OUTDOOR

LIVE & LOCAL

GEOFF ACHISON LUKE BISCAN & CHRIS WILSON 12.30 – 1.15

12.30 – 1.00

3.00 – 3.45

4.15PM TO HELL & BACK AUST TRIBUTE TO 4.30PM MEATLOAF SAMMY OWEN 4.45PM 4.15– 5.00 BLUES BAND 5.00PM 4.45 � 5.30 5.15PM

6.00PM

SHOWMANS BAR

$52

11.00AM

1.30PM

2.45PM

MOTOR PAVILION

JOHN MCNAMARA

1.15PM

2.30PM

UNDERCOVER STAGES

Bring the whole family along for a massive TICKETS day of fun and excitement on the final day showcasing contemporary Australian Artists, Live and Local acts KIDS FREE and our new addition, Geelong’s largest country music program. FREE entry for kids with heaps of entertainment on offer. Then stick around as we wrap up the enormous weekend of music with a spectacular fireworks display!.

FLAWED PEACE 5.45 – 6.15

COOPER LOWER MICHAEL STANGEL 6.45 – 7.15 7.00 – 7.45

VIP�MEDIA FUNCTION 8.00 – 8.45

THE TINY GIANTS 7.45 – 8.30

FIREWORKS

11.00PM 11.15PM 11.30PM 11.45PM 12.00AM 12.15AM

11.30 – 12.30

Huge Fireworks display at 8.45pm. Pass outs available, COME BACK FOR THE FIREWORKS

For all festival information & ticket bookings visit:

forte 29

REFRESHMENTS

1 Red Gum BBQ 2 Ice Cream & Coffee 3 Barwon Water

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Showmans Bar ATM

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Festival Management

Kids Club (Sunday)

Carnival Rides Free all weekend

BREAKWATER

4 Carnival Fare 5 Auspit 6 Squid Inc 7 Cali.Ko 8 Wun Hung Lo 9 Simply Vegan 10 Sidewalk Cantina 11 Donuts 12 Wanna Coffee?

13 Rotary Kiosk

First Aid

FIREWORKS S UND NIGHT 8:45PM AY

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many advantages, not the least of which is the ability to store entire catalogs of releases on relatively cheap media, or to have access to the same. But I think something fundamentally is lost as well, and that is how we access music or comics digitally. There’s a tendency to create as large a base of music or comics as possible, but how much of it do we actually read or listen to compared to the physical copies we own? My ipod has around 40,000 songs on it - I would have listened to perhaps around 10% of it, truth be told.

Whereas I’ve listened to the entirety of my record and CD collection at least once or twice, and in most cases many more times.

The same goes for my comic collection. We pay more attention when we purchase music or comics in the physical form.

There’s a bit of ritual involved in acquiring a record or a comic that prepares the mind and makes it more receptive to the message being transmitted by the artists involved. There’s also the ritual of looking after something you’ve chased after, whether it’s

keeping records scratch free, or bagging and boarding comics for future preservation. That can become obsessive, not that that’s a bad thing at all. Sometimes there’s an element of a gamble with records and comics.

Something might push the value of a particular comic or record up, and if you’re sitting on a copy, it’s nice to know it’s worth something either as a sellable item down the track, or just a sigh of relief that you got your copy before it became real expensive.

Though there’s no such luck with a digital copy.

What are some of the exhibitors/stallholders you will have at the fair and who are some of your favourites?

As mentioned, the Melbourne Graphic Novel scene will have an expanded panel this time, and I’m glad to hear that positive words about the September Fair reached receptive listeners over the break. The full size Tardis exhibit will make a return, there’s a new stall from a local sculptor who makes pop culture busts and statues and the likes (ask him about the current price on the Hellboy bust!). There’ll be more comic back-issue dealers this time around, which I’m very keen on checking out if I get a chance to grab a break from running the show.

One record dealer who specialises in Japanese vinyl is making another trip to Japan to stock up for the Fair. It’s all good!

you’ve improved since those early days of playing?

Well, from my earlier days of playing in local talent competitions with little material I found gaining as much experience playing gigs, open mics and jam sessions has helped me grow as a performer and songwriter – picking up little tricks along the way. I feel it’s really important to be able to take constructive criticism and be willing to make sacrifices as I explore my songwriting techniques.

What’s the goal for you this year?

Aside from what the course has planned – set gigs, recordings and mastering of tracks – I’m really hoping to be creating a bit of a following by performing as much as I can and creating as many music videos as I can. I have a set goal to play at least 25 gigs this year.

You actually started out playing saxophone, do you think that’s something you’ll incorporate more in future releases?

Yes, definitely.

Performing live with the help of my loop station I’m able to create a musical background in my songs and then occasionally looping some soothing or sometimes haunting saxophone melodies over the top. I feel it ads something a bit extra to my set and so far it’s had some good feedback.

Some of my songs in my new EP will feature the saxophone for sure!

When can we expect

for your follow up EP to come out?

My new EP Clear will be released mid-to-late September – I’m very excited. This EP is being thought through very carefully. I’m comfortable to be taking my time with it.

In your first EP it was partly a dedication to your brother, are those songs quite emotional for you to perform?

That’s true, I feel conflicted sometimes to perform it. It describes the last few moments we had with my brother in hospital. However, it

was a critical moment in my life, for that reason I believe song writing should be some kind of reflection of what lies inside of me. I feel sharing those kinds of emotion (in my set) brings me closer to those I’m trying to connect with.

Thanks for taking the time to chat with us, is there anything you’d like to add?

I’d just like to thank once again Oxygen College for their support in my passion for music, Peter Foster for all his hard work with photography and cinematography, my band

Bendigo Record, Comic & Toy Fair

Fancy yourself a bit of a collector or lover of records, comics or toys? If you answered yes to any of those, then you need to get yourself down to the Bendigo Record, Comic and Toy Fair to pump up your collection. We had a chat with organiser Peter Pascoe on what to expect on the day.

Hi Peter, thanks so much for chatting to Forte, what are you up to at the moment?

I’m busy receiving bookings for the next fair, sorting out the boring behind-the-scenes preparation, and I’ll be attending a few fairs in Melbourne leading up to the next Bendigo one on March 22.

Has the event grown much since your first one?

It has! The number of dealers doubled, and the number of visitors nearly doubled from the first event held in March last year. We had our first

interstate traders drive down from Sydney for the event and around 20% of the visitors were from outside of the immediate Bendigo area.

We had visitors from NSW, Queensland and South Australia, as well as from all over Victoria.

Close to a thousand visitors came to check out what was on offer.

In this digital age, why do you think more traditional forms of entertainment such as comics and records seem to be growing in interest?

Digital releases of music, or comics, have

Jordan Bailey Q&A

Jordan Bailey mightn’t be a familiar name, but chances are you’ve heard him strumming at venues around the Geelong area and we’re pretty sure you’ll be hearing a lot more from the young musician. We had a chat to Jordan about his incredible music clips and his goals for the future.

Hey Jordan, how are you and what are you up to right now?

Hi there, I am very well thank you. At the moment, I am currently studying at Oxygen College of music doing an Advanced Diploma of Music. I am also a part time barman at the Batesford Hotel. Gigging wise, I am currently performing around the Brunswick area of Melbourne and as much as I can in Geelong.

For those who don’t know who you are just yet, could you give a brief description of your style.

My songs tell a story against the backdrop of a kind of energised folk music in which loops, counterpoints, rhythms and ambience all play a part.

Your clip for ‘Voices’ is cinematically really beautiful, how did you go about finding those spots to film?

Thank you, that’s really kind of you. I quite liked using the idea of the alleyway and Graffiti look in the story line to add a feeling of paranoia.

Whereas in the live shot where I play guitar I intended to add a feeling

of peace and contentment as I’m telling the story.

The physical locations we shot at were places myself and my good friend Peter Foster (cinematographer) have known about from living in Geelong. Fortunately we shot in places that were public locations thus not needing permission to shoot.

Was it fun to be doing a bit of acting in the clip?

It was great fun portraying the role of somebody ‘running from themselves’ as a result of schizophrenia. Standing off the edge of a tall bridge however, was a bit daunting.

You’re also in a band called Crosstrack, how do you go about juggling the two projects?

Sometimes I struggle to balance both acts in the sense of promoting them – as it takes time and effort to do so. Apart from that, as far as song writing goes, it’s refreshing to write in a completely different style of music to what I’m used to.

You’re still relatively new in the music scene but we’ve seen you’ve done a lot of gigging around the place, how do you think

What would you like to see for the future of the event?

I’d like to expand the fair as naturally as I can. I’d like to see more exhibits, as the Dalek and Tardis exhibits were popular at the September Fair. I’d like to encourage the pop-culture aspect of the Fair while keeping the heart of the record, comic and toy stalls prominent.

I’m also keen to get charities on board, whether it’s a tinshake representative or something a bit more interactive. I reckon it’s a great opportunity for folk to come along and check out what’s on offer, but also to throw a couple of coins at some causes that could really use some extra help.

We had the CFA park a vehicle and accept donations at the September Fair, and the event was a fundraiser for community radio station Phoenix FM, and I’d like to think that we as a community care enough to support some worthy causes while indulging in our collecting passions!

I can be contacted at bendigorctfair@ outlook.com for more info, and we have a Facebook page up and running with everything else you need to know.

Crosstrack for their consistent hard work and passion. Finally I’d like to thank Forte for this wonderful opportunity. I feel very privileged to be a part of those who have such a passion for supporting original artists.

Keep up to date with Jordan’s music through his Facebook page (https://www. facebook.com/ JordanBaileyMusic) be sure to check out his YouTube clip too (http://youtu.be/ d58r8miMgnA).

When&Where: Bendigo Exhibition Centre – March 22

forte 31

PROGRAM 13,14 & 15 MARCH Aireys Pub Band Marquee 5.50 6.00 6.45 7.30 8.15 9.00 10.00

Welcome Jessey Jackson The Spat Relatively Speaking Children of the Sun Walker Audemia

Aireys Pub Brewery Stage 6.00 6.45 7.30 8.15 9.00 9.45 10.30 11.15

Gavin Wright Nick Simson Jason Hoekstra Younis Clare Trail Head Aireys New Stars Aireys All Stars Pressed Rat and Warthog

Session 2 Saturday Afternoon Aireys Pub Band Marquee 11.00 Music Victoria panel 12.45 Living Earth Sound Sessions 1.30 6 Foot Over 2.15 Flawed Peace 3.00 Breakout Blues Band 3.45 Flying Bison 4.30 Turtle and Fox 5.15 Its all fun until someone loses an eye

Music Workshop Marquee 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45 4.30 cles 5.15

Mood Swing Choir De Porsal Turtle and Fox Iris The OFarrells Rachael Brennan Issy Losi and The AuraHide and Seek

Truffles 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45 4.30

Rob Brady Brendan Cleary Pete Janes Hayley and Paddy Flying Bison Aaron Wales Andrew Lockwood Rachael Ball

Great Ocean Properties Marquee

Aireys Pub Brewery Stage

12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45 4.30 5.15

6.30 7.15 8.00

Stay on Charlie Hoopla Co-cheól Hide and Seek Harry Brown (band) Imogen Brough The Cannon Empire Guy Perkins

Captain of Aireys 12.45 Tom-Lee Richards 1.30 Andrew Lockwood 2.15 Kyle Taylor 3.00 A into G 3.45 Everything is Dandy 4.30 Ben Thomas 5.15 Quiv Kingston Spots available see owners

Lighthouse Stage 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45 4.30

Philip Hill Joe and Anna Jan Bentley Ben Thomas Victoriana Gaye Kasper Raglus Nat J

Mr T and Me Stage 10.30 11.15 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45

Gavin Wright Nathan Varga Nick Simson Rach Brennan (acoustic) Nat J Everything is Dandy Brendan Cleary Libby and Wayne

Eagle’s Nest Gallery 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45

Libby and Wayne Rachael Ball Mood Swing Choir Nathan Varga Co-cheól Jan Bentley

Session 3 Saturday Evening Aireys Pub Band Marquee 6.00 6.45 7.30 8.15 9.00

Temple of Tunes Trouser Party Revolution Larson Effect The Ampersands

Imogen Brough Barbarella Craig and Georgina Sayer 8.45 Famous Will 9.30 Zuma 10.15 Carlos Danger 11.00 Altitude

Session 4 Sunday Afternoon Aireys Pub Band Marquee 10.30 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45 4.30 5.30

