Beat Magazine #1314 by Furst Media

3 MONTHS FULL-TIME OR 1 YEAR PART-TIME ENROLLING NOW FOR JUNE 2012

Level 9, 55 Swanston St Melbourne (03) 9663 8444 shillingtoncollege.com.au facebook/shillington.fb twitter.com/shillington_ 39$.%9 s -%,"/52.% s "2)3"!.% ,/.$/. s -!.#(%34%2 s .%7 9/2+

World class design education neednâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t take forever. It should be well planned, continually adapted to the times and presented by passionate professionals. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s what happens at Shillington College and we have the record to prove it. Our students are taught by outstanding designers and are getting top design jobs. Starting with no prior experience they graduate with a professional portfolio and an in depth knowledge of the design programs. Enrolling now for June full-time intake.

The college will be open from 5.45 to 7pm on Friday 20 April with a 45 minute presentation starting at 6pm. Check out the facilities, meet the lecturers, chat to some graduates and get the low-down on the course. Bookings are not required to attend the Open Night.

Yah Yahs 99 Smith St Collingwood > to keep informed > myspace.com/weekendernights facebook.com/weekenderindie > go.to/weekender > twitter.com/weekenderindie

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ALSO APPEARING AT BLUESFEST BYRON BAY EASTER WEEKEND WWW.BLUESFEST.COM.AU

SELLING FAST

NEXT WEEK

TONIGHT

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NICHE PRODUCTIONS PRESENTS THE AUDIO-VISUAL EVENT OF THE DECADE

"ISAM LIVE HAS RAISED THE BAR, AND WITH THE KIND OF ATTENTION IT'S GAINED, WHAT REMAINS TO BE SEEN NOW IS HOW OTHER ARTISTS WILL FOLLOW IN ITS FOOTSTEPS." RESIDENT ADVISOR 5/5

"IT WAS JOYOUS, UNSETTLING, ENERGIZING AND, JUDGING FROM THE SWEAT AND WRITHING, COMPREHENSIVELY THUMPADELIC." LA WEEKLY

"THE ISAM SHOW WAS TRULY BREATHTAKING... AMON TOBIN HAS NOW TESTED THE LIMITS OF AUDIO/VISUAL PERFORMANCE AND SET A NEW BENCHMARK."

"TOBIN HAS SET A NEW BENCHMARK FOR LIVE ELECTRONIC MUSIC WITH THIS DEAFENING, DAZZLING AND EXHILARATING ASSAULT ON THE SENSE."

"AMON TOBIN RAISED THE BAR FOR ELECTRONIC MUSICIANS EVERYWHERE, SUCKING THE AUDIENCE INTO A WORLD LIKE NO OTHER."

QUIETUS

TIMES 4/5

MUSIC FIX

"TOBIN'S ISAM: LIVE WAS QUITE IMPRESSIVE, AND ONE OF THE MOST EXCITING LIVE SHOWS I'VE SEEN THIS YEAR. " OC WEEKLY

TUESDAY 5TH JUNE PALACE THEATRE TICKETSON SALE THURSDAY 5TH APRIL THROUGH TICKETMASTER.COM.AU & OZTIX.COM.AU Ą Ğ ŗŗŗĊŗŗ Ą Ą ŗ

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Cornish The

140 Sydney Rd

9387 6637

BRUNSWICKHOTEL.NET

NO COVER CHARGE

WEDNESDAY THE 4TH OF APRIL - 8PM

OPEN MIC WITH YOUR HOST BRODIE

GET IN AND REGISTER FROM 7PM ONWARDS $10 JUGS

Arms

THURSDAY THE 5TH OF APRIL - FROM 8PM TILL MIDNIGHT

$3 SCHOONERS $5 BASICS FROM 8PM

BOGAN NATION THE DUKES OF DELICIOUSNESS THE SUPERGUNS VOODOOCAIN

FRIDAY THE 6TH OF APRIL - FROM 9PM

VIMM MESSED UP

Kitchen Specials Mon

THE SUNSLEEPERS CARP SATURDAY THE 7TH OF APRIL - FROM 9PM

INEDIA DEAR STALKER CHARM THE GENERAL FROM 5PM

$12 Burger and $12 Parma + OPEN MIC NIGHT

Tues Trivia Night

HOLANDS PAUL POMPHREY ATLUK

SUNDAY THE 8TH OF APRIL - FROM 7PM

HAZEL GROVE CIRCUS THERAPY HESSIAN MORNING AFTER BLACK RIVER REBELLION

Wed $14 Rump Steak Monday nights Open Mic Function Room Available Kitchen Open Every Evening

8&%/&4%": 53*7*" /*()5

Thu 5th April (Easter)

9.30-10.30PM THE SUN SLEEPERS 10.45-11.45PM THE DINOSAURS EXIST FRI 6th April (Good Friday)

NO LIVE MUSIC - EARLY CLOSING SAT 7th April

9.30 - 11:30

WOLFY & THE BAT CLUBS (2 X 1 HOUR SET)

'3&& &/53: 1.

SATURDAY 7 APR 5.00PM TH

TESS MCKENNA & THE SHAPIROS SHEâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S BACK! TESS MCKENNA AND THE MAGNIFICENT SHAPIROS RETURN FOR AN AFTERNOON OF STELLAR ELECTRIC FOLK/ROCK & BLUES WITH PITCH-PERFECT HARMONIES.

SATURDAY 7TH APR 9.00PM

SUN 8th April

MATT WALKER

4-5PM BREAKING HART BENTON

& BRODERICK SMITH

5-7PM NORIANA KENEDY TRIO (IRELAND - 2 X 45MIN SETS)

OPENING HOURS

MON-THURS FROM 3PM - LATE FRI-SUN FROM 12PM - LATE NOW OPEN FOR LUNCH ON FRIDAY!!

TWO LONG-TIME PLAYERS TEAM UP FOR A NIGHT OF ORIGINAL BLUES AND ROOTS. EXPECT HARMONICAS AND ALL MANNER OF GUITARS.

FOOD SPECIALS

MONDAY $12 PARMA TUESDAY ALL PIZZAS $6 WEDNESDAY $12 STEAK THURSDAY $12 BEEF OR HALLOUMI BURGER SUNDAY $12 ROAST ALL DAY 420 SYDNEY RD BRUNSWICK, 9380 8667

SATURDAY 8TH APR

EASTER SUNDAY NO MUSIC TODAY

HAPPY EASTER FROM THE UNION

FACEBOOK.COM/THEPENNYBLACK

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facebook.com/vmusic.com.au Follow us on

@channelv

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METRONOMY - THE ENGLISH RIVIERA

DJANGO DJANGO - DJANGO DJANGO -Q

-MOJO

CHARLOTTE GAINSBOURG - STAGE WHISPER

SELAH SUE - SELAH SUE

“Proudly not signing short term pop acts” - Emmanuel de Buretel, Because Music

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Because Music Mixtape

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IN THIS ISSUE...

HOT TALK

TOURING

FRANK WOODLEY

AMERICAN PIE: REUNION

ART OF THE CITY

BOMBAY BEACH, THE WALKING DEAD

ADELANTE AMIGO!

GRIMES, LOU BARLOW

YACHT CLUB DJS

LOS CHICOS, THE SONICS, DAWES

LOU BARLOW P. 33

LOS CHICOS P. 36

BEAT EATS

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH

COMEDY FESTIVAL

AMON AMARTH, JOHNNY GIBSON, SHERIFF

HENRY ROLLINS

ALTITUDE, SYSTEM OF VENUS, SKYLION

THIS WEEK IN 100%:

ICE CUBE

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32,788 copies per week

THE SONICS P. 36

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PUBLISHER: Furst Media Pty Ltd. MUSIC EDITOR: Taryn Stenvei ARTS EDITOR / ASSOCIATE MUSIC EDITOR: Tyson Wray EDITORIAL ASSISTANT: Nick Taras SUB-EDITORS: Clare O’Meara, Penny Evangelou, Michelle Aquilina, Penny Coulson, Jac Manuell GENERAL MANAGER: Patrick Carr SENIOR ADVERTISING/EDITORIAL CO-ORDINATOR: Ronnit Sternfein BEAT PRODUCTION MANAGER: Patrick O’Neill GRAPHIC DESIGNERS: Luke Benge, Matt Crute, Patrick O’Neill, Rebecca Houlden, Gill Tucker COVER ART: Patrick O’Neill ADVERTISING: Taryn Stenvei (Music: Bands/Tours/Record Labels) taryn@beat.com.au Ronnit Sternfein (100%/Beat/Arts/Education/Ad Agency) ronnit@beat.com.au Aleksei Plinte (Backstage/ Musical Equipment) mixdown@beat.com.au Adam Morgan (Hospitality/Bars) adam@beat.com.au Kris Furst (beat.com.au) kris@furstmedia.com.au 0431 243 808 Grace Arena (Indie Bands/Special Features) grace@furstmedia.com.au CLASSIFIEDS: classiﬁeds@beat.com.au GIG GUIDE SUBMISSIONS: now online at www.beat.com.au or bands email gigguide@beat.com.au ELECTRONIC EDITOR - BEAT ONLINE:

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SENIOR CONTRIBUTORS: Christine Lan, Simone Ubaldi, Patrick Emery, Jesse Shrock. COLUMNISTS: Emily Kelly, Peter Hodgson. CONTRIBUTORS: Tyson Wray, Adam Baidawi, Helen Barradell, Matt Bendall, Cam Binger, Graham Blackley, Chris Bright, Rose Callaghan, Adam Camilleri, Paige Cho, Stefan Chrisp, Nick Clarke, Talitha Conway, Dave Dawson, John Donaldson, Justin Donnelly, Georgia Doyle, Cam Ewart, Paul Fischer, Lawson Fletcher, Jack Franklin, Chris Girdler, Sean Gleeson, Aleisha Hall, Louise Hardwick, Daniel Hedger, Nick Hilton, Lyndon Horsburgh, Briony Jones, Lachlan Kanoniuk, Cassandra Kiely, Greg King, Joshua Kloke, Stuart Lynch, Rhys McCrae, Ruth McIver, Adam McKenzie, Kylie McLaughlin, Nick Mason, Tyler Mathes, Krystal Maynard, Anna Megalogenis, Al Newstead, James Nicoli, John O’Rourke, Matt Panag, Jack Parsons, Liam Pieper, Steve Phillips, David Prescott-Steed, James Ridley, Gav Ross, Leigh Salter, Tim Scott, Denis Semchenko, Side Man, Matt Sutherland, Lin Tan, Steve Tauschke, Brigitte Trobbiani, Rene Schaefer, Melanie Sheridan, Jeremy Sheaﬀe, Kelly Theobald, Andrew Tijs, Alistair Wallis, Etienne Waring, Dan Watt, Rod Whitﬁeld, Katie Weiss, Tom Whitty, Cara Williams, Simon Williamson, Bronius Zumeris. © 2012 Furst Media Pty Ltd. No part may be reproduced without the consent of the copyright holder.

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Beat Magazine Page 13

HOT TALK

THE BIGGEST IN INTERNATIONAL & NATIONAL NEWS

For all the latest news check out beat.com.au

MARK LANEGAN The supports for Mark Lanegan's tour have just been announced, and Melbournians, we are in for a treat. Aussie rock legend Ron S. Peno and his new band, the Superstitions join the lineup for what is going to be an unmissable night of rock’n’roll of the highest calibre. Peno has penned an impressive career being involved in bands such The Hellcats, The 31st, Screaming Tribesman, Died Pretty and now with his current band the Superstitions. The band’s debut album Future Universe was heralded by critics and the public alike with the blend of tender and elegant rock bound to go down well alongside the class of the Mark Lanegan Band. Experience it all at the Forum Theatre on Thursday April 26, tickets available through Ticketmaster.

DAPPLED CITIES Dappled Cities have announced the release of their ﬁrst new single in over three years. Run With The Wind predicates how special the upcoming fourth studio album will be for the band. To coincide with the release, Dappled Cities will host this very special live event. Run With The Wind is already an epic closer to their live show and is their most expressive musical moment to date. This headline show will allow them to bring the new album to life in full technicolour for the ﬁrst time. Catch them on Friday May 4 at the Northcote Social Club.

DEEP SEA ARCADE Deep Sea Arcade will hit the road this June on an outlandish national tour to celebrate the release of their debut album Outlands. The record has already proved a firm favourite with critics and fans alike. Paying homage to experimental cinema and the dystopia sci-fi films of the ‘60s, Outlands is an accomplished debut full of kaleidoscopic pop songs including singles Steam, Girls, Don’t Be Sorry and Lonely in Your Arms. Currently touring the country with Children Collide and set to join Kaiser Chiefs in May, Deep Sea Arcade will be in spectacular form when they take Outlands on the road. Supporting Deep Sea Arcade on all shows will be The Cairos and Woe & Flutter (except WA). They tour reaches the Phoenix Public House on Friday June 8. Tickets on sale now. Enjoy.

HANSON The wave of ‘90s revival shows swelled to tidal this week. One of the biggest pop sensations of the ‘90s have announced their return to Australia, with Hanson hitting our shores this September for their Shout It Out Tour. Isaac, Taylor and Zac Hanson took the world by storm with their infectious melodies, none more evident than their smash hit MMM Bop. With all the Beatlemania-levels of hysteria surrounding the band’s breakthrough, it’s easy to forgot that the three brothers are in fact crack musos, and damn ﬁne tunesmiths. The Shout It Out Tour will showcase material from their latest LP, as well as material from their stellar canon of pop hits. Hanson perform at The Palace on Friday September 14.

JACK CARTY

SIX60

Fresh from stand-out sets at this year’s Woodford Folk Festival and his debut album, One Thousand Origami Birds, being named in a slew of Best of 2011 lists, Jack Carty is preparing to release his newest album, Break Your Own Heart this April. Experience through sound with Jack Carty and support from The Falls at The Northcote Social Club on Tuesday May 8 from 8pm.

As a band, Six60 originally formed while at university and began jamming out at their infamous flat, 660 Castle Street. Inspired by the vibrant culture of soul, rock and bass heavy electronica that defined late 2000s student life down south, bedroom practices quickly turned into gigs at local bars. As the saying goes, if you give, you get back, and as word about their high-octane live shows, and copies of their songs spread around New Zealand and Australia, they were rewarded with a burgeoning fan base, both in real life and online. Blending soul, rock, dubstep and drum and bass, their music is as dynamic, versatile and unexpected as their back story. Six60 also have to their credit, two double platinum selling singles Rise Up 2.0 and Don’t Forget Your Roots, one platinum selling single Only To Be and a triple platinum Number One debut album. Six60 will play The HiFi on Friday April 27 with support from Saskwatch. Tickets available from hifi.com.au

CHET FAKER This is for those of you who weren’t speedy enough (or lucky enough) to grab tickets to the first Thinking In Textures EP launch at the Toff. Melbourne boy Chet Fakers unique style is getting airplay and recognition all around the globe with his latest single I’m Into You being picked up by BBC 1’s Zane Lowe who has been playing and playing the track on his Next Hype segment. Chet Faker will launch debut EP Thinking in Textures on Saturday April 21 (sold out) and just announced a second show Sunday April 22 at the Toff. We had a chat to him, it’s in Industrial Strength this week.

KISSCHASY It’s been a while between gigs but those rascals from Kisschasy are stoked to announce they are returning to the stage for two regional shows in April. The band will perform at Inferno Traralgon on Friday April 20 and back it up with another stomper at Ferntree Gully Hotel on Tuesday April 24. After spending the last year on hiatus working on various side projects, Kisschasy have been busy in recent months writing a bunch of songs for their fourth studio album. With three top ten, gold selling albums and a string of sold out tours under their belts, make sure you grab tickets to Kisschasy’s upcoming shows fast to avoid being disappointed.

CNR SPRINGVALE & WELLS RD, CHELSEA HEIGHTS PH 9773 4453 WWW.CHELSEAHEIGHTSHOTEL.COM.AU SAT 5TH MAY

THU 10TH MAY

FAKER Sydney duo Faker are heading to Melbourne for a one-off show this month. An everlasting gob-stopper of a single This Heart Attack took them on adventures far and wide and resulted in an APRA award for the Most Played Australian Work in 2008. After a hard-working 2009 they took some time off went back to the core of what they wanted. They returned with the recently released album Get Loved and set sail on the seven seas with songs like How To Survive, Back When Solvents and the first single Dangerous. Catch Faker in the Espy front bar Saturday April 14 with guests, Teenage Mothers. Free entry.

SAT 21ST APRIL

SAT 28TH APRIL

CHOCOLATE STARFISH TIX $30

PEZ TIX $27

THU 26TH MAY

BABY ANIMALS

KERSER TIX $17

TIX $37

STEVENS, BRAITHWAITE & BARKER TIX $37 Beat Magazine Page 14

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SAT 2ND JUNE

ABSOLUTELY 80’S MANNIX/CARNE/RYDER TIX $25

HOT TALK

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BEN WELLS & THE MIDDLE NAMES

BOY IN A BOX

LANIE LANE Lanie Lane is excited beyond comprehension and totally knocked out by the news that her two shows at the Corner Hotel in Melbourne on her upcoming Bangity Bang tour have sold out. A new show has now been added for the Corner Hotel in Melbourne on Monday May 28. Lanie recently returned from SXSW in Austin, Texas where she was lucky enough to be part of Jack White’s Third Man Records showcase. Queues for the show stretched four blocks, and needless to say, it was a night to remember. Joining Lanie and her band on tour are up and coming blues sensations The Rubens. And speaking of which, the tour will kick oﬀ every night with the incomparable Steve Smyth, an artist of rare ability with a voice that will quite simply blow your mind.

GOATWHORE Metal warrior legends Goatwhore are heading to Australia for their ﬁrst ever headlining shows for the Underground Legions tour, in support of their critically acclaimed new album Blood For The Master. The band’s unique brand of extreme metal has won over audiences worldwide and with support being provided by Singaporian death metal stalwarts Impiety and Tasmanian’s Ruins, it’s a night metal fans can’t aﬀord to miss out on. Goatwhore and co. play The Corner Hotel on Friday July 6, tickets available through the venue and Moshtix.

HUSKY Missed out on getting your paws on Husky tickets for their upcoming Melbourne show? Well fear not y’all, because tickets are being released for a second performance at the Corner Hotel on Sunday May 6. The local lads have been causing quite a stir on the international scene, becoming the ﬁrst Aussie band to sign to legendary Seattle label Sub Pop. Following from their upcoming Australian tour, Husky will head overseas for more tour dates in the U.K, Germany and the U.S. With things heating up for Husky internationally, this might be your last chance to catch them on our shores for a while. Tickets are now on sale via The Corner website.

Boy In A Box are bringing their glistening pop-rock anthems to the front bar of The Espy in a free Good Friday show. Hailing from the Northern Beaches of NSW, Tobias “Tij’ Priddle moved to Melbourne which saw him expand on a musical obsession that had gripped him since high school - the clattering hooks of the UK punk era and the every-man stance of Americana, as well as elements of early soul and grainy FM pop - to inform the heart of Boy In A Box. With a new EP just around the corner, don’t miss this great chance to see Boy In A Box live at The Espy on Friday April 6. Free entry.

Ben Wells & The Middle Names have been a busy band the past year, notching up over 10,000km touring their native Hobart and the East Coast of Australia. They’ve also supported some of Australia’s biggest bands including the likes of Art vs Science, Little Red and San Cisco, and for the second year running the band were chosen by Triple J’s Unearthed to perform at Falls Festival Marion Bay. Now the indie-pop six piece are set to join forces with Kate Martin to bring a show that will be more fun than some can handle. For all of the action get down to The Toﬀ on Wenesday May 9 and a special acoustic gig at Pure Pop Records on Friday May 11, tickets available through Moshtix for The Toﬀ show.

CHANNEL [V] PRESENTER SEARCH Yep, you read right. Music television channel seeks shit hot, new presenter. The successful applicant will have music blazing through their veins, be prepared to circumnavigate the globe covering major music festivals and events, have the guts to ask the gritty questions and be able to hold their own when face to face with the likes of Lady Gaga, Radiohead, Kanye West or Slash. Please note: this is a paid job. No, for real guys. Reckon you’ve got the goods to be the new face of Channel [V]? Well they’re looking, and it’s a pretty sweet gig. We heard it from the horse’s mouth. Channel [V] presenter Billy Russell gave us the lowdown about his time on the clock. Give us a blow-by-blow of your audition process to get this job. What was the weirdest thing you had to do? The first few stages of the audition process were online, and pretty much encompassed written tasks and dodgy home-recorded video submissions (from memory, I wrote about the Jesus Christ Superstar soundtrack. God love it). I survived the first few culls, and it wasn’t until I had made the Top 30 that I actually had to do stuff in person and in front of a real life producer and video camera. Said stuff included an impromptu album review, interviewing Kevin Mitchell and eating Gefilte Fish. This was apparently relevant to the job, although to this day, I still fail to see how. When I was made a grand finalist, I found myself competing against some tall chick from Top Model and cohosting a live broadcast from Homebake. And evidently, I blew the bitch away and was named the winner onstage at the end of the day. The weirdest part of it all was having Mess+Noise repeat all the insults Tumbleweed fans were yelling at me while my victory procession delayed their favourite band. It was pretty rad seeing “Fuck Billy!” in print. Who is the celebrity you’ve been most awestruck to interview? I tend to get starstruck by everyone. And I’m really bad at hiding it. Like, Brian McFadden was in our office the other day and even though I think he’s a grade-A chump, I was still like, “Wow, that’s the guy who put it in Delta!” But I think my most awestruck (read:awkward) interview moments have been the following: telling Joel Gion from

Brian Jonestown Massacre that I used to have him in my ‘heroes’ section on MySpace; having no small talk to oﬀer Lady Gaga other than “you look pretty”; and actually addressing Kanye West with what was intended as a compliment but was received like a turd in a lunchbox: “I can’t believe so many people hate you!” Who has been the nicest star you’ve ever had a chat to? Dan Sultan. He is without a doubt the sweetest, humblest dude in rock’n’roll. Dan, if you’re reading this, I love you. Most shit-hot part of the job? It’s pretty cool having all the people who were mean to me in high school now sucking up to me. Arseholes. But I’m also in it for the free stuﬀ. Most shit-house part of the job? Sometimes it’s a bit sucky being the face of something you don’t necessarily believe in. If I’m given a promo script, for example, and it has words like “epic!” and “sick mad dogz!” in it, then I tend to feel compromised. Also, I despise MC’ing events because I much prefer talking to a camera than to a room full of drunk people I don’t know. Drunk crowds are only fun when you’re in them. Any advice for hopefuls? Be yourself, love music, and leave your ego at the door. Get yourself to vmusic.com.au, register your details and complete the series of audition tasks for your chance to take out the title.

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Beat Magazine Page 15

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HAYDEN CALNIN A lot is happening for 22-year-old singer/songwriter/ dreamboat Hayden Calnin. Fresh oﬀ the back of his opening sets for Matt Corby’s sold out Corner Hotel Shows in Melbourne, he has announced that he will be playing his own residency at much loved Melbourne venue The Workers Club. After he wraps up his Worker’s April residency, Hayden will set oﬀ on an East Coast tour opening for Gossling on her Intentional Living tour. His debut track Summer showcases mesmerising acapella vocals partnered with looping and layering techniques, creating a distinct sound exemplary of the heartfelt performance Hayden delivers that shouldn’t be missed live. Hayden’s Make sure you get a chance to catch Hayden Calnin’s captivating live performance on Sunday April 15 and Sunday April 22 at the Workers Club.

RAPSKALLION

PIGEON

Those boisterous rogues, Rapskallion, are celebrating the release of their brand spanking new album Vagabond King at the Corner Hotel on the Thursday April 26. The ‘Skallions have been peddling their inimitable concoction of tip shop blues, wonky waltzes, and vaudevillian vignettes around the country, including the Adelaide Fringe Festival, where they acquired the fringe award for best musical act. Their new release is a marauding musical celebration of the exploits of a buccaneering crow, back alley felines, a bad arse femme fatale, and the vagabond king himself, set to a soundtrack reminiscent of a Halloween knees up at a south sea pirate haven. They will be accompanied on the evening by a plethora of special guest performers to titillate your humorous bits and ensure dance ﬂoor sweaty good times. Tickets are available from cornerhotel.com.

After a killer 2011 playing alongside some of the biggest international and Australian acts around, Brisbane live electronic band Pigeon are hitting the road again this coming April/May with their Cataclysm Tour. Pigeon showcase a meeting point of organic and electronic music. Ranging from electro-pop and dub step to drum ‘n’ bass and hip hop; the band will captivate you from the moment they walk on stage until you give in to the urge to dance, drink and be merry. See Pigeon on Thursday May 3 at Laundry Bar, Friday May 4 at Revolver Upstairs and Saturday May 5 at The Espy.

BELLUSIRA

THE HARD-ONS

Bellusira have garnered a reputation as one of Melbourne’s bands to watch. Having played with the likes of The Misﬁts, Dead Letter Circus and Floating Me, the band have also played to soldout crowds at their own headlining shows. With a full length album on the way, the guys will be launching their new single Culprit at The Evelyn on Friday April 13, as well as an all ages show on Saturday April 21 at Laundry and a special acoustic show at The Evelyn on Friday April 27.

One of the most unlikely rock’n’roll bands to reach hero status in Australia, The Hard-ons, will be taking their show live around Australia, Europe and Japan to promote part one of ﬁve their album reissue Smell My Finger. Spanning the years 1984 – 1987, Smell My Finger presents the entire oﬃcial recorded output of The Hard-ons. Explosive, funny and action-packed, these shows are guaranteed to blow everyone’s ears and eyes. Bring a few extra bucks in case you feel the need to take home more than pleasant memories: the reissue series will be for sale at the show. Catch them in Melbourne on Saturday June 9 at The Tote.

DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET David Bromberg is probably the envy of every musician and music lover alike, he’s played with the likes of Bob Dylan, The Eagles and Ringo Starr and of course enjoyed huge success in his solo work, and now he’s bringing his talents to Melbourne. His band’s newest album Use Me has cemented his greatness even further, the incredibly talented multiinstrumentalist brings his genius to The Toﬀ on Tuesday April 10. Tickets available through Moshtix.

BEN BROWNING

THE STRUMS

Cut Copy bassist Ben Browning has penned his first EP, Lover Motion. It’s everything you’d expect from Browning, classic melodies and quality synthesiser tones to match. With support from Geoffrey O’Connor who is ripe from an appear at this year’s Laneway Festival it’s going to be a heck of a synth-laced party. Celebrate the Easter festivities by heading down to The Toff on Sunday April 8, tickets available through Moshtix.

The Strums are getting ready to make play their way around the country by land and by sea in support of their second single Gimme Some Hope. The song’s oﬀ the band’s debut EP Are You Picking Up What I’m Putting Down and will be released digitally with two bonus tracks. The band will feature those tracks and many more in shows that are sure to win over a new crop of fans, as well as those who’ve been waiting for the band to bring their unique brand of foot-stomping, hip-shaking rock’n’roll back into town. Catch The Strums in Melbourne on Saturday April 28 at The Grace Darling Hotel.

SASKWATCH Anticipation is brewing in earnest for the release of Saskwatch’s debut LP, and to back that up the band will return to The Cherry Bar for a special four-week residency. The band have built a reputation for putting on a dynamic and tight live show, with an appearance at Falls earning them plenty of plaudits. The Melbourne natives have been hard at work putting the ﬁnal touches on their debut album, with the band to preview some of the songs over the four nights. Saskwatch will appear at The Cherry Bar every Thursday night starting April 5 with three more shows on April 12, 19 and 26, tickets available through the venue.

ROUGH CHURCH L.A. band Rough Church are hitting Aussie shores for the ﬁrst time and they’re on a mission to set Revolver alight. The band have strong ties with our neighbours, New Zealand – their drummer is a New Zealand native and they’ve also performed alongside the likes of David Kilgour and Robert Scott of the The Clean. Joining the festivities will be another Kiwi local, solo act Popolice as well as Blackburn locals, Giants Under The Sun. It all kicks oﬀ on tonight at Revolver Upstairs.

EAGLE AND THE WORM To celebrate the launch of their new release Intermashional First Class much loved Melbourne locals Eagle And The Worm will be playing a special one-oﬀ gig at The Old Bar. With support being provided by Animaux and Sunny the Magosipher it’s going to be a night for the ages. Catch Eagle and the Worm while you can, this will be one of their few headline appearances in Melbourne for some time. The band play The Old Bar on Thursday April 20, tickets available at the door at 8pm, get down early to ensure you don’t miss out on this special event. Beat Magazine Page 16

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Beat Magazine Page 17

TOURING

WHO'S ON TOUR, WHERE AND WHEN

PROUDLY PRESENTS:

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INTERNATIONAL THE POGUES Festival Hall April 4 MY MORNING JACKET The Palace April 4 YANN TIERSEN Recital Centre April 4 CANNED HEAT Corner Hotel April 4 LOS CHICOS The Tote April 4, Yah Yah’s April 5, The Old Bar April 6 BYRON BAY BLUESFEST Byron Bay April 5-9 TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE The Corner April 7 ALABAMA 3 Prince Bandroom April 8 NEW FOUND GLORY, TAKING BACK SUNDAY Festival Hall April 8 THE FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS Corner Hotel April 8 SETH LAKEMAN & CARUS THOMPSON Bennetts Lane April 8, 9 SUBLIME Palace Theatre April 9 ZIGGY MARLEY Corner Hotel April 9 SEASICK STEVE Corner Hotel April 10 CANDI STATON Toﬀ In Town April 10 JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE Regal Ballroom April 11, Prince Bandroom April 12 DAWES Toﬀ In Town April 12 PETER HOOK The Palace April 12 LOU BARLOW Northcote Social Club April 17, April 18 HENRY ROLLINS The National Theatre April 18, 19 SUPAFEST TBA April 21 THE 5.6.7.8’S The Tote April 24 DIG IT UP! HOODOO GURUS INVITATIONAL The Palace April 25 MARK LANEGAN BAND Forum Theatre April 26 AN HORSE Corner Hotel April 27 SIX60 The Hi-Fi April 27 THE SONICS Caravan Music Club April 27 THE EXPLOITED Corner Hotel April 28 CHERRY ROCK Cherry Bar April 29 FU MANCHU The Tote April 30 CITY & COLOUR Palais Theatre May 2 ANDREW W.K. Corner Hotel May 4 ORBITAL Palace Theatre May 4 DEVILDRIVER, DARKEST HOUR Billboard The Venue May 6 THE DARKNESS Palace Theatre May 8 WAVVES Corner Hotel May 9

FRANK TURNER AND THE SLEEPING SOULS The Espy May 10 THE MOUNTAIN GOATS Corner Hotel May 10 dEUS Corner Hotel May 12 PUBLIC ENEMY The Palace March 15 KAISER CHIEFS Palace Theatre May 16 THE MACABEES The Hi-Fi May 16 MUTEMATH Corner Hotel May 15, 17 NICKI MINAJ Hisense Area May 18 NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCK/BACKSTREET BOYS Rod Laver Arena May 18, 19 BRIAN JONESTOWN MASACRE The Forum Theatre May 19 FLORENCE AND THE MACHINE Rod Laver Arena May 20 BARRY ADAMSON Corner Hotel May 23 S CLUB 7 The Palace May 23 VIVID LIVE Sydney May 25 - June 3 MY BRIGHTEST DIAMOND Northcote Social Club May 28 YOUNG GUNS The Hi-Fi May 30 LIGHT ASYLUM Phoenix Public House June 1 SIMPLE PLAN Festival Hall June 2 ZOLA JESUS The Toﬀ In Town June 3 SISTER SLEDGE The Hi-Fi June 7 REEF Billboard June 8 MARK KOZELEK The Toﬀ In Town June 9, Phoenix Public House June 11 THE BLACK SEEDS Corner Hotel June 15 LADY GAGA Rod Laver Arena June 27, 28, 30, July 1, 3 GOATWHORE Corner Hotel July 6 MELISSA ETHERIDGE The Plenary July 15 SPLENDOUR IN THE GRASS Belongil Fields Byron Bay July 27 - 29 HANSON The Palace September 14 RADIOHEAD Rod Laver Arena November 16, 17

NATIONAL YACHT CLUB DJS Prince Bandroom April 5, Bended Elbow April 6, Karova Lounge April 7, 8 THE MEDICS Northcote Social Club April 13 MY DISCO The Toﬀ In Town April 15 SOUNDS LOUD Queens Park April 15 FAKER The Espy April 14

CHERRY ROCK Cherry Bar April 29 BALL PARK MUSIC The Corner April 14, 15, 16 LAST DINOSAURS Phoenix Public House April 17, Northcote Social Club April 20, May 2 HUSKY Corner Hotel April 19, May 6, Barwon Club April 20 KISSCHASY Inferno Traralgon April 20, Ferntree Gully Hotel April 24 BLEEDING KNEES CLUB Northcote Social Club April 21 TIN SPARROW Grace Darling April 21, 22 CHET FAKER Toﬀ In Town April 21 POND Northcote Social Club April 22, 23 BIG SCARY The Corner Hotel April 24 KISSCHASY Ferntree Gully Hotel April 24 STONEFIELD Northcote Social Club April 24, 25 JOHN BUTLER The Hi-Fi April 24, 25 EMMY BRYCE, KATE VIGO Thornbury Theatre April 26 DZ DEATHRAYS The Tote April 27 BLUEJUICE The Hi-Fi April 28 SAN CISCO Corner Hotel May 1, 2 THE GETAWAY PLAN Corner Hotel May 3 DAPPLED CITIES Northcote Social Club May 4 GOSSLING Thornbury Theatre May 5 BEN WELLS& THE MIDDLE NAMES The Toﬀ In Town May 9 KIMBRA Palais Theatre May 9 CALLING ALL CARS The Hi-Fi May 11 JOSH PYKE The Forum May 11

MICK THOMAS The Regal Ballroom May 11 CATCALL Toﬀ In Town May 12 LEADER CHEETAH Northcote Social Club May 19 BOY & BEAR The Hi-Fi May 20 TUMBLEWEED The Tote May 25, 26 LANIE LANE Corner Hotel May 26, 27, 28 TEMPER TRAP The Forum May 29, 30 TZU Corner Hotel June 1 GRAVEYARD TRAIN The Hi-Fi June 1, 2 THE JEZABELS Festival Hall June 1 THE MISSION IN MOTION The Tote June 2 MATT CORBY The Forum June 6 BONJAH Corner Hotel June 8 DEEP SEA ARCADE Phoenix Public House June 8 THE HARD-ONS The Tote June 9 360 The Hi-Fi June 15 KARNIVOOL The Hi-Fi July 5, 6, 7

RUMOURS Liars, Patti Smith, Van She, Why?, Azealia Banks, Eric Clapton = New Announcements = Beat Proudly Presents

SATURDAY MAY 5 THORNBURY THEATRE WITH HAYDEN CALNIN & WINTER PEOPLE

Beat Magazine Page 18

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THE CIVIL WARS 2 x GRAMMY WINNERS Best Folk Album & Best Country Duo/Group Performance “...haunting as a nocturne, soothing as a lullaby.”

“…brutally honest and exquisite love songs.”

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– WALL STREET JOURNAL

“They are by far the BEST live band I have EVER seen” – ADELE

Deluxe edition album Barton Hollow featuring the critically acclaimed covers of ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘I Want You Back’ OUT NOW

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Beat Magazine Page 19

FRANK WOODLEY BY NICK TARAS

Frank Woodley: Perrier Comedy Award-winning comedian for 20 years as one half of Lano & Woodley, director of AFI-nominated short film Chicken Of God, writer and producer of critically-acclaimed series Woodley, and surprisingly, a comforting psychologist to a writer who underwent a near-death experience minutes before the interview, slipping whilst walking up the stairs nude (from the shower, nothing weird), with his confidence rocked by the laughing chihuahua – witness to the embarrassing tumble – who mocked him by tickling his toes as he lay motionless on the violent stairs in pain, reluctant to move as he pondered just how humiliating and hilariously tragic a death in such circumstances would have been. Only the great die young, naked, being licked by a fucking chihuahua, as the saying goes. “It’s hard to be humiliated when you don’t have any consciousness,” consoles Woodley, “so probably it would’ve worked out okay. Maybe there would’ve been this blushing ghost moving around, a kind of ethereal pink plasma floating in the sky”. Woodley has just begun his three-week long residency at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, with his show Bemusement Park receiving grand-acclaim from audiences throughout Woodley’s tour through Australia. “I seemed to get away with it. Only one joke worked, but lucky the audience laughed for 59 and a half minutes after I told it. It actually went pretty well. I’m feeling quite relaxed. I did two shows in Adelaide and did a week in Brisbane and then I feel that you know, as Gandhi said, ‘If you’re making everybody happy, you can’t be being true to yourself’, but he was a grown man in a nappy, so let’s take that with a grain of salt. That’s a cheap laugh, he wasn’t in a nappy, he was in like a loin cloth like a....the costume of choice of the Indian spiritual renouncer. So that was a cheap shot. And even if he was in a nappy, a lot adults who wear nappies say very wise things, so that is why if you are making everybody happy, you can’t be true to yourself. I’m sure I didn’t make every single person happy, I reckon probably a few walked away going, ‘Hmm, not my thing’, but generally there was feeling of, ‘That went well!’” Thankfully, Woodley wasn’t pelted by tomatoes, “except for in the section where I handed out the tomatoes, because we do a bit of a game where I run around the theatre in the nude, and they have to try and pelt me with tomatoes, and at that point I was. I remembered why I was doing that, I thought, ‘God if I slip on one of these tomatoes and hit my head on the edge of the stage and I’m going to die in the nude. That’s going to be quite embarrassing, but you won’t be able to tell if my ghost is blushing or not because I’m covered in tomato juice and you might just assume…WHAT? What are we talking about Nick?” he laughs. There is a tone of enthusiasm that shadows everything Woodley says, and it seems that the affable on-stage and on-screen character whom Australia has adored for decades as part of comedy duo Lano & Woodley shares his loveable persona with Frank Woodley the man. No matter which topics are conjured into the conversation, his responses are always laden with zeal and wit. Beat Magazine Page 20

Unfortunately, at the time of interview, Woodley was slightly upset upon hearing news that a planned routine for Bemusement Park was to be rejected on the terms that it was too much of a risk to audience safety; a reflection of the overprotective nanny-state that Victoria has developed into. “[It was] devastating. I can’t get insurance to the ‘So You Think You Can Survive A Panther Attack?’ routine, which is, that’s disappointing. I think we’re just covered in cotton wool these days, don’t you? I mean I’ve done a first aid course, and the audience were going to be handed out cattle prods; it’s not as if it was reckless. My parents used to, when I was kid, wrap me up in cotton wool, but that’s because we lived on a farm and there were these wild dogs attacking our sheep. And so they did that to use me as a decoy…it wasn’t quite the same premise.” Understandably, Woodley found the transition from confronting audiences as Lano & Woodley to simply just Frank Woodley initially challenging. He’d lost his comedy soulmate. He was a Costello without an Abbott, a Cheech without a Chong, a Karl Stefanovic without alcohol. “It is quite different. It took me a little while in terms of the stand-up to find my feet because I guess in a way with [Colin Lane], I spent 20 years in a sense sabotaging. My role was to sabotage whatever Col was attempting to do, which was a great privilege to be able to just be so free and mischievous. But when I started doing solo standup, it kind of became apparent that I needed to actually somehow fulfil both the functions of the responsible person who was going to put on some entertainment for the audience as well as the person who could go off on flights of fancy. So it did take me a little while.” While his comedic relationship with Lano relied on their symbiotic chemistry, he’s since thrived as he’s grown more comfortable alone onstage. “Stand-up is really quite different. I think I performed for about six-to-twelve months after we split up. I was kind of performing in that same mode and I wasn’t quite connecting with the audience. It was going okay but it was wildly inconsistent actually, to be honest. Sometimes it was great, and other times I really felt like it was almost like the audience felt like I was trying a bit too hard. It did take a while. But now – it’s been six years

DISCUSS WHAT? BEAT.COM.AU/DISCUSSION

since we’ve split up – it’s been quite a while that I’ve been feeling really quite comfortable. The first year or so, every show I’d do, someone would call out, ‘Where’s Lano?’ and eventually I had to ask Col to stop coming to the show. He was distracting.” “I still have an inflatable Col in the wings so the audience can’t see, to give me a little bit of psychological support.” As Woodley himself remarks, and especially after viewing his hysterical offbeat series, Woodley, it is difficult to discern just how much of the Woodley character is based upon the man and how much is born of the imagination. “I think I have a bit of an inner conflict between this person who is a bit arrogant, who thinks he knows stuff and is very driven to realise ideas that I have because I’m a bit obsessive and that sort of stuff. But there is another part of me that is really quite bemused by the world and by my own place in it and doesn’t feel at all confident about how to live my life but I am a very romantic person I think. I hang on to concepts of love and friendship and those sorts of ideas. I’m a shocking multi-tasker. Things do happen to me, like for example – this is a completely true story – I locked my keys in the car with the car running. And I was in the city and I thought, ‘Oh god I’m going to have to go home and get the spare key’. So I got on a tram, and then I went, ‘Hang on I can’t go home while my car is running on the side of the road, that’s ridiculous, so I went back. And I went into the Hilton Hotel and I got a coat-hanger and then I opened up the car and got into the car and then I realised that my bonnet was still up. So I got out of the car to put the bonnet down and I locked the keys in the car again, and this time I had locked the coat-hanger in the car as well; so I had to go back into the Hilton and ask for a second coat-hanger. And that really did happen to me. So there are things like that certainly I do leave a trail of destruction in my wake just because I can’t quite think of more than one thing at once. “I often will kind of write down little things like that and I’m using a couple of things in my show Bemusement Park, one of them was when my wife and I were having a romantic dinner and it was candlelit in a restaurant underneath the hotel we were staying in, and she went back upstairs to get a jacket so I was reading a newspaper for a little while and I put the newspaper without knowing it into the candle and set it on fire, and then my attempts to put it out – I made the mistake of waving it around to put it out, which actually just flared it up worse, so those kind of things that could quite easily slide into a TV series or a stage act, do happen to me. “I do think the difference between a good comedian and either one who’s just learning or somebody who isn’t a comedian, is really finding a little seed of an idea – something that you just know that creates some kind of feeling in you, there’s some little spark of interest or of discomfort maybe even – and then teasing out of that the details, milking it for everything it’s worth, going too far in milking it, and then scaling back 20 percent or something. Because there’s something funny in everything really, isn’t there?” FRANK WOODLEY performs at The Comedy Theatre until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7pm (Sundays 4.30pm). Tickets through Ticketmaster and at the door.

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Beat Magazine Page 21

THIS WEEK: ON SCREEN Arts Editor Tyson Wray Sitting On Stiﬂer’s Lap

If it’s an unshakeable habit to respond to a friend who acts like a douchebag with, ‘Stiﬂer, fuck!’ then you are a fan of American Pie and you are awesome. If you constantly cheers to ‘the next step’ every time with friends, then you are also awesome. If you’ve ever been home alone and fucked a pie, then you are…not very awesome, but at least you’re a fan of American Pie and will head along to American Pie: Reunion, which opens across the country this Thursday April 5.