Songwriting workshop Surfcoast Future Stars Surfcoast Future Stars Gena Rose Bruce Gradual Squid Nicolette Forte and Friends Sons of May

SPECIAL MYSTERY GUEST

Music Workshop Marquee 10.30 African Drumming Workshop 11.15 Wild Moves 12.00 The Riddleans 12.45 Barbarella 1.30 San Rae 2.15 Bec and The Elwood Winters 3.00 Oscar Lalor 3.45 Ukelea Blast

Truffles 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45

Georgia Hughes Louis Bethany Lyall-Green Nick Simson Forever Son Ebonie Hyland

Great Ocean Properties Marquee 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45

Not The usual crowd Harrison Storm Isabella Khalife Sarah Carnegie Amber Isles Afro Mo

12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00

Alysha Jane Liam Tench Tiana V Craig and Georgina Sayer 3.45 Chookiie Spots available see owners

Mr T and Me Stage 11.15 Craig and Georgina Sayer 12.00 Damien Platt 12.45 Serena Moon 1.30 Acoustic Foxx 2.15 Simon Marks 3.00 Kiss Me Deadly

Pulse FM Outside Broadcast 1.15 1.30 1.45 2.15 2.30 2.45 3.15 3.30 3.45 4.15 4.30 4.45

Sarah Carnegie Nicolette Forte Forever Son Damien Platt Serena Moon Isabella Khalife Acoustic Foxx Tiana V Simon Marks Nick Simson San Rae Harry Brown

Lighthouse Stage 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45

Olivia Kate Alexandra Pye Kiss me deadly Harry Brown Louis Liam Tench

Eagle’s Nest Gallery 12.00 12.45 1.30 2.15 3.00 3.45

Philip Hill Ebonie Hyland Olivia Kate Harrison Storm Bethany Lyall-Green Alysha Jane

Special Mystery Guest Sunday 5.30 at the Aireys Pub! This schedule is subject to change.

www.aireysinlet.com.au 32 forte

Captain of Aireys

Session 1 Friday Evening

Aireys Inlet Open Mic Music Festival There comes a time when you’re sick of seeing the mainstream performances from musicians and you want to see some good old raw and original music, the kind that is usually offered at open mic festivals. With over 150 acts across three days and nine stages, the Aireys Inlet Open Mic Music Festival is perfect for those who want some quality local music and everyone else just wanting a good time. Forte had a chat to festival director Marty Maher on the ins and outs of the festivals and the special secret act they have lined up.

Hi Marty thanks for taking the time to chat with Forte, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?

I’m very well but very busy at the moment and trying not to get overwhelmed! This is our 8th festival and it just gets bigger every year.

Where did the idea first come to create an open mic festival?

We saw an opportunity that was not in the festival space at all. People forget that the largest demographic of musicians in the world is not those trying to make a full time living from it, it’s actually artists that have normal jobs or are studying but play part time or semi professionally. We cater strongly for this demographic and also see ourselves as a pathway for those who would like to be

full time artists. The level of talent out there is incredible.

We just give them a stage and a good sized audience.

Why is the festival so beneficial to the young musicians performing?

We have a strong youth focus and to get stage experience in front of good crowds is invaluable for any young musician. Our shining example of a successful pathway has been local band Altitude. They played their first gig at the first Aireys Open Mic Music Festival and have played everywhere since. They went on to win the State Battle of the Bands and then went on to play Big Day Out. They have significant radio airplay and, after a bit of a break last year, will headline again this year. Other local acts like Famous Will,

Audemia and Imogen Brough are all regulars that we love. We get a lot of Melbourne acts and even one who has registered from the USA this year.

It’s been going for eight years now which is an incredible achievement, has there been any particular memory that’s stood out to you over the years?

There has been so many but each year when I announce the Special Mystery Guest to close the festival is always a great moment for me personally. Not only is all the hard work over for another year but you have this incredible build up to the SMG being revealed. We have had Colin Hay, Dan Sultan, Tim Rogers and Mark Seymour in the past. Last year we had the Sweethearts because it was their 25th anniversary and we wanted to pay tribute

to the work of Ross Lipson, their legendary band leader who sadly lost his fight with cancer recently. He was there to see them, probably for the last time, which was very emotional for many.

Now we know the mystery guest is a secret, but can you give our readers a little clue of who to expect?

It is a very big name. We are so excited. If you are not there you will hear about it. Those that make it will brag for years that they were there when.....

You just have to be there. Sunday March 15 at around 5.30pm.

Come for the whole day or the whole weekend, there is plenty of great music all over town.

We saw too that while the event is free, there’s a pay as you feel for entry. Where does the money go towards?

The policy is “pay what you think it’s worth”. Entry is free but we have donation buckets on all the stages and festival goers donate to support the festival. They do pay and show their support – it’s a great system. We don’t have to worry about all the infrastructure that goes along with ticketing and the personnel to staff it.

Every cent goes back into running the festival and any surplus goes towards the following years festival. We call it a music making festival not

a money making festival. Every year it gets more expensive to run but we scrape it all together each year from grants, sponsors and donations. It’s such a brilliant festival for the artists and our community that there is a strong will to maintain it.

Thanks again for chatting with us, is there anything you’d like to add before we finish up?

If you haven’t been before you should come, you will love it.

Check out the website at www. aireysinlet.com.au. But whatever you do, do not miss the Special Mystery Guest on Sunday March 15 at around 5.30pm. It will definitely be one of those “I was there when” moments.

When&Where: Aireys Inlet – March 13, 14 & 15

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FROC K IT

T H E NIG H T V IBE

Wh at T o W e a r T o U n i

Written by Tex Miller / thenightvibe.com.au

Written by Jessica Alves

Stereotypically, university is meant to be one of the most adventurous and excitingly wonderful times of your life. I hate to burst that bubble, but in reality, it mostly consists of lectures and last minute cramming to get assignments in on time. Which is why it can get very repetitive and mundane very quickly, especially if you don’t find ways to shake things up. Personally, I like to shake things up via my wardrobe.

A lot of people find it very easy to slip into the habit of wearing their gym gear to uni, or worse, their tracksuit pants.

And not in the cute, chic, sports luxe way. Oh no, we’re talking about the I-haven’t-taken-theseoff-in-three-days type of way.

Like, c’mon guys, that’s nasty.

However, I do understand the need for comfort, considering uni essentially consists of a lot of sitting down in those very uncomfortable flip down auditorium chairs. But you can have both style and comfort by following just a few simple rules.

Firstly, stay clear of anything that is going to be restrictive or too tight. Personally, I find skinny jeans very comfortable, and even prefer them over other kinds of pants for the most part. However, if you find skinny jeans just don’t cut it for comfortability, go for a boyfriend jean instead, or maybe some slouchy tailored pants. If you do decide to go for something baggy, I’d

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suggest staying away from anything too patterned, as patterns can have a tendency to make things look quite ‘trendy’, where as solid neutrals are always timeless and classic.

An oversized white button down shirt and a plain white t-shirt are two items every girl should have in their wardrobe, as they’re not only comfortable, but they’re two of the most versatile items on the market.

I recommend using these items as a base for layering. Jumpers over the top of the shirt with the collar popping out over the top looks super cute, and a baggy casual blazer over the top of a white tee can instantly pick up an otherwise boring outfit.

Stay right away from heels with thin stems. Not only are they totally inappropriate for studying, but they’re also super uncomfortable and really difficult to walk in. This can be a bit of a problem if your university is super hilly or has a lot of staircases, which most do. For the most part I’m in flats, but I still wear heels on the odd occasion. However, I make sure they’ve got a thick heel, as it makes them much more casual and way more stable, making them heaps easier to walk in.

I’ve always prepared my outfits the night before I wear them. I do this, mostly because if I don’t, I get massive anxiety in the morning, trying to sort it out in the five minutes I leave myself after I spend all morning doing my makeup.

Whatever your outfit picking strategy is, just remember to go for something casual, but put-together.

Don’t be afraid to mix dressy items with slouchy items.

Instagram @jessicazalves youtube.com/msbonvivants

In Australia we are often referred to as the lucky country and nine times out of 10 that is because the majority of the year is filled with sun, surf and sand with some of the best landmarks around from the Sydney Opera House to Ayers Rock, the Great Barrier Reef to Bondi Beach – there’s always something that is bringing people to Australia. Now if you’ve just started reading this column, you’ll probably think that this has turned into a shameless promoting of tourism of Australia, yet I assure you that there is a point to all this. I also think that Australia could be donned the lucky country for its array of live music throughout the months of March and April particularly. That’s not to say that July with Splendour in the Grass isn’t amazing and that Falls doesn’t have its place in the festival calendar because it does, but the next couple of months in festival programming and sideshows to gigs is particularly special.

Following on from the summer festival season, we are about to see some of the biggest bands converge on Australia to play festivals and sideshows. Over the Labour Day weekend in particular there is the Port Fairy Folk Festival, Golden Plains, Womadelaide and the Moomba festival. In terms of big name acts coming to play in our ‘hood’, we have the Village People, Conor Oberst, First

Aid Kit, Parquet Courts, Nick Waterhouse, Sinead O’Connor and Rufus Wainwright to name but just a few.

If you’ve got tickets, well congratulations, because these upcoming months of performances – especially with Bluesfest around the corner – are going to be nothing short of brilliant.

If you haven’t though, don’t despair because there is always next year. However, one of the coolest parts of sideshows for Golden Plains is the summer concert series at the Melbourne Zoo, over the course of the January and February the Zoo is hosting some of the world’s biggest acts.

Could there be a better sideshow than joining in with the Village People for a cheeky chorus or two of ‘YMCA’, I highly doubt it. It’s a massive draw card for Golden Plains and an unforgettable experience all round. If you’ve got Instagram, I’m sure that over the next couple of weeks it will explode with fans dressing up in their favourite Village People costumes getting ready to join in the massive party of their reunion shows. Whether this will end up a new album or more touring, or a one off show, it is going to be a highlight of music in Australia in 2015.

One of the other gigs that you may not be aware of, unless you are signed up to the Corner Hotel mailing list, is the double headline show

for America’s own Shovels and Rope and Shakey Graves.

Two of the biggest artists in America at the moment are headed down under for some shows. If you listen to Twang on Triple RRR, there is a possibility you may have heard of these guys, however they are some of the greatest American songwriters at the moment and I’ll definitely be heading along to check them out when they tour again. It’s been a little bit of a surprise that they are coming given that it’s only been a couple of months to get your tickets, but they are two acts to watch over the coming years so Forte, you have been informed!

Byron Bay Bluesfest always seems to put on a show and this year is no exception, with man of the moment Hozier coming to play some shows and Tony Joe White returning.

TJW is also coming to play in Geelong, which is insane for our little regional scene and you should take the opportunity to see a blues legend at the top of his game while you can.

We are very lucky in Australia with the amount of top notch music coming to town and, although your bank balance may hate you, because of Falls and surrounding sideshows in January you should definitely get amongst the March/April programming of gigs or mark it on your calendar to get out and amongst it next year.

Cherry Rock 2015 with James Young

pictured: Red Fang

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Written by Tex Miller

Twelve months ago, you may remember reading an article about Cherry Rock 2014.

At that time it was quite an emotional piece,because it was the last festival to be held in AC/DC Lane. But no need to despair Forte Readers, because Cherry Rock will take place in AC/DC Lane once again due to the awesome business negotiations of Mr. James Young, owner of Cherry Bar. As you could assume, Mr. Young was very pleased to see that the event would be happening once again.

“Things are good mate! And I am very happy, I had a feeling in my bones that we would be doing it again, although it is a little sad we had to cancel CherryFest which is my November event, but we just had to line up a few ducks, get the neighbours on side, talk to the council and make friends with the local restaurant and strike some clever deals so that we could rock in AC/DC Lane,” James said.

The clever deal that allowed Cherry Rock to go ahead was that the local restaurant holds their annual staff party on the same day, and Young gives them all free tickets to Cherry Rock. “They’ll be sending me to the Gaza Strip next to solve their problems.

The secret to every reconciliation is free CherryRock tickets and a free Cold Can,” he adds with a laugh.

Luckily, for all the Cherry Rock punters, the council has the same opinion as Mr. Young. Over the past couple of years, there has been considerable tension between local business and residents and Cherry Bar, which meant that noise restrictions were put in place.