ON STAGE Acclaimed comic and perennial Comedy Festival performer, Stephen K Amos, is currently smashing it at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with his new show Laughter Is My Agenda. Towards the conclusions of his gig last Sunday, Amos spontaneously asked for the spotlight to randomly select two people from the audience to join him onstage for some ‘psychic’ hilarity. A couple were selected and promptly climbed onstage when suddenly, in front of a live audience, the boyfriend dropped down to one knee and proposed. Turns out he had planned this with Stephen K Amos weeks in advance. Fucking congratulations to the couple and big ups to Amos for accommodating this. Amos’ show that night was also very, very funny, so make sure you check out Laughter Is My Agenda at Melbourne Town Hall until Sunday April 14 (Wednesday April 11, with the Thursday April 12 performance taking place at Frankston Arts Centre, 8pm), then from Friday April 20 until Sunday April 22.

ON DISPLAY Outdoor furniture company The Porch are teaming up with the National Breast Cancer Foundation to present The Porch’s Pink Chair-ity Auction. Once more, it’s for chair-ity, so pay attention to the seat-ails. Adirondack chairs have been painted and decorated by artists and ‘well-known’ people including Jamie Daddo, Alex Fevola, Sonia Kretschmar, Alyce Platt, Peter RussellClarke and Suzie Wilks. Running until Friday April 13, the chairs will be on display within the entrance of The Atrium at Federation Square. All the proceeds raised from their sale will be donated to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, which is an excellent cause, so make sure you head to the auction on Friday May 11 at Melbourne Central as well.

BEAT’S PICK OF THE WEEK:

The Shadow Electric has been one of our favourite outdoor cinemas this summer, as you’ve probably noticed if you read these weekly suggestions. However, as all good things come to an end, and this week is their ﬁnal of screenings for this season. Tonight (Wednesday April 4) they play The Shining. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel by Stephen King, The Shining is everything you can want from a horror storycreepy premonitions, horrifying visions and a very, scary Jack Nicholson. Check out their website for more information. We’ll miss you Shadow Electric.

Beat Magazine Page 22

AMERICAN PIE: REUNION BY THE NICK ‘THE NICK TARAS’ TARAS & TYSON WRAY

Jason Biggs and Seann William-Scott: most of you know them as the guys who sexuallyassaulted a pie and unknowingly drank jizz in some of the most memorable scenes in Hollywood history, and they’re back for the fourth chapter in perhaps the most quoted and sentimental film franchise amongst teenagers in the late ‘90s/early ‘00s – American Pie. We sit down with the boys in an inappropriately classy hotel room and following our first question on whether or not they’ve been out the night before, it’s immediately noticeable that Jason– who plays the awkward and embarrassing character Jim – is actually the real-world version of Seann William-Scott’s hilarious and vulgar character Stifler. Not to be dethroned, Seann William-Scott is, well, also exactly like Stifler. “No, we’ve just been watching bad hotel porn. The hotel porn in Australia sucks. I love Australia, but it’s fucking fake. It’s like late night Cinemax is even better. I love Australia, but the hotel porn dude?” says Seann, shaking his head. “That’s the trippiest for me, when I’m in like France, and [about] to watch hotel porn, and I’m like, ‘This is going to be fucking great. Fucking French, they’re down with the funky shit. There’s gonna be crazy, hot French chicks and you turn it on and it’s clearly like a chick and a dude and they’re in a fucking pool in the backyard in Chatsworth in The Valley in California,” enlightens Jason. “And it’s even worse when it’s not really their voices. But in Germany, that’s when I was introduced to a whole other world, it’s like holy shit man, it’s all about the anus. Like two seconds in, it’s assfucking.” “Wow.” “I know right.” It is at this point in the discussion that the interview never recovered. If you don’t want to read about masturbation, pornography and further masturbation, stop now and save yourself. After suggesting to the fellas to spend their final night out in Melbourne at Fashion Keyboard (the girls are…youthful), Seann emphasises just how much they’ve grown since the release of the third American Pie film – American Pie: The Wedding. “Fashion Keyboard, okay. I’m like the one guy there, just the old guy. They’re like, ‘My dad’s a big fan of yours!’ and I’m like, ‘Great!’...We’re leaving tomorrow [though]”. “But I’m gonna be fucked up on MDMA on the flight, for sure; the whole flight I’m gonna be tripping balls,” adds Jason. Whilst American Pie: The Reunion receives its title from the high school reunion of East Great Falls’ class of 1999, the film also reunites Jim with a familiar franchise enemy: the naked female body. Once again, Jim finds himself in an encounter with a set of cheeky titties up to no good and sure to get him into some serious trouble. “Ali Cobrin wins,” Jason declares, as the gold-medallist of breasts in the entire film series. “Well, they’re natural.” “They’re fucking pretty great,” adds the Stifmeister. “You know, she’s not 18, but the idea of her just turning 18.

Well I guess Nadia was meant to be in high school as well, but hey listen, all the girls, you know, good times. Don’t get me wrong, they’re all…very…attractive…women with…nice boobies,” stammers Jason. “You sound like Eugene [Levy – Jim’s father in American Pie] right now.” Eugene Levy was one of the only original cast members featured in the American Pie spin-off films, and whilst he is the father figure on and off screen, he is hardly innocent of partaking in the inappropriate antics of the quirky cast on and off set.

“IF I HAD A FRIEND WHOSE MUM WAS KINDA SEXY, FUCK YEAH. I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ABOUT MY FRIENDSHIP.” “He’s a bit more reserved but he’ll go there, he’ll drop something in. Like we’ll be in interviews with him and we’ll be going to these fucked up places and making all these weird jokes and he’ll be sitting there going, ‘Mmhmm mmm good one’ and just when you think that actually maybe you’ve offended Eugene or something like, ‘Oh god maybe I’m acting too childish and immature’ he’ll just drop something in line with what we were saying, like, ‘Mmm pussy’. You’re just like, ‘What!’” screams Jason. A vital ingredient in the success of the American Pie franchise is the remarkable chemistry between the cast members, with familiarity particularly influential in building this strong rapport. However, whilst their chemistry is beneficial on screen, their tight-knit friendships are quite destructive when the cameras are off, as Jason elaborates. “Anytime you got all the guys, all five of us, we would just be fucking around and laughing. Dude, we got in trouble because we were like shooting in this suburb of Atlanta – very Christian, and we’re fucking [dirty], and I’m especially dirty – and we kept pretending to be like jerking off [pretends to masturbate, adopting a facial expression that

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will leave an indelible impression on our eyes forever].” “No, we’re talking like, it went on for about a month,” interjects Seann, “where [Jason] Biggs and Eddie [Kaye Thomas, who plays Finch] would be like [pretends to be whacking off], ‘Oooooh’. And then I’d be like, ‘Oh man I’m fucking hungry’ and he’d be like, ‘Oh you’re hungry [pretends to beat the meat]. Oh you’re fucking hungry? Oh my god you’re hungry.” “It’s like we created this character who would just get so horny and [choke the bishop to] the most ridiculous things people would say,” Jason elucidates. “Eddie would be like, ‘Almost time for lunch’, [pretends to tug the titanic], ‘Oh my god lunch. What you got to eat? Oh you’re having chicken? Tell me you’re having chicken.” “I mean literally, in front of the crew, and you’d do it in a really weird way too!” laughs Seann. “It was as if [Jason] had the fucking smallest dick ever, you’d be like a little monkey [pretends to spank the clown]. There was that and hitting each other in the balls. Then it took about a month and a half–” “Oh the producers!” interrupts Jason, smiling. Seann continues, “[One of the producers] gets all the guys together and we’re like, ‘What the fuck’s going on man?’” “And he’s just like, ‘Listen. Some people are not… comfortable with your antics’,” remembers Jason. “And we’re all just quiet, we’re just waiting for him to talk about what we did.” “We’ve been doing this for fucking years, and we’re shooting an American Pie movie, I’m showing my cock for fuck’s sake.” “And he goes, ‘They’re very uncomfortable with your antics and we’re like [puts on a dumbfounded expression]. And he goes, ‘The fake masturbating thing, and also the hitting each other in the dick’. And we all got offended, we’re like, ‘THE FUCK! This is American Pie! I shit in a cooler!” exlaims Seann. “This is what I do!” chimes Biggs. One of the most fun aspects of the film are the random cameo appearances of fan-favourite characters from the previous films, including Nadia, The Sherminator, Heather, and of course, Stifler’s Mom. Hypothetically swapping characters with Finch – would Seann William-Scott fuck a best friend’s mother, in real life? “A best friend’s mum?” responds Seann, pausing for contemplation. “Yeah, I would”. “I love that you were a like a little bit serious thinking about that.” “Well I was thinking about some of my best friends’ mums, and I’m like, ‘Well…I wouldn’t fuck their mums. If I had a friend whose mum was kinda sexy, fuck yeah. I don’t give a shit about my friendship.” “Listen, for a good lay, you gotta do whatever you gotta do.” “He’ll deal with it,” Seann responds. “We’ll stop being friends for a couple of years, I don’t care.” “We don’t all have, you know, Flatbush Keyboard or whatever that name of that club is, around the corner from us. Some of us have to work for our young pussy,” jokes Jason. “Or our old pussy,” laughs Seann. American Pie: Reunion opens nationally this Thursday April 5.

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AUSTRALIA //5Melbourne -April 8 April Red Sydney Dendy Opera RedBennies Bennies Melbourne 11thQuays - 15th

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Beat Magazine Page 23

THE COMIC STRIP CHECKPOINT CHARLIE COMEDY

With Tyson Wray. Got news, gossip, reviews, thoughts, tip-oﬀs, complaints, hate mail? Email tyson@beat.com.au or send by ESP before Friday.

THE PLAGUE DANCES With a title as oddly compelling as the concept itself, Four Larks’ The Plague Dances delivers a theatrical event, an operatic extravaganza, and a dance of death with a contagious undercurrent. Sounds crazy? You have no idea. The phenomenon of dancing mania has left a mysterious trail through history – entire communities infected with a spontaneous urge to dance until they drop. Call it dedication, call it suicide with a backbeat. In this world premiere by one of Australia’s most dynamic theatre collectives, Four Larks will bring their unique theatrical style to the main stage for the very ﬁrst time. Be immersed in the craziness of The Plague Dances brings to the Malthouse Theatre from April 14 – May 6. For bookings, head to malthousetheatre.com.au or call 9685 5111.

UNEXPECTED PLEASURES

SPLITTING IMAGE tinning st. gallery is pleased to present Splitting Image – a group showcase surveying current practices in contemporary collage. Running from Thursday April 12 – Sunday April 22, young Melbourne curator Laura Couttie has amalgamated six local artists who practice in collage; reusing and re-contextualising discovered materials to create new meanings and unexpected realities. Splitting Image showcases the works of established and highly regarded artists Tai Snaith and Lillian O’Neil, alongside a group of young, emerging artists including Zoe Croggon, Rupert Carr-Gregg, Minna Gilligan and Georgia Robenstone. Make sure you head down to Lot 5/29 Tinning St, in Brunswick Thursday-Sunday, 11am-5pm.

SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL Calling all Rolling Stones fans! This one’s just for you. As part of its Long Play program, our good friends at ACMI are getting ready to present JeanLuc Godard’s 1968 agitprop music documentary, Sympathy For The Devil. This counter-cultural mash-up of music and politics has Godard cutting between takes of the Stones in action, recording the ﬁlm’s classic track, and staged scenes of young revolutionaries’ intent on making their own history. And if that’s not enough, trippy UK gangster ﬁlm, Performance, in which the Stones’ front-man plays his role as a hedonistic rock star, will also have selected sessions. Sympathy For The Devil will play at ACMI from May 12-30, with Performance showing on May 19, 26 and 27. For more information, head to acmi.net.au.

As per usual, the NGV have everything we need from the art world and more, with the gallery getting ready to open the highly anticipated contemporary exhibition, Unexpected Pleasures: The Art and Design of Contemporary Jewellery. The exhibition will display over 200 works by important Australian and international contemporary jewellers who have pushed conceptual and material boundaries within their practices. Exploring the essential meanings of jewellery, Unexpected Pleasures bypasses traditional perceptions, instead tracing the radical experiments of contemporary jewellers who have challenged the conventions of jewellery design. Lovers of a good statement piece, be sure to get amongst Unexpected Pleasures as it makes its way to the NGV from April 21.

BOARDED UP! What happens when you mix art with music? Well, this. Taking place on the eve of the sixth annual CherryRock Festival in Melbourne’s ACDC Lane, celebrated local artist Dean Jones will take the stage with his latest exhibition, Boarded Up. This collection features 17 new mixed media works etched and carved into ecoply in his inimitable rock & roll style. Arcs of handwritten poetry emerge through sanded and scraped back layers of paint, aerosol and billboard posters, all of which will be hung on the walls of the famous ACDC Lane. To add to the event, Jones will also perform one of his extraordinary spoken-work improv-beat-music story telling performances, with a band to back him up. Head to ACDC Lane on Saturday April 28 for all this and more. Best of all, entry’s free.

WITHOUT A TRACE Exposing the transitional beauty of the man-made environment, Boston-born photographer Peter Garnick has been documenting the world through his camera lens for nearly 40 years. Within his works, Garnick presents an alternative and creative view of the man-made and natural environment by revealing some of its inconspicuous elegance. His latest exhibition, Without A Trace, the artist has captured every facet associated with the decommissioning process of the 50-yearold Western Districts Grampian’s Wool Scour. Capturing imagery of workers, machines and the surrounding environment and bringing his imagery to life, Garnick’s Without A Trace will open at fortyﬁvedownstairs from Tuesday April 3 – Saturday April 21. Head to fortyﬁvedownstairs. com for more information.

STOCKHOLM Mum always said to never judge a book by its cover, and Bryony Lavery is doing much the same. Described by The Guardian as “a terrifyingly erotic and haunting 70 minutes”, Lavery’s Stockholm combines dialogue, narration, movement, design and music to perfectly portray the masterpiece. The result? A forensic dissection of a relationship, which ﬂuctuates between the erotic and the macabre. A love story with hidden bruises, the performance reveals just what the destruction caused by damaged adults in love can look like. Fittingly set in Stockholm, watch as the exterior surface of Todd and Kali’s seemingly ﬂawless relationship begins to crack. Witness Bryony Lavery’s Stockholm at Red Stitch Theatre from April 27 – May 26. To book, visit redstitch.net.

Beat Magazine Page 24

COMMEDIA DELL PARTE

SØREN SOLKÆR STARBIRD You know that you must be doing something right when your list of photographic assignments includes The White Stripes, Led Zeppelin, Foo Fighters, Metallica, Paul McCartney and U2. Well, such is the case for Søren Solkær Starbird. Known as one of the world’s most commissioned photographers of leading musicians and rock bands, Starbird travels extensively for photographic assignments for record labels, ad agencies and magazines. Yep, he’s living the dream. And now, with his back catalogue of photography behind him, he’s getting ready to launch his latest book which will display a collection of his most recent images. Starbird will launch Closer at ART Melbourne on Saturday May 26.

ACMI’s Live In The Studio television appreciation night will shift gears as it promotes news from the set of cult-hit Sons Of Anarchy on the eve of its fifth season. For four seasons, the members of the Sons Of Anarchy motorcycle club have brought their own brand of gun running, drug dealing, bike riding mayhem to television screens. And now, with a fifth series right around the corner, it’s time for all you Anarchy-heads to join academic Dr Esther Milne, cultural commentator Clementine Ford and Green Guide editor Andrew Murfett, as they offer some insider information after having visited the set last year. ACMI’s Sons Of Anarchy Live In The Studio will head to Studio 1 on Thursday May 31, 7pm. Head to acmi.net.au for more information.

The Comedy festival is in full swing and Commedia Dell Parte is where you will catch some of the best new and established comics showcasing some of their best material. Come down this Thursday to see some amazing comics including Neil Sinclair, Craig McLeod, Jack Druce, Jon Bennet, Angus Brown, Liam Ryan, Adam Francis, Fabian Lapham, Petunia McLaren and more. Get in early to secure yourself a comfy couch and go into the draw for some great prizes from Punchline. The room runs on a ‘pay as you like’ basis, so come along and have a great laugh, then pay what you believe the show is worth on the way out. So if you enjoy the show chuck in a few sheckles and show your appreciation. Commedia Dell Parte runs every from at the Thursday 8.30pm George Lane Bar 1, St Kilda.

TIM SCHAFER Gaming nerds – come one, come all. ACMI have announced that acclaimed videogame designer and founder of Double Fine Productions is Australia-bound this June for the opening of the centre’s Game Masters exhibition as part of the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces. Announced as the second international guest for the event, Schafer will join Peter Molyneux OBE – creator of the Populous, Black & White, Dungeon Keeper and Fable series’ – as both men take part in public programs, including education and industry programs. Curated by ACMI, Game Masters is the ﬁrst entirely home-grown exhibition for the Melbourne Winter Masterpieces initiative. The exhibition will call ACMI home from June 28 – October 28. For more information, head to acmi. net.au.

CASTAWAY This April, writer, director, cinematographer and artist Warwick Thornton, will join the team at ACMI as he reveals his top five films of all time in ACMI’s popular Desert Island Flicks program. Having developed an extensive body of work as a cinematographer and short film director, with titles such as Green Bush and Nana, Thornton made a splash with his debut feature, Samson & Delilah, winning the Palme d’Or for Best Film at Cannes in 2009. Hosted by writer, broadcaster, film critic and commentator Deb Verhoeven, Castaway With Warwick Thornton will make its way to ACMI’s Studio 1 on Thursday April 12. For ticket prices and bookings, head to acmi.net.au.

FIRST LOOK

SONS OF ANARCHY

The Melbourne International Comedy Festival has arrived and Melbourne’s best underground comedy room is still celebrating like a boss. Tonight, expect more big-name drop-ins and Charlie’s favourite comics giving you a taste of shows they’ve poured their hearts and souls into. Line-ups are going to be a mixed bag of local, national and international comedians. All for Charlie’s mates rate of only $5. Not to mention cheap piss! 7.30 tonight at Eurotrash Bar - 18 Corrs Lane, Melbourne. Get down early for a seat.

They’re just the place that keeps on giving. As part of its First Look program, ACMI is getting ready to present three films that explore the fight against racism through the efforts of celebrities and non-celebrities alike. Within the program, Mama Africa, The Black Power Mix Tape 19671975 and Come Back, Africa will all be shown, associating themselves with African-American culture and history. The First Look season of Mama Africa screens May 3-6 at ACMI alongside The Black Power Mix Tape 1967-1975 from May 3-9, and followed by Come Back, Africa from May 1013. For more information on the program, head to acmi.net.au.

EMERGING WRITERS’ FESTIVAL Writers and scribblers of all shapes and sizes, it’s time for you to prepare your pens, pencils, phones, keyboards, notepads and tablets. With more ways than ever to write, the Emerging Writers’ Festival brings writers of every calibre together – with new audiences and with each other – to inspire, create and entertain over three wordy weeks. As Australia’s fastest growing literary event, the aﬀair is for all – from journalers to journalists, poets to novelists, bloggers to ranters, and everyone in between! With numerous events around the city, this is one event that no budding writer can miss. The Emerging Writers’ Festival will hit Melbourne from May 24 – June 3. For more information on the event, head to emergingwritersfestival.org.au.

ARTS NEWS, REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS ONLINE – BEAT.COM.AU/ARTS

BREW HAHA After nearly 3 years, Brew HaHa comedy night will be having its ﬁnal show, and cos’ it’s on Good Friday Eve, it’s gonna be a big one! Get ready for one last outrageous night of comedy, and some super secret special guests! We can’t name some, but we will be having Lawrence Mooney, Jeﬀ Stilson, Xavier Michelides, Shayne Hunter, Karl Chandler, Trav Nash, Daniel Connell, Charles Barrington and Mark Conway all coming down to do spots! And there’ll be a party downstairs afterwards too! And, for only $8, this might be the bargain of the festival. 30 Gertrude St, Fitzroy, from 8pm.

COMEDY CALENDAR Email tyson@beat.com.au to join this list!

WEDNESDAY Checkpoint Charlie Comedy, Eurotrash, CBD Felix Bar Comedy, Felix Bar, St Kilda The Comedy Gallery, Customs House Hotel, Williamstown Coopers Comedy Open Mic, Station 59, Richmond Death Star Canteen, Caz Reitop’s Dirty Secrets, Collingwood Rocket Clock (Second Wednesday of every month), Bella Union Bar, Carlton South

THURSDAY The Big Hoo Haa (Improvised Comedy), Portland Hotel, CBD Softbelly Comedy, Softbelly Bar & Lounge, CBD Laugh Upstairs Live Comedy, Exford Hotel, CBD The Showcase, The Monastery, Richmond Willow Tales (Last Thursday of every month), Willow Bar, Northcote

FRIDAY Last Laugh at The Comedy Club, Athenaeum Theatre, CBD

SATURDAY Last Laugh at The Comedy Club, Athenaeum Theatre, CBD

SUNDAY Political Asylum (Second Sunday of every month), The Brunswick Green, Brunswick Softbelly Comedy, Softbelly Bar & Lounge, CBD Sublime Sunday Comedy, ONtop Bar, Ormond

MONDAY Comedy At Spleen, Spleen Bar, CBD Local Laughs, The Local Taphouse, St Kilda East The Shelf (currently in hibernation), Toﬀ in Town, CBD

TUESDAY Comed-oke (Open Mic), Melbourne International Backpackers, CBD Underground Comedy (First Tuesday of every month), Sotto e Sopra, CBD The Dan Open Mic Night, The Dan O’Connell Hotel, Carlton The Last Tuesday Society (Last Tuesday of Every Month), Various Locations Blue Tile Comedy, Blue Tile Lounge, Fitzroy

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*While Stocks Last Beat Magazine Page 25

BOMBAY BEACH

THE WALKING DEAD

Director of Bombay Beach, Alma Har’el, has a genuine love of the desert. Born in Israel, the commercial and music video director comments that she feels most alive where everything is dead. As a child she left the city just to “hear my thoughts and feel my heart” escaping to Armon. Her first feature film, Bombay Beach, demonstrates Har’el’s fascination with the desert through her portrayal of the ghost town and the experiences of its residents, Benny, Red and CeeJay.

Remember when you were 12 years old and you would build forts out of sheets and pretend a swarm of flesh-eating zombies were in your backyard and attacking your dog? No? Well I did, and thanks to Michael Jackson’s Thriller I usually ended up in a well choreographed dance routine somewhere amidst the zombie attacks. Well, for 12 year old Chandler Riggs, he gets to pretend that everyday (minus the dance routine) as he plays the character Carl Grimes on the hit TV show, The Walking Dead. Beat had the opportunity to speak to him this week about his life playing Sheriff Rick Grimes’ son and his up and coming visit to Australia for the Supernova Pop Culture Expo.

BY BRIGITTE TROBBIANI

Now a ghost town and home to a mere 295 residents, the town itself is a harsh reminder of its own hey day in the ‘50s where tourists, the wealthy and famous all flocked to the Californian desert. Even Frank Sinatra and the Beach Boys frequented Bombay Beach, soaking up the sun, artificial lake and mud volcanoes. Location scouting for a music video for the band Beirut led Har’el to Bombay Beach where she met Benny and Mike, whom she instantly became captivated by. “Their parents came to the beach afterwards, told me their stories and I just felt really comfortable with them. I thought they were incredible characters. I wanted to get back and do a whole film with them.” Har’el then met CeeJay – who finds Bombay Beach a haven unlike the other residents – and who fled from California after his cousin was murdered. Red, an elderly resident of the town was first described to Har’el by a hitchhiker like the character of folklore. “When I met Red I couldn’t help wanting to write down everything he said.” The characters are as intriguing as Har’el insists, each of them contrasting to their environment and each other. Each of the characters has to survive their environment (which ultimately represents death) in order to survive life. Benny, a child who suffers from bipolar, creates suffering and happiness through his disorder. Red, an ancient survivor lives comfortably in his environment, mobile, without anything. CeeJay views Bombay Beach as his sanctuary, the opportunity to escape the city; the town provides him with the opportunity to go to college. “You see how nothing is one thing and how many realities there are in a certain place,” Har’el comments. Har’el’s cinematography provides the viewer with an enchanting view of life as a resident in Bombay Beach. She focuses on inanimate objects; beat up cars, washing lines, washed-up fish on the shore. When questioned about her decisions to focus on inanimate objects, Har’el explains, “I guess still objects fascinate me just as much as people do.” Her infatuation with landscape is portrayed throughout the film as dreamy long shots provide the viewer with a perception of the environment shaping each of the characters’ lives. The excessive use of landscape and object shots is essential in

BY JENNABELL TAYLOR

accompanying the film’s storyline. The landscapes show just how desolate and poverty-stricken Bombay Beach is. The opening sequence of the film, a collection of found film and audio from the ‘50s and ‘60s, juxtaposes the representation of the town throughout the entirety of the film. It is within the first frames of the film that the hey day of Bombay Beach is exhibited, including tourists jet skiing, using the $500,000 luxury yacht club and having picnics on the sea’s shore. Opening the film using found film was debated over by Har’el for some time until the final days of postproduction. “It was something I debated till the last minute about whether we should have that in the film or not. When you know a place that is beautiful and promising, you understand the nature of it, and when [you] position it next to the American dream gone ruined, mutated, forgotten. I don’t know how you want to look at it. I felt like it gave the film some context without taking to much out of the illusive qualities that that place have, the dreamy qualities that it has.” Bob Dylan and Beirut make up the soundtrack, echoing the residents’ experiences through Har’el’s selections of tracks. She comments, “in general, Beirut’s music and Bob Dylan’s music really make me feel close to myself and life.” The soundtrack perfectly sits with the narrative, providing the viewer with an additional portrayal of the desert experience. The track A Series of Dreams by Dylan always reminded Har’el of the character Red as she drove to Bombay Beach, a lyrical commentary on his and the residents’ experiences in the desolate town. When asked to justify her reasoning for each of the songs within the film, Har’el responds by suggesting the films soundtrack shouldn’t be analysed instead, just “felt”. There is little to fault in this film, a visually and narratively enchanting commentary of a town we know little about and residents we know even less about. Har’el takes the audience on a tour of the washed-up dead fish, washing detergent guzzling children and hopeless adults. The characters are equally as enchanting as each other, Benny, the child suffering from bipolar, a stand out. There is something so surreal about the town and the fascination with ghost towns and Salton Sea that immediately follows (after watching the film). Har’el has portrayed a place unknown to many that is so haunting and inspiring at the one time. The film tempts you to explore Bombay Beach records, listen to Beirut and Bob Dylan in the sun and dance like a child at the front of your house. Bombay Beach will screen as part of ACMI’s First Look program for four nights only from Friday April 6 to Monday April 9. For more information, clickity-click onto acmi.net.au

Speaking from his hometown in Atlanta, Georgia, Chandler explains what it’s like to be apart of such a popular TV show. “It’s awesome. It’s so much fun and everyone is so nice. We have this food trailer, well in America we call it ‘craft services’, and it has all the food from around the world.” While he spoke with great enthusiasm and confidence for someone his age, it’s comments like these that remind you he is still just a kid who appreciates a good arrangement of free food. Another perk of the job playing the character Carl is being able to carry around a real gun, every little boy’s dream, but it isn’t all food and guns for the kid. Unfortunately for Carl he is living in a zombie infested world, and the downside to playing a child in this is all the crying Chandler has to do. “The crying is definitely the hardest part about playing Carl; I need to talk to the writers about that, it’s really hard for me to do.” While Chandler is a huge zombie fan and clearly enjoys being onset, he almost didn’t accept of role of Carl Grimes. “When I got the audition, we were all like, ‘Zombie TV show? No way am I going to do this’. It sounded just so far fetched, but then I googled it, as I do everything, and saw that it was a comic book, so we went and checked it out.” Thank god he took the lead from generation Y and googled. The show has been a breakout success and a huge boost to his career. Chandler’s acting career began at the age of eight, making his stage debut in a theatre production of The Wizard of Oz. Then, in 2009, he made his film debut in the movie Get Low. Although he still has school to finish,

acting is definitely a career path Chandler hopes to keep pursuing. When he isn’t on set dealing with the troubles of growing up in a post-apocalyptic world, which we saw him do a lot more of in season two, he is juggling school work via online, and funnily enough, making home-made zombie videos with his friends. When asked if he ever gets scared while running away from the well crafted and terrifying looking zombies on set he says, “It’s just so much fun. On the show it’s like making a really awesome YouTube video.” At this point it’s hard not to geek out. It’s obvious he is living every zombie-loving adult’s dream. Thanks to the show Chandler has developed a love for zombie films, “I really love the movie, Zombieland, and my dad played Bill Murray’s double in it, so that was cool!” Cool doesn’t even cut it. Frank Darabont developed the TV series for channel AMC in 2010, which is based on the comic book series created by Robert Kirkman. The show’s protagonist, Rick Grimes, played by Andrew Lincoln, wakes up in a hospital after being in a coma to find that the world has been taken over by ‘walkers’. He sets out to find his family, wife Lori and son Carl, along with a bunch of other survivors. The show is shot in Chandler’s hometown of Georgia, so he was able to show a few of the cast members around and how to beat the unforgiving Atlanta heat. “Andrew and his wife and daughter came over to my house one day for a swim, which was a lot of fun.” And ‘fun’ is what seems to be the general vibe on set as well, that is when they’re not decapitating walkers. “There is a lot of joking around, it’s so much fun. It’s really cool because we all stayed in a hotel for season two and had lunches together. All the actors are so awesome,” says Chandler about his fellow cast members. Being the youngest of the crew, it’s clear he appreciates being involved with such a tight knit ‘family’. This is only the beginning of Chandler’s career and he is definitely a rising star to keep an eye on. Have you ever wondered where the best possible place to be is if there ever was a zombie apocalypse? Chandler shared a few inside secrets saying, “I would definitely say either high grounds or a building with tunnels underground so it’s easy to get around, and you’re going to want a knife.” Chandler looks forward to meeting his fans at the Supanova Pop Culture Expo at the Melbourne Showgrounds from Friday April 13 – Sunday April 15.

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Beat Magazine Page 26

ARTS NEWS, REVIEWS, INTERVIEWS ONLINE – BEAT.COM.AU/ARTS

*While Stocks Last

Sing Your Song Official Selection for Sundance, Berlin and Tribeca Film Festivals. “Inspirational” – LA Times Harry Belafonte has danced, sung and smiled is way to success collecting Emmy’s, Grammy’s and Tony’s along the way. He has stood tall against racism alongside Dr King and his inﬂuence and that of his famous friends brought the civil rights struggle directly into the American consciousness. Film Season > ACMI Cinemas

Saturday 14 April - Sunday 29 April 2012 Australian Centre for the Moving Image Federation Square, Melbourne www.acmi.net.au

Mature themes

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Beat Magazine Page 27

e t n a l e d A “ LATIN SPECIAL " ! o g Ami Beat Magazine’s

MUS-ICA BACHATA Bachata is an original rhythm from the Dominican Republic that grew out of the mix of elements from Bolero, Huapango, Cuban Son and Mexican Corrido, among others. Considered to be influenced by the work of great Latin American singers and authors such as Julio Jaramillo, Olimpo Cardenas, Daniel Santos, Bienvenido Granda, Celio Gonzalez, Guty Cárdenas and Cuco Sánchez, Bachata was born in the early ‘60s, from the voices of Jose Manuel Calderon, Rafael Encarnacion and Luis Segura, thanks largely to the spread of a radio station, Radio Guarachita, owned by Radhames Aracena in Dominican Republic. Despite its great lineage, during the ‘60s and early ‘70s Bachata music was despised for being a trait of lower social classes, played in marginalised brothels and cabarets. It was called “música de amargue” (bitter music) due to its constant reference to stories of love and dis-love. In the ‘80s, Bachata re-entered the musical world, with a variant known as “technoamargue” (technobitter), represented by Luis Dias and Sonia Silvestre, incorporating electronics, jazz and rock, among other beats. On the other hand, the variant that includes elements from romantic ballads is known as Bachata Rosa, represented by Victor Victor and Juan Luis Guerra, Bachata’s top representative and one of the world’s greatest Latin singers since rising to prominence with his group ‘440’, also introducing a pop style of merengue and bolero. Bachata Rosa, an album released in 1990 by Juan Luis Guerra, is considered to have brought Bachata back into mainstream and

HOLA AMIGOS Welcome back to the second installment of Adelante Amigo! After the great reception of the section we have started to roll out all our Latino news and features monthly. In this month’s issue we have covered some great touring acts hitting our shores over the next few weeks as well as some delicious food and drink hot spots. So prepare to be spiced up by this fresh new hit of culture! Adios...

60 SECONDS WITH… Sebastian Andrade

garnered an international audience for the genre. In recent years, Bachata has gained wide acceptance in night clubs and bars across Latin America with artists such as Aventura, Xtreme, Monchy y Alexandra and Prince Royce, among others. Hear a selection of the best bachata songs of all time at pinterest.com/cruzaoarepabar/bachata

18 GRAMMY AWARD SINGER HITS MELBOURNE IN APRIL Temperatures will rise this April when the world’s biggest selling Latin artist Juan Luis Guerra brings his infectious tropical sounds of Caribbean rhythm and dance to Australia for the very first time. With over 30 million record sales and multiple Grammy wins spanning three decades, the merengue, salsa and bachata superstar will play shows in Melbourne and Sydney as part of his A Son de Guerra world tour. The lanky singer who stands 6 feet 5 inches tall has a far-reaching influence on the Latin music scene and is spoken in the same breath as Enrique Iglesias, Marc Anthony, Ricky Martin and Shakira. He has performed with some of the biggest singers in the world, including a 2010 duet with Enrique Iglesias titled Cuando Me Enamoro that spent 17 non-consecutive weeks at number 1. The singer, songwriter and producer’s songs draw on influences ranging from The Beatles, American rock, folk, R&B and jazz which he infuses with the music of his native Dominican Republic. The mix has been a recipe of success for the classical trained singer and his band the 440 since their debut in 1984. Fluent in Spanish and English, Guerra’s music slides effortlessly between dance-fuelled rhythms to taking on deeper social issues, which the 54-yearold is committed to including fighting poverty and childhood disease. In 2008 his efforts for the benefit of children saw him named a UNESCO Artist for Peace which the

What’s your band’s name and what style of music do you play? The name of the band is Tango Rubino and the style we play is tango. How long has the band been playing together and who’s in it? The band has been playing together just over a year and three months. The band members are Dario Ogrin (soprano saxophone), Maurizio Gulina (acoustic guitar), Ivan Sultanoff (double bass) and Sebastian Andrade (piano accordion). Why did you choose to play this style of music? We chose this style because there weren’t many bands playing tango music around Melbourne, so we all decided to form the band and push for tango music to be heard. singer claims with pride and continues to fight for today. Coming off the back of sold out shows in Europe, Central, North and South America as part of his multi-award winning album A Son De Guerra, the Dominican native will be joined by a 23-piece band that will raise the roof with shows at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday April 20.

What is the most special element about the music that you play? The special element is the sensuality of what tango music is: it is a very powerful sensual dance, so we have to play with great intensity to capture what tango music is, and when tango dancers arrive at the dance floor, the power of the music crescendos.

Are there many other bands playing this kind of music? What makes your band different from the others? I don’t think there are many bands, I think one or two have been playing, but we play our own arrangements of the classic tangos. Also we have different instrumentation to what you would normally have in a tango band. It keeps the music interesting and fresh. How do you find the Melbourne music scene in relation to the style of music that you play? The Melbourne music scene is open and welcoming towards tango music. Although tango music has been heard, it has hardly ever been heard in a live band, so people appreciate what it is. How do Melbourne audiences react to your music? The Melbourne audience enjoys, loves and appreciates the music, because you never really hear a live tango band around this city… I think that’s why the Melbourne audience reacts so positively to the music. When and where is your next gig? Our next gig is a residency at Cruzao Arepa Bar, 365 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, every Thursday for the month of April, starting at 7.30pm.

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“Adelante Amigo!"

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Beat Magazine Page 29

e t n a l e d A “ LATIN SPECIAL " ! o g Ami Beat Magazine’s

JOWELL AND RANDY

LATIN LOVER

EDITORIAL VIEW ON AUSTRALIAN LATIN TIMES BY JULIE SULTANA-MODICA, EDITOR AT LATINLOVER.COM.AU

Pioneers of the Reggaeton style, Jowell and Randy (hailing from Puerto Rico) forged their alliance in early 2000 and began making tunes and participating in several compilation albums until 2007. Receiving their first bit of radio and television exposure with the track Don’t I See from the album House of Lions, a piece that reached number three in the Billboard Latino charts and remained in the list for more than 35 weeks. In December of the same year they dropped the album The Most Loose Of The Reggaeton which led to a huge world tour playing massive shows in most major cities of the United States, South America and Europe. In 2009 they signed a recording contract with WY Records, mega-stars of the urban genre.

2010 brings about a new project for the duo: The Moment. The first track, Loco, was picked up by all the Latino stations and was positioning at number one in the charts for several weeks. These two guys have also branched into other forms of creativity with their innovative cyber portal which is the first widescreen ‘360 degrees’ portal of any urban artist, featuring their clothing line and a new video channel JowelyRandy.tv. These two guys are definitely one of the most interesting acts going around and will be worth checking out. Jowell and Randy play Trak Live Lounge Bar on Friday April 13.

As editor for Australia’s most respected Latin entertainment guide, latinlover.com.au, I did not expect to be writing 10 years on – the Australian Latin scene just keeps on growing. The Latinlover website has undergone five major upgrades to keep up with the growing interest for Spanish and South American anything: Latin dance classes, film, festivals, concerts, clubs and restaurants. As part of our 10th birthday celebration we last year launched nationally, covering state to state news; now you can follow your passion for Latin when you travel. Great for tourists heading here! Latin enthusiasts are an outgoing committed bunch who will travel and plan their lives around getting a Latin fix almost an addition at times. The most surprising statistic is that 71 percent of our subscribers have no Spanish blood at all. We are a passionate bunch! Originally, the Latin Quarters were Johnston St, Fitzroy in Melbourne and Liverpool St in Sydney’s CBD. Today, however, Latin dance classes can be found in all suburban pockets. Some natives find the fancy studio dance moves a little over the top, whereas others throw their arms

up in delight and are absolutely thrilled to see Australians embracing their culture, which in all fairness has helped sustain and assist the growth and awareness of the scene. One other positive direct result is that more and more Australians are travelling to Latin America and Spain on holidays to experience the real deal. Thanks to Government State Art Centres and independent festival producers the biggest addition to our scene by far are the big gun international artists being brought out here to perform for us. Acts such as Los Van Van, Tito Puente Jr, Orquestra Cubanacan, Eddie Palmieri, Bebel Gilberto, Maelo Ruiz are just a few who have visited. Stay tuned to latinlover.com.au for more headlining artists coming through and plus WIN tickets to see you favourite artists performing. Latin enthusiasts follow your passion for Latin all around Australia on latinlover.com.au. Subscribe to the e-newsletter or follow them on Twitter or Facebook.

THE MOJITO A Mojito (pronounced mo-HEE-toe), one of Cuba’s oldest cocktails, comes from the African word mojo, which means to place a little spell, although the exact origin is subject to debate. Some believe it derived from African slaves who worked in the Cuban sugar fields, due to the presence of “guarapo”, the sugar cane juice originally used to prepare the drink, which was a popular beverage among them. The more established version of the origin of the mojito is that was invented in 1586 by the English pirate Sir Francis Drake when he was trying to sack Havana Cuba for its gold. According to the story, the drink was originally called “El Draque” (or “The Dragon”) made with aguardiente (a crude forerunner of rum), sugar, lime and mint. Early on, it was consumed for medicinal purposes. The mojito made its way to Cuba when these pirates landed there on treasure hunting expeditions through the Caribbean and Latin America. Around the mid-1800s, the recipe was altered and gained in popularity as the original Bacardi Company was established. Once rum replaced the aguardiente, the contemporary mojito was born. The mojito’s most widely acknowledged connoisseur was the American writer and Nobel-laureate Ernest Hemingway, who frequented the humble, Bodeguita del Medio, in Havana during the 1940s. He made the drink famous by handwriting “my mojito in la Bodeguita…” on the wall of the bar.

Mojitos have been sought after with fascination in Melbourne for quite some time, and Cruzao Arepa Bar has quickly established a reputation for concocting a killer version. Often referred to as “the best mojito I’ve ever had”, the Cruzao Mojito, prepared with fresh ingredients (come on a Friday afternoon and you will see us hand picking fresh mint for the weekend!), is a slightly twisted approach, with a home made mint syrup instead of the traditional hand-crushed recipe, which has earned it comments of the like of: “Truly one of the best mojitos I’ve ever had” (James) “These mojitos rock the planet” (Damien) “Mojitos were the best we have ever drunk” (Tracey) “Oh my god… the best mojitos ever!” (Alex) Our choice of rum for preparing this spectacular cocktail is Nicaragua-produced Flor de Caña 4YO Extra Dry White Rum, winner of 10 International Awards including the Platinum Award & Gold Medal at the International Rum Festival in 2003, and the 2009 Best in Class Award at the London International Wine and Spirits competition. So cut out the coupon and head down to Cruzao Arepa Bar, 365 Brunswick St, Fitzroy, where your mojito will be served to the beat of the fascinating musical repertoire of Latin America, along with a delicious arepa, in the vibrant atmosphere of Melbourne’s only 100% authentic Latin American spot! Live performances daily - for details visit cruzao.com.au.

SUBSCRIBE FREE! Email beat@latinlover.com.au to receive + Receive exclusive concert ticket deals + Receive up-to-date e-news with Latin entertainment + Receive a VIP Discount Card in the post

Page 30

“Adelante Amigo!"

this is an

arepa

this is how it's eaten

this is how it's filled

naturally gluten free corn pockets... grilled, filled and eaten the authentic venezuelan way...

the fascinating repertoire of an amazing continent live performances by local & international talent every day

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thursdays in april - 7:30

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classic tangos, milongas &waltzes by this 4-piece live tango band

the Buena Vista experience with Melbourne's best Cuban Son band

an afternoon of trova, son, cumbia, folklore and mucho más

friday april 6 - 7:30

friday april 13 - 9:00

friday april 20 - 9:00

friday april 27 - 9:00

senegalese independence celebration

trío los diablos

reflejos

flamenco fiesta

what is often referred to as

live music calendar, arepas and cocktails and much more at...