“The council have the same viewpoint as me, and that is that everyone that dislikes CherryRock can suck it up. It’s once a year, we have been doing it for nine years, and we hold it at a relatively inoffensive time on a Sunday afternoon. I think there will be a lot more people hearing this year, because there has been so much residential development around us. We wont be touching the volume button, it will be as loud as usual you can bet on that!”

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When&Where: Cherry Bar, Melbourne – May 10

The line up as per usual, is stellar.

This year it is to be headlined by US rockers Red Fang, who are coming out on their second Australian tour ever after playing at Soundwave in 2013. “We have 700 paying customers coming to the festival and I go for bands that I want to see on the line up.

Hopefully everyone else likes it. This year, that was Red Fang, and the guys from Portland, Oregon have been out here for Soundwave, they immediately

jumped at the offer to play this year.”

Beastwars from New Zealand are also making their second appearance at the festival after rocking out last year. The spectacle to this year’s festival however is the all girl power fronted rock group HITS from Brisbane as James tells me. “These guys are playing at Cherry in the lead up, they are playing at Golden Plains and let me tell you there is nothing sexier than a female playing a Gibson SG.”

For the full line up, head over to the Cherry website. What’s more to say then?

Get your tickets and head down to rock out on the cobblestones of AC/DC Lane with a cold can in your hand.

R&B, groove based stuff.

Over an album's worth of material already written, studio recordings, gigs etc.

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forte 35

Where: Pakington Strand, Cnr Waratah and Pakington Sreet

Plate 4 Plate 101 What is Plate 4 Plate?

Plate 4 Plate is Zambrero’s way of tackling world hunger. For every burrito or bowl (all the goodness of a burrito without the tortilla) purchased at Zambrero, a meal is donated to someone in need in the developing world or in an underprivileged Australian community.

How many Plate 4 Plate meals have been provided to date?

Zambrero has funded over 4 million meals for those in need worldwide since it was established in 2005.

How does Zambrero support global efforts to end world hunger?

Zambrero doubles its commitment to ending world hunger on World Food Day October 16. This annual major fundraising initiative sees Zambrero double its donations and provide two meals to those in need for every burrito or bowl sold that day in its 70+ restaurants.

How does Plate 4 Plate get meals to the hungry?

Via Zambrero’s distribution partner Stop Hunger Now, an international hunger relief agency. Stop Hunger Now packs and distributes food to countries where many do not have access to adequate nutrition, primarily through school feeding programs.

Locally, Zambrero partners with Australia’s largest food relief agency Foodbank.

Why primarily via schools?

Providing a hot meal during school gives parents, particularly in developing nations and poorer communities, an incentive to send their children to school. This helps ensure a child receives their primary school education which is the first step in breaking the poverty cycle. Education is the major

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way in which to improve the quality of life in disadvantaged communities, whether it be in maternal health, childhood mortality, gender equality or combating HIV/AIDS. And addressing the problem of hunger is the single point where Zambrero can leverage relief for all humanitarian issues.

What constitutes a Plate 4 Plate meal?

A meal is a dehydrated combination of rice and soy fortified with 21 essential vitamins and nutrients.

Research shows that one in three people in developing countries suffer vitamin and mineral deficiencies.

Where do meals provided via the Plate 4 Plate initiative go?

Stop Hunger Now has shipped meals to 65 countries across Africa, Asia and the Americas to date. In 2014 Stop Hunger Now sent meals to 34 countries including Cambodia, Haiti, Liberia, Nicaragua, Philippines, Sierra Leone and Vietnam.

Stop Hunger Now operates meal-packaging locations in 18 US cities and in South Africa, Malaysia and Italy.

How does Stop Hunger Now determine where to ship meals and how does it ensure meals are received by the people who need them?

Stop Hunger Now works with in-country partners who submit food requests for assessment based on the following criteria: accountability, resources to pay for shipping and manage customs process, capacity to securely store donated meals, and ability to maintain control of the donated food from receipt to distribution. Partner organisations agree not to barter or sell the donated meals, which keeps the Stop Hunger Now food out of the general market.

Z a mbre r o restaurant feature Zambrero is Mexican with a mission: a healthy quick service restaurant as well as humanitarian enterprise committed to tackling world hunger. It does this via its Plate 4 Plate charity initiative, which means for every burrito or bowl (all the goodness of a burrito without the tortilla) sold, one meal is donated to someone in need around the world or living in an underprivileged Australian community.

Zambrero’s menu features all the Mexican favourites such as tacos, burritos and nachos, but

what distinguishes Zambrero’s food from that served by most quick service restaurants is its focus on nutritious meals bursting with true flavour.

Selections include slow-cooked meats spiced with herbs, the freshest of accompaniments from lettuce to fiery jalapenos and a range of sides such as homemade guacamole. There is also a selection of six inspired sauces, found only at Zambrero, to complete your meal.

Zambrero Mexican restaurants also make a point of catering for dietary requirements, so

diners need only click on the website to check kilojoules, or whether a meal is gluten free, dairy free or more.

Since Zambrero was founded

by Dr Sam Prince in 2005, Plate 4 Plate has resulted in more than 4.5 million meals being delivered to those who need them the most. The distribution channel overseas is managed

by Stop Hunger Now and in Australia via a partnership with the country’s largest food relief agency Foodbank.

“Just by a clever tweak of our award-winning business

model means that where and what you eat for lunch and dinner can make a difference to someone else less fortunate,” said Zambrero general manager Karim Messih. “Our Plate 4 Plate initiative means that every time you eat at Zambrero, you’re helping to feed the world’s hungry.”

Zambrero Geelong West is now open on Pakington Strand, Cnr Waratah and Pakington Street from 7 days from 11:00am-10:00pm.

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And lets not forget the Jalapenos! Free with your meal purchase and also in our Verde sauce.

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forte 37

The Cactus Channel Written by Kara Ready

The Cactus Channel aren’t exactly your typical bunch of young musos. As a 10-piece instrumental soul group from Melbourne, this band of ‘90s kids have made a name for themselves over the past few years with their funky sound and soulful live performances.

Despite their music being different and more old-school than what most of their generation is used to, The Cactus Channel have gained massive support since their formation in 2009 and are set to shake up the festival circuit this year.

Speaking about their upcoming performance at Ballarat’s Inca Roads Festival, bassist Henry Jenkins describes the experience as, “A good kind of different… You get exposed to a much larger audience. It’s a good vibe at festivals.”

You won’t find anything like The Cactus Channel on the Top 40 countdown. In fact, you might struggle to find music like the bands on any popular festival circuit, due in large part to the eclectic mix of genres that has influenced their music since the bands formation.

“Some of the guys in the band are more into hip hop, I was kind of into motown and stuff. The influences all kind of worked, and that’s why I think the sound is the way it is,” Henry says of their varying tastes in music.

“Although we didn’t all have the exact same influences, they kind of complimented each other.”

After the release of two critically acclaimed albums – the most recent being 2013’s Wooden Boy – and with new music scheduled for release this year, it’s easy to wonder if a group of 10 kids ever thought their musical hobby would follow them out of high school and propel them into such success. Evidently, Henry says the band did not begin as a means to get to where they are today.

“We were all a little bit too uncoordinated to play soccer or football or some shit like that, so we were just playing music together,” he says.

Although Henry says that the group can never really remember when they decided to take the band more seriously, he points to the time they were approached by their record

When&Where: Inca Roads Music Festival, Greater Ballarat Region – March 20, 21 & 22

label, HopeStreet Recordings, as the moment that it started to become more clear.

“When that happened we kind of realised that we could be a serious band as opposed to just being a bunch of kids playing music,” Henry says.

With their music gaining them immense popularity and success, it might be hard to believe that this group of kids have time to pursue other musical endeavours. However, this freedom to do their own thing is what makes The Cactus

Channel so unique when they do form as one.

“We all have other musical projects, some people have other jobs and stuff, but that’s kind of what makes the band. We’re all from different backgrounds and have different interests and when we all come together we’re a band,” he says.

Ultimately, this 10-piece band of groove-loving, rhythmic musos are taking their success as it comes.

“Occasionally you just kind of realise this is ridiculous,” Henry says, “I get to play music that I write in my

bedroom with my friends every weekend and people think it’s vaguely cool.”

And maybe that’s the wonder behind The Cactus Channel – knowing that they would still be making music even if nobody were listening at all.

it in the audience that they really do appreciate the element of a guy and his guitar just singing,” he says.

Taylor says his April tour is a send off to his album Burnt Letters, as his next tour will be dedicated to songs from his new album.

“Of course I’m going to sing these songs again… But for anyone who has bought Burnt Letters, this is kind of the last time for a while you’re going to hear the live rendition of it,” he says.

As he prepares for meetings with industry heavyweights all around the world, it’s not hard to imagine that Taylor Henderson could become more than just an Australian favourite in 2015.

Taylor Henderson Written by Kara Ready

Taylor Henderson is gearing up for one hell of a year. Since the release of his number one album Burnt Letters in 2013, the Geelong born and bred musician has been working on his next plan of attack. When I spoke to him, he was preparing to head off on a writing trip to the UK and America between stints in Sydney and Melbourne.

“You kind of go into a writing frenzy,” Taylor says laughing.

“I’m sort of travelling the world right now trying to get this sound together and I think it’s just time to bring out some new music.”

At just 21 years old, Taylor has had a whirlwind couple of years. After several number one singles and two successful albums – that earned him a dedicated fan base – he has well and truly established himself as an Australian up and comer. Perhaps a surprising turn of events for someone who claims that he was always interested in music but “never thought I’d be the front man on stage”.

However, surely such a quick rise to fame would have its downfalls. “There are times when you’re definitely not completely enjoying it,” he says, pointing to constant travelling and being away from family and friends as one of the hardest things he has to deal with.

He continues, “But I think the best thing about it is that it makes it a challenge and that’s what drives you.”

With just a couple of months to go until his Australian tour, where he’ll be hitting up regional towns such as Geelong and Warrnambool, it’s clear that Taylor is itching to get his new music out there. Although he says his new sound is “hard to describe”. Taylor explains that he’s going for more of a stripped back vibe, which he thinks his fans will connect with when they hear his new single upon its release during the tour.

But if there’s one thing fans can count on, it’s that Taylor won’t be straying too far from who people have come to know him as. Speaking of the writing process, he says it’s important for him to personally understand what the song is about.

“If you write about

When&Where: Lighthouse Theatre, Warrnamboool - April 19, Courthouse Youth ARTS, Geelong - April 21 & National Theatre, Melbourne - April 24

something that you can’t relate to, then it’s not going to come across well when you’re performing it live,” he says.

“That’s the most important thing; when I’m a part of it, that’s when I know it’s believable.”

Taylor’s decision to play an acoustic show in Geelong on his upcoming tour is the result of the enthusiasm his fans have shown towards that side of his music.

“I love performing with my band… But I can feel

Clowns Written by Natalie Rogers

Nobody’s laughing at Melbourne hard-core punks Clowns these days. Years of relentless touring have earned them a well-deserved reputation as the go-to band when you’re in need of a little TLC (Total Loss of Control). But don’t confuse that irreverence with lack of work ethic – these lads put their blood, sweat and tears into the making of their latest album.

“We’ve been working our balls off trying to get this album out in time,” says front man Stevie Williams. “But it’s all on track now and I’m pretty fucking stoked we will have our new clip for ‘Euthanise Me’ out as well.”

Bad Blood, Clowns’ ironically-titled second LP, was mixed and mastered in Melbourne at the Hot House Studio with cover artwork by local artist Mongo – making this follow up a truly local affair. “We wanted to make the album with people we consider our friends – people we trust. We wrote the whole thing in our bassist James mum’s factory in Cheltenham, which is where we all grew up.”

Out now thanks to their mates at Poison City Records, Bad Blood is already making waves in the punk and hardcore community. So to celebrate they packed into their clown car and hit the road to play regional centres and major cities in Queensland and New South Wales.

This week is Victoria’s turn and, if history repeats itself, things could get a little messy. “We’re playing at the Karova Lounge on March 8. That’s going to be a wild 38 forte

gig. The last album launch we did at the Karova we were pretty fucking stoked with the turn out! And hopefully a few more people will turn up and it’ll be even bigger again.”

In the spirit of ‘go hard or go home’, Clowns have assembled a killer line up for the Karova show.

Deliberately chosen for the hometown crowd, punters who get in early will experience the full force of Ballarat thrash rockers Horris Green and Ramones-obsessed locals Agent 37. But wait, there’s more, designed to keep the crowd on their toes, Clowns called in a favour from buddies across international waters, American Sharks.

Currently based in Austin Texas, the party hardened Sharks are making noise in all the right places and now it’s

“ We’ve been working our balls off trying to get this album out in time!” their chance to take a bite of the Australian punk scene.

“We just really like the band,” Stevie says simply. “We’ve been listening to them for about a year and we wanted to bring out an American band to tour with us. We thought we could help them get their name out over here and hopefully in the future they may help us out over in the States. We were stoked they actually said yes - having them on tour with us will be so much fun!” he smiled.

Fun and games aside, these Clowns are no fools – they’re completely self-managed and Stevie says that a recent trip to China spurred on their desire to tackle the US market in the near future. “The MIDI Festival in Shenzhen was insane! Playing in front of thousands and thousands of people was a dream come true!”

Stevie beams.

“More international touring is something we really want to do, even though I know it’s hard for bands to cross over into unknown territory,” Stevie says honestly.

“But once you start dipping your feet into the water eventually you can do it, or that’s what I kept telling myself anyway,” he laughed. Though something tells me these Clowns are no joke.

When&Where: The Bendigo Hotel, Melbourne – March 6 & Karova Lounge, Ballarat – March 8

Forte Columns

LOL!

le monde entier Written by Madelin Baldwin lemondeentier.net

You’ve probably heard all about price beating. Heck, you’ve probably ‘pricebeat’ someone already. What I mean is, with the hugely competitive market of booking things online, direct with a supplier or direct with a travel agent, (even as an agent myself ) I can’t blame people for wanting to make sure you’re getting the absolute best deal.

So what does price beating mean?

Why do prices fluctuate and why should you hunt around?

Basically imagine this: you’ve been in to see a travel agent and been given one price. Then, you find the same room type with the hotel directly for slightly cheaper. Then, you find another website that sells a bit of everything and find it even cheaper.

Sometimes it happens in this order, and sometimes it’s the other way around.

When a hotel prices something, it’s generally made at one price. They then give it to the travel agents and websites. Travel companies can then do what they want with them, but as far as I’ve seen – as a rule of thumb – the travel companies don’t mark them up as they’re already given to us with a level of commission built in. The reason the hotel might have it cheaper directly is because they put their own sale on, and don’t pass it onto the agents (thus, really making us look like we are ripping people off, but hey it saves the hotel having to pay commission out). Those other websites that sell a little bit of everything change their prices around willy nilly. I don’t presume to know how they work, but they often have huge credit card and service charges at the end, so I’ll take a stab and say this would certainly help account for making up some of the loss on one nights accommodation in Bangkok they sell for 50% off the RRP. Make sense?

So if you’ve managed to stay tuned until now, here’s some tips.

• Shop around online, and even direct with the hotel.

• Make sure all of the prices are on an Australia website.

• Speak to your travel agent, because more often than not we also get rates that you can’t find anywhere else (hey, what else would we pay our head office for, if they didn’t negotiate the best ever deals!).

• Once you’ve collated the best prices, BOOK WITH THE AGENT. Because even if their price was slightly higher, in my experience we usually do have the best price anyway, and NO we don’t add any service taxes like your online sites, we can pricebeat it for you. Yep, travel agents will still book you the absolute cheapest price for what you want AND you have the benefit of booking with a real human, who’ll be able to give you multiple payment options, give you itineraries, receipts and invoices on demand, liase with all suppliers on your behalf (you wouldn’t even KNOW the hassle of time changes the airlines give us to deal with), and send you your documents. Travel agents can also do any amendments for you, name changes, date changes and complete itinerary changes without you having to call an Asian call centre.

BONUS. Also, who wants to deal with trying to organise their own holiday and guessing that they’re not getting ripped off, when they can have someone who is trained and paid to do that, at no extra cost?

blues news

PULP Written by Alastair McGibbon

Written by John (Dr John) Lamp Proudly pesented by The Sleepy Hollow Blues Club

Motor City Music Festival is coming up, and that means many things to many people.

For me, another OB on 94.7 the Pulse, but this year it meant getting to meet Joe Camilleri.

I first noticed Joe in 1975 when Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons burst onto the scene, anyone remember ‘The Shape I’m in’? But his music career goes back to The King Bees, the Adderley Smith Blues Band and The Pelaco Brothers.

Rumour was that he was sacked from the Adderley Smith Blues Band for sounding too much like Mick Jagger and upstaging other band members!

More recently The Black Sorrows has had an amazing run, with artists like Vika and Linda Bull on vocals.

Top 30 hit singles by the band were ‘Chained to the Wheel’ (which peaked at No.9 in 1989), ‘Harley & Rose’ (1990), ‘Never Let Me Go’ (1990) and ‘Snake Skin Shoes’ (1994).

So when Bay City Events suggested I have a chat with Joe on ~meanderings~ I jumped at the chance. I was on a strict 10-minute timetable, and sure enough it was a great 20 minutes.

Joe turned out to be just as I expected – a wonderful, affable bloke who was more than happy to open up. He played on and off in the sixties, but it was 1973 with The Doodies touring mining towns in WA that he realised that this was becoming a career.

The band was backing Mary Doody, the centrepiece of a strip show. Add a band, a strip show and a pub in a mining town and visits from the police were quite regular.

Around that time the music scene in Melbourne was exploding in a way which has not been seen since.

New bands in those few years included Captain Matchbox, Daddy Cool, Healing Force, Madder Lake, Purple Heart, Max Merritt and a host of others.

With The Pelaco Brothers and The Sharks, Joe had freedom to experiment, to write new material and develop his style. “With The Sharks, every note was a Maserati!” he says.

Music wasn’t taken quite as seriously as now, as Joe says: “No one kept anything, even the record companies.”

Those original recordings, photos, playbills are all gone.

Joe was inducted into the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) Hall of Fame in 2007.

This was for his work with Jo Jo Zep and The Falcons, but says, “The Falcons were around for five years, The Black Sorrows have sold two million albums, been around the world numerous times, had hits all around the world … and I find that weird.”

Joe loves the name of the Motor City Music Festival, “Just saying, I’m doing the Motor City Festival Man”. It will no doubt become a catchphrase in the industry.

Will there be tracks played from their latest release Endless Sleep? “I walk on stage without a list – it’s kinda what we’ll be having tonight,” Joe says.

You can find the full interview at http://tinyurl.com/o96eooh and see The Black Sorrows on Friday night at Motor City Music Festival.

(Pictured: Joe Camelleri performs with the Black Sorrows at Byron Bay Bluesfest, April 2014. Photo by Radcliffe Kelso)

OK, so here’s the deal, I really, really like Spider-Man. I mean, who doesn’t love New York’s best superhero? He’s been one of the most relatable heroes for young people for a long time now – the whole life-hero balance, maintaining a secret identity and dealing out a healthy dose of sarcasmlaced humour and wisecracks when battling the worst villains Manhattan can throw at him. Before the start of the excellent Superior Spider-Man series (and the following reboot), the main Spidey series – The Amazing Spider-Man – lasted for a whopping 700 issues. Yep, you read that right, the whole shebang went on for that long. Even Fables, a comic that has more trade paperbacks than I care to mention, has only made it to 150 issues. Needless to say, Spidey has been doing his thing for a bloody long time.

Numerous writers have penned The Amazing Spider-Man over the years, but the current writer, Dan Slott, took over on issue #648, and has been going ever since. While volume two of The Amazing Spider-Man finished up with issue 700, Slott continued to write for Spidey, penning 33 issues of Superior Spider-Man and has written 14 issues for the relaunched volume three of Amazing. Slott has proved himself to be a really solid writer – Superior Spider-Man, though initially controversial, had a slow build up and turned out to be one of Marvel’s better series during its run – and given that the vast majority of Spider-Man trades that I’ve read have been written by him, seems like an excellent choice.

It probably helps that he’s a massive Spidey fan in his own right – watching him fanboy on Twitter with the rest of the Internet over Spider-Man’s entry

into the MCU was hilarious and endearing at the same time.

After all this rambling, you’re probably wondering which trade I’m aiming to talk about in this week’s Pulp. The thing is, though, that I couldn’t just pick one. Over the last few weeks, I’ve embarked on a bit of a project – I have collected all of Dan Slott’s run on The Amazing SpiderMan from issue #648 to its end at issue #700 which – thanks to the bulky Big Time Ultimate Collection trades – comes in at 8 trade paperbacks. It was a task, but it was worth it, because The Amazing Spider-Man is quickly becoming one of my favourites. Slott’s work has been really good, for the most part – I’m not too keen on the little Lizard arc that starts around issue #688. The arc that really interested me was the last trade, Dying Wish, which set up the Superior Spider-Man series.

As The Amazing Spider-Man draws to a close, Doc Ock’s final, master plan comes to fruition, as he escapes his broken, dying body – invading the body of Peter Parker himself. Peter has to fight the clock, having to make do with a body crippled by years of injuries he himself inflicted. Meanwhile, his nemesis revels in his new body, taking over Peter’s life and manipulating Peter’s family and friends. It’s essentially Doc Ock’s endgame, and both Peter and Ock have to use every last bit of their cunning to try to stay on top.

Reading Slott’s run in its entirety is probably the best way to appreciate the events of Dying Wish, but it’s reasonably accessible on its own. It’s an arc that made a lasting impact on the Marvel universe, and it’s one of the most memorable stories I’ve read in a long time.

PUNK!

Get Up Kids, the Dillinger Escape Plan, Touche Amore, Creeper and Monuments are amongst the already confirmed bands. Cool!

Soundwave. Hmmmmmm. Where to begin? The weather was a little bit mental, and two days of it certainly would have taken its toll on many.

Australian summers can be a little intense for multi-day events. Lagwagon, one of my only reasons for attending, seemed so disinterested in playing that I myself lost interest three songs into their set and wandered off.

Disappointing to say the least, and I’m sure the oppressive heat didn’t help their performance. Loved the seven dollar frozen coke’s though! Too metal, for my liking (and that’s coming from a thrash fiend!). Funny festival moment: Tonight Alive covering Killing In The Name Of by Rage Against the Machine.

Next year will be a one day affair again, thank goodness, and hopefully there’ll be more punk bands on offer. And by punk, I don’t mean emo bands, or screamo bands in baggy shorts.

The Governors Ball this year has a pretty rocking line up. My Morning Jacket, the Black Keys, Future Islands, Tame Impala, Royal Blood, Noel Gallagher (Oasis), Death From Above 1979 and many, many more acts will be joining the likes of mainstream acts Drake, Marina And The Diamonds, Bjork and Lana Del Ray. June 5-7, Randall’s Island Park, NYC. Don’t forget! Guttermouth! Barwon Heads Hotel! Easter Sunday! Be there!

No word on supports as of yet though...

The long-awaited new Millencolin album, True Brew, drops April 28 via Epitaph, and apparently it’s a true return to form for the Swedes. They may have just completed a Soundwave run, but it’s a pretty safe bet that they’ll be back out here by the end of the year.

More next time, kids! Stay cool!

Written by Christopher Cruz

Iron Reagan are touring! The skate/ thrash supergroup, featuring members of Municipal Waste, Cannabis Corpse and Darkest Hour, tear up the Tote in Collingwood on April 11. And you knooow the merch is going to be killer, so make sure you’re cashed up!

Supports on the night come in the form of Join The Amish, Wolfpack and Wet Pensioner!

Amnesia Rock Fest is happening again, and with a line up that is just too ridiculous for words: Linkin Park, System of a Down, the Pixies, the Offspring, Sublime, Rancid (performing their classic album And Out Come The Wolves in its entirety!), Bad Religion, Flogging Molly, Propagandhi, ALL, the Exploited, Bigwig, GBH, Descendents, Buzzcocks, Deftones, Rufio, and many, many more. June 1821, Montebello, Canada.

One Last Time In Stereo is the event being thrown for Mik from Strawberry Fist Cake on Sunday March 8 at the Brunswick Hotel.

Geelong bands the Half Pints and Hopes Abandoned will be joining the likes of the Frangipanis (QLD), Cult Killers (NSW), Skinpin (NSW) as well as No Idea, the Worthingtons, the Shadow League, Dixon Cider, 12FU, the Krunchy Om-Let Experience, Now You Die, All We Need and many, many more. You’d be crazy to miss it.