"the best

mojito I've

ever had¨

cruzaoarepa bar 365 brunswick street, fitzroy between kerr and rose find out what we're up to on

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 31

e t n a l e d “A LATIN SPECIAL " ! o Amig Beat Magazine’s

60 SECONDS WITH…

SIMON FROM TRIPPY TACO

GARY FROM HIGH TECH BURRITO

What is the name of the restaurant, and what do you do? Trippy Taco, and we do Mexican style street food. Why Mexican? I was obsessed with eating Mexican street food from my time living in Southern California, and Baja California. I just kept making it when I came back to Australia because I loved it so much, and I discovered other people loved it as well. Why do you think there has suddenly been an explosion of Mexican food in Melbourne? Not sure exactly, but tacos really suit our climate and way of life. Plus, it’s simple, fresh and accessible as well as fun. What makes your restaurant different? Trippy Taco has its own flavour, which has developed over the last decade. Our main focus is the food and making it accessible to all. Although we don’t use meat, I have never labelled Trippy Taco as vegetarian or even Mexican for that matter. I think the food stands on its own. What is your favourite meal on the menu, and why? My favourite is the Breakfast Tacos. I always love the combination of eggs, salsa and fresh corn tortillas. It’s a very light, fresh and satisfying way to start the day (with a glass of fresh OJ). I also find it difficult to go passed our Original Tacos and of course Trippy Fries! What has been your proudest achievement to date? Probably seeing how happy and proud (and relieved) my parents and family were when I opened the new shop. Mum, Dad, myself, as well as my good friend Sandy pretty much did the entire shop fit out ourselves. They have really put in lots of hard work to get it off the ground!

What makes you happiest about what you’re doing? Seeing long time Trippy customers still coming in and enjoying our food, as well as many new faces. What are your plans for the future? Not sure… Things don’t move too quickly in my world. I’m happy at the moment. We will be looking to expand the cocktail menu before next summer, and we always work on improving our customer experience. Anything else you want to add? Trippy Taco is Trippy Taco. Trippy Taco is located at 234 Gertrude St, Fitzroy. They can be reached on 03 9415 7711.

What is the name of the restaurant, and what do you do? The name of the restaurant is High Tech Burrito. We actually helped start the Fresh-Mex wave in Australia, and introduced the First Gourmet Burrito. We serve California styled Mexican food made using the freshest ingredients. We give diners more Fresh Mex choices than anywhere else in town, with a diverse menu of quality steak, chicken, seafood, and vegetarian tacos, burritos, quesadillas, nachos, and accompanied by our own fresh made salsa and guacamoles. Why Mexican? Being from California, and after living in Australia for 15 years, it was apparent to me that Australia was missing out on the fresh Mexican food I had loved and grown up on. Our food is Mexican in heritage and infused with Californian flavours. Why do you think there has suddenly been an explosion of Mexican food in Melbourne? Simple: Melburnians are tired of the overly cheesy, heat lamp-heated, and re-fried interpretation of Mexican food. What makes your restaurant different? First and foremost, we do not imitate. Although we have been in Melbourne for only three years, High Tech Burrito has been serving customers for over 25 years in California, and our continued commitment to our fresh way of cooking has always set us apart. Our ever-growing customer base has come to rely on us for consistently delicious and fresh food. What is your favourite meal on the menu, and why? The Surf and Turf Burrito – It has all the right Mexican and California flavours I miss from home.

What has been your proudest achievement to date? I have never operated a restaurant. Accordingly, opening our doors for business was a proud moment. What makes you happiest about what you’re doing? This may sound a bit corny, but I am proud every time I see someone enjoying our food and then taking the time to find me and let me know how much they enjoyed themselves. It validates the hard work my team puts in. What are your plans for the future? To be announced later… High Tech Burrito is located at 838 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn. They can be reached on 03 9818 1482

“High Tech food is just like So-Cal Mexican food...YUM!!! This is a great pla ce to eat!” ! “This is the real deal esh, The ingredients are fr d care in portions are large, an .” preparation is superb

California Styled Mexican Food... already a Melbourne Favorite! 838 Glenferrie Road, Hawthorn, 9818 1482 Page 32

“Adelante Amigo!"

GRIMES BY LACHLAN KANONIUK

Performing and releasing material under the title Grimes, Claire Boucher has emerged as one of the most transfixing figures in contemporary music. After gaining intense blog adoration for initial cassette releases Geidi Primes and Halfaxa, Grimes broke through into widespread acknowledgement with the release of Visions in 2012. The album consolidates the tantalising slingshot between steely robotics and the warmth of humanity that was explored in earlier works, while at the same time possessing undeniably danceable attributes. In the middle of a nine-hour road trip from Toronto to Philadelphia, Boucher recounts what has been an undeniably transformative start to the year. “Sometimes it’s really stressful, thinking that everything you’re doing is going to be evaluated,” Boucher states on the sudden immense attention. “We played this one show at South-By that was really bad, and it turns out it was streaming online and 140,000 people were watching it. But it was definitely one of the worst shows I’ve ever played. It was one of those moments where you think, ‘Oh my god, what the fuck have I done?’ But you just have to let it go.” Visions marks a sonic leap from Grimes’ previous two full-lengths, approaching a level of clarity achieved by fellow Canadian The Weeknd. “I’m really into hifi. The album could be more hi-fi, it’s not radio-slick. Definitely one of my goals is to be a really good producer. I just want to always do weird stuff, but I want to be able to do radio-quality stuff as well. And I’m definitely working towards that – getting better at making it sound professional,” she assesses. With credits producing Visions, as well as designing the stunning cover art, the question is raised whether Boucher could be creatively fulfilled without being a performer herself. “I like being able to not work for someone else. I like the fact I produce visual art for the project of Grimes, and I produce the songs I have written. I don’t know if I’m a good enough producer to produce for other people, but maybe in the future. Graphic design is something I’m interested in, but music is something that I care about a lot more, so I’d rather do that,” she muses. The clip for Oblivion, one of the standout cuts from the record, comically juxtaposes the dichotomy of gender, with Boucher placing herself within the testosterone-charged environment of the sporting

arena. Though explicated within the video, gender archetypes are a notion that Grimes’ music rises above. “I think about gender stuff a lot, but I also don’t want to think about it a lot. It’s a really male dominated scene, and one of the reasons why I make music is because it makes me feel really powerful. At the same time, some of my influences are artists like Whitney Houston and Mariah Carey – really dolledup, ‘girly’ music if you would call it that. I don’t think music is ever inherently girly or masculine. I guess there’s that aspect of it vocally. Then production-wise I like to have a lot of huge drums because it feels so violent, physical and aggressive – mixing those things together. But I want to make music that’s genderless.” Similar to how Prince created the Camille alter-ego in the ‘80s with pitch-shifting, Grimes often delves into extreme registers – from Transformers-like baritone to chipmunk squeals. “There’s the whole biological thing – women have higher voices, men have lower voices. But voices are voices, their tonally rich and evocative than any other instrument. I don’t really like to think about things in terms of gender – it can be alienating when music is supposed to be inclusive. It’s where you can communicate in a way that isn’t superliteral, you’re not saying anything except expressing pure emotions. Gender is about delineating roles, music is about not having roles and just appealing to humanity. I feel that they’re the antithesis of each other. I don’t want to think about in terms of ‘I’m pitching down the vocals because it sounds masculine,’ or ‘I’m pitching up the vocals to sound feminine.’ It’s about how voices sound beautiful

“ I DON’T REALLY LIKE TO THINK ABOUT THINGS IN TERMS OF GENDER – IT CAN BE ALIENATING WHEN MUSIC IS SUPPOSED TO BE INCLUSIVE”

together,” Boucher reasons. Though ostensibly the antithesis of humanity, Boucher feels her exploration of the digital is a statement on humanity within modernity. “Well I feel like humanity is heading in this direction of cyborgism. Everything that’s digital that exists was created by humans. Computers are a natural thing, they’re a natural extension of the human brain. They couldn’t exist without humanity. Digital sounds, to me, are very, very human. They’re almost alienating because there is this human intelligence behind it, without human emotion. It’s a universal sound that anyone can make, because it isn’t reliant on a physical body. For instance, where we were talking about masculine and feminine – women have a smaller vocal chords or whatever so they make a higher sound, whereas anyone can make a bass drum sound. It seems very human to me, but that kind of inhumanity can create something scary. Like I talk about create that powerful bass, it’s cool because it’s something more than human, something more than a biological human can create,” Boucher

ponders. “I think that’s really interesting, combining this electronic music with layers and layers of rich vocals. It creates that weird, uncanny feeling that it shouldn’t be happening but it’s happening anyway. I think that’s really beautiful.” One of the more interesting points of discourse on Grimes’ sudden rise is the story which was uncovered by Pitchfork earlier in the year, involving Boucher sailing a homemade boat down the Mississippi with a full supply of live chickens and potatoes. “I didn’t want that story to come out, somebody just found that and posted it. Nothing in that article is true, everything about it is fucking wrong – which is why I’m pissed that it’s out there. It’s not accurate at all, but whatever,” she reveals. “The only thing in that story which is really true is that I lived on a boat for a little while.”

Despite a fairly intense touring schedule, Lou is in the process of putting together the latest Dinosaur Jr. record, the results of which we can expect this year. “It’s going well, really really well. I would say September [is the release date] probably. After this Australian tour I’ll be flying back to Massachusetts to finish my songs, then the record will be finished. It will be finished on May 5th, the last day of mixing.” With the two recent post-reformation Dinosaur Jr. records more than living up to both fans’ and critics’ expectations, Lou remains optimistic that the upcoming LP won’t be falling short of the legacy. “It’s always hard to say, because peoples’ tastes are always very fickle. To me it sounds just as good as the

other two, if not better. I actually did three songs for the record, I don’t know if all three will make it onto the record. I put a lot of thought into it, and I feel like I did my best for this one. I always do my best, but with this one I tried to make it as logical and Dinosaur Jr.-friendly as I possibly could. I’m hoping that it will bear fruit. It’s been great, it was actually really good, I had a really good time doing it,” he states. “I generally do, to be honest.”

Visions is out now on 4AD/Remote Control.

LOU BARLOW BY LACHLAN KANONIUK

After an esteemed two and a half decades as one of alternative rock’s most seminal figures, the many musical outlets of Lou Barlow are achieving somewhat of a frenetic singularity. Though the sonic distinctions between his current non-dormant projects remain resolute, the ability to juggle duties with Dinosaur Jr., Sebadoh and as a solo artist is a virtue many artists long for. Lou’s impending visit to Australia in solo mode follows on from his 2010 tour with Dinosaur Jr. and the 2011 tour with the newly reformed Sebadoh. “I like it,” Lou states humbly. “Now that you put it that way, I haven’t thought about it. But it means that I can come to Australia three times in three years. I get to do totally different things, which is pretty awesome.” As Lou explains, the ability to perform under a variety of different banners doesn’t translate to a sense of absolute freedom. “No, not really. Obviously Dinosaur Jr. is a very big priority. Dinosaur Jr. have a manager, plans and we get money to make records. And there’s a certain amount of fanfare involved, as modest as it really is. I have to be really careful, it’s a delicate balance I guess you could say. I try to keep up with Dinosaur Jr., which is a pretty good job as jobs go. It’s something that I enjoy. But playing with Sebadoh and solo, that’s sort of more of an expression of who I am as a songwriter and more of what I’ve done for the past 20 years – I’ve done that more than I’ve done Dinosaur Jr. So keeping that alive and keeping my bandmates in Sebadoh happy, because I sort of manage Sebadoh I guess, and more solo stuff requires me to be a little more hands on with the technical stuff and managerial issues,” he

explains. “Basically it isn’t easy, but it’s awesome.” The culmination of his three currently active projects were none more explicated than at the start of 2012, when Lou partook in The Weezer Cruise – a five day festival on a ship. “That was amazing, because I was playing solo, with Sebadoh, and with Dinosaur Jr. It worked out to be about seven days of shows, because we started with a show on land with Sebadoh in Miami,” Lou recalls. “Then the next day the cruise started with Dinosaur Jr. and Sebadoh, then the next day I think it was Sebadoh and solo, then the next day was Dinosaur Jr., and Sebadoh and solo the next day – and so on and so on. Then it ended on land in Miami with a Dinosaur Jr. show. I think I played seven shows in all in seven days,. It was wonderful, I had the time of my life to be perfectly honest. As a performer, I was in heaven, honestly,” he beams.

“I LIKE IT... IT MEANS THAT I CAN COME TO AUSTRALIA THREE TIMES IN THREE YEARS. I GET TO DO TOTALLY DIFFERENT THINGS, WHICH IS PRETTY AWESOME”

DISCUSS WHAT? BEAT.COM.AU/DISCUSSION

LOU BARLOW performs at Northcote Social Club on Tuesday April 17 and Wednesday April 18.

Beat Magazine Page 33

YACHT CLUB DJS BY AL NEWSTEAD

Has it really been a full twelve months since we’ve heard or seen from Yacht Club DJs, Australia’s leading purveyors of mash-ups par excellence? Having spent nearly three solid years touring Australia, in both regional headline tours as well as a regular fixture of major festivals like Big Day Out, Splendour In The Grass, Parklife and Falls, the partners in crime – Gareth ‘Gaz’ Harrison and Guy Chapell-Lawrence – decided to take some time off from the party-crazed, vodka-swilling, sweaty madness they call their live show. “We were a little burnt out and were a bit sick of the sight of each other,” laughs Gaz, suitably suffering from a hangover. Speaking down the line he recalls, “we were just tired I think, we were acting up a bit because we were cranky kids, being naughty doing all the things we shouldn’t do.” ‘Naughty’ being getting nude mid-set or playing Parklife and shattering his ankle on a barrier after stage-diving onto an inflatable boat. A Yacht Club DJs set is nothing if not a maelstrom of party abandon, with the two deck runners being the craziest people in the room. “We are idiots,” confirms Gaz, but everyone loves an idiot right? “We’ve made a career out of that statement.” Now they’ve recovered, the pair are itching to set off on their national east coast tour in April. “We’re refreshed now after a year off, we just want to get out there and really flog it,” he says. So what have they got to flog? Chiefly, their latest mixtape, They Mostly Come At Night… Mostly. Perhaps their most ambitious set to date, seamlessly ricocheting between popular hooks (Public Enemy x Love Cats? Check), some musical cornerstones (Jackson 5, Johnny Cash, check), some knowingly sardonic winks (Limp Bizkit backing Estelle), and of course, their usual fascination with ‘80s hair metal. One notable peak comes in pairing the cheesy power balladry of Journey’s Don’t Stop Believin’ with Kimbra’s verse on the recent world-dominating Somebody That I Used To Know. “How ridiculous is that?!” quips Gaz. “The guitar solo and everything works with the chorus. It [sort of] adds a positive message to it. I was quite surprised when Guy turned up and said ‘listen to this’ – it was a definite highlight.” It’s just one example of literally hundreds that are squeezed into its 70 minute running time, though the press release touts the tally at five to six hundred, Gaz retorts, “That’s an estimate, it could be anywhere near a thousand, we have no idea. It’s not like we write down everything as we’re doing it, we just chop these really small things in and then forget about what we’ve done. As long as it sounds good, who cares?” This sort of free-wheeling attitude has always been in the spirit of what Yacht Club does, even though the nature of their mixes swims in some particularly murky legal waters, they defy the looming shadow of copyright wranglers. Having begun DJing at the tender age of 16, Gaz admits, “[we] came into it with a bit of naivety. We were used to hearing things like The Avalanches and 2 Many DJs, and all these other people sampling and thought, ‘Obviously you can just do it, it’s cool, it won’t be a problem.’ Then the more you get into it, the legal side rears its ugly head.” As mash-up artists, Yacht Club can never really ‘sell’ their music, unlike Girl Talk’s flexible ‘appropriate use’ terminology with the United States judicial system, Australia’s policies are far more strict. “We are quite legally bound in Australia,” confirms Gaz. “We can’t do too much with what we make, so apart from performing it live we’d be writing a million-artist year-long APRA list. I try not to think about it. We don’t make enough money to be sued, so we’re happy. It’s probably best to stay under the radar in that respect.” Interestingly there’s no weight to critics simply dismissing them as pilfering others’ music for their own means. “We’ve both been in bands a lot longer than we’ve been in Yacht Club,” details Gaz, himself a regular member of Twiins and blues act Them 9’s. “I’m a musician as well, I like getting paid! So I kind of understand both sides of the coin. I think people should obviously get credit and reward for their work but at the same time, if someone goes and does something creative, people should be more accepting and open to the idea that what they’ve made isn’t exactly what you made – it’s just a part of the recording… there’s a lot of room for creativity in sampling.” None more-so than in Yacht Club’s own dazzling configurations, where the full canvas of pop culture is ripe for dissecting, not simply its music. Having previously included Disney songs and the Roger Ramjet theme in their delirious mixes, Mostly Come At Night continues the trend; with enough curios to delight Generation X listeners, from cutting in Street Fighter’s ‘Hadouken’ sound effect to the ‘make those bodies sing’ banana commercial of the mid ‘90s. “I think we’re just trying to represent what we like more than anything,” details Gaz. “Between the two of us I don’t think there’s a genre of music we don’t like, so it’s all going to end up there eventually. We’ve always enjoyed the ‘brothers with ADHD’ thing we’ve been tagged with, we think of it as music trivia. We hope that there’s someone sitting down, really listening to it trying to guess where everything comes from or pick all the artists. We do it as much for them as we do it for the dance-floor; because that’s where we were when we decided to do this – it’s a huge part of it.” YACHT CLUB DJs play The Prince Bandroom this Thursday April 5 with Hunting Grounds, The Bended Elbow in Geelong on Friday April 6 with Hunting Grounds and OK Sure, Karova Lounge in Ballarat on Saturday April 7 with Hunting Grounds and Underlights and Sunday April 8 with Hunting Grounds and special secret guests.

Beat Magazine Page 34

DISCUSS WHAT? BEAT.COM.AU/DISCUSSION

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Beat Magazine Page 35

LOS CHICOS BY PATRICK EMERY

The city of Santiago de Compestela in north-western Spain lies at the end of a famous Catholic pilgrimage known as the Way of St James. For centuries, pilgrims – these days, often seen carrying a walking stick featuring a scallop shell to symbolise aspects of the story of the Apostle St James – have walked hundreds of kilometres to Santiago de Compestela to honour St James. In 2010, Spanish band garage rock band Los Chicos – the members of which are largely drawn from Madrid, rather than the region Galicia in which Santigo de Compestela is located – undertook their own pilgrimage; in this case, to Australia, the country from which Los Chicos took its original rock’n’roll inspiration, courtesy of the New Christs, the Celibate Rifles and the Beasts of Bourbon. “I don’t really remember anything annoying at all while we were there,” says guitarist Gerardo. “Everything was perfect. We were living a dream so everything was awesome. We met wonderful people all over the country. We made a lot of friends, and are looking forward to seeing them again now. Also the kangaroo meat – we ate a lot,” Gerardo laughs. “And we loved the Coopers beer – the beer that talks!” Spanish crowds are characteristically vibrant; Melbourne rock’n’roll audiences, on the other hand, are notoriously not vibrant, often preferring to stand sullenly with arms folded, notwithstanding the band’s enthusiastic efforts on stage. A few minutes of watching Los Chicos on stage at the Old Bar on its first Australian outing – with Gerardo and twin brother Antonio being plied with pints of Cooper’s ale by welcoming punters during the cover of Roy Trait and the Heads’ Treat Her Right – sent the crowd into a dancing frenzy. “Everybody told us that we shouldn’t think that in Australia the audience was going to dance as they do in Spain, but what we found was completely different,” Gerardo says. “We had a lot of people dancing in the gigs.

Sometimes it looked like some crazy shows in Spain!” While in Australia Los Chicos hooked up with long-term friend and mutual benefactor John Spittles (aka Johnny Casino), as well as other Australian friends who’d previously made the trek to Spain. “We played with friends that we already knew, like Johnny Casino and Midnight Woolf,” Gerardo says. “I already had already seen Russian Roulettes and Digger And The Pussycats in Spain, but the rest of the band didn’t know them and they were really shocked with them. I remember also Kids Of Zoo, Wrong Turn, The Knockouts.” And Gerardo is keen to find more like-minded Australian bands to play with in future. “We’ve played with some of our favourite bands, and this tour we’re playing with some more, like New Christs and The Meanies,” Gerardo says. “But if I had to say two bands from here I’d love to share stage with, I would say Radio Birdman and The Celibate Rifles – they’re the first two bands I listened to from Australia when I was young.” One of the more intriguing gigs Los Chicos played was at The Tote at the end of the band’s tour. Having already seen Spencer P. Jones play solo earlier in the evening at Labour in Vain on Brunswick Street, Los Chicos were on hand to see Jones play a particularly intense set, featuring songs written in response to Jones’ marriage break-up – with Jones’ Spanish former wife, and a friend of the band in the audience. “We had been listening to his record in the car when we were travelling Australia,” Gerardo says. “At first

THE SONICS BY LAUREN BOXHALL

Credited by many as the first punk band, garage pioneers The Sonics are visiting our shores as part of the Dig It Up! Invitational for The Hoodoo Gurus. Speaking to saxophonist Rob Lind from Tokyo, we have a long yarn about the genesis of everyone’s favourite screamer Strychnine, playing in the heady ‘60s and what it’s like to experience a renaissance of their sound. I start by confessing that I am touch nervous to speak to one of my favourite bands, to which Lind reassures, “Hey, I’m so lucky to be speaking to you! We’re digging how many young people are into our music and are really looking forward to coming to Australia.” Pleasantries aside, I ask what it’s like to discover a whole new legion of appreciative fans. “It’s so rewarding because all these 18-30 year olds are finding our music and getting into The Sonics – we play many shows in Europe as the scene there is so big. Our original fans are in diminishing numbers so we’re really lucky to have this new generation

get into The Sonics, which has allowed us to start touring again. We’ve never played Australia simply because we were never asked. We’re really lucky to come here because The Hoodoo Gurus invited us – I love their song Kamikaze Pilot,” Lind enthuses. There have been many covers of Sonics tunes, including the Cramps. I ask whether he enjoys hearing different interpretations. “It’s a great honour that someone wants to pay tribute to you. The Hives have covered our songs, a band comprising of members of Mudhoney and REM did a whole LP of covers. So it’s a great feeling that people

we though it was about [Lorena, Jones’ former wife], and then we were not sure, but finally we found out that it was. I knew Lorena before coming here, from Spain, yes. “It as very good seeing them talking together the days we were here”. While there are plenty of decent Spanish rock’n’roll bands to seek out – Gerardo reels off a long list including Real McCoyson, Soul Gestapo, Guadalupe Plata, Samesugas, The Government and Discipulos de Dionisos, in addition to the label Gerardo and Antonio set up, FOLC (Friends of Los Chicos) – finding somewhere to play hasn’t always been easy. However, Gerardo says, there have been plenty of opportunities in recent times, despite the tough economic context within which Spain currently finds itself. “For us now it’s very easy get gigs, as we’ve been playing a lot – in fact we have to reject a lot of gigs,” Gerardo says. “For bands that are starting now I think it’s very, very difficult,

respect your work,” he replies. I can’t help but ask about the genesis of legendary balltearing Strychnine. What was going on with lead singer Gerry Roslie to scream, “Some folks like water/some folks like wine/I like the taste of/straight strychnine”? “You know, he just brought that into the studio and sang off a sheet of paper, we had no idea what it was about beforehand. It comes from the demented mind of Gerry Roslie; he also had a song called You’ve Got Your Head On Backwards – where did he get that from? Strychnine is our most famous song but when we recorded it, we promptly forgot about it and rarely played it live!” he laughs. I ask what it was like playing in the wild ‘60s and whether he had any memorable moments. “We went from teenage clubs in Tacoma, Washington to supporting Californian bands like The Mamas & The Papas, The Beach Boys and got to tour with our favourite British band, the Kinks. We were so young, and had so many adventures, and so many girls – that’s why we started a band, to meet girls – whom we did, lots!” he laughs. When The Sonics hit Melbourne, many ‘60s fans will go to heaven. “It’s like this interview, playing the show makes us want to make the best impression – we want to blow the place up and just want to go in there and rock‘n’roll. We’re going to come down there with all guns blazing like we always do!”

but it was also when we did. With the crisis we’re living in Spain, maybe it’s more difficult because there’s no money for rock’n’roll and you have to pay for playing, and you may lose money if no-one goes to the gig, but you must do that for playing, and that’s the only way to make a band, play and play, and never stop doing it,” he says. And is there a convenient Spanish phrase to describe the musical travesty that is Europop? “We call it the same here: SHIT!”, Gerardo laughs. LOS CHICOS play tonight, Wednesday April 4 at The Tote (with The Meanies, La Bastard and Thee Mighty Childish), Thursday April 5 at Yah Yah’s (with Midnight Woolf, Johnny Casino, and The Bowers), Friday April 6 at The Old Bar (with Bits Of Shit and The Swingin’ Nutsacks) and Saturday April 7 at Boogie Festival in Tallarook.

THE SONICS play Dig It Up!, The Hoodoo Gurus Invitational, alongside Died Pretty, Red Kross, Royal Headache, Beaches and heaps more, taking place on Wednesday April 25 at the Palace Theatre, Pony and Spleen Bar. Tickets and information from digitup.net.au.

DAWES BY JOSHUA KLOKE

There are some bands, namely Constantines and War On Drugs, that walk in the light; they reside on a wholly untouchable plot of land. They can do no wrong. Every move they make as a band seems blessed by some divine authority. (If we’re stretching, I suppose you could throw Arcade Fire in the mix.) And then there are the acts that hang out around the corner: those who aren’t perfect and would never fool anyone into believing they are. Those who wear their flaws like a badge of pride. Pretense is never an option. Griffin Goldsmith, drummer for the melodic, ‘60s inspired rock outfit Dawes answers the phone from his Los Angeles home sounding affable and relaxed. Despite a barrage of critical accolades, Dawes have kept a level head since their 2008 inception and the release of their lauded 2009 debut full-length, North Hills. Their music is chalk full of a vibe that harkens back to the days when Crosby, Stills Nash and Young retained (rightful) cultural importance. Their music isn’t perfect, but as Goldsmith opens up about how they’ve spent the last year, it’s clear that Dawes is still figuring things out. “We’ve been on tour for the better part of four years. We’re extremely lucky. I think last year we played something like 265 shows. But it really pays off; we’re a much better band because of it.” It’s the notion of being a band in the purest sense that keeps the motor running. Perhaps it was an early opportunity to act as a backing band for Robbie Robertson in support of his recent release, How To Become Clairvoyant that instilled in Dawes a sense of togetherness that has yet to fade away. “That definitely makes you rise to the occasion,” he says of playing with Robertson. “He’s an example of someone doing things for the right reason. He could’ve had any session Beat Magazine Page 36

players that he wanted, but instead he chose a band. And it felt more cohesive than it would were it just a bunch of guys. It’s cool to know that he’s still familiar with it.” Another act which falls in the same vein as Dawes are psych-rockers My Morning Jacket, who asked Dawes to open for them on their upcoming run of Australian dates. When asked if the band can hope to learn anything from My Morning Jacket as they did from Robertson, Goldsmith speaks with palpable reverence towards the band and their approach. “I know all of them personally. As far as their career as a band, it’s ideal, especially for a band like us. It’s never going to be the way it is for a lot of other bands, especially here in Los Angeles, where they have that one breakout song and they’re playing to huge places. But instead, there are bands that’ve had a slow progression based on the quality of the music. And My Morning Jacket are one of those bands. They keep going back to the same cities, playing again and again, and they haven’t sacrificed any of their artistic integrity. They’re doing things for the right reasons, and I hope we are too.” Certainly, as their impressive recent string of dates will act as a testament to, Dawes are doing things for the right reason. Calling them “Old school” isn’t appropriate because

their sound is a retro one, but because they are students of the school of thought where consistent touring is what molds a band’s identity. “Undoubtedly,” he says, when asked if the tunes from Nothing Is Wrong, their latest release, have grown after being played night after night. “With Nothing Is Wrong, which is also something we hope to do with this next batch of songs is to play them live before recording them. The songs don’t really have a chance to breathe until you’re out playing them live. They take on a whole new identity.” The importance of playing live is not simply delineated for a live setting; Dawes are keen to cut their chops adhering to a similar approach in a place that is normally reserved for the perfectionists: the recording studio. Recording live off the floor, Dawes have nearly mastered the art of sounding like a band in their prime. All the while, not worrying too much about it at all. “It’s actually the only thing that’s ever really worked for us,” Goldsmith says of recording live off the floor. “We’ve recorded in a separate booths, separated by these panes

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of glass. And it’s just not what we’re after. We get our best performances out when we’re doing things straight to tape. You know that you can’t overdub a drum part or a bass part. And it’s not to say that you can’t get a great sound out of Pro Tools, it’s just that you can end up using it as a crutch. The idea of being in a studio and gathering around the computer, it takes something away from the whole thing. You can’t visualize the record when you’re doing things with Pro Tools. Trying to make things perfect, you’re not always going to get the best sound.” For one week in April, it’d be almost impossible not to see DAWES live. Opening for My Morning Jacket at the Palace Theatre tonight, the band continues to Byron Bay Bluesfest to play two shows on Saturday April 7 and Monday April 9. They then return to headline The Toff In Town on Wednesday April 11. Nothing Is Wrong is out now on Warner Music Australia.

A guide to eating out in Melbourne

The Aylesbury

CACAO GREEN

BY CHRIS BRIGHT I know they say â&#x20AC;&#x153;donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t judge a book by its coverâ&#x20AC;?, but The Aylesbury is one exception â&#x20AC;&#x201C; the place looks as good as the food tastes. The dual-level restaurant (thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a rooftop bar) is owned by talented chef Jesse Gerner. Garnerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s other restaurant, AnĂŁda (Gertrude St), is commonly featured on lists of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Melbourneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Best Tapasâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;.

Wait, what? I can put bits of cheesecake on my frozen yoghurt? And Coco Pops? And some kind of delicious-looking syrupy thing with berries in it? Walking into Cacao Green, a super-cute organic frozen yoghurt chain, summoned the culinary rush I felt in Asia, a part of the world where you can have your ice cream and eat it with 17 different toppings, too. Of the four flavours currently available, Italian Original was my favourite, which I had adorned with blueberry compote, creamy hunks of cheesecake and a smattering of crunchy muesli. The vanilla base flavour was the perfect canvas for this classic (and not in the least boring) combo. Their signature and most popular flavour this season is Green Tea, with its clean, subtle flavour also perhaps could work well topped with passionfruit and enjoyed with a fair trade latte. For a real wintry treat, try one of their made-toorder waffles. Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re soft and warm with just enough crunch on the outside, which makes them a perfect partner for a cool swirl of yoghurt. Mine came with strawberry compote, walnuts, almonds and hazelnuts, and if youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not looking to overdo it, they come in in smaller sizes (the half-sized ones are heart-shaped!). Cacao Greenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s emphasis on healthy, fresh food â&#x20AC;&#x201C; everythingâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s low fat, organic and gluten free â&#x20AC;&#x201C; does well to dispel the typical Maccas sundae guilt, which explains the flock of 20-something girls frequenting its new Bourke St store.

Sweet but not sickly, head into Cacao Green when you want dessert but want to avoid the remorsefullygroaning, belly-clutching aftermath. Cacao Green is located at 285 Swanston St, Melbourne (corner of Lonsdale & Swanston St) as well as 235 Bourke St Melbourne (Tivoli Arcade) and 696 Glenferrie Rd, Hawthorn (corner of Glenferrie Rd and Wakefield St).

A combination of seductive smells greets you as you enter The Aylesbury, and thanks to the openplanned kitchen, you can identify each and every scent, helping you choose your meal without even viewing the menu. All meats and produce are organic and homegrown. Organic beef and lamb from South Gippsland, a farm which is fully sustainable, organically-farmed produce from Tooberac in Central Victoria, and most importantly, all vegetables and herbs come straight from Gernerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s community garden, located just 4kms from the city. For first time guests, I recommend the sample platter, as you get to experience everything the menu has to offer, and it allows you to try things that you probably havenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t before. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a good way of avoiding food envy, which is pretty much unavoidable with so many options available. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re sitting at the bar, the chefs will often describe each dish as they serve, explaining where ingredients come from and how they are prepared â&#x20AC;&#x201C; adding to the overall experience. First up, shelled oysters from Merimbula (NSW) and a zesty strawberry mignonette. This is a tough one to start with, because you doubt tapas can get much tastier â&#x20AC;&#x201C; but it does. The torched mackerel was well presented, bedded on black slate and drizzled with green gazpacho. Next serve, my personal favourite from the sample platter: cold, smoked kingfish served with cold-smoked mandarin, finger limes and drizzled with olive oil. The cold-smoked mandarin offers a weird texture and taste that you wouldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t usually associate with fish, which is why the result is so surprisingly good.

The mouth-watering beef tartare is topped with a smoked quail yolk, and when combined with the salted sourdough croutons, the flavour just explodes. The wagyu platter is topped with fresh herbs (picked in front of you) and tasty bone marrow, and when combined, offers a traditional country-smoked flavour. And in a fresh-spin on the traditional burger, they replace boring beef patties with succulent rabbit tenders, organic pickles and lemon rind in a delicious home-made bun. Vegetarian? The Aylesbury caters to your needs with a selection of organic salads and snacks. The zucchini flowers pack a lot of flavour, filled with South Australian goatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cheese and drizzles with honey, and thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a fresh broccolini salad with mild caper berries and pine nuts. The added flavour of the organic produce is noticeable, and along with the oil, lemon and garlic dressing, the salads could satisfy as a main. Finally, the main course â&#x20AC;&#x201C; a whole Dory fish, uncut, served with braised fennel and witlof. The fish was cooked to perfection, and with a squeeze of lemon itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s the ideal way to finish. My tip: Take time to enjoy each dish and let it digest, because thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a lot to get through. And for such small portions, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s surprising how full you are by the end. The Aylesbury is located at 103 Lonsdale St, Melbourne, 3000. Call them on 9077 0451 to book or check out theaylesbury.com.au for more information.

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Beat Magazine Page 57

INDUSTRIAL STRENGTH MUSIC INDUSTRY NEWS & GOSSIP

with Christie Eliezer * Stuff for this column to be emailed to <celiezer@netspace.net.au> by Friday 5pm INAUGURAL ‘GENERATE’ FINALISTS ANNOUNCED Federal Minister for the Arts, Simon Crean, announced 15 music execs as finalists for the new music enterprise investment program Generate. It was set up by the government and the biz to invest in original, innovative ideas and business models. It will provide business-development knowledge, skills and expert mentoring support, alongside access to seed investment of up to $30,000 per business. Final investment amounts for each applicant will be announced in May. The government has provided funding to the Creative Industries Innovation Centre (under Lisa Colley) which is delivering Generate via the Australasian Performing Right Association (APRA|AMCOS), and supported by the Australian Music Industry Network (AMIN). Among the finalists are Stephen Green to expand SGC Media and find new global opportunities for Aussie music; Julia Wilson to build the Rice is Nice label through an artistcontrolled model; Tim Byrne of KISS FM to review its business planning to find new markets in the dance sector and grow market share; Jen Cloher of I Manage My Music to develop a company providing skills development for self managed artists; Nick Wallberg of Tram Sessions In to help create a Victorian tourism/live music project; Claire Collins to strengthen her company Bossy Music and support skills development of music managers; Craig May to develop new label Create Control; Glenn Dickie so Stage Mothers can build an export-marketing brand promoting Aussie music at markets abroad; and Marshall Cullen for Soundslikecafe to build a new platform to connect café owners with listeners and musicians.

ARIAs FOR GOLD COAST? Could the ARIA awards end up on the Gold Coast? Billy Cross, the promoter behind Summaﬁeldayze, says he is talking to organisers about securing it for Jupiters Hotel and Casino and the Gold Coast Convention and Exhibition Centre. ARIA CEO Dan Rosen told us, “ARIA is approached by numerous state and regional bodies about hosting the Awards and it is something we give due thought and consideration to. We are in the planning stages for this year, and will let you know when we are about to make any announcements.”

THEIR NAME IS BLOOD! The Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne is collecting vials of blood from collaborators on their Record Store Day project The Flaming Lips And Heady Fwends. These include Bon Iver, Nick Cave, Ke$ha, Neon Indian and Erykah Badu. The publicist of a major label was, hilariously, called recently to attempt to collect one of the vials from the above artists and mail it to the States. Coyne said, “I don’t have everybody’s blood just yet, but I collected quite a few vials of blood and it’s actually sitting in my refrigerator as we speak... I’m going to try to take that same concept and put little bits of everybody’s blood in the middle of this record. Like a glass specimen thing.” These will be for limited edition copies for hardcore fans. Or Dracula.

VALE ZORAN ROMIC Chocolate Starfish’s Zoran Romic lost his year-long battle with non-Hodgkins lymphoma on March 31 in Melbourne. He would have been 47 this year. Despite his “nicest guy” label, the Croatian-born guitarist was a driving force in Starfish’s rise to fame, primarily as a dynamic live act. He also proved to be a shrewd businessman when, in 2003, he and Starfish drummer Darren Danielson set up Fur Group, which included a record label, tour company and management company. Last year, as Starfish decided to go back on the road, Romic was diagnosed with the cancer. Last October, members of Badloves, Models, The Ferrets, Boom Crash Opera, Screaming Jets, Pseudo Echo and Real Life came together for a benefit gig. He is survived by his wife Linda and their two teenage daughters. At the time he said he wanted to live to see the two girls go on their first dates, graduate and embark on careers. “There’s a lot to live for,” he said.

MUSIC VICTORIA MEMBERSHIP Music Victoria, which has been kicking ass for musicians and the industry since it formed, is holding its first ever membership drive. Called Jump On The Bandwagon, it runs from April 16 to 30. Obviously if you join, you get benefits like Qantas and Virgin baggage allowance, professional development workshops and research into underage gigs and Centrelink benefits. Obviously the larger the membership, the more powerful Music Victoria will be in getting things done. See musicvictoria.com.au.

4ARM: SIGN TO RIOT Melbourne’s modern thrash merchants 4ARM have signed to the Riot. “We’ve had our eyes on these guys for a while now,” says the label. Said the band’s Danny Tomb, “We are stoked!” Riot will release their Submission For Liberty album in Australia through Warner Music on April 13.

ANDY & ADRIAN LEAVE JOY After eight years, 550 shows and 1,400 hours on air, Joy 94.9’s breakfast team Andy & Adrian tune oﬀ on April 5. Andy has a gig on commercial radio, and Adrian will focus on his ninemonth-old twins. They ask listeners to have a drink with them at ICE Café Prahran (30 Cato Street) from 6.30pm that day.

THINGS WE HEAR * Gay rights activists in Russia are calling on Madonna to cancel her August 9 show in St. Petersburg to protest the city’s new anti-gay regulations. But La Ciccone says she’d rather play there and create awareness of the law. * Future Music festival reported a 22% rise in sponsorship revenue for 2012. * Chris Brown’s people rejected reports he will join Rihanna at Supafest. * Just days after Jet announced their split after a period of nonactivity (interestingly both Jet and Powderfinger played their last shows together at the ‘Fingers’ final show), Short Stack threw in the towel. Frontman Shaun Diviney heads to America mid-year to write, get a new project together and rediscover his love for music. * There was a furor last week when The Grates tweeted that Kiwi fans tipped them off that the new ad for Weetbix in NZ sounded like their Aw Yeah. But by the end of the week, the tweet, which called the company “jerks”, disappeared and their label Dew Process gave us a “no comment”. * Virgin Australia’s new baggage allowance for musos hit a glitch when Canadian band Madison Violet loudly protested they were hit with a $1,200 fee for 10 luggage pieces for a flight between Sydney and Melbourne. An embarrassed Virgin returned the money. * Cold Chisel play their first overseas show in 30 years – the Hard Rock Calling 2012 concert in Hyde Park in London in July alongside B. Springsteen & The E Street Band, Soundgarden and Paul Simon. * If The Black Keys don’t make it to Oz in October, will they join the Big Day Out lineup in 2013? * The four single members of Brit pop cuties One Direction have been told by their US record company: no girlfriends and no sex, so as not to alienate fans. * Old hard rockers don’t f-f-f-ade away: Kiss, grumpy about not being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame quipped they’d buy the Hall and sack everyone in it… meantime, Brian May says if he wasn’t in Queen, he’d love to be in AC/DC. “They know their style and it’s incredibly pure.” * AWOLNATION single Sail has gone platinum in the US, with 1 million downloads, and double platinum in Canada.

WANNA WORK AT CHANNEL [V]? Channel [V] has launched a search for a new presenter. Criteria: “18 years or older, have music blazing through their veins, be prepared to circumnavigate the globe covering major music festivals and events, have the guts to ask the gritty questions and be able to hold their own when face to face with the likes of Lady Gaga, Radiohead, Kanye West or Slash.” You get paid for

CHET FAKER BY PATRICK EMERY

It was happenstance, and a latent passion for Chet Baker’s twisted, tortured and emotive brand of jazz that led Melbourne musician Nick Murphy to adopt the name Chet Faker as the nom de plume for his electronic-beat-pop outfit. While Murphy is adamant that Chet Faker is largely Nick Murphy under a convenient pseudonym, he does concede that it’s reasonable to assume Chet Faker is an alternative identity. “It’s just me, really,” Murphy says. “But I agree it makes perfect sense to assume that it’s a separate personality. I knew there was another musician in Melbourne by the name of Nick Murphy, so I knew I had to pick another name. I’m a big fan of Chet Baker, and also his vocal style, and I really wanted to imitate that approach, so that’s the name I chose.” Murphy’s musical education had begun via his parents’ divergent music tastes. “My parents are divorced, so I grew up with two different musical households,” Murphy says. “My mother listened to a lot of Motown, and my dad listened to chilled out Ibiza, Ministry of Sound. So I think my music is between those two types of music. And I was also really interested in folk music, like Bob Dylan when I was growing up.” Murphy began making his own music in his garage when he was 15, taking the best part of eight years before he was happy with the final product. That product, reflected in the debut Chet Faker EP Thinking In Textures, was never intended to jump out

Beat Magazine Page 58

and grab the listener by the proverbial throat. “When I started writing I was really interested in the idea of background music,” Murphy says. “I was really interested in music that would compliment the thinking process of someone listening to it, rather than dominate it.” Murphy used his truncated experience as an audio engineering student to bring his musical vision to life. “I didn’t ﬁnish my audio engineering course at RMIT, but even doing it was a massive change in realising what I could do,” Murphy says. “Just realising that you can create your own sound, rather than relying on someone else.”

it too! Register details on vmusic.com.au and complete a series of audition tasks.

GOOD NEWS FOR GLOBAL MUSIC Figures from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) show things are starting to look up for the music industry. CD sales continue to fall but digital increased enough to start balancing things. Last year overall sales fell by 3% to $16.3 billion, compared to an 8.9% fall in 2010. Physical sales continued to drop (by 8.7% to $10.2 billion) but digital sales rose 8% to $5.2 billion. Digital now make up 31% of all recorded music revenues compared to 29% in 2010. The biz sees that future digital sales will increase, with new legal services, wider subscription services and “the revolution in portability.” In the U.S. and Korea, digital already outsells physical. Digital subscription revenues grew 65% to 13.4 million users. “2011 was a signiﬁcant year in the evolution of the digital music business,” said Edgar Berger of Sony Music Entertainment. America remains the biggest music market, followed by Japan, Germany, the UK, France, Australia (now moving up to #6 spot from #7), Canada, Brazil, Netherlands and Italy. Adele’s 21 was biggest selling album around the world last year with 18.1 million copies (the highest sales since Eminem’s The Eminem Show in 2002 with 13.9 million) followed by Michael Buble’s Christmas and Lady Gaga’s Born This Way. Bruno Mars had the top two global best-selling digital songs of 2011 with Just The Way You Are and Grenade, selling 12.5 million and 10.2 million respectively and LMFAO’s Party Rock Anthem third most popular with 9.7 million.

LABELS LOSE RADIO CHALLENGE; NOW LOBBYING STARTS Record companies and their artists will lobby federal MPs to lift a cap on fees paid by radio for playing music. Last week the High Court unanimously rejected its challenge via the Phonographic Performance Company of Australia that the cap was unconstitutional. In 1968 the Liberal government, convinced by the radio sector that it would collapse otherwise, decreed that commercial radio had to pay no more than 1% of its ad revenue (which works out at $4 million for 260 stations). The ABC pays 0.5c per head of population ($100,000). The PPCA says radio in NZ, UK and Canada pays up to 5% of earnings and that Aussie labels and artists are losing $1 billion a year. CEO Dan Rosen said, “It’s artiﬁcial, it’s anachronistic and it’s time for it to go. It’s protecting a billion-dollar industry that doesn’t need protection and taking that money out of the pockets of Australian artists and musicians.”

EMI PUTS ON ITS DANCING SHOOZ EMI Australia will play a key role in the new London-based EMI Dance Network, a dedicated global A&R and marketing operation to find, develop and market dance and electronic artists across 23 countries. The Oz operations’ She Can Dance competition is being rolled out globally. After finding Minx and Alison Wonderland last year, the 2012 version will launch on April 5. Local signings Empire Of The Sun, Miami Horror, Sam Sparro, Ricki-Lee, Gold Fields and 360 found international recognition in the dance sector, resulting in the signing this year of The Slips and The Aston Shuffle.

KARNIVOOL THREE Why is Melbourne the most loved city by Karnivool? Because two shows were sold out, and a third one announced for their Melodias Frescas tour.

DEAN JONES EXHIBITAT CHERRYROCK An element of August 28’s CherryRock012 in ACDC Lane is former cycling champ turned artist Dean Jones’ installation, exhibition and performance. Boarded Up features 17 mixed media works with his rock’n’roll style around the theme of communication. Jones will also perform with his band. The Chet Faker project came of age when Murphy – a confessed perfectionist (“and sometimes a control freak, but I’m working on that,” he laughs) – was finally happy with the music he’d created. “I’ve always been a massive believer in spending time on creating the music, rather than convincing labels and that sort of thing,” Murphy says. “This project really started when I decided to sit down and start writing the music that I wanted to make. I suppose that I’m lucky in some ways that people are liking it, but I’ve also put a shitload of effort into this music.” The decision to record and publish under a pseudonym – and Murphy’s scant biographical detail –infers that Murphy has, maybe subliminally, created Chet Faker as a musical identity distinct from the ‘real’ Nick Murphy. “I don’t think that’s the case immediately,” Murphy replies. “But maybe it is down the track because of what I choose to put out. Because I get to choose which songs I release as Chet Faker, this second character does tend to come out, including through media content. I suppose even what I’m doing now in this interview does tend to shape an alternate character.” In a post-modern world, public identity is constructed through a variety of public discourses and dominant media and political institutions. For Murphy, that provides him with the scope to create and refine the public persona of Chet Faker. “I’m aware that the public persona of an artist is a very big thing,” Murphy says. “Sometimes music can be much more about the persona that you portray than the music that you make. A lot of my songs are about situations that I’ve been in, and emotions that I’ve experienced, so I can always edit parts of me out of the public eye.” Murphy recently took his craft to the United States, playing seven shows over a 10 day period. The reaction was positive,

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LIFELINES Expecting: Robbie Williams blogged he and wife Ayda Field are expecting their ﬁrst child. Dating: Ruby Rose and dj/makeup artist Dj Soulre aka Lauren Abedini, according to the Melbourne Herald Sun. Dating: Katy Perry and French musician and model Baptiste Giabiconi who is moving to LA to be with her. Married: ‘50s rocker Jerry Lee Lewis, 76, for the seventh time. His new wife Judith Ann Coghlan Lewis, 62, was married to his cousin Rusty. In fact, Rusty’s older sister Myra married Lewis in 1957 when she was 13 and was his third wife – which caused outrage and almost capsized his career. Ill: US soul man Bobby Womack has been diagnosed with colon cancer. Arrested: Korn drummer David Silveria for drink driving. In Court: Justin Bieber could face legal action over his prank tweet when he gave a phone number (with last digit missing) to 19 million followers to call him. Two Texans claim they got 1,000 calls at all hours, and will sue...unless Bieber gives them concerts, cash and endorses their new online project. In Court: Fawzy Hamdan, one time security guard at Cronulla’s Fusions club, lost his security licence even though criminal charges against him that he beat up a patron, were withdrawn (after the victim went overseas). Died: US country and bluegrass legend Earl Scruggs who pioneered a three ﬁnger style, at 88. His hits with Lester Flatt included Foggy Mountain Breakdown and The Ballad of Jed Clampett. Died: Eric Lowen, of songwriting duo Lowen & Navarro (Pat Benatar’s We Belong), 60 from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

BOMBA TAKES BUSTAMENTO INTO STUDIO Bring on the bongos, island guitars and trumpets. After a pilgrimage to Jamaica, Nicky Bomba took his new six-piece project Bustamento into the studios to cut a Caribbeaninspired record. He found classic and rare tunes during his visit, and wrote new numbers covering the calypso, mento, early reggae and ska. “I’m really diggin these recordings and the fact that we tracked 23 songs in a week kinda says it all.” Bomba says. That the band includes his brother, Michael Caruana, has increased the vibe: “We both love the happiness that music brings. We often stopped and said… ‘Would Mum like this?’ She’s a bit of a party girl so we kept that in mind.” The album is one of the ﬁrst projects from his Music Fellowship from the Australia Council.

FESTIVALS #1: STONNINGTON JAZZ UNVEILED Stonnington Jazz (May 17 to 27) boasts a 100% Aussie bill with 40 performances in various venues. It was programmed by Adrian Jackson, artistic director of the Wangaratta Jazz Festival. stonningtonjazz.com.au.

FESTIVALS #2: VIBE RETURNS Vibe festival, which celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, is back on August 8 and 9. Activities include dancing, rapping, singing, painting and sport. Schools can register online at vibealive.com.au and volunteer by email to vibealive@outthere productions.com.au.

SKIPPING GIRL REACH THE STARS With some help from artists and scientists, Skipping Girl Vinegar sent up their mascot Baker The Monkey into outer space. The low rent space ship was made from foam and gaﬀa tape. During the three hour trip, Baker climbed to over 110,000 feet above the earth’s surface, four times higher than what commercial ﬂights travel at. The ship was attached to a giant weather balloon, travelling up to 200km/hr, with temperatures going as low as -50C.

GEELONG PALAIS REVIVAL GETS THUMBS-DOWN Plans put forward by Geelong Palais owner Frank Tripolino to revive the venue’s glory days, were turned down by Geelong Council. Tripolino’s scheme was to create a multi-level arts, entertainment and conference centre. Council said it was not appropriate for a residential area (it got 22 objections), and that it would mean knocking down a heritage-listed building next door.

both from audiences and the industry-types who took him to lunch. “I had a lot of good lunches on the house,” Murphy laughs. “Those sorts of things can be good, but they can also be painful. There were some when I was drenched in compliments, and there was no mention of business at all. I think these days artists have to be a lot more business savvy, because you can lose a lot if you sign the wrong contract. I don’t think I have to sign my life away for 15 years, just on the basis of a free lunch!” CHET FAKER launches Thinking In Textures at The Toﬀ In Town on Saturday April 21 (soldout) and Sunday April 22. The EP is out now via Opulent/Remote Control.

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 59

COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES

TOM BALLARD DOING STUFF As seen on The Project, Spicks And Specks and Can Of Worms and heard hosting triple J’s breakfast show, Tom Ballard returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival and he is Doing Stuff. Triple J proudly nurtures emerging Australian artists. Proud supporter of Raw Comedy and Class Clowns, Tom Ballard acknowledges the amazing opportunities for budding Australian comedians. “I’ve been really lucky, getting into class clowns that’s really helped me out, and I have a lot of people on my side.” While the comedy gods have smiled on Tom, he has by no means merely ‘lucked’ into his success. Stand-up nights run late, and waking up at 4am after performing can’t have been a riot. “I became a comedian so I could sleep in but that’s all kind of backfired on me.” Lack of sleep aside, Tom cherishes his work on triple J describing it as “the coolest job”. The love for his job is reciprocal; Tom has a legion of utterly adoring fans. Before his radio and stand-up days, Tom graduated dux of his year and was accepted into Monash Law. His career-counsellor mother could have easily been horrified at Tom’s decision to embark on the tumultuous stand-up comedy career path. Fortunately he reveals, “My parents have been nothing but supportive, so that’s been really nice.” As so poignantly stated by Tom: “making money out of [standup] is a-whole-nother question.” Getting his gig as full time radio host soothed his parents’ concerns about income. “I think once they realised that I do have a full time job, talking about my penis and making hilarious observations about life then they sort of relaxed.” Since we easily arrived at the topic of ‘penis’, I felt comfortable asking how he felt about delivering lines like “constant quest to unleash the jizz” in front of his parents. He agreed that he does have moments when he cringes at the thought of their reaction. Rather than changing the material, Tom chooses to accept that it will be ‘awkward’ performing it. “Ultimately I don’t think you can write comedy for your parents, so you have to do what you think is funny and live with the consequences.” Tom’s latest show Doing Stuff indeed ventures into his worst ever gay sexual experience. Tom’s guileless delivery will surely lead to a delightfully awkward tale. Tales of awkward sexual experiences aside, the show’s title Doing Stuff is not pertaining to doing ‘it’. Tom describes it as being primarily about becoming more politically active. “I’ve been lucky enough to have a bit of a profile so for the past

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year I’ve tried to use that to do stuff about things that I’m really passionate about.” Tom has always had an interest in politics and social issues. Through high school he was involved in public speaking and debating. The public speaking background will be of little surprise to anybody who has seen Tom perform; he is extremely engaging. Unfortunately it can be a difficult balance between exercising a political presence and avoiding annoying your audiences. ‘Doing Stuff’ isn’t written in response to a particular slander, but an observation that political activism can be irritating to others. “People don’t like to be preached at or told what to think and what to do so I’m trying not to do that in this new show.” Tom feels Australia in particular tends to be “very disengaged” politically. Luckily for Tom, the past year has been ripe with increasing political awareness. “People are starting to care about stuff”, and this is another focus of his show. “I feel like right now talking about what is going on in politics is a lot more acceptable because it’s just so dramatic at the moment.” Tom rattles off just a few of the many issues that have become common discussion points. Look at QANTAS, marriage equality, Kony, and the Labor leadership woes. There is a calm manner about Tom, even when he talks about things he is passionate about. He does, however, admit that the show is very emotive. “A lot of the show is me ranting pretty ridiculously about the issue of gay marriage so I’m not always the coolest, calmest cat around.” BY TESS WOODWARD

Tom Ballard performs Doing Stuﬀ at The Swiss Club until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7pm (6pm Sundays). Tickets are $20-$26 and are available from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.

JOY & DESPAIR

Dave Thornton has been on Good News Week, Studio A, Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation, The Project, The White Room, The Late Shift, Bed Of Roses, Comedy Inc. and sold out shows internationally. Charismatic and compelling, watching Dave take to the stage is an absolute treat. Self proclaimed ‘breathing enthusiast’ Dave confesses: “breathing has been a lifelong endeavour to be honest”. But I digress, believe it or not there’s a little more to Dave than his oxygen intake. Dave has a degree in Graphic design, which he stopped practicing to pursue his career in stand-up and television. “You just don’t get a round of applause at the end of a graphic design shift. For a person who is an attention seeker, a desk job is not the place to be.” Dave ponders for a moment and concludes: “Except if you’re David Blaine and it’s a desk in Time Square in a bubble filled with water next to a big clock”. Would this be something Dave might pursue if he tires of stand-up? “Would I drown for publicity? Well people still remember Harold Holt but maybe I’ll leave it… I couldn’t be a breathing enthusiast anymore if I drowned.” After years of experience, Dave happily admits he still gets nervous. “Yeah absolutely….” he began to reply as his phone dropped out. When he is back on the phone he continues: “so yeah I do still get nervous, that’s the sort of thing that makes me nervous. Completely cutting off a journalist.” While he may still get nervous, watching Dave perform is a treat. He doesn’t falter, transitioning from one joke to the next with enviable ease. Dave still feels refining his performance skills is an endless endeavour. As soon as he feels he has fixed one aspect of his performance, a new issue emerges challenging: “but you’re not all over THIS are you?” Suddenly the process begins again. “It’s infuriating but you’re constantly challenged.” Recently Dave has been working on a podcast with fellow comedian and friend Tommy Little. It gives him a newfound freedom of expression and his fondness was palpable when he spoke of podcast Slapbang. “Established forms of media can worry about what you can and can’t say but it seems like the Internet is like the Wild Wild West”. His new show The Some Of All Parts is about being requested to inspire a class of 12-year-olds. He couldn’t help but wonder

why they would ask a stand-up comedian to fill this role. Genuinely humble, Dave explains that society has perhaps skewed their priorities in the age of celebrity obsession. “The people you might put up on a pedestal mightn’t necessarily be the right people for the job. If you’re looking for inspiration sometimes you can just look at the bloke down the street.” Inspiring a class of not yet “fully grown humans” Dave was taken aback. “I just couldn’t believe they were 12. I’ve been to other schools before, a handful of times but at a HSC level.” While the high school kids may have been pretty chuffed, Dave got the impression that these 12-year-olds didn’t even know what a stand-up comedian was. “I just wanted to cross it all out and replace it with ‘Quidditch champion’, or something that would impress them.” That’s just the thing, kids that age can be blasé, even blatantly unimpressed. Dave is no stranger to being embarrassed in front of a group of young, judging eyes. “I do remember one of the first girls I ever kissed, we were sitting on a mate’s bed at a party when I was about 14 and I was trying to be a bit swish and lean her back as I kissed her. Unfortunately I leaned her back with too much force and she smacked her head on a windowsill and bled. She had to bandage her head up and go home. Can’t believe I just told you that one”. BY TESS WOODWARD

Dave Thornton is performing The Some Of All Parts at the Swiss Club until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 9.30pm (8.30pm Sundays). Tickets are $20-$26 and are available from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 or at the door.

SAM SIMMONS ABOUT THE WEATHER

MICHAEL CHAMBERLIN “It’s essentially just my worldview. I’ve lived a life of extremes,” Michael Chamberlin says of his Melbourne International Comedy Festival show Joy & Despair. “It’s a life of contrasts. I’m reasonable but irrational, brave but a coward, a know-itall who knows nothing at all. A romantic but a filthy perve.” Those contrasts are set against the backdrop of Chamberlin’s move to Sydney last year for seven months, a period which he says crystallised his worldview. There wasn’t a specific moment that suggested that this would be his next show - no huge fully formed nugget of an idea dropping from the comedy heavens and bonking him on the hardhat – but the move definitely inspired …something. “When you move to a new town, I think you probably approach it almost like a new year’s resolution: things you maybe want to change, or a new start. I wasn’t on the run or anything, there were a few things I wanted to change, and that’s what I discuss in the show. But it never works out.” Chamberlin has performed stand up on Rove, Stand Up, Stand Up! Australia, and, as his bio proudly proclaims, ‘best of all, made Bert laugh on Good Morning Australia.’ But that’s not all. His writing highlights include being a core writer for skitHOUSE (on which he was also a featured performer) and a contributing writer for Rove, a season on Before The Game, and as head writer for Can Of Worms, not to mention his current gig with Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight. So how does one juggle writing and performing, eh? “At a time like this, like the Comedy Festival, it’s done with great difficulty, really! The preparation for the show is always mental. I’m currently working down at Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight, so that’s been a juggle. But at the same time…fuck… I went up to Sydney in May and worked there until about September. So I did have about three months to kind of potter around and do my own stuff before I got back here again and got back into full-time work. So you just try to get as much done there as you can.” In fact, Chamberlin recently scored a pretty sweet writing gig: pitching gags for the one and only Mr John Cleese. “He came out [to] host the mini gala at the Opera House in Sydney. He did three sketches during the show, and they needed

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someone to kind of localise the script. They’d done versions of it in Canada so there were a few Canadian references. So I just had to put Warnie gags in. You’re never gonna lose if you’ve got Warnie to fall back on.” When your humble journalistic narrator tells Chamberlin he often dreamed of being a comedy writer, if only his jokes were funny to anyone else besides himself, the Professional Comedian Of Much Reknown chuckles a knowing chuckle (sweet, a laugh). “That’s the worst thing,” he says. “When I do a bit and I go, ‘That’s really funny. That’s really funny,’ and then I try it and it gets nothing, I go, ‘How was I that wrong? It’s really funny’.” Unless, Chamberlin says, the audience is a child, whose sense of humour is so much more simpliﬁed and spontaneous: “Then you just hold them upside down.” BY PETER HODGSON

Michael Chamberlain performs Joy & Despair at the Victoria Hotel until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 9.45pm (8.45pm Sundays). Tickets $23 Saturdays, $23/$20 Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays, and $20 Tightarse Tuesdays from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.

His show The Precise History Of Things, 2011 saw Sam Simmons take out the Metro M Award for Best Comedy; The Best Comedy award at the Adelaide Fringe, and received a nomination for the Best Comedy at the Melbourne Comedy Festival. Not yet done showing the world just how much critical acclamation somebody can get in one year, Sam was also nominated for the Fosters Edinburgh Comedy Award for his Meanwhile show. After such an unfathomably successful year, Sam returns to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival with his new show About The Weather. This show has already received rave reviews, but after 2011 what else could we expect from Sam Simmons? King of absurdist humour Sam Simmons is unlike any comedian you will see this festival. Zany has never been so perfectly reﬁned. “I guess I’m not like the other comics. I’ll often get a lot of people looking at me like ‘what are you doing’?” It took a while for Sam to etch his own audience. Certain people don’t like to stray too far from their preconceptions of what stand-up comedy should entail. People can relax into expecting to have every aspect of a show explained, but Sam doesn’t conform to people’s expectations. Sam explains: “I like confronting people and making them think”. Some have taken this lack of predictability to mean that Sam is simply eccentric by nature. “Journos lump me into a bag of ‘you’re just weird, why are you weird and why do you make the audience feel weird’”. What some may fail to understand is that Sam’s idiosyncratic style is an art form and his sole intention isn’t to make an audience feel ‘weird’. Sam has now found an audience that appreciates surreal comedy. “The act is quite broad now. I’ve got a big audience and they’re up for it.” Describing the audience as ‘up for it’ is humble to say the least. His last few shows have had people gasping for air through their laughter. It helps that he enjoys writing shows. “I’m in a really good spot where I make money out of what I do and out of what I love doing”. Sam’s new show About The Weather is very tech heavy. I caught Sam as he was preparing for an entire day of rehearsal to ensure the technology will be running smoothly. He was hauling heavy bags into a packed lift of rather alarmed tradies. His latest masterpiece is “a play which is really interesting as

BEAT’S COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY OLD MOUT CIDER

well.” His shows have usually contained theatrical aspects, but this is a new format for Sam. “It’s been good, I love doing it. It’s more holding the audience for an hour with a narrative- that’s been really interesting.” But don’t worry, it will still have quintessential moments of Sam Simmons. “It’s still pretty chaotic and I had to break out of the play at times and talk to the audience.” For those of you that have any doubt, your confusion will be laid to rest when Sam addresses the audience shouting “It’s a play!” “It’s about small talk because I’m not into it. All the subtext that goes under a conversation about the weather and stuﬀ like that.” Small talk tends to be a resourceful tool people resort to when they feel uncomfortable with silence but have nothing of importance to say. It makes sense then that somebody who enjoys challenging people might not be ‘into it’. “Old people, they’re bang up for talking about the weather because they’re lonely which I can absolutely respect. Also men in general, they don’t know how to communicate.” Its accurate perceptions like that which creates a great foundation for Sam’s shows. They might have surreal elements, but they involve insightful social observations. Sam Simmons is in his prime. Highly commended by adoring fans and critics, you don’t want to miss this surrealist master. “I think it’s a lot bigger than any show I’ve done”. Considering the grandeur nature of previous shows, this comment should not be taken likely. About The Weather will be a tornado of energy, a downpour of uncontrollable laughter, and is sure to take Melbourne by storm. BY TESS WOODWARD

Sam Simmons performs About The Weather at the Melbourne Town Hall until April 22 (with no shows on Mondays). It’s at 9.45pm TuesdaySaturday, and at 8.45pm Sundays. Tickets are $24$30 and are available from Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 or at the door.

Don’t Miss These Stars of Comedy!

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Beat Magazine Page 61

COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES

MICHAEL WORKMAN

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GUESS WHO?

MERCY

It’s been described as ‘not your average night of laughs’ and in fact on paper Michael Workman’s Mercy almost comes off as more performance theatre than stand-up comedy, but the show has already proven itself a hit at the Adelaide Fringe. So what is it? “This is a show about freedom of speech, told through the story of a Cuban dissident in the ‘60s who criticises Castro, and is exiled on a boat full of cabbages,” Workman says. “It’s … complicated.” The show was first performed late last year in the Sydney Fringe. Then Workman headed to the Adelaide Fringe, where Mercy received rave reviews. Since its debut the show hasn’t evolved so much as been refined. “I’ve tightened it up a lot, but all of the stuff has always been there. Most of my work happens prior to any preview. By the time I get to preview stage the show is very close to being complete. I don’t think I would have thought to write in this style if I had have been left to my own devices. I’d never previously shown any interest in this subject, but now that I’ve researched it and looked into it, it’s quite fascinating.” The show was around a year in the writing, from initial idea to execution. “I guess the original inspiration came from a flash of an image of a man in a boat with a bunch of cabbages,” Workman explains. “I worked backwards from there and tried to figure out why that would happen. And this is what I came up with. I’m sorry I don’t have a better explanation than that! These things are pretty mercurial – sometimes they just appear!” Sure, Cuban cabbage exile is not the most obvious theme for a comedy festival set, but then again, Workman isn’t the most obvious comedian in the festival either. Pre-comedy, he followed an entirely different but equally creative muse: “A great way to get into comedy is to just be incredibly depressed and self-loathing, and all that kind of stuff,” he says with a shrug that’s audible over the phone line. Basically, I was a musician and all of my instruments got stolen in a break-in. So I was very down and very depressed, and I was looking for a way to connect with people again. And then this came along.” And as sucky as the break-in and its impact were, things seemed to work out: in his first six months as a comedian Workman won the national RAW Comedy competition and performed in the Edinburgh

Fringe Festival. From there he went on to star in the prestigious Comedy Zone showcase at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival in 2010, and last year he won the coveted Best Newcomer Award. And he was able to take the money he made from comedy and use it to replace his music gear. Phew! “It was a good little cycle to go through.” BY PETER HODGSON

Michael Workman performs Mercy at Melbourne Town Hall until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 8.15pm (Sundays 7.15pm). Tickets $23/$20 for concession, preview and Tightarse Tuesdays. Book now via Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 or at the door.

Kevin Kropinyeri has been described as a one-man whirlwind, and in his show Guess Who? he runs figurative rings around topics such as growing up, marriage and, as he describes it, the particular, absurd tangles of life as an Aboriginal Australian family man. “It’s a bit of Aboriginality 101, more or less,” he explains. “It’s a high-energy show, very comical, and it gives you a brief insight into what it’s like to be a black fella, an [Aborigine] in Australia, and our hilariously hilarious take on the world.” Kropinyeri has a background as an educator, artist and community worker, and true to form his show draws on some of this background as well. “You can expect to learn something but have a good laugh as well,” he says. “There’s a lot of physical humour, but it’s a different type of comedy show, because there’s not too many Aboriginal comedians out there, and it’s unique. What’s funny to us as [Aborigines] is not necessarily funny to a non-Indigenous crowd. So over the past 18 months in particular I’ve really developed our comedy to make it funny for a wider audience. It’s been a really good challenge for me, and I feel I’ve got the right mix now.” Prior to comedy, Kropinyeri was making a living as a full-time artist. He still paints from time to time now as his schedule allows, but in his pre-comedy life he sold paintings and created murals and sets, including one for the Deadly awards at the Sydney Opera House. “Once you get paid to do something you love, you’ll never work a day in your life,” Kropinyeri says. “It’s been a bit of a journey. Doing what I’ve been doing with the comedy, if someone told me I’d be travelling around Australia making a living as a comedian five years ago, I would have said ‘Yeah, right.’ Y’know? And falling into it the way I have…I stay humble and keep working on it, but the success I’ve had, I have a great indigenous following throughout Australia. So I’ve been performing and touring for my people for four years, and now

it’s time to take our comedy to the rest of Australia.” This is Kropinyeri’s first ever Melbourne International Comedy Festival season, but he feels he’s hitting the ground running after clocking up plenty of stage hours over the years out on the road. “I’m a relative unknown for a lot of people, and yet I’ve been touring nationally for three, going on four years now, and making a living off it for the last three years. So I’m coming to the festival pretty polished. That’s what my manager’s pretty happy about. Not too many people come to their first Melbourne [International] Comedy Festival with the experience that I’ve had.” So, any parting words for the MICF audience, Kevin? “Yeah. Just expect a real funny experience, to come along and see Australia’s number one indigenous comic! There ya go!” BY PETER HODGSON

Kevin Kropinyeri performs in Guess Who? until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7pm (6pm on Sundays) at Melbourne Town Hall. Tickets $20–24 through Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.

TIM FITZHIGHAM

IDIOTS OF ANTS

Idiots of Ants are a successful four-piece London-based sketch comedy group who have become increasingly well-known in the UK due to their TV appearances, innumerable YouTube views and a highly successful Edinburgh festival show running for the last few years. Beat caught up with the charming, jetlagged and very English Elliot Tiney who is extremely pleased to be performing for the ﬁrst time in Melbourne as part of the Comedy Festival. “We’re going to be in Australasia for 57 days,” Elliot tells me, which is how I know he’s English (who says “Australasia”?) and a little bit posh. “We’ve been hoping to get invited out for a long time so we’ve been really lucky this year that we got the call.” You may have seen Idiots of Ants’ work without being aware of it – their Facebook in Real Life video became a viral sensation back in 2008 and has so far clocked over 9 million views. Before they knew it, their viral video became a “meme” of sorts. “We were delighted that that it had to so many hits but the best thing was that other people on YouTube, they’d take the script and make their own version of the sketch. That was really fun – there was some German girls that did one, a couple of eight year old girls did one, this church group did one. They somehow made the Facebook characters kind of religious and it was kind of weird.” The other three boys, Benjamin Wilson, James Wrighton and Andrew Spiers, met at the University of Birmingham, with Elliot then meeting Andy at Drama school. The call went out in their friendship group asking for people to get together and do some sketch comedy and the rest is history. That was just over six years ago. Elliot explains that most of the writing is done by himself and Ben, who then bring scripts back to the group, then workshop them in front of audiences, usually at ‘Crash Test Comedy’ in London, a night they run for trying out new sketches. He says the key to sketch comedy writing is thinking about new ideas all the time. “As soon as you sit down in front of a blank computer screen, nothing happens. But often when you’re having a shower or chopping vegetables or doing anything then suddenly this seed of an idea enters your head then it’s just about writing it as quickly as possible.” Elliot is excited about this show as it’s basically a mash-up of their most successful skits. “This is exciting, this show. We do the Edinburgh festival every year or we have done for the last ﬁve years. We’ve gotten great reviews, we’ve been nominated for awards and in 2012 we won

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the Chortle Award, it’s been great. But this show is kind of a ‘best of’ from all ﬁve years. There’s two sketches from each of the years. It’s a pleasure to do this show as each sketch we’re doing is one of our top sketches.” It’s hard not to see the appeal of the Comedy Festival, with over three and a half weeks relaxing in Melbourne and just one show to do each night. “Normally we’re more like a band – when we tour the UK we’ll do one or two nights in a venue, then we’ll move on to the next one. The very idea that we’re settling down in this city for three and a half weeks now is awesome. You get to know a place, get more of an understanding of a city. “Of course there’ll be lots of boozing in the bar. I kind of did all the sightseeing when I was here two years ago so I don’t feel the pressure, I feel like I can just sort of actually live here for a bit. “When the show’s up and running it’s going to be like an hour’s work every day. Hangovers aren’t a problem because they’re gone by the time you get to work.” BY ROSE CALLAGHAN

Idiots Of Ants will be performing at the Melbourne Town Hall until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 8.30pm (7.30pm Sundays). Tickets are $29.50 Saturdays, $29.50/$25 Fridays, $28/$25 Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, $23 previews, and $24.50 for groups of eight or more from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.

Comedian Tim FitzHigham has done some pretty incredible things throughout his life. He has rowed a bathtub across the English Channel, paddled a paper boat 257 kilometres down the River Thames, run up and down an active volcano, and inflated the world’s largest balloon. He confessed he has always enjoyed establishing if things are ‘possible’. Tim FitzHigham is not like any person I have ever spoken to. Even through what must be thick waves of jetlag, Tim spoke of minute inconsequential Australian details with wanderlust. “Even the birds sounds different,” he admired with an incredible amount of vivacity for a fresh arrival from England. “Wow it’s a long flight isn’t it?” Regardless of flight length Tim consoled in the fact that: “scatterbrained is just a constant state of being for me so I’m not going to let that trouble me too much.” Tim’s excitement to be in Australia completely eradicated his jetlag. He sounded fresh from a full eight hours sleep. “This place is HUGE! This is the most impressive country I’ve ever seen!” If anybody thinks that all English people are miserable, I challenge you to meet Tim FitzHigham and still defend this thought. ‘Curious’ would be an accurate description of Tim FitzHigham. He read about a man taking a paper boat out onto a river and found himself wondering, “Can you take a paper boat out on the water. How far can you go in a paper boat?” They require serious commitment and have created lasting impressions on Tim. “Yes there’s always a nervous moment when I lower myself in the bathtub it’s fair to say. “The thing is there were probably people in Australia who have rowed further than the channel to get a beer I’m guessing,” he quipped, clearly still marvelling at the sheer size of our country. What was going through Tim’s head as he ran on an active volcano? It was pretty simple: “try not to throw up. The closer to the top of the volcano you get, the more the air is thick with sulphur. “You know that awful smell when you light a match? Obviously don’t go sticking a flame under your nose if you’re reading this.” I pointed out the irony of him telling people to not let their curiosity make them do something ridiculous. Laughing, he agreed this was slightly hypocritical. Breaking world records and performing unusual personal challenges has not always been a matter of mere curiosity. His various feats were to raise money for charities. Blowing up the world’s largest balloon was about creating awareness of environmental issues. This was no small commitment: “It did take me a day. I passed out twice.” In breaking the world record for the largest balloon ever inflated,

BEAT’S COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY OLD MOUT CIDER

Tim proved that one man can indeed make a diﬀerence. The cabinet minister was at the press conference and answered one of Tim’s questions with an unguarded statement. The result was that he had accidentally agreed to discuss an issue with the environmental agency in Britain that he had until then been avoiding. A large bubble of trapped air put a stop to endless hot air and ﬁnally the issue was thrust into the public sphere. Ever modest Tim stated: “You just hope that you can do as much as you possibly can.” When a friend suggested telling his adventures on stage Tim was initially taken aback. “It was a complete revelation to me that I could do comedy about the journeys.”’ Tim’s new show Gambler is about his latest journey. Tim realised that a lot of his previous challenges were actually bets, he just hadn’t always viewed them as such. “I guess I’ve always been dancing around the topic of this for a long time.” Tim dedicated a year to a ‘gambling archaeology’. “We attempted to take on ten of the weirdest wagers in history and the show is just the pure and simple results of that.” With promises of trying to outrun a horse, rolling a cheeseboard four miles in under 100 throws, and wheelbarrowing from Hertfordshire to London – Gambler has pretty good odds at being a scintillating show. BY TESS WOODWARD

Tim FitzHigham performs Gambler at the Victoria Hotel Until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 8.30pm (7.30pm Sunday). Tickets $31 Saturdays, $31/$25 Fridays, $29.50/$25 Wednesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, and $25 Tightarse Tuesdays and previews, from Ticketmaster 1300 660 013 and at the door.

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COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES DIRTY MIMES

How many parents would be ﬁne with their daughter running away to the circus and marrying a clown? Michaela O’Connor’s family saw it coming. From a theatre and gymnastics background, it was no shock when she decided to run away to the Millennium Dome in London. She and husband, Shaun Kempton, were trained up for two years and were on the circus track from then on. Having performed all over the world, they’re bringing their best material to the MICF for their new show, Dirty Mimes. Dirty Mimes is aerialist and comedienne Michaela O’Connor, lead clown from Cirque De Soleil Shaun Kempton and comedian opera singer Michael Cooke. They have performed around the world and for the ﬁrst time they’re bringing their best work to Melbourne. “When we say mime, it’s not in the traditional sense at all. I mean Marcel Marceau would love it – he would laugh a lot – but it’s not really mime. We’ve had the training but the show is not traditional,” Michaela explains.

The trio have Skyping (even with a slight delay) from different corners of the planet. They’ve spent the past few weeks frantically sourcing a wide range of props for Dirty Mimes from puppets, plastic guns to prosthetic nipples. Try getting those through customs. Shaun and Michaela lived and performed in Vegas with Amos Glick (who helped write this show) and have had the chance to practise material, “You’ve just got to get out and do it and try it and bomb, then come up with something else,” Michaela says. The intimate crowd at Revolt will be a welcome change for the Dirty Mimes who have in the past performed for thousands. “It does change with a smaller audience because the bigger ones can be quite faceless. We can be a lot closer, more intimate and get a direct response from the audience. We’re totally looking forward to it.” Mimes and theatre performers are particularly talented at keeping a straight face. “It’s really hard and sometimes I do [laugh] and Shaun tells me off which makes me laugh even more. It’s even worse in a small audience; you’re much closer and more vulnerable. You’ve just got to be in the zone and be in

character”. A trained aerialist, Michaela has to keep up her training and skills. “I had a bit of upper body strength from gymnastics and dance as a kid so I really took to it. I just did a cabaret in Japan and Cirque De Soleil let me use the trapeze tent so I got to utilise their equipment. I guess I’m doing a bit more of the comedy because it’s current and I’m really enjoying it.” In Michaela’s own words, Dirty Mimes is 60 minutes of fast paced comedy. It’s irreverent, fast, all over the audience, crazy, beautiful, charming and then they’ll slap your face with more funnies. Life’s not slowing down after MICF for Michaela and her young family. They’ll continue their globe-trotting to London where Michaela has been selected among the world’s best aerialists to perform at the London Olympics, “We’re waiting to find out what the deal is and what we’ll be doing. We know it’ll be aerial! This year’s been crazy. After being in Vegas doing the same thing for five years and now it’s crazy, upside down!”

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You can catch Dirty Mimes at Revolt Melbourne from Tuesday April 10 until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at 7.30pm (6.30pm Sundays). Tickets $22.50/$18.50 and $15.50 Tightarse Tuesday via the venue 9376 2115 or at the door.

BY TESS ARMSTRONG

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JON BENNETT MY DAD’S DEATHS

Jon Bennett’s dad died at least twice. Not figuratively, but in a literal pulse-stopping, toes upturning corporeal dead-as-a-doornail sense. Once, he died when he fell off a ladder. Once he had a heart attack. Once, on a hunting trip as a 17 year old, Jon accidentally shot him. But he kept waking up somehow, and this tenacious guy that would not die for more than five minutes is also the subject of Bennett’s pretty dark comedic oeuvre, a different approach to his last visual installation and routine Pretending Things Are A Cock. My Dad’s Deaths is filled with Bennett’s family stories about growing up with a clerical father, who was the local minister, schoolteacher, bus driver and all around good-guy, but idealistically conservative, Family First voting, and a strict, serious man. “It’s sort of (about) my relationship from me growing up as a kid with this very serious man who I thought had been dead on numerous occasions. So it follows that, and me accepting him as a person, and him accepting me as a person who does cocks and makes weird comedy stuff.” Jon Bennett’s dad always had aspirational hope for his son. To be a poet, or an author of a great Australian novel of impressive writing prowess. Most people suppress their undergraduate urges for the sake of parental approval, but not Jon Bennett. As the title would suggest he’s best known for placing objects close to his groin, pretending they’re his man parts and taking photos of them. The best laid parental plans often go astray, the adage (kind of) goes, and his “pillar of the community” father couldn’t always control the vocation of his sons. One of Jon’s older brothers, for example, is serving time. This ongoing familial battle for identity and understanding is off-beat material for a ‘comedy’ show, I posit, and Bennett agrees. “It is dark, and it’s more about the relationship that I have with my dad. The shows have been going well so far and people have really responded to this, because he’s a very interesting, enigmatic man. (But) there is a very serious side to it and it does get quite emotional. On the first night there were some tears from the audience members.” But don’t expect all darkness. There’s a bit of cock-emulating in this show, too. Just look at the event poster where the show’s title is attached to Bennett’s thrusting hips. He’s got cocks on the brain, so much that it changed the course of his career. “A few years ago I really settled down, and I bought a house, and I quit comedy and my dad was kind of proud of that and helped me move into the house. Then I sold my house, broke up with my girlfriend, quit my job and went around the world making things like the Statue of Liberty cocks.” But it’s worked in his favour, from what started out as an irony doused joke between housemates. And how has his cock show managed to capture the attention of audiences here and internationally? “It’s very relatable. And that’s how it started – I was making fun of people who actually do this. I’ve got three older brothers and they would do stuff like that. And it was me and my housemate making fun of that and it just turned into this weird, weird thing, and now I can’t shake it. In August I go to Edinburgh to do the Pretending Things Are A Cock Show, and I’ve done it in Montréal and in the States.” His new show certainly covers different ground though. The most burning question My Dad’s Deaths presents is did his dad ever, finally, kick the bucket? “I can’t divulge that information. You’ll have to come to the show and find out!”

BY TESS WOODWARD

Catch Jon Bennett performing My Dad’s Deaths at LOOP Project Space & Bar on Wednesday April 4 (9pm) and Sunday April 8 (at 7.30pm). He’s also playing at The Tuxedo Cat from Thursday April 12 - Sunday April 22 (except Wednesdays) at 6.15pm (5.15pm Sundays). Tickets $20/$15 for concession and previews through Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 or at the door.

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JOE ROWNTREE

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COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES

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KHALAFALLA THE COMEDY ZONE

Khaled Khalafalla’s background is more interesting than most. Of Egyptian decent, he grew up in Saudi Arabia where he was taught by Americans, lived in New Zealand as a child, before finally moving to Australia. Being Egyptian for Khaled means he is “African, Arab, and everyone thinks [he] is Indian. [He] is the three most discriminated against groups in Australia all rolled into one easy-to-stab-on-a-train package.” Since qualifying for the 2011 Raw national finals, Khaled has continued to brave the stage and returns with a brand new set. Khaled’s decision to quit his job at The Age, having earned a degree in journalism, to pursue a career in comedy wasn’t well-received by his family. He was certainly breaking off from traditional familial career paths. His father and brother are both doctors, his mother a dentist, and his younger brother is an engineer. “My parents are really happy supporting anything I do so long as I have a plan B”. When asked what his plan B was, he promptly corrected my assumption and explained that he didn’t want to have one. Whilst he understands his parents’ concern at his unlikely career choice, he also feels that not taking a chance at the opportunity would be “making an absolute mockery of their sacrifice to come here.” Khaled explains that proving he hasn’t made the wrong decision is an additional catalyst in his quest to triumph in the comedy scene. ”I think I’ll succeed because I have no other choice.” Though his parents were hardly thrilled at his career decision, their move to Australia practically enabled his comedy career. Saudi Arabia isn’t exactly a bastion of comedy. Its underground practitioners meet in secret locations. Comedy is an art form that requires you to talk about your personal – and universal – struggles. “In Saudi Arabia your personal struggles are basically the ideologies of condemnation. This is what everybody likes to talk about, but talking about that will get you condemned.” Khaled’s Egyptian heritage and Muslim upbringing has often made him feel his comedy material is unfairly pigeonholed. “I had to really think critically and philosophically about what it means to be different, because I don’t feel different but I need to read an audience and know what they expect of me.” He explained that audience’s immediate expectation is derived from the superficial, and they expected the “race shtick”. Khaled felt the need to play to this, and this tactic did indeed please his Raw Comedy audiences in 2011. Khaled has this year decided to reject his audience’s preconception that his material will conform to racial stereotyping. Instead his new trajectory is to share his own perspective on material he genuinely cares about. “I am a little bit more in the public eye and people will automatically assume that what I say on stage is actually what I believe so I need to be slightly more careful and that’s what made me think a little more about my identity.” When asked if he has caused offence with playful quips about the harsh-sounding nature of the Arabic language and cultural stereotypes, Khaled agrees. “Other Arabs have

Giveaways So, even though we’ve still got dozens of giveaways on our website - you still want MORE? Sheesh, you guys are harder to please than my ex-girlfriend in the bedroom. That said - she was amputated from the waist done. We’ve just added giveaways for Michael Chamberlain, Ryan Walker and Claudia O’Doherty! Friggin’ go and win some tickets. Get onto beat.com.au/freeshit now, now now. I wanna’ go to Mount Splashmore (take me, take me, take me, take me now).

come up to me and told me I’m selling out for making a mockery of the Arab culture”. So what can we expect from his new show? “Expect a lot of people to be oﬀended, it will be more abrasive,” Khaled laughs. No longer holding back in anticipation of losing his audience, Khaled admits he has been trying to accurately represent himself and his culture in a way that he can feel proud of. “The content is more related to stuﬀ I would like to talk about and broadcasts what I think should be common knowledge.” But he also understands the need to present a show that is both humorous and digestible to a Western audience. Unique, charismatic, and extremely funny, Khaled Khalafalla is a must see at this years Comedy Festival. There is simply no doubt that Khaled will continue his comedic success.After all, there is no Plan B. BY TESS WOODWARD

Khaled Khalafalla is performing in The Comedy Zone which runs until Sunday April 22 (except Mondays) at Trades Hall at 9.30pm (8.30pm Sundays). Tickets $22.50/$18.50, $21 for groups of four or more, $18.50 Tightarse Tuesdays and previews from Ticketmaster online, 1300 660 013 and at the door.