Hevy Fest is also shaping up nicely, and if you find yourself in or around Kent in the UK this August, you could do a lot worse than checking this thing out, especially if you like modern or progressive punk.

Thrice, Coheed And Cambria, the

too heavy to hug

pop culture

Written by Paul S Taylor

Written by Anthony Morris

Welcome to THTH, Forte’s premier source of all things heavy, hard, fast and metal.

Music For Nations is back! The once trustworthy brand associated with black and death metal disappeared from the record store shelves some time ago, so strap yourselves in because soon that large Music For Nations (MFN) logo running up the spine of a CD should also hopefully be back.

The press release, which reads like it was written by a child whose first language isn’t english, states MFN “will be releasing music by new bands in a series of 7” singles and compilations. Expect the heaviness.”

Most importantly, there’s going to be a surge of MFN re-releases.

Presumably, the first cab off the rank is Anathema, who’ll be releasing four albums, three of which will also have vinyl options. There’ll also be re-releases of Paradise Lost’s back catalogue, three Opeth albums, Spiritual Beggar’s back catalogue and some Cradle Of Filth. And the label will be releasing a whole bunch of shit online for download.

This may seem like a desperate attempt by Sony Music to raise some cold hard cash, they know metal heads will buy the same album over and over if it has just a tiny little thing extra, different or limited. But that’s not a bad thing, if a whole pile of the more obscure MFN releases are unleashed again on vinyl format then every nostalgic metal head will be throwing their cash at the check out staff at the record store. Fingers crossed for some Destroyer 666 vinyl.

The pretty exciting part of all of this is that MFN will be signing new artists, they haven’t done that in a decade. Let’s just hope Sony keep their hands out of the process and let MFN do what they do best, uncovering some of the best heavy metal that’s ever been committed to tape.

In other news Nile drummer George Kollias will be holding a full day drumming workshop at Northcote’s Drumtek on Sunday March 8. He’ll also be there playing classic Nile tracks on Monday March 9 and he’ll still be there playing new solo stuff on Tuesday March 10.

All tickets through Oztix.

Psycroptic will release their sixth, self-titled album on Friday March 13.

Cancer Bats will release their fifth studio album Zero on Friday March 13.

Psycroptic with special guests Goatwhore will play The Hi-Fi on Friday March 13, Ballarat’s Karova Lounge on Sunday March 15, The Barwon Club on Friday March 20 and Melbourne’s Wrangler Studios on Saturday March 21.

Mastodon will play Festival Hall on Friday March 27.

Gallows will release Desolation Sounds on Friday April 10.

The Ocean will play The Evelyn Hotel on Saturday April 18.

Suffocation and Decapitated will play the Corner Hotel on Saturday May 9.

Motley Crue will play their final tour Melbourne show at Rod Laver Arena on Tuesday May 12.

The Black Dahlia Murder will play three shows at the Northcote Social Club, one of Saturday June 20, an all ages show on the arvo of Sunday June 21 and 18+ evening show on Sunday June 21.

When you think back over the best sitcoms of all time, what tends to come to mind: wacky comedy situations or wacky comedy characters? Sadly my mind reading powers aren’t what they used to be, but it’s a fairly safe guess that characters came first. That’s because characters are, unlike most other things, pretty much universal: you create a well constructed comedy grouch and pretty much everyone is going to know someone like him or her. But characters are one of the tougher things to make work in a comedy: not only do you need a good actor in the role to bring them to life.

Often you don’t even know what you’ve got until a few episodes in, which is why most US sitcoms (which can run for half a year each season) often change a lot over the course of that first season.

So it’s perhaps understandable then that Australian sitcoms of recent years tend to have focused on hilarious comedy situations for their laughs rather than creating lasting characters. Not to mention situations are easier to sell overseas than character-based shows: Wilfred sold to the US (and was successful), as did Laid (though it was never developed), while no one’s rushing to turn the more character-based Upper Middle Bogan into an overseas sensation just yet. All of which is a long way of addressing the fact that out of the two Australian sitcoms that have gone to air in 2015, both of them have been built around wacky comedy setups. In SBS’s Danger 5, it was ‘80s action movie parodies (plus anything else they could think of the throw in), now with ABC2’s Maximum Choppage it’s a kung fu parody only with a wimpy guy (Lawrence Leung) in the lead. It’s a good basic set up and Leung is a great lead – he’s a mildmannered guy without slipping into an exaggerated comedy wimp performance – while his two friends are different enough from each other (and with enough character) to leave the door open for future storylines. But when your basic premise is “kung fu antics in Cabramatta”, it doesn’t seem all that likely that the kung fu stuff is going to fade into the background and be replaced by more character-based hijinks.

The thing is, it’s not like Australia can’t do character comedy: what else would you call Kath & Kim? And while Frontline got a lot of praise for taking apart the current affairs business, the characters (especially Mike Moore) were what kept people coming back. But those were characters that developed over time – Kath & Kim had been in sketches before they got their own show, Frontline had 13 episodes in its first season and the current affairs jokes carried things until Mike Moore’s “Mmmmmm” after each report became a laughgetter on its own. Maybe the days when an Australian comedy had time to develop its characters is behind us (though Upper Middle Bogan did an ok job); if the situation is what counts in our sitcoms, at least Maximum Choppage has one that’ll get a laugh. forte 39

Refining the Palette

Golden Plains Art Trail

Golden Plains is set to throw open the doors to 31 venues from private studios and gardens to beautiful rustic town halls, vibrant pubs and cafes and sumptuous wineries with 90 artists demonstrating their talents on the weekend of March 21 and 22, 2015.

There is truly something for everyone at the 2015 Arts Trail with artists immersed in mediums from fine art to chainsaw sculpture. With bluegrass music to Wathaurung storytelling, the Trail promises to be a feast of art, culture, music, food and scenery.

A wonderful destination point on the Trail is the stunning Maude Recreation Reserve where the newly constructed Maude Viewing Platform has been designed in the shape of Bundjil the Eagle.

Artist, Viktor Cebergs, works with all kinds of materials to create outdoor installations which inhabit their environment. Viktor has certainly achieved this with his carving of the structural poles for the viewing platform, each one a reflection of Bundjil and his spirit brothers. Viktor will be demonstrating his chainsaw sculpture techniques from 11am to midday on both days of the Trail.

There is a rich and fascinating indigenous culture at Maude and if you would like to know the story of Bundjil, the Wathaurung story which inspired the design of the Maude Viewing Platform, don’t miss the storytelling sessions with Uncle Bryon, Wathaurung Elder from 2pm-3pm on both days of the Trail.

The Golden Plains Shire Council Youth Art Mentoring Program provides budding young artists a chance to connect with a like-minded, artistic adult.

They participate in 10 sessions of mentoring with an artist who works in a medium of their choice. Many of the young artists who took part will be showing off their rapidly developing skills during the March 21 and 22 Clyde Park Golden Plains Arts Trail.

Marguerite Gibson (exhibited at Venue 27) Marguerite is a university student studying art theory and practice. Artistic expression across a number of outlets particularly drawing, painting and embroidery motivate her. Marguerite will be exhibiting at the Smythesdale Well and will be accompanied by the Inclusive Arts Network - a group showing of new works by emerging and established artists with a disability.

There will be a showcase of drawing, painting and screen prints.

Nathan Krivan (exhibited at Venue 16) Nathan has a passion and an immense talent for sculpture. At just 15 years old, this will be his second Arts Trail! Nathan will be exhibiting with his 2013 mentor, Lucy McEachern, an internationally renowned sculptor, at Lucy’s studio in Wingeel.

Chloe Krivan (exhibited Venue 2) 16 year old Chloe has an uncanny talent for portraits.

You will not believe her insightful and mature works have been created by someone so young. Chloe will be exhibiting at the Bannockburn Cultural Centre which will also include exhibitions and demonstrations by the Bannockburn and District Arts Group and our incredible glass artists.

Don’t miss this opportunity to experience an eclectic variety of art whilst indulging in all of the sumptuous food and wine of this beautiful region.

For more information and details on venues please visit: www.artstrail.com.au or call 5220 7111 When&Where: Various venues, Clyde Park –

March 21 & 22

'Broken Window Theory’' by RONE

Geelong Powerhouse

Learn to Cook the Paleo Way with Pete Evans In this event packed with cooking and conversation, attendees will discover great recipes, tips, tricks and techniques for living the paleo way. This is your opportunity to learn from Australia’s most passionate paleo chef ! Pete says “After our first tour, I feel we covered off the science in depth and now this is all about putting it into a practical presentation and offering affordable solutions for busy families and people.”

When&Where: GPAC - 6pm March 12

40 forte

Chances are if you live in Geelong you’ve already heard of the Powerhouse, but for those who haven’t, the Powerhouse is Geelong’s hot spot for street art. An old abandoned building in North Geelong has been turned into a graffiti haven where artists from Geelong, Victoria and Australia have all come to add their work. The Powerhouse is open daily, and if you feel like soaking in the inspiration from artists for a little bit longer, the venue is often on the lookout for trusty volunteers.

When&Where: 40 Mackey Street, North Geelong,

Open Daily 10am - 5pm

Refining the Palette

Jessica Skye Baker Written by Amanda Sherring

Often the best judge of how passionate you are about something is what you come out with at the end of the process. For Jessica Skye Baker, there’s no question of her passion as her studio space is laden with resin artworks wall to wall and stacked on top of each other in colourful displays.

“I think years ago I was painting these boat scenes and poppys a lot.

People kept putting in orders for them and I kept losing the passion and then I just decided I’m not painting any more of them,” she says.

“I started experimenting with resin and I started using it on traditional style impressionalist boat scenes and then I started doing the abstract and I just like it – it’s very freeing and colourful.”

With no formal training in art, Jessica has learned everything

she knows from family – her father is an artist and her sister is one too who also owns Artworx. Even learning the difficult process of working with resin was something Jessica stepped into on her own.

“It depends what you do with it. It’s messy to work with but I’ve done it for so long that it’s not hard to me. If someone just picked it up and started doing it they’d probably find it tricky,” she says.

“If I look at my earlier stuff I think, ‘Oh my gosh, what was I

doing?, because you can make so many mistakes with it. So I’ve probably thrown out hundreds of paintings.”

Looking at Jessica’s paintings now, seven years on from when she first started, and there’s no mistakes to be seen – not in any of the 20 odd that sit in the studio.

Often people ask Jessica just how does she make her works look the way they do, and with the luck of having a sister that owns an art supply store, no two techniques or artworks are ever the same.

“I just like to try

everything and if you look at the paintings they all have different effects and looks, I try to use everything in the store – spray paint, acrylics, oils, ink everything and anything,” she says.

As for her inspiration, that’s a much simpler answer to pin down.

“Colour – I really love colour. I like seeing random colours worked together like olive green and pink, colours that you wouldn’t expect to look good but they really work in a painting. I think the water too, I really love the water and the beach. Well my favourite colour is – I don’t know if you’ve noticed – but there’s lots of blue and green down there,” she pauses as she gestures to the vivid green and blue paintings in the corner, her nails also painted a similar shade.

“I’m trying to get into other colours but I just love the watery look. I’m pretty much always in the studio or here but whenever I’m out and about, going to the beach is always nice.”

While Jessica is happy to sell all her artworks, she has even donated a few to charities, there is one that she just can’t seem to let go of.

“It’s different to anything I’ve ever done. It happened by accident and not on purpose, I didn’t know it was going to do that. Usually with my paintings I know what they’re going to do but I was trying new things and I haven’t really been able to figure out how exactly I was able to do it, so I think that’s why I like it,” she says.

If you’d like to purchase one of her artworks or see what they look like, visit her Facebook page (www. facebook.com/pages/ Jessica-Skye-BakerArt/) or Instagram (@bakercollection).

Her work can also be purchased from Artworx (122 Ryrie St, Geelong).

Color Me Rad Color Me Rad is a 5K that fires off in a blaze of color bombs, color cannons, color mortars, and multi-toned courses that guarantee your

outlook will be brighter, your boyfriend will be more affectionate, your boss will finally remember your name, the hair on your head will grow back and the hair on your back will fall out, and your gray

outlook will turn green like a spring morning.

You’ll start off with a shirt as pure and white as your granddaddy’s dentures, and throughout the run, we’ll coat your chaffing thighs with

Color Bombs of blue, green, pink, purple, and yellow until you come out like a tie-dyed hippy on the other side.