PROUDLY SERVING OTHERS

Review Paul Foot

Still Life

Whether it’s his comical name, his outrageous haircut or his sense of humour, Paul Foot is simply hilarious. Foot’s show, Still Life, begins with an “oﬀ-stage announcement” that continues for approximately 10 minutes. It is surely a talent to command a room full of laughter from an audience peering at an empty stage in the dark. “Why rush?” questions Foot, “we should be enjoying every moment in life.” When he ﬁnally enters, it is not through the curtains but through the same door as his audience. The majority of the show is about the show. Foot cleverly explains what is going to happen while simultaneously acting it out. When Foot gets excited, his voice jumps a couple of octaves and he dances around like a stuttering kid trying to tell a story. He consults hand-decorated cue cards containing “glimpses” into his mind and his jokes. The gags are nonsensical stories, similar to many of the bizarrely entertaining one-liners in The Might Boosh. He ventures into rant so long (about pierce Brosnan owning a cockle sanctuary, for example) that it somehow passes the point of tiresome repetition and emerges out the other side as funny once again.

Perhaps the highlight is Foot’s complete disregard for personal space. Don’t like close talkers? Don’t see Still Life. Foot stands on chairs, goes nose-to-nose with unsuspecting audience members and borderline sexually assaults a male audience member when his extreme alter-ego, Penny, takes to the stage looking strangely like Foot in a $2 paper mask. But Foot’s genius shines the most when he introduces a toy horse on a stick. Turn it upwards and he’ll speak English. Turn it upside-down and he’ll blurt gibberish. Turn it on it’s side and it’s somewhere between the two. He never falters. Paul Foot is strange, intense and quite possible insane, but you’ll laugh so hard at his absurdity that the second Still life is over, you’re almost guaranteed to leave with a Foot fetish. BY SOFIA LEVIN Paul Foot: Still Life runs until Sunday April 22 at Melbourne Town Hall.

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PROTECTIVE SERVICES OFFICERS Help keep our train stations safe. Become a PSO. Visit policecareer.vic.gov.au or SMS “proud” to 132 001. POL0090

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COMEDY FESTIVAL COVERAGE CONTINUES

THE COMEDY FESTIVAL CLUB

T AT

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Wil Anderson Wilarious

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Go and see Wil Anderson live, and you’ll realise just why this quintessential man of Australian comedy has dominated the Melbourne International Comedy Festival stage for the past 17 years. With his loud and, at times, obscene anecdotes which constantly have the audience gasping for air, there is also a distinct sense of tranquillity that surrounds his stories, and the man himself. Having seen Wil perform live numerous times, I was almost adamant that I could anticipate what was to come with this performance. Not the jokes themselves, but rather the comedic level of each punch-line. What I was not to anticipate, however, was just how engrossing and, at times, confusing each yarn could be. To put it bluntly, the man knows how to go oﬀ on a tangent. And I don’t mean that in a negative way. Never have I seen someone so composed that they are able to spend twenty minutes digressing from an original story – so much so that it has nothing to do with what they were initially talking about – only to bring themselves back to their original point perfectly. This happened in the show more than once, actually. I often found myself looking around at the audience every time he’d revert back from a tangent, and watch as everyone looked on in a state of “Holy shit. How did he even remember what he was talking

about?” Yes, I understand that he’s had to write, perfect and practice this routine, but as someone with a public speaking and debating background, I know from experience that going oﬀ on impromptu tangents can often leave one high and dry. Speaking on everything from his father’s heart attack and his battle with osteoarthritis of the hips, to that time he was going down on a girl and she fell asleep or the time an old Russian lady moved his man parts in order to get a decent x-ray, there was never a dull moment throughout the entirety of his performance. Despite maintaining that ‘comedian’ label, there’s a real truth behind Wil and his stories. Using his intellect and quick-wit to connect with the audience, it was evident that, despite being in his 18th year of the festival – a title that could not be held by many others, he appreciated each and every moment that he was able to connect with the audience, and vice versa. If, for whatever reason, you’ve lost belief in comedy, head to one of Wil’s show and your faith will be restored. BY SIMONE ZIADA Wil Anderson is Wilarious. Playing at The Comedy Theatre for Festival until Sunday April 15.

David O’Doherty Looking Up

I don’t know about all of you, but there’s just something about an Irish accent that I can’t resist – especially when they’re cracking a wise-ass joke or two. Hailing from one of the “most depressing parts of the world” (his words, not mine), Irishman, David O’Doherty, returned to Melbourne to present a new series of sung life stories and rants. And believe me, there were plenty. The majority of David’s “jokes”, rather than being jokes at all, were all very much surrounded around the difficulties of life that greet us every day – something that we can definitely all relate to. Yet, like the professional that he is, he was able to put an immaculate spin on each of his woes and turn those frowns upside down. Prior to going into his show, I was only familiar with his singing comedy. I even remember turning around and saying to my friend, “Surely he can’t sing scenarios for an hour straight?” And I was right. Integrating both stand-up and sit-down comedy, David took the audience on a journey through the heartaches and triumphs of his past year – mini keyboard and all, and just why the saying “Life’s too short” makes no sense whatsoever. His opening song about life, fittingly titled Life, was the ultimate introduction to his show, and perfectly prepared the audience for just what was to come for the remainder of his hour-long set. Well, prepare them as much as he possibly could. David hilariously sang about just how tough things can get at the best

BEAT’S COMEDY FESTIVAL GUIDE 2012 BROUGHT TO YOU BY OLD MOUT CIDER

of times, like a recent break-up with his “dog-faced” (again – his words, not mine) ex-partner at the end of last year and the disillusions of romance, or his ordeal with trying to hunt down the world’s smallest mouse in his sitting room by calling the only pest control guy that was around on December 26. And yep, he even turned to singing fragments from Cosmopolitan’s 1001 Greatest Sex Tips handbook – sidenote, apparently treating your boyfriend’s man parts as a ring toss as you throw homemade onion rings around it is one of the greatest sex tips. Ladies...? But no matter the heartache that he felt towards the latter end of last year, a few giant “screw you-s” through song was enough to get the Dublin comedian the ample material that he required to put on a performance like none other. If you enjoy a good laugh whilst simultaneously giving the world the middle ﬁnger through song, then this show is deﬁnitely the one that you need to see. BY SIMONE ZIADA David O’Doherty is Looking Up, and will be singing his way through the Comedy Festival upstairs at The Forum until Sunday April 22.

DJANGO DJANGO BY JOSHUA KLOKE

Vincent Neff can finally spend some time reflecting. After four arduous years spent crafting Django Django’s self-titled debut in an east London bedroom with his old art school buddy, drummer David MacLean, Neff is happy to look back on the time spent building not only their incredibly catchy and eclectic full-length, but the expectations that the band had four years ago. “Not really,” says Neff when asked if the band had a vision of what exactly they wanted the album to be beforehand. “I moved down to London about seven years ago. About a year and a half later, I heard Dave was moving down. I’d kind of lost touch with him. We’d kind of planned to do something together in Edinburgh, but we never really got around to it. We were just too busy in the pub. It’s very easy to fall into the pub culture in Scotland. We met up and we talked about what we were into. I had a bunch of songs and he’d grown tired of doing that straight dance stuff. I’d grown tired of just having these songs sit there. We just said, ‘Well, let’s give this a crack.’” Reached on the phone from his London home, digging into a plate of vegetarian spaghetti Bolognese at the behest of his vegetarian girlfriend, Neff can certainly be proud of the result of those four years. Django Django is a remarkably self-assured debut which defies standard classification. It would be easy to call it “quirk-pop,” but that wouldn’t do justice to the record’s density of sonic textures. Yet four years is a long time to stay committed to one project. Neff admits that while there were challenges in creating Django Django, taking their time ended up being the best option. “It was around February 2010 when Dave and I went full tilt on the album. So up until that point it was still very sporadic in terms of the way we recorded. We’d work on one song over a few weeks, do a bit of gigging, so we weren’t very focused. We were also trying to get the live thing going and we also built our own studio a few times over; we kept getting moved from place to place. We were in construction while we were constructing the album,” he chuckles. While Neff cracks wise throughout our interview, it wouldn’t be fair to lump Django Django into the indie-slacker genre. Neff and drummer MacLean still adhere to the mentality they adopted at art school in Edinburgh: take what you can get and work well with it. “Going to art school you learn quite early on that no one’s going to give you a bunch of money to make a nice, luxurious product,” says Neff.

“A LOT OF PEOPLE HAVE TOLD ME THE ALBUM IS VERY COLOURFUL. A LOT OF TEXTURE AND COLOUR. THAT’S THE STRENGTH OF IT” “You’ve got to make do with what you’ve got. And art students don’t have a lot of money. We tried to achieve what we could with the means that we had. We never really thought about making demos and working with a certain producer. We just thought, ‘Here’s the songs, let’s just do them as well as we can.’ That was very much about coming from an art institution, learning to adapt and create with what you’ve got. In terms of the songs themselves, there are layers of complexity to them. What might start as something simple would require something added to it. What may appear as something very superficial at first, we were convinced there was something underneath it. Dave came from a more Fine Arts background and in terms of how he works and how he arranges things, it’s very spatial. He colour coats things; a lot of people have told me the album is very colourful. A lot of texture and colour. That’s the strength of it, I think.” Django Django may indeed be a strong record, but for the four-piece, the hard work begins now. After a wash of critical praise from major media outlets, they’re set to bring the record on the road. Any pressure that the band is feeling to live up to the hype has taken a back seat to simply being excited about the opportunity to share the fruit of their labour with their fans. “It’s obviously different from November, when we went on a relatively quiet tour. And this one, finishing the LP, and then a ton of the shows are already sold out. We find ourselves in a very different position from where we were a few months ago. We’ve done our work in terms of playing lots of small gigs over the years. We’ve dissected the gigs and now I think we’re coming into our own. We starting to get it; we’re starting to really enjoy it.” “Yet they’re still very small clubs,” continues Neff. “Sold out, sure, but still only 150, 200 people. It hasn’t really freaked us out much. We’re enjoying it and we’re happy to have people know our songs and perhaps react when we play certain songs. It makes us more excited.” Django Django is out now on Because Music/ Warner Music Australia.

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Beat Magazine Page 69

AMON AMARTH

BY ADAM ROBERTSHAW

Swedish death metal bruisers Amon Amarth are something of a phenomenon. In their illustrious 20 year career they have carved a name for themselves as the premier purveyors of Viking themed heavy metal. Formed in Tumba, Sweden in 1992 Amon Amarth (the Swedish translation of Mount Doom in JRR Tolkien’s Lord Of The Rings) have released eight albums full of tales of warring gods and epic stories about the mighty Viking race. If you’ve not seen them before, prepare yourself as they are getting ready to lay waste to venues across Australia when they tour here in April. I had a chat with their surprisingly softly spoken bass player Ted Lundström about what to expect. “What to expect? A Swedish, Nordic death metal band singing about Vikings, headbanging and hair spining. Expect a heavy metal show!” Writing solely about Vikings and Norse mythology could be seen as a bit of a risky move in today’s music industry as there is a chance it could alienate a lot of potential fans who can’t really relate to the subject matter, however, Amon Amarth have managed to gain themselves a huge international following. I ask whether he is worried about the icey, fantastical lyrical themes not translating to the laid back, “sun, sea and surf” way of life in Australia. “It’s a good question actually, we can’t really tell for Australia but I know that for a fact that everywhere we go, like if it’s in Latin America or North America or Asia or wherever, the audience seem to really enjoy the lyrics we have and the Norse mythology. I guess it’s kind of exotic to them. They’re really interested in it, so after the shows they come up to us and they’ll ask questions about the lyrics and Gods and everything.” Speaking of which, Amon Amarth really do take pride in their lyrics, and with 2,000 years of history as their

starting point, they certainly have a wealth of material to draw from. Whereas most lyricists draw from personal experience and explore an infinite range of themes, it may seem to some that they have created more work for themselves in that department due to the amount of research that must go into getting the stories and historical facts right. Luckily for them they have Johan Hegg, their giant Viking of a vocalist, who takes an almost scholarly approach to their lyric writing. “Our singer is very interested in the whole history of Vikings and Norse mythology so he will take care of that. Musically we don’t try to do ‘Viking’ music, we just play death metal. But it’s his thing, his real interest, so it’s easy for him to come up with the lyrics.” When we were young they didn’t really teach much about old Nordic religion and history, it was all about the big religions and stuff but the kids today learn more about it than we actually did, so that’s one of the reasons why we wanted to write about

JOHNNY GIBSON BY PATRICK EMERY

In the eyes of many rock’n’roll practitioners, drummers should be heard, and rarely seen. According to rock’n’roll mythology drummers are a notoriously fickle bunch, with a reputation that traverses the spectrum from volatility to unreliability. It’s an observation Johnny Gibson, drummer in a cluster of local bands including the Swedish Magazines, Raised By Eagles, The Currency and Wally Corker’s Drunk Arse Band, is happy to take on the chin. “I think I’m alright!” Gibson laughs. And reliability is critical to Gibson’s own move from the drum stool to the front of the stage, and performing as a singer-songwriter in his own right. Gibson grew up in Penguin in north-west Tasmania, a small town about 20 kilometres from the comparatively bustling port town of Burnie. Like many of his contemporaries in Melbourne’s Taswegian expatriate community – including Van and Cal Walker with whom Gibson would subsequently join in various musical pursuits – Gibson indulged his nascent musical interests in whatever way he could. “I played in a couple of punk bands in Tassie when I was younger, when I was about 14 or 15, just hanging out in mates’ garages, just bashing out songs on guitar and singing,” Gibson says. Just over ten years ago, having moved onto drums “out of sheer boredom”, Gibson joined the exodus out of Tasmania, heading across Bass Strait to more accommodating musical climes. “Penguin is a pretty town, pretty nice to grow up in, but there’s no real gigs to play or see on the north coast,” Gibson says. “Van,

Will Hindmarsh and Zane Lynde had just got a house together, and they kept a room free for me.” Van and Cal Walker had transported the Swedish Magazines over to Melbourne; some years later, Gibson would take up drumming duties in the recalibrated Swedes. “To start out with I used to muck around a bit with Will in the garage, playing along with a beatbox sort of thing that Will was programming lots of weird sounds on – it was really hard to stay in time with it,” Gibson laughs. Gibson moved on to play drums in a band with Tim Burke (Cherrywood), before being drafted into the Swedish Magazines. In his spare time Gibson continued to noodle around on guitar, trying his hand at his own brand of songwriting. “I always played around on guitar, trying to write songs,” Gibson says. “The first songs I’d written would’ve been in the first band I was in Tassie when I was 16 or 17, but I didn’t write the lyrics for those songs.”

Vikings, because of the interest we had. We wanted to explore more because we didn’t get enough from school.” He gives a modest laugh when I suggest that it’s way cooler to learn about your country’s culture and history from a death metal band than from a teacher. The band’s last album Surtur Rising was released last year on Metal Blade records. The album is loosely based on the story of the Norse God Surtur, a mythical giant with a flaming sword, and by all accounts was received well by critics and fans alike, debuting at 34 on the American top 200 Billboard album chart. “I mean, it’s exactly a year old now, and it was received really well all over the world. Over the course of about three or four years, Gibson built up a catalogue of original material that would eventually appear on his debut solo recording, Endless Search For Gold. “It’s pretty nerve-wracking to move from drumming to playing guitar and singing, but I think I’m ready for it,” Gibson says. Gibson has played ‘three or four’ gigs on his own, often on the same bill as long-time Melbourne music stalwart Duncan Graham, on whose Tripper’s Advocate Records Gibson has released his new album. This Thursday’s album launch at the Old Bar, however, will be Gibson’s first gig with a full band. “We’ve practised a fair bit – hopefully enough!” Gibson laughs. Gibson has been fortunate enough to find an enthusiastic supporting ensemble, including Lachlan Ryan from the Swedish Magazines and Callum Salter from Go-Go Sapien, with guest spots from Van and Cal Walker, Jan Palethorpe and Will Hindmarsh. Gibson’s lyrics are inspired by the everyday fare of life, both his own emotional encounters and the experiences of others in his broader social community. “I guess in some songs I’m trying to tell a story, though I don’t know whether it comes across that way – songs like New Year’s Eve and Without Mine are ‘love gone wrong’ type songs. Sometimes it’s good to get it off your chest,” Gibson says. “The title of the record comes from a song that I wrote about a guy I stayed with for a fair while in Tassie for a few years. He’d just separated from his partner and they had a young son, and it was a break-up, and he never got to see him, and it was really sad to watch. So that song was written from the kid’s point of view, hanging out with his old man,” Gibson says. With his time balanced between half a dozen bands – Streams Of Whisky, the Pogues tribute band in which Gibson plays with Steve Milligan, was recently invited to play a string of dates in New Caledonia – Gibson doesn’t

From both media and fans the response was excellent so it’s been a pleasure being out touring this album. People like it and they come to the shows and are happy when we play the songs from it, but now we are starting to work a little bit on the new album. We’re concentrating on touring at the moment but we have a few parts of songs ready for when we finish touring so we can start work on [the new album].” AMON AMARTH bring the Sutur Rising tour to Billboard The Venue on Monday April 16.

see his solo activity as presenting a particular focus; rather, it’s an opportunity for him to refine his craft as a songwriter, and attract enough people to come along and watch him play. “I just hope people come along and enjoy it, and maybe sell a few CDs on the night,” Gibson says, “and maybe get some more gigs out of it later on”. JOHNNY GIBSON launches his debut album Endless Search For Gold at The Old Bar this Thursday April 5 with his Dirty Dozen. Support comes from Bell St Delays and Tim Scanlan & Friends. The album is out through Tripper’s Advocate Records.

SHERIFF

BY PATRICK EMERY

For local band Sheriff, inducing the audience into physical and psychological response is as much a mission statement as it is a band philosophy. “We like to go full throttle for the whole show to make it as entertaining as possible,” says Sheriff guitarist Tom Watson. One particular gig in rural Victoria sticks in Watson’s memory for band-audience interaction. “We played this gig at a restaurant in Warrnambool, and we basically played on the floor,” Watson recalls. “I got on the table and started playing guitar, and the bouncer came up and was basically telling me to get down. When I’d got off the table I went up and started playing guitar in his face, and he started getting into it and dancing. It turned out he was the owner of the place, and he got us beers, so that was pretty cool,” Watson laughs. Sheriff formed in mid-2008 from the ashes of other, now discarded local outfits. The band took its name from Watson’s propensity to wear a sheriff’s badge he’d bought from a local second hand store. “It’s not a very exciting story,” Watson concedes, “but I suppose the idea of a sheriff’s badge does fit with the southern influence that we have.” Watson is aware that there is another Sheriff on the rock’n’roll block, namely a Canadian arena band from the early ‘80s. “They were pretty big in the ‘80s, basically a one-hit wonder,” Watson says. “If it ever came to a head, we’d probably just add a hyphen between ‘she’ and ‘riff’.” Beat Magazine Page 70

The band’s riff-heavy aesthetic derives from classic rock bands of the calibre of Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath and Queens Of The Stone Age. “Our guitarist is really into big riffs,” Watson says. Along with the riffs comes Sheriff’s exuberant and occasionally confrontational on-stage attitude. “I’ve always had the philosophy that people don’t want to see some guy sitting down and going on about his love life or political issues,” Watson says. “I like to wander into the crowd and get into people’s faces. Sometimes we get into it so much that we end up vomiting at the end of the show – just after we’ve left the stage, usually,” he laughs. Sheriff played its first show at Revolver in Prahran; the gig was the catalyst for a run of shows. “After that show we basically gigged constantly without ever having to book a show ourselves,” Watson says, “because we kept on being asked by other bands to play with them.” The enigmatic reputation of Melbourne audiences proved no obstacle. “We don’t really want to give people the opportunity to drift off and start a conversation with the person standing next to them,” Watson says. “And even if the crowd doesn’t really know who you are, it’s great

to get off the stage and play a solo in someone’s face.” Last year Sheriff went into the studio to record a four-song EP, including Simon Young, based around a Frankenstein-inspired narrative. “Our past drummer wrote the lyrics, and he was big into those classic old horror films,” Watson says. While Sheriff bills itself as ‘southern-psychedelic-horror-blues-rock’, Watson knows the challenges of assuming the mantle of a ‘horror’ band. “We’re still not sure whether we’re worthy of the ‘horror’ title,” Watson says, “especially when you’ve got Graveyard Train, who’ve got a whole catalogue of horror songs.” Watson describes the three-piece Sheriff as a

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‘functioning democracy’, with a recent change in drummers presenting no problems to the prevailing democratic harmony. “Our original drummer retired last year, we ended up recruiting the bouncer from our favourite pub,” Watson says. “He’s a pretty intimidating guy. He used to kick us out from the pub, so then we asked him to join the band,” he laughs. SHERIFF play the home of rock’n’roll, Cherry Bar, this Saturday April 7 with support from Jackals and Sun God Replica. Tickets available on the door.

HENRY ROLLINS BY OSCAR SCHIESSER

First off, the obligatory list of nouns that may be used to describe this person; musician, traveller, actor, spoken word artist, humanitarian, author and self confessed workaholic. I can only think of two people who fit this description, and this article does not feature William Shatner (although the two did collaborate on a track). Henry Rollins is definitely a unique human, and the opening paragraph to any articles about him try to cram as many descriptions and as much backstory as possible into those first few sentences. So lets just get into it shall we? Fresh from the European leg of his tour, Rollins was already pumped to get on the road. “I’m 32 shows into this tour. I got back from Italy Friday evening from a whole bunch of European dates and so this week I’m here in Los Angeles, basically doing press and getting ready to get out of the door again and do a month in America and then get myself to Australia. It started in England and went to Ireland, Scotland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Switzerland, Italy and I think that’s it, oh and Austria.” For those keeping count, that’s more countries than some heavy-weight bands hit when touring Europe. Rollins has performed in almost 50 countries over six continents. That in itself is impressive, but more so is his desire to continue adding to that number. “I’ll be getting to Poland in August, so that will be a first for spoken word for me there so I’m looking forward to that. Otherwise all the other places I’m going this year, South Africa will be the third time, Australia like the 25th time, New Zealand 20th time, and then I go back to Europe in August for festival dates in England, Scotland, Germany, Poland and then it’s America ‘til the end of the year. So on my own I might do some travelling, but as far as shows we were very lucky to be able to add Poland and Italy to the roster this year. I don’t know where else I could go, I mean there’s the odd one-off now and then where I do a show in Dubai for a bunch of, you

know, expats, and that was cool but it didn’t inspire the promoters to ask me back. I mean the show was fine but so far no one’s said ‘Hey come running back’, which I would do. I’d be happy to do another show there. I’ll take a show anywhere.” You may have just read that as “I’ll take a show almost anywhere”, what Rollins meant was literally “anywhere”. In addition to the previously mentioned, he has also hit Israel and Russia, and recently became the first USO performer to visit the US troops in Egypt. “There’s just like small bases with eight hour drives between them, and no performer wanted to talk to 100 people then drive eight hours to the next place. So I said ‘I’ll take that action! I’m your guy for that!’ That’s perfect for me, driving all day in the Sinai Desert? Are you kidding? Awesome!” Even when not on tour he has a tendency to keep filling his passport, next on his list? “I want to get to Uzbekistan and I want to get back to Azerbaijan. I want to get up to Kazakhstan and maybe get back to some other places. I want to get back to Vietnam and get to the centre of the country. There’s a lot of people in the middle of the country who are still suffering agent orange contamination effects and I want to see that first hand. I want to photograph it, I want to interview these people, I want to learn more.” “I’ll have inhale years and exhale years. In an inhale year, like last year, I will travel and get information so

“NOTHING JUST

WORKS OUT, YOU HAVE TO CHOREOGRAPH EVERYTHING AND ALL OF THIS IS DESIGNED. I DON’T JUST HAPPEN TO DO ANYTHING, IT’S ALL BEING WORKED.”

I can have something to say on stage while I spend a whole year exhaling. So an exhale year, I’m on the road touring and the material is derived from all the crazy stuff I did last year. 2013 will be a year of brutal, relentless travel to get information, stories, anecdotes, sentiments and opinions for the epic tour that will be 2014, and this is kind of how I do it. Nothing just works out, you have to choreograph everything and all of this is designed. I don’t just happen to do anything, it’s all being worked.” In case you’ve never been to a Rollins spoken word show, or watched one of his DVDs, his travels are unsurprisingly a frequent part of his talks. You can expect him to be on stage for around two hours – though sometimes up to three – so the breadth of

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subjects covered can be more diverse than the studies of a Melbourne Arts student with no major. This gives him ample time to jump wildly from stories of his experiences abroad to political critiques to tales from the Black Flag days to amusing behindthe-scenes insights from his acting career. They are entertaining, informative and many other adjectives as well. But with two of his three upcoming shows sold out you didn’t need to be told that, did you? HENRY ROLLINS will be appearing at The National Theatre, St. Kilda as part of The Long March tour, from Wednesday April 18 to Friday April 20. Tickets available from ticketek.com.au.

Beat Magazine Page 71

ALTITUDE

BY JOSHUA KLOKE

The notion of a band getting their ‘big break’ through their own due diligence isn’t an antiquated one. Certainly, there are some bands that are recognised for their immediate commercial benefits and (scooped up by profit-hungry labels, soon to be exploited.) Yet then there are acts like Altitude who received a kick in the door to the industry with a remarkable amount of determination for such a young group of musicians. The Geelong four-piece recently took home first place at the FReeZa Push Start Grand Final, one of Victoria’s most renowned music competitions. Winning this competition allowed the band a day of engineering, producing, recording and mixing from Hothouse Studios and band publicity as well. For Liam Brennan, lead singer and guitarist of Altitude, the feeling of winning the competition still has him residing on cloud nine. “We were pretty surprised because there were heaps of pretty fantastic bands that could’ve won. We were stoked though because we’d been working pretty hard on it.” What’s even more impressive about Altitude’s win was their ability to display a newfound chemistry between the band upon the start of the competition. “The first Push heat was the first gig that our newest guitar member played in,” says Brennan with genuine enthusiasm. “We used to be a three-piece. We’ve been jamming for a long time before that though.” Showing a deft sense of maturity, the garage-rockers prepared for the gig by adhering to an old adage: practice makes perfect.

“Heaps of practice and trying as hard as possible to get our songs tight,” says Brennan after being asked how the band got ready for the competition. “We’ve been planning on recording an EP for awhile, so making sure that things were tight and really trying to communicate as a band has been important. Communication has become very big for us.” The consistent practice and communication eventually paid off. As winners of the Push Start competition, Altitude were granted a coveted slot playing at the recent Push Over festival in Abbotsford, one of Australia’s most popular all-ages festivals. But if Altitude is to succeed in the music business, they’ll certainly have to deal with their fair share of setbacks. Lucky for the band, they’ve already experienced one setback and dealt with it like total pros. “I had gastro on the day,” says Brennan with no hint of regret in his voice. “I only got it that day; I felt fine in the morning, but on the way up there, I started vomiting. When we actually got up onstage, I had some troubles with my guitar getting in tune. I had to use spare guitars.

It wasn’t really going for us on that day.” “The actual gig was okay,” he continues. “We tried to have a real good time. It’s always a big thing for us to have fun onstage.” With the purest of intentions, Altitude is setting their sights on the future. Thankful to have won the Push Start competition, the band is now thinking bigger. For Altitude, the sky may be the limit, but the band understands the work ahead of them. “We’ve been planning a self-titled EP. We’re hoping to get a few tracks down soon. We’d like to get it out there

very soon. It’s our goal to break out into Melbourne soon. We’re hoping that if the EP does well, we can get into a few of the venues in Melbourne that would probably dig our sound.”

rest of 2012, including a possible album release and many more shows. “[The album is] something that we started last year,” Fatima recalls, “but we’re going to restart, and we’re aiming for June. Get recording. Josh is studying audio engineering, so he’s going to help us out. Our songs are ready to go, ready to be recorded.” And for the rest of the year thereafter? “More gigs,” Josh states without hesitation. “Apart from The Evelyn, we’ve got another show on the 21st of April in The Espy Basement,” Fatima informs us. “We’re also playing the Rock N Load Festival in May.

We’ve got June 10th at Cherry Bar, Queen’s Birthday weekend with Battleaxe Howlers, their CD launch, and Don Fernando. That’ll be a really good one too. We’re also trying to organise another Sydney/Wollongong trip, so hopefully we can do that before July. And then there’s a few regional shows that are in the works.”

giving away these tracks now, these free CDs, it’s been out there for a while, if people want to buy it on iTunes they can. But for us it was really a case of ‘Okay, let’s get our name out there and start working towards an album.’ “That’s where we’re at now,” he says, “I think we’re about 13 tracks into an album. We’re all friends so we all hand out and just constantly write, so we’ll see what comes of

that. We’ll keep giving out these free CDs, and we’ll start recording properly towards the end of the year.” We applaud their initiative, and wish them well.

ALTITUDE won the FReeZA Push Start grand final and played Push Over festival on the Labour Day long weekend. Congratulations to them and the eight other bands who participated. For more information head to freeza.vic.gov.au.

SYSTEM OF VENUS

BY ROD WHITFIELD

It’s still pretty rare to find women in heavy music. Specifically, stoner rock is possibly even more bereft of the fairer sex. To find an all-girl, or even mostly female stoner rock band is harder than finding the proverbial needle in a haystack on a pitch black night. But Melbourne, in all of its diverse musical glory, has exactly that. System Of Venus, up until recently, were an all-girl stoner rock outfit. Even after replacing their female drummer recently with new skinsman Josh, this three-piece still has a majority of female members. Josh and vocalist/guitarist Fatima spoke to us recently about this and other System Of Venus related issues. “Yeah, it is [rare],” Fatima agrees. “The influences have shaped the type of music that we play. [Bassist] Tenille and I are into a lot of stoner, and Tenille’s into her metal too. And now with Josh on board, he’s got similar tastes to us, so who knows where it will all go. And you like a lot of prog stuff too, don’t you?” she asks Josh. “Hell yeah!” he replies enthusiastically. “Stuff that messes with your mind.” While they may be categorised as stoner rock for easy and convenient classification purposes, there are a few different elements floating around within their sound that sets them apart from the stoner crowd. “We generally just say heavy rock – it’s heavy rock laced with a bit of stoner and a bit of metal,” Fatima says.

“We’re doing something right if you can’t really put it in a genre,” laughs Josh. The band have a very big show this coming Saturday night at The Evelyn in Fitzroy. It’s a massive five band lineup, sure to rock the soul of any heavy music punter in Melbourne, and the band simply can’t wait to take the stage. “The Evelyn, we’ve never played there, it’s a beautiful venue,” Fatima say. “We’re pretty stoked to be playing. And the lineup is really good, we know all the bands (Sons Of The Ionian Sea, Swigden, Moth and Battleaxe Howlers) so it should be a really fun night.” And for the uninitiated, a System Of Venus show promises a blistering, skull-baking but ultimately fun time for all. “A lot of energy, a lot of…” Fatima describes. “A lot of stage antics,” Josh completes the thought. “Yeah, stage antics, verbal antics!” Fatima chuckles. “There’s mood in the music too, so it’s quite moody, and dynamic.” “And overall a big, warm sound,” Josh says. System Of Venus also have some very big plans for the

SYSTEM OF VENUS plays alongside Sons Of The Ionian Sea, Swigden, Moth and Battleaxe Howlers this Saturday April 7 at The Evelyn Hotel.

SKYLION

BY ROD WHITFIELD

Forming only a couple of years ago, this Melbourne based pop-rock four-piece have literally dreamt up a very unique and different way of marketing their music and getting it out there to music loving punters across Australia and the rest of the world, as lead vocalist/guitarist/keysman Ryan Wodson explains. “We were burning two of the tracks off our EP [for people], but we wanted to do something a bit different,” he recalls. “We thought it might be interesting if we just started putting it out front of music shops, and clothing shops where you can leave stuff. Then I had this freaky dream where we starting giving out ten free CDs to ten people around the world, and somehow it just transformed into us just touring and playing shows and doing all this great stuff. So I woke up and we said ‘why don’t we just do it!’ So we just started burning as many CDs as we could, writing them all out ourselves, putting it out on Facebook and Melband and all that kind of stuff, and got a really good response. And so far it’s going really well, we’ve sent out almost 1,000 CDs in the last three weeks.” “It’s been amazing, and people are really getting behind us,” he explains. “We had an email yesterday from Argentina, they wanted some CDs. We’re just trying to see what it can do, what getting people can make happen.” It’s just a very interesting and different means of getting a band’s music out there, and a way to set yourself apart Beat Magazine Page 72

amongst the glut of bands that are out there trying to get a break these days. “We kinda just wanted to do something different. I don’t know about you, but I just don’t get a lot of CDs at shows these days. Everyone’s got Facebook and Myspace and Reverb Nation, and Soundcloud and all that. But we thought there’s still something cool about being given a physical disc by a band. It’s different and I hope that this will separate us from other bands.” This is the way the band has chosen to market themselves, as opposed to heading down the traditional route of an independent band releasing an EP, getting 500 or 1,000 CDs professionally printed and doing a launch at a local venue. Whether it works out the way they want it to remains to be seen, but it sounds like they’ve made an excellent start, and they have bigger plans in the works. “No, we didn’t want to make a huge deal out of it,” he states. “We think that when you’re a smaller band, there’s no real point in making a big deal out of something when people don’t really know who you are. We kind of wanted to use the EP as a platform to do more. We’re

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Learn more about the SKYLION initiative at facebook. com/skylionmusic. Their debut EP Learning To Listen is available on iTunes.

CORE

GOATWHORE

PUNK, SKA, HARDCORE NEWS, REVIEWS AND GOSSIP BY EMILY KELLY: EK1984@GMAIL.COM

So I went to the Dead To Me/Cobra Skulls show at Northcote Social Club last weekend. It was pretty much set to be the sweetest gig ever. Frankly I was pretty stoked that someone had brought the two bands out here despite DESCENDENTS there being relatively little buzz for either headlining band. I was especially chuffed to finally catch Cobra Skulls who I’ve been harbouring quite the crush on since their 2007 Red Scare debut Sitting Army stole my heart with its fast pace and provocative punk rock with lyrics ranging from man-whores, religion, stem cell research, women and the commercialisation of Ché Guevara . So I was mildly devastated to find that the band had pretty much decided to ignore said album for the entirety of their set and instead concentrate on their most recent release. Said behavior is usually expected of touring bands, but I’ve gotta digress that if you’ve never toured the country before and there’s likely to be long-term fans who’ve adored you since formation hanging out to hear a broad representation of your catalogue, then THROW YOUR FIRGGEN FANS A BONE. Nothing stinks more than waiting for years to see a band only to be disappointed by their live set. Kinda makes you want to give up on the live game altogether…..LOL. Kidding. Go see bands this weekend, there’s heaps on. I’ll be the one sulking in the corner. THE RAMSHACKLE ARMY

CORE GIG GUIDE WEDNESDAY APRIL 4: The Pogues, Barons Of Tang at Festival Hall My Morning Jacket, Dawes at The Palace Iced Earth at Billboards The Smith Street Band, Foxtrot, Japan For at The Old Bar Los Chicos, The Meanies, La Bastard, Thee Mighty Childish at The Tote

Old school metal dudes Goatwhore are heading the Australia this winter with Singapore band Impiety and Tassie band Ruins. The Underground Legions tour will arrive in Melbourne on Saturday July 7 at The Corner Hotel. And while we’re at it, Chicago based metal outfit Macabre will make their triumphant return to Australia to headline Melbourne’s High Voltage Festival on Saturday June 30 at The Corner. They’ll also head up to Geelong for a tinker at The Nash on Sunday July 1. Tickets are available now. ‘80s British punx , the Subhumans will tour Australia for the first time ever this September. Since reforming in 1998 the band have released a live album via Fat Wreck and a couple of new tracks via the band’s own Bluurg label. Catch them at The Bendigo Hotel on Saturday September 15. SILVERSTEIN

THURSDAY APRIL 5: The Specials, Lime Cordiale at The Palace As A Rival, On Sierra, The Jail Bird Jokers at Pony Edison, Grim Rhythm, Urns, Soil and Ash at The Gasometer Antagonist AD, Hallower Hybrid Nightmares, Divisions at Next Trial Kennedy, We Rob Banks, While The City Sleeps, Reckless Fools, Cash No at Bang The Statics, Letters To Past Lovers at La Di Da Road Ratz, Workinghorse Irons, Dirty Chapters, Clowns at The Bendigo

FRIDAY APRIL 6: Bellusira, Blind Munkee, Slayain, The Sh*t C*nts at Bada Bing, Frankston Hobbs Angel Of Death, Nothing Sacred, Desecrator, Harlott, Malakyte, Blackened at The Bendigo

SATURDAY APRIL 7: Party Vibez, Crater Face, Risk N Reason, Sewercide at The Bendigo The Playbook, Cavalcade, My Favourite Accident at Bang Divorced, Eastlink, Old Mate at The Gasometer Black Jesus, Rort, Soma Coma, Kicked In at The Gasometer Upstairs

SUNDAY APRIL 8:

As if having internationals Strike Anywhere and The Flatliners wasn’t incentive enough, some local supports have been added to the Anti-Flag tour this May. The Ramshackle Army are on board for Melbourne’s show at the Hi-Fi, fresh from their tour of the USA with Dropkick Murphys. Tickets are available and reportedly selling fast.

Silverstein announced Australian tour dates last week, in support of their recent album Short Songs. They’ll be playing some pretty intimate gigs including Bang on Saturday June 9 and Frankston’s Pelly Bar on Sunday June 10. Tickets are available next Monday, and local band Skyway have secured the national support.

New Found Glory, Taking Back Sunday, This Time Next Year, The Maine at Festival Hall Barbarion, Elm Street, Check Your Smile, Emerson at Plastic (Colonial Hotel) Straightjacket Nation, Soma Coma at The Gasometer Andrew McDonald, Strathmore, Gpop at The Bendigo

MONDAY APRIL 9: Sublime With Rome, Matt McHugh at The Palace

CRUNCH!

METAL, HEAVY ROCK, CLASSIC ROCK

LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL GOOD SHIT WITH PETER HODGSON: CRUNCHCOLUMN@GMAIL.COM

GIG ALERT: HOODLUM SHOUTS, THE SMITH STREET BAND & PALISADES

RIVAL SONS

Check out Rival Sons from California. They describe themselves as “raucous, blues-infused, legit,” while Classic Rock has called them “the unlikely saviours of American rock.” Their album Pressure & Time was tracked in just 20 days, and it will be released via Earache/Shock on April 27. Look for the video of the title track on YouTube – the song was released last year and it has a great post-Zeppelin stomp about it,

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, REALM OF KAOS

Metal and hard rock store Realm Of Kaos celebrates its second birthday this Saturday (April 7) with a 15% off sale storewide on CDs, vinyl, T-shirts, DVDs and merch. It’s at 154 Peel Street, up the road from the Queen Victoria Market.

BLOOD LINE BY ROD WHITFIELD

Winning a band comp can certainly kickstart a career. It worked wonders for Silverchair, Grinspoon and Killing Heidi, and local metal/hardcore troupe Blood Line are hoping it will happen for them too. They recently took out first place in the prestigious Gunn Music Showcase at the Espy in St Kilda, and bigger and better shows and some serious notoriety are sure to ensue. Guitar player and backing vocalist Paul Swenson was stoked when the winner was announced. “They were pretty much the first shows we’d done, and we didn’t really know what to expect, and what sort of turnout we’d get. But we got a few people down there who got into

JET BREAK UP By the time you read this, the news will be pretty old, but Melbourne’s own Jet have just announced their breakup – although they say they’ll continue to maintain the Jet ‘brand,’ I guess hoping to become the next Ramones or Misfits or something and keeping the name match-fit for the inevitable reunion in five years or so. That’s one thing I’ve come to realise over the years: very, very few bands ever break up and stay broken up. Hell, even Alice In Chains and The Beatles have done it (remember when the surviving Beatles recorded two ‘new’ songs using some of John Lennon’s home demos?), and Dave Mustaine’s played onstage with Metallica now. So I’m sure we haven’t seen the last of Jet.

it, and we got good feedback off the first one. We weren’t expecting to go through, but we went through to the next [heat], and we really built our confidence from there. We had quite a few people getting into it. “We got through to the Grand Final, and there was over 70 people on the door there for us, and over 100 people in the room. We got a bit of crowd involvement and everything was good. It was a good day, good show and it all had a good vibe about it. We weren’t expecting to win but it was a good turnout and it’s a really good even that they put on.” The ultimate result of the win will be Gunn Music taking the band under their wing and getting them onto some bigger and better shows, and generally assist them to build their profile over the coming year or so. It’s an exciting prospect for any young, up-and-coming band. “They recorded everybody on the day, and we got some live photography,” he explains, “so that’s always handy, but then Gunn is pretty much going to take us on for the next 12 months, help us book shows and put us on the right kind of bills. Set us up for the right audiences, stuff like that. Get our name out there, and hopefully build a bit of a crowd following.” In fact, things are already in the works for the band following on from the win, with some exciting things coming up for the rest of 2012. “We’ve spoken to a few different venues and a few other people about getting on some

As reported last week, Canberra’s Hoodlum Shouts release their debut album Young Man Old Boat on March 28 via Poison City/Hello Square, and to celebrate they’re planning an East Coast tour. They’ve just added more bands to the list of supports for the tour (which takes in Canberra, Sydney and Brisbane as well as Melbourne): they play at the Old Bar on Wednesday April 18 with The Smith Street Band and Palisades, and at The Gasometer on Saturday May 5 with Harmony, Fear Like Us and Rise Of The Rat.

RIP: SLAYER TECH ARMAND CRUMP

Sad to hear that Slayer guitarist Kerry King’s longtime guitar tech Armand Crump passed away on the weekend. Armand was a very well-respected, reliable and talented tech, and among guitar nerds like me these guys are held in very high esteem. There are plenty of online tributes to Crump, but here’s a particularly touching one from Slayer’s Dave Lombardo: “Slayer and the metal road crew community is mourning the loss of a hard worker and dear friend Armand Butts Crump III. He was the best, he had to be to work for Kerry King. I’m going to miss him fucking with me from stage left. I still can’t believe it. We are deeply saddened. RIP ABCIII.”

TIM MCMILLAN Melbourne’s lord of goblincore and acoustic troubadour of doom Tim McMillan has been drafted into German Viking/symphonic black metal band Black Messiah. Tim posted on his Facebook page on Saturday: “My childhood viking dreams have been granted and I will be joining Black Messiah on 2nd guitar for some of their shows this summer.. first one is AAARRGH Festival, Uttenhofen June 8.”

4ARM SIGN TO RIOT

Melbourne modern thrashers 3Arm have just signed with Riot for the release of the Australian edition of their new album, Submission for Liberty. It’ll be released on April 13 Australia-wide via Riot and Warner Music. Says Riot, “We’ve had our eyes on these guys for a while now and if you’ve yet to catch them live, make sure you do when they next come to destroy your town.”