When&Where:

Deakin Uni, Waurn Ponds - March 14

Through the Wall: Reflections on Leadership, Love and Survival

Wtwrth Supply Co Finding a good shirt that strikes the perfect balance between minimalist and an edgy design can be a tricky task, but with new local menswear brand WtWrth Supply Co things just got a lot easier.

Using a monochrome palette the shirts are the easiest things to slot into your wardrobe, and paired with some skinny jeans and raybans and you’ll have people asking where you got yours from.

Visit www.facebook.com/ wtwrthsupplyco to see the designs and to upgrade your wardrobe.

Anna Bligh, former premier of Queensland, is best remembered for her calm, focused and practical leadership during the Queensland floods, one of Australia’s largest national disasters.

She was the first woman to be elected premier of an Australian state in her own right – and spent over 17 years in the rough and tumble of

the Queensland parliament, seven of them as deputy premier or premier. In her memoir, this formidably strong high achiever reflects candidly on the lessons of leadership, resilience, community and family. She’ll be taking those personal and political reflections to our stage, as she shares the obstacles she’s faced on her journey to the top – and as she’s forged a new path in her life after politics. This is a free event that’s sure to fill up.

When&Where: Deakin Uni, Waterfront - March 31

Richard the Third Skin of Our Teeth Productions presents William Shakespeare’s timeless and remarkable play. The hunch-backed toad, the bottle-backed spider - this is Shakespeare in a post-apocalyptic world where rules are broken, morals are corrupted, and love is a foreign concept. Come on a journey of envy, power, and betrayal as Richard smiles, cajoles and murders his way to the top.

When&Where:

Shenton Theatre, Geelong - March 20, 21 & 25-28

INVENIRE.

BY CLARE BEDFORD Opening Fri 13th March – 7th April

Coming soon to

Courthouse Arthouse CHYA will be introducing a seasonal program of Arthouse, limited release and cult films. Join us in our Theatre once a month for an alternative cinema experience.

Fri 6th Mar, 2015

For More Info: www.courthouse.org.au forte 41

Ruby & Rome Q&A

Ruby and Rome are so much more than just the names of two adorable staffy dogs, it’s also the name of a local up-and-coming home décor brand created

by Kyle and Ali Smith. Forte had a chat to Kyle about how they first started out, their favourite things and being stocked at places like Frankie Say Relax.

What made you first decide to start Ruby & Rome?

We started making pieces of furniture for our own home and received a lot of compliments about our designs.

One Sunday we were feeling impulsive and registered our business name and it took off from there!

What’s the story behind the name choice?

We wanted it to be a family business and at that stage our family consisted of two staffies called Ruby and Rome. We thought it had a nice ring to it so we ran with it.

And what do you do aside from Ruby & Rome?

I’m a glazier by trade, so I install showers, splashbacks, pool fences and the like. Ali has been a primary school teacher for a few years now and she loves it. We are expecting our first child in June so Ruby and Rome home décor will be a strong focus for Ali while she takes maternity leave.

Can you give a brief run down of the products that you make?

We make a range of unique furniture and home décor. Our most requested items are our study desks and concrete pots however we are always open to new ideas and suggestions from clients. We use recycled timber, concrete, and other products that fit with our style.

Home decor really seems to be booming as a trend, what sets your products apart?

Our furniture, like our homewares, are all handmade in Geelong and not built in a large scale factory. We love that we can speak to clients and create unique and custom-made items for them.

Have you both always been pretty DIY and hands-on kind of people?

I’ve always had a keen interest in building, having grown up with a father that was a carpenter. I remember doing woodwork at school and loving it. While Ali has always had a keen eye for interior design and is quite on trend with her home décor choices, so we make a great pair.

Do you both have the same taste in design?

When we built our first home together we were surprised about how much we agreed on when choosing the colour scheme and furniture. We both love items that are modern with an industrial feel to them.

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Do you have a lot of your creations in your home? Do you have a favourite?

Yes, we basically built all the large furniture items in our first home, from the dining table to the study desk! We are currently renovating our new home and are excited to try some new ideas and concepts. Ali’s favourites are the concrete succulent planters, while my favourite is the up-cycled door dining table.

We saw you’d been involved in the pop up markets at King of the Castle and at the Night Jar Markets, is it more rewarding working markets because you really get to interact with your clients?

Yes markets are the best! It is hard work

sometimes getting everything ready in time to display, but it makes it all worthwhile when we get to interact with, and get positive feedback from different people in the community. We love meeting the other local designers and stall holders and we really just have a lot of fun.

What shops do you frequent in Geelong and surrounds?

Frankie Say Relax is a fantastic homewares shop that stocks some of our products, and we always need to resist buying half the things in the shop!

We also love Timber Zoo where we get most of our beautiful timber from.

If shoppers were to buy just one of your products,

what should they buy and why do they need it in their home?

Our concrete succulent planters have been massively popular and are really on trend so we would definitely suggest one of those!

Our cheeseboards are another recommendation, especially to use for those beautiful sunny afternoons to serve some wine and cheese on.

Thanks for having the chat with Forte, is there anything you’d like to add?

Thanks for taking the time to get to know a little bit about Ruby and Rome! Hopefully we will see you at a market someday! For any furniture or home décor enquiries we encourage you to email us at rubyandrome@gmail.com.

You can purchase Ruby & Rome’s products at Frankie Say Relax (77 Preston St, Geelong West), at the NightJar Markets in Geelong or by emailing them.

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Courtney Barnett Written by Amanda Sherring

In her tracks Courtney Barnett sings honestly of emotions and daily happenings in what can only be described as an unaffected voice, talking over the phone she takes a similar tone and it almost feels as if you’re listening to one of her tracks unfold through the speaker. Always modest and full of insight, it could be a combination of the two that has allowed her to become a well known face overseas.

Recently back from a trip in America, where she completed numerous interviews – including one on The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon – and performances to bursting crowds.

“It’s a weird thing really, it was never my dream or whatever to do it, to ‘break into the industry’, but it just kind of happened. With the internet and sharing it’s so easy for people to share things with their friends and all of a sudden it’s on the other side of the world,” Courtney says.

“It was a big step though because even touring around Australia for the last seven years is always risky, money wise, if you’re going to lose money or break even or maybe even make money, but to kind of travel to the other side of the world is such a big step.

“I think people just seem to connect with what I’m saying, even if some of them have Australianisms

or mention Australian landscapes or whatever, I think it’s more about the emotions and the idea that people connect with.”

Courtney is set to head back to America later this year, but only after she tours around Australia in support of her debut album Sometimes I sit and Think, and Sometimes I Just Sit. The tour will also take her to Europe and the UK, which she couldn’t be more excited about.

“I’m fucking psyched for it I can’t wait! I love being at home but I love travelling around the world – it’ll be amazing.

Such an incredible opportunity so see some of the world,” she says.

There has been talk that this new album is a further insight into

the musician, the microscope focused solely on her, but Courtney claims that nothing has changed and she’s still just writing what she wants and how she wants.

“I’m kind of just writing the same songs I guess. Anyone that releases music or art is under that same microscope – but that’s the point. People interpret the signs or interpret the lyrics and relate to it in any way and, you know, it’s their own interpretation,” she says.

While we can try and analyse her music all we like, what’s interesting is seeing Courtney follow one of her other passions by drawing the cover for the new album.

“It’s kind of symbolic of the title but it’s also from when I was a kid my dad used to always buy weird old rubbish-y chairs and do them up and they’d become this fancy vintage chair. So we always had weird stuff around the house and I think that just kind of reminded me of it, because the chair is one that we had at home,” she says.

The album will be out March 20 through her own label Milk! Records and can truly only be appreciated in the flesh.

When&Where: The Forum, Melbourne – May 15

The Good Morrows Q&A

With a self-titled debut release already receiving rave reviews, claiming it as the perfect roadtrip mix with music that will get you up and dancing. Put simply, if you haven’t heard it by now you should have and the band are set for an East Coast tour so you can familiarise yourself a little bit more with their sweet tunes. We had a chat with singer Jarred Scopel about the process of making the album and their immense love for pistachios – a feeling we share with the five-piece.

Hi Jarred, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to Forte, where are you and what are you up to at the moment?

You’re most welcome! Currently I’m in Melbourne stuck at work gazing out the window of what looks to be a superb day. It’s one of those days you think to yourself, “Wow, what a superb day”.

You’re hitting the road in support of your debut, self-titled LP, which was released last month, how did you feel about getting that one out there?

It’s a great feeling to finally have a finished product of what’s been a good two years of writing and recording for the album. We’re proud of the end result and think the album has some strong songs and interesting sounds on it. We’re looking forward to touring it around and getting to work on the next album which we’re hoping

to also release this year.

Where was it recorded and how long did you record for?

We recorded the album over a two year period in what I think we worked out to be three different recording studios, four different lounge rooms, a bedroom and a bathroom. I like to think of it as a snapshot of our best songs over those two years.

What has the response been like so far?

The response has been fairly positive so far. We’d released a lot of the songs on the album already as singles, which got a fair bit of attention alone and the reviews of the album have been truly endearing. It’s always pleasing to read a great review when someone has really taken the time to listen to the songs

When&Where: The Barwon Club, Geelong – March 14 & Ding Dong Lounge, Melbourne – April 10

and construct a well written piece of journalism.

This will be your first East Coast Tour, are you pretty excited?

Ecstatic. We haven’t been interstate before and can’t wait to hit the road with a few mixtapes, a bag of pistachios and the wind flowing through our luscious locks.

Northeast Party House

“It was crazy, I guess I was pretty young and pretty small but I just kind of crept through this little crack when the security guard was doing something else and then I ended up going through this tight little passageway and through all these pipes and I was just in,” Mitch says.

“Then we met Angus Stone and we were singing with him and it’s just so weird looking back. He was super nice, and we were just these young kids who were probably being super annoying but he gave us about half an hour of his time.”

Having just played Falls Festival over New Year’s, their set at the Byron Bay show easily became a highlight of the tour, which you can clearly see why in their YouTube clip (http://youtu.be/nTMb1GZYXGg).

“We were pretty nervous going on as DZ Deathrays played before us, so that’s always going to be a tough

gig to follow. But at the start we got into it and it was probably one of the funnest gigs we’ve played. We played at Lorne the day before and that was just one of the best weekend of gigs that we’ve ever had,” he says.

Watching the clip as they perform ‘Sick Boy’ and you can see the crowd have all eyes on the band, dancing and slick with sweat, but their performance at Falls wasn’t the craziest they’ve ever encountered.

“I’m not sure what happens in Adelaide but they’re a wild bunch,” Mitch adds with a laugh.

“It was just a crazy gig with some weird things that went on that night and we often look back and laugh. There was a fight in the crowd at the start and a couple were kind of getting pretty sexy

of your shows?

I think any music lover who’s looking for a night out. Be it to have a beverage, boogie or even to find true loves kiss.

When&Where: Hi Fi, Melbourne – March 20, Workers Club, Geelong – March 21, Karova Lounge, Ballarat – April 5 & Northcote Social Club, Melbourne – April 25.

Written by Amanda Sherring

Aside from the greatest memory of all – the infamous house party that the band was inspired to form from – Northeast Party House have spent the past few years creating lifelong memories, as guitarist Mitch Ansell tells me, the most memorable was the chance to play at Falls Festival in Lorne on the same stage he had seen many of his favourite bands play and the stage he also managed to creep backstage at after catching the drummer’s stick from Midnight Juggernauts.

What will you be most looking forward to on the tour?

I suppose I’m mostly looking forward to bringing our tunes to a bunch of different people and seeing their reaction. When you’re only playing shows in your home town you really start to appreciate seeing new faces in the audience.

Who would you recommend getting along to one

with each other up against the fallbacks, it was kind of cool to be playing the gig and looking out and seeing those things – aside from the fight, that’s not very cool.”

Giving one last hurrah to their debut album, released May last year, the band are going on one last tour and are set to play in at the Workers Club in Geelong later this month.

While they’ve been killing it on stage and

performing to massive crowds, Mitch hopes this year for something reminiscent of the party that started it all for the band.

“I don’t know if it’s that I’m just not cool anymore or if we’re just not partying in the friendship group, but I think as teenagers you don’t have money so you put on house parties and there’s this competition to have the best party.

Then you get a bit older and have a bit more cash from

somewhere and you start going to gigs and festivals and it becomes the party in a way,” he says.