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bills,” he says. “We’ve got some shows coming up at The Prague, then there’s one later on, I think main support for White Cell for their EP launch at the Espy in the Gershwin Room. Then maybe some shows at Pier Live and Ferntree Gully, we’ve been in contact with them for some supports with other bands. Just stuff like that.” And away from the live front, the band also have some big plans for getting into the studio and recording some of their songs, so they can get their sound out to the whole world. Plus they have a number of longer term goals for themselves. “Yeah, we’re looking at recording maybe April to June – get in and hopefully do an EP, pick out the best five of our songs and take it from there. See what we’ve got to offer! “Our aim at this stage is to keep building our setlist,” he states. “Keep writing better songs and hopefully building a following. Just get out there and try and play as many shows as we can. Play with some of our favourite bands, get into the scene and have a bit of fun with it!” BLOOD LINE won the recent Gunn Espy Showdown Final, with Poppy and Buck Jr round out the top three. Head to gunnmusic.com.au for information about how your band can be involved in the next event.

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Beat Magazine Page 73

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Having become the accidental headliners at the Cranberries Enmore Show in Sydney, Bonjah have returned home and proudly announce the support acts for their show at the Corner on Friday June 8 will be Buckley Ward and Mitch Davis and The Dawn Chorus. Tickets available now from The Corner Hotel website. For all info and Bonjah updates, like the lads on Facebook.

THE PUBLIC OPINION AFRO ORCHESTRA Over the past few months DJ Manchild and The Public Opinion Sound System have gotten Melbourne warmed up to the tropical disco sounds of Scatter Scatter with a series of sweaty, percussion-driven danceﬂoor-burning parties. Now the time has come however, to summon the furious afro- storm that is The Public Opinion Afro Orchestra, who along with Congo Tardis #1 and Mr Fish will bring nothing but the heaviest afro-funk, the deepest island disco, the ﬁeriest Colombian salsa and the most mind- bending cumbia. Scatter Scatter 4 goes down at one of Melbourne’s hottest new underground nightspots, Twotwotwo Warehouse (22 Johnston St, Collingwood) on Saturday April 14.

CHERRY ROCK 2012

SCOTT & CHARLENE’S WEDDING & PEAK TWINS Peak Twins and Scott & Charlene’s Wedding play a rare show for the release of their split 12” out in April through Bedroom Suck in Australia and Night People in the USA. School Of Radiant Living will be supporting. This is the only Melbourne show for Scott & Charlene’s Wedding in 2012 so head down and have a few beers. The reissue of S&C record Para Vista Social Club will be available at the show. Bagin’. $10at The Tote from 9pm this Friday April 6.

POPULAR FAVOURITES LAUNCH PARTY It’s a good old fashioned punk show at The Tote this Black Friday Eve, Thursday April 5. Popular Favourites present Soma Coma, Kid’s Of Zoo, Beat Disease, Batpiss and for the very ﬁrst time Sex Tape plus record and zine stalls at The Tote Hotel. Popular Favourites was birthed out of the vagina of two jerks in late 2011 as a mail-order outlet for punk (including garage, hardcore and powerpop) vinyl and tapes. After releasing Brat Farrar’s debut album on cassette and with plans ahead for Bits Of Shit and Batpiss tapes as well as a fanzine, Popular Favourites have ﬁnally gotten around to putting on a launch party. $10 from 8pm.

SHERIFF There’s a rumbling coming from deep beneath the bowels of this city. It started a while back with a steady kick drum, a muffled bass line and a guitar riff that just would not quit. Today, this rumbling is ready to spew forth three men onto these mean streets, to fend for themselves and prepare our town for a show not soon-to-be forgotten. Dust off your cowboy boots, find your dancing and drinking partner, and get on down to Cherry Bar, AC/DC Lane on Saturday April 7 to see Sheriff. With support from Jackals and Sun God Replica, tickets are $13 and available on the door. Sheriff will take their sound and shove it in your ear holes if they need to. Make it easy for them – they’d do the same for you.

Californian stoner rock giants Fu Manchu have been announced as the headliners of the sixth annual Cherry Rock. Also adding to the festivities are Black Cobra, Matt Sonic & The High Times, Bitter Sweet Kicks, Vice Grip Pussies, My Dynamite, The Ramshackle Army and Valentiine with more soon to be announced. The sixth Cherry Rock takes place at Cherry Bar and in AC/DC Lane on Sunday April 29. Tickets on sale now.

SETH LAKEMAN THOMPSON

AND

CARUS

For folkies, rockers and folk rockers alike, it’s one of the tours of the year – a double-headline featuring English multi-instrumentalist, virtuoso ﬁddler Seth Lakeman, and Australia’s own international troubadour Carus Thompson. Seth Lakeman has sold over a quarter of a million records, and his music has broken down perceptions and barriers of folk music in the mainstream, which has earned him the ‘Poster Boy of Folk’ tag. Carus Thompson is one of the few fully independent Australian troubadours to be able to carve out a full-time living from his craft. Years of touring at home and overseas has assured that he possesses the enviable ability to draw hundreds of people wherever he goes. They play two special shows at Bennetts Lane on Sunday April 8 and Monday April 9.

MOROCCAN KINGS Moroccan Kings are releasing a new single from their forthcoming EP; the track is called Grizzly Bear. The band is putting together a very special and detailed show to release the song at Revolver Upstairs on Saturday April 28. The launch has two awesome support bands, two of Melbourne’s favourites, Sheriﬀ and A Lonely Crowd. Tickets are $10+bf pre-sale, $12 on the door. Pre-sale tickets are available from Moshtix or the band themselves. Doors open 9pm.

THE INDIAN SKIES Come and have a psychedelic evening with The Indian Skies on Tuesday April 30, at The Toff In Town. They will be releasing their first spaced out single In The Sun, with support from the majestic Michael Shaun, who will be playing his latest single Treat Me, You Devil, plus you can grab a taste of the first offering from Centre and The South, with their freshly recorded song Something New Something True.

THE BOMBAY ROYALE The magic and mayhem of vintage Bollywood collide on You Me Bullets Love, the debut album from The Bombay Royale. A dizzying blend of haunting Hindi vocals, Tarantino-esque surf guitars, wild disco rhythms and shimmering sitars helps the band bring the mysterious sound of Bollywood’s golden age back to the future – where it belongs. You Me Bullets Love will be released on HopeStreet Recordings on Easter Friday April 6 via Fuse Music.

BEN SALTER, JOE McKEE Ben Salter (The Gin Club, Giants of Science) and Joe McKee (Snowman) are embarking on a co-headlining tour of Australia this April. The venue for this show has been changed from the Grace Darling to The Gasometer on Saturday April 28.

LOS CHICOS The Sonics were amazed when Los Chicos opened for them. Southern Culture On The Skids, Norton Records and Paul Collins (just to give a few example) love them to death. In England, the garage scene are slobbering for them. In Europe King Khan and His Shrines are mad about them. With a new album under their belt We Sound Amazing But We Look Like Shit, Los Chicos are back in Melbourne for a run of shows, catch them Wednesday April 4 at the Tote (support from The Meanies, La Bastard and The Mighty Childish), Thursday April 5 at Yah Yah’s (support from Midnight Woolf, The Bowers and Johnny Casino), Friday 6 at The Old Bar (support from Bits Of Shit and The Swingin’ Nutsacks) and April 7 at Boogie Festival. Beat Magazine Page 74

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JOHNNY GIBSON Johnny Gibson (drummer with The Swedish Magazines, The Currency, Raised By Eagles and Streams Of Whiskey) is ready to launch his debut album, Endless Search For Gold, at The Old Bar this Thursday April 5. For just eight bucks you get a huge band of Melbourne legends (including Van Walker and Liz Stringer), support acts Bell St Delays and Tim Scanlan & Friends, and a free six-track EP for the ﬁrst 50 payers.

OSCAR + MARTIN Melbourne boys Oscar + Martin are headlining the launch party for new creative agency Hand Games, with support from City Calm Down, Sydney sider Nakgin and local beat maker Wooshie. Head on down to The Liberty Social on Friday April 20 for all the festivities, tickets available through Moshtix.

GRONG GRONG Grong Grong began in Adelaide in the early ‘80s, supporting the Dead Kennedys after only a handful of gigs, with Jello Biafra oﬀering to release them on his label Alternative Tentacles. Biafra reported in Maximum Rock n Roll [Issue #10] “I lay awake for about two nights after seeing Grong Grong, still wondering if I actually saw what I really saw”. In 2009, 25 years after they last performed a 2CD, 37 track issue of their album came out by US label Forced Exposure and Grong Grong performed live again. Since then they have only played a small number of shows, with only two or three being in Melbourne. They are threatening to record again but before then they return to Melbourne for a show at The Tote on Easter Sunday April 8 with support from True Radical Miracle, High Tea, Fourteen Nights At Sea and Faspeedelay. This will be a rare treat.

SHIPS PIANO Ships Piano are four guys from the wrong side of the river. Never wanna cross it? No problem. They’ll come to you. Ships Piano are thrilled to be back at The Tote. They will be road testing new songs for their debut album every Saturday in April from 5pm, supported each week by a ﬁne selection of local bands.

SOUNDS LOUD Some of Australia’s hottest rising talents will take to Queens Park this April for the very awesome, very free, and very all-ages Sounds Loud Festival. Some of the bigname acts to take to the stage will be Stoneﬁeld, Bleeding Knees Club, Dream On Dreamer, Hand of Mercy, For our Hero, The Sweet Apes, Amber Lamps and 8 Bit Love. Pretty tidy, eh? Included in the lineup is local band and Moonee Valley Push Start Battle of the Bands heat winners Blood Orange (not to be confused with Dev Hynes’ solo project) and Western Metro Regional Final winners Granston Display. More local acts to be announced soon. Sounds Loud Festival hits Queens Park, Moonee Ponds on Sunday April 15.

SCOTDRAKULA If ScotDrakula were Jesus and Jesus was Madonna then some fancy blogger would write about their March/April Monday residency at The Evelyn. ScotDrakula and their amigos locos will be there, every Monday from 8pm, pants on hooks oﬀ ready to freak out.

THE KHYBER BELT All warmed up from their recent national tour with Evanescence, The Khyber Belt are ready to launch their self-titled debut EP at The Espy Gershwin on Saturday April 28. The band is somewhat of a local supergroup, featuring members of Rook, Bushido and Sleep Parade and this EP is deﬁnitely worth checking out. Also playing this massive ﬁve band lineup will be Varliiba for their return show, Shadowgame (feat. members of Engine Three Seven), One and Kettlespider.Doors open 8pm. Tickets on sale from OzTix.com.au, The Espy and all OzTix outlets.

SEAN SIMMONS The Retreat Hotel is hosting another ripper of a night with Sean Simmons on Tuesday April 10. Support on the night comes from Justin Cusack, with doors opening from 8.30pm. Don’t miss out.

MADRE MONTE Madre Monte are a Bar Open favourite. They’ve been invited back to the venue to share some of the colourful sounds of Colombia this Easter Sunday April 8. Madre Monte are a nine piece latin/reggae band, that infuse deep reggae grooves with diﬀerent autochthonous and indigenous rhythms from Latin America, speciﬁcally paying tribute to the Colombian style cumbia. The band was born in 2008, when Colombians Mauro Gamez and Henry Pena felt a great need to play and represent their native Colombian sounds and rhythms in Australia. After seeing that the music needed more energy, more friends started joining the project. Drums, trumpet, percussion, guitars and other instruments like saxophone and trombone became members of what Madre Monte is today. With free entry, and doors from 10pm, come and get it.

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ALYSIA MANCEAU DIVORCED Divorced don’t play for over a year and then, bang, they’re all over the place with their busted out punk noise. That, of course, can only be a good thing. Saturday April 7, they lob into the Gaso with support on the night from the excellent Eastlink and Old Mate. Old Mate in particular are not a band you should check out, but a band you must check out. Doors open at 9pm.

60 SECONDS WITH…

DESECRATOR

Define your genre in five words or less: Chaotic Australian Thrash Metal. When’s the gig and with who? Unholy Good Friday is being massacred on Friday April 6 from 6pm by six of the most ungodly Thrash Metal acts in Australia. Hobb’s Angel of Death are possibly the biggest cult metal act to ever come out of Australia, and right beside them are recently re-activated Metallers Nothing Sacred, who will be playing their first live show in countless years! Desecrator has been making violent backward sounding forward movements all around Australia since the launch of our album Live Til Death and we have come to promise a frenzied stage act not to be missed. Supports Malakyte (QLD), and Harlott and Blackened will ensure that from conception to crucifixion, Unholy Good Friday will nail you to the cross! What part of making music excites you the most? Desecrator has always been a live band. It’s how we cut our teeth, how we try and test material, and how we found our vision for our last album. Live shows, crowds, venues, long car rides, no sleep then home again and back to reality. These are all the things that test a band’s real convictions and staying power, and give you the drive to dig deeper and work harder to succeed. It honestly excites us as much as it destroys us – like a drug that leaves us always wanting more. Describe the best gig you have ever played. From Saturday April 7 onwards the answer to this question will be easy. The crowds are what make these shows, and any live band will agree that the energy put forward by an eager headbanger filled crowd is a life force for the performer to feed on, and throw back tenfold through their music. That is what every ‘best’ gig has in common, and why all six bands are hanging for this upcoming show.

Alysia Manceau will be weaving her dark folk-rock balladry once again at The Retreat Hotel front bar tonight, joined by touring Portland Oregon native, Shelley Short. Alysia is known for her powerful vocals and trademark guitar style and has attracted a loyal Melbourne following since the release of her debut album, The Longest Winter, last year. From 8.30pm, head to the front bar.

THE NEARLY BROTHERS Following the demise of The Jackson Code, Mark Snarski decided he’d had enough of being in bands and that it was time to relocate, so he moved from Sydney to Madrid. After a short hiatus work began on recording an album that was originally entitled Mancini, Morricone, Wolf and Me. Referring to his own guitar playing abilities as ‘The King of Clunk”, Snarski met with the TB Allen to arrange the 20 or so songs he’d written. Demos were recorded in Madrid and Galicia but there was one man who needed persuasion to produce the first 16 songs, and that man was Mick Harvey. Snarski had been attempting to persuade Harvey to work with him for many years. He asked him in Sydney. He went to see Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds in Amsterdam and again a couple of years later in Barcelona and Paris. In February 2009, the debut album for The Nearly Brothers – You Can’t Hide From Your Yesterdays – was recorded at Poons Head Studio in Fremantle, featuring Martin Casey on bass and Mark Dawson on drums. The album oozes with class befit from a wonderful gestation and a great cast. Fast-forward to April 2012, and the first live shows for this unique collaboration have been confirmed with tickets for all shows on sale now. The Nearly Brothers play the Northcote Social Club this Sunday April 8 and the Caravan Music Club on Oakleigh on Friday April 13.

DEAD RIVER DEEPS Dead River Deeps hit the great Retreat Hotel stage on Easter Friday April 6. After playing the great new Clarkeﬁeld Music Festival, and recording their new album which will be out later this year, the band have a bag of new tunes that are sure to rock’n’roll. Support band Ivory Elephant hit the stage from 8pm. So get on in early and grab a beer.

SLY GROG

THE GO SET

Every Saturday arvo in April, The Retreat Hotel will be featuring the boozy tunes of long ago. Real old time music by a genuine string band, Sly Grog. Between 4pm and 6pm, out in the beer garden, head along to enjoy the banjos, guitars, mandolins, ﬁddles, harmonicas, harmonies and all the rest.

The Go Set are currently on the road launching their new self-titled album. The new album is the band’s fifth studio effort and was recorded with producer Paul McKercher. Likened to everything from early Midnight Oil, to The Pogues, and the Clash, The Go Set combine the traditional sounds of bagpipes, accordian and fiddle with punk rock guitars, and a mind blowing live show. The band are set to launch the album at The Espy on Friday May 4 with Handsome Young Strangers and Blazin Enfields in support.

KICKED IN Cool Death, on Saturday April 7, presents a night of unutterable blasphemy upstairs at the Gasometer. The night features Black Jesus who are regular blokes playing old school death metal, Rort, Australia’s premiere beatdown band, where you have to get with it or get away from it, Soma Coma, who are scumbag punk ratbags, and the ripping and moron hardcore punk of Kicked In are headlining. Doors open at 8pm ‘til 11.30pm.

STRAIGHTJACKET NATION Holy house of hardcore. The great Straightjacket Nation bring the ruckus and newer but no means less intense Soma Coma, turn the Gaso back room into a seething pit of punk hardness this Easter Sunday April 8. Imagine a punk version of Thunderdome. And it’s free.

ROCK N LOAD Prepare to cop a faceful of rock at the inaugural Rock N Load festival at The Espy on Saturday May 26. With over 30 acts across the entire venue, it’s gonna be madness in St Kilda. Headline act announced mid-April, but until then, we can announce that the following bands are conﬁrmed to tear up The Espy’s three stages: Bugdust, The Stiﬀys, King Of The North, Ten Thousand, Heaven The Axe, I Am Duckeye, The Charge, Anna Salen, Hailmary (WA), Shadowqueen, The Morrisons, Beggars Orchestra (NSW), Shadowgame, Bottle Of Smoke, System Of Venus, Arcane Saints, Apache Medicine Man, The Vendettas, Riot In Toytown and many more. Check out rocknloadfestival.com for lineup and ticketing info.

UNHOLY GOOD FRIDAY Two of Australia’s underground metal phenomenon; the thrash elite, come together with today’s underground heroes to bring every Oz metalhead what they’ve been waiting for. Two of the most important bands from the Oz metal scene, pioneers of their time, Hobbs Angel of Death and Nothing Sacred charged through the 80s, smashing crowds everywhere! Now they are taking over your Unholy Good Friday, on Friday April 6, to smash the Bendigo Hotel to pieces. Joining them on the night is Desecrator, whose twin guitar attack, punishing rhythm section, and blood soaked vocals have won over the old guard of staunch metal fans as well as recruiting a new wave of young thrashers. Plus, Brisbane’s Malakyte, and Melbourne Thrash newcomers, Harlotte and Blackened round out this amazing line up with their own unique blend of Thrash. Be warned, they may be on early, but they will blow you away! So this Good Friday, get down, get dirty, and bang your head!

How do you balance making and playing music with your other commitments? One of the most encouraging things about playing with the two headlining bands on this show, is that even though we can’t make a living from playing a sub-genre, there is a strong Thrash Metal community. People that are real and lasting, not caught up in smoke and mirrors, but sweating it out in the front row of a show truly appreciating the music and the performer, and that tips the scales back to a balance that no life commitments can sway. Anything else to add? Friday April 6, at The Bendigo Hotel Collingwood, will showcase not only two of the biggest names in Australian Metal, but also four of the ﬁnest up-and-coming acts currently on the circuit. You would be madder than a metal maniac to miss it! CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 75

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LINK MCLENNAN’S JUKEBOX

AMAZING

Link Mclennan’s Amazing Jukebox hits The Tote this Tuesday April 10 playing some of his faves from artists such as The Jesus and Mary Chain, The Who, Echo and the Bunnymen, John Lee Hooker, The Cramps, The Beatles, Wreckless Eric and Elvis Costello. He also delivers a handful of his originals which cower modestly (falsely) among these greats. So come and witness/hear two sets of his guitar, vocals and hatbox snaredrum. Two free sets in the front bar from 8pm.

ONE POLITICALLY INCORRECT EVENING

DAMN TERRAN To celebrate the release of their new 7” single Rebels, Damn Terran will be doing what they do best, taking the madness to their fans on various stages around the country this April. The band will be playing a packed show at their local hangout The Old Bar with friends Scul Hazzards, Chicks With Guns (Syd) and Bodies on Saturday April 28. Tickets available at the door.

THE IVORY ELEPHANT

HOTEL WRECKING CITY TRADERS

Guitar music at its best – The Ivory Elephant aren’t hesitant to put a bluesy solo in just about every one of their riﬀ soaked tunes. Though the frontiers of the Blues/Rock Renaissance can sometimes be a lonely place, an Ivory gig might be just enough to give you a little hope in the future of music. With proud left-wing morals, a vintage ‘70s sound, and all played on an out of sight homemade guitar, The Ivory Elephant are a side of Melbourne you might not have known about. In an attempt to make your Good Friday, Friday April 6, even “gooder”, The Ivory Elephant will be playing a free show with Dead River Deeps at The Retreat in Brunswick at 9.30pm.

Wednesday. The middle of the working week. It is a black hole of despair. A wound of sadness. An inescapable prison of tears and agony. The only way to break the shackles of this horror is to get out of your disgusting house and come to the Bendigo Hotel to watch a bunch of bands play music about the sadness of Wednesday, which coincidently is tonight, where a list of some of the heaviest Melbourne music is crammed into one bill. Tonight features the experimental psychedelic duo Hotel Wrecking City Traders, avant-garde doomers Disrupture, psychopathic punk band White Veins and Dropbunny.

PLAGUE DOCTOR Psychedelic blues outﬁt Plague Doctor claim the ability to “cleanse the air and cover up the stench of death!” Having recently played at Applecore festival, the sixpiece group are back to play Yah Yah’s on Friday April 6. Joining them are Horatio Crane who will share their own brand of surreal folk-punk-pop as well as Wolfy And The Bat Cubs. Free entry.

Beat Magazine Page 76

ROAD RATS An amazingly catchy rackabilly, rock and punk show is happening this Easter Thursday. Road Rats take to the Bendigo Hotel on Good Friday eve, this Thursday April 5, to celebrate what Jesus did all those years ago. They will be accompanied by good friends and part time lovers The Working Irons, Dirty Chapters and Clowns. $8 entry and $2 peep shows (yet to be conﬁrmed). Doors from 8pm, drinks at the bar.

Politically Incorrect celebrates the age old Aussie tradition of taking the piss, to combat the ridiculous world of political correctness we live in. Australia’s finest fresh comics, Chris Wainhouse and Chris Franklin, show their dark sides as they push all boundaries in this no-holds barred comedy assault that is both raw and edgy, and will have you begging for more. One Politically Incorrect Evening kicks off at 7.45pm tonight at The Evelyn. Tomorrow Steady Eddy joins the line up, where they unleash their dark sides with some seriously edgy and brilliantly raucous material. Each week they rotate their special guests including Rhys Nicholson, Ronny Chieng, Bev Killick and Granny Flaps, to join them in their black label assault on political correctness. The comedy festival will never be the same again. Thursday April 5, Saturday April 7 and Sunday April 8 shows kick off at 6.15pm.

JOHN PATRICK AND THE KEEPERS Melbourne sextet, John Patrick and The Keepers will finally debut their long awaited EP, In Memory Of Pa, in the comfy confines of the Evelyn Hotel in Fitzroy, on Thursday April 5, to kick off the Easter Holiday. In support will be the Mighty Sun Band and The Paper Street Soap Company. Doors from 9pm.

SONS OF THE IONIAN SEA Brace yourself for what is to be an undisputed colossal night of riff-worshipping madness at the Evelyn Hotel on Saturday April 7. Five of Melbourne’s finest heavy and hard stoner rock acts including Sons Of The Ionian Sea, Swidgen, System Of Venus, Moth and Battle Axe Howlers will be joining forces to unleash a plethora of low-end, groove-laden, monstrous riff-driven tunes. You’ll be gutted if you miss this rare opportunity to witness the Evelyn walls explode into a sensational sonic haze. Doors from 9pm, $8 entry.

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TEENAGE MOTHERS Last month, a weird controversy erupted after Teenage Mothers were kicked off an Australian tour supporting M83 (because M83’s frontman Anthony Gonzalez didn’t like Teenage Mothers’ singer James Kennedy inhaling nitrous oxide onstage and doing a backflip into the audience). Teenage Mothers responded with a blog entitled ‘Touring with M83, the meanest band in the galaxy’, which received international attention. In an interview on triple j, Anthony Gonzalez then attacked Teenage Mothers as ‘disrespectful’ and ‘unprofessional’. Teenage Mothers heartily agree with those descriptions. Since then, Teenage Mothers finished recording their debut album at Birdland Studios, produced by Jim Sclavunos from Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds/ Grinderman/Sonic Youth. Next Saturday April 14, Teenage Mothers play a free show in the Espy’s front bar. Also playing are Sydney radio favourites Faker. It’s an odd lineup. Teenage Mothers will preview songs from their album of ragged ballads and guitar torture. They might also preview a bittersweet duet between singer JK and guest vocalist Jack Mannix of Circle Pit. And yes, you starving artists, it’s free.

UNDERCOLOURS Reaching for timeless songs and sounds is Melbourne band Undercolours. Moving from explosive rock songs and emotive story telling far beyond their years, the music reveals a boldness to put songcraft before trend. Their ﬁrst single Spirit The Ghost has received an impressive response both locally and internationally being featured in NME and on numerous high proﬁle blogs such as Neon Gold. Having recently supported The Naked And Famous and scoring a spot on the Parklife bill, Undercolours are quickly emerging as a new force in the Australian rock scene. They play four Sundays in April at The Evelyn, this week with support from Young Maverick. Doors from 9pm, this Sunday April 8.

SOIL AND ASH. Edison are a Melbourne skamz punk band. Thursday April 5 sees them at The Gasometer Hotel, supported by Grim Rhythm, Urns, and Soil and Ash. Grim Rhythm do the stoner rock jams in the style of Sleep, Om, Ocean Chief and High On Fire. Urns play heavy and dark hardcore while Soil and Ash just stuﬀ dark, noisy and atmospheric black metal into footy socks and throw them into the audience. This is their second performance and they sound like Nortt and Blood of the Black Owl. Doors from 8.30pm.

THE PEOPLE’S MARKET The People’s Market, located in the Docklands precinct, which this weekend runs for a third consecutive week, will soon get arty when more refurbished shipping containers are transformed into an arts space in COMA – Containers of Modern Art. The refurbished shipping containers in themselves make great art and have already begun to transform the once derelict car park which the Melbourne Flea now inhabits at the southern most end of Docklands Drive. This Saturday April 7, it will be a particularly musical space when Peachy Live brings together some of Melbourne’s most talented up and coming bands in Celadore, Eloji, The Wellingtons, Bittersweet Kicks and The McQueens. To keep everyone fed and watered the Thousand Pound Bend mixologists will be looking after the bar, whilst resident food vendors operating out of the refurbished shipping containers will look after Taco’s, Phat Brats, Paella, Twisted Potato’s and Pizza on the night. Entry $5, Saturday April 7 between 4pm-9pm.

TIN SPARROW Produced by Liam Judson (Belles Will Ring, Cloud Control), Fair & Verdant Woods features an extended edit of the Mark Myers (ex The Middle East) produced track Hector Myola, and latest single Azzuro – tracks which have both received national airplay on community radio and triple j. In the last six months the band have toured with Husky, Matt Corby and now Boy & Bear will also be joining that impressive list. Having already sold out the ﬁrst Melbourne show on their April EP tour, a second show has been added at The Grace Darling on Sunday April 22.

KIM BOEKBINDER The Impossible Girl is writing her new space themed album here in Melbourne. She’ll be debuting the new songs with her hot Australian band during her Wednesday night residency at The Evelyn Hotel during the month of April. Synthesisers, guitars, fat beats, and unexpected sounds to abound. Don’t miss out on Wednesday April 11, doors open at 8.30pm.

JACK DONNE Jack Donne has a voice that is truly haunting in its delivery that wraps itself around little songs so elegant in their simplicity. Jack plays an intimate solo show at The Great Britain Hotel on Sunday April 8. Joining him on the night is the bohemian troubadour Alex Lashlie with some songs from his forthcoming solo album. Two very distinct voices and two very moving performers guarantee this will be one hell of a good Sunday.

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A LONELY CROWD Calling all good Christians and Easter bunnies. After your day of rest and religious celebration/ Easter egg hunting (if either is your thing), come on down to the Gasometer Hotel on Friday April 6, to kick oﬀ the long, long weekend with some rockin’ tunes. Located in the upstairs venue, the night will feature Lunaire and their dream mix of eﬀects pedals, the lush instrumental sounds of The Nest Itself, Vincent’s I can’t decide between distortion and delay so why not both, and a hard-hitting acrobatic headline set from experimental rockers A Lonely Crowd. $8 at the door, from 8.30pm.

JON GOMM

THE CHARGE

Jon Gomm is one of the world’s most gifted and inspirational guitar players. A singer-songwriter with an incredible, almost superhuman, virtuoso acoustic guitar style where he uses one guitar to create drum sounds, baselines and sparkling melodies all at the same time. His live shows combine deeply personal performances and a natural wit, with a once seen, never forgotten, two handed guitar style, both physical and complex, producing sounds people can barely believe are coming from a humble acoustic guitar. Don’t miss this opportunity to experience the wonder and genius of this one man symphony. Supporting Jon on his Aussie tour is local synth whiz and singer Andy Sorenson. The Thornbury Theatre, Saturday April 14, is going to be a night to remember.

Are you ready to rumble? Get ready for The Rock Showdown – The Charge vs Freestate. The Charge and Freestate team up for a show at The Prague on Saturday April 14 with special guests Olmeg and Artilah. The Charge release their second single Together We Can Make a Diﬀerence from the Red Flags album this month. Single and album are available at rarerecords.com and iTunes. You can also catch The Charge playing ROCK N LOAD at The Espy on May 26. Go to thecharge.com.au and freestate.com.au for more details.

MOONS POET Wednesday April 11 sees storytellers at The Empress with Moons Poet, Merlin Bo Macdonald, and Gary Soloman. This is a night that features three very diﬀerent solo artists that cover a range of styles from blues, rock, folk, pop and indie. On the night, Moons Poet will be promoting her latest EP Dreams, Rivers, Truth, Ashes, which showcases her range of blues, rock, folk and experimental music. $10 entry on the door.

SUNSET BLUSH

HARRY MANX

This is the birthday gig for Sarah, Lola and Sunset. Sarah Eida has been gigging nicely and currently recording for her hotly anticipated upcoming record. The purpleghost of Melbourne, Sunset Blush has been gigging solidly and promoting his current record Purpledomination , which has also been getting a bit of play on triple j Unearthed digital radio. Lola has been blowing the roof oﬀ the dump with her band Rouge Fonce and designing fashion on the side. These punk kids will be joined by Eva McGowan, who’ll be dishing out quality sleazy-cheese blues. Plus, rocking your face oﬀ will be Sleeplever. This Sunday April 8, 2pm at Bar 303, Northcote.

The legendary Canadian Blues Guitarist and Singer Songwriter Harry Manx, has embarked upon a national tour, and is landing at The Thornbury Theatre on Wednesday May 30. Harry has spent years fusing eastern musical traditions with the blues, switching eﬀortlessly between conventional guitars, harmonica, and banjo and the decidedly diﬀerent Mohan veena – a twenty stringed instrument. Over the last ten years, Harry released eleven albums and has garnered a room full of awards. His newest album Isle Of Manx, has just been released. He will be accompanied by virtuoso hammond organ musician Clayton Dooley.

STRANGERS FROM NOW ON If you want to celebrate Easter the true way then Strangers From Now On are here to help you do that. Welcome the long Easter weekend with a free show at Pony on Thursday April 5 from 2am, but beware it may get a little loud.

PARTY VIBEZ Party Vibez launch their brand new album Legends Of Gnarlia, this Saturday April 7 at the Bendigo Hotel. Joined by Adelaide’s own punk funtimes thrashers Craterface, and awesome locals Risk And Reason, as well as Sewercide. If you don’t go, you must hate good times and rad tunes.

COLD HARBOUR Cold Harbour are pleased to be returning to the Lyrebird Lounge this Thursday April 5. They’ll be playing selections from their back catalogue and showcasing some new numbers destined for the studio later in the year. First up are The Gatherers – Rosie Haden and Kim Volkman, followed by Cold Harbour, and rounding out the night, the fantastic Pony Girl And The Outsiders. The next day is Good Friday, so you can have a ball with a sleep in on the public holiday. The Lyrebird Lounge is at 61 Glen Eira Road Ripponlea. Get there early for a feed, a drink and some great tunes.

THE OCEAN PARTY

MACHINES CUT RAZOR

To mark the release of the Ocean Party’s debut LP The Sun Rolled Oﬀ The Hills, the band will launch it at the Gasometer on Friday April 6. The album is ten tracks of understated guitar pop, recorded at home by the band, mixed by Jack Farley (St Helens, Twerps, Beaches) and mastered by Casey Rice (Witch Hats, Aleks and the Ramps, Orbweavers) and it makes for a warm textured listen. Joining them will be friends Machine, Full Ugly and Cool Drinks. Doors at 8.30pm, $10 entry.

These Machines Cut Razor is back at The Thornbury Theatre in 2012 on Sunday April 15, with an incredible lineup of pro-refugee artists and bands including Jeﬀ Lang, The Stetson Family Bell St Delays, Fraser A Gorman, Uncle Bill, The Cartridge Family, Nigel Wearne and the Cast Iron Promises, The Jed Rowe Band, Alex Hallahan And The Woodland Hunters, Kate Walker, Tully Sumner and Les Thomas. The lineup now includes the 80-strong Melbourne Mass Gospel Choir. Epic.

60 SECONDS WITH… BROOKLYN’S FINEST Deﬁne your genre in ﬁve words or less: Indie, funk.

SEVEN SEAS TOUR T H E G R AC E DA R L I N G A P R I L 14 , 2 012 RAPSK ALLION ~ T I CK E TS O N SA L E N OW ~

T H E G R A C E D A R L I N G H O T E L .C O M . A U

If you could travel back in time and show one of your musical heroes your stuﬀ, who would it be and why? Marvin Gaye, because he is the prince of Motown and he knows ‘what’s going on’. Which band would you most like to have a show down with? Aqua, because I’m jealous of their success. Why should everyone come see your band? We don’t want everyone to come and see us, just the people who want to have fun. If your music was a chocolate bar, which would it be and why? A Kit Kat Chunky, because there is chunk in our funk. Hah! When are you doing your thing next? Our next show is at Yah Yah's on Thursday April 12. Doors open at 8pm, with only a small door charge. Our good friends The Communists are our main support, and it’s my birthday, so it’s going to be a wild night of party funk.

Anything else to add? Make sure you check out our website www.Brooklynsﬁnest.com.au and our Facebook page www.Facebook.com/Brooklynsﬁnestmusic.

W W W. T H E G O O D S H I P. C O M . A U

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CHERRY BAR Cherry Bar are doing just about as much giving as the bunny himself this Easter with another jam packed week, kicking off tonight with the first of their resident bands for the month, sexy psych rockers Matt Sonic And The High Times. Support this week comes from Uptown Aces and DJ Jack Davies and entry is free. Soul night Thursdays sees another band kick off their residency, and who better than the “it” soul act in Australia at the moment, Saskwatch. This week they’ll be joined by DJs Vince Peach and Pierre Baroni. $10 entry from 8pm ‘til 5am. On Good Friday April 6, Gretchen Lewis, China Vagina and Citrus Jam will be hitting the stage. Doors open at 5pm with a $13 door charge from 8pm ‘til 11.30pm then $10 ‘til 5am. Sheriff, Melbourne’s own three-piece quasi version of QOTSA, play on Saturday April 7 alongside Sun God Replica, Jackals and DJ Billy Walsh. Door times and charges are the same as Friday night. On Easter Sunday April 6, stars of this year’s Boogie Festival, Dead Meadow and Pink Mountaintops are playing, and if you didn’t catch Matt Sonic and his High Times on Wednesday night, they’ll be supporting. Tickets are $35 and doors open at 8pm with the band playing from 9pm-12am with a tour after party ‘til 3am.

PRECIOUS JULES

TESS McKENNA

Precious Jules are Melbourne’s Kim Salmon and Mike Stranges, operating as a slick pop partnership, and masquerading as a glam/punk combo and garage duo. They are the pearls before swine, backed with Chinese rocks on 7” of the best use of poly vinyl chloride you are likely to encounter. Precious Jules play at The Retreat Hotel on Saturday April 7, supported by very special guests The Science Test at 10pm.

Tess McKenna is a hard working girl who has toured her music extensively from the East Coast Roots and Blues Festival and the Woodford Folk Festival to as far as Austin’s SXSW Music Festival. Tess McKenna and her longtime band The Shapiros will be joined by special guests for an afternoon of pitch-perfect harmonies and shimmering guitars on the stage of The Union Hotel in Brunswick this Saturday April 7.

PCS

BOGAN NATION

Always entirely improvised, PCS transform the loose application of simply ‘jamming’ into the lofty ideal of ‘composing in the moment’. Additions of new members and VJ Ladylux now see the group’s current interpretation evolving into a ﬁve piece line-up comprising multiple guitars, electronic devices, laptops and projectors, all engaged in an ecstatic exploration of inner space. Catch them on Thursday April 5, 8.30pm at Richmond’s Great Britain Hotel.

Bogan Nation represent the last of the “true Aussies,” who live for yobbo culture and ﬁght against what they call the thunderous repetitive miss-match of digital doof-doof musical torture. Go and see their self-confessed brand of bogan rock at The Brunswick Hotel Thursday April 5.

WEEKENDER – RESURRECTION.

THE

Let Weekender be your own personal Jesus this Easter as they hop into a mega holiday weekend indie party. Indiepop mash-up madness, with a sprinkle of party anthems. DJs Steve Wide and Greg Wright with High Fangs live on stage. Yah Yah’s, Saturday April 7, from 9pm, $10 entry.

BOY IN A BOX

After deciding that he needed a break from music for a while, Tobias Priddle packed up shop and relocated to Melbourne to build a studio for a friend. He tried to avoid music for as long as he could, but the Joe Strummer doppleganger couldn’t stay away for long. Acoustic demos turned into ﬁnished songs, which took him back into the studio and led to the creation of Boy In A Box. Their track Glitter, Gold, Ruin has become a Triple J favourite, and the guys are playing at The Espy this Friday April 6 supported by indie rockers The Corsairs.

STORMING VEGAS Storming Vegas ensure every show they play is loud, fast and full of energy, and they’ll bring nothing less when they hit Pony on Saturday April 7. Support comes from the equally heavy rockers Angry Mules and Carta Extremis, if you’re a head banger and mosher then is a show for your liking. Doors from 9.30pm.

SYSTEM OF VENUS System of Venus headline a bill of five of Melbourne’s finest heavy rock acts that also includes Sons Of The Ionian Sea, Swidgen, Moth and Battle Axe Howlers, for a night of glorious riff-laden tunes. Caution, it may get loud, get down to The Evelyn Hotel on Saturday April 7 for a night that will rock your socks off.

WOLFY AND THE BAT CUBS Wolfy And The Bat Cubs are a psychedelic rock and roll ﬁve-piece with their roots planted ﬁrmly in the ‘60s. They blend the best of The Rolling Stones, the swagger of The Easy Beats, and the punker edge of The Saints. Emerging from their mothers, Wolfy And The Bat Cubs live in a world of their own. The stage is their home and rock’n’roll their bed. Let Wolfy And The Bat Cubs inside your head. This Saturday April 7 at The Penny Black.

JOEL MORRISON Local idiot/legend and bar prop Joel Morrison is having another exhibition at The Old Bar on Tuesday April 10. Go and witness sights that will make you mock all artists as retarded monkeys with wet sponges for brains. The music will be better than the art. Pugsley Buzzard and Guy Kable playing some damn good blues. Free entry, doors at 7pm.

THE SMITH STREET BAND With a swag of new material ready to road test ahead of album number two, The Smith Street Band have announced a series of intimate shows every Wednesday in April at The Old Bar. They’ll be joined each week by a host of great local and interstate supports. Entry is free for the ﬁrst three nights and a lazy $5 will get you in the door for the fourth and ﬁnal “Anzac Day” spectacular.

BROOKLYN’S FINEST Thursday April 12 is approaching fast, and if you haven’t made plans already, make sure you get down to Yah Yah’s to help Brooklyn and Dr Lovie celebrate their birthdays. It will be the ﬁrst time Brooklyn’s Finest have hit the stage at Yah Yah’s, and to ensure the party reaches its full potential they have invited The Communists, and Hungry Hearts to aid in the celebrations. With the sweet mix of acoustic guitars, catchy indie tunes and cheeky funk grooves all for the very low price of $5 on the door, Brooklyn’s Finest birthday bash is sure to go oﬀ.

EASTER SLAUGHTER DAY GRIND SHOW Come and join some seriously messed up bands at The Tote on Saturday April 7, for an Easter slaughter day Grind show. Playing on the night will be Xenos, Goon Soaked Rag, Nowyourefucked, Odiusembowel and Wölfe, who will be playing their ﬁrst ever Melbourne gig. There’s a free barbeque from 8.30pm, $12 entry on the door, and the ﬁrst band is on at 9.10pm sharp.

VOODOO ECONOMIC Inspired by the analogue grunt of Blues Explosion, Beasts Of Bourbon, and Suzi Quatro, Voodoo Economic is sure to be a fantastic night. Catch them over the Easter weekend, this Saturday April 7, at the Victoria Hotel for free. Support from Lady Danger kicks oﬀ the night at 9.30pm.

THE BONA FIDE TRAVELLERS The Bona Fide Travellers are a riveting roots band whose members were in the vanguard of the progressive country scene of the ‘70s. The members rode in the same posse as The Dingoes, Greg Quill’s Country Radio, Saltbrush, Hit & Run, Dead Livers, Bluestone and many more. Catch them in acoustic mode at The Vic Hotel on Easter Sunday April 8. Doors from 5pm, free entry.

RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD His one-man-band show may have been in the bars and streets of southern U.S.A. but Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood is now a Melbourne based act. Blackwood brings his energetic blend of boogie, rockabilly, rhythm and blues and rock’n’roll back to Pony on Good Friday April 6 for an awesome free show, your toes will be tappin’ for days on end. From 2am.

Beat Magazine Page 78

THE PEEP TEMPEL The Peep Tempel’s recent launch for their self-titled debut album at The Northcote Social Club saw a near sell-out crowd’s frenzy threaten to snap the ﬂoorboards, while the band ripped through their grime ﬂecked- yet razor sharp set. Already one of the surest bets for the best kind of furious anger in Melbourne’s live scene, The Peep Tempel are bringing their adrenaline fuelled brand of rock to the hallowed Tote stage on Friday April 13. Joining The Peep Tempel are Mesa Cosa, The Jackals and The Kremlings. Tickets are $12 and will be available on the door. Doors from 8pm.

SWEET TEETH In support of their debut EP Sweet Teeth are set to rock the Pony, with added support from Doc Holiday Takes The Shotgun, Humans and Udays Tiger. It’s gonna be an unmissable show. The bands play Pony Good Friday, Friday April 6 from 9.30pm.

THE AFROBIOTICS This Easter Saturday April 7, The Afrobiotics will cook your rabbit like a Nigerian Street Food Chef. They sound of West African funk administered directly to the soul by your personal afro-beat doctors. This is the good medicine that will get your butt into shakin’ action. Doors open from 10pm at Bar Open, with warning that The Afrobiotics should be taken regularly in trance-like quantities, and to see your doctors again for regular dancing symptoms. Free entry on the night is just an added bonus.

Define your genre in five words or less: Guitar/blues/ rock/guitar/politics Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like? Blues riffs through a valve amp. People would probably say we sound like our influences – Hendrix, Zeppelin, Black Keys, BRMC etc. But we don’t rip them off; we’re doing our own thing.

What can a punter expect from your live show? Punters can expect music that they’re not used to seeing live. Our stuﬀ is reﬁned but messy, sludgy and Bluesy but tight. We focus on getting a vintage sound, but not going overboard with distortion or beating the hell out of our instruments.

Head to The Toﬀ tonight to see All The Colours play songs from their yet to be titled debut album currently being recorded this year. these shows are in support of their debut single Love Like This. All The Colours is the new project for Miami Horror frontman Josh Moriarty. The sound is a mix of The Beatles, The Black Keys, Todd Rundgren, The Doors and Tarantino soundtracks. Lots of vocal harmonies, tight grooves, tasteful solo’s and vintage tones, reﬁned and sophisticated classic tunes.

Bonnie Anderson is an incredibly focused performer with professionalism beyond her years. Like any artist, she has learnt her craft by watching the old masters at work and has already shared the stage with some of Australia’s greatest acts including Jimmy Barnes, Diesel, Vanessa Amorosi, Kate Ceberano and Kasey Chambers. In addition to her vocal training, Bonnie also plays both piano and guitar. Bonnie plays at The Retreat Hotel this Sunday April 8. Support is from the charming Rob Farnham, from 7pm with free entry.

60 SECONDS WITH… THE IVORY ELEPHANT

What inspires or has influenced your music the most? Obviously Blues and ‘70s Rock, plus there’s also a few really exciting bands around now (most of which contain Jack White). I’m also inspired by my strong dislike of all things right wing and conservative. I owe some of my best lines to some of the evil stuﬀ Tony Abbot has said.

ALL THE COLOURS

BONNIE ANDERSON

What makes you happiest about what you’re doing? There’s nothing quite as satisfying as making music. The moment when we’re on stage, and all of the crap you usually have to worry about as a musician just melts away is probably the highlight.

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And what makes you unhappiest about what you’re doing? There’s not much about music that makes me unhappy. Hitting a bum note, or my amp dying on me is always a drag. If anything, it’s the time in between gigs when you have to do all of the organizing for the band, and worry about how to make a living. When are you doing your thing next? We’re playing The Retreat on Sydney road with Dead River Deeps on Good Friday, April 6. It’s free entry so it should be a good night. We’re on at 10pm sharp.

NAHUATL SOUNDSYSTEM This Good Friday eve, Thursday April 5, Bar Open have the pioneers of the Melbourne underground aztek sound Nahuatl Soundsystem and Sonidero Esperanza (DJ set). Both originally from Mexico city and residing in Melbourne, expect a uber dancing experience, with their original urban styles infused by a tropical spice-fusioning live dub, electronica and techno with Latin American roots. Support on the night comes from Galambo, who will be performing live his folkloric techno, merging andino and cumbia styles with live electronica. Expect a high-tech night fusion alongside the traditional. With free entry, this one is not to be missed. Doors from 10pm.

FEMTASTIQUE Saltar Hype presents Femtastique – a free entry Friday the 13th party, featuring an all female fronted lineup. Catch Dallas Frasca, Pretty Villain, Written In Ruins and Sharaya at The Espy Front Bar on Friday April 13, starts at 9.15pm sharp.

GREAT OUTDOORS As they near the completion of their first seven inch, local hotly tipped The Great Outdoors will play for free at Bar Open tonight. Kicking off the evening, the boys from Footy will play in a new project – Stream 4. Afterwards Mole House will play tunes off their new 7”, released on Albert’s Basement. Doors from 8pm, free entry.

FATHOMS Only the combined power of Jesus and the Easter Bunny could get Pony favourites Fathoms to take the stage. The guys usually are at the venue setting up or making other bands sound good, but they’re back for a very special oneoﬀ show. the fun starts at Pony on Saturday April 7 in the 2am late slot, followed by a 3am late night Get Mashed party featuring exciting DJ Sideshow for some sweaty danceﬂoor mayhem.

LEHMANN B. SMITH Hyper-prolific charmer Lehmann B. Smith (Kes Band) has teamed up with Patinka Cha Cha’s Natasha Rose for Split, a two-albums-in-one tape release, filled with love songs and submerged reverb chamber pop sensuality. On Saturday April 7 at the Toff In Town, Lehmann and Natasha will hit the stage for a very special Easter Weekend night of music and celebration with special guest Laura Jean, performing solo on autoharp for the first time ever.

AS A RIVAL Fresh oﬀ a short stint in Europe, As A Rival are back on Aussie shores and they’re here to rock your socks oﬀ. With a massive live show and hooks that will have you singing for days it’s a night of rock’n’roll not be missed. Joining them will be fellow Melbournians On Sierra and garage blues/ rock trio The Jail Bird Joker. All the ingredients are there for one killer night of rock music, so get down to Pony on Good Friday Eve, Thursday April 5 from 9pm.

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THE DUB CAPTAINS Make your Good Friday even better with a double smash of fat ass grooves from The Dub Captains and Keshie. With a minimum of seven musicians on stage at any given time during the sets, this large collective will be living it up at Bar Open from 10pm. Keshie will be opening the night with some afro inflicted funk and soaring harmonies. Fresh off the stage at Moomba, these guys will be sure to delight. The Dub Captains signature sound of reverb drenched guitar, big horns and catchy melodies, will take over your world later in the evening. Themes of lost love, road rage, triumphalism, social tribulations and even a first person account of being marooned on a desert island pin together the fabric of what is unique and refreshingly upbeat about this band. The best things in life are free, as is this gig. Make it a good Good Friday, doors open at 10pm.

RYAN NICO OVERLANDERS

AND

THE

Ryan Nico took the long road in ﬁnding his own place within the Australian alt-country genre. Writing primarily on piano and guitar, Ryan performed with a myriad of bands in Sydney and the Illawarra before relocating to Melbourne to craft his own unique style of countrytinged balladry. When playing live with his backing band The Overlanders, his songs move from bluesy folk-rock jams to vulnerable, heartbreaking ballads, ornamented by reﬁned vocal harmonies, plaintive lyricism and Ryan’s disarming tenor. Ryan plays The Retreat Hotel on Thursday April 5, with support from Ali E. Free entry, night starts from 9pm onwards.

CHRIS WILSON Chris Wilson has been an essential part of the Australian blues and rock music scene since taking the stage with the Sole Twisters over 20 years ago.Stints with Harum Scarum and Paul Kelly and the Coloured Girls followed, and by the end of the ‘80s Chris was renowned as one of our ﬁnest vocalists, harmonica players and songwriters, fronting the superb Crown Of Thorns. Chris plays this Saturday April 7 at the Drunken Poet.

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DISCO BRAZIL Melbourne’s most stylish exponent of the big disco sound Donnie Disco teams up with London’s Patrick Whitaker (Bistro Erotica, Sound Gallery) to deliver a night of sizzlin’ tropical boogie on Saturday April 21. Ably assisted by the funky soca sounds of Jaspora that pack the danceﬂoor everytime and the tropical cool of London’s superspy of burlesque- Agent Lynch. Hear way out disco, soca and funky grooves with that afro brazil carnival style that will have you shimmying all night long. Get to The Luwow from 8pm. $10 entry and come dressed in your tropical best.

RON S. PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS

GOSSLING

Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions are proud to announce the imminent release of the critically acclaimed, award winning Future Universe on heavy vinyl. The second half of 2011 was particularly busy for Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions. After the successful launch of Future Universe in July came shows with Isobel Campbell and Mark Lanegan, The Drones and many more. The album received critical acclaim, and the public have followed suit, with the CD version of Future Universe almost sold out of its fourth pressing. To celebrate the release, a theatre show has been announced. Good Friday April 6 sees Ron S. Peno & The Superstitions play the gorgeous, newly renovated Regal Ballroom in Northcote, VIC. Tickets on sale now.

Fresh from her main stage performance at Falls Festival and jam-packed Big Top appearance at Southbound, Gossling will be heading to The Thornbury Theatre on Sunday April 15. Following the success of Gossling’s second EP Until Then and focus track I Was Young, Gossling is set to dominate the airwaves once again this summer with new single Wild Love. The irresistibly catchy track is lifted from Gossling’s third EP, Intentional Living, which is slated for an April 20 release. Recently Gossling has captured a whole new audience with the inclusion of her song Hazard(from her debut EP If You Can’t Whistle) on hit FX showAmerican Horror Story, and also via her collaboration with 360 on the platinum selling, ARIA chart hit Boys Like You. Make sure you don’t miss out on Gossling.

RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood is a one-man-band who plays rhythm and blues, boogie, rockabilly and vintage rock’n’roll like his hair is on ﬁre. Whether on a large outdoor festival stage or jammed in the corner of a small bar, his highly energetic and entertaining show produces a sound that deﬁes the appearance of his setup. The Rattlin’ Bones Blackwood show was born in bars and on the streets of Mississippi, Tennessee and Georgia USA. Now a Melbourne based act, he carries the spirit of the southern street corners and bars that were his humble beginnings. Bones plays this Sunday April 8 at Yah Yah’s with support from Waco Social Club and Buck Creek. Free entry.

60 SECONDS WITH… MOONS POET Deﬁne your genre in ﬁve words or less: Blues, Rock, Folk. What do you love about making music? Everything, but generally the awesome people you meet that make it worthwhile. As there is no money to be made, just cool people to meet. It’s really amazing when you meet people, and watch people that need to create music. Most of them are untrained and are naturally brilliant. I love being around these people, and love watching them do their thing. I also love singing, so I can let out all my silent screams and inner thoughts! What do you hate about the music industry? Unfortunately, because it’s a marketing contest and a game, it has lost its value in appreciating people for who they really are, and what they can do. Far too many musicians get lost, because if you don’t make the type of music that sells you are doomed. Most people have to busk on the street to make ends meet, and if you don’t have 300+ Facebook likes, no one looks at you twice. If you could assassinate one person or band from popular music, who would it and why? Nobody. Just let them do their thing if it makes them happy.

What’ve you got to sell CD-wise? My latest EP Dreams, Rivers, Truth, Ashes – let’s hope it gets somewhere. When’s the gig and with who? 8:00pm at The Empress, on Wednesday April 11, with Gary Soloman, and Merlin Bo Macdonald. $10 on the door.

What can a punter expect from your live show? Come along and ﬁnd out. CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 79

ALBUM OF THE WEEK

3RRR SOUNDSCAPE

DZ DEATHRAYS

1. Django Django DJANGO DJANGO 2. Park Yard Slang JESS HARLEN 3. The Something Rain TINDRSTICKS 4. International Rudeboy LOTEK 5. World, You Need A Change Of Mind KINDNESS 6. Voyages EP THRUPENCE 7. Trevor Jackson presents Metal Dance VARIOUS ARTISTS/TERVOR JACKSON 8. Grinderman 2 RMX GRINDERMAN 9. Melt YOUNG MAGIC 10. The Shining EP JOELISTICS

Bloodstreams (I OH YOU)

WEDNESDAY 4 APRIL

MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FEST

POLITICALLY INCORRECT CHRIS WAINHOUSE CHRIS FRANKLIN STEADY EDDY + MORE

ENTRY $30 DOOR, $25 CONCESSION/GROUP, 7.45PM

THURSDAY 5 APRIL MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FEST

POLITICALLY INCORRECT ENTRY $30 DOOR, $25 CONCESSION, 6PM EP LAUNCH

JOHN PATRICK & THE KEEPERS

MIGHTY SUN BAND THE PAPER STREET SOAP COMPANY

ENTRY $12 DOOR, $10 PRESALE THRU MOSHTIX, 9PM $2.50 POTS, $5 VODKAS!

FRIDAY 6 APRIL

CLOSED

SATURDAY 7 APRIL

LOVE, EVELYN MARKETS FREE ENTRY, 12PM MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FEST

POLITICALLY INCORRECT ENTRY $30 DOOR, $25 CONCESSION, 6PM

SONS OF THE IONIAN SEA SWIDGEN SYSTEM OF VENUS MOTH BATTLE AXE HOWLERS ENTRY $8, 9PM

SUNDAY 8 APRIL MELBOURNE INTERNATIONAL COMEDY FEST

POLITICALLY INCORRECT ENTRY $30 DOOR, $25 CONCESSION, 6PM THE SINGLE MEN’S DRINKING CLUB YOUNG MAVERICK ENTRY $8, 9PM

MONDAY 2 APRIL RESIDENCY

SCOTDRAKULA

COMFORT ZONES KEVIN CK LO DJ TALKSHOW BOY & GEEZUS FREE ENTRY, 8PM $10 JUGS!

TUESDAY 10 APRIL RESIDENCY

EL MOTH & THE TURBO RADS SKIPPYS BRAIN MATT KELLY (SOLO) ENTRY BY DONATION, 9PM $10 JUGS!

COMING UP:

TIX AVAILABLE THRU MOSHTIX

SCOTDRAKULA (MON IN APR) EL MOTH (TUES IN APR) THE ALLEYS (12 APR) BELLUSIRA – SINGLE + FILM CLIP LAUNCH (13 APR) BUTTIFEST (14 APR) ENNIS TOLA – SINGLE LAUNCH (19 APR)

DZ Deathrays embody all that is good about rock‘n’roll, in the way that bands like Kiss and Motley Crew set the standard in the ‘80s, DZ Deathrays are quickly becoming the epitome of rock‘n’roll in today’s climate. There’s no crotch enhancing devices, face paint or questionable haircuts – in fact DZ Deathrays could probably walk down the street unnoticed in their jeans and t-shirts – but there’s still the wild on-stage antics, songs penned about destruction, sex, anarchic tendencies, and most importantly partying like there aint no tomorrow. It’s all delivered with a nonchalant air and ‘devil could care’ attitude, and in today’s youth culture, effortless cool is where it’s at. Don’t be fooled by the atmospheric guitar noodlings at the start of Bloodstreams that is the Intro, it’s by no means an indication of things to come. If anything, it aims to provide a soft touch before the sucker punch of Teenage Kickstarts knocks your head clean off. Featuring some killer adrenaline inducing screams, this is scuzzy party rock riffage at its best. Dollar Chills follows up with a slower pace, but still pulsates with energy and immediately establishes that DZ Deathrays can do grindin’ sexy rock‘n’roll as well as spazzy rock. The vocals have an almost seductive edge to them, oozing sexiness and cool in the same way that Alison Mosshart of the Kills and Dead Weather fame does. Cops/Capacity teases the listener for a short while with a jagged momentum building intro, then brutal riffage stakes its claim. The verses feature the band’s patented vocal screams but it’s the chorus “East say cops/West say capacity” that starts off coyly then builds up to the screaming verse that’s gonna see crowds with raised fists chanting their hearts out. Plus references to drinking laws are sure to get the blood pumping. Gebbie St immerses you in its hypnotic guitar riff, and the sultry swagger of the vocals ensures you stay enticed – this makes for a sure fire dance floor hit. No Sleep brings some punk rock attitude to the table, while Dumb It Down sees the vocals take on a new wave feel and the guitar attack retreats in exchange for a subtle effects

THORNBURY RECORDS

laden backdrop. Closer Witchcraft nods it’s head to ‘70s stoner rock, and with DZ Deathrays accompanied screams, heavy hitting drums driving the track along, an interesting take on the classic rock genre emerges. DZ Deathrays have a hell of a lot of tricks up their sleeves, and while it was always suspected, Bloodstreams confirms it. With a swathe of effects and innovative guitar work, this two-piece have produced a diverse beast of an album, encapsulating a host of different influences, moods and sounds. Bloodstreams contains both a serrated edge and smooth rhythmic quality to keep you captivated every step of the way. KRYSTAL MAYNARD

Best Track: Cops/Capacity If You Like This, You’ll Like These: PULLED APART BY HORSES, THE KILLS, DEATH FROM ABOVE 1979, FUTURE OF THE LEFT In A Word: Rad

1. Delta Spirit LP DELTA SPIRIT 2. Wrecking Ball LP BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN 3. Port of Morrow LP THE SHINS 4. Between The Times And The Tides LP 5. Blues Funeral LP MARK LANEGAN 6. Taedium Vitae LP LINDSAY PHILLIPS 7. Christmass LP FRANK BLACK 8. Sixteen Saltines/Love Is Blindness 7” JACK WHITE 9. El Camino LP THE BLACK KEYS 10. So Many Things LP EDDY CURRENT SUPPRESSION RING

AIRIT NOW 1. Love Is A Mountain, Truth In Her Fountain TEHACHAPI 2. Nobody Knows LOVE CONNECTION 3. Women In Cages 1929INDIAN 4. Sounds Of The Lion LAMTECH. SIERRA SISTERS, LL BOCK, IB JUMBO AND DJ FUNZO 5. Dust Proud (featuring Pepepiano) BON CHAT, BON RAT 6. Do You Hear? CUB SCOUTS 7. Remnants UNDERLIGHTS 8. Better Alive Feat. Thundamentals and Sky’high THE HERD 9. Goodbye Slowly MICK THOMAS 10. Little Quarters TOKYO DENMARK SWEDEN

SYN SWEET 16

SINGLES BY SIMONE Big thanks to the lightning-penned man boy Tyson Wray for holding the fort while I was oﬀ watching bands and smoking cigars with impoverished but personable Cubans. Tyson did an excellent job, so now I have to kill him. In the game of singles, you win or you die.

DAMN TERRAN

Rebels (Independent) Local belligerents Damn Terran toured with Children Collide and DZ Deathrays last year (they also played this mangy house party in Brunswick, which being 20 mere metres away from my house, gave me the opportunity to see the band without having to make anything resembling eﬀort – win). Their opening salvo for 2012 is this clatterpunk single, a moody, pounding cycle of noise that rolls from heavy guitar riﬀage to pugnacious vocals to a loud and satisfying combination of both. Rib-shaking good times.

MAJOR TOM AND THE ATOMS

The House That Love Built (Independent) Fronted by the ex-Little Red’s singer, ‘Major’ Tom Hartney, Major Tom And The Atoms peddle a dense, energetic kind of soul rock that features a very unapologetic saxophone and some lusty female backing singers. It isn’t bad – Tom has a gritty, whomping vocal style and the song has some neat dynamic shifts – but they are more like a hip wedding band than an exciting new music project. Unlike, for example, Jim Jones Review, who take very similar foundations and transform them into vital and explosive R&B punk.

CLASS ACTRESS

Bienvenue (EMI) Lifted from Class Actress’ debut album Rapprocher, Bienvenue is racing burst of synth pop, lightly balanced between sultriness and giddy glitch rainbows. Elizabeth Harper’s voice is a wisp of a thing, airy and forgettable.

QUARRY MOUNTAIN DEAD RATS

Bloodhound Killed My Squeeze Box (Independent) Melbourne’s Quarry Mountain Dead Rats is a bluegrass collective that drawls and ﬁddles at a cracking pace. Their banjo and mandolin get a decent workout on Bloodhound Killed My Squeeze Box, a song about a troublesome dog with a long face who slobbers all over the newspaper and knocks over drinks. Not a massive fan of songs about dogs, to be honest, except where the dogs are disguised as women. In this case I suppose it could be a woman disguised as a dog, but that would be pretty mean. And plus why would a woman carry a newspaper around in her mouth? Presuming she still has hands, that makes no sense at all.

VENUS FIRE

The Sound (Independent) A lackluster debut from local singer Hayley Clare, who attempts to model herself after Kimbra and Florence Henderson with neither their vocal power nor musical creativity. The instrumental parts on this single have that thin, pre-fab Garage Band quality and while Hayley can probably sing, what she does with her voice here is plodding and dull, in a dead pocket between the atmospheric drifts of Portishead and the spine-tingling wail of the aforementioned Florence.

RICHARD HAWLEY

Leave Your Body Behind You (EMI) Former Pulp member Richard Hawley has a new album due out in May and this oddly seductive single preceding it. The wall of guitars he uses has a sci-ﬁ edge, a swirling psychedelic trip through the stars that is overlaid with a hypnotic, mantra-like refrain encouraging you to ‘leave your body behind you.’ This tune really punches above its weight. Beat Magazine Page 80

TOP TENS

JUSTIN BIEBER

Boyfriend (Universal) Biebs does a lot of husky whispering in this paint by numbers, post-Timberlake boy pop single. No surprises here, just more emasculating lyrics that pander to insipid tween girl fantasy – “If I was your boyfriend/ I’d never let you go”, etc etc. Although there is a line towards the beginning about that caught my attention: “Chillin’ by the ﬁre while we eating fondue”. Is fondue a popular pre-coital meal for 12-year-old girls? I guess if it was chocolate fondue it would kind of make sense.

1. Flutes HOT CHIP 2. Disparate Youth SANTIGOLD 3. Shelter BIRDY 4. For A Fool THE SHINS 5. Break My Heart LA SERA 6. Bloody Mary (Nerve Endings) SILVERSUN PICKUPS 7. Do You Hear CUB SCOUTS 8. Cops/Capacity DZ DEATHRAYS 9. Broken Sunlight CHARGE GROUP 10. Idea Of Happiness VAN SHE

WOLLY BULLY 1. Today Is Friday LP FEEDTIME 2. Outdoor Furniture! 3. It’s Happening Tape STRAIGHT ARROWS 4. The Best 1950’s Mad Inspired Satirical Comics Book THE SINCEREST FORM OF PARODY 5. 22/9/2011 WOOLLEN KITS 6. Crossed With Leaves 7” LAKES 7. S/T LP ROYAL HEADACHE 8. S/T 7” TERRIBLE TRUTHS 9. Texas Funeral LP JON WAYNE 10. Vice to Vice Tape ANGEL EYES

COLLECTORS CORNER MISSING LINK 1. Sleeping Dogs Lie CD. VICTIMS 2. Torture CD. CANNIBAL CORPSE 3. Infernal Cakewalk10”. MESA COSA 4. Utilitarian CD/LP. NAPALM DEATH 5. Split LP. TOTAL CONTROL / THEE OH SEES 6. LP reissues. DEFTONES 7. Dirty, Dirty CD. JIM KEAYS 8. Accident 7”. HAILGUN 9. Global Flatline CD/LP. ABORTED 10. Split 7” RUPTURE / NIHILISTICS

PBS TIPSHEET SINGLE OF THE WEEK ALABAMA SHAKES

Hold On (Rough Trade/Remote Control) There’s a southern blues breeze astir in the USA – a growing crop of much-hyped bands playing soulful, classic rock music that is unconcerned with contemporary music trends; a blessed absence of synth. At the head of the pack are Alabama Shakes, a four-piece from Athens, Alabama fronted by the matronly-looking Brittany Howard. The 22-year-old former post woman has a voice that makes people talk – people like Justin Vernon of Bon Iver, Adele and Jack White, who have all declared their love for Alabama Shakes recently, and with good reason. Brittany’s voice is a magniﬁcently strained, shuddering, gut-wrenching thing, beautifully showcased on Hold On, the debut single from the band’s forthcoming debut album Boys & Girls (out April 6). The song has a slow-burning rhythm and a Lynard Skynard-style rolling lead guitar line, but Brittany does the real heavy lifting, crooning and rasping her way through this superb Joplin-esque tune.

FOR MORE REVIEWS GO TO BEATTV.COM.AU/REVIEWS

1. You Me Bullets Love BOMBAY ROYALE 2. Revolutions DR JOHN 3. In My Skin BUIKA 4. Folilia AMADOU & MARIAM 5. Home Again MICHAEL KIWANUKA 6. Awe Naturale THEE SATISFACTION 7. Jende Ri Palenge VARIOUS ARTISTS 8. Self Titled SIMONE FELICE 9. West Indies Soul VARIOUS ARTISTS 10. Mischievous Moon JILL BARBER

BEAT’S TOP TEN SONGS ABOUT WOOD 1. Family Tree BLACK LIPS 2. Even The Good Wood Gone WHY? 3. First Growth ROOTS MANUVA 4. Treetop CLAM’S CASINO 5. The Woodsman SHANNON AND THE CLAMS 6. Firewood Drumsticks J DILLA 7. Appletree WOLFMOTHER 8. Leafhouse ANIMAL COLLECTIVE 9. Ragged Wood FLEET FOXES 10. Bitter Branches PJ HARVEY

ALBUMS

HUNX

Hairdresser Blues (Hardly Art) FOR MORE REVIEWS GO TO

BEAT.COM.AU/REVIEWS

MATT BAILEY

Book Of Illumination (Independent) I remember walking into the Old Bar a few years ago. It was a Sunday night in the winter months. Being Melbourne, it was cold and dark outside; the only poor souls foolish enough to head out that night seemed to have congregated in the cavernous confines of The Old Bar. There was a guy on stage who looked vaguely familiar, in that Melbourne music sort of a way: beard, guitar, enigmatic disposition. The music was sparse and evocative, the musical equivalent of a poetry reading that has the audience hanging off the end of every verse. That guy was Matt Bailey, once of Paradise Motel, and more lately of Lee Memorial. Bailey’s latest record, the Book Of Illumination, is true to his evocative live show. The music is haunting, spacious and captivating; the narratives rich and textured. Bailey’s guitar is nowhere to be seen, replaced by a piano and a supporting cast of harmonies and the odd moment of West Coast saxophone. Bailey sings like a man revealing uncomfortable truths to a world reluctant to see the painful reality of its contradictory existence. Bernadette reaches infinite emotional depth; Boys Of The Harbour is allegory for a romantic quest almost, but not quite realised. Kurnaz mixes free jazz freak-out with spiritual-shaped harmonies, Jacob Joe is a slick pop track stripped back to its bleeding raw base format and the simplicity of Home betrays an honesty brought to life with a wicked pop sensibility. Not long ago, on a Friday night when the local music audience appeared to have fled en masse to Golden Plains, Bailey again held court at Yah Yah’s. There were eight people and the proverbial dog there to witness the set; it should have been 800, and some. Such is the inconvenient truth of local music attendance. Best Track: Home If You Like These, You’ll Like This: SCOTT WALKER PATRICK EMERY In A Word: Illuminating

BEARHUG

Bill, Dance, Shiner (Spunk) The debut album from Sydney’s Bearhug is, much like their band name, a warm and comfortable proposition. It’s hardly ground-breaking, but that’s never its intention. Instead, the band focus on their strengths and build on the success of 2010’s promising To Anything EP. The first thing you notice about the music is that the core of it all is the guitars. Though the band is clearly an ensemble piece, everything else seems to weave its way in and around the guitars, from the liquid licks of album highlight Shiner to the soaring reverb that surges in toward the end of trumpet-adorned tearjerker Cherry Red, and all the ‘jangly’ bits in between. The album has a dynamic rock single in Angeline, but where the band really shine is where things slow down and soften up. The album’s second half reveals a deeper, more satisfying sound that had yet to be fully explored on the band’s EPs. Having this run of tracks broken up by the album’s one filler track – the brief, Pavement-lite Home – only cements the strength of their down-tempo Best Track: Shiner material. Bill, Dance, Shiner gets points off for lack If You Like These, You’ll Like This: The Sunspot Letters of originality, but it’s hard to knock back such sweet LEADER CHEETAH, You In Reverse BUILT TO SPILL, melodies. Spirit If... KEVIN DREW In A Word: Hearty CHRIS GIRDLER

THE TING TINGS

Sounds From Nowheresville (Sony) Katie White and Jules de Martino reportedly scrapped the original incarnation of this, their sophomore LP, in favour of something a tad more ambitious. The indie-rock duo may rest assured that they’ve at least checked that box, Sounds From Nowheresville daring and desperate to impress. The groovy Hit Me Down Sonny emerges an early highlight, a contemporary R&B-tinged track with shades of M.I.A. evident. The savage stomper Hang It Up takes cues from textbook blues, the anthemic inclusion consolidating the album’s strong ﬁrst impressions. The Ting Tings frequently strip their compositions to the bare, rhythmic necessities. The simplistic strategy frequently frees White to shine, the silver-tongued songstress as sassy and charismatic as ever. Too often, though, the duo’s ambition yields less than satisfactory results. Spoken-word oddity Guggenheim tries much too hard and suﬀers for its staged impudence and sudden tantrums, chaotic percussion recklessly thrashing about and shunning any real substance. Meanwhile, Soul Killer is downright confused, its charms needlessly obscured by a confounding cacophony of samples, each inexplicably crowbarred into the song. The Ting Tings may have honed their versatility, though it seems they’ve shunned true pop potency in the process. This LP has nothing on its predecessor for strength of singles and emerges a lesser release as a result. Overall, Sounds From Nowheresville is an unessential novelty, Best Track: Hang It Up sporting a few intriguing follies at best. If You Like These, You’ll Like This: Standing In The Way Of Control THE GOSSIP, Licensed To Ill BEASTIE BOYS NICK MASON In A Word: Okay

In the press release for Hairdresser Blues, Seth Bogart (who plays under the Hunx pseudonym) states that on his first solo release, he wasn’t so concerned with entertaining people. Which is frightening, for two reasons. First, considering Bogart’s onstage demeanour, it’s almost impossible that he can’t entertain. He treats the stage as his personal playground, beguiling the crowd with his outlandishly sexual stage manner before the whole night erupts into something of a ‘50s inspired sock hop. His albums with Punx, his backing band have always been chalk-full of tight, garage-pop gems. For a guy so unpredictable, his records maintain a sense of consistency. The second worry concerning Hairdresser Blues is Bogart’s possible desire to get his experiment on, and release an album that is, in a sense, a drastic departure from past releases. All of these worries fall by the wayside after the first spin of Hairdresser Blues. Bogart wrote all the songs himself and had a hand on every instrument (save for drums, manned proficiently by his boyfriend Daniel Pitout of Vancouver’s Nu Sensae). The campy Bogart serves up ten concise jams that will have even the tightest of squares cutting loose and showing off the dance moves they’ve long kept in the shower. The only difference from past releases is that Hairdresser Blues feels like less of a façade; Bogart lets listeners into his personal realm. Say Goodbye Before You Leave is a touching ode to departed punk rocker (and touring mate) Jay Reatard and Always Forever, the budding, rolling jam of the album details how Bogart finally got over a painful relationship. There is still more than enough catchy, toe-tapping gems on the record to keep up with Bogart’s past catalogue. But Hairdresser Blues is all about paradoxes: Bogart touches on dark lyrical matter, all amidst potent Best Track: Do You Remember Being A Roller? If You Like These, You’ll Like This: TY SEGALL, or garage hits. And considering that only one track on waking up in the morning to a glass of freshly-squeezed the album stretches over three minutes, Hairdresser OJ and walking with a bounce in your step for the rest Blues is a remarkable accomplishment in that it might be Hunx’s most permanent release. of the day In A Word: Bouncy JOSHUA KLOKE

KINDNESS

World, You Need A Change Of Mind (Modular) Capitalising on the chillwave genre which is oh-so-trendy these days, Adam Bainbridge (aka Kindness) creates a comprehensive and colourful album. While this release might have seemed more innovative a couple of years ago when the likes of Toro Y Moi and Ariel Pink’s Haunted Graﬃti were at their peak, there is enough brilliance on World, You Need A Change Of Mind to make it feel relevant. Bainbridge skilfully harks back to the ‘70s and ‘80s throughout this debut album, covering a range of genres while still maintaining a consistently nostalgic sound. That’s Alright is clearly funk inspired while the infectious Gee Up calls on disco and delivers exactly what the title promises. Bainbridge really shines on the softer tracks however; Cyan is mellow electro perfection while House is heartfelt and measured. Bainbridge showcases his quirky approach with some unexpected covers- reinventing the Replacements’ Swingin Party into a hypnotic and memorising experience. His take on Anyone Can Fall In Love is almost unrecognisable from its previous incarnation as the Eastenders’ theme. While not doing anything particularly original, the Best Track: Swingin Party exuberance and ﬂair shown on World, You Need A If You Like These, You’ll Like This: ARIEL PINK’S Change Of Mind makes up for it. HAUNTED GRAFFITI, ARTHUR RUSSELL In A Word: Nostalgic NICOLE RYAN

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way you Feel About Me Now (Blood Shot Records) Another Justin Townes Earle album, another cover featuring the beloved protagonist in the foreground and a woman in the back; seems to be a running theme in the cover art of Earles’ albums. We could ponder the meaning of such imagery, and possibly get caught up in a feminist debate over Earles’ relationship with the female species but it would be unnecessary. The fact of the matter is, it’s about the music and women feature heavily in the subject matter of Earles’ music, along with themes of family, soul searching and melancholy. Am I That Lonely Tonight opens the record with a sombre tone; simple instrumentation allows Earles’ tender vocals to sit at the forefront of the recording as he laments the relationship between father and son. Look The Other Way is a buoyant country/soul number but its’ content is still emotive as Earle sings of his desire to be a ‘better man’ and gain his mamas’ approval. Title track Nothing’s Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now continues in this forlorn vein; this time with a lover central to the story. The swagger and swing of the Jerry Lee Lewis inspired Baby’s Got A Bad Idea brings a sense of fun to the mix; with it’s rollin’ piano and horns while Down On The Lower East Side sees the Stax influence shine through. The record as a whole sees Earle and his band treading in soul territory but they are careful to only take elements from the genre and use them to embellish their already established sound. Won’t Be The Last Time gives the album it’s most earnest and sincere moment, as Earle sings of his ill treatment of his first love. With it’s stripped back feel, it reminds the listener just how powerful the man’s voice is on it’s own. While we are already acquainted with the themes in Earle’s latest offering, that are yet to become tired and tried. His honest and heartfelt delivery sees each song he sings ring true– most probably because it is. Country Best Track: Won’t Be The Last Time If You Like This, You’ll Like These: OTIS REDDING, music at its core aims to find a release for the pent ARTHUR ALEXANDER, THE FELICE BROTHERS, up emotions that way the soul down and Earle is using his therapy well. WHISKEYTOWN In A Word: Consistent KRYSTAL MAYNARD

FOR MORE ALBUM NEWS AND REVIEWS GO TO WWW.BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 81

GIG GUIDE

TICKLED PINK

LOS CHICOS If you believe their album title, Los Chicos from Spain sound amazing but they look like shit. Whatever. If the rumour is true, last time they were here they got Melbourne audiences to unfold their arms and actually flail their bodies – what they call ‘dancing’ in other parts of the world. Do it all over again this week as they play a bunch of shows with a bunch of notable local supports. Tonight at The Tote, Thursday April 5 at Yah Yah’s, Friday April 6 at The Old Bar, and Saturday April 7 at Boogie.

WEDNESDAY 4 APR

THE SMITH ST BAND + FOXTROT + JAPAN FOR Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. TONY BENNETT Regent Theatre, Melbourne. 8:00pm.

ROCK/POP

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK

ALL THE COLOURS + GOSTELRADIO Toﬀ In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. AUDIO CAFFEINE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 6:00pm. BATTLE OF THE BANDS - FEAT: STUTTER + CAST IRON + CHAINED LIZARD + DEFYING THE NORM + FRETBUZZ + PARIAH + WIDE OF THE MARK Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm. DAN ROLLS DUO + APES + MOJO JACKET + THE SCARECROWS Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm. DROPBUNNY + DISRUPTURE + HOTEL WRECKING CITY TRADERS + WHITE VEINS Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $8. EARTH WIND & FIRE Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 7:30pm. FLYING SAUCER TERROR + MILD SPARROW & THE MIGRATIONS + OBVIAN Horse Bazaar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. ICED EARTH + LORD Billboard, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $55. JOHN COOPER CLARKE + JOHN MCCULLAGH + JOHNNY GREEN Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $15. LOS CHICOS + LA BASTARD + THE MEANIES + THEE MIGHTY CHILDISH Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 7:30pm. $15. MATT SONIC & THE HIGH TIMES + UPTOWN ACES Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. MY MORNING JACKET + DAWES Palace Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $71. ROUGH CHURCH + GIANTS UNDER THE SUN + POPOLICE Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 9:00pm. $10. THE GREAT OUTDOORS + MOLE HOUSE + STREAM 1 Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. THE POGUES Festival Hall, West Melbourne. 8:00pm. $86.

ALYSIA MANCEAU + SHELLEY SHORT Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. ERIK IVAN PARKER + CURTISWHY + MATT GLASS & HIS GYPSY ORCHESTRA Gertrudes Brown Couch, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $5. GREG ARNOLD + TIM & PETE Kent St Bar, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. JIMI HOCKING Clifton Hill Hotel, Clifton Hill. 9:00pm. KENNY WAYNE SHEPHERD + HARRY HEALY Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $55. LINCOLN MCKINNON Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. OPEN MIC Dancing Dog, Footscray. 7:00pm. OPEN MIC Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm. OPEN MIC Thornbury Local, Thornbury. 7:00pm. OPEN MIC & JAM NIGHT Grind N Groove, Healesville. 8:00pm. WHITAKER + BREAKING HART BENTON + THE TEA LEAVES Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 7:45pm. $10. WINE WHISKEY WOMEN - FEAT: LETICIA MAHER + HETTY KATE Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 8:00pm.

60 SECONDS WITH…

UNDERLIGHTS Name: Jack Friels

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC BOPSTRETCH Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. DAVE HAVEA BAND Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 9:30pm. DIZZY’S BIG BAND Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14. JEREMY WOOLHOUSE & LACHLAN DAVIDSON Baker Street Studio, Burwood. 8:00pm. JULIEN WILSON QUARTET 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $5.

Bearing the terrible clichéd nature of this question, what do you reckon people will say you sound like? The Stone Roses playing Neil Young songs.

If your music was a chocolate bar, which one would it be, and why? Snickers because we’re nuts.

Beat Magazine Page 82

PAUL WILLIAMSON Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. STREETONS Fortyﬁvedownstairs, Melbourne. 8:00pm. $40. TOM VINCENT TRIO Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $15.

THURSDAY 5 APR ROCK/POP 2AM LATE SHOW - FEAT: STRANGERS FROM NOW ON Pony, Melbourne. 2:00am. APACHE MEDICINE MAN + MONDEGREEN + SONS OF ABRAHAM + UNCLE CHUNK The Prague, Thornbury. 8:00pm. BIG STRONG BRUTE + GREAT EARTHQUAKE + MOUNTAIN STATIC Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $7. BLUE KING BROWN + BONJAH + DIRECT INFLUENCE + JES HARLEN + MS BUTT + SAVONA SOUND SYSTEM + SCHOOL OF DUB + TIJUANA CARTEL Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. $33. BOGAN NATION + THE DUKES OF DELICIOUSNESS + THE SUPERGUNS + VOODOOCAIN Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm. EDISON + GRIM RHYTHM + SOIL & ASH + URNS Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. FUTURAS 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. GIN WIGSMORE Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. HIATUS KAIYOTE (EP LAUNCH) + DJ JACKSON MILES + KILLBOT KINDERGARTEN Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $15. ISLAND JAMBOREE + BOB LOG + MESSED UP Luwow, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $16. JOHN COOPER CLARKE Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. $15. JOHNNY GIBSON & THE DIRTY DOZEN + THE BELL ST DELAYS + TIM SCANLAN Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $8.

LOS CHICOS + JOHNNY CASINO + MIDNIGHT WOOLF + THE BOWERS Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. $15. RB’S LIVE - FEAT: WHODAFUNKIT? Red Bennies, South Yarra. 10:00pm. $8. ROAD RATZ + CLOWNS + DIRTY CHAPTERS + WORKINGHORSE IRONS Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $8. SOMA COMA + BATPISS + BEAT DISEASE + KIDS OF ZOO + SEXTAPE Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10. SWEET TEETH & DOC HOLLIDAY TAKES THE SHOTGUN (DOUBLE EP LAUNCH) + DARK ARTS + HUMANS Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 8:00pm. $10. THE SPECIALS Palace Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK AS A RIVAL + ON SIERRA + THE JAIL BIRD JOKERS Pony, Melbourne. 9:00pm. BLUE TIMES BLUE + BGB + LONG YARD BLUES Musicland, Fawkner. 8:00pm. $10. DINOSAURS EXIST + THE SUN SLEEPERS Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:30pm. INTO THE MYSTIC - FEAT: JOE CREIGHTON Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 8:00pm. $18. JOHN PATRICK & THE KEEPERS + THE MIGHTY SUN BAND + THE PAPER STREET SOAP COMPANY Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $10. JOSHUA SEYMOUR Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. KEB MO + JESS RIBEIRO Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $66. MATT GLASS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 7:00pm. NORIANA KENNEDY TRIO Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 8:30pm. OPEN MIC Acoustic Cafe, Collingwood. 6:30pm. OPEN MIC Arcadia Hotel, South Yarra. 7:00pm. PUGSLEY BUZZARD Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. RUTH ROGERS WRIGHT Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 7:00pm. RYAN NICO & THE OVERLANDERS + ALI E Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. THE ANCIENTS + LOWER PLENTY + MOON DICE Grace Darling Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $8. THE RECHORDS Post Oﬃce Hotel, Coburg. 9:30pm.

Do you have a pre-gig ritual? If so, what is it? A good boozy early dinner. A family that eats together stays together. Name an interview question you wish someone would ask you, and answer it. Q: Rate your band out of 10… A: 11

Tell us about the last song you wrote. I just broke up with my long term girlfriend so I bet you can guess what kind of songs I’ve been writing. It’s always comforting to take advantage of misery.

Ah, the age old argument. Which side of the river reigns supreme. What I really like about Bimbo’s and Lucky Coq (and remember, that do that pizza thing too) is their ‘Who gives a flying fuq’ attitude. Both are in Melbourne, and by default both sides are kicking Sydney’s arse, so this Easter long weekend, worlds collide, glasses clink and a whole host of bands and DJs play a part in the Best Of Both Sides festival to bring Melbourne the altruistic Easter party aid it truly deserves. Only four more days to go, as it wraps up this Sunday April 8.

Where would you like to be in five years? Above ground – hopefully.

Define your genre in five words or less: Psychedelic, shoegaze, country and western.

Describe the best gig you have ever played. Always hard to say – generally every time we play at Sydney’s Annandale Hotel we have a life changing experience.

BEST OF BOTH SIDES

UNDERLIGHTS launch their EP Underlights (available through Speak N Spell/Inertia) at The Northcote Social Club this Friday April 6, support YACHT Club DJs at Karova Lounge in Ballarat on Saturday April 7 and play the Caravan Msic Club in Oakleigh on Sunday April 8 (3pm show).

SUBMIT YOUR GIGS TO GIGGUIDE@BEAT.COM.AU

JOHNNY GIBSON There’s no better way to spend Good Friday eve than at The Old Bar listening to quality tunes, with proceedings headed by Johnny Gibson, the legendary drummercum-singer/songwriter. That’s unless you’re religious of course, but you know what, even then this is still more important. Jesus can wait. This Thursday April 5.

SETH LAKEMAN

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC BLUESTONE UNDERGROUND JAZZ - EVERY THURSDAY - FEAT: CYCLONE WARNING Bluestone Downstairs, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. LENNA-MAREE MOXEY & THE ROGER CLARK QUARTET Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14. SASKWATCH Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $10. TANGO RUBINO Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. THE DANIEL GASSIN TRIO Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. THE MAGGIE BRITTON TRIO Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $20. THE PUTBACKS Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm.