“I hope I go to a few more parties this year, last year there was a big drought.” forte 45

Inside Splinters

Written by Adem Ali

GAGA AT THE OSCARS

n.b. McBusted are a UK supergroup made up of two British Man-Bands. All four members of McFly (Danny Jones, Tom Fletcher, Dougie Poynter and Harry Judd), and the two best members of Busted (James Bourne, Matt Willis), whose triumphant run of the UK charts came to an abrupt halt when third member Charlie Simpson (BOOOOO!) decided to leave the band to make “serious” “music” (VOMIT).

Being a super committed fan of a band like McBusted is hard work when you’re an Aussie. I hadn’t been that excited about a gig since Lady Gaga’s artRAVE tour from last year, but explaining that excitement to people who’d never even heard of McFly or Busted, let alone their newly-merged supergroup, was near impossible.

“Where are you going tomorrow?”

“To see McBusted.” “…Who?” “McBusted. They are two bands merged together: McFly and Busted.” “……Who?” (Deep Breath, starts singing McFly’s ‘Love Is Easy’, their only Top 20 Aussie hit) “Oh! Oh okay… So who are Busted?

(Deeper Breath, starts singing Busted’s ‘What I Go To School For’, their only Top 30 Aussie hit) “Oh! Oh okay…”

Just typing that sample conversation – which is a pretty good summary of how almost every conversation I’ve had about the gig has played out – was exhausting. But this gig was so brilliant, so magical, that I’ll happily play that conversation over a hundred times more in the hopes of converting some of these naysayers to The Church of McBusted.

I missed the support act but only because I was too busy meeting James Bourne, one of the multitalented members of McBusted so, you know, for an excuse, it’s fairly legit and brilliant. Climbing down a ladder from the top level of The Palais, Bourne came down 30 minutes before their show and chatted with fans, took a whole bunch of selfies and signed a countless amount of items. A lot of the fans (including myself, I won’t lie) had been there since the morning, waiting for a glimpse or personal interaction with one or any of the lads – and although it definitely wasn’t something we were sure was going to happen, having James come down and spend that quality time with us was just wonderful. The man is incredibly kind and a complete gentleman, even surrendering his bandana to a girl that merely asked him if she could have it! I’ve met a few of my idols in the past; Gaga, Liza Minnelli and Lana Del Rey, for example, and they were all incredibly gracious and sweet to their fans, kind and caring. The same – if not more – can be said of Bourne, one of the most down to earth and generous pop stars I’ve ever come across.

Holy SHIT. That was probably the greatest vocal performance of her career thus far, right? Welcome back to those of y’all who left her; just take note that I never did.

McFLY What an incredible band.

BUSTED Kicking the show off with the Busted classic ‘Air Hostess’, the crowd leapt to their feet (a major rarity at a venue like the Palais, a venue notorious for enforcing a nazi-like iron fist against people standing up, taking photos or, you know, showing public displays of enjoyment) and started to rock the foundations. The blokes of McBusted jumped and rocketed across the stage with such power it was impossible not to feed off the infectious energy. They were giving us everything they had and, in return, we gave as good as we got.

McFly hits like ‘Obviously’, ‘5 Colours In Her Hair’, ‘Shine A Light’ and the aforementioned ‘Love Is Easy’ were all hammered out, and choice Busted smashes like ‘You Said No’, ‘What I Go To School For’, ‘Crashed The Wedding’ and my personal favourite, ‘3AM’, also cemented themselves rock-hard into the setlist, mixed with tracks taken from the supergroup’s debut, self-titled album, ensuring that all bases and eras were covered.

As the show drew to its end, the boys asked us if we were interested in a return tour from the group later in the year. The roar that followed from the crowd (and myself, duh) may have even made a dent in the

rector scale! Sources allege that this return tour will happen by years end, a return tour I am already more than ready for.

When McBusted return to our fine shores, go and see them. The guys are probably six of the hardest working blokes in the business and have the talent (and freakishly good looks, hem hem) to back it all up.

And if you do decide to go to any of their next Aussie shows, keep an eye out for the 6ft4 bloke in the front row, screaming and losing his mind as he watches one of the best rock combinations since the heyday of Blink 182 do what they do best.

McBUSTED WHAT AN INCREDIBLE SUPERBAND.

Written by Adem Ali. Follow him on McTwitter and McInstagram! @ AdemWithAnE

or

“Buzzfeed article idea: The Internet reacted hilariously to the Internet reacting hilariously to the Internet. Internet.”

Twitter favourite and Aussie DJ @russellwould leaving Splinters for dead last week.

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What an incredible band.

TELEVISION All of my favourites aren’t back until April, are you kidding?

PEANUT BUTTER TIM TAMS They smell like spew :(

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beav's bar

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eureka hotel

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grovedale hotel

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Film Reviews

Films reviewed by Anthony Morris

A Most Violent Year The year in question is 1981, the place suffering through all this violence is New York, and for Abel Morales (Oscar Isaac) – the owner of up and coming heating oil company Standard Oil – things are about to get hectic. He’s just sealed a deal to purchase the land across from his storage tanks, which will give him access to the river and allow him to ship his oil in direct, but there’s a catch: he’s got to have the $1.5 million dollars to buy the land in 30 days or the deals off and he forfeits his deposit.

Meanwhile, he’s currently under investigation by Assistant District Attorney Lawrence (David Oyelowo), a man who believes the heating oil business is top-tobottom rotten and seems to think Abel is the guy to make an example of. There’s also a gang of hijackers out there making off with his oil trucks then selling his oil off at bargain prices to undercut him – putting his whole business at risk.

Abel is determined to navigate these tricky waters while staying on the right side of the law – his wife and

t h e w ra p Fifty Shades of Grey

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

partner, Anna ( Jessica Chastain), comes from a family where such problems are solved with a gun, and advises him to think likewise.

Writer director J.C. Chandor follows up his near-wordless All is Lost with a film where everyone talks pretty much non-stop as they try to keep their heads above water

at a time beset by a rising tide of violence and corruption. There’s a desperation running throughout this film that makes it more than just another business thriller. It’s not hard to believe that this was the period where science fiction was predicting cities would soon collapse into lawlessness. Through

it all Issac cuts like a knife, giving a steely, subtle performance as a man determined to do as close to the right thing as he can – even as his options are slowly taken away from him. It’s tempting to call this retro, but in even back when they made films like this they were rarely this good.

Inherent Vice If you’ve ever read any Thomas Pynchon then you know that his plots are both extremely complicated and not the thing you should be focusing on in his novels.

So in that sense, Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of his book Inherent Vice is dead on. The tale of Larry “Doc” Sportello ( Joaquin Phoenix), hippie private eye and major dope smoker, as he wanders through the L.A. of 1970 trying to solve a series of vaguely overlapping cases, isn’t the kind of detective story where the point is the follow clues and put the picture together.

That option’s there – all the loose ends match up – but there’s so much going on here that unless you’re planning to see it multiple times your best bet is to trust that things are going to add up and just bask in the film’s aura of vague paranoia.

After all, there’s a good reason why every single time we see Doc taking notes for one case or another, those notes are clearly misleading or flat-

Project Almanac There’s no reason why a found footage time travel movie couldn’t work, but Project Almanac doesn’t exactly set out a strong case for why one should. When high school student David ( Jonny Weston) is admitted into MIT, his joy is shortlived: turns out he can’t afford the bills. Desperate for a scholarship to save the family home, he gets his sister Christina (Virginia Gardner) plus his friends Adam (Allen Evangelista) and Quinn (Sam Lerner) to help him try and put together some kind of impossibleto-ignore science project.

Fortunately, his dead dad was also a scientist, and in their basement they find a bunch of stuff that turns out to be the parts for a working time machine. Unfortunately they don’t use this to speed up the film, because it takes at least half the

Kidnapping Mr Heineken The year is 1983, the place is the Netherlands, and a group of friends (including Sam Worthington, Ryan Kwanten and Jim Sturgess) are drowning in debts from their failing construction company.

With all legal fund-raising avenues (including physically tossing squatters out of their building) exhausted and figuring that the only way they can get away with a kidnapping is if the police think it’s been committed by a serious 52 forte

out wrong (the name of a possible vital location is in Spanish: doc writes down “something Spanish”).

There’s a lot to enjoy here once you stop worrying about the plot; Josh Brolin’s performance as right wing thug cop “Bigfoot” is both hilarious and deeply sad, Phoenix isn’t above the occasional

moment of over-the-top physical comedy to sell a joke, and the film as a whole – despite its air of paranoia (must be all the dope) and melancholy (that’d be due to the return of Doc’s old flame, played by Katherine Waterston) – can be extremely funny when the mood takes it. If it doesn’t really

add up to anything much, and if it thinks it’s a film about creepy right wing conspiracies without realising that it’s really full of even creepier attitudes towards women, those are problems that come with the territory; you may not enjoy everything about it, but it’s a hard film to not at least admire.

You’ve got to have a lot of guts to put the words “second best” right there in the title of your film. But after the first film was a surprise hit, even a second best Exotic Marigold Hotel is bound to draw a lot of interest. This time around while Sonny (Dev Patel) is looking to expand his horizons both at home (he’s engaged) and at work (he wants to buy up another hotel and start a chain of Exotic Marigold Hotels) – he’s the defacto lead of the film this time – our cast of UK oldies who’ve relocated to India to retire (and take advantage of the favourable exchange rate) have broadened their interests. Evelyn ( Judi Dench) is now a freelance fabric buyer, Douglas (Bill Nighy) is a tour guide (who has all his facts fed to him via an earpiece), Madge (Celia Imrie) is torn between two lovers and Norman (Ronald Pickup) is worried that he’s accidentally hired a hitman to kill Carol (Diana Hardcastle). Muriel (Maggie Smith) is still cranky, and with good reason, as Sonny’s efforts to find them a business partner mean a mystery guest is on their way to check out the business, and he’s convinced it’s Guy (Richard Gere).

If all of this sounds a mite complicated, it isn’t. This is the kind of low-key episodic film that demands little of the audience past a willingness to be charmed by a bunch of actors who can do this kind of thing in their sleep.

Considering that Bill Nighy can make even a “ladies and germs” joke seem utterly adorable, it’s safe to say the makers have another hit on their hands.

Infinitely Polar Bear

run time before they even get to the time travel stuff, and when the teens – now including David’s big crush Jessie (Sofia Black D’Elia) – do start going back in time the results are nowhere near as mind-bending as they should be.

This does have a few fun twists here and there (their winning the lottery scheme doesn’t go as planned, and their big party in the past is well thought-out, even if it does involve them going to Lollapalooza), but when things

get into Butterfly Effect territory it never ramps up the insanity to the levels required to be really

organisation, they turn to crime and aim big: Freddy Heineken (Anthony Hopkins), CEO of brewing company Heineken.

This real-life story starts out strong, but suffers from a lack of tension once Heineken’s been napped and locked away in the back of a shed. The early matterof-fact preparations by the group are interesting in a procedural way, while the eventual problems with their scheme and the collapse of the group into warring factions finally brings some much-needed twists and turns to the story.

Despite Hopkins’ strong

performance (Heineken is a master manipulator even when he’s chained to a wall) the middle stretch drags on and on. The actors’ use of their natural accents can be distracting (presumably they’d be dubbed in Europe), but they’re all convincing (especially Worthington) as decent, likeable guys. Which is a bit of a problem too, as we never get much of a sense as to what motivated them past financial desperation – and as a couple of them ended up as major organised crime figures once all this was over, this lack of insight into their characters seems a serious oversight.

memorable. Time travel movies live and die on their twists: this just isn’t twisty enough.

The real-life memoir is a tricky thing to pull off in a film. Well, it’s not so tricky if your life has been action packed or you’ve been there for a great turning point in history. If, on the other hand, your story is about growing up in the ‘70s with a manic depressive dad, then you might have your work cut out for you. Fortunately, writer / director Maya Forbes has a keen eye for the quirks of her childhood, and so this coming-ofage story has a few edges that are a little sharper than you might have expected.

When Amelia (Imogene Wolodarsky, Forbes’ daughter) sees her Professor father (Marc Ruffalo) running around their country home naked, her mother (Zoe Saldana) calmly explains that he’s just having a nervous breakdown. He goes off to hospital; Amelia and her sister go with their mother into poverty. Eventually he’s together enough to be released, but the marriage is over (despite them both clearly loving each other). Thing is, the only way their mother can make enough money to support a family is by going to business school, and the only way she can do that is by moving to New York on her own. Dad’s happy to take the kids in, but can he handle two increasingly wilful young girls? Of course not, otherwise there wouldn’t be a movie.