FRIDAY 6 APR ROCK/POP 2AM LATE SHOW - FEAT: RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD + DJ WHITE RABBIT Pony, Melbourne. 2:00am. A LONELY CROWD + LUNAIRE + THE NEST ITSELF + VINCENT Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. BADA BING - FEAT: BELLUSIRA Pier Live, Frankston. 8:00pm. BEARHUG (EP LAUNCH) Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. BOY IN A BOX + RAIN PARTY + ROYSTON VASIE + THE CORSAIRS + WE THE PEOPLE Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. CASTLE MUSIC PRESENTS - FEAT: I’LL’S + ALBATROSS + ELECTRIC SEA SPIDER + FLASH FOREST Laundry Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $6. DEAD RIVER DEEPS + THE IVORY ELEPHANT Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:00pm. GRETCHEN LEWIS + CHINA VAGINA + CITRUS JAM Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13. HIGH SOCIETY Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. HOBBS ANGEL OF DEATH + BLACKENED + DESECRATOR + HARLOTT + MALAKYTE + NOTHING SACRED Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $15. HOLLIAVA + AUBREY GROVE + FORTNIGHT JUMBO + MERCURY WHITE Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm. $10. LIME CORDIALE + GRANSTON DISPLAY + HOT ENGLISH + YEO Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. LOS CHICOS + BITS OF SHIT + THE SWINGIN’ NUTSACKS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12. MOTHERSLUG + ACETONE + XENOS Idgaﬀ Bar & Venue, Abbotsford. 10:00pm. PLAGUE DOCTOR + HORATIO CRANE + WOLFY & THE BAT CUBS Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. SCOTT & CHARLENE’S WEDDING (12” LAUNCH) + PEAK TWINS + SCHOOL OF RADIANT LIVING Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 9:00pm. $10. SWEET TEETH + DOC HOLIDAY TAKES THE SHOTGUN + HUMANS + UDAYS TIGER Pony, Melbourne. 9:30pm. THE DUB CAPTAINS + KESHIE Bar Open, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. THE OCEAN PARTY (ALBUM LAUNCH) + COOL DRINKS + FULL UGLY + MACHINE Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. UNDERLIGHTS (EP LAUNCH) + DEMON PARADE + MARY OF THE MOON Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:30pm. VENDETTA + TENKNIA + THE SAPCE KEYS Barwon Club Hotel, Geelong. 9:00pm. $5. VICTOR PENDER Cape Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. VIMM + CARP + MESSED UP + THE SUNSLEEPERS Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm.

SETH LAKEMAN & CARUS THOMPSON Seth Lakeman from the UK and Carus Thompson from Australia join forces this week to play two special shows at Bennetts Lane on Saturday April 7 and Sunday April 8. These folk music troubadours will be fresh from a performance at Bluesfest, which is awesome, and also, they’re best buds, which is super, super awesome. It’s going to be a super nice night, wethinks.

WOMBAT INFERNO Thornbury Local, Thornbury. 9:00pm. ZAPPA PLAYS ZAPPA Palace Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $67.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK BLACKMOLLS Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 6:00pm. JOHN ROUSVAM + PING TUTERI Idgaﬀ Bar & Venue, Abbotsford. 6:45pm. MASKS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 6:00pm. RON S PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS + SAILOR DAYS The Regal Ballroom, Northcote. 8:00pm. RON S PENO & THE SUPERSTITIONS (FUTURE UNIVERSE LAUNCH) + SAILOR DAYS The Regal Ballroom, Northcote. 8:00pm. SCIENCETEST Tago Mago, Thornbury. 9:00pm. THE MONDAY PROJECT + IVAGABONDI + PENELOPE SWALES + WILEY RED FOX 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $10. THE WILD COMFORTS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 8:30pm.

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC ROCKEFELLER - FEAT: RICKY MUSCAT Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 9:30pm. SENEGALESE INDEPENDENCE CELEBRATION Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. STEVE MAGNUSSON TRIO Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. YVETTE JOHANSSON & THE JOE RUBERTO TRIO Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $25.

SATURDAY 7 APR ROCK/POP 2AM LATE SHOW - FEAT: FATHOMS + DJ SIDESHOW Pony, Melbourne. 2:00am. 37 DEGREE STAR + LANE CHASER + PRIVATE RA-

74 JOHNSTON ST FITZROY 9417 4155

www.theoldbar.com.au OPEN EVERY NIGHT 12PM - 3AM FREE WI FI

wednesday 4th April

THE SMITH ST BAND FOXTROT JAPAN FOR

8:30PM FREE

thursday 5th April

‘GOOD FRIDAY EVE’

JOHNNY GIBSON & THE DIRTY DOZEN - LAUNCH 8:30PM $8 THE BELL ST DELAYS TIM SCANLAN DJ MATT STABS

friday 6th April

‘DAMNED GOOD FRIDAY’ LOS CHICOS (SPAIN) BITS OF SHIT THE SWINGIN’ NUTSACKS

8:30PM $12

DJ KEZBOT

saturday 7th April

GRONG GRONG PAUL KIDNEY EXPERIENCE BODIES SCHOOL GIRL REPORT

8:30PM $12

DJ VON ONION

sunday 8th April

SKYSCRAPER STAN & THE COMMISSION FLATS JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

BOOGIE 6 Boogie is a boutique music and arts camping festival, and apparently, the effing best. We’re keen as mustard to find out this year, and with the likes of Justin Townes Earle, Royal Headache, Baptism Of Uzi and Dawes performing (as well a shit-tonne more), it’s going to be the place to shake it loose this Easter weekend. It all begins at 2pm on Friday April 6 in Tallarook, and then ends on Monday April 9. Sadly, the ticket allocation is exhausted. Not so sad if you got a ticket though. Then you’re probably really excited, hey.

THE GUILTS

8PM $8

DJ TREBLE KICKER

monday 9th April

EATEN BY DOGS PETE SPARK (ANTARCTICA)

8PM FREE

tuesday 10th April

A JOEL MORRISON EXHIBITON PUGSLEY BUZZARD GUY KABLE

7PM FREE

band bookings: bandbookings@theoldbar.com.au

SUBMIT YOUR GIGS TO GIGGUIDE@BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 83

THE NEARLY BROTHERS The term ‘supergroup’ get’s thrown around way too much. We’ll call this one an amazing assembly. Mark Snarski, Mick Harvey and Martyn Casey have at one point or another played in one of the following bands: The Bad Seeds, The Triffids, Grinderman, The Jackson Code, The Birthday Party, and even with the queen herself, PJ Harvey. Now image the kind of noise they make together. Beautiful, isn’t it? The Nearly Brother perform some special shows this month, playing the Northcote Social Club on Sunday April 8 and the Caravan Music Club on Oakleigh on Friday April 13. DIO + REMISSION THEORY Ruby’s Lounge, Belgrave. 8:00pm. $10. BANG - FEAT: THE PLAYBOOK + CAVALCADE + MY FAVOURITE ACCIDENT Royal Melbourne Hotel, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $20. BLACK JESUS + KICKED IN + RORT + SOMA COMA Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. CHICO FLASH + LO FI OPERATICS + OUT OF TOWNERS + THE BALLS The Prague, Thornbury. 8:00pm. CLAMPDOWN Rochester Castle Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. CLASSIC COVERS NIGHT - FEAT: EINSTEIN TOYBOYS Musicland, Fawkner. 8:00pm. $10. DIVORCED + EASTLINK + OLD MATE Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. GRONG GRONG - FEAT: PAUL KIDNEY EXPERIENCE + BODIES + SCHOOL GIRL REPORT Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. $12. HOLLANDS + ATLUK + PAUL POMPHREY Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 5:04pm. HOUSE OF ROCK Palace Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $15. INEDIA + CHARM + DEAR STALKER + THE GENERAL Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. JOHNNY ROCK & THE LIMITS (EP LAUNCH) + COSAIRS + DJ WOWLACE + RED LEADER Revolver Upstairs, Prahran. 9:00pm. $10. LEHMANN B SMITH (SPLIT TAPE LAUNCH) + LAURA JEAN + NATASHA ROSE Toﬀ In Town, Melbourne Cbd.

7:30pm. $12. MAX HAY + WAREN HOWDEN Thornbury Local, Thornbury. 9:00pm. ODIUSEMBOWEL + GOON SOAKED RAG + NOWYOURFUCKED + WOLFE + XENOS Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:30pm. $12. PARTY VIBEZ - FEAT: CRATERFACE + RISK & REASON + SEWERCIDE Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $10. PRECIOUS JULES + DJ XANDER + THE SCIENCETEST + THE VANGUARDS Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:30pm. SHERIFF + JACKALS + SUN GOD REPLICA Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $13. SHIPS PIANO Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 5:00pm. SIR JOLLY GOODSHOW + BAREFOOT DEADLEYS + THE FOG + TZOLKIN Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. SONS OF THE IONIAN SEA + BATTLE AXE HOWLERS + MOTH + SWIDGEN + SYSTEM OF VENUS Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $8. STORMING VEGANS + ANGRY MULES + CARTA EXTREMIS Pony, Melbourne. 9:30pm. THE AFROBIOTICS Bar Open, Fitzroy. 10:00pm. THE NEARLY BROTHERS + TYSON SLITHERS & THE PHAT CHICKS Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 4:00pm. THE SAVAGES Luwow, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $5. VICTOR PENDER Cape Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. WEEKENDER - FEAT: HIGH FANGS Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $10.

YACHT CLUB DJS Who is the king of throwing parties? No it’s not those kids from the movie Project X, it’s Aussie dance floor commanders Yacht Club DJs. Don’t miss all the antics from Yacht Club DJs and friends as they play a few select shows around our fair state – Thursday April 5 at The Prince, Friday April 6 at the Bended Elbow, and two shows at the Karova Lounge on Saturday April 7 and Sunday April 8. Go get mashed. WHIPPED CREAM CHARGERS (ALBUM LAUNCH) + INDIA BHARTI + MESA COSA John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. WOLFY & THE BAT CUBS Penny Black, Brunswick. 9:30pm.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK BETWEEN THE WARS + GREAT SHAME + JAPAN 4 + JOSH DURNO Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8. BRODERICK SMITH & MATT WALKER Union Hotel, Brunswick. 9:00pm. CHRIS WILSON Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 9:00pm. DOCTOR SLOTH Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 8:30pm. EMMY BRYCE & KATE VIGO (DOUBLE BILL) + EMMY BRYCE + KATE VIGO Palais, Hepburn Springs. 8:30pm. $15. MICHELLE PARSONS Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 7:00pm. NATALIE CAROLAN Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 5:00pm. PHIL PARA Espy, St Kilda. 6:00pm. RICHARD LAWSON + EMMA SWIFT + TERRY SERIO Lyrebird Lounge, Ripponlea. 8:00pm. $10. SINGING STORIES - FEAT: SUNSHINE SISTERS The Famous Spiegel Tent, Melbourne. 2:00pm. SLY GROG Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 4:00pm.

SOLID JULIE Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. SPENCER P JONES & THE ESCAPE COMMITTEE + THE PATRON SAINTS Tago Mago, Thornbury. 9:00pm. TESSA MCKENNA & THE SHAPIROS Union Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. TJ QUINTON Station 59, Richmond. 8:00pm. TROMBONE SHORTY & ORLEANS AVENUE + ANIMAUX Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:30pm. $55. VOODOO ECONOMIC + LADY DANGER Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 9:30pm. WINTERPLAN + BRIGHTLY 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $2.

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC CANNONBALL Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $25. GOYIM Bebida, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. JACKET OFF Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 9:30pm. $5. JAZZ ON A SATURDAY 303, Northcote. 3:30pm. $10. MISTAKEN IDENTITY Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $20. NORIA LETTS QUINTET Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:30pm. $20. PAUL WILLIAMSON’S FOUR IN ONE Uptown Jazz Cafe, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. SANTIAGO SON Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. SUINGUE BRAZUCA Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 9:00pm. $20.

THE COUNT WITH...

THE IMPOSSIBLE GIRL

Name/Band: The Impossible Girl – Kim Boekbinder, from New York. Ten bands everyone should know about: Mikelangelo and Saint Clare , The General Assembly, Mojo Juju, TinPan Orange, tUnE-yArDs, She Makes War, MoonDog, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, Konono Nº1, Fred Frith. Nine food items that you need to make a kickarse dinner party: Black beans, cheddar cheese, avocado, corn tortillas, tomato, garlic, onion, Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, olive oil. Eight possessions that define you: Rusty hinge worn as a necklace, knee high gold boots, Epiphone Alleykat guitar (black, semi hollow body, electric), purple Galaxy Catsuit from Blackmilk, antique prosthetic leg bought in New Orleans, knitted nautilus handmade by a fan, coat handmade from old neck ties, the journal I am writing my next album in. Seven favourite movies/TV shows that go on your mix-tape: Black Cat, White Cat, Last Night (1998), Agguire, the Wrath of God , The Devil’s Backbone, The Dark Crystal, Frida, The Muppet Movie, Requiem for a Dream. Six bad habits you can’t escape: Slouching, frowning, not warming up before singing, interrupting , wanting more, being too hard on myself. Beat Magazine Page 84

SUBMIT YOUR GIGS TO GIGGUIDE@BEAT.COM.AU

Five people who inspire you: Jim Batt, film maker, Molly Crabapple, artist, Carla Kihlstedt, musician, Anthony Cleave, performance artist, Kate Rannells, artist. Four things that turn you on: Learning new information, amazing music, food, nice hands. Three goals for your music: To make you cry, to make you laugh, to make you love. Two live gigs you’ll never forget and why: Seeing Leonard Cohen in a small theatre in Oakland California. His stage presence is gracious and humble, his voice is powerful, his lyrics are the best ever. The cheesiness of some of his arrangements are transcended by the magnitude of his poetry. I just saw tUnE-yArDs here at The Corner in December. The show renewed my faith in music: in what was possible, what brings joy, and what the world can appreciate. One day left before the apocalypse and you…: Play music! When’s the gig / release? The Evelyn Hotel. Wednesday April 11 with The General Assembly. Wednesday April 18 with Matt Kelly and Wednesday April 25 with Brendan Maclean. Anzac Day! Bring biscuits!

CHECK OUT ALL THE LATEST NEWS, REVIEWS AND FREE SHIT AT BEAT.COM.AU

Beat Magazine Page 85

New Found Glory

TAKE YOUR OWN + PUBLIC LIABILITY + QUESTION + THE LAST DESIGN Pony, Melbourne. 9:30pm. THE HELLHOUNDS + ELEPHANT + THE VELVETS Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm. THE NEARLY BROTHERS + ROB SNARSKI Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 8:00pm. $20. THE VASCOE ERA + MARY & THE MOON + MONEY FOR ROPE + THE PRETTY LITTLES Espy, St Kilda. 8:00pm. THE WACO SOCIAL CLUB + BUCK CREEK + RATTLIN’ BONES BLACKWOOD Yah Yah’s, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. UNDERCOLOURS + YOUNG MAVERICK Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 9:00pm. $8. UNDERLIGHTS Caravan Music Club, Oakleigh. 3:00pm. $15.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK

NEW FOUND GLORY, TAKING BACK SUNDAY Pop-punkers New Found Glory and Taking Back Sunday join forces and display their staying power for a show of epic proportions. Seriously, Festival Hall may actually explode due to the sheer amount of pure awesomeness that will occur this Sunday April 8.

SUNDAY 8 APR ROCK/POP ALABAMA 3 Prince Bandroom, St Kilda. 8:00pm. ANDREW MCDONALD + G-POP + SPIL + STRATHMORE Bendigo Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $8. BEN BROWNING (EP LAUNCH) + GEOFFREY O’CONNOR Toﬀ In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $20. DAN PARSONS + LUKE BRENNAN + MATTHEW WINSTANLEY 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $5. DARYL BRAITHWAITE + BAD BOYS BATUCADA + PHIL CEBERANO + THE DALE RYDER BAND Espy, St Kilda. 5:00pm. DEAD MEADOW + PINK MOUNTAIN TOPS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $40. DJ XANDER Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. GRONG GRONG + FASPEEDELAY + FOURTEEN NIGHTS AT SEA + HIGH TEA + TRUE RADICAL MIRACLE Tote Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. $20. HAZEL GROVE + BLACK RIVER REBELLION + CIRCUS THERAPY + HESSIAN + MORNING AFTER Brunswick Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm. JULES SHELDON & TOM BENJAMIN Tago Mago, Thornbury. 4:00pm. MADRE MONTE Bar Open, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. MAMA’S REJECTS + DANIEL GAVIN + DEGREES OF SEPERATION + MARBLE ORCHARD Idgaﬀ Bar & Venue, Abbotsford. 8:00pm. $5. NEW FOUND GLORY & TAKING BACK SUNDAY + THE MAINE Festival Hall, West Melbourne. 8:00pm. $65. SEX DRUGS & ACOUSTIC LOVE Felix, St Kilda. 7:00pm. SKYSCRAPER STAN & THE COMMISSION FLATS + THE GUILTS Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8. STRAIGHT JACKET NATION + SOMA COMA Gasometer Hotel, Collingwood. 8:00pm. SUNSET BLUSH + EVA MCGOWAN + ROUGE FONCE + SARAH EIDA + SLEEPLEVER 303, Northcote. 2:00pm. $5.

CLASSIFIEDS 33c PER WORD PER WEEK (INC GST) • Send your classified listing information to Beat Magazine at 3 Newton St, Richmond 3121 with a cheque, money order or credit card number (including expiry date and name on card, NOT AMEX or DINERS) (1.5% surcharge on Visa and MasterCard) OR deliver it yourself with cash OR you can email your classifieds to us - classifieds@beat.com.au with credit card details • DEADLINE IS THURSDAY 5pm, prior to Wednesdays publication • Minimum $5 charge per week. We do NOT accept classifieds over the phone - sorry.

MUSICIANS WANTED ACOUSTIC ACTS WANTED for Bar Betty in Smith Street, Fitzroy. Paid Gig. Please phone Sandra or Michelle on 9417 3937. Bar Betty - 129 Smith Street, Fitzroy. BANDS & PROMOTERS WANTED. Any style for Collingwood venue. First gigs welcome, live CD recording available. Contact Jane after 12pm on 0425 796 828. EXPERIENCED BASS GUITARIST WANTED for a newly formed original/covers band ‘Generation Gap’. Phn: Paul 8786 3421 or John 9772 9397 EXPERIENCED DRUMMER with a commitment to practice and regular rehearsals required for alternative rock band. Inﬂuences QOTSA, Foo Fighters, Nirvana etc… www.myspace.com/ mollydredd ph: 0411 372 469 ROCK GUITARIST & ROCK VOCALIST WANTED. Txt: 0433 726 449

Beat Magazine Page 86

ALEX LASHLIE + JACK DONNE Great Britain Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. ANDREW HIGGS + LILY & KING Drunken Poet, West Melbourne. 4:00pm. BONNIE ANDERSON BAND + ROB FARNHAM Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 7:00pm. CHRIS WILSON Rainbow Hotel, Fitzroy. 4:00pm. FABULOUS THUNDERBIRDS Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:30pm. $55. JAM NIGHT Musicland, Fawkner. 7:00pm. JIMI HOCKING’S BLUES MACHINE Wheelers Hill Hotel, Wheelers Hill. 3:00pm. LOWRIDERS Mentone Hotel, Mentone. 3:00pm. MOONEE VALLEY DRIFTERS + MARTY KELLY & AUBURY MAHER Lomond Hotel, Brunswick East. 5:30pm. NORIANA KENNEDY TRIO + BREAKING HART BENTON Penny Black, Brunswick. 4:00pm. OPEN MIC Chandelier Room, Moorabbin. 4:30pm. OPEN MIC Chandelier Room, Moorabbin. 4:30pm. PAT ROBERTSON Town Hall Hotel, North Melbourne. 6:00pm. PHIL MANNING (CHAIN) - FEAT: PHIL MANNING (CHAIN) The Bay, Mordialloc. 4:00pm. PHIL PARA DUO Bay Hotel, Mornington. 3:00pm. SIMON WRIGHT TRIO + DJ D’FRO + LOTEK Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 7:30pm. STAFFAN SONGS & TIM HAINES Thornbury Theatre, Thornbury. 8:00pm. STRINE SINGERS Edinburgh Castle, Brunswick. 5:00pm. THE BONA FIDE TRAVELLERS Victoria Hotel, Brunswick. 5:00pm. THE LARGE NUMBER 12S + EMMA SWIFT + RICHARD LAWSON + TERRY SERIO Pure Pop Courtyard, St Kilda. 3:00pm. THE LESLIE AVRIL BAND Standard Hotel, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. THE RECHORDS Gem Bar, Collingwood. 7:30pm. TJ QUINTON Bar Nancy, Northcote. 8:00pm. TJ QUINTON + KATE MULQUEEN Bar Nancy, Northcote. 6:00pm.

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC JOSE NIETO Cruzao Arepa Bar, Fitzroy. 7:30pm. MIRKO GUERRINI SEXTET Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. SETH LAKEMAN & CARUS THOMPSON Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:00pm. $25.

MONDAY 9 APR ROCK/POP ANIMAUX + THE MCQUEENS Workers Club, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $8.

SINGER LOOKING FOR A GUITARIST OR KEYBOARDIST to rehearse covers and busk on Saturday nights. Contact: alphadog35@y7mail.com

TUITION ASHLEY DAVIES DRUM LESSONS. Developing musicianly drumming. Using technique as a means to bring out the best in your drumming. Free half hour introductory lesson. Upstairs at Greville Records. 0415 118 390 or asho179@optusnet.com.au www. ashleydaviesmusicanddrums.com MUSIC CLASSES - Tuition for Piano, Guitar, Singing, Drums and Bass. With 7 years of experience. Great rates for classes. For more info call 9530 0984/ 0425 788 252 or go online at www.katzmusic.com.au

EATEN BY DOGS + PETE SPARK Old Bar, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. HILARIOUS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. SCOTDRAKULA + COMFORT ZONES + KEVIN CK LO Evelyn Hotel, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. SUBLIME WITH ROME + MAT MCHUGH Palace Theatre, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. $74. VAN SHE TECH + CANYONS + MU-GEN Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm. VELVET ARCHERS + PLANET JUMPER Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 7:30pm.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK NUDE FOLK - FEAT: BREAKING HART BENTON + JENNY BIDDLE + TJ QUINTON Grumpy’s Green, Fitzroy. 7:00pm.

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC SETH LAKEMAN & CARUS THOMPSON Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:00pm. $25. THE ALAN BROWNE SEXTET Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. THE MARC HANNAFORD TRIO 303, Northcote. 9:00am. $8. ZIGGY MARLEY + THE DUB CAPTAINS Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $66.

TUESDAY 10 APR ROCK/POP EMMA SWIFT + GENEVIEVE CHADWICK + JON SCHOFIELD + JOSH DURNO + RICHARD LAWSON + SUZY CONNOLLY + THE TWOKS Espy, St Kilda. 9:00pm. PATRON SAINTS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 7:00pm. PATRON SAINTS Cherry Bar, Melbourne Cbd. 8:00pm. PUGSLEY BUZZARD + GUY KABLE Old Bar, Fitzroy. 7:00pm. SEAL Palais Theatre, St Kilda. 7:30pm. $110. THE RUBENS + SURES + THEM SWOOPS Northcote Social Club, Northcote. 7:30pm.

ACOUSTIC/COUNTRY/BLUES/FOLK ALEX & EVE Veludo Bar & Restaurant, St Kilda. 8:30pm. BIG SEAL & THE SLIPPERY FEW + INDIA FLYNN + JOE FORRESTER + SAMUEL BANKS 303, Northcote. 8:00pm. $5. JIMMY STEWART John Curtin Hotel, Carlton. 8:00pm. MELBOURNE IMPROVISORS COLLECTIVE PRESENTS - FEAT: OLIVIA CHINDAMO QUARTET + RESONANCE + UNDERCOAT Gertrudes Brown Couch, Fitzroy. 8:00pm. $6. OPEN MIC Empress Hotel, North Fitzroy. 6:30pm. PETER EWING Labour In Vain, Fitzroy. 8:30pm. SEAN SIMMONS + JUSTIN CUSACK Retreat Hotel, Brunswick. 8:30pm. SEASICK STEVE + ASHLEY NAYLOR Corner Hotel, Richmond. 8:00pm. $66.

DATE BROTHERS & DANIEL WELTLINGER Paris Cat Jazz Club, Melbourne Cbd. 9:00pm. $20. MAESTRO OF CEREMONIES Dizzy’s Jazz Club, Richmond. 8:00pm. $14. NASHUA LEE’S RABID HAWK Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Melbourne. 8:30pm. $15. THE DAVID BROMBERG QUARTET Toﬀ In Town, Melbourne Cbd. 7:30pm. $44.

SOUNDPARK RECORDING/REHEARSALS. Large 5 room recording studio, loads of vintage gear/instruments. Hire without engineer $450 day, or with $650. Rehearsals from $50. Phone Andrew 0425 706 382. TALENT AGENCY SEEKING NEW ARTISTS INTERNATIONALLY! Must be Original! Able to Perform Live! Be ready to Tour or Exhibit Works! Be willing to be Sold Online in Europe, Australia & Internationally! Note: Agency Representation Fee: 1,500 euro per annum. For Interviews & Submissions Contact Jacinta Arcadia in Rotterdam The Netherlands. T: +31 616369621 E: gm@vonprussia. com W: www.VonPrussia.com * THINK MOVING SUCKS? Call Little Red Trucks! Moving Melbourne everyday. Call 9380 6444 or head to www.littleredtrucks.com.au

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FLAUNT IT. Internationally acclaimed producer of pro-feminist erotica looking for conﬁdent, adult women to smash the stereotypes and earn good money ($500 and up). Don’t overlook this til you’ve found out more about it. Rebecca 9495 6555 or www.feck.com.

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whatson@thepush.com.au

ACCESS ALL AGES WITH RUTH MIHELCIC You know all that homework you’re supposed to be doing right now? Well we’ve got some better things for you to be doing, like getting your dance on at Lipstick Underage in Frankston and Zoo Underage in Melbourne tonight. If live bands are more your thing, then you should probably be checking out Florida pop-punker’s New Found Glory when they play Festival Hall on Sunday with Taking Back Sunday, The Maine, and This Time Next Year. More Push Start Battle of the Bands news! The latest FReeZA groups to be calling for entries are Maribyrnong, Macedon Ranges, and Manningham. If you live in one of these areas and play in a band, get in contact with your local FReeZA group or Youth Services team to grab an entry form. FReeZA group contact details can be found at freeza.vic.gov.au. St Kilda sure knows how to throw an epic street party, and their upcoming Youth Festival is no exception. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any better with the likes of Mantra, Gossling, N’Fa Jones, Cactus Channel, DJ Flagrant, Runforyourlife onstage with an appearance from DJ Deacon Rose at triple j, they go and throw in a few DJ workshops, skate ramps, and a free BBQ! It’s all happening at the O’Donnell Gardens next to Luna Park on Saturday April 21. Bluejuice have announced an under 18s arvo show at the HiFi on Saturday April 28 with guests Loon Lake & The Cairos. Get your tickets now through Moshtix! Here’s a bit of news for anyone into downloading free music from sites like The Pirate Bay. The giant file sharing website could be banned in the UK after a recent high court ruling. No one’s sure yet what repercussions this will have for access to the site around the rest of the world and in Australia, but stay tuned as the case develops. If you have any news about the all ages scene, send it our way to whatson@thepush.com.au.

All Ages Timetable WEDNESDAY APRIL 4 Come and paint the “ART WALL”, 16 Clifton Street, Euroa, Free, Debra Ellis on 5795 0000, AA

JAZZ/SOUL/FUNK/WORLD MUSIC

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The Pogues, Festival Hall, 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, 7pm, $107, ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100, AA Lipstick Underage w/ Slice N Dice, Glacier Bar, 480 Nepean Hwy, Frankston, 5pm – 10pm, $15 with pass, $20 without, contact 9770 5177, U18 Zoo Underage w/ Janoskians feat. Teddy, Chris Ostrom, Adrian Chessari, Kris Kolzan, Nathan Olson, Sef, Jake Nic, Adrian Sambucco vs Aidan G (A ‘N’ A), Jhye, Rodjar, Paul Paps, Gianniettia, Dylan Brochado, Lachlan M, and G3org1o, Chasers Nightclub, 386 Chapel Street, Melbourne, 5pm – 10pm, U18 Earth, Wind & Fire, Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda, 7:30pm, $109.00 - $159, ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100, AA

FRIDAY APRIL 6 Kids Busking for the Kids w/ The Delta Riggs, Sweethearts, Catherine Sanzaro, Backseat Bingo, Izzy Losi, Kurtis Gentle and buskers, Main Stage on Hesse St, Queenscliff, 10am – 4pm, Free, Andrew Orvis on (03) 5258 4816 or qmf.net.au, AA

SUNDAY APRIL 8 Eskimo Joe w/ Tex Perkins, Stonefield and Zoophyte, Bullers Winery, Three Chain Rd, Rutherglen, 12pm, $69.95 - $109.95, ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100, AA New Found Glory w/ Taking Back Sunday, Festival Hall, 300 Dudley Street, West Melbourne, 7pm, $65.96, ticketmaster.com.au or 136 100, AA

TUESDAY APRIL 10 Veil Of Maya w/ The Storm Picturesque and Stories, Musicman Megastore, 363 Hargreaves Street, Bendigo, 5:30pm – 10pm, $15, moshtix.com.au or 1300 438 849, AA Seal, Palais Theatre, Lower Esplanade, St Kilda, 7:30pm – 10:30pm, $109.90 - $199.90, ticketmaster. com.au or 136 100, AA

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Beat Magazine Page 87

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With what goal in mind was this course established? To give students an introduction into the field of electronic music production and a general overview of the technology and techniques used. What learning modules does this course offer? Areas of study include, composing single songs & musical pieces, operating professional audio equipment (analog & digital), music technology in live performance, mixing, mastering & sound editing. What sets this course apart from other institutions offering similar courses? Aside from housing all the latest gear and technology, SAE Institute offers students the opportunity to progress into diploma and bachelor courses to further develop their skills. Have there been any artists SAE students have had the opportunity to work with in the industry recently? A few students were recently given the opportunity to work side-stage at this years Laneway Festival. Students were placed across the various stages and offered assistance to the stage managers.

Which SAE campus is this course located? This particular course is oﬀered at all our campuses Australia wide. How do I enrol for this course SAE? Are there any prerequisites? EMP is direct entry, to apply submit an application form - found here: www.melbourne.sae.edu. All potential students must be 18yrs or older. Facilities available for students: Ableton Live, Logic, Yamaha 02R, range of hardware synthesizers.

Any online course availabilities or other important things to mention: Course operates Monday & Wednesday nights between 7 – 9:30pm for a period of 6 months. Students will leave with a Certiﬁcate III in Music. Course begins April 30th - applications now open - limited seats! For further details contact SAE Institute on (03) 8632 3400. Web: Melbourne.sae.edu Email: Melbourne@sae.edu

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DIRTY THREE Friday March 16, The Palace

LIVE

ahab Thursday March 15, The Toff In Town Port Fairy might sound like a quiet hamlet of elderlies, but a few weekends ago, more than 150,000 folk fans spilled through the little town for the annual Port Fairy Folk Music Festival. And it would seem, from the turnout on Thursday March 15, that a large portion of them were floored by London four-piece ahab. Hailing from the borough of Hackney, ahab’s sound is straight from the American south, filled with mandolin, guitar and cantering soft-stick drums. From the very first song, these lads wrapped tendrils around the large crowd gathered at the Toff In Town. “Were you at Port Fairy?” and “did you go to Port Fairy?” were incessantly whispered by rapt young women throughout the room, but once the boys began to hit their straps there was no time for pleasantries – only for some serious dancing to done get danced. Only two out of the five on stage were sporting flannelette shirts, which ain’t bad for an alt-country band. With lead singer Dave Burn looking like a young Peter Andre and bassist Callam Anderson channelling James Franco circa Freaks And Geeks, it’s no wonder the boys’ elfin banter was punctuated by excited giggles from the crowd. Not that it was an especially young group: A number of middle-aged fans pressed right up to the stage’s edge and even instructed the youth to shut it on a couple of occasions. Lightnin’ Bug and Call A Waiter rocked out early on and showcased the boys’ ability to enmesh their voices into a sort of harmonised caramel. Love Is Hell, sung by

PHOTO BY ZOË RADAS

Anderson (who at this point was playing a guitar – there was so much instrument-swapping it was staggering) was magical: “My, my, my, love is hell” delicately rumbled across the room, the heartbreak tangible in the air. The tenderness gave way to a foot-stomping rabble when Joanna and Million Reasons led the last part of the set. The most warm and raw voice of the four is Burn’s, whose tone sounded like something simmering or growing in slow motion, particularly in the stand-out track Soho. However, it is clear that ahab are so attuned to one another that their voices work wonderfully in harmony as well as each on their own. During their encore (and a quick WC break for their drummer), the four fellows stood close together to deliver an acoustic Father’s Eyes, which lit up the room. Everybody crunched in and stamped, clapped, sang along like a commune after a long day picking cotton and fighting off wild animals with rakes. The set was rounded out with the debut single Rosebud, and there wasn’t a dry armpit in the house after the dancing frenzy. Everyone retreated to the tiny balcony to breathe some cool air and let the rain wash off the red dust. ZOË RADAS LOVED: Luke Price’s curly mandolin. HATED: Fringe sticking to my forehead. DRANK: James Squire Orchard Crush.

The Dirty Three are one of the few bands who stand apart in music today, their sound so intrinsically their own that almost no other Australian act comes close to touching them. Having just released their first album in some seven years, the monumental Towards The Low Sun, this is their first headline show in Melbourne for some time and it appears as if most of the population are here tonight to welcome them home. I missed the first support Laura Jean, but arrive in time to see Lost Animal’s set. Tonight’s five-piece lineup sees Luke Horton (Love Of Diagrams), Joel Carey (Peak Twins) and Kirin J Callinan added to the mix. The inclusion of Callinan creates an interesting take on Lost Animal’s sound, the layer of menacing guitar contributes another dimension to the songs and complements Jarrod Quarrell’s sometimes sinister vocal intonations. Moving through tracks off last year’s debut Ex Tropical, it’s great to hear these songs performed on a big PA; the depth of sound on Shags Chamberlin’s creeping bass lines of particular note. Ending with Lose The Baby, the song sounds harsher than usual, the acerbic wit of Quarrell’s lyrics hitting home in a visceral way. Tonight’s performance was a powerful one. Excitement builds in the interim and when the Dirty Three finally take to the stage the crowd goes bananas. So palpable is the excitement and anticipation for the band, personal space becomes involuntarily lost in the merge forward towards the stage. Rain Song is the opener – it has been introduced as a song about being a pimple on the bum of Gina Rinehart – typical Warren Ellis banter, he has been missed! Its slow build sees the band get into their groove and move straight into Furnace Skies; also off the new album. It’s noisy and frantic, with Jim White in a fury on the drums. Something happens to Mick Turner’s amp here, I had noticed his guitar being barely audible in the first song. A sound guy soon comes to the rescue, swapping the amp over whilst White and Ellis keep up the intensity of the performance. Sometimes I Forget You Are Gone is next up and sees Ellis trades violin for electric piano. The stripped back composition is utterly beautiful and still maintains the Dirty Three feel without the overpowering violin Ellis is known and loved for. It’s subtle guitar and piano melody leave room for White’s spectacular drumming to shine through and create a haunting, yet sparse feel. The set seems to be divided into two sections, songs off the new album and the second half dedicated to the classics. A stunning version of Some Summers They Drop Like Flies sees the crowd again in rapture, although from where I’m

FRANCOLIN Saturday March 24, Phoenix Public House

JAMES WALSH

I’m almost certain the Phoenix Public House was the most fun place to be in Brunswick last Saturday night, if not in the whole of Melbourne. Jumping onto the Phoenix band room stage just after 11pm, the five band members of Francolin celebrated the launch of their new single, Suddenly Painlessly in conjunction with the Brunswick Music Festival. Maybe I’ve just been going to the wrong gigs lately, but Francolin’s hour-long set was one of the most joyous and enjoyable performances I’ve seen in a long time. The band’s refreshingly un-self conscious pop songs created an infectiously relaxed vibe that had almost the entire audience smiling and swilling around the dance floor. By the third song, and title track of the band’s debut album, Won’t Let You Down, I noticed that even the security guard was having a bop to the side of the stage. Francolin are not brand-spanking new to the indie-pop music scene in Melbourne; they have been steadily building a loyal fan-base and reputation for smart and upbeat tracks since mid-2009. After a brief summer hiatus in 2011, the band returned to the stage for the St Kilda Festival in January with a full back catalogue of songs from the new record. On this Saturday evening, many of the tracks already seemed familiar with the eclectic Brunswick crowd, who sung along enthusiastically pretty much from the get-go. That was what differentiated Francolin from the two support bands, Yeo and Skotdracula, whose more sleepy tracks only modestly warmed up the crowd. In

“It’s awfully civilised in here tonight,” said Sarah McLeod as she sat down in a chair mid-stage, silver, high-heeled boots pushing her knees up towards her chin. She wasn’t wrong. The 100 or so people shuffling around the Gershwin room on Friday night was a disappointing turn out for the ARIA award winning rocker of late ‘90s rock outfit, The Superjesus, and James Walsh, the headlining front-man of cult British band Starsailor. But the tameness made for an intimate affair with McLeod asking everybody to move a few feet closer to the stage as a “community effort”. With James Walsh standing at the bar with the rest of us commoners, McLeod’s guitar arrested the timidity of the crowd. She started off with Gutter Queen, her powerful vocals easily tackling the ripping chorus and followed with the second single of her solo career, Private School Kid. McLeod filled the intermediate silences between songs creatively, making the kind of jokes that would have been funny to the age group who were fans of The Superjesus in their prime. When she strummed through Gravity, though, memories of high school flooded back and it was nice to know she had stayed true to that original image, dated as it may be. James Walsh arrived on stage and was suddenly transformed from an ordinary person at the bar to a world-renowned vocalist for a band whose first album reached Number Two on the British charts. He said nothing – just launched into Tell Me It’s Not Over, and we were immediately mesmerised. He wasn’t sombre, like his

SWARM TOUR

LIV WEBB LOVED: The pure joy present in the room. HATED: Nothing, happily. DRANK: Enough.

Saturday March 24, Evelyn Hotel

Normally reviewing a live show like this I give five or six sentences to review and critique each band. On this occasion, I will review the night as a whole. This night was a celebration of all that is good in Australian rock music in a live setting. Jericco and Twelve Foot Ninja are kind of in similar places in their respective careers. Both belong in the Australian alternative/progressive rock scene. Both are very well established in said scene. Both have been around for a similar length of time. Both have released two exceptional,

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comparison, Francolin’s opening track, Hospital Song had the audience clapping and grinning along from the moment they took to the stage. The five members of the band themselves have a charming ‘90s kids-from-the-block, garage-band ease about them that only made them appear more endearing, but there were really two things that distinguished Francolin’s performance. The first was the seamless talent that this group possesses. The quietly confident guitar and trumpet solos were stand-out, creating a Vampire Weekend meets jazz session lift to every song. However, the band as a whole were so charismatic and well put together that it is difficult to single out any one member. The second aspect of Saturday night’s gig was that as smart as Francolin’s music is, the fact that it was accompanied by genuine smiles on every band member’s face for the entire set showed that they were there to enjoy themselves and welcomed their audience to do the same. It’s difficult not to be drawn to Francolin’s blend of disarming harmonies and dreamy pop tunes, and easy to see why they’re quickly becoming a Melbourne favourite.

and exceptionally well received EPs. Both are currently working on their debut albums. Hopefully both will release said debut albums in 2012. Strangely enough, musically they are worlds apart. Jericco draw on ancient influences to create their propulsive, middle eastern inspired sound. Twelve Foot Ninja sound like they are from the future, and incorporate ska, reggae, funk and pop stylings into their blistering but engaging altrock songs. Put them together, and it’s absolute dynamite. A

standing I still have a bit of trouble hearing Turner’s guitar. The Restless Waves as always, proves devastatingly beautiful. The rustling of White’s drums making way for Ellis’ slow, lingering violin which seems to push and pull the listener through heartbreak and respite. As the song builds one can see the impact upon the crowd, who sway along hypnotised. This is followed by a devastatingly good version of Authentic Celestial Music and crowd favourite Everything’s Fucked. Last up is another song from Towards The Low Sun – Ashen Snow. Ellis is back on piano, the delicate melody leaving room for Turner to showcase his sublime guitar playing which seems to replicate the fragility of falling snow. It’s the perfect ending to the set and after some discussion with the crowd, the three decide on an encore of Sue’s Last Ride. This song, Ellis states, is for the ladies in the crowd and the collective swoon throughout the audience proves he’s still got it. The beauty of the Dirty Three is that they have a unique ability to evoke an emotional response from the listener, something that so rarely happens at a live show. Their music gets under your skin, it’s something that’s familiar yet intangible, no matter how many times I have seen them live I’m still moved by their music and tonight was no exception. CASSANDRA KIELY LOVED: Warren Ellis HATED: Sticky floor DRANK: Like it was Friday

Friday March 23, The Espy

completely sold out crowd heaved, sweated and bounced their way through enormous sets from both bands, and left the Evelyn thoroughly satisfied with proceedings. Apparently Jericco’s singer Brent McCormick was actually seriously ill with laryngitis this evening, but you would not have known it for a second. He performed up to his usual illustrious standard. Much respect to him. And certainly not forgetting the other band that formed part the formidable trio that was the 2012 version of the Swarm Tour. Circles’ pulsating set started strongly and just got better and better. I have said it before and I’ll say it again, these guys are the ‘band most likely’ in the Aussie

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PHOTO BY CASSANDRA KIELY

music, nor did he possess the arrogance of his country’s counterparts. He sang beautifully and smiled naively, almost chuffed at how good he sounded. A quiet thank you and then onwards to the next – MGMT’s Kids followed. There were a few covers – Nobody Does It Better, You Can’t Always Get What You Want and Lennon’s, Real Love – each of which was delivered with a heartening amount of professional sincerity. Much of the set came from 2001 album Love is Here, like Alcoholic, Poor Misguided Fool, Lost Souls and Lullaby. But Walsh played some solo stuff as well, like Life, off his new EP. Of course, Four To The Floor, Starsailor’s international single, wasn’t missed. Walsh’s performance to a small crowd was as enthusiastic as you would expect if he were playing Glastonbury. McLeod came back at the end for a duet of AC/DC’s (chosen for having British and Australian members), You Shook Me All Night Long. It really was a community effort, with Australians and the few Brits in the crowd chiming in. No doubt, most felt a sense of honour for having experienced such a hidden prize of a gig. SASHA PETROVA LOVED: Reliving decade-old Starsailor favourites. HATED: Adolescent style jokes. DRANK: Overpriced vodkas.

metal scene. This triple threat has been on tour across the nation for the last few weeks, and by all accounts has been slaying audiences with its progressive power. Swarm Fest is now a yearly occurrence, and a packed out Evelyn witnessed arguably its best lineup yet. Bring on the 2013 version. ROD WHITFIELD LOVED: All three bands. HATED: The next morning hangover. DRANK: Coopers, and lots of them.