This is a low-key, gentle film where the point isn’t so much the drama of the situation as it is how everyone manages to muddle through ok. It’s a look at a loving family where their love gets them through some unusual situations; it’s also a chance to see Ruffalo in some truly hideous green shorts.

Not as sexy nor as silly as you might have expected, this competently made and perfectly serviceable film works best when it’s simply about two people trying to figure out what kind of relationship they want. And not just “with or without whips” either.

Jupiter Ascending Sure, this space opera is big, crazy, nutty stuff. But who wouldn’t rather see a crazy film made by people (in this case the people who made the Matrixfilms) following their own vision even when it takes them down a dead end instead of a polished corporate comic-book property that just feels fresh off an assembly line?

Selma In a just world this smart, insightful, moving film about the Civil Rights struggle in the small town of Selma in 1964 would have won the Best Picture Oscar. Fortunately, winning awards makes zero difference to the quality of a film, so check this out first chance you can.

Kingsman: The Secret Service A crude, brash, yet very entertaining (so long as you don’t think about it) Bond knock-off. This is a lot of fun yet somehow less edgy than it likes to think it is. So perfect for teenage boys of all ages.

Still Alice Julianne Moore plays a professor who has early onset Alzheimer’s. So bring loads of tissues and be prepared to spend the next week doing every memory test you can find.

What We Did On Our Holiday From the makers of the hilarious UK sitcom Outnumbered, this shares that shows fondness for kids who say the strangest (yet most authentically kid-like) things, spicing up this otherwise fairly standard comedy about a family holiday (featuring separated parents pretending to still be together, played

by David Tennant and Rosamund Pike).

American Sniper Bradley Cooper is a good ol’ boy who just wants to defend his country by shooting Iraqis in a biopic from director Clint Eastwood that delivers war movie thrills with a bit of nuance… if you look closely enough.

Birdman Despite what the trailers would have you believe, this isn’t a superhero movie: rather, Michael Keaton is an actor (who rose to fame playing a superhero) trying to revive his career via a Broadway play. Much backstage hijinks (some funny, some thoughtful) result.

Music Reviews

Five Mile Sniper THE SOUND OF TREES Capital Kills Records

Reading the back story to Five Mile Sniper’s new album and it’s hard to know what to think, “The Sound Of Trees is a euphemism for the decaying natural world we’ve inherited that has no voice – a cry for help that cannot be heard. It conveys moments of optimism with an undertone of loss.” It could go one of two ways; luckily it took the better option.

As ‘Evolve’ begins it has that real atmospheric quality, and you begin to understand how optimism can be tinged with a sense of loss. Singer John Baxter is the main carrier of the emotional changes of the music, and it’s all done through his justenough voice.

‘Fade Away’ stands as a favourite, it had me at the old school rockesque intro. There’s something about ‘Imitation’ that seems so familiar, most likely because it follows a formula similar to successful songs before, but it works and makes it one of the stand outs on the album.

The only downside from The Sound of Trees is that at times the

lyrics feel a little too much like a diary entry, they simply tell you too much without showing you through a more creative use of writing. But in saying that, the combination of instrumental and vocals carries the album and masks any of the more ‘corny’ phrases. Overall the album

definitely achieves what it set out for, the slight tinge of joy in Baxter’s voice and the occasional use of piano help to lift the album up, though there’s something holding it back from being worthy of any sort of ‘Top 10’ list.

By Amanda Sherring

‘Beginning to See’ is a bit of a slow burner and a track that will be on my iTunes most played for a few months. It’s got a brit pop and perfect melody about it that makes it infectious. Debut albums with new bands are always a hard gamble but Mr Barat, I bow down to you sir! What a tremendous

debut. If you like brit-pop indie-rock, well check this release out. Who knows whether Carl will bring this band out to Australia, but if he does, I’d snap up tickets, you never know whether it will be a one off or not.

By Tex Miller

‘Gemini’ for forcing you to stop and listen, really listen.

This is the kind of album you put on, pour a glass of wine and listen to while sliding up next

to your significant other, what happens next can only be a result of the sweet sweet tunes of Alabama Shakes.

By Amanda Sherring

Carl Barat and The Jackals LET IT REIGN Cooking Vinyl

Angus & Julia Stone Cost Hall, Geelong - February 26 Supports: Cloud Control, Jarryd James

It’s not every day that Geelong gets a visit from a big name Australian artist, however last week we were lucky enough to have our very own Angus and Julia Stone visit. The brothersister folk-blues duo made a quick stop off to Geelong’s very own Costa Hall, and I was lucky enough to witness their performance for the first time.

Their supporting acts were arguably as great as the main act themselves. Jarryd James brought quite a moody intense vibe to the room, however mellowed out the atmosphere with what I can only describe as an angelic like voice.

Cloud Control will also be a name you’re familiar with, and it will come as no surprise that they were also insanely mind blowing and super intense. They had a great rapport with the audience, which is notable considering it was a sit down event.

Finally, the main artists Angus and Julia Stone. It’s so great to see musicians who have come as far as they have still pay tribute to their roots. They played a lot of their older music, including ‘Paper Aeroplane’, the song that started it all, and ‘For You’, which Julia explained was only the second or third song she ever wrote.

They also played a few songs from their self titled album, and a rendition of Grease’s ‘You’re The One That I Want’, in which Julia proved that she knows how to make people feel things. If you ever get the chance to see these guys perform I can promise you that it would be completely worth your while, if not only to see Julia’s impressive dance moves.

By Jessica Alves (Photo by Dan Boud)

The explosive relationship between Pete Doherty and Carl Barat is one that has kept The Libertines interesting even though their musical output has been quite limited over the past couple of years. Carl Barat has announced his new band The Jackals and last week they released their debut album entitled Let It Reign. Opening with ‘Glory Days’, it’s brilliant to hear Carl back behind the microphone rocking out once again.

If you combine everything you know about the Libertines and their Garage rock-indie-poppunk-esque music, this is it all wrapped out into one tight little album. Clocking in at just 35 minutes, these hard rock indie jams are catchy and from just a couple of listens to this record I think that ‘Victory Gin’ is my favourite track on the album, it’s loud noise rock, but every once in a while everybody needs a shake up right?

Dorsal Fins

Alabama Shakes

MIND RENOVATION

SOUND & COLOUR

Remote Control Records/Gripless

Simply getting feature album on triple j pretty much cemented the Dorsal Fins new album Mind Renovation to do well, and it seems more just that it’s actually a decent release.

‘Nothing Left to Hide’ crushes hearts in its treat em’ mean keep em’ keen mentality, but hold your breath for ‘Monday Tuesday’ where the vocals mend the broken spirits of before. ‘Heart on the Floor’ is a dance-able discoinspired beat that has colourful strobe lighting fill your sight as soon as the beat kicks in.

Title track, and easily one of my favourites of the album, ‘Mind Renovation’ bursts through the speakers with its warped sound and droning vocals instigating action.

‘Escape Me’ is dark, slow building and oh so perfect. It’s the kind of moody track a heart broken teen listens to after one too many rejections. Basically, a track that mightn’t make you feel all giddy inside but it certainly

Rough Trade Records

makes you feel those feels.

Though if that has you ploughing through the tissues, hold out for ‘Sun & Stars’ a timely follow up that’ll have you singing at the top of your lungs. Basically, get your hands on this release by any

means possible as this is one LP you’re going to want to have the thrill of owning in its physical form – even if it just sits of the shelf with it’s yellow cover smiling at you.

By Amanda Sherring

There are certain words in life that simply roll of the tongue, and for Alabama Shakes, somehow their whole sophomore album is a smooth and soulful affair that does just that.

‘Don’t Wanna Fight’ – which you may have heard on the radio by now – is an edgier track with guitar riffs and squealing vocals opening the song. Again it’s a number that you can’t help but groove to; thanks to every element of the song that works together perfectly.

There’s a definite old rocker vibe, reminiscent of the late ‘70s in ‘Dunes’ and scattered throughout the whole 12-track release. It’s hard to really put a finger on the flaws in this album, and it really seems the band have perfected any mistakes they make have made in their debut.

‘Gimme All Your Love’ is a highlight with its slow heartwrenching lyrics, ‘Shoegaze’ for its guitar riffs and heavy beat and

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Last Words

grog watch Written by Tony Montana

So last week I went to a trivia night. I don’t want to say I hate trivia nights, because that would be a massive under-estimation of exactly how much I loathe them. Hey guys, lets spend a perfectly good stretch of drinking time trying to show off by displaying just how much pointless information we retain inside our skulls. I mean, they’re called “trivia nights”, not “vital information nights” – winning one is basically just a sign that you’ve chosen a path in life that leads to knowing a whole bunch of pointless crap, congrats, here’s a paper hat. How is basically sitting down for an hours-long series of tests meant to be fun? I didn’t like this crap at school and it’s not like my memory has gotten any better thanks to decades of alcohol abuse, oh wait,

it doesn’t even matter because we have computers to remember all this crap for us now. Come on, if you’re going to a “fun” night and part of the “fun” is having someone tell you that you have to switch off your phone in case you try to look up the answers on your phone because you’re doing something that your phone can do better than a human can, there’s no “fun” taking place. We have computers to remember all our trivia so we can talk about other crap.

Being the guy who remembers that it was Bill Paxton in Aliens and Bill Pullman in Independence Day never made you into a cool dude even when there was no way to double-check that stuff, and it sure doesn’t know when a minutes fiddle on your phone can bring it up so you can forget it 10 seconds later. Trivia nights are dumb and I say boo to them. Boooooo.

But this trivia night was a work thing and I’d gone the year before to make up the numbers (well, I’d

gone because it was at a pub so at least I could get a drink, but I’d been invited to make up the numbers) and somehow we’d won so I had to go back to “defend my crown”. I should have realised things were iffy from the start: whereas last year it was just a handful of us and we all kind of knew each other and we were all – let’s be blunt – pretty cluey, this year we suddenly had a bunch of ring-ins who I barely even knew.

Guess what, they turned out to be loud shouty types yet also reluctant to actually do anything team-related.

Also, our larger numbers meant that (unlike last year) we were on this big long table that made it impossible for everyone to talk to everyone else.

So basically right from the start one end of the table gave up and just had a nice old chat for the whole night.

Sadly, I was not at that end of the table. In fact, I was somehow put in charge of things, and by “things” I mean coming up with a team name,

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which took ages because everyone’s suggestions were either crap or so obscure none of the other teams were going to get the joke. When your idea of a cool team name is a grammar-related pun on FKA Twigs, you deserve to have me tell you to shut up. Which I had to do numerous times. Also, I was the only man on the time, so what was up with that?

Supposedly a number of guys had said yes only to vanish at the last minute. Thanks for telling me, guys.

And then things got even worse, because – well, the first two rounds were pretty much business as usual, as we did really well and answered basically everything correct. Trouble was, so did a bunch of other teams, which (we soon learned) had basically been brought on board as ringers to make sure we didn’t win again. Still, by the end of round two, under my stern leadership, we were in the lead (just) and then suddenly round three turned out to be full

of super-obscure questions nobody could answer (the best result was that one team got a third of them right). Round four was a whole bunch of almost as obscure technical questions (in an area our biggest rivals specialised in) and the end result was that we came in third – not that I cared, having basically given up in a huff halfway through round three and given team leadership over to someone who shouted a lot. But it wasn’t all bad news, though the pub burger I ordered certainly was, because it reminded my why I hate competition in all its forms: because I am a bad loser and a sore winner. If I win, I gloat: if I lose, I sulk. Nobody likes that guy – not even me – and so to avoid the temptation I avoid competition in all its forms. Hey kids: you know how your stupid teachers tell you that you have to get involved in sports to teach you how to lose gracefully? That’s crap: sport just makes you into a dickhead,

competition is just there to entertain the people not competing, and it’s perfectly possible to get through life as a complete success by simply saying, “no thanks” whenever you’re offered the chance to compete against your fellow man. Not that I’m a success or anything mind you, and I was the last one out of the pub that night because I was too drunk to stand, but the fact remains: they cheated and we should have won.

Screw those guys.

Tony “Yeah I’m still sulking so what” Montana

